PMID- 20891481
TI  - The Ideal Physician.

PMID- 20891480
TI  - Shock.

PMID- 20891482
TI  - Serum Therapy: A Discourse: Some Clinical Observations in the Use of Neiser
      Bacterin and Mixed Infection Phylacogen.

PMID- 20891483
TI  - The Negro Woman and the Health Problem.

PMID- 20891484
TI  - Clinical Notes on a Case of Tetanus.

PMID- 20891486
TI  - On Dr. Taylor of Philadelphia.

PMID- 20891485
TI  - A Plea for the Lives of the Unborn.

PMID- 20891488
TI  - United States Census Bulletin No. 129.

PMID- 20891487
TI  - Our Chicago Meeting.

PMID- 20891490
TI  - Commencement and the Coming Years.

PMID- 20891489
TI  - The Editor Afield.

PMID- 20891492
TI  - Cancer.

PMID- 20891491
TI  - A Problem.

PMID- 20891493
TI  - N. M. A. Communications.

PMID- 20891494
TI  - Current Medical Thought.

PMID- 20891495
TI  - Current Medical Thought.

PMID- 20891496
TI  - Medico-Psychological Views of Infant and Adolescent Life.

PMID- 20891497
TI  - Eugenics and the School Teacher.

PMID- 20891498
TI  - Tetanus Resulting from Burn by Phosphorus, Successfully Treated with the Anti
      Tetanic Serum.

PMID- 20891500
TI  - Ophthalmia Neonatorum.

PMID- 20891499
TI  - Congenital Syphilis as a Possible Factor in the Etiology of Acute Chorea.

PMID- 20891502
TI  - Some Practical Remarks on Appendicitis.

PMID- 20891501
TI  - Where is That Fine Line of Demarcation Between Medicine and Dentistry?

PMID- 20891503
TI  - Oration in Pharmacy: The Conservation of Health by Restricting the Indiscriminate
      Use of Drugs.

PMID- 20891504
TI  - The National Medical Association: The Chicago Session.

PMID- 20891505
TI  - Notable Deaths.

PMID- 20891506
TI  - Progress and Prejudice.

PMID- 20891507
TI  - A Notable Incident.

PMID- 20891508
TI  - The Chicago Meeting.

PMID- 20891509
TI  - The President of the N. M. A.

PMID- 20891512
TI  - The Significance of the Anaphylaxis Reaction in Clinical Medicine.

PMID- 20891510
TI  - N. M. A. Communications.

PMID- 20891513
TI  - The Use and Abuse of Laboratory Findings.

PMID- 20891514
TI  - A Brief Review of Tubercular Peritonitis.

PMID- 20891515
TI  - The Medical Profession and its Relation to the General Public.

PMID- 20891517
TI  - Pellagra: Symptoms and Treatment.

PMID- 20891516
TI  - Surgery of the Uterus and Adnexa.

PMID- 20891518
TI  - Syphilis and the Effect of Salvarsan upon its Clinical Manifestations.

PMID- 20891519
TI  - A Gratuitous Falsehood and an Unwarranted Slander.

PMID- 20891520
TI  - A Pertinent Question.

PMID- 20891522
TI  - Progress or Atavism?

PMID- 20891521
TI  - "To Err is Human, to Forgive Divine".

PMID- 20891524
TI  - The Exceptional Man-An Appreciation.

PMID- 20891523
TI  - The Diagnoses and Treatment of the Complications of Urinary Calculi.

PMID- 20891526
TI  - Our Profession.

PMID- 20891525
TI  - Obiter Dicta.

PMID- 20891527
TI  - A Momentous Decision.

PMID- 20891528
TI  - Coprophagia.

PMID- 20891529
TI  - Startling Figures.

PMID- 20891530
TI  - Obiter Dicta.

PMID- 20891531
TI  - N. M. A. Communications.

PMID- 20891532
TI  - Current Medical Thought.

PMID- 20891534
TI  - Some Observations on Pellagra in Reply to the Report of the Public Health
      Committee.

PMID- 20891535
TI  - Report of Three Cases of Ectopic Gestation: One Being Twins at Term with
      Spontaneous Delivery.

PMID- 20891537
TI  - General Anesthesia.

PMID- 20891536
TI  - Cholelithiasis and Obstruction of Bile Ducts in Alcoholic Cirrhosis of Liver.

PMID- 20891538
TI  - Eclampsia.

PMID- 20891539
TI  - Omental Cysts: With Report of Case of Multilocular Cyst of Great Omentum.

PMID- 20891540
TI  - Diagnosis.

PMID- 20891542
TI  - Some Observations of Blood Pressure During Surgical Procedures, Especially
      Laparotomies.

PMID- 20891541
TI  - Interstitial Gingivitis and Pyorrhea Alveolaris.

PMID- 20891543
TI  - The Modern Hospital Largely Educational.

PMID- 20891544
TI  - Stay Out of the Uterus.

PMID- 20891545
TI  - Post-Operative Treatment of Cases by the Family Physician.

PMID- 20891546
TI  - Tonsillitis and Its Sequelae.

PMID- 20891547
TI  - "Health".

PMID- 20891548
TI  - Bubo: The Different Kinds and the Differential Diagnosis of the Same.

PMID- 20891549
TI  - Tetanus, With Report of a Case.

PMID- 20891550
TI  - The Druggist and the Doctor.

PMID- 20891551
TI  - The Medical Phase of the South's Ethnic Problem.

PMID- 20891552
TI  - Medical Bonhomie.

PMID- 20891553
TI  - New Sanitary Laws.

PMID- 20891554
TI  - Our Readers and Contributors.

PMID- 20891556
TI  - Obiter Dicta.

PMID- 20891555
TI  - The Editor Goes A-Maying.

PMID- 20891557
TI  - Anterior Poliomyelitis.

PMID- 20891559
TI  - N. M. A. Communications.

PMID- 20891558
TI  - On to Kansas City.

PMID- 20891560
TI  - Current Medical Thought.

PMID- 20891562
TI  - The Future of Medicine.

PMID- 20891563
TI  - The Relation Between the Physician and Surgeon.

PMID- 20891564
TI  - Scientific Researches into the Causes of Alcoholism and Inebriety.

PMID- 20891565
TI  - Primary and Secondary Joint Infection.

PMID- 20891567
TI  - The Kansas City Meeting.

PMID- 20891566
TI  - Leukemias.

PMID- 20891568
TI  - Our Literature-The Journal.

PMID- 20891569
TI  - The Grim Reaper.

PMID- 20891571
TI  - Our President.

PMID- 20891570
TI  - A Notable Anniversary.

PMID- 20891573
TI  - Obiter Dicta.

PMID- 20891572
TI  - Alcoholic Investigation.

PMID- 20891574
TI  - N. M. A. Communications.

PMID- 20891576
TI  - The Mechanical Equipment of the Modern Hospital.

PMID- 20891575
TI  - Blood Pressure.

PMID- 20891577
TI  - Ancient Medical Lore.

PMID- 20891578
TI  - An Obstetric Biography.

PMID- 20891579
TI  - Some Problems of Gynecological Surgery.

PMID- 20891581
TI  - Our Preventable Death-Rate.

PMID- 20891580
TI  - Current Advances in Surgery.

PMID- 20891583
TI  - Clinical Congress of Surgeons of North America.

PMID- 20891582
TI  - The Abuse of Therapeutic Vaccination.

PMID- 20891584
TI  - Obiter Dicta.

PMID- 20891585
TI  - Current Medical Thought.

PMID- 20891586
TI  - Laboratory in Diagnosis.

PMID- 20891589
TI  - Tissue Infiltration.

PMID- 20891588
TI  - A College Education as a Requisite Preparation for the Study of Medicine.

PMID- 20891590
TI  - The Relationship of Roentgenology to Gastro-Intestinal Diagnosis.

PMID- 20891591
TI  - Fifty Years' Progress of the American Negro in Health and Sanitation.

PMID- 20891592
TI  - Preventive Medicine in Obstetrics.

PMID- 20891593
TI  - Post-Partum Hemorrhage and Its Treatment.

PMID- 20891594
TI  - The Homogeneous Relations of Physicians and Pharmacists.

PMID- 20891595
TI  - The Diagnostic Value of Pain.

PMID- 20891596
TI  - A Few Practical and Dependable Therapeutic Suggestions.

PMID- 20891597
TI  - Report of the Pellagra Commission.

PMID- 20891599
TI  - Hydrometra-Report of a Case.

PMID- 20891598
TI  - The Indications for another Relative Value of Tonsillotomy and Tonsillectomy.

PMID- 20891600
TI  - Ancient Medical Lore.

PMID- 20891602
TI  - Birth Control.

PMID- 20891601
TI  - A Look Backward.

PMID- 20891604
TI  - Bridging the Chasm.

PMID- 20891603
TI  - The Journal of the A. M. A.

PMID- 20891605
TI  - Our Meeting in Memphis.

PMID- 20891606
TI  - Obiter Dicta.

PMID- 20891608
TI  - Splenectomy: Report of Case of Removal of Spleen with 10-Lb. Cyst.

PMID- 20891607
TI  - Current Medical Thought.

PMID- 20891609
TI  - Appendicitis.

PMID- 20891610
TI  - Oration on Medicine.

PMID- 20891611
TI  - A Case of Ectopic Pregnancy with Dermoid Cyst.

PMID- 20891612
TI  - The Relation of Dental Disease to Gastro Intestinal Disorders.

PMID- 20891613
TI  - Causes, Diagnosis, and Treatment of Pellagra.

PMID- 20891614
TI  - Why We Moved-A Roman Holiday.

PMID- 20891615
TI  - Come to Philadelphia.

PMID- 20891616
TI  - Health Week.

PMID- 20891617
TI  - Credulity.

PMID- 20891618
TI  - Our Next Meeting.

PMID- 20891619
TI  - Extra Professional Service.

PMID- 20891620
TI  - N. A. M. Communications.

PMID- 20891621
TI  - Current Medical Thought.

PMID- 20891623
TI  - Maternity and Infant Mortality.

PMID- 20891624
TI  - Diseases of the Bile Bearing Channels, Etc.

PMID- 20891625
TI  - Some Medical Aspects of Appendicitis.

PMID- 20891626
TI  - Some Peculiar Manifestations of Syphilis.

PMID- 20891627
TI  - Dr. U. G. Dailey.

PMID- 20891628
TI  - The Unsatisfied Valence.

PMID- 20891630
TI  - The Journal.

PMID- 20891629
TI  - The Philadelphia Session.

PMID- 20891631
TI  - The World War, Etc.

PMID- 20891632
TI  - The Philadelphia Meeting.

PMID- 20891633
TI  - Atlantic City.

PMID- 20891634
TI  - The New Amendments.

PMID- 20891636
TI  - Our President.

PMID- 20891635
TI  - The New Departure.

PMID- 20891637
TI  - The Pellagra Commission.

PMID- 20891639
TI  - Obiter Dicta.

PMID- 20891638
TI  - Tri-State Organization.

PMID- 20891640
TI  - N. M. A. Cummunications.

PMID- 20891641
TI  - Report of Pellagra Commission.

PMID- 20891644
TI  - The Evolution in the Standard of Medical Education.

PMID- 20891643
TI  - Hyperthyrosis.

PMID- 20891645
TI  - Peptic Ulcer.

PMID- 20891647
TI  - Gonorrheal Prophylaxis.

PMID- 20891646
TI  - Tuberculosis and Climate.

PMID- 20891648
TI  - Surgery in the Rural Districts: Some Helpful Hints.

PMID- 20891649
TI  - Intestinal Auto-Intoxication.

PMID- 20891650
TI  - Surgical Aspects of Typhoid Fever.

PMID- 20891652
TI  - The War-What Does it Mean? What Should We Do?

PMID- 20891651
TI  - Blood Picture in Tuberculosis.

PMID- 20891653
TI  - Racial Relationship.

PMID- 20891654
TI  - Death-Rate Among Physicians.

PMID- 20891655
TI  - American Murder Record.

PMID- 20891657
TI  - Intestinal Obstruction Resulting from Appendicitis.

PMID- 20891656
TI  - Border Lines Between Medicine and Surgery.

PMID- 20891658
TI  - Supra-Pubic Prostatectomy.

PMID- 20891659
TI  - Major Surgery in the Home.

PMID- 20891660
TI  - Interpretation of Abdominal Pain.

PMID- 20891662
TI  - A Case of Hemorrhagic Measles.

PMID- 20891661
TI  - Pelvic Surgery.

PMID- 20891663
TI  - Physiognomy in Diagnosis.

PMID- 20891664
TI  - The Management of Increased Blood Pressure.

PMID- 20891665
TI  - Remarks in Closing of a School Clinic.

PMID- 20891666
TI  - Clinical Study.

PMID- 20891667
TI  - The Acid Test.

PMID- 20891669
TI  - Obiter Dicta.

PMID- 20891668
TI  - An Explanation.

PMID- 20891672
TI  - Syllabus of Lecture to Colored Soldiers.

PMID- 20891670
TI  - N. M. A. Communications.

PMID- 20891673
TI  - Treatment of Fibroid Tumor of Uterus with Radium.

PMID- 20891674
TI  - Some Observation on Pellagra.

PMID- 20891675
TI  - Spastic Diplegia.

PMID- 20891676
TI  - Inflammation from Standpoint of Pathologist.

PMID- 20891677
TI  - Conservatism.

PMID- 20891679
TI  - Dr. Roman Retires.

PMID- 20891678
TI  - Richmond Meeting of N. M. A.

PMID- 20891681
TI  - The Influenza Epidemic.

PMID- 20891680
TI  - National Medical Commissions.

PMID- 20891683
TI  - N. M. A. Communications.

PMID- 20891682
TI  - The Passing of the Leonard School.

PMID- 20891685
TI  - Report of Pellagra Commission of The N. M. A.

PMID- 20891686
TI  - Typhoid Fever.

PMID- 20891687
TI  - Purulent Conjunctivitis with Report of Cases.

PMID- 20891688
TI  - The General Practitioner as Specialist.

PMID- 20891690
TI  - Our Tenth Anniversary.

PMID- 20891689
TI  - The Prevalence of Nephritis and the Necessity for Its Early Recognition.

PMID- 20891691
TI  - Benjamin Franklin as a Modern Sanitarian.

PMID- 20891692
TI  - Four Hundred Deaths from Diphtheria.

PMID- 20891693
TI  - Venereal Diseases.

PMID- 20891694
TI  - Epidemic Influenza and the Negro Physician.

PMID- 20891695
TI  - The Relationship that Should Exist Between the Physician and the Dentist.

PMID- 20891696
TI  - A Plea for Better Understanding Between Physicians and Pharmacists.

PMID- 20891697
TI  - Prophylactic Tonsillectomy.

PMID- 20891698
TI  - Study of 474 Venereal Diseases at Camp Humphreys.

PMID- 20891699
TI  - West Virginia State Colored Tuberculosis Sanatorium.

PMID- 20891700
TI  - The Pathology of N. M. A.

PMID- 20891702
TI  - An Important Duty.

PMID- 20891701
TI  - The Triumph of Democracy.

PMID- 20891703
TI  - The Venereal Problem.

PMID- 20891704
TI  - Not How Much but How Well.

PMID- 20891706
TI  - The West Virginia State Colored Tuberculosis Sanatorium.

PMID- 20891705
TI  - The Female Pelvis.

PMID- 20891708
TI  - Influenza and Pneumonia in Philadelphia.

PMID- 20891707
TI  - Dr. U. G. Dailey.

PMID- 20891709
TI  - Our Next Meeting.

PMID- 20891710
TI  - The Negro Medical Profession and United States Army.

PMID- 20891711
TI  - The Tidewater Colored Hospital.

PMID- 20891712
TI  - Reconstruction.

PMID- 20891713
TI  - Care of Eyes of New Born.

PMID- 20891714
TI  - Some Perversions of the Sexual Instinct.

PMID- 20891715
TI  - A Successful Remedy for the Relief of Odema in Cardio-Renal Conditions.

PMID- 20891716
TI  - Clinical Notes on the Influenza Epidemic.

PMID- 20891718
TI  - The Pus Tube.

PMID- 20891717
TI  - Historical Notes on Influenza.

PMID- 20891719
TI  - The Venereal Problem in Civil Life.

PMID- 20891720
TI  - Some Facts Concerning Negro Nurse Training Schools and Their Graduates.

PMID- 20891721
TI  - Climate, The Ignis Fatuus in the Treatment of Tuberculosis.

PMID- 20891722
TI  - The Venereal Situation.

PMID- 20891723
TI  - Influenza and Racial Susceptibility.

PMID- 20891725
TI  - Reciprocity.

PMID- 20891724
TI  - Recognition of the N. M. A.

PMID- 20891727
TI  - Patronize our Advertisers.

PMID- 20891726
TI  - Requirements for Membership in the N. M. A.

PMID- 20891728
TI  - A Half Million Endowment for Meharry.

PMID- 20891729
TI  - The Editor's Plea for Mercy.

PMID- 20891730
TI  - Letters to the Editor.

PMID- 20891731
TI  - N. M. A. Communications.

PMID- 20891733
TI  - Reconstruction.

PMID- 20891735
TI  - Mortality and Health, the Fruits of Intelligence and Self Control.

PMID- 20891734
TI  - The Effect of Strenuous Life Upon Health.

PMID- 20891736
TI  - Cancer of the Uterus.

PMID- 20891738
TI  - Reconstruction.

PMID- 20891737
TI  - The History and Problems of the Dental Profession.

PMID- 20891740
TI  - Better Preparation for Practitioners of Medicine.

PMID- 20891739
TI  - Negro Health.

PMID- 20891742
TI  - The Journal in Closer Affiliation with State Medical Associations.

PMID- 20891741
TI  - Progress in Gynecologic Surgery.

PMID- 20891744
TI  - Medical Book Buying and Journal Advertisers.

PMID- 20891743
TI  - Silent Influences.

PMID- 20891746
TI  - The Doctor's Vacation.

PMID- 20891745
TI  - The American Red Cross First Aid Course in Many of the Summer Normals.

PMID- 20891748
TI  - Improving Yank Hospitals.

PMID- 20891747
TI  - Our President.

PMID- 20891749
TI  - Summer Hygiene.

PMID- 20891750
TI  - Resolutions.

PMID- 20891751
TI  - The Nurse's Part in Winning the War.

PMID- 20891753
TI  - N. M. A. Communication.

PMID- 20891752
TI  - Hospital and Training School Methods.

PMID- 20891754
TI  - Some Lesions of the Alimentary Tract, with Report of Cases.

PMID- 20891755
TI  - Dysmenarrhea: Due to Appendicitis.

PMID- 20891756
TI  - Blood Pressure an Aid in Diagnosis.

PMID- 20891757
TI  - Some Points on Developing a Hospital.

PMID- 20891758
TI  - The Care of the Eyes of the Presbyopic.

PMID- 20891760
TI  - Public Health Education.

PMID- 20891759
TI  - Operative Surgery, etc.

PMID- 20891761
TI  - Spanish Influenza.

PMID- 20891762
TI  - Blood Pressure.

PMID- 20891763
TI  - Drugs and their Relation to the Physician.

PMID- 20891764
TI  - The Newark Meeting.

PMID- 20891765
TI  - The South and Negro Education.

PMID- 20891766
TI  - Our President.

PMID- 20891767
TI  - The Clinical Aspect of Dental Programs.

PMID- 20891768
TI  - Our President-Elect.

PMID- 20891769
TI  - Will the "Flu" Return?

PMID- 20891770
TI  - A Three-Cornered Campaign.

PMID- 20891771
TI  - More Complete Reports of Discussions.

PMID- 20891772
TI  - The N. M. A. Teaching the Public.

PMID- 20891773
TI  - N. M. A. Communications.

PMID- 20891774
TI  - Report of General Secretary.

PMID- 20891775
TI  - Report of the Secretary of the Executive Board.

PMID- 20891776
TI  - Report of the Editor and Manager of the Journal.

PMID- 20891777
TI  - Reconstruction.

PMID- 20891778
TI  - The Negro Doctor and The War.

PMID- 20891780
TI  - Medical Aspect of Gas Warfare.

PMID- 20891781
TI  - Dental Operation During Pregnancy.

PMID- 20891782
TI  - The X-Ray, A Potent Factor in Determining Important Decisions.

PMID- 20891783
TI  - The Arkansas Hot Springs Baths.

PMID- 20891784
TI  - The Gynecologist: Some of His Problems, etc.

PMID- 20891785
TI  - Hysteria.

PMID- 20891787
TI  - A Plea For A More Careful Consideration of the Pregnant Woman.

PMID- 20891786
TI  - Vaccine Therapy.

PMID- 20891788
TI  - A Racial Phase of Professional Obligation.

PMID- 20891790
TI  - A Phase of Birth Control.

PMID- 20891789
TI  - Commercializing Medicine.

PMID- 20891791
TI  - Why the Journal was late.

PMID- 20891792
TI  - United States Census.

PMID- 20891794
TI  - N. M. A. Communications.

PMID- 20891793
TI  - Report from the Manager of the Journal of the N. M. A.

PMID- 20891796
TI  - Reconstruction.

PMID- 20891797
TI  - The Negotiations of Medicine.

PMID- 20891798
TI  - Observations of Surgical Conditions of the Right Upper Quadrant.

PMID- 20891800
TI  - The Duty of the Physician to the Child.

PMID- 20891799
TI  - Ocular Symptoms as an Aid in Diagnosis.

PMID- 20891801
TI  - A Post-Graduate Course in Tuberculosis at the Piedmont Sanatorium, Burkeville,
      Va.

PMID- 20891802
TI  - The Effects of Certain Physical Impairments on Mortality.

PMID- 20891803
TI  - The Bacillus Tuberculosis: Its Morphological and Pathological Characteristics.

PMID- 20891805
TI  - Dr. Geo. W. Cabaniss.

PMID- 20891804
TI  - X-Ray as an Aid to Diagnosis.

PMID- 20891807
TI  - Exercise.

PMID- 20891806
TI  - The Busy Doctor.

PMID- 20891808
TI  - Dr. Perry's Paper.

PMID- 20891809
TI  - The Meharry Clinics.

PMID- 20891811
TI  - The Coming Meeting of the N. M. A.

PMID- 20891810
TI  - Sexual Impulse.

PMID- 20891812
TI  - N. M. A. Communications.

PMID- 20891815
TI  - The Care of the Eyes During Adolescence.

PMID- 20891814
TI  - Report of the Pellagra Commission of the National Medical Association.

PMID- 20891816
TI  - Importance of Early Diagnosis in Cancer of the Stomach.

PMID- 20891817
TI  - A Clinical Review of Four Types of Breast Tumors: Observed in the Surgical Wards
      of Freedmen's Hospital, Washington, D. C.

PMID- 20891818
TI  - Gastroptosis, Enteroptosis or Visceroptosis following hysterectomies.

PMID- 20891820
TI  - Radical Operation on the Female Reproductive Organs.

PMID- 20891819
TI  - Case Reports: Thoracic Aneurysms.

PMID- 20891821
TI  - Opium-Inebriety, Morphinism, Narcomania.

PMID- 20891823
TI  - The Editor Afield.

PMID- 20891822
TI  - Peridontaclasia.

PMID- 20891824
TI  - The Age I wish I Could Be.

PMID- 20891825
TI  - Howard University School of Medicine.

PMID- 20891827
TI  - The Atlanta Meeting of the National Medical Association.

PMID- 20891826
TI  - A Post-Graduate Course at the John A. Andrew Memorial Hospital.

PMID- 20891828
TI  - Our Shortcomings.

PMID- 20891831
TI  - Reconstruction.

PMID- 20891829
TI  - Some Observations on Pellagra with Special Reference to Therapy.

PMID- 20891833
TI  - Erysipelas.

PMID- 20891832
TI  - N. M. A. Communications.

PMID- 20891834
TI  - The Venereal Problem.

PMID- 20891835
TI  - Some Ramifications of the Sexual Impulse.

PMID- 20891836
TI  - Experiments in Vaccinotherapy.

PMID- 20891838
TI  - Acute Mastoiditis: With report of two cases.

PMID- 20891837
TI  - The Present Day Preparations of Salvarsan: With Special Reference to their
      Influence on the Wasserman Reaction.

PMID- 20891839
TI  - Embolic Abscess of the Lung: Secondary to a Mastoid Operation.

PMID- 20891840
TI  - Report of the Pellagra Commission of the N. M. A.

PMID- 20891841
TI  - The Early Diagnosis of Pulmonary Tuberculosis.

PMID- 20891843
TI  - Chronic Nephropathics.

PMID- 20891842
TI  - A Safe and Efficient Plan of Surgical Treatment for Prostatic Obstruction.

PMID- 20891844
TI  - Mastication and Saliva.

PMID- 20891846
TI  - Trip to Tuskegee.

PMID- 20891845
TI  - The Atlanta Meeting of the Nat'l Med. Asso'n.

PMID- 20891848
TI  - National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses.

PMID- 20891847
TI  - Our New President and President-elect.

PMID- 20891850
TI  - Chylo-Thorax: With report of a case.

PMID- 20891849
TI  - N. M. A. Communications.

PMID- 20891852
TI  - Personal Experiences with a Stricture of Stenson's Duct: A Salivary Calculus,
      Salivary Fistula and Enucleation of the Parotid Gland.

PMID- 20891853
TI  - The Early Recognition of Ectopic Pregnancy.

PMID- 20891854
TI  - Posterior Gastro-Enterostomy.

PMID- 20891856
TI  - Internal Medicine: Diagnosis-Laboratory.

PMID- 20891855
TI  - Rheumatism and the Phylacogens: Observations during their use.

PMID- 20891857
TI  - Influenza.

PMID- 20891858
TI  - Puerperal Eclampsia.

PMID- 20891859
TI  - Venereal Disease, A Problem of All Races.

PMID- 20891861
TI  - Dr. George W. Hubbard Retires.

PMID- 20891860
TI  - Popliteal Aneurism from a medical viewpoint: Report of a Case.

PMID- 20891862
TI  - The need of more Internists.

PMID- 20891864
TI  - A Trio of Events at the John A. Andrew Memorial Hospital.

PMID- 20891863
TI  - The Daniel Hale Williams Surgical and Oral Society.

PMID- 20891865
TI  - To Drain or not to Drain.

PMID- 20891866
TI  - The Venereal Problem.

PMID- 20891868
TI  - The Louisville Meeting of the N. M. A.

PMID- 20891867
TI  - Medico-Legal: Reporting Venereal Infection.

PMID- 20891869
TI  - N. M. A. Communications.

PMID- 20891870
TI  - Ectopic Gestation.

PMID- 20891871
TI  - Toxemias of Pregnancy.

PMID- 20891872
TI  - School Medical Inspection: Its object and results.

PMID- 20891873
TI  - Practical Points on the Nose, Throat and Ear.

PMID- 20891874
TI  - Case Reports.

PMID- 20891875
TI  - Our Secretary.

PMID- 20891877
TI  - The Clinic and Post Graduate Course at Tuskegee Institute.

PMID- 20891876
TI  - Losing our Advertising.

PMID- 20891879
TI  - N. M. A. Communications.

PMID- 20891878
TI  - Meharry in Mourning.

PMID- 20891881
TI  - The Early Diagnosis of Pulmonary Tuberculosis: With Roentgen Diagnosis
      (illustrated).

PMID- 20891883
TI  - Open Pneumothorax.

PMID- 20891882
TI  - The Value of the Paradoxical Reflex (Gordon Reflex): Apropos of a Case of Abscess
      in the Occipital Lobe.

PMID- 20891884
TI  - Pellagra.

PMID- 20891885
TI  - Unpunished Medical Crimes.

PMID- 20891886
TI  - Shock: Some Surgical observations with special reference to it.

PMID- 20891887
TI  - Some Phases in the Treatment of Lobar Pneumonia.

PMID- 20891888
TI  - Chorea.

PMID- 20891889
TI  - The Social Status of Medicine.

PMID- 20891891
TI  - The Tonsils-Gateways to Many Ills.

PMID- 20891890
TI  - The Diagnosis of Foreign Body in the Lung.

PMID- 20891892
TI  - Galvanism in Gynaecology and in Genito-Urinary Practice.

PMID- 20891893
TI  - The Advantages of Using U. S. P. and N. F. Preparations Instead of Patent and
      Proprietary Medicines.

PMID- 20891894
TI  - Heart Sounds and their Diagnostic Value.

PMID- 20891895
TI  - The Relation of Eye, Ear, Nose, and Throat Surgery to General Surgery.

PMID- 20891896
TI  - Letters to the Editor.

PMID- 20891897
TI  - Letters to the Editor.

PMID- 20891900
TI  - Progress.

PMID- 20891898
TI  - Letters to the Editor.

PMID- 20891901
TI  - Galvanism in Gynecology.

PMID- 20891902
TI  - The Louisville Meeting of the N. M. A.

PMID- 20891903
TI  - Clinics at Louisville.

PMID- 20891904
TI  - Meharry Medical College.

PMID- 20891906
TI  - Dr. Jackson and the Tulsa Riots.

PMID- 20891905
TI  - The Editor Afield.

PMID- 20891907
TI  - Gordonsville, Va.

PMID- 20891908
TI  - N. M. A. Communications.

PMID- 20891909
TI  - The Urethroscope in the Diagnosis and Treatment of Diseases of the Male Urethra.

PMID- 20891911
TI  - Hypernephroma of the Right Kidney: Report of a Case.

PMID- 20891910
TI  - Acute Intestinal Obstruction: Some aspects of.

PMID- 20891912
TI  - Luetic Popliteal Aneurysm: With Report of a Case.

PMID- 20891914
TI  - Diabetes Mellitus.

PMID- 20891913
TI  - Carcinoma of the Breast: Pre-operative and Post-operative X-Ray Treatment of.

PMID- 20891915
TI  - The Louisville Meeting of the National Medical Association.

PMID- 20891916
TI  - A Change in the Business Management of the Journal.

PMID- 20891918
TI  - Hospital Notes.

PMID- 20891917
TI  - The Indifference of the Negro Medical Profession.

PMID- 20891920
TI  - On Chartering the N. M. A.

PMID- 20891919
TI  - Dr. Garvin.

PMID- 20891922
TI  - N. M. A. Communications.

PMID- 20891921
TI  - Our New President.

PMID- 20891923
TI  - Syphilis of the Throat.

PMID- 20891924
TI  - Female Pelvic Disorders: Differential Diagnosis of.

PMID- 20891925
TI  - A New Responsibility for the Physician.

PMID- 20891926
TI  - Our Hospitals and their Standardization.

PMID- 20891927
TI  - The Motion Picture: Its Practical Value in Teaching Obstetrics.

PMID- 20891928
TI  - Nephritis.

PMID- 20891930
TI  - Sex, Suggestion and Society.

PMID- 20891929
TI  - Nephritis: The Conservative Treatment of.

PMID- 20891931
TI  - The Cancer Problem.

PMID- 20891932
TI  - Dr. G. W. Alexander.

PMID- 20891933
TI  - "Our Lay Bosses".

PMID- 20891934
TI  - Spare the Editor.

PMID- 20891935
TI  - National Negro Health Week.

PMID- 20891936
TI  - The Syphylitic Problem.

PMID- 20891937
TI  - Activities at John A. Andrew Memorial Hospital.

PMID- 20891939
TI  - Vacation.

PMID- 20891938
TI  - The Outlook for the N. M. A.

PMID- 20891941
TI  - The Wassermann Reaction: The Nature of, in Relation to its Clinical Value and the
      Standardization of Technic.

PMID- 20891940
TI  - N. M. A. Communications.

PMID- 20891943
TI  - Cancer,Facts and Figures about.

PMID- 20891944
TI  - Rickets, The Surgical Treatment of the Chronic Deformities of: With Emphasis on
      Bow-Legs and Knock-Knees.

PMID- 20891945
TI  - The Washington Meeting of the National Medical Association.

PMID- 20891946
TI  - On Pauperizing the Laity.

PMID- 20891947
TI  - Our Educational Congress.

PMID- 20891949
TI  - Does it Pay?

PMID- 20891948
TI  - School Diets.

PMID- 20891950
TI  - Lincoln University of Missouri.

PMID- 20891951
TI  - Post-Graduate Course in Nursing.

PMID- 20891952
TI  - N. M. A. Communications.

PMID- 20891953
TI  - Mental and Nervous Conditions Following Traumatism: Medico-Legal Consideration
      of.

PMID- 20891954
TI  - Why Report Communicable Diseases?

PMID- 20891956
TI  - Pellagra: Some Observation Upon More Than Fifty Cases of.

PMID- 20891955
TI  - Some Phenomena of Liver Pathology.

PMID- 20891957
TI  - Personality in Progress.

PMID- 20891958
TI  - Preventive Medicine: A Potent Asset in Our Social, Moral, Economic, and
      Intellectual Life.

PMID- 20891959
TI  - Syphilis of the Respiratory Tract and Lungs.

PMID- 20891961
TI  - Care of Infants.

PMID- 20891960
TI  - Neglected Anatomy: Hypertrophy of the Prostate.

PMID- 20891962
TI  - The Future of the Internist.

PMID- 20891964
TI  - The Tuning Fork Tests.

PMID- 20891963
TI  - Medicine-Past, Present and Future.

PMID- 20891965
TI  - State Control of Venereal Diseases.

PMID- 20891966
TI  - The Acute Abdomen.

PMID- 20891967
TI  - Abdominal Tumor: Report of an Unusual Case.

PMID- 20891969
TI  - Gastric and Duodenal Ulcers: With Report of Two Cases.

PMID- 20891968
TI  - Fractures of the Long Bones: With especial reference to Treatment by Suspension
      and Extension.

PMID- 20891970
TI  - The Normal Chest of the Child: X-Ray and Clinical Findings.

PMID- 20891971
TI  - Cardio-Vascular Syphilis.

PMID- 20891972
TI  - Syphilis: Diagnosis, Prognosis and Treatment.

PMID- 20891973
TI  - Carcinoma of the Undescended Abdominal Testicle : Report of a case.

PMID- 20891974
TI  - Bacterial Vaccines: In the Treatment of Infections.

PMID- 20891975
TI  - Allergy and Anaphylaxis.

PMID- 20891976
TI  - Pennsylvania on Top.

PMID- 20891977
TI  - Relation of State Associations to the Journal.

PMID- 20891979
TI  - Hospitals in Prospect.

PMID- 20891978
TI  - School of Public Health and Hygiene.

PMID- 20891980
TI  - Physicians and Post-Graduate work.

PMID- 20891981
TI  - Proposed Changes in the Education of Nurses.

PMID- 20891982
TI  - N. M. A. Communications.

PMID- 20891984
TI  - Skeletology.

PMID- 20891985
TI  - Ptosis of the Transverse Colon.

PMID- 20891986
TI  - Diagnosis Essential to Treatment.

PMID- 20891987
TI  - Problems in the Rehabilitation of Victims of War.

PMID- 20891988
TI  - Masters in Medicine.

PMID- 20891989
TI  - Basal Metabolism in Medical Practice.

PMID- 20891990
TI  - The Contra-Indications of Tonsillectomy.

PMID- 20891991
TI  - High Blood Pressure: The Role of High Frequency in the Treatment of.

PMID- 20891992
TI  - Reports of Three Cases.

PMID- 20891993
TI  - Did the Washington Meeting Justify Our Expectations?

PMID- 20891994
TI  - The John A. Andrew Clinic and Post-Graduate Course.

PMID- 20891996
TI  - The National Medical Association.

PMID- 20891995
TI  - Supporting Our Medical Schools.

PMID- 20891997
TI  - N. M. A. Communications.

PMID- 20891998
TI  - Therapeutic Notes: Social Hygiene.

PMID- 20892000
TI  - Medical and Surgical Pitfalls.

PMID- 20891999
TI  - Tuberculosis from the Standpoint of Pathology.

PMID- 20892002
TI  - A Standard of Cure in Gonorrheal Urethritis in the Male.

PMID- 20892001
TI  - Multiplex Pathology and the Cancer Problem.

PMID- 20892003
TI  - A Plea for More Careful Histories and Physical Examination of Venereal Disease
      Patients.

PMID- 20892004
TI  - Anesthesia.

PMID- 20892005
TI  - Organotherapy.

PMID- 20892007
TI  - Gunshot Wound of the Abdomen.

PMID- 20892006
TI  - Pneumoperitoneum as an Aid in Diagnosis.

PMID- 20892009
TI  - Some Possibilities and Opportunities in Medical Practice in the South.

PMID- 20892008
TI  - Dengue Fever: Presented through the Analysis of recent Epidemic Cases.

PMID- 20892010
TI  - Pulmonary Tuberculosis: Some Observations from a Study of three hundred Cases.

PMID- 20892011
TI  - Mortality from Tuberculosis 1921.

PMID- 20892012
TI  - The Washington Meeting.

PMID- 20892013
TI  - Our Next Meeting - St. Louis.

PMID- 20892014
TI  - House of Delegates.

PMID- 20892016
TI  - The Kahn Precipitation Test.

PMID- 20892015
TI  - Mental Abnormalities and the Problem of Eugenics.

PMID- 20892018
TI  - National Negro Health Week.

PMID- 20892017
TI  - "American Civilization and The Negro".

PMID- 20892019
TI  - N. M. A. Communications.

PMID- 20892020
TI  - Therapeutic Notes: Notes on Applied Therapeutics.

PMID- 20892021
TI  - Routine Examination of the Feces: With Special Reference to Parasites.

PMID- 20892022
TI  - Syphilis: Modern Diagnosis and Treatment of.

PMID- 20892023
TI  - General Anesthesia.

PMID- 20892024
TI  - Myotonia: Remarks on, apropos of a case of Paramyotonia limited to the
      Orbicularis Palpebrarum.

PMID- 20892026
TI  - The National Medical Association President.

PMID- 20892025
TI  - "A Grave Warmed by Glory".

PMID- 20892028
TI  - The John A. Andrew Clinics.

PMID- 20892027
TI  - Coueism, Hypnotism, Eddyism, et al.

PMID- 20892030
TI  - N. M. A. Communications.

PMID- 20892029
TI  - The Community Hospital, Wilmington, N. C.

PMID- 20892031
TI  - Thrombus of the Pelvis and Lower Extremities: Some Observations on.

PMID- 20892033
TI  - Basal Metabolism: A Few Observations on.

PMID- 20892032
TI  - The Treatment of Fractures.

PMID- 20892034
TI  - Calcium in the Treatment of Heart Diseases.

PMID- 20892035
TI  - Reflex Gastric Manifestations.

PMID- 20892036
TI  - Pathology and Diagnosis of Acute Pancreatitis.

PMID- 20892038
TI  - The National Medical Association Gets Recognition.

PMID- 20892037
TI  - Gonorrhea: From the Viewpoint of the Practitioner.

PMID- 20892039
TI  - Anti-Tuberculosis Work Among The Negroes of Philadelphia.

PMID- 20892040
TI  - Dengue Fever.

PMID- 20892041
TI  - N. M. A. Communications.

PMID- 20892042
TI  - The Principles of Bone Surgery.

PMID- 20892043
TI  - Non-Specific Immunity: A Note on the Increase of, and Preliminary Treatment in
      Operations with Latent Infections.

PMID- 20892044
TI  - Errors and Shortcomings in Diagnosis.

PMID- 20892045
TI  - The Prostate in General Practice.

PMID- 20892046
TI  - Hysterectomies for Fibro-Myoma: A Review of Forty-five Selected Cases.

PMID- 20892047
TI  - Public Health and the Negro.

PMID- 20892048
TI  - Typhoid Fever.

PMID- 20892049
TI  - Genius and Illness.

PMID- 20892050
TI  - Our New President.

PMID- 20892051
TI  - Public Health and The Negro.

PMID- 20892052
TI  - Our President-Elect.

PMID- 20892053
TI  - The St. Louis Meeting of The National Medical Association.

PMID- 20892055
TI  - N. M. A. Communications.

PMID- 20892054
TI  - A Plea for Support of Our Medical Schools.

PMID- 20892057
TI  - Summer Diarrhoea: (Acute Gastro-enteritis ).

PMID- 20892056
TI  - The Therapy of Erysipelas: A Note on, With Special Reference to the Supporting
      Influence of Red Light Rays.

PMID- 20892058
TI  - Pelvic Surgery: Time and Advisability of Operation in Certain Pathological
      Conditions.

PMID- 20892060
TI  - Pre-operative and Post-operative Treatment.

PMID- 20892059
TI  - Conservatism in Surgery.

PMID- 20892061
TI  - The Small Hospital: Some Observations and Conclusions.

PMID- 20892062
TI  - The Symptomatology of Tuberculosis.

PMID- 20892063
TI  - A Useful Diagnostic Aid in Syphilis.

PMID- 20892065
TI  - An Alarming Condition.

PMID- 20892064
TI  - Syphilis as Seen by the Ophthalmologist.

PMID- 20892067
TI  - Medical Economics.

PMID- 20892066
TI  - Our Medical Schools again.

PMID- 20892068
TI  - The Hampton Meeting.

PMID- 20892070
TI  - The Physiology of Vomiting.

PMID- 20892069
TI  - The Physiology of Digestion.

PMID- 20892072
TI  - The Sippy Treatment for Gastric Ulcer: (Compiled from directions of the Sippy
      Clinic).

PMID- 20892071
TI  - Mucous Colitis.

PMID- 20892074
TI  - In The Mountain City.

PMID- 20892073
TI  - Gastric Ulcer.

PMID- 20892075
TI  - Recognition.

PMID- 20892076
TI  - The Real Surgeon.

PMID- 20892077
TI  - Cervical Adenitis: The Diagnosis and Treatment of.

PMID- 20892079
TI  - Insulin Treatment of Diabetes.

PMID- 20892078
TI  - Syphilis: A Report of two Cases.

PMID- 20892080
TI  - Syphilis: The Role of the General Practitioner in the Treatment of.

PMID- 20892081
TI  - Malnutrition in Infancy and Early Childhood: With specific reference to the
      pathologic and physiologic actions of the Endocrines-A resume.

PMID- 20892082
TI  - Tuberculous Laryngitis: Some New Conclusions from a Study of 273 Cases.

PMID- 20892083
TI  - The Cultural Background of Modern Medicine.

PMID- 20892085
TI  - Hydronephrosis.

PMID- 20892084
TI  - Meningeal Hemorrhages in the Newly Born: And their Remote Consequences.

PMID- 20892086
TI  - Studies in Basal Metabolism Rate Determinations.

PMID- 20892087
TI  - The Responsibility of the Hospital to the Training School.

PMID- 20892088
TI  - Factors Fundamental in the Growth and Development of a People.

PMID- 20892090
TI  - Preventive Medicine.

PMID- 20892089
TI  - Exophthalmic Goiter-Hyperthyroidism.

PMID- 20892092
TI  - The Status of the National Medical Association.

PMID- 20892091
TI  - Diagnosis.

PMID- 20892093
TI  - The Chicago Session of the American Medical Association.

PMID- 20892094
TI  - The Doctor's Vacation.

PMID- 20892095
TI  - Dr. Jos. H. Ward heads Veterans Hospital.

PMID- 20892096
TI  - "Soul Sick".

PMID- 20892097
TI  - Chronic Intoxication with Valerian: Nervous and Mental Manifestations Following.

PMID- 20892098
TI  - Etiology and Pathogenesis of Primary Glaucoma.

PMID- 20892099
TI  - Hospital Economics.

PMID- 20892100
TI  - Physiotherapy: Is an Aid to Surgery and Internal Medicine.

PMID- 20892101
TI  - The Hampton Meeting.

PMID- 20892102
TI  - Our President.

PMID- 20892104
TI  - The New Secretary and Business Manager.

PMID- 20892103
TI  - The President-Elect.

PMID- 20892105
TI  - Mental Hygiene: Its Necessity and Socio-Economic Importance.

PMID- 20892106
TI  - Anaphylaxis: In its Relation to Hay-fever and Asthma.

PMID- 20892107
TI  - Neurasthenia.

PMID- 20892108
TI  - The Value of Blood Cultures in Streptococcic Infections.

PMID- 20892109
TI  - The Roentgen-ray Diagnosis of Pulmonary Tuberculosis.

PMID- 20892111
TI  - The John A. Andrew Clinics.

PMID- 20892110
TI  - Bright Prospects Ahead for the N. M. A.

PMID- 20892112
TI  - The Tragedy of Standard Life.

PMID- 20892113
TI  - Pollinosis.

PMID- 20892114
TI  - The "Nervous Child".

PMID- 20892115
TI  - Some Practical Suggestions from my Experience in Surgery and Gynecology.

PMID- 20892116
TI  - Simultaneous Dislocation of Both Shoulder Joints.

PMID- 20892117
TI  - Dionol.

PMID- 20892119
TI  - Dr. George E. Cannon.

PMID- 20892118
TI  - Acute Anterior Poliomyelitis.

PMID- 20892120
TI  - Lethargica Medicalis.

PMID- 20892121
TI  - The Colored Specialist.

PMID- 20892123
TI  - Sialorrhea as a Symptom of Chronic Pancreatitis.

PMID- 20892122
TI  - The Biological Aspects of Eugenics.

PMID- 20892124
TI  - Dean Balloch Honored.

PMID- 20892125
TI  - The Editor's Visit to Philadelphia.

PMID- 20892126
TI  - Experience in the Surgery of the Biliary Tract with Special Reference to Stone.

PMID- 20892127
TI  - Post Mortem Review of Heart Diagnoses.

PMID- 20892128
TI  - Traumatic Epilepsy.

PMID- 20892130
TI  - Rickets.

PMID- 20892129
TI  - Hematuria: Report of Cases.

PMID- 20892131
TI  - Local Anaesthesia in Tonsillectomy.

PMID- 20892133
TI  - Am I My Brother's Keeper?

PMID- 20892132
TI  - Case Reports.

PMID- 20892135
TI  - Mrs. Booker T. Washington.

PMID- 20892134
TI  - The Clinical Surgeon.

PMID- 20892136
TI  - Dr. George E. Cannon.

PMID- 20892137
TI  - The Acute Abdomen.

PMID- 20892138
TI  - The Hypophysis Gland: The Methods of Diagnosis in Functional and Pathological
      Changes of.

PMID- 20892139
TI  - Sarcoma of Superior Maxillary Bone and Pellagra.

PMID- 20892140
TI  - Anthropological Psychiatry.

PMID- 20892142
TI  - A Handmaid of Medicine.

PMID- 20892141
TI  - Some Personal Observations on Operative Technic.

PMID- 20892144
TI  - A Laboratory for the Study of the Abnormal Classes.

PMID- 20892143
TI  - The National Hospital Association.

PMID- 20892145
TI  - The Dawn of a Better Day.

PMID- 20892146
TI  - Our President-Elect.

PMID- 20892147
TI  - Young Men to the Front.

PMID- 20892148
TI  - The President of the N. M. A.

PMID- 20892149
TI  - Journal Advertising.

PMID- 20892150
TI  - The N. M. A. Visitors.

PMID- 20892151
TI  - In re the Trial of Dr. Sweet.

PMID- 20892153
TI  - Granuloma Inguinale : (Report of a Case).

PMID- 20892152
TI  - Leiomyofibroma of the Uterus : A Report of two Cases Complicating Pregnancy.

PMID- 20892154
TI  - Notes on Postgraduate Study in Europe.

PMID- 20892156
TI  - North Carolina Points the Way.

PMID- 20892155
TI  - Syphilis and the Negro.

PMID- 20892157
TI  - The National Medical Association Tour of European Clinics for 1927.

PMID- 20892158
TI  - Doctor Dailey Abroad.

PMID- 20892160
TI  - Mouth Hygiene.

PMID- 20892159
TI  - The Philadelphia Meeting of the N. M. A.

PMID- 20892161
TI  - The John A. Andrew Clinics.

PMID- 20892162
TI  - Hyperthyroidism : A Report of 125 Cases.

PMID- 20892163
TI  - Modern Aspects of the Treatment of Cancer.

PMID- 20892165
TI  - Exophthalmic Goiter: The Diagnosis of.

PMID- 20892164
TI  - The Medicolegal Aspect of Morbid Impulses.

PMID- 20892167
TI  - Bronchial Asthma.

PMID- 20892166
TI  - Roentgen Ray Diagnosis of the Diseases of the Thoracic Viscera.

PMID- 20892168
TI  - Inoperable Sarcoma of Leg: Report of a Case.

PMID- 20892170
TI  - Our Own Valhalla.

PMID- 20892169
TI  - Notes on Post-graduate Study in Europe.

PMID- 20892171
TI  - National Negro Health Week.

PMID- 20892172
TI  - The European Clinical Tour in 1927.

PMID- 20892174
TI  - The Piedmont Medical Bulletin.

PMID- 20892173
TI  - The National Hospital Association.

PMID- 20892175
TI  - Dr. A. M. Curtis Honored.

PMID- 20892176
TI  - Miss Jane E. Hunter.

PMID- 20892177
TI  - Treatment of Head Injuries.

PMID- 20892179
TI  - The Pediatric Department of Wheatley-Provident Hospital, Kansas City, Mo.

PMID- 20892180
TI  - Modern Surgery.

PMID- 20892178
TI  - Uterine Fibroids Complicating Pregnancy.

PMID- 20892182
TI  - Negro Death Rate in Boston.

PMID- 20892181
TI  - Notes on Postgraduate Study in Europe.

PMID- 20892183
TI  - John A. Andrew Clinic.

PMID- 20892184
TI  - Opening of State Hospital for Colored Insane in West Virginia.

PMID- 20892186
TI  - Mercy Hospital, Philadelphia.

PMID- 20892185
TI  - A Gratifying Accomplishment.

PMID- 20892187
TI  - Why a National Hospital Association.

PMID- 20892188
TI  - An Important Conference.

PMID- 20892190
TI  - The Surgical Treatment of Hemorrhoids: The Principles and Technic of.

PMID- 20892192
TI  - The Use of Insulin in Treatment of Diabetes Mellitus with Limited Laboratory
      Facilities.

PMID- 20892191
TI  - Some High Lights on Physiotherapy.

PMID- 20892193
TI  - The Aftermath.

PMID- 20892194
TI  - The Philadelphia Meeting and its Lessons.

PMID- 20892196
TI  - Dr. Carl G. Roberts.

PMID- 20892195
TI  - Some Impressions of the Philadelphia Meeting.

PMID- 20892197
TI  - The National Hospital Association.

PMID- 20892198
TI  - As Others See Us.

PMID- 20892199
TI  - Our President-Elect.

PMID- 20892202
TI  - The Treatment of Toxic Goiter in 1926.

PMID- 20892200
TI  - Current Medical Thought.

PMID- 20892203
TI  - The Enlarged Prostate.

PMID- 20892205
TI  - Altruism in Medicine.

PMID- 20892204
TI  - Surgical Conditions in the Right Side of the Female Abdomen: Some Points in the
      Differential Diagnosis of.

PMID- 20892206
TI  - Heart Disease, Apoplexy and High-Speed Living.

PMID- 20892207
TI  - Dr. Joseph J. France.

PMID- 20892209
TI  - Gastro-Intestinal Symptoms of Neurosyphilis.

PMID- 20892208
TI  - The X-Ray in Diagnosis.

PMID- 20892210
TI  - Heart Disease: A Few Points in the Management of.

PMID- 20892211
TI  - Dr. Alexander's Twenty Years: A Eulogy and Introduction.

PMID- 20892212
TI  - Hospitals.

PMID- 20892213
TI  - The Pituitary Gland: The Surgical Treatment of Diseases of.

PMID- 20892215
TI  - Our Medical Endowment Funds.

PMID- 20892214
TI  - Ammonium Chloride and Novasurol: The Use of, as a Diuretic.

PMID- 20892216
TI  - The Commission on Inter-Racial Co-Operation.

PMID- 20892217
TI  - Patronage for Our Advertisers.

PMID- 20892218
TI  - Current Medical Thought.

PMID- 20892219
TI  - The Treatment of Diabetes Mellitus by the General Practitioner.

PMID- 20892220
TI  - Pancreatic Cysts: With Report of a Case.

PMID- 20892221
TI  - The Acute Surgical Abdomen.

PMID- 20892222
TI  - Hernia.

PMID- 20892223
TI  - Uterine Fibroids.

PMID- 20892225
TI  - The Detroit Meeting.

PMID- 20892224
TI  - Cancer: A Brief Study in, with Special Reference to its Surgical Treatment.

PMID- 20892226
TI  - Simplicity in the Use of Insulin.

PMID- 20892227
TI  - A Plea for Meharry Endowment Fund.

PMID- 20892228
TI  - Howard Goes Over the Top.

PMID- 20892229
TI  - Cancer.

PMID- 20892230
TI  - Dr. A. W. Dumas Added to the Editorial Board.

PMID- 20892231
TI  - Current Medical Thought.

PMID- 20892232
TI  - Is Tubal Pregnancy Recognizable before Rupture?

PMID- 20892233
TI  - Trans-Uterine Insufflation for Determination of Patency of Fallopian Tubes.

PMID- 20892234
TI  - Diathermy in the Treatment of Gonorrhea.

PMID- 20892236
TI  - Our New President.

PMID- 20892235
TI  - Our President-Elect.

PMID- 20892238
TI  - Physicians' Liability Insurance.

PMID- 20892237
TI  - The Pullman Car Porters.

PMID- 20892240
TI  - The Detroit Meeting.

PMID- 20892241
TI  - Current Medical Thought.

PMID- 20892239
TI  - Dr. Eugene W. Lomax.

PMID- 20892242
TI  - Edema of the Larynx.

PMID- 20892243
TI  - The Underweight Child.

PMID- 20892244
TI  - An Unusual Gastric Neoplasm.

PMID- 20892245
TI  - High Blood Pressure in Insurance Examinations: The Significance of.

PMID- 20892246
TI  - A Needless Waste of Human Life.

PMID- 20892248
TI  - The Tuskegee Annual Clinic.

PMID- 20892247
TI  - National Negro Health and Clean-Up Week.

PMID- 20892249
TI  - The Provident Hospital and Free Dispensary of Baltimore.

PMID- 20892250
TI  - The Howard University Medical Endowment and Building Fund.

PMID- 20892251
TI  - The Thyroid, the Parathyroids and the Ovaries: The Functional Relation of.

PMID- 20892252
TI  - Granuloma Inguinale: (With Case Report).

PMID- 20892253
TI  - Non-Luetic Disorders in a Luetic Individual: Apropos of a Case of Jacksonian
      Epilepsy.

PMID- 20892255
TI  - Certain Aspects of the Diagnosis and Treatment of Brain Tumors.

PMID- 20892254
TI  - Current Medical Thought.

PMID- 20892256
TI  - Diagnosis of Pulmonary Tuberculosis.

PMID- 20892257
TI  - The Rational Management of Pelvic Infections.

PMID- 20892258
TI  - Some of the Problems of Hospital Administration.

PMID- 20892259
TI  - The Baltimore Meeting.

PMID- 20892260
TI  - Early Diagnosis of Tuberculosis.

PMID- 20892262
TI  - Dr. J. W. Jones Passes.

PMID- 20892261
TI  - Doctor L. L. Burwell.

PMID- 20892263
TI  - The Editor Reads Paper at Social Work Conference.

PMID- 20892264
TI  - Remarks on Chronic Ailments of the Colon.

PMID- 20892265
TI  - Fracture of the Pelvis and Rupture of the Bladder: Report of a Case.

PMID- 20892266
TI  - Protein (Milk) Therapy of Pelvic Inflammations: Report of First Hundred Cases.

PMID- 20892267
TI  - Importance of Early Diagnosis in Tuberculosis.

PMID- 20892268
TI  - Acute Perforated Gastric Ulcer: Diagnosis and Treatment of.

PMID- 20892269
TI  - The Relation of Goiter to the Borderline of Medicine.

PMID- 20892270
TI  - Surgery in the Diabetic.

PMID- 20892271
TI  - Turn on the Light.

PMID- 20892272
TI  - The National Medical Association's Surgical Clinics.

PMID- 20892273
TI  - Professional Esprit de Corps.

PMID- 20892274
TI  - The Ultimate Effects of War Gases.

PMID- 20892275
TI  - Meharry Dental Graduates Make Good Records.

PMID- 20892276
TI  - Surgery of the Intestines.

PMID- 20892277
TI  - Rene Theophile Hyacinthe Laennec.

PMID- 20892278
TI  - The Surgical Treatment of Peptic Ulcer: A Resume of Recent Concepts in.

PMID- 20892279
TI  - Prenatal Care.

PMID- 20892280
TI  - The Standardization of the Twenty-Five- to Thirty-Five-Bed Hospital.

PMID- 20892281
TI  - How Can We Reduce the Hospital Expenses Without Curtailing Its Services?

PMID- 20892282
TI  - Baltimore-The Aftermath.

PMID- 20892283
TI  - The National Medical Association Meets in Newark, 1929.

PMID- 20892284
TI  - Pre-Medical Education.

PMID- 20892285
TI  - National Medical Association Secretaries.

PMID- 20892286
TI  - Dr. Williston Passes Away.

PMID- 20892288
TI  - A Medical Officer in the President's Cabinet.

PMID- 20892287
TI  - Ex-Presidents' Council.

PMID- 20892289
TI  - Our New President and President-Elect.

PMID- 20892291
TI  - Hematuria, as a Result of Lesions Within, or Directly Affecting the Bladder.

PMID- 20892290
TI  - Essential Hypertension.

PMID- 20892292
TI  - The Hospital Survey.

PMID- 20892293
TI  - Should the Curette be Discarded?

PMID- 20892294
TI  - Fraudulent Advertising.

PMID- 20892295
TI  - The Influenza Epidemic.

PMID- 20892297
TI  - Dean Balloch Honored.

PMID- 20892296
TI  - National Negro Health Week.

PMID- 20892298
TI  - The 1929 Newark Meeting of the National Medical Association.

PMID- 20892299
TI  - The Conservation of Negro Infant Life.

PMID- 20892300
TI  - Treatment of Fractures.

PMID- 20892302
TI  - Secondary Syphilis.

PMID- 20892301
TI  - Primary Syphilis.

PMID- 20892303
TI  - Cardiovascular Syphilis: A Summary of Its Outstanding Features.

PMID- 20892305
TI  - Syphilis of the Bones.

PMID- 20892304
TI  - Meningo-Vascular Syphilis.

PMID- 20892306
TI  - Syphilis of the Parenchyma.

PMID- 20892307
TI  - Syphilis of the Brain and Cord.

PMID- 20892308
TI  - Obscure Syphilitic Manifestations.

PMID- 20892310
TI  - A Symposium on Syphilis.

PMID- 20892309
TI  - Comparative Therapy in Syphilis.

PMID- 20892312
TI  - The Newark Meeting of the National Medical Association.

PMID- 20892311
TI  - The U. S. Veterans' Hospital, Tuskegee, Ala., Colonel Joseph Henry Ward.

PMID- 20892313
TI  - For a Greater Meharry.

PMID- 20892314
TI  - X-Ray Treatment of Hyperthyroidism.

PMID- 20892315
TI  - Acidosis.

PMID- 20892316
TI  - Mastoid Disease.

PMID- 20892317
TI  - Cancer.

PMID- 20892318
TI  - The Diagnosis and Treatment of a Degenerated Fibroid Uterus and Its
      Complications.

PMID- 20892319
TI  - Our Hospital Problems.

PMID- 20892320
TI  - A Timely Editorial.

PMID- 20892322
TI  - The Doctor's Vacation.

PMID- 20892321
TI  - The Medical Profession.

PMID- 20892323
TI  - The Newark Meeting.

PMID- 20892324
TI  - Old North State Medical, Dental and Pharmaceutical Society.

PMID- 20892325
TI  - Acute Rheumatic Fever.

PMID- 20892326
TI  - Acute Rheumatism of Childhood.

PMID- 20892327
TI  - Discussion on Rheumatism.

PMID- 20892329
TI  - Treatment of Acute Rheumatic Fever.

PMID- 20892328
TI  - Diagnosis of Acute Rheumatic Fever.

PMID- 20892330
TI  - Intestinal Obstruction Caused by the Use of a Murphy Button---A Case.

PMID- 20892332
TI  - Acute Abdominal Attacks-Differential Diagnosis.

PMID- 20892331
TI  - Recent Advances in Medicine and Surgery.

PMID- 20892334
TI  - The Mirage of One Physiologic Positive From Two Pathologic Negatives.

PMID- 20892333
TI  - Malaria.

PMID- 20892335
TI  - Some Objective Symptoms of Syphilis in Infants.

PMID- 20892336
TI  - Apparent Circulatory Inpairments in Life Insurance Examinations.

PMID- 20892337
TI  - The Newark Meeting of the National Medical Association.

PMID- 20892339
TI  - Our New President and President-Elect.

PMID- 20892338
TI  - Social Events at the Newark Meeting.

PMID- 20892341
TI  - By the Way.

PMID- 20892340
TI  - Dr. Frank S. Hargrave, an Assemblyman.

PMID- 20892342
TI  - Some Problems Encountered in Surgery of the Intestines.

PMID- 20892343
TI  - Ethylene-The New General Anesthetic.

PMID- 20892344
TI  - The Medico-Legal Witness.

PMID- 20892345
TI  - Food Allergy-Two Unusual Cases.

PMID- 20892346
TI  - Curability of Tuberculosis.

PMID- 20892347
TI  - Tuberculosis in the Negro.

PMID- 20892348
TI  - Intravenous Therapy.

PMID- 20892349
TI  - Non-Surgical Treatment of Certain Gynecological Conditions.

PMID- 20892350
TI  - Some Facts Relative to Negro Mortality in the United States.

PMID- 20892351
TI  - Exploitation of the Sick.

PMID- 20892352
TI  - The Tuberculosis Problem.

PMID- 20892353
TI  - Conservative Gynecology.

PMID- 20892354
TI  - The Georgia State Medical Association Makes a New Move.

PMID- 20892355
TI  - The National Hospital Association.

PMID- 20892356
TI  - The Negro Death Rate.

PMID- 20892358
TI  - The John A. Andrew Clinics.

PMID- 20892357
TI  - National Negro Health Week.

PMID- 20892359
TI  - Gall-Bladder Surgery.

PMID- 20892360
TI  - Laceration of the Kidney; A Report of a Case.

PMID- 20892361
TI  - Health Service in a Negro District.

PMID- 20892362
TI  - Local Anesthesia.

PMID- 20892363
TI  - Syphilis, as Seen by the Ophthalmologist.

PMID- 20892364
TI  - The Eye Gone Astray.

PMID- 20892365
TI  - Synopsis of the Health Inventory of New York City From the Welfare Council of New
      York City.

PMID- 20892366
TI  - Some Significant Negro Movements to Lower their Mortality.

PMID- 20892368
TI  - Our Hospital Number.

PMID- 20892367
TI  - The Indianapolis Meeting.

PMID- 20892370
TI  - Attendance at Annual Sessions.

PMID- 20892369
TI  - The John A. Andrew Clinic.

PMID- 20892371
TI  - The Negro Hospital Renaissance.

PMID- 20892372
TI  - A Brief Study of the Hospital Situation Among Negroes.

PMID- 20892373
TI  - Hospitals and Health.

PMID- 20892374
TI  - Mercy Hospital.

PMID- 20892375
TI  - New Nurses' Home of Mercy Hospital and School for Nurses.

PMID- 20892376
TI  - Hospitals in Chicago.

PMID- 20892377
TI  - The Negro Physicians and the Hospitals of Cleveland.

PMID- 20892378
TI  - Kansas City (Missouri) Hospitals.

PMID- 20892379
TI  - The New Provident Hospital and Training School.

PMID- 20892380
TI  - Flint-Goodrich Hospital.

PMID- 20892381
TI  - The Hospital Situation in Nashville, Tenn.

PMID- 20892382
TI  - The Hospitals in New York State and Harlem.

PMID- 20892383
TI  - U. S. Veterans' Hospital.

PMID- 20892384
TI  - St. Agnes Hospital.

PMID- 20892385
TI  - The John A. Andrew Memorial Hospital.

PMID- 20892386
TI  - The Lincoln Hospital.

PMID- 20892387
TI  - The Missouri Hospital Situation.

PMID- 20892389
TI  - The L. Richardson Memorial Hospital.

PMID- 20892388
TI  - Some Educational Advantages of the Freedmen's Hospital and Asylum, Now a Prime
      Factor in Training Physicians and Nurses.

PMID- 20892390
TI  - Provident Hospital.

PMID- 20892391
TI  - The Hospital in Modern Communities.

PMID- 20892392
TI  - The New Meharry Medical College Plant.

PMID- 20892393
TI  - Working Benevolent Society Hospital.

PMID- 20892394
TI  - Mercy Hospital.

PMID- 20892395
TI  - Carson's Private Hospital.

PMID- 20892396
TI  - The Houston Negro Hospital.

PMID- 20892397
TI  - Dunbar Memorial Hospital.

PMID- 20892398
TI  - Whittaker Memorial Hospital and Training School for Nurses.

PMID- 20892399
TI  - Mercy Sanitarium.

PMID- 20892401
TI  - Kenney Memorial Hospital.

PMID- 20892400
TI  - Three Hospitals.

PMID- 20892402
TI  - The Dentist in the Hospital.

PMID- 20892404
TI  - The Willis Physio-Therapeutic Sanitarium.

PMID- 20892403
TI  - Burrell Memorial Hospital.

PMID- 20892405
TI  - Prairie View Hospital.

PMID- 20892406
TI  - The Home Infirmary.

PMID- 20892407
TI  - St. John Hospital.

PMID- 20892408
TI  - People's Hospital.

PMID- 20892409
TI  - Our Hospital Number.

PMID- 20892410
TI  - The New Hospital Era.

PMID- 20892411
TI  - Our Hospitals.

PMID- 20892412
TI  - Hospital Attaches.

PMID- 20892413
TI  - The Hospital-Its Duty to the Public.

PMID- 20892414
TI  - Necessity for Rural Hospitals.

PMID- 20892415
TI  - What will Indianapolis do for the National Medical Association?

PMID- 20892416
TI  - Report of Interesting Case of Septico Pyaemia Due to Staphylococcus Hemolyticus.

PMID- 20892417
TI  - Intestinal Obstruction.

PMID- 20892418
TI  - Provision for Training Colored Medical Students.

PMID- 20892419
TI  - The Surgical Clearing House.

PMID- 20892420
TI  - Experimental Acute Morphine Intoxication and Some Implications in Morphine
      Medication.

PMID- 20892421
TI  - Hospitals and their Effective Use.

PMID- 20892422
TI  - Report of the Editor of the Journal of the National Medical Association to the
      Executive Board.

PMID- 20892424
TI  - Our New President.

PMID- 20892423
TI  - What did Indianapolis do for the National Medical Association?

PMID- 20892425
TI  - Professional Liability.

PMID- 20892426
TI  - Dr. Perry Honored.

PMID- 20892427
TI  - Dr. Alan P. Smith Elected to Membership in the American Psychiatric Association.

PMID- 20892428
TI  - Dr. R. H. Brooks Passes.

PMID- 20892430
TI  - A Visit to the Plant of Eli Lilly & Company.

PMID- 20892431
TI  - An Opportunity.

PMID- 20892432
TI  - Comment on Hospital Edition of Journal.

PMID- 20892433
TI  - Mental Hygiene and the American Negro.

PMID- 20892434
TI  - Tularemia.

PMID- 20892435
TI  - Theoretic and Clinical Chemotherapy.

PMID- 20892436
TI  - Contribution of an Unknown Negro to Anesthesia.

PMID- 20892437
TI  - Lung Abscess.

PMID- 20892439
TI  - Entertaining the National Medical Association.

PMID- 20892438
TI  - The Drift to Specialism.

PMID- 20892440
TI  - Some Impressions of the White House Conference.

PMID- 20892441
TI  - The Selection of Surgery as a Career.

PMID- 20892443
TI  - National Negro Health.

PMID- 20892442
TI  - Our President-Elect.

PMID- 20892444
TI  - Physicians' Liability Insurance.

PMID- 20892445
TI  - Surgical Treatment of Congenital Malformations of the Colon.

PMID- 20892446
TI  - The Artificial Feeding of Infants.

PMID- 20892447
TI  - Sterility in the Male.

PMID- 20892448
TI  - Childhood Tuberculosis.

PMID- 20892449
TI  - Laminectomy for Paraplegia of Lower Extremities.

PMID- 20892450
TI  - Renal Tuberculosis with Report of a Case.

PMID- 20892451
TI  - Traumatic Rupture of Intestines due to Air Under Pressure : (With Report of Three
      Cases).

PMID- 20892452
TI  - Conservatism in Diseases of the Female Pelvis.

PMID- 20892453
TI  - Health Education in Public Schools.

PMID- 20892454
TI  - Cerebro-Spinal Fever.

PMID- 20892455
TI  - The Atlanta Meeting.

PMID- 20892456
TI  - Fibroplastic Diathesis.

PMID- 20892457
TI  - Isn't it Strange?

PMID- 20892458
TI  - The White House Conference: Explanation.

PMID- 20892459
TI  - The White House Conference.

PMID- 20892460
TI  - Professional Esprit de Corps.

PMID- 20892461
TI  - Our Salutation to the 1931 M.D.'s.

PMID- 20892462
TI  - On the Firing Line.

PMID- 20892463
TI  - It had to Come.

PMID- 20892464
TI  - The Inter-Racial Way.

PMID- 20892465
TI  - Save Your Cuts.

PMID- 20892466
TI  - A Plea for Dentistry.

PMID- 20892467
TI  - Neuropsychiatry in the Practice of Medicine and Surgery.

PMID- 20892468
TI  - Post-Graduate Study in Vienna.

PMID- 20892469
TI  - Tryparsamide Therapy of Neurosyphilis in Negroes.

PMID- 20892470
TI  - The Need for a Sound Professional Preparation for Colored Nurses.

PMID- 20892472
TI  - A Case Record of Osteomyelitis of the First Metatarsal Bone of the Right Foot.

PMID- 20892471
TI  - Acute Pericarditis with Effusion: (With Two Case Reports).

PMID- 20892473
TI  - Atlanta-Our Opportunity.

PMID- 20892474
TI  - Surgery as a Specialty.

PMID- 20892475
TI  - On to California!

PMID- 20892476
TI  - Isolation in Medicine.

PMID- 20892477
TI  - Society for Negro Specialists.

PMID- 20892478
TI  - A Recommended Hospital Program.

PMID- 20892479
TI  - Pellagra, Unemployment and Economic Depression.

PMID- 20892481
TI  - Editorial Squibb.

PMID- 20892480
TI  - Extract from Brief Sketch of the Life and Work of Dr. J. Edward Perry.

PMID- 20892483
TI  - The Inter-Racial Committee of Montclair, New Jersey: Report of Survey of Hospital
      Committee.

PMID- 20892485
TI  - Renaissance of the National Medical Association.

PMID- 20892484
TI  - Syphilitic Osteitis and Gummatous Ulcer of the Leg : (Report Of A Case).

PMID- 20892486
TI  - A Reasonable Program for our Hospitalization Movement.

PMID- 20892488
TI  - Surgical After-Care of the Parturient Woman.

PMID- 20892487
TI  - Maternal Care.

PMID- 20892490
TI  - Atlanta: What Next?

PMID- 20892489
TI  - The Negro Infant Mortality Rate and What the Well-Baby Clinics are doing to Lower
      It.

PMID- 20892491
TI  - Opportunity and Responsibility.

PMID- 20892492
TI  - Something Worth Reading.

PMID- 20892493
TI  - The President-Elect.

PMID- 20892494
TI  - A Unique and Auspicious Beginning.

PMID- 20892495
TI  - Unemployment Relief.

PMID- 20892496
TI  - Dr. Turner, a Police Surgeon.

PMID- 20892497
TI  - N. M. A. Executive Board and Cabinet Meetings.

PMID- 20892498
TI  - Neglected Fields for Research.

PMID- 20892500
TI  - Surgical Treatment of Benign Hypertrophy of the Prostate.

PMID- 20892499
TI  - The President's Column.

PMID- 20892501
TI  - Preventive and Reparative Surgery Before, During and After Delivery, in the
      Interest of Maternal and Child Welfare.

PMID- 20892502
TI  - A Study of Maternal and Child Welfare Work in North Carolina.

PMID- 20892503
TI  - Childhood Type of Tuberculosis in Negroes.

PMID- 20892504
TI  - Erythromelalgia Consequent to Hemiplegia : With Report of a Case.

PMID- 20892505
TI  - A Crisis a Verted.

PMID- 20892507
TI  - Dr. Michel O. Dumas.

PMID- 20892506
TI  - Cupidity in Medicine.

PMID- 20892509
TI  - Julius Rosenwald.

PMID- 20892508
TI  - Negro Health in 1940.

PMID- 20892511
TI  - The Tuskegee Clinics.

PMID- 20892510
TI  - Meharry Medical College 1876-1931.

PMID- 20892512
TI  - Our California Meeting.

PMID- 20892513
TI  - National Negro Health Week.

PMID- 20892514
TI  - A Thought.

PMID- 20892515
TI  - Just Human.

PMID- 20892516
TI  - Rupture of Bulbous Urethra.

PMID- 20892518
TI  - Goitre: Etiology, Symptoms and Diagnosis.

PMID- 20892517
TI  - The History of Anaesthesia.

PMID- 20892519
TI  - Cardiac Arhythmias.

PMID- 20892520
TI  - The Management of Chronic Pelvic Infections in Women.

PMID- 20892521
TI  - Some Clinical Lessons from a Year's Observation in the Department of Pathology of
      the University of Vienna.

PMID- 20892523
TI  - What Is Ours, We Should Conserve.

PMID- 20892522
TI  - The Fifth Year Training of the Negro Medical Student.

PMID- 20892524
TI  - Birth Control for the Negro-A Fad or a Necessity.

PMID- 20892525
TI  - Skull Fractures or Brain Injuries.

PMID- 20892526
TI  - Chronological Mutations Affecting Medicine.

PMID- 20892528
TI  - Health and Hygiene-Food Versus Clothing.

PMID- 20892527
TI  - An All-Important Health Problem.

PMID- 20892529
TI  - Editorial-Dr. Lanon's Appeal.

PMID- 20892530
TI  - The Presidents Column.

PMID- 20892531
TI  - Surgical Maggots in the Treatment of Osteomyelitis.

PMID- 20892533
TI  - A Pulmonary Case for Diagnosis.

PMID- 20892532
TI  - Observations from a Study of 200 Fracture Cases.

PMID- 20892534
TI  - What Future Is There for the Negro Pharmacist?

PMID- 20892535
TI  - The Treatment of Pulmonary Tuberculosis in the Negro With Artificial
      Pneumothorax.

PMID- 20892536
TI  - The veteran's Hospital Controversy.

PMID- 20892537
TI  - The Washington Meeting.

PMID- 20892538
TI  - The President-Elect.

PMID- 20892540
TI  - Dr. H. F. Gamble Passes.

PMID- 20892539
TI  - Dr. Julian H. Lewis.

PMID- 20892541
TI  - Functional Circulatory Stasis of the Cerebrospinal Axis.

PMID- 20892543
TI  - Chicago; The National Medical Association: An Appeal.

PMID- 20892542
TI  - Observations from the Study of Two Hundred Fracture Cases.

PMID- 20892544
TI  - Committee on the Cost of Medical Care: An Open Season in No Man's Land.

PMID- 20892545
TI  - Dr. Fishbein.

PMID- 20892547
TI  - Pharmaceutical Notes.

PMID- 20892546
TI  - The Negro Doctor and the Threatened Socialization of Medicine.

PMID- 20892548
TI  - Cavernous Sinus Thrombosis-Case Report.

PMID- 20892549
TI  - An Experimental Investigation of the Treatment of Acute Barbiturate Intoxication.

PMID- 20892550
TI  - Cholelithiasis and Carcinoma of the Gall Bladder : A Post-mortem Review with
      Report of a Case.

PMID- 20892551
TI  - Endometriosis-Report of a Spontaneously Ruptured Ovarian Cyst.

PMID- 20892552
TI  - Pelvic Neuritis, Its Pathology and Treatment.

PMID- 20892553
TI  - Tonsillectomy by the General Practitioner.

PMID- 20892554
TI  - Changing Conditions in Medical Practice.

PMID- 20892556
TI  - The John A. Andrew Clinics.

PMID- 20892555
TI  - Fundamentals of Oral Surgery.

PMID- 20892558
TI  - The Chicago Meeting of the N. M. A.

PMID- 20892557
TI  - The Post-Graduate Course in Medicine at St. Phillips Hospital.

PMID- 20892560
TI  - Constituent Association Fees.

PMID- 20892559
TI  - A National Medical Association Exhibit with a "Century of Progress".

PMID- 20892562
TI  - The New Constitution.

PMID- 20892561
TI  - A Neglected Asset of Our Profession.

PMID- 20892563
TI  - Surgical Mortality.

PMID- 20892564
TI  - Treatment of Cancer of the Breast.

PMID- 20892565
TI  - Pregnancy Tests.

PMID- 20892567
TI  - Comparison of Costs of Proprietary and Non-Proprietary Products.

PMID- 20892566
TI  - Acute Barbiturate Poisoning with Picrotoxin.

PMID- 20892568
TI  - Editor's Note.

PMID- 20892569
TI  - Narcotic Prescriptions.

PMID- 20892570
TI  - Therapeutic Suggestions.

PMID- 20892572
TI  - The Management of Fractures of the Spine.

PMID- 20892571
TI  - Etiology and Treatment of Carcinoma in the Female Generative Organs.

PMID- 20892574
TI  - Obstetric Amnesia and Analgesia : With Special Reference to the Use of Sodium Iso
      Amyl Ethyl Barbiturate.

PMID- 20892573
TI  - Coronary Disease.

PMID- 20892575
TI  - A Case Study of Negro Infant Mortality in Manhattan Due to Respiratory and Gastro
      Intestinal Diseases.

PMID- 20892576
TI  - Emotions as Functional Factors in the Etiology and Prognosis of Diseases.

PMID- 20892577
TI  - Our Twenty-fifth Anniversary.

PMID- 20892579
TI  - The Private Hospital.

PMID- 20892578
TI  - Last Call for Chicago Meeting.

PMID- 20892581
TI  - The Drunken Driver-A Menace.

PMID- 20892580
TI  - Free Membership to Recent Graduates in Medicine.

PMID- 20892582
TI  - Where Were We Born?

PMID- 20892583
TI  - Annual Meeting: 38th or 39th, Which?

PMID- 20892584
TI  - Current Medical Thought.

PMID- 20892586
TI  - The Necessity of Bronchoscopy in the Diagnosis and Treatment of the Lungs.

PMID- 20892585
TI  - Some Notes on the History of the National Medical Association.

PMID- 20892587
TI  - Carcinoma of the Esophagus.

PMID- 20892588
TI  - Gas Gangrene: Report of Two Cases.

PMID- 20892589
TI  - The Chicago Meeting.

PMID- 20892590
TI  - Goiter: 1. Historical Outline.

PMID- 20892591
TI  - Meharry, The Professional Mecca in 1934.

PMID- 20892592
TI  - Our General Secretary.

PMID- 20892593
TI  - Our President.

PMID- 20892595
TI  - Abstract; Spirochaetal Findings in the Brains of Paretics Treated with Malaria.

PMID- 20892594
TI  - Meharry and the National Board of Medical Examiners.

PMID- 20892596
TI  - Abstract; The Importance of Early Diagnosis in Cerebral Syphilis.

PMID- 20892599
TI  - Study of Twenty Cases of Gastric and Duodenal Ulcer in the Negro.

PMID- 20892600
TI  - An Interpretation of the Significance of the Homer G. Phillips Hospital.

PMID- 20892601
TI  - Statistics and Mortality Trends.

PMID- 20892602
TI  - Some Observations on and Lessons from the Experiences of the Past Ten Years.

PMID- 20892603
TI  - What Is a Nurse?

PMID- 20892605
TI  - "Go and Build One For Yourselves".

PMID- 20892604
TI  - The Journal and 1934.

PMID- 20892606
TI  - The Homer G. Phillips Hospital: A New Hope.

PMID- 20892607
TI  - Summary of the Nature of Goiter.

PMID- 20892608
TI  - The Nashville Meeting of the N. M. A.

PMID- 20892609
TI  - A Challenge to Organized Negro Medicine.

PMID- 20892610
TI  - President-Elect J. H. Hale, A.B., M.D.

PMID- 20892612
TI  - The National Pharmaceutical Association.

PMID- 20892611
TI  - National Negro Health Week.

PMID- 20892614
TI  - Our Staff Members.

PMID- 20892613
TI  - The John A. Andrew Clinic.

PMID- 20892616
TI  - "The Effect of Worry on Digestion".

PMID- 20892615
TI  - Some Neuropsychiatric Observations.

PMID- 20892617
TI  - Fixed Dermatitis Due to Tryparsamide.

PMID- 20892618
TI  - Talkie Films Help Diagnosis of Disease.

PMID- 20892619
TI  - Pneumothorax, A Radiographic Study.

PMID- 20892621
TI  - Treatment of Fractures of the Lower End of the Radius.

PMID- 20892620
TI  - The Art and the Science of Medicine.

PMID- 20892622
TI  - Acute Suppurative Thyroiditis: Presentation of Two Cases.

PMID- 20892623
TI  - A Brief History of the Origin of the John A. Andrew Clinics by the Founder.

PMID- 20892624
TI  - Management of Anhydremia in Infancy and Childhood from the Standpoint of the
      General Practitioner.

PMID- 20892625
TI  - Anaphylactoid Reactions in Relation to Trypanosome Infections and the Presence of
      Iso-Agglutinogens in White Rats.

PMID- 20892627
TI  - Honor To Whom Honor Is Due.

PMID- 20892626
TI  - Oslerism and Ye Editor.

PMID- 20892629
TI  - A Second Veterans Hospital for Our Group.

PMID- 20892628
TI  - Professional Ethics.

PMID- 20892630
TI  - Brain Abscess Consequent to Latent Head Trauma.

PMID- 20892631
TI  - Subperiosteal Osteogenic Sarcoma: (Report of three cases).

PMID- 20892632
TI  - Amebic Dysentery and its Treatment.

PMID- 20892634
TI  - Outline of the Present Status of the Surgical Treatment of Hyperthyroidism.

PMID- 20892633
TI  - Coronary Occlusion.

PMID- 20892636
TI  - Look to Nashville.

PMID- 20892635
TI  - Bony Gauges of Growth, Age and Disease.

PMID- 20892637
TI  - Our Professional Evaluation.

PMID- 20892638
TI  - State Medicine.

PMID- 20892639
TI  - The National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses.

PMID- 20892641
TI  - The Journal of the National Pharmaceutical Association.

PMID- 20892640
TI  - National Health Library.

PMID- 20892642
TI  - Department of Neuropsychiatry.

PMID- 20892643
TI  - Modern Methods in the Treatment of Pulmonary Tuberculosis.

PMID- 20892644
TI  - The Diagnosis and Collapse Therapy of Pulmonary Tuberculosis with Case Reports
      and Lantern Demonstrations.

PMID- 20892646
TI  - Dr. Charles Victor Roman.

PMID- 20892645
TI  - Appendicitis.

PMID- 20892648
TI  - Health Insurance.

PMID- 20892647
TI  - The Nashville Meeting of the N. M. A.

PMID- 20892650
TI  - The President-Elect.

PMID- 20892649
TI  - Professional Esprit De Corps.

PMID- 20892652
TI  - Item of Interest.

PMID- 20892651
TI  - Department of Neuropsychiatry.

PMID- 20892653
TI  - Radiation Therapy in Carcinoma of the Cervix.

PMID- 20892655
TI  - Report of Case of Tubercular Orchitis.

PMID- 20892654
TI  - The Operation.

PMID- 20892656
TI  - Aortic Regurgitation, Diagnosis and Differential Diagnosis.

PMID- 20892658
TI  - The Recovery of a Case of Acute Mercurial Poisoning by the Use of Sodium
      Thiosulphate.

PMID- 20892657
TI  - The Management of Appendicitis.

PMID- 20892659
TI  - Psychiatry and Medicine.

PMID- 20892660
TI  - Recognition of the Negro Medical Profession in Public Health Work.

PMID- 20892662
TI  - Federal Emergency Relief Administration as Affecting the Negro Professionals.

PMID- 20892661
TI  - "Bacillus Aerogenese Capsulatus".

PMID- 20892664
TI  - Dr. Baumgardner.

PMID- 20892663
TI  - National Negro Health Week.

PMID- 20892665
TI  - Dr. Louis T. Wright.

PMID- 20892666
TI  - The John A. Andrews Clinic.

PMID- 20892667
TI  - Tuberculosis of Bones and Joints.

PMID- 20892669
TI  - Canadian Letter.

PMID- 20892668
TI  - Therapeutic Suggestions.

PMID- 20892670
TI  - Ave Atque Vale, Romane.

PMID- 20892671
TI  - The Treatment of Fractures with Plaster of Paris Cast.

PMID- 20892672
TI  - The Incidence of Syphilis in Negroes.

PMID- 20892673
TI  - Simplified Diets and the Use of Insulin in the Treatment of Uncomplicated
      Diabetes Mellitus.

PMID- 20892674
TI  - The Perforated Appendix... Its Management.

PMID- 20892675
TI  - Neuronitis, a Complication of Pregnancy.

PMID- 20892676
TI  - Acute Intestinal Obstruction.

PMID- 20892677
TI  - Our Hospital Problem.

PMID- 20892678
TI  - Tuskegee's Clinic Goes Forward.

PMID- 20892679
TI  - Dr. H. M. Green: An Appreciation. A Practical Experiment.

PMID- 20892680
TI  - The Anesthetist.

PMID- 20892681
TI  - A Plea from without for Organized Negro Medicine.

PMID- 20892682
TI  - Present Status of the Negro Physician and Negro Patient.

PMID- 20892683
TI  - Patronize our Advertisers.

PMID- 20892684
TI  - Correction.

PMID- 20892685
TI  - Modern Treatment of Pulmonary Tuberculosis: Surgical.

PMID- 20892686
TI  - The Modern Concept of Acute Intestinal Obstruction.

PMID- 20892687
TI  - Artificial Pneumothorax in Children between 3 Years and 12 Years.

PMID- 20892689
TI  - The 41st Annual Session of the National Medical Association.

PMID- 20892688
TI  - Acute Aseptic Meningitis.

PMID- 20892690
TI  - New Orleans.

PMID- 20892691
TI  - Dr. D. A. Ferguson.

PMID- 20892692
TI  - Let's Go to New Orleans.

PMID- 20892693
TI  - Therapeutic Suggestions.

PMID- 20892694
TI  - Glaucoma with Special Reference to its Pathology and A Report of Two Cases of
      Secondary Glaucoma.

PMID- 20892695
TI  - Index Medicus of Negro Authors.

PMID- 20892696
TI  - Uterosalpingography.

PMID- 20892697
TI  - Food in Health and Disease.

PMID- 20892698
TI  - "Pneumococcus Septicemia".

PMID- 20892699
TI  - Dr. Daniel Williams takes priority in successful operation for Stab Wound of
      Human Heart.

PMID- 20892700
TI  - Dr. Frederick Douglas Patterson.

PMID- 20892702
TI  - Our President.

PMID- 20892701
TI  - Our New Orleans Meeting.

PMID- 20892703
TI  - The New Orleans Meeting.

PMID- 20892704
TI  - Are We Conscious for Better Hospitals?

PMID- 20892705
TI  - Sunday Programs.

PMID- 20892706
TI  - Dr. C. A. Lanon, General Secretary.

PMID- 20892707
TI  - Therapeutic Suggestions.

PMID- 20892708
TI  - Aneurysm With Report of a Case.

PMID- 20892709
TI  - A Few Excerpts of Recent Medical Progress as Found in the Literature.

PMID- 20892710
TI  - The Reflexes and Their Significance.

PMID- 20892711
TI  - Diabetic Management.

PMID- 20892712
TI  - The Red Cell Sedimentation Test as an Aid in the Diagnosis and Prognosis in
      Tuberculosis.

PMID- 20892713
TI  - The Rev. Amos Carnegie Hospital Scheme.

PMID- 20892714
TI  - "Man or Super-Man".

PMID- 20892716
TI  - Neurological Control of the Urinary Bladder.

PMID- 20892715
TI  - Total Thyroidectomy for Heart Disease.

PMID- 20892717
TI  - The Tuskegee Clinic.

PMID- 20892718
TI  - Roscoe Conkling Giles.

PMID- 20892719
TI  - Dr. J. R. Levy Passes.

PMID- 20892720
TI  - Some Medical Social Problems in Hospitals.

PMID- 20892721
TI  - Therapeutic Suggestions.

PMID- 20892722
TI  - Trichomonas Vaginitis in Pregnancy.

PMID- 20892724
TI  - Medical Economics.

PMID- 20892723
TI  - Report of Three Cases of Melanosarcoma in Negroes-One With Massive Hemorrhagic
      Cystic Degeneration of the Liver.

PMID- 20892725
TI  - The Evolution of Medicine; Present Requirements; Ideals; Is "State" Medicine
      Coming?

PMID- 20892727
TI  - Medical Economics.

PMID- 20892726
TI  - X-Rays and Fractures.

PMID- 20892728
TI  - A Message to our Constituency.

PMID- 20892729
TI  - A Dental Clinic at the John A. Andrew Clinic.

PMID- 20892731
TI  - National Negro Health Observance.

PMID- 20892730
TI  - Twenty-Fifth Anniversary of the John A. Andrew Clinic.

PMID- 20892733
TI  - Philadelphia, The Mecca of 1936.

PMID- 20892732
TI  - Over the Top.

PMID- 20892734
TI  - A Message to our Hospitals.

PMID- 20892736
TI  - Therapeutic Suggestions.

PMID- 20892735
TI  - Rural Nursing.

PMID- 20892737
TI  - A Plea for the Admittance of Negro Doctors to Municipal Hospital Staffs.

PMID- 20892738
TI  - Undulant Fever.

PMID- 20892739
TI  - The Organization of a Group Hospital Plan.

PMID- 20892741
TI  - The Present Status of the Diagnosis and Treatment of Carcinoma of Uterus.

PMID- 20892740
TI  - A Statistical Study of 407 Gynecic Operations-with Special References to Uterine
      Fibroids.

PMID- 20892742
TI  - Rheumatic Heart Disease in Children.

PMID- 20892743
TI  - Compound Fracture Complicated with Gas Bacillus Infection.

PMID- 20892744
TI  - The Crippled Child.

PMID- 20892745
TI  - Group Hospitalization.

PMID- 20892746
TI  - More About Removal of the Normal Thyroid Gland for Heart Disease.

PMID- 20892747
TI  - Liabilities and Assets.

PMID- 20892748
TI  - The Department of Neuro-Psychiatry.

PMID- 20892749
TI  - Therapeutic Suggestions.

PMID- 20892750
TI  - Glaucoma.

PMID- 20892751
TI  - A Comparison of the Subjective Effects of Hypnotic Doses-Bromural, Evipal and
      Ortal.

PMID- 20892752
TI  - Surgical Treatment of the Hypertrophied Prostate: Perineal and Suprapubic
      Prostatectomy.

PMID- 20892754
TI  - The Legal Aspects Of Medical Economics.

PMID- 20892753
TI  - The Treatment of Pelvic Inflammatory Disease On the Gynecological Service at
      Harlem Hospital.

PMID- 20892755
TI  - Dentistry and Pharmacy as a Vocation.

PMID- 20892757
TI  - The President-Elect.

PMID- 20892756
TI  - First Formal Instruction in Dentistry in America.

PMID- 20892758
TI  - Fundamentals of Hospital Administration.

PMID- 20892760
TI  - Gynecological Urology.

PMID- 20892761
TI  - Cases of Coma Showing Urinary Sugar.

PMID- 20892762
TI  - Recent Developments in the Specific Prophylaxis of Communicable Diseases.

PMID- 20892763
TI  - Clinical Aspects and Treatment of Lymphogranuloma Inguinale.

PMID- 20892765
TI  - There is Light.

PMID- 20892764
TI  - Professional Recognition.

PMID- 20892767
TI  - The John A. Andrew Clinics.

PMID- 20892766
TI  - A Lost Cane.

PMID- 20892768
TI  - Overactivity As A Potent Factor in the Etiology of Some Nervous Diseases.

PMID- 20892769
TI  - Pernicious Anemia in The Negro With Report of Four Cases.

PMID- 20892770
TI  - Some Subjective Symptoms in Dilaudid Medication.

PMID- 20892772
TI  - Some Results with the Elliott Treatment in Pelvic Inflammation and Prostatitis.

PMID- 20892771
TI  - Medical and Dental Economics.

PMID- 20892773
TI  - A Simple, Successful, Non-Operative Treatment for Fecal Fistula.

PMID- 20892774
TI  - Research and Scientific Medicine.

PMID- 20892775
TI  - A Prophecy in Ethnology.

PMID- 20892776
TI  - The Journal on Top.

PMID- 20892777
TI  - A Renewed Douglas Hospital.

PMID- 20892779
TI  - Who is Who.

PMID- 20892778
TI  - Vision Test to Reduce Automobile Accidents.

PMID- 20892780
TI  - Resume of "The Depression and Mental Disease".

PMID- 20892781
TI  - "Out of Darkness".

PMID- 20892782
TI  - Tobacco Ash.

PMID- 20892783
TI  - The Problems of the Rural Doctor.

PMID- 20892784
TI  - Colostomy.

PMID- 20892786
TI  - Meharry Professor Qualifies.

PMID- 20892785
TI  - Who is Who.

PMID- 20892787
TI  - Sudden Simultaneous Bilateral Embolism of the Popliteal Arteries.

PMID- 20892789
TI  - Advanced X-Ray Therapy.

PMID- 20892788
TI  - The Institutional Care of Negroes with Mental Diseases in the United States.

PMID- 20892790
TI  - Uterine Tumors : A Review With Case Summaries and Photographic Illustrations.

PMID- 20892791
TI  - The Institutional Care of Negroes with Mental Diseases in the United States.

PMID- 20892792
TI  - St. Louis Meeting.

PMID- 20892793
TI  - Insulin Hypoglycemic Shock in Treatment of Dementia Praecox.

PMID- 20892794
TI  - Syphilis and Some Statistics and Observations of Frequency Among Negroes.

PMID- 20892796
TI  - Who's Who.

PMID- 20892795
TI  - The Journal of the National Medical Association.

PMID- 20892797
TI  - The Journal of the National Hospital Association.

PMID- 20892798
TI  - Postgraduate Training of Negro Physicians in the Clinical Management and Public
      Health Control of Syphilis.

PMID- 20892799
TI  - Postgraduate Training of Negro Physicians in the Clinical Management and Public
      Health Control of Syphilis.

PMID- 20892802
TI  - St. Mary's Infirmary as a Hospital for Colored People.

PMID- 20892801
TI  - A Short History of Peoples Hospital.

PMID- 20892803
TI  - The Homer G. Phillips Hospital.

PMID- 20892804
TI  - Post Graduate Medical Education and the Negro Physician.

PMID- 20892805
TI  - The Future of the Negro in Dentistry and What can be Done about it.

PMID- 20892807
TI  - "Facing a Critical Year".

PMID- 20892806
TI  - Blood Transfusion.

PMID- 20892809
TI  - Conditions of the Cervical Spine Responsible for Segmental Neuritis.

PMID- 20892808
TI  - "Shadow on the Land".

PMID- 20892810
TI  - Negro Health Week.

PMID- 20892811
TI  - Tuskegee Annual Clinic.

PMID- 20892812
TI  - St. Louis Hospitals.

PMID- 20892813
TI  - Advances in Tuberculosis Work.

PMID- 20892814
TI  - Medical Libraries in Approved Hospitals for Negroes.

PMID- 20892815
TI  - A Consideration of the Effects of Focal Infection on the Susceptibility of
      Certain Endothelial Lined Cavities.

PMID- 20892817
TI  - Venereal Disease Control.

PMID- 20892816
TI  - Report of a Case of Heart Disease with Terminal Intestinal Perforation.

PMID- 20892818
TI  - The Control of Gonorrhea.

PMID- 20892819
TI  - The Prophylaxis of Genito-Urinary Diseases.

PMID- 20892820
TI  - Management of Acute Gonorrhea In the Male.

PMID- 20892821
TI  - Gonorrhea in the Female.

PMID- 20892822
TI  - Some Newer Remedies in the Treatment of Gonorrhea.

PMID- 20892824
TI  - From Atlanta 1895 to Hampton 1938.

PMID- 20892823
TI  - The Elliott Treatment as an Office Procedure.

PMID- 20892825
TI  - Douglas Hospital Receives "A" Rating.

PMID- 20892827
TI  - The Treatment of Pneumonia.

PMID- 20892826
TI  - Pulmonary Lympho-Sarcoma: Report of a Case.

PMID- 20892828
TI  - Lymphopathia Venereum: Case Report.

PMID- 20892829
TI  - Congenital Absence of the Upper Two-Thirds of the Vagina, with a Rudimentary,
      Unicornate Uterus.

PMID- 20892830
TI  - Remarkable Service Performed by Provident Hospital-Chicago Institution, Finest
      Voluntary Hospital Operated by Negroes.

PMID- 20892832
TI  - X-Ray Treatment of Inflammatory Diseases.

PMID- 20892831
TI  - A Plea for Independent Racial Thought and Action.

PMID- 20892833
TI  - A "Fireside Chat": Give the Journal a Break.

PMID- 20892834
TI  - Filling the Bill.

PMID- 20892835
TI  - Dumas' Ascitic Trocar.

PMID- 20892836
TI  - A Compliment and an Appeal.

PMID- 20892837
TI  - Granuloma of the Cervix.

PMID- 20892839
TI  - The National Health Program.

PMID- 20892838
TI  - J. Leonidas Leach-Incoming President.

PMID- 20892840
TI  - Opening of Squibb Institute for Medical Research.

PMID- 20892841
TI  - Our Thanks to Hampton.

PMID- 20892842
TI  - The Still Small Voice.

PMID- 20892843
TI  - Study of the National Health Program and Proceedings of the House of Delegates,
      A.M.A.-Advised.

PMID- 20892844
TI  - The Federal Government and Organized Medicine in Closer Accord.

PMID- 20892845
TI  - Bi-Monthly Journal.

PMID- 20892846
TI  - The Forgotten Tenth.

PMID- 20892848
TI  - Everyone a Partner.

PMID- 20892847
TI  - American Medical Association Joins American Hospital Association in Approving Pre
      payment Medical as well as Hospital Service.

PMID- 20892849
TI  - Dedication of Squibb Institute for Medical Research.

PMID- 20892850
TI  - The Use of Atropine and Digitalis in Certain Forms of Decompensated Heart
      Disease.

PMID- 20892851
TI  - Diagnosis and Treatment of Neurosyphilis.

PMID- 20892852
TI  - Compulsion Neurosis Terminating in Folie a Deux.

PMID- 20892853
TI  - Psychiatric Aspect of Crime-Causes and Management of Juvenile Delinquents.

PMID- 20892855
TI  - Conference of Special Committee of National Medical Association with Government
      Officials in Washington Representing the President's National Health Program.

PMID- 20892854
TI  - Salutatory To The Bi-Monthly.

PMID- 20892856
TI  - The Status of the Negro Doctor in the National Health Program.

PMID- 20892858
TI  - The Intern Shortage.

PMID- 20892857
TI  - Do Goiters Disappear?

PMID- 20892859
TI  - Case Review of Twenty-five Consecutive Cases of Acute Appendicitis.

PMID- 20892861
TI  - The Use of Insulin in Dementia Praecox.

PMID- 20892860
TI  - Urinary Extravasation: A Report of 17 Cases.

PMID- 20892862
TI  - Post Graduate Instruction in Venereal Diseases.

PMID- 20892863
TI  - A Plan for a Highly Correlated Course in Anatomy at Meharry Medical College.

PMID- 20892864
TI  - A Morbidity Study of 271 Rural Negro Families in The Mississippi Delta.

PMID- 20892865
TI  - Observations on Control of Prenatal Syphilis.

PMID- 20892866
TI  - Too Much Surgery.

PMID- 20892868
TI  - Dr. Louis T. Wright.

PMID- 20892867
TI  - The Pneumonia Program.

PMID- 20892869
TI  - Some of the Problems of Tuberculosis.

PMID- 20892870
TI  - Tuberculosis Among Negroes.

PMID- 20892871
TI  - The Negro Physician.

PMID- 20892873
TI  - The Clinical Value of Gastroscopy in Gastric Diseases.

PMID- 20892872
TI  - Oxygen in Delirium Tremens.

PMID- 20892874
TI  - The General Practitioner.

PMID- 20892876
TI  - The 1939 Clinic-Tuskegee Institute.

PMID- 20892875
TI  - S. O. S. Save the Clinic.

PMID- 20892878
TI  - Mid-Year Meeting of the Executive Board of the National Medical Ass'n., Tuskegee
      Institute, Alabama.

PMID- 20892877
TI  - Insulin Versus Metrazol.

PMID- 20892879
TI  - What is Goiter?

PMID- 20892880
TI  - A Racial Complaint and an Apology with Redress.

PMID- 20892881
TI  - Dr. Roscoe C. Giles Admitted to American Board of Surgery.

PMID- 20892882
TI  - Dr. Ira McCown Scores.

PMID- 20892884
TI  - The Health Bulletin.

PMID- 20892883
TI  - Silver Anniversary, National Negro Health Week.

PMID- 20892885
TI  - Tuberculosis as Observed in Our Municipal Tuberculosis Hospitals with Reference
      to Collapse Therapy in the Negro.

PMID- 20892887
TI  - Post-Operative Eviscerations of Abdominal Wounds.

PMID- 20892886
TI  - Closed Intrapleural Pneumolysis in the Treatment of Pulmonary Tuberculosis : A
      Preliminary Report of Forty Operations.

PMID- 20892888
TI  - Carcinoma of the Rectum, Its Diagnosis and Treatment.

PMID- 20892889
TI  - An Explanation which is not an Apology.

PMID- 20892890
TI  - Our Good-Will Committee.

PMID- 20892891
TI  - Punjab Medical Journal.

PMID- 20892892
TI  - The National Health Act of 1939.

PMID- 20892894
TI  - Housing in New York for Convention.

PMID- 20892893
TI  - Our Birthday.

PMID- 20892895
TI  - Visit Booths of Exhibitors.

PMID- 20892896
TI  - The Tuskegee Nurse Training School and Clinic.

PMID- 20892897
TI  - Syphilis in Combination with Certain Diseases.

PMID- 20892898
TI  - The Rationale of Otomastoiditis: The Need for Better Treatment of Otomastoiditis.

PMID- 20892899
TI  - Granuloma Inguinale, Complicated with Syphiloma of Vulva and Chancroidal
      Infection : Report of a Case.

PMID- 20892900
TI  - Medical Curiosities.

PMID- 20892902
TI  - Our Retiring President.

PMID- 20892901
TI  - Endocrinology and the Future of Man.

PMID- 20892903
TI  - A Lost Opportunity.

PMID- 20892904
TI  - A Catastrophe Averted.

PMID- 20892905
TI  - Observations on the Use of Mare Gonadotropic Hormone.

PMID- 20892906
TI  - The Menace of Injection Treatment of Hemorroids.

PMID- 20892907
TI  - Microphotography With Professional View Camera.

PMID- 20892908
TI  - Food Allergy.

PMID- 20892909
TI  - The Negro Doctor and Organized Medicine.

PMID- 20892910
TI  - The Dr. John A. Kenney Testimonial Dinner.

PMID- 20892912
TI  - The Health Insurance Doctor: His Role in Great Britain, Denmark and France.

PMID- 20892911
TI  - The Monthly Journal.

PMID- 20892913
TI  - The Commission on Medical Economics and the Wagner Bill.

PMID- 20892914
TI  - The Democracy of the American Hospital Association.

PMID- 20892915
TI  - The Editor Looks Southward.

PMID- 20892916
TI  - Editorial Flashes.

PMID- 20892917
TI  - Twenty-One Million Italians Insured Against Tuberculosis.

PMID- 20892918
TI  - Our President-Elect.

PMID- 20892919
TI  - Surgery In Hyperthyroidism.

PMID- 20892920
TI  - Acute Mastoiditis With Report of Cases.

PMID- 20892921
TI  - The Advance of Physio-Therapy in the Science of Medicine.

PMID- 20892922
TI  - Appendicitis-An Analysis of 655 Operative Cases.

PMID- 20892923
TI  - Internships, Residencies and Post Graduate Training.

PMID- 20892924
TI  - Minimal Tuberculosis.

PMID- 20892925
TI  - Trends In Dental Education.

PMID- 20892926
TI  - The Proposed Development of Teaching Centers for Negro Personnel in Psychiatry.

PMID- 20892927
TI  - The Tuskegee Institute Annual Clinic.

PMID- 20892929
TI  - The 1940 Decennial Census.

PMID- 20892928
TI  - Anent the Commission on Medical Economics and the Wagner Bill.

PMID- 20892931
TI  - Present and Future Prospects of Pharmaceutical Education.

PMID- 20892930
TI  - United States Department of the Interior.

PMID- 20892932
TI  - Stercoral Appendix in Negroes: A Surgical Problem.

PMID- 20892933
TI  - Pneumothorax Clinic In Macon County, Alabama.

PMID- 20892934
TI  - Diagnosis Of Spondylolisthesis.

PMID- 20892936
TI  - When to Operate for Gallbladder Disease.

PMID- 20892935
TI  - The 29th Annual Clinic-John A. Andrew Memorial Hospital.

PMID- 20892937
TI  - Sigmund Freud.

PMID- 20892938
TI  - Infantile Paralysis Unit of the John A. Andrew Memorial Hospital.

PMID- 20892939
TI  - An Apology.

PMID- 20892941
TI  - The Medical Aspect Of The Acute Abdomen.

PMID- 20892940
TI  - Differential Diagnosis of the Acute Abdomen.

PMID- 20892942
TI  - The Acute Abdomen - The Surgical Management.

PMID- 20892943
TI  - Surgical Management Of Hyperthyroidism.

PMID- 20892944
TI  - Shortage Of Negro Doctors : With Special Reference to Residents and Internes.

PMID- 20892946
TI  - On To Texas.

PMID- 20892945
TI  - The Texas State Medical Association Welcomes.

PMID- 20892947
TI  - The Forty-Sixth Annual Session of the National Medical Association, Houston,
      Texas, August 12-16, 1940.

PMID- 20892948
TI  - Increasing Opportunities for the Clinician in Public Health Work.

PMID- 20892949
TI  - The Etiology Of Acute Abdominal Pain.

PMID- 20892950
TI  - Case Study Of Left Retroperitoneal Kidney Mass.

PMID- 20892951
TI  - Traumatic Rupture Of Right Hydronephrotic Kidney.

PMID- 20892952
TI  - Acute Abscess Of The Lung.

PMID- 20892953
TI  - The Possibilities Of X-Ray Therapy In The Treatment Of Cancer.

PMID- 20892954
TI  - A Professional Father-Son Liaison.

PMID- 20892956
TI  - American Medical Directory.

PMID- 20892955
TI  - A Plea for Equality in our National Preparedness Program.

PMID- 20892958
TI  - The President Honored.

PMID- 20892957
TI  - The Abuse of Words.

PMID- 20892959
TI  - Who's Who.

PMID- 20892960
TI  - A. N. Vaughn, M.D., President-Elect, N. M. A., 1940-1941.

PMID- 20892961
TI  - Nicotinic Acid and Drugs in the Treatment of Pellagra.

PMID- 20892962
TI  - The Incidence Of Heart Disease Among Negroes.

PMID- 20892964
TI  - Bleeding in the Third Trimester.

PMID- 20892963
TI  - A Radiologist's View on the Treatment of Carcinoma of the Breast.

PMID- 20892965
TI  - The Medical Management of Gallbladder Disease.

PMID- 20892966
TI  - Further Studies in Dilaudid Medication.

PMID- 20892967
TI  - Case History Of Streptococcus Meningitis.

PMID- 20892969
TI  - The Houston Meeting.

PMID- 20892968
TI  - The 1939 Scientific Exhibit of the Howard University School of Medicine.

PMID- 20892971
TI  - Pacifist - Standpatter - Evolutionist - Revolutionist - Which?

PMID- 20892970
TI  - A Lost Opportunity.

PMID- 20892972
TI  - Psychiatry and General Medicine.

PMID- 20892973
TI  - Finances.

PMID- 20892975
TI  - The Misuse of Terms.

PMID- 20892974
TI  - The $7.00 Membership Fee.

PMID- 20892976
TI  - Dr. Adams Passes.

PMID- 20892977
TI  - The New Hospital Bill.

PMID- 20892979
TI  - "Preparedness for All".

PMID- 20892978
TI  - Progress in Professional Relationship.

PMID- 20892980
TI  - The Mammary Gland in 702 Autopsy and 9220 Surgical Specimens.

PMID- 20892981
TI  - Uterine Bleeding and Menstruation Its Causes and Treatment.

PMID- 20892982
TI  - The Treatment of Benign Lesions of the Cervix Uteri.

PMID- 20892983
TI  - Suggestive Psychotherapy in Psychoneurotic Disorders.

PMID- 20892985
TI  - Certificates Should Not Be Changed.

PMID- 20892984
TI  - Teaching the Social Component of Medical Care at Meharry Medical College.

PMID- 20892987
TI  - Our Liaison Committee.

PMID- 20892986
TI  - The Selective Draft Act of 1940.

PMID- 20892988
TI  - The Alcohol Problem.

PMID- 20892989
TI  - The Penalty of Leadership.

PMID- 20892990
TI  - Early Negro Hospitals: With Special Reference to Nurse's Training Schools.

PMID- 20892992
TI  - The Drinking Driver - A Menace.

PMID- 20892991
TI  - Postgraduate Course For Physicians : A Report on the First Five Years of Two-Week
      Courses Offered By Flint-Goodridge Hospital of Dillard University, New Orleans,
      Louisiana.

PMID- 20892993
TI  - Acute Coronary Occlusion in the Negro.

PMID- 20892994
TI  - Mycotic Dermatitis from Straw Slippers.

PMID- 20892995
TI  - Deficiency of Bed Space and Suggestions for Remedies.

PMID- 20892996
TI  - New Jersey State Health Program for Negroes.

PMID- 20892998
TI  - Opening of the Infantile Paralysis Unit of the John A. Andrew Memorial Hospital,
      Tuskegee Institute, Ala.

PMID- 20892997
TI  - Gastric and Ocular Symptoms in Diabetes Mellitus.

PMID- 20892999
TI  - A Mental Hygiene Society Organized at Tuskegee.

PMID- 20893000
TI  - The National Hospital Association.

PMID- 20893001
TI  - Cooperation Between the Races in the Practice of Medicine.

PMID- 20893002
TI  - Oration in Surgery: Indications for Operation in Biliary Tract Disease.

PMID- 20893003
TI  - Pneumoperitoneum in the Treatment of Pulmonary Tuberculosis.

PMID- 20893004
TI  - Carcinoma of the Cervix: Diagnosis and Treatment.

PMID- 20893005
TI  - Sulfanilamide: Its Therapeutic Value.

PMID- 20893006
TI  - Sixteen Months Experience With Intravenous Pentothal Sodium-Oxygen Anesthesia.

PMID- 20893007
TI  - Tuberculoma of the Cerebrum - Report of a Case.

PMID- 20893008
TI  - Facts of Interest in Connection with the Veterans Administration Facility,
      Tuskegee, Alabama.

PMID- 20893009
TI  - A Call to the John A. Andrew Clinic.

PMID- 20893011
TI  - The Liaison Committee of the N. M. A.

PMID- 20893010
TI  - Specific Racial Contributions.

PMID- 20893012
TI  - They Must Be White.

PMID- 20893013
TI  - What Price Medical Glory?

PMID- 20893014
TI  - Medical Preparedness and the National Defense.

PMID- 20893015
TI  - National Negro Health Week.

PMID- 20893016
TI  - Past the Cross-Roads.

PMID- 20893017
TI  - The Initial Lesion of Granuloma Inguinale: Report of a Case.

PMID- 20893018
TI  - Benign Tumors of the Breast.

PMID- 20893019
TI  - Diaphragmatic Hernia.

PMID- 20893020
TI  - Case Report of Orthostatic Hypotension.

PMID- 20893021
TI  - Case Report - Sickle Cell Anemia with Hemiplegia.

PMID- 20893022
TI  - Hyperthyroidism: A Question of Terms.

PMID- 20893023
TI  - The High Cost of Neurosyphilis.

PMID- 20893024
TI  - A Word to Our Lay Readers Preliminary to a Study of Vitamins.

PMID- 20893025
TI  - The Modern Neglect of the Tongue as an Aid in Diagnosis.

PMID- 20893027
TI  - Blood Plasma Reservoir.

PMID- 20893026
TI  - The Philosophies of the John A. Andrew Clinic.

PMID- 20893029
TI  - Association of Rheumatic Heart Disease and Exophthalmic Goitre.

PMID- 20893028
TI  - The Chicago Meeting of the N. M. A.

PMID- 20893030
TI  - The Coronary Artery Pain Syndromes.

PMID- 20893032
TI  - Standard Curative Treatment of Early and Late Syphilis.

PMID- 20893031
TI  - Traumatic Aneurysm of the Radial Artery.

PMID- 20893033
TI  - The Comparative Incidence of Umbilical Hernias in Colored and White Infants.

PMID- 20893035
TI  - Pneumoperitoneum in the Treatment of Pulmonary Tuberculosis.

PMID- 20893034
TI  - The Effect of Orange Juice on Gastric Acidity.

PMID- 20893036
TI  - Problems of the Negro in the Venereal Disease Control Program.

PMID- 20893038
TI  - Blacking Out Syphilis.

PMID- 20893037
TI  - Some Recent Observations of Certain Allergic Conditions.

PMID- 20893039
TI  - The Chicago Meeting of the N. M. A.

PMID- 20893040
TI  - National Health.

PMID- 20893041
TI  - No Time For Prejudice.

PMID- 20893042
TI  - It Can Be Done.

PMID- 20893043
TI  - It Is Uncle Sam's Job.

PMID- 20893045
TI  - Indications for Operation in Goiter.

PMID- 20893044
TI  - Second Annual Oration on Surgery : The Negro's Contribution to Surgery.

PMID- 20893046
TI  - Infantile Paralysis (Acute Anterior Poliomyelitis).

PMID- 20893048
TI  - What should be the Duties and Functions of the Head of the Department of
      Bacteriology in a University Community?

PMID- 20893047
TI  - Syphilis and Rectal Strictures.

PMID- 20893050
TI  - An Appreciation.

PMID- 20893049
TI  - Chicago Convention.

PMID- 20893051
TI  - Fiftieth Anniversary of the Founding of the National Medical Association.

PMID- 20893052
TI  - Our Challenge.

PMID- 20893053
TI  - Morale.

PMID- 20893054
TI  - Editor's Visit to New Jersey.

PMID- 20893055
TI  - At Armageddon-Let Us Battle.

PMID- 20893056
TI  - Cavernous Sinus Thrombosis Consequent to Furuncle of Face.

PMID- 20893057
TI  - Electrocardiography as an Aid to Cardiac Diagnosis.

PMID- 20893058
TI  - War Neurosurgery in Britain.

PMID- 20893059
TI  - Diagnosis of Lobar Pneumonia.

PMID- 20893060
TI  - A Plea for Conservatism in the Use of Anti-Luetic Therapy.

PMID- 20893061
TI  - National Defense and the Negro.

PMID- 20893062
TI  - Echoes from the Second Oration on Surgery "The Negro's Contribution on Surgery".

PMID- 20893064
TI  - Safer Methods of Thyroid Surgery.

PMID- 20893063
TI  - Two Case Reports.

PMID- 20893065
TI  - Management of Pelvic Inflammatory Diseases : With Report of An Unusual Case.

PMID- 20893067
TI  - Modern Treatment and the Rural Physician.

PMID- 20893066
TI  - Pitfalls, Diagnosis, Treatment of Cardiac Arrhythmias.

PMID- 20893068
TI  - An Epitome of the History of Pharmacology and Therapeutics.

PMID- 20893070
TI  - Post-Graduate Medical Education.

PMID- 20893069
TI  - Trends in Public Health Activities Among Negroes in 96 Southern Counties During
      1930-1939: The Employment of Negro Professional Personnel and the Expenditure of
      Funds for Health Services to Negroes.

PMID- 20893072
TI  - An Example.

PMID- 20893071
TI  - Universal Over-Indulgence.

PMID- 20893074
TI  - Reclaiming Rejected Draftees.

PMID- 20893073
TI  - A New Method of Post-Graduate Study.

PMID- 20893075
TI  - The Negro Physician and National Defense.

PMID- 20893076
TI  - The John A. Andrew Clinics, Springtime at Tuskegee.

PMID- 20893077
TI  - Icterus Complicating Lobar Pneumonia In the Negro Patient: II. Experimental
      Production of Icterus-Confirmation of Maugeri's Experiments.

PMID- 20893079
TI  - The Scope of X-ray Examinations.

PMID- 20893078
TI  - Pulmonocardiac Failure.

PMID- 20893080
TI  - Psychiatry In General Practice.

PMID- 20893081
TI  - Heredity and Its Relation To Insanity.

PMID- 20893082
TI  - War Neurosis.

PMID- 20893083
TI  - Proctology, and Its Relationship to the General Practitioner.

PMID- 20893084
TI  - In Re A Proposed National Medical Association College of Physicians and a College
      of Surgeons.

PMID- 20893085
TI  - Proposals with Reference to the Idea of a Negro College of Surgeons.

PMID- 20893086
TI  - Registration of Medical Students and Physicians for the National Emergency.

PMID- 20893087
TI  - Physicians and Morale.

PMID- 20893088
TI  - The Present Status of Hypertension.

PMID- 20893090
TI  - The First Graduating Class of the Tuskegee School of Midwifery.

PMID- 20893089
TI  - Electroencephalography at Homer Phillips Hospital.

PMID- 20893091
TI  - Coronary Occlusion.

PMID- 20893092
TI  - Surgery on the Diabetic.

PMID- 20893093
TI  - The National Medical Association in National Defense.

PMID- 20893095
TI  - The Challenge to Democracy.

PMID- 20893094
TI  - The Negro in Medicine.

PMID- 20893096
TI  - Surgery for Hypertension.

PMID- 20893097
TI  - Some Observations on Human Nutrition.

PMID- 20893098
TI  - Vitamins in Nutrition and Health.

PMID- 20893099
TI  - A Greater Meharry.

PMID- 20893100
TI  - The John A. Andrew Clinics-1942.

PMID- 20893101
TI  - Vitamin B-Complex Deficiencies.

PMID- 20893102
TI  - Rheumatic Heart Disease.

PMID- 20893103
TI  - Cancer: A Challenge to the Medical Profession.

PMID- 20893105
TI  - A Plea for War on Syphilis.

PMID- 20893104
TI  - The Cancer Clinic Problem.

PMID- 20893107
TI  - Hypertensive Heart Disease.

PMID- 20893106
TI  - Newer Concepts of Heart Failure.

PMID- 20893108
TI  - An Unusual Bladder Injury.

PMID- 20893109
TI  - Obstetrical Analgesia.

PMID- 20893110
TI  - On to Cleveland: August 17 to 21, 1942.

PMID- 20893111
TI  - The Fort Huachuca Hospital.

PMID- 20893112
TI  - A Plea for Conservative Surgery.

PMID- 20893113
TI  - From Capt. William E. Allen, Jr.

PMID- 20893114
TI  - The Incoming President, T. Manuel Smith.

PMID- 20893115
TI  - Physical Anthropology and the Negro in the Present Crisis.

PMID- 20893117
TI  - Recurrent Rheumatic Endocarditis with Terminal Hyperpyrexia.

PMID- 20893116
TI  - One Stage Suprapubic Prostatectomy : Fifty-One Consecutive Cases of 1939 and
      1940.

PMID- 20893119
TI  - Growth During Professional Life.

PMID- 20893118
TI  - Heredity and Its Relation to Insanity in Schizophrenics.

PMID- 20893121
TI  - The Journal Fund.

PMID- 20893120
TI  - Forty-Eighth Annual Convention National Medical Association, Cleveland, August 17
      21, 1942.

PMID- 20893123
TI  - Nutrition and the Soldier.

PMID- 20893122
TI  - President H. E. Lee.

PMID- 20893124
TI  - Democracy in Action.

PMID- 20893125
TI  - Major Allergic Diseases and Their Treatment.

PMID- 20893126
TI  - The Sulfonamides in Acute Gonococcal Urethritis.

PMID- 20893127
TI  - Modern Obstetrics.

PMID- 20893129
TI  - Diagnosis in Acute Surgical Emergencies.

PMID- 20893128
TI  - Fractures of the Forearm: Their Complications and Treatment.

PMID- 20893131
TI  - An Open Letter to the American Red Cross.

PMID- 20893130
TI  - A Triple Responsibility.

PMID- 20893132
TI  - Vitamins in Human Nutrition.

PMID- 20893134
TI  - Item of Interest: Public Health Nurses Needed.

PMID- 20893133
TI  - Third Annual Oration on Surgery: The Fundamental Physiologic Concepts Underlying
      Major Surgery of the Chest.

PMID- 20893136
TI  - Report of Sub-Committee on Birth Control of the National Medical Association.

PMID- 20893135
TI  - Results and Observations on Insulin Shock Therapy in Negro Ex-Service Men.

PMID- 20893137
TI  - How the Facilities of Our Medical Schools Could Be Enlarged To Meet the
      Prospective Shortage of Negro Doctors.

PMID- 20893138
TI  - Pernicious Anemia.

PMID- 20893140
TI  - War, Science, and Medicine.

PMID- 20893139
TI  - Thoughtlessness or Ingratitude, Which?

PMID- 20893141
TI  - The 1943 "Fight Infantile Paralysis Campaign".

PMID- 20893142
TI  - Announcement of the E. S. Jones Prize.

PMID- 20893143
TI  - "Palliative Radical Surgery" of the Colon for Carcinoma.

PMID- 20893144
TI  - The Management of Cases of Phlegmon of the Scrotum At Freedmen's Hospital.

PMID- 20893145
TI  - Some Diagnostic Considerations in the Neuropsychiatric Examination of Selectees.

PMID- 20893146
TI  - War Neuroses.

PMID- 20893148
TI  - Approach to Cardiac Diagnosis.

PMID- 20893147
TI  - Heredity and Its Relation to Insanity in Manic-Depressives.

PMID- 20893150
TI  - The American Red Cross.

PMID- 20893149
TI  - A Plea for a Properly Balanced Diet.

PMID- 20893152
TI  - Again, The American Red Cross Blood Bank.

PMID- 20893151
TI  - The Uses of Stilbestrol in Endocrinology.

PMID- 20893153
TI  - Diet in War Time.

PMID- 20893155
TI  - The John A. Andrew Clinics.

PMID- 20893154
TI  - Invalid Diets and Food Rationing.

PMID- 20893157
TI  - Master Keys To Anatomy: Preliminary Notes.

PMID- 20893156
TI  - Military Affairs.

PMID- 20893158
TI  - Hypertension.

PMID- 20893160
TI  - The Basis of Therapeutics.

PMID- 20893159
TI  - Tuberculous Pericarditis : Report of a Case of Tuberculosis in Which the Tubercle
      Bacillus Was Recovered on Direct Smear From the Pericardial Effusion.

PMID- 20893161
TI  - The Problem of the Medical Insurance Examiner During The Post War Period.

PMID- 20893162
TI  - The Useful Fundamentals for the General Practitioner and General Tuberculosis
      Control.

PMID- 20893163
TI  - Phonocardiographic Studies On Heart Diseases.

PMID- 20893164
TI  - Indications for Tonsillectomy.

PMID- 20893165
TI  - Fungous Infections: Their Role in Clinical Medicine.

PMID- 20893166
TI  - Thrombopenia Purpura With Case Report.

PMID- 20893167
TI  - Planned Parenthood as a Health Measure.

PMID- 20893168
TI  - Large Scale Sedation in Postoperative Treatment.

PMID- 20893169
TI  - War, Syphilis and the State.

PMID- 20893170
TI  - Mental Hygiene Grows.

PMID- 20893171
TI  - Report of the Third Annual Meeting: The Committee for Mental Hygiene for Negroes.

PMID- 20893172
TI  - Democracy in Action.

PMID- 20893173
TI  - The Rather Prevalent Doctor's Disease.

PMID- 20893174
TI  - Abdominoperineal Proctosigmoidectomy for Cancer of the Rectum.

PMID- 20893175
TI  - Highlights in Mental Deficiency.

PMID- 20893176
TI  - A Few Principles of Fracture Therapy.

PMID- 20893177
TI  - Care and Treatment of Negro Veterans at Tuskegee.

PMID- 20893178
TI  - Priority For Suture of Heart.

PMID- 20893179
TI  - Headache.

PMID- 20893180
TI  - Red Cross Blood Discrimination in Limelight.

PMID- 20893182
TI  - Psychological Medicine of 1943.

PMID- 20893181
TI  - Sacrifice and Freedom.

PMID- 20893183
TI  - Social Service Management of Glaucoma.

PMID- 20893185
TI  - The History and Development of Aviation Medicine.

PMID- 20893184
TI  - Medicine, Fifty Years Ago and Now.

PMID- 20893187
TI  - The Education of Mothers of Well Babies Through Teaching at the Baby-Keep-Well
      Stations.

PMID- 20893186
TI  - Actinomycosis of the Leg: Report of a Case.

PMID- 20893189
TI  - The College and Tuberculosis.

PMID- 20893188
TI  - Nutrition and the Surgical Patient.

PMID- 20893190
TI  - Noon-Day.

PMID- 20893191
TI  - Tuberculosis in Wartime.

PMID- 20893192
TI  - Selecting Medical Students and the Elimination of Misfits.

PMID- 20893193
TI  - A Summary of the Venereal Disease Problem in New Jersey.

PMID- 20893194
TI  - The Maintenance of Good Arm Function in Cancer of the Breast Operations.

PMID- 20893195
TI  - Social Justice: Our Plea.

PMID- 20893196
TI  - John A. Andrew Annual Clinics.

PMID- 20893197
TI  - Some Observations on Nutrition.

PMID- 20893198
TI  - Is the Negro More Susceptible to Syphilis than the White Man.

PMID- 20893199
TI  - Post-War Medicine.

PMID- 20893200
TI  - An Acknowledgment.

PMID- 20893201
TI  - The Artistic Canons in the Teaching of Anatomy.

PMID- 20893202
TI  - Freedom Through Health.

PMID- 20893204
TI  - Pigmentogenesis and the Negro: Discussion of Recent Advances and Report of a
      Case.

PMID- 20893203
TI  - Penicillin.

PMID- 20893205
TI  - The Management of the Asthmatic Patient.

PMID- 20893206
TI  - The Treatment of Chronic Heart Disease.

PMID- 20893207
TI  - Vitamins in Human Nutrition.

PMID- 20893209
TI  - Making a Contribution.

PMID- 20893208
TI  - The Use of the X-Ray in the Diagnosis of Diseases of the Gastro-Intestinal Tract.

PMID- 20893210
TI  - Surgery of Today.

PMID- 20893212
TI  - Surgical Biopsy with Special Reference to Breast Lesions.

PMID- 20893211
TI  - The John A. Andrew Clinic: Adieu.

PMID- 20893214
TI  - We and the Wagner Bill.

PMID- 20893213
TI  - A Post-War Job for Negro Doctors.

PMID- 20893215
TI  - National Negro Health Week.

PMID- 20893217
TI  - The Renal Concentration Test with Posterior Pituitary Extract.

PMID- 20893216
TI  - Tribute to Dr. Walter Gray Crump.

PMID- 20893218
TI  - Public Health as a Professional Career.

PMID- 20893219
TI  - Lymphogranuloma in the Female.

PMID- 20893220
TI  - Priapism.

PMID- 20893221
TI  - Placenta Accreta.

PMID- 20893222
TI  - Perforating Gunshot Wound of the Abdomen.

PMID- 20893223
TI  - Atrophic Eye of Glaucoma in a Three Months Infant.

PMID- 20893224
TI  - A Review of Recent Advances in Chemotherapy.

PMID- 20893226
TI  - Medical Management of Peptic Ulcer.

PMID- 20893225
TI  - National Health Negro Week-A Radio Broadcast.

PMID- 20893227
TI  - The Modern Conception of Neuroses: Its Therapeutic Import.

PMID- 20893228
TI  - Fibroma Uteri in Relation to Pregnancy.

PMID- 20893229
TI  - Epilepsy.

PMID- 20893230
TI  - Fifty Years of Progress in Medicine: From Chattel to Citizenship.

PMID- 20893231
TI  - Julian Lewis and Transfusions.

PMID- 20893232
TI  - The Ulcer Patient.

PMID- 20893234
TI  - Fort Huachuca is Tops.

PMID- 20893233
TI  - Tribute to Dr. John A. Kenney.

PMID- 20893235
TI  - A Half Century Review of the National Medical Association.

PMID- 20893236
TI  - The Burned Patient.

PMID- 20893237
TI  - The Purpose of the Community Hospital.

PMID- 20893238
TI  - Fiftieth Anniversary N. M. A.

PMID- 20893239
TI  - The A.M.A. War Convention.

PMID- 20893240
TI  - Medicine and Politics.

PMID- 20893241
TI  - Some Sidelights on the St. Louis Meeting.

PMID- 20893242
TI  - Daniel Hale Williams-Pioneer and Innovator.

PMID- 20893243
TI  - Survey of the Common Diseases of the Rectum.

PMID- 20893244
TI  - Diagnosis and Prognosis of Bundle Branch Block.

PMID- 20893245
TI  - Summary of the Results of Combined Fever and X-Ray Therapy in the Treatment of
      Hopeless Malignancies.

PMID- 20893247
TI  - Ulcer of the Leg: Pathology of the Ulcer.

PMID- 20893246
TI  - Epidemic Lead Poisoning in Children from Storage Battery Casings.

PMID- 20893249
TI  - Dr. John A. Kenney Leaves Tuskegee.

PMID- 20893248
TI  - Tropical Diseases After the War-Diagnosis and Control.

PMID- 20893251
TI  - The Negro Medical Doctor and Organized Medicine.

PMID- 20893250
TI  - The Cost of Medical Education.

PMID- 20893252
TI  - Physical Examinations.

PMID- 20893254
TI  - The Present Status of Allergy.

PMID- 20893253
TI  - The Diagnosis of Peptic Ulcer.

PMID- 20893255
TI  - Beta Kappa Chi: A Challenge Not To Be Ignored.

PMID- 20893257
TI  - Food and Vitamins Again.

PMID- 20893256
TI  - Postwar Planning for "Negro" Hospitals.

PMID- 20893259
TI  - Cryptorchidism.

PMID- 20893258
TI  - Changing Trends in Medical Practice.

PMID- 20893260
TI  - Two Widespread Maladies: What Are We, As Physicians, Doing About Them?

PMID- 20893261
TI  - The Monthly Journal.

PMID- 20893262
TI  - A Surgical League of Nations.

PMID- 20893264
TI  - Medicine as a Professional Career.

PMID- 20893263
TI  - Discussion of Paper by Dr. H. M. Lambright on Surgical Treatment of Thyroid
      Diseases.

PMID- 20893265
TI  - Some Observations on the Treatment of Sterility in the Female.

PMID- 20893267
TI  - Ophthalmology at Tuskegee Army Air Field-Two Year Review.

PMID- 20893266
TI  - X-Ray Examination of the Abdomen: Without the use of contrast media.

PMID- 20893268
TI  - First Annual Report-Sydenham Hospital.

PMID- 20893270
TI  - Anti-Conventions Year.

PMID- 20893269
TI  - What The Negro Wants.

PMID- 20893272
TI  - Message to our Advertisers, Members, Contributors Subscribers, and Readers.

PMID- 20893271
TI  - A Worthy Veteran Retires.

PMID- 20893274
TI  - Letter to the Editor Re: Annual Convention.

PMID- 20893273
TI  - Correspondence.

PMID- 20893275
TI  - Practice for Sale.

PMID- 20893276
TI  - First Annual Report of the Trustees of Sydenham Hospital to the Organization
      Committee for an Interracial Voluntary Hospital in the Harlem Area.

PMID- 20893277
TI  - Causes of Death of Physicians.

PMID- 20893278
TI  - Prepaid Hospital Protection.

PMID- 20893279
TI  - Tribute to Dr. J. Edward Perry of Kansas City, Mo.

PMID- 20893280
TI  - Is Inflammatory Stricture of Urethra Decreasing?

PMID- 20893281
TI  - Medico-Chi: Whence and Whither?

PMID- 20893282
TI  - Distribution of Negro Physicians in Urban Communities with Less than 50,000
      Negroes in 1942.

PMID- 20893283
TI  - Socialized Medicine: Pro and Con.

PMID- 20893285
TI  - The Running Ear.

PMID- 20893284
TI  - Pathological Gall Bladder and Eclampsism Complicating and Prematurely Terminating
      Pregnancy: Report of an Unusual Case.

PMID- 20893286
TI  - Ethmoiditis In Children.

PMID- 20893287
TI  - Sulfonamide Resistant Gonococcal Infections and the Negro.

PMID- 20893288
TI  - Can the Millennium be Approaching?

PMID- 20893289
TI  - The Clinical Value and Mechanism of Action of Certain Drugs in Gastro-Intestinal
      Disorders.

PMID- 20893290
TI  - Sulfonamides in Otolarngology and Ophthalmology.

PMID- 20893291
TI  - Observations on Vesical Schistosomiasis in West Africa.

PMID- 20893292
TI  - Ether in Oil Intramuscularly as Emergency and Supplementary Therapy in Bronchial
      Asthma.

PMID- 20893293
TI  - Recent Advances in the Treatment of Burns.

PMID- 20893294
TI  - A Plea for Interracial Cooperation.

PMID- 20893296
TI  - Program of the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis.

PMID- 20893295
TI  - Your Unescapable Self.

PMID- 20893297
TI  - Service in Medicine.

PMID- 20893298
TI  - The Wagner-Murray-Dingell Senate Bill.

PMID- 20893299
TI  - The National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis.

PMID- 20893300
TI  - Wendell Wilkie and the Human Factor.

PMID- 20893301
TI  - Sickle-Cell Anemia.

PMID- 20893302
TI  - Birth Registration.

PMID- 20893304
TI  - Myomata of the Uterus : Report of Two Interesting Cases.

PMID- 20893303
TI  - The Treatment of Thyrotoxicosis : With Special Reference to Surgical Care.

PMID- 20893306
TI  - Post Traumatic Para Articular Calcification of the Knee Joint.

PMID- 20893305
TI  - Negro Nurses In Armed Forces.

PMID- 20893307
TI  - The Veterans Facility at Tuskegee.

PMID- 20893309
TI  - The Wagner-Dingell Bills.

PMID- 20893308
TI  - What About The Cervix?

PMID- 20893310
TI  - Buy A War Bond.

PMID- 20893311
TI  - Meeting of Board of Trustees.

PMID- 20893312
TI  - Dr. Dailey's Visit.

PMID- 20893313
TI  - Correspondence.

PMID- 20893314
TI  - Correspondence.

PMID- 20893315
TI  - A Report of Three Hundred and Forty-Two Consecutive Cases of Appendicitis.

PMID- 20893316
TI  - Methods of Administration of Penicillin Adaptable to Office Treatment of
      Gonococcal Infections.

PMID- 20893317
TI  - Pregnancy Complicated by Heart Disease.

PMID- 20893318
TI  - The Responsibility of the Private Physician in Tuberculosis Control.

PMID- 20893320
TI  - Medico-Chi And The National Selective Service.

PMID- 20893319
TI  - Report on Thiouracil Therapy in 26 Cases of Thyrotoxicosis.

PMID- 20893322
TI  - Chronic Cystic Mastitis-Should the Term be Discarded?

PMID- 20893321
TI  - The Challenge of Medicine in the Future.

PMID- 20893323
TI  - Service in Medicine.

PMID- 20893324
TI  - Professor Salomon.

PMID- 20893325
TI  - President Robinson's Activities.

PMID- 20893326
TI  - The Howard University Medical Alumni Association.

PMID- 20893327
TI  - Topical Application of Penicillin : Solution, Gentian-Violet and Heat in the
      Treatment of Extensive 1st and 2nd Degree Burns in Children.

PMID- 20893329
TI  - The Diagnosis and Management of Some Common Cardiac Arrhythmias.

PMID- 20893328
TI  - Frontiers of Mental Hygiene.

PMID- 20893331
TI  - The Campaign Against Cancer.

PMID- 20893330
TI  - Remarks for Health Service.

PMID- 20893332
TI  - Medicine Then and Now.

PMID- 20893333
TI  - Nothing is so Difficult as to Foresee Consequences.

PMID- 20893334
TI  - Should Cysts of the Breast be Aspirated?

PMID- 20893335
TI  - The American College of Surgeons-Breaking Down Barriers.

PMID- 20893336
TI  - The People's Health.

PMID- 20893337
TI  - The President's Plan for Medical Care.

PMID- 20893339
TI  - Access to a Hospital for Every Race Doctor.

PMID- 20893338
TI  - Mass Medical Treatment.

PMID- 20893340
TI  - The Meharry Alumni Hall.

PMID- 20893341
TI  - Blast Injuries.

PMID- 20893342
TI  - The Problem of Veteran's Facilities.

PMID- 20893343
TI  - National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses.

PMID- 20893344
TI  - Directory.

PMID- 20893345
TI  - Pneumococcus Meningitis: Treatment With Penicillin and Sulfonamide.

PMID- 20893346
TI  - A Control Program in a Metropolitan Area for Tuberculosis Among Negroes.

PMID- 20893347
TI  - Some Questions Text-Books Do Not Answer.

PMID- 20893348
TI  - Gastric Syphilis.

PMID- 20893349
TI  - Local Examination of the Thyroid Gland.

PMID- 20893350
TI  - Sickle Cell Anemia as a Clinical Entity.

PMID- 20893351
TI  - The Laboratory as a Necessity for a Conclusive Diagnosis.

PMID- 20893352
TI  - Federal Versus State Control.

PMID- 20893354
TI  - John A. Andrew Clinic.

PMID- 20893353
TI  - Streptomycin Moves Closer to Clinical Use.

PMID- 20893355
TI  - Directory.

PMID- 20893356
TI  - Thiouracil.

PMID- 20893357
TI  - Equal Opportunity.

PMID- 20893358
TI  - Shall We Improve Our Health Program?

PMID- 20893360
TI  - Who's Who Among Negro Lawyers.

PMID- 20893359
TI  - A Plea for More and Better Consultations.

PMID- 20893361
TI  - The Debt of Modern Medicine to Sir William Osler, Bart.

PMID- 20893363
TI  - When is Gonorrhea Cured?

PMID- 20893362
TI  - Some Uses of Nembutal in Obstetrics.

PMID- 20893364
TI  - Prophylaxis in Geriatrics.

PMID- 20893366
TI  - Acute Appendicitis with Complications.

PMID- 20893365
TI  - Periarteritis Nodosa With Case Report.

PMID- 20893368
TI  - The Diagnosis of Breast Lesions.

PMID- 20893367
TI  - The Doctor on the Witness Stand.

PMID- 20893369
TI  - Allantoin-Sulfanilamide Ointment in the General Practice of Medicine.

PMID- 20893371
TI  - Despise Not The Day of Small Beginnings.

PMID- 20893370
TI  - Post-War Adjustments in Medicine.

PMID- 20893372
TI  - Statement in Support of National Health Bill, S.1606, on Behalf of the National
      Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

PMID- 20893373
TI  - The Fifty-First Annual Meeting of the National Medical Association.

PMID- 20893374
TI  - Of Special Interest to Our Returning G. I.'s.

PMID- 20893376
TI  - Penicillin Recommended for Prospective Mothers.

PMID- 20893375
TI  - The Tuskegee Founders Day and Annual Clinic.

PMID- 20893378
TI  - Dr. Roscoe C. Giles: A Fellow of the International College of Surgeons.

PMID- 20893377
TI  - Launch Provident Medical Associates.

PMID- 20893379
TI  - Editorial Squib.

PMID- 20893380
TI  - A Graphic Approach to a Compleat Anatomy.

PMID- 20893381
TI  - Vibration Sense.

PMID- 20893382
TI  - Recent Advances in the Therapy of Glaucoma.

PMID- 20893383
TI  - Some Medical Observations from the Caribbean.

PMID- 20893384
TI  - The Histologic and Clinical Response of Human Cancer to Irradiation-Citation of
      Five Cases.

PMID- 20893385
TI  - "Doubtfully Indicated Hysterectomies".

PMID- 20893386
TI  - The Care of the Aged.

PMID- 20893387
TI  - Removing Barriers.

PMID- 20893389
TI  - Dr. Dibble Heads the John A. Andrew Memorial Hospital.

PMID- 20893388
TI  - Penicillin in Early Syphilis.

PMID- 20893390
TI  - Shall the Demobilized Doctor enter Medical Group Practice.

PMID- 20893391
TI  - Citation-Dr. W. S. Quinland.

PMID- 20893392
TI  - Correspondence.

PMID- 20893393
TI  - The Firestone Tire & Rubber Company.

PMID- 20893394
TI  - Letter of Appreciation.

PMID- 20893395
TI  - The Monthly Journal.

PMID- 20893396
TI  - The Louisville Meeting.

PMID- 20893398
TI  - Bed Rest in Tuberculosis.

PMID- 20893397
TI  - Let Us Be Consistent About the Principle of "Free Choice of Physician".

PMID- 20893399
TI  - The Late Booker T. Washington.

PMID- 20893400
TI  - Medicine in this Changing World.

PMID- 20893401
TI  - Hormonal Therapy in Peptic Ulcer.

PMID- 20893402
TI  - Masking Syphilis in Treatment of Gonococcic Infections with Penicillin.

PMID- 20893403
TI  - Digitalis Poisoning.

PMID- 20893404
TI  - Artistry in Medicine and Surgery.

PMID- 20893405
TI  - A Challenge to the American College of Physicians.

PMID- 20893406
TI  - Hospitals and Health Centers.

PMID- 20893407
TI  - Nathan Francis Mossell.

PMID- 20893408
TI  - Negro Fellows of the American College of Surgeons.

PMID- 20893409
TI  - Our Medical Heroes in the Hall of Fame.

PMID- 20893410
TI  - The 1946 Clinical Congress of the American College of Surgeons.

PMID- 20893411
TI  - Random Highlights of the American College of Surgeons Program, Thirty-Second
      Annual Session.

PMID- 20893412
TI  - Wanted: Candidates for Opportunity.

PMID- 20893414
TI  - Infectious (Epidemic) Hepatitis.

PMID- 20893413
TI  - Esprit de Corps in the National Medical Association.

PMID- 20893415
TI  - Segregation at Gallinger Hospital.

PMID- 20893416
TI  - National Negro Health Week: The Thirty-Third Annual Observance March 30 - April
      6, 1947.

PMID- 20893417
TI  - The Diagnosis of Gonococcic Infections in Women.

PMID- 20893418
TI  - More Negro Physicians Needed.

PMID- 20893419
TI  - Recent National Health Legislation.

PMID- 20893420
TI  - Quinidine Sulfate.

PMID- 20893422
TI  - Our Nurses and the Nursing Situation.

PMID- 20893421
TI  - BAL: Its Use in Arsenic, Mercury, and Gold Poisoning.

PMID- 20893423
TI  - Senior Surgeon Poindexter, U.S.P.H.S.

PMID- 20893424
TI  - Dr. E. R. Alexander Elected to The New York Academy of Medicine.

PMID- 20893425
TI  - Table of Metric Doses with Approximate Apothecary Equivalents.

PMID- 20893426
TI  - Diet and the Surgical Patient.

PMID- 20893427
TI  - The Tuskegee Clinic.

PMID- 20893428
TI  - Paludrine-A New Synthetic Antimalarial Drug.

PMID- 20893429
TI  - The New Health Insurance Bill.

PMID- 20893430
TI  - Dr. W. S. Quinland Goes to the Veterans' Hospital at Tuskegee.

PMID- 20893431
TI  - Dr. J. Edward Perry and the Houston (Texas) Negro Hospital.

PMID- 20893433
TI  - Make Lynching a Federal Offense.

PMID- 20893432
TI  - United Negro College Fund.

PMID- 20893434
TI  - Advice Regarding Poliomyelitis.

PMID- 20893435
TI  - Medical Legislation.

PMID- 20893436
TI  - A Report on the Tuskegee Clinic.

PMID- 20893437
TI  - Inactive Rheumatic Heart Disease.

PMID- 20893439
TI  - An Appeal to the A.M.A. in Behalf of Negro Physicians in the South.

PMID- 20893438
TI  - A Hitherto Undescribed Form of Headache.

PMID- 20893441
TI  - The Pressing Need for Private Mental Hospitals.

PMID- 20893440
TI  - Sixtieth Annual Meeting of the Old North State Medical, Dental & Pharmaceutical
      Society, Inc.

PMID- 20893442
TI  - Dr. John P. Turner, Member of the Board of Education of Philadelphia.

PMID- 20893443
TI  - Howard University-Washington, D. C.

PMID- 20893444
TI  - Negro Physicians and the American Medical Association.

PMID- 20893446
TI  - The Journal of the American Medical Association-535 North Dearborn Street,
      Chicago 10.

PMID- 20893445
TI  - Howard University-Washington, D. C.

PMID- 20893447
TI  - The Treatment of Burns.

PMID- 20893448
TI  - American Medical Association.

PMID- 20893449
TI  - The Need for Advanced Training Opportunities for Physicians and Dentists in
      Training Institutions.

PMID- 20893450
TI  - Not Alms But Equal Opportunity.

PMID- 20893451
TI  - The New Antihistaminic Drugs-Pyribenzamine and Benadryl.

PMID- 20893453
TI  - An Oversupply of Physicians?

PMID- 20893452
TI  - Christmas Seals.

PMID- 20893454
TI  - A Health Hazard.

PMID- 20893455
TI  - The Independent Committee of Colored Physicians.

PMID- 20893456
TI  - Physicians Needed.

PMID- 20893458
TI  - Congresswoman Helen Gahagan Douglas on Health Legislation.

PMID- 20893457
TI  - Frederick Douglass Stubbs, 1906-1947: An Appreciation.

PMID- 20893459
TI  - The Common Cold.

PMID- 20893460
TI  - In Retrospect and Prospect.

PMID- 20893462
TI  - The John A. Andrew Clinic.

PMID- 20893461
TI  - "Cast Down Your Bucket...".

PMID- 20893463
TI  - Surgery for High Blood Pressure.

PMID- 20893464
TI  - "To Secure These Rights".

PMID- 20893465
TI  - Effective Utilization of Essential Amino Acids in Food Proteins.

PMID- 20893467
TI  - Our Salute to the Bulletin of the Medico-Chirurgical Society.

PMID- 20893466
TI  - "The Color Line in Medicine".

PMID- 20893469
TI  - Midian O. Bousfield, M.D., 1885-1948.

PMID- 20893468
TI  - The Senior Oration at Howard University Medical School, 1947.

PMID- 20893470
TI  - Edward Arthur Balloch, M.D., 1857-1948.

PMID- 20893471
TI  - The Southern Governors' Educational Plan.

PMID- 20893472
TI  - The International Congress on Mental Health.

PMID- 20893473
TI  - "A Special Kind of Membership".

PMID- 20893474
TI  - Dean Edward Arthur Balloch.

PMID- 20893475
TI  - The National Hospital Construction Program.

PMID- 20893476
TI  - Brig. General Spencer C. Dickerson, B.S., M.D., 1871-1948.

PMID- 20893477
TI  - Brig. General Spencer C. Dickerson, B.S., M.D., 1871-1948.

PMID- 20893479
TI  - The Internist in Medicine Among Negroes.

PMID- 20893478
TI  - Medical Education for Minority Groups.

PMID- 20893481
TI  - Dr. Kenney Resigns.

PMID- 20893480
TI  - Spencer C. Dickerson, M.D.

PMID- 20893483
TI  - The Editor's Spring Itinerary.

PMID- 20893482
TI  - Racial Progress-Mr. and Mrs. W. J. Edwards.

PMID- 20893485
TI  - College Presidents Urge Negro Students to Apply for Scholarships.

PMID- 20893484
TI  - Autobiographical Sketch of Dr. J. A. C. Lattimore.

PMID- 20893486
TI  - Oak Bluffs.

PMID- 20893487
TI  - Which Way?

PMID- 20893488
TI  - 100 Million Lost Years.

PMID- 20893489
TI  - The Frederick Douglass Stubbs Surgical Oration.

PMID- 20893490
TI  - Programs-or Politics?

PMID- 20893491
TI  - Penicillin: Benefits and Paradoxes.

PMID- 20893492
TI  - Folic Acid.

PMID- 20893494
TI  - President-Elect-Dr. C. Herbert Marshall.

PMID- 20893493
TI  - Race and Disease.

PMID- 20893495
TI  - The New President-Dr. C. Austin Whittier.

PMID- 20893496
TI  - The Pathologist.

PMID- 20893497
TI  - The General Practitioner and His Neurotic Patients.

PMID- 20893499
TI  - Atomic Energy and the Practice of Medicine.

PMID- 20893498
TI  - The Negro's Position in Medicine.

PMID- 20893501
TI  - Medical Portents of the National Election.

PMID- 20893500
TI  - Racism Rules AMA Policies.

PMID- 20893503
TI  - Our Past Presidents.

PMID- 20893502
TI  - Physicians and Neurosis.

PMID- 20893504
TI  - When the Slip gets by.

PMID- 20893506
TI  - My Eviscerectomy.

PMID- 20893505
TI  - Provident Hospital, Baltimore.

PMID- 20893507
TI  - Myocarditis.

PMID- 20893508
TI  - Hypertension and Pheochromocytomas.

PMID- 20893509
TI  - Our Exchanges.

PMID- 20893511
TI  - The Membership Drive.

PMID- 20893510
TI  - Are Physicians Particularly Suspect of Tax Fraud?

PMID- 20893513
TI  - Persident Whittier Activates the State Vice Presidents.

PMID- 20893512
TI  - Prenatal Care.

PMID- 20893514
TI  - Treatment of Obesity.

PMID- 20893515
TI  - Open Medical Schools.

PMID- 20893517
TI  - The Detroit Meeting.

PMID- 20893516
TI  - Qualified Medical Applicants.

PMID- 20893518
TI  - "Socialized Medicine".

PMID- 20893519
TI  - Why I Oppose Compulsory Health Insurance.

PMID- 20893520
TI  - Social Responsibility for Health.

PMID- 20893521
TI  - Our Past Presidents.

PMID- 20893522
TI  - A Neurotic Patient's Plea.

PMID- 20893523
TI  - Missouri Falls in Line.

PMID- 20893524
TI  - Blood Test for Cancer.

PMID- 20893525
TI  - The Distinguished Service Award.

PMID- 20893526
TI  - President's Column.

PMID- 20893527
TI  - Letters to the Editor.

PMID- 20893528
TI  - Letters to the Editor.

PMID- 20893529
TI  - Letters to the Editor.

PMID- 20893530
TI  - The Geneva Hippocratic Oath.

PMID- 20893531
TI  - The Detroit Session.

PMID- 20893532
TI  - Cancer Centers and Tumor Clinics.

PMID- 20893533
TI  - Recent Past Presidents.

PMID- 20893534
TI  - The Future of the Journal.

PMID- 20893535
TI  - Lest We Forget.

PMID- 20893536
TI  - Communication from President Marshall.

PMID- 20893537
TI  - Dr. Ulysses Grant Dailey Receives Distinguished Service Award for 1949.

PMID- 20893538
TI  - It's Up To You.

PMID- 20893539
TI  - Medical Deans and Discrimination.

PMID- 20893540
TI  - Glaring Premedical Needs.

PMID- 20893542
TI  - Medical Students Dropped for Poor Scholarship at Meharry Medical College 1938-48.

PMID- 20893541
TI  - Dr. Evarts Graham.

PMID- 20893543
TI  - Zone Directors and State Vice Presidents.

PMID- 20893544
TI  - General Practice Residency.

PMID- 20893545
TI  - AIMS-Activity Against Discrimination.

PMID- 20893546
TI  - The Hospital Situation in Miami, Florida.

PMID- 20893547
TI  - Perforated Peptic Ulcers.

PMID- 20893549
TI  - Carl Glennis Roberts, M.D., 1886-1950.

PMID- 20893548
TI  - Fetal Meconium Peritonitis with Intra-Abdominal Hernia.

PMID- 20893550
TI  - President's Column.

PMID- 20893551
TI  - An Age of Communications.

PMID- 20893552
TI  - No Room for the Moneychangers in the Temple of Aesculapius.

PMID- 20893553
TI  - Riches No Goal of Basic Discoverers.

PMID- 20893554
TI  - Persecution of Innovators.

PMID- 20893555
TI  - Hospital Personnel Shortages.

PMID- 20893556
TI  - Correspondence.

PMID- 20893557
TI  - Superfetation in Uterus Bicornis Unicollis: A Case Report.

PMID- 20893558
TI  - A Brighter Forecast for Patient Care: Coordination of Hospitals.

PMID- 20893559
TI  - Diagnosis and Treatment of Hepatocellular Diseases.

PMID- 20893560
TI  - Federal Aid to Medical Education.

PMID- 20893561
TI  - The Cardiac Patient as a Surgical or Obstetrical Risk.

PMID- 20893562
TI  - Interesting African Visitors.

PMID- 20893563
TI  - The Enigma of Peptic Ulcer.

PMID- 20893564
TI  - Cortisone and ACTH.

PMID- 20893565
TI  - The Diagnosis of Syphilis.

PMID- 20893567
TI  - Children's Hospital, Washington, D.C., Accepts First Colored Physician.

PMID- 20893566
TI  - President's Column.

PMID- 20893568
TI  - Legal Counsel.

PMID- 20893569
TI  - Correspondence.

PMID- 20893570
TI  - Correspondence.

PMID- 20893572
TI  - The NMA at the Crossroads.

PMID- 20893571
TI  - Correspondence.

PMID- 20893573
TI  - The Crisis in Medical Education.

PMID- 20893574
TI  - Anxiety and Disease.

PMID- 20893575
TI  - Clinical Interpretation of Heart Disease.

PMID- 20893576
TI  - President's Column.

PMID- 20893577
TI  - Legal Counsel.

PMID- 20893578
TI  - Chance for Service (?).

PMID- 20893579
TI  - Howard Pioneer in Nicaragua.

PMID- 20893580
TI  - Chance for Service (?).

PMID- 20893581
TI  - The AMA Resolutions.

PMID- 20893582
TI  - Speak for Yourself, John!

PMID- 20893584
TI  - The General Adaptation Syndrome.

PMID- 20893583
TI  - Exit the Race Statistic.

PMID- 20893585
TI  - New Light on the Formation of Melanin.

PMID- 20893586
TI  - President's Column.

PMID- 20893587
TI  - Legal Counsel.

PMID- 20893589
TI  - David's Hour.

PMID- 20893588
TI  - The Hampton Convention.

PMID- 20893591
TI  - Dr. Joseph G. Gathings, The President Elect.

PMID- 20893590
TI  - "Problem" Movies.

PMID- 20893592
TI  - Physician of the Eighties.

PMID- 20893593
TI  - Tuberculosis Due to Chlorine Irritation is "Poisoning".

PMID- 20893595
TI  - Medical Deans Static.

PMID- 20893594
TI  - Cultural Tachygenesis: A Need of the Hour.

PMID- 20893596
TI  - President's Column.

PMID- 20893597
TI  - Correspondence.

PMID- 20893598
TI  - Anyone Remember These Days?

PMID- 20893600
TI  - Sterile Meetings.

PMID- 20893599
TI  - Pernicious Anemia in the American Negro.

PMID- 20893601
TI  - The New Assistant Editor.

PMID- 20893602
TI  - President's Column.

PMID- 20893603
TI  - Rangoon to Mandalay.

PMID- 20893604
TI  - Appendicitis in Missouri.

PMID- 20893605
TI  - Swing around Africa.

PMID- 20893606
TI  - Appendicitis in Missouri.

PMID- 20893607
TI  - Liability of Operating Surgeon for Attending Interne's Negligence.

PMID- 20893609
TI  - National Negro Health Program Ends.

PMID- 20893608
TI  - The Henry Wisdom Cave Testimonial Dinner.

PMID- 20893610
TI  - Africa on the Medical Horizon.

PMID- 20893611
TI  - President's Column.

PMID- 20893613
TI  - Penicillin for Vaginal Discharge.

PMID- 20893612
TI  - Numa P. G. Adams.

PMID- 20893614
TI  - Numa P. G. Adams.

PMID- 20893616
TI  - The Federal Aid and Regional Plan Chimerae.

PMID- 20893615
TI  - "It is Later Than You Think!!".

PMID- 20893618
TI  - President's Column.

PMID- 20893617
TI  - Integration only Practicable Goal.

PMID- 20893619
TI  - N.A.A.C.P. Resolutions in Health Area.

PMID- 20893621
TI  - More from Burma.

PMID- 20893620
TI  - Pregnancy in Sickle Cell Anemia.

PMID- 20893623
TI  - Dr. Rivers Frederick Receives Distinguished Service Award for 1951.

PMID- 20893622
TI  - Deductions from Gross Income for Tax Purposes.

PMID- 20893624
TI  - The Philadelphia Convention.

PMID- 20893625
TI  - The Honorable Oscar Ross Ewing.

PMID- 20893626
TI  - President's Column.

PMID- 20893627
TI  - The President-Elect.

PMID- 20893628
TI  - Medicines for India.

PMID- 20893630
TI  - Army Taboo on Negro Obstetricians?

PMID- 20893629
TI  - Restrictions on Disclosure of Information Received While Treating Patients.

PMID- 20893631
TI  - Geriatrics and Medical Practice.

PMID- 20893632
TI  - Specialty Boards and Colleges.

PMID- 20893633
TI  - President's Column.

PMID- 20893634
TI  - Imhotep.

PMID- 20893635
TI  - Government Taboo on Negro Physicians?

PMID- 20893637
TI  - Carcinoma of the Esophagus.

PMID- 20893636
TI  - Forward Detroit!

PMID- 20893638
TI  - President's Column.

PMID- 20893639
TI  - Refusal of Race Identification on Birth Certificate.

PMID- 20893640
TI  - Medical History.

PMID- 20893641
TI  - Observations on the General Adaptation Syndrome: Surgery as Measured by the
      Eosinophil Response.

PMID- 20893642
TI  - 'Apartheid' and the Medical Profession.

PMID- 20893643
TI  - The Louis T. Wright Library of Harlem Hospital.

PMID- 20893644
TI  - Survival Under Anesthesia.

PMID- 20893645
TI  - Inactivity or Indecision?

PMID- 20893647
TI  - Memphis NAACP Branch Rescinds Endorsement of Negro Hospital.

PMID- 20893646
TI  - Greetings to the American Medical Association from the National Medical
      Association.

PMID- 20893648
TI  - Lambright Elected to Board of Academy of Medicine of Cleveland.

PMID- 20893649
TI  - Starke Story.

PMID- 20893650
TI  - Fourteen Colored Physicians Join Florida Medical Association.

PMID- 20893651
TI  - First Arkansas Medical Graduate to enter University Hospital.

PMID- 20893652
TI  - Alexander Thomas Augusta.

PMID- 20893653
TI  - The Crushing Irony of De Luxe Jim Crow.

PMID- 20893654
TI  - Medicine in our Democracy.

PMID- 20893656
TI  - Editor of Modern Hospital Attacks "Jim Crow".

PMID- 20893655
TI  - President's Column.

PMID- 20893657
TI  - Quality of the Journal.

PMID- 20893659
TI  - President's Column.

PMID- 20893658
TI  - Quality of the Journal.

PMID- 20893661
TI  - Nurses Shortage Eases Color Bar.

PMID- 20893660
TI  - Old North State Society Protests Omission.

PMID- 20893663
TI  - Salutes to Dr. Hinton.

PMID- 20893662
TI  - The Reclaimed Art of Physical Therapy.

PMID- 20893664
TI  - The New Community Hospital of Evanston, Illinois.

PMID- 20893665
TI  - University of Texas Admits Five.

PMID- 20893666
TI  - Georgia County Society Opens Doors Wide.

PMID- 20893667
TI  - Progress in Evanston, Illinois.

PMID- 20893668
TI  - Spotlight on Anesthesia.

PMID- 20893669
TI  - President's Column.

PMID- 20893671
TI  - Hospital Discrimination Must End!

PMID- 20893670
TI  - High Kilovoltage Radiographic Technique.

PMID- 20893672
TI  - Doctors and Defense.

PMID- 20893673
TI  - Greetings to Our Fellows and Colleagues.

PMID- 20893675
TI  - Integration in Orange, N. J., Hospital.

PMID- 20893674
TI  - Louisiana Medical Association Calls for Dropping of Racial Bars.

PMID- 20893677
TI  - No Time to Play Ostrich.

PMID- 20893676
TI  - Alabama Medical Association Votes to Admit Negroes.

PMID- 20893679
TI  - Council of Chief Consultants of the Veterans Administration.

PMID- 20893678
TI  - Texas Medical Association and Negro Physicians.

PMID- 20893680
TI  - The Liver in Medicine.

PMID- 20893681
TI  - Progress on Integration in Veterans Hospitals.

PMID- 20893682
TI  - Negro Voters Defeat Hospital Bond Issue.

PMID- 20893683
TI  - NAACP's Resolutions on Health, 1953.

PMID- 20893684
TI  - John Wesley Anderson, 1861-1947.

PMID- 20893686
TI  - President's Column.

PMID- 20893685
TI  - The Old Order Changeth.

PMID- 20893688
TI  - Detroit NAACP Opposes New Segregated Hospital.

PMID- 20893687
TI  - Integration Advances in Veterans Hospitals.

PMID- 20893689
TI  - Accomplishments of Ambulatory State Venereal Disease Clinic : A Ten Year Survey.

PMID- 20893690
TI  - John Henry Hale, 1878-1944.

PMID- 20893691
TI  - Ageing: A Special Problem.

PMID- 20893692
TI  - Lovers, Age, and Differential Mortality.

PMID- 20893693
TI  - President's Column.

PMID- 20893694
TI  - Veterans Hospital at Tuskegee.

PMID- 20893695
TI  - Admissions to Kentucky Medical Societies.

PMID- 20893696
TI  - Brewer Fighter With Ballot.

PMID- 20893698
TI  - Louis T. Wright Memorials.

PMID- 20893697
TI  - Support the "Fighting Fund For Freedom".

PMID- 20893699
TI  - Creative Destiny.

PMID- 20893700
TI  - President's Column.

PMID- 20893701
TI  - Louisiana Societies Static.

PMID- 20893702
TI  - South Carolina Association Open to Negro Nurses.

PMID- 20893704
TI  - The Seventeenth of May.

PMID- 20893703
TI  - George Cleveland Hall, 1864-1930.

PMID- 20893705
TI  - Physicians' $500 and $100 Memberships in NAACP.

PMID- 20893707
TI  - Mary Eliza Mahoney, First Negro Nurse.

PMID- 20893706
TI  - Austin Maurice Curtis, 1868-1939.

PMID- 20893709
TI  - Doctor Dan.

PMID- 20893708
TI  - Atomic Energy in Medicine.

PMID- 20893711
TI  - Dallas Hospital Admits Five Negro Physicians To Staff.

PMID- 20893710
TI  - Albert Porter Davis.

PMID- 20893712
TI  - Solomon Carter Fuller, 1872-1953.

PMID- 20893713
TI  - Dr. Peter Marshall Murray Receives Distinguished Service Award for 1954.

PMID- 20893714
TI  - The President-Elect.

PMID- 20893715
TI  - The Washington Convention.

PMID- 20893716
TI  - President's Column.

PMID- 20893717
TI  - Little Rock, Arkansas Hospital Admits Four to Staff.

PMID- 20893718
TI  - Three Washington Hospitals Open Staffs to Negro Physicians.

PMID- 20893720
TI  - North Carolina Society Drops Racial Bars.

PMID- 20893719
TI  - D.C. Tuberculosis Hospital Adds First Negro Staff Physicians.

PMID- 20893721
TI  - Dr. James F. Scott Named Ohio County Coroner.

PMID- 20893723
TI  - Slow Grinding Mills.

PMID- 20893722
TI  - Negro Members of Western Reserve Medical Faculty.

PMID- 20893724
TI  - New Accent on Youth.

PMID- 20893725
TI  - New Goals for the NMA.

PMID- 20893726
TI  - President's Column.

PMID- 20893727
TI  - St. Louis Ends Discriminatory Ambulances.

PMID- 20893728
TI  - The Distinguished Service Medal of the National Medical Association.

PMID- 20893730
TI  - "Stomachus Convivius" or Banquet Belly: An Ancient But Hitherto Undescribed
      Clinical Syndrome.

PMID- 20893729
TI  - William Harry Barnes, 1887-1945.

PMID- 20893732
TI  - William Frank Nelson, M.D.

PMID- 20893731
TI  - Letter from Liberia.

PMID- 20893733
TI  - Lawrence Winfield Long, M.D.

PMID- 20893734
TI  - Albert Schweitzer.

PMID- 20893735
TI  - Leffall Succeeds Cox as Assistant Editor.

PMID- 20893737
TI  - Oklahoma Medical Association President Decries Segregation.

PMID- 20893736
TI  - A Medical Viewpoint on the Proposal to Place a Branch of Cook County Hospital on
      the Southside of Chicago.

PMID- 20893739
TI  - Chicago N.A.A.C.P. Fights Hospital Bias.

PMID- 20893738
TI  - North Carolina Society Urges Public Service Appointments for Negro Physicians.

PMID- 20893741
TI  - Roanoke Academy of Medicine (Virginia) Opens Doors.

PMID- 20893740
TI  - Maxwell Heads Milwaukee Hospital Staff.

PMID- 20893742
TI  - Monroe Alpheus Majors, 1864.

PMID- 20893743
TI  - "Phimosis Corticis Atrophica" and "Myocallositis Chronica": Two Infrequently
      Recognized Causes of Cerebral Insufficiency.

PMID- 20893744
TI  - Roscoe Conkling Bryant, M.D.

PMID- 20893745
TI  - Emory Irving Robinson, M.D.

PMID- 20893746
TI  - National Scene in Ferment.

PMID- 20893747
TI  - Salk Vaccine Distribution.

PMID- 20893748
TI  - President's Column.

PMID- 20893750
TI  - Physicians' Life Memberships in the NAACP.

PMID- 20893749
TI  - Tests of Southern Negro High School Seniors.

PMID- 20893751
TI  - Progress in Kansas City.

PMID- 20893752
TI  - Providence Hospital, Washington, D.C., Admits Three Negro Physicians to Staff.

PMID- 20893753
TI  - Metropolitan Life Gives Same Insurance Rates to Whites and Negroes.

PMID- 20893754
TI  - First Negro Physician Appointed to District of Columbia Board of Examiners in
      Medicine and Osteopathy.

PMID- 20893755
TI  - William Wells Brown, M.D., 1816-1884.

PMID- 20893757
TI  - Texas Medical Association Opens Doors.

PMID- 20893756
TI  - The Growth and Future of the Journal.

PMID- 20893758
TI  - American Psychiatric Association Changes Meeting Place.

PMID- 20893759
TI  - Nashville Academy of Medicine Admits Three.

PMID- 20893760
TI  - Chicago Activity Against Hospital Discrimination Continues.

PMID- 20893761
TI  - Henry McKee Minton, 1870-1946.

PMID- 20893762
TI  - Clinico-Pathological Diagnostic Problems.

PMID- 20893763
TI  - Then and Now: Thomas Luther Zuber, Monarch of the Mound.

PMID- 20893764
TI  - Clinico-Pathological Diagnostic Problems.

PMID- 20893765
TI  - New Weapon Against Hospital Discrimination.

PMID- 20893766
TI  - Gift Subscriptions of the Journal.

PMID- 20893767
TI  - The Strait Gate: A Story of a Principle and the Adherence Thereto.

PMID- 20893769
TI  - Five Appointed to Staff of Savannah Hospital.

PMID- 20893768
TI  - Work, Wages and Welfare in Kansas City.

PMID- 20893771
TI  - Illinois Hospitals Required to Have Open Policy or Lose Tax Exemption.

PMID- 20893770
TI  - First Negro Graduates from Maryland and Virginia Medical Schools.

PMID- 20893773
TI  - Tell the Doctor Your Views.

PMID- 20893772
TI  - Cleveland Medical Reading Club Thirty Years Old.

PMID- 20893774
TI  - Numa Pompilius Garfield Adams, 1885-1940.

PMID- 20893775
TI  - On "Diagnostic Problems".

PMID- 20893776
TI  - Dr. William Montague Cobb Receives Distinguished Service Award For 1955.

PMID- 20893778
TI  - The President Elect.

PMID- 20893777
TI  - Clinico-Pathological Diagnostic Problems.

PMID- 20893780
TI  - The Los Angeles Convention.

PMID- 20893779
TI  - World Outlook in Medicine.

PMID- 20893781
TI  - President's Column.

PMID- 20893782
TI  - Arnold Hamilton Maloney, M.D., 1888-1955.

PMID- 20893783
TI  - Unusual Request for Employment.

PMID- 20893785
TI  - President's Column.

PMID- 20893784
TI  - Hearts and Hobbies.

PMID- 20893786
TI  - Harris County (Houston, Texas) Admits Two.

PMID- 20893787
TI  - Bexar County (San Antonio, Texas) Admits Third Negro Member-No Negro Applicants
      for Dental Society.

PMID- 20893789
TI  - Chicago Ordinance Against Hospital Discrimination Introduced.

PMID- 20893788
TI  - Cook County Physicians Association's Role in Illinois Hospital Segregation Ban.

PMID- 20893790
TI  - Negro Physicians in New York State.

PMID- 20893791
TI  - John Andrew Kenney, M.D., 1874-1950.

PMID- 20893792
TI  - Clinico-Pathological Diagnostic Problems.

PMID- 20893794
TI  - President's Column.

PMID- 20893793
TI  - Control of Differentiation.

PMID- 20893795
TI  - Texas Academy of General Practice Drops Bars.

PMID- 20893796
TI  - A.A.A.S. Will Meet No More in Segregating Cities.

PMID- 20893797
TI  - Interracial Justice in Hospitals : His Eminence Samuel Cardinal Stritch.

PMID- 20893799
TI  - Dr. Elihu D. Burke.

PMID- 20893798
TI  - Charles Richard Drew, M.D., 1904-1950.

PMID- 20893800
TI  - Dr. J. W. Parker, Sr.

PMID- 20893801
TI  - President's Column.

PMID- 20893803
TI  - Anglo-Saxon Ancestry of Americans.

PMID- 20893802
TI  - The Importance of Mutual Goodwill.

PMID- 20893805
TI  - Anthropological Science and Current Race Problems.

PMID- 20893804
TI  - Distribution of Negro Genes.

PMID- 20893807
TI  - Jackson Heads Connecticut Commission on Civil Rights.

PMID- 20893806
TI  - Wilmington, North Carolina, Physicians Sue for Hospital Privileges.

PMID- 20893808
TI  - Chicago Enacts Hospital Anti-Discrimination Ordinance.

PMID- 20893810
TI  - Clinico-Pathological Diagnostic Problems.

PMID- 20893809
TI  - Eugene Theodore Hinson, M.D., 1873-.

PMID- 20893811
TI  - President's Column.

PMID- 20893812
TI  - And Again New York.

PMID- 20893814
TI  - Young Recruits are Essential.

PMID- 20893813
TI  - Clinico-Pathological Diagnostic Problems.

PMID- 20893815
TI  - Poll of New Orleans Doctors Challenges Statements that School Integration will be
      Psychiatrically Dangerous.

PMID- 20893817
TI  - C.E.D. Holds Integration Banquet.

PMID- 20893816
TI  - Detroit Reports on Racial Factors in Health Areas.

PMID- 20893819
TI  - Freedmen's Cardiovascular Conferences.

PMID- 20893818
TI  - Freedmen's Cardiovascular Conferences.

PMID- 20893821
TI  - Gathings on Keloids.

PMID- 20893820
TI  - Julius Augustus McMillan, M.D., 1871-1949.

PMID- 20893822
TI  - Dr. Daniel Thomas Rolfe Receives Distinguished Service Award for 1956.

PMID- 20893823
TI  - Clinico-Pathological Diagnostic Problems.

PMID- 20893824
TI  - President's Column.

PMID- 20893825
TI  - The Imhotep Conference on Hospital Integration.

PMID- 20893826
TI  - Radioactive Fallout.

PMID- 20893828
TI  - Rivers Frederick, 1873-1954.

PMID- 20893827
TI  - The President-Elect.

PMID- 20893829
TI  - Mark Cox Newsletter.

PMID- 20893830
TI  - Clinico-Pathological Diagnostic Problems.

PMID- 20893831
TI  - President's Column.

PMID- 20893832
TI  - The General Practitioner-His Role Today.

PMID- 20893833
TI  - A Golden Opportunity.

PMID- 20893834
TI  - Reference List of Titles in This Journal, 1950-1956, Relating to Anti
      Discrimination Developments in Medicine.

PMID- 20893835
TI  - James Thomas Aldrich.

PMID- 20893836
TI  - David Ruggles, 1810-1849; Hydropathic Practitioner.

PMID- 20893838
TI  - Failure to Keep Records of Causes of Death.

PMID- 20893837
TI  - Tribute to Dr. Perry.

PMID- 20893840
TI  - On Getting into Medical School.

PMID- 20893839
TI  - President's Column.

PMID- 20893841
TI  - North Carolina Physicians Refuse Limited Membership.

PMID- 20893843
TI  - Statement on Hoxsey Cancer Treatment.

PMID- 20893842
TI  - The Responsibilities of the Student of Medicine to Medical Education.

PMID- 20893844
TI  - Absalom Jones, 1746-1818, and Richard Allen, 1760-1831.

PMID- 20893845
TI  - David Ruggles.

PMID- 20893846
TI  - Clinico-Pathological Diagnostic Problems.

PMID- 20893847
TI  - President's Column.

PMID- 20893848
TI  - An Appraisal of the Imhotep Conference.

PMID- 20893849
TI  - William Alonza Warfield, 1866-1951.

PMID- 20893850
TI  - Clinico-Pathological Diagnostic Problems.

PMID- 20893852
TI  - Anesthesia and Something Done.

PMID- 20893851
TI  - President's Column.

PMID- 20893853
TI  - Clinico-Pathological Diagnostic Problems.

PMID- 20893854
TI  - Clinico-Pathological Diagnostic Problems.

PMID- 20893855
TI  - President's Column.

PMID- 20893856
TI  - New Horizons.

PMID- 20893857
TI  - Ernest Everett Just, 1883-1941.

PMID- 20893859
TI  - Awards at the 1957 Convention of the National Medical Association.

PMID- 20893858
TI  - Jaundice.

PMID- 20893861
TI  - The Future of the National Medical Association.

PMID- 20893860
TI  - President's Column.

PMID- 20893862
TI  - Clinico-Pathological Diagnostic Problems.

PMID- 20893863
TI  - The President-Elect.

PMID- 20893864
TI  - William Augustus Hinton, M.D., 1883-.

PMID- 20893866
TI  - Our Golden Anniversary Volume.

PMID- 20893865
TI  - NMA Group Insurance Plans.

PMID- 20893867
TI  - Clinico-Pathological Diagnostic Problems.

PMID- 20893868
TI  - Resolution Concerning Alleged Discrimination Against Negro Physicians in Chicago
      Hospitals.

PMID- 20893869
TI  - Mental Health Week April 27-May 3, 1958.

PMID- 20893870
TI  - The Light of the Body.

PMID- 20893871
TI  - Clinico-Pathological Diagnostic Problems.

PMID- 20893873
TI  - Ernest Everett Just.

PMID- 20893872
TI  - Walter Gilbert Alexander, M.D., 1880-1953.

PMID- 20893874
TI  - Kansas City General Hospitals Nos. 1 and 2 Consolidated.

PMID- 20893875
TI  - President's Column.

PMID- 20893876
TI  - Guest Editorial.

PMID- 20893878
TI  - Radiation Needs Enlightenment.

PMID- 20893877
TI  - Good Out of Little Rock.

PMID- 20893879
TI  - Frederick Douglas Stubbs, M.D., 1906-1947.

PMID- 20893880
TI  - North Carolina Impasse.

PMID- 20893881
TI  - President's Column.

PMID- 20893882
TI  - Tomorrow's Scientists and Technicians.

PMID- 20893883
TI  - Clinico-Pathological Diagnostic Problems.

PMID- 20893884
TI  - Financial Problems of Medical Schools.

PMID- 20893885
TI  - State of the Union in Respect to Health.

PMID- 20893886
TI  - William Clarence McNeill, M.D., 1878-.

PMID- 20893887
TI  - Correspondence.

PMID- 20893888
TI  - In Retrospect.

PMID- 20893889
TI  - A Special Need In Mental Health.

PMID- 20893890
TI  - Inflation and the Crippled Child.

PMID- 20893891
TI  - Anderson William Cheatham, 1880-1936.

PMID- 20893892
TI  - Legal Counsel.

PMID- 20893893
TI  - NMA Greetings to NAACP Telegram.

PMID- 20893894
TI  - Hypothermia in Cardiovascular Surgery.

PMID- 20893895
TI  - Dr. Leonidas H. Berry Receives Distinguished Service Award for 1958.

PMID- 20893896
TI  - President's Column.

PMID- 20893898
TI  - Our Cardiovascular Problem.

PMID- 20893897
TI  - The Milwaukee Convention and the Future.

PMID- 20893899
TI  - Howard Dedicates Preclinical Medical Science Buildings.

PMID- 20893900
TI  - William McKinley Thomas, M.D.

PMID- 20893901
TI  - Clinico-Pathological Diagnostic Problems.

PMID- 20893903
TI  - New Horizons.

PMID- 20893902
TI  - Make Haste Slowly!

PMID- 20893904
TI  - The Arkansas Medical, Dental and Pharmaceutical Association.

PMID- 20893905
TI  - William Daniel Morman, M.D., 1901-1951.

PMID- 20893906
TI  - Single Trauma and Cancer.

PMID- 20893907
TI  - President's Column.

PMID- 20893908
TI  - Increase in Staff Appointments at Chicago Hospitals.

PMID- 20893909
TI  - Right Spirit Toward Integration.

PMID- 20893910
TI  - Clinico-Pathological Diagnostic Problems.

PMID- 20893911
TI  - On to Detroit.

PMID- 20893912
TI  - The Centennial of Physical Anthropology.

PMID- 20893913
TI  - Steering Wheel Injuries to the Heart.

PMID- 20893914
TI  - President's Column.

PMID- 20893915
TI  - Our Lady Members.

PMID- 20893917
TI  - Milwaukee Hospital Integration Story.

PMID- 20893916
TI  - Clinico-Pathological Diagnostic Problems.

PMID- 20893919
TI  - Chicago Hospital Staff Appointments.

PMID- 20893918
TI  - Hospital Integration in Columbus, Ohio.

PMID- 20893920
TI  - Arthur Melvin Townsend, M.D., 1875-1959.

PMID- 20893921
TI  - Restricting Hospital Privileges of Physicians.

PMID- 20893923
TI  - Reorientation in Medicine.

PMID- 20893922
TI  - Ocular Sarcoidosis.

PMID- 20893924
TI  - Something to Consider.

PMID- 20893925
TI  - Clinico-Pathological Diagnostic Problems.

PMID- 20893926
TI  - N.A.A.C.P. Resolutions on Health, 1959.

PMID- 20893928
TI  - Henry Rutherford Butler, M.D., 1860-1931.

PMID- 20893927
TI  - Mental Anguish: Two New Legal Approaches.

PMID- 20893929
TI  - Penetrating Thoraco-Abdominal Wounds : An Analysis of 136 Cases Treated in a
      Civilian General Hospital.

PMID- 20893930
TI  - Looking Ahead in Health and Medicine.

PMID- 20893931
TI  - The 1959 Awards of the National Medical Association.

PMID- 20893932
TI  - The President-Elect.

PMID- 20893934
TI  - Salute to Surgery.

PMID- 20893933
TI  - Doctors and Lawyers.

PMID- 20893935
TI  - The Physician: His Public Relations and Organization.

PMID- 20893936
TI  - Medical Practice Becoming Give-Away Program.

PMID- 20893937
TI  - Grossi Hamilton Francis, M.D., 1885-.

PMID- 20893938
TI  - What the Law Requires a Physician to Tell His Patients.

PMID- 20893939
TI  - Meetings and Reflections Thereon.

PMID- 20893940
TI  - The Third Detroit Convention.

PMID- 20893941
TI  - The Sons of Podalirius.

PMID- 20893942
TI  - Behavior Disorders in Children.

PMID- 20893944
TI  - Developments in Charlotte, North Carolina.

PMID- 20893943
TI  - Clinico-Pathological Diagnostic Problems.

PMID- 20893945
TI  - South Side Branch of County Hospital Opposed in Chicago.

PMID- 20893946
TI  - Doctors and Politics.

PMID- 20893947
TI  - The Need for Biological Toys.

PMID- 20893948
TI  - Carl Glennis Roberts, M.D., 1886-1950.

PMID- 20893949
TI  - Non-Paternity and Blood Grouping Tests.

PMID- 20893951
TI  - Biopsy in Modern Medical Practice.

PMID- 20893950
TI  - Stomachus Convivius Endemic Condition.

PMID- 20893952
TI  - Small Bowel Perforation in Regional Enteritis Secondary to the Administration of
      Steroids: A Case Report.

PMID- 20893953
TI  - The Negro Physician in a Sick Society.

PMID- 20893954
TI  - A Governor's Health Conference.

PMID- 20893955
TI  - Elimination of Racial Discrimination in Hospital Practices.

PMID- 20893957
TI  - Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Hospital Controversy.

PMID- 20893956
TI  - Charlotte Dentist Sues for Admission to North Carolina Dental Society.

PMID- 20893959
TI  - Detroit Medical Center Rehabilitation Project.

PMID- 20893958
TI  - Proposal for Separate Negro Hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida, Protested.

PMID- 20893960
TI  - X-Ray Machines and the Non-Radiologist.

PMID- 20893961
TI  - Julian Waldo Ross, M.D., 1884.

PMID- 20893962
TI  - It's Your Sit-Down Too!

PMID- 20893963
TI  - A Comparison of Small Arterial Anastomoses with and without Heparin.

PMID- 20893964
TI  - Southern Exposure.

PMID- 20893965
TI  - Blood Transfusion and Race.

PMID- 20893967
TI  - Ulysses Grant Dailey, M.D., 1885.

PMID- 20893966
TI  - Integration of Hospital Staffs and Medical Institutions in Louisville, Kentucky.

PMID- 20893968
TI  - Therapeutic Abortions and the Law.

PMID- 20893970
TI  - Clinico-Pathological Diagnostic Problems.

PMID- 20893969
TI  - Malpractice and the Physician.

PMID- 20893972
TI  - The Value of Medical History.

PMID- 20893971
TI  - Rehabilitation of the Chronically Ill.

PMID- 20893973
TI  - Indiana Hospitals Open to Negro Physicians.

PMID- 20893974
TI  - Hospital Discrimination in Columbus, Ohio.

PMID- 20893975
TI  - Proposed Chicago South Side County Hospital Branch Controversy Continues.

PMID- 20893976
TI  - Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Fiasco.

PMID- 20893977
TI  - A Short Method of Doing Cholesterols.

PMID- 20893979
TI  - Vasectomy and the Law.

PMID- 20893978
TI  - Clyde Donnell, M.D., 1890.

PMID- 20893980
TI  - Postpartum Hemorrhage.

PMID- 20893981
TI  - The Treatment of Abortions.

PMID- 20893982
TI  - Dr. John B. Johnson Distinguished Service Medalist for 1960.

PMID- 20893983
TI  - The President Elect: Vaughan Carrington Mason, M.D.

PMID- 20893985
TI  - Talent Recruitment Necessities.

PMID- 20893984
TI  - Medical Care.

PMID- 20893986
TI  - The Pittsburgh Convention.

PMID- 20893987
TI  - The Journal's Hospital Series.

PMID- 20893989
TI  - Clinico-Pathological Diagnostic Problems.

PMID- 20893988
TI  - Daniel Hale Williams Cardiac Operation Priority.

PMID- 20893990
TI  - Imhotep Conference Chairmen.

PMID- 20893992
TI  - Medical-Legal Consent by Minors.

PMID- 20893991
TI  - Killed-Virus vs. Live-Virus Vaccines Against Polio.

PMID- 20893993
TI  - Trustees, Administrators and Staff of Mercy-Douglass Hospital.

PMID- 20893994
TI  - Diabetes.

PMID- 20893995
TI  - Help for Emerging Africa.

PMID- 20893996
TI  - Mercy-Douglass Hospital.

PMID- 20893997
TI  - Clinico-Pathological Diagnostic Problems.

PMID- 20893998
TI  - Chicago Hospital Council Makes New Statement of Policy on Medical Staff
      Appointments.

PMID- 20893999
TI  - Call for Nationwide Formation of Local Imhotep Committees.

PMID- 20894000
TI  - The Electroencephalogram and Head Injuries.

PMID- 20894001
TI  - Cerebral Vascular Disease : A Preliminary Study.

PMID- 20894002
TI  - Emergency Management of Multiple Injury Patients.

PMID- 20894003
TI  - Clinico-Pathological Diagnostic Problems.

PMID- 20894004
TI  - Recruiting Program.

PMID- 20894005
TI  - John A. Andrew Memorial Hospital.

PMID- 20894006
TI  - Some Implications of the Need for Increased Production of Physicians.

PMID- 20894007
TI  - Community Imhotep Committees.

PMID- 20894009
TI  - Eight Physicians Arrested for Atlanta Cafeteria Stand-In.

PMID- 20894008
TI  - Chicago Physicians Sue for Admission to Hospital Staffs.

PMID- 20894010
TI  - The Need for New Construction at Freedmen's Hospital.

PMID- 20894011
TI  - The Patient's Right to Privacy.

PMID- 20894012
TI  - The Use of a Vaginal Detergent and pH Stabilizer in Treatment of Leucorrhea.

PMID- 20894013
TI  - Use of Sustained Release Prochlorperazine Therapy in the Treatment of Severely
      Disturbed Mental Patients.

PMID- 20894014
TI  - The March of Dimes Campaign for 1961.

PMID- 20894015
TI  - The Seventieth Anniversary of the Provident Hospital.

PMID- 20894016
TI  - Whither the Community Hospital?

PMID- 20894017
TI  - North Carolina Civil Rights Advisory Committee to Study State Health Programs.

PMID- 20894018
TI  - Detroit Group Desires Exchanges.

PMID- 20894020
TI  - Fee Collection and the Third Party "Stranger".

PMID- 20894019
TI  - Mercy Douglass Hospital Number.

PMID- 20894021
TI  - Vignettes of Life in Liberia.

PMID- 20894022
TI  - Ectopic Pregnancy.

PMID- 20894023
TI  - Diabetes in Pregnancy.

PMID- 20894024
TI  - Clinico-Pathological Diagnostic Problems.

PMID- 20894025
TI  - Medical Care Legislation.

PMID- 20894026
TI  - In Tribute to Alexander Meiklejohn.

PMID- 20894027
TI  - A Raleigh, North Carolina, Newspaper Comment on "Scientific Membership".

PMID- 20894028
TI  - Dr. Pierce S. Moten.

PMID- 20894029
TI  - Electric Shock Therapy and Relaxant Drugs.

PMID- 20894030
TI  - Hypnosis: A Useful Adjunct to Medicine and Dentistry.

PMID- 20894031
TI  - Clinical Experience with Hypnosis in Obstetrics and Gynecology.

PMID- 20894032
TI  - The Role of Psychiatry and Religion in the Treatment of Illness.

PMID- 20894033
TI  - Entrapment Neuropathy of Intercostal Nerve: A Case Report.

PMID- 20894034
TI  - The Challenge of Prenatal Care.

PMID- 20894035
TI  - Clinico-Pathological Diagnostic Problems.

PMID- 20894036
TI  - President's Column.

PMID- 20894037
TI  - Moral Rearmament a Necessity in Medicine.

PMID- 20894038
TI  - Visits of a Pharmacologist to Europe and South America.

PMID- 20894039
TI  - Second Suit Filed Against Wilmington, North Carolina, Hospital.

PMID- 20894040
TI  - New York Hospital Staff Appointment Survey Criticized.

PMID- 20894041
TI  - The Social Treatment of the Aged.

PMID- 20894043
TI  - Remarks Introducing Dr. Leonard W. Larson.

PMID- 20894042
TI  - The President-Elect.

PMID- 20894044
TI  - Medicine, the Patient and Government.

PMID- 20894045
TI  - Hill-Burton "Separate But Equal" Provision Unconstitutional.

PMID- 20894047
TI  - The 1961 Awards of the National Medical Association.

PMID- 20894046
TI  - NAACP 1961 Health Resolutions.

PMID- 20894048
TI  - Clinico-Pathological Diagnostic Problems.

PMID- 20894050
TI  - Joe Louis-Model for the Physician.

PMID- 20894049
TI  - Needs of the Hour.

PMID- 20894051
TI  - Javits Bill to End Hospital Discrimination Under Hill-Burton Act.

PMID- 20894052
TI  - D.C. Hospitals Tied to Anti-Bias Rule.

PMID- 20894053
TI  - NMA Physician Admitted to Virginia Hospital Staffs.

PMID- 20894054
TI  - Presence of Attorney During Medical Examination.

PMID- 20894056
TI  - Clinico-Pathological Diagnostic Problems.

PMID- 20894055
TI  - A Clinical Note on the Jarisch-Herxheimer Reaction.

PMID- 20894057
TI  - The Other Mantle of the Physician.

PMID- 20894058
TI  - Hospital Discrimination and the Sixth Imhotep Conference.

PMID- 20894059
TI  - Executive Procedure Without Effect in Hospital Area.

PMID- 20894061
TI  - Maryland Commission Report Cites Negro Health Needs.

PMID- 20894060
TI  - Greensboro, North Carolina, Group Files Historic Suit Against Hospital Exclusion.

PMID- 20894062
TI  - Johns Hopkins Medical School Open to Negro Students.

PMID- 20894063
TI  - Health Insurance Plans Silent on Racial Discrimination.

PMID- 20894065
TI  - Paul Dudley White as an Inspirational Force.

PMID- 20894064
TI  - A Broad View of Continued Education.

PMID- 20894066
TI  - Clinico-Pathological Diagnostic Problems.

PMID- 20894067
TI  - Dingell Bill to End Hospital Discrimination Under the Hill-Burton Act.

PMID- 20894068
TI  - Orangeburg, S. C., Hospital Sued for Segregation.

PMID- 20894070
TI  - Medical Care and the Negro: An Analysis and Report on the Greater Pittsburgh
      Area.

PMID- 20894069
TI  - Chicago Commission on Human Relations Reports on Negro Physicians on Chicago
      Hospital Staffs.

PMID- 20894071
TI  - The Unlicensed Employee.

PMID- 20894072
TI  - Technics For, and the Importance Of, Heart Size Determination in Infants and
      Children.

PMID- 20894074
TI  - Of Time and Truth.

PMID- 20894073
TI  - The Treatment of Depression with Meprobamate-Benactyzine (Deprol): Evaluation of
      a "Sliding Scale" Method of Dose Selection.

PMID- 20894076
TI  - Greetings to Imhotep.

PMID- 20894075
TI  - The Infinite Wealth of a Veteran Teacher.

PMID- 20894077
TI  - The President's Message.

PMID- 20894078
TI  - American Association of Physical Anthropologists Condemns Racist Literature.

PMID- 20894079
TI  - A Brief History of McRae Memorial Sanatorium.

PMID- 20894081
TI  - Correspondence.

PMID- 20894080
TI  - Medico-Legal Relationship of the Attending Surgeon to the Hospital Staff in the
      Operating Room.

PMID- 20894082
TI  - Clinico-Pathological Diagnostic Problems.

PMID- 20894083
TI  - Every Shoulder to the Wheel.

PMID- 20894084
TI  - Green Bill to End Hospital Discrimination Under the Hill-Burton Act.

PMID- 20894085
TI  - SAMA Adopts Anti-Discrimination Resolution.

PMID- 20894086
TI  - Blood Transfusions: A Sale or a Service.

PMID- 20894088
TI  - The President-Elect.

PMID- 20894087
TI  - Dr. Eugene Heriot Dibble, Jr., Distinguished Service Medalist for 1962.

PMID- 20894089
TI  - Living Within One's Means.

PMID- 20894090
TI  - No Need to Fear a Colossus.

PMID- 20894091
TI  - The Chicago Commission on Human Relations.

PMID- 20894092
TI  - Treatment of Patients in Desperate Heart Failure.

PMID- 20894093
TI  - The Treatment of Uremia With the Artificial Kidney.

PMID- 20894094
TI  - Dr. Franklin Chambers McLean: An Appreciation.

PMID- 20894095
TI  - Pearly Tumors of the Brain and Spinal Cord.

PMID- 20894096
TI  - A Strong America.

PMID- 20894097
TI  - The Government and the People's Health.

PMID- 20894098
TI  - Texts of the Atlanta and Butner, N. C., Hospital Suits.

PMID- 20894099
TI  - Discrimination in North Carolina Hospitals.

PMID- 20894101
TI  - Charlotte Physician Receives Hospital Staff Appointment.

PMID- 20894100
TI  - Greensboro Hospital to Accept Negro Physicians and Dentists.

PMID- 20894103
TI  - Chicago Hospital Ordinance Forbids Racial Discrimination in Appointment and
      Employment of Physicians.

PMID- 20894102
TI  - Key N.A.A.C.P. Leaders in Hospital Area.

PMID- 20894104
TI  - Chicago Commission Recommends Non-Discrimination Policy Statement for Voluntary
      Hospitals.

PMID- 20894105
TI  - Prudhomme Appointed to District of Columbia Mental Health Commission.

PMID- 20894106
TI  - The Hospital Situation in St. Louis.

PMID- 20894108
TI  - The Negro in the Practice of Medicine in Los Angeles.

PMID- 20894107
TI  - The Hospital Situation in Knoxville, Tennessee.

PMID- 20894110
TI  - Detroit Physician Voices Resentment of A.M.A. Indifference.

PMID- 20894109
TI  - Beaumont, Texas, Hospital Opens Doors.

PMID- 20894111
TI  - Theodore Wiprud-Medical Statesman.

PMID- 20894112
TI  - The Holy Family Hospital, Ensley, Alabama.

PMID- 20894113
TI  - The Palmetto Medical, Dental and Pharmaceutical Association.

PMID- 20894115
TI  - Cultural Variations in the Concepts of Sickness and Health.

PMID- 20894114
TI  - Three Medical Systems: China, the West, and the Middle East.

PMID- 20894116
TI  - The Partnership of Anthropology and Public Health.

PMID- 20894118
TI  - NMA Members Should Support Federal Aid to Education.

PMID- 20894117
TI  - Surgical Management of Cystic Disease of the Lung : Clinical Review of 108 Cases.

PMID- 20894119
TI  - Pro Lege Medicara: On Behalf of Medicare.

PMID- 20894120
TI  - Federal Hospital Council Recommends Anti-Bias Legislation.

PMID- 20894121
TI  - Dingell Bill to Bar Hospital Discrimination Under Hill-Burton Law.

PMID- 20894122
TI  - Organized Labor Issues Strong Policy Statement Against Hospital Discrimination.

PMID- 20894123
TI  - Medical School Admission Policies of the State University of New York.

PMID- 20894125
TI  - Collection Agency Violating Patient's Right to Privacy.

PMID- 20894124
TI  - D. C. Government Adds to Hospital Contracts Non-Discrimination Clause on Staff
      Appointments.

PMID- 20894126
TI  - Need For Postgraduate Study.

PMID- 20894128
TI  - The Student National Medical Association.

PMID- 20894127
TI  - National Medical Fellowships, Inc.

PMID- 20894129
TI  - Statement on Non-Discrimination of Health & Welfare Council of National Capital
      Area.

PMID- 20894130
TI  - The Negro Specialist and The Negro General Practitioner: Their Relationship to
      Each Other, the Profession and the Community.

PMID- 20894131
TI  - Suspension of Medical License for Tax Evasion.

PMID- 20894132
TI  - Burrell Memorial Hospital.

PMID- 20894133
TI  - Lysis of a Cerebral Thrombus with Fibrinolysin: A Case Report.

PMID- 20894134
TI  - Clinical Scleroderma in a Patient with Renal Lesions Described as Malignant
      Nephrosclerosis.

PMID- 20894136
TI  - Changing Concepts of Peptic Ulcer.

PMID- 20894135
TI  - A Clinical Appraisal of Some Sexually Promiscuous Females.

PMID- 20894138
TI  - Hospital Integration.

PMID- 20894137
TI  - Spontaneous Hypoglycemia.

PMID- 20894139
TI  - Physicians, Peace, Pickets and Powell.

PMID- 20894140
TI  - The president's Message.

PMID- 20894142
TI  - New Progress in Atlanta.

PMID- 20894141
TI  - Admission Policy of Catholic Hospitals of Atlanta.

PMID- 20894143
TI  - Javits Re-introduces His Bill To Amend Hill-Burton Law.

PMID- 20894144
TI  - New York Enacts Law to Prevent Discrimination Against Physicians in Private
      Institutions.

PMID- 20894145
TI  - Chicago Committee To Recruit Negro Medical Students.

PMID- 20894146
TI  - Appointments of Practicing Negro Physicians at Private, Non-Governmental Chicago
      Hospitals.

PMID- 20894147
TI  - Washington Urban League Findings on Appointment of Negro Physicians to Hospital
      Staffs.

PMID- 20894148
TI  - Catholic Hospital Association Passes Anti-Discrimination Resolution.

PMID- 20894149
TI  - N.A.A.C.P. Hospital Suits Pending.

PMID- 20894150
TI  - Physicians Contributions to Community Hospitals and the So-called "Bed Tax".

PMID- 20894151
TI  - Prepaid Medical Plans.

PMID- 20894152
TI  - Anemia Threatens Life of Civil Rights Bill.

PMID- 20894153
TI  - Health Facilities and Services Recommendations of the United States Commission on
      Civil Rights.

PMID- 20894154
TI  - Federal Court Rules Bias in Federally Aided Hospitals Unconstitutional.

PMID- 20894155
TI  - New York Hospital Association Anti-Discrimination Resolution.

PMID- 20894156
TI  - N.A.A.C.P. Resoluton on Hospitals and Health, 1963.

PMID- 20894157
TI  - AFL-CIO Department of Social Security Statement on Civil Rights Commission Report
      on Health Matters.

PMID- 20894158
TI  - Lawyers are Not Immune From Legal Actions by Physicians.

PMID- 20894159
TI  - Chicago Human Relations Commission Report of October 23, 1963: Negro Physicians
      and Medical Students Affiliated with Chicago Hospitals and Medical Schools.

PMID- 20894160
TI  - The Ojike Nigerian Hospital Project.

PMID- 20894161
TI  - Mental Illness in Workmen's Compensation Law.

PMID- 20894162
TI  - The Role of the Physician in Adoption.

PMID- 20894164
TI  - Washington State Medical Association Petition to A.M.A. Against Discrimination.

PMID- 20894163
TI  - Profession and Public Focus on Hospital Discrimination.

PMID- 20894166
TI  - Senate Rejection of Javits Anti-Discrimination Amendment to Hill-Burton Act.

PMID- 20894165
TI  - Cleveland Academy of Medicine Anti-Discrimination Resolution to A.M.A.

PMID- 20894168
TI  - Gadsden (Ala.) Freedom Movement Protests New Hill-Burton Hospital Arrangements.

PMID- 20894167
TI  - American Hospital Association Asks Amendment of Hill-Burton Law.

PMID- 20894169
TI  - Statement of President Lyndon B. Johnson to Senior Citizens.

PMID- 20894170
TI  - Smoking and Health.

PMID- 20894171
TI  - The Los Angeles Convention.

PMID- 20894172
TI  - Dentist and Physician Among Demonstrators Arrested in Atlanta.

PMID- 20894173
TI  - Chicago Court Agreement Reached.

PMID- 20894174
TI  - Hospital to Drop Bars Following NAACP Probe.

PMID- 20894175
TI  - Desmoid Tumor: A Tumor That Shaped a Career.

PMID- 20894176
TI  - Alcoholics and Vocational Rehabilitation.

PMID- 20894177
TI  - Assassination Could Have Been Prevented.

PMID- 20894178
TI  - Are Negro Schools of Nursing Needed Today?

PMID- 20894179
TI  - Mental Retardation.

PMID- 20894181
TI  - American Hospital Association Issues Statement on Rights.

PMID- 20894180
TI  - Message on Health.

PMID- 20894183
TI  - Clement Statement on A.M.A. Proposed Hill-Burton Amendment.

PMID- 20894182
TI  - Hospital Council of Maryland Moves Quietly For Integration.

PMID- 20894184
TI  - A.M.A. Proposes Hill-Burton Amendment Weakening Moses Cone Decision.

PMID- 20894185
TI  - Statistics on Negro Illegitimacy False Indices of Relative Standards of Morality.

PMID- 20894186
TI  - A Word of Thanks.

PMID- 20894187
TI  - Past Gains and New Challenges.

PMID- 20894188
TI  - Statement of Cleveland Physicians and Dentists on School Segregation.

PMID- 20894190
TI  - Civil Rights Committee Report On New York and Buffalo.

PMID- 20894189
TI  - Text of H.E.W. Order on Nondiscrimination By Hill-Burton Applicants.

PMID- 20894192
TI  - President Johnson Signs Hill-Burton Extension Act, H.R. 10041.

PMID- 20894191
TI  - The Legal Hazards of Golf.

PMID- 20894194
TI  - President Johnson and the Great Society.

PMID- 20894193
TI  - Tooling-Up for Progress.

PMID- 20894195
TI  - The Fifth Washington Convention.

PMID- 20894197
TI  - First Negro Resident at Cleveland Clinic.

PMID- 20894196
TI  - Baton Rouge Hospitals Integrate.

PMID- 20894198
TI  - New A.M.A. Antidiscrimination Resolution.

PMID- 20894199
TI  - Federal Medical Facilities Requested for Mississippi Civil Rights Workers.

PMID- 20894201
TI  - Confidential Relationship, Especially as to Infants.

PMID- 20894200
TI  - The Physician and The Social Security Disability Program.

PMID- 20894202
TI  - Dr. Hildrus Augustus Poindexter, Distinguished Service Medalist for 1964.

PMID- 20894203
TI  - Leonidas Harris Berry, B.S., M.S., M.D.

PMID- 20894204
TI  - The Power of Growth.

PMID- 20894205
TI  - The Changing Scene in Surgery.

PMID- 20894206
TI  - N.A.A.C.P. Health Resolutions, 1964.

PMID- 20894207
TI  - A Program in Health Careers.

PMID- 20894208
TI  - Toussaint Tourgee Tildon, Sr.

PMID- 20894209
TI  - Malpractice: Breach of Warranty vs. Action in Negligence.

PMID- 20894211
TI  - The journal covers.

PMID- 20894210
TI  - Bestriding the globe.

PMID- 20894213
TI  - Emergence.

PMID- 20894212
TI  - Bed of procrustes.

PMID- 20894214
TI  - Firm foundations.

PMID- 20894215
TI  - Challenge and hope.

PMID- 20894216
TI  - Journal of the royal society of medicine.

PMID- 20894217
TI  - Dermatitis artefacta.

PMID- 20894219
TI  - Whither vestibular tests?

PMID- 20894218
TI  - Causes of 'delayed' respiratory distress in infancy.

PMID- 20894220
TI  - Problems of communication of a drug regulatory authority.

PMID- 20894221
TI  - Thyroid eye disease.

PMID- 20894222
TI  - Causes of 'delayed' respiratory distress in infancy.

PMID- 20894223
TI  - Visual field examination.

PMID- 20894224
TI  - Evolution, environment and cancer: November 1977 Proceedings, 70, 753.

PMID- 20894225
TI  - The pelvic ureter.

PMID- 20894227
TI  - Treatment of perianal and anal condylomata acuminata: a new operative technique.

PMID- 20894226
TI  - Obturating balloon colostomy.

PMID- 20894228
TI  - Causes of 'delayed' respiratory distress in infancy.

PMID- 20894229
TI  - Immunofluorescent diagnosis of communicable diseases.

PMID- 20894230
TI  - Diffuse unilateral subacute neuroretinitis.

PMID- 20894232
TI  - International nomenclature of diseases.

PMID- 20894231
TI  - Computerized tomography in localization of abdominal malignancy.

PMID- 20894233
TI  - Role of the district or nonteaching hospital.

PMID- 20894234
TI  - Diabetes in pregnancy.

PMID- 20894235
TI  - British postgraduate medical Federation.

PMID- 20894237
TI  - General practice: a developing academic discipline.

PMID- 20894236
TI  - Problems of communication of a drug regulatory authority.

PMID- 20894238
TI  - Recurrence rate and survival time in carcinoma of the breast treated by biopsy
      excision alone.

PMID- 20894239
TI  - Cholesterol hydroperoxide - a potential cardiac hazard.

PMID- 20894240
TI  - Role of the district or non-teaching hospital.

PMID- 20894241
TI  - Role of the district or non-teaching hospital.

PMID- 20894242
TI  - Treatment of perianal and anal condylomata acuminata.

PMID- 20894243
TI  - The nature of diabetes.

PMID- 20894244
TI  - Internal fixation of wrist fractures.

PMID- 20894246
TI  - Role of the district or non-teaching hospital.

PMID- 20894245
TI  - The pharmaceutical industry and medical education.

PMID- 20894247
TI  - Recurrence rate and survival time of patients with carcinoma of the breast.

PMID- 20894249
TI  - Internal fixation of wrist fractures.

PMID- 20894248
TI  - Continent ileocaecal urinary reservoir.

PMID- 20894250
TI  - Grommets and glue ear.

PMID- 20894251
TI  - Immunofluorescent diagnosis of communicable diseases.

PMID- 20894252
TI  - Carbohydrate confusion.

PMID- 20894253
TI  - Clinical pharmacology in the National Health Service.

PMID- 20894254
TI  - The state of British medicine - 8. Medicine in the armed forces.

PMID- 20894255
TI  - Hearing conservation in the Royal Air Force.

PMID- 20894256
TI  - Preoperative diagnosis of renal masses.

PMID- 20894257
TI  - Trichlorethylene - relationship of metabolite levels to atmospheric
      concentrations: preliminary communication.
AB  - The search for a practical index of trichlorethylene exposure must take into
      account its degree of narcotic activity in turn related to air concentration.
      Trichloracetic acid level in urine provides a useful means of assessing exposure
      and it can be related to trichlorethylene in air. A small investigation of this
      relationship has been carried out on two continuously exposed subjects.

PMID- 20894258
TI  - Sachse optical urethrotome in management of urethral stricture in the male:
      preliminary communication.

PMID- 20894259
TI  - Childhood brain tumours: a review.

PMID- 20894260
TI  - Hairy cell leukaemia.

PMID- 20894261
TI  - Tufted folliculitis of the scalp.

PMID- 20894263
TI  - Sir Ronald Ross and his contemporaries.

PMID- 20894262
TI  - Resolution of actinic reticuloid with transition to photosensitive eczema.

PMID- 20894264
TI  - Inherited susceptibility to rheumatic disease.

PMID- 20894265
TI  - Electroencephalography today.

PMID- 20894266
TI  - The young chronic sick.

PMID- 20894267
TI  - Hearing conservation.

PMID- 20894268
TI  - Lateral subcutaneous sphincterotomy.

PMID- 20894270
TI  - General practice: a developing academic discipline.

PMID- 20894269
TI  - Pelvic pain.

PMID- 20894271
TI  - Male infertility.

PMID- 20894272
TI  - Internal fixation of wrist fractures.

PMID- 20894273
TI  - Perianal and anal condylomata.

PMID- 20894274
TI  - The general practitioner's contribution to undergraduate medical education.

PMID- 20894275
TI  - Clinical pharmacology in the NHS.

PMID- 20894276
TI  - Internal fixation of wrist fractures.

PMID- 20894277
TI  - Grommets and glue ear.

PMID- 20894278
TI  - The hospital nurse.

PMID- 20894279
TI  - DHSS policy.

PMID- 20894281
TI  - Misdiagnosis of testicular tumours.

PMID- 20894280
TI  - Sir ronald ross.

PMID- 20894283
TI  - Medical library in need.

PMID- 20894282
TI  - Perianal and anal condylomata.

PMID- 20894284
TI  - Perianal and anal condylomata.

PMID- 20894285
TI  - Hormonal status in postmenopausal women.

PMID- 20894286
TI  - Payment for medical authors.

PMID- 20894287
TI  - Malaria and the Maudsley Hospital: November 1978 Journal, pp 853-854.

PMID- 20894288
TI  - Treatment of Colles' fractures.

PMID- 20894289
TI  - Electroencephalography today.

PMID- 20894290
TI  - Electroencephalography today.

PMID- 20894291
TI  - Electroencephalography today.

PMID- 20894292
TI  - Closure of the abdominal wound.

PMID- 20894293
TI  - Arthroscopy: the first hundred are the worst.

PMID- 20894294
TI  - Payment for medical authors.

PMID- 20894295
TI  - Electroencephalography today.

PMID- 20894296
TI  - Clinical pharmacology in the NHS.

PMID- 20894298
TI  - Diagnosis of dyslexia.

PMID- 20894297
TI  - Clinical pharmacology in the NHS.

PMID- 20894299
TI  - General practice in inner-city areas: April Journal, p 299.

PMID- 20894301
TI  - Electroencephalography today.

PMID- 20894300
TI  - Adhesion of the labia minora in childhood: an early description.

PMID- 20894302
TI  - Community mental health centres.

PMID- 20894303
TI  - Frey's syndrome.

PMID- 20894304
TI  - The concept of disease in psychiatry.

PMID- 20894305
TI  - Prenatal care in Libya.

PMID- 20894306
TI  - Agricultural medicine.

PMID- 20894307
TI  - Otolaryngology in the curriculum.

PMID- 20894308
TI  - Community mental health centres.

PMID- 20894309
TI  - Inhalation sedation.

PMID- 20894310
TI  - Community mental health centres.

PMID- 20894311
TI  - Defence of invertebrates against bacterial infection.

PMID- 20894312
TI  - Future of community medicine.

PMID- 20894314
TI  - Medical Art Society exhibition.

PMID- 20894313
TI  - Napoleon's health.

PMID- 20894315
TI  - Pelvi-ureteric junction is effect not cause of primary pelvic hydronephrosis.

PMID- 20894316
TI  - Concept of disease in psychiatry.

PMID- 20894317
TI  - Mental health services and primary medical care: March Journal, pp 219-220.

PMID- 20894318
TI  - Problem with a Foley catheter: April Journal, p 305.

PMID- 20894319
TI  - Pelvi-ureteric junction and primary pelvic hydronephrosis.

PMID- 20894321
TI  - Napoleon's health.

PMID- 20894320
TI  - Doctors and civil litigation.

PMID- 20894323
TI  - The hospital ophthalmic service.

PMID- 20894322
TI  - Pelvi-ureteric junction and primary pelvic hydronephrosis.

PMID- 20894324
TI  - The hospital ophthalmic service.

PMID- 20894325
TI  - Epidemiology of minor psychiatric disorders.

PMID- 20894326
TI  - Finding anaesthesiology boring.

PMID- 20894328
TI  - Second ear stapedectomy.

PMID- 20894327
TI  - Doctors and civil litigation.

PMID- 20894329
TI  - The hospital ophthalmic service.

PMID- 20894330
TI  - Words and meanings.

PMID- 20894331
TI  - Hospice care and geriatric medicine.

PMID- 20894332
TI  - Words and meanings.

PMID- 20894333
TI  - Metachronous carcinomas of the large and small bowel.

PMID- 20894334
TI  - Acute abdominal pain in children.

PMID- 20894336
TI  - Psychiatric research.

PMID- 20894335
TI  - Psychiatric research.

PMID- 20894337
TI  - Incidence of various forms of organic dementia.

PMID- 20894338
TI  - Calcium metabolism in bone disease.

PMID- 20894339
TI  - Hypokalaemic thyrotoxic periodic paralysis.

PMID- 20894340
TI  - Hypnosis and psychiatry.

PMID- 20894342
TI  - Second ear stapedectomy.

PMID- 20894341
TI  - Calcium metabolism in bone disease.

PMID- 20894343
TI  - Towards the chemotherapeutic treatment of dental caries.

PMID- 20894345
TI  - Hypnosis and psychiatry.

PMID- 20894344
TI  - Severe myxoedema presenting with chondrocalcinosis and polymyositis.

PMID- 20894346
TI  - Effectiveness of amiodarone in resistant arrhythmias.

PMID- 20894347
TI  - Psychiatric research.

PMID- 20894348
TI  - Use of pressurized aerosol bronchodilators.

PMID- 20894350
TI  - Controlled clinical trials: the current ethical debate.

PMID- 20894349
TI  - Controlled clinical trials: the current ethical debate.

PMID- 20894351
TI  - Tympanoplasty.

PMID- 20894353
TI  - Hospice care and geriatric medicine.

PMID- 20894352
TI  - Severe myxoedema presenting with chondrocalcinosis and polymyositis.

PMID- 20894354
TI  - Use of pressurized aerosol bronchodilators.

PMID- 20894356
TI  - Tympanoplasty.

PMID- 20894355
TI  - Success of colorectal anastomosis.

PMID- 20894357
TI  - The hospice tradition.

PMID- 20894359
TI  - Success of colorectal anastomosis.

PMID- 20894358
TI  - Penicillamine-induced dermatomyositis.

PMID- 20894360
TI  - Urological cooperatives.

PMID- 20894362
TI  - Cost effectiveness of prophylaxis of venous thromboembolism.

PMID- 20894361
TI  - Crohn's disease and arthritis.

PMID- 20894363
TI  - Are patients shocked by ECT?

PMID- 20894365
TI  - Purple toe syndrome.

PMID- 20894364
TI  - Are patients shocked by ECT?

PMID- 20894366
TI  - Boiling water intake and gastric problems?

PMID- 20894368
TI  - Food hyposensitization.

PMID- 20894367
TI  - Use of pressurized bronchodilators.

PMID- 20894369
TI  - The hospice tradition.

PMID- 20894370
TI  - Pain relief during childbirth and development at 4 years.

PMID- 20894371
TI  - Post-traumatic syndrome.

PMID- 20894372
TI  - Purple toe syndrome.

PMID- 20894373
TI  - Donald winnicott.

PMID- 20894374
TI  - Reconstruction of the breast after mastectomy.

PMID- 20894375
TI  - No alternatives to Western medical care.

PMID- 20894376
TI  - Tympanoplasty.

PMID- 20894378
TI  - Is 'an' before 'h' still justified?

PMID- 20894377
TI  - Collagen, autoimmunity and disease.

PMID- 20894379
TI  - Scientific empiricism and clinical medicine.

PMID- 20894380
TI  - Oral complaints related to climacteric symptoms in oophorectomized women.

PMID- 20894381
TI  - Aetiology of gynaecological cancer.

PMID- 20894382
TI  - Hypnotherapy in the psychosomatic approach to illness.

PMID- 20894383
TI  - Carcinoma of the rectum in male homosexuals.

PMID- 20894384
TI  - Purple toe syndrome.

PMID- 20894385
TI  - Post-traumatic syndrome.

PMID- 20894387
TI  - Campylobacter infections in man.

PMID- 20894386
TI  - Post-traumatic syndrome.

PMID- 20894388
TI  - Smallpox eradication.

PMID- 20894390
TI  - Naloxone in anorexia nervosa.

PMID- 20894389
TI  - Ossification in abdominal scars.

PMID- 20894391
TI  - Is 'an' before 'h' still justified?

PMID- 20894392
TI  - Is 'an' before 'h' still justified?

PMID- 20894393
TI  - Abdominal wound closure: a choice of suture.

PMID- 20894394
TI  - Value of hormone measurements in gynaecology.

PMID- 20894396
TI  - Origins of palaeopathology.

PMID- 20894395
TI  - Sexually transmitted disease statistics.

PMID- 20894397
TI  - Urological misconceptions.

PMID- 20894399
TI  - Organophosphate poisoning and complete heart block.

PMID- 20894398
TI  - Lay participation in review of clinical judgment in psychiatry.

PMID- 20894400
TI  - Consent to treatment.

PMID- 20894401
TI  - What should be done about hearing impairments?

PMID- 20894402
TI  - What should be done about hearing impairments?

PMID- 20894403
TI  - Post-traumatic syndrome.

PMID- 20894404
TI  - Horner's syndrome with ipsilateral vocal cord and phrenic nerve palsies: newly
      recognized syndrome in the neck.

PMID- 20894406
TI  - Treatment of severe anaphylactic reactions to insect stings.

PMID- 20894405
TI  - Post-traumatic syndrome.

PMID- 20894407
TI  - James Neild's legacy.

PMID- 20894409
TI  - Newly recognized syndrome in the neck: Horner's syndrome with ipsilateral vocal
      cord and phrenic nerve palsies.

PMID- 20894408
TI  - Newly recognized syndrome in the neck.

PMID- 20894410
TI  - Newly recognized syndrome in the neck: Horner's syndrome with ipsilateral vocal
      cord and phrenic nerve palsies.

PMID- 20894411
TI  - The continuing problem of pain.

PMID- 20894412
TI  - Sexually transmitted disease statistics.

PMID- 20894413
TI  - Chronic perianal pain.

PMID- 20894414
TI  - Emotional stress and occlusal parafunction.

PMID- 20894415
TI  - 150 years of the BMA.

PMID- 20894416
TI  - Child abuse.

PMID- 20894417
TI  - Endogenous opioids and pain: a review.

PMID- 20894418
TI  - Homosexual transmission of amoebiasis.

PMID- 20894419
TI  - Needle aspiration technique to detect pancreatic abscess.

PMID- 20894420
TI  - Organophosphate poisoning and complete heart block.

PMID- 20894421
TI  - Triamcinolone acetonide in treatment of chronic back pain.

PMID- 20894422
TI  - Child abuse statistics.

PMID- 20894423
TI  - Post-traumatic syndrome.

PMID- 20894425
TI  - Chagas's disease.

PMID- 20894424
TI  - Treatment of thromboembolic disease.

PMID- 20894427
TI  - Lymphadenopathy mimicking lymphoma associated with cryoglobulinaemia and
      arteritis.

PMID- 20894426
TI  - Second European conference on clinical haemorheology.

PMID- 20894428
TI  - Medical education and disability.

PMID- 20894430
TI  - GP prescribing practices.

PMID- 20894429
TI  - Emotional stress, occlusal parafunction and swallowing.

PMID- 20894431
TI  - Debridement in wound treatment.

PMID- 20894432
TI  - Ranitidine and duodenal ulceration.

PMID- 20894433
TI  - Post lumbar puncture headache.

PMID- 20894434
TI  - Malignant fibrous histiocytoma treated by excision and repair with a free
      latissimus dorsi musculocutaneous flap.

PMID- 20894435
TI  - Modern trends in burns care.

PMID- 20894436
TI  - Post lumbar puncture headache.

PMID- 20894437
TI  - Lymphadenopathy mimicking lymphoma associated with cryoglobulinaemia and
      arteritis.

PMID- 20894438
TI  - History of writing and its relevance in dyslexia.

PMID- 20894439
TI  - Amoebiasis.

PMID- 20894440
TI  - Treatment of cramp.

PMID- 20894441
TI  - Hidradenitis suppurativa.

PMID- 20894442
TI  - Historical sources of surgical practice.

PMID- 20894443
TI  - Introduction.

PMID- 20894444
TI  - Hormonal, metabolic and biochemical changes following thermal injury.

PMID- 20894445
TI  - Catabolic processes in burned patients and compensatory nutrition.

PMID- 20894446
TI  - Large burns - transatlantic view.

PMID- 20894447
TI  - Management of the burn wound.

PMID- 20894448
TI  - Analgesia for burns dressing.

PMID- 20894449
TI  - Enflurane analgesia.
AB  - An air-enflurane mixture was used for inhalation analgesia in conscious patients
      undergoing painful procedures such as burns dressings. A preliminary study
      indicated that enflurane possessed definite analgesic properties, but that the
      concentration of the air-enflurane mixture was critical if restlessness was to be
      avoided and cooperation retained. Further studies established that 1% enflurane
      in air provided good analgesia in the absence of anaesthesia. The analgesic
      effects were similar to those produced by 0.35% methoxyflurane in air, but were
      produced in a much shorter time (about 3 minutes compared with 9 to 10 minutes).
      Preoperative starvation was unnecessary and nausea and vomiting were absent.
      Details are given of the use of enflurane analgesia in 32 conscious burned
      patients who underwent 101 burns dressing procedures.

PMID- 20894450
TI  - Measurement of toxic combustion products in fire survivors.

PMID- 20894451
TI  - Management of injury due to smoke inhalation.

PMID- 20894452
TI  - Fluid therapy in burns.

PMID- 20894453
TI  - Unreliable 'memories' under hypnosis.

PMID- 20894454
TI  - Management of scoliosis.

PMID- 20894455
TI  - Educational programmes on the problems of long-term disablement.

PMID- 20894456
TI  - Management of scoliosis.

PMID- 20894458
TI  - Meteorological factors affecting behaviour.

PMID- 20894457
TI  - Effects of acupuncture in bronchial asthma.

PMID- 20894459
TI  - Post lumbar puncture headache.

PMID- 20894460
TI  - Frozen shoulder.

PMID- 20894461
TI  - Muscle strain as a cause of abdominal pain in children.

PMID- 20894462
TI  - Biological materials used in reconstruction of the ear: 1982 JRSM 75, 691-698.

PMID- 20894463
TI  - Smoking and subarachnoid haemorrhage.

PMID- 20894464
TI  - Memory distortion under hypnosis.

PMID- 20894465
TI  - Historical sources of surgical practice.

PMID- 20894466
TI  - Amphotericin B versus miconazole in treatment of candidal infection.

PMID- 20894467
TI  - Emergency oesophageal transection to control bleeding varices.

PMID- 20894468
TI  - Smoking and subarachnoid haemorrhage.

PMID- 20894469
TI  - Newly recognized syndrome in the neck: 1981 JRSM 74, 814-818.

PMID- 20894470
TI  - Treatment of Fournier's gangrene in India.

PMID- 20894471
TI  - Post lumbar puncture headache.

PMID- 20894472
TI  - Epidural blood-patching to treat severe post lumbar puncture headache.

PMID- 20894474
TI  - Treatment of cramp.

PMID- 20894473
TI  - Amoebiasis.

PMID- 20894475
TI  - Calcium metabolism during rifampicin and isoniazid therapy for tuberculosis.

PMID- 20894476
TI  - Swimming and grommets.

PMID- 20894478
TI  - Globus hystericus and the masticatory apparatus.

PMID- 20894477
TI  - Unreliable 'memories' under hypnosis.

PMID- 20894479
TI  - Amphotericin B versus miconazole in treatment of candidal infection.

PMID- 20894480
TI  - Mammary tuberculosis.

PMID- 20894481
TI  - Mammary tuberculosis.

PMID- 20894482
TI  - Psychosocial function of accident and emergency departments.

PMID- 20894483
TI  - Continuing education in rheumatology.

PMID- 20894484
TI  - Continuing education in rheumatology.

PMID- 20894485
TI  - Epidurography for outpatients.

PMID- 20894486
TI  - Organophosphate poisoning and complete heart block.

PMID- 20894487
TI  - Newly recognized syndrome in the neck.

PMID- 20894488
TI  - From virus to cosmology.

PMID- 20894490
TI  - Grommets and swimming.

PMID- 20894489
TI  - Grommets and swimming.

PMID- 20894491
TI  - Role of community medicine.

PMID- 20894492
TI  - High incidence of rickets in children with wheezy bronchitis in a developing
      country: JRSM November 1982, 75, 884-887.

PMID- 20894493
TI  - Commonwealth association for mental handicap and developmental disabilities.

PMID- 20894494
TI  - Unusual physical sign of multiple myeloma.

PMID- 20894495
TI  - Contemporary problems in philosophy.

PMID- 20894496
TI  - Frozen shoulder.

PMID- 20894497
TI  - Newly recognized syndrome in the neck.

PMID- 20894499
TI  - Preservation of the body with fixatives after death.

PMID- 20894498
TI  - Functions of the temporal lobes.

PMID- 20894500
TI  - From virus to cosmology.

PMID- 20894502
TI  - Contemporary problems in philosophy.

PMID- 20894501
TI  - From virus to cosmology.

PMID- 20894503
TI  - Back pain research.

PMID- 20894504
TI  - Discovery of Horner's syndrome.

PMID- 20894505
TI  - Risks of hypertension.

PMID- 20894506
TI  - Cramp in pregnancy.

PMID- 20894507
TI  - Vestibular function tests in children.

PMID- 20894508
TI  - Apothecaries and their lodgers: their part in the development of the sciences and
      of medicine.

PMID- 20894509
TI  - Ligature applicator and tier.

PMID- 20894510
TI  - Resection of the prostate.

PMID- 20894511
TI  - Mozart's illnesses and death.

PMID- 20894512
TI  - Riboflavine products.

PMID- 20894514
TI  - World population.

PMID- 20894513
TI  - Salt and hypertension.

PMID- 20894516
TI  - From virus to cosmology.

PMID- 20894515
TI  - Psychosurgery.

PMID- 20894517
TI  - Mozart's illnesses and death.

PMID- 20894518
TI  - Frozen shoulder.

PMID- 20894520
TI  - Splenosis: a beneficial condition.

PMID- 20894519
TI  - Globus hystericus.

PMID- 20894521
TI  - Mental Health Act (1983): progress or vitiation?

PMID- 20894522
TI  - Ligature applicator and tier.

PMID- 20894523
TI  - Inpatient services in neurological practice.

PMID- 20894524
TI  - Training to care for the dying.

PMID- 20894525
TI  - Electrical stimulation of the brain: JRSM November 1983, p 905.

PMID- 20894526
TI  - Salt and hypertension.

PMID- 20894527
TI  - Bowel disease after radiotherapy.

PMID- 20894528
TI  - Inflammatory diseases and copper.

PMID- 20894529
TI  - From virus to cosmology.

PMID- 20894530
TI  - From virus to cosmology.

PMID- 20894531
TI  - Mental health of doctors.

PMID- 20894532
TI  - Inpatient services in neurological practice.

PMID- 20894533
TI  - Nutrition in medical education.

PMID- 20894534
TI  - Inpatient services in neurological practice.

PMID- 20894535
TI  - Mozart's illnesses and death.

PMID- 20894536
TI  - Myositis ossificans progressiva.

PMID- 20894537
TI  - Arabian medicine in the Middle Ages.

PMID- 20894538
TI  - Role of district community physicians in promoting prevention.

PMID- 20894539
TI  - Appropriate surgery for vesicocolic fistula.

PMID- 20894540
TI  - Compulsory psychiatric admissions.

PMID- 20894541
TI  - Frozen shoulder.

PMID- 20894542
TI  - Nocturnal enuresis.

PMID- 20894543
TI  - Frozen shoulder.

PMID- 20894544
TI  - From virus to cosmology.

PMID- 20894545
TI  - Day-case ophthalmic surgery.

PMID- 20894546
TI  - The unscientific surgeon.

PMID- 20894547
TI  - The sore mouth.

PMID- 20894548
TI  - National diabetes foundation.

PMID- 20894549
TI  - From virus to cosmology.

PMID- 20894550
TI  - Self-exposure treatment for phobics.

PMID- 20894551
TI  - From virus to cosmology.

PMID- 20894553
TI  - Appropriate surgery for vesicocolic fistula.

PMID- 20894552
TI  - Assessment of sutures for use in colonic surgery.

PMID- 20894555
TI  - The forgotten people: chronic younger sick in Welsh hospitals.

PMID- 20894554
TI  - AIDS and African Kaposi's sarcoma.

PMID- 20894556
TI  - AIDS and African Kaposi's sarcoma.

PMID- 20894558
TI  - Frozen shoulder.

PMID- 20894557
TI  - Tinnitus and the cervical spine.

PMID- 20894559
TI  - Encyclopaedia of occupational health and safety.

PMID- 20894561
TI  - Quick preparation of slides using a microcomputer.

PMID- 20894560
TI  - Fresh look at ischaemic heart disease.

PMID- 20894563
TI  - Quantum physics and the philosophy of medicine.

PMID- 20894562
TI  - Preface.

PMID- 20894564
TI  - User acceptance of computer systems.

PMID- 20894565
TI  - Self-exposure treatment for phobics.

PMID- 20894566
TI  - Pandemic influenza and the viral haemorrhagic fevers.

PMID- 20894567
TI  - Intestinal problems in childhood (correction): JRSM Supplement No. 3, 1984.

PMID- 20894568
TI  - A plea for the plaintiff.

PMID- 20894569
TI  - A plea for the plaintiff.

PMID- 20894570
TI  - Overwrapping as a possible cause of heamorrhagic shock and encephalopathy (HSE)
      in infants.

PMID- 20894571
TI  - Developmental screening.

PMID- 20894572
TI  - Psychiatry for all.

PMID- 20894574
TI  - Hybrids and hybridity: a correction.

PMID- 20894573
TI  - International society for lymphology.

PMID- 20894575
TI  - Osteosarcoma of the bladder.

PMID- 20894576
TI  - Psychiatry for all.

PMID- 20894577
TI  - Cardiopulmonary resuscitation: standards among junior hospital doctors.

PMID- 20894579
TI  - Clearinghouse for researchers into drug problems.

PMID- 20894578
TI  - Ocular manifestations of Graves' disease.

PMID- 20894580
TI  - Thorotrast granuloma of the neck.

PMID- 20894581
TI  - Developmental screening.

PMID- 20894583
TI  - Speech production after laryngectomy.

PMID- 20894582
TI  - Pesticide residues in food.

PMID- 20894584
TI  - Speech production after laryngectomy.

PMID- 20894585
TI  - Swallowing difficulties and iron deficiency.

PMID- 20894586
TI  - Schizophreniform psychosis and adrenomyeloneuropathy (AMN).

PMID- 20894587
TI  - Minneapolis hip prosthesis.

PMID- 20894588
TI  - Hutchison's litany.

PMID- 20894589
TI  - Tinnitus and the cervical spine.

PMID- 20894590
TI  - Turner's syndrome, cleft palate and skeletal disorders.

PMID- 20894592
TI  - Developmental screening.

PMID- 20894591
TI  - Sperm quality and pesticides.

PMID- 20894593
TI  - Developmental screening.

PMID- 20894594
TI  - Developmental screening.

PMID- 20894595
TI  - Speech production after laryngectomy.

PMID- 20894596
TI  - Foreign body sensation in the throat.

PMID- 20894597
TI  - Confidential enquiry into perioperative deaths.

PMID- 20894598
TI  - Counselling in general practice.

PMID- 20894599
TI  - Allergy to insect stings.

PMID- 20894600
TI  - Diffusion barriers in venous ulceration.

PMID- 20894601
TI  - Percutaneous and endoscopic biliary drainage in surgical jaundice.

PMID- 20894602
TI  - Pesticide residues in food.

PMID- 20894603
TI  - Register of UK alcoholic research projects 1985-86.

PMID- 20894604
TI  - Problems in diagnosis of popliteal aneurysms.

PMID- 20894606
TI  - Spontaneous passage of gallstones.

PMID- 20894605
TI  - Speech production after laryngectomy.

PMID- 20894607
TI  - Sperm counts and pesticides.

PMID- 20894609
TI  - Cartesian dualism and the current crisis in medicine.

PMID- 20894608
TI  - Overtreatment in surgery.

PMID- 20894610
TI  - Pesticide residues in food.

PMID- 20894611
TI  - Caring or curing: conflicts of choice.

PMID- 20894612
TI  - Amylase-rich ascites and pleural effusion.

PMID- 20894614
TI  - Introduction.

PMID- 20894613
TI  - Preface.

PMID- 20894615
TI  - Preface.

PMID- 20894616
TI  - Preface.

PMID- 20894617
TI  - Coagulation studies: a priority in unexplained bleeding.

PMID- 20894618
TI  - Foreign body sensation in the throat.

PMID- 20894619
TI  - Aetiology of leg ulcers.

PMID- 20894620
TI  - AIDS virus infection: prognosis and transmission.

PMID- 20894621
TI  - Units, symbols, and abbreviations.

PMID- 20894622
TI  - Heinemann's Integrated Clinical Science Essay Competition.

PMID- 20894623
TI  - Recombinant human gamma-interferon in primary hepatocellular carcinoma.

PMID- 20894624
TI  - Endocrine treatment of prostatic cancer.

PMID- 20894625
TI  - International medical practice newsletter.

PMID- 20894626
TI  - Amylase-rich ascites and pleural effusions.

PMID- 20894627
TI  - Questionable safety of pyloromyotomy in district general hospitals.

PMID- 20894628
TI  - Abdominal tuberculosis.

PMID- 20894629
TI  - CT versus ultrasound in diagnosing brain displacements.

PMID- 20894630
TI  - Unilateral ischaemic optic neuropathy following systemic hypotension.

PMID- 20894631
TI  - Safety of Ramstedt's pyloromyotomy in district hospitals.

PMID- 20894632
TI  - Haematuria due to urinary bladder metastases from carcinoma of the bronchus.

PMID- 20894633
TI  - Joan of Arc, creative psychopath: is there another explanation?

PMID- 20894634
TI  - Communication skills.

PMID- 20894635
TI  - Cancer research - the lessons from Hodgkin's disease.

PMID- 20894636
TI  - Motor neuron disease - a challenge to medical ethics.

PMID- 20894637
TI  - Meta-analysis in medicine.

PMID- 20894638
TI  - Employment during pregnancy.

PMID- 20894639
TI  - Pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease.

PMID- 20894640
TI  - Health promotion; health education: postscript.

PMID- 20894641
TI  - Admission to medical school: from audit to action.

PMID- 20894642
TI  - 'Dry tap' in glue ears.

PMID- 20894643
TI  - Joan of Arc, creative psychopath: is there another explanation?

PMID- 20894645
TI  - Anaesthesia and monitoring for paediatric radiotherapy.

PMID- 20894644
TI  - Anaesthesia and monitoring for paediatric radiotherapy.

PMID- 20894646
TI  - Anaesthesia and monitoring for paediatric radiotherapy.

PMID- 20894647
TI  - Alzheimer's disease society.

PMID- 20894648
TI  - Mental hospitals and community care.

PMID- 20894649
TI  - Preventive medicine or disease prevention.

PMID- 20894650
TI  - Hyperbaric oxygen in multiple sclerosis.

PMID- 20894651
TI  - Early radiologists.

PMID- 20894652
TI  - Mucociliary function following inferior meatal antrostomy.

PMID- 20894653
TI  - Personality assessment of future doctors.

PMID- 20894654
TI  - Admission to medical school: from audit to action.

PMID- 20894655
TI  - Journals of psychological medicine.

PMID- 20894656
TI  - Communication in medical practice.

PMID- 20894657
TI  - Halley's Comet and astrospectroscopy.

PMID- 20894658
TI  - Iatrogenic anal ulceration.

PMID- 20894659
TI  - Deaths from choking on food in infancy.

PMID- 20894660
TI  - Scientific basis of caries prevention.

PMID- 20894661
TI  - Biblical ills and remedies.

PMID- 20894662
TI  - Biblical ills and remedies.

PMID- 20894664
TI  - Tenosynovitis and Sudeck's atrophy.

PMID- 20894663
TI  - Germs from space.

PMID- 20894665
TI  - Tenosynovitis and Sudeck's atrophy.

PMID- 20894666
TI  - 'Dry tap' in glue ears.

PMID- 20894667
TI  - Meigs' syndrome and pseudo-Meigs' syndrome.

PMID- 20894668
TI  - Negation of responsibility: a heavy price to pay?

PMID- 20894669
TI  - Autologous blood transfusion.

PMID- 20894670
TI  - Cause of small bowel obstruction.

PMID- 20894671
TI  - Iatrogenic psychosomatic illness.

PMID- 20894672
TI  - Hyperventilation syndromes in medicine and psychiatry.

PMID- 20894673
TI  - Plague, rats and the Bible.

PMID- 20894674
TI  - Predicting the outcome.

PMID- 20894676
TI  - Benign thoracic pain.

PMID- 20894675
TI  - The place of basic research in education.

PMID- 20894677
TI  - AIDS: origin, transmission and moral dilemmas.

PMID- 20894678
TI  - AIDS: origin, transmission and moral dilemmas.

PMID- 20894679
TI  - Is Occam's razor disposable?

PMID- 20894680
TI  - AIDS: origin, transmission and moral dilemmas.

PMID- 20894681
TI  - Is Occam's razor disposable?

PMID- 20894682
TI  - Unrecognized cervical subluxation.

PMID- 20894683
TI  - Intractable functional abdominal pain.

PMID- 20894685
TI  - Science versus non-science in medicine: fact or fiction?

PMID- 20894684
TI  - Should patients read their own medical records?

PMID- 20894686
TI  - Leprosy and the bible.

PMID- 20894687
TI  - Effect of oral iron on penicillamine absorption.

PMID- 20894688
TI  - 'Dry tap' in glue ears.

PMID- 20894689
TI  - Intractable functional abdominal pain.

PMID- 20894691
TI  - The consequences of hyperandrogenism in young women.

PMID- 20894690
TI  - CT scanning in orbital cellulitis.

PMID- 20894692
TI  - Ankle motion after external fixation of tibial fractures.

PMID- 20894693
TI  - The invaluable art of unlearning.

PMID- 20894695
TI  - Science versus non-science in medicine: fact or fiction?

PMID- 20894694
TI  - Reoperative surgery for early complications following abdominal and
      abdominothoracic operations.

PMID- 20894696
TI  - Should patients read their own medical records?

PMID- 20894697
TI  - The urological Damocles.

PMID- 20894698
TI  - General practitioner referral of patients with lower gastrointestinal symptoms.

PMID- 20894700
TI  - Assessment of self-poisoning patients by psychiatrists and junior medical staff.

PMID- 20894699
TI  - The anion gap as a screening procedure for occult myeloma in the elderly.

PMID- 20894701
TI  - General practitioner referral of patients with lower gastrointestinal symptoms.

PMID- 20894702
TI  - John Conolly: a reconsideration.

PMID- 20894703
TI  - Back pain at Greenwich.

PMID- 20894704
TI  - Numerical methods for decision-making in clinical care: where to now?

PMID- 20894705
TI  - Drug safety and the CSM.

PMID- 20894706
TI  - Accident and emergency medicine: an administrative convenience or a specialty?

PMID- 20894707
TI  - Haematuria analysed.

PMID- 20894709
TI  - Eye care and the medical student.

PMID- 20894708
TI  - Numerical methods for decision-making in clinical care: where to now?

PMID- 20894710
TI  - Amniotic bands: an unusual chest lesion.

PMID- 20894711
TI  - Perforated duodenal ulcer and cigarette smoking.

PMID- 20894712
TI  - Pseudoachalasia of the cardia.

PMID- 20894713
TI  - Death, dissection and the destitute.

PMID- 20894714
TI  - On the chemical death of Lot's wife.

PMID- 20894715
TI  - The calcite ploy from Illinois.

PMID- 20894716
TI  - The 'think test': a further technique to elicit hyperventilation.

PMID- 20894717
TI  - Biology and psychiatry.

PMID- 20894718
TI  - Accident and emergency medicine: an administrative convenience or a specialty?

PMID- 20894719
TI  - Rethinking the national health service.

PMID- 20894720
TI  - Eye care and the medical student.

PMID- 20894721
TI  - Amniotic bands: an unusual chest lesion.

PMID- 20894722
TI  - Cholecystectomy: ironmasters and eggheads.

PMID- 20894723
TI  - Unacceptable variation in the core diameters of some AO type cancellous screws.

PMID- 20894724
TI  - Do all minor excised lesions require histological examination?

PMID- 20894725
TI  - Do all minor excised lesions require histological examination?

PMID- 20894726
TI  - Fish oils-their significance to human health.

PMID- 20894727
TI  - Simplifying infusion chemotherapy.

PMID- 20894728
TI  - Sick doctors.

PMID- 20894729
TI  - Antoni Lesniowski and his contribution to regional enteritis (Crohn's disease).

PMID- 20894730
TI  - Corticosteroid replacement therapy: twice or thrice daily?

PMID- 20894732
TI  - On the chemical death of Lot's wife.

PMID- 20894731
TI  - The risks of staying in London.

PMID- 20894733
TI  - Wind of change. II. Medical journals in Britain in 1988.

PMID- 20894735
TI  - Intractable pain: a neglected area of medical education in the UK.

PMID- 20894734
TI  - Wind of change. II. Medical journals in Britain in 1988.

PMID- 20894736
TI  - The surgical instrument maker.

PMID- 20894737
TI  - Rethinking the NHS.

PMID- 20894738
TI  - Wind of change. III. The Royal Colleges.

PMID- 20894739
TI  - Cholecystectomy: ironmasters and eggheads.

PMID- 20894740
TI  - Seat belt injuries.

PMID- 20894742
TI  - Ethics of transsexuality.

PMID- 20894741
TI  - Biblical ills and remedies.

PMID- 20894743
TI  - Wind of change. III. The Royal Colleges.

PMID- 20894744
TI  - The chemical death of Lot's wife.

PMID- 20894745
TI  - Robert james minnitt.

PMID- 20894746
TI  - Kelvin's day.

PMID- 20894747
TI  - Wind of change II. Medical journals in Britain in 1988.

PMID- 20894748
TI  - Who needs toxicology?

PMID- 20894749
TI  - Gestalt theory and psychiatry.

PMID- 20894750
TI  - Medical audit.

PMID- 20894751
TI  - Wind of change II. Medical journals in Britain in 1988.

PMID- 20894752
TI  - Medical audit.

PMID- 20894753
TI  - Chair discussions.

PMID- 20894754
TI  - Chair discussions.

PMID- 20894755
TI  - Chair discussions.

PMID- 20894756
TI  - Chair discussions.

PMID- 20894757
TI  - Spontaneous rupture of the oesophagus (Boerhaave's syndrome).

PMID- 20894759
TI  - Transsexuality.

PMID- 20894758
TI  - Robert james minnitt 1889-1974.

PMID- 20894760
TI  - Pioneer health service, peckham.

PMID- 20894761
TI  - Tinted spectacles.

PMID- 20894762
TI  - Tinted spectacles.

PMID- 20894763
TI  - 'Kosher' tests.

PMID- 20894764
TI  - Management of abdominal hernias.

PMID- 20894765
TI  - Tinted spectacles.

PMID- 20894766
TI  - Myalgic encephalomyelitis.

PMID- 20894767
TI  - Terence millin.

PMID- 20894768
TI  - Tinted spectacles - sign of psychopathology?

PMID- 20894769
TI  - New-born circumcision: a long-term strategy for AIDS prevention.

PMID- 20894770
TI  - Modern cassandras.

PMID- 20894772
TI  - When is treatment for cancer economically justified?

PMID- 20894771
TI  - Seizure induction by alcohol.

PMID- 20894773
TI  - Sir william osler.

PMID- 20894774
TI  - Medical student section.

PMID- 20894775
TI  - Into europe.

PMID- 20894776
TI  - A new human virus with unusual effects.

PMID- 20894777
TI  - Spinal cord compression associated with pseudohypoparathyroidism.

PMID- 20894779
TI  - Kosher tests.

PMID- 20894778
TI  - Seizures and alcohol.

PMID- 20894780
TI  - Eccentricity of dieting.

PMID- 20894781
TI  - Immunology of the tonsil.

PMID- 20894782
TI  - The greenhouse effect and human population.

PMID- 20894783
TI  - Health effects of electromagnetic fields.

PMID- 20894784
TI  - Fish and olives.

PMID- 20894785
TI  - Postviral syndrome.

PMID- 20894786
TI  - Another look at holistic medicine.

PMID- 20894787
TI  - Medical student selection.

PMID- 20894788
TI  - The death of Mozart.

PMID- 20894789
TI  - The greenhouse effect and human population.

PMID- 20894790
TI  - The homeopathic conundrum.

PMID- 20894792
TI  - A tale of two paintings.

PMID- 20894791
TI  - I don't fancy cheiromancy.

PMID- 20894793
TI  - The homeopathic conundrum.

PMID- 20894795
TI  - Motivation to change.

PMID- 20894794
TI  - Lifeline and longevity.

PMID- 20894796
TI  - Medical histories of musicians.

PMID- 20894797
TI  - Pyoderma gangrenosum.

PMID- 20894798
TI  - Newborn circumcision and cancer of the penis.

PMID- 20894799
TI  - Medical student selection.

PMID- 20894800
TI  - Another look at holistic medicine.

PMID- 20894801
TI  - Epidemiology of shingles.

PMID- 20894803
TI  - A struggle for survival.

PMID- 20894802
TI  - Cairo Geniza: plus ca change..

PMID- 20894804
TI  - Osler, beaumont and alexis st martin.

PMID- 20894806
TI  - Why do hospital doctors wear white coats?

PMID- 20894805
TI  - Why do hospital doctors wear white coats?

PMID- 20894807
TI  - Introduction.

PMID- 20894808
TI  - Adenocarcinoma of the gallbladder.

PMID- 20894810
TI  - Homo sapiens - a species too successful.

PMID- 20894809
TI  - Adenocarcinoma of the gallbladder.

PMID- 20894811
TI  - Prospects for the treatment of multiple sclerosis.

PMID- 20894813
TI  - Immunology of the tonsils.

PMID- 20894812
TI  - Death of mozart.

PMID- 20894815
TI  - Arthur conan doyle.

PMID- 20894814
TI  - Surgical roots and branches.

PMID- 20894816
TI  - Mozart.

PMID- 20894817
TI  - Sherlock holmes.

PMID- 20894818
TI  - Pathology: is it well taught?

PMID- 20894819
TI  - Pathology: is it well taught?

PMID- 20894820
TI  - Waiting list initiatives.

PMID- 20894821
TI  - Another look at holistic medicine.

PMID- 20894822
TI  - Munchausen.

PMID- 20894823
TI  - Doctors' dress.

PMID- 20894824
TI  - Audit of cervical cytology screening programmes.

PMID- 20894826
TI  - Compensation for injury-a reappraisal: comments.

PMID- 20894825
TI  - The European committee of the royal society of medicine.

PMID- 20894827
TI  - Into Europe: the road to Sevres.

PMID- 20894828
TI  - Dr Henry harington.

PMID- 20894830
TI  - He/she or hshe?

PMID- 20894829
TI  - He/she or hshe?

PMID- 20894831
TI  - The wart lady of Kansas.

PMID- 20894833
TI  - The one-track mind.

PMID- 20894832
TI  - How to avoid pitfalls in ethnic medical history, examination and diagnosis.

PMID- 20894834
TI  - Familial adenomatous polyposis.

PMID- 20894835
TI  - What's in a name?

PMID- 20894836
TI  - Patient denial in breast cancer.

PMID- 20894837
TI  - He/She etc.

PMID- 20894838
TI  - He/She etc.

PMID- 20894839
TI  - Modern medical writing.

PMID- 20894840
TI  - He/She or hshe.

PMID- 20894841
TI  - Implantation metastasis from adenocarcinoma of sigmoid colon into fistula in ano.

PMID- 20894842
TI  - Why do hospital doctors wear white coats?

PMID- 20894843
TI  - The laser in dentistry.

PMID- 20894844
TI  - Medical education and substance abuse.

PMID- 20894845
TI  - Nailbiters in the navy.

PMID- 20894846
TI  - Preface.

PMID- 20894847
TI  - Medicine in San'a, Yemen 1937-1943.

PMID- 20894849
TI  - Unilateral choanal atresia.

PMID- 20894848
TI  - The strange case of Ms Elizabeth Trevers.

PMID- 20894850
TI  - Early use of the thermometer.

PMID- 20894851
TI  - Nailbiting.

PMID- 20894852
TI  - Obturator hernia.

PMID- 20894853
TI  - Exclusion diets.

PMID- 20894855
TI  - Education and population control.

PMID- 20894854
TI  - Lightning and electrical injury.

PMID- 20894856
TI  - Should we ban the mercury thermometer?

PMID- 20894857
TI  - Undergraduate training in ENT-time for change?

PMID- 20894858
TI  - Delay in seeking treatment for breast cancer.

PMID- 20894859
TI  - Endotracheal intubation skills of medical students.

PMID- 20894860
TI  - The portrayal of the physician in non-medical literature.

PMID- 20894862
TI  - Double-blind trials and alternative medicine.

PMID- 20894861
TI  - Management of generalized faecal peritonitis.

PMID- 20894863
TI  - What's in a title - Mr or Dr?

PMID- 20894864
TI  - The edinburgh declaration.

PMID- 20894865
TI  - Non-sexist statements in medical literature.

PMID- 20894867
TI  - What's in a title - Mr or Dr?

PMID- 20894866
TI  - Oesophago-gastrectomy.

PMID- 20894868
TI  - Delay in seeking treatment for breast cancer.

PMID- 20894869
TI  - The plague of Athens.

PMID- 20894870
TI  - The physician and religion.

PMID- 20894871
TI  - Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy.

PMID- 20894872
TI  - Archbishop laud.

PMID- 20894873
TI  - White coats?

PMID- 20894874
TI  - Medico-legal reports.

PMID- 20894875
TI  - White coats?

PMID- 20894876
TI  - The Royal Society of Medicine Foundation, Inc: a celebration of 25 years of
      service.

PMID- 20894878
TI  - Introduction.

PMID- 20894877
TI  - Retroorbital metastasis.

PMID- 20894879
TI  - Evaluation of counselling in the National Health Service.

PMID- 20894880
TI  - Origins.

PMID- 20894881
TI  - Rheumatology writing.

PMID- 20894882
TI  - Amyand's hernia.

PMID- 20894883
TI  - Writing medical papers.

PMID- 20894884
TI  - Lightning and electrical injury.

PMID- 20894886
TI  - Sir frederick treves.

PMID- 20894885
TI  - Chronic nutmeg psychosis.

PMID- 20894887
TI  - What's in a title-Mr or Dr?

PMID- 20894888
TI  - Editorial note.

PMID- 20894889
TI  - The doctor's aim in a pluralistic society.

PMID- 20894890
TI  - Delay in seeking treatment for breast cancer.

PMID- 20894892
TI  - Changes in the perception of energy and mood in relation to sunshine.

PMID- 20894891
TI  - Endotracheal intubation skills of medical students.

PMID- 20894893
TI  - The physician who dislikes his trade.

PMID- 20894895
TI  - Preface.

PMID- 20894894
TI  - Advanced medical courses at the RSM.

PMID- 20894896
TI  - The inferior turbinate.

PMID- 20894897
TI  - Body and brain.

PMID- 20894898
TI  - He/she.

PMID- 20894899
TI  - Two hundred years of drug abuse.

PMID- 20894900
TI  - Lyme disease.

PMID- 20894901
TI  - The diagnosis and management of arteritis.

PMID- 20894902
TI  - Hartmanns procedure: an appraisal.

PMID- 20894903
TI  - A history of the use of arsenicals in man.

PMID- 20894904
TI  - What's in a title - Mr or Dr?

PMID- 20894905
TI  - Application of a general health policy model in the American health care crisis.

PMID- 20894906
TI  - Streetwise health: the press and the people.

PMID- 20894907
TI  - Mood changes and perceptions of vitality.

PMID- 20894908
TI  - Health promotion or confusion?

PMID- 20894909
TI  - Robert Norman thomson: 1935-1994.

PMID- 20894910
TI  - Transplantation and organ donors.

PMID- 20894911
TI  - Lesions of the internal auditory meatus.

PMID- 20894912
TI  - Mr or dr?

PMID- 20894914
TI  - Non-sexist grammar in medical literature.

PMID- 20894913
TI  - George frederic still.

PMID- 20894915
TI  - Writing medical papers.

PMID- 20894916
TI  - The origin of the Society's motto.

PMID- 20894917
TI  - Ears for flying and diving.

PMID- 20894918
TI  - Ears safe for diving.

PMID- 20894919
TI  - Glue ear.

PMID- 20894921
TI  - Eric Anthony Barker (1920-1993): cbe frcp frcsAnthony and Maggie Barker.

PMID- 20894920
TI  - Chronic nutmeg psychosis.

PMID- 20894922
TI  - Stone Age diet.

PMID- 20894923
TI  - Logic and magic in mainstream and fringe medicine.

PMID- 20894924
TI  - What's in a title - Mr or Dr?

PMID- 20894926
TI  - He/She, or they.

PMID- 20894925
TI  - What's in a title - Mr or Dr?

PMID- 20894927
TI  - Ears safe for diving.

PMID- 20894928
TI  - The portrayal of the physician in non-medical literature.

PMID- 20894930
TI  - A journey round my skull.

PMID- 20894929
TI  - Logic and magic in mainstream and fringe medicine.

PMID- 20894931
TI  - Control of neonatal group B streptococcal infection.

PMID- 20894932
TI  - Value of performing an autopsy in a teaching hospital.

PMID- 20894934
TI  - Botulinum toxin: dangerous terminology errors.

PMID- 20894933
TI  - Successful resuscitation from hypothermic induced cardiac arrest.

PMID- 20894935
TI  - Vestibular schwannoma.

PMID- 20894936
TI  - Breast cancer and pregnancy.

PMID- 20894937
TI  - A girl called georgina.

PMID- 20894938
TI  - Beethoven's illness.

PMID- 20894939
TI  - The origin of the Society's motto.

PMID- 20894940
TI  - Medical ethics and evolution.

PMID- 20894941
TI  - Cortico basal degeneration.

PMID- 20894942
TI  - Hartmann's procedure.

PMID- 20894943
TI  - The portrayal of the physician in non-medical literature: the physician in
      politics.

PMID- 20894944
TI  - The origin of the Society's motto.

PMID- 20894945
TI  - Beethoven's illness.

PMID- 20894946
TI  - 'Ring out...'.

PMID- 20894947
TI  - If Cytokines be the Food of Love.

PMID- 20894948
TI  - Junior doctors' hours.

PMID- 20894950
TI  - A response.

PMID- 20894949
TI  - Preface.

PMID- 20894951
TI  - The role of the media in reporting and shaping public expectations.

PMID- 20894952
TI  - Paternalism versus patient autonomy.

PMID- 20894954
TI  - A response.

PMID- 20894953
TI  - Consensus clinical practice guidelines.

PMID- 20894955
TI  - The cost of care and the role of health care delivery systems.

PMID- 20894956
TI  - A response.

PMID- 20894957
TI  - Charlatanry and fraud: influence on mutual trust.

PMID- 20894959
TI  - A response.

PMID- 20894958
TI  - A response.

PMID- 20894960
TI  - A response.

PMID- 20894961
TI  - A response.

PMID- 20894962
TI  - Preparation for medical school.

PMID- 20894963
TI  - A response.

PMID- 20894964
TI  - Concluding remarks: a conspectus of views expressed.

PMID- 20894965
TI  - The new public perception of health care and physicians.

PMID- 20894966
TI  - The Journal: tradition and change.

PMID- 20894967
TI  - He/She.

PMID- 20894969
TI  - The first medical publication.

PMID- 20894968
TI  - Issues of the day: what are they?

PMID- 20894970
TI  - British CME: a framework for the future.

PMID- 20894971
TI  - How negative are we to the idea of a suicide prevention?

PMID- 20894973
TI  - The new Journal-progress report.

PMID- 20894972
TI  - Karinthy's Journey Round My Skull.

PMID- 20894974
TI  - Aequanimitas.

PMID- 20894975
TI  - The gene hunters.

PMID- 20894976
TI  - Lead toxicity intervention in children.

PMID- 20894977
TI  - Medical ethics.

PMID- 20894978
TI  - Medical ethics.

PMID- 20894979
TI  - It couldn't happen here.

PMID- 20894980
TI  - Liver transplantation in cystic fibrosis.

PMID- 20894981
TI  - Dilemmas of life and death.

PMID- 20894983
TI  - The alex comfort lecture, 1995.

PMID- 20894982
TI  - Some parting words from the Deputy Editor.

PMID- 20894984
TI  - The meaning of words in the new health service.

PMID- 20894985
TI  - Sam Johnson's lung not in Baillie's Atlas.

PMID- 20894987
TI  - Panel and general discussion.

PMID- 20894986
TI  - A medical/scientific editor's view: a summary of a paper presented by Richard
      Smith, Editor, BMJ.

PMID- 20894988
TI  - Preface.

PMID- 20894989
TI  - The new journal: the first year.

PMID- 20894990
TI  - The illnesses of the great.

PMID- 20894991
TI  - Balancing primary and specialty care.

PMID- 20894993
TI  - The meaning of words in the new health service.

PMID- 20894992
TI  - The meaning of words in the new health service.

PMID- 20894994
TI  - Dr george C cathcart.

PMID- 20894995
TI  - Palliative care in the Third World.

PMID- 20894996
TI  - The meaning of words in the new health service.

PMID- 20894997
TI  - John Swales moves onward and upward.

PMID- 20894998
TI  - The medical history of Mozart.

PMID- 20894999
TI  - A celebration of women in anaesthesia 1894-1994.

PMID- 20895000
TI  - Smoking in restaurants.

PMID- 20895001
TI  - Pitfalls in accident and emergency chest pain evaluation.

PMID- 20895002
TI  - Syndrome.

PMID- 20895004
TI  - Get some research under your belt.

PMID- 20895003
TI  - A patient's view of asthma.

PMID- 20895005
TI  - Cases in clinical biochemistry.

PMID- 20895006
TI  - Instructive errors.

PMID- 20895007
TI  - Colleges versus academies.

PMID- 20895008
TI  - The meaning of words in the new health service.

PMID- 20895009
TI  - Physical activity and the compression of morbidity.

PMID- 20895010
TI  - Lithopaedion.

PMID- 20895012
TI  - Prenatal screening vouchers.

PMID- 20895011
TI  - Euthanasia.

PMID- 20895013
TI  - The meaning of words.

PMID- 20895014
TI  - Get some research under your belt.

PMID- 20895015
TI  - The meaning of words.

PMID- 20895016
TI  - A reunification.

PMID- 20895018
TI  - Clinical risks.

PMID- 20895017
TI  - Medical support for Afghanistan.

PMID- 20895019
TI  - Vaches folles?

PMID- 20895020
TI  - Audit and clinical research.

PMID- 20895021
TI  - What do patients want from medical research?

PMID- 20895022
TI  - Watsoniana.

PMID- 20895024
TI  - Smallpox and royalty.

PMID- 20895023
TI  - Toxic shock syndrome and burns.

PMID- 20895026
TI  - Medical students and history of medicine.

PMID- 20895025
TI  - Science versus quackery.

PMID- 20895027
TI  - Preface.

PMID- 20895028
TI  - Preface.

PMID- 20895029
TI  - Ancient alternative medicine and its modern survival.

PMID- 20895030
TI  - Ghosts.

PMID- 20895031
TI  - Jenner returns to his alma mater.

PMID- 20895032
TI  - The Gabo fountain, St Thomas' Hospital.

PMID- 20895033
TI  - Do community hospitals reduce use of DGH beds?

PMID- 20895034
TI  - Hospital-at-home.

PMID- 20895035
TI  - Sailors, scurvy and science.

PMID- 20895037
TI  - Medical scientism.

PMID- 20895036
TI  - Sailors, scurvy and science.

PMID- 20895038
TI  - The anatomy lesson of Professor Barge.

PMID- 20895040
TI  - Medical scientism.

PMID- 20895039
TI  - Attorney-at-the-gate in the year 2005.

PMID- 20895041
TI  - Privatization of the NHS.

PMID- 20895042
TI  - Paradigm shifts in the 16th and 17th centuries.

PMID- 20895043
TI  - Complementary medicine in the medical curriculum.

PMID- 20895044
TI  - Save the ESR.

PMID- 20895045
TI  - Richard feynman.

PMID- 20895046
TI  - Agues of essex.

PMID- 20895048
TI  - The genesis of the faculty of community medicine.

PMID- 20895047
TI  - Deafness-the visual component.

PMID- 20895049
TI  - Tender lungs.

PMID- 20895050
TI  - A cure for the ague.

PMID- 20895051
TI  - A view from the Web.

PMID- 20895052
TI  - Blank spaces.

PMID- 20895055
TI  - Indian centuplets.

PMID- 20895056
TI  - The lady.

PMID- 20895054
TI  - On the shoulders of giants.

PMID- 20895057
TI  - Markel cell tumour.

PMID- 20895053
TI  - Genesis of the faculty of community medicine.

PMID- 20895058
TI  - Stick symbolism.

PMID- 20895060
TI  - Destruction of a hospital.

PMID- 20895059
TI  - Surgery and the mental health act.

PMID- 20895061
TI  - Preface.

PMID- 20895062
TI  - Preface.

PMID- 20895063
TI  - Foreword.

PMID- 20895064
TI  - A portrait of 'The Lady': a life of Dorothy Russell.

PMID- 20895065
TI  - Gift relationships.

PMID- 20895066
TI  - Plastic stress.

PMID- 20895068
TI  - Moral dilemmas.

PMID- 20895067
TI  - Medical editors' trial amnesty.

PMID- 20895069
TI  - Sir geoffrey jefferson.

PMID- 20895070
TI  - Memoir: Richard Cohen: first Chief Scientist at the DHSS.

PMID- 20895071
TI  - Is she pregnant?

PMID- 20895072
TI  - Charges for RSM meetings.

PMID- 20895073
TI  - Duty of continuity.

PMID- 20895074
TI  - Hippocratism.

PMID- 20895075
TI  - Hippocratism.

PMID- 20895076
TI  - Charges for RSM meetings.

PMID- 20895077
TI  - Dorothy russell in oxford.

PMID- 20895078
TI  - King herod the great.

PMID- 20895079
TI  - Admission of a patient to hospital on a stretcher.

PMID- 20895080
TI  - Anniversaries and mensiversaries.

PMID- 20895082
TI  - New format for figures.

PMID- 20895081
TI  - The bosom serpent.

PMID- 20895083
TI  - Preface.

PMID- 20895084
TI  - Preface.

PMID- 20895085
TI  - Palliative medicine: is it really specialist territory?

PMID- 20895086
TI  - Great expectations.

PMID- 20895088
TI  - Missing inaction.

PMID- 20895087
TI  - Death in custody.

PMID- 20895089
TI  - Bereavement in children.

PMID- 20895090
TI  - Music as male competition.

PMID- 20895091
TI  - Echolocation and scurvy: facts before explanations.

PMID- 20895093
TI  - The handshake.

PMID- 20895092
TI  - This month in history: Jacques Louis Reverdin.

PMID- 20895094
TI  - An equal music.

PMID- 20895095
TI  - The struck-off mystery.

PMID- 20895096
TI  - A surrogate for smoking: forty years of mutilating cigarettes.

PMID- 20895097
TI  - Thoughts in an MRI scanner.

PMID- 20895098
TI  - East london college.

PMID- 20895099
TI  - This month in history: Patrick Manson.

PMID- 20895100
TI  - Multicentre research ethics committees.

PMID- 20895102
TI  - This month in history: Ephraim McDowell.

PMID- 20895101
TI  - Royal medical benevolent fund christmas appeal.

PMID- 20895103
TI  - Preface.

PMID- 20895105
TI  - On Gouty Concretions or Chalk Stones.

PMID- 20895104
TI  - A Case of Aneurism of the Carotid Artery.

PMID- 20895107
TI  - A case of violent and obstinate Cough, cured by a preparation of Iron.

PMID- 20895106
TI  - A case of Artificial Dilatation of the Female Urethra, &c.

PMID- 20895108
TI  - A case of Hydrophobia; with an Account of the Appearances after Death.

PMID- 20895110
TI  - A case of Intus-susceptio, with Remarks.

PMID- 20895109
TI  - An account of three Cases of Sudden Death, with the appearances on Dissection,
      and some additional observations.

PMID- 20895111
TI  - A description of two Muscles surrounding the membranous part of the Urethra.

PMID- 20895112
TI  - A case of Tumour in the Brain, with remarks on the Propagation of Nervous
      Influence.

PMID- 20895113
TI  - Second case of Carotid Aneurism.

PMID- 20895115
TI  - Case of a Foetus found in the Abdomen of a Boy.

PMID- 20895114
TI  - Some observations relative to the Treatment of Hooping Cough.

PMID- 20895117
TI  - On a diminution, in consequence of Disease, of the Area of the Aperture, by which
      the left Auricle of the Heart communicates with the Ventricle of the same side.

PMID- 20895116
TI  - Observations on the Distemper in Dogs.

PMID- 20895118
TI  - Two cases of Small-Pox Infection communicated to the Foetus in Utero under
      peculiar circumstances, with additional remarks.

PMID- 20895119
TI  - Historical account of Philip Howorth, a Boy in whom Signs of Puberty commenced at
      an early Age.

PMID- 20895120
TI  - Appendix.

PMID- 20895122
TI  - On the Gelatine of the Blood.

PMID- 20895121
TI  - An account of a peculiar Disease of the Heart.

PMID- 20895123
TI  - An Account of the Effects produced by a large quantity of Laudanum taken
      internally, and of the means used to counteract those effects.

PMID- 20895125
TI  - An account of a Case of Lithotomy, with Remarks.

PMID- 20895124
TI  - A case of Exposure to the Vapour of burning Charcoal.

PMID- 20895126
TI  - A case of Aneurism by Anastomosis in the Orbit, cured by the Ligature of the
      common Carotid Artery.

PMID- 20895127
TI  - A case of a Sailor, in the Muscles of whose Back the blade of a knife lodged
      above thirty years.

PMID- 20895128
TI  - A case of Fracture of the Occipital Bone, extending to the Great Foramen; in
      which that bone was trephined, and the Dura Mater of the Cerebellum punctured.

PMID- 20895130
TI  - Experiments on the Urine discharged in Diabetes Mellitus, with remarks on that
      disease.

PMID- 20895129
TI  - A case of premature Puberty in a Female.

PMID- 20895131
TI  - A case of Recovery from the Effects of Arsenic; with remarks on a new mode of
      detecting the presence of this metal.

PMID- 20895132
TI  - Experiments and Observations on the Serum of the Blood.

PMID- 20895133
TI  - A case of Hydrocephalus Internus.

PMID- 20895134
TI  - On the Mercurial Treatment of Dysentery, with observation on the same practice in
      Fevers.

PMID- 20895135
TI  - A case of Lithotomy, with remarks on the effect of that Operation; and on some
      cases of Fistula in Perineo.

PMID- 20895136
TI  - History of a singular Nervous or Paralytic Affection, attended with anomalous
      morbid sensations.

PMID- 20895138
TI  - On the Use of Oil of Turpentine in Taenia.

PMID- 20895137
TI  - Account of a singular and fatal Disease occurring in several persons of the same
      hamlet.

PMID- 20895139
TI  - Case of Dysphagia produced by Aneurism of the Aorta.

PMID- 20895140
TI  - Dissection of a Limb on which the Operation for Popliteal Aneurism had been
      performed.

PMID- 20895141
TI  - A case of Hydatid in the Brain.

PMID- 20895143
TI  - A case of Trismus following a contused wound in the Head.

PMID- 20895142
TI  - Case of Amputation at the Shoulder Joint.

PMID- 20895144
TI  - A case of Trismus successfully treated.

PMID- 20895145
TI  - Observations on Tumors within the Pelvis, occasioning difficult Parturition.

PMID- 20895146
TI  - Case of Fractured Cranium, when the Dura and Pia Mater were lacerated, and a
      great quantity of the Cerebrum protruded, which terminated favourably.

PMID- 20895147
TI  - A case of Secondary Small Pox, with references to some cases of a similar nature.

PMID- 20895148
TI  - Some Observations on Spina Bifida.

PMID- 20895149
TI  - A Chemical Account of Various Dropsical Fluids; with remarks concerning the
      nature of the Alkaline Matter contained in these Fluids, and in the Serum of the
      Blood.

PMID- 20895150
TI  - Case of a Woman who voided a large number of Worms by the Urethra; with a
      description of the Animals.

PMID- 20895151
TI  - Some Account of the Effects of Arsenic in counteracting the Poison of Serpents.

PMID- 20895152
TI  - Explanation of the Plates.

PMID- 20895153
TI  - A case of an Un-united Fracture of the Thigh, cured by sawing off the Ends of the
      Bone.

PMID- 20895155
TI  - A case of Wound of the Heart.

PMID- 20895154
TI  - A case of Malformation of the Head, constituting what is commonly called an
      acephalous foetus.

PMID- 20895156
TI  - History of an extraordinary Enlargement of the Right Lower Extremity; with a
      description of some morbid changes in the Papillae of the Cutis.

PMID- 20895157
TI  - An Account of a severe case of Erythema, unconnected with Mercurial Action.

PMID- 20895158
TI  - On Painful Affections of the Side from Tumid Spleen.

PMID- 20895159
TI  - Facts and Observations respecting Intermittent Fevers, and the exhalations which
      occasion them.

PMID- 20895160
TI  - Account of a case of spontaneous Extravasation within the Theca Vertebralis,
      which soon terminated fatally.

PMID- 20895161
TI  - Observations on Diabetes Insipidus.

PMID- 20895163
TI  - Experiments on the Bark of the Coccoloba Uvifera.

PMID- 20895162
TI  - Cases of premature Labour artificially induced in Women with distorted Pelvis; to
      which are subjoined, some observations on this method of practice.

PMID- 20895164
TI  - A case of Splenitis, with further remarks on that disease.

PMID- 20895165
TI  - Account of the Muscles of the Ureters, and their effects in the irritable states
      of the Bladder.

PMID- 20895166
TI  - History of a case in which a Calculus was voided from a Tumor in the Groin.

PMID- 20895167
TI  - General Views of the Composition of Animal Fluids.

PMID- 20895169
TI  - History of a severe affection of the Organs of Respiration; with the appearances
      on dissection, and remarks.

PMID- 20895168
TI  - A Case of Fungus Haematodes.

PMID- 20895170
TI  - An Account of a new mode of treatment in Chronic Rheumatism, and especially in
      Sciatica.

PMID- 20895171
TI  - Appendix to the Paper on Cynanche Laryngea, containing remarks on the distinction
      between that disease and Cynanche Trachealis.

PMID- 20895172
TI  - Appendix, containing remarks on the Comperative Health and Population of England
      and Wales, at different periods.

PMID- 20895173
TI  - Some Remarks on the Use of Nitrat of Silver, for the detection of minute portions
      of Arsenic.

PMID- 20895174
TI  - History of a case of remitting Ophthalmia, and its successful treatment by Opium.

PMID- 20895176
TI  - History of a remarkable case of Ovarian Dropsy.

PMID- 20895175
TI  - Explanation of the Plates.

PMID- 20895178
TI  - Case of diseased Appendix Vermiformis.

PMID- 20895177
TI  - A Case of difficult parturition, occasioned by a Dropsical Ovarium, forming a
      Tumor in the lower part of the Pelvis.

PMID- 20895179
TI  - A Case of diseased Testicle, accompanied with disease of the Lungs and Brain, and
      terminating fatally.

PMID- 20895181
TI  - Cases of Cynanche Laryngea.

PMID- 20895180
TI  - Description of an improved method of tying diseased Tonsils.

PMID- 20895182
TI  - History of a case of Anaesthesia.

PMID- 20895183
TI  - Observations on the Venereal Disease in Portugal, as affecting the Constitutions
      of the British Soldiery and Natives.

PMID- 20895184
TI  - On the Effects of evacuating the Aqueous Humor in Inflammation of the Eyes, and
      in some Diseases of the Cornea.

PMID- 20895185
TI  - Case of Paralysis of the Face, succeeded by certain Nervous Disorders.

PMID- 20895186
TI  - Case of Disease in the Brain, produced by external violence.

PMID- 20895187
TI  - Appendix to the foregoing paper.

PMID- 20895188
TI  - History of a case of Premature Puberty.

PMID- 20895189
TI  - Pathological Researches respecting the Diseases of Joints.

PMID- 20895191
TI  - Observations on the Cataract.

PMID- 20895190
TI  - A remarkable Instance of Spasmodic Affection of the Tongue and Mouth,
      successfully treated.

PMID- 20895192
TI  - Case of Contracted Wrist, successfully treated.

PMID- 20895194
TI  - History of a diseased Metacarpal Bone, removed by an operation, with the
      description of an instrument for sawing off the extremities or portions of the
      long bones.

PMID- 20895193
TI  - History and Dissection of a fatal Case of Cynanche Laryngea.

PMID- 20895195
TI  - Case of a double encysted Tumour, the posterior cyst of which, situated deeply
      between the eye-ball, and the floor of the orbit, was attached to, and partly
      contained a tooth.

PMID- 20895196
TI  - Two Cases of Strangulated Femoral Hernia, attended with some unusual
      circumstances.

PMID- 20895197
TI  - Case of Extravasation of Bile into the Abdomen, from rupture of the Liver or Gall
      Bladder.

PMID- 20895198
TI  - On the Muscularity of the Uterus.

PMID- 20895199
TI  - Two Examples of the beneficial effects of Mercury in some severe affections of
      the Brain.

PMID- 20895200
TI  - Some Observations on the Use of Opium in Uterine Hemorrhagy.

PMID- 20895201
TI  - Observations on the Vascular Appearance in the Human Stomach, which is frequently
      mistaken for inflammation of that organ.

PMID- 20895202
TI  - Analysis of the Bones of the Spine, in a Case of Mollities Ossium.

PMID- 20895203
TI  - An Account of the Anastomosis of the Arteries at the Groin.

PMID- 20895204
TI  - Observations on the Ligature of Arteries and the Causes of Secondary Hemorrhage,
      with a suggestion of a new method of employing the ligature in cases of Aneurism.

PMID- 20895205
TI  - Instance of the good effects of Arsenic in Chorea.

PMID- 20895206
TI  - Explanation of the Plates.

PMID- 20895207
TI  - An Example of Symptoms resembling Tic Douleureux, produced by a wound in the
      Radial Nerve.

PMID- 20895209
TI  - A Tabular Synopsis of Albuminous Fluids.

PMID- 20895208
TI  - On the Nature and Analysis of Animal Fluids.

PMID- 20895210
TI  - Cases of Periodical Jactitation or Chorea.

PMID- 20895211
TI  - The History of a Child retained in the Mother fifty-two years after the usual
      period of utero-gestation.

PMID- 20895212
TI  - An Account of some Diseases of the Toes and Fingers; with observations on their
      Treatment.

PMID- 20895214
TI  - Case of Cynanche Laryngea, with remarks.

PMID- 20895213
TI  - Observations on some of the Causes which destroy the Foetus in Utero; with an
      account of a case in which a successful mode of treatment was employed in
      preventing that accident.

PMID- 20895215
TI  - Account of a Child born without a Brain, which lived four days; with a sketch of
      the principal deviations from the ordinary formation of the body, remarks on
      their production, and a view of some physiological inferences, to which they
      lead.

PMID- 20895216
TI  - History of a Tubercular Eruption of a syphilitic appearance, but curable without
      Mercury.

PMID- 20895217
TI  - Case of Bubonocele, requiring a second operation five days after the first.

PMID- 20895218
TI  - On the Effects of large doses of Opium in a case of Diabetes Mellitus.

PMID- 20895219
TI  - Further Observations on the Diseases which affect the Synovial Membranes of
      Joints.

PMID- 20895220
TI  - Case of Abscess in the Brain.

PMID- 20895221
TI  - On the Muscae Volitantes of Nervous Persons.

PMID- 20895222
TI  - On the Treatment of Erysipelas by Incision.

PMID- 20895223
TI  - Case of obstructed Aorta.

PMID- 20895224
TI  - Account of an Epidemic Fever, which occurred at Gibraltar, in the years 1804,
      1810, and 1813; taken from Official Documents, Military and Medical, and from the
      Communications of Joseph D. A. Gilpin, M.D. Deputy Inspector of Hospitals.

PMID- 20895225
TI  - A Practical Essay on Hemeralopia, or Night-Blindness, commonly called Nyctalopia;
      as it affects seaman and others, in the East and West Indies, China, the
      Mediterranean, and all Tropical Climates, in which a successful method of
      treating the disease is detailed.

PMID- 20895226
TI  - On the Diuretic Properties of the Pyrola Umbellata.

PMID- 20895228
TI  - Addition to the foregoing paper.

PMID- 20895227
TI  - Case where a Seton was introduced between the fractured extremities of a Femur,
      which had not united in the usual manner; with some observations on the methods
      which have been employed to produce reunion in fractured bones.

PMID- 20895230
TI  - A Case of Aneurism of the Glutaeal Artery cured by tying the internal Iliac.

PMID- 20895229
TI  - Further Observations on the Cataract.

PMID- 20895231
TI  - Report of the principal natural Diseases that have prevailed amongst the Children
      of the Royal Military Asylum at Chelsea, from its first establishment in 1804, to
      the 1st of January, 1814, including a period of ten years, with some remarks
      thereon.

PMID- 20895233
TI  - References to the Plates.

PMID- 20895232
TI  - Addition to the foregoing paper, being extracts from letters to Dr. Marcet, by
      William Henry, M.D. F.R.S. Physician to the Infirmary at Manchester.

PMID- 20895234
TI  - A Case of Cartilaginous Substances successfully extracted from the Cavity of the
      Knee-Joint; which occurred in the Detachment Hospital at Gosport, in the summer
      of 1809.

PMID- 20895235
TI  - Account of the Extraction of a loose Substance, consisting partly of Bone and
      partly of Cartilage, from the Elbow-Joint.

PMID- 20895236
TI  - Account of a Chemical Examination of the Urine and Serum of the Blood of a person
      who had taken large quantities of Soda.

PMID- 20895238
TI  - On contractions after Burns or extensive Ulcerations.

PMID- 20895237
TI  - Case of Laceration of the internal Coat of the Stomach and Duodenum, by vomiting.

PMID- 20895239
TI  - An Account of the origin and progress of the Plague of Malta, in the year 1813.

PMID- 20895241
TI  - A Case of Aneurism by Anastomosis in the left orbit, cured by tying the common
      trunk of the left carotid artery.

PMID- 20895240
TI  - A Case of Incontinence of Urine, of nine years' duration, cured by external
      pressure.

PMID- 20895242
TI  - Account of a Case in which parts of a Foetus were found in a tumour situated in
      the abdomen of a girl two years and a half old.

PMID- 20895243
TI  - A Case of Axillary Aneurism, for which the artery was tied below the clavicle.

PMID- 20895244
TI  - Successful treatment of a case of Cynanche Laryngea.

PMID- 20895246
TI  - Account of a case of Croup, in which the operation of Bronchotomy was
      successfully performed.

PMID- 20895245
TI  - Remarks on the preceding case of Cynanche Laryngea.

PMID- 20895247
TI  - A new method of tying the arteries in Aneurism, Amputation, and other Surgical
      Operations; with incidental remarks on some collateral points.

PMID- 20895248
TI  - Two Cases of the true Elephantiasis, or Lepra Arabum.

PMID- 20895249
TI  - On some affections of the Larynx, which require the operation of Bronchotomy.

PMID- 20895250
TI  - Experiments and Observations in order to ascertain the means employed by the
      animal economy in the formation of bone.

PMID- 20895251
TI  - Observations on the Mediterranean Fever.

PMID- 20895252
TI  - Further observations on the Ulceration of the Cartilages of the Joints.

PMID- 20895253
TI  - Case of Hernia Ventriculi, from external Violence, wherein the Diaphragm was
      lacerated without fracture of the ribs.

PMID- 20895254
TI  - Sketch of the Medical History of the British Armies in the Peninsula of Spain and
      Portugal, during the late campaigns.

PMID- 20895255
TI  - Statements of the comparative Health of the British Navy, from the year 1779 to
      the year 1814, with proposals for its farther improvement.

PMID- 20895256
TI  - Particulars of a case in which a very large Calculus was removed from the Urethra
      of a female without operation; with examples of analogous cases.

PMID- 20895257
TI  - Case of the successful treatment of the Incontinence of Urine consequent to
      sloughing or ulceration of the bladder from injury during labour, with
      observations.

PMID- 20895258
TI  - A Case of Mortification of the Uterus occurring a few hours after delivery, with
      some remarks on the causes that produced it.

PMID- 20895260
TI  - Some experiments on the chemical nature of Chyle, with a few observations upon
      Chyme.

PMID- 20895259
TI  - On the use of the Lactuca Virosa, in Hooping-Cough.

PMID- 20895262
TI  - A Case of Locked-Jaw cured by Oil of Turpentine given as a Glyster.

PMID- 20895261
TI  - Further observations on the Ligature of Arteries.

PMID- 20895263
TI  - Note on the use of Nitrate of Silver, for the detection of Arsenic, in reference
      to a paper on this subject in Vol. III. of the Society's Transactions.

PMID- 20895264
TI  - References to the Plates.

PMID- 20895265
TI  - A Case of an extraordinary enlargement of the Scrotum, with an operation
      successfully performed for its removal.

PMID- 20895266
TI  - On the use of Nicotiana in Retention of Urine.

PMID- 20895267
TI  - Case of obstruction in the large intestines, occasioned by a Biliary Calculus of
      extraordinary size.

PMID- 20895268
TI  - Chemical Analysis of the Mineral Waters of Spa.

PMID- 20895270
TI  - History of a Case of Wound in the Face, requiring the Operation of tying the
      Common Carotid Artery, which was performed with success.

PMID- 20895269
TI  - Case of Ununited Fracture of the Os Humeri, treated successfully by the Seton.

PMID- 20895271
TI  - History of a Tumor successfully removed from the Face and Neck, by previously
      tying the Carotid Artery.

PMID- 20895272
TI  - History of a Case of Aneurism of the Femoral Artery, for which the Operation of
      tying the External Iliac Artery was performed.

PMID- 20895273
TI  - Some Observations concerning the Medical Properties of the Pyrola Umbellata, and
      the Arbutus Uva Ursi, of Linnaeus.

PMID- 20895274
TI  - A Case of Ossification and Bony Growth of the Cartilages of the Larynx,
      preventing deglutition.

PMID- 20895275
TI  - Observationes quaedam de Hottentotis, praesertim de structura genitalium
      peculiari Hottentotarum.

PMID- 20895276
TI  - Case of Gunshot Wound of the Shoulder Joint, where the head of the Os Humeri,
      together with parts of the Humerus, were successfully removed.

PMID- 20895277
TI  - Cases and Observations illustrating the influence of the Nervous System, in
      regulating Animal Heat.

PMID- 20895278
TI  - Observations on the treatment of Varicose Veins of the Legs.

PMID- 20895280
TI  - Additional Particulars, connected with Professor de Saussure's Case.

PMID- 20895279
TI  - An Account of the Last Illness and Death of Professor H. Benedict de Saussure.

PMID- 20895281
TI  - History of a case of Chorea Sancti Viti, occurring in an adult, and cured in an
      unusual manner.

PMID- 20895283
TI  - Note by the Secretaries on the Above Communication.

PMID- 20895282
TI  - Particulars concerning the Structure of a Monstrous Foetus.

PMID- 20895284
TI  - History of a Case of Caesarean Operation.

PMID- 20895285
TI  - Of the Laceration of the Fibres of Muscles, particularly of the Gastrocnemius.

PMID- 20895286
TI  - Observations on a Change of Colour in the Skin, produced by the internal use of
      the Nitrate of Silver.

PMID- 20895288
TI  - Observations and Cases relating to the operation for Artificial Pupil; in a
      letter from Mr. Maunoir of Geneva, to Professor scarpa of pavia, with the
      professor's answer.

PMID- 20895287
TI  - Additional Facts relative to the subject of the preceding paper.

PMID- 20895289
TI  - Case of Inflammation in the Muscular Structure of the Heart.

PMID- 20895290
TI  - Case of a Wound of the Peroneal Artery, successfully treated by Ligature.

PMID- 20895291
TI  - Case of a Gunshot Wound and Fracture of the Tibia, in which a seton was
      successfully employed in promoting a cure.

PMID- 20895292
TI  - An account of a new method of operating for the cure of external Aneurism, with
      some Observations and Experiments illustrative of the effects of the different
      methods of procuring the obliteration of Arteries.

PMID- 20895293
TI  - A Sketch of the Medical History of the First Battalion of the First Regiment of
      Foot Guards, during the winter of 1812-13.

PMID- 20895294
TI  - Microscopic Observations on the Structure of Bone.

PMID- 20895296
TI  - Further Observations on Contractions succeeding to Ulceration of the Skin.

PMID- 20895295
TI  - Observations on the condition of the Bones in Rickets, with an account of some
      circumstances not before noticed relating to the processes of restoration which
      take place in them.

PMID- 20895297
TI  - Case of hernia of the Dura Mater connected with Hydrocephalus Internus.

PMID- 20895298
TI  - Description of an Extra-Uterine Foetus contained in the Fallopian Tube.

PMID- 20895299
TI  - Observations on Tetanus.

PMID- 20895301
TI  - Account of a case of curious imperfection of Vision.

PMID- 20895300
TI  - Copy of a Letter on the subject of Tetanus, from Duncan M'Arthur M.D. F.L.S. late
      Physician to the Naval Hospital at Deal, to the Commissioners for Transports,
      London.

PMID- 20895302
TI  - On the Treatment of Sinuous Ulcers.

PMID- 20895303
TI  - Some Observations on a Species of Pulmonary Consumption, very frequent in Great
      Britain.

PMID- 20895304
TI  - Case of Inguinal Aneurism, cured by tying the external Iliac Artery.

PMID- 20895305
TI  - Facts illustrating the effects of the Venereal Disease on the foetus in utero,
      and the modes of its communication.

PMID- 20895307
TI  - Supplementary Observations to the Paper on the Structure of Bone.

PMID- 20895306
TI  - On the Medicinal Properties of Stramonium; with illustrative cases.

PMID- 20895308
TI  - References to the Plates.

PMID- 20895309
TI  - History of two Cases of Angina Pectoris.

PMID- 20895310
TI  - History of a very fatal affection of the Pudendum of Female Children.

PMID- 20895311
TI  - Report of the State of the Wounded on board his Majesty's Ship Leander, in the
      action before Algiers, extracted from a letter from D. Quarrier, M.D. Surgeon to
      the Leander, to the Commissioners for Transports.

PMID- 20895312
TI  - An inquiry into the Origin and Nature of the Yellow Fever, as it has lately
      appeared in the West Indies, with Official Documents relating to this subject.

PMID- 20895313
TI  - Cases of Hernia Cerebri, with Observations.

PMID- 20895314
TI  - On the Internal and External Use of the Nitro-Muriatic Acid in the Cure of
      Diseases.

PMID- 20895315
TI  - History of a Case of ill-conditioned Ulcer of the Tongue, successfully treated by
      Arsenic.

PMID- 20895316
TI  - History of a Case of Lithotomy, with a few remarks on the best mode of making the
      incision in the Lateral operation.

PMID- 20895317
TI  - A case of fatal Haemorrhage from the Extraction of a Tooth.

PMID- 20895318
TI  - Rupture of the Stomach and escape of its Contents into the Cavity of the Abdomen.

PMID- 20895319
TI  - Additional Observations.

PMID- 20895320
TI  - Account of a Case where a severe Nervous Affection came on after a Punctured
      Wound of the Finger, and in which Amputation was successfully performed.

PMID- 20895321
TI  - An Account of some remarkable symptoms which were connected with a painful
      affection of the extremity of the left thumb, together with the mode of
      treatment.

PMID- 20895322
TI  - Cases of Fungus Haematodes, with Observations, by George Langstaff, Esq. and an
      Appendix, containing two cases of Analogous Affections.

PMID- 20895323
TI  - On the Pellagra, a Disease prevailing in Lombardy.

PMID- 20895324
TI  - Observations on the Treatment of Syphilis, with an account of several cases of
      that disease in which a cure was effected without the use of Mercury.

PMID- 20895325
TI  - Three Cases of Calculi, removed from the Urethra, without the use of Cutting
      Instruments.

PMID- 20895326
TI  - Some Cases of Diseases of the Heart, with an Inquiry into their Nature and
      Causes.

PMID- 20895328
TI  - A Case of Extra-Uterine Foetus, contained in the Fallopian Tube, with some
      Observations.

PMID- 20895327
TI  - Further Observations on the Ligature of Arteries, to which is added a Case of
      Popliteal Aneurism, attended with some unusual circumstances.

PMID- 20895329
TI  - The History of a Woman who bore a seven months' Foetus for seven years, was
      delivered of it per anum, and completely recovered.

PMID- 20895330
TI  - History of a Case of Rupture of the Brain and its Membranes, arising from the
      accumulation of Fluid, in Hydrocephalus Internus.

PMID- 20895331
TI  - On the Formation of New Joints.

PMID- 20895332
TI  - Observations on the Nature of some of the proximate Principles of the Urine; with
      a few remarks upon the means of preventing those diseases, connected with a
      morbid state of that fluid.

PMID- 20895333
TI  - Observations on the Treatment of the Venereal Disease, without Mercury.

PMID- 20895335
TI  - Explanation of the Plates.

PMID- 20895334
TI  - Observations on the morbid structure of Bones, and an attempt at an arrangement
      of their Diseases.

PMID- 20895336
TI  - A Case of Loss of Power over the Voluntary Muscles.

PMID- 20895338
TI  - Experiments and Observations on the Union of Fractured Bones.

PMID- 20895337
TI  - History of a Case of Caesarean Operation, in which the Lives of the Mother and
      Child were both preserved.

PMID- 20895339
TI  - Brief Notice presented to the Medico-Chirurgical Society with the original
      obstetric Instruments of the Chamberlins.

PMID- 20895340
TI  - Case of Aneurism in the Arm, cured by tying the Subclavian Artery.

PMID- 20895341
TI  - A singular Case of Expulsion of a blighted Foetus and Placenta at seven Months, a
      living Child still remaining to the full period of Utero-gestation.

PMID- 20895343
TI  - Case of Aneurism by Anastomosis of the Finger.

PMID- 20895342
TI  - Some Observations on one species of Naevus Maternus; with the case of an Infant
      where the Carotid Artery was tied.

PMID- 20895344
TI  - Notes of a case of Mercurial Erethism.

PMID- 20895345
TI  - On the Effect of Nitrate of Silver on the Complexion.

PMID- 20895346
TI  - Case of an extensive Wound from the Bite of a Shark.

PMID- 20895347
TI  - A Report of the principal Diseases which occurred among the Gentlemen Cadets in
      the Royal Military College, at Great Marlow, Bucks, and Sandhurst, Berkshire,
      during a period of seven years viz. from 3rd of September, 1809, to 2nd of
      September, 1816.

PMID- 20895348
TI  - A Case of Inguinal Aneurism cured after the use of Compression.

PMID- 20895349
TI  - References to the Plates.

PMID- 20895350
TI  - Case of Cynanche Laryngea.

PMID- 20895351
TI  - Some Observations on the Cure of Hydrocele of the Tunica Vaginalis Testis,
      without procuring an obliteration of the Sac.

PMID- 20895352
TI  - Case of Hereditary Ichthyosis.

PMID- 20895353
TI  - Experiments on the Transfusion of Blood by the Syringe.

PMID- 20895354
TI  - History of the Progress, and Inquiry into the Causes of the Yellow Fever, as it
      appeared in the Island of Antigua in the Year 1816.

PMID- 20895355
TI  - Cases of Fungus Haematodes Cancer, and Tuberculated Sarcoma, with Observations.

PMID- 20895356
TI  - Case of Hydrocephalus, successfully treated by the removal of the Water by
      Operation.

PMID- 20895357
TI  - Account of a Case of Defective Power to distinguish Colours.

PMID- 20895359
TI  - Further Account of the result of an Operation for performing an Artificial Pupil:
      Extracted from Letters addressed to Professor Scarpa.

PMID- 20895358
TI  - On the use of the actual Cautery as a remedy for the Cure of Diseases.

PMID- 20895360
TI  - Cases shewing the coincidence of Worms in the Intestines with Haemoptysis, and
      Remarks on the probability of the two affections having a connexion with each
      other.

PMID- 20895361
TI  - Two Cases of Aneurism, in which the temporary Ligature was employed.

PMID- 20895362
TI  - Observations on some points relating to the Physiology and Pathology of the Ear.

PMID- 20895363
TI  - Account of a Case in which some singular preternatural appearances were observed
      in the Ovarium and Female Bladder.

PMID- 20895364
TI  - An Account of a congenital Monstrosity.

PMID- 20895365
TI  - On the comparative Infrequency of Urinary Calculi among Seafaring People.

PMID- 20895366
TI  - Appendix to the foregoing Paper.

PMID- 20895367
TI  - Further Observations on the Proximate Principles of the Urine.

PMID- 20895369
TI  - On Urinary and other Morbid Concretions.

PMID- 20895368
TI  - Note subjoined as postscript to Mr. Rumsey's paper on the connexion between Worms
      and Haemoptysis.

PMID- 20895370
TI  - History of a Case of Nephritis Calculosa, in which the various periods and
      symptoms of the disease are strikingly illustrated; and an account of the
      Operation of Lithotomy, given by the Patient himself.

PMID- 20895371
TI  - Memoir on a New Mode of treating Bronchocele.

PMID- 20895372
TI  - Case of a Periodical Affection of the Eyes and Chest.

PMID- 20895374
TI  - Observations upon the Morbid Appearances and Structure of Bones, being the sequel
      of a former paper.

PMID- 20895373
TI  - A Case of Chronic Inflammation of the Larynx, in which Laryngotomy and Mercury
      were successfully employed.

PMID- 20895375
TI  - Case of Carotid Aneurism.

PMID- 20895376
TI  - On the Use of Arsenic in the Cure of Chorea.

PMID- 20895377
TI  - On a New Method of preparing Pharmaceutical Extracts.

PMID- 20895378
TI  - Explanation of the Figures.

PMID- 20895379
TI  - The Elephantiasis, as it appears in Hindostan.

PMID- 20895380
TI  - Observations on the Diseases of the Teeth.

PMID- 20895382
TI  - An Account of a Substance obtained from a diseased Ovarium, with some Remarks on
      diseased Secretions of an analogous nature.

PMID- 20895381
TI  - Cases of Tumors within the Pelvis impeding Parturition; with Remarks.

PMID- 20895384
TI  - On the Operation for Aneurism.

PMID- 20895383
TI  - Observations on the Changes which the Animal Body undergoes in a Hot Climate soon
      after Death.

PMID- 20895385
TI  - Account of the Rheumatic Inflammation of the Eye, with Observations on the
      Treatment of the Disease.

PMID- 20895386
TI  - Experiments on a few controverted points respecting the Physiology of Generation.

PMID- 20895387
TI  - Some observations on a mode of performing Operations on Irritable Patients, with
      a Case where the practice was successfully employed.

PMID- 20895388
TI  - History of a Case of Bony Tumor, successfully removed from the Head of a Female.

PMID- 20895390
TI  - Case of Bronchocele, in which the superior Thyroidal Artery was successfully
      tied.

PMID- 20895389
TI  - Some account of a Case of Obstinate Vomiting, in which an attempt was made to
      prolong Life by the Injection of Blood into the Veins.

PMID- 20895391
TI  - A Statement of Facts tending to establish an Estimate of the true Value and
      present State of Vaccination.

PMID- 20895392
TI  - On the Structure of the Membranous Part of the Urethra.

PMID- 20895393
TI  - Some Observations on Inversion of the Uterus; with a Case of successful
      Extirpation of that Organ.

PMID- 20895394
TI  - Description of an Urinary Calculus, composed of the Lithate or Urate of Ammonia.

PMID- 20895395
TI  - Case of a Presentation of a Bag of Water after Delivery, unconnected with
      plurality of Children.

PMID- 20895396
TI  - Observations on the relaxed Rectum.

PMID- 20895397
TI  - On Affections of the Meatus Auditorius Externus.

PMID- 20895398
TI  - Note subjoined as Postscript to Dr. Hall's Case of Chronic Inflammation of the
      Larynx.

PMID- 20895399
TI  - Reference to the Plate.

PMID- 20895400
TI  - A Statistical Inquiry into the Frequency of Stone in the Bladder, in Great
      Britain and Ireland.

PMID- 20895401
TI  - Case of Popliteal Aneurism, in which the Temporary Ligature was employed.

PMID- 20895402
TI  - On an Acute Form of Ulceration of the Cartilages of Joints.

PMID- 20895403
TI  - Account of the Epidemic Spasmodic Cholera, which has lately prevailed in India,
      and other adjacent countries and islands, and at sea. Communicated in a letter
      from Frederick Corbyn, Esq. Assistant Surgeon on the Bengal Establishment. With
      Communications on the same subject, by favor of the Chairman and Deputy Chairman
      of the East India Company; and from the islands of Mauritius and Ceylon, by favor
      of the Medical Board of the Army. With Remarks.

PMID- 20895404
TI  - Postscript.

PMID- 20895405
TI  - On the Causes of the Vacuity of the Arteries after Death.

PMID- 20895406
TI  - History of a Second Caesarean Operation, performed on the patient, whose case is
      related in the Ninth Volume of the Society's Transactions.

PMID- 20895407
TI  - Appendix.

PMID- 20895408
TI  - On Renal Calculi.

PMID- 20895409
TI  - Reference to the Plates.

PMID- 20895410
TI  - Successful Case of Lithotomy.

PMID- 20895411
TI  - History of a Case of Lithotomy.

PMID- 20895413
TI  - Case of Carotid Aneurism, successfully treated.

PMID- 20895412
TI  - Remarks on the Danger of Extracting Large Calculi, with the Description of an
      Instrument intended to facilitate the breaking down Stones of considerable
      magnitude.

PMID- 20895414
TI  - Cases of Bronchocele or Goitre, treated by Seton, with Observations.

PMID- 20895416
TI  - Case of fractured Os Pubis successfully treated.

PMID- 20895415
TI  - Observations on the Scrofulous Inflammation of the Peritonoeum occurring in
      Children, and frequently denominated Marasmus.

PMID- 20895418
TI  - A Case of Aneurism of the Carotid Artery.

PMID- 20895417
TI  - Case of Sudden Death, in which a Hydatid was found in the Substance of the Heart.

PMID- 20895419
TI  - Case of Malformation of the Heart.

PMID- 20895421
TI  - On the Efficacy of the Bark of the Pomegranate Tree in Cases of Taenia.

PMID- 20895420
TI  - A Case of Chorea successfully treated by Arsenic.

PMID- 20895422
TI  - On the Efficacy of the Bark of the Swietenia Febrifuga, as a Substitute for that
      of the Cinchona.

PMID- 20895423
TI  - On the Physiology of the Ear.

PMID- 20895424
TI  - Case of Amputation of Part of the Tarsus and Metatarsus, and Preservation of the
      Shape and Usefulness of the Foot.

PMID- 20895425
TI  - Note on the Subject of the preceding Paper.

PMID- 20895426
TI  - An Account of a Case in which numerous Calculi were extracted from the Urinary
      Bladder, without the Employment of cutting Instruments.

PMID- 20895427
TI  - On Sloughing Phagedaena.

PMID- 20895428
TI  - An Account of a Case of Tetanus successfully treated in the York Military
      Hospital at Chelsea.

PMID- 20895429
TI  - Case of a Separation of a Portion of the Uterus during severe labour.

PMID- 20895430
TI  - A Case of Inguinal Aneurism, successfully treated by tying the External Iliac
      Artery.

PMID- 20895431
TI  - On Lithotomy.

PMID- 20895432
TI  - Case of Cynanche Laryngea, in which Tracheotomy and Mercury were successfully
      employed, with Remarks.

PMID- 20895434
TI  - References to the Plates.

PMID- 20895433
TI  - Case of a large Adipose Tumor successfully extirpated.

PMID- 20895436
TI  - On Partial Paralysis.

PMID- 20895435
TI  - Four Cases of Children, who had attempted, by mistake, to drink boiling Water
      from the Spout of a Tea-kettle; with Observations on the Seat and Treatment of
      the Effects of this Accident.

PMID- 20895437
TI  - A Case of Aneurism, in which a Ligature was placed on the Subclavian Artery.

PMID- 20895439
TI  - Observations on Compound Fractures.

PMID- 20895438
TI  - An Account of some Circumstances, under which a Haemorrhage may occur, sufficient
      to produce alarming Symptoms, though the Uterus feels contracted in the ordinary
      degree.

PMID- 20895440
TI  - A Case of Umbilical Haemorrhage, which terminated fatally.

PMID- 20895441
TI  - Case of Vaccine Disease and Measles, existing at the same Time in the same
      Individual.

PMID- 20895442
TI  - Cases of Ununited Fracture of the Humerus, treated by Seton and the application
      of Caustic Potash.

PMID- 20895444
TI  - On the Varieties of Diseases comprehended under the Name of Carcinoma Mammae.

PMID- 20895443
TI  - Case of a Wounded Nerve of the Thumb, followed by severe Symptoms, which were
      relieved by a division of the Nerve.

PMID- 20895445
TI  - Account of a Stone and of a Portion of a Catheter extracted from the Female
      Bladder by a Dilator; with an Appendix by Mr. Chapman of Wandsworth, and by Mr.
      Birt, of Diss, Norfolk, on the removal of a Catheter and of a Stone from the
      Female Bladder by Dilatation.

PMID- 20895447
TI  - References to the Plates.

PMID- 20895446
TI  - Case of a Large Glandular Tumor in the Neck.

PMID- 20895448
TI  - A Case of Bronchotomy, successfully performed, for the Removal of a Pebble from
      the Trachea.

PMID- 20895450
TI  - Account of a singular Variety of Urine which turned black soon after being
      discharged; with some Particulars respecting its Chemical Properties.

PMID- 20895449
TI  - Observations on the preceding Case.

PMID- 20895452
TI  - Case of the Extraction of a living Foetus from a Woman killed by Violence.

PMID- 20895451
TI  - On the Chemical Properties of the Black Urine.

PMID- 20895453
TI  - Account of a Man who lived ten Years after having swallowed a number of Clasp
      Knives; with a Description of the Appearances of the Body after Death.

PMID- 20895454
TI  - Appendix, No 1. A Letter from Dr. Lara Surgeon to his Majesty's Ship Isis, dated
      Portsea, Hants, March 27, 1809.

PMID- 20895455
TI  - Appendix, No. 2. Narration of John Cummings, drawn up by himself.

PMID- 20895456
TI  - History of a Case of premature Puberty.

PMID- 20895457
TI  - Appendix to the preceding Paper.

PMID- 20895458
TI  - On the Product of Acute Inflammation.

PMID- 20895459
TI  - Note on the Preceding Paper.

PMID- 20895460
TI  - A Case of Inguinal Aneurism successfully treated, by tying the External Iliac
      Artery.

PMID- 20895461
TI  - Observations on the Use of the Cubebs, or Java Pepper, as a remedy for Gonorrhea.

PMID- 20895463
TI  - On the Influence of Local Irritation, in the production of Diseases resembling
      Cancer, and other morbid Alterations of Structure.

PMID- 20895462
TI  - AN Account of two Cases of Biliary Calculi, of extraordinary Dimensions.

PMID- 20895465
TI  - On the Destruction of the Foetal Brain.

PMID- 20895464
TI  - On Chimney-sweepers' Cancer.

PMID- 20895466
TI  - A Case of Bronchocele.

PMID- 20895467
TI  - On the Dilatation of the Male Urethra by Inflation, for the Extraction of Calculi
      from the Bladder, as practised in Egypt, nearly 250 years ago.

PMID- 20895468
TI  - Cursory Remarks on Small-Pox, as it occurs subsequent to Vaccination.

PMID- 20895470
TI  - Case of Stricture of the Urethra treated by Incision.

PMID- 20895469
TI  - On the Comparative Virtues of different Kinds of Sarsaparilla.

PMID- 20895471
TI  - On the occurrence in Persia of the Epidemic Cholera of India.

PMID- 20895472
TI  - Account of a rare Case of Complicated Labour, from Locking of the Heads of Twins;
      to which are subjoined Notices of two recorded Cases of the same Description;
      with a Suggestion of a Method for effecting Delivery under similar Circumstances.

PMID- 20895473
TI  - A Case of Ascites, connected with Utero-gestation, successfully treated by
      Operation.

PMID- 20895474
TI  - Further Account of the Extraction of Calculi from the Bladder, without the Use of
      any cutting Instrument.

PMID- 20895475
TI  - Some Observations on the Powers of Circulation, and the State of the Vessels in
      an inflamed Part.

PMID- 20895476
TI  - An Essay on the Proximate Cause of the Disease called Phlegmasia Dolens.

PMID- 20895477
TI  - On the Effects of Stricture of the Urethra, particularly of the sacculated State
      of the Bladder; with an Inquiry into the Mode of Treatment to avert this latter
      Consequence of Stricture, which is so often fatal.

PMID- 20895478
TI  - Appendix to Mr. Shaw's Paper.

PMID- 20895479
TI  - Inquiries respecting the Anatomy of the Eye.

PMID- 20895481
TI  - Account of a Case of Axillary Aneurism; in which the Operation of tying the
      Subclavian Artery was successfully performed.

PMID- 20895480
TI  - On Injuries of the Pelvis.

PMID- 20895482
TI  - Rupture of the Uterus, and subsequent Recovery of the Patient.

PMID- 20895483
TI  - Illustrations of the Medical Properties of Quinina.

PMID- 20895484
TI  - Case of Preternatural Growth in the Lining Membrane covering the Trunks of the
      Vessels proceeding from the Arch of the Aorta.

PMID- 20895486
TI  - Case of Axillary Aneurism successfully treated by tying the Subclavian Artery.

PMID- 20895485
TI  - Reference to the Plates.

PMID- 20895487
TI  - Remarks on the Diagnosis, and on the Inversion of the Foot, in Fracture of the
      Neck and Upper Part of the Thigh Bone.

PMID- 20895488
TI  - Case of Tumor in the Anterior Mediastinum, containing Bone and Teeth.

PMID- 20895489
TI  - On the Effects of Loss of Blood.

PMID- 20895490
TI  - Cases in which the Operation for the Removal of Cicatrices from the Neck,
      consequent on Burns, was successfully performed; with Remarks.

PMID- 20895491
TI  - Case of the Simultaneous Occurrence of Small-Pox and Measles, with Remarks on
      Measles as it prevailed epidemically at Exeter in 1824.

PMID- 20895492
TI  - A Case of Injury to the Blood-vessels of the Lower Extremity, producing Pale Dry
      Gangrene in the Foot.

PMID- 20895493
TI  - History of a Case of Hydrometra and Dry Gangrene, occurring in the Same
      Individual, with some Observations on these Diseases.

PMID- 20895495
TI  - Case of Epilepsy, attended with remarkable Slowness of the Pulse.

PMID- 20895494
TI  - Cases of Destructive Inflammation of the Eye, and of Suppurative Inflammation of
      the Integuments, occurring in the Puerperal State, and apparently from
      constitutional Causes.

PMID- 20895497
TI  - Case of Carotid Aneurism, successfully treated by tying the Artery Above the
      Aneurismal Tumour.

PMID- 20895496
TI  - Some Particulars of a Remarkable Disease of the Heart, attended with Partial
      Discoloration of the Skin.

PMID- 20895498
TI  - Appendix. Description of Mr. Bremner's Instrument for carrying a Ligature round
      deep-seated Arteries.

PMID- 20895499
TI  - On the Medical Properties of the Subcarbonate of Iron.

PMID- 20895500
TI  - Notes of a Case of Hydrophobia, with some Remarks on the Pathology of that
      Disease.

PMID- 20895501
TI  - Case of Ulceration and Rupture of the Stomach.

PMID- 20895503
TI  - Explanation of the Plates.

PMID- 20895502
TI  - Account of the Effects of the Bite of a Wild Jackal in a Rabid State, as the same
      occurred in the District of Kattywar in the East Indies, in 1822.

PMID- 20895505
TI  - A Case of Fallopian Tube Pregnancy.

PMID- 20895504
TI  - On a New Variety of Extra-uterine Pregnancy.

PMID- 20895506
TI  - On the Ligaments of the Human Ossicula Auditus.

PMID- 20895507
TI  - Observations on the Saliva during the action of Mercury upon the System.

PMID- 20895508
TI  - Case of Fungus Haematodes of the Brain.

PMID- 20895509
TI  - On a New Preparation of Croton Tiglium.

PMID- 20895510
TI  - Case in which a Piece of Iron was found in a Cyst within the Thorax, where it had
      remained Fourteen Years.

PMID- 20895511
TI  - Case of Injury of the Head.

PMID- 20895512
TI  - Case of Inflammation of the Iliac and Femoral Vein, with an Account of the
      Appearances after Death.

PMID- 20895513
TI  - Case of Hydrophobia, and the Appearance of the Body on Dissection, Fourteen Hours
      after Death, with some Remarks on the Nature and Treatment of the Disease.

PMID- 20895514
TI  - An Extraordinary Case of Ovarian Dropsy.

PMID- 20895516
TI  - A Case of Extra-Uterine Gestation, in which the Foetus was extracted through an
      Aperture made in the Posterior Part of the Vagina, between the Uterus and Rectum.

PMID- 20895515
TI  - Calculations respecting the Period of Parturition in Women.

PMID- 20895517
TI  - History of Two Cases of Laceration of the Uterus during Labour, after which one
      of the Women survived nearly Eight Weeks, and the other perfectly recovered; with
      some General Remarks.

PMID- 20895518
TI  - A Case of Rupture of the Uterus, successfully treated.

PMID- 20895519
TI  - On Dislocations of the Vertebrae.

PMID- 20895520
TI  - On the Treatment of Naevi Materni by Ligature.

PMID- 20895521
TI  - Observations on the Surgical Treatment of the Naevus Maternus, with Ligature.

PMID- 20895522
TI  - On the Use of the Sulphate of Copper in Chronic Diarrhoea. To which are added
      some Observations on the Use of Acupuncture in Rheumatism.

PMID- 20895523
TI  - History of a Fungous Eruption, curable by Mercury, but not of Venereal Origin.

PMID- 20895524
TI  - Cases of Fractured Neck of the Thigh-Bone within the Capsular Ligament, with the
      Dissections and Observations.

PMID- 20895526
TI  - The Particulars of a Case of Fracture of the Neck of the Femur.

PMID- 20895525
TI  - A Brief Notice of some Cases of Injury to the Hip-Joint.

PMID- 20895527
TI  - On Paraplegia.

PMID- 20895529
TI  - Case of Amputation of the Thigh at the Hip-Joint, successfully performed.

PMID- 20895528
TI  - Observations on the Necessity and Method of further investigating the
      Distinctions between Syphilis and other Varieties of Venereal Disease.

PMID- 20895531
TI  - Explanation of the Plates.

PMID- 20895530
TI  - Note to Dr. Merriman's Paper.

PMID- 20895533
TI  - Cases of simple Erysipelas treated by incision.

PMID- 20895532
TI  - Observations on the Nature and Treatment of Erysipelas, illustrated by Cases.

PMID- 20895534
TI  - Cases of simple Erysipelas Inflammation of the Cellular Structure.

PMID- 20895535
TI  - On the Treatment of Erysipelas by numerous Punctures in the affected Part.

PMID- 20895536
TI  - Case of Erysipelas, with some Remarks.

PMID- 20895537
TI  - Cases of Tumours in the Abdomen arising from Organic Disease of the Stomach, with
      Remarks.

PMID- 20895539
TI  - Observations on a Peculiar Inflammatory Disease of the Eye.

PMID- 20895538
TI  - Observations on Depositions of Pus and Lymph occurring in the Lungs and other
      Viscera, after Injuries of different Parts of the Body.

PMID- 20895540
TI  - Explanation of the Plates.

PMID- 20895541
TI  - Cases of simple Erysipelas.

PMID- 20895542
TI  - Pathological and Surgical Observations relating to Injuries of the Brain: Part I.

PMID- 20895543
TI  - Analysis of a specimen of Cutaneous Perspiration.

PMID- 20895544
TI  - Of the Catarrhus AEstivus, or Summer Catarrh.

PMID- 20895546
TI  - A pathological Inquiry into the Secondary Effects of Inflammation of the Veins.

PMID- 20895545
TI  - Case of Rupture of the Stomach produced by Vomiting, with some Observations.

PMID- 20895547
TI  - A Contribution to the Pathology of Phlegmasia Dolens.

PMID- 20895549
TI  - Analysis of a quantity of fluid drawn off from a Hydrocele of some years'
      standing.

PMID- 20895548
TI  - Appendix, containing cases and observations for the illustration of the pathology
      of Phlegmasia Dolens.

PMID- 20895551
TI  - An Account of a Case of Aneurism by Anastomosis of the Forehead, treated by the
      application of Ligatures.

PMID- 20895550
TI  - On the use of the Subcarbonate of Iron in Tetanus.

PMID- 20895552
TI  - Two Cases of Fracture of the Thigh-bone taking place without any violence, in
      which a diseased state of the bones appears to have been the predisposing cause
      of fracture, and concurring with cancer in the breasts in both patients.

PMID- 20895554
TI  - Observations on the Local Diseases termed Malignant: Part II.

PMID- 20895553
TI  - Observations on the Local Diseases termed Malignant: Part I.

PMID- 20895555
TI  - Explanation of the Plates.

PMID- 20895556
TI  - On the Anatomical Characters of some Adventitious Structures.

PMID- 20895557
TI  - Observations on the Statement made by Dr. Douglass of Cheselden's Improved
      Lateral Operation of Lithotomy, in a Letter to Sir Astley Cooper, Bart., F.R.S.

PMID- 20895559
TI  - Explanation of the Plates.

PMID- 20895558
TI  - Pathological Researches on Inflammation of the Veins of the Uterus, with
      additional Observations on Phlegmasia Dolens.

PMID- 20895560
TI  - Case of Aneurism of the External Iliac Artery, for which the Femoral Artery and
      subsequently the Aorta were tied.

PMID- 20895561
TI  - Practical Observations on the Healthy and Morbid Conditions of Stumps.

PMID- 20895562
TI  - A Case of Aneurism of the External Iliac Artery, in which a Ligature was applied
      to the Common Iliac Artery.

PMID- 20895564
TI  - An Account of the Removal of a Tumour situated on the Cheek.

PMID- 20895563
TI  - On the Glanders in the Human Subject.

PMID- 20895565
TI  - An Account of the Dissection of the Parts concerned in the Aneurism for the Cure
      of which Dr. Stevens tied the Internal Iliac Artery, at Santa Cruz, in the Year
      1812.

PMID- 20895566
TI  - A Case of Ununited Fracture of the Thigh-Bone, cured by the application of a
      Silver Wire between the Fractured Extremities.

PMID- 20895567
TI  - An Account of a Concrete Oil existing as a Constituent Principle of Healthy
      Blood. In a Letter addressed to the Secretary of the Medico-Chirurgical Society.

PMID- 20895568
TI  - Case of Phlegmasia Dolens, caused by Inflammation of the Veins of the Lower
      Extremity, excited by Malignant Ulceration of the Cervix Uteri.

PMID- 20895570
TI  - History of a Case of Stammering, successfully treated by the long continued Use
      of Cathartics.

PMID- 20895569
TI  - Case of Extensive Inflammation and Obstruction of the Veins of the Right Inferior
      Extremity of a Phthisical Youth, accompanied by a Swollen State of the Limb.

PMID- 20895571
TI  - On the Pathology of Hooping Cough.

PMID- 20895572
TI  - A Further Inquiry into the Comparative Infrequency of Calculous Diseases among
      Sea-Faring People, with some Observations on their Frequency in Scotland.

PMID- 20895573
TI  - Remarks on Omental Hernia, with Cases.

PMID- 20895574
TI  - Some Considerations with respect to the Blood, founded on one or two very simple
      Experiments on that Fluid.

PMID- 20895575
TI  - Observations on the Symptoms attending the change of a Circumscribed Popliteal
      Aneurism into the diffused state; with some Particulars of an Aneurism of the
      Aorta that burst into the OEsophagus.

PMID- 20895576
TI  - Case of Axillary Aneurism, successfully treated.

PMID- 20895577
TI  - Observations on the Use of Tobacco, as a local application in Gout and other
      Cases of Constitutional Inflammation.

PMID- 20895578
TI  - Case of Axillary Aneurism, successfully treated by Tying the Subclavian Artery.

PMID- 20895579
TI  - History of a Case in which, on Examination after Death, the Pancreas was found in
      a state of Active Inflammation.

PMID- 20895580
TI  - Pathological and Practical Researches on Uterine Inflammation in Puerperal Women.

PMID- 20895581
TI  - Observations on Tumours, with Cases.

PMID- 20895582
TI  - History of the Case of a Man whose Spine was Fractured, with the Dissection.

PMID- 20895583
TI  - Account of some Experiments on the Use of Styptics in Haemorrhage from Arteries.

PMID- 20895584
TI  - On some Effects of Inflammation of the Membranous Lining of the Larynx; with
      Suggestions relative to the Operation of Bronchotomy; and Incidental Remarks on
      Spasm and Wounds of the Throat.

PMID- 20895586
TI  - An Account of some Cases of Chronic Abscess of the Tibia.

PMID- 20895585
TI  - Case of Extensive Ovarian Disease, complicated with Pregnancy.

PMID- 20895587
TI  - An Experimental Investigation of the Effects of Loss of Blood.

PMID- 20895588
TI  - Observations on the Local Diseases termed Malignant. Being a Sequel to the Paper
      Published in Vol. XV. of the Society's Transactions.

PMID- 20895589
TI  - On the Phenomena and Appearances from Partial Obstruction in the Cerebral
      Circulation.

PMID- 20895590
TI  - Of a Peculiarity in the Conformation of the Skeleton in Rickets.

PMID- 20895592
TI  - Case in which a Cyst containing Hydatids was found in the Substance of the Heart.

PMID- 20895591
TI  - A Description of the Appearances observed in a Case of Double Uterus in which
      Impregnation had taken place, with Remarks on the Structure and Formation of the
      Membranes of the Human Ovum.

PMID- 20895593
TI  - Some Account of a Case in which the Left Femur and the Fifth Rib on the Right
      Side were Fractured in consequence of Disease, the Bladder being at the same time
      in the State of Carcinomatous Ulceration, with Observations.

PMID- 20895594
TI  - Explanation of the Plates.

PMID- 20895595
TI  - History and Dissection of a Case in which there had been Dislocation of the Ankle
      with Fracture of the Fibula.

PMID- 20895597
TI  - On some Morbid Appearances of the Absorbent Glands and Spleen.

PMID- 20895596
TI  - Case of Polypus of the Uterus.

PMID- 20895599
TI  - Case of Aqueous Encysted Tumour of the Kidney, with a Supernumerary Gland
      attached to it.

PMID- 20895598
TI  - Cases and Observations connected with Disease of the Pancreas and Duodenum.

PMID- 20895600
TI  - An Account of Two Cases of Deep Seated Naevus, or Vascular Tumour of Large Size,
      treated by the Introduction of Setons.

PMID- 20895601
TI  - Additional Facts respecting Glanders in the Human Subject.

PMID- 20895602
TI  - On the Ulcerative Process in Joints.

PMID- 20895603
TI  - History of a Case of Medullary Sarcoma, which affected several important Viscera,
      with a Description of the Morbid Appearances which were observed on Dissection.

PMID- 20895604
TI  - Case of Bony Union of a Fracture of the Neck of the Femur within the Capsule,
      occurring in a Young Subject.

PMID- 20895605
TI  - On Irritation of the Spinal Cord and its Nerves, in connection with Disease in
      the Kidneys.

PMID- 20895606
TI  - On Malignant Tumours connected with the Heart and Lungs.

PMID- 20895607
TI  - Case of Jaundice with discharge of Fatty Matter from the Bowels, and a contracted
      State of the Duodenum.

PMID- 20895608
TI  - On the Discharge of Fatty Matters from the Alimentary Canal and Urinary Passages.

PMID- 20895609
TI  - Case of OEsophagotomy, with Remarks.

PMID- 20895610
TI  - Cases of Sloughing Abscess connected with the Liver, with some Remarks on
      Encysted Tumours of that Organ.

PMID- 20895611
TI  - Cases of Fracture of the Neck of the Femur; with the Appearances Observed after
      Death.

PMID- 20895612
TI  - Further Remarks on the Ulcerative Process.

PMID- 20895613
TI  - Some Remarks on Mal-formation of the Internal Ear; being the result of post
      mortem investigations performed in five cases of Congenital Deafness.

PMID- 20895614
TI  - Examination of the Organs of Hearing from the body of a boy, aged 13 years, who
      had been the subject of Congenital Deafness.

PMID- 20895615
TI  - A Relation of some Cases of Mental Derangement, successfully treated by the
      Acetate of Morphia.

PMID- 20895616
TI  - Cases and Observations illustrative of Diagnosis when Adhesions have taken place
      in the Peritoneum, with Remarks upon some other Morbid Changes of that Membrane.

PMID- 20895617
TI  - Cases of Warty Tumours in Cicatrices.

PMID- 20895618
TI  - On the Medicinal Properties of Creosote.

PMID- 20895619
TI  - On the Functions of the Foetal Kidney.

PMID- 20895620
TI  - Observations on Fractures of the Bones of the Pelvis.

PMID- 20895621
TI  - On Serous Effusion from the Membranes, and into the Ventricles of the Brain, and
      its connection with Apoplexy and other diseases of the Brain.

PMID- 20895622
TI  - On Hypertrophy and Atrophy of the Brain.

PMID- 20895623
TI  - A Case of Abdominal Tumour, with the Appearances on Dissection.

PMID- 20895624
TI  - On the Cure of Ramollissement of the Brain.

PMID- 20895626
TI  - Case of Pulmonary Phlebitis.

PMID- 20895625
TI  - Explanation of the Plates.

PMID- 20895627
TI  - Observations on Ulceration of the Cartilages of Joints, and on Anchylosis.

PMID- 20895628
TI  - A Case of sudden Illness in advanced Pregnancy, terminating in the delivery of
      Twins and Death; with an account of a singular Laceration of the Peritoneal Coat
      of the Uterus.

PMID- 20895629
TI  - On the Chemical Constitution of Calcareous Tumours of the Uterus, and other
      parts.

PMID- 20895631
TI  - Petition to his Majesty.

PMID- 20895630
TI  - Observations on Fibro-Calcareous Tumours and Polypi of the Uterus.

PMID- 20895632
TI  - Observations on Vascular Appearances of Mucous and Serous Membranes, as
      indicative of Inflammation.

PMID- 20895634
TI  - Pathological and Surgical Observations relating to Injuries of the Spinal Chord.

PMID- 20895633
TI  - A Case of unusual Dislocation of the Thigh-Bone, with Observations.

PMID- 20895636
TI  - Of Inflammation, Chronic Disease, and Perforative Ulceration of the Caecum, and
      of the Appendix Vermiformis caeci, with Symptomatic Peritonitis and Faecal
      Abscess.

PMID- 20895635
TI  - Observations on some Tumours of the Mouth and Jaws.

PMID- 20895637
TI  - On Black Expectoration, and the Deposition of Black Matter in the Lungs,
      particularly as occurring in Coal miners, &c.

PMID- 20895638
TI  - Sequel of the History of a Case in which the External Iliac Artery was Tied; with
      an account of the Condition of the Blood-vessels in the Limb after Death.

PMID- 20895639
TI  - Researches on some Points of the Pathology of Pulmonary Tubercles.

PMID- 20895640
TI  - History of a remarkable Case of Varicose Aneurism, with Observations.

PMID- 20895642
TI  - A brief account of the Subsequent Medical History of Mary Wren, whose case is
      detailed in the thirteenth volume of the Society's Transactions.

PMID- 20895641
TI  - Observations on some of the Forms of Atrophy of Bone.

PMID- 20895644
TI  - Explanation of the Plates.

PMID- 20895643
TI  - Case of Removal of a Portion of Lung which protruded through a Wound, &c.

PMID- 20895645
TI  - Case of Recovery from the Insensibility of Intoxication, by the performance of
      Tracheotomy.

PMID- 20895647
TI  - Account of a case of Fracture and Displacement of the Atlas.

PMID- 20895646
TI  - On the Treatment of Injuries received in Dissection.

PMID- 20895648
TI  - Some particulars of a Case in which the Patient was saved from the Destructive
      Influence of Opium, by Artificial Respiration.

PMID- 20895649
TI  - Remarks on two Forms of Atrophy of the Heart's Valves, which interfere with their
      Function: founded on a Series of Cases.

PMID- 20895650
TI  - On Necrosis; being an experimental inquiry into the agency ascribed to the
      absorbents, in the removal of the sequestrum.

PMID- 20895651
TI  - Nervous affections, peculiar to young women, causing contraction of the muscles
      of the extremities.

PMID- 20895652
TI  - Report of a case of secondary measles; with observations.

PMID- 20895653
TI  - Removal of the clavicle, with a tumour situated in that bone.

PMID- 20895654
TI  - Case of universal purulent deposition into the joints, with separation of the
      epiphyses, occurring as a sequel to small pox.

PMID- 20895655
TI  - Report of twenty cases of malignant cholera that occurred in the Seamen's
      Hospital Ship Dreadnought, in 1837.

PMID- 20895656
TI  - On aneurisms of the heart with cases.

PMID- 20895657
TI  - Note on the comparative prevalence of calculous diseases, &c.

PMID- 20895658
TI  - Observations on the constitution of the urine.

PMID- 20895659
TI  - History of a female who has four mammae and nipples.

PMID- 20895660
TI  - Results of poisoning by sulphuric acid.

PMID- 20895661
TI  - On the use of arsenic in some affections of the uterus.

PMID- 20895662
TI  - Description of a new instrument for closing vesico-vaginal and recto-vaginal
      fistulae, and fissures of the soft palate.

PMID- 20895663
TI  - Case of excision of the entire lower jaw, with observations.

PMID- 20895665
TI  - History of a case of popliteal aneurism, with observations.

PMID- 20895664
TI  - On increased thickness of the parietes of one of the ventricles of the heart with
      diminution of its cavity.

PMID- 20895666
TI  - Facts and inferences relative to the condition of the vital organs and viscera in
      general, as to their nutrition in certain chronic diseases.

PMID- 20895667
TI  - Case of hydatid cyst of the liver successfully tapped.

PMID- 20895668
TI  - On black expectoration and the deposition of black matter in the lungs, &c. Part
      II: Particularly as Occurring in Coal Miners and Moulders in Iron Works.

PMID- 20895669
TI  - Account of a case of enormous ventral aneurism, with Dissection: Post Mortem
      Appearances.

PMID- 20895671
TI  - On a successful plan of arresting the destruction of the transparent cornea from
      acute purulent inflammation of the conjunctiva.

PMID- 20895670
TI  - On the proportions of animal and earthy matter in the different bones of the
      human body.

PMID- 20895672
TI  - Explanation of the Plates.

PMID- 20895673
TI  - Remarks on malignant diseases of the skin of the face.

PMID- 20895674
TI  - On a peculiar symptom occurring in some cases of enlarged liver.

PMID- 20895675
TI  - Cases of spasmodic disease accompanying affections of the pericardium.

PMID- 20895676
TI  - Case of fracture of the coracoid process of the scapula, with partial dislocation
      of the humerus forwards, &c.

PMID- 20895678
TI  - Case of aneurismal tumour in the orbit, cured by tying the common carotid artery.

PMID- 20895677
TI  - Statistical account of cholera in the Seamen's Hospital, in 1832.

PMID- 20895679
TI  - On the softening of coagulated fibrine.

PMID- 20895680
TI  - Contributions to the pathology of the spinal cord.

PMID- 20895681
TI  - Memoirs on some principles of pathology in the nervous system.

PMID- 20895682
TI  - Case of malignant disease occupying one-half of the tongue, to which a ligature
      was applied from beneath the jaw.

PMID- 20895683
TI  - Case of enlargement from melanoid tumour of the prostate gland, in a child of
      five years of age.

PMID- 20895684
TI  - Case of congenital absence of the pericardium.

PMID- 20895685
TI  - On a peculiar form of congenital tumour of the neck.

PMID- 20895686
TI  - Cases of measles occurring oftener than once in the same individuals.

PMID- 20895687
TI  - Remarkable case of dry gangrene occurring in a child three years and seven months
      old.

PMID- 20895688
TI  - Statistical notices of one hundred and twenty cases of carcinoma uteri, with
      remarks.

PMID- 20895689
TI  - Case of a girl who voided from the urethra a number of entozootic worms, not
      hitherto described, with an account of the animals.

PMID- 20895690
TI  - Remarks on the acute form of anasarcous tumour of the scrotum.

PMID- 20895691
TI  - An account of a foetus of seven months, with its placenta partially adherent to a
      naevus occupying the scalp and dura mater.

PMID- 20895692
TI  - On the structure, physiology, and pathology of the persistent capsular
      investments and pulp of the tooth.

PMID- 20895693
TI  - On the structure of the corpus luteum.

PMID- 20895694
TI  - Memoir on tuphlo-enteritis; or inflammation and perforative ulceration of the
      caecum, and of the appendix vermiformis caeci.

PMID- 20895695
TI  - Explanation of the Plates.

PMID- 20895696
TI  - Case of carditis.

PMID- 20895697
TI  - Notices of the effects of lead upon the system.

PMID- 20895699
TI  - Case of strangulated hernia, in which the bowel was ruptured by the patient in
      his efforts to reduce it.

PMID- 20895698
TI  - Notices of the occurrences at the Small-Pox Hospital, London, during the year
      1838.

PMID- 20895700
TI  - History of a case in which the operation of tracheotomy was performed, with
      observations.

PMID- 20895702
TI  - Third Memoir on same principles of pathology of the nervous system.

PMID- 20895701
TI  - Second Memoir on some principles of the pathology of the nervous system.

PMID- 20895704
TI  - Case of large osseous tumour of the uterus.

PMID- 20895703
TI  - On the presence of sulphur in cystic oxyde, and an account of a cystic oxyde
      calculus.

PMID- 20895705
TI  - Observations on the blood-corpuscles and pus-globules in certain animals.

PMID- 20895706
TI  - On the rapid organization of lymph in cachexia.

PMID- 20895708
TI  - On the structure of the human placenta, and its connexion with the uterus.

PMID- 20895707
TI  - A case of recovery from cut throat, in which both the larynx and pharynx were
      extensively opened.

PMID- 20895709
TI  - Termination of the case of William Chandler, afflicted with dry gangrene, of
      which an account was published in the twenty-second volume of the Transactions.

PMID- 20895710
TI  - Observations on injuries of joints, and their treatment.

PMID- 20895712
TI  - On aneurisms, and especially spontaneous varicose aneurisms of the ascending
      aorta, and sinuses of Valsalva, with cases.

PMID- 20895711
TI  - On white spots on the surface of the heart, and on the frequency of pericarditis.

PMID- 20895713
TI  - Remarks on emphysema of the lungs.

PMID- 20895714
TI  - Case of a rare species of hydatid, the echinococcus hominis, found in the human
      liver.

PMID- 20895715
TI  - Observations on the mode of union of fractures of flat bones.

PMID- 20895716
TI  - Case of aneurism of the arteria innominata, in which the carotid and subclavian
      arteries were tied.

PMID- 20895717
TI  - Case of tumour in the pelvis, impeding parturition.

PMID- 20895718
TI  - Explanation of the Plates.

PMID- 20895719
TI  - On a remarkable effect on the human gums, produced by the absorption of lead.

PMID- 20895720
TI  - A case of disease in the posterior columns of the spinal cord.

PMID- 20895721
TI  - On the arrangement of the intermediate vessels on surfaces secreting pus, with a
      note regarding the vascularity of inter-articular cartilages.

PMID- 20895722
TI  - Remarks on the diagnosis of foreign bodies in the larynx.

PMID- 20895723
TI  - Observations on the structure of the entozoa belonging to the genus cysticercus.

PMID- 20895724
TI  - Case of osseous union of a fracture of the neck of the femur within the capsule.

PMID- 20895725
TI  - On dislocations, especially of the hip-joint, accompanied by elongation of the
      capsule and ligaments.

PMID- 20895726
TI  - Observations on the anatomy of the lungs.

PMID- 20895727
TI  - Observations on vaccination and small-pox, more especially with reference to the
      theory of vaccine influence, and the relations subsisting between the cicatrix
      and the character of the consecutive variola.

PMID- 20895728
TI  - Results of amputations at University College Hospital, London, statistically
      arranged.

PMID- 20895729
TI  - Colica pictonum treated with warm water.

PMID- 20895731
TI  - Pathological and Surgical Observations on the Diseases of the ear.

PMID- 20895730
TI  - Case of malposition of the kidneys, absence of the vagina, uterus, and Fallopian
      tubes; disease of left ovary.

PMID- 20895732
TI  - Two cases of dislocation of the tendon of the long head of the biceps humeri from
      its groove.

PMID- 20895733
TI  - An account of two cases of aneurism of the superior mesenteric artery, in one of
      which jaundice was induced by pressure of the sac.

PMID- 20895734
TI  - On congenital tumours of the pelvis.

PMID- 20895735
TI  - Explanation of the Plates.

PMID- 20895736
TI  - On gouty concretions, with a new method of treatment.

PMID- 20895737
TI  - History of a remarkable case of phlebitis, with observations.

PMID- 20895738
TI  - Cases of cancerous or malignant disease of the spinal column, with remarks.

PMID- 20895739
TI  - A case of slow pulse with fainting fits, which first came on two years after an
      injury of the neck from a fall, with observations.

PMID- 20895740
TI  - Fourth memoirs on some principles of pathology in the nervous system.

PMID- 20895741
TI  - Case of cyanosis, depending upon transposition of the aorta and pulmonary artery.

PMID- 20895742
TI  - On diseases which affect corresponding parts of the body in a symmetrical manner.

PMID- 20895743
TI  - Case of aneurism of the ascending aorta, bursting into the right ventricle; with
      a communication between the two ventricles.

PMID- 20895744
TI  - Notice of cases of plague contracted in the Lazeretto of Constantinople, in a
      letter addressed to Dr. Davy.

PMID- 20895746
TI  - Case of local tubercular deposit upon the surface of the brain.

PMID- 20895745
TI  - Observations on tubercle of the brain in children, with a tabular view of thirty
      cases of the affection.

PMID- 20895747
TI  - On the structure and functions of the human placenta.

PMID- 20895749
TI  - History of a remarkable case of tumours, developed on the head and face;
      accompanied with a similar disease in the abdomen.

PMID- 20895748
TI  - A case of stricture of the trachea.

PMID- 20895750
TI  - Account of a case of irregular formation of the heart, accompanied with a
      supernumerary valve in the pulmonary artery.

PMID- 20895751
TI  - Notes of a case of petechial cow-pox, with observations on the development of the
      haemorrhagic diathesis.

PMID- 20895752
TI  - On acute ulceration of the duodenum, in cases of burn.

PMID- 20895754
TI  - Observations on a particular form of encysted tumour, which occurs in the neck,
      but is not necessarily connected with the thyroid body.

PMID- 20895753
TI  - Cases of malformation of the heart.

PMID- 20895755
TI  - On the relation between the symmetry and the diseases of the body.

PMID- 20895756
TI  - Explanation of the Plates.

PMID- 20895757
TI  - An account of a case of extensive disease of the pancreas.

PMID- 20895758
TI  - Remarks on typhus fever.

PMID- 20895759
TI  - Cases of laryngitis, relieved by operation.

PMID- 20895760
TI  - Peculiar symptoms affecting an entire family, and terminating in death.

PMID- 20895761
TI  - A case of congenital cataract, where sight was acquired by operation, at the age
      of twenty-three years.

PMID- 20895762
TI  - Case of paralysis without loss of sensation, from disease of the cervical
      medulla.

PMID- 20895763
TI  - Remarks on the calculi in St. George's Hospital.

PMID- 20895764
TI  - Case of ulceration of the internal jugular vein communicating with an abscess.

PMID- 20895765
TI  - Some account of an hysterical affection of the vocal apparatus, with several
      cases.

PMID- 20895766
TI  - Case of erectile tumour in the popliteal space.-Removal.

PMID- 20895767
TI  - Two cases of osteosarcoma of the thigh bone, requiring amputation of the limb in
      both instances.

PMID- 20895768
TI  - Remarks on cancrum oris and the gangrenous erosion of the cheek of Mr. Dease and
      Dr. Underwood, and more particularly on the efficacy of the chlorate of potash in
      the treatment of those diseases.

PMID- 20895769
TI  - Case of ulceration of the pulmonary artery into an abscess of the lungs.

PMID- 20895770
TI  - Cases of strangulated hernia reduced "en masse," with observations.

PMID- 20895771
TI  - Observations on the medicinal properties of the Cannabis Sativa of India.

PMID- 20895772
TI  - Case of bronchial calculus, with observations on disease of the bronchial glands.

PMID- 20895773
TI  - On the sugar in diabetic blood.

PMID- 20895775
TI  - Some account of an epidemic which prevailed at Teheran, in the months of January
      and February 1842.

PMID- 20895774
TI  - A few observations on encysted hydrocele.

PMID- 20895776
TI  - On the nature of the ossification of encysted tumours.

PMID- 20895777
TI  - On the anatomical characters of some adventitious structures, being an attempt to
      point out the relation between the microscopic characters and those which are
      discernible by the naked eye.

PMID- 20895778
TI  - An account of a case in which a foreign body was lodged in the right bronchus.

PMID- 20895779
TI  - On congestive pneumonia consequent upon surgical operations, diseases, and
      injuries.

PMID- 20895780
TI  - Second series of observations on the pathology of the ear, based on one hundred
      and twenty dissections of that organ.

PMID- 20895781
TI  - On the effects of rickets upon the growth of the skull.

PMID- 20895782
TI  - On the presence of spermatozoa in the fluid of hydrocele.

PMID- 20895783
TI  - Statistics of Bethlem Hospital, with remarks on insanity.

PMID- 20895784
TI  - Explanation of the Plates.

PMID- 20895786
TI  - An account of an unusually large biliary calculus voided from the rectum.

PMID- 20895785
TI  - Researches into the connection existing between an unnatural degree of
      compression of the blood contained in the renal vessels, and the presence of
      certain abnormal matters in the urine.

PMID- 20895788
TI  - An account of two cases of rupture of the ureter, or pelvis of the kidney, from
      external violence, followed by large effusion of urine into the abdomen.

PMID- 20895787
TI  - On fatty degeneration of the arteries, with a note on some other fatty
      degenerations.

PMID- 20895789
TI  - On the state in which the uric acid exists in the urine.

PMID- 20895791
TI  - Account of a case of cysticercus cellulosae of the brain.

PMID- 20895790
TI  - Case of extensive carcinoma of the lungs; with some practical remarks.

PMID- 20895792
TI  - An account of certain cases of acute disease in the throat and larynx, one of
      which was cured by tracheotomy.

PMID- 20895793
TI  - On the presence of oxalate of lime in the urine.

PMID- 20895794
TI  - On obstructions of the branches of the pulmonary artery.

PMID- 20895796
TI  - On the composition of the meconium, and of the vernix caseosa, or lubricating
      matter of the new-born infant.

PMID- 20895795
TI  - On the cause of the occasional presence of spermatozoa in the fluid drawn from
      the sac of common hydrocele of the tunica vaginalis.

PMID- 20895797
TI  - On paracentesis thoracis as a curative measure in empyema and inflammatory
      hydrothorax.

PMID- 20895798
TI  - Cases of carcinoma of the thyroid gland.

PMID- 20895799
TI  - Account of a case of empyema, which recovered after repeated punctures of the
      pleural sac.

PMID- 20895800
TI  - Observations on the omental sacs which are sometimes found in strangulated
      herniae, completely enveloping the intestine; with cases and dissections: to
      which has been added, a table of all the strangulated herniae operated on at St.
      George's Hospital, in 1842-43.

PMID- 20895802
TI  - Case of aneurism of the external iliac, in which a ligature was applied to the
      common iliac artery.

PMID- 20895801
TI  - Account of a case of a dissecting aneurism of the aorta innominata, and right
      carotid arteries, giving rise to suppression of urine, and white softening of the
      brain.

PMID- 20895803
TI  - Two cases of tubular expectoration from the bronchi, in the adult.

PMID- 20895804
TI  - A tabular view of the seat of tubercle, in 180 cases of tubercle of the lungs in
      children; with remarks on pulmonary phthisis in the young subject.

PMID- 20895805
TI  - Case of tumour in the right hypochondrium, occurring after injury, from which a
      large quantity of fluid resembling bile was repeatedly withdrawn by the operation
      of tapping.

PMID- 20895807
TI  - An account of the examination of a cyst containing seminal fluid.

PMID- 20895806
TI  - Peculiar case of gelatiniform cancer, in which nearly all the organs of the body
      contained colloid tumours; with the appearances on dissection.

PMID- 20895808
TI  - Some statistical records of the progress of the Asiatic cholera over the globe.

PMID- 20895809
TI  - Alarming syncope, from the admission of air into a vein during an amputation at
      the shoulder-joint.

PMID- 20895810
TI  - Case of necrosis of the lower jaw, recovered from, without deformity.

PMID- 20895811
TI  - Remarks on the pathology of mollities ossium; with cases.

PMID- 20895812
TI  - Case of fistulous communication between the intestinum ileum, and urinary
      bladder, simulating stone in the bladder.

PMID- 20895813
TI  - Observations on the recorded cases of operations for the extraction of ovarian
      tumours.

PMID- 20895814
TI  - Explanation of the Plates.

PMID- 20895815
TI  - Account of a horn developed from the human skin; with observations on the
      pathology of certain disorders of the sebaceous glands.

PMID- 20895816
TI  - On the early organisation of coagula and mixed fibrinous effusions, under certain
      conditions of the system.

PMID- 20895817
TI  - Case of extirpation of an ovarian cyst, terminating fatally.

PMID- 20895818
TI  - Case of the removal of a diseased ovarium, terminating fatally on the seventh day
      after the operation.

PMID- 20895819
TI  - Case in which the vena cava inferior was obstructed from the commencement of the
      common iliac veins, and its cavity entirely obliterated between the entrance of
      the emulgent and hepatic veins.

PMID- 20895820
TI  - On the mortality in prisons, and the diseases most frequently fatal to prisoners.

PMID- 20895821
TI  - On the classification, structure and development of the echinococcus hominis,
      showing reasons for regarding it as a species of cysticercus.

PMID- 20895822
TI  - Observations on cleft palate, and on staphyloraphy.

PMID- 20895823
TI  - On the pulsating tumours of bone, with the account of a case in which a ligature
      was placed around the common iliac artery.

PMID- 20895824
TI  - Description of a malformation of the duodenum, with notices of analogous cases.

PMID- 20895825
TI  - Case of remarkable hypertrophy of the fingers in a girl, with a notice of some
      similar cases.

PMID- 20895826
TI  - On the ophthalmia of puerperal women.

PMID- 20895827
TI  - Additional observations on obstructions of the pulmonary arteries.

PMID- 20895828
TI  - Two cases of anaesthesia and loss of motory function of the fifth nerve.

PMID- 20895829
TI  - A case of aneurism of the popliteal artery, cured by compression of the femoral
      artery.

PMID- 20895830
TI  - Account of a case of external and internal cephalhaematoma, complicated with
      fracture of the right parietal bone, in a new-born infant.

PMID- 20895831
TI  - Large opening into the anterior part of the urethra, caused by sloughing, and
      attended by considerable loss of structure, successfully treated by operation;
      with remarks.

PMID- 20895832
TI  - The pathology of mental diseases.

PMID- 20895833
TI  - On extravasations of blood into the cavity of the arachnoid, and on the formation
      of the false membrane which sometimes envelops these extravasations.

PMID- 20895834
TI  - On some of the causes of pericarditis, especially acute rheumatism, and Bright's
      disease of the kidneys, with incidental observations on the frequency, and on
      some of the causes of various other internal inflammations.

PMID- 20895835
TI  - Case of excision of the upper end of the femur, in an example of morbus coxarius.

PMID- 20895836
TI  - On the minute structure of the lungs, and on the formation of pulmonary tubercle.

PMID- 20895837
TI  - Two cases of aneurism, in which there was neither pulsation nor abnormal sound.

PMID- 20895839
TI  - Explanation of the Plates.

PMID- 20895840
TI  - On the colostrum of the cow.

PMID- 20895838
TI  - An account of a singular case, in which there was a black secretion from the skin
      of the forehead and upper part of the face.

PMID- 20895841
TI  - Case of obstruction of the large intestine, in which the ascending colon was
      opened with success; the patient dying three months afterwards of another
      disease.

PMID- 20895842
TI  - On the minute anatomy and pathology of Bright's disease of the kidney, and on the
      relation of the renal disease to those diseases of the liver, heart, and
      arteries, with which it is commonly associated.

PMID- 20895843
TI  - An account of a case of partial double monstrosity (ischiopage symelien of
      Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, heteradelphia of Vrolik).

PMID- 20895845
TI  - A case in which a large tumour was developed in the substance of the fifth nerve
      and its ganglion.

PMID- 20895844
TI  - Some remarks on wounded arteries, secondary haemorrhage, and false aneurisms.

PMID- 20895846
TI  - On the capacity of the lungs, and on the respiratory functions, with a view of
      establishing a precise and easy method of detecting disease by the spirometer.

PMID- 20895847
TI  - History of a case of ligature of the left subclavian artery, between the scaleni
      muscles, attended with some peculiar circumstances.

PMID- 20895848
TI  - Hydatid cyst, either originating in, or pressing upon, the prostate gland.

PMID- 20895849
TI  - Cases of varicocele treated by pressure, with observations.

PMID- 20895851
TI  - On a particular derangement of the structure of the spleen.

PMID- 20895850
TI  - Account of a case of congenital deficiency of one kidney, with granular
      degeneration of the existing one.

PMID- 20895852
TI  - On a luminous appearance of the human eye, and its application to the detection
      of disease of the retina and posterior part of the eye.

PMID- 20895853
TI  - Account of a case in which an abscess in the neck communicated by an ulcerated
      opening with the arch of the aorta, and in which the haemorrhage did not prove
      fatal in less than forty-eight hours.

PMID- 20895854
TI  - On the intimate structure of the human kidney, and on the changes which its
      several component parts undergo in "Bright's disease".

PMID- 20895855
TI  - On the relation between the constituents of the food and the systems of animals.

PMID- 20895856
TI  - Two cases of disease of the brain, following the application of a ligature to the
      carotid artery.

PMID- 20895857
TI  - Case of punctured wound and ligature of the posterior tibial artery, in the upper
      third of its course.

PMID- 20895859
TI  - Case of aneurism, presenting some peculiarities, with remarks.

PMID- 20895858
TI  - An account of a case in which the corpus callosum, fornix, and septum lucidum,
      were imperfectly formed.

PMID- 20895861
TI  - On the ganglionic character of the arachnoid membrane of the brain and spinal
      marrow.

PMID- 20895860
TI  - Case of cyanosis of forty years' standing, depending upon congenital obstruction
      in the pulmonary artery, and patulous foramen ovale.

PMID- 20895862
TI  - Two remarkable cases of encephaloid disease of the heart, with observations.

PMID- 20895863
TI  - Case of enlargement of the left mamma: To which is added, an anatomical and
      pathological description of the tumour.

PMID- 20895864
TI  - Case of cyanosis, with a description of the appearances presented on dissection,
      illustrated by the preparation, and a drawing, of the heart.

PMID- 20895865
TI  - Observations on the co-existence of variola and scarlatina, with remarks on the
      co-existence of other eruptive fevers.

PMID- 20895866
TI  - Case of malformation of the heart, in which death resulted from obstruction in
      the trunk of the pulmonary artery.

PMID- 20895867
TI  - On sub-acute inflammation of the kidney.

PMID- 20895868
TI  - Penetrating wound of the neck, accompanied by profuse arterial haemorrhage,
      treated successfully by ligature of the common carotid artery.

PMID- 20895870
TI  - An account of the structure of a naevus.

PMID- 20895869
TI  - On the inflammatory diseases of the kidney.

PMID- 20895871
TI  - A case in which a large pouch was formed in the oesophagus, in connection with
      contraction of the canal.

PMID- 20895872
TI  - On the contractility or irritability of the muscles of paralysed limbs, and their
      excitability by the galvanic current, in comparison with the corresponding
      muscles of healthy limbs.

PMID- 20895873
TI  - Some instances of the contrast between delirium tremens and inflammation of the
      brain, as regards the quantity of phosphoric acid excreted by the kidneys.

PMID- 20895875
TI  - Note by Editor.

PMID- 20895874
TI  - Fatal case of dysphagia, produced by a polypous growth in the oesophagus.

PMID- 20895876
TI  - An account of a case of encephaloid disease of the endocardium.

PMID- 20895878
TI  - Case of elephantiasis.

PMID- 20895877
TI  - Case of internal strangulation of intestine relieved by operation.

PMID- 20895879
TI  - On tubercular pericarditis, with pathological and practical remarks.

PMID- 20895880
TI  - Case of tumour in the groin, where the testicle had not descended, and operation
      for its removal.

PMID- 20895881
TI  - Successful removal of an ovarian tumour, complicated with pregnancy.

PMID- 20895882
TI  - Observations on intestinal obstructions, depending on internal causes; and on the
      means to be employed for their relief.

PMID- 20895883
TI  - A case of very extensive gelatiniform cancer of the peritoneum, involving the
      lymphatic glands of the abdomen and the ovaries, and simulating ascites.

PMID- 20895884
TI  - Cases of ununited fracture, successfully treated.

PMID- 20895885
TI  - On the irritability of the muscular fibre in paralytic lymbs.

PMID- 20895886
TI  - Case of extra uterine foetation.

PMID- 20895888
TI  - Remarks on unnatural descent of the womb, with a proposed new instrument for its
      alleviation.

PMID- 20895887
TI  - Observations on some peculiarities of polypus of the uterus.

PMID- 20895889
TI  - Contributions to the statistics of valvular disease of the heart; with especial
      reference to affections of the several orifices, and the particular effects of
      certain recognised causes.

PMID- 20895890
TI  - On the anatomy and physiology of the cysticercus tenuicollis.

PMID- 20895891
TI  - Description of the dissection of a brain, in which the corpus callosum, fornix
      and septum lucidum were imperfectly developed.

PMID- 20895892
TI  - Report of a case in which gastrotomy was performed for the relief of obstruction
      of the bowels.

PMID- 20895893
TI  - Cases illustrative of some consequences of local injury.

PMID- 20895894
TI  - Account of a dislocation, in consequence of disease of the first and second
      cervical vertebrae.

PMID- 20895895
TI  - On the minute anatomy of the emphysematous lung.

PMID- 20895896
TI  - On the utility of trisnitrate of bismuth, in the diarrhoea accompanying phthisis.

PMID- 20895897
TI  - Case of resection of the scapula.

PMID- 20895899
TI  - Case of obturator hernia, simulating intestinal obstruction within the abdomen;
      to relieve which gastrotomy was performed.

PMID- 20895898
TI  - Case of a patient in whom a foreign body had been introduced into the pelvis
      through the vagina, and a description of a successful operation for its removal.

PMID- 20895900
TI  - The history of a case of dislocation of the head of the femur, backwards, with
      some observations on that form of dislocation.

PMID- 20895901
TI  - On the movements of respiration in disease, and on the use of a chest-measurer.

PMID- 20895902
TI  - Case of malignant tumour of the os uteri, excised during labour.

PMID- 20895903
TI  - Case of extensive laceration of the liver, with rupture of the gall-bladder, and
      other lesions, caused by external violence; terminating fatally on the ninth day;
      with remarks.

PMID- 20895905
TI  - Note in reference to a case of malformation of the heart.

PMID- 20895904
TI  - Case of laryngitis, accompanied by the formation of a false membrane in the
      trachea and bronchi, in which the operation of tracheotomy was performed.

PMID- 20895906
TI  - Case of destructive ophthalmia, with extensive suppuration of the cellular
      membrane, and severe affection of the knee-joint, occurring after premature
      delivery.

PMID- 20895907
TI  - Two cases in which the skin, hair and teeth were very imperfectly developed.

PMID- 20895908
TI  - Observations on certain pathological conditions of the blood and urine, in gout,
      rheumatism, and Bright's disease.

PMID- 20895909
TI  - On Petit's operation for the relief of strangulated hernia.

PMID- 20895910
TI  - On the Employment of Nitrate of Potash in Acute Rheumatism, with Suggestions for
      the Use of Saline Solutions as external Applications in Local Rheumatic
      Inflammation.

PMID- 20895911
TI  - A Case of Apoplexy of the Cerebellum.

PMID- 20895913
TI  - A Case of Hemiplegia, associated with great Hypertrophy of the Heart, and
      terminating by Rupture of the Aorta, producing Dissecting Aneurism.

PMID- 20895912
TI  - Remarks on the Causes and Morbid Anatomy of Mental Diseases.

PMID- 20895914
TI  - Case of Popliteal Aneurism, in which the Femoral Artery was tied after the Sac
      had burst.

PMID- 20895915
TI  - Case of Chronic Hiccup and Vomiting: Discovery of Oxalic Acid in the Blood.

PMID- 20895916
TI  - Note by the Editor.

PMID- 20895918
TI  - Case of Cysticercus Cellulosae, in the Anterior Chamber of the Human Eye.

PMID- 20895917
TI  - On the Causes of the Endemic Puerperal Fever of Vienna.

PMID- 20895919
TI  - On the Minute Anatomy of the Lung of the Bird, considered chiefly in Relation to
      the Structures with which the Air is in contact whilst traversing the ultimate
      Subdivisions of the Air-passages.

PMID- 20895920
TI  - An Extraordinary Case of Laesion within the Uterus, with partial Reparation
      before Birth.

PMID- 20895921
TI  - Appendix to a Case of "Successful Removal of an Ovarian Tumour, complicated with
      Pregnancy".

PMID- 20895923
TI  - Pathological Researches into the Diseases of the Ear.

PMID- 20895922
TI  - Case of Exfoliation of the Anterior Arch of the Atlas.

PMID- 20895924
TI  - Case of a foreign body impacted in the orifice of the third branch of the right
      Bronchus: with remarks.

PMID- 20895925
TI  - On the proximate cause of albuminous urine and dropsy, and on the pathology of
      the renal blood-vessels in Bright's Disease.

PMID- 20895926
TI  - On fatty diseases of the Heart.

PMID- 20895927
TI  - On Section of the Tendo Achillis in some cases of fracture of the bones of the
      leg.

PMID- 20895928
TI  - A Case of Gunshot wound, and subsequent extraction of a bullet from the bladder.

PMID- 20895929
TI  - A case of scrofulous abscess of the Anterior Mediastinum, communicating with both
      sides of the chest, the pericardium, and trachea; forming a tumour above the
      clavicle, and simulating aneurism of the Inominata artery or arch of the Aorta.
      With Observations.

PMID- 20895930
TI  - Case of Mollities and Fragilitas Ossium, accompanied with urine strongly charged
      with animal matter.

PMID- 20895931
TI  - On the Identity or Non-identity of the specific cause of Typhoid, Typhus, and
      Relapsing Fever.

PMID- 20895932
TI  - Case of very large Haematocele of the spermatic cord, proving fatal after Ten
      Years: To which is added, a Case of very large Haematocele of the tunica
      vaginalis, in an old Man, terminating fatally.

PMID- 20895933
TI  - Case of disarticulation of the left Condyle of the lower jaw, with excision of
      nearly the left half of the bone, on account of a very large cartilaginous tumour
      growing from, and occupying the site of all this part of the bone, save the
      condyle and neck.

PMID- 20895934
TI  - On excision of the Os Calcis, in incurable disease of that bone, as a substitute
      for amputation of the foot. With a case.

PMID- 20895935
TI  - A Case of Stricture of the Rectum, wherein an artificial anus was successfully
      established in the left lumbar region.

PMID- 20895937
TI  - Supplement to a paper on Fibro-Calcareous tumours, and Polypi of the uterus.
      Published in Volume XIX of the Medico-Chirurgical Transactions.

PMID- 20895936
TI  - On the use of the Speculum in the diagnosis and treatment of uterine diseases.

PMID- 20895938
TI  - Case of fatal poisoning by Sir William Burnett's fluid.

PMID- 20895939
TI  - Case in which the Urachus remained open, and a ring-shaped calculus, formed upon
      a hair in the bladder, was extracted through the umbilicus.

PMID- 20895940
TI  - Case of Ileus complicated by Hernia.

PMID- 20895941
TI  - Two Cases of absence of the Thyroid body, and symmetrical swellings of fat tissue
      at the sides of the neck, connected with defective cerebral development.

PMID- 20895943
TI  - On a Case of albuminous and fatty urine.

PMID- 20895942
TI  - Account of a case in which an Abscess formed in the Vesicula Seminalis, and
      proved fatal by perforation of the bladder and extravasation of pus into the
      abdominal cavity.

PMID- 20895945
TI  - A Case of complete intestinal obstruction, arising from disease of the Sigmoid
      Flexure, of the Colon and the Rectum; in which the descending colon was
      successfully opened in the loin.

PMID- 20895944
TI  - Observations on the prolonged expiratory murmur, as a sign of Incipient phthisis.

PMID- 20895946
TI  - A Case of complete intestinal obstruction, arising from disease of the Sigmoid
      Flexure of the Colon and the Rectum; in which the descending colon was
      successfully opened in the loin.

PMID- 20895947
TI  - Chemical researches on the nature and cause of Cholera.

PMID- 20895948
TI  - Case of Stricture of the OEsophagus, fatal, two years and three months after
      accidentally swallowing soap-lees.

PMID- 20895949
TI  - History of a successful case of Ovariotomy: With a Description of the Morbid
      Anatomy of the Sac.

PMID- 20895950
TI  - An Analysis of 108 Cases of Ovariotomy, which have occurred in Great Britain,
      with Appendix.

PMID- 20895951
TI  - Case of Extensive Necrosis of the Bones of the Cranium and removal of large
      portions thereof.

PMID- 20895952
TI  - An account of a Case of Fracture and Distortion of the Pelvis, combined with an
      unusual form of Dislocation of the Femur.

PMID- 20895953
TI  - Experiments on Chylous or Chylo-Serous Urine: With a History of the Patient.

PMID- 20895954
TI  - Cases illustrating some Difficulties in the Diagnosis of Pleuritic Effusion.

PMID- 20895955
TI  - Case of Popliteal Aneurism treated by Compression, with some Remarks upon this
      method of treating Aneurism, and a List of the Cases in which it has been
      employed in Dublin.

PMID- 20895957
TI  - On the Relation of Sleep to Convulsive Affections.

PMID- 20895956
TI  - Account of the Dissection of a case in which Two Popliteal Aneurisms had been
      treated by Compression of the Femoral Arteries.

PMID- 20895958
TI  - On Fatty Degeneration of the Placenta, and the Influence of this Disease in
      producing Abortion, Death of the Foetus, Haemorrhage, and Premature Labour.

PMID- 20895959
TI  - On some Secondary Physiological Effects produced by Atmospheric Electricity.

PMID- 20895960
TI  - On the Employment of the Heat of Electricity in Practical Surgery.

PMID- 20895961
TI  - A Case of Strangulated Obturator or Thyroideal Hernia, successfully relieved by
      Operation.

PMID- 20895962
TI  - Some Observations on the Pathology of those Affections of the Ear which produce
      Disease in the Brain.

PMID- 20895963
TI  - A Case of Obstruction of the Colon, relieved by an Operation performed at the
      Groin.

PMID- 20895965
TI  - Account of a case in which a Large Cyst containing Hydatids was developed at the
      Root of the Neck, death ensuing from Rupture of the Left Subclavian Artery.

PMID- 20895964
TI  - On the Variations of the Sulphates and Phosphates excreted in Acute Chorea,
      Delirium Tremens, and Inflammation of the Brain.

PMID- 20895966
TI  - A Case of Aneurismal Dilatation of the Posterior Tibial Vein, communicating
      indirectly with the Upper Part of the Popliteal Artery.

PMID- 20895967
TI  - On a New Method of Treatment applicable to certain Cases of Epiphora.

PMID- 20895968
TI  - A Case of Softening of the Spinal Marrow in a boy affected with Chorea.

PMID- 20895969
TI  - Case illustrating the difficulties of Diagnosis of Morbid Growths from the Upper
      Jaw: with Remarks.

PMID- 20895970
TI  - Cases of Rupture of the Liver or Spleen: with Remarks.

PMID- 20895971
TI  - Account of a case in which the Caesarean Section was performed; with Remarks on
      the peculiar sources of Danger attendant on the Operation.

PMID- 20895975
TI  - Statistical Report upon Cases of Disease of the Heart occurring in St. George's
      Hospital, especially in relation to rheumatism and albuminuria.

PMID- 20895972
TI  - A Case of Caesarean Section.

PMID- 20895976
TI  - Case of Inversion of the Uterus after Parturition, proving fatal in eighteen
      months, with a tabular statement of the results of cases treated by operation.

PMID- 20895977
TI  - On the Deposition of Fibrin on the Lining Membrane of Veins.

PMID- 20895978
TI  - On the Occasional Organic Union of Contiguous Teeth.

PMID- 20895979
TI  - An Account of Two Cases of Intestinal Obstruction, in which the operation for the
      formation of an artificial anus was performed; one in the ascending, the other in
      the descending colon.

PMID- 20895980
TI  - A Case of Intestinal Obstruction from Disease of the Rectum, treated successfully
      by opening the descending colon in the left loin.

PMID- 20895981
TI  - A Case of Intestinal Obstruction.

PMID- 20895983
TI  - On some of the principal effects resulting from the Detachment of Fibrinous
      Deposits from the interior of the heart, and their mixture with the circulating
      blood.

PMID- 20895982
TI  - Some Observations on the Effects of Cholagogue Medicines, and some remarks on
      Morbid Changes in the Liver.

PMID- 20895984
TI  - On the Diminution of the Chlorides in the Urine, or their absence from that fluid
      in cases of pneumonia; and on the chemical composition of the sputa in that
      disease.

PMID- 20895985
TI  - Case in which a communication appears to have existed for several months between
      the Stomach and Transverse Colon in a child five years old.

PMID- 20895986
TI  - A Memoir on the Pathology and Treatment of Leucorrhoea, based upon the
      Microscopical Anatomy of the Os and Cervix Uteri.

PMID- 20895987
TI  - On the Protection against Smallpox afforded by Vaccination, illustrated by the
      returns of the Army, the Navy, and the Royal Military Asylum.

PMID- 20895988
TI  - On Alkalescence of the Urine from fixed Alkali in some cases of disease of the
      Stomach.

PMID- 20895989
TI  - A Case of Haemorrhage from Inversion of the Uterus in which the Operation of
      Transfusion was successfully performed, with remarks on the employment of
      transfusion generally.

PMID- 20895990
TI  - An Analysis of One Hundred Cases of Cancerous Disease of the Uterus.

PMID- 20895991
TI  - An account of a Case of Pulsating Tumour in which the urine contained Cancer
      Cells.

PMID- 20895992
TI  - An account of a Case of Biliary Fistula.

PMID- 20895993
TI  - Supplemental Note.

PMID- 20895994
TI  - A Case of Constipation of nine days' duration from Scirrhous Rectum, relieved by
      opening the sigmoid flexure of the colon in the left groin.

PMID- 20895995
TI  - Remarkable Case of Foreign Bodies in the Stomach and Duodenum, complete
      obstruction of the bowel, and mechanical displacement of organs.

PMID- 20895997
TI  - On Granular and Fatty Degeneration of the Voluntary Muscles.

PMID- 20895996
TI  - A successful Case of Parturition in a patient who had previously undergone
      "Ovariotomy" by a "large incision".

PMID- 20895998
TI  - Case of Stricture of the Colon, successfully treated by operation, with an
      analysis of forty-four cases of Artificial Anus.

PMID- 20895999
TI  - A Comparative View of some of the more important points of the Pathology of
      Rheumatic and Non-Rheumatic Pericarditis, deduced from an Analysis of Cases.

PMID- 20896000
TI  - Hypertrophy and Prolapse of the Tongue.

PMID- 20896002
TI  - Case of Hypertrophy of the Tongue.

PMID- 20896001
TI  - Hypertrophy of the Tongue, being the account of a Case of that Disease, which was
      successfully treated by Ligature.

PMID- 20896003
TI  - Case of Popliteal Aneurism, cured by Compression of the Femoral Artery in the
      upper third of its course, the patient dying five months after of Aneurism of the
      Abdominal Aorta, with an Account of the Dissection of the affected Limb.

PMID- 20896004
TI  - A further Account of Fatty Degeneration of the Placenta, and the influence of
      this Disease in producing Death of the Foetus, Haemorrhage, and Abortion.

PMID- 20896005
TI  - Researches on the Pathology of Obstructive Phlebitis, and the Nature and
      Proximate Cause of Phlegmasia Dolens.

PMID- 20896006
TI  - On the Development of Torulae in the Urine, and on the relation of these Fungi to
      Albuminous and Saccharine Urine.

PMID- 20896007
TI  - On some points of the Pathology and Treatment of Yellow Fever.

PMID- 20896008
TI  - On the Treatment of Obstinate Strictures of the Urethra by External Incision upon
      a grooved Director.

PMID- 20896009
TI  - Further Researches on the Pathology of Phlegmasia Dolens.

PMID- 20896010
TI  - On the use of Two Needles at once in certain Operations on the Eye, especially in
      those for Capsular Cataract and Artificial Pupil.

PMID- 20896011
TI  - Analysis of the Cases of Injuries of the Head, examined after death in St.
      George's Hospital, from January, 1841, to January, 1851, with Pathological and
      Surgical Observations.

PMID- 20896013
TI  - On Small Pox and Vaccination: Analytical Examination of all the Cases admitted
      during sixteen years, at the Small Pox and Vaccination Hospital, London; with a
      view to illustrate the Pathology of Small Pox, and the protective influence of
      Vaccination, in degrees varying according as the Vaccination has been perfectly
      or imperfectly performed.

PMID- 20896012
TI  - A case of Perforating Ulcer of the OEsophagus, which caused Death by penetrating
      the Aorta.

PMID- 20896014
TI  - Observations on the State of the Blood and the Blood-Vessels in Inflammation.

PMID- 20896015
TI  - On Intermitting Diabetes, and on the Diabetes of Old Age.

PMID- 20896016
TI  - An Account of a Dissection of an Ovarian Cyst which contained Brain.

PMID- 20896017
TI  - An Account of an instance of remarkable Deformity of the Lower Limbs.

PMID- 20896018
TI  - Observations on Cystic Disease of the Testicle.

PMID- 20896019
TI  - Additional Experiments on the Excitability of Paralysed and Healthy Limbs by the
      Galvanic Current.

PMID- 20896020
TI  - Sequel to a Case of Albuminous and Fatty Urine, published in the 'Medico
      Chirurgical Transactions' for 1850, with some Account of two other Cases of so
      called Chylous Urine.

PMID- 20896021
TI  - On Degeneration of the Placenta at the end of Pregnancy.

PMID- 20896022
TI  - Scrofulous Caries of the Left Astralagus. Excision-cure, with formation of a
      Fresh Joint.

PMID- 20896023
TI  - Notice of a Case of Skin Disease, accompanied with partial Hypertrophy of the
      Mammary Gland.

PMID- 20896024
TI  - A Case of Fatal Asphyxia, caused by the detachment of a diseased Bronchial Gland
      which was impacted in the Larynx.

PMID- 20896025
TI  - Remarks on a peculiar form of Tumour of the Skin, denominated "Pachydermatocele,"
      illustrated by Cases.

PMID- 20896026
TI  - Case of Distortion of the Spine, with observations on Rotation of the Vertebrae
      as a complication of Lateral Curvature.

PMID- 20896027
TI  - On Gout and Rheumatism. The differential Diagnosis, and the Nature of the so
      called Rheumatic Gout.

PMID- 20896028
TI  - Case of Mollities Ossium, preceded by Degeneration of the Muscles.

PMID- 20896030
TI  - English Statistics of Hooping-Cough.

PMID- 20896029
TI  - Case of Traumatic Aneurism of the Ophthalmic Artery, consequent on Injury of the
      Head, cured by Ligature of the common Carotid Artery.

PMID- 20896031
TI  - On the Keloid of Alibert, and on True Keloid.

PMID- 20896032
TI  - On the Blood and Effused Fluids in Gout, Rheumatism, and Bright's Disease.

PMID- 20896033
TI  - On Excision of the Knee-Joint.

PMID- 20896034
TI  - Pathological Remarks on the kind of Palpebral Tumour usually called, in England,
      Tarsal Tumour.

PMID- 20896035
TI  - On the Radical Cure of Reducible Inguinal Hernia, by a New Operation, with Cases
      and Remarks.

PMID- 20896036
TI  - Observations of Morbid Changes in the Mucous Membrane of the Stomach.

PMID- 20896037
TI  - Pathological Researches into the Diseases of the Ear; Fifth and Sixth Series.

PMID- 20896038
TI  - On the Relations of the Mortality from Cholera in London to the General Mortality
      and Temperature.

PMID- 20896039
TI  - On a Successful Method of Treating Acute Rheumatism by Large and Frequent Doses
      of Bicarbonate of Potash.

PMID- 20896040
TI  - Cases of Phlebitis with Pneumonia and Pleurisy from Chronic Disease of the Ear.

PMID- 20896041
TI  - Notes on Lithotrity, with an Account of the Results of the Operation in the
      Author's Practice.

PMID- 20896042
TI  - Observations respecting Degeneration of the Pancreas.

PMID- 20896043
TI  - Sequel of a Case of Extirpation of the Uterus.

PMID- 20896044
TI  - Cases of Disease of the Larynx, and some Observations on the Operation of
      Tracheotomy.

PMID- 20896045
TI  - Researches on Gout.

PMID- 20896046
TI  - Account of a Growth of Cartilage in a Testicle and its Lymphatics, and in other
      parts.

PMID- 20896048
TI  - Supplement to a Paper on the Use of the Speculum in the Diagnosis and Treatment
      of Uterine Diseases, published in the Thirty-third Volume of the Medico
      Chirurgical Transactions.

PMID- 20896047
TI  - Cases illustrating the Pathology of Mania and Dementia.

PMID- 20896049
TI  - Operation for Congenital Cataract on an Adult, followed by Division of the Recti
      Muscles for the purpose of controlling the Oscillation of the Globes.

PMID- 20896050
TI  - On Inguinal Tumour associated with Symptoms of Strangulated Hernia and Absence of
      the Testicle on the Affected Side.

PMID- 20896051
TI  - On the Juvantia and Laedentia in Diabetes.

PMID- 20896052
TI  - On a Plastic Operation for the Restoration of the Lower Lip.

PMID- 20896053
TI  - On Dislocation of the Femur, Upwards and Forwards, beneath the Crural Arch.

PMID- 20896054
TI  - On Bony Anchylosis between the Humerus and Scapula after Disease.

PMID- 20896055
TI  - On the Action of Digitalis upon the Uterus.

PMID- 20896056
TI  - Cases illustrative of the Pathology of the Ear.

PMID- 20896057
TI  - On Myeloid and Myelo-Cystic Tumours of Bone; their Structure, Pathology, and Mode
      of Diagnosis.

PMID- 20896059
TI  - Rate of Hourly Pulsation and Respiration in Phthisis, and its Relations to Sleep,
      Food, Sunlight, &c.

PMID- 20896058
TI  - History of a Case in which a Cedar Pencil was lodged in the Cavity of the Abdomen
      for Eight Months.

PMID- 20896060
TI  - Cases of Paraplegia, associated with Gonorrhoea and Stricture of the Urethra.

PMID- 20896061
TI  - Case of a Young Woman in whom the main Arteries of both Upper Extremities and of
      the Left Side of the Neck were throughout completely Obliterated.

PMID- 20896062
TI  - Analysis of Cases of Amputation of the Limbs in the Radcliffe Infirmary, Oxford.

PMID- 20896063
TI  - Wound of the Abdominal Parietes; Protrusion of Omentum and Transverse Colon;
      Division of the latter to the extent of Four-Fifths of its Circumference:
      Recovery.

PMID- 20896064
TI  - On the Structure and Nature of the so-called Colloid Cancer.

PMID- 20896065
TI  - Case of Fracture of Four Cervical Vertebrae, with Dislocation, produced by slight
      and unusual cause, and resulting in immediate Death; with Notes of a Case of
      Fracture of the Os Calcis.

PMID- 20896066
TI  - Two Cases of extensive Absorption of the Bones of the Head, followed, in one of
      them, by Hernia Cerebri.

PMID- 20896067
TI  - On Two Cases of Malformation of the Heart.

PMID- 20896068
TI  - On Encephalocele; being the History of a Case, with a Tabular Analysis of Seventy
      five Cases.

PMID- 20896069
TI  - Case of Detached Piece of Articular Cartilage existing as a Loose Substance in
      the Knee-Joint.

PMID- 20896070
TI  - An Account of the Arrangement of the Muscular Substance in the Urinary and
      certain of the Generative Organs of the Human Body.

PMID- 20896071
TI  - On Mercurial Fumigation in the Treatment of Syphilis.

PMID- 20896072
TI  - Hourly Pulsation and Respiration in Health. With Two Diagrams and Tables.

PMID- 20896073
TI  - On Atrophy of the Brain, with Cases in which there were remarkable Inequalities
      of the Cerebral Hemispheres, attended with Hemiplegia and Contraction of the
      Limbs on the side opposite the Atrophied Hemisphere.

PMID- 20896075
TI  - A Case of Destruction of the Entire Palate, successfully relieved by Mechanical
      Means.

PMID- 20896074
TI  - Observations on Congenital Deficiency of the Palate, and the Means to be used for
      its Relief.

PMID- 20896076
TI  - On the Treatment of Aneurism by Manipulation.

PMID- 20896077
TI  - On Disarticulation of the Scapula from the Shoulder-Joint.

PMID- 20896078
TI  - On a new Method of Operating for Impermeable Urethra.

PMID- 20896080
TI  - On Forcible Extension and Rupture of the Uniting Medium of partially Ankylosed
      Surfaces.

PMID- 20896079
TI  - Case of Double Talipes Varus in which the Cuboid Bone was partially removed from
      the Left Foot.

PMID- 20896081
TI  - On Scirrhus of the Male Breast.

PMID- 20896082
TI  - Analysis of Fifty-two Cases of Epilepsy observed by the Author.

PMID- 20896083
TI  - A Case of Disease of the Heart, with great Dilatation of the Auricles.

PMID- 20896084
TI  - Case of intense and long-continued Photophobia and Blepharospasm, relieved by the
      Inhalation of Chloroform.

PMID- 20896085
TI  - On the Effects of Twelve Weeks' Residence in Bulgaria (during the Months of June,
      July, and August, 1854) on the subsequent Health of the British Troops in the
      Crimea.

PMID- 20896086
TI  - Case in which a Large Cyst was successfully removed from the upper part of the
      Neck of a Young Woman, aged 27, who was considered at Birth to have been the
      subject of Spina Bifida.

PMID- 20896087
TI  - Further Observations on the Use of the Speculum in the Diagnosis and Treatment of
      Uterine Diseases.

PMID- 20896088
TI  - On the Determining Causes of Vesicular Emphysema of the Lung.

PMID- 20896089
TI  - Five Cases of Tracheotomy in Croup, with Remarks on certain points connected with
      the Operation; with a Postscript containing two additional Cases.

PMID- 20896090
TI  - Some Observations on the Anatomy and Pathology of the Adult Prostate, founded
      upon Fifty Preparations of the Organ, dissected by the Author, and accompanying
      the Paper; with Two Plates.

PMID- 20896091
TI  - An Account of a Case of Arterio-venous Aneurism of the Temporal Vessels, which
      was treated by Ligature of both the Artery and the Vein.

PMID- 20896092
TI  - Case of Communication with the Stomach, through the Abdominal Parietes, produced
      by Ulceration from External Pressure; with Observations on the Cases of Gastro
      cutaneous Fistulae already recorded.

PMID- 20896093
TI  - On some Points in the Pathology and Morbid Anatomy of Glaucoma.

PMID- 20896094
TI  - On the Analysis and Immediate Principles of Human Excrements in the Diseased
      State.

PMID- 20896095
TI  - On the Membrana Decidua which surrounds the Ovum in Cases of Tubal Gestation.

PMID- 20896097
TI  - On the Action of Galvanism upon the Contractile Structure of the Gravid Uterus,
      and its Remedial Powers in Obstetric Practice.

PMID- 20896096
TI  - Supplement to a Paper on the Membrana Decidua which surrounds the Ovum in Cases
      of Tubal Gestation.

PMID- 20896098
TI  - A Case of Complete Inversion of the Uterus, of nearly Twelve Years' Duration,
      successfully treated.

PMID- 20896099
TI  - On Excision of the Knee.

PMID- 20896100
TI  - Contributions to the Etiology of Continued Fever: or an Investigation of various
      Causes which influence the Prevalence and Mortality of its different Forms.

PMID- 20896102
TI  - A Case of Fibrous Polypus of the Urinary Bladder, with Observations, and a Table
      of the Recorded Cases.

PMID- 20896101
TI  - Case of Hydatids of the Tibia.

PMID- 20896103
TI  - Researches on Gout.-Part I. The Urine in the Different Forms of Gout.-Part II.
      The Influence of Colchicum upon the Urine.

PMID- 20896104
TI  - Contributions to the Pathology of the Glandular Structures of the Stomach.

PMID- 20896105
TI  - On the Influence of the Cervical Portions of the Sympathetic Nerve and Spinal
      Cord upon the Eye and its Appendages, illustrated by Clinical Cases, with
      Observations.

PMID- 20896106
TI  - An Account of a Case of Calculus in the Bladder removed by Lithotrity, in which a
      Communication existed between the Bladder and Intestine.

PMID- 20896108
TI  - On a Case of Premature Puberty.

PMID- 20896107
TI  - On a case of Dislocation of the Humerus, upwards and inwards, with Fracture of
      the Coracoid Process of the Scapula; accompanied by a Dissection of the Parts
      involved in the Injury.

PMID- 20896109
TI  - Therapeutic Communications.-No. I. On the Influence of Liquor Potassae, and other
      Caustic Alkaline Solutions, upon the Therapeutic Properties of Henbane,
      Belladonna, and Stramonium.

PMID- 20896110
TI  - Therapeutic Communications.-No. II. On the Influence of Liquor Potassae, and
      other Caustic Alkaline Solutions, upon the Therapeutic Properties of Henbane,
      Belladonna, and Stramonium.

PMID- 20896111
TI  - A Contribution to the Science of Teratology.

PMID- 20896112
TI  - Case of Excision of the Head of the Humerus (Decapitatiohumeri), with its
      results.

PMID- 20896113
TI  - Contribution to the Statistics of Cancer, collected from the Cancer Records of
      the Middlesex Hospital.

PMID- 20896114
TI  - Case of Encephaloid Cancer affecting a Testicle which had been retained within
      the Cavity of the Abdomen.

PMID- 20896115
TI  - On the Forms and Stages of Bright's Disease of the Kidneys, with especial
      Reference to Diagnosis and Prognosis; fourth Communication.

PMID- 20896116
TI  - Account of three Cases of Aneruism of or within the Orbit, treated by Ligature of
      the Common Carotid Artery, with Observations.

PMID- 20896117
TI  - Case of Aneurism of the Thoracic Aorta, which opened into the Trachea and left
      Bronchus; and in which Haemoptysis occurred four years and eight months before
      Death, with Remarks on the Circumstances attending the Rupture of Aneurisms,
      especially on Mucous Surfaces.

PMID- 20896118
TI  - A Case of Popliteal Aneurism, successfully treated by Flexion of the Knee-joint,
      with Remarks.

PMID- 20896119
TI  - A Case of Popliteal Aneurism, successfully treated by continued Flexion of the
      Knee-joint.

PMID- 20896120
TI  - On some of the Effects of Primary Cancerous Tumours within the Chest.

PMID- 20896121
TI  - Cases of Re-fracture of Bone, with Observations.

PMID- 20896122
TI  - Two Cases of Empyema, illustrating the Advantage of making two Openings and
      adopting the Plan of "Drainage" in the Operation of Paracentesis in that Disease.

PMID- 20896124
TI  - On the Administration of Belladonna, and on certain Causes which modify its
      Action.

PMID- 20896123
TI  - Inquiry into the Nature of those Cases of Strangulated Oblique Inguinal Hernia,
      termed "Reduction en bloc, ou en masse;" with special Relation to the Anatomy of
      the actual Lesion, and Practical Deductions derived from an Examination of the
      Cases.

PMID- 20896125
TI  - On the Reparative Process in Human Tendons, after Subcutaneous Division for the
      Cure of Deformities.

PMID- 20896126
TI  - Observation on the Medical Administration of Ozonized Oils.

PMID- 20896127
TI  - On the Connexion between the Heat of the Body and the excreted amounts of Urea,
      Chloride of Sodium, and Urinary Water, during a Fit of Ague.

PMID- 20896128
TI  - Cases of Disclocation of the Os Calcis and Scaphoid from the Astragalus, with
      Remarks on the Importance of dividing the Gastrocnemius and other Tendons, to
      facilitate Reduction in various Dislocations of the latter Bone.

PMID- 20896129
TI  - Case of Paralysis as to Voluntary Motor Power of the Limbs on one side of the
      Body, attended by Hyperaesthesia of the corresponding side of the Face, being the
      Result of Comparession of parts of the Brain from an Intra-cranial Aneurism, with
      Observations on "Induced" Cerebral Paralysis.

PMID- 20896130
TI  - Sequel of Case (published in vol. xli. of the 'Transactions') of Lithotrity, in
      which a Communication existed between the Bladder and Intestine.

PMID- 20896131
TI  - A Case of Vesical Calculus of unusual size, removed by the Recto-vesical
      Operation.

PMID- 20896132
TI  - On different Forms of Primary Syphilitic Inoculation.

PMID- 20896133
TI  - Description of the Organs of Generation of a Hermaphrodite Sheep.

PMID- 20896134
TI  - On the Causes of Death after Amputation.

PMID- 20896135
TI  - On Disarticulation of the Scapula from the Shoulder-joint, with removal of the
      Acromial end of the Clavicle.

PMID- 20896136
TI  - On some of the Cyclical Changes in the Human System connected with Season.

PMID- 20896138
TI  - Cases of Intra-Uterine Fracture, with Observations to show the Analogy between
      Fracture in Utero and Congenital Distortion.

PMID- 20896137
TI  - History of an additional Case of Tubal Gestation.

PMID- 20896139
TI  - Case Femoral Hernia, which had descended beneath the Pectineal Portion of the
      Fascia Lata, and was partially covered by the Pectineus Muscle.

PMID- 20896140
TI  - Case of Imperforate Arch of the Aorta, in which the Root of the Aorta was
      Ruptured.

PMID- 20896141
TI  - On the Treatment of Axillary Aneurism.

PMID- 20896142
TI  - Report on the Condition of the Prostate in Old Age, founded on the dissection of
      one hundred specimens.

PMID- 20896143
TI  - On the Condition of the Blood in Mania.

PMID- 20896144
TI  - Cases of Cerebral Affection caused by Disease in the Region of the Nose and Eyes.

PMID- 20896145
TI  - On Congestion of the Heart, and its Local Consequences.

PMID- 20896146
TI  - Case of Acute Caries of the Walls of the Tympanic Cavity, producing Ulceration of
      the Internal Carotid Artery.

PMID- 20896147
TI  - On Diseases of the Kidney accompanied by Albuminuria, in relation to their Origin
      in Change occurring in the Tubes or in the Intertubular Structure.

PMID- 20896148
TI  - Glaucoma, and its Surgical Treatment by Iridectomy.

PMID- 20896149
TI  - Contribution to the Study of Spirometry.

PMID- 20896150
TI  - Brief Notes of a Visit to the Leper Hospital, Granada.

PMID- 20896151
TI  - Inquiry into the Treatment of Congenital Imperfections of the Rectum by
      Operation, founded on an Analysis of One Hundred Cases, nine of which occurred in
      the Practice of the Author.

PMID- 20896152
TI  - On the relative amount of Sugar and Urea in the Urine in "Diabetes Mellitus".

PMID- 20896153
TI  - Tabular Statement of Seventy-two Cases of Haematemesis, with Remarks.

PMID- 20896155
TI  - Cases of Obstruction of the Veins of the Lower Extremities causing OEdema of the
      corresponding Limb, and occurring in Phthisical Patients.

PMID- 20896154
TI  - Account of a Fresh Dissection of a Preparation of Tubal Gestation, described by
      Dr. John Clarke in 1793.

PMID- 20896156
TI  - Case of Recurrent Anaesthesia of the Surface of the Body, with partial loss of
      Motor Power, from the effects upon the Spinal Nerves of effused products within
      the Spinal Canal.

PMID- 20896157
TI  - Observations on Stertor, the conditions upon which it is dependent, and its
      treatment.

PMID- 20896158
TI  - On the Etiology and Treatment of Peritonitis.

PMID- 20896160
TI  - On a New Method of Operating for the Radical Cure of Hernia.

PMID- 20896159
TI  - On a Form of Secondary Syphilitic Inoculation.

PMID- 20896161
TI  - On the Nature of Ovarian Cysts which contain Teeth, Hair, and Fatty Matter.

PMID- 20896162
TI  - A Case of Gastrotomy for Extra-uterine Gestation.

PMID- 20896163
TI  - Observations on the Growth of the Long Bones and of Stumps.

PMID- 20896164
TI  - On an Operation for Pervious Urachus, with Stillicidium Urinae.

PMID- 20896165
TI  - Researches on Asphyxia, with Observations on the effects produced by the Hot Bath
      in Asphyxiated Animals, and its use in the treatment of Suspended Animation.

PMID- 20896166
TI  - Letter relative to the preceding "Paper on Asphyxia, and the Use of the Hot Bath,
      by A. T. H. Waters, M.R.C.P.".

PMID- 20896167
TI  - Contribution to the Pathology of the Pons Varolii.

PMID- 20896168
TI  - On Disease of the Kidney, accompanied by Albuminuria (Second Paper).

PMID- 20896169
TI  - On a Case of Aneurismal Varix in the upper part of the Thigh, following the
      employment of Pressure for the Cure of an Aneurism of the Posterior Tibial
      Artery.

PMID- 20896170
TI  - Contributions to the subject of Compound Fracture, being an Analysis of three
      hundred and two Cases.

PMID- 20896171
TI  - On a Case of Aortic Aneurism, in which a Communication with the Pulmonary Artery
      was recognised during Life by means of Physical Diagnosis.

PMID- 20896172
TI  - Account of a Case in which the Corpus Callosum and Fornix were imperfectly
      formed, and the Septum Lucidum and Commissura Mollis were absent.

PMID- 20896173
TI  - Syphilitic Inoculation, and its relation to Diagnosis and Treatment.

PMID- 20896174
TI  - Cases illustrating the Causes and Effects of Fibrinous Obstructions in the
      Arteries, both of the Brain and of other Organs.

PMID- 20896175
TI  - Case of Irideremia Totalis.

PMID- 20896176
TI  - Case of Tetanus of Fourteen Months' Duration.

PMID- 20896178
TI  - On Pulsating Bronchocele.

PMID- 20896177
TI  - Analysis of fifty-two Cases of Epilepsy observed by the Author (Second Series).

PMID- 20896179
TI  - Remarks on the Cause of Closure of the Valves of the Heart.

PMID- 20896180
TI  - Pathological Researches into the Diseases of the Ear (Seventh Series): Sebaceous
      Tumours in the External Auditory Meatus, their effects upon the Organ of Hearing,
      the Petrous Bone, and the Brain, with Suggestions as to their Treatment.

PMID- 20896181
TI  - Further Observations on the Structure and Treatment of Uterine Polypi.

PMID- 20896182
TI  - Observations on the Discovery of the Original Obstetric Instruments of the
      Chamberlens.

PMID- 20896183
TI  - Additional Experiments on the Poisonous Effects of Coal-Gas upon the Animal
      System.

PMID- 20896184
TI  - On the Temperature, Urea, Chloride of Sodium, and Urinary Water in Scarlet Fever,
      and on a Cycle in Disease and Health.

PMID- 20896186
TI  - On Brass-Founders' Ague.

PMID- 20896185
TI  - On Pulse-Breath.

PMID- 20896187
TI  - On the Connection between a Local Affection of the Lymphatic System and Chylous
      Urine, with Remarks on the Pathology of the Disease.

PMID- 20896188
TI  - On a Case of Chylous Urine.

PMID- 20896189
TI  - Observations on the Tactile Sensibility of the Hand.

PMID- 20896190
TI  - On Certain Grave Evils attending Tenotomy, and on a new mode of curing
      Deformities of the Foot.

PMID- 20896191
TI  - On the Influence of Paralysis, Disease of the Joints, Disease of the Epiphysial
      Lines, Excision of the Knee, Rickets, &c., upon the Growth of the Bones.

PMID- 20896192
TI  - Analysis of 230 Cases of Lithotomy.

PMID- 20896193
TI  - On the Treatment of acute Rheumatism, considered with regard to the Liability to
      Affections of the Heart under different Remedies.

PMID- 20896194
TI  - Amaurosis, consequent on Acute Abscess of the Antrum, produced by a Carious
      Tooth.

PMID- 20896195
TI  - Two Cases of Extensive Arterial Obstruction from separated Cardiac Vegetations,
      followed by Gangrene of the lower Extremities and Death.

PMID- 20896197
TI  - Contribution to the Statistics of Cancer.

PMID- 20896196
TI  - Case of Iliac Aneurism.

PMID- 20896198
TI  - Report upon Syphilis, with reference to the more mixed and unusual forms of the
      Primary Symptoms.

PMID- 20896199
TI  - Congenital Malformation of the Eyes in three children of one family.

PMID- 20896200
TI  - Case of Aneurism of the External Iliac and Common Femoral Arteries, treated by
      Digital Pressure, with Observations.

PMID- 20896201
TI  - Report of the Committee appointed to investigate the subject of Suspended
      Animation.

PMID- 20896202
TI  - Observations on the Division of the Gustatory Nerve, and on Ligature of the
      Lingual Artery in the Treatment of Cancer of the Tongue.

PMID- 20896203
TI  - Case of Osteo-Malacia.

PMID- 20896204
TI  - On some Affections of the Caecal Portion of the Intestines, with Illustrative
      Cases.

PMID- 20896205
TI  - The Poisonous Effects of Coal-Gas upon the Animal System.

PMID- 20896207
TI  - Remarks on two Cases of Kelis.

PMID- 20896206
TI  - Account of a recent remarkable Case of Scrotal Elephantiasis, in which the Tumour
      was removed.

PMID- 20896208
TI  - On a Remarkable Case of Lesion of the Medulla Oblongata.

PMID- 20896209
TI  - A Contribution to the Pathology of the Crura Cerebri.

PMID- 20896210
TI  - Description of a Faetus born without Heart, Brain, Lungs, or Liver.

PMID- 20896212
TI  - Account of a Patient upon whom Ovariotomy was performed twice; with remarks.

PMID- 20896211
TI  - Case of Extreme Deformity of the Neck and Forearm, from the Cicatrices of a Burn,
      cured by Extension, Excision, and Transplantation of Skin, adjacent and remote.

PMID- 20896213
TI  - On the Induction of Premature Labour in Cases of Pregnancy, complicated with
      Albuminous Urine, Dropsy, and Amaurosis.

PMID- 20896215
TI  - A Case of Strangulation of the Stomach in an Umbilical Rupture, and of Death
      during its Reduction under Chloroform.

PMID- 20896214
TI  - Description of a New Iris Forceps.

PMID- 20896216
TI  - A Case of Transposition of the Great Vessels of the Heart.

PMID- 20896217
TI  - Supplement to a Paper, entitled an "Analysis of 162 Cases of Ovariotomy, which
      have occurred in Great Britain," published in vol. xxxiv of the Medico
      Chirurgical Transactions.

PMID- 20896218
TI  - Case of Popliteal Aneurism cured by Digital Compression.

PMID- 20896219
TI  - Cases of Ichthyosis Spuria vel Sebacea.

PMID- 20896220
TI  - Case of Poisoning by Oil of Wormwood (Artemisia absinthium).

PMID- 20896221
TI  - Contribution to the Natural History of Hereditary Transmission.

PMID- 20896222
TI  - Case of a Woman with three Hands; illustrated by Analogous Malformations in the
      lower Animals.

PMID- 20896223
TI  - On the History and Progress of Ovariotomy in Great Britain, with observations
      founded on personal experience of the operation in fifty cases.

PMID- 20896224
TI  - Case of White Fibro-serous Discharge from the Thigh.

PMID- 20896226
TI  - Case of Cancerous Infiltration of the Penis; with Cancerous Ulcer of the Bladder,
      and Secondary Deposits in the Lungs, Bones, and other parts of the Body.

PMID- 20896225
TI  - Observations upon Syphilis, in its Manifestations as a Constitutional Disease.

PMID- 20896227
TI  - On the Absorption of Dead Bone.

PMID- 20896228
TI  - Case of unusual difficulty in Lithotomy, arising from great Distortion of the
      Pelvis by Rickets.

PMID- 20896229
TI  - On a new operation for obtaining union of Ununited Fracture, with remarks on its
      application to certain cases of recent fracture.

PMID- 20896231
TI  - Two Cases of Stone in the Bladder of the Female, treated by rapid urethral
      dilatation; with remarks on the operation.

PMID- 20896230
TI  - On a new method of procuring the consolidation of Fibrin in certain incurable
      Aneurisms: With the Report of a case in which an Aneurism of the ascending Aorta
      was treated by the insertion of Wire.

PMID- 20896232
TI  - Statistics of Queen Charlotte's Lying-in Hospital.

PMID- 20896233
TI  - Account of some unusual occurrences during the cure of a Popliteal Aneurism.

PMID- 20896234
TI  - Account of a Case of Aneurism of the Abdominal Aorta, which was cured by
      compression of that artery immediately above the tumour.

PMID- 20896235
TI  - Case of Congenital Imperfection of the Mammae, Sexual Organs, Sternum, and Heart,
      in a woman aged twenty-two years.

PMID- 20896236
TI  - Pathological Researches into the Diseases of the Ear, Supplement to Seventh
      Series: Sebaceous Tumours in the External Auditory Meatus.

PMID- 20896237
TI  - On the condition of the Stomach and Intestines in Scarlatina.

PMID- 20896238
TI  - On the origin, structure, and mode of development of the Cystic Tumours of the
      Ovary.

PMID- 20896239
TI  - Case of Popliteal Aneurism successfully treated by Flexion of the Knee.

PMID- 20896240
TI  - A successful case of Paracentesis Capitis.

PMID- 20896241
TI  - Some Particulars of a Case of Popliteal Aneurism cured by Flexion of the Knee.

PMID- 20896242
TI  - On the Causes of Hernia.

PMID- 20896243
TI  - Note on the application of Indices to Aneurismal Clamps, and other pressure
      instruments.

PMID- 20896244
TI  - Report of the Scientific Committee on the Uses and the physiological,
      therapeutical, and toxical Effects of Chloroform, as well as into the best mode
      of administering it, and of obviating any ill consequences resulting from its
      administration.

PMID- 20896245
TI  - Clinical Observations illustrating the effects produced by the implication of
      Branches of the Pneumogastric Nerve in Aneurismal Tumours.

PMID- 20896246
TI  - On the Endemic Haematuria of the Cape of Good Hope.

PMID- 20896247
TI  - Case of a Mucous Cyst on the Laryngeal Aspect of the Epiglottis, successfully
      treated by incision.

PMID- 20896248
TI  - Some account of the Amputations performed at St. Bartholomew's Hospital, 1853-63.

PMID- 20896250
TI  - Remarkable instance of a Growth springing from the Epiglottis, which was
      successfully removed with the aid of the Laryngoscope.

PMID- 20896249
TI  - A Case of Strangulated Femoral Rupture, where, on a former occasion, the neck had
      been torn from the body of the sac, in the taxis, and the escaping bowel had
      formed a subperitoneal pouch which finally attained an extraordinary size.

PMID- 20896251
TI  - On Delirium or Acute Insanity during the decline of Acute Diseases, especially
      the Delirium of Collapse.

PMID- 20896252
TI  - On Vascular Protrusion of the Eyeball.

PMID- 20896253
TI  - On Intermittent Haematuria, with remarks upon its Pathology and Treatment.

PMID- 20896254
TI  - Notes of four cases of Intermittent Haematuria.

PMID- 20896255
TI  - Supplement to a Paper entitled "Further Observations on the Structure and
      Treatment of Uterine Polypi," published in volume XLIV of the Medico-Chirurgical
      Transactions.

PMID- 20896256
TI  - On Amputation of the Leg by a long Rectangular Flap from the Calf.

PMID- 20896257
TI  - Account of a case in which a Sixpence was lodged in the Larynx during ten weeks.

PMID- 20896258
TI  - On a Case of the "Haemorrhagic Diathesis".

PMID- 20896259
TI  - A Second Series of Fifty cases of Ovariotomy, with remarks on the selection of
      cases for the operation.

PMID- 20896260
TI  - On the obstacles to the re-establishment of Natural Respiration after the
      performance of Tracheotomy; cases with remarks.

PMID- 20896261
TI  - The application of Sutures to Bone in recent Gunshot Fractures, with cases; also
      remarks on their similar use in some other Fractures and Operations.

PMID- 20896262
TI  - On the Pathology of Tetanus; illustrated by cases and drawings.

PMID- 20896264
TI  - On Fibroid Degeneration of the Lung.

PMID- 20896263
TI  - On Morbid Changes in the Stomach and Intestinal Villi present in persons who have
      died of Cancer.

PMID- 20896265
TI  - Case of Ulcer in the lower portion of the Ileum, communicating with the Bladder.

PMID- 20896266
TI  - Remarks upon Osteo-myelitis consequent on Gunshot Wounds of the Upper and Lower
      Extremities, and especially upon the Treatment of Stumps affected with
      Osteomyelitis after Amputation necessitated by such Injuries.

PMID- 20896267
TI  - Case of Aneurism by Anastomosis of the Scalp, treated successfully by Ligature of
      the common Carotid and Setons.

PMID- 20896269
TI  - On the Solvent Treatment of Urinary Calculi; and experimental and clinical
      Inquiry.

PMID- 20896268
TI  - Congenital Hydronephrosis in a Boy four years old, repeatedly tapped; Recovery.

PMID- 20896270
TI  - Observations on the Effect of Coffee on the Urea and Chlorides in Health.

PMID- 20896272
TI  - Case of Premature Menstruation.

PMID- 20896271
TI  - Pathological and Surgical Observations on the Diseases of the Ear (Eighth
      Series): on Disconnection of the Incus and the Stapes, its effects upon the
      function of hearing and its treatment.

PMID- 20896273
TI  - Case of Myeloid Transformation of the Lungs.

PMID- 20896275
TI  - On a case of Elephantiasis Arabum, or Elephas, successfully treated by the
      application of a ligature to the main artery of the limb, with remarks.

PMID- 20896274
TI  - On Atrophy or Degeneration of the Muscles of the Upper and Lower Extremities from
      Disease of the Spinal Cord.

PMID- 20896277
TI  - Account of a second Case in which the Corpus Callosum was defective.

PMID- 20896276
TI  - Account of a Case of Oblique Inguinal Hernia on each side, in which, the testis
      remaining in the belly, the hernial sacs descended into the scrotum and also
      ascended upon the aponeurosis of the external oblique muscles.

PMID- 20896278
TI  - Remarks on Chronic Albuminuria originating during the convalescence from Scarlet
      Fever and other Eruptive Diseases.

PMID- 20896279
TI  - On the Detection of Lung-tissue in the Expectoration of Persons affected with
      Phthisis.

PMID- 20896280
TI  - Case in which the operation of Trephining of the Spine was performed.

PMID- 20896281
TI  - Account of an Arterio-venous Cyst in the Popliteal Nerve, for which the limb was
      amputated.

PMID- 20896282
TI  - Case of Multiple Neuromata affecting the nerves both within and external to the
      spinal canal, some of the tumours being of a cystic nature.

PMID- 20896283
TI  - On Granular Degeneration of the Voluntary Muscles.

PMID- 20896284
TI  - Notes and Observations on Fever during service on board H.M.'s screw corvette
      Pylades of 21 guns, on the west coast of Mexico, in 1860.

PMID- 20896286
TI  - On a Case of Hydatid Disease of the Liver, and remarks on the treatment of
      similar tumours.

PMID- 20896285
TI  - Case of Lumbar Colotomy (Amussat's operation) successfully performed for the
      relief of a vesico-intestinal fistula.

PMID- 20896287
TI  - A Case in which Ovariotomy was twice successfully performed on the same patient.

PMID- 20896288
TI  - On the Pathology and Treatment of Cholera.

PMID- 20896289
TI  - On the Treatment of Cholera and Epidemic Diarrhoea; with a record of Cases.

PMID- 20896291
TI  - A Study of the Influence of Weather and Season upon Public Health, made upon
      above 217,000 Cases of Sickness newly occurring at Institutions for the Sick Poor
      in Islington during 1857-65. I. The Influence of Atmospheric Temperature.

PMID- 20896290
TI  - Sequel to a Case of Colotomy for Vesico-Intestinal Fistula [in Vol. XLIX, p. 65],
      death having ensued from Affection of the Bowel higher up.

PMID- 20896292
TI  - Two Cases of Periodical Inflammation of the Right Knee-Joint, with Remarks.

PMID- 20896294
TI  - Record of Cases treated in the Lock Hospital by Syphilisation.

PMID- 20896293
TI  - On the Influence of Inadequate Operations on the Theory of Cancer.

PMID- 20896295
TI  - Observations on the Temperature and the Urine in Typhus Fever.

PMID- 20896297
TI  - Statistical Details of three years' experience in respect to the form of
      Amaurosis supposed to be due to Tobacco.

PMID- 20896296
TI  - On the Nature of the Waxy, Lardaceous, or Amyloid Deposit.

PMID- 20896299
TI  - On the Inoculation of Animals, as a means of Diagnosis in Tubercular Phthisis.

PMID- 20896298
TI  - A Case of Aneurism of the Femoral Artery, the Sac of which burst, and its
      treatment; with observations.

PMID- 20896300
TI  - Contributions to the Pathology of Aneurisms and Tumours, involving the upper
      portion of the Chest and root of the Neck.

PMID- 20896301
TI  - On the Repair of Arteries and Veins after Injury.

PMID- 20896302
TI  - On a Case of Muscular Atrophy, with Disease of the Spinal Cord and Medulla
      Oblongata.

PMID- 20896303
TI  - On a Case of Concussion-Lesion, with extensive secondary degenerations of the
      Spinal Cord, followed by General Muscular Atrophy.

PMID- 20896305
TI  - Report of the Scientific Committee appointed to investigate the Physiological and
      Therapeutical Effects of the Hypodermic Method of Injection.

PMID- 20896304
TI  - A Third and Fourth Series of Fifty Cases of Ovariotomy, with remarks on the
      situation and length of the Incision required in this operation.

PMID- 20896306
TI  - On Enucleation of Naevus.

PMID- 20896307
TI  - On a Case of Internal Strangulation of the Bowel by a Band, associated with a
      Reducible Hernia; successfully treated by operation.

PMID- 20896308
TI  - On the Condition of the Urine in three Cases of Epilepsy.

PMID- 20896310
TI  - Poisoning by Phosphorus; Jaundice; death in six days. Fatty Degeneration of Liver
      and Kidneys.

PMID- 20896309
TI  - Acute Poisoning by Phosphorus; Jaundice; death on the fifth day. Fatty
      Degeneration of the Liver, Kidneys, Gastric Follicles, Pancreas, Heart, &c.

PMID- 20896311
TI  - On some Analogies of Cholera, in which Suppression of Urine is not accompanied by
      symptoms of Uraemic Poisoning.

PMID- 20896312
TI  - Notes respecting Non-uniting Fractures.

PMID- 20896313
TI  - A case of Axillary Aneurism on the Right Side, for which the Subclavian Artery
      was successfully tied, the Left Subclavian Artery having been Ligatured in the
      same subject for an Axillary Aneurism about three years previously.

PMID- 20896314
TI  - Case of Cystic Disease of the Kidney simulating Ovarian Disease.

PMID- 20896315
TI  - A History of Seven Cases in which a Morbid Growth was removed from one of the
      Vocal Cords by the aid of the Laryngoscope.

PMID- 20896316
TI  - A Contribution to the Surgical Pathology of Sero-Sanguineous Cysts in the Neck
      and Axilla.

PMID- 20896318
TI  - Case of Perforation of the Mastoid Cells; subsequent Formation of an Abscess
      beneath the Sterno-Mastoid Muscle.

PMID- 20896319
TI  - On Paralysis of the Extensors.

PMID- 20896317
TI  - On the Torsion of Arteries as a means of arresting Haemorrhage, with Experiments.

PMID- 20896320
TI  - On a remarkable Case of Extreme Muscular Atrophy, with extensive Disease of the
      Spinal Cord.

PMID- 20896321
TI  - Description of the Spinal Cord in a case of Traumatic Tetanus.

PMID- 20896322
TI  - A Study of the Influence of Weather and Season upon Public Health, &c. II.
      Comparison of the Influence of Variation of Temperature upon General Sickness in
      the colder and warmer seasons of the year.

PMID- 20896323
TI  - A Study of the Influence of Weather and Season upon Public Health, &c. III. The
      Influence of Daily Range of Atmospheric Temperature.

PMID- 20896324
TI  - On Excess of Urea in the Urine as a guide to the Diagnosis and Treatment of
      certain forms of Dyspepsia and Nervousness.

PMID- 20896325
TI  - 1. On certain points in the Anatomy and Pathology of Bright's Disease of the
      Kidney. 2. On the Influence of the Minute Blood-vessels upon the Circulation.

PMID- 20896326
TI  - On the Cure of Cleft Palate by Operation in Children, with a description of an
      Instrument for facilitating the Operation.

PMID- 20896327
TI  - Case of Double Hernia in a Single Sac.

PMID- 20896329
TI  - On Excision of the Larger Joints, with a Table of Cases.

PMID- 20896328
TI  - On the State of the Optic Nerves and Retinae as seen in the Insane.

PMID- 20896330
TI  - The Results in Thirty-nine cases of Excision of the Knee.

PMID- 20896331
TI  - Description of a Dislocation of the Head of the Femur, complicated with its
      Fracture; with Remarks.

PMID- 20896333
TI  - A case illustrating the Physiology and Pathology of the Cervical Portion of the
      Sympathetic Nerve.

PMID- 20896332
TI  - On some New Double Salts of Carbolic Acid, particularly considered as Agents for
      the Treatment of Disease.

PMID- 20896334
TI  - On the Operations for the relief of Chronic Inversion of the Uterus; with the
      history of a case successfully treated by a New Method.

PMID- 20896335
TI  - A Third Series of One Hundred Cases of Ovariotomy, with remarks on Tapping
      Ovarian Cysts.

PMID- 20896336
TI  - Nephrotomy, as a means of Treating Renal Calculus.

PMID- 20896337
TI  - On the Treatment of Phthisis by Prolonged Residence in Elevated Regions.

PMID- 20896338
TI  - Cases of Iritis occurring in Syphilis treated without Mercury; with remarks on
      this Form of Iritis.

PMID- 20896340
TI  - On a Case of Fusiform and Tubular Aneurism of the Subclavian Artery, and its
      successful Treatment by indirect Digital Compression.

PMID- 20896339
TI  - On certain Points in the Physiology and Pathology of the Fifth Pair of Cerebral
      Nerves.

PMID- 20896341
TI  - A case of Double Aneurism affecting the Right External Iliac and Femoral, and the
      Right Popliteal, Arteries, cured by Pressure upon the Common Iliac and the
      Femoral Arteries.

PMID- 20896342
TI  - A Case of Aneurism of the Femoral Artery, treated by long-continued Compression
      of the Common Iliac; with Remarks.

PMID- 20896343
TI  - On Transverse Fractures of the Patella.

PMID- 20896344
TI  - A Case of Dissecting Aneurism of the Aorta.

PMID- 20896345
TI  - On the Enlargement of the Viscera which occurs in Rickets.

PMID- 20896346
TI  - A Second Communication on the Endemic Haematuria of the Cape of Good Hope and
      Natal.

PMID- 20896348
TI  - Remarks on the Natural History of Rheumatic Fever.

PMID- 20896347
TI  - Completion of the Case of Congenital Hydronephrosis in the Forty-eighth Volume of
      the 'Transactions' of the Society.

PMID- 20896349
TI  - On Fission and Extroversion of the Bladder with Epispadias; with the results of
      eight cases treated by Plastic Operations.

PMID- 20896350
TI  - On Amputation at the Knee-Joint.

PMID- 20896351
TI  - An Analysis of One Hundred and Eighty-four Cases of Stone in the Bladder of the
      Adult treated by Lithotrity.

PMID- 20896352
TI  - On Supra-condyloid Amputation of the Thigh.

PMID- 20896353
TI  - A Case of Extroversion of the Bladder in a Female treated by Operation.

PMID- 20896354
TI  - On Adenoid Vegetations in the Naso-pharyngeal Cavity: their Pathology, Diagnosis,
      and Treatment.

PMID- 20896356
TI  - On certain Morbid Changes in the Nervous System associated with Diabetes.

PMID- 20896355
TI  - On the Anatomy of a Case of Molluscum Fibrosum.

PMID- 20896357
TI  - Anosmia, or Cases illustrating the Physiology and Pathology of the Sense of
      Smell.

PMID- 20896358
TI  - Report of the Committee appointed to investigate Bain's and Pacini's Methods of
      Restoring Suspended Animation.

PMID- 20896359
TI  - Experiments on the Action of certain Diuretics (Citrate and Acetate of Potash,
      Spiritus AEtheris Nitrosi, and Oil of Juniper) on the Urine in Health.

PMID- 20896360
TI  - A Case of Compound Fracture of the Patella, with an Analysis of Sixty-nine Cases
      of that Injury.

PMID- 20896361
TI  - Case in which a Plate with Artificial Teeth was swallowed, detected in the
      Stomach, and extracted.

PMID- 20896362
TI  - On Excision of the Joints for Disease, and specially of the Knee, Hip, and Elbow;
      with the Histories of Twenty Typical Cases, and their Results.

PMID- 20896363
TI  - Three Cases of Injury to the Brain, with an appendix of Cases.

PMID- 20896364
TI  - On Neuritis of the Brachial Plexus.

PMID- 20896365
TI  - On Sporadic Cretinism, occurring in England.

PMID- 20896366
TI  - A Clinical Report on Xanthelasma Palpebrarum, and on its significance as a
      symptom.

PMID- 20896367
TI  - On the Classification and Tabulation of Injuries and Surgical Operations in time
      of war.

PMID- 20896368
TI  - A Case of Bony Ankylosis of the Knee-Joint, treated by Subcutaneous Section of
      the Bone.

PMID- 20896369
TI  - On the Removal of Tumours from Bone.

PMID- 20896370
TI  - A Fourth Series of One Hundred Cases of Ovariotomy, with Remarks on the Diagnosis
      of Uterine from Ovarian Tumours.

PMID- 20896371
TI  - On Dextral Pre-eminence.

PMID- 20896372
TI  - On the Modifications produced in the Temperature of the Body by the Local
      Application of Cold and Heat.

PMID- 20896373
TI  - On a Simple Method of Removing Silver Wire when employed in Cases of ununited
      Fracture.

PMID- 20896375
TI  - Report of a Sub-Committee of the Society on some of the Cases of Vaccino
      Syphilis, related by Mr. Hutchinson.

PMID- 20896374
TI  - Report on Two Series of Cases in which Syphilis was communicated in the Practice
      of Vaccination.

PMID- 20896376
TI  - Second Report of a Sub-Committee of the Society on some of the Cases of Vaccino
      Syphilis.

PMID- 20896377
TI  - A Third Communication on the Endemic Haematuria of the South-Eastern Coast of
      Africa, with remarks on the Topical medication of the Bladder.

PMID- 20896378
TI  - On Temporary Glycosuria as a sequel to Cholera.

PMID- 20896379
TI  - On the Duration of Phthisis Pulmonalis and on certain conditions which influence
      it.

PMID- 20896380
TI  - A Case of large Biliary Concretion in the Ileum.

PMID- 20896382
TI  - A Case of Complete Recovery after Necrosis of the Body of a Cervical Vertebra.

PMID- 20896381
TI  - The Pathology of Scarlatina, and the relation between Enteric and Scarlet Fevers.

PMID- 20896383
TI  - On the Cerebral Mechanism of Speech and Thought.

PMID- 20896385
TI  - On the Surgical Treatment of Suppurating Ovarian Cysts and on Pelvic Adhesions in
      Ovariotomy.

PMID- 20896384
TI  - On the Operation of Opening the Larynx by Section of the Cartilages, &c.,for the
      Removal of Morbid Growths.

PMID- 20896386
TI  - Account of a Case of Resection of the Shoulder and Elbow-Joints of the same arm
      for Gunshot Injury.

PMID- 20896388
TI  - A Case of Abdominal Aneurism treated by Distal Pressure, with remarks.

PMID- 20896387
TI  - On a Case of Abdominal Aneurism cured by Compression of the Aorta.

PMID- 20896389
TI  - On the Effects of Warm Climates in the Treatment of Pulmonary Consumption, as
      exemplified by an analysis of two hundred and fifty-one cases.

PMID- 20896390
TI  - An account of some Renal Calculi of unusual shape found in the Left Kidney of a
      Woman who died of Cancer of the Uterus, &c.

PMID- 20896391
TI  - Account of a Case of Intestinal Obstruction in which an Artificial Anus was made
      in the Small Intestine; recovery; and subsequent death from Cancer and Fatty
      Degeneration of the Heart.

PMID- 20896392
TI  - On the Pathology of the Morbid State commonly called Chronic Bright's Disease
      with Contracted Kidney, ("Arterio-capillary Fibrosis.").

PMID- 20896393
TI  - On Ether and Chloroform as Anaesthetics.

PMID- 20896394
TI  - On a Case of Unilateral Atrophy of the Tongue.

PMID- 20896396
TI  - Progressive Muscular Atrophy, accompanied by Muscular Rigidity and Contraction of
      Joints; examination of the Brain and Spinal Cord.

PMID- 20896395
TI  - On Non-Purulent Catarrh of the Middle Ear.

PMID- 20896397
TI  - A Fifth Series of one hundred Cases, with Remarks on the Results of five hundred
      Cases of Ovariotomy.

PMID- 20896398
TI  - Case of Subclavian Aneurism, in which Temporary Compression of the Innominate was
      tried, followed by Ligature of that Vessel.

PMID- 20896399
TI  - The Pathology of Chronic Bright's Disease with Contracted Kidney, with especial
      reference to the theroy of "Arterio-Capillary Fibrosis".

PMID- 20896400
TI  - An Analysis of Ship Air and its Effects.

PMID- 20896401
TI  - A Second Report on the Communication of Syphilis in the Practice of Vaccination;
      with two additional Cases.

PMID- 20896402
TI  - Removal of a Needle from the Heart; Recovery of the Patient.

PMID- 20896403
TI  - Case of Ovarian Dropsy, Operated on during an attack of acute peritonitis.

PMID- 20896404
TI  - Case of Excision of the Knee-Joint for Disease, in a woman fifty-three years of
      age, with successful result.

PMID- 20896405
TI  - Successful Case of Gastrotomy in Extra-Uterine Pregnancy.

PMID- 20896407
TI  - On three peculiar cases of Molluscum Fibrosum in Children in which one or more of
      the following conditions were observed: hypertrophy of the gums, enlargement of
      the ends of the fingers and toes, numerous connecive-tissue tumours on the scalp,
      &c.

PMID- 20896406
TI  - On Disseminated Suppuration of the Kidney, secondary to certain conditions of
      Urinary Disturbance.

PMID- 20896408
TI  - Report of a Case of Molluscum Fibrosum or Fibroma; with observations.

PMID- 20896409
TI  - The Pathology of Leprosy, with a note on the Segregation of Lepers in India.

PMID- 20896410
TI  - On the Morbid Effects of Alcohol, as shown in Persons who trade in Liquor.

PMID- 20896411
TI  - On the Elevated Health Resorts of the Southern Hemisphere; with special reference
      to South Africa.

PMID- 20896412
TI  - Preternatural Cavities in the Brain of the Sane and Insane.

PMID- 20896413
TI  - On the Infective Product of Acute Inflammation.

PMID- 20896414
TI  - Case of Abdominal Aneurism successfully treated by Proximal Pressure of the
      Aorta.

PMID- 20896415
TI  - Analysis of Observations on the Temperature, Pulse, and Respiration in Phthisis
      and Acute Tuberculization of the Lungs.

PMID- 20896416
TI  - On the Respiratory Movements in Man, with an account of a new Instrument for
      Measuring the movements of the Chest.

PMID- 20896417
TI  - Case of Imperfect Development of the Circular Muscular Fibres of the Rectum and
      Vagina.

PMID- 20896418
TI  - Remarks on Dislocations of the first and second Pieces of the Sternum.

PMID- 20896420
TI  - Cases of Disordered Muscular Movement, illustrating the Uses of Hemlock.

PMID- 20896419
TI  - Notes of a Case of Duchenne's Pseudo-hypertrophic Muscular Paralysis, with
      special reference to the Temperature of the Overgrown Limbs, and with General
      Remarks.

PMID- 20896421
TI  - Case of Primary Excision of the Ankle-joint, with Observations.

PMID- 20896423
TI  - Cases of (so-called) Ichthyosis Linguae.

PMID- 20896422
TI  - On the Treatment of Rickety Deformities of the Legs by Operation.

PMID- 20896424
TI  - On the Amount of Carbonic Acid found by Experiment in the Air on Board Wooden
      Frigates.

PMID- 20896425
TI  - A Case of Necrosis of the Jaw, and other Bones, from the Fumes of Phosphorus.

PMID- 20896426
TI  - On an Improved Method of Abscission of the Anterior Portion of the Eyeball.

PMID- 20896428
TI  - On the Acoustic Principles and Construction of Stethoscopes and Ear Trumpets.

PMID- 20896427
TI  - The Etiology of Bright's Disease and the Prealbuminuric Stage.

PMID- 20896429
TI  - On Septic Disease in and out of Hospitals.

PMID- 20896430
TI  - On a Disease of the Skin produced by the Acarus folliculorum, illustrated by
      Cases observed in the Dog.

PMID- 20896431
TI  - On a Case of Pseudo-hypertrophic Muscular Paralysis.

PMID- 20896432
TI  - A Contribution to the Natural History of Pulmonary Consumption, consisting of an
      Analysis of One Hundred Male Cases of Haemoptysis.

PMID- 20896434
TI  - Case of Idiopathic Hyalitis (Acute Inflammation of the Vitreous Humour of both
      Eyes).

PMID- 20896433
TI  - A Successful Case of Abdominal Section for Intussusception, with Remarks on this
      and other Methods of Treatment.

PMID- 20896435
TI  - A Case of Renal Calculi.

PMID- 20896436
TI  - The Successful Treatment of Aneurism by Position and Restricted Diet.

PMID- 20896437
TI  - Large Adenocele, complicated with Milk Cyst.

PMID- 20896439
TI  - Contribution to the History of Laryngeal Phthisis.

PMID- 20896438
TI  - Case of a Foreign Body Impacted for Twenty Months in the Female Pelvis; Recovery
      after its Removal.

PMID- 20896440
TI  - Urinary Crystals and Calculi: being Observations on some of the circumstances
      determining the Forms of Crystalline Deposits in Urine, and on some of the
      conditions under which Renal and Vesical Calculi are produced.

PMID- 20896441
TI  - A Case of Pulsating Tumour of the Left Orbit, consequent upon a Fracture of the
      Base of the Skull, Cured by Ligature of the Left Common Carotid Artery,
      subsequently to Injection of Perchloride of Iron, after Digital Compression and
      other means of Treatment had failed; with Remarks, and an Appendix containing a
      Chronological Resume of Recorded Cases of Intra-orbital Aneurism.

PMID- 20896442
TI  - On the Laryngeal Symptoms which Result from the Pressure of Aneurismal and other
      Tumours upon the Vagus and Recurrent Nerves.

PMID- 20896443
TI  - Observations upon the Elimination of Urea in certain Diseases.

PMID- 20896444
TI  - A Case of Left Subclavian Aneurism treated by Temporary Compression applied
      directly to the Artery in the First Part of its Course; with Remarks.

PMID- 20896445
TI  - On the Histology of the so-called Nutmeg Liver.

PMID- 20896446
TI  - On the Construction and Use of a New Form of Cardiograph.

PMID- 20896447
TI  - On a Case of Double Facial Palsy, with Observations on the Physiology of the
      Nerves supplying the Forepart of the Tongue.

PMID- 20896448
TI  - On the "so-called" Partial Dislocation of the Humerus.

PMID- 20896449
TI  - Notes on an Epidemic of Malarious Yellow Fever occurring on board H.M.S. 'Doris,'
      shortly after leaving Port Royal, Jamaica, May 18th, 1873.

PMID- 20896450
TI  - On the Pathology of Lupus Erythematosus.

PMID- 20896451
TI  - On the Temperature of Phthisis Pulmonalis, and on the Various Conditions
      influencing it.

PMID- 20896452
TI  - Cases of Syphilitic Reinfection; with Remarks.

PMID- 20896453
TI  - On the Pathology of Chorea.

PMID- 20896454
TI  - Note on Pathological Absorption Spectra.

PMID- 20896455
TI  - On the Minute Anatomy of Two Breasts, the Areolae of which had been the seat of
      long-standing Eczema.

PMID- 20896456
TI  - Case of Sphacelus of the Thyroid Gland, with recovery of the patient.

PMID- 20896458
TI  - Intermittent Haemorrhage from Malarial Influence.

PMID- 20896457
TI  - Notes on the Bouton de Biskra (Mycosis cutis chronica, auctoris).

PMID- 20896459
TI  - On the Estimation of Albumen in Urine by a New Method, adapted for clinical
      purposes.

PMID- 20896460
TI  - The Urea and Chlorides in the Urine of Jaundice.

PMID- 20896461
TI  - On some effects of Lung Elasticity in Health and Disease.

PMID- 20896462
TI  - On some of the Histological Changes found in Cancer of the Skin or Epithelioma,
      with special reference to the source of the newly formed epithelial cells.

PMID- 20896464
TI  - On a Case of Intermitting Hydronephrosis; with some remarks on Hydronephrosis as
      a Cause of Abdominal Tumours.

PMID- 20896463
TI  - On the Development of Spindle-Cells in "Nested Sarcomas.".

PMID- 20896465
TI  - On "Athetosis" and Post-Hemiplegic Disorders of Movement.

PMID- 20896466
TI  - On the Nature and Mode of Origin of the Lead Line in the Gums.

PMID- 20896467
TI  - On Ingravescent Apoplexy: a contribution to the Localisation of Cerebral Lesions.

PMID- 20896468
TI  - On the Causation of the Water-Hammer Pulse, and its Transformation in Different
      Arteries as illustrated by the Graphic Method.

PMID- 20896469
TI  - Observations on Box (Buxus sempervirens), with especial reference to the True
      Nature of Tetanus.

PMID- 20896470
TI  - On the Use of the Actual Cautery in the Enucleation of Fibroid Tumours of the
      Uterus.

PMID- 20896471
TI  - On Aortic Aneurism in the Army, and the conditions associated with it.

PMID- 20896472
TI  - A Case in which Abdominal Section was successfully performed for Intussusception
      in an Infant seven months old.

PMID- 20896473
TI  - A Case of Intussusception in an Adult, without symptoms of Strangulation, treated
      successfully by Abdominal Section.

PMID- 20896475
TI  - Subcutaneous Division of the Neck of the Femur for Anchylosis of the Hip-joint.

PMID- 20896474
TI  - Notes of a second Case of Abdominal Section for Intussusception into the Colon,
      with remarks on the details of the operation.

PMID- 20896477
TI  - Case of Resection of the Tarsal Bones for Double Congenital Talipes Equino-varus.

PMID- 20896476
TI  - A Case of General Teleangiectasis most developed in the left half of the body,
      associated with abnormalities of the large blood-vessels of the left lower limb
      and in the neck.

PMID- 20896478
TI  - A Case of Sclerema Adultorum.

PMID- 20896480
TI  - On the Minute Anatomy of Two Cases of Carcinoma of the Breast preceded by Eczema
      of the Nipple and Areola.

PMID- 20896481
TI  - Dislocations of the Thigh: their mode of occurrence as indicated by experiments,
      and the Anatomy of the Hip-joint.

PMID- 20896479
TI  - A Case of Simple Atrophic Sclerema, associated with Disorder of the Circulatory
      and Alimentary Functions.

PMID- 20896483
TI  - Notes of a Case of Pseudo-hypertrophic Paralysis, with a few observations on
      surface thermometry.

PMID- 20896482
TI  - On Necrosis without Suppuration, with a Case of Intraosseous Necrosis of the
      Femur without Suppuration, for which Amputation at the Hip-joint was performed.

PMID- 20896484
TI  - Three Hundred additional Cases of Ovariotomy, with Remarks on Drainage of the
      Peritoneal Cavity.

PMID- 20896486
TI  - On Direct Wounds of the Ureter.

PMID- 20896485
TI  - The Pathological Anatomy of Canine "Chorea.".

PMID- 20896487
TI  - Note on the Delhi Boil (Furunculus Delhinus).

PMID- 20896488
TI  - A Case of all but Universal Paralysis in a Child, following exposure to heat;
      with complete recovery.

PMID- 20896489
TI  - On an International Calculating Scale for Ophthalmological Purposes.

PMID- 20896490
TI  - Twenty-five Cases of Ovariotomy; with some Remarks on the Causes and Treatment of
      the Fever so frequently following the Operation.

PMID- 20896491
TI  - A Case of Primary Cylindrical Epithelioma of the Lung, with Secondary Deposits in
      the Pleura, Bronchial Glands, and Liver.

PMID- 20896492
TI  - On a Form of Chronic Inflammation of Bones (Osteitis Deformans).

PMID- 20896493
TI  - A Case of Complete Absence of both the Upper Limbs, and of Faulty Development of
      the Right Lower Limb.

PMID- 20896494
TI  - On the Use of Flexible Tracheotomy Tubes.

PMID- 20896495
TI  - A Case of Lodgment of a Tracheotomy Tube in the Right Bronchus, and its
      Extraction.

PMID- 20896496
TI  - On a Case in which a Flexible India-rubber Tracheotomy Tube was removed from the
      Right Bronchus.

PMID- 20896497
TI  - A Case in which a Silver Tracheotomy Tube was removed from the Left Bronchus,
      where it had been lodged seven weeks.

PMID- 20896499
TI  - A Second Communication on Simple Atrophic Sclerema.

PMID- 20896498
TI  - On a Case of Noma, in which Moving Bodies were observed in the Blood during Life.

PMID- 20896500
TI  - Analysis of Seventy-five Cases of "Writer's Cramp" and Impaired Writing Power.

PMID- 20896501
TI  - On a large Aneurism of the Aorta, Innominate, Subclavian, and Carotid Arteries,
      treated successfully by Double Distal Ligature.

PMID- 20896503
TI  - An Account of 500 Cases of Operation for Stone in the Bladder of the Male Adult,
      comprising his entire experience of such cases to January, 1877, with Remarks on
      the most important Incidents in connection with them.

PMID- 20896502
TI  - On a Case of Amnesia, with Post-mortem Examination.

PMID- 20896504
TI  - On the Condition of the Skin in Tinea tonsurans.

PMID- 20896505
TI  - One Hundred Cases of Paracentesis of the Tympanic Membrane, with the Results
      obtained therefrom, and Remarks on the Methods of Operation.

PMID- 20896506
TI  - On some Points in the Minute Anatomy of the Kidney and their relation to the
      Pathological Phenomenon of Tubular Casts.

PMID- 20896507
TI  - On Paralysis of the Internal Muscles of the Eye (Ophthalmoplegia Intima), a Group
      of Symptoms which probably indicates Disease of the Lenticular Ganglion.

PMID- 20896508
TI  - Treatment of Haemorrhage from Punctured Wounds of the Throat and Neck, especially
      considered with regard to Ligature of the External Carotid Artery.

PMID- 20896509
TI  - A Contribution to the Pathology of Haemophilia.

PMID- 20896510
TI  - On the Pathological Traces of Pulmonary Haemorrhage.

PMID- 20896511
TI  - Notes on the Spirillum Fever of Bombay, 1877.

PMID- 20896513
TI  - Appendix to Dr. John Harley's Paper, page 101, on Simple Atrophic Sclerema:
      Sequel of Case of Wm. W-, Post-mortem, &c.

PMID- 20896512
TI  - Case of Intussusception in which Abdominal Section was performed.

PMID- 20896514
TI  - On the Removal by Operation of a Hairy Mole occupying half the Forehead.

PMID- 20896515
TI  - Cases of Branchial Fistulae in the External Ears.

PMID- 20896516
TI  - The Microscopic Anatomy of the Smooth Tongue, "Chronic Superficial Glossitis.".

PMID- 20896518
TI  - On the Pathology of Tetanus and Hydrophobia.

PMID- 20896517
TI  - On Myxoedema, a term proposed to be applied to an essential condition in the
      "Cretinoid" Affection occasionally observed in Middle-aged Women.

PMID- 20896519
TI  - On the Proportion of Red Corpuscles in the Blood in some Skin Diseases.

PMID- 20896520
TI  - V. Dr. Dickinson's Tables of Cases, with remarks.

PMID- 20896521
TI  - VI. Dr. Hilton Fagge's Collection of Cases, with remarks.

PMID- 20896522
TI  - VII. Dr. Gee's Tables of Cases.

PMID- 20896523
TI  - VIII. List of Reports to the Medical Officers of the Privy Council and Local
      Government Board on Outbreaks of Diphtheria, and on subjects related thereto.

PMID- 20896524
TI  - A Case of Morphoea.

PMID- 20896525
TI  - On the Condition of the Skin in Tinea tonsurans.

PMID- 20896526
TI  - The Nature of Iodide-of-Potassium Eruption.

PMID- 20896527
TI  - Tracheotomy in Membranous Laryngitis: the indications for its adoption, and some
      special points as regards its after-treatment.

PMID- 20896528
TI  - On Three Cases of Distal Ligature of the Carotid and Subclavian Arteries for
      Aneurism involving the Innominate Artery.

PMID- 20896529
TI  - On Disease of the Mastoid Bone.

PMID- 20896530
TI  - Observations on the effect of Diet, Rest, Exercise, &c., in Chronic Nephritis.

PMID- 20896531
TI  - A Study of the so-called Tendon-Reflex Phemomena.

PMID- 20896532
TI  - On Ophthalmoplegia Externa, or Symmetrical Immobility (partial) of the Eyes, with
      Ptosis.

PMID- 20896533
TI  - Narrative of a Case of True Leprosy, in which complete recovery has taken place.

PMID- 20896534
TI  - On the Diagnosis and Treatment of Ruptured Bladder.

PMID- 20896535
TI  - Copies of Circulars of Inquiries.

PMID- 20896536
TI  - Remarks on One Hundred and Fifty Operations for Extraction of Cataract.

PMID- 20896537
TI  - A Case of Secondary Trephining for Traumatic Abscess of the Brain; recovery.

PMID- 20896538
TI  - On Deligation for Aortic Aneurism of the Right Carotid and Subclavian Arteries,
      with a new species of Ligature.

PMID- 20896539
TI  - On the Pathology of Lupus, with special reference to the appearances described as
      Giant Cells.

PMID- 20896540
TI  - Tumour in the Bladder removed by Perineal Incision; complete recovery.

PMID- 20896541
TI  - The Movements of the Eyelids.

PMID- 20896542
TI  - Observations on the Ophthalmoscopic Appearances in the Tubercular Meningitis of
      Children.

PMID- 20896543
TI  - III. Historical Sketch of Anatomical Distinctions which have been drawn between
      Croup and Diphtheria.

PMID- 20896544
TI  - IV. Report on the Histology of the Laryngeal and Tracheal False Membrane.

PMID- 20896545
TI  - An Account of a large Dermoid Cyst found in the Abdomen of a Man.

PMID- 20896546
TI  - Description of Malformations of the Genital Organs of a Man associated with
      Persistence of one of the Ducts of Muller.

PMID- 20896547
TI  - A Contribution to the Non-glandular Theory of Origin of Molluscum Contagiosum.

PMID- 20896548
TI  - The Antiseptic Theory tested by the Statistics of One Hundred Cases of Successful
      Ovariotomy.

PMID- 20896549
TI  - Case of Cholecystotomy preformed for Dropsy of the Gall-bladder due to impaction
      of a Gall-stone.

PMID- 20896550
TI  - Nephrectomy by Abdominal Section.

PMID- 20896551
TI  - On the Estimation of Uric Acid by its Reducing Action upon the Ammoniated Cupric
      Test.

PMID- 20896552
TI  - A Case of Extreme Pharyngeal Stenosis the Result of Syphilis. With Remarks.

PMID- 20896554
TI  - On the Partial Metabolism, by the Liver, of Leucin and Tyrosin into Urea.

PMID- 20896553
TI  - On Trephining for Traumatic Epilepsy, with an Illustrative Case.

PMID- 20896555
TI  - An Account of the Dissection of the Parts removed after Death from the Body of a
      Woman the subject of Congenital Malformation of the Spinal Column, Bony Thorax,
      and Left Scapular Arch; with Remarks on the probable nature of the Defects in
      Development producing the Deformities.

PMID- 20896556
TI  - Compound Fracture of the Femur twenty years after Excision of the Knee-joint for
      Disease, the line of Fracture being transversely one inch above the bony union.

PMID- 20896557
TI  - On the Treatment of Pelvic Suppuration by Abdominal Section and Drainage.

PMID- 20896558
TI  - A Case of Sub-coracoid Dislocation of the Humerus, with the Formation of an
      Indentation on the Posterior Surface of the Head, the Joint being unopened; with
      Remarks on the Mode of Production of Fracture of the Anatomical Neck, with
      Dislocation.

PMID- 20896560
TI  - On a Case of Basic Cavity of the Lung treated by Paracentesis.

PMID- 20896559
TI  - On a Case of Epithelioma of the Neck following a Patch of Chronic Skin Disease,
      in which the Cancer was twice Excised and the External and Internal Jugulars were
      Ligatured.

PMID- 20896561
TI  - On two Cases of Carcinoma of the Breast, preceded by so-called Eczema of the
      Nipple and Areola.

PMID- 20896562
TI  - Description of two Cases of direct Dislocation backwards of the Femur with
      Fracture of the Rim of the Acetabulum, with Remarks on the mode of production of
      Dislocations backwards.

PMID- 20896563
TI  - On a Case of Aneurism of the Subclavian Artery treated by Amputation at the
      Shoulder-joint and the introduction of Needles into the Sac.

PMID- 20896565
TI  - On a Case of Aneurism of the External Carotid, in which, after Failure of the
      Ligature of the Common Carotid, the old operation was successful.

PMID- 20896564
TI  - Contributions to the Experimental Pathology of Spirillum Fever.

PMID- 20896566
TI  - On Hyperpyrexia after "Listerian" Ovariotomy.

PMID- 20896567
TI  - One Hundred and Seventy-two Antiseptic Abdominal Sections, with Remarks on the
      Causes of Death in the Fatal Cases.

PMID- 20896568
TI  - Two Hundred Additional Cases, completing One Thousand Cases Of Ovariotomy, with
      Remarks on Recent Improvements in the Operation.

PMID- 20896569
TI  - Further Observations on the Value of Stethometry in the Prognosis of Chest
      Disease.

PMID- 20896570
TI  - A Case of Abscess in the Neck, which in its course destroyed a large portion of
      the Carotid Artery, Jugular Vein, and Pneumogastric Nerve.

PMID- 20896571
TI  - On a Probable Cause of Lead Colic.

PMID- 20896572
TI  - Experience and Specimens of Ox-aorta Ligature, and some Remarks on the
      Variability of Catgut.

PMID- 20896573
TI  - A Case of Innominate Aneurism treated by Simultaneous Distal Ligature of the
      Carotid and Subclavian Arteries; with Remarks on the Behaviour of a Tendon
      Ligature.

PMID- 20896574
TI  - On the Development of a Layer of Elastic Fibres in Duct Cancer of the Breast.

PMID- 20896575
TI  - Case of Vascular Protrusion of the Eyeball.

PMID- 20896576
TI  - Nephrectomy by Lumbar Section.

PMID- 20896577
TI  - An Unusual Case of Warty Growths on the Face.

PMID- 20896578
TI  - A Case of Urticaria Tuberosa, with unusual Symptoms.

PMID- 20896579
TI  - The Immediate Treatment of Fractures of the Leg by Plaster-of-Paris Splints.

PMID- 20896580
TI  - On the Pathology of Acute Periostitis.

PMID- 20896581
TI  - Amoeboid Movements of the Colourless Blood-corpuscles in Leuchaemia.

PMID- 20896582
TI  - On Artificial Respiration in Stillborn Children: the amount of Ventilation
      secured by different methods. An Experimental Inquiry.

PMID- 20896584
TI  - On Gangrenous Eruptions in connection with Vaccination and Chicken-pox.

PMID- 20896583
TI  - On Artificial Respiration in Stillborn Children, second communication: the
      Expansibility of various parts of the Lungs. An Experimental Inquiry.

PMID- 20896585
TI  - Two cases of Unreduced, and two cases of Reduced, Dislocation of the Hip.

PMID- 20896586
TI  - On the Variations in the amount of Sulphocyanide of Potassium in the Saliva of
      Persons affected with different Diseases.

PMID- 20896587
TI  - Two cases of Congenital Macrostoma accompanied by Malformation of the Auricles,
      and by the presence of Auricular Appendages.

PMID- 20896589
TI  - On a Case of Tumour of the Bladder (in the male) successfully removed through a
      Perineal Section of the Urethra; with remarks on the applicability of the
      operation in certain cases.

PMID- 20896588
TI  - A successful case of Lumbar Colectomy, or Excision of a Stricture of the
      Descending Colon through an incision made for a Left Lumbar Colotomy; with
      remarks.

PMID- 20896590
TI  - On Wounds of the Theca Vertebralis, with discharge of Cerebro-spinal fluid.

PMID- 20896591
TI  - Two Cases of Laryngeal Growths; in one of which numerous sessile, in part
      subglottic recurrent Papillomata, and in the other a large, hard, broad-based,
      vascular Fibroma were successfully removed by endolaryngeal, mainly galvano
      caustic operations.

PMID- 20896592
TI  - On Thyrotomy for the removal of Foreign Bodies impacted in the interior of the
      Thyroid Cartilage.

PMID- 20896593
TI  - Concerning the action of Salts of Potash, Soda, and Ammonia on the Frog's Heart.

PMID- 20896595
TI  - Additional Cases of Osteitis Deformans.

PMID- 20896594
TI  - A successful case of Simultaneous Ligature of the Carotid and Subclavian Arteries
      for Innominate Aneurism.

PMID- 20896596
TI  - Notes of two cases of Malignant Pustule, together with a table of seventeen cases
      which have been treated at Guy's Hospital: With a Report on the microscopical
      examination of sections from a portion of the skin of the cheek affected with
      malignant pustule, removed during life from a patient of Mr. Davies-Colley.

PMID- 20896597
TI  - Case of Excision of a Gravid Uterus, with Epithelioma of the Cervix, with remarks
      on the operations of Blundell, Freund, and Porro.

PMID- 20896598
TI  - A case of Lithotomy, where a Tumour of the Prostate was successfully enucleated;
      with remarks on the removal of such growths.

PMID- 20896599
TI  - A case of Fibrous Polypous Tumour of the Bladder successfully removed.

PMID- 20896600
TI  - Three cases of Tumour arising from Skin-glands in the Dog, showing the connection
      between disorder of the glandular structure and function, and cancerous invasion
      of the connective tissue.

PMID- 20896601
TI  - The Surgical Uses of Kangaroo Tendons.

PMID- 20896602
TI  - Third communication on Artificial Respiration in Still-born Children; Mediastinal
      Emphysema and Pneumothorax in connection with Tracheotomy; an experimental
      Inquiry.

PMID- 20896604
TI  - Ophthalmoplegia Externa complicating a case of Graves' Disease.

PMID- 20896603
TI  - On the Great Frequency of Cardiac Murmurs in the Puerperal State.

PMID- 20896605
TI  - On the Endemic Haematuria of the South-East Coast of Africa: With an
      introduction.

PMID- 20896606
TI  - A Contribution to the Pathology of Diphtheritic Paralysis.

PMID- 20896607
TI  - A Second Case of Malformation of the Left Shoulder-Girdle; removal of the
      abnormal portion of bone; with remarks on the probable nature of the deformity.

PMID- 20896608
TI  - On Cases Described as "Acute Rickets," which are probably a combination of Scurvy
      and Rickets, the Scurvy being an essential, and the rickets a variable, element.

PMID- 20896610
TI  - Cavernous Naevus of the Rectum, proving fatal in an adult from Haemorrhage.

PMID- 20896609
TI  - Subperiosteal Haemorrhage (probably scorbutic) of three long Bones in a Rickety
      Infant.

PMID- 20896611
TI  - I. A Case of Purulent Pericarditis Treated by Paracentesis and by Free Incision,
      with recovery. II. The Statistics of Paracentesis Pericardii, with remarks.

PMID- 20896613
TI  - A Case of Asymmetry of the Brain, presenting peculiarities which bear upon the
      question of the connection between the Optic Nerves and Certain definite areae of
      the Cerebral Cortex.

PMID- 20896612
TI  - Gliomatous enlargement of the Pons Varolii in Children.

PMID- 20896614
TI  - A Case of Excision of an Enlarged Cancerous Kidney.

PMID- 20896615
TI  - A Case of Suppurating Traumatic Haematoma connected with the left Kidney, treated
      by puncture and antiseptic drainage.

PMID- 20896616
TI  - On the Bacillus of Leprosy.

PMID- 20896617
TI  - On Urticaria Pigmentosa or Xanthelasmoidea; Urticaria Pigmentosa (Sangster), U.
      Perstans Pigmentosa (Pick), Xanthelasmoidea (Tilbury Fox).

PMID- 20896618
TI  - Twelve Cases of Tumour of the Bladder (ten in the male and two in the female) in
      all of which an operation has been performed for the removal of the growth, with
      their histories and the results.

PMID- 20896619
TI  - On Dislocation of the Foot, with version and torsion of the Astragalus.

PMID- 20896621
TI  - A Case of Aneurism of the External Carotid Artery; ligature of the Common
      Carotid, with cure of the Aneurism; death from Paralysis on the thirty-fifth day.

PMID- 20896620
TI  - On Resection of Portions of Intestine.

PMID- 20896622
TI  - Aneurism of the Arch of the Aorta; ligature of the right Subclavian and Carotid
      Arteries; death by rupture of the Sac on the fifty-first day after the operation.

PMID- 20896623
TI  - A Case of Aneurism of the Arch of the Aorta involving the Innominate Artery, with
      remarks on the Distal Ligature.

PMID- 20896624
TI  - Fourth communication on Artificial Respiration in Still-born Children. Certain
      minor points. An experimental inquiry.

PMID- 20896625
TI  - The direct treatment of Psoas Abscess with Caries of the Spine.

PMID- 20896626
TI  - Radical cure of a large Spina Bifida in an Adult.

PMID- 20896627
TI  - On a form of Alcoholic Spinal Paralysis.

PMID- 20896628
TI  - Neurectomy of the Second Division of the Fifth Nerve.

PMID- 20896629
TI  - On the value of Systematic Examination of Stillborn Children.

PMID- 20896631
TI  - The Pathology of Myxoedema as illustrated in a typical case.

PMID- 20896630
TI  - Three cases of Xeroderma Pigmentosum (Kaposi) or Atrophoderma Pigmentosum.

PMID- 20896632
TI  - An average or "Composite" Temperature Chart of Smallpox.

PMID- 20896634
TI  - On the treatment of Pus-secreting Basic Cavities of the Lung by the method of
      Paracentesis and Free Drainage.

PMID- 20896633
TI  - A case of Gangrene of the Lung following Necrosis of the Temporal Bone, the
      result of Scarlet Fever. Treatment by Drainage. Recovery.

PMID- 20896635
TI  - Three forms of Spinal Deformity.

PMID- 20896636
TI  - On a particular form of Amnesia. Loss of nouns.

PMID- 20896637
TI  - Embolism of the Right Middle Cerebral Artery, producing Left Hemiplegia and
      Hemianaesthesia: absorption of a large portion of the Right Hemisphere: death
      seven years later.

PMID- 20896639
TI  - On the Weight of the Thyroid Body in persons dying from various causes.

PMID- 20896638
TI  - On Albuminuria with Parametritis.

PMID- 20896640
TI  - Cerebral Localisation. A Review and Forecast. Being the Marshall Hall Prize
      Oration.

PMID- 20896642
TI  - Investigations into the action of the Digitalis Group.

PMID- 20896641
TI  - Case of Spontaneous Inguinal Aneurism in a boy aged twelve years; for which the
      external iliac artery was tied. With a table of all the other recorded cases of
      external aneurism in persons under twenty years of age.

PMID- 20896643
TI  - On High Amputation for Senile Gangrene.

PMID- 20896645
TI  - Case of Double Simultaneous Distal Ligature for Innominate Aneurysm.

PMID- 20896644
TI  - Cases in which Perforation of the Mastoid Cells is necessary.

PMID- 20896646
TI  - Case of Displacement and Fracture of the Axis. Life prolonged for ten years.

PMID- 20896648
TI  - An Account of Two Families, several Members of which are Ataxic.

PMID- 20896647
TI  - Observations on the Radical Cure of Club-Foot, and Exhibition of Cases which have
      been Operated on.

PMID- 20896649
TI  - Fatal Haemoptysis: the Statistics of the last Fifteen Years of the Chest
      Hospital, Victoria Park; with Remarks upon Profuse Non-fatal Haemoptysis.

PMID- 20896650
TI  - Acute Peritonitis treated by Abdominal Section.

PMID- 20896651
TI  - A Case of Abdominal Section for Acute Circumscribed Peritonitis. Recovery.

PMID- 20896653
TI  - On a Case of Aneurism of the Abdominal Aorta, which caused Gangrene of the Right
      Lower Extremity, partly by Embolism, and partly by Pressure of the Inferior Vena
      Cava.

PMID- 20896652
TI  - Aneurism of Abdominal Aorta. Distal Compression-Cure of the Aneurism-Death from
      Gangrene of the Jejunum on Eleventh Day- Necropy #x2014; Remarks.

PMID- 20896654
TI  - Three Cases (Progressive Muscular Atrophy and Infantile Paralysis) illustrating
      the Localisation of Motor Centres in the Brachial Enlargement of the Spinal Cord.

PMID- 20896656
TI  - Notes on So-called Non-Ovarian Dermoid Abdominal Tumours.

PMID- 20896655
TI  - On the Pathological Histology of the Semilunar and Superior Cervical Sympathetic
      Ganglia.

PMID- 20896657
TI  - Case of Cerebral Tumour.

PMID- 20896658
TI  - The Experimental Production of Chorea and other Results of Capillary Embolism of
      the Brain and Cord.

PMID- 20896659
TI  - Fatty Tumours.

PMID- 20896660
TI  - Case of Cirsoid Aneurism on the Dorsum of the Foot, with Remarks on the Disease.

PMID- 20896661
TI  - On a Case of very Large Lympho-Sarcomatous Tumour of the Tongue.

PMID- 20896662
TI  - On Expiratory Cervical Emphysema, that is, Emphysema of the Neck occurring during
      Labour and during violent Expiratory Efforts. An Experimental Inquiry.

PMID- 20896664
TI  - On the Distribution of the "Tubercle Bacilli" in the Lesions of Phthisis.

PMID- 20896663
TI  - A Successful Case of Lumbar Nephrectomy for Renal Calculus.

PMID- 20896665
TI  - On Some Points regarding the Distribution of Bacillus Anthracis in the Human Skin
      in Malignant Pustule.

PMID- 20896666
TI  - A Case of So-called Actinomycosis of the Liver.

PMID- 20896667
TI  - A Case of Destruction of a Portion of the Axillary Artery by Sarcoma.

PMID- 20896669
TI  - On the Increase in Number of White Corpuscles in the Blood in Inflammation,
      especially in those Cases accompanied by Suppuration.

PMID- 20896668
TI  - Amputation at the Knee-joint by Disarticulation; with Remarks on the Amputation
      of the Leg by Lateral Flaps.

PMID- 20896670
TI  - A Communication on the Removal of a Growth from the Brachial Plexus, affecting
      the Roots of the Eighth Cervical and First Dorsal Nerves at their Emergence from
      the Intervertebral Foramina.

PMID- 20896671
TI  - Statistics of Mortality in the Medical Profession.

PMID- 20896672
TI  - On the Tapetum Lucidum.

PMID- 20896673
TI  - Enteric Fever at Suakin, with Some Cases of Malarial-enteric, or Typho-malarial
      Fever.

PMID- 20896674
TI  - A Case of Thoracic Aneurism treated by the Introduction of Steel Wire into the
      Sac.

PMID- 20896675
TI  - On the Changes which Occur in Bone and Soft Tissues after Ampuration of a Limb,
      and from certain other Conditions.

PMID- 20896676
TI  - A Case of General Seborrhoea or "Harlequin" Foetus.

PMID- 20896677
TI  - On Cardiography, with Special Reference to the Relation of the Time of Duration
      of Ventricular Systole to that of Diastolic Interval.

PMID- 20896678
TI  - Two Cases of Bronchiectasis treated by Paracentesis, with Remarks on the Mode of
      Operation.

PMID- 20896679
TI  - On Supra-pubic Lithotomy.

PMID- 20896680
TI  - A Case of Encysted Vesical Calculus of Unusually Large Size removed by Supra
      pubic Cystotomy.

PMID- 20896681
TI  - A Case of Supra-pubic Lithotomy, with Remarks on the Operation.

PMID- 20896683
TI  - Two Cases of Splenectomy.

PMID- 20896682
TI  - The Chemical Pathology of Respiration in Cholera.

PMID- 20896685
TI  - On the Development of Mammary Functions by the Skin of Lying-in Women.

PMID- 20896684
TI  - Diffuse Lipoma.

PMID- 20896686
TI  - The Ligation of the Larger Arteries in their Continuity. An Experimental Inquiry.

PMID- 20896687
TI  - Congenital Absence of Hair and Mammary Glands with Atrophic Condition of the Skin
      and its Appendages, in a Boy whose Mother had been almost wholly Bald from
      Alopecia Areata from the age of Six.

PMID- 20896688
TI  - The Morbid Anatomy and Pathology of Encysted and Infantile Hernia.

PMID- 20896689
TI  - On a Case of Multiple Neuromata.

PMID- 20896690
TI  - Some Statistics of Pneumonia, with especial Reference to the Relations of
      Delirium and Temperature.

PMID- 20896691
TI  - A Case of Ligature of the Left Common Carotid Artery wounded by a Fish-bone which
      had penetrated the Pharynx; with Remarks and an Appendix containing Forty-five
      Cases of Wounds of Blood-vessels by Foreign Bodies.

PMID- 20896692
TI  - Scarlatinal Albuminuria, and the Pre-albuminuric Stage, Studied by Frequent
      Testing.

PMID- 20896694
TI  - A Case of Multiple Embolism of the Arteries of the Extremities followed by the
      Formation of Aneurisms. With Remarks on the Relations of Embolism to Aneurism.

PMID- 20896693
TI  - On the Active Principle of Castor Oil.

PMID- 20896695
TI  - On the Effect upon the Femoral Artery of its Ligature for the Cure of Popliteal
      Aneurism.

PMID- 20896696
TI  - Richter's Hernia or Partial Enterocele.

PMID- 20896697
TI  - Clinical Observations on "Induration" in the Primary Lesion of Syphilis in Women.

PMID- 20896698
TI  - On a Case in which the Urinary Bladder was twice Ruptured; the first time by
      Violence; the second time (seven years after the first) by the giving way of the
      Adhesion whereby the Rent had been closed.

PMID- 20896700
TI  - Some New Facts concerning Gouty Parotitis and Gouty Orchitis.

PMID- 20896699
TI  - On some Dangers connected with the Use of the Aspirator as a means of Relieving
      the Distended Urinary Bladder, with Suggestions for the Treatment of Certain
      Cases of Retention of Urine.

PMID- 20896702
TI  - On a Case of Obstruction of One Ureter by a Calculus, accompanied by Complete
      Suppression of Urine.

PMID- 20896701
TI  - A case of Empyema, with Pulmonary Gangrene following Enteric Fever, treated by
      Perflation: With Remarks on the Method of Perflation, and its Value in the
      Treatment of Empyema.

PMID- 20896703
TI  - On a Case of Suppression of Urine, following injury to a Sacculated Kidney
      containing Calculi, the other Kidney being entirely disorganised.

PMID- 20896705
TI  - A Case of Sacculated Aortic Aneurism treated by the Introduction into the Sac of
      Thirty-two Feet of Steel Wire.

PMID- 20896704
TI  - A Case of Aneurism of the Abdominal Aorta treated by Laparotomy and the
      Introduction of Steel Wire into the Sac.

PMID- 20896706
TI  - A Case of Aneurism at the Root of the Neck, and in the Upper Part of the Chest in
      a very advanced stage, treated by the Introduction of Steel Wire.

PMID- 20896707
TI  - An Analysis of Ninety-three Cases of Writers' Cramp and Impaired Writing Power;
      making, with Seventy-five Cases previously reported, a total of One Hundred and
      Sixty-eight Cases.

PMID- 20896708
TI  - A Case of Intussusception of the Upper End of the Rectum due to Obstruction by a
      New Growth. Excision of the Intussusception; Suture of the Remaining Bowel;
      Complete Recovery.

PMID- 20896709
TI  - Results of an Experimental Inquiry as to the Best Method of Restoring the Canal
      after Removing Portions of the Small Intestine.

PMID- 20896711
TI  - The Relation of a Certain Form of Headache to the Excretion of Uric Acid.

PMID- 20896710
TI  - A Case of Extra-Uterine Gestation.

PMID- 20896712
TI  - Three Cases of Alcoholic Paralysis (Multiple Neuritis).

PMID- 20896714
TI  - Three Hundred additional Cases of Complete Ovariotomy and Twenty Cases of
      Exploratory Operation.

PMID- 20896713
TI  - Multiple Gangrene of the Skin in Infants and its Causes.

PMID- 20896715
TI  - On a Form of Chronic Inflammation of the Lips and Mouth, which sometimes ends
      Fatally, and is Usually attended by Disease of the Skin and Nalls.

PMID- 20896716
TI  - On a Case of Early Disseminated Myelitis occurring in the Exanthem Stage of
      Measles and Fatal on the eleventh day of that Disease: Report on the
      Microscopical Examination of the Spinal Cord.

PMID- 20896717
TI  - On Three Cases of Acute Tubercular Ulceration of the Fauces.

PMID- 20896718
TI  - A Case of Neurotomy of the Third Division of the Fifth Nerve, where it issues
      from the Foramen Ovale.

PMID- 20896719
TI  - A Case of Occlusion of the Left Bronchus by a Metal Pencil Cap, and its Removal
      by Tracheotomy.

PMID- 20896720
TI  - Influence of Salicylic Acid and its Salts on the Excretion of Uric Acid.

PMID- 20896721
TI  - On the Occurrence of Tubercular Disease of the Testis as a Local Affection,
      particularly with reference to the Desirability of Early Castration in Certain
      Cases.

PMID- 20896722
TI  - A Case of Intra-Peritoneal Rupture of the Bladder; Abdominal Section; Suture of
      the Bladder; Recovery.

PMID- 20896723
TI  - Relapsing Typhlitis treated by Operation.

PMID- 20896724
TI  - A Case of Neglected Dislocation of the Humerus followed by Paralysis of the
      Nerves of the Hand and Forearm, treated by Excision of the Head of the Humerus.

PMID- 20896725
TI  - On the Naked-Eye and Microscopical Variations of the Human Thyroid Body.

PMID- 20896726
TI  - A Case of Extroversion of the Bladder treated by Preliminary Narrowing of the Gap
      existing in the Pubic Symphysis by means of Division of the Sacro-Iliac
      Synchondroses.

PMID- 20896727
TI  - A Case of Wound of the Femoral Artery and Vein. Traumatic Varicose Aneurism;
      Ligature of both Artery and Vein; Recovery. With remarks on the Treatment of
      Wounds of the Femoral Artery and Vein.

PMID- 20896728
TI  - A Case of Double Nephrolithotomy in which Lateral and Median Lithotomy had been
      previously Performed, with Remarks on Sympathy between the Kidneys.

PMID- 20896729
TI  - Remarks on Splenectomy, with a Report of a successful Case.

PMID- 20896731
TI  - Effects in Health and Disease of some Drugs which cause Retention of Uric Acid,
      in contrast with the Action of Salicylates, as shown in a previous Paper.

PMID- 20896730
TI  - A further Contribution to the Study of Rheumatoid Arthritis.

PMID- 20896733
TI  - On the Value of the Tubercle Bacillus in Clinical Diagnosis.

PMID- 20896732
TI  - On the Results of the Treatment of Pulmonary Consumption by Residence at High
      Altitudes, as exemplified by an Analysis of 141 Cases.

PMID- 20896734
TI  - On the Relations between the Function, Structure, Origin, and Distribution of the
      Nerve-Fibres, which compose the Spinal and Cranial Nerves, being the Marshall
      Hall Prize Oration.

PMID- 20896735
TI  - A Case of Tumour of the Spinal Cord. Removal; Recovery.

PMID- 20896736
TI  - The Condition and Management of the Intestine after Abdominal Section considered
      in the light of Physiological Facts.

PMID- 20896737
TI  - An Undescribed Method by which the Superjacent Weight of the Body is transmitted
      in United or Ununited Fracture of the Neck of the Femur through an acquired Ilio
      Femoral Articulation; and the bearing of the principle involved upon the Surgery
      of the Hip-Joint.

PMID- 20896739
TI  - A Contribution to the Theory of the Nervous Origin of Rheumatoid Arthritis.

PMID- 20896738
TI  - A Case of Excision of a Tubercular Movable Kidney.

PMID- 20896740
TI  - On Primary Union after excision of Tubercular Hip-joints.

PMID- 20896741
TI  - Eighty Cases of Chorea: Antecedents, Family History, State of the Heart, and
      Subsequent History.

PMID- 20896742
TI  - On the Relation of Chorea to Rheumatism, with Observations of Eighty Cases of
      Chorea.

PMID- 20896743
TI  - Back-knee, Knock-knee, Bow-knee, and other Deformities resulting from Defect of
      Growth at the Epiphysial Lines.

PMID- 20896745
TI  - Colectomy, or Resection of the large Intestine for Malignant Disease.

PMID- 20896744
TI  - On a Case of Actinomycosis Hominis: With an appended Report on the Morphology of
      the Fungus.

PMID- 20896746
TI  - Pemphigus Vegetans (Neumann).

PMID- 20896747
TI  - On the Clinical Significance of Colourless or Clay-coloured Stools unaccompanied
      by Jaundice, and their connection with Disease of the Pancreas; and on the part
      played by the Pancreas in Eliminating Bile from the Intestines.

PMID- 20896748
TI  - The Causation and Pathology of the more commonly observed forms of Lateral
      Curvature of the Spinal Column.

PMID- 20896749
TI  - Twenty-five Cases of Nephrectomy by Abdominal Section.

PMID- 20896750
TI  - Remarks on some points affecting the Mortality of Abdominal Section. With Tables
      of Cases.

PMID- 20896751
TI  - Dermoid Cyst of the right side of the Chest communicating with a Bronchus.

PMID- 20896753
TI  - Plastic Operations on the Neck and Arms for Severe Cicatricial Deformities after
      Burns.

PMID- 20896752
TI  - A Case in which Acute Spasmodic Pain in the Left Lower Extremity was completely
      relieved by Sub-dural Division of the Posterior Roots of certain Spinal Nerves,
      all other treatment having proved useless. Death from Sudden Collapse and
      Cerebral Haemorrhage on the Twelfth Day after the Operation, at the commencement
      of Apparent Convalescence.

PMID- 20896754
TI  - A Case of Gastro-enterostomy, together with a Table of the Cases hitherto
      recorded.

PMID- 20896755
TI  - Influence of Phosphate of Soda on the Excretion of Uric Acid and some of the
      Conditions which prevent its Action.

PMID- 20896756
TI  - The Resuscitation of the Apparently Drowned.

PMID- 20896757
TI  - Removal by Operation of a Gangrenous Appendix Vermiformis containing a Faecal
      Concretion. Secondary Laparotomy through the Linea Alba for Suppurative
      Peritonitis. Recovery.

PMID- 20896758
TI  - Two Cases of Partial Obstruction of a Bronchus by a Foreign Body, with Remarks on
      the Operation of Tracheotomy for its Removal.

PMID- 20896759
TI  - Arthrectomy; Erasion of Joints.

PMID- 20896760
TI  - The AEtiology of Puerperal Fever.

PMID- 20896761
TI  - Acetonuria and its Relation to Diabetic Coma.

PMID- 20896762
TI  - The Mechanism of Suspension in the Treatment of Locomotor Ataxy.

PMID- 20896764
TI  - Rheumatism, its Treatment Past and Present; with special reference to recent
      Experimental Research on Salicylic Acids and their Salts.

PMID- 20896763
TI  - A Case of Hernia of the Caecum, entirely wanting in a Peritoneal Sac, in which
      Strangulation at the Internal Abdominal Ring co-existed with an Intussusception
      through the Ileo-caecal Valve.

PMID- 20896765
TI  - On the Symptomatology of Total Transverse Lesions of the Spinal Cord; with
      special reference to the condition of the various Reflexes.

PMID- 20896766
TI  - Analysis of 964 Cases of Operation for Calculus in the Bladder by Lithotomy and
      Lithotrity, with Remarks.

PMID- 20896767
TI  - On the History of Uric Acid in the Urine, with reference to the Formation of Uric
      Acid Concretions and Deposits.

PMID- 20896768
TI  - A Study of Fifty Consecutive Cases of Operation for the Radical Cure of Non
      strangulated Herniae.

PMID- 20896769
TI  - Salicin compared with Salicylate of Soda as to effect on the Excretion of Uric
      Acid, and value in the Treatment of Acute Rheumatism; with some deductions as to
      the Causation of the Disease.

PMID- 20896770
TI  - On the Condition of the Reflexes in Cases of Injury to the Spinal Cord; with
      special reference to the Indications for Operative Interference.

PMID- 20896771
TI  - Senile Hypertrophy and Senile Atrophy of the Skull.

PMID- 20896772
TI  - An Analytical and Clinical Examination of Lead-Poisoning in its Acute
      Manifestations.

PMID- 20896773
TI  - A Contribution to the Chemistry of Gout.

PMID- 20896775
TI  - A Case of Tubal Pregnancy, with remarks on the cause of Early Rupture.

PMID- 20896774
TI  - On Four Hundred Cases of Amputation performed at St. George's Hospital, from
      October, 1874, to June, 1888; with especial reference to the diminished Rate of
      Mortality.

PMID- 20896776
TI  - A Case of Cholecystenterostomy.

PMID- 20896778
TI  - Successful Removal of the entire Upper Extremity for Osteo-Chondroma.

PMID- 20896777
TI  - On Blood Tumours (Angeiomata and Angeiosarcomata) of Bone.

PMID- 20896779
TI  - Clinical Observations upon Respiration during Anaesthesia, with Special Reference
      to the Causes of Embarrassed and Obstructed Breathing.

PMID- 20896780
TI  - Nephrolithotomy (following Nephrectomy) for Total Suppression of Urine lasting
      five days; Complete Recovery and Good health five years after the Operation.

PMID- 20896781
TI  - A Case in which Large Calculi were removed from both Kidneys, Fatal Haemorrhage
      following the Second Operation.

PMID- 20896782
TI  - The Therapeutical Value of Venesection; its Indications and its Limits.

PMID- 20896783
TI  - Macrodactyly, and some other Forms of Congenital Overgrowth, and their Relation
      to Tumours.

PMID- 20896784
TI  - Two Cases of Idioglossia, with Phonographic Demonstration of the Peculiarity of
      Speech.

PMID- 20896786
TI  - On the Treatment of Strangulated Hernia when the Intestine is Gangrenous or
      Ulcerated.

PMID- 20896785
TI  - A Case of Defective Articulation.

PMID- 20896787
TI  - On Measles as a Cause of Endocarditis; being an Account of Four Cases in which
      Organic Mitral Murmurs developed during the Course of the Disease.

PMID- 20896788
TI  - On the Value of Tuberculin in the Treatment of Surgical Diseases.

PMID- 20896789
TI  - Thirteen Cases of Paget's Disease of the Nipple, with Special Reference to the
      Causation of the Malady by Psorosperms.

PMID- 20896790
TI  - On the Changes observed in Healthy Medium-sized Arteries and in Tendon Ligatures
      during the First Four Weeks after Ligation.

PMID- 20896791
TI  - Seven Cases of Excision of the Hip combined with the Hot-water Flushing Method;
      Primary Union in Six.

PMID- 20896792
TI  - Symptoms and Pathology of a Case of Acute Inflammation of the Mucous Membrane of
      the Ileum from Climatic Causes.

PMID- 20896793
TI  - A Case of Pancreatic Cyst successfully treated by Abdominal Section and Drainage.

PMID- 20896794
TI  - The Causation and Mode of Production of Pes Cavus.

PMID- 20896795
TI  - Soot in Cells of Chimney-sweep's Cancer.

PMID- 20896796
TI  - Suppurative Affections of the Testicle and Epididymis.

PMID- 20896797
TI  - On One Hundred and Fourteen Consecutive Cases of Operation for Calculus in the
      Bladder, performed at the Hospital for Sick Children, and a Comparison of the
      Methods adopted.

PMID- 20896798
TI  - Report of the Building Committee, as amended and adopted by the Council, February
      5th, 1891.

PMID- 20896799
TI  - A Case of Actinomycosis of the Face and Neck. Operation. Cure.

PMID- 20896800
TI  - On the occurrence of Pleural Effusion in association with Disease of the Abdomen.

PMID- 20896801
TI  - An Analysis of Seventy-two Cases of Ununited Fracture occurring in the Long Bones
      of Children.

PMID- 20896802
TI  - On Tetanus as a Complication of Ovariotomy.

PMID- 20896803
TI  - Glandular Swelling in Neck; Conversion into a Pulsating Tumour like Aneurism;
      Ligature of the Common and External Carotids and of the Internal Jugular Vein;
      Cure.

PMID- 20896804
TI  - Gelatiniform Degeneration of Hydatid Cysts.

PMID- 20896805
TI  - The Changes in the Blood in the course of Rheumatic Attacks.

PMID- 20896806
TI  - "Antiseptic" Preparations of Catgut and Silk; their relation to Wound Infection.

PMID- 20896807
TI  - Case of Torsion of the Spermatic Cord, with Strangulation of the Epididymis and
      Testicle in an incompletely descended organ.

PMID- 20896808
TI  - Case of Torsion of the Spermatic Cord in a Dog.

PMID- 20896809
TI  - The Operative Treatment of Congenital Dislocation of the Hip.

PMID- 20896811
TI  - On the Symptoms and Pathology of Psilosis (Linguae et Intestini).

PMID- 20896810
TI  - A Case of Ligature of the Second Part of the Left Subclavian Artery for the Cure
      of an Axillary Aneurysm.

PMID- 20896812
TI  - On Renal Dropsy, with especial reference to the Circulation; together with some
      Considerations relating to Pulmonary Apoplexy in Renal Disease.

PMID- 20896814
TI  - Upon Amputation in Diabetes Mellitus.

PMID- 20896815
TI  - Two Cases of Pylorectomy and one of Jejunostomy, with remarks, and with a
      suggested modification of the former operation.

PMID- 20896813
TI  - Note on the alleged occurrence of Ovarian Pregnancy; being an explanation of some
      cases which have been published as belonging to this variety of Ectopic
      Gestation.

PMID- 20896816
TI  - A Case of Limited Lesion of Certain Spinal Nerves by Secondary Carcinoma of the
      Vertebrae and Dura Mater.

PMID- 20896817
TI  - A Case of Actinomycosis of the Vermiform Appendix causing Perityphlitis.

PMID- 20896819
TI  - On some Points in the Supra-vaginal Amputation of the Cervix Uteri for Cancer,
      with Special Reference to the Methods adopted in Cases where for Two Years and
      upwards the Disease has not recurred.

PMID- 20896818
TI  - A Case of Actinomycosis Hominis of the Urinary and Alimentary Tracts. Recovery.

PMID- 20896820
TI  - The Effects of the iodides on Arterial Tension and the Excretion of Urates.

PMID- 20896822
TI  - On the Absence of Sugar from Normal Human Urine.

PMID- 20896821
TI  - Cases to illustrate the Relationship which exists between Wryneck and Congenital
      Haematoma of the Sterno-mastoid Muscle.

PMID- 20896823
TI  - Two Cases of Knee Trouble with Difficulty in Locomotion, depending upon an
      Elongation of the Ligamentum Patellae, treated by Transplantation of the Tubercle
      of the Tibia: with Remarks.

PMID- 20896825
TI  - A Case of Fracture of both Bones of the Leg, occasioned by a very slight cause,
      in a Woman the Subject of Tabes Dorsalis.

PMID- 20896824
TI  - Some Cases of Fracture of Long Bones from Slight Causes in connection with Tabes
      Dorsalis, Syphilis, and Paraplegia.

PMID- 20896826
TI  - Case of Fibrous Polypus of the Prostatic Portion of the Urethra, associated with
      Profuse Haematuria and Prostatic Enlargement. Removal of the Growth and Recovery.

PMID- 20896827
TI  - On Resection of the Intestine and Immediate Suture in the Treatment of Gangrenous
      Hernia.

PMID- 20896828
TI  - Acute Renal Dislocation.

PMID- 20896830
TI  - On the Influence of Various Diets upon the Composition of the Urine and the
      General Condition of Patients suffering from Chronic Bright's Disease.

PMID- 20896829
TI  - On the Removal of a "Pressure-pouch" of the OEsophagus.

PMID- 20896831
TI  - Large Cystic Myoma of Uterus of over Twelve Years' Duration removed by
      Enucleation; Recovery: with Notes on Cystic "Fibroids;".

PMID- 20896832
TI  - On Enterorhaphy by Invagination (Maunsell's Operation), with a Case of Artificial
      Anus treated by this Method.

PMID- 20896833
TI  - On the Use of Atropine in Cholera.

PMID- 20896834
TI  - On Amputation for Diabetic Gangrene.

PMID- 20896836
TI  - On the Advantages of an Amputation through the Thigh, either as a Preliminary
      Operation to, or, in some cases, instead of, Amputation through the Hip, where
      the Hip-joint is itself diseased and the Patient in very bad Condition.

PMID- 20896835
TI  - A Case of Malignant Disease of the Thyroid Gland, with most Unusual Course.

PMID- 20896837
TI  - Two Cases illustrating the Treatment of advanced Hip-joint Disease by Mr. Howse's
      Method of Preliminary Amputation at the Knee.

PMID- 20896839
TI  - The Radical Treatment of severe Talipes Equino-varus in Children.

PMID- 20896838
TI  - Bursting of a large Hepatic Abscess into the Peritoneal Sac; Incision of this
      latter; Evacuation of Pus; Flushing; Recovery.

PMID- 20896840
TI  - On Albuminuric Ulceration of the Bowels.

PMID- 20896841
TI  - Abdominal Section for Intestinal Obstruction due to Multiple Hydatid Cysts;
      Recovery.

PMID- 20896842
TI  - On the (so-called) Spontaneous Disappearance of Solid Abdominal Tumours; with
      Three Cases.

PMID- 20896843
TI  - On Nerve Stretching and Splitting in Localised Interstitial Neuritis, Leprous and
      otherwise.

PMID- 20896844
TI  - Two Cases of Intussusception of the Large Intestine, due to the presence of a
      Papillomatous Growth, successfully reduced by introduction of the hand into the
      rectum, after removal of the growth.

PMID- 20896845
TI  - Cases of Pleurisy caused by the Pneumococcus, and with Constitutional Symptoms
      resembling those of Pneumonia.

PMID- 20896846
TI  - Ruptured Gastric Ulcer treated by Laparotomy, Gastric Suture, and Washing Out of
      the Peritoneum; Recovery.

PMID- 20896847
TI  - A Case of Resection and Immediate Suture of Intestine which had been Strangulated
      eighty-one hours; Recovery.

PMID- 20896848
TI  - On Persistence of the Thyreoglossal Duct, with Remarks on Median Cervical
      Fistulae and Cysts due to Embryonic Remnants.

PMID- 20896849
TI  - A Case of Extra-peritoneal Vesical Hernia.

PMID- 20896850
TI  - An Operation for the Cure of Cleft of the Hard and Soft Palate.

PMID- 20896852
TI  - Upon Two Cases of Uretero-lithotomy.

PMID- 20896851
TI  - A Case of Extreme Prolapse of the Female Urethra in a Child aged Six, with
      Remarks.

PMID- 20896853
TI  - The Influence of Different Kinds of Soil on the Comma and Typhoid Organisms.

PMID- 20896854
TI  - A Review of Cases manifesting Pain at the Heart or Morbid Acceleration of the
      Heart's Contraction (Tachycardia) subsequently to Influenza.

PMID- 20896855
TI  - A Case of Acanthosis Nigricans.

PMID- 20896856
TI  - Disease of many Joints, probably of Syphilitic Origin.

PMID- 20896857
TI  - A Case of "False" Disseminated Sclerosis due to Measles, with remarks on the
      occurrence of certain wide-spread Nervous Disorders after this and other
      Infectious Diseases.

PMID- 20896858
TI  - On a Disseminated Fibrosis of the Kidney found in Cases of Infective
      Endocarditis, Aortitis, and allied disease; its Pathological Significance, and
      chief Clinical Features.

PMID- 20896859
TI  - Arthrectomy of Elbow and Ankle.

PMID- 20896860
TI  - The Surgical Treatment of Diffuse Septic Peritonitis; with successful cases.

PMID- 20896861
TI  - Varieties of Intestinal Obstruction dependent on Gall-stones, with a series of
      cases.

PMID- 20896863
TI  - On Nervous Symptoms and Morbid Changes in the Spinal Cord in Certain Cases of
      Profound Anaemia.

PMID- 20896862
TI  - The Causation of AEgophony.

PMID- 20896864
TI  - A Case of Large Pelvic Hydatid successfully treated by Perineal Incision and
      Drainage with observations.

PMID- 20896866
TI  - A Case of Actinomycosis Extensively Involving the Skin.

PMID- 20896865
TI  - On the Probable Pathological Identity of the various forms of Acute Septic
      Inflammations of the Throat and Neck, hitherto described as Acute OEdema of the
      Larynx, OEdematous Laryngitis, Erysipelas of the Pharynx and Larynx, Phlegmon of
      the Pharynx and Larynx, and Angina Ludovici.

PMID- 20896867
TI  - Micro-organisms in the Healthy Nose.

PMID- 20896868
TI  - Further Observations on the Development of Mammary Functions by the Skin of Lying
      in Women.

PMID- 20896869
TI  - A Case of Intra-peritoneal Rupture of the Bladder; Suture; Recovery. with Remarks
      on the Inflation test: with a Table of Twenty Cases of Rupture of the Bladder
      treated by Suture since 1888.

PMID- 20896870
TI  - The Treatment of Respiratory Affections by means of Large Medicinal Injections
      through the Larynx.

PMID- 20896871
TI  - A Year's Experience of the Use of Sulphur in Surgery.

PMID- 20896872
TI  - The Influence of Heredity in Phthisis.

PMID- 20896873
TI  - Illustrations of some Modes of Death after Ovariotomy.

PMID- 20896874
TI  - On Posture in its Relation to Surgical Operations under Anaesthetics.

PMID- 20896875
TI  - The Parasite of Malaria, as observed in the Malarial Fevers of the South of
      Spain.

PMID- 20896876
TI  - A Note on the Appearances found in the Tissues in a Fatal Case of Pernicious
      Malaria at Sierra Leone.

PMID- 20896877
TI  - Excision of a Portion of Liver for Tumour.

PMID- 20896878
TI  - A Case of Neoplasm Cyst of the Brain treated by Operation.

PMID- 20896879
TI  - On the Effects produced by the Retention of Foreign Bodies for Lengthened Periods
      in the Bronchial Tubes.

PMID- 20896880
TI  - Note on the Endemic Fever of the Mediterranean.

PMID- 20896881
TI  - Observations and Experiments on Intestinal and Gastrointestinal Anastomosis.

PMID- 20896882
TI  - On the Use of Guaiacum in the Treatment of Chronic Gouty Affections, and its
      Value in warding off Acute Attacks.

PMID- 20896883
TI  - Case of Splenic Anaemia (spleno-megalie primitive), with an account of the
      disease.

PMID- 20896884
TI  - Renal Colic in Infants.

PMID- 20896885
TI  - On Prevesical Abscess.

PMID- 20896886
TI  - Ecchymoses from Natural Causes.

PMID- 20896887
TI  - The Exceptions to Colles' Law.

PMID- 20896888
TI  - Locomotor Ataxy occurring in a Young Woman; Tabetic Arthropathy with Dislocation
      of both Hips; Six Pregnancies occurring in the course of the Disease.

PMID- 20896889
TI  - A Case of Perforating Typhoid Ulcer treated by Operation and Suture, and
      resulting in Recovery.

PMID- 20896890
TI  - Typhoid Fever; Convalescence; Symptoms of Perforation; Laparotomy; no Lesion
      found; Recovery.

PMID- 20896891
TI  - On Jaundice and on Perforation of the Gall-bladder in Typhoid Fever.

PMID- 20896892
TI  - On the Presence of the Typhoid Bacilli in the Urine of Patients suffering from
      Typhoid Fever.

PMID- 20896893
TI  - On some Affections of the Nervous System met with in Association with an Attack
      of Enteric Fever.

PMID- 20896894
TI  - On a Condition of Mixed Premature and Immature Development.

PMID- 20896895
TI  - On some Points in the Surgical Physiology of the Foot.

PMID- 20896896
TI  - On the Clinical Bearing of some Experiments on Peritoneal Infections.

PMID- 20896897
TI  - A Case of Large Solid Tumour removed with success from the Retro-peritoneal
      Space.

PMID- 20896898
TI  - The Parasite of Malaria in the Fevers of Sierra Leone.

PMID- 20896899
TI  - Pulsating Empyema (Empyema Pulsans).

PMID- 20896901
TI  - Non-tuberculous Posterior Basic Meningitis in Infants.

PMID- 20896900
TI  - Compound Depressed Fracture of the Skull; Cerebral Abscess; Hernia Cerebri;
      Recovery; with a consideration of the subject of Hernia Cerebri based upon One
      Hundred and Nine collected Cases.

PMID- 20896902
TI  - On the Relations between Bodily Development, Nutrition, and Brain Conditions in
      their Pathological Aspects.

PMID- 20896903
TI  - Case of Subclavian Aneurism successfully treated by Ligature.

PMID- 20896904
TI  - Case of Pharyngeal Abscess Haemorrhage; Ligature of Carotid Arteries.

PMID- 20896905
TI  - On Irreducible Hernia.

PMID- 20896906
TI  - On the Occurrence of Musical Mitral Murmurs in connection with Aortic Stenosis.

PMID- 20896907
TI  - On a Form of Chronic Joint Disease in Children.

PMID- 20896908
TI  - On a Case of Amnesia and other Speech Defects of Eighteen Years' Duration, with
      Autopsy.

PMID- 20896909
TI  - Infantile Cerebral Degeneration with Symmetrical Changes at the Macula.

PMID- 20896910
TI  - A Case of Calcareous Metamorphosis of the Tracheal Lymphatic Glands; formation of
      Mediastinal Abscess and establishment of Bronchial Fistula; subsequent
      Perforation of the Wall of the Arch of the Aorta; long-continued repeated
      Haemoptysis; death from Hemiplegia.

PMID- 20896912
TI  - Removal of the Entire Upper Extremity for Recurrent Carcinoma after Removal of
      the Breast.

PMID- 20896911
TI  - Latency and Freedom from Recurrence after Operations for Reputed Carcinoma of the
      Breast; illustrated by 108 tabulated cases.

PMID- 20896913
TI  - A Further Contribution towards the Pathology of the Pernicious Malarial Fevers of
      Sierra Leone, and our Knowledge of the Parasite with which they are associated.

PMID- 20896914
TI  - On the Epidemic Malarial Fever of Assam or Kala-azar.

PMID- 20896915
TI  - A Case of Albumosuria in which the Albumose was Spontaneously Precipitated.

PMID- 20896916
TI  - Intra-pleural Tension.

PMID- 20896918
TI  - Five Cases of Acute Leukaemia.

PMID- 20896917
TI  - A Case of Cyst of the Urachus, with Notes on Urachal and So-called "Allantoic
      Cysts".

PMID- 20896920
TI  - Acute Dilatation of the Heart in Rheumatic Fever.

PMID- 20896919
TI  - The Influence on Gout of the Mineral Constituents of various Vegetables.

PMID- 20896921
TI  - Obscure Cystic Tumour of the Bladder containing two Calculi successful removal by
      Supra-pubic Cystotomy.

PMID- 20896922
TI  - Acute Dilatation of the Heart in the Rheumatism and Chorea of Childhood.

PMID- 20896923
TI  - On Mesenteric Cysts, with two Cases in Young Children subjected to Operation.

PMID- 20896924
TI  - Discussion on the Prevention of Enteric Fever.

PMID- 20896925
TI  - Fibrinous or Membranous Rhinitis and its Relation to Diphtheria.

PMID- 20896926
TI  - Aortic Aneurysm as a Cause of Hypertrophy of the Left Ventricle.

PMID- 20896928
TI  - Gonococcus Joint Disease in Infants secondary to Purulent Ophthalmia; with Twenty
      three Cases.

PMID- 20896927
TI  - A Case of Aortic Aneurysm; Involvement of Sensory Nerve-roots; Spontaneous
      Fracture of Vertebral Column; Laminectomy; Death.

PMID- 20896929
TI  - On the Effects produced in the Human Subject by the Administration of Definite
      Mixtures of Nitrous Oxide and Air and of Nitrous Oxide and Oxygen.

PMID- 20896930
TI  - A Case of Extirpation of a Large Non-pulsating Aneurysm, involving the Common,
      Internal, and External Carotid Arteries of the Right Side of the Neck; with
      Remarks on Non-pulsation in Aneurysms and the Treatment of Aneurysms by
      Extirpation.

PMID- 20896931
TI  - The Morbid Anatomy and Pathology of Dr. Bradshaw's Case of Myelopathic
      Albumosuria.

PMID- 20896932
TI  - Two Cases where Multiple Calculi were removed from Large Narrow-necked Sacculi
      connected with the Male Urinary Bladder.

PMID- 20896934
TI  - On Prevesical Hernia, with the relation of a Case in which Subacute Strangulation
      Occurred.

PMID- 20896933
TI  - On the Treatment of Pulmonary Tuberculosis by Anti-tubercular Serum.

PMID- 20896935
TI  - The Clinical Examination of the Haemic Leucocytes.

PMID- 20896936
TI  - A Case of Rheumatic Pericarditis and Extreme Dilatation of the Heart, with an
      Investigation into the Microscopy of Rheumatic Heart Disease.

PMID- 20896937
TI  - A Contribution to the Study of Alkaptonuria.

PMID- 20896938
TI  - The Results of Segregation of Cases and Moving from Infected Sites in eradicating
      the Assam Epidemic Malarial Fever, or Kala-azar.

PMID- 20896939
TI  - The Remote Prognosis of Pericarditis.

PMID- 20896940
TI  - Congenital Hypertrophic Stenosis of the Pylorus.

PMID- 20896942
TI  - A Distinct Variety of Hip-joint Disease in Children and Young Persons.

PMID- 20896941
TI  - Address on the Spinal Animal.

PMID- 20896943
TI  - On an Improved Method of Treatment of Separation of the Lower Epiphysis of the
      Femur.

PMID- 20896945
TI  - An Investigation into the Nature of the Changes produced in the Nerve-cells of
      the Cerebral Cortex by the Action of Tetanus Toxin.

PMID- 20896944
TI  - Discussion on the Open-Air Treatment of Tuberculosis (November 14th, 28th, and
      December 12th).

PMID- 20896946
TI  - The Conduct of the Mastoid Operation for the Cure of Chronic Purulent Otorrhoea:
      Together with Remarks on the Cases which require the Operation.

PMID- 20896947
TI  - The Complete Mastoid Operation for the Cure of Chronic Suppurative Disease of the
      Middle Ear: Observations on the Selection of Cases for Operation.

PMID- 20896948
TI  - A Case of Acute Meniere's Symptoms in Splenomedullary Leucocythaemia, with
      Special Reference to the Anatomical Changes found in Acute Leucocythaemic
      Affections of the Ear: Including a Pathological Report on the Present Case.

PMID- 20896949
TI  - A Case of Spleno-medullary Leukaemia with Haemorrhage into the Cochlea and
      Semicircular Canals, associated with Deafness and Loss of Balance.

PMID- 20896950
TI  - The Skin Affections occurring in Bright's Disease.

PMID- 20896951
TI  - A Case of Rupture of the OEsophagus caused by Vomiting, together with a Table of
      Seventeen other Cases.

PMID- 20896952
TI  - A Case of Sarcomatous Tumour of the Gastro-hepatic Omentum removed by Operation,
      with Remarks on the Diagnosis of such Tumours.

PMID- 20896954
TI  - On the Wounded in the Transvaal War: an Address delivered before the Royal
      Medical and Chirurgical Society, May 22nd, 1900.

PMID- 20896953
TI  - On the Wounded in the Transvaal War: an Address delivered before the Royal
      Medical and Chirurgical Society, May 8th, 1900.

PMID- 20896955
TI  - On the Wounded in the Transvaal War: an Address delivered before the Royal
      Medical and Chirurgical Society, May 22nd, 1900.

PMID- 20896957
TI  - Ophthalmoplegia Externa complicating a Case of Graves's Disease.

PMID- 20896956
TI  - On some of the Medical and Surgical Complications of Pyorrhoea Alveolaris.

PMID- 20896958
TI  - On Two Cases bearing upon the Question of the Limitations of Enterectomy.

PMID- 20896959
TI  - On a Case of Intestinal Intoxication due to Appendicitis without Local Symptoms.

PMID- 20896960
TI  - A Case of Pernicious Anaemia; with Observations regarding Mode of Onset, Clinical
      Features, Infective Nature, Prognosis, and Antiseptic and Serum Treatment of the
      Disease.

PMID- 20896961
TI  - The Prognosis and Treatment of Cases of Ascites occurring in the course of
      Alcoholic Cirrhosis of the Liver; with Special Reference to the Treatment by
      Operation.

PMID- 20896962
TI  - Discussion on Immunity, on March 12th 1901.

PMID- 20896963
TI  - Suggestions for a Possible Improvement in the Method of Removing Stones and
      Morbid Growths from the Interior of the Bladder.

PMID- 20896964
TI  - The After-results in Forty Consecutive Cases of Vaginal Hysterectomy performed
      for Cancer of the Uterus.

PMID- 20896965
TI  - On Metabolism in Phthisis.

PMID- 20896966
TI  - Median Perineal Urethrotomy and Cystotomy through a Superficial Transverse
      Incision, after Celsus.

PMID- 20896968
TI  - A Contribution to the Study of Intestinal Sand, with Notes on a Case in which it
      was passed.

PMID- 20896967
TI  - Arterial Haemorrhage from the Ear and its Control by Ligature of the Common
      Carotid Artery.

PMID- 20896969
TI  - An Account of the Epidemic Outbreak of Arsenical Poisoning occurring in Beer
      Drinkers in the North of England and the Midland Counties in 1900.

PMID- 20896970
TI  - A Case of Acute Leukaemia.

PMID- 20896971
TI  - A Pharyngeal Pouch of large size removed by Operation.

PMID- 20896972
TI  - Recent Advances in the Knowledge of Malaria.

PMID- 20896973
TI  - Report on Two Experiments on the Mosquito-malaria Theory, instituted by the
      Colonial Office and the London School of Tropical Medicine.

PMID- 20896974
TI  - Wind Exposure and Phthisis.

PMID- 20896976
TI  - A Contribution to the Study of Tropical Abscess of the Liver.

PMID- 20896975
TI  - Acute Dilatation of the Stomach, with Illustrative Cases.

PMID- 20896977
TI  - Some General and Etiological Details concerning Leprosy in the Sudan.

PMID- 20896978
TI  - Leprosy in Natal and Cape Colony.

PMID- 20896979
TI  - The Possibility of Recovery from the Active Stage of Malignant Endocarditis,
      illustrated by Cases and Specimens.

PMID- 20896980
TI  - A Contribution to the Study of Malignant Endocarditis.

PMID- 20896981
TI  - Ulceration of the OEsophagus and Stomach due to swallowing Strong Hydrochloric
      Acid; Lessons of Treatment deduced from Three Cases.

PMID- 20896982
TI  - Modern Methods of Vaccination and their Scientific Basis; an Address.

PMID- 20896983
TI  - Clinical and Experimental Observations introducing a Discussion on the
      Regeneration of Peripheral Nerves; an Address.

PMID- 20896984
TI  - Ateleiosis, a Disease characterised by Conspicuous Delay of Growth and
      Development.

PMID- 20896985
TI  - Case of Intestinal Obstruction due to the Pressure of a Vesical Sacculus upon a
      Coil of Small Intestine.

PMID- 20896986
TI  - An Analysis of Forty-six Cases of Cancer of the Breast which have been operated
      upon and survived the Operation from Five to Thirty-five Years; with Remarks upon
      the Treatment of Recurrent Growths, including the Disease of the Second Breast,
      Operative and otherwise.

PMID- 20896988
TI  - Two Cases of Ligature of the Left Carotid for Aneurysm of the Arch of the Aorta,
      with the Post-mortem Specimens of Four Cases.

PMID- 20896987
TI  - About Alkaptonuria.

PMID- 20896989
TI  - The Surgical Treatment of Obstruction in the Common Bile-duct by Concretions,
      with especial reference to the Operation of Choledochotomy as modified by the
      Author, illustrated by Sixty Cases.

PMID- 20896991
TI  - The Clinical Associations of Reduplicated First Sounds, based on a Series of One
      Hundred and Nine Cases.

PMID- 20896990
TI  - A Note on the Causation and Treatment of Thrombosis occurring in connection with
      Typhoid Fever.

PMID- 20896992
TI  - The Clinical History and Symptoms of One Hundred and Twenty Cases of Exophthalmic
      Goitre.

PMID- 20896993
TI  - Paroxysmal Haemoglobinuria of Traumatic Origin.

PMID- 20896994
TI  - The Differentiation of the Continued and Remittent Fevers of the Tropics by the
      Blood Changes.

PMID- 20896996
TI  - Latent Empyema in Infants.

PMID- 20896995
TI  - On Acute Cerebro-spinal Meningitis caused by the Diplococcus intracellularis of
      Weichselbaum: a Clinical Study.

PMID- 20896997
TI  - A Statistical Inquiry into the Prognosis and Curability of Epilepsy based upon
      the results of treatment.

PMID- 20896998
TI  - A Further Report on the Remarkable Series of Cases of Molluscum Fibrosum in
      Children communicated to the Society by Dr. John Murray in 1873.

PMID- 20896999
TI  - A Report on Four Cases of Acute Septic Inflammation of the Throat, with
      Bacteriological Examination of each: a Sequel to a similar Paper read by Sir
      Felix Semon, April, 1895.

PMID- 20897000
TI  - Rise of Blood-pressure in Later Life.

PMID- 20897001
TI  - Supra-pubic Cystotomy in Cases of Tumour of the Bladder, with Special Reference
      to the Causes of Mortality and of Recurrence of the Growth.

PMID- 20897002
TI  - A Case of Aneurysm of the Abdominal Aorta treated by the Introduction of Silver
      Wire; with a Description of Instruments invented and constructed by Mr. G. H.
      Colt to facilitate the introduction of Wire into Aneurysms.

PMID- 20897003
TI  - The Treatment of Aneurysm by Subcutaneous Injection of Gelatine.

PMID- 20897004
TI  - A Case of Multiple Myeloma (Myelomatosis) with Bence-Jones Proteid in the Urine
      (Myelopathic Albumosuria of Bradshaw, Kahler's Disease),and a Summary of
      Published Cases of Bence-Jones Albumosuria: With a Report on the Chemical
      Pathology.

PMID- 20897006
TI  - The Operative Treatment of Gastric and Duodenal Ulcers.

PMID- 20897005
TI  - Congenital Hypertrophic Stenosis of the Pylorus and its Treatment by
      Pyloroplasty.

PMID- 20897007
TI  - Large Bile Cyst of the Liver: Jaundice without Cholelithiasis; incision and
      drainage; recovery.

PMID- 20897009
TI  - Observations on Metabolism in the Febrile State in Man.

PMID- 20897008
TI  - On Hour-glass Stomach.

PMID- 20897010
TI  - Remarks on Fifty Consecutive Cases of Perforated Gastric and Duodenal Ulcer
      treated by Laparotomy.

PMID- 20897011
TI  - The Cardiac Dulness in Cases of Cancer.

PMID- 20897012
TI  - Peptic Ulcer of the Jejunum.

PMID- 20897013
TI  - The Mental Condition in Epilepsy in Relation to Prognosis.

PMID- 20897014
TI  - The Economic Value of the Sanatorium Treatment for the Working Classes, based
      upon After-histories.

PMID- 20897015
TI  - The Surgical Anatomy of the Normal and Enlarged Prostate, and the Operation of
      Supra-pubic Prostatectomy.

PMID- 20897016
TI  - Anaemia Pseudo-leukaemica Infantum.

PMID- 20897017
TI  - Leucocyte Counts in Eighty-three Cases of Appendicitis: the Limitations of
      Leucocytosis as an indication for Laparotomy.

PMID- 20897019
TI  - The Anaemias of Infancy.

PMID- 20897018
TI  - On the Elasticity of the Aorta: being a Contribution to the Study of Arterial
      Sclerosis.

PMID- 20897020
TI  - The Effects of a Proteid Dietary (Raw Meat): an Experimental and Clinical Study.

PMID- 20897021
TI  - Protracted and Recrudescent Infection in Diphtheria and Scarlet Fever.

PMID- 20897022
TI  - On a Case of Properitoneal Hernia.

PMID- 20897023
TI  - Description of a Simple and Efficient Method of Performing Artificial Respiration
      in the Human Subject, especially in Cases of Drowning; to which is appended
      Instructions for the Treatment of the Apparently Drowned.

PMID- 20897025
TI  - The Pathology and Prevention of Secondary Parotitis.

PMID- 20897024
TI  - Hypertrophic Pulmonary Osteo-arthropathy.

PMID- 20897026
TI  - The Seventh Cervical Rib and its Effects upon the Brachial Plexus.

PMID- 20897027
TI  - The Influence of Stigmata of Degeneration upon the Prognosis of Epilepsy.

PMID- 20897028
TI  - An Analysis of Ninety-nine Cases of Inoperable Carcinoma of the Breast treated by
      Oophorectomy.

PMID- 20897030
TI  - Actinomycosis of the Gall-bladder.

PMID- 20897029
TI  - A Case of "Splenomegalic" or "Myelopathic" Polycythaemia, with True Plethora and
      Arterial Hypertonia, without Cyanosis.

PMID- 20897031
TI  - Adenoma of the Gall-bladder.

PMID- 20897033
TI  - A Series of 123 Cases of Choledochotomy for Calculi in the Common Duct.

PMID- 20897032
TI  - The Operation of Jejunostomy: With a Description of a New Method.

PMID- 20897034
TI  - A Case of Chronic Jaundice and Great Enlargement of the Liver due to Primary
      Carcinoma of the Extra-hepatic Bile-ducts commencing at the Junction of the
      Hepatic Ducts.

PMID- 20897035
TI  - The Reaction of Phenylhydrazin with other Substances than Dextrose occurring in
      the Urine.

PMID- 20897036
TI  - The Consumptive Working Man: A Study of the Social and Economic Conditions which
      Govern his Life.

PMID- 20897037
TI  - Abdominal Tuberculosis in Childhood: A Clinical Study.

PMID- 20897038
TI  - Symptomatic Parotitis.

PMID- 20897039
TI  - On a Group of Associated Congenital Malformations: Including almost complete
      absence of the Muscles of the Abdominal Wall, and Abnormalities of the Genito
      urinary Apparatus.

PMID- 20897040
TI  - Ankylostomiasis: Principally as affecting Coal and Metalliferous Miners.

PMID- 20897041
TI  - Some Changes which take place in the Lungs and Pleura, chiefly in Pulmonary
      Tuberculosis, as shown by Skiagraphy.

PMID- 20897042
TI  - Discussion on the Subsequent Course and Later History of Cases of Appendicitis
      after Operation.

PMID- 20897043
TI  - Torsion of the Great Omentum.

PMID- 20897045
TI  - Two Cases of Fungating Endocarditis followed by Convalescence.

PMID- 20897044
TI  - Chloroform Anaesthesia: A Special Discussion introduced by four short Papers
      describing Apparatus.

PMID- 20897046
TI  - Contributions to Centenary Fund, and Balance-sheet.

PMID- 20897047
TI  - On the General Principles of the Therapeutic Inoculation of Bacterial Vaccines as
      applied to the Treatment of Tuberculous Infection.

PMID- 20897048
TI  - Primary Malignant Disease of the Vermiform Appendix.

PMID- 20897049
TI  - Report on the Sections Submitted from the Two Cases (Nos. 11 and 42).

PMID- 20897050
TI  - "Interrupted Circulation" as a Therapeutic Agent: With Illustrative Cases of
      Rheumatoid Arthritis.

PMID- 20897051
TI  - The Use of Rectal Injections of an Antistreptococcus Serum in Gonorrhaeal
      Infections and in Certain Cases of Purpura Haemorrhagica.

PMID- 20897052
TI  - Capillary Circulation and Blood-Pressure and the Conditions that Control them.

PMID- 20897053
TI  - An Improved Method of Performing the "Pancreatic" Reaction in the Urine.

PMID- 20897055
TI  - The Influence of Posture on the Normal Cardiac Sounds and on the Normal Cardiac
      Dulness.

PMID- 20897054
TI  - Inflammation and Peritonitis Regarded as Physiological Processes.

PMID- 20897056
TI  - Influenzal Endocarditis: With an Account of Two Cases in which the Influenza
      Bacillus was repeatedly Cultivated from the Blood during Life.

PMID- 20897058
TI  - Achondroplasia.

PMID- 20897057
TI  - The Effects of Violet Infusion on Malignant Growths: An Interim Report.

PMID- 20897059
TI  - Three Cases of Myoclonus.

PMID- 20897061
TI  - A Study of some Points in Relation to the Administration of Tuberculin T.R:
      Controlled by Observation of the Opsonic Index in Pulmonary Tuberculosis.

PMID- 20897060
TI  - Observations on Endemic Goitre in the Chitral and Gilgit Valleys.

PMID- 20897062
TI  - A Review of 282 Operations for Non-malignant Diseases of the Stomach.

PMID- 20897064
TI  - Mitral Stenosis and Pregnancy.

PMID- 20897063
TI  - Notes on One Hundred Cases of Intra-Cranial Tumour, with Special Reference to the
      Ocular Symptoms.

PMID- 20897065
TI  - Appendicitis and Gangrene of the Vermiform Appendix Considered as Separate
      Diseases.

PMID- 20897066
TI  - Submucous Excision of Deviations and Spurs of the Nasal Septum: With a Report of
      30 Operations.

PMID- 20897067
TI  - The Treatment of Tuberculosis by Tuberculin.

PMID- 20897069
TI  - Sequel to a Case of Subclavian Aneurysm reported in the 'Transactions,' 1897.

PMID- 20897068
TI  - A Paper on the Value of a Serum (Doyen's) in Cases of Malignant Disease.

PMID- 20897070
TI  - The Treatment of Tuberculosis of the Urinary System by Tuberculin (T.R.).

PMID- 20897071
TI  - On Some Aspects of Dilatation of the Heart.

PMID- 20897072
TI  - Observations on a Case of Chyluria Occurring in England: With a Report of the
      Post-mortem Examination.

PMID- 20897073
TI  - The Early Diagnosis and Cure of the Pre-Suppurative Stage of Amoebic Hepatitis.

PMID- 20897074
TI  - A Common Sporadic Seven-day Fever of Indian Ports Simulating Dengue.

PMID- 20897075
TI  - The Diagnosis of Addison's Disease.

PMID- 20897076
TI  - Discussion on the Operative Treatment of Non-malignant Ulcer of the Stomach and
      its Chief Complications, with Indications, Limitations, and Ultimate Results.

PMID- 20897077
TI  - Dr. Walter Bayley and His Works, 1529-1592.

PMID- 20897078
TI  - A Case of Cervical Myelopathic Trichosis.

PMID- 20897079
TI  - Ligature of the Renal Vessels by the Transperitoneal Method for the Cure of
      Persistent Urinary Renal Fistula: With Notes of One Successful Case.

PMID- 20897080
TI  - Changes Occurring in the Number of Red Corpuscles and their Haemoglobin Content
      in Cases of Pulmonary Tuberculosis Undergoing Sanatorium Treatment.

PMID- 20897081
TI  - Observations upon Cheyne-Stokes' Respiration.

PMID- 20897083
TI  - Idiopathic Cyanosis due to Sulph-haemoglobinaemia: Enterogenous Cyanosis.

PMID- 20897082
TI  - On the de novo Origin of Bacteria, Bacilli, Vibriones, Micrococci, Torulae, and
      Moulds, in Certain Previously Superheated Saline Solutions, Within Hermetically
      Sealed Vessels.

PMID- 20897084
TI  - On the Condition of the Blood-vessels During Shock.

PMID- 20897085
TI  - The Causes of Colitis, with Special Reference to its Surgical Treatment with an
      Account of 36 Cases.

PMID- 20897086
TI  - On Volvulus of the Entire Small Intestine, Caecum, and Ascending Colon: Operation
      and Recovery with an analysis of nine other cases of complete volvulus.

PMID- 20897087
TI  - Fractures of the Odontoid Process of the Axis.

PMID- 20897088
TI  - Experiments on Prolonged Protein Feeding with Special Reference to the Thyroid
      Gland and the Osseous System.

PMID- 20897089
TI  - Demonstration (by Epidiascope and Microscope) of the Bodies described by him in
      1895 as "Protozoa" in Syphilitic Lesions, with subsequent observations.

PMID- 20897090
TI  - Demonstration of the variations of the Spirochaeta pallida, etc. (Epidiascope and
      Microscope).

PMID- 20897092
TI  - Demonstration of Series of Drawings and Radiographs illustrating Dislocations and
      Fractures of Thumb and Great Toe.

PMID- 20897091
TI  - Demonstration of a Case of Recovery after Operation for simultaneous-(a) Acute
      Obstruction by Band formed of Vermiform Appendix and Omentum, and (b) General
      Septic Peritonitis.

PMID- 20897093
TI  - Observations upon Two Cases of Cheyne-Stokes' Respiration.

PMID- 20897095
TI  - Report of the Hon. Treasurers on the Financial Position of the Society at the
      Date of Amalgamation.

PMID- 20897094
TI  - Human and Bovine Tuberculosis: With Special Reference to Treatment by Special
      Kinds of Tuberculin.

PMID- 20897109
TI  - Purpura haemorrhagica with Fatal Result from Cerebral Haemorrhage.

PMID- 20897096
TI  - Union of Medical Societies: Final Report of the Committee of Representatives;
      Draft of Scheme for Amalgamation.

PMID- 20897111
TI  - Fatal Lymphocythaemia in Early Life.

PMID- 20897122
TI  - OEdema of Hands and Feet with Mediastinal Affection.

PMID- 20897123
TI  - Haemangiectatic Hypertrophy of the Foot, possibly of Spinal Origin.

PMID- 20897128
TI  - Report on Dr. Essex Wynter's Case of Cyanotic Anaemia.

PMID- 20897124
TI  - Myxoedema with Optic Atrophy.

PMID- 20897142
TI  - Multiple Idiopathic Haemorrhagic Sarcoma of the Skin.

PMID- 20897146
TI  - Myxoedema, with Unusual Features.

PMID- 20897149
TI  - Pigmentation with Enlarged Spleen and Leucopenia (? Splenic Anaemia).

PMID- 20897152
TI  - Splenic Polycythaemia with Cyanosis.

PMID- 20897156
TI  - Methaemoglobinaemia of twelve years' standing.

PMID- 20897163
TI  - Polycythaemia, with Enlarged Spleen without Cyanosis, in a girl aged 18.

PMID- 20897185
TI  - Verrucose Naevus.

PMID- 20897186
TI  - Chronic OEdema of the Face.

PMID- 20897194
TI  - Sclerodermia (Morphoea).

PMID- 20897219
TI  - Two Cases of Congenital Syphilis with late Cutaneous and Mucous Membrane Lesions
      of the Gummatous or Phagedaenic type.

PMID- 20897233
TI  - Morphoea in a Woman aged 65.

PMID- 20897256
TI  - Glossitis in a Girl aged 31/2.

PMID- 20897261
TI  - Haemangiectatic Hypertrophy of the Foot, possibly of Spinal Origin.

PMID- 20897258
TI  - Two Cases of Elephantiasis graecorum.

PMID- 20897270
TI  - Bilateral Telangiectases of the Trunk with a History of Marked Epistaxis in
      Childhood and recent Rectal Haemorrhage.

PMID- 20897285
TI  - Unusually Generalized Naevus verrucosus zoniformis.

PMID- 20897290
TI  - Morphoea.

PMID- 20897314
TI  - The Treatment of Leukaemia, Exophthalmic Goitre, Sarcoma, &c., by X-rays.

PMID- 20897316
TI  - Gonorrhoeal Warts.

PMID- 20897327
TI  - Swelling of the Right Arytaenoid, with Loss of Movement of the Right Vocal Cord.

PMID- 20897343
TI  - Large Post-nasal Polypus removed from a Boy aged 141/2.

PMID- 20897374
TI  - Bilateral Sarcoma of the Upper Maxillae: (With Microscopical Section.).

PMID- 20897381
TI  - A Patient in whom an OEdematous Fibroma had been removed from the Left Vocal
      Cord.

PMID- 20897409
TI  - Swelling of the Arytaenoid.

PMID- 20897393
TI  - Multiple Hereditary Developmental Angeiomata (Telangiectases), with Recurring
      Haemorrhages.

PMID- 20897446
TI  - Suppurating Haematoma of the Septum Nasi, with a Fistulous Opening in the Gingivo
      labial Recess.

PMID- 20897417
TI  - Necrosis of the Arytaenoid Cartilage.

PMID- 20897493
TI  - Ischaemic Disturbance of the Right Upper Extremity.

PMID- 20897511
TI  - Haemangiectatic Hypertrophy of the Foot, possibly of Spinal Origin.

PMID- 20897499
TI  - Disease of the Cervical Vertebrae, with Pressure Symptoms.

PMID- 20897555
TI  - Haematosalpinx complicating Myoma.

PMID- 20897549
TI  - A Case of Caesarean Hysterectomy for Traumatic Atresia of the Vagina, the Patient
      having previously undergone a Successful Operation for a Vesico-vaginal Fistula
      due to the same Injury.

PMID- 20897566
TI  - Tumour of Foetal Head.

PMID- 20897567
TI  - A Case of Intra-uterine Death of the Foetus occurring in Six Consecutive
      Pregnancies, with Observations upon the Importance of the Examination of the
      Foetal Tissues for the presence of the Spirochaeta pallida.

PMID- 20897570
TI  - Haematosalpinx with Acute Symptoms following Retroversion of Fibroid Uterus.

PMID- 20897604
TI  - Placenta praevia with Delivery of Complete Gestation Sac at the twenty-eighth
      Week.

PMID- 20897572
TI  - Three Cases of Caesarean Hysterectomy for Stenosis of the Vagina.

PMID- 20897606
TI  - A Paravaginal Fibro-myoma weighing 21/2 lb.

PMID- 20897612
TI  - An Improved Demonstration Pelvis with attached Foetal Skull for Demonstrating to
      Students the Mechanism of Labour.

PMID- 20897613
TI  - Unilateral Haematometra removed by Operation.

PMID- 20897620
TI  - OEdematous Fibroma of Pelvis.

PMID- 20897622
TI  - Haemorrhage into the Pons varolii as the Immediate Cause of Death in the
      Eclampsia of Pregnancy.

PMID- 20897628
TI  - Some Clinical Notes on Pyorrhoea Alveolaris.

PMID- 20897624
TI  - Bilateral Haemorrhagic Ovarian Cysts.

PMID- 20897652
TI  - Unilateral Hysterical Nerve Deafness of Sudden Onset, with Hemianaesthesia and
      other allied Stigmata.

PMID- 20897642
TI  - A Case demonstrating a Point in the Treatment of Pyorrhoea.

PMID- 20897666
TI  - Notes on Partial Grafting, with the aid of Local Anaesthesia, in the After
      treatment of the Radical Mastoid Operation.

PMID- 20897702
TI  - Three Specimens of the Larvae of Eristalis tenax, passed by the Bowel.

PMID- 20897757
TI  - Demonstration of the use of Bruning's Instrument for the Direct Examination of
      the Larynx, Trachea, and OEsophagus.

PMID- 20897761
TI  - Two Brothers, one having Diffuse Periostitis of both Tibiae and the other an
      Affection of the Knee, probably due to Congenital Syphilis.

PMID- 20897764
TI  - Feet Deformed by Gonorrhoeal Rheumatism.

PMID- 20897766
TI  - Anaesthetic Leprosy.

PMID- 20897788
TI  - Uraemia or Meningitis?

PMID- 20897783
TI  - Three Cases illustrating the Treatment of Septicaemia by Vaccine Therapy.

PMID- 20897797
TI  - Trophoedema following Trauma.

PMID- 20897796
TI  - Scleroderma of the Extremities associated with Angioneurotic OEdema.

PMID- 20897800
TI  - Pernicious Anaemia treated by Lactobacillin.

PMID- 20897810
TI  - Congenital Heart Disease, with Extreme Secondary Polycythaemia and Orthostatic
      Albuminuria.

PMID- 20897815
TI  - Splenectomy for (?) Splenic Anaemia.

PMID- 20897817
TI  - Polycythaemia.

PMID- 20897820
TI  - Polycythaemia.

PMID- 20897821
TI  - Splenomegalic Polycythaemia.

PMID- 20897835
TI  - Two Cases of Congenital OEdema of a Family Type.

PMID- 20897836
TI  - So-called Trophoedema of the Left Lower Extremity.

PMID- 20897837
TI  - Persistent Hereditary OEdema confined to One Leg.

PMID- 20897838
TI  - General OEdema (Toxic) without Albuminuria.

PMID- 20897841
TI  - Variable OEdema of Lower Extremities. ? Wandering Thrombosis.

PMID- 20897840
TI  - Anomalous OEdema.

PMID- 20897844
TI  - Apparent Muscular Hypertrophy following OEdema of the Left Leg (due to Venous
      Thrombosis).

PMID- 20897842
TI  - Anomalous OEdema.

PMID- 20897855
TI  - Recurrent Whitlows and Bullae.

PMID- 20897872
TI  - Multiple Haemorrhages into the Skin and Subcutaneous Tissue in a Girl aged 10.

PMID- 20897874
TI  - Spontaneous Disappearance of an Endothelioma (Naevo-xanthoma).

PMID- 20897880
TI  - Leukaemic Nodules in the Skin in a Woman, aged 58.

PMID- 20897883
TI  - A Series of Cases Treated with Liquid Air, with a Demonstration of the Method of
      Application in a Case of Port-wine Naevus.

PMID- 20897884
TI  - Three Cases of Raised Vascular Naevi cured by Carbon-dioxide Snow.

PMID- 20897890
TI  - Cultures of Trichophyton Rosaceum from Two Cases of Tinea Barbae.

PMID- 20897901
TI  - Vascular Naevus of Unusual Type.

PMID- 20897918
TI  - Morphoea.

PMID- 20897956
TI  - The Treatment of Naevus by Electrical Methods, with Notes of 1,600 Cases.

PMID- 20897992
TI  - Inter-arytaenoid and Subglottic Infiltration of Fifteen Months' Duration, causing
      Difficulty of Breathing which necessitated Tracheotomy.

PMID- 20897965
TI  - Notes on the Value of Bismuth in the X-ray Examination of OEsophagus and Colon.

PMID- 20898017
TI  - Kuhn's Laryngeal Intubation Anaesthetic Apparatus for Administering Chloroform
      and Sealing the Larynx as a Substitute for Laryngotomy in Sanguinary Operations
      in the Mouth and Jaws, &c.

PMID- 20898001
TI  - Removal of Foreign Bodies by Bronchoscopy and OEsophagoscopy.

PMID- 20898019
TI  - Angeioneurotic OEdema.

PMID- 20898031
TI  - The "Teat" of a Comforter removed from the OEsophagus of a Child 4 days old.

PMID- 20898033
TI  - Fixation of the Left Cord, with Swelling of the Left Arytaenoid Region.

PMID- 20898073
TI  - Epithelioma; primary in Posterior Wall of Pharynx, now invading OEsophagus and
      Larynx.

PMID- 20898035
TI  - Foreign Body removed from the OEsophagus.

PMID- 20898079
TI  - Angioneurotic OEdema in a Male aged 48.

PMID- 20898081
TI  - Excision of Half the Larynx for Large Carcinomatous Tumour of the Arytaenoid.

PMID- 20898124
TI  - Haematoma of the Right Vocal Cord closely simulating a Fibroma.

PMID- 20898169
TI  - Myopathy with Gigantic OEdema and Albuminuria.

PMID- 20898125
TI  - The Further History of "A Case for Diagnosis. ? Continuous Fibroma of Neck and
      Larynx, or Malignant Disease of the Larynx with Enlargements of Glands in the
      Neck.".

PMID- 20898192
TI  - Apoplectiform Cerebral Haemorrhage. Operation. Evacuation of Blood. Slow
      Improvement.

PMID- 20898197
TI  - Dystocia due to Distension of the Urinary Bladder of the Foetus, with Remarks on
      Renal Secretion in utero.

PMID- 20898200
TI  - A Fatal Case of Accidental Haemorrhage, partly concealed, with Intraperitoneal
      Bleeding from both Fallopian Tubes.

PMID- 20898204
TI  - The Bacteria of the Puerperal Uterus, with especial reference to the Presence of
      Haemolytic Streptococci.

PMID- 20898203
TI  - Operation at End of Fifth Month for Extra-uterine Gestation with Living Foetus;
      Recovery without Recurrent or Secondary Haemorrhage.

PMID- 20898221
TI  - Haemorrhage into an Ovarian Sarcoma producing Symptoms resembling Torsion.

PMID- 20898222
TI  - Haemorrhage into the Great Omentum and Peritoneal Cavity following a Strain.

PMID- 20898235
TI  - Tumour of the Ovary. ? Adenofibroma or Endothelioma.

PMID- 20898236
TI  - Foetal Chondrodystrophia as a Cause of Brow Presentation and Dystocia.

PMID- 20898250
TI  - Caesarean Section and Total Abdominal Hysterectomy for Retroflexion of the Uterus
      at Term by Fibromyoma adherent in Douglas's Pouch.

PMID- 20898253
TI  - Parovarian Cyst with Intracystic Haemorrhage from Torsion of the Fallopian Tube.

PMID- 20898268
TI  - The Treatment of a Denture, Swallowed and Impacted in the OEsophagus, by means of
      Killian's OEsophageal Tube.

PMID- 20898287
TI  - Sections of the Human Cochlea through the Organ of Corti, showing Beaded Nerve
      fibril traversing the Tunnel of Corti, and Cell Fibrillae projecting from the
      Hair-cells.

PMID- 20898291
TI  - Cerebellar Abscess secondary to Infective Labyrinthitis associated with Acute
      Inflammatory OEdema of the Brain; Recovery; Details of Operative Procedures.

PMID- 20898310
TI  - Portal Thrombosis, associated with Stricture of the Urethra and Double Mitral
      Disease: fatal Haematemesis.

PMID- 20898322
TI  - The Action of Splenotoxic and Haemolytic Sera on the Blood and Tissues.

PMID- 20898326
TI  - Discussion on Proposed General Anaesthetics Act, 1908.

PMID- 20898325
TI  - Anaesthesia in the Human Subject, with known Percentages of Chloroform Vapour.

PMID- 20898328
TI  - Treatment of Shock during Anaesthesia.

PMID- 20898327
TI  - Discussion on the Proposed General Anaesthetics Act, 1908.

PMID- 20898330
TI  - The Bacteriology of Summer Diarrhoea.

PMID- 20898332
TI  - The AEtiology of Enteric Fever in Belfast in relation to Water Supply, Sanitary
      Circumstances, and Shellfish.

PMID- 20898337
TI  - Toxaemia apparently produced by Ascaris lumbricoides.

PMID- 20898401
TI  - AEtiology of that Dislocation of the Hip commonly regarded as Congenital.

PMID- 20898395
TI  - Symmetrical Bilateral Helical Fistulae, Unilateral Branchial Fistula, and Pre
      auricular Tubercle.

PMID- 20898411
TI  - Stenosis of the Isthmus Aortae, with Patent Ductus Arteriosus and Patent
      Interventricular Septum.

PMID- 20898408
TI  - Acute Leucocythaemia.

PMID- 20898418
TI  - A Girl aged 7 years showing Misplaced and Rudimentary Patellae, Congenital
      Dislocation of the Hip, and Coxa valga.

PMID- 20898414
TI  - Cerebral Haemorrhage in an Infant aged 2 months.

PMID- 20898422
TI  - Complete Ectopia vesicae. Transplantation of the Ureters into the Rectum by the
      Extraperitoneal Method.

PMID- 20898457
TI  - The British Pharmacopoeia: its Scope and Object.

PMID- 20898447
TI  - The Repeated Strangulation of an Obturator Hernia necessitating its Radical Cure,
      with Remarks upon Obturator Herniae in General.

PMID- 20898460
TI  - The Treatment of Acute Toxaemias.

PMID- 20898491
TI  - Pyaemic Knee- and Shoulder-joints treated by Tapping and Incision.

PMID- 20898483
TI  - Excision of both Maxillae.

PMID- 20898492
TI  - Traumatic Pancreatic Cyst cured by Operation, and followed twelve years later by
      Medullary Leukaemia.

PMID- 20898500
TI  - Spleno-medullary Leukaemia: Intercurrent Erysipelas.

PMID- 20898516
TI  - OEsophageal Growth under Treatment by Radium.

PMID- 20898503
TI  - Exophthalmic Goitre in a Man with Symmetrical Telangiectases of the Ocular
      Conjunctivae.

PMID- 20898536
TI  - Sequel of a Case of Pigmentation of the Circum-oral Skin and of the Buccal Mucosa
      in Pernicious Anaemia.

PMID- 20898541
TI  - Demonstration by the Ultra-microscope of living Treponema pallidum and various
      Spirochaetes.

PMID- 20898545
TI  - Sequel of a Case of Sclerodermia of the Extremities (Sclerodactylia, Acroteric
      Sclerodermia of Hutchinson) associated with a previous and family history of
      Angioneurotic OEdema.

PMID- 20898551
TI  - Excision of the Larynx, lower part of the Pharynx, and Upper End of the
      OEsophagus for Malignant Disease (Squamous-celled Carcinoma) of those Structures.

PMID- 20898561
TI  - Two Cases of Congenital OEdema with Cardiac Defect in Mother and Daughter.

PMID- 20898552
TI  - Pneumococcic Colitis with Hyperpyrexia; Severe Haemorrhage treated by
      Appendicostomy.

PMID- 20898575
TI  - Pigmentation of the Circum-oral Skin and of the Buccal Mucosa in Pernicious
      Anaemia.

PMID- 20898567
TI  - Transverse Fracture of both Patellae, with much separation of Fragments, treated
      by Operation.

PMID- 20898587
TI  - Linear Naevus with combined Verrucose and Vascular Elements.

PMID- 20898591
TI  - Sections from a Case of Linear Naevus.

PMID- 20898611
TI  - Symmetrical Plantar Naevoid Tumours in an Infant.

PMID- 20898655
TI  - Linear Naevus of Unusual Type (Naevus Acneiformis).

PMID- 20898646
TI  - Disseminated Lupus in a Girl aged 41/2.

PMID- 20898668
TI  - Myxoedema in a Woman aged 41.

PMID- 20898660
TI  - Specimen of Spirochaeta Pallida prepared with Indian ink, with Demonstration of
      Method.

PMID- 20898681
TI  - Electro-therapeutics in Gynaecology: (Presidential Address).

PMID- 20898670
TI  - Linear Naevus of Unusual Character in a Boy aged 18.

PMID- 20898695
TI  - The Treatment of Naevi by Electricity, Cautery, and Refrigeration.

PMID- 20898724
TI  - Vaccine Therapy: its Treatment, Value, and Limitations.

PMID- 20898737
TI  - Tuberculous Perichondritis of Cricoid and Arytaenoid Cartilages.

PMID- 20898747
TI  - OEsophageal Stenosis in a Man, aged 53.

PMID- 20898739
TI  - Papilloma of the Larynx in a Boy aged 61/2, of four years' duration, cured by
      Tracheotomy and repeated Operations by Direct Laryngoscopy.

PMID- 20898791
TI  - Tuberculosis of the Larynx, with considerable Dysphagia, treated and relieved by
      Congestion Hyperaemia.

PMID- 20898788
TI  - Loss of Voice with Dyspnoea in a Woman, aged 26.

PMID- 20898792
TI  - Large Globular Dilatation of the Upper Third of the OEsophagus above a Malignant
      Stricture.

PMID- 20898799
TI  - Swelling on Left Side of Neck, accompanied by Dyspnoea, in a Male aged 28.

PMID- 20898809
TI  - Ulcer of Doubtful Nature on the Left Arytaenoid Cartilage in a Man aged 63.

PMID- 20898829
TI  - Tuberculosis of all the Left Vocal Cord and Inter-arytaenoid Space, in a Lady
      aged 46, completely healed by Two Months' Silence and Sanatorium Treatment.

PMID- 20898827
TI  - Complete Occlusion of Left Nostril by Deflected Triangular Cartilage in a Girl
      aged 71/2.

PMID- 20898835
TI  - Extensive Tuberculosis of the Epiglottis, left Ary-epiglottic Fold, and Left
      Inter-arytaenoid Space, in a Gentleman aged 47, completely healed by the Galvano
      cautery and Sanatorium Treatment.

PMID- 20898852
TI  - Paresis of Palate, Pharynx, and OEsophagus.

PMID- 20898841
TI  - Two Cases of Foreign Bodies: (A) in Lung, (B) in OEsophagus.

PMID- 20898895
TI  - Syringomyelia with Total Anaesthesia.

PMID- 20898875
TI  - The Diagnostic Value of an Analysis of the Faeces in Diseases of the Pancreas.

PMID- 20898910
TI  - Cerebral Haemorrhage from Luetic Vessels.

PMID- 20898917
TI  - Pontine Thrombosis causing Anaesthesia of the Fifth Nerve and Hemianaesthesia of
      the same side.

PMID- 20898931
TI  - Pelvic Haematocele of Ovarian Origin.

PMID- 20898939
TI  - Extensive Retroperitoneal Haematocele complicating a large Uterine Fibroid:
      Operation: Cure.

PMID- 20898932
TI  - Placenta Praevia in which it was deemed advisable to perform Caesarean Section.

PMID- 20898945
TI  - Abscess of the Ovary probably due to Infection by the Amoeba coli.

PMID- 20898949
TI  - Points for the Use of, and Indications for, Electrotherapy in some Gynaecological
      Affections.

PMID- 20898952
TI  - The Place of Caesarean Section in the Treatment of Placenta Praevia.

PMID- 20898959
TI  - Caesarean Section in the Treatment of Eclampsia Gravidarum, with Notes of a
      Successful Case.

PMID- 20898958
TI  - Pregnancy in a Septate Uterus treated by Abdominal Hysterectomy 5 Months after
      the Death of Foetus at Full Term.

PMID- 20898962
TI  - Tubal Mole, with OEdema of the Connective Tissue of the Villi.

PMID- 20898964
TI  - Fibrosis of the Uterus causing Persistent Haemorrhagia.

PMID- 20898965
TI  - Double Uterus (Atresia of one-half) with Dysmenorrhoea.

PMID- 20898976
TI  - Myxofibroma of an Ovary removed under Spinal Anaesthesia.

PMID- 20898966
TI  - Leucoplakic Vulvitis and its Relation to Kraurosis Vulvae and Carcinoma Vulvae.

PMID- 20898981
TI  - Posterior Caesarean Section followed by Total Hysterectomy for Fibroids.

PMID- 20899000
TI  - Some Observations on the Bacteriology of Pyorrhoea Alveolaris, and the Treatment
      of the Disease by Bacterial Vaccines.

PMID- 20899003
TI  - The Vaccine Treatment of Early Cases of Pyorrhoea Alveolaris.

PMID- 20899004
TI  - The Bacteriology of Pyorrhoea Alveolaris and the Results of Treatment by
      Bacterial Vaccines: (Discussion).

PMID- 20899026
TI  - Twenty Specimens of Chronic Middle-ear Suppuration and its Sequelae, Eighteen of
      the Bones being of the Infantile types and two Cellular.

PMID- 20899031
TI  - Thickening of the Cartilage of both Auricles (?) Othaematoma.

PMID- 20899041
TI  - Deformity of both Pinnae resulting from Perichondritis following Double Mastoid
      Operation.

PMID- 20899071
TI  - Heart Massage in Heart Failure during Anaesthesia.

PMID- 20899053
TI  - Attempts to produce Chondromatous or Osteomatous Growths by the Grafting of
      Foetal Bones.

PMID- 20899082
TI  - The Choice of the Anaesthetic.

PMID- 20899085
TI  - Summer Diarrhoea and Enteric Fever.

PMID- 20899087
TI  - Discussion on Dr. Niven's paper on "Summer Diarrhoea and Enteric Fever.".

PMID- 20899089
TI  - Discussion on Dr. Niven's paper on "Summer Diarrhoea and Enteric Fever.".

PMID- 20899088
TI  - Discussion on Dr. Niven's paper on "Summer Diarrhoea and Enteric Fever.".

PMID- 20899091
TI  - Discussion on Dr. Niven's paper on "Summer Diarrhoea and Enteric Fever.".

PMID- 20899090
TI  - Discussion on Dr. Niven's paper on "Summer Diarrhoea and Enteric Fever.".

PMID- 20899092
TI  - Discussion on Dr. Niven's paper on "Summer Diarrhoea and Enteric Fever.".

PMID- 20899093
TI  - Discussion on Dr. Niven's paper on "Summer Diarrhoea and Enteric Fever.".

PMID- 20899094
TI  - Discussion on Dr. Niven's paper on "Summer Diarrhoea and Enteric Fever.".

PMID- 20899095
TI  - Discussion on Dr. Niven's paper on "Summer Diarrhoea and Enteric Fever.".

PMID- 20899096
TI  - Discussion on Dr. Niven's paper on "Summer Diarrhoea and Enteric Fever.".

PMID- 20899121
TI  - Pathological Report on Case of Myelogenous Leukaemia in an Infant, aged 18
      months.

PMID- 20899100
TI  - The Communication of Diarrhoea from the Sick to the Healthy.

PMID- 20899130
TI  - Specimen of Peritoneal Growths from a Case of Lymphocythaemia, with blood-slides.

PMID- 20899169
TI  - Congenital OEdema with Dilatation of the Intestinal Lymphatics.

PMID- 20899157
TI  - Acute Inflammation in an Appendix, involuted into the Lumen of the Caecum, which
      then formed the Apex of an Intussusception; Operation; Recovery.

PMID- 20899172
TI  - Prolapse of Intestine through Ectopia Vesicae.

PMID- 20899189
TI  - Congenital OEdema of the Leg.

PMID- 20899190
TI  - Specimen of the Urinary Organs of a Boy who Died apparently from Uraemia;
      Diphtheritic Membrane being found in the Trachea after Death.

PMID- 20899247
TI  - A Fatal Case of Poisoning by Phosphorus, taken as an Abortifacient, with Unusual
      Subcutaneous Haemorrhages.

PMID- 20899191
TI  - Myelogenous Leukaemia in an Infant, aged 18 months.

PMID- 20899287
TI  - Two Cases of Secondary Anaemia associated with Achylia, with Comments.

PMID- 20899282
TI  - Splenomegaly (? Congenital Family Cholaemia).

PMID- 20899288
TI  - A Subsequent Report on a Case of Excision of the Larynx, Lower Part of the
      Pharynx, and Upper End of the OEsophagus for Malignant Disease (Squamous-celled
      Carcinoma) of those Structures.

PMID- 20899295
TI  - Ectopia Vesicae in a Female Child.

PMID- 20899292
TI  - Specimens illustrating the Removal of Foreign Bodies from the Air-passages and
      the OEsophagus.

PMID- 20899305
TI  - Morphoea affecting Right Frontal Region and Orbit.

PMID- 20899303
TI  - Urgent Dyspnoea and OEdema of the Glottis in a Woman, aged 50, due to Haemorrhage
      into the Thyroid.

PMID- 20899323
TI  - Double Proptosis due to a Growth, Lymphoma (Haemangio-lymphadenoma), invading
      each Orbit.

PMID- 20899312
TI  - "Addisonian Anaemia" (Idiopathic Pernicious Anaemia).

PMID- 20899325
TI  - The Treatment of Splenic Anaemia by Splenectomy.

PMID- 20899331
TI  - Large Cavernous Naevus of Foot.

PMID- 20899354
TI  - Gonorrhoeal Keratosis of Hands and Feet.

PMID- 20899386
TI  - Naevo-lipomata in an Infant.

PMID- 20899357
TI  - Cultures of Violet Endothrix Trichophyton from a Case of "Eczematoid" Ringworm of
      the Fungus associated with Tinea Barbae.

PMID- 20899389
TI  - Melanodermia associated with Pernicious Anaemia.

PMID- 20899402
TI  - An Unusual Case of Linear Naevus.

PMID- 20899418
TI  - Unilateral Pigmentary Naevus.

PMID- 20899421
TI  - Two Cases of Naevus Unius Lateris.

PMID- 20899422
TI  - Naevus Pigmentosus, Verrucosus et Pilosus.

PMID- 20899437
TI  - Maculo-anaesthetic Leprosy.

PMID- 20899432
TI  - Naevi of peculiar appearance in a Girl, aged 12.

PMID- 20899441
TI  - Functional Hysterical Trophoedema.

PMID- 20899451
TI  - Large Pigmented Vascular Sclerosing Naevus in a Girl, aged 10.

PMID- 20899475
TI  - Ulceration of the Pharynx, due to Pyorrhoea.

PMID- 20899454
TI  - The Rontgen-ray Examination of the OEsophagus.

PMID- 20899476
TI  - Party-wall Cancer of Larynx and OEsophagus.

PMID- 20899490
TI  - Carcinoma of OEsophagus.

PMID- 20899489
TI  - Permanent Styletted Oro-oesophago-gastric Tube which had been in situ for
      Thirteen Weeks.

PMID- 20899534
TI  - OEdema of Conjunctiva from Acute Frontal Sinusitis.

PMID- 20899557
TI  - Stricture of the Lower End of the OEsophagus-Spasmodic (?).

PMID- 20899523
TI  - Malignant Stricture of the OEsophagus.

PMID- 20899562
TI  - Carcinoma of OEsophagus. (?) Temporary Cure under Radium Treatment.

PMID- 20899566
TI  - Two Specimens of the Quadrilateral Cartilage (Nasal Septum) showing Fenestrae;
      Removed by Submucous Resection.

PMID- 20899572
TI  - A New Pattern Expanding OEsophagoscope.

PMID- 20899567
TI  - Denture removed from the OEsophagus.

PMID- 20899573
TI  - An Improved OEsophago-gastroscope, combining the Methods of Direct and Indirect
      Vision.

PMID- 20899585
TI  - Demonstration on a Living Subject of the Hill-Herschell Method of Combined Direct
      and Indirect Gastroscopy by Means of a New Type of OEsophago-gastroscope.

PMID- 20899593
TI  - Fungating Carcinoma of OEsophagus. Disappearance of Fungation and Ulceration
      after Treatment by Radium.

PMID- 20899606
TI  - Carcinoma of OEsophagus. Dysphagia Treated by a New Form of Intubation Apparatus.

PMID- 20899598
TI  - Malignant Stricture of the OEsophagus.

PMID- 20899657
TI  - Haematosalpinx with Torsion of the Tubes.

PMID- 20899651
TI  - Tic Douloureux illustrating the Anaesthesia produced by Alcohol Injection of the
      Superior Maxillary and Supra-orbital Nerves.

PMID- 20899659
TI  - Gravid Uterus ruptured through the Scar of a Caesarean Section.

PMID- 20899664
TI  - The Indications for, and Technique of, Caesarean Section and its Alternatives, in
      Women with Contracted Pelves, who have been long in Labour and exposed to Septic
      Infection: An Address Introductory to a Discussion on the Subject.

PMID- 20899665
TI  - Adenomatosis Vaginae: a hitherto undescribed condition.

PMID- 20899666
TI  - The Indications for, and Technique of, Caesarean Section and its Alternatives, in
      Women with Contracted Pelves, who have been long in Labour and exposed to Septic
      Infection.

PMID- 20899668
TI  - The Indications for, and Technique of, Caesarean Section and its Alternatives, in
      Women with Contracted Pelves, who have been long in Labour and exposed to Septic
      Infection.

PMID- 20899667
TI  - The Indications for, and Technique of, Caesarean Section and its Alternatives, in
      Women with Contracted Pelves, who have been long in Labour and exposed to Septic
      Infection.

PMID- 20899670
TI  - The Indications for, and Technique of, Caesarean Section and its Alternatives, in
      Women with Contracted Pelves, who have been long in Labour and exposed to Septic
      Infection.

PMID- 20899669
TI  - The Indications for, and Technique of, Caesarean Section and its Alternatives, in
      Women with Contracted Pelves, who have been long in Labour and exposed to Septic
      Infection.

PMID- 20899671
TI  - The Indications for, and Technique of, Caesarean Section and its Alternatives, in
      Women with Contracted Pelves, who have been long in Labour and exposed to Septic
      Infection.

PMID- 20899672
TI  - The Indications for, and Technique of, Caesarean Section and its Alternatives, in
      Women with Contracted Pelves, who have been long in Labour and exposed to Septic
      Infection.

PMID- 20899673
TI  - The Indications for, and Technique of, Caesarean Section and its Alternatives, in
      Women with Contracted Pelves, who have been long in Labour and exposed to Septic
      Infection.

PMID- 20899674
TI  - The Indications for, and Technique of, Caesarean Section and its Alternatives, in
      Women with Contracted Pelves, who have been long in Labour and exposed to Septic
      Infection.

PMID- 20899675
TI  - Discussion on the Indications for, and Technique of, Caesarean Section and its
      Alternatives, in Women with Contracted Pelves, who have been long in Labour and
      exposed to Septic Infection.

PMID- 20899676
TI  - Discussion on the Indications for, and Technique of, Caesarean Section and its
      Alternatives, in Women with Contracted Pelves, who have been long in Labour and
      exposed to Septic Infection.

PMID- 20899678
TI  - Discussion on the Indications for, and Technique of, Caesarean Section and its
      Alternatives, in Women with Contracted Pelves, who have been long in Labour and
      exposed to Septic Infection.

PMID- 20899677
TI  - Discussion on the Indications for, and Technique of, Caesarean Section and its
      Alternatives, in Women with Contracted Pelves, who have been long in Labour and
      exposed to Septic Infection.

PMID- 20899679
TI  - Discussion on the Indications for, and Technique of, Caesarean Section and its
      Alternatives, in Women with Contracted Pelves, who have been long in Labour and
      exposed to Septic Infection.

PMID- 20899681
TI  - Discussion on the Indications for, and Technique of, Caesarean Section and its
      Alternatives, in Women with Contracted Pelves, who have been long in Labour and
      exposed to Septic Infection.

PMID- 20899680
TI  - Discussion on the Indications for, and Technique of, Caesarean Section and its
      Alternatives, in Women with Contracted Pelves, who have been long in Labour and
      exposed to Septic Infection.

PMID- 20899682
TI  - Discussion on the Indications for, and Technique of, Caesarean Section and its
      Alternatives, in Women with Contracted Pelves, who have been long in Labour and
      exposed to Septic Infection.

PMID- 20899684
TI  - Discussion on the Indications for, and Technique of, Caesarean Section and its
      Alternatives, in Women with Contracted Pelves, who have been long in Labour and
      exposed to Septic Infection.

PMID- 20899683
TI  - Discussion on the Indications for, and Technique of, Caesarean Section and its
      Alternatives, in Women with Contracted Pelves, who have been long in Labour and
      exposed to Septic Infection.

PMID- 20899685
TI  - Discussion on the Indications for, and Technique of, Caesarean Section and its
      Alternatives, in Women with Contracted Pelves, who have been long in Labour and
      exposed to Septic Infection.

PMID- 20899686
TI  - Discussion on the Indications for, and Technique of, Caesarean Section and its
      Alternatives, in Women with Contracted Pelves, who have been long in Labour and
      exposed to Septic Infection.

PMID- 20899693
TI  - The Nature of Haematocolpos Fluid, with Deductions as to the Chemical Composition
      of the Menstrual Discharge and the Cause of its Normal Non-coagulability, also of
      the Acidity of the Vaginal Secretion; and the Character of the Obstructing
      Membrane, with its Bearing on the Development of the Vagina; together with a
      Report of Three Cases of Haematocolpos.

PMID- 20899701
TI  - Six Cases of "Utriculoplasty" for Uterine Haemorrhage, one of which was followed
      by pregnancy and Labour.

PMID- 20899702
TI  - A Foetus with Congenital Absence of the Sacrum.

PMID- 20899703
TI  - Cervical Glands in the Uterus of the Foetus at Term.

PMID- 20899712
TI  - The Rectum in Gynaecology.

PMID- 20899756
TI  - Notes on a Case of Temporary Deafness and Blindness due to Intestinal Toxaemia.

PMID- 20899792
TI  - The Comparative Neuropathology of Trypanosome and Spirochaete Infections, with a
      Resume of our Knowledge of Human Trypanosomiasis.

PMID- 20899799
TI  - Resection of the Caecum and Ascending Colon, showing Chronic Hypertrophy of the
      Mucous Membrane, with Stenosis simulating Cancer.

PMID- 20899811
TI  - Prolonged Anaesthesia maintained by Ether and Gas alternately.

PMID- 20899814
TI  - A Death due to Inspiration of Gummatous Material from a Gumma which had burst
      during Chloroform Anaesthesia.

PMID- 20899813
TI  - Hypnotism in Relation to Surgical Anaesthesia.

PMID- 20899816
TI  - Anaesthesia in Post-pharyngeal Abscess.

PMID- 20899815
TI  - Nasal Reflex during Anaesthesia.

PMID- 20899819
TI  - The Use of Scopolamine, Morphine, Atropine, and similar drugs by Hypodermic
      Injection before Inhalation Anaesthesia.

PMID- 20899817
TI  - Note on a Case of "Cheyne-Stokes" Respiration during Anaesthesia.

PMID- 20899826
TI  - The AEtiology and Epidemiology of Paratyphoid Fever and "Food-poisoning.".

PMID- 20899844
TI  - Chronic Pyaemia of Five Years' Duration following Suppurative Epiphysitis of the
      Upper End of the Humerus.

PMID- 20899840
TI  - Von Jaksch's Anaemia.

PMID- 20899889
TI  - Morphoea in Band Form in a Girl, aged 7 Years.

PMID- 20899869
TI  - Congenital Naevoid Condition of the Left Thigh.

PMID- 20899909
TI  - Embolism of the Central Artery of the Retina in a Girl, aged 113/4 Years.

PMID- 20899894
TI  - Naevus Verrucosus Linearis.

PMID- 20899929
TI  - Infantilism with Thyroid Inadequacy (Juvenile Myxoedema).

PMID- 20899981
TI  - Septicaemia Haemorrhagica. Severe Capillary and Parenchymatous Haemorrhages of
      Septic Origin.

PMID- 20899982
TI  - Gastric and Intestinal Haemorrhages (probably of Septic Origin) occurring after
      Abdominal Operations.

PMID- 20899993
TI  - On Drugs used as Local Anaesthetics in the Mouth.

PMID- 20900026
TI  - Anomalous OEdema.

PMID- 20900055
TI  - Relief following Bilateral Nephrotomy and Drainage for Acute Nephritis attended
      by Suppression of Urine and Uraemic Convulsions.

PMID- 20900060
TI  - Haemorrhagic Disease in a Child (? Scorbutic).

PMID- 20900069
TI  - Persistent OEdema of Right Hand and Forearm after Slight Tramautism.

PMID- 20900076
TI  - Enlarged Spleen with Recurring Haematemesis.

PMID- 20900072
TI  - Recurrent Attacks of Dyspnoea (Asthma), accompanied on each occasion by a Faint
      Erythematous Annular Rash on the Limbs and Body.

PMID- 20900079
TI  - Haemochromatosis with Diabetes.

PMID- 20900073
TI  - Haemorrhagic Pericardial Effusion.

PMID- 20900081
TI  - Two Cases of Malignant Anaemia.

PMID- 20900100
TI  - Haemochromatosis with Diabetes.

PMID- 20900122
TI  - Haemorrhage into the Nail-matrices and Nail-beds of the Finger-nails.

PMID- 20900136
TI  - Maculo-anaesthetic Leprosy in a Woman, aged 25.

PMID- 20900131
TI  - Hydroa Vacciniforme vel AEstivale in a Boy, aged 8.

PMID- 20900155
TI  - Note on the AEtiology of Leprosy.

PMID- 20900153
TI  - Developing Systematized Naevus on the Back and Front and Arms in a Boy, aged 8
      months.

PMID- 20900170
TI  - Naevus Unius Lateris of Skin and Mucous Membrane.

PMID- 20900185
TI  - Granuloma Annulare in a Boy, aged 21/2.

PMID- 20900207
TI  - Case of Naevus.

PMID- 20900215
TI  - Striae Cutis Distensae.

PMID- 20900214
TI  - A peculiar Naevus.

PMID- 20900222
TI  - Extensive Naevus affecting chiefly the Left Side of the Body and partially the
      Right Side of the Neck in a Girl, aged 14.

PMID- 20900226
TI  - Small Linear Naevus on the Palm of the Hand of a Girl, aged 5.

PMID- 20900232
TI  - Morphoea Guttata.

PMID- 20900280
TI  - Tracheotomy performed Sixteen Years ago for Fixation of Cords in Mid-line, caused
      by (?) Inflammation of each Crico-arytaenoid Joint.

PMID- 20900284
TI  - Cystic Conditions of Left Arytaenoid in a Tuberculous Subject.

PMID- 20900300
TI  - Intrinsic Carcinoma of Larynx removed under Infusion Anaesthesia with Hedonal.

PMID- 20900304
TI  - Foreign Body, a Nail Two Inches long, in the Left Bronchus of a Child, aged 21/2,
      with Complete Transposition of Viscera.

PMID- 20900323
TI  - Specimen presenting Traction Diverticulum of OEsophagus and Atrophy of Left Vocal
      Cord, due to Infiltrated Gland beneath Arch of Aorta.

PMID- 20900318
TI  - Pneumococcic Laryngitis followed by Suppurative Arthritis, Endocarditis,
      Septicaemia, and Death.

PMID- 20900324
TI  - OEsophagus with Perforations due to Ulceration produced by Foreign Bodies.

PMID- 20900326
TI  - Cancer of OEsophagus projecting into Trachea.

PMID- 20900325
TI  - OEsophagus with Cicatricial Stenosis caused by Carbolic Acid.

PMID- 20900353
TI  - Skiagrams illustrating the Treatment of Two Cases of Non-malignant Stricture of
      Gullet by Endo-oesophageal Mechanical Dilatation.

PMID- 20900337
TI  - Chronic OEdema of the Fauces and Larynx in a Boy.

PMID- 20900356
TI  - Bilateral OEdema of the Ethmoidal Septum in Sinus Suppuration.

PMID- 20900377
TI  - Swelling in the Neck in a Child, aged 41/2.

PMID- 20900379
TI  - Two Cases of Carcinoma of the OEsophagus; Lower Thoracic with Superadded
      Pharyngeal Dysphagia;? Paretic or Spasmodic.

PMID- 20900420
TI  - Microscopical Section of a Malignant Columnar-celled Carcinoma of the OEsophagus.

PMID- 20900423
TI  - Tumour of Right Lateral Wall of the Pharynx involving the Right Arytaenoid.

PMID- 20900442
TI  - Nodular Leukaemia: with an Illustrative Case and References to over One Hundred
      others.

PMID- 20900445
TI  - Two Cases of Spontaneous Haematorrhachis, or Intrameningeal Spinal Haemorrhage
      one cured by Laminectomy.

PMID- 20900482
TI  - Presidential Address: The Past Work of the Obstetrical Society of London and some
      of the Obstetric and Gynaecological Problems still awaiting Solution.

PMID- 20900484
TI  - A Discussion on Amenorrhoeal Insanity.

PMID- 20900483
TI  - A Discussion on Amenorrhoeal Insanity.

PMID- 20900486
TI  - A Discussion on Amenorrhoeal Insanity.

PMID- 20900485
TI  - A Discussion on Amenorrhoeal Insanity.

PMID- 20900487
TI  - A Discussion on Amenorrhoeal Insanity.

PMID- 20900488
TI  - A Discussion on Amenorrhoeal Insanity.

PMID- 20900489
TI  - A Discussion on Amenorrhoeal Insanity.

PMID- 20900491
TI  - A Discussion on Amenorrhoeal Insanity.

PMID- 20900490
TI  - A Discussion on Amenorrhoeal Insanity.

PMID- 20900497
TI  - Extra-uterine Gestation; Death of Foetus near Term; Removal of whole Sac three
      months later.

PMID- 20900510
TI  - The Presence of Blood-pigment in the Faeces of the New-born.

PMID- 20900518
TI  - A Foetus with Congenital Hereditary Graves's Disease.

PMID- 20900513
TI  - The Treatment of Puerperal Septicaemia by Bacterial Vaccines.

PMID- 20900521
TI  - Sections of Ovarian Concretions (Haematoliths) and of the Cyst Wall in which they
      were contained.

PMID- 20900524
TI  - Uterus and Appendages from a Case of Primary Amenorrhoea.

PMID- 20900522
TI  - Caesarean Section for Dystocia due to Coils of the Cord around the Foetus.

PMID- 20900532
TI  - Extraperitoneal Caesarean Section.

PMID- 20900527
TI  - Retroversion of the Gravid Uterus complicated by Over-distension of the Bladder
      and Haematuria.

PMID- 20900533
TI  - Embryotomy after Version for Placenta Praevia.

PMID- 20900538
TI  - Generalized OEdema of the Foetus.

PMID- 20900539
TI  - Haematocele of the Canal of Nuck.

PMID- 20900541
TI  - Haematosalpinx and Haematometra, Bicornute Uterus. Atresia of the Vagina and
      Cervix Uteri.

PMID- 20900558
TI  - A Discussion on Amenorrhoeal Insanity: An Address Introductory to a Discussion on
      the Subject.

PMID- 20900559
TI  - A Discussion on Amenorrhoeal Insanity: Discussion.

PMID- 20900576
TI  - Local Anaesthesia, with Special Reference to Injection Methods.

PMID- 20900662
TI  - Tuberculous Disease of the Temporal Bone in a Boy, aged 71/2.

PMID- 20900663
TI  - Solid Symmetrical OEdema of both Auricles in a Woman, aged 36; Twelve Months'
      Duration.

PMID- 20900669
TI  - A Large Intra-abdominal Haematoma formed in an Accessory Spleen.

PMID- 20900690
TI  - Three Cases of Death under Anaesthesia.

PMID- 20900687
TI  - Sahli's Haemoglobinometer.

PMID- 20900693
TI  - The Systematic Use of a Mouth-prop and Tongue-clip in General Anaesthesia.

PMID- 20900694
TI  - Crawford Williamson Long (1815-1879): the Pioneer of Anaesthesia and the first to
      suggest and employ Ether Inhalation during Surgical Operations.

PMID- 20900699
TI  - Chloroform Toxaemia in a Child to whom Fat was Noxious.

PMID- 20900700
TI  - Notes of a Case of (?) Post-anaesthetic Poisoning.

PMID- 20900701
TI  - Ether Infusion Anaesthesia.

PMID- 20900702
TI  - Hedonal Infusion Anaesthesia; a Report on Seventy-five Cases.

PMID- 20900710
TI  - Certain AEtiological Considerations arising from Observations of the Behaviour of
      Poliomyelitis in Devon and Cornwall, 1911.

PMID- 20900712
TI  - Diarrhoea in 1911.

PMID- 20900725
TI  - Two Brothers with Haemophilia.

PMID- 20900736
TI  - Recurrent Unilateral OEdema.

PMID- 20900747
TI  - Diphtheria of OEsophagus.

PMID- 20900770
TI  - Congenital Absence of Patellae and Deformity of the Nails in a Mother and Three
      Children.

PMID- 20900777
TI  - Purpura in Infective Diarrhoea.

PMID- 20900787
TI  - Discussion on Partial Thyroidectomy under Local Anaesthesia, with Special
      Reference to Exophthalmic Goitre.

PMID- 20900789
TI  - Discussion on Partial Thyroidectomy under Local Anaesthesia, with Special
      Reference to Exophthalmic Goitre.

PMID- 20900788
TI  - Discussion on Partial Thyroidectomy under Local Anaesthesia, with Special
      Reference to Exophthalmic Goitre.

PMID- 20900790
TI  - Discussion on Partial Thyroidectomy under Local Anaesthesia, with Special
      Reference to Exophthalmic Goitre.

PMID- 20900792
TI  - Discussion on Partial Thyroidectomy under Local Anaesthesia, with Special
      Reference to Exophthalmic Goitre.

PMID- 20900791
TI  - Discussion on Partial Thyroidectomy under Local Anaesthesia, with Special
      Reference to Exophthalmic Goitre.

PMID- 20900793
TI  - Discussion on Partial Thyroidectomy under Local Anaesthesia, with Special
      Reference to Exophthalmic Goitre.

PMID- 20900794
TI  - Discussion on Partial Thyroidectomy under Local Anaesthesia, with Special
      Reference to Exophthalmic Goitre.

PMID- 20900795
TI  - Discussion on Partial Thyroidectomy under Local Anaesthesia, with Special
      Reference to Exophthalmic Goitre.

PMID- 20900797
TI  - Discussion on Partial Thyroidectomy under Local Anaesthesia, with Special
      Reference to Exophthalmic Goitre.

PMID- 20900796
TI  - Discussion on Partial Thyroidectomy under Local Anaesthesia, with Special
      Reference to Exophthalmic Goitre.

PMID- 20900798
TI  - Discussion on Partial Thyroidectomy under Local Anaesthesia, with Special
      Reference to Exophthalmic Goitre.

PMID- 20900799
TI  - Discussion on Partial Thyroidectomy under Local Anaesthesia, with Special
      Reference to Exophthalmic Goitre.

PMID- 20900800
TI  - Discussion on Partial Thyroidectomy under Local Anaesthesia, with Special
      Reference to Exophthalmic Goitre.

PMID- 20900801
TI  - Discussion on Partial Thyroidectomy under Local Anaesthesia, with Special
      Reference to Exophthalmic Goitre.

PMID- 20900802
TI  - Discussion on Partial Thyroidectomy under Local Anaesthesia, with Special
      Reference to Exophthalmic Goitre.

PMID- 20900833
TI  - A Discussion on Partial Thyroidectomy under Local Anaesthesia, with Special
      Reference to Exophthalmic Goitre: An Address Introductory to a Discussion on the
      Subject.

PMID- 20900834
TI  - A Discussion on Partial Thyroidectomy under Local Anaesthesia, with Special
      Reference to Exophthalmic Goitre: Discussion.

PMID- 20900835
TI  - A Discussion on Partial Thyroidectomy under Local Anaesthesia, with Special
      Reference to Exophthalmic Goitre.

PMID- 20900836
TI  - A Discussion on Partial Thyroidectomy under Local Anaesthesia, with Special
      Reference to Exophthalmic Goitre.

PMID- 20900837
TI  - A Discussion on Partial Thyroidectomy under Local Anaesthesia, with Special
      Reference to Exophthalmic Goitre.

PMID- 20900838
TI  - A Discussion on Partial Thyroidectomy under Local Anaesthesia, with Special
      Reference to Exophthalmic Goitre.

PMID- 20900839
TI  - Discussion on Partial Thyroidectomy under Local Anaesthesia, with Special
      Reference to Exophthalmic Goitre.

PMID- 20900840
TI  - Discussion on Partial Thyroidectomy under Local Anaesthesia, with Special
      Reference to Exophthalmic Goitre.

PMID- 20900841
TI  - Discussion on Partial Thyroidectomy under Local Anaesthesia, with Special
      Reference to Exophthalmic Goitre.

PMID- 20900909
TI  - Nephritis with Ascites, Bilateral Hydrothorax and General OEdema in Secondary
      Syphilis (Result).

PMID- 20900914
TI  - "Baggy" Subcutaneous Fat, simulating Symmetrical OEdema of the Legs. Disorder of
      Internal Secretions.

PMID- 20900913
TI  - Secondary Haemorrhages in the Retina in Secondary Anaemia.

PMID- 20900940
TI  - Purpura Haemorrhagica, a Fulminating Case; Gelatine Treatment.

PMID- 20900955
TI  - Oblique Fracture of Femur into the Knee-joint, and of both Tibiae and Fibulae;
      Arthrotomy and Union of Condyles of Femur by Screws.

PMID- 20900963
TI  - Acholuric Jaundice (Haemolytic Anaemia).

PMID- 20900964
TI  - Resection of Caecum, Appendix, Ileocaecal Valve, and 10 in. of Ileum for Chronic
      Appendicitis.

PMID- 20900965
TI  - Resection of Caecum, Ileocaecal Valve, and 5 in. of Ileum for Sarcoma;
      Anastomosis by Murphy's Button; Button retained for Four Years.

PMID- 20900966
TI  - Resection of Caecum, Ileocaecal Valve, Appendix, and 10 in. of Ileum for
      Obstruction following an Entero-anastomosis; subsequent Ventral Hernia cured by
      Filigree Inplantation.

PMID- 20900967
TI  - Gastro-enterostomy for Haematemesis followed by Ileus and Faecal Vomiting;
      Caecostomy; subsequent Ventral Hernia; Cure by Implantation of 6-in. Filigree.

PMID- 20900988
TI  - Chronic Acholuric Jaundice, with Anaemia, slight Splenomegaly, and Nervous
      Disorder.

PMID- 20901001
TI  - Framboesiform Syphilide of Palms.

PMID- 20901007
TI  - Hidradenomes Eruptifs (Syringoma).

PMID- 20901008
TI  - Localized Sclerodermia (Morphoea).

PMID- 20901037
TI  - Pigmented Naevi-like Freckles in a Girl, aged 16.

PMID- 20901039
TI  - Naevus Unius Lateris and Unusual Effects of Solid CO(2) (Dermatitis Repens).

PMID- 20901072
TI  - Note on the AEtiology of some Tropical Dermatomycoses (Tinea cruris, Tinea flava
      et nigra, Tinea imbricata).

PMID- 20901094
TI  - OEdema Neonatorum.

PMID- 20901121
TI  - The AEtiology of Gastric Ulcer.

PMID- 20901148
TI  - The Consequences and Treatment of Alimentary Toxaemia from an Odontological Point
      of View.

PMID- 20901150
TI  - A Discussion on Alimentary Toxaemia; its Sources, Consequences, and Treatment.

PMID- 20901149
TI  - A Discussion on Alimentary Toxaemia; its Sources, Consequences, and Treatment.

PMID- 20901151
TI  - A Discussion on Alimentary Toxaemia; its Sources, Consequences, and Treatment.

PMID- 20901152
TI  - A Discussion on Alimentary Toxaemia; its Sources, Consequences, and Treatment.

PMID- 20901153
TI  - A Discussion on Alimentary Toxaemia; its Sources, Consequences, and Treatment.

PMID- 20901155
TI  - A Discussion on Alimentary Toxaemia; its Sources, Consequences, and Treatment.

PMID- 20901154
TI  - A Discussion on Alimentary Toxaemia; its Sources, Consequences, and Treatment.

PMID- 20901157
TI  - A Discussion on Alimentary Toxaemia; its Sources, Consequences, and Treatment.

PMID- 20901156
TI  - A Discussion on Alimentary Toxaemia; its Sources, Consequences, and Treatment.

PMID- 20901158
TI  - A Discussion on Alimentary Toxaemia; its Sources, Consequences, and Treatment.

PMID- 20901160
TI  - A Discussion on Alimentary Toxaemia; its Sources, Consequences, and Treatment.

PMID- 20901159
TI  - A Discussion on Alimentary Toxaemia; its Sources, Consequences, and Treatment.

PMID- 20901161
TI  - A Discussion on Alimentary Toxaemia; its Sources, Consequences, and Treatment.

PMID- 20901162
TI  - A Discussion on Alimentary Toxaemia; its Sources, Consequences, and Treatment.

PMID- 20901163
TI  - A Discussion on Alimentary Toxaemia; its Sources, Consequences, and Treatment.

PMID- 20901165
TI  - A Discussion on Alimentary Toxaemia; its Sources, Consequences, and Treatment.

PMID- 20901166
TI  - A Discussion on Alimentary Toxaemia; its Sources, Consequences, and Treatment.

PMID- 20901167
TI  - A Discussion on Alimentary Toxaemia; its Sources, Consequences, and Treatment.

PMID- 20901168
TI  - A Discussion on Alimentary Toxaemia; its Sources, Consequences, and Treatment.

PMID- 20901170
TI  - A Discussion on Alimentary Toxaemia; its Sources, Consequences, and Treatment.

PMID- 20901169
TI  - A Discussion on Alimentary Toxaemia; its Sources, Consequences, and Treatment.

PMID- 20901171
TI  - A Discussion on Alimentary Toxaemia; its Sources, Consequences, and Treatment.

PMID- 20901172
TI  - A Discussion on Alimentary Toxaemia; its Sources, Consequences, and Treatment.

PMID- 20901173
TI  - A Discussion on Alimentary Toxaemia; its Sources, Consequences, and Treatment.

PMID- 20901175
TI  - A Discussion on Alimentary Toxaemia; its Sources, Consequences, and Treatment.

PMID- 20901174
TI  - A Discussion on Alimentary Toxaemia; its Sources, Consequences, and Treatment.

PMID- 20901177
TI  - A Discussion on Alimentary Toxaemia; its Sources, Consequences, and Treatment.

PMID- 20901176
TI  - A Discussion on Alimentary Toxaemia; its Sources, Consequences, and Treatment.

PMID- 20901178
TI  - A Discussion on Alimentary Toxaemia; its Sources, Consequences, and Treatment.

PMID- 20901180
TI  - A Discussion on Alimentary Toxaemia; its Sources, Consequences, and Treatment.

PMID- 20901179
TI  - A Discussion on Alimentary Toxaemia; its Sources, Consequences, and Treatment.

PMID- 20901181
TI  - A Discussion on Alimentary Toxaemia; its Sources, Consequences, and Treatment.

PMID- 20901182
TI  - A Discussion on Alimentary Toxaemia; its Sources, Consequences, and Treatment.

PMID- 20901183
TI  - A Discussion on Alimentary Toxaemia; its Sources, Consequences, and Treatment.

PMID- 20901184
TI  - A Discussion on Alimentary Toxaemia; its Sources, Consequences, and Treatment.

PMID- 20901185
TI  - A Discussion on Alimentary Toxaemia; its Sources, Consequences, and Treatment.

PMID- 20901186
TI  - A Discussion on Alimentary Toxaemia; its Sources, Consequences, and Treatment.

PMID- 20901187
TI  - A Discussion on Alimentary Toxaemia; its Sources, Consequences, and Treatment.

PMID- 20901188
TI  - A Discussion on Alimentary Toxaemia; its Sources, Consequences, and Treatment.

PMID- 20901189
TI  - A Discussion on Alimentary Toxaemia; its Sources, Consequences, and Treatment.

PMID- 20901190
TI  - A Discussion on Alimentary Toxaemia; its Sources, Consequences, and Treatment.

PMID- 20901191
TI  - A Discussion on Alimentary Toxaemia; its Sources, Consequences, and Treatment.

PMID- 20901192
TI  - A Discussion on Alimentary Toxaemia; its Sources, Consequences, and Treatment.

PMID- 20901193
TI  - A Discussion on Alimentary Toxaemia; its Sources, Consequences, and Treatment.

PMID- 20901194
TI  - A Discussion on Alimentary Toxaemia; its Sources, Consequences, and Treatment.

PMID- 20901196
TI  - A Discussion on Alimentary Toxaemia; its Sources, Consequences, and Treatment.

PMID- 20901195
TI  - A Discussion on Alimentary Toxaemia; its Sources, Consequences, and Treatment.

PMID- 20901197
TI  - A Discussion on Alimentary Toxaemia; its Sources, Consequences, and Treatment.

PMID- 20901198
TI  - A Discussion on Alimentary Toxaemia; its Sources, Consequences, and Treatment.

PMID- 20901199
TI  - The Consequences and Treatment of Alimentary Toxaemia from a Medical Point of
      View.

PMID- 20901200
TI  - A Discussion on Alimentary Toxaemia; its Sources, Consequences, and Treatment.

PMID- 20901201
TI  - A Discussion on Alimentary Toxaemia; its Sources, Consequences, and Treatment:
      Summary and Reply.

PMID- 20901202
TI  - The Consequences and Treatment of Alimentary Toxaemia from a Surgical Point of
      View.

PMID- 20901207
TI  - Brain, with large Pituitary Tumour, from Patient who died from Haemorrhage after
      Partial Removal of Floor of Sella Turcica.

PMID- 20901227
TI  - Haemorrhage into the Right Vocal Cord, the Result of an Accident at Football.

PMID- 20901233
TI  - Cyst of Arytaeno-epiglottidean Fold which has Burst Spontaneously.

PMID- 20901231
TI  - Cast of the Epithelial Lining of the OEsophagus, from a Case of CHCl(3)
      Poisoning.

PMID- 20901234
TI  - Cyst on Epiglottis, with Symptoms suggestive of OEsophageal Stricture.

PMID- 20901241
TI  - Double Abductor Paresis and Stricture of Deep Pharynx and Upper End of
      OEsophagus, after accidentally Swallowing Glacial Acetic Acid in October, 1912.

PMID- 20901242
TI  - Nearly Complete Paralysis of Left Vocal Cord of Unexplained AEtiology.

PMID- 20901252
TI  - Discussion on the AEtiology of Unilateral Paralysis of the Recurrent Laryngeal
      Nerve.

PMID- 20901248
TI  - Discussion on the AEtiology of Unilateral Paralysis of the Recurrent Laryngeal
      Nerve.

PMID- 20901254
TI  - Discussion on the AEtiology of Unilateral Paralysis of the Recurrent Laryngeal
      Nerve.

PMID- 20901253
TI  - Discussion on the AEtiology of Unilateral Paralysis of the Recurrent Laryngeal
      Nerve.

PMID- 20901258
TI  - Discussion on the AEtiology of Unilateral Paralysis of the Recurrent Laryngeal
      Nerve.

PMID- 20901257
TI  - Discussion on the AEtiology of Unilateral Paralysis of the Recurrent Laryngeal
      Nerve.

PMID- 20901259
TI  - Discussion on the AEtiology of Unilateral Paralysis of the Recurrent Laryngeal
      Nerve.

PMID- 20901260
TI  - Discussion on the AEtiology of Unilateral Paralysis of the Recurrent Laryngeal
      Nerve.

PMID- 20901261
TI  - Discussion on the AEtiology of Unilateral Paralysis of the Recurrent Laryngeal
      Nerve.

PMID- 20901263
TI  - Discussion on the AEtiology of Unilateral Paralysis of the Recurrent Laryngeal
      Nerve.

PMID- 20901262
TI  - Discussion on the AEtiology of Unilateral Paralysis of the Recurrent Laryngeal
      Nerve.

PMID- 20901264
TI  - Discussion on the AEtiology of Unilateral Paralysis of the Recurrent Laryngeal
      Nerve.

PMID- 20901267
TI  - Symmetrical Swellings on Anterior Aspect of Arytaenoids just above the Vocal
      Processes.

PMID- 20901283
TI  - Malignant Disease of the OEsophagus; Complete Paralysis of the Left Recurrent
      Nerve.

PMID- 20901295
TI  - Skiagram showing a Penny Coin impacted in the OEsophagus of a Woman, aged 25.

PMID- 20901298
TI  - Infiltration of Uvula, Epiglottis and Arytaenoids.

PMID- 20901313
TI  - A Chicken Bone 11/4 in. long removed from the Upper Part of the OEsophagus.

PMID- 20901312
TI  - The Fin of a Haddock extracted from the OEsophagus.

PMID- 20901314
TI  - Telescopic OEsophageal Tube with the Outer Tube Straight-ended and the Inner Tube
      Beaked.

PMID- 20901348
TI  - Two Cases of Bilateral OEdema of Nasal Septum.

PMID- 20901319
TI  - A Spicule of Rabbit Bone, 3/4 in. in Length, removed by Upper Bronchoscopy from
      the Trachea of a Boy, aged 5.

PMID- 20901375
TI  - Some Cases of Polycythaemia.

PMID- 20901376
TI  - The Prognostic Significance of Secondary Polycythaemia in Cardio-pulmonary Cases.

PMID- 20901377
TI  - Gout and Chronic Rheumatism: Their AEtiology from the Bacteriological Standpoint,
      and some Notes on Treatment.

PMID- 20901443
TI  - Uterine Mole showing Low Implantation of the Ovum (Placenta Praevia).

PMID- 20901445
TI  - Portion of Bone Knitting Needle, used to procure Abortion, removed by Operation
      from Abdominal Cavity; Development of a Pelvic Abscess, Faecal Fistula, Septic
      Pyelonephritis, and General Septic Infection, with ultimate Recovery.

PMID- 20901475
TI  - Chorionepithelioma following Hydatidiform Mole and giving rise to Intraperitoneal
      Haemorrhage from an Extension in the Right Mesosalpinx.

PMID- 20901454
TI  - The Cause of Internal Rotation of the Foetal Head.

PMID- 20901484
TI  - Bacterial Infection of the Foetal Membranes from a Case of Hydrorrhoea
      Gravidarum.

PMID- 20901495
TI  - Puerperal Eclampsia treated by Caesarean Section.

PMID- 20901490
TI  - Haematocolpos, with Remarks on the Structure of the Vaginal Wall.

PMID- 20901502
TI  - Rupture of a Haemorrhagic Corpus Luteum into a Broad Ligament Cyst.

PMID- 20901498
TI  - Urgent Caesarean Section for Prolapse of the Cord in a Case of Contracted Pelvis.

PMID- 20901503
TI  - Tubal Haematoma.

PMID- 20901531
TI  - An Improved Anaesthetic Facepiece.

PMID- 20901545
TI  - A Horsebean removed from the Middle Ear during a Radical Mastoid Operation for
      prolonged Otorrhoea in a Boy, aged 9; with two Sequestra, containing the Outer
      Wall or the Canal of the Facial Nerve.

PMID- 20901580
TI  - Deafness in a Case of Myxoedema.

PMID- 20901581
TI  - Epithelioma of Middle Ear invading the Middle and Posterior Fossae of the Skull
      in a Man, aged 56.

PMID- 20901594
TI  - Left Otorrhoea and Right Temporal Sphenoidal Abscess.

PMID- 20901606
TI  - An Account of a Bacillus of an Unusual Kind isolated from a Case of Septicaemia.

PMID- 20901607
TI  - A New Spirochaeta found in Human Blood.

PMID- 20901614
TI  - Death during Hedonal Infusion Anaesthesia.

PMID- 20901610
TI  - Some Points concerning the Vaccine Treatment of Gonorrhoea and the Regulation
      thereof by the Complement-fixation Test.

PMID- 20901616
TI  - Notes on the Administration of Anaesthetics in America, with Special Reference to
      the Practice at the Mayo Clinic.

PMID- 20901621
TI  - Technique in General Anaesthesia for Intranasal Operations.

PMID- 20901622
TI  - Scopolamine-Morphine-Atropine as a General Anaesthetic.

PMID- 20901623
TI  - Scopolamine-Morphine-Atropine as an Adjunct in Inhalation Anaesthesia.

PMID- 20901646
TI  - Formulae Medicamentorum Concinnatae.

PMID- 20901702
TI  - OEdema of the Thighs in a Katatoniac.

PMID- 20901670
TI  - Drawing of Semilunar Retinal Haemorrhages (so-called Subhyaloid Haemorrhages).

PMID- 20901703
TI  - Presenile Katatonia (? Dementia Praecox).

PMID- 20901715
TI  - Microscopical Investigation of the Nervous System in Three Cases of Spontaneous
      Myxoedema.

PMID- 20901745
TI  - Summer Diarrhoea and Summer Heat.

PMID- 20901723
TI  - Interstitial Keratitis and Osteo-periostitis of the Tibiae treated with Neo
      salvarsan.

PMID- 20901764
TI  - Operative Myxoedema-Cachexia Strumipriva.

PMID- 20901787
TI  - Ectopia Vesicae.

PMID- 20901768
TI  - Pathological Specimen; Diphtheria of the OEsophagus.

PMID- 20901800
TI  - Congenital Syphilis; Haematuria.

PMID- 20901803
TI  - Congenital OEsophageal Stenosis.

PMID- 20901807
TI  - Malformation of the Rectum (Complete Absence of the Post-allantoic Gut and the
      Proctodaeum); Operation; Result.

PMID- 20901813
TI  - Congenital Family Cholaemia.

PMID- 20901809
TI  - Pharynx and Larynx from Fatal Case of Haemorrhage from Throat.

PMID- 20901849
TI  - Excision of the Spleen for Splenic Anaemia.

PMID- 20901817
TI  - Excision of Spleen for Congenital Family Cholaemia.

PMID- 20901906
TI  - Haemolytic Jaundice complicated by Cholecystitis.

PMID- 20901905
TI  - Haemolytic Jaundice; Cholecystotomy; Splenectomy; Cure.

PMID- 20901909
TI  - Splenomegaly; Two Attacks of Haematemesis; Irregular Liver.

PMID- 20901922
TI  - Extradural Haemorrhage causing Slight Aphasia from Pressure over Broca's
      Convolution.

PMID- 20901927
TI  - Spleno-myelogenic Leukaemia.

PMID- 20901932
TI  - Spasmodic Stricture of the OEsophagus (Cardiospasm), with Fusiform Dilatation
      above it.

PMID- 20901929
TI  - Splenomegaly with Gastro-intestinal Haemorrhages.

PMID- 20901940
TI  - Haemophilia.

PMID- 20901947
TI  - Chronic Myelocytic Leukaemia treated by Benzol, &c.

PMID- 20901968
TI  - Splenic Enlargement, Haemorrhage, Anaemia, and Arteritis Obliterans with Oral
      Sepsis.

PMID- 20901959
TI  - Splenic Enlargement, Haemorrhage, Anaemia, with Oral Sepsis.

PMID- 20901971
TI  - Splenic Anaemia in a Father and Three Children.

PMID- 20901972
TI  - Splenic Anaemia treated by Splenectomy.

PMID- 20901973
TI  - Splenic Anaemia treated by Splenectomy.

PMID- 20901974
TI  - Splenic Anaemia treated by Splenectomy.

PMID- 20901980
TI  - Splenomegaly with Gastro-intestinal Haemorrhages.

PMID- 20901987
TI  - Naevus Linearis Bilateralis (Mixed Systemic Naevus).

PMID- 20901981
TI  - Splenic Anaemia with Ascites, treated by Splenectomy and Omentopexy.

PMID- 20901995
TI  - Polycythaemia Rubra.

PMID- 20902031
TI  - Hydroa AEstivale (et Hiemale).

PMID- 20902033
TI  - Bilateral Telangiectases (Naevus Araneus).

PMID- 20902170
TI  - Electrolysis in the Treatment of Haemorrhoids.

PMID- 20902069
TI  - Case of Trophoedema.

PMID- 20902174
TI  - On Some of the Recent Advances in the Field of Microbiology; with Demonstrations
      of the Pure Cultures of various Spirochaetes, of the Viruses of Rabies and
      Poliomyelitis, and of Treponema pallidum in the Brains of General Paralytics.

PMID- 20902220
TI  - Removal of Foreign Bodies from the OEsophagus.

PMID- 20902201
TI  - Fixed Circo-arytaenoid Joint; Phthisis; Healed Tertiary Syphilis.

PMID- 20902221
TI  - X-ray Photographs of Carcinoma of the OEsophagus in Two Patients, aged
      respectively 49 and 71.

PMID- 20902223
TI  - Inoperable Fungating Carcinoma of the OEsophagus in a Male Patient, aged 36.

PMID- 20902244
TI  - (a) Two Curettes for the removal of the Anterior Ethmoidal and "Agger" Cells. (b)
      A Collection of Foreign Bodies removed from the Lower Air Passages and
      OEsophagus. (c) Skiagrams illustrating Foreign Bodies in the Bronchi and
      Malignant Strictures of OEsophagus.

PMID- 20902231
TI  - An OEdematous Fibroma depending from the Left Vocal Cord.

PMID- 20902247
TI  - Skiagram showing a Farthing in the OEsophagus of a Child, aged 2.

PMID- 20902277
TI  - Specimen of Thyro-glossal Cyst, causing Dyspnoea, in a Woman, aged 54.

PMID- 20902262
TI  - Carcinoma of Arytaeno-epiglottic Fold and Pyriform Fossa removed by Transthyroid
      Pharyngotomy.

PMID- 20902285
TI  - Tooth-plates and Meat Bones removed from the OEsophagus.

PMID- 20902280
TI  - Polycythaemia rubra with Chronic Rhinitis.

PMID- 20902294
TI  - OEsophageal Diverticulum.

PMID- 20902296
TI  - Removal of a Large Pharyngeal Pouch under Local Anaesthesia in a Man, aged 70.

PMID- 20902298
TI  - Notes, Specimen and Drawing of Case of Cerebrospinal Rhinorrhoea, with subsequent
      Ethmoiditis, Mucocele, and Frontal Sinus Suppuration, indistinguishable from
      Ethmoidal Mucocele; Operation; Death.

PMID- 20902317
TI  - Inflammatory Fixation of the Left Arytaenoid following supposed Impaction of a
      Foreign Body in the Larynx.

PMID- 20902329
TI  - Pathological Specimens of Tonsils from a Case of Lymphatic Leukaemia.

PMID- 20902332
TI  - A Contribution to the Study of a Group of Cases of Chronic Recurrent Diarrhoea in
      Childhood.

PMID- 20902339
TI  - Paroxysmal Tachycardia in a Child, aged 23/4.

PMID- 20902340
TI  - Paroxysmal Tachycardia in a Boy, aged 41/2.

PMID- 20902341
TI  - Secondary or Symptomatic Leukaemia.

PMID- 20902345
TI  - Acute Aplastic Anaemia: With a Note on the Nomenclature of Plastic and Aplastic
      Anaemias.

PMID- 20902367
TI  - Sclerodermia; Neuropathic OEdema; Functional Hemiplegia.

PMID- 20902348
TI  - Pathological Changes in Case of Leukaemia from Prolonged Use of X-rays.

PMID- 20902389
TI  - "Pre-eclampsia" at the Twenty-fourth Week; Acute Toxaemia; Caesarean Section.

PMID- 20902390
TI  - "Caesarean Myomectomy"; Remarks on the Operation.

PMID- 20902392
TI  - A Specimen of Foetus Acardiacus Amorphus.

PMID- 20902397
TI  - Case of Haematometra.

PMID- 20902401
TI  - Uterine Fibroids; one impacted in the Pelvis obstructing Delivery; Caesarean
      Hysterectomy.

PMID- 20902403
TI  - Caesarean Section; Labour obstructed by One Half of a Uterus Didelphys.

PMID- 20902402
TI  - Eclampsia; Vaginal Caesarean Section.

PMID- 20902405
TI  - Uncontrollable Uterine Haemorrhage: A Report on 104 Uteri after Hysterectomy.

PMID- 20902412
TI  - Defective Ossification of Foetal Skull.

PMID- 20902414
TI  - Heart Disease complicating Pregnancy; Caesarean Section under Spinal Anaesthesia.

PMID- 20902416
TI  - Peritonitis in Foetus.

PMID- 20902429
TI  - Uterus with Multiple Fibroids showing Gestation Sac situated over internal Os
      (Placenta Praevia) and Empty Decidual Cavity in Upper Half of Uterus.

PMID- 20902430
TI  - Foetal Bones removed from the Uterus Three Years after a Miscarriage.

PMID- 20902433
TI  - The AEtiology of Eclampsia and Albuminuria and their Relation to Accidental
      Haemorrhage: (An Anatomical and Experimental Investigation.).

PMID- 20902432
TI  - Volvulus of the Caecum occurring in Connexion with Labour.

PMID- 20902435
TI  - A Lithopaedion removed from a Patient Six Months Pregnant.

PMID- 20902479
TI  - Lateral Sinus Thrombosis, with Pyaemia.

PMID- 20902501
TI  - Nerve Deafness associated with Anaemia.

PMID- 20902488
TI  - Haematoma Auris; Operative Treatment.

PMID- 20902507
TI  - Haematoma Auris.

PMID- 20902533
TI  - Intratracheal Anaesthesia.

PMID- 20902532
TI  - A Review of Inquests concerning Deaths during Anaesthesia, 1910-1913.

PMID- 20902534
TI  - Intratracheal Anaesthesia.

PMID- 20902536
TI  - Intratracheal Anaesthesia.

PMID- 20902538
TI  - Discussion on Posture in relation to General Anaesthesia.

PMID- 20902537
TI  - Physiological Observations upon Intratracheal Anaesthesia.

PMID- 20902539
TI  - Discussion on Posture in relation to General Anaesthesia.

PMID- 20902540
TI  - Discussion on Posture in relation to General Anaesthesia.

PMID- 20902541
TI  - Discussion on Posture in relation to General Anaesthesia.

PMID- 20902542
TI  - Discussion on Posture in relation to General Anaesthesia.

PMID- 20902543
TI  - Discussion on Posture in relation to General Anaesthesia.

PMID- 20902545
TI  - Discussion on Posture in relation to General Anaesthesia.

PMID- 20902544
TI  - Discussion on Posture in relation to General Anaesthesia.

PMID- 20902546
TI  - Discussion on Posture in relation to General Anaesthesia.

PMID- 20902547
TI  - Discussion on Posture in relation to General Anaesthesia.

PMID- 20902548
TI  - Discussion on Posture in relation to General Anaesthesia.

PMID- 20902549
TI  - Sudden Death under Light Chloroform Anaesthesia.

PMID- 20902618
TI  - Iritis-Rheumatic and Toxaemic.

PMID- 20902637
TI  - Korsakoff's Disease, with Systematized Anaesthesia.

PMID- 20902645
TI  - Case for Diagnosis: (?) Dementia Praecox.

PMID- 20902654
TI  - Congenital Deficiency of Vertebrae and Ribs.

PMID- 20902675
TI  - Benzol in the Treatment of Lymphatic Leukaemia.

PMID- 20902677
TI  - Case showing Bilateral Hare-lip, without Cleft Palate, and also Congenital
      Bilateral Mucous Fistulae in the Lower Lip.

PMID- 20902694
TI  - A Familial Case of Splenomegalic Anaemia with Infantilism.

PMID- 20902695
TI  - Fatal Haemoptysis in a Child, aged 4 Years.

PMID- 20902719
TI  - Case of Cephalhaematoma.

PMID- 20902721
TI  - Boy, aged 5 Years, with Two Femoral Herniae.

PMID- 20902733
TI  - Case for Diagnosis. Congenital Morbus Cordis or Erythraemia (?).

PMID- 20902746
TI  - Hemiplegia with very Extensive Naevus.

PMID- 20902756
TI  - Lymphocytic Leukaemia under Treatment by Benzol.

PMID- 20902765
TI  - Enlargement of the Mammary Gland in a Boy, aged 101/2 Years.

PMID- 20902764
TI  - Cyst of the Caecum in a Child, aged 3 Months, causing Intestinal Obstruction;
      Resection of Intestine; Recovery.

PMID- 20902770
TI  - Subacute Nephritis with Ascites and Uraemia.

PMID- 20902773
TI  - Urticaria followed by OEdema in an Infant, aged 2 Months.

PMID- 20902776
TI  - The Selection of the Incision in Coeliotomy.

PMID- 20902798
TI  - Congenital Absence of Tibiae.

PMID- 20902826
TI  - Haematoma of the Broad Ligament simulating Sarcoma of the Rectum.

PMID- 20902843
TI  - Case of Haemorrhagic Proctitis.

PMID- 20902845
TI  - Entire Caecum and Colon removed by Operation in a Case of very Severe Auto
      intoxication.

PMID- 20902847
TI  - Haemorrhagic Proctitis, with Notes of Cases.

PMID- 20902858
TI  - Recent Researches on Emetine and its Value as a Therapeutic Agent in Amoebiasis
      and other Diseases.

PMID- 20902895
TI  - Splenic Anaemia; Splenectomy.

PMID- 20902881
TI  - Splenomegaly with Anaemia and Haemorrhages.

PMID- 20902896
TI  - Double Osteotomy of Tibiae Ten Years after Operation.

PMID- 20902904
TI  - Naevus Linearis.

PMID- 20902916
TI  - Linear Naevus in Mother and Child.

PMID- 20902974
TI  - Acute Striae Atrophicae.

PMID- 20902956
TI  - Lymphatic Leukaemia.

PMID- 20902977
TI  - Morphoeic Sclerodermia.

PMID- 20902981
TI  - Hydroa AEstivalis.

PMID- 20902983
TI  - Lichen Planus Atrophicus, Sclerosus et Morphoeicus.

PMID- 20903025
TI  - Bristle from Hair-brush with Ova of Hoematopinus suis.

PMID- 20902995
TI  - Peculiar Zoniform Naevus of the Right Upper Extremity.

PMID- 20903038
TI  - Morphoeic Sclerodermia.

PMID- 20903083
TI  - Peptic Ulcer of the OEsophagus.

PMID- 20903096
TI  - Further Notes on a Case of a Gentleman, aged 59, with Malignant Stricture of the
      OEsophagus.

PMID- 20903099
TI  - Halfpenny embedded in OEsophagus.

PMID- 20903151
TI  - Fixation of Right Crico-arytaenoid Joint; (?) Traumatic.

PMID- 20903124
TI  - Haemostatic Guillotine.

PMID- 20903153
TI  - Dyspnoea, Perichondritis, Tumour (?) of the Mediastinum.

PMID- 20903159
TI  - Specimen and Skiagram of a Case of OEsophagotomy.

PMID- 20903163
TI  - Synechiae in the Nose treated by Diathermy.

PMID- 20903168
TI  - Male, aged 59, with Epithelioma of the OEsophagus, shown to illustrate the
      Benefits of Hill's Feeding Tube.

PMID- 20903165
TI  - Tuberculosis of Nasal Fossae.

PMID- 20903171
TI  - Synechiae and Contraction of the Vestibules.

PMID- 20903170
TI  - Specimens of Superior Maxillae, exhibiting Abnormal Conditions of the Nasal
      Fossae and Maxillary Antra.

PMID- 20903179
TI  - Two Cases of OEsophageal Stricture in Children.

PMID- 20903180
TI  - OEsophagus from a Child, aged 21/2, showing Escharotic Stenosis.

PMID- 20903187
TI  - A Case resembling Acute Lymphatic Leukaemia, ending in Complete Recovery.

PMID- 20903188
TI  - Notes on some Cases of Myelogenic Leukaemia.

PMID- 20903189
TI  - An Instance of Long Quiescence of Leukaemia.

PMID- 20903190
TI  - Bilateral Hypernephroma, with Secondary Thrombosis of the Inferior Vena Cava and
      Terminal Uraemia.

PMID- 20903212
TI  - Severe Haemorrhage after the Menopause from Rupture of a Vein in the Endometrium.

PMID- 20903218
TI  - Presidential Address: An Investigation of the Causes which determine the Lie of
      the Foetus in utero.

PMID- 20903219
TI  - Puerperal Eclampsia; Death due to Rupture of Subcapsular Haematoma of the Liver.

PMID- 20903220
TI  - Intestinal Fistulae made with a View to facilitating Recovery from certain
      Conditions which may follow Abdominal Operations.

PMID- 20903226
TI  - Two Cases of Hysterectomy for Ante-partum Haemorrhage.

PMID- 20903227
TI  - Placenta Praevia with Unusual Sequelae.

PMID- 20903236
TI  - Tubal Pregnancy showing Foetus undergoing Dissolution.

PMID- 20903249
TI  - The Discovery of Entamoeba buccalis in Pyorrhoea Pus, and Treatment by Emetin
      Hydrochloride.

PMID- 20903299
TI  - Anaesthetic Ether.

PMID- 20903300
TI  - A Discussion on the Methods of Induction of Anaesthesia.

PMID- 20903301
TI  - A Discussion on the Methods of Induction of Anaesthesia.

PMID- 20903302
TI  - A Discussion on the Methods of Induction of Anaesthesia.

PMID- 20903303
TI  - Discussion on the Influence of Preliminary Narcotics on (a) Induction, (b)
      Maintenance, (c) After-results of Anaesthesia.

PMID- 20903304
TI  - Discussion on the Influence of Preliminary Narcotics on (a) Induction, (b)
      Maintenance, (c) After-results of Anaesthesia.

PMID- 20903305
TI  - Discussion on the Influence of Preliminary Narcotics on (a) Induction, (b)
      Maintenance, (c) After-results of Anaesthesia.

PMID- 20903306
TI  - Discussion on the Influence of Preliminary Narcotics on (a) Induction, (b)
      Maintenance, (c) After-results of Anaesthesia.

PMID- 20903307
TI  - Discussion on the Influence of Preliminary Narcotics on (a) Induction, (b)
      Maintenance, (c) After-results of Anaesthesia.

PMID- 20903308
TI  - Discussion on the Influence of Preliminary Narcotics on (a) Induction, (b)
      Maintenance, (c) After-results of Anaesthesia.

PMID- 20903309
TI  - Discussion on the Influence of Preliminary Narcotics on (a) Induction, (b)
      Maintenance, (c) After-results of Anaesthesia.

PMID- 20903310
TI  - Discussion on the Influence of Preliminary Narcotics on (a) Induction, (b)
      Maintenance, (c) After-results of Anaesthesia.

PMID- 20903404
TI  - Giant Naevus.

PMID- 20903311
TI  - Discussion on the Influence of Preliminary Narcotics on (a) Induction, (b)
      Maintenance, (c) After-results of Anaesthesia.

PMID- 20903405
TI  - Splenomegaly (? Splenic Anaemia of Infancy) improved by Antisyphilitic Treatment.

PMID- 20903424
TI  - Specimen of Perforation of the Arch of the Aorta by Safety-pin Impacted in the
      OEsophagus.

PMID- 20903415
TI  - Nine Patches of Morphoea in a Child.

PMID- 20903428
TI  - Haematoma of the Lower Lid in an Infant, aged 5 Months (an Unusual Manifestation
      of Infantile Scurvy).

PMID- 20903433
TI  - Suprarenal Haemorrhage in an Infant.

PMID- 20903454
TI  - Child with Defective Patellae and Contraction of Limbs. Case for Diagnosis.

PMID- 20903464
TI  - Obscure Case of OEdema of the Sigmoid Mesocolon.

PMID- 20903462
TI  - Abdomino-perineal Excision of the Rectum for Carcinoma in a Woman, aged 763/4.

PMID- 20903516
TI  - Tuberculous Disease of the Face of Five Years' Duration in a Girl aged 181/2.

PMID- 20903482
TI  - Note on a Case of Anaemia and Purpura, with Greenish Coloration of the Bone
      marrow, and its Bearing on the Question of the Causation of the Green colour of
      Chloroma and the so-called Chloro-leukaemia.

PMID- 20903532
TI  - Sclerodermia occurring in a Case of Myxoedema while under Thyroid Treatment.

PMID- 20903534
TI  - Case of Morphoeo-sclerodermia (shown before) with recent Acute Symmetrical
      Involvement of the Soles of the Feet.

PMID- 20903546
TI  - Sclerodermia associated with Graves's Disease, and later Myxoedema, conspicuously
      benefiting by Implantation of Human Thyroid into the Bone-marrow.

PMID- 20903602
TI  - Radiogram of the OEsophagus of a Case of Carcinoma which presented itself as an
      Achalasia.

PMID- 20903612
TI  - Final Notes on a Case of Malignant Stricture of the OEsophagus, situated 3/4 in.
      above the Sternal Notch.

PMID- 20903624
TI  - Malignant Disease (?) of the Arytaeno-epiglottic Fold and Ventricular Region of
      the Left Side of Larynx.

PMID- 20903625
TI  - Halfpenny impacted for Five Days in the OEsophagus of a Child, aged 4.

PMID- 20903628
TI  - Tin Disk, 13/8 in. in Diameter, removed from the Gullet by the Direct Method.

PMID- 20903640
TI  - Long-continued Spasm of the OEsophagus.

PMID- 20903629
TI  - Large Irregular Piece of Bone, impacted in the OEsophagus, removed by Direct
      Method; Death from Sepsis Six Days later.

PMID- 20903648
TI  - Foreign Body (Fish-bone) in OEsophagus, followed by Abscess in Neck.

PMID- 20903656
TI  - Plumbism and Pyorrhoea associated with Passive OEdema and Thickening of the
      Uvula, Epiglottis, and Arytaenoids, with Enlargement of the Glands in the Parotid
      and Submaxillary Regions.

PMID- 20903730
TI  - A Wire-fed Tubular Needle for use in Closing Vesico-vaginal Fistulae.

PMID- 20903728
TI  - Acute Hepatic Toxaes complicating Pregnancy and Labour.

PMID- 20903746
TI  - Three Cases of Haematoma of the Abdominal Wall.

PMID- 20903736
TI  - Case of Glandular Carcinoma of Uterus in a Child, aged 21/2 Years.

PMID- 20903801
TI  - Fracture of the Base of the Skull in a Baby, aged 13/4 Years.

PMID- 20903805
TI  - Observations on the Influence of Anaesthetics on the Temperature of the Body.

PMID- 20903807
TI  - Studies on Egyptian Sand Amoebae: (Communicated and taken as read.).

PMID- 20903830
TI  - Retinitis Pigmentosa (Atypical), with OEdema of the Macula.

PMID- 20903840
TI  - A Fallacy in the Diagnosis of Glioma Retinae.

PMID- 20903877
TI  - Acute Nephritis without OEdema; Recovery.

PMID- 20903860
TI  - Case of Solid OEdema.

PMID- 20903879
TI  - Paroxysmal Haemoglobinuria.

PMID- 20903966
TI  - Persistent Hereditary OEdema of the Legs (Milroy's Disease) in Mother and
      Daughter.

PMID- 20903972
TI  - Case of Leucocythaemia Cutis.

PMID- 20903979
TI  - Case of OEdeme bleu de Charcot.

PMID- 20903989
TI  - Resistant Eczematous Eruption associated with Erythraemia.

PMID- 20903991
TI  - Case of Maculo-anaesthetic Lepra.

PMID- 20904004
TI  - Unilateral Striae Atrophicae (Striae Cutis Distensae) of the Thorax.

PMID- 20904006
TI  - Multiple Idiopathic Haemorrhagic Sarcoma (Kaposi).

PMID- 20904007
TI  - Case of Circumscribed Sclerodermia (Morphoea) in a Child.

PMID- 20904010
TI  - Case of Leucocythaemia Cutis.

PMID- 20904020
TI  - Case of Morphoeo-sclerodermia.

PMID- 20904015
TI  - Case of OEdematous Sclerodermia.

PMID- 20904035
TI  - Trauma in the AEtiology of Arthritis.

PMID- 20904057
TI  - A Method of Concentrating Entamoeba Cysts in Stools.

PMID- 20904090
TI  - Skiagrams illustrating Spasmodic Stricture of the Thoracic OEsophagus.

PMID- 20904123
TI  - Haematoma (?) of the Posterior End of the Inferior Turbinate.

PMID- 20904124
TI  - Specimen from a Case of Fatal Haemorrhage from Gunshot Wound involving the
      Superior Thyroid Artery.

PMID- 20904129
TI  - Cases and Specimens illustrating Work on Atrophic Rhinitis (Ozaena) and
      Tuberculosis.

PMID- 20904139
TI  - Six Cases of OEsophagectasia.

PMID- 20904135
TI  - Report of Two Cases of Mutton Bones impacted in the OEsophagus; OEsophagoscopy;
      Recovery.

PMID- 20904169
TI  - Concealed Accidental Haemorrhage with Intraperitoneal Bleeding.

PMID- 20904174
TI  - Acute Toxaemia of Pregnancy, with Acute Nephritis and Accidental Haemorrhage;
      Caesarean Hysterectomy; Recovery.

PMID- 20904175
TI  - Caesarean Section and Hysterectomy for Accidental Haemorrhage.

PMID- 20904181
TI  - Large Vesical Calculus, 31/2 oz., around a Slate Pencil.

PMID- 20904193
TI  - Mandibular Anaesthesia.

PMID- 20904237
TI  - Punctiform Haemorrhages of the Brain in Gas Poisoning.

PMID- 20904232
TI  - Note on an Amoeboid Body found in the Urine.

PMID- 20904240
TI  - Observations upon the Air under Masks during Ether Anaesthesia.

PMID- 20904239
TI  - Anaesthetics at a Casualty Clearing Station.

PMID- 20904262
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE AETIOLOGY AND TREATMENT OF IRITIS: OPENING ADDRESS BY THE
      PRESIDENT.

PMID- 20904245
TI  - Recent Researches into the AEtiology of Typhus.

PMID- 20904263
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE AETIOLOGY AND TREATMENT OF IRITIS.

PMID- 20904264
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE AETIOLOGY AND TREATMENT OF IRITIS.

PMID- 20904266
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE AETIOLOGY AND TREATMENT OF IRITIS.

PMID- 20904267
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE AETIOLOGY AND TREATMENT OF IRITIS.

PMID- 20904268
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE AETIOLOGY AND TREATMENT OF IRITIS.

PMID- 20904269
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE AETIOLOGY AND TREATMENT OF IRITIS.

PMID- 20904270
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE AETIOLOGY AND TREATMENT OF IRITIS.

PMID- 20904271
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE AETIOLOGY AND TREATMENT OF IRITIS.

PMID- 20904277
TI  - Studies on Endocrine Organs of Dementia Praecox.

PMID- 20904289
TI  - Case of OEsophageal Stricture.

PMID- 20904301
TI  - Congenital Atresia of the OEsophagus.

PMID- 20904300
TI  - A Case of Cyclic Vomiting with Acetonaemia (Acidosis): Remarks on Non-diabetic
      Acetonuria and Diaceturia.

PMID- 20904357
TI  - Two Cases of Morphoea Guttata.

PMID- 20904346
TI  - Case for Diagnosis: possibly an early case of the miscalled Multiple Idiopathic
      Haemorrhagic Sarcoma of Kaposi.

PMID- 20904400
TI  - Case of Extensive Naevus of the Trunk and Extremities, involving the Palms and
      Soles.

PMID- 20904401
TI  - Case of Multiple Morphoeo-sclerodermia.

PMID- 20904405
TI  - Case of Guttate Morphoea-Striae et Maculae Atrophicae.

PMID- 20904411
TI  - Naevus treated by X-rays.

PMID- 20904413
TI  - Abnormal Condition of the OEsophagus, Stomach and Colon.

PMID- 20904439
TI  - Case of Hyper-adduction of the Left Arytaenoid Cartilage.

PMID- 20904461
TI  - Intranasal Frontal Sinus Operation under Nitrous Oxide Anaesthesia.

PMID- 20904480
TI  - Paralysis of the Arytaenoideus of a Woman, aged 24.

PMID- 20904520
TI  - Fusiform Dilatation of the OEsophagus, coated with Oidium albicans, in a Girl,
      aged 15, and apparently Idiopathic.

PMID- 20904486
TI  - Crossing of Arytaenoids.

PMID- 20904532
TI  - A Piece of Mutton Bone removed from the Entrance to the OEsophagus.

PMID- 20904534
TI  - Fracture of Four Rings of the Trachea; Urgent Dyspnoea; Operation; Recovery.

PMID- 20904543
TI  - Case of Tuberculosis of the Larynx in a Female Patient; Dyspnoea and
      Regurgitation of Liquids during Drinking relieved by Intralaryngeal Operation.

PMID- 20904561
TI  - Removal of Foreign Body Impacted in the OEsophagus.

PMID- 20904550
TI  - Case of Pre-tracheal Abscess of Acute Development, in a Middle-aged Woman,
      producing Dysphagia and Dyspnoea.

PMID- 20904581
TI  - REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE APPOINTED BY THE SECTION OF OBSTETRICS AND GYNAECOLOGY TO
      INVESTIGATE THE EFFECTS OF SCOPOLAMINE-MORPHINE NARCOSIS, "TWILIGHT SLEEP," IN
      CHILDBIRTH.

PMID- 20904638
TI  - Aural Bacteraemia, with Illustrative Cases : (Abstract).

PMID- 20904662
TI  - Some Considerations on the Physiology of Anaesthesia by Chloroform.

PMID- 20904660
TI  - The Administration of Anaesthetics in Home Military Hospitals.

PMID- 20904700
TI  - Case of Haemophilia with Effusion into Knee-joints.

PMID- 20904707
TI  - Case of Haemophilia with Effusion into Knee-joints.

PMID- 20904704
TI  - Case of Haemophilia.

PMID- 20904708
TI  - Case of Osteogenesis Imperfecta (Fragilitas Ossium, Foetal Rickets).

PMID- 20904709
TI  - Coagulation of the Blood in Purpura and Haemophilia: (Abstract).

PMID- 20904718
TI  - Case of Anaemia with unusual Blood Count.

PMID- 20904720
TI  - Note on Three Cases of Melaena Neonatorum successfully treated by the Injection
      of Whole Blood or Blood Serum.

PMID- 20904741
TI  - Case of Extensive Pigmented Naevi.

PMID- 20904751
TI  - Guttate Morphoea.

PMID- 20904748
TI  - White-spot Disease (Morphoea Guttata).

PMID- 20904761
TI  - Case of Unilateral Band Sclerodermia and Morphoeosclerodermia of the Left Leg.

PMID- 20904760
TI  - Case of Melanotic Naevo-carcinoma (previously shown).

PMID- 20904766
TI  - Case of Multiple Idiopathic Haemorrhagic Sarcoma of Kaposi.

PMID- 20904765
TI  - Another Probable Early Case of the Miscalled Multiple Idiopathic Haemorrhagic
      Sarcoma of Kaposi.

PMID- 20904767
TI  - Case of Erythrodermia with Lymphatic Leukaemia.

PMID- 20904802
TI  - An Enumerative Study of Entamoeba coli Cysts in Stools.

PMID- 20904784
TI  - Diathermy in Gynaecology.

PMID- 20904856
TI  - Tooth-plate in OEsophagus; OEsophagoscopy: Removal.

PMID- 20904854
TI  - Case of Long Fraenum Linguae.

PMID- 20904863
TI  - Two Cases of Dental Plates removed from the OEsophagus.

PMID- 20904864
TI  - Summary of Case of Foreign Body in OEsophagus, occurring at a Royal Naval Base
      Hospital.

PMID- 20904869
TI  - Angioma of the Left Arytaenoid.

PMID- 20904885
TI  - Removal by the Indirect Method of a Jagged Piece of Bone impacted in the
      OEsophagus.

PMID- 20904898
TI  - Four Cases of Atrophic Rhinitis with Ozaena undergoing Treatment by the
      Glycophylic Method.

PMID- 20904923
TI  - Spasm at the Entrance to the OEsophagus.

PMID- 20904922
TI  - A Method of treating Atrophic Rhinitis with Ozaena based on an Alteration in
      Composition and Reaction of the Substrate on which the Bacterial Ferments are
      acting: (Abstract).

PMID- 20904929
TI  - Pharyngeal Diverticula with Notes of Two Cases-in one the Pouch was Removed under
      Local, in the other under General, Anaesthesia.

PMID- 20904936
TI  - Appendix: Museum; Specimens and Cases exhibited: Electrodes for the Treatment of
      Ozaena of the Nose by Ionic Medication.

PMID- 20904939
TI  - Three Dental Plates removed from OEsophagus.

PMID- 20904944
TI  - DISCUSSION ON DILATATION OF THE OESOPHAGUS WITHOUT ANATOMICAL STENOSIS.

PMID- 20904945
TI  - DISCUSSION ON DILATATION OF THE OESOPHAGUS WITHOUT ANATOMICAL STENOSIS.

PMID- 20904947
TI  - DISCUSSION ON DILATATION OF THE OESOPHAGUS WITHOUT ANATOMICAL STENOSIS.

PMID- 20904948
TI  - DISCUSSION ON DILATATION OF THE OESOPHAGUS WITHOUT ANATOMICAL STENOSIS.

PMID- 20904949
TI  - DISCUSSION ON DILATATION OF THE OESOPHAGUS WITHOUT ANATOMICAL STENOSIS.

PMID- 20904950
TI  - DISCUSSION ON DILATATION OF THE OESOPHAGUS WITHOUT ANATOMICAL STENOSIS.

PMID- 20904951
TI  - DISCUSSION ON DILATATION OF THE OESOPHAGUS WITHOUT ANATOMICAL STENOSIS.

PMID- 20904952
TI  - DISCUSSION ON DILATATION OF THE OESOPHAGUS WITHOUT ANATOMICAL STENOSIS.

PMID- 20904953
TI  - DISCUSSION ON DILATATION OF THE OESOPHAGUS WITHOUT ANATOMICAL STENOSIS.

PMID- 20904954
TI  - DISCUSSION ON DILATATION OF THE OESOPHAGUS WITHOUT ANATOMICAL STENOSIS.

PMID- 20904955
TI  - DISCUSSION ON DILATATION OF THE OESOPHAGUS WITHOUT ANATOMICAL STENOSIS.

PMID- 20904956
TI  - DISCUSSION ON DILATATION OF THE OESOPHAGUS WITHOUT ANATOMICAL STENOSIS.

PMID- 20904957
TI  - DISCUSSION ON DILATATION OF THE OESOPHAGUS WITHOUT ANATOMICAL STENOSIS.

PMID- 20904958
TI  - DISCUSSION ON DILATATION OF THE OESOPHAGUS WITHOUT ANATOMICAL STENOSIS.

PMID- 20904960
TI  - The Pathology of OEsophagectasia (Dilatation of the OEsophagus without Anatomic
      Stenosis at the Cardiac Orifice).

PMID- 20904959
TI  - DISCUSSION ON DILATATION OF THE OESOPHAGUS WITHOUT ANATOMICAL STENOSIS.

PMID- 20904961
TI  - A Tooth-plate impacted in the OEsophagus divided by Irwin Moore's Cutting Shears.

PMID- 20904962
TI  - Tooth-plate impacted in the OEsophagus for Eight Weeks; Three Unsuccessful
      Attempts at Removal; Death from Perforation into the Pleural Cavity.

PMID- 20904963
TI  - Skiagram showing Reflex Achalasia of the OEsophagus due to the Irritation of a
      Gastric Ulcer.

PMID- 20904965
TI  - Spirochaetosis Icterohaemorrhagica: (Abstract).

PMID- 20904964
TI  - Dilatation of the OEsophagus without Stenosis.

PMID- 20904983
TI  - A Foetus undergoing Spontaneous Evolution removed by Laparotomy during Labour.

PMID- 20904982
TI  - Report to Council on Teaching of Obstetrics and Gynaecology to Medical Students
      and Graduates in London.

PMID- 20904987
TI  - Specimen of a Lower Limb of a Mature Foetus contained in an Osseous Cyst, and
      remaining in the Abdomen of the Mother for Fifty-two Years.

PMID- 20905004
TI  - The Teaching of Obstetrics and Gynaecology from the Standpoint of Preventive
      Medicine.

PMID- 20904995
TI  - Specimen of Subperitoneal Lipoma weighing 163/4 lb.

PMID- 20905005
TI  - The Teaching of Obstetrics and Gynaecology from the Point of View of a General
      Practitioner.

PMID- 20905006
TI  - DISCUSSION ON RECONSTRUCTION IN THE TEACHING OF OBSTETRICS AND GYNAECOLOGY TO
      MEDICAL STUDENTS.

PMID- 20905007
TI  - DISCUSSION ON RECONSTRUCTION IN THE TEACHING OF OBSTETRICS AND GYNAECOLOGY TO
      MEDICAL STUDENTS.

PMID- 20905009
TI  - DISCUSSION ON RECONSTRUCTION IN THE TEACHING OF OBSTETRICS AND GYNAECOLOGY TO
      MEDICAL STUDENTS.

PMID- 20905008
TI  - DISCUSSION ON RECONSTRUCTION IN THE TEACHING OF OBSTETRICS AND GYNAECOLOGY TO
      MEDICAL STUDENTS.

PMID- 20905010
TI  - DISCUSSION ON RECONSTRUCTION IN THE TEACHING OF OBSTETRICS AND GYNAECOLOGY TO
      MEDICAL STUDENTS.

PMID- 20905011
TI  - DISCUSSION ON RECONSTRUCTION IN THE TEACHING OF OBSTETRICS AND GYNAECOLOGY TO
      MEDICAL STUDENTS.

PMID- 20905012
TI  - DISCUSSION ON RECONSTRUCTION IN THE TEACHING OF OBSTETRICS AND GYNAECOLOGY TO
      MEDICAL STUDENTS.

PMID- 20905013
TI  - DISCUSSION ON RECONSTRUCTION IN THE TEACHING OF OBSTETRICS AND GYNAECOLOGY TO
      MEDICAL STUDENTS.

PMID- 20905014
TI  - DISCUSSION ON RECONSTRUCTION IN THE TEACHING OF OBSTETRICS AND GYNAECOLOGY TO
      MEDICAL STUDENTS.

PMID- 20905015
TI  - DISCUSSION ON RECONSTRUCTION IN THE TEACHING OF OBSTETRICS AND GYNAECOLOGY TO
      MEDICAL STUDENTS.

PMID- 20905016
TI  - DISCUSSION ON RECONSTRUCTION IN THE TEACHING OF OBSTETRICS AND GYNAECOLOGY TO
      MEDICAL STUDENTS.

PMID- 20905017
TI  - DISCUSSION ON RECONSTRUCTION IN THE TEACHING OF OBSTETRICS AND GYNAECOLOGY TO
      MEDICAL STUDENTS.

PMID- 20905018
TI  - DISCUSSION ON RECONSTRUCTION IN THE TEACHING OF OBSTETRICS AND GYNAECOLOGY TO
      MEDICAL STUDENTS.

PMID- 20905019
TI  - DISCUSSION ON RECONSTRUCTION IN THE TEACHING OF OBSTETRICS AND GYNAECOLOGY TO
      MEDICAL STUDENTS.

PMID- 20905020
TI  - DISCUSSION ON RECONSTRUCTION IN THE TEACHING OF OBSTETRICS AND GYNAECOLOGY TO
      MEDICAL STUDENTS.

PMID- 20905021
TI  - DISCUSSION ON RECONSTRUCTION IN THE TEACHING OF OBSTETRICS AND GYNAECOLOGY TO
      MEDICAL STUDENTS.

PMID- 20905024
TI  - On Local Anaesthesia in Dental Operations.

PMID- 20905026
TI  - An Experimental Inquiry into the Bacteriology of Pyorrhoea.

PMID- 20905034
TI  - Prosthetic Treatment of Old Injuries of the Maxillae.

PMID- 20905080
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE PRESENT POSITION OF SPINAL ANAESTHESIA.

PMID- 20905079
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE PRESENT POSITION OF SPINAL ANAESTHESIA.

PMID- 20905081
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE PRESENT POSITION OF SPINAL ANAESTHESIA.

PMID- 20905082
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE PRESENT POSITION OF SPINAL ANAESTHESIA.

PMID- 20905084
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE PRESENT POSITION OF SPINAL ANAESTHESIA.

PMID- 20905083
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE PRESENT POSITION OF SPINAL ANAESTHESIA.

PMID- 20905091
TI  - Case of Caesarean Section under Spinal Anaesthesia.

PMID- 20905101
TI  - President's Address: The Formation of Clear Lines in Nebulae : (Abstract).

PMID- 20905155
TI  - Trophoedema of Leg.

PMID- 20905158
TI  - Specimens from Case of Aplastic Anaemia.

PMID- 20905163
TI  - Case of Aplastic Anaemia.

PMID- 20905169
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE AETIOLOGY, PREVENTION, AND NON-OPERATIVE TREATMENT OF ADENOIDS.

PMID- 20905170
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE AETIOLOGY, PREVENTION, AND NON-OPERATIVE TREATMENT OF ADENOIDS.

PMID- 20905171
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE AETIOLOGY, PREVENTION, AND NON-OPERATIVE TREATMENT OF ADENOIDS.

PMID- 20905172
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE AETIOLOGY, PREVENTION, AND NON-OPERATIVE TREATMENT OF ADENOIDS.

PMID- 20905173
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE AETIOLOGY, PREVENTION, AND NON-OPERATIVE TREATMENT OF ADENOIDS.

PMID- 20905176
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE AETIOLOGY, PREVENTION, AND NON-OPERATIVE TREATMENT OF ADENOIDS.

PMID- 20905175
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE AETIOLOGY, PREVENTION, AND NON-OPERATIVE TREATMENT OF ADENOIDS.

PMID- 20905177
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE AETIOLOGY, PREVENTION, AND NON-OPERATIVE TREATMENT OF ADENOIDS.

PMID- 20905178
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE AETIOLOGY, PREVENTION, AND NON-OPERATIVE TREATMENT OF ADENOIDS.

PMID- 20905179
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE AETIOLOGY, PREVENTION, AND NON-OPERATIVE TREATMENT OF ADENOIDS.

PMID- 20905181
TI  - Discussion on the AEtiology, Prevention, and Non-operative Treatment of Adenoids.

PMID- 20905180
TI  - Discussion on the AEtiology, Prevention, and Non-operative Treatment of Adenoids.

PMID- 20905183
TI  - Discussion on the AEtiology, Prevention, and Non-operative Treatment of Adenoids.

PMID- 20905185
TI  - Discussion on the AEtiology, Prevention, and Non-operative Treatment of Adenoids.

PMID- 20905184
TI  - Discussion on the AEtiology, Prevention, and Non-operative Treatment of Adenoids.

PMID- 20905187
TI  - Discussion on the AEtiology, Prevention, and Non-operative Treatment of Adenoids.

PMID- 20905186
TI  - Discussion on the AEtiology, Prevention, and Non-operative Treatment of Adenoids.

PMID- 20905189
TI  - Discussion on the AEtiology, Prevention, and Non-operative Treatment of Adenoids.

PMID- 20905188
TI  - Discussion on the AEtiology, Prevention, and Non-operative Treatment of Adenoids.

PMID- 20905195
TI  - Aplastic Anaemia.

PMID- 20905271
TI  - Case of Intussusception caused by Papilloma at the Ileo-caecal Valve.

PMID- 20905247
TI  - The Role of Health Resorts in the State and their Use as "Temples of AEsculapius"
      for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Chronic and Functional Diseases.

PMID- 20905272
TI  - Case of Bony Anchylosis of the Knee; fixed at Right Angle; ? Gonococcus, or some
      other form of Arthritis.

PMID- 20905280
TI  - Myxoedema, with High Blood-pressure, preceded by Enlargement of the Thyroid
      Gland.

PMID- 20905290
TI  - A Case of Dislocation between the Fifth and Sixth Cervical Vertebrae.

PMID- 20905294
TI  - Hysterical Anaesthesia of the Eyeballs; Cutaneous Artefacts; Voluntary
      Regurgitation of Stomach Contents.

PMID- 20905291
TI  - Case of Malignant Endocarditis affecting the Pulmonary Valve in a Youth, aged
      161/2.

PMID- 20905295
TI  - A Case of Trophoedema.

PMID- 20905296
TI  - A Case of Extreme OEsophagectasia (Hurst's Achalasia of the Cardia).

PMID- 20905323
TI  - So-called "Multiple Haemorrhagic Sarcoma" (Kaposi).

PMID- 20905324
TI  - Multiple Pigmented Haemorrhagic Sarcoma (?): a Case for Diagnosis.

PMID- 20905326
TI  - Two Cases of Bilateral (more or less Symmetrical) Morphoea in Children.

PMID- 20905331
TI  - Case of Morphoea and Hyperthyroidism.

PMID- 20905334
TI  - Case of Naevus Anaemicus (Vorner).

PMID- 20905350
TI  - Case of Linear Morphoea.

PMID- 20905352
TI  - Case of Haemorrhagic Lupus Erythematosus.

PMID- 20905372
TI  - Case of Anaesthetic Leprosy.

PMID- 20905360
TI  - Seborrhoeic Dermatitis of Unusual Severity following an Attack of Urticaria ab
      Ingestis.

PMID- 20905375
TI  - Case of Morphoea of Acute Onset.

PMID- 20905376
TI  - Case for Diagnosis; ? Cutaneous Sarcoid of Boeck.

PMID- 20905380
TI  - Extensive Vascular Naevus.

PMID- 20905392
TI  - Case of ? Mycosis Fungoides.

PMID- 20905389
TI  - Case of Morphoea Guttata (White-spot Disease).

PMID- 20905440
TI  - Haemorrhage during or after Thyro-fissure in the Removal of the Vocal Cord for
      Intrinsic Cancer of the Larynx and the Chief Vessel concerned; and its Control.

PMID- 20905395
TI  - Case of ? Lupus Erythematosus (anomalous type); ? Folliculitis Ulerythematosa
      Reticulata of McKee.

PMID- 20905449
TI  - Case of ? Neoplasm of Larynx.

PMID- 20905461
TI  - Fistula and Cicatrization in connexion with ? Thyroglossal Tract.

PMID- 20905450
TI  - Case of Streptococcal Ulcer on the Arytaenoid.

PMID- 20905478
TI  - Notes on a Case of Congenital Deformity of the OEsophagus.

PMID- 20905493
TI  - Carcinoma of the Post-Cricoid Region (Pars laryngea pharyngis) and the Upper End
      of the OEsophagus.

PMID- 20905497
TI  - OEsophageal Obstruction due to Hypertrophy of the Cardiac Sphincter and Narrowing
      of the Epicardia.

PMID- 20905499
TI  - Multiple Polypi (OEdematous Fibromata) of the Middle Third of the OEsophagus.

PMID- 20905509
TI  - Case of ? Lupus of the Larynx.

PMID- 20905512
TI  - Newly-designed Instruments for OEsophagoscopy and Bronchoscopy.

PMID- 20905517
TI  - Infiltration of Right Ventricular Band, Vocal Cord, and Pyriform Sinus; ?
      Malignant.

PMID- 20905525
TI  - Instruments used for Suturing the Pillars of the Fauces after Enucleation of the
      Tonsils in Case of Haemorrhage.

PMID- 20905529
TI  - (IX) OESophagus.

PMID- 20905530
TI  - The Control of Haemorrhage following Removal of the Tonsils.

PMID- 20905531
TI  - Anaemias of the Haemolytic Jaundice Group.

PMID- 20905561
TI  - Case of Combined Antepartum Haemorrhage: Placenta Praevia and Accidental
      Haemorrhage.

PMID- 20905565
TI  - A Note on the Value of Blood Transfusion before Operation in Severe Secondary
      Anaemias.

PMID- 20905571
TI  - Case of Recurrent Haemorrhage from Laceration of the Cervix, treated by Blood
      Transfusion and Hysterectomy.

PMID- 20905582
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE REPORT ON THE TEACHING OF OBSTETRICS AND GYNAECOLOGY.

PMID- 20905572
TI  - Utero-placental (Accidental) Haemorrhage: A Clinical Report of Fifty Consecutive
      Cases.

PMID- 20905583
TI  - A Criticism of the Report of the Committee of the Council of the Section of
      Obstetrics and Gynaecology of the Royal Society of Medicine upon the Teaching of
      Obstetrics and Gynaecology in London.

PMID- 20905585
TI  - A Criticism of the Report of the Committee of the Council of the Section of
      Obstetrics and Gynaecology of the Royal Society of Medicine upon the Teaching of
      Obstetrics and Gynaecology in London.

PMID- 20905584
TI  - A Criticism of the Report of the Committee of the Council of the Section of
      Obstetrics and Gynaecology of the Royal Society of Medicine upon the Teaching of
      Obstetrics and Gynaecology in London.

PMID- 20905586
TI  - A Criticism of the Report of the Committee of the Council of the Section of
      Obstetrics and Gynaecology of the Royal Society of Medicine upon the Teaching of
      Obstetrics and Gynaecology in London.

PMID- 20905587
TI  - A Criticism of the Report of the Committee of the Council of the Section of
      Obstetrics and Gynaecology of the Royal Society of Medicine upon the Teaching of
      Obstetrics and Gynaecology in London.

PMID- 20905588
TI  - A Criticism of the Report of the Committee of the Council of the Section of
      Obstetrics and Gynaecology of the Royal Society of Medicine upon the Teaching of
      Obstetrics and Gynaecology in London.

PMID- 20905589
TI  - A Criticism of the Report of the Committee of the Council of the Section of
      Obstetrics and Gynaecology of the Royal Society of Medicine upon the Teaching of
      Obstetrics and Gynaecology in London.

PMID- 20905590
TI  - A Criticism of the Report of the Committee of the Council of the Section of
      Obstetrics and Gynaecology of the Royal Society of Medicine upon the Teaching of
      Obstetrics and Gynaecology in London.

PMID- 20905591
TI  - A Criticism of the Report of the Committee of the Council of the Section of
      Obstetrics and Gynaecology of the Royal Society of Medicine upon the Teaching of
      Obstetrics and Gynaecology in London.

PMID- 20905593
TI  - A Criticism of the Report of the Committee of the Council of the Section of
      Obstetrics and Gynaecology of the Royal Society of Medicine upon the Teaching of
      Obstetrics and Gynaecology in London.

PMID- 20905592
TI  - A Criticism of the Report of the Committee of the Council of the Section of
      Obstetrics and Gynaecology of the Royal Society of Medicine upon the Teaching of
      Obstetrics and Gynaecology in London.

PMID- 20905594
TI  - A Criticism of the Report of the Committee of the Council of the Section of
      Obstetrics and Gynaecology of the Royal Society of Medicine upon the Teaching of
      Obstetrics and Gynaecology in London.

PMID- 20905610
TI  - Chronic Infective Osteitis of Maxillae in a Male, aged 40.

PMID- 20905673
TI  - DISCUSSION ON ANAESTHESIA IN OPERATIONS ON THE THYROID GLAND.

PMID- 20905674
TI  - DISCUSSION ON ANAESTHESIA IN OPERATIONS ON THE THYROID GLAND.

PMID- 20905675
TI  - DISCUSSION ON ANAESTHESIA IN OPERATIONS ON THE THYROID GLAND.

PMID- 20905677
TI  - DISCUSSION ON ANAESTHESIA IN OPERATIONS ON THE THYROID GLAND.

PMID- 20905676
TI  - DISCUSSION ON ANAESTHESIA IN OPERATIONS ON THE THYROID GLAND.

PMID- 20905678
TI  - DISCUSSION ON ANAESTHESIA IN OPERATIONS ON THE THYROID GLAND.

PMID- 20905679
TI  - DISCUSSION ON ANAESTHESIA IN OPERATIONS ON THE THYROID GLAND.

PMID- 20905680
TI  - DISCUSSION ON ANAESTHESIA IN OPERATIONS ON THE THYROID GLAND.

PMID- 20905688
TI  - The Serbian Epidemics of Typhus and Relapsing Fever in 1915: Their Origin,
      Course, and Preventive Measures employed for their Arrest : (An AEtiological and
      Preventive Study based on Records of British Military Sanitary Mission to Serbia,
      1915.).

PMID- 20905702
TI  - Macular Detachment of Retina; ? New Growth.

PMID- 20905707
TI  - The Radical Cure of Gonorrhoeal Iritis.

PMID- 20905738
TI  - Case of Leukaemia with Scalp Nodules.

PMID- 20905735
TI  - Studies in the Pathology of Dementia Praecox.

PMID- 20905749
TI  - Nasopharyngeal Toxaemia and the Examination of Swabs of the Nasopharynx.

PMID- 20905740
TI  - Cases of Anaemia with Enlarged Spleen.

PMID- 20905754
TI  - Two Cases of Melaena Neonatorum treated by Injection of Fresh Citrated Blood.

PMID- 20905750
TI  - OEsophageal Obstruction in Young Children.

PMID- 20905770
TI  - Notes of a Case of OEsophagectasis in an Infant, with Radiograms.

PMID- 20905801
TI  - Case of Sternomastoid Tumour in a Child born by Caesarean Section.

PMID- 20905847
TI  - Congenital Absence of the Tibiae.

PMID- 20905952
TI  - Case of Enlarged Ischial Bursae.

PMID- 20905946
TI  - Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia: Death from Acute Anaemia due to Massive Haemorrhages
      (Haematomata); Simulation of Slight Pyuria by Leukaemic Oozing in the Urine.

PMID- 20905966
TI  - Case of Cavernous Naevus of the Foot.

PMID- 20905998
TI  - Case of Multiple Idiopathic Haemorrhagic Sarcoma.

PMID- 20905982
TI  - Post-mortem Findings of Case of ? Neoplasm of Lung, shown at the Meeting of the
      Section on December 10, 1920.

PMID- 20905999
TI  - Leukaemia with Cutaneous Nodules.

PMID- 20906009
TI  - Case of (?) Kaposi's Haemorrhagic Sarcoma or Schamberg's Disease.

PMID- 20906026
TI  - Extensive Naevus of the Type Naevus Unius Lateris.

PMID- 20906024
TI  - Morphoea Guttata with Arthritis.

PMID- 20906030
TI  - Framboesiform Syphilis.

PMID- 20906039
TI  - Case of Morphoea Guttata et Areata.

PMID- 20906040
TI  - Case of Haematolymphangioma.

PMID- 20906082
TI  - Atrophic Condition of Skin following Treatment of Naevus.

PMID- 20906119
TI  - Case of OEdema of the Larynx for Diagnosis.

PMID- 20906128
TI  - Tumour of Nasopharynx extending Outwards into Zygomatic and Temporal Fossae
      (section shown).

PMID- 20906120
TI  - Fixation of the Arytaenoids in a Case of Osteo-arthritis.

PMID- 20906136
TI  - An Account of Two Cases of Obstruction of the OEsophagus by a Foreign Body acting
      as Ball-valve.

PMID- 20906170
TI  - Tuberculosis of Interarytaenoid Region, Right Vocal Cord, Right Vocal Band, and
      Left Vocal Process, treated with the Galvano-cautery.

PMID- 20906167
TI  - Foreign Body (Collar Stud) in the OEsophagus of an Infant, causing Spinal
      Osteomyelitis and Death.

PMID- 20906222
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE TREATMENT OF ANTE-PARTUM HAEMORRHAGE.

PMID- 20906175
TI  - Subglottic Tumour. ? Cyst.

PMID- 20906223
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE TREATMENT OF ANTE-PARTUM HAEMORRHAGE.

PMID- 20906224
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE TREATMENT OF ANTE-PARTUM HAEMORRHAGE.

PMID- 20906225
TI  - DISCUSSION ON RUPTURE OF THE CAESAREAN SECTION SCAR IN SUBSEQUENT PREGNANCY OR
      LABOUR.

PMID- 20906226
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE TREATMENT OF ANTE-PARTUM HAEMORRHAGE.

PMID- 20906227
TI  - DISCUSSION ON RUPTURE OF THE CAESAREAN SECTION SCAR IN SUBSEQUENT PREGNANCY OR
      LABOUR.

PMID- 20906229
TI  - DISCUSSION ON RUPTURE OF THE CAESAREAN SECTION SCAR IN SUBSEQUENT PREGNANCY OR
      LABOUR.

PMID- 20906228
TI  - DISCUSSION ON RUPTURE OF THE CAESAREAN SECTION SCAR IN SUBSEQUENT PREGNANCY OR
      LABOUR.

PMID- 20906231
TI  - DISCUSSION ON RUPTURE OF THE CAESAREAN SECTION SCAR IN SUBSEQUENT PREGNANCY OR
      LABOUR.

PMID- 20906230
TI  - DISCUSSION ON RUPTURE OF THE CAESAREAN SECTION SCAR IN SUBSEQUENT PREGNANCY OR
      LABOUR.

PMID- 20906232
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE TREATMENT OF ANTE-PARTUM HAEMORRHAGE.

PMID- 20906233
TI  - DISCUSSION ON RUPTURE OF THE CAESAREAN SECTION SCAR IN SUBSEQUENT PREGNANCY OR
      LABOUR.

PMID- 20906234
TI  - DISCUSSION ON RUPTURE OF THE CAESAREAN SECTION SCAR IN SUBSEQUENT PREGNANCY OR
      LABOUR.

PMID- 20906236
TI  - DISCUSSION ON RUPTURE OF THE CAESAREAN SECTION SCAR IN SUBSEQUENT PREGNANCY OR
      LABOUR.

PMID- 20906235
TI  - DISCUSSION ON RUPTURE OF THE CAESAREAN SECTION SCAR IN SUBSEQUENT PREGNANCY OR
      LABOUR.

PMID- 20906237
TI  - DISCUSSION ON RUPTURE OF THE CAESAREAN SECTION SCAR IN SUBSEQUENT PREGNANCY OR
      LABOUR.

PMID- 20906238
TI  - DISCUSSION ON RUPTURE OF THE CAESAREAN SECTION SCAR IN SUBSEQUENT PREGNANCY OR
      LABOUR.

PMID- 20906239
TI  - DISCUSSION ON RUPTURE OF THE CAESAREAN SECTION SCAR IN SUBSEQUENT PREGNANCY OR
      LABOUR.

PMID- 20906240
TI  - DISCUSSION ON RUPTURE OF THE CAESAREAN SECTION SCAR IN SUBSEQUENT PREGNANCY OR
      LABOUR.

PMID- 20906241
TI  - DISCUSSION ON RUPTURE OF THE CAESAREAN SECTION SCAR IN SUBSEQUENT PREGNANCY OR
      LABOUR.

PMID- 20906243
TI  - DISCUSSION ON RUPTURE OF THE CAESAREAN SECTION SCAR IN SUBSEQUENT PREGNANCY OR
      LABOUR.

PMID- 20906242
TI  - DISCUSSION ON RUPTURE OF THE CAESAREAN SECTION SCAR IN SUBSEQUENT PREGNANCY OR
      LABOUR.

PMID- 20906244
TI  - The Pathology of Utero-placental (Accidental) Haemorrhage.

PMID- 20906246
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE TREATMENT OF ANTE-PARTUM HAEMORRHAGE.

PMID- 20906245
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE TREATMENT OF ANTE-PARTUM HAEMORRHAGE.

PMID- 20906248
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE TREATMENT OF ANTE-PARTUM HAEMORRHAGE.

PMID- 20906247
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE TREATMENT OF ANTE-PARTUM HAEMORRHAGE.

PMID- 20906251
TI  - Intravesical Repair of Inaccessible Vesico-vaginal Fistulae.

PMID- 20906252
TI  - Placenta Praevia, with Vasa Praevia; Caesarean Section.

PMID- 20906254
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE TREATMENT OF ANTE-PARTUM HAEMORRHAGE.

PMID- 20906257
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE TREATMENT OF ANTE-PARTUM HAEMORRHAGE.

PMID- 20906259
TI  - DISCUSSION ON RUPTURE OF THE CAESAREAN SECTION SCAR IN SUBSEQUENT PREGNANCY OR
      LABOUR.

PMID- 20906269
TI  - Sodium Bicarbonate Tolerance in the Toxaemias of Pregnancy.

PMID- 20906271
TI  - Case of Concealed Accidental Haemorrhage with Eclampsia.

PMID- 20906272
TI  - Further Observations on the AEtiology of Eclampsia and the Pre-eclamptic State.

PMID- 20906293
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE TREATMENT OF ANTE-PARTUM HAEMORRHAGE.

PMID- 20906294
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE TREATMENT OF ANTE-PARTUM HAEMORRHAGE.

PMID- 20906295
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE TREATMENT OF ANTE-PARTUM HAEMORRHAGE.

PMID- 20906322
TI  - Pyorrhoea Alveolaris affecting the Ears.

PMID- 20906326
TI  - Zinc Ionization and Electrolysis in the Treatment of Chronic Otorrhoea.

PMID- 20906335
TI  - Two Cases of Lateral Sinus Thrombosis without Otorrhoea.

PMID- 20906337
TI  - The Psychology of Anaesthesia.

PMID- 20906338
TI  - Anaesthetics in the Plastic Surgery of the Face and Jaws.

PMID- 20906339
TI  - The Importance of an Examination of Patients by the Anaesthetist previous to
      Anaesthesia.

PMID- 20906341
TI  - A New General Anaesthetic: its Theory and Practice.

PMID- 20906363
TI  - Commotio Retinae with Extreme OEdema.

PMID- 20906385
TI  - Case of Severe Anaemia.

PMID- 20906401
TI  - Case of OEsophageal Obstruction in a Girl, aged 41/2 years.

PMID- 20906443
TI  - On the Occurrence of the Eggs of Mites in the Faeces of Miners in Cornwall and
      their Subsequent Development on Culture Media.

PMID- 20906453
TI  - Unilateral Haemorrhagic Interstitial Nephritis with slight Hydronephrosis.

PMID- 20906446
TI  - The Value of Laboratory Reports on Stools in Cases of Suspected Amoebic
      Dysentery, and their Interpretation by the Clinician; with a Special Note on the
      Diagnostic Significance of Charcot-Leyden Crystals.

PMID- 20906454
TI  - Haemato-nephrosis due to Papilloma of the Renal Pelvis.

PMID- 20906483
TI  - Results of an Experimental and Histological Investigation into Seventy-five Cases
      of Rectal Fistulae.

PMID- 20906492
TI  - Case of Haematocele of the Knee-joint.

PMID- 20906565
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE PLACE OF BATHS AND HEALTH RESORTS IN GYNAECOLOGY.

PMID- 20906555
TI  - The Use of Pituitrin by Mouth in certain Cases of Uterine Haemorrhage.

PMID- 20906566
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE PLACE OF BATHS AND HEALTH RESORTS IN GYNAECOLOGY.

PMID- 20906573
TI  - Case of Ectopia Vesicae.

PMID- 20906567
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE PLACE OF BATHS AND HEALTH RESORTS IN GYNAECOLOGY.

PMID- 20906581
TI  - Addison's Disease, with Severe Anaemia, treated by Suprarenal Grafting.

PMID- 20906592
TI  - Case of Erythraemia (Vaquez-Osler Disease).

PMID- 20906615
TI  - Case of Morphoea Guttata.

PMID- 20906594
TI  - Case of von Recklinghausen's Disease, associated with Secondary Anaemia.

PMID- 20906616
TI  - Case of Multiple Naevi.

PMID- 20906633
TI  - Case of Unilateral Morphoeo-sclerodermia Faciei.

PMID- 20906618
TI  - Naevo-xantho-endothelioma (?) with Epidermolysis Bullosa.

PMID- 20906639
TI  - Lichenoid Linear Naevus.

PMID- 20906643
TI  - Hydroa AEstivale.

PMID- 20906647
TI  - Des Epitheliomes Primitifs de la Peau : (Abstract).

PMID- 20906651
TI  - Case of ? Erythromelalgia.

PMID- 20906654
TI  - Case of ? Angioma Serpiginosum.

PMID- 20906673
TI  - Electro-therapy in Gynaecology.

PMID- 20906685
TI  - Foreign Body (Piece of Wire) removed from Right Arytaenoid Cartilage by Indirect
      Method.

PMID- 20906751
TI  - Three Post-mortem Specimens of Acute Septic OEdema of the Larynx.

PMID- 20906690
TI  - Carcinoma of the OEsophagus perforating into the Trachea at the Bifurcation;
      Report of a Case and Demonstration of Specimen.

PMID- 20906758
TI  - Foreign Body (Toothplate) in the OEsophagus.

PMID- 20906771
TI  - Accessory Thyroid growing in the OEsophageal Lumen.

PMID- 20906805
TI  - Tubal Lithopaedion.

PMID- 20906809
TI  - Case of Haematoma of the Vulva following Labour.

PMID- 20906811
TI  - A Wandering Silk Suture removed from the Urethra as a Sequel to Caesarean
      Section.

PMID- 20906817
TI  - Chemical Observations on the Toxaemias of Pregnancy: (A REPORT TO THE MEDICAL
      RESEARCH COUNCIL.).

PMID- 20906825
TI  - Labour obstructed by a Solid Carcinomatous Tumour of the Left Ovary; Caesarean
      Hysterectomy, with Removal of the Tumour.

PMID- 20906826
TI  - Carcinoma of the Cervix following Gonorrhoea in a Young Woman.

PMID- 20906836
TI  - A Note on the Treatment of Haemorrhage after Tooth Extraction.

PMID- 20906828
TI  - The Essential Buttress of Practical Training in Obstetrics and Gynaecology.

PMID- 20906854
TI  - Otosclerosis-with a possible Bearing on the AEtiology of the Disease.

PMID- 20906877
TI  - Case of Unilateral Deafness with Anaesthesia of the same Side of the Face.

PMID- 20906883
TI  - Report on Visit as Official Representative of the Section of Anaesthetics to the
      First Meeting of the Canadian Society of Anaesthetists at Niagara, and to the
      Meeting of the American Society of Anaesthetists at Boston, in June, 1921.

PMID- 20906884
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE UTILITY AND LIMITATIONS OF NITROUS OXIDE ANAESTHESIA.

PMID- 20906885
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE UTILITY AND LIMITATIONS OF NITROUS OXIDE ANAESTHESIA.

PMID- 20906887
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE UTILITY AND LIMITATIONS OF NITROUS OXIDE ANAESTHESIA.

PMID- 20906886
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE UTILITY AND LIMITATIONS OF NITROUS OXIDE ANAESTHESIA.

PMID- 20906888
TI  - Anaesthesia in Intracranial Surgery.

PMID- 20906889
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE UTILITY AND LIMITATIONS OF NITROUS OXIDE ANAESTHESIA.

PMID- 20906890
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE UTILITY AND LIMITATIONS OF NITROUS OXIDE ANAESTHESIA.

PMID- 20906900
TI  - The Epidemiology of Summer Diarrhoea.

PMID- 20906899
TI  - The Relationship between Puerperal Septicaemia and other Infectious Diseases,
      with Reference to the Admission of Maternity Cases into Isolation Hospitals:
      (ABSTRACT.).

PMID- 20906927
TI  - Case of ? Retinitis or Choroiditis.

PMID- 20906943
TI  - Further Pathological Studies in Dementia Praecox, especially in relation to the
      Interstitial Cells of Leydig.

PMID- 20906944
TI  - The Morbid Histology of the Testes in Dementia Praecox.

PMID- 20906949
TI  - Splenomedullary Leukaemia.

PMID- 20906950
TI  - Case of OEsophageal Stricture.

PMID- 20906963
TI  - Case of ? Dyspituitarism, ? Hypernephroma.

PMID- 20906962
TI  - Specimen of Congenital Malformation of OEsophagus.

PMID- 20906964
TI  - Dermato-polyneuritis (Acrodynia: Erythroedema): (Abstract).

PMID- 20906968
TI  - Specimens from the Case of Obesity (? Dispituitarism, ? Hypernephroma), shown at
      last Meeting.

PMID- 20906981
TI  - Case of ? Tumour of Suprarenal Cortex.

PMID- 20906987
TI  - Case of Obesity of ? Suprarenal Origin.

PMID- 20906990
TI  - Case of Myelocytic Leukaemia.

PMID- 20907003
TI  - Observations on the Effect of Tartar Emetic on the Eggs and Miracidia of
      Bilharzia hoematobia.

PMID- 20907002
TI  - Eimeria oxyspora, Dobell, 1919, found in a Specimen of Human Faeces in England.

PMID- 20907004
TI  - Thermotropism in Ankylostome Larvae.

PMID- 20907005
TI  - A Simple Method of Experimentation for Skin Infection with Hook-worm Larvae.

PMID- 20907009
TI  - DISCUSSION ON AMOEBIC DYSENTERY.

PMID- 20907010
TI  - DISCUSSION ON AMOEBIC DYSENTERY.

PMID- 20907011
TI  - DISCUSSION ON AMOEBIC DYSENTERY.

PMID- 20907012
TI  - DISCUSSION ON AMOEBIC DYSENTERY.

PMID- 20907013
TI  - DISCUSSION ON AMOEBIC DYSENTERY.

PMID- 20907014
TI  - DISCUSSION ON AMOEBIC DYSENTERY.

PMID- 20907015
TI  - DISCUSSION ON AMOEBIC DYSENTERY.

PMID- 20907016
TI  - DISCUSSION ON AMOEBIC DYSENTERY.

PMID- 20907088
TI  - Case of ? Diverticulitis of Pelvic Colon, with Vesico-colic Fistula.

PMID- 20907136
TI  - Case of Retro-rectal Sarcoma (Chordoma ?).

PMID- 20907162
TI  - Case of Purpura Haemorrhagica.

PMID- 20907175
TI  - Case of Cysticercus Cellulosae.

PMID- 20907183
TI  - Two Cases of Erythraemia (Vaquez Disease) treated by Rontgen-Therapy.

PMID- 20907189
TI  - Hemiplegia occurring in Pregnant Woman at Full Term; Sudden Onset accompanied by
      Transient Albuminuria; Caesarean Section; Gradual Recovery.

PMID- 20907202
TI  - Case for Diagnosis: ? Papulonecrotic Tuberculides.

PMID- 20907205
TI  - Extensive Linear Naevus in a Man, aged 54.

PMID- 20907207
TI  - Case of Morphoea associated with Vitiligo.

PMID- 20907216
TI  - Case for Diagnosis (? Leukaemia Cutis).

PMID- 20907255
TI  - Idiopathic Haemorrhagic Sarcoma of Kaposi.

PMID- 20907285
TI  - Case for Diagnosis; ? Diphtheria of the Skin.

PMID- 20907303
TI  - Case of Atrophic Dermatitis of the Hands and Feet ? Lupus Erythematosus.

PMID- 20907320
TI  - Section of Obstetrics and Gynaecology: Joint Meeting with the Section of
      Therapeutics and Pharmacology: The Value of Ergot in Obstetrical and
      Gynaecological Practice; with Special Reference to its Present Position in the
      British Pharmacopoeia.

PMID- 20907334
TI  - Case of Myotonia Atrophica with Implication of Left Crico-arytaenoid Muscle.

PMID- 20907350
TI  - Case of OEdema of the Septum in association with Nasal Polypi.

PMID- 20907360
TI  - Skiagrams showing Simple Fibrous Strictures of the OEsophagus in a Child.

PMID- 20907372
TI  - Haemorrhagic Angiosarcoma of Upper Jaw.

PMID- 20907380
TI  - Specimen from the Post-mortem Room of a Large Cyst of the Orifice of the Larynx
      arising from the Arytaeno-epiglottidean Fold.

PMID- 20907381
TI  - Mounted Specimen showing a Threepenny-piece impacted in a Perforation between the
      OEsophagus and Trachea of a Baby, aged 3 months.

PMID- 20907385
TI  - Tumour of the Larynx; ? Malignant.

PMID- 20907389
TI  - Demonstration of Specimens of Tumours in the Inter-arytaenoid Space of the
      Larynx.

PMID- 20907402
TI  - Outgrowth from the Anterior Half of the Left Vocal Cord; ? Fibroma or Prolapse.

PMID- 20907426
TI  - Two Cases of Chronic OEdema of Orbit.

PMID- 20907405
TI  - Specimen of a Large Cyst of the Orifice of the Larynx arising from the Arytaeno
      epiglottidean Fold.

PMID- 20907435
TI  - Nasopharyngeal Tumour: ? A Cystic Adenoma, containing Cartilage (Wet Specimen and
      Section).

PMID- 20907436
TI  - Case of ? Clinically Malignant Disease of the Left Pyriform Sinus.

PMID- 20907439
TI  - The Nervous and Mental Disorders of Severe Anaemias in Relation to their
      Infective Lesions and Blood Changes.

PMID- 20907454
TI  - Case of Erythraemia (Polycythaemia Vera, Vaquez-Osler's Disease), with Cerebral
      Haemorrhage.

PMID- 20907452
TI  - Case of Acquired Chronic Haemolytic (Acholuric) Jaundice, seen Fifteen Years ago,
      with a Blood Picture at that time resembling one of Pernicious Anaemia.

PMID- 20907457
TI  - Case of Unusual Sequelae of Lethargic Encephalitis (Parkinsonian Syndrome
      associated with Right Hemiplegia, showing Peculiar Disturbances of Tone and
      Posture in the Limbs on the Hemiplegic Side).

PMID- 20907500
TI  - Report of a Committee of the Section of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of the Royal
      Society of Medicine upon the Prognosis and Treatment of Eclampsia.

PMID- 20907503
TI  - Stretching of the Epithelium of the Tubal Rugae by Blood effused into them in
      Torsion of Pedicle of Ovarian Tumour.

PMID- 20907518
TI  - Adenomatosis Vaginae.

PMID- 20907505
TI  - The Treatment of Dysmenorrhoea: An Analysis of 100 Cases.

PMID- 20907520
TI  - The Technique of Caesarean Section.

PMID- 20907528
TI  - The Treatment of Severe and Persistent Uterine Haemorrhage by Radium, with a
      Report upon Forty-five Cases.

PMID- 20907521
TI  - A Note on Two Cases of Caesarean Section under Spinal Anaesthesia with
      Tropacocaine.

PMID- 20907530
TI  - A Ruptured Haematoma of the Ovary, with Extensive Intra-peritoneal Haemorrhage.

PMID- 20907534
TI  - DISCUSSION ON "DENTAL SEPSIS AS AN AETIOLOGICAL FACTOR IN DISEASE OF OTHER
      ORGANS.".

PMID- 20907536
TI  - ADJOURNED DISCUSSION ON "DENTAL SEPSIS AS AN AETIOLOGICAL FACTOR IN DISEASE OF
      OTHER ORGANS.".

PMID- 20907535
TI  - DISCUSSION ON "DENTAL SEPSIS AS AN AETIOLOGICAL FACTOR IN DISEASE OF OTHER
      ORGANS.".

PMID- 20907537
TI  - ADJOURNED DISCUSSION ON "DENTAL SEPSIS AS AN AETIOLOGICAL FACTOR IN DISEASE OF
      OTHER ORGANS.".

PMID- 20907538
TI  - ADJOURNED DISCUSSION ON "DENTAL SEPSIS AS AN AETIOLOGICAL FACTOR IN DISEASE OF
      OTHER ORGANS.".

PMID- 20907539
TI  - ADJOURNED DISCUSSION ON "DENTAL SEPSIS AS AN AETIOLOGICAL FACTOR IN DISEASE OF
      OTHER ORGANS.".

PMID- 20907540
TI  - ADJOURNED DISCUSSION ON "DENTAL SEPSIS AS AN AETIOLOGICAL FACTOR IN DISEASE OF
      OTHER ORGANS.".

PMID- 20907541
TI  - ADJOURNED DISCUSSION ON "DENTAL SEPSIS AS AN AETIOLOGICAL FACTOR IN DISEASE OF
      OTHER ORGANS.".

PMID- 20907542
TI  - ADJOURNED DISCUSSION ON "DENTAL SEPSIS AS AN AETIOLOGICAL FACTOR IN DISEASE OF
      OTHER ORGANS.".

PMID- 20907544
TI  - ADJOURNED DISCUSSION ON "DENTAL SEPSIS AS AN AETIOLOGICAL FACTOR IN DISEASE OF
      OTHER ORGANS.".

PMID- 20907543
TI  - ADJOURNED DISCUSSION ON "DENTAL SEPSIS AS AN AETIOLOGICAL FACTOR IN DISEASE OF
      OTHER ORGANS.".

PMID- 20907546
TI  - ADJOURNED DISCUSSION ON "DENTAL SEPSIS AS AN AETIOLOGICAL FACTOR IN DISEASE OF
      OTHER ORGANS.".

PMID- 20907545
TI  - ADJOURNED DISCUSSION ON "DENTAL SEPSIS AS AN AETIOLOGICAL FACTOR IN DISEASE OF
      OTHER ORGANS.".

PMID- 20907561
TI  - DISCUSSION ON "DENTAL SEPSIS AS AN AETIOLOGICAL FACTOR IN DISEASE OF OTHER
      ORGANS.".

PMID- 20907547
TI  - ADJOURNED DISCUSSION ON "DENTAL SEPSIS AS AN AETIOLOGICAL FACTOR IN DISEASE OF
      OTHER ORGANS.".

PMID- 20907593
TI  - Cerebellar Abscess; Sudden Coma and Apnoea; Recovery after Operation during
      Artificial Respiration.

PMID- 20907607
TI  - The Anaesthetization of Patients for the Classical Caesarean Section.

PMID- 20907608
TI  - General Anaesthesia in Dental Surgery.

PMID- 20907611
TI  - DISCUSSION ON CORONERS' INQUESTS-THE CLASSIFICATION OF DEATHS UNDER ANAESTHETICS
      AS VIOLENT OR UNNATURAL.

PMID- 20907612
TI  - DISCUSSION ON CORONERS' INQUESTS-THE CLASSIFICATION OF DEATHS UNDER ANAESTHETICS
      AS VIOLENT OR UNNATURAL.

PMID- 20907613
TI  - DISCUSSION ON CORONERS' INQUESTS-THE CLASSIFICATION OF DEATHS UNDER ANAESTHETICS
      AS VIOLENT OR UNNATURAL.

PMID- 20907614
TI  - DISCUSSION ON CORONERS' INQUESTS-THE CLASSIFICATION OF DEATHS UNDER ANAESTHETICS
      AS VIOLENT OR UNNATURAL.

PMID- 20907615
TI  - DISCUSSION ON CORONERS' INQUESTS-THE CLASSIFICATION OF DEATHS UNDER ANAESTHETICS
      AS VIOLENT OR UNNATURAL.

PMID- 20907616
TI  - DISCUSSION ON CORONERS' INQUESTS-THE CLASSIFICATION OF DEATHS UNDER ANAESTHETICS
      AS VIOLENT OR UNNATURAL.

PMID- 20907617
TI  - DISCUSSION ON CORONERS' INQUESTS-THE CLASSIFICATION OF DEATHS UNDER ANAESTHETICS
      AS VIOLENT OR UNNATURAL.

PMID- 20907618
TI  - DISCUSSION ON CORONERS' INQUESTS-THE CLASSIFICATION OF DEATHS UNDER ANAESTHETICS
      AS VIOLENT OR UNNATURAL.

PMID- 20907619
TI  - Case of Cardiac Arrest under an Anaesthetic followed by Heart Massage.

PMID- 20907620
TI  - The Effects of Vagal Trauma on the Anaesthetized Patient.

PMID- 20907641
TI  - Haemangeioma of Orbit.

PMID- 20907636
TI  - Jabir ibn Hayyan.

PMID- 20907650
TI  - Case for Diagnosis (? Polycythaemia Rubra).

PMID- 20907657
TI  - Case of Subhyaloid Haemorrhage in a Girl.

PMID- 20907659
TI  - Atrophic Patches at the Macula Tuberculous; ? Cyst.

PMID- 20907658
TI  - Two Cases of Primary Band-shaped Opacity of both Corneae.

PMID- 20907668
TI  - Ischaemic Paralysis.

PMID- 20907713
TI  - Case of ? Charcot's Knee.

PMID- 20907686
TI  - Case of Haemophilic Arthritis of the Knee.

PMID- 20907728
TI  - Double Tumour, ? Lipoma, in the Perineal Region of an Infant.

PMID- 20907719
TI  - Specimen of Synostosis of Phalangeal Joint ? Congenital in Origin.

PMID- 20907732
TI  - Two Cases of Coeliac Infantilism in the Convalescent (Non-diarrhoeic) Stage.

PMID- 20907731
TI  - Case for Diagnosis; ? Renal Dwarfism.

PMID- 20907735
TI  - Pneumococcal Septicaemia and Enlargement of Liver and Spleen.

PMID- 20907776
TI  - Congenital Haemolytic Jaundice.

PMID- 20907760
TI  - Specimen of Congenital Stricture of the OEsophagus.

PMID- 20907801
TI  - Framboesia: History of its Introduction into India; with Personal Observations of
      over 200 Initial Lesions.

PMID- 20907805
TI  - Case of Spirochaetal Dysentery: (Abstract).

PMID- 20907807
TI  - Specimens from a Human Case of Infection with Dientamoeba fragilis, Jepps and
      Dobell, 1917.

PMID- 20907812
TI  - The Factors in Uraemia.

PMID- 20907820
TI  - Two Large Calculi removed from the Perinaeum of a Male, aged 62, in Margate
      Cottage Hospital.

PMID- 20907848
TI  - Gonorrhoeal Stricture of the Rectum: PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS.

PMID- 20907853
TI  - Case of Excision of an Adenoma of the Liver which had ruptured spontaneously,
      causing Internal Haemorrhage.

PMID- 20907937
TI  - A Case of Lymphogranulomatosis Maligna (Hodgkin's Disease) with Recurrent Purpura
      and Haemorrhagic Symptoms-also Remarks on Lymphogranulomatosis Maligna.

PMID- 20907929
TI  - Case of Juvenile Myxoedema.

PMID- 20907948
TI  - Two Cases of Hydroa AEstivale with Notes of Three Other Cases.

PMID- 20907961
TI  - Haematoporphyria Congenita with Hydroa-AEstivale.

PMID- 20907962
TI  - Striae Atrophicae.

PMID- 20907972
TI  - OEdema Perstans of Eyelids (Five Years).

PMID- 20907981
TI  - Case of Ulcerative Stomatitis; ? Nature.

PMID- 20907999
TI  - Case of Aleukaemic Lymphomata.

PMID- 20907986
TI  - Case of ? Darier's Disease.

PMID- 20908045
TI  - DISCUSSION ON "THE AETIOLOGY AND TREATMENT OF OSTEO-ARTHRITIS AND RHEUMATOID
      ARTHRITIS".

PMID- 20908046
TI  - DISCUSSION ON "THE AETIOLOGY AND TREATMENT OF OSTEO-ARTHRITIS AND RHEUMATOID
      ARTHRITIS".

PMID- 20908047
TI  - DISCUSSION ON "THE AETIOLOGY AND TREATMENT OF OSTEO-ARTHRITIS AND RHEUMATOID
      ARTHRITIS".

PMID- 20908049
TI  - DISCUSSION ON "THE AETIOLOGY AND TREATMENT OF OSTEO-ARTHRITIS AND RHEUMATOID
      ARTHRITIS.".

PMID- 20908048
TI  - DISCUSSION ON "THE AETIOLOGY AND TREATMENT OF OSTEO-ARTHRITIS AND RHEUMATOID
      ARTHRITIS.".

PMID- 20908050
TI  - DISCUSSION ON "THE AETIOLOGY AND TREATMENT OF OSTEO-ARTHRITIS AND RHEUMATOID
      ARTHRITIS.".

PMID- 20908051
TI  - DISCUSSION ON "THE AETIOLOGY AND TREATMENT OF OSTEO-ARTHRITIS AND RHEUMATOID
      ARTHRITIS.".

PMID- 20908058
TI  - DISCUSSION ON "THE AETIOLOGY AND TREATMENT OF OSTEO-ARTHRITIS AND RHEUMATOID
      ARTHRITIS".

PMID- 20908081
TI  - SPECIAL DISCUSSION ON "THE POSSIBLE SUBSTITUTES FOR COCAINE.": Local Anaesthetics
      in Rhinology.

PMID- 20908070
TI  - DISCUSSION ON "THE AETIOLOGY AND TREATMENT OF OSTEO-ARTHRITIS AND RHEUMATOID
      ARTHRITIS".

PMID- 20908090
TI  - Sections of Surgery, of Medicine, and of Therapeutics and Pharmacology:
      Discussion on "The Treatment of Severe Gastric and Duodenal Haemorrhage.".

PMID- 20908094
TI  - Sections of Study of Disease in Children, Neurology, Obstetrics and Gynaecology,
      and Orthopaedics: Discussion on "Birth Injuries, with Special Reference to
      Intracranial Injuries with Haemorrhage, and to Nerve Injuries.".

PMID- 20908106
TI  - A Case of Enlarged Tonsils complicated by a Venous Naevus of the Palate.

PMID- 20908139
TI  - Case of Laryngeal Tuberculosis in a Child aged 41/2 years.

PMID- 20908186
TI  - Haematemesis "Without Lesions".

PMID- 20908195
TI  - Symptoms following ? Encephalitis Lethargica.

PMID- 20908191
TI  - Case of ? Myopathy Confined to the Face.

PMID- 20908201
TI  - Case of ? Amyotonia Congenita.

PMID- 20908205
TI  - Spontaneous Sub-arachnoid Haemorrhage.

PMID- 20908234
TI  - Observations made at "Repeat" Caesarean Sections on the Uterine Scar (a) where
      the Previous Incision had been made through the Upper Contractile Part of the
      Uterus and (b) where the Previous Incision had been made through the Lower Non
      Contractile Part or Lower Uterine Segment.

PMID- 20908213
TI  - Case of Central Gliosis of Spinal Cord ?

PMID- 20908236
TI  - Venous Infarction in a Foetal Liver.

PMID- 20908243
TI  - Ruptured Caesarean Section Scar.

PMID- 20908237
TI  - Placenta Praevia in Four Successive Pregnancies.

PMID- 20908247
TI  - Radiography of the Foetus in Utero.

PMID- 20908245
TI  - Radiography of the Foetus in Utero.

PMID- 20908248
TI  - X-Ray Demonstration of Foetus in Utero.

PMID- 20908251
TI  - Dysmenorrhoea due to Haematometra in the Rudimentary Horn of a Uterus Bicornis
      Unicollis.

PMID- 20908252
TI  - Some Chemical Observations on the Toxaemias of Pregnancy, with Special Reference
      to Hepatic Function.

PMID- 20908258
TI  - Changes in the Polarity of the Foetus during the later weeks of pregnancy.

PMID- 20908264
TI  - DISCUSSION ON PYORRHOEA: ITS PREVENTION AND TREATMENT.

PMID- 20908266
TI  - DISCUSSION ON PYORRHOEA: ITS PREVENTION AND TREATMENT.

PMID- 20908265
TI  - DISCUSSION ON PYORRHOEA: ITS PREVENTION AND TREATMENT.

PMID- 20908267
TI  - DISCUSSION ON PYORRHOEA: ITS PREVENTION AND TREATMENT.

PMID- 20908268
TI  - DISCUSSION ON PYORRHOEA: ITS PREVENTION AND TREATMENT.

PMID- 20908269
TI  - DISCUSSION ON PYORRHOEA: ITS PREVENTION AND TREATMENT.

PMID- 20908270
TI  - DISCUSSION ON PYORRHOEA: ITS PREVENTION AND TREATMENT.

PMID- 20908271
TI  - DISCUSSION ON PYORRHOEA: ITS PREVENTION AND TREATMENT.

PMID- 20908272
TI  - DISCUSSION ON PYORRHOEA: ITS PREVENTION AND TREATMENT.

PMID- 20908273
TI  - DISCUSSION ON PYORRHOEA: ITS PREVENTION AND TREATMENT.

PMID- 20908274
TI  - DISCUSSION ON PYORRHOEA: ITS PREVENTION AND TREATMENT.

PMID- 20908276
TI  - DISCUSSION ON PYORRHOEA: ITS PREVENTION AND TREATMENT.

PMID- 20908275
TI  - DISCUSSION ON PYORRHOEA: ITS PREVENTION AND TREATMENT.

PMID- 20908277
TI  - DISCUSSION ON PYORRHOEA: ITS PREVENTION AND TREATMENT.

PMID- 20908278
TI  - DISCUSSION ON PYORRHOEA: ITS PREVENTION AND TREATMENT.

PMID- 20908280
TI  - Haemorrhage following Tooth Extraction.

PMID- 20908302
TI  - Case of Diabetes in which a Mastoid Operation was performed under Local
      Anaesthesia.

PMID- 20908325
TI  - Paralysis of the Sixth Cranial Nerve in a Patient suffering from Chronic
      Otorrhoea.

PMID- 20908329
TI  - Two Cases of Chronic Otorrhoea treated by Zinc Ionization.

PMID- 20908333
TI  - A Surgeon's Thoughts on Anaesthetics.

PMID- 20908337
TI  - Recent Experiences of Anaesthetics in America.

PMID- 20908335
TI  - The Preparation and Condensation of Di-methyl Ether, and its use as an
      Anaesthetic Agent.

PMID- 20908383
TI  - Case of Spleno-medullary Leukaemia (with Blood Films).

PMID- 20908360
TI  - Persistent Swelling of Conjunctivae.

PMID- 20908423
TI  - Case of Congenital Deformity of Dorsal and Cervical Vertebrae.

PMID- 20908427
TI  - Bony Ankylosis of Elbow at 125 degrees , and with Forearm Pronated.

PMID- 20908464
TI  - A Case of Anaemia in a Premature Infant treated by Intraperitoneal Injection of
      Blood.

PMID- 20908483
TI  - Case of Death from Uraemia due to Interstitial Nephritis (? of Congenital
      Origin): Renal Dwarfism.

PMID- 20908473
TI  - A Case of Progressive Lipodystrophia in a Boy aged 71/2 Years.

PMID- 20908485
TI  - Case of Myelogenous Leukaemia associated with Priapism.

PMID- 20908490
TI  - DISCUSS ON ON SPRUE AND COELIAC DISEASE.

PMID- 20908492
TI  - DISCUSS ON ON SPRUE AND COELIAC DISEASE.

PMID- 20908491
TI  - DISCUSS ON ON SPRUE AND COELIAC DISEASE.

PMID- 20908493
TI  - DISCUSS ON ON SPRUE AND COELIAC DISEASE.

PMID- 20908494
TI  - DISCUSS ON ON SPRUE AND COELIAC DISEASE.

PMID- 20908495
TI  - DISCUSS ON ON SPRUE AND COELIAC DISEASE.

PMID- 20908496
TI  - DISCUSS ON ON SPRUE AND COELIAC DISEASE.

PMID- 20908497
TI  - DISCUSS ON ON SPRUE AND COELIAC DISEASE.

PMID- 20908499
TI  - DISCUSS ON ON SPRUE AND COELIAC DISEASE.

PMID- 20908498
TI  - DISCUSS ON ON SPRUE AND COELIAC DISEASE.

PMID- 20908500
TI  - DISCUSS ON ON SPRUE AND COELIAC DISEASE.

PMID- 20908524
TI  - Subcapsular Haemorrhage (Renal).

PMID- 20908501
TI  - DISCUSS ON ON SPRUE AND COELIAC DISEASE.

PMID- 20908544
TI  - Three Specimens of "Atonic Caecum," removed by Operation.

PMID- 20908553
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE TREATMENT OF HAEMORRHOIDS BY INJECTION: Pathological Changes
      produced by Carbolic Acid Injections and Mode of Action of Carbolic Acid.

PMID- 20908554
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE TREATMENT OF HAEMORRHOIDS BY INJECTION.

PMID- 20908556
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE TREATMENT OF HAEMORRHOIDS BY INJECTION.

PMID- 20908555
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE TREATMENT OF HAEMORRHOIDS BY INJECTION.

PMID- 20908557
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE TREATMENT OF HAEMORRHOIDS BY INJECTION.

PMID- 20908558
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE TREATMENT OF HAEMORRHOIDS BY INJECTION.

PMID- 20908560
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE TREATMENT OF HAEMORRHOIDS BY INJECTION.

PMID- 20908559
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE TREATMENT OF HAEMORRHOIDS BY INJECTION.

PMID- 20908561
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE TREATMENT OF HAEMORRHOIDS BY INJECTION.

PMID- 20908562
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE TREATMENT OF HAEMORRHOIDS BY INJECTION.

PMID- 20908602
TI  - Some Aspects of Cardiac Dyspnoea; a Review.

PMID- 20908607
TI  - The Present-day Trend of Treatment of Gonorrhoea, with Special Reference to
      Cataphoretic Application of Colloid Silver.

PMID- 20908626
TI  - Case of Purpura Haemorrhagica.

PMID- 20908635
TI  - Case of "The Hairy, Black Tongue" (Nigrities-Hyperkeratosis Linguae).

PMID- 20908644
TI  - Case of "Polycythaemia Hypertonica".

PMID- 20908652
TI  - Psoriasis and Seborrhoeic Eczema: Pathological Anatomy and Diagnostic Histology
      of the Two Dermatoses.

PMID- 20908661
TI  - Case of Lymphatic Leukaemia with Erythrodermia.

PMID- 20908659
TI  - Case of Morphoea Guttata.

PMID- 20908671
TI  - Case of Macular Non-anaesthetic Leprosy.

PMID- 20908665
TI  - Case of Lupus Pernio (Sarcoid-Schaumann Type) associated with ? Lupus Vulgaris.

PMID- 20908693
TI  - Extensive Vascular Naevus of Face, treated by Radium.

PMID- 20908673
TI  - Naevus with Congenital Atrophic Lesions.

PMID- 20908707
TI  - Scaly Eruption ? Syphilitic.

PMID- 20908739
TI  - Chronic Purpura, Cutaneous "Striae," and Grave Endocrine Disturbance.

PMID- 20908734
TI  - Case of Hydroa AEstivale.

PMID- 20908770
TI  - Sections of Psychiatry, Neurology, Study of Disease in Children, and
      Epidemiology, Joint Discussion No. 2: Discussion on the Mental Sequelae of
      Encephalitis Lethargica.

PMID- 20908744
TI  - Technique Used in the Treatment of Gonorrhoeal Infections by Diathermy.

PMID- 20908771
TI  - Sections of Surgery, Anaesthetics, Medicine, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, and
      Pathology, Joint Discussion No. 3: Discussion on the Prevention and Treatment of
      Post-Operative Pulmonary Affections.

PMID- 20908772
TI  - Sections of Medicine, Surgery, and Pathology, Joint Discussion No. 4: Discussion
      on the Treatment of Septicaemia.

PMID- 20908787
TI  - Larynx Removed for Malignant Disease, under Local Anaesthesia.

PMID- 20908798
TI  - DISCUSSION ON PAROXYSMAL RHINORRHOEA.

PMID- 20908800
TI  - DISCUSSION ON PAROXYSMAL RHINORRHOEA.

PMID- 20908803
TI  - DISCUSSION ON PAROXYSMAL RHINORRHOEA.

PMID- 20908801
TI  - DISCUSSION ON PAROXYSMAL RHINORRHOEA.

PMID- 20908804
TI  - DISCUSSION ON PAROXYSMAL RHINORRHOEA.

PMID- 20908805
TI  - DISCUSSION ON PAROXYSMAL RHINORRHOEA.

PMID- 20908807
TI  - DISCUSSION ON PAROXYSMAL RHINORRHOEA.

PMID- 20908806
TI  - DISCUSSION ON PAROXYSMAL RHINORRHOEA.

PMID- 20908808
TI  - DISCUSSION ON PAROXYSMAL RHINORRHOEA.

PMID- 20908825
TI  - Specimen of Larynx and OEsophagus, from a Case of Paralysis of Left Recurrent
      Laryngeal Nerve and Tuberculous Ulcers of the OEsophagus, all caused by Caseous
      Tuberculous Glands.

PMID- 20908819
TI  - Naevus of the Epiglottis and Tongue.

PMID- 20908835
TI  - Pathological Specimens: (i) Myxo-chondroma of Base of Skull; (ii) Haemangioma of
      the Mid-brain; (iii) Neuro-fibroma of Auditory Nerve.

PMID- 20908827
TI  - An Instrument for the Application of Diathermy to the OEsophagus.

PMID- 20908838
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE AETIOLOGY AND TREATMENT OF SUBACUTE COMBINED DEGENERATION OF
      THE SPINAL CORD: Pathogenesis and Treatment of Addison's (Pernicious) Anaemia and
      Subacute Combined Degeneration of the Spinal Cord.

PMID- 20908839
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE AETIOLOGY AND TREATMENT OF SUBACUTE COMBINED DEGENERATION OF
      THE SPINAL CORD: Pathogenesis and Treatment of Addison's (Pernicious) Anaemia and
      Subacute Combined Degeneration of the Spinal Cord.

PMID- 20908840
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE AETIOLOGY AND TREATMENT OF SUBACUTE COMBINED DEGENERATION OF
      THE SPINAL CORD: Pathogenesis and Treatment of Addison's (Pernicious) Anaemia and
      Subacute Combined Degeneration of the Spinal Cord.

PMID- 20908841
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE AETIOLOGY AND TREATMENT OF SUBACUTE COMBINED DEGENERATION OF
      THE SPINAL CORD: Pathogenesis and Treatment of Addison's (Pernicious) Anaemia and
      Subacute Combined Degeneration of the Spinal Cord.

PMID- 20908842
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE AETIOLOGY AND TREATMENT OF SUBACUTE COMBINED DEGENERATION OF
      THE SPINAL CORD: Pathogenesis and Treatment of Addison's (Pernicious) Anaemia and
      Subacute Combined Degeneration of the Spinal Cord.

PMID- 20908843
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE AETIOLOGY AND TREATMENT OF SUBACUTE COMBINED DEGENERATION OF
      THE SPINAL CORD: Pathogenesis and Treatment of Addison's (Pernicious) Anaemia and
      Subacute Combined Degeneration of the Spinal Cord.

PMID- 20908844
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE AETIOLOGY AND TREATMENT OF SUBACUTE COMBINED DEGENERATION OF
      THE SPINAL CORD: Pathogenesis and Treatment of Addison's (Pernicious) Anaemia and
      Subacute Combined Degeneration of the Spinal Cord.

PMID- 20908853
TI  - Case of Post-encephalitic Contractures and Paroxysmal Tachypnoea.

PMID- 20908855
TI  - Case of Post-encephalitic Myoclonus and Tachypnoea.

PMID- 20908890
TI  - Sarcoma Ulcerating through the Vagina and causing Severe Haemorrhage in a Girl
      aged 19.

PMID- 20908904
TI  - Retroplacental Haematoma from a Case of Toxaemia.

PMID- 20908905
TI  - A Case of Toxaemia in Early Pregnancy with Jaundice, Hyperemesis and Multiple
      Neuritis. Death three weeks after termination of Pregnancy.

PMID- 20908912
TI  - The Treatment of Placenta Praevia by Continuous Weight Traction-a Report of Seven
      Cases.

PMID- 20908922
TI  - A Report on Certain Drugs and Solutions used in Local Anaesthesia.

PMID- 20908916
TI  - A Note on Protagulin in Haemorrhage after Extraction.

PMID- 20908931
TI  - Septicaemia and Acute Infection of the Middle-ear Tract.

PMID- 20908940
TI  - Case of Naevoid Angioma of the Tympanum (? Endothelioma). Microscopical Section.

PMID- 20908951
TI  - Statistics of Results of Zinc Ionization in Chronic Otorrhoea in over 600 Cases.

PMID- 20908966
TI  - Some Morphological Factors governing the Incidence of Pernicious Anaemia.

PMID- 20908967
TI  - The Selection and Administration of Local and General Anaesthetics for Animals.

PMID- 20908971
TI  - Chloroform Anaesthesia.

PMID- 20909009
TI  - On the Relationship between Sub-arachnoid and Intra-ocular Haemorrhage.

PMID- 20909030
TI  - Two Cases for Diagnosis: ? Pseudocoxalgia.

PMID- 20909028
TI  - Case for Diagnosis; Multiple Arthritis (? Type) and ? Spastic Diplegia.

PMID- 20909070
TI  - Specimens from Three Cases of Cerebro-spinal Leptomeningitis due to Bacillus
      Influenzoe.

PMID- 20909081
TI  - A Case of Coeliac Disease with Glycosuria.

PMID- 20909087
TI  - Case of Myelogenous Leukaemia in a Child of 13.

PMID- 20909124
TI  - Some Flukes bred from Cercariae recurring in Schistosoma-transmitting Molluscs in
      South Africa.

PMID- 20909108
TI  - DISCUSSION: IS THE MODIFICATION OF COW'S MILK NECESSARY IN INFANT FEEDING ?

PMID- 20909125
TI  - Leptospirae in Tap Water.

PMID- 20909133
TI  - Haemorrhage from a Retropelvic Vessel during Pyelolithotomy.

PMID- 20909181
TI  - Case of Sacculitis of the Pelvic Colon with Localized Abscess. Death due to
      Portal Pyaemia.

PMID- 20909184
TI  - The Treatment of Certain Atonic and Atrophic Conditions of the Caecum.

PMID- 20909190
TI  - Carcinoma of the OEsophagus.

PMID- 20909221
TI  - A Further Communication on the Treatment of Gonorrhoea by Kataphoresis.

PMID- 20909191
TI  - Examination of the OEsophagus by X-rays.

PMID- 20909229
TI  - Remarks on the Incidence, AEtiology and Prevention of Rheumatic Fever in the
      Navy.

PMID- 20909241
TI  - Case of Polycythaemia Rubra Vera (Vaquez Disease) treated twice with application
      of X-rays to the Bones; Duration of Improvement.

PMID- 20909250
TI  - Case of Unusual Chronic OEdema.

PMID- 20909255
TI  - Splenectomy for Essential Thrombocytopenic Purpura Haemorrhagica in a Girl aged
      10 years.

PMID- 20909259
TI  - Three Cases of Splenectomy for Essential Thrombocytopenic Purpura Haemorrhagica.

PMID- 20909273
TI  - Case of Mycosis Fungoides, (? Leukaemia Cutis).

PMID- 20909264
TI  - Congenital Auriculo-Ventricular Block in a Child aged 51/2 years.

PMID- 20909283
TI  - Case of Pigmentary Naevi.

PMID- 20909324
TI  - Unusual Case of Melanotic Naevi.

PMID- 20909386
TI  - SECTIONS OF COMPARATIVE MEDICINE, OBSTETRICS, AND GYNAECOLOGY, AND TROPICAL
      DISEASES AND PARASITOLOGY, JOINT DISCUSSION No. 1: DISCUSSION ON INFECTIVE
      ABORTION IN CATTLE AND ITS RELATION TO MALTA FEVER.

PMID- 20909391
TI  - SECTION OF DERMATOLOGY WITH THE SECTION FOR THE STUDY OF DISEASE IN CHILDREN,
      JOINT DISCUSSION No. 5: DISCUSSION ON THE AETIOLOGY AND TREATMENT OF INFANTILE
      ECZEMA.

PMID- 20909398
TI  - Case of Chronic Pharyngeal and OEsophageal Stenosis.

PMID- 20909400
TI  - A Case of OEsophageal Carcinoma treated by Intubation with Souttar's Tube.

PMID- 20909399
TI  - Extraction of Two Farthings from the OEsophagus.

PMID- 20909401
TI  - A Case of Chronic Lymphatic Leukaemia associated with enormous Enlargement of the
      Faucial Tonsils.

PMID- 20909405
TI  - An Instrument for the Application of Diathermy to the OEsophagus.

PMID- 20909451
TI  - Hypoglycaemia.

PMID- 20909431
TI  - Case of Ozaena apparently cured by Submucous Injection of Paraffin.

PMID- 20909482
TI  - A Contribution to the Technique of Caesarean Section.

PMID- 20909490
TI  - Gliosarcoma in a Full-time Stillborn Foetus.

PMID- 20909495
TI  - Hydatidiform Mole: Expulsion, and Death from Pulmonary Haemorrhage.

PMID- 20909506
TI  - A Revised Conception of Ante-partum Accidental Haemorrhage.

PMID- 20909527
TI  - Haemorrhagic Types of Ear Disease occurring during Epidemics of Influenza.

PMID- 20909548
TI  - Apnoea, Dyspnoea and Cyanosis in Relation to Anaesthesia: Part II.-Anaesthesia.

PMID- 20909547
TI  - DISCUSSION ON ANAESTHETICS IN CHILDREN.

PMID- 20909550
TI  - Anaesthesia in Relation to Disturbances of the Circulation.

PMID- 20909551
TI  - Some Bearings of the Physiology of the Respiration on the Administration of
      Anaesthetics.

PMID- 20909552
TI  - Recent Investigations concerning Nitrous Oxide, and the Ignition Points of some
      Anaesthetic Vapours.

PMID- 20909554
TI  - DISCUSSION ON ANAESTHETICS IN CHILDREN.

PMID- 20909553
TI  - On an Attempt to Alleviate the Acidosis of Anaesthesia.

PMID- 20909556
TI  - Gas-and-Oxygen Anaesthesia in Abdominal Surgery; and "Secondary Saturation.".

PMID- 20909555
TI  - Anaesthesia in Urological Surgery.

PMID- 20909557
TI  - DISCUSSION ON ANAESTHETICS IN CHILDREN.

PMID- 20909559
TI  - DISCUSSION ON ANAESTHETICS IN CHILDREN.

PMID- 20909558
TI  - DISCUSSION ON ANAESTHETICS IN CHILDREN.

PMID- 20909561
TI  - DISCUSSION ON ANAESTHETICS IN CHILDREN.

PMID- 20909560
TI  - DISCUSSION ON ANAESTHETICS IN CHILDREN.

PMID- 20909563
TI  - DISCUSSION ON ANAESTHETICS IN CHILDREN.

PMID- 20909562
TI  - DISCUSSION ON ANAESTHETICS IN CHILDREN.

PMID- 20909581
TI  - Glisson as an Orthopaedic Surgeon.

PMID- 20909564
TI  - Apnoea, Dyspnoea and Cyanosis in Relation to Anaesthesia: Part I.-Physiology.

PMID- 20909628
TI  - Case of Retinitis (? Result of Haemorrhage).

PMID- 20909694
TI  - A Case of Congenital Stenosis of the OEsophagus.

PMID- 20909696
TI  - Case of (?) Lymphocytic Leukaemia.

PMID- 20909714
TI  - Two Cases of Post-encephalitic Hyperpnoea.

PMID- 20909716
TI  - Case of Congenital OEdema of the Feet.

PMID- 20909719
TI  - Case of Splenic Anaemia (Banti's Disease).

PMID- 20909738
TI  - Case of Giant Naevus.

PMID- 20909742
TI  - Pseudoparasites in the Faeces of Man.

PMID- 20909750
TI  - Rupture of the Bladder in Acute Gonorrhoea.

PMID- 20909759
TI  - Case of Hydronephrosis with Intermittent Haematuria as Outstanding Symptom.

PMID- 20909789
TI  - Case of Ectopia Vesicae.

PMID- 20909787
TI  - Two Cases of Vesical Calculi following Caesarean Section.

PMID- 20909856
TI  - Orthopaedics at a Country Children's Hospital: President's Address.

PMID- 20909853
TI  - Some Important Differences in Gynaecological Practice. : President's Address.

PMID- 20909868
TI  - Pigmentation of the Thigh, with Varicose Veins and a Condition somewhat
      resembling so-called "Multiple Idiopathic Haemorrhagic (Pigment) Sarcoma"
      (Kaposi).

PMID- 20909900
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE TREATMENT OF CANCER OF THE OESOPHAGUS.

PMID- 20909871
TI  - A Question on the Teaching of Ether Anaesthesia: With a Report of Four Deaths
      under Ether: President's Address.

PMID- 20909901
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE TREATMENT OF CANCER OF THE OESOPHAGUS: THE INTUBATION METHOD.

PMID- 20909902
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE TREATMENT OF CANCER OF THE OESOPHAGUS.

PMID- 20909903
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE TREATMENT OF CANCER OF THE OESOPHAGUS.

PMID- 20909907
TI  - The Relative Numbers of Male and Female Gametocytes in Human Malaria (Plasmodium
      vivax, Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium malariae) and Hoemoproteus in Birds.

PMID- 20909915
TI  - Striae Patellares following Typhoid Fever.

PMID- 20909925
TI  - Haemangioma of Tongue.

PMID- 20909967
TI  - Interstitial Keratitis, with Marked Radial Deep Corneal Striation (Corneal
      OEdema).

PMID- 20909968
TI  - Patches of Choroiditis at the Maculae, Secondary to Double Antral Suppuration.

PMID- 20910029
TI  - Haemangiectatic Hypertrophy of the Arm.

PMID- 20910030
TI  - Bilateral OEdema of Feet.

PMID- 20910036
TI  - Case of Essential Thrombocytopenic Purpura Haemorrhagica a year after
      Splenectomy.

PMID- 20910039
TI  - Aleukaemic Lymphadenosis.

PMID- 20910049
TI  - Unusual Type of Naevus.

PMID- 20910042
TI  - Haemangioma Causing Jacksonian Epilepsy.

PMID- 20910061
TI  - Tumour of Upper Jaw originating in Maxillary Sinus, and Non-malignant Stricture
      of OEsophagus.

PMID- 20910051
TI  - Maculo-anaesthetic Lepra.

PMID- 20910077
TI  - Lateral Sinus Thrombosis, without Otorrhoea: Septicaemia; Subsequent
      Tonsillectomy; Acute Nephritis; Recovery.

PMID- 20910113
TI  - A Spirochaetic Infection with Necrosis and Perforation of Ileum.

PMID- 20910112
TI  - The Oocysts of a Coccidium in the Faeces of Laboratory and Wild Rats.

PMID- 20910202
TI  - Intermittent OEdema of the Foot for Diagnosis.

PMID- 20910143
TI  - Persistent Erythema, with Ischaemic Circulation, in the Left Foot, possibly in
      part connected with Prolonged Use of a Plaster Bandage for Tuberculous Disease of
      the Left Knee.

PMID- 20910215
TI  - Recurring Eruption: ? Artefact.

PMID- 20910218
TI  - Persistent Erythema, with Ischaemic Circulation in the Left Foot, possibly in
      part connected with Prolonged Use of a Plaster Bandage for Tuberculous Disease of
      the Left Knee.

PMID- 20910220
TI  - Papular Swellings on Eyelids and Forehead: ? Colloid Milium.

PMID- 20910240
TI  - Dysphagia for Three Months due to Foreign Body in the OEsophagus.

PMID- 20910246
TI  - Recurrent Intra-Ocular Haemorrhage in a Young Male.

PMID- 20910279
TI  - Large Temporo-sphenoidal Abscess following Injury: no Localizing Signs except
      Homolateral Papilloedema.

PMID- 20910290
TI  - Splenectomy for Essential Thrombocytopenic Purpura Haemorrhagica.

PMID- 20910314
TI  - Normal Variability of the Action of Pituitrin on the Contractile Power of the
      Caecum and Colon.

PMID- 20910315
TI  - The Value of Lipiodol in Determining the Extent of Fistulae-in ano.

PMID- 20910317
TI  - Volvulus of the Pelvic Colon and Blind Caecostomy.

PMID- 20910320
TI  - The Medical Aspects of Haematuria.

PMID- 20910318
TI  - Skin Grafts for Fistulae.

PMID- 20910321
TI  - DISCUSSION ON ANAESTHETICS IN DENTAL OPERATIONS.

PMID- 20910345
TI  - Case for Diagnosis: ? Boeck's Sarcoid.

PMID- 20910337
TI  - Case of ? Angioma Serpiginosum: for Diagnosis.

PMID- 20910350
TI  - Congenital Bilateral Occlusion of the Posterior Choanae.

PMID- 20910349
TI  - The Pathology of OEsophagectasia (Dilatation of the OEsophagus without Anatomic
      Stenosis at the Cardiac Orifice).

PMID- 20910361
TI  - A Pair of Haemostatic Clamp Forceps used in Enucleation of Tonsils.

PMID- 20910362
TI  - An OEsophageal Speculum with Distal and Proximal Illumination.

PMID- 20910425
TI  - Ulceration of Vocal Cord; ? Malignant.

PMID- 20910453
TI  - Case of ? Periostitis of Metatarsal.

PMID- 20910481
TI  - Fibromata (or ? Papilloma) of Larynx.

PMID- 20910483
TI  - The Pathology of OEsophagectasia (Dilatation of the OEsophagus without Anatomic
      Stenosis at the Cardiac Orifice).

PMID- 20910503
TI  - Case of Rare Seborrhoeide.

PMID- 20910508
TI  - Case for Diagnosis. ? Lupus Erythematosus.

PMID- 20910524
TI  - Aural Electrodes for Use in the Treatment of Chronic Otorrhoea by Zinc Ionization
      and Zinc Electrolysis.

PMID- 20910526
TI  - Acute Lateral Sinus Thrombosis Following Chronic Otorrhoea.

PMID- 20910533
TI  - Mass in Vitreous in a Boy aged 5, ? Glioma.

PMID- 20910554
TI  - Gastric Achlorhydria in a Woman who was under Observation over 19 years ago for
      Grave Anaemia.

PMID- 20910585
TI  - Congenital Abnormality of Cervical Vertebrae.

PMID- 20910563
TI  - Recent Investigations in the Treatment of Gonorrhoea.

PMID- 20910590
TI  - Case of ? Chloroma, ? Suprarenal Tumour.

PMID- 20910612
TI  - Tabes Dorsalis with Sudden Development of Local Anaesthesia.

PMID- 20910615
TI  - Laryngo-fissure for Intrinsic Carcinoma of the Larynx: Four cases in medical men,
      who are now in active practice, 21/4, 3, 41/2, and 51/2 years after operation.

PMID- 20910618
TI  - Extreme and Diffuse Dilatation of the OEsophagus. [X-ray Photographs and Lantern
      Slides].

PMID- 20910630
TI  - Anaesthesia in Thyroid Surgery.

PMID- 20910632
TI  - A Case of Rupture of the Uterus After a Previous Caesarean Section.

PMID- 20910661
TI  - Splenomegaly. ? Diagnosis and Treatment.

PMID- 20910663
TI  - Notes on Blastomycosis: Its AEtiology and Clinical Varieties.

PMID- 20910680
TI  - Contusio Cerebri. ? Right Occipital Fracture.

PMID- 20910668
TI  - A Case of Intermittent Pyrexia associated with and probably due to Broncho
      spirochaetosis, Shown April 6, 1927.

PMID- 20910681
TI  - Polycythaemia: Cerebral Thrombosis.

PMID- 20910694
TI  - Coeliac Disease.

PMID- 20910710
TI  - A Case of Otitic Septicaemia.

PMID- 20910719
TI  - Case for Diagnosis. ? Mycosis Fungoides.

PMID- 20910725
TI  - Case for Diagnosis. ? Erythema Multiforme.

PMID- 20910727
TI  - Case for Diagnosis. ? Tertiary Yaws.

PMID- 20910766
TI  - Erythro-leukaemia.

PMID- 20910781
TI  - Volkmann's Ischaemic Myositis.

PMID- 20910775
TI  - Two Cases of Essential Thrombocytopenic Purpura Haemorrhagica two years after
      Splenectomy.

PMID- 20910782
TI  - The Medico-Legal Aspects of Deaths Under Anaesthetics.

PMID- 20910788
TI  - Hirschsprung's Disease with Faecal Incontinence.

PMID- 20910790
TI  - Rachitis Tarda following Treatment for Coeliac Disease.

PMID- 20910794
TI  - Double Optic Neuritis (Choked Discs), with Changes in the Maculae, in a Case of
      Cerebral Tumour.

PMID- 20910796
TI  - Tumour in Anterior Chamber with Recurrent Hyphaema.

PMID- 20910822
TI  - Congenital Deformities of Cervical and Upper Dorsal Vertebrae and Fusion of Upper
      Three Left Ribs.

PMID- 20910833
TI  - A Case of Diplococcal Infection of the Sphenoid Sinus with Associated
      Haemorrhages in the Stomach.

PMID- 20910857
TI  - The Haemorrhagic Diathesis.
AB  - The primary purpuras form a single clinical entity.Variations in the number of
      platelets can occur without the production of haemorrhages. These variations are
      the result of the condition of the capillaries and are not the cause of
      haemorrhages. The platelets may vary in any form of purpura, primary or
      secondary.The essential cause of the haemorrhagic state is a defect or increased
      permeability of the capillary endothelium.Purpura is allied to urticaria, the
      Henoch-Schonlein type being an intermediate state.

PMID- 20910873
TI  - DISCUSSION ON ANAESTHESIA IN OBSTETRICS.

PMID- 20910889
TI  - Leukaemic Erythrodermia.

PMID- 20910894
TI  - Ulceration of Nipple: ? Paget's Disease.

PMID- 20910921
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE AETIOLOGY OF ALCOHOLISM.

PMID- 20910920
TI  - Eclampsia and Its Treatment: An Experience with Spinal Anaesthesia in One Case.

PMID- 20910939
TI  - Granuloma Fungoides. ? Case for Diagnosis.

PMID- 20910944
TI  - Haemangiectatic Hypertrophy (Parkes Weber).

PMID- 20910947
TI  - Bilharzia Haematobia of the Rectum.

PMID- 20910952
TI  - Case of Gangrene of the Rectum following Long-standing Prolapsing Haemorrhoids.

PMID- 20910964
TI  - Report of a Sub-Committee Appointed by the Council of the Section of Obstetrics
      and Gynaecology to Prepare a Scheme for the Unification of the Clinical Reports
      of Maternity Hospitals.

PMID- 20910977
TI  - A Further Contribution to the Subject of Aplastic Anaemia.
AB  - In the description of the condition of benign aplastic anaemia in pigs, attention
      is directed, among other things, to changes in the bone-marrow which seem of
      fundamental importance in understanding normal erythrogenesis.It is possible that
      an indirect van den Bergh reaction can be converted into an immediate direct by
      controlling the H-ion concentration suitably, either with buffer solutions or
      with less dissociable acids, such as acetic, used in preparing the van den Bergh
      reagent. The question of the interpretation of direct and indirect reactions,
      therefore, would seem to be reopened.Following Minot and Murphy's work, a pig
      with aplastic anaemia was fed with liver. The lesions in the liver, considered
      with the marked improvement in the blood which followed on liver feeding in this
      case, lead one to regard the condition as one of blood and marrow inefficiency
      due primarily to hepatic insufficiency.A comparison of pernicious anaemia with
      the benign aplastic anaemia of pigs seems to indicate that in pernicious anaemia
      there is more than a mere functional disturbance of the marrow. The marrow
      appears to be fundamentally and organically affected, and this appears to be the
      pathological basis of the disease-a point which has already been discussed more
      fully elsewhere [14]. A parallel may be drawn between the varieties of aplastic
      anaemia, such as already exists for ordinary anaemias. We have, thus, the
      secondary or benign anaemias on the one hand; and, on the other, the primary or
      malignant anaemias, such as pernicious anaemia. Correspondingly, we have such
      benign or secondary aplastic anaemias as that described in the pigs; and
      malignant or primary aplastic anaemias such as those in benzol poisoning, etc.
      That aplasia should be so marked a feature in iron deficiency, as compared with
      other secondary anaemias, is probably due to the persisting nature of the cause.

PMID- 20910986
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE TREATMENT OF URETHRAL STRICTURE AND FISTULAE BY EXCISION.
AB  - For hard tunnel strictures and in cases of perineal fistula we should be bolder
      to adopt the principle of excision rather than that of mere external
      urethrotomy.A preliminary suprapubic cystotomy is advised, and also the
      avoidance, as far as possible, of the indwelling catheter. All fistulae should be
      excised completely, not merely opened, scraped and drained.The operator should
      not be in too great a hurry to pass sounds of too large a calibre after the
      operation, as in many cases there is little tendency to re-formation of the
      stricture.

PMID- 20911003
TI  - Congenital Anaemia with Jaundice.

PMID- 20910992
TI  - Morphoea with Root Distribution.

PMID- 20911004
TI  - A Case of Dysmenorrhoea due to Calcification of the Ovary.

PMID- 20911017
TI  - (?) Morphoea or Tuberculosis Cutis.

PMID- 20911021
TI  - Methods of Estimating the Liability to Post-operative Haemorrhage from Unsutured
      Wounds.

PMID- 20911037
TI  - Reconstruction of the Upper End of the OEsophagus.

PMID- 20911048
TI  - A Propos de la Colectomie pour Cancer.

PMID- 20911055
TI  - Intense Ascites. ? Hepatic Syphilis.

PMID- 20911057
TI  - Involuntary Movements of Arm. ? Psychoneurosis.

PMID- 20911061
TI  - Coeliac Rickets.

PMID- 20911058
TI  - Case for Diagnosis. ? Fibrocystic Disease of Femur.

PMID- 20911092
TI  - Anaemia of Obscure Origin.

PMID- 20911105
TI  - Myelogenous Leukaemia.

PMID- 20911115
TI  - Case for Diagnosis: ? Gummatous Osteitis of the Humerus.

PMID- 20911125
TI  - Anaemia and Jaundice in a Newborn Child.

PMID- 20911122
TI  - Muscular Hypotonia with Hypoglycaemia.

PMID- 20911128
TI  - Naevus and Hemiplegia. Shown for Comparison with previous Case.

PMID- 20911127
TI  - Naevus and Left-sided Hemiplegia.

PMID- 20911140
TI  - Aplastic Anaemia.

PMID- 20911144
TI  - Complete Occlusion of Posterior Choanae.

PMID- 20911168
TI  - Specimen of Carcinoma of Ascending Colon with great Dilatation of Caecum. Removed
      by Resection of the Distal Half of the Colon after Preliminary Short Circuit.

PMID- 20911169
TI  - Endotracheal Anaesthesia.
AB  - (1) With certain exceptions, endotracheal anaesthesia is the best method for
      operations on the head and neck and for any other operation in which there may be
      a difficulty in controlling the patient's air-way. (2) Expiration should be
      provided for, in endotracheal anaesthesia, either by means of a second tube or by
      a tube of calibre sufficient to permit to-and-fro respiration. (3) Cocainization
      of the upper air-passages has decided advantages in endotracheal anaesthesia. (4)
      "Blind" intubation through the nose renders the method possible in cases where it
      is impossible to use a speculum. (5) The insufflation method is not specially
      indicated in abdominal surgery. (6) The routine use of endotracheal anaesthesia
      in teaching-hospitals for every class of case is detrimental to the production of
      sound anaesthetic knowledge in students who are likely to become general
      practitioners.

PMID- 20911170
TI  - Simple Achromic Naevus, of Blotchy Distribution, on the Front of the Chest.

PMID- 20911211
TI  - Nutritional Anaemia in Infancy: Some Observations on a Common Deficiency Disease.
AB  - The prevalence of anaemia among London infants is shown by an investigation
      extending over the last three years and comprising about 770 cases with 3,100
      haemoglobin estimations. This anaemia is largely nutritional in origin and is due
      to a deficiency of iron, possibly associated with other factors. It is known that
      an infant obtains its necessary iron not only from its milk, which is poor in
      iron, but also from a store in the liver. Our results lead us to suppose that
      this store may be unduly low in many London infants. The average haemoglobin
      percentage in the blood of fairly healthy artificially-fed London infants shows a
      sharp fall from its high level at birth to about 65 per cent. at 2 to 3 months of
      age, a rise to about 70 per cent. by 5 to 6 months, and then a steady fall
      reaching about 65 per cent. at 12 months. The continuous administration of iron,
      beginning when the infant is under 2 months old, raised the average haemoglobin
      percentage to 80 per cent. at 4 months of age and onwards. Infants whose birth
      weight is under 6 lb., twins and premature infants are specially in need of iron
      treatment. The selection of the iron salt is of importance, and iron and ammonium
      citrate proved effective. It was satisfactorily administered on a large scale by
      giving it incorporated in a dried milk.No evidence was obtained that want of
      light is an etiological factor in anaemia in infancy, and artificial light
      therapy did not cure it. No vitamin deficiency appeared to be involved. The value
      of liver treatment is still under investigation, but the results so far obtained
      can be explained on the assumption that liver treatment is efficacious only
      because it provides a source of iron. The routine administration of an iron salt
      to artificially-fed infants is advocated on the ground that, by preventing the
      anaemia from which most of them would otherwise suffer, the level of health of
      our infant population would be raised.

PMID- 20911219
TI  - Severe Rickets with ? Dyschondroplasia.

PMID- 20911220
TI  - Severe Anaemia and Bronzing.

PMID- 20911232
TI  - A Note on the Association of Extensive Haemangiomatous Naevus of the Skin with
      Cerebral (Meningeal) Haemangioma, especially Cases of Facial Vascular Naevus with
      Contralateral Hemiplegia.
AB  - The main type of the cases under consideration is that in which extensive
      capillary naevus of the skin, especially of trigeminal distribution, is
      associated with contralateral spastic hemiplegia, developing in early life,
      probably sometimes connected with intracranial haemorrhage from the abnormal
      blood-vessels of a diffuse leptomeningeal angioma on the same side as the main
      vascular naevus of the face. Various points related to such cases are referred
      to.

PMID- 20911236
TI  - The Excretion of the Constituent Ions of Sulphur Water in Faeces, Urine and
      Sweat.

PMID- 20911238
TI  - Naevus Anaemicus (Ischaemicus).

PMID- 20911246
TI  - Hyperplastic Laryngitis and Pharyngitis; ? Myxoedema (Shown a year ago, but not
      reported.

PMID- 20911247
TI  - Carcinoma of the OEsophagus treated by Radium.

PMID- 20911248
TI  - Specimen: OEsophagus from an Elderly Man, treated by Radium for Carcinoma.

PMID- 20911249
TI  - Specimen: OEsophagus from a Middle-aged Man, showing a Congenital Opening into
      the Trachea.

PMID- 20911287
TI  - Two Cases of Anaemia showing the Result of Liver Treatment.

PMID- 20911291
TI  - Preliminary Medication in Anaesthetics.

PMID- 20911322
TI  - Specimen: Prolapsed Haemorrhoids of Excessive Dimensions.

PMID- 20911298
TI  - Carcinoma of Middle Ear, apparently secondary to Carcinoma Mammae.

PMID- 20911330
TI  - Specimen. Fibrous Polypi associated with Internal Haemorrhoids.

PMID- 20911323
TI  - Prolapsed Haemorrhoids in an Erythraemic Patient with Psoriasis.

PMID- 20911331
TI  - Specimen. Tuberculous Ulcer of Caecum with large Enterolith.

PMID- 20911362
TI  - The Medical Aspects of the Mediaeval Monastery in England.

PMID- 20911338
TI  - Two Cases of Thrombocytopenic Purpura Haemorrhagica, three years after
      Splenectomy.

PMID- 20911368
TI  - Congenital Occlusion of OEsophagus (Specimen).

PMID- 20911370
TI  - Fusiform Dilatation of OEsophagus with Spasm; Leukoplakia of Walls. Specimen and
      Sections of Wall.

PMID- 20911374
TI  - Experiences of Radiological Treatment of Cancer in Gynaecology.

PMID- 20911371
TI  - Acute Pain and Fever following Chronic OEsophagitis, possibly Syphilitic, with
      Dilatation and OEsophagospasm.

PMID- 20911376
TI  - Treatment of Experimental Anaemias with Ultra-Violet Light.

PMID- 20911391
TI  - Deaths under Anaesthetics, with Special Relation to their Pathology.

PMID- 20911395
TI  - Myxoedema (presumably), confined to the Palate and Larynx.

PMID- 20911422
TI  - Clinical and Pathological Report of Bilateral Glioma Retinae.

PMID- 20911451
TI  - Foreign Body Impacted in OEsophagus; Paroesophageal Abscess. Removal of Foreign
      Body by Peroral Endoscopy, with Drainage of Abscess; Pneumonia; Death: (Specimen
      and Skiagrams).

PMID- 20911448
TI  - OEsophageal Obstruction probably Traumatic, treated by Gastrostomy and Retrograde
      Dilatation by Multiple Silk Threads. Improvement.

PMID- 20911456
TI  - Chronic Inflammation of Right Lachrymal Gland. ? Tuberculous.

PMID- 20911455
TI  - Specimen of Carcinoma of the OEsophagus treated with Diathermy. Gastrostomy.
      Death.

PMID- 20911457
TI  - Specimen: Tracheo-OEsophageal Fistula.

PMID- 20911467
TI  - The AEtiological Relationship of Achylia Gastrica to Pernicious Anaemia.

PMID- 20911459
TI  - Treatment by Hyperthermal Baths (104 degrees  F. to 108 degrees  F.) at the Royal
      Bath Hospital, Harrogate.

PMID- 20911469
TI  - Persistent Hypoglycaemia following Diabetes Mellitus treated with Insulin.

PMID- 20911489
TI  - Macroglossia, Right-sided. ? Cause.

PMID- 20911491
TI  - Splenic Anaemia.

PMID- 20911495
TI  - Ulcerative Condition of Throat and Nose. ? Actinomycosis. Case for Diagnosis.

PMID- 20911496
TI  - A Large Diverticulum of the OEsophagus at its Lower End [Skiagrams shown].

PMID- 20911497
TI  - Carcinoma of Upper Part of OEsophagus treated by Radium.

PMID- 20911502
TI  - A Safety-pin removed from the Left Bronchus by a Fortunate Manoeuvre.

PMID- 20911506
TI  - Paresis of Left Vocal Cord. ? Chondroma of Larynx.

PMID- 20911534
TI  - Elephantiasis of the Penis and Scrotum due to Stricture of the Urethra and
      Fistulae.

PMID- 20911546
TI  - Thoracotomy in the Treatment of Malignant Disease of the OEsophagus by Radon.

PMID- 20911547
TI  - The Insertion and Use of Radon in Cancer of the OEsophagus.

PMID- 20911548
TI  - A Note on Two Cases of Carcinoma of the OEsophagus treated by Radon and
      Diathermy.

PMID- 20911556
TI  - Morphine-Scopolamine Narco-Anaesthesia in Nasal Operations.

PMID- 20911557
TI  - Gigantic Female Foetus Weighing 24 lb. 2 oz. at Birth.

PMID- 20911599
TI  - Pseudoleukaemia. Aleukaemic Lymphadenosis.

PMID- 20911567
TI  - Softening of the Upper Humeral Epiphyses. ? Typhoid Arthritis.

PMID- 20911627
TI  - Splenic Anaemia, treated by Splenectomy (previously shown March, 1926).

PMID- 20911631
TI  - Severe Rickets with Anaemia.

PMID- 20911635
TI  - Obesity. ? Cause.

PMID- 20911642
TI  - Erythraemia (Splenomegalic Polycythaemia) with a high degree of Acholuric
      Jaundice, probably a Manifestation of Compensatory "Hypersplenism.".

PMID- 20911656
TI  - President's Address: Diathermy Treatment of Puerperal Septicaemia and Pneumonia.

PMID- 20911657
TI  - A Patient who was Operated on in 1914 for Neo-natal Subdural Haemorrhage.

PMID- 20911663
TI  - DISCUSSION ON AVERTIN ANAESTHESIA.

PMID- 20911673
TI  - Juvenile Myxoedema.

PMID- 20911668
TI  - Splenic Anaemia.

PMID- 20911675
TI  - Erythroedema Polyneuriticum.

PMID- 20911678
TI  - Paroxysmal Haemoglobinuria (?). Case for Diagnosis.

PMID- 20911677
TI  - Scoliosis due to Absence of the Halves of Two Vertebrae.

PMID- 20911681
TI  - Haemophilia Treated by Liver Extract.

PMID- 20911680
TI  - Variable Heart Block with Cyanosis. ? Specific Pulmonary Arteritis (Ayerza
      Syndrome) or Congenital Lesion. Case for Diagnosis.

PMID- 20911684
TI  - Overgrowth of Bones of Face. ? Paget's Disease.

PMID- 20911700
TI  - Naevus of Bladder.

PMID- 20911734
TI  - Foreign Body (Halfpenny) in OEsophagus removed by Jackson's OEsophageal Speculum.

PMID- 20911751
TI  - Psoriasis. ? Pityriasis Rubra Pilaris. Case for Diagnosis.

PMID- 20911748
TI  - Leukaemide. Case for Diagnosis.

PMID- 20911756
TI  - OPENING PAPERS IN A DISCUSSION ON ANAESTHESIA IN RECTAL SURGERY.

PMID- 20911759
TI  - Polycythaemia Vera Treated with Phenylhydrazine.

PMID- 20911762
TI  - Combined Degeneration of Spinal Cord without Blood-picture of Pernicious Anaemia.

PMID- 20911770
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE USE OF PHENYLHYDRAZINE IN THE TREATMENT OF POLYCYTHAEMIA.

PMID- 20911765
TI  - Congenital Morbus Cordis and Abdominal Tumour ? Causal Ascites.

PMID- 20911782
TI  - Two Cases of Spontaneous Haemorrhage into the Fossae of Inflamed Tonsils.

PMID- 20911779
TI  - Fibrous Stricture of the OEsophagus caused by Swallowing Lysol Five Years Ago.

PMID- 20911823
TI  - Two Cases of Essential Thrombocytopenic Purpura Haemorrhagica.

PMID- 20911803
TI  - Uterus with Fibromyoma, from which Haemorrhage occurred into the Peritoneal
      Cavity.

PMID- 20911884
TI  - DISCUSSION ON ANAESTHESIA IN THORACIC SURGERY.

PMID- 20911899
TI  - Erythema Circinatum, ? Erytheme Annulaire Centrifuge of Darier.

PMID- 20911907
TI  - Report on a Case of Purpura Haemorrhagica following Diphtheria.

PMID- 20911934
TI  - A Case of Invasion of the Intact Buccal Mucous Membrane by Spirochaetes.

PMID- 20911912
TI  - Cyst. ? Intracranial.

PMID- 20911937
TI  - Morphoea-type of Tuberculide.

PMID- 20911935
TI  - Typhus-like Fevers of Unknown AEtiology, with Special Reference to the Malay
      States.
AB  - Typhus exanthematicus, Rocky Mountain fever, and the tsutsugamushi disease have
      been classified in the "typhus group" by Megaw, as louse-typhus, tick-typhus, and
      mite-typhus. He has added a fourth-class, comprising typhus-like fevers, with
      unknown vectors. It is the diseases of this class with which this paper is
      concerned.Endemic typhus (Brill's disease) is very closely related to typhus
      fever; the Weil-Felix reaction is positive, typhus-like vascular lesions are
      present, and there is cross-immunity with typhus. In the exanthematic fever of
      Marseilles the relationship is more superficial; there is neither cross-immunity
      nor vascular lesion, and the Weil-Felix reaction is negative. Some, e.g., the
      scrub-typhus of Malaya (vector probably a mite), are more nearly related to
      tsutsugamushi than to typhus; others, e.g., Indian "tick-typhus" (vector probably
      a tick), to Rocky Mountain fever.All are non-contagious, non-epidemic, warm
      weather diseases. They are unassociated with dirt, squalor, or lice, and are
      restricted to definite foci. Probably rodents or other animals are the reservoirs
      of the virus. On the question of identity with typhus, health authorities decide
      that notification is unnecessary; typhus introduced into America spreads, Brill's
      disease does not.These typhus-like diseases are not the same in all the countries
      where they occur. There are two main groups: (1) an urban group, more closely
      related to typhus, in which the Weil-Felix reaction is positive; (2) a rural
      group, more closely related to tsutsugamushi and Rocky Mountain fever, in which
      the Weil-Felix reaction is negative. There is a special non-indologenic strain of
      B. proteus, which is agglutinated in some of the fevers belonging to the second
      group.TROPICAL TYPHUS IN THE MALAY STATES: (1) urban form, or "shop-typhus,"
      resembling Brill's disease; (2) rural form or "scrub-typhus." Peculiar
      association with oil-palms and coarse grass.

PMID- 20911938
TI  - Leukaemia Cutis.

PMID- 20911953
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE POSITION OF RADIUM IN THE TREATMENT OF GYNAECOLOGICAL
      CONDITIONS: Joint Discussion No. 7.

PMID- 20911952
TI  - Case of Recurring Meningitis three weeks after Septicaemic Type of Mastoiditis.

PMID- 20912018
TI  - Haemochromatosis.

PMID- 20911998
TI  - Atypical Leukaemia.

PMID- 20912027
TI  - Post-mortem Specimen from a Case variously reported on as Granuloma,
      Lymphosarcoma, Endothelioma. Treated by X-rays and Radium. Death from
      Haemorrhage.

PMID- 20912059
TI  - Microscopical Sections from a Case of Endothelioma arising in connection with a
      Naevoid Angioma.

PMID- 20912070
TI  - Ethylene Anaesthesia.

PMID- 20912074
TI  - Carotinaemia in a Male Diabetic.

PMID- 20912073
TI  - Solid OEdema of One Leg: Case for Diagnosis.

PMID- 20912076
TI  - Haemophilia treated by Liver Diet.

PMID- 20912077
TI  - Congenital Haemolytic Anaemia, with Splenomegaly in a Child: Controlled by Liver
      Treatment.

PMID- 20912090
TI  - Bilateral Congenital Elevation of the Scapulae.

PMID- 20912089
TI  - Two Cases of Coeliac Rickets.

PMID- 20912093
TI  - The Hereditary Transmission of Hypoglycaemia in Mice.

PMID- 20912116
TI  - Haemoptysis due to Cryptal Ulceration of Tonsils.

PMID- 20912117
TI  - A New OEsophagoscope and Bronchoscope.

PMID- 20912142
TI  - Lichen Planus associated with Lichen Spinulosus and Cicatricial Alopecia of the
      Scalp, Pubes, and Axillae.

PMID- 20912148
TI  - Periodontal Disease in Dogs: (Experimental Gingivitis and "Pyorrhoea").

PMID- 20912150
TI  - Congenital Stenosis of the OEsophagus in Children, Associated with Diaphragmatic
      Hernia of the Stomach.

PMID- 20912155
TI  - A Case of Lithopaedion.

PMID- 20912154
TI  - The Toxaemias of Pregnancy: A New Conception: (Abstract).

PMID- 20912172
TI  - Coeliac Disease.

PMID- 20912164
TI  - Cerebral Haemorrhage in a Boy now aged 14 years.

PMID- 20912200
TI  - Naevus Unius Lateris.

PMID- 20912184
TI  - Three Cases of Congenital OEdema (Milroy's Disease) in Two Generations of the
      Same Family.

PMID- 20912201
TI  - Leukaemia Cutis.

PMID- 20912227
TI  - Anaemic Type of Haemolytic Jaundice without Familial History.

PMID- 20912203
TI  - Extensive Cicatricial Alopecia of Scalp. ? Lichen Planus.

PMID- 20912229
TI  - Fistula behind Left Ear: ? Branchial.

PMID- 20912252
TI  - Haemolytic Jaundice.

PMID- 20912263
TI  - Anaemia with Splenomegaly.

PMID- 20912264
TI  - Simple Achlorhydric Anaemia (L. J. Witts).

PMID- 20912270
TI  - Multiple Foreign Bodies in the Corneae.

PMID- 20912280
TI  - Cultivation of the Spirochaetes Associated with Tropical Ulcer.
AB  - Spirochaetes from cases of tropical ulcer have been cultured in a modified Wenyon
      media and have now been successfully passed through thirty-two subcultures.-A
      pure culture has not yet been obtained.-Five inocultation experiments are
      described in which it has been shown that the spirochaetes and fusiform bacilli,
      in mixed culture, are capable of proliferation and of producing ulcerated lesions
      in natives.

PMID- 20912281
TI  - Generalized Infection of Muscles with Cysticercus cellulosae; measurements of
      cysts and comparison with those of Trichinella spiralis.

PMID- 20912306
TI  - Aortic Aneurysm and ? Syphilis of the Lung.

PMID- 20912323
TI  - Report on Two Cases of Septicaemia following Tonsillectomy.

PMID- 20912328
TI  - Syphilitic Osteitis and Periostitis: Sabre Tibiae.

PMID- 20912339
TI  - Extensive Hairy Pigmented Naevus.

PMID- 20912340
TI  - Naevus Unius Lateralis involving the Sebaceous Glands and Pilo-sebaceous
      Follicles.

PMID- 20912358
TI  - Erythematous Patch on Soft Palate. ? Pre-carcinoma.

PMID- 20912369
TI  - Adenoma of the Kidney giving rise to a large Haemorrhage.

PMID- 20912370
TI  - Three Cases of Hydronephrosis Associated with Haematuria.

PMID- 20912402
TI  - Congenital Opacity of both Corneae with Slight Buphthalmos.

PMID- 20912373
TI  - Haemochromatosis, with Diabetes Mellitus, Hepatic Cirrhosis and Chronic Ascites.

PMID- 20912404
TI  - Section of Neoplasm shown at October meeting as ? Endothelioma of Foot.

PMID- 20912413
TI  - The AEtiology of Disseminate Sclerosis: Some criticisms of recent work,
      especially with regard to the "Spherula Insularis".

PMID- 20912412
TI  - Chronic Sub-dural Haematoma.

PMID- 20912418
TI  - Glaucoma associated with Facial Naevus.

PMID- 20912437
TI  - Mycosis Fungoides with Papillomatosis of the Areolae.

PMID- 20912443
TI  - Morphoea with Unusual Degree of Atrophy.

PMID- 20912455
TI  - General Enlargement of Lymph Glands; Splenomegaly, Enlargement of Head with
      OEdema of Face.

PMID- 20912439
TI  - Erythematous Lichen Planus, with Development of Bullae.

PMID- 20912476
TI  - Radium Necrosis of the Trachea following Insertion of Radon Seeds into a
      Carcinoma of the Thoracic Part of the OEsophagus.

PMID- 20912480
TI  - Tuberculous Empyema Necessitatis. Haemothorax due to Bleeding from a Cavity.

PMID- 20912487
TI  - (7, 8, 9) Three Cases of OEsophageal Diverticula Removed Successfully by Two
      stage Operation.

PMID- 20912498
TI  - Haemoptysis. Case for Diagnosis.

PMID- 20912504
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE BARBITURATES IN ANAESTHESIA.

PMID- 20912514
TI  - Left Senile Macular Exudative Retinitis and Right Macular Haemorrhage.

PMID- 20912529
TI  - Two Cases of Essential Thrombocytopenic Purpura Haemorrhagica Five Years after
      Splenectomy.

PMID- 20912534
TI  - Splenic Enlargement in Simple Achlorhydric Anaemia (L. J. Witts).

PMID- 20912533
TI  - Polycythaemia Vera, with Cerebral Thrombosis.

PMID- 20912537
TI  - Polycythaemia Vera (Vaquez' Disease) treated by Benzol, Roentgen Therapy, and
      Phenylhydrazine. Complications.

PMID- 20912536
TI  - Polycythaemia Vera with Nervous and Ocular Disorders.

PMID- 20912547
TI  - The Injection Treatment of Hydrocele, Varicocele, Bursae, and Naevi.

PMID- 20912572
TI  - Old Crush Fracture of Lumbar Vertebrae.

PMID- 20912579
TI  - Tracheotomy in an Adult for OEdematous Laryngitis in Scarlet Fever.

PMID- 20912594
TI  - Pulsating Haemangioma on Dorsum of Nose.

PMID- 20912619
TI  - Extreme Cyanosis, Chronic Bronchitis, Emphysema, Polycythaemia, and Partial Block
      of a Branch of the Bundle of His.

PMID- 20912613
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE PATHOLOGY AND TREATMENT OF HAEMOPATHIES, INCLUDING LEUKAEMIAS,
      OF MAN AND ANIMALS: The Haemopathies of Laboratory Animals.
AB  - The difference between haemopathies (which originate in the blood-forming
      tissues) and blood-diseases (which develop in the blood-stream) is explained and
      illustrated by examples and specimens.Primary anaemia caused by the hyperplasia
      of the erythroblastic tissues in the marrow occurs in fowls as erythromyelosis.
      This condition can be experimentally transmitted, though inoculation in fowls may
      reproduce the anaemic disease, or give rise to a persistent polyerythrocythaemia.
      On farms erythromyelosis is often, but not always, associated with the cestode,
      Davainea proglottina.Secondary anaemia develops in splenectomized rats following
      the invasion of the erythrocytes by Bartonella muris. The subsequent
      erythrocytolysis may induce haemoglobinuria, similar to that occurring in man and
      cattle as the result of certain haemic infections.Oligoerythrocythaemia is
      frequently seen in fowls associated with leucocythaemia; the deficiency of the
      red blood-corpuscles is due to the pressure on the erythroblastic sinusoids, by
      the proliferation of the myeloblastic or lymphoblastic tissues in the
      marrow.Lymphocythaemia (and lymphomatosis) have been observed in canaries, fowls,
      mice and guinea-pigs. The conditions can be experimentally transmitted within the
      species; inoculation with lymphocythaemic blood may reproduce the haemic type or
      induce the development of scattered tumour-like deposits (lymphomatosis).
      Whichever type of lesion results, the pathological cell unit is one of the
      lymphoblast-lymphocyte series.Fowl leucocythaemia originates through the morbid
      proliferation and premature entry into the circulation of cells of the myeloblast
      granulocyte series. On inoculation in fowls the original leucocythaemia may be
      reproduced; rarely there follows the development of localized deposits of
      myeloblastic cells in the skin.As these diseases of the blood-forming system, and
      those occurring in man and cattle offer many striking resemblances, it may be
      suggested that the determination of the origin of the particular type of cell
      encountered should serve as guide to diagnosis and classification in all
      haemopathies.

PMID- 20912622
TI  - Congenital Abnormalities at or near the Upper End of the OEsophagus.

PMID- 20912623
TI  - Obstruction at the Upper End of the OEsophagus.

PMID- 20912624
TI  - Carcinoma of Upper End of OEsophagus. External Exposure and Insertion of Radon
      Seeds.

PMID- 20912625
TI  - Two Cases of Dysphagia and Anaemia.

PMID- 20912626
TI  - Atrophic OEsophagitis in Region of Crico-pharyngeal Fold.

PMID- 20912627
TI  - Dysphagia associated with Anaemia.

PMID- 20912629
TI  - Carcinoma at Upper End of OEsophagus, following Intrinsic Carcinoma of Larynx,
      apparently cured for Ten Years.

PMID- 20912635
TI  - OEsophagus with Congenital Stenosis at Entrance.

PMID- 20912639
TI  - Recurring Pain after Frontal Sinus Operation, relieved by Injection of Eucaine
      beta Solution by means of Hartmann's Frontal Sinus Cannula.

PMID- 20912645
TI  - OEsophageal Speculum.

PMID- 20912670
TI  - Pubertas Praecox.

PMID- 20912677
TI  - Periostitis. ? Cause.

PMID- 20912680
TI  - Post-mortem Findings in a Case shown at the Meeting held on March 27, 1931, as
      one of "Enlargement of the Liver. ? Sarcoma".

PMID- 20912682
TI  - Thrombo-angiitis Obliterans of Lower Limbs with attacks of Urticaria and
      Angioneurotic OEdema.

PMID- 20912729
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE RELATIVE VALUE OF THE INDUCTION OF PREMATURE LABOUR, TEST
      LABOUR AND CAESAREAN SECTION IN THE TREATMENT OF MINOR DEGREES OF CONTRACTED
      PELVIS.

PMID- 20912731
TI  - Modern Methods of Treatment of Intestinal Amoebiasis.

PMID- 20912733
TI  - Congenital Shortening of the OEsophagus and the Thoracic Stomach Resulting
      Therefrom.

PMID- 20912735
TI  - Treatment of Cicatricial Stenosis of the OEsophagus by Autodilatation.

PMID- 20912751
TI  - OEsophageal Spasm.

PMID- 20912756
TI  - Laryngeal Obstruction in a Man suffering from Lymphatic Leukaemia (Specimen).

PMID- 20912763
TI  - Broncho-OEsophagoscope.

PMID- 20912764
TI  - A Warty Condition of the Areolae Papillaris having Superficial Resemblance to
      Acanthosis Nigricans.

PMID- 20912768
TI  - Naevus Anaemicus of Hand.

PMID- 20912771
TI  - Atrophic Lichen Planus with Morphoea-like Lesions.

PMID- 20912772
TI  - Eruption on Feet. ? Erythema Elevatum Diutinum (Crocker). Case for Diagnosis.

PMID- 20912786
TI  - Congenital Jaundice in an Elderly Man-probably belonging to the Congenital
      Haemolytic Group.

PMID- 20912788
TI  - An Anaemic Breakdown or Crisis in a Child, not connected with definite Congenital
      Haemolytic Jaundice-Rapid Recovery.

PMID- 20912790
TI  - Cardiac Malformation with Compensatory Polycythaemia. ? Septal Deficiency.

PMID- 20912789
TI  - Erythraemia, with Frequent Jaundice, apparently of Haemolytic Nature. Slow
      Recovery from Extremely Severe Haematemesis.

PMID- 20912806
TI  - DISCUSSION ON ANAESTHESIA FOR DIATHERMY AND ENDOSCOPY.

PMID- 20912807
TI  - Pachymeningitis Haemorrhagica Interna.

PMID- 20912808
TI  - Nutritional Anaemia treated with Copper.

PMID- 20912810
TI  - Scorbutic Haemorrhage Beneath Periosteum of Femur.

PMID- 20912828
TI  - Cysticercus Cellulosae and Tabes Dorsalis.

PMID- 20912816
TI  - Persistent Haematuria.

PMID- 20912831
TI  - Essential Thrombocytopenic Purpura Haemorrhagica in a Girl.

PMID- 20912843
TI  - Diffuse Symmetrical Granuloma. ? Sarcoid.

PMID- 20912842
TI  - Two Cases of Striae Atrophicae following Typhoid Fever.

PMID- 20912874
TI  - Amoebic Abscess of the Liver: Its Diagnosis and Treatment. A Clinical Study.

PMID- 20912871
TI  - Syphilitic Stricture of OEsophagus.

PMID- 20912875
TI  - Operative Procedures in Amoebic Abscess of the Liver based on Recent Experiences.

PMID- 20912900
TI  - Unilateral Vascular Naevus (Angio-elephantiasis).

PMID- 20912890
TI  - Haemangioma in the Spleen.

PMID- 20912947
TI  - Resuscitation during Anaesthesia and of the Newly-born.

PMID- 20912951
TI  - Gonorrhoeal Conjunctivitis quickly cured.

PMID- 20912981
TI  - Focal Nephritis Simulating Haemangeioma.

PMID- 20912961
TI  - Recovery after Meningitis with Haemolytic Streptococci in the Cerebrospinal Fluid
      under Direct Observation.

PMID- 20912989
TI  - The Bearing of Recent Research on the Sex Hormones on Clinical Obstetrics and
      Gynaecology.

PMID- 20912992
TI  - Osteitis of the Tarsal Scaphoid (Bilateral). ? Cause.

PMID- 20912995
TI  - Spontaneous Hyperaemic Dislocation of the Atlas.

PMID- 20912997
TI  - Hypnosis and Anaesthesia.

PMID- 20913012
TI  - Seborrhoeic Verrucae and Multiple Basal-celled Epitheliomata.

PMID- 20913015
TI  - Acute Lupus Erythematosus with Bullae.

PMID- 20913017
TI  - Cavernous Naevus treated by Radon Seeds.

PMID- 20913018
TI  - Symmetrical Systematized Naevus.

PMID- 20913022
TI  - Retinitis Punctata, ? Albescens.

PMID- 20913026
TI  - Punctate Keratitis. ? Nature.

PMID- 20913027
TI  - Naevus of Conjunctiva.

PMID- 20913036
TI  - Four Cases of Typical well-marked Disciform Degeneration of the Maculae.

PMID- 20913038
TI  - Disciform Degeneration of Maculae.

PMID- 20913043
TI  - Three Cases of Obstruction of the OEsophagus.

PMID- 20913044
TI  - Severe Acute Haemoglobinuria in a Boy.

PMID- 20913050
TI  - Obesity and Hirsutes of ? Adrenal Origin.

PMID- 20913058
TI  - Haemorrhagic Hepatitis: AEtiology unknown.

PMID- 20913059
TI  - Pott's Disease of the 4th and 5th Lumbar Vertebrae.

PMID- 20913062
TI  - Polycythaemia Anaemica secondary to Congenital Cardiac Septal Defect, in
      association with an Anaemia-producing Agent.

PMID- 20913064
TI  - Multiple Naevi of the Hand.

PMID- 20913068
TI  - Association of Extensive Haemangiomatous Naevus of the Skin with Cerebral
      (Meningeal) Haemangioma.

PMID- 20913067
TI  - Obesity, ? Nature.

PMID- 20913075
TI  - An old Case of Pernicious Anaemia.

PMID- 20913076
TI  - Orthostatic OEdema of the Dorsum of both Feet of the Nonne and Milroy type.

PMID- 20913080
TI  - Haemolymphangeioma of Tongue.

PMID- 20913081
TI  - Striae Atrophicae following Rheumatic Fever.

PMID- 20913082
TI  - Suprarenal Virilism (Pubertas Praecox).

PMID- 20913087
TI  - DISCUSSION ON GONORRHOEA AND OTHER CERVICAL DISCHARGES.

PMID- 20913089
TI  - Severe Pannus of the Cornea. ?Trachoma: Case previously shown (November, 1927).

PMID- 20913093
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE COMMON COLDS AND THEIR SEQUELAE.

PMID- 20913114
TI  - Erosions and Ulcers of the Tongue. ? Tuberculous.

PMID- 20913102
TI  - The Surgical Treatment of Pyorrhoea Alveolaris.
AB  - (1) The technique of eradicating the pockets and occasionally trimming the
      alveolar margin is described. (2) Instruments designed for the operation are
      illustrated. (3) The whole mouth can be treated at one sitting. (4) The flap
      operation, in which the gum is reflected before scraping the alveolus and finally
      sutured, is not advisable. (5) Pyorrhoea can be eradicated by surgical measures
      in cases favourable for treatment. (6) Recurrence of the disease is due to: (a)
      Lack of suitable preliminary treatment. (b) Insufficient attention to detail when
      performing the operation. (c) Lack of suitable post-operative care by dental
      surgeon or patient. (d) Selection of cases not suitable for operation.

PMID- 20913119
TI  - Seborrhoeic Verrucae and Multiple Basal-celled Epitheliomata.

PMID- 20913120
TI  - Thoracic Exposure of the Diaphragm and Lower OEsophagus.

PMID- 20913123
TI  - Two Specimens of Carcinoma of the Caecum removed by a Modification of the
      Classical Method of Ileocaecal Resection.

PMID- 20913153
TI  - The Operative Closure of Oro-Maxillary Fistulae.

PMID- 20913166
TI  - Anaesthesia for Major Throat Operations.

PMID- 20913167
TI  - Right Hemihypertrophy and Pubertas Praecox.

PMID- 20913168
TI  - Trigeminal Naevus and Homolateral Pial Angioma.

PMID- 20913169
TI  - Two Cases of Congenital OEdema.

PMID- 20913174
TI  - Two Cases of Essential Purpura Haemorrhagica Six Years after Splenectomy.

PMID- 20913183
TI  - The X-ray Treatment of Chronic Mastitis and Certain Leukaemias.

PMID- 20913177
TI  - Erythraemia or Erythro-leukaemia.

PMID- 20913189
TI  - Cyst. ? Tumour on the Iris.

PMID- 20913194
TI  - Haemangioma of Retina.

PMID- 20913191
TI  - Two cases of ? Doyne's Familial Choroiditis.

PMID- 20913223
TI  - The AEtiology and Treatment of Heat Exhaustion and Heat Hyperpyrexia, with
      special reference to Experiences in Iraq.

PMID- 20913220
TI  - A Case illustrating the Importance, when examining the OEsophagus, of seeing the
      Patient in the Recumbent, as well as the Erect, Position.

PMID- 20913231
TI  - DISCUSSION ON MILK FEVER, OR HYPOCALCAEMIA IN PARTURIENT COWS AND SIMILAR
      CONDITIONS IN OTHER ANIMALS AND MAN.

PMID- 20913228
TI  - Specimen of a Temporal Bone, with Pus in the Mastoid Antrum, from an Infant dying
      from Diarrhoea and Vomiting.

PMID- 20913250
TI  - Tubal Gestation as seen by the Gynaecologist: An Analytical Study of Certain
      Aspects, Clinical and Pathological, of a Consecutive Series of 146 cases.

PMID- 20913259
TI  - Coeliac Disease.

PMID- 20913255
TI  - Splenic Anaemia, with Thrombocytopenic Purpura. Cirrhosis of Liver.

PMID- 20913269
TI  - Two Cases of Slight Polycythaemia with Latent Jaundice.

PMID- 20913263
TI  - Lymphatic Leukaemia, simulating Aplastic Anaemia.

PMID- 20913280
TI  - Subconjunctival Prolapse of Iris: Dislocated Lens. ? Berger's Capsular Layer in
      Pupil. Good Vision.

PMID- 20913306
TI  - Delusional Insanity following Nembutal-Ether Anaesthesia.

PMID- 20913321
TI  - Pansinusitis with Orbital Cellulitis. Pyaemic Infection. Osteomyelitis of Frontal
      Bone. Operation. Recovery.

PMID- 20913327
TI  - Acute OEsophagitis in Infant.

PMID- 20913353
TI  - Ano-Rectal Fistulae.

PMID- 20913354
TI  - Bilateral Transplantation of Ureters and Colostomy for Vesico-vaginal and Vesico
      rectal Fistulae.

PMID- 20913363
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE MEGALOCYTIC ANAEMIAS OF TROPICAL AND NON-TROPICAL COUNTRIES:
      Joint Discussion No. 6.

PMID- 20913366
TI  - Trigeminal Naevus and Haemangioma of Meninges.

PMID- 20913372
TI  - Calcifying Periosteal Haemorrhage, following Scurvy.

PMID- 20913370
TI  - Abdominal Foetal Implantation.

PMID- 20913373
TI  - Naevo-neurofibromatosis.

PMID- 20913378
TI  - Swelling on Right Cheek: Case for Diagnosis. ? Granuloma Annulare.

PMID- 20913405
TI  - Persistent OEdema of Both Legs.

PMID- 20913408
TI  - Persistent OEdema of Right Lower Limb.

PMID- 20913413
TI  - Multiple Fatty Herniae of the Feet.

PMID- 20913415
TI  - Epiphysitis of Upper End of Femur, associated later with ? Clutton's Joints.

PMID- 20913424
TI  - Hypoaemic (Anaemic) Naevus of the Trunk with Hypochromic Naevus of the Hairy
      Scalp.

PMID- 20913438
TI  - Cephalhaematoma Externum and Meningocele.

PMID- 20913427
TI  - Acute Circumscribed Allergic OEdema with Urticaria.

PMID- 20913452
TI  - Modern Aids to Anaesthesia: President's Address.

PMID- 20913447
TI  - Coeliac Rickets.

PMID- 20913455
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE INDICATIONS FOR AND AGAINST CAESAREAN SECTION.

PMID- 20913471
TI  - Nasal Obstruction. ? Mycosis.

PMID- 20913476
TI  - Hernia of Tympanic Membrane. ? Cholesteatoma: Case for Diagnosis.

PMID- 20913485
TI  - Traumatic Haemopneumothorax treated by Continuous Suction Drainage.

PMID- 20913484
TI  - Subconjunctival Haemorrhage.

PMID- 20913492
TI  - Familial Rickets with Obscure AEtiology.

PMID- 20913494
TI  - Diabetes Insipidus and ? Anterior Pituitary Lobe Deficiency.

PMID- 20913499
TI  - Pemphigus of the Conjunctivae.

PMID- 20913510
TI  - A Successful Treatment for Toxic Symptoms resulting from Ether Anaesthesia, based
      on a Biochemical Investigation.
AB  - (1) Blood-sugar rises and blood-pressure falls as ether anaesthesia progresses.
      (2) Blood-sugar is high and blood-pressure low when symptoms of shock are
      present.-(3) There is some justification for thinking that the pancreatic hormone
      is deficient as the result of the ketosis produced in connection with ether
      anaesthesia.-(4) Insulin administration is a successful method of treatment for
      post-anaesthetic toxic symptoms, which are always associated with a high blood
      sugar, and also prevents these from developing. It tends to increase a fallen
      blood-pressure and reduce a raised blood-sugar during ether anaesthesia.

PMID- 20913511
TI  - Three Cases of Essential Purpura Haemorrhagica: Splenectomy.

PMID- 20913512
TI  - Acute Idiopathic Purpura Haemorrhagica Fourteen Months after Splenectomy.

PMID- 20913515
TI  - Splenectomy in Gaucher's Disease with Haemoglobinuria.

PMID- 20913513
TI  - Acute Idiopathic Purpura Haemorrhagica, Two Years and Ten Months after
      Splenectomy.

PMID- 20913516
TI  - Erythraemia, with Tortuous and Dilated Arteries in Arms.

PMID- 20913517
TI  - Erythraemia, with Recurrent Ophthalmic Migraine and Gout.

PMID- 20913518
TI  - Splenomegalic Polycythaemia treated with Minimal Doses of Phenylhydrazine.

PMID- 20913519
TI  - An Unusual Case of Polycythaemia Rubra Vera.

PMID- 20913521
TI  - Polycythaemia Vera.

PMID- 20913527
TI  - Splenomegaly with Anaemia.

PMID- 20913526
TI  - Non-familial Acholuric Jaundice (Haemolytic Anaemia).

PMID- 20913530
TI  - Chronic Lymphoid Leukaemia in a Woman.

PMID- 20913531
TI  - Splenectomy in Myeloid Leukaemia.

PMID- 20913534
TI  - Hepatomegaly, Splenomegaly. ? Hodgkin's Disease.

PMID- 20913572
TI  - Naevus Unius Lateralis.

PMID- 20913579
TI  - Nervous Sequelae of Spinal Anaesthesia.

PMID- 20913581
TI  - Haemoptysis: for diagnosis. ? Epituberculosis.

PMID- 20913592
TI  - OEsophageal Pouch.

PMID- 20913593
TI  - Exophthalmic Goitre successfully treated by X-rays 20 years ago, but now
      complicated by ? X-ray Epithelioma.

PMID- 20913597
TI  - Recurrent Haemoptysis due to ? Benign Bronchial Tumour.

PMID- 20913596
TI  - Lineae Atrophicae in Rheumatic Fever.

PMID- 20913604
TI  - DISCUSSION ON SOME ASPECTS OF ANAESTHESIA IN ANIMALS.

PMID- 20913601
TI  - Chronic OEdema of Legs with Large Turgid Hands.

PMID- 20913621
TI  - Incontinence of Faeces and Congenital Deformity of Anus.

PMID- 20913619
TI  - Obstructive and Haemolytic Jaundice in the Tropics.

PMID- 20913636
TI  - DISCUSSION ON RADIOTHERAPY IN THE TREATMENT OF NON-MALIGNANT GYNAECOLOGICAL
      CONDITIONS: Joint Discussion No. 3.

PMID- 20913635
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE TREATMENT OF THE ANAEMIAS: Joint Discussion No. 2.

PMID- 20913674
TI  - Haemophilia; Tuberculous Hip; Haemophiliac Knee; Tuberculous Abscess of Abdominal
      Wall.

PMID- 20913684
TI  - Persistent OEdema of the Left Leg, with Anaemia.

PMID- 20913698
TI  - Intra-epidermal Carcinoma. ? Paget's Disease of the Nipple.

PMID- 20913702
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE NEW PHARMACOPOEIA.

PMID- 20913729
TI  - Erythroedema.

PMID- 20913737
TI  - Lymphadenosis commencing with the clinical picture of Hypoplastic Anaemia.

PMID- 20913735
TI  - Recurring Collapse of Lung with Enlarged Mediastinal Glands. ? Epituberculosis.

PMID- 20913741
TI  - Cerebellar Tumour. ? Right Lobe.

PMID- 20913753
TI  - Two Cases of Angiomatosis Retinae.

PMID- 20913742
TI  - Cerebellar Tumour, ? Left Lobe.

PMID- 20913754
TI  - Glioma Retinae.

PMID- 20913759
TI  - Swelling of Optic Discs. ? Cause.

PMID- 20913772
TI  - DISCUSSION ON ANAESTHESIA IN INTRACRANIAL SURGERY.

PMID- 20913765
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE DIAGNOSIS OF CHRONIC DIARRHOEAS.

PMID- 20913774
TI  - Some Observations on the Extraction of Teeth in Cases of Haemophilia.

PMID- 20913791
TI  - Bacteriaemia in Pneumonia.
AB  - (1) Tables are shown which record the course of bacteriaemia investigated by
      frequent blood-cultures in a series of cases of pneumonia.(2) The proportion of
      cases having a bacteriaemia in the course of the disease agrees fairly closely
      with other findings both in this country and in America.(3) Attention is drawn to
      the frequency with which the organisms disappear from the blood in the absence of
      any specific treatment, and to the frequency of recovery of bacteriaemic
      cases.(4) It is therefore submitted that it is unsafe to regard the disappearance
      of a bacteriaemia as the direct result of specific serum treatment, and that this
      cannot be used as evidence of successful serum therapy.

PMID- 20913776
TI  - AEtiology and Treatment of the Acute and Chronic Inflammatory Disorders of the
      Posterior Sinuses.

PMID- 20913795
TI  - A Case of Concealed Accidental Haemorrhage Associated with Spontaneous Complete
      Rupture of the Uterus.

PMID- 20913796
TI  - A Case of Concealed Accidental Haemorrhage associated with Spontaneous Complete
      Rupture of the Uterus.

PMID- 20913835
TI  - Carcinoma of OEsophagus in a Male aged 45 years, treated with Radon Seeds.
      Patient free from symptoms two years later.

PMID- 20913839
TI  - Congenital Shortening of OEsophagus.

PMID- 20913841
TI  - Congenital Tracheo-oesophageal Fistula in an Infant.

PMID- 20913848
TI  - The Anti-Anaemic Principle in Stomach Tissue.

PMID- 20913858
TI  - Severe Bilateral OEdema of the Eyelids for Thirteen Years.

PMID- 20913849
TI  - Cured Coeliac Disease: Achondroplasia.

PMID- 20913864
TI  - Three Types of Haemolytic Anaemia in the New-born.

PMID- 20913862
TI  - Anaemia of Von Jaksch.

PMID- 20913866
TI  - Chlorotic Type of Anaemia.

PMID- 20913865
TI  - Chlorotic Anaemia with Dwarfism and Rickets.

PMID- 20913870
TI  - Severe Anaemia in a New-born Child.

PMID- 20913871
TI  - Megalodactyly. ? Cause.

PMID- 20913873
TI  - Anaemia: probably Acholuric Jaundice.

PMID- 20913883
TI  - Volvulus of the Caecal Angle.

PMID- 20913887
TI  - Diverticulitis of the Caecum.

PMID- 20913909
TI  - Telangiectasia (Stellate Naevi) with Elastic Dystrophy.

PMID- 20913927
TI  - Restoration Appliances for use after Excision of the Maxillae and Partial
      Excision of the Mandible.

PMID- 20913930
TI  - Spread of Caries in Hypoplastic Dentine. (2) Structure of Enamel Lamellae.

PMID- 20913938
TI  - Erythro-leukaemia (Polycythaemia Rubra Vera-Vaquez's Disease-Associated with
      Myeloid Leukaemia).

PMID- 20913939
TI  - Erythraemia with Great Excess of Uric Acid in the Blood.

PMID- 20913940
TI  - Achlorhydric Anaemia with Pyrexia of Unknown Origin.

PMID- 20913946
TI  - OEdema in the Leg of a Child: Case for Diagnosis.

PMID- 20913950
TI  - Some Observations on Injuries to Joints: (Section of Orthopaedics).

PMID- 20913955
TI  - The Relationship Between Genito-Urinary Haemorrhage and Diseases of the Vascular
      System: (Section of Urology).
AB  - The diseases of the vascular system which cause haemorrhage from the genito
      urinary tract are:-(1) Those in which changes are noted in the blood and
      capillary endothelium, and(2) Those in which alterations of a pathological nature
      are taking place in the walls of both large and small blood-vessels, but in which
      there is no change in the blood itself.In the first group are the purpuras; in
      the second arteriosclerosis, hyperpiesis and atheroma.This paper is confined to a
      discussion of the latter group of diseases in relation to genito-urinary
      haemorrhage.Little attention has been paid to sudden loss of blood from the
      kidney, bladder, or genitalia in support of a diagnosis of a vascular lesion,
      other than angioma. Haemorrhage in these cases may be purely renal, vesical, or
      penile.Investigations consist of examination of the superficial arteries,
      estimation of the blood-pressure, examination of the blood and cystoscopy.
      Surgical lesions must be excluded by the usual well-known methods.A careful
      record has been kept of fifteen cases of arteriosclerosis in which haemorrhage
      from the genito-urinary tract has been the predominant manifestation of the
      disease. Details are given of nine patients with renal, one with vesical and
      three with urethral haemorrhage. Two cases of thrombosis of the penis are also
      included.From a study of the literature here the cases of urethral haemorrhage
      and thrombosis of the penis, recorded as due to arterial disease, appear to be
      unique.

PMID- 20913958
TI  - Sprue commencing at 111/2 years of age.

PMID- 20913957
TI  - Anaesthesia in Gynaecology: (Section of Anaesthetics).
AB  - The operations of gynaecology are divided into two classes: (1) Minor: including
      perineal repairs, colporrhaphies, vaginal hysterectomies, dilatations and
      curettings, etc., and (2) Major: abdominal sections. For both groups routine
      premedication is a combination of morphia and nembutal, the former in 1/6-grain,
      and the latter in 3-grain doses.For Group 1 three methods of anaesthesia are
      described: (a) Ethylene and oxygen, producing in nearly all cases an adequate
      depth of anaesthesia without the addition of ether. A safe type of anaesthesia
      and one from which recovery takes place quickly. (b) Planocaine in 20% solution,
      made up with sodium bisulphate, as a spinal anaesthetic, described by Mr. Dickson
      Wright. The dose usually injected is 0.5 c.c. (c) Sodium evipan given
      intravenously, though rather uncertain in action seems to serve well for such
      minor operations as curettage and insertion of radium.In Group 2 (major
      operations), the author's choice is between (a) ether administered with a little
      additional oxygen to counteract the asphyxial tendency which the Trendelenburg
      position occasions, and (b) spinal anaesthesia with percaine. For intra-abdominal
      pelvic surgery the latter is a very safe method for two reasons: (1) The dose
      required is comparatively small, and (2) the Trendelenburg position helps
      materially to prevent the fall of blood-pressure which a spinal anaesthetic tends
      to produce.

PMID- 20913979
TI  - Morphoea or Vitiligo: Case for Diagnosis.

PMID- 20913976
TI  - Syringocystadenoma ? Apocrine Gland Naevus.

PMID- 20913984
TI  - Case shown for Diagnosis as ? Acrodermatitis Chronica Atrophicans and later
      proved to be Kaposi's (so called) "Idiopathic Haemorrhagic Sarcoma".

PMID- 20913989
TI  - Pemphigus Conjunctivae.

PMID- 20913993
TI  - Familial Occurrence of Microcorneae Associated with Brachydactyly.

PMID- 20914028
TI  - Icterus Gravis Neonatorum and Allied Diseases: (Section of Obstetrics and
      Gynaecology).

PMID- 20914027
TI  - Neurospirochaetosis in the East African: (Section of Neurology).
AB  - (1) An inquiry was made at the Mathari Mental Hospital, Nairobi, into the
      validity in Kenya of the common belief that syphilitic infection of the nervous
      system is rare amongst Africans in their own environment.(2) The difficulties
      encountered by the inquiry are discussed, especially: (a) That arising from the
      presence of both yaws and syphilis in the colony; (b) that due to apparent
      unreliability of the Wassermann reaction under local conditions.(3) The incidence
      of a positive serum reaction in the general population was estimated.(4) The
      whole of the male adults in the hospital were selected for the inquiry.(5) The
      results are presented in tables showing: (a) Mental state and neurological and
      other signs; (b) serum reactions; (c) cerebrospinal fluid examination results,
      including those from the Lange colloidal gold reaction.(6) The post-mortem
      reports on four of the series who died during the inquiry are given.(7) The
      inquiry appears to allow the general conclusion that spirochoetal infection of
      the nervous system of the Kenya native is not uncommon.(8) Insufficient evidence
      is forthcoming for a decision as to whether the infection found was syphilitic,
      framboesial, or from an unknown source.(9) The question has much more than
      medical importance in view of the possibility that unchecked spirochaetal
      infection in the past may have been an environmental influence contributing to
      the present degree of cerebral deficiency found in the native by Dr. F. W. Vint
      and the writer, and reported elsewhere. (To the Eugenics Society on November 7,
      1933, by the writer, and in the next issue of the Journal of Anatomy, by Dr.
      Vint.).

PMID- 20914029
TI  - Sympathectomy for Dysmenorrhoea: (Section of Obstetrics and Gynaecology).

PMID- 20914036
TI  - Multiple Symmetrical Fibro-Angiomatous Naevi of the Face and Hands.

PMID- 20914058
TI  - The Investigation and Treatment of the Toxaemias of Pregnancy: (Section of
      Obstetrics adn Gynaecology).

PMID- 20914057
TI  - Intrathecal Nerve Root Block. Some Contributions and a New Technique : (Section
      of Anaesthetics).

PMID- 20914059
TI  - Recent Advances in the Treatment of Carcinoma of the OEsophagus from the Surgical
      and Radiological Aspects: (Section of Laryngology).

PMID- 20914061
TI  - Method of Implanting Radon Seeds in OEsophageal Carcinoma.

PMID- 20914060
TI  - Carcinoma of the OEsophagus treated by Radiation.

PMID- 20914064
TI  - Carcinoma of OEsophagus in a Man aged 45 treated with Radon Seeds. Patient free
      from symptoms two years later.

PMID- 20914062
TI  - Carcinoma of Upper End of OEsophagus, apparently cured by the application of
      Radon Seeds.

PMID- 20914080
TI  - Specimen from Case of Suprarenal Haemorrhage following Breech Delivery.

PMID- 20914090
TI  - Report on Case and Specimen of Double Ureterocoele with Dilated Ureters and Early
      Hydronephrosis.

PMID- 20914124
TI  - Poikilodermia of the Face (Civatte's type) in a Girl aged 141/2 years.

PMID- 20914127
TI  - Respiratory Failure: (Section of Anaesthetics).

PMID- 20914126
TI  - Modern Views on Respiration: Normal Regulation of Respiration: (Section of
      Anaesthetics).

PMID- 20914141
TI  - Carotid Pulsation (Resembling Aneurysm) in a Woman with Hypertension and
      Myxoedema.

PMID- 20914140
TI  - OEdema: Milroy Type.

PMID- 20914143
TI  - Haemolytic Acholuric Jaundice with Splenomegaly and Normal Erythrocyte Fragility
      treated by Splenectomy.

PMID- 20914171
TI  - Tuberculous Laryngitis; Pulmonary Tuberculosis; Syphilitic Aortitis; ? Aneurysm
      of Innominate Artery; Heart Block.

PMID- 20914177
TI  - Post-menopausal Uterine Haemorrhage: (Section of Obstetrics and Gynaecology).

PMID- 20914178
TI  - Vaginal Hysterectomy: (Section of Obstetrics and Gynaecology).

PMID- 20914181
TI  - Naevus Unius Lateralis of the Mouth, associated with Multiple Naevi of Various
      Types.

PMID- 20914184
TI  - Epidemic of Obscure AEtiology occurring in a Coal Mine in Kent.

PMID- 20914191
TI  - The Failure of OEstrin as a Means of Inducing Labour: (Section of Therapeutics
      and Pharmacology).

PMID- 20914199
TI  - Complete Stapes thrown off during Chronic Suppurative Otitis Media, ?
      Tuberculosis.

PMID- 20914221
TI  - The AEtiology of Acute Rheumatism and Chorea in Relation to Social and
      Environmental Factors: (Section of Epidemiology and Section for the Study of
      Disease in Children): Joint Discussion No. 3.

PMID- 20914206
TI  - Colloid Carcinoma of Caecum with Chronic Intussusception producing Severe
      Anaemia, treated by Resection and Anastomosis after Specimen of Blood
      Transfusions.

PMID- 20914222
TI  - Fibrocystic Disease of Bone: (Section of Orthopaedics and Section of Surgery):
      Joint Discussion No. 4.

PMID- 20914237
TI  - Carcinoma of OEsophagus: Disappearance of Growth after Deep X-ray Therapy; ?
      Damage to Lungs by X-rays.

PMID- 20914232
TI  - Essential Purpura Haemorrhagica: (Previously shown October, 1931 ).

PMID- 20914252
TI  - Copper Therapy in Nutritional Anaemia: (Section of Therapeutics and
      Pharmacology).

PMID- 20914256
TI  - William Harvey's Knowledge of Literature-Classical, Mediaeval, Renaissance and
      Contemporary: (Section of the History of Medicine).

PMID- 20914258
TI  - Spontaneous Circumrenal Haematoma: (Section of Urology).
AB  - By spontaneous circum-renal haematoma is meant a condition of extensive
      extravasation of blood into the kidney bed and surrounding tissues, unassociated
      with trauma.Since this is manifested by a fairly uniform clinical picture, by
      similar operative findings, and by peculiar difficulties in treatment, I propose
      to discuss it as a clinical entity irrespective of its wide ultimate causation.
      Very few cases are reported in the English literature. Nevertheless, from the
      world literature I have collected 170 case reports, and on them, together with
      three further cases, I base the present paper.Etiologically the cases fall into
      three groups:-(1) Those due to definite disease of the kidney or its blood
      vessels, 58%.(2) Those due to extra-renal causes, 22%.(3) Those cases whose cause
      is obscure, 20%.In the first group neoplasms and inflammations of the kidney,
      aneurysms of the renal artery and arteriosclerosis are obvious causes. Many cases
      are due to obstruction of the renal veins.The classical triad of abdominal pain,
      signs of internal haemorrhage, and a tumour in the loin are often obscured by the
      resemblance of an acute abdominal catastrophe.In acute cases, expectant treatment
      is almost invariably fatal. Evacuation of the clot, tamponage and drainage has a
      mortality of about 40%, whilst nephrectomy in 55 cases showed a mortality of 22%.

PMID- 20914262
TI  - Pemphigus Conjunctivae.

PMID- 20914263
TI  - Pemphigus Conjunctivae.

PMID- 20914268
TI  - The History of Haematology: (Section of the History of Medicine).

PMID- 20914273
TI  - Anaesthesia in Urinary Surgery: (Section of Urology).

PMID- 20914271
TI  - The Physiology and Pathology of the Pelvic Joints in Relation to Child-bearing:
      (Section of Obstetrics and Gynaecology).

PMID- 20914292
TI  - The Scope of Evipan Anaesthesia: (Section of Surgery).

PMID- 20914299
TI  - Self-administered Analgesia or the Midwifery of General Practice: (Section of
      Anaesthetics).

PMID- 20914300
TI  - Congenital Syphilis and Splenic Anaemia in an Infant.

PMID- 20914305
TI  - Haemolytic Streptococcal Septicaemia complicating Mastoid Disease. Recovery.

PMID- 20914302
TI  - Cooley's Anaemia.

PMID- 20914309
TI  - Partial Congenital Absence of Sacrum and Coccyx and ? Lower Sacral Roots.

PMID- 20914316
TI  - Localized Myxoedema with Hyperthyroidism.

PMID- 20914314
TI  - Cutaneous Haemosiderotic Pigmentation from Purpura in a Woman with High Blood
      Pressure.

PMID- 20914327
TI  - Ovarian and Uterine Grafts: (Section of Obstetrics and Gynaecology).
AB  - Recent experience has convinced the author of the value of ovarian grafting. He
      gives the histories of a number of women upon whom he made implants of their own
      ovarian tissue in the course of operations for double oophorectomy. The
      subsequent state of these patients is contrasted with that of women after
      castration without grafting. When the uterus was left in position menstruation
      was re-established in over 80% of the grafted cases.The author and his co-workers
      maintain that the vitality of autogenous grafts of ovarian substance is enhanced
      by hormones produced by the uterine mucosa. He therefore advocates that grafts of
      uterus be made in conjunction with ovarian implants whenever possible.
      Experiments carried out on animals have proved the correctness of this
      opinion.The results of a series of cases of combined ovarian and uterine
      graftings are recorded, and the technique of uterine mucosa implants is
      described.

PMID- 20914358
TI  - The Zondek-Aschheim Test after Partial Hypophysectomy: (Section of Obstetrics and
      Gynaecology).

PMID- 20914359
TI  - Diffuse Round-celled Sarcoma of Uterus and Fallopian Tubes: (Section of
      Obstetrics and Gynaecology).

PMID- 20914337
TI  - Leprosy (Mixed Nodular and Anaesthetic).

PMID- 20914361
TI  - Renal Cortical Necrosis Associated with Pregnancy: (Section of Obstetrics and
      Gynaecology).

PMID- 20914360
TI  - An Unusual Cyst of the Uterus: (Section of Obstetrics and Gynaecology).

PMID- 20914367
TI  - Haematemesis: (Section of Surgery and Section of Medicine): Joint Discussion No.
      7.

PMID- 20914362
TI  - Concealed Accidental Haemorrhage treated by Caesarean Hysterectomy: (Section of
      Obstetrics and Gynaecology).

PMID- 20914398
TI  - Sex: Its Nature and Abnormalities Considered from Biological and Legal Points of
      View: (Section of Obstetrics and Gynaecology with the Medico-Legal Society).

PMID- 20914372
TI  - Multiple Haemangiomata associated with Changes in the Central Nervous System.
      Case for Diagnosis.

PMID- 20914415
TI  - Bilateral Proptosis: ? due to Sphenoidal Fissure Syndrome.

PMID- 20914425
TI  - Factors, other than Anaesthetics, affecting Anaesthesia: (Section of
      Anaesthetics).

PMID- 20914418
TI  - Sarcoma ? Tuberculoma of Iris.

PMID- 20914431
TI  - Chronic Arsenical Poisoning. ? Carcinoma of the Liver.

PMID- 20914429
TI  - Erythro-leukaemia, in which the Myeloid Leukaemic Component is, as usual, of the
      Benignant Type.

PMID- 20914432
TI  - Cirrhosis of the Liver. ? Congenital Syphilis.

PMID- 20914438
TI  - Morphoea with Spontaneous Resolution.

PMID- 20914442
TI  - Two Cases of Cicatricial Alopecia. ? Pseudo-pelade of Brocq.

PMID- 20914445
TI  - The Treatment of Pes Cavus: (Section of Orthopaedics).
AB  - (A) REVIEW OF EARLIER METHODS: Manipulations; fasciotomy; Phelps' operation;
      Steindler's operation; anterior arch-plates.(B) Reasons for their relative
      failure.-(1) Correction of the deformity is imperfect, and (2) as they deal with
      the existing deformity only, and not with its cause, the result is not permanent;
      relapse occurs.(C) Evolution of the modern operation.-Two facts in connexion with
      the ordinary "idiopathic" type of pes cavus are constant, and therefore
      noteworthy, viz.: (a) the deformity is entirely a fore-foot deformity, consisting
      of dropping-down of the fore-foot, and (b) paralysis of the lumbrical or of the
      interosseous muscles is never found at operation.This suggests that a cause for
      the fore-foot drop should be sought. Pes cavus never occurs in flail foot, but
      may develop in mild cases of paralysis of the anterior tibial (extensor) group of
      muscles; this suggests that in less marked cases of paresis of these muscles, pes
      cavus may result; in fact, this has been observed.Finally, a case in which the
      legs were known to have been normal, and one was damaged, anteriorly (thereby
      weakening the long extensor action) resulted in the development of typical
      unilateral pes cavus.The part played by the interossei and lumbrical muscles is
      purely passive, and results from the dropping-down of the metatarsal heads beyond
      their line of action. This can be demonstrated on any case in which contracture
      of the soft parts of the toes has not occurred; pushing-up the anterior arch
      brings down the toes, and vice versa.The problem, then, seems to consist of
      finding a means to strengthen the relatively weak long extensors, and of giving
      them a stronger and more direct lifting action upon the metatarsal heads.(D) The
      modern operation.-This consists of two distinct parts: (a) the correction of
      existing deformity, and (b) the adoption of measures to prevent recurrence of the
      deformity. (a) Mere non-selective elongation of the structures of the sole is
      inadequate; those on the inner side must be lengthened and flattened more than
      those on the outer side; therefore, the joint-capsules, fasciae, tendon-sheaths,
      etc., are divided as freely as possible, by open operation, on the inner side of
      the foot. Steindler's section of all structures attached to the os calcis then
      allows the whole foot to elongate; this is followed by vigorous manipulation, and
      this completes stage (a).(b) The extensor tendons are then transplanted into
      holes bored through the necks of the metatarsal bones (Murk Jansen's operation,
      modified), and are sutured, the foot being held over-corrected meanwhile.If the
      toes are contracted, and the above method does not correct the deformity,
      arthrodesis of the proximal interphalangeal joints is performed; the fifth toe
      may perhaps be amputated.(E) After-treatment and results.-Other Points: The
      results seen to be permanent. At what age should this operation be performed?
      Treatment, at earlier ages, The type and degree of disability caused by pes
      cavus. Relief of advanced cases.

PMID- 20914454
TI  - Hepatomegaly. ? V. Gierke's Disease.

PMID- 20914447
TI  - Congenital Obstruction of OEsophagus.

PMID- 20914457
TI  - Coeliac Disease with Unusual Features.

PMID- 20914458
TI  - Graves' Disease in a Child aged 81/2 years.

PMID- 20914482
TI  - Specimen of Rectum and Colon from a Case of Faecal Impaction in a Girl aged 18.

PMID- 20914501
TI  - The AEtiology and Treatment of Asthma: (Section of Medicine).

PMID- 20914484
TI  - Specimen of Tuberculous Ulceration of Caecum with Large Stercolith.

PMID- 20914515
TI  - Erythro-leukaemia (Leukaemia following Long-standing Erythraemia-Polycythaemia
      Vera, Vaquez's Disease).

PMID- 20914503
TI  - Further Studies in Adult Rickets (Osteomalacia) and Foetal Rickets: (Section of
      Obstetrics and Gynaecology).

PMID- 20914516
TI  - Evipan as an Intravenous Anaesthetic: (Section of Anaesthetics).

PMID- 20914517
TI  - Evipan in Dental Anaesthesia: (Section of Anaesthetics).

PMID- 20914531
TI  - The Choice of an Anaesthetic under Conditions of Active Service: (United Services
      Section).

PMID- 20914536
TI  - Supravital Staining in the Diagnosis of the Leukaemias: (Section for the Study of
      Disease of Children).

PMID- 20914538
TI  - Congenital OEsophageal Stricture.

PMID- 20914539
TI  - Achalasia of the OEsophagus.

PMID- 20914553
TI  - Hypernephroma with Haemorrhage.

PMID- 20914560
TI  - Specimen of Acute Haemorrhagic Infarction of Duodenum.

PMID- 20914573
TI  - Columnar-celled Carcinoma of the Caecum in a Young Man.

PMID- 20914577
TI  - Gumma. ? of Parotid Gland.

PMID- 20914579
TI  - How Can the Results of Ante-natal Care be Improved?: (Section of Epidemiology and
      State Medicine and Section of Obstetrics and Gynaecology): Joint Discussion No.
      1.

PMID- 20914580
TI  - The Role of Inorganic Elements in Nutritional Anaemia: (Section of Comparitive
      Medicine).

PMID- 20914581
TI  - Anaemias Due to a Deficiency of the Principle in Liver which is effective in the
      Treatment of Addisonian Pernicious Anaemia: (Section of Comparative Medicine).

PMID- 20914582
TI  - Contraction Ring: Treatment by Amyl Nitrite, with Observations on the
      Pharmacological Action of Nitrite: (Section of Obstetrics and Gynaecology).

PMID- 20914583
TI  - The Estimation of Foetal Maturity by a New Method of X-ray Cephalometry: Its
      Bearing on Clinical Midwifery: (Section of Obstetrics and Gynaecology).
AB  - A plea is made for routine use of X-rays in antenatal work. A new method of
      cephalometry is described, depending on the fact that the foetal head is a rough
      ovoid. It is shown that the shadows cast by ovoids may be oval or circular, but
      that always the diameter of the greatest circular section of an ovoid is
      represented in its shadow-by the diameter if the shadow be circular or by the
      short axis if oval. The results are applied to estimate the actual proportions of
      foetal head and maternal pelvis, and also to estimate foetal maturity.The
      accuracy of the method of cephalometry was tested in 100 cases of labour induced
      by rupture of membranes.A simple method of pelvimetry is described, and it is
      suggested that pelvimetry should be carried out in the early months and not later
      when the pelvis is obscured.No special apparatus is required and any cottage
      hospital X-ray set will serve.

PMID- 20914586
TI  - Morphoea.

PMID- 20914611
TI  - Acoustic Tumour, ? Meniere's Syndrome: Case for Diagnosis.

PMID- 20914597
TI  - Brown-Sequard Syndrome; Right Hemihaematomyelia.

PMID- 20914618
TI  - Transposition of Right Kidney as a Result of a Perinephric Haematoma.

PMID- 20914632
TI  - Movements of the Lumbar Vertebrae during Flexion and Extension: (Section of
      Orthopaedics).

PMID- 20914637
TI  - Coeliac Disease showing Unusual Features.

PMID- 20914643
TI  - Haemoglobinuria: (Section of Comparative Medicine).

PMID- 20914644
TI  - The Prevention and Treatment of Metastases in Carcinoma Mammae: (Section of
      Radiology).

PMID- 20914670
TI  - Accidental Injuries: Their Compensation and Rehabilitation in the United States:
      (Section of Orthopaedics).

PMID- 20914646
TI  - Some Gynaecological and Obstetrical Problems of European Women Resident in the
      Tropics: (Section of Tropical Diseases and Parasitology).

PMID- 20914689
TI  - Acute Haemoglobinuria and Anaemia in a Boy.

PMID- 20914694
TI  - Specimens from a Case of Congenital Obstruction of the OEsophagus.

PMID- 20914692
TI  - Hepatomegaly in an Infant. (? Hepatomegalia Glycogenica. ? Hypertrophic
      Steatosis).

PMID- 20914695
TI  - Specimens from a Case of Right-sided Hemihypertrophy associated with Pubertas
      Praecox.

PMID- 20914698
TI  - A Case of Obstructed Labour due to Radium Stenosis of the Cervix: (Section of
      Obstetrics and Gynaecology).

PMID- 20914697
TI  - The Glands of the Stomach in Relation to Pernicious Anaemia; with Special
      Reference to the Glands in the Pyloric Region: (Section of Medicine).
AB  - The researches have had in view the anatomical localization of the anti-anaemic
      factor (Castle's "intrinsic factor") in the stomach.As the pig's stomach is
      peculiarly constructed, having a so-called cardiac-gland region, a fundus-gland
      region and a pyloric gland region continued in the glands of Brunner in the
      duodenum, preparations have been made from each of these regions, and tests of
      the effectiveness of each of these separate portions have been made in cases of
      pernicious anaemia. It has previously been pointed out (Meulengracht and Schiodt)
      that the production of hydrochloric acid, pepsin and rennin was confined to the
      glands of the fundus region (peptic glands) with their oxyntic cells and chief
      cells.The experiments showed that the extract of the fundus-gland portion was
      inactive in cases of pernicious anaemia, that of the so-called cardiac-gland
      portion was mildly active, that of the pyloric-gland portion was strongly active,
      and that of the duodenal portion was also strongly active. The feebler activity
      of the cardiac portion might be shown to be a result of the smaller number of
      glands to the unit area in that region.The conclusion drawn from the experiments
      is that the so-called cardiac glands, the pyloric glands and the Brunner glands
      in the duodenum, which anatomically may be said to be very nearly identical, may
      also be taken to be functionally identical, at any rate with regard to the
      production of the anti-anaemic factor.This collective gland region, which it is
      proposed to call the pyloric-gland region, is the site of the production of the
      anti-anaemic factor. There is thus attributed to these glands a definite, well
      defined and vitally important function.It is further concluded from the
      experiments that pernicious anaemia in human beings is due to atrophy and
      inactivity of that part of the stomach which comprises the pyloric-gland region.
      The experiments may thus be said to have anatomically localized pernicious
      anaemia in human beings.Experimental pernicious anaemia will presumably be
      producible by the deliberate removal of the pyloric-gland region.Stomach
      preparations for the treatment of pernicious anaemia will with advantage be
      producible from the pyloric-gland region alone.

PMID- 20914700
TI  - The Birth of Chimpanzee at the Zoological Gardens, London: (Section of Obstetrics
      and Gynaecology).

PMID- 20914699
TI  - The Effects of Preconception Irradiation: (Section of Obstetrics and
      Gynaecology).

PMID- 20914712
TI  - The Sterilization of Women, including Indications (Medical and Eugenic),
      Technique and Legal Position: (Section of Obstetrics and Gynaecology with the
      Eugenics Society): Joint Discussion No. 3.

PMID- 20914719
TI  - Fusion of Lumbar Vertebrae.

PMID- 20914721
TI  - Fracture of the Tibia involving the Knee-joint: (Section of Orthopaedics).

PMID- 20914731
TI  - Intracranial Aneurysm. ? Cerebral Angioma.

PMID- 20914725
TI  - Aplastic Anaemia with Bronzing.

PMID- 20914738
TI  - Experiences in the Surgical Treatment of Lymphoedema: (Section of Tropical
      Diseases and Parasitology).

PMID- 20914739
TI  - An Explosion in Anaesthetic Apparatus: (Section of Anaesthetics).

PMID- 20914741
TI  - The Joint Anaesthetics Committee: A Retrospect of Eleven Years' Work: (Section of
      Anaesthetics).

PMID- 20914740
TI  - The Electrical Ignition of Explosive Anaesthetic Mixtures: (Section of
      Anaesthetics).

PMID- 20914764
TI  - Painful Recurrent Carcinoma Mammae treated by Selenium and X-rays with Immediate
      Relief from First Injection.

PMID- 20914770
TI  - A Follow-up Survey of the Cases of Hydatidiform Mole and Chorion-epithelioma
      treated at the London Hospital since 1912: (Section of Obstetrics and
      Gynaecology).

PMID- 20914774
TI  - The Manifold Effects of Testicular Hormones (as Extracted from Human Urine or
      Synthetically Prepared) and of OEstrone on the Male, as Judged by Experiments on
      Rats (Abstract): (Section of Therapeutics and Pharmacology).

PMID- 20914775
TI  - Microscopic Demonstration of Hypophyses of Rats, Normal, Castrated and after
      Injection of OEstrone or Synthetic Testicular Hormone (Abstract): (Section of
      Therapeutics and Pharmacology).

PMID- 20914788
TI  - Malignant Disease of the Liver. ? Secondary to a Suprarenal Tumour.

PMID- 20914790
TI  - Congenital Hypertrophy of Heart ? (Cardiomegalia Glycogenica): Specimen.

PMID- 20914808
TI  - Diet in Pregnancy: (Section of Obstetrics and Gynaecology).

PMID- 20914815
TI  - Polypoid Haemangioma of Pharynx.

PMID- 20914820
TI  - The Haemostatic Uses of Snake Venom: (Section of Medicine).

PMID- 20914827
TI  - Retinal Haemorrhages, of Doubtful AEtiology.

PMID- 20914825
TI  - Peripheral Neuritis and Pernicious Anaemia.

PMID- 20914845
TI  - Acrodermatitis Perstans: ? Pustular Psoriasis.

PMID- 20914835
TI  - Morphoea.

PMID- 20914849
TI  - Some Contributions to Mediaeval Veterinary Science in the Kitab al-Falahah and in
      Fleta: (Section of the History of Medicine).

PMID- 20914864
TI  - Lesions on Face. ? Artefacts: Case for Diagnosis.

PMID- 20914881
TI  - Idiopathic Steatorrhoea with Early Osteomalacia.

PMID- 20914883
TI  - Decidual Cast in Suspected Ectopic Gestation: (Section of Obstetrics and
      Gynaecology).

PMID- 20914882
TI  - The AEtiology of Fibrocystic Tumours of the Ovary: (Section of Obstetrics and
      Gynaecology).

PMID- 20914884
TI  - The Merits and Demerits of Oxytocic Drugs in the Post-partum Period: (Section of
      Obstetrics and Gynaecology).

PMID- 20914889
TI  - Sequelae following Injection Anaesthesia in the Mouth: A Bacteriological
      Investigation: (Section of Odontology).

PMID- 20914904
TI  - Porphyrinuria and Hydroa AEstivale.

PMID- 20914910
TI  - The Development of Orthopaedic Surgery: (Section of Orthopaedics).

PMID- 20914918
TI  - Case of Hepatomegaly and Mental Backwardness. ? AEtiology.

PMID- 20914926
TI  - Transpleural Removal of Total Thoracic OEsophagus.

PMID- 20914937
TI  - Cheilitis associated with Microcytic Hypochromic Anaemia.

PMID- 20914938
TI  - Radio-dermatitis. ? Artefact. Case for Diagnosis.

PMID- 20914944
TI  - Acquired Hydroa AEstivale with Haematoporphyrinuria.

PMID- 20914945
TI  - Mediaeval Arabic Pharmacology: (Section of the History of Medicine).

PMID- 20914975
TI  - Pemphigus Vegetans. ? Epithelioma.

PMID- 20914948
TI  - The Treatment of Breech Presentations, with Special Reference to Cases of
      Extended Legs and Arms: (Section of Obstetrics and Gynaecology).

PMID- 20914979
TI  - Recurrent Dislocation of the Shoulder: (Section of Orthopaedics).

PMID- 20914980
TI  - Cyclopropane: (Section of Anaesthetics).

PMID- 20914984
TI  - Snake Venom and Its Use in Dental Haemorrhage: (Section of Odontology).

PMID- 20915001
TI  - Foetus Removed from Mother's Thigh Following Rupture of the Uterus.

PMID- 20915011
TI  - Haematonephrosis and Carcinoma of the Renal Pelvis.

PMID- 20915018
TI  - Pyelitis of Pregnancy in the Light of Conditions Found in Mice after the
      Prolonged Administration of OEstrogenic Compounds (Abstract): (Section of
      Comparative Medicine).

PMID- 20915049
TI  - Chronic Anaemia, Leucopenia, Granulocytopenia and Thrombocytopenia, with Absolute
      Increase of Lymphocytes.

PMID- 20915053
TI  - Acroparaesthesia.

PMID- 20915054
TI  - Iron-Deficiency Anaemia responding to Liver Therapy and suggesting the co
      existence of a pernicious type of Anaemia.

PMID- 20915055
TI  - Persistent OEdema with Cyanosis. ? Nature.

PMID- 20915069
TI  - Idiopathic Steatorrhoea with Skin Lesions and Megalocytic Anaemia.

PMID- 20915070
TI  - Idiopathic Steatorrhoea with Osteoporosis, Tetany and Megalocytic Anaemia.

PMID- 20915082
TI  - Radiology in Relation to Obstetrics: (Section of Obstetrics and Gynaecology with
      Section of Radiology), Joint Discussion No. 3.

PMID- 20915078
TI  - Anaesthesia in Thoracic Surgery, with Special Reference to Lobectomy: (Section of
      Anaesthetics).

PMID- 20915090
TI  - Toxic Dermatitis. ? Arsenical.

PMID- 20915091
TI  - The Morbid Conditions which Cause Progressive Hyperglycaemic Glycosuria and the
      Circumstances which Modify its Course: (Section of Medicine).

PMID- 20915092
TI  - Jaundice and ? Hepatic Cirrhosis.

PMID- 20915103
TI  - Purpura Haemorrhagica: Splenectomy.

PMID- 20915097
TI  - Anaemia with Bone Changes in the Skull.

PMID- 20915129
TI  - Surgical Perforation in a Mediaeval Skull with Reference to Neolithic Holing:
      (Section of the History of Medicine).

PMID- 20915131
TI  - Non-Malignant Obstruction of the OEsophagus: (Section of Laryngology).

PMID- 20915130
TI  - A Case of Primitive Surgical Holing of the Cranium Practised in Great Britain in
      Mediaeval Times, with a Note on the Introduction of Trepanning Instruments:
      (Section of the History of Medicine).

PMID- 20915146
TI  - Naevus Spilus.

PMID- 20915143
TI  - Sub-epidermal Granuloma affecting the Skin of the Face: ? Sarcoid of Darier
      Roussy.

PMID- 20915148
TI  - Intrinsic Dysmenorrhoea: (Section of Obstetrics and Gynaecology).

PMID- 20915149
TI  - Atresia of the Vagina: Operation Followed by Pregnancy and Caesarean Section.

PMID- 20915150
TI  - Demonstration of a Number of Obstetrical and Gynaecological Models.

PMID- 20915152
TI  - Monocular Optic Neuritis, ? Neoplasm.

PMID- 20915153
TI  - Haemorrhage and Exudation into the Recessus Hyaloideo-capsulare in a Case of
      Septic Retino-choroiditis: (Section of Ophthalmology).

PMID- 20915168
TI  - Osteomyelitis of Mandible, complicated by Septicaemia and Secondary Abscesses of
      Elbow and Hip.

PMID- 20915159
TI  - Fractures in the Region of the Shoulder-Joint: (Section of Orthopaedics).

PMID- 20915185
TI  - The Prevention of Neo-Natal Death, Injury, And Disease: (Section for the Study of
      Disease in Children, Section of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Section of
      Epidemiology and State Medicine), Joint Discussion No. 5.

PMID- 20915186
TI  - The Prevention and Treatment of Atelectasis in the Newborn Child: with Particular
      Reference to the Use of a New Inclined Receiving Table: (Section for the Study of
      Disease in Children, Section of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Section of
      Epidemiology and State Medicine), Joint Discussion No. 5.

PMID- 20915187
TI  - Anaemia with Pigmentation of the Skin: Collapsed Left Lower Lobe.

PMID- 20915204
TI  - Myxoedema Resistant to Thyroid Treatment.

PMID- 20915192
TI  - Aplastic Anaemia.

PMID- 20915206
TI  - A Case of Polycythaemia Vera in which Phenyl hydrazine Treatment was followed by
      Acute Platelet Reactions.

PMID- 20915207
TI  - Chronic Meningococcal Septicaemia ending in Meningococcal Meningitis and
      Recovery.

PMID- 20915210
TI  - Subpectoral Sarcoma: ? Lymphosarcoma ? Myosarcoma.

PMID- 20915220
TI  - Microscopic Sections from two Cases of Blue Naevus (Jadassohn).

PMID- 20915213
TI  - Erythromyelosis in Fowls (Yellow Anaemia) and its Treatment by Liver Extracts:
      (Section of Comparative Medicine).

PMID- 20915228
TI  - Morphoea.

PMID- 20915222
TI  - Idiopathic Hypochromic Anaemia with Dermatitis Herpetiformis.

PMID- 20915234
TI  - OEsophageal Pouch.

PMID- 20915235
TI  - Tumours in Cheek. ? Fibro-myxoma.

PMID- 20915240
TI  - Circulatory Adjustments in Polycythaemia Rubra Vera: (Section of Medicine).

PMID- 20915251
TI  - Subarachnoid Haemorrhage (? of Traumatic Origin).

PMID- 20915249
TI  - Congenital Blindness: ? Bilateral Pseudo-glioma.

PMID- 20915252
TI  - Infantile Myxoedema.

PMID- 20915261
TI  - On the motion: "That induction of premature labour should not play any part in
      the treatment of pelvic contraction or disproportion in primigravidae": (Section
      of Obstetrics nd Gynaecology).

PMID- 20915255
TI  - The AEtiology and Treatment of Fibrous Stricture of the Rectum (including
      Lymphogranuloma Inguinale): (Section of Surgery: Sub-Section of Proctology).

PMID- 20915283
TI  - Hydroa AEstivale.

PMID- 20915276
TI  - Ulceration of the Leg and ? Myositis Ossificans.

PMID- 20915289
TI  - Technique of Lower Segment Caesarean Section, More Especially in "Suspect" and
      Infected Cases: (Section of Obstetrics and Gynaecology).

PMID- 20915290
TI  - Two Cases of Angular Pregnancy: (Section of Obstetrics and Gynaecology).

PMID- 20915291
TI  - Two Cases of Full-time Ectopic Pregnancy-I, Delivered by Vaginal Route: Child
      just Dead; II, Delivered Abdominally: Living Child: (Section of Obstetrics and
      Gynaecology).

PMID- 20915297
TI  - Rupture of a Tuberculous Spinal Abscess into the OEsophagus.

PMID- 20915293
TI  - Fusion of Transverse Processes of Third and Fourth Lumbar Vertebrae.

PMID- 20915304
TI  - Carbon Dioxide Absorption from Anaesthetic Atmospheres : (Section of
      Anaesthetics).
AB  - A safe and practical technique for the application of carbon dioxide absorption
      from anaesthetic atmospheres is described. It has been found satisfactory in over
      20,000 administrations over a period of fifteen years. High-grade soda lime is
      utilized as the chemical absorbent. Granules are placed in a canister between
      face mask, and breathing bag. The canister is carefully checked for efficiency by
      both chemical analyses and physical experiments. Its size, shape and arrangement
      is shown to be important for safety and maximum efficiency. Detailed techniques
      are described for the use of various agents. Advantages of carbon dioxide
      absorption are set forth. The "Apnoea" suggested by Guedel is described under the
      term "Controlled Respiration" and attention is called to certain of its
      advantages.

PMID- 20915316
TI  - Metrochylorrhoea.

PMID- 20915333
TI  - Ectopia Vesicae Treated by Implanting Ureters into the Bowel.

PMID- 20915335
TI  - Resection of Lower OEsophagus and Cardia.

PMID- 20915351
TI  - Haemolymphangeioma.

PMID- 20915346
TI  - Leukaemic Erythrodermia.

PMID- 20915368
TI  - The Present Position of Hormones in Obstetrics and Gynaecology: (Section of
      Obstetrics and Gynaecology).

PMID- 20915359
TI  - The Effect of Removal of the Patella for Simple Transverse Fractures on the
      Function of the Knee-joint: (Section of Orthopaedics).

PMID- 20915374
TI  - The Ideal Structure of an Operating Theatre from the Point of View of an
      Anaesthetist: (Section of Anaesthetics).

PMID- 20915369
TI  - Retinal Haemorrhages in the Newborn: (Section of Ophthalmology).

PMID- 20915385
TI  - Symmetrical Follicular Naevus.

PMID- 20915391
TI  - Tonic Spasm of Arm. ? Effect of Encephalitis.

PMID- 20915392
TI  - Retrobulbar Neuritis. ? Devic's Disease.

PMID- 20915398
TI  - Febrile Anaemia of Obscure Origin.

PMID- 20915401
TI  - Hepato-splenomegaly: ? Idiopathic Cirrhosis.

PMID- 20915407
TI  - Internal Derangement of the Knee in Children and Adolescents: (Section of
      Orthopaedics).

PMID- 20915409
TI  - Bone Shortening for Inequality of Length in the Lower Limbs: (Section of
      Orthopaedics).

PMID- 20915408
TI  - Arthrodesis in Young Children: (Section of Orthopaedics).

PMID- 20915414
TI  - Three Renal Tumours successfully removed from Female Children aged 3 Months, 41/4
      Years, and 14 Years respectively.

PMID- 20915417
TI  - I.-Large Adenoma of Kidney with Haemorrhage into Growth.

PMID- 20915429
TI  - Simplified OEsophagoscopy: OEsophagoscopy without Anaesthesia, without Head-rest,
      and without Assistance: (Section of Laryngology).

PMID- 20915437
TI  - Nodular Non-diabetic Cutaneous Xanthomatosis with Hypercholesterolaemia and
      Atypical Histological Features.

PMID- 20915443
TI  - The AEtiology and Diagnosis of Lymphadenoma: (Section of Medicine).

PMID- 20915444
TI  - The Relative Values of the Upper- and Lower-Segment Caesarean Operations:
      (Section of Obstetrics and Gynaecology).

PMID- 20915449
TI  - Foetus Amorphus (Anideus).

PMID- 20915450
TI  - An Operation for the Correction of Madelung's Deformity and Similar Conditions:
      (Section of Orthopaedics).

PMID- 20915453
TI  - Secondary Syringomyelia. ? Vertebral Aneurysm.

PMID- 20915463
TI  - Therapeutic Methods of Arresting Haemorrhage: (Section of Therapeutics and
      Pharmacology and Section of Medicine), Joint Discussion No. 2.

PMID- 20915455
TI  - Acute Syphilitic Meningitis with Papilloedema.

PMID- 20915464
TI  - Arabian Gynaecological, Obstetrical, and Genito-Urinary Practice illustrated from
      Albucasis: (Section of the History of Medicine).

PMID- 20915483
TI  - Sclerodermia (or ? Scleropanniculomyodermia).

PMID- 20915480
TI  - Splenomegaly with Lipaemia.

PMID- 20915489
TI  - A Case Clinically Resembling Morphoea with a Tuberculous Background and
      Indeterminate Histology, suggestive of Necrobiosis Lipoidica.

PMID- 20915485
TI  - Nodules. ?Tuberculous.

PMID- 20915490
TI  - Keratoderma Climactericum (Haxthausen) treated with OEstrone.

PMID- 20915502
TI  - Myocardial Ischaemia treated by Graft of Skeletal Muscle to the Heart.

PMID- 20915540
TI  - The Choice and Technique of Anaesthetics for Nose and Throat Operations: (Section
      of Laryngology and Section of Anaesthetics), Joint Discussion No. 3.

PMID- 20915533
TI  - Vinyl Ether for Dental Anaesthesia: (Section of Odontology).
AB  - Properties: Vinyl ether, CH(2):CH(2):O:CH(2):CH(2), a volatile liquid.
      Lipoidsoluble but highly inflammable.Toxicity.-Has little effect on liver
      function; overdoses produce respiratory paralysis, but not cardiac
      paralysis.Indications.-Replaces ethyl chloride for short operations, and can be
      added to gas and oxygen instead of ether or chloroform. Is a safe and portable
      anaesthetic for the general practitioner.Administration.-Open method convenient,
      but not very satisfactory, a closed method produces better anaesthesia. Special
      inhaler described and illustrated.Vinyl ether is obtainable in ampoules of 3
      c.c., a sufficient quantity for the average case.Induction is rapid; signs of
      anaesthesia described. Patient's colour remains excellent.Apparatus required when
      vinyl ether is to be added to gas-and-oxygen.

PMID- 20915541
TI  - The Neurological Sequelae of Spinal Anaesthesia: (Section of Neurology).

PMID- 20915545
TI  - The Nonne-Milroy-Meige OEdema, of late onset, in Sisters.

PMID- 20915548
TI  - Impressions of Anaesthesia in U.S.A. and Canada: (Section of Anaesthetics).

PMID- 20915550
TI  - Haemorrhage from Vascular Growth of Orbit.

PMID- 20915556
TI  - Sarcoma of the Choroid. ? Retinitis Exudativa Externa.

PMID- 20915570
TI  - Atrophic Areas on Insteps and Soles with ? Telangiectases: Case for Diagnosis.

PMID- 20915572
TI  - The Prevention and Treatment of Ununited Fractures: (Section of Orthopaedics).

PMID- 20915589
TI  - Hepatomegaly.  ? Cause.

PMID- 20915595
TI  - Coeliac Rickets.

PMID- 20915602
TI  - Polioencephalitis Haemorrhagica Superior.

PMID- 20915604
TI  - Spontaneous Haematomyelia: a Report of Two Cases, one in Association with an
      Intramedullary Angioma, and the other in Association with Syphilis.

PMID- 20915611
TI  - Tumour of the Spinal Cord in a Child aged 21/2 years: Specimens.

PMID- 20915607
TI  - Local and Remote Sequelae of Infection in the Parodontal Sulcus: (Section of
      Odontology).
AB  - (1) It is shown in this paper that the infecting organisms in the parodontal
      sulcus are confined to the surface, but may be forced into the blood and lymph
      stream by traumatic interference.2. Local and general disturbances may therefore
      arise both as a result of the absorption of soluble toxic matter from the pocket
      into the tissues and also as a result of this traumatic introduction of organisms
      into the blood-stream.3. The effect of toxic absorption on the local tissues is
      destruction of the attachment of the tooth-pyorrhoea.4. The remote effects of
      toxic absorption may be a similar destruction of the connective tissue generally
      arthritis and fibrositis. The liver and kidney may suffer since they excrete the
      toxic matter, and other susceptible tissues may also be involved.5. Traumatic
      bacteraemia may produce local bone necrosis or "dry" socket. Acute suppurative
      lymphangitis produces the "pyorrhoetic abscess".6. The remote effect of
      bacteraemia may be to produce osteomyelitis (e.g. of the tibia) or to convert a
      simple endocarditis into the bacterial type.7. The mechanism of bone absorption
      and deposition in response to irritation is discussed.8. Methods of eliminating
      parodontal infection are referred to and the importance of complete elimination
      is stressed. It is shown to be not incompatible with the conservation of the
      teeth.

PMID- 20915613
TI  - Hypochromic Anaemia, Congenital Heart Disease, and Peculiar Facies.

PMID- 20915623
TI  - Meckel's Diverticulum causing Severe Recurrent Haemorrhage from the Bowel.

PMID- 20915647
TI  - A New Type of Nitrous-oxide Machine for Self-induction of Analgesia during
      Labour: (Section of Obstetrics and Gynaecology).

PMID- 20915649
TI  - An Investigation into the Ocular Changes in Normal and Hypertensive Pregnancy:
      (Section of Obstetrics and Gynaecology).

PMID- 20915648
TI  - Modified Mayo Operation for Procidentia: (Section of Obstetrics and Gynaecology).

PMID- 20915653
TI  - Partial Resolution of Leukoplakia Vulvae under OEstrin Therapy.

PMID- 20915658
TI  - Dermatomyositis: ? Artefact.

PMID- 20915662
TI  - Two Cases of Carcinoma of the Cervix complicating Procidentia Uteri: (Section of
      Obstetrics and Gynaecology).

PMID- 20915664
TI  - Results of Radium Treatment in (1) Carcinoma of the Uterus; (2) Uterine
      Haemorrhage: (Section of Obstetrics and Gynaecology).

PMID- 20915663
TI  - Procidentia Recti Present for Twenty-three Years and Cured by Operation: (Section
      of Obstetrics and Gynaecology).

PMID- 20915675
TI  - The Spa Treatment of Pelvic Disorders: (Section of Physical Medicine with Section
      of Obstetrics and Gynaecology), Joint Discussion No. 5.

PMID- 20915665
TI  - The Prolapse Syndrome: (Section of Obstetrics and Gynaecology).

PMID- 20915681
TI  - The Initiation of Respiration in Asphyxia Neonatorum. A Clinical and Experimental
      Study Incorporating Foetal Blood Analyses and a Consideration of Important
      Methods of Resuscitation: (Section of Obstetrics and Gynaecology).

PMID- 20915692
TI  - Splenomegaly and Meningitis. ? Nature.

PMID- 20915682
TI  - Carcinoma of the Vagina Complicating a Complete Procidentia: (Section of
      Obstetrics and Gynaecology).

PMID- 20915694
TI  - A Condition resembling Rheumatic Fever, with Arthritis, in a Man aged 48. ?
      Nature.

PMID- 20915707
TI  - Two Cases of Chronic OEdema of Legs with High Blood-pressure.

PMID- 20915697
TI  - The Evolution of Orthopaedic Surgery in Great Britain: (Section of Orthopaedics).

PMID- 20915715
TI  - Bronchiectasis, with Repeated Haemoptysis treated by Postural Drainage followed
      by Pneumonectomy.

PMID- 20915724
TI  - The Neurological and Psychological Effects of Hypoglycaemia: (Section of
      Psychiatry).

PMID- 20915728
TI  - Multiple Pyaemic Abscesses in Scarlet Fever: Operations: Recovery.

PMID- 20915735
TI  - Chronic Leukaemic Dermatosis.

PMID- 20915729
TI  - Coeliac Disease with a Conditioned Vitamin Deficiency resembling, but not typical
      of Pellagra.

PMID- 20915770
TI  - Chronic Granuloma; ? Artefact.

PMID- 20915765
TI  - Maternity Work in L.C.C. Hospitals, 1931-1936: (Section of Obstetrics and
      Gynaecology).

PMID- 20915772
TI  - Lupus Erythematosus of the Face, with ? Lichen Planus or Lupus Erythematosus of
      Tongue and Buccal Mucosa.

PMID- 20915780
TI  - Pseudopapilloedema.

PMID- 20915785
TI  - Combined Degeneration of the Cord with Polycythaemia.

PMID- 20915789
TI  - OEsophageal Obstruction.

PMID- 20915790
TI  - Congenital Palatal Paralysis: ? Nuclear Agenesis.

PMID- 20915798
TI  - Multiple Subcutaneous Phleboliths over the Tibiae.

PMID- 20915799
TI  - Tumour of Cheek: ? Nature.

PMID- 20915802
TI  - Localized Myxoedema associated with Graves' Disease.

PMID- 20915808
TI  - Acute Rheumatism occurring in the course of a Staphylococcal Septicaemia.

PMID- 20915803
TI  - Poikilodermia. ? Chronic Atrophic Dermatitis: Case for Diagnosis.

PMID- 20915811
TI  - Two Cases of Monocytic Leukaemia.

PMID- 20915817
TI  - A Case of Acute Myeloid Leukaemia: (Section of Odontology).

PMID- 20915821
TI  - The Errors of Flow-meters and the Advantages of a New Type of Constriction:
      (Section of Anaesthetics).

PMID- 20915823
TI  - The Trend of Modern Anaesthesia for Upper Abdominal Surgery: (Section of
      Anaesthetics).

PMID- 20915822
TI  - The Continuous-Flow Administration of Cyclopropane: (Section of Anaesthetics).

PMID- 20915824
TI  - Lesions of the Supraspinatus: (Section of Orthopaedics).

PMID- 20915825
TI  - The Lorenz Bifurcation Osteotomy for Irreducible Congenital Dislocation of Hip:
      (Section of Orthopaedics).

PMID- 20915826
TI  - A Method of Grafting Long Bones: (Section of Orthopaedics).

PMID- 20915828
TI  - Hydradenome Eruptif of Darier.

PMID- 20915835
TI  - Pigmented Dermatitis associated with Pernicious Anaemia.

PMID- 20915848
TI  - Hepatomegaly in an Infant: ? Von Gierke's Disease.

PMID- 20915836
TI  - An Unusual Type of ? Lichen Planus.

PMID- 20915857
TI  - Case described as Acquired Acholuric (Haemolytic) Jaundice in 1909.

PMID- 20915856
TI  - Congenital Acholuric Jaundice, without Anaemia, Splenomegaly, or Fragility of Red
      Corpuscles.

PMID- 20915863
TI  - Two Cases of Infantile Myxoedema, with X-ray Findings.

PMID- 20915891
TI  - Diverticulitis of the Caecum.

PMID- 20915903
TI  - Mucocoele of Frontal Sinus.

PMID- 20915914
TI  - The Survey of Maternity Work in L.C.C. Hospitals 1931-1936 [Dr. Letitia
      Fairfield] : (Section of Obstetrics and Gynaecology).

PMID- 20915906
TI  - Unusual Coincidence of Bitemporal Hemianopia and Papilloedema, due to an
      Adamantinoma.

PMID- 20915915
TI  - The Problem of Post-Maturity: (Section of Obstetrics and Gynaecology).

PMID- 20915916
TI  - Lower Segment Caesarean Section (Cinematograph Demonstration).

PMID- 20915917
TI  - Fractures of the Metatarsals: (Section of Orthopaedics).

PMID- 20915918
TI  - Fractures of the Phalanges of the Hand and Metacarpals: (Section of
      Orthopaedics).

PMID- 20915920
TI  - A Historical, Epidemiological and AEtiological Study of Measles (Morbilli;
      Rubeola): (Section of Epidemiology and State Medicine).

PMID- 20915924
TI  - Cavernous Haemangioma of the Right Orbit, Removed by Kronlein's Operation.

PMID- 20915928
TI  - Morphoea.

PMID- 20915940
TI  - Lateral Sinus Thrombosis and Septicaemia.

PMID- 20915937
TI  - Hypo-ovarian Dermatosis, Responding to OEstrin.

PMID- 20915949
TI  - Endocrinal Obesity (Hypothyroidism) with OEdema of the Legs, Osteo-arthritis and
      Hypertension.

PMID- 20915957
TI  - The Treatment of Tuberculosis of the Hip in Adults: (Section of Orthopaedics).

PMID- 20915958
TI  - Treatment of Tuberculous Disease of the Spine in Adults: (Section of
      Orthopaedics).

PMID- 20915963
TI  - Radiotherapy in Non-malignant Gynaecological Disorders: (Section of Radiology
      with Section of Obstetrics and Gynaecology), Joint Discussion No. 4.

PMID- 20915960
TI  - Ether Narcosis and Carbohydrate Metabolism: (Section of Anaesthetics).

PMID- 20915973
TI  - Rectal Polyposis associated with Clubbing, Polydactyly, Hydrocephalus,
      Hepatomegaly and Hypochromic Anaemia.

PMID- 20915980
TI  - Leukoplakic Vulvitis and the Conditions Liable to be Confused With It: (Section
      of Obstetrics and Gynaecology).

PMID- 20915981
TI  - Hydrops Foetalis (Erythroblastosis): (Section of Obstetrics and Gynaecology).

PMID- 20915982
TI  - A Case of Diabetes Insipidus and Twin Pregnancy: (Section of Obstetrics and
      Gynaecology).

PMID- 20915983
TI  - Puerperal Femoral Thrombosis: (Section of Obstetrics and Gynaecology).

PMID- 20916012
TI  - Cerebral Sequelae, after Neonatal Jaundice, ascribed to Kernicterus.

PMID- 20916013
TI  - Microcytic Anaemia Resistant to Iron.

PMID- 20916016
TI  - Coeliac Rickets.

PMID- 20916064
TI  - Urinary Fistulae in Relation to the Colon and Rectum: (Section of Surgery: Sub
      Section of Proctology).

PMID- 20916057
TI  - Massive Collapse of the Lung as a Complication of Surgical Operations: (Sections
      of Surgery, Medicine, and Anaesthetics), Joint Discussion No. 5.

PMID- 20916085
TI  - Obstetric Shock: (Section of Obstetrics and Gynaecology).

PMID- 20916072
TI  - Haemochromatosis in a Woman.

PMID- 20916086
TI  - Large Mesenteric Cyst situated mainly behind the Caecum and resembling an Ovarian
      Cyst-Adenoma: (Section of Obstetrics and Gynaecology).

PMID- 20916096
TI  - Anatomical Variations in the Female Pelvis: Their Classification and Obstetrical
      Significance: (Section of Obstetrics and Gynaecology).

PMID- 20916101
TI  - The Femoral Neck in Childhood: (Section of Orthopaedics).

PMID- 20916115
TI  - Purpura and Angioneurotic OEdema in a Male, associated with Hypertrophy of the
      Breasts.

PMID- 20916116
TI  - Intermittent Metrochylorrhoea.

PMID- 20916133
TI  - Haemolytic Anaemia in a Newborn Infant.

PMID- 20916117
TI  - Two Cases of Dislocation of the Cervical Spine in Children Caused by Hyperaemic
      Decalcification of the Vertebrae following Cervical Adenitis.

PMID- 20916142
TI  - Vitamin-C Deficiency and Periostitis of Both Ulnae.? Scurvy.

PMID- 20916144
TI  - OEdema of Leg.

PMID- 20916165
TI  - Infantile Hemiplegia. Cerebral Angioma. Subarachnoid Haemorrhage.

PMID- 20916173
TI  - Kast's Syndrome (Multiple Haemangiomata associated with Chondromata or Ollier's
      Dyschondroplasia).

PMID- 20916186
TI  - Carcinoma of the Vulva: (Section of Obstetrics and Gynaecology).

PMID- 20916185
TI  - Further Studies in Adult Rickets (Osteomalacia) and Foetal Rickets: (Section of
      Obstetrics and Gynaecology).

PMID- 20916187
TI  - The Treatment of Carcinoma Vulvae: (Section of Obstetrics and Gynaecology).

PMID- 20916188
TI  - Epithelioma of the Vulva: (Section of Obstetrics and Gynaecology).

PMID- 20916189
TI  - Some Recent Work on Barbiturates: (Section of Anaesthetics).
AB  - Toxic effects are sometimes seen after the administration of quite small amounts
      of barbiturates. Factors concerned in their production are discussed under the
      following heads:-(1) Barbiturates can produce liver damage, even hepatitis.(2)
      Barbiturates may become toxic in the presence of liver damage, as shown by:-(a)
      Clinical and post-mortem experience.(b) Experimental evidence-the work of Pratt
      and Koppanyi in America and our own experiments showing that certain barbiturates
      may exert toxic effects not only when there is severe liver damage but also in
      the early stages of liver injury.(3) Other factors also seem to be concerned:-(a)
      Cold.(b) Haemorrhage.(c) Fasting.(d) Sepsis.(e) Tight bandage around upper
      abdomen.(f) Castration.The experimental evidence for this statement is given.

PMID- 20916214
TI  - Pigmented Naevi on the Skin, Lips, and Buccal Mucous Membrane.

PMID- 20916193
TI  - Congenital Steatorrhoea with Congenital Morbus Cordis.

PMID- 20916219
TI  - Melanodermia? Pigmentary Morphoea.

PMID- 20916256
TI  - Circumrenal Haematoma.

PMID- 20916268
TI  - Apyrexial Ulceration, Lung Abscess and Pyaemia.

PMID- 20916280
TI  - Myeloid Leukaemia.

PMID- 20916274
TI  - Precancerous Changes in the Cervix Uteri: (Section of Obstetrics and
      Gynaecology).

PMID- 20916283
TI  - Streptococcal Bacteriaemia.

PMID- 20916281
TI  - Chronic Lymphatic Leukaemia.

PMID- 20916287
TI  - Injuries to Both Semilunar Cartilages of the Knee-joint: (Section of
      Orthopaedics).

PMID- 20916289
TI  - The Operation of Intertrochanteric Osteotomy: (Section of Orthopaedics).

PMID- 20916288
TI  - Congenital Coxa Vara and the Short Femur: (Section of Orthopaedics).

PMID- 20916290
TI  - Fractures of the Shaft of the Humerus: (Section of Orthopaedics).

PMID- 20916308
TI  - Bacteriaemia and Oral Sepsis: (Section of Odontology).
AB  - Transient streptococcal bacteriaemias are a frequent sequel to dental extractions
      especially when the mouth is the seat of severe chronic gum infection. Bacteria
      may also gain admission to the blood-stream in such cases irrespective of
      operative procedures and probably as the result, in many instances, of minor
      degrees of gum injury such as is produced by biting on a loose tooth. Acute
      apical infections do not appear to be especially associated with blood infection
      of this kind, the focus of infection here apparently being effectively "walled
      off" by the associated inflammatory reaction.Of the two factors, infection and
      trauma, involved in the production of these post-operative bacteriaemias,
      infection appears to be the more important since, when it is marked, very slight
      degrees of gum injury are sufficient to produce blood-stream invasion. In the
      complete absence, however, of the type of trauma induced by the "rocking" of a
      tooth during its removal, extraction may be accomplished without producing a
      heavy bacterial shower in the blood.Usually these transient bacteriaemias produce
      no permanent ill-effect, but there is some evidence that, occurring in subjects
      with abnormal heart valves, they may lead to subacute infective endocarditis.
      Thirteen cases are reported where the valvular infection appeared to result from
      a post-operative dental bacteriaemia.Prevention of such bacteriaemias may be
      achieved by the reduction or elimination of infection and trauma. Complete
      elimination of the gum infection is difficult although preliminary treatment of
      the gum margin by some measure such as cauterization may lessen it and lead to a
      reduction of the post-operative bacterial shower. Similarly, by manipulating an
      infected tooth as little as possible during its extraction the incidence or
      degree of blood infection may be decreased.

PMID- 20916309
TI  - Subhyaloid OEdema of the Retina.

PMID- 20916318
TI  - Paget's Disease associated with Transverse Band Degeneration of both Corneae.

PMID- 20916323
TI  - Unilateral Papillitis of Obscure AEtiology.

PMID- 20916349
TI  - Cerebral Aneurysm with Papilloedema.

PMID- 20916330
TI  - Radium Treatment of Menopausal Haemorrhage Followed by Carcinoma of the Body of
      the Uterus Three Years Later.

PMID- 20916364
TI  - Solitary Diverticulum of the Caecum.

PMID- 20916366
TI  - Extensive Ano-Rectal and Urethral Fistulae with Plastic Repair: (Section of
      Surgery: Sub-Section of Proctology).

PMID- 20916368
TI  - I.-Diverticulitis of Caecum, Resembling Carcinoma.

PMID- 20916370
TI  - A Case of Amoebic Ulceration of the Rectum and Anus.

PMID- 20916372
TI  - Amoebic Ulceration of the Abdominal Wall.

PMID- 20916379
TI  - Serum and Vaccine Therapy in Combination with Sulphanilamide or M and B 693:
      (Section of Obstetrics and Gynaecology).

PMID- 20916380
TI  - The Effects of Injection of Pituitary Extract Immediately after Delivery:
      (Section of Obstetrics and Gynaecology).

PMID- 20916381
TI  - On the Effects of Pituitary Extract (Posterior Lobe) in the Third Stage of
      Labour: (Section of Obstetrics and Gynaecology).

PMID- 20916382
TI  - The Effects of Injections of Pituitary Extract Immediately after Delivery:
      (Section of Obstetrics and Gynaecology).

PMID- 20916383
TI  - Effective Methods of Using Oxytocic Drugs in Post-Partum Haemorrhage: (Section of
      Obstetrics and Gynaecology).

PMID- 20916384
TI  - The Elimination of the Breech Presentation from Private Practice: (Section of
      Obstetrics and Gynaecology).

PMID- 20916386
TI  - The Significance of Anoxaemia in Modern Psychiatric Treatment: (Section of
      Psychiatry).
AB  - Blood in its passage through the brain loses oxygen and glucose at relatively
      high rates, the amount of oxygen disappearing being approximately equivalent to
      the amount of glucose consumed, calculating on the basis that the sugar is
      completely oxidized. The respiratory quotient of brain in vivo is unity. These
      facts point to the dominance of carbohydrate oxidation in brain respiration in
      vivo and are similar to those found in studies of brain in vitro.Various factors
      influence glucose oxidation in brain, e.g. changes in the ionic environment of
      the cells, vitamin B(1), or the presence of narcotics. The latter bring about
      inhibitions of glucose oxidation in brain tissue which may in most cases be shown
      to be reversible in vitro. Glucose is not only important for the maintenance of
      respiration of brain but for enabling certain synthetic processes to occur. One
      of these is the formation of acetylcholine whose physiological significance is
      now well known and whose synthesis seems to be confined to the nervous system.
      This synthesis depends not only on the presence of glucose but on that of oxygen.
      The influence of glucose has been observed also in investigations on cortical
      potentials.An important feature of the nerve cell is its vulnerability to the
      lack of oxygen. Reversibility depends on the degree and duration of the
      anoxaemia.During insulin shock treatment studies of brain in vivo show lowered
      oxygen consumption and glucose utilization, these depending on the degree of
      hypoglycaemia. In cardiazol treatment, in vivo studies show that the oxygen
      content of the blood may fall to 42%. During the convulsion there is a greatly
      lowered arterial and venous blood-flow through the brain and cerebral anaemia
      becomes a marked feature. In narcosis treatment both in vitro and in vivo studies
      show a diminished ability of the brain to consume oxygen.It is suggested that the
      most significant facts to be taken into account are (1) the importance of glucose
      and oxygen for the metabolism and function of the nervous system, (2) the
      vulnerability and varying sensitivities of nerve cells to lack of oxygen and
      glucose, (3) the occurrence of varying degrees of cerebral anoxaemia in narcosis,
      insulin and cardiazol treatments.

PMID- 20916387
TI  - Coma Resistance and Adrenalaemia in the Insulin Treatment of Schizophrenia:
      (Section of Psychiatry).

PMID- 20916400
TI  - Surgery in Diabetic Patients: (Sections of Surgery, Medicine and Anaesthetics).

PMID- 20916403
TI  - Local Diffuse Myxoedema-like Area over Shin.

PMID- 20916435
TI  - Subarachnoid Haemorrhage.

PMID- 20916413
TI  - Lymphatic Leukaemia with Skin Deposits.

PMID- 20916439
TI  - Subdural Haematoma.

PMID- 20916444
TI  - On the Danger of Willett's Forceps in Placenta Praevia with Two Illustrative
      Cases: (Section of Obstetrics and Gynaecology).

PMID- 20916447
TI  - The Birth of Quadruplets: (Section of Obstetrics and Gynaecology).

PMID- 20916446
TI  - The Diagnostic Value of Hysterography: (Section of Obstetrics and Gynaecology).
AB  - Object of paper.-Clarification of position concerning clinical value of
      procedure. Conflicting views. Review of routine examination of all cases
      investigated during the past two years.Historical.-Suggested by Cary (1914) and
      Rubin (1915), made practicable by the invention of lipiodol-applied Heuser
      (1924).Technique.-Instruments employed, anaesthesia, X-ray figures,
      screening.Material.-Uterine fibroids and carcinomas, extra-uterine tumours and
      cysts, placental remains and polypi, moles, &c. Correlation with operative
      results.Physiology.-Normal shapes, sizes, and positions. Pseudo filling-defects
      and malformations.Pathology.-Appearances in various conditions. Correlation with
      specimens and radiography of same. Fallacies and contradictions.Conclusions.
      Method of value in diagnosis of placental remains may avoid diagnostic curettage
      in carcinoma of body; by localization of fibromata may allow of prediction of
      myomectomy, &c. But fallacies numerous and much more experience required to make
      diagnosis so accurate as to be of much real routine value.

PMID- 20916448
TI  - The Factors Influencing the Attitude of the Foetus in utero: (Section of
      Obstetrics and Gynaecology).

PMID- 20916449
TI  - The Effects of Stilboestrol on Labour: (Section of Obstetrics and Gynaecology).

PMID- 20916467
TI  - Routine Treatment of Congenital Dislocation of the Hip: (Section of
      Orthopaedics).

PMID- 20916466
TI  - Methaemalbumin in Man (Pseudo-methaemoglobin): (Section of Therapeutics and
      Pharmacology).

PMID- 20916479
TI  - Chronic Meningococcal Septicaemia, with old Hemiplegia.

PMID- 20916481
TI  - Pachymeningitis Interna Haemorrhagica.

PMID- 20916488
TI  - Achalasia of Cardia with Gross OEsophagus.

PMID- 20916506
TI  - Capillary Naevus treated by Grenz Rays.

PMID- 20916520
TI  - Chronic Lymphatic Leukaemia with Paraplegia.

PMID- 20916523
TI  - Simple Ulcer of the OEsophagus and Short OEsophagus: (Section of Medicine).

PMID- 20916530
TI  - Haemorrhagic Purpura (Essential Thrombocytopenia) as a Complication of Excision
      of the Rectum: (Section of Surgery: Sub-Section of Proctology).

PMID- 20916535
TI  - Anaesthetic Problems in Urology: (Section of Urology).

PMID- 20916540
TI  - Leukaemia with Nodules in the Skin.

PMID- 20916546
TI  - Striae Atrophicae.? Dyspituitarism.

PMID- 20916551
TI  - Atypical Psoriasis of Axillae, with a Remarkable Family History of Psoriasis.

PMID- 20916552
TI  - Naevus Unius Lateris of the Verrucosus and Hystrix Types.

PMID- 20916558
TI  - A Case of Mistaken Diagnosis of Malignancy in an Ovarian Cyst: (Section of
      Obstetrics and Gynaecology).

PMID- 20916559
TI  - Utero-Abdominal Fistula in a Young Woman: (Section of Obstetrics and
      Gynaecology).

PMID- 20916560
TI  - Pelvic Osteo-arthropathy of Pregnancy: (Section of Obstetrics and Gynaecology).
AB  - Excessive relaxation of the pelvic joints during pregnancy has as its chief
      symptoms chronic backache and locomotor disturbances. Goldthwait and others have
      for long drawn attention to the frequent part played by softening of the sacro
      iliac joint structures in the production of the common backache of pregnancy. The
      frequency of this symptom may be gauged by the fact that 114 women out of a
      successive series of 3,030 cases at the antenatal clinic, or 3.7%, suffered in
      such a degree as to lead them to call for treatment. In 69, or 60.5%, the pain
      commenced before the 28th week, whilst in the remaining 45 or 39.5%, it commenced
      later.

PMID- 20916561
TI  - The Effect of the Inclination of the Pelvic Brim and the Shape and Inclination of
      the Upper Sacrum on the Passage of the Head through the Upper Pelvis: (Section of
      Obstetrics and Gynaecology).
AB  - Engagement of the Head does not depend only on the size and shape of the brim,
      but also on the angle of inclination of the brim. The methods of determining this
      inclination are considered and the angle between the plane of the brim and the
      front of the body of the 5th lumbar vertebra is found to furnish the best index
      of the inclination. Analysis of a series of cases shows that this angle varies
      considerably. Its postural range is demonstrated.When the inclination is high the
      head does not easily engage although the measurements may be normal, and a high
      inclination is one of the commonest causes of unexpected dystocia.Because these
      cases are usually selected for a "trial of labour", criteria are necessary to
      select the cases suitable. Success or failure of trial labour in these cases
      depends on the amount of room in the upper pelvis. A part from the actual size of
      the true conjugate the amount of room is shown to depend both on the sacral
      inclination, a method of measuring which is described, and the shape of the upper
      sacrum, which shows considerable vriation. A common type of pelvis causing
      dystocia is one in which the inclination of the brim is high and the upper sacrum
      is relatively vertical and convex. Pelves of this type do not always fit into any
      of the standard classifications.The uses and limitations of postural treatment of
      these cases are discussed.

PMID- 20916568
TI  - Protruded Intervertebral Disc (Fibrocartilage): (Section of Orthopaedics and
      Section of Neurology).

PMID- 20916570
TI  - The Organization of Hospital Services for Casualties due to the Bombing of
      Cities, Based on Experience Gained in Barcelona-with Special Reference to the
      Classification of Casualties: (Section of Orthopaedics).
AB  - (1) Difference between modern "total population" war and old-fashioned war.
      Difference between bombing of (a) military objectives and (b) civilian
      population.(a) The heavy bomb, e.g. 750 lb., with large fragments, upward throw,
      great destruction of buildings.(b) The light bomb with finger nail fragments,
      horizontal throw, great velocity.There is in addition the incendiary bomb, little
      used in Barcelona because the buildings are built of stone and concrete.(2)
      Aerial bombing of a town produces injuries needing more immediate hospitalization
      than most front-line wounds. At the same time it is possible in a town to
      organize rapid collection of patients and their immediate transfer to
      hospital.(3) Experience shows that it is most desirable to make this transfer of
      patients to hospital a primary consideration. On arrival they are "sorted" and
      minor injuries are given First Aid treatment and sent home, others are fully
      examined, classified, and dispatched to the theatres on a priority list, to
      nearby wards for resuscitation, to wards for rest, or sent on to plaster rooms
      for splintage, or to a neurosurgical centre.(4) First-aid posts in a town should
      be in hospitals and treat superficial injuries, &c., after primary sorting in the
      hospital reception room.(5) First-aid posts in outlying areas should carry out
      the same function for the same type of cases; all the more seriously wounded,
      including those with tiny penetrating wounds, should be dispatched without first
      aid treatment direct to hospital.(6) Hospital arrangements, for circulation of
      ambulances, for sorting, undressing of patients, docketing of valuables, &c.(7)
      Classification must be carried out by surgeons of experience and judgment. They
      must regard not only a standard priority list but the particular clinical picture
      and prognosis in each case.(8) The surgeon will furthermore draft the cases with
      regard to the special abilities of the surgical units available, e.g. chest,
      abdomen, or limbs.(9) Review of wounds in limbs, chest, abdomen, and head, caused
      by fragments from heavy bombs or by splinters from small light bombs.(10)
      Injuries from falling masonry.(11) Standard classification by urgency of
      operation.(12) Classification re possible early evacuation.

PMID- 20916571
TI  - Yesterday and To-day in Children's Anaesthesia: (Section of Anaesthetics).

PMID- 20916573
TI  - On Injuries to the Brain and their Sequelae: (United Services Section).

PMID- 20916577
TI  - Status Lymphaticus: (Section of Anaesthetics).

PMID- 20916585
TI  - Intra-medullary Kirschner Wires in the Treatment of Fractures: (Section of
      Orthopaedics).

PMID- 20916584
TI  - Simplifications of Technique in Some Joint Operations: (Section of Orthopaedics).

PMID- 20916586
TI  - Treatment of Ununited Fractures by Bone Grafting without Resection of the Bone
      Ends: (Section of Orthopaedics).

PMID- 20916597
TI  - Premedication: (Section of Anaesthetics).

PMID- 20916590
TI  - The Radiological Diagnosis of Chronic Subdural Haematoma: (Section of Neurology).

PMID- 20916602
TI  - Fractured Lumber Vertebrae.

PMID- 20916604
TI  - Idiopathic Lymphoedema.

PMID- 20916609
TI  - Spasm of the OEsophagus.

PMID- 20916608
TI  - Congenital Megacolon treated by High Spinal Anaesthesia.

PMID- 20916616
TI  - Anaemia with Splenomegaly.

PMID- 20916624
TI  - Steatorrhoea with Radiological Changes in Vertebrae.

PMID- 20916634
TI  - Trotula and the Ladies of Salerno: A Contribution to the Knowledge of the
      Transition between Ancient and Mediaeval Physick (Abridged): (Section of the
      History of Medicine).

PMID- 20916648
TI  - Some Investigations on the Treatment of Sterility: (Section of Obstetrics and
      Gynaecology).

PMID- 20916655
TI  - Connective Tissue Naevus.

PMID- 20916675
TI  - Staphylococcus aureus Septicaemia with Recovery, treated with M & B 693.

PMID- 20916680
TI  - The Surgical Treatment of Idiopathic Ulcerative Colitis and its Sequelae:
      (Section of Proctology).

PMID- 20916679
TI  - A Method of Administering Continuous Intravenous Anaesthesia for Abdominal
      Surgery: (Section of Anaesthetics).

PMID- 20916681
TI  - Fractures and Dislocation of the Cervical Vertebrae: (Section of Orthopaedics).

PMID- 20916682
TI  - The Position of Radiotherapy in the Treatment of Malignant Disease of the Upper
      Respiratory and Alimentary Tracts, excluding the Tongue and OEsophagus: (Section
      of Laryngology).

PMID- 20916690
TI  - Radio-Opaque Calcification of the Fallopian Tubes with Tubal Patency: (Section of
      Obstetrics and Gynaecology).

PMID- 20916691
TI  - Brain Showing Cerebral Haemorrhage in a Case of Spontaneous Labour: (Section of
      Obstetrics and Gynaecology).

PMID- 20916692
TI  - Chronic Nephritis in Pregnancy: (Section of Obstetrics and Gynaecology).

PMID- 20916702
TI  - The Pathology of Cervicitis: (Section of Obstetrics and Gynaecology).

PMID- 20916701
TI  - Clinical Study of 40 Consecutive Cases of Extra-Uterine Pregnancy: (Section of
      Obstetrics and Gynaecology).

PMID- 20916708
TI  - The Treatment of Traumatic Haemothorax: (Section of Medicine).

PMID- 20916707
TI  - The AEtiology and Morbid Anatomy of Fowl Paralysis (Neurolymphomatosis): (Section
      of Comparative Medicine).

PMID- 20916720
TI  - Closed Plaster Treatment of Wounds in the Light of Recent Experience: (Section of
      Orthopaedics).

PMID- 20916719
TI  - The Functional Treatment of Congenital Dislocation of the Hip-joint: (Section of
      Orthopaedics).

PMID- 20916721
TI  - The Treatment of Burns: (Section of Orthopaedics).

PMID- 20916735
TI  - Some Little-known Medical Practitioners in Mediaeval Persia: (Section of the
      History of Medicine).

PMID- 20916754
TI  - Anaesthesia in Chest Surgery, with Special Reference to Controlled Respiration
      and Cyclopropane: (Section of Anaesthetics).
AB  - Problems in chest surgery: Cases with prolonged toxaemia or amyloid disease
      require an anaesthetic agent of low toxicity. When sputum or blood are present in
      the tracheobronchial tree the anaesthesia should abolish reflex distrubances and
      excessive sputum be removed by suction. The technique should permit the use of a
      high oxygen atmosphere; controlled respiration with cyclopropane or ether fulfil
      these requirements. Open pneumothorax is present when a wound of the chest wall
      allows air to pass in and out of the pleural cavity. The lung on the affected
      side collapses and the mediastinum moves over and partly compresses the other
      lung.The dangers of an open pneumothorax: (1) Paradoxical respiration-the lung on
      the affected side partially inflates on expiration and collapses on inspiration.
      Part of the air entering the good lung has been shuttled back from the lung on
      the affected side and is therefore vitiated. Full expansion of the sound lung is
      handicapped by the initial displacement of the mediastinum which increases on
      inspiration. The circulation becomes embarrassed.(2) Vicious circle coughing.
      During a paroxysm of coughing dyspnoea will occur. This accentuates paradoxical
      respiration and starts a vicious circle. Death from asphyxia may result.Special
      duties of the anaesthetist: (1) To carry out or supervise continuous circulatory
      resuscitation. During a thoracotomy a drip blood transfusion maintains normal
      blood-pressure and pulse-rate.(2) To maintain effcient respiration.Positive
      pressure anaesthesia: Risk of impacting secretions in smaller bronchi with
      subsequent atelectasis; eventual risk of CO(2) poisoning without premonitory
      signs.Controlled respiration: (1) How it is produced. (2) Its uses in chest
      surgery.Controlled respiration means that the anaesthetist, having abolished the
      active respiratory efforts of the patient, maintains an efficient tidal exchange
      by rhythmic squeezing of the breathing bag. This may be done mechanically by
      Crafoord's modification of Frenkner's spiropulsator or by hand.Active respiration
      will cease (i) if the patient's CO(2) is lowered sufficiently by
      hyperventilation, (ii) if the patient's respiratory centre is depressed
      sufficiently by sedative and anaesthetic drugs, and (iii) by a combination of (i)
      and (ii) of less degree.The author uses the second method, depressing the
      respiratory centre with omnoponscopolamine, pentothal sodium, and then
      cyclopropane. The CO(2) absorption method is essential for this technique, and
      this and controlled respiration should be mastered by the anaesthetist with a
      familiar agent and used at first only in uncomplicated cases.The significance of
      cardiac arrhythmias occuring with cyclopropane is discussed.The place of the
      other available anaesthetic agents is discussed particularly on the advisability
      of using local anaesthesia for the drainage of empyema or lung abscess.Pharyngeal
      airway or endotracheal tube? Anaesthesia may be maintained with a pharyngeal
      airway in many cases but intubation must be used when tracheobronchial suction
      may be necessary and when there may be difficulty in maintaining an unobstructed
      airway.A one-lung anaesthesia is ideal for pneumonectomy. This may be obtained by
      endotracheal anaesthesia after bronchial tamponage of the affected side
      (Crafoord, v. fig. 6b) or by an endobronchial intubation of the sound side (v.
      figs. 9b and 9c). Endobronchial placing of the breathing tube may be performed
      "blind". Before deciding on blind bronchial intubation, the anaesthetist must
      examine X-ray films for any abnormality deviating the trachea or bronchi. Though
      the right bronchus may be easily intubated blindly as a rule, there is the risk
      of occluding the orifice of the upper lobe bronchus (fig. 9d) when the patient
      will become cyanosed. If the tube bevel is facing its orifice the risk of
      occlusion will be decreased (fig. 9c).Greater accuracy in placing the tube can be
      effected by inserting it under direct vision. Instruments for performing this
      manoeuvre are described.In lobectomy for bronchiectasis the anaesthetist must try
      to prevent the spread of infection to other parts. Ideally, the bronchus of the
      affected lobe should be plugged with ribbon gauze (Crafoord, v. fig. 6c) or a
      suction catheter with a baby balloon on it placed in the affected bronchus. In
      the presence of a large bronchopleural fistula controlled respiration cannot be
      established during operation. As the surgeon is rarely able to plug the fistula,
      if pneumonectomy is to be performed intubation for a one-lung anaesthesia is the
      best method. During other procedures it is essential to maintain quiet
      respiration.In war casualties it is almost always possible, with the technique
      described, to leave the lung on the affected side fully expanded and thus
      frequently to restore normal respiratory physiology. Co-operation between surgeon
      and anaesthetist is essential.

PMID- 20916769
TI  - The Relationship of Nitrous Oxide Anaesthesia and Anoxia: (Section of
      Anaesthetics).

PMID- 20916755
TI  - Injuries to Peripheral Nerves: (Section of Orthopaedics).

PMID- 20916770
TI  - The Clinical Manifestations of Oxygen Lack: (Section of Anaesthetics).

PMID- 20916771
TI  - Spinal Anaesthesia with Heavy Percaine: (Section of Anaesthetics).

PMID- 20916772
TI  - Casualty Anaesthesia in the E.M.S: (Section of Anaesthetics).

PMID- 20916775
TI  - The Spread of Bacteria and Toxins from Infected Wounds; the Clinical Application
      of Laboratory Findings: (Section of Orthopaedics).

PMID- 20916774
TI  - A Report on Cases of Septic Arthritis: (Section of Orthopaedics).

PMID- 20916776
TI  - The Spread of Bacteria and Toxins from Infected Wounds; the Clinical Application
      of Laboratory Findings: (Section of Orthopaedics).

PMID- 20916782
TI  - Carcinoma of the OEsophagus. Results of Deep X-Ray Treatment.

PMID- 20916780
TI  - Chemotherapy, Serotherapy and Haemotherapy in Otology and Laryngology: (Sections
      of Otology and Laryngology).

PMID- 20916803
TI  - The Use of Vitallium in Surgery with Special Reference to Cup Arthroplasty:
      (Section of Orthopaedics).

PMID- 20916804
TI  - Sulphathiazole in the Treatment of War Wounds: (Section of Orthopaedics).

PMID- 20916805
TI  - Mechanical Fixation of Fractures: (Section of Orthopaedics).

PMID- 20916806
TI  - Orthopaedic Aspects of Plastic Surgery. The Early Replacement of Skin Losses in
      War Injuries of the Extremities: (Section of Orthopaedics).

PMID- 20916807
TI  - A Case of Osteomalacia: (Section of Obstetrics and Gynaecology).

PMID- 20916813
TI  - Idiopathic Steatorrhaea with Severe Anaemia and Pyrexia.

PMID- 20916808
TI  - Experience with the Intravenous Use of the Follicle-Stimulating Hormone of the
      Anterior Pituitary in Menstrual Disorders: (Section of Obstetrics and
      Gynaecology).

PMID- 20916814
TI  - Exophthalmic Ophthalmoplegia (Unilateral) with Papilloedema.

PMID- 20916823
TI  - Polycythaemia Rubra Vera.

PMID- 20916816
TI  - Fracture of the Skull in an Infant Associated with Haematoma Formation and
      Followed by Development of Encephalocele.

PMID- 20916828
TI  - Hydronephrosis Causing OEdema of the Legs.

PMID- 20916846
TI  - Some Orthopaedic Procedures Employed in the Treatment of Arthritis: (Section of
      Physical Medicine).
AB  - (1) A series of six cases of ankylosing spondylitis was shown to illustrate the
      benefit gained, even in very long-standing cases, by the following regime:(a)
      Complete rest in a plaster shell.(b) Gradual correction of kyphosis by adding
      thin layers of padding under the dorsolumbar junction, and subtracting similar
      layers of padding from under the head, to increase extension in the spine.(c)
      Deep-breathing exercises practised constantly while the patient is lying in a
      plaster shell.(d) Daily physiotherapy.(e) The fitting of a Goldthwaite spinal
      brace to maintain the position of maximum correction that has been obtained.The
      improvement was manifested in all cases by alleviation of symptoms, improvement
      in posture, and increased chest expansion.(2) A series of six cases of arthritis
      of the knee was shown, including rheumatoid arthritis, infective arthritis and
      osteo-arthritis, illustrating treatment by rest plasters, followed by:(a)
      Arthrotomy and lavage-where swelling and effusion persist, and(b) Bone drilling
      where bone changes are marked and there is constant pain at rest. Improvement was
      manifested by relief of symptoms, subsidence of signs of inflammation, and
      restoration of a considerable degree of movement.(3) A case of arthritis of the
      tarsal and metatarsal joints, illustrating relief of symptoms afforded by the
      application of a plaster boot.

PMID- 20916862
TI  - The Foot Problem in Service Cases: (Section of Orthopaedics).

PMID- 20916863
TI  - Psychological Reactions to Injury: (Section of Orthopaedics).

PMID- 20916864
TI  - Conditions of the Back Simulating Visceral Disease: (Section of Orthopaedics).

PMID- 20916865
TI  - Some Spinal Cases of Interest: (Section of Orthopaedics).

PMID- 20916866
TI  - Some Points in the Diagnosis of Osteochondritis of the Knee: (Section of
      Orthopaedics).

PMID- 20916867
TI  - Lumbar Puncture Injuries: (Section of Orthopaedics).

PMID- 20916868
TI  - The Role of Orthopaedics in Medical Education: (Section of Orthopaedics).

PMID- 20916869
TI  - The Conservative Treatment of Osteomyelitis: (Section of Orthopaedics).

PMID- 20916870
TI  - Physiotherapy and the Soldier's Foot: (Section of Orthopaedics).

PMID- 20916871
TI  - A Case of Degeneration of the Intervertebral Disc Following Lumbar Puncture:
      (Section of Orthopaedics).

PMID- 20916872
TI  - The Technique of Arthroplasty: (Section of Orthopaedics).

PMID- 20916874
TI  - Treatment of Fractures of the Shaft of the Femur: (Section of Orthopaedics).

PMID- 20916891
TI  - The Centenary of the First Anaethetic Use of Ether: (Section of Anaesthetics).

PMID- 20916899
TI  - Angiomatosis Retinae. Account of a Case, including the Histological Results of X
      Ray Treatment.

PMID- 20916901
TI  - Progress in Obstetrics and Gynaecology During the Present Century: President's
      Address.

PMID- 20916905
TI  - Cellular Naevus Resembling Lupus Vulgaris.

PMID- 20916907
TI  - Myxoedema Papulosum et Annulare.

PMID- 20916914
TI  - Discussion on Vitamins and Haemorrhagic States.

PMID- 20916909
TI  - Lichen Simplex Controlled by Stilboestrol.

PMID- 20916930
TI  - Discussion on Cerebral OEdema.

PMID- 20916923
TI  - Trichlorethylene as a General Analgesic and Anaesthetic.

PMID- 20916948
TI  - Haemospermia.

PMID- 20916968
TI  - Recurring Juvenile Vitreous Haemorrhage: President's Address.

PMID- 20916982
TI  - Discussion on Nutritional Anaemia in Children and Women: A War-time Problem.

PMID- 20916974
TI  - Naevus Flammeus Treated by Thorium X.

PMID- 20917007
TI  - R.C.A.M.C. Anaesthetic Experiences: Dieppe Raid Casualties, August 19-20, 1942.

PMID- 20917010
TI  - The AEtiology of Erythroblastosis Foetalis and Certain Haemolytic Transfusion
      Reactions, with Special Reference to the Rh Factor.

PMID- 20917020
TI  - Naevocarcinoma (Malignant Melanoma).

PMID- 20917027
TI  - Lichen Ruber Moniliformis (Morbus Moniliformis Lichenoides; Myxoedema
      Moniliforme.).

PMID- 20917049
TI  - The Emancipation of Orthopaedic Surgery.

PMID- 20917058
TI  - Carcinoma of OEsophagus-Treated by Excision and Reconstruction of Ante-thoracic
      OEsophagus.

PMID- 20917059
TI  - Specimen of Ante-thoracic OEsophagus.

PMID- 20917060
TI  - Hypoglycaemia as an Experimental Psychosis.

PMID- 20917066
TI  - Discussion on Medico-Legal Pitfalls in Obstetrical and Gynaecological Practice
      excluding Abortion.

PMID- 20917073
TI  - Recovery of Speech Following the Evacuation of Subcortical Haematoma-Report of
      Three Cases.

PMID- 20917082
TI  - Trichlorethylene Anaesthesia by the Single-Dose Method.

PMID- 20917086
TI  - A Method of Keeping Anaesthetic Records and Assessing Results.

PMID- 20917097
TI  - Discussion on the Present Position of the Lower Segment Caesarean Operation.

PMID- 20917095
TI  - Discussion on Anaesthesia and Analgesia in Obstetrical Practice.

PMID- 20917098
TI  - A Case of Pregnancy Complicated by Convulsions due to Cysticercosis Cellulosae.

PMID- 20917099
TI  - Discussion on the Diagnosis and Treatment of the Acute Abdomen from the
      Gynaecological Point of View.

PMID- 20917103
TI  - The AEtiology of Erythema Nodosum. Abstract.

PMID- 20917118
TI  - Idiopathic Haemorrhagic Sarcoma of Kaposi.

PMID- 20917119
TI  - Early Kraurosis Valvae in a Child.

PMID- 20917139
TI  - Carcinoma of OEsophagus: Resection and OEsophago-gastrostomy.

PMID- 20917134
TI  - The Cancer Problem from the Point of View of the Young Gynaecologist: President's
      Address.

PMID- 20917140
TI  - Case of Partial OEsophagectomy for Carcinoma with Extrathoracic Gastro
      oesophageal Anastomosis.

PMID- 20917141
TI  - Two Cases of OEsophagectomy and Anterior OEsophagoplasty.

PMID- 20917142
TI  - Transthoracic Resection of Carcinoma of the Cardia with Involvement of the Lower
      End of the OEsophagus, and OEsophago-gastrostomy.

PMID- 20917143
TI  - Haemangiectatic Hepatoma.

PMID- 20917144
TI  - Psoas Abscess Containing Gas and Faeces, Secondary to a Fistula from the Caecum.

PMID- 20917185
TI  - Mediastinal Tumour (? Thymoma) with Gynaecomastia.

PMID- 20917187
TI  - Haemangio-Endothelioma of Chest Wall.

PMID- 20917203
TI  - Orthopaedic Surgery and the Future [Abridged].

PMID- 20917202
TI  - The Contribution of Orthopaedic Surgery to Hospital Development: President's
      Address.

PMID- 20917215
TI  - Amputation Under Ice Anaesthesia [Abridged].

PMID- 20917230
TI  - Lepra Maculo-anaesthetica.

PMID- 20917229
TI  - Case for Diagnosis. ? Staphylococcal Eruption.

PMID- 20917240
TI  - Discussion on the Treatment of Carcinoma of the OEsophagus.

PMID- 20917241
TI  - The Diagnosis and Treatment of Infections of the Male Genital Organs other than
      Tuberculosis and Gonorrhoea [Abridged].

PMID- 20917267
TI  - Epithelioma Adenoides Cysticum (Naevus Follicularis of Brooke).

PMID- 20917292
TI  - Discussion on Parenteral Diarrhoea.

PMID- 20917264
TI  - Leiomyoma. ? Fibrocellular naevus.

PMID- 20917304
TI  - Discussion on Anaesthesia and Analgesia in Abdominal Operations: Joint Discussion
      No. 4.

PMID- 20917303
TI  - Electrocardiographic Changes during Trilene Anaesthesia.

PMID- 20917359
TI  - Discussion on Advanced Cases of Carcinoma of the Breast treated by Stilboestrol.

PMID- 20917369
TI  - Haemorrhagic Coats's Disease.

PMID- 20917381
TI  - Staphylococcal Septicaemia. Osteomyelitis of Pelvis. Recovery.

PMID- 20917383
TI  - Staphylococcal Septicaemia. Osteomyelitis of Femur. Penicillin Therapy.

PMID- 20917385
TI  - Interauricular Septal Defect. Haemoptyses.

PMID- 20917396
TI  - Eosinophilic Granuloma. ? Sarcoid of Boeck.

PMID- 20917400
TI  - OEsophagectomy.

PMID- 20917402
TI  - Idiopathic Steatorrhoea: Osteomalacia.

PMID- 20917403
TI  - Massive Renal Calculi. Squamous-Celled Carcinoma in Lung, ? Primary. ? Secondary
      to Growth in Renal Pelvis.

PMID- 20917425
TI  - Left Conjunctival Epithelioma. ? Atypical Mooren's Ulcer Superimposed on Old
      Mustard-Gas Damage.

PMID- 20917413
TI  - Pigmentation. ? Pellagra.

PMID- 20917451
TI  - Discussion on Anaesthesia in the Dental Chair.

PMID- 20917450
TI  - Haemorrhagic Telangiectasia.

PMID- 20917456
TI  - Experimental Foetal Death: The Surviving Placenta.

PMID- 20917463
TI  - (I) Intrasternal Anaesthesia [Abridged].

PMID- 20917467
TI  - Cases:-Sarcoma of Cervix. Primary Carcinoma of Fallopian Tube. Primary Sarcoma of
      Fallopian Tube. Grossesse Extramembraneuse. An Unusual Ectopic Pregnancy.
      Chocolate Cysts of the Ovary (Ovarian Endometriosis) and Pregnancy: A Report of
      Two Cases Occurring in Sisters. Acromegaly with Pregnancy. Anaemia in a Rhesus
      negative Woman during Pregnancy with a Rhesus-positive Foetus. Breech
      Presentation with Fracture of the Foetal Neck: Recovery. Ulceration of the Mouth
      Associated with Recurrent Ulceration of Vulva. Tuberculosis of the Cervix, Uterus
      and Appendages. Necrosis of the Liver and Massive Bilateral Suprarenal
      Haemorrhage in a Puerperal Woman. Torsion of the Pregnant Uterus. Rupture of the
      Symphysis Pubis. Symphyseal Osteo-arthropathy. Rupture of the Uterus Self
      produced. Hydatidiform Mole with a 16-Weeks Foetus. Papillary Cystic Carcinoma.
      Granulosa-cell Carcinoma. Papillomatous Adenoma. Retroperitoneal Haemorrhage
      Causing Death in a Woman near Term.

PMID- 20917468
TI  - Multiple Minute Fibro-angiomata of Face and Ears (Pringle's Disease, Darier's
      Type). ? Morphoea with Tuberculous Histology: ? Necrobiosis Lipoidica. Mucin in
      Granuloma Annulare. Angiokeratoma. A Form of "Mamillated Tongue". Sarcoidosis.

PMID- 20917476
TI  - Discussion on Subdural Haematoma in Infancy.

PMID- 20917479
TI  - Steatorrhoea due to Lymphatic Obstruction.

PMID- 20917500
TI  - Sudden Onset of Tachycardia and Arrhythmia. Paroxysmal Auricular Tachycardia with
      Atrio-Ventricular Block. ? Mitral Stenosis.

PMID- 20917486
TI  - The Force of Expiration as a Sign in Anaesthesia [Abbreviated].

PMID- 20917501
TI  - Aplastic Anaemia Treated by Splenectomy.

PMID- 20917507
TI  - Carcinoma of the OEsophagus. Radical Resection with OEsophago-gastrostomy for a
      Midthoracic Growth by a Right Transpleural Approach.

PMID- 20917506
TI  - Carcinoma of Lower End of OEsophagus. Radical Resection with OEsophagogastrostomy
      by a Left Transpleural Approach.

PMID- 20917525
TI  - Anaesthesia in Operations for Closure of Patent Ductus Arteriosus [Abridged].

PMID- 20917527
TI  - A Brief Account of Anaesthetics given in a Field Surgical Unit in the B.L.A.

PMID- 20917532
TI  - Rickets Resistant to Vitamin D: Healing with Very Heavy Dosage of Vitamin D,
      Fluctuations in Vitamin D Requirement, Development of Hypercalcaemia.

PMID- 20917542
TI  - Acroparaesthesia. [A Summary].

PMID- 20917545
TI  - The Consideration of Functional Disabilities in Orthopaedics.

PMID- 20917557
TI  - Anaesthesia for Surgery of Nasal Sinuses.

PMID- 20917581
TI  - Conservative Treatment of Volkmann's Ischaemic Contracture.

PMID- 20917609
TI  - Multiple Chronic Ulcers of the Upper Trunk in a Young Woman. ? Acne Conglobata.

PMID- 20917610
TI  - Multiple Chronic Ulcers of the Arms and Trunk. ? Cause.

PMID- 20917621
TI  - Pulmonary Haemosiderosis.

PMID- 20917622
TI  - Refractory Anaemia.

PMID- 20917623
TI  - Nephrocalcinosis associated with Hyperchloraemia.

PMID- 20917624
TI  - Two Cases of Banti's Syndrome: Hepatomegaly with Anaemia.

PMID- 20917627
TI  - Trigeminal Naevus and Homolateral Intracranial Angioma associated with
      Hypertelorism.

PMID- 20917642
TI  - Spinal Anaesthesia and its Effect on a Case of Hydronephrosis and Hydro-ureter.

PMID- 20917669
TI  - Personnel Selection: By Whom ?

PMID- 20917663
TI  - Anaesthesia for Ear, Nose and Throat Surgery.

PMID- 20917670
TI  - Discussion on the Toxaemia of Gas Gangrene.

PMID- 20917677
TI  - Para-oesophageal Hernia as a Cause of Recurrent Gastro-intestinal Haemorrhage.

PMID- 20917679
TI  - Chronic Haemolytic Polycythaemia.

PMID- 20917682
TI  - OEsophagectomy for Carcinoma. Ante-thoracic Jejunal Graft.

PMID- 20917684
TI  - Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia: Goitre and Raised B.M.R.

PMID- 20917713
TI  - DISCUSSION ON ANAESTHETICS IN TROPICAL CLIMATES.

PMID- 20917706
TI  - Laryngeal Granuloma following Intratracheal Anaesthesia.

PMID- 20917714
TI  - A Milestone in Anaesthesia?: (d-Tubocurarine Chloride).

PMID- 20917715
TI  - DISCUSSION ON CARCINOMA OF LOWER OESOPHAGUS AND CARDIA.

PMID- 20917737
TI  - Gynaecomastia with Bilateral Undescended Testes in a Man aged 21.

PMID- 20917741
TI  - Male Gynaecomastia: Testicular Atrophy.

PMID- 20917743
TI  - Some Observations on the AEtiology and Treatment of Sprue.

PMID- 20917750
TI  - DISCUSSION ON BACTERIAEMIA IN PUERPERAL SEPSIS.

PMID- 20917749
TI  - DISCUSSION ON PLACENTA PRAEVIA.

PMID- 20917768
TI  - Intravenous Pentothal as the Sole Anaesthetic for Tonsillectomy.

PMID- 20917761
TI  - Suprarenal Haemorrhage Complicating the Puerperium.

PMID- 20917782
TI  - The Treatment of Coeliac Disease with Vitamin B Complex and Liver Extract.

PMID- 20917781
TI  - Spontaneous Hypoglycaemia in Infancy and Childhood.

PMID- 20917793
TI  - DISCUSSION ON LEUKAEMIA AND LEUKOSIS IN MAN AND ANIMALS.

PMID- 20917790
TI  - Arterial Advances of Orthopaedic Concern.

PMID- 20917799
TI  - The Surgical Complications of Amoebic Dysentery.

PMID- 20917810
TI  - A New OEsophagoscope.

PMID- 20917825
TI  - Case for Diagnosis.? Reticulosis.? Circumscribed Myxoedema.

PMID- 20917832
TI  - Haemorrhagic Telangiectasia of Rendu-Osler-Weber, with No Family History.

PMID- 20917830
TI  - Injuries of the Cervical Vertebrae: President's Address.

PMID- 20917843
TI  - Total Gastrectomy with OEsophagoduodenal Anastomosis.

PMID- 20917834
TI  - Haemorrhagic Telangiectasia of Rendu-Osler-Weber.

PMID- 20917846
TI  - The Development of Inhalation Anaesthesia in the Second Half of the Nineteenth
      Century.

PMID- 20917857
TI  - Myelosclerosis with Leukaemoid Blood Picture.

PMID- 20917870
TI  - Retinal Haemorrhage with Mitral Incompetence.

PMID- 20917879
TI  - Case for Diagnosis. ? Diabetes Mellitus with Diabetes Insipidus.

PMID- 20917873
TI  - Chromophobe Adenoma in a Male Aged 151/2 Years.

PMID- 20917895
TI  - DISCUSSION: SHOCK WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO ANAESTHESIA.

PMID- 20917891
TI  - Intracranial Haemangioma Causing Convulsions.

PMID- 20917897
TI  - Studies on the Haematology of the Horse, Ox and Sheep.

PMID- 20917911
TI  - Impetigo Herpetiformis. ? Pemphigus Vegetans.

PMID- 20917914
TI  - Erythrodermia in Lymphatic Leukaemia. (Malignant Erythrodermia).

PMID- 20917915
TI  - Epidermodysplasia of Lewandowski and Lutz. ? Abortive Form of Blastomycosis or
      Chromoblastomycosis.

PMID- 20917921
TI  - Myxoedema Circumscriptum.

PMID- 20917922
TI  - Nodules in Abdominal Wall for Diagnosis. ? Fibrosarcoma (Darier and Ferrand).

PMID- 20917925
TI  - DISCUSSION: ANAESTHESIA FOR ABDOMINO-PERINEAL OPERATIONS FOR CANCER OF THE
      RECTUM.

PMID- 20917933
TI  - Anterior Ethmoidal Haemorrhage.

PMID- 20917953
TI  - THE AETIOLOGY OF CHRONIC RHEUMATISM: Joint Discussion No. 1.

PMID- 20917958
TI  - DISCUSSION ON THE MANAGEMENT OF THE NORMAL THIRD STAGE OF LABOUR AND OF
      HAEMORRHAGE THEREIN.

PMID- 20917971
TI  - OEsophageal Carcinoma Treated by Resection and Presternal OEsophago-Gastrostomy.

PMID- 20917970
TI  - Sclerodactylia with OEsophageal Lesion (3 Cases).

PMID- 20917983
TI  - Poikiloderma ? Premycosis.

PMID- 20917981
TI  - Hyperkeratotic Systematized Naevus with ? Bromide Eruption.

PMID- 20917987
TI  - Leukaemia Cutis ? Myeloid Leukaemia.

PMID- 20918000
TI  - Raynaud's Phenomenon, with Paroxysmal Haemoglobinuria, Caused by Cold
      Haemagglutination.

PMID- 20917995
TI  - Chondro-osteodystrophy. ? Morquio.

PMID- 20918006
TI  - Morphoea Guttata.

PMID- 20918005
TI  - Blue Naevus in a Mongolian Patch.

PMID- 20918015
TI  - Congenital Defect of Scalp.

PMID- 20918016
TI  - Pneumatocoele Occurring During Pneumonia and Rupturing to Form a Pneumothorax.

PMID- 20918022
TI  - DISCUSSION ON ANAESTHESIA IN CHILDREN.

PMID- 20918023
TI  - DISCUSSION ON ANAESTHESIA FOR CAESAREAN SECTION.

PMID- 20918030
TI  - Skin Temperature as a Clinical Aid During Anaesthesia [Abridged].

PMID- 20918044
TI  - DISCUSSION ON CEREBRAL OEDEMA.

PMID- 20918051
TI  - Myxoedema Papulosum.

PMID- 20918057
TI  - Three Cysts in the Same Mandible, Not of Dental Origin. ? Solitary Cysts or
      Osteitis Fibrosa.

PMID- 20918063
TI  - Hoemophilus influenzoe and its Relation to Epidemic Influenza: President's
      Address.

PMID- 20918082
TI  - Brief Note on the Contributions of the late Sir Henry Gauvain to Orthopaedic
      Surgery.

PMID- 20918136
TI  - Toxic Thyroid Adenoma. Generalized Osteoporosis with Collapse of Some Vertebrae.

PMID- 20918149
TI  - Chronic Lymphatic Leukaemia with Haemolytic Anaemia. Splenectomy.

PMID- 20918157
TI  - Nodular Subcutaneous Haemangiomatosis.

PMID- 20918158
TI  - Polycythaemia with Myelosclerosis.

PMID- 20918172
TI  - Spontaneous Hypoglycaemia, ? Hepatogenous.

PMID- 20918160
TI  - Malignant Exophthalmos with Ophthalmoplegia and Localized Myxoedema.

PMID- 20918177
TI  - Coarctation of the Aorta with Congenital OEdema of the Feet.

PMID- 20918195
TI  - Urethral Fistulae from Surgical Trauma [Abstract].

PMID- 20918212
TI  - Neurological Sequelae in Repatriated Prisoners of War from Hong Kong: A Follow-up
      [Abstract].

PMID- 20918262
TI  - The Significance of Haemophilus influenzae in Chronic Bronchiectasis of Children.

PMID- 20918242
TI  - The Reduction of Operative Bleeding by T-Piece Anaesthesia [Summary].

PMID- 20918267
TI  - Haemangioma with Thrombocytopenia.

PMID- 20918283
TI  - Posture During Anaesthesia [Abstract].

PMID- 20918299
TI  - Essential Hyperlipaemia and Primary Hypercholesterolaemia.

PMID- 20918307
TI  - Malignant Haemangioblastoma of Liver. Total Excision of Right Lobe of Liver.

PMID- 20918304
TI  - Injury as An AEtiological Factor in Tuberculosis.

PMID- 20918330
TI  - A Historical Note on Queen Charlotte's Maternity Hospital and its Paediatricians.

PMID- 20918333
TI  - Cardiospasm and Epithelioma of OEsophagus Treated by OEsophagectomy.

PMID- 20918341
TI  - The Changing AEtiology of Erythema Nodosum in Children [Summary].

PMID- 20918343
TI  - The Association of Acute Appendicitis with Infective Diarrhoea.

PMID- 20918345
TI  - Medico-legal Adventures and Misadventures in Gynaecology and Obstetrics
      [Abridged].

PMID- 20918364
TI  - Phaeochromocytoma.

PMID- 20918365
TI  - The Surgical and Prosthetic Importance of the Labial and Buccal Vestibule of the
      Maxillae [Abstract].

PMID- 20918395
TI  - Painful Enteromegaly of Unknown AEtiology.

PMID- 20918396
TI  - Intracerebral Haemorrhage and Brain-stem Compression Treated Initially by
      Hypotension and Later by Evacuation of the Haematoma.

PMID- 20918413
TI  - Neonatal Ischaemic Gangrene of the Lower Leg.

PMID- 20918418
TI  - Discussion on the AEtiology of Mental Defect [Abridged].

PMID- 20918424
TI  - Gynaecomastia Persisting after OEstrogen Therapy for Acne.

PMID- 20918444
TI  - Hereditary Haemorrhagic Telangiectasia.

PMID- 20918449
TI  - Urinary OEstrogen Metabolites of 19-Norethisterone and its Esters [Summary].

PMID- 20918451
TI  - Some Thoughts on the Antibiotic Therapy of Orthopaedic Tuberculosis [Summary].

PMID- 20918458
TI  - Some Observations on Neuromuscular Disorders of the OEsophagus [Summary].

PMID- 20918462
TI  - A Prospective Study of the Leukaemia Mortality of Children Exposed to Ante-natal
      Diagnostic Radiography-A Preliminary Report [Summary].

PMID- 20918463
TI  - Geographical Variation in Leukaemia Mortality in Relation to Background Radiation
      Epidemiological Studies [Summary].

PMID- 20918486
TI  - Anaesthesia for Emergency Surgery in Children [Summary].

PMID- 20918500
TI  - Congenital Tracheo-oesophageal Fistula.

PMID- 20918514
TI  - Pseudoxanthoma Elasticum:Severe Melaena from the Jejunum Treated by Resection.

PMID- 20918530
TI  - The Changing Pattern of Paediatrics in a Children's Hospital 1876-1961.

PMID- 20918537
TI  - Idiopathic Hyperlipaemia with Glycosuria.

PMID- 20918565
TI  - Myxoedema and Trauma (Two Cases).

PMID- 20918566
TI  - Epilepsy Due to Angioneurotic OEdema.

PMID- 20918567
TI  - Spontaneous Rupture of OEsophagus.

PMID- 20918570
TI  - Gout, Megaloblastic Anaemia and Steatorrhoea.

PMID- 20918572
TI  - Congenital Hypogammaglobulinaemia and Megaloblastic Anaemia Presenting as a Case
      of Bronchiectasis.

PMID- 20918588
TI  - Observations During Hypotensive Anaesthesia [Abridged].

PMID- 20918594
TI  - Myxoedema with Thyroid Antibodies Presenting with Ascites.

PMID- 20918599
TI  - Acute Renal Failure and the Artificial Kidney in Obstetrics and Gynaecology.

PMID- 20918600
TI  - Hyperglobulinaemic Purpura.

PMID- 20918750
TI  - A Study of Healing in the Anal Canal and of the Severity of Post-operative Pain
      after Haemorrhoidectomy [Abridged].

PMID- 20918784
TI  - Double Uterus with Unilateral Haematocolpos and Absence of the Ipsilateral
      Kidney.

PMID- 20918788
TI  - Diagnostic Problems in Pregnancy: Severe Laevorotation of the Uterus.

PMID- 20918819
TI  - Symposium: Haemolytic Anaemias.

PMID- 20918807
TI  - Hypercalcaemia and Hypoglycaemia Associated with Tumours.

PMID- 20918821
TI  - Symposium: Haemolytic Anaemias.

PMID- 20918820
TI  - Symposium: Haemolytic Anaemias.

PMID- 20918839
TI  - The Pathology and Chemistry of Experimental OEdema in the Brain.

PMID- 20918848
TI  - Haemorrhoidectomy, a New Method [Summary].

PMID- 20918860
TI  - Infertility and the hypothalamus [abridged].

PMID- 20918861
TI  - Asbestos and mesothelioma of the pleura [abridged].

PMID- 20918862
TI  - Asbestos and mesothelioma of the pleura [abridged].

PMID- 20918863
TI  - Polyps and cancer [abridged].

PMID- 20918864
TI  - Polyps and cancer [abridged].

PMID- 20918865
TI  - Polyps and cancer [abridged].

PMID- 20918866
TI  - Polyps and cancer [abridged].

PMID- 20918867
TI  - Haemorrhoids [abridged].

PMID- 20918868
TI  - Haemorrhoids [abridged].

PMID- 20918869
TI  - Chronic ulcerative colitis in childhood.

PMID- 20918870
TI  - Ivalon wrap operation for rectal prolapse.

PMID- 20918871
TI  - Management of a colostomy.

PMID- 20918872
TI  - Operations for Severe Ulcerative Colitis with Reference to Advantages of
      Ileorectal Anastomosis over Permanent Ileostomy.

PMID- 20918873
TI  - Disorders of colonic motility.

PMID- 20918874
TI  - Epidemiology of cancer of the large intestine.

PMID- 20918875
TI  - The origin of faecal fat.

PMID- 20918876
TI  - Cryptogenic ulcerous colitis and mucohaemorrhagic (later ulcerated) rectocolitis
      [summary].

PMID- 20918877
TI  - Symposium: the handicapped child [abridged].

PMID- 20918878
TI  - Symposium: the handicapped child [abridged].

PMID- 20918879
TI  - Symposium: the handicapped child [abridged].

PMID- 20918880
TI  - Symposium: the handicapped child [abridged].

PMID- 20918881
TI  - Symposium: the handicapped child [abridged].

PMID- 20918882
TI  - Symposium: the handicapped child [abridged].

PMID- 20918883
TI  - Symposium: the handicapped child [abridged].

PMID- 20918884
TI  - Symposium: the handicapped child [abridged].

PMID- 20918885
TI  - The assessment of renal function tests.

PMID- 20918886
TI  - Rhesus Iso-immunization.

PMID- 20918887
TI  - Rhesus Iso-immunization.

PMID- 20918888
TI  - Rhesus Iso-immunization.

PMID- 20918890
TI  - An immunological approach to tumour therapy.

PMID- 20918889
TI  - Rhesus Iso-immunization.

PMID- 20918891
TI  - Treatment of carcinoma of the colon complicated by large abscesses [abstract].

PMID- 20918894
TI  - Medical management of Crohn's disease: a 'holding operation'.

PMID- 20918892
TI  - Colonic exclusion for portasystemic encephalopathy.

PMID- 20918895
TI  - Reticulosis and steatorrhoea.

PMID- 20918896
TI  - Mental sequelae of head injury.

PMID- 20918897
TI  - Mental sequelae of head injury.

PMID- 20918898
TI  - Two surveys of children [abridged].

PMID- 20918899
TI  - Tumours of the parotid gland.

PMID- 20918900
TI  - Anaesthesia for the respiratory cripple.

PMID- 20918901
TI  - The pattern of anaesthesia in a general hospital [abstract].

PMID- 20918903
TI  - Inaugural meeting.

PMID- 20918902
TI  - Traumatic conductive deafness.

PMID- 20918904
TI  - Fundamental advances in dental ceramics [abstract].

PMID- 20918906
TI  - Radioimmunoassays [abridged].

PMID- 20918905
TI  - Radioimmunoassays [abridged].

PMID- 20918907
TI  - Radioimmunoassays [abridged].

PMID- 20918908
TI  - Backache in industry.

PMID- 20918909
TI  - Ischaemic diseases of the colon [abridged].

PMID- 20918911
TI  - Ischaemic diseases of the colon [abridged].

PMID- 20918910
TI  - Ischaemic diseases of the colon [abridged].

PMID- 20918912
TI  - Ischaemic diseases of the colon [abridged].

PMID- 20918914
TI  - Work in progress [abridged].

PMID- 20918913
TI  - Ischaemic diseases of the colon [abridged].

PMID- 20918915
TI  - Work in progress [abridged].

PMID- 20918917
TI  - Work in progress [abridged].

PMID- 20918916
TI  - Work in progress [abridged].

PMID- 20918918
TI  - The significance of oxygen measurement.

PMID- 20918920
TI  - Vesicovaginal fistula [abridged].

PMID- 20918919
TI  - Pulmonary hypersensitivity reactions to inhaled antigens [abridged].

PMID- 20918921
TI  - Tissue conditioners and functional impression materials [abridged].

PMID- 20918922
TI  - Stricture of the lower oesophagus.

PMID- 20918924
TI  - Biomechanics.

PMID- 20918923
TI  - The training and education of a surgeon.

PMID- 20918925
TI  - Anhydrotic ectodermal dysplasia.

PMID- 20918926
TI  - Generalized hyperkeratosis -? Ichthyosiform erythrodermia. Psoriasis.

PMID- 20918928
TI  - Dogger bank itch [abridged].

PMID- 20918927
TI  - Applied electrophysiology in nerve and muscle disease [abridged].

PMID- 20918929
TI  - A historical exhibition from the norfolk and norwich hospital.

PMID- 20918930
TI  - Medical Education in our Time [Synopsis].

PMID- 20918931
TI  - Intensive care units [abridged].

PMID- 20918932
TI  - Assessment of antitussives and limitation of measurements of sputum viscosity
      [abstract].

PMID- 20918933
TI  - Scope and limitations of computers for the medical user [abstract].

PMID- 20918934
TI  - The Critical Electrical Stimulus which Causes Uterine Pain.

PMID- 20918935
TI  - The effect of organochlorine pesticides on wildlife, domestic animals and man
      [abridged].

PMID- 20918936
TI  - Value of prospective studies.

PMID- 20918937
TI  - One hundred years after john conolly.

PMID- 20918938
TI  - Studies with drugs and hormones on the human colon [abridged].

PMID- 20918939
TI  - Terminal disinfection of infant feeds [summary].

PMID- 20918940
TI  - Aspects of psychiatry in the elderly.

PMID- 20918941
TI  - Aspects of psychiatry in the elderly.

PMID- 20918942
TI  - Inaugural meeting.

PMID- 20918944
TI  - Rheumatoid pericarditis.

PMID- 20918943
TI  - Crohn's Disease, Presenting as Chronic Bartholin's Abscesses.

PMID- 20918945
TI  - Automation possibilities in ophthalmology [abstract].

PMID- 20918946
TI  - Management of cardiac arrhythmia.

PMID- 20918947
TI  - The intrauterine contraceptive device.

PMID- 20918948
TI  - The intrauterine contraceptive device.

PMID- 20918949
TI  - The dawn of state medicine in britain.

PMID- 20918950
TI  - The dawn of state medicine in britain.

PMID- 20918951
TI  - Vocational training in general practice.

PMID- 20918953
TI  - Injuries of the leg in football and ballet.

PMID- 20918952
TI  - On some aspects of cerebral degeneration in later life.

PMID- 20918954
TI  - Injuries of the leg in football and ballet.

PMID- 20918955
TI  - Injuries of the leg in football and ballet.

PMID- 20918956
TI  - Odontology and malignancy.

PMID- 20918957
TI  - A Three-dimensional Approach to the Microscopy of the Periodontal Membrane.

PMID- 20918958
TI  - Tibial diaphysectomy for acute osteomyelitis.

PMID- 20918959
TI  - Phagedaenic ulcer of the thigh.

PMID- 20918960
TI  - Familial Recurrent Dislocation of the Head of the Fibula (2 cases).

PMID- 20918961
TI  - Traumatic thrombosis of the external iliac artery.

PMID- 20918962
TI  - Chondrosarcoma of scapula associated with diaphyseal aclasia.

PMID- 20918963
TI  - Leprosy finger.

PMID- 20918964
TI  - Recurrent dislocation of the elbow.

PMID- 20918965
TI  - Hydatid of sacrum.

PMID- 20918966
TI  - Osteosarcoma of left pubis.

PMID- 20918967
TI  - Bilateral avascular necrosis of femoral head.

PMID- 20918968
TI  - Mastocytosis: an unusual presentation.

PMID- 20918969
TI  - A psychological setting of somatic disease: the 'giving up - given up' complex.

PMID- 20918970
TI  - The pink spot.

PMID- 20918972
TI  - The experimental study of psychotic children.

PMID- 20918971
TI  - The pink spot.

PMID- 20918973
TI  - The experimental study of psychotic children.

PMID- 20918974
TI  - Some hazards of pelvic surgery.

PMID- 20918975
TI  - The Seed-bag and the Urn.

PMID- 20918976
TI  - The royal college of physicians of ireland and some of its famous personalities.

PMID- 20918977
TI  - Antibodies-structure and biological function.

PMID- 20918978
TI  - Antibodies-structure and biological function.

PMID- 20918980
TI  - Perforating injuries of the globe [abridged].

PMID- 20918979
TI  - Antibodies-structure and biological function.

PMID- 20918981
TI  - Perforating injuries of the globe [abridged].

PMID- 20918982
TI  - Perforating injuries of the globe [abridged].

PMID- 20918983
TI  - Headache.

PMID- 20918984
TI  - The management of anaesthesia in sickle cell States [abridged].

PMID- 20918986
TI  - Drug therapy of infertility.

PMID- 20918985
TI  - The management of anaesthesia in sickle cell States [abridged].

PMID- 20918987
TI  - The remote effects of cancer on the nervous system.

PMID- 20918988
TI  - The remote effects of cancer on the nervous system.

PMID- 20918990
TI  - Specialist Training in Great Britain today as seen by a Trainee.

PMID- 20918989
TI  - Specialist Training in Great Britain today as seen by a Trainee.

PMID- 20918991
TI  - Three Hundred Cases of Parotid Tumours with Special Reference to the Management
      of Giant Cell Dumb-bell Tumours [Summary].

PMID- 20918992
TI  - Medical research council radiation research at the hammersmith hospital.

PMID- 20918993
TI  - Medical research council radiation research at the hammersmith hospital.

PMID- 20918994
TI  - Auditory communication [summary].

PMID- 20918995
TI  - Auditory communication [summary].

PMID- 20918996
TI  - Auditory communication [summary].

PMID- 20918997
TI  - Auditory communication [summary].

PMID- 20918998
TI  - Mechanical and physiological properties of bone.

PMID- 20918999
TI  - Mechanical and physiological properties of bone.

PMID- 20919000
TI  - The northwick park project [abstract].

PMID- 20919001
TI  - Surgical care of the hand.

PMID- 20919002
TI  - Surgical care of the hand.

PMID- 20919003
TI  - Symposium: speech, learning and child health.

PMID- 20919005
TI  - Early treatment of multiple injuries [abridged].

PMID- 20919004
TI  - Early treatment of multiple injuries [abridged].

PMID- 20919006
TI  - Early treatment of multiple injuries [abridged].

PMID- 20919008
TI  - Early treatment of multiple injuries [abridged].

PMID- 20919007
TI  - Early treatment of multiple injuries [abridged].

PMID- 20919009
TI  - Early treatment of multiple injuries [abridged].

PMID- 20919010
TI  - Protein metabolism.

PMID- 20919011
TI  - Protein metabolism.

PMID- 20919012
TI  - Impurities in nitrous oxide [abridged].

PMID- 20919013
TI  - Impurities in nitrous oxide [abridged].

PMID- 20919014
TI  - Impurities in nitrous oxide [abridged].

PMID- 20919015
TI  - Impurities in nitrous oxide [abridged].

PMID- 20919016
TI  - Ballistocardiography and ischaemic heart disease: predictive considerations and
      statistical evaluation.

PMID- 20919017
TI  - Diagnosis and treatment of monocytic leukaemia [summary].

PMID- 20919019
TI  - Microangiography in retinal vascular occlusion [abstract].

PMID- 20919018
TI  - The doubtful optic disc [summary].

PMID- 20919021
TI  - The life cycle of the temporomandibular joint.

PMID- 20919020
TI  - Recent Advances in Neuro-ophthalmology [Summary].

PMID- 20919023
TI  - An elastic vascular prosthesis.

PMID- 20919022
TI  - Ruptured aortic aneurysm as an abdominal emergency.

PMID- 20919024
TI  - Radiology in renal transplants [summary].

PMID- 20919026
TI  - Inferior vena cavography after partial caval occlusion [summary].

PMID- 20919025
TI  - Drip infusion cholangiography.

PMID- 20919027
TI  - Thermography [summary].

PMID- 20919028
TI  - Anterior hypophysitis associated with autoimmune disease [summary].

PMID- 20919029
TI  - The use of the placenta in human biochemical genetics with special reference to
      twin placentation and zygosity [summary].

PMID- 20919030
TI  - Practical medical history [summary].

PMID- 20919031
TI  - Are there emotional causes of obesity? [Summary].

PMID- 20919032
TI  - Villous tumours of the rectosigmoid [abstracts].

PMID- 20919033
TI  - Villous tumours of the rectosigmoid [abstracts].

PMID- 20919034
TI  - Villous tumours of the rectosigmoid [abstracts].

PMID- 20919035
TI  - Communication between Doctors and Patients.

PMID- 20919036
TI  - Communication between Doctors and Patients.

PMID- 20919037
TI  - Communication between Doctors and Patients.

PMID- 20919038
TI  - Hypernatraemia in a patient with ectopic pinealoma.

PMID- 20919039
TI  - Bladder emptying by nerve and muscle stimulation.

PMID- 20919040
TI  - Film on bladder stimulators.

PMID- 20919041
TI  - Record Linkage Techniques in Studies of the aetiology of Cancer.

PMID- 20919042
TI  - Use and abuse of advertising in medicine.

PMID- 20919043
TI  - Myasthenia gravis: clinical aspects.

PMID- 20919045
TI  - FructosaeMia [Summary].

PMID- 20919044
TI  - Well-population Screening.

PMID- 20919046
TI  - Chromosomal deletion syndromes [summary].

PMID- 20919047
TI  - Ultrasonic diagnosis of intraocular tumours.

PMID- 20919049
TI  - The Burnt Child and his Family [Abridged].

PMID- 20919048
TI  - The Burnt Child and his Family [Abridged].

PMID- 20919050
TI  - Salivary gland tumours [abridged].

PMID- 20919051
TI  - Salivary gland tumours [abridged].

PMID- 20919052
TI  - Salivary gland tumours [abridged].

PMID- 20919053
TI  - Salivary gland tumours [abridged].

PMID- 20919054
TI  - Diffuse pulmonary fibrosis [abstract].

PMID- 20919056
TI  - Diffuse pulmonary fibrosis [abstract].

PMID- 20919055
TI  - Diffuse pulmonary fibrosis [abstract].

PMID- 20919057
TI  - Vocal disabilities of singers [abridged].

PMID- 20919059
TI  - Chairman's Summing-up.

PMID- 20919058
TI  - Chairman's Introduction.

PMID- 20919060
TI  - Thyroid stimulating factor in the serum of immunized rabbits.

PMID- 20919062
TI  - Medical education and the common market.

PMID- 20919061
TI  - Toxic chemicals and peripheral neuropathy.

PMID- 20919063
TI  - Medical education and the common market.

PMID- 20919064
TI  - Medical education and the common market.

PMID- 20919065
TI  - Congestive Cardiac Failure due to Secondary Amyloidosis.

PMID- 20919066
TI  - Transient Choreo-athetosis Following Hypernatraemia [Summary].

PMID- 20919068
TI  - Metrication in medical journals: a conference of editors.

PMID- 20919067
TI  - Introduction.

PMID- 20919069
TI  - An interdisciplinary approach to measurement.
AB  - This meeting had as its theme the importance of good communications between
      workers in different disciplines. Papers and demonstrations were presented on a
      range of topics as apparently unrelated as the intraocular pressure, the tension
      of nitrogen in blood, and the experimental production of mesothelial tumours. In
      his introduction Dr J C Gilson showed how these were some recent end-products of
      research into pneumoconiosis. The work of the Pneumoconiosis Research Unit was
      centred round the properties of airborne dust and the acute and long-term effects
      of its inhalation. Studies ranged from the immunological responses of coal
      workers to surveys of men in some of the world's major asbestos fields; the
      latter were selected on account of the exposure to dust differing from that of
      workers in the UK in being confined to a single type of fibre. One link between
      the different studies was the features of the chest radiographs. For rounded
      opacities these were now read using the ILO Classification which was largely
      developed at the Unit; Dr Gilson demonstrated a recent extension to include the
      irregular opacities which are associated with exposure to asbestos.

PMID- 20919070
TI  - Infectious complications of transplantation surgery.

PMID- 20919072
TI  - Still's Disease Followed into Adult Life.

PMID- 20919075
TI  - Chairman's Closing Remarks.

PMID- 20919074
TI  - Chairman's Introduction.

PMID- 20919073
TI  - Carcinoma of the urachus [summary].

PMID- 20919076
TI  - Cutaneous ulceration in Crohn's disease [summary].

PMID- 20919077
TI  - Embryology.

PMID- 20919078
TI  - A controlled trial of conservative treatment for early breast cancer.

PMID- 20919080
TI  - Subphrenic abscess: the place of antibiotics.

PMID- 20919079
TI  - The prognostic implication of treatment.

PMID- 20919081
TI  - Subphrenic abscess: the place of antibiotics.

PMID- 20919083
TI  - A USA-UK Comparison.

PMID- 20919082
TI  - Subphrenic abscess: the place of antibiotics.

PMID- 20919084
TI  - A USA-UK Comparison.

PMID- 20919085
TI  - Effect of abdominal decompression on the metabolism of the foetoplacental unit.

PMID- 20919087
TI  - Effect of abdominal decompression on the metabolism of the foetoplacental unit.

PMID- 20919086
TI  - Effect of abdominal decompression on the metabolism of the foetoplacental unit.

PMID- 20919088
TI  - Specialized training in communicable diseases: the army.

PMID- 20919089
TI  - Late Results of Adrenalectomy for Cushing's Syndrome.

PMID- 20919090
TI  - Surgical implications of medullary carcinoma of the thyroid.

PMID- 20919091
TI  - Surgical implications of medullary carcinoma of the thyroid.

PMID- 20919092
TI  - Congenital arteriovenous fistula within the tibia.

PMID- 20919093
TI  - Sir Terence Cawthorne at King's College Hospital.

PMID- 20919094
TI  - Sir Terence Cawthorne at King's College Hospital.

PMID- 20919095
TI  - Sir Terence Cawthorne at King's College Hospital.

PMID- 20919096
TI  - Glaucoma: A Fourteen-year Retrospective Study of Scheie and Flap Sclerotomies.

PMID- 20919097
TI  - The general practitioner and industrial absenteeism.

PMID- 20919098
TI  - The general practitioner and industrial absenteeism.

PMID- 20919099
TI  - Duration of recovery from minor injuries.

PMID- 20919101
TI  - Duration of recovery from minor injuries.

PMID- 20919100
TI  - Duration of recovery from minor injuries.

PMID- 20919102
TI  - Duration of recovery from minor injuries.

PMID- 20919104
TI  - Duration of recovery from minor injuries.

PMID- 20919105
TI  - Duration of recovery from minor injuries.

PMID- 20919103
TI  - Duration of recovery from minor injuries.

PMID- 20919106
TI  - Duration of recovery from minor injuries.

PMID- 20919107
TI  - Duration of recovery from minor injuries.

PMID- 20919108
TI  - Duration of recovery from minor injuries.

PMID- 20919109
TI  - Duration of recovery from minor injuries.

PMID- 20919110
TI  - The Employer's Point of View.

PMID- 20919111
TI  - The Employer's Point of View.

PMID- 20919112
TI  - The Employer's Point of View.

PMID- 20919114
TI  - The Employer's Point of View.

PMID- 20919113
TI  - The Employer's Point of View.

PMID- 20919115
TI  - The Employer's Point of View.

PMID- 20919116
TI  - President's Introduction.

PMID- 20919118
TI  - Impermeability of the human rectum to water and electrolytes [abstract].

PMID- 20919117
TI  - Monitoring of adverse reactions to drugs in the United kingdom: some illustrative
      examples of the work done by the committee on safety of drugs.

PMID- 20919119
TI  - Chairman's Introduction.

PMID- 20919120
TI  - Release of oxytocin by the human foetus during labour abstract.

PMID- 20919121
TI  - Selective indications for ketamine anaesthesia.

PMID- 20919122
TI  - Selective indications for ketamine anaesthesia.

PMID- 20919123
TI  - Selective indications for ketamine anaesthesia.

PMID- 20919124
TI  - The Complementary Roles of ENT and Plastic Surgery in Major Malignancies of the
      Middle Ear.

PMID- 20919126
TI  - A Porter's View [Abridged].

PMID- 20919125
TI  - Political biography.

PMID- 20919127
TI  - A Porter's View [Abridged].

PMID- 20919128
TI  - A Parent's View [Abridged].

PMID- 20919129
TI  - Diagnosis of deep vein thrombosis and fractures of femoral neck [summary].

PMID- 20919131
TI  - Case summaries.

PMID- 20919130
TI  - Lupoid sclerosis [summary].

PMID- 20919132
TI  - An immunological approach to the detection of neoplasia.

PMID- 20919133
TI  - The place of internal urethrotomy in the treatment of urinary incontinence in
      women.

PMID- 20919134
TI  - Eradication of smallpox: the critical year ahead.

PMID- 20919135
TI  - Granulomatous liver disease and portal hypertension.

PMID- 20919136
TI  - Acute hepatic sarcoidosis.

PMID- 20919137
TI  - Cerebral lesion in an adult coeliac.

PMID- 20919138
TI  - Tuberculosis, Crohn's disease and villous papilloma of the rectum.

PMID- 20919139
TI  - A Multi-disciplinary Approach to the Relief of Pain.

PMID- 20919140
TI  - Facial palsies: selection of cases for treatment.

PMID- 20919141
TI  - Recognition and management of facial nerve palsies of operative and traumatic
      origin [abridged].

PMID- 20919142
TI  - Traumatic facial palsy.

PMID- 20919143
TI  - Amenorrhoea and galactorrhoea.

PMID- 20919144
TI  - 'Sphincter cripples' [abridged].

PMID- 20919145
TI  - Treatment of malignant disease of the orbital region [abridged].

PMID- 20919146
TI  - Treatment of malignant disease of the orbital region [abridged].

PMID- 20919147
TI  - Immunity to schistosomiasis.

PMID- 20919149
TI  - Summing up.

PMID- 20919148
TI  - Dynamic Psychotherapy: Can it be Evaluated.

PMID- 20919150
TI  - The radiological diagnosis of adrenal tumours [abstract].

PMID- 20919151
TI  - Parachuting injuries.

PMID- 20919152
TI  - Lipodystrophia centrifugalis abdominalis infantilis.

PMID- 20919153
TI  - Freiberg's Disease: A Review of the Long-term Results.

PMID- 20919154
TI  - Samuel dale (1659-1739), physician and geologist.

PMID- 20919155
TI  - Methods of mechanical ventilation for hyaline membrane disease.

PMID- 20919157
TI  - Methods of mechanical ventilation for hyaline membrane disease.

PMID- 20919156
TI  - Methods of mechanical ventilation for hyaline membrane disease.

PMID- 20919158
TI  - Methods of mechanical ventilation for hyaline membrane disease.

PMID- 20919159
TI  - Newer diagnostic methods.

PMID- 20919160
TI  - Newer diagnostic methods.

PMID- 20919161
TI  - Newer diagnostic methods.

PMID- 20919162
TI  - Newer diagnostic methods.

PMID- 20919163
TI  - Newer diagnostic methods.

PMID- 20919164
TI  - Endocrine therapy - the future.

PMID- 20919165
TI  - Endocrine therapy - the future.

PMID- 20919166
TI  - Endocrine therapy - the future.

PMID- 20919167
TI  - Endocrine therapy - the future.

PMID- 20919168
TI  - Endocrine therapy - the future.

PMID- 20919170
TI  - Endocrine therapy - the future.

PMID- 20919169
TI  - Endocrine therapy - the future.

PMID- 20919172
TI  - Chemotherapy in breast cancer.

PMID- 20919171
TI  - Chemotherapy in breast cancer.

PMID- 20919173
TI  - Chemotherapy in breast cancer.

PMID- 20919175
TI  - Chemotherapy in breast cancer.

PMID- 20919174
TI  - Chemotherapy in breast cancer.

PMID- 20919176
TI  - Chemotherapy in breast cancer.

PMID- 20919177
TI  - Immunotherapy in treatment of breast cancer.

PMID- 20919178
TI  - Immunotherapy in treatment of breast cancer.

PMID- 20919180
TI  - Immunotherapy in treatment of breast cancer.

PMID- 20919179
TI  - Immunotherapy in treatment of breast cancer.

PMID- 20919181
TI  - Immunotherapy in treatment of breast cancer.

PMID- 20919182
TI  - Immunotherapy in treatment of breast cancer.

PMID- 20919183
TI  - Intraoral malignancy with special reference to jaw replacement.

PMID- 20919184
TI  - The injured face.

PMID- 20919185
TI  - The work of ground staff [summary].

PMID- 20919186
TI  - Combination chemotherapy.

PMID- 20919187
TI  - Combination chemotherapy.

PMID- 20919189
TI  - Immunopathological mechanisms.

PMID- 20919188
TI  - Assessment of head injuries for rehabilitation.

PMID- 20919191
TI  - The function of noise and retinal image quality in human photopic vision
      [summary].

PMID- 20919192
TI  - Keratoconus.

PMID- 20919193
TI  - Conclusions.

PMID- 20919194
TI  - An introduction to optical processing and its applications [summary].

PMID- 20919190
TI  - Autoimmunity in endocrine disease.

PMID- 20919195
TI  - The control system regulating breathing in health at sea level.

PMID- 20919197
TI  - Good general practice: icons and iconoclasts.

PMID- 20919196
TI  - A prospective view.

PMID- 20919198
TI  - Good general practice: icons and iconoclasts.

PMID- 20919199
TI  - Good general practice: icons and iconoclasts.

PMID- 20919200
TI  - Good general practice: icons and iconoclasts.

PMID- 20919202
TI  - Coronary care: home or hospital.

PMID- 20919201
TI  - Disease in the Tropics: Has the Problem Changed for the Epidemiologist since
      Ross?

PMID- 20919203
TI  - Coronary care: home or hospital.

PMID- 20919205
TI  - The general practitioner and the specialist.

PMID- 20919204
TI  - Coronary care: home or hospital.

PMID- 20919206
TI  - The general practitioner and the specialist.

PMID- 20919207
TI  - The general practitioner and the specialist.

PMID- 20919208
TI  - The general practitioner and the specialist.

PMID- 20919210
TI  - The general practitioner and the specialist.

PMID- 20919209
TI  - The general practitioner and the specialist.

PMID- 20919211
TI  - The general practitioner and the specialist.

PMID- 20919213
TI  - Report of the merrison committee.

PMID- 20919212
TI  - The general practitioner and the specialist.

PMID- 20919215
TI  - Report of the merrison committee.

PMID- 20919214
TI  - Report of the merrison committee.

PMID- 20919216
TI  - Adverse reactions to radiological contrast media.

PMID- 20919218
TI  - Coronary angiography.

PMID- 20919217
TI  - Anaesthesia for neuroradiology.

PMID- 20919220
TI  - Medicolegal aspects.

PMID- 20919219
TI  - Pulmonary oedema following translumbar aortography.

PMID- 20919221
TI  - Civil aviation.

PMID- 20919222
TI  - Life before death.

PMID- 20919223
TI  - Life before death.

PMID- 20919224
TI  - Life before death.

PMID- 20919226
TI  - Life before death.

PMID- 20919225
TI  - Life before death.

PMID- 20919227
TI  - Introduction.

PMID- 20919228
TI  - Summing up.

PMID- 20919229
TI  - Hysteroscopy.

PMID- 20919230
TI  - Samuel Pepys and his Stones [Abstract].

PMID- 20919231
TI  - Cervical lymph node metastases.

PMID- 20919232
TI  - The birth of american neurology.

PMID- 20919233
TI  - Dr Thomas moffett and the sixteenth century origins of medical microbiology
      [abstract].

PMID- 20919234
TI  - Pesticides in Perspective: Some Ecological Aspects of their Uses in Agriculture
      and Public Health.

PMID- 20919235
TI  - Pollution with sound.

PMID- 20919236
TI  - Exposure of man to microbes in industry.

PMID- 20919237
TI  - Fire risks in intensive care units and operating theatres: evacuation of surgical
      patients [summary].

PMID- 20919238
TI  - Developmental assessment.

PMID- 20919239
TI  - The birth of american neurology.

PMID- 20919240
TI  - Cytological screening for cancer.

PMID- 20919241
TI  - Vertebral venography.

PMID- 20919242
TI  - Cervical lymph node metastases.

PMID- 20919243
TI  - The importance of cooperation in paediatric endoscopy.

PMID- 20919244
TI  - The birth of american neurology.

PMID- 20919245
TI  - Medicolegal aspects.

PMID- 20919247
TI  - Medicolegal aspects.

PMID- 20919246
TI  - Medicolegal aspects.

PMID- 20919248
TI  - Florence nightingale in buckinghamshire [abstract].

PMID- 20919249
TI  - Wegener's granulomatosis presenting as rheumatoid arthritis.

PMID- 20919250
TI  - Osteosarcoma.

PMID- 20919251
TI  - Stage II Carcinoma of the Cervix.

PMID- 20919252
TI  - Circulating malignant cells and fibrinolysis.

PMID- 20919253
TI  - Offshore medicine.

PMID- 20919254
TI  - Medicine in the open university.

PMID- 20919255
TI  - Medicine in the open university.

PMID- 20919256
TI  - Medical disease and the anaesthetist.

PMID- 20919257
TI  - Stage II Carcinoma of the Cervix.

PMID- 20919258
TI  - Stage II Carcinoma of the Cervix.

PMID- 20919259
TI  - Cross-face Nerve Transplantation in Facial Palsy.

PMID- 20919260
TI  - Medical and legal aspects of the increasing demand for diagnostic radiology.

PMID- 20919261
TI  - A perspective of oral cancer.

PMID- 20919262
TI  - Oral manifestations of Crohn's disease: studies in the pathogenesis.

PMID- 20919263
TI  - Factors affecting Intraocular Pressure.

PMID- 20919264
TI  - Chairman's Summing Up.

PMID- 20919265
TI  - Chairman's Summing Up.

PMID- 20919266
TI  - Chairman's Summing Up.

PMID- 20919267
TI  - Clinical oncology.

PMID- 20919269
TI  - Too many hospital referrals?

PMID- 20919268
TI  - Simplification of laboratory and other reports.

PMID- 20919270
TI  - Project selection in the pharmaceutical industry.

PMID- 20919271
TI  - Ankylosing spondylitis and spinal osteotomy.

PMID- 20919272
TI  - A perspective of oral cancer.

PMID- 20919273
TI  - Letters to the editor.

PMID- 20919274
TI  - Periodic reregistration.

PMID- 20919275
TI  - Recurrent oral ulceration [abridged report].

PMID- 20919276
TI  - Pioneers in obstetrics and hospital hygiene [abridged report].

PMID- 20919277
TI  - On dying and dying well.

PMID- 20919278
TI  - A new look at thermoregulation in the newborn.

PMID- 20919279
TI  - Some reflections on book reviews.

PMID- 20919280
TI  - Management of the injured ureter.

PMID- 20919281
TI  - Outpatient thyrography: its value in the diagnosis of thyroid and mediastinal
      lesions.

PMID- 20919283
TI  - Outpatient percutaneous ligation of varicose veins.

PMID- 20919282
TI  - Sex difference and the mind.

PMID- 20919285
TI  - Early postoperative abdominal complications and reoperations after gallbladder,
      colonic and gastric surgery.

PMID- 20919284
TI  - Hormone replacement therapy and the general practitioner.

PMID- 20919286
TI  - The value of comparative pathology.

PMID- 20919287
TI  - Children's Feet.

PMID- 20919288
TI  - Academic General Practice: Is it relevant?

PMID- 20919290
TI  - The influence of litigation on medical practice.

PMID- 20919289
TI  - Anorexia nervosa.

PMID- 20919291
TI  - The Treatment of Pilonidal Sinus at St Mark's Hospital.

PMID- 20919292
TI  - Premyxoedema - a cause of preventable coronary heart disease.

PMID- 20919293
TI  - Sex difference and the mind.

PMID- 20919294
TI  - Letters to the editor.

PMID- 20919295
TI  - Breast cancer.

PMID- 20919296
TI  - Spina bifida: some problems of management.

PMID- 20919297
TI  - Medical research, reading, speaking and writing.

PMID- 20919298
TI  - Sex difference and the mind.

PMID- 20919299
TI  - Visual field examination.

PMID- 20919301
TI  - Visual field examination.

PMID- 20919300
TI  - Academic General Practice: Is it Relevant?

PMID- 20919302
TI  - Evaluation of preclinical hypothyroidism.

PMID- 20919304
TI  - Changing patterns in higher education.

PMID- 20919303
TI  - Section of medical and dental hypnosis.

PMID- 20919305
TI  - The leprosy study centre in london.

PMID- 20919306
TI  - Premyxoedema: entity or nonentity?

PMID- 20919307
TI  - Visual field examination.

PMID- 20919308
TI  - Introductory remarks.

PMID- 20919309
TI  - Round table discussion: miconazole(1)tolerance and toxicity (2) route of
      administration (3) indications for use.

PMID- 20919310
TI  - Chairman's Summing Up.

PMID- 20919311
TI  - Dopaminergic mechanisms in schizophrenia.

PMID- 20919312
TI  - The role of dopamine in the antipsychotic effect and the pathogenesis of
      schizophrenia.

PMID- 20919314
TI  - The clinical actions of major tranquillizers.

PMID- 20919315
TI  - Is an oral neuroleptic suitable for continuing drug treatment in schizophrenia?

PMID- 20919313
TI  - Neurochemical and psychoanalytical approaches to mania.

PMID- 20919316
TI  - Tardive dyskinesia and pimozide.

PMID- 20919317
TI  - Monosymptomatic hypochondriacal Psychosis: Presentation and Treatment.

PMID- 20919319
TI  - Pimozide in withdrawn chronic schizophrenics: preliminary observations.

PMID- 20919318
TI  - Open study to determine appropriate maintenance dosage of pimozide in patients
      with chronic schizophrenia.

PMID- 20919321
TI  - Chairman's Summing Up.

PMID- 20919320
TI  - Behavioural characterization of neuroleptic properties in the rodent.

PMID- 20919322
TI  - Chairman's Introduction.

PMID- 20919323
TI  - Chairman's Introduction.

PMID- 20919324
TI  - Effect of D-penicillamine Treatment on Certain Humoral Immunological Parameters
      in Clinical and Experimental Arthritis [Abstract].

PMID- 20919326
TI  - Summing up.

PMID- 20919325
TI  - Concluding remarks.

PMID- 20919327
TI  - Summing up.

PMID- 20919328
TI  - Course of Chronic Active Hepatitis in Wilson's Disease [Abstract].

PMID- 20919329
TI  - A Double-blind Controlled Trial of Penicillamine Therapy in Duchenne Muscular
      Dystrophy - Interim Comments [Abstract].

PMID- 20919331
TI  - Foreword.

PMID- 20919330
TI  - A Controlled Trial of D-penicillamine Therapy in Primary Biliary Cirrhosis
      [Abstract].

PMID- 20919332
TI  - Chairman's Introduction.

PMID- 20919333
TI  - Dose-response in hypertension in general practice.

PMID- 20919334
TI  - Placebo-controlled Multicentre Study in General Practice.

PMID- 20919335
TI  - Points arising from discussion.

PMID- 20919337
TI  - Comparison of atenolol (tenormin) and methyldopa (a multicentre study in general
      practice).

PMID- 20919336
TI  - Problems in the detection and management of hypertension.

PMID- 20919338
TI  - Hypertension - factors of relevance to trials design.

PMID- 20919340
TI  - Atenolol Compared with Other Beta-blocking Agents.

PMID- 20919339
TI  - Comparison of once daily atenolol with slow release oxprenolol in hypertension.

PMID- 20919341
TI  - Points arising from discussion.

PMID- 20919342
TI  - Why treat hypertension?

PMID- 20919343
TI  - Physiological aspects of blood pressure measurement.

PMID- 20919344
TI  - Atenolol-Once-daily Dosage.

PMID- 20919345
TI  - Effect of Acute and Chronic Dosing over 24 Hours.

PMID- 20919346
TI  - Points arising from discussion.

PMID- 20919347
TI  - Problems with Beta Adrenergic Blocking Drugs and other Antihypertensive Drugs.

PMID- 20919349
TI  - Cardioselectivity studies.

PMID- 20919348
TI  - Assessment and clinical implications of cardioselectivity.

PMID- 20919350
TI  - Review of clinical pharmacology of atenolol.

PMID- 20919352
TI  - Points arising from discussion.

PMID- 20919351
TI  - Effect of Atenolol and other Beta Blockers on Insulin-induced Hypoglycaemia.

PMID- 20919353
TI  - Interim report on a compliance study and review of side effects.

PMID- 20919354
TI  - Clinical use of atenolol.

PMID- 20919355
TI  - Clinical review of atenolol as an antihypertensive.

PMID- 20919356
TI  - Dose-response in hypertension.

PMID- 20919357
TI  - Pharmacology and toxicology of fenclofenac.

PMID- 20919359
TI  - Therapeutic dose range of fenclofenac.

PMID- 20919358
TI  - The methodology of the fenclofenac clinical research programme and results
      obtained with particular reference to the therapeutic dose range.

PMID- 20919360
TI  - The Use of Quantitative Thermography to Assess the Anti-inflammatory Dose Range
      for Fenclofenac.

PMID- 20919361
TI  - Studies on the Anti-inflammatory Effects of Fenclofenac Using 99-Technetium Joint
      Scanning.

PMID- 20919362
TI  - Fenclofenac in Rheumatoid Arthritis: Sequential Double-blind Cross-over
      Comparisons with Placebo and Naproxen.

PMID- 20919363
TI  - Fenclofenac and soluble aspirin in rheumatoid arthritis: a comparative trial.

PMID- 20919364
TI  - Fenclofenac in rheumatoid arthritis-comparative studies.

PMID- 20919365
TI  - Fenclofenac in osteoarthrosis.

PMID- 20919366
TI  - Fenclofenac in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis.

PMID- 20919367
TI  - Comparative Studies of Gastric Ulcerogenesis by Non-steroid Anti-inflammatory
      Drugs: Effects of Fenclofenac.

PMID- 20919368
TI  - Fenclofenac therapy in rheumatic diseases.

PMID- 20919369
TI  - Preliminary clinical evaluation of fenclofenac (32 patients).

PMID- 20919370
TI  - Analysis of the Side-effect Patterns Presenting During the Course of a Continuing
      Long-term Open Study of Fenclofenac.

PMID- 20919371
TI  - Fenclofenac tolerance in the dyspeptic patient.

PMID- 20919372
TI  - Side-effects of Fenclofenac with Special Reference to the Gastrointestinal Tract.

PMID- 20919373
TI  - Foreword.

PMID- 20919374
TI  - Modern techniques of venous occlusion plethysmography in the assessment of
      peripheral vascular disease.

PMID- 20919375
TI  - Vascular responses with cinnarizine to standard exercise in patients with
      intermittent claudication.

PMID- 20919376
TI  - Treatment of Peripheral Circulatory Disturbances with Cinnarizine: A Multi-centre
      Double-blind, Placebo-controlled Evaluation.

PMID- 20919377
TI  - Use of the ECG-triggered Venous Occlusion Plethysmograph to Study Hyperaemic
      Response Patterns in Patients with Intermittent Claudication treated with
      Cinnarizine.

PMID- 20919378
TI  - Action of cinnarizine on the hyperviscosity of blood in patients with peripheral
      obliterative arterial disease.

PMID- 20919381
TI  - Preliminary clinical experience with cefuroxime: report on one hundred cases.

PMID- 20919379
TI  - Can drug therapy alter the natural course of peripheral vascular disease?: a
      review.

PMID- 20919380
TI  - Cinnarizine in the treatment of peripheral vascular disease: mechanisms related
      to its clinical action.

PMID- 20919382
TI  - Cefuroxime: a clinical evaluation.

PMID- 20919383
TI  - An evaluation of cefuroxime in internal medicine.

PMID- 20919384
TI  - Clinical profile of cefuroxime in sixty-four patients.

PMID- 20919385
TI  - Activityin vitroof Cefuroxime and Six Other Antimicrobial Agents againstNeisseria
      gonorrhoeoeisolated in Belgium and Rwanda.

PMID- 20919386
TI  - In vitroSusceptibility of beta-Lactamase Positive and beta-Lactamase Negative
      Strains ofNeisseria gonorrhoeoeto Cefuroxime.

PMID- 20919387
TI  - Dose response evaluation of cefuroxime in the treatment of gonorrhoea in male and
      female patients.

PMID- 20919388
TI  - Treatment of Females with Acute Gonorrhoea using Cefuroxime.

PMID- 20919390
TI  - Experimental investigations of cefuroxime in renal tolerance and therapeutic
      efficacy in pyelonephritis.

PMID- 20919389
TI  - Cefuroxime and post-gonococcal urethritis.

PMID- 20919391
TI  - Cefuroxime in renal insufficiency: therapeutic results in various infections and
      pharmacokinetics including the effects of dialysis.

PMID- 20919392
TI  - Pharmacokinetic studies of cefuroxime and dosage recommendations in patients with
      impaired renal function.

PMID- 20919393
TI  - Clinical evaluation of the effect of cefuroxime in patients with pyelonephritis
      and osteomyelitis.

PMID- 20919394
TI  - The effect of Renal Failure and Dialysis on the Pharmacokinetics of Cefuroxime.

PMID- 20919395
TI  - Clinical evaluation of cefuroxime in patients with urinary tract infections.

PMID- 20919396
TI  - The efficacy of cefuroxime in urinary tract infections.

PMID- 20919397
TI  - Clinical studies in cefuroxime in the urological and surgical fields.

PMID- 20919398
TI  - Cefuroxime in chronic and acute cystitis.

PMID- 20919399
TI  - Cefuroxime in the treatment of urinary tract infections.

PMID- 20919400
TI  - Pharmacokinetic and clinical study of cefuroxime in infants.

PMID- 20919401
TI  - Pharmacokinetics and clinical efficacy of cefuroxime in the newborn period.

PMID- 20919403
TI  - Experience in the treatment of infections in infants and children with
      cefuroxime.

PMID- 20919402
TI  - A clinical study of cefuroxime in neonates.

PMID- 20919405
TI  - Experience in the use of cefuroxime in paediatric infections.

PMID- 20919404
TI  - Serum and skin blister concentrations of cefuroxime in relation to dose and in
      comparison to cephalothin.

PMID- 20919406
TI  - The microbiological assay of cefuroxime.

PMID- 20919408
TI  - In vitro Activity of Selected Cephalosporins and Penicillins against Bacteria of
      Importance in Infections of Infants and Children.

PMID- 20919407
TI  - Susceptibility to cefuroxime 450 bacterial strains resistant to gentamicin.

PMID- 20919409
TI  - In vitro Microbiological Evaluation of Cefuroxime and its Combinations with
      Gentamicin and Sisomicin.

PMID- 20919410
TI  - Chairmen's Summing Up and General Discussion.

PMID- 20919411
TI  - General summing up.

PMID- 20919412
TI  - Chairman's Closing Remarks.

PMID- 20919413
TI  - Phase one clinical study on cefuroxime.

PMID- 20919414
TI  - Pharmacokinetic and clinical studies on cefuroxime.

PMID- 20919415
TI  - Cefuroxime: pharmacokinetic study in bronchial secretions.

PMID- 20919416
TI  - Bioavailability of Cefuroxime in Various Sites including Bile, Sputum and Bone.

PMID- 20919417
TI  - Cefuroxime concentrations in serum, urine and bile: pharmacokinetic profile.

PMID- 20919418
TI  - Comparative in vitro Activity of Cefuroxime and its Interactions with
      Aminoglycoside Antibiotics.

PMID- 20919419
TI  - The in vitro and in vivo Antibacterial Activity of Cefuroxime.

PMID- 20919420
TI  - Cefuroxime, an in vitro Comparison with Six Other Cephalosporins.

PMID- 20919422
TI  - A clinical and bacteriological study of cefuroxime.

PMID- 20919421
TI  - Cefuroxime Resistance to Staphylococcal beta-Lactamases.

PMID- 20919423
TI  - beta-Lactamase Resistant Cephalosporins with Particular Reference to Cefuroxime.

PMID- 20919424
TI  - Cefuroxime treatment of patients with lower respiratory and urinary tract
      infections.

PMID- 20919425
TI  - Cefuroxime in the treatment of bacterial infections in seriously ill patients
      admitted to an intensive care unit.

PMID- 20919426
TI  - Clinical experience in the treatment of pneumonia with cefuroxime.

PMID- 20919427
TI  - Clinical trials with cefuroxime in chest disease.

PMID- 20919428
TI  - Biliary tract excretion of cefuroxime.

PMID- 20919429
TI  - Clinical evaluation of cefuroxime.

PMID- 20919430
TI  - Analysing contractual environments: lessons from Indigenous health in Canada,
      Australia and New Zealand.
AB  - Contracting in health care is a mechanism used by the governments of Canada,
      Australia and New Zealand to improve the participation of marginalized
      populations in primary health care and improve responsiveness to local needs. As
      a result, complex contractual environments have emerged. The literature on
      contracting in health has tended to focus on the pros and cons of classical
      versus relational contracts from the funder's perspective. This article proposes
      an analytical framework to explore the strengths and weaknesses of contractual
      environments that depend on a number of classical contracts, a single relational
      contract or a mix of the two. Examples from indigenous contracting environments
      are used to inform the elaboration of the framework. Results show that
      contractual environments that rely on a multiplicity of specific contracts are
      administratively onerous, while constraining opportunities for local
      responsiveness. Contractual environments dominated by a single relational
      contract produce a more flexible and administratively streamlined system.

PMID- 20919431
TI  - Tracing experiences of NHS change in England: a process philosophy perspective.
AB  - For over three decades public services have been the subject of unprecedented
      change. Nowhere has this been more evident than in the English National Health
      Service (NHS) where despite the effort expended on change there is growing
      evidence that such restructuring is largely ineffective. Drawing on a study of
      culture modification in the English NHS, this paper utilizes Chia's (1999)
      account of the metaphysics of processual change to consider why attempts to
      restructure public services are not always successful. The paper contributes to
      our understanding of public management reform by considering how an ontology of
      becoming, and a loosening of control, might alter how we approach reforming.
      Further, the paper offers a theoretical justification for the use of standard
      research methods for novel processual ends. The paper concludes with a reflection
      on the implications of a processual perspective for the future management,
      organization and study of change in public administration.

PMID- 20919432
TI  - Costs can be cut by providing high quality training in leg ulcer care.

PMID- 20919433
TI  - [Monitoring the quality of life in patients with varicose disease of the lower
      extremities in the use of venarus].

PMID- 20919434
TI  - [The carcinoid tumor of appendix].

PMID- 20919435
TI  - [Diagnostic and treatment of small peripheral lung neoplasms].

PMID- 20919436
TI  - [Some aspects of pathogenesis of the multiple organ failure by acute bowel
      obstruction].

PMID- 20919437
TI  - [Surgical diseases of earl L. N. Tolstoi (to the 100th anniversary of death)].

PMID- 20919438
TI  - [Complicated laparoscopic hernioplasty be ventral hernia].

PMID- 20919439
TI  - [Biliary complications after liver resections].

PMID- 20919440
TI  - [Endocrine pancreatic tumors by type 1 syndrome of multiple endocrine neoplasia].

PMID- 20919441
TI  - [The choice of synthetic prosthesis and fixation method by laparoscopic ventral
      hernia plasty].

PMID- 20919442
TI  - TGF-beta promotes immune suppression by inhibiting Treg cell apoptosis.

PMID- 20919443
TI  - TLR7 and TLR8 as targets for tumor immunotherapy.

PMID- 20919444
TI  - Maintaining skeletal health among postmenopausal women.
AB  - The paradigm for prevention of osteoporotic fractures in postmenopausal women is
      changing. There are new ways of looking at prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.
      With diagnostic procedures, such as bone densitometry, and recently developed
      pharmacologic agents, such as bisphosphonates and selective estrogen receptor
      modulators, there is increasing optimism about osteoporosis prevention and
      treatment. Effective results have been demonstrated even when treatment is begun
      in women in their 60s and 70s. Bone can be regained and fractures can be
      prevented in patients in this age group and beyond.

PMID- 20919445
TI  - CAPD peritonitis after colonoscopy: follow the guidelines.
AB  - We present two cases of peritonitis shortly after endoscopic examination of the
      large bowel with polypectomy in patients on continuous ambulant peritoneal
      dialysis (CAPD) despite the standard preventive measure to drain the dialysate
      from the abdomen prior to the procedure. We have reviewed the current literature
      on this topic. These cases demonstrate that the administration of prophylactic
      broad-spectrum antibiotics next to the drainage of the abdomen prior to
      colonoscopy in CAPD patients should be considered as recommended in the
      International Society for Peritoneal Dialysis (IS PD) guidelines 2005.

PMID- 20919446
TI  - Hypoglycaemia in nondiabetic patients.

PMID- 20919447
TI  - Investigating bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signaling in a newly established
      human cell line expressing BMP receptor type II.
AB  - Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs), members of the transforming growth factor
      beta cytokine superfamily, elicit various biological effects in different
      tissues. BMP receptor type II (BMPRII) contains a unique carboxyl-terminal region
      that interacts with multiple signaling molecules. However, expression of
      endogenous BMPRII is low in various mammalian cell lines, which hampers the
      analysis of BMP signaling. Therefore, we established a human cell line expressing
      BMPRII tagged with a Flag epitope (BMPRII-Flag) using the tetracycline-controlled
      Flp-In T-REx gene expression system. The BMPRII-Flag gene was introduced into the
      Flp-In T-REx 293 (FT293) cell line, a derivative of human 293 embryonic kidney
      fibroblasts. Then we analyzed the expression of key BMP target genes, inhibitors
      of DNA binding (Id) family members (Id1, Id2, and Id3) and the inhibitory Smads
      Smad6 and Smad7, in parental FT293 cells and an established cell line, FT293
      BMPRII, by quantitative real-time PCR. Tetracycline treatment significantly
      increased the expression of BMPRII-Flag mRNA and protein in FT293-BMPRII cells,
      but induced no significant changes in expression of Id1, Id2, Id3, Smad6, or
      Smad7 mRNA. In contrast, treatment with a BMPRII ligand BMP2 induced the
      expression of Id1, Id2, Id3, and Smad6 in parental FT293 cells and FT293-BMPRII
      cells. Tetracycline-induced BMPRII-Flag expression significantly enhanced the
      induction of Id1, Id3, and Smad6 mRNA expression in FT293-BMPRII cells treated
      with BMP2. These findings provide evidence that although BMPRII has no obvious
      effect on the expression of representative BMP target genes, it differentially
      modulates the responsiveness of target genes to BMP2.

PMID- 20919448
TI  - Expanding the use of neurotoxins in facial aesthetics: a consensus panel's
      assessment and recommendations.
AB  - Injection of botulinum toxin type A (BoNTA) is the most common nonsurgical
      aesthetic procedure undertaken in the United States (U.S.). A new formulation of
      BoNTA (abobotulinumtoxinA, DysportTM) has recently been approved in the U.S. for
      the treatment of glabellar lines. This product has been used for facial
      aesthetics in other parts of the world for more than 15 years, whereas in the
      U.S. a different formulation (onabotulinumtoxinA, Botox(r) Cosmetic) has been
      used for many years. The various formulations of neurotoxins are unique and are
      not interchangeable nor are doses convertible from one product to another, so it
      is important that recommendations be developed to assist U.S. clinicians in
      understanding the differences between the two available formulations of BoNTA,
      which should ensure successful outcomes with these products. A group of worldwide
      experts on the aesthetic use of BoNTA convened in February 2009 in New York, NY,
      to review the use of BoNTA and to develop consensus recommendations for the use
      of the new formulation, since such guidelines previously had only been published
      in German. This publication summarizes key discussions from the meeting as well
      as recommendations and suggestions regarding the use of abobotulinumtoxinA in the
      areas of the face most commonly treated with BoNTA.

PMID- 20919449
TI  - Increased efficiency using the encapsulation-dehydration cryopreservation
      technique for Arabidopsis thaliana.
AB  - Arabidopsis thaliana shoot tips were successfully cryopreserved using
      encapsulation-dehydration cryopreservation methods. Between one and seven shoot
      tips were encapsulated within 4 mm calcium-alginate beads. Beads were formed in
      the presence of 2 M glycerol + 0.4 M sucrose. The time required to make 10 beads,
      each containing five shoot tips (4 min), was less than the time required to make
      50 beads containing one shoot tip (12 min). Shoot tip regrowth after cryoexposure
      was between 60 and 68%, with one to seven shoot tips per bead. Using five
      Arabidopsis shoot tips per bead, alginate beads were formed either in the
      presence of 2 M glycerol + 0.4 M sucrose or 0.5 M sucrose. Beads formed in the
      presence of glycerol were immediately air-dried to moisture contents between 0.21
      to 0.26 g H2O/g FW (0.27 to 0.38 g H2O/g DW). Alginate beads formed in 0.5 M
      sucrose were incubated in solutions of 0.5, 0.75, and 1 M sucrose for one day
      each prior to air-dehydration, achieving moisture contents of 0.19 to 0.21 g
      H2O/g FW (0.23 to 0.27 g H2O/g DW). Shoot tip regrowth after cryoexposure was
      between 42 and 65%, with no significant differences among treatments. We
      successfully reduced the amount of time needed for shoot tip processing for
      Arabidopsis by encapsulating five shoot tips per alginate bead and by using a
      glycerol-encapsulation method, without lowering shoot tip regrowth levels after
      cryopreservation.

PMID- 20919450
TI  - Recovery and characterisation of hybrid firs (Abies alba x A. cephalonica, Abies
      albax A. numidica) embryogenic tissues after cryopreservation.
AB  - Embryogenic tissues of hybrid firs were cryopreserved using a slow freezing
      protocol. The procedure involved preculture of tissues for 24, 48 or 72 h in
      media with different sorbitol concentrations (0.4 or 0.8 M) and addition of 5%
      (v/v) DMSO as cryoprotectant. The cell lines tested withstood cryopreservation,
      even though tissue regrowth after thawing was dependent on treatment and cell
      line. For cell line AN72, regrowth was 100% for all experimental conditions
      tested. With cell line AC78, regrowth was 100% except after shorter pretreatment
      durations, which produced 83% and 86% regrowth for 0.4 M and 0.8 M sorbitol
      pretreatment, respectively. Cell lines AC1 and AC4 were more sensitive to
      cryopreservation with 37.5 to 100% regrowth, respectively. Growth parameters
      evaluated 3 months after cryopreservation showed cell line and treatments
      effects. In most cases, cryopreservation had no negative effect on growth of
      tissues. Statistically significant differences in fresh mass accumulation were
      found for four samples out of 24 investigated, although growth increase of these
      tissues still reached 79.4-84.6%, compared with non-cryopreserved ones (100%
      increase). Maturation capacity and genetic fidelity were studied in tissues whose
      growth was not negatively influenced by cryopreservation. Maturation capacity of
      embryogenic tissues cryopreserved using the optimal protocol was comparable to
      that of non-frozen controls. RAPD analysis of 88 genomic regions per cell line
      did not reveal any changes in genetic fidelity of cryopreserved tissues compared
      to non-cryopreserved controls.

PMID- 20919452
TI  - Cryopreservation of zebrafish (Danio rerio) oocytes by vitrification.
AB  - Cryopreservation of fish oocytes is challenging because these oocytes have low
      membrane permeability to water and cryoprotectant and are highly chilling
      sensitive. Vitrification is considered to be a promising approach for their
      cryopreservation as it involves rapid freezing and thawing of the oocytes and
      therefore minimising the chilling injury. In the present study, vitrification
      properties and the toxicity of a range of vitrification solutions containing
      different concentrations of Me2SO, methanol, propylene glycol and ethylene glycol
      were investigated. Two different base media and vitrification methods were
      compared. The effect of different post-thaw dilution solutions together with
      incubation periods on oocyte viability were also investigated. Stage III
      zebrafish oocytes were equilibrated in increasing concentrations of
      cryoprotectants for 30 min in 3 steps. Oocytes were thawed rapidly in a water
      bath and cryoprotectants were removed in 4 steps. Oocyte viability was assessed
      using trypan blue staining. The results showed that vitrification solutions V3
      and V4 in KCl buffer had low toxicity and vitrified well. The survivals of
      oocytes after stepwise dilution using solutions containing permeable
      cryoprotectants were significant higher than those diluted in 0.5M glucose, and
      the use of CVA65 vitrification system improved oocyte survival when compared with
      plastic straws after 30 min at 22 degrees C post-thawing. Cryopreservation of
      zebrafish oocytes by vitrification is reported here for the first time, although
      oocyte survivals after cryopreservation assessed by trypan blue staining were
      relatively high shortly after thawing, they became swollen and translucent after
      incubation in KCl buffer. Further studies are needed to optimise the post-thaw
      culturing conditions.

PMID- 20919451
TI  - Induction of phospho-Thr-172 AMPK in 3T3-L1 adipocytes exposed to cold or treated
      with anisomycin, mithramycin A, and ionic compounds.
AB  - Cold exposure induces cellular responses, including subcellular molecule
      expression and transport responses, similar to those stimulated by insulin in 3T3
      L1 (L1) adipocytes. The transport response is induced in L1 adipocytes treated
      with translation inhibitors. We examined the level of phospho-Thr-172 AMPK (an
      active form of AMPK, a known energy-state sensor) in L1 adipocytes exposed to
      different temperatures of 4-37 degrees C or stressors, including chemical
      inhibitors and activators. The phospho-AMPK level increased in cold-exposed cells
      and their subcellular fractions and decreased after rewarming and serum
      depletion. The phospho-molecule was also induced by anisomycin, which induces
      protein kinase activation and translation inhibition; mithramycin A, an inhibitor
      of transcription factor binding; and ionic compounds, which stimulate molecular
      signaling and alter several gene expression. These results indicate that
      temperature responses are mimicked by metabolic stressors through phospho
      molecule alteration. Our results provide possible clues for clarifying the
      mechanisms underlying cold responses in L1 adipocytes.

PMID- 20919453
TI  - Ice-active proteins from New Zealand snow tussocks, Chionochloa macra AND C.
      rigida.
AB  - The ice active protein profile of New Zealand snow tussocks Chionochloa macra and
      C. rigida consisted of ice nucleation activity but no antifreeze or
      recrystallization inhibition activity. The ice nucleation activity was similar in
      the two species, despite them being collected at different altitudes and at
      different times. The activity is intrinsic to the plant and is associated with
      the surface of the leaves. Snow tussocks collect water from fog. Nucleation sites
      on the surface of their leaves may aid the efficiency of this process.

PMID- 20919454
TI  - Physiological, biochemical and molecular characteristics of cryopreserved
      Hypericum perforatum L. shoot tips.
AB  - Hypericum perforatum L. in vitro cultured shoot tips were characterised at the
      physiological, biochemical and molecular levels following recovery from cryogenic
      treatment using the plant vitrification solutions PVS2 and PVS3. This comparative
      study revealed an increase in recovery and regrowth of explants cryoprotected
      with PVS3. Among the physiological markers only lipid peroxidation in the
      regenerants treated with PVS2 significantly increased indicating membrane damage.
      Genotype-specific interactions were found in most characteristics studied, with
      some variation detected within control and cryopreserved samples. Analyses of
      metabolite biosynthesis and genetic stability showed no significant differences
      in hypericin content, RAPD and minisatellite amplification profiles between PVS2-
      and PVS3-treated explants. This study demonstrates and discusses the criteria
      selective for PVS3 to improve the cryopreservation of H. perforatum L.

PMID- 20919455
TI  - Effect of cryopreservation protocols on the phenotypic stability of yeast.
AB  - Eight cryopreservation protocols were assessed for their effects on the viability
      and phenotypic stability of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae during a five-year
      study. It is found that viability and phenotypic features have remained largely
      unchanged when the yeast was preserved in glycerol, dimethyl sulphoxide, or
      sucrose at -80 degrees C or in liquid nitrogen. When sorbitol was used as a
      cryoprotectant, yeast cells frozen and stored at -80 degrees C manifested great
      decreases in viability after six months in storage and concomitantly large
      fluctuations in the rate of the trpl auxotrophic reversion. This phenotypic
      reversion was stable passage after passage. Such a degree of phenotypic
      fluctuations, however, was not observed for yeast cells preserved in the same
      sorbitol solution that went through a controlled freezing program and were
      subsequently stored in liquid nitrogen. These results indicate that some
      combinations of cryoprotective agent, freezing program, and storage temperature
      disturb biomaterials more profoundly during cryopreservation and imply a genetic
      basis of this phenotypic change.

PMID- 20919456
TI  - An improved pollen collection and cryopreservation method for highly recalcitrant
      tropical fruit species of mango (Mangifera indica L.) and litchi (Litchi
      chinensis Sonn.).
AB  - An improved method for pollen collection from freshly dehiscing anthers of mango
      (Mangifera indica L.) and litchi (Litchi chinensis Sonn.) using the organic
      solvent cyclohexane has been devised. Using this method pollen quantity
      sufficient for large scale pollinations could be collected and stored for future
      use. Transport of pollen in viable conditions over long distances, from site of
      collection (field genebank) to cryolab was successfully devised for both these
      fruit species. Cryopreservation was successfully applied to achieve long-term
      pollen storage over periods of up to four years. Pollen viability was tested
      using in vitro germination, the fluorochromatic reaction (FCR) method and by
      fruit set following field pollination. On retesting, four year cryostored pollen
      of different mango and litchi varieties showed high percentage viability as good
      as fresh control pollens. Pollens of more than 180 cultivars of mango and 19
      cultivars of litchi have been stored in the cryogenebank using the technology
      developed, thus facilitating breeding programmes over the long-term.

PMID- 20919457
TI  - A universal self-adaptive time-varying function for extracellular concentration
      during osmotic shift for curve-fitting permeability coefficients of cell
      membrane.
AB  - A universal self-adaptive time-varying function of extracellular concentration
      history during osmotic shift for measuring cell membrane permeability was
      presented in this study. The feasibility and accuracy of the assumed function
      were verified based on the experimental data obtained from the microperfusion
      chamber method. It was found that the assumed function could always give out the
      very satisfactory coefficient of determination, and there were no significant
      differences between the hydraulic conductivity values fitted using the laser
      interferometer measured extracellular concentration profile and the predicted one
      by the assumed piecewise function (student's t test, p > 0.05). Due to the
      adaptive feature of the assumed function for the concentration of extracellular
      solution, the function was suggest to be used for all the similar studies for
      measurement of cell membrane permeability by osmotic shift.

PMID- 20919458
TI  - [WHO child growth standards for children 0-5 years and the possibility of their
      implementation in Poland].
AB  - The origin of the WHO Child Growth Standards dates back to the early 1990s and
      the meticulous evaluation of the NCHS growth reference, which had been
      recommended for international use since the late 1970s. The review documented the
      deficiencies of the reference and led to a plan for developing new growth charts
      that would depict how children should grow in all countries rather than merely
      describing how they grew at a particular time and place. The outcome of this plan
      was the WHO Multicentre Growth Reference Study (1997-2003), which applied
      rigorous methods of data collection and which serves as a model of collaboration
      for conducting international research. The study provides a solid foundation for
      developing a standard because the sample is based on healthy the mothers of the
      children selected for the construction of the standards engaged in fundamental
      health promoting practices, namely breastfeeding and non smoking. Other important
      features of the study are that it included children from a diverse set of
      countries (Brazil, Ghana, India, Norway, Oman and USA) and explicitly identified
      breastfeeding as the biological norm and established the breastfed child as the
      normative model for growth and development. By replacing the NCHS reference,
      which is based on children from a single country, with one based on an
      international group of children, the new standards recognize that children all
      the world over grow similarly when their health and care needs are met. The WHO
      Child Growth Standards provide a technically robust tool for assessing the well
      being of infants and young children. The standards depict normal growth under
      optimal environmental conditions and can be used to assess children everywhere,
      regardless of ethnicity, socioeconomic status and type of feeding. In the paper
      the current status regarding growth reference (norms) in Poland and activities
      undertaken for implementation of the WHO Child Growth Standards in this country
      are presented.

PMID- 20919459
TI  - [Assessment of physical development of children and adolescents. Part I. Infants
      and children up to 5 years--national reference values or WHO standards?].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Growth and development assessment of infants and young children is
      a very important component of early prophylaxis in paediatric health care. In
      2006 the World Health Organization published the new Child Growth Standards for
      children up to 5 years of age. They describe the optimal pattern of young
      children development. AIM OF THE STUDY: 1. To compare the cut-off points for
      selected anthropometric parameters in children up to 5 years between reference
      values for Polish children and WHO Child Growth Standards. 2. To attempt to
      answer the question whether the WHO Child Growth Standards can be implemented to
      assess health and development in children up to 5 years in Poland. METHODS: The
      differences for mean (50th percentile) and extreme values (3rd and 97th
      percentile) for length/height for age and weight for age were calculated for boys
      and girls. The differences in BMI units for overweight (mean + 1 SD) and obesity
      (mean + 2 SD) were compared using the z-score method. RESULTS: Comparisons of the
      WHO and Polish length/height and weight for age showed no differences in children
      aged 1-60 months. Small differences were seen in the 3rd percentile (less than
      2%) in children aged 3 and 6 years. BMI values for overweight and obesity were
      slightly lower for Polish children in the first 6 months of life than in WHO
      standards. These differences have positive values for boys and girls starting at
      9th month and increasing in toddlers. CONCLUSIONS: WHO standards reflect the
      optimal growth pattern for children from birth up to 5 years. Therefore these
      instruments should be adopted for Polish children to assessing their growth.

PMID- 20919460
TI  - [Assessment of physical development of children and adolescents. Part II.
      Children and adolescents aged 6-19 years--national references or WHO
      recommendations?].
AB  - AIMS: 1. Comparison of cut-off points for selected anthropometric parameters in
      children and adolescents between reference values for Polish Institute of Mother
      and Child (IMD) and WHO growth METHODS: The accepted reference system were IMD
      reference values and the differences for mean (50th) and 3rd and 97th percentile
      for height and weight were calculated for boys and girls. The differences between
      BMI units for overweight (85th) and obesity (95th) percentile were compared.
      Warsaw 1980 reference values were used to estimate secular trend influence on
      differences between IMD and WHO cut-off points in stunting adolescents. RESULTS:
      Comparison of height-for-age showed the largest differences with positive values
      relative to 3rd percentile in the Polish population. Boys aged 16 years attain 4%
      (6.2 cm) of 3rd percentile height value and girls aged 14 years 2.3% (2.8 cm).
      Secular trend of the Polish population did not influence the differences between
      IMD and WHO values in stunting adolescents. The differences for 85th and 95th
      percentile of BMI were most pronounced in prepubescence and the largest values
      were for boys and girls aged 10 years. CONCLUSIONS: 1. National height-for-age
      references should be used for growth assessment in Polish school-aged children
      and adolescents especially in stunting adolescents identified in puberty. 2. WHO
      norms for BMI, can be used as a tool for identifying overweight and obesity in
      epidemiological studies in Poland and for international comparisons. 3. The
      usefulness of WHO norms for clinical evaluation of overweight and obesity should
      be discussed among experts.

PMID- 20919461
TI  - [Screening for developmental disorders of infants and young children in the
      primary care clinics--is there a need for standardized tools implementation?].
AB  - Early identification of children with developmental delay is an important task
      for the primary care physicians. Different screening tests are used to detect
      developmental disorders in infants and young children. The authors describe
      screening tools currently available in Poland in the primary care setting. The
      review of the standardized developmental screening tests available in other
      countries is given: parent report instruments, such as Ages and Stages
      Questionnaires (ASQ), Parent's Evaluation of Developmental Status (PEDS) and
      instruments that require direct examination as the Denver-ll Developmental
      Screening Test (DDST) and Bayley Infant Neurodevelopmental Screener (BINS). The
      authors describe a proposed standardized developmental screening instrument of
      infants and young children for primary care pediatricians and family doctors in
      Poland.

PMID- 20919462
TI  - [Health status of mothers and children in Poland compared to other European Union
      countries on the basis of EURO-PERISTAT indicators].
AB  - AIM: The aim of this study is an evaluation of perinatal health and data sources
      in Poland compared to other European Union countries on the basis of the results
      of the EURO-PERISTATproject for 2004. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The results obtained
      during the second phase of the EURO-PERISTAT project were used. Core and
      recommended indicators for Poland in 2004 were compared to the respective
      indicators for EU member countries before 2004 and Norway, and to the respective
      indicators for the EU members since 2004, separately. RESULTS: Poland has all the
      data for 10 core indicators and data for 5 of the 11 recommended indicators. Most
      of their values are within the range of other EU countries except total neonatal
      and infant mortality, which are higher in Poland than in the most developed EU
      countries. Higher total neonatal and infant mortality in Poland results from
      higher neonatal and infant mortality of prematurely born babies. Gestational age-
      specific neonatal mortality in Poland was 456.8 deaths per 1000 live births
      delivered between 24-27 weeks gestational age (against 107.3 -324.6 in the EU
      members before 2004), 124,7 deaths per 1000 live births delivered between 28-31
      weeks (against 17,6 - 84,9 in the EU members before 2004) and 16,2 deaths per
      1000 live births delivered between 32-36 weeks (against 2,5 - 10,0 in the EU
      members before 2004). Neonatal mortality of babies born at term, was within the
      range observed in EU members before 2004. CONCLUSIONS: Poland has incomplete data
      sources for perinatal health indicators, especially in respect to evaluation of
      the quality of health care. Data sources should be expanded. However, existing
      information indicate that neonatal and infant mortality among babies born
      (extremely, very and moderately) prematurely is higher in Poland than in the most
      developed European countries. To change the situation, a multidisciplinary
      evidence-based national intervention programme should be implemented.

PMID- 20919463
TI  - [Perinatal mortality of fetuses and newborns in Poland in the years 1999-2008].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Procreation and perinatal health which includes maternal health,
      fetal growth and well being of newborns are a challenge for modern medicine. One
      of the indices of evaluation of perinatal health is perinatal mortality of
      fetuses and newborns. This has been emphasised in the National Health Programme
      in Poland for 2007-2015. AIM: Analysis of perinatal mortality in the period 1999
      2008 of fetuses, newborn and stillborn, with MATERIAL AND METHODS: The analysis
      was based on data from the Central Statistical Office, from the Ministry of
      Health dokument MZ-29 and on data obtained from own studies. RESULTS: In the
      second part of the analysed period there was a reduction in the rate of fall of
      the number of newborn deaths. This was particulary marked in newborn with low and
      extremely low birthweight. Throughout the whole period of analysis there was a
      significant difference in the perinatal mortality between the newborn group with
      birthweight above 2500 g and the newborn group below 2500 g. Higher newborn
      mortality and particularly higher stillbirth rate was found in the group of
      mothers above 40 years of age. In the maternal group aged 15-19 years, these
      indices were slightly less increased. Throughout the analysis period it was noted
      that there were significant differences between individual voivodeships in
      perinatal mortality of newborn, as well as of still births. CONCLUSIONS: 1. In
      order to improve perinatal health and to further reduce the perinatal mortality
      and in particular to reduce the number of stillbirths and newborn with low and
      very low birthweight, it is essential to create a well functioning system of
      triple level perinatal care. There is on urgent need for elaboration of such a
      programme and finding financial resources for its implementation. 2. Part of this
      task is to modernise and improve the medical documentation concerning perinatal
      health.

PMID- 20919464
TI  - [Can implementation of intensified perinatal survey be effective in improving the
      quality of perinatal care?].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Intensive scientific research and rapid technical progress have
      influenced the rapid fall in term newborn mortality. At the same time new
      problems have arisen such as saving the lives of infants with low and very low
      birth weight. Solving these problems needs reorganization of perinatal care,
      better equipment, especially in reference units and in outpatient clinics, as
      well as more intensive staff training. AIM: to obtain information whether
      implementation of intensified perinatal survey of fetus and newborn mortality can
      improve the quality of perinatal care in Poland. MATERIAL AND METHODS:
      Implementation of the survey based on Central Statistics Office (GUS) data,
      Ministry of Health MZ-29 section X Document and the author's own studies. RESULTS
      AND DISCUSSION: In the year 2008 newborn with birth weight less than 2500 g,
      constituted 6,06% liveborn infants, newborn weighing from 1000 to 2499 g - 5%,
      those with weight from 500 to 999 g - 0.51% of all live born infants. These
      figures differ according to voivodeship. The intensive survey concerning birth
      weight and perinatal mortality indeces in voivodeshipPoland, as well as in
      individual voivodeships, showed differences between data from the Central
      Statistics Office and data from the Ministry of Health MZ-29 document. This may
      be due to different methods of registrating newborn deaths eg. newborns
      transfered in the first weekoflife from the maternity ward to intensive care
      neonatal ward or to other specialistic departaments. Another reason for the
      difference may be discharge of the newborn data according to the place of birth
      or the mother's place of permanent domicile registration. This causes
      disturbances in flow of infomation resulting in ineffective analysis of perinatal
      mortality and of perinatal care evaluation. In the ongoing analysis it was found
      that in Poland stillbirths occur twice as often as perinatal deaths (4.3 per
      thousands) stillbirths and 2.15 per thousands perinatal deaths), with significant
      differences between voivodeships. This makes it obligatory to conduct medical
      audit which is a form of specialistic supervision. It is probable that higher
      number of stillbirths and premature births may be caused by late start of
      perinatal care in pregnancy. In primary health care, insufficient objective
      parameters are investigated which lead to assessment of the quality of perinatal
      care. Correct filling up of the pregnancy chart could improve the quality of the
      management of prophylactic procedures leading to a fall in the number of
      premature births and stillbirths. This would also lead to a reduction of costs
      associated with life saving procedures and improving the quality of life in
      newborns with low and extremly low birth weight. CONCLUSIONS: 1. The survey of
      fetal and newborn perinatal mortality of fetuses and newborn should be the base
      for elaborating the perinatal care programme as well as the main source of data
      for medical audit. This is the instrument for evaluation of the three level
      perinatal care. It also serves to assess the effectivness of diagnostic and
      therapeutic recommendations and the programme of active prevention. 2. In order
      to obtain effectivness in functioning of the three step perinatal care within the
      framework of the National Health Programme the following steps are needed: -
      urgent elaboration of new or improved medical documentation which will become
      obligatory, - implementation of educational programmes and training of teachers.
      3. Implementation of medical audit, carried out periodically at all three levels
      of perinatal care.

PMID- 20919465
TI  - [Perspectives on future decline in child and adolescent mortality in Poland].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mortality among children and adolescents is relatively low in higher
      developed countries, and the main causes of death reflect only a number of
      selected health problems among this population. However, it is worthwhile to
      refer to international statistics in order to show current trends and the
      distance that separates each country from the European average and the lowest
      rates noted in Europe. THE AIM of the study is to present current mortality data
      among children and adolescents aged 1-19 yrs in Poland compared to European Union
      statistics. METHODS: The study uses data published by the national Central
      Statistical Office and the interactive WHO HFA-MDB database (Health for All
      Mortality Database). RESULTS: The presently recorded number of deaths, among
      children and adolescents aged 1-19, is slightly below 2.5 thousand, that is 29
      per 100 000 persons. A higher mortality rate among boys in comparison with girls
      continues to prevail, and a higher mortality rate in the rural areas in
      comparison with towns. In spite of the falling trend, mortality among children
      and young people in Poland continues to be higher than that observed in most
      European Union countries (Poland ranks 19th in a total of27). Poland occupies a
      particularly unfavourable position in statistics related to deaths from external
      causes and ill-defined symptoms. During the years 1990-2007 the strongest
      declining trend was noted with respect to the mortality of children aged 1-4,
      which is less dependent on external factors. In older age groups the declining
      trend detected in previous years came to a halt in the year 2000. CONCLUSIONS: A
      further fall of the mortality rate of children and young people could be achieved
      by consistently implementing programmes preventing accidental injuries (road
      accidents, drowning, poisoning) and intentional injuries, particularly suicide.
      In order to improve the health of the young generation it is necessary to
      implement the postulate of the European Strategy for Child and Adolescent Health
      and Development on a consistent basis, including prevention of the effects of
      chronic diseases, mental health disorders and risk behaviour. There is a need for
      more concern about inequalities in health, especially differences resulting from
      place of residence and social group.

PMID- 20919466
TI  - [Chronic diseases and perception of school demands among school children aged 11
      15 years in Poland].
AB  - BACKGROUND: There are children for whom because of chronic diseases, functioning
      in school is more difficult. They are absent more often, causing gaps in
      knowledge and isolation from peer group. These pupils need extra support in order
      to make normal school progress without the need to move to special schools or
      individual schooling. The aim of the study is to compare the stress and
      perception of school demands among healthy and ill schoolchildren. METHODS: The
      study concerned 5489 children aged 11-15 years who participated in the Polish
      part of the international study on health behaviour in schoolchildren (HBSC -
      Health Behaviour in School-aged Children) conducted in 2006. As outcome measures,
      three items concerning school stress and school-related demands were chosen.
      Chronically ill pupils were defined as those who suffered from prolonged health
      problems diagnosed by a doctor and, as a result, had to take medication on
      permanent basis and/ or stay away from school for this reason. Logistic
      regression was applied and odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) was
      estimated. All analyses were adjusted for age, gender and family economic status
      measured by Family Affluence Scale (FAS). At first step FAS was included as
      independent variable, while at the second step three models specific for FAS
      groups were estimated. RESULTS: The studies revealed that schoolchildren
      suffering from chronic illness have greater problems with fulfilling their
      development tasks connected with education. The difference between ill and
      healthy children is significantly raised by a low family economic status.
      Students with chronic diseases are at increased risk of finding school work
      heavy. For the three FAS groups, the odds ratio was: in poor families OR = 1.62
      (95% CI: < 1.10-2.38>), in average income families OR = 1.49 (95% C1: < 1.07-2.08
      >), and in rich families OR = 1.26 (95% Cl:< 0.84- 1.88 >). CONCLUSION: Young
      people with chronic health problems are at a higher risk of poor school
      adjustment. There is only a weak relationship between family socio-economic
      status and the prevalence of chronic diseases in the population of
      schoolchildren. However, family economic status modifies the relationship between
      chronic diseases and perception of school demands. The way a sick child functions
      in the school environment should become part of a wider discussion among
      teachers, parents and pediatricians.

PMID- 20919467
TI  - [Social determinants of subjective health in school children aged 11-15 years in
      Poland in the light of European data].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Adolescence is a particularly significant period due to the risk of
      psycho-social disorders, life-style formation and making many important decisions
      about the future. THE AIM of the study is to provide an overall assessment of the
      impact of various elements of the environment on the risk of disorders of
      subjective health of schoolchildren aged 11-15 yrs, and to compare of the Polish
      data with European Union statistics. METHODS: The data source is the last series
      of international studies on health related behaviour of schoolchildren (HBSC),
      conducted during the school year 2005/06. In general, the object of analysis
      comprises data related to 142 478 schoolchildren from a combined sample from 25
      countries, on average aged 13.6 yrs (SD = 1.65), including 5489 Polish
      schoolchildren. The main outcome variable was the occurrence of at least one of
      three subjective health disorders: poor self-rated health, dissatisfaction with
      life and the intensity of recurrent subjective symptoms. The analysis included
      the impact of gender, age (in three age groups), country of residence (Poland vs.
      the other 24 countries) and the five components of the growing up environment:
      economic and social status of the family, communication with parents, functioning
      at school, peer support, problems in the area of domicile. Logistic regression
      models were estimated with a step-block procedure of variable selection, which
      provided relative risk indices (OR) with a 95% confidence interval (CI). RESULTS:
      The studies have shown that the strongest predictor of subjective health
      disorders consists of problems with functioning at school (OR = 3.14), disrupted
      communication with parents (OR = 2.15) and absence of peer support (OR = 1.87).
      However, after these factors were taken into account, the weak impact of the
      material status of the family (OR = 1.65) and area of residence (OR-= 1.94)
      continued to be noted. Young people in Poland report subjective health problems
      more often than their average European counterparts. In the analyses adjusted for
      socioeconomic and psychosocial factors the differences between Polish adolescents
      and their peers from EU countries are leveling. Analyzing the social environment
      in Poland we discover a better assessment of communication in the family, coupled
      with a lower than European average assessment of the other elements of that
      environment, especially in relation to material status. CONCLUSION: Intervention
      activities aimed at reducing health inequalities has to tackle inequalities in
      the broad socioeconomic context underlying child and adolescent environment.

PMID- 20919468
TI  - [Inequalities in access to preventive health care for school children].
AB  - Access to health care, including preventive health care for pupils affects the
      health of society. Equal access to pupils'preventive health care means the same
      level of preventive services for all children and adolescents regardless of
      school type, place and region of domicile. AIM: To analyse the quality of
      preventive health care for pupils in school year 2007/2008 in all school types in
      Poland, giving special attention to inequalities and access of this healthcare.
      MATERIAL AND METHODS: Reports from national public statistics filled by school
      nurses regarding preventive healthcare for pupils were analysed. Special
      attention was given to inequalites in access to RESULT: Disparities in access to
      preventive health care were observed. They affected more often pupils from rural
      schools, basic vocational schools and special schools. As a result, 60% rural
      elementary schools did not have a school health office. School nurses working in
      these schools were overburdened, each of them had to look after excessive number
      of pupils. Nearly one-quarter of basic vocational school pupils didn't have
      periodic check-up. Pupils from these schools less frequently participated in
      health education conducted by school nurses compared with pupils from other
      school types. In special schools school nurses were overburdened. One school
      nurse from these schools had to look after above limit of pupils' number (above
      25% in urban and above 75% in rural schools). CONCLUSIONS: 1. Inequalities in
      access to preventive health care affected pupils from rural, basic vocational
      schools and special schools. They reflected existing social disparities in
      Poland. 2. Inequalities exist mainly in the social groups, who are at risk of
      social exclusion. 3. Equal opportunity for pupils'preventive health care requires
      systemic solutions in health and educational cooperation at government level.

PMID- 20919469
TI  - [Are community clubs tutors and parents of children prepared for activities in
      field of improving health? Preliminary analysis of problem].
AB  - Social exclusion constraints the development of individuals and groups.
      Especially endangered are inhabitants of villages and small towns. To prevent
      social exclusion of children and adolescents from poor families or with social
      dysfunctions, community clubs are being organized. THE PURPOSE of the study was a
      preliminary assessment of preparing community clubs tutors for health education
      and evaluation of parents' activities in preventive health care for children.
      MATERIAL AND METHODS: the questionnaire survey was carried out in a sample of 19
      community centre tutors and 144 parents (in 84% these were mothers) of children
      attending these centres. Children of surveyed parents were aged 4-16 years (M =
      10.5; SD = 2.5), 70% of them 7-12 years old. Community centre tutors were asked
      about their knowledge of preventive health care, the current health education
      activities, cooperation with parents, and local social care institutions. Parents
      were asked about the use of preventive health care facilities by their children.
      RESULTS: The largest group of community club tutors assessed their own knowledge
      about the children's preventive health care as sufficient or good. Their
      knowledge about active methods in health education was self-assessed as average.
      In practice, active methods in health education were used only by half of
      surveyed tutors. Periodic preventive health examinations were performed in 57-86%
      of the children and 56-75% were vaccinated. CONCLUSIONS: 1. There is a need to
      implement health education in community clubs, but this requires improving the
      knowledge of tutors, especially about using active methods. 2. Only a complex
      approach to prophylaxis can bring real advantages for child health and help in
      giving equal opportunities and eliminating health inequalities among children.

PMID- 20919470
TI  - [The role of physical education teachers to support overweight and obese pupils].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: School-based physical education (PE) is often proposed as a
      strategy for obesity prevention and treatment. Thus the role of PE teachers is
      crucial on this field. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to investigate
      the perception of PE teachers towards overweight and obese pupils aged 13-15
      years, especially psychosomatic problems and support for obese adolescents in
      realisation of physical activity programme. MATERIAL AND METHOD: A random sample
      of 185 PE teachers from 112 lower secondary schools in Poland were surveyed
      regarding their perception of pupils obesity and their support for obese
      adolescents. RESULTS: PE teachers observed many negative features among obese
      pupils: Two thirds of teachers (67% male and 74% teachers with work experience 6
      10 years) observed decreased physical fitness and exercise capacity in this group
      of pupils. Body-related barriers in obese pupils and anxiety caused by weight
      related peer teasing were observed by respectively 30% and 20% teachers more
      often women teachers and teachers with shorter work experience. PE teachers were
      engaged in activities to support obese pupils: 90% of them assessed obese pupils
      by personal development, 70% conducted counseling and 20% cooperated with obese
      pupils' parents. Two third of teachers reported successes in their work with
      obese pupils. Their difficulties were connected with body-related barriers in
      pupils (24%), and aversion to exercise and physical efforts and location of PE
      lessons at school (9-16%). CONCLUSIONS: 1. The PE teachers can play an important
      role in preventing and combating obesity in pupils. 2. PE teachers should be
      motivated to organize interesting PE lessons, school sport and competitions for
      both normal and overweight pupils.

PMID- 20919471
TI  - ["Health for Pomeranians". A regional programme of maternal and child health
      prepared by a working group experts].
AB  - The presented programme "Health for Pomeranians" is based on a number of legal
      acts and the agreement between the authorities of the Region and the Medical
      University of Gdansk. The main objective of its authors was to improve the three
      stage medical care of mother and child. Particular emphasis is placed on
      improving the preventive care of the pregnant woman and infant, and child who is
      in the developmental age, presenting the schedule and the range of recommended
      tests in relation to the patient's age. After an analysis of epidemiological
      data, the current ambulatory care and number of beds for patients in the
      Pomeranian region, the needs for the years 2009-2013 according to professional
      medical, instrumentation and the proposed changes in the diagnostic-therapeutic
      profile of outpatient clinic and hospitals were presented. In terms of outpatient
      care as the most important change was the proposal to create a pediatric clinic
      for consultation within the province, while in the hospital use the expansion of
      highly specialized care, particularly intensive care unit and rehabilitation.

PMID- 20919472
TI  - [BINet programme as a standard of modern health policy].
AB  - Infectious diseases--despite significant progress, both in their management and
      prevention--are becoming an increasingly serious problem, and their extent and
      character frequently constitute a threat for public health. In addition, a
      significant part of medical decisions regarding treatment and prevention of
      invasive bacterial infections is not made on the basis of the etiological agent
      of infection, which increases the chance of therapeutic failures, and makes the
      right decisions regarding prophylaxis difficult. In June 2008 the National
      Reference Centre for Bacterial Meningitis (Krajowy Osrodek Referencyjny ds.
      Diagnostyki Bakteryjnych Zakazen Osrodkowego Ukladu Nerwowego, KOROUN) started
      the BINet programme, which is a network monitoring invasive bacterial infections
      acquired outside the hospital. The programme aims to improve the diagnostic and
      thus therapeutic standards, in community acquired invasive bacterial infections
      in Poland. The BINet programme is based on the cooperation of clinicians,
      epidemiologists, microbiologists, and is headed by a team of the National
      Reference Centre for Bacterial Meningitis. The BINet programme enables quick and
      appropriate microbiological diagnosis of infections which is the basis of
      rational therapy and plays a key role in dealing with the infected patient. In
      addition, accurate epidemiological data allow to take quick and effective
      preventive measures at local and national level.

PMID- 20919473
TI  - [Recommendations of prophylaxis of vitamin D deficiency in Poland (2009)].
AB  - Adequate vitamin D intake and its status as well outdoor physical activity are
      important not only for normal bone development and Ca-P metabolism, but for
      optimal function of many organs and tissues throughout the body. Due to
      documented changes in dietary habits and physical activity level, both observed
      in growing children and adults, the prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency is
      continuously increasing. National Consultants and experts in this field
      established the Polish recommendations for prophylactic vitamin D supplementation
      in infants, toddlers, children and adolescents as well as in adults, including
      pregnant and lactating women based on current literature review. Taking into
      consideration pleyotropic vitamin D action and safety aspects serum 25
      hydroxyvitamin D (25-OHD) level of 20-60 ng/ml (50-750 nmol/l) in children and 30
      80 ng/ml (75-200 nmol/I) in adults is considered as optimal. Sunlight exposure
      inducing vitamin D production in the skin is main endogen source of vitamin D in
      the body but sunscreens may reduce skin synthesis by 90%. In Poland, skin
      synthesis is effective only from April to September so other sources of vitamin D
      such as diet and supplements play an important role. All newborns should be
      supplemented with 400 IU/d of vitamin D beginning from the first few days of life
      and continue during infancy. In formula fed infants vitamin D intake from the
      diet should be taken into account. In preterm infants higher total vitamin D
      intake (400-800 IU/day) is recommended till 40 weeks post conception. Total
      vitamin D intake in children and adolescents required from all sources (diet
      and/or supplements) should be 400 IU/d between October and March and throughout
      the whole year in case of inadequate vitamin D skin synthesis during the summer
      months. In overweight/obese children supplementation with higher dosage of
      vitamin D up to 800-1000 IU/d should be considered. Adults require 800-1000 IU/d
      of vitamin D. In pregnant and lactating women such supplementation is recommended
      in case of inadequate intake from diet and/or skin synthesis supplementation.
      Monitoring of serum 25-OHD level to define optimal dosage should be considered.

PMID- 20919474
TI  - [Revista Medica de Chile: A new member in the "International Committee of Medical
      Journal Editors"].
AB  - After a worldwide call for applications that took place in 2009, two medical
      journals were selected to become new members of the "International Committee of
      Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE)": Chinese Medical Journal and Revista Medica de
      Chile. Both Editors: Getu Zhaori, MD, and Humberto Reyes, MD, respectively,
      attended the ICMJE Meeting, 12-14 April 2010, in Queenstown, New Zealand. The
      meeting agenda included several topics that had been studied in advance by the
      attendants: editors or deputy editors of the 14 journals integrating this
      Committee plus a representative for the U.S. National Library of Medicine and
      another one for the World Association of Medical Journal Editors (WAME). The
      Committee agreed in new recommendations tending to safeguard the integrity and
      transparency of every manuscript published in all journals that adhere to the
      "Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals (URM)".
      These recommendations will be published shortly in ICMJE member journals. An
      important issue discussed refers to improvements in the "ICMJE Uniform Disclosure
      Form for Potential Conflicts of Interest"' that had some changes, a glossary of
      terms will be attached to it and the Instructions will be accompanied by
      translations into the official WHO languages as well as other languages used by
      ICMJE member journals. For our journal it is an honor and a great responsibility
      to become a member of this highly qualified Committee, the only journal published
      in Spanish and the first one from Latin America.

PMID- 20919475
TI  - [Prevalence of primary antiretroviral resistance among HIV infected patients in
      Chile].
AB  - BACKGROUND: The main cause of virological failure during AIDS treatment is the
      resistance to antiretroviral medications (ARV). AIM: To search for mutations
      associated with ARV resistance in recently HIV-1 infected patients naive to
      treatment, in Chile. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Patients over 18 years old with HIV-1
      infection, naive to anti-retroviral drugs before the study were included.
      Patients with CD4 cell counts less than 200 cells/mm3, viral load below 2000
      copies/mL or any condition indicative of advanced AIDS were excluded. Criteria
      for diagnosis of recent infection (< 18 months) were a previous negative test for
      HIV antibodies or a history of an acute retroviral syndrome in the past 18
      months. Resistance to drugs was analyzed using the TRUGENE HIV-1 assay from Bayer
      and the OpenGene DNA sequencing system. RESULTS: Ninety nine percent of patients
      had at least one mutation, 27% had 4 or more mutations, but high level resistance
      to ARV was found only in 2.7% of cases. Point mutations for non nucleoside
      reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTI) were detected in 4.1% of cases (K103N in
      1 patient, V179D in 2 patients), for nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors
      (NRTI) in 8.1% of cases (T215S in 1 patient, V118I in 4 patients, M41L in 1
      patient) and for protease inhibitors (PI) in 1.3% of cases. All mutations
      detected in the protease gene were secondary. Of these, the most common were
      L63P/T (38 patients), L10I/V (27 patients) and V77I (26 patients). Resistance to
      two or more antiretroviral classes was not detected. CONCLUSIONS: This study
      supports that, by now, primary resistance has a low prevalence in Chile.
      Therefore, a genotyping test before starting antiretroviral therapy is not
      necessary.

PMID- 20919476
TI  - [Evaluation of the undergraduate educational environment in six medical schools
      in Chile].
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure (DREEM) is the most
      valid and reliable instrument to measure the educational environment (EE) in
      undergraduate medical education. AIM: To evaluate the EE perceived by
      undergraduate medical students in Chile, using a Spanish version of the DREEM
      questionnaire. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The DREEM was applied during 2008 in third,
      fourth and fifth undergraduate years of six medical schools. The individual
      results were calculated and means of both global and individual domain scores of
      the DREEM were compared, by year, gender and between different Schools. RESULTS:
      One thousand ninety two students (77% of the total universe of students),
      answered the questionnaire. The mean score of the six Schools was 113.9. The
      domains of Perception ofLearning and Social Self-Perception obtained the lower
      scores, with a global outcome indicating a more positive than negative EE. Two
      schools obtained mean scores of 128.32 and 126.87, that were significantly higher
      than the global scores obtained by other schools. No relevant differences by
      years or gender were observed. CONCLUSIONS: There is a significant variability
      between the six schools evaluated and two of these obtained significantly better
      scores than the rest. The identified positive and negative areas will orient the
      actions to improve the EE for undergraduate medical students.

PMID- 20919477
TI  - [An instrument in Spanish to evaluate the performance of clinical teachers by
      students].
AB  - BACKGROUND: The modernization of clinical teaching has called for the creation of
      faculty development programs, and the design of suitable instruments to evaluate
      clinical teachers' performance. AIM: To report the development and validation of
      an instrument in Spanish designed to measure the students' perceptions of their
      clinical teachers' performance and to provide them with feedback to improve their
      teaching practices. MATERIAL AND METHODS: In a process that included the active
      participation of authorities, professors in charge of courses and internships,
      clinical teachers, students and medical education experts, we developed a 30-item
      questionnaire called MEDUC30 to evaluate the performance of clinical teachers by
      their students. The internal validity was assessed by factor analysis of 5214
      evaluations of 265 teachers, gathered from 2004 to 2007. The reliability was
      measured with the Cronbach's alpha coefficient and the generalizability
      coefficient (g). RESULTS: MEDUC30 had good content and construct validity. Its
      internal structure was compatible with four factors: patient-centered teaching,
      teaching skills, assessment skills and learning climate, and it proved to be
      consistent with the structure anticipated by the theory. The scores were highly
      reliable (Cronbach's alpha: 0.97); five evaluations per teacher were sufficient
      to reach a reliability coefficient (g) of 0.8. CONCLUSIONS: MEDUC30 is a valid,
      reliable and useful instrument to evaluate the performance of clinical teachers.
      To our knowledge, this is the first instrument in Spanish for which solid
      validity and reliability evidences have been reported. We hope that MEDUC30 will
      be used to improve medical education in Spanish-speaking medical schools,
      providing teachers a specific feedback upon which to improve their pedagogical
      practice, and authorities with valuable information for the assessment of their
      faculty.

PMID- 20919478
TI  - [Association between hospital admissions due to affective disorders and solar
      activity. Analysis of 16 years].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Exposure to solar activity may be associated with incidence of
      depressive and manic disorders. AIM: To assess the link between solar activity
      and appearance of affective disorders. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We examined 1862
      clinical records of a psychiatric clinic located in Santiago, Chile. Patients
      with major depression and manic disorders were included in the study, only when
      they were admitted at the clinic for the first time. Solar activity was
      calculated using the Wolf number, which is given by the formula R = K(10g+f),
      where "g" stands for the groups of sunspots and "f" is the total number of
      sunspots. We examined the correlation between annual incidence of hospital
      admissions and average Wolf numbers for the period 1990-2005, which corresponds
      to approximately one and half solar cycles of 16 years. RESULTS: A total of 450
      medical records corresponding to 299 patients (199 women) with depressive
      symptoms and 151 patients (73 women) with mania, were analyzed. There was a
      higher number of admissions for depression during the years with lower solar
      activity. Admissions due to mania tended to increase in the years with high solar
      activity. There was a negative correlation between the number of hospital
      admissions due to depression and solar activity (Spearman r = -0.812, p < 0.01).
      The association between the latter parameter and admissions due to mania did not
      reach statistical significance. CONCLUSIONS: There is a significant negative
      association between the rate of hospital admissions due to depressive disorders
      and solar activity.

PMID- 20919479
TI  - [Depressive symptoms among patients with acute myocardial infarction.
      Relationship with revascularization therapy].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Persistence of depressive symptoms after myocardial infarction (MI)
      is associated with an adverse outcome. The relationship between depression and
      Invasive Revascularization Therapy (IRT) is not yet fully understood. AIM: To
      compare the frequency of depressive symptoms and other psychosocial variables
      among patients with MI, undergoing or not undergoing IRT. MATERIAL AND METHODS:
      Prospective evaluation of 45 patients aged 58 +/- 11 years (87% males) with a
      diagnosis of MI (Killip I and II). On admission to hospital and at follow up 3
      months after discharge, all patients completed the Beck Depression Inventory
      (BDI), the Zung Anxiety Inventory (ASI), and the Medical Outcomes Study (MOS)
      social support survey. Depressive symptoms were considered to be present if the
      BDI score was over 10. RESULTS: Thirty seven percent were hypertensive, 15%
      diabetic and 44% smokers. Sixty four percent of patients underwent IRT (11.1%
      revascularization surgery and 53.3% coronary angioplasty). Forty four percent of
      patients scored over 10 in the BDI at baseline assessment and 26.5% at 3 months
      follow-up (p < 0.01). At baseline BDI score was 10.2 +/- 5.1 and 9.1 +/- 4.4
      among patients subjected or not subjected to IRT, respectively (NS). The figures
      at 3 months of follow up were 9.9 +/- 5.6 and 4.1 +/- 2.5, respectively (p <
      0.01). At baseline and three months BDI, anxiety and perceived social support
      were significantly correlated. CONCLUSIONS: Depressive symptoms were frequent
      after MI in this group of patients, and decreased at follow up only among
      patients not subjected to IRT.

PMID- 20919480
TI  - [Prevalence of metabolic syndrome among Chilean adults].
AB  - BACKGROUND: There are several diagnostic criteria for Metabolic Syndrome (MS)
      definition. AIM: To study their application in the Chilean general adult
      population. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We analyzed data from a random sub sample of
      1.833 adults aged 17 years and older surveyed during the First Chilean National
      Health Survey conducted in 2003. The prevalence of MS was estimated using the
      update Adult Treatment Panel III (ATP III) of the National Cholesterol Education
      Program (NCEP) and the International Diabetes Federation (IDF 2005) criteria. The
      distribution of MS was analyzed according to age, gender, educational level,
      geographic area, obesity and sedentary lifestyle. RESULTS: The overall prevalence
      of MS was 31.6% (95% CI 28.5-34.9) and 36.8% (95% CI 33.5-40.3), according to
      update ATPIII-NCEP and IDF criteria respectively. Both criteria had a 90%
      concordance. Demographic and socioeconomic distribution was similar for both
      criteria. The prevalence of high blood pressure, high fasting glucose, and low
      HDL cholesterol (MS components) were: 46, 22 and 53% respectively. The prevalence
      of abnormal waist circumference was 30 and 59% according to update ATPIII-NCEP
      and IDF criteria, respectively. Using update ATPIII-NCEP criteria, the gender,
      age and educational level adjusted odds ratio (OR) for having MS was 9.59 (95% IC
      6.8-13.6) for obese subjects compared with normal weight subjects and 2.14 (95%
      IC 1.3-3.7) for sedentary subjects compared with non sedentary. CONCLUSIONS:
      There was a 90% agreement between update ATPIII-NCEP and IDF criteria for the
      diagnosis of MS. The overall prevalence of MS in this population was 32% usuing
      update ATPIII-NCEP criteria, with higher prevalence among obese and sedentary
      subjects.

PMID- 20919481
TI  - [Effects of an exercise training program on the quality of life of women with
      breast cancer on chemotherapy].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Exercise may reduce anxiety and depression associated to the
      diagnosis and treatment of cancer. AIM: To assess the effects of a physical
      training program during chemotherapy among women with breast cancer. PATIENTS AND
      METHODS: Twenty two women aged 49 +/- 7 years with breast cancer voluntarily
      agreed to take part in the study, after surgical treatment. Functional capacity
      (Karnofsky Performance Status), psychological status (General Health
      Questionnaire, GHQ) and quality of life (EORTC QLQ-C30) were evaluated at
      baseline and at the end of the study. Before beginning with adjuvant
      chemotherapy, ten women were randomly assigned to a program of physical exercise
      and seven to a control group. The program lasted 18 to 22 weeks, depending on the
      duration of chemotherapy. RESULTS: Five women were lost from follow up. Before
      starting chemotherapy, 41% of women were working and all had to kit. At baseline
      all had a normal Karnofski score and quality of life was compromised. At the end
      of the study, the intervention group had an improvement of their quality of life,
      compared to the control group that did not experience significant changes.
      CONCLUSIONS: An exercise training program improves quality of life of women with
      breast cancer on chemotherapy.

PMID- 20919482
TI  - [Survival of patients with vulvar cancer].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Vulvar cancer corresponds to 3 to 5% of all female reproductive tract
      malignancies. Therefore it is classified as a low frequency disease. AIM: To
      estimate overall and conditional survival one and two years after diagnosing
      women with vulvar cancer. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Retrospective cohort study. The
      patient database ofan oncological hospital was revised and patients with vulvar
      cancer diagnosed between 1997 and 2006 were selected. The clinical records of
      these women were reviewed. RESULTS: Eighty six women aged 32 to 92 years, were
      identified. Eighty percent had a squamous carcinoma, 46% were in stage III, 48%
      received incomplete treatment, 40% consulted due to the presence of a vulvar mass
      and 18% had lesions in labia majora or minora. Overall five years survival at 5
      years was 41.8%. There were statistically significant differences in survival
      depending on the initial stage of cancer (p = 0.02). Five year conditional
      survival, one and two years after the diagnosis, was 59 and 79%, respectively.
      CONCLUSIONS: Five years overall survival of these group of women with vulvar
      cancer was 41.8%. The figures increased to 59 and 79% in patients who had
      survived one and two years after the diagnosis. The stage of the lesion and the
      initial survival are survival prognostic factors for vulvar cancer.

PMID- 20919483
TI  - [Effect of a tele-care model on self-management and metabolic control among
      patients with type 2 diabetes in primary care centers in Santiago, Chile].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Telephone based self-management support may improve the metabolic
      control of patients with type2 (DM2) diabetes if it is coordinated with primary
      care centers, if telephone protocols and clinical guidelines are used and if it
      is provided by nurses trained in motivational interviewing. AIM: To assess the
      efficacy of a tele-care self-management support model (ATAS) on metabolic control
      of patients with DM2 attending primary care centers in a low income area in
      Santiago, Chile. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Two primary care centers were randomly
      assigned to continue with usual care (control group, CG) or to receive
      additionally 6 telecare self-management support interventions (IG) during a 15
      month period. Glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) was used to measure metabolic
      control of DM2; the "Summary of Diabetes Self-care Activities Measure" and the
      "Spanish Diabetes Self-efficacy" scale were used to measure self-management and
      self efficacy, respectively. Changes in the use of health services were also
      evaluated. RESULTS: The IG maintained its HbA1c level (baseline and final levels
      of 8.3 +/- 2.3% and 8.5 +/- 2.2% respectively) whereas it deteriorated in the CG
      (baseline and final levels of 7.4 +/- 2.3 and 8.8 +/- 2.3% respectively, p <
      0.001). The perception of self-efficacy in the IG improved while remaining
      unchanged in the CG (p < 0.001). Adherence to medication, physical activity and
      foot care did not change in either group. In the IG, compliance to clinic visits
      increased while emergency care visits decreased. CONCLUSIONS: The ATAS
      intervention, in low income primary care centers, significantly increased the
      probability of stabilizing the metabolic control of patients with DM2 and
      improved their use of health services.

PMID- 20919485
TI  - [Endoluminal excision of an esophageal fibrovascular polyp. Report of one case].
AB  - We report a 47-year-old woman presenting with dysphagia. A chest CAT scan and
      barium swallow showed an endoluminal mass that extended to four vertebrae. An
      endoluminal sonography localized the pediculum of the mass, that was excised
      endoscopically. The pathological study disclosed a fibrovascular polyp. After 18
      months of follow up, the patient is asymptomatic.

PMID- 20919484
TI  - [Pancreatic metastasis from renal cell carcinoma: a case report].
AB  - We report the case of a 60-year-old woman with multiple pancreatic nodules found
      on abdominal computed tomography. Thirteen years earlier she had undergone a left
      nephrectomy for renal cell carcinoma. The patient underwent surgery with a
      preoperative diagnosis of multifocal metastatic or neuroendocrine tumor. At
      surgery, two metastatic nodules of renal cell carcinoma were found and excised.
      After four years of follow up there is no evidence of recurrence.

PMID- 20919486
TI  - [Extensive cerebral vein thrombosis as first manifestation of Behcet's disease.
      Report of one case].
AB  - Behcet's disease (BD) is a systemic inflammatory vascular disease with several
      clinical manifestations and geographical differences in disease expression. In
      Middle Eastern countries it is one of the most common causes of cerebral venous
      thrombosis. We report a 29-year-old female admitted for acute headache and
      vomiting. A magnetic resonance image showed a large thrombosis of sagital and
      transverse sinuses. She developed oral and genital ulcers a week later.
      Ophthalmologic examination revealed left anterior uveitis and ipsilateral
      papilledema. Multiple studies ruled out a hypercoagulability syndrome. The
      patient used oral contraceptives. Anticoagulant therapy was prescribed. A biopsy
      of a genital ulcer demonstrated diffuse lymphocytic infiltration with vasculitis.
      After treatment with topical and systemic corticoids, her condition improved.
      Venous sinus thrombosis followed by oral and genital ulcers is an unusual
      presentation of Behcet's disease.

PMID- 20919487
TI  - [Four-week Levitronix Centrimag bridge-to-transplant for post myocardial
      infarction cardiogenic shock. A case report].
AB  - Cardiogenic shock after myocardial infarction has a high mortality even if early
      revascularization is achieved. Biventricular assist devices have not been used in
      Chile in this critical setting. We report a case of a 55-year-old diabetic man
      who suffered an acute chest pain and ventricular fibrillation. Prompt outside
      hospital defibrillation/reanimation restored pulse and allowed emergency room
      transfer on mechanical ventilation. Electrocardiogram showed an anterior
      myocardial infarction and early revascularization was achieved by anterior
      descending artery angioplasty. However, severe cardiogenic shock continued in
      spite of inotropic and intra aortic balloon pump support. Levitronix Centrimag
      biventricular mechanical circulatory support was inserted during reanimation for
      recurrent ventricular fibrillation and the patient listed for urgent cardiac
      transplantation upon stabilization. Heart transplantation was performed
      successfully 28 days later and the patient was discharged after a 21-day recovery
      period. Twelve months after transplant the patient is in NYHA functional class I
      with normal biventricular function. Levitronix Centrimag biventricular mechanical
      circulatory support could be used successfully as a bridge-to-transplant for
      myocardial infarction cardiogenic shock.

PMID- 20919488
TI  - Interleukin (IL)-35 is raising our expectations.
AB  - PURPOSE: To elucidate and discuss the role of IL-35 in immunity to parasitic and
      bacterial infections as well as in autoimmunity in terms of its anti-inflammatory
      properties, we highlight significant findings on this novel member of the IL-12
      family. METHODS: Studies using genetically deficient mice have greatly enhanced
      our understanding of the biology of IL-35. On the basis of data derived from the
      analysis of these genetically deficient mice published by NIH, we focus on the
      key features of this heterodimeric cytokine, especially its relation to the other
      IL-12 family members, and discuss its potential relevance to the clinical usage.
      PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: IL-35 is required for the CD4+CD25+ Treg cells-mediated
      immune regulation, the alleviation of some inflammatory responses, as well as the
      expansion of CD4+CD25- Teff cells simultaneously. Moreover, administration or
      augmentation of IL-35 suppresses some diseases of autoimmune or allergic origin
      like collagen-induced arthritis or Helicobacter-induced colitis in animal models,
      demonstrating its potential in therapy of diseases mediated by inflammatory
      cytokines. However, some questions involving it are still unclear, including the
      composition of IL-35 receptor, IL-35-related cell signaling pathway, the
      different expression patterns of IL-35 between human and murine T cells, etc.
      CONCLUSION: As our understanding of the IL-35 is rapidly growing and changing, it
      will bring us more therapeutic strategies towards some intractable immune
      diseases such as Lupus Erythematosus.

PMID- 20919489
TI  - [Genetic markers in essential hypertension].
AB  - Essential hypertension (HTA) is a multifactorial disease and in Chile, its
      prevalence is 33.7%. There is a genetic predisposition to develop hypertension,
      whose magnitude is approximately 30 to 50%. At present, some factors are known to
      increase the risk for cardiovascular disease, but widely accepted biomarkers for
      screening are missing. The first studies that looked for candidate genes have
      focused on the renin-angiotensin--aldosterone, aducina, adrenoreceptors beta, G
      protein subunits, G protein signaling regulators, kinases associated with G
      proteins and Rho kinases. Studies of DNA sequencing search for polymorphisms and
      variants through single nucleotide polymorphisms, have been used to seek
      partnerships with complex or multifactorial diseases, like HTA. Examples of these
      are: components of collagen proteins, genes related to cell myocardial proteins
      belonging to cytochrome P450 and growth factors, among others. It is still
      unlikely to count in a near future with a universal marker. Most probably, a
      series of markers that confer susceptibility to a specific individual will have
      to be used in prevention programs or personalized therapy.

PMID- 20919490
TI  - [Bipolar depression and unipolar depression: differential diagnosis in clinical
      practice].
AB  - When assessing a patient with depression it is crucial not to miss a diagnosis of
      bipolar depression. In this review we suggest that it can be achieved, first, by
      consistently usingstandardised diagnostic criteria (e.g., DSM-IV-TR or ICD 10)
      and, second, by ascertaining the presence of some clinical features. The latter
      include previous episodes of mood elevation, current or past episodes of
      psychotic depression, onset of recurrent depressive disorder before the age of
      25, a strong family history of mood disorder and suicide, lack of response or
      "wearing off" of response to well conducted antidepressant treatment, and an
      unusually fast response to antidepressants with features of elation. Although
      more and better research is required to establish the validity, sensitivity,
      specificity, and predictive value of each one of these features we suggest that
      from a practical point of view they would increase clinicians' awareness of
      bipolar depression.

PMID- 20919491
TI  - [When two consecutive laboratory results indicate a change in health status in a
      patient?].
AB  - Sources of variation between two serial tests must be considered in interpreting
      if there was a clinically significant change. The main causes of variation are
      the biological variation coefficient (CVB) of the test in question, which must be
      obtained from the literature, and the analytical coefficient of variation (CVA)
      of the same test, which must be obtained from the internal quality control
      laboratory data. With both data we can calculate the critical difference or
      "reference change value" which helps us to decide whether there was a real change
      in the patient's health.

PMID- 20919492
TI  - [Absence of Chorein protein is the molecular basis of psychiatric and neurologic
      manifestations associated with acanthocytosis in a patient].

PMID- 20919494
TI  - [Preliminary report of a governmental program on children psychosocial
      development care in Chile].

PMID- 20919493
TI  - [Case study of monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance and multiple
      myeloma at "Hospital Naval Almirante Nef" vina del Mar, Chile].

PMID- 20919495
TI  - [Clinical application of azithromycin extended-release (ER) formulation to treat
      female sexually transmitted infection].
AB  - The prevalence of female sexually transmitted infection (STI) in Japan is in the
      decreasing tendency after 2002, however it still actualizes as a social problem.
      Azithromycin, which is 15-member macrolide antimicrobial agent, has indication to
      treat the chlamydia STI in a single dose of 1 g. In April 2009, a single dose of
      2 g of azithromycin extended release (ER) formulation, which is improved
      formulation by the viewpoint of pharmacokinetics-pharmacodynamics, was approved
      and has indications to treat not only chlamydial STI but also gonococcal STI. We
      considered the clinical application of azithromycin ER to treat female STI,
      including our new our own experiences because the clinical studies of
      azithromycin ER for STI had not been conducted. In conclusion, azithromycin ER
      was suggested theoretically becoming one of the choices of new treatment STI
      caused by not only chlamydia but also gonococcus, more clinical consideration to
      treat STI will be necessary in the future.

PMID- 20919496
TI  - [Bacteria isolated from surgical infections and their susceptibilities to
      antimicrobial agents --special references to bacteria isolated between April 2008
      and March 2009].
AB  - Bacteria isolated from infections in abdominal surgery during the period from
      April 2008 to March 2009 were investigated in a multicenter study in Japan, and
      the following results were obtained. In this series, 712 strains including 18
      strains of Candida spp. were isolated from 173 (80.5%) of 215 patients with
      surgical infections. Three hundred and sixty-six strains were isolated from
      primary infections, and 346 strains were isolated from postoperative infections.
      From primary infections, anaerobic Gram-negative bacteria were predominant,
      followed by aerobic Gram-negative bacteria, while from postoperative infections
      aerobic Gram-positive bacteria were predominant, followed by anaerobic Gram
      negative bacteria. Among aerobic Gram-positive bacteria, the isolation rate of
      Enterococcus spp. was highest, followed by Streptococcus spp., and Staphylococcus
      spp. in this order, from primary infections, while Enterococcus spp. was highest,
      followed by Staphylococcus spp. from postoperative infections. Among aerobic Gram
      negative bacteria, Escherichia coli was the most predominantly isolated from
      primary infections, followed by Klebsiella pneumoniae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa,
      in this order, and from postoperative infections, P aeruginosa was most
      predominantly isolated, followed by E. coli, Enterobacter cloacae, and K.
      pneumoniae. Among anaerobic Gram-positive bacteria, the isolation rate of
      Eggerthella lenta was the highest from primary infections, followed by Parvimonas
      micra, Streptococcus constellatus and Gemella morbillorum, and from postoperative
      infections, E. lenta was most predominantly isolated. Among anaerobic Gram
      negative bacteria, the isolation rate of Bacteroides fragilis was the highest
      from primary infections, followed by Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron, Bacteroides
      ovatus and Bilophila wadsworthia, and from postoperative infections, B. fragilis
      was most predominantly isolated, followed by B. thetaiotaomicron, B. wadsworthia
      and B. ovatus, in this order. In this series, we noticed no vancomycin-resistant
      methicillin-resistant S. aureus, and Enterococcus spp., nor multidrug-resistant P
      aeruginosa. We should carefully follow up B. wadsworthia which was resistant to
      various antibiotics, and also Bacteroides spp. which was resistant to many beta
      lactam antibiotics.

PMID- 20919497
TI  - [Antimicrobial activity of oral quinolones against clinical isolates of
      Bifidobacterium group and Clostridium difficile].
AB  - Administrations of antimicrobial agent influence human intestinal flora, and
      sometimes lead to cause Clostridium difficile colitis (CDC). It has been well
      known that antimicrobial agents, such as clindamycin (CLDM), ampicillin (ABPC)
      and cephems, frequently cause C. difficile colitis, however, recently some
      respiratory quinolones, such as garenoxacin (GRNX) and moxifloxacin (MFLX), have
      paid to attention. Bifidobacterium species would be highly associated with the
      preservation of normal intestinal flora, while C. difficile would be associated
      with diarrhea related with antibiotics administration. We investigated
      antimicrobial activity of GRNX, MFLX and levofloxacin (LVFX) by agar dilution
      methods based on CLSI recommendations. Forty-seven strains Bifidobacterium
      species isolated from healthy human intestinal flora and 51 strains of C.
      difficile isolated from C. difficile colitis patients between 2004 and 2006 were
      subjected to this study. MIC ranges of Bifidobacterium species for GRNX, MFLX and
      LVFX were 0.5-16, 0.06-2, and 0.5-8 microg/mL, respectively. MIC50 s of GRNX,
      MFLX and LVFX against Bifidobacterium species were 2, 0.5 and 4 microg/mL,
      respectively. MIC90 s of GRNX, MFLX and LVFX against Bifidobacterium species were
      8, 2 and 8 microg/mL, respectively. MIC ranges of C. difficile for GRNX, MFLX and
      LVFX were 0.5 - > 64, 1-64, and 0.125-32 microg/mL, respectively. MIC50s of GRNX,
      MFLX and LVFX against C. difficile were 2, 2 and 0.5 microg/mL, respectively.
      MIC90 s of GRNX, MFLX and LVFX against C. difficile were 64, 16 and 8 microg/mL,
      respectively. LVFX would preserve Bifidobacterium species, and also would be
      bactericidal for C. difficile, which might lead to the low rate of
      gastrointestinal disorder in LVFX. GRNX would preserve Bifidobacterium species,
      however, might be lead to CDC in some cases, since antimicrobial activity for C.
      difficile has been weak compared with LVFX. Since MFLX would be bactericidal for
      Bifidobacterium species and antibacterial activity of MFLX for C. difficile would
      be weak compared with LVFX, we have to pay attention to antibiotics associated
      diarrhea in MFLX treatment.

PMID- 20919498
TI  - [A historical story of the Japanese antibiotics world-development of penicillin].

PMID- 20919499
TI  - [A proposal of a patient psychiatric treatment and hospitalisation consent form].
AB  - The Polish medical law has accepted the rule of equivalence in the doctor-patient
      relationship. In this way it gave up on the medical paternalism". To a large
      extent, the newly passed or renewed Rules and Regulations were responsible for
      this. All Polish hospitals, the psychiatric ones amongst them, must abide the
      rules on patients' agreement to being hospitalised, examined and treated in
      accordance with the regulations on: the profession of the doctor and the dentist
      (passed on the 5th December 1996); on the patient's laws and the Speaker of
      Patient's Laws (passed on the 6th November 2008) and the Minister of Health
      Regulation on the type and range of medical records kept in the health care
      centres and the means of dealing with those records (from the 21st December
      2006). Many hospitals have use their own adapted records, which are in accordance
      with those rules and regulations. There is no universal forms concerning the
      patient's consent to being admitted and treated in a psychiatric hospital. The
      problem that is taken on by the psychiatrists about the difference and
      specificity of psychiatric treatment and the situation of the patient being
      admitted onto a psychiatric ward, proves the general consent forms to be
      inadequate. The article shows the current and running regulations on the
      patient's consent to hospital admission, an agreement to receiving health care
      and receiving medical information and insight into medical records. The
      character, scope, types of patient's agreement and their forms have been
      discussed here. Appropriate form types and outlines are presented.

PMID- 20919500
TI  - [Incapacity to undertaking the essential marital duties due to causes of psychic
      nature. The forensic-psychiatric point of view].
AB  - Since at least 20 years, most of the legal proceedings of marital incapacity are
      carried on by the church tribunals mainly of no 3 canon 1095 new law code, that
      is of mental incapacity to undertaking and performing the essential marital
      duties. Very often the legal proceedings are very difficult and the canonical
      lawyers need the forensic psychiatric or psychological opinions. The aim of this
      paper is to give the forensic psychiatrists and psychologists the essential
      knowledge connected with the new regulations listed in canon 1095 no 3 of the
      actual canon law code. According to the opinions of the notable canonical lawyers
      the author describes the legal and marital prerequisites for valid marriage, the
      ability for undertaking and performing the essential marital duties and the
      mental reasons for marital incapacity. The author points out several psychiatric
      reasons underlying the mental incapacity for undertaking and performing essential
      marital duties: personality disorders and alcoholism which preclude adequate
      interpersonal relations and sexually related personality disorders which preclude
      the exclusiveness and natural consumption of the marital agreement. At the end
      the author points out the conditions which should have good forensic opinion.

PMID- 20919502
TI  - [Transcranial direct current stimulation and related techniques in treatment of
      psychiatric disorders].
AB  - Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation tDCS is one from many techniques of
      electrical head stimulation, which were or are subjected to clinical
      investigations for testing their mainly antidepressive efficacy, and which do not
      evoke the excessive stimulation of brain neurones with eliciting of the
      paroxysmal discharge. Despite the proven effectiveness of the convulsive
      techniques, amongst them electroconvulsive therapy ECT, investigations over
      sub(non) convulsive methods were continued. The paper describes and contains a
      systematisation trial of the sub(non)convulsive techniques applied in the period
      of past decades in the therapy of psychical disorders. Their clinical
      effectiveness is low, and investigations over them have mainly a cognitive value.

PMID- 20919501
TI  - [The evolution of the canons law code and the mental nature reasons of marital
      incapacity during the last 25 years].
AB  - AIM: The aim of the article was to investigate how during the last 25 years of
      implementation of the new canons law code changed the use of these new law
      regulations by the church lawyers as well as the mental causes for marital
      incapacity. METHOD: The basis of investigation was the analysis of 135 forensic
      psychiatric opinions made by the author for the Metropolitan Tribunal of Gniezno
      in the legal proceedings carried out in the years 1984-2008. RESULTS AND
      CONCLUSIONS: On the basis of the analysis, the author got the following results.
      During the first 10 years of implementation of the new canon law code, the legal
      proceedings were carried on mostly of no 1 or together of no 1 and no 3 canon
      1095, but during the last 15 years mostly of no 3 this canon of mental incapacity
      to undertaking the essentials marital duties. The mental causes of the marital
      incapacity also changed very significantly in this time. During the first 15
      years, there were serious mental disorders such as schizophrenia, epilepsy or
      oligophrenia, but during the last 10 years the main causes of incapacity to
      undertaking the essential marital duties were personality disorders, alcohol
      dependences or psychosexual deviations.

PMID- 20919503
TI  - [Caregiving consequences in mental disorders--definitions and instruments of
      assessment].
AB  - Severe mental illnesses have far-reaching consequences for both patients and
      their relatives. This paper reviews literature on the measures of caregiving
      consequences. Authors provide a condensed knowledge and research results in the
      area of caregiving consequences, especially both subjective and objective
      caregivers' burden. The consequences of care apply to carers' social and leisure
      activities, financial status, health condition. The burden of care has three
      fundamental causes: the reorganisation of mental health services, a social
      isolation of patients and their families and the lack of systemic support for
      caregivers. The problem of caregiving consequences has been investigated in
      several studies. In order to identify factors, which have impact on caregiver
      distress, a variety instruments have been developed. This paper focuses on
      questionnaires useful for the systematic assessment of both objective and
      subjective burden: Involvement Evaluation Questionnaire (IEQ), Perceived Family
      Burden Scale (PFBS), Zarit Caregiver Burden Scale (ZCBS), Experience of
      Caregiving Inventory (ECI), Family Problems Questionnaire (FPQ). The mentioned
      instruments proved to be a reliable instrument for measuring caregiver
      consequences in mental healthcare.

PMID- 20919504
TI  - [Psychological determinants of quality of life in women diagnosed with depressive
      disorders].
AB  - The essential element of the functioning of patients is the assessment of quality
      of life and its determinants. Taking into account the depression process and its
      specific nature this seems to be of special importance. AIM: The aim of this
      paper was the assessment of importance of psychological determinants of quality
      of life in women with depressive disorders. METHODS: The tests were carried out
      on the basis of the analysis of medical documentation, including the psychiatric
      records. The following criteria were measured: depression level (Beck
      Hopelessness Scale), quality of life (The Life Satisfaction Questionnaire FLZ
      according to Fahrenberg), personality model (NEO Five-Factor Inventory), optimism
      (The Life Orientation Test-Revised LOT-R by M. Scheier, ChS. Carver and M.
      Bridges adapted by R. Poprawa and Z. Juczynski), purpose in life (The Purpose-in
      Life Test developed by Crumbaugh and Maholick according to the authorised
      translation by Z. Pluzek), social support (The Social Support Questionnaire by
      Sommer G, Fydrich T, 1989 adapted by Z. Juczynski), health satisfaction (General
      Health Questionnaire GHQ 28 by David Goldberg). Women diagnosed with depressive
      disorders were qualified for testing. The tested group of women included 80
      patients in the age bracket of 40 to 60 years from the Outpatient Department of
      Mental Health, Regional Specialised Hospital in Zgierz. The reference group
      consisted of 30 women showing no symptoms of depressive disorders. RESULTS: The
      statistical analysis of variables taken into account in the tests showed
      essential statistical differences between the compared groups with regard to
      almost all parameters. Significant differences were found in respect of life
      satisfaction, personality variables, social support, health satisfaction and
      purpose in life. CONCLUSIONS: The obtained results showed significant differences
      regarding the assessment of quality of life between the group of women with
      depressive disorders and the group of women without any symptoms of such
      disorders in respect of the tested psychological determinants. The only exception
      was the "parent-child relationship satisfaction" where no differences were found.

PMID- 20919505
TI  - [Evaluation of quality of life, anxiety and depression in testicular cancer
      patients during chemotherapy and after anticancer treatment].
AB  - AIM: Investigating quality of life, anxiety, aggression and depression disorders
      in testicular cancer during chemotherapy and after anticancer treatment.
      Evaluation of correlation between quality of life domains and mental disorders.
      METHOD: Participants were 111 men: 57 testicular cancer patients during
      chemotherapy and 54 survivors at least 6 months after treatment for testicular
      cancer. The World Health Organization Quality of Life Instrument (WHOQoL-BREF)
      and the Hospital Anxiety Depression Scale (HADS) were used to study. RESULTS: The
      assessment of general health was higher in survivors than in patients during
      chemotherapy. Anxiety and depression disorders were defined by a score > or = 8
      on the HADS subscales. The prevalence of anxiety disorder was 40% (anxiety
      syndrome--15%) in patients during chemotherapy and 18.5% in patients after
      treatment. The prevalence of depression disorder was 14.6% in patients during
      chemotherapy and 9.3% in patients after treatment. The prevalence of aggression
      was 5.6% in patients during chemotherapy and 18.9% in survivors. Anxiety and
      depression disorders correlated with quality of life and self-health perception,
      psychological and social domains. CONCLUSION: Testicular cancer patients during
      chemotherapy assessed their health lower. Chemotherapy for testicular cancer was
      associated with higher levels of anxiety and depression. Survivors after
      testicular cancer therapy have an increased risk of a higher aggression level.

PMID- 20919506
TI  - [Comorbidity of aspirin-induced asthma, panic disorder and depression versus
      gender and presence of profound psychological traumas].
AB  - AIM: The author examined psychiatrically a group of 100 ambulatory patients with
      asthma. The special interest of the study was the careful analysis of the time,
      context and content of different psychological traumas that the patients had
      throughout their lives. METHODS: 100 consecutive adults with confirmed, physician
      diagnosed aspirin-induced asthma underwent psychiatric interview and assessment
      using M.I.N.I 5.0, Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and Panic And Agoraphobia
      Scale (PAS). Psychiatric assessment was performed by an experienced liaison
      psychiatrist according to ICD-10 and DSM-IV diagnosis. There were 66 women (66%)
      and 34 men (34%). The average age was 52.7 (SD = 12.3) for women and 48.8 (SD =
      13.0) for men. RESULTS: In the group of 100 patients with asthma, women were a
      majority (66%) with higher level of anxiety and depressive symptoms than men. It
      may be due to specific trauma of suffering and/or death of an emotionally close
      person, which occurred in adulthood. This kind of trauma may have an impact on
      the aetiology of both panic disorder and depression. Women are more exposed to
      this sort of trauma due to their social role. CONCLUSIONS: It is possible, that
      psychological trauma affects the development, course and severity of anxiety and
      depressive symptoms in asthmatic patients.

PMID- 20919507
TI  - [Panic disorder and depression influence on the severity of aspirin-induced
      asthma].
AB  - AIM: Studies have reported a high rate of depression (DD) and panic disorder (PD)
      among asthma patients, though the impact of these disorders on asthma severity
      remains unclear. This study evaluated the prevalence of psychiatric disorders in
      100 patients with aspirin-induced asthma and association between psychiatric
      status and levels of asthma severity. METHODS: 100 consecutive adults with
      confirmed, physician-diagnosed aspirin-induced asthma underwent psychiatric
      interviews and assessment using M.I.N.I 5.0, Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and
      Panic And Agoraphobia Scale (PAS). Psychiatric assessment was performed by an
      experienced liaison psychiatrist according to ICD-10 and DSM-IV diagnosis. Asthma
      severity was assessed according to NHLBI/NAEPP 2007. There were 66 women (66%)
      and 34 men (34%). The average age was 52.7 (SD = 12.3) for women and 49.8 (SD =
      13.0) for men. RESULTS: 41% patients met the diagnostic criteria for panic
      disorder, and 30% of them met depression criteria. Analyses revealed that there
      is correlation between asthma severity and presence and intensity of psychiatric
      disorders. CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest that psychiatric disorders are prevalent
      among patients with aspirin-induced asthma and are associated with worse asthma
      severity. Physicians should consider the impact of these conditions when planning
      optimal treatment.

PMID- 20919508
TI  - [Prevalence of mental disorders and psychoactive substance use in metropolitan 17
      year old youth population].
AB  - AIM: To determine the extent to which mental disorders (depressive disorders,
      anxiety disorders, eating disorders) and psychoactive substance use are prevalent
      among Krakow secondary school adolescents in the late adolescent phase. METHOD: A
      representative sample of the population of Krakow secondary school pupils was
      tested. Two-stage draw method identified a group of 1933 2nd form pupils of all
      types of secondary schools: grammar schools, technical schools and vocational
      schools (17-year-olds). They were tested using the following screening
      questionnaires: Beck Depression Scale, EAT-26 eating disorders scale, Obsessive
      compulsive disorder (Leyton) scale and the author's drug questionnaire. RESULTS:
      Girls declared symptoms of mental disorders twice as often as boys (41.2% vs.
      22.7%). Among girls, the most common disorders were: depressive symptoms (33.6%),
      eating disorder symptoms (18.7%) and obsessive-compulsive disorders (5.4%). And
      in the boys group: depressive symptoms (22.7%), eating disorder (7.3%) and
      obsessive-compulsive symptoms (3.4%). Findings were obtained concerning the
      prevalence of substance use in the boys and girls group (73% vs. 68%), mainly
      alcohol, as well as alcohol and cigarettes and alcohol, cigarettes and drugs.
      CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of mental disorders in the population of 17-year-olds
      is significant; it concerns especially depressive symptoms and eating disorder
      symptoms. A significant prevalence of psychoactive substance use was found in
      this age group, mainly alcohol and mixed type substance use: alcohol and
      cigarettes and alcohol, cigarettes and drugs.

PMID- 20919509
TI  - [Specific phobia in early period of puerperium. Case report and its legal
      aspects].
AB  - A 28 year old woman with a specific phobia of being in hospital, three hours
      after having given birth to her baby, demanded to be discharged from the
      hospital, in spite of having been informed by the obstetrician that her life was
      threatened because of an intrauterine infection that might cause sepsis. The
      patient decided to stay in hospital after several long-lasting psychiatric
      consultations including psychotherapeutic interventions. The patient did not
      recognise that her fear was excessive and unreasonable, i.e., did not meet one of
      the criteria of specific phobia. She gradually regained criticism toward her
      symptoms within approximately one day. This indicates that patients with specific
      phobia confronted with a phobic situation may temporarily loose awareness that
      their fears are unreasonable and/or too intensive and may express beliefs similar
      to psychotic delusions. This situation faced the team of doctors with potential
      legal problems that might appear if the patient had definitely refused to stay in
      the hospital. Polish law does not allow to treat such patients against their will
      on non-psychiatric hospital wards. However, in the case ofa definite phobia
      diagnosis there is no legal way to hospitalise a patient against his or her will
      on a psychiatric ward.

PMID- 20919510
TI  - [Detention--means of protection in psychiatry, law and reality].

PMID- 20919511
TI  - Single-port laparoscopic surgery.
AB  - Laparoscopic surgery performed through a single-incision is gaining popularity.
      The demand from the public for even less invasive procedures will motivate
      surgeons, industry, and academic centers to explore the possibilities and refine
      the technology. Although the idea seems quite attractive, there are several
      technological obstacles that are yet to be conquered by improved technology or
      additional training. The question of safety has yet to be answered and will
      require well-designed randomized control trials. Opponents to the approach argue
      that the size of the single incision (see Table 1) is frequently larger than all
      the standard laparoscopy incisions combined. On the other hand, proponents
      remember a similar argument from traditional open surgeons during the initial
      development of laparoscopy. That argument was quickly discredited when the
      immediate benefits oflaparoscopy were compared with patients undergoing surgery
      with small laparotomy incisions. During the development of a new technique, the
      learning curve exposes patients to risk and society to expense. LESS pioneers
      appear to have reached a level of comfort with technology and techniques that
      paves the way for scientific scrutiny. Perhaps, the surgical community will
      capitalize on this situation with randomized, controlled studies and sound
      evidence to support or refute the benefits of LESS. If we do not seize this
      opportunity, patient demand and industry's dual edge message of financial success
      versus fear of losing referrals will lead to a scenario similar to the
      development of laparoscopic cholecystectomy in the 1990s. Regardless of its
      future, the surgical community will still benefit from a renewed excitement as
      surgeons aim to continually reduce the amount of pain and trauma our patients
      must endure. In addition, technological advances on instrumentation will benefit
      the field of laparoscopy and improve patient care.

PMID- 20919512
TI  - Combating stress and burnout in surgical practice: a review.
AB  - The practice of surgery offers the potential for tremendous personal and
      professional satisfaction. Few careers provide the opportunity to have such a
      profound effect on the lives of others and to derive meaning from work. Surgeons
      choose this arduous task to change the lives of individuals facing serious health
      problems, to experience the joy of facilitating healing, and to help support
      those patients for whom medicine does not yet have curative treatments. Despite
      its virtues, a career in surgery brings with it significant challenges, which can
      lead to substantial personal distress for the individual surgeons and their
      family. By identifying the priorities of their personal and professional life,
      surgeons can identify values, choose the optimal practice type, manage the
      stressors unique to that career path, determine the optimal personal work-life
      balance, and nurture their personal wellness. Being proactive is better than
      reacting to burnout after it has damaged one's professional life or personal
      wellness. Studies like the ACS survey can benefit surgeons going through a
      personal crisis by helping them to know that they are not alone and that many of
      their colleagues face similar issues. It is important that surgeons do not make
      the mistake of thinking: "I must not be tough enough," or "no one could possibly
      experience what I am going through." The available evidence suggests that those
      surgeons most dedicated to their profession and their patient may very well be
      most susceptible to burnout. Silence on career distress, as a strategy, simply
      does not work among professionals whose careers, well-being, and level of patient
      care may be in jeopardy. Additional research in these areas is needed to
      elucidate evidence-based interventions to address physician distress at both the
      individual and organizational level to benefit the individual surgeon and the
      patient they care for. Surgeons must also be able to recognize how and when their
      personal distress affects the quality of care they provide (both in the delivery
      of care and in the emotional support of patients and their families). There is no
      single formula for achieving a satisfying career in surgery. All surgeons deal
      with stressful times in their personal and professional life and must cultivate
      habits of personal renewal, emotional self-awareness, connection with colleagues,
      adequate support systems, and the ability to find meaning in work to combat these
      challenges. As surgeons, we also need to set an example of good health to our
      patients and future generations of surgeons. To provide the best care for our
      patients, we need to be alert, interested in our work, and ready to provide for
      our patient's needs. Maintaining these values and healthy habits is the work of a
      lifetime.

PMID- 20919513
TI  - Laparoscopic gastric bypass or gastric banding: which operation is best?
AB  - Data from the available published literature support that laparoscopic gastric
      bypass and laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding are safe and effective
      bariatric procedures for the treatment of morbid obesity. Compared with gastric
      bypass, gastric banding is commonly associated with a shorteroperative time and
      length of hospital stay, and lower perioperative morbidity. However, the medium-
      and long-term weight losses were consistently and dramatically better after
      gastric bypass. The 2 preoperative factors predictive of poor weight loss in
      patients with gastric banding were male gender and patients with a BMI greater
      than or equal to 50 kg/m2. With this knowledge, the final decision regarding
      gastric bypass versus gastric banding will rely on an in-depth discussion between
      patients and surgeons with regard to perioperative and late complication data,
      long-term weight loss and variability of weight loss between the 2 operations, as
      well as the data regarding the rate for remission of comorbidities between the 2
      operations. At the current time, there is ample evidence for surgeons and
      patients to make a well-informed decision with regard to which operation is best
      for the individual patient.

PMID- 20919514
TI  - Prevention, detection, and management of leaks following gastric bypass for
      obesity.

PMID- 20919515
TI  - Distinguishing acute from ruptured appendicitis preoperatively in the pediatric
      patient.

PMID- 20919516
TI  - Screening criteria for breast cancer.
AB  - Breast cancer screening constitutes an integral part of surgical practice for
      many surgeons and is an important tool in the war against breast cancer. Among
      many modalities, mammography plays a central role, with MRI now being
      increasingly used for women with high risk for breast cancer. Current guidelines
      for screening are in the process of evolution as more scientific knowledge is
      gained. The challenge lies in developing cost-effective methods to reach the
      maximum number of the population at risk.

PMID- 20919517
TI  - Laparoscopic and thoracoscopic esophagectomy.
AB  - Over the past decade, our technique of MIE has evolved considerably. In the
      incipient phase of our experience, we used a totally laparoscopic approach
      similar to that described in the initial reports from DePaula and colleagues and
      Swanstrom and Hansen. However, it was soon apparent that there were several
      critical disadvantages to a purely laparoscopic approach. Laparoscopic
      transhiatal mobilization of the esophagus offers suboptimal visualization of
      important periesophageal structures, including the inferior pulmonary vein and
      the left mainstem bronchus. Moreover, decreased visibility hindered hemostatic
      division of periesophageal vessels and negatively impacted the completeness of
      the mediastinal lymph node dissection. These problems are further exacerbated in
      taller patients. In light of these considerations, we soon transitioned to a
      laparoscopic-thoracoscopic McKeown approach (thoracoscopic mobilization of the
      intrathoracic esophagus, laparoscopic gastric tube creation, cervical
      anastomosis). To this date, the great majority of our minimally invasive
      esophagectomies (>500 cases) have been performed with this 3-field technique.
      Indeed, the procedure has been the mainstay of our experience in the past 10
      years with reduced perioperative morbidity and mortality compared with many other
      open series. In our experience, perhaps the most significant technical concern
      with this operation is the cervical dissection. Recurrent laryngeal nerve
      injuries, perturbations in pharyngeal transit, and swallowing dysfunction even in
      the absence of recurrent nerve injury are not infrequent. Moreover, as described
      in open series using a cervical anastomosis, anastomotic stricture and leak have
      been shown to occur with increased frequency [35]. In short, there is a
      significant learning curve with the cervical dissection. Out of these concerns
      emerged our more recent experience with completely thoracoscopic-laparoscopic
      Ivor Lewis esophagectomy. However, we did first evolve through a transition phase
      whereby a mini-thoracotomy (hybrid approach) was performed for creation of the
      intrathoracic anastomosis. We believe that the experience with totally
      thoracoscopic-laparoscopic Ivor Lewis esophagectomy will ultimately reproduce the
      low morbidity and mortality we have previously published with our established MIE
      technique. The omission of a cervical dissection has reduced our recurrent nerve
      injury rate to zero. From a theoretical standpoint, one would presume that
      pharyngeal transit problems and oropharyngeal swallowing dysfunction should be
      reduced as well with a chest anastomosis. It should be emphasized that there is a
      steep operator learning curve associated with this approach. Indeed,
      thoracoscopic port placement is critical, as poorly positioned trocars can result
      in difficulty maneuvering instruments through the rigid chest wall. Additionally,
      both blood and lung can obscure visualization of the esophagus, which lies at the
      dependent aspect of the operative field. Prone positioning has been described as
      an alternative approach that may facilitate operative exposure and address such
      technical concerns. Low rates of anastomotic leak (3%), low mortality (1.5%), and
      equivalent stage-specific survival compared with open series have been shown with
      this thoracoscopic prone approach [36]. In conclusion, our technique of MIE has
      evolved such that laparoscopic-thoracoscopic Ivor Lewis esophagectomy has become
      our preferred approach. Although somewhat early in our experience, we are
      convinced that this operative technique is feasible with reproducible results.
      Perioperative morbidity and mortality are comparable with our previously
      established MIE with cervical anastomosis while essentially eliminating recurrent
      nerve injury, limiting the length of the gastric conduit required, and allowing a
      more aggressive gastric resection margin. Recent data from other publications
      also suggests that lymph node yields may be improved, although insufficient data
      exist at this time to comment on oncologic results or outcomes with this
      technique.

PMID- 20919518
TI  - Biomedical and health informatics for surgery.
AB  - The application of biomedical and health informatics to surgery holds tremendous
      opportunities to enhance surgical care. Better use of information in surgical
      practice has the potential to streamline care, remove inefficiencies, and allow
      for improvements in surgical research. With greater EHR adoption, health care
      reform, and direct investment in HIT, an increasing opportunity exists for
      surgeons to access and use patient information more effectively. For this to
      happen, greater focus on the specific needs of surgeons is particularly
      important, alongside increasing the number of surgical informatics stakeholders.

PMID- 20919519
TI  - Does the type of pancreaticojejunostomy after Whipple alter the leak rate?
AB  - Despite the overwhelming limitations that plague the literature surrounding the
      optimal method of reestablishing pancreatico-enteric continuity following a
      Whipple operation, it is clear that all successful techniques conform to sound
      surgical principles. These principles include a water-tight and tension-free
      anastomosis, preservation of adequate blood supply for both organs involved in
      the anastomosis, and minimal trauma to the pancreas gland. Although surgeon
      experience, gland texture, and pancreatic duct size are clearly the dominate risk
      factors from a long list of variables associated with pancreatic leaks following
      pancreatoduodenectomy, these are nonmodifiable covariates. Although the plethora
      of current literature cannot provide a single definitive technical solution for
      restoring pancreatico-enteric continuity, a small number of well-designed RCTs
      support the use of transanastomotic external stenting for high-risk pancreatic
      glands and an end-to-side invaginated pancreaticojejunostomy. The truth remains
      that an individual surgeon's mastery of a specific anastomotic technique, in
      conjunction with a large personal experience, is likely to be the best predictor
      of a low pancreas leak rate following pancreatoduodenectomy.

PMID- 20919520
TI  - Adjuvant chemoradiation therapy for pancreas cancer: who really benefits?

PMID- 20919521
TI  - Real-time glucose monitoring in the hospital: future or now?

PMID- 20919522
TI  - Minimally invasive thyroid and parathyroid operations: surgical techniques and
      pearls.
AB  - With advances in technology and greater demand for minimally invasive procedures,
      novel minimally invasive approaches to thyroid and parathyroid glands
      increasingly have been described and practiced worldwide. For the MIT approaches,
      the direct/cervical approaches truly can be considered minimally invasive, as
      they require less surgical dissection than the conventional thyroidectomy. The
      indirect/extracervical approaches, however, only can be considered endoscopic,
      however, because they generally do require greater surgical dissection. Still,
      among the indirect/extracervical approaches, the axillary approach appears the
      preferred choice, as it requires the least amount of dissection while offering
      the advantage of being scarless in the neck. The addition of the robot such as
      the de Vinci surgical system could make some of the extracervical approaches
      technically less challenging and improve patient outcomes. Unlike MIT, MIP has
      become the standard approach for surgical management of primary
      hyperparathyroidism caused by localized solitary parathyroid adenoma.

PMID- 20919523
TI  - What's new in neoadjuvant therapy for breast cancer?
AB  - Neoadjuvant treatment of breast cancer is currently being used in patients with
      advanced disease as well as with increasing application in those that present
      with initially operable breast cancer. The current clinical benefits of the use
      of NAC include: NAC increases the possibility of the use of BCS, the safety of
      NAC is comparable with that of adjuvant chemotherapy, and pCR may be predictive
      of overall survival. Although there are still unresolved clinical questions
      regarding the use of neoadjuvant therapy in initially operable breast cancer,
      there appears to be equivalent survival to the standard of care. Future research
      should be aimed at tailoring treatment to individual patients using specific
      tumor characteristics that may predict response to different types of
      chemotherapy, molecular targeted therapy, and endocrine therapy.

PMID- 20919524
TI  - The impact of frailty in the elderly on the outcome of surgery in the aged.
AB  - As the population continues to age, we will continue to encounter issues
      involving aging and the elderly. Despite these issues, knowledge is expanding and
      evolving with new solutions to ongoing problems. Mechanistically, frailty at its
      root is a symptom of growing old, with cascades and circuitous feedback between
      organ systems at all levels. Clinically, frailty is as equally dynamic and its
      multifactorial nature represents a unique challenge to the surgical community and
      warrants the integration of geriatric assessment into clinical practice.
      Integration within clinical practice includes using an interdisciplinary
      approach, where surgeons work with anesthesiologists, geriatricians, nursing,
      rehabilitation, nutritionists, and other support staff to provide holistic
      assessment, efficient delivery, and higher quality of care. This in hand,
      recognition of frailty can occur in a timely fashion to initiate treatment,
      decreasing the risk of morbidity and mortality for improved surgical outcomes.

PMID- 20919525
TI  - Quality improvement in surgery: the American College of Surgeons National
      Surgical Quality Improvement Program approach.
AB  - The history and development of the NSQIP, from its inception in the Veterans
      Administration Health System to its implementation within the private sector
      sponsored by the ACS, documents the growth of a program that has substantially
      improved the quality of surgical care and has had a considerable influence on the
      culture of quality improvement in the profession. The success of the ACS NSQIP is
      the result of providing hospitals with rigorous, clinical data, networking
      opportunities, and resources to improve their risk-adjusted outcomes. In this
      manner, the ACS NSQIP challenges its hospitals and health care providers to
      continually improve the care they provide. In addition to reducing the
      complications and mortality experienced by patients after surgical procedures,
      hospitals that participate in the ACS NSQIP have seen the financial rewards of
      their quality improvement efforts. Continued growth of the ACS NSQIP will
      facilitate achievement of the primary goal surrounding the current health care
      reform debate: efficient, high-quality care.

PMID- 20919526
TI  - Management of disappearing colorectal hepatic metastases.
AB  - Disappearance of liver lesions during neoadjuvant chemotherapy is common and is
      the basis for the increasing number of patients suitable for potentially curative
      hepatectomy in patients with hepatic colorectal metastases. Many of the liver
      lesions disappearing on radiologic evaluation after successful chemotherapy for
      metastatic colorectal cancer are still present and alive. In patients with only
      some disappearing lesions, exploration should be undertaken to thoroughly
      evaluate all sites of previous disease. Because many small residual lesions are
      scars and complete pathologic responses, treatment should include not only
      complete treatment of all remaining lesions but also parenchymal conservation
      techniques such as ablations and limited resections. For patients with completely
      disappearing lesions, the standard therapy is still exploration and direct
      intraoperative assessment. However, if the patient chooses observation in the
      setting of negative CEA, MRI, and PET, close follow-up should be undertaken to
      avoid missing treatable and resectable recurrences.

PMID- 20919527
TI  - Endovascular repair of traumatic aortic injuries.
AB  - Endograft repair has clearly revolutionized the treatment of traumatic aortic
      injury. Numerous studies, both retrospective and prospective, have documented the
      advantages with respect to lower mortality and lower paraplegia rates as compared
      with traditional open repair. Additionally, 2 recent meta-analyses of the
      published literature both reported significantly lower mortality and paraplegia
      rates with endovascular repair. These clear improvements, however, come at an
      increased rate of device-related complications. Currently, newer devices designed
      to adapt to more acute bends in the proximal thoracic aorta are in the
      multicenter trial phase. These devices are also expected to be available in a
      wider range of diameters and lengths, including smaller diameter devices required
      to treat younger patients. A conformable Gore TAG design is undergoing trials in
      the United States. Trials of the Talent thoracic device for the treatment of
      blunt aortic injury are also ongoing. We await the results of the ongoing
      multicenter trials and expect that with improvements in technology, the vast
      majority of patients with traumatic aortic injury can be treated without open
      thoracic aortic surgery. The long-term durability and natural history of thoracic
      endograft devices, however, are unknown. Continued regular follow-up is
      recommended, although this can be difficult in this young population of patients.
      Because follow-up may be ongoing for decades, the need to identify a potential
      problem has to be weighed against the oncologic risks of repeated radiation
      exposure.

PMID- 20919529
TI  - The role of PET scanning in pancreatic cancer.
AB  - The strength of functional imaging lies in its ability to detect malignant
      disease irrespective of lesion morphology. In this setting, 18FDG-PET can
      complement management by providing a more accurate diagnosis. When combined as an
      adjunct to CT, 18FDG-PET can increase the sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy
      for detecting a pancreatic malignancy, especially in patients in whom CT alone
      fails to identify a discrete mass or in whom biopsy results are indeterminate.
      This capability is accentuated with small lesions of the pancreas. 18FDG-PET is
      significantly more sensitive in detecting metastatic disease than conventional CT
      imaging. Moreover, 18FDG-PET is able to differentiate tumor response to therapy
      in the postoperative setting, and could potentially serve to monitor recurrence
      patterns in the setting of neoadjuvant or adjuvant chemoradiotherapy. Finally, as
      18FDG-PET/CT fusion modalities become more widespread and technical advances in
      image acquisition progress, 18FDG-PET will continue to have an increasing role in
      the diagnosis, staging, and surveillance of pancreatic cancer, integrating
      anatomic information with functional imaging.

PMID- 20919530
TI  - Reoperative surgery for the Zollinger-Ellison syndrome.
AB  - It is clear that a properly performed initial operation is the key to success in
      the management of a patient with ZES. However, reoperation is frequently a
      consideration in the management of patients with ZES because high rates of
      persistent and recurrent disease are manifest even with modern imaging and
      surgical approaches. In carefully selected patients, reoperation can result in
      durable biochemical cure and improved survival and should be considered. A
      thorough knowledge of the natural history of the sporadic form of ZES and ZES in
      the context of MEN-1, patterns of presentation, and sites of metastases are
      necessary to achieve the best outcome in patients with this unusual disease.

PMID- 20919531
TI  - Computerized physician order entry system in a surgical practice.

PMID- 20919528
TI  - Update on familial pancreatic cancer.

PMID- 20919532
TI  - [New concepts of pathogenesis, diagnosis, and treatment of neurodegenerative
      diseases].
AB  - Millions of patients all over the world suffer from chronic neurodegenerative
      diseases (NDD) (Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, Huntington disease,
      hyperprolactinemia, etc.) which result first in disability and then in fatal
      outcome. The key component of NDD pathogenesis is the degeneration of specific
      neurons leading with time to dysfunction, e.g. cognitive problems in Alzheimer's
      disease, disturbed motor behavior in Parkinson's disease, etc. Over the initial
      twenty-thirty years, NDD are developed as a preclinical condition, and their
      first symptoms appear only after degeneration of a greater part of specific
      neurons. The lag in the manifestation of NDD at the organismic level is explained
      by late triggering mechanisms of brain plasticity serving to compensate
      functional insufficiency of dying neurons. In this context, the appearance of
      initial symptoms is considered as a manifestation of irreversible degradation of
      the specific regulatory brain system and the exhaustion of compensatory resources
      of the brain that probably explains low efficiency of pharmacotherapy. This
      implies the necessity to develop preclinical diagnostics and preventive therapy
      aimed at arresting or at least slowing down of the neurodegenerative process and
      prolongation of the preclinical stage for many years. The development of
      preclinical diagnostics is based on a search for specific clinical forerunners of
      NDD and endogenous peripheral markers circulating in cerebrospinal fluid and
      blood. NDD diagnostics in the preclinical stage should be developed by
      identification of risk groups during prophylactic examination of healthy
      population based on detection of disease markers. The final diagnosis can be made
      by non-invasive neurovisualizing techniques. The new concept of NDD pathogenesis
      promotes further development of novel approaches to their diagnostics and
      treatment.

PMID- 20919533
TI  - [A program for evaluation of severity of biliary sepsis and a choice for
      therapeutic and diagnostic methods].
AB  - The program of actions for the assessment of severity of biliar sepsis and the
      choice of algorithms for relevant medical-diagnostic measures is presented. The
      account is taken of the traumatic factor of operation, the method of narcosis
      (endotracheal, local anaesthesia) and severity of the initial condition in
      individual patients. It is suggested to use this program in the form of computer
      software for the diagnosis of severity of the disease in septic patients,
      creation of the database and electron archives of the results of the treatment
      for the purpose of continuous monitoring the patients' conditions.

PMID- 20919534
TI  - [Pathogenesis of mucociliary clearance].
AB  - The study of mucociliary clearance included 68 patients with bronchial asthma of
      different severity in whom viscoelastic properties of the sputum, motor activity
      of ciliary epithelium, glycosaminoglycans in peripheral blood and bronchial
      secretion at the B9-B10 level of the bronchial tree were determined.
      Simultaneously, morphofunctional state of bronchial mucosa was evaluated using
      DNA methylation-specific PCR.

PMID- 20919535
TI  - [Multiple and combined injuries to chest and abdomen as an unresolved surgical
      problem].
AB  - Peculiar features of surgical treatment of gunshot, non-lethal arm, and cold
      steel wounds are formulated based on the 20-year experience with managing 20,000
      injured subjects having multiple and combined injuries to neck, chest, and
      abdomen of suicidal and criminal character. The growth in the number of patients
      with suicidal wounds and hemocontact viral infections (hepatitis, HIV) is
      emphasized. It is concluded that assessment of the state of gas exchange, lipid
      peroxidation, antioxidative, and immune systems does not give full idea of
      pathogenetic mechanisms of traumatic diseases.

PMID- 20919536
TI  - [Electrophysiological characteristics of animal respiratory muscles after long
      term stay at high altitudes].
AB  - Experiments were made using rats at different stages of readaptation after long
      term stay at high altitudes. Characteristics of bioelectrical activity of
      respiratory muscles were obtained for the first time, its spectral picture is
      described in different periods of readaptation.

PMID- 20919537
TI  - [Pathogenetic aspects of bronchial asthma].
AB  - This review represents contemporary knowledge about pathogenetic aspects of
      evolvement and progress of human bronchial asthma. Main attention is given to
      cells and mediators of allergic inflammation, Th1/Th2-bias, remodeling of
      respiratory tract, genetic and exogenous risk markers. Moreover, opportunities
      and prospects for the use of laboratory animals in modeling bronchial asthma are
      assessed.

PMID- 20919538
TI  - [Polyneuropathy in intensive care patients].
AB  - Critical illness polyneuropathy is an acquired critical illness syndrome of
      neuromuscular problems as polyneuropathy and/or myopathy that is caused by long
      term immobilization, clinically manifested by general muscle weakness and a main
      reason for difficulty weaning from the ventilator. The review gives an update on
      the history, epidemiology, etiology, pathogenesis, clinical picture, diagnosis,
      differential diagnosis, course, outcome, prevention, and treatment of critical
      illness care polyneuropathy.

PMID- 20919539
TI  - [Use of recombinant human erythropoietin preparations as a blood-saving method in
      neurosurgery].
AB  - The paper gives the results of the first clinical use of recombinant human
      erythropoietin (rhEPO) within the blood-saving program in neurosurgical patients
      with preoperative anemia of various genesis and predictable massive
      intraoperative blood loss. A course of effective therapy with rhEPO is shown to
      increase hemoglobin and packed cell volume rather rapidly in all patients prior
      to surgery. This made it possible to effectively apply other blood-saving
      procedures (isovolemic hemodilution and instrumental reinfusion of washed red
      blood cells) and to reduce the volume required for the use of donor transfused
      media in these patients. Various clinical aspects of the use of rhEPO in these
      patients are discussed.

PMID- 20919540
TI  - [Systemic hemodynamic disorders in critically ill patients with intracranial
      hemorrhages].
AB  - The paper analyzes systemic hemodynamic disorders in 45 victims of severe brain
      injury and patients with nontraumatic intracranial hemorrhages. The incidence of
      hypovolemia in patients with nontraumatic intracranial hemorrhages and victims of
      severe brain injury is 65.4% and 73.7%, respectively. Infusion therapy based on
      the estimation of routine hemodynamic parameters (blood pressure, heart rate,
      central venous pressure, daily fluid balance) could not prevent hypovolemia in
      the examinees and caused a high rate of sympathomimetic use in uncorrected
      volemic states.

PMID- 20919541
TI  - [Brain edema treatment procedure using continuous controlled infusion of mannitol
      in neurosurgical patients].
AB  - The paper evaluates the efficiency and safety of the developed osmotherapy
      protocol using controlled continuous infusion of 15% mannitol solution. Two
      hundred and nine patients with intracranial hypertension (ICH) syndrome of
      various etiologies had 15% mannitol infusion, the rate of which was determined by
      clinical criteria. The infusion rate was 50 ml/hr with midline brain structure
      dislocation of 8 mm or more and major depression of consciousness (a Glasgow coma
      scale (GCS) score of less than 8) and 25 ml/hr with brain dislocation of 7-mm or
      less and a GCS score of 8 or higher. The monitoring program was as follows: Block
      1 comprised the clinical and instrumental data characterizing the adequacy of
      brain perfusion (GCS, the magnitude of focal neurological symptoms, ICH, mean
      blood pressure, computed tomographic dislocation); Block 2 involved the clinical
      and laboratory data identifying the extracerebral complications of osmotherapy
      (packed cell volume, plasma osmolarity, urine density, and renal
      ultrasonography); Block 3 consisted of cerebral oximetry (CO) and Neurotrend. The
      authors' early proposed integral indicators of OC, such as interhemispheric
      asymmetry coefficient and hemodynamic conformity index, were used to estimate the
      adequacy of brain perfusion. In cerebral vasospasm, a Neurotrend microsensor was
      implanted at 3-cm depth for the direct quantitative determination of pO2, pCO2,
      pH, and brain temperature. ICH was characterized by natural changes in the CO
      indicators. In vasospasm, the mean linear blood flow velocity was 245 +/- 14
      cm/sec in the basilar arteries, which was attended by low pO2 and metabolic
      acidosis, as shown by readings. Optimization of artificial ventilation,
      stabilization of hemodynamics, and the use of postural exposures and osmo
      diuretics promoted ICH normalization and central perfusion pressure optimization,
      which was accompanied by the disappearance of tissue hypoxia and acidosis, as
      suggested by Neurotrend reading. The duration of mannitol infusion averaged 6.6
      days. No urinary tract complications were observed. The proposed procedure of
      osmotherapy is effective and safe if the scope of monitoring is adequate.

PMID- 20919542
TI  - [Effect of an original enteral feeding protocol on clinical outcome indicators in
      patients with acute cerebral damage of vascular and traumatic genesis].
AB  - The prospective randomized controlled study enrolled 58 patients diagnosed as
      having brain injury and hemorrhagic stroke. Enteral feeding was started within
      the first 24 hours after admission to an intensive care unit (ICU); a control
      group (n = 28) was given an isocalorie formula while a study group (n = 28)
      received a combination of a hypercalorie formula and a fiber-containing formula.
      In the study group, the intestine was stimulated with erythromycin within the
      first 3 days. Glasgow coma scale (GCS) and APACHE II scores, the degree of a
      systemic inflammatory response (SIR) and multiple organ failure (MOF), serum
      albumin and glucose levels, energy expenditure and balance, and nitrogen
      excretion and balance were estimated on day 10. Treatment results on day 30,
      length of ICU stay, AV duration, mortality, and use of blood preparations were
      compared. On study day 10, nitrogen and energy balances and the pattern of signs
      of SIR and MOF were significantly better and fresh frozen plasma and albumin
      solutions were used less in the study group than in the control one. There were
      differences in APACHE II and GCS scores, energy expenditure and nitrogen loss,
      plasma albumin and glucose concentrations, mortality, and volume of used packed
      red blood cells. The original enteric feeding protocol based on the use of
      dietary fiber-fortified hypercalorie diets in combination with the new method of
      gastric motility stimulation makes it possible to reduce the accumulation of
      deficiency of energy and plastic substrates, to alleviate the manifestations of
      SIR and MOF and to decrease the consumption of blood components and preparations.

PMID- 20919543
TI  - [Characteristics of central hemodynamics and cerebrovascular circulation during
      various anesthesia modes in reconstructive surgeries for the extracranial
      vessels].
AB  - The purpose of the study was to choose an optimal anesthetic method to ensure
      adequate cerebral blood flow and to reduce the number of perioperative
      complications during carotid endarterectomy. Total intravenous anesthesia with
      diprivan, combined cervical plexus block anesthesia, and inhaled sevoflurane
      anesthesia were assessed in 190 patients undergoing carotid endarterectomy. The
      study of cerebral blood flow and central hemodynamic parameters indicated that
      deprivan anesthesia suppressed the major hemodynamic parameters, causing
      associated cerebral circulation depression. The use of cervical plexus block as a
      major component of anesthesia after Pashchuk stabilized the mean blood pressure
      and cardiac index, causing the optimization of cerebral blood flow parameters
      with a considerable postload increase. During sevoflurane anesthesia, the most
      physiological conditions for the performance of the circulatory system were found
      at all stages of surgical treatment, which predetermined the stable parameters of
      central hemodynamics and cerebral blood flow. The studies revealed that deprivan
      anesthesia was followed by a considerable number of both cardiac and neurological
      complications. The patients with cervical plexus block had fewer neurological
      disorders, but the increased postload accompanying these changes caused an
      increase in the number of cardiac complications. The most optimal parameters of
      cerebral blood flow and central hemodynamics during sevoflurane anesthesia
      induced a statistically significant reduction in the number of cardiac and
      neurological complications.

PMID- 20919545
TI  - [Current technologies and changing the medical paradigm in aortic ruptures
      (analysis of clinical cases)].
AB  - The paper describes two clinical cases of aortic rupture of traumatic and
      nontraumatic genesis, which was difficult to diagnose due to evident neurological
      symptoms. The analysis of these cases and the data available in the literature
      leads to the conclusion that aortic rupture is not a nosological entity with a
      known fatal outcome. Timely diagnosis based on widely practiced up-to-date
      ultrasound and radiological methods allows one to perform surgical or
      endovascular treatment in good time, by showing good long-term outcomes.

PMID- 20919544
TI  - [Continuous mechanical ventilation in a neurosurgical intensive care unit (one
      year analysis of results)].
AB  - This was a retrospective study. Its inclusion criterion was mechanical
      ventilation (MV) for more than 48 hours. One hundred and eighty-four case records
      of 184 neurosurgical intensive care unit patients were analyzed. Ventilation
      modes, upper airway cares and prosthetic replacement were chosen by the protocol
      accepted at the Institute. Great differences were found in the structure of
      indications for MV and in the duration of respiratory support in relation to the
      neurosurgical nosological entity and the site of a major process. The upper
      airway care protocols accepted at the Institute were shown to reduce the
      incidence of ventilator-associated pneumonia. Some risk factors for ventilator
      associated pneumonia were identified.

PMID- 20919546
TI  - [Compression cervical spine cord injury in patients with posterior cranial fossa
      tumors operated on in the sitting position: two cases with different outcomes].
AB  - The paper describes two cases of posterior cranial fossa pathology, operated on
      in the sitting position on the operating table. In one case, symptoms of cervical
      spine injury caused by undiagnosed preoperative cervical spine pathology emerged
      in a female patient in the early postoperative period. In the other case,
      cervical spine pathology was diagnosed before surgery and evoked potentials were
      monitored to prevent possible cervical spine injury in the sitting position
      during an operation.

PMID- 20919547
TI  - [Acute injuries to the upper gastrointestinal tract in patients with multiple
      cerebral arterial aneurysms].
AB  - The paper describes a case of multiple cerebral arterial aneurysms in a patient
      with prior subarachnoidal hemorrhage, who developed postoperative acute upper
      gastrointestinal tract (GIT) lesion manifesting itself as bleeding and requiring
      multiple endoscopic treatment procedures and eventually a direct surgical
      intervention. The susceptibility of patients with cerebral pathology to upper GIT
      lesions and methods of their therapy and prevention are discussed.

PMID- 20919548
TI  - [Experimental optimization of learning and memory processes by selank].
AB  - The effect of selank (Thr-Lys-Pro-Arg-Pro-Gly-Pro), which is a synthetic
      derivative of the endogenous tetrapeptide tuftsin (stable with respect to tissue
      peptidases), on the learning and memory processes and metabolism of serotonin (5
      HT) have been experimentally studied on Wistar rats. The animals were trained
      with food reward in 30 trials per day. Selank (300 microg/kg) or saline were
      injected after the 10th trial. Elaboration of conditioned reflex with food reward
      was continued 30 min later. Retention was tested 24 h, 7 and 30 days after
      treatment. A single injection of selank activated the metabolism of 5-HT in the
      hypothalamus and caudal brain stem for 30 min to 2 h. It was established that
      selank induces an increase in memory trace stability during 30 days. These
      findings provide direct evidence that selank, when injected during consolidation
      phase, can enhance memory storage processes. Nootrope activity of the selank is
      probably caused by its obvious effect on the level of serotonin and its
      metabolite in the brain.

PMID- 20919549
TI  - [Effect of psychotropic drugs on activity of anticonvulsants in maximal
      electroshock test].
AB  - The effect ofpsychotropic drugs on the pharmacological properties of
      anticonvulsants was studied on white mice under maximal electroshock (ME) test
      conditions. Changes in the anticonvulsant effect of phenobarbital, diphenin,
      carbamazepine, hexamidine were traced upon their joint administration with
      psychotropic drugs, including piracetam, aminalon, amitriptyline, imizine,
      levomepromazine, and lithium oxybutyrate. An important result of research is the
      fact, that in no one of combinations the basic pharmacological effect of
      anticonvulsants was decreased. Based on the results of experiments, the most
      rational combinations of anticonvulsants with psychotropic preparations were
      revealed as manifested in the ME test. As criterion of rational combination was
      the increase in the activity of anticonvulsants and reduction of their toxicity
      in combination or at least invariance of this parameter. Rational combinations
      include (i) phenobarbital with piracetam, amitriptyline, levomepromazine, and
      lithium oxybutyrate; (ii) carbamazepine with piracetam; and (iii) hexamidine with
      amitriptyline, levomepromazine and imizine.

PMID- 20919550
TI  - [Effects of phenibut on parameters of cerebral hemodynamics in swimmers with
      dysadaptation syndrome and various types of systemic hemodynamics].
AB  - Administration of phenibut (0.25 g) during 4 weeks as a means of rehabilitation
      promoted optimization of the biochemical status and cerebral blood circulation in
      swimmers with various types of systemic hemodynamics, which were examined 20
      minutes after warm-up.

PMID- 20919551
TI  - [Bizerine: new anticholinesterase drug with selective gastrointestinal action].
AB  - Bizerine-oxalate of hexamethylene-bic-[N-methylcarbamic acid-3-(2
      dimethylaminomethyl)pyridyl ether] exhibits the properties of acetylcholine
      esterase (AChE) inhibitor, being comparable in this respect in in vitro tests to
      aminostigmine. Bizerine is 2.5 and 6.7 times less active in these tests than
      proserine and distigmine, respectively, but it forms more stable complex with the
      enzyme. Bizerine is 10-80 times less toxic for laboratory mammals as compared to
      prozerine; it is 3-60 times more active on the isolated urinary bladder of rats,
      but it is 100-500 times less effective on the spinal muscle of leeches and
      skeletal muscles of mice and rats. Bizerine actively inhibits intestinal
      cholinesterase (ChE) of guinea pigs. In systematic use, it does not inhibit brain
      ChE of mice. Bizerine is a prolonged peripheral muscarinic potentiating inhibitor
      of ChE and activator of intestinal peristalsis.

PMID- 20919552
TI  - [Model study of afobazole distribution in pregnant and lactating female rats and
      infant rat pups].
AB  - Afobazole and M-11, its major metabolite were detected in placental and embryonic
      rat tissues after single peroral administration to pregnant female rats at a dose
      of 100 mg/kg. The anxiolytic drug and its metabolite are also detected in rat
      milk and body of the breast-fed infant rat pups after 4 days of daily
      administration (200 mg/kg, per os) to lactating female rats.

PMID- 20919553
TI  - [Influence of new 1,3,4-thiadiazines on platelet aggregation in vitro and ex
      vivo].
AB  - The influence of new original 1,3,4-thiadiazines on the human platelet
      aggregation in vitro was studied. All substances inhibited the platelet
      aggregation induced by both ADP and arachidonic acid. 1,3,4-Thiadiazines L-19, H
      30 and L-37 were the most effective inhibitors. Effect of the intravenous
      injection of L-19 in various doses on platelet aggregation and some parameters of
      plasmatic hemostasis were studied ex vivo.

PMID- 20919554
TI  - [Effect of hypoglycemic drugs on hemostasis].
AB  - The effects of hypoglycemic drugs (gliclazide, glibenclamide) and new sugar
      lowering drug diabenol on the coagulation chain of hemostasis and fibrinolytic
      system of blood have been studied in intact rats and in rats with experimental
      diabetes mellitus. Experiments revealed the ability of drugs to reduce
      thromboelastogram indices, which is probably related to the ability of
      hypoglycemic drugs to inhibit the platelet aggregation and prevent the subsequent
      activation of the coagulation chain of hemostasis. All drugs improve the
      thrombogenic potential (by decreasing the platelet activation) and increase the
      activity of the fibrinolytic system of blood. The activity of diabenol and
      gliclazide i s more pronounced as compared to that of glibenclamide.

PMID- 20919555
TI  - [Hemorheological properties of new xanthine derivative studied on model of
      streptozotocin induced diabetes mellitus].
AB  - Influence of a new xanthine derivative SUM-55 on microrheological properties
      erythrocytes in rats with experimental diabetes has been investigated. It is
      shown that compound SUM-55 significantly reduces aggregation and increases
      deformability of erythrocytes. Comparative analysis showed that SUM-55 is
      comparable with pentoxyphylline in the ability to reduce aggregation of
      erythrocytes and is superior to the reference drug in increasing deformability of
      red bloodcells.

PMID- 20919556
TI  - [Hemorheological effects of thiophane on tetrachloromethane induced hepatic
      damage].
AB  - Carbon tetrachloride-induced hepatitis in rats is accompanied by blood
      hyperviscosity syndrome development. A course intragastric administration of
      thiophane under these conditions prevents the increase in whole blood viscosity
      by normalizing the microrheological indices (deformability and aggregation of
      erythrocytes), which is manifested by increasing oxygen availability for tissues.

PMID- 20919557
TI  - [Experimental study of cytoprotector effect of succinate-containing drugs on
      functional activity of liver].
AB  - Hepatoprotective effect of metabolism correctors has been studied on the model of
      experimental viral and toxic damage of the liver. Reamberin-based substrate
      compositions (cytoflavin and remaxol) exhibit antihypoxic effect, antioxidant
      activity, and cytoprotective action on the background of metabolic effect. Based
      on these results, the indicated preparations are recommended for clinical trials
      on acute and chronic viral liver disorders.

PMID- 20919558
TI  - [Use of interferon inducers for pharmacological correction of cytokine
      disturbances in patients with recurrent genital herpes].
AB  - The level ofcytokines was studied in the blood of 111 women aged 18 to 56 with
      recurrent genital herpes caused by herpes simplex virus (HSV) type 1 or 2 (for
      the frequency of relapses within 6-9 year) treated with interferon inducers
      iodantipyrin, cycloferon and amixin in combination with basic aciclovir therapy.
      It is found that, in patients with clinical effect of treatment (decrease in the
      frequency of relapses) the level of cytokines of nonspecific immune response
      (alpha-interferon, beta-interferon, tumor necrosis factor-alpha) and Th1 profile
      gamma-interferon, interleukin-2) increased and the concentrations of interleukin
      10 decreased 1.5-3 months after beginning of drug administration. A special
      feature of drug action for iodantipyrin was a relatively large increase in the
      blood level of alpha-interferon, for cycloferon--in the level of tumor necrosis
      factor-alpha, and for amixin--in the level of gamma-interferon. In the absence of
      any clinical effect, interferon inducers produced only small and brief (in 1.5
      months after the beginning of treatment) increase in the blood content of
      proinflammatory cytokines (alpha-interferon, gamma-interferon, interleukin-2) at
      a stable high level of interleukin-10.

PMID- 20919559
TI  - [Mutagen properties of water-soluble polysaccharides from Acorus calamus].
AB  - Mutagenic properties of water soluble polysaccharides (WSPS) extracted from
      Acorus calamus L. have been studied. Neither a single intravenous injection nor a
      course intraperitoneal introduction of WSPS in a dose of 1/2 LD50 to mice of the
      CBA/CaLac line increases the level of cytogenetic disorders in the bone marrow
      cells. The investigation of WSPS by means of the somatic mosaicism test showed
      that the given dose of WSPS does not increase the rate of mutant spots on
      Drosophila wings.

PMID- 20919561
TI  - [From the History of the Journal Clinical Medicine (1920-2010)].

PMID- 20919560
TI  - [Pharmacokinetics of hopantenic acid upon peroral administration].
AB  - A simple, specific and sensitive RP-HPLC method with UV detection for the
      determination of hopantenic acid in human blood plasma has been developed. The
      pharmacokinetics of drug pantocalcin upon single peroral administration was
      investigated on 18 healthy volunteers. The peak of hopantenic acid in blood
      plasma was achieved at 1.56 h and the elimination half life was 6.68 h. No
      hopantenic acid in blood plasma is found in 48 h.

PMID- 20919562
TI  - [Neurological problems highlighted in the Journal Clinical Medicine].

PMID- 20919564
TI  - [Achievements and prospects of clinical gastroenterology].

PMID- 20919563
TI  - [Diagnosis and choice of therapy of arterial hypertension].
AB  - The clinical concept of evolvement, chronisation and development of hypertensive
      disease is expounded in the light of recent basic research with reference to the
      influence of hypotensive (symptomatic) and pathogenetic (basal) therapy on its
      clinical features. The main stages of pathogenesis, risk of complications, and
      concomitant diseases are discussed. Analysis of main physiological mechanisms
      underlying regulation of hemodynamics is presented at different steps of
      formation of the cardiovascular system and angiogenesis from fetal life to the
      outset of involutional processes. Effect of environmental factors on these
      processes and compensatory reactions are considered. Algorithm of differential
      diagnosis of arterial hypertension and hypertensive disease is proposed along
      with the approaches to the choice of adequate therapeutic modalities, their role
      in the treatment and prevention of complications. A review of distribution of
      hypertensive disease and cardiovascular disorders in developed countries is
      focused on the elucidation of their causes and prophylactic measures.

PMID- 20919565
TI  - [Gastroenterology in Russia: 1920-2010].

PMID- 20919566
TI  - [Thromboses and antithrombotic therapy today].
AB  - Current understanding of importance and danger of atherothrombosis and venous
      thromboembolism is illustrated. New preparations and methods for the management
      of these conditions are described.

PMID- 20919567
TI  - [Current problems of deontology].
AB  - The scope of knowledge in medical ethics continues to extend. Deontology as a
      science needs systematization of the accumulated data. This review may give
      impetus to classification of problems pertaining to this important area of
      medical activity.

PMID- 20919568
TI  - [Microbial antagonism and rationale for the use of probiotics in combined therapy
      of Helicobacter pylori-related diseases].
AB  - This review discusses methods of Helicobacter pylori (HP) eradication, causes and
      consequences of its steadily growing resistance to therapy recommended by
      Maastricht Consensus (2005) and alternative treatment schemes including
      "reserved" antibacterial preparations. Different approaches to the solution of
      this problem are recommended, such as the use of phenomenon of microbial
      antagonism between endosymbiotic microorgnisms (bifido- and lactobacteria) and
      opportunistic and pathogenic microflora, e.g. cytotoxic HP strains. The data are
      presented on the mechanisms of antimicrobial action of bifido- and lactobacteria,
      pathogenic activity of different HP cytotoxic strains, normal and pathological
      microbiocenosis of the stomach. Prospects for the use of antibiotics containing
      bifido- and lactobacteria for the treatment of HP-related conditions are
      discussed.

PMID- 20919569
TI  - [Disorders of lipid metabolism in patients with cholelithiasis and gallbladder
      cholesterosis depending on apolipoprotein E genotype].
AB  - The work was aimed to study blood lipid spectrum in 133 patients with
      cholelithiasis (CL) and 159 with gallbladder cholesterosis (GC) as well as apoE
      genotypes (based on restriction fragment polymorphism) in 49 and 36 respectively.
      Lipid composition was shown to significantly differ in the two conditions. LDL
      cholesterol was increased in GC and TG in CL. A rise in LDL cholesterol in both
      groups was apparent before the age of 30 yr (34.6 +/- 8.4 and 52.6 +/- 12.9%
      respectively), that in TG and VLDL after 40 yr. E3/3 genotype (norm) was
      identified in 75.5 +/- 6.2% of the patients with CL and in 83.4 +/- 6.2% in those
      with GC (p < 0.05). e4 allele (mutation) equally frequently occurred in 10.2 +/-
      4.3 and 8.1 +/- 4.5% of patients with CL and GC (p > 0.5), e2 allele in 14.5 +/-
      5.0 and 8.1 +/- 4.5% (p < 0.05). These data suggest that patients of both groups
      equally frequently suffered disturbances in metabolism of saturated (e2 allele)
      and polyunsaturated (e4 allele) fatty acids predisposing for hypercholesterolemia
      and hyperlipidemia. They explain why CL is frequently associated with
      cholesterosis and GC with the formation of caliculi. However, the absence of
      significant correlation between CL, GC and alleles e2, e4 suggests participation
      of other factors in pathogenesis of these diseases (LP(a), LDL heterogeneity).

PMID- 20919570
TI  - [The role of hypothalomo-pituitary-adrenal system in pathogenesis of exogenous
      constitutional obesity].

PMID- 20919571
TI  - [Clinico-pathogenetic significance of enzymes regulating nucleic metabolism in
      erythrocyte lysates and sera of patients with osteoarthrosis].
AB  - Lysates of erythrocytes and sera of 52 patients with osteoarthrosis (OA) and 30
      healthy subjects were used used to determine adenosine deaminidase (ADA, AMP
      deaminase (AMPDA) and adenine deaminidase (AD). Their activities were unrelated
      to the age and sex of the patients. At admission, patients with OA showed
      enhanced activity of ADA in sera and reduced activity of AMPDA and AD in lysates
      compared with normal values. These changes depended on clinical features of OA
      and were especially pronounced in patients with poly-OA and synovitis. These data
      suggest participation of enzymes of the adenyl branch of purine metabolism in
      pathogenesis of OA. Treatment of hospitalized patients allowed to achieve
      positive dynamics of the above activities coupled to their improved clinical
      conditions even though enzymatic activity of erythrocyte lysates remained
      different from that in healthy subjects. It is concluded that enzymatic assays
      used in the study may be used as additional diagnostic methods for the assessment
      of synovitis and optimizatic of control over efficiency of OA therapy.

PMID- 20919572
TI  - [Neuroendocrine changes in patients with inflammatory diseases and colonic
      cancer].
AB  - The study included 60 patients of whom 20 presented with colonic cancer, 20 with
      ulcerative colitis UC), and 20 with Crohn's disease (CD). Control group was
      comprised of 20 healthy subjects. It was shown that UC and CD can be regarded as
      apudopathies based on reduced melatonin production associated with altered
      proliferative activity, apoptosis, and accumulation of free radicals. UC and CD
      patients with high p53, PCNA, and oxidative stress levels both with and without
      dysplasia of intestinal epithelium are at risk of developing colonic cancer and
      require efficacious preventive treatment with early diagnosis of oncological
      problems.

PMID- 20919573
TI  - [Therapeutic efficiency of cytoflavine solution for infusion in emergency
      conditions].
AB  - The author reports results of clinical assessment of cytoflavin for injections in
      the treatment of different pathological condition including critical ones. It was
      shown that therapy reduces mortality among patients with acute disturbances of
      cerebral circulation to 4.8-9.6% compared with 11.7-17.1% in controls. Positive
      dynamic of neurologic status was documented in 79% of the patients with
      dyscirculatory encephalopathy versus 25% in control. Duration of comatose state
      decreased 1,7-fold, length of stay in resuscitation and intensive therapy wards
      1.8-fold, and frequency of internal complications secondary to the effect of
      neurotropic poisons 2-fold. Cytoflavin corrected the level of metalloproteides
      and stabilized antioxidative potential of sera and cerebrospinal liquid in
      patient with meningitis including that of zoonotic etiology. In the period of
      post-narcosis rehabilitation cytoflavin restored conscience in 77% of the
      patients within 20 min. The drug also inhibited pathological alcohol addiction
      within 5 days after the onset of therapy as apparent from the improvement of
      intellectual-mnestic status and activization of attention. The frequency of
      infectious complications in patients with acute surgical abdominal pathology
      decreased by 5.1% and lethality by 3.6% compared with placebo group. Cytoflavin
      exhibited cardioprotective action in patients with myocardial infarction, during
      cardiosurgical intervention, and chronic brucellosis. It had hepatoprotective
      effect in iatrogenic hepatic conditions as well as ophthalmo- and oto-protective
      activity.

PMID- 20919574
TI  - [Reamberin for pathogenetic therapy of acute and chronic viral diseases of the
      liver].
AB  - The study including 427 patients with acute and chronic viral hepatitis was
      designed to assess results of clinical and laboratory diagnostics of hepatic
      problems and the state of thiosulfide antioxidative system. It was shown that
      infusion of succinate-containing preparation reamberin (400 ml/day for 10 days)
      took less time to eliminate clinical manifestation of the disease (dispeptic and
      asthenovegetative syndromes) than conventional therapy. Simultaneously the levels
      of biochemical markers of hepatic cytolysis and cholestasis significantly
      decreased while serum antioxidative potential recovered. The normal size of the
      liver was achieved 3.4 times more frequently than in control. No side effects or
      adverse reactions other than listed in the instruction for use of reamberin
      occurred. The preparation had to be withdrawn only in one patient.

PMID- 20919575
TI  - [Clinical features and delayed aftereffects of Legionellosis pneumonia during an
      epidemic outbreak].
AB  - The aim of this work was to study specific clinical features of legionellosis
      pneumonia during an epidemic outbreak of the disease in Sverdlovsk region and to
      assess its delayed effects. 202 patients applied for the treatment to the central
      hospital of the town of Verkhnyaya Pyshma in July-August 2007 Legionella
      pneumophila was identified in 61 adults aged 51.3-59.3 (mean 55.3) years. The
      following analyses were performed at admittance and discharge as well as 1 year
      after treatment: complete blood count, urinalysis, AST, ALT and sugar levels,
      breast X-ray and ECG. Patients with mild disease were given azithromycin per os
      (500 mg for 7days, n = 10) or levofloxacin (500 mg for 10 days, n = 5). Those
      with the severe form of the disease were treated with azithromycin (500 mg for 3
      days, v/v, n = 17) or levofloxacin (750 mg for 2-3 days v/v and for 12 days per
      os, n = 29). The results were analysed using the STATA 5.0 software package
      (Stata Corporation, College Station, Texas, USA). Difference were considered
      significant at p < 0.05. It was shown that the outbreak resulted from the use of
      hot water from the public water supply system contaminated with L. pneumophila.
      The incubation period of infection was 4.48-6.01 (mean 5.3) days. Duration of
      hospitalization varied from 9.6-12.9 (mean 11.3) days. Most common clinical
      symptoms: general uneasiness, headache, non-productive cough, and fever lasting
      3.8-6.6 (mean 5.2 days). Intrahospital lethality 6.6%. It is concluded that
      therapy with azithromycin and levofloxacin give good clinical effect leaving no
      systemic lesions in patients with legionellosis pneumonia.

PMID- 20919576
TI  - Bioterrorism and invasive species.
AB  - The risk of dispersing invasive species, especially human pathogens, through acts
      of bioterrorism, cannot be neglected. However, that risk appears quite low in
      comparison with the risk of dispersing animal pathogens that could dramatically
      burden the agricultural economy of food animal producing countries, such as
      Australia and countries in Europe and North and South America. Although it is not
      directly related to bioterrorism, the intentional release of non-native species,
      particularly undesired companion animals or wildlife, may also have a major
      economic impact on the environment and, possibly, on animal and human health, in
      the case of accidental release of zoonotic agents.

PMID- 20919577
TI  - Invasive mammals.
AB  - Every region of the world is concerned by potential mammal invasions, as humans
      are already present on all the world's land masses. All these invasions are a
      result of species introductions by humans for one reason or another. The authors
      briefly review the known movements and observed consequences of mammal-related
      invasions. They take examples from all five continents, as well as from a few
      island systems. The ancient introduction of game species, and later of domestic
      species, has been followed more recently by movements of commercial species. We
      are now seeing the emergence of what are known as entertainment species. In a
      number of cases, such introductions have led to the establishment of new
      epidemiological cycles that previously might never have been thought possible.
      According to current indicators, this phenomenon is not on the wane.

PMID- 20919578
TI  - Alien invasive birds.
AB  - A bird species is regarded as alien invasive if it has been introduced,
      intentionally or accidentally, to a location where it did not previously occur
      naturally, becomes capable of establishing a breeding population without further
      intervention by humans, spreads and becomes a pest affecting the environment, the
      local biodiversity, the economy and/or society, including human health. European
      Starling (Sturnus vulgaris), Common Myna (Acridotheres tristis) and Red-vented
      Bulbul (Pycnonotus cafer) have been included on the list of '100 of the World's
      Worst Invasive Alien Species', a subset of the Global Invasive Species Database.
      The 'Delivering Alien Invasive Species Inventories for Europe' project has
      selected Canada Goose (Branta canadensis), Ruddy Duck (Oxyura jamaicensis), Rose
      ringed Parakeet (Psittacula krameri) and Sacred Ibis (Threskiornis aethiopicus)
      as among 100 of the worst invasive species in Europe. For each of these alien
      bird species, the geographic range (native and introduced range), the
      introduction pathway, the general impacts and the management methods are
      presented.

PMID- 20919579
TI  - Invasive reptiles and amphibians.
AB  - Although they are frequently lumped together, reptiles and amphibians belong to
      two very different zoological groups. Nevertheless, one fact is clear: while
      numerous reptile and amphibian species on Earth are in decline, others have taken
      advantage of trade or human movements to become established in new lands,
      adopting different, and sometimes unusual, strategies. The authors have taken a
      few examples from these two zoological groups that illustrate the majority of
      cases. A brief analysis of the causes and effects of their introductions into new
      areas reveals connections with economic interests, trade in companion animals,
      medical research and public health.

PMID- 20919580
TI  - Invasive crayfish and freshwater fishes of the world.
AB  - After habitat destruction, invasive alien species are the second leading cause of
      biodiversity loss, particularly in freshwater ecosystems. They also alter the
      structure and functioning of ecosystems, lead to biotic homogenisation, and
      eventually threaten human economies and health. This review aims to synthesise
      some of the existing information about the world distribution, vectors of spread,
      and impacts of two important components of freshwater ecosystems, crayfish and
      fishes. Analysis of the available literature shows that crayfish and fish
      species, once moved outside their native range, are likely to establish self
      reproducing populations, spread from the point of introduction and become
      invasive. Efforts to manage these populations are difficult and expensive, which
      warrants the provision of effective preventative measures. Unfortunately, the
      state of our knowledge of the mechanisms in play in crayfish and fish invasions
      is still limited, which suggests that much greater attention and investment
      should be directed to studies in this field.

PMID- 20919581
TI  - Invasive processes, mosaics and the structure of helminth parasite faunas.
AB  - The biosphere in evolutionary and ecological time has been structured by episodes
      of geographic and host colonisation that have determined distributions of complex
      assemblages of microparasites and macroparasites, including helminths circulating
      among vertebrates. Biological invasion is an intricate phenomenon often involving
      'extra-range dispersal' and establishment of exotic (non-indigenous) species and
      populations substantially beyond their native range. Invasion may also involve
      the expansion or shifting of host and geographic distributions of an endemic
      (indigenous) species or fauna under changing environmental conditions. Invasions
      result in faunal interchange occurring under influences from both natural and
      anthropogenic forces where expansion on spatial/temporal continua bridges
      continents, regions and landscapes. Drivers for invasion are idiosyncratic,
      multifactorial, interactive, and opportunistic, with a powerful role for
      historical contingency. The life history patterns of helminths interact with
      invasion pathways to determine the potential for introduction. Human-mediated
      events, such as the global expansion of pathogens linked to development of
      agriculture, domestication of food animals, and European exploration have had a
      pervasive influence on the distribution of helminths. Globalisation, broad
      transport networks and environmental perturbation linked to climate change, along
      with other drivers, have accelerated these processes. A consequence of invasion
      and establishment of exotic species is that faunal structure will be a mosaic
      that includes admixtures of indigenous and non-indigenous species and
      populations; exemplified by helminth faunas among domestic and free-ranging
      ungulates and a diversity of host-parasite systems among vertebrates.
      Contemporary mosaics are evident where human-mediated events have brought
      assemblages of new invaders and relatively old endemic species into sympatry,
      highlighting interactions at ecotones, particularly those at borderlands between
      managed and natural ecosystems. Understanding the historical origins and complex
      components of mosaics is essential in formulating predictions about future
      responses to environmental change. Powerful tools are available which support the
      study of invasive species, the most important being systematics and our capacity
      to accurately identify parasites and to define evolutionary and biogeographic
      history. Faunal baselines derived from arrays of biological specimens, integrated
      surveys and informatics are a permanent record of the biosphere when archived in
      museum collections. The absence of comprehensive taxonomic inventories of
      parasites, including molecular-genetic data, limits our ability to recognise the
      introduction of non-indigenous parasites, and to document patterns of expansion
      for local faunas under a regime of environmental perturbation.

PMID- 20919582
TI  - Invasive arthropods.
AB  - Many arthropod species have been transported around the globe and successfully
      invaded new regions. Invasive arthropods can have severe impacts on animal and
      human health, agriculture and forestry, and the biodiversity of natural habitats
      as well as those modified by humans. The economic and environmental effects of
      invasion can be both direct, through feeding and competition, and indirect, such
      as the transmission of pathogens. In this paper, the authors consider ten
      examples that illustrate the main mechanisms of introduction, the characteristics
      that enable species to rapidly expand their ranges and some of the consequences
      of their arrival.

PMID- 20919583
TI  - The consequences of introducing non-indigenous species: two case studies, the
      grey squirrel in Europe and the brushtail possum in New Zealand.
AB  - Two examples of the introduction of non-indigenous invasive species are reviewed:
      the grey squirrel in Europe (United Kingdom, Ireland and Italy) and the brushtail
      possum in New Zealand. Both have become very successful in their respective non
      native habitats since their introductions in the mid-to-late 19th Century. Both
      species impact extensively on native biodiversity, environmental sustainability,
      forestry, and agriculture through a range of direct and indirect mechanisms.
      Management is currently mainly by lethal control, namely poisoning, trapping and
      shooting. Such methods of control are, however, increasingly contentious for both
      species, and alternative, non-lethal methods of population control, e.g.
      fertility control, are being developed. The case studies highlight many of the
      issues in invasive animal control; for example, prevention being better than
      control, lack of good understanding of impacts and the success of control
      measures on reducing impacts, interactive impacts on native biodiversity and
      ecosystems, the telling influence of public opinion on management options and,
      lastly, the need to better inform and educate the public.

PMID- 20919584
TI  - Biosecurity measures to prevent the incursion of invasive alien species into
      Japan and to mitigate their impact.
AB  - The 2004 Japanese 'Invasive Alien Species Act' was enacted to control invasive
      alien species and prevent the damage that they cause to ecosystems. The Act
      defines invasive alien species as those recognised as, or suspected of, causing
      damage to ecosystems, human safety, agriculture, forestry and fisheries. Invasive
      alien species are carefully regulated: raising, planting, keeping or transporting
      them is prohibited without the express permission of the relevant minister. The
      Act represents a revolutionary advance for biological conservation in Japan.
      However, enforcing the Act is problematic. Dealing with the European bumblebee
      (Bombus terrestris), for example, involved resolving a bitter dilemma between
      biological conservation and agricultural productivity. The Act also has a serious
      loophole; it does not include alien micro-organisms. The incursion of amphibian
      chytridiomycosis into Japan caused confusion for scientists and the Japanese
      Government because control of such an alien micro-organism was not anticipated in
      the Act. Japan faces particular difficulties in attempting to control alien
      species because of its reliance on imports.

PMID- 20919585
TI  - Control and eradication of invasive mammals in Great Britain.
AB  - This paper provides a 'long view' of the eradication and control of invasive
      mammals by reviewing the management of 24 mammalian species that have been
      introduced into Great Britain since the Neolithic period and have subsequently
      established free-living populations in the wild. The approach provides examples
      of the issues faced when managing populations and examines some of the lessons
      that can be learned from successes and failures. The species are covered in the
      order of introduction, with the control/eradication of rabbit (Oryctolagus
      cuniculus), muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus), coypu (Myocastor coypus) and American
      mink (Mustela vison) considered in more detail. The species accounts are set
      within the context of commitments for the control of invasive alien species made
      by parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity and guidance provided by the
      International Union for Conservation of Nature and the Council of Europe. These
      have led to improvements in the process for assessing risks and co-ordinating
      action. However, despite some notable cases documented here, there have been few
      successful eradication programmes carried out in Europe. This paper argues that
      there is a case for building on the improved frameworks that are being developed
      in the United Kingdom and elsewhere and for being more ambitious with goals for
      the management of invasive alien species.

PMID- 20919586
TI  - Disease risks associated with the translocation of wildlife.
AB  - Translocation is defined as the human-managed movement of living organisms from
      one area for free release in another. Throughout the world, increasing numbers of
      animals are translocated every year. Most of these movements involve native
      mammals, birds and fish, and are made by private and national wildlife agencies
      to augment existing populations, usually for sporting purposes. The translocation
      of endangered species, often to reintroduce them into a part of the historical
      range from which they have been extirpated, has also become an important
      conservation technique. The main growth in reintroduction projects over the last
      decade has involved smaller animals, including amphibians, insects and reptiles.
      The success of potentially expensive, high-profile wildlife translocation
      projects depends to a large extent on the care with which wildlife biologists and
      their veterinary advisers evaluate the suitability of the animals and chosen
      release site, and on the ability of the translocated animals to colonise the
      area. The veterinary aspects of reintroduction projects are of extreme
      importance. There are instances of inadequate disease risk assessment resulting
      in expensive failures and, worse still, the introduction of destructive pathogens
      into naive resident wildlife populations. In this paper, some of the disease
      risks attending wildlife translocation are described. Risk assessment, involving
      the examination of founder and recipient populations and their habitats, is now a
      pre-requisite of managed movements of animals.

PMID- 20919587
TI  - Why own an exotic pet?
AB  - Even though people have owned a wide variety of companion animals since times of
      old, the modern craze for increasingly exotic and little-known species raises a
      number of questions, including some of an ethical nature. While trade in exotic
      animals is certainly profitable for these who practise it, it poses great risks
      of varying types: ecological risks, threats to biodiversity conservation and
      health risks. Several introduced animal populations have gone on to establish a
      line in their new host country. We are just starting to measure the adverse
      impact this has had, in some cases on a very large scale. The veterinary
      profession doubtless has a major role to play in endeavouring to reform this
      trade in living creatures that unfortunately results in many losses.

PMID- 20919588
TI  - Biological invasions and the conservation of biodiversity.
AB  - Consideration of definitions of 'biological invasion' and 'biodiversity' shows
      why invasions have recently generated great interest among conservationists. Many
      studies show that invasion numbers have increased drastically over the last five
      centuries, that this exponential increase is not levelling off, and that human
      activities are the only reason for the phenomenon. Many mechanisms are portrayed
      in an evolutionary framework and their consequences for biodiversity are
      described at three levels of life--gene, species and ecosystem. Examples from
      islands show that insular ecosystems are especially prone to damage from
      invasions; they also serve as 'laboratories' to elucidate the nature of invasion
      impacts. An important management approach--eradication--is discussed. Eradicating
      invaders not only aids understanding of their impacts on native species but also
      in understanding how ecosystems function. In fact, biological invasions can be
      seen as 'experiments', providing a rare opportunity to help answer certain
      fundamental scientific questions.

PMID- 20919589
TI  - The role of international organisations in controlling invasive species and
      preserving biodiversity.
AB  - Invasive alien species spread through the environment and threaten native
      biodiversity, assisted by the absence of natural enemies. Alien species may also
      carry pathogens, which can be transmitted to native species. About half of the
      known endangered species are under threat from invasive alien species. The
      Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in 2008
      invited relevant international organisations to work together to fill the gap in
      the international regulatory framework on invasive alien species. The Convention
      also reaffirmed the need for capacity and expertise to deal with invasive alien
      species in many countries, especially in developing countries. In this paper, the
      authors review the findings of this project.

PMID- 20919590
TI  - The role of the World Trade Organization and the 'three sisters' (the World
      Organisation for Animal Health, the International Plant Protection Convention and
      the Codex Alimentarius Commission) in the control of invasive alien species and
      the preservation of biodiversity.
AB  - The missions of the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) include the design
      of surveillance and control methods for infectious transboundary animal diseases
      (including zoonoses), the provision of guarantees concerning animal health and
      animal production food safety, and the setting of standards for, and promotion
      of, animal welfare. The OIE role in setting standards for the sanitary safety of
      international trade in animals and animal products is formally recognised in the
      World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and
      Phytosanitary Measures (the SPS Agreement). While the primary focus of the OIE is
      on animal diseases and zoonoses, the OIE has also been working within the WTO
      framework to examine possible contributions the organisation can make to
      achieving the goals of the Convention on Biological Diversity, particularly to
      preventing the global spread of invasive alien species (IAS). However, at the
      present time, setting standards for invasive species (other than those connected
      to the cause and distribution of diseases listed by the OIE) is outside the OIE
      mandate. Any future expansion of the OIE mandate would need to be decided by its
      Members and resources (expertise and financial contributions) for an extended
      standard-setting work programme secured. The other international standard-setting
      organisations referenced by the SPS Agreement are the International Plant
      Protection Convention (IPPC) and the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC). The
      IPPC mandate and work programme address IAS and the protection of biodiversity.
      The CAC is not involved in this field.

PMID- 20919591
TI  - Invasive species. Part 1: General aspects and biodiversity. Part 2: Concrete
      examples.

PMID- 20919592
TI  - Body weight, self-perception and mental health outcomes among adolescents.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The prevalence of childhood obesity in the United States has
      increased three-fold over the last thirty years. During the same period, the
      prevalence of depressive symptoms in children also rose significantly. Previous
      literature suggests an association between actual body weight and mental health,
      but there is little evidence on self-perception of weight and mental health
      status. AIM: To examine the relationship between actual body weight, self
      perception of body weight and mental health outcomes among adolescents.
      METHODOLOGY: Using data for a nationally-representative sample of adolescents in
      the United States, we ascertain the effect of body weight status on depressive
      symptoms by estimating endogeneity-corrected models including school-level fixed
      effects to account for bi-directionality and unobserved confounders. Actual body
      weight status was calculated using interviewer-measured height and weight. We
      also used a measure of self-perceived weight status to compare how actual versus
      self-perceived weight status affects mental health. The Rosenberg Self-Esteem
      (RSE) Scale, Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D) Scale, and a
      dichotomous version of self-reported indicator for depression were utilized as
      mental health indicators. Potential mediators between mental health and weight
      status such as levels of physical activity, participation in risky health
      behaviors and parental characteristics were also controlled for in the analysis.
      The analytical sample consisted of 13,454 adolescents aged 11 to 18. RESULTS AND
      DISCUSSION: After accounting for a wide array of relevant characteristics, we did
      not find a direct and significant association between actual weight status and
      mental health outcomes. Instead, our analysis revealed a strongly negative and
      significant relationship between self-perceived weight status and mental health.
      The negative relationship between self-perceived weight and depressive symptoms
      was more pronounced among females. The RSE scale was particularly correlated with
      body weight perceptions, suggesting a potentially important link between weight
      perception and self esteem. LIMITATIONS: While the data set has rich detail on
      body weight and mental health outcomes, it lacks information on weight
      stigmatization. The complex relationships between actual body weight, self
      perception of weight and weight stigmatization also limit determination of
      causality. CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS: The results from this study highlight the
      role of body weight perceptions in influencing mental health outcomes independent
      of actual weight status, especially among female adolescents. This suggests that
      policies aimed at improving mental health outcomes among adolescents might
      benefit from a focus on increasing awareness about healthy attitudes towards
      weight. FUTURE RESEARCH: Recent studies have found evidence that weight
      stigmatization and body dissatisfaction are predictors of depressive symptoms. It
      may be that the causal pathway between perceived weight status and depression
      occurs through weight stigmatization and body dissatisfaction. Future studies
      should investigate this causal mechanism further.

PMID- 20919593
TI  - Should "standard gamble" and "'time trade off" utility measurement be used more
      in mental health research?
AB  - BACKGROUND: This review and discussion paper demonstrates that utility and
      preference measurement in mental health research is increasing. However there is
      still a general reluctance around using the methods due to methodological
      challenges and concerns around the capacity of users to understand utility
      methods during the research process. AIMS OF THE STUDY: This paper sets out to
      describe and review some of the previously documented difficulties of using
      utility measurements in mental health services research and to highlight where
      they have been used successfully as measures. Additionally the paper aims to
      discuss a means of improving the methods used to capture service user utility and
      preference measurement and why decision making would be better informed as a
      result. METHODS: International literature on utility measurement is reviewed,
      specifically examining the use of standard gamble and time trade off methods in
      mental health. RESULTS: Utility measurement in mental health is increasing though
      as the review demonstrates, concerns still exist over its application. A number
      of methods can be used to improve the approach overall and these are discussed as
      well as specific areas worthy of utility measurement including 'disutility' of
      admission, medication and medication side effects. DISCUSSION AND LIMITATIONS:
      Overall this paper argues that it is necessary to persist with efforts to conduct
      utility measurement calculation albeit with a critical eye on the methods in an
      attempt to ensure improvements are continually made. Utility and preference
      scores may be limited in that they only provide a rough score but they are
      defended as a means of providing some form of strength of preference for health
      states. The review is limited to English only texts. IMPLICATIONS FOR HEALTH CARE
      PROVISION: The debate on whether to use standard gamble and time trade off has
      implications for health services resource allocations, decision making, health
      economics research, policy making and health services research generally
      involving psychiatric service users. The paper argues that the absence of utility
      measurement in mental health runs the risk of mental health being disadvantaged
      in decisions around resource allocation. IMPLICATIONS FOR HEALTH POLICIES:
      Institutions involved in decision making like the United Kingdom's National
      Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, would be better served in their
      decision making and calculation of Quality Adjusted Life Years if more utility
      measurement in psychiatric research was carried out. Other arguments for using
      utility measurement include the desirability of using utility measurement to
      elicit a patient dimension of risk. IMPLICATIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH: Future
      utility research should aim for better involvement of service users in the design
      stage, the changing of time frames offered to users in health state scenarios
      used, a greater need for comparative work of utilities scoring across illness and
      between standard gamble and time trade off and more staff training in the use of
      utility methodology with mental health service users.

PMID- 20919594
TI  - Evaluating mental health care and policy in Spain.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The reform and expansion of mental health care (MHC) systems is a key
      health policy target worldwide. Evidence informed policy aims to make use of a
      wide range of relevant data, taking into account past experience and local
      culture and context. AIMS: To discuss the organisation, provision and financing
      of MHC in Spain visa vis the goals of recent psychiatric reforms. METHOD: We draw
      upon existing literature, reports and empirical data from regional and national
      health plans, as well as European reports pertinent to Spain. In addition we have
      made use of iterative discussion by an expert panel on the features of Spanish
      MHC services, namely its history, characteristics and determinants in comparison
      to reforms in other European health systems. RESULTS: In contrast to most other
      European health systems, the Spanish case reveals that political regional
      devolution leads to a greater heterogeneity in MHC systems, with some of the 17
      autonomous communities (ACs) or region states that make up the country moving
      more rapidly to full de-institutionalisation alongside coverage expansion and
      policy innovation. There remains a lack of specific earmarked budgets for MHC at
      a time of under-funding. There has been an imbalance in MHC reforms, with more
      focus on the principles underpinning the process of de-institutionalisation and
      less on the actual development of alternative community based mental health
      services. Moreover there has been a lack of monitoring of the reform process.
      Common to other countries, attempts to develop a more informed evidence policy
      have been hampered by a dislocation between the production of research evidence
      and the timing of actual policy reform implementation. DISCUSSION: Much of the
      focus of policy attention is on how to improve coordination within and across
      sectors, tackle socioeconomic inequalities and thus reduce the gap between
      perceived and observed need while monitoring any trends suggesting trans
      institutionalisation. Other issues include developing and strengthening services
      to meet the needs of new migrants, as well as those of the rural population.
      There is also a growing recognition of the need to strengthen the evidence base
      both through research capacity and mechanisms to encourage the use of health
      economic information as one key component in the assessment of the system.
      IMPLICATIONS FOR HEALTH POLICIES: The evolution of MHC in Spain may be regarded
      as a useful contextual case study for other countries embarking on reform,
      including some in Eastern Europe and Latin America. Spain is an example of a
      country that has undergone substantial economic and democratic transition in a
      short time frame; it has seen significant economic growth in some areas and has
      experienced mass immigration. While it is too early to judge the effectiveness of
      reforms in Spain, work to date clearly indicates some of the challenges that have
      to be overcome. These include better harmonisation and integration between health
      and social care, and more attention paid to the development or monitoring
      mechanisms to assess progress in reform implementation and better identify any
      widening of geographical disparities.

PMID- 20919595
TI  - Costs associated with attempted suicide among individuals with bipolar disorder.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Bipolar disorder is a chronic mood disorder associated with a high
      risk for suicide attempts, which carry personal, societal, and economical
      consequences. No information is available on the economic costs associated with
      suicide attempts among patients with bipolar disorder or the change in economic
      costs from before to following the suicide attempt. AIMS OF THE STUDY: The
      primary objective of this study was to estimate the total health care costs and
      cost components (inpatient, outpatient, emergency services, and medication)
      incurred by patients diagnosed with bipolar disorder who attempt suicide. Cost
      data included psychiatric and non-psychiatric costs. A secondary objective was to
      compare patients with and without attempted suicide on demographic and clinical
      characteristics. METHODS: Data for this retrospective study were obtained from
      the PharMetrics Integrated Outcomes Database (1995-2005). Patients diagnosed with
      bipolar disorder with (N = 352) and without (N = 15,102) a suicide attempt were
      identified and compared on demographics and psychiatric and medical
      comorbidities. T-tests and chi-square tests were used for group comparisons of
      patient characteristics. Among patients who attempted suicide and were
      continuously enrolled in the year before and following the suicide attempt (N =
      352), Wilcoxon signed-rank tests were used to compare health care costs between
      the year prior and the year following the first suicide attempt. RESULTS: The
      average total health care cost for the year following the suicide attempt (N =
      352) was $25,012, which was more than 2 times higher than the $11,476 incurred in
      the prior 1-year period (p. < 001). The total health care cost in the first month
      following the suicide attempt accounted for 28.9% of the total annual cost. The
      cost distribution over time showed a large spike for inpatient and emergency
      services costs in the month following the attempt with sustained increases in
      medication and outpatient costs. Patients with suicide attempt (N = 1,147) were
      significantly more likely than patients without (N = 15,102) to be younger,
      female, and to have comorbid psychiatric and medical diagnoses, especially
      depressive and substance use disorders. DISCUSSION: The substantial economic
      costs incurred by patients with bipolar disorder who attempt suicide are marked
      by an increase in costs of crisis services during the first month following the
      suicide attempt, along with sustained increases in medication and outpatient
      costs during the year following the suicide attempt. Limitations of the study
      include reliance on claims data and potential lack of generalizability beyond
      private payer data. IMPLICATIONS FOR HEALTH CARE PROVISION AND USE: Interventions
      designed to reduce the risk of suicide attempts among patients diagnosed with
      bipolar disorder may help decrease the related high economic costs, in addition
      to helping decrease adverse personal and societal consequences. IMPLICATIONS FOR
      HEALTH POLICIES: Cost-benefit analyses of treatment methods for bipolar disorder
      need to include the considerable expenses associated with suicide attempts.
      Current findings may also be of value for modeling the cost-effectiveness of
      treatment for bipolar disorder and of interest to payers and other health care
      decision makers, especially those involved in developing Medicare capitation
      models for patients with chronic conditions such as bipolar disorder.
      IMPLICATIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH: Additional research is needed on the cost of
      attempted suicide in the treatment of patients with bipolar disorder, especially
      studies that capture societal costs.

PMID- 20919596
TI  - Rosacea in patients with skin of color: uncommon but not rare.

PMID- 20919597
TI  - Treating patients with delusions of parasitosis: a blueprint for clinicians.
AB  - Dermatologists often inquire how to approach a patient with delusions of
      parasitosis. Avoiding negative countertransference and developing a therapeutic
      alliance with the patient are key steps for dermatologists. Even though each case
      is unique, this article serves as a blueprint for clinicians on how to approach
      and treat these patients.

PMID- 20919598
TI  - What is your diagnosis? The diagnosis: cutaneous metastic renal cell carcinoma.

PMID- 20919599
TI  - Underlying amelanotic lentigo maligna melanoma uncovered after a severe
      blistering sunburn.

PMID- 20919600
TI  - Porokeratosis of Mibelli with mutilation: a case report.
AB  - Porokeratosis is a rare keratinization disorder of the skin characterized by
      annular plaques with an atrophic center surrounded by a raised keratotic wall
      that spreads centrifugally. We report a case of porokeratosis of Mibelli with
      mutilation. A 30-year-old woman presented with atrophic plaques on the index
      fingers of both hands with a keratotic ridge in some margins of the plaques.
      There was loss of the distal phalanx of the left index finger. In the right hand,
      shortening of the right distal phalanx and flexion contracture of the distal
      interphalangeal joint were noted in the index finger.

PMID- 20919601
TI  - Facial hyperpigmentation caused by diltiazem hydrochloride.
AB  - Diltiazem hydrochloride, a member of the calcium channel blocker family of
      antihypertensive medications, has been found to produce many cutaneous reactions,
      such as photodistributed hyperpigmentation. We report a 53-year-old black woman
      who presented with facial darkening that began 6 months after starting diltiazem.
      Areas were not responsive to topical bleaching creams. Biopsy showed
      postinflammatory pigment alteration with a largely burned-out lichenoid
      dermatitis. The results of all laboratory evaluations were negative, including
      complete blood cell count, antinuclear antibodies, anti-Ro antibodies, and anti
      La antibodies. Patch testing and photo-patch testing to numerous drugs including
      diltiazem were negative. Phototesting revealed a normal minimal erythema dose to
      UVA but a slightly reduced minimal erythema dose to UVB. Diltiazem was then
      stopped and hydralazine hydrochloride was started. While UVA has been thought to
      be the main culprit in drug-induced photosensitive reactions, this case
      demonstrates that UVB may possibly play a role in diltiazem-induced
      photodistributed hyperpigmentation.

PMID- 20919602
TI  - Furuncular myiasis: a case report.
AB  - Most clinicians associate myiasis with travel to a tropical location. We report a
      case of endemic myiasis due to Cuterebra species to remind clinicians that
      myiasis can occur throughout North America.

PMID- 20919603
TI  - Oral mucosal melanoma of the mandibular gingiva: a case report.
AB  - Oral mucosal melanoma is rare and is reported to be more aggressive than
      cutaneous melanoma. The incidence of oral mucosal melanoma peaks at 41 to 60
      years of age and the male to female ratio is 2 to 1. Preferred sites in the oral
      mucosa include the hard palate and maxillary alveolar crests. Risk factors have
      not been clearly identified, but melanotic pigmentation is present in one-third
      of patients prior to the diagnosis of melanoma. We report an unusual case of oral
      mucosal melanoma of the mandibular gingiva with the main characteristics of an in
      situ lesion and areas of superficial invasion in a 45-year-old woman. The patient
      was treated with surgical resection of the lesion and a 54-month follow-up shows
      no evidence of recurrence. Oral mucosal melanomas are aggressive neoplasms that
      may arise from prior pigmented lesions in the oral mucosa. Classification of
      these tumors is not well-established and the main prognostic factor appears to be
      lymph node compromise. The main treatment modality is surgical resection.

PMID- 20919604
TI  - Acne vulgaris in the United States: a descriptive epidemiology.
AB  - While acne vulgaris is a common skin disease, many misconceptions still exist.
      The purpose of this study is to provide epidemiologic data to accurately describe
      the US population affected with acne and its associated comorbidities. Patient
      information was obtained from a third-party database of administrative claims
      from more than 80 public and private healthcare plans, representing approximately
      9.6 million unique patients, and analyzed using the Total Resource Utilization
      Benchmarks process. Benchmarks in this study included sex, age, comorbidities,
      medication, and cost. Nearly two-thirds of visits were made by females (65.2%).
      Teenagers (age range, 12-17 years) comprised only 36.5% of patients with acne,
      while patients 18 years or older comprised 61.9%. Depression was reported in
      10.6% of females with acne. The average total episode cost across all age groups
      was determined to be $689.06, with a range of $361.25 (age range, 0-11 years) to
      $869.06 (age range, 15-17 years). The older patients (age 65+ years) more often
      were prescribed different medications than younger individuals. This analysis
      only included patients who sought treatment of their acne and may underestimate
      the total prevalence of acne in the population. Acne is a disease that affects
      all age groups, not just adolescents. Differences in age are associated with
      differences in pharmaceutical treatment as well as total healthcare utilization.
      Depression is a substantial comorbidity and patients seeking treatment of acne
      should be screened for depression.

PMID- 20919605
TI  - Osteoma cutis as a sequela to facial acne: a case report.
AB  - Secondary osteoma cutis of the face represents a late, rare, and often
      unrecognized complication of chronic inflammatory acne. We present the case of a
      48-year-old woman with chronic inflammatory acne followed by osteoma cutis
      formation. The nodules were successfully removed by simple surgical excision.

PMID- 20919606
TI  - Simplifying regimens promotes greater adherence and outcomes with topical acne
      medications: a randomized controlled trial.
AB  - New combination topical formulations for the treatment of acne may improve
      outcomes by increasing adherence. We assessed adherence to and efficacy of a
      combination topical medication for acne applied once daily compared with daily
      applications of 2 separate generic subcomponents. Twenty-six participants with
      mild to moderate acne vulgaris were randomized to 12 weeks of once daily
      application of clindamycin phosphate 7.2%-tretinoin 0.025% gel (CTG) combination
      product or separate daily applications of clindamycin phosphate gel 1% and
      tretinoin cream 0.025% (C gel + T cream) for a total of 2 applications daily.
      Disease severity was measured at baseline and weeks 4, 8, and 12. Adherence was
      monitored using electronic monitoring caps on the medication tubes. Of the 26
      participants enrolled, 21 completed the 12-week study. Median adherence in the
      CTG group was 88% compared with 61% in the C gel + T cream group. There was a 51%
      mean reduction in total lesions for the CTG group versus a 32% mean reduction for
      the C gel + T cream group by the end of the study. Both CTG and separate
      applications of C gel + T cream improved mild to moderate acne. The use of a once
      daily combination product has the advantage of promoting better adherence and
      clinical outcomes.

PMID- 20919607
TI  - Pediatric brain tumors: a histologic and genetic update on commonly encountered
      entities.
AB  - As our understanding of pediatric brain neoplasia flourishes, so does the
      development of diagnostic, prognostic, and predictive biomarkers. The
      neuropathologist uniquely stands at the crossroads between pathology and
      molecular genetics, often overseeing the creation, development, implementation,
      delivery, and reporting of the newest bioassays. This review serves to highlight
      the key microscopic and genetic features of the most common pediatric brain
      tumors. For example, INI-1 immunohistochemistry has assisted in identifying
      several previously unrecognized cases of rhabdoid cell-poor atypical teratoid
      rhabdoid tumor (ATRT). The latest discovery involving the tandem duplication and
      fusion BRAF-KIAA1549 on chromosome 7q34 in pilocytic astrocytoma has drawn
      attention to the MAPK-ERK pathway and its potential chemotherapeutic
      manipulation. The newly identified IDH1 mutation, which appears characteristic of
      "secondary astrocytomas," has yet to be studied in the pediatric population, but
      some researchers have extolled concomitant BRAF-KIAA1549/IDH1 analysis in the
      neuropathologic workup of many astrocytomas. Through these and other advances,
      our understanding of pediatric brain tumors will continue to expand
      exponentially, and as such will set the stage for truly effectual future
      treatments.

PMID- 20919608
TI  - Frequently asked questions concerning the use of whole-slide imaging
      telepathology for neuropathology frozen sections.
AB  - TP involves the provision of pathology services over a distance using the
      Internet to link pathologists at the "viewing site" with diagnostic material in a
      "remote site." Robotic microscopes were a mainstay of TP; however, this is now
      changing with the development of whole-slide imaging (WSI) systems which enable
      rapid production of digital slides that can be reviewed over a complete range of
      magnifications with a viewing experience closely replicating that of light
      microscopy. As such, WSI will undoubtedly become a viable option for pathology
      departments considering TP for remote frozen section (FS) coverage, and in the
      future for rapid consultation on difficult cases. For reasons to be discussed
      below, it may be particularly attractive to use WSI TP for neuropathology frozen
      sections (NPFS). We have been using WSI TP for primary NPFS diagnoses since 2006.
      This brief review provides answers to questions that we have frequently been
      asked about our program. The answers reflect our experience, and it is important
      to note that our recommendations may not be applicable in all institutions. The
      reader is directed to the recent literature for more detailed information on WSI
      as well as a complete description of our TP program.

PMID- 20919609
TI  - Parasitic diseases of the central nervous system.
AB  - Parasitic infections, though endemic to certain regions, have over time appeared
      in places far removed from their original sites of occurrence facilitated
      probably by the increase in world travel and the increasing migration of people
      from their native lands to other, often distant, countries. The frequency of
      occurrence of some of these diseases has also changed based on a variety of
      factors, including the presence of intermediate hosts, geographic locations, and
      climate. One factor that has significantly altered the epidemiology of parasitic
      diseases within the central nervous system (CNS) is the HIV pandemic. In this
      review of the pathology of parasitic infections that affect the CNS, each
      parasite is discussed in the sequence of epidemiology, life cycle, pathogenesis,
      and pathology.

PMID- 20919610
TI  - Nontumor lesions of spinal cord and spine.
AB  - Nontumor lesions of the spinal cord and spine include developmental disorders,
      cystic tumor-like lesions, vascular disorders, infective diseases, demyelinating
      diseases, degenerative diseases, metabolic and toxic disorders, and spinal cord
      injury. In addition, diseases of the spine and extradural spaces secondarily
      cause spinal cord injury. Aside from tumors, these include developmental
      abnormalities, inflammatory diseases, nontumor space-occupying lesions, and tumor
      like lesions such as lipomas, vascular malformations, and cysts. Awareness is
      required of hemostatic agents used during surgery and subsequently presenting as
      space-occupying lesions, which have to be differentiated from recurrent lesions.
      On the therapeutic front, stem cell transplantation into spinal cord for
      treatment of neurodegenerative disorders, spinal cord injury, and multiple
      sclerosis is a challenging prospect.

PMID- 20919611
TI  - The problems of protecting the neck from combat wounds.

PMID- 20919612
TI  - Traumatic diaphragmatic injury.
AB  - Traumatic diaphragmatic injury is a not uncommon accompaniment to blunt or
      penetrating trauma to the abdomen or thorax; it may present acutely with
      haemodynamic and respiratory compromise and be associated with significant injury
      to other organs or may not be diagnosed at the initial trauma at all and present
      later as a diaphragmatic hernia. This overview examines the incidence,
      pathophysiology and management of this condition.

PMID- 20919613
TI  - Anaesthetic and critical care management of thoracic injuries.
AB  - Thoracic wounding has been a relatively common presentation of military wounds
      throughout modern conflict. When civilian casualties are included the incidence
      has remained constant at around 10%, although the frequency and severity of
      wounds to combatants has been altered by modern body armour. Whilst thoracic
      injury has a high initial mortality on the battlefield, those surviving to reach
      hospital frequently have injuries that only require simple management. In
      addition to penetrating ballistic injury, blunt chest trauma frequently occurs on
      operations as a result of road traffic collisions or tertiary blast injury. The
      physiological impact of thoracic wounds, however, is often great and survivors
      often require intensive care management and, where available, complex strategies
      to ensure oxygenation and carbon dioxide removal. This review examines the
      incidence and patterns of thoracic trauma and looks at therapeutic options for
      managing these complex cases.

PMID- 20919614
TI  - British military experience of pre-hospital paediatric trauma in Afghanistan.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Trauma is a leading cause of death in children. Life support
      courses have been developed to reduce the mortality and morbidity of children
      suffering trauma; differences in anatomy and physiology may produce different
      injury patterns to adults when children are exposed to trauma, challenging the
      care providers. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of all paediatric patients
      transported by the helicopter-borne MERT between 01 May 2006 and 31 December 2007
      in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. RESULTS: 78 children were brought in over the
      study period by the MERT team representing 7.3% of MERT casualties and 2.2% of
      the total seen in the Emergency Department. Breakdown by demographics, triage
      category, mechanism of injury, and treatment is given. CONCLUSION: A significant
      number of paediatric patients are treated by the deployed pre-hospital team. All
      military pre-hospital care providers should gain training and experience in the
      care of the seriously injured child prior to deployment.

PMID- 20919615
TI  - The development of bacteriology, sanitation science and allied research in the
      British Army 1850-1918: equipping the RAMC for war.
AB  - The recent 90 year anniversary of the end of the First World War is an opportune
      time to reconsider the important role of the Royal Army Medical Corps in this
      conflict. One area which has been neglected is the role of the Royal Army Medical
      Corps in responding to infectious diseases and to understand this properly it is
      important to consider the development of bacteriology, sanitation science and
      allied research in the British Army up to the Great War. The context of the home
      front is also central, with the British population from 1880-1914 increasingly
      benefiting from improved public sanitation and the new science of bacteriology.
      Historians acknowledge that the British campaign in the Crimea in the 1850s was
      pursued with inadequate medical provision and as a result, the Army suffered
      severely from infectious diseases. Limited changes were introduced after the
      Crimean War, such as the establishment of the Army Medical School, with its high
      quality instruction in military hygiene and later bacteriology. Army medics also
      led the way in various branches of scientific research, through research in the
      colonies. As compared with the continental powers, however, the application of
      bacteriology and sanitation to field craft in the British Army was delayed. It
      took the experiences of the South African and Russo-Japanese Wars for the
      importance of these sciences to be recognised by the Army as a whole. These
      subjects began to form part of the education of army Medical Officers, but
      training was basic and few trainees had specialised in bacteriology by 1914. In
      spite of these limitations, the Royal Army Medical Corps responded well to the
      demands placed upon it by World War One, recruiting civilian bacteriologists to
      its ranks, developing technological innovations such as mobile bacteriological
      laboratories for them to work in, forming a sanitation service and fostering
      medical research.

PMID- 20919616
TI  - Advanced airway management--a medical emergency response team perspective.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine the number of medical emergency response team (MERT)
      patients undergoing advanced airway management in the peri-evacuation phase and
      to determine the indications for airway interventions undertaken in flight.
      METHODS: This was a retrospective study. Data was collected from patient report
      and mission debrief forms completed after each MERT mission during Operation
      HERRICK 10 (April-October 2009). All patients that received advanced airway
      interventions before or during evacuation were identified. RESULTS: MERTs were
      involved in the primary transfer of 534 patients during the period studied, 56
      (10.5%) underwent advanced airway management, of which 31 (5.8% of total) were
      initiated by the MERT in the peri-evacuation phase. Twenty five cases (4.7%)
      underwent advanced airway management by other pre-hospital providers prior to
      MERT arrival. Of the 31 advanced airway interventions undertaken in-flight,
      cardiac arrest was the primary indication in only nine cases. CONCLUSIONS: The
      figure of 56 patients requiring advanced airway management is at the higher end
      of the range expected from the study of historical military data. This may
      reflect the doctrine of "intelligent tasking", that is sending this physician-led
      team to the most seriously injured casualties.

PMID- 20919617
TI  - UK Role 4 military infectious diseases at Birmingham Heartlands Hospital in 2005
      9.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Infectious diseases affecting British troops are mostly due to
      gastrointestinal and respiratory illnesses, but these are usually minor in
      severity, easy to manage and short in duration. To assess the importance of
      infections that are more severe, difficult to manage or longer in duration, it is
      necessary to look at military cases that are evacuated or otherwise referred to
      the UK Role 4 (definitive care) medical facility for infectious diseases.
      METHODS: Case notes from military infectious disease patients seen at Birmingham
      Heartlands Hospital in 2005-2009 were reviewed to extract data on demographics,
      origin of infection, diagnostic categories, exact diagnoses, type and duration of
      care, time off duty, quality of care and costs incurred. RESULTS: Over a 4-year
      period, 138 cases were referred, 131 (95%) were male and 98 (71%) were from the
      Army. The origin of infection was Afghanistan in 52 (38%) and Belize in 19 (14%).
      From 131 patients (95%) that attended, 59 (45%) had dermatological illnesses and
      38 (29%) had undifferentiated febrile illnesses. Diagnoses included 35 (27%) with
      cutaneous leishmaniasis and 21 (16%) with "Helmand Fever" due to sandfly fever,
      acute Q fever or rickettsial infection. For 51 in-patients, the median (range)
      length of stay was 3 (1-17) days and time off duty was 20 (5-127) days. For 80
      out-patients, the median (range) number of attendances was 1 (1-23) and time off
      duty was 22 (1-228) days. All cases were seen promptly (within 7 days for in
      patients and 28 days for out-patients), but only 59 (45%) had appropriate letters
      sent to the referring medical officer and none had F Med 85 notifications of
      infectious disease submitted. Aeromedical evacuation costs could not be
      calculated, but UK hospital care cost approximately pound 78 000 per year.
      CONCLUSIONS: Dermatological infections and undifferentiated febrile illnesses
      that require management at a UK Role 4 facility are important causes of disease
      non-battle injury. Prospective collection of this data in the future will be a
      valuable asset.

PMID- 20919618
TI  - Force generation--deployment-aligned MIACs.
AB  - As the pressure mounts to supply more ground forces in Afghanistan, the Defence
      Medical Services (DMS) are directly supporting surge activity through ensuring
      the provision of deployable personnel. Delivery of this goal requires a change in
      the practice, focus and resources of the DMS. Identification, treatment and
      rehabilitation of injured service personnel is a priority in improving the pool
      of personnel available for deployment on Operations. This paper details the
      drivers, process and potential benefits of aligning Multi-Disciplinary Injury
      Assessment Clinic's activity with a unit's formation readiness cycle, to more
      appropriately and proactively manage injured service personnel to improve both
      the quality and quantity of Force Generation.

PMID- 20919619
TI  - A travel misadventure--visceral leishmaniasis in an immunocompetent patient.
AB  - Visceral leishmaniasis is one of the world's most neglected diseases. Over 90% of
      the 500,000 annual new cases occur in only five countries: India, Nepal,
      Bangladesh, Sudan and North-Eastern Brazil, but the disease remains endemic in
      Southern Europe. We report a case of visceral leishmaniasis in an immunocompetent
      serviceman after a seven-day stay in the Marseilles region of South-Eastern
      France. This case is intended to alert clinicians to the possibility of visceral
      leishmaniasis in patients who develop a febrile illness after returning from
      travel in Southern European countries.

PMID- 20919620
TI  - Cardiology.
AB  - Cardiac disease remains a significant threat to both local and deployed military
      populations. In this article we present several cardiac case reports which may be
      of educational use to the military clinician.

PMID- 20919621
TI  - The Indian mutiny--Part 2.

PMID- 20919622
TI  - The Army Primary Health Care Service: from foundation to future.
AB  - Following the British Government's implementation of policies to improve quality
      and introduce clinical governance into healthcare delivery in the late 1990s, the
      British Army commissioned a study into how primary healthcare for the Regular
      Army should best be delivered in UK. The study recommended a unitary command
      structure, with more central control based upon a model of a main headquarters
      and seven regions. The change has been largely successful and has been subject to
      external scrutiny. Areas still to be developed include improving information
      management and benchmarking standards against the NHS, improvements in practice
      management, plus developments in occupational health and the nursing cadres. The
      forthcoming Strategic Defence and Security Review and other ongoing studies are
      likely to have a profound influence on how the current Army Primary Health Care
      Service develops.

PMID- 20919623
TI  - General practice training in the Army.

PMID- 20919624
TI  - Preparing for an operational tour as a medical officer in southern.
AB  - At the time of writing, Afghanistan is the pre-eminent theatre of operations for
      UK military forces, which form a lead element in the International Security
      Assistance Force. Many junior medical officers (MOs) can expect to see service on
      Operation HERRICK in the south of the country, in support of deployed battlegroup
      formations. MO's will often find themselves supporting Company Group formations,
      either within the Company Aid Post, or on dismounted/vehicle borne operations.
      This article presents some of the challenges faced by those deployed in such
      circumstances, and proposes possible strategies to address them.

PMID- 20919625
TI  - Detecting post-deployment mental health problems in primary care.
AB  - Post-deployment mental health problems are a source of potential concern for
      health professionals and politicians in military forces in the world; the UK
      Armed Forces are no exception. This article examines practical ways in which
      General Practitioners in Primary Care can enhance their ability to detect post
      deployment mental health problems and offers suggestions on immediate management
      and assessment, based on contemporary evidence and clinical experience.

PMID- 20919626
TI  - Opportunities in pre hospital emergency care for the Armed Forces in the UK.

PMID- 20919627
TI  - The general practitioner trainer exchange as an innovative approach to peer
      review.
AB  - There are various formal peer review schemes to assess the quality of primary
      care practices and several special approval and re-approval programmes exist for
      General Practitioner (GP) trainers and primary care training practices. The
      Defence Postgraduate Medical Deanery (DPMD) has its own General Practice
      Education Committee (GPEC) approval and re-approval programme. Part of this
      programme is related to the New Membership of the Royal College of Practitioners
      (nMRCGP). There is limited published information related to GP trainer exchanges
      as a means of peer review and as such as preparation for GPEC in the British
      Forces. This paper provides a review of a GP trainer exchange involving a visit
      of a GP trainer from British Forces Germany (BFG) to the practices of Dhekelia
      and Ay Nik on Cyprus in January 2010. It concludes that a GP trainer exchange is
      cost neutral and may be a valuable experience for both the host and visiting GP
      trainer, the local GP trainers' group, the practice teams and above all, for the
      GP trainee.

PMID- 20919628
TI  - The doctor vs. the Command: can disagreement arise?
AB  - Doctors have long since assisted the Command on operations and in providing day
      to day bespoke medical care to the UK Armed Forces. Doctors and the Command work
      along different models that confer different obligations and priorities. For
      doctors the patient and their wellbeing is of primary importance and for the
      Command, the Unit as a whole with its military goals are of primary concern. Most
      of the time these two models work in harmony. However occasionally disagreement
      can arise. This article examines the models guiding their respective practice in
      order to understand the underpinnings of these disagreements, and offers some
      discussion of the issues, particularly as they pertain to the deployed
      environment. Finally, some recommendations are made to equip doctors and the
      Command to contain any disagreements.

PMID- 20919629
TI  - Refractive errors in the UK Armed Forces.

PMID- 20919630
TI  - Hoffman II external fixator techniques--a work-around to use small pins in large
      clamps.
AB  - We describe a novel technique to allow use of small pins in medium pin size
      clamps. Slipping a second 3 mm pin into the same clamp hole as the first allows
      the 5 mm clamp to bite securely on a 3 mm pin. This enables construction of an
      external fixator frame utilising 3 mm and 5 mm pins, as required to span the
      elbow, wrist and ankle. This extends the capabilities of the 5 mm clamp and
      reduces the need for extra materiel such as sets containing damps to connect 3 mm
      pins to standard size rods.

PMID- 20919631
TI  - The ecological impact of invasive cane toads (Bufo marinus) in Australia.
AB  - Although invasive species are viewed as major threats to ecosystems worldwide,
      few such species have been studied in enough detail to identify the pathways,
      magnitudes, and timescales of their impact on native fauna. One of the most
      intensively studied invasive taxa in this respect is the cane toad (Bufo
      marinus), which was introduced to Australia in 1935. A review of these studies
      suggests that a single pathway-lethal toxic ingestion of toads by frog-eating
      predators-is the major mechanism of impact, but that the magnitude of impact
      varies dramatically among predator taxa, as well as through space and time.
      Populations of large predators (e.g., varanid and scincid lizards, elapid snakes,
      freshwater crocodiles, and dasyurid marsupials) may be imperilled by toad
      invasion, but impacts vary spatially even within the same predator species. Some
      of the taxa severely impacted by toad invasion recover within a few decades, via
      aversion learning and longer-term adaptive changes. No native species have gone
      extinct as a result of toad invasion, and many native taxa widely imagined to be
      at risk are not affected, largely as a result of their physiological ability to
      tolerate toad toxins (e.g., as found in many birds and rodents), as well as the
      reluctance of many native anuran-eating predators to consume toads, either
      innately or as a learned response. Indirect effects of cane toads as mediated
      through trophic webs are likely as important as direct effects, but they are more
      difficult to study. Overall, some Australian native species (mostly large
      predators) have declined due to cane toads; others, especially species formerly
      consumed by those predators, have benefited. For yet others, effects have been
      minor or have been mediated indirectly rather than through direct interactions
      with the invasive toads. Factors that increase a predator's vulnerability to toad
      invasion include habitat overlap with toads, anurophagy, large body size,
      inability to develop rapid behavioral aversion to toads as prey items, and
      physiological vulnerability to bufotoxins as a result of a lack of coevolutionary
      history of exposure to other bufonid taxa.

PMID- 20919632
TI  - Toward a conceptual framework for biology.
AB  - Science progresses faster when researchers operate within an explicit framework
      of concepts and theories, but currently biology has no explicit, overarching
      conceptual framework and few general theories. The single general theory
      currently recognized is that of evolution, which was put forth by Charles Darwin
      150 years ago. Recently, Scheiner and Willig (2008) explicated a similarly
      general theory of ecology. In this paper, using the theory of evolution as an
      exemplar, I discuss the nature of theory in biology and put forth an overarching
      theory, as well as new general theories for cells, organisms, and genetics. Along
      with the theories of evolution and ecology, these constitute a general conceptual
      framework for the biological sciences. This framework reveals linkages among the
      various parts of biology, makes explicit the assumptions behind more narrow
      theories and models, and provides new insights into the structures of biological
      theories. This framework can also be used as a teaching tool, moving the teaching
      of biology beyond the transference of a vast compendium of facts. My hope is that
      this essay will lead to a vigorous discussion and debate across all of biology
      about the nature and structure of its theories.

PMID- 20919633
TI  - Assessing macroinvertebrate biodiversity in freshwater ecosystems: advances and
      challenges in DNA-based approaches.
AB  - Assessing the biodiversity of macroinvertebrate fauna in freshwater ecosystems is
      an essential component of both basic ecological inquiry and applied ecological
      assessments. Aspects of taxonomic diversity and composition in freshwater
      communities are widely used to quantify water quality and measure the efficacy of
      remediation and restoration efforts. The accuracy and precision of biodiversity
      assessments based on standard morphological identifications are often limited by
      taxonomic resolution and sample size. Morphologically based identifications are
      laborious and costly, significantly constraining the sample sizes that can be
      processed. We suggest that the development of an assay platform based on DNA
      signatures will increase the precision and ease of quantifying biodiversity in
      freshwater ecosystems. Advances in this area will be particularly relevant for
      benthic and planktonic invertebrates, which are often monitored by regulatory
      agencies. Adopting a genetic assessment platform will alleviate some of the
      current limitations to biodiversity assessment strategies. We discuss the
      benefits and challenges associated with DNA-based assessments and the methods
      that are currently available. As recent advances in microarray and next
      generation sequencing technologies will facilitate a transition to DNA-based
      assessment approaches, future research efforts should focus on methods for data
      collection, assay platform development, establishing linkages between DNA
      signatures and well-resolved taxonomies, and bioinformatics.

PMID- 20919634
TI  - BCL-2 protein family. Essential regulators of cell death. Preface.

PMID- 20919635
TI  - Homeostatic functions of BCL-2 proteins beyond apoptosis.
AB  - Since its introduction in 1930 by physiologist Walter Bradford Cannon, the
      concept of homeostasis remains the cardinal tenet of biologic regulation. Cells
      have evolved a highly integrated network of control mechanisms, including
      positive and negative feedback loops, to safeguard homeostasis in face of a wide
      range of stimuli. Such control mechanisms ultimately orchestrate cell death,
      division and repair in a manner concordant with cellular energy and ionic balance
      to achieve proper biologic fitness. The interdependence of these homeostatic
      pathways is also evidenced by shared control points that decode intra- and
      extracellular cues into defined effector responses. As critical control points of
      the intrinsic apoptotic pathway, the BCL-2 family of cell death regulators plays
      an important role in cellular homeostasis. The different anti- and pro-apoptotic
      members of this family form a highly selective network of functional interactions
      that ultimately governs the permeabilization of the mitochondrial outer membrane
      and subsequent release of apoptogenic factors such as cytochrome c. The advent of
      loss- and gain-of-function genetic models for the various BCL-2 family proteins
      has not only provided important insights into apoptosis mechanisms but also
      uncovered unanticipated roles for these proteins in other physiologic pathways
      beyond apoptosis (Fig. 1). Here, we turn our attention to these alternative
      cellular functions for BCL-2 proteins. We begin with a brief introduction of the
      cast of characters originally known for their capacity to regulate apoptosis and
      continue to highlight recent advances that have shaped and reshaped our views on
      their physiologic relevance in integration of apoptosis with other homeostatic
      pathways.

PMID- 20919636
TI  - Alternative functions of the BCL-2 protein family at the endoplasmic reticulum.
AB  - Apoptosis is essential for maintenance of tissue homeostasis and its deregulation
      results in a variety of disease conditions. The BCL-2 family of proteins is a
      group of evolutionarily conserved regulators of cell death that comprises both
      anti- and pro-apoptotic members, that operate at the mitochondrial membrane to
      control caspase activation. Different BCL-2-related proteins are also located in
      the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), where important roles in organelle physiology are
      proposed. Adaptation to ER stress is mediated by the activation of a complex
      signal transduction pathway known as the unfolded protein response (UPR). Recent
      reports indicate that the ER stress sensor IRE1alpha, signals through the
      formation of a protein complex platform at the ER membrane, here termed the
      "UPRosome". Alternatively, BCL-2 family members are contained in other
      multiprotein complexes at the ER that are involved in the control of diverse
      cellular processes including calcium homeostasis, autophagy and ER morphogenesis.
      Here we describe the emerging concept that BCL-2 family members are important
      regulators of essential cellular processes beyond apoptosis.

PMID- 20919638
TI  - Endoplasmic reticulum stress and BCL-2 family members.
AB  - In the eukaryotic cell, the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) plays an important role as
      the site of lipid synthesis, protein folding and protein maturation. Stringent
      regulation of redox and calcium homeostasis is paramount, failure of which leads
      accumulation of unfolded and aggregating proteins resulting in a condition known
      as ER stress. Eukaryotic cells deal with ER stress by eliciting the unfolded
      protein response (UPR). This pathway splits into two streams depending on the
      severity and longevity of the ER stress, where the cell must make a choice for
      the good of the organism between survival and programmed cell death. The BCL-2
      family of proteins is central to the cell death arm of the UPR pathway. This
      chapter discusses the recent findings on the involvement of BCL-2 family members
      in the apoptotic process initiated by ER stress and a related process called
      autophagy. Understanding the molecular mechanisms involved in ER stress and
      autophagy could have a profound implications developing new therapies for many ER
      stress associated diseases and cancer.

PMID- 20919639
TI  - Targeting survival pathways in lymphoma.
AB  - Targeting cellular death pathways including apoptosis is a promising strategy for
      cancer drug discovery. To date at least three major types of cell death have been
      distinguished, including: apoptosis, autophagy, and necrosis. Increasing evidence
      has begun to support a role of Bcl-2-family members in the cellular pathways
      involved in each of these processes. The induction of apoptosis in different
      types of tissue and in response to various stressors is a complex process that is
      controlled by different BCL-2 family members. Pharmacologic modulation of BCL-2
      proteins and apoptosis can be achieved through different ways including the use
      of: (1) Modified peptides; (2) Small molecule inhibitors ofanti-apoptotic
      proteins; (3) Antisense strategies; and (4) TRAIL targeting. Non-peptide based
      small-molecule inhibitors of signaling pathways are at present the strategy of
      choice given their low antigenicity and generally more favorable pharmacokinetic
      and pharmacodynamic features, especially as they pertain to volume of
      distribution and intracellular accumulation. Bcl2-family inhibitors are showing
      impressive preclinical efficacy in animal models and are moving rapidly towards
      phase I and II clinical trials. Appropriate preclinical studies will need to
      identify the optimal strategies for combining these agents, with an emphasis on
      the importance of dose and schedule dependency.

PMID- 20919640
TI  - The interplay between BCL-2 family proteins and mitochondrial morphology in the
      regulation of apoptosis.
AB  - Apoptosis is a highly regulated process where key players such as BCL-2 family
      members control the recruitment of the mitochondrial subroutine. This culminates
      in the release of cytochrome c from the organelle in the cytoplasm, where it is
      required for the activation of effector caspases. The complete release of
      cytochrome c is the result of the combined action of proapoptotic BCL-2 family
      members and of changes in the complex morphology and ultrastructure of the
      organelle, controlled by the balance between fusion and fission processes. Here
      we discuss recent findings pointing to a role for changes in mitochondrial
      morphology during apoptosis and how these might be regulated by members of the
      BCL-2 family.

PMID- 20919641
TI  - Noncanonical functions of BCL-2 proteins in the nervous system.
AB  - BCL-2 family proteins form heterodimers or homo-oligomers to inhibit or induce
      apoptotic cell death, respectively. They often relocalize from the cytoplasm to
      mitochondria to carry out these functions. The traditional model is that in
      healthy cells, anti-death family members hold pro-death BCL-2 family members in
      check. Upon receiving a death stimulus, another set of proteins (BH3-only
      proteins) inactivate the protective BCL-2 proteins, forcing them to release their
      pro-death partners that are subsequently triggered to oligomerize and porate the
      mitochondrial outer membrane leading to cell death. In support of this
      traditional view, there is a preponderance of supporting evidence derived from
      the study of events that occur following treatment of cells with a death
      stimulus. Knockout and mutant mice also exhibit many developmental and treatment
      induced phenotypes consistent with this model of antagonism between BCL-2 family
      proteins. Emphasis is logically placed on those phenotypes that support the
      model. However, this working model of BCL-2 family interactions has become so
      engrained that alternative, potentially valid interpretations are sometimes
      dismissed. Therefore, it is useful to consider the evidence that seems contrary
      to accepted models. In particular, the analysis of BCL-2 family functions in the
      nervous system has revealed unexpected outcomes that can serve to further
      stimulate critical probing of the yet unknown biochemical functions of BCL-2
      proteins.

PMID- 20919637
TI  - BH3-only proteins and their effects on cancer.
AB  - Apoptosis, a form of cellular suicide is a key mechanism involved in the
      clearance of cells that are dysfunctional, superfluous or infected. For this
      reason, the cell needs mechanisms o sense death cues and relay death signals to
      the apoptotic machinery involved in cellular execution. In the intrinsic
      apoptotic pathway, a subclass of BCL-2 family proteins called the BH3
      onlyproteins are responsible for triggering apoptosis in response to varied
      cellular stress cues. The mechanisms by which they are regulated are tied to the
      type of cellular stress they sense. Once triggered, they interact with other BCL
      2 family proteins to cause mitochondrial outer membrane permeabilization which in
      turn results in the activation ofserine proteases necessary for cell killing.
      Failure to properly sense death cues and relay the death signal can have a major
      impact on cancer. This chapter will discuss our current models of how BH3-only
      proteins function as well as their impact on carcinogenesis and cancer treatment.

PMID- 20919642
TI  - Mitochondria on guard: role of mitochondrial fusion and fission in the regulation
      of apoptosis.
AB  - Mitochondria are highly dynamic organelles that constantly change shape and
      structure in response to different stimuli and metabolic demands of the cell.
      Mitochondrial structure in the cell is predominantly regulated by cycles of
      fusion and fission. These two processes are tightly regulated and under
      physiological conditions, mitochondrial fusion is evenly counterbalanced by
      fission. During apoptosis, mitochondria undergo extensive fragmentation, which
      precedes caspase activation, whereas inhibition of the mitochondrial fission
      machinery blocks or delays cell death. Aberrant mitochondrial fusion and fission
      have also emerged as important mechanisms in the development of disease. In this
      chapter we will briefly discuss mechanisms of mitochondrial fusion and fission in
      mammalian cells, the mitochondrial morphogenesis proteins that may be involved in
      these processes and role of these processes in cell viability. This will be
      followed by a review of recent work connecting mitochondrial morphogenesis
      proteins with the progression of the mitochondrial steps in apoptosis, as well as
      stimulating findings showing that certain proteins associated with apoptosis
      regulation can also participate in the regulation ofmitochondrial fusion and
      fission in healthy cells.

PMID- 20919644
TI  - Sphingolipid transport.
AB  - Sphingolipids are a family of ubiquitous membrane components that exhibit
      multiple functional properties fundamental to cell properties. Sphingolipid
      transport represents a crucial aspect in the metabolism, signaling and biological
      role of sphingolipids. Different mechanisms of sphingolipid movements contribute
      to their selective localization in different membranes but also in different
      portions and sides of the same membrane, thus ensuring and regulating their
      interaction with different enzymes and target molecules. In this chapter we will
      describe the knowledge of the different mechanisms ofsphingolipid movements
      within and between membranes, focusing on the recent advances in this field and
      considering the role played by selective sphingolipid molecules in the regulation
      of these mechanisms.

PMID- 20919645
TI  - Sphingolipid analysis by high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass
      spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS).
AB  - Sphingolipid (SPL) metabolism (Fig. 1) serves a key role in the complex
      mechanisms regulating cellular stress responses to environment. Several SPL
      metabolites, especially ceramide (Cer), sphingosine (Sph) and sphingosinel
      phosphate (S1P) act as key bioactive molecules governing cell growth and
      programmed cell death (Fig. 2). Perturbations in sphingolipids of one type may
      enhance or interfere with the action of another. To monitor changes in SPL
      composition therefore, reliable analytical methods are necessary. Here we present
      the liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) approach for
      simultaneous qualitative and quantitative monitoring of SPL components (classes
      and molecular species) in biological material as an effective tool to study
      sphingolipid signaling events. The LC-MS/MS methodology is the only available
      technique that provides high specificity and sensitivity, along with a wealth of
      structural identification information.

PMID- 20919646
TI  - Ceramide synthases: roles in cell physiology and signaling.
AB  - Ceramide synthases (CerS) are integral membrane proteins of the endoplasmic
      reticulum. Six mammalian CerS have been described, with each utilizing fatty acyl
      CoAs of relatively defined chain lengths for N-acylation of the sphingoid long
      chain base. In this chapter, we review the main functional features of the CerS
      proteins, discuss their fatty acid specificity, kinetics, tissue distribution and
      mode of inhibition, as well as possible posttranslational modifications. We then
      address the reason that mammals contain six distinct CerS, whereas most other
      enzymes in the sphingolipid biosynthetic pathway only occur in one or two
      isoforms. Finally, we discuss the putative roles of CerS and the ceramide derived
      from the CerS, in signaling pathways and in development of disease.

PMID- 20919643
TI  - An overview of sphingolipid metabolism: from synthesis to breakdown.
AB  - Sphingolipids constitute a class of lipids defined by their eighteen carbon amino
      alcohol backbones which are synthesized in the ER from nonsphingolipid
      precursors. Modification of this basic structure is what gives rise to the vast
      family of sphingolipids that play significant roles in membrane biology and
      provide many bioactive metabolites that regulate cell function. Despite the
      diversity of structure and function of sphingolipids, their creation and
      destruction are governed by common synthetic and catabolic pathways. In this
      regard, sphingolipid metabolism can be imagined as an array of interconnected
      networks that diverge from a single common entry point and converge into a single
      common breakdown pathway. In their simplest forms, sphingosine, phytosphingosine
      and dihydrosphingosine serve as the backbones upon which further complexity is
      achieved. For example, phosphorylation of the C1 hydroxyl group yields the final
      breakdown products and/or the important signaling molecules sphingosine-1
      phosphate, phytosphingosine-1-phosphate and dihydrosphingosine-1-phosphate,
      respectively. On the other hand, acylation of sphingosine, phytosphingosine, or
      dihydrosphingosine with one of several possible acyl CoA molecules through the
      action of distinct ceramide synthases produces the molecules defined as ceramide,
      phytoceramide, or dihydroceramide. Ceramide, due to the differing acyl CoAs that
      can be used to produce it, is technically a class of molecules rather than a
      single molecule and therefore may have different biological functions depending
      on the acyl chain it is composed of. At the apex of complexity is the group of
      lipids known as glycosphingolipids (GSL) which contain dozens of different
      sphingolipid species differing by both the order and type of sugar residues
      attached to their headgroups. Since these molecules are produced from ceramide
      precursors, they too may have differences in their acyl chain composition,
      revealing an additional layer of variation. The glycosphingolipids are divided
      broadly into two categories: glucosphingolipids and galactosphingolipids. The
      glucosphingolipids depend initially on the enzyme glucosylceramide synthase (GCS)
      which attaches glucose as the first residue to the C1 hydroxyl position.
      Galactosphingolipids, on the other hand, are generated from galactosylceramide
      synthase (GalCerS), an evolutionarily dissimilar enzyme from GCS.
      Glycosphingolipids are further divided based upon further modification by various
      glycosyltransferases which increases the potential variation in lipid species by
      several fold. Far more abundant are the sphingomyelin species which are produced
      in parallel with glycosphingolipids, however they are defined by a phosphocholine
      headgroup rather than the addition of sugar residues. Although sphingomyelin
      species all share a common headgroup, they too are produced from a variety of
      ceramide species and therefore can have differing acyl chains attached to their C
      2 amino groups. Whether or not the differing acyl chain lengths in SMs dictate
      unique functions or important biophysical distinctions has not yet been
      established. Understanding the function of all the existing glycosphingolipids
      and sphingomyelin species will be a major undertaking in the future since the
      tools to study and measure these species are only beginning to be developed (see
      Fig 1 for an illustrated depiction of the various sphingolipid structures). The
      simple sphingolipids serve both as the precursors and the breakdown products of
      the more complex ones. Importantly, in recent decades, these simple sphingolipids
      have gained attention for having significant signaling and regulatory roles
      within cells. In addition, many tools have emerged to measure the levels of
      simple sphingolipids and therefore have become the focus of even more intense
      study in recent years. With this thought in mind, this chapter will pay tribute
      to the complex sphingolipids, but focus on the regulation of simple sphingolipid
      metabolism.

PMID- 20919647
TI  - Tales and mysteries of the enigmatic sphingomyelin synthase family.
AB  - In the last five years tremendous progress has been made toward the understanding
      of the mechanisms that govern sphingomyelin (SM) synthesis in animal cells. In
      line with the complexity of most biological processes, also in the case of SM
      biosynthesis, the more we learn the more enigmatic and finely tuned the system
      appears. Therefore with this review we aim first, at highlighting the most
      significant discoveries that advanced our knowledge and understanding of SM
      biosynthesis, starting from the discovery of SM to the identification of the
      enzymes responsible for its production; and second, at discussing old and new
      riddles that such discoveries pose to current investigators.

PMID- 20919648
TI  - Ceramide in stress response.
AB  - Evidence has consistently indicated that activation of sphingomyelinases and/or
      ceramide synthases and the resulting accumulation of ceramide mediate cellular
      responses to stressors such as lipopolysaccharide, interleukin 1beta, tumor
      necrosis factor alpha, serum deprivation, irradiation and various antitumor
      treatments. Recent studies had identified the genes encoding most of the enzymes
      responsible for the generation of ceramide and ongoing research is aimed at
      characterizing their individual functions in cellular response to stress. This
      chapter discusses the seminal and more recent discoveries in regards to the
      pathways responsible for the accumulation of ceramide during stress and the
      mechanisms by which ceramide affects cell functions. The former group includes
      the roles of neutral sphingomyelinase 2, serine palmitoyltransferase, ceramide
      synthases, as well as the secretory and endosomal/lysosomal forms of acid
      sphingomyelinase. The latter summarizes the mechanisms by which ceramide activate
      its direct targets, PKCzeta, PP2A and cathepsin D. The ability of ceramide to
      affect membrane organization is discussed in the light of its relevance to cell
      signaling. Emerging evidence to support the previously assumed notion that
      ceramide acts in a strictly structure-specific manner are also included. These
      findings are described in the context of several physiological and
      pathophysiological conditions, namely septic shock, obesity-induced insulin
      resistance, aging and apoptosis of tumor cells in response to radiation and
      chemotherapy.

PMID- 20919649
TI  - Animal models for studying the pathophysiology of ceramide.
AB  - Bioactive sphingolipids play key roles in the regulation of several fundamental
      biological processes such as proliferation, apoptosis and transformation. The
      recent development of genetically engineered mouse (GEM) models has enabled the
      study of functional roles of sphingolipids in normal development and disease. In
      this chapter, we review the phenotypes of GEM models (knockout mice) that lack
      sphingolipid metabolism-related enzymes, discuss what we have learned from animal
      models and describe future directions of animal models in sphingolipid research.

PMID- 20919650
TI  - Ceramide-1-phosphate in cell survival and inflammatory signaling.
AB  - An important metabolite of ceramide is ceramide-1-phosphate (C1P). This lipid
      second messenger was first demonstrated to be mitogenic for fibroblasts and
      macrophages and later shown to have antiapoptotic properties. C1P is also an
      important mediator of the inflammatory response, by stimulating the release of
      arachidonic acid through activation of group IVA cytosolic phospholipase A2, the
      initial rate-limiting step of eicosanoid biosynthesis. C1P is formed from
      ceramide by the action of a specific ceramide kinase (CerK), which is distinct
      from the sphingosine kinases that synthesize sphingosine-1-phosphate. CerK is
      specific for natural ceramides with the erythro configuration in the base
      component and esterified to long-chain fatty acids. CerK can be activated by
      different agonists, including interleukin 1-beta, macrophage colony stimulating
      factor, or calcium ions. Most of the effects of C1P so far described seem to take
      place in intracellular compartments; however, the recent observation that C1P
      stimulates cell migration implicates a specific plasma membrane receptor that is
      coupled to a G(i) protein. Therefore, C1P has a dual regulatory capacity acting
      as an intracellular second messenger to regulate cell survival, or as
      extracellular receptor ligand to stimulate chemotaxis.

PMID- 20919651
TI  - Ceramide-1-phosphate in phagocytosis and calcium homeostasis.
AB  - Sphingolipids are well established sources of important signaling molecules. For
      example, ceramide (Cer) has been described as a potent inhibitor of cell growth
      and inducer of apoptosis. In contrast, ceramide-1-phosphate (C1P) has been
      reported to have mitogenic properties and to inhibit apoptosis. Our understanding
      of the distinct biological roles of C1P in the regulation of DNA synthesis,
      inflammation, membrane fusion and intracellular Ca2+ increase has rapidly
      expanded. C1P is a bioactive sphingolipid formed by the phosphorylation of
      ceramide catalyzed by ceramide kinase (CERK). This chapter specifically focuses
      on the role of C1P in phagocytosis and Ca2+ homeostasis. Studies of the
      metabolism of C1P during phagocytosis, may lead to a better understanding of its
      role in signaling. Potentially, the inhibition of CERK and C1P formation may be a
      therapeutic target for inflammation.

PMID- 20919653
TI  - Glucosylceramide in humans.
AB  - Glucosylceramide has a unique and often ambiguous role in mammalian cells.
      Activation of glucosylceramide synthase, the enzyme that places a glucosyl moiety
      onto ceramide, is the first pathway-committed step to the production of more
      complex glycosphingolipids such as lactosylceramide and gangliosides. Alterations
      in the level of glucosylceramide are noted in cells and tissues in response to
      cardiovascular disease, diabetes, skin disorders and cancer. Overall,
      upregulation of glucosylceramide offers cellular protection and primes certain
      cells for proliferation. However, prolonged overabundance of glucosylceramide is
      detrimental, as seen in Gaucher disease in humans.

PMID- 20919652
TI  - Extracellular and intracellular actions of sphingosine-1-phosphate.
AB  - Sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) is a bioactive lipid mediator with crucial roles in
      a wide variety of cellular functions across a broad range of organisms. Though a
      simple molecule in structure, S1P functions are complex. The formation of S1P is
      catalyzed by one of two sphingosine kinases that have differential cellular
      distributions as well as both overlapping and opposing functions and which are
      activated by many different stimuli. S1P can act on a family of G protein-coupled
      receptors (S1PRs) that are also differentially expressed in different cell types,
      which influences the cellular responses to S1P. In addition to acting on
      receptors located on the plasma membrane, S1P can also function inside the cell,
      independently of S1PRs. It also appears that both the intracellular location and
      the isotype of sphingosine kinase involved are major determinants of inside-out
      signaling of S1P in response to many extracellular stimuli. This chapter is
      focused on the current literature on extracellular and intracellular actions of
      S1P.

PMID- 20919654
TI  - Gangliosides as regulators of cell membrane organization and functions.
AB  - Gangliosides, characteristic complex lipids present in the external layer of
      plasma membranes, deeply influence the organization of the membrane as a whole
      and the function of specific membrane associated proteins due to lipid-lipid and
      lipid-protein lateral interaction. Here we discuss the basis for the membrane
      organizing potential of gangliosides, examples of ganglioside-regulated membrane
      protein complexes and the mechanisms for the regulation of ganglioside membrane
      composition.

PMID- 20919656
TI  - Therapeutic strategies for diabetes and complications: a role for sphingolipids?
AB  - Diabetes is a debilitating chronic disease that has no cure and can only be
      managed by pharmaceutical or nutritional interventions. Worldwide, the incidence
      of diabetes and diabetic complications is dramatically increasing. This may
      reflect the incomplete knowledge base underlying the role of inflammatory or
      nutritional stresses to exacerbate diabetic complications. Despite the knowledge
      that hyperlipidemia is a cardinal feature of both Type 1 and 2 diabetes, the
      actual lipid species that contribute to complications such as diabetic
      nephropathy, retinopathy, neuropathy and cardiovascular disease have not been
      well defined, or have not elucidated new treatment strategies. Sphingolipids
      comprise only a fraction of total lipids but a body of evidence has now
      identified dysfunctional sphingolipid metabolism and/or generation of specific
      sphingolipid metabolites as contributors to diabetic complications. This review
      suggests that pharmacological therapies that target dysfunctional sphingolipid
      metabolism and/or signaling may prove beneficial in decreasing the chronic
      pathology of hyperglycemia and hyperlipidemia. Moreover, the review suggests that
      these treatment options may also prove beneficial to ameliorate or delay
      pancreatic beta cell failure.

PMID- 20919655
TI  - Cancer treatment strategies targeting sphingolipid metabolism.
AB  - Ceramide and sphingosine-1-phosphate are related sphingolipid metabolites that
      can be generated through a de novo biosynthetic route or derived from the
      recycling of membrane sphingomyelin. Both these lipids regulate cellular
      responses to stress, with generally opposing effects. Sphingosine-1-phosphate
      functions as a growth and survival factor, acting as a ligand for a family of G
      protein-coupled receptors, whereas ceramide activates intrinsic and extrinsic
      apoptotic pathways through receptor-independent mechanisms. A growing body of
      evidence has implicated ceramide, sphingosine-1-phosphate and the genes involved
      in their synthesis, catabolism and signaling in various aspects of oncogenesis,
      cancer progression and drug- and radiation resistance. This may be explained in
      part by the finding that both lipids impinge upon the PI3K/ AKT pathway, which
      represses apoptosis and autophagy. In addition, sphingolipids influence cell
      cycle progression, telomerase function, cell migration and stem cell biology.
      Considering the central role of ceramide in mediating physiological as well as
      pharmacologically stimulated apoptosis, ceramide can be considered a tumor
      suppressor lipid. In contrast, sphingosine-1-phosphate can be considered a tumor
      promoting lipid, and the enzyme responsible for its synthesis functions as an
      oncogene. Not surprisingly, genetic mutations that result in reduced ceramide
      generation, increased sphingosine-1-phosphate synthesis or which reduce steady
      state ceramide levels and increase sphingosine-1-phosphate levels have been
      identified as mechanisms of tumor progression and drug resistance in cancer
      cells. Pharmacological tools for modulating sphingolipid pathways are being
      developed and represent novel therapeutic strategies for the treatment of cancer.

PMID- 20919658
TI  - Sphingolipid signaling in fungal pathogens.
AB  - Sphingolipid involvement in infectious disease is a new and exciting branch of
      research. Various microbial pathogens have been shown to synthesize their own
      sphingolipids and some have evolved methods to "hijack" host sphingolipids for
      their own use. For instance, Sphingomonas species are bacterial pathogens that
      lack the lipopolysaccharide component typical but instead contain
      glycosphingolipids (Kawahara 1991, 2006). In terms of sphingolipid signaling and
      function, perhaps the best-studied group of microbes is the pathogenic fungi.
      Pathogenic fungi still represent significant problems in human disease, despite
      treatments that have been used for decades. Because fungi are eukaryotic, drug
      targets in fungi can have many similarities to mammalian processes. This often
      leads to significant side effects of antifungal drugs that can be dose limiting
      in many patient populations. The search for fungal-specific drugs and the need
      for better understanding of cellular processes of pathogenic fungi has led to a
      large body of research on fungal signaling. One particularly interesting and
      rapidly growing field in this research is the involvement of fungal sphingolipid
      pathways in signaling and virulence. In this chapter, the research relating to
      sphingolipid signaling pathogenic fungi will be reviewed and summarized, in
      addition to highlighting pathways that show promise for future research.

PMID- 20919657
TI  - Roles for sphingolipids in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
AB  - Studies using Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the common baker's or brewer's yeast,
      have progressed over the past twenty years from knowing which sphingolipids are
      present in cells and a basic outline of how they are made to a complete or nearly
      complete directory of the genes that catalyze their anabolism and catabolism. In
      addition, cellular processes that depend upon sphingolipids have been identified
      including protein trafficking/exocytosis, endocytosis and actin cytoskeleton
      dynamics, membrane microdomains, calcium signaling, regulation of transcription
      and translation, cell cycle control, stress resistance, nutrient uptake and
      aging. These will be summarized here along with new data not previously reviewed.
      Advances in our knowledge of sphingolipids and their roles in yeast are
      impressive but molecular mechanisms remain elusive and are a primary challenge
      for further progress in understanding the specific functions of sphingolipids.

PMID- 20919660
TI  - Biosynthesis of sphingolipids in plants (and some of their functions).
AB  - Our knowledge of plant sphingolipid metabolism and function has significantly
      increased over the past years. This applies mainly to the identification and the
      functional characterization of genes and enzymes involved in sphingolipid
      biosynthesis. In addition a number of plant mutants have provided new insights
      into sphingolipid functions. Very little is still known about intracellular
      transport, spatial distribution, degradation and signaling functions of
      sphingolipids. However, combination of Arabidopsis genetics with lipidomics and
      cell biology will soon bring our understanding of these issues to a new level.

PMID- 20919661
TI  - Computational analysis of sphingolipid pathway systems.
AB  - Sphingolipid metabolism constitutes a complex pathway system that includes
      biosynthesis of different types of sphingosines and ceramides, the formation and
      recycling of complex sphingolipids and the supply of materials for remodeling.
      Many of the metabolites have several roles, for instance, as substrates and as
      modulators of reactions in other parts of the system. The large number of
      sphingolipid compounds and the different types of nonlinear interactions among
      them render it difficult to predict responses of the sphingolipid pathway system
      to perturbations, unless one utilizes mathematical models. The sphingolipid
      pathway system not only invites modeling as a useful tool, it is also a very
      suitable test bed for developing detailed modeling techniques and analyses, due
      to several features. First, the reaction network is relatively well understood
      and many of the steps have been characterized, at least in vitro. Second,
      sphingolipid metabolism constitutes a relatively closed system, such that most
      reactions occur within the system rather than between the system and other
      pathways. Third, the basic structure of the pathway is conserved throughout
      evolution, but some of the details vary among differentspecies. This degree of
      similarity permits comparative analyses and may one day elucidate the gradual
      evolution toward superior system designs. We discuss here some reasons that make
      sphingolipid modeling an appealing companion to experimental researchand sketch
      out applications of sphingolipid models that are different from typical model
      uses.

PMID- 20919659
TI  - Sphingolipids in parasitic protozoa.
AB  - The surface of most protozoan parasites relies heavily upon lipid-anchored
      molecules, to form protective barriers and play critical functions required for
      infectivity. Sphingolipids (SLs) play important roles through their abundance and
      involvement in membrane microdomain formation, as well as serving as the lipid
      anchor for many of these molecules and in some but possibly not all species, as
      important signaling molecules. Interactions of parasite sphingolipid metabolism
      with that of the host may potentially contribute to parasite survival and/or host
      defense. In this chapter we summarize current knowledge of SL structure,
      synthesis and function in several of the major parasitic protozoan groups.

PMID- 20919662
TI  - Introduction to tools and techniques for ceramide-centered research.
AB  - Sphingolipids are important components of eukaryotic cells, many of which
      function as bioactive signaling molecules. As thoroughly discussed elsewhere in
      this volume, ceramide, central metabolite of the sphingolipid pathway, plays key
      roles in a variety of cellular responses. Since the discovery of the bioactive
      function of ceramide, a growing number of tools and techniques have been and
      still are being developed in order to better decipher the complexity and
      implications of ceramide-mediated signaling. With this chapter it is our
      intention to provide new comers to the sphingolipid arena with a short overview
      of tools and techniques currently available for the study ofsphingolipid
      metabolism, with the focus on ceramide.

PMID- 20919663
TI  - Issues and politics related to vascular education in the United States.

PMID- 20919664
TI  - Does a concomitant Cox-maze procedure improve survival in atrial fibrillation?
AB  - In this review paper, the authors briefly describe the pathophysiology of atrial
      fibrillation. The original technique to restore sinus rhythm is cited, with its
      subsequent technical variations. A literature review summarizes the outcome of
      patients who benefited from the Cox-MAZE procedure.

PMID- 20919665
TI  - The World Health Organisation surgical checklist. A surgeon's viewpoint.

PMID- 20919666
TI  - Do we need a new carotid artery stenting trial?
AB  - Four well-conducted carotid artery trials comparing carotid artery stenting with
      carotid artery endarterectomy (EVA-3S, SPACE, ICSS and CREST) could not
      demonstrate the superiority of carotid artery stenting (CAS) over carotid artery
      endarterectomy (CEA). There is at the moment no level-I evidence to support
      widespread use of endovascular management of carotid artery disease in routine
      practice. In order to shead some light on the continuing debate on the role of
      carotid artery stenting, the authors conducted a search in contemporary published
      literature concerning carotid artery stenting. This extensive literature review
      reveals a higher peri-procedural stroke-death rate after CAS and a higher cost.
      Two other events hamper the value of CAS: a higher late restenosis rate and a
      higher risk of micro-embolisation during the procedure, compared with CEA. The
      authors conclude that the prevailing overenthusiasm of interventionalists
      (vascular surgeons, radiologists, cardiologists) for carotid artery stenting is
      not justified.

PMID- 20919667
TI  - Thrombolysis of occluded infra-inguinal bypass grafts: is it worthwhile?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Thrombosis of an infra-inguinal bypass graft often results in a limb
      threatening ischemia. There is no consensus on the optimal management strategy.
      AIM OF THE STUDY: To analyse safety and efficacy of catheter-guided intra
      arterial thrombolysis to re-open thrombosed infra-inguinal bypass grafts and to
      identify factors that influence graft patency and limb salvage rate after
      thrombolytic procedures. METHODS: A continuous cohort-study of 106 thrombolytic
      procedures between 1993 to 2008. RESULTS: Despite a high initial success rate
      (76%), the mid-term results are less convincing, with a 58% re-occlusion rate at
      45 months follow-up. Thrombosed vein grafts, old (2 weeks or more) occlusions,
      poor run-off and failure to identify or rectify an underlying causative stenosis
      are determinant for a poor long-term outcome of thrombolytic procedures.
      COMMENTS: The outcome results of author's experience are consistent with
      literature reports. Thrombolysis of occluded infra-inguinal bypass grafts should
      be limited to selective cases (recent occlusion, prosthetic or vein graft in
      place since 1 year or more, critical limb ischemia). Despite its obvious
      advantages, the long-term outcome of thrombolytic procedures is deceiving. The
      inherent risk of hemorrhagic complications should also be taken in account at the
      decision making of treatment strategy. The question whether, in general, catheter
      guided selective intra-arterial thrombolysis offers a significant advantage over
      operative revascularisation (thrombectomy or new bypass) remains unanswered. A
      more selective approach seems to favour thrombolysis as most appropriate strategy
      in the management of recent (< 2 weeks) thromboses of grafts in place since at
      least 1 year.

PMID- 20919668
TI  - Do different abdominal incision techniques play a role in wound complications in
      patients operated on for gastrointestinal malignancies ? "Scalpel vs.
      electrocautery".
AB  - BACKGROUND: Despite the studies of animals that demonstrate better wound healing
      after abdominal incisions with the use of a scalpel rather than electocautery,
      clinical experience does not confirm these findings. The purpose of this study
      was to compare the early postoperative and late-term wound complication rates
      between the scalpel and electrocautery in patients with gastrointestinal
      malignancies undergoing midline abdominal incisions. METHODS: Patients undergoing
      midline abdominal incisions for gastrointestinal malignancies were randomly
      divided into two groups according to the method used to perform the incisions:
      scalpel or electrocautery. Complications were investigated, diagnosed and
      compared in the early postoperative and late-term follow-up periods. The
      independent samples, chi-square, and Student's t tests were used for statistical
      analysis. RESULTS: Two hundred and eighteen patients were included to this study,
      of whom 97 (44.5%) were in the scalpel group and 121 (55.5%) in the
      electrocautery group. Both groups were similar with respect to their demographic,
      operative and postoperative characteristics. The analysis revealed no significant
      statistical differences in consideration of the incidences of either wound
      infection in the early postoperative period or incisional hernia in the late-term
      follow-up period between these two study groups (p > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Scalpel
      and electrocautery are similar in terms of early postoperative and late-term
      wound complications when used to perform midline abdominal incisions. Therefore,
      the choice of method remains a matter of the surgeon's preference.

PMID- 20919669
TI  - Subcutaneous closed-suction drainage does not affect surgical site infection rate
      following elective abdominal operations: a prospective randomized clinical trial.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate whether subcutaneous closed-suction drainage (SCSD) would
      decrease the SSI rate in elective abdominal operations. METHODS: Participants
      were randomly assigned to have subcutaneous drains or not following elective
      abdominal surgery. The fascia and incision closure technique and antimicrobial
      prophylaxis were standardised. In the drain cohort, SCSD was applied after fascia
      closure. The drain was removed on postoperative day three. Patient
      characteristics, body mass index (BMI) and the depth of subcutaneous fatty tissue
      (SCFT) were noted. The incisional SSI rates were analysed. RESULTS: There were
      210 patients in the drain group and 192 in the no-drain group. There was no
      significant difference between groups in terms of demographics, BMI or SCFTs. The
      overall SSI rate was 7.7% and was 5.7% in the drain group and 9.9% in the no
      drain group (p = 0.116). Neither BMI nor subcutaneous skin depth affected the SSI
      rate. However, subgroup analysis revealed that the SSI rate was lower in patients
      with drains who had undergone resection of colorectal malignancies or had lower
      abdominal incisions (p< 0.03). CONCLUSIONS: The overall incisional SSI rate was
      comparable between the drain and no-drain groups. However, subcutaneous closed
      suction drainage was not found effective in preventing SSI in our study except in
      a subgroup of patients with colorectal malignancies and lower abdominal
      incisions.

PMID- 20919670
TI  - Success of minimally invasive single-gland exploration using the quick
      intraoperative parathyroid assay.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Using accurate localization techniques and the quick intra-operative
      parathyroid assay (QPTH), surgery for primary hyperparathyroidism due to a
      solitary adenoma has moved from the traditional wide bilateral neck exploration
      to more limited approaches such as minimally invasive single-gland exploration
      (MISGE) and minimally invasive radio-guided parathyroidectomy (MIRP). This study
      investigated whether the MISGE could take the place of MIRP with the help of the
      QPTH. DESIGN: From 2007 to 2009, 56 patients with primary hyperparathyroidism
      were studied. All patients were pre-operatively investigated by imaging
      techniques to improve the pre-operative determination of adenomas. Twenty-five
      patients were in the MIRP group and 31 in the MISGE group. QPTH was routinely
      measured; a 50% reduction in the QPTH level indicated complete excision. RESULTS:
      There were no differences in the complication rates, surgical time, anaesthesia
      time or mean length of hospital stay between the groups. However, total hospital
      charges were more favourable in the MISGE group with a mean saving of $400 per
      case. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates that with the additon of the QPTH,
      MISGE can be performed as a quick and reliable procedure in correct adenoma
      removal instead of MIRP. Moreover MISGE achieves the optimal time interval
      between injection and exploration, reduces the radiation exposure of both patient
      and surgeon, decreases the cost, and decreases usage of pre-operative imaging and
      intra-operative equipment.

PMID- 20919671
TI  - The effect of the psychological status of breast cancer patients on the short
      term clinical outcome after mastectomy.
AB  - PURPOSE: to analyze the effect of anxiety and depression on the postoperative
      complications and length of hospitalization of patients with breast cancer.
      Beck's Depression Inventory (BDI) and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale
      (HADS) were filled out by the patients pre-operatively. Patients were asked to
      rate their pain by the visual analogue scale (VAS) after surgery. Age, seroma
      volume, day of drain withdrawal, complications, and pathological stages were
      noted. The median age of 49 patients with the diagnosis of breast cancer was 51
      (36-80). There was a significant correlation between the pain score and Beck,
      HADS, HADS (anxiety) and HADS (depression) (8 hours ; p = 0.021, 0.001, 0.004,
      0.005 and 24 hours ; p = 0.005, 0.012, 0.006, 0.120). The mean HADS depression
      score in those patients with complications was 9.1 +/- 4.2 and that of patients
      with no complications was 6.6 +/- 3.1 (p = 0.047). The mean hospital stay of
      patients with a normal HADS score (< 19) was 2.9 +/- 1.1 days, whilst that of
      patients with an abnormal HADS score was 3.8 +/- 1.2 days (p = 0.016). Patients
      with abnormal HADS anxiety and abnormal HADS (total) scores had an earlier stage
      of breast cancer (p = 0.077, p = 0.063). The psychological status of breast
      cancer patients effects their postoperative recovery period and it is easy to
      diagnose these patients by some brief questionnaires.

PMID- 20919672
TI  - Traumatic abdominal wall hernia: case report and review of the literature.
AB  - Traumatic abdominal wall hernia (TAWH) is a rare type of hernia that occurs after
      an impact of the abdominal wall against a blunt object. The first case described
      was reported in 1906 and ever since, 46 cases have been reported. CT scan is
      mandatory in the diagnosis of TAWH but also because of a frequent association
      with significant intra-abdominal injuries. We report here the case of a 61-year
      old man with a TAWH developed after impact against a bicycle handlebar.
      Hemodynamically stable and without associated injuries, the patient was monitored
      for 24 hours before hospital discharge. A successful elective hernia repair with
      a prosthetic mesh was performed 6 weeks later once cicatrisation was achieved.

PMID- 20919673
TI  - A 71-year-old woman with a pigmented nail bed, which persisted after trauma.
AB  - A 71-year-old woman presented in our out-patients department with pigmentation of
      the nail bed of her left large toe, which had persisted after a trauma two years
      earlier. An inconclusive biopsy showed melanoma in situ. The lesion was excised
      with amputation of the big toe at the IP-joint and closed primarily. The
      pathological diagnosis was melanoma in situ and lentigo maligna. The lesion had
      been radically excised.

PMID- 20919674
TI  - Selective conservative management of penetrating hollow viscus injuries: a report
      of three cases.
AB  - In this manuscript, we report three cases of penetrating abdominal injury: one
      with pellet injury, one with pellet injury after a bomb explosion and one with
      gunshot injury. All three patients were successfully managed nonoperatively. A 30
      year-old male was admitted to our trauma and emergency service with a pellet
      injury. His physical examination revealed multiple pellet injuries in the left
      upper abdominal quadrant, left hemithorax, left axilla, dorsal side of the
      abdomen, left upper extremity, and left gluteus. The second case was a 16-year
      old male admitted with a shrapnel injury after a bomb explosion. His physical
      examination revealed multiple shrapnel injuries in the thoracal and abdominal
      regions, extremities and left eye. The third case was a 30-year-old male admitted
      with gunshot and stab wound injury. He had multiple stab wound injuries in both
      lower extremities and a gunshot wound in the left posterosuperior hemithorax,
      left upper abdomen and left dorsolumbar region. All these cases were treated non
      operatively. We advocate a policy of selective conservatism based on careful
      initial and subsequent serial clinical examinations and imaging techniques as
      needed.

PMID- 20919675
TI  - Pituitary apoplexy following coronary artery bypass grafting: report of a case.
AB  - Abstract. Pituitary apoplexy can rarely occur after surgical procedures, mainly
      due to severe haemorrhage or hypotension. It is a serious condition that may lead
      to devastating complications and even to death. We present a 60-year-old male
      patient in whom pituitary apoplexy developed due to protamine anaphylaxis during
      coronary artery bypass surgery.

PMID- 20919676
TI  - Techniques for coverage of infected vascular grafts in the groin.
AB  - Plastic surgeons expertise is requested for treatment of vascular graft
      exposures. Exposure within the femoral triangle (Scarpa) represents the majority
      of those cases. We intend to share our experience in the coverage of exposed
      vascular grafts: through the most common and safe procedures we are currently
      using, illustrated by some of our clinical cases. Our experience leaded us to
      formulate some guidelines and conclusions, to ensure vascular surgeons that
      coverage of a vascular graft can always be successfully done.

PMID- 20919677
TI  - Art, medicine and surgery: puncture of ascites.

PMID- 20919678
TI  - Design, synthesis, and evaluation of indolinones as inhibitors of the
      transforming growth factor beta receptor I (TGFbetaRI).
AB  - Inhibition of transforming growth factor beta (TGFbeta) type I receptor (Alk5)
      offers a novel approach for the treatment of fibrotic diseases and cancer.
      Indolinones substituted in position 6 were identified as a new chemotype
      inhibiting TGFbetaRI concomitant with a low cross-reactivity among the human
      kinome. A subset of compounds showed additional inhibition of platelet-derived
      growth factor receptor alpha (PDGFRalpha), contributing to an interesting
      pharmacological profile. In contrast, p38 kinase, which is often inhibited by
      TGFbetaRI inhibitors, was not targeted by derivatives based on the indolinone
      chemotype. Guided by an X-ray structure of lead compound 5 (BIBF0775) soaked into
      the kinase domain of TGFbetaRI, optimization furnished potent and selective
      inhibitors of TGFbetaRI. Potent inhibition translated well into good inhibition
      of TGFbetaRI-mediated phosphorylation of Smad2/3, demonstrating efficacy in a
      cellular setting. Optimized compounds were extensively profiled on a 232-kinase
      panel and showed low cross-reactivities within the human kinome.

PMID- 20919679
TI  - Engineered biocompatible nanoparticles for in vivo imaging applications.
AB  - Iron-platinum alloy nanoparticles (FePt NPs) are extremely promising candidates
      for the next generation of contrast agents for magnetic resonance (MR) diagnostic
      imaging and MR-guided interventions, including hyperthermic ablation of solid
      cancers. FePt has high Curie temperature, saturation magnetic moment, magneto
      crystalline anisotropy, and chemical stability. We describe the synthesis and
      characterization of a family of biocompatible FePt NPs suitable for biomedical
      applications, showing and discussing that FePt NPs can exhibit low cytotoxicity.
      The importance of engineering the interface of strongly magnetic NPs using a
      coating allowing free aqueous permeation is demonstrated to be an essential
      parameter in the design of new generations of diagnostic and therapeutic MRI
      contrast agents. We report effective cell internalization of FePt NPs and
      demonstrate that they can be used for cellular imaging and in vivo MRI
      applications. This opens the way for several future applications of FePt NPs,
      including regenerative medicine and stem cell therapy in addition to enhanced MR
      diagnostic imaging.

PMID- 20919680
TI  - Protein biomarkers for in vitro testing of embryotoxicity.
AB  - There are new challenges for hazard and risk assessment in the chemical industry
      with regard to REACH legislation in Europe and related activities in the U.S. and
      Japan, which require the development of novel in vitro models for the molecular
      characterization of drug- or chemical-related effects replacing conventional
      animal testing. In the frame of a European FP6 project on reproductive toxicology
      ( www.reprotect.eu ), we prepared protein samples from mouse embryonic stem cells
      differentiated into contracting cardiomyocytes according to the validated
      embryonic stem cell test (EST) protocol, which had been exposed to toxic
      substances selected by an expert committee from different in vivo categories of
      embryotoxicity. Lysates were used to carry out the following investigations: (i)
      identify optimal dose range conditions in the EST that are suitable for (ii)
      performing a differential quantitative proteomic study of underlying molecular
      pathways, (iii) define classes of substances with similar proteomic response
      patterns, (iv) relate these classes to the traditional in vivo categories of
      embryotoxicity with (v) the final goal to identify novel surrogate protein
      biomarker candidates for embryo toxicity. We found two distinct classes of toxic
      substances (Dinoseb, Ochratoxin-A, and Nitrofen vs beta-aminoproprionitril,
      Metoclopramide, Doxylamine succinate, and d-penicillamine) with clear pathway
      related differences in their proteomic patterns. Most notably, different
      responses to cluster 1 and cluster 2 substances were observed for Heat shock
      protein beta-1, Ras-GTPase-activating protein SH3-domain binding protein, Ran
      binding protein 5, and Calreticulin, Dihydropyrimidinase-like 2 (Ulip2 protein).
      On the other hand, Heat shock protein 8 and Fscn1 protein were down-regulated by
      all compounds from both clusters.

PMID- 20919682
TI  - Enhanced photoluminescence and photoconductivity of ZnO nanowires with sputtered
      Zn.
AB  - We have sputtered Zn onto quasi-one-dimensional ZnO nanowires (NWs) in order to
      investigate the effect of Zn diffusion on the photoluminescence and
      photoconduction properties of ZnO NWs. Elemental mapping clearly indicates higher
      Zn concentration in the NWs due to diffusion of Zn. The Zn-sputtered NWs show an
      enhanced ultraviolet emission with 7 nm red shift. Since the ionization energy of
      Zni is 51 meV, the enhanced PL emission with a red shift is correlated to the
      coupling between free exciton and zinc interstitials (Zni) defects. The
      photocurrent transients show almost 20 times more photocurrent generation in
      Zn/ZnO NWs compared to the as-grown NWs. In contrast, the thin film shows no
      significant change in the photoluminescence and photoconductivity. Based on the
      photoconductivity and photoluminescence results, we predict that Zn diffusion in
      the NWs occurs easily compared to the films because of the smaller dimensions of
      the NWs.

PMID- 20919681
TI  - Assessment of glycoprotein interactions with 4-[(2
      aminoethyl)carbamoyl]phenylboronic acid surfaces using surface plasmon resonance
      spectroscopy.
AB  - Reported here are analyses of the interactions between a select group of solution
      phase glycoproteins and a unique boronic acid capture surface. The boronic acid
      derivative, 4-[(2-aminoethyl)carbamoyl]phenylboronic acid, AECPBA, was
      synthesized and then immobilized on carboxymethyl dextran surfaces using simple
      coupling methods. From surface plasmon resonance spectroscopy responses, it is
      found that model glycoproteins interact strongly with the AECPBA surface and
      subsequently can be readily released from the AECPBA surface using borate buffer.
      A striking difference between the glycoproteins fetuin and asialofetuin
      (desialylated fetuin), in terms of glycoprotein binding to the AECPBA surface,
      indicates that the interaction of glycoproteins with the immobilized AECPBA is
      dictated by the terminal saccharide of the heteroglycan chain. Surprisingly,
      secondary interactions of glycosylated and nonglycosylated proteins with the
      carboxymethyl dextran hydrogel matrix are observed. Importantly, it is
      demonstrated that use of tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane buffer allows for
      decreased secondary interactions of nonglycosylated proteins on the
      AECPBA/dextran surface, as noted with the model protein ExtrAvidin. 

PMID- 20919684
TI  - Interlayer interactions induced by amphiphilicities of a rod-like molecule
      produce frustrated structures in conventional calamitic phases.
AB  - We prepared a rod-like molecule, 4-[4-(7-hydroxyheptyloxy)phenyl]-1-(4
      hexylphenyl)-2,3-difluorobenzene, and investigated its physical properties using
      polarized optical microscopy (POM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and
      X-ray diffraction (XRD). The compound was found to exhibit nematic, smectic A,
      and smectic C phases. A smectic-like layer ordering was detected using XRD at low
      temperatures of the nematic phase. The nematic phase changed to a smectic A phase
      when cooled, with no accompanying enthalpy change. Analyses using XRD and POM
      revealed that the smectic C phase consists of three states: conventional SmC with
      a monolayered structure, monolayered SmC' possessing an additional weak bilayered
      character, and SmC'' possessing both monolayered and bilayered structures.
      Furthermore, a discontinuous increase in birefringence of a homeotropically
      aligned sample of the compound was observed in the SmC'' phase. Interlayer
      interactions organized by hydrophobic-hydrophilic amphiphilicity and orthogonal
      tilt amphiphilicity are discussed to explain the appearance of the unusual liquid
      crystalline phases with a hierarchical structure.

PMID- 20919683
TI  - Effect of surface charge on the cellular uptake and cytotoxicity of fluorescent
      labeled cellulose nanocrystals.
AB  - Probing of cellular uptake and cytotoxicity was conducted for two fluorescent
      cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs): CNC-fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) and newly
      synthesized CNC-rhodamine B isothiocyanate (RBITC). The positively charged CNC
      RBITC was uptaken by human embryonic kidney 293 (HEK 293) and Spodoptera
      frugiperda (Sf9) cells without affecting the cell membrane integrity. The cell
      viability assay and cell-based impedance spectroscopy revealed no noticeably
      cytotoxic effect of the CNC-RBITC conjugate. However, no significant
      internalization of negatively charged CNC-FITC was observed at physiological pH.
      Indeed, the effector cells were surrounded by CNC-FITC, leading to eventual cell
      rupture. As the surface charge of CNC played an important role in cellular uptake
      and cytotoxicity, facile surface functionalization together with observed
      noncytotoxicity rendered modified CNC as a promising candidate for bioimaging and
      drug delivery systems.

PMID- 20919686
TI  - Evaluation of catalyst acidity and substrate electronic effects in a hydrogen
      bond-catalyzed enantioselective reaction.
AB  - A modular catalyst structure was applied to evaluate the effects of catalyst
      acidity in a hydrogen bond-catalyzed hetero Diels-Alder reaction. Linear free
      energy relationships between catalyst acidity and both rate and
      enantioselectivity were observed, where greater catalyst acidity leads to
      increased activity and enantioselectivity. A relationship between reactant
      electronic nature and rate was also observed, although there is no such
      correlation to enantioselectivity, indicating the system is under catalyst
      control.

PMID- 20919687
TI  - The CO formation reaction pathway in steam methane reforming by rhodium.
AB  - Three different pathways toward CO formation from adsorbed CH and O are compared
      by quantum-chemical density functional theory (DFT) calculations for planar and
      stepped Rh surfaces. The conventional pathway competes with the pathway involving
      a formyl (CHO) species. This holds for both types of surfaces. The barrier for
      carbon-oxygen bond formation for the planar surface (180 kJ/mol) is substantially
      higher than that for the stepped surface (90 kJ/mol). The reaction path through
      intermediate formyl formation competes with direct formation of CO from
      recombination via adsorbed C and O atoms. Calculations are used as a basis for
      the analysis of the overall kinetics of the methane steam reforming reaction as a
      function of the particle size and the metal.

PMID- 20919688
TI  - The impact of multivalent counterions, Al3+, on the surface adsorption and self
      assembly of the anionic surfactant alkyloxyethylene sulfate and anionic/nonionic
      surfactant mixtures.
AB  - The impact of multivalent counterions, Al(3+), on the surface adsorption and self
      assembly of the anionic surfactant sodium dodecyl dioxyethylene sulfate, SLES,
      and the anionic/nonionic surfactant mixtures of SLES and monododecyl
      dodecaethylene glycol, C(12)E(12), has been investigated using neutron
      reflectivity, NR, and small angle neutron scattering, SANS. The addition of
      relatively low concentrations of Al(3+) counterions induces a transition from a
      monolayer to well-defined surface bilayer, trilayer, and multilayer structures in
      the adsorption of SLES at the air-water interface. The addition of the nonionic
      cosurfactant, C(12)E(12), partially inhibits the evolution in the surface
      structure from monolayer to multilayer interfacial structures. This surface phase
      behavior is strongly dependent upon the surfactant concentration, solution
      composition, and concentration of Al(3+) counterions. In solution, the addition
      of relatively low concentrations of Al(3+) ions promotes significant micellar
      growth in SLES and SLES/C(12)E(12) mixtures. At the higher counterion
      concentrations, there is a transition to lamellar structures and ultimately
      precipitation. The presence of the C(12)E(12) nonionic cosurfactant partially
      suppresses the aggregate growth. The surface and solution behaviors can be
      explained in terms of the strong binding of the Al(3+) ions to the SLES headgroup
      to form surfactant-ion complexes (trimers). These results provide direct evidence
      of the role of the nonionic cosurfactant in manipulating both the surface and
      solution behavior. The larger EO(12) headgroup of the C(12)E(12) provides a
      steric hindrance which disrupts and ultimately prevents the formation of the
      surfactant-ion complexes. The results provide an important insight into how
      multivalent counterions can be used to manipulate both solution self-assembly and
      surface properties.

PMID- 20919689
TI  - Graphene oxide thin films for flexible nonvolatile memory applications.
AB  - There has been strong demand for novel nonvolatile memory technology for low
      cost, large-area, and low-power flexible electronics applications. Resistive
      memories based on metal oxide thin films have been extensively studied for
      application as next-generation nonvolatile memory devices. However, although the
      metal oxide based resistive memories have several advantages, such as good
      scalability, low-power consumption, and fast switching speed, their application
      to large-area flexible substrates has been limited due to their material
      characteristics and necessity of a high-temperature fabrication process. As a
      promising nonvolatile memory technology for large-area flexible applications, we
      present a graphene oxide based memory that can be easily fabricated using a room
      temperature spin-casting method on flexible substrates and has reliable memory
      performance in terms of retention and endurance. The microscopic origin of the
      bipolar resistive switching behavior was elucidated and is attributed to rupture
      and formation of conducting filaments at the top amorphous interface layer formed
      between the graphene oxide film and the top Al metal electrode, via high
      resolution transmission electron microscopy and in situ X-ray photoemission
      spectroscopy. This work provides an important step for developing understanding
      of the fundamental physics of bipolar resistive switching in graphene oxide
      films, for the application to future flexible electronics.

PMID- 20919690
TI  - Mapping octahedral tilts and polarization across a domain wall in BiFeO3 from Z
      contrast scanning transmission electron microscopy image atomic column shape
      analysis.
AB  - Oxygen octahedral tilts underpin the functionality of a large number of
      perovskite-based materials and heterostructures with competing order parameters.
      We show how a precise analysis of atomic column shapes in Z-contrast scanning
      transmission electron microscopy images can reveal polarization and octahedral
      tilt behavior across uncharged and charged domain walls in BiFeO(3). This method
      is capable of visualizing octahedral tilts to much higher thicknesses than phase
      contrast imaging. We find that the octahedral tilt transition across a charged
      domain wall is atomically abrupt, while the associated polarization profile is
      diffuse (1.5-2 nm). Ginzburg-Landau theory then allows the relative contributions
      of polarization and the structural order parameters to the wall energy to be
      determined.

PMID- 20919691
TI  - Enhancing sensitivity of a single ZnO micro-/nanowire photodetector by piezo
      phototronic effect.
AB  - We demonstrate the piezoelectric effect on the responsivity of a metal
      semiconductor-metal ZnO micro-/nanowire photodetector. The responsivity of the
      photodetector is respectively enhanced by 530%, 190%, 9%, and 15% upon 4.1 pW,
      120.0 pW, 4.1 nW, and 180.4 nW UV light illumination onto the wire by introducing
      a -0.36% compressive strain in the wire, which effectively tuned the Schottky
      barrier height at the contact by the produced local piezopotential. After a
      systematic study on the Schottky barrier height change with tuning of the strain
      and the excitation light intensity, an in-depth understanding is provided about
      the physical mechanism of the coupling of piezoelectric, optical, and
      semiconducting properties. Our results show that the piezo-phototronic effect can
      enhance the detection sensitivity more than 5-fold for pW levels of light
      detection.

PMID- 20919692
TI  - Contribution toward comprehension of contact angle values on single
      polydimethylsiloxane and poly(ethylene oxide) polymer networks.
AB  - The large application ranges of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and poly(ethylene
      oxide) (PEO) based materials justify the importance of controlling polymer
      surface properties including morphology and wettability behavior. However, it
      appears that the reported contact angle values of PDMS surfaces show significant
      scattering which cannot always be interpreted in terms of sole chemical data. In
      addition, few values are reported concerning pure PEO surfaces, since the polymer
      generally swells in the presence of water. Thus, in order to correlate surface
      properties with sample preparation, several single PDMS and PEO polymer networks
      were synthesized with varying cross-linkers and different cross-linking
      densities. First, the sample surface topography was systematically analyzed by
      atomic force microscopy (AFM). It was proven that the removal process of the
      polymer film from the mold plays a significant role in surface topography
      according to the vitreous or rubbery state of the given polymer network at room
      temperature irrespective of mold surface treatment. AFM-scale smooth surfaces can
      be obtained for all the samples by removing them systematically from the mold at
      a temperature below the alpha-relaxation temperature. Dynamic water contact
      angles were then measured and the values analyzed as a function of cross-linker
      nature and cross-linking density.

PMID- 20919693
TI  - Toward drug delivery into the brain: synthesis, characterization, and preliminary
      in vitro assessment of alkylglyceryl-functionalized chitosan nanoparticles.
AB  - A series of O-substituted alkylglyceryl chitosans with systematically varied
      degrees of grafting was prepared through synthetic steps that involved the
      protection of amino moieties via phthaloylation and employed for the formulation
      of aqueous nanoparticulate systems that may be capable of delivering drugs to the
      brain. Dynamic light scattering studies have shown that nanoparticles with
      physiologically relevant aqueous stabilities may be prepared following the
      partial quaternization of these alkylglyceryl-modified chitosans. Preliminary in
      vitro tests using a mouse-brain endothelial cell model have indicated the
      efficient cellular uptake of these nanoparticles and identified butylglyceryl
      chitosan and butylglyceryl N,N,N-trimethyl chitosan as promising materials for
      the formulation of colloidal systems that could act as drug carriers into the
      brain. 

PMID- 20919694
TI  - Transition metal complexes as linkages for assembly of supertetrahedral T4
      clusters.
AB  - Tn clusters are usually connected into frameworks by sulfur bridges. A new type
      of T4 compounds in which the clusters are linked by both sulfur bridges and
      transition metal complexes are described.

PMID- 20919695
TI  - Tunable visible and near-IR emission from sub-10 nm etched single-crystal Si
      nanopillars.
AB  - Visible and near-IR photoluminescence (PL) is reported from sub-10 nm silicon
      nanopillars. Pillars were plasma etched from single crystal Si wafers and thinned
      by utilizing strain-induced, self-terminating oxidation of cylindrical
      structures. PL, lifetime, and transmission electron microscopy were performed to
      measure the dimensions and emission characteristics of the pillars. The peak PL
      energy was found to blue shift with narrowing pillar diameter in accordance with
      a quantum confinement effect. The blue shift was quantified using a tight binding
      method simulation that incorporated the strain induced by the thermal oxidation
      process. These pillars show promise as possible complementary metal oxide
      semiconductor compatible silicon devices in the form of light-emitting diode or
      laser structures.

PMID- 20919696
TI  - Computational study of the mechanisms of the photoisomerization reactions of
      bicycloalkene.
AB  - The mechanisms of the photochemical isomerization reactions were investigated
      theoretically using a model system, bicyclo[4,1,0]hept-3-ene (1), with the CASSCF
      (six-electron/six-orbital active space) and MP2-CAS methods and the 6-311(d,p)
      basis set. The structures of the conical intersections, which play a decisive
      role in such phototranspositions, were obtained. The intermediates and transition
      structures of the ground state were also calculated to assist in providing a
      qualitative explanation of the reaction pathways. Our model investigations
      suggest that the preferred reaction route for bicyclo[4,1,0]hept-3-ene is as
      follows: reactant -> Franck-Condon region -> conical intersection -> intermediate
      -> transition state -> photoproduct. Two reaction paths, which lead to final
      photoproducts, have been identified: (path I) ring expansion and (path II) ring
      closure. The former is more favorable than the latter. Also, our theoretical
      findings strongly indicate that there is a substantial interaction between the
      cyclopropane moiety and the isolated carbon-carbon double bond in the excited
      state of 1.

PMID- 20919697
TI  - Sensitive detection of nucleic acids with rolling circle amplification and
      surface-enhanced Raman scattering spectroscopy.
AB  - Detection of specific DNA sequences is important to molecular biology research
      and clinical diagnostics. To improve the sensitivity of surface-enhanced Raman
      scattering spectroscopy (SERS), a variety of signal amplification methods has
      been developed, including Raman-active-dye, polymerase chain reaction (PCR)
      technology, molecular beacon, SERS-active substrates, and SERS-tag. However, the
      combination of rolling circle amplification (RCA) with SERS for nucleic acid
      detection has not been reported. Herein, we describe a new approach for nucleic
      acid detection by the combination of RCA reaction with SERS. Because of the
      binding of abundance repeated sequences of RCA products with gold nanoparticle
      (Au NP) and Rox-modified detection probes, SERS signal is significantly amplified
      and the detection limit of 10.0 pM might be achieved. The sensitivity of RCA
      based SERS has increased by as much as 3 orders of magnitude as compared to PCR
      based SERS and is also comparable with or even exceeds that of both RCA-based
      electrochemical and RCA-based fluorescent methods. This RCA-based SERS might
      discriminate perfect matched target DNA from 1-base mismatched DNA with high
      selectivity. The high sensitivity and selectivity of RCA-based SERS makes it a
      potential tool for early diagnosis of gene-related disease and also offers a
      great promise for multiplexed assays with DNA microarrays. 

PMID- 20919698
TI  - Probing the topological tolerance of multimeric protein interactions: evaluation
      of an estrogen/synthetic ligand for FK506 binding protein conjugate.
AB  - Bivalent small molecules composed of a targeting element and an element that
      recruits endogenous proteins have been shown to block protein-protein
      interactions in some systems. We have attempted to apply such an approach to
      disrupt the interaction of the estrogen receptor alpha with either its associated
      coactivators or its dimerization partner (i.e., another estrogen receptor). We
      show here that a conjugate capable of simultaneously binding both the estrogen
      receptor and a recruited protein (FK506 Binding Protein 12 kDa) is, however,
      incapable of disrupting the multimeric estrogen receptor dimer/coactivator
      complex both in vitro and in cell-based reporter gene assays. We postulate why it
      may not be possible to disrupt this particular protein-protein complex-as well as
      other systems having high topological tolerance-with such bivalent inhibitors.

PMID- 20919700
TI  - Protein-protein binding site prediction by local structural alignment.
AB  - Generalization of an earlier algorithm has led to the development of new local
      structural alignment algorithms for prediction of protein-protein binding sites.
      The algorithms use maximum cliques on protein graphs to define structurally
      similar protein regions. The search for structural neighbors in the new
      algorithms has been extended to all the proteins in the PDB and the query protein
      is compared to more than 60,000 proteins or over 300,000 single-chain structures.
      The resulting structural similarities are combined and used to predict the
      protein binding sites. This study shows that the location of protein binding
      sites can be predicted by comparing only local structural similarities
      irrespective of general protein folds.

PMID- 20919699
TI  - Adhesive performance of biomimetic adhesive-coated biologic scaffolds.
AB  - Surgical repair of a discontinuity in traumatized or degenerated soft tissues is
      traditionally accomplished using sutures. A current trend is to reinforce this
      primary repair with surgical grafts, meshes, or patches secured with perforating
      mechanical devices (i.e., sutures, staples, or tacks). These fixation methods
      frequently lead to chronic pain and mesh detachment. We developed a series of
      biodegradable adhesive polymers that are synthetic mimics of mussel adhesive
      proteins (MAPs), composed of 3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (DOPA)-derivatives,
      polyethylene glycol (PEG), and polycaprolactone (PCL). These polymers can be cast
      into films, and their mechanical properties, extent of swelling, and degradation
      rate can be tailored through the composition of the polymers as well as blending
      with additives. When coated onto a biologic mesh used for hernia repair, these
      adhesive constructs demonstrated adhesive strengths significantly higher than
      fibrin glue. With further development, a precoated bioadhesive mesh may represent
      a new surgical option for soft tissue repair. 

PMID- 20919701
TI  - Immobilization of penicillin G acylase in epoxy-activated magnetic cellulose
      microspheres for improvement of biocatalytic stability and activities.
AB  - We prepared magnetic cellulose porous microspheres (MCM) with mean diameter of
      ~200 MUm by employing the sol-gel transition (SGT) method from a mixture of
      magnemite ferrofluid and cellulose dissolved in 7 wt % NaOH/12% urea aqueous
      solvent precooled to -12  degrees C. Subsequently, the cellulose microspheres
      were activated with epoxy chloropropane to enhance loading efficiency of
      biomacromolecules. Their morphology, structure, and properties were characterized
      by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray
      diffraction, and vibrating-sample magnetometer. The results indicated that the
      spherical magnetic gamma-Fe2O3 nanoparticles with mean size of 10 nm were
      uniformly dispersed and embedded in the cellulose substrate of MCM, and the
      structure and nature of gamma-Fe2O3 were conserved perfectly. Penicillin G
      acylase (PGA) as a biocatalyst was immobilized successfully in the porous
      microspheres, as a result of the existence of the cavity and affinity forces in
      the activated cellulose matrix. The immobilized PGA exhibited highly effective
      catalytic activity, thermal stability, and enhanced tolerance to pH variations.
      Furthermore, the cellulose microspheres loaded with the enzymes could be removed
      and recovered easily by introducing a magnetic field, leading to an acceptable
      reusability. Therefore, we have provided a simple and biocompatible support for
      the enzyme immobilization, which will be promising for the applications in the
      biomaterial fields. 

PMID- 20919702
TI  - Low-temperature preparation of highly conductive thin films from acrylic acid
      stabilized silver nanoparticles prepared through ligand exchange.
AB  - The preparation of AcA-stabilized Ag nanoparticles and its application to make
      highly conductive thin films are reported. The AcA-stabilized Ag nanoparticles
      were prepared through a ligand exchange of original oleylamine (OLA)-coated Ag
      nanoparticles with acrylic acid (AcA), which acted as both an antisolvent and a
      modifying ligand during the ligand exchange process. Efficiencies of the ligand
      exchange as well as the properties of Ag nanoparticles were analyzed using
      various techniques including TEM, FT-IR, XPS, TGA, and UV-vis methods. The thin
      films were fabricated by annealing spin-coated AcA-stabilized Ag nanoparticles.
      Further, the effects of annealing temperature, time, and film thickness on both
      the film morphology and electrical conductivity have been investigated. In this
      work, due to the low boiling temperature of stabilizer (AcA) and adjustment of
      annealing conditions, high electrical conductivity was obtained for the Ag thin
      films. For example, when annealing at 175  degrees C for 30 min, a 70 nm thick
      film showed a maximum electrical conductivity of 1.12 * 10(5) S cm(-1). A
      conductive layer on a flexible polymer substrate (e.g., PET) sheet has been
      successfully prepared by annealing a spin-coated film at 140  degrees C for 30
      min. The combined advantages of long-term stability of the AcA-stabilized Ag
      nanoparticles, low annealing temperature, and high conductivity of the prepared
      thin films make this relatively simple method attractive for applications in
      flexible electronics.

PMID- 20919703
TI  - Synthesis of recognition matrix from 4-methylamino-N-allylnaphthal-imide with
      fluorescent effect for the imprinting of creatinine.
AB  - 4-Methylamino-N-allylnaphthalimide (4-MAANI), a functional monomer with
      fluorescent effect, was synthesized for the imprinting and specific uptake of
      creatinine, an important clinical marker for kidney function. 4-Methylamino-N
      allylnaphthalimide was synthesized from the reaction of 4-bromo-1,8-naphthalic
      anhydride with allylamine to form 4-bromo-N-allylnaphthalimide and further to
      react with methylamine. Excitation and emission of the fluorescent monomer was
      investigated by both a three-dimensional plot of fluorescent intensity versus
      excited and emitted wavelengths and a corresponding contour plot. The
      photoluminescence properties of the as-prepared conjugated species were also
      studied. 4-Methylamino-N-allylnaphthalimide (4-MAANI) fluorescent monomer,
      methacrylic acid (MAA) functional monomer, ethylene glycol dimethylacrylate
      (EGDMA) cross-linker, and 2,2'-azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN) initiator were then
      utilized in the presence of creatinine template for the processing of heat
      induced polymerization. FT-IR analysis was used to confirm the successful
      synthesis of 4-MAANI. The specific recognition cavity for creatinine was then
      created from the polymer matrix after the removal of creatinine by proper
      solvent. The imprinting effect as well as selectivity from the creatinine
      containing mixture was also evaluated. The grouped clusters from the emitted
      fluorescent intensities of the imprinted and nonimprinted polymers before and
      after rebinding of creatinine were obtained and discussed. Serum spiked with a
      different concentration of creatinine was also used to confirm the feasibility of
      clinical applications in the future. Successful recognition of the creatinine
      molecule via the combined effect of molecular imprinting and photoluminescence of
      the imprinted polymeric material was thus confirmed in this work. 

PMID- 20919704
TI  - Influence of water content on the acidities in acetonitrile. Quantifying charge
      delocalization in anions.
AB  - The effect of traces of water on the relative strengths of acids (DeltapK(a)
      values) in acetonitrile was quantitatively evaluated experimentally and
      computationally (COSMO-RS). Water affects first of all the anions by selective
      solvation. Expectedly, the more localized is the charge in acid anions the higher
      is the effect of water. The energetic effect of increasing water content from 0
      to ca. 10,000 ppm on solvation enthalpies of anions ranged from 0.2-0.4 kcal mol
      1 (anions with delocalized charges) to 15 kcal mol-1 in the case of the highly
      charge-localized acetate ion. In the case of DeltapK(a) values the change ranges
      from 0.01 to ca. 1.7 pK(a) units (acid pair involving acetic acid). The COSMO-RS
      method was found to satisfactorily describe the trends in DeltapK(a) values. To
      quantify the extent of charge localization/delocalization in anions a parameter,
      weighted average positive sigma (WAPS), was introduced, which can be conveniently
      computed using the COSMO approach. WAPS characterizes the distribution of charge
      density across the molecular surface and was found to correlate well with the
      extent of water influence on the dissociation of the respective acid.

PMID- 20919705
TI  - Ambipolar hexa-peri-hexabenzocoronene-fullerene hybrid materials.
AB  - A new class of self-assembling hexa-peri-hexbenzocoronene (HBC)-fullerene hybrid
      materials has been synthesized and characterized. Photoluminescence experiments
      indicate that energy transfer processes can be tuned in these donor-acceptor
      systems by varying the length and nature of the linker group. In preliminary
      device testing, ambipolar charge transport behavior is observed in organic field
      effect transistors, while single active component organic photovoltaic devices
      consisting of these materials achieved a maximum external quantum efficiency of
      30%.

PMID- 20919706
TI  - A chiral 6-membered N-heterocyclic carbene copper(I) complex that induces high
      stereoselectivity.
AB  - A chiral 6-membered annulated N-heterocyclic (6-NHC) copper complex that
      catalyzes beta-borylations with high yield and enantioselectivity was developed.
      The chiral 6-NHC copper complex is easy to prepare on the gram scale and is very
      active, showing 10,000 turnovers at 0.01 mol % of catalyst without significant
      decrease of enantioselectivity and with useful reaction rates.

PMID- 20919708
TI  - Molecular approach to understand the tacticity effects on the hydrophilicity of
      poly(N-isopropylacrylamide): solubility of dimer model compounds in water.
AB  - Although it has been suggested that the tacticity affects the hydrophilicity of
      poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNiPA), little is known about the physical
      background of this phenomenon. In this study, we investigated the solubility of
      the dimer model compounds (DNiPA). The partition coefficient of DNiPA in the two
      phases of a water/chloroform mixture has indicated that DNiPA with the racemo
      configuration (r-DNiPA) is more soluble in water than DNiPA with the meso
      configuration (m-DNiPA). The difference of the hydration free energy between m-
      and r-DNiPA is estimated to be 1.2 kJ mol(-1). The molecular mechanics (MM)
      calculations with the GB/SA model have revealed that r-DNiPA in water is more
      stable by ca. 1 kJ mol(-1) than m-DNiPA, which is in excellent agreement with the
      experimental result. The MM calculations have also indicated that the
      intramolecular interaction of m-DNiPA is stronger than that of r-DNiPA, while r
      DNiPA is advantageous in terms of the hydration free energy and conformational
      entropy.

PMID- 20919707
TI  - A biosynthetic route to photoclick chemistry on proteins.
AB  - Light-induced chemical reactions exist in nature, regulating many important
      cellular and organismal functions, e.g., photosensing in prokaryotes and vision
      formation in mammals. Here, we report the genetic incorporation of a
      photoreactive unnatural amino acid, p-(2-tetrazole)phenylalanine (p-Tpa), into
      myoglobin site-specifically in E. coli by evolving an orthogonal tRNA/aminoacyl
      tRNA synthetase pair and the use of p-Tpa as a bioorthogonal chemical "handle"
      for fluorescent labeling of p-Tpa-encoded myoglobin via the photoclick reaction.
      Moreover, we elucidated the structural basis for the biosynthetic incorporation
      of p-Tpa into proteins by solving the X-ray structure of p-Tpa-specific aminoacyl
      tRNA synthetase in complex with p-Tpa. The genetic encoding of this photoreactive
      amino acid should make it possible in the future to photoregulate protein
      function in living systems.

PMID- 20919710
TI  - Wettability patterning by UV-initiated graft polymerization of poly(acrylic acid)
      in closed microfluidic systems of complex geometry.
AB  - Many microfluidic applications require modified surface wettability of the
      microchannels. Patterning of wettability within enclosed microfluidic structures
      at high spatial resolution has been challenging in the past. In this paper, we
      report an improved method for altering the surface wettability in
      poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) microchannels by UV-induced graft polymerization of
      poly(acrylic acid). Our method presents significant improvements in terms of
      wettability contrast and spatial resolution of the patterned structures as
      compared to recent literature and is in particular applicable to complex
      microfluidic structures with a broad range of channel sizes and aspect ratios. A
      key part of our work is the clear description of the surface treatment process
      with the identification of key parameters, some of which have been overlooked,
      neglected, or misinterpreted in previous works. We have studied these key
      parameters in detail and provide recommended values for each parameter supported
      by experimental results. This detailed understanding of the treatment process and
      the effects of the critical parameters on it allowed us to significantly improve
      quality and reliability of the treatment process. 

PMID- 20919709
TI  - A high-nuclearity 3d/4f metal oxime cluster: an unusual Ni(8)Dy(8) "core-shell"
      complex from the use of 2-pyridinealdoxime.
AB  - The initial employment of 2-pyridinealdoxime in 3d/4f chemistry has led to a
      Ni(II)(8)Dy(III)(8) cluster with an unprecedented metal topology; the compound
      has an unusual structure, is the highest-nuclearity metal oxime cluster to date,
      and exhibits slow magnetization relaxation.

PMID- 20919711
TI  - Dynamic investigation of protein metal active sites: interplay of XANES and
      molecular dynamics simulations.
AB  - The effect of structural disorder on the X-ray absorption near-edge structure
      (XANES) spectrum of a heme protein has been investigated using the dynamical
      description of the system derived from molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The
      XANES spectra of neuroglobin (Ngb) and carbonmonoxy-neuroglobin (NgbCO) have been
      quantitatively reproduced, starting from the MD geometrical configurations,
      without carrying out any optimization in the structural parameter space. These
      results provide an important experimental validation of the reliability of the
      potentials used in the MD simulations and accordingly corroborate the consistency
      of the structural dynamic information on the metal center, related to its
      biological function. This analysis allowed us to demonstrate that the
      configurational disorder associated with the distortion of the heme plane and
      with the different orientations of the axial ligands can affect the XANES
      features at very low energy. Neglecting configurational disorder in the XANES
      quantitative analysis of heme proteins is a source of systematic errors in the
      determination of Fe coordination geometry. The combined use of XANES and MD is a
      novel strategy to enhance the resolution and reliability of the structural
      information obtained on metalloproteins, making the combination of these
      techniques powerful for metalloprotein investigations.

PMID- 20919712
TI  - Cerium(IV), neptunium(IV), and plutonium(IV) 1,2-phenylenediphosphonates:
      correlations and differences between early transuranium elements and their
      proposed surrogates.
AB  - The in situ hydrothermal reduction of Np(VI) to Np(IV) and Pu(VI) to Pu(IV) in
      the presence of 1,2-phenylenediphosphonic acid (PhP2) results in the
      crystallization of Np[C(6)H(4)(PO(3)H)(2)](2).2H(2)O (NpPhP2) and
      Pu[C(6)H(4)(PO(3)H)(PO(3)H(2))][C(6)H(4)(PO(3)H)(PO(3))].2H(2)O (PuPhP2),
      respectively. Similar reactions have been explored with Ce(IV) resulting in the
      isolation of the Ce(IV) phenylenediphosphonate
      Ce[C(6)H(4)(PO(3)H)(PO(3)H(2))][C(6)H(4)(PO(3)H)(PO(3))].2H(2)O (CePhP2). Single
      crystal diffraction studies reveal that although all these three compounds all
      crystallize in the triclinic space group P1, only PuPhP2 and CePhP2 are isotypic,
      whereas NpPhP2 adopts a distinct structure. In the cerium and plutonium compounds
      edge-sharing dimers of MO(8) polyhedra are bridged by the diphosphonate ligand to
      create one-dimensional chains. NpPhP2 also forms chains. However, the NpO(8)
      units are monomeric. The protonation of the ligands is also different in the two
      structure types. Furthermore, the NpO(8) polyhedra are best described as square
      antiprisms (D(4d)), whereas the CeO(8) and PuO(8) units are trigonal dodecahedra
      (D(2d)). Bond-valence parameters of R(o) = 1.972 and b = 0.538 have been derived
      for Np(4+) using a combination of the data reported in this work with that
      available in crystallographic databases. The UV-vis-NIR absorption spectra of
      NpPhP2 and PuPhP2 are also reported and used to confirm the tetravalent oxidation
      states.

PMID- 20919713
TI  - Citric acid adsorption on TiO2 nanoparticles in aqueous suspensions at acidic and
      circumneutral pH: surface coverage, surface speciation, and its impact on
      nanoparticle-nanoparticle interactions.
AB  - Citric acid plays an important role as a stabilizer in several nanomaterial
      syntheses and is a common organic acid found in nature. Here, the adsorption of
      citric acid onto TiO(2) anatase nanoparticles with a particle diameter of ca. 4
      nm is investigated at circumneutral and acidic pHs. This study focuses on both
      the details of the surface chemistry of citric acid on TiO(2), including
      measurements of surface coverage and speciation, and its impact on nanoparticle
      behavior. Using macroscopic and molecular-based probes, citric acid adsorption
      and nanoparticle interactions are measured with quantitative solution phase
      adsorption measurements, attenuated total reflection-FTIR spectroscopy, dynamic
      light scattering techniques, and zeta-potential measurements as a function of
      solution pH. The results show that surface coverage is a function of pH and
      decreases with increasing pH. Surface speciation differs from the bulk solution
      and is time dependent. After equilibration, the fully deprotonated citrate ion is
      present on the surface regardless of the highly acidic solution pH indicating
      pK(a) values of surface adsorbed species are lower than those in solution.
      Nanoparticle interactions are also probed through measurements of aggregation and
      the data show that these interactions are complex and depend on the detailed
      interplay between bulk solution pH and surface chemistry.

PMID- 20919714
TI  - Electronic transitions of protonated benzene and fulvene, and of C6H7 isomers in
      neon matrices.
AB  - Electronic transitions of protonated benzene (A (1)B(2)<-X (1)A(1), origin at 325
      nm) and alpha-protonated fulvene (A (1)A'<-X (1)A', at 335 nm) trapped in 6 K
      neon matrices have been detected. The cations were produced from several
      different precursors, mass-selected, and co-deposited with neon. After
      neutralization of the cations, the electronic transitions of cyclohexadienyl
      (onsets at 549 and 310 nm) and alpha-hydrogenated fulvene (532 and 326 nm)
      radicals were identified. Upon excitation of cyclohexadienyl to the B (2)B(1)
      state, photoisomerization to an open-chain structure and alpha-hydrogenated
      fulvene was observed.

PMID- 20919715
TI  - B(C6F5)3-promoted tandem silylation and intramolecular hydrosilylation:
      diastereoselective synthesis of oxasilinanes and oxasilepanes.
AB  - B(C(6)F(5))(3) promotes regio- and stereoselective cyclizations of unsaturated
      alkoxysilanes to generate oxasilinanes and oxasilepanes. The same products are
      available directly from alkenols via tandem silylation and hydrosilylation.

PMID- 20919716
TI  - Multidimensional molecular steric opacity function for XeCl*(B, C) formation in
      the oriented Xe* (3P2, MJ = 2) + oriented CCl3F reaction.
AB  - The steric effect for the XeCl*(B, C) formations in the oriented Xe* (3P2, MJ =
      2) + oriented CCl3F reaction has been observed as a function of the mutual
      configuration between the molecular orientation and the atomic orbital alignment
      in the collision frame. Molecular steric opacity functions have been determined
      as a function of the atomic orbital alignment (M(L)') in the collision frame. The
      XeCl*(B, C) channels show similar molecular steric opacity functions at M(L)' = 0
      but not at |M(L)'| = 1. The large molecular alignment dependence (i.e., the
      reactivity of the Cl3 end and the F end is comparable, but a very poor reactivity
      for the sideway) is recognized for the XeCl*(B, C) channels except for the
      XeCl*(C) channel at |M(L)'| = 1, which shows an almost isotropic molecular
      orientation dependence. The M(L)' selectivity is different between the XeCl*(B,
      C) channels. At the molecular axis direction, the XeCl*(B) channel has little
      M(L)' selectivity whereas the XeCl*(C) channel is significantly favorable at
      M(L)' = 0. On the other hand, |M(L)'| = 1 is favorable at the sideway for the
      XeCl*(B, C) channels.

PMID- 20919717
TI  - Rate coefficients for the gas-phase reaction of hydroxyl radicals with 2
      methoxyphenol (guaiacol) and related compounds.
AB  - 2-Methoxyphenol (guaiacol) and its derivatives are potential marker compounds for
      wood smoke emissions in the atmosphere. To investigate the atmospheric reactivity
      of this type of compounds, rate coefficients for their reactions with hydroxyl
      (OH) radicals have been determined at 294 +/- 2 K and 1 atm using the relative
      rate method with gas chromatography for chemical analysis. The rate coefficients
      (in units of cm3 molecule-1 s-1) are: 2-methoxyphenol, (7.53 +/- 0.41) * 10-11; 3
      methoxyphenol, (9.80 +/- 0.46) * 10-11; 4-methoxyphenol, (9.50 +/- 0.55) * 10-11;
      2-methoxy-4-methylphenol, (9.45 +/- 0.59) * 10-11; and methoxybenzene, (2.20 +/-
      0.15) * 10-11. The estimated atmospheric lifetime for 2-methoxyphenol is ~2 h,
      indicating that it is too reactive to be used as a tracer for wood smoke
      emissions. The reactivity of the methoxyphenols is compared with other
      substituted aromatics and interpreted in relation to the type, number, and
      positions of the different substituents on the aromatic ring. The atmospheric
      implications of the reactions are also discussed.

PMID- 20919718
TI  - Formation and characterization of amyloid-like fibrils from soy beta-conglycinin
      and glycinin.
AB  - The fibrillar aggregation at pH 2.0 of soy beta-conglycinin, glycinin, and the
      1:1 mixture thereof, induced by heating at 80  degrees C for various periods of
      time, was investigated using Th T and Congo Red spectroscopic techniques. The
      morphology of the formed fibrillar aggregates was characterized using atomic
      force microscopy (AFM), whereas the conformational changes and the polypeptide
      hydrolysis of the proteins upon heating were also evaluated. Th T fluorescence
      analysis indicated that beta-conglycinin had a much higher potential to form heat
      induced amyloid-like aggregates than glycinin. AFM analyses showed that all of
      the soy globulins could form twisted screw-structure fibrils with heights of 1.4
      2.2 nm, but the morphology of the amyloid-like fibrils considerably varied among
      various soy proteins. Significantly lower width at half-heights and higher coil
      periodicity values were observed for the beta-conglycinin fibrils than the
      glycinin counterpart. Far-UV CD spectral analysis indicated that upon heating,
      the secondary conformations of the proteins changed considerably, especially
      during initial heating (e.g., <4 h), and the changes were much more distinct in
      the beta-conglycinin case than in the glycinin case. Furthermore, reducing
      electrophoresis analyses indicated that progressive polypeptide hydrolysis
      occurred upon heating, but the polypeptide hydrolysis for the beta-conglycinin
      was much more severe than that of glycinin. The data suggest that soy beta
      conglycinin exhibited a much higher potential to form thermally fibrillar
      aggregates than glycinin, and the differences seem to be mainly associated with
      the differences in their conformational changes and extent of polypeptide
      hydrolysis by the heating. The results would be of vital importance for the
      utilization of soy proteins to produce thermally induced fibrillar gels with
      excellent properties. 

PMID- 20919719
TI  - Simultaneous quantification of flavonoids and phenolic acids in plant materials
      by a newly developed isocratic high-performance liquid chromatography approach.
AB  - A simple reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic (RP-HPLC) method
      based on isocratic elution has been developed and validated for the simultaneous
      quantitation of flavonols (myricetin, quercetin, kaempferol, and isorhamnetin),
      flavones (luteolin and apigenin), and phenolic acids (chlorogenic, caffeic,
      ellagic, and rosmarinic acids) as important constituents in fruits, vegetables,
      and medicinal plants. Analysis was achieved on a C18 column at ambient
      temperature. The wavelengths used for the detection of flavonols, flavones, and
      phenolic acids were 370, 350, and 325 nm, respectively. After acid hydrolysis,
      the flavonoid aglycones were quantified straightforwardly in 20 dry herbal
      samples. The plants with the highest flavonoids were Rosa damascena, Solidago
      virgaurea, Ginkgo biloba, and Camellia sinensis. The contents of flavonoids
      aglycons ranged from 0.54 to 11.10 mg/g, from 0.03 to 14.80 mg/g, from 0.19 to
      2.76 mg/g, from 0.15 to 2.36 mg/g, from 0.27 to 2.05 mg/g, and from 0.42 to 1.82
      mg/g for quercetin, kaempferol, isorhamnetin, luteolin, apigenin, and myricetin
      in dry plant samples, respectively.

PMID- 20919720
TI  - Discovery of novel 2-aryl-4-benzoyl-imidazoles targeting the colchicines binding
      site in tubulin as potential anticancer agents.
AB  - A series of 2-aryl-4-benzoyl-imidazoles (ABI) was synthesized as a result of
      structural modifications based on the previous set of 2-aryl-imidazole-4
      carboxylic amide (AICA) derivatives and 4-substituted methoxylbenzoyl-aryl
      thiazoles (SMART). The average IC(50) of the most active compound (5da) was 15.7
      nM. ABI analogues have substantially improved aqueous solubility (48.9 MUg/mL for
      5ga vs 0.909 MUg/mL for SMART-1, 0.137 MUg/mL for paclitaxel, and 1.04 MUg/mL for
      combretastatin A4). Mechanism of action studies indicate that the anticancer
      activity of ABI analogues is through inhibition of tubulin polymerization by
      interacting with the colchicine binding site. Unlike paclitaxel and colchicine,
      the ABI compounds were equally potent against multidrug resistant cancer cells
      and the sensitive parental melanoma cancer cells. In vivo results indicated that
      5cb was more effective than DTIC in inhibiting melanoma xenograph tumor growth.
      Our results suggest that the novel ABI compounds may be developed to effectively
      treat drug-resistant tumors.

PMID- 20919721
TI  - Characterization of the influence of the ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium
      chloride on the structure and thermal stability of green fluorescent protein.
AB  - Ionic liquids (ILs) are finding a vast array of applications as novel solvents
      for a wide variety of processes that include enzymatic chemistry, particularly as
      more biocompatible ILs are designed and discovered. While it is assumed that a
      native or near-native structure is required for enzymatic activity, there is some
      evidence that ILs alter protein structure and oligomerization states in a manner
      than can negatively impact function. The IL 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride,
      [bmim]Cl, is a well-studied, water-miscible member of the popular 1-alkyl-3
      methylimidazolium IL family. To improve our understanding of the impact of water
      miscible ILs on proteins, we have characterized the structure and oligomerization
      state of green fluorescent protein (GFP) in aqueous solutions containing 25 and
      50 vol % [bmim]Cl using a combination of optical spectroscopy and small-angle
      neutron scattering (SANS). Measurements were also performed as a function of
      temperature to provide insight into the effect of the IL on the thermal stability
      of GFP. While GFP exists as a dimer in water, the presence of 25 vol % [bmim]Cl
      causes GFP to transition to a monomeric state. The SANS data indicate that GFP is
      a great deal less compact in 50 vol % [bmim]Cl than in neat water, indicative of
      unfolding from the native structure. The oligomerization state of the protein in
      IL-containing aqueous solution changes from a dimer to a monomer in response to
      the IL, but does not change as a function of temperature in the IL-containing
      solution. The SANS and spectroscopic results also demonstrate that the addition
      of [bmim]Cl to the solution decreases the thermal stability of GFP, allowing the
      protein to unfold at lower temperatures than in aqueous solution.

PMID- 20919722
TI  - Assessment of environmental tobacco smoke contamination in public premises:
      significance of 2,5-dimethylfuran as an effective marker.
AB  - Contamination by environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) on premises where smoking is
      permitted is evaluated. Although all target VOCs evaluated show significant
      differences between smoking and nonsmoking indoors, the results obtained indicate
      that 2,5-dimethylfuran is the most appropriate and effective marker of ETS
      contamination given that this compound is only detected in environments where
      people have smoked and so the detection of this compound cannot be attributed to
      other contamination sources such as traffic. Moreover, the air levels of this
      compound due to coffee aroma are below the detection limits for this methodology.
      A preliminary study is performed to evaluate whether 2,5-dimethylfuran, a smoking
      breath biomarker, can be detected in passive smokers working in smoking
      environments. The compound was continuously detected in the breath of nonsmoking
      employees after being in direct contact with ETS for just a few hours. The Tedlar
      gas sampling bags had 5% loss of 2,5-dimethylfuran after 3 h of storage, which we
      took as the maximum recommended period for air sample storage.

PMID- 20919723
TI  - Expedient enantioselective synthesis of the delta4-oxocene cores of (+)-laurencin
      and (+)-prelaureatin (?).
AB  - An expedient enantioselective synthesis of the Delta(4)-oxocene cores present in
      (+)-laurencin and (+)-prelaureatin was accomplished in eight steps via a novel
      one-pot regio- and stereoselective ring cyclization-fragmentation-expansion
      cascade from the tetrahydrofuran precursors which were prepared by
      stereocontrolled cyclization from vinylsilanes. This process is highlighted by an
      intramolecular oxo-carbenoid insertion and a beta-silyl fragmentation sequence.

PMID- 20919725
TI  - Enantioselective Pd-catalyzed hydrogenation of fluorinated imines: facile access
      to chiral fluorinated amines.
AB  - An enantioselective hydrogenation of simple fluorinated imines has been developed
      using Pd(OCOCF(3))(2)/(R)-Cl-MeO-BIPHEP as a catalyst, and up to 94% ee was
      achieved. This method provides an efficient route to enantioenriched fluorinated
      amines.

PMID- 20919724
TI  - Control of proton and electron transfer in de novo designed, biomimetic beta
      hairpins.
AB  - Tyrosine side chains are involved in proton coupled electron transfer reactions
      (PCET) in many complex proteins, including photosystem II (PSII) and
      ribonucleotide reductase. For example, PSII contains two redox-active tyrosines,
      TyrD (Y160D2) and TyrZ (Y161D1), which have different protein environments,
      midpoint potentials, and roles in catalysis. TyrD has a midpoint potential lower
      than that of TyrZ, and its protein environment is distinguished by potential pi
      cation interactions with arginine residues. Designed biomimetic peptides provide
      a system that can be used to investigate how the protein matrix controls PCET
      reactions. As a model for the redox-active tyrosines in PSII, we are employing a
      designed, 18 amino acid beta hairpin peptide in which PCET reactions occur
      between a tyrosine (Tyr5) and a cross-strand histidine (His14). In this peptide,
      the single tyrosine is hydrogen-bonded to an arginine residue, Arg16, and a
      second arginine, Arg12, has a pi-cation interaction with Tyr5. In this report,
      the effect of these hydrogen bonding and electrostatic interactions on the PCET
      reactions is investigated. Electrochemical titrations show that histidine
      substitutions change the nature of PCET reactions, and optical titrations show
      that Arg16 substitution changes the pK of Tyr5. Removal of Arg16 or Arg12
      increases the midpoint potential for tyrosine oxidation. The effects of Arg12
      substitution are consistent with the midpoint potential difference, which is
      observed for the PSII redox-active tyrosine residues. Our results demonstrate
      that a pi-cation interaction, hydrogen bonding, and PCET reactions alter redox
      active tyrosine function. These interactions can contribute equally to the
      control of midpoint potential and reaction rate.

PMID- 20919726
TI  - Self-assembled E(2)L(3) cryptands (E = P, As, Sb, Bi): transmetalation, homo- and
      heterometallic assemblies, and conformational isomerism.
AB  - A series of Group 15-containing homometallic (E(2)L(3), E = P, As, Sb, Bi) and
      heterometallic (AsSbL(3), AsBiL(3), PSbL(3)) supramolecular cryptands were
      prepared by the self-assembly of pnictogen halides with dithiolate ligand or by
      direct transmetalation from a heavier congener. Structural characterization by
      single crystal X-ray diffraction shows that the E-S bond distances and S-E-S bond
      angles are significantly affected by the identity of the pnictogen. (1)H NMR
      spectroscopy reveals that the homometallic cryptands are dynamic in solution:
      surprisingly one ligand "flips", perturbing the C(3) symmetry of the complex and
      giving a new asymmetric conformer. Density functional theory calculations were
      carried out on both the symmetric and the asymmetric conformations of the
      cryptands, and the energies were compared to those observed by NMR spectroscopy.
      It was found that the relative stability of the asymmetric cryptand to its
      symmetric conformer increases with increasing size of the Group 15 element.
      Finally, it is reported that if two metals are present during the self-assembly
      process, heterometallic cryptands form. These supramolecular cryptands are
      reminiscent of their organic analogues, but result from a self-assembly process
      rather than a stepwise synthesis. Surprisingly, they possess conformational
      isomerism and exhibit dynamic transmetalation in their reactivity which provides
      access to otherwise unattainable assemblies.

PMID- 20919727
TI  - Photoinduced electron transfer in Zn(II)porphyrin-bridge-Pt(II)acetylide
      complexes: variation in rate with anchoring group and position of the bridge.
AB  - The synthesis and photophysical characterization of two sets of zinc porphyrin
      platinum acetylide complexes are reported. The two sets of molecules differ in
      the way the bridging phenyl-ethynyl unit is attached to the porphyrin ring. One
      set is attached via an ethynyl unit on the beta position, while the other set is
      attached via a phenyl unit on the meso position of the porphyrin. These were
      compared with previously studied complexes where attachment was made via an
      ethynyl unit on the meso position. Femtosecond transient absorption measurements
      showed in all systems a rapid quenching of the porphyrin singlet state. Electron
      transfer is suggested as the quenching mechanism, followed by an even faster
      recombination to form both the porphyrin ground and triplet excited states. This
      is supported by the variation in quenching rate and porphyrin triplet yield with
      solvent polarity, and the observation of an intermediate state in the meso-phenyl
      linked systems. The different linking motifs between the dyads resulted in
      significant variations in electron transfer rates.

PMID- 20919728
TI  - Boronic acid flux synthesis and crystal growth of uranium and neptunium boronates
      and borates: a low-temperature route to the first neptunium(V) borate.
AB  - Molten methylboronic acid has been used as a reactive flux to prepare the first
      neptunium(V) borate, NpO(2)[B(3)O(4)(OH)(2)] (NpBO-1), and the first actinide
      boronate, UO(2)(CH(3)BO(2))(H(2)O) (UCBO-1). NpBO-1 contains cation-cation
      interactions between the neptunyl units. In contrast, the presence of the methyl
      groups in the uranyl boronate leads to a one-dimensional structure.

PMID- 20919729
TI  - Charge transport in dual gated bilayer graphene with Corbino geometry.
AB  - The resistance of dual-gated bilayer graphene is measured as a function of
      temperature and gating electric fields in the Corbino geometry which precludes
      edge transport. The temperature-dependent resistance is quantitatively described
      by a two-channel conductance model including parallel thermal activation and
      variable range hopping channels, which gives the electric-field-dependent band
      gap whose magnitude is found to be in good agreement with infrared absorption
      experiments. Low-temperature transport is similar to that seen in previous
      studies of dual-gated bilayer graphene with edges, suggesting that edge transport
      does not play an important role.

PMID- 20919730
TI  - Control performance and biomembrane disturbance of carbon nanotube artificial
      water channels by nitrogen-doping.
AB  - To establish ways to control the performance of artificial water channels is a
      big challenge. With molecular dynamics studies, we found that water flow inside
      the water channels of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) can be controlled by reducing or
      intensifying interaction energy between water molecules and the wall of the CNTs
      channel. A way of example toward this significant goal was demonstrated by the
      doping of nitrogen into the wall of CNTs. Different ratios of nitrogen doping
      result in different controllable water performance which is dominated mainly
      through a gradient of van der Waals forces created by the heteroatom doping in
      the wall of CNTs. Further results revealed that the nitrogen-doped CNT channels
      show less influence on the integrality of biomembrane than the pristine one,
      while the nitrogen-doped double-walled carbon nanotube exhibits fewer
      disturbances to the cellular membrane integrality than the nitrogen-doped single
      walled carbon nanotube when interacting with biomembranes.

PMID- 20919731
TI  - Chromene "lock", thiol "key", and mercury(II) ion "hand": a single molecular
      machine recognition system.
AB  - A regenerative, molecular machine-like "ON-OFF-ON" chemosensor based on a
      chromene molecule with the pyran ring "OFF-ON-OFF" cycle is reported for the
      first time. It behaves as a molecular lock that requires a thiol "key" to open
      the lock and a mercury(II) ion "hand" that unlatches the key for unsheathing the
      key to close the lock.

PMID- 20919732
TI  - The first naturally occurring thiepinols and thienol from an endolichenic fungus
      Coniochaeta sp.
AB  - Coniothiepinols A (1) and B (2) and coniothienol A (3), the first naturally
      occurring thiepinols (1 and 2) and thienol (3), have been isolated from the crude
      extract of an endolichenic fungus Coniochaeta sp. 1 possesses a unique 8-oxa-2
      thia-bicyclo[3.2.1]octane skeleton, and its structure was assigned by NMR
      spectroscopy and X-ray crystallography. 1 showed significant activity against the
      gram-positive bacteria, Enterococcus faecium and Enterococcus faecalis.

PMID- 20919733
TI  - Secondary organic aerosol from photooxidation of polycyclic aromatic
      hydrocarbons.
AB  - Secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation from the photooxidation of five
      polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs, naphthalene, 1- and 2-methylnaphthalene,
      acenaphthylene, and acenaphthene) was investigated in a 9-m(3) chamber in the
      presence of nitrogen oxides and the absence of seed aerosols. Aerosol size
      distributions and PAH decay were monitored by a scanning mobility particle sizer
      and a gas chromatograph with a flame ionization detector. Over a wide range of
      conditions, the aerosol yields for the investigated PAHs were observed to be in
      the range of 2-22%. The observed evolution of aerosol and PAH decay indicate that
      light and oxidant sources influence the time required to form aerosol and the
      required threshold reacted concentration of the PAHs. The SOA yields also were
      related to this induction period and the hydroxyl radical concentrations,
      particularly for smaller aerosol loadings (<~6 MUg m(-3)). Estimation of SOA
      production from oxidation of PAHs emitted from mobile sources in Houston shows
      that PAHs could account for more than 10% of the SOA formed from emissions from
      mobile sources in this region.

PMID- 20919734
TI  - Metal impurities dominate the sorption of a commercially available carbon
      nanotube for Pb(II) from water.
AB  - Numerous studies suggested carbon nanotubes (CNTs) as a type of promising sorbent
      for heavy metals from water and explained the sorption mechanism mainly by oxygen
      containing functional groups on CNT surfaces but neglected the potential role of
      metal catalyst residues in CNTs. This is a first study showing that metal
      impurities could dominate the sorption of one type of commercially available CNTs
      (P-CNTs) for Pb(II) from water, which will help to understand and guide
      environmental applications of CNTs as a sorbent. Sorption capacity of P-CNTs
      (27.3 mg g(-1)) for Pb(II) was much higher than that of the water-washed P-CNTs
      (W-CNTs, 4.7 mg g(-1)). SEM-EDS and ICP-MS analyses showed that both P-CNTs and W
      CNTs contained metal impurities (mainly Co and Mo) which released into the
      solutions during the sorption, especially P-CNTs. XAFS examination and
      precipitation experiments demonstrated that PbMoO(4) formation between Pb(II) and
      CNT-released MoO(4)(2-) and subsequent precipitation in the sorptive solutions
      was the dominant mechanism for the apparent sorption of Pb(II) by P-CNTs.

PMID- 20919735
TI  - Fabrication and superhydrophobic behavior of fluorinated microspheres.
AB  - We describe the preparation of fluorinated microspheres by precipitation
      polymerization and their use to fabricate superhydrophobic surfaces. For that
      purpose, two different approaches have been employed. In the first approach, a
      fluorinated monomer (either 4-fluorostyrene or 2,3,4,5,6-pentafluorostyrene) was
      added to the initial mixture of monomers constituted by styrene (S) and
      divinylbenzene (DVB). The second approach is based on the encapsulation of a
      block copolymer, polystyrene-b-poly(2,3,4,5,6-pentafluorostyrene), during the
      polymerization of the monomers (S and DVB), thus enabling the formation of
      particles with perfluorinated chains instead of single functional groups at the
      interface. Both approaches led to narrow polydisperse particles with fluoro
      functional groups at the interface as demonstrated by scanning electron
      microscopy (SEM), infrared (IR) spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron
      spectroscopy (XPS). Surface array of particles obtained by simple solvent casting
      presented superhydrophobic behavior with contact angles of water droplets of ca.
      160-165 degrees .

PMID- 20919736
TI  - Molecular design of dinotefuran with unique insecticidal properties.
AB  - Dinotefuran, (RS)-1-methyl-2-nitro-3-(tetrahydro-3-furylmethyl)guanidine, is a
      neonicotinoid insecticide developed by Mitsui Chemicals Agro. Dinotefuran
      provides a tetrahydrofuran (THF) moiety distinct from other neonicotinoids with a
      chloropyridine or chlorothiazole ring, which is considered to be an essential
      structural element for the neonicotinoid action. The molecular design strategy
      based on acetylcholine ester moiety as a lead structure has successfully led to
      the discovery of dinotefuran with the cyclic ether THF functional group. The
      unique chemical and excellent biological properties and favorable toxicological
      profile make dinotefuran available for pest management in wide range of crops
      with a variety of application methods.

PMID- 20919737
TI  - Glyphosate degradation in glyphosate-resistant and -susceptible crops and weeds.
AB  - High levels of aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA), the main glyphosate metabolite,
      have been found in glyphosate-treated, glyphosate-resistant (GR) soybean,
      apparently due to plant glyphosate oxidoreductase (GOX)-like activity. AMPA is
      mildly phytotoxic, and under some conditions the AMPA accumulating in GR soybean
      correlates with glyphosate-caused phytotoxicity. A bacterial GOX is used in GR
      canola, and an altered bacterial glyphosate N-acetyltransferase is planned for a
      new generation of GR crops. In some weed species, glyphosate degradation could
      contribute to natural resistance. Neither an isolated plant GOX enzyme nor a gene
      for it has yet been reported in plants. Gene mutation or amplification of plant
      genes for GOX-like enzyme activity or horizontal transfer of microbial genes from
      glyphosate-degrading enzymes could produce GR weeds. Yet, there is no evidence
      that metabolic degradation plays a significant role in evolved resistance to
      glyphosate. This is unexpected, considering the extreme selection pressure for
      evolution of glyphosate resistance in weeds and the difficulty in plants of
      evolving glyphosate resistance via other mechanisms.

PMID- 20919738
TI  - Two-dimensional self-assemblies of silica nanoparticles formed using the "bubble
      deposition technique".
AB  - Two-dimensional silica nanoparticle assemblies were obtained by deposition of
      bubble made from a surfactant solution containing nanoparticles onto hydrophobic
      silicon substrate. The morphologies of the nanoparticle assemblies can be finely
      controlled by several experimental parameters, including surfactant
      concentration, nanoparticle concentration, and deposition time. Monolayer of
      nanoparticles with surface coverage of about 100% can be obtained under
      appropriate conditions. The method can also be applied to another hydrophobic
      substrate, HMDS (hexamethyldisilazane)-modified silicon substrate. Furthermore,
      it can be applied directly to lithography patterned substrates, meaning a high
      compatibility with the well-developed conventional top-down approaches to
      nanodevices. This bubble deposition technique is expected to be a promising
      method in the field of nano-object assembly and organization and has great
      application potentials.

PMID- 20919739
TI  - Synthesis in ionic liquids: [Bi2Te2Br](AlCl4), a direct gap semiconductor with a
      cationic framework.
AB  - The Lewis acidic ionic liquid EMIMBr-AlCl(3) (EMIM = 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium)
      allows a novel synthetic route to the semiconducting layered metal chalcogenides
      halide [Bi(2)Te(2)Br](AlCl(4)) and its Sb analogue. [Bi(2)Te(2)Br](AlCl(4)) is a
      direct band gap, strongly anisotropic semiconductor and consists of cationic
      infinite layers of [Bi(2)Te(2)Br](+) and [AlCl(4)](-) anions inserted between the
      layers.

PMID- 20919741
TI  - HKGreen-3: a rhodol-based fluorescent probe for peroxynitrite.
AB  - A novel fluorescent probe, HKGreen-3, for sensing peroxynitrite is designed on
      the basis of the rhodol scaffold and a peroxynitrite-specific oxidation reaction.
      The probe turns out to be highly sensitive and selective for detecting
      peroxynitrite in both chemical and biological systems.

PMID- 20919740
TI  - CHOBIMALT: a cholesterol-based detergent.
AB  - Cholesterol and its hemisuccinate and sulfate derivatives are widely used in
      studies of purified membrane proteins but are difficult to solubilize in aqueous
      solution, even in the presence of detergent micelles. Other cholesterol
      derivatives do not form conventional micelles and lead to viscous solutions. To
      address these problems, a cholesterol-based detergent, CHOBIMALT, has been
      synthesized and characterized. At concentrations above 3-4 MUM, CHOBIMALT forms
      micelles without the need for elevated temperatures or sonic disruption.
      Diffusion and fluorescence measurements indicated that CHOBIMALT micelles are
      large (210+/-30 kDa). The ability to solubilize a functional membrane protein was
      explored using a G-protein coupled receptor, the human kappa opioid receptor type
      1 (hKOR1). While CHOBIMALT alone was not found to be effective as a surfactant
      for membrane extraction, when added to classical detergent micelles CHOBIMALT was
      observed to dramatically enhance the thermal stability of solubilized hKOR1.

PMID- 20919743
TI  - Dissection of DEN-induced platelet proteome changes reveals the progressively dys
      regulated pathways indicative of hepatocarcinogenesis.
AB  - Due to the lack of precise markers indicative of its occurrence, progression, and
      malignant stages, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is currently associated with
      high mortality. Given the fact that thrombocytopenia is associated with chronic
      liver diseases, and the multifunctional nature of platelets we reason that
      phenotype-specific platelets could be the systemic barometer for hepato
      carcinogenesis. The mass spectrometry (MS)-based proteomic efforts to discover
      novel biomarkers in plasma or serum are largely compromised by a few of the
      overwhelmingly abundant proteins that comprise over 95% of the total protein mass
      of plasma or sera. Platelets however are free of these MS signal-suppressing
      proteins. On the basis of a HCC animal model where diethyl nitrosamine (DEN)
      administration on male rats specifically induces HCC, by using a multiplex
      quantitative proteomic approach, we profiled the phase-to-phase proteome changes
      in a series of viable phenotype-specific platelets along with the DEN-induced
      progressive liver transformation. The platelet proteome was found highly
      responsive to each physiological stage of liver inflammation or pathogenesis.
      Using data-dependent bioinformatics network analysis, we found that certain
      pathway modules involved in immune response, tissue wound repair, apoptosis, cell
      proliferation, and catabolism and metabolism were differentially regulated, which
      were uncovered by the DEN-induced differential expression of the corresponding
      pathway components. The phase-specific presentations of these pathways suggested
      that the DEN-induced progression of immune suppression and apoptosis resistance
      is dynamically coordinated in the platelets. These novel platelet signatures are
      interconnected in the dynamic networks along with HCC progression and could be
      identified noninvasively for HCC prognosis and early diagnosis.

PMID- 20919744
TI  - Disruption of the mucus barrier by topically applied exogenous particles.
AB  - The mucus barrier is well established as a formidable barrier to exogenous
      substances and forms the first line of defense for mucosal surfaces. Drugs and
      particle systems are known to be significantly hindered via a variety of
      interactions with mucus, and some efforts have been reported that can mitigate
      these interactions. We investigated topically applied particulate systems (nano
      and micro) for their potential to interact with mucus and influence on the
      diffusion of model drugs across the mucus barrier. Functionalized polystyrene
      nanoparticles and microparticles and diesel particulate matter were topically
      applied to established in vitro mucus models. Particle treated mucus was then
      assessed, compared to controls, for drug permeation rates. The average permeation
      rate of drugs increased 2-fold following the application of particles to mucus
      compared to permeation of the same drug through mucus alone. In some cases
      permeation enhancement of small model drugs was over 5 times that of controls.
      Assessment of particle physicochemical properties also indicated that significant
      interactions occurred between mucus and the particles as determined by zeta
      potential changes and size changes. Collectively this work supports the
      hypothesis that topically applied particles interact with the mucus barrier
      causing disruption of this barrier allowing for increased drug permeation. These
      findings have implications for improved drug delivery and enhanced environmental
      exposure to exogenous substances.

PMID- 20919742
TI  - LDL receptor-related protein 1 regulates the abundance of diverse cell-signaling
      proteins in the plasma membrane proteome.
AB  - LDL receptor-related protein 1 (LRP1) is an endocytic receptor, reported to
      regulate the abundance of other receptors in the plasma membrane, including uPAR
      and tissue factor. The goal of this study was to identify novel plasma membrane
      proteins, involved in cell-signaling, that are regulated by LRP1. Membrane
      protein ectodomains were prepared from RAW 264.7 cells in which LRP1 was silenced
      and control cells using protease K. Peptides were identified by LC-MS/MS. By
      analysis of spectral counts, 31 transmembrane and secreted proteins were
      regulated in abundance at least 2-fold when LRP1 was silenced. Validation studies
      confirmed that semaphorin4D (Sema4D), plexin domain-containing protein-1
      (Plxdc1), and neuropilin-1 were more abundant in the membranes of LRP1 gene
      silenced cells. Regulation of Plxdc1 by LRP1 was confirmed in CHO cells, as a
      second model system. Plxdc1 coimmunoprecipitated with LRP1 from extracts of RAW
      264.7 cells and mouse liver. Although Sema4D did not coimmunoprecipitate with
      LRP1, the cell-surface level of Sema4D was increased by RAP, which binds to LRP1
      and inhibits binding of other ligands. These studies identify Plxdc1, Sema4D, and
      neuropilin-1 as novel LRP1-regulated cell-signaling proteins. Overall, LRP1
      emerges as a generalized regulator of the plasma membrane proteome.

PMID- 20919745
TI  - Effects of oxidation on structural stability and remodeling of human very low
      density lipoprotein.
AB  - Very low density lipoproteins (VLDL) are triglyceride-rich precursors of low
      density lipoproteins (LDL) and a risk factor for atherosclerosis. The effects of
      oxidation on VLDL metabolism may be pro- or antiatherogenic. To understand the
      underlying biophysical basis, we determined the effects of copper (that
      preferentially oxidizes lipids) and hypochlorite (that preferentially oxidizes
      proteins) on the heat-induced VLDL remodeling. This remodeling involves VLDL
      fusion, rupture, and fission of apoE-containing high-density lipoprotein- (HDL-)
      like particles; HDL with similar size, density, and protein composition are
      formed upon VLDL remodeling by lipoprotein lipase, a key enzyme in triglyceride
      metabolism. Circular dichroism, turbidity, and electron microscopy show that mild
      oxidation promotes VLDL fusion and rupture, while advanced oxidation hampers
      these reactions. VLDL destabilization upon moderate oxidation results, in part,
      from the exchangeable apolipoprotein modifications, including proteolysis and
      limited cross-linking. VLDL stabilization against fusion and rupture upon
      advanced oxidation probably results from massive protein cross-linking on the
      particle surface. Electron microscopy and gel electrophoresis reveal that
      oxidation promotes fission of apoE-containing HDL-size particles; hydrolysis of
      apolar core lipids probably contributes to this effect. Copper and hypochlorite
      have similar effects on VLDL remodeling, suggesting that these effects may be
      produced by other oxidants. In summary, moderate oxidation that encompasses in
      vivo conditions destabilizes VLDL and promotes fission of HDL-size particles.
      Consequently, mild oxidation may be synergistic with lipoprotein lipase reaction
      and, hence, may help to accelerate VLDL metabolism.

PMID- 20919747
TI  - Key features for designing phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors.
AB  - Phosphodiesterase superfamily is the key regulator of 3',5'-cyclic guanosine
      monophosphate (cGMP) decomposition in human body. Phosphodiesterase-5 (PDE-5)
      inhibitors, sildenafil, vardenafil and tadalafil, are well known oral treatment
      for males with erectile dysfunction. To investigate the inhibitory effects of
      traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) compounds to PDE-5, we performed both ligand
      based and structure-based studies on this topic. Comparative molecular field
      analysis (CoMFA) and comparative molecular similarity indices analysis (CoMSIA)
      studies were conducted to construct three dimensional quantitative structure
      activity relationship (3D-QSAR) models of series of known PDE-5 inhibitors. The
      predictive models had cross-validated, q(2), and non cross-validated coefficient,
      r(2), values of 0.791 and 0.948 for CoMFA and 0.724 and 0.908 for CoMSIA. These
      two 3D-QSAR models were used to predict activity of TCM compounds. Docking
      simulations were performed to further analyze the binding mode of training set
      and TCM compounds. A putative binding model was proposed based on CoMFA and
      CoMSIA contour maps and docking simulations; formation of pi-stacking, water
      bridge and specific hydrogen bonding were deemed important interactions between
      ligands and PDE-5. Of our TCM compounds, engeletin, satisfied our binding model,
      and hence, emerged as PDE-5 inhibitor candidate. Using this study as an example,
      we demonstrated that docking should be conducted for qualitative purposes, such
      as identifying protein characteristics, rather than for quantitative analyses
      that rank compound efficacy based on results of scoring functions. Prediction of
      compound activity should be reserved for QSAR analyses, and scoring functions and
      docking scores should be used for preliminary screening of TCM database
      (http://tcm.cmu.edu.tw/index.php).

PMID- 20919746
TI  - A conformationally constrained peptidomimetic binds to the extracellular region
      of HER2 protein.
AB  - Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) is a member of the human
      epidermal growth factor receptor kinases (other members include EGFR or HER1,
      HER3, and HER4) that are involved in signaling cascades for cell growth and
      differentiation. It is well established that HER2-mediated heterodimerization has
      important implications in cancer. Deregulation of signaling pathways and
      overexpression of HER2 is known to occur in cancer cells, indicating a role of
      HER2 in tumorigenesis. Therefore, blocking HER2-mediated signaling has potential
      therapeutic value. We have designed several peptidomimetics to inhibit HER2
      mediated signaling for cell growth. One of the compounds (HERP5, Arg-beta Naph
      Phe) exhibited antiproliferative activity with IC(50) values in the micromolar-to
      nanomolar range in breast cancer cell lines. Binding of fluorescently labeled
      HERP5 to HER2 protein was evaluated by fluorescence assay, microscopy, and
      circular dichroism spectroscopy. Results indicated that HERP5 binds to the
      extracellular region of the HER2 protein. Structure of the peptidomimetic HERP5
      was studied by NMR and molecular dynamics simulations. Based on these results a
      model was proposed for HER2-EGFR dimerization and possible blocking by HERP5
      peptidomimetic using a protein-protein docking method.

PMID- 20919748
TI  - Anti-infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) activity of 1,8-cineole: effect on
      nucleocapsid (N) protein.
AB  - In the present study, anti-IBV (infectious bronchitis virus) activity of 1,8
      cineole was studied by MTT assay, as well as docking and molecular dynamic (MD)
      simulations. The CC50 of 1,8-cineole was above 10 mM. And the maximum
      noncytotoxic concentration (TD0) of 1,8-cineole was determined to be 3.90 +/-
      0.22 mM, which was much higher than that of ribavirin (0.78 +/- 0.15 mM). 1,8
      cineole could inhibit IBV with an IC(50) of 0.61 mM. MTT assay showed that the
      inhibition of IBV by 1, 8-cineole appears to occur moderately before entering the
      cell but much strongly after penetration of the virus into the cell. In silico
      simulations indicated that the binding site of 1,8-cineole was located at the N
      terminus of phosphorylated nucleocapsid (N) protein, with interaction energy
      equaling -40.33 kcal mol(-1). The residues TyrA92, ProA134, PheA137, AspA138 and
      TyrA140 had important roles during the binding process and are fully or partially
      conserved in various IBV strains. Based on spatial and energetic criteria, 1,8
      cineole interfered with the binding between RNA and IBV N-protein. Results
      presented here may suggest that 1,8-cineole possesses anti-IBV properties, and
      therefore is a potential source of anti-IBV ingredients for the pharmaceutical
      industry.

PMID- 20919749
TI  - Effect of oligosaccharides and their monosaccharide mixtures on the stability of
      proteins: a scaled particle study.
AB  - Experimental results of RNase-A stabilization by sugar osmolytes show that the
      change in the Gibbs free energy (DeltaGD) associated with the equilibrium, N
      (native) state <-> D (denatured) state of the protein in the presence of
      equimolar mixture of monosaccharides is larger than that of the corresponding
      oligosaccharides at a given temperature and pH. However, at the molar scale,
      DeltaGD obtained in the presence of an oligosaccharide is much higher as compared
      with DeltaGD obtained using individual monosaccharide. We used scaled particle
      theory (SPT) to explain these experimental observations. The effective length,
      called Tolman's length that describes the curvature correlations to a surface
      area or surface tension and in turn contributes to the change in free energy, is
      discussed. Tolman's length is higher for corresponding monomer mixture than the
      oligosaccharide molecules. Based on SPT analysis, a geometrical model is proposed
      for clustering of monosaccharides in the mixture due to high particle density.
      The cluster is presumed to have weak interaction among them due to larger
      hydrodynamic radius than that of the bonded molecules of oligosaccharides.

PMID- 20919750
TI  - Effects of pH and temperature on the structural and thermodynamic character of
      alpha-syn12 peptide in aqueous solution.
AB  - The structural and thermodynamic characters of alpha-syn12 peptide in aqueous
      solution at different pH and temperatures have been investigated through
      temperature replica exchange molecular dynamics (T-REMD) simulations with GROMOS
      43A1 force field. The two independent T-REMD simulations were completed at pH =
      7.0 and 10.0, respectively. Each replica was run for 300 ns. The structural and
      thermodynamic characters of alpha syn12 peptide were studied based on the
      distributions of backbone dihedral angles, the free energy surface, and the
      stability of different type structure and the favorite conformations of the
      peptide. The results showed that the simulation at pH = 10.0 produced more
      sampling in alpha region than the simulation at pH = 7.0. The temperature changes
      from 283 K to 308 K result in negligible effects on the distributions of backbone
      dihedral angle. The beta hairpin conformation with Turn(9-6) and four hydrogen
      bonds (HB(4-11), HB(6-9), HB(9-6) and HB(11-4)) is the lowest free energy state
      in the simulation at pH = 7.0. However, for the simulation at pH = 10.0, the
      lowest free energy state corresponds to a structure with Turn(9-6) and two
      hydrogen bonds (HB(6-10) and HB(10-6)) induced by an overly strong residue
      residue interaction effect between lysine residues. For the simulation at pH =
      7.0, the free energy change of the alpha-syn12 peptide from the unfolded state to
      the beta hairpin state was in good agreement with the experiments and molecular
      dynamics simulation results for the other beta-peptides, the beta hairpin state
      of the alpha-syn12 peptide included the conformations that not only the Turn(9-6)
      is formed, but also the terminus are closed together in space. However, the
      subtle balances between lysine-lysine interactions and lysine-solvent interaction
      are disrupted in the simulation at pH = 10.0, which induced the assembly of
      lysine residues, the beta hairpin conformation is destabilized by the
      deprotonation of the Lys side chain. This study can help us to understand the
      conformation changes and the thermodynamic character of alpha;-syn12 peptide at
      atomic level induced by changing pH and temperature, which is propitious to
      reveal the nosogenesis of Parkinson disease. In our knowledge, this is the first
      report to study the influence of pH and temperature on isolated alpha-syn12
      peptide in water by T-REMD.

PMID- 20919751
TI  - Exposure of hydrophobic core in human prion protein pathogenic mutant H187R.
AB  - Pathogenesis studies have revealed that H187R mutation of human prion protein
      (huPrP) is related to GSS type of TSE diseases. Its pathogenic mechanism is still
      unclear. We here studied the globular domain of this mutant protein by molecular
      dynamics simulations. Compared to the wide-type protein, the mutant has similar
      dynamics and stability profiles in our simulation. Conformational rearrangements
      are concentrated around the mutation site, due to the introduction the positively
      charged side chain of Arg187. The strong electrostatic repulsion between Arg156
      and Arg187 drives both side chains away from their original positions, leaving
      its hydrophobic core to be solvent accessible. Such a unfavorable conformational
      change may destabilize the mutant protein and make it more susceptible to
      unfolding.

PMID- 20919752
TI  - Homology modeling of Cry10Aa toxin from B. thuringiensis israelensis and B.
      thuringiensis subsp. LDC-9.
AB  - A three dimensional model was developed for Cry10Aa protein sequence of B.
      thuringiensis LDC-9 and B. thuringiensis israelensis that has not been solved
      empirically by X-ray crystallography or NMR. Homology modeling was employed for
      the structure prediction using Cry2Aa as template protein, a high-resolution X
      ray crystallography structure. The model predicted for the B. thuringiensis LDC-9
      Cry10Aa protein reveals a partial N-terminal domain only due to its partial
      sequence of 104 amino acids. B. thuringiensis israelensis Cry10Aa model contains
      three domains such as domain I, a bundle of eight alpha helices with the central
      relatively hydrophobic helix surrounded by amphipathic helices while domain II
      and III contain mostly beta-sheets. Significant structural differences within
      domain II in this model among all Cry protein structures indicates that it is
      involved in recognition and binding to cell surfaces. Comparison of B.
      thuringiensis israelensis predicted structure with available experimentally
      determined Cry structures reveals identical folds. The distribution of
      electrostatic potential on the surface of the molecules in the model is non
      uniform and identifies one side of the alpha-helical domain as negatively charged
      indicating orientation of toxic molecules toward the cell membrane during the
      initial binding with a cell surface receptor. The collective knowledge of Cry
      toxin structures will lead to a more critical understanding of the structural
      basis for receptor binding and pore formation, as well as allowing the scope of
      diversity to be better appreciated. This model will serve as a starting point for
      the design of mutagenesis experiments aimed to improve the toxicity and to
      provide a new tool for the elucidation of the mechanism of action of these
      mosquitocidal proteins.

PMID- 20919753
TI  - Homology modeling and docking studies of human Bcl-2L10 protein.
AB  - Cancer, an unrestrained proliferation of cells, is one of the lead cause of
      death. Nearly 12.5 million people are diagnosed with cancer worldwide, 7.5
      million people die of which 2.5 million cases are from India. Major cause for
      cancer is restriction of programmed cell death (apoptosis). Multiple signaling
      pathways regulate apoptosis. Bcl-2 (B - Cell Lymphomas-2) family proteins play a
      vital role as central regulators of apoptosis. Bcl-2L10, a novel anti-apoptotic
      protein, blocks apoptosis by mitochondrial dependent mechanism. The present study
      evaluates the 3D structure of Bcl-2L10 protein using homology modeling and aims
      to understand plausible functional and binding interactions between Bcl-2L10 with
      BH3 domain of BAX using protein - protein docking. The docking studies show
      binding of BH3 domain at Lys 110, Trp-111, Pro-115, Glu-119 and Asp-127 in the
      groove of BH 1, 2 and 3 domains of Bcl-2L10. Heterodimerization of anti-apoptotic
      Bcl-2 and BH3 domain of pro-apoptotic Bcl-2 proteins instigates apoptosis.
      Profound understanding of Bcl-2 pathway may prove useful in identification of
      future therapeutic targets for cancer.

PMID- 20919754
TI  - Influence of the acetylcholinesterase active site protonation on omega loop and
      active site dynamics.
AB  - Existence of alternative entrances in acetylcholinesterase (AChE) could explain
      the contrast between the very high AChE catalytic efficiency and the narrow and
      long access path to the active site revealed by X-ray crystallography.
      Alternative entrances could facilitate diffusion of the reaction products or at
      least water and ions from the active site. Previous molecular dynamics
      simulations identified side door and back door as the most probable alternative
      entrances. The simulations of non-inhibited AChE suggested that the back door
      opening events occur only rarely (0.8% of the time in the 10ns trajectory). Here
      we present a molecular dynamics simulation of non-inhibited AChE, where the back
      door opening appears much more often (14% of the time in the 12ns trajectory) and
      where the side door opening was observed quite frequently (78% of trajectory
      time). We also present molecular dynamics, where the back door does not open at
      all, or where large conformational changes of the AChE omega loop occur together
      with alternative passage opening events. All these differences in AChE dynamical
      behavior are caused by different protonation states of two glutamate residues
      located on bottom of the active site gorge (Glu202 and G450 in Mus musculus
      AChE). Our results confirm the results of previous molecular dynamics
      simulations, expand the view and suggest the probable reasons for the overall
      conformational behavior of AChE omega loop.

PMID- 20919755
TI  - SMpred: a support vector machine approach to identify structural motifs in
      protein structure without using evolutionary information.
AB  - Knowledge of three dimensional structure is essential to understand the function
      of a protein. Although the overall fold is made from the whole details of its
      sequence, a small group of residues, often called as structural motifs, play a
      crucial role in determining the protein fold and its stability. Identification of
      such structural motifs requires sufficient number of sequence and structural
      homologs to define conservation and evolutionary information. Unfortunately,
      there are many structures in the protein structure databases have no homologous
      structures or sequences. In this work, we report an SVM method, SMpred, to
      identify structural motifs from single protein structure without using sequence
      and structural homologs. SMpred method was trained and tested using 132 proteins
      domains containing 581 motifs. SMpred method achieved 78.79% accuracy with 79.06%
      sensitivity and 78.53% specificity. The performance of SMpred was evaluated with
      MegaMotifBase using 188 proteins containing 1161 motifs. Out of 1161 motifs,
      SMpred correctly identified 1503 structural motifs reported in MegaMotifBase.
      Further, we showed that SMpred is useful approach for the length deviant
      superfamilies and single member superfamilies. This result suggests the
      usefulness of our approach for facilitating the identification of structural
      motifs in protein structure in the absence of sequence and structural homologs.
      The dataset and executable for the SMpred algorithm is available at
      http://www3.ntu.edu.sg/home/EPNSugan/index_files/SMpred.htm.

PMID- 20919756
TI  - The MBLOSUM: a server for deriving mutation targets and position-specific
      substitution rates.
AB  - To facilitate mutagenesis study, it is necessary to be able to derive mutation
      targets and associated substitution rates in the sequence of interest regardless
      of the availability of corresponding structure. It is also important to obtain
      these data depending on the specific aims of the mutation process. The MBLOSUM
      server determines candidate positions for mutations and derives position-specific
      substitution rates given only a protein sequence. Different sets of complete
      genomes collected according to their phylogeny or specificity of environments
      along with compete set of non-redundant sequences can be used in calculations
      depending on the experimental task. MBLOSUM server is available at:
      http://apps.cbu.uib.no/mblosum.

PMID- 20919757
TI  - Conformational analysis of genotoxic benzo[a]pyrene-7,8-dione-duplex DNA adducts
      using a molecular dynamics method (II).
AB  - The conformations of the benzo[a]pyrene-7,8-quinone (BPQ) modified
      oligonucleotide were investigated using molecular dynamic simulation. In the
      initial structures, the central guanine base was modified with BPQ resulting in
      the formation of four structurally distinguishable 10-(N2-deoxyguanosyl)-9,10
      dihydro-9-hydroxy benzo[a]pyrene-7,8-dione adducts (BPQ-G3,4). Each of the
      oligonucleotide adduct consisted of two conformers, namely syn and anti
      conformations, depending on the rotation around the glycosidic bond between BPQ
      and the guanine base. The results revealed that the BPQ moiety was located in the
      major groove for all four syn conformers. The relative energies of these
      conformers were high, and the backbone largely deviated from the B-form. On the
      other hand, BPQ was located in the minor groove with relatively low energies, and
      backbone was retained in all of the anti conformer cases. The most conceivable
      BPQ-modified double stranded oligonucleotide structure was proposed from the
      energy calculation and the structural analysis.

PMID- 20919758
TI  - RNA stability under different combinations of amber force fields and solvation
      models.
AB  - The proper matching of force field and solvent is critical to obtain correct
      result in molecular dynamics simulation of bio-molecules. This problem has been
      intensively investigated for protein but not for RNA yet. In this paper, we use
      standard molecular dynamics and replica exchange molecular dynamics to take a
      series of tests on the RNA stability under different combinations of Amber force
      field parameters (ff98, ff99 and ff99bsc0) and the general Born implicit solvent
      models (igb1, igb2 and igb5). It is found that only ff98 and ff99bsc0 with igb1
      can keep the native conformations of RNA hairpin and duplex. Our results suggest
      that ff98 plus igb1 may be reasonable choice for molecular dynamics simulation of
      RNA dynamics.

PMID- 20919759
TI  - Family and individual factors associated with substance involvement and PTS
      symptoms among adolescents in greater New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study examined the influence of hurricane impact as well as
      family and individual risk factors on posttraumatic stress (PTS) symptoms and
      substance involvement among clinically referred adolescents affected by Hurricane
      Katrina. METHOD: A total of 80 adolescents (87% male; 13-17 years old; mean age =
      15.6 years; 38% minorities) and their parents were interviewed at the
      adolescent's intake into substance abuse treatment, 16 to 46 months postdisaster.
      Independent measures included hurricane impact variables (initial loss/disruption
      and perceived life threat); demographic and predisaster variables (family income,
      gender, predisaster adolescent substance use, predisaster trauma exposure, and
      parental substance abuse); postdisaster family factors (parental psychopathology,
      family cohesion, and parental monitoring); and postdisaster adolescent
      delinquency. RESULTS: Hierarchical multivariate regression analyses showed that
      adolescent substance involvement was associated with higher family income, lower
      parental monitoring (adolescent report), and more adolescent delinquency.
      Adolescent-reported PTS symptoms were associated with greater hurricane-related
      initial loss/disruption, lower family cohesion (adolescent report), and more
      adolescent delinquency, whereas parent-reported adolescent PTS symptoms were
      associated with greater parental psychopathology, lower parental monitoring
      (adolescent report), and lower family cohesion (parent report). CONCLUSIONS: The
      results suggest that hurricane impact was related only to adolescent-reported
      PTS. However, certain postdisaster family and individual risk factors (low family
      cohesion and parental monitoring, more adolescent delinquency) were associated
      both with adolescent substance involvement and with PTS symptoms. Identification
      of these factors suggests directions for future research as well as potential
      target areas for screening and intervention with substance-abusing adolescents
      after disasters.

PMID- 20919760
TI  - The Treatment Advocacy Program: a randomized controlled trial of a peer-led safer
      sex intervention for HIV-infected men who have sex with men.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Primary care may be an effective venue for delivering behavioral
      interventions for sexual safety among HIV-positive men who have sex with men
      (MSM); however, few studies show efficacy for such an approach. We tested the
      efficacy of the Treatment Advocacy Program (TAP), a 4-session, primary-care
      based, individual counseling intervention led by HIV-positive MSM "peer
      advocates" in reducing unprotected sex with HIV-negative or unknown partners (HIV
      transmission risk). METHOD: We randomized 313 HIV-positive MSM to TAP or standard
      care. HIV transmission risk was assessed at baseline, 6 months, and 12 months
      (251 participants completed all study waves). We conducted intent-to-treat
      analyses using general estimating equations to test the interaction of group (TAP
      vs. standard care) by follow-up period. RESULTS: At study completion, TAP
      participants reported greater transmission risk reduction than did those
      receiving standard care, chi2(2, N = 249) = 6.6, p = .04. Transmission risk among
      TAP participants decreased from 34% at baseline to about 20% at both 6 and 12
      months: Transmission risk ranged from 23% to 25% among comparison participants.
      CONCLUSIONS: TAP reduced transmission risk among HIV-positive MSM, although
      results are modest. Many participants and peer advocates commented favorably on
      the computer structure of the program. We feel that the key elements of TAP
      computer-based and individually tailored session content, delivered by peers, in
      the primary care setting-warrant further exploration.

PMID- 20919761
TI  - Naming from definition, semantic relevance and feature type: the effects of aging
      and Alzheimer's disease.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The principal aim of the present study was to evaluate the impact of
      semantic relevance and feature type on the ability to name from definition.
      METHOD: Thirty-two normal young subjects (Study 1) and 20 probable Alzheimer's
      disease patients (pAD) with 20 matched older controls (Study 2) were tested with
      verbal definitions consisting of 4 features, combining feature type (sensory vs.
      nonsensory) and semantic relevance (high vs. low). The subjects were asked to
      provide a name corresponding to the definition and to select which individual
      features they considered most important in justifying their answer. RESULTS:
      Feature selection results showed that high-relevance features first (d = 2.13 in
      Study 1; d = 1.44 in Study 2) and nonsensory features second (d = 0.81 in Study
      1; d = 0.36 in Study 2) were the main dimensions driving correct performance.
      Overall, naming performance was affected by the age of acquisition (AoA) of the
      concept, and differences between the groups in all measures were mainly
      quantitative. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that semantic relevance and
      feature type are important feature dimensions in conceptual representation and in
      conceptual access and retrieval. Moreover, results suggest that the former
      dimension may be more important than the latter, at least in the case of naming
      from definition. Finally, these results extend previous findings with other
      tasks, supporting the importance of AoA for correct performance and suggesting
      that the poorer performance of pAD patients on semantic tasks may represent an
      exaggeration of difficulties found also in normal older subjects.

PMID- 20919762
TI  - Deficits in emotional and social cognition in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: These studies investigated whether non-demented ALS patients display
      impairments on tests of emotional decision making and social and emotional
      cognition, sensitive to frontal variant Frontotemporal Dementia (fvFTD). Previous
      studies have shown predominant executive dysfunction and dorsolateral prefrontal
      involvement in ALS, but evidence of other prefrontal dysfunction implicated in
      fvFTD is sparse. METHOD: In Study A, 19 ALS patients and 20 healthy controls
      undertook a test of affective decision making, modified Iowa Gambling Task (IGT).
      Behavioral measures included the Frontal Systems Behavior Scale. In Study B, 14
      ALS patients and 20 controls undertook tests of social and emotional cognition
      (Judgment of Preference based on eye gaze, the Mind in the Eyes, recognition of
      Facial Expressions of Emotion). RESULTS: In Study A, ALS patients demonstrated a
      significantly different performance profile from healthy controls on the IGT and
      did not learn to avoid the disadvantageous stimuli (Block 3, d = 0.60, Block 4
      days = 0.68). Behavior ratings showed increased apathy from premorbid levels. In
      Study B, ALS patients were impaired on attentionally demanding (d = 3.12) and
      undemanding (d = 7.52) conditions of the Judgment of Preference task, despite
      many showing intact executive functions. A smaller subset showed impaired emotion
      recognition. Behavior change was also evident. CONCLUSIONS: The findings reveal a
      Theory of Mind deficit on a simple test that was dissociated from the presence of
      executive dysfunction and suggests a profile of cognitive and behavioral
      dysfunction indicative of a subclinical fvFTD syndrome. The relative contribution
      of prefrontal pathways to the cognitive profile in ALS is considered.

PMID- 20919763
TI  - Task switching performance reveals heterogeneity amongst patients with mild
      cognitive impairment.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess executive function in patients with mild cognitive
      impairment (MCI) and to determine whether task switching ability is associated
      with transition to Alzheimer's disease. METHODS: Twenty-seven MCI patients and 19
      older controls were tested using a cued letter-digit classification switching
      task. Sixteen patients could perform the task (MCI-able), 6 could not (MCI
      unable), and 5 were able only with cognitive support (MCI-cue). Demographic,
      neuropsychological, event-related potential (ERP), MRI, and genetic data were
      also collected. RESULTS: The four groups did not differ on age, gender, and APO
      E4 frequency. Compared to the controls, the MCI-unable group had significantly
      poorer performance on the Trail Making task (eta2 = .430), lower education (eta2
      = .234), and smaller cortical volume (eta2 = .245). Most MCI patients exhibited
      task-switching deficits but to vastly different degrees and with varying
      outcomes. The combined pattern of neuropsychological and task switching
      performance indicates that the MCI-able patients displayed memory retrieval
      difficulties (F(2,39) = 3.6, p = .036, MSE = 1.44), generally preserved task
      switching abilities, and had a high probability of remaining dementia-free at
      follow-up. The MCI-cue patients had increased mixing costs, F(2,39) = 11.0, p <
      .001, MSE = .07; the MCI-unable patients showed episodic memory deficits, and
      both groups had a high probability of poor outcome (i.e., developing AD or dying
      within four years). CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates that variability in
      performance on measures of task-switching can highlight important heterogeneity
      in the MCI population.

PMID- 20919765
TI  - Neuromotor outcomes at school age after extremely low birth weight: early
      detection of subtle signs.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Motor impairments are prevalent in children born at extremely low
      birth weight (ELBW; <1,000 g). Rarely studied are subtle motor deficits that
      indicate dysfunction or delay in neural systems critical for optimal cognitive,
      academic, and behavioral function. We aimed to examine quantifiable signs of
      subtle neuromotor dysfunction in an early school-aged ELBW cohort that
      coincidentally had age-appropriate cognition and design copying. METHOD: We
      studied 97 participants born between 1998 and 2001; 74 ELBW (6.7 years +/- 0.75)
      compared with 23 term-born (6.6 years +/- 0.29). Neuromotor outcomes were
      assessed using the Physical and Neurological Examination of Subtle Signs-Revised,
      and measures of dexterity/coordination and visual-motor integration. RESULTS:
      ELBW participants performed worse than term-born on design-copying and dexterity,
      were age-appropriate compared to normative data, and had slower timed movements
      and more subtle overflow movements. Those ELBW born <26 weeks performed most
      poorly compared with those born 26-34 weeks and term-born. CONCLUSION: Subtle
      motor dysfunctions are detectable and quantifiable in ELBW children by school
      age, even in the presence of average cognition. Early age assessment of
      incoordination, motor speed, and overflow movements should aid initiation of
      timely therapies to prepare at-risk ELBW children for subsequent school entry and
      facilitate design of optimal early treatment strategies.

PMID- 20919764
TI  - Enhanced facilitation of spatial attention in schizophrenia.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: While attentional functions are usually found to be impaired in
      schizophrenia, a review of the literature on the orienting of spatial attention
      in schizophrenia suggested that voluntary attentional orienting in response to a
      valid cue might be paradoxically enhanced. We tested this hypothesis with
      orienting tasks involving the cued detection of a laterally presented target
      stimulus. METHOD: Subjects were chronic schizophrenia patients (SZ) and matched
      healthy control subjects (HC). In Experiment 1 (15 SZ, 16 HC), cues were
      endogenous (arrows) and could be valid (100% predictive) or neutral with respect
      to the subsequent target position. In Experiment 2 (16 SZ, 16 HC), subjects
      performed a standard orienting task with unpredictive exogenous cues (brightening
      of the target boxes). RESULTS: In Experiment 1, SZ showed a larger attentional
      facilitation effect on reaction time than HC. In Experiment 2, no clear sign of
      enhanced attentional facilitation was found in SZ. CONCLUSIONS: The voluntary,
      facilitatory shifting of spatial attention may be relatively enhanced in
      individuals with schizophrenia in comparison to healthy individuals. This effect
      bears resemblance to other relative enhancements of information processing in
      schizophrenia such as saccade speed and semantic priming.

PMID- 20919766
TI  - Spatial location memory discriminates children born at extremely low birth weight
      and late-preterm at age three.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The spatial location memory of preschool-aged children born preterm
      has rarely been studied primarily due to an absence of developmentally sensitive
      measures. This study aimed to address this gap in the literature. METHOD: We
      administered a modification of the Hopkins Board to 135 children at age 3 who
      were born extremely low birth weight (ELBW) (n = 20), late-preterm (LPT) (n =
      75), or at term (TERM) (n = 40). Five measures were obtained: naming, trials-to
      criterion, errors-to-criterion, delayed item recall, and delayed location recall.
      RESULTS: ANCOVA indicated that the groups differed in naming (p = .019), errors
      to-criterion (p = .002), and delayed item recall (p = .025). For these measures,
      ELBW performed worse than TERM and LPT, but LPT did not differ from TERM.
      Corrected age and sociodemographic factors did not eliminate the deficit in
      spatial location learning for ELBW participants. A MANCOVA found a significant
      difference in learning, with post hoc tests indicating significant learning
      across trials in the LPT and TERM groups, but not in the ELBW group. CONCLUSIONS:
      ELBW is a significant risk factor for developmental delay or impairment of
      spatial location learning. These findings suggest that the modified Hopkins Board
      identifies at-risk premature children. This modification may be more broadly
      useful to assess preschoolers' neurodevelopmental maturation.

PMID- 20919767
TI  - Recovery of time estimation following moderate to severe traumatic brain injury.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Accurate time estimation abilities are thought to play an important
      role in efficient performance of many daily activities. This study investigated
      the role of episodic memory in the recovery of time estimation abilities
      following moderate to severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). METHOD: Using a
      prospective verbal time estimation paradigm, TBI participants were tested in the
      early phase of recovery from TBI and then again approximately one year later.
      Verbal time estimations were made for filled intervals both within (i.e., 10 s,
      25 s) and beyond (i.e., 45 s 60 s) the time frame of working memory. RESULTS: At
      baseline, when compared to controls, the TBI group significantly underestimated
      time durations at the 25 s, 45 s and 60 s intervals, indicating that the TBI
      group perceived less time as having passed than actually had passed. At follow
      up, despite the presence of continued episodic memory impairment and little
      recovery in episodic memory performance, the TBI group exhibited estimates of
      time passage that were similar to controls. CONCLUSION: The pattern of data was
      interpreted at suggesting that episodic memory performance did not play a
      noteworthy role in the recovery of temporal perception in TBI participants.

PMID- 20919768
TI  - Neurocognitive signs in prodromal Huntington disease.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: PREDICT-HD is a large-scale international study of people with the
      Huntington disease (HD) CAG-repeat expansion who are not yet diagnosed with HD.
      The objective of this study was to determine the stage in the HD prodrome at
      which cognitive differences from CAG-normal controls can be reliably detected.
      METHOD: For each of 738 HD CAG-expanded participants, we computed estimated years
      to clinical diagnosis and probability of diagnosis in 5 years based on age and
      CAG-repeat expansion number (Langbehn, Brinkman, Falush, Paulsen, & Hayden,
      2004). We then stratified the sample into groups: NEAR, estimated to be <=9
      years; MID, between 9 and 15 years; and FAR, >=15 years. The control sample
      included 168 CAG-normal participants. Nineteen cognitive tasks were used to
      assess attention, working memory, psychomotor functions, episodic memory,
      language, recognition of facial emotion, sensory-perceptual functions, and
      executive functions. RESULTS: Compared with the controls, the NEAR group showed
      significantly poorer performance on nearly all of the cognitive tests and the MID
      group on about half of the cognitive tests (p = .05, Cohen's d NEAR as large as 
      1.17, MID as large as -0.61). One test even revealed significantly poorer
      performance in the FAR group (Cohen's d = -0.26). Individual tasks accounted for
      0.2% to 9.7% of the variance in estimated proximity to diagnosis. Overall, the
      cognitive battery accounted for 34% of the variance; in comparison, the Unified
      Huntington's Disease Rating Scale motor score accounted for 11.7%. CONCLUSIONS:
      Neurocognitive tests are robust clinical indicators of the disease process prior
      to reaching criteria for motor diagnosis of HD.

PMID- 20919769
TI  - Subjective cognitive complaints and longitudinal changes in memory and brain
      function.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Subjective cognitive complaints are often used in the diagnosis of
      memory and other cognitive impairment. This study examined whether cognitive
      complaints are associated with longitudinal changes in cognition and cross
      sectional differences in regional brain function during memory performance in 98
      participants with a mean age of 75. METHOD: The Cognitive Failures Questionnaire
      (CFQ) assessed cognitive complaints and mixed effects regression models were used
      to determine whether mean CFQ scores predicted rates of change in cognitive
      function over a period of 11.5 years. RESULTS: Higher CFQ scores, reflecting
      increased subjective complaints, were associated with steeper rates of decline in
      immediate and delayed recall on the California Verbal Learning Test. Voxel-based
      regression analysis was used to determine the cross-sectional relationship
      between CFQ scores and regional cerebral blood flow measured by PET during a
      resting condition and during verbal and figural memory tasks. Higher levels of
      cognitive complaints were associated with increased activity in insular, lingual
      and cerebellar areas during memory tasks. CONCLUSIONS: These findings offer some
      support for the validity of subjective cognitive complaints as markers of age
      related changes in memory and brain activity.

PMID- 20919770
TI  - Further validation of the MMPI-2 and MMPI-2-RF Response Bias Scale: findings from
      disability and criminal forensic settings.
AB  - The present study extends the validation of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality
      Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) and the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2
      Restructured Form (MMPI-2-RF) Response Bias Scale (RBS; R. O. Gervais, Y. S. Ben
      Porath, D. B. Wygant, & P. Green, 2007) in separate forensic samples composed of
      disability claimants and criminal defendants. Using cognitive symptom validity
      tests as response bias indicators, the RBS exhibited large effect sizes (Cohen's
      ds = 1.24 and 1.48) in detecting cognitive response bias in the disability and
      criminal forensic samples, respectively. The scale also added incremental
      prediction to the traditional MMPI-2 and the MMPI-2-RF overreporting validity
      scales in the disability sample and exhibited excellent specificity with
      acceptable sensitivity at cutoffs ranging from 90T to 120T. The results of this
      study indicate that the RBS can add uniquely to the existing MMPI-2 and MMPI-2-RF
      validity scales in detecting symptom exaggeration associated with cognitive
      response bias.

PMID- 20919771
TI  - The risk-taking and self-harm inventory for adolescents: development and
      psychometric evaluation.
AB  - In this study, we report on the development and psychometric evaluation of the
      Risk-Taking (RT) and Self-Harm (SH) Inventory for Adolescents (RTSHIA), a self
      report measure designed to assess adolescent RT and SH in community and clinical
      settings. 651 young people from secondary schools in England ranging in age from
      11.6 years to 18.7 years and 71 young people referred to mental health services
      for SH behavior in London between the ages of 11.9 years and 17.5 years completed
      the RTSHIA along with standardized measures of adolescent psychopathology. Two
      factors emerged from the principal axis factoring, and RT and SH were further
      validated by a confirmatory factor analysis as related, but different,
      constructs, rather than elements of a single continuum. Inter-item and test
      retest reliabilities were high for both components (Cronbach's alpha = .85, ru =
      .90; Cronbach's alpha .93, ru = .87), and considerable evidence emerged in
      support of the measure's convergent, concurrent, and divergent validity. The
      findings are discussed with regard to potential usefulness of the RTSHIA for
      research and clinical purposes with adolescents.

PMID- 20919772
TI  - How leaders self-regulate their task performance: evidence that power promotes
      diligence, depletion, and disdain.
AB  - When leaders perform solitary tasks, do they self-regulate to maximize their
      effort, or do they reduce effort and conserve their resources? Our model suggests
      that power motivates self-regulation toward effective performance-unless the task
      is perceived as unworthy of leaders. Our 1st studies showed that power improves
      self-regulation and performance, even when resources for self-regulation are low
      (ego depletion). Additional studies showed that leaders sometimes disdain tasks
      they deem unworthy, by withholding effort (and therefore performing poorly).
      Ironically, during ego depletion, leaders skip the appraisal and, therefore, work
      hard regardless of task suitability, so that depleted leaders sometimes
      outperform nondepleted ones. Our final studies replicated these patterns with
      different tasks and even with simple manipulation of framing and perception of
      the same task (Experiment 5). Experiment 4 also showed that the continued high
      exertion of leaders when depleted takes a heavy toll, resulting in larger
      impairments later. The judicious expenditure of self-control resources among
      powerful people may help them prioritize their efforts to pursue their goals
      effectively.

PMID- 20919773
TI  - The effect of negative performance stereotypes on learning.
AB  - Stereotype threat (ST) research has focused exclusively on how negative group
      stereotypes reduce performance. The present work examines if pejorative
      stereotypes about women in math inhibit their ability to learn the mathematical
      rules and operations necessary to solve math problems. In Experiment 1, women
      experiencing ST had difficulty encoding math-related information into memory and,
      therefore, learned fewer mathematical rules and showed poorer math performance
      than did controls. In Experiment 2, women experiencing ST while learning modular
      arithmetic (MA) performed more poorly than did controls on easy MA problems; this
      effect was due to reduced learning of the mathematical operations underlying MA.
      In Experiment 3, ST reduced women's, but not men's, ability to learn abstract
      mathematical rules and to transfer these rules to a second, isomorphic task. This
      work provides the first evidence that negative stereotypes about women in math
      reduce their level of mathematical learning and demonstrates that reduced
      learning due to stereotype threat can lead to poorer performance in negatively
      stereotyped domains.

PMID- 20919774
TI  - Mere social categorization modulates identification of facial expressions of
      emotion.
AB  - The ability of the human face to communicate emotional states via facial
      expressions is well known, and past research has established the importance and
      universality of emotional facial expressions. However, recent evidence has
      revealed that facial expressions of emotion are most accurately recognized when
      the perceiver and expresser are from the same cultural ingroup. The current
      research builds on this literature and extends this work. Specifically, we find
      that mere social categorization, using a minimal-group paradigm, can create an
      ingroup emotion-identification advantage even when the culture of the target and
      perceiver is held constant. Follow-up experiments show that this effect is
      supported by differential motivation to process ingroup versus outgroup faces and
      that this motivational disparity leads to more configural processing of ingroup
      faces than of outgroup faces. Overall, the results point to distinct processing
      modes for ingroup and outgroup faces, resulting in differential identification
      accuracy for facial expressions of emotion.

PMID- 20919776
TI  - Motivated information processing, social tuning, and group creativity.
AB  - The extent to which groups are creative has wide implications for their overall
      performance, including the quality of their problem solutions, judgments, and
      decisions. To further understanding of group creativity, we integrate the
      motivated information processing in groups model (De Dreu, Nijstad, & Van
      Knippenberg, 2008) with work on epistemic social tuning (Lunn, Sinclair,
      Whitchurch, & Glenn, 2007). Three propositions were advanced: (a) Groups produce
      more ideas when members have high rather than low epistemic motivation,
      especially when members also have a prosocial rather than pro-self motivation;
      (b) these ideas are more original, appropriate, or feasible when a group norm
      favors originality, appropriateness, or feasibility; and (c) originality is
      valued more in individualistic cultures (e.g., the Netherlands), whereas
      appropriateness is valued more in collectivist cultures (e.g., Korea). Four
      studies involving 3-person groups generating ideas supported these propositions:
      Epistemic motivation (mild vs. intense time pressure; presence vs. absence of
      process accountability) stimulated production and originality, especially when
      prosocial rather than pro-self motives were present and participants were Dutch
      or originality norms were experimentally primed. When appropriateness norms were
      primed or participants were Korean, epistemic motivation stimulated production
      and appropriateness, especially when prosocial rather than pro-self motives were
      present. We discuss implications for research on group processes and for work on
      culture and creativity.

PMID- 20919777
TI  - A joke is just a joke (except when it isn't): cavalier humor beliefs facilitate
      the expression of group dominance motives.
AB  - Past research reveals preferences for disparaging humor directed toward disliked
      others. The group-dominance model of humor appreciation introduces the hypothesis
      that beyond initial outgroup attitudes, social dominance motives predict
      favorable reactions toward jokes targeting low-status outgroups through a subtle
      hierarchy-enhancing legitimizing myth: cavalier humor beliefs (CHB). CHB
      characterizes a lighthearted, less serious, uncritical, and nonchalant approach
      toward humor that dismisses potential harm to others. As expected, CHB
      incorporates both positive (affiliative) and negative (aggressive) humor
      functions that together mask biases, correlating positively with prejudices and
      prejudice-correlates (including social dominance orientation [SDO]; Study 1).
      Across 3 studies in Canada, SDO and CHB predicted favorable reactions toward
      jokes disparaging Mexicans (low-status outgroup). Neither individual difference
      predicted neutral (nonintergroup) joke reactions, despite the jokes being equally
      amusing and more inoffensive overall. In Study 2, joke content targeting
      Mexicans, Americans (high-status outgroup), and Canadians (high-status ingroup)
      was systematically controlled. Although Canadians preferred jokes labeled as anti
      American overall, an underlying subtle pattern emerged at the individual
      difference level: Only those higher in SDO appreciated those jokes labeled as
      anti-Mexican (reflecting social dominance motives). In all studies, SDO predicted
      favorable reactions toward low-status outgroup jokes almost entirely through
      heightened CHB, a subtle yet potent legitimatizing myth that "justifies"
      expressions of group dominance motives. In Study 3, a pretest-posttest design
      revealed the implications of this justification process: CHB contributes to
      trivializing outgroup jokes as inoffensive (harmless), subsequently contributing
      to postjoke prejudice. The implications for humor in intergroup contexts are
      considered.

PMID- 20919778
TI  - Generalization versus contextualization in automatic evaluation.
AB  - Research has shown that automatic evaluations can be highly robust and difficult
      to change, highly malleable and easy to change, and highly context dependent. We
      tested a representational account of these disparate findings, which specifies
      the conditions under which automatic evaluations reflect (a) initially acquired
      information, (b) subsequently acquired, counterattitudinal information, or (c) a
      mixture of both. The account postulates that attention to contextual cues during
      the encoding of evaluative information determines whether this information is
      stored in a context-free representation or a contextualized representation. To
      the extent that attention to context cues is low during the encoding of initial
      information but is enhanced by exposure to expectancy-violating
      counterattitudinal information, initial experiences are stored in context-free
      representations, whereas counterattitudinal experiences are stored in
      contextualized representations. Hence, automatic evaluations tend to reflect the
      valence of counterattitudinal information only in the context in which this
      information was learned (occasion setting) and the valence of initial experiences
      in any other context (renewal effect). Four experiments confirmed these
      predictions, additionally showing that (a) the impact of initial experiences was
      reduced for automatic evaluations in novel contexts when context salience during
      the encoding of initial information was enhanced, (b) context effects were
      eliminated altogether when context salience during the encoding of
      counterattitudinal information was reduced, and (c) enhanced context salience
      during the encoding of counterattitudinal information produced context-dependent
      automatic evaluations even when there was no contingency between valence and
      contextual cues. Implications for automatic evaluation, learning theory, and
      interventions in applied settings are discussed.

PMID- 20919780
TI  - Why additional presentations help identify a stimulus.
AB  - Nosofsky (1983) reported that additional stimulus presentations within a trial
      increase discriminability in absolute identification, suggesting that each
      presentation creates an independent stimulus representation, but it remains
      unclear whether exposure duration or the formation of independent representations
      improves discrimination in such conditions. Experiment 1 replicated Nosofsky's
      result. Experiments 2 (masking the ISI between two-presentations) and 3
      (manipulating stimulus duration without changing number of presentations or
      overall trial duration) ruled out an explanation in terms of extended
      opportunities for stimulus sampling, from either a sensory buffer during
      additional ISIs or increased stimulus exposure, respectively. Experiment 4
      (comparing two and three-presentations, other factors controlled) provided some
      limited additional support for Nosofsky's original claim that additional stimulus
      presentations can create either independent or duplicate representations.
      Experiments 5 and 6 (both manipulating ISI) demonstrated that a key factor in the
      additional stimulus presentation effect is the overall trial duration. We discuss
      the results in relation to models of absolute identification, their relative
      emphasis on stimulus sampling versus response selection, and the mechanisms by
      which duplicate representations could be created.

PMID- 20919779
TI  - Surprise-induced blindness: a stimulus-driven attentional limit to conscious
      perception.
AB  - The cost of attending to a visual event can be the failure to consciously detect
      other events. This processing limitation is well illustrated by the attentional
      blink paradigm, in which searching for and attending to a target presented in a
      rapid serial visual presentation stream of distractors can impair one's ability
      to detect a second target presented soon thereafter. The attentional blink
      critically depends on 'top-down' attentional settings, for it does not occur if
      participants are asked to ignore the first target. Here we show that 'bottom-up'
      attention can also lead to a profound but ephemeral deficit in conscious
      perception: Presentation of a novel, unexpected, and task-irrelevant stimulus
      virtually abolishes conscious detection of a target presented within half a
      second after the 'Surprise' stimulus, but only for its earliest occurrences
      (generally 1 to 2 presentations). This powerful but short-lived deficit contrasts
      with a milder but more enduring form of attentional capture that accompanies
      singleton presentations in rapid serial visual presentations. We conclude that
      the capture of stimulus-driven attention alone can limit explicit perception.

PMID- 20919781
TI  - The role of relational information in contingent capture.
AB  - On the contingent capture account, top-down attentional control settings restrict
      involuntary attentional capture to items that match the features of the search
      target. Attention capture is involuntary, but contingent on goals and intentions.
      The observation that only target-similar items can capture attention has usually
      been taken to show that the content of the attentional control settings consists
      of specific feature values. In contrast, the present study demonstrates that the
      top-down target template can include information about the relationship between
      the target and nontarget features (e.g., redder, darker, larger). Several spatial
      cuing experiments show that a singleton cue that is less similar to the target
      but that shares the same relational property that distinguishes targets from
      nontargets can capture attention to the same extent as cues that are similar to
      the target. Moreover, less similar cues can even capture attention more than cues
      that are identical to the target when they are relationally better than identical
      cues. The implications for current theories of attentional capture and
      attentional guidance are discussed.

PMID- 20919782
TI  - Assessing the concreteness of relational representation.
AB  - Research has shown that people's ability to transfer abstract relational
      knowledge across situations can be heavily influenced by the concrete objects
      that fill relational roles. This article provides evidence that the concreteness
      of the relations themselves also affects performance. In 3 experiments,
      participants viewed simple relational patterns of visual objects and then
      identified these same patterns under a variety of physical transformations.
      Results show that people have difficulty generalizing to novel concrete forms of
      abstract relations, even when objects are unchanged. This suggests that stimuli
      are initially represented as concrete relations by default. In the 2nd and 3rd
      experiments, the number of distinct concrete relations in the training set was
      increased to promote more abstract representation. Transfer improved for novel
      concrete relations but not for other transformations such as object substitution.
      Results indicate that instead of automatically learning abstract relations,
      people's relational representations preserve all properties that appear
      consistently in the learning environment, including concrete objects and concrete
      relations.

PMID- 20919783
TI  - Hierarchical control and skilled typing: evidence for word-level control over the
      execution of individual keystrokes.
AB  - Routine actions are commonly assumed to be controlled by hierarchically organized
      processes and representations. In the domain of typing theories, word-level
      information is assumed to activate the constituent keystrokes required to type
      each letter in a word. We tested this assumption directly using a novel single
      letter probe technique. Subjects were primed with a visual or auditory word or a
      visually presented random consonant string and then probed to type a single
      letter from the prime or another randomly selected letter. Relative to randomly
      selected letters, probe responses were speeded for first, middle, and last
      letters contained in visual and auditory word primes but not for middle and last
      letters contained in random consonant primes. This suggests that word-level
      information causes parallel activation of constituent keystrokes, consistent with
      hierarchical processing. The role of hierarchical processing in typing and
      routine action is discussed.

PMID- 20919784
TI  - Effects of iconicity and semantic relatedness on lexical access in american sign
      language.
AB  - Iconicity is a property that pervades the lexicon of many sign languages,
      including American Sign Language (ASL). Iconic signs exhibit a motivated,
      nonarbitrary mapping between the form of the sign and its meaning. We
      investigated whether iconicity enhances semantic priming effects for ASL and
      whether iconic signs are recognized more quickly than noniconic signs are
      (controlling for strength of iconicity, semantic relatedness, familiarity, and
      imageability). Twenty deaf signers made lexical decisions to the 2nd item of a
      prime-target pair. Iconic target signs were preceded by prime signs that were (a)
      iconic and semantically related, (b) noniconic and semantically related, or (c)
      semantically unrelated. In addition, a set of noniconic target signs was preceded
      by semantically unrelated primes. Significant facilitation was observed for
      target signs when they were preceded by semantically related primes. However,
      iconicity did not increase the priming effect (e.g., the target sign PIANO was
      primed equally by the iconic sign GUITAR and the noniconic sign MUSIC). In
      addition, iconic signs were not recognized faster or more accurately than were
      noniconic signs. These results confirm the existence of semantic priming for sign
      language and suggest that iconicity does not play a robust role in online lexical
      processing.

PMID- 20919785
TI  - Paradoxical effects of testing: retrieval enhances both accurate recall and
      suggestibility in eyewitnesses.
AB  - Although retrieval practice typically enhances memory retention, it can also
      impair subsequent eyewitness memory accuracy (Chan, Thomas, & Bulevich, 2009).
      Specifically, participants who had taken an initial test about a witnessed event
      were more likely than nontested participants to recall subsequently encountered
      misinformation-an effect we called retrieval-enhanced suggestibility (RES). Here,
      we sought to test the generality of RES and to further elucidate its underlying
      mechanisms. To that end, we tested a dual mechanism account, which suggests that
      RES occurs because initial testing (a) enhances learning of the later
      misinformation by reducing proactive interference and (b) causes the reactivated
      memory trace to be more susceptible to later interference (i.e., a
      reconsolidation account). Three major findings emerged. First, RES was found
      after a 1-week delay, where a robust testing benefit occurred for event details
      that were not contradicted by later misinformation. Second, blockage of
      reconsolidation was unnecessary for RES to occur. Third, initial testing enhanced
      learning of the misinformation even when proactive interference played a minimal
      role.

PMID- 20919786
TI  - The influence of consistency, frequency, and semantics on learning to read: an
      artificial orthography paradigm.
AB  - Two experiments explored learning, generalization, and the influence of semantics
      on orthographic processing in an artificial language. In Experiment 1, 16 adults
      learned to read 36 novel words written in novel characters. Posttraining,
      participants discriminated trained from untrained items and generalized to novel
      items, demonstrating extraction of individual character sounds. Frequency and
      consistency effects in learning and generalization showed that participants were
      sensitive to the statistics of their learning environment. In Experiment 2, 32
      participants were preexposed to the sounds of all items (lexical phonology) and
      to novel definitions for half of these items (semantics). Preexposure to either
      lexical phonology or semantics boosted the early stages of orthographic learning
      relative to Experiment 1. By the end of training, facilitation was restricted to
      the semantic condition and to items containing low-frequency inconsistent vowels.
      Preexposure reduced generalization, suggesting that enhanced item-specific
      learning was achieved at the expense of character-sound abstraction. The authors'
      novel paradigm provides a new tool to explore orthographic learning. Although the
      present findings support the idea that semantic knowledge supports word reading
      processes, they also suggest that item-specific phonological knowledge is
      important in the early stages of learning to read.

PMID- 20919787
TI  - Can I trust you? Negative affective priming influences social judgments in
      schizophrenia.
AB  - Successful social interactions rely on the ability to make accurate judgments
      based on social cues as well as the ability to control the influence of internal
      or external affective information on those judgments. Prior research suggests
      that individuals with schizophrenia misinterpret social stimuli and this
      misinterpretation contributes to impaired social functioning. We tested the
      hypothesis that for people with schizophrenia, social judgments are abnormally
      influenced by affective information. Twenty-three patients with schizophrenia and
      35 healthy control participants rated the trustworthiness of faces following the
      presentation of neutral, negative (threat-related), or positive affective primes.
      Results showed that all participants rated faces following negative affective
      primes as less trustworthy than faces following neutral or positive primes.
      Importantly, this effect was significantly more pronounced for participants with
      schizophrenia, suggesting that schizophrenia may be characterized by an
      exaggerated influence of negative affective information on social judgment.
      Furthermore, the extent that the negative affective prime influenced
      trustworthiness judgments was significantly associated with patients' severity of
      positive symptoms, particularly feelings of persecution. These findings suggest
      that for people with schizophrenia, negative affective information contributes to
      an interpretive bias, consistent with paranoid ideation, when judging the
      trustworthiness of others. This bias may contribute to social impairments in
      schizophrenia.

PMID- 20919789
TI  - Challenges associated with a polythetic diagnostic system: criteria combinations
      in the personality disorders.
AB  - Converging research on the diagnostic criteria for personality disorders (PDs)
      reveals that most criteria have different psychometric properties. This finding
      is inconsistent with the PD diagnostic system according to the Diagnostic and
      Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.; American Psychiatric
      Association, 1994), which weights each criterion equally. The purpose of the
      current study was to examine the potential effects of using equal weights for
      differentially functioning criteria. Data from over 2,100 outpatients were used
      to analyze and score response patterns to the diagnostic criteria for 9 PDs
      within an item response theory framework. Results indicated that combinations
      that included the same number of endorsed criteria yielded differing estimates of
      PD traits, depending on which criteria were met. Moreover, trait estimates from
      subthreshold criteria combinations often overlapped with diagnostic (at-threshold
      or higher) combinations, indicating that there were subthreshold combinations of
      criteria that indicated as much or more PD than did some combinations at the
      diagnostic threshold. These results suggest that counting the number of criteria
      an individual meets provides only a coarse estimation of his or her PD trait
      level. Implications for the assessment of polythetically defined mental disorders
      and for the PD proposal for the 5th edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical
      Manual of Mental Disorders are discussed.

PMID- 20919788
TI  - Developmental trajectories of delinquency symptoms in childhood: the role of
      marital conflict and autonomic nervous system activity.
AB  - Trajectories of delinquency symptoms across middle and late childhood were
      examined through latent growth modeling, with a focus on the role of interactions
      among parental marital conflict, child sex, and multiple indices (baseline,
      reactivity) of either parasympathetic nervous system activity, indexed by
      respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), or sympathetic nervous system activity,
      indexed by skin conductance level (SCL), as predictors of growth. At Time 1, 128
      girls and 123 boys (mean age = 8.23 yrs +/- 0.73) and their parents participated.
      The sample comprised 64% European American and 36% African American children.
      Families participated in second and third waves of data collection with a 1-year
      lag between each wave. Interactions among marital conflict, sex, baseline RSA,
      and RSA reactivity from baseline to a frustrating lab task were significant
      predictors of growth in delinquent behavior from age 8 to age 10, with overall
      patterns indicating increasing symptoms for boys who lived in high-conflict homes
      and had an RSA response profile comprising lower RSA during the baseline and RSA
      augmentation (increase from baseline to the frustrating task). Furthermore,
      increases in delinquency symptoms over time were observed for children from high
      conflict homes and with an SCL profile characterized by higher baseline levels
      and lower reactivity (less pronounced SCL increases from baseline) to the
      frustrating task. Findings highlight the importance of contemporaneous
      assessments of resting and reactivity levels when examining relations among the
      environment, physiological functioning, and psychopathology. Results are
      discussed in the context of interactions between biology and environment as
      relevant to the development of psychopathology.

PMID- 20919791
TI  - Effects of organizational citizenship behaviors on selection decisions in
      employment interviews.
AB  - This article reports on an experiment examining the effects of job candidates'
      propensity to exhibit organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) on selection
      decisions made in the context of a job interview. We developed videos that
      manipulated candidate responses to interview questions tapping task performance
      and citizenship behavior content in 2 administrative positions. Results obtained
      from 480 undergraduates provided support for our hypotheses that job candidates
      who exhibited higher levels of helping, voice, and loyalty behaviors were
      generally rated as more competent, received higher overall evaluations, and
      received higher salary recommendations than job candidates who exhibited lower
      levels of these behaviors. These effects held even after taking into account
      candidate responses regarding task performance. We also found that candidate
      responses to OCB-related questions tended to have a greater effect on selection
      decisions for the higher level position (supervisor of administrative personnel)
      than for the lower level one (administrative assistant). Finally, content
      analyses of open-ended responses indicated that participants' selection decisions
      were particularly sensitive to candidates who exhibited low levels of voice and
      helping behaviors. Implications and future research are discussed.

PMID- 20919790
TI  - Mediators of aggression among young adult offspring of depressed mothers.
AB  - The current article explores the connection between maternal depression and
      offspring aggression during the transition to adulthood, expanding the scope of
      prior research on this topic. Both family-level factors (including parent-child
      relationship quality and maternal romantic relationship quality) and youth
      factors (including depression history and social functioning in midadolescence)
      were tested as potential mediators in a longitudinal community sample of 710
      youth at ages 15 and 20. The results suggest that maternal depression confers a
      risk for higher levels of aggressive behavior by offspring at age 20. Structural
      equation models suggested that the association between maternal depression and
      youth aggression is fully mediated by youth history of depression by
      midadolescence, even when accounting for the stability of aggression between ages
      15 and 20. Parent-child relationship quality, youth social functioning, and
      maternal relationship quality were not unique mediators of this association.
      Limitations and implications are discussed.

PMID- 20919792
TI  - The power of "we": effects of psychological collectivism on team performance over
      time.
AB  - We examined the influences of different facets of psychological collectivism
      (Preference, Reliance, Concern, Norm Acceptance, and Goal Priority) on team
      functioning at 3 different performance depictions: initial team performance, end
      state team performance, and team performance change over time. We also tested the
      extent to which team-member exchange moderated the relationships between facets
      of psychological collectivism and performance change over time. Results from
      multilevel growth modeling of 66 teams (N = 264) engaged in a business simulation
      revealed differential effects across facets of psychological collectivism and
      across different performance measurements. Whereas facets concerned with
      affiliation (Preference and Concern) were positively related to initial team
      performance, reliance was negatively related to initial team performance. Goal
      Priority was a strong predictor of end-state performance. Team-member exchange
      moderated the relationship between performance change and 3 of the 5 facets of
      psychological collectivism (Preference, Reliance, Norm Acceptance). Implications
      for team composition and team training are discussed.

PMID- 20919793
TI  - Unraveling the daily stress crossover between unemployed individuals and their
      employed spouses.
AB  - This study examined the dynamic relationship of distress levels between spouses
      when one is unemployed (and looking for a job) while the other is engaged in full
      time employment. Using the diary survey method, we sampled 100 couples in China
      for 10 days and tested a model comprising three stress crossover mechanisms: the
      direct crossover, the mediating crossover, and the common stressor mechanisms.
      Results supported the direct crossover and common stressor mechanisms. Other
      stressors (e.g., work-family conflict and negative job search experience) were
      also related to distress of the unemployed individuals and their employed
      spouses. Additionally, we found a three-way interaction involving gender, marital
      satisfaction, and distress levels of employed spouses. We discuss how the study
      contributes to the unemployment and stress crossover literatures.

PMID- 20919794
TI  - Reconsidering vocational interests for personnel selection: the validity of an
      interest-based selection test in relation to job knowledge, job performance, and
      continuance intentions.
AB  - Although vocational interests have a long history in vocational psychology, they
      have received extremely limited attention within the recent personnel selection
      literature. We reconsider some widely held beliefs concerning the (low) validity
      of interests for predicting criteria important to selection researchers, and we
      review theory and empirical evidence that challenge such beliefs. We then
      describe the development and validation of an interests-based selection measure.
      Results of a large validation study (N = 418) reveal that interests predicted a
      diverse set of criteria-including measures of job knowledge, job performance, and
      continuance intentions-with corrected, cross-validated Rs that ranged from .25 to
      .46 across the criteria (mean R = .31). Interests also provided incremental
      validity beyond measures of general cognitive aptitude and facets of the Big Five
      personality dimensions in relation to each criterion. Furthermore, with a couple
      exceptions, the interest scales were associated with small to medium subgroup
      differences, which in most cases favored women and racial minorities. Taken as a
      whole, these results appear to call into question the prevailing thought that
      vocational interests have limited usefulness for selection.

PMID- 20919795
TI  - Updating the trainability tests literature on Black-White subgroup differences
      and reconsidering criterion-related validity.
AB  - A number of applied psychologists have suggested that trainability test Black
      White ethnic group differences are low or relatively low (e.g., Siegel & Bergman,
      1975), though data are scarce. Likewise, there are relatively few estimates of
      criterion-related validity for trainability tests predicting job performance (cf.
      Robertson & Downs, 1989). We review and clarify the existing (and limited)
      literature on Black-White group differences on trainability tests, provide new
      trainability test data from a recent video-based trainability exam, and present
      archival data about how trainability test scores relate to cognitive ability,
      Black-White differences, and job performance. Consistent with hypotheses, our
      results suggest large correlations of trainability tests with cognitive ability
      (e.g., .80) and larger standardized ethnic group differences than previously
      thought (ds of 0.86, 1.10, and 1.21 for 3 samples). Results also suggest that
      trainability tests have higher validity than previously thought. Overall, our
      analysis provides a substantial amount of data to update our understanding of the
      use of trainability tests in personnel selection.

PMID- 20919797
TI  - Maternal work early in the lives of children and its distal associations with
      achievement and behavior problems: a meta-analysis.
AB  - This meta-analysis of 69 studies (1,483 effect sizes) used random effects models
      to examine maternal employment during infancy/early childhood in relation to 2
      major domains of child functioning: achievement and behavior problems. Analyses
      of studies that spanned 5 decades indicated that, with a few exceptions, early
      employment was not significantly associated with later achievement or
      internalizing/externalizing behaviors. The exceptions were for teacher ratings of
      achievement and internalizing behaviors: Employment was associated with higher
      achievement and fewer internalizing behaviors. Substantial heterogeneity among
      the effect sizes prompted examination of moderators. Sample-level moderator
      analyses pointed to the importance of socioeconomic and contextual variables,
      with early employment most beneficial when families were challenged by single
      parenthood or welfare status. Maternal employment during Years 2 and 3 was
      associated with higher achievement. Some moderator analyses indicated negative
      effects of employment for middle-class and 2-parent families and for very early
      employment (child's first year). Associations also differed depending on whether
      effect sizes were adjusted for contextual variables. Only 1 study-level moderator
      (sex of first author) was significant after adjusting for other moderators. The
      small effect size and primarily nonsignificant results for main effects of early
      maternal employment should allay concerns about mothers working when children are
      young. However, negative findings associated with employment during the child's
      first year are compatible with calls for more generous maternal leave policies.
      Results highlight the importance of social context for identifying under which
      conditions and for which subgroups early maternal employment is associated with
      positive or negative child outcomes.

PMID- 20919798
TI  - Prevention of malathion-induced depletion of cardiac cells mitochondrial energy
      and free radical damage by a magnetic magnesium-carrying nanoparticle.
AB  - The present work was designed to examine the effect of a new (25)Mg(2+)-carrying
      nanoparticle (PMC16) on energy and oxidative stress parameters inside the heart
      of the rats exposed to acute mild toxic dose of malathion, a widely used
      organophosphate. Post a single intraperitoneal (ip) injection of malathion (0.25
      of LD50), PMC16 at different doses (0.05, 0.1, and 0.2 of LD50) was administered
      intravenously (iv) as a supplement to standard therapy of atropine and
      pralidoxime. MgSO(4) was used as another supplement for comparison with PMC16.
      Oxidative stress biomarkers including lipid peroxidation (LPO) and reactive
      oxygen species (ROS), antioxidant enzymes including superoxide dismutase (SOD),
      glutathione peroxidase (GPx), catalase (CAT), ATP/ADP ratio, and Mg in the
      cardiac cells were determined. Results indicated a significant increase in LPO,
      ROS, ADP/ATP ratio, and a decrease in Mg post-malathion poisoning in comparison
      to controls. All of these parameters were improved by use of standard therapy
      either with MgSO4 or various doses of PMC16. The activities of SOD, CAT, and GPx
      did not change significantly in the present acute malathion poisoning model and
      neither MgSO(4) or PMC16 had no considerable improvement on these parameters.
      Comparing groups that received normal Mg and those of various doses of PMC16, a
      significant difference was found with the PMC16 (0.2 LD50) group. PMC16 0.2
      reduced cardiac cells LPO and ROS of Mal-exposed animals rather than that of
      MgSO4. PMC16 0.2 was also significantly better than MgSO(4) in improving MAL
      induced changes in ADP/ATP ratio and also intracellular Mg levels. This study
      illustrates that malathion-induced cardiac cells toxicity is improved by
      administration of Mg as a result of increasing cardiac ATP through active
      transport of Mg inside the cells. Finally, the results of this study support
      positive effects of this magnetic Mg nanoparticle carrier but do not confirm its
      absolute efficacy that remains to be explored by further tests in different
      animal models and organs before moving to a phase I human trial.

PMID- 20919799
TI  - Partition coefficients for nonane and its isomers in the rat.
AB  - Jet Fuel 8 (JP-8) is a major fuel source used by US and NATO military. JP-8 is a
      complex mixture of aliphatic and aromatic isomers of hydrocarbons. Tissue/blood
      partition coefficient (PC) values are chemical-specific parameters used in
      modeling the kinetic behavior of chemicals. The partition coefficient values for
      n-alkanes tend to increase with the increasing carbon number, but less is known
      about the trend for isomers of n-alkanes. PC values were obtained for the n
      alkane nonane (C9) and five of its isomers, namely 3-methyloctane, 4
      ethylheptane, 2,3-dimethylheptane, 2,2,4-trimethylhexane, 2,2,4,4
      tetramethylpentane. The blood:air and tissue:air PC values correlated with the
      published log octanol/water (O:W) PC values for n-nonane and its isomers.
      Experimentally determined blood:air and tissue:air PC values for n-nonane with
      the largest O:W value were greatest and smallest for the isomer 2,2,4,4
      tetramethylpentane with the lowest O:W value. As expected the fat tissue had the
      highest PC values and muscle the lowest for n-nonane and its isomers. For each
      tissue, a linear relationship was observed between the tissue/blood PC values for
      the isomers of n-nonane and n-nonane. This suggests that tissue/blood PC values
      for all isomers of an alkane could be estimated using data collected from only a
      sub-set of alkanes of equal carbon number. These reported tissue/blood PC values
      will support the development of a jet fuel physiologically-based pharmacokinetic
      (PBPK) model.

PMID- 20919800
TI  - Targeting B cells with biologics in systemic lupus erythematosus.
AB  - IMPORTANCE OF THE FIELD: The use of biologics as immune modulators in several
      autoimmune diseases has provided new tools to the physician's therapeutic
      armamentiarium and has led to improved patients' outcomes and quality of life. By
      producing autoantibodies, B cells in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) are key
      players in the pathogenesis of the disease and in its clinical manifestations.
      Therefore, biologics that target B cells in SLE aim at reducing the activity of
      these cells for the induction of remissions and/or amelioration of disease
      activity, reduction of organ involvement, and limitation of the complications and
      side effects caused by immunosuppressive therapies. AREAS COVERED IN THIS REVIEW:
      This review describes the past and current clinical trials with B-cell-targeted
      biologics in SLE, to provide a historical perspective and the state-of-the-art on
      the topic. WHAT THE READER WILL GAIN: We review how the disappointment in the
      field from promising agents has been instrumental in providing valuable lessons
      leading to an improved design of new trials that are now giving encouraging
      results. TAKE HOME MESSAGE: In systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), the use of B
      cell-based biologics in clinical trials has shown both disappointment and
      promise.

PMID- 20919801
TI  - Comparison of extracellular striatal acetylcholine and brain seizure activity
      following acute exposure to the nerve agents cyclosarin and tabun in freely
      moving guinea pigs.
AB  - Organophosphorus nerve agents like cyclosarin and tabun are potent cholinesterase
      inhibitors. The inhibition of acetylcholinesterase, which is responsible for
      breaking down acetylcholine (ACh) at the synapse and neuromuscular junction,
      leads to a build-up of extracellular ACh and a series of toxic consequences
      including hypersecretion, tremor, convulsion/seizure, respiratory distress, coma,
      and death. This study employed simultaneous and continuous
      electroencephalographic recording and striatal microdialysis collection for
      quantification of ACh changes (via subsequent HPLC analysis) during acute
      exposure to a 1.0 * LD(50) subcutaneous dose of either cyclosarin or tabun to
      investigate differences in cholinergic and behavioral effects. Information about
      the unique mechanisms and consequences of different nerve agents is intended to
      aid in the development of broad-spectrum medical countermeasures for nerve
      agents. At the dose administered, non-seizure and sustained seizure responses
      were observed in both agent groups and in the tabun-exposed group some subjects
      experienced an unsustained seizure response. Significant extracellular ACh
      increases were only observed in seizure groups. Cyclosarin and tabun were found
      to exhibit some unique cholinergic and ictogenic characteristics. Lethality only
      occurred in subjects experiencing sustained seizure, and there was no difference
      in lethality between agent groups that progressed to sustained seizure.

PMID- 20919802
TI  - Comment and reply on: Atorvastatin: safety and tolerability. Statins and
      polymyositis: a neglected link?

PMID- 20919804
TI  - Comparative study of a barbed suture, poliglecaprone and stapler in Pfannenstiel
      incisions performed for benign gynecological procedures: a randomized trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare a novel barbed suture, poliglecaprone-25 suture and stapler
      in Pfannenstiel incisions performed for benign gynecological procedures. DESIGN:
      A randomized controlled non-inferiority trial with randomization in a 1:1:1
      ratio. SETTING: Istanbul Dr. Lutfi Kirdar Kartal Research and Training Hospital,
      Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. POPULATION: Patients between 18 and 45
      years of age without prior lower abdominal incision and undergoing Pfannenstiel
      incisions for benign gynecological procedures. METHODS: A total of 117 female
      patients randomized into barbed (n = 39), poliglecaprone-25 (n = 39) and stapler
      (n = 39) groups according to suture type. Skin closure techniques were compared
      in terms of length of incision (cm), adverse events (wound dehiscence, incisional
      infection, seroma and hematoma), subjective pain scores, patient satisfaction and
      postoperative scar cosmesis. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES. The difference between three
      suture materials in terms of postoperative incision pain, patient satisfaction
      and scar cosmesis. RESULTS: Skin closure techniques were similar in terms of
      length of incision (cm), adverse events and pain scores and Modified Hollander
      Cosmesis Score. Barbed (p < 0.001) and poliglecaprone-25 (p < 0.01) sutures were
      significantly better than staplers in terms of patient satisfaction. CONCLUSION:
      The three different methods of skin closure revealed comparable outcome except
      for a significant superiority of sutures to the stapler method in terms of
      patient satisfaction scores.

PMID- 20919803
TI  - Production latencies of morphologically simple and complex verbs in aphasia.
AB  - There are several accounts of why some individuals with post-stroke aphasia
      experience difficulty in producing morphologically complex verbs. Although a
      majority of these individuals also produce syntactically flawed utterances, at
      least two accounts focus on word-level encoding operations. One account proposes
      a difficulty with rule-governed affixation, predicting that verbs without affixes
      (stems and irregular past) should be produced with ease. The second account
      emphasises the contribution of phonological encoding, noting that morphological
      complexity is often confounded by phonological complexity. The present study
      investigated the effect of morphological complexity (presence vs. absence of
      affixes) on verb production when phonological complexity and lexical frequency
      was controlled. A novel delayed repetition paradigm was used, accuracy and
      latency of production were the dependent measures. Data from nine agrammatic
      aphasic and nine unimpaired participants revealed no effects of morphological
      complexity, but a significant effect of frequency on production latency. The
      results indicate that morphological complexity plays little role, if any, in
      production difficulty, at least for this experimental task and this group of non
      apraxic agrammatic aphasic individuals. A difficulty in usage of contextually
      appropriate verb inflections, rather than in morphophonological encoding, is
      suggested.

PMID- 20919805
TI  - Patterns of stuttering in a Spanish/English bilingual: A case report.
AB  - Stuttering patterns may differ when comparing two languages. In bilinguals,
      specific patterns of stuttering in each one of the languages may potentially be
      found. This study reports on the case of a 27-year-old Spanish/English
      simultaneous bilingual whose dominant language is English. Speech and language
      testing was performed in both languages (language repetition, language
      understanding, vocabulary, reading, verbal fluency, spontaneous speech and
      conversational speech). Some differences in the stuttering distribution were
      found: stuttering in adjectives, adverbs and conjunctions occurred at least twice
      as much in Spanish as in English; stuttering was also more frequent in verbs in
      Spanish. Some hypotheses are presented to explain the differences in stuttering
      severity in both languages. It seems that when comparing stuttering in two
      different languages in the same subject, it is possible to find similarities in
      the stuttering pattern, suggesting general stuttering laws; but also differences,
      associated not only with language-specific idiosyncrasies but also with the
      individual's bilingualism characteristics.

PMID- 20919807
TI  - Prevalence of overweight and obesity among Portuguese youth: a study in a
      representative sample of 10-18-year-old children and adolescents.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of this research was to report the prevalence of overweight and
      obesity in a representative sample of Portuguese youth. METHODS: This was a
      school-based study performed in Portugal. A total of 22 048 children and
      adolescents aged 10-18 years were included in the study. The World Health
      Organization (WHO) and the International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) cut-offs were
      used to categorise overweight and obese participants. RESULTS: Using IOTF cut
      offs the prevalence of overweight and obesity was 17.0 and 4.6% in girls, and
      17.7 and 5.8% in boys, respectively (p < 0.001 for overweight and p > 0.05 for
      obesity), whereas WHO cut-offs resulted in overweight and obesity prevalence
      scores of 23.1 and 9.6% in girls, and 20.4 and 10.3% in boys, respectively (p <
      0.001 for overweight and p >0.05 for obesity). With IOTF cut-offs, a lower
      prevalence of obesity and overweight was observed at higher ages, in both
      genders. With the WHO cut-offs, a lower prevalence of obesity and overweight was
      observed at higher ages, in boys. In girls, the prevalence of overweight and
      obesity increases from 10 to 12 years of age and decreases from the age of 13 to
      18 years. CONCLUSION: The prevalence for overweight/obesity among Portuguese
      children and adolescents vary according to the cut-off points used and are also
      of concern requiring strategies to promote healthy weight gain among children and
      adolescents.

PMID- 20919806
TI  - Obesity is associated with impaired cardiac autonomic modulation in children.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To examine the cross-sectional association between measurements of
      obesity and subclinical impairment of cardiac autonomic modulation (CAM) in a
      population-based sample of children. METHODS: Data from 616 grade K-5 children
      randomly selected from Central Pennsylvania were utilized. Obesity was defined
      using the International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) age- and sex-specific cut-off
      criteria and classified as normal weight, overweight, and obese. CAM was measured
      by heart rate variability (HRV) analysis of beat-to-beat RR intervals, including
      time domain measures i.e., the standard deviation of all RR intervals (SDNN), the
      square root of the mean of the sum of squares of differences between adjacent RR
      intervals (RMSSD), and mean heart rate (HR); and frequency domain measures i.e.,
      high frequency power (HF), low frequency power (LF), and LF/HF ratio. RESULTS:
      The prevalence of obesity and overweight in children was 12.3%, and 16.5%,
      respectively. Age, race, sex, and sleep disorder breathing (SDB) adjusted means
      (standard error, SE) of SDNN were 98 (1.24), 90.2 (2.58), and 81.9 (3.03)
      milliseconds (ms) in normal weight, overweight, and obese groups, respectively;
      and that for (log) HF were 6.83 (0.04), 6.56 (0.08), and 6.35 (0.09) ms(2),
      respectively. Comparing the magnitude of effects from body mass index (BMI),
      weight, and height percentiles, and waist circumference on HRV indices revealed
      that body weight was the strongest correlate of HRV indices. CONCLUSION:
      Childhood obesity is significantly associated with lower HRV, indicative of
      sympathetic overflow unopposed by parasympathetic modulation. These findings
      support the need to target childhood-obesity before traditional "high risk age"
      for cardiac events.

PMID- 20919808
TI  - Intraarticular location predicts cartilage filling and subchondral bone changes
      in a chondral defect.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The natural history of, and predictive factors for
      outcome of cartilage restoration in chondral defects are poorly understood. We
      investigated the natural history of cartilage filling subchondral bone changes,
      comparing defects at two locations in the rabbit knee. ANIMALS AND METHODS: In
      New Zealand rabbits aged 22 weeks, a 4-mm pure chondral defect (ICRS grade 3b)
      was created in the patella of one knee and in the medial femoral condyle of the
      other. A stereo microscope was used to optimize the preparation of the defects.
      The animals were killed 12, 24, and 36 weeks after surgery. Defect filling and
      the density of subchondral mineralized tissue was estimated using Analysis Pro
      software on micrographed histological sections. RESULTS: The mean filling of the
      patellar defects was more than twice that of the medial femoral condylar defects
      at 24 and 36 weeks of follow-up. There was a statistically significant increase
      in filling from 24 to 36 weeks after surgery at both locations. The density of
      subchondral mineralized tissue beneath the defects subsided with time in the
      patellas, in contrast to the density in the medial femoral condyles, which
      remained unchanged. INTERPRETATION: The intraarticular location is a predictive
      factor for spontaneous filling and subchondral bone changes of chondral defects
      corresponding to ICRS grade 3b. Disregarding location, the spontaneous filling
      increased with long-term follow-up. This should be considered when evaluating
      aspects of cartilage restoration.

PMID- 20919809
TI  - Competing risks survival analysis applied to data from the Australian Orthopaedic
      Association National Joint Replacement Registry.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The Kaplan-Meier (KM) method is often used in the
      analysis of arthroplasty registry data to estimate the probability of revision
      after a primary procedure. In the presence of a competing risk such as death, KM
      is known to overestimate the probability of revision. We investigated the degree
      to which the risk of revision is overestimated in registry data. PATIENTS AND
      METHODS: We compared KM estimates of risk of revision with the cumulative
      incidence function (CIF), which takes account of death as a competing risk. We
      considered revision by (1) prosthesis type in subjects aged 75-84 years with
      fractured neck of femur (FNOF), (2) cement use in monoblock prostheses for FNOF,
      and (3) age group in patients undergoing total hip arthroplasty (THA) for
      osteoarthritis (OA). RESULTS: In 5,802 subjects aged 75-84 years with a monoblock
      prosthesis for FNOF, the estimated risk of revision at 5 years was 6.3% by KM and
      4.3% by CIF, a relative difference (RD) of 46%. In 9,821 subjects of all ages
      receiving an Austin Moore (non-cemented) prosthesis for FNOF, the RD at 5 years
      was 52% and for 3,116 subjects with a Thompson (cemented) prosthesis, the RD was
      79%. In 44,365 subjects with a THA for OA who were less than 70 years old, the RD
      was just 1.4%; for 47,430 subjects > 70 years of age, the RD was 4.6% at 5 years.
      INTERPRETATION: The Kaplan-Meier method substantially overestimated the risk of
      revision compared to estimates using competing risk methods when the risk of
      death was high. The bias increased with time as the incidence of the competing
      risk of death increased. Registries should adopt methods of analysis appropriate
      to the nature of their data.

PMID- 20919810
TI  - Alteration of the material properties of the normal supraspinatus tendon by
      nicotine treatment in a rat model.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Several studies have shown that nicotine has a
      detrimental effect on the development of rotator cuff tear. However, little is
      known about its mechanism. We evaluated the effect of nicotine on the maximum
      tensile load, the maximum tensile stress, and the elastic modulus of the
      supraspinatus tendon in a rat model. METHODS: 27 rats were randomly assigned to 3
      groups. Subcutaneously implanted osmotic pumps delivered two different
      concentrations of nicotine solution (high dose: 45 ng/mL; low dose: 22.5 ng/mL)
      or saline solution (controls) over a 12-week period. The level of serum cotinine,
      a breakdown product of nicotine, was evaluated. We performed tensile testing
      using the left supraspinatus tendon in each rat. The maximum load of the
      supraspinatus tendon was measured, and the maximum tensile stress and elastic
      modulus were calculated. RESULTS: Serum cotinine levels showed controlled
      systemic release of nicotine. The maximum tensile load and stress were similar in
      the three groups. The elastic modulus was, however, higher in the nicotine groups
      than in the control group. INTERPRETATION: In a rat model, nicotine caused a
      change in the material properties of the supraspinatus tendon. This change may
      predispose to a tear in the supraspinatus tendon.

PMID- 20919811
TI  - Stem torsion in total hip replacement.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The clinical results of THR may be improved by correct
      femoral torsion. We evaluated the stem position by postoperative CT examination
      in 60 patients. METHODS: 60 patients requiring total hip arthroplasty were
      prospectively enrolled in this study. Minimally invasive THR was performed
      (anterior approach) in a lateral decubitus position and each patient underwent a
      postoperative CT examination. The position of the stem was evaluated by an
      independent external institution. RESULTS: Stem torsion ranged from - 19 degrees 
      retrotorsion to 33 degrees  antetorsion. Normal antetorsion (i.e 10-15 degrees 
      according to Tonnis) was present in 5 of 60 patients, so the prevalence of
      abnormal stem antetorsion was 92% (95% CI: 82-97). We found a stem antetorsion
      outside the range of 0-25 degrees  in 21 of 60 hips. Women had a higher mean stem
      antetorsion (8.0 degrees  (SD 11)) than men (1.5 degrees  (SD 10)).
      INTERPRETATION: Postoperative stem antetorsion shows a high variability and is
      gender-related. We suggest precise assessment of stem antetorsion
      intraoperatively by means of computer navigation, preparing the femur first. In
      abnormal stem antetorsion, the cup position can be adjusted using a combined
      anteversion concept; alternatively, modular femoral components or stems with
      retroverted or anteverted necks ("retrostem") could be used.

PMID- 20919812
TI  - Inferior outcome after hip resurfacing arthroplasty than after conventional
      arthroplasty. Evidence from the Nordic Arthroplasty Register Association (NARA)
      database, 1995 to 2007.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The reported outcomes of hip resurfacing arthroplasty
      (HRA) vary. The frequency of this procedure in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden is
      low. We therefore determined the outcome of HRA in the NARA database, which is
      common to all 3 countries, and compared it to the outcome of conventional total
      hip arthroplasty (THA). METHODS: The risk of non-septic revision within 2 years
      was analyzed in 1,638 HRAs and compared to that for 172,554 conventional total
      hip arthroplasties (THAs), using Cox regression models. We calculated relative
      risk (RR) of revision and 95% confidence interval. RESULTS: HRA had an almost 3
      fold increased revision risk compared to THA (RR = 2.7, 95% CI:1.9-3.7). The
      difference was even greater when HRA was compared to the THA subgroup of cemented
      THAs (RR = 3.8, CI: 2.7-5.3). For men below 50 years of age, this difference was
      less pronounced (HRA vs. THA: RR = 1.9, CI: 1.0-3.9; HRA vs. cemented THA: RR =
      2.4, CI: 1.1-5.3), but it was even more pronounced in women of the same age group
      (HRA vs. THA: RR = 4.7, CI: 2.6-8.5; HRA vs. cemented THA: RR = 7.4, CI: 3.7-15).
      Within the HRA group, risk of non-septic revision was reduced in hospitals
      performing >= 70 HRAs annually (RR = 0.3, CI: 0.1-0.7) and with use of Birmingham
      hip resurfacing (BHR) rather than the other designs as a group (RR = 0.3, CI: 0.1
      0.7). Risk of early revision was also reduced in males (RR = 0.5, CI: 0.2-0.9).
      The femoral head diameter alone had no statistically significant influence on the
      early revision rate, but it eliminated the significance of male sex in a combined
      analysis. INTERPRETATION: In general, our results do not support continued use of
      hip resurfacing arthroplasty. Men had a lower early revision rate, which was
      still higher than observed for all-cemented hips. Further follow-up is necessary
      to determine whether HRA might be useful as an alternative in males.

PMID- 20919813
TI  - The role of mucosal flaps in external dacryocystorhinostomy.
AB  - PURPOSE: To determine whether a mucosal anastomosis fashioned at the time of
      external dacryocystorhinostomy (DCR) influences postoperative outcome. METHODS:
      The clinical records of all patients who underwent external DCR at Sydney Eye
      Hospital between May 2000 and August 2007 were reviewed. Data were collected in
      regards to surgical technique, clinical outcomes and postoperative management.
      Chi-square statistical analysis was done to determine the significance of the
      different flap techniques on surgical success. RESULTS: A total of 260 medical
      records were reviewed. The main outcome measure was postoperative resolution of
      symptoms. The mean final follow-up time was 11 months. There was no statistically
      significant difference in outcome between patients who had both anterior and
      posterior flaps sutured, compared to those who had anterior flap sutures only
      (73% vs 79%, p = 0.51). Patients who had no sutured flaps had an overall success
      rate of 89% compared to those that had at least the anterior flaps sutured
      together (76%); this difference was not significant (p = 0.45). CONCLUSION: There
      was no statistical difference in symptom outcome between patients in whom both
      mucosal flaps were sutured, those who had only the anterior flap sutured, or
      those who did not have either flap sutured at the time of surgery.

PMID- 20919814
TI  - Graves' orbitopathy and oxidative stress.

PMID- 20919815
TI  - Low risk of thromboembolic complications after fast-track hip and knee
      arthroplasty.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Pharmacological prophylaxis can reduce the risk of deep
      venous thrombosis (DVT), pulmonary embolism (PE), and death, and it is
      recommended 10-35 days after total hip arthroplasty (THA) and at least 10 days
      after total knee arthroplasty (TKA). However, early mobilization might also
      reduce the risk of DVT and thereby the need for prolonged prophylaxis, but this
      has not been considered in the previous literature. Here we report our results
      with short-duration pharmacological prophylaxis combined with early mobilization
      and reduced hospitalization. PATIENTS AND METHODS: 1,977 consecutive, unselected
      patients were operated with primary THA, TKA, or bilateral simultaneous TKA
      (BSTKA) in a well-described standardized fast-track set-up from 2004-2008.
      Patients received DVT prophylaxis with low-molecular-weight heparin starting 6-8
      h after surgery until discharge. All re-admissions and deaths within 30 and 90
      days were analyzed using the national health register, concentrating especially
      on clinical DVT (confirmed by ultrasound and elevated D-dimer), PE, or sudden
      death. Numbers were correlated to days of prophylaxis (LOS). RESULTS: The mean
      LOS decreased from 7.3 days in 2004 to 3.1 days in 2008. 3 deaths (0.15%) were
      associated with clotting episodes and overall, 11 clinical DVTs (0.56%) and 6 PEs
      (0.30%) were found. The vast majority of events took place within 30 days; only 1
      death and 2 DVTs occurred between 30 and 90 days. During the last 2 years (854
      patients), when patients were mobilized within 4 h postoperatively and the
      duration of DVT prophylaxis was shortest (1-4 days), the mortality was 0% (95%
      CI: 0-0.5). Incident cases of DVT in TKA was 0.60% (CI: 0.2-2.2), in THA it was
      0.51% (CI: 0.1-1.8), and in BSTKA it was 0% (CI: 0-2.9). Incident cases of PE in
      TKA was 0.30% (CI: 0.1-1.7), in THA it was 0% (CI: 0-1.0), and in BSTKA it was 0%
      (CI: 0-2.9). INTERPRETATION: The risk of clinical DVT, and of fatal and non-fatal
      PE after THA and TKA following a fast-track set-up with early mobilization, short
      hospitalization, and short duration of DVT prophylaxis compares favorably with
      published regimens with extended prophylaxis (up to 36 days) and hospitalization
      up to 11 days. This calls for a reconsideration of optimal duration of chemical
      thromboprophylaxis.

PMID- 20919816
TI  - Incidence of low-grade infection in aseptic loosening of total hip arthroplasty.
AB  - PURPOSE: We investigated the hypothesis that many total hip arthroplasty
      revisions that are classified as aseptic are in fact low-grade infections missed
      with routine diagnostics. METHODS: In 7 Dutch hospitals, 176 consecutive patients
      with the preoperative diagnosis of aseptic loosening of their total hip
      arthroplasty were enrolled. During surgery, between 14 and 20 tissue samples were
      obtained for culture, pathology, and broad-range 16S rRNA PCR with reverse line
      blot hybridization. Patients were classified as either not being infected,
      suspected of having infection, or infected according to strict, predefined
      criteria. Each patient had a follow-up visit after 1 year. RESULTS: 7 patients
      were classified as infected, 4 of whom were not identified by routine culture. 15
      additional patients were suspected of having infection. 20 of these 22 patients
      received a cemented prosthesis, fixated with antibiotic-loaded bone cement. All
      22 patients received prophylactic systemic antibiotics. 7 of them reported
      complaints one year after surgery, but only one showed signs of early loosening.
      However, additional surgery was not performed in any of the patients.
      INTERPRETATION: Although the proportions were not as high as previously reported
      in the literature, between 4% and 13% of patients with the preoperative diagnosis
      of aseptic loosening were infected. However, as thorough debridement was
      performed during surgery and prophylactic antibiotics were used, the diagnosis of
      infection did not have any obvious clinical consequences, as most patients
      performed well at the 1-year follow-up. Whether this observation has implications
      for long-term implant survival remains to be seen.

PMID- 20919817
TI  - Aerobic granular sludge: characterization, mechanism of granulation and
      application to wastewater treatment.
AB  - Aerobic granular sludge can be classified as a type of self-immobilized microbial
      consortium, consisting mainly of aerobic and facultative bacteria and is distinct
      from anaerobic granular methanogenic sludge. Aerobic granular technology has been
      proposed as a promising technology for wastewater treatment, but is not yet
      established as a large-scale application. Aerobic granules have been cultured
      mainly in sequenced batch reactors (SBR) under hydraulic selection pressure. The
      factors influencing aerobic granulation, granulation mechanisms, microbial
      communities and the potential applications for the treatment of various
      wastewaters have been studied comprehensively on the laboratory-scale. Aerobic
      granular sludge has shown a potential for nitrogen removal, but is less
      competitive for the high strength organic wastewater treatments. This technology
      has been developed from the laboratory-scale to pilot scale applications, but
      with limited and unpublished full-scale applications for municipal wastewater
      treatment. The future needs and limitations for aerobic granular technology are
      discussed.

PMID- 20919818
TI  - Superoxide dismutase: an industrial perspective.
AB  - The application of enzyme technologies to industrial research, development, and
      manufacturing has become a very important field. Since the production of crude
      rennet in 1874, several enzymes have been commercialized, and used for
      therapeutic, supplementary, and other applications. Recent advancements in
      biotechnology now allow companies to produce safer and less expensive enzymes
      with enhanced potency and specificity. Antioxidant enzymes are emerging as a new
      addition to the pool of industrial enzymes and are surpassing all other enzymes
      in terms of the volume of research and production. In the 1990s, an antioxidant
      enzyme--superoxide dismutase (SOD)--was introduced into the market. Although the
      enzyme initially showed great promise in therapeutic applications, it did not
      perform up to expectations. Consequently, its use was limited to non-drug
      applications in humans and drug applications in animals. This review summarizes
      the rise and fall of SOD at the industrial level, the reasons for this, and
      potential future thrust areas that need to be addressed. The review also focuses
      on other industrially relevant aspects of SOD such as industrial importance,
      enzyme engineering, production processes, and process optimization and scale-up.

PMID- 20919819
TI  - CBF-dependent signaling pathway: a key responder to low temperature stress in
      plants.
AB  - Plants under low temperature (LT) stress exhibit a C-repeat binding factor (CBF)
      dependent responsive pathway. The transcription factors in the CBF family,
      existing in multiple plant species, are the key regulators of the cold-responsive
      (COR) genes. CBF1 and CBF3 are regulated in a different way from CBF2, and CBF4
      is the only known CBF gene definitely involved in abscisic acid (ABA)-dependent
      signaling pathways. RAP2.1 and RAP2.6 are the downstream regulators under CBFs.
      The upstream regulators of the CBF named inducer of CBF expression (ICE) acts as
      a positive regulator of CBFs. Meanwhile, these CBF signaling pathway components
      could associate with many other transcription activators and repressors in
      regulating gene expression when plants are under LT stress. HOS1 negatively
      regulates ICE1, which down regulates MYB15, an upstream repressor of CBFs. ZAT12
      participates in the repression of CBFs, while ZAT10 and FRY2 negatively regulate
      the CBF-target genes. ADF5 was recently also found to repress CBFs. LOS2 works
      against ZAT10, and LOS4 positively regulates CBFs. SFR6 is involved in the
      modification of CBFs to activate the COR genes, and SIZ1-dependent sumoylation
      plays a positive role in the regulation of ICE1. The utilization of CBF-dependent
      signaling components has a broad perspective in the field of plant breeding for
      enhancing crop LT tolerance.

PMID- 20919820
TI  - Long-term cardiovascular risk following platinum-based chemotherapy for germ cell
      tumors.

PMID- 20919821
TI  - How estrogen fuels breast cancer.

PMID- 20919822
TI  - First results of largest study of genomes and cancer treatments available.

PMID- 20919823
TI  - Sunitinib for metastatic renal cell carcinoma.
AB  - Sunitinib is an orally available, multitargeted tyrosine kinase inhibitor
      licensed for the treatment of metastatic renal cell carcinoma. This article is an
      in-depth review of the mechanism of action of sunitinib, rationale for dose and
      schedule, toxicity and clinical efficacy. Other targeted therapies and treatment
      combinations for renal cell carcinoma are discussed. The use of sunitinib for
      other indications, biomarkers of response and future directions are explored.

PMID- 20919824
TI  - The trifunctional antibody catumaxomab in treatment of malignant ascites and
      peritoneal carcinomatosis.
AB  - Peritoneal carcinomatosis remains an unsolved medical problem in modern oncologic
      treatment. Excruciating symptoms such as malignant ascites, ileus, nausea,
      vomiting, dyspnoea and pain deteriorate the quality of life for affected
      patients. There is still no effective standard treatment for peritoneal
      carcinomatosis. The trifunctional antibody catumaxomab (antiepithelial cell
      adhesion molecule x anti-CD3) is able to direct T lymphocytes and Fcg-receptor
      positive accessory cells to epithelial cell adhesion molecule-positive tumor
      cells. Intraperitoneal catumaxomab therapy was shown to be the first effective
      therapy against accumulation of malignant ascites in patients with peritoneal
      carcinomatosis of epithelial cancer, reducing the need of paracentesis and
      prolonging puncture-free survival. This paper reviews the mode of action of
      catumaxomab and analyzes different fields of local immunotherapy in patients with
      peritoneal carcinomatosis. A summary of completed and ongoing studies is
      included. Catumaxomab is discussed to be an outstanding option for local control
      and therapy of peritoneal carcinomatosis, which could be an optimal modular
      therapy in addition to systemic chemotherapy and surgical tumor resection.

PMID- 20919825
TI  - Metabolomics and detection of colorectal cancer in humans: a systematic review.
AB  - Metabolomics represents one of the new omics sciences and capitalizes on the
      unique presence and concentration of small molecules in tissues and body fluids
      to construct a 'fingerprint' that can be unique to the individual and, within
      that individual, unique to environmental influences, including health and disease
      states. As such, metabolomics has the potential to serve an important role in
      diagnosis and management of human conditions. Colorectal cancer is a major public
      health concern. Current population-based screening methods are suboptimal and
      whether metabolomics could represent a new tool of screening is under
      investigation. The purpose of this systematic review is to summarize existing
      literature on metabolomics and colorectal cancer, in terms of diagnostic
      accuracies and distinguishing metabolites. Eight studies are included. A total of
      12 metabolites (taurine, lactate, choline, inositol, glycine, phosphocholine,
      proline, phenylalanine, alanine, threonine, valine and leucine) were found to be
      more prevalent in colorectal cancer and glucose was found to be in higher
      proportion in control specimens using tissue metabolomics. Serum and urine
      metabolomics identified several other differential metabolites between controls
      and colorectal cancer patients. This article highlights the novelty of the field
      of metabolomics in colorectal oncology.

PMID- 20919827
TI  - DNA methylation profiling in acute myeloid leukemia: from recent technological
      advances to biological and clinical insights.
AB  - Acute myeloid leukemia represents a heterogeneous malignant hematological disease
      with a complex underlying biology suggesting multiple patterns of genetic and
      epigenetic alterations. Recent evidence suggests that epigenetic mechanisms,
      especially deregulation of DNA methylation, play an important pathogenic role in
      leukemogenesis and the first epigenetic drugs have entered the clinic. Therefore,
      an improved understanding of the impact of altered epigenetic patterns on
      leukemogenesis represents a pre-requisite for improved patient management and
      outcome. Here, we provide an overview of current advances in deciphering the
      leukemic epigenome and its clinical relevance. Recent high-throughput analyses
      and genome-wide studies provide an optimal starting point for future epigenetic
      and integrative analyses that will further the development and use of predictive
      and prognostic epigenetic markers in acute myeloid leukemia.

PMID- 20919826
TI  - Should biomarkers be used to design personalized medicine for the treatment of
      glioblastoma?
AB  - Significant progress has been made in understanding the molecular pathogenesis of
      gliomas and in predicting general outcome depending on a limited set of clinical
      parameters and molecular markers. However, methylation of the O6-methylguanine
      DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) gene promoter is the only molecular marker linked to
      sensitivity of a specific treatment, that is, alkylating agent chemotherapy, and
      this predictive value may be limited to glioblastoma. Moreover, in the absence of
      potent alternative drugs, temozolomide chemotherapy should not be withheld from
      patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma without MGMT promoter methylation in
      general practice. In the context of clinical trials, however, irrespective of
      whether classical cytotoxic drugs, tyrosine kinase inhibitors or antiangiogenic
      agents are used, tissue should be centrally collected. Appropriate research
      programs should seek to define enriched patient populations for future trials and
      ultimately facilitate individualized cancer treatments.

PMID- 20919828
TI  - Germline genetic markers for urinary bladder cancer risk, prognosis and treatment
      response.
AB  - After decades of research using a candidate gene approach, only NAT2 and GSTM1
      have consistently been demonstrated to be germline genetic susceptibility markers
      for urinary bladder cancer (UBC). The recent shift to an agnostic genome-wide
      association approach led to the identification of several UBC susceptibility
      loci, and provided valuable leads for new mechanistic insights into UBC
      carcinogenesis. The markers do not have sufficient discriminatory ability yet to
      be applied for risk assessment in the population and the question is whether they
      ever will. Prognostic and predictive studies in UBC are still in their infancy
      compared with etiologic studies. In the future, focus on a genome-wide
      association approach possibly using whole-genome sequence data, consortia
      formation and meta-analyses, and blood and tumor tissue collection, preferably in
      the context of randomized controlled trials will stimulate well designed and
      sufficiently powered studies, and thereby enhance the elucidation of genetic
      prognostic and predictive markers.

PMID- 20919830
TI  - The potential of immunomodulatory drugs in the treatment of solid tumors.
AB  - Lenalidomide (REVLIMID(r)) CC-5013 (Celgene, NJ, USA) is approved, in both the
      USA and Europe, in combination with dexamethasone for the treatment of multiple
      myeloma patients who have received at least one prior therapy, and is rapidly
      being accepted worldwide for this condition. Lenalidomide is also approved in the
      USA and Canada for use in transfusion-dependent anemia in patients with low- and
      intermediate-1-risk myelodysplastic syndromes associated with del (5q)
      abnormality with or without additional abnormalities. Lenalidomide is an IMiD(r)
      immunomodulatory compound, incorporating structural modification of the drug
      thalidomide, which is active against a wide variety of autoimmune Th-2-dependent
      disorders, including erythema nodosum of leprosy, leishmaniasis, as well as
      severe ulcerative disorders such as Behcet's syndrome. Unfortunately, long-term
      use of thalidomide is limited, particularly by neurotoxicity. To date, results
      suggest that lenalidomide is more active than thalidomide and does not cause the
      neurotoxicity seen with thalidomide. Lenalidomide has multiple properties,
      including anti-inflammatory, antiangiogenic and costimulatory effects, as well as
      being able to inhibit T-regulatory cells, all of which are properties deemed
      desirable for anticancer activity. This article covers the evidence that
      lenalidomide may have a major role in the treatment and control of many cancer
      types other than del (5q) myelodysplastic syndrome and multiple myeloma.

PMID- 20919831
TI  - Role of cell cycle perturbations in the combination therapy of chemotherapeutic
      agents and radiation.
AB  - The combination of radiotherapy with chemotherapeutic agents that sensitize tumor
      cells to ionizing radiation has long been regarded as a promising strategy to
      enhance cancer therapy. Many chemotherapeutic agents interact with radiation and
      enhance the cytotoxic or anti-tumor effect of radiation through a number of
      mechanisms. These include an increase in initial radiation damage, inhibition of
      cellular repair, cell cycle redistribution, enhancement of apoptosis,
      counteracting hypoxia and overcoming accelerated repopulation. This article
      focuses on the role of cell cycle perturbations in the radiosensitivity of cancer
      cells.

PMID- 20919832
TI  - Extracorporeal, low-energy focused ultrasound for noninvasive and nondestructive
      targeted hyperthermia.
AB  - The benefits of hyperthermia are well known as both a primary treatment modality
      and adjuvant therapy for treating cancer. Among the different techniques
      available, high-intensity focused ultrasound is the only noninvasive modality
      that can provide local hyperthermia precisely at a targeted location at any depth
      inside the body using image guidance. Traditionally, focused ultrasound exposures
      have been provided at high rates of energy deposition for thermal ablation of
      benign and malignant tumors. At present, exposures are being evaluated in pulsed
      mode, which lower the rates of energy deposition and generate primarily
      mechanical effects for enhancing tissue permeability to improve local drug
      delivery. These pulsed exposures can be modified for low-level hyperthermia as an
      adjuvant therapy for drug and gene delivery applications, as well as for more
      traditional applications such as radiosensitization. In this review, we discuss
      the manner by which focused ultrasound exposures at low rates of energy
      deposition are being developed for a variety of clinically translatable
      applications for the treatment of cancer. Specific preclinical studies will be
      highlighted. Additional information will also be provided for optimizing these
      exposures, including computer modeling and simulations. Various techniques for
      monitoring temperature elevations generated by focused ultrasound will also be
      reviewed.

PMID- 20919829
TI  - Why target PIM1 for cancer diagnosis and treatment?
AB  - The highly conserved proto-oncogenic protein PIM1 is an unusual serine or
      threonine kinase, in part because it is constitutively active. Overexpression of
      PIM1 experimentally leads to tumor formation in mice, while complete knockout of
      the protein has no observable phenotype. It appears to contribute to cancer
      development in three major ways when it is overexpressed; by inhibiting
      apoptosis, by promoting cell proliferation and by promoting genomic instability.
      Expression in normal tissues is nearly undetectable. However, in hematopoietic
      malignancies and in a variety of solid tumors, increased PIM1 expression has been
      shown to correlate with the stage of disease. This characteristic suggests it can
      serve as a useful biomarker for cancer diagnosis and prognosis. Several specific
      and potent inhibitors of PIM1&#x2019;s kinase activity have also been shown to
      induce apoptotic death of cancer cells, to sensitize cancer cells to chemotherapy
      and to synergize with other anti-tumor agents, thus making it an attractive
      therapeutic target.

PMID- 20919833
TI  - Ultrasound-guided excision of nonpalpable malignant soft tissue tumors of the
      abdomen.
AB  - The use of intraoperative ultrasound to guide the excision of sonographically
      visible but nonpalpable lesions is a newer modality. Its use in intraoperative
      localization of recurrent malignant soft tissue tumors has not been reported.
      This report describes a technique of intraoperative localization by ultrasound to
      guide the excision of recurrent nonpalpable malignant soft tissue tumors of the
      abdominal wall in two patients. Tumors of both patients were successfully
      localized intraoperatively by ultrasonography and excised with adequate margins.
      This technique leads to reduced patient discomfort and anxiety, the avoidance of
      organizational requirements on the day of surgery, and allows for adequate
      margins of resection.

PMID- 20919834
TI  - Intramedullary spinal cord metastases in breast cancer are associated with
      improved longer-term systemic control.
AB  - Intramedullary spinal cord metastases are a rare complication of malignancy,
      associated with a poor prognosis. We describe three cases with extensively
      pretreated advanced breast cancer developing intramedullary spinal cord
      metastases two of whom were receiving trastuzumab, one of whom was a male. As
      therapeutic advances increase overall survival for patients with metastatic
      breast cancer, patterns of disease are changing with improved systemic control.
      The incidence of intramedullary spinal cord metastases is likely to increase but
      management strategies remain unclear.

PMID- 20919838
TI  - Questions prerequisite for certification by new specialty organization.

PMID- 20919839
TI  - The vanishing veterinarian-scientist?

PMID- 20919840
TI  - What is your diagnosis? Transitional cell carcinoma.

PMID- 20919841
TI  - What is your diagnosis? Paragonimus kellicotti infection.

PMID- 20919842
TI  - Pathology in practice. Ranavirus infection.

PMID- 20919843
TI  - Use of a number-needed-to-ban calculation to illustrate limitations of breed
      specific legislation in decreasing the risk of dog bite-related injury.

PMID- 20919844
TI  - Employment, starting salaries, and educational indebtedness of year-2010
      graduates of US veterinary medical colleges.

PMID- 20919845
TI  - Evaluation of the use of baseline cortisol concentration as a monitoring tool for
      dogs receiving trilostane as a treatment for hyperadrenocorticism.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine whether a single measurement of cortisol concentration
      can be used to monitor dogs receiving trilostane for hyperadrenocorticism.
      DESIGN: Controlled drug efficacy trial. ANIMALS: 103 client-owned dogs.
      PROCEDURES: Results of ACTH stimulation tests before and during trilostane
      treatment were evaluated. Each cortisol concentration after ACTH stimulation was
      classified as indicative of excessive, acceptable, or inadequate control of
      adrenal gland function, as outlined by the trilostane manufacturer. Baseline
      cortisol concentrations before and during trilostane treatment were evaluated;
      target variables were defined, and sensitivity, specificity, and predictive
      values were determined. RESULTS: Results of 103 and 342 ACTH stimulation tests
      before and during treatment were evaluated. In this population, baseline cortisol
      concentrations >= 1.3 ug/dL accurately excluded excessive suppression (defined by
      cortisol concentration after ACTH stimulation < 1.5 ug/dL) in 254 of 259 (98%)
      dogs. In addition, baseline cortisol concentrations <= 2.9 ug/dL correctly
      excluded inadequate control (defined by cortisol concentration after ACTH
      stimulation > 9.1 ug/dL) in 200 of 211 (95%) dogs. During trilostane treatment,
      baseline cortisol concentrations between 1.3 and either 2.9 ug/dL or <= 50% of
      the pretreatment baseline cortisol concentration correctly predicted acceptable
      control of adrenal gland function in 147 of 168 (88%) dogs. CONCLUSIONS AND
      CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Evaluation of a baseline cortisol concentration collected 4
      to 6 hours after trilostane administration in dogs with hyperadrenocorticism
      provided clinically useful information about control of adrenal gland function.
      Many dogs receiving trilostane may be adequately monitored without the expense
      and inconvenience of an ACTH stimulation test.

PMID- 20919846
TI  - Comparison of plasma cardiac troponin I concentrations among dogs with cardiac
      hemangiosarcoma, noncardiac hemangiosarcoma, other neoplasms, and pericardial
      effusion of nonhemangiosarcoma origin.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine whether plasma cardiac troponin I (cTnl) concentrations
      can be used to identify cardiac involvement in dogs with hemangiosarcoma, exclude
      cardiac hemangiosarcoma in dogs with noncardiac hemangiosarcoma, and identify
      cardiac hemangiosarcoma in dogs with pericardial effusion. DESIGN: Cohort study.
      ANIMALS: 57 dogs (18 with confirmed [5 dogs] or suspected [13] cardiac
      hemangiosarcoma, 14 with confirmed hemangiosarcoma involving sites other than the
      heart [noncardiac hemangiosarcoma], 10 with pericardial effusion not caused by
      hemangiosarcoma, and 15 with noncardiac nonhemangiosarcoma neoplasms).
      PROCEDURES: Plasma cTnl concentration was measured, and thoracic radiography,
      abdominal ultrasonography, and echocardiography were performed in each dog. The
      cTnl concentration was compared among groups. RESULTS: Median plasma cTnl
      concentration in dogs with cardiac hemangiosarcoma was significantly higher than
      the concentration in each of the other groups. A plasma cTnl concentration > 0.25
      ng/mL could be used to identify cardiac involvement in dogs with hemangiosarcoma
      at any site (sensitivity, 78%; specificity, 71 %). A plasma cTnl concentration >
      0.25 ng/mL could be used to identify cardiac hemangiosarcoma in dogs with
      pericardia effusion (sensitivity, 81%; specificity, 100%). CONCLUSIONS AND
      CLINICAL RELEVANCE: The median plasma cTnl concentration was higher in dogs with
      cardiac hemangiosarcoma, compared with the median concentration in dogs with
      hemangiosarcoma at other sites, dogs with other neoplasms, and dogs with
      pericardial effusion not caused by hemangiosarcoma. The plasma cTnl concentration
      may be used to identify cardiac involvement in dogs with hemangiosarcoma and to
      identify cardiac hemangiosarcoma in dogs with pericardial effusion.

PMID- 20919847
TI  - Multicenter case-control study of signalment, diagnostic features, and outcome
      associated with cervical vertebral malformation-malarticulation in horses.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare signalment of horses with cervical vertebral malformation
      malarticulation (CVM) with that of control horses and to describe results of
      clinical examination, diagnostic imaging and necropsy findings, and reported
      outcome in horses with CVM. DESIGN: Retrospective case-control study. ANIMALS:
      270 horses with CVM and 608 control horses admitted to 6 veterinary hospitals
      from 1992 through 2007. PROCEDURES: Medical records of participating hospitals
      were reviewed to identify horses with CVM (ie, case horses) and contemporaneous
      control (non-CVM-affected) horses that were admitted for treatment. Signalment
      was compared between case horses and control horses. Results of clinical
      examination, laboratory and diagnostic imaging findings, necropsy results, and
      outcome were assessed for horses with CVM. RESULTS: Case horses were younger
      (median age, 2 years) than were control horses (median age, 7 years).
      Thoroughbreds, warmbloods, and Tennessee Walking Horses were overrepresented in
      the CVM group. Gait asymmetry and cervical hyperesthesia were frequently detected
      in horses with CVM. Vertebral canal stenosis and articular process osteophytosis
      were commonly observed at necropsy; agreement between the results of radiographic
      or myelographic analysis and detection of lesions at necropsy was 65% to 71% and
      67% to 78%, respectively. Of 263 horses with CVM for which outcome was recorded,
      1 died and 172 (65.4%) were euthanatized. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE:
      Odds of a diagnosis of CVM were greater in young horses and horses of specific
      breeds. Detection of gait asymmetry and cervical hyperesthesia were frequently
      reported in association with CVM. Accurate diagnosis of lesions associated with
      CVM by use of radiography and myelography can be challenging.

PMID- 20919848
TI  - Diagnosis and management of cranial and caudal nuchal bursitis in four horses.
AB  - CASE DESCRIPTION: 4 horses with a history of neck pain, abnormal head carriage,
      and related inability to perform were examined. Cranial nuchal bursitis was
      diagnosed in 2 horses, and caudal nuchal bursitis was diagnosed in the other 2.
      CLINICAL FINDINGS: All 4 horses had prominent swelling in the region between the
      frontal bone and temporal fossa (ie, the poll) and abnormal head carriage.
      Ultrasonographic examination revealed fluid distention and synovial thickening of
      the cranial or caudal nuchal bursa in all 4 horses. Ultrasonography-guided
      aspiration of the affected region was performed successfully in 3 horses.
      Radiography revealed bony remodeling and mineralization over the dorsal aspect of
      the atlas in 1 horse and a radiolucency at the axis in another. Nuclear
      scintigraphy revealed an increase in radioisotope uptake at the level of C2 in 1
      horse. Although a septic process was considered among the differential diagnoses
      in all horses, a septic process could only be confirmed in 1 horse. TREATMENT AND
      OUTCOME: All horses were refractory to conservative management consisting of
      intrabursal injection of anti-inflammatory medications. Bursoscopic debridement
      and lavage of the affected bursae resulted in resolution of the clinical signs in
      all horses, and they all returned to their intended use. CLINICAL RELEVANCE:
      Cranial and caudal nuchal bursitis, of nonseptic or septic origin, should be
      considered as a differential diagnosis in horses with head and neck pain. Horses
      undergoing surgical intervention consisting of nuchal bursoscopy have the
      opportunity to return to their original degree of exercise.

PMID- 20919849
TI  - Severe phenylephrine-associated hemorrhage in five aged horses.
AB  - CASE DESCRIPTION: 5 aged (>= 17 years old) horses developed life-threatening
      Internal hemorrhage following IV administration of phenylephrine at 3 hospitals.
      CLINICAL FINDINGS: All 5 horses developed severe hemothorax, hemoabdomen, or both
      within minutes to hours following administration of phenylephrine. TREATMENT AND
      OUTCOME: Four of 5 horses died of hemorrhagic shock, and 1 horse survived with a
      blood transfusion. The exact source of hemorrhage was Identified In only 1 horse.
      Medical records of all horses with nephrosplenic entrapment of the large colon
      and treated with phenylephrine at the University of Florida Veterinary Medical
      Center between 2000 and 2008 (n = 74) were reviewed. Three of these 74 (4%)
      horses developed fatal hemorrhage (horses 1 through 3 of this report). The risk
      of developing phenylephrine-associated hemorrhage was 64 times as high (95%
      confidence interval, 3.7 to 1,116) in horses >= 15 years old than in horses < 15
      years old. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: The potential risks versus benefits of
      phenylephrine administration should be evaluated carefully, especially In old
      horses.

PMID- 20919850
TI  - Clinical and pathological differences between human immunodeficiency virus
      positive and human immunodeficiency virus-negative patients with plasmablastic
      lymphoma.
AB  - Plasmablastic lymphoma (PBL) is a distinct variant of diffuse large B-cell
      lymphoma initially described in HIV-positive patients. Several studies have
      reported the occurrence of PBL in HIV-negative patients, but comparative data are
      lacking. The goal of this study was to compare the characteristics of HIV
      positive and HIV-negative patients with PBL. A MEDLINE search was undertaken
      through August 2009 for cases of PBL in HIV-positive and HIV-negative patients.
      Cases were identified and clinicopathological data were gathered. chi(2) was used
      to compare categorical and t-test to compare continuous variables between groups.
      Calculated Kaplan-Meier survival estimates were compared using the log-rank test.
      Cox proportional-hazard regression was used for multivariate analysis. From 228
      identified cases of PBL, 157 were HIV-positive and 71 HIV-negative. HIV-positive
      patients were younger, and more likely to be men, present with oral involvement,
      respond to chemotherapy, and express CD20, CD56, and EBV-encoded RNA than HIV
      negative patients. In univariate analysis, age >=60, advanced stage, bone marrow
      involvement, no chemotherapy, Ki-67 expression >80%, and HIV-negative status were
      associated with worse overall survival. In multivariate analysis, advanced stage
      and no chemotherapy were independent adverse prognostic factors. In conclusion,
      HIV-positive and HIV-negative patients with PBL have different
      clinicopathological characteristics, including a better response to chemotherapy
      and longer survival in HIV-positive patients.

PMID- 20919851
TI  - SOX11 expression in mantle cell lymphoma.
AB  - SOX11 is a transcription factor involved in embryonic neurogenesis and tissue
      remodeling. Its role in lymphopoiesis is still unknown. Recent studies have shown
      the specific overexpression of SOX11 mRNA and nuclear protein in both cyclin D1
      positive and -negative mantle cell lymphoma (MCL). In addition to MCL, SOX11 is
      strongly expressed in hairy cell leukemia, Burkitt lymphoma, and immature
      lymphocytic neoplasms. Expression of SOX11 in MCL is not only a new diagnostic
      marker, but may also carry information related to the clinical and biological
      behavior. Further study of the biology may reveal common pathways to neoplasia
      related to SOX11 expression.

PMID- 20919853
TI  - Caspase 3a: new prognostic marker for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma in the
      rituximab era.
AB  - Fewer than half of patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) can be
      cured. Molecular prognostic factors in the rituximab era must be re-evaluated,
      because there are few molecular indicators with prognostic value. Samples of
      DLBCL from 41 newly diagnosed patients with a median follow-up of 52 months were
      studied. Immunohistochemical staining was performed to investigate the expression
      of apoptosis-related proteins (Bcl-2 and caspase 3a), cell proliferation (Ki-67),
      and tumor microenvironmental factors. Two groups were analysed, 23 cases (56%)
      treated with CHOP and 18 (44%) treated with R-CHOP. Survival analysis showed that
      cases with overexpression of Bcl-2 had worse overall survival (OS) in the CHOP
      group. However, OS in the R-CHOP group was adversely affected by lack of caspase
      3a staining. In the entire series, cases positive for caspase 3a showed
      significantly better OS, without significance for other parameters, and caspase 3
      was associated with parameters of prognosis and OS in R-CHOP. This is the first
      study that relates caspase 3a and prognosis in DLBCL.

PMID- 20919852
TI  - Phase I study of dose-escalated busulfan with fludarabine and alemtuzumab as
      conditioning for allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant: reduced clearance
      at high doses and occurrence of late sinusoidal obstruction syndrome/veno
      occlusive disease.
AB  - Disease recurrence after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant (alloHCT)
      remains common, making improvements in conditioning regimens desirable. A dose
      response relationship between busulfan exposure and outcome is known. Using
      individual real-time monitoring of the busulfan area under the curve (AUC), we
      aimed to determine the maximum-tolerated busulfan AUC in a conditioning regimen
      with fludarabine/alemtuzumab. Thirty-six patients with advanced hematologic
      malignancies were treated. Busulfan levels after a test dose and conditioning
      dose 1 allowed targeting of subsequent AUCs and dose-escalation above the
      starting AUC of 4800 umol-min/L. Clearance of busulfan test doses was not always
      sufficiently predictive of treatment dose AUC and, on average, test dose
      clearance was faster than treatment dose clearance. When the study was modified
      to use conditioning dose 1 pharmacokinetics instead, accurately targeted
      treatment AUCs were achieved, and dose-escalation was possible. Severe, late
      occurring sinusoidal obstruction syndrome/veno-occlusive disease (SOS/VOD) was
      the dose-limiting toxicity seen in 5/8 patients at an AUC level of 6800 umol
      min/L. The risk for SOS/VOD correlated with the highest observed AUC (AUC(max))
      rather than with the average cumulative AUC (AUC(avg)). Busulfan dose-escalation
      to a maximum-tolerated AUC of 5800 umol-min/L-higher than that achieved by
      current standard busulfan regimens-was accurate and achievable using real-time
      pharmacokinetics monitoring of the first conditioning dose. This AUC is now being
      studied in phase II for patients receiving busulfan/fludarabine/alemtuzumab as
      alloHCT conditioning.

PMID- 20919854
TI  - Fish oil delays lymphoma progression in the TLL mouse.
AB  - The objective was to investigate the effects of omega-3 fatty acids, known for
      their anti-inflammatory effects, on time to lymphoma progression and survival in
      the TLL mouse, a strain genetically prone to developing aggressive T-cell
      lymphoma. Compared to mice fed a standard diet, TLL mice fed omega-3 (menhaden
      fish oil) experienced a significant delay in disease progression and were more
      likely to remain alive and symptom free during the first 8 months of the study.
      In contrast, omega-6 supplementation (corn oil) did not significantly affect
      lymphoma progression. Irrespective of diet, all mice eventually progressed, and 1
      year survival was not different between the groups. Immunological analysis
      demonstrated a significantly altered B-cell compartment and fewer NK cells in
      healthy C57Black6 mice fed omega-3, compared to controls. In conclusion, a diet
      rich in omega-3 fatty acids delays lymphoma development in the TLL mouse possibly
      by mechanisms that include complex effects on immune function.

PMID- 20919855
TI  - Long-term survival following allogeneic or syngeneic stem cell transplant for
      follicular lymphoma in Sweden.

PMID- 20919856
TI  - A DNA methylation study of the amyloid precursor protein gene in several brain
      regions from patients with familial Alzheimer disease.
AB  - Presence of extracellular amyloid plaques is a neuropathological hallmark of
      Alzheimer disease. Here the authors have compared the methylation status of a CpG
      island in the amyloid precursor protein gene (APP) in DNA extracted from the more
      plaque-vulnerable cortex regions with DNA from the more plaque-resistant
      cerebellum using material from six familial Alzheimer disease cases. Bisulfite
      sequencing of a 188 bp fragment in the APP associated CpG-island showed no
      methylation in any sample, suggesting that APP is not transcriptionally regulated
      by methylation in any of the investigated brain regions.

PMID- 20919858
TI  - Hypertonic conditions trigger transient plasmolysis, growth arrest and blockage
      of transporter endocytosis in Aspergillus nidulans and Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
AB  - By using Aspergillus nidulans strains expressing functional GFP-tagged
      transporters under hypertonic conditions, we noticed the rapid appearance of
      cortical, relatively static, fluorescent patches (0.5-2.3 MUm). These patches do
      not correspond to transporter microdomains as they co-localize with other plasma
      membrane-associated molecules, such as the pleckstrin homology (PH) domain and
      the SsoA t-Snare, or the lipophilic markers FM4-64 and filipin. In addition, they
      do not show characteristics of lipid rafts, MCCs or other membrane microdomains.
      Deconvoluted microscopic images showed that fluorescent patches correspond to
      plasma membrane invaginations. Transporters remain fully active during this
      phenomenon of localized plasmolysis. Plasmolysis was however associated with
      reduced growth rate and a dramatic blockage in transporter and FM4-64
      endocytosis. These phenomena are transient and rapidly reversible upon wash-out
      of hypertonic media. Based on the observation that block in endocytosis by
      hypertonic treatment altered dramatically the cellular localization of
      tropomyosin (GFP-TpmA), although it did not affect the cortical appearance of
      upstream (SlaB-GFP) or downstream (AbpA-mRFP) endocytic components, we conclude
      that hypertonicity modifies actin dynamics and thus acts indirectly on
      endocytosis. This was further supported by the effect of latrunculin B, an actin
      depolymerization agent, on endocytosis. We show that the phenomena observed in A.
      nidulans also occur in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, suggesting that they constitute
      basic homeostatic responses of ascomycetes to hypertonic shock. Finally, our work
      shows that hypertonic treatments can be used as physiological tools to study the
      endocytic down-regulation of transporters in A. nidulans, as non-conditional
      genetic blocks affecting endocytic internalization are lethal or severely
      debilitating.

PMID- 20919859
TI  - Unresolved issues in the comparison of therapies and determination of responses
      in Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia.

PMID- 20919857
TI  - Genetic feminization of the thoracic nervous system disrupts courtship song in
      male Drosophila melanogaster.
AB  - Despite the growing research investigating the sex-specific organization of
      courtship behavior in Drosophila melanogaster, much remains to be understood
      about the sex-specific organization of the motor circuit that drives this
      behavior. To investigate the sex-specification of a tightly patterned component
      of courtship behavior, courtship song, the authors used the GAL4/UAS targeted
      gene expression system to feminize the ventral ganglia in male Drosophila and
      analyzed the acoustic properties of courtship song. More specifically, the
      authors used the thoracic-specifying teashirt promoter (tsh(GAL4)) to express
      feminizing transgenes specifically in the ventral ganglia. When tsh(GAL4) drove
      expression of transformer (tra), males were unable to produce prolonged wing
      extensions. Transgenic expression of an RNAi construct directed against male
      specific fruitless (fru(M)) transcripts resulted in normal wing extension, but
      highly defective courtship song, with 58% of males failing to generate detectable
      courtship song. Of those that did sing, widths of individual pulses were
      significantly broader than controls, suggesting thoracic fru(M) function serves
      to mediate proprioceptive-dependent wing vibration damping during pulse song.
      However, the most critical signal in the song, the interpulse interval, remained
      intact. The inability to phenocopy this effect by reducing fru(M) expression in
      motor neurons and proprioceptive neurons suggests thoracic interneurons require
      fru(M) for proper pulse song execution and patterning of pulse structure, but not
      for pulse timing. This provides evidence that genes establishing sex-specific
      activation of complex behaviors may also be used in establishing pattern
      generating motor networks underlying these sex-specific behaviors.

PMID- 20919860
TI  - Pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia in relation to CD4+ lymphocyte count in patients
      with B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma treated with chemotherapy.
AB  - An increasing incidence of Pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia (PCP) in patients with
      B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (B-NHL) receiving rituximab treatment has been
      reported. We reviewed patients with B-NHL who underwent chemotherapy from 2004 to
      2008 at our institution to identify risk factors for PCP development during and
      after chemotherapy. Among 297 patients with B-NHL, six developed PCP. Of 121
      patients (41%) who received PCP prophylaxis with sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim
      during chemotherapy, none developed PCP (0%), while among 176 patients (59%) who
      had no prophylaxis, six (3.4%) developed PCP at a median of 2 months (range: 1-3
      months) after starting chemotherapy. Patients with CD4+ lymphocyte counts
      <=200/mm3 before chemotherapy had a higher risk of developing PCP (p=0.045),
      while a history of rituximab treatment was not related to PCP. CD4+ lymphocyte
      counts <=200/mm3 during and after chemotherapy were observed in 18.9% of
      patients.

PMID- 20919861
TI  - Variation at 7p12.2 and 10q21.2 influences childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia
      risk in the Thai population and may contribute to racial differences in leukemia
      incidence.
AB  - Recent genome-wide association (GWA) studies of childhood acute lymphoblastic
      leukemia (ALL) have identified 7p12.2, 9p21.3, 10q21.2, and 14q11.2 SNPs that
      confer modest risks of ALL. These studies have been conducted in European
      populations, and it is unclear whether these observations generalize to other
      populations with a lower incidence of ALL. To explore the impact of these
      variants on ALL risk in the Thai population, we genotyped 190 cases of ALL and
      182 controls for SNPs rs4132601 (7p12.2), rs3731217 (9p21.3), rs7089424 and
      rs10821938 (10q21.2), and rs2239633 (14q11.2). Consistent with findings in
      European populations, rs4132601 genotype was significantly associated with risk
      of ALL (odds ratio [OR] = 1.57, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.01-2.44; p =
      0.04), and rs10821938 genotype was significantly associated with B-cell precursor
      ALL (OR = 0.73, 95% CI: 0.55-0.97; p = 0.03). There were, however, differences in
      allele frequencies in SNPs observed between Thai and Caucasian populations (e.g.
      IKZF1, rs4132601; risk allele frequency [RAF] ratio of 0.36 for Thai/Caucasian).
      These differences, combined with differences in linkage disequilibrium structure
      between populations or differences in effect size between populations, may
      contribute to racial differences in ALL incidence.

PMID- 20919862
TI  - Refractory cytopenias with unilineage dysplasia: a retrospective analysis of
      refractory neutropenia and refractory thrombocytopenia.

PMID- 20919875
TI  - Chronic disease self-management for individuals with stroke, multiple sclerosis
      and spinal cord injury.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to explore the experience of people with
      neurological conditions who take the chronic disease self-management (CDSM)
      programme. The CDSM programme is used to teach skills to manage chronic
      conditions, and prevent secondary conditions. Few studies have explored the use
      of the CDSM programme with people with neurological conditions, in spite of the
      long standing and sometimes unpredictable nature of those conditions. METHOD:
      This qualitative study explored the experience of people with stroke, multiple
      sclerosis (MS) and spinal cord injury (SCI) who participated in the CDSM
      programme. We completed individual interviews using a semi-structured interview
      guide with 22 individuals with stroke, MS and SCI. RESULTS: Five categories
      emerged from the interview discussions including: (1) pre-programme influences;
      (2) group; (3) factors affecting learning opportunities; (4) workshop content and
      (5) outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study provide insights regarding
      the optimal way to present the CDSM programme to people with neurological
      conditions.

PMID- 20919880
TI  - High altitude medicine and biology in Peru.

PMID- 20919876
TI  - Recombinant adeno-associated virus-mediated in utero gene transfer gives
      therapeutic transgene expression in the sheep.
AB  - Somatic in utero gene therapy aims to treat congenital diseases where pathology
      develops in perinatal life, thereby preventing permanent damage. The aim of this
      study was to determine whether delivery of self-complementary (sc) adeno
      associated virus (AAV) vector in utero would provide therapeutic long-term
      transgene expression in a large animal model. We performed ultrasound-guided
      intraperitoneal injection of scAAV2/8-LP1-human Factor IX (hFIX)co (1 * 10(12)
      vector genomes/kg) in early (n = 4) or late (n = 2) gestation fetal sheep. The
      highest mean hFIX levels were detected 3 weeks after injection in late gestation
      (2,055 and 1,687.5 ng/ml, n = 2) and 3 days after injection in early gestation
      (435 ng/ml, n = 1). Plasma hFIX levels then dropped as fetal liver and lamb
      weights increased, although low levels were detected 6 months after late
      gestation injection (75 and 52.5 ng/ml, n = 2). The highest vector levels were
      detected in the fetal liver and other peritoneal organs; no vector was present in
      fetal gonads. hFIX mRNA was detectable only in hepatic tissues after early and
      late gestation injection. Liver function tests and bile acid levels were normal
      up to a year postnatal; there was no evidence of liver pathology. No functional
      antibodies to hFIX protein or AAV vector were detectable, although lambs mounted
      an antibody response after injection of hFIX protein and Freund's adjuvant. In
      conclusion, hFIX expression is detectable up to 6 months after delivery of scAAV
      vector to the fetal sheep using a clinically applicable method. This is the first
      study to show therapeutic long-term hFIX transgene expression after in utero gene
      transfer in a large animal model.

PMID- 20919884
TI  - Can patients with coronary heart disease go to high altitude?
AB  - Tourism to high altitude is very popular and includes elderly people with both
      manifest and subclinical coronary heart disease (CHD). Thus, risk assessment
      regarding high altitude exposure of patients with CHD is of increasing interest,
      and individual recommendations are expected despite the lack of sufficient
      scientific evidence. The major factor increasing cardiac stress is hypoxia. At
      rest and for a given external workload, myocardial oxygen demand is increased at
      altitude, particularly in nonacclimatized individuals, and there is some evidence
      that blood-flow reserve is reduced in atherosclerotic coronary arteries even in
      the absence of severe stenosis. Despite a possible imbalance between oxygen
      demand and oxygen delivery, studies on selected patients have shown that exposure
      and exercise at altitudes of 3000 to 3500 m is generally safe for patients with
      stable CHD and sufficient work capacity. During the first days at altitude,
      patients with stable angina may develop symptoms of myocardial ischemia at
      slightly lower heart rate x  blood-pressure products. Adverse cardiac events,
      however, such as unstable angina coronary syndromes, do not occur more frequently
      compared with sea level except for those who are unaccustomed to exercise.
      Therefore, training should start before going to altitude, and the altitude
      related decrease in exercise capacity should be considered. Travel to 3500 m
      should be avoided unless patients have stable disease, preserved left ventricular
      function without residual capacity, and above-normal exercise capacity. CHD
      patients should avoid travel to elevations above 4500 m owing to severe hypoxia
      at these altitudes. The risk assessment of CHD patients at altitude should always
      consider a possible absence of medical support and that cardiovascular events may
      turn into disaster.

PMID- 20919885
TI  - Altitude illness in Qinghai-Tibet railroad passengers.
AB  - It takes ~24 h to travel the ~3000-km-long Qinghai-Tibet railroad of which 85% is
      situated above 4000 m with a pass at 5072 m. Each year about 2 million passengers
      are rapidly exposed to high altitude traveling on this train. The aim of this
      study was to quantify the occurrence of altitude illness on the train. Three
      subject groups were surveyed: 160 Han lowlanders, 62 Han immigrants living at
      2200 to 2500 m, and 25 Tibetans living at 3700 to 4200 m. Passengers reached 4768
      m from 2808 m in less than 1.5 h, after which 78% of the passengers reported
      symptoms, 24% reaching the Lake Louise criterion score for AMS. AMS incidence was
      31% in nonacclimatized Han compared to 16% in Han altitude residents and 0% in
      Tibetans. Women and older subjects had a slightly greater risk for AMS. Most
      cases of AMS were mild and self-limiting, resolving within days upon arrival in
      Lhasa. Some cases of more severe AMS necessitated medical attention. To curb the
      health risk of rapid travel to altitude by train, prospective travelers should be
      better informed, medical train personnel should be well trained, and staged
      travel with 1 to 2 days at intermediate altitudes should be suggested to
      nonacclimatized subjects.

PMID- 20919886
TI  - Hematological and physiological adaptations following 46 weeks of moderate
      altitude residence.
AB  - Although acclimatization to moderate altitude (MA) is thought to be unnecessary
      or to require minimal adaptation, retrospective data from the U.S. Air Force
      Academy (USAFA), a military college located at 2210 m, suggested otherwise. To
      further examine the utility of USAFA as a model for MA acclimatization, a
      longitudinal experimental design was prospectively utilized to determine the
      magnitude and time course of selected hematological and performance parameters
      following 46 weeks at this unique MA setting. Incoming USAFA male freshmen (n=55)
      were divided into experimental groups based on prior residence at sea level (SL)
      or MA. Hematological and performance parameters were repeatedly assessed during
      their entire first year at MA. Hematological data consisted of a complete blood
      count (CBC) with reticulocyte parameters, as well as determination of serum
      levels of ferritin, erythropoietin, and soluble transferrin receptor (sTfR).
      Performance testing included aerobic (1.5-mile run) and physical (push-ups, sit
      ups, pull-ups, and standing long jump) fitness tests, maximal aerobic capacity,
      and running economy. Significant (p<0.05; main effect) hematological differences
      between SL and MA subjects were observed for the majority of the study. MA
      subjects had a significantly higher hemoglobin concentration ([Hb], +5.5%),
      hematocrit (+2.8%), and serum ferritin (+59.0%) and significantly lower sTfR (
      11.4%) values than their SL peers. Although both serum ferritin and sTfR
      demonstrated a significant altitude group x time interaction, [Hb] and hematocrit
      did not. A significant main effect of altitude without interaction was also
      observed for performance parameters, with SL subjects having a significantly
      lower Vo2peak (-5.9%), slower 1.5- mile run time (+5.4%), poorer running economy
      (+6.6%), and lower composite physical fitness test score (-13.9%) than MA
      subjects. These results suggest that complete acclimatization to 2210 m by former
      SL residents may require lengthy physiological adaptations, as both hematological
      and physical performance differences persisted between groups. Further research
      at this uniquely well controlled MA setting is warranted.

PMID- 20919887
TI  - The physiological basis of reduced VO2max in Operation Everest II.
AB  - While it is well-known that maximal VO2 falls progressively with increasing
      altitude, discussion continues on how each step of the O2 transport pathway
      contributes to this loss in exercise capacity. By analyzing the O2 transport
      pathway as an in-series system of four transport processes (ventilation, alveolar
      capillary diffusion, circulation, and muscle capillary-mitochondrial diffusion)
      and applying this analysis to published data from Operation Everest II, it is
      concluded that in OE II the passive diffusive steps in the lungs and muscles
      explain most of the decrement in O2 availability, while changes in the mostly
      convective processes of ventilation and blood flow contribute little or no
      impediment to O2 transport. Potentially deleterious effects of decreased maximal
      cardiac output and mitigating effects of increased [Hb] on circulatory O2
      transport are likely offset by corresponding changes in diffusion equilibration
      in the lungs and muscles. These conclusions are consistent with the laws of
      diffusion that depend on partial pressure, which falls progressively with
      increasing hypoxia.

PMID- 20919888
TI  - Incidence and predictors of acute mountain sickness among trekkers on Mount
      Kilimanjaro.
AB  - We investigated the incidence of AMS amongst a general population of trekkers on
      Mount Kilimanjaro, using the Lake Louise consensus scoring system (LLS).
      Additionally we examined the effect of prophylactic acetazolamide and different
      ascent profiles. Climbers on 3 different ascent itineraries were recruited. At
      2743 m we recruited 177 participants (mean age 31, range [18-71]) who completed
      LLS together with an epidemiological questionnaire. At 4730 m participants
      (n=189, male=108, female=68, mean age 33, range [1871]) completed LLS, 136 of
      whom had been followed up from 2730 m. At 2743 m, 3% (5/177) of climbers were AMS
      positive, and 47% (89/189) of climbers from all itineraries were AMS positive at
      4730 m. Of climbers attempting the Marangu itineraries, 33% (45/136) were taking
      acetazolamide. This group had a similar rate of AMS and no statistical difference
      in severity of LLS when compared with those not taking prophylactic drugs. We
      also did not demonstrate a difference between the incidence of AMS in climbers
      who did or did not take a rest day at 3700  m. However, there was a significant
      reduction in the incidence of AMS amongst pre-acclimatized subjects. Consistent
      with previous work, we found that the rate of AMS on Mount Kilimanjaro is high.
      Furthermore, at these fast ascent rates, there was no evidence of a protective
      effect of acetazolamide or a single rest day. There is a need to increase public
      awareness of the risks of altitude sickness and we advocate a pragmatic "golden
      rules" approach (http://www.altitude.org/altitude_sickness.php).

PMID- 20919889
TI  - Demographic, geographic, and expedition determinants of reaching the summit of
      denali.
AB  - Mount McKinley, or Denali as it is called by the native people of Alaska, is the
      highest mountain in North America and its summit is attempted by over 1000
      climbers annually. Many factors affect the likelihood of achieving the summit of
      high peaks such as Denali: climber age, experience, weather, team
      characteristics, and many others. We analyzed the characteristics of mountaineers
      who gained the summit of Denali versus those who did not during the climbing
      seasons of 1990 to 2008. Of the 21,809 climbers who attempted to summit Denali
      during the study period, 11,297 (51.8%) achieved the summit. We found that male
      mountaineers were slightly more likely to attain the summit than females.
      Climbers older than 40 had a decreasing trend of summit success. Climbers from
      continents other than North America had better odds of achieving the summit. Our
      results help to better predict those who are more likely to achieve the summit of
      North America's highest peak. The information can be used by mountaineers during
      expedition planning so that team selection, route choice, and expedition style
      may be considered when evaluating chances for summit success. National Park
      Service administrative personnel and rescue staff may be able to identify
      climbing teams with a lower likelihood of summit success for proactive discussion
      or intervention prior to an expedition's departure for this unique and often very
      inhospitable mountain.

PMID- 20919890
TI  - Role of oxidative stress and inflammation in hypoxia-induced cerebral edema: a
      molecular approach.
AB  - The present study reports the possible role of oxidative stress and inflammation
      (role of nuclear factor, NFkB) in hypoxia-induced transvascular leakage in brain
      of rats. The rats were exposed to a simulated altitude of 25,000 ft for different
      durations: 0, 3, 6, 12, 24, and 48h. Brain water content, transvascular leakage,
      oxidative stress, and proinflammatory parameters were studied at different
      durations of hypoxic exposure. The results revealed that maximum increase in
      transvascular leakage in brain of rats was observed at 24h of hypoxic exposure
      (240.16 +/- 1.95 relative fluorescence units (r.f.u)/g tissue) compared with
      control (100.58 +/- 1.79 r.f.u/g tissue). There was a significant increase in
      reactive oxygen species (ROS) and lipid peroxidation (MDA), with concomitant
      reduction in antioxidants. Hypoxic exposure resulted in a significant increase in
      NFkappaB protein expression levels and in the DNA binding activity in the 24-h
      hypoxic exposure (p<0.001) compared with control. There was a significant
      increase in proinflammatory cytokines, with concomitant upregulation of cell
      adhesion molecules. Simultaneously, to rule out the fact that inflammation causes
      cerebral edema, the rats were pretreated with curcumin (100 mg/kg body weight) 1h
      prior to 24-h hypoxia. Curcumin pretreatment significantly attenuated the hypoxia
      induced cerebral transvascular leakage (p<0.05), with concomitant downregulation
      in the expression of brain NFkappaB levels (p<0.001). The present study therefore
      reveals that inflammation (NFkappaB) plays a significant role in hypoxia-induced
      cerebral edema.

PMID- 20919892
TI  - 'This constant being woken up is the worst thing' - experiences of sleep in
      fibromyalgia syndrome.
AB  - PURPOSE: Sleep disturbance affects a high proportion of people with fibromyalgia
      syndrome (FMS). This study aims to explore people's perceptions of their sleep
      quality and the influence sleep has on their symptoms and daily lives. METHOD:
      Semi-structured interviews were conducted with sixteen participants diagnosed
      with primary FMS, covering all aspects of the sleep experience. The audio
      recorded qualitative interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed using
      interpretative phenomenological analysis. RESULTS: Poor sleep dominated
      participants' lives, affecting levels of pain and fatigue, engagement in daily
      activities and ability to cope. Participants reported experiencing blocks of
      sleep, with the most profound difficulty for participants being able to go back
      to sleep after a night time awakening. They also felt a lack of control in their
      ability to manage their sleep difficulties and use of day-time napping appeared
      to be the only perceived beneficial coping strategy for relieving daytime
      sleepiness and symptoms of fatigue. CONCLUSIONS: Greater emphasis on screening
      for sleep disorders and how to manage poor sleep is needed in rehabilitation
      programmes provided for patients with FMS.

PMID- 20919895
TI  - Evaluation of a three-dimensional kinematic model for canine gait analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate a 3-D kinematic model of the hind limb developed by use of
      a joint coordinate system in dogs. ANIMALS: 6 clinically normal adult mixed-breed
      dogs. PROCEDURES: 17 retroreflective markers were affixed to the skin on the
      right hind limb of each dog. Eight infrared cameras were arranged around a gait
      platform to record marker locations as dogs were recorded moving through the
      calibrated space 5 times during a walk and trot at velocities of 0.9 to 1.2 m/s
      and 1.7 to 2.1 m/s, respectively. Local and global coordinate systems were
      established, and a segmental rigid-body model of the canine hind limb was
      produced. Dynamic 3-D joint kinematic measurements were collected for the hip,
      stifle, and tarsal joints. RESULTS: Sagittal (flexion-extension), transverse
      (internal-external rotation), and frontal (abduction-adduction) plane kinematic
      measurements were acquired during each trial for the hip, stifle, and tarsal
      joints. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: The joint coordinate system allowed
      acquisition of 3-D kinematic measurements of the hip, stifle, and tarsal joints
      of the canine hind limb. Methods were described to model 3-D joint motion of the
      canine hind limb.

PMID- 20919896
TI  - Evaluation of a milk-flow assessment technique in dairy cows with normal teat
      canals or stenotic teat canals.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the usefulness and reliability of a milk-flow measurement
      technique and the values obtained in unobstructed teats and teats with teat canal
      stenosis in dairy cows. ANIMALS: 16 Holstein cows. PROCEDURES: Teats were
      assessed via hand milking and classified as unobstructed or partially obstructed.
      Partially obstructed teats were further categorized according to the anatomic
      location of the obstruction via ultrasonography into teat canal obstruction (TCO)
      and obstruction at the proximal portion of the teat canal (Furstenberg rosette
      obstruction [FRO]) The milk-flow characteristics of the teat canal were assessed
      by measuring the intracisternal pressure at the start (PSL) and at cessation
      (PCL) of leakage of an infused solution. RESULTS: The PSL and PCL values among
      unobstructed teats were not significantly different between lactating and
      nonlactating cows nor among quarters. In assessment of test-retest intrarater
      reliability, a high degree of correlation was detected for PSL (correlation
      coefficient, 0.94; 95% confidence interval, 0.90 to 0.96) and PCL (correlation
      coefficient, 0.92; 95% confidence interval, 0.86 to 0.95). Teats with TCO and FRO
      had higher PSL and PCL values, compared with unobstructed teats. Teats with FRO
      had significantly higher PSL but lower PCL than teats with TCO. CONCLUSIONS AND
      CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Results indicated the usefulness and reliability of the
      technique in assessing the milk-flow characteristics of the teat canal. The milk
      flow pattern of teats with teat canal stenosis varies depending on the location
      of obstruction. This technique may be a valuable tool in evaluating the
      effectiveness of teat canal surgery.

PMID- 20919897
TI  - Pharmacokinetics of fentanyl administered transdermally and intravenously in
      sheep.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the pharmacokinetics of fentanyl administered
      transdermally and IV in sheep. ANIMALS: 21 adult female sheep. PROCEDURES:
      Fentanyl was administered IV to 6 healthy sheep. Transdermal fentanyl patches
      (TFPs) were applied to 15 sheep 12 hours prior to general anesthesia and surgery.
      Seria blood samples were collected for 18 hours after IV injection and 84 hours
      after TFP application. Fentanyl concentrations were quantified via liquid
      chromatography-mass spectrometry, and pharmacokinetic values were estimated.
      RESULTS: All sheep completed the study without complications. Following a dose of
      2.5 g/kg administered IV, the half-life was 3.08 hours (range, 2.20 to 3.36
      hours), volume of distribution at steady state was 8.86 L/kg (range, 5.55 to
      15.04 L/kg), and systemic clearance was 3.62 L/kg/h (range, 2.51 to 5.39 L/kg/h).
      The TFPs were applied at a mean dose of 2.05 g/kg/h. Time to maximum plasma
      concentration and maximal concentration were 12 hours (range, 4 to 24 hours) and
      1.30 ng/mL (range, 0.62 to 2.73 ng/mL), respectively. Fentanyl concentrations
      were maintained at >0.5 ng/mL for 40 hours after TFP application. CONCLUSIONS AND
      CLINICAL RELEVANCE: IV administration of fentanyl resulted in a short half-life.
      Application of a TFP resulted in stable blood fentanyl concentrations in sheep.

PMID- 20919898
TI  - Hemodynamic effects in dogs anesthetized with isoflurane and remifentanil
      isoflurane.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare hemodynamic effects in dogs anesthetized with
      remifentanilisoflurane and with isoflurane alone. ANIMALS: 6 adult dogs.
      PROCEDURES: Mechanically ventilated, isoflurane-anesthetized dogs received
      increasing constant rate infusions (CRIs) of remifentanil (0.15, 0.30, 0.60, and
      0.90 MUg/kg/min) or physiologic saline (0.9% NaCl) solution (control treatment),
      with a 1-week washout interval between treatments. Each CRI of remifentanil or
      saline solution was maintained for 60 minutes with equipotent end-tidal
      isoflurane concentrations that corresponded to 1.3 times the minimum alveolar
      concentration. Hemodynamic measurements and plasma vasopressin concentrations
      were determined before and at the end of each CRI and 60 minutes after the end of
      the infusion regimen. RESULTS: Compared with the control treatment, remifentanil
      CRIs significantly decreased heart rate (HR) and cardiac index (CI) and
      significantly increased systemic vascular resistance index (SVRI) and plasma
      vasopressin concentration. Greatest differences in mean values between treatments
      were recorded for remifentanil at 0.60 MUg/kg/min (HR and Cl were 55% and 47%
      lower, respectively, and SVRI was 91% higher than for the control treatment).
      Mean arterial pressure increased significantly during the highest remifentanil
      CRI (9% higher than for the control treatment). The increase in vascular
      resistance was positively correlated with increases in vasopressin concentrations
      (coefficient of determination, 0.65) during anesthesia with remifentanil
      isoflurane. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Anesthesia maintained with
      remifentanil-isoflurane may decrease tissue perfusion as a result of a decrease
      in Cl. However, hypotension may not develop because of systemic vasoconstriction.
      An increase in plasma vasopressin concentration was associated with the
      vasoconstriction observed in dogs anesthetized with remifentanil-isoflurane.

PMID- 20919899
TI  - Evaluation of anti-inflammatory and chondroprotective effects of peroxisome
      proliferator-activated receptor gamma agonists in cartilage and synovial explants
      from dogs.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effects of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor
      gamma (PPARgamma) agonists on tissue metabolism in cartilage and synovial
      explants from dogs. SAMPLE POPULATION: Cartilage-synovial membrane expiants from
      12 dogs. PROCEDURES: Expiants were cultured for 21 days without (negative
      control) or with interleukin (IL)-1beta (positive control) or with IL-1beta and 2
      concentrations of 2 PPARgamma agonists (15-deoxy-Delta 12,14-prostaglandin J2
      [PGJ2] and pioglitazone). Media were collected on days 3, 7, 9, 12, 15, 18, and
      21 and assessed for glycosaminoglycan (GAG), nitric oxide (NO), and prostaglandin
      E2 (PGE2) concentrations. Tissue GAG and hydroxyproline concentrations were
      determined in cartilage expiants collected on day 21. RESULTS: The GAG
      concentrations of cartilage expiants cultured in IL-1beta (100 ng/mL) with 2
      concentrations of PGJ2 were significantly higher than those in all other groups,
      whereas media GAG concentrations were significantly lower in the high
      concentration PGJ2-treated groups, compared with all other groups. The PGE2
      concentrations were significantly lower in the PGJ2 treatment groups, compared
      with the positive control and the pioglitazone treatment groups on days 3 to 21.
      The NO concentrations were significantly lower in PGJ2 treatment groups, compared
      with the other groups on days 3 and 12 to 21. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE:
      PGJ2, an endogenous PPARgamma agonist, may have anti-inflammatory and
      chondroprotective effects in an osteosteoarthritic joint environment.

PMID- 20919900
TI  - Analysis of the subchondral microarchitecture of the distopalmar aspect of the
      third metacarpal bone in racing Thoroughbreds.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the anisotropic characteristics of the microarchitecture
      of the subchondral bone (SCB) plate and trabecular bone (TBB) of the distopalmar
      aspect of the metacarpal condyles in horses with different stages of SCB disease.
      SAMPLE POPULATION: 12 third metacarpal bone pairs from racing Thoroughbreds
      euthanized for diverse reasons. PROCEDURES: Both metacarpi were collected from
      horses with SCB changes that were mild (sclerosis and focal radiolucencies; n=6)
      or severe (multifocal radiolucencies and articular surface defects; 6). Sample
      blocks of SCB plate and TBB were collected from the distopalmar aspect of both
      condyles and the sagittal ridge and examined via 3-D micro-computed tomography at
      45-?m isotropic voxel resolution. For each sample, the angle between the
      principal orientation of trabeculae and the sagittal plane and the degree of
      anisotropy (DA) were calculated from mean intercept length measurements. RESULTS:
      Condylar samples had significantly lower angle (mean, 8.9 degrees ; range, 73
      degrees  to 10.9 degrees ) than sagittal ridge samples (mean, 40.7 degrees ;
      range, 33.6 degrees  to 49.2 degrees ), TBB had significantly higher DA (mean+/
      SE, 1.75+/-0.04) than SCB plate (1.29+/-0.04), and mildly diseased TBB had higher
      DA (1.85+/-0.06) than severely diseased TBB (1.65+/-0.06). CONCLUSIONS AND
      CLINICAL RELEVANCE: The highly ordered appearance of trabeculae within the
      condyles supports the concept that joint loading is primarily transmitted through
      the condyles and not the sagittal ridge. The sharp changes in the trajectories of
      the SCB trabeculae at the condylar grooves may be indicative of hypothetical
      tensile forces at this location contributing to the pathogenesis of condylar
      fractures.

PMID- 20919901
TI  - Evaluation of a flow-mediated vasodilation measurement technique in healthy dogs.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the between- and within-dog repeatability of a flow
      mediated vasodilation (FMD) measurement technique in healthy dogs. ANIMALS: 43
      male and female dogs of various breeds (weight range, 6.9 to 31.7 kg; age range,
      11 months to 11 years). PROCEDURES: 5 dogs were used to refine the technique;
      other dogs were classified as large (>15 kg) or small (>=15 kg) before use in the
      main study. In each dog, a brachial artery was occluded for 5 minutes by
      inflating a blood pressure cuff (applied pressure was more than 50 mm Hg greater
      than that required to occlude flow). Two-dimensional ultrasonographic images of
      the artery were recorded during a 30-second period prior to cuff inflation
      (baseline) and during a 3-minute period after cuff deflation by each of 2
      sonographers. Relative percentage increases in luminal size from baseline (ie,
      FMD) were calculated. Independent contributing factors to FMD (eg, body weight,
      age, and room temperature) were assessed. RESULTS: Median FMD was significantly
      greater in small dogs (77%; range, 0% to 19.3%) than it was in large dogs (2.2%;
      range, -2.2% to 10.6%); values were significantly greater in dogs<6 years old,
      compared with dogs>6 years old. Weight was the only independent contributing
      factor for FMD. Coefficients of variation for between- and within-dog
      repeatability were 99.7% and 62.8%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL
      RELEVANCE: Application of the FMD measurement technique used in humans appears to
      be feasible in dogs and may provide a means of assessing canine endothelial
      function, although between and within-dog variations were large.

PMID- 20919902
TI  - Expression of genes associated with inflammation induced by ex vivo exposure to
      lipopolysaccharide in peripheral blood leukocytes from horses with
      gastrointestinal disease.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of ex vivo exposure to lipopolysaccharide
      (LPS) on the expression of inflammatory genes in leukocytes from horses with
      gastrointestinal (Gl) disease and determine whether the pattern or magnitude of
      the response to LPS correlated with the type of disease and outcome. ANIMALS: 49
      horses with Gl disease and 10 healthy horses PROCEDURES: Leukocytes were isolated
      from blood samples and submitted to 3 protocols: immediate freezing, freezing
      after 4-hour incubation in medium, and freezing after 4-hour incubation in medium
      containing LPS. Expression of 14 genes associated with inflammation was assessed
      via PCR assay. Results were compared by disease type and outcome RESULTS: Horses
      with Gl disease had colic of unknown etiology (n=8), Gl inflammation or
      strangulation (18), or nonstrangulating Gl obstruction (23). Among the 44 horses
      receiving treatment, 38 were discharged from the hospital and 6 died or were
      euthanized. Incubation of leukocytes in medium alone changed the expression of
      several genes. Incubation with LPS resulted in increased expression of
      interleukin-10 and monocyte chemotactic protein-3 in leukocytes from healthy and
      sick horses. Leukocytes from horses with nonstrangulating obstruction and horses
      that survived had less pronounced LPS-induced increases in interleukin-10
      expression than did cells from healthy horses. The opposite was evident for
      monocyte chemotactic protein-3. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: No evidence
      existed for a reduced response of leukocytes from horses with gastrointestinal
      disease to ex vivo exposure to LPS. Leukocyte expression of inflammatory genes
      after ex vivo incubation with LPS appeared to be related to pathogenesis and
      prognosis.

PMID- 20919903
TI  - Evaluation of the pathogenicity and virulence of three strains of Salmonella
      organisms in calves and pigs.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess in pigs the pathogenicity and virulence of 3 strains of
      Salmonella spp capable of causing atypical salmonellosis in cattle. ANIMALS: 36
      Holstein calves and 72 pigs experimentally infected with Salmonella spp.
      PROCEDURES: Representative Salmonella strains associated with 3 new disease
      phenotypes (protozoa-mediated hypervirulence, multisystemic cytopathicity, and
      encephalopathy) that have been characterized in cattle during the past 10 years
      were orally inoculated into pigs. Clinical manifestations were compared with
      those observed in cattle. Samples were collected from various tissues, and the
      presence of Salmonella organisms was assessed qualitatively and quantitatively by
      use of Salmonella-selective media. RESULTS: Of the 3 unique Salmonella disease
      phenotypes observed in cattle, only protozoa-mediated hypervirulence was observed
      in pigs. Hypervirulence was related to a more rapid onset of disease and higher
      pathogen burden in pigs than in cattle. This phenotype was observed in pigs
      inoculated with multiresistant Salmonella enterica serotypes Typhimurium or
      Choleraesuis bearing the Salmonella genomic island 1 (SGI1) integron. CONCLUSIONS
      AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Salmonella hypervirulence was identified in pigs
      noculated with SGI1-bearing strains exposed to free-living protozoa.
      Additionally, an SGI1-bearing strain of Salmonella Choleraesuis was detected that
      resulted in augmented virulence in pigs. Therefore, it appeared that protozoa
      associated salmonellosis was analogous in pigs and cattle. Salmonella-mediated
      encephalopathy and multisystemic cytopathicity did not appear to be relevant
      diseases in pigs.

PMID- 20919904
TI  - Comparison of iatrogenic transmission of Anaplasma marginale in Holstein steers
      via needle and needle-free injection techniques.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare iatrogenic transmission of Anaplasma marginale during sham
      vaccination between needle and needle-free injection techniques. ANIMALS: 26
      Holstein steers confirmed negative for anaplasmosis by use of a competitive ELISA
      (cELISA) and an A marginale-specific reverse transcription (RT)-PCR assay.
      PROCEDURES: An isolate of A marginale was propagated to a circulating parasitemia
      of 2.0% in a splenectomized steer. Sham vaccination was performed in the left
      cervical muscles of the splenectomized parasitemic steer with a hypodermic needle
      fitted to a multiple-dose syringe. The same needle and syringe were used to sham
      vaccinate a naive steer. This 2-step procedure was repeated until 10 naive steers
      (group ND) were injected. Similarly, sham vaccination of the left cervical
      muscles of the splenectomized parasitemic steer and another group of 10 naive
      steers (group NF) was performed by use of a needle-free injection system. Five
      control steers were not injected. Disease status was evaluated twice weekly for
      61 days by use of light microscopy, a cELISA, and an A marginale-specific RT-PCR
      assay. RESULTS: Iatrogenic transmission was detected in 6 of 10 steers in group
      ND. Disease status did not change in the NF or control steers. Sensitivity of
      light microscopy, cELISA, and RT-PCR assay was 100% on days 41, 41, and 20 after
      sham vaccination, respectively; however, only cELISA and RT-PCR assay sustained a
      sensitivity of 100% thereafter. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Needle-free
      injection was superior to needle injection for the control of iatrogenic
      transmission of A marginale.

PMID- 20919905
TI  - Prevalence of antimicrobial resistance and association with toxin genes in
      Clostridium difficile in commercial swine.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To estimate prevalence and determine association between antimicrobia
      resistance and toxin gene profile of Clostridium difficile in commercial pigs at
      the preharvest food-safety level. ANIMALS: 68 sows and 251 young pigs from 5
      farms in North Carolina and 3 in Ohio. PROCEDURES: Fecal samples were collected
      from sows (8/farm) and matched young pigs (32/farm) at farrowing and again at the
      nursery and finishing stages. Clostridium difficile isolates were tested for
      susceptibility to 6 antimicrobials. A PCR assay was used to detect genes coding
      for enterotoxin A (tcdA), cytotoxin B (tcdB), and binary toxin (cdtB). RESULTS: C
      difficile prevalence in young pigs at farrowing was 73% (n=183) with
      significantly higher prevalence in Ohio (875%) than in North Carolina (64%).
      Clostridium difficile was isolated from 32 (47%) sows with no significant
      difference between the 2 regions. A single pig had a positive test result at the
      nursery, and no isolate was recovered at the finishing farms. Resistance to
      ciprofloxacin was predominant in young pigs (91.3% of isolates) and sows (94%).
      The antimicrobial resistance profile ciprofloxacin-erythromycin-tetracycline was
      detected in 21.4% and 11.7% of isolates from young pigs and sows, respectively.
      Most isolates had positive results for tcdA (65%), tcdB (84%), and the binary
      toxin cdtB (77%) genes. Erythromycin resistance and tetracycline resistance were
      significantly associated with toxin gene profiles. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL
      RELEVANCE: The common occurrence of antimicrobial-resistant C difficile and the
      significant association of toxigenic strains with antimicrobial resistance could
      contribute to high morbidity in farms with farrowing pigs.

PMID- 20919906
TI  - Evaluation of peptide- and recombinant protein-based assays for detection of anti
      Ehrlichia ewingii antibodies in experimentally and naturally infected dogs.
      [corrected]
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate microtiter-plate format ELISAs constructed by use of
      different diagnostic targets derived from the Ehrlichia ewingii p28 outer
      membrane protein for detection of E ewingii antibodies in experimentally and
      naturally infected dogs. SAMPLE POPULATION: Serum samples from 87 kenneled dogs,
      9 dogs experimentally infected with anti-E ewingii, and 180 potentially naturally
      exposed dogs from Missouri. PROCEDURES: The capacities of the synthetic peptide
      and truncated recombinant protein to function as detection reagents in ELISAs
      were compared by use of PCR assay, western blot analysis, and a full-length
      recombinant protein ELISA. Diagnostic targets included an E ewingii synthetic
      peptide (EESP) and 2 recombinant proteins: a full-length E ewingii outer membrane
      protein (EEp28) and a truncated E ewingii outer membrane protein (EETp28)
      RESULTS: A subset of Ehrlichia canis-positive samples cross-reacted in the EEp28
      ELISA; none were reactive in the EESP and EETp28 ELISAs. The EESP- and EETp28
      based ELISAs detected E ewingii seroconversion at approximately the same time
      after infection as the EEp28 ELISAs. In afield population, each of the ELISAs
      identified the same 35 samples as reactive and 27 samples as nonreactive.
      Anaplasma and E can is peptides used in a commercially available ELISA platform
      did not detect anti-E ewingii antibodies in experimentally infected dogs.
      CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: The EESP and EETp28 ELISAs were suitable for
      specifically detecting anti-E ewingii antibodies in experimentally and naturally
      infected dogs.

PMID- 20919907
TI  - Pharmacokinetics of metformin after enteral administration in insulin-resistant
      ponies.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine pharmacokinetics and plasma steady-state kinetics of
      metformin after oral or nasogastric administration in insulin-resistant (IR)
      ponies. ANIMALS: 8 IR ponies. PROCEDURES: Metformin (30 mg/kg) was administered
      to 8 ponies via nasogastric tube Blood samples were collected at intervals for 24
      hours. Plasma concentrations of metformin were measured via liquid chromatography
      electrospray tandem mass spectroscopy Pharmacokinetic variables were determined
      via noncompartmental analysis. Metformin (15 mg/kg, PO, twice daily [8 am and 5
      pm]) was administered to 4 ponies for an additional 20 days, and blood samples
      were obtained every 2 days. Plasma concentration at steady state (Css) was
      determined. RESULTS: Mean+/-SD elimination half-life (t1/2) of metformin was
      11.7+/-5.2 hours, maxima plasma concentration was 748+/-269 ng/mL at 54+/-32
      minutes, mean area under the curve was 355+/-92 microg.h/mL, and apparent
      clearance was 90.6+/-28.1 mL/min/kg. The Css was 122+/-22 ng/mL. CONCLUSIONS AND
      CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Metformin reportedly enhances insulin sensitivity of
      peripheral tissues without stimulating insulin secretion, but bioavailability in
      horses is low. The t1/2 of metformin in IR ponies was similar to that in humans.
      Actual clearance of metformin adjusted for bioavailability in IR ponies was
      similar to that in humans; however, during chronic oral administration at dosages
      reported in efficacy studies, the Css of metformin was less than values
      associated with therapeutic efficacy in humans The apparent lack of long-term
      efficacy of metformin in horses is likely attributable to low bioavailability,
      rather than to rapid clearance.

PMID- 20919909
TI  - Evaluation of exercise-induced changes in concentrations of C-reactive protein
      and serum biochemical values in sled dogs completing a long-distance endurance
      race.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine whether long-distance endurance exercise in sled dogs
      causes increases in serum concentrations of C-reactive protein (CRP) and whether
      such increases are correlated with other markers of the exercise-induced acute
      phase response. ANIMALS: 25 sled dogs. PROCEDURES: Serum was obtained from 25
      sled dogs approximately 48 hours before and immediately after completing a race
      of 557 km. Serum was analyzed to determine concentrations of CRP and interleukin
      (IL)-6, and serum biochemical analysis (and iron homeostasis analysis) also was
      performed. RESULTS: CRP concentrations increased significantly from a mean+/-SD
      concentration of 22.4+/-16.3 microg/mL before racing to a mean of 263.3+/-103.8
      microg/mL immediately after racing Serum IL-6 concentrations were unchanged;
      however, there was a modest but significant correlation (r=0.50) between the
      increase in CRP concentration and an overall decrease in serum albumin
      concentration, which suggested an inverse relationship between hepatic synthesis
      of the 2 proteins. Differences in CRP concentrations among teams of dogs revealed
      that concentrations before racing may be influenced by previous episodes of
      exercise. Serum iron concentration had only a mild decrease, which may have been
      attributable to iron-rich diets consumed by the dogs. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL
      RELEVANCE: CRP concentrations may serve as a potential marker for exercise
      induced inflammation. The exact amount of exercise required to induce such a
      response is unknown, but dogs apparently have a more robust acute-phase response
      than do humans. Clinical evaluation of CRP concentrations must account for
      physical activity when those concentrations are used as a potential marker for
      systemic inflammation.

PMID- 20919910
TI  - Effects of administration of caffeine on metabolic variables in neonatal pigs
      with peripartum asphyxia.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine effects of 2 doses of caffeine on metabolic variables in
      neonatal pigs with peripartum asphyxia. ANIMALS: 180 neonatal pigs. PROCEDURES:
      Neonatal pigs were assigned to 2 groups (groups P and F) on the basis of results
      for a vitality scale (passed or failed, respectively). Within each group, there
      were 3 subgroups of 30 pigs each. Within each group, the 3 subgroups received a
      placebo that consisted of an empty gelatin capsule, a gelatin capsule that
      contained 20 mg of caffeine, and a gelatin capsule that contained 35 mg of
      caffeine, respectively; all capsules were administered orally (0 hours). Blood
      samples were collected immediately before and 24 hours after capsule
      administration. RESULTS: Pigs in groups P and F that received 20 or 35 mg of
      caffeine had significant increases in triglyceride concentrations. All pigs in
      groups P and F had a significant decrease in lactate concentrations, although the
      placebo-treated pigs in group F had larger decreases than did the group F pigs
      treated with 20 or 35 mg of caffeine. Glucose concentrations increased
      significantly in group F pigs treated with 20 or 35 mg of caffeine (30% and 50%,
      respectively), whereas glucose concentrations remained unchanged in group P pigs.
      In pigs treated with 35 mg of caffeine, the final weight obtained for group F was
      approximately 8% lower than that obtained for group P. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL
      RELEVANCE: Administering caffeine immediately after birth to neonatal pigs with
      severe oxygen restriction resulted in significant improvements in metabolic
      variables.

PMID- 20919911
TI  - Effects of renal autograft ischemic storage and reperfusion on intraoperative
      hemodynamic patterns and plasma renin concentrations in clinically normal cats
      undergoing renal autotransplantation and contralateral nephrectomy.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of the duration of cold Ischemia on the renin
      angiotensin system during renal transplantation In cats and to define the
      potential Influence of vasoactive factors in renal tissue following cold ischemic
      storage versus warm ischemic storage. ANIMALS: 10 purpose-bred 6-month-old
      sexually Intact female cats. PROCEDURES: 10 cats underwent renal
      autotransplantation after 30 minutes (n=5) or 3 hours (5) of simple, ex vivo cold
      storage of renal autographs. Following autograft reperfusion, direct hemodynamic
      variables were measured with a telemetric Implant and samples were collected for
      plasma renin concentration. Activation of vascular-related genes (renin,
      endothelin, and angiotensin converting enzyme) relative to 2-hour simple cold or
      warm ischemia was also evaluated. RESULTS: No significant difference between
      groups was detected In any of the hemodynamic variables or postreperfusion plasma
      renin concentrations measured in this study relative to the duration of cold
      ischemic storage. There was also no difference between warm- and cold-stored
      kidneys in the expression of vascular-related genes. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL
      RELEVANCE: Prolonged renal Ischemia for clinically relevant durations does not
      appear to predispose clinically normal cats to altered hemodynamics or high
      plasma renin concentrations following graft reperfusion. Activation of vasoactive
      genes does not appear to be Influenced by type of Ischemia over 2 hours.

PMID- 20919912
TI  - Evaluation of the osteogenic and chondrogenic differentiation capacities of
      equine adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the proliferative behavior, telomere length,
      immunophenotype, and differentiation capacity of equine adipose tissue-derived
      mesenchymal stem cells (AT-MSCs). ANIMALS: 6 adult racing horses treated for
      articular Injury but otherwise healthy. PROCEDURES: AT-MSCs were Isolated from
      horses and expanded In Dulbecco modified Eagle medium enriched with fetal bovine
      serum and antimicrobials. Expression of cell surface antigens and telomere length
      were Investigated via flow cytometry Differentiation of MSCs Into chondrocytes,
      osteoblasts, and adipocytes was Induced In vitro by specific stimuli and was
      evaluated by analyzing marker genes with quantitative reverse transcriptase PCR
      assays and immunocytochemical and cytologie evaluations. RESULTS: Equine MSCs
      could be cultured up to the fifth passage before signs of senescence, apoptosis,
      and detachment Indicated cellular exhaustion. However, the AT-MSCs from 2 of 6
      horses survived to later passages with Increased doubling rates and telomere
      lengths. The cells had a typical phenotype, with expression of CD14, CD73, CD90,
      CD105, CD140b, and CD164 antigens and a lack of CD34 and CD45 antigens. The cells
      also had a strong potential to differentiate Into osteoblasts, as characterized
      by Intense von Kossa and alizarin red staining as well as high Induction of
      osteopontin. Chondrogenic differentiation was detected via Alelan blue staining
      and expression of aggrecan and type II collagen Adipogenesis was Induced in AT
      MSCs by supplementation of differentiation media with rabbit serum. CONCLUSIONS
      AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Equine AT-MSCs representa suitable cellular source for
      regenerative treatment of bone or cartilage defects, particularly when expanded
      In vitro for only a few passages.

PMID- 20919913
TI  - Comparison of the osteogenic potential of equine mesenchymal stem cells from bone
      marrow, adipose tissue, umbilical cord blood, and umbilical cord tissue.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the optimal osteogenic source of equine mesenchymal stem
      cells (eMSCs) and optimize collection of and expansion conditions for those
      cells. ANIMALS: 10 adult Quarter Horses and 8 newborn Thoroughbred foals.
      PROCEDURES: eMSCs were isolated from bone marrow (BM), adipose tissue, and
      umbilical cord blood and tissue, and the osteogenic potential of each type was
      assessed. Effects of anatomic site, aspiration volume, and serum type on eMSC
      yield from BM were investigated. RESULTS: BM-eMSCs had the highest overall
      expression of the osteogenic genes Cbfa1, Osx, and Omd and staining for ALP
      activity and calcium deposition. There was no significant difference in BM-eMSC
      yield from the tuber coxae or sternum, but yield was significantly greater from
      the first 60-mL aspirate than from subsequent aspirates. The BM-eMSC expansion
      rate was significantly higher when cells were cultured in fetal bovine serum
      instead of autologous serum (AS). CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: eMSCs from
      BM possessed the highest in vitro osteogenic potential; eMSCs from adipose tissue
      also had robust osteogenic potential. The tuber coxae and the sternum were viable
      sources of BM-eMSCs in yearlings, and 60 mL of BM aspirate was sufficient for
      culture and expansion. Expanding BM-eMSCs in AS to avoid potential immunologic
      reactions decreased the total yield because BM-eMSCs grew significantly slower in
      AS than in fetal bovine serum. Additional studies are needed to determine optimal
      ex vivo eMSC culture and expansion conditions, including the timing and use of
      growth factor-supplemented AS.

PMID- 20919914
TI  - Early detection of ketoprofen-induced acute kidney injury in sheep as determined
      by evaluation of urinary enzyme activities.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate early indicators of renal tissue destruction and changes
      in urinary enzyme activities in sheep during the first hours after acute kidney
      injury induced by administration of an overdose of an NSAID. ANIMALS: 12 adult
      female sheep. PROCEDURES: Acute kidney injury was induced in 6 sheep by
      administration of ketoprofen (30 mg/kg, IV) and detected by evaluation of urinary
      protein concentration, iohexol clearance, and results of histologic examination.
      Six sheep served as control animals. Blood and urine samples were collected for
      up to 24 hours after administration of ketoprofen. Plasma concentrations of urea,
      creatinine, albumin, and total protein; plasma activities of alkaline
      phosphatase, acid phosphatase, gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT), matrix
      metalloproteinase (MMP)-2, and MMP-9; and urinary creatinine and protein
      concentrations, specific gravity, and activities of alkaline phosphatase, acid
      phosphatase, GGT lactate dehydrogenase, N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase (NAG),
      MMP-2, and MMP-9 were measured. Urinary protein concentration and enzyme
      activities were normalized on the basis of urinary creatinine concentrations and
      reported as ratios. RESULTS: Many urinary enzyme-to-creatinine ratios increased
      before the plasma creatinine concentration exceeded the reference value. Urine
      NAG, lactate dehydrogenase, and acid phosphatase activities were increased
      beginning at 2 hours after ketoprofen administration, and alkaline phosphatase,
      GGT, and MMP-2 activities were increased beginning at 4 hours after ketoprofen
      administration. Most peak urinary enzyme-to-creatinine ratios were detected
      earlier than were the highest plasma creatinine and urea concentrations.
      CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Urinary enzyme activities were sensitive
      early indicators of acute kidney injury induced by an overdose of an NSAID in
      sheep.

PMID- 20919915
TI  - Contemporary experience in the management of angiomyolipoma.
AB  - PURPOSE: We review our single center experience in the management of renal
      angiomyolipoma (AML) in patients who were treated with active surveillance (AS)
      or invasive treatment protocols. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A prospectively evaluated
      database was reviewed, and we identified 91 patients with the diagnosis of renal
      AML who presented between June 1985 and February 2009. Patient characteristics,
      clinical presentation, treatment modalities, and patient outcomes were evaluated.
      Patients on AS were analyzed for successful completion of the surveillance
      protocol considering age, symptomatic presentation, and tumor size as potential
      predictors of invasive treatment. RESULTS: A total of 91 patients with AMLs were
      identified. The mean patient age was 57 years. Seventy-three (83.9%) patients
      presented incidentally, and 14 (16%) patients were symptomatic at presentation.
      Forty-five patients were treated with AS, 4 underwent embolization, and 38
      patients had extirpative surgery. After a median follow-up of 54.8 months (range
      0.2-211.7 mos), there was a mean growth rate of 0.088 cm/year in the group who
      were treated with AS. AS failed in three patients. Two patients had
      retroperitoneal bleeding during the observation period, and one patient
      manifested an expeditious growth rate of 0.7 cm/year and underwent a radical
      nephrectomy. CONCLUSIONS: AML is a renal tumor that usually exhibits a benign
      course. Surgical removal and embolization are the standard invasive treatment
      modalities. AS for AMLs is associated with a slow and consistent growth rate
      (0.088 cm/year), typically has minimal morbidity, and is a reasonable option in
      selected patients. Symptomatic presentation and size (> 3 cm) are not predictive
      for necessitating an invasive procedure.

PMID- 20919916
TI  - Extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy in elderly: impact of age and comorbidity on
      stone-free rate and complications.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The aim of this study was to investigate and compare the success
      and complication rates of extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy (SWL) in three
      cohorts of patients older than 60 years. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Our study included
      444 patients older than 60 years who were treated with SWL between May 2001 and
      May 2008 at the Croatian Referential Center for Urolythiasis in Osijek. Three
      groups were formed: group I (60-65 years old), group II (66-70), and group III (>
      70). There were 175, 151, and 118 patients in groups I, II, and III,
      respectively, with a mean age of 67.7 +/- 5.4 years for all patients. Demographic
      data, comorbidities, kidney function, stone characteristics, treatment details,
      complications, and stone-free rate (SFR) were analyzed. RESULTS: We performed 1.7
      +/- 1.12 sessions per patient, with 3166 +/- 571.3 impulses per session and a
      mean energy of 18.78 +/- 0.64 kV. Three groups did not differ in number of SWL
      sessions (p = 0.78), number of impulses (p = 0.34), energy level (p = 0.5), stone
      size (p = 0.3), and pretreatment creatinine level (p = 0.88). Comorbidities were
      found in 55% of patients, with almost every third patient having two or more ones
      present. Complications were noted in 6% of patients, with no significant
      difference when comparing complication rates between the groups. An overall SFR
      of 67.98% was found. There was no statistically significant difference when
      comparing SFRs between the studied groups, even after dividing patients into
      those with renal and ureteral stones. CONCLUSION: Our study shows that good SFR
      and low rate of complications can be achieved with proper patient selection for
      SWL, regardless of patients' age and comorbidities.

PMID- 20919917
TI  - Retroperitoneoscopic living donor nephrectomy: experience of 425 cases at a
      single center.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Laparoscopic living donor nephrectomy (LLDN) is a
      standard method of donor nephrectomy. Most cases of LLDN are transperitoneal.
      Retroperitoneal access, however, implies a direct approach to the retroperitoneal
      organs without interfering with any of them. Since 2001, we have been trying to
      establish the technique of retroperitoneoscopic live donor nephrectomy (RPLDN).
      To assess the safety, feasibility, and usefulness of RPLDN, we reviewed the
      experience with this technique at our institution. PATIENTS AND METHODS: From
      July 2001 to March 2009, 425 patients underwent live donor renal transplantation
      at our institution with allografts procured by RPLDN. Study variables included
      operative time, time to retrieval of the kidney, blood loss, warm ischemia time,
      length of hospital stay, number and length of renal vessels, graft function, and
      complications. RESULTS: Mean follow-up was 53 months. Donor nephrectomy was
      performed successfully in all patients. The complication rate was 4.9%. In one
      case, the procedure was changed to open donor nephrectomy because of severe
      adhesion in the renal hilum from previous surgery. Ureteral complications
      occurred in four patients, who were successfully treated with retrograde ureteral
      stent placement. None of the donors needed readmission. Mean warm ischemia time
      was 4.8 minutes. Creatinine levels returned to normal in all patients, and long
      term allograft function was good. Serum creatinine levels at postoperative days
      1, 7, and 14 were 3.7 mg/dL, 1.4 mg/dL, and 1.4 mg/dL on average, respectively.
      Slow graft function was noted in four (1.1%) cases but returned to the normal
      level within 2 weeks after surgery. One-year donor survival was 99%, and 1-year
      graft survival was 98.2%. CONCLUSIONS: Excellent donor safety and allograft
      function were obtained with RPLDN. These results suggest that RPLDN could be an
      option for LLDN.

PMID- 20919918
TI  - Blood loss during transurethral resection of the prostate as measured by the
      chromium-51 method.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate blood loss during transurethral resection of the prostate
      (TURP), and its predictive factors, using the chromium 51 (51Cr) labeling method.
      PATIENTS AND METHODS: From January to June 2008, 41 patients who underwent TURP
      for symptomatic benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) at four French urology centers
      were included in the analysis. Red cells volume was measured by the 51Cr method 1
      day before TURP, and on postoperative day 3. Overall blood loss was estimated by
      multiplication of red cells volume loss and preoperative venous hematocrit value.
      RESULTS: Mean preoperative red cells volume was 1997 mL. Mean loss of red cells
      volume was 209 ml, which corresponds to an estimated blood loss of 507 mL. Mean
      delta of hematocrit and hemoglobin were 1.4% and 0.71 g/dL, respectively. In
      univariate analysis, prostate volume, weight of resected tissue, preoperative red
      cells volume, and resection time were significantly and directly associated with
      loss of red cells volume (P = 0.038, P = 0.004, P = 0.002, and P = 0.039,
      respectively). Bipolar and monopolar TURP did not lead to significant difference
      of red cells loss. In multivariate analysis, both preoperative red cells volume
      and weight of resected tissue were independent predictors of red cells loss (P =
      0.017 and P = 0.048 respectively). CONCLUSION: We present the first study to
      measure blood loss secondary to TURP using the 51Cr method. This technique
      allowed evaluating blood loss not only during the surgical procedure but also
      during the postoperative period. We learned from this study that, on average,
      blood loss from the procedure until postoperative day 3 was more than 500 mL,
      which is larger than previously reported amounts as measured by other methods.
      Because significant blood loss might occur during the postoperative period, the
      51Cr method should be used to measure blood loss when evaluating new emerging
      techniques to manage BPH.

PMID- 20919919
TI  - Renal access by urologist or radiologist during percutaneous nephrolithotomy.
AB  - PURPOSE: We evaluated percutaneous access for percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL)
      that was obtained by interventional radiologists or urologists at a single
      academic institution and compared access outcomes and complications. PATIENTS AND
      METHODS: The records of 233 patients who underwent PCNL at the University of
      Pittsburgh Medical Center between 2000 and 2008 were retrospectively reviewed.
      Patients were stratified according to percutaneous access by urologists (group 1)
      or a group of interventional radiologists (group 2) in 195 and 38 patients,
      respectively. Radiologist-acquired access was performed for collecting system
      decompression in 33.3% of patients in group 2. A predicted access difficulty
      score was calculated using demographic, stone, and operative variables.
      Percutaneous access complications and stone-free rates were compared between
      groups. RESULTS: Mean patient age was 53 +/- 16 years (51% male, range 19-90 y)
      and 58 +/- 17 years (62% male, range 25-95 y) in groups 1 and 2, respectively.
      Use of multiple access tracts (4.3% vs 5.4%; P = 0.54), mean stone diameter (3.5
      +/- 1.8 cm vs 3.6 +/- 1.9 cm; P = 0.97), and percentage of supracostal tracts
      (36% vs 35%; P = 0.63) were comparable between groups. Mean access difficulty
      parameters were comparable between groups. The percentage of staghorn calculi
      (39% vs 30%; P = 0.28) and number of obese (body mass index > 30) patients (30%
      vs 38%; P = 0.34) were also comparable between groups 1 and 2. The complication
      rate was the same in the two groups (14.3% vs 13.5%; P = 0.52). The overall stone
      free rate was significantly greater in the urology access group (99% vs 92.1%; P
      = 0.033) on univariate analysis. Radiologist-obtained access could not be used in
      36.8% of patients, necessitating additional access tract placement at the time of
      surgery. CONCLUSIONS: Urologist-obtained access is safe and effective for PCNL.
      Access obtained by radiologists for decompression of infected or obstructed
      systems often is not adequate for PCNL. Despite similar stone complexity and
      access difficulty, urologist-obtained access was associated with a statistically
      significant improvement in overall stone-free rate.

PMID- 20919920
TI  - HIV type 1-mediated downregulation of HLA-B*57/B*5801 proteins on elite
      suppressor CD4+ T cells.
AB  - Elite controllers or suppressors (ES) are HIV-1-infected patients who maintain
      viral loads of <50 copies/ml without antiretroviral therapy. While HLA-B*57 and
      B*5801 alleles are overrepresented in ES, many HLA-B*57/B*5801 patients become
      chronic progressors (CP). We show here that HIV-1 infection results in similar
      levels of downregulation of HLA-B*57 and HLA-B*5801 molecules on primary CD4(+) T
      cells from ES and CP. Thus, differences in HIV-1-mediated downregulation of HLA
      B*57/B*5801 molecules do not distinguish ES from CP.

PMID- 20919921
TI  - Maternal exposure to domestic violence and pregnancy and birth outcomes: a
      systematic review and meta-analyses.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pregnant women who experience domestic violence are at increased risk
      of adverse outcomes in addition to the risks to themselves. Inadequate prenatal
      care, higher incidences of high-risk behaviors, direct physical trauma, stress,
      and neglect are postulated mechanisms. Our objective was to systematically review
      birth outcomes among women who experienced domestic violence. METHODS: Medline,
      Embase, CINAHL, and bibliographies of identified articles were searched for
      English language studies. Studies reporting rates of low birth weight, preterm
      birth, small for gestational age births, birth weight, or gestational age at
      birth were included. Study quality was assessed for selection, exposure
      assessment, confounder adjustment, analyses, outcomes assessment, and attrition
      biases. Unadjusted and adjusted data from included studies were extracted by two
      reviewers. Summary odds ratio (OR) and confidence intervals (CI) were calculated
      using the random effects model. Population-attributable risk was calculated.
      RESULTS: Thirty studies of low to moderate risk of biases were included. Low
      birth weight (adjusted OR 1.53, 95% CI 1.28-1.82) and preterm births (adjusted OR
      1.46, 95% CI 1.27-1.67) were increased among women exposed to domestic violence.
      As the prevalence of reported domestic violence during pregnancy was low, the
      population-attributable risk was low. Prospective cohort studies provided robust
      and consistent results. CONCLUSIONS: Maternal exposure to domestic violence was
      associated with significantly increased risk of low birth weight and preterm
      birth. Underreporting of domestic violence is hypothesized. Effective programs to
      identify violence and intervene during pregnancy are essential.

PMID- 20919922
TI  - Sustained profile of transmitted drug resistance mutations for more than 10 years
      in an HIV type 1-infected patient.
AB  - We present an HIV-1-infected patient with a profile of transmitted drug
      resistance (RT M41L, E44D, V118I, L210W, T215D) sustained during more than 10
      years in the absence of treatment. Clonal analysis of different plasma and
      cellular samples within this period did not reveal any reversion to the wild-type
      genotype.

PMID- 20919923
TI  - A genomic and bioinformatics analysis of the integration of HIV in peripheral
      blood mononuclear cells.
AB  - The mechanistic basis of the target-site preference of lentivirus DNA integration
      is not well understood. In the present in silico study, we describe the
      integrational profile of simultaneous HIV-1 and HIV-2 infection. A total of 352
      genomic DNA sequences from human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs)
      obtained from GenBank and possessing the 5' LTR of HIV were used to characterize
      the structure and composition of local chromatin associated with high frequency
      integration sites. These sequences were aligned with the draft human genome
      (hg18) using BLAST (NCBI) and BLAT (UCSC) in order to derive information about
      chromosome localization, functional aspects of coding protein genes, CpG island
      number, and repetitive elements flanking integration sites. No significant
      differences in the integrational profile between HIV-1 and HIV-2 were found.
      However, we observed a tendency in both lentiviruses to integrate in the vicinity
      of protein coding genes. Multiple regression analysis showed a strong correlation
      between the number of genes and the number of CpG islands in regions with high
      integration frequency, mainly in chromosome 17 (R = 0.95, p < 0.05). Our results
      provide strong evidence that HIV-1 and HIV-2 have common genomic environments in
      the local chromatin regions with high gene density and CpG islands. The
      understanding of local genomic environments with a high frequency of integration
      would be the starting point to develop novel antiviral strategies for lentiviral
      infection.

PMID- 20919924
TI  - Short Communication: Hepatitis B Virus Harboring Nucleotide Deletions in the
      Basal Core Promoter in HBe-Positive HIV-Coinfected Patients Under Lamivudine
      Therapy.
AB  - The presence of HBV genomes with deletions at the basal core promoter (BCP) is
      associated with more aggressive liver disease. This 3-year longitudinal analysis
      of two HIV-HBV-coinfected patients allowed identification of three deletions with
      dissimilar abundance and permanence into the HBV quasispecies composition. These
      deletions may contribute to HBV pathogenesis in HIV-coinfected individuals.

PMID- 20919925
TI  - Effects of autologous stem cell transplantation in HIV: searching for the origins
      of viral replication in settings of profound CD4(+) T cell depletion.

PMID- 20919927
TI  - Does 1-(R)-aminoindan possess neuroprotective properties against experimental
      Parkinson's disease?
AB  - The anti-Parkinsonian, monoamine oxidase-B inhibitor drug, rasagiline
      (Azilect(r)), is primarily metabolized by hepatic cytochrome P450 isoenzyme 1A2
      mediated N-dealkylation to form its major metabolite, 1-(R)-aminoindan. The
      present study was undertaken to further investigate, for the first time, the
      possible neuroprotective effect of 1-(R)-aminoindan in two rat models of
      Parkinson's disease, the 6-hydroxydopamine- and lactacystin (a proteasomal
      inhibitor)-induced nigrostriatal degeneration. 1-(R)-aminoindan reversed
      behavioral asymmetry and restored striatal catecholamine levels in these two rat
      models and significantly protected neurons from hydrogen peroxide-induced
      oxidative stress. These observations indicate that 1-(R)-aminoindan may
      contribute to the overall neuroprotective activity of its parental compound,
      rasagiline.

PMID- 20919926
TI  - Analysis of HIV type 1 BF recombinant sequences from South America dates the
      origin of CRF12_BF to a recombination event in the 1970s.
AB  - HIV-1 epidemics in South America are believed to have originated in part from the
      subtype B epidemic initiated in the Caribbean/North America region. However,
      circulation of BF recombinants in similar proportions was extensively reported.
      Information currently shows that many BF recombinants share a recombination
      structure similar to that found in the CRF12_BF. In the present study, analyzing
      a set of 405 HIV sequences, we identified the most likely origin of the BF
      epidemic in an early event of recombination. We found that the subtype B
      epidemics in South America analyzed in the present study were initiated by a
      founder event that occurred in the early 1970s, a few years after the
      introduction of these strains in the Americas. Regarding the F/BF recombinant
      epidemics, by analyzing a subtype F genomic segment within the viral gene gag
      present in the majority of the BF recombinants, we found evidence of a geographic
      divergence very soon after the introduction of subtype F strains in South
      America. Moreover, through analysis of a subtype B segment present in all the
      CRF12_BF-like recombination structure, we estimated the circulation of the
      subtype B strain that gave rise to that recombinant structure around the same
      time period estimated for the introduction of subtype F strains. The HIV
      epidemics in South America were initiated in part through a founder event driven
      by subtype B strains coming from the previously established epidemic in the north
      of the continent. A second introduction driven by subtype F strains is likely to
      have encountered the incipient subtype B epidemic that soon after their arrival
      recombined with them, originating the BF epidemic in the region. These results
      may explain why in South America the majority of F sequences are found as BF
      recombinants.

PMID- 20919928
TI  - Two-component mediated peroxide sensing and signal transduction in fission yeast.
AB  - Two-component related proteins play a major role in regulating the oxidative
      stress response in the fission yeast, Schizosaccharomyces pombe. For example, the
      peroxide-sensing Mak2 and Mak3 histidine kinases regulate H(2)O(2)-induced
      activation of the Sty1 stress-activated protein kinase pathway, and the Skn7
      related response regulator transcription factor, Prr1, is essential for
      activation of the core oxidative stress response genes. Here, we investigate the
      mechanism by which the S. pombe two-component system senses H(2)O(2), and the
      potential role of two-component signaling in the regulation of Prr1.
      Significantly, we demonstrate that PAS and GAF domains present in the Mak2
      histidine kinase are essential for redox-sensing and activation of Sty1. In
      addition, we find that Prr1 is required for the transcriptional response to a
      wide range of H(2)O(2) concentrations and, furthermore, that two-component
      regulation of Prr1 is specifically required for the response of cells to high
      levels of H(2)O(2). Significantly, this provides the first demonstration that the
      conserved two-component phosphorylation site on Skn7-related proteins influences
      resistance to oxidative stress and oxidative stress-induced gene expression.
      Collectively, these data provide new insights into the two-component mediated
      sensing and signaling mechanisms underlying the response of S. pombe to oxidative
      stress.

PMID- 20919929
TI  - Process optimization by response surface design and characterization study on
      geniposide pharmacosomes.
AB  - The objective of this study was to prepare and characterize geniposide
      pharmcosomes (GP-PMS) and optimize the process and formulation variables using
      response surface methodology. Tetrahydrofuran was used as a reaction medium, GP
      and phospholipids were resolved into the medium, and GP-PMS was formed after the
      organic solvent was evaporated off under vacuum condition. The process and
      formulation variables were optimized by central composite design (CCD) of
      response surface methodology (RSM). The phospholipid-to-drug ratio (X(1)),
      reaction temperature (X(2)) and the drug concentration (X(3)) were selected as
      independent variables and the yield (%) of GP 'present as a complex' in the PMS
      was used as the dependent variable. The physico-chemical properties of the
      complex obtained by optimal parameters were investigated by means of Fourier
      transform infrared spectrophotometry (FT-IR), differential scanning calorimetry,
      n-octanol/water partition coefficient (P) and particle size analysis. Multiple
      linear regression analysis for optimization by CCD revealed that the higher the
      yield of GP 'present as a complex' in the GP-PMS was obtained wherein the optimal
      settings of X(1), X(2) and X(3) are 3, 50 degrees C and 5.5 mg/mL, respectively.
      The DSC and IR studies of GP-PMS by the optimal settings demonstrated that GP and
      phospholipids in the GP-PMS were combined by non-covalent bond, not forming a new
      compound. GP-PMS could significantly increased the lipophilicify of GP, and P of
      GP-PMS in n-octanol and water was about 20 multiples more than that of GP
      material. Pharmacosomes could be an alternative approach to improve the
      absorption and permeation of biologically active constituents.

PMID- 20919930
TI  - Multiple functions of peroxiredoxins: peroxidases, sensors and regulators of the
      intracellular messenger H2O2, and protein chaperones.
AB  - Peroxiredoxins (Prxs) are a family of peroxidases that reduce peroxides, with a
      conserved cysteine residue (the peroxidatic Cys) serving as the site of oxidation
      by peroxides. Peroxides oxidize the peroxidatic Cys-SH to Cys-SOH, which then
      reacts with another cysteine residue (typically the resolving Cys [C(R)]) to form
      a disulfide that is subsequently reduced by an appropriate electron donor. On the
      basis of the location or absence of the C(R), Prxs are classified into 2-Cys,
      atypical 2-Cys, and 1-Cys Prx subfamilies. In addition to their peroxidase
      activity, members of the 2-Cys Prx subfamily appear to serve as peroxide sensors
      for other proteins and as molecular chaperones. During catalysis, the peroxidatic
      Cys-SOH of 2-Cys Prxs is occasionally further oxidized to Cys-SO(2)H before
      disulfide formation, resulting in inactivation of peroxidase activity. This
      hyperoxidation, which is reversed by the ATP-dependent enzyme sulfiredoxin,
      modulates the sensor and chaperone functions of 2-Cys Prxs. The peroxidase
      activity of 2-Cys Prxs is extensively regulated via tyrosine and threonine
      phosphorylation, which allows modulation of the local concentration of the
      intracellular messenger H(2)O(2). Finally, 2-Cys Prxs interact with a variety of
      proteins, with such interaction having been shown to modulate the function of the
      binding partners in a reciprocal manner.

PMID- 20919931
TI  - Chronic exposure to a high-fat diet induces hepatic steatosis, impairs nitric
      oxide bioavailability, and modifies the mitochondrial proteome in mice.
AB  - Obesity-related pathologies, such as nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, are linked
      to mitochondrial dysfunction and nitric oxide (NO) deficiency. Herein, we tested
      the hypothesis that a high-fat diet (HFD) modifies the liver mitochondrial
      proteome and alters proteins involved in NO metabolism, namely arginase 1 and
      endothelial NO synthase. Male C57BL/6 mice were fed a control or HFD and liver
      mitochondria were isolated for proteomics and reactive oxygen species
      measurements. Steatosis and hepatocyte ballooning were present in livers of HFD
      mice, with no pathology observed in the controls. HFD mice had increased serum
      glucose and decreased adiponectin. Mitochondrial reactive oxygen species was
      increased after 8 weeks in the HFD mice, but decreased at 16 weeks compared with
      the control, which was accompanied by increased uncoupling protein 2. Using
      proteomics, 22 proteins were altered as a consequence of the HFD. This cohort
      consists of oxidative phosphorylation, lipid metabolism, sulfur amino acid
      metabolism, and chaperone proteins. We observed a HFD-dependent increase in
      arginase 1 and decrease in activated endothelial NO synthase. Serum and liver
      nitrate + nitrite were decreased by HFD. In summary, these data demonstrate that
      a HFD causes steatosis, alters NO metabolism, and modifies the liver
      mitochondrial proteome; thus, NO may play an important role in the processes
      responsible for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.

PMID- 20919932
TI  - Peroxiredoxin 6: a bifunctional enzyme with glutathione peroxidase and
      phospholipase A2 activities.
AB  - Peroxiredoxin 6 (Prdx6) is the prototype and the only mammalian 1-Cys member of
      the Prdx family. Major differences from 2-Cys Prdxs include the use of
      glutathione (GSH) instead of thioredoxin as the physiological reductant,
      heterodimerization with piGSH S-transferase as part of the catalytic cycle, and
      the ability either to reduce the oxidized sn-2 fatty acyl group of phospholipids
      (peroxidase activity) or to hydrolyze the sn-2 ester (alkyl) bond of
      phospholipids (phospholipase A(2) [PLA(2)] activity). The bifunctional protein
      has separate active sites for peroxidase (C47, R132, H39) and PLA(2) (S32, D140,
      H26) activities. These activities are dependent on binding of the protein to
      phospholipids at acidic pH and to oxidized phospholipids at cytosolic pH. Prdx6
      can be phosphorylated by MAP kinases at T177, which markedly increases its PLA(2)
      activity and broadens its pH-activity spectrum. Prdx6 is primarily cytosolic but
      also is targeted to acidic organelles (lysosomes, lamellar bodies) by a specific
      targeting sequence (amino acids 31-40). Oxidant stress and keratinocyte growth
      factor are potent regulators of Prdx6 gene expression. Prdx6 has important roles
      in both antioxidant defense based on its ability to reduce peroxidized membrane
      phospholipids and in phospholipid homeostasis based on its ability to generate
      lysophospholipid substrate for the remodeling pathway of phospholipid synthesis.

PMID- 20919934
TI  - Neuronal death and oxidative stress in the developing brain.
AB  - The developing brain is particularly vulnerable to reactive oxygen and reactive
      nitrogen species-mediated damage because of its high concentrations of
      unsaturated fatty acids, high rate of oxygen consumption, low concentrations of
      antioxidants, high content of metals catalyzing free radical formation, and large
      proportion of sensitive immature cells. In this review, we outline the dynamic
      changes of energy resources, metabolic requirements, and endogenous free radical
      scavenging systems during physiologic brain development. We further discuss the
      involvement of oxidative stress in the pathogenesis of neuronal death after
      exposure of the infant brain to hyperoxia, hypoxia/ischemia, sedative drugs,
      ethanol, and mechanical trauma. Several approaches have been developed to combat
      oxidative stress, but neuroprotective treatment strategies are limited in the
      clinical setting.

PMID- 20919935
TI  - Redox regulation of protein tyrosine phosphatases: structural and chemical
      aspects.
AB  - Protein tyrosine phosphatases (PTPs) are important targets of the H(2)O(2) that
      is produced during mammalian signal transduction. H(2)O(2)-mediated inactivation
      of PTPs also may be important in various pathophysiological conditions involving
      oxidative stress. Here we review the chemical and structural biology of redox
      regulated PTPs. Reactions of H(2)O(2) with PTPs convert the catalytic cysteine
      thiol to a sulfenic acid. In PTPs, the initially generated sulfenic acid residues
      have the potential to undergo secondary reactions with a neighboring amide
      nitrogen or cysteine thiol residue to yield a sulfenyl amide or disulfide,
      respectively. The chemical mechanisms by which formation of sulfenyl amide and
      disulfide linkages can protect the catalytic cysteine residue against
      irreversible overoxidation to sulfinic and sulfonic oxidation states are
      described. Due to the propensity for back-door and distal cysteine residues to
      engage with the active-site cysteine after oxidative inactivation, differences in
      the structures of the oxidatively inactivated PTPs may stem, to a large degree,
      from differences in the number and location of cysteine residues surrounding the
      active site of the enzymes. PTPs with key cysteine residues in structurally
      similar locations may be expected to share similar mechanisms of oxidative
      inactivation.

PMID- 20919936
TI  - Autophagy: a story of live or let die.

PMID- 20919938
TI  - NOX2 complex-derived ROS as immune regulators.
AB  - Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are a heterogeneous group of highly reactive
      molecules that oxidize targets in a biologic system. During steady-state
      conditions, ROS are constantly produced in the electron-transport chain during
      cellular respiration and by various constitutively active oxidases. ROS
      production can also be induced by activation of the phagocyte NADPH oxidase 2
      (NOX2) complex in a process generally referred to as an oxidative burst. The
      induced ROS have long been considered proinflammatory, causing cell and tissue
      destruction. Recent findings have challenged this inflammatory role of ROS, and
      today, ROS are also known to regulate immune responses and cell proliferation and
      to determine T-cell autoreactivity. NOX2-derived ROS have been shown to suppress
      antigen-dependent T-cell reactivity and remarkably to reduce the severity of
      experimental arthritis in both rats and mice. In this review, we discuss the role
      of ROS and the NOX2 complex as suppressors of autoimmunity, inflammation, and
      arthritis.

PMID- 20919937
TI  - Hydrogen peroxide regulates extracellular superoxide dismutase activity and
      expression in neonatal pulmonary hypertension.
AB  - We previously demonstrated that superoxide and H(2)O(2) promote pulmonary
      arterial vasoconstriction in a lamb model of persistent pulmonary hypertension of
      the newborn (PPHN). Because extracellular superoxide dismutase (ecSOD) augments
      vasodilation, we hypothesized that H(2)O(2)-mediated ecSOD inactivation
      contributes to pulmonary arterial vasoconstriction in PPHN lambs. ecSOD activity
      was decreased in pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells (PASMCs) isolated from
      PPHN lambs relative to controls. Exposure to 95% O(2) to mimic hyperoxic
      ventilation reduced ecSOD activity in control PASMCs. In both cases, these events
      were associated with increased protein thiol oxidation, as detected by the redox
      sensor roGFP. Accordingly, exogenous H(2)O(2) decreased ecSOD activity in control
      PASMCs, and PEG-catalase restored ecSOD activity in PPHN PASMCs. In intact animal
      studies, ecSOD activity was decreased in fetal PPHN lambs, and in PPHN lambs
      ventilated with 100% O(2) relative to controls. In ventilated PPHN lambs,
      administration of a single dose of intratracheal PEG-catalase enhanced ecSOD
      activity, reduced superoxide levels, and improved oxygenation. We propose that
      H(2)O(2) generated by PPHN and hyperoxia inactivates ecSOD, and intratracheal
      catalase enhances enzyme function. The associated decrease in extracellular
      superoxide augments vasodilation, suggesting that H(2)O(2) scavengers may
      represent an effective therapy in the clinical management of PPHN.

PMID- 20919939
TI  - Oxidative modifications of DAMPs suppress inflammation: the case for S100A8 and
      S100A9.
AB  - Several S100 Ca(2+)-binding proteins are considered damage-associated molecular
      pattern molecules (DAMPs). They are actively secreted or released from necrotic
      cells in response to tissue injury or stress and have various functions important
      in innate immunity. Here, we review several DAMPs, with particular focus on
      S100A8 and S100A9, which are susceptible to oxidative modifications by various
      forms of reactive oxygen species. We discuss the unique posttranslational
      modifications generated in S100A8 by hypochlorite and the likely structural
      consequences that alter function. We propose that some reversible modifications
      act as regulatory switches, representing a mechanism to arrest their novel
      antiinflammatory activities. These may be important in dampening mast cell
      activation and altering properties of the activated microcirculation to limit
      leukocyte adhesion, transmigration, and accumulation. S-nitrosylation of S100A8
      in the vasculature could regulate nitric oxide transport and contribute to vessel
      reflow during resolution of inflammation.

PMID- 20919933
TI  - The redox basis of epigenetic modifications: from mechanisms to functional
      consequences.
AB  - Epigenetic modifications represent mechanisms by which cells may effectively
      translate multiple signaling inputs into phenotypic outputs. Recent research is
      revealing that redox metabolism is an increasingly important determinant of
      epigenetic control that may have significant ramifications in both human health
      and disease. Numerous characterized epigenetic marks, including histone
      methylation, acetylation, and ADP-ribosylation, as well as DNA methylation, have
      direct linkages to central metabolism through critical redox intermediates such
      as NAD(+), S-adenosyl methionine, and 2-oxoglutarate. Fluctuations in these
      intermediates caused by both normal and pathologic stimuli may thus have direct
      effects on epigenetic signaling that lead to measurable changes in gene
      expression. In this comprehensive review, we present surveys of both metabolism
      sensitive epigenetic enzymes and the metabolic processes that may play a role in
      their regulation. To close, we provide a series of clinically relevant
      illustrations of the communication between metabolism and epigenetics in the
      pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer disease, cancer, and
      environmental toxicity. We anticipate that the regulatory mechanisms described
      herein will play an increasingly large role in our understanding of human health
      and disease as epigenetics research progresses.

PMID- 20919940
TI  - Oscillatory shear stress induces mitochondrial superoxide production: implication
      of NADPH oxidase and c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase signaling.
AB  - Fluid shear stress is intimately linked with vascular oxidative stress and
      atherosclerosis. We posited that atherogenic oscillatory shear stress (OSS)
      induced mitochondrial superoxide (mtO2*-) production via NADPH oxidase and c-Jun
      NH(2)-terminal kinase (JNK-1 and JNK-2) signaling. In bovine aortic endothelial
      cells, OSS (+/-3 dyn/cm2) induced JNK activation, which peaked at 1 h,
      accompanied by an increase in fluorescein isothiocyanate-conjugated JNK
      fluorescent and MitoSOX Red (specific for mtO2*- production) intensities.
      Pretreatment with apocynin (NADPH oxidase inhibitor) or N-acetyl cysteine
      (antioxidant) significantly attenuated OSS-induced JNK activation. Apocynin
      further reduced OSS-mediated dihydroethidium and MitoSOX Red intensities specific
      for cytosolic O2*- and mtO2*- production, respectively. As a corollary,
      transfecting bovine aortic endothelial cells with JNK siRNA (siJNK) and
      pretreating with SP600125 (JNK inhibitor) significantly attenuated OSS-mediated
      mtO2*- production. Immunohistochemistry on explants of human coronary arteries
      further revealed prominent phosphorylated JNK staining in OSS-exposed regions.
      These findings indicate that OSS induces mtO2*- production via NADPH oxidase and
      JNK activation relevant for vascular oxidative stress.

PMID- 20919941
TI  - "Go with the flow": how Kruppel-like factor 2 regulates the vasoprotective
      effects of shear stress.
AB  - Laminar shear stress is known to confer potent anti-inflammatory, antithrombotic,
      and antiadhesive effects by differentially regulating endothelial gene
      expression. The identification of Kruppel-like factor 2 as a flow-responsive
      molecule has greatly advanced our understanding of molecular mechanisms governing
      vascular homeostasis. This review summarizes the current understanding of Kruppel
      like factor 2 action in endothelial gene expression and function.

PMID- 20919943
TI  - Interaction of p53 with tumor suppressive and oncogenic signaling pathways to
      control cellular reactive oxygen species production.
AB  - p53 is a crucial transcription factor with tumor suppressive properties that
      elicits its function through specific target genes. It constitutes a pivotal
      system that integrates information received by many signaling pathways and
      subsequently orchestrates cell fate decisions, namely, growth-arrest, senescence,
      or apoptosis. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) production in cells can play a key
      role in signal transduction, being able to trigger different processes as cell
      death or cell proliferation. Sustained oxidative stress can induce genomic
      instability and collaborates with cancer development, whereas acute enhancement
      of high ROS levels leads to toxic oxidative cell damage and cell death. Here, it
      has been considered p53 broad potential contribution through its ability to
      regulate selected key cancer signaling pathways, where ROS participate as
      inductors or effectors of the final biological outcome. Further, we have
      discussed how p53 could play a role in preventing potentially harmful oxidative
      state and cell proliferation by pro-oncogenic pathways such as PI3K/AKT/mTOR and
      WNT/beta-catenin or under hypoxia state. In addition, we have considered
      potential mechanisms by which p53 could collaborate with signal transduction
      pathways such as transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) and stress-activated
      protein kinases (SAPK) that produce ROS, to stop or eliminate uncontrolled
      proliferating cells.

PMID- 20919944
TI  - Determinants of absence of osteoarthritis in old age.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate factors associated with absence of osteoarthritis (OA).
      METHODS: In 82 well-functioning 90-year-old participants from a cross-sectional
      birth cohort, radiographs of hands, hips, and knees were acquired and scored
      according to the Kellgren and Lawrence (K-L) method for determining OA. A score
      of >= 2 was considered as OA. 'Free from OA' was defined as no hip or knee OA and
      less than three hand joints with OA. Logistic regression analyses were used to
      investigate associations with absence of OA. RESULTS: Absence of hip, knee, and
      hand OA was seen in 63, 51, and 29% of participants, respectively. Joints on the
      left and right side of the body were equally affected. Sixteen per cent of 90
      year old participants were 'free from OA'. Absence of knee OA was associated with
      being male. A family history of finger nodes was negatively associated with
      absence of hip and hand OA. Body mass index (BMI) was negatively associated with
      'free from OA', and also with absence of hip and knee OA. A history of heavy
      occupational work was associated with 'free from OA' [odds ratio (OR) 7.2, 95%
      confidence interval (CI) 1.3-39.9] and with absence of hand OA in particular (OR
      2.7, 95% CI 1.0-7.1). CONCLUSIONS: In 90-year-olds, absence of OA is associated
      with male sex, a normal BMI, absence of familial predisposition for OA, and,
      contrary to our expectation, heavy work. Further research in protective genetic
      factors is needed.

PMID- 20919942
TI  - p53, aerobic metabolism, and cancer.
AB  - p53 regulates the cell cycle and deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) repair pathways as
      part of its unequivocally important function to maintain genomic stability.
      Intriguingly, recent studies show that p53 can also transactivate genes involved
      in coordinating the two major pathways of energy generation to promote aerobic
      metabolism, but how this serves to maintain genomic stability is less clear. In
      an attempt to understand the biology, this review presents human epidemiologic
      data on the inverse relationship between aerobic capacity and cancer incidence
      that appears to be mirrored by the impact of p53 on aerobic capacity in mouse
      models. The review summarizes mechanisms by which p53 regulates mitochondrial
      respiration and proposes how this might contribute to maintaining genomic
      stability. Although disparate in nature, the data taken together suggest that the
      promotion of aerobic metabolism by p53 serves as an important tumor suppressor
      activity and may provide insights for cancer prevention strategies in the future.

PMID- 20919945
TI  - Immunogenetic aspects of erosive osteoarthritis of the hand in patients from
      northern Italy.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To compare the distribution of human leucocyte antigen (HLA) class I
      and II alleles in patients with erosive hand osteoarthritis (EHOA) to that of
      patients with non-erosive hand OA (non-EHOA) and in healthy Italian Bone Marrow
      Donors (IBMDs), in order to evaluate possible immunogenetic associations with
      EHOA. In the EHOA group we also sought possible associations between HLA alleles
      and disease severity. METHODS: Ninety-four patients with EHOA (82 women, 12 men;
      mean age 61.4 +/- 8.45 years) and 37 with non-EHOA (28 women, nine men; mean age
      59.21 +/- 9.07 years) were studied. Disease severity was measured by the number
      of clinically active joints (NCAJ) and by the radiographic score (RS) using the
      Kallman scale. HLA typing was undertaken for A, B, C, and DRB1 loci; HLA-DRB1*
      genotyping was determined using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with sequence
      specific primers. Frequencies were compared with those of the healthy IBMDs.
      RESULTS: The alleles found more frequently in EHOA patients than in non-EHOA
      patients and healthy controls were: A23, A26, and A29; B38, B44, and HLA DRB1*01
      and *07. The RS was more severe in the EHOA compared to the non-EHOA group (63.60
      +/- 23.14 vs. 34.34 +/- 20.24, p < 0.001). Within the EHOA group, HLA-DRB1*07 was
      associated with a higher RS (67.36 +/- 23 vs. 64.5 +/- 18.5, p = 0.029).
      CONCLUSION: In this study of North Italian patients affected with EHOA, the HLA
      DRB1*07 allele was found to be associated with both the development and greater
      severity of the disease.

PMID- 20919946
TI  - Enlarged right-sided dimensions and fibrosis of the right ventricular insertion
      point on cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging is seen early in patients with
      pulmonary arterial hypertension associated with connective tissue disease.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To describe the findings of cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR)
      imaging in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) associated with
      connective tissue disease (CTD) and in consecutive patients with systemic
      sclerosis (SSc) without PAH. METHODS: The study comprised nine consecutive
      patients who were admitted for right heart catheterization (RHC) under a
      suspicion of CTD-PAH and 25 consecutive patients who were admitted for evaluation
      because of a clinical suspicion of SSc. In addition to the regular assessment,
      they also underwent examination by CMR. RESULTS: CMR measurements of right
      ventricular (RV) volumes and function showed severe pathology in patients with
      CTD-PAH. Patients with SSc without PAH had similar but much less severe findings.
      Right ventricular end-diastolic volume (RVEDV) and right ventricular ejection
      fraction (RVEF) were abnormal in all patients with CTD-PAH. In eight out of nine
      patients with CTD-PAH, fibrosis was seen in the RV insertion point, probably
      caused by increased tension, but only in one of the consecutive SSc patients.
      This patient was diagnosed with CTD-PAH 20 months later. CONCLUSIONS: In CTD-PAH,
      CMR shows severe changes in RV volumes and function, but also fibrosis in the RV
      insertion point. Similar abnormalities, although much less severe, may be seen at
      diagnosis of SSc. Further evaluation is warranted to determine whether these
      findings are of value in screening for early signs of PAH in SSc.

PMID- 20919947
TI  - The presence of rheumatoid nodules at early rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis is a
      sign of extra-articular disease and predicts radiographic progression of joint
      destruction over 5 years.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Radiographic damage is an important outcome in rheumatoid arthritis
      (RA). The disease course varies considerably, and there is a need for simple and
      reliable prognostic markers. The aim of the study was to determine the utility of
      early signs of extra-articular disease, manifested as rheumatoid nodules (RN), in
      predicting radiographic outcome. METHODS: In a cohort (n = 1589) of consecutive,
      newly diagnosed patients with RA, 112 cases with RN at inclusion (7%) were
      identified. Each case was compared to two age- and sex-matched controls without
      nodules from the same cohort. Radiographs of the hands and feet were performed at
      inclusion, after 1, 2, and 5 years and scored according to the modified Sharp van
      der Heijde Score (SHS; range 0-448). RESULTS: Fifty-two cases with RN and 139
      controls without RN had available radiographs at baseline and after 5 years.
      Cases were more often rheumatoid factor (RF) positive and anti-cyclic
      citrullinated peptide (anti-CCP) positive, and had higher disease activity and
      radiographic damage scores at baseline (7.9 vs. 2.5). After 5 years, there was
      more extensive radiographic damage among the cases (mean SHS progression 21.7 vs.
      13.5). In bivariate analysis, positive RF, positive anti-CCP, SHS, and RN were
      strong baseline predictors for radiographic progression up to 5 years. In
      multivariate analysis, positive anti-CCP and SHS at baseline were independently
      associated with radiographic progression. CONCLUSION: The presence of RN at
      baseline is a marker of extra-articular involvement and severe disease, and a
      predictor of subsequent joint damage.

PMID- 20919950
TI  - Amniotic fluid-derived mesenchymal stem cells lead to bone differentiation when
      cocultured with dental pulp stem cells.
AB  - Mesenchymal stem cells are present in many tissues of the human body, including
      amniotic fluid (AF) and dental pulp (DP). Stem cells of both AF and DP give rise
      to a variety of differentiated cells. In our experience, DP stem cells (DPSCs)
      display a high capacity to produce bone. Therefore, our aim was to investigate if
      AF-derived stem cells (AFSCs) were able to undergo bone differentiation in the
      presence of DPSCs. AFSCs were seeded under three different conditions: (i)
      cocultured with DPSCs previously differentiated into osteoblasts; (ii) cultured
      in the conditioned medium of osteoblast-differentiated DPSCs; (iii) cultured in
      the osteogenic medium supplemented with vascular endothelial growth factor and
      bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2). Results showed that AFSCs were positive for
      mesenchymal markers, and expressed high levels of Tra1-60, Tra1-80, BMPR1, BMPR2,
      and BMP-2. In contrast, AFSCs were negative for epithelial and
      hematopoietic/endothelial markers. When AFSCs were cocultured with DPSCs-derived
      osteoblasts, they differentiated into osteoblasts. A similar effect was observed
      when AFSCs were cultured in the presence of a conditioned medium originated from
      DPSCs. We found that osteoblasts derived from DPSCs released large amounts of BMP
      2 and vascular endothelial growth factor into the culture medium and that those
      morphogens significantly upregulate RUNX-2 gene, stimulating osteogenesis. This
      study highlights the mechanisms of osteogenesis and strongly suggests that the
      combination of AFSCs with DPSCs may provide a rich source of soluble proteins
      useful for bone engineering purposes.

PMID- 20919949
TI  - Engineered pullulan-collagen composite dermal hydrogels improve early cutaneous
      wound healing.
AB  - New strategies for skin regeneration are needed to address the significant
      medical burden caused by cutaneous wounds and disease. In this study, pullulan
      collagen composite hydrogel matrices were fabricated using a salt-induced phase
      inversion technique, resulting in a structured yet soft scaffold for skin
      engineering. Salt crystallization induced interconnected pore formation, and
      modification of collagen concentration permitted regulation of scaffold pore
      size. Hydrogel architecture recapitulated the reticular distribution of human
      dermal matrix while maintaining flexible properties essential for skin
      applications. In vitro, collagen hydrogel scaffolds retained their open porous
      architecture and viably sustained human fibroblasts and murine mesenchymal stem
      cells and endothelial cells. In vivo, hydrogel-treated murine excisional wounds
      demonstrated improved wound closure, which was associated with increased
      recruitment of stromal cells and formation of vascularized granulation tissue. In
      conclusion, salt-induced phase inversion techniques can be used to create
      modifiable pullulan-collagen composite dermal scaffolds that augment early wound
      healing. These novel biomatrices can potentially serve as a structured delivery
      template for cells and biomolecules in regenerative skin applications.

PMID- 20919951
TI  - Bioactive porous beads as an injectable urethral bulking agent: their in vitro
      evaluation on smooth muscle cell differentiation.
AB  - Growth factor (basic fibroblast growth factor or vascular endothelial growth
      factor)-immobilized polycaprolactone (PCL)/Pluronic F127 porous beads were
      prepared as an injectable bulking agent for effective treatment of urinary
      incontinence. The growth factor-immobilized porous beads may stimulate smooth
      muscle cell (SMC) differentiation of muscle-derived stem cells or defect tissues
      around urethra to improve the sphincter function (bioactive therapy) as well as
      to provide a bulking effect (passive therapy). The porous PCL/F127 beads were
      fabricated by an isolated particle-melting/melt-molding particulate-leaching
      method. The growth factors were easily immobilized onto the surfaces of the
      PCL/F127 porous beads via heparin binding and were continuously released for up
      to 28 days. Both growth factor-immobilized porous beads had a positive effect for
      the SMC differentiation of muscle-derived stem cells, as were demonstrated by the
      analyses of quantitative polymerase chain reactions, Western blot using SMC
      specific markers, and immunohistochemical staining. In particular, the basic
      fibroblast growth factor-immobilized porous beads showed desirable SMC
      differentiation behavior that can be applied as an injectable bulking agent for
      the treatment of urinary incontinence.

PMID- 20919952
TI  - Operating bioreactors for microbial exopolysaccharide production.
AB  - There is considerable interest in exploiting the novel physical and biological
      properties of microbial exopolysaccharides in industry and medicine. For economic
      and scientific reasons, large scale production under carefully monitored and
      controlled conditions is required. Producing exopolysaccharides in industrial
      fermenters poses several complex bioengineering and microbiological challenges
      relating primarily to the very high viscosities of such culture media, which are
      often exacerbated by the producing organism's morphology. What these problems
      are, and the strategies for dealing with them are discussed critically in this
      review, using pullulan, curdlan, xanthan, and fungal beta-glucans as examples of
      industrially produced microbial exopolysaccharides. The role of fermenter
      configuration in their production is also examined.

PMID- 20919953
TI  - Genomic large rearrangement screening of BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes in high-risk
      Turkish breast/ovarian cancer patients by using multiplex ligation-dependent
      probe amplification assay.
AB  - In this study, MLPA assay was performed for detection of large rearrangements of
      BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes in 16 familial, 29 early onset, 3 male breast cancer, and 2
      bilateral breast/ovarian cancer high risk Turkish index cases. MLPA assay for all
      exons of both genes and for 1100delC variant of CHEK2 gene were performed.
      Analyses, revealed no large genomic rearrangements in both genes, and, no 1100del
      variant in CHEK2 gene. Our data which represents the first results for Turkish
      patients, suggest that, the frequency of BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes' large
      rearrangements is very low.

PMID- 20919954
TI  - Reduced expression of DNA repair and redox signaling protein APE1/Ref-1 impairs
      human pancreatic cancer cell survival, proliferation, and cell cycle progression.
AB  - Pancreatic cancer is a deadly disease that is virtually never cured.
      Understanding the chemoresistance intrinsic to this cancer will aid in developing
      new regimens. High expression of APE1/Ref-1, a DNA repair and redox signaling
      protein, is associated with resistance, poor outcome, and angiogenesis; little is
      known in pancreatic cancer. Immunostaining of adenocarcinoma shows greater
      APE1/Ref-1 expression than in normal pancreas tissue. A decrease in APE1/Ref-1
      protein levels results in pancreatic cancer cell growth inhibition, increased
      apoptosis, and altered cell cycle progression. Endogenous cell cycle inhibitors
      increase when APE1/ Ref-1 is reduced, demonstrating its importance to
      proliferation and growth of pancreatic cancer.

PMID- 20919955
TI  - Current trends of lectins from microfungi.
AB  - Lectins are widespread in nature and have been isolated from plants, animals,
      microorganisms, and viruses. Although several lectins have been reported from
      microfungi, many more genera still remain unexplored and their physiological role
      is also uncertain. Microfungal lectins show wide disparity regarding their
      specificity to erythrocytes. Only a few lectins display specificity to particular
      human blood types. In addition, they also show agglutination to various animal
      erythrocytes. Many lectins from microfungi exhibit stringent specificity to
      animal glycoproteins, while a few have much more simplified sugar binding
      properties. The role of few microfungal lectins in host-parasite interactions, as
      storage proteins, and in growth and morphogenesis has been proposed. The current
      review focuses on an overview of lectins from microfungi, their specificity
      towards erythrocytes and carbohydrates, physicochemical characteristics, and
      their possible role and applications.

PMID- 20919956
TI  - Evidence-based checklists: intended and unintended consequences for
      interprofessional care.

PMID- 20919957
TI  - Conflicts and conflict management in the collaboration between nurses and
      physicians - a qualitative study.
AB  - In health care, optimal collaboration between nurses and physicians is crucial in
      the quality of the care process &#x2013; but not self-generating. Little is known
      about how health-care professionals cope with conflicts within their
      collaboration. This qualitative study investigates the way nurses and physicians
      cope with conflict and clarifies the determinants of conflict management styles.
      All respondents formulate clear expectations which in their opinion are essential
      to collaboration. When collaboration leads to disagreement, physicians and nurses
      choose between ignoring the conflict or engaging in it. Choice is determined by
      five factors: the influence of oneself, the influence of the other, the nature of
      the conflict, the context of conflict, and personal motives.

PMID- 20919958
TI  - Discharge preparation: do healthcare professionals differ in their opinions?
AB  - Discharge preparation is a multiprofessional activity that is not always
      conducted efficiently. Perspectives of staff provide an insight into challenges
      and solutions for this organizational process. The study aimed to examine current
      discharge practice in one hospital and to compare perceptions of this activity
      between healthcare workers from different professions. A questionnaire was sent
      to 1344 staff in an English hospital. It consisted of items related to discharge,
      which were rated on a Likert scale, and included space for free text. Data were
      analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The survey method has a
      number of limitations and conclusions must be considered with caution. A total of
      455 usable questionnaires were returned from nurses/midwives, doctors and
      therapists/allied health professionals. Although respondents showed agreement on
      a number of areas, differences did arise, which could be linked, in part, to
      values and roles associated with specific healthcare disciplines. Tensions
      between professional groups were evident, especially between social workers,
      nurses and medics. Differences of opinion also appeared between practitioners,
      patients and carers. Different views among practitioners of discharge preparation
      could impede efficient joint working. Better understanding of the roles and
      expertise of team members might improve this process. Factors affecting discharge
      preparation need to be understood to reduce staff and consumer dissatisfaction
      and to avoid potential readmissions.

PMID- 20919959
TI  - Interprofessional primary care protocols: a strategy to promote an evidence-based
      approach to teamwork and the delivery of care.
AB  - Primary care reform involving interprofessional team-based care is a global
      phenomenon. In Ontario, Canada, 150 Family Health Teams (FHTs) have been approved
      in the past few years. The transition to a FHT is complex involving many changes
      and the processes for collaborative teamwork are not clearly delineated. To
      support the transition to team-based care in FHTs, a project was undertaken to
      develop and implement a series of interprofessional protocols in four clinical
      areas. These interprofessional protocols would contain relevant and evidence
      based resources to support both a team and evidence-based approach to care. This
      paper reports on a qualitative study to examine the process of interprofessional
      protocol development and pilot implementation. Adopting an exploratory case study
      approach (Robson, 2002 ), 36 interviews were conducted with health professionals
      and community group members who participated in the creation and piloting of the
      protocols, and with project managers. In addition, observational and documentary
      data were gathered on the protocol development and implementation processes. The
      findings from the protocol development stage demonstrate the value of the focus
      on evidence and team, the process of assessing and targeting FHT needs, inter
      organizational and interprofessional sharing, the importance of facilitation and
      support, and expectations for implementation. The findings from the pilot
      implementation stage report on the importance of champions and leaders, the
      implementation strategies used, FHT and organizational factors affecting
      implementation, and outcomes achieved. Findings are discussed in relation to the
      knowledge translation and interprofessional literature. Research is ongoing to
      examine the effectiveness of dissemination of the protocols to FHTs across the
      province of Ontario and its impact on health care outcomes.

PMID- 20919960
TI  - Functional roles of intrinsic neurotrophin-3 in spinal neuroplasticity of cats
      following partial ganglionectomy.
AB  - This study detected the effects of endogenous neurotrophin-3 (NT-3) on the
      collateral sprouting derived from the L6 dorsal root ganglion (DRG) after
      unilateral removal of adjacent DRGs (L1&#x2013;L5 and L7) in cats. Cholera toxin
      B tracing revealed significant neurite growth from the spared L6 DRG and axonal
      sprouting in the dorsal column. There was a significant increase in the number of
      NT-3 and trkC immunopositive neurons as well as in NT-3 protein level in the
      spared DRG by immunohistochemistry and enzyme-linked immunoadsorbent assay. NT-3
      and its mRNA and trkC were located mainly in large- and medium-sized DRG neurons.
      NT-3 antibody neutralization in vivo and in vitro results in marked reduction in
      sprouted fibers. These findings point to an important role of NT-3 in neural
      plasticity at dorsal column axons.

PMID- 20919961
TI  - Reg2 protects mouse insulinoma cells from streptozotocin-induced mitochondrial
      disruption and apoptosis.
AB  - We reported previously that pancreas-specific ablation of IGF-I in mice induced
      an increased expression of regenerating family proteins Reg2 and Reg3&#x03B2; in
      the pancreas and protected them from streptozotocin (Stz)-induced &#x03B2;-cell
      damage. We, therefore, assessed the effect of ectopically introduced Reg2 on Stz
      induced apoptosis in MIN6 mouse insulinoma cells and report here that Reg2
      protects MIN6 cells from Stz-induced apoptosis by attenuating its ability to
      disrupt mitochondrial membrane integrity, activate caspase-3 and promote poly-ADP
      ribose polymerase cleavage, and induce apoptosis. These changes correlated with
      suppression of c-jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) phosphorylation by Stz. Reg2
      inhibited Stz-induced proapoptotic events as well as the inactivation of JNK.
      Inclusion of chemical inhibitor of JNK to Reg2 expressing cells rendered them
      sensitive to Stz. These data demonstrate that Reg2 protects insulin-producing
      cells against Stz-induced apoptosis by interfering with its cytotoxic signaling
      upstream of the intrinsic proapoptotic events by preventing its ability to
      inactivate JNK.

PMID- 20919962
TI  - Second AKT: the rise of SGK in cancer signalling.
AB  - The serum and glucocorticoid kinase (SGK) family of serine/threonine kinases
      consists of three isoforms, SGK-1, SGK-2 and SGK-3. This family of kinases is
      highly homologous to the AKT kinase family, sharing similar upstream activators
      and downstream targets. SGKs have been implicated in the regulation of cell
      growth, proliferation, survival and migration: cellular processes that are
      dysregulated in cancer. Furthermore, SGKs lie downstream of phosphoinositide-3
      kinase (PI3Kinase) signalling and interact at various levels with RAS/RAF/ERK
      signalling, two pathways that are involved in promoting tumorigenesis. Recent
      evidence suggests that mutant PI3Kinase can induce tumorigenesis through an AKT
      independent but SGK3-dependent mechanism, thus implicating SGKs as potential
      players in malignant transformation. Here, we will review the current state of
      knowledge on the regulation of the SGKs and their role in normal cell physiology
      and transformation with a particular focus on SGK3.

PMID- 20919963
TI  - Thiopurines in Crohn's disease, is there something new?
AB  - IMPORTANCE OF THE FIELD: traditional immunosuppressants, including azathioprine,
      remain the mainstay of therapy in steroid dependent/refractory patients with
      inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). The main limitations of its use are its side
      effects appearing in about a fifth of the patients, including myelosuppression
      and liver toxicity. Major complications occur in patients with low thiopurine-S
      methyltransferase (TPMT) enzyme activity; however, the clinical relevance of
      these tests remains conflictive. AREAS COVERED IN THIS REVIEW: in this review,
      the authors aim to summarize the new data regarding the relationship between the
      pharmacology of thiopurines and pathogenesis of adverse events. WHAT THE READER
      WILL GAIN: readers will gain an understanding of the metabolism of thiopurines,
      side effect profile, pharmacological background of side effects, importance of
      metabolite monitoring, clinical relevance of inherited differences in drug
      metabolism and other conditions (e.g., concomitant use of allopurinol) which can
      modify enzyme activity. By gaining an understanding of the pharmacology and
      metabolism of thiopurines, clinicians will be able to optimize thiopurine therapy
      in IBD. TAKE HOME MESSAGE: TPMT testing and metabolite monitoring are still not
      considered the standard of care, and clinicians will continue to choose the
      approach that best suits their clinical practice and patient needs. Regardless of
      what strategy is chosen, patients need to be carefully monitored and well
      informed about the potential risks.

PMID- 20919964
TI  - Testosterone and male ageing: spinning the wheels.

PMID- 20919965
TI  - The NICS care bundle: aiming to improve the initial care of patients with stroke
      and transient ischaemic attack.

PMID- 20919966
TI  - Implications of bed reduction in an acute psychiatric service.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the impact of psychiatric inpatient bed closures,
      accompanied by a training program aimed at enhancing team effectiveness and
      incorporating data-driven practices, in a mental health service. DESIGN AND
      SETTING: Retrospective comparison of the changes in services within three
      consecutive financial years: baseline period - before bed reduction (2006-07);
      observation period - after bed reduction (2007-08); and intervention period -
      second year after bed reduction (2008-09). The study was conducted at Cramond
      Clinic, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Adelaide. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Length of
      stay, 28-day readmission rates, discharges, bed occupancy rates, emergency
      department (ED) presentations, ED waiting time, seclusions, locality of
      treatment, and follow-up in the community within 7days. RESULTS: Reduced bed
      numbers were associated with reduced length of stay, fewer referrals from the
      community and subsequently shorter waiting times in the ED, without significant
      change in readmission rates. A higher proportion of patients was treated in the
      local catchment area, with improved community follow-up and a significant
      reduction in inpatient seclusions. CONCLUSION: Our findings should reassure
      clinicians concerned about psychiatric bed numbers that service redesign with
      planned bed reductions will not necessarily affect clinical care, provided data
      literacy and team training programs are in place to ensure smooth transition of
      patients across ED, inpatient and community services.

PMID- 20919967
TI  - Prevalence and treatment of osteoporosis in older Australian men: findings from
      the CHAMP study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the proportion of older Australian men who meet the
      Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) criteria for osteoporosis treatment and are
      receiving effective treatment. DESIGN AND SETTING: A population-based, cross
      sectional analysis of the baseline phase of the Concord Health and Ageing in Men
      Project (CHAMP), a large epidemiological study focusing on the health of older
      men. Data were collected through questionnaires and clinical assessments. Bone
      mineral density (BMD) of the hip and spine was measured by dual x-ray
      absorptiometry (DXA). Vertebral deformities were identified from DXA lateral
      vertebral fracture assessment images. The study was conducted at Concord
      Hospital, Sydney, between January 2005 and May 2007. PARTICIPANTS: 1705 community
      dwelling men aged 70 years or over from a defined geographical region around
      Concord Hospital. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Prevalence of vertebral deformities;
      previous minimal trauma fractures; BMD T-scores <= - 3; falls in the previous 12
      months; use of bisphosphonates and calcium and vitamin D supplements. RESULTS: Of
      the 1705 men seen at baseline, 1626 completed all DXA scans and 401 (25%) met one
      or more of the PBS criteria for osteoporosis treatment. Ninety per cent of the
      men who met the PBS criteria were unaware they had osteoporosis. Of the men
      eligible for PBS-subsidised treatment, 39 (10%) reported use of a bisphosphonate,
      56 (14%) had taken calcium supplements, and 28 (7%) had taken vitamin D
      supplements. Only three men had taken calcium, vitamin D and bisphosphonates in
      combination. CONCLUSIONS: Despite a high prevalence of osteoporosis in elderly
      Australian men, awareness, diagnosis and treatment of the condition remain very
      low.

PMID- 20919968
TI  - Invasive pneumococcal disease in non-Indigenous people in north Queensland, 2001
      2009.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare trends in invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) in non
      Indigenous people in north Queensland before and after the introduction of funded
      pneumococcal vaccines, and to examine the proportion of cases that occurred after
      vaccine roll-out that could be vaccine-preventable. DESIGN, SETTING AND
      PARTICIPANTS: In 2005, a 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (7vPCV) for non
      Indigenous children and a 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (23vPPV)
      for non-Indigenous adults aged >= 65 years were made freely available. Trends in
      IPD in the non-Indigenous estimated resident population in north Queensland
      (about 581 850 in 2006) were compared between the 4 years before (2001-2004) and
      after (2006-2009) the vaccines were rolled out. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Incidences
      and serotypes of IPD in non-Indigenous people. RESULTS: After the introduction of
      the vaccines, there were significant declines for all ages in the average annual
      incidence of IPD (- 34%; P < 0.05) and 7vPCV serotype IPD (- 77%; P < 0.05). In
      children aged < 5 years, there was a 91% decline in the incidence of 7vPCV
      serotype IPD (P < 0.05); in adults aged 15-64 years and >= 65 years there were
      62% and 77% declines, respectively, in 7vPCV and 23vPPV common-serotype IPD (P <
      0.05). There was a 188% increase in 23vPPV-only serotype IPD in adults aged 15-64
      years (P < 0.05), whereas there was no significant change in adults aged >= 65
      years. Serotype 19A was the most frequently identified serotype in 2006-2009,
      causing 19% of all IPD in those 4 years. CONCLUSIONS: There is circumstantial
      evidence that 7vPCV has had a powerful indirect effect in preventing IPD in
      adults in north Queensland; 23vPPV may have had a direct effect in adults aged >=
      65 years. It is likely that with combined direct and indirect effects, newer
      conjugate vaccines could prevent more IPD than could be prevented with the two
      current vaccines.

PMID- 20919969
TI  - E-health in Australia: time to plunge into the 21st century.
AB  - E-health is the health care buzzword of the moment, with a person-controlled
      electronic health record funded in the 2010 federal Budget and legislation to
      introduce health identifiers recently passed by Parliament. E-health can ease the
      patient journey, improve quality of care and reduce costs. Australia's health
      care system lags behind all other sectors of our economy in the use of
      computerised systems. While general practice and community pharmacy are highly
      computerised, the hospital sector is not. Adopting e-health is likely to result
      in higher quality practice, but general practice and hospitals need a mechanism
      for securely sharing patient data. Uncoordinated implementation of differing,
      incompatible systems within and between hospitals compounds a dire lack of
      national coordination of effort. Multiple funding streams and jurisdictions and
      the lack of an implementation strategy have slowed e-health development.
      Government programs underestimate the costs of change management and the need for
      training and technology. Confusion reigns about responsibilities, but governments
      must ensure connectivity between health care providers and recognise that the
      benefits will accrue into the future. The National E-Health Transition Authority
      has developed national open-access standards, and its foundation projects and the
      National Broadband Network are now coming into place. To ensure the clinical
      relevance, utility, safety and acceptability of e-health systems, health
      professionals urgently need technical capacity and expert guidance.

PMID- 20919970
TI  - Will information and communication technology disrupt the health system and
      deliver on its promise?
AB  - Investment in information and communication technology (ICT) in the health sector
      can bring important benefits. To date, the focus has been on automating clinical
      work practices such as ordering tests and prescriptions, which significantly
      improves efficiency and safety. Uptake of ICT has been slow and the results less
      favourable than anticipated for various reasons, including poor integration of
      systems into complex clinical work processes, limited training, and the
      intermittent nature of ICT funding. As a result, many health care organisations
      have been operating hybrid paper and computer systems that introduce new patient
      risks, staff frustration, and outcomes below expectation. The focus must shift
      from automation of clinical work to innovation; from evolutionary application of
      ICT to revolutionary uses. Health professionals must embrace ICT as a "disruptive
      technology" that will produce significant changes in their roles and
      responsibilities and lead to real health reform with new, innovative models of
      health care delivery. As other industries have shown, substitution and role
      changes are areas in which ICT can lead to the greatest gains.

PMID- 20919971
TI  - Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 influenza vaccination coverage in Western Australia.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess pandemic (H1N1) 2009 influenza vaccination coverage in
      Western Australians, up to 31 January 2010. DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS:
      Vaccination data for Western Australians aged 10 years and older were obtained
      from two sources: the WA Pandemic Influenza Vaccination Database (PIVD; which
      collected reports of pandemic influenza vaccinations from vaccination providers
      statewide) for the period 30 September 2009 to 31 January 2010, and the WA Health
      and Wellbeing Surveillance System (HWSS; a continuous population-based telephone
      survey) for the period 1 December 2009 to 31 January 2010. Data from the PIVD was
      used to input vaccination coverage estimates for at-risk subpopulations not
      assessed in the HWSS interviews. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Vaccination coverage of
      Western Australians aged 10 years and older and of subgroups targeted by the
      national pandemic (H1N1) 2009 influenza vaccination campaign. RESULTS: A total of
      171,789 pandemic influenza vaccinations were reported to the PIVD by 31 January
      2010 and 88% of these were administered by 1 December 2009. Based on HWSS data,
      vaccination coverage of persons aged 10 years and older was 14.5% (95% CI, 12.6%
      16.6%) and of persons aged 18 years and older was 15.3% (95% CI, 13.3%-17.6%).
      Based on PIVD data, coverage in adults ranged from 10.3% in pregnant women to
      52.8% in health care workers. CONCLUSIONS: Our estimate of pandemic influenza
      vaccination coverage in the adult population of WA is comparable to the national
      estimate of 19%, but it did not reach levels considered sufficient to interrupt
      community transmission. Future influenza vaccination programs should target
      groups at increased risk of severe influenza, such as pregnant women.

PMID- 20919972
TI  - Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 influenza vaccine uptake in pregnant women entering the 2010
      influenza season in Western Australia.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To audit the uptake of pandemic (H1N1) 2009 influenza vaccine in
      pregnant women entering the 2010 influenza season in Western Australia, and to
      identify why some women did not receive the vaccine. DESIGN, SETTING AND
      PARTICIPANTS: Cross-sectional study of consecutive patients attending the
      Joondalup Health Campus public antenatal clinics in WA in January 2010.
      INTERVENTION: Audit of uptake of the H1N1-specific vaccine. MAIN OUTCOME
      MEASURES: Rate of H1N1-specific vaccination, and reasons for not being the
      vaccinated. RESULTS: 479 of 541 women who attended the clinics (88.5%) were
      included in the audit. Three women had been infected with pandemic influenza in
      the preceding influenza season, leaving 476 women who were eligible for
      vaccination in pregnancy. Of these 476 women, only 33(6.9%) had been vaccinated.
      Of the remaining 443 women who were eligible to receive the vaccine but had not
      been vaccinated, 63.9% had not been offered vaccination despite multiple visits
      to their general practitioners during pregnancy, 19.6% had been advised by their
      GPs against vaccination in pregnancy, and 61.6% stated that they would decline
      vaccination if offered because of safety concerns. CONCLUSIONS: Uptake of H1N1
      specific influenza vaccine in pregnant women was poor. Reasons for this relate
      both to vaccination not being offered to or actively sought by the women, as well
      as concerns - of both the women and their GPs - about vaccine safety in
      pregnancy. Uptake in this setting may improve if vaccination is offered through
      public antenatal clinics with concurrent safety education for obstetricians and
      vaccination providers.

PMID- 20919973
TI  - Implementing pay-for-performance in Australian primary care: lessons from the
      United Kingdom and the United States.
AB  - We identify key lessons learned from the international experience of pay-for
      performance and use them to formulate questions for Australia to consider before
      such a scheme is introduced. Discussion of lessons learned is based on a
      narrative review of the literature. We examined international evidence on factors
      to consider when designing pay-for-performance schemes, and the impact of these
      schemes on primary care practitioner behaviour and on primary care funding. Pay
      for-performance schemes evolve over time, and usually involve several complex
      interventions including accreditation, education, quality improvement programs,
      investment in information technology and data collection systems, professional
      support and regional structures. These are all necessary conditions for linking
      financial incentives to quality of care. There is a strong argument for changing
      the existing service incentive payments program and investing the resources into
      revised outcome payments that provide rewards for annual improvements in numbers
      of patients receiving completed cycles of care. If pay-for-performance is to be
      introduced in Australia, several key lessons should be learned from the
      experiences of other countries. Pay-for-performance should be used as part of a
      wider strategy for quality improvement; it should not be seen as a panacea. Pay
      for-performance should be used to drive quality improvement, not simply to reward
      those who are already providing high-quality care.

PMID- 20919974
TI  - Iodine toxicity from soy milk and seaweed ingestion is associated with serious
      thyroid dysfunction.
AB  - We report a series of cases of thyroid dysfunction in adults associated with
      ingestion of a brand of soy milk manufactured with kombu (seaweed), and a case of
      hypothyroidism in a neonate whose mother had been drinking this milk. We also
      report two cases of neonatal hypothyroidism linked to maternal ingestion of
      seaweed made into soup. These products were found to contain high levels of
      iodine. Despite increasing awareness of iodine deficiency, the potential for
      iodine toxicity, particularly from sources such as seaweed, is less well
      recognised.

PMID- 20919975
TI  - A rare case of primary hyperparathyroidism and osteitis fibrosa cystica.

PMID- 20919976
TI  - Catching a chameleon: IgG4-related systemic disease.
AB  - IgG4-related systemic disease (IRSD) is a recently described entity with protean
      manifestations. We describe a patient who developed inflammation and fibrosis in
      multiple organs over 20 years, sequentially involving his pancreas, bile ducts,
      gallbladder, submandibular and lacrimal glands, and kidneys. He had an elevated
      serum IgG4 level. Retrospective analysis of biopsies showed strongly positive
      tissue immunostaining for IgG4, confirming the diagnosis of IRSD. This case
      illustrates the natural history of partially treated IRSD and its varied clinical
      presentations. Early diagnosis and treatment is important, as the condition is
      highly steroid-responsive.

PMID- 20919978
TI  - World cup fever.

PMID- 20919977
TI  - Otosyphilis: a cause of hearing loss in adults with HIV.

PMID- 20919979
TI  - Prevalence of allergen avoidance advisory statements on packaged processed foods
      in a supermarket.

PMID- 20919980
TI  - Generic medicines literacy - minimising the potential for patient confusion.

PMID- 20919981
TI  - Congenital anomalies - why bother?

PMID- 20919982
TI  - National approaches for medical school entry.

PMID- 20919983
TI  - Family history: the neglected risk factor in disease prevention.

PMID- 20919984
TI  - Reducing the burden of inherited disease: the Human Variome Project.

PMID- 20919985
TI  - Suicide and mental disorder: the legal perspective.

PMID- 20919986
TI  - Has PSA testing truly been a "public health disaster"?

PMID- 20919987
TI  - Suicide in Australia: meta-analysis of rates and methods of suicide between 1988
      and 2007.

PMID- 20919988
TI  - Swimming pool filter-induced transrectal evisceration in children: Australian
      experience.

PMID- 20919989
TI  - Macrocycles in medicinal chemistry and drug discovery.

PMID- 20919990
TI  - The immunoproteasome, the 20S proteasome and the PA28alphabeta proteasome
      regulator are oxidative-stress-adaptive proteolytic complexes.
AB  - Oxidized cytoplasmic and nuclear proteins are normally degraded by the
      proteasome, but accumulate with age and disease. We demonstrate the importance of
      various forms of the proteasome during transient (reversible) adaptation
      (hormesis), to oxidative stress in murine embryonic fibroblasts. Adaptation was
      achieved by 'pre-treatment' with very low concentrations of H2O2, and tested by
      measuring inducible resistance to a subsequent much higher 'challenge' dose of
      H2O2. Following an initial direct physical activation of pre-existing
      proteasomes, the 20S proteasome, immunoproteasome and PA28alphabeta regulator all
      exhibited substantially increased de novo synthesis during adaptation over 24 h.
      Cellular capacity to degrade oxidatively damaged proteins increased with 20S
      proteasome, immunoproteasome and PA28alphabeta synthesis, and was mostly blocked
      by the 20S proteasome, immunoproteasome and PA28 siRNA (short interfering RNA)
      knockdown treatments. Additionally, PA28alphabeta-knockout mutants achieved only
      half of the H2O2-induced adaptive increase in proteolytic capacity of wild-type
      controls. Direct comparison of purified 20S proteasome and immunoproteasome
      demonstrated that the immunoproteasome can selectively degrade oxidized proteins.
      Cell proliferation and DNA replication both decreased, and oxidized proteins
      accumulated, during high H2O2 challenge, but prior H2O2 adaptation was
      protective. Importantly, siRNA knockdown of the 20S proteasome, immunoproteasome
      or PA28alphabeta regulator blocked 50-100% of these adaptive increases in cell
      division and DNA replication, and immunoproteasome knockdown largely abolished
      protection against protein oxidation.

PMID- 20919991
TI  - Structural insights into the catalytic mechanism of the yeast pyridoxal 5
      phosphate synthase Snz1.
AB  - In most eubacteria, fungi, apicomplexa, plants and some metazoans, the active
      form of vitamin B6, PLP (pyridoxal 5-phosphate), is de novo synthesized from
      three substrates, R5P (ribose 5-phosphate), DHAP (dihydroxyacetone phosphate) and
      ammonia hydrolysed from glutamine by a complexed glutaminase. Of the three active
      sites of DXP (deoxyxylulose 5-phosphate)independent PLP synthase (Pdx1), the R5P
      isomerization site has been assigned, but the sites for DHAP isomerization and
      PLP formation remain unknown. In the present study, we present the crystal
      structures of yeast Pdx1/Snz1, in apo-, G3P (glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate)- and PLP
      bound forms, at 2.3, 1.8 and 2.2 A (1 A=0.1 nm) respectively. Structural and
      biochemical analysis enabled us to assign the PLP-formation site, a G3P-binding
      site and a G3P-transfer site. We propose a putative catalytic mechanism for
      Pdx1/Snz1 in which R5P and DHAP are isomerized at two distinct sites and
      transferred along well-defined routes to a final destination for PLP synthesis.

PMID- 20919992
TI  - Identification of novel species-selective agonists of the G-protein-coupled
      receptor GPR35 that promote recruitment of beta-arrestin-2 and activate Galpha13.
AB  - The poorly characterized G-protein-coupled receptor GPR35 has been suggested as a
      potential exploratory target for the treatment of both metabolic disorders and
      hypertension. It has also been indicated to play an important role in immune
      modulation. A major impediment to validation of these concepts and further study
      of the role of this receptor has been a paucity of pharmacological tools that
      interact with GPR35. Using a receptor-beta-arrestin-2 interaction assay with both
      human and rat orthologues of GPR35, we identified a number of compounds
      possessing agonist activity. These included the previously described ligand
      zaprinast. Although a number of active compounds, including cromolyn disodium and
      dicumarol, displayed similar potency at both orthologues of GPR35, a number of
      ligands, including pamoate and niflumic acid, had detectable activity only at
      human GPR35 whereas others, including zaprinast and luteolin, were markedly
      selective for the rat orthologue. Previous studies have demonstrated activation
      of Galpha13 by GPR35. A Saccharomyces cerevisiae-based assay employing a
      chimaeric Gpa1-Galpha13 G-protein confirmed that all of the compounds active at
      human GPR35 in the beta-arrestin-2 interaction assay were also able to promote
      cell growth via Galpha13. Each of these ligands also promoted binding of
      [35S]GTP[S] (guanosine 5'-[gamma-[35S]thio]triphosphate) to an epitope-tagged
      form of Galpha13 in a GPR35-dependent manner. The ligands identified in these
      studies will be useful in interrogating the biological actions of GPR35, but
      appreciation of the species selectivity of ligands at this receptor will be vital
      to correctly attribute function.

PMID- 20919994
TI  - The critical role of nurses in lactation support.

PMID- 20919993
TI  - Postconditioning attenuates myocardial injury by reducing nitro-oxidative stress
      in vivo in rats and in humans.
AB  - In the present study, we hypothesized that postcon (postconditioning) confers
      cardioprotection in vivo by reducing the production of ONOO- (peroxynitrite) and
      nitro-oxidative stress subsequent to the inhibition of the iNOS (inducible NO
      synthase). Patients with AMI (acute myocardial infarct) were randomly assigned to
      undergo percutaneous coronary intervention without (control) or with ischaemic
      postcon by three episodes of 30-s inflation and 30-s deflation of the angioplasty
      balloon. Animal models of MI/R (myocardial ischaemia/reperfusion) injury were
      induced in rats by occluding the left coronary artery for 40 min followed by 4-h
      reperfusion. Rats were randomized to receive vehicle, postcon (three cycles of 10
      s reperfusion and 10-s coronary re-occlusion preceding full reperfusion), the
      selective iNOS inhibitor 1400W or postcon plus 3-morpholinosydnonimine (an ONOO-
      donor). Postcon in patients reduced iNOS activity in white blood cells, decreased
      plasma nitrotyrosine, a fingerprint of ONOO- and an index of nitro-oxidative
      stress, and improved cardiac function (P<0.01 compared with control). In rats,
      postcon reduced post-ischaemic myocardial iNOS activity and nitrotyrosine
      formation, reduced myocardial infarct size (all P<0.05 compared with control) and
      improved cardiac function. Administration of 1400W resembled, whereas 3
      morpholinosydnonimine abolished, the effects of postcon. In conclusion, reduction
      in ONOO--induced nitro-oxidative stress subsequent to the inhibition of iNOS
      represents a major mechanism whereby postcon confers cardioprotection in vivo.

PMID- 20919995
TI  - On "current resources for evidence-based practice".

PMID- 20919996
TI  - Is neonatal abstinence syndrome related to the amount of opiate used?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine if a relationship exists between the dose of heroin
      and/or substitute medication used in pregnancy and neonatal abstinence syndrome
      (NAS). DATA SOURCES: Ovid online was used to search the following: EMBASE, Ovid
      MEDLINE, CINHAL, PscyINFO, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. STUDY
      SELECTION: English language journal articles reporting original research
      undertaken and published between 1995 and 2009 that examined relationships
      between NAS and opiate use in pregnancy and with patterns of substance abuse that
      reflect those of the United Kingdom and other high-resource settings. DATA
      EXTRACTION: The studies were reviewed independently by two authors using
      predefined quality criteria. DATA SYNTHESIS: This was a narrative review; key
      messages from included studies were discussed in the context of the diversity and
      commonality of findings in relation to NAS. CONCLUSIONS: No correlation between
      the amount of fetal opioid exposure and expression of NAS was reported in eight
      of the 10 studies. This observation was consistent across international
      boundaries, and studies that included both methadone and buprenorphine.

PMID- 20919997
TI  - A historical overview of preeclampsia-eclampsia.
AB  - Preeclampsia is a hypertensive, multisystem disorder of pregnancy whose etiology
      remains unknown. Although management is evidence-based, preventative
      measures/screening tools are lacking, treatment remains symptomatic, and delivery
      remains the only cure. Past hypotheses/scientific contributions have influenced
      current understanding of preeclampsia pathophysiology and guided management
      strategies and classification criteria. To provide insight into how past
      hypotheses/scientific contributions have shaped current practice trends, this
      article provides a historical overview of preeclampsia-eclampsia.

PMID- 20919998
TI  - Sucking patterns and behavioral state in 1- and 2-day-old full-term infants.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To provide a comprehensive analysis of the temporal structure of
      sucking in full-term neonates. DESIGN: Descriptive study. SETTING: Newborn
      nursery in a city teaching institution. PATIENTS/PARTICIPANTS: Fifty-six full
      term infants with a mean birth weight of 3,128+/-370 g completed sucking
      assessments on the first and second day of life. METHODS: A 5-minute sucking
      assessment was completed on the first and second day of life. Instruments
      included an Infant Nutritive Sucking Apparatus and the Anderson Behavioral
      Assessment Scale. RESULTS: The number of sucks (p<.001), intersuck width (p=.008)
      and interburst width (p<.05) were significantly different between the first and
      second day of life. On the second day of life the infants generated significantly
      more sucks, a decrease in interburst width and a decrease in intersuck width.
      There was a significant increase in the presence of an alert behavioral state
      from the first to second sucking assessment (p<.01). In addition, with a more
      alert infant state there was an increased time spent bursting (p<.001).
      CONCLUSION: Our results show that sucking analysis is sensitive to infant status
      and suggest that the development of sucking methodology can be considered as a
      useful clinical tool to assess the normal developmental course of sucking
      patterns.

PMID- 20919999
TI  - The effects of prenatal secondhand smoke exposure on preterm birth and neonatal
      outcomes.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To examine the relationship between prenatal secondhand smoke (SHS)
      exposure, preterm birth and immediate neonatal outcomes by measuring maternal
      hair nicotine. DESIGN: Cross-sectional, observational design. SETTING: A
      metropolitan Kentucky birthing center. PARTICIPANTS: Two hundred and ten (210)
      mother-baby couplets. METHODS: Nicotine in maternal hair was used as the
      biomarker for prenatal SHS exposure collected within 48 hours of birth. Smoking
      status was confirmed by urine cotinine analysis. RESULTS: Smoking status
      (nonsmoking, passive smoking, and smoking) strongly correlated with low, medium,
      and high hair nicotine tertiles (rho=.74; p<.001). Women exposed to prenatal SHS
      were more at risk for preterm birth (odds ratio [OR]=2.3; 95% Confidence Interval
      [CI] [.96, 5.96]), and their infants were more likely to have immediate newborn
      complications (OR=2.4; 95% CI [1.09, 5.33]) than nonexposed women. Infants of
      passive smoking mothers were at increased risk for respiratory distress syndrome
      (RDS) (OR=4.9; 95% CI [1.45, 10.5]) and admission to a Neonatal Intensive Care
      Unit (NICU) (OR=6.5; CI [1.29, 9.7]) when compared to infants of smoking mothers
      (OR=3.9; 95% CI [1.61, 14.9]; OR=3.5; 95% CI [2.09, 20.4], respectively). Passive
      smokers and/or women with hair nicotine levels greater than .35 ng/ml were more
      likely to deliver earlier (1 week), give birth to infants weighing less (decrease
      of 200-300 g), and deliver shorter infants (decrease of 1.1-1.7 cm). CONCLUSIONS:
      Prenatal SHS exposure places women at greater risk for preterm birth, and their
      newborns are more likely to have RDS, NICU admissions, and immediate newborn
      complications.

PMID- 20920001
TI  - Time from pregnancy recognition to prenatal care and associated newborn outcomes.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To examine the relationship between newborn outcomes and late prenatal
      care initiation after recognition of pregnancy. DESIGN: Secondary data analysis
      of the Pregnancy Risk Assessment and Monitoring System (PRAMS) data for the
      United States. SETTING: Twenty-nine states. PARTICIPANTS: Women of childbearing
      age (135,623) who resided in 29 states in the PRAMS study who received prenatal
      care and had live births. METHODS: Population-based survey from 2000 through 2004
      that examined four newborn outcomes: prematurity, low birth weight (LBW),
      admission into Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), and infant mortality.
      RESULTS: The average time lag (difference between the time of pregnancy
      recognition and initiation of prenatal care) for the study was 3.2 weeks (99% CI
      [3.12, 3.21]). Women who recognized their pregnancies before 6 weeks had a longer
      lag time (3.5 weeks, 99% CI [3.43, 3.53]) than women who recognized their
      pregnancies later (2.1 weeks, 99% CI [1.96, 2.15]). After adjusting for
      confounders including the timing of pregnancy recognition, longer time lag was
      associated with reduced risks of prematurity (odds ratio [OR]=0.99, 99%
      Confidence Interval [CI] [0.97, 1.00], p<.01), LBW (OR=0.98, 99% CI [0.97, 0.99],
      p<.01) and NICU admission (OR=0.99, 99% CI [0.98, 1.00], p<.01) but not with
      infant mortality (OR=1.00, 99% CI [0.95, 1.05], p>.01). CONCLUSION: Average time
      lag from pregnancy recognition to prenatal care was not associated with poor
      newborn outcomes once results were adjusted for time of pregnancy recognition and
      other confounders.

PMID- 20920000
TI  - Effects of gender on the health and development of medically at-risk infants.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To examine gender-differentiated health and cognitive/motor/language
      developmental outcomes among medically at-risk infants. DESIGN: Longitudinal
      descriptive and comparative secondary analysis. SETTING: Neonatal Intensive Care
      Unit, intermediate care unit, and infectious disease clinic of tertiary medical
      centers in the southeast and east United States. PARTICIPANTS: One hundred eight
      (108) premature infants, 67 medically fragile infants, and 83 infants
      seropositive for HIV. METHODS: Neonatal and later health variables were obtained
      from the medical record to determine the technology dependence scores and
      frequency of common health problems. Data for physical growth and
      cognitive/motor/language development were obtained through the physical
      measurement, including the Bayley Scales of Infant Development-Second Edition,
      the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale, the Toll Control Developmental Checklist,
      and the Preschool Language Scale-3 during home visits between 6 and 27 months
      corrected ages. RESULTS: Fewer effects on health and developmental outcomes
      related to gender were observed with medically fragile infants than the other two
      groups of infants. The cognitive/motor/language scores were decreased with
      increasing age of the infants in all groups. CONCLUSION: Male gender can be
      considered a significant biological risk factor for infants' cognitive and motor
      development, especially for premature infants. Because of their increased risk,
      it is recommended that male infants who are born prematurely or seropositive for
      HIV have early and advanced developmental screening tests by trained personnel
      through periodic pediatric clinic.

PMID- 20920004
TI  - Editorial: The changing face of nursing in a developing country.

PMID- 20920002
TI  - Agreement on perceptions of quality of life in couples dealing with infertility.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To examine the extent to which men and women seeking treatment for
      infertility were able to accurately perceive their partners' ratings of their
      quality of life (QOL). DESIGN: Cross-sectional prospective study. Quality of life
      was measured as a multidimensional construct. SETTING: Assisted reproduction
      clinic of a university hospital. PARTICIPANTS: One hundred and sixty-two couples
      participated. The men's and women's mean ages were 36.1 and 32.1 years,
      respectively. Most participants had no children, and no previous assisted
      reproduction attempts. METHODS: Men and women completed the World Health
      Organization-Quality of Life-Brief (WHOQOL-Brief) and the Beck Depression
      Inventory independently. Paired t tests were used to explore men's perceptions of
      their wives' QOL ratings and wives' perceptions of their husbands' ratings.
      Multiple regression and repeated-measures ANCOVA were used to examine the role of
      depression. RESULTS: Proxy assessments were consistently lower than self-reports
      on the domains of QOL. The influence of depression on agreement was minimal, and
      no gender effect was observed. CONCLUSION: Findings indicated little agreement in
      perceptions of the partner's QOL, with each partner tending to underrate the
      other's view. Practitioners need to consider the differences between partners to
      enable partners to better understand and support each other.

PMID- 20920005
TI  - Metastatic spinal cord compression: a review of practice and care.
AB  - AIM AND OBJECTIVES: The aim of this review was to address: (1) How is spinal
      stability assessed? (2) What is the role of bracing/should braces be used? (3)
      When is it safe to mobilise the patient? (4) What position should the patient be
      nursed in? BACKGROUND: Controversy surrounds the care for patients with
      metastatic spinal cord compression (MSCC). There is some evidence to indicate
      that care for patients with MSCC is based on individual clinician preference
      rather than evidence-based guidelines which has been shown to cause delays and
      discrepancies in patient treatment. DESIGN: A structured literature review to
      synthesise the available evidence about the management of MSCC. METHODS: The
      following databases were searched: Medline, EMBASE, Cochrane Systematic Reviews
      Database, SIGN (Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network), NICE (National
      Institute for Clinical Excellence), AMED (Allied and Complementary Medicine),
      CINAHL (Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature) and BNI
      (British Nursing Index). Publications were selected from the past 10 years. The
      search yielded a total of 1057 hits, 755 abstracts were screened, and 73 articles
      were retrieved and examined. Thirty-five articles were included. RESULTS: The
      findings identified a gap and evidence relating to spinal stability, bracing,
      patient mobilisation, and positioning is limited and may be inconclusive. It is
      important for patients with a poor prognosis that their preferences and quality
      of life are considered. CONCLUSION: Currently, the evidence base to underpin care
      is limited, and further research in this area is necessary for patients and
      healthcare professionals alike. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Patients who
      suffer from MSCC suffer numerous physical, psychological and social issues.
      Because of lack of consensus, the current guidelines to inform clinical decision
      making of professional staff are of limited benefit.

PMID- 20920006
TI  - Satisfaction with care in oncology outpatient clinics: psychometric
      characteristics of the Icelandic EORTC IN-PATSAT32 version.
AB  - AIM AND OBJECTIVES: To assess the psychometric characteristics of the Icelandic
      European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer IN-PATSAT32 (EORTC IN
      PATSAT32) version and to compare satisfaction with care between gender and
      different age groups. BACKGROUND: The majority of patients with cancer receive
      either chemotherapy or radiotherapy on an outpatient basis. There is a need to
      evaluate satisfaction with care and service for these patients using reliable and
      valid instruments. DESIGN: Cross-sectional comparative study. METHOD:
      Participants (n=217) who received treatment for cancer as outpatients answered
      the EORTC IN-PATSAT32 questionnaire. Participants were 22-91 years old and 57% of
      them were female. RESULTS: Overall high satisfaction was found with
      communication, information and care that patients receive from doctors and
      nurses. Principal component analysis extracted four factors: 'satisfaction with
      nurses' conduct', 'satisfaction with doctors' conduct', 'satisfaction with
      information' and 'satisfaction with service and care organisation'. Patients were
      most satisfied with nurses' conduct but least satisfied with service and care
      organisation. Cronbach's alpha for the four factors ranged from 0.95-0.67.
      CONCLUSION: Although the validity of this instrument including its sensitivity to
      patients' level of dissatisfaction as well as satisfaction with care and service
      was evident, this needs to be further explored in future studies. The
      psychometric strengths of the EORTC IN-PATSAT32 are its internal consistency and
      its construct validity, but there are several issues indicating a need to change
      and develop the instrument and specifically adopting it to outpatient care.
      RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Outpatient treatment options offered to cancer
      patients have increased, and this calls for knowledge of their satisfaction with
      care and service. Sparse studies are available, and there is a need for further
      development of reliable instruments. Our study indicates that outpatients with
      cancer are quite satisfied with the care they receive. Findings may contribute to
      improvement in outpatients' clinics that provide treatment to patients with
      cancer.

PMID- 20920007
TI  - Perception of risk factors and DXA T score among at-risk females of osteoporosis.
AB  - AIM: This paper reports a study to investigate the relationships among bone
      mineral density, demographics, knowledge of osteoporosis, beliefs concerning
      osteoporosis and preventive behaviours of at-risk females with family histories
      of osteoporosis. BACKGROUND: Strong evidence demonstrates that genetics is a
      significant determinant of peak bone mass, with a heritability of 50-90%.
      However, few studies have examined the bone mineral density of at-risk females
      with family histories of osteoporosis, particularly in an Asian population.
      DESIGN: Telephone survey. METHODS: The study population (n=2890) was recruited
      from a radiology department at a national university medical centre in northern
      Taiwan during 2005-2006. In total, 886 females completed a questionnaire via the
      telephone; the participation rate was 30.7%. RESULTS: The bone mineral density of
      at-risk females was close to osteopenia status (T score of -1 to -2.49). Most
      subjects were aware of osteoporosis-related information; however, few clearly
      understood osteoporosis. Furthermore, subjects reported difficult implementing
      strategies to improve bone mineral density. Variation in bone mineral density was
      correlated with self-rated health (r=0.56, p<0.05), knowledge of osteoporosis
      (r=0.66, p<0.05) and preventive behaviours (r=0.68, p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: This
      study is to examine risk factors associated with bone mineral density of females
      with family histories of osteoporosis. Early identification of risk factors for
      osteoporosis and development of prevention programmes are required to halt the
      increasing in the incidence of osteoporosis and improve the bone mineral density
      of at-risk females. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Nursing care professionals,
      who emphasise primary, secondary and tertiary prevention with individuals and
      families, should develop effective prevention strategies for women with family
      the history of osteoporosis to protect the health of these vulnerable populations
      at-risk for osteoporosis.

PMID- 20920008
TI  - Implementation of a guideline for pressure ulcer prevention in home care: pretest
      post-test study.
AB  - AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To investigate the effect of the implementation of a patient
      and family education programme for pressure ulcer prevention in an organisation
      for home care nursing on guideline adherence and on prevalence and severity of
      pressure ulcers and to examine the determining factors for the application of
      measures for pressure ulcer prevention. BACKGROUND: Quality improvement
      programmes in pressure ulcer prevention are not always successful. DESIGN:
      Implementation study using a pretest-post-test design. Data were collected in
      three probability samples. The first post-test data collection was held after six
      months, the second after 18 months. METHOD: Statistical analysis was used,
      comparing the pretest sample and the second post-test sample. RESULTS: After 18
      months, the proportion of subjects with adherent measures had increased from 10.4
      13.9%, the proportion of subjects with non-adherent measures decreased from 45.7
      36.0%, the proportion of subjects without pressure ulcer prevention increased
      from 43.9-50.1% (p<0.0001, Chi-square test). Sub-analysis revealed that a
      positive change in guideline adherence was observed principally in the group at
      risk. Better process-of-care indicators were associated by lower pressure ulcer
      prevalence and less severe skin lesions. The nurses' judgement of a patient risk
      status was the most important factor for applying preventive measures.
      Furthermore, application of pressure ulcer prevention was determined by higher
      age (from the age category of 70-79 years), higher dependency for the activities
      of daily living, higher than baseline mobility score and the presence of a
      pressure ulcer. CONCLUSIONS: Guideline adherence in pressure ulcer prevention
      changed significantly after implementation of the education programme. There
      might have been inconsistencies in the nurses' risk judgement. RELEVANCE TO
      CLINICAL PRACTICE: Quality of pressure ulcer prevention improved, but several
      items for improvement remain. Adaptation of risk assessment procedures is needed.

PMID- 20920009
TI  - Starting a care improvement journey: focusing on the essentials of bedside
      nursing care in an Australian teaching hospital.
AB  - AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To evaluate and improve patient assessment practices, care
      practices, recognition of patient deterioration and communication in the acute
      ward environment. BACKGROUND: A growing recognition of patient safety-related
      concerns in acute hospitals, a nursing shortage and a reduction in availability
      of skill and experience levels at the bedside led a group of clinicians to
      explore the issues that impacted on patient care at a ward level within their
      organisation. DESIGN: Multimethod practice development study. This paper reports
      phase one of concept development. METHOD: A practice review was conducted using
      clinical audit processes that examined practice and documentation in relation to
      patient assessment parameters and care planning, specifically identifying whether
      changes in clinical parameters were identified and acted on. RESULTS: Results
      highlighted a clear discrepancy between the care that was identified on the
      nursing care plan and the care the patient was receiving. Actions as a result of
      the disappointing audit results included changes to education programmes,
      strategies to improve critical discussion regarding clinical practices and the
      development of assessable domains of nursing care that were relevant and
      realistic to ward-based nurses. CONCLUSION: The results enabled the
      identification of eight domains of care and associated care outcomes that target
      strategies for care improvement. Emancipatory practice development methodology
      will be used to further progress this work and ensure successful implementation
      into clinical units. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: This paper examines the
      critical discussions, audit processes and actions that took place, leading to the
      development of care outcomes for nurses.

PMID- 20920010
TI  - Malnutrition prevalence and precision in nutritional care: an intervention study
      in one teaching hospital in Iceland.
AB  - AIM: The aim of this study was to explore the point prevalence of malnutrition
      and the targeting of nutritional interventions in relation to undernutrition risk
      before and after an intervention. BACKGROUND: Malnutrition risk and the precision
      in targeting nutritional treatment are indicators of quality of care. Knowledge
      regarding the in-hospital prevalence of malnutrition and nutritional treatment is
      meagre for Iceland. DESIGN: Pre- and postintervention study. METHODS: The study
      was performed during one day in 2006 (March) and one day in 2007 (April). In
      total, 95 (89%) and 92 (88%) patients agreed to participate. Moderate/high
      undernutrition risk was defined as the occurrence of at least two of the
      following: involuntary weight loss, body mass index below limit and eating
      difficulties according to Minimal Eating Observation Form - Version II. Being
      overweight was graded based on body mass index. Specific nutritional care actions
      were recorded. INTERVENTION: A five-point programme for nutrition and eating was
      implemented. RESULTS: Moderate/high risk for undernutrition was found in 25 and
      17% in the two years (ns, not significant). A high body mass index was found in
      53 and 54% (ns). The number of patients with a documented body mass index
      significantly increased between the two surveys (1 and 30%, p-value <0.0005). The
      use of oral supplements increased from 11-40% (p<0.0005) and especially among
      those at no/low undernutrition risk, with ingestion or deglutition difficulties
      (p<0.0005 in both cases) but not among those with appetite and energy problems
      (ns). CONCLUSION: Implementing a nutritional programme does not necessarily
      affect the number of in-patients with malnutrition, but it is likely to increase
      the precision of nutritional care to some extent. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE:
      Greater efforts need to be taken to increase the precision of nutritional care
      among patients at moderate/high undernutrition risk and among those with appetite
      and energy problems.

PMID- 20920011
TI  - Functional constipation: implications for nursing interventions.
AB  - AIMS: To verify the correlation between anorectal function and psychological
      conditions of depression/anxiety in patients with functional constipation. The
      aim of this study is to explore why people with depression/anxiety have higher
      incidence of functional constipation and recommend innovative interventions to
      advance patient care of functional constipation. DESIGN: A prospective
      correlational design. METHODS: Anorectal manometry was performed on functional
      constipation patients (n=70) through the Medtronic Synectics PC Polygraf, while
      the psychological condition was tested by Self-Rating Anxiety Scale and Self
      Rating Depression Scale. Twenty normal controls were also studied. RESULTS:
      Compared with controls, (1) functional constipation patients displayed higher
      squeezing pressure, defaecation thresholds and maximal volume of tolerance
      (p<0.01), and there was no significant difference in anorectal resting pressure,
      defaecating pressure, minimum relaxation volume and first sensation (p>0.05). (2)
      Functional constipation patients showed higher depression/anxiety scores
      (p<0.01). (3) The anorectal squeezing pressure was negatively correlated with
      anxiety and depression scores, while the first sensation and maximal volume of
      tolerance was positively correlated with depression score (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS:
      Abnormal anorectal function correlates to depression/anxiety levels indicating
      that depression/anxiety may contributes to functional constipation. The possible
      pathology is via brain-gut axis. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: The study
      indicates that nurses should pay attention to the patients' psychological needs,
      especially to those interested in seeing the physician and doing unnecessary
      examinations repeatedly to find any organic disease. Integrated nursing
      intervention should be applied to improve patients' psychological adaptation and
      boost the functional constipation therapeutic effect.

PMID- 20920012
TI  - Quality of life in chronic disease: a comparison between patients with heart
      failure and patients with aphasia after stroke.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to describe the impact of heart failure and of
      stroke with aphasia on quality of life (QoL) and to compare the different domains
      of QoL in these groups. BACKGROUND: The prevalence of chronic conditions has
      increased during the last decades, and chronic diseases such as stroke and heart
      failure may have a great impact on QoL. DESIGN: Comparative study of patients
      from two randomised controlled studies. METHOD: Seventy-nine patients with heart
      failure and 70 patients with aphasia after stroke were evaluated concerning the
      severity of their disease and by QoL, as measured with the Nottingham Health
      Profile, in the acute phase and after six months. RESULTS: The severity of the
      disease improved between baseline and six month for both groups. Correlations
      between New York Heart Association (NYHA) class and all QoL domains were seen in
      patients with heart failure after six months. The degree of aphasia correlated to
      mobility, social, emotional and total score after six month. QoL in patients with
      heart failure was more affected in the domains of sleep and energy in the acute
      phase and in the energy domain at six months. CONCLUSION: Although low energy is
      more frequent among patients with heart failure, both groups report poor QoL.
      Improvement in severity of the disease is not necessarily accompanied by
      improvement in QoL. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Nottingham Health Profile can
      easily be used as a screening instrument, aiming to identify patients at risk for
      adverse effects on QoL. A better understanding of the subjective QoL of patients
      with chronic disease is fundamental for health care professionals to be able to
      identify and support vulnerable patients.

PMID- 20920013
TI  - The effect of clothes on sphygmomanometric blood pressure measurement in
      hypertensive patients.
AB  - AIMS: To test whether there is any difference between blood pressure readings
      with patients wearing clothes under the manometer's cuff and not wearing clothes.
      BACKGROUND: The few studies published on this subject have shown that blood
      pressure measurements give similar results whether the patients' arm is covered
      by clothing or not. However, it has not been clarified whether this is also true
      in hypertensive patients. METHOD: Blood pressure was measured on non-sleeved arm,
      sleeved arm and again on non-sleeved arm in 258 hypertensive patients using a
      mercury-filled column sphygmomanometer. Three nurses who were experienced and
      specially trained for the study performed blood pressure measurements. They were
      unaware of the purpose of the research. RESULTS: Measuring blood pressure with
      the manometer's cuff over participant's sleeved arm did not differ significantly
      from non-sleeved arm measurements. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Sleeves have
      no effect on blood pressure results. Blood pressure readings taken over the
      sleeves will be much more practical and time saving in busy departments like
      emergency rooms, during disasters like earthquake where decisions have to make in
      minutes. Additionally, it will be time saving for general health screening
      surveys. Finally, it may have preferable because of hygiene concerns, patient
      privacy and religious beliefs.

PMID- 20920014
TI  - Nurses' experiences in the relief of postoperative nausea and vomiting.
AB  - AIM: The aim of the study was to illuminate the experience of nurses in relieving
      postoperative nausea and vomiting. BACKGROUND: Postoperative nausea and vomiting
      has been shown to be one of the most common and distressing side effects of
      surgery. In spite of this, there has been little research on the role of nurses
      in caring for patients with postoperative nausea and vomiting. DESIGN:
      Qualitative approach using narratives. METHODS: Ten female nurses from two
      general surgical departments were interviewed. The transcribed interviews were
      analysed using the hermeneutic narrative method inspired by Polkinghorne.
      RESULTS: The nurses report that they have what may be described as a set of
      different tools at their disposal. These tools can be entitled 'listen and
      understand', 'information', 'the clinical eye' and 'availability', all of which
      can be used in solving several needs. However, some nurses have better skills or
      more opportunities to use the available tools than do others. By using these
      tools, the nurses can increase their possibilities for enhancing the patients'
      efforts to gain control over their own situation and thereby increase the quality
      of their care. CONCLUSION: Nurses use different types of tools to relieve
      postoperative nausea and vomiting and it is possible to create a positive nursing
      care situation if patients are given the opportunity to be in control and handle
      their own situation. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: When it comes to relieving
      postoperative nausea and vomiting, the findings of this study are important as
      the study highlights the practical actions taken by nurses and their experiences.
      When nurses have the possibility to use their nursing tools in an optimal way,
      together with their experience and knowledge and then follow their nursing
      actions by being able to reflect on them, they can further develop their approach
      to nursing and thereby increase their competence as nurses.

PMID- 20920015
TI  - Risk factors for deep sternal wound infections after cardiac surgery in Jordan.
AB  - AIM: The purpose of this study was to assess rates of and risk factors for deep
      sternal wound infection after coronary artery bypass grafting surgery.
      BACKGROUND: Deep sternal wound infection is one of the most devastating
      complications of cardiac surgery, resulting in multiple operative and non
      operative procedures and increased hospital costs. DESIGN: A retrospective design
      using an existing coronary artery surgery database of adults (n=206) who had
      undergone coronary artery bypass grafting surgeries between January 2004-January
      2006 at a university affiliated hospital, northern Jordan was used. METHOD:
      Multiple logistic regression analyses were used to asses rates of and risk
      factors for deep sternal wound infection. RESULTS: Deep sternal wound infection
      incidence rate was 22% of the total sample. Risk factors of deep sternal wound
      infection include: (1) diabetes (OR=0.317, p=0.048), (2) Obesity (OR=0.275,
      p=0.011), (3) duration of surgery (OR=4.22, p=0.032) and (4) use of intraaortic
      balloon pump (OR=0.033, p=0.001). CONCLUSION: The proposed model provides a
      preliminary indication of risk factors placing coronary artery bypass grafting
      patients at risk of DSWI. Further investigations and testing of the model are
      needed. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Determining patients who are at risk of
      developing deep sternal wound infection after cardiac surgeries is the first step
      towards its prevention.

PMID- 20920016
TI  - A comprehensive training programme for nurse endoscopist performing flexible
      sigmoidoscopy in Hong Kong.
AB  - AIMS: To describe the process and explore the feasibility of training a
      colorectal nurse in Hong Kong to perform flexible sigmoidoscopy. BACKGROUND:
      Given the shortage and high turnover rate of medical staff, a pilot programme was
      designed to train and expand the role of colorectal nurse clinicians. It was
      hoped that such nurses could share some of the clinical duties of the medical
      staff. An advanced practice nurse was selected for the programme. One of the
      training components was the performance of flexible sigmoidoscopy. DESIGN: This
      was a descriptive, case review study. METHOD: A one-year-structured endoscopic
      training programme was designed for the nurse clinician. Weekly sessions were
      conducted by one of the trainers. The training process included the following:
      (1) procedural observation; (2) supervised withdrawal, advancement and
      manipulation of the sigmoidoscope and (3) a final assessment of the nurse's
      competency in performing sigmoidoscopy independently. RESULTS: In total, 119
      outpatients (58 male and 61 female) with a mean age of 57.02 years (SD 14.6
      years; range: 18-83 years) underwent flexible sigmoidoscopy by the nurse over 11
      months. The mean procedural time was 9.38 minutes (SD 3.5 minutes; range 3-26
      minutes). The procedure was terminated prematurely if it could not be tolerated
      by the patient or if the bowel preparation was inadequate. The mean depth of
      insertion was 53.5 cm (SD 12.2 cm; range 6-60 cm). In total, 82 patients had a
      normal exam, 32 patients had abnormalities. There were no procedural
      complications, and no patient required an unplanned hospital admission after the
      procedure. CONCLUSION: In Queen Mary Hospital, nurses can be trained to perform
      flexible sigmoidoscopy in a safe and effective manner. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL
      PRACTICE: Nurse endoscopists could increase the use of flexible sigmoidoscopy in
      colorectal cancer screening and can also enhance the professional development of
      colorectal nurses.

PMID- 20920017
TI  - User involvement in in-patient mental health services: operationalisation,
      empirical testing, and validation.
AB  - AIMS: This study presents development, empirical testing and validation of an
      instrument measuring service user involvement in in-patient mental health from
      the mental health professionals' perspective. BACKGROUND: Service user
      involvement is high on the agenda in European mental health policies. In Norway,
      focus is on enhanced service user involvement at both the individual and
      organisational levels of in-patient mental health services. Mental health
      professionals are in an important position to ensure opportunities for real user
      involvement in in-patient mental health care. However, there is a need for more
      empirical knowledge on how mental health professionals attend to service user
      involvement. DESIGN: Survey. METHODS: A self-report questionnaire was designed
      and administered to 121 mental health professionals, with 98 responses, working
      in a community-based mental health centre in western Norway. Factor analysis
      procedures together with reliability testing were performed. RESULTS: A 30-items
      instrument was developed. The instrument contains four components/subscales: (1)
      Democratic patient involvement (mean score 3.74, Cronbach's alpha 0.81), (2)
      Carer involvement (mean score 3.67, Cronbach's alpha 0.82), (3) Assisted patient
      involvement (mean score 4.05, Cronbach's alpha 0.78) and (4) Management support
      (mean score 4.10, Cronbach's alpha 0.75). These subscales were found to be
      essential to service user involvement in the context of in-patient mental health
      care. The total mean score for the instrument was 3.88, Cronbach's alpha 0.88.
      CONCLUSION: Empirical testing of the instrument demonstrates that the measurement
      of mental health professionals' perception of service user involvement has a
      reasonable level of construct validity and reliability. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL
      PRACTICE: We have developed a measurement instrument with items reflecting
      essential characteristics to user involvement in in-patient mental health
      services. We believe that answering this questionnaire on the subject user
      involvement can act as one step towards enhancing awareness of this issue and to
      assess user-oriented practices in treatment and services.

PMID- 20920018
TI  - Research priorities for nursing care of infants, children and adolescents: a West
      Australian Delphi study.
AB  - AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: This paper describes a study that aimed to identify research
      priorities for the care of infants, children and adolescents at the sole tertiary
      referral hospital for children in Western Australia. The secondary aim was to
      stimulate nurses to explore clinical problems that would require further inquiry.
      BACKGROUND: Planning for research is an essential stage of research development;
      involving clinicians in this exercise is likely to foster research partnerships
      that are pertinent to clinical practice. Nursing research priorities for the
      paediatric population have not previously been reported in Australia. DESIGN:
      Delphi study. METHOD: Over 12 months in 2005-2006, a three-round questionnaire,
      using the Delphi technique, was sent to a randomly selected sample of registered
      nurses. This method was used to identify and prioritise nursing research topics
      relevant to the patient and the family. Content analysis was used to analyse
      Round I data and descriptive statistics for Round II and III data. RESULTS: In
      Round I, 280 statements were identified and reduced to 37 research priorities.
      Analysis of data in subsequent rounds identified the top two priority research
      areas as (1) identification of strategies to reduce medication incidents
      (Mean=6.47; SD 0.88) and (2) improvement in pain assessment and management
      (Mean=6; SD 1.38). Additional comments indicated few nurses access the scientific
      literature or use research findings because of a lack of time or electronic
      access. CONCLUSIONS: Thirty-seven research priorities were identified. The
      identification of research priorities by nurses provided research direction for
      the health service and potentially other similar health institutions for children
      and adolescents in Australia and internationally. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE:
      The nurse participants showed concern about the safety of care and the well-being
      of children and their families. This study also enabled the identification of
      potential collaborative research and development of pain management improvement
      initiatives.

PMID- 20920019
TI  - Reliability and validity of the scale of patient perception of hospital
      experience with nursing care in a Turkish population.
AB  - AIM AND OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to adapt an English version of the survey
      tool Patient Perception of Hospital Experience with Nursing Care for Turkish
      patients and to evaluate its psychometric properties. BACKGROUND: Patient
      satisfaction is used as an important indicator of care quality and frequently
      included in health care planning and evaluation. In Turkey, although a review of
      the literature identified several tests that measured patient satisfaction with
      hospitalisation services, there are few studies that measured both patients'
      satisfaction and patients' perceptions. DESIGN: This study was conducted at the
      Research and Application Hospital of Ataturk University in Erzurum, Turkey with a
      convenience sample of 150 patients who were discharged from medical and surgical
      clinical units. METHODS: Experts' viewpoints were used to determine language
      validity of the scale, and factor analysis was used to determine the structural
      validity of the scale. Cronbach's alpha reliability coefficient, item analysis,
      test-retest analysis were conducted to evaluate the reliability of the scale.
      Data were collected using the Patient Perception of Hospital Experience with
      Nursing Care Scale and Socio-demographic form. RESULTS: It was determined that
      Patient Perception of Hospital Experience with Nursing Care showed a one-factor
      structure, Cronbach's alpha reliability coefficient was 0.92 and item-total point
      correlations were between 0.36-0.74. In addition, it was found that the test
      retest correlation value was 0.90, which was found to be statistically
      significant (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The validity and the reliability of the
      Patient Perception of Hospital Experience with Nursing Care Scale are extremely
      high, and it is an adequate measurement scale to determine patients' satisfaction
      with nursing care. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: We suggest that the scale can
      be used in nursing research projects to evaluate the patient satisfaction and the
      quality of nursing care.

PMID- 20920020
TI  - Actively involving people with dementia in qualitative research.
AB  - AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: This paper aims to: * Consider the major challenges to
      involving people with dementia in qualitative research. * Critique a process
      consent framework. * Demonstrate the need for nurses and researchers to explore
      these issues in research and practice with people with dementia. * Consider the
      impact of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 on research with people with dementia. To
      achieve its aims, the authors will draw on current literature and use examples
      which explores the use of life story work with people with dementia by taking a
      qualitative approach. BACKGROUND: There is acceptance that researchers should
      consider ways of actively involving people with dementia in research as
      participants where appropriate to answering specific research questions. Process
      consent methods have been advocated as an ethical way forward in recruiting and
      gaining consent for people with dementia, the Mental Capacity Act offers guidance
      to both practitioners and researchers. DESIGN AND METHOD: This paper does not
      seek to be a comprehensive review of the current literature but is a discussion
      paper appraising a process consent framework against current literature and
      drawing on the lead author's PhD study, exploring life story work with older
      people with dementia. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: The Mental Capacity Act and
      process consent frameworks compliment one another, and their use should be
      considered when researching issues affecting older people with dementia.
      Researchers and practitioners should work more closely to ensure that the
      principles of process consent are achieved. Process consent models can equally be
      applied to everyday nursing practice. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Process
      consent models can provide an ethical and practical framework to ensure that
      consent is continually assessed in people with dementia with all clinical
      interventions. The paper also draws on literature exploring practical ways of
      involving people with dementia in evaluating service delivery.

PMID- 20920021
TI  - Multi-institutional study of barriers to research utilisation and evidence-based
      practice among hospital nurses.
AB  - AIMS: The study aims were to explore the relationships between perceived barriers
      to research use and the implementation of evidence-based practice among hospital
      nurses and to investigate the barriers as predictors of implementation of
      evidence-based practice. BACKGROUND: Evidence-based practice is critical in
      improving healthcare quality. Although barriers to research use have been
      extensively studied, little is known about the relationships between the barriers
      and the implementation of evidence-based practice in nursing. DESIGN:   Cross
      sectional study. METHOD: Data were collected between December 2006-January 2007
      for this cross-sectional study using computerised Evidence-Based Practice
      Questionnaire and BARRIERS surveys. A convenience sample (n=1301) of nurses from
      four hospitals in southern California, USA, participated. Hierarchical multiple
      regression analyses were performed for each of the three dependent variables:
      practice, attitude and knowledge/skills associated with evidence-based practice.
      BARRIERS subscales were used as predictor variables. RESULTS: The perceived
      barriers to research use predicted only 2.7, 2.4 and 4.5% of practice, attitude
      and knowledge/skills associated with evidence-based practice. Conclusions.  It
      was unexpected that the barriers to research use predicted such small fractions
      of practice, attitude and knowledge/skills associated with evidence-based
      practice. The barriers appear to have minimal influence over the implementation
      of evidence-based practice for most hospital nurses. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL
      PRACTICE: In implementing evidence-based practice, the focus on barriers to
      research use among general nursing staff may be misplaced. Further studies are
      needed to identify the predictors of evidence-based practice and to identify the
      subset of nurses who are most amenable to adopting evidence-based practice.

PMID- 20920022
TI  - Mothers' experience with 1st-3rd-grade children with asthma assisting their
      child's adaptation of school life in Taiwan.
AB  - AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: This study used purposive sampling through semi-structured
      interviews to obtain the experiences of mothers of 7-11-year-old children with
      asthma who were assisting their child's adaptation to school life. BACKGROUND:
      Children with asthma often have problems with social adaptation, including school
      absenteeism, limits to their activity and bullying by peers. From kindergarten to
      elementary school, it is a transitional process where the child experiences
      multiple changes in the body, mind and social situations. It can be difficult for
      mothers of children with asthma to assist their children with their adaptation to
      school life. DESIGN: A qualitative enquiry design was used. METHODS: A total of
      15 mothers having elementary school children with asthma in grades 1-3 were
      interviewed. Participants were contacted at the outpatient department of a
      medical centre in Taiwan. Verbatim transcriptions of the interviews were examined
      by the content analysis method. After analysis of the interview data of the 15
      informants, no new themes had emerged. Lincoln and Guba's trustworthiness
      criteria were employed to evaluate methodological rigour. RESULTS: There were
      four themes that formed part of the mothers' experiences. Those were: (1) being
      concerned about the child's adaptation to school life, (2) improving attitudes
      and relieving symptoms, (3) establishing the child's self-management abilities
      and (4) bearing role strain and normalising the life of the child. CONCLUSIONS:
      The findings of this study should help health professionals and schoolteachers to
      understand the needs of families and mothers who have a child with asthma. The
      findings provide appropriate information and resources to assist the children's
      adjustment to school life. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: The findings indicate
      that nursing professionals should provide child-focused and family-centred care
      that will assist parents of children with asthma to adjust to school life.

PMID- 20920023
TI  - Processing the first birth: journeying into 'motherland'.
AB  - AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To explore first-time mothers' experiences of birth at home
      and in hospital in Australia. BACKGROUND: The first birth has unique physical and
      psychological impacts on women. With the first birth, women become mothers.
      DESIGN: A grounded theory methodology was used. Data were generated from in-depth
      interviews with women in their own homes. METHODS: Nineteen women were
      interviewed in Sydney, Australia. The experiences of seven women who gave birth
      for the first time in a public hospital and seven women who gave birth for the
      first time at home were contrasted with two mothers who gave birth for the first
      time in birth centres, one mother who gave birth for the first time in a private
      hospital and two women who had given birth more than once. RESULTS: Following the
      birth, women 'processed the birth' by 'remembering', 'talking (storytelling)' and
      'feeling'. This activity appeared to help most women resolve their feelings about
      the birth and understand what it actually means to be a new mother. 'Personal and
      social integration' occurred for most women as they entered 'motherland'.
      CONCLUSION: First-time mothers appear to 'process the birth' to a greater extent
      than multiparous women because they are experiencing this for the first time.
      These women also have limited social networks in 'motherland', and these are
      facilitated through sharing the experiences of their labour or 'processing the
      birth'. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Identifying the novice status of first
      time mothers and understanding the way they process the birth can help health
      providers to be sensitive to the specific needs of primiparous women. In
      particular, their need to tell their birth stories following birth; understanding
      that these stories help women to process the birth and connect to other women.

PMID- 20920024
TI  - Lesbians' attitudes and beliefs regarding overweight and weight reduction.
AB  - AIM AND OBJECTIVE: This article presents data on attitudes and beliefs about
      overweight/weight reduction in lesbians. The project was developed to have
      information on which to base future culturally sensitive interventions to reduce
      cardiovascular risk in lesbians. BACKGROUND: Lesbians have been found to have
      high rates of obesity/overweight and to be more accepting of it. Researchers have
      hypothesised that this is attributed to different attitudes towards body weight
      and shape in lesbians than heterosexuals. Little is known about acceptable ways
      to intervene to decrease cardiovascular risk in lesbians in view of these
      attitudes. DESIGN: omen over 21 who self-identified as lesbian and reported one
      or more cardiovascular risk factors were recruited from medical providers and
      community resources. Twenty-five women participated in five focus groups that
      explored practices, attitudes and beliefs about cardiovascular risk and
      culturally acceptable strategies to reduce cardiovascular risk in lesbians.
      METHOD: Demographic and risk factor information was collected from focus group
      members by questionnaire. Focus groups were audiotaped and transcribed.
      Investigators reviewed the transcripts and identified, coded and categorised data
      to begin to identify emergent themes. RESULTS: Lesbian participants with risk
      factors for cardiovascular risk expressed concern about the health consequences
      of weight but want a focus on their general health rather than exclusively on the
      BMI. There is not homogeneity in attitudes and beliefs about weight and
      overweight among lesbians, and generational differences were found. Minority
      stress, anxiety and depression and homophobia were major factors in health
      behaviours and barriers to changing unhealthy behaviours. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL
      PRACTICE: Lesbian participants with risk factors for cardiovascular disease were
      eager to be involved in individual and group culturally sensitive programs that
      focus on improved health and well being. Recommended interventions include
      lesbian specific multidimensional group interventions that could deal with the
      multiple factors involved in causing and maintaining the behaviours.

PMID- 20920025
TI  - Disrupted sense of self: young women and sexually transmitted infections.
AB  - AIM: This article is an exploration of young women's experiences of having a
      sexually transmitted infection. BACKGROUND: Sexually transmitted infections are
      prevalent worldwide and have serious physical and psychological sequelae.
      Although some aspects of having sexually transmitted infections have been
      identified in the literature, the stigmatised nature of these infections means
      that relatively little is known about the experiential aspects of these
      conditions. DESIGN: This research used a qualitative feminist approach. METHODS:
      Data were collected in 2007 via online interviews with ten women. Thematic
      analysis was guided by a feminist narrative technique. RESULTS: Findings revealed
      the women had not believed themselves to be at risk of sexually transmitted
      infections because of perceptions they held about the sorts of women who contract
      these infections. Because these perceptions were incompatible with their self
      perceived views, the women initially experienced a disruption in their sense of
      self. To facilitate the restoration of their previously held sense of self, these
      women engaged in wishful thinking and denial. CONCLUSION: This study illuminates
      how perceptions of sexually transmitted infections influence the way young women
      perceive themselves in the context of these infections. Awareness of the
      detrimental impact contracting sexually transmitted infections can have on young
      women can help nurses to provide services that facilitate positive and effective
      coping strategies among this group. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Nurses
      providing care to women with sexually transmitted infections should promote
      positive coping strategies that could help curb non-disclosure and denial among
      young women who contract these infections. Education focused on sexually
      transmitted infections should emphasis that all sexually active individuals are
      at risk of these infections, which could potentially minimise the shame felt by
      persons who contract these infections. Further, recognition of the gender issues
      that limit women's ability to practise safer sex should be incorporated into
      safer sex education and campaigns.

PMID- 20920026
TI  - Recovering from a stroke: a longitudinal, qualitative study of older Norwegian
      women.
AB  - AIM: To illuminate older women's experiences and the characteristics of the
      recovery process following a stroke. BACKGROUND: Patients with stroke face
      serious challenges related to bodily changes, existential aspects and daily life
      after stroke. Few qualitative longitudinal studies have examined the recovery
      process from the perspective of the patient. Knowledge about older women's
      experiences in coping with life after a stroke is limited. DESIGN: Prospective,
      longitudinal, case-study design. METHODS: Six women aged 68-83 suffering from
      first-time stroke were recruited from two stroke units. Each participant was
      interviewed in-depth 12-14 times during the first two years post stroke. The
      interviews addressed how they experienced their body, their self-understanding,
      daily life and how this had changed over time. Most interviews took place in the
      participants' homes. Gadamer's philosophical hermeneutics informed the analyses.
      RESULTS: Post stroke recovery was slow and complex and evolved through four
      distinct phases. In the first phase (0-2 months post stroke), the participants'
      main concerns were their bodily changes; in the second phase (2-6 months),
      activities of daily life; in the third phase (6-12 months), self-understanding
      and in the fourth phase (12-24 months), going on with life. The transition
      between phases was gradual. CONCLUSION: Recovery from stroke evolves over time
      through four distinct phases, which differ depending on significant experiences
      and associated meanings. Psychological and social resources are equally critical
      in the women's process of recovery. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: The four
      phases of rehabilitation suggest at what points various concerns require
      increased therapeutic attention. Psychological and social resources must be
      vitalised at an early phase similar to bodily resources. This knowledge may
      assist professionals in offering adequate help throughout the recovery process
      even beyond the established rehabilitation period.

PMID- 20920027
TI  - Perceptions of breastfeeding and planned return to work or school among low
      income pregnant women in the USA.
AB  - AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To describe the perceptions of breastfeeding in low-income
      pregnant women to understand their needs better as they plan to return to work or
      school. BACKGROUND: Maternal employment has a negative impact on breastfeeding
      duration. Yet there is insufficient research on challenges and facilitators
      regarding breastfeeding and employment issue among low-income women in the USA.
      Knowing the perceptions of breastfeeding among low-income pregnant women and
      their plan to return to work or school may have implications for nurses and
      midwives in providing quality care. DESIGN: Qualitative study using focus group
      interviews. METHODS: The research setting consisted of three Women, Infants and
      Children clinics (WIC) in a midwestern city of the USA. Seventeen pregnant women
      (aged 19-35) participated in focus group interviews. Data were coded and analysed
      for themes and patterns using the QSR software - NVivo 6. RESULTS: Eleven
      participants were single. Ten women were primigravida, and seven were multipara.
      The following five themes were identified: (1) perceived benefits of
      breastfeeding; (2) general perceptions of breastfeeding; (3) maternal concerns;
      (4) having the right support; and (5) anticipated challenges of combining
      breastfeeding and work. Conclusions.  Low-income women anticipated substantial
      barriers for breastfeeding when they planned to combine breastfeeding and work or
      school. The results of this study have many implications for public health
      practice, research and policy. Educating employers and the public at large about
      the health and economic benefits derived from long-term breastfeeding could help
      promote breastfeeding awareness. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Strategies
      supporting breastfeeding among low-income working women must be provided at
      multiple levels to help overcome the barriers they concern. Health care providers
      should help women gain confidence by minimising their uncertainties and fears
      about breastfeeding to prepare them to continue breastfeeding successfully after
      returning to work.

PMID- 20920028
TI  - Treatment decision-making in cancer care: the role of the carer.
AB  - AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: This study explores the role of the carer in treatment
      decision-making in cancer care. BACKGROUND: Literature about involvement in
      treatment decision-making tends to focus on patients and clinicians, with the
      carer rarely included. The absence of carers is problematic because the
      management of illness is often carried out in the context of complex networks of
      relationships. Although current policy encourages health care practitioners to
      work in partnership with family members, implementation is troubled by a lack of
      understanding of the significance of interpersonal relationships and interactions
      and the role of the relationship throughout the course of the illness experience.
      Despite awareness, there is little systematic, coherent analysis of the
      complexity of these interactional dynamics and, in particular, consideration of
      the implications for involvement and treatment decision-making. DESIGN:
      Qualitative, longitudinal. METHODS: Three serial semi-structured interviews with
      66 patients and 43 carers within the first year following a diagnosis of cancer.
      A descriptive and thematic approach to data analysis was adopted. RESULTS: Carers
      are involved in treatment decision-making in cancer care and contribute to the
      involvement of patients through their actions during, before and after
      consultations with clinicians. Carers can act as conduits for information from
      patient to clinician and from clinician to patient. They can also act as
      facilitators during deliberations, helping patients to consider whether to have
      treatment or not and which treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Our study has highlighted the
      deficiency of models that fail to acknowledge the role of the carer in the
      treatment decision-making process. We propose the adoption of a relational
      approach by the inclusion of the carer in conceptual frameworks and recommend
      triadic (patient, carer and professional) models of involvement. RELEVANCE TO
      CLINICAL PRACTICE: Cancer care clinicians should recognise and actively involve
      the carer as well as the patient in treatment decision-making.

PMID- 20920029
TI  - An exploratory study of anxiety in carers of stroke survivors.
AB  - AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To investigate anxiety in informal carers of stroke
      survivors in the first three months after discharge. BACKGROUND: Informal carers,
      also called caregivers, play a vital role in supporting stroke survivors.
      However, caring for stroke survivors can have adverse consequences amongst carers
      such as burden, stress and reduced quality of life. Emotional distress is also
      commonly reported but anxiety has received less attention than depression.
      DESIGN: Prospective, longitudinal, descriptive study. METHOD: Forty-five carers
      completed the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale on two occasions - within one
      month and at three months after discharge from stroke and rehabilitation units.
      RESULTS: Carers were more likely to have scores indicating anxiety than
      depression. In the first month, half the carers (51.1%) scored in the cut-off for
      anxiety and a third were in the cut-off for depression (31.1%). At three months,
      the picture was very similar with nearly identical proportions in the anxious and
      depressed categories (48.9% and 28.9%, respectively). Changes in numbers of cases
      of anxiety and depression and in mean anxiety scores were non-significant but
      there was a significant decrease in depression scores (p=0.048). Fourteen carers
      (31.1%) at one month and eleven (24.4%) at three months fell into both anxious
      and depressed categories. CONCLUSIONS: Anxiety is a relatively neglected
      emotional outcome in stroke carers. Our study suggests anxiety is an important
      issue very early in caring whilst other research suggests it remains prevalent
      for many months. Given the significant role carers play in rehabilitation of
      stroke survivors, greater recognition of their emotional state is required.
      Further, longitudinal research with larger sample sizes from a range of
      geographical areas and improved understanding of factors associated with anxiety
      is needed. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Nurses working in the community are
      ideally placed to identify and support carers suffering from anxiety.

PMID- 20920030
TI  - Patient perceptions of helpful communication in the context of advanced cancer.
AB  - AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: Based on a secondary analysis of data from a large
      qualitative study on cancer care communication, we address the question: what do
      patients with advanced cancer identify as helpful in their communication
      encounters with health care providers? BACKGROUND: Communication is of critical
      importance to the care of patients with advanced cancer. A better understanding
      of what such patients identify as helpful in their communication encounters with
      nurses and other health care providers seems critical to creating evidence
      informed recommendations for best practices. DESIGN: Secondary analysis of
      qualitative interview data. METHODS: Data from 18 participants interviewed
      individually and 16 focus group participants, with advanced cancer in the
      palliative phase of care. Interpretive description methodology informed data
      collection and analysis. RESULTS: Findings suggest four key elements are
      critically important to consider in communications with patients in an advanced
      or palliative phase - respecting the importance of time, demonstrating caring,
      acknowledging fear and balancing hope and honesty in the provision of
      information. CONCLUSIONS: Communication is an important element in the provision
      of advanced cancer care. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Findings emphasise the
      complex meanings inherent in cancer care communication and identify central
      themes that are fundamental to effective cancer care communication.

PMID- 20920031
TI  - 'Again': the impact of recurrence on survivors of cancer and family members.
AB  - AIM: To examine the psychosocial impact of recurrence on survivors of cancer and
      their family members. BACKGROUND: Cancer recurrence is described as one of the
      most stressful phases of cancer. Recurrence brings back many negative emotions,
      which are different and may be more intense than those after first diagnosis of
      cancer. Survivors and their family members have to deal with new psychological
      distress. DESIGN: A qualitative descriptive study was conducted in four cancer
      units of two hospitals in North of Spain. METHODS: Fifteen survivors of cancer
      with a recent diagnosis of recurrence, 13 family members and 14 nurses were
      interviewed. Data collection and analysis were based on the constant comparative
      method of grounded theory. RESULTS: Four major categories were found: (1)
      'Again': when cancer comes back, (2) the shock of recurrence, (3) the impact of
      the diagnosis on family life, and (4) factors that influence the impact of
      recurrence. Learning that cancer had come back was, for most of the families,
      more devastating than hearing that they had cancer for the first time. Signs of
      shock and suffering were experienced by families as an initial response to
      recurrence. The new diagnosis often entailed a change in the family life.
      Survivorship period and age seemed also significant in the psychosocial
      experience of recurrence. CONCLUSIONS: The term 'again', used by all the
      participants to describe a recurrence of the disease, symbolised a beginning and
      a continuation with cancer; it implied a re-encounter with health services, and
      it represented new suffering for the families. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE:
      Therapeutic nursing interventions should be planned and provided to both patients
      with recurrent cancer and their family members. Family nursing can play an
      important role in helping families master the impact of the recurrent illness.

PMID- 20920032
TI  - Why carers of frail older people are not using available respite services: an
      Australian study.
AB  - AIM: The purpose of this study was to explore the limiting and motivating factors
      that influence carers' use of respite services and the ability of currently
      available respite services to meet the needs of carers of frail older people.
      BACKGROUND: The development of community carer support services, their
      availability and usage and the common barriers that affect or impact on carers'
      use of community services in general and respite services in particular need to
      be examined to ensure they meet client needs. DESIGN: A qualitative descriptive
      approach informed by critical social theory was used to expose the inequities
      inherent in community services. METHODS: A qualitative examination of carer
      relationships with respite services was informed and guided by critical theory.
      Sixteen carers took part in four focus groups. A purposeful sampling strategy was
      adopted to engage with carers not currently using respite services. Study
      participants were recruited from a state-wide carer support organisation and a
      community service organisation in Queensland, Australia. RESULTS: Three themes
      emerged from the data: 'Commitment' characterised by reciprocity, role definition
      and role frustration, 'Needing Help' discussed in terms of trust, confidence in
      service, fear and resistance, and 'Support' discussed in relation to informal
      networking, misinformation and lack of knowledge. CONCLUSION: This study improves
      our understanding of the caring role, its significance in carer's lives and how
      this shapes their formal service expectations and use. The findings suggest that
      further investigation of the factors involved in carers' service expectations and
      service-seeking is warranted to develop a deeper understanding of how care giving
      influences the ways carers seek help from formal services. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL
      PRACTICE: Service delivery changes towards a model of care, which engages and
      promotes user control and fosters genuine participatory relations between
      informal and professional carers may improve uptake of respite services.

PMID- 20920033
TI  - Parental management of childhood complaints: over-the-counter medicine use and
      advice-seeking behaviours.
AB  - AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To explore parental management of childhood complaints with
      respect to factors associated with the purchase of over-the-counter medicines and
      sources of information accessed by parents. BACKGROUND: The use of over-the
      counter medicines is extensive, but this practice is not without risks. To ensure
      safe use, nurses and other healthcare providers need to understand parental
      reasons for purchase and sources of information they access regarding management
      practices. DESIGN: A cross-sectional survey. METHOD: Three-hundred and twenty
      five parents of children (aged birth to 24 months) were recruited between
      September 2006-June 2007 from three recruitment sites across Melbourne,
      Australia. These included the following: outpatient clinics at a major paediatric
      hospital, maternal and child health centres and a childcare service of a tertiary
      education institution. Data were collected using a self-administered
      questionnaire. RESULT: Most parents (82%) purchased over-the-counter medicines if
      suggested by the doctor and if it had been effective in the past. Doctors were
      the most frequently cited source of advice for management of complaints such as
      an ear ache (95%), wheeziness (90%) and rash (77%). Advice from maternal and
      child health nurses was frequently sought for sleep difficulties (60%), while
      family or friends were sought for advice on irritability or crankiness (47%) and
      teething pain (44%). CONCLUSIONS: The findings revealed the impact of healthcare
      provider recommendations on parental purchase of over-the-counter medicines.
      Parents mainly sought information and advice from doctors, followed by maternal
      and child health nurses and family or friends, which appeared to be dependent on
      the type of childhood complaint. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: The use of over
      the-counter medicines for symptom management is likely to increase with enhanced
      focus on self-care. It is important for all healthcare providers to proactively
      provide accurate, consistent and evidence-based information to parents regarding
      appropriate management of symptomatic and behavioural complaints.

PMID- 20920034
TI  - Obesity and diabetes: never say never again!

PMID- 20920035
TI  - Screening for type 2 diabetes: an update of the evidence.
AB  - A growing body of evidence on diabetes screening has been published during the
      last 10 years. Type 2 diabetes meets many but not all of the criteria for
      screening. Concerns about potential harms of screening have largely been
      resolved. Screening identifies a high-risk population with the potential to gain
      from widely available interventions. However, in spite of the findings of
      modelling studies, the size of the benefit of earlier initiation of treatment and
      the overall cost-effectiveness remains uncertain, in contrast to other screening
      programmes (such as for abdominal aortic aneurysms) that are yet to be fully
      implemented. There is also uncertainty about optimal specifications and
      implementation of a screening programme, and further work to complete concerning
      development and delivery of individual- and population-level preventive
      strategies. While there is growing evidence of the net benefit of earlier
      detection of individuals with prevalent but undiagnosed diabetes, there remains
      limited justification for a policy of universal population-based screening for
      type 2 diabetes at the present time. Data from ongoing studies should inform the
      key assumptions in existing modelling studies and further reduce uncertainty.

PMID- 20920036
TI  - A review of treatment response in type 2 diabetes: assessing the role of patient
      heterogeneity.
AB  - The response to treatment for type 2 diabetes typically varies among individuals
      within a study population. This variation is known as heterogeneity of treatment
      response. We conducted a comprehensive literature review to identify factors that
      account for heterogeneity of treatment response in patients treated for type 2
      diabetes. Three databases (PubMed, EMBASE and Cochrane Library) were searched for
      articles published in the last 10 years describing investigations of factors
      associated with treatment response and outcomes among people with type 2 diabetes
      receiving pharmacological treatment. Of the 43 articles extracted and summarized,
      35 (81%) discussed clinical factors, 31 (72%) described sociodemographic factors
      and 17 (40%) reported on comorbidity or behavioural factors. Clinical factors
      identified included baseline glycated hemoglobin A1c or fasting plasma glucose
      (FPG) levels, insulin response or sensitivity, C-peptide, body composition,
      adipose tissue proteins, lipid profile, plasma albumin levels and duration of
      disease or insulin treatment. Other factors identified included age, sex, race,
      socioeconomic status and comorbidities. This review identified the following
      research gaps: use of multiple definitions for response, few patient-reported
      measures and lack of evidence regarding whether factors were associated with
      treatment response for only specific medications or across pharmacological
      therapies. Furthermore, identification of factors associated with type 2 diabetes
      treatment response was generally a secondary objective in the research reviewed.
      Understanding which patient subgroups are more likely to respond to treatment and
      identifying factors associated with response may result in targeted treatment
      decisions and alter the interpretation of efficacy or effectiveness of results.
      In conclusion, accounting for these factors in clinical trials and when making
      clinical treatment decisions may improve therapy selection and individual patient
      outcomes.

PMID- 20920037
TI  - Managing diabetes in cystic fibrosis.
AB  - Cystic fibrosis related diabetes (CFRD) is the most common co-morbidity in
      persons with cystic fibrosis (CF). As the life expectancy of persons with CF
      continues to increase, the need to proactively diagnose and aggressively treat
      CFRD and its potential complications has become more apparent. CFRD negatively
      impacts lung function, growth and mortality, making its diagnosis and management
      crucial in a population already at high risk for early mortality. Compared to
      type 1 and type 2 diabetes, CFRD is a unique entity, requiring a thorough
      understanding of its unique pathophysiology to facilitate the creation and
      utilization of an effective medical treatment plan. The physiology of CFRD is
      complex, likely consisting of a combination of insulin deficiency, insulin
      resistance and a genetic predisposition towards the development of diabetes.
      However, the hallmark of CFRD is insulin deficiency, necessitating the use of
      exogenous insulin as the mainstay of therapy. Insulin administration, in
      combination with a multidisciplinary team of health professionals with expertise
      in the care of patients with CF and CFRD, is the cornerstone of the care for
      these patients. The goals of treatment of the CFRD population are to reverse
      protein catabolism, maintain a healthy weight, and reduce acute and chronic
      diabetes complications. Creating a partnership between the treatment team and the
      patient is the ideal way to accomplish these goals and is essential for
      successful diabetes care.

PMID- 20920038
TI  - Predictors of responders to insulin therapy at 1 year among adults with type 2
      diabetes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The effectiveness of insulin therapy to lower blood glucose levels in
      patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) may depend on a variety of factors. This
      study aims to determine baseline parameters including body mass index (BMI)
      threshold that might predict responders to insulin therapy. METHODS: This was a
      retrospective UK population-based study derived from 358 general practices
      electronic dataset. We included all patients with T2D, diagnosed at the age of
      >18 years old and who were initiated on insulin from January 2000 to December
      2006. Insulin responders were defined as HbA1c <7.5% and/or HbA1c reduction by
      >1% at 12 months postinsulin initiation. RESULTS: Results are expressed in mean
      (s.d.). A total of 6032 patients were identified. Baseline age was 63 years
      (11.7). In all, 61% of patients (3696) responded to insulin. At 1-year
      postinsulin initiation, HbA1c was significantly reduced (9.8 vs. 8.4%, p < 0.001)
      and weight increased (85.7 vs. 87.9 kg, p < 0.001). Using logistic regression
      model, older age (p < 0.001), lower BMI (p = 0.046), higher HbA1c (p < 0.001),
      basal-bolus insulin therapy and premixed insulin compared to basal insulin alone
      at baseline were independent predictors of responders to insulin. Gender and
      social class were not significant predictors of insulin responders. A BMI of
      <35.3 was derived as a cut-point for response to insulin (p = 0.038). CONCLUSION:
      Overall, insulin therapy confers significant HbA1c reduction and weight increase
      in patients with T2D. The responsiveness to insulin therapy however appears to
      depend on baseline age, BMI, HbA1c and insulin regime. Clinicians should take
      these factors into consideration when making a decision to initiate insulin
      therapy in patients with T2D.

PMID- 20920039
TI  - Intranasal delivery of mouse [D-Leu-4]-OB3, a synthetic peptide amide with leptin
      like activity, improves energy balance, glycaemic control, insulin sensitivity
      and bone formation in leptin-resistant C57BLK/6-m db/db mice.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We have recently shown that intranasal administration of mouse [D-Leu
      4]-OB3 reconstituted in Intravail((r)) to male Swiss Webster mice resulted in
      significantly higher uptake and bioavailability when compared with commonly used
      injection methods of delivery. AIM AND METHODS: In this study, we examined the
      effects of intranasal delivery of mouse [D-Leu-4]-OB3 in Intravail((r)) on energy
      balance, glucose regulation, insulin secretion and serum levels of osteocalcin, a
      specific and sensitive marker of bone formation. Genetically obese C57BLK/6-m
      db/db mice were allowed food and water ad libitum and given either Intravail((r))
      alone or mouse [D-Leu-4]-OB3 in Intravail((r)) for 14 days by intranasal
      instillation. RESULTS: Mouse [D-Leu-4]-OB3 reduced body weight gain, daily food
      intake, daily water intake and serum glucose by 11.5, 2.2, 4.0 and 61.9%,
      respectively. Serum insulin levels in db/db mice given mouse [D-Leu-4]-OB3 were
      approximately threefold lower than those in mice receiving Intravail((r)) alone.
      Mouse [D-Leu-4]-OB3 elevated serum osteocalcin in db/db mice by 28.7% over
      Intravail((r)) treated control mice. CONCLUSIONS: The results of our study
      indicate that intranasal delivery of biologically active mouse [D-Leu-4]-OB3 in
      Intravail((r)) is feasible and has significant effects on regulating body weight
      gain, food and water intake, serum glucose, insulin sensitivity and bone
      formation in leptin-resistant C57BLK/6-m db/db mice.

PMID- 20920040
TI  - Randomized controlled trial to investigate the effects of a newly developed
      formulation of phentermine diffuse-controlled release for obesity.
AB  - AIM: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of a newly developed formulation of
      phentermine diffuse-controlled release (DCR) in patients with obesity. METHODS:
      This was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of 12 weeks of
      treatment with phentermine DCR 30 mg (n = 37) or placebo (n = 37), administered
      once daily in patients with obesity with controlled diabetes, hypertension or
      dyslipidaemia. The efficacy was evaluated by changes in body weight and waist
      circumference from baseline at 12 weeks and also changes in metabolic parameters,
      including lipid profiles and blood pressure. RESULTS: The participants in the
      phentermine DCR group showed significant reductions in body weight (-8.1 +/- 3.9
      vs. -1.7 +/- 2.9 kg, p < 0.001) and waist circumference (7.2 +/- 0.5 vs. 2.1 +/-
      0.6 cm, p < 0.001) compared with those in the placebo group. Weight reductions of
      5% or greater from the baseline (95.8 vs. 20.8%, p < 0.001) and 10% or more (62.5
      vs. 4.7%, p < 0.001) were achieved in the DCR phentermine group and placebo
      group, respectively. Total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol
      (LDL-C) levels were significantly improved in the phentermine DCR group. However,
      there were no significant differences in systolic and diastolic blood pressure
      between the groups. Dry mouth and insomnia were the most common adverse events,
      but these were mild to moderate and transient. CONCLUSIONS: Short-term
      phentermine DCR treatment resulted in significant reduction in weight and
      improvement of metabolic parameters, including waist circumference and some lipid
      profiles, without clinically severe adverse events. Further study is needed to
      show long-term efficacy and safety of phentermine DCR in Korean patients with
      obesity.

PMID- 20920041
TI  - Cerebellin1 is a novel orexigenic peptide.
AB  - AIM: Cerebellin1 (Cbln1) is highly expressed in the hypothalamus, a region of the
      brain involved in appetite regulation. However, the effects of Cbn1 on food
      intake are not known. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of Cbln1
      on appetite regulation in rats. METHODS: We determined the effect of (i)
      intracerebroventricular (ICV) injection of Cbln1 on food intake, behaviour and
      plasma pituitary hormone levels in male Wistar rats; (ii) Cbln1 on the release of
      hypothalamic neuropeptides known to modulate food intake from hypothalamic
      explants and (iii) fasting on hypothalamic Cbln1 mRNA expression. RESULTS: (i)
      ICV administration of Cbln1 significantly increased food intake in rats and
      caused no adverse behaviours. ICV administration of Cbln1 significantly reduced
      plasma thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) levels 10 min postinjection in rats.
      (ii) Cbln1 significantly increased the release of neuropeptide Y (NPY) from
      hypothalamic explants. (iii) Cbln1 mRNA expression levels were increased in the
      ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus in fasted rats. CONCLUSIONS: These data
      suggest that Cbln1 is a novel orexigenic peptide, which may mediate its effects
      via hypothalamic NPY.

PMID- 20920042
TI  - Four weeks administration of Liraglutide improves memory and learning as well as
      glycaemic control in mice with high fat dietary-induced obesity and insulin
      resistance.
AB  - AIM: Liraglutide is a long-acting glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) mimetic which
      is a treatment option for type 2 diabetes. GLP-1 peptides, including Liraglutide,
      cross the blood-brain barrier and may additionally act to improve brain function.
      The present study tested the hypothesis that, in addition to its
      antihyperglycaemic actions, peripheral administration of Liraglutide exerts
      positive actions on cognitive function in mice with high fat dietary-induced
      obesity and insulin resistance. METHODS: Young Swiss TO mice maintained on high
      fat diet for 20 weeks received twice-daily injections of Liraglutide (200 ug/kg
      bw; sc) or saline vehicle over 28 days. An additional group of mice on standard
      diet received twice-daily saline injections. Energy intake, bodyweight, non
      fasting plasma glucose and insulin concentrations were monitored at regular
      intervals. Glucose tolerance, open field assessment, object recognition testing
      and electrophysiological long-term potentiation (LTP) were performed at
      termination of the study. RESULTS: Liraglutide treatment resulted in significant
      time-dependent reduction in bodyweight and energy intake, whilst improving non
      fasting glucose and normalizing glucose tolerance. Although Liraglutide did not
      alter general behaviour, treated mice exhibited marked increase in recognition
      index (RI) during object recognition testing, indicative of enhanced learning and
      memory ability. Furthermore, Liraglutide rescued the deleterious effects of high
      fat diet on hippocampal LTP of neurotransmission following both chronic and
      direct intracerebroventricular (icv) administration. CONCLUSION: Liraglutide
      administered peripherally not only improves metabolic parameters but exerts
      additional beneficial effects on cognitive function and hippocampal synaptic
      plasticity. Whether therapy with GLP-1 mimetics has similar effects in humans
      with type 2 diabetes needs to be established.

PMID- 20920043
TI  - Effects of central administration of insulin or l-NMMA on rat skeletal muscle
      microvascular perfusion.
AB  - AIM: Intracerebroventricular (ICV) administration of a nitric oxide synthase
      (NOS) inhibitor to rats has been reported to raise blood pressure (BP) and cause
      insulin resistance, suggestive of a central effect of insulin that is NO
      dependent. Herein we test whether ICV insulin has peripheral haemodynamic and
      metabolic effects and whether peripheral effects of systemic insulin are affected
      by the ICV administration of the NOS inhibitor N(G) -methyl-l-arginine (l-NMMA).
      METHODS: Anaesthetized rats were fitted with an ICV cannula for insulin,
      artificial cerebrospinal fluid (aCSF) or l-NMMA infusion. Rats receiving ICV l
      NMMA (500 ug) underwent systemic insulin clamp (10 mU/min/kg) or saline treatment
      for 70 min and were compared with animals receiving an equal amount of l-NMMA
      infused systemically. RESULTS: ICV aCSF or insulin (135 mU/min/kg brain) for 70
      min or systemic l-NMMA (500 ug) had no effect on BP, heart rate (HR), femoral
      blood flow (FBF), glucose infusion rate, muscle 2-deoxyglucose uptake,
      microvascular perfusion or plasma insulin. However, ICV l-NMMA reduced systemic
      insulin-mediated increases in FBF (2.05 +/- 0.08 to 1.55 +/- 0.15 ml/min), 2
      deoxyglucose uptake (17.7 +/- 0.15 to 10.0 +/- 0.03 ug/g/min) and microvascular
      perfusion (10.5 +/- 0.5 to 6.6 +/- 1.1 mol/min) (each mean +/- SE, p < 0.05);
      plasma insulin, HR and BP were unaffected. CONCLUSIONS: Central insulin
      administration had no effect on skeletal muscle haemodynamics or glucose
      metabolism. However, systemic insulin-mediated increases in limb blood flow,
      muscle microvascular perfusion and glucose uptake may be regulated by a central
      pathway that is NO dependent.

PMID- 20920044
TI  - Initial short-term intensive insulin therapy as a strategy for evaluating the
      preservation of beta-cell function with oral antidiabetic medications: a pilot
      study with sitagliptin.
AB  - AIM: Studies evaluating the effects of oral antidiabetic drugs (OADs) on beta
      cell function in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) are confounded by an inability
      to establish the actual baseline degree of beta-cell dysfunction, independent of
      the deleterious effects of hyperglycaemia (glucotoxicity). Because intensive
      insulin therapy (IIT) can induce normoglycaemia, we reasoned that short-term IIT
      could enable evaluation of the beta-cell protective capacity of OADs, free from
      confounding hyperglycaemia. We applied this strategy to assess the effect of
      sitagliptin on beta-cell function. METHODS: In this pilot study, 37 patients with
      T2DM of 6.0 + 6.4 years duration and A1c 7.0 + 0.8% on 0-2 OADs were switched to
      4-8 weeks of IIT consisting of basal detemir and premeal insulin aspart. Subjects
      achieving fasting glucose <7.0 mmol/l 1 day after completing IIT (n = 21) were
      then randomized to metformin with either sitagliptin (n = 10) or placebo (n =
      11). Subjects were followed for 48 weeks, with serial assessment of beta-cell
      function [ratio of AUC(Cpep) to AUC(gluc) over Homeostasis Model Assessment of
      Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR) (AUC(Cpep/gluc) /HOMA-IR)] on 4-h meal tests.
      RESULTS: During the study, fasting glucagon-like-peptide-1 was higher (p = 0.003)
      and A1c lower in the sitagliptin arm (p = 0.016). Nevertheless, although beta
      cell function improved during the IIT phase, it declined similarly in both arms
      over time (p = 0.61). By study end, AUC(Cpep/gluc) /HOMA-IR was not significantly
      different between the placebo and sitagliptin arms (median 71.2 vs 80.4; p =
      0.36). CONCLUSIONS: Pretreatment IIT can provide a useful strategy for evaluating
      the beta-cell protective capacity of diabetes interventions. In this pilot study,
      improved A1c with sitagliptin could not be attributed to a significant effect on
      preservation of beta-cell function.

PMID- 20920045
TI  - Addition of insulin lispro protamine suspension or insulin glargine to oral type
      2 diabetes regimens: a randomized trial.
AB  - AIMS: The addition of basal insulin to existing oral therapy can help patients
      with type 2 diabetes (T2D) achieve glycaemic targets. This study compares the
      efficacy and safety of insulin lispro protamine suspension (ILPS) and insulin
      glargine in insulin-naive patients with T2D and inadequate control on oral
      antihyperglycaemic medication (OAM). MATERIALS AND METHODS: An open-label,
      randomized, multicentre, multinational 24-week study of 471 patients receiving
      >=2 OAMs for >=3 months with a body mass index between 25 and 45 kg/m(2) and
      HbA1c 7.5-10.0% was conducted. ILPS was injected once or twice daily vs. glargine
      injected once daily plus prestudy OAMs. Primary objective compared the HbA1c
      change from baseline. RESULTS: HbA1c change from baseline to endpoint was similar
      in both groups [-1.46% (ILPS) and -1.41% (glargine)]. Least-squares mean
      difference (95% CI) for HbA1c (-0.05 [-0.21, 0.11]%), glycaemic variability (0.06
      [-0.06, 0.19] mmol/l) and weight change (-0.01 [-0.61, 0.59] kg) showed non
      inferiority (margins of 0.4%, 0.8 mmol/l and 1.5 kg, respectively). Percentages
      of patients achieving HbA1c <7.0% were 43.8% ILPS and 41.2% glargine. Mean daily
      insulin dose was 0.39 vs. 0.35 U/kg (p = 0.02) and weight gain was 1.04 vs. 1.07
      kg for ILPS vs. glargine (p = 0.98). Overall hypoglycaemia
      (episodes/patient/year) was similar for ILPS and glargine (24.2 +/- 28.8 vs. 23.0
      +/- 30.9); nocturnal (6.1 +/- 10.6 vs. 4.1 +/- 9.4, p < 0.001) rates were higher
      for ILPS. Severe hypoglycaemia was higher for ILPS vs. glargine (n = 9 vs. n = 2;
      p = 0.04). CONCLUSIONS: At endpoint, ILPS was non-inferior to glargine in HbA1c
      change from baseline, but associated with increased risk of hypoglycaemia.

PMID- 20920046
TI  - Continuation versus discontinuation of insulin secretagogues when initiating
      insulin in type 2 diabetes.
AB  - We compared the combined use of basal insulin, metformin and insulin
      secretagogues with a combination of basal insulin and metformin in patients with
      type 2 diabetes starting basal insulin analogue therapy. This analysis was part
      of a 24-week trial, in which 964 insulin-naive patients with type 2 diabetes
      inadequately controlled on oral agents (including metformin) were randomized to
      insulin glargine or detemir. Secretagogues were stopped or maintained at the site
      investigators' discretion. During the study, 57.6% of patients continued their
      secretagogue treatment. Compared with patients stopping secretagogues, those who
      continued experienced significantly more hypoglycaemia and weight gain. Insulin
      doses, however, were significantly lower: 0.6 +/- 0.4 versus 0.8 +/- 0.4 U/kg/day
      (p < 0.001). The difference between groups in mean HbA1c reduction was not
      statistically significant. In conclusion, in type 2 diabetic patients starting
      basal insulin analogue therapy, continuing both metformin and secretagogues
      results in more hypoglycaemia and weight gain and lower insulin doses than only
      maintaining metformin.

PMID- 20920047
TI  - Response to Fritsche et al. (GINGER study).

PMID- 20920048
TI  - Level of concern and precaution taking among Australians regarding travel during
      pandemic (H1N1) 2009: results from the 2009 Queensland Social Survey.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Global disease outbreaks, such as the recent Pandemic (H1N1) 2009
      (the so-called Swine flu), may have an impact on travel, including raising the
      concerns of travelers. The objective of this study was to examine the level of
      concern of Australians regarding travel during Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 and how this
      impacted on their travel. METHODS: Data were collected by interviews as part of
      the Queensland Social Survey (QSS) 2009. Specific questions were incorporated
      regarding travel and Pandemic (H1N1) 2009. Multivariate logistic regression was
      used to analyze associations between demographic variables and concern and
      likelihood of cancelling travel. RESULTS: There were 1,292 respondents (41.5%
      response rate). The sample was nearly equally divided between males and females
      (50.2% vs 49.8%). Younger people (18-34 y) were under-represented in the sample;
      older people (> 55 y) were over-represented in the sample. About half (53.2%) of
      respondents indicated some level of concern about Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 when
      traveling and just over one-third (35.5%) indicated they would likely cancel
      their air travel if they had a cough and fever that lasted more than one day.
      When cross-tabulating these responses, people who expressed concern regarding
      Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 when they traveled were more likely than those without
      concern to cancel their air travel if they had a cough and fever lasting more
      than one day (44.7% vs 27.7%, chi2 = 33.53, p < 0.001). People with higher levels
      of education [adjusted odds ratio (AOR): 0.651], people with higher incomes (AOR:
      0.528) and people living outside of metropolitan Southeast Queensland (AOR:
      0.589) were less likely to be concerned about Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 when
      traveling, and younger people (AOR: 0.469) were less likely than others to cancel
      travel if they had a cough and fever. CONCLUSIONS: Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 was of
      some concern to more than half of Queensland travelers. None-the-less, the
      majority of Queenslanders would not have postponed their own travel, even if they
      exhibited symptoms consistent with Pandemic (H1N1) 2009.

PMID- 20920049
TI  - Illness in French travelers to Senegal: prospective cohort follow-up and sentinel
      surveillance data.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate travel-associated illnesses in French travelers to
      Senegal. METHODS: A prospective cohort follow-up was conducted in 358 travelers
      recruited at a pre-travel visit in Marseille and compared to data from ill
      travelers collected from the GeoSentinel data platform in two clinics in
      Marseille. RESULTS: In the cohort survey, 87% of travelers experienced health
      complaints during travel, which most frequently included arthropod bites (75%),
      diarrhea (46%), and sunburns (36%). Severe febrile illness cases, notably malaria
      and salmonella, were detected only through the surveillance system, not in the
      cohort follow-up. Food hygiene was inefficient in preventing diarrhea. Arthropod
      bites were more frequent in younger patients and in patients with pale
      phototypes. Sunburns were also more frequent in younger patients. Finally, we
      demonstrate that mild travel-related gastrointestinal symptoms and the lack of
      arthropod bites are significantly associated with poor observance of antimalarial
      prophylaxis. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, we suggest the complementary nature of
      using cohort surveys and sentinel surveillance data. Effective protection of skin
      from arthropod bites and sun exposure should result in significantly reduced
      travel-associated diseases in Senegal. Travelers to Senegal should be informed
      that diarrhea is extremely common despite preventive measures, but it is mild and
      transitory and should not lead to the disruption of malaria chemoprophylaxis.

PMID- 20920050
TI  - Clinical and epidemiological characteristics of imported infectious diseases in
      Spanish travelers.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Spain could be a potential area in Europe for the development and
      spread of emerging diseases from the tropics due to its geoclimatic
      characteristics, but there is little information on infectious diseases imported
      by travelers. The aim of this article was to analyze clinical-epidemiological
      characteristics of infectious diseases imported by Spanish travelers from the
      tropics. METHODS: A retrospective descriptive study of 2,982 travelers seeking
      medical advice who return ill from the tropics was conducted. Demographic data,
      details of travel (destination, type, and duration), preventive measures,
      clinical syndromes, and diagnoses were analyzed. RESULTS: Nearly half (46.5%) the
      travelers had traveled to sub-Saharan Africa; 46.5% reported a stay exceeding 1
      month (and almost a quarter more than 6 months). Following pre-travel advice,
      69.1% received at least one vaccine and 35.5% took malarial chemoprophylaxis with
      variations according to geographical area of travel. In all, 58.8% of this took
      chemoprophylaxis correctly. Most common syndromes were fever 1,028 (34.5%),
      diarrhea 872 (29.3%), and cutaneous syndrome 684 (22.9%). Most frequent diagnoses
      were traveler's diarrhea (17.2%), malaria (17%), and intestinal parasites
      (10.4%). The three main syndromes in travelers to the Caribbean-Central America,
      Indian subcontinent-Southeast Asia, and other areas were diarrhea, fever, and
      cutaneous syndrome (p < 0.05); in sub-Saharan Africa were fever, cutaneous
      syndrome, and diarrhea (p < 0.05); and in South America were cutaneous syndrome,
      diarrhea, and fever (p < 0.05). Travelers to sub-Saharan Africa showed a higher
      frequency of malaria, rickettsiosis, filariasis, and schistosomiasis (p < 0.05);
      those to South America showed cutaneous larva migrants, other ectoparasitosis,
      and cutaneous/mucocutaneous leishmaniasis; and those to the Indian subcontinent
      Southeast Asia showed intestinal parasitosis, arboviriasis, and enteric fever (p
      < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Increased international travel is a key factor for the
      development and spread of emerging pathogens. Information on these diseases is
      essential to establish early warning mechanisms and action plans. Spain
      represents a unique setting for this.

PMID- 20920051
TI  - Murine typhus as a cause of Fever in travelers from Tunisia and mediterranean
      areas.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Travelers are exposed to a variety of health risks in unfamiliar
      environments and fever is a common problem in patients returning from travel
      abroad. Rickettsial diseases are increasingly frequently being reported among
      international travelers. Here we present cases of Rickettsia typhi infection, the
      agent of murine typhus, that were identified in our laboratory the last year, in
      travelers from Tunisia. METHODS: For each patient we tested an acute-phase serum
      sample and for one patient we tested a convalescent-phase serum sample. IgG and
      IgM antibody titers were estimated with use of the microimmunofluorescence (MIF)
      assay. Western blot (WB) assay was performed for all the patients. RESULTS: We
      identified three cases of murine typhus after a travel in Tunisia. All cases were
      observed during late summer and early autumn and patients were suffering by
      persistent fever. None of them presented rash or inoculation eschar. MIF was
      positive for Rickettsia sp. in the acute-phase serum samples of two patients. In
      one patient, two acute-phase serum samples were Rickettsia sp. negative whereas a
      third convalescent-phase serum sample that was obtained 2 weeks after was
      Rickettsia sp. positive. By WB assay we identified infection by R typhi. A
      treatment was immediately started and patients became apyretic. CONCLUSIONS: In
      the countries of North Europe, although autochthones cases of murine typhus have
      not been described, sporadic cases of R typhi infection are identified in
      travelers who visited murine typhus endemic areas. Murine typhus should be
      considered in the diagnosis of febrile illness without rash in travelers
      returning from disease endemic areas, like the south Mediterranean area.

PMID- 20920052
TI  - Travel characteristics and risk-taking attitudes in youths traveling to
      nonindustrialized countries.
AB  - BACKGROUND: International travel to developing countries is increasing with
      rising levels of disposable income; this trend is seen in both adults and
      children. Risk-taking attitude is fundamental to research on the prevention of
      risky health behaviors, which can be an indicator of the likelihood of
      experiencing illness or injury during travel. The aim of this study is to
      investigate whether risk-taking attitudes of youths are associated with travel
      characteristics and likelihood of experiencing illness or injury while traveling
      to nonindustrialized countries. METHODS: Data were analyzed from the 2008
      YouthStyles survey, an annual mail survey gathering demographics and health
      knowledge, attitudes, and practices of individuals from 9 through 18 years of
      age. Travelers were defined as respondents who reported traveling in the last 12
      months to a destination other than the United States, Canada, Europe, Japan,
      Australia, or New Zealand. Risk-taking attitude was measured by using a four-item
      Brief Sensation-Seeking Scale. All p values <= 0.05 were considered significant.
      RESULTS: Of 1,704 respondents, 131 (7.7%) traveled in the last 12 months. Females
      and those with higher household income were more likely to travel (odds ratio =
      1.6,1.1). Of those who traveled, 16.7% reported seeking pretravel medical care,
      with most visiting a family doctor for that care (84.0%). However, one-fifth of
      respondents reported illness and injury during travel; of these, 83.3% traveled
      with their parents. Males and older youths had higher mean sensation-seeking
      scores. Further, travelers had a higher mean sensation-seeking score than
      nontravelers. Those who did not seek pretravel medical care also had higher mean
      sensation-seeking scores (p = 0.1, not significant). CONCLUSIONS: Our results
      show an association between risk-taking attitudes and youth travel behavior.
      However, adult supervision during travel and parental directives prior to travel
      should be taken into consideration. Communication messages should emphasize the
      importance of pretravel advice, target parents of children who are traveling, and
      be communicated through family doctors.

PMID- 20920053
TI  - Fecal-orally transmitted diseases among travelers are decreasing due to better
      hygienic standards at travel destination.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether changes in attack rates of fecal-orally
      transmitted diseases among travelers are related to changes in pretravel
      vaccination practices or better hygienic standards at travel destination.
      METHODS: National surveillance data on all laboratory-confirmed cases of travel
      related hepatitis A, shigellosis, and typhoid fever diagnosed in the Netherlands
      from 1995 to 2006 were matched with the number of Dutch travelers to developing
      countries to calculate region-specific annual attack rates. Trends in attack
      rates of non-vaccine-preventable shigellosis were compared with those of vaccine
      preventable hepatitis A and typhoid fever. Trends were also compared with three
      markers for hygienic standards of the local population at travel destinations,
      drawn from the United Nations Development Programme database: the human
      development index, the sanitation index, and the water source index. RESULTS:
      Attack rates among Dutch travelers to developing regions declined for hepatitis
      A, shigellosis, and typhoid fever. Region-specific trends in attack rates of
      shigellosis resembled trends of hepatitis A and typhoid fever. Declining attack
      rates of the three fecal-orally transmitted diseases correlated with improvements
      in socioeconomic, sanitary, and water supply conditions of the local population
      at travel destination. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that improved hygienic
      standards at travel destination strongly contributed to the overall decline in
      attack rates of fecal-orally transmitted diseases among visiting travelers.

PMID- 20920054
TI  - Health and well-being factors associated with international business travel.
AB  - BACKGROUND: International travel by US business travelers is continuing to
      increase with the globalization of the economy. The objective of this study was
      to determine if the frequency and duration of international business travel is
      associated with differences in travelers' health and well-being. This study
      expands our limited knowledge of the impact of long-haul travel on healthy
      lifestyle choices and traveler's perceptions of their health and well-being.
      METHODS: 12,942 unique health risk appraisal (HRA) records of US employees of a
      multinational corporation were analyzed according to self-reported (objective and
      subjective) travel history and lifestyle habits. RESULTS: Comparing 2,962
      international travelers and 9,980 non-travelers, international business travel
      was significantly associated with a lower body mass index, lower blood pressure,
      excess alcohol consumption, sleep deprivation, and diminished confidence to keep
      up with the pace of work. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated both positive and
      negative associations on the health risks and well-being of a large sample of US
      based international business travelers from an US multinational company. This
      study identifies targeted areas for pretrip screening and counseling to
      proactively address potential negative effects of travel and may assist in the
      design of corporate travel health and employee assistance programs.

PMID- 20920055
TI  - Pediatric malaria: 8-year case series in Atlanta, Georgia, and review of the
      literature.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although malaria is frequent in travelers, it is often misdiagnosed
      on initial presentation, especially in children. The objective of this study is
      to describe epidemiology, clinical and laboratory presentation, and treatment of
      children with malaria in the United States. METHODS: We performed a retrospective
      review of 50 confirmed cases of malaria from two pediatric metropolitan hospitals
      in Atlanta, GA, from 2000 to 2008. RESULTS: Malarial smears were performed in 385
      unique patients; 50 (12.6%) were positive. American children who had visited
      family and friends in malaria-endemic countries comprised 62% of our cases. Most
      cases visited Nigeria or Cameroon; all but three traveled to Africa. Three
      patients presented 8 to 12 months following travel. Plasmodium falciparum was
      diagnosed most frequently (72%). Most patients had low-level parasitemia (<1%).
      Gametocytes were rarely identified. Treatment was primarily with quinine and
      either doxycycline or clindamycin, and transfusion was rare. All patients
      responded rapidly to treatment. Although seven (14%) had hyperparasitemia (> 5%),
      no fatalities or long-term sequelae were seen. CONCLUSIONS: Malarial diagnosis
      can be difficult in children because parasitemia is usually below 1%. A high
      index of suspicion is required in patients who have traveled to Africa.

PMID- 20920056
TI  - A cohort study of risk factors for malaria among healthcare workers in equatorial
      Guinea: stay away from the ground floor.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Nonimmune long-term travelers to sub-Saharan Africa are at a high
      risk of contracting malaria. Most previous studies described risk factors and
      spatial distribution only in short-term travelers. This study describes the
      epidemiology and spatial distribution of malaria cases among expatriate
      healthcare workers in Equatorial Guinea. METHODS: We conducted a cohort study
      evaluating the risk factors for malaria among healthcare personnel working in a
      hospital in Bata, Equatorial Guinea. Demographic data were recorded for all
      workers, and the spatial distribution of malaria cases within the hospital
      perimeters was determined. RESULTS: During 2008 noncomplicated falciparum malaria
      was diagnosed in 13/102 workers (12.75%). On univariate analysis, the factors
      negatively associated with the risk of contracting malaria were living above the
      first floor and being older than 30 years. This association remained significant
      in multivariate analysis [hazard ratio (HR) = 0.24, 95% confidence interval [CI]
      = 0.06-0.91 for subjects living above the first floor and HR = 0.14, 95% CI =
      0.04-0.52 for subjects above 30 years old]. Males and smokers had increased risk
      of contracting malaria on univariate analysis. However, this association was not
      significant in multivariate analysis (HR = 3.37, 95% CI = 0.87-13.1 and HR =
      3.12, 95% CI = 0.83-11.75, for univariate and multivariate analysis,
      respectively). Low compliance with malaria prevention guidelines was observed in
      the study cohort. CONCLUSIONS: Living on the ground floor of apartment buildings
      in sub-Saharan Africa, as opposed to living on the top floors, confers an
      increased risk of acquiring malaria in long-term travelers with low compliance to
      prophylaxis. These findings should be discussed in advance with people intending
      to stay in sub-Saharan Africa for an extended period of time. The association
      between belonging to a younger age group and an increased risk of acquiring
      malaria, and the marginally significant increased risk of malaria in males and
      smokers, can probably be explained by increased exposure to malaria vectors. The
      compliance of healthcare workers with malaria prophylaxis is extremely low, as
      was previously described for other long-term residents.

PMID- 20920057
TI  - A review of risk factors for imported malaria in the European African diaspora.

PMID- 20920058
TI  - Fever in a soldier returned from Afghanistan.
AB  - We present a case of Plasmodium vivax infection in a soldier, 4 months after
      returning from Afghanistan. Primary care physicians should be reminded of the
      possible delay in presentation of P. vivax when evaluating fever and the
      importance of terminal prophylaxis with primaquine to prevent relapse following
      return from malarious regions.

PMID- 20920059
TI  - Malaria outbreak among French army troops returning from the Ivory Coast.
AB  - In 2006, a French Army unit reported 39 malaria cases among service persons
      returning from Ivory Coast. Thirty, including three serious forms, occurred after
      the return to France. The risk of post-return malaria was higher than the risk in
      Ivory Coast. Half of the imported cases had stopped post-return chemoprophylaxis
      early.

PMID- 20920060
TI  - Murine typhus in two travelers returning from Bali, Indonesia: an underdiagnosed
      disease.
AB  - Two Japanese travelers from Bali were diagnosed with murine typhus in Japan
      during the same period. Although one had only mild illness, the other experienced
      liver and kidney dysfunction. Murine typhus may be missed not only in endemic
      areas around the world, but also in travelers, especially those returning from
      marine resorts in these areas.

PMID- 20920061
TI  - Acute neuroschistosomiasis: a cerebral vasculitis to treat with corticosteroids
      not praziquantel.

PMID- 20920062
TI  - Re: Immunity against poliomyelitis in refugees in Italy.

PMID- 20920065
TI  - Editorial: Madonna and child.

PMID- 20920066
TI  - Literature review: should antipyretic therapies routinely be administered to
      patients with [corrected] fever?
AB  - AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To determine whether the practices of routinely treating
      fever with antipyretic medications or physical cooling methods are supported by
      the literature. BACKGROUND: Fever is one of the commonest symptoms presented to
      caregivers. Previous research suggests that treating fever with antipyretic
      medications or physical cooling methods is often routine practice. This article
      considers that fever and the febrile response may have been preserved through
      evolution because of its advantage for host defences and that fever may have an
      adaptive value. It is questioned whether the administration of antipyretic
      therapies could prolong the duration of illness, as interventions to lower body
      temperature are acting against the body's natural response to infection. DESIGN:
      Literature review. METHOD: Electronic databases and the Internet were searched,
      supplemented by citation tracking. Articles were eligible if the participants
      studied had received pharmacological or physical cooling interventions to reduce
      their body temperature during fever. The interventions were evaluated in regard
      to whether they prolonged duration of illness. RESULTS: Results were
      inconsistent. None of the studies found that antipyretic therapies reduced
      duration of illness in patients with fever. Evidence suggests that antipyretic
      therapies do not reduce the duration of illness, but can prolong it. CONCLUSIONS:
      The evidence on which to base recommendations for practice is weak but does not
      support the current practice of administering antipyretic therapies routinely to
      patients with fever. Physical cooling methods alone should never be used. Nurses
      should assess patients with fever on an individualised basis and use antipyretic
      therapies selectively. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: The administration of
      antipyretics to patients with fever is an important issue, and nurses are at the
      forefront of decision-making. Evidence-based care delivery is expected by the
      NMC. A protocol to assist decision-making when caring for patients with pyrexia
      is suggested.

PMID- 20920067
TI  - A literature review of the potential of telephone follow-up in colorectal cancer.
AB  - AIMS: The aim of this review is to examine the potential of telephone follow-up
      for patients with colorectal cancer. BACKGROUND: More people are surviving cancer
      and entering into follow-up care. It is recognised that improvements in cancer
      follow-up care are needed in the UK. Telephone use has proved a very successful
      medium for conducting health care in other specialties and may offer an
      acceptable alternative to face-to-face follow-up appointments. Nurse specialists
      could assume responsibility for patients' follow-up by offering telephone
      consultations. DESIGN: A literature review was conducted via a systematic
      electronic and hand search of relevant literature. METHOD: Thematic content
      analysis was used to achieve the objectives of the review. Results.  The findings
      demonstrate that telephone follow-up conducted by an experienced nurse specialist
      is cost-effective and accepted by the majority of patients. Aspects of care such
      as symptom management and reassurance are possible over the phone. CONCLUSION:
      Telephone follow-up meets patients' satisfaction, support and information needs
      and has potential to deliver high standards of aftercare when conducted by a
      nurse specialist. It is at least equivalent to traditional follow-up in meeting
      the needs of patients with cancer. Because of the disparity of the studies
      examined, further research in the area of nurse-led telephone follow-up vs. nurse
      led traditional follow-up would be constructive in the development of this new
      initiative. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Nurses are now increasingly involved
      in patient follow-up care and telephone dialogue after hospital discharge.
      However, the ideal structure, method and timing of telephone follow-up as well as
      the skills required to carry out such care over the phone are often not
      considered and have not been articulated. The option of telephone follow-up
      could, for some patients, dramatically improve their care experience.

PMID- 20920068
TI  - 'Cool friends': an evaluation of a community befriending programme for young
      people with cystic fibrosis.
AB  - AIM: To evaluate the impact of a community youth befriending programme on a group
      of young people with chronic illness and their carers. BACKGROUND: Befriending is
      said to be highly valued by those who are befriended, improving self-esteem and
      offering opportunities for increasing skills and social activities. DESIGN: A
      qualitative longitudinal pilot study of young people with cystic fibrosis, their
      carers, their befrienders and other personnel, closely involved with the
      families. METHODS: Seventeen participants were interviewed over one-year to
      explore their experiences of befriending. Ten of these were either befriendees
      (aged 8-18 years) or their parents. Half of these families were interviewed
      twice; once at the beginning of the befriending relationship and another at one
      year later. Seven other personnel, closely involved with the young people, were
      interviewed; two play therapists and two education liaison personnel. A focus
      group was also held with three befrienders. This range of data sought to reveal a
      wide perspective on the impact of befriending. RESULTS: Befriending was seen as a
      good thing by all parties involved. It offered a distraction from illness,
      respite for carers and helped young people to raise issues of personal
      importance. Befriending was challenging for the befrienders given the diagnosis
      of this group of befriendees. Negative experiences could result if pairs are
      poorly matched or if befrienders are not committed to the process. Exit
      strategies were not addressed. CONCLUSION: Sustainable befriending relationships
      are dependent on commitment from both parties and transparency about the expected
      practices and processes from the beginning to the end of the relationship.
      RELEVANCE TO PRACTICE: The evidence that is available in support of befriending
      is mixed. To date this is the first study in relation to people with cystic
      fibrosis and will add to the body of knowledge of befriending in young people
      with a life-threatening chronic illness.

PMID- 20920069
TI  - Evaluation of the feasibility of a school-based asthma management programme in
      Taiwan.
AB  - AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To investigate the feasibility of a school-based asthma
      management programme for middle school children. BACKGROUND: Asthma rates are
      increasing among school-aged children. Successful asthma treatment in children
      depends in part on clear communication and effective education. DESIGN: This
      feasibility study employed a one-group only longitudinal design with four time
      points over 18 months. METHODS: Nineteen female and twelve male (n = 31) seventh
      grade children with asthma (13 SD 0.71 years) were identified using a six-stage
      asthma case-finding approach. Teachers and school staff were trained in the
      principles and methods of the proposed school-based asthma management programme.
      An individualised guided asthma self-management programme was developed for each
      child by a clinical team at a major academic medical centre. We assisted teachers
      in implementing the school programme; building a support network and monitoring
      children's activities. Outcome measures included lung function tests (at 0, six,
      12 and 18 months), disease-related symptoms, psychosocial status and impact of
      asthma on learning (at 0 and 18 months). School provided data on academic
      achievement and school absences at 0, six, 12 and 18 months. RESULTS: Significant
      improvements were noted at six, 12 and 18 months on forced vital capacity (FVC)%
      of predicted (p = 0.001, 0.015, 0.015, respectively), forced expiratory volume in
      one second (FEV(1) )% of predicted (p = 0.001, 0.006, 0.088, respectively) and
      FEV(1) /FVC% of predicted (p = 0.001, 0.015, 0.099, respectively). There was a
      trend towards improved asthma symptoms (p = 0.050) and a significant decrease in
      positive perception of curriculum (p = 0.017) at 18 months after adjustment for
      covariates. CONCLUSIONS: This programme was associated with respiratory benefits
      on physiological asthma markers commonly, with a trend for symptom control.
      Academic and psychosocial outcomes are subject of further inquiry. RELEVANCE TO
      CLINICAL PRACTICE: School-based asthma management holds promise as a feasible
      clinical option for middle school children with asthma in the Taiwanese school
      system.

PMID- 20920071
TI  - Factors influencing the practice of exclusive breastfeeding among Hong Kong
      Chinese women: a questionnaire survey.
AB  - AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this article is to explore the relationships
      between breastfeeding knowledge, self-efficacy and demographic factors on
      breastfeeding patterns among Hong Kong Chinese primiparous women. Background. 
      There is substantial evidence showing that maternal education, social class,
      ethnic background and religion are related to the decision to initiate as well as
      continue breastfeeding. Nevertheless, not much is known about how the
      controllable factors are able to influence the practice with the Hong Kong
      Chinese population. DESIGN: A cross-sectional and correlational design. METHODS:
      A convenience sample of 82 subjects who had normal vaginal delivery in the
      maternity unit of a regional hospital in Hong Kong was recruited. RESULTS: Linear
      regression analysis showed that subjects who lived with their mothers-in-law, had
      higher household income and higher gravida would be associated with a higher
      score in the Breastfeeding Self-Efficacy Scale. On the other hand, decisions to
      breastfeed made later in the pregnancy, father-in-law to 'pei-yue' (the Chinese
      practice whereby the new mother is expected to stay at home and to avoid all
      household chores and social activities during the first month after giving birth)
      and older in age would be associated with a lower score. Pei-yue is Chinese
      ritual of which the woman who has delivered should stay at home for one month and
      being taken care by others (this Chinese term is used throughout the article to
      indicate the time period described). Generalised estimating equations model
      revealed that women who had searched through the Internet for breastfeeding
      information, who had husbands to 'pei yue', lived in private housing, were
      married, had a domestic helper to 'pei yue' and who had attained higher education
      were more likely to practice exclusive breastfeeding. CONCLUSION: The social
      support from the family and breastfeeding self-efficacy have implications for
      continuing the practice of breastfeeding for primiparous women. RELEVANCE TO
      CLINICAL PRACTICE: Future efforts aimed at promoting exclusive breastfeeding
      could include the modifiable factors into consideration to better tailor
      interventions for successful, exclusive breastfeeding.

PMID- 20920070
TI  - Analysis of pelvic floor musculature function during pregnancy and postpartum: a
      cohort study: (a prospective cohort study to assess the PFMS by perineometry and
      digital vaginal palpation during pregnancy and following vaginal or caesarean
      childbirth).
AB  - AIM: To compare the measurements of women's pelvic floor musculature strength
      (PFMS) during pregnancy and postpartum period. BACKGROUND: Pregnancy and
      childbirth can have an influence on the muscles and pelvic floor and can cause
      morbidities of women's genito-urinary tract. DESIGN: A prospective cohort study.
      METHODS: There were included 226 primigravidae women, attended by community
      health services in the city of Itapecerica da Serra, Sao Paulo, Brazil. The
      participants were followed in four stages: (1) within 12 weeks of pregnancy; (2)
      between 36-40 weeks of pregnancy; (3) within 48 hours after childbirth; (4) 42-60
      days after childbirth. Data were collected from February 2007-August 2008. The
      pelvic floor musculature strength was evaluated by perineometry and digital
      vaginal palpation in stages 1, 2 and 4. The final sample included 110 women who
      completed all four stages of the study. RESULTS: The pelvic floor musculature
      strength of the women did not change significantly during pregnancy or after
      delivery (anova: p = 0.78). In all three examined stages, a low-intensity pelvic
      floor musculature strength was prevalent (in mmHg: stage 1 = 15.9; stage 2 =
      15.2, stage 4 = 14.7), with scores from 0-3 on the Oxford scale. The pelvic floor
      musculature strength did not differ in relation to maternal age, skin colour,
      conjugal status, dyspareunia, stool characteristics, type of delivery, or
      conditions of the perineum. An interaction between maternal nutritional state and
      newborn's weight may affect the pelvic floor musculature strength (manova: p =
      0.04). CONCLUSION: Pregnancy and childbirth did not reduce significantly pelvic
      floor musculature strength. The perineometry and digital vaginal palpation used
      to assess the pelvic floor musculature strength were well accepted by the women.
      RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: In clinical practice, digital vaginal palpation
      is effective for supporting the diagnosis of urinary, intestinal and sexual
      dysfunctions. Perineometry use is particularly important together with the
      performance of perineal exercises with biofeedback in the treatment these
      disorders.

PMID- 20920072
TI  - Attitudes towards gestational diabetes among a multiethnic cohort in Australia.
AB  - AIMS: This study aimed to examine the attitudes and beliefs towards gestational
      diabetes of a multiethnic sample of pregnant women with gestational diabetes.
      BACKGROUND: Women from non-Caucasian background are disproportionately
      represented in gestational diabetes statistics. This is of particular importance
      in multicultural Australia, where increasing numbers of non-Caucasian women give
      birth. DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey. METHODS: The Diabetes Attitude Scale,
      version 3 was administered to 200 women with gestational diabetes from
      Vietnamese, Indian, Filipino and Caucasian backgrounds. RESULTS: A total of 143
      questionnaires were returned indicating a response rate of 71.5%. There were
      significant between group differences in terms of educational level (p = 0.001)
      and English fluency (p = 0.001). Lower educational level, though not English
      language fluency, was associated with poorer appreciation of gestational diabetes
      as a serious condition and also with a lower valuing of tight glucose control.
      This effect was seen irrespective of ethnic group. Indian and Vietnamese women
      indicated a lower valuing of patient autonomy and also reported less negative
      psychological effects than Caucasian and Filipino women. CONCLUSIONS: Women from
      non-Caucasian ethnicities may be at risk of poorer self-management of gestational
      diabetes related to lower education, lower health literacy and a lower
      appreciation of gestational diabetes as a serious condition. RELEVANCE TO
      CLINICAL PRACTICE: Nurses and midwives provide information and advice to women
      with gestational diabetes. Knowledge about factors that impact on attitude
      towards gestational diabetes among multiethnic populations is important for
      developing educational programmes to address their needs.

PMID- 20920073
TI  - Cannabis use in palliative care - an examination of the evidence and the
      implications for nurses.
AB  - AIM AND OBJECTIVE: Examine the pharmaceutical qualities of cannabis including a
      historical overview of cannabis use. Discuss the use of cannabis as a clinical
      intervention for people experiencing palliative care, including those with life
      threatening chronic illness such as multiple sclerosis and motor neurone disease
      [amyotrophic lateral sclerosis] in the UK. BACKGROUND: The non-medicinal use of
      cannabis has been well documented in the media. There is a growing scientific
      literature on the benefits of cannabis in symptom management in cancer care.
      Service users, nurses and carers need to be aware of the implications for care
      and treatment if cannabis is being used medicinally. DESIGN: A comprehensive
      literature review. METHOD: Literature searches were made of databases from 1996
      using the term cannabis and the combination terms of cannabis and palliative
      care; symptom management; cancer; oncology; chronic illness; motor neurone
      disease/amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; and multiple sclerosis. Internet material
      provided for service users searching for information about the medicinal use of
      cannabis was also examined. RESULTS: The literature on the use of cannabis in
      health care repeatedly refers to changes for users that may be equated with
      improvement in quality of life as an outcome of its use. This has led to
      increased use of cannabis by these service users. However, the cannabis used is
      usually obtained illegally and can have consequences for those who choose to use
      it for its therapeutic value and for nurses who are providing care. RELEVANCE TO
      CLINICAL PRACTICE: Questions and dilemmas are raised concerning the role of the
      nurse when caring and supporting a person making therapeutic use of cannabis.

PMID- 20920074
TI  - Decibel levels and noise generators on four medical/surgical nursing units.
AB  - AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: The study was designed to determine daytime decibel levels
      on the hospital's four medical/surgical nursing units, daytime decibel levels in
      patient rooms in corresponding nursing units, whether the nursing unit noise
      levels differed and to identify what generated noise on those units. BACKGROUND:
      Nurses are responsible for components of patients' physical environments,
      particularly those that promote patient safety and well-being. Numerous studies
      have linked hospital noise to negative physiological outcomes for both patients
      and staff. However, decisions related to managing patient acoustic environments
      continue to rely on nursing judgment, rather than objective evidence. DESIGN: Non
      human subject, observational/descriptive design. METHOD: Using noise dosimeters,
      weekday day shift decibel levels were measured on four nursing units,
      sequentially. Measures were made continuously over 12 hours, in three patient
      rooms and over five minutes every 45 minutes, at the corresponding nurses'
      station. Noise generators were documented at the nurses' station. RESULTS:
      Nursing units had average measured sound levels of 62.2, 63.3, 61.7 and 64.6
      decibels, respectively, and were not significantly different from one another (p
      = 0.07). Nurses' designation of 'quiet', 'typical' and 'noisy' patient rooms was
      not consistently confirmed by the measured decibel levels. The range of minimum
      to maximum decibel levels was significantly greater in patient rooms than the
      nurses' station (54.4 versus 27.7 decibels, p < 0.01), and on average, more than
      12 noise generators were identified during any one-five-minute study period.
      CONCLUSIONS: Patient care areas in today's hospitals are as noisy as a busy
      office. Nursing judgment is not sufficient to make informed decisions directed
      towards controlling inpatients' acoustic environment. Standards applied across
      studies to measure and characterise acoustic environments are urgently needed.
      RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Objective measures, not nursing judgment alone,
      are required to assess acoustic environments and to direct interventions that
      improve them.

PMID- 20920075
TI  - Post-discharge health care needs of patients after lung cancer resection.
AB  - AIMS AND OBJECTIVE: To determine the health care needs of patients after surgical
      resection of lung cancer at discharge and evaluate the significance of factors
      associated with such needs. BACKGROUND: Other studies have found that symptom
      distress level, social supports and health beliefs are associated with health
      care needs. Design.  Sixty-two participants were recruited from a thoracic
      surgery clinic at a medical centre in Taipei from July-December 2005. Data
      related to demographic variables, disease characteristics, functional status,
      symptom distress and social support were collected. METHODS: The patients were
      administered the Karnofsky Performance Scale, the Symptom Distress Scale-Chinese
      Modified Form, the Social Support Scale (adapted from the Interpersonal Support
      Evaluation List), the Health Needs Scale and self-reported rating scales for
      pain. Data were analysed using Pearson's correlation coefficients and linear
      regression models. RESULTS: Pulmonary function was found to be correlated with
      the level of need for health care information and physiological care. Self
      perceived symptom distress and degree of distress were also correlated with
      levels of need for information, physiological care and psychosocial care. The
      level of pain was found to be correlated with the level of need for health care
      information and physiological care. After controlling for pain level,
      multivariate analysis revealed that self-perceived symptom severity (p = 0.032)
      and degree of distress (p = 0.043) were modestly correlated with the need for
      health care. CONCLUSIONS: Pulmonary function, self-perceived symptom distress,
      degree of distress and level of pain were correlated with the level of need for
      health care information and physiological care. Self-perceived symptom severity
      and degree of distress were independent predictors of health care needs.
      RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Administration of relevant questionnaires to
      assess postoperative symptom distress may be necessary for optimal disease
      management.

PMID- 20920076
TI  - A structured observation of the interaction between nurses and patients during
      the administration of medication in an acute mental health unit.
AB  - AIMS: This aims of this study are to describe current practice in the
      administration of medication in an acute psychiatric unit and explore factors
      that influence nurses' decisions regarding the administration of medication
      during 'rounds'. Background.  Medication 'rounds' form part of the ward routine
      in many inpatient mental health settings. Nurses make several clinical decisions
      about administrating medication; yet, concerns have been raised about the poor
      assessment of patients' needs and the quality of the information exchanged.
      DESIGN: A structured non-participant observational design was used for this
      research. METHOD: This study involved the observation of 20 medication 'rounds'
      over three months. The Ward Administration of Medication Schedule was used to
      report on the interactions between nurses and patients and aspects of their
      communication during each round. RESULTS: From the rounds observed nurses
      appeared adept at communicating a positive interpersonal style but less so in
      demonstrating skills portraying collaboration and information giving. For example
      whilst nurses communicated warmth in 97% of cases, using non-verbal behaviours
      such as good eye contact, the provision of information was only initiated in 46%
      of cases. Enquiries regarding the patient's general health and medication taking
      (35% and 17% respectively) were less commonly observed. Verbal consent was sought
      in only 25% of cases. Procedural matters were adhered to overall. CONCLUSIONS:
      Findings suggest limited collaboration between nurses and patients and the poor
      monitoring of health status and medication effects. Information exchange could be
      improved; however, this may be related to medication procedures that make it
      difficult to explore sensitive information with patients, rather than nursing
      skills and behaviour. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: The Ward Administration of
      Medication Schedule can be used as a clinical or educational tool in the
      administration of medication. In both instances, it may be self-administered and
      used to reflect on personal skills or employed as an observational tool during
      peer review and audit.

PMID- 20920077
TI  - Population-specific Mini Nutritional Assessment can improve mortality-risk
      predicting ability in institutionalised older Taiwanese.
AB  - AIM AND OBJECTIVES: The study determined whether a new version of the Mini
      Nutritional Assessment that adopted population-specific anthropometric cut-points
      would improve the mortality-predicting ability in institutionalised Taiwanese
      older people. BACKGROUND: Routine screening is the key for detecting emerging
      malnutrition, but the tool must be simple, reliable and easy-to-use to be well
      accepted. The Mini Nutritional Assessment can meet these requirements, but for
      non-Western populations, modifications based on anthropometric considerations are
      needed. DESIGN: The study purposively sampled 208 residents, aged >65 years, of a
      long-term care institution in Central Taiwan. Subjects were free of acute
      infection/disease and able to communicate. A university human-subject-study
      ethics committee approved the protocol. METHODS: The study included biochemical
      measurements and a structured questionnaire for eliciting personal data and
      answers to questions in the Mini Nutritional Assessment. Follow-up
      survival/mortality was tracked for two consecutive six-month periods and analysed
      according to nutritional statuses graded with the original or a modified Mini
      Nutritional Assessment. The modified version adopted population-specific
      anthropometric cut-points and was without body mass index. RESULTS: The
      modification improved the mortality-predictive ability. Mortality rates for the
      first six months were 8.7, 3.9 and 0% according to the original Mini Nutritional
      Assessment and 10.6, 3.4 and 0% according to the modified version for subjects
      rated malnourished, at risk of malnutrition and normal, respectively. The
      mortality-predictive ability of both versions weakened after six months.
      CONCLUSION: Both versions can predict follow-up mortality, but the modified
      version has improved ability. For best results, the tool should be applied every
      six months or less (shorter for more frail older people) to screen for new cases
      of at-risk individuals. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: The Mini Nutritional
      Assessment that adopts population-specific anthropometric cut-points may have
      improved nutritional-risk and mortality-risk predictive abilities. The tool can
      help care-workers detect emerging nutritional problems and enable timely
      intervention. Routine use of the tool may help improve the quality of care.

PMID- 20920078
TI  - Effectiveness of resource-enhancing family-oriented intervention.
AB  - AIM: The purpose of the study was to assess the effectiveness of a resource
      enhancing family-oriented intervention. BACKGROUND: There is very little
      empirical knowledge of how nurses working in a home context develop relationships
      with families, what methods they use to enhance families' resources and how such
      relationships affect the families' health outcomes. DESIGN: The study was
      designed as a descriptive service evaluation. METHODS: A total of 129 family
      members from 30 families with small children participated in the study. Data were
      collected with family care plans and client reports in 2004-2005. Data were
      analysed by qualitative content analysis and by descriptive statistical methods.
      Resource-enhancing discussions were carried out in all family meetings. Other
      methods were video guidance, creation of a family tree and parents' role map,
      network collaboration, observation and parent-child group activity. RESULTS: The
      families needed support mostly in parents' health and well-being, coping with
      parenthood, upbringing and child care, parents' relationships, social relations
      and children's health and growth. The families had an average of five support
      needs at the beginning of the intervention and 1.8 needs at the completion. The
      families set on average 3.6 and achieved 4.5 goals during the family nursing
      process. CONCLUSION: The resource-enhancing family nursing can be used for
      supporting parenthood, the raising of and caring for the children, strengthening
      of social support networks, decreasing the need for support from the authorities
      and enhancing the parents' resources to manage the duties related to their work
      and studies. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: The study resulted in empirically
      based concepts that can be used in the future to construct instruments to
      evaluate the effectiveness of resource-enhancing family nursing from the
      perspective of families and family health. The findings add to our professional
      understanding of resource-enhancing family nursing.

PMID- 20920079
TI  - Relationship between diabetes mellitus, hypertension and obesity, and health
      related quality of life in Gaziantep, a central south-eastern city in Turkey.
AB  - AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: The main goal of nursing care should be to increase health
      related quality of life as well as improve the medical status of patients with
      chronic disease. For this reason, this study aims to evaluate and compare the
      health-related quality of life of patients with diabetes mellitus, hypertension
      and obesity in Gaziantep, a south-eastern city in Turkey. BACKGROUND: Diabetes
      mellitus, hypertension and obesity are the most decisive factors in terms of
      adversely affecting health-related quality of life. DESIGN: A cross-sectional,
      descriptive design was used. METHOD: In this study, the research population
      included a total of 1601 diabetes mellitus, hypertension and obesity patients. To
      evaluate health-related quality of life of patients, Short Form-36 (SF-36) was
      used. Student's t-test, one-way anova and chi-square analyses were used for
      comparisons between groups. RESULTS: In total, 18.1% of patients had combined
      obesity, hypertension and diabetes mellitus; 16.1% had hypertension and diabetes
      mellitus. Approximately 16.1% had only hypertension; 15.4% had obesity and
      hypertension; 13.3% had diabetes mellitus; 12.7% had obesity and diabetes
      mellitus; and 8.4% had obesity. The health-related quality of life physical
      component mean scores of patients with combined obesity and hypertension were
      lower than that of the other groups (p < 0.05). Health-related quality of life
      physical component mean scores were determined as 34.5 (SD 0.4), and mental
      component mean scores were determined as 43.9 (SD 4.4). Health-related quality of
      life physical component mean scores of moderately active patients were higher,
      while older age and lower educational and income levels had a negative effect on
      health-related quality of life (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Diabetes, hypertension and
      obesity decrease patient health-related quality of life while physical activity
      increases it. The coexistence of obesity and hypertension, in particular, has a
      more negative effect on health-related quality of life. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL
      PRACTICE: Patients with hypertension, obesity and diabetes mellitus need
      professional support from nurse. Frequent health-related quality of life
      evaluation and support is required for chronic patients, especially for those who
      are older, have lower educational and income levels and those with more than one
      chronic disease.

PMID- 20920080
TI  - Life values and self-regulation behaviours among adults with type 2 diabetes.
AB  - AIM: The aim of this study was to identify life values in adults with type 2
      diabetes and to describe their experiences of how these values may influence self
      regulation behaviours. BACKGROUND: Daily self-regulation behaviours have been
      described as challenging, because the individuals try to find a balance between
      them and life values. However, little is known about how life values may
      influence the motivation for necessary self-regulation behaviours. DESIGN AND
      METHODS: A descriptive/explorative qualitative design that included focus groups
      was used to collect data. The sample consisted of 19 adults with type 2 diabetes.
      Data were analysed using qualitative content analysis. RESULTS: The findings
      revealed six themes: maintaining health and longevity, a feeling of bodily well
      being, preserving a positive body image, self-determination, maintaining the
      ability to work and belonging. The results reflect the fact that many life values
      have a major influence on self-regulation behaviours. CONCLUSIONS: The findings
      indicate that several of the life values can conflict with self-regulation
      behaviours, which in turn may influence the motivation for self-regulation of
      type 2 diabetes. Some of these values could be considered to be related to self
      worth, which is regarded as an important motivational component for engaging in a
      task. Moreover, this study highlights the fact that goals related to self
      regulation behaviours were formulated in more general than in specific terms.
      RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: This study may help health professionals to
      understand how adults' life values influence their motivation for adequate self
      regulation. The findings indicate that the existing support structures should
      make an effort to learn about people's life values and take them into account
      when giving advice about self-regulation behaviours. Moreover, people with type 2
      diabetes should be supported by health professionals to set more specific self
      regulation goals that are consistent with their life values.

PMID- 20920081
TI  - Reasons why women choose a medical practice or a women's health centre for
      routine health screening: worker and client perspectives.
AB  - AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: This article aims to explore the stories and perceptions of
      consumers and health care workers in an area with a low uptake rate of women's
      health screening. Further, this article explores what factors influence women's
      choices for women's health screening in relation to the type of services they
      access. BACKGROUND: Routine women's health screening, using mammography and
      Papanicolaou (Pap) testing, is known to assist in the early detection of cancer
      and thereby has the potential to increase positive health outcomes for women.
      However, traditionally, compliance rates to women's health screening are lower
      than desired because of multiple barriers. Previous studies have largely been
      quantitative and few have been conducted in areas of low compliance to women's
      health screening. Furthermore, previous research has not identified the type of
      service offered, or gender of the professional providing this service, as
      potential barriers to women's health screening. DESIGN: Qualitative, storytelling
      design. METHOD: Participants from a socioeconomically disadvantaged area were
      recruited into the study via media releases. Data were collected during
      conversational, face to face interviews which were between 30 and 90 minutes in
      duration, digitally recorded and transcribed verbatim. During the process of
      analysis, dominant stories became obvious through the repetition or emphasis of
      women's accounts, and it is these stories that are presented in the findings.
      RESULTS: Findings suggest that women's decisions about care for routine health
      screening are guided by three major concerns. Women are seeking a woman friendly
      and woman-centred service, a safe environment and continuity of care. All these
      factors informed women's decision-making around where to seek care for routine
      health screening. CONCLUSIONS: Additional specialised women's health services are
      required to meet the needs of women. The provision of accessible women-centred
      environments has the potential to enhance compliance with women's health
      screening. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: It is possible that generalist medical
      practises as well as specialised women's health centres can provide woman-centred
      care. This as well as further access to education and training that supports
      nurses to become specialised competent and confident women's health practitioners
      may enhance screening rates.

PMID- 20920082
TI  - Between being and doing - the nature of leadership of first-line nurse managers
      and registered nurses.
AB  - AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to describe first-line nurse
      managers' (F-LNMs) and subordinate registered nurses' (RNs) conceptions and
      experiences of their routine work and how leadership was exercised. BACKGROUND:
      Extensive changes in health care organisations have had a powerful impact on
      leadership in nursing management. Nursing leadership, in turn, has an affect on
      both the quality of care and the subordinates' work environment. Therefore, it is
      important to enhance our understanding of current leadership in nursing
      management. DESIGN: This is a descriptive qualitative study carried out in three
      units at three Swedish hospitals. METHODS: Three F-LNMs and 14 RNs participated.
      Interviews were used to collect data. The interviews were analysed using
      qualitative content analysis. RESULTS: The result of this study was illustrated
      in one main theme referred to in this study as between being and doing. The RNs
      and F-LNMs described what it was to be a good professional (being), how they were
      engaged in creating a good work climate (doing) and personal outcomes of this
      project (gaining). CONCLUSION: The reciprocal relation between being and doing,
      which can be described as the development of virtues, was a central point in the
      professional work of the F-LNMs and RNs. The development of virtues is also a
      strategy to attain the goals of nursing and establish a work climate that
      motivates staff and improves performance. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICES: The
      implication for nursing management is to create ample space to develop strategies
      and knowledge about how leadership in nursing management can stimulate the
      development of a common perspective of good care and professional virtues
      appropriate for health care praxis.

PMID- 20920083
TI  - Questioning family-centred care.
AB  - AIMS: This article poses topics for discussion around family-centred care as a
      model of care delivery to children and families in health services. BACKGROUND:
      Family-centred care developed over three decades following awakening awareness
      that excluding parents during a child's hospital admission was detrimental to the
      child's mental health. Using resources from both past and current literature and
      existing research, I argue that it is time for a revision of practices and
      policies that espouse family-centred care as the optimum model of care in
      paediatrics. Once the historical development of family-centred care is discussed,
      current research shows a dearth of evidence about family-centred care, its use,
      implementation and applicability across cultures and nations. DESIGN: Discursive.
      METHODS: Five questions are discussed: is family-centred care relevant now? is it
      relevant only in Western countries?, what does it mean to implement family
      centred care?, is family-centred care implemented effectively?, does it make a
      difference? Exemplars of good family-centred care practice are provided. RESULTS:
      At this stage, it is difficult to know whether using family-centred care makes a
      difference to a child's and family's health outcomes, as there is no rigorous
      evidence to answer the question 'does it work?' CONCLUSIONS: Nurses must
      undertake studies so we can either support the successful implementation of
      family-centred care, or abandon it in the best interests of children, families
      and health services. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Practitioners must be aware
      that family-centred care is a wonderful ideal that is almost impossible to
      implement and so new ways of delivering care to children may be needed.

PMID- 20920084
TI  - Student experiences in learning person-centred care of patients with Alzheimer's
      disease as perceived by nursing students and supervising nurses.
AB  - AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: The aims and objectives of this paper are to illuminate and
      discuss the experiences and perceptions of nursing students and supervising
      nurses regarding the students' learning of person- centred care of patients with
      Alzheimer's disease in a teaching nursing home. This information is then used to
      develop recommendations as to how student learning could be improved. BACKGROUND:
      The clinical experiences of nursing students are an important part of learning
      person-centred care. Caring for patients with Alzheimer's disease may cause
      frustration, sadness, fear and empathy. Person-centred care can be learned in
      clinical practice. DESIGN: A qualitative study. METHODS: The study was performed
      in 2006 using field work with field notes and qualitative interviews with seven
      fifth-semester nursing students and six supervising nurses. RESULTS: This study
      determined the variation in the perceptions of nursing students and supervising
      nurses with regards to the students' expertise in caring for patients with
      Alzheimer's disease. The nursing students experienced limited learning regarding
      person-centred approaches in caring for patients with Alzheimer's disease.
      However, the supervising nurses perceived the teaching nursing home as a site
      representing multiple learning opportunities in this area. CONCLUSIONS: Nursing
      students perceived limited learning outcomes because they did not observe or
      experience systematic person-centred approaches in caring for patients with
      Alzheimer's disease. It is important that measures of quality improvements in the
      care of patients with Alzheimer's disease are communicated and demonstrated for
      nursing students working in clinical practices in a teaching nursing home.
      RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Introduction of person-centred approaches is
      vital regarding learning outcomes for nursing students caring for patients with
      Alzheimer's disease.

PMID- 20920085
TI  - Role of a clinical nurse specialist within a paediatric multidisciplinary weight
      management programme team.

PMID- 20920086
TI  - The effect of educational intervention on pain beliefs and postoperative pain
      relief among Chinese patients with fractured limbs.

PMID- 20920087
TI  - Reliability and validity of three Chinese-version tasks of Mayer-Salovey-Caruso
      Emotional Intelligence Test.

PMID- 20920088
TI  - Medicine information sources used by nurses at the point of care.

PMID- 20920090
TI  - Commentary on ictal epileptic tachycardia and bradycardia.

PMID- 20920092
TI  - Authors' reply to the comments by Rheims et al., 2010.

PMID- 20920097
TI  - Research methods - most common reason for rejection.

PMID- 20920096
TI  - Differential regulation of oestrogen receptor beta isoforms by 5' untranslated
      regions in cancer.
AB  - Oestrogen receptors (ERs) are critical regulators of the behaviour of many
      cancers. Despite this, the roles and regulation of one of the two known ERs -
      ERbeta- are poorly understood. This is partly because analyses have been confused
      by discrepancies between ERbeta expression at mRNA and proteins levels, and
      because ERbeta is expressed as several functionally distinct isoforms. We
      investigated human ERbeta 5' untranslated regions (UTRs) and their influences on
      ERbeta expression and function. We demonstrate that two alternative ERbeta 5'UTRs
      have potent and differential influences on expression acting at the level of
      translation. We show that their influences are modulated by cellular context and
      in carcinogenesis, and demonstrate the contributions of both upstream open
      reading frames and RNA secondary structure. These regulatory mechanisms offer
      explanations for the non-concordance of ERbeta mRNA and protein. Importantly, we
      also demonstrate that 5'UTRs allow the first reported mechanisms for differential
      regulation of the expression of the ERbeta isoforms 1, 2 and 5, and thereby have
      critical influences on ERbeta function.

PMID- 20920098
TI  - Investigation of febrile passengers detected by infrared thermal scanning at an
      international airport.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the best approach for the evaluation of fever, detected
      by infrared thermal scanning, at an international airport. METHODS: Arriving
      passengers with fever were divided into three groups: community evaluation by a
      GP, with or without cost compensation, or evaluation at the airport by a health
      practitioner. Uptake of offered evaluations was measured, diagnoses were
      recorded, and region-specific rates of fever measured. Observations were made on
      practical aspects of thermal screening. RESULTS: Over a six-month period, 181,759
      passengers were screened for fever at the Cairns international airport,
      Queensland, Australia. Fever was identified in 118 (0.06%) of the arriving
      passengers and 76 were enrolled in the study. Only 19 of these passengers (25%)
      voluntarily underwent further evaluation. No differences were observed in the
      three approaches. CONCLUSIONS: Public health surveillance of febrile passengers
      arriving at an international airport should not rely on voluntary passenger
      participation for the detection of imported contagious diseases.

PMID- 20920099
TI  - Chronic disease profiles in remote Aboriginal settings and implications for
      health services planning.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To report the short-term experiences and outcomes of a program to
      support chronic disease management in three remote communities in Top End
      Northern Territory and in two Aboriginal Medical Services (AMSs) in Western
      Australia, and to discuss the implications of findings for health service
      delivery and policy. METHODS: Programs were health-worker centred. They espoused
      regular screening of all adults for chronic disease, initiation and modification
      of treatment where indicated and rigorous documentation. Process measures were
      documented and rates of hypertension, renal disease and diabetes among adults
      were calculated. RESULTS: Rates of hypertension, proteinuria and diabetes rose
      throughout adult life and multiple diagnoses were common. Most people with these
      conditions were young or middle age adults. Rates were uniformly excessive
      relative to AusDiab data, but varied greatly among settings. Adherence to
      protocols improved, many new diagnoses were made, treatments were started or
      modified and blood pressures in treated hypertensive people fell. In the NT,
      productivity was seriously limited by lack of health workers and their
      absenteeism. In the WA AMSs, executive and staff support carried the programs
      forward to a sustainable future, despite various challenges. CONCLUSIONS:
      Integrated chronic disease testing must be repeated throughout adult life for
      timely diagnosis. Health workers can perform all tasks well, with appropriate
      supports. Blood pressure outcomes alone predict lower cardiovascular and renal
      mortality. The findings support incorporation of chronic disease into lifetime
      health care plans.

PMID- 20920100
TI  - Cricket: notching up runs for food and alcohol companies?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To analyse sports sponsorship by food and alcohol companies by
      quantifying the proportion of time that the main sponsor's logo was seen during
      each of three cricket telecasts, the extent of paid advertising during the
      telecast and the contribution by the main sponsor to this, and to describe the
      associated ground advertising. METHODS: DVD recordings of the three telecasts
      were analysed for visibility of the main sponsor's logo during actual playing
      time and for each sponsor's proportion of the advertising time during breaks in
      telecast. RESULTS: The main sponsor's logo was visible on a range of equipment
      and clothing that resulted in it being clearly identifiable from 44% to 74% of
      the game time. The proportion of paid advertising time in these three telecasts
      varied from 3% to 20%, reflecting the difference in advertising content of paid
      television versus free-to-air. IMPLICATIONS: While television food advertising to
      children is under review, sporting telecasts also reach children and, until
      recently, have avoided scrutiny. This content analysis of three recent cricket
      telecasts reveals an unacceptable level of exposure to food and alcohol
      marketing, particularly in the form of the main sponsor's logo. Sponsorship is
      not covered by the voluntary codes of practice that address some forms of
      advertising. A new system of regulation is required to reduce this unacceptable
      level of exposure.

PMID- 20920101
TI  - From hypothetical scenario to tragic reality: A salutary lesson in risk
      communication and the Victorian 2009 bushfires.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the ways that the risk of a bushfire emergency and
      communication strategies are perceived by different community segments. METHODS:
      A brief questionnaire preceded focus group discussion of a bushfire scenario with
      four communications from different sources. Groups were recruited to represent
      different community segments within a bushfire-prone peri-urban Shire in
      Victoria. RESULTS: Four groups (28 participants) were recruited. Bushfire
      experience was highest in the over 40-year-olds, who would use a variety of
      information sources, preferred to receive information from trusted local sources,
      such as emergency services and the council, and were more likely to be a member
      of a local organisation than the under 40s. Younger people used television, local
      papers, and friends, family and neighbours as information sources. Young parents
      felt disempowered through lack of local knowledge, and trusted government
      departments less than older residents. All wanted clear, current, specific local
      information about ground conditions and actions to be taken during a fire
      outbreak. CONCLUSIONS/IMPLICATIONS: Knowledge of and preparedness for bushfire is
      unequally spread throughout a bushfire community. There is a need in public
      health risk and emergency situations to focus on community development,
      information and consultation.

PMID- 20920102
TI  - Dietary intakes of Pacific, Maori, Asian and European adolescents: the Auckland
      High School Heart Survey.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare dietary intakes of European, Maori, Pacific Island and
      Asian adolescents living in Auckland. METHODS: A self-administered food frequency
      questionnaire was used to assess daily nutrient intakes of 2,549 14- to 21-year
      old high-school students in Auckland (1,422 male and 1,127 female) in a cross
      sectional survey carried out between 1997 and 1998. RESULTS: Compared with
      Europeans, Maori and Pacific Islanders consumed more energy per day.
      Carbohydrate, protein and fat intakes were higher in Maori and Pacific Islanders
      than in Europeans. Cholesterol intakes were lowest in Europeans and alcohol
      intakes were highest in Europeans and Maori. When nutrient intakes were expressed
      as their percentage contribution to total energy, many ethnic differences in
      nutrient intakes between Europeans and Maori or Pacific Islanders were
      eliminated. After adjustment for energy intake and age, Europeans ate the fewest
      eggs, and Pacific Islanders and Asians ate more servings of chicken and fish, and
      fewer servings of milk and cereal than Europeans. Compared to Europeans, Pacific
      Islanders consumed larger portion sizes for nearly every food item. CONCLUSION:
      There were marked differences in nutrient intakes between Pacific, Maori, Asian
      and European adolescents. Ethnic differences in food selections, frequency of
      food servings and portion sizes contribute to the differences in nutrient intakes
      between these ethnic groups. These differences generally matched those of other
      studies in children and adults from these ethnic groups. IMPLICATIONS:
      Interventions that reduce frequency of food consumption and serving sizes and
      promote less-fatty food choices in Maori and Pacific adolescents are needed.

PMID- 20920103
TI  - Evaluating performance of and organisational capacity to deliver brief
      interventions in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander medical services.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study assessed brief intervention (BI) activity and organisation
      capacity for smoking, nutrition, alcohol and physical activity (SNAP framework)
      and key clinical prevention activities in four Aboriginal and Torres Strait
      Islander medical services in Queensland. METHODS: A mixed methods design was used
      including: staff surveys of knowledge and attitudes (n=39), focus groups to
      discuss perceived barriers and enablers and chart audits (n=150) to quantify
      existing BI activity. RESULTS: Of 50 clinical staff, 46 participated in the staff
      survey and focus groups across the four sites. BI was perceived to be important.
      There was significant variation in completion of records for SNAP risk factors,
      key clinical and BI activities across the sites. At least one SNAP factor status
      was recorded in 130/150 (86.7%) patient charts audited and there was a
      significant trend of increased recording of SNAP factors with increasing number
      of patient visits. Of those identified at risk 78% received at least one BI.
      Where risk was identified 65/96 (67.7%) patients required multiple BIs. BI for
      tobacco use was consistently high across all sites. Only one site recorded
      regular care planning and Adult Health Checks. Impacting factors included
      leadership, high staff turnover, multiple medical records and staff health
      status. CONCLUSIONS: Inflexible staff training, competing health priorities and
      high levels of staff turnover were identified as key barriers to the delivery of
      BI in clinical settings. The data suggests a good base of existing BI activity
      for smoking and key clinical activities which may improve with further support.

PMID- 20920104
TI  - Lessons for Aboriginal tobacco control in remote communities: an evaluation of
      the Northern Territory 'Tobacco Project'.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate a Northern Territory (NT) government-led pilot 'Tobacco
      Project' in six remote communities. METHODS: Monthly surveys of staff, semi
      structured interviews with staff and community members, observation of the
      delivery of tobacco control interventions, review of Project documents, and
      monitoring of tobacco consumption using sales (or wholesale orders) of tobacco.
      RESULTS: There was a substantive amount of tobacco control activity delivered in
      three of the Project communities. In two of these locations, the majority of work
      was primarily driven and undertaken by resident staff. Overall, most of the
      Project's efforts related to community education and awareness-raising. There was
      variable impact of the Project on tobacco consumption across the six communities.
      More tobacco control activity was consistently associated with a greater
      reduction in tobacco consumption. An important predictor of local activity was
      the presence of strong community drivers. A significant obstacle to the Project
      was the lack of new resources. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the minimal impact of this
      Project on tobacco consumption overall, there was a consistent association
      between on-the-ground tobacco control activity and reductions in tobacco
      consumption. IMPLICATIONS: New initiatives will not only need to provide new
      funding, but identify and then support local staff, who are central to improving
      local tobacco control activity and so reducing smoking and smoking-related
      illnesses and deaths.

PMID- 20920105
TI  - The comparison of health status and health services utilisation between
      Indigenous and non-Indigenous infants in Australia.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To examine the differences in health services utilisation and the
      associated risk factors between Indigenous and non-Indigenous infants at a
      national level in Australia. METHODS: We analysed data from a national
      representative longitudinal study, the Longitudinal Study for Australian Children
      (LSAC) starting in 2004. We used survey logistic regression and survey multiple
      linear regression to examine the factors associated with health services
      utilisation. RESULTS: Health status of Indigenous infants was poorer than that of
      non-Indigenous. In comparison to non-Indigenous infants, in the previous 12-month
      period, the Indigenous infants were significantly less likely to use the
      following health services: maternal and child health centre or help lines
      (OR=0.35, 95%CI: 0.24-0.49); maternal and child health nurse visits (OR=0.45,
      95%CI: 0.32-0.63); general practitioners (GPs) (OR=0.45, 95%CI: 0.31-0.64); and
      paediatrician (OR=0.52, 95%CI: 0.35-0.77). In contrast, they were more likely to
      visit a hospital outpatient clinic (OR=1.82, 95%CI: 1.16-2.85). Mothers' age,
      education and marital status were associated with certain health services use.
      Financial status and residential location were the important predictors of the
      use of health services. CONCLUSION: The rates of health services utilisation by
      Indigenous infants were lower and were associated with mothers' characteristics
      and socio-economic status. IMPLICATIONS: The gaps in health services utilisation
      between Indigenous and non-Indigenous infant requires immediate policy
      initiatives. Further research is needed to explore the causal pathways between
      health status, health services utilisation and multiple risk factors at different
      levels.

PMID- 20920106
TI  - Interpretation of two nutrition content claims: a New Zealand survey.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine how various population groups in New Zealand interpret
      the nutrition content claims '97% fat free' and 'no added sugar' on food labels.
      METHODS: A survey of adult supermarket shoppers was conducted at 25 Auckland
      supermarkets over a six-week period in 2007. Supermarkets were located in areas
      where greater than 10% of the resident population were known to be Maori, Pacific
      or Asian, based on 2001 Census meshblock data. Four questions in the survey
      assessed understanding and interpretation of the nutrition content claims '97%
      fat free' and 'no added sugar'. RESULTS: There were 1,525 people who completed
      the survey, with approximately equal representation from Maori, Pacific, Asian
      and New Zealand European and Other ethnicities. Nearly three-quarters (72%) of
      participants correctly estimated the fat content of a 100 g product that was '97%
      fat free', and understood that a product with 'no added sugars' could contain
      natural sugar. However, up to three-quarters of Maori, Pacific, and Asian
      shoppers assumed that if a food carried a '97% fat free' or 'no added sugar'
      claim it was therefore a healthy food. Similarly, low-income shoppers were
      significantly more likely than medium- or high-income shoppers to assume that the
      presence of a claim meant a food was definitely healthy. CONCLUSION: Percentage
      fat free and no added sugar nutrition content claims on food are frequently
      misinterpreted by shoppers as meaning the food is healthy overall and appear to
      be particularly misleading for Maori, Pacific, Asian and low-income groups.
      IMPLICATIONS: Nutrition content claims have potential for harm if the food they
      are placed on is not healthy overall. Such claims should therefore only be
      permitted to be placed on healthy foods.

PMID- 20920107
TI  - Prevalence of risk and protective factors for falls in the home environment in a
      population-based survey of young and middle-aged adult New Zealanders.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To estimate the prevalence of hazards in the home environment that may
      contribute to unintentional falls among young and middle-aged New Zealanders.
      METHODS: A random sample of 352 young and middle-aged people (25-60 years)
      residing in Auckland was drawn from the electoral roll. The prevalence of
      environmental factors that may have an impact on risk of falls was investigated
      using a structured interviewer-administered questionnaire. RESULTS: Potential
      risk factors for falls were common in the study population (ladder use in the
      past year - 64%; inability to reach a light from bed - 21%; lack of handrails for
      stairs - 54%). Only 9% and 11% of baths and showers, respectively, had grab or
      hand rails; 42% and 56% had anti-skid mats/surfaces. Compared to those reporting
      no socio-economic deprivation characteristics, respondents reporting one or more
      such characteristics were less likely to use a ladder and have indoor stairs, but
      more likely to have outdoors stairs. There was no significant relationship
      between socio-economic status and presence of a grab/handrail or antiskid
      mats/surfaces in or near showers/baths. CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS: Structural
      hazards that are likely to result in falls at home are common in New Zealand. The
      greater prevalence of some environmental risk factors for falls among the least
      socially deprived population may account for the inconsistent association between
      socio-economic deprivation and fall-related injuries reported in previous
      research. Information regarding the contribution of these and associated factors
      to the occurrence of falls can help target and reduce the risks involved.

PMID- 20920108
TI  - Estimating the number of unlicensed brothels operating in Melbourne.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To estimate the number of unlicensed brothels operating in Melbourne,
      Australia, and the sexual health of the women working in them. METHODS:
      Advertisements from Melbourne newspapers published in July 2006 were
      systematically analysed based on the language used to identify premises likely to
      be unlicensed brothels. A visit was made to each of the businesses where an
      address was available. Participating sex workers were tested for Neisseria
      gonorrhoeae, Chlamydia trachomatis, Mycoplasma genitalium and Trichomonas
      vaginalis using self-collected tampons and polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS:
      There were 438 advertisements collated, representing 174 separate establishments.
      Of these, 78 were not considered likely to be brothels. Of the remaining 96,
      addresses were available for 42 and all of these premises were visited. Thirteen
      were confirmed as unlicensed brothels. We estimate there were between 13 and 70
      unlicensed brothels in Melbourne. Twenty-three women were recruited from four
      brothels. Only 56% (95% confidence interval (CI) 35-77%) reported having regular
      sexual health checks and only 13% (95%CI 3-36%) reported prior testing for HIV.
      Among the 22 women tested, one had chlamydia while another had gonorrhoea, a
      prevalence of 4.5% (95%CI: 2.3-20.4%) for each infection. CONCLUSIONS: The number
      of unlicensed brothels in Melbourne is much smaller than is generally believed.
      Women in the sector are infrequently tested for STIs. IMPLICATIONS: As long as a
      licensing system persists, promotion of sexual health among women in this sector
      is likely to face hurdles. Further research is needed into the best model for
      regulating or not regulating sex industries.

PMID- 20920109
TI  - Markers of hepatitis B virus infection and immunity in Victoria, Australia, 1995
      to 2005.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Estimating the prevalence of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection
      in generally low-prevalence populations containing communities with a higher
      disease burden is difficult. This study was conducted to estimate the prevalence
      of serological markers of infection with, and immunity to, HBV in the Victorian
      population and to analyse trends in these estimates over time. METHODS: A
      serological survey of 3,212 samples of convenience collected in the years 1995,
      2000 and 2005 was conducted using a selection procedure designed to reduce
      selection bias. All samples were tested for hepatitis B surface and core
      antibodies; all core antibody positive samples (indicating previous infection)
      were then tested for the presence of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg).
      RESULTS: HBsAg prevalence was 1.1% (95%CI 0.8-1.6%) with significant differences
      observed by area of residence, age, gender and test year. Serological evidence of
      immunisation in infants and adolescents were lower than established estimates
      following the introduction of universal vaccination for these groups.
      CONCLUSIONS: This study emphasises the significant and growing problem of chronic
      HBV infection in Victoria and suggests lower than expected population immunity
      deriving from universal vaccination programs. IMPLICATIONS: Greater efforts are
      needed to formulate a comprehensive public health response to address this
      relatively neglected blood borne viral infection, the burden of which is very
      significant in some marginalised sections of our community. Increased attention
      to improving the universality of our immunisation programs is also needed.

PMID- 20920110
TI  - A serosurvey of Coxiella burnetii infection in children and young adults in South
      West Queensland.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To describe the seroepidemiology of Coxiella burnetii, the causative
      agent of Q fever, in those under 25 years of age in South West Queensland.
      METHODS: A convenience sample of residual sera from a diagnostic laboratory was
      tested for C. burnetii antibodies by immunofluorescence at 1:10 dilution.
      Prevalence and annual incidence were calculated from the results. RESULTS: Twenty
      nine of 447 (6.5%, 95% CI 4.5%-9.2%) samples were positive. Seropositivity
      increased from 2.5% in those <15 (95% CI 1.0%-5.5%) to 11.0% in those 15-24 years
      old (95% CI 7.4%-16.0%). The estimated annual incidence for the latter age group
      was 7.7 per 1,000. CONCLUSIONS: Q fever is a relatively common infection in South
      West Queensland, even in those aged <15 years for whom the vaccine is not
      recommended. IMPLICATIONS: Vaccination programs, such as the federally funded
      National Q fever Management Program, are needed in this and similar high risk
      rural areas.

PMID- 20920111
TI  - The power of policy to influence behaviour change: daylight saving and its effect
      on physical activity.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To measure the impact of the introduction of daylight saving in
      Western Australia in December 2006 on when during the day adults engaged in
      physical activity. METHODS: In early December 2006, 1,300 Western Australian
      adults were telephoned and asked about how the introduction of daylight saving
      would influence when during the day they typically engaged in physical activity.
      At the end of the daylight saving period in March 2007, 1,083 of the baseline
      cohort agreed to answer questions relating to how daylight saving had affected
      when during the day they were physically active. RESULTS: Almost half the cohort
      (45.5%) reported that daylight saving had affected when during the day they were
      physically active. During daylight saving fewer people exercised in the morning
      and more people exercised in the evening. When analysed at the individual level,
      23% of the cohort ceased to exercise in the morning during daylight saving and
      22% exercised in the evening only during daylight saving. In addition, to changes
      in when during the day people exercised, there was also an overall reduction in
      the average number of daily exercise sessions, with 8% not exercising at all
      during daylight saving. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that the introduction of
      daylight saving, a relatively modest compulsory change to increase daylight by
      one hour had an impact on patterns of when during the day people were physically
      active. IMPLICATIONS: The study results reinforce the value of focusing on policy
      as an effective means of supporting population behaviour change.

PMID- 20920112
TI  - A climate-based early warning system to predict outbreaks of Ross River virus
      disease in the Broome region of Western Australia.

PMID- 20920113
TI  - Re: 'An overview of cancer and beliefs about the disease in Indigenous people of
      Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the US'Aust NZ J Public Health. 2009; 33: 109
      18.

PMID- 20920115
TI  - The importance of public education campaigns in raising awareness and support for
      smoke-free car legislation in Western Australia.

PMID- 20920116
TI  - The risks of diverted take-home methadone.

PMID- 20920117
TI  - Australian medical students unaware of global development goals.

PMID- 20920118
TI  - Letter to the Editor in response to "Please don't Spit".

PMID- 20920119
TI  - Respiratory health issues in the Asia-Pacific region: an overview.
AB  - The Asia-Pacific region is home to a large heterogeneous population whose
      respiratory health is influenced by diverse social, economic and environmental
      factors. Despite this variability, the most prevalent causes of respiratory
      morbidity and mortality are tobacco smoking, infection, and air pollution. This
      review aims to summarize current respiratory health issues in the region
      including smoking-related diseases especially COPD, lung cancer and infectious
      problems such as pandemic influenza, the severe acute respiratory syndrome
      coronavirus, bacterial pneumonia and tuberculosis, as well as the contribution of
      air pollution to respiratory disease. Published data on trends in the
      epidemiology and management of respiratory diseases and are summarized; finally,
      the limitations of available data and projections for the future of respiratory
      health in the region are discussed.

PMID- 20920120
TI  - The debate on CXR utilization and interpretation is only just beginning: a
      Pro/Con debate.
AB  - The CXR is the most commonly performed radiographic examination worldwide. Its
      ease of performance, apparent ease of interpretation and low radiation dose,
      alongside its great spatial resolution would suggest that it should be the first
      investigation performed in all patients presenting with thoracic disease. But,
      the advent of ever-improving multislice CT and increasing scanner availability
      has resulted in some patients being referred directly for scanning, bypassing the
      CXR. This has resulted in an inexorable rise in the number of scans performed,
      with an increase in patient radiation exposure and concerns among legislators and
      physicians that the number of scans needs to be regulated. A key role in the
      reduction of unnecessary scanning in patients with thoracic disease is the
      understanding of the place of the CXR, its ability to help in disease detection
      and monitoring, and its limitations.

PMID- 20920121
TI  - Six-minute walk test in pulmonary rehabilitation: do all patients need a practice
      test?
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: The six-minute walk test (6MWT) is widely used as an
      outcome measure in pulmonary rehabilitation programs (PRP). A learning effect for
      the test has been reported in COPD; however, limited data exist in patients with
      other respiratory diagnoses. The objectives of this study were to: (i) report the
      magnitude of change in 6MWD with test repetition in patients referred to an
      outpatient PRP, and (ii) compare the magnitude of change in 6MWD with test
      repetition in patients with COPD, interstitial lung disease (ILD), bronchiectasis
      and asthma. METHODS: Retrospective study of 349 patients with stable COPD (n =
      245), ILD (n = 21), bronchiectasis (n = 33) or asthma (n = 50) who performed two
      6MWT at enrollment into a PRP. RESULTS: 6MWD increased in all groups on the
      second test (all P < 0.001). At least 80% of patients in each diagnostic group
      walked further on their second 6MWT. The magnitude of change (mean, 95% CI) was
      greater (P < 0.05) in the COPD (37 m, 95% CI: 33-41 m) and ILD (41 m, 95% CI: 27
      55 m) cohorts compared with the bronchiectasis (22 m, 95% CI: 14-31 m) and asthma
      (19 m, 95% CI: 11-27 m) cohorts. CONCLUSIONS: Respiratory diagnosis influences
      the magnitude of the learning effect for the 6MWT. The findings support the
      recommendation of a practice 6MWT at baseline assessment in order to provide an
      accurate measure of the effects of rehabilitation on 6MWD.

PMID- 20920122
TI  - PET scanning is important in lung cancer; but it has its limitations.

PMID- 20920123
TI  - Acute fibrinous and organizing pneumonia in a patient with HIV infection and
      Pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia.
AB  - Acute fibrinous and organizing pneumonia (AFOP) is a disease of the small airways
      that is characterized by deposition of fibrin within the alveolar spaces. The
      histological pattern is described as a variant of cryptogenic organizing
      pneumonia (COP). Although COP has been occasionally described in patients with
      HIV infection, the variant form, AFOP, has not been previously reported in such
      patients. This report describes an intriguing case of AFOP in a patient with HIV
      infection and Pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia. AFOP was diagnosed after tapering
      of corticosteroid therapy. This case illustrates that non-infectious pulmonary
      infiltrates should be considered in the differential diagnosis of lung disease in
      patients with HIV infection.

PMID- 20920124
TI  - Measurement of exhaled nitric oxide: comparison of different analysers.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Exhaled nitric oxide (NO) is used as a surrogate marker
      to monitor eosinophilic airway inflammation, assist in diagnosis, and support
      treatment decisions for asthma patients. The aim of this study was to compare
      five NO analysers: Medisoft (M), Aerocrine Niox (N), Aerocrine Niox flex (NF),
      Aerocrino Niox mino (NM) and EcoMedics (E). METHODS: In 85 subjects (25 asthma
      patients, 25 COPD patients, 35 healthy volunteers; median age 36.5 years, range
      23-79, 47% female), three NO measurements per individual were performed, using
      each analyser according to the American Thoracic Society/European Respiratory
      Society guidelines. Subjects evaluated the devices on the basis of comfort and
      ease of performing the measurement. RESULTS: Median NO concentrations were 24.8
      parts per billion (ppb) (range 6.3-262.7) for M, 14.5 ppb (0.0-196.6) for N, 15.2
      ppb (5.6-67.7) for NF, 16.3 ppb (5.0-208.3) for NM, and 13.1 ppb (4.0-103.0) for
      E. There was significant correlation among the absolute NO values measured with
      all the devices (0.743 for M vs NF < r < 0.979 for N vs NF). Bland-Altman plots
      suggested an acceptable degree of agreement among the results obtained with the
      three Niox analysers. Measurements obtained with the Medisoft and Ecomedics
      analysers were not directly comparable with those obtained with the other
      devices. The greatest differences in absolute NO levels for individual patients
      were between measurements with the M and E analysers (8.3 ppb, range 27.4-159.7,
      P < 0.001). Acceptance of the measurements by patients was high, independent of
      the device used. CONCLUSIONS: Exhaled NO values obtained with different devices
      were not directly comparable and may differ to a clinically relevant extent,
      depending on which device is used.

PMID- 20920125
TI  - Iodine-123 metaiodobenzylguanidine scintigraphic assessment of pulmonary vascular
      status in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Lung uptake of iodine-123 metaiodobenzylguanidine (123I
      MIBG) is used as an indicator of pulmonary endothelial function. Decreased lung
      uptake of 123I-MIBG has been demonstrated in patients with COPD as compared with
      normal subjects. The present study was performed to examine the relationship
      between lung uptake of 123I-MIBG and pulmonary artery pressure (Ppa) at rest and
      during exercise, in patients with COPD. METHODS: 123I-MIBG scintigraphy was
      performed in 19 patients with COPD. Anterior planar images were acquired 15 min
      after the injection of 123I-MIBG, and the total lung to upper mediastinum ratio
      (LMR) was calculated for both lungs. Right heart catheters were used to monitor
      Ppa continuously at rest and during exercise. Exercise was performed on an
      electrically braked bicycle ergometer at a constant workload of 25 W for 3 min.
      RESULTS: In COPD patients the LMR were not correlated with the pulmonary function
      parameters measured before exercise, including FEV1, PaO2, DL(CO), or Ppa at
      rest. However, the percentage increase in Ppa during exercise was significantly
      correlated with LMR. CONCLUSIONS: Evaluation of the kinetics of lung uptake of
      123I-MIBG may be a novel scintigraphic tool for the assessment of exercise
      induced pulmonary hypertension in patients with COPD.

PMID- 20920126
TI  - Haemodynamic effects of proportional assist ventilation during high-intensity
      exercise in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Proportional assist ventilation (PAV) has been proposed
      as a more physiological modality of non-invasive ventilation, thereby reducing
      the potential for deleterious cardio-circulatory effects during exercise, in
      patients with COPD. We therefore evaluated whether PAV modulates the kinetic and
      'steady-state' haemodynamic responses to exercise in patients with moderate-to
      severe COPD. METHODS: Twenty patients underwent constant-load (75-80% peak work
      rate) cycle ergometer exercise testing to the limit of tolerance (T(lim)), while
      receiving PAV or breathing spontaneously. Stroke volume (SV), heart rate (HR) and
      cardiac output (CO) were monitored by impedance cardiography. RESULTS: Compared
      with unassisted breathing, PAV increased T(lim) in 8/20 patients (median
      improvement 113% (range 8 to 212) vs -20% (range -40 to -9)). PAV had no
      significant effects on 'steady-state' haemodynamic responses either in patients
      with or those without increased T(lim) (P > 0.05). However, at the onset of
      exercise, SV kinetics were slowed with PAV, in 13/15 patients with analysable
      data. HR dynamics remained unaltered or failed to accelerate sufficiently in nine
      of these patients, thereby slowing CO kinetics (T(1/2) 61 s (range 81-30) vs 89 s
      (range 100-47)). These deleterious effects were not, however, associated with PAV
      induced changes in T(lim) (P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: PAV slowed the SV and CO
      kinetics at the onset of high-intensity exercise in selected patients with
      moderate-to-severe COPD. However, these adverse effects of PAV disappeared during
      the stable phase of exercise, and were not related to the ergogenic potential of
      PAV in this patient population.

PMID- 20920127
TI  - State of the art: how to set up a pulmonary rehabilitation program.
AB  - Pulmonary rehabilitation plays an essential role in the management of symptomatic
      patients with COPD. The benefits of rehabilitation include a decrease in dyspnoea
      and fatigue, and improvements in exercise tolerance and health-related quality of
      life. Importantly, rehabilitation reduces hospitalization for acute exacerbations
      and is cost-effective. Although most of the evidence for pulmonary rehabilitation
      has been obtained in patients with COPD, symptomatic individuals with other
      respiratory diseases have been shown to benefit. In this review we outline a
      stepwise approach to establish, deliver and evaluate a pulmonary rehabilitation
      program (PRP) that would be feasible in most settings. Throughout the review we
      have specified the minimum requirements for a PRP to facilitate the establishment
      of programs using limited resources. Recommendations for staffing and other
      resources required for a PRP are presented in the first section. Exercise
      training is a focus of the section on program delivery as this is the component
      of rehabilitation that has the strongest level of evidence for benefit. Program
      considerations for patients with respiratory conditions other than COPD are
      described. Different approaches for delivering the education component of a PRP
      are outlined and recommendations are made regarding topics for group and
      individual sessions. The problems commonly encountered in pulmonary
      rehabilitation, together with recommendations to avoid these problems and
      strategies to assist in their resolution, are discussed. The review concludes
      with recommendations for evaluating a PRP.

PMID- 20920128
TI  - Effect of the alveolar recruitment manoeuvre on haemodynamic parameters in
      patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome: relationship with oxygenation.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Although the alveolar recruitment manoeuvre (ARM) is
      considered to be an optimal method of recruiting collapsed alveoli in a short
      period, the haemodynamic effects of the ARM have not been investigated. The aim
      of this study was to assess whether the ARM causes haemodynamic instability in
      patients with ARDS, and any relationship this might have with arterial
      oxygenation. METHODS: Twenty-eight patients with ARDS (16 responders and 12 non
      responders), who were admitted to the medical intensive care unit of a university
      affiliated hospital, were enrolled in the study. ARM, using the extended sigh
      method, was performed within 48 h of the onset of ARDS. Haemodynamic parameters
      were measured at baseline, during the ARM, and at 2 min, 30 min and 1 h after the
      ARM. RESULTS: Responders and non-responders showed no significant changes in
      blood pressure or cardiac index during or after ARM. Mean pulmonary artery
      pressure (MPAP), pulmonary vascular resistance index (PVRI) and right ventricular
      stroke work index (RVSWI) were transiently increased compared with baseline, in
      responders and non-responders. During and after ARM, the systemic vascular
      resistance index was significantly higher in non-responders than in responders.
      CONCLUSIONS: Some haemodynamic parameters (MPAP, PVRI and RVSWI) changed
      significantly during ARM. However, these haemodynamic changes were minimal,
      transient and probably have no clinical significance.

PMID- 20920129
TI  - Alveolar proteinosis with hypersensitivity pneumonitis: a new clinical phenotype.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to report the features
      of five patients with concurrent histopathological features of pulmonary alveolar
      proteinosis (PAP) and hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP) and their high-resolution
      CT (HRCT) appearances. METHODS: Patients with histopathological features of both
      HP and PAP on surgical lung biopsy referred for tertiary review were
      retrospectively identified. The pathology and HRCT images were semi
      quantitatively scored to evaluate the relative contribution to HP and PAP.
      RESULTS: Five patients had histopathological features of HP and PAP but had
      varied HRCT appearances. All had imaging features of PAP to a varying degree with
      two patients also showing characteristics of HP but three patients had ill
      defined thickened interlobular septa, not typical of either disease. CONCLUSIONS:
      We describe the coexistence of PAP and HP in five patients and discuss possible
      linkages between these two distinct pathologies.

PMID- 20920130
TI  - Lecithinized superoxide dismutase treatment improves steroid-refractory
      interstitial pneumonia.
AB  - Pulmonary fibrosis associated with amyopathic dermatomyositis is known to have a
      generally aggressive course and is ultimately fatal. We report the case of a 50
      year-old patient with amyopathic dermatomyositis, who developed progressive
      interstitial pneumonia that was unresponsive to corticosteroids and multiple
      immunosuppressive agents, including cyclosporine and tacrolimus hydrate. Five
      courses of lecithinized superoxide dismutase were administered without adverse
      effects. Improvements in physiological parameters, such as pulmonary function and
      exercise tolerance, as well as the serum Krebs von den Lungen 6 level, were
      observed. This is the first report of a case of steroid-refractory interstitial
      pneumonia treated with lecithinized superoxide dismutase.

PMID- 20920131
TI  - Lung function testing in health and disease: issues pertaining to Asia-Pacific
      populations.
AB  - The Asia-Pacific region comprise of diverse ethnic populations and healthcare
      systems of highly variable developmental stages. We face challenges in lung
      function testing, many of which are different from the issues encountered in the
      west. In some places, access to proper lung function testing facilities is very
      limited due to resource constraints or geographic inconvenience. It is important
      to note the potential differences of normative values in Asia-Pacific
      populations, compared with established values derived from populations of
      Caucasian ethnicity, hence the need to choose from available prediction formulae
      the ones that most closely approximate the subjects being tested. The criteria
      for defining abnormality is a hot topic globally. In the Asia-Pacific region, the
      trade-off between simplicity and thus ease of application and the pitfall of
      under- or over-diagnosis based on fixed cut-off values has to be recognized. The
      promotion of wider availability and proper utilization of lung function testing
      will go a long way in the enhancement of respiratory health and disease
      management in the region.

PMID- 20920132
TI  - Fibrotic idiopathic interstitial pneumonias: mortality is linked to a decline in
      gas transfer.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Baseline clinical and physiological features and
      changes in these parameters over time are known predictors of survival in
      patients with fibrotic idiopathic interstitial pneumonia (IIP). Pulmonary
      hypertension is common in advanced fibrotic IIP, and has a negative impact on
      survival. Serial pulmonary function profiles, indicative of increasing vascular
      impairment in patients with IIP, and in particular, selective reductions in gas
      transfer, have not been studied previously. METHODS: Predictors of event-free
      survival time were investigated in a cohort of Dutch patients with IPF and
      fibrotic non-specific interstitial pneumonia (n = 117). Pulmonary function test
      data were prospectively collected from November 1993 to December 2005.
      Multivariate Cox regression models were developed to identify the prognostic
      relevance to survival of variables related to baseline demographics,
      histopathology, pulmonary function and the 6- and 12-month changes in pulmonary
      function parameters. RESULTS: Different survival patterns were observed for
      patients with different histopathological diagnoses. At baseline, FVC was the
      most important prognostic factor. At the 6-month follow up, change in transfer
      coefficient (K(CO), DL(CO)/V(A)), and at the 12-month follow up, age, baseline
      K(CO) and 12-month change in FVC and K(CO), were independent predictors of event
      free survival. CONCLUSIONS: Apart from histopathology, change in K(CO) over time
      appeared to be the most consistent and powerful predictor of survival in these
      patients. The decline in K(CO) may be indicative of increasing vascular
      impairment, which may have a major impact on survival, in patients with fibrotic
      IIP.

PMID- 20920133
TI  - Cough challenge tests involving mechanical stimulation of the cervical trachea in
      patients with cough as a leading symptom.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Challenge tests involving chemical stimulation by
      inhalation of capsaicin or citric acid are currently used to assess cough
      sensitivity. We investigated the clinical usefulness of cough challenge tests
      based on mechanical stimulation. METHODS: A total of 347 patients (126 men and
      221 women) were enrolled in the study, including 161 patients with asthma, 116
      with cough-variant asthma, 27 with acute upper respiratory tract viral
      infections, 25 with acute bronchitis, four with pneumonia, three with chronic
      bronchitis and 11 with cough of unknown aetiology. Three modes of mechanical
      stimulation were assessed: the cervical trachea was compressed softly with the
      fingers several times (tracheal compression test); the trachea was stretched by
      retroflexion of the neck for 5 s (tracheal stretch test); and a vibrating tuning
      fork was placed on the cervical trachea for 20 s (tuning fork test). The
      relationships between phonation-induced cough and the results of these tests were
      assessed. RESULTS: The cough detection rate was 27.7% with the tracheal
      compression test, 39.8% with the tracheal stretch test and 36.9% with the tuning
      fork test. An itchy sensation with or without cough was noted by about 50% of
      subjects undergoing each of the tests. Provocation of cough and an itchy
      sensation during each test was significantly more frequent in subjects with
      phonation-induced cough. Tests were usually negative after improvement of the
      cough with treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Mechanical stimulation of the cervical trachea
      is a feasible cough challenge test that may be useful for evaluating disease
      activity.

PMID- 20920134
TI  - Detection and prevalence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in a
      cardiovascular clinic: evaluation using a hand held FEV1/FEV6 meter and
      questionnaire.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: COPD is one of the leading causes of morbidity and
      mortality worldwide, and its prevalence continues to increase. Although
      spirometry is indispensable for the diagnosis of COPD, other simple and reliable
      tools are necessary for screening of COPD because spirometry is not widely
      available. This study investigated the usefulness of a combination of an
      electronic FEV1/FEV6 meter (PiKo-6) with a COPD questionnaire as a screening
      method in patients with cardiovascular diseases. METHODS: The PiKo-6 and the COPD
      questionnaire of the International Primary Care Airways Group were used to screen
      patients attending a cardiovascular outpatient clinic. Patients with FEV1/FEV6 <
      70% were defined as having airflow limitation. Patients diagnosed with airflow
      limitation underwent spirometry. Using data from the PiKo-6 and the COPD
      questionnaire, patients were assigned to a COPD group or a non-COPD group. The
      relationship between PiKo-6 measurements and spirometry was also evaluated.
      RESULTS: Among 753 patients, 82 (10.9%) showed airflow limitation when assessed
      with the PiKo-6. Of these patients, 79 (10.5%) were assigned to the COPD group.
      FEV1, FEV6 and FEV1/FEV6, as measured with the PiKo-6, correlated significantly
      with FEV1, FVC and FEV1/FVC, respectively, as measured by spirometry (r = 0.865,
      0.751 and 0.57). Among the cardiovascular comorbidities, heart failure and
      ischaemic heart disease showed slightly stronger associations with airflow
      limitation (13.8% and 12.5%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Combination of the PiKo
      6 with a COPD questionnaire may be a useful and feasible method of identifying
      undiagnosed COPD patients attending a cardiovascular outpatient clinic.

PMID- 20920135
TI  - The central motor conductivity of genioglossus in obstructive sleep apnoea.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: During wakefulness, the electromyography (EMG)
      activities of upper airway dilator muscles are higher in OSA syndrome (OSAS)
      patients than those in normal subjects. This is believed to be related to central
      compensatory mechanisms. This study aimed to assess the central motor
      conductivity of genioglossus (GG) during wakefulness and to evaluate the
      compensatory site in OSAS patients. METHODS: Twelve OSAS patients and 12 normal
      subjects were recruited to record motor evoked potential (MEP) of GG to
      transcranial magnetic stimulation applied at dominant-sided anterolateral area
      and GG response to magnetic stimulation at the third cervical level. Stimuli were
      delivered at the end of expiration and inspiration respectively. The central
      motor conduction time (CMCT) was calculated by the latency difference between
      cortical and cervical stimulations. RESULTS: The MEP latency and CMCT of GG in
      OSAS patients were shorter than those in normal subjects at the end of expiration
      (MEP latency: 6.08 +/- 2.06 ms and 8.24 +/- 2.66 ms, respectively, P < 0.05;
      CMCT: 2.41 +/- 1.20 ms and 3.58 +/- 1.53 ms, respectively, P < 0.05). However,
      only in normal subjects, GG MEP latency and CMCT showed significant decrease from
      the end of expiration to the end of inspiration. GG CMCT of OSAS patients at the
      end of expiration was closely correlated with AHI (r = -0.797, P = 0.002), the
      nadir oxygen saturation (r = 0.76, P = 0.003) and the longest apnoea time (r = 
      0.68, P = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: OSAS patients have an increased central motor
      conductivity of GG than normal subjects. Furthermore, this increased central
      motor conductivity of GG is related to the severity of OSAS.

PMID- 20920136
TI  - Pilot randomized study comparing two techniques of airway anaesthesia during
      curvilinear probe endobronchial ultrasound bronchoscopy (CP-EBUS).
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: This study evaluates two different techniques for
      topically anaesthetizing the airway with lidocaine during curvilinear probe
      endobronchial ultrasound bronchoscopy (CP-EBUS): standard injection through the
      working channel and spray catheter application. METHODS: This was a randomized,
      non-blinded, single-centre pilot study. Patients with plans for CP-EBUS under
      moderate sedation were enrolled. All patients received nebulized lidocaine
      followed by posterior oropharyngeal lidocaine via atomizer and a cotton ball swab
      using McGill forceps. Patients were then randomly assigned to lidocaine
      administration using spray catheter instillation or direct application through
      the working channel. Lidocaine was administered in a uniform fashion by a single
      investigator throughout the study. The primary end-point was the number of
      significant coughing episodes in the first 30 min of bronchoscopy. Other end
      points included lidocaine and intravenous sedation medication dosage; severe
      coughing session; and number of transbronchial needle aspirations. RESULTS: Forty
      patients were included in the study: 20 patients in each group. The median
      numbers of coughing episodes in the first 30 min were 1 (spray catheter group)
      and 2 (standard injection group) (P < 0.004). Six patients in the standard
      installation group experienced severe coughing sessions, while there was none in
      the spray catheter group (P = 0.02). There were no statistical differences
      between the groups in the dosage of lidocaine or intravenous sedation medications
      used. There were a greater number of transbronchial needle aspirations performed
      in the spray catheter group (P = 0.008). CONCLUSIONS: Lidocaine delivery via the
      spray catheter reduced the number of significant coughing episodes compared with
      standard working channel injection during CP-EBUS. Larger studies are needed to
      confirm these exploratory findings.

PMID- 20920137
TI  - Single photon emission computed tomography in chronic thromboembolic pulmonary
      hypertension.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: The management of chronic thromboembolic pulmonary
      hypertension (CTEPH) is largely dependent on the extent of obstruction in the
      pulmonary arteries. Planar perfusion scans are commonly used to quantify
      perfusion defects in CTEPH patients. However, planar scans typically under
      represent the extent of vascular obstruction in CTEPH. We conducted this study to
      test the hypothesis that SPECT lung perfusion scans are more accurate than planar
      scans for determining the location and extent of perfusion defects in patients
      with CTEPH. METHODS: Planar ventilation scans, planar and SPECT perfusion scans
      were performed preoperatively in patients undergoing pulmonary
      thromboendarterectomy for treatment of CTEPH. Two clinical experts independently
      documented the segmental anatomy of the vascular obstructions by reviewing
      clinical records, pulmonary and CT angiograms, and surgical specimens. A nuclear
      medicine expert documented the segmental anatomy of the perfusion defects
      observed by planar and SPECT scans independently. RESULTS: Clinical/pathological
      evaluation disclosed 241 obstructed and 99 unobstructed lung segments in 17
      patients. Sensitivity for detecting obstructed segments was significantly higher
      for SPECT than for planar scanning (63.5 +/- 3.1% vs. 42.7 +/- 3.2%,
      respectively; P < 0.01). Specificities of SPECT and planar scanning were not
      significantly different (62.6 +/- 4.8% vs. 76.8 +/- 4.2%, respectively; P =
      0.092). CONCLUSIONS: The SPECT is more sensitive than planar perfusion scanning
      for identifying obstructed segments in CTEPH. However, even SPECT under
      represents the true extent of the vascular occlusions in CTEPH.

PMID- 20920138
TI  - Tracheal aspirate Gram stain has limited sensitivity and specificity for
      detecting Staphylococcus aureus.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: The increasing incidence of respiratory infections due
      to methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus has resulted in increased
      empirical use of antibiotics active against this pathogen. There are limited data
      available as to whether the Gram stain of respiratory tract secretions accurately
      predicts growth of S. aureus. We theorized that the distinctive morphology of S.
      aureus would allow rapid, accurate identification of the organism in respiratory
      secretions. METHODS: The authors reviewed all available Gram stains of tracheal
      aspirates sent to our hospital's microbiology laboratory between 1 April 2008 and
      31 October 2008, while blinded to the culture result, and recorded the presence
      or absence of organisms with a morphology consistent with S. aureus. These
      results were correlated with the semiquantitative culture result. RESULTS: Among
      136 tracheal aspirates studied, 50 (37%) grew S. aureus. The Gram stain was read
      as positive for organisms consistent with S. aureus in 34 of these. Among 86
      samples that did not grow S. aureus, the Gram stain was read as negative in 62.
      Therefore, the Gram stain had a sensitivity of 68%, a specificity of 72%, a
      negative predictive value of 80% and a positive predictive value of 59% for
      culture of S. aureus. False negative Gram stains were more likely when the
      culture revealed only rare or small growth of S. aureus (P = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS:
      In this study, the tracheal aspirate Gram stain read by an experienced clinician
      who was not a microbiologist, was not accurate enough to reliably predict the
      growth of S. aureus.

PMID- 20920139
TI  - The use of sildenafil to treat pulmonary hypertension associated with
      interstitial lung disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Limited data suggest a benefit following sildenafil
      treatment in patients with pulmonary hypertension (PH) and interstitial lung
      disease (ILD). The role of sildenafil in the management of PH in ILD is not
      clear. We report our experience of ILD patients with PH after 6-month sildenafil
      therapy. METHODS: We reviewed 15 patients (mean age 55 +/- 15 years; 8 men) with
      ILD (mean FVC 52.6 +/- 15.4%) and PH (mean right ventricular systolic pressure
      73.8 +/- 17.8 mm Hg). Median brain natriuretic peptide: 37 (5-452) pmol/L; mean
      6MWD: 156 +/- 101 m. RESULTS: Following 6-month treatment with sildenafil, brain
      natriuretic peptide levels were lower (n = 12, P = 0.03), 6MWD was higher (n = 6,
      P < 0.05), but no change in right ventricular systolic pressure (n = 11) was
      demonstrated. CONCLUSIONS: Our observations suggest that sildenafil may be useful
      in the management of PH in ILD. Controlled trials are warranted before
      therapeutic recommendations can be made.

PMID- 20920140
TI  - Predicting early mortality in acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary
      disease using the CURB65 score.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Hospitalization for exacerbation of COPD is associated
      with a high risk of mortality. A risk-prediction model using information easily
      obtained on admission could help to identify high-risk individuals. The CURB65
      score was developed to predict mortality risk in community acquired pneumonia. A
      retrospective study found that this score was also associated with mortality in
      COPD exacerbations. We conducted a prospective study to assess the utility of the
      CURB65 score in acute COPD exacerbations. METHODS: Consecutive patients with
      physician diagnosed COPD exacerbations admitted to a public hospital during a 1
      year period were studied prospectively. The CURB65 scores were calculated from
      information obtained at initial hospital presentation. CURB65 = one point each
      for Confusion, Urea > 7 mmol/L, Respiratory rate >= 30/min, low Blood pressure,
      age >= 65 years. RESULTS: 30-day mortality data were available for 249 of 252
      patients. CURB65 scores on admission significantly predicted risk of death during
      the hospital admission and at 30 days. The 30-day mortality by score groups were:
      low risk (scores 0-1) 2.0% (2/98), moderate risk (score 2) 6.7% (6/90) and high
      risk (scores 3-5) 21.3% (13/61). CURB65 scores were not predictive of 1-year
      mortality. CONCLUSIONS: A simple 6-point score based on confusion, blood urea,
      respiratory rate, blood pressure and age can be used to stratify patients with
      COPD exacerbation into different management groups. The CURB65 score was as
      effective in predicting early mortality in our cohort of acute COPD exacerbations
      as it was in previous cohorts with community acquired pneumonia. Our findings
      suggest that CURB65 scores can help clinicians to assess patients with
      exacerbation of COPD.

PMID- 20920141
TI  - Comparison of 21-gauge and 22-gauge aspiration needle during endobronchial
      ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle
      aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) has typically been performed using the 22 gauge (G)
      dedicated TBNA needle. Recently a new 21G TBNA needle has been introduced. The
      efficacy of using a larger gauge biopsy needle during EBUS-TBNA has not been
      reported. The purpose of this study was to compare the diagnostic yield and
      utility of 21G and 22G needles during EBUS-TBNA. METHODS: EBUS-TBNA was performed
      using both 21G and 22G needles. Cytological and histological findings were
      recorded for each samples obtained by an independent cytologist and pathologist.
      The cellularity and blood contamination were evaluated in the cytological
      samples. The quality of the histological core was evaluated by the amount of
      blood clots versus the actual tissue. Each factor was compared within two slides
      from the two different size needles. The diagnostic yield and the differences of
      the cytology and histology were analysed. RESULTS: The evaluation of 45 lesions
      by EBUS-TBNA revealed that tumour cells were equally detected by both 21G and 22G
      needles. Two patients of adenocarcinoma were histologically diagnosed only by the
      21G needle. Although histological structure was better preserved in five lesions
      collected by the 21G needle, there was more blood contamination with the 21G
      needle (P < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: There were no differences in the diagnostic
      yield between the 21G and 22G needles during EBUS-TBNA. The preserved
      histological structure of the samples obtained by the 21G needle may be useful
      for the diagnosis of mediastinal and hilar adenopathy of unknown aetiology which
      may be a challenge with the 22G needle.

PMID- 20920142
TI  - Effects of adding salmeterol/fluticasone propionate to tiotropium on airway
      dimensions in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Although salmeterol/fluticasone propionate combination
      (SFC) therapy has been widely used for the treatment of COPD, the relationship
      between airway dimensions and improvement in pulmonary function remains unknown.
      The aim of this study was to compare the effects of SFC in combination with
      tiotropium (Tio) and Tio alone, on airway dimensions and pulmonary function in
      COPD patients. METHODS: Thirty COPD patients were randomized to receive inhaled
      Tio (18 ug once daily) or inhaled SFC (50/250 ug twice daily) plus Tio for 12
      weeks. Spirometry and CT were performed, and the St. George's Respiratory
      Questionnaire (SGRQ) was completed, before and after the trial. Airway dimensions
      were assessed by a validated CT technique, and airway wall area (WA) corrected
      for body surface area (BSA), percentage wall area (WA%), absolute wall thickness
      T/?BSA, and luminal area Ai/BSA at the right apical segmental bronchus, were
      measured. RESULTS: Treatment with SFC plus Tio significantly decreased WA/BSA (P
      < 0.05), WA% (P < 0.01) and T/?BSA (P < 0.01), and increased Ai/BSA (P < 0.01),
      whereas treatment with Tio alone had no effect. The changes in WA/BSA and Ai/BSA
      were significantly correlated with increases in FEV1 (r = 0.48, P < 0.05, and r =
      0.36, P < 0.05, respectively). There were significant improvements in SGRQ scores
      after treatment with SFC plus Tio. CONCLUSIONS: Airway wall thickening and airway
      narrowing decreased after treatment with SFC plus Tio, and the changes in airway
      dimensions were proportional to the improvements in FEV1 . These results suggest
      that SFC plus Tio is more effective than Tio alone in the management of COPD
      patients.

PMID- 20920143
TI  - The effects of bushfire smoke on respiratory health.
AB  - Bushfire smoke has the potential to affect millions of people and is therefore a
      major public health problem. The air pollutant that increases most significantly
      as a result of bushfire smoke is particulate matter (PM). During bushfire smoke
      episodes, PM concentrations are usually much higher than urban background
      concentrations, at which effects on respiratory health have been observed. The
      smoke can cover large areas including major cities and even small increases in
      the risk of respiratory health effects can cause large public health problems.
      The association between respiratory morbidity and exposure to bushfire smoke is
      consistent with the associations found with urban air pollution. Although using
      different methods, all studies looking at Emergency Department presentations in
      relation to a bushfire smoke event have found associations and most studies have
      also found an association with hospital admissions. However, only a few studies
      have distinguished between the effects of bushfire PM(10) (particles with a
      median aerodynamic diameter less than 10 um) and background PM(10). These studies
      suggest that PM(10) from bushfire smoke is at least as toxic as urban PM(10), but
      more research is needed.

PMID- 20920144
TI  - Biomarkers of lung injury after one-lung ventilation for lung resection.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Acute lung injury contributes to the mortality of
      patients after lung resection and one-lung ventilation (OLV). The objective of
      this study was to characterise the effect of lung resection and OLV on proposed
      biomarkers of lung injury in exhaled breath condensate (EBC) and plasma. METHODS:
      In adults undergoing lung resection, EBC was collected before and at 30-min
      intervals during OLV. Inflammatory mediators were assayed in plasma samples taken
      preoperatively, immediately postoperatively and 24 h postoperatively. RESULTS:
      EBC pH decreased from 6.51 +/- 0.43 preoperatively, to 6.17 +/- 0.78 and 6.09 +/-
      0.83 at 30 and 60 min, respectively (mean +/- SD, P = 0.034, n = 20). Plasma
      concentrations of the receptor for advanced glycation end-products, von
      Willebrand factor and interleukin-6 increased comparing preoperative and
      postoperative samples (all P < 0.001, n = 30). By contrast, levels of Krebs von
      den Lungen-6 and surfactant protein-D decreased (P < 0.001, n=30), and correlated
      inversely with the extent of lung resected. CONCLUSIONS: Lung resection and OLV
      was associated with a rapid reduction in EBC pH and differential changes in
      plasma biomarkers of lung injury. Further investigation of EBC pH as a marker of
      ventilator-induced lung injury is warranted.

PMID- 20920145
TI  - Pulmonary hypertension in sarcoidosis: a review.
AB  - Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a well-recognized complication of sarcoidosis.
      Patients with sarcoidosis-associated PH (SAPH) have poorer functional status and
      greater supplemental oxygen requirements than sarcoidosis patients without PH,
      and are more likely to be listed for lung transplantation. PH is an independent
      risk factor for mortality in sarcoidosis patients awaiting lung transplantation.
      The pathophysiology of SAPH is complex, with multiple mechanisms contributing to
      pathogenesis, including the fibrous destruction of the pulmonary vascular bed,
      extrinsic compression of the central pulmonary vessels and an intrinsic
      vasculopathy. Recognition of SAPH may be delayed as it can be masked by the
      clinical picture of underlying pulmonary sarcoidosis, and right heart catheter
      remains the gold-standard for diagnosis. Management of SAPH is based on reversal
      of resting hypoxaemia, treatment of comorbidities and treatment of the underlying
      sarcoidosis. The use of corticosteroids in SAPH is controversial. Specific PH
      therapy is not routinely recommended in SAPH as there are no successful placebo
      controlled trials, although there is limited data to suggest that endothelin
      receptor antagonists and phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors may be useful.

PMID- 20920146
TI  - Low zinc in drinking water is associated with the risk of type 1 diabetes in
      children.
AB  - AIM: To explore if drinking water may influence the development of type 1
      diabetes in children, either via enterovirus spread via drinking water or quality
      of drinking water related to acidity or concentration of certain minerals.
      METHODS: One hundred and forty-two families with a child with diabetes and who
      lived either in seven municipalities with a high annual diabetes incidence during
      1977-2001 and in six municipalities with the lowest incidence during those 25 yr
      were asked to participate. Three hundred and seventy-three families in these
      communities were used as controls. The families filled a 200-mL plastic bottle
      with their tap drinking water and returned it by mail. The water samples were
      analyzed for pH, zinc, iron, nitrate, nitrite, nitrate-nitrogen and nitrite
      nitrogen, and occurrence of enterovirus RNA. RESULTS: Enterovirus RNA was not
      found in the tap water samples. The concentration of zinc, nitrate, and nitrate
      nitrogen was lower in the municipalities with high incidence of type 1 diabetes.
      The water samples from families with a child with diabetes had lower
      concentration of zinc than water samples from control families. CONCLUSION: Low
      zinc in drinking water is associated with the risk of developing type 1 diabetes
      during childhood. Enterovirus does not seem to be spread via drinking water in a
      country with modern water works.

PMID- 20920147
TI  - Assessing the progression of mild cognitive impairment to Alzheimer's disease:
      current trends and future directions.
AB  - With the advent of advances in biomarker detection and neuropsychological
      measurement, prospects have improved for identifying and tracking the progression
      of Alzheimer's disease (AD) from its earliest stages through dementia. While new
      diagnostic techniques have exciting implications for initiating treatment earlier
      in the disease process, much work remains to be done to optimize the
      contributions of the expanding range of tools at the disposal of researchers and
      clinicians. The present paper examines recent work in cerebrospinal fluid
      biomarkers, magnetic resonance imaging, positron emission tomography,
      neuropsychological measures, and functional assessment. The strengths and
      weaknesses of current methodologies are explored and discussed. It is concluded
      that AD from its mild cognitive impairment state through dementia represents a
      continuous process, and that progression over time can best be accomplished by
      interval-level variables. Biomarkers that are most sensitive to early AD may not
      be the most optimal for monitoring longitudinal change, and it is likely that
      multivariate models incorporating cognitive measures, functional variables and
      biomarker data will be the most fruitful avenues for future research.

PMID- 20920148
TI  - A cautionary tale of virus and disease.
AB  - The recent identification of the gammaretrovirus XMRV and a second
      gammaretrovirus of a different subtype in chronic fatigue syndrome has aroused
      much interest, not least among sufferers. However, it remains highly
      controversial whether the detection of these viruses represents true infection or
      laboratory artifacts.

PMID- 20920149
TI  - Host transcription in active and latent tuberculosis.
AB  - A recent study has identified a transcriptional signature for active
      tuberculosis, suggesting that the distinction between active and latent forms may
      not be absolute.

PMID- 20920151
TI  - Inotropes in goal-directed therapy: do we need 'goals'?
AB  - There is substantial evidence to demonstrate the benefits of goal-directed
      hemodynamic optimization using fluid loading or inotropic support or both to
      improve outcome during major surgery. However, until now, only limited
      pathophysiological data have been available to explain this benefit. The
      maintenance of adequate tissue perfusion and global oxygen delivery is an
      essential goal for therapy. In an interesting study, Jhanji and colleagues
      provided additional data that emphasize the roles of optimization of
      intravascular fluid status and low doses of inotropes to improve microvascular
      blood flow and tissue oxygenation. This commentary aims to highlight some issues
      raised by this important study and provides additional elements to further
      position these results.

PMID- 20920150
TI  - Focusing on optic tectum circuitry through the lens of genetics.
AB  - The visual pathway is tasked with processing incoming signals from the retina and
      converting this information into adaptive behavior. Recent studies of the larval
      zebrafish tectum have begun to clarify how the 'micro-circuitry' of this highly
      organized midbrain structure filters visual input, which arrives in the
      superficial layers and directs motor output through efferent projections from its
      deep layers. The new emphasis has been on the specific function of neuronal cell
      types, which can now be reproducibly labeled, imaged and manipulated using
      genetic and optical techniques. Here, we discuss recent advances and emerging
      experimental approaches for studying tectal circuits as models for visual
      processing and sensorimotor transformation by the vertebrate brain.

PMID- 20920152
TI  - Sleep quality, the neglected outcome variable in clinical studies focusing on
      locomotor system; a construct validation study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In addition to general health and pain, sleep is highly relevant to
      judging the well-being of an individual. Of these three important outcome
      variables, however, sleep is neglected in most outcome studies.Sleep is a very
      important resource for recovery from daily stresses and strains, and any
      alteration of sleep will likely affect mental and physical health, especially
      during disease. Sleep assessment therefore should be standard in all population
      based or clinical studies focusing on the locomotor system. Yet current sleep
      assessment tools are either too long or too specific for general use. METHODS:
      Based on a literature review and subsequent patient-based rating of items, an
      expert panel designed a four-item questionnaire about sleep. Construct validation
      of the questionnaire in a random sample of the German-speaking Swiss population
      was performed in 2003. Reliability, correlation, and tests for internal
      consistency and validity were analyzed. RESULTS: Overall, 16,634 (70%) out of
      23,763 eligible individuals participated in the study. Test-retest reliability
      coefficients ranged from 0.72 to 0.87, and a Cronbach's alpha of 0.83 indicates
      good internal consistency. Results show a moderate to good correlation between
      sleep disturbances and health perception, and between sleep disturbances and
      overall pain. CONCLUSIONS: The Sleep Standard Evaluation Questionnaire (SEQ
      Sleep) is a reliable and short tool with confirmed construct validity for sleep
      assessment in population-based observational studies. It is easy to administer
      and therefore suitable for postal surveys of the general population. Criterion
      validity remains to be determined.

PMID- 20920153
TI  - Position-specific propensities of amino acids in the beta-strand.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Despite the importance of beta-strands as main building blocks in
      proteins, the propensity of amino acid in beta-strands is not well-understood as
      it has been more difficult to determine experimentally compared to alpha-helices.
      Recent studies have shown that most of the amino acids have significantly high or
      low propensity towards both ends of beta-strands. However, a comprehensive
      analysis of the sequence dependent amino acid propensities at positions between
      the ends of the beta-strand has not been investigated. RESULTS: The propensities
      of the amino acids calculated from a large non-redundant database of proteins are
      found to be highly position-specific and vary continuously throughout the length
      of the beta-strand. They follow an unexpected characteristic periodic pattern in
      inner positions with respect to the cap residues in both termini of beta-strands;
      this periodic nature is markedly different from that of the alpha-helices with
      respect to the strength and pattern in periodicity. This periodicity is not only
      different for different amino acids but it also varies considerably for the amino
      acids belonging to the same physico-chemical group. Average hydrophobicity is
      also found to be periodic with respect to the positions from both termini of beta
      strands. CONCLUSIONS: The results contradict the earlier perception of isotropic
      nature of amino acid propensities in the middle region of beta-strands. These
      position-specific propensities should be of immense help in understanding the
      factors responsible for beta-strand design and efficient prediction of beta
      strand structure in unknown proteins.

PMID- 20920154
TI  - Periodic assessment of plasma sFlt-1 and PlGF concentrations and its association
      with placental morphometry in gestational hypertension (GH) - a prospective
      follow-up study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hypertensive disorders in pregnancy contributes to about 12% of
      maternal deaths in Malaysia and similarly worldwide. Early detection and adequate
      management are preventable strategies. Biochemical markers of abnormal
      angiogenesis would be more specific in early detection than routine blood
      pressure and proteinuria measurements. The aim of this study was to estimate
      maternal plasma PlGF and sFlt-1 levels in pregnant women with gestational
      hypertension at three intervals of pregnancy and correlate these biomarker levels
      with placental morphometry. METHODS: Venous blood samples (antepartum,
      intrapartum and post partum periods) were drawn to estimate for sFlt-1 and PlGF
      levels while placental tissue samples were examined for placental morphometry.
      RESULTS: PlGF levels were lower in gestational hypertension (GH) compared to
      normotensive during antepartum and intrapartum period, whereas sFlt-1 levels were
      elevated in GH at antepartum, intrapartum and postpartum intervals during
      pregnancy. An inverse relationship between these two biomarkers was observed
      through correlation analysis. PlGF levels were inversely correlated with total
      villous surface area of the placental periphery (TCsa-C) and villous
      capillarization (VC-C) of the placental periphery. CONCLUSION: We established
      periodic values of for sFlt-1 and PlGF levels for the first time in an ethnically
      diverse Malaysian setting. We suggest the development of GH in women is related
      to defective capillarization. In demonstrating periodic changes, this study
      suggest the possibility of developing GH and other long term health complications
      as a result of prolonged exposure to sFlt-1. The correlation between PlGF levels
      and morphometric findings also support possible capillarization defect.

PMID- 20920155
TI  - Further cautions for the use of ventilatory-induced changes in arterial pressures
      to predict volume responsiveness.
AB  - Variations in systemic arterial pressure with positive-pressure breathing are
      frequently used to guide fluid management in hemodynamically unstable patients.
      However, because of the complex physiology that determines the response, there
      are important limitations to their use. Two papers in a previous volume add
      pulmonary hypertension as limitations. Uncritical use of ventilatory-induced
      changes in arterial pressure can lead to excessive volume therapy and potential
      clinical harm, and they must be used with respect and thought.

PMID- 20920156
TI  - Treatment of moderate to severe restless legs syndrome: 2-year safety and
      efficacy of rotigotine transdermal patch.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Rotigotine is a unique dopamine agonist with activity across D1
      through D5 receptors as well as select adrenergic and serotonergic sites. This
      study reports the 2-year follow-up safety and efficacy data of an ongoing open
      label multicenter extension study (NCT00498186) of transdermal rotigotine in
      patients with moderate to severe restless legs syndrome (RLS). METHODS: Patients
      received a once-daily patch application of an individually optimized dose of
      rotigotine between 0.5 mg/24 h to 4 mg/24 h. Safety assessments included adverse
      events (AEs) and efficacy was measured by the International RLS Study Group
      Severity Rating Scale (IRLS), RLS-6 scales and Clinical Global Impression (CGI).
      Quality of life (QoL) was measured by QoL-RLS. RESULTS: Of 310 patients who
      completed a 6-week placebo-controlled trial (SP709), 295 (mean age 58 +/- 10
      years, 66% females) were included in the open-label trial SP710. 64.7% (190/295
      patients) completed the 2-year follow-up; 29 patients discontinued during the
      second year. Mean daily rotigotine dose after 2 years was 2.93 +/- 1.14 mg/24 h
      with a 2.9% dose increase from year 1. Rotigotine was generally well tolerated.
      The rate of typical dopaminergic side effects, nausea and fatigue, was low (0.9%
      and 2.3%, respectively) during the second year; application site reactions were
      frequent but lower than in year 1 (16.4% vs. 34.5%). The IRLS total score
      improved from baseline of SP709 (27.8 +/- 5.9) by 17.2 +/- 9.2 in year 2
      completers. Similar improvements were observed in RLS-6 scales, CGI scores and
      QoL-RLS. The responder rate in the CGI change item 2 ("much" and "very much"
      improved) was 95% after year 2. CONCLUSIONS: Transdermal rotigotine is an
      efficacious and well-tolerated long-term treatment option for patients with
      moderate to severe RLS with a high retention rate during 2 years of therapy.
      TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT00498186.

PMID- 20920157
TI  - Quantitative phosphoproteomic analysis of prion-infected neuronal cells.
AB  - Prion diseases or transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) are fatal
      diseases associated with the conversion of the cellular prion protein (PrPC) to
      the abnormal prion protein (PrPSc). Since the molecular mechanisms in
      pathogenesis are widely unclear, we analyzed the global phospho-proteome and
      detected a differential pattern of tyrosine- and threonine phosphorylated
      proteins in PrPSc-replicating and pentosan polysulfate (PPS)-rescued N2a cells in
      two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. To quantify phosphorylated proteins, we
      performed a SILAC (stable isotope labeling by amino acids in cell culture)
      analysis and identified 105 proteins, which showed a regulated phosphorylation
      upon PrPSc infection. Among those proteins, we validated the dephosphorylation of
      stathmin and Cdc2 and the induced phosphorylation of cofilin in PrPSc-infected
      N2a cells in Western blot analyses. Our analysis showed for the first time a
      differentially regulated phospho-proteome in PrPSc infection, which could
      contribute to the establishment of novel protein markers and to the development
      of novel therapeutic intervention strategies in targeting prion-associated
      disease.

PMID- 20920158
TI  - Bone marrow transplantation in AML, and socioeconomic class: a UK population
      based cohort study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We have previously shown that in the UK mortality in people with
      Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML) was nearly 50% greater among the most socio
      economically deprived. The aim of this study was to determine whether AML
      patients from lower socioeconomic classes had a lower chance of receiving a bone
      marrow transplant. METHODS: Using Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) data, we
      identified all incident cases of AML admitted to UK hospitals between 1998 and
      2007. We calculated the number of bone marrow transplantations undertaken in AML
      patients, stratifying our results by gender, age at diagnosis, year of diagnosis,
      degree of socioeconomic deprivation and co-morbidity. We used logistic regression
      to calculate odds ratios for bone marrow transplantation, adjusting for gender,
      age at diagnosis, year of diagnosis, degree of socioeconomic deprivation and co
      morbidity score. RESULTS: We identified a total of 23 910 incident cases of AML
      over this 10-year time period, of whom 1 140 (4.8%) underwent BMT. Bone marrow
      transplantation declined with increasing socioeconomic deprivation (p for trend <
      0.001) such that people in the most deprived socioeconomic quintile were 40% less
      likely to have a transplant than those in the most advantaged group (Odds Ratio
      0.60, 95% confidence interval 0.49, 0.73), even after adjusting for gender, age
      at diagnosis, year of diagnosis and co-morbidity. CONCLUSION: This large cohort
      study demonstrates that AML patients from lower socioeconomic classes are less
      likely to undergo bone marrow transplantation than their better off counter
      parts.

PMID- 20920159
TI  - Violence toward physicians in emergency departments of Morocco: prevalence,
      predictive factors, and psychological impact.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Anyone working in the hospital may become a victim of violence. The
      effects of violence can range in intensity and include the following: minor
      physical injuries, serious physical injuries, temporary or permanent physical
      disability, psychological trauma, and death. The aim of this study was to
      determine the frequency of exposure, characteristics, and psychological impact of
      violence toward hospital-based emergency physicians in Morocco. METHODS: This was
      a survey including emergency physicians who ensured emergency service during the
      last fortnight. The variables studied were those related to the victim (age and
      gender), and those related to aggression: assaulter gender, number, time, reason
      (delay of consultation and/or care, acute drunkenness, neuropsychiatric disease),
      and type (verbal abuse, verbal threat and/or physical assault). After the
      questionnaire was completed, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) of Spielberg
      was applied to all participants. RESULTS: A total of 60 physicians have achieved
      permanence in emergency department during the 15 days preceding the questionnaire
      response. The mean age was 24 +/- 1 year and 57% were male. A total of 42 (70%)
      had been exposed to violence. The violence occurred at night n = 16 (27%),
      afternoon n = 13 (22%), evening n = 7 (12%) and morning n = 6 (10%). Reasons for
      violence were: the delay of consultation or care in n = 31 (52%) cases, acute
      drunkenness in n = 10 (17%) cases and neuropsychiatric disease in n = 3 (5%)
      cases. Twenty eight (47%) participants stated that they experienced verbal abuse,
      n = 18 (30%) verbal threat and n = 5 (8.3%) physical assault. Exposure to some
      form of violence was related to a higher median [interquartile range, IQR] state
      anxiety point (SAP); (51 [46-59] vs 39 [34-46]; P < 0,001), and trait anxiety
      point (TAP) (48 [41-55] vs 40,5 [38-53]; P = 0,01). CONCLUSIONS: This study
      revealed a high prevalence (70%) of violence toward doctors in Morocco emergency
      departments. The exposure of physicians to some form of violence is greater among
      doctors with anxiety trait and was related to significant degree of anxiety
      state.

PMID- 20920160
TI  - Refeeding syndrome influences outcome of anorexia nervosa patients in intensive
      care unit: an observational study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Data on the epidemiology and management of anorexia nervosa (AN) in
      the intensive care unit (ICU) are scarce. The aim of this study was to evaluate
      the prevalence and associated morbidity and mortality of AN in French ICUs.
      METHODS: We randomly selected 30 ICUs throughout France. Thereafter, we
      retrospectively analyzed all patients with AN admitted to any of these 30 ICUs
      between May 2006 and May 2008. We considered demographic data, diagnosis at
      admission and complications occurring during the stay, focusing on refeeding
      syndrome and management of refeeding. RESULTS: Eleven of the 30 ICUs participated
      in the retrospective study, featuring 68 patients, including 62 women. Average
      body mass index at the admission was 12 +/- 3 kg/m2. Twenty one were mechanically
      ventilated, mainly for neurological reasons. The reported average calorie intake
      was 22.3 +/- 13 kcal/kg/24 h. Major diagnoses at admission were metabolic
      problems, refeeding survey and voluntary drug intoxication and infection. The
      most common complications were metabolic, hematological, hepatic, and infectious
      events, of which 10% occurred during refeeding. Seven patients developed
      refeeding syndrome. At day one, the average calorie intake was higher for
      patients who developed refeeding syndrome (23.2 +/- 5 Kcal/kg/j; n = 7) versus
      patients without refeeding syndrome (14.1 +/- 3 Kcal/kg/j; n = 61) P = 0.02.
      Seven patients died, two from acute respiratory distress syndrome and five from
      multiorgan-failure associated with major hydroelectrolytic problems. CONCLUSIONS:
      The frequency of AN in ICU patients is very low and the crude mortality in this
      group is about 10%. Prevention and early-detection of refeeding syndrome is the
      key point.

PMID- 20920161
TI  - Inferring the conservative causal core of gene regulatory networks.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Inferring gene regulatory networks from large-scale expression data
      is an important problem that received much attention in recent years. These
      networks have the potential to gain insights into causal molecular interactions
      of biological processes. Hence, from a methodological point of view, reliable
      estimation methods based on observational data are needed to approach this
      problem practically. RESULTS: In this paper, we introduce a novel gene regulatory
      network inference (GRNI) algorithm, called C3NET. We compare C3NET with four well
      known methods, ARACNE, CLR, MRNET and RN, conducting in-depth numerical ensemble
      simulations and demonstrate also for biological expression data from E. coli that
      C3NET performs consistently better than the best known GRNI methods in the
      literature. In addition, it has also a low computational complexity. Since C3NET
      is based on estimates of mutual information values in conjunction with a
      maximization step, our numerical investigations demonstrate that our inference
      algorithm exploits causal structural information in the data efficiently.
      CONCLUSIONS: For systems biology to succeed in the long run, it is of crucial
      importance to establish methods that extract large-scale gene networks from high
      throughput data that reflect the underlying causal interactions among genes or
      gene products. Our method can contribute to this endeavor by demonstrating that
      an inference algorithm with a neat design permits not only a more intuitive and
      possibly biological interpretation of its working mechanism but can also result
      in superior results.

PMID- 20920162
TI  - Antitumour activity of a potent MEK inhibitor RDEA119/BAY 869766 combined with
      rapamycin in human orthotopic primary pancreatic cancer xenografts.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Combining MEK inhibitors with other signalling pathway inhibitors or
      conventional cytotoxic drugs represents a promising new strategy against cancer.
      RDEA119/BAY 869766 is a highly potent and selective MEK1/2 inhibitor undergoing
      phase I human clinical trials. The effects of RDEA119/BAY 869766 as a single
      agent and in combination with rapamycin were studied in 3 early passage primary
      pancreatic cancer xenografts, OCIP19, 21, and 23, grown orthotopically. METHODS:
      Anti-cancer effects were determined in separate groups following chronic drug
      exposure. Effects on cell cycle and downstream signalling were examined by flow
      cytometry and western blot, respectively. Plasma RDEA119 concentrations were
      measured to monitor the drug accumulation in vivo. RESULTS: RDEA119/BAY 869766
      alone or in combination with rapamycin showed significant growth inhibition in
      all the 3 models, with a significant decrease in the percentage of cells in S
      phase, accompanied by a large decrease in bromodeoxyuridine labelling and cell
      cycle arrest predominantly in G1. The S6 ribosomal protein was inhibited to a
      greater extent with combination treatment in all the three models. Blood plasma
      pharmacokinetic analyses indicated that RDEA119 levels achieved in vivo are
      similar to those that produce target inhibition and cell cycle arrest in vitro.
      CONCLUSIONS: Agents targeting the ERK and mTOR pathway have anticancer activity
      in primary xenografts, and these results support testing this combination in
      pancreatic cancer patients.

PMID- 20920164
TI  - Rasch analysis of the Psychiatric Out-Patient Experiences Questionnaire (POPEQ).
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Psychiatric Out-Patient Experiences Questionnaire (POPEQ) is an
      11-item core measure of psychiatric out-patients experiences of the perceived
      outcome of the treatment, the quality of interaction with the clinician, and the
      quality of information provision. The POPEQ was found to have evidence for
      reliability and validity following the application of classical test theory but
      has not previously been assessed by Rasch analysis. METHODS: Two national postal
      surveys of psychiatric outpatients took place in Norway in 2004 and 2007. The
      performance of the POPEQ, including item functioning and differential item
      functioning, was assessed by Rasch analysis. Principal component analysis of item
      residuals was used to assess the presence of subdimensions. RESULTS: 6,677
      (43.3%) and 11,085 (35.2%) psychiatric out patients responded to the
      questionnaire in 2004 and 2007, respectively. All items in the scale were
      retained after the Rasch analysis. The resulting scale had reasonably good fit to
      the Rasch model. The items performed the same for the two survey years and there
      was no differential item functioning relating to patient characteristics.
      Principal component analysis of the residuals confirmed that the measure to a
      high degree is unidimensional. However, the data also reflects three potential
      subscales, each relating to one of the three included aspects of health care.
      CONCLUSIONS: The POPEQ had excellent psychometric properties and Rasch analysis
      further supported the construct validity of the scale by also identifying the
      three subdimensions originally included as components in the instrument
      development. The 11-item instrument is recommended in future research on
      psychiatric out-patient experiences. Future development may lead to the
      construction of more precise measures of the three subdomains that the POPEQ is
      based on.

PMID- 20920163
TI  - Heritability patterns in hand osteoarthritis: the role of osteophytes.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The objective of the present study was to assess heritability of
      clinical and radiographic features of hand osteoarthritis (OA) in affected
      patients and their siblings. METHODS: A convenience sample of patients with
      clinical and radiographic hand OA and their siblings were evaluated by
      examination and radiography. Radiographs were scored for hand OA features by
      radiographic atlas. The heritability of hand OA phenotypes was assessed for
      clinical and radiographic measures based on anatomic locations and radiographic
      characteristics. Phenotypic data were transformed to reduce non-normality, if
      necessary. A variance components approach was used to calculate heritability.
      RESULTS: One hundred and thirty-six probands with hand OA and their sibling(s)
      were enrolled. By anatomic location, the highest heritability was seen with
      involvement of the first interphalangeal joint (h2 = 0.63, P = 0.00004), the
      first carpometacarpal joint (h2 = 0.38, P = 0.01), the distal interphalangeal
      joints (h2 = 0.36, P = 0.02), and the proximal interphalangeal joints (h2 = 0.30,
      P = 0.03) with osteophytes. The number and severity of joints with osteophyte
      involvement was heritable overall (h2 = 0.38, P = 0.008 for number and h2 = 0.35,
      P = 0.01 for severity) and for all interphalangeal joints (h2 = 0.42, P = 0.004
      and h2 = 0.33, P = 0.02). The severity of carpometacarpal joint involvement was
      also heritable (h2 = 0.53, P = 0.0006). Similar results were obtained when the
      analysis was limited to the Caucasian sample. CONCLUSIONS: In a population with
      clinical and radiographic hand OA and their siblings, the presence of osteophytes
      was the most sensitive biomarker for hand OA heritability. Significant
      heritability was detected for anatomic phenotypes by joint location, severity of
      joint involvement with osteophytes as well as for overall number and degree of
      hand OA involvement. These findings are in agreement with the strong genetic
      predisposition for hand OA reported by others. The results support phenotyping
      based on severity of osteophytes and a joint-specific approach. More specific
      phenotypes may hold greater promise in the study of genetics in hand OA.

PMID- 20920165
TI  - Three-day dendritic cells for vaccine development: antigen uptake, processing and
      presentation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Antigen-loaded dendritic cells (DC) are capable of priming naive T
      cells and therefore represent an attractive adjuvant for vaccine development in
      anti-tumor immunotherapy. Numerous protocols have been described to date using
      different maturation cocktails and time periods for the induction of mature DC
      (mDC) in vitro. For clinical application, the use of mDC that can be generated in
      only three days saves on the costs of cytokines needed for large scale vaccine
      cell production and provides a method to produce cells within a standard work
      week schedule in a GMP facility. METHODS: In this study, we addressed the
      properties of antigen uptake, processing and presentation by monocyte-derived DC
      prepared in three days (3d mDC) compared with conventional DC prepared in seven
      days (7d mDC), which represent the most common form of DC used for vaccines to
      date. RESULTS: Although they showed a reduced capacity for spontaneous antigen
      uptake, 3d mDC displayed higher capacity for stimulation of T cells after loading
      with an extended synthetic peptide that requires processing for MHC binding,
      indicating they were more efficient at antigen processing than 7d DC. We found,
      however, that 3d DC were less efficient at expressing protein after introduction
      of in vitro transcribed (ivt)RNA by electroporation, based on published
      procedures. This deficit was overcome by altering electroporation parameters,
      which led to improved protein expression and capacity for T cell stimulation
      using low amounts of ivtRNA. CONCLUSIONS: This new procedure allows 3d mDC to
      replace 7d mDC for use in DC-based vaccines that utilize long peptides, proteins
      or ivtRNA as sources of specific antigen.

PMID- 20920166
TI  - Identification and characterization of microRNAs in Clonorchis sinensis of human
      health significance.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Clonorchis sinensis is a zoonotic parasite causing clonorchiasis
      associated human disease such as biliary calculi, cholecystitis, liver cirrhosis,
      and it is currently classified as carcinogenic to humans for cholangiocarcinoma.
      MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are non-coding, regulating small RNA molecules which are
      essential for the complex life cycles of parasites and are involved in parasitic
      infections. To identify and characterize miRNAs expressed in adult C. sinensis
      residing chronically in the biliary tract, we developed an integrative approach
      combining deep sequencing and bioinformatic predictions with stem-loop real-time
      PCR analysis. RESULTS: Here we report the use of this approach to identify and
      clone 6 new and 62,512 conserved C. sinensis miRNAs which belonged to 284
      families. There was strong bias on families, family members and sequence
      nucleotides in C. sinensis. Uracil was the dominant nucleotide, particularly at
      positions 1, 14 and 22, which were located approximately at the beginning, middle
      and end of conserved miRNAs. There was no significant "seed region" at the first
      and ninth positions which were commonly found in human, animals and plants.
      Categorization of conserved miRNAs indicated that miRNAs of C. sinensis were
      still innovated and concentrated along three branches of the phylogenetic tree
      leading to bilaterians, insects and coelomates. There were two miRNA strategies
      in C. sinensis for its parasitic life: keeping a large category of miRNA families
      of different animals and keeping stringent conserved seed regions with high
      active innovation in other places of miRNAs mainly in the middle and the end,
      which were perfect for the parasite to perform its complex life style and for
      host changes. CONCLUSIONS: The present study represented the first large scale
      characterization of C. sinensis miRNAs, which have implications for understanding
      the complex biology of this zoonotic parasite, as well as miRNA studies of other
      related species such as Opisthorchis viverrini and Opisthorchis felineus of human
      and animal health significance.

PMID- 20920167
TI  - Long term follow up after surgery in congenitally corrected transposition of the
      great arteries with a right ventricle in the systemic circulation.
AB  - AIM OF THE STUDY: To investigate the long-term outcome of surgical treatment for
      congenitally corrected transposition of the great arteries (CCTGA), in patients
      with biventricular repair with the right ventricle as systemic ventricle.
      METHODS: A total of 32 patients with CCTGA were operated between January 1972 and
      October 2008. These operations comprised 18 patients with a repair with a normal
      left ventricular outflow tract, 11 patients with a Rastelli repair of the left
      ventricle to the pulmonary artery and 3 patients with a cardiac transplantation.
      RESULTS: Excluding the cardiac transplantation patients, mean age at operation
      was 16 years (sd 15 years, range 1 week - 49 years). Median follow-up was 12
      years (sd 10 years, range 7 days - 32 years). Survival obtained from Kaplan-Meier
      analysis at 20 years after surgery was 63% (CI 53-73%). For the non-Rastelli
      group these data at 20 years were 62% (CI 48-76%) and for the Rastelli group 67%
      (CI 51-83%). Freedom of reoperation at 20 years was 32% (CI 19-45%) in the
      overall group. In the non-Rastelli group the data at 20 years were 47% (CI 11
      83%) and for the Rastelli group 21% (CI 0-54%) after almost 19 years.
      CONCLUSIONS: Long term follow up confirms that surgery in CCTGA with the right
      ventricle as systemic ventricle has a suboptimal survival and limited freedom of
      reoperation. Death occurred mostly as a result of cardiac failure.

PMID- 20920168
TI  - Development of a practical guide for the early recognition for malignant melanoma
      of the foot and nail unit.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Malignant melanoma is a rare but potentially lethal form of cancer
      which may arise on the foot. Evidence suggests that due to misdiagnosis and later
      recognition, foot melanoma has a poorer prognosis than cutaneous melanoma
      elsewhere. METHODS: A panel of experts representing podiatry and dermatologists
      with a special interest in skin oncology was assembled to review the literature
      and clinical evidence to develop a clinical guide for the early recognition of
      plantar and nail unit melanoma. RESULTS: A systematic review of the literature
      revealed little high quality data to inform the guide. However a significant
      number of case reports and series were available for analysis. From these, the
      salient features were collated and summarised into the guide. Based on these
      features a new acronym "CUBED" for foot melanoma was drafted and incorporated in
      the guide. CONCLUSIONS: The use of this guide may help clinicians in their
      assessment of suspicious lesions on the foot (including the nail unit). Earlier
      detection of suspicious pedal lesions may facilitate earlier referral for expert
      assessment and definitive diagnosis. The guide is currently being field tested
      amongst practitioners.

PMID- 20920169
TI  - Overproduced Brucella abortus PdhS-mCherry forms soluble aggregates in
      Escherichia coli, partially associating with mobile foci of IbpA-YFP.
AB  - BACKGROUND: When heterologous recombinant proteins are produced in Escherichia
      coli, they often precipitate to form insoluble aggregates of unfolded
      polypeptides called inclusion bodies. These structures are associated with
      chaperones like IbpA. However, there are reported cases of "non-classical"
      inclusion bodies in which proteins are soluble, folded and active. RESULTS: We
      report that the Brucella abortus PdhS histidine kinase fused to the mCherry
      fluorescent protein forms intermediate aggregates resembling "non-classical"
      inclusion bodies when overproduced in E. coli, before forming "classical"
      inclusion bodies. The intermediate aggregates of PdhS-mCherry are characterized
      by the solubility of PdhS-mCherry, its ability to specifically recruit known
      partners fused to YFP, suggesting that PdhS is folded in these conditions, and
      the quick elimination (in less than 10 min) of these structures when bacterial
      cells are placed on fresh rich medium. Moreover, soluble PdhS-mCherry foci do not
      systematically colocalize with IpbA-YFP, a marker of inclusion bodies. Instead,
      time-lapse experiments show that IbpA-YFP exhibits rapid pole-to-pole shuttling,
      until it partially colocalizes with PdhS-mCherry aggregates. CONCLUSION: The data
      reported here suggest that, in E. coli, recombinant proteins like PdhS-mCherry
      may transit through a soluble and folded state, resembling previously reported
      "non-classical" inclusion bodies, before forming "classical" inclusion bodies.
      The dynamic localization of IbpA-YFP foci suggests that the IbpA chaperone could
      scan the E. coli cell to find its substrates.

PMID- 20920170
TI  - Detection of sexually transmitted infection and human papillomavirus in negative
      cytology by multiplex-PCR.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of human
      papillomavirus (HPV) and 15 species that cause sexually transmitted infections
      (STIs) in negative cytology. In addition, we compared the diagnostic performance
      of multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with widely available techniques
      used to detect HPV. METHODS: We recruited 235 women of reproductive age who had
      negative cytology findings in a liquid-based cervical smear. STIs were identified
      by multiplex PCR, and HPV genotypes by multiplex PCR, hybrid capture 2, and DNA
      microaray; discordant results were analyzed by direct sequencing. RESULTS:
      Approximately 96.6% of patients with negative cytology results were positive for
      pathogens that cause STIs. The pathogens most frequently detected were
      Gardnerella vaginalis, Ureaplasma urealyticum. The incidence of HPV in negative
      cytology was 23.3%. Low-risk HPV infection was significantly correlated with
      Chalmaydia trachomatis, and high-risk HPV infection was significantly correlated
      with Group beta streptococcus. The analytical sensitivities of the multiplex PCR
      and DNA microarray were higher than 80%, and the analytical specificity was
      nearly 100% for all tests. CONCLUSIONS: Multiplex PCR yielded results that most
      of patients with negative cytology were positive for pathogens that cause STIs,
      and were more similar to that of DNA microarray, than that of hybrid capture 2 in
      terms of analytical sensitivity and prediction value of HPV infection.

PMID- 20920171
TI  - Psychometric properties of the DISABKIDS Chronic Generic Module (DCGM-37) when
      used in children undergoing treatment for cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim was to evaluate data quality and psychometric properties of
      an instrument for measurement of health-related quality of life: DISABKIDS
      Chronic Generic Module (DCGM-37) used in school-aged children with cancer.
      METHODS: All school-children diagnosed with cancer in Sweden during a two-and-a
      half year period were invited to participate in the study. Analysis was performed
      on combined data from two assessments, two and-a-half and five months after start
      of cancer treatment (n = 170). The instrument was examined with respect to
      feasibility, data quality, reliability and construct and criterion-based
      validity. RESULTS: Missing items per dimension ranged from 0 to 5.3 percent, with
      a majority below three percent. Cronbach's alpha values exceeded 0.70 for all
      dimensions. There was support for the suggested groupings of items into
      dimensions for all but six of the 36 items of the DCGM-37 included in this study.
      The instrument discriminated satisfactorily between diagnoses reflecting
      treatment burden. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate satisfactory data quality and
      reliability of the DCGM-37 when used in children undergoing treatment for cancer.
      Evaluation of construct validity showed generally acceptable results, although
      not entirely supporting the suggested dimensionality. Continued psychometric
      evaluation in a larger sample of children during and after treatment for cancer
      is recommended.

PMID- 20920172
TI  - Social determinants of rest deprivation amongst Ghanaian women: national and
      urban-rural comparisons with data from a cross-sectional nationally
      representative survey.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Rest deprivation (rest/napping/sleep 6 or less hours daily) is a
      clinically recognised risk factor for poor health, but its epidemiology is little
      studied. This study reports prevalence's and social correlates of rest
      deprivation in Ghana. METHODS: Data are from the 2008 Ghana Demographic and
      Health Survey. Women ages 15-49 were recruited in a national sampling design.
      Respondents were 4,916 women in the national sample, a sub-sample of 530 women in
      the three northernmost rural regions and a sub-sample of 853 women in urban
      Greater Accra. RESULTS: Prevalence's of rest deprivation were 0.13% nationally,
      14.5% in Greater Accra and 16.8% in the North. The significant correlates
      nationally were age, education, wealth index, Christian religion and literacy. In
      Accra, they were age, wealth index, having household electricity, and possession
      of a refrigerator, a stove and a mobile phone. In the North, they were education,
      occupation, drinking water source, possession of motorcycle/scooter, Christian
      religion, literacy, and possession of a clock and a cupboard. In logistic
      regression analyses controlling for age in the national sample, the significant
      odds ratios were 1.40 for no education compared to secondary and higher
      education, 0.78-0.43 for the four poorer wealth quintiles compared to the richest
      wealth index quintile, and 0.55 for Christian religion compared to all
      others.Also controlling for age, the significant odds ratios in Accra were 2.15
      for the second richest wealth quintile compared to the richest quintile and 0.16
      for possession of a mobile phone. In the North they were 0.49 for Christian
      religion compared to all others, 1.87 for having a protected compared to an
      unprotected water source, and 0.41 for having a cupboard in the home.
      CONCLUSIONS: Education, wealth and religion were related to rest deprivation
      nationally but not in the urban and rural regions (except for religion in the
      North). This suggests caution in generalising about the social correlates of rest
      deprivation at a regional level, based on national-level data. Qualitative
      research in local contexts is needed in order to illuminate the social
      determinants of rest pattern, and to provide guidance about better ways to
      measure such determinants in future survey research.

PMID- 20920173
TI  - Small artery elasticity is decreased in patients with systemic lupus
      erythematosus without increased intima media thickness.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The objectives of this study were to determine small arterial
      elasticity (SAE) in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and to investigate its
      relationship with intima media thickness (IMT), accumulation of advanced
      glycation end products (AGEs), endothelial activation and inflammation. METHODS:
      Thirty SLE patients with inactive disease and 30 age- and sex-matched healthy
      controls were included. Twenty patients with essential hypertension (EH) served
      as positive control. SAE was assessed by pulse-wave analysis using tonometric
      recordings of the radial artery. IMT of the carotid arteries was measured by
      ultrasound. AGE accumulation was assessed with an AGE-reader. Endothelial
      activation markers and C-reactive protein (CRP) were determined by enzyme-linked
      immunosorbent assay (ELISA). RESULTS: SAE was decreased in SLE (P = 0.01) and
      further decreased in EH (P < 0.01) compared to healthy controls. IMT was
      increased in EH (P < 0.05), but not in SLE. AGE accumulation was increased in SLE
      (P < 0.05) and further increased in EH (P < 0.01) compared to healthy controls.
      Endothelial activation markers and CRP were increased in SLE but not in EH. SAE
      related to AGE accumulation (r = -0.370, P < 0.05), CRP (r = -0.429, P < 0.05)
      and creatinine clearance (r = 0.440, P < 0.05), but not to IMT and endothelial
      activation markers. In multivariate analysis SLE was an independent predictor of
      SAE. CONCLUSIONS: SAE is decreased in SLE patients without increased IMT,
      independently of traditional cardiovascular risk factors. Longitudinal studies
      are needed to investigate whether SAE, endothelial activation and AGE
      accumulation are early markers for cardiovascular disease in SLE.

PMID- 20920174
TI  - Polymorphisms of genes coding for ghrelin and its receptor in relation to
      colorectal cancer risk: a two-step gene-wide case-control study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Ghrelin, an endogenous ligand for the growth hormone secretagogue
      receptor (GHSR), has two major functions: the stimulation of the growth hormone
      production and the stimulation of food intake. Accumulating evidence also
      indicates a role of ghrelin in cancer development. METHODS: We conducted a case
      control study to examine the association of common genetic variants in the genes
      coding for ghrelin (GHRL) and its receptor (GHSR) with colorectal cancer risk.
      Pairwise tagging was used to select the 11 polymorphisms included in the study.
      The selected polymorphisms were genotyped in 680 cases and 593 controls from the
      Czech Republic. RESULTS: We found two SNPs associated with lower risk of
      colorectal cancer, namely SNPs rs27647 and rs35683. We replicated the two hits,
      in additional 569 cases and 726 controls from Germany. CONCLUSION: A joint
      analysis of the two populations indicated that the T allele of rs27647 SNP
      exerted a protective borderline effect (Ptrend = 0.004).

PMID- 20920175
TI  - Clinical characteristics and outcomes of patients with acute myelogenous leukemia
      admitted to intensive care: a case-control study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is limited epidemiologic data on patients with acute
      myelogenous (myeloid) leukemia (AML) requiring life-sustaining therapies in the
      intensive care unit (ICU). Our objectives were to describe the clinical
      characteristics and outcomes in critically ill AML patients. METHODS: This was a
      retrospective case-control study. Cases were defined as adult patients with a
      primary diagnosis of AML admitted to ICU at the University of Alberta Hospital
      between January 1st 2002 and June 30th 2008. Each case was matched by age, sex,
      and illness severity (ICU only) to two control groups: hospitalized AML controls,
      and non-AML ICU controls. Data were extracted on demographics, course of
      hospitalization, and clinical outcomes. RESULTS: In total, 45 AML patients with
      available data were admitted to ICU. Mean (SD) age was 54.8 (13.1) years and
      28.9% were female. Primary diagnoses were sepsis (32.6%) and respiratory failure
      (37.3%). Mean (SD) APACHE II score was 30.3 (10.3), SOFA score 12.6 (4.0) with
      62.2% receiving mechanical ventilation, 55.6% vasoactive therapy, and 26.7% renal
      replacement therapy. Crude in-hospital, 90-day and 1-year mortality was 44.4%,
      51.1% and 71.1%, respectively. AML cases had significantly higher adjusted
      hazards of death (HR 2.23; 95% CI, 1.38-3.60, p = 0.001) compared to both non-AML
      ICU controls (HR 1.69; 95% CI, 1.11-2.58, p = 0.02) and hospitalized AML controls
      (OR 1.0, reference variable). Factors associated with ICU mortality by univariate
      analysis included older age, AML subtype, higher baseline SOFA score, no change
      or an increase in early SOFA score, shock, vasoactive therapy and mechanical
      ventilation. Active chemotherapy in ICU was associated with lower mortality.
      CONCLUSIONS: AML patients may represent a minority of all critically ill
      admissions; however, are not uncommonly supported in ICU. These AML patients are
      characterized by high illness severity, multi-organ dysfunction, and high
      treatment intensity and have a higher risk of death when compared with matched
      hospitalized AML or non-AML ICU controls. The absence of early improvement in
      organ failure may be a useful predictor for mortality for AML patients admitted
      to ICU.

PMID- 20920176
TI  - ExaCT: automatic extraction of clinical trial characteristics from journal
      publications.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Clinical trials are one of the most important sources of evidence for
      guiding evidence-based practice and the design of new trials. However, most of
      this information is available only in free text - e.g., in journal publications -
      which is labour intensive to process for systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and
      other evidence synthesis studies. This paper presents an automatic information
      extraction system, called ExaCT, that assists users with locating and extracting
      key trial characteristics (e.g., eligibility criteria, sample size, drug dosage,
      primary outcomes) from full-text journal articles reporting on randomized
      controlled trials (RCTs). METHODS: ExaCT consists of two parts: an information
      extraction (IE) engine that searches the article for text fragments that best
      describe the trial characteristics, and a web browser-based user interface that
      allows human reviewers to assess and modify the suggested selections. The IE
      engine uses a statistical text classifier to locate those sentences that have the
      highest probability of describing a trial characteristic. Then, the IE engine's
      second stage applies simple rules to these sentences to extract text fragments
      containing the target answer. The same approach is used for all 21 trial
      characteristics selected for this study. RESULTS: We evaluated ExaCT using 50
      previously unseen articles describing RCTs. The text classifier (first stage) was
      able to recover 88% of relevant sentences among its top five candidates (top5
      recall) with the topmost candidate being relevant in 80% of cases (top1
      precision). Precision and recall of the extraction rules (second stage) were 93%
      and 91%, respectively. Together, the two stages of the extraction engine were
      able to provide (partially) correct solutions in 992 out of 1050 test tasks
      (94%), with a majority of these (696) representing fully correct and complete
      answers. CONCLUSIONS: Our experiments confirmed the applicability and efficacy of
      ExaCT. Furthermore, they demonstrated that combining a statistical method with
      'weak' extraction rules can identify a variety of study characteristics. The
      system is flexible and can be extended to handle other characteristics and
      document types (e.g., study protocols).

PMID- 20920177
TI  - Glucose uptake regulation in E. coli by the small RNA SgrS: comparative analysis
      of E. coli K-12 (JM109 and MG1655) and E. coli B (BL21).
AB  - BACKGROUND: The effect of high glucose concentration on the transcription levels
      of the small RNA SgrS and the messenger RNA ptsG, (encoding the glucose
      transporter IICBGlc), was studied in both E. coli K-12 (MG1655 and JM109) and E.
      coli B (BL21). It is known that the transcription level of sgrS increases when E.
      coli K-12 (MG1655 and JM109) is exposed to the non-metabolized glucose alpha
      methyl glucoside (alphaMG) or when the bacteria with a defective glycolysis
      pathway is grown in presence of glucose. The increased level of sRNA SgrS reduces
      the level of the ptsG mRNA and consequently lowers the level of the glucose
      transporter IICBGlc. The suggested trigger for this action is the accumulation of
      the corresponding phospho-sugars. RESULTS: In the course of the described work,
      it was found that E. coli B (BL21) and E. coli K-12 (JM109 and MG1655) responded
      similarly to alphaMG: both strains increased SgrS transcription and reduced ptsG
      transcription. However, the two strains reacted differently to high glucose
      concentration (40 g/L). E. coli B (BL21) reacted by increasing sgrS transcription
      and reducing ptsG transcription while E. coli K-12 (JM109 and MG1655) did not
      respond to the high glucose concentration, and, therefore, transcription of sgrS
      was not detected and ptsG mRNA level was not affected. CONCLUSIONS: The results
      suggest that E. coli B (BL21) tolerates high glucose concentration not only by
      its more efficient central carbon metabolism, but also by controlling the glucose
      transport into the cells regulated by the sRNA SgrS, which may suggest a way to
      control glucose consumption and increase its efficient utilization.

PMID- 20920178
TI  - Lipofibromatous hamartoma of the median nerve.
AB  - Lipofibromatous hamartoma is a rare tumour of peripheral nerves which is
      characterised by an excessive infiltration of the epineurium and perineurium by
      fibroadipose tissue. To the best of our knowledge, only approximately 88 cases
      are reported in the literature. We report a rare case of lipofibromatous
      hamartoma of the median nerve causing secondary carpal tunnel syndrome in a 25
      year old patient. This patient was treated conservatively with decompression and
      biopsy and experienced a complete resolution of symptoms post-operatively.
      Magnetic resonance imaging may be used to diagnose this lesion as it has very
      distinctive characteristics. Multiple conditions have been associated with this
      lesion and a greater understanding of these associations may clarify the
      pathogenesis. The architecture of the tumour makes excision very challenging and
      the surgical management remains controversial. A review of the literature
      regarding the etiology, pathogenesis and surgical management of lipofibromatous
      hamartoma is included.

PMID- 20920179
TI  - Predictors of switching antipsychotic medications in the treatment of
      schizophrenia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To identify patient characteristics and early changes in patients'
      clinical status that best predict subsequent switching of antipsychotic agents in
      the long-term treatment of schizophrenia. METHODS: This post-hoc analysis used
      data from a one-year randomized, open-label, multisite study of antipsychotics in
      the treatment of schizophrenia. The study protocol permitted switching of
      antipsychotics when clinically warranted after the first eight weeks. Baseline
      patient characteristics were assessed using standard psychiatric measures and
      reviews of medical records. The prediction model included baseline
      sociodemographics, comorbid psychiatric and non-psychiatric conditions, body
      weight, clinical and functional variables, as well as change scores on standard
      efficacy and tolerability measures during the first two weeks of treatment. Cox
      proportional hazards modeling was used to identify the best predictors of
      switching from the initially assigned antipsychotic medication. RESULTS: About
      one-third of patients (29.5%, 191/648) switched antipsychotics before the end of
      the one-year study. There were six variables identified as the best predictors of
      switching: lack of antipsychotic use in the prior year, pre-existing depression,
      female gender, lack of substance use disorder, worsening of akathisia (as
      measured by the Barnes Akathisia Scale), and worsening of symptoms of
      depression/anxiety (subscale score on the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale)
      during the first two weeks of antipsychotic therapy. CONCLUSIONS: Switching
      antipsychotics appears to be prevalent in the naturalistic treatment of
      schizophrenia and can be predicted by a small and distinct set of variables.
      Interestingly, worsening of anxiety and depressive symptoms and of akathisia
      following two weeks of treatment were among the more robust predictors of
      subsequent switching of antipsychotics.

PMID- 20920180
TI  - Individual patient data meta-analysis of acupuncture for chronic pain: protocol
      of the Acupuncture Trialists' Collaboration.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The purpose of clinical trials of acupuncture is to help clinicians
      and patients make decisions about treatment. Yet this is not straightforward:
      some trials report acupuncture to be superior to sham (placebo) acupuncture while
      others show evidence that acupuncture is superior to usual care but not sham, and
      still others conclude that acupuncture is no better than usual care. Meta
      analyses of these trials tend to come to somewhat indeterminate conclusions. This
      appears to be because, until recently, acupuncture research was dominated by
      small trials of questionable quality. The Acupuncture Trialists' Collaboration, a
      group of trialists, statisticians and other researchers, was established to
      synthesize patient-level data from several recently published large, high-quality
      trials. METHODS: There are three distinct phases to the Acupuncture Trialists
      Collaboration: a systematic review to identify eligible studies; collation and
      harmonization of raw data; statistical analysis. To be eligible, trials must have
      unambiguous allocation concealment. Eligible pain conditions are osteoarthritis;
      chronic headache (tension or migraine headache); shoulder pain; and non-specific
      back or neck pain. Once received, patient-level data will undergo quality checks
      and the results of prior publications will be replicated. The primary analysis
      will be to determine the effect size of acupuncture. Each trial will be evaluated
      by analysis of covariance with the principal endpoint as the dependent variable
      and, as covariates, the baseline score for the principal endpoint and the
      variables used to stratify randomization. The effect size for acupuncture from
      each trial--that is, the coefficient and standard error from the analysis of
      covariance--will then be entered into a meta-analysis. We will compute effect
      sizes separately for comparisons of acupuncture with sham acupuncture, and
      acupuncture with no acupuncture control for each pain condition. Other analyses
      will investigate the impact of different sham techniques, styles of acupuncture
      or frequency and duration of treatment sessions. DISCUSSION: Individual patient
      data meta-analysis of high-quality trials will provide the most reliable basis
      for treatment decisions about acupuncture. Above all, however, we hope that our
      approach can serve as a model for future studies in acupuncture and other
      complementary therapies.

PMID- 20920181
TI  - Proteomic analysis of Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis following
      propionate adaptation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Salmonella Enteritidis is a highly prevalent and persistent foodborne
      pathogen and is therefore a leading cause of nontyphoidal gastrointestinal
      disease worldwide. A variety of stresses are endured throughout its infection
      cycle, including high concentrations of propionate (PA) within food processing
      systems and within the gut of infected hosts. Prolonged PA exposure experienced
      in such milieus may have a drastic effect on the proteome of Salmonella
      Enteritidis subjected to this stress. RESULTS: In this study, we used 2 D gel
      electrophoresis to examine the proteomes of PA adapted and unadapted S.
      Enteritidis and have identified five proteins that are upregulated in PA adapted
      cultures using standard peptide mass fingerprinting by MALDI-TOF-MS and
      sequencing by MALDI LIFT-TOF/TOF tandem mass spectrometry. Of these five, two
      significant stress-related proteins (Dps and CpxR) were shown (via qRT-PCR
      analysis) to be upregulated at the transcriptional level as well. Unlike the wild
      type when adapted to PA (which demonstrates significant acid resistance), PA
      adapted S. Enteritidis ?dps and S. Enteritidis ?cpxR were at a clear disadvantage
      when challenged to a highly acidic environment. However, we found the acid
      resistance to be fully restorable after genetic complementation. CONCLUSIONS:
      This work reveals a significant difference in the proteomes of PA adapted and
      unadapted S. Enteritidis and affirms the contribution of Dps and CpxR in PA
      induced acid resistance.

PMID- 20920182
TI  - Axis I comorbidity in adolescent inpatients referred for treatment of substance
      use disorders.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To assess comorbid DSM-IV-TR Axis I disorders in adolescent
      inpatients referred for treatment of substance use disorders. METHODS: 151
      patients (mean age 16.95 years, SD = 1.76; range 13 - 22) were consecutively
      assessed with the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) and
      standardized clinical questionnaires to assess mental disorders, symptom
      distress, psychosocial variables and detailed aspects of drug use. A
      consecutively referred subgroup of these 151 patients consisting of 65 underage
      patients (mean age 16.12, SD = 1.10; range 13 - 17) was additionally assessed
      with the modules for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and conduct
      disorder (CD) using The Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for
      school-aged children (K-SADS-PL). RESULTS: 128 (84.8%) of the 151 patients were
      dependent on at least one substance, the remaining patients fulfilled diagnostic
      criteria for abuse only. 40.5% of the participants fulfilled criteria for at
      least one comorbid present Axis I disorder other than substance use disorders
      (67.7% in the subgroup additionally interviewed with the K-SADS-PL). High
      prevalences of present mood disorder (19.2%), somatoform disorders (9.3%), and
      anxiety disorders (22.5%) were found. The 37 female participants showed a
      significantly higher risk for lifetime comorbid disorders; the gender difference
      was significantly pronounced for anxiety and somatoform disorders. Data from the
      underage subgroup revealed a high prevalence for present CD (41.5%). 33% of the
      106 patients (total group) who were within the mandatory school age had not
      attended school for at least a two-month period prior to admission. In addition,
      51.4% had been temporarily expelled from school at least once. CONCLUSIONS: The
      present data validates previous findings of high psychiatric comorbidity in
      adolescent patients with substance use disorders. The high rates of school
      refusal and conduct disorder indicate the severity of psychosocial impairment.

PMID- 20920183
TI  - Do patients think cannabis causes schizophrenia? - A qualitative study on the
      causal beliefs of cannabis using patients with schizophrenia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There has been a considerable amount of debate among the research
      community whether cannabis use may cause schizophrenia and whether cannabis use
      of patients with schizophrenia is associated with earlier and more frequent
      relapses. Considering that studies exploring patients' view on controversial
      topics have contributed to our understanding of important clinical issues, it is
      surprising how little these views have been explored to add to our understanding
      of the link between cannabis and psychosis. The present study was designed to
      elucidate whether patients with schizophrenia who use cannabis believe that its
      use has caused their schizophrenia and to explore these patients other beliefs
      and perceptions about the effects of the drug. METHODS: We recruited ten
      consecutive patients fulfilling criteria for paranoid schizophrenia and for a
      harmful use of/dependence from cannabis (ICD-10 F20.0 + F12.1 or F12.2) from the
      in- and outpatient clinic of the Psychiatric University Hospital Zurich. They
      were interviewed using qualitative methodology. Furthermore, information on
      amount, frequency, and effects of use was obtained. A grounded theory approach to
      data analysis was taken to evaluate findings. RESULTS: None of the patients
      described a causal link between the use of cannabis and their schizophrenia.
      Disease models included upbringing under difficult circumstances (5) or use of
      substances other than cannabis (e. g. hallucinogens, 3). Two patients gave other
      reasons. Four patients considered cannabis a therapeutic aid and reported that
      positive effects (reduction of anxiety and tension) prevailed over its possible
      disadvantages (exacerbation of positive symptoms). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with
      schizophrenia did not establish a causal link between schizophrenia and the use
      of cannabis. We suggest that clinicians consider our findings in their work with
      patients suffering from these co-occurring disorders. Withholding treatment or
      excluding patients from certain treatment settings like day-care facilities or in
      patient care because of their use of cannabis, may cause additional harm to this
      already heavily burdened patient group.

PMID- 20920184
TI  - Identification of Burkholderia mallei and Burkholderia pseudomallei adhesins for
      human respiratory epithelial cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Burkholderia pseudomallei and Burkholderia mallei cause the diseases
      melioidosis and glanders, respectively. A well-studied aspect of pathogenesis by
      these closely-related bacteria is their ability to invade and multiply within
      eukaryotic cells. In contrast, the means by which B. pseudomallei and B. mallei
      adhere to cells are poorly defined. The purpose of this study was to identify
      adherence factors expressed by these organisms. RESULTS: Comparative sequence
      analyses identified a gene product in the published genome of B. mallei strain
      ATCC23344 (locus # BMAA0649) that resembles the well-characterized Yersinia
      enterocolitica autotransporter adhesin YadA. The gene encoding this B. mallei
      protein, designated boaA, was expressed in Escherichia coli and shown to
      significantly increase adherence to human epithelial cell lines, specifically
      HEp2 (laryngeal cells) and A549 (type II pneumocytes), as well as to cultures of
      normal human bronchial epithelium (NHBE). Consistent with these findings,
      disruption of the boaA gene in B. mallei ATCC23344 reduced adherence to all three
      cell types by ~50%. The genomes of the B. pseudomallei strains K96243 and DD503
      were also found to contain boaA and inactivation of the gene in DD503
      considerably decreased binding to monolayers of HEp2 and A549 cells and to NHBE
      cultures.A second YadA-like gene product highly similar to BoaA (65% identity)
      was identified in the published genomic sequence of B. pseudomallei strain K96243
      (locus # BPSL1705). The gene specifying this protein, termed boaB, appears to be
      B. pseudomallei-specific. Quantitative attachment assays demonstrated that
      recombinant E. coli expressing BoaB displayed greater binding to A549
      pneumocytes, HEp2 cells and NHBE cultures. Moreover, a boaB mutant of B.
      pseudomallei DD503 showed decreased adherence to these respiratory cells.
      Additionally, a B. pseudomallei strain lacking expression of both boaA and boaB
      was impaired in its ability to thrive inside J774A.1 murine macrophages,
      suggesting a possible role for these proteins in survival within professional
      phagocytic cells. CONCLUSIONS: The boaA and boaB genes specify adhesins that
      mediate adherence to epithelial cells of the human respiratory tract. The boaA
      gene product is shared by B. pseudomallei and B. mallei whereas BoaB appears to
      be a B. pseudomallei-specific adherence factor.

PMID- 20920185
TI  - In vivo whole-cell patch-clamp recording of sensory synaptic responses of
      cingulate pyramidal neurons to noxious mechanical stimuli in adult mice.
AB  - The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) plays important roles in emotion, learning,
      memory and persistent pain. Our previous in vitro studies have demonstrated that
      pyramidal neurons in layer II/III of the adult mouse ACC can be characterized
      into three types: regular spiking (RS), intermediate (IM) and intrinsic bursting
      (IB) cells, according to their action potential (AP) firing patterns. However, no
      in vivo information is available for the intrinsic properties and sensory
      responses of ACC neurons of adult mice. Here, we performed in vivo whole-cell
      patch-clamp recordings from pyramidal neurons in adult mice ACC under urethane
      anesthetized conditions. First, we classified the intrinsic properties and
      analyzed their slow oscillations. The population ratios of RS, IM and IB cells
      were 10, 62 and 28%, respectively. The mean spontaneous APs frequency of IB cells
      was significantly greater than those of RS and IM cells, while the slow
      oscillations were similar among ACC neurons. Peripheral noxious pinch stimuli
      induced evoked spike responses in all three types of ACC neurons. Interestingly,
      IB cells showed significantly greater firing frequencies than RS and IM cells. In
      contrast, non-noxious brush did not induce any significant response. Our studies
      provide the first in vivo characterization of ACC neurons in adult mice, and
      demonstrate that ACC neurons are indeed nociceptive. These findings support the
      critical roles of ACC in nociception, from mice to humans.

PMID- 20920186
TI  - Zinc and vitamin A supplementation fails to reduce sputum conversion time in
      severely malnourished pulmonary tuberculosis patients in Indonesia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A previous study showed that combination of zinc and vitamin A
      reduced sputum conversion time in pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) patients.
      OBJECTIVE: We studied the efficacy of which single micronutrient contributed more
      to the sputum conversion time. METHODS: In a double-blind randomized community
      trial, newly sputum smear positive pulmonary TB patients were assigned randomly
      to receive zinc, vitamin A, zinc + vitamin A or placebo on top of TB treatment.
      Patients were asked to deliver their sputum on weekly basis to measure positivity
      of the bacteria. Nutritional status, chest x-ray, hemoglobin, C-reactive protein
      (CRP), retinol and zinc level were examined prior to, after 2 and 6 months of
      treatment. RESULTS: Initially, 300 patients were enrolled, and 255 finished the
      treatment. Most patients were severely malnourished (mean BMI 16.5 +/- 2.2
      Kg/m2). Patients in the zinc + vitamin A group showed earlier sputum conversion
      time (mean 1.9 weeks) compared with that in the other groups; however the
      difference was not significant. Also, no benefit could be demonstrated of any of
      the used supplementations on clinical, nutritional, chest x-ray, or laboratory
      findings. CONCLUSIONS: This study among severely malnourished TB patients, did
      not confirm that single or combined supplementation of zinc and vitamin A
      significantly reduced sputum conversion time or had other significant benefit.

PMID- 20920187
TI  - Selective amplification of Brucella melitensis mRNA from a mixed host-pathogen
      total RNA.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Brucellosis is a worldwide anthropozoonotic disease caused by an in
      vivo intracellular pathogen belonging to genus Brucella. The characterization of
      brucelae transcriptome's during host-pathogen interaction has been limited due to
      the difficulty of obtaining an adequate quantity of good quality eukaryotic RNA
      free pathogen RNA for downstream applications. FINDINGS: Here, we describe a
      combined protocol to prepare RNA from intracellular B. melitensis in a quantity
      and quality suitable for pathogen gene expression analysis. Initially, B.
      melitensis total RNA was enriched from a host:pathogen mixed RNA sample by
      reducing the eukaryotic RNA..Then, to increase the Brucella RNA concentration and
      simultaneously minimize the contaminated host RNA in the mixed sample, a specific
      primer set designed to anneal to all B. melitensis ORF allows the selective
      linear amplification of sense-strand prokaryotic transcripts in a previously
      enriched RNA sample. CONCLUSION: The novelty of the method we present here allows
      analysis of the gene expression profile of B. melitensis when limited amounts of
      pathogen RNA are present, and is potentially applicable to both in vivo and in
      vitro models of infection, even at early infection time points.

PMID- 20920188
TI  - Evolutionary lability of a complex life cycle in the aphid genus Brachycaudus.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Most aphid species complete their life cycle on the same set of host
      plant species, but some (heteroecious species) alternate between different hosts,
      migrating from primary (woody) to secondary (herbaceous) host plants. The
      evolutionary processes behind the evolution of this complex life cycle have often
      been debated. One widely accepted scenario is that heteroecy evolved from monoecy
      on woody host plants. Several shifts towards monoecy on herbaceous plants have
      subsequently occurred and resulted in the radiation of aphids. Host alternation
      would have persisted in some cases due to developmental constraints preventing
      aphids from shifting their entire life cycle to herbaceous hosts (which are
      thought to be more favourable). According to this scenario, if aphids lose their
      primary host during evolution they should not regain it. The genus Brachycaudus
      includes species with all the types of life cycle (monoecy on woody plants,
      heteroecy, monoecy on herbs). We used this genus to test hypotheses concerning
      the evolution of life cycles in aphids. RESULTS: Phylogenetic investigation and
      character reconstruction suggest that life cycle is evolutionary labile in the
      genus. Though ancestral character states can be ambiguous depending on
      optimization methods, all analyses suggest that transitions from monoecy on herbs
      towards heteroecy have occurred several times. Transitions from heteroecy towards
      monoecy, are also likely. There have been many shifts in feeding behaviour but we
      found no significant correlation between life cycle changes and changes in diet.
      CONCLUSIONS: The transitions from monoecy on herbs towards heteroecy observed in
      this study go against a widely accepted evolutionary scenario: aphids in the
      genus Brachycaudus seem to be able to recapture their supposedly ancestral woody
      host. This suggests that the determinants of host alternation are probably not as
      complicated as previously thought. Definitive proofs of the lability of life
      cycle in Brachycaudus will necessitate investigation of these determinants. Life
      cycle changes, whether corresponding to the loss or acquisition of a primary
      host, necessarily promote speciation, by inducing shifts of the reproductive
      phase on different plants. We suggest that the evolutionary lability of life
      cycle may have driven speciation events in the Brachycaudus genus.

PMID- 20920189
TI  - Quercetin prevents progression of disease in elastase/LPS-exposed mice by
      negatively regulating MMP expression.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is characterized by
      chronic bronchitis, emphysema and irreversible airflow limitation. These changes
      are thought to be due to oxidative stress and an imbalance of proteases and
      antiproteases. Quercetin, a plant flavonoid, is a potent antioxidant and anti
      inflammatory agent. We hypothesized that quercetin reduces lung inflammation and
      improves lung function in elastase/lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-exposed mice which
      show typical features of COPD, including airways inflammation, goblet cell
      metaplasia, and emphysema. METHODS: Mice treated with elastase and LPS once a
      week for 4 weeks were subsequently administered 0.5 mg of quercetin dihydrate or
      50% propylene glycol (vehicle) by gavage for 10 days. Lungs were examined for
      elastance, oxidative stress, inflammation, and matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)
      activity. Effects of quercetin on MMP transcription and activity were examined in
      LPS-exposed murine macrophages. RESULTS: Quercetin-treated, elastase/LPS-exposed
      mice showed improved elastic recoil and decreased alveolar chord length compared
      to vehicle-treated controls. Quercetin-treated mice showed decreased levels of
      thiobarbituric acid reactive substances, a measure of lipid peroxidation caused
      by oxidative stress. Quercetin also reduced lung inflammation, goblet cell
      metaplasia, and mRNA expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines and muc5AC.
      Quercetin treatment decreased the expression and activity of MMP9 and MMP12 in
      vivo and in vitro, while increasing expression of the histone deacetylase Sirt-1
      and suppressing MMP promoter H4 acetylation. Finally, co-treatment with the Sirt
      1 inhibitor sirtinol blocked the effects of quercetin on the lung phenotype.
      CONCLUSIONS: Quercetin prevents progression of emphysema in elastase/LPS-treated
      mice by reducing oxidative stress, lung inflammation and expression of MMP9 and
      MMP12.

PMID- 20920190
TI  - Interaction of sleep quality and psychosocial stress on obesity in African
      Americans: the Cardiovascular Health Epidemiology Study (CHES).
AB  - BACKGROUND: Compared with whites, sleep disturbance and sleep deprivation appear
      more prevalent in African Americans (AA). Long-term sleep deprivation may
      increase the risk of obesity through multiple metabolic and endocrine
      alterations. Previous studies have reported contradictory results on the
      association between habitual sleep duration and obesity. Accordingly, we aimed to
      assess whether sleep quality and duration are inversely associated with body mass
      index (BMI) and obesity and test whether these associations are modified by
      psychosocial stress, known to influence sleep quality. METHODS: A sample of 1,515
      AA residents of metropolitan Atlanta, aged 30-65 years, was recruited by a random
      digit-dialing method in 2007-08. The outcome obesity was defined by BMI (kg/m2)
      continuously and categorically (BMI >= 30 versus BMI < 30). Global sleep quality
      (GSQ) score was computed as the sum of response values for the seven components
      of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) scale. GSQ score was defined as a
      continuous variable (range 0-21) and as tertiles. The general perceived stress
      (GPS), derived from the validated Cohen scale, was categorized into tertiles to
      test the interaction. Chi-square tests, correlation coefficients and weighted
      multiple linear and logistic regression were used to assess the associations of
      GSQ, GPS and obesity. RESULTS: The mean (standard deviation) age was 47.5 (17.0)
      years, and 1,096 (72%) were women. GSQ score categorized into tertiles was
      associated with BMI. Among women, after multivariable adjustment that included
      age, gender, physical activity, smoking status, education, total family income,
      financial stress and history of hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, diabetes and
      myocardial infarction, obesity was associated with sleep quality as assessed by
      GSQ continuous score, [odds ratio, OR (95% C.I.): 1.08 (1.03 - 1.12)], and with a
      worse sleep disturbance subcomponent score [OR (95% C.I.): 1.48 (1.16 - 1.89)].
      Among all participants, stress modified the association between obesity and sleep
      quality; there was an increased likelihood of obesity in the medium stress
      category, OR (95% C.I.): 1.09 (1.02 - 1.17). CONCLUSION: Sleep quality was
      associated with obesity in women. The association of sleep quality with obesity
      was modified by perceived stress. Our results indicate the need for simultaneous
      assessment of sleep and stress.

PMID- 20920192
TI  - Plant sterols, marine-derived omega-3 fatty acids and other functional
      ingredients: a new frontier for treating hyperlipidemia.
AB  - As hyperlipidemia, including hypercholesterolemia (HC) and hypertriglyceridemia
      (HTN), continue to challenge North America's healthcare systems, patients
      continue to seek efficacious and safe natural therapies that complement
      pharmaceutical interventions. However, despite the ever-growing body of research
      supporting the use of functional foods and nutraceuticals (FFN) for the
      prevention and treatment of hyperlipidemia, reception amongst the medical
      community regarding the implementation of FFN into clinical guidelines continues
      to lag. Research demonstrates that specific FFN target and modulate molecular
      processes that perpetuate hyperlipidemia. In addition, studies consistently
      demonstrate that combining certain FFN such as marine-derived omega-3 fatty acids
      or plant sterols/stanols with statins enhances triglyceride and cholesterol
      lowering efficacy, respectively. Thus, the purpose of this commentary is to
      contend that efficacious FFN not only reduce HC and HTG but also boost the lipid
      lowering effects of pharmaceutical hypolipidemic medications. Finally, this
      editorial aims to challenge current medical guidelines to emphasize efficacious
      FFN during all stages of treatment of hyperlipidemias as adjuncts to
      pharmacotherapy.

PMID- 20920191
TI  - An improved, high-quality draft genome sequence of the Germination-Arrest Factor
      producing Pseudomonas fluorescens WH6.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pseudomonas fluorescens is a genetically and physiologically diverse
      species of bacteria present in many habitats and in association with plants. This
      species of bacteria produces a large array of secondary metabolites with
      potential as natural products. P. fluorescens isolate WH6 produces Germination
      Arrest Factor (GAF), a predicted small peptide or amino acid analog with
      herbicidal activity that specifically inhibits germination of seeds of
      graminaceous species. RESULTS: We used a hybrid next-generation sequencing
      approach to develop a high-quality draft genome sequence for P. fluorescens WH6.
      We employed automated, manual, and experimental methods to further improve the
      draft genome sequence. From this assembly of 6.27 megabases, we predicted 5876
      genes, of which 3115 were core to P. fluorescens and 1567 were unique to WH6.
      Comparative genomic studies of WH6 revealed high similarity in synteny and
      orthology of genes with P. fluorescens SBW25. A phylogenomic study also placed
      WH6 in the same lineage as SBW25. In a previous non-saturating mutagenesis screen
      we identified two genes necessary for GAF activity in WH6. Mapping of their
      flanking sequences revealed genes that encode a candidate anti-sigma factor and
      an aminotransferase. Finally, we discovered several candidate virulence and host
      association mechanisms, one of which appears to be a complete type III secretion
      system. CONCLUSIONS: The improved high-quality draft genome sequence of WH6
      contributes towards resolving the P. fluorescens species, providing additional
      impetus for establishing two separate lineages in P. fluorescens. Despite the
      high levels of orthology and synteny to SBW25, WH6 still had a substantial number
      of unique genes and represents another source for the discovery of genes with
      implications in affecting plant growth and health. Two genes are demonstrably
      necessary for GAF and further characterization of their proteins is important for
      developing natural products as control measure against grassy weeds. Finally, WH6
      is the first isolate of P. fluorescens reported to encode a complete T3SS. This
      gives us the opportunity to explore the role of what has traditionally been
      thought of as a virulence mechanism for non-pathogenic interactions with plants.

PMID- 20920193
TI  - Extreme loss of immunoreactive p-Akt and p-Erk1/2 during routine fixation of
      primary breast cancer.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Very few studies have investigated whether the time elapsed between
      surgical resection and tissue fixation or the difference between core-cut and
      excision biopsies impact on immunohistochemically measured biomarkers including
      phosphorylated proteins in primary breast cancer. The aim of this study was to
      characterize the differences in immunoreactivity of common biomarkers that may
      occur (a) due to tissue handling at surgery and (b) between core-cuts and
      resected tumours. METHODS: Core-cuts taken from surgical breast cancer specimens
      immediately after resection (sample A) and after routine X-ray of the excised
      tumour (sample B) were formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded and compared to the
      routinely fixed resection specimen (sample C). The variation in
      immunohistochemical expression of Ki67, oestrogen receptor (ER), progesterone
      receptor (PgR), human epidermal growth factor 2 (HER2), p-Akt and p-Erk were
      investigated. RESULTS: Twenty-one tissue sets with adequate tumour were
      available. Median time between collection of core-cuts A and B was 30 minutes
      (range 20 to 80). None of the markers showed significant differences between
      samples A and B. Similarly, Ki67, ER, PgR and HER2 did not differ significantly
      between core-cuts and main resection specimen although there was a trend for
      lower resection values for ER (P=0.06). However, p-Akt and p-Erk1/2 were markedly
      lower in resections than core-cuts (median 27 vs 101 and 69 vs 193, respectively;
      both P<0.0001 [two-sided]). This difference was significantly greater in
      mastectomy than lumpectomy specimens for p-Erk1/2 (P=0.01). CONCLUSIONS: The
      delay in fixation in core-cuts taken after post-operative X-ray of resection
      specimens has no significant impact on expression of Ki67, ER, PgR, HER2, p-Akt
      or p-Erk1/2. However extreme loss of phospho-staining can occur during routine
      fixation of resection specimens. These differences are likely attributable to
      suboptimal fixation and may have major repercussions for clinical research
      involving these markers.

PMID- 20920194
TI  - Cytotoxic activity of Thai medicinal plants against human cholangiocarcinoma,
      laryngeal and hepatocarcinoma cells in vitro.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cholangiocarcinoma is a serious public health in Thailand with
      increasing incidence and mortality rates. The present study aimed to investigate
      cytotoxic activities of crude ethanol extracts of a total of 28 plants and 5
      recipes used in Thai folklore medicine against human cholangiocarcinoma (CL-6),
      human laryngeal (Hep-2), and human hepatocarcinoma (HepG2) cell lines in vitro.
      METHODS: Cytotoxic activity of the plant extracts against the cancerous cell
      lines compared with normal cell line (renal epithelial cell: HRE) were assessed
      using MTT assay. 5-fluorouracil was used as a positive control. The IC50
      (concentration that inhibits cell growth by 50%) and the selectivity index (SI)
      were calculated. RESULTS: The extracts from seven plant species (Atractylodes
      lancea, Kaempferia galangal, Zingiber officinal, Piper chaba, Mesua ferrea,
      Ligusticum sinense, Mimusops elengi) and one folklore recipe (Pra-Sa-Prao-Yhai)
      exhibited promising activity against the cholangiocarcinoma CL-6 cell line with
      survival of less than 50% at the concentration of 50 MUg/ml. Among these, the
      extracts from the five plants and one recipe (Atractylodes lancea, Kaempferia
      galangal, Zingiber officinal, Piper chaba, Mesua ferrea, and Pra-Sa-Prao-Yhai
      recipe) showed potent cytotoxic activity with mean IC50 values of 24.09, 37.36,
      34.26, 40.74, 48.23 and 44.12 MUg/ml, respectively. All possessed high activity
      against Hep-2 cell with mean IC50 ranging from 18.93 to 32.40 MUg/ml. In
      contrast, activity against the hepatoma cell HepG2 varied markedly; mean IC50
      ranged from 9.67 to 115.47 MUg/ml. The only promising extract was from Zingiber
      officinal (IC50=9.67 MUg/ml). The sensitivity of all the four cells to 5-FU also
      varied according to cell types, particularly with CL-6 cell (IC50=757
      micromolar). The extract from Atractylodes lancea appears to be both the most
      potent and most selective against cholangiocarcinoma (IC50=24.09 MUg/ml, SI =
      8.6). CONCLUSIONS: The ethanolic extracts from five plants and one folklore
      recipe showed potent cytotoxic activity against CL-6 cell. Sensitivity to other
      cancerous cell lines varied according to cell types and the hepatocarcinoma cell
      line. HepG2 appears to be the most resistant to the tested extracts.

PMID- 20920195
TI  - Study of inter- and intra-individual variations in the salivary microbiota.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Oral bacterial communities contain species that promote health and
      others that have been implicated in oral and/or systemic diseases. Culture
      independent approaches provide the best means to assess the diversity of oral
      bacteria because most of them remain uncultivable. RESULTS: The salivary
      microbiota from five adults was analyzed at three time-points by means of the 454
      pyrosequencing technology. The V1-V3 region of the bacterial 16S rRNA genes was
      amplified by PCR using saliva lysates and broad-range primers. The bar-coded PCR
      products were pooled and sequenced unidirectionally to cover the V3 hypervariable
      region. Of 50,708 obtained sequences, 31,860 passed the quality control. Non
      bacterial sequences (2.2%) were removed leaving 31,170 reads. Samples were
      dominated by seven major phyla: members of Firmicutes, Proteobacteria,
      Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes and candidate division TM7 were identified in all
      samples; Fusobacteria and Spirochaetes were identified in all individuals, but
      not at all time-points. The dataset was represented by 3,011 distinct sequences
      (100%-ID phylotypes) of ~215 nucleotides and 583 phylotypes defined at >=97%
      identity (97%-ID phylotypes). We compared saliva samples from different
      individuals in terms of the phylogeny of their microbial communities. Based on
      the presence and absence of phylotypes defined at 100% or 97% identity
      thresholds, samples from each subject formed separate clusters. Among individual
      taxa, phylum Bacteroidetes and order Clostridiales (Firmicutes) were the best
      indicators of intraindividual similarity of the salivary flora over time. Fifteen
      out of 81 genera constituted 73 to 94% of the total sequences present in
      different samples. Of these, 8 were shared by all time points of all individuals,
      while 15-25 genera were present in all three time-points of different
      individuals. Representatives of the class Sphingobacteria, order
      Sphingobacteriales and family Clostridiaceae were found only in one subject.
      CONCLUSIONS: The salivary microbial community appeared to be stable over at least
      5 days, allowing for subject-specific grouping using UniFrac. Inclusion of all
      available samples from more distant time points (up to 29 days) confirmed this
      observation. Samples taken at closer time intervals were not necessarily more
      similar than samples obtained across longer sampling times. These results point
      to the persistence of subject-specific taxa whose frequency fluctuates between
      the time points. Genus Gemella, identified in all time-points of all individuals,
      was not defined as a core-microbiome genus in previous studies of salivary
      bacterial communities. Human oral microbiome studies are still in their infancy
      and larger-scale projects are required to better define individual and universal
      oral microbiome core.

PMID- 20920196
TI  - Determination of quality of life in adolescents with idiopathic scoliosis
      subjected to conservative treatment.
AB  - INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: Physical deformities caused by adolescent idiopathic
      scoliosis (AIS) coupled with conservative treatment of AIS with orthesis
      unavoidably impacts on patients' quality of life (QoL). The present study aimed
      at evaluating the QoL in patients affected by AIS treated with brace. The study
      also sought to determine the ability of different QoL questionnaires to monitor
      QoL over the course of treatment. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data were collected in
      108 consecutive patients (96 females, 16 males) affected by AIS admitted to the
      outpatient orthopaedic clinic of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in
      Rome (Italy). Patients were subjected to full-time (i.e., 22 hrs per day)
      conservative treatment with the progressive action short brace (PASB), the Lyon
      brace or a combination of PASB + Lyon brace. Three instruments were used for QoL
      determination: the Scoliosis Research Society 22 (SRS-22), Bad Sobernheim Stress
      Questionnaire (BSSQ) and the Brace Questionnaire (BrQ). RESULTS: A significant
      correlation was detected among the 3 scores (p < 0.001). The BrQ possesses a
      higher capacity to detect changes in QoL in relation to the patient gender, type
      of brace, curve severity at baseline and at the completion of treatment, and
      curve type. Overall, boys displayed a higher QoL than girls. In all 3
      questionnaires, higher QoL scores were determined in patients treated with the
      PASB compared with those using the Lyon brace. QoL scores were significantly
      correlated with the curve severity. Higher QoL scores were obtained by
      participants with thoraco-lumbar curves as compared with those with other curves.
      CONCLUSIONS: The 3 questionnaires are effective in capturing changes in QoL in
      AIS patients subjected to conservative treatment. However, the BrQ possesses a
      higher discriminatory capacity compared with the other questionnaires tested.
      PASB-based treatment is associated with better QoL than the Lyon bracing.

PMID- 20920197
TI  - Genetic linkage map of a wild genome: genomic structure, recombination and sexual
      dimorphism in bighorn sheep.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The construction of genetic linkage maps in free-living populations
      is a promising tool for the study of evolution. However, such maps are rare
      because it is difficult to develop both wild pedigrees and corresponding sets of
      molecular markers that are sufficiently large. We took advantage of two long-term
      field studies of pedigreed individuals and genomic resources originally developed
      for domestic sheep (Ovis aries) to construct a linkage map for bighorn sheep,
      Ovis canadensis. We then assessed variability in genomic structure and
      recombination rates between bighorn sheep populations and sheep species. RESULTS:
      Bighorn sheep population-specific maps differed slightly in contiguity but were
      otherwise very similar in terms of genomic structure and recombination rates. The
      joint analysis of the two pedigrees resulted in a highly contiguous map composed
      of 247 microsatellite markers distributed along all 26 autosomes and the X
      chromosome. The map is estimated to cover about 84% of the bighorn sheep genome
      and contains 240 unique positions spanning a sex-averaged distance of 3051 cM
      with an average inter-marker distance of 14.3 cM. Marker synteny, order, sex
      averaged interval lengths and sex-averaged total map lengths were all very
      similar between sheep species. However, in contrast to domestic sheep, but
      consistent with the usual pattern for a placental mammal, recombination rates in
      bighorn sheep were significantly greater in females than in males (~12%
      difference), resulting in an autosomal female map of 3166 cM and an autosomal
      male map of 2831 cM. Despite differing genome-wide patterns of heterochiasmy
      between the sheep species, sexual dimorphism in recombination rates was
      correlated between orthologous intervals. CONCLUSIONS: We have developed a first
      generation bighorn sheep linkage map that will facilitate future studies of the
      genetic architecture of trait variation in this species. While domestication has
      been hypothesized to be responsible for the elevated mean recombination rate
      observed in domestic sheep, our results suggest that it is a characteristic of
      Ovis species. However, domestication may have played a role in altering patterns
      of heterochiasmy. Finally, we found that interval-specific patterns of sexual
      dimorphism were preserved among closely related Ovis species, possibly due to the
      conserved position of these intervals relative to the centromeres and telomeres.
      This study exemplifies how transferring genomic resources from domesticated
      species to close wild relative can benefit evolutionary ecologists while
      providing insights into the evolution of genomic structure and recombination
      rates of domesticated species.

PMID- 20920198
TI  - The construct validity of the health utilities index mark 3 in assessing health
      status in lung transplantation.
AB  - PURPOSE: To assess the cross-sectional construct validity of the Health Utilities
      Index Mark 3 (HUI3) in lung transplantation. METHODS: Two hundred and thirteen
      patients (103 pre-transplant and 110 post-transplant) with mean age 53 years old
      (SD 13) were recruited during a randomized controlled clinical trial at the out
      patient clinic in a tertiary institution. At baseline, patients self-completed
      measures that included the HUI3, EuroQol EQ-5D, Hospital Anxiety and Depression
      Scale (HADS) and socio-demographic questionnaire. Six-minute walk test scores and
      forced expiratory volume in 1 second data were collected from patient's medical
      records. A priori hypotheses were formulated by members of the transplant team
      about the expected degree of association between the measures. Correlation
      coefficients of < 0.1 were considered as negligible, 0.1 to < 0.3 as small, 0.3
      to < 0.5 as medium, and >= 0.5 as large. RESULTS: Of the ninety predictions made,
      forty three were correct but in 31 the correlation was slightly lower than
      predicted and in 7 the correlations were much higher than predicted. In 48% of
      the cases, predicted and observed associations were in agreement. Predictions of
      associations were off by one category in 42% of the cases; in 10% of the cases
      the predictions were off by two categories. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study
      providing evidence of cross-sectional construct validity of HUI3 in lung
      transplantation. Results indicate that the HUI3 was able to capture the burden of
      lung disease before transplantation and that post-transplant patients enjoyed
      higher health-related quality of life than pre-transplant patients.

PMID- 20920200
TI  - Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy in a patient without apparent
      immunosuppression.
AB  - An 80-year-old man with no history of an immune-compromising disorder was
      diagnosed with progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML). He presented
      with dysphagia and left-sided weakness; magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated
      marked signal abnormality in the subcortical white matter of the left frontal
      lobe and in the posterior limb of the right internal capsule. Polymerase chain
      reaction (PCR) analysis of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) was negative for John
      Cunningham (JC) virus. On brain biopsy, foamy macrophages infiltrating the white
      matter were identified, staining positive for anti-simian virus 40 antibodies.
      Postoperatively, PCR for JC viral DNA in the CSF was positive, establishing the
      diagnosis of PML. Extensive investigation for an occult immunocompromising
      disorder was negative. The patient's neurologic deficits rapidly increased
      throughout his hospital stay, and he died 3.5 months after his diagnosis.

PMID- 20920199
TI  - The relationship among acute-phase response proteins, cytokines and hormones in
      cachectic patients with colon cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Acute-phase response proteins (APRP), cytokines and hormones have
      been claimed to be an independent prognostic factor of malignancies, however the
      basis for their association with prognosis remains unexplained. We suggest that
      in colon malignancies, as similar to pancreatic and lung cancers, changes in APRP
      are associated with angiogenesis. METHODS: C-reactive protein (CRP), albumin, IL
      1alpha, IL-1beta, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, TNF-alpha, midkine, VEGF-A, VEGF-C, leptin,
      adiponectin, and ghrelin serum levels are studied in 126 colon cancer patients
      and 36 healthy subjects. RESULTS: We found statistically significant difference
      and correlations between two groups. We found significantly higher serum CRP, IL
      1alpha, IL-1beta, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, TNF-alpha, VEGF-A, VEGF-C and leptin
      concentrations in patients relative to controls (p < 0.001). We found lower
      levels of the serum albumin, midkine, adiponectin and ghrelin in patients
      compared to control subjects (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Cachexia in patients with
      colon cancers is associated with changes in APRP, cytokines and hormone
      concentrations. These biomarkers and cachexia together have a direct relationship
      with accelerated angiogenesis. This may lead to a connection between the outcomes
      in malignancies and the biomarkers.

PMID- 20920201
TI  - The CAZyome of Phytophthora spp.: a comprehensive analysis of the gene complement
      coding for carbohydrate-active enzymes in species of the genus Phytophthora.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Enzymes involved in carbohydrate metabolism include Carbohydrate
      esterases (CE), Glycoside hydrolases (GH), Glycosyl transferases (GT), and
      Polysaccharide lyases (PL), commonly referred to as carbohydrate-active enzymes
      (CAZymes). The CE, GH, and PL superfamilies are also known as cell wall degrading
      enzymes (CWDE) due to their role in the disintegration of the plant cell wall by
      bacterial and fungal pathogens. In Phytophthora infestans, penetration of the
      plant cells occurs through a specialized hyphal structure called appressorium;
      however, it is likely that members of the genus Phytophthora also use CWDE for
      invasive growth because hyphal forces are below the level of tensile strength
      exhibited by the plant cell wall. Because information regarding the frequency and
      distribution of CAZyme coding genes in Phytophthora is currently unknown, we have
      scanned the genomes of P. infestans, P. sojae, and P. ramorum for the presence of
      CAZyme-coding genes using a homology-based approach and compared the gene
      collinearity in the three genomes. In addition, we have tested the expression of
      several genes coding for CE in cultures grown in vitro. RESULTS: We have found
      that P. infestans, P. sojae and P. ramorum contain a total of 435, 379, and 310
      CAZy homologs; in each genome, most homologs belong to the GH superfamily. Most
      GH and PL homologs code for enzymes that hydrolyze substances present in the
      pectin layer forming the middle lamella of the plant cells. In addition, a
      significant number of CE homologs catalyzing the deacetylation of compounds
      characteristic of the plant cell cuticle were found. In general, a high degree of
      gene location conservation was observed, as indicated by the presence of
      sequential orthologous pairs in the three genomes. Such collinearity was
      frequently observed among members of the GH superfamily. On the other hand, the
      CE and PL superfamilies showed less collinearity for some of their putative
      members. Quantitative PCR experiments revealed that all genes are expressed in P.
      infestans when this pathogen grown in vitro. However, the levels of expression
      vary considerably and are lower than the expression levels observed for the
      constitutive control. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, we have identified a highly
      complex set of CAZy homologs in the genomes of P. infestans, P. sojae, and P.
      ramorum, a significant number of which could play roles critical for
      pathogenicity, by participating in the degradation of the plant cell wall.

PMID- 20920203
TI  - Acute dyspnoea and single tracheal localisation of mantle cell lymphoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mantle cell lymphoma is a lymphoid entity characterized by
      adenopathy, blood and bone marrow involment which only recurrent mucosal
      localisation is the lymphomatoid polyposis. Few other mucosal infiltrations have
      been already reported. RESULTS: We report here the first case of a unique
      tracheal localisation of mantle cell lymphoma at presentation of the disease. The
      presence of classical t(11;14)(q13;q32) confirmed the diagnosis of mantle cell
      lymphoma by eliminating MALT or cancer localisation. CONCLUSION: This case
      illustrates the necessity to ensure the diagnosis of mucosal lymphoma versus MCL
      since these diseases need different treatment regimens and prognoses.

PMID- 20920202
TI  - Unusual conservation among genes encoding small secreted salivary gland proteins
      from a gall midge.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In most protein-coding genes, greater sequence variation is observed
      in noncoding regions (introns and untranslated regions) than in coding regions
      due to selective constraints. During characterization of genes and transcripts
      encoding small secreted salivary gland proteins (SSSGPs) from the Hessian fly, we
      found exactly the opposite pattern of conservation in several families of genes:
      the non-coding regions were highly conserved, but the coding regions were highly
      variable. RESULTS: Seven genes from the SSSGP-1 family are clustered as one
      inverted and six tandem repeats within a 15 kb region of the genome. Except for
      SSSGP-1A2, a gene that encodes a protein identical to that encoded by SSSGP-1A1,
      the other six genes consist of a highly diversified, mature protein-coding region
      as well as highly conserved regions including the promoter, 5'- and 3'-UTRs, a
      signal peptide coding region, and an intron. This unusual pattern of highly
      diversified coding regions coupled with highly conserved regions in the rest of
      the gene was also observed in several other groups of SSSGP-encoding genes or
      cDNAs. The unusual conservation pattern was also found in some of the SSSGP cDNAs
      from the Asian rice gall midge, but not from the orange wheat blossom midge.
      Strong positive selection was one of the forces driving for diversification
      whereas concerted homogenization was likely a mechanism for sequence
      conservation. CONCLUSION: Rapid diversification in mature SSSGPs suggests that
      the genes are under selection pressure for functional adaptation. The
      conservation in the noncoding regions of these genes including introns also
      suggested potential mechanisms for sequence homogenization that are not yet fully
      understood. This report should be useful for future studies on genetic mechanisms
      involved in evolution and functional adaptation of parasite genes.

PMID- 20920204
TI  - A semi-nonparametric mixture model for selecting functionally consistent
      proteins.
AB  - BACKGROUND: High-throughput technologies have led to a new era of proteomics.
      Although protein microarray experiments are becoming more common place there are
      a variety of experimental and statistical issues that have yet to be addressed,
      and that will carry over to new high-throughput technologies unless they are
      investigated. One of the largest of these challenges is the selection of
      functionally consistent proteins. RESULTS: We present a novel semi-nonparametric
      mixture model for classifying proteins as consistent or inconsistent while
      controlling the false discovery rate and the false non-discovery rate. The
      performance of the proposed approach is compared to current methods via
      simulation under a variety of experimental conditions. CONCLUSIONS: We provide a
      statistical method for selecting functionally consistent proteins in the context
      of protein microarray experiments, but the proposed semi-nonparametric mixture
      model method can certainly be generalized to solve other mixture data problems.
      The main advantage of this approach is that it provides the posterior probability
      of consistency for each protein.

PMID- 20920206
TI  - Association between -238 but not -308 polymorphism of Tumor necrosis factor alpha
      (TNF-alpha)v and unexplained recurrent spontaneous abortion (URSA) in Chinese
      population.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: TNF-alpha is a critical cytokine produced by Th1 cells while altered
      T helper 1 (Th1)-Th2 balance is found crucial for a successful pregnancy. STUDY
      DESIGN: A cohort of 132 Southern Chinese Han RSA patients and 152 controls
      constituted the subjects of this study. Two functional polymorphisms -308 and 
      238 of TNF-alpha were studied by association analysis. RESULTS: lack of
      association was found in TNF-alpha -308 SNP yet a significant difference was
      discovered in -238 polymorphism. CONCLUSION: This study suggested that TNF-alpha
      may be a risk factor in Chinese RSA patients. However the ethnic differences may
      also contribute to the results.

PMID- 20920205
TI  - Behavioural symptoms in patients with Alzheimer's disease and their association
      with cognitive impairment.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) are non
      cognitive symptoms commonly associated to Alzheimer's disease (AD). The
      characterization of the clinical profile of AD patients might help to better
      understand disease evolution and to improve diagnosis and treatment. Thus, the
      aim of the present study is to describe the clinical profile of AD patients, and
      to correlate the presence of BPSD with the severity of the disease. METHODS: A
      cross-sectional, observational and multicenter study was conducted at 115 centres
      in Spain. Patients suffering from AD with higher and lower BPSD scores (ADAS
      Noncog score 26-50 and <=25, respectively) were included. Demographic and
      clinical data were collected, and dementia severity was assessed by the Mini
      Mental State Examination (MMSE) [mild 27-21, moderate 20-11, severe <=10]. The
      use of ADAS-Noncog in clinical practice was also explored. RESULTS: A total of
      1014 patients (463 with higher and 551 with lower BPSD scores) were included
      (mean age 77 +/- 7 years, 65% women). Almost all patients (90%) had BPSD at
      inclusion, 17% of which reported psychotic outbreaks. The most prevalent symptoms
      were lack of concentration (56%), tremors (56%), depression (44%), lack of
      cooperation (36%), and delusions (32%). Patients with higher BPSD scores showed a
      significantly higher prevalence of psychotic symptoms (delusions, hallucinations,
      and delirium) and tremors, while emotional symptoms (tearfulness and apathy)
      predominated in patients with lower BPSD scores. MMSE and ADAS-Noncog scores were
      negatively associated (p = 0.0284), suggesting a correlation between cognitive
      impairment and BPSD. Lack of concentration and appetite change significantly
      correlated with MMSE (p = 0.0472 and p = 0.0346, respectively). Rivastigmine and
      donepezil were the first choice therapies in mild to moderate dementia. ADAS
      Noncog was generally considered better or similar to other scales (82%), and 68%
      of the investigators were willing to use it in the future. CONCLUSIONS: Our study
      shows that patients with AD have a high prevalence of noncognitive symptoms, and
      that cognitive impairment and BPSD are correlated. Therefore, ADAS-Noncog is a
      useful evaluation tool.

PMID- 20920207
TI  - Therapeutic versus neuroinflammatory effects of passive immunization is dependent
      on Abeta/amyloid burden in a transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer's disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Passive immunization with antibodies directed to Abeta decreases
      brain Abeta/amyloid burden and preserves memory in transgenic mouse models of
      Alzheimer's disease (AD). This therapeutic strategy is under intense scrutiny in
      clinical studies, but its application is limited by neuroinflammatory side
      effects (autoimmune encephalitis and vasogenic edema). METHODS: We intravenously
      administered the monoclonal Abeta protofibril antibody PFA1 to aged (22 month)
      male and female 3 * tg AD mice with intermediate or advanced AD-like
      neuropathologies, respectively, and measured brain and serum Abeta and CNS
      cytokine levels. We also examined 17 month old 3 * tg AD female mice with
      intermediate pathology to determine the effect of amyloid burden on responses to
      passive immunization. RESULTS: The 22 month old male mice immunized with PFA1 had
      decreased brain Abeta, increased serum Abeta, and no change in CNS cytokine
      levels. In contrast, 22 month old immunized female mice revealed no change in
      brain Abeta, decreased serum Abeta, and increased CNS cytokine levels. Identical
      experiments in younger (17 month old) female 3 * tg AD mice with intermediate AD
      like neuropathologies revealed a trend towards decreased brain Abeta and
      increased serum Abeta accompanied by a decrease in CNS MCP-1. CONCLUSIONS: These
      data suggest that passive immunization with PFA1 in 3 * tg AD mice with
      intermediate disease burden, regardless of sex, is effective in mediating
      potentially therapeutic effects such as lowering brain Abeta. In contrast,
      passive immunization of mice with a more advanced amyloid burden may result in
      potentially adverse effects (encephalitis and vasogenic edema) mediated by
      certain proinflammatory cytokines.

PMID- 20920208
TI  - Analysis of lifestyle and metabolic predictors of visceral obesity with Bayesian
      Networks.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to provide a framework for the analysis of
      visceral obesity and its determinants in women, where complex inter-relationships
      are observed among lifestyle, nutritional and metabolic predictors. Thirty-four
      predictors related to lifestyle, adiposity, body fat distribution, blood lipids
      and adipocyte sizes have been considered as potential correlates of visceral
      obesity in women. To properly address the difficulties in managing such
      interactions given our limited sample of 150 women, bootstrapped Bayesian
      networks were constructed based on novel constraint-based learning methods that
      appeared recently in the statistical learning community. Statistical significance
      of edge strengths was evaluated and the less reliable edges were pruned to
      increase the network robustness. To allow accessible interpretation and integrate
      biological knowledge into the final network, several undirected edges were
      afterwards directed with physiological expertise according to relevant
      literature. RESULTS: Extensive experiments on synthetic data sampled from a known
      Bayesian network show that the algorithm, called Recursive Hybrid Parents and
      Children (RHPC), outperforms state-of-the-art algorithms that appeared in the
      recent literature. Regarding biological plausibility, we found that the inference
      results obtained with the proposed method were in excellent agreement with
      biological knowledge. For example, these analyses indicated that visceral adipose
      tissue accumulation is strongly related to blood lipid alterations independent of
      overall obesity level. CONCLUSIONS: Bayesian Networks are a useful tool for
      investigating and summarizing evidence when complex relationships exist among
      predictors, in particular, as in the case of multifactorial conditions like
      visceral obesity, when there is a concurrent incidence for several variables,
      interacting in a complex manner. The source code and the data sets used for the
      empirical tests are available at http://www710.univ
      lyon1.fr/~aaussem/Software.html.

PMID- 20920209
TI  - Bleeding from gastrointestinal angioectasias is not related to bleeding disorders
      - a case control study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Angioectasias in the gastrointestinal tract can be found in up to 3%
      of the population. They are typically asymptomatic but may sometimes result in
      severe bleeding. The reasons for why some patients bleed from their angioectasias
      are not fully understood but it has been reported that it may be explained by an
      acquired von Willebrand syndrome (AVWS). This condition has similar laboratory
      findings to congenital von Willebrand disease with selective loss of large von
      Willebrand multimers. The aim of this study was to find out if AVWS or any other
      bleeding disorder was more common in patients with bleeding from angioectasias
      than in a control group. METHODS: We compared bleeding tests and coagulation
      parameters, including von Willebrand multimers, from a group of 23 patients with
      anemia caused by bleeding from angioectasias, with the results from a control
      group lacking angioectasias. RESULTS: No significant differences between the two
      groups were found in coagulation parameters, bleeding time or von Willebrand
      multimer levels. CONCLUSION: These results do not support a need for routine
      bleeding tests in cases of bleeding from angioectasias and do not show an overall
      increased risk of AVWS among these patients.

PMID- 20920210
TI  - Salivary gland derived peptides as a new class of anti-inflammatory agents:
      review of preclinical pharmacology of C-terminal peptides of SMR1 protein.
AB  - The limitations of steroidal and non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs have
      prompted investigation into other biologically based therapeutics, and
      identification of immune selective anti-inflammatory agents of salivary origin.
      The traditional view of salivary glands as accessory digestive structures is
      changing as their importance as sources of systemically active immunoregulatory
      and anti-inflammatory factors is recognized. Salivary gland involvement in
      maintenance of whole body homeostasis is regulated by the nervous system and thus
      constitutes a "neuroendocrine axis". The potent anti-inflammatory activities,
      both in vivo and in vitro, of the tripeptide Phe-Glu-Gly (FEG) are reviewed. FEG
      is a carboxyl terminal peptide of the prohormone SMR1 identified in the rat
      submandibular salivary gland, The D-isomeric form (feG) mimics the activity of
      its L-isomer FEG. Macropharmacologically, feG attenuates the cardiovascular and
      inflammatory effects of endotoxemia and anaphylaxis, by inhibition of
      hypotension, leukocyte migration, vascular leak, and disruption of pulmonary
      function and intestinal motility. Mechanistically, feG affects activated
      inflammatory cells, especially neutrophils, by regulating integrins and
      inhibiting intracellular production of reactive oxygen species.
      Pharmacodynamically, feG is active at low doses (100 MUg/kg) and has a long (9-12
      hour) biological half life. As a therapeutic agent, feG shows promise in diseases
      characterized by over exuberant inflammatory responses such as systemic
      inflammatory response syndrome and other acute inflammatory diseases. Arthritis,
      sepsis, acute pancreatitis, asthma, acute respiratory inflammation, inflammatory
      bowel disease, and equine laminitis are potential targets for this promising
      therapeutic peptide. The term "Immune Selective Anti-Inflammatory Derivatives"
      (ImSAIDs) is proposed for salivary-derived peptides to distinguish this class of
      agents from corticosteroids and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.

PMID- 20920211
TI  - Whole genome sequencing of enriched chloroplast DNA using the Illumina GAII
      platform.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Complete chloroplast genome sequences provide a valuable source of
      molecular markers for studies in molecular ecology and evolution of plants. To
      obtain complete genome sequences, recent studies have made use of the polymerase
      chain reaction to amplify overlapping fragments from conserved gene loci.
      However, this approach is time consuming and can be more difficult to implement
      where gene organisation differs among plants. An alternative approach is to first
      isolate chloroplasts and then use the capacity of high-throughput sequencing to
      obtain complete genome sequences. We report our findings from studies of the
      latter approach, which used a simple chloroplast isolation procedure, multiply
      primed rolling circle amplification of chloroplast DNA, Illumina Genome Analyzer
      II sequencing, and de novo assembly of paired-end sequence reads. RESULTS: A
      modified rapid chloroplast isolation protocol was used to obtain plant DNA that
      was enriched for chloroplast DNA, but nevertheless contained nuclear and
      mitochondrial DNA. Multiply-primed rolling circle amplification of this mixed
      template produced sufficient quantities of chloroplast DNA, even when the amount
      of starting material was small, and improved the template quality for Illumina
      Genome Analyzer II (hereafter Illumina GAII) sequencing. We demonstrate, using
      independent samples of karaka (Corynocarpus laevigatus), that there is high
      fidelity in the sequence obtained from this template. Although less than 20% of
      our sequenced reads could be mapped to chloroplast genome, it was relatively easy
      to assemble complete chloroplast genome sequences from the mixture of nuclear,
      mitochondrial and chloroplast reads. CONCLUSIONS: We report successful whole
      genome sequencing of chloroplast DNA from karaka, obtained efficiently and with
      high fidelity.

PMID- 20920212
TI  - The RAD51 and DMC1 homoeologous genes of bread wheat: cloning, molecular
      characterization and expression analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Meiotic recombination in eukaryotes requires two homologues of the E.
      coli RecA proteins: Rad51 and Dmc1. Both proteins play important roles in the
      binding of single stranded DNA, homology search, strand invasion and strand
      exchange. Meiotic recombination has been well studied in Arabidopsis, rice, maize
      and the orthologues of RAD51 and DMC1 have been characterized. However genetic
      analysis of the RAD51 and DMC1 genes in bread wheat has been hampered due to the
      absence of complete sequence information and because of the existence of multiple
      copies of each gene in the hexaploid wheat genome. FINDINGS: In this study we
      have identified that TaRAD51 and TaDMC1 homoeologues are located on group 7 and
      group 5 chromosomes of hexaploid wheat, respectively. Comparative sequence
      analysis of cDNA derived from the TaRAD51 and TaDMC1 homoeologues revealed
      limited sequence divergence at both the nucleotide and the amino acid level.
      Indeed, comparisons between the predicted amino acid sequences of TaRAD51 and
      TaDMC1 and those of other eukaryotes reveal a high degree of evolutionary
      conservation. Despite the high degree of sequence conservation at the nucleotide
      level, genome-specific primers for cDNAs of TaRAD51 and TaDMC1 were developed to
      evaluate expression patterns of individual homoeologues during meiosis. QRT-PCR
      analysis showed that expression of the TaRAD51 and TaDMC1 cDNA homoeologues was
      largely restricted to meiotic tissue, with elevated levels observed during the
      stages of prophase I when meiotic recombination occurs. All three homoeologues of
      both strand-exchange proteins (TaRAD51 and TaDMC1) are expressed in wheat.
      CONCLUSIONS: Bread wheat contains three expressed copies of each of the TaRAD51
      and TaDMC1 homoeologues. While differences were detected between the three cDNA
      homoeologues of TaRAD51 as well as the three homoeologues of TaDMC1, it is
      unlikely that the predicted amino acid substitutions would have an effect on the
      protein structure, based on our three-dimensional structure prediction analyses.
      There are differences in the levels of expression of the three homoeologues of
      TaRAD51 and TaDMC1 as determined by QRT-PCR and if these differences are
      reflected at the protein level, bread wheat may be more dependent upon a
      particular homoeologue to achieve full fertility than all three equally.

PMID- 20920214
TI  - A novel framework for validating and applying standardized small area measurement
      strategies.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Local measurements of health behaviors, diseases, and use of health
      services are critical inputs into local, state, and national decision-making.
      Small area measurement methods can deliver more precise and accurate local-level
      information than direct estimates from surveys or administrative records, where
      sample sizes are often too small to yield acceptable standard errors. However,
      small area measurement requires careful validation using approaches other than
      conventional statistical methods such as in-sample or cross-validation methods
      because they do not solve the problem of validating estimates in data-sparse
      domains. METHODS: A new general framework for small area estimation and
      validation is developed and applied to estimate Type 2 diabetes prevalence in US
      counties using data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS).
      The framework combines the three conventional approaches to small area
      measurement: (1) pooling data across time by combining multiple survey years; (2)
      exploiting spatial correlation by including a spatial component; and (3)
      utilizing structured relationships between the outcome variable and domain
      specific covariates to define four increasingly complex model types - coined the
      Naive, Geospatial, Covariate, and Full models. The validation framework uses
      direct estimates of prevalence in large domains as the gold standard and compares
      model estimates against it using (i) all available observations for the large
      domains and (ii) systematically reduced sample sizes obtained through random
      sampling with replacement. At each sampling level, the model is rerun repeatedly,
      and the validity of the model estimates from the four model types is then
      determined by calculating the (average) concordance correlation coefficient (CCC)
      and (average) root mean squared error (RMSE) against the gold standard. The CCC
      is closely related to the intraclass correlation coefficient and can be used when
      the units are organized in groups and when it is of interest to measure the
      agreement between units in the same group (e.g., counties). The RMSE is often
      used to measure the differences between values predicted by a model or an
      estimator and the actually observed values. It is a useful measure to capture the
      precision of the model or estimator. RESULTS: All model types have substantially
      higher CCC and lower RMSE than the direct, single-year BRFSS estimates. In
      addition, the inclusion of relevant domain-specific covariates generally improves
      predictive validity, especially at small sample sizes, and their leverage can be
      equivalent to a five- to tenfold increase in sample size. CONCLUSIONS: Small area
      estimation of important health outcomes and risk factors can be improved using a
      systematic modeling and validation framework, which consistently outperformed
      single-year direct survey estimates and demonstrated the potential leverage of
      including relevant domain-specific covariates compared to pure measurement
      models. The proposed validation strategy can be applied to other disease outcomes
      and risk factors in the US as well as to resource-scarce situations, including
      low-income countries. These estimates are needed by public health officials to
      identify at-risk groups, to design targeted prevention and intervention programs,
      and to monitor and evaluate results over time.

PMID- 20920213
TI  - Comparison of different sampling techniques and of different culture methods for
      detection of group B streptococcus carriage in pregnant women.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Streptococcus agalactiae (group B streptococcus; GBS) is a
      significant cause of perinatal and neonatal infections worldwide. To detect GBS
      colonization in pregnant women, the CDC recommends isolation of the bacterium
      from vaginal and anorectal swab samples by growth in a selective enrichment
      medium, such as Lim broth (Todd-Hewitt broth supplemented with selective
      antibiotics), followed by subculture on sheep blood agar. However, this procedure
      may require 48 h to complete. We compared different sampling and culture
      techniques for the detection of GBS. METHODS: A total of 300 swabs was taken from
      100 pregnant women at 35-37 weeks of gestation. For each subject, one
      rectovaginal, one vaginal and one rectal ESwab were collected. Plating onto
      Columbia CNA agar (CNA), group B streptococcus differential agar (GBSDA) (Granada
      Medium) and chromID Strepto B agar (CA), with and without Lim broth enrichment,
      were compared. The isolates were confirmed as S. agalactiae using the CAMP test
      on blood agar and by molecular identification with tDNA-PCR or by 16S rRNA gene
      sequence determination. RESULTS: The overall GBS colonization rate was 22%. GBS
      positivity for rectovaginal sampling (100%) was significantly higher than
      detection on the basis of vaginal sampling (50%), but not significantly higher
      than for rectal sampling (82%). Direct plating of the rectovaginal swab on CNA,
      GBSDA and CA resulted in detection of 59, 91 and 95% of the carriers,
      respectively, whereas subculturing of Lim broth yielded 77, 95 and 100%
      positivity, respectively. Lim broth enrichment enabled the detection of only one
      additional GBS positive subject. There was no significant difference between
      GBSDA and CA, whereas both were more sensitive than CNA. Direct culture onto
      GBSDA or CA (91 and 95%) detected more carriers than Lim broth enrichment and
      subculture onto CNA (77%). One false negative isolate was observed on GBSDA, and
      three false positives on CA. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, rectovaginal sampling
      increased the number GBS positive women detected, compared to vaginal and/or
      rectal sampling. Direct plating on CA and/or GBSDA provided rapid detection of
      GBS that was at least as sensitive and specific as the CDC recommended method of
      Lim broth subcultured onto non chromogenic agar.

PMID- 20920215
TI  - Guidelines for the diagnosis and management of chylomicron retention disease
      based on a review of the literature and the experience of two centers.
AB  - Familial hypocholesterolemia, namely abetalipoproteinemia,
      hypobetalipoproteinemia and chylomicron retention disease (CRD), are rare genetic
      diseases that cause malnutrition, failure to thrive, growth failure and vitamin E
      deficiency, as well as other complications. Recently, the gene implicated in CRD
      was identified. The diagnosis is often delayed because symptoms are nonspecific.
      Treatment and follow-up remain poorly defined.The aim of this paper is to provide
      guidelines for the diagnosis, treatment and follow-up of children with CRD based
      on a literature overview and two pediatric centers 'experience.The diagnosis is
      based on a history of chronic diarrhea with fat malabsorption and abnormal lipid
      profile. Upper endoscopy and histology reveal fat-laden enterocytes whereas
      vitamin E deficiency is invariably present. Creatine kinase (CK) is usually
      elevated and hepatic steatosis is common. Genotyping identifies the Sar1b gene
      mutation.Treatment should be aimed at preventing potential complications.
      Vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal distension improve on a low-long chain fat diet.
      Failure to thrive is one of the most common initial clinical findings.
      Neurological and ophthalmologic complications in CRD are less severe than in
      other types of familial hypocholesterolemia. However, the vitamin E deficiency
      status plays a pivotal role in preventing neurological complications. Essential
      fatty acid (EFA) deficiency is especially severe early in life. Recently,
      increased CK levels and cardiomyopathy have been described in addition to
      muscular manifestations. Poor mineralization and delayed bone maturation do
      occur. A moderate degree of macrovesicular steatosis is common, but no cases of
      steatohepatitis cirrhosis. Besides a low-long chain fat diet made up uniquely of
      polyunsaturated fatty acids, treatment includes fat-soluble vitamin supplements
      and large amounts of vitamin E. Despite fat malabsorption and the absence of
      postprandial chylomicrons, the oral route can prevent neurological complications
      even though serum levels of vitamin E remain chronically low. Dietary counseling
      is needed not only to monitor fat intake and improve symptoms, but also to
      maintain sufficient caloric and EFA intake. Despite a better understanding of the
      pathogenesis of CRD, the diagnosis and management of the disease remain a
      challenge for clinicians. The clinical guidelines proposed will helpfully lead to
      an earlier diagnosis and the prevention of complications.

PMID- 20920216
TI  - Potential threat of malaria epidemics in a low transmission area, as exemplified
      by Sao Tome and Principe.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Plasmodium falciparum is the major cause of malaria infection in the
      island of Sao Tome, in the Republic of Sao Tome and Principe (STP), with an
      incidence of 40 - 50% before 2004. Since 2004, through the coordination of the
      Ministry of Health of STP and their Centro Nacional de Endemias (CNE), an
      integrated malaria control programme has been intensively deployed on the island
      of Sao Tome. Malaria morbidity and mortality decreased by 95% after three years
      of effective intervention. In the low transmission settings, however, malaria
      seasonal fluctuation can be a potential problem directly related to epidemics if
      ongoing control measures are interrupted. Studies on a number of associated
      factors with malaria epidemics and the measures taken to respond to outbreaks are
      presented. METHODS: The integrated malaria control programme included indoor
      residual spraying (IRS), long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs), intermittent
      preventive therapy for pregnant women, as well as early diagnosis and prompt
      treatment with artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT). Regular
      implementation of an island-wide IRS programme was carried out yearly in 2004
      2007, and enhanced throughout the island in 2009. Malaria incidence and
      prevalence were estimated based on passive case detection and mass screening,
      respectively. Slide positivity rates were used for monitoring the beginning of a
      malaria epidemic or a seasonal peak. RESULTS: A steep decline of ca. 95% of
      malaria morbidity and mortality was observed between 2004 and 2008 with use of
      the combined control methods. Malaria incidence was 2.0%, 1.5%, and 3.0% for
      2007, 2008, and 2009, respectively. In April 2008, a cross-sectional country-wide
      surveillance showed malaria prevalence of 3.5%, of which 95% cases were
      asymptomatic carriers. Only 50% of asymptomatic carriers were cured with ACT
      treatment, while 90% of the symptomatic patients were cured by ACT treatment as
      confirmed with a follow up study. Malaria morbidity increased by three-fold
      during the first half of 2009 as compared to the same period in 2008. Over this
      period of six months, severe malaria was also noted in all age groups and malaria
      mortality increased by two-fold in children less than five years old. After an
      emergency IRS was deployed, with increased use of LLINs, and an active search of
      asymptomatic carriers was followed and given complete ACT treatment, malaria
      incidence decreased to less than 1% in the second half of 2009. CONCLUSION: At
      the initial stage of the integrated malaria control programme, IRS contributed to
      the visible effect on the rapid reduction of malaria morbidity and mortality,
      while this programme highlights an urgent demand for the improvement of other
      measures, particularly promotion of LLINs usage, with close monitoring of
      asymptomatic carriers and with ACT treatment in malaria transmission hotspots. In
      addition, both daily reports and a regular active surveillance to prevent malaria
      outbreaks should be established permanently, so that a fast response to epidemics
      can be effectively made when necessary.

PMID- 20920217
TI  - The utility of the Historical Clinical Risk-20 Scale as a predictor of outcomes
      in decisions to transfer patients from high to lower levels of security--a UK
      perspective.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Structured Professional Judgment (SPJ) approaches to violence risk
      assessment are increasingly being adopted into clinical practice in international
      forensic settings. The aim of this study was to examine the predictive validity
      of the Historical Clinical Risk -20 (HCR-20) violence risk assessment scale for
      outcome following transfers from high to medium security in a United Kingdom
      setting. METHODS: The sample was predominately male and mentally ill and the
      majority of cases were detained under the criminal section of the Mental Health
      Act (1986). The HCR-20 was rated based on detailed case file information on 72
      cases transferred from high to medium security. Outcomes were examined,
      independent of risk score, and cases were classed as "success or failure" based
      on established criteria. RESULTS: The mean length of follow up was 6 years. The
      total HCR-20 score was a robust predictor of failure at lower levels of security
      and return to high security. The Clinical and Risk management items contributed
      most to predictive accuracy. CONCLUSIONS: Although the HCR-20 was designed as a
      violence risk prediction tool our findings suggest it has potential utility in
      decisions to transfer patients from high to lower levels of security.

PMID- 20920218
TI  - Novel beta-N-acetylglucosaminidases from Vibrio harveyi 650: cloning, expression,
      enzymatic properties, and subsite identification.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Since chitin is a highly abundant natural biopolymer, many attempts
      have been made to convert this insoluble polysaccharide into commercially
      valuable products using chitinases and beta-N-acetylglucosaminidases
      (GlcNAcases). We have previously reported the structure and function of chitinase
      A from Vibrio harveyi 650. This study t reports the identification of two
      GlcNAcases from the same organism and their detailed functional characterization.
      RESULTS: The genes encoding two new members of family-20 GlcNAcases were isolated
      from the genome of V. harveyi 650, cloned and expressed at a high level in E.
      coli. VhNag1 has a molecular mass of 89 kDa and an optimum pH of 7.5, whereas
      VhNag2 has a molecular mass of 73 kDa and an optimum pH of 7.0. The recombinant
      GlcNAcases were found to hydrolyze all the natural substrates, VhNag2 being ten
      fold more active than VhNag1. Product analysis by TLC and quantitative HPLC
      suggested that VhNag2 degraded chitooligosaccharides in a sequential manner, its
      highest activity being with chitotetraose. Kinetic modeling of the enzymic
      reaction revealed that binding at subsites (-2) and (+4) had unfavorable
      (positive) binding free energy changes and that the binding pocket of VhNag2
      contains four GlcNAc binding subsites, designated (-1),(+1),(+2), and (+3).
      CONCLUSIONS: Two novel GlcNAcases were identified as exolytic enzymes that
      degraded chitin oligosaccharides, releasing GlcNAc as the end product. In living
      cells, these intracellular enzymes may work after endolytic chitinases to
      complete chitin degradation. The availability of the two GlcNAcases, together
      with the previously-reported chitinase A from the same organism, suggests that a
      systematic development of the chitin-degrading enzymes may provide a valuable
      tool in commercial chitin bioconversion.

PMID- 20920219
TI  - Maximum growth and survival of estrogen receptor-alpha positive breast cancer
      cells requires the Sin3A transcriptional repressor.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sin3A is an evolutionarily conserved transcriptional repressor which
      regulates gene expression as part of the multi-protein Sin3 repressive complex.
      It functions as a scaffold upon which proteins with enzymatic activity dock,
      including chromatin modifying histone deacetylases. Although regulation of
      transcription by Sin3A has been studied in detail, little is understood about the
      function of Sin3A in cancer cells. We previously showed that Sin3A is expressed
      in breast cancer cells and is a repressor of estrogen receptor-alpha (ERalpha,
      ESR1) gene expression. Here, we expand our previous studies to elucidate the
      function of Sin3A in the control of gene expression and growth of breast cancer
      cells. RESULTS: Analysis of gene expression following knockdown of Sin3A revealed
      changes in both basal and regulated gene transcription. Genes of known importance
      in breast cancer and estrogen signaling, including ERBB2, PGR, MYC, CLU, and
      NCOA2, were among those identified as Sin3A-responsive. The mechanism of Sin3A
      action varied among genes and was found to be mediated through both HDAC1/2 
      dependent and -independent activities. Loss of Sin3A inhibited breast cancer cell
      growth by increasing apoptosis without affecting cell cycle progression. Analysis
      of both ERalpha-positive and ERalpha-negative cell lines revealed that the
      effects of Sin3A on growth were cell-type specific, as Sin3A expression promoted
      maximum growth of only the ERalpha-positive cells, and, notably, Sin3A protein
      itself was increased by estrogen. Further gene expression experiments revealed
      that Sin3A repressed expression of key apoptotic genes, including TRAIL, TRAILR1,
      CASP10, and APAF1, in ERalpha-positive, but not ERalpha-negative, cell lines,
      which could provide a mechanistic explanation for cell-type differences in
      growth. CONCLUSIONS: This study identifies Sin3A as a regulator of gene
      expression, survival, and growth in ERalpha-positive breast cancer cells. Sin3A
      regulates the transcription of genes involved in breast cancer and apoptosis and
      acts through multiple mechanisms not limited to histone deacetylase function.
      These findings reveal previously undescribed functions of Sin3A in breast cancer
      and provide evidence for an important role of this transcriptional repressor in
      ERalpha-positive tumor cell growth.

PMID- 20920220
TI  - An interdisciplinary intervention for older Taiwanese patients after surgery for
      hip fracture improves health-related quality of life.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The effects of intervention programs on health-related quality of
      life (HRQOL) of patients with hip fracture have not been well studied. We
      hypothesized that older patients with hip fracture who received our
      interdisciplinary intervention program would have better HRQOL than those who did
      not. METHODS: A randomized experimental design was used. Older patients with hip
      fracture (N = 162), 60 to 98 years old, from a medical center in northern Taiwan
      were randomly assigned to an experimental (n = 80) or control (n = 82) group.
      HRQOL was measured by the SF-36 Taiwan version at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months after
      discharge. RESULTS: The experimental group had significantly better overall
      outcomes in bodily pain (beta = 9.38, p = 0.002), vitality (beta = 9.40, p <
      0.001), mental health (beta = 8.16, p = 0.004), physical function (beta = 16.01,
      p < 0.001), and role physical (beta = 22.66, p < 0.001) than the control group at
      any time point during the first year after discharge. Physical-related health
      outcomes (physical functioning, role physical, and vitality) had larger treatment
      effects than emotional/mental- and social functioning-related health outcomes.
      CONCLUSIONS: This interdisciplinary intervention program may improve health
      outcomes of elders with hip fracture. Our results may provide a reference for
      health care providers in countries using similar programs with Chinese/Taiwanese
      immigrant populations. TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT01052636.

PMID- 20920221
TI  - Japanese experience of hydrogen sulfide: the suicide craze in 2008.
AB  - Most of hydrogen sulfide poisoning has been reported as industrial accidents in
      Japan. However, since January 2008, a burgeoning of suicide attempts using
      homemade hydrogen sulfide gas has become evident. By April 2008, the fad
      escalated into a chain reaction nationwide. Mortality of the poisoning was very
      high. There were 220 cases of attempted gas suicides during the period of March
      27 to June 15, killing 208. An introduction of new method of making the gas,
      transmitted through message boards on the internet, was blamed for this
      "outbreak". The new method entailed mixing bath additive and toilet detergent.
      The National Police Agency instructed internet providers to remove information
      that could be harmful. Of the victims of the fad in 2008, several cases were
      serious enough that family members were involved and died. Paramedics and
      caregivers were also injured secondarily by the gas. This fad has rapidly spread
      by internet communication, and can happen anywhere in the world.

PMID- 20920222
TI  - The role of the bronchial microvasculature in the airway remodelling in asthma
      and COPD.
AB  - In recent years, there has been increased interest in the vascular component of
      airway remodelling in chronic bronchial inflammation, such as asthma and COPD,
      and in its role in the progression of disease. In particular, the bronchial
      mucosa in asthmatics is more vascularised, showing a higher number and dimension
      of vessels and vascular area. Recently, insight has been obtained regarding the
      pivotal role of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in promoting vascular
      remodelling and angiogenesis. Many studies, conducted on biopsies, induced sputum
      or BAL, have shown the involvement of VEGF and its receptors in the vascular
      remodelling processes. Presumably, the vascular component of airway remodelling
      is a complex multi-step phenomenon involving several mediators. Among the common
      asthma and COPD medications, only inhaled corticosteroids have demonstrated a
      real ability to reverse all aspects of vascular remodelling. The aim of this
      review was to analyze the morphological aspects of the vascular component of
      airway remodelling and the possible mechanisms involved in asthma and COPD. We
      also focused on the functional and therapeutic implications of the bronchial
      microvascular changes in asthma and COPD.

PMID- 20920225
TI  - Statins and clinical outcome of acute ischemic stroke: a systematic review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Statin therapy is considered an effective measure for the prevention
      of ischemic stroke. Several recent studies have indicated that treatment with
      statins, prior to the onset of acute ischemic stroke, may also substantially
      reduce the severity of stroke and the degree of patient disability. The purpose
      of the present review is to systematically evaluate the effectiveness of statin
      pretreatment on functional outcome of acute ischemic stroke and to assess
      potential adverse events associated with statin use. METHODS: Relevant articles
      on the role of statins in acute ischemic stroke were identified via
      MEDLINE/PubMed, EMBASE, CENTRAL, and by manual searches of the references of
      identified papers. Clinical studies (most were prospective cohort studies)
      assessing statin therapy for acute ischemic stroke were selected for the review.
      Only two randomized controlled clinical trials met the criteria to be included in
      the analysis. Clinical outcome was assessed based on the degree of disability
      determined with the modified Rankin Scale (mRS) and Barthel index (BI). The
      National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) was used to measure stroke
      severity. Recurrence of stroke in patients who had suffered from a previous
      stroke was analyzed with and without statin therapy. Incidence and severity of
      adverse reactions was reviewed. Because there were too many differences in study
      outcome measures, a quantitative analysis of data was deemed inappropriate. A
      qualitative summary of the data was consequently completed. RESULTS: Thirteen
      reports were systematically reviewed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of
      statins in the pretreatment of acute ischemic stroke. Pretreatment with statins
      was found to reduce the recurrence of stroke and to result in more favorable
      outcomes for patients. The beneficial effects of prior statin therapy in acute
      ischemic stroke were shown to be especially profound in whites, diabetics,
      elderly patients with hypertension and other vascular diseases, and in patients
      with ideal low density lipoprotein (LDL) levels. There were few incidences of
      adverse reactions with statin pretreatment, most of which were not statistically
      significant. CONCLUSIONS: Pretreatment with statins was associated with a
      favorable outcome in acute ischemic stroke, with few incidences of adverse
      reactions.

PMID- 20920224
TI  - The effects of background white noise on memory performance in inattentive school
      children.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Noise is typically conceived of as being detrimental for cognitive
      performance; however, a recent computational model based on the concepts of
      stochastic resonance and dopamine related internal noise postulates that a
      moderate amount of auditive noise benefit individuals in hypodopaminergic states.
      On the basis of this model we predicted that inattentive children would be
      enhanced by adding background white noise while attentive children's performance
      would deteriorate. METHODS: Fifty-one secondary school pupils carried out an
      episodic verbal free recall test in two noise conditions. In the high noise
      condition, verb-noun sentences were presented during auditory background noise
      (white noise, 78 dB), and in the low noise condition sentences were presented
      without noise. RESULTS: Exposure to background noise improved performance for
      inattentive children and worsened performance for attentive children and
      eliminated episodic memory differences between attentive and inattentive school
      children. CONCLUSIONS: Consistent with the model, our data show that cognitive
      performance can be moderated by external background white noise stimulation in a
      non-clinical group of inattentive participants. This finding needs replicating in
      a larger sample using more noise levels but if replicated has great practical
      applications by offering a non-invasive way to improve school results in children
      with attentional problems.

PMID- 20920223
TI  - Maternal separation with early weaning: a novel mouse model of early life
      neglect.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Childhood adversity is associated with increased risk for mood,
      anxiety, impulse control, and substance disorders. Although genetic and
      environmental factors contribute to the development of such disorders, the
      neurobiological mechanisms involved are poorly understood. A reliable mouse model
      of early life adversity leading to lasting behavioral changes would facilitate
      progress in elucidating the molecular mechanisms underlying these adverse
      effects. Maternal separation is a commonly used model of early life neglect, but
      has led to inconsistent results in the mouse. RESULTS: In an effort to develop a
      mouse model of early life neglect with long-lasting behavioral effects in C57BL/6
      mice, we designed a new maternal separation paradigm that we call Maternal
      Separation with Early Weaning (MSEW). We tested the effects of MSEW on C57BL/6
      mice as well as the genetically distinct DBA/2 strain and found significant MSEW
      effects on several behavioral tasks (i.e., the open field, elevated plus maze,
      and forced swim test) when assessed more than two months following the MSEW
      procedure. Our findings are consistent with MSEW causing effects within multiple
      behavioral domains in both strains, and suggest increased anxiety, hyperactivity,
      and behavioral despair in the MSEW offspring. Analysis of pup weights and
      metabolic parameters showed no evidence for malnutrition in the MSEW pups.
      Additionally, strain differences in many of the behavioral tests suggest a role
      for genetic factors in the response to early life neglect. CONCLUSIONS: These
      results suggest that MSEW may serve as a useful model to examine the complex
      behavioral abnormalities often apparent in individuals with histories of early
      life neglect, and may lead to greater understanding of these later life outcomes
      and offer insight into novel therapeutic strategies.

PMID- 20920226
TI  - Metabolic syndrome in Russian adults: associated factors and mortality from
      cardiovascular diseases and all causes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a cluster of four major obesity-related
      risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD). Russia has one of the highest CVD
      mortality in the world, but its association with MetS remains unknown. Also
      little is known about factors associated with MetS and its components in Russia.
      METHODS: Data on 3555 adults aged 18-90 years were collected in a cross-sectional
      study in 2000. MetS was defined by the International Diabetes Federation (IDF)
      and National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) criteria. Sex-specific
      associations between the IDF-defined MetS, its components, and life-style, socio
      economic factors and laboratory indicators, were analysed using multivariable
      Poisson regression. Vital status of the study participants was identified by July
      2009. Sex-specific associations between MetS and stroke, Coronary Heart Disease
      (CHD), CVD and all-cause death, were studied by Poisson regression adjusted for
      age, smoking, alcohol and history of CVDs. RESULTS: After adjustment for all
      studied factors except BMI, age, serum GGT, C-reactive protein and AST-to-ALT
      ratio were associated with MetS in both genders. Additionally, MetS was
      associated with sedentary lifestyle in women and with smoking in men. In the same
      regression model drinking alcohol 2-4 times a month and consumption of five or
      more alcohol units at one occasion in men, and drinking alcohol 5 times or more a
      month in women were inversely associated with MetS. After a 9-year follow-up,
      MetS was associated with higher risk of death from stroke (RR = 3.76, 95% CI:1.35
      10.46) and from either stroke or myocardial infarction (MI, RR = 2.87, 95%
      CI:1.32-6.23) in men. No associations between MetS and any of the studied causes
      of death were observed in women. CONCLUSION: Factors associated with MetS in both
      genders were age, GGT, C-reactive protein, and AST-to-ALT ratio. Moderate
      frequency of alcohol consumption and binge drinking in men and higher leisure
      time physical activity in women, were inversely associated with MetS.Positive
      associations between MetS and mortality were only observed for deaths from stroke
      and either stroke or MI in men.

PMID- 20920227
TI  - Prognostic value of continuous EEG monitoring during therapeutic hypothermia
      after cardiac arrest.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Continuous EEG (cEEG) is increasingly used to monitor brain
      function in neuro-ICU patients. However, its value in patients with coma after
      cardiac arrest (CA), particularly in the setting of therapeutic hypothermia (TH),
      is only beginning to be elucidated. The aim of this study was to examine whether
      cEEG performed during TH may predict outcome. METHODS: From April 2009 to April
      2010, we prospectively studied 34 consecutive comatose patients treated with TH
      after CA who were monitored with cEEG, initiated during hypothermia and
      maintained after rewarming. EEG background reactivity to painful stimulation was
      tested. We analyzed the association between cEEG findings and neurologic outcome,
      assessed at 2 months with the Glasgow-Pittsburgh Cerebral Performance Categories
      (CPC). RESULTS: Continuous EEG recording was started 12 +/- 6 hours after CA and
      lasted 30 +/- 11 hours. Nonreactive cEEG background (12 of 15 (75%) among
      nonsurvivors versus none of 19 (0) survivors; P < 0.001) and prolonged
      discontinuous "burst-suppression" activity (11 of 15 (73%) versus none of 19; P <
      0.001) were significantly associated with mortality. EEG seizures with absent
      background reactivity also differed significantly (seven of 15 (47%) versus none
      of 12 (0); P = 0.001). In patients with nonreactive background or
      seizures/epileptiform discharges on cEEG, no improvement was seen after TH.
      Nonreactive cEEG background during TH had a positive predictive value of 100%
      (95% confidence interval (CI), 74 to 100%) and a false-positive rate of 0 (95%
      CI, 0 to 18%) for mortality. All survivors had cEEG background reactivity, and
      the majority of them (14 (74%) of 19) had a favorable outcome (CPC 1 or 2).
      CONCLUSIONS: Continuous EEG monitoring showing a nonreactive or discontinuous
      background during TH is strongly associated with unfavorable outcome in patients
      with coma after CA. These data warrant larger studies to confirm the value of
      continuous EEG monitoring in predicting prognosis after CA and TH.

PMID- 20920228
TI  - Novel venom gene discovery in the platypus.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To date, few peptides in the complex mixture of platypus venom have
      been identified and sequenced, in part due to the limited amounts of platypus
      venom available to study. We have constructed and sequenced a cDNA library from
      an active platypus venom gland to identify the remaining components. RESULTS: We
      identified 83 novel putative platypus venom genes from 13 toxin families, which
      are homologous to known toxins from a wide range of vertebrates (fish, reptiles,
      insectivores) and invertebrates (spiders, sea anemones, starfish). A number of
      these are expressed in tissues other than the venom gland, and at least three of
      these families (those with homology to toxins from distant invertebrates) may
      play non-toxin roles. Thus, further functional testing is required to confirm
      venom activity. However, the presence of similar putative toxins in such widely
      divergent species provides further evidence for the hypothesis that there are
      certain protein families that are selected preferentially during evolution to
      become venom peptides. We have also used homology with known proteins to
      speculate on the contributions of each venom component to the symptoms of
      platypus envenomation. CONCLUSIONS: This study represents a step towards fully
      characterizing the first mammal venom transcriptome. We have found similarities
      between putative platypus toxins and those of a number of unrelated species,
      providing insight into the evolution of mammalian venom.

PMID- 20920229
TI  - DNA methylation epigenotypes in breast cancer molecular subtypes.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Identification of gene expression based breast cancer subtypes is
      considered as a critical means of prognostication. Genetic mutations along with
      epigenetic alterations contribute to gene expression changes occurring in breast
      cancer. So far, these epigenetic contributions to sporadic breast cancer subtypes
      have not been well characterized, and there is only a limited understanding of
      the epigenetic mechanisms affected in those particular breast cancer subtypes.
      The present study was undertaken to dissect the breast cancer methylome and
      deliver specific epigenotypes associated with particular breast cancer subtypes.
      METHODS: Using a microarray approach we analyzed DNA methylation in regulatory
      regions of 806 cancer related genes in 28 breast cancer paired samples. We
      subsequently performed substantial technical and biological validation by
      Pyrosequencing, investigating the top qualifying 19 CpG regions in independent
      cohorts encompassing 47 basal-like, 44 ERBB2+ overexpressing, 48 luminal A and 48
      luminal B paired breast cancer/adjacent tissues. Using all-subset selection
      method, we identified the most subtype predictive methylation profiles in
      multivariable logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: The approach efficiently
      recognized 15 individual CpG loci differentially methylated in breast cancer
      tumor subtypes. We further identify novel subtype specific epigenotypes which
      clearly demonstrate the differences in the methylation profiles of basal-like and
      human epidermal growth factor 2 (HER2)-overexpressing tumors. CONCLUSIONS: Our
      results provide evidence that well defined DNA methylation profiles enables
      breast cancer subtype prediction and support the utilization of this biomarker
      for prognostication and therapeutic stratification of patients with breast
      cancer.

PMID- 20920230
TI  - A global optimization algorithm for protein surface alignment.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A relevant problem in drug design is the comparison and recognition
      of protein binding sites. Binding sites recognition is generally based on
      geometry often combined with physico-chemical properties of the site since the
      conformation, size and chemical composition of the protein surface are all
      relevant for the interaction with a specific ligand. Several matching strategies
      have been designed for the recognition of protein-ligand binding sites and of
      protein-protein interfaces but the problem cannot be considered solved. RESULTS:
      In this paper we propose a new method for local structural alignment of protein
      surfaces based on continuous global optimization techniques. Given the three
      dimensional structures of two proteins, the method finds the isometric
      transformation (rotation plus translation) that best superimposes active regions
      of two structures. We draw our inspiration from the well-known Iterative Closest
      Point (ICP) method for three-dimensional (3D) shapes registration. Our main
      contribution is in the adoption of a controlled random search as a more efficient
      global optimization approach along with a new dissimilarity measure. The reported
      computational experience and comparison show viability of the proposed approach.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our method performs well to detect similarity in binding sites when
      this in fact exists. In the future we plan to do a more comprehensive evaluation
      of the method by considering large datasets of non-redundant proteins and
      applying a clustering technique to the results of all comparisons to classify
      binding sites.

PMID- 20920231
TI  - Diagnostic value of triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells-1 and C
      reactive protein for patients with lung infiltrates: an observational study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Differential diagnosis of patients with lung infiltrates remains a
      challenge. Triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells (TREM)-1 is a
      neutrophil and monocyte receptor up-regulated during infection. The aim of this
      study was to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of TREM-1 and of C-reactive protein
      (CRP) from patients with lung infiltrates to discern community acquired lung
      infections. METHODS: 68 patients admitted to a medical ward with acute
      respiratory illness were enrolled in the study. Neutrophil and monocyte TREM-1
      expression were measured by flow cytometry, sTREM-1 by an enzyme immunoassay and
      C-reactive protein by nephelometry. Clinical pulmonary infection score was
      recorded. RESULTS: 34 patients were diagnosed with bacterial community acquired
      pneumonia (group A) and 34 with non-bacterial pulmonary disease (group B). Median
      serum TREM-1 concentration was 102.09 pg/ml in group A and lower than 15.10 pg/ml
      (p < 0.0001) in group B. Mean+/-SE neutrophil TREM-1 expression was 4.67 +/- 0.53
      MFI in group A and 2.64 +/- 0.25 MFI (p = 0.001) in group B. Monocyte TREM-1
      expression was 4.2 +/- 0.42 MFI in group A and 2.64 +/- 0.35 MFI (p = 0.007) in
      group B and mean+/-SE CRP was 18.03 +/- 2 mg/ml in group A and 7.1 +/- 1.54 mg/ml
      (p < 0.001) in group B. A cut-off of 19.53 pg/ml of sTREM-1 with sensitivity
      82.6% and specificity 63% to discriminate between infectious and non-infectious
      pulmonary infiltrates was found. sTREM-1 at admission greater than 180 pg/ml was
      accompanied with unfavourable outcome. CONCLUSION: TREM-1 myeloid expression and
      sTREM-1 are reliable markers of bacterial infection among patients with pulmonary
      infiltrates; sTREM-1 is a predictor of final outcome.

PMID- 20920232
TI  - Perceptions of primary healthcare professionals towards their role in type 2
      diabetes mellitus patient education in Brazil.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of the current study was to analyze the perceptions,
      knowledge, and practices of primary healthcare professionals in providing patient
      education to people with type 2 diabetes mellitus. METHODS: A total of 23 health
      professionals working in primary healthcare units in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais
      State, Brazil, participated in a focus group in order to discuss their patient
      education practices and the challenges for effective patient education in
      diabetes self-management. RESULTS: The results were categorized as follows: 1)
      lack of preparation and technical knowledge among the health professionals on
      some aspects of diabetes mellitus and the health professionals' patient education
      practices; 2) work conditions and organization; 3) issues related or attributed
      to the clientele themselves; and 4) diabetes care model. CONCLUSIONS: This study
      highlights the importance of reorienting the patient education practices, health
      professionals' skills and work goals, and evaluation of the educational
      interventions, in order to establish strategies for health promotion and
      prevention and control of the disease. DESCRIPTORS: Health Education; Prevention
      of Diabetes Mellitus; Primary Healthcare.

PMID- 20920233
TI  - Is there an association between low dose aspirin and anemia (without overt
      bleeding)? Narrative review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Overt bleeding associated with low dose aspirin (LDA) is well
      recognized, little attention is given to the possibility of association between
      LDA and occult bleeding, although this is known to occur in healthy volunteers.
      LDA is used increasingly in primary and secondary prevention of a number of
      medical conditions, many of which are common in older people, as is anemia.
      Anemia in older people is associated with adverse outcomes including disability,
      morbidity and mortality. The purpose of this study was to review the evidence
      that LDA might cause anemia without overt bleeding. METHODS: An extensive
      narrative review was carried out. Electronic searching (including database links)
      and reference lists of reports were used to identify studies reporting on use of
      aspirin <=325 mg/day and anemia or change in hemoglobin (Hb) without overt
      bleeding. Data were extracted from reports of trials, adverse drug reactions
      (ADRs) and prevalence studies of adults aged >=18 years, published since 1980.
      RESULTS: There are few relevant data, with considerable heterogeneity among trial
      designs, duration, and patient characteristics in studies of LDA. In five
      randomised trials (n = 5879) in (mostly secondary) prevention, the majority of
      patients were men without peptic ulcer disease aged 50-70 years and no consistent
      association between LDA and change in Hb was found. In two smaller studies (n =
      609) of primary prevention in healthy patients aged >=70 years, there was a small
      but statistically significant fall in Hb with LDA. Observational studies, and
      data from trials in which use of LDA was not a primary focus of the study, were
      inconclusive. CONCLUSIONS: It is not clear whether there is an association
      between LDA and anemia in the absence of overt bleeding, but there may be an
      association between LDA and fall in Hb in (a subset of) older patients. The
      available evidence has significant limitations, which are discussed; studies
      including more older patients, and publication of individual patient data, would
      help clarify this important matter.

PMID- 20920235
TI  - Computationally efficient flux variability analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Flux variability analysis is often used to determine robustness of
      metabolic models in various simulation conditions. However, its use has been
      somehow limited by the long computation time compared to other constraint-based
      modeling methods. RESULTS: We present an open source implementation of flux
      variability analysis called fastFVA. This efficient implementation makes large
      scale flux variability analysis feasible and tractable allowing more complex
      biological questions regarding network flexibility and robustness to be
      addressed. CONCLUSIONS: Networks involving thousands of biochemical reactions can
      be analyzed within seconds, greatly expanding the utility of flux variability
      analysis in systems biology.

PMID- 20920234
TI  - Epigenetic regulation of CD44 in Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Epigenetic inactivation of tumor suppressor genes (TSG) by promoter
      CpG island hypermethylation is a hallmark of cancer. To assay its extent in human
      lymphoma, methylation of 24 TSG was analyzed in lymphoma-derived cell lines as
      well as in patient samples. METHODS: We screened for TSG methylation using
      methylation-specific multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MS-MLPA)
      in 40 lymphoma-derived cell lines representing anaplastic large cell lymphoma,
      Burkitt lymphoma (BL), diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), follicular lymphoma
      (FL), Hodgkin lymphoma and mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) as well as in 50 primary
      lymphoma samples. The methylation status of differentially methylated CD44 was
      verified by methylation-specific PCR and bisulfite sequencing. Gene expression of
      CD44 and its reactivation by DNA demethylation was determined by quantitative
      real-time PCR and on the protein level by flow cytometry. Induction of apoptosis
      by anti-CD44 antibody was analyzed by annexin-V/PI staining and flow cytometry.
      RESULTS: On average 8 +/- 2.8 of 24 TSG were methylated per lymphoma cell line
      and 2.4 +/- 2 of 24 TSG in primary lymphomas, whereas 0/24 TSG were methylated in
      tonsils and blood mononuclear cells from healthy donors. Notably, we identified
      that CD44 was hypermethylated and transcriptionally silenced in all BL and most
      FL and DLBCL cell lines, but was usually unmethylated and expressed in MCL cell
      lines. Concordant results were obtained from primary lymphoma material: CD44 was
      not methylated in MCL patients (0/11) whereas CD44 was frequently hypermethylated
      in BL patients (18/29). In cell lines with CD44 hypermethylation, expression was
      re-inducible at mRNA and protein levels by treatment with the DNA demethylating
      agent 5-Aza-2'-deoxycytidine, confirming epigenetic regulation of CD44. CD44
      ligation assays with a monoclonal anti-CD44 antibody showed that CD44 can mediate
      apoptosis in CD44+ lymphoma cells. CD44 hypermethylated, CD44- lymphoma cell
      lines were consistently resistant towards anti-CD44 induced apoptosis.
      CONCLUSION: Our data show that CD44 is epigenetically regulated in lymphoma and
      undergoes de novo methylation in distinct lymphoma subtypes like BL. Thus CD44
      may be a promising new epigenetic marker for diagnosis and a potential
      therapeutic target for the treatment of specific lymphoma subtypes.

PMID- 20920236
TI  - Efficacy and safety of combined prolonged-release oxycodone and naloxone in the
      management of moderate/severe chronic non-malignant pain: results of a
      prospectively designed pooled analysis of two randomised, double-blind clinical
      trials.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Two randomised 12-week, double-blind, parallel-group, multicenter
      studies comparing oxycodone PR/naloxone PR and oxycodone PR alone on symptoms of
      opioid-induced bowel dysfunction in patients with moderate/severe non-malignant
      pain have been conducted. METHODS: These studies were prospectively designed to
      be pooled and the primary outcome measure of the pooled data analysis was to
      demonstrate non-inferiority in 12-week analgesic efficacy of oxycodone
      PR/naloxone PR versus oxycodone PR alone. Patients with opioid-induced
      constipation were switched to oxycodone PR and then randomised to fixed doses of
      oxycodone PR/naloxone PR (n = 292) or oxycodone PR (n = 295) for 12 weeks (20-80
      mg/day). RESULTS: No statistically significant differences in analgesic efficacy
      were observed for the two treatments (p = 0.3197; non-inferiority p < 0.0001; 95%
      CI -0.07, 0.23) and there was no statistically significant difference in
      frequency of analgesic rescue medication use. Improvements in Bowel Function
      Index score were observed for oxycodone PR/naloxone PR by Week 1 and at every
      subsequent time point (-15.1; p < 0.0001; 95% CI -17.3, -13.0). AE incidence was
      similar for both groups (61.0% and 57.3% of patients with oxycodone PR/naloxone
      PR and oxycodone PR alone, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Results of this pooled
      analysis confirm that oxycodone PR/naloxone PR provides effective analgesia and
      suggest that oxycodone PR/naloxone PR improves bowel function without
      compromising analgesic efficacy. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBERS: ClinicalTrials.gov
      identifier: NCT00412100 and NCT00412152.

PMID- 20920237
TI  - PpiD is a player in the network of periplasmic chaperones in Escherichia coli.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The inner membrane-anchored periplasmic folding factor PpiD is
      described as a parvulin-like peptidyl prolyl isomerase (PPIase) that assists in
      the maturation of the major beta-barrel outer membrane proteins (OMPs) of
      Escherichia coli. More recent work however, calls these findings into question.
      Here, we re-examined the role of PpiD in the E. coli periplasm by analyzing its
      functional interplay with other folding factors that influence OMP maturation as
      well as general protein folding in the periplasmic compartment of the cell, such
      as SurA, Skp, and DegP. RESULTS: The analysis of the effects of both deletion and
      overexpression of ppiD on cell envelope phenotypes revealed that PpiD in contrast
      to prior observations plays only a minor role, if any, in the maturation of OMPs
      and cannot compensate for the lack of SurA in the periplasm. On the other hand,
      our results show that overproduction of PpiD rescues a surA skp double mutant
      from lethality. In the presence of increased PpiD levels surA skp cells show
      reduced activities of both the SigmaE-dependent and the Cpx envelope stress
      responses, and contain increased amounts of folded species of the major OMP OmpA.
      These effects require the anchoring of PpiD in the inner membrane but are
      independent of its parvulin-like PPIase domain. Moreover, a PpiD protein lacking
      the PPIase domain also complements the growth defects of an fkpA ppiD surA triple
      PPIase mutant and exhibits chaperone activity in vitro. In addition, PpiD appears
      to collaborate with DegP, as deletion of ppiD confers a temperature-dependent
      conditional synthetic phenotype in a degP mutant. CONCLUSIONS: This study
      provides first direct evidence that PpiD functions as a chaperone and contributes
      to the network of periplasmic chaperone activities without being specifically
      involved in OMP maturation. Consistent with previous work, our data support a
      model in which the chaperone function of PpiD is used to aid in the early
      periplasmic folding of many newly translocated proteins.

PMID- 20920238
TI  - BPDA - a Bayesian peptide detection algorithm for mass spectrometry.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mass spectrometry (MS) is an essential analytical tool in proteomics.
      Many existing algorithms for peptide detection are based on isotope template
      matching and usually work at different charge states separately, making them
      ineffective to detect overlapping peptides and low abundance peptides. RESULTS:
      We present BPDA, a Bayesian approach for peptide detection in data produced by MS
      instruments with high enough resolution to baseline-resolve isotopic peaks, such
      as MALDI-TOF and LC-MS. We model the spectra as a mixture of candidate peptide
      signals, and the model is parameterized by MS physical properties. BPDA is based
      on a rigorous statistical framework and avoids problems, such as voting and ad
      hoc thresholding, generally encountered in algorithms based on template matching.
      It systematically evaluates all possible combinations of possible peptide
      candidates to interpret a given spectrum, and iteratively finds the best fitting
      peptide signal in order to minimize the mean squared error of the inferred
      spectrum to the observed spectrum. In contrast to previous detection methods,
      BPDA performs deisotoping and deconvolution of mass spectra simultaneously, which
      enables better identification of weak peptide signals and produces higher
      sensitivities and more robust results. Unlike template-matching algorithms, BPDA
      can handle complex data where features overlap. Our experimental results indicate
      that BPDA performs well on simulated data and real MS data sets, for various
      resolutions and signal to noise ratios, and compares very favorably with commonly
      used commercial and open-source software, such as flexAnalysis, OpenMS, and
      Decon2LS, according to sensitivity and detection accuracy. CONCLUSION: Unlike
      previous detection methods, which only employ isotopic distributions and work at
      each single charge state alone, BPDA takes into account the charge state
      distribution as well, thus lending information to better identify weak peptide
      signals and produce more robust results. The proposed approach is based on a
      rigorous statistical framework, which avoids problems generally encountered in
      algorithms based on template matching. Our experiments indicate that BPDA
      performs well on both simulated data and real data, and compares very favorably
      with commonly used commercial and open-source software. The BPDA software can be
      downloaded from http://gsp.tamu.edu/Publications/supplementary/sun10a/bpda.

PMID- 20920239
TI  - Two-year changes in quality of life in elderly patients with low-energy hip
      fractures. A case-control study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The long-term effect of hip fracture on health-related quality of
      life (HRQOL) and global quality of life (GQOL) has not been thoroughly studied in
      prospective case-control studies. AIMS: a) to explore whether patients with low
      energy hip fracture regain their pre-fracture levels in HRQOL and GQOL compared
      with changes in age- and sex-matched controls over a two year period; b) to
      identify predictors of changes in HRQOL and GQOL after two years. METHODS: We
      examined 61 patients (mean age = 74 years, SD = 10) and 61 matched controls (mean
      age = 73 years, SD = 8). The Short Form 36 assessed HRQOL and the Quality of Life
      Scale assessed GQOL. Paired samples t tests and multiple linear regression
      analyses were applied. RESULTS: HRQOL decreased significantly between baseline
      and one-year follow-up in patients with hip fractures, within all the SF-36
      domains (p < 0.04), except for social functioning (p = 0.091). There were no
      significant decreases within the SF-36 domains in the controls. Significantly
      decreased GQOL scores (p < 0.001) were observed both within patients and within
      controls between baseline and one-year follow-up. The same pattern persisted
      between baseline and two-year follow-up, except for the HRQOL domain mental
      health (p = 0.193). The patients with hip fractures did not regain their HRQOL
      and GQOL. Worsened physical health after two years was predicted by being a
      patient with hip fracture (B = -5.8, p < 0.001) and old age (B = -1.0, p =
      0.015), while worsened mental health was predicted by co-morbidity (B = -2.2, p =
      0.029). No significant predictors of differential changes in GQOL were
      identified. CONCLUSION: A hip fracture has a long-term impact on HRQOL and is a
      strong predictor of worsened physical health. Our data emphasize the importance
      of preventing hip fracture in the elderly to maintain physical health. This
      knowledge should be included in decision-making and health care plans.

PMID- 20920240
TI  - How are "teaching the teachers" courses in evidence based medicine evaluated? A
      systematic review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Teaching of evidence-based medicine (EBM) has become widespread in
      medical education. Teaching the teachers (TTT) courses address the increased
      teaching demand and the need to improve effectiveness of EBM teaching. We
      conducted a systematic review of assessment tools for EBM TTT courses. To
      summarise and appraise existing assessment methods for teaching the teachers
      courses in EBM by a systematic review. METHODS: We searched PubMed, BioMed,
      EmBase, Cochrane and Eric databases without language restrictions and included
      articles that assessed its participants. Study selection and data extraction were
      conducted independently by two reviewers. RESULTS: Of 1230 potentially relevant
      studies, five papers met the selection criteria. There were no specific
      assessment tools for evaluating effectiveness of EBM TTT courses. Some of the
      material available might be useful in initiating the development of such an
      assessment tool. CONCLUSION: There is a need for the development of educationally
      sound assessment tools for teaching the teachers courses in EBM, without which it
      would be impossible to ascertain if such courses have the desired effect.

PMID- 20920241
TI  - Multi-centred mixed-methods PEPFAR HIV care & support public health evaluation:
      study protocol.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A public health response is essential to meet the multidimensional
      needs of patients and families affected by HIV disease in sub-Saharan Africa. In
      order to appraise current provision of HIV care and support in East Africa, and
      to provide evidence-based direction to future care programming, and Public Health
      Evaluation was commissioned by the PEPFAR programme of the US Government.
      METHODS/DESIGN: This paper described the 2-Phase international mixed methods
      study protocol utilising longitudinal outcome measurement, surveys, patient and
      family qualitative interviews and focus groups, staff qualitative interviews,
      health economics and document analysis. Aim 1) To describe the nature and scope
      of HIV care and support in two African countries, including the types of
      facilities available, clients seen, and availability of specific components of
      care [Study Phase 1]. Aim 2) To determine patient health outcomes over time and
      principle cost drivers [Study Phase 2]. The study objectives are as follows. 1)
      To undertake a cross-sectional survey of service configuration and activity by
      sampling 10% of the facilities being funded by PEPFAR to provide HIV care and
      support in Kenya and Uganda (Phase 1) in order to describe care currently
      provided, including pharmacy drug reviews to determine availability and supply of
      essential drugs in HIV management. 2) To conduct patient focus group discussions
      at each of these (Phase 1) to determine care received. 3) To undertake a
      longitudinal prospective study of 1200 patients who are newly diagnosed with HIV
      or patients with HIV who present with a new problem attending PEPFAR care and
      support services. Data collection includes self-reported quality of life, core
      palliative outcomes and components of care received (Phase 2). 4) To conduct
      qualitative interviews with staff, patients and carers in order to explore and
      understand service issues and care provision in more depth (Phase 2). 5) To
      undertake document analysis to appraise the clinical care procedures at each
      facility (Phase 2). 6) To determine principle cost drivers including staff,
      overhead and laboratory costs (Phase 2). DISCUSSION: This novel mixed methods
      protocol will permit transparent presentation of subsequent dataset results
      publication, and offers a substantive model of protocol design to measure and
      integrate key activities and outcomes that underpin a public health approach to
      disease management in a low-income setting.

PMID- 20920242
TI  - Comparative transcriptional profiling of the limbal epithelial crypt demonstrates
      its putative stem cell niche characteristics.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Limbal epithelial crypt (LEC) is a solid cord of cells,
      approximately 120 microns long. It arises from the undersurface of interpalisade
      rete ridges of the limbal palisades of Vogt and extends deeper into the limbal
      stroma parallel or perpendicular to the palisade. There are up to 6 or 7 such
      LEC, variably distributed along the limbus in each human eye. Morphological and
      immunohistochemical studies on the limbal epithelial crypt (LEC) have
      demonstrated the presence of limbal stem cells in this region. The purpose of
      this microarray study was to characterise the transcriptional profile of the LEC
      and compare with other ocular surface epithelial regions to support our
      hypothesis that LEC preferentially harbours stem cells (SC). RESULTS: LEC was
      found to be enriched for SC related Gene Ontology (GO) terms including those
      identified in quiescent adult SC, however similar to cornea, limbus had
      significant GO terms related to proliferating SC, transient amplifying cells
      (TAC) and differentiated cells (DC). LEC and limbus were metabolically dormant
      with low protein synthesis and downregulated cell cycling. Cornea had upregulated
      genes for cell cycling and self renewal such as FZD7, BTG1, CCNG, and STAT3 which
      were identified from other SC populations. Upregulated gene expression for growth
      factors, cytokines, WNT, Notch, TGF-Beta pathways involved in cell proliferation
      and differentiation were noted in cornea. LEC had highest number of expressed
      sequence tags (ESTs), downregulated and unknown genes, compared to other regions.
      Genes expressed in LEC such as CDH1, SERPINF1, LEF1, FRZB1, KRT19, SOD2, EGR1 are
      known to be involved in SC maintenance. Genes of interest, in LEC belonging to
      the category of cell adhesion molecules, WNT and Notch signalling pathway were
      validated with real-time PCR and immunofluorescence. CONCLUSIONS: Our
      transcriptional profiling study identifies the LEC as a preferential site for
      limbal SC with some characteristics suggesting that it could function as a 'SC
      niche' supporting quiescent SC. It also strengthens the evidence for the presence
      of "transient cells" in the corneal epithelium. These cells are immediate progeny
      of SC with self-renewal capacity and could be responsible for maintaining
      epithelial turn over in normal healthy conditions of the ocular surface (OS). The
      limbus has mixed population of differentiated and undifferentiated cells.

PMID- 20920243
TI  - Prediction of two month modified Rankin Scale with an ordinal prediction model in
      patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage (aSAH) is a devastating event
      with a frequently disabling outcome. Our aim was to develop a prognostic model to
      predict an ordinal clinical outcome at two months in patients with aSAH. METHODS:
      We studied patients enrolled in the International Subarachnoid Aneurysm Trial
      (ISAT), a randomized multicentre trial to compare coiling and clipping in aSAH
      patients.Several models were explored to estimate a patient's outcome according
      to the modified Rankin Scale (mRS) at two months after aSAH. Our final model was
      validated internally with bootstrapping techniques. RESULTS: The study population
      comprised of 2,128 patients of whom 159 patients died within 2 months (8%).
      Multivariable proportional odds analysis identified World Federation of
      Neurosurgical Societies (WFNS) grade as the most important predictor, followed by
      age, sex, lumen size of the aneurysm, Fisher grade, vasospasm on angiography, and
      treatment modality. The model discriminated moderately between those with poor
      and good mRS scores (c statistic = 0.65), with minor optimism according to
      bootstrap re-sampling (optimism corrected c statistic = 0.64). CONCLUSION: We
      presented a calibrated and internally validated ordinal prognostic model to
      predict two month mRS in aSAH patients who survived the early stage up till a
      treatment decision. Although generalizability of the model is limited due to the
      selected population in which it was developed, this model could eventually be
      used to support clinical decision making after external validation. TRIAL
      REGISTRATION: International Standard Randomised Controlled Trial, Number
      ISRCTN49866681.

PMID- 20920244
TI  - Association of an INSIG2 obesity allele with cardiovascular phenotypes is gender
      and age dependent.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The INSIG2 gene has been implicated in cholesterol metabolism and a
      single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) near INSIG2 has been shown to be associated
      with obesity. We sought to determine the relationship of the INSIG2 SNP to
      cardiovascular disease (CVD) related phenotypes. METHODS AND RESULTS: Nine
      hundred forty six patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in
      wave 5 of the multicenter NHLBI Dynamic Registry were genotyped using RT
      PCR/TaqMan/allelic discrimination for the rs7566605 SNP near the INSIG2 gene.
      Clinical variables analyzed include demographics, medical history, and procedural
      details. The prevalence of peripheral vascular disease (PVD) was significantly
      higher in older men (>=65 years) who were either homozygous or carriers of the
      obesity/lipid risk allele ("C") compared to non-carriers (odds ratio 3.4, p =
      0.013) using a logistic regression model incorporating history of
      hypercholesterolemia, history of hypertension, cerebrovascular disease, history
      of diabetes, and BMI. A similar relationship with cerebrovascular disease was
      found in older (>65) women (odds ratio 3.4, p = 0.013). The INSIG2 SNP was not
      associated with BMI, nor with other clinical variables. CONCLUSION: Age and
      gender may influence the association of the INSIG2 obesity SNP with PVD and
      cerebrovascular disease in patients with pre-existing CVD.

PMID- 20920245
TI  - Transformation of metabolism with age and lifestyle in Antarctic seals: a case
      study of systems biology approach to cross-species microarray experiment.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The metabolic transformation that changes Weddell seal pups born on
      land into aquatic animals is not only interesting for the study of general
      biology, but it also provides a model for the acquired and congenital muscle
      disorders which are associated with oxygen metabolism in skeletal muscle.
      However, the analysis of gene expression in seals is hampered by the lack of
      specific microarrays and the very limited annotation of known Weddell seal
      (Leptonychotes weddellii) genes. RESULTS: Muscle samples from newborn, juvenile,
      and adult Weddell seals were collected during an Antarctic expedition. Extracted
      RNA was hybridized on Affymetrix Human Expression chips. Preliminary studies
      showed a detectable signal from at least 7000 probe sets present in all samples
      and replicates. Relative expression levels for these genes was used for further
      analysis of the biological pathways implicated in the metabolism transformation
      which occurs in the transition from newborn, to juvenile, to adult seals.
      Cytoskeletal remodeling, WNT signaling, FAK signaling, hypoxia-induced HIF1
      activation, and insulin regulation were identified as being among the most
      important biological pathways involved in transformation. CONCLUSION: In spite of
      certain losses in specificity and sensitivity, the cross-species application of
      gene expression microarrays is capable of solving challenging puzzles in biology.
      A Systems Biology approach based on gene interaction patterns can compensate
      adequately for the lack of species-specific genomics information.

PMID- 20920246
TI  - The core genome of the anaerobic oral pathogenic bacterium Porphyromonas
      gingivalis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Gram negative anaerobic bacterium Porphyromonas gingivalis has
      long been recognized as a causative agent of periodontitis. Periodontitis is a
      chronic infectious disease of the tooth supporting tissues eventually leading to
      tooth-loss. Capsular polysaccharide (CPS) of P. gingivalis has been shown to be
      an important virulence determinant. Seven capsular serotypes have been described.
      Here, we used micro-array based comparative genomic hybridization analysis (CGH)
      to analyze a representative of each of the capsular serotypes and a non
      encapsulated strain against the highly virulent and sequenced W83 strain. We
      defined absent calls using Arabidopsis thaliana negative control probes, with the
      aim to distinguish between aberrations due to mutations and gene gain/loss.
      RESULTS: Our analyses allowed us to call aberrant genes, absent genes and
      divergent regions in each of the test strains. A conserved core P. gingivalis
      genome was described, which consists of 80% of the analyzed genes from the
      sequenced W83 strain. The percentage of aberrant genes between the test strains
      and control strain W83 was 8.2% to 13.7%. Among the aberrant genes many CPS
      biosynthesis genes were found. Most other virulence related genes could be found
      in the conserved core genome. Comparing highly virulent strains with less
      virulent strains indicates that hmuS, a putative CobN/Mg chelatase involved in
      heme uptake, may be a more relevant virulence determinant than previously
      expected. Furthermore, the description of the 39 W83-specific genes could give
      more insight in why this strain is more virulent than others. CONCLUSION:
      Analyses of the genetic content of the P. gingivalis capsular serotypes allowed
      the description of a P. gingivalis core genome. The high resolution data from
      three types of analysis of triplicate hybridization experiments may explain the
      higher divergence between P. gingivalis strains than previously recognized.

PMID- 20920247
TI  - Population dynamics of an RNA virus and its defective interfering particles in
      passage cultures.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Viruses can fall prey to their defective interfering (DI) particles.
      When viruses are cultured by serial passage on susceptible host cells, the
      presence of virus-like DI particles can cause virus populations to rise and fall,
      reflecting predator-prey interactions between DI and virus particles. The levels
      of virus and DI particles in each population passage can be determined
      experimentally by plaque and yield-reduction assays, respectively. RESULTS: To
      better understand DI and virus particle interactions we measured vesicular
      stomatitis virus and DI particle production during serial-passage culture on BHK
      cells. When the multiplicity of infection (MOI, or ratio of infectious virus
      particles to cells) was fixed, virus yields followed a pattern of progressive
      decline, with higher MOI driving earlier and faster drops in virus level. These
      patterns of virus decline were consistent with predictions from a mathematical
      model based on single-passage behavior of cells co-infected with virus and DI
      particles. By contrast, the production of virus during fixed-volume passages
      exhibited irregular fluctuations that could not be described by either the steady
      state or regular oscillatory dynamics of the model. However, these irregularities
      were, to a significant degree, reproduced when measured host-cell levels were
      incorporated into the model, revealing a high sensitivity of virus and DI
      particle populations to fluctuations in available cell resources. CONCLUSIONS:
      This study shows how the development of mathematical models, when guided by
      quantitative experiments, can provide new insight into the dynamic behavior of
      virus populations.

PMID- 20920248
TI  - Computational analysis of LexA regulons in Cyanobacteria.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The transcription factor LexA plays an important role in the SOS
      response in Escherichia coli and many other bacterial species studied. Although
      the lexA gene is encoded in almost every bacterial group with a wide range of
      evolutionary distances, its precise functions in each group/species are largely
      unknown. More recently, it has been shown that lexA genes in two cyanobacterial
      genomes Nostoc sp. PCC 7120 and Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 might have distinct
      functions other than the regulation of the SOS response. To gain a general
      understanding of the functions of LexA and its evolution in cyanobacteria, we
      conducted the current study. RESULTS: Our analysis indicates that six of 33
      sequenced cyanobacterial genomes do not harbor a lexA gene although they all
      encode the key SOS response genes, suggesting that LexA is not an indispensable
      transcription factor in these cyanobacteria, and that their SOS responses might
      be regulated by different mechanisms. Our phylogenetic analysis suggests that
      lexA was lost during the course of evolution in these six cyanobacterial genomes.
      For the 26 cyanobacterial genomes that encode a lexA gene, we have predicted
      their LexA-binding sites and regulons using an efficient binding site/regulon
      prediction algorithm that we developed previously. Our results show that LexA in
      most of these 26 genomes might still function as the transcriptional regulator of
      the SOS response genes as seen in E. coli and other organisms. Interestingly,
      putative LexA-binding sites were also found in some genomes for some key genes
      involved in a variety of other biological processes including photosynthesis,
      drug resistance, etc., suggesting that there is crosstalk between the SOS
      response and these biological processes. In particular, LexA in both
      Synechocystis sp. PCC6803 and Gloeobacter violaceus PCC7421 has largely diverged
      from those in other cyanobacteria in the sequence level. It is likely that LexA
      is no longer a regulator of the SOS response in Synechocystis sp. PCC6803.
      CONCLUSIONS: In most cyanobacterial genomes that we analyzed, LexA appears to
      function as the transcriptional regulator of the key SOS response genes. There
      are possible couplings between the SOS response and other biological processes.
      In some cyanobacteria, LexA has adapted distinct functions, and might no longer
      be a regulator of the SOS response system. In some other cyanobacteria, lexA
      appears to have been lost during the course of evolution. The loss of lexA in
      these genomes might lead to the degradation of its binding sites.

PMID- 20920249
TI  - Polo-like kinase 4: the odd one out of the family.
AB  - Polo-like kinase 4 (PLK4) is a unique member of the Polo-like family of kinases
      that shares little homology with its siblings and has an essential role in
      centriole duplication. The turn-over of this kinase must be strictly controlled
      to prevent centriole amplification. This is achieved, in part, by an
      autoregulatory mechanism, whereby PLK4 autophosphorylates residues in a PEST
      sequence located carboxy-terminal to its catalytic domain. Phosphorylated PLK4 is
      subsequently recognized by the SCF complex, ubiquitinylated and targeted to the
      proteasome for degradation. Recent data have also shown that active PLK4 is
      restricted to the centrosome, a mechanism that could serve to prevent aberrant
      centriole assembly elsewhere in the cell. While significant advances have been
      made in understanding how PLK4 is regulated it is certain that additional
      regulatory mechanisms exist to safeguard the fidelity of centriole duplication.
      Here, we overview past and present data discussing the regulation and functions
      of PLK4.

PMID- 20920251
TI  - Frequent epigenetic inactivation of RASSF2 in thyroid cancer and functional
      consequences.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Ras association domain family (RASSF) encodes for distinct tumor
      suppressors and several members are frequently silenced in human cancer. In our
      study, we analyzed the role of RASSF2, RASSF3, RASSF4, RASSF5A, RASSF5C and
      RASSF6 and the effectors MST1, MST2 and WW45 in thyroid carcinogenesis. RESULTS:
      Frequent methylation of the RASSF2 and RASSF5A CpG island promoters in thyroid
      tumors was observed. RASSF2 was methylated in 88% of thyroid cancer cell lines
      and in 63% of primary thyroid carcinomas. RASSF2 methylation was significantly
      increased in primary thyroid carcinoma compared to normal thyroid, goiter and
      follicular adenoma (0%, 17% and 0%, respectively; p < 0.05). Patients which were
      older than 60 years were significantly hypermethylated for RASSF2 in their
      primary thyroid tumors compared to those younger than 40 years (90% vs. 38%; p <
      0.05). RASSF2 promoter hypermethylation correlated with its reduced expression
      and treatment with a DNA methylation inhibitor reactivated RASSF2 transcription.
      Over-expression of RASSF2 reduced colony formation of thyroid cancer cells.
      Functionally our data show that RASSF2 interacts with the proapoptotic kinases
      MST1 and MST2 and induces apoptosis in thyroid cancer cell lines. Deletion of the
      MST interaction domain of RASSF2 reduced apoptosis significantly (p < 0.05).
      CONCLUSION: These results suggest that RASSF2 encodes a novel epigenetically
      inactivated candidate tumor suppressor gene in thyroid carcinogenesis.

PMID- 20920252
TI  - A survey of variable selection methods in two Chinese epidemiology journals.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although much has been written on developing better procedures for
      variable selection, there is little research on how it is practiced in actual
      studies. This review surveys the variable selection methods reported in two high
      ranking Chinese epidemiology journals. METHODS: Articles published in 2004, 2006,
      and 2008 in the Chinese Journal of Epidemiology and the Chinese Journal of
      Preventive Medicine were reviewed. Five categories of methods were identified
      whereby variables were selected using: A--bivariate analyses; B--multivariable
      analysis; e.g. stepwise or individual significance testing of model coefficients;
      C--first bivariate analyses, followed by multivariable analysis; D--bivariate
      analyses or multivariable analysis; and E--other criteria like prior knowledge or
      personal judgment. RESULTS: Among the 287 articles that reported using variable
      selection methods, 6%, 26%, 30%, 21%, and 17% were in categories A through E,
      respectively. One hundred sixty-three studies selected variables using bivariate
      analyses, 80% (130/163) via multiple significance testing at the 5% alpha-level.
      Of the 219 multivariable analyses, 97 (44%) used stepwise procedures, 89 (41%)
      tested individual regression coefficients, but 33 (15%) did not mention how
      variables were selected. Sixty percent (58/97) of the stepwise routines also did
      not specify the algorithm and/or significance levels. CONCLUSIONS: The variable
      selection methods reported in the two journals were limited in variety, and
      details were often missing. Many studies still relied on problematic techniques
      like stepwise procedures and/or multiple testing of bivariate associations at the
      0.05 alpha-level. These deficiencies should be rectified to safeguard the
      scientific validity of articles published in Chinese epidemiology journals.

PMID- 20920250
TI  - Multi-species integrative biclustering.
AB  - We describe an algorithm, multi-species cMonkey, for the simultaneous
      biclustering of heterogeneous multiple-species data collections and apply the
      algorithm to a group of bacteria containing Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus
      anthracis, and Listeria monocytogenes. The algorithm reveals evolutionary
      insights into the surprisingly high degree of conservation of regulatory modules
      across these three species and allows data and insights from well-studied
      organisms to complement the analysis of related but less well studied organisms.

PMID- 20920253
TI  - Transcriptome analysis of various flower and silique development stages indicates
      a set of class III peroxidase genes potentially involved in pod shattering in
      Arabidopsis thaliana.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Plant class III peroxidases exist as a large multigenic family
      involved in numerous functions suggesting a functional specialization of each
      gene. However, few genes have been linked with a specific function. Consequently
      total peroxidase activity is still used in numerous studies although its
      relevance is questionable. Transcriptome analysis seems to be a promising tool to
      overcome the difficulties associated with the study of this family. Nevertheless
      available microarrays are not completely reliable for this purpose. We therefore
      used a macroarray dedicated to the 73 class III peroxidase genes of A. thaliana
      to identify genes potentially involved in flower and fruit development. RESULTS:
      The observed increase of total peroxidase activity during development was
      actually correlated with the induction of only a few class III peroxidase genes
      which supports the existence of a functional specialization of these proteins. We
      identified peroxidase genes that are predominantly expressed in one development
      stage and are probable components of the complex gene networks involved in the
      reproductive phase. An attempt has been made to gain insight into plausible
      functions of these genes by collecting and analyzing the expression data of
      different studies in plants. Peroxidase activity was additionally observed in
      situ in the silique dehiscence zone known to be involved in pod shattering.
      Because treatment with a peroxidase inhibitor delayed pod shattering, we
      subsequently studied mutants of transcription factors (TF) controlling this
      mechanism. Three peroxidases genes -AtPrx13, AtPrx30 and AtPrx55- were altered by
      the TFs involved in pod shatter. CONCLUSIONS: Our data illustrated the problems
      caused by linking only an increase in total peroxidase activity to any specific
      development stage or function. The activity or involvement of specific class III
      peroxidase genes needs to be assessed. Several genes identified in our study had
      not been linked to any particular development stage or function until now.
      Notably AtPrx13, which is one of the peroxidase genes not present on commercially
      available microarrays. A systematic survey of class III peroxidase genes
      expression is necessary to reveal specific class III peroxidase gene functions
      and the regulation and evolution of this key multifunctional enzyme family. The
      approach used in this study highlights key individual genes that merit further
      investigation.

PMID- 20920254
TI  - A prevalent mutation with founder effect in Spanish Recessive Dystrophic
      Epidermolysis Bullosa families.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Recessive Dystrophic Epidermolysis Bullosa (RDEB) is a genodermatosis
      caused by more than 500 different mutations in the COL7A1 gene and characterized
      by blistering of the skin following a minimal friction or mechanical trauma.The
      identification of a cluster of RDEB pedigrees carrying the c.6527insC mutation in
      a specific area raises the question of the origin of this mutation from a common
      ancestor or as a result of a hotspot mutation. The aim of this study was to
      investigate the origin of the c.6527insC mutation. METHODS: Haplotypes were
      constructed by genotyping nine single nucleotides polymorphisms (SNPs) throughout
      the COL7A1 gene. Haplotypes were determined in RDEB patients and control samples,
      both of Spanish origin. RESULTS: Sixteen different haplotypes were identified in
      our study. A single haplotype cosegregated with the c.6527insC mutation.
      CONCLUSION: Haplotype analysis showed that all alleles carrying the c.6527insC
      mutation shared the same haplotype cosegregating with this mutation
      (CCGCTCAAA_6527insC), thus suggesting the presence of a common ancestor.

PMID- 20920255
TI  - Reduced levels of SCD1 accentuate palmitate-induced stress in insulin-producing
      beta-cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Stearoyl-CoA desaturase 1 (SCD1) is an ER resident enzyme introducing
      a double-bond in saturated fatty acids. Global knockout of SCD1 in mouse
      increases fatty acid oxidation and insulin sensitivity which makes the animal
      resistant to diet-induced obesity. Inhibition of SCD1 has therefore been proposed
      as a potential therapy of the metabolic syndrome. Much of the work has focused on
      insulin target tissue and very little is known about how reduced levels of SCD1
      would affect the insulin-producing beta-cell, however. The aim of the present
      study was therefore to investigate how reduced levels of SCD1 affect the beta
      cell. RESULTS: Insulin-secreting MIN6 cells with reduced levels of SCD1 were
      established by siRNA mediated knockdown. When fatty acid oxidation was measured,
      no difference between cells with reduced levels of SCD1 and mock-transfected
      cells were found. Also, reducing levels of SCD1 did not affect insulin secretion
      in response to glucose. To investigate how SCD1 knockdown affected cellular
      mechanisms, differentially regulated proteins were identified by a proteomic
      approach. Cells with reduced levels of SCD1 had higher levels of ER chaperones
      and components of the proteasome. The higher amounts did not protect the beta
      cell from palmitate-induced ER stress and apoptosis. Instead, rise in levels of p
      eIF2alpha and CHOP after palmitate exposure was 2-fold higher in cells with
      reduced levels of SCD1 compared to mock-transfected cells. Accordingly, apoptosis
      rose to higher levels after exposure to palmitate in cells with reduced levels of
      SCD1 compared to mock-transfected cells. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, reduced
      levels of SCD1 augment palmitate-induced ER stress and apoptosis in the beta
      cell, which is an important caveat when considering targeting this enzyme as a
      treatment of the metabolic syndrome.

PMID- 20920256
TI  - A novel spliced fusion of MLL with CT45A2 in a pediatric biphenotypic acute
      leukemia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Abnormalities of 11q23 involving the MLL gene are found in
      approximately 10% of human leukemias. To date, nearly 100 different chromosome
      bands have been described in rearrangements involving 11q23 and 64 fusion genes
      have been cloned and characterized at the molecular level. In this work we
      present the identification of a novel MLL fusion partner in a pediatric patient
      with de novo biphenotypic acute leukemia. METHODS: Cytogenetics, fluorescence in
      situ hybridization (FISH), molecular studies (RT-PCR and LDI-PCR), and
      bioinformatic sequence analysis were used to characterize the CT45A2 gene as
      novel MLL fusion partner in pediatric acute leukemia. RESULTS: Fluorescence in
      situ hybridization of bone marrow G-banded metaphases demonstrated a cryptic
      insertion of 11q23 in Xq26.3 involving the MLL gene. Breakpoint fusion analysis
      revealed that a DNA fragment of 653 kb from 11q23, containing MLL exons 1-9 in
      addition to 16 other 11q23 genes, was inserted into the upstream region of the
      CT45A2 gene located at Xq26.3. In addition, a deletion at Xq26.3 encompassing the
      3' region of the DDX26B gene (exons 9-16) and the entire CT45A1 gene was
      identified. RNA analysis revealed the presence of a novel MLL-CT45A2 fusion
      transcript in which the first 9 exons of the MLL gene were fused in-frame to exon
      2 of the CT45A2 gene, resulting in a spliced MLL fusion transcript with an intact
      open reading frame. The resulting chimeric transcript predicts a fusion protein
      where the N-terminus of MLL is fused to the entire open reading frame of CT45A2.
      Finally, we demonstrate that all breakpoint regions are rich in long repetitive
      motifs, namely LINE/L1 and SINE/Alu sequences, but all breakpoints were
      exclusively identified outside these repetitive DNA sequences. CONCLUSION: We
      have identified CT45A2 as a novel spliced MLL fusion partner in a pediatric
      patient with de novo biphenotypic acute leukemia, as a result of a cryptic
      insertion of 11q23 in Xq26.3. Since CT45A2 is the first Cancer/Testis antigen
      family gene found fused with MLL in acute leukemia, future studies addressing its
      biologic relevance for leukemogenesis are warranted.

PMID- 20920257
TI  - Combination of measures distinguishes pre-miRNAs from other stem-loops in the
      genome of the newly sequenced Anopheles darlingi.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Efforts using computational algorithms towards the enumeration of the
      full set of miRNAs of an organism have been limited by strong reliance on
      arguments of precursor conservation and feature similarity. However, miRNA
      precursors may arise anew or be lost across the evolutionary history of a species
      and a newly sequenced genome may be evolutionarily too distant from other genomes
      for an adequate comparative analysis. In addition, the learning of intricate
      classification rules based purely on features shared by miRNA precursors that are
      currently known may reflect a perpetuating identification bias rather than a
      sound means to tell true miRNAs from other genomic stem-loops. RESULTS: We show
      that there is a strong bias amongst annotated pre-miRNAs towards robust stem
      loops in the genomes of Drosophila melanogaster and Anopheles gambiae and we
      propose a scoring scheme for precursor candidates which combines four robustness
      measures. Additionally, we identify several known pre-miRNA homologs in the newly
      sequenced Anopheles darlingi and show that most are found amongst the top-scoring
      precursor candidates. Furthermore, a comparison of the performance of our
      approach is made against two single-genome pre-miRNA classification methods.
      CONCLUSIONS: In this paper we present a strategy to sieve through the vast amount
      of stem-loops found in metazoan genomes in search of pre-miRNAs, significantly
      reducing the set of candidates while retaining most known miRNA precursors. This
      approach makes no use of conservation data and relies solely on properties
      derived from our knowledge of miRNA biogenesis.

PMID- 20920258
TI  - Acro-cardio-facial syndrome.
AB  - Acro-cardio-facial syndrome (ACFS) is a rare genetic disorder characterized by
      split-hand/split-foot malformation (SHFM), facial anomalies, cleft lip/palate,
      congenital heart defect (CHD), genital anomalies, and mental retardation. Up to
      now, 9 patients have been described, and most of the reported cases were not
      surviving the first days or months of age. The spectrum of defects occurring in
      ACFS is wide, and both interindividual variability and clinical differences among
      sibs have been reported. The diagnosis is based on clinical criteria, since the
      genetic mechanism underlying ACFS is still unknown. The differential diagnosis
      includes other disorders with ectrodactyly, and clefting conditions associated
      with genital anomalies and heart defects. An autosomal recessive pattern of
      inheritance has been suggested, based on parental consanguinity and disease's
      recurrence in sibs in some families. The more appropriate recurrence risk of
      transmitting the disease for the parents of an affected child seems to be up to
      one in four. Management of affected patients includes treatment of cardiac,
      respiratory, and feeding problems by neonatal pediatricians and other
      specialists. Prognosis of ACFS is poor.

PMID- 20920259
TI  - Cell-specific occupancy of an extended repertoire of CREM and CREB binding loci
      in male germ cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND: CREB and CREM are closely related factors that regulate transcription
      in response to various stress, metabolic and developmental signals. The CREMtau
      activator isoform is selectively expressed in haploid spermatids and plays an
      essential role in murine spermiogenesis. RESULTS: We have used chromatin
      immunoprecipitation coupled to sequencing (ChIP-seq) to map CREM and CREB target
      loci in round spermatids from adult mouse testis and spermatogonia derived GC1
      spg cells respectively. We identify more than 9000 genomic loci most of which are
      cell-specifically occupied. Despite the fact that round spermatids correspond to
      a highly specialised differentiated state, our results show that they have a
      remarkably accessible chromatin environment as CREM occupies more than 6700
      target loci corresponding not only to the promoters of genes selectively
      expressed in spermiogenesis, but also of genes involved in functions specific to
      other cell types. The expression of only a small subset of these target genes are
      affected in the round spermatids of CREM knockout animals. We also identify a set
      of intergenic binding loci some of which are associated with H3K4 trimethylation
      and elongating RNA polymerase II suggesting the existence of novel CREB and CREM
      regulated transcripts. CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrate that CREM and CREB occupy a
      large number of promoters in highly cell specific manner. This is the first study
      of CREM target promoters directly in a physiologically relevant tissue in vivo
      and represents the most comprehensive experimental analysis of CREB/CREM
      regulatory potential to date.

PMID- 20920260
TI  - Non-coding RNA detection methods combined to improve usability, reproducibility
      and precision.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Non-coding RNAs gain more attention as their diverse roles in many
      cellular processes are discovered. At the same time, the need for efficient
      computational prediction of ncRNAs increases with the pace of sequencing
      technology. Existing tools are based on various approaches and techniques, but
      none of them provides a reliable ncRNA detector yet. Consequently, a natural
      approach is to combine existing tools. Due to a lack of standard input and output
      formats combination and comparison of existing tools is difficult. Also, for
      genomic scans they often need to be incorporated in detection workflows using
      custom scripts, which decreases transparency and reproducibility. RESULTS: We
      developed a Java-based framework to integrate existing tools and methods for
      ncRNA detection. This framework enables users to construct transparent detection
      workflows and to combine and compare different methods efficiently. We
      demonstrate the effectiveness of combining detection methods in case studies with
      the small genomes of Escherichia coli, Listeria monocytogenes and Streptococcus
      pyogenes. With the combined method, we gained 10% to 20% precision for
      sensitivities from 30% to 80%. Further, we investigated Streptococcus pyogenes
      for novel ncRNAs. Using multiple methods--integrated by our framework--we
      determined four highly probable candidates. We verified all four candidates
      experimentally using RT-PCR. CONCLUSIONS: We have created an extensible framework
      for practical, transparent and reproducible combination and comparison of ncRNA
      detection methods. We have proven the effectiveness of this approach in tests and
      by guiding experiments to find new ncRNAs. The software is freely available under
      the GNU General Public License (GPL), version 3 at http://www.sbi.uni
      rostock.de/moses along with source code, screen shots, examples and tutorial
      material.

PMID- 20920262
TI  - Reference values for lysosomal enzymes activities using dried blood spots samples
      - a Brazilian experience.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Lysosomal storage diseases (LSD) are inherited disorders caused by
      deficiency of lysosomal enzymes in which early diagnosis is essential to provide
      timely treatment. This study reports interval values for the activity of
      lysosomal enzymes that are deficient in Mucopolysaccharidosis type I, Fabry,
      Gaucher and Pompe disease, using dried blood spots on filter paper (DBS) samples
      in a Brazilian population. RESULTS: Reference activity values were obtained from
      healthy volunteers samples for alpha-galactosidase A (4.57 +/- 1.37 umol/L/h),
      beta-glucosidase (3.06 +/- 0.99 umol/L/h), alpha-glucosidase (ratio: 13.19 +/-
      4.26; % inhibition: 70.66 +/- 7.60), alpha-iduronidase (3.45 +/- 1.21 umol/L/h)
      and beta-galactosidase (14.09 +/- 4.36 umol/L/h). CONCLUSION: Reference values of
      five lysosomal enzymes were determined for a Brazilian population sample.
      However, as our results differ from other laboratories, it highlights the
      importance of establishing specific reference values for each center.

PMID- 20920261
TI  - Design of the xylitol for adult caries trial (X-ACT).
AB  - BACKGROUND: Dental caries incidence in adults is similar to that in children and
      adolescents, but few caries preventive agents have been evaluated for
      effectiveness in adults populations. In addition, dentists direct fewer
      preventive services to their adult patients. Xylitol, an over-the-counter
      sweetener, has shown some potential as a caries preventive agent, but the
      evidence for its effectiveness is not yet conclusive and is based largely on
      studies in child populations. METHODS/DESIGN: X-ACT is a three-year, multi
      center, placebo controlled, double-blind, randomized clinical trial that tests
      the effects of daily use of xylitol lozenges versus placebo lozenges on the
      prevention of adult caries. The trial has randomized 691 participants (ages 21
      80) to the two arms. The primary outcome is the increment of cavitated lesions.
      DISCUSSION: This trial should help resolve the overall issue of the effectiveness
      of xylitol in preventing caries by contributing evidence with a low risk of bias.
      Just as importantly, the trial will provide much-needed information about the
      effectiveness of a promising caries prevention agent in adults. An effective
      xylitol-based caries prevention intervention would represent an easily
      disseminated method to extend caries prevention to individuals not receiving
      caries preventive treatment in the dental office. TRIAL REGISTRATION:
      ClinicalTrials.Gov NCT00393055.

PMID- 20920263
TI  - Graduates from a reformed undergraduate medical curriculum based on Tomorrow's
      Doctors evaluate the effectiveness of their curriculum 6 years after graduation
      through interviews.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In 1996 Liverpool reformed its medical curriculum from a traditional
      lecture based course to a curriculum based on the recommendations in Tomorrow's
      Doctors. A project has been underway since 2000 to evaluate this change. This
      paper focuses on the views of graduates from that reformed curriculum 6 years
      after they had graduated. METHODS: Between 2007 and 2009 45 interviews took place
      with doctors from the first two cohorts to graduate from the reformed curriculum.
      RESULTS: The interviewees felt like they had been clinically well prepared to
      work as doctors and in particular had graduated with good clinical and
      communication skills and had a good knowledge of what the role of doctor
      entailed. They also felt they had good self directed learning and research
      skills. They did feel their basic science knowledge level was weaker than
      traditional graduates and perceived they had to work harder to pass postgraduate
      exams. Whilst many had enjoyed the curriculum and in particular the clinical
      skills resource centre and the clinical exposure of the final year including the
      "shadowing" and A & E attachment they would have liked more "structure" alongside
      the PBL when learning the basic sciences. CONCLUSION: According to the graduates
      themselves many of the aims of curriculum reform have been met by the reformed
      curriculum and they were well prepared clinically to work as doctors. However,
      further reforms may be needed to give confidence to science knowledge
      acquisition.

PMID- 20920264
TI  - The structural and content aspects of abstracts versus bodies of full text
      journal articles are different.
AB  - BACKGROUND: An increase in work on the full text of journal articles and the
      growth of PubMedCentral have the opportunity to create a major paradigm shift in
      how biomedical text mining is done. However, until now there has been no
      comprehensive characterization of how the bodies of full text journal articles
      differ from the abstracts that until now have been the subject of most biomedical
      text mining research. RESULTS: We examined the structural and linguistic aspects
      of abstracts and bodies of full text articles, the performance of text mining
      tools on both, and the distribution of a variety of semantic classes of named
      entities between them. We found marked structural differences, with longer
      sentences in the article bodies and much heavier use of parenthesized material in
      the bodies than in the abstracts. We found content differences with respect to
      linguistic features. Three out of four of the linguistic features that we
      examined were statistically significantly differently distributed between the two
      genres. We also found content differences with respect to the distribution of
      semantic features. There were significantly different densities per thousand
      words for three out of four semantic classes, and clear differences in the extent
      to which they appeared in the two genres. With respect to the performance of text
      mining tools, we found that a mutation finder performed equally well in both
      genres, but that a wide variety of gene mention systems performed much worse on
      article bodies than they did on abstracts. POS tagging was also more accurate in
      abstracts than in article bodies. CONCLUSIONS: Aspects of structure and content
      differ markedly between article abstracts and article bodies. A number of these
      differences may pose problems as the text mining field moves more into the area
      of processing full-text articles. However, these differences also present a
      number of opportunities for the extraction of data types, particularly that found
      in parenthesized text, that is present in article bodies but not in article
      abstracts.

PMID- 20920265
TI  - Recruitment and retention of women in a large randomized control trial to reduce
      repeat preterm births: the Philadelphia Collaborative Preterm Prevention Project.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Recruitment and retention of patients for randomized control trial
      (RCT) studies can provide formidable challenges, particularly with minority and
      underserved populations. Data are reported for the Philadelphia Collaborative
      Preterm Prevention Project (PCPPP), a large RCT targeting risk factors for repeat
      preterm births among women who previously delivered premature (< 35 weeks
      gestation) infants. METHODS: Design of the PCPPP incorporated strategies to
      maximize recruitment and retention. These included an advanced database system
      tracking follow-up status and assessment completion rates; cultural sensitivity
      training for staff; communication to the community and eligible women of the
      benefits of participation; financial incentives; assistance with transportation
      and supervised childcare services; and reminder calls for convenient, flexibly
      scheduled appointments. Analyses reported here: 1) compare recruitment
      projections to actual enrollment 2) explore recruitment bias; 3) validate the
      randomization process 4) document the extent to which contact was maintained and
      complete assessments achieved 5) determine if follow-up was conditioned upon
      socio-economic status, race/ethnicity, or other factors. RESULTS: Of eligible
      women approached, 1,126 (77.7%) agreed to participate fully. Of the 324 not
      agreeing, 118 (36.4%) completed a short survey. Consenting women were
      disproportionately from minority and low SES backgrounds: 71.5% consenting were
      African American, versus 38.8% not consenting. Consenting women were also more
      likely to report homelessness during their lifetime (14.6% vs. 0.87%) and to be
      unmarried at the time of delivery (81.6% versus 47.9%). First one-month
      postpartum assessment was completed for 83.5% (n = 472) of the intervention group
      (n = 565) and 76% (426) of the control group. Higher assessment completion rates
      were observed for the intervention group throughout the follow-up. Second, third,
      fourth and fifth postpartum assessments were 67.6% vs. 57.5%, 60.0% vs. 48.9%,
      54.2% vs. 46.3% and 47.3% vs. 40.8%, for the intervention and control group
      women, respectively. There were no differences in follow-up rates according to
      race/ethnicity, SES or other factors. Greater retention of the intervention group
      may reflect the highly-valued nature of the medical and behavior services
      constituting the intervention arms of the Project. CONCLUSION: Findings challenge
      beliefs that low income and minority women are averse to enrolling and continuing
      in clinical trials or community studies.

PMID- 20920267
TI  - Population uptake of antiretroviral treatment through primary care in rural South
      Africa.
AB  - BACKGROUND: KwaZulu-Natal is the South African province worst affected by HIV and
      the focus of early modeling studies investigating strategies of antiretroviral
      treatment (ART) delivery. The reality of antiretroviral roll-out through primary
      care has differed from that anticipated and real world data are needed to inform
      the planning of further scaling up of services. We investigated the factors
      associated with uptake of antiretroviral treatment through a primary healthcare
      system in rural South Africa. METHODS: Detailed demographic, HIV surveillance and
      geographic information system (GIS) data were used to estimate the proportion of
      HIV positive adults accessing antiretroviral treatment within northern KwaZulu
      Natal, South Africa in the period from initiation of antiretroviral roll-out
      until the end of 2008. Demographic, spatial and socioeconomic factors influencing
      the likelihood of individuals accessing antiretroviral treatment were explored
      using multivariable analysis. RESULTS: Mean uptake of ART among HIV positive
      resident adults was 21.0% (95%CI 20.1-21.9). Uptake among HIV positive men
      (19.2%) was slightly lower than women (21.8%, P = 0.011). An individual's
      likelihood of accessing ART was not associated with level of education, household
      assets or urban/rural locale. ART uptake was strongly negatively associated with
      distance from the nearest primary healthcare facility (aOR = 0.728 per square
      root transformed km, 95%CI 0.658-0.963, P = 0.002). CONCLUSIONS: Despite concerns
      about the equitable nature of antiretroviral treatment rollout, we find very few
      differences in ART uptake across a range of socio-demographic variables in a
      rural South African population. However, even when socio-demographic factors were
      taken into account, individuals living further away from primary healthcare
      clinics were still significantly less likely to be accessing ART.

PMID- 20920266
TI  - Premature terminator analysis sheds light on a hidden world of bacterial
      transcriptional attenuation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Bacterial transcription attenuation occurs through a variety of cis
      regulatory elements that control gene expression in response to a wide range of
      signals. The signal-sensing structures in attenuators are so diverse and rapidly
      evolving that only a small fraction have been properly annotated and
      characterized to date. Here we apply a broad-spectrum detection tool in order to
      achieve a more complete view of the transcriptional attenuation complement of key
      bacterial species. RESULTS: Our protocol seeks gene families with an unusual
      frequency of 5' terminators found across multiple species. Many of the detected
      attenuators are part of annotated elements, such as riboswitches or T-boxes,
      which often operate through transcriptional attenuation. However, a significant
      fraction of candidates were not previously characterized in spite of their
      unmistakable footprint. We further characterized some of these new elements using
      sequence and secondary structure analysis. We also present elements that may
      control the expression of several non-homologous genes, suggesting co
      transcription and response to common signals. An important class of such
      elements, which we called mobile attenuators, is provided by 3' terminators of
      insertion sequences or prophages that may be exapted as 5' regulators when
      inserted directly upstream of a cellular gene. CONCLUSIONS: We show here that
      attenuators involve a complex landscape of signal-detection structures spanning
      the entire bacterial domain. We discuss possible scenarios through which these
      diverse 5' regulatory structures may arise or evolve.

PMID- 20920268
TI  - Overexpression of a natural chloroplast-encoded antisense RNA in tobacco
      destabilizes 5S rRNA and retards plant growth.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The roles of non-coding RNAs in regulating gene expression have been
      extensively studied in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes, however few reports exist
      as to their roles in organellar gene regulation. Evidence for accumulation of
      natural antisense RNAs (asRNAs) in chloroplasts comes from the expressed sequence
      tag database and cDNA libraries, while functional data have been largely obtained
      from artificial asRNAs. In this study, we used Nicotiana tabacum to investigate
      the effect on sense strand transcripts of overexpressing a natural chloroplast
      asRNA, AS5, which is complementary to the region which encodes the 5S rRNA and
      tRNAArg. RESULTS: AS5-overexpressing (AS5ox) plants obtained by chloroplast
      transformation exhibited slower growth and slightly pale green leaves. Analysis
      of AS5 transcripts revealed four distinct species in wild-type (WT) and AS5ox
      plants, and additional AS5ox-specific products. Of the corresponding sense strand
      transcripts, tRNAArg overaccumulated several-fold in transgenic plants whereas 5S
      rRNA was unaffected. However, run-on transcription showed that the 5S-trnR region
      was transcribed four-fold more in the AS5ox plants compared to WT, indicating
      that overexpression of AS5 was associated with decreased stability of 5S rRNA. In
      addition, polysome analysis of the transformants showed less 5S rRNA and rbcL
      mRNA associated with ribosomes. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that AS5 can
      modulate 5S rRNA levels, giving it the potential to affect Chloroplast
      translation and plant growth. More globally, overexpression of asRNAs via
      chloroplast transformation may be a useful strategy for defining their functions.

PMID- 20920269
TI  - Cardiovascular and inflammatory effects of intratracheally instilled ambient dust
      from Augsburg, Germany, in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs).
AB  - RATIONALE: Several epidemiological studies associated exposure to increased
      levels of particulate matter in Augsburg, Germany with cardiovascular mortality
      and morbidity. To elucidate the mechanisms of cardiovascular impairments we
      investigated the cardiopulmonary responses in spontaneously hypertensive rats
      (SHR), a model for human cardiovascular diseases, following intratracheal
      instillation of dust samples from Augsburg. METHODS: 250 MUg, 500 MUg and 1000
      MUg of fine ambient particles (aerodynamic diameter <2.5 MUm, PM2(.)5-AB)
      collected from an urban background site in Augsburg during September and October
      2006 (PM2(.)5 18.2 MUg/m3, 10,802 particles/cm3) were instilled in 12 months old
      SHRs to assess the inflammatory response in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF),
      blood, lung and heart tissues 1 and 3 days post instillation. Radio-telemetric
      analysis was performed to investigate the cardiovascular responses following
      instillation of particles at the highest dosage based on the inflammatory
      response observed. RESULTS: Exposure to 1000 MUg of PM2(.)5-AB was associated
      with a delayed increase in delta mean blood pressure (DeltamBP) during 2(nd)
      4(th) day after instillation (10.0 +/- 4.0 vs. -3.9 +/- 2.6 mmHg) and reduced
      heart rate (HR) on the 3rd day post instillation (325.1 +/- 8.8 vs. 348.9 +/-
      12.5 bpm). BALF cell differential and inflammatory markers (osteopontin,
      interleukin-6, C-reactive protein, and macrophage inflammatory protein-2) from
      pulmonary and systemic level were significantly induced, mostly in a dose
      dependent way. Protein analysis of various markers indicate that PM2(.)5-AB
      instillation results in an activation of endothelin system (endothelin1), renin
      angiotensin system (angiotensin converting enzyme) and also coagulation system
      (tissue factor, plasminogen activator inhibitor-1) in pulmonary and cardiac
      tissues during the same time period when alternation in DeltamBP and HR have been
      detected. CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggests that high concentrations of PM2(.)5-AB
      exposure triggers low grade PM mediated inflammatory effects in the lungs but
      disturbs vascular homeostasis in pulmonary tissues and on a systemic level by
      affecting the renin angiotensin system, the endothelin system and the coagulation
      cascade. These findings are indicative for promotion of endothelial dysfunction,
      atherosclerotic lesions, and thrombogeneis and, thus, provide plausible evidence
      that susceptible-predisposed individuals may develop acute cardiac events like
      myocardial infarction when repeatedly exposed to high pollution episodes as
      observed in epidemiological studies in Augsburg, Germany.

PMID- 20920270
TI  - The rate of the molecular clock and the cost of gratuitous protein synthesis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The nature of the protein molecular clock, the protein-specific rate
      of amino acid substitutions, is among the central questions of molecular
      evolution. Protein expression level is the dominant determinant of the clock rate
      in a number of organisms. It has been suggested that highly expressed proteins
      evolve slowly in all species mainly to maintain robustness to translation errors
      that generate toxic misfolded proteins. Here we investigate this hypothesis
      experimentally by comparing the growth rate of Escherichia coli expressing wild
      type and misfolding-prone variants of the LacZ protein. RESULTS: We show that the
      cost of toxic protein misfolding is small compared to other costs associated with
      protein synthesis. Complementary computational analyses demonstrate that there is
      also a relatively weaker, but statistically significant, selection for increasing
      solubility and polarity in highly expressed E. coli proteins. CONCLUSIONS:
      Although we cannot rule out the possibility that selection against misfolding
      toxicity significantly affects the protein clock in species other than E. coli,
      our results suggest that it is unlikely to be the dominant and universal factor
      determining the clock rate in all organisms. We find that in this bacterium other
      costs associated with protein synthesis are likely to play an important role.
      Interestingly, our experiments also suggest significant costs associated with
      volume effects, such as jamming of the cellular environment with unnecessary
      proteins.

PMID- 20920271
TI  - Hypotheses, rationale, design, and methods for prognostic evaluation in type 2
      diabetic patients with angiographically normal coronary arteries. The MASS IV-DM
      Trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The MASS IV-DM Trial is a large project from a single institution,
      the Heart Institute (InCor), University of Sao Paulo Medical School, Brazil to
      study ventricular function and coronary arteries in patients with type 2 diabetes
      mellitus. METHODS/DESIGN: The study will enroll 600 patients with type 2 diabetes
      who have angiographically normal ventricular function and coronary arteries. The
      goal of the MASS IV-DM Trial is to achieve a long-term evaluation of the
      development of coronary atherosclerosis by using angiograms and coronary-artery
      calcium scan by electron-beam computed tomography at baseline and after 5 years
      of follow-up. In addition, the incidence of major cardiovascular events, the
      dysfunction of various organs involved in this disease, particularly
      microalbuminuria and renal function, will be analyzed through clinical
      evaluation. In addition, an effort will be made to investigate in depth the
      presence of major cardiovascular risk factors, especially the biochemical
      profile, metabolic syndrome inflammatory activity, oxidative stress, endothelial
      function, prothrombotic factors, and profibrinolytic and platelet activity. An
      evaluation will be made of the polymorphism as a determinant of disease and its
      possible role in the genesis of micro- and macrovascular damage. DISCUSSION: The
      MASS IV-DM trial is designed to include diabetic patients with clinically
      suspected myocardial ischemia in whom conventional angiography shows
      angiographically normal coronary arteries. The result of extensive investigation
      including angiographic follow-up by several methods, vascular reactivity, pro
      thrombotic mechanisms, genetic and biochemical studies may facilitate the
      understanding of so-called micro- and macrovascular disease of DM.

PMID- 20920272
TI  - Consumption of diets high in prebiotic fiber or protein during growth influences
      the response to a high fat and sucrose diet in adulthood in rats.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Early dietary exposure can influence susceptibility to obesity and
      type 2 diabetes later in life. We examined the lasting effects of a high protein
      or high prebiotic fiber weaning diet when followed by a high energy diet in
      adulthood. METHODS: At birth, litters of Wistar rats were culled to 10 pups. At
      21 d pups were weaned onto control (C), high prebiotic fiber (HF) or high protein
      (HP) diet. Rats consumed the experimental diets until 14 wk when they were
      switched to a high fat/sucrose (HFHS) diet for 6 wk. Body composition and energy
      intake were measured and an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) performed. Blood
      was analyzed for satiety hormones and tissues collected for real-time PCR.
      RESULTS: Weight gain was attenuated in male rats fed HF from 12 wk until study
      completion. In females there were early reductions in body weight that moderated
      until the final two wk of HFHS diet wherein HF females weighed less than HP.
      Final body weight was significantly higher following the high fat challenge in
      male and female rats that consumed HP diet from weaning compared to HF. Lean mass
      was higher and fat mass lower with HF compared to HP and compared to C in males.
      Energy intake was highest in HP rats, particularly at the start of HFHS feeding.
      Plasma glucose was higher in HP rats compared to HF during an OGTT. Plasma amylin
      was higher in HF females compared to C and glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) was
      higher in HF rats during the OGTT. Leptin was higher in HP rats during the OGTT.
      HF upregulated GLUT 5 mRNA expression in the intestine and downregulated hepatic
      hydroxymethylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase. Male rats fed HP had higher hepatic
      triglyceride content than C or HF. CONCLUSION: These data suggest that while a
      long-term diet high in protein predisposes to an obese phenotype when rats are
      given a high energy diet in adulthood, consumption of a high fiber diet during
      growth may provide some protection.

PMID- 20920273
TI  - Tigecycline use in serious nosocomial infections: a drug use evaluation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Tigecycline is a novel antibiotic with activity against multidrug
      resistant bacteria. The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of
      tigecycline use in serious hospital-acquired infections (HAI) CASE PRESENTATION:
      Prospective observational study of tigecycline use was conducted in a 1500 beds
      university hospital. From January 1, 2007 and January 31, 2010, 207 pts were
      treated with tigecycline for the following indications: intra-abdominal,
      pneumonia, bloodstream and complicated skin and soft tissue infections and
      febrile neutropenia. The therapy was targeted in 130/207 (63%) and empirical in
      77/207 (37%) patients. All bacteria treated were susceptible to tigecycline.
      Median duration of tigecycline therapy was 13 days (range, 6-28). Clinical
      success was obtained in 151/207 (73%) cases, with the highest success rate
      recorded in intra-abdominal infections [81/99 (82%)]. Microbiological success was
      achieved in 100/129 (78%) treated patients. Adverse clinical events were seen in
      16/207 patients (7.7%): CONCLUSIONS: Considering the lack of data on tigecycline
      for critically ill patients, we think that the reported data of our clinical
      experience despite some limitations can be useful for clinicians.

PMID- 20920274
TI  - The evolution of euhermaphroditism in caridean shrimps: a molecular perspective
      of sexual systems and systematics.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The hippolytid genus Lysmata is characterized by simultaneous
      hermaphroditism, a very rare sexual system among Decapoda. Specialized cleaning
      behavior is reported in a few pair-living species; these life history traits vary
      within the genus. Unfortunately, the systematics of Lysmata and the Hippolytidae
      itself are in contention, making it difficult to examine these taxa for trends in
      life history traits. A phylogeny of Lysmata and related taxa is needed, to
      clarify their evolutionary relationships and the origin of their unique sexual
      pattern. In this study, we present a molecular phylogenetic analysis among
      species of Lysmata, related genera, and several putative hippolytids. The
      analysis is based upon DNA sequences of two genes, 16S mtDNA and nuclear 28S
      rRNA. Phylogenetic trees were estimated using Bayesian Inference, Maximum
      Likelihood, and Maximum Parsimony. RESULTS: Phylogenetic analysis of 29 species
      of Lysmata, eight genera of Hippolytidae and two genera of Barbouriidae based on
      a single (16S, 28S) and combined gene approach (16S+28S) indicates that three
      groups of Lysmata differentiate according to antennular morphology: (1) Lysmata,
      having a multi-segmented accessory branch, (2) Hippolysmata (prior to Chace
      1972), with a one-segmented accessory branch, and (3) a third group of Lysmata
      outliers, with one-segmented unguiform accessory branch, and close affinity to
      the genera Exhippolysmata and Lysmatella. The monophyly of the clade bearing a
      multi-segmented accessory branch is robust. Within the short accessory branch
      clade, species with specialized cleaning behaviors form a monophyletic clade,
      however, the integrity of the clade was sensitive to alignment criteria. Other
      hippolytid and barbouriid genera used in the analysis are basal to these three
      groups, including one displaying simultaneous hermaphroditism (Parhippolyte). The
      two barbouriid species occur in a separate clade, but among hippolytid taxa.
      CONCLUSIONS: The data support the historical morphological division of Lysmata
      into clades based on accessory branch morphology. The position of the "cleaner"
      shrimps, indicates that specialized cleaning behavior is a derived trait. The
      topologies of the cladograms support the monophyly of the barbouriids, but do not
      support their elevation to familial status. Taxa ancestral to the genus Lysmata
      display simultaneous hermaphroditism, suggesting that this life history trait
      evolved outside the genus Lysmata.

PMID- 20920275
TI  - Make Better Choices (MBC): study design of a randomized controlled trial testing
      optimal technology-supported change in multiple diet and physical activity risk
      behaviors.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Suboptimal diet and physical inactivity are prevalent, co-occurring
      chronic disease risk factors, yet little is known about how to maximize multiple
      risk behavior change. Make Better Choices, a randomized controlled trial, tests
      competing hypotheses about the optimal way to promote healthy change in four
      bundled risk behaviors: high saturated fat intake, low fruit and vegetable
      intake, low physical activity, and high sedentary leisure screen time. The study
      aim is to determine which combination of two behavior change goals--one dietary,
      one activity--yields greatest overall healthy lifestyle change. METHODS/DESIGN:
      Adults (n = 200) with poor quality diet and sedentary lifestyle will be recruited
      and screened for study eligibility. Participants will be trained to record their
      diet and activities onto a personal data assistant, and use it to complete two
      weeks of baseline. Those who continue to show all four risk behaviors after
      baseline recording will be randomized to one of four behavior change
      prescriptions: 1) increase fruits and vegetables and increase physical activity,
      2) decrease saturated fat and increase physical activity, 3) increase fruits and
      vegetable and decrease saturated fat, or 4) decrease saturated fat and decrease
      sedentary activity. They will use decision support feedback on the personal
      digital assistant and receive counseling from a coach to alter their diet and
      activity during a 3-week prescription period when payment is contingent upon
      meeting behavior change goals. They will continue recording on an intermittent
      schedule during a 4.5-month maintenance period when payment is not contingent
      upon goal attainment. The primary outcome is overall healthy lifestyle change,
      aggregated across all four risk behaviors. DISCUSSION: The Make Better Choices
      trial tests a disseminable lifestyle intervention supported by handheld
      technology. Findings will fill a gap in knowledge about optimal goal prescription
      to facilitate simultaneous diet and activity change. Results will shed light on
      which goal prescription maximizes healthful lifestyle change. TRIAL REGISTRATION:
      Clinical Trials Gov. Identifier NCT00113672.

PMID- 20920276
TI  - Long-term results from a randomized phase II trial of neoadjuvant combined
      modality therapy for locally advanced rectal cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This study evaluated the effectiveness and safety of preoperative
      chemoradiotherapy with capecitabine in patients with locally advanced resectable
      rectal cancer. This report summarizes the results of the phase II study together
      with long-term (5-year) follow-up. METHODS: Between June 2004 and January 2005,
      57 patients with operable, clinical stage II-III adenocarcinoma of the rectum
      entered the study. Radiation dose was 45 Gy delivered as 25 fractions of 1.8 Gy.
      Concurrent chemotherapy with oral capecitabine 825 mg/m2 twice daily was
      administered during radiotherapy and at weekends. Surgery was scheduled 6 weeks
      after the completion of the chemoradiotherapy. Patients received four cycles of
      postoperative chemotherapy comprising either capecitabine 1250 mg/m2 bid days 1
      14 every 3 weeks or bolus i.v. 5-fluorouracil 425 mg/m2/day and leucovorin 20
      mg/m2/day days 1-5 every 4 weeks (choice was at the oncologist's discretion).
      Study endpoints included complete pathological remission, proportion of R0
      resections and sphincter-sparing procedures, toxicity, survival parameters and
      long-term (5-year) rectal and urogenital morbidity assessment. RESULTS: One
      patient died after receiving 27 Gy because of a pulmonary embolism. Fifty-six
      patients completed radiochemotherapy and had surgery. Median follow-up time was
      62 months. No patients were lost to follow-up. R0 resection was achieved in 55
      patients. A complete pathological response was observed in 5 patients (9.1%); T-,
      N- and overall downstaging rates were 40%, 52.9% and 49.1%, respectively. The 5
      year overall survival rate, recurrence-free survival, and local control was 61.4%
      (95% CI: 48.9-73.9%), 52.4% (95% CI: 39.3-65.5%), and 87.4% (95% CI: 75.0-99.8%),
      respectively. In 5 patients local relapse has occurred; dissemination was
      observed in 19 patients and secondary malignancies have occurred in 2 patients.
      The most frequent side-effect of the preoperative combined therapy was dermatitis
      (grade 3 in 19 patients). The proportion of patients with severe late (SOMA grade
      3 and 4) rectal, bladder and sexual toxicity was 40%, 19.2% and 51.7%,
      respectively. CONCLUSIONS: This study confirms data from other non-randomised
      studies that capecitabine-based preoperative chemoradiation is a feasible
      treatment option for locally advanced rectal cancer, with positive 5-year overall
      survival, recurrence-free survival, and local control rates.

PMID- 20920277
TI  - Using the theory of planned behaviour as a process evaluation tool in randomised
      trials of knowledge translation strategies: A case study from UK primary care.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Randomised trials of knowledge translation strategies for
      professional behaviour change can provide robust estimates of effectiveness, but
      offer little insight into the causal mechanisms by which any change is produced.
      To illustrate the applicability of causal methods within randomised trials, we
      undertook a theory-based process evaluation study within an implementation trial
      to explore whether the cognitions of primary care doctors' predicted their test
      requesting behaviours and, secondly, whether the trial results were mediated by
      the theoretical constructs. METHODS: The process evaluation comprised a cross
      sectional questionnaire survey of a random 50% sample of the randomised groups of
      primary care practices in Grampian (NHS Grampian), UK, who took part in a trial
      of the effect of enhanced feedback and brief educational reminders on test
      requesting behaviour. The process evaluation was based upon the Theory of Planned
      Behaviour and focussed on three of the test requesting behaviours that were
      targeted in the trial -- ferritin, follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), and
      Helicobacter Pylori serology (HPS). RESULTS: The questionnaire was completed by
      131 primary care doctors (56%) from 42 (98%) of the sampled practices.
      Behavioural intention, attitude, and subjective norm were highly correlated for
      all the tests. There was no evidence that perceived behavioural control was
      correlated with any of the other measures. Simple linear regression analysis of
      the rate of test requests on minimum behavioural intentions had R2 of 11.1%,
      12.5%, and 0.1% for ferritin, FSH, and HPS requesting, respectively. Mediational
      analysis showed that the trial results for ferritin and FSH were partially
      mediated (between 23% and 78% mediation) through intentions. The HPS trial result
      was not mediated through intention. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated that a
      theory-based process evaluation can provide useful information on causal
      mechanisms that aid not only interpretation of the trial but also inform future
      evaluations and intervention development.

PMID- 20920279
TI  - Assessing data availability for the development of REDD-plus national reference
      levels.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Data availability in developing countries is known to be extremely
      varied and is one of the constraints for setting the national reference levels
      (RLs) for the REDD-plus (i.e. 'Policy approaches and positive incentives on
      issues relating to reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation
      in developing countries; and the role of conservation, sustainable management of
      forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks in developing countries') under
      the UNFCCC. Taking Thailand as a case study country, this paper compares three
      types of RLs, which require different levels of datasets, including a simple
      historic RL, a projected forest-trend RL, and a business-as-usual (BAU) RL.
      RESULTS: Other than the finding that different RLs yielded different estimations
      on future deforestation areas, the analysis also identified the characteristics
      of each RL. The historical RL demanded simple data, but can be varied in
      accordance with a reference year or period. The forest-trend RL can be more
      reliable than the historical RL, if the country's deforestation trend curve is
      formed smoothly. The complicated BAU RL is useful as it can demonstrate the
      additionality of REDD-plus activities and distinguish the country's unintentional
      efforts. CONCLUSIONS: With the REDD-plus that involves widespread participation,
      there should be steps from which countries choose the appropriate RL; ranging
      from simpler to more complex measures, in accordance with data availability in
      each country. Once registered with REDD-plus, the countries with weak capacity
      and capability should be supported to enhance the data collection system in that
      country.

PMID- 20920278
TI  - Nicotinic receptors on rat alveolar macrophages dampen ATP-induced increase in
      cytosolic calcium concentration.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChR) have been identified on a
      variety of cells of the immune system and are generally considered to trigger
      anti-inflammatory events. In the present study, we determine the nAChR inventory
      of rat alveolar macrophages (AM), and investigate the cellular events evoked by
      stimulation with nicotine. METHODS: Rat AM were isolated freshly by
      bronchoalveolar lavage. The expression of nAChR subunits was analyzed by RT-PCR,
      immunohistochemistry, and Western blotting. To evaluate function of nAChR
      subunits, electrophysiological recordings and measurements of intracellular
      calcium concentration ([Ca2+]i) were conducted. RESULTS: Positive RT-PCR results
      were obtained for nAChR subunits alpha3, alpha5, alpha9, alpha10, beta1, and
      beta2, with most stable expression being noted for subunits alpha9, alpha10,
      beta1, and beta2. Notably, mRNA coding for subunit alpha7 which is proposed to
      convey the nicotinic anti-inflammatory response of macrophages from other sources
      than the lung was not detected. RT-PCR data were supported by
      immunohistochemistry on AM isolated by lavage, as well as in lung tissue sections
      and by Western blotting. Neither whole-cell patch clamp recordings nor
      measurements of [Ca2+]i revealed changes in membrane current in response to ACh
      and in [Ca2+]i in response to nicotine, respectively. However, nicotine (100
      MUM), given 2 min prior to ATP, significantly reduced the ATP-induced rise in
      [Ca2+]i by 30%. This effect was blocked by alpha-bungarotoxin and did not depend
      on the presence of extracellular calcium. CONCLUSIONS: Rat AM are equipped with
      modulatory nAChR with properties distinct from ionotropic nAChR mediating
      synaptic transmission in the nervous system. Their stimulation with nicotine
      dampens ATP-induced Ca2+-release from intracellular stores. Thus, the present
      study identifies the first acute receptor-mediated nicotinic effect on AM with
      anti-inflammatory potential.

PMID- 20920280
TI  - Helicobacter pylori infection and gastroduodenal diseases in Vietnam: a cross
      sectional, hospital-based study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The rate of H. pylori infection in Vietnam is reportedly high, but
      the spectrum of H. pylori-associated gastroduodenal diseases has not been
      systematically investigated. Moreover, despite the similarities of ethnicity and
      diet, the age-standardized incidence rate of gastric cancer in the northern city
      of Hanoi is higher than that in the southern city of Ho Chi Minh, but the reason
      for this phenomenon is unknown. The virulence of Vietnamese H. pylori has also
      not been investigated in detail. METHODS: Individuals undergoing
      esophagogastroduodenoscopy were randomly recruited. H. pylori infection status
      was determined based on the combined results of culture, histology,
      immunohistochemistry, rapid urine test and serum ELISA. Peptic ulcer (PU) and
      gastroesophageal reflux disease was diagnosed by endoscopy, and chronic gastritis
      was determined histologically. H. pylori virulence factors were investigated by
      PCR and sequencing. RESULTS: Among the examined patients, 65.6% were infected
      with H. pylori. The prevalence of infection was significantly higher in those
      over 40 years of age than in those aged <=40. Chronic gastritis was present in
      all H. pylori-infected individuals, 83.1% of whom had active gastritis, and 85.3%
      and 14.7% had atrophy and intestinal metaplasia, respectively. PU was present in
      21% of infected patients, whereas its incidence was very low in non-infected
      individuals. The prevalence of PU was significantly higher in Hanoi than in Ho
      Chi Minh. The prevalence of vacA m1, which has been identified as an independent
      risk factor for PU in Vietnam, was significantly higher among H. pylori isolates
      from Hanoi than among those from Ho Chi Minh. CONCLUSIONS: H. pylori infection is
      common in Vietnam and is strongly associated with PU, active gastritis, atrophy
      and intestinal metaplasia. vacA m1 is associated with an increased risk for PU
      and might contribute to the difference in the prevalence of PU and gastric cancer
      between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh.

PMID- 20920281
TI  - Three novel beta-galactosidase gene mutations in Han Chinese patients with GM1
      gangliosidosis are correlated with disease severity.
AB  - BACKGROUND: GM1 gangliosidosis (GM1) is an autosomal recessive lysosomal storage
      disease caused by deficiency of acid beta-galactosidase (GLB1; EC3.2.1.23). Here,
      we identify three novel mutations in the GLB1 gene from two Han Chinese patients
      with GM1 that appear correlated with clinical phenotype. METHODS: One of the two
      Han Chinese patients with GM1 presented with the juvenile form, and the other
      with the infantile form with cardiac involvement. Sequencing of the entire GLB1
      gene revealed three novel mutations (p.H102 D, p.G494V, c.495_497delTCT), which
      were absent in 94 normal controls. Transient expression of cDNA encoding these
      variants was performed in COS-1 cells to evaluate beta-galactosidase activities.
      RESULTS: The first case (patient 1) with the juvenile form contained two missense
      mutations, p.H102 D and p.A301V. Patient 2 diagnosed with the infantile form of
      the disease with cardiac involvement was compound heterozygous for p.G494V and
      c.495_497delTCT mutations. All mutant beta-galactosidases exhibited significantly
      reduced activity (12%, 0%, 0%, and 0% for p.H102 D, p.A301V, p.G494V, and
      c.495_497delTCT), compared with the wild-type beta-galactosidase cDNA clone. The
      mutations identified in patient 2 with cardiomyopathy were localized in the GLB1
      gene region common to both lysosomal beta-galactosidase and elastin binding
      protein (EBP), and caused a deletion in the elastin-binding domain of EBP.
      CONCLUSIONS: All four mutations identified in Han Chinese patients induce
      significant suppression of beta-galactosidase activity, correlating with severity
      of disease and presence of cardiomyopathy.

PMID- 20920282
TI  - TNFRSF11B computational development network construction and analysis between
      frontal cortex of HIV encephalitis (HIVE) and HIVE-control patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: TNFRSF11B computational development network construction and analysis
      of frontal cortex of HIV encephalitis (HIVE) is very useful to identify novel
      markers and potential targets for prognosis and therapy. METHODS: By integration
      of gene regulatory network infer (GRNInfer) and the database for annotation,
      visualization and integrated discovery (DAVID) we identified and constructed
      significant molecule TNFRSF11B development network from 12 frontal cortex of HIVE
      control patients and 16 HIVE in the same GEO Dataset GDS1726. RESULTS: Our result
      verified TNFRSF11B developmental process only in the downstream of frontal cortex
      of HIVE-control patients (BST2, DGKG, GAS1, PDCD4, TGFBR3, VEZF1 inhibition),
      whereas in the upstream of frontal cortex of HIVE (DGKG, PDCD4 activation) and
      downstream (CFDP1, DGKG, GAS1, PAX6 activation; BST2, PDCD4, TGFBR3, VEZF1
      inhibition). Importantly, we datamined that TNFRSF11B development cluster of HIVE
      is involved in T-cell mediated immunity, cell projection organization and cell
      motion (only in HIVE terms) without apoptosis, plasma membrane and kinase
      activity (only in HIVE-control patients terms), the condition is vital to
      inflammation, brain morphology and cognition impairment of HIVE. Our result
      demonstrated that common terms in both HIVE-control patients and HIVE include
      developmental process, signal transduction, negative regulation of cell
      proliferation, RNA-binding, zinc-finger, cell development, positive regulation of
      biological process and cell differentiation. CONCLUSIONS: We deduced the stronger
      TNFRSF11B development network in HIVE consistent with our number computation. It
      would be necessary of the stronger TNFRSF11B development function to
      inflammation, brain morphology and cognition of HIVE.

PMID- 20920283
TI  - QEEG characteristics and spectrum weighted frequency for children diagnosed as
      autistic spectrum disorder.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Autistic spectrum disorders are a group of neurological and
      developmental disorders associated with social, communication, sensory,
      behavioral and cognitive impairments, as well as restricted, repetitive patterns
      of behavior, activities, or interests.The aim of this study was a) to analyze
      QEEG findings of autistic patients and to compare the results with data base; and
      b) to introduce the calculation of spectrum weighted frequency (brain rate) as an
      indicator of general mental arousal in these patients. RESULTS: Results for Q-EEG
      shows generally increased delta-theta activity in frontal region of the brain.
      Changes in QEEG pattern appeared to be in a non-linear correlation with
      maturational processes.Brain rate measured in CZ shows slow brain activity (5.
      86) which is significantly lower than normal and corresponds to low general
      mental arousal.Recent research has shown that autistic disorders have as their
      basis disturbances of neural connectivity. Neurofeedback seems capable of
      remediating such disturbances when these data are considered as part of treatment
      planning. CONCLUSIONS: Prognosis of this pervasive disorder depends on the
      intellectual abilities: the better intellectual functioning, the possibilities
      for life adaptation are higherQEEG shows generally increased delta-theta activity
      in frontal region of the brain which is related to poor cognitive abilities.Brain
      rate measured in CZ shows slow brain activity related to under
      arousal.Pharmacotherapy combined with behavior therapy, social support and
      especially neurofeedback technique promise slight improvements.

PMID- 20920284
TI  - Using Chinese version of MYMOP in Chinese medicine evaluation: validity,
      responsiveness and minimally important change.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Measure Yourself Medical Outcome Profile (MYMOP) is a patient
      generated outcome instrument applicable in the evaluation of both allopathic and
      complementary medicine treatment. This study aims to adapt MYMOP into Chinese,
      and to assess its validity, responsiveness and minimally important change values
      in a sample of patients using Chinese medicine (CM) services. METHODS: A Chinese
      version of MYMOP (CMYMOP) is developed by forward-backward-forward translation
      strategy, expert panel assessment and pilot testing amongst patients. 272
      patients aged 18 or above with subjective symptoms in the past 2 weeks were
      recruited at a CM clinic, and were invited to complete a set of questionnaire
      containing CMYMOP and SF-36. Follow ups were performed at 2nd and 4th week after
      consultation, using the same set of questionnaire plus a global rating of change
      question. Criterion validity of CMYMOP was assessed by its correlation with SF-36
      at baseline, and responsiveness was evaluated by calculating the Cohen effect
      size (ES) of change at two follow ups. Minimally important difference (MID)
      values were estimated via anchor based method, while minimally detectable
      difference (MDC) figures were calculated by distribution based method. RESULTS:
      Criterion validity of CMYMOP was demonstrated by negative correlation between
      CMYMOP Profile scores and all SF-36 domain and summary scores at baseline. For
      responsiveness between baseline and 4th week follow up, ES of CMYMOP Symptom 1,
      Activity and Profile reached the moderate change threshold (ES>0.5), while
      Symptom 2 and Wellbeing reached the weak change threshold (ES>0.2). None of the
      SF-36 scores reached the moderate change threshold, implying CMYMOP's stronger
      responsiveness in CM setting. At 2nd week follow up, MID values for Symptom 1,
      Symptom 2, Wellbeing and Profile items were 0.894, 0.580, 0.263 and 0.516
      respectively. For Activity item, MDC figure of 0.808 was adopted to estimate MID.
      CONCLUSIONS: The findings support the validity and responsiveness of CMYMOP for
      capturing patient centred clinical changes within 2 weeks in a CM clinical
      setting. Further researches are warranted (1) to estimate Activity item MID, (2)
      to assess the test-retest reliability of CMYMOP, and (3) to perform further MID
      evaluation using multiple, item specific anchor questions.

PMID- 20920285
TI  - Validity, responsiveness and the minimal clinically important difference for the
      de Morton Mobility Index (DEMMI) in an older acute medical population.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The de Morton Mobility Index (DEMMI) is a new mobility instrument
      that overcomes the limitations of existing instruments. It is the first mobility
      instrument that accurately measures the mobility of all older adults. The aim of
      this study was to provide a detailed report of investigations of the validity,
      responsiveness to change and minimal clinically important difference (MCID) of
      the DEMMI during its development in an older acute medical population. METHODS:
      This study was conducted using a head to head comparison design in two
      independent samples of older acute medical patients (development sample, n = 86;
      validation sample, n = 106). Consecutive patients (>= 65 years) were assessed
      using the DEMMI, Barthel Index (BI) and Hierarchical Assessment of Balance and
      Mobility (HABAM) within 48 hours of hospital admission and discharge. Convergent
      and discriminant validity were investigated using Spearman's rho and known groups
      validity was investigated using a independent t test to compare DEMMI scores for
      patients who were discharged to home compared to inpatient rehabilitation.
      Criterion and distribution based methods were employed for estimating instrument
      responsiveness to change and the MCID. RESULTS: Significant moderate to high
      correlations were identified between DEMMI and BI scores (r = 0.76 and r = 0.68)
      and DEMMI and HABAM scores (r = 0.91 and r = 0.92) in both samples. In both
      samples, DEMMI scores for patients who were discharged to home were significantly
      higher than for patients discharged to inpatient rehabilitation and provided
      evidence of known groups validity. Patients who were discharged to inpatient
      rehabilitation (n = 8) had a mean DEMMI score of 50.75 (sd = 11.29) at acute
      hospital discharge compared to patients who were discharged to home (n = 70) with
      a mean DEMMI score of 62.14 (sd = 18.41). MCID estimates were similar across
      samples using distribution and criterion based methods. The MCID for the DEMMI
      was 10 points on the 100 point interval scale. The DEMMI was significantly more
      responsive to change than the BI using criterion and distribution based methods
      in the validation sample. CONCLUSION: This study has validated the DEMMI in two
      independent samples of older acute medical patients. Estimates of its
      responsiveness and MCID have also been established. This study confirms that the
      DEMMI overcomes the limitations of the BI and HABAM and provides an advanced
      method for objectively assessing mobility for older acute medical patients.

PMID- 20920286
TI  - Impacts of mutation effects and population size on mutation rate in asexual
      populations: a simulation study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In any natural population, mutation is the primary source of genetic
      variation required for evolutionary novelty and adaptation. Nevertheless, most
      mutations, especially those with phenotypic effects, are harmful and are
      consequently removed by natural selection. For this reason, under natural
      selection, an organism will evolve to a lower mutation rate. Overall, the action
      of natural selection on mutation rate is related to population size and mutation
      effects. Although theoretical work has intensively investigated the relationship
      between natural selection and mutation rate, most of these studies have focused
      on individual competition within a population, rather than on competition among
      populations. The aim of the present study was to use computer simulations to
      investigate how natural selection adjusts mutation rate among asexually
      reproducing subpopulations with different mutation rates. RESULTS: The
      competition results for the different subpopulations showed that a population
      could evolve to an "optimum" mutation rate during long-term evolution, and that
      this rate was modulated by both population size and mutation effects. A larger
      population could evolve to a higher optimum mutation rate than could a smaller
      population. The optimum mutation rate depended on both the fraction and the
      effects of beneficial mutations, rather than on the effects of deleterious ones.
      The optimum mutation rate increased with either the fraction or the effects of
      beneficial mutations. When strongly favored mutations appeared, the optimum
      mutation rate was elevated to a much higher level. The competition time among the
      subpopulations also substantially shortened. CONCLUSIONS: Competition at the
      population level revealed that the evolution of the mutation rate in asexual
      populations was determined by both population size and mutation effects. The most
      striking finding was that beneficial mutations, rather than deleterious
      mutations, were the leading force that modulated the optimum mutation rate. The
      initial configuration of the population appeared to have no effect on these
      conclusions, confirming the robustness of the simulation method developed in the
      present study. These findings might further explain the lower mutation rates
      observed in most asexual organisms, as well as the higher mutation rates in some
      viruses.

PMID- 20920287
TI  - All-cause mortality among people with serious mental illness (SMI), substance use
      disorders, and depressive disorders in southeast London: a cohort study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Higher mortality has been found for people with serious mental
      illness (SMI, including schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorders, and bipolar
      affective disorder) at all age groups. Our aim was to characterize vulnerable
      groups for excess mortality among people with SMI, substance use disorders,
      depressive episode, and recurrent depressive disorder. METHODS: A case register
      was developed at the South London and Maudsley National Health Services
      Foundation Trust (NHS SLAM), accessing full electronic clinical records on over
      150,000 mental health service users as a well-defined cohort since 2006. The Case
      Register Interactive Search (CRIS) system enabled searching and retrieval of
      anonymised information since 2008. Deaths were identified by regular national
      tracing returns after 2006. Standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) were calculated
      for the period 2007 to 2009 using SLAM records for this period and the expected
      number of deaths from age-specific mortality statistics for the England and Wales
      population in 2008. Data were stratified by gender, ethnicity, and specific
      mental disorders. RESULTS: A total of 31,719 cases, aged 15 years old or more,
      active between 2007-2009 and with mental disorders of interest prior to 2009 were
      detected in the SLAM case register. SMRs were 2.15 (95% CI: 1.95-2.36) for all
      SMI with genders combined, 1.89 (1.64-2.17) for women and 2.47 (2.17-2.80) for
      men. In addition, highest mortality risk was found for substance use disorders
      (SMR = 4.17; 95% CI: 3.75-4.64). Age- and gender-standardised mortality ratios by
      ethnic group revealed huge fluctuations, and SMRs for all disorders diminished in
      strength with age. The main limitation was the setting of secondary mental health
      care provider in SLAM. CONCLUSIONS: Substantially higher mortality persists in
      people with serious mental illness, substance use disorders and depressive
      disorders. Furthermore, mortality risk differs substantially with age, diagnosis,
      gender and ethnicity. Further research into specific risk groups is required.

PMID- 20920288
TI  - A note on Youden's J and its cost ratio.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Youden index, the sum of sensitivity and specificity minus one,
      is an index used for setting optimal thresholds on medical tests. DISCUSSION:
      When using this index, one implicitly uses decision theory with a ratio of
      misclassification costs which is equal to one minus the prevalence proportion of
      the disease. It is doubtful whether this cost ratio truly represents the decision
      maker's preferences. Moreover, in populations with a different prevalence, a
      selected threshold is optimal with reference to a different cost ratio. SUMMARY:
      The Youden index is not a truly optimal decision rule for setting thresholds
      because its cost ratio varies with prevalence. Researchers should look into their
      cost ratio and employ it in a decision theoretic framework to obtain genuinely
      optimal thresholds.

PMID- 20920289
TI  - Integrating clinicians, knowledge and data: expert-based cooperative analysis in
      healthcare decision support.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Decision support in health systems is a highly difficult task, due to
      the inherent complexity of the process and structures involved. METHOD: This
      paper introduces a new hybrid methodology Expert-based Cooperative Analysis
      (EbCA), which incorporates explicit prior expert knowledge in data analysis
      methods, and elicits implicit or tacit expert knowledge (IK) to improve decision
      support in healthcare systems. EbCA has been applied to two different case
      studies, showing its usability and versatility: 1) Bench-marking of small mental
      health areas based on technical efficiency estimated by EbCA-Data Envelopment
      Analysis (EbCA-DEA), and 2) Case-mix of schizophrenia based on functional
      dependency using Clustering Based on Rules (ClBR). In both cases comparisons
      towards classical procedures using qualitative explicit prior knowledge were
      made. Bayesian predictive validity measures were used for comparison with expert
      panels results. Overall agreement was tested by Intraclass Correlation
      Coefficient in case "1" and kappa in both cases. RESULTS: EbCA is a new
      methodology composed by 6 steps:. 1) Data collection and data preparation; 2)
      acquisition of "Prior Expert Knowledge" (PEK) and design of the "Prior Knowledge
      Base" (PKB); 3) PKB-guided analysis; 4) support-interpretation tools to evaluate
      results and detect inconsistencies (here Implicit Knowledg -IK- might be
      elicited); 5) incorporation of elicited IK in PKB and repeat till a satisfactory
      solution; 6) post-processing results for decision support. EbCA has been useful
      for incorporating PEK in two different analysis methods (DEA and Clustering),
      applied respectively to assess technical efficiency of small mental health areas
      and for case-mix of schizophrenia based on functional dependency. Differences in
      results obtained with classical approaches were mainly related to the IK which
      could be elicited by using EbCA and had major implications for the decision
      making in both cases. DISCUSSION: This paper presents EbCA and shows the
      convenience of completing classical data analysis with PEK as a mean to extract
      relevant knowledge in complex health domains. One of the major benefits of EbCA
      is iterative elicitation of IK.. Both explicit and tacit or implicit expert
      knowledge are critical to guide the scientific analysis of very complex
      decisional problems as those found in health system research.

PMID- 20920290
TI  - Wound contraction and macro-deformation during negative pressure therapy of
      sternotomy wounds.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) is believed to initiate
      granulation tissue formation via macro-deformation of the wound edge. However,
      only few studies have been performed to evaluate this hypothesis. The present
      study was performed to investigate the effects of NPWT on wound contraction and
      wound edge tissue deformation. METHODS: Six pigs underwent median sternotomy
      followed by magnetic resonance imaging in the transverse plane through the thorax
      and sternotomy wound during NPWT at 0, -75, -125 and -175 mmHg. The lateral width
      of the wound and anterior-posterior thickness of the wound edge was measured in
      the images. RESULTS: The sternotomy wound decreased in size following NPWT. The
      lateral width of the wound, at the level of the sternum bone, decreased from 39
      +/- 7 mm to 30 +/- 6 mm at -125 mmHg (p = 0.0027). The greatest decrease in wound
      width occurred when switching from 0 to -75 mmHg. The level of negative pressure
      did not affect wound contraction (sternum bone: 32 +/- 6 mm at -75 mmHg and 29 +/
      6 mm at -175 mmHg, p = 0.0897). The decrease in lateral wound width during NPWT
      was greater in subcutaneous tissue (14 +/- 2 mm) than in sternum bone (9 +/- 2
      mm), resulting in a ratio of 1.7 +/- 0.3 (p = 0.0423), suggesting macro
      deformation of the tissue. The anterior-posterior thicknesses of the soft tissue,
      at 0.5 and 2.5 cm laterally from the wound edge, were not affected by negative
      pressure. CONCLUSIONS: NPWT contracts the wound and causes macro-deformation of
      the wound edge tissue. This shearing force in the tissue and at the wound-foam
      interface may be one of the mechanisms by which negative pressure delivery
      promotes granulation tissue formation and wound healing.

PMID- 20920291
TI  - The DNA relaxation activity and covalent complex accumulation of Mycobacterium
      tuberculosis topoisomerase I can be assayed in Escherichia coli: application for
      identification of potential FRET-dye labeling sites.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mycobacterium tuberculosis topoisomerase I (MtTOP1) and Escherichia
      coli topoisomerase I have highly homologous transesterification domains, but the
      two enzymes have distinctly different C-terminal domains. To investigate the
      structure-function of MtTOP1 and to target its activity for development of new TB
      therapy, it is desirable to have a rapid genetic assay for its catalytic
      activity, and potential bactericidal consequence from accumulation of its
      covalent complex. RESULTS: We show that plasmid-encoded recombinant MtTOP1 can
      complement the temperature sensitive topA function of E. coli strain AS17.
      Moreover, expression of MtTOP1-G116 S enzyme with the TOPRIM mutation that
      inhibits DNA religation results in SOS induction and loss of viability in E.
      coli. The absence of cysteine residues in the MtTOP1 enzyme makes it an
      attractive system for introduction of potentially informative chemical or
      spectroscopic probes at specific positions via cysteine mutagenesis. Such probes
      could be useful for development of high throughput screening (HTS) assays. We
      employed the AS17 complementation system to screen for sites in MtTOP1 that can
      tolerate cysteine substitution without loss of complementation function. These
      cysteine substitution mutants were confirmed to have retained the relaxation
      activity. One such mutant of MtTOP1 was utilized for fluorescence probe
      incorporation and fluorescence resonance energy transfer measurement with
      fluorophore-labeled oligonucleotide substrate. CONCLUSIONS: The DNA relaxation
      and cleavage complex accumulation of M. tuberculosis topoisomerase I can be
      measured with genetic assays in E. coli, facilitating rapid analysis of its
      activities, and discovery of new TB therapy targeting this essential enzyme.

PMID- 20920292
TI  - Clinical significance of Polycomb gene expression in brain tumors.
AB  - Polycomb group (PcG) proteins are crucial for neural cancer stem cell (NCSC) self
      renewal. However, the relative expression levels of PcG genes in different
      subtypes of brain tumors, their prognostic role and their effects on cellular
      pathways have not been investigated. For this purpose, we queried the Oncomine
      database and found that 4 PcG genes (EZH2, RBBP7, SUZ12, YY1) are specifically
      expressed in brain tumors. EZH2 expression increases with tumor grade in adult
      and pediatric brain tumors, and is a poor prognostic factor. In glioblastoma,
      EZH2 inhibits differentiation, and activates cancer-, cell cycle- and cellular
      movement-related genes. In keeping with previously published data, our results
      suggest that EZH2 is both a prognostic factor and a promising therapy target in
      brain tumors.

PMID- 20920293
TI  - Gerbode defect following endocarditis and misinterpreted as severe pulmonary
      arterial hypertension.
AB  - A Gerbode-type defect is a ventricular septal defect communicating directly
      between the left ventricle and right atrium. It is usually congenital, but rarely
      is acquired, as a complication of endocarditis. This can be anatomically possible
      because the normal tricuspid valve is more apically displaced than the mitral
      valve. However, identification of an actual communication is often extremely
      difficult, so a careful and meticulous echocardiogram should be done in order to
      prevent echocardiographic misinterpretation of this defect as pulmonary arterial
      hypertension. The large systolic pressure gradient between the left ventricle and
      the right atrium would expectedly result in a high velocity systolic Doppler flow
      signal in right atrium and it can be sometimes mistakably diagnosed as tricuspid
      regurgitant jet simulating pulmonary arterial hypertension. We present a rare
      case of young woman, with endocarditis who presented with severe pulmonary
      arterial hypertension. The preoperative diagnosis of left ventricle to right
      atrial communication (acquired Gerbode defect) was suspected initially by
      echocardiogram and confirmed at the time of the surgery. A point of interest,
      apart from the diagnostic problem, was the explanation for its mechanism and
      presentation. The probability of a bacterial etiology of the defect is high in
      this case.

PMID- 20920294
TI  - Sequence-structure-function relations of the mosquito leucine-rich repeat immune
      proteins.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The discovery and characterisation of factors governing innate immune
      responses in insects has driven the elucidation of many immune system components
      in mammals and other organisms. Focusing on the immune system responses of the
      malaria mosquito, Anopheles gambiae, has uncovered an array of components and
      mechanisms involved in defence against pathogen infections. Two of these immune
      factors are LRIM1 and APL1C, which are leucine-rich repeat (LRR) containing
      proteins that activate complement-like defence responses against malaria
      parasites. In addition to their LRR domains, these leucine-rich repeat immune
      (LRIM) proteins share several structural features including signal peptides,
      patterns of cysteine residues, and coiled-coil domains. RESULTS: The
      identification and characterisation of genes related to LRIM1 and APL1C revealed
      putatively novel innate immune factors and furthered the understanding of their
      likely molecular functions. Genomic scans using the shared features of LRIM1 and
      APL1C identified more than 20 LRIM-like genes exhibiting all or most of their
      sequence features in each of three disease-vector mosquitoes with sequenced
      genomes: An. gambiae, Aedes aegypti, and Culex quinquefasciatus. Comparative
      sequence analyses revealed that this family of mosquito LRIM-like genes is
      characterised by a variable number of 6 to 14 LRRs of different lengths. The
      "Long" LRIM subfamily, with 10 or more LRRs, and the "Short" LRIMs, with 6 or 7
      LRRs, also share the signal peptide, cysteine residue patterning, and coiled-coil
      sequence features of LRIM1 and APL1C. The "TM" LRIMs have a predicted C-terminal
      transmembrane region, and the "Coil-less" LRIMs exhibit the characteristic LRIM
      sequence signatures but lack the C-terminal coiled-coil domains. CONCLUSIONS: The
      evolutionary plasticity of the LRIM LRR domains may provide templates for diverse
      recognition properties, while their coiled-coil domains could be involved in the
      formation of LRIM protein complexes or mediate interactions with other immune
      proteins. The conserved LRIM cysteine residue patterns are likely to be important
      for structural fold stability and the formation of protein complexes. These
      sequence-structure-function relations of mosquito LRIMs will serve to guide the
      experimental elucidation of their molecular roles in mosquito immunity.

PMID- 20920295
TI  - Pharmacokinetic comparability of Prolastin(r)-C to Prolastin(r) in alpha1
      antitrypsin deficiency: a randomized study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Alpha1-antitrypsin (AAT) deficiency is characterized by low blood
      levels of alpha1-proteinase inhibitor (alpha1-PI) and may lead to emphysema.
      Alpha1-PI protects pulmonary tissue from damage caused by the action of
      proteolytic enzymes. Augmentation therapy with Prolastin(r) (Alpha1-Proteinase
      Inhibitor [Human]) to increase the levels of alpha1-PI has been used to treat
      individuals with AAT deficiency for over 20 years. Modifications to the Prolastin
      manufacturing process, incorporating additional purification and pathogen
      reduction steps, have led to the development of an alpha1-PI product, designated
      Prolastin(r)-C (Alpha1-Proteinase inhibitor [Human]). The pharmacokinetic
      comparability of Prolastin-C to Prolastin was assessed in subjects with AAT
      deficiency. METHODS: In total, 24 subjects were randomized to receive 60 mg/kg of
      functionally active Prolastin-C or Prolastin by weekly intravenous infusion for 8
      weeks before crossover to the alternate treatment for another 8 weeks.
      Pharmacokinetic plasma samples were drawn over 7 days following last dose in the
      first treatment period and over 10 days following the last dose in the second
      period. The primary end point for pharmacokinetic comparability was area under
      the plasma concentration versus time curve over 7 days post dose (AUC0-7 (days))
      of alpha1-PI determined by potency (functional activity) assay. The crossover
      phase was followed by an 8-week open-label treatment phase with Prolastin-C only.
      RESULTS: Mean AUC0-7 (days) was 155.9 versus 152.4 mg*h/mL for Prolastin-C and
      Prolastin, respectively. The geometric least squares mean ratio of AUC0-7 (days)
      for Prolastin-C versus Prolastin had a point estimate of 1.03 and a 90%
      confidence interval of 0.97-1.09, demonstrating pharmacokinetic equivalence
      between the 2 products. Adverse events were similar for both treatments and
      occurred at a rate of 0.117 and 0.078 per infusion for Prolastin-C (double-blind
      treatment phase only) and Prolastin, respectively (p = 0.744). There were no
      treatment-emergent viral infections in any subject for human immunodeficiency
      virus, hepatitis B or C, or parvovirus B19 during the course of the study.
      CONCLUSION: Prolastin-C demonstrated pharmacokinetic equivalence and a comparable
      safety profile to Prolastin. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
      NCT00295061.

PMID- 20920296
TI  - Determinants of menarche.
AB  - Menarche is a milestone in a woman's life as it denotes the start of reproductive
      capacity. Aim of this report is to review the recent developments and the current
      knowledge in the neuroendocrinology of pubertal onset and the factors, genetic
      and environmental, that influence menarcheal age. We also review the implications
      of early or late menarcheal age on a young woman's life.

PMID- 20920297
TI  - Characterization of an H3N2 triple reassortant influenza virus with a mutation at
      the receptor binding domain (D190A) that occurred upon virus transmission from
      turkeys to pigs.
AB  - The hemagglutinin (HA) protein of influenza virus mediates essential viral
      functions including the binding to host receptor and virus entry. It also has the
      antigenic sites required for virus neutralization by host antibodies. Here, we
      characterized an H3N2 triple reassortant (TR) influenza virus
      (A/turkey/Ohio/313053/04) with a mutation at the receptor binding domain
      (Asp190Ala) that occurred upon virus transmission from turkeys to pigs in an
      experimental infection study. The mutant virus replicated less efficiently than
      the parental virus in human, pig and turkey primary tracheal/bronchial epithelial
      cells, with more than 3-log10 difference in virus titer at 72 hours post
      infection. In addition, the mutant virus demonstrated lower binding efficiency to
      plasma membrane preparations from all three cell types compared to the parental
      virus. Antisera raised against the parental virus reacted equally to both
      homologous and heterlogous viruses, however, antisera raised against the mutant
      virus showed 4-8 folds lower reactivity to the parental virus.

PMID- 20920298
TI  - Molecular determinants of improved cathepsin B inhibition by new cystatins
      obtained by DNA shuffling.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cystatins are inhibitors of cysteine proteases. The majority are only
      weak inhibitors of human cathepsin B, which has been associated with cancer,
      Alzheimer's disease and arthritis. RESULTS: Starting from the sequences of
      oryzacystatin-1 and canecystatin-1, a shuffling library was designed and a hybrid
      clone obtained, which presented higher inhibitory activity towards cathepsin B.
      This clone presented two unanticipated point mutations as well as an N-terminal
      deletion. Reversing each point mutation independently or both simultaneously
      abolishes the inhibitory activity towards cathepsin B. Homology modeling together
      with experimental studies of the reverse mutants revealed the likely molecular
      determinants of the improved inhibitory activity to be related to decreased
      protein stability. CONCLUSION: A combination of experimental approaches including
      gene shuffling, enzyme assays and reverse mutation allied to molecular modeling
      has shed light upon the unexpected inhibitory properties of certain cystatin
      mutants against Cathepsin B. We conclude that mutations disrupting the
      hydrophobic core of phytocystatins increase the flexibility of the N-terminus,
      leading to an increase in inhibitory activity. Such mutations need not affect the
      inhibitory site directly but may be observed distant from it and manifest their
      effects via an uncoupling of its three components as a result of increased
      protein flexibility.

PMID- 20920299
TI  - A cell-permeable dominant-negative survivin protein induces apoptosis and
      sensitizes prostate cancer cells to TNF-alpha therapy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Survivin is a member of the inhibitor-of-apoptosis (IAP) family which
      is widely expressed by many different cancers. Overexpression of survivin is
      associated with drug resistance in cancer cells, and reduced patient survival
      after chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Agents that antagonize the function of
      survivin hold promise for treating many forms of cancer. The purpose of this
      study was to investigate whether a cell-permeable dominant-negative survivin
      protein would demonstrate bioactivity against prostate and cervical cancer cells
      grown in three dimensional culture. RESULTS: A dominant-negative survivin (C84A)
      protein fused to the cell penetrating peptide poly-arginine (R9) was expressed in
      E. coli and purified by affinity chromatography. Western blot analysis revealed
      that dNSurR9-C84A penetrated into 3D-cultured HeLa and DU145 cancer cells, and a
      cell viability assay revealed it induced cancer cell death. It increased the
      activities of caspase-9 and caspase-3, and rendered DU145 cells sensitive to TNF
      alpha via by a mechanism involving activation of caspase-8. CONCLUSIONS: The
      results demonstrate that antagonism of survivin function triggers the apoptosis
      of prostate and cervical cancer cells grown in 3D culture. It renders cancer
      cells sensitive to the proapoptotic affects of TNF-alpha, suggesting that
      survivin blocks the extrinsic pathway of apoptosis. Combination of the
      biologically active dNSurR9-C84A protein or other survivin antagonists with TNF
      alpha therapy warrants consideration as an approach to cancer therapy.

PMID- 20920300
TI  - Context-dependent functions of specific microRNAs in neuronal development.
AB  - MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small noncoding RNAs that regulate multiple developmental
      processes at the post-transcriptional level. Recent rapid progresses have
      demonstrated critical roles for a number of miRNAs in neuronal development and
      function. In particular, miR-9 and miR-124 are specifically expressed in the
      mammalian nervous system, and their respective nucleotide sequences are 100%
      identical among many species. Yet, their expression patterns and mRNA targets are
      less conserved throughout evolution. As a consequence, these miRNAs exhibit
      diverse context-dependent functions in different aspects of neuronal development,
      ranging from early neurogenesis and neuronal differentiation to dendritic
      morphogenesis and synaptic plasticity. Some other neuronal miRNAs also exhibit
      context-dependent functions in development. Thus, post-transcriptional regulation
      of spatial and temporal expression levels of protein-coding genes by miRNAs
      contributes uniquely to the proper development and evolution of the complex
      nervous system.

PMID- 20920302
TI  - Suicide prevention in primary care: General practitioners' views on service
      availability.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Primary care may be a key setting for suicide prevention. However,
      comparatively little is known about the services available in primary care for
      suicide prevention. The aims of the current study were to describe services
      available in general practices for the management of suicidal patients and to
      examine GPs views on these services. We carried out a questionnaire and interview
      study in the North West of England. We collected data on GPs views of suicide
      prevention generally as well as local mental health service provision. FINDINGS:
      During the study period (2003-2005) we used the National Confidential Inquiry
      Suicide database to identify 286 general practitioners (GPs) who had registered
      patients who had died by suicide. Data were collected from GPs and practice
      managers in 167 practices. Responses suggested that there was greater
      availability of services and training for general mental health issues than for
      suicide prevention specifically. The three key themes which emerged from GP
      interviews were: barriers accessing primary or secondary mental health services;
      obstacles faced when referring a patient to mental health services; managing
      change within mental health care services CONCLUSIONS: Health professionals have
      an important role to play in preventing suicide. However, GPs expressed concerns
      about the quality of primary care mental health service provision and
      difficulties with access to secondary mental health services. Addressing these
      issues could facilitate future suicide prevention in primary care.

PMID- 20920301
TI  - Drosophila type II neuroblast lineages keep Prospero levels low to generate large
      clones that contribute to the adult brain central complex.
AB  - Tissue homeostasis depends on the ability of stem cells to properly regulate self
      renewal versus differentiation. Drosophila neural stem cells (neuroblasts) are a
      model system to study self-renewal and differentiation. Recent work has
      identified two types of larval neuroblasts that have different self
      renewal/differentiation properties. Type I neuroblasts bud off a series of small
      basal daughter cells (ganglion mother cells) that each generate two neurons. Type
      II neuroblasts bud off small basal daughter cells called intermediate progenitors
      (INPs), with each INP generating 6 to 12 neurons. Type I neuroblasts and INPs
      have nuclear Asense and cytoplasmic Prospero, whereas type II neuroblasts lack
      both these transcription factors. Here we test whether Prospero distinguishes
      type I/II neuroblast identity or proliferation profile, using several newly
      characterized Gal4 lines. We misexpress prospero using the 19H09-Gal4 line
      (expressed in type II neuroblasts but no adjacent type I neuroblasts) or 9D11
      Gal4 line (expressed in INPs but not type II neuroblasts). We find that
      differential prospero expression does not distinguish type I and type II
      neuroblast identities, but Prospero regulates proliferation in both type I and
      type II neuroblast lineages. In addition, we use 9D11 lineage tracing to show
      that type II lineages generate both small-field and large-field neurons within
      the adult central complex, a brain region required for locomotion, flight, and
      visual pattern memory.

PMID- 20920303
TI  - Renal protection in diabetes: lessons from ONTARGET.
AB  - Hypertension is an important independent risk factor for renal disease. If
      hypertension and chronic renal disease co-exist, as is common in patients with
      diabetes mellitus, the risk of cardiovascular disease is heightened. The
      importance of rigorous blood pressure control is recognized in current
      guidelines, with a recommended target of office blood pressure of < 130/80 mmHg;
      although ambulatory blood pressure may be more appropriate in order to identify
      the 24-hour hypertensive burden. Even lower blood pressure may further reduce the
      progression of chronic kidney disease, but the incidence of cardiovascular events
      may increase. Albuminuria not only indicates renal damage, but is also a powerful
      predictor of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality at least in patients with
      high cardiovascular risk and potentially pre-existing vascular damage. Management
      of the multiple factors for renal and cardiovascular disease is mandatory in the
      diabetic patient. The renin-angiotensin system (RAS) plays a pivotal role in the
      progression of renal disease, as well as in hypertension and target-organ damage.
      The use of agents that target the RAS confer renoprotection in addition to
      antihypertensive activity. There is extensive evidence of the renoprotective
      effect of angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs), and specifically telmisartan.
      In addition to providing 24-hour blood pressure control, clinical studies in
      patients with diabetes show that telmisartan improves renal endothelial function,
      prevents progression from microalbuminuria to macroalbuminuria, slows the decline
      in glomerular filtration rate and reduces proteinuria in overt nephropathy. These
      effects cannot be solely attributed to blood pressure control. In contrast to
      other members of the ARB class, the renoprotective effect of telmisartan is not
      confined to the management of diabetic nephropathy; slowing the progression of
      albuminuria has been demonstrated in the ONgoing Telmisartan Alone and in
      combination with Ramipril Global Endpoint Trial (ONTARGET), which included
      diabetic and non-diabetic patients at high risk of cardiovascular events.

PMID- 20920304
TI  - Scoring of senescence signalling in multiple human tumour gene expression
      datasets, identification of a correlation between senescence score and drug
      toxicity in the NCI60 panel and a pro-inflammatory signature correlating with
      survival advantage in peritoneal mesothelioma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cellular senescence is a major barrier to tumour progression, though
      its role in pathogenesis of cancer and other diseases is poorly understood in
      vivo. Improved understanding of the degree to which latent senescence signalling
      persists in tumours might identify intervention strategies to provoke
      "accelerated senescence" responses as a therapeutic outcome. Senescence involves
      convergence of multiple pathways and requires ongoing dynamic signalling
      throughout its establishment and maintenance. Recent discovery of several new
      markers allows for an expression profiling approach to study specific senescence
      phenotypes in relevant tissue samples. We adopted a "senescence scoring"
      methodology based on expression profiles of multiple senescence markers to
      examine the degree to which signals of damage-associated or secretory senescence
      persist in various human tumours. RESULTS: We first show that scoring captures
      differential induction of damage or inflammatory pathways in a series of public
      datasets involving radiotherapy of colon adenocarcinoma, chemotherapy of breast
      cancer cells, replicative senescence of mesenchymal stem cells, and progression
      of melanoma. We extended these results to investigate correlations between
      senescence score and growth inhibition in response to ~1500 compounds in the
      NCI60 panel. Scoring of our own mesenchymal tumour dataset highlighted
      differential expression of secretory signalling pathways between distinct
      subgroups of MPNST, liposarcomas and peritoneal mesothelioma. Furthermore, a pro
      inflammatory signature yielded by hierarchical clustering of secretory markers
      showed prognostic significance in mesothelioma. CONCLUSIONS: We find that
      "senescence scoring" accurately reports senescence signalling in a variety of
      situations where senescence would be expected to occur and highlights
      differential expression of damage associated and secretory senescence pathways in
      a context-dependent manner.

PMID- 20920305
TI  - Relationship between severe obesity and gut inflammation in children: what's
      next?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Preliminary evidence suggests an association between obesity and gut
      inflammation. AIMS: To evaluate the frequency of glucose abnormalities and their
      correlation with systemic and intestinal inflammation in severely obese children.
      PATIENTS AND METHODS: Thirty-four children (25 males; median age 10.8 +/- 3.4
      yrs) with severe obesity (BMI >95%) were screened for diabetes with oral glucose
      tolerance test (OGTT), systemic inflammation with C-reactive protein (CRP) and
      gut inflammation with rectal nitric oxide (NO) and faecal calprotectin. RESULTS:
      BMI ranged from 23 to 44 kg/m2, and BMI z-score between 2.08 e 4.93 (median 2.69
      +/- 0.53). Glucose abnormalities were documented in 71% of patients: type 2
      diabetes in 29%, impaired fasting glucose (IFG) in 58%, and impaired glucose
      tolerance (IGT) in 37.5%. Thirty-one patients (91%) were hyperinsulinemic. CRP
      was increased in 73.5% with a correlation between BMI z-score and CRP (p 0.03).
      Faecal calprotectin was increased in 47% patients (mean 77 +/- 68), and in 50% of
      children with abnormal glucose metabolism (mean 76 +/- 68 MUg/g), with a
      correlation with increasing BMI z-score. NO was pathological in 88%, and in 87.5%
      of glucose impairment (mean 6.8 +/- 5 MUM). CONCLUSIONS: In this study, the
      prevalence of glucose abnormalities in obese children is higher than in other
      series; furthermore, a correlation is present between markers of systemic and
      intestinal inflammation and glucose abnormalities.

PMID- 20920306
TI  - Evidence at a glance: error matrix approach for overviewing available evidence.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Clinical evidence continues to expand and is increasingly difficult
      to overview. We aimed at conceptualizing a visual assessment tool, i.e., a matrix
      for overviewing studies and their data in order to assess the clinical evidence
      at a glance. METHODS: A four-step matrix was constructed using the three
      dimensions of systematic error, random error, and design error. Matrix step I
      ranks the identified studies according to the dimensions of systematic errors and
      random errors. Matrix step II orders the studies according to the design errors.
      Matrix step III assesses the three dimensions of errors in studies. Matrix step
      IV assesses the size and direction of the intervention effect. RESULTS: The
      application of this four-step matrix is illustrated with two examples: peri
      operative beta-blockade initialized in relation to surgery versus placebo for
      major non-cardiac surgery, and antiarrhythmics for maintaining sinus rhythm after
      cardioversion of atrial fibrillation. When clinical evidence is deemed both
      internally and externally valid, the size of the intervention effect is to be
      assessed. CONCLUSION: The error matrix provides an overview of the validity of
      the available evidence at a glance, and may assist in deciding which
      interventions to use in clinical practice.

PMID- 20920307
TI  - Non-viral siRNA delivery into the mouse retina in vivo.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Gene silencing in the retina using RNA interference could open broad
      possibilities for functional studies of genes in vivo and for therapeutic
      interventions in eye disorders. Therefore, there is a considerable demand for
      protocols to deliver siRNA into the vertebrate retina. In this work we explored a
      possibility to deliver synthetic 21 bp siRNA into the mouse retina after
      intravitreal application using a non-viral carrier. METHODS: Fluorescently
      labelled synthetic 21 bp siRNA duplex was combined with Transit-TKO transfection
      reagent and injected intravitreally into adult mice eyes. Eyes cryostat sections
      and whole mount retinas were prepared 24-48 h post-injection, stained with either
      Hoechst 33342 (cell nuclei) or immunostained with anti-GFAP antibody (astroglia
      cells marker). Distribution of fluorescent siRNA signal in the retina was
      investigated. RESULTS: Single intravitreal injection of as little as 5 ng of
      siRNA combined with Transit-TKO transfection reagent by a modified protocol
      provided robust and non-toxic delivery of the siRNA into the retina. However,
      siRNA accumulation was predominantly confined to ganglion cells layer as analysed
      24 h post-injection. Furthermore, siRNA containing particles were localized along
      GFAP cytoskeleton of retinal astroglial cells hinting on intracellular
      localization of the siRNA CONCLUSIONS: In this work we demonstrated that siRNA
      can be efficiently delivered into the vertebrate retina in vivo with low-toxicity
      using a non-viral carrier, specifically Transit-TKO transfection reagent.
      However, the capacity of siRNA delivered by our protocol to induce gene silencing
      in the retina has to be further evaluated. Our report could raise a closer look
      on Transit-TKO transfection reagent as a promising siRNA carrier in vivo and be
      of interest for the researchers and companies who work on development of ocular
      RNAi techniques.

PMID- 20920308
TI  - Targeting neurotensin as a potential novel approach for the treatment of autism.
AB  - The pathophysiology of autism remains obscure. Recently, serum neurotensin levels
      in children with autistic disorder have been found to be higher than those of
      normal children. Neurotensin is known to intensify neuronal NMDA-mediated
      glutamate signaling, which may cause apoptosis in autism. Further, an imbalance
      of glutamate/GABAergic system in autism has been described. These observations
      lead to a postulate that neurotensin may accentuate the hyperglutaminergic state
      in autism, leading to apoptosis. Targeting neurotensin might be a possible novel
      approach for the treatment of autism.

PMID- 20920309
TI  - Valuation of scleroderma and psoriatic arthritis health states by the general
      public.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and scleroderma (SSc) are chronic rheumatic
      disorders with detrimental effects on health-related quality of life. Our
      objective was to assess health values (utilities) from the general public for
      health states common to people with PsA and SSc for economic evaluations.
      METHODS: Adult subjects from the general population in a Midwestern city (N =
      218) completed the SF-12 Health Survey and computer-assisted 0-100 rating scale
      (RS), time trade-off (TTO, range: 0.0-1.0) and standard gamble (SG, range: 0.0
      1.0) utility assessments for several hypothetical PsA and SSc health states.
      RESULTS: Subjects included 135 (62%) females, 143 (66%) Caucasians, and 62 (28%)
      African-Americans. The mean (SD) scores for the SF-12 Physical Component Summary
      scale were 52.9 (8.3) and for the SF-12 Mental Component Summary scale were 49.0
      (9.1), close to population norms. The mean RS, TTO, and SG scores for PsA health
      states varied with severity, ranging from 20.2 to 63.7 (14.4-20.3) for the RS
      0.29 to 0.78 (0.24-0.31) for the TTO, and 0.48 to 0.82 (0.24-0.34) for the SG.
      The mean RS, TTO, and SG scores for SSc health states were 25.3-69.7 (15.2-16.3)
      for the RS, 0.36-0.80 (0.25-0.31) for the TTO, and 0.50-0.81 (0.26-0.32) for the
      SG, depending on disease severity. CONCLUSION: Health utilities for PsA and SSc
      health states as assessed from the general public reflect the severity of the
      diseases. These descriptive findings could have implications regarding
      comparative effectiveness research for tests and treatments for PsA and SSc.

PMID- 20920310
TI  - A potential role for intragenic miRNAs on their hosts' interactome.
AB  - BACKGROUND: miRNAs are small, non-coding RNA molecules that mainly act as
      negative regulators of target gene messages. Due to their regulatory functions,
      they have lately been implicated in several diseases, including malignancies.
      Roughly half of known miRNA genes are located within previously annotated protein
      coding regions ("intragenic miRNAs"). Although a role of intragenic miRNAs as
      negative feedback regulators has been speculated, to the best of our knowledge
      there have been no conclusive large-scale studies investigating the relationship
      between intragenic miRNAs and host genes and their pathways. RESULTS: miRNA
      containing host genes were three times longer, contained more introns and had
      longer 5' introns compared to a randomly sampled gene cohort. These results are
      consistent with the observation that more than 60% of intronic miRNAs are found
      within the first five 5' introns. Host gene 3'-untranslated regions (3'-UTRs)
      were 40% longer and contained significantly more adenylate/uridylate-rich
      elements (AREs) compared to a randomly sampled gene cohort. Coincidentally,
      recent literature suggests that several components of the miRNA biogenesis
      pathway are required for the rapid decay of mRNAs containing AREs. A high
      confidence set of predicted mRNA targets of intragenic miRNAs also shared many of
      these features with the host genes. Approximately 20% of intragenic miRNAs were
      predicted to target their host mRNA transcript. Further, KEGG pathway analysis
      demonstrated that 22 of the 74 pathways in which host genes were associated
      showed significant overrepresentation of proteins encoded by the mRNA targets of
      associated intragenic miRNAs. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that both host
      genes and intragenic miRNA targets may potentially be subject to multiple layers
      of regulation. Tight regulatory control of these genes is likely critical for
      cellular homeostasis and absence of disease. To this end, we examined the
      potential for negative feedback loops between intragenic miRNAs, host genes, and
      miRNA target genes. We describe, how higher-order miRNA feedback on hosts'
      interactomes may at least in part explain correlation patterns observed between
      expression of host genes and intragenic miRNA targets in healthy and tumor
      tissue.

PMID- 20920311
TI  - Carbohydrate antigens in nipple aspirate fluid predict the presence of atypia and
      cancer in women requiring diagnostic breast biopsy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The goal of this prospective study was to determine (a)
      concentrations of the carbohydrate biomarkers Thomsen Friedenreich (TF) antigen
      and its precursor, Tn antigen, in nipple discharge (ND) collected from women
      requiring biopsy because of a suspicious breast lesion; and (b) if concentration
      levels predicted pathologic diagnosis. METHODS: Adult women requiring biopsy to
      exclude breast cancer were enrolled and ND obtained. The samples from 124 women
      were analyzed using an anti-TF and anti-Tn monoclonal antibodies in direct
      immunoassay. RESULTS: The highest median concentration in ND for TF and Tn was in
      women with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS). TF was higher in women with 1) cancer
      (DCIS or invasive) vs. either no cancer (atypia or benign pathology, p = .048),
      or benign pathology (p = .018); and 2) abnormal (atypia or cancer) versus benign
      pathology (p = .016); and was more predictive of atypia or cancer in post-
      compared to premenopausal women. Tn was not predictive of disease. High TF
      concentration and age were independent predictors of disease, correctly
      classifying either cancer or abnormal vs. benign pathology 83% of the time in
      postmenopausal women. CONCLUSIONS: TF concentrations in ND were higher in women
      with precancer and cancer compared to women with benign disease, and TF was an
      independent predictor of breast atypia and cancer. TF may prove useful in early
      breast cancer detection.

PMID- 20920312
TI  - A systematic study of genome context methods: calibration, normalization and
      combination.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Genome context methods have been introduced in the last decade as
      automatic methods to predict functional relatedness between genes in a target
      genome using the patterns of existence and relative locations of the homologs of
      those genes in a set of reference genomes. Much work has been done in the
      application of these methods to different bioinformatics tasks, but few papers
      present a systematic study of the methods and their combination necessary for
      their optimal use. RESULTS: We present a thorough study of the four main families
      of genome context methods found in the literature: phylogenetic profile, gene
      fusion, gene cluster, and gene neighbor. We find that for most organisms the gene
      neighbor method outperforms the phylogenetic profile method by as much as 40% in
      sensitivity, being competitive with the gene cluster method at low sensitivities.
      Gene fusion is generally the worst performing of the four methods. A thorough
      exploration of the parameter space for each method is performed and results
      across different target organisms are presented. We propose the use of
      normalization procedures as those used on microarray data for the genome context
      scores. We show that substantial gains can be achieved from the use of a simple
      normalization technique. In particular, the sensitivity of the phylogenetic
      profile method is improved by around 25% after normalization, resulting, to our
      knowledge, on the best-performing phylogenetic profile system in the literature.
      Finally, we show results from combining the various genome context methods into a
      single score. When using a cross-validation procedure to train the combiners,
      with both original and normalized scores as input, a decision tree combiner
      results in gains of up to 20% with respect to the gene neighbor method. Overall,
      this represents a gain of around 15% over what can be considered the state of the
      art in this area: the four original genome context methods combined using a
      procedure like that used in the STRING database. Unfortunately, we find that
      these gains disappear when the combiner is trained only with organisms that are
      phylogenetically distant from the target organism. CONCLUSIONS: Our experiments
      indicate that gene neighbor is the best individual genome context method and that
      gains from the combination of individual methods are very sensitive to the
      training data used to obtain the combiner's parameters. If adequate training data
      is not available, using the gene neighbor score by itself instead of a combined
      score might be the best choice.

PMID- 20920313
TI  - Assessment of orthologous splicing isoforms in human and mouse orthologous genes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Recent discoveries have highlighted the fact that alternative
      splicing and alternative transcripts are the rule, rather than the exception, in
      metazoan genes. Since multiple transcript and protein variants expressed by the
      same gene are, by definition, structurally distinct and need not to be
      functionally equivalent, the concept of gene orthology should be extended to the
      transcript level in order to describe evolutionary relationships between
      structurally similar transcript variants. In other words, the identification of
      true orthology relationships between gene products now should progress beyond
      primary sequence and "splicing orthology", consisting in ancestrally shared exon
      intron structures, is required to define orthologous isoforms at transcript
      level. RESULTS: As a starting step in this direction, in this work we performed a
      large scale human- mouse gene comparison with a twofold goal: first, to assess if
      and to which extent traditional gene annotations such as RefSeq capture genuine
      splicing orthology; second, to provide a more detailed annotation and
      quantification of true human-mouse orthologous transcripts defined as transcripts
      of orthologous genes exhibiting the same splicing patterns. CONCLUSIONS: We
      observed an identical exon/intron structure for 32% of human and mouse
      orthologous genes. This figure increases to 87% using less stringent criteria for
      gene structure similarity, thus implying that for about 13% of the human RefSeq
      annotated genes (and about 25% of the corresponding transcripts) we could not
      identify any mouse transcript showing sufficient similarity to be confidently
      assigned as a splicing ortholog. Our data suggest that current gene and
      transcript data may still be rather incomplete - with several splicing variants
      still unknown. The observation that alternative splicing produces large numbers
      of alternative transcripts and proteins, some of them conserved across species
      and others truly species-specific, suggests that, still maintaining the
      conventional definition of gene orthology, a new concept of "splicing orthology"
      can be defined at transcript level.

PMID- 20920314
TI  - Therapeutic approach to bronchiolitis: why pediatricians continue to
      overprescribe drugs?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Bronchiolitis guidelines suggest that neither bronchodilators nor
      corticosteroids, antiviral and antibacterial agents should be routinely used.
      Although recommendations, many clinicians persistently prescribe drugs for
      bronchiolitis. AIM OF THE STUDY: To unravel main reasons of pediatricians in
      prescribing drugs to infants with bronchiolitis, and to possibly correlate
      therapeutic choices to the severity of clinical presentation. Also possible
      influence of socially deprived condition on therapeutic choices is analyzed.
      METHODS: Patients admitted to Pediatric Division of 2 main Hospitals of Naples
      because of bronchiolitis in winter season 2008-2009 were prospectively analyzed.
      An RDAI (Respiratory Distress Assessment Instrument) score was assessed at
      different times from admission. Enrollment criteria were: age 1-12 months; 1st
      lower respiratory infection with cough and rhinitis with/without fever, wheezing,
      crackles, tachypnea, use of accessory muscles, and/or nasal flaring, low oxygen
      saturation, cyanosis. Social deprivation status was assessed by evaluating school
      graduation level of the origin area of the patients. A specific questionnaire was
      submitted to clinicians to unravel reasons of their therapeutic behavior.
      RESULTS: Eighty-four children were enrolled in the study. Mean age was 3.5
      months. Forty-four per cent of patients presented with increased respiratory
      rate, 70.2% with chest retractions, and 7.1% with low SaO2. Mean starting RDAI
      score was 8. Lung consolidation was found in 3.5% on chest roentgenogram. Data
      analysis also unraveled that 64.2% matched clinical admission criteria. Social
      deprivation status analysis revealed that 72.6% of patients were from areas "at
      social risk". Evaluation of length of stay vs. social deprivation status
      evidenced no difference between "at social risk" and "not at social risk"
      patients. Following therapeutic interventions were prescribed: nasal suction
      (64.2%), oxygen administration (7.1%), antibiotics (50%), corticosteroids
      (85.7%), bronchodilators (91.6%). Statistically significant association was not
      found for any used drug with neither RDAI score nor social deprivation status.
      The reasons of hospital pediatricians to prescribe drugs were mainly the
      perception of clinical severity of the disease, the clinical findings at chest
      examination, and the detection of some improvement after drug administration.
      CONCLUSIONS: We strongly confirm the large use of drugs in bronchiolitis
      management by hospital pediatricians. Main reason of this wrong practice appears
      to be the fact that pediatricians recognize bronchiolitis as a severe condition,
      with consequent anxiety in curing so acutely ill children without drugs, and that
      sometimes they feel forced to prescribe drugs because of personal reassurance or
      parental pressure. We also found that social "at risk" condition represents a
      main reason for hospitalization, not correlated to clinical severity of the
      disease neither to drug prescription. Eventually, we suggest a "step-by-step"
      strategy to rich a more evidence based approach to bronchiolitis therapy, by
      adopting specific and shared resident guidelines.

PMID- 20920316
TI  - Are component positioning and prosthesis size associated with hip resurfacing
      failure?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Recent studies suggest that there is a learning curve for metal-on
      metal hip resurfacing. The purpose of this study was to assess whether implant
      positioning changed with surgeon experience and whether positioning and component
      sizing were associated with implant longevity. METHODS: We evaluated the first
      361 consecutive hip resurfacings performed by a single surgeon, which had a mean
      follow-up of 59 months (range, 28 to 87 months). Pre and post-operative
      radiographs were assessed to determine the inclination of the acetabular
      component, as well as the sagittal and coronal femoral stem-neck angles. Changes
      in the precision of component placement were determined by assessing changes in
      the standard deviation of each measurement using variance ratio and linear
      regression analysis. Additionally, the cup and stem-shaft angles as well as
      component sizes were compared between the 31 hips that failed over the follow-up
      period and the surviving components to assess for any differences that might have
      been associated with an increased risk for failure. RESULTS: Surgeon experience
      was correlated with improved precision of the antero-posterior and lateral
      positioning of the femoral component. However, femoral and acetabular
      radiographic implant positioning angles were not different between the surviving
      hips and failures. The failures had smaller mean femoral component diameters as
      compared to the non-failure group (44 versus 47 millimeters). CONCLUSIONS: These
      results suggest that there may be differences in implant positioning in early
      versus late learning curve procedures, but that in the absence of recognized risk
      factors such as intra-operative notching of the femoral neck and cup inclination
      in excess of 50 degrees, component positioning does not appear to be associated
      with failure. Nevertheless, surgeons should exercise caution in operating
      patients with small femoral necks, especially when they are early in the learning
      curve.

PMID- 20920315
TI  - Bilateral posterior RION after concomitant radiochemotherapy with temozolomide in
      a patient with glioblastoma multiforme: a case report.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Radiation induced optic neuropathy (RION) is a rare but severe
      consequence of radiation therapy that is associated with adjuvant chemotherapy,
      specifically therapy with vincristine or nitrosoureas. However, there is very
      little evidence regarding the occurrence of RION after concomitant
      radiochemotherapy with temozolomide. CASE PRESENTATION: The case of a 63 year old
      woman with glioblastoma multiforme and concomitant radiochemotherapy with
      temozolomide is described. Due to a slight depressive episode the patient also
      took hypericum perforatum. Five months after cessation of fractionated radiation
      and adjuvant chemotherapy with temozolomide (cumulative dose of 11040 mg) the
      patient developed bilateral amaurosis due to RION. Tumor regrowth was excluded by
      magnetic resonance imaging. After the application of gadolinium a pathognomonic
      contrast enhancement of both prechiasmatic optic nerves could be observed.
      CONCLUSIONS: In this patient, the occurrence of RION may have been the result of
      radiosensitization by temozolomide, which could have been strengthened by
      hypericin. Consequently, physicians should avoid a concomitant application of
      hypericum perforatum and radiochemotherapy.

PMID- 20920317
TI  - Molecular targets for the protodynamic action of cis-urocanic acid in human
      bladder carcinoma cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND: cis-urocanic acid (cis-UCA) is an endogenous amino acid metabolite
      capable of transporting protons from the mildly acidic extracellular medium into
      the cell cytosol. The resulting intracellular acidification suppresses many
      cellular activities. The current study was aimed at characterizing the molecular
      mechanisms underlying cis-UCA-mediated cytotoxicity in cultured cancer cells.
      METHODS: 5367 bladder carcinoma cells were left untreated or treated with cis
      UCA. Cell death was assessed by measuring caspase-3 activity, mitochondrial
      membrane polarization, formation and release of cytoplasmic histone-associated
      DNA fragments, and cellular permeabilization. Cell viability and metabolic
      activity were monitored by colorimetric assays. Nuclear labelling was used to
      quantify the effects of cis-UCA on cell cycle. The activity of the ERK and JNK
      signalling pathways was studied by immunoblotting with specific antibodies.
      Phosphatase activity in cis-UCA-treated cells was determined by assay kits
      measuring absorbance resulting from the dephosphorylation of an artificial
      substrate. All statistical analyses were performed using the two-way Student's t
      test (p < 0.05). RESULTS: Here we report that treatment of the 5637 human bladder
      carcinoma cells with 2% cis-UCA induces both apoptotic and necrotic cell death.
      In addition, metabolic activity of the 5637 cells is rapidly impaired, and the
      cells arrest in cell cycle in response to cis-UCA. Importantly, we show that cis
      UCA promotes the ERK and JNK signalling pathways by efficiently inhibiting the
      activity of serine/threonine and tyrosine phosphatases. CONCLUSIONS: Our studies
      elucidate how cis-UCA modulates several cellular processes, thereby inhibiting
      the proliferation and survival of bladder carcinoma cells. These anti-cancer
      effects make cis-UCA a potential candidate for the treatment of non-muscle
      invasive bladder carcinoma.

PMID- 20920319
TI  - Barriers towards insulin therapy in type 2 diabetic patients: results of an
      observational longitudinal study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The course of barriers towards insulin therapy was analysed in three
      different groups of type 2 diabetic patients. This observational longitudinal
      study surveyed a three-month follow-up. METHODS: Participants in this study
      totalled 130 type 2 diabetic patients. The first subgroup was on insulin therapy
      at baseline (group 1: n = 57, age 55.6 +/- 8.7 yrs, disease duration 12.7 +/- 7.2
      yrs, HbA1c 8.5 +/- 1.6%) and remained on insulin at follow-up. Of an initial 73
      insulin-naive patients, 44 were switched to insulin therapy (group 2: age 58.1 +/
      6.8 yrs, disease duration 7.7 +/- 5.0 yrs, HbA1c 9.1 +/- 1.7%) and 29 patients
      remained on an oral regimen (group 3: age 52.7 +/- 10.7 yrs, disease duration 5.3
      +/- 4.6 yrs, HbA1c 8.3 +/- 1.4%). Barriers towards insulin therapy were measured
      using the Insulin Treatment Appraisal Scale (ITAS). As generic instruments of
      health related quality of life patients completed also the Problem Areas of
      Diabetes Questionnaire (PAID), the WHO-5 Well-Being Scale (WHO-5), the Centre for
      Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) and the Trait Version of the State
      Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) at baseline and at three-month follow-up. RESULTS:
      At the three-month follow-up, HbA1c had improved in all three groups (7.7 +/-
      1.2% vs. 7.1 +/- 1.1% vs. 6.7 +/- 0.8%). The course of negative appraisal of
      insulin therapy was significantly different in the three groups (p > .003): the
      ITAS score increased in patients remained on oral antidiabetic drugs (51.2 +/-
      12.2 to 53.6 +/- 12.3), whereas it decreased in patients switched to insulin
      therapy (49.2 +/- 9.8 to 46.2 +/- 9.9) or remained on insulin treatment (45.8 +/-
      8.3 to 44.5 +/- 8.0). Diabetes-related distress, trait anxiety, and well-being,
      showed a similar course in all three groups. The depression score improved
      significantly in patients switched to insulin treatment compared with patients
      remaining on insulin therapy. CONCLUSIONS: In summary, this study suggests that a
      negative appraisal of insulin treatment is modifiable by the initiation of
      insulin therapy. This finding indicates that barriers to insulin are a rather
      temporary than a stable phenomenon.

PMID- 20920318
TI  - Molecular signature of response and potential pathways related to resistance to
      the HSP90 inhibitor, 17AAG, in breast cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: HSP90 may be a favorable target for investigational therapy in breast
      cancer. In fact, the HSP90 inhibitor, 17AAG, currently has entered in phase II
      clinical trials as an anticancer agent in breast and other tumors. Since HSP90
      inhibition leads to global depletion of oncogenic proteins involved in multiple
      pathways we applied global analysis using gene array technology to study new
      genes and pathways involved in the drug response in breast cancer. METHODS: Gene
      expression profiling using Whole Human Genome Agilent array technology was
      applied to a total of six sensitive and two resistant breast cancer cell lines
      pre-treatment and treated with the 17AAG for 24 and 48 hours. RESULTS: We have
      identified a common molecular signature of response to 17AAG composed of 35 genes
      which include novel pharmacodynamic markers of this drug. In addition, different
      patterns of HSP90 client transcriptional changes after 17AAG were identified
      associated to the sensitive cell lines, which could be useful to evaluate drug
      effectiveness. Finally, we have found differentially expressed pathways
      associated to resistance to 17AAG. We observed significant activation of NF
      kappaB and MAPK pathways in resistant cells upon treatment, indicating that these
      pathways could be potentially targeted to overcome resistance. CONCLUSIONS: Our
      study shows that global mRNA expression analysis is a useful strategy to examine
      molecular effects of drugs, which allowed us the discovery of new biomarkers of
      17AAG activity and provided more insights into the complex mechanism of 17AAG
      resistance.

PMID- 20920320
TI  - C-reactive protein serum levels as an early predictor of outcome in patients with
      pandemic H1N1 influenza A virus infection.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Data for predicting which patients with pandemic influenza A (H1N1)
      infection are likely to run a complicated course are sparse. We retrospectively
      studied whether the admission serum C-reactive protein (CRP) levels can serve as
      a predictor of illness severity. METHODS: Included were all consecutive adult
      patients who presented to the emergency department (ED) between May-December,
      2009 with a flu-like illness, a confirmed diagnosis of pandemic influenza A
      (H1N1) infection and a serum CRP level measured within 24 hours of presentation.
      Patients with a proven additional concurrent acute illness (e.g., bacteremia)
      were excluded. We used the ROC curve analysis, Kaplan-Meier curves and the Cox
      proportional hazard model to evaluate the predictive ability of CRP as a
      prognostic factor. RESULTS: Seventeen (9%) of the 191 enrolled patients were
      admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU), of whom eight (4%) required mechanical
      ventilation and three (2%) died. The median admission serum CRP levels were
      significantly higher among patients who required subsequent ICU care and
      mechanical ventilation than among patients who did not (123 mg/L and 112 mg/L vs.
      40 mg/L, p < .001 and 43 mg/L, p = .017, respectively). A Cox proportional hazard
      model identified admission serum CRP levels and auscultatory findings over the
      lungs as independent prognostic factors for ICU admission. Admission serum CRP
      levels were the only independent prognostic factor for mechanical ventilation.
      Thirty days after presenting to the ED, none of the patients with admission serum
      CRP level <28 mg/L (lower tertile) required either ICU admission or mechanical
      ventilation. At the same time point, 19% of the patients with admission serum CRP
      level >=70 mg/L (upper tertile) needed to be admitted to the ICU and 8% of the
      same upper tertile group required mechanical ventilation. The differences in the
      rates between the lower vs. upper tertile groups were significant (Log-Rank p <
      .001 for ICU and p < .024 for mechanical ventilation). CONCLUSIONS: In our study
      group, serum CRP levels obtained in the early ED admission stage from patients
      presenting with pandemic H1N1 influenza A infection were found to serve as a
      useful gauge for predicting disease course and assisting in patient management.

PMID- 20920321
TI  - Microsatellite typing and susceptibilities of serial Cryptococcus neoformans
      isolates from Cuban patients with recurrent cryptococcal meningitis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cryptococcus neoformans is commonly associated with
      meningoencephalitis in immunocompromised patients and occasionally in apparently
      healthy individuals. Recurrence of infection after initial treatment is not
      uncommon. We studied C. neoformans isolates from 7 Cuban patients with recurrent
      cryptococcal meningitis. Antifungal susceptibility and genotyping with
      microsatellite molecular typing were carried out. METHODS: Isolates (n = 19) were
      recovered from cerebrospinal fluid, blood, urine and semen. Antifungal
      susceptibilities for amphotericin B, fluconazole, flucytosine, itraconazole,
      voriconazole, posaconazole and isavuconazole were tested by CLSI M27A3 broth
      microdilution method. Genotyping was done using a panel of 9 microsatellite (STR)
      markers: (CT)n, (TG)n, (TA)n, (CTA)n, (TCT)n, (CCA)n, (TTAT)n, (ATCC)n and
      (TATT)n. RESULTS: The average number of isolates/patient was 2.71. The mean time
      interval between the collection of any two isolates was 52.5 days. All strains
      were identified as C. neoformans var. grubii (serotype Aalpha). Although none of
      the strains were resistant to the studied drugs, in serial isolates from two
      patients, MICs values of triazoles increased 4-5 log2 dilutions over time. STR
      patterns showed 14 distinctive profiles. In three patients the recurrent
      infection was associated with genotypically identical isolates. The four other
      patients had relapse isolates which were genotypically different from the initial
      infecting strain. CONCLUSION: Recurrences of cryptococcal meningitis in our
      series of patients was not associated with development of drug resistance of the
      original strain but by an initial infection with different strains or a
      reinfection with a new strain.

PMID- 20920322
TI  - On-ward participation of a hospital pharmacist in a Dutch intensive care unit
      reduces prescribing errors and related patient harm: an intervention study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Patients admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU) are at high risk
      for prescribing errors and related adverse drug events (ADEs). An effective
      intervention to decrease this risk, based on studies conducted mainly in North
      America, is on-ward participation of a clinical pharmacist in an ICU team. As the
      Dutch Healthcare System is organized differently and the on-ward role of hospital
      pharmacists in Dutch ICU teams is not well established, we conducted an
      intervention study to investigate whether participation of a hospital pharmacist
      can also be an effective approach in reducing prescribing errors and related
      patient harm (preventable ADEs) in this specific setting. METHODS: A prospective
      study compared a baseline period with an intervention period. During the
      intervention period, an ICU hospital pharmacist reviewed medication orders for
      patients admitted to the ICU, noted issues related to prescribing, formulated
      recommendations and discussed those during patient review meetings with the
      attending ICU physicians. Prescribing issues were scored as prescribing errors
      when consensus was reached between the ICU hospital pharmacist and ICU
      physicians. RESULTS: During the 8.5-month study period, medication orders for
      1,173 patients were reviewed. The ICU hospital pharmacist made a total of 659
      recommendations. During the intervention period, the rate of consensus between
      the ICU hospital pharmacist and ICU physicians was 74%. The incidence of
      prescribing errors during the intervention period was significantly lower than
      during the baseline period: 62.5 per 1,000 monitored patient-days versus 190.5
      per 1,000 monitored patient-days, respectively (P < 0.001). Preventable ADEs
      (patient harm, National Coordinating Council for Medication Error Reporting and
      Prevention severity categories E and F) were reduced from 4.0 per 1,000 monitored
      patient-days during the baseline period to 1.0 per 1,000 monitored patient-days
      during the intervention period (P = 0.25). Per monitored patient-day, the
      intervention itself cost ?3, but might have saved ?26 to ?40 by preventing ADEs.
      CONCLUSIONS: On-ward participation of a hospital pharmacist in a Dutch ICU was
      associated with significant reductions in prescribing errors and related patient
      harm (preventable ADEs) at acceptable costs per monitored patient-day. TRIAL
      REGISTRATION NUMBER: ISRCTN92487665.

PMID- 20920323
TI  - Anthracycline and concurrent radiotherapy as adjuvant treatment of operable
      breast cancer: a retrospective cohort study in a single institution.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) after breast surgery was
      investigated by few authors and remains controversial, because of concerns of
      toxicity with taxanes/anthracyclines and radiation. This treatment is not
      standard and is more commonly used for locally advanced breast cancer. The aim of
      our study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of the concomitant use of
      anthracycline with radiotherapy (RT). FINDINGS: Four hundred women having
      operable breast cancer, treated by adjuvant chemotherapy (CT) and RT in
      concomitant way between January 2001 and December 2003, were included in this
      retrospective cohort study. The study compares 2 adjuvant treatments using CCRT,
      the first with anthracycline (group A) and the second with CMF (group B). The CT
      treatment was repeated every 21 days for 6 courses and the total delivered dose
      of RT was 50 Gy, divided as 2 Gy daily fractions. Locoregional recurrence free
      (LRFS), event free (EFS), and overall survivals (OS) were estimated by the Kaplan
      Meier method. The log-rank test was used to compare survival events. Multivariate
      Cox-regression was used to evaluate the relationship between patient
      characteristics, treatment and survival.In the 2 groups (A+B) (n = 400; 249 in
      group A and 151 in group B), the median follow-up period was 74.5 months. At 5
      years, the isolated LRFS was significantly higher in group A compared to group B
      (98.7% vs 95.3%; hazard ratio [HR] = 0.258; 95% CI, 0.067 to 0.997; log-rank P =
      .034). In addition, the use of anthracycline regimens was associated with a
      higher rate of 5 years EFS (80.4% vs 75.1%; HR = 0.665; 95% CI, 0.455 to 1.016;
      log-rank P = .057). The 5 years OS was 83.2% and 79.2% in the anthracycline and
      CMF groups, respectively (HR = 0.708; 95% CI, 0.455 to 1.128; log-rank P = .143).
      Multivariate analysis confirmed the positive effect of anthracycline regimens on
      LRFS (HR = 0.347; 95% CI, 0.114 to 1.053; log-rank P = .062), EFS (HR = 0.539;
      95% CI, 0.344 to 0.846; P = 0.012), and OS (HR = 0.63; 95% CI, 0.401 to 0.991; P
      = .046). LRFS, EFS and OS were significantly higher in the anthracycline group
      where the patients (n = 288) received more than 1 cycle of concurrent CT (P =
      .038, P = .026 and P = .038, respectively). LRFS and EFS were significantly
      higher in the anthracycline group within the BCT subgroup (P = .049 and P = .04,
      respectively). There were more hematologic, and more grade 2/3/4 skin toxicity in
      the anthracycline group. CONCLUSIONS: After mastectomy or BCT, the adjuvant
      treatment based on anthracycline and concurrent RT reduced breast cancer relapse
      rate, and significantly improved LRFS, EFS and OS in the patients receiving more
      than 1 cycle of concurrent CT. There were more hematologic and non hematologic
      toxicities in the anthracycline group.

PMID- 20920324
TI  - Partial trisomy 9p22 to 9p24.2 in combination with partial monosomy 9pter in a
      Syrian girl.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Partial trisomy of the short arm of chromosome 9 is among the most
      common autosomal structural chromosomal anomalies leading to chromosomal
      imbalance in human. Clinical characteristics are craniofacial dysmorphism
      including hypertelorism, prominent nose, deep-set eyes, and down-slanting
      palpebral fissures. The degree of clinical severity in partial trisomy 9p roughly
      correlates with the size of the chromosomal imbalance. Therefore, breakpoints as
      well as clinical findings need to be precisely defined for differential
      diagnosis. RESULTS: Chromosomes of a young female were analyzed due to primary
      amenorrhea, short stature, developmental delay and a characteristic facial
      appearance. Cytogenetic analysis using GTG banding identified a karyotype 46, XX,
      add(9pter). Surprisingly the application of high resolution molecular cytogenetic
      techniques characterized a partial trisomy 9p24.2-p22 and partial monosomy 9pter
      p24.2. To the best of our knowledge only four similar case were reported by now.
      CONCLUSION: Attempts for genotype-phenotype correlations for partial trisomy 9p
      might have been hampered by the fact that more complex, cryptic aberrations were
      neither considered nor detected in comparable clinical cases.

PMID- 20920325
TI  - Carbon ion radiotherapy for basal cell adenocarcinoma of the head and neck:
      preliminary report of six cases and review of the literature.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Basal cell adenocarcinoma accounts for approximately 1.6% of all
      salivary gland neoplasms. In this report, we describe our experiences of
      treatment for BCAC with carbon ion radiotherapy in our institution. METHODS: Case
      records of 6 patients with diagnosis of basal cell adenocarcinoma of the head and
      neck, who were treated by carbon ion radiotherapy with 64.0 GyE/16 fractions in
      our institution, were retrospectively reviewed. RESULTS: In a mean follow-up
      period of 32.1 months (14.0-51.3 months), overall survival and local control
      rates of 100% were achieved. Only one grade 4 (CTCAE v3.0) late complication
      occurred. There was no other grade 3 or higher toxicity. CONCLUSIONS: Carbon ion
      radiotherapy should be considered as an appropriate curative approach for
      treatment of basal cell adenocarcinoma in certain cases, particularly in cases of
      unresectable disease and postoperative gross residual or recurrent disease.

PMID- 20920326
TI  - Acute hiatal hernia: a late complication following gastrectomy.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: We describe a case of acute hiatal hernia during chemotherapy, in a
      female patient previously treated with gastrectomy. CASE PRESENTATION: After
      gastric resection, the patient underwent chemotherapy, developing important
      emetic symptoms. A radiograph of the abdomen was performed because of acute
      epigastrial pain and it showed a marked left diaphragm elevation.A CT scan
      carried out 24 hours later identified an occlusion with herniation in the left
      hemi thorax. Subsequent surgical investigation resulted in a diagnosis of hiatal
      hernia with volvulus. CONCLUSIONS: This case represents a rare, late complication
      occurring after gastrectomy.

PMID- 20920327
TI  - Elevated expression of Dickkopf-1 increases the sensitivity of human glioma cell
      line SHG44 to BCNU.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Studies have shown that Dickkopf-1 (DKK-1) is involved in
      tumorigenesis. Recently, we found that 9 out of 12 human glioma cell lines had
      high level of DKK-1 protein while the other 3 had very low or non-detectable
      level of DKK-1. The aim of this study is to further examine the function of DKK-1
      in glioma cells. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The glioma cell line SHG44 was obtained
      from a patient with grade II-III astrocytoma. SHG44 cells were transfected with a
      human DKK-1 gene. Transfection of the empty vector pcDNA3.1 was used as negative
      control. Sensitivity to BCNU was measured by Annexin-V staining. Expression of
      bax, bcl-2 and caspase-3 of three groups was determined by immunohistochemistry.
      RESULTS: The tranfection was confirmed by PCR, RT-PCR and Western blot. More
      apoptotic cell death was observed in the DKK-1 transfected cells, comparing to
      the non-transfected cells, or cells with empty vector. The expression of bax and
      caspase-3 of the SHG44 -DDK-1 increased, whereas the expression of bcl-2
      decreased CONCLUSION: Our results indicated that DKK-1 has a pro-apoptotic
      function of in glioma.

PMID- 20920328
TI  - A method of active case detection to target reservoirs of asymptomatic malaria
      and gametocyte carriers in a rural area in Southern Province, Zambia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Asymptomatic reservoirs of malaria parasites are common yet are
      difficult to detect, posing a problem for malaria control. If control programmes
      focus on mosquito control and treatment of symptomatic individuals only, malaria
      can quickly resurge if interventions are scaled back. Foci of parasite
      populations must be identified and treated. Therefore, an active case detection
      system that facilitates detection of asymptomatic parasitaemia and gametocyte
      carriers was developed and tested in the Macha region in southern Zambia.
      METHODS: Each week, nurses at participating rural health centres (RHC)
      communicated the number of rapid diagnostic test (RDT) positive malaria cases to
      a central research team. During the dry season when malaria transmission was
      lowest, the research team followed up each positive case reported by the RHC by a
      visit to the homestead. The coordinates of the location were obtained by GPS and
      all consenting residents completed a questionnaire and were screened for malaria
      using thick blood film, RDT, nested-PCR, and RT-PCR for asexual and sexual stage
      parasites. Persons who tested positive by RDT were treated with
      artemether/lumefantrine (Coartem). Data were compared with a community-based
      study of randomly selected households to assess the prevalence of asymptomatic
      parasitaemia in the same localities in September 2009. RESULTS: In total, 186 and
      141 participants residing in 23 case and 24 control homesteads, respectively,
      were screened. In the case homesteads for which a control population was
      available (10 of the 23), household members of clinically diagnosed cases had a
      8.0% prevalence of malaria using PCR compared to 0.7% PCR positive individuals in
      the control group (p = 0.006). The case and control groups had a gametocyte
      prevalence of 2.3% and 0%, respectively but the difference was not significant (p
      = 0.145). CONCLUSIONS: This pilot project showed that active case detection is
      feasible and can identify reservoirs of asymptomatic infection. A larger sample
      size, data over multiple low transmission seasons, and in areas with different
      transmission dynamics are needed to further validate this approach.

PMID- 20920329
TI  - Inflammation and adipose tissue: effects of progressive load training in rats.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Cytokines (IL-6, IL-10 and TNF-alpha) are increased after
      exhaustive exercise in the rat retroperitoneal (RPAT) and mesenteric adipose
      tissue (MEAT) pads. On the other hand, these cytokines show decreased expression
      in these depots in response to a chronic exercise protocol. However, the effect
      of exercise with overload combined with a short recovery period on pro- and anti
      inflammatory cytokine expression is unknown. In the present study, we
      investigated the regulation of cytokine production in the adipose tissue of rats
      after an overtraining-inducing exercise protocol. METHODS: Male Wistar rats were
      divided into four groups: Control (C), Trained (Tr), Overtrained (OT) and
      recovered overtrained (R). Cytokines (IL-6, TNF-alpha and IL-10) levels and Toll
      Like Receptor 4 (TLR4), Nuclear Factor kBp65 (NF-kBp65), Hormone Sensitive Lipase
      (HSL) and, Perilipin protein expression were assessed in the adipose tissue.
      Furthermore, we analysed plasma lipid profile, insulin, testosterone,
      corticosterone and endotoxin levels, and liver triacylglycerol, cytokine content,
      as well as apolipoprotein B (apoB) and TLR4 expression in the liver. RESULTS: OT
      and R groups exhibited reduced performance accompanied by lower testosterone and
      increased corticosterone and endotoxin levels when compared with the control and
      trained groups. IL-6 and IL-10 protein levels were increased in the adipose
      tissue of the group allowed to recover, in comparison with all the other studied
      groups. TLR-4 and NF-kBp65 were increased in this same group when compared with
      both control and trained groups. The protein expression of HSL was increased and
      that of Perilipin, decreased in the adipose in R in relation to the control. In
      addition, we found increased liver and serum TAG, along with reduced apoB protein
      expression and IL-6 and IL-10 levels in the of R in relation to the control and
      trained groups. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, we have shown that increases in pro
      inflammatory cytokines in the adipose tissue after an overtraining protocol may
      be mediated via TLR-4 and NF-kBp65 signalling, leading to an inflammatory state
      in this tissue.

PMID- 20920330
TI  - Association between the Cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen 4 +49G > A polymorphism
      and cancer risk: a meta-analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: As a key gene in the immunosurveillance of cell malignancy, Cytotoxic
      T-lymphocyte antigen 4 (CTLA-4 is an important negative regulator of T cell
      activation and proliferation. The CTLA-4 +49G > A polymorphism is one of the most
      commonly studied polymorphisms in this gene due to its association with cancer
      risks, but previous results have been conflicting. METHODS: We preformed a meta
      analysis using 22 eligible case-control studies (including 32 datasets) with a
      total of 11,273 patients and 13,179 controls to summarize the existing data on
      the association between the CTLA-4 +49G > A polymorphism and cancer risk.
      RESULTS: Compared with the common CTLA-4 +49G > A GG genotype, the carriers of
      variant genotypes (CTLA-4 +49 GC/CC) had a 1.24-fold elevated risk of cancer (95%
      CI = 1.18-1.32, P < 0.05) under the dominant genetic model, as estimated using a
      fixed effect model. The effect of the CTLA-4 +49G > A polymorphism was further
      evaluated using stratification analysis. In four breast cancer studies, patients
      with the variant genotypes had a significantly increased risk of breast cancer
      (OR = 1.31, 95% CI = 1.17-1.48, P < 0.00001). A similar result was found in three
      skin cancer studies (OR = 1.30, 95% CI = 1.10-1.52, P = 0.001). In 26 solid tumor
      studies, subjects with the variant genotypes had a significantly higher risk of
      developing solid tumors (OR = 1.25, 95% CI = 1.18-1.33, P < 0.00001) compared
      with the 6 non-solid tumor studies (OR = 1.08, 95% CI = 0.79-1.48, P = 0.62).
      Patients with variant genotypes had significantly increased risk of non
      epithelial tumors and epithelial tumors, with ORs of 1.23 (95% CI = 1.14-1.32, P
      < 0.00001) and 1.29 (95% CI = 1.17-1.41, P < 0.00001), respectively. It was also
      demonstrated that the increased risk of cancer associated with CTLA-4 +49G > A
      variant genotypes was more pronounced in Caucasians (OR = 1.29, 95% CI = 1.13
      1.47, P = 0.0002), Asians (OR = 1.23, 95% CI = 1.16-1.32, P < 0.00001) and
      Chinese (OR = 1.23, 95% CI = 1.15-1.31, P < 0.00001). CONCLUSION: Our meta
      analysis suggests that the CTLA-4 +49G > A polymorphism genotypes (GA + AA) might
      be associated with an increased risk of cancer, especially in Caucasians and
      Chinese.

PMID- 20920331
TI  - Distribution and persistence of pleural penetrations by multi-walled carbon
      nanotubes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) are new manufactured
      nanomaterials with a wide spectrum of commercial applications. The durability and
      fiber-like dimensions (mean length 3.9 MUm long * 49 nm diameter) of MWCNT
      suggest that these fibers may migrate to and have toxicity within the pleural
      region. To address whether the pleura received a significant and persistent
      exposure, C57BL/6J mice were exposed by pharyngeal aspiration to 10, 20, 40 and
      80 MUg MWCNT or vehicle and the distribution of MWCNT penetrations determined at
      1, 7, 28 and 56 days after exposure. Following lung fixation and sectioning,
      morphometric methods were used to determine the distribution of MWCNT and the
      number of MWCNT fiber penetrations of three barriers: alveolar epithelium
      (alveolar penetrations), the alveolar epithelium immediately adjacent to the
      pleura (subpleural tissue), and visceral pleural surface (intrapleural space).
      RESULTS: At 1 day 18%, 81.6% and 0.6% of the MWCNT lung burden was in the airway,
      the alveolar, and the subpleural regions, respectively. There was an initial,
      high density of penetrations into the subpleural tissue and the intrapleural
      space one day following aspiration which appeared to decrease due to clearance by
      alveolar macrophages and/or lymphatics by day 7. However, the density of
      penetrations increased to steady state levels in the subpleural tissue and
      intrapleural from day 28 - 56. At day 56 approximately 1 in every 400 fiber
      penetrations was in either the subpleural tissue or intrapleural space. Numerous
      penetrations into macrophages in the alveolar airspaces throughout the lungs were
      demonstrated at all times but are not included in the counts presented.
      CONCLUSIONS: The results document that MWCNT penetrations of alveolar
      macrophages, the alveolar wall, and visceral pleura are both frequent and
      sustained. In addition, the findings demonstrate the need to investigate the
      chronic toxicity of MWCNT at these sites.

PMID- 20920332
TI  - Association between treated/untreated traumatic dental injuries and impact on
      quality of life of Brazilian schoolchildren.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Traumatic dental injury (TDI) could have physical and psychosocial
      consequences for children. Thus, it is important to measure the impact of TDI on
      the quality of life of children (QoL). The aim of the present study was to
      investigate the association between treated/untreated TDI and the impact on the
      quality of life of 11-to-14-year-old Brazilian schoolchildren. METHODS: A cross
      sectional study was carried out involving 1612 male and female schoolchildren
      aged 11 to 14 years attending public and private elementary schools in the city
      of Belo Horizonte, Brazil. A multi-stage sampling technique was adopted to select
      the children. Three calibrated examiners used the Andreasen classification for
      the diagnosis of TDI. Oral health-related quality of life was assessed using the
      Brazilian version of the Child Perceptions Questionnaire (CPQ11-14) - Impact
      Short Form (ISF:16), composed of 16 items and self-administered by all children.
      Other oral conditions (dental caries and malocclusion) and the Social
      Vulnerability Index were determined and used as controlling variables. RESULTS:
      Two hundred nineteen children were diagnosed with untreated TDI and 64 were
      diagnosed with treated TDI. There were no statistically significant associations
      between untreated or treated TDI and overall CPQ11-14 (Fisher = 0.368 and Fisher
      = 0.610, respectively). Children with an untreated TDI were 1.4-fold (95% CI =
      1.1-2.1) more likely to report impact on the item "avoided smiling/laughing" than
      those without TDI, whereas children with a treated TDI were twofold (95% CI = 1.1
      3.5) more likely to report impact on the item "other children asked questions"
      than those without TDI. CONCLUSIONS: Neither treated nor untreated TDI was
      associated with oral symptoms, functional limitations or emotional wellbeing.
      However, children with a TDI in the anterior teeth experienced a negative impact
      on social wellbeing, mainly with regard to avoiding smiling or laughing and being
      concerned about what other people may think or say.

PMID- 20920333
TI  - Discovering joint associations between disease and gene pairs with a novel
      similarity test.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Genes in a functional pathway can have complex interactions. A gene
      might activate or suppress another gene, so it is of interest to test joint
      associations of gene pairs. To simultaneously detect the joint association
      between disease and two genes (or two chromosomal regions), we propose a new test
      with the use of genomic similarities. Our test is designed to detect epistasis in
      the absence of main effects, main effects in the absence of epistasis, or the
      presence of both main effects and epistasis. RESULTS: The simulation results show
      that our similarity test with the matching measure is more powerful than the
      Pearson's chi2 test when the disease mutants were introduced at common
      haplotypes, but is less powerful when the disease mutants were introduced at rare
      haplotypes. Our similarity tests with the counting measures are more sensitive to
      marker informativity and linkage disequilibrium patterns, and thus are often
      inferior to the similarity test with the matching measure and the Pearson's chi2
      test. CONCLUSIONS: In detecting joint associations between disease and gene
      pairs, our similarity test is a complementary method to the Pearson's chi2 test.

PMID- 20920334
TI  - The intriguing cyclophilin A-HIV-1 Vpr interaction: prolyl cis/trans
      isomerisation catalysis and specific binding.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cyclophilin A (CypA) represents a potential target for antiretroviral
      therapy since inhibition of CypA suppresses human immunodeficiency virus type 1
      (HIV-1) replication, although the mechanism through which CypA modulates HIV-1
      infectivity still remains unclear. The interaction of HIV-1 viral protein R (Vpr)
      with the human peptidyl prolyl isomerase CypA is known to occur in vitro and in
      vivo. However, the nature of the interaction of CypA with Pro-35 of N-terminal
      Vpr has remained undefined. RESULTS: Characterization of the interactions of
      human CypA with N-terminal peptides of HIV-1 Vpr has been achieved using a
      combination of nuclear magnetic resonace (NMR) exchange spectroscopy and surface
      plasmon resonance spectroscopy (SPR). NMR data at atomic resolution indicate
      prolyl cis/trans isomerisation of the highly conserved proline residues Pro-5, 
      10, -14 and -35 of Vpr are catalyzed by human CypA and require only very low
      concentrations of the isomerase relative to that of the peptide substrates. Of
      the N-terminal peptides of Vpr only those containing Pro-35 bind to CypA in a
      biosensor assay. SPR studies of specific N-terminal peptides with decreasing
      numbers of residues revealed that a seven-residue motif centred at Pro-35
      consisting of RHFPRIW, which under membrane-like solution conditions comprises
      the loop region connecting helix 1 and 2 of Vpr and the two terminal residues of
      helix 1, is sufficient to maintain strong specific binding. CONCLUSIONS: Only N
      terminal peptides of Vpr containing Pro-35, which appears to be vital for
      manifold functions of Vpr, bind to CypA in a biosensor assay. This indicates that
      Pro-35 is essential for a specific CypA-Vpr binding interaction, in contrast to
      the general prolyl cis/trans isomerisation observed for all proline residues of
      Vpr, which only involve transient enzyme-substrate interactions. Previously
      suggested models depicting CypA as a chaperone that plays a role in HIV-1
      virulence are now supported by our data. In detail the SPR data of this
      interaction were compatible with a two-state binding interaction model that
      involves a conformational change during binding. This is in accord with the
      structural changes observed by NMR suggesting CypA catalyzes the prolyl cis/trans
      interconversion during binding to the RHFP35RIW motif of N-terminal Vpr.

PMID- 20920336
TI  - Polymorphisms of XRCC4 are involved in reduced colorectal cancer risk in Chinese
      schizophrenia patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Genetic factors related to the regulation of apoptosis in
      schizophrenia patients may be involved in a reduced vulnerability to cancer.
      XRCC4 is one of the potential candidate genes associated with schizophrenia which
      might induce colorectal cancer resistance. METHODS: To examine the genetic
      association between colorectal cancer and schizophrenia, we analyzed five SNPs
      (rs6452526, rs2662238, rs963248, rs35268, rs2386275) covering ~205.7 kb in the
      region of XRCC4. RESULTS: We observed that two of the five genetic polymorphisms
      showed statistically significant differences between 312 colorectal cancer
      subjects without schizophrenia and 270 schizophrenia subjects (rs6452536, p =
      0.004, OR 0.61, 95% CI 0.44-0.86; rs35268, p = 0.028, OR 1.54, 95% CI 1.05-2.26).
      Moreover, the haplotype which combined all five markers was the most significant,
      giving a global p = 0.0005. CONCLUSIONS: Our data firstly indicate that XRCC4 may
      be a potential protective gene towards schizophrenia, conferring reduced
      susceptibility to colorectal cancer in the Han Chinese population.

PMID- 20920337
TI  - An introduction to standardized clinical nomenclature for dysmorphic features:
      the Elements of Morphology project.
AB  - Human structural malformations (anomalies or birth defects) have an enormous and
      complex range of manifestations and severity. The description of these findings
      can be challenging because the variation of many of the features is continuous
      and only some of them can be objectively assessed (that is, measured), among
      other factors. An international group of clinicians resolved to develop a set of
      terms that could be used to describe human structural malformations, under the
      general project name 'Elements of Morphology'. Here, the background to the
      project, progress to date, and the practical implementation of the terminology in
      research reporting is discussed.

PMID- 20920335
TI  - Expression and biological-clinical significance of hTR, hTERT and CKS2 in washing
      fluids of patients with bladder cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: at present, pathogenesis of bladder cancer (BC) has not been fully
      elucidated. Aim of this study is to investigate the role of human telomerase RNA
      (hTR), human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) and CDC28 protein kinase
      regulatory subunit 2 (CKS2) in bladder carcinogenesis and their possible clinical
      significance; METHODS: the transcript levels of hTR, hTERT and CKS2 were
      quantified by Real time reverse transcriptase chain reaction in exfoliated cells
      from bladder washings of 36 patients with BC and 58 controls. The statistical
      significance of differences between BC bearing patients and control groups, in
      the general as well as in the stratified analysis (superficial or invasive BC),
      was assessed by Student's t test. Non parametric Receiver Operating
      Characteristics analysis (ROC) was performed to ascertain the accuracy of study
      variables to discriminate between BC and controls. The clinical value of
      concomitant examination of hTR, hTERT and CKS2 was evaluated by logistic
      regression analysis; RESULTS: a significant decrease in hTR and a significant
      increase in hTERT or CKS2 gene expression were found between BC bearing patients
      and controls, as well as in the subgroups analysis. The area under the curve
      (AUC) indicated an average discrimination power for the three genes, both in the
      general and subgroups analysis, when singularly considered. The ability to
      significantly discriminate between superficial and invasive BC was observed only
      for hTR transcript levels. A combined model including hTR and CKS2 was the best
      one in BC diagnosis; CONCLUSIONS: our results, obtained from a sample set
      particularly rich of exfoliated cells, provide further molecular evidence on the
      involvement of hTR, hTERT and CKS2 gene expression in BC carcinogenesis. In
      particular, while hTERT and CKS2 gene expression seems to have a major
      involvement in the early stages of the disease, hTR gene expression, seems to be
      more involved in progression. In addition, our findings suggest that the studied
      genes have a clinical role in discriminating between BC and controls in the
      general as well as in the stratified analysis, when singularly considered. A
      combined model improved over the single marker BC diagnosis.

PMID- 20920338
TI  - An ELISA-based high throughput protein truncation test for inherited breast
      cancer.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Breast cancer is the most diagnosed and second leading cause of
      cancer deaths in the U.S. female population. An estimated 5 to 10 percent of all
      breast cancers are inherited, caused by mutations in the breast cancer
      susceptibility genes (BRCA1/2). As many as 90% of all mutations are nonsense
      mutations, causing a truncated polypeptide product. A popular and low cost method
      of mutation detection has been the protein truncation test (PTT), where target
      regions of BRCA1/2 are PCR amplified, transcribed/translated in a cell-free
      protein synthesis system and analyzed for truncated polypeptides by sodium
      dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and
      autoradiography. We previously reported a novel High Throughput Solid-Phase PTT
      (HTS-PTT) based on an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) format that
      eliminates the need for radioactivity, SDS-PAGE and subjective interpretation of
      the results. Here, we report the next generation HTS-PTT using triple-epitope
      tagged proteins and demonstrate, for the first time, its efficacy on clinical
      genomic DNA samples for BRCA1/2 analysis. METHODS: Segments of exons 11 of
      BRCA1/2 open reading frames were PCR amplified from either blood derived genomic
      DNA or cell line mRNA. PCR primers incorporate elements for cell-free
      transcription/translation and epitope tagging. Cell-free expressed nascent
      proteins are then antibody-captured onto the wells of a microtiter plate and the
      relative amount of truncated polypeptide measured using antibodies against the N-
      and C-terminal epitope tags in an ELISA format. RESULTS: 100% diagnostic
      sensitivity and 96% specificity for truncating mutations in exons 11 of BRCA1/2
      was achieved on one hundred blood-derived clinical genomic DNA samples which were
      previously assayed using the conventional gel based PTT. Feasibility of full gene
      coverage for BRCA1/2 using mRNA source material is also demonstrated.
      CONCLUSIONS: Overall, the HTS-PTT provides a simple, quantitative, objective, low
      cost and high throughput method for analysis of truncating mutations as an
      alternative to gel based PTT for BRCA analysis. The technology is readily
      accessible to virtually any laboratory, with the only major instrumentation
      required being a PCR thermocycler and a basic micro-well plate reader. When
      compared to conventional gel based PTT, the HTS-PTT provides excellent
      concordance.

PMID- 20920339
TI  - Mapping HIV/STI behavioural surveillance in Europe.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Used in conjunction with biological surveillance, behavioural
      surveillance provides data allowing for a more precise definition of HIV/STI
      prevention strategies. In 2008, mapping of behavioural surveillance in EU/EFTA
      countries was performed on behalf of the European Centre for Disease prevention
      and Control. METHOD: Nine questionnaires were sent to all 31 member States and
      EEE/EFTA countries requesting data on the overall behavioural and second
      generation surveillance system and on surveillance in the general population,
      youth, men having sex with men (MSM), injecting drug users (IDU), sex workers
      (SW), migrants, people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA), and sexually transmitted
      infection (STI) clinics patients. Requested data included information on system
      organisation (e.g. sustainability, funding, institutionalisation), topics covered
      in surveys and main indicators. RESULTS: Twenty-eight of the 31 countries
      contacted supplied data. Sixteen countries reported an established behavioural
      surveillance system, and 13 a second generation surveillance system (combination
      of biological surveillance of HIV/AIDS and STI with behavioural surveillance).
      There were wide differences as regards the year of survey initiation, number of
      populations surveyed, data collection methods used, organisation of surveillance
      and coordination with biological surveillance. The populations most regularly
      surveyed are the general population, youth, MSM and IDU. SW, patients of STI
      clinics and PLWHA are surveyed less regularly and in only a small number of
      countries, and few countries have undertaken behavioural surveys among migrant or
      ethnic minorities populations. In many cases, the identification of populations
      with risk behaviour and the selection of populations to be included in a BS
      system have not been formally conducted, or are incomplete. Topics most
      frequently covered are similar across countries, although many different
      indicators are used. In most countries, sustainability of surveillance systems is
      not assured. CONCLUSION: Although many European countries have established
      behavioural surveillance systems, there is little harmonisation as regards the
      methods and indicators adopted. The main challenge now faced is to build and
      maintain organised and functional behavioural and second generation surveillance
      systems across Europe, to increase collaboration, to promote robust, sustainable
      and cost-effective data collection methods, and to harmonise indicators.

PMID- 20920340
TI  - Enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2) expression is an independent prognostic factor
      in renal cell carcinoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2) gene exerts oncogene-like
      activities and its (over)expression has been linked to several human
      malignancies. Here, we studied a possible association between EZH2 expression and
      prognosis in patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC). METHODS: EZH2 protein
      expression in RCC specimens was analyzed by immunohistochemistry using a tissue
      microarray (TMA) containing RCC tumor tissue and corresponding normal tissue
      samples of 520 patients. For immunohistochemical assessment of EZH2 expression,
      nuclear staining quantity was evaluated using a semiquantitative score. The
      effect of EZH2 expression on cancer specific survival (CSS) was assessed by
      univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses. RESULTS: During follow-up,
      147 patients (28%) had died of their disease, median follow-up of patients still
      alive was 6.0 years (range 0-16.1 years). EZH2 nuclear staining was present in
      tumor cores of 411 (79%) patients. A multivariate Cox regression analysis
      revealed that high nuclear EZH2 expression was an independent predictor of poor
      CSS (> 25-50% vs. 0%: HR 2.72, p = 0.025) in patients suffering from non
      metastatic RCC. Apart from high nuclear EZH2 expression, tumor stage and
      Fuhrman's grading emerged as significant prognostic markers. In metastatic
      disease, nuclear EZH2 expression and histopathological subtype were independent
      predictive parameters of poor CSS (EZH2: 1-5%: HR 2.63, p = 0.043, >5-25%: HR
      3.35, p = 0.013, >25%-50%: HR 4.92, p = 0.003, all compared to 0%: HR 0.36, p =
      0.025, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: This study defines EZH2 as a powerful
      independent unfavourable prognostic marker of CSS in patients with metastatic and
      non-metastatic RCC.

PMID- 20920341
TI  - Residential self-selection bias in the estimation of built environment effects on
      physical activity between adolescence and young adulthood.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Built environment research is dominated by cross-sectional designs,
      which are particularly vulnerable to residential self-selection bias resulting
      from health-related attitudes, neighborhood preferences, or other unmeasured
      characteristics related to both neighborhood choice and health-related outcomes.
      METHODS: We used cohort data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent
      Health (United States; Wave I, 1994-95; Wave III, 2001-02; n = 12,701) and a time
      varying geographic information system. Longitudinal relationships between
      moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) bouts and built and socioeconomic
      environment measures (landcover diversity, pay and public physical activity
      facilities per 10,000 population, street connectivity, median household income,
      and crime rate) from adolescence to young adulthood were estimated using random
      effects models (biased by unmeasured confounders) and fixed effects models
      (within-person estimator, which adjusts for unmeasured confounders that are
      stable over time). RESULTS: Random effects models yielded null associations
      except for negative crime-MVPA associations [coefficient (95% CI): -0.056 (
      0.083, -0.029) in males, -0.061 (-0.090, -0.033) in females]. After controlling
      for measured and time invariant unmeasured characteristics using within-person
      estimators, MVPA was higher with greater physical activity pay facilities in
      males [coefficient (95% CI): 0.024 (0.006, 0.042)], and lower with higher crime
      rates in males [coefficient (95% CI): -0.107 (-0.140, -0.075)] and females
      [coefficient (95% CI): -0.046 (-0.083, -0.009)]. Other associations were null or
      in the counter-intuitive direction. CONCLUSIONS: Comparison of within-person
      estimates to estimates unadjusted for unmeasured characteristics suggest that
      residential self-selection can bias associations toward the null, as opposed to
      its typical characterization as a positive confounder. Differential environment
      MVPA associations by residential relocation suggest that studies examining
      changes following residential relocation may be vulnerable to selection bias. The
      authors discuss complexities of adjusting for residential self-selection and
      residential relocation, particularly during the adolescent to young adult
      transition.

PMID- 20920342
TI  - Autoimmune conditions and hairy cell leukemia: an exploratory case-control study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Case reports suggest that hairy cell leukemia (HCL) may be associated
      with autoimmune conditions, however no systematic investigations in this area
      have been undertaken. METHODS: Using the United States Surveillance,
      Epidemiology, and End Results Medicare linked database, we conducted an
      exploratory study comparing autoimmune conditions in 418 HCL cases (aged >=65
      years) and 160,086 controls. RESULTS: Overall, the proportion with autoimmune
      conditions was similar between HCL cases and controls (n = 79 (18.9%) and n =
      29,284 (18.3%), respectively). Before diagnosis/selection, there was no overall
      difference in the prevalence of autoimmune conditions in HCL cases (n = 37, 8.9%)
      compared with controls (n = 14,085, 8.8%), p = 0.969. However, compared with
      controls, HCL cases more frequently had sarcoidosis (OR 9.6, 95%CI 2.4-39.5),
      Sjogren syndrome (OR 6.1, 95%CI 2.0-19.3) and erythema nodosum (OR 37, 95%CI 4.9
      284) before diagnosis. Autoimmune conditions were also more common in HCL cases
      than controls around the time of diagnosis/selection (p < 0.001) but not
      subsequently. CONCLUSIONS: The findings do not support an overall relationship
      between autoimmune conditions and HCL, although the association with some
      autoimmune conditions prior to HCL diagnosis may warrant further investigation.
      Our findings also suggest that autoimmune conditions in HCL patients may be
      detected around the time of diagnosis.

PMID- 20920344
TI  - Cigarette smoke induces PTX3 expression in pulmonary veins of mice in an IL-1
      dependent manner.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is associated with
      abnormal inflammatory responses and structural alterations of the airways, lung
      parenchyma and pulmonary vasculature. Since Pentraxin-3 (PTX3) is a tuner of
      inflammatory responses and is produced by endothelial and inflammatory cells upon
      stimuli such as interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta), we hypothesized that PTX3 is
      involved in COPD pathogenesis. METHODS AND RESULTS: We evaluated whether
      cigarette smoke (CS) triggers pulmonary and systemic PTX3 expression in vivo in a
      murine model of COPD. Using immunohistochemical (IHC) staining, we observed PTX3
      expression in endothelial cells of lung venules and veins but not in lung
      arteries, airways and parenchyma. Moreover, ELISA on lung homogenates and semi
      quantitative scoring of IHC-stained sections revealed a significant upregulation
      of PTX3 upon subacute and chronic CS exposure. Interestingly, PTX3 expression was
      not enhanced upon subacute CS exposure in IL-1RI KO mice, suggesting that the IL
      1 pathway is implicated in CS-induced expression of vascular PTX3. Serum PTX3
      levels increased rapidly but transiently after acute CS exposure.To elucidate the
      functional role of PTX3 in CS-induced responses, we examined pulmonary
      inflammation, protease/antiprotease balance, emphysema and body weight changes in
      WT and Ptx3 KO mice. CS-induced pulmonary inflammation, peribronchial lymphoid
      aggregates, increase in MMP-12/TIMP-1 mRNA ratio, emphysema and failure to gain
      weight were not significantly different in Ptx3 KO mice compared to WT mice. In
      addition, Ptx3 deficiency did not affect the CS-induced alterations in the
      pulmonary (mRNA and protein) expression of VEGF-A and FGF-2, which are crucial
      regulators of angiogenesis. CONCLUSIONS: CS increases pulmonary PTX3 expression
      in an IL-1 dependent manner. However, our results suggest that either PTX3 is not
      critical in CS-induced pulmonary inflammation, emphysema and body weight changes,
      or that its role can be fulfilled by other mediators with overlapping activities.

PMID- 20920345
TI  - Caspase-1 is involved in the genesis of inflammatory hypernociception by
      contributing to peripheral IL-1beta maturation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Caspase-1 is a cysteine protease responsible for the processing and
      secretion of IL-1beta and IL-18, which are closely related to the induction of
      inflammation. However, limited evidence addresses the participation of caspase-1
      in inflammatory pain. Here, we investigated the role of caspase-1 in inflammatory
      hypernociception (a decrease in the nociceptive threshold) using caspase-1
      deficient mice (casp1-/-). RESULTS: Mechanical inflammatory hypernociception was
      evaluated using an electronic version of the von Frey test. The production of
      cytokines, PGE2 and neutrophil migration were evaluated by ELISA,
      radioimmunoassay and myeloperoxidase activity, respectively. The interleukin (IL)
      1beta and cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 protein expression were evaluated by western
      blotting. The mechanical hypernociception induced by intraplantar injection of
      carrageenin, tumour necrosis factor (TNF)alpha and CXCL1/KC was reduced in casp1
      /- mice compared with WT mice. However, the hypernociception induced by IL-1beta
      and PGE2 did not differ in WT and casp1-/- mice. Carrageenin-induced TNF-alpha
      and CXCL1/KC production and neutrophil recruitment in the paws of WT mice were
      not different from casp1-/- mice, while the maturation of IL-1beta was reduced in
      casp1-/- mice. Furthermore, carrageenin induced an increase in the expression of
      COX-2 and PGE2 production in the paw of WT mice, but was reduced in casp1-/-
      mice. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that caspase-1 plays a critical role in
      the cascade of events involved in the genesis of inflammatory hypernociception by
      promoting IL-1beta maturation. Because caspase-1 is involved in the induction of
      COX-2 expression and PGE2 production, our data support the assertion that caspase
      1 is a key target to control inflammatory pain.

PMID- 20920347
TI  - The homeodomain complement of the ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi suggests that
      Ctenophora and Porifera diverged prior to the ParaHoxozoa.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The much-debated phylogenetic relationships of the five early
      branching metazoan lineages (Bilateria, Cnidaria, Ctenophora, Placozoa and
      Porifera) are of fundamental importance in piecing together events that occurred
      early in animal evolution. Comparisons of gene content between organismal
      lineages have been identified as a potentially useful methodology for
      phylogenetic reconstruction. However, these comparisons require complete genomes
      that, until now, did not exist for the ctenophore lineage. The homeobox
      superfamily of genes is particularly suited for these kinds of gene content
      comparisons, since it is large, diverse, and features a highly conserved domain.
      RESULTS: We have used a next-generation sequencing approach to generate a high
      quality rough draft of the genome of the ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi and
      subsequently identified a set of 76 homeobox-containing genes from this draft. We
      phylogenetically categorized this set into established gene families and classes
      and then compared this set to the homeodomain repertoire of species from the
      other four early branching metazoan lineages. We have identified several
      important classes and subclasses of homeodomains that appear to be absent from
      Mnemiopsis and from the poriferan Amphimedon queenslandica. We have also
      determined that, based on lineage-specific paralog retention and average branch
      lengths, it is unlikely that these missing classes and subclasses are due to
      extensive gene loss or unusually high rates of evolution in Mnemiopsis.
      CONCLUSIONS: This paper provides a first glimpse of the first sequenced
      ctenophore genome. We have characterized the full complement of Mnemiopsis
      homeodomains from this species and have compared them to species from other early
      branching lineages. Our results suggest that Porifera and Ctenophora were the
      first two extant lineages to diverge from the rest of animals. Based on this
      analysis, we also propose a new name - ParaHoxozoa - for the remaining group that
      includes Placozoa, Cnidaria and Bilateria.

PMID- 20920348
TI  - Variations in the length of stay of intensive care unit nonsurvivors in three
      Scandinavian countries.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The length of stay (LOS) in intensive care unit (ICU) nonsurvivors
      is not often reported, but represents an important indicator of the use of
      resources. LOS in ICU nonsurvivors may also be a marker of cultural and
      organizational differences between units. In this study based on the national
      intensive care registries in Finland, Sweden, and Norway, we aimed to report
      intensive care mortality and to document resource use as measured by LOS in ICU
      nonsurvivors. METHODS: Registry data from 53,305 ICU patients in 2006 were merged
      into a single database. ICU nonsurvivors were analyzed with regard to LOS within
      subgroups by univariate and multivariate analysis (Cox proportional hazards
      regression). RESULTS: Vital status at ICU discharge was available for 52,255
      patients. Overall ICU mortality was 9.1%. Median LOS of the nonsurvivors was 1.3
      days in Finland and Sweden, and 1.9 days in Norway. The shortest LOS of the
      nonsurvivors was found in patients older than 80 years, emergency medical
      admissions, and the patients with the highest severity of illness. Multivariate
      analysis confirmed the longer LOS in Norway when corrected for age group,
      admission category, sex, and type of hospital. LOS in nonsurvivors was found to
      be inversely related to the severity of illness, as measured by APACHE II and
      SAPS II. CONCLUSIONS: Despite cultural, religious, and educational similarities,
      significant variations occur in the LOS of ICU nonsurvivors among Finland,
      Norway, and Sweden. Overall, ICU mortality is low in the Scandinavian countries.

PMID- 20920346
TI  - Accelerated Partial Breast Irradiation (APBI): A review of available techniques.
AB  - Breast conservation therapy (BCT) is the procedure of choice for the management
      of the early stage breast cancer. However, its utilization has not been maximized
      because of logistics issues associated with the protracted treatment involved
      with the radiation treatment. Accelerated Partial Breast Irradiation (APBI) is an
      approach that treats only the lumpectomy bed plus a 1-2 cm margin, rather than
      the whole breast. Hence because of the small volume of irradiation a higher dose
      can be delivered in a shorter period of time. There has been growing interest for
      APBI and various approaches have been developed under phase I-III clinical
      studies; these include multicatheter interstitial brachytherapy, balloon catheter
      brachytherapy, conformal external beam radiation therapy and intra-operative
      radiation therapy (IORT). Balloon-based brachytherapy approaches include
      Mammosite, Axxent electronic brachytherapy and Contura, Hybrid brachytherapy
      devices include SAVI and ClearPath. This paper reviews the different techniques,
      identifying the weaknesses and strength of each approach and proposes a direction
      for future research and development. It is evident that APBI will play a role in
      the management of a selected group of early breast cancer. However, the relative
      role of the different techniques is yet to be clearly identified.

PMID- 20920349
TI  - Genomic insights into Wnt signaling in an early diverging metazoan, the
      ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Intercellular signaling pathways are a fundamental component of the
      integrating cellular behavior required for the evolution of multicellularity. The
      genomes of three of the four early branching animal phyla (Cnidaria, Placozoa and
      Porifera) have been surveyed for key components, but not the fourth (Ctenophora).
      Genomic data from ctenophores could be particularly relevant, as ctenophores have
      been proposed to be one of the earliest branching metazoan phyla. RESULTS: A
      preliminary assembly of the lobate ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi genome generated
      using next-generation sequencing technologies were searched for components of a
      developmentally important signaling pathway, the Wnt/beta-catenin pathway.
      Molecular phylogenetic analysis shows four distinct Wnt ligands (MlWnt6, MlWnt9,
      MlWntA and MlWntX), and most, but not all components of the receptor and
      intracellular signaling pathway were detected. In situ hybridization of the four
      Wnt ligands showed that they are expressed in discrete regions associated with
      the aboral pole, tentacle apparati and apical organ. CONCLUSIONS: Ctenophores
      show a minimal (but not obviously simple) complement of Wnt signaling components.
      Furthermore, it is difficult to compare the Mnemiopsis Wnt expression patterns
      with those of other metazoans. mRNA expression of Wnt pathway components appears
      later in development than expected, and zygotic gene expression does not appear
      to play a role in early axis specification. Notably absent in the Mnemiopsis
      genome are most major secreted antagonists, which suggests that complex
      regulation of this secreted signaling pathway probably evolved later in animal
      evolution.

PMID- 20920351
TI  - Oral squamous cell carcinoma in non-smoking and non-drinking patients.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Of the many different factors associated with an increased risk for
      oral squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), tobacco and alcohol seem to be the most
      studied. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the clinicopathologic
      characteristics of patients without the mentioned risk factors. PATIENTS AND
      METHODS: Out of 278 patients (159 male and 119 female patients) with oral SCC, 67
      patients had no history of tobacco or alcohol use. The minimum follow-up time was
      12 months. RESULTS: Of the 67 patients, 45 (67.2%) were women, and the mean age
      was 70 years. The most common tumor sites were mandibular alveolar ridge (22) and
      maxilla (18). Fifteen patients experienced a recurrence, and 10 developed lymph
      node metastases during the follow-up period. CONCLUSION: The group of patients
      with no tobacco and alcohol use tends toward a higher proportion of females, a
      higher proportion of patients over 70 years, and a higher number of oral
      maxillary SCC.

PMID- 20920350
TI  - SHMT1 1420 and MTHFR 677 variants are associated with rectal but not colon
      cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Association between rectal or colon cancer risk and serine
      hydroxymethyltransferase 1 (SHMT1) C1420T or methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase
      (MTHFR) C677T polymorphisms was assessed. The serum total homocysteine (HCY),
      marker of folate metabolism was also investigated. METHODS: The SHMT1 and MTHFR
      genotypes were determined by real-time PCR and PCR-RFLP, respectively in 476
      patients with rectal, 479 patients with colon cancer and in 461 and 478,
      respective controls matched for age and sex. Homocysteine levels were determined
      by HPLC kit. The association between polymorphisms and cancer risk was evaluated
      by logistic regression analysis adjusted for age, sex and body mass index. The
      population stratification bias was also estimated. RESULTS: There was no
      association of genotypes or diplotypes with colon cancer. The rectal cancer risk
      was significantly lower for SHMT1 TT (OR = 0.57, 95% confidence interval (CI)
      0.36-0.89) and higher for MTHFR CT genotypes (OR = 1.4, 95%CI 1.06-1.84). A gene
      dosage effect was observed for SHMT1 with progressively decreasing risk with
      increasing number of T allele (p = 0.014). The stratified analysis according to
      age and sex revealed that the association is mainly present in the younger (< 60
      years) or male subgroup. As expected from genotype analysis, the SHMT1 T
      allele/MTHFR CC diplotype was associated with reduced rectal cancer risk (OR
      0.56, 95%CI 0.42-0.77 vs all other diplotypes together). The above results are
      unlikely to suffer from population stratification bias. In controls HCY was
      influenced by SHMT1 polymorphism, while in patients it was affected only by
      Dukes' stage. In patients with Dukes' stage C or D HCY can be considered as a
      tumor marker only in case of SHMT1 1420CC genotypes. CONCLUSIONS: A protective
      effect of SHMT1 1420T allele or SHMT1 1420 T allele/MTHFR 677 CC diplotype
      against rectal but not colon cancer risk was demonstrated. The presence of SHMT1
      1420 T allele significantly increases the HCY levels in controls but not in
      patients. Homocysteine could be considered as a tumor marker in SHMT1 1420 wild
      type (CC) CRC patients in Dukes' stage C and D. Further studies need to clarify
      why SHMT1 and MTHFR polymorphisms are associated only with rectal and not colon
      cancer risk.

PMID- 20920352
TI  - The incidence of malaria in travellers to South-East Asia: is local malaria
      transmission a useful risk indicator?
AB  - BACKGROUND: The presence of ongoing local malaria transmission, identified though
      local surveillance and reported to regional WHO offices, by S-E Asian countries,
      forms the basis of national and international chemoprophylaxis recommendations in
      western countries. The study was designed to examine whether the strategy of
      using malaria transmission in a local population was an accurate estimate of the
      malaria threat faced by travellers and a correlate of malaria in returning
      travellers. METHODS: Malaria endemicity was described from distribution and
      intensity in the local populations of ten S-E Asian destination countries over
      the period 2003-2008 from regionally reported cases to WHO offices. Travel
      acquired malaria was collated from malaria surveillance reports from the USA and
      12 European countries over the same period. The numbers of travellers visiting
      the destination countries was based on immigration and tourism statistics
      collected on entry of tourists to the destination countries. RESULTS: In the
      destination countries, mean malaria rates in endemic countries ranged between
      0.01 in Korea to 4:1000 population per year in Lao PDR, with higher regional
      rates in a number of countries. Malaria cases imported into the 13 countries
      declined by 47% from 140 cases in 2003 to 66 in 2008. A total of 608 cases (27.3%
      Plasmodium falciparum (Pf)) were reported over the six years, the largest number
      acquired in Indonesia, Thailand and Korea. Four countries had an incidence > 1
      case per 100,000 traveller visits; Burma (Myanmar), Indonesia, Cambodia and Laos
      (range 1 to 11.8-case per 100,000 visits). The remaining six countries rates were
      < 1 case per 100,000 visits. The number of visitors arriving from source
      countries increased by 60% from 8.5 Million to 13.6 million over the 6 years.
      CONCLUSION: The intensity of malaria transmission particularly sub-national
      activity did not correlate with the risk of travellers acquiring malaria in the
      large numbers of arriving visitors. It is proposed to use a threshold incidence
      of > 1 case per 100,000 visits to consider targeted malaria prophylaxis
      recommendations to minimize use of chemoprophylaxis for low risk exposure during
      visits to S-E Asia. Policy needs to be adjusted regularly to reflect the changing
      risk.

PMID- 20920353
TI  - Reconstructing the evolutionary history of the radiation of the land snail genus
      Xerocrassa on Crete based on mitochondrial sequences and AFLP markers.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A non-adaptive radiation triggered by sexual selection resulted in
      ten endemic land snail species of the genus Xerocrassa on Crete. Only five of
      these species and a more widespread species are monophyletic in a mitochondrial
      gene tree. The reconstruction of the evolutionary history of such closely related
      species can be complicated by incomplete lineage sorting, introgression or
      inadequate taxonomy. To distinguish between the reasons for the nonmonophyly of
      several species in the mitochondrial gene tree we analysed nuclear AFLP markers.
      RESULTS: Whereas six of the eleven morphologically delimited Xerocrassa species
      from Crete are monophyletic in the mitochondrial gene tree, nine of these species
      are monophyletic in the tree based on AFLP markers. Only two morphologically
      delimited species could not be distinguished with the multilocus data and might
      have diverged very recently or might represent extreme forms of a single species.
      The nonmonophyly of X. rhithymna with respect to X. kydonia is probably the
      result of incomplete lineage sorting, because there is no evidence for admixture
      in the AFLP data and the mitochondrial haplotype groups of these species coalesce
      deeply. The same is true for the main haplotype groups of X. mesostena. The
      nonmonophyly of X. franciscoi might be the result of mitochondrial introgression,
      because the coalescences of the haplotypes of this species with some X. mesostena
      haplotypes are shallow and there is admixture with neighbouring X. mesostena.
      CONCLUSION: The most likely causes for the nonmonophyly of species in the
      mitochondrial gene tree of the Xerocrassa radiation on Crete could be inferred
      using AFLP data by a combination of several criteria, namely the depth of the
      coalescences in the gene tree, the geographical distribution of shared genetic
      markers, and concordance with results of admixture analyses of nuclear multilocus
      markers. The strongly subdivided population structure increases the effective
      population size of land snail species and, thus, the likelihood of a long
      persistence of ancestral polymorphisms. Our study suggests that ancestral
      polymorphisms are a frequent cause for nonmonophyly of species with a strongly
      subdivided population structure in gene trees.

PMID- 20920354
TI  - Primary glomangiosarcoma of the lung: A case report.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Glomus tumor is an uncommon neoplasm derived from cells of the
      neuromyoarterial glomus or glomus body. Most glomus tumours occur in the dermis
      and subcutaneous tissues. A case of a primary pulmonary glomus tumour originating
      in the right upper lobe is presented. CASE PRESENTATION: A 74-yr-old male was
      admitted with siccus cough, dyspnea and right-sided chest pain. Computed
      tomography of the thorax revealed a 4 cm growth of the right upper lobe.
      Fiberoptic bronchoscopy demonstrated an endobronchial hypervascular mass causing
      obstruction of the apical segmental bronchus. Pathology report was consistent
      with pulmonary glomus tumor. The patient underwent a typical right upper
      lobectomy with mediastinal lymph node dissection. Twelve months later he is free
      of disease. CONCLUSION: Occasionally glomus tumors can occur in extracutaneous
      sites such as the gastrointestinal tract, bone, genitourinary system and
      respiratory tract. Primary pulmonary glomus tumors are very rare (our case is the
      19th one presented in the international literature) and are often confused with
      other solid neoplasms such as carcinoids, hemangiopericytomas and tumors
      belonging to the family of Ewing's sarcoma/primitive neuroectodermal tumours.

PMID- 20920356
TI  - aeGEPUCI: a database of gene expression in the dengue vector mosquito, Aedes
      aegypti.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Aedes aegypti is the principal vector of dengue and yellow fever
      viruses. The availability of the sequenced and annotated genome enables genome
      wide analyses of gene expression in this mosquito. The large amount of data
      resulting from these analyses requires efficient cataloguing before it becomes
      useful as the basis for new insights into gene expression patterns and studies of
      the underlying molecular mechanisms for generating these patterns. FINDINGS: We
      provide a publicly-accessible database and data-mining tool, aeGEPUCI, that
      integrates 1) microarray analyses of sex- and stage-specific gene expression in
      Ae. aegypti, 2) functional gene annotation, 3) genomic sequence data, and 4)
      computational sequence analysis tools. The database can be used to identify genes
      expressed in particular stages and patterns of interest, and to analyze putative
      cis-regulatory elements (CREs) that may play a role in coordinating these
      patterns. The database is accessible from the address
      http://www.aegep.bio.uci.edu. CONCLUSIONS: The combination of gene expression,
      function and sequence data coupled with integrated sequence analysis tools allows
      for identification of expression patterns and streamlines the development of CRE
      predictions and experiments to assess how patterns of expression are coordinated
      at the molecular level.

PMID- 20920355
TI  - A three-way comparative genomic analysis of Mannheimia haemolytica isolates.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mannhemia haemolytica is a Gram-negative bacterium and the principal
      etiological agent associated with bovine respiratory disease complex. They
      transform from a benign commensal to a deadly pathogen, during stress such as
      viral infection and transportation to feedlots and cause acute pleuropneumonia
      commonly known as shipping fever. The U.S beef industry alone loses more than one
      billion dollars annually due to shipping fever. Despite its enormous economic
      importance there are no specific and accurate genetic markers, which will aid in
      understanding the pathogenesis and epidemiology of M. haemolytica at molecular
      level and assist in devising an effective control strategy. DESCRIPTION: During
      our comparative genomic sequence analysis of three Mannheimia haemolytica
      isolates, we identified a number of genes that are unique to each strain. These
      genes are "high value targets" for future studies that attempt to correlate the
      variable gene pool with phenotype. We also identified a number of high confidence
      single nucleotide polymorphisms (hcSNPs) spread throughout the genome and focused
      on non-synonymous SNPs in known virulence genes. These SNPs will be used to
      design new hcSNP arrays to study variation across strains, and will potentially
      aid in understanding gene regulation and the mode of action of various virulence
      factors. CONCLUSIONS: During our analysis we identified previously unknown
      possible type III secretion effector proteins, clustered regularly interspaced
      short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) and CRISPR-associated sequences (Cas). The
      presence of CRISPR regions is indicative of likely co-evolution with an
      associated phage. If proven functional, the presence of a type III secretion
      system in M. haemolytica will help us re-evaluate our approach to study host
      pathogen interactions. We also identified various adhesins containing immuno
      dominant domains, which may interfere with host-innate immunity and which could
      potentially serve as effective vaccine candidates.

PMID- 20920357
TI  - Glycogen Synthase Kinase-3 regulates multiple myeloma cell growth and bortezomib
      induced cell death.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Glycogen Synthase Kinase-3 (GSK-3) alpha and beta are two serine
      threonine kinases controlling insulin, Wnt/beta-catenin, NF-kappaB signaling and
      other cancer-associated transduction pathways. Recent evidence suggests that GSK
      3 could function as growth-promoting kinases, especially in malignant cells. In
      this study, we have investigated GSK-3alpha and GSK-3beta function in multiple
      myeloma (MM). METHODS: GSK-3 alpha and beta expression and cellular localization
      were investigated by Western blot (WB) and immunofluorescence analysis in a panel
      of MM cell lines and in freshly isolated plasma cells from patients. MM cell
      growth, viability and sensitivity to bortezomib was assessed upon treatment with
      GSK-3 specific inhibitors or transfection with siRNAs against GSK-3 alpha and
      beta isoforms. Survival signaling pathways were studied with WB analysis.
      RESULTS: GSK-3alpha and GSK-3beta were differently expressed and phosphorylated
      in MM cells. Inhibition of GSK-3 with the ATP-competitive, small chemical
      compounds SB216763 and SB415286 caused MM cell growth arrest and apoptosis
      through the activation of the intrinsic pathway. Importantly, the two inhibitors
      augmented the bortezomib-induced MM cell cytotoxicity. RNA interference
      experiments showed that the two GSK-3 isoforms have distinct roles: GSK-3beta
      knock down decreased MM cell viability, while GSK-3alpha knock down was
      associated with a higher rate of bortezomib-induced cytotoxicity. GSK-3
      inhibition caused accumulation of beta-catenin and nuclear phospho-ERK1, 2.
      Moreover, GSK-3 inhibition and GSK-3alpha knockdown enhanced bortezomib-induced
      AKT and MCL-1 protein degradation. Interestingly, bortezomib caused a reduction
      of GSK-3 serine phosphorylation and its nuclear accumulation with a mechanism
      that resulted partly dependent on GSK-3 itself. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest
      that in MM cells GSK-3alpha and beta i) play distinct roles in cell survival and
      ii) modulate the sensitivity to proteasome inhibitors.

PMID- 20920358
TI  - Gene discovery for the bark beetle-vectored fungal tree pathogen Grosmannia
      clavigera.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Grosmannia clavigera is a bark beetle-vectored fungal pathogen of
      pines that causes wood discoloration and may kill trees by disrupting nutrient
      and water transport. Trees respond to attacks from beetles and associated fungi
      by releasing terpenoid and phenolic defense compounds. It is unclear which genes
      are important for G. clavigera's ability to overcome antifungal pine terpenoids
      and phenolics. RESULTS: We constructed seven cDNA libraries from eight G.
      clavigera isolates grown under various culture conditions, and Sanger sequenced
      the 5' and 3' ends of 25,000 cDNA clones, resulting in 44,288 high quality ESTs.
      The assembled dataset of unique transcripts (unigenes) consists of 6,265 contigs
      and 2,459 singletons that mapped to 6,467 locations on the G. clavigera reference
      genome, representing ~70% of the predicted G. clavigera genes. Although only 54%
      of the unigenes matched characterized proteins at the NCBI database, this dataset
      extensively covers major metabolic pathways, cellular processes, and genes
      necessary for response to environmental stimuli and genetic information
      processing. Furthermore, we identified genes expressed in spores prior to
      germination, and genes involved in response to treatment with lodgepole pine
      phloem extract (LPPE). CONCLUSIONS: We provide a comprehensively annotated EST
      dataset for G. clavigera that represents a rich resource for gene
      characterization in this and other ophiostomatoid fungi. Genes expressed in
      response to LPPE treatment are indicative of fungal oxidative stress response. We
      identified two clusters of potentially functionally related genes responsive to
      LPPE treatment. Furthermore, we report a simple method for identifying contig
      misassemblies in de novo assembled EST collections caused by gene overlap on the
      genome.

PMID- 20920359
TI  - Viral replication is enhanced by an HIV-1 intersubtype recombination-derived Vpu
      protein.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Multiple HIV-1 intersubtype recombinants have been identified in
      human populations. Previous studies from our lab group have shown that the
      epidemic in Argentina is characterized by the high prevalence of a circulating
      recombinant form, CRF12_BF, and many related BF recombinant forms. In these
      genomic structures a recombination breakpoint frequently involved the vpu coding
      region. Due to the scarce knowledge of Vpu participation in the virion release
      process and its impact on pathogenesis and of the functional capacities of
      intersubtype recombinant Vpu proteins, the aim of this work was to perform a
      comparative analysis on virion release capacity and relative replication capacity
      among viral variants harboring either a BF recombinant Vpu or a subtype B Vpu.
      RESULTS: Our results showed that BF recombinant Vpu was associated to an
      increased viral particles production when compared to WT B variant in tetherin
      expressing cell lines. This observation was tested in the context of a
      competition assay between the above mentioned variants. The results showed that
      the replication of the BF Vpu-harboring variant was more efficient in cell
      cultures than subtype B, reaching a higher frequency in the viral population in a
      short period of time. CONCLUSION: This study showed that as a result of
      intersubtype recombination, a structurally re-organized HIV-1 Vpu has an improved
      in vitro capacity of enhancing viral replication, and provides evidence of the
      changes occurring in this protein function that could play an important role in
      the successful spread of intersubtype recombinant variants.

PMID- 20920360
TI  - The synergy between TB and HIV co-infection on perceived stigma in Ethiopia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The synergy between tuberculosis (TB) and human immunodeficiency
      virus (HIV) co-infection on perceived stigma is not well studied. The objective
      of this study was to assess the effect of TB/HIV co-infection on perceived stigma
      in selected hospitals of Oromiya region, Ethiopia. A cross sectional study was
      conducted from February to April, 2009 in Adama, Nekemet and Jimma Specialized
      hospitals. Data were collected by trained HIV counselors. A structured
      questionnaire which consisted of socio-demographic variables, clinical
      information, perceived stigma, and depression was used to collect the data
      FINDINGS: A total of 591 participants were included in the study of whom 124
      (20.9%) were co-infected with TB/HIV. The stigma items were highly reliable
      (Cronbach's alpha = 0.93) and had strong inter dimension correlation. Respondents
      who were co-infected with TB and HIV were more likely to have perceived stigma
      compared to non-co-infected HIV patients, [OR = 1.4, (95% CI: 1.2, 2.0)]. Non
      literate individuals [OR = 1.9, (95% CI: 1.2, 3.0)] and females [OR = 1.6, (95%
      CI: 1.2, 2.3)] had also more perceived stigma. CONCLUSIONS: TB/HIV co-infected
      patients, non-literate individuals and females were more likely to have high
      perceived stigma. Behavioral Change Communication should focus on these segments
      of the population to rectify the high perceived stigma.

PMID- 20920361
TI  - Social cohesion through football: a quasi-experimental mixed methods design to
      evaluate a complex health promotion program.
AB  - Social isolation and disengagement fragments local communities. Evidence
      indicates that refugee families are highly vulnerable to social isolation in
      their countries of resettlement. Research to identify approaches to best address
      this is needed. Football United is a program that aims to foster social inclusion
      and cohesion in areas with high refugee settlement in New South Wales, Australia,
      through skills and leadership development, mentoring, and the creation of links
      with local community and corporate leaders and organisations. The Social Cohesion
      through Football study's broad goal is to examine the implementation of a complex
      health promotion program, and to analyse the processes involved in program
      implementation. The study will consider program impact on individual health and
      wellbeing, social inclusion and cohesion, as well as analyse how the program by
      necessity interacts and adapts to context during implementation, a concept we
      refer to as plasticity. The proposed study will be the first prospective cohort
      impact study to our knowledge to assess the impact of a comprehensive integrated
      program using football as a vehicle for fostering social inclusion and cohesion
      in communities with high refugee settlement. METHODS/DESIGN: A quasi-experimental
      cohort study design with treatment partitioning involving four study sites. The
      study employs a 'dose response' model, comparing those with no involvement in the
      Football United program with those with lower or higher levels of participation.
      A range of qualitative and quantitative measures will be used in the study. Study
      participants' emotional well being, resilience, ethnic identity and other group
      orientation, feelings of social inclusion and belonging will be measured using a
      survey instrument complemented by relevant data drawn from in-depth interviews,
      self reporting measures and participant observation. The views of key informants
      from the program and the wider community will also be solicited. DISCUSSION: The
      complexity of the Football United program poses challenges for measurement, and
      requires the study design to be responsive to the dynamic nature of the program
      and context. Assessment of change is needed at multiple levels, drawing on mixed
      methods and multidisciplinary approaches in implementation and evaluation.
      Attention to these challenges has underpinned the design and methods in the
      Social Cohesion through Football study, which will use a unique and innovative
      combination of measures that have not been applied together previously in social
      inclusion/cohesion and sport and social inclusion/cohesion program research.

PMID- 20920362
TI  - Gaseous air pollution and emergency hospital visits for hypertension in Beijing,
      China: a time-stratified case-crossover study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A number of epidemiological studies have been conducted to research
      the adverse effects of air pollution on mortality and morbidity. Hypertension is
      the most important risk factor for cardiovascular mortality. However, few
      previous studies have examined the relationship between gaseous air pollution and
      morbidity for hypertension. METHODS: Daily data on emergency hospital visits
      (EHVs) for hypertension were collected from the Peking University Third Hospital.
      Daily data on gaseous air pollutants (sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen dioxide
      (NO2)) and particulate matter less than 10 MUm in aerodynamic diameter (PM10)
      were collected from the Beijing Municipal Environmental Monitoring Center. A time
      stratified case-crossover design was conducted to evaluate the relationship
      between urban gaseous air pollution and EHVs for hypertension. Temperature and
      relative humidity were controlled for. RESULTS: In the single air pollutant
      models, a 10 MUg/m3 increase in SO2 and NO2 were significantly associated with
      EHVs for hypertension. The odds ratios (ORs) were 1.037 (95% confidence interval
      (CI): 1.004-1.071) for SO2 at lag 0 day, and 1.101 (95% CI: 1.038-1.168) for NO2
      at lag 3 day. After controlling for PM10, the ORs associated with SO2 and NO2
      were 1.025 (95% CI: 0.987-1.065) and 1.114 (95% CI: 1.037-1.195), respectively.
      CONCLUSION: Elevated urban gaseous air pollution was associated with increased
      EHVs for hypertension in Beijing, China.

PMID- 20920363
TI  - Single-cell and coupled GRN models of cell patterning in the Arabidopsis thaliana
      root stem cell niche.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Recent experimental work has uncovered some of the genetic components
      required to maintain the Arabidopsis thaliana root stem cell niche (SCN) and its
      structure. Two main pathways are involved. One pathway depends on the genes
      SHORTROOT and SCARECROW and the other depends on the PLETHORA genes, which have
      been proposed to constitute the auxin readouts. Recent evidence suggests that a
      regulatory circuit, composed of WOX5 and CLE40, also contributes to the SCN
      maintenance. Yet, we still do not understand how the niche is dynamically
      maintained and patterned or if the uncovered molecular components are sufficient
      to recover the observed gene expression configurations that characterize the cell
      types within the root SCN. Mathematical and computational tools have proven
      useful in understanding the dynamics of cell differentiation. Hence, to further
      explore root SCN patterning, we integrated available experimental data into
      dynamic Gene Regulatory Network (GRN) models and addressed if these are
      sufficient to attain observed gene expression configurations in the root SCN in a
      robust and autonomous manner. RESULTS: We found that an SCN GRN model based only
      on experimental data did not reproduce the configurations observed within the
      root SCN. We developed several alternative GRN models that recover these expected
      stable gene configurations. Such models incorporate a few additional components
      and interactions in addition to those that have been uncovered. The recovered
      configurations are stable to perturbations, and the models are able to recover
      the observed gene expression profiles of almost all the mutants described so far.
      However, the robustness of the postulated GRNs is not as high as that of other
      previously studied networks. CONCLUSIONS: These models are the first published
      approximations for a dynamic mechanism of the A. thaliana root SCN cellular
      pattering. Our model is useful to formally show that the data now available are
      not sufficient to fully reproduce root SCN organization and genetic profiles. We
      then highlight some experimental holes that remain to be studied and postulate
      some novel gene interactions. Finally, we suggest the existence of a generic
      dynamical motif that can be involved in both plant and animal SCN maintenance.

PMID- 20920364
TI  - Development of the lateral ventricular choroid plexus in a marsupial, Monodelphis
      domestica.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Choroid plexus epithelial cells are the site of blood/cerebrospinal
      fluid (CSF) barrier and regulate molecular transfer between the two compartments.
      Their mitotic activity in the adult is low. During development, the pattern of
      growth and timing of acquisition of functional properties of plexus epithelium
      are not known. METHODS: Numbers and size of choroid plexus epithelial cells and
      their nuclei were counted and measured in the lateral ventricular plexus from the
      first day of its appearance until adulthood. Newborn Monodelphis pups were
      injected with 5-bromo-2-deoxyuridine (BrdU) at postnatal day 3 (P3), P4 and P5.
      Additional animals were injected at P63, P64 and P65. BrdU-immunopositive nuclei
      were counted and their position mapped in the plexus structure at different ages
      after injections. Double-labelling immunocytochemistry with antibodies to plasma
      protein identified post-mitotic cells involved in protein transfer. RESULTS:
      Numbers of choroid plexus epithelial cells increased 10-fold between the time of
      birth and adulthood. In newborn pups each consecutive injection of BrdU labelled
      20-40 of epithelial cells counted. After 3 injections, numbers of BrdU positive
      cells remained constant for at least 2 months. BrdU injections at an older age
      (P63, P64, P65) resulted in a smaller number of labelled plexus cells. Numbers of
      plexus cells immunopositive for both BrdU and plasma protein increased with age
      indicating that protein transferring properties are acquired post mitotically.
      Labelled nuclei were only detected on the dorsal arm of the plexus as it grows
      from the neuroependyma, moving along the structure in a 'conveyor belt' like
      fashion. CONCLUSIONS: The present study established that lateral ventricular
      choroid plexus epithelial cells are born on the dorsal side of the structure
      only. Cells born in the first few days after choroid plexus differentiation from
      the neuroependyma remain present even two months later. Protein-transferring
      properties are acquired post-mitotically and relatively early in plexus
      development.

PMID- 20920365
TI  - Indacaterol provides 24-hour bronchodilation in COPD: a placebo-controlled
      blinded comparison with tiotropium.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Indacaterol is a novel, inhaled, once-daily, ultra-long-acting beta2
      agonist for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). This
      randomized, double-blind study compared the bronchodilator efficacy of
      indacaterol with that of placebo and tiotropium in patients with moderate-to
      severe COPD. METHODS: In an incomplete-block, multi-dose, three-period, crossover
      design, patients received three of the following four treatments: indacaterol 150
      MUg, indacaterol 300 MUg, tiotropium 18 MUg and placebo, each once-daily for 14
      days. Each treatment period was separated by a 14-day washout. Study drug was
      supplied daily by blinded, third party study personnel to maintain blinding of
      patients and investigators. The primary efficacy variable was trough forced
      expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) at 24 h post-dose after 14 days. The study
      was powered to demonstrate non-inferiority of indacaterol to tiotropium for this
      variable. RESULTS: A total of 169 patients were randomized (mean age 65 years);
      153 (90.5%) completed. Trough FEV1 after 14 days with indacaterol 150 MUg and 300
      MUg was statistically and clinically superior to placebo, with differences (95%
      CI) of 170 (120-220) and 150 (100-200) mL respectively (both p < 0.001). For this
      endpoint, both doses of indacaterol not only met the criterion for non
      inferiority compared with tiotropium, but also achieved numerically higher
      values, with differences versus tiotropium of 40 and 30 mL for indacaterol 150
      and 300 MUg, respectively. At 5 min post-dose on Day 1, the mean FEV1 for both
      indacaterol doses was significantly higher than placebo (by 120 and 130 mL for
      indacaterol 150 and 300 MUg, respectively; p < 0.001) and tiotropium (by 80 mL
      for both doses; p < 0.001). Adverse events were reported by similar proportions
      of patients: 31.4%, 29.5%, 28.3% and 28.5% for indacaterol 150 MUg and 300 MUg,
      tiotropium and placebo treatments, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Once-daily
      indacaterol provided clinically and statistically significant 24-h
      bronchodilation. Indacaterol was at least as effective as tiotropium, with a
      faster onset of action (within 5 min) on the first day of dosing. Indacaterol
      should prove useful in patients with moderate-to-severe COPD, for whom treatment
      with one or more classes of long-acting bronchodilator is recommended. TRIAL
      REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT00615459, EudraCT number: 2007-004071-19.

PMID- 20920366
TI  - Circadian blood pressure variability in type 1 diabetes subjects and their
      nondiabetic siblings - influence of erythrocyte electron transfer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Normotensive non-diabetic relatives of type 1 diabetes (T1D) patients
      have an abnormal blood pressure response to exercise testing that is associated
      with indices of metabolic syndrome and increased oxidative stress. The primary
      aim of this study was to investigate the circadian variability of blood pressure
      and the ambulatory arterial stiffness index (AASI) in healthy siblings of T1D
      patients vs healthy control subjects who had no first-degree relative with T1D.
      Secondary aims of the study were to explore the influence of both cardiovascular
      autonomic function and erythrocyte electron transfer activity as oxidative marker
      on the ambulatory blood pressure profile. METHODS: Twenty-four hour ambulatory
      blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) was undertaken in 25 controls, 20 T1D patients
      and 20 siblings. In addition to laboratory examination (including homeostasis
      model assessment of insulin sensitivity) and clinical testing of autonomic
      function, we measured the rate of oxidant-induced erythrocyte electron transfer
      to extracellular ferricyanide (RBC vfcy). RESULTS: Systolic blood pressure (SBP)
      midline-estimating statistic of rhythm and pulse pressure were higher in T1D
      patients and correlated positively with diabetes duration and RBC vfcy; autonomic
      dysfunction was associated with diastolic BP ecphasia and increased AASI.
      Siblings had higher BMI, lower insulin sensitivity, larger SBP amplitude, and
      higher AASI than controls. Daytime SBP was positively, independently associated
      with BMI and RBC vfcy. Among non-diabetic people, there was a significant
      correlation between AASI and fasting plasma glucose. CONCLUSIONS: Siblings of T1D
      patients exhibited a cluster of sub-clinical metabolic abnormalities associated
      with consensual perturbations in BP variability. Moreover, our findings support,
      in a clinical setting, the proposed role of transplasma membrane electron
      transport systems in vascular pathobiology.

PMID- 20920367
TI  - Favorable response to doxorubicin combination chemotherapy does not yield good
      clinical outcome in patients with metastatic breast cancer with triple-negative
      phenotype.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We analyzed the responses to first line treatment and clinical
      outcomes of metastatic breast cancer patients treated with palliative
      doxorubicin/cyclophosphamide (AC) according to molecular cancer subtype. METHODS:
      A retrospective analysis was performed for 110 metastatic breast cancer patients
      selected on the basis of palliative AC treatment and the availability of
      immunohistochemical data for estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR),
      and human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER-2/neu) status. RESULTS: Of the
      110 patients analyzed, 71 (64.5%) were hormone receptor positive (HR+), 14
      (12.7%) were HER2+, and 25 (22.7%) were triple negative (TN). There were no
      differences in age, stage at diagnosis, total number of cycles of palliative
      chemotherapy, incidence of visceral metastasis, and metastatic sites with the
      exception of liver among breast cancer subtypes. The overall response rates to AC
      were 55.9% for the HR+ subgroup, 42.9% for the HER2+ subgroup, and 56.5% for the
      TN subgroup. The progression-free survival (PFS) in patients with HER2+ and TN
      were significantly shorter than in the HR+ (median PFS, 9.1 vs 8.1 vs 11.5
      months, respectively; p = 0.0002). The overall survival (OS) was 25.4 months in
      the TN subgroup and 27.3 months in HER2+ subgroup. The median OS for these two
      groups was significantly shorter than for patients in the HR+ subgroup (median,
      38.5 months; 95% CI, 30.1-46.9 months; p < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: The response to
      palliative AC chemotherapy did not differ among breast cancer subtypes. Despite
      chemosensitivity for palliative AC, the TN subtype has a shorter overall survival
      than non-TN subtypes. Innovative treatment strategies should be developed to slow
      the course of disease.

PMID- 20920368
TI  - Molecular analysis of phosphomannomutase (PMM) genes reveals a unique PMM
      duplication event in diverse Triticeae species and the main PMM isozymes in bread
      wheat tissues.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Phosphomannomutase (PMM) is an essential enzyme in eukaryotes.
      However, little is known about PMM gene and function in crop plants. Here, we
      report molecular evolutionary and biochemical analysis of PMM genes in bread
      wheat and related Triticeae species. RESULTS: Two sets of homologous PMM genes
      (TaPMM-1 and 2) were found in bread wheat, and two corresponding PMM genes were
      identified in the diploid progenitors of bread wheat and many other diploid
      Triticeae species. The duplication event yielding PMM-1 and 2 occurred before the
      radiation of diploid Triticeae genomes. The PMM gene family in wheat and
      relatives may evolve largely under purifying selection. Among the six TaPMM
      genes, the transcript levels of PMM-1 members were comparatively high and their
      recombinant proteins were all enzymatically active. However, PMM-2 homologs
      exhibited lower transcript levels, two of which were also inactive. TaPMM-A1, B1
      and D1 were probably the main active isozymes in bread wheat tissues. The three
      isozymes differed from their counterparts in barley and Brachypodium distachyon
      in being more tolerant to elevated test temperatures. CONCLUSION: Our work
      identified the genes encoding PMM isozymes in bread wheat and relatives,
      uncovered a unique PMM duplication event in diverse Triticeae species, and
      revealed the main active PMM isozymes in bread wheat tissues. The knowledge
      obtained here improves the understanding of PMM evolution in eukaryotic
      organisms, and may facilitate further investigations of PMM function in the
      temperature adaptability of bread wheat.

PMID- 20920369
TI  - Diagnosis delay and follow-up strategies in colorectal cancer. Prognosis
      implications: a study protocol.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Controversy exists with regard to the impact that the different
      components of diagnosis delay may have on the degree of invasion and prognosis in
      patients with colorectal cancer. The follow-up strategies after treatment also
      vary considerably. The aims of this study are: a) to determine if the symptoms-to
      diagnosis interval and the treatment delay modify the survival of patients with
      colorectal cancer, and b) to determine if different follow-up strategies are
      associated with a higher survival rate. METHODS/DESIGN: Multi-centre study with
      prospective follow-up in five regions in Spain (Galicia, Balearic Islands,
      Catalonia, Aragon and Valencia) during the period 2010-2012. Incident cases are
      included with anatomopathological confirmation of colorectal cancer
      (International Classification of Diseases 9th revision codes 153-154) that formed
      a part of a previous study (n = 953).At the time of diagnosis, each patient was
      given a structured interview. Their clinical records will be reviewed during the
      follow-up period in order to obtain information on the explorations and tests
      carried out after treatment, and the progress of these patients.Symptoms-to
      diagnosis interval is defined as the time calculated from the diagnosis of cancer
      and the first symptoms attributed to cancer. Treatment delay is defined as the
      time elapsed between diagnosis and treatment. In non-metastatic patients treated
      with curative intention, information will be obtained during the follow-up period
      on consultations performed in the digestive, surgery and oncology departments, as
      well as the endoscopies, tumour markers and imaging procedures carried out.Local
      recurrence, development of metastases in the follow-up, appearance of a new
      tumour and mortality will be included as outcome variables.Actuarial survival
      analysis with Kaplan-Meier curves, Cox regression and competitive risk survival
      analysis will be performed. DISCUSSION: This study will make it possible to
      verify if the different components of delay have an impact on survival rate in
      colon cancer and rectal cancer. In consequence, this multi-centre study will be
      able to detect the variability present in the follow-up of patients with
      colorectal cancer, and if this variability modifies the prognosis. Ideally, this
      study could determine which follow-up strategies are associated with a better
      prognosis in colorectal cancer.

PMID- 20920370
TI  - Therapeutic efficacy of alpha-1 antitrypsin augmentation therapy on the loss of
      lung tissue: an integrated analysis of 2 randomised clinical trials using
      computed tomography densitometry.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Two randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials have
      investigated the efficacy of IV alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT) augmentation therapy on
      emphysema progression using CT densitometry. METHODS: Data from these similar
      trials, a 2-center Danish-Dutch study (n = 54) and the 3-center EXAcerbations and
      CT scan as Lung Endpoints (EXACTLE) study (n = 65), were pooled to increase the
      statistical power. The change in 15th percentile of lung density (PD15) measured
      by CT scan was obtained from both trials. All subjects had 1 CT scan at baseline
      and at least 1 CT scan after treatment. Densitometric data from 119 patients (AAT
      [Alfalastin(r) or Prolastin(r)], n = 60; placebo, n = 59) were analysed by a
      statistical/endpoint analysis method. To adjust for lung volume, volume
      correction was made by including the change in log-transformed total lung volume
      as a covariate in the statistical model. RESULTS: Mean follow-up was
      approximately 2.5 years. The mean change in lung density from baseline to last CT
      scan was -4.082 g/L for AAT and -6.379 g/L for placebo with a treatment
      difference of 2.297 (95% CI, 0.669 to 3.926; p = 0.006). The corresponding annual
      declines were -1.73 and -2.74 g/L/yr, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The overall
      results of the combined analysis of 2 separate trials of comparable design, and
      the only 2 controlled clinical trials completed to date, has confirmed that IV
      AAT augmentation therapy significantly reduces the decline in lung density and
      may therefore reduce the future risk of mortality in patients with AAT deficiency
      related emphysema. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The EXACTLE study was registered in
      ClinicalTrials.gov as 'Antitrypsin (AAT) to Treat Emphysema in AAT-Deficient
      Patients'; ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00263887.

PMID- 20920371
TI  - Exploring recruitment, willingness to participate, and retention of low-SES women
      in stress and depression prevention.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Recruitment, willingness to participate, and retention in
      interventions are indispensable for successful prevention. This study
      investigated the effectiveness of different strategies for recruiting and
      retaining low-SES women in depression prevention, and explored which
      sociodemographic characteristics and risk status factors within this specific
      target group are associated with successful recruitment and retention. METHODS:
      The process of recruitment, willingness to participate, and retention was
      structurally mapped and explored. Differences between women who dropped out and
      those who adhered to the subsequent stages of the recruitment and retention
      process were investigated. The potential of several referral strategies was also
      studied, with specific attention paid to the use of GP databases. RESULTS: As
      part of the recruitment process, 12.1% of the target population completed a
      telephone screening. The most successful referral strategy was the use of patient
      databases from GPs working in disadvantaged neighborhoods. Older age and more
      severe complaints were particularly associated with greater willingness to
      participate and with retention. CONCLUSIONS: Low-SES women can be recruited and
      retained in public health interventions through tailored strategies. The
      integration of mental health screening within primary care might help to embed
      preventive interventions in low-SES communities.

PMID- 20920372
TI  - Increased matrix metalloproteinase activation in esophageal squamous cell
      carcinoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Esophageal squamous cell carcinomas (ESCC) are usually asymptomatic
      and go undetected until they are incurable. Cytological screening is one strategy
      to detect ESCC at an early stage and has shown promise in previous studies,
      although improvement in sensitivity and specificity are needed. Proteases
      modulate cancer progression by facilitating tumor invasion and metastasis. In the
      current study, matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) were studied in a search for new
      early detection markers for ESCC. METHODS: Protein expression levels of MMPs were
      measured using zymography in 24 cases of paired normal esophagus and ESCC, and in
      the tumor-associated stroma and tumor epithelium in one sample after laser
      capture microdissection (LCM). MMP-3 and MMP-10 transcripts in both the
      epithelium and stroma in five cases were further analyzed by quantitative reverse
      transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). RESULTS: Gelatin zymography
      showed bands corresponding in size to MMP-2, MMP-3, MMP-9, and MMP-10 enzymes in
      each of the 24 cancer cases. MMP levels tended to be higher in tumors than paired
      normal tissue; however, only the 45 kDa band that corresponds to the activated
      form of MMP-3 and MMP-10 was strongly expressed in all 24 tumors with little or
      no expression in the paired normal foci. LCM-based analysis showed the 45 kDA
      band to be present in both the stromal and epithelial components of the tumor
      microenvironment, and that MMP-3 and MMP-10 mRNA levels were higher in tumors
      than paired normal tissues for each compartment. CONCLUSIONS: Increased levels of
      MMPs occur in ESCC suggesting their up-regulation is important in esophageal
      tumorigenesis. The up-regulated gene products have the potential to serve as
      early detection markers in the clinic.

PMID- 20920373
TI  - Three-dimensional echocardiography using single-heartbeat modality decreases
      variability in measuring left ventricular volumes and function in comparison to
      four-beat technique in atrial fibrillation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Three dimensional echocardiography (3DE) approaches the accuracy of
      cardiac magnetic resonance in measuring left ventricular (LV) volumes and
      ejection fraction (EF). The multibeat modality in comparison to single-beat (SB)
      requires breath-hold technique and regular heart rhythm which could limit the use
      of this technique in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) due to stitching
      artifact. The study aimed to investigate whether SB full volume 3DE acquisition
      reduces inter- and intraobserver variability in assessment of LV volumes and EF
      in comparison to four-beat (4B) ECG-gated full volume 3DE recording in patients
      with AF. METHODS: A total of 78 patients were included in this study. Fifty-five
      with sinus rhythm (group A) and 23 having AF (group B). 4B and SB 3DE was
      performed in all patients. LV volumes and EF was determined by these two
      modalities and inter- and intraobserver variability was analyzed. RESULTS: SB
      modality showed significantly lower inter- and intraobserver variability in group
      B in comparison to 4B when measuring LV volumes and EF, except for end-systolic
      volume (ESV) in intraobserver analysis. There were significant differences when
      calculating the LV volumes (p < 0.001) and EF (p < 0.05) with SB in comparison to
      4B in group B. CONCLUSION: Single-beat three-dimensional full volume acquisition
      seems to be superior to four-beat ECG-gated acquisition in measuring left
      ventricular volumes and ejection fraction in patients having atrial fibrillation.
      The variability is significantly lower both for ejection fraction and left
      ventricular volumes.

PMID- 20920374
TI  - Ventricular septal defect in a child with Alport syndrome: a case report.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Alport syndrome (AS) is a rare inherited disorder characterized by an
      inflammation of the kidneys and damage to the glomerular capillaries, ultimately
      leading to renal failure at an early age. To date, rare reports of cardiac
      involvement in AS have been described, due in the majority of cases to the higher
      risk of heart conduction abnormalities in these patients, at times requiring
      implantation of a transcutaneous pacemaker. An increased risk of hypertension is
      likewise commonly featured. CASE PRESENTATION: We report the case of a 17-year
      old female affected by a very severe early form of AS. A previously unreported
      association of the syndrome with congenital heart disease (CHD), (in this case
      membranous ventricular septal defect), is also reported. A possible
      pathophysiological mechanism underlying the concomitant manifestation of these
      two disorders is suggested. Complications implicated in surgical treatment of CHD
      are described. Clinical and therapeutic management of AS with cardiovascular
      involvement are discussed, and a short literature review performed. CONCLUSIONS:
      This first report of a cardiovascular association highlights the possible
      involvement of collagen mutations in the two pathologies. Even when drug
      resistance appears to be responsible for the failure to control secondary
      hypertension in AS, clonidine may represent a safe, effective option in the
      normalization of high blood pressure.

PMID- 20920376
TI  - Prebiotic effects: metabolic and health benefits.
AB  - The different compartments of the gastrointestinal tract are inhabited by
      populations of micro-organisms. By far the most important predominant populations
      are in the colon where a true symbiosis with the host exists that is a key for
      well-being and health. For such a microbiota, 'normobiosis' characterises a
      composition of the gut 'ecosystem' in which micro-organisms with potential health
      benefits predominate in number over potentially harmful ones, in contrast to
      'dysbiosis', in which one or a few potentially harmful micro-organisms are
      dominant, thus creating a disease-prone situation. The present document has been
      written by a group of both academic and industry experts (in the ILSI Europe
      Prebiotic Expert Group and Prebiotic Task Force, respectively). It does not aim
      to propose a new definition of a prebiotic nor to identify which food products
      are classified as prebiotic but rather to validate and expand the original idea
      of the prebiotic concept (that can be translated in 'prebiotic effects'), defined
      as: 'The selective stimulation of growth and/or activity(ies) of one or a limited
      number of microbial genus(era)/species in the gut microbiota that confer(s)
      health benefits to the host.' Thanks to the methodological and fundamental
      research of microbiologists, immense progress has very recently been made in our
      understanding of the gut microbiota. A large number of human intervention studies
      have been performed that have demonstrated that dietary consumption of certain
      food products can result in statistically significant changes in the composition
      of the gut microbiota in line with the prebiotic concept. Thus the prebiotic
      effect is now a well-established scientific fact. The more data are accumulating,
      the more it will be recognised that such changes in the microbiota's composition,
      especially increase in bifidobacteria, can be regarded as a marker of intestinal
      health. The review is divided in chapters that cover the major areas of nutrition
      research where a prebiotic effect has tentatively been investigated for potential
      health benefits. The prebiotic effect has been shown to associate with modulation
      of biomarkers and activity(ies) of the immune system. Confirming the studies in
      adults, it has been demonstrated that, in infant nutrition, the prebiotic effect
      includes a significant change of gut microbiota composition, especially an
      increase of faecal concentrations of bifidobacteria. This concomitantly improves
      stool quality (pH, SCFA, frequency and consistency), reduces the risk of
      gastroenteritis and infections, improves general well-being and reduces the
      incidence of allergic symptoms such as atopic eczema. Changes in the gut
      microbiota composition are classically considered as one of the many factors
      involved in the pathogenesis of either inflammatory bowel disease or irritable
      bowel syndrome. The use of particular food products with a prebiotic effect has
      thus been tested in clinical trials with the objective to improve the clinical
      activity and well-being of patients with such disorders. Promising beneficial
      effects have been demonstrated in some preliminary studies, including changes in
      gut microbiota composition (especially increase in bifidobacteria concentration).
      Often associated with toxic load and/or miscellaneous risk factors, colon cancer
      is another pathology for which a possible role of gut microbiota composition has
      been hypothesised. Numerous experimental studies have reported reduction in
      incidence of tumours and cancers after feeding specific food products with a
      prebiotic effect. Some of these studies (including one human trial) have also
      reported that, in such conditions, gut microbiota composition was modified
      (especially due to increased concentration of bifidobacteria). Dietary intake of
      particular food products with a prebiotic effect has been shown, especially in
      adolescents, but also tentatively in postmenopausal women, to increase Ca
      absorption as well as bone Ca accretion and bone mineral density. Recent data,
      both from experimental models and from human studies, support the beneficial
      effects of particular food products with prebiotic properties on energy
      homaeostasis, satiety regulation and body weight gain. Together, with data in
      obese animals and patients, these studies support the hypothesis that gut
      microbiota composition (especially the number of bifidobacteria) may contribute
      to modulate metabolic processes associated with syndrome X, especially obesity
      and diabetes type 2. It is plausible, even though not exclusive, that these
      effects are linked to the microbiota-induced changes and it is feasible to
      conclude that their mechanisms fit into the prebiotic effect. However, the role
      of such changes in these health benefits remains to be definitively proven. As a
      result of the research activity that followed the publication of the prebiotic
      concept 15 years ago, it has become clear that products that cause a selective
      modification in the gut microbiota's composition and/or activity(ies) and thus
      strengthens normobiosis could either induce beneficial physiological effects in
      the colon and also in extra-intestinal compartments or contribute towards
      reducing the risk of dysbiosis and associated intestinal and systemic
      pathologies.

PMID- 20920377
TI  - Using microscopy to assess chorion structural integrity and parasitoid
      oviposition sites on stink bug (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) eggs.
AB  - Previous efficacy studies found that many insecticides used by growers could be
      having an adverse effect on egg parasitoids (Telenomus podisi) developing in the
      eggs of the brown stink bug (Euschistus servus), while unhatched stink bugs
      experienced lower levels of mortality. One plausible explanation for this was
      that insecticides might enter parasitized eggs more readily via oviposition
      wounds. Parasitized E. servus eggs, as well as nonparasitized stink bug
      (Acrosternum hilare, E. servus, Murgantia histrionica, and Podisus maculiventris)
      eggs, were examined using electron microscopy. Egg response to perforation by a
      tungsten probe served as a control. Microscopy images depicted the chorion
      surface as characterized by a matrix of ridges and micropylar processes in a ring
      around the margin of the operculum. Observations of oviposition sites showed a
      "scab" formed where the ovipositor penetrated the chorion, and at sites
      penetrated by the probe. These formations appeared to be the result of fluids
      from inside the egg leaking out, drying, and hardening after oviposition or probe
      perforation, suggesting that the response was not due to substances secreted by
      the parasitoid. Further, no open wounds or holes were seen to increase the
      possibility of insecticides entering parasitized eggs.

PMID- 20920375
TI  - Immunogenicity and efficacy of oral vaccines in developing countries: lessons
      from a live cholera vaccine.
AB  - Oral vaccines, whether living or non-living, viral or bacterial, elicit
      diminished immune responses or have lower efficacy in developing countries than
      in developed countries. Here I describe studies with a live oral cholera vaccine
      that include older children no longer deriving immune support from breast milk or
      maternal antibodies and that identify some of the factors accounting for the
      lower immunogenicity, as well as suggesting counter-measures that may enhance the
      effectiveness of oral immunization in developing countries. The fundamental
      breakthrough is likely to require reversing effects of the 'environmental
      enteropathy' that is often present in children living in fecally contaminated,
      impoverished environments.

PMID- 20920378
TI  - Effect of the insertion and polymerization technique in composite resin
      restorations: analysis of marginal gap by atomic force microscopy.
AB  - This in vitro study evaluated the marginal gap at the composite tooth/resin
      interface in class V cavities under the influence of two insertion techniques and
      a curing system by means of atomic force microscopy (AFM). Forty enamel and
      dentin cavities were prepared on the buccal surface in bovine teeth with
      quadratic forms measuring 2 mm * 2 mm and depth of 1.5 mm. The teeth were then
      divided into four groups: group A, 10 cavities were restored in one increment,
      light cured by halogen light; group B, 10 cavities filled with bulk filling,
      light cured by the light emitting diodes (LED); group C, 10 cavities were
      restored by the incremental technique, light cured by halogen light; group D, 10
      cavities were restored by the incremental technique, light cured by the LED. The
      teeth underwent the polishing procedure and were analyzed by AFM for
      tooth/restoration interface evaluation. The data were compared between groups
      using the nonparametric Kruskall-Wallis and Mann-Whitney tests (p < 0.05). The
      results showed a statistically significant difference between groups A and B and
      groups A and C. It was concluded that no insertion and polymerization technique
      was able to completely seal the cavity.

PMID- 20920379
TI  - P-wave dispersion between transcatheter and surgical closure of secundum-type
      atrial septal defect in childhood.
AB  - Patients with atrial septal defect have an increased risk for atrial
      fibrillation. Increased P-wave dispersion predicts the development of atrial
      fibrillation. The aim of this study was to determine difference in P dispersion
      between transcatheter closure with Amplatzer septal occluder and surgical closure
      in childhood. A total of 68 children (the mean age was 7.2 plus or minus 3.3
      years; the mean secundum atrial septal defects diameter was 17.3 plus or minus
      5.4 millimetres) were evaluated in this study. Transcatheter closure was
      attempted in 41 children with secundum atrial septal defects, and the defect in
      27 patients was closed by surgical techniques. P maximum, P minimum and P
      dispersion were measured by the 12-lead surface electrocardiography. P maximum, P
      minimum and P dispersion were found to be similar in patients with pre- and post
      procedure (98.0 plus or minus 19.3 versus 95.1 plus or minus 23.0 milliseconds;
      68.0 plus or minus 20.8 versus 67.6 plus or minus 24.3 milliseconds, 29.9 plus or
      minus 11.0 versus 27.1 plus or minus 12.1 milliseconds, respectively). There was
      no statistical significance in the comparison of P dispersion between the two
      groups. But in the surgical group, P-wave dispersion was decreased more
      significantly compared with baseline values (p-value equal to 0.03). In
      conclusion, there is no P dispersion between transcatheter closure with Amplatzer
      septal occluder and surgical closure of secundum atrial septal defect.

PMID- 20920380
TI  - Pandemic A(H1N1) 2009 influenza: review of the Southern Hemisphere experience.
AB  - We sought to systematically review the published literature describing the
      epidemiological aspects of the first wave of pandemic A(H1N1) 2009 influenza in
      the Southern Hemisphere. Fifteen studies were included in this review,
      originating from South America, Australia or New Zealand, and Africa. Across the
      different studies, 16.8-45.3% of the laboratory-confirmed cases were admitted to
      hospital, and 7.5-26.0% of these cases were admitted to intensive care units
      (ICUs). The fatality rate was 0.5-1.5% for laboratory-confirmed cases in 6/8
      studies reporting specific relevant data, and 14.3-22.2% for cases admitted to
      ICUs in 5/7 studies, respectively. In 4/5 studies the majority of laboratory
      confirmed cases were observed in young and middle-aged adults, the percentage of
      older adults increased the higher the level of healthcare the cases received
      (e.g. laboratory confirmation, hospitalization or ICU admission) or for fatal
      cases. Many of the cases had no prior comorbidity, including conditions
      identified as risk factors for seasonal influenza. Pregnant women represented 7.4
      9.1% and 7.1-9.1% of unselected laboratory-confirmed cases and of those admitted
      to ICUs, respectively. Obesity and morbid obesity were more commonly reported as
      the level of healthcare increased.

PMID- 20920381
TI  - Health service resource needs for pandemic influenza in developing countries: a
      linked transmission dynamics, interventions and resource demand model.
AB  - We used a mathematical model to describe a regional outbreak and extrapolate the
      underlying health-service resource needs. This model was designed to (i) estimate
      resource gaps and quantities of resources needed, (ii) show the effect of
      resource gaps, and (iii) highlight which particular resources should be improved.
      We ran the model, parameterized with data from the 2009 H1N1v pandemic, for two
      provinces in Thailand. The predicted number of preventable deaths due to resource
      shortcomings and the actual resource needs are presented for two provinces and
      for Thailand as a whole. The model highlights the potentially huge impact of
      health-system resource availability and of resource gaps on health outcomes
      during a pandemic and provides a means to indicate where efforts should be
      concentrated to effectively improve pandemic response programmes.

PMID- 20920382
TI  - Maintaining high rates of measles immunization in Africa.
AB  - Supplementary immunization activities (SIAs) are important in achieving high
      levels of population immunity to measles virus. Using data from a 2006 survey of
      measles vaccination in Lusaka, Zambia, we developed a model to predict measles
      immunity following routine vaccination and SIAs, and absent natural infection.
      Projected population immunity was compared between the current programme and
      alternatives, including supplementing routine vaccination with a second dose, or
      SIAs at 1-, 2-, 3-, 4- and 5-year intervals. Current routine vaccination plus
      frequent SIAs could maintain high levels of population immunity in children aged
      <5 years, even if each frequent SIA has low coverage (e.g. >= 72% for bi-annual
      60% coverage SIAs vs. >= 69% for quadrennial 95% coverage SIAs). A second dose at
      12 months with current coverage could achieve 81% immunity. Circulating measles
      virus will only increase population immunity. Public health officials should
      consider frequent SIAs when resources for a two-dose strategy are unavailable.

PMID- 20920383
TI  - The Q fever epidemic in The Netherlands: history, onset, response and reflection.
AB  - The 2007-2009 human Q fever epidemic in The Netherlands attracted attention due
      to its magnitude and duration. The current epidemic and the historical background
      of Q fever in The Netherlands are reviewed according to national and
      international publications. Seroprevalence studies suggest that Q fever was
      endemic in The Netherlands several decades before the disease was diagnosed in
      dairy goats and dairy sheep. This was in 2005 and the increase in humans started
      in 2007. Q fever abortions were registered on 30 dairy goat and dairy sheep farms
      between 2005 and 2009. A total of 3523 human cases were notified between 2007 and
      2009. Proximity to aborting small ruminants and high numbers of susceptible
      humans are probably the main causes of the human Q fever outbreak in The
      Netherlands. In general good monitoring and surveillance systems are necessary to
      assess the real magnitude of Q fever.

PMID- 20920384
TI  - The impact of training for day-care educators on childhood anaemia in nurseries:
      an institutional randomised clinical trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To test the impact of training for educators on the health of children
      enrolled in public and philanthropic day-care nurseries. DESIGN: A randomised,
      institutional, non-blind clinical trial was conducted. An educational
      intervention was performed in four day-care centres and the control group
      consisted of four other day-care centres. Interviews with the mothers, collection
      of blood from the children by digital puncture and anthropometry were performed.
      The chosen indicator for the improvement of health was anaemia (Hb <11 g/dl). An
      unconditional logistic regression model was set for the risk factors for anaemia,
      considering associations with P <= 0.05 as statistically significant. SETTING:
      Eight day-care centres in the city of Sao Paulo, Brazil. SUBJECTS: Two hundred
      and fifty-two children from day-care nurseries. RESULTS: The children from the
      day-care centres that were not subject to intervention presented a 2.11 times
      greater risk (95% CI 1.04, 4.30; P = 0.40) of having anaemia at the end of the
      study independent of the control variables (sex, age, time in the day-care
      centre, anaemia at the beginning of the study, maternal age, use of oral iron
      supplements, number of siblings, per capita family income, use of antibiotics and
      the necessity of avoidable hospitalisations) used in the construction of the
      final logistical model. CONCLUSIONS: The assessed educational intervention
      promoted significant changes in the health status of the children, reinforcing
      the importance of training for professionals who care for young children in day
      care centres in developing countries in order to promote child health.

PMID- 20920385
TI  - Low prevalence of iron-deficiency anaemia among Inuit preschool children: Nunavut
      Inuit Child Health Survey, 2007-2008.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To report the prevalence rates and correlates for anaemia, iron
      deficiency (ID) and iron-deficiency anaemia (IDA) among Inuit preschool-aged
      children. DESIGN: A cross-sectional study assessed iron intake, demographic
      information, medical history, anthropometrics, Hb, ferritin, C-reactive protein
      and antibodies to Helicobacter pylori. SETTING: Sixteen selected Inuit
      communities in Nunavut Territory, Canada. SUBJECTS: Inuit (n 388) aged 3-5 years
      randomly recruited from communities. RESULTS: Anaemia (3-4 years: Hb < 110 g/l; 5
      years: Hb < 115 g/l) was prevalent in 16.8 % of children. The prevalence of ID
      (ferritin < 12 MUg/l) was 18.0 % and that of IDA was 5.4 %. When ID was defined
      as ferritin <10 MUg/l, 10.8 % of children were iron deficient and 3.3 % had IDA.
      In multiple logistic regression, boys were more likely to be iron deficient (OR =
      2.28, 95 % CI 1.17, 8.25), but no other risk factor emerged for ID. Three- to 4
      year-olds were less likely than 5-year-olds to have anaemia from causes other
      than ID (OR = 0.11, 95 % CI 0.08, 0.58). Anaemia from other causes was more
      common among children residing in crowded homes (OR = 2.30, 95 % CI 1.37, 12.31)
      and those treated for past-year ear infection (OR = 1.35, 95 % CI 1.05, 7.21).
      CONCLUSIONS: The low prevalence of ID and IDA is encouraging, but efforts are
      still needed to reduce rates as they continue to be higher than general
      population rates. Household crowding and infections may contribute to anaemia and
      warrant further research.

PMID- 20920387
TI  - Sugar-sweetened beverage intake and overweight in children from a Mediterranean
      country.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the association between sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB)
      consumption and overweight in children from a Mediterranean country. DESIGN: The
      children's dietary intake was measured using a semi-quantitative FFQ completed by
      the parents. Overall, 2512 questionnaires were returned and 837 children were
      removed, leaving a final sample of 1675 children, aged between 5 and 10 years.
      Height and weight were measured according to international standards, and BMI was
      calculated. The definition of overweight and obesity was based on average
      centiles according to the International Obesity Task Force cut-offs. To determine
      the magnitude of the association between SSB consumption and overweight, OR
      estimates, including CI, were computed using unconditional logistic regression,
      adjusting for confounders. SETTING: Elementary schools throughout the city of
      Porto, Portugal. SUBJECTS: We invited 5867 children, randomly selected, and their
      parents to participate in the study. Of those schools that agreed to take part,
      3391 parents signed and returned the fully filled out consent form. RESULTS: The
      prevalence of overweight (including obesity) was 36.6 % for girls and 38.8 % for
      boys. With regard to SSB consumption (serving/d), no differences between with
      overweight and non-overweight children were found even after adjustment for
      confounders (1-2 servings/d: OR = 1.67, 95 % CI 0.76, 3.66, in girls; OR = 1.63,
      95 % CI 0.76, 3.47, in boys; and >2 servings/d: OR = 0.63, 95 % CI 0.33, 1.22, in
      girls; OR = 0.64, 95 % CI 0.33, 1.52, in boys). CONCLUSIONS: The intake of SSB
      was not associated with increased risk of overweight in Portuguese
      schoolchildren.

PMID- 20920386
TI  - Healthy food purchasing among African American youth: associations with child
      gender, adult caregiver characteristics and the home food environment.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To examine how factors related to the home food environment and
      individual characteristics are associated with healthy food purchasing among low
      income African American (AA) youth. SUBJECTS: A total of 206 AA youth (ninety-one
      boys and 115 girls), aged 10-14 years, and their primary adult caregivers.
      SETTING: Fourteen Baltimore recreation centres in low-income neighbourhoods.
      DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. We collected information about food purchasing,
      the home food environment, sociodemographic and psychosocial factors drawn from
      social cognitive theory. Multivariable logistic regression was used to examine
      the factors associated with the frequency and proportion of healthy food
      purchases in all youth and stratified by gender. Low-fat or low-sugar foods were
      defined as healthy. RESULTS: Youth purchased an average of 1.5 healthy foods
      (range=0-15) in the week before the interview, comprising an average of 11.6%
      (range=0-80%) of total food purchases. The most commonly purchased healthy foods
      included water and sunflower seeds/nuts. Healthier food-related behavioural
      intentions were associated with a higher frequency of healthy foods purchased
      (OR=1.4, P<0.05), which was stronger in girls (OR=1.9, P<0.01). Greater caregiver
      self-efficacy for healthy food purchasing/preparation was associated with
      increased frequency of healthy purchasing among girls (OR=1.3, P<0.05). Among
      girls, more frequent food preparation by a family member (OR=6.6, P<0.01) was
      associated with purchasing a higher proportion of healthy foods. No significant
      associations were observed for boys. CONCLUSIONS: Interventions focused on AA
      girls should emphasize increasing food-related behavioural intentions. For girls,
      associations between caregiver self-efficacy and home food preparation suggest
      the importance of the caregiver in healthy food purchasing.

PMID- 20920388
TI  - Waist circumference percentiles for Kuwaiti children and adolescents.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Abdominal obesity is a major risk factor for chronic diseases. Yet
      there are no waist circumference (WC) cut-offs for children in the Arabian Gulf.
      We developed smoothed WC percentiles for 5-19-year-old Kuwaiti children and
      adolescents, which could be used in clinical and public health practice. We also
      examined the percentages of children who had WC >= 90th percentile, a value
      commonly associated with an elevated risk of CVD. DESIGN: This is a cross
      sectional study that was conducted by the Kuwait National Nutrition Surveillance
      System. SETTING: Data were collected from representative primary-, intermediate-
      and secondary-school children as part of the yearly nutrition and health
      monitoring. Least mean square regression was used to develop smoothed WC curves.
      SUBJECTS: A total of 9593 healthy 5.0-18.9-year-old children of both sexes were
      studied from all areas of Kuwait. Age, gender, residency, education level,
      weight, height and WC were collected for all participants. RESULTS: We developed
      the first smoothed WC curves for Kuwaiti children. Male children had higher WC
      than female children. WC increased with age in both genders, but larger
      percentages of male children had WC >= 90th percentile. Male children aged >10
      years have higher WC percentiles than do female children at the 50th, 75th, 90th
      and 97th percentiles. CONCLUSIONS: Male children (especially those aged >10
      years) are at higher risk than female children. Few health-care professionals
      routinely measure WC. WC measurement should be promoted as an important tool in
      paediatric primary care practice. The use of these age- and gender-specific
      percentiles can impact public health recommendations for Kuwaiti and other Arab
      children from the Gulf.

PMID- 20920391
TI  - [Diagnosis of malignant pleural mesothelioma].

PMID- 20920389
TI  - A multiscale approach to assess the complex surface of polyurethane catheters and
      the effects of a new plasma decontamination treatment on the surface properties.
AB  - Polyurethane catheters made of Pellethane 2363-80AE(r) were treated with a low
      temperature plasma developed for the decontamination of reusable polymer devices
      in hospitals. We investigated the modifications of the polymer surface by
      studying the topographic modifications, the chemical modifications, and their
      consequences on the wettability and bacterial adhesion. This study showed that
      plasma treatment modified the topography and grafted oxygen and nitrogen species
      onto the surface, resulting in an increase in the surface polarity. This effect
      could be correlated to the number of nitrogen atoms interacting with the surface.
      Moreover, this study demonstrated the significance of multiscale heterogeneities,
      and the complexity of industrial medical devices made from polymers. Their
      surface can be heterogeneous, and they contain additives that can migrate and
      change the surface composition.

PMID- 20920392
TI  - [Sarcomatoid mesothelioma--a diagnostic challenge].
AB  - This is the case of a 62-year-old carpenter in whom a computed tomography showed
      a widespread "mesothelioma-like" tumour of the pleura. Needle biopsy and later
      autopsy showed malignant sarcomatoid tumour. The tumour stained negatively for
      calretinin and other "mesothelial markers". Diagnosis has important legal
      implications for the relatives, we therefore find it important to stress that
      sarcomatoid mesothelioma is usually calretinin-negative.

PMID- 20920393
TI  - [Severe acute malnutrition in children].
AB  - Severe acute malnutrition (SAM) affects approx. 19 million children below five
      years of age in low and middle income countries. Both shortage and low quality of
      foods are important determinants of SAM. With the development of special ready-to
      use foods and by using simple treatment protocols, it is now possible to treat
      SAM successfully outside hospitals and treatment centers thereby reducing the
      case-fatality rate. However, only a small percentage of children with SAM have
      access to correct treatment.

PMID- 20920394
TI  - [Good results after Hartmann's operation for rectal cancer in high risk
      patients].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the incidence of per- and
      postoperative complications of low anterior resection and Hartmann's operation
      (HO) for rectal cancer. The study was performed in a department with a high
      frequency of HO. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Patients who had undergone low anterior
      resection (LA) or HO for rectal cancer at the Department of Surgery, Gentofte
      Hospital, between 1 January 2001 and 31 December 2007. RESULTS: A total of 187
      patients were operated using LA or HO technique during this period. LA was
      performed in 103 patients and HO in 84 patients. ASA-scores were significantly
      higher for patients who underwent HO (p = 0.0066). There was no significant
      difference in complication rates between the two groups (p = 0.385). The 30-day
      mortality rate was 3.2% (n = 6) for all patients, and it was not significantly
      different between the two groups (HO 3.6% (n = 3) and LA= 2.9% (n = 3), p = 1).
      One ASA III patient who underwent LA died from anastomotic leakage whereas no ASA
      III patients operated with HO died. There was no significant difference between
      the groups for any other per- and postoperative complication. CONCLUSION: In this
      material, HO rather than LA seems to be the safer choice for high risk rectal
      cancer patients with ASA > 3 in terms of mortality rate compared with the
      national index.

PMID- 20920395
TI  - [Prolonged symptoms following mild traumatic brain injury].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Patients with mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI) do not undergo
      consistent follow-up in Denmark and the risk factors for long-term symptoms are
      not fully known. The purpose of this study was to look into symptom frequency,
      sick-leave frequency and to try to identify risk factors for long-term symptoms
      following MTBI. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Patients were recruited from the emergency
      room at Viborg Hospital. Initial data were registered and telephone interviews
      were conducted one month and one year after trauma. RESULTS: 60% were
      asymptomatic within the first month; an additional 11% became asymptomatic within
      the next year, leaving 29% with residual symptoms one year after trauma. 70%
      reported a sick leave period < 2 days, 19% > one month and 2% > one year. The
      average trauma-to-emergency room contact reached 158 min (median 65 min). Gender,
      age, blood pressure (BP), pulse, Glasgow coma score (GCS), admission to hospital,
      unconsciousness, amnesia, alcohol intake, time or type of trauma were not
      associated with long term symptoms. CONCLUSION: Even patients with minor head
      trauma have a relatively high risk of long-term symptoms regardless of gender,
      age, BP, pulse, GCS, admission to hospital, unconsciousness, amnesia, alcohol
      intake, time or type of trauma. Nevertheless, the risk of long-term sick leave is
      relatively small.

PMID- 20920396
TI  - [Autopsy and blood testing for alcohol and drugs/medicine after traffic
      fatalities is not routinely conducted].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: In some road traffic crashes with fatal outcome, the police
      investigations lead to charges against and prosecution of a person. The police
      can request a medico-legal autopsy as well as a toxicological examination, but
      the extent to which this is done, and the role here of in the legal setting is
      unknown. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Information concerning traffic crashes with fatal
      outcome in the period 2000-2004 in Aarhus Police District was retrieved and
      compared. The information included comprised crash specific and legal
      information, as well as medical data concerning autopsy, examination for alcohol,
      drugs and/or medicine. RESULTS: In all, 81 traffic crashes had a fatal outcome
      for 92 persons, of whom 17 (18%) were autopsied, 55 (60%) were tested for
      alcohol, and five (5%) were examined for drugs/medicine. Twenty-six were charged
      with negligent homicide, of which 18 were convicted. Autopsy was performed in
      four of these cases, 19 were tested for alcohol and one was tested for
      drugs/medicine. CONCLUSION: This study shows that the police requests few medico
      legal autopsies following road traffic fatalities, and that testing for alcohol
      as well as drugs/medicine is not conducted routinely. As a consequence, important
      information may not come to the knowledge of the police in cases of negligent
      homicide. We recommend that postmortem examination be conducted routinely in
      traffic-related homicide cases to secure the best possible conditions for a legal
      evaluation.

PMID- 20920397
TI  - [Perioperative care of patients with stage IIIC ovarian cancer].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Besides intraoperative efforts, the perioperative care is essential
      to improve the postoperative outcome following ovarian cancer surgery. Multimodal
      evidence-based care within the fast-track methodology significantly enhances
      postoperative recovery and reduces morbidity. The purpose of this study was to
      assess and discuss perioperative care principles in patients undergoing ovarian
      cancer surgery with stage IIIC at the six centres in Denmark performing this
      surgical procedure. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study was a retrospective audit.
      The study included 90 consecutive patients, 15 from each of the centres at which
      operations were performed in 2007. Data was obtained from medical and nursing
      files. The extent of the surgical procedure was recorded. RESULTS: For patients
      without extensive surgery effort, the median hospital stay was six days; for
      patients with extensive surgery, the median hospital stay was 13 days. A total of
      48 percent of the patients without maximal surgery effort fulfilled the goals for
      mobilization on the day of surgery, and 19 percent on the first postoperative
      day. A total of 35 percent of the patients with maximal surgery effort fulfilled
      the goals for mobilization on the day of the surgery, and 24 percent on the first
      postoperative day. Less than half of the patients had regular oral diet and
      protein enriched drinks on or before the third postoperative day. CONCLUSION:
      Mobilization, nutrition, nausea and pain are severe problems for patients
      undergoing ovarian cancer surgery. Optimized perioperative care is needed
      including a procedure-specific, evidence-based clinical guideline for patients
      receiving extensive surgery.

PMID- 20920398
TI  - [Evidence-based pedagogical principles used at medical specialist workshop].
AB  - How should a theoretical postgraduate course be organized to obtain maximum
      effect? We report an example of a two-day course planned and implemented
      according to educational approaches previously shown to be effective. The theme
      of the course is "The old patient", and the course is compulsory for residents in
      internal medicine. This case study showed that the methods used were feasible,
      and the participants gained knowledge. A multiple-choice test before and after
      the course showed 44% (before) and 64% (after) correct answers, p < 0.001.

PMID- 20920400
TI  - [Stem cells--belief, hope and knowledge].

PMID- 20920399
TI  - [Subcutaneous emphysema of upper limb].
AB  - Subcutaneous emphysema involving the upper limb can result from infection with
      gas-producing microorganisms or from a variety of non-infective causes. This case
      illustrates the reflections that should be made in such cases to avoid over- or
      undertreating the patient.

PMID- 20920401
TI  - [An introduction to stem cell research].
AB  - Stem cells (SC) are characterized by the ability of self renewal as well as
      specialization into different cell types. Stem cells are present in most organs,
      and can be isolated from adult tissue, embryonic tissue and can be created by a
      new technology named induced pluripotency. The three types of SC have different
      potentials in terms of advancing regenerative medicine, but also raise serious
      safety concerns that need to be addressed before SC can fulfill the expectations
      by being developed into new cures and treatments for a range of serious cell
      degenerative diseases.

PMID- 20920402
TI  - [Cancer stem cells in the haematopoietic system].
AB  - Cancer is dependent on so-called cancer stem cells that initiate and maintain the
      cancer cell population. Stem cells are described in normal tissue as low
      frequent, self-renewing cells with a multi- or pluripotent differentiation
      potential. The true characteristics of the cancer-initiating cells are still not
      entirely known, but it is obvious that identifying these cells will enable us to
      better understand the biology of cancer. In this article, we focus on normal
      haematopoietic stem cells and cancer stem cells in leukaemia and multiple
      myeloma.

PMID- 20920403
TI  - [Basic stem cell biology and cancer].
AB  - The finding that tumours, like normal tissues, are endowed with varying degrees
      of cellular heterogeneity has far-reaching consequences for our understanding of
      cancer. The cancer stem cell and clonal evolution models have both been proposed
      to explain tumour-associated cellular heterogeneity. Here, we briefly review
      these two non-exclusive models with special emphasis on how they aid our
      understanding of cancer and their implications for therapeutic strategies.
      Finally, we discuss the close association between basic stem cell biology and
      cancer, focusing on the role of self-renewal.

PMID- 20920404
TI  - [Stem cell therapy for neurodegenerative disorders].
AB  - Intrastriatal, foetal neural transplants can ameliorate symptoms in patients with
      Parkinson's and Huntington's disease, although not stop the primary cell-loss.
      Several issues must, however, be addressed before general or extended clinical
      use of cell therapy in neurodegenerative diseases can become a reality.
      Improvements include standardized and safe master cell-lines derived from human
      embryonic stem cells, induced pluripotent stem cells and neural stem cells. Cells
      from these sources are expected to become available for cell replacement
      therapies or therapeutic production of trophic, anti-inflammatory and restorative
      factors within a few years.

PMID- 20920405
TI  - [From stem cells to functional beta cells in type 1 diabetes].
AB  - Although the reconstitution of a functional beta-cell mass by transplantation of
      isolated islets can restore euglycaemia in the absence of insulin treatment, a
      shortage of donor material is preventing the use of cell replacement therapy for
      treatment of type 1 diabetes. Advances in directed differentiation of stem cells
      towards beta-cells via stepwise recapitulation of embryonic development
      demonstrate that stem cells may be an appropriate source for the generation of
      therapeutic cells. In the present article, we highlight some of the critical
      issues impeding the translation of stem cell-based therapies to the clinic.

PMID- 20920406
TI  - [Cardiovascular regeneration using mesenchymal stem cells].
AB  - Treatment with stem cells with a regenerative potential is a new form of therapy
      that is being studied intensively. Mesenchymal stem cells or stromal cells (MSC)
      are a promising source of stem cells for regenerative therapy. MSC are easy to
      isolate and culture, expand in vitro and have a multipotent differentiation
      capacity. Clinical MSC studies on patients with ischaemic heart disease have
      shown improved left ventricular function and perfusion and also a reduction in
      infarct size and symptoms. In this short review we provide a status on MSC
      regenerative treatment in cardiovascular disease.

PMID- 20920407
TI  - [Bone and cartilage repair using stem cells].
AB  - Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) are capable of multilineage differentiation into
      cells like osteoblasts, chondrocytes or adipocytes. MSCs can be isolated from
      bone marrow and expanded ex vivo for up to 25-40 population doublings while
      maintaining genetic stability and differentiation potential. MSCs have great
      potential in the field of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine where
      cartilage and bone conditions which are non-treatable or show very slow
      improvement can be effectively handled. Several clinical trials have been
      performed using MSC and show very promising results.

PMID- 20920408
TI  - Microvesicle formulations used in topical drugs and cosmetics affect product
      efficiency, performance and allergenicity.
AB  - Attempts to improve the formulations of topical products are continuing processes
      (ie, to increase cosmetic performance, enhance effects, and protect ingredients
      from degradation). The development of micro- and nanovesicular systems has led to
      the marketing of topical drugs and cosmetics that use these technologies. Several
      articles have reported improved clinical efficacy by the encapsulation of
      pharmaceuticals in vesicular systems, and the numbers of publications and patents
      are rising. Some vesicular systems may deliver the drug deeper in the skin as
      compared to conventional vehicles, or even make transdermal delivery more
      efficient for a number of drugs. Vesicular systems may also allow a more precise
      drug delivery to the site of action (ie, the hair follicles) and thereby minimize
      the applied drug concentration, reducing potential side effects. On the other
      hand, this may increase the risk of other side effects. Few case reports have
      suggested that microvesicle formulations may affect the allergenicity of topical
      products. This article gives an overview of the current knowledge about the
      topical use of microvesicular systems and the dermatoallergologic aspects.

PMID- 20920409
TI  - "Dermatitis" defined.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The term "dermatitis" can be defined narrowly or broadly, clinically
      or histologically. A common and costly condition, dermatitis is underresourced
      compared to other chronic skin conditions. The lack of a collectively understood
      definition of dermatitis and its subcategories could be the primary barrier.
      OBJECTIVE: To investigate how dermatologists define the term "dermatitis" and
      determine if a consensus on the definition of this term and other related terms
      exists. METHODS: A seven-question survey of dermatologists nationwide was
      conducted. RESULTS: Of respondents (n  =  122), half consider dermatitis to be
      any inflammation of the skin. Nearly half (47.5%) use the term interchangeably
      with "eczema." Virtually all (> 96%) endorse the subcategory "atopic" under the
      terms "dermatitis" and "eczema," but the subcategories "contact," "drug
      hypersensitivity," and "occupational" are more highly endorsed under the term
      "dermatitis" than under the term "eczema." Over half (55.7%) personally consider
      "dermatitis" to have a broad meaning, and even more (62.3%) believe that
      dermatologists as a whole define the term broadly. CONCLUSION: There is a lack of
      consensus among experts in defining dermatitis, eczema, and their related
      subcategories.

PMID- 20920410
TI  - Patch testing in atopic dermatitis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Because atopic dermatitis (AD) patients differ from non-AD patients
      in immunologic responses (they lack beta-defensins, are more likely to react to
      protein allergens, and are harder to experimentally sensitize to the nonprotein
      allergens), patch-test responses to commercially available patch test series may
      differ in AD patients. OBJECTIVE: To compare responses to conventional patch
      tests in AD and non-AD patients and to assess the importance of specific
      allergens in AD. METHODS: AD patients were strictly defined by history of
      childhood flexural dermatitis. Patients with active disease were routinely
      pretreated with systemic antistaphylococcal and antiyeast antibiotics before
      patch testing unless contraindicated. All final patch-test readings occurred at
      day 7. RESULTS: The overall number of positive patch-test results did not differ
      significantly in AD patients (n  =  146) versus non-AD patients (n  =  1,003).
      There was no significant increase in nickel sensitivity. There was a
      nonsignificant trend toward an increased number of positive patch-test reactions
      to tixocortol pivalate, Compositae mix, and propylene glycol in AD patients.
      CONCLUSION: In AD patients treated with antibiotics and systemic azoles before
      patch testing, the number of positive patch-test reactions is almost identical to
      that of non-AD patients. Patch-test reactions to components of topical
      medicaments may be more frequent in AD as compared to non-AD patients.

PMID- 20920411
TI  - Effects of occlusion on the skin of atopic dermatitis patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Atopic dermatitis (AD) may be exacerbated by occlusion from items
      such as occlusive gloves or textiles, especially if the occlusion is removed
      suddenly, creating a steep humidity gradient. Most previous studies of occlusion
      have focused on normal skin. Occlusion has been shown to be beneficial in
      psoriatic skin, but many atopic patients complain of increased inflammation after
      occlusion. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the response of noninflamed AD skin to
      occlusion. METHODS: Six patients with AD were patch-tested with occlusive
      polyethylene wrap and sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) in standard Finn Chambers taped
      to noninflamed skin of the back. Cytokine and chemokine messenger ribonucleic
      acid (mRNA) for interleukin-8 (IL-8), interleukin-1 alpha (IL-1alpha), and
      interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1RA), as well as the 18S rRNA housekeeping
      gene, was obtained via tape-stripping the skin and measured using quantitative
      real-time polymerase chain reaction. We also measured transepidermal water loss
      after removal of occlusion. RESULTS: Polyethylene occlusion alone with abrupt
      removal induced IL-8 and IL-1alpha levels similar to or exceeding that of SLS. IL
      1RA was up-regulated by SLS and occlusion, with SLS showing a stronger response.
      CONCLUSION: Removal of occlusion with polyethylene film up-regulates the
      inflammatory cytokines IL-8, IL-1alpha, and IL-1RA in patients with AD. This may
      explain the worsening of AD with the use of occlusive gloves, athletic equipment,
      and fabrics.

PMID- 20920412
TI  - Irritant and sensitizing potential of eight surfactants commonly used in skin
      cleansers: an evaluation of 105 patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Irritation from surfactants contained in detergents is a frequent
      adverse reaction to cosmetics. Sensitization to surfactants is also possible. In
      the literature, comparative studies about irritant and sensitizing potential of
      different surfactants are heterogeneous and inconclusive about the best molecules
      to use. OBJECTIVES: We compared the irritant and sensitizing potential of some
      surfactants that are usual components in marketed synthetic detergents (syndets)
      to obtain practical information regarding commonly used detergents. METHODS: We
      patch-tested eight surfactants of the different types (anionic, cationic,
      amphoteric, and non-ionic) in 105 patients. Assessment of allergic reactions of
      tested surfactants was carried out in accordance with the recommendations of the
      International Contact Dermatitis Research Group; assessment of irritant power
      followed the amended Draize classification. RESULTS: None of the eight
      surfactants in our series gave positive allergic reactions. Only cocamidopropyl
      betaine from the Italian standard (Societa Italiana di Dermatologia
      Allergologica, Professionale e Ambientale [SIDAPA]) series gave five positive
      reactions among 105 patients. None of the eight studied surfactants induced skin
      irritation. The most tolerated are two new mild anionics (sodium cocoyl glutamate
      and sodium lauroyl oat amino acids) and an amphoteric agent (disodium
      cocoamphodiacetate). CONCLUSION: From this study, we deduce that cosmetic
      companies' efforts to search for and market new products with very mild
      surfactants have been generally successful.

PMID- 20920413
TI  - Patch-testing with plastics and glues series allergens.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Few US studies have reported results of patch testing with plastics
      and glues. OBJECTIVE: To report our institution's results of testing patients
      suspected of allergy to plastics and glues with a comprehensive plastics and
      glues series and to compare these results with previously published data.
      METHODS: Retrospective review of results of patch-testing with plastics and glues
      allergens at our institution between 2000 and 2007. In total, 444 patients were
      patch-tested with up to 56 plastics and glues allergens in the specialized series
      and up to five plastics and glues allergens in a baseline series. Positive
      reaction rates were compared to other patch testing reports. RESULTS: Of
      patients, 97 (22%) had irritant reactions, and 201 (45%) had at least one
      allergic reaction. Bis(2-dimethylaminoethyl) ether 1%, benzoyl peroxide 1%, epoxy
      resin, bisphenol F 0.25%, 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate 2%, and 2-hydroxyethyl
      acrylate 0.1% had the highest allergy reaction rates. Testing with specialized
      series identified 193 patients with plastics and glues allergy, of whom 162 were
      not identified by testing with baseline series alone. CONCLUSION: For patients
      suspected of allergy to plastics and glues, patch-testing with specialized series
      of plastics and glues allergens is an important adjunct to patch-testing with
      baseline series.

PMID- 20920414
TI  - Physician-patient agreement in the assessment of allergen relevance.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The efficacy of patch testing may be enhanced by data allowing the
      physician to estimate the likelihood that results of a patch-test reading are
      relevant to a patient's dermatitis. OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study was to
      compare the rates of agreement between the physician's assessment of relevance at
      the time of final reading and the patients' report 3 months to 3 years later in
      regard to whether avoidance of an allergen was needed to remain free of
      dermatitis. We hypothesize that the agreement rates between the physician and
      patient relevance assessments will vary based on properties both intrinsic and
      extrinsic to the allergen in question. METHODS: We mailed 407 Institutional
      Review Board-approved questionnaires to patients and analyzed results for the 92
      patients reporting greater than 80% improvement of their dermatitis. Cross
      reacting allergens tested on the same patient were combined for analysis. Percent
      agreement was used to assess interrater concordance. RESULTS: Percent agreement
      regarding relevance for each allergen or group of allergens was as follows:
      formaldehyde and formaldehyde-releasing preservatives, 88%; neomycin sulfate,
      78%; nickel sulfate hexahydrate, 71%; fragrance mix and related products, 65%;
      and gold sodium thiosulfate, 56%. CONCLUSION: Relevance varies between allergens.
      Physician assessment of relevance at the time of final reading is not the ideal
      method for determining allergen relevance. This has implications for when best to
      determine the relevance of certain allergens. For allergens with lower agreement,
      in particular, extended follow-up is recommended to accurately determine an
      allergen's contribution to a patient's allergic contact dermatitis, especially in
      those circumstances in which a patient's condition has not improved.

PMID- 20920415
TI  - Publication of abstracts presented at Annual American Contact Dermatitis Society
      Meetings.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Medical meetings provide a forum for the open discussion and sharing
      of new information for attendees. Peer-reviewed publication provides greater
      distribution of vetted information. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to
      analyze the publication of presentations from annual American Contact Dermatitis
      Society meetings. METHODS: Abstracts presented at the 2000, 2003, and 2006
      American Contact Dermatitis Society meetings were identified. By keywords and
      author names, PubMed was searched for published papers corresponding to the work
      presented at these annual meetings. Matches were confirmed by comparing the
      content of the abstracts with the fully published articles. RESULTS: Of 115
      presented abstracts, 55% resulted in the publication of an article by November
      2009; 5% of abstracts had been published prior to presentation. Time to
      publication was 0.25 to 6.0 years. Mean time to publication was 1.8 years.
      CONCLUSIONS: Over one-half of all American Contact Dermatitis Society
      presentations resulted in the publication of an original article. Most were
      published within 2 years. The great majority of abstracts were published in
      Dermatitis (formerly the American Journal of Contact Dermatitis).

PMID- 20920416
TI  - Occupational airborne allergic contact dermatitis caused by gold.
AB  - Airborne allergic contact dermatitis caused by gold is rare, often not even
      suspected and hence not investigated. Our purpose was to elucidate the clinical
      relevance of gold-induced airborne contact dermatitis. We analyzed and discussed
      the occupational dermatitis of two women working as restorers. Both patients'
      test results showed positive reactions to gold sodium thiosulfate only. The stop
      and-relapse test confirmed the diagnostic hypothesis of airborne contact allergy.
      Our patients turned out to be gold sensitized because of occupational exposure to
      gold dust and gold leaf.

PMID- 20920417
TI  - Allergic contact dermatitis from epoxy resin in solder mask coating in an
      individual working with printed circuit boards.

PMID- 20920418
TI  - Shiitake mushroom dermatitis.

PMID- 20920419
TI  - Allergic contact dermatitis from N,N-methylenebismorpholine in a cutting oil.

PMID- 20920420
TI  - The role of patch testing in oral disease.

PMID- 20920421
TI  - Palladium sensitization in the United States: dermatology and dentistry
      connection.

PMID- 20920422
TI  - Assisted monitoring of blood glucose: special safety needs for a new paradigm in
      testing glucose.

PMID- 20920423
TI  - Quantifying the composition of human skin for glucose sensor development.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Glucose is heterogeneously distributed within human skin. In order to
      develop a glucose measurement method for human skin, both a good quantification
      of the different compartments of human skin and an understanding of glucose
      transport processes are essential. This study focused on the composition of human
      skin. In addition, the extent to which intersubject variability in skin
      composition alters glucose dynamics in human skin was investigated. METHODS: To
      quantify the composition of the three layers of human skin-epidermis, dermis, and
      adipose tissue-cell and blood vessel volumes were calculated from skin biopsies.
      These results were combined with data from the literature. The composition was
      applied as input for a previously developed computational model that calculates
      spatiotemporal glucose dynamics in human skin. The model was used to predict the
      physiological effects of intersubject variability in skin composition on glucose
      profiles in human skin. RESULTS: According to the model, the lag time of glucose
      dynamics in the epidermis was sensitive to variation in the volumes of
      interstitial fluid, cells, and blood of all layers. Data showed most
      variation/uncertainty in the volume composition of the adipose tissue. This
      variability mainly influences the dynamics in the adipose tissue. CONCLUSIONS:
      This study identified the intersubject variability in human skin composition. The
      study shows that this variability has significant influence on the glucose
      dynamics in human skin. In addition, it was determined which volumes are most
      critical for the quantification and interpretation of measurements in the
      different layers.

PMID- 20920424
TI  - Impact of tissue heterogeneity on noninvasive near-infrared glucose measurements
      in interstitial fluid of rat skin.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Movement of the optical interface used to collect noninvasive near
      infrared spectra is known to dramatically increase prediction errors for glucose
      concentration measurements within the interstitial fluid of living rat skin.
      Prediction errors increase by more than 2.5-fold when the interface is moved
      before each non-invasive measurement compared to measurements where the interface
      position is constant throughout. Chemical heterogeneity of the skin matrix is
      examined as a possible mechanism for the strong sensitivity to the interface
      placement during noninvasive measurements conducted from transmission near
      infrared absorption spectroscopy. METHOD: Microspectroscopy was performed over a
      region of the near-infrared spectrum (4000-5000 cm(-1)) to map the concentrations
      of water, collagen protein, fat, and keratin protein within the skin tissue
      matrix through which noninvasive spectra are collected. Maps were created for
      multiple samples of skin excised from male and female animals. Sets of near
      infrared spectra were constructed to simulate noninvasive spectra in accord with
      the basic tissue composition found from the microspectroscopic maps with added
      information corresponding to a span of glucose concentrations ranging from 5 to
      35 mM and Gaussian-distributed noise. RESULTS: Microspectroscopic maps of rat
      skin reveal similar patterns of heterogeneity for major chemical components of
      skin samples excised from both male and female animals. These maps demonstrate
      concentration domains with dimensions similar to the size of the fiber interface
      used to collect noninvasive spectra. Partial least squares calibration models
      generated from sets of simulated spectra demonstrate increases in prediction
      errors for glucose when the spectral matrix is changed in accord with the degree
      of chemical heterogeneity displayed in the skin maps. Prediction errors typically
      increase between 100 and 1000% when comparing errors generated from spectra that
      represent a single tissue composition versus spectra that represent a varied skin
      composition in accord with the distribution displayed in the skin maps.
      CONCLUSIONS: The distribution of the major components of skin is not uniform, but
      establishes domains within the skin matrix that strongly impact prediction errors
      for the noninvasive spectroscopic measurement of glucose within the interstitial
      fluid of rat dermis tissue. The observed increase in prediction error (>2.5-fold)
      determined from actual noninvasive measurements is within the lower range of
      prediction error increases demonstrated by this simulation study. These findings
      implicate that chemical heterogeneity within the tissue matrix is a major factor
      in the sensitivity of the location of the fiber interface used to collect
      noninvasive spectral data.

PMID- 20920425
TI  - Bioluminescence imaging of glucose in tissue surrounding polyurethane and glucose
      sensor implants.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The bioluminescence technique was used to quantify the local glucose
      concentration in the tissue surrounding subcutaneously implanted polyurethane
      material and surrounding glucose sensors. In addition, some implants were coated
      with a single layer of adipose-derived stromal cells (ASCs) because these cells
      improve the wound-healing response around biomaterials. METHODS: Control and ASC
      coated implants were implanted subcutaneously in rats for 1 or 8 weeks
      (polyurethane) or for 1 week only (glucose sensors). Tissue biopsies adjacent to
      the implant were immediately frozen at the time of explant. Cryosections were
      assayed for glucose concentration profile using the bioluminescence technique.
      RESULTS: For the polyurethane samples, no significant differences in glucose
      concentration within 100 MUm of the implant surface were found between bare and
      ASC-coated implants at 1 or 8 weeks. A glucose concentration gradient was
      demonstrated around the glucose sensors. For all sensors, the minimum glucose
      concentration of approximately 4 mM was found at the implant surface and
      increased with distance from the sensor surface until the glucose concentration
      peaked at approximately 7 mM at 100 MUm. Then the glucose concentration decreased
      to 5.5-6.5 mM more than 100 MUmm from the surface. CONCLUSIONS: The ASC
      attachment to polyurethane and to glucose sensors did not change the glucose
      profiles in the tissue surrounding the implants. Although most glucose sensors
      incorporate a diffusion barrier to reduce the gradient of glucose and oxygen in
      the tissue, it is typically assumed that there is no steep glucose gradient
      around the sensors. However, a glucose gradient was observed around the sensors.
      A more complete understanding of glucose transport and concentration gradients
      around sensors is critical.

PMID- 20920426
TI  - Analyte flux at a biomaterial-tissue interface over time: implications for
      sensors for type 1 and 2 diabetes mellitus.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The very presence of an implanted sensor (a foreign body) causes
      changes in the adjacent tissue that may alter the analytes being sensed. The
      objective of this study was to investigate changes in glucose availability and
      local tissue metabolism at the sensor-tissue interface in patients with type 1
      diabetes mellitus (T1DM) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). METHOD:
      Microdialysis was used to model implanted sensors. Capillary glucose and
      subcutaneous (sc) microdialysate analytes were monitored in five T1DM and five
      T2DM patients. Analytes included glucose, glycolysis metabolites (lactate,
      pyruvate), a lipolysis metabolite (glycerol), and a protein degradation byproduct
      (urea). On eight consecutive days, four measurements were taken during a period
      of steady state blood glucose. RESULTS: Microdialysate glucose and microdialysate
      to-blood-glucose ratio increased over the first several days in all patients.
      Although glucose recovery eventually stabilized, the lactate levels continued to
      rise. These trends were explained by local inflammatory and microvascular changes
      observed in histological analysis of biopsy samples. Urea concentrations mirrored
      glucose trends. Urea is neither produced nor consumed in sc tissue, and so the
      initially increasing urea trend is explained by increased local capillary
      presence during the inflammatory process. Pyruvate in T2DM microdialysate was
      significantly higher than in T1DM, an observation that is possibly explained by
      mitochondrial dysfunction in T2DM. Glycerol in T2DM microdialysate (but not in
      T1DM) was higher than in healthy volunteers, which is likely explained by sc
      insulin resistance (insulin is a potent antilipolytic hormone). Urea was also
      higher in microdialysate of patients with diabetes mellitus compared to healthy
      volunteers. Urea is a byproduct of protein degradation, which is known to be
      inhibited by insulin. Therefore, insulin deficiency or resistance may explain the
      higher urea levels. To our knowledge, this is the first histological evaluation
      of a human tissue biopsy containing an implanted glucose monitoring device.
      CONCLUSIONS: Monitoring metabolic changes at a material-tissue interface combined
      with biopsy histology helped to formulate an understanding of physiological
      changes adjacent to implanted glucose sensors. Microdialysate glucose trends were
      similar over 1-week in T1DM and T2DM; however, differences in other analytes
      indicated wound healing and metabolic activities in the two patient groups
      differ. We propose explanations for the specific observed differences based on
      differential insulin insufficiency/resistance and mitochondrial dysfunction in
      T1DM versus T2DM.

PMID- 20920427
TI  - Importance of interleukin-1 and interleukin-1 receptor antagonist in short-term
      glucose sensor function in vivo.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The importance of the interleukin (IL)-1 cytokine family in
      inflammation and immunity is well established as a result of extensive in vitro
      and in vivo studies. In fact, much of our understanding of the in vivo importance
      of interleukin-1beta (IL-1B) is the result of research utilizing transgenic mice,
      such as overexpression or deficiencies of the naturally occurring inhibitor of IL
      1 known as interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1RA). For the present studies,
      we utilized these transgenic mice to determine the role of IL-1B in glucose
      sensor function in vivo. METHODS: To investigate the role of IL-1B in glucose
      sensor function in vivo, we compared glucose sensor function in trans-genic mice
      that (1) overexpressed IL-1RA [B6.Cg-Tg(II1rn)1Dih/J] and (2) are deficient in IL
      1RA (B6.129S-Il1rn(tm1Dih)/J), with mice that have normal levels of IL-1RA
      (C57BL/6). RESULTS: Our studies demonstrated that, during the first 7 days post
      sensor implantation (PSI), mice deficient in IL-1RA had extensive inflammation
      and decreased sensor function when compared to normal or IL-1RA-overexpressing
      mice. CONCLUSION: These data directly support our hypothesis that the IL-1 family
      of cytokines and antagonists play a critical role in controlling tissue reactions
      and thereby sensor function in vivo during the first 7 days PSI.

PMID- 20920428
TI  - Use of subcutaneous interstitial fluid glucose to estimate blood glucose:
      revisiting delay and sensor offset.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Estimates for delays in the interstitial fluid (ISF) glucose response
      to changes in blood glucose (BG) differ substantially among research groups. We
      review these findings along with arguments that continuous glucose monitoring
      (CGM) devices used to measure ISF delay contribute to the variability. We
      consider the impact of the ISF delay and review approaches to correct for it,
      including strategies pursued by the manufacturers of these devices. The focus on
      how the manufacturers have approached the problem is motivated by the observation
      that clinicians and researchers are often unaware of how the existing CGM devices
      process the ISF glucose signal. METHODS: Numerous models and simulations were
      used to illustrate problems related to measurement and correction of ISF glucose
      delay. RESULTS: We find that (1) there is no evidence that the true physiologic
      ISF glucose delay is longer than 5-10 min and that the values longer than this
      can be explained by delays in CGM filtering routines; (2) the primary impact of
      the true ISF delay is on sensor calibration algorithms, making it difficult to
      estimate calibration factors and offset (OS) currents; (3) inaccurate estimates
      of the sensor OS current result in overestimation of sensor glucose at low
      values, making it difficult to detect hypoglycemia; (4) many device companies
      introduce nonlinear components into their filters, which can be expected to
      confound attempts by investigators to reconstruct BG using linear deconvolution;
      and (5) algorithms advocated by academic groups are seldom compared to algorithms
      pursued by industry, making it difficult to ascertain their value. CONCLUSIONS:
      The absence of any direct comparisons between existing and new algorithms for
      correcting ISF delay and sensor OS current is, in part, due to the difficulty in
      extracting relevant details from industry patents and/or extracting unfiltered
      sensor signals from industry products. The model simulation environment, where
      all aspects of the signal can be derived, may be more appropriate for developing
      new filtering and calibration strategies. Nevertheless, clinicians, academic
      researchers, and the industry would benefit from collaborating when evaluating
      those strategies.

PMID- 20920429
TI  - Hyperspectral imaging in diabetic foot wound care.
AB  - Diabetic foot ulceration is a major complication of diabetes and afflicts as many
      as 15 to 25% of type 1 and 2 diabetes patients during their lifetime. If
      untreated, diabetic foot ulcers may become infected and require total or partial
      amputation of the affected limb. Early identification of tissue at risk of
      ulcerating could enable proper preventive care, thereby reducing the incidence of
      foot ulceration. Furthermore, noninvasive assessment of tissue viability around
      already formed ulcers could inform the diabetes caregiver about the severity of
      the wound and help assess the need for amputation. This article reviews how
      hyperspectral imaging between 450 and 700 nm can be used to assess the risk of
      diabetic foot ulcer development and to predict the likelihood of healing
      noninvasively. Two methods are described to analyze the in vivo hyperspectral
      measurements. The first method is based on the modified Beer-Lambert law and
      produces a map of oxyhemoglobin and deoxyhemoglobin concentrations in the dermis
      of the foot. The second is based on a two-layer optical model of skin and can
      retrieve not only oxyhemoglobin and deoxyhemoglobin concentrations but also
      epidermal thickness and melanin concentration along with skin scattering
      properties. It can detect changes in the diabetic foot and help predict and
      understand ulceration mechanisms.

PMID- 20920430
TI  - Utilization of advanced modalities in the management of diabetic Charcot
      neuroarthropathy.
AB  - Technological advances have allowed reconstructive foot and ankle surgeons
      greater opportunity to provide significant limb salvage options to those patients
      who present with significant lower extremity deformity due to diabetic Charcot
      neuroarthropathy. Paradigms that promote the utilization of these advanced
      modalities have demonstrated significant improved limb salvage outcomes in this
      challenging patient population and have consequently improved the quality of life
      for patients. The purpose of this review is to discuss current concepts in
      Charcot reconstruction.

PMID- 20920431
TI  - Novel use of platelet-rich plasma to augment curative diabetic foot surgery.
AB  - Autologous platelet-rich plasma (PRP) may enhance wound healing through the
      formation of a platelet plug that provides both hemostasis and the secretion of
      biologically active proteins, including growth factors such as platelet-derived
      growth factor, transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta, TGF-beta2, and epidermal
      growth factor. The release of these growth factors into the wound may create an
      environment more conducive to tissue repair and could accelerate postoperative
      wound healing. To our knowledge, there are no reports of combining the use of PRP
      with curative diabetic foot surgery. This article provides a summary of the
      literature regarding PRP and wound healing and presents a case of a 49-year-old
      man with diabetes and a three-month history of a deep, nonhealing plantar hallux
      wound in which PRP was combined with a first metatarsophalangeal joint
      arthroplasty. Through the use of the PRP and bioengineered tissue to supplement
      curative diabetic foot surgery, the patient healed uneventfully at seven weeks.

PMID- 20920432
TI  - A new classification of diabetic gait pattern based on cluster analysis of
      biomechanical data.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The diabetic foot, one of the most serious complications of diabetes
      mellitus and a major risk factor for plantar ulceration, is determined mainly by
      peripheral neuropathy. Neuropathic patients exhibit decreased stability while
      standing as well as during dynamic conditions. A new methodology for diabetic
      gait pattern classification based on cluster analysis has been proposed that aims
      to identify groups of subjects with similar patterns of gait and verify if three
      dimensional gait data are able to distinguish diabetic gait patterns from one of
      the control subjects. METHOD: The gait of 20 nondiabetic individuals and 46
      diabetes patients with and without peripheral neuropathy was analyzed [mean age
      59.0 (2.9) and 61.1(4.4) years, mean body mass index (BMI) 24.0 (2.8), and 26.3
      (2.0)]. K-means cluster analysis was applied to classify the subjects' gait
      patterns through the analysis of their ground reaction forces, joints and
      segments (trunk, hip, knee, ankle) angles, and moments. RESULTS: Cluster analysis
      classification led to definition of four well-separated clusters: one aggregating
      just neuropathic subjects, one aggregating both neuropathics and non
      neuropathics, one including only diabetes patients, and one including either
      controls or diabetic and neuropathic subjects. CONCLUSIONS: Cluster analysis was
      useful in grouping subjects with similar gait patterns and provided evidence that
      there were subgroups that might otherwise not be observed if a group ensemble was
      presented for any specific variable. In particular, we observed the presence of
      neuropathic subjects with a gait similar to the controls and diabetes patients
      with a long disease duration with a gait as altered as the neuropathic one.

PMID- 20920433
TI  - Use of sugar on the healing of diabetic ulcers: a review.
AB  - With the advent of several innovative wound care management tools, the choice of
      products and treatment modalities available to clinicians continues to expand.
      High costs associated with wound care, especially diabetic foot wounds, make it
      important for clinician scientists to research alternative therapies and
      optimally incorporate them into wound care protocols appropriately. This article
      reviews using sugar as a treatment option in diabetic foot care and provides a
      guide to its appropriate use in healing foot ulcers. In addition to a clinical
      case study, the physiological significance and advantages of sugar are discussed.

PMID- 20920434
TI  - Hypoglycemia prevention via pump attenuation and red-yellow-green "traffic"
      lights using continuous glucose monitoring and insulin pump data.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hypoglycemia has been identified as a primary barrier to optimal
      management of diabetes. This observation, in conjunction with the introduction of
      continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) devices, has set the stage for achieving
      tight glycemic control with systems that adjust the insulin pump settings based
      on measured glucose concentrations. Because system safety and system reliability
      are key considerations, there is a need for algorithms that reduce the risk of
      hypoglycemia in closed-loop, open-loop, and advisory-mode systems. More
      specifically, the algorithm presented here is formulated as a component of the
      independent safety system module proposed in the modular control-to-range
      architecture. METHODS: We developed two algorithms for attenuating insulin pump
      injections, which we refer to as Brakes and Power Brakes: Brakes is a pump
      attenuation function computed using CGM information only, while Power Brakes is
      an attenuation function in which a metabolic state observer with insulin input is
      used in addition to CGM information to inform the level of pump attenuation.
      These algorithms modulate the insulin pump delivery so that the insulin injection
      rate is dramatically reduced when the risk of hypoglycemia is high. Additionally,
      we combined these algorithms with an alert system that indicates a level of
      hypoglycemic risk to the user. RESULTS: We demonstrated the effectiveness of
      Brakes and Power Brakes in reducing the incidence of hypoglycemia in two
      simulated scenarios: an elevated basal rate scenario and a scenario in which a
      bolus is delivered for a meal that is skipped. For these scenarios, the incidence
      of hypoglycemia using Power Brakes was reduced by 88 and 94%, respectively, where
      we defined hypoglycemia based on the American Diabetes Association guidelines for
      defining and reporting as 70 mg/dl. In the elevated basal rate scenario, no
      rebounds above 180 mg/dl (the desired upper limit of the control-to-range
      protocol) following hypoglycemia were shown to occur. We demonstrated the way the
      hypoglycemia alert system can trigger the intake of carbohydrates to reduce the
      incidence of hypoglycemia by 98%. CONCLUSIONS: This article offers, for the first
      time, a method for smoothly reducing insulin delivery rate to prevent
      hypoglycemia in individuals with type 1 diabetes mellitus based on a
      mathematically formal assessment of hypoglycemic risk. In silico, we demonstrate
      the way this method can prevent hypoglycemia while avoiding hyperglycemia
      rebounds that exceed 180 mg/dl. In conjunction with the pump attenuation
      algorithms, this article also proposes a system for alerting an individual of
      their hypoglycemic risk that contains three "levels" of alerts in the form of a
      traffic light. This alert system can be used in an advisory mode setting to alert
      the user to take action when hypoglycemia is imminent ("red" light) or in a
      closed-loop setting where initiation of rescue action begins when the red light
      alert is triggered.

PMID- 20920435
TI  - Diabetes in the desert: what do patients know about the heat?
AB  - BACKGROUND: This study aims to identify self-management strategies used by
      patients with diabetes in hot weather, examine knowledge of safe temperatures and
      exposure times, and evaluate comprehension of weather data. METHODS: Patients
      attending an endocrinology clinic in southwestern United States were surveyed.
      RESULTS: One hundred fifty-two surveys completed from November 30 to December 31,
      2009 were analyzed. Mean patient age was 64 years; diabetes duration e analyzed
      15 years; 51% were women 83% had type 2 diabetes, 58% were non Hispanic white,
      and 77% were on insulin injections. Mean hemoglobin A1c was 7.9%; 38% had
      hemoglobin A1c values of 8.0% or higher. Patients used an array of personal
      protective measures during hot weather, and 71% limited heat exposure to less
      than one hour. Respondents typically took steps to protect their diabetes
      medication and supplies, but 37% chose to leave medications and supplies at home.
      Although 73% of respondents had received information regarding the effect of heat
      on insulin, only 39% had received information about the effect of heat on oral
      medications, 41% on glucose meters, and 38% on glucose test strips. The
      temperature at which patients took protective measures varied. Only 55% knew the
      definition of the heat index. CONCLUSION: Most survey participants took measures
      to protect themselves from the heat, although gaps in knowledge were evident.
      Many patients had suboptimal glycemic control, placing them potentially at risk
      for dehydration during the hottest months. Increased public awareness of this
      topic is needed, and diabetes education programs should include information about
      the heat where appropriate.

PMID- 20920436
TI  - Pharmacokinetic characterization of the novel pulmonary delivery excipient
      fumaryl diketopiperazine.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Technosphere(r) [Bis-3,6(4-fumarylaminobutyl)-2,5-diketopiperazine
      (FDKP)] microparticles, the integral component of the Technosphere inhalation
      system, deliver drugs to the deep lung and have been used to administer insulin
      and glucagon-like peptide-1 via inhalation in clinical studies. Three studies
      were conducted to characterize FDKP pharmacokinetics, including assessments in
      subjects with diabetic nephropathy (DNP), in subjects with chronic liver disease
      (CLD), and in healthy subjects. METHODS: An open-label, nonrandomized, two
      period, fixed-sequence crossover absorption, distribution, metabolism, and
      excretion (ADME) study was conducted in six healthy nonsmoking men who received
      single intravenous and oral doses of [(14)C]FDKP solution, with serial sampling
      of blood, urine, feces, and expired air. Additionally, two single-dose, open
      label, parallel-design studies with 20 mg of inhaled FDKP were conducted in (1)
      12 diabetic subjects with normal renal function and 24 DNP subjects and (2) 12
      healthy subjects and 21 CLD subjects. RESULTS: In the ADME study, >95% of the
      intravenous dose and <3% of the oral dose were recovered in urine, with no
      evidence of metabolism. No significant pharmacokinetic differences were observed
      between healthy subjects and CLD subjects [geometric mean (% coefficient of
      variation) area under the curve from time 0 to 480 minutes (AUC(0-480)): 26,710
      (34.8) and 31,477 (28.8) ng/ml.min, respectively]. Maximum observed drug
      concentration (C(max)) and AUC(0-480) were higher in DNP subjects than in
      subjects with normal renal function [C(max): 159.9 (59.4) ng/ml versus 147.0
      (44.3) ng/ml; AUC(0-480): 36,869 (47.2) ng/ml.min versus 30,474 (31.8)
      ng/ml.min]. None of the differences observed were considered clinically
      significant. CONCLUSIONS: Fumaryl diketopiperazine is predominantly cleared
      unchanged by the kidney with essentially no oral bioavailability. Technosphere is
      a safe delivery vehicle for medications administered via inhalation.

PMID- 20920437
TI  - Guidelines for insulin dosing in continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion using
      new formulas from a retrospective study of individuals with optimal glucose
      levels.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Successful insulin pump therapy depends on correct insulin doses
      based on an optimal total daily dose (TDD) and optimal pump settings for basal
      infusion, carbohydrate factor (CarbF), and glucose correction factor (CorrF)
      based on the TDD. There are limited data in the literature to guide providers and
      patients regarding methods to optimize these critical parameters for glucose
      control. METHODS: Anonymous data downloads from 1020 insulin pumps used
      throughout the United States and overseen by a variety of clinicians were
      analyzed retrospectively to find insulin doses that provided the best glucose
      control. A subset of 396 pumps was chosen for glucose data reliability, with over
      85% of their glucose data directly entered from a meter. This subset was divided
      into tertiles based on glucose levels, and the low glucose tertile was analyzed
      to derive formulas for optimal insulin pump settings. RESULTS: An inconsistent
      clustering of pump settings was found for the CarbF and the CorrF. This was less
      pronounced when CarbFs and CorrFs were determined from the actual bolus doses
      delivered once adjustments were made to the initial dose calculations by users
      and, to a larger extent, internally by the bolus calculator itself. Common
      beliefs that hyperglycemia is related to less carb counting, fewer carb boluses,
      or delivery of less insulin per day were not substantiated in this data. New or
      verified insulin dosing formulas presented include basal U/day = TDD * 0.48;
      CarbF = [2.6 * Wt(lb)]/TDD; and CorrF = 1960/TDD. CONCLUSIONS: Insulin pump users
      cannot reap full benefit from their pump bolus calculator if the settings on
      which bolus doses are based are less than optimal. Our data show that CarbFs and
      CorrFs tend to be unevenly distributed, suggesting that these factors are not
      selected in a systematic manner through use of formulas. Poor glucose outcomes
      among insulin pump users appear to be related to pump setting errors and being
      relatively underinsulinized, even though those in poor control use more total
      insulin per day. We have developed a model with the hypothesis that improved
      glucose outcomes will result from the use of formulas to derive appropriate pump
      settings. Prospective validation of these concepts is needed.

PMID- 20920438
TI  - Evaluating the clinical accuracy of GlucoMen(r)Day: a novel microdialysis-based
      continuous glucose monitor.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The objective of this work was to determine the clinical accuracy of
      GlucoMen(r)Day, a new microdialysis-based continuous glucose monitoring system
      (CGMS) from A. Menarini Diagnostics (Florence, Italy). Accuracy evaluation was
      performed using continuous glucose-error grid analysis (CG-EGA), as recommended
      by the Performance Metrics for Continuous Interstitial Glucose Monitoring;
      Approved Guideline (POCT05-A). METHODS: Two independent clinical trials were
      carried out on patients with types 1 and 2 diabetes mellitus, the glycemic levels
      of whom were monitored in an in-home setting for 100-hour periods. A new
      multiparametric algorithm was developed and used to compensate in real-time the
      GlucoMen(r)Day signal. The time lag between continuous glucose monitoring (CGM)
      and reference data was first estimated using the Poincare plot method. The entire
      set of CGM/reference data pairs was then evaluated following the CG-EGA criteria,
      which allowed an estimation of the combined point and rate accuracy stratified by
      glycemic ranges. RESULTS: With an estimated time lag of 11 minutes, the linear
      regression analysis of the CGM/reference glucose values yielded r = 0.92. The
      mean absolute error (MAE) was 11.4 mg/dl. The calculated mean absolute rate
      deviation (MARD) was 0.63 mg/dl/min. The data points falling within the A+B zones
      of CG-EGA were 100% in hypoglycemia, 95.7% in euglycemia, and 95.2% in
      hyperglycemia. CONCLUSIONS: The GlucoMen(r)Day system provided reliable, real
      time measurement of subcutaneous glucose levels in patients with diabetes for up
      to 100 hours. The device showed the ability to follow rapid glycemic excursions
      and detect severe hypoglycemic events accurately. Its accuracy parameters fitted
      the criteria of the state-of-the-art consensus guideline for CGMS, with highly
      consistent results from two independent studies.

PMID- 20920439
TI  - Analysis of GlucoMen(r)Day: a novel microdialysis-based continuous glucose
      monitor.
AB  - In this issue of Journal of Diabetes Science and Technology, Valgimigli and
      colleagues present promising data on the clinical accuracy of the new
      microdialysis-based continuous glucose monitoring device GlucoMen(r)Day. In this
      analysis, two issues are addressed: first, the established way data analyses may
      obscure interindividual variability in terms of a glucose monitoring system's
      accuracy; and second, to fully appreciate the future merits of the new system,
      data on accuracy, while a clearly necessary prerequisite, are not sufficient and
      need to be augmented by patient-reported outcome data as highlighted by recent
      U.S. Food and Drug Administration guidelines.

PMID- 20920440
TI  - Accuracy and reliability of the Nova StatStrip(r) glucose meter for real-time
      blood glucose determinations during glucose clamp studies.
AB  - AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: The Andres clamp technique, which requires accurate and timely
      determination of glucose, utilizes the Beckman or Yellow Springs Instruments
      (YSI) glucose analyzers. Both instruments require maintenance, a dedicated
      operator, preparation of a plasma sample, and a duplicate measurement that takes
      >=2 minutes. The Nova StatStrip glucose meter was evaluated for accuracy,
      reliability, and near-real-time availability of glucose. METHODS: Blood samples
      from 24 patients who underwent 6-hour clamp studies and 12 patients who had a
      standardized meal tolerance test (SMT) were measured. Specimens were analyzed
      simultaneously and immediately upon collection by Beckman, YSI, and Nova.
      RESULTS: Of 1004 data pairs for the Nova device versus Beckman, the Nova data
      points ranged from 32 to 444, while Beckman ranged from 42 to 412. The
      coefficient for the slope of Beckman versus Nova was 1.009 (r = 0.978). Using
      error grid analysis, the number and percentage of values for Nova were 976
      (97.2%) in the A zone and 28 (2.8%) in the B zone. Of 399 data pairs for the Nova
      device versus YSI, the Nova data points ranged from 46 to 255, whereas YSI ranged
      from 47 to 231. The coefficient for the slope of YSI versus Nova was 1.023 (r =
      0.989). All Nova readings fell in the A zone. Time required for final reading, in
      duplicate, was 15 seconds for Nova and 120-180 seconds for Beckman and YSI.
      CONCLUSIONS: The simplicity of Nova and its reliability, accuracy, and speed make
      it an acceptable replacement device for Beckman and YSI in the conduct of clamps,
      especially when perturbations require rapid glucose determination.

PMID- 20920441
TI  - Analysis of the Nova Stat Strip(r) glucose meter for real-time blood glucose
      determinations during glucose clamp studies: "don't swap horses in midstream".
AB  - Proper performance of glucose clamps is critically dependent on reliable blood
      glucose (BG) measurements. A number of requirements have to be fulfilled by a
      system that aims to replace the laboratory devices that are currently in use.
      Many more aspects need to be taken into account besides the accuracy of BG
      measurement. It might very well be that the BG meter studied by Rabiee and
      colleagues in this issue of Journal of Diabetes Science and Technology fulfills
      most or all of such requirements; however, these aspects have to be tested more
      thoroughly before one switches from an established measurement method to the Nova
      Stat Strip(r) glucometer.

PMID- 20920442
TI  - Validation of a deconvolution procedure (AutoDecon) for identification and
      characterization of fasting insulin secretory bursts.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Insulin secretion is pulsatile, and has been shown to be altered in
      both physiologic and pathophysiologic conditions. The identification and
      characterization of such pulses have been challenging, partially because of the
      low concentrations of insulin during fasting and its short half-life. Existing
      pulse detection algorithms used to identify insulin pulses either cannot separate
      hormone pulses into their secretory burst and clearance components, or have been
      limited by both the subjective nature of initial peak selection and a lack of
      statistical verification of bursts. METHODS: To address these concerns, we have
      developed AutoDecon, a novel deconvolution computer program. RESULTS: AutoDecon
      was applied to synthetic insulin concentration-time series modeled on data
      derived from normal fasting subjects and simulated to reflect several sampling
      frequencies, sampling durations, and assay replicates. The operating
      characteristics of AutoDecon were compared to those obtained with Cluster, a
      standard pulse detection algorithm. AutoDecon performed considerably better than
      Cluster with regard to sensitivity and secretory burst detection rates for true
      positives, false positives, and false negatives. As expected, given the short
      half-life of insulin, sampling at 30-second intervals is required for optimal
      analytical results. The choice of sampling duration is more flexible and relates
      to the number of replicates assayed. CONCLUSION: AutoDecon represents a viable
      alternative to standard pulse detection algorithms for the appraisal of fasting
      insulin pulsatility.

PMID- 20920443
TI  - Modeling the effects of subcutaneous insulin administration and carbohydrate
      consumption on blood glucose.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Estimation of the magnitude and duration of effects of carbohydrate
      (CHO) and subcutaneously administered insulin on blood glucose (BG) is required
      for improved BG regulation in people with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). The
      goal of this study was to quantify these effects in people with T1DM using a
      novel protocol. METHODS: The protocol duration was 8 hours: a 1-3 U subcutaneous
      (SC) insulin bolus was administered and a 25-g CHO meal was consumed, with these
      inputs separated by 3-5 hours. The DexCom SEVEN(r) PLUS continuous glucose
      monitor was used to obtain SC glucose measurements every 5 minutes and YSI 2300
      Stat Plus was used to obtain intravenous glucose measurements every 15 minutes.
      RESULTS: The protocol was tested on 11 subjects at Sansum Diabetes Research
      Institute. The intersubject parameter coefficient of variation for the best
      identification method was 170%. The mean percentages of output variation
      explained by the bolus insulin and meal models were 68 and 69%, respectively,
      with root mean square error of 14 and 10 mg/dl, respectively. Relationships
      between the model parameters and clinical parameters were observed. CONCLUSION:
      Separation of insulin boluses and meals in time allowed unique identification of
      model parameters. The wide intersubject variation in parameters supports the
      notion that glucose-insulin models and thus insulin delivery algorithms for
      people with T1DM should be personalized. This experimental protocol could be used
      to refine estimates of the correction factor and the insulin-to-carbohydrate
      ratio used by people with T1DM.

PMID- 20920444
TI  - Correct use of a new reusable insulin injection pen by patients with diabetes: a
      design validation study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Insulin pen devices are currently being used by approximately half of
      insulin users worldwide. ClikSTAR(r) (sanofi-aventis) is a novel reusable insulin
      pen for injecting either long-acting insulin glargine or short-acting insulin
      glulisine. The objective of this study was to demonstrate that individuals with
      diabetes could use the ClikSTAR pen correctly. METHODS: In this open-label,
      single-center study, people with diabetes delivered three 40 U insulin doses
      after receiving training from a diabetes specialist (group A, n = 256) or after
      self-training (group B, n = 47). Administration of a dose of 75-115% of the
      intended dose was considered successful. Adverse events (AEs) and product
      technical complaints (PTCs) were recorded. RESULTS: In group A (68% females, 93%
      Hispanic ethnicity, 97% type 2 diabetes mellitus, mean +/- standard deviation age
      52 +/- 11 years, diabetes duration 11 +/- 7 years), half of the participants had
      prior experience in using insulin pen devices. All except one participant (99.6%)
      in group A successfully delivered three insulin doses. The lower one-tailed 95%
      confidence limit for the success rate (98.2%) was higher than the predefined
      target of 90%. Demographic/baseline characteristics were similar in group B, but
      70% had not previously used an injection pen. Group B also showed success; 93.6%
      of participants successfully completed three dose deliveries. No AEs were
      reported, although one participant (0.4%) in group A reported one PTC during the
      training period that was due to a blocked needle. CONCLUSIONS: This study
      successfully validated the ClikSTAR pen for use by individuals with diabetes.

PMID- 20920445
TI  - Analysis: including visually impaired participants in validation design studies
      of diabetes technology.
AB  - In an article in this issue of Journal of Diabetes Science and Technology,
      Sherwyn Schwartz, M.D., presents a study to validate the design of the
      ClikSTAR(r) insulin pen from sanofi-aventis and demonstrates that the device can
      be used correctly by participants with diabetes. Concern with this article lies
      with the selection of participants, which was meant to reflect the intended
      audience for the insulin pen device but does not address the inclusion of
      visually impaired individuals, who comprise over 20% of the adult diabetes
      population. Visually impaired individuals need to be included as part of the
      intended audience for insulin administration technology, and manufacturers of
      these devices need to design their products for safe use by all people, including
      those who are visually impaired. The study demonstrated successful use of the
      ClikSTAR insulin pen in a population that did not include subjects with severe
      visual impairment. We believe that future validation studies for insulin
      administration technology should also include samples of visually impaired users
      and that visually impaired patients will embrace the use of insulin pens designed
      with their needs in mind.

PMID- 20920447
TI  - The Sardinian way to type 1 diabetes.
AB  - Sardinia and Finland are the "hottest" areas for type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM)
      worldwide. Its genetic and epidemiological background make Sardinia an ideal
      region for investigating environmental, immunological, and genetic factors
      related to the etiopathogenesis of T1DM. Consequently, in 1990, the Insulin
      Dependent Diabetes Mellitus Sardinia Project was launched in order to map the
      geographical distribution of T1DM in the island and to investigate preclinical
      phases of T1DM in a large cohort of people genetically at risk. The final goal
      would be to design models of prediction and to formulate safe preventive
      measures, especially addressed to the general population living in areas at high
      risk.

PMID- 20920446
TI  - Enhancing clinical islet transplantation through tissue engineering strategies.
AB  - Clinical islet transplantation (CIT), the infusion of allogeneic islets within
      the liver, has the potential to provide precise and sustainable control of blood
      glucose levels for the treatment of type 1 diabetes. The success and long-term
      outcomes of CIT, however, are limited by obstacles such as a nonoptimal
      transplantation site and severe inflammatory and immunological responses to the
      transplant. Tissue engineering strategies are poised to combat these challenges.
      In this review, emerging methods for engineering an optimal islet transplantation
      site, as well as novel approaches for improving islet cell encapsulation, are
      discussed.

PMID- 20920448
TI  - Obesity Reduction and Awareness and Screening of Noncommunicable Diseases through
      Group Education in children and adolescents (ORANGE): methodology paper (ORANGE
      1).
AB  - AIM: Our goal is to estimate the prevalence of obesity, glucose intolerance,
      hypertension, dyslipidemia, and metabolic syndrome among urban children and
      adolescents aged 6-19 years and to raise awareness about noncommunicable diseases
      (NCDs) among school children in Chennai, South India. METHODS: The Obesity
      Reduction and Awareness and Screening of Noncommunicable Diseases through Group
      Education project plans to reach out to children and adolescents using two
      approaches: the school and the community approach. The school approach aims to
      reach out to a representative sample of approximately 20,000 urban school
      children and adolescents, aged 6-19 years, covering 50 schools from all parts of
      Chennai. Anthropometric measures will include height, weight, waist, body fat,
      and blood pressure. Data on demographics, family profile, behavioral aspects,
      physical activity, and food pattern will be obtained by using a validated
      questionnaire. Awareness about metabolic NCDs like obesity and diabetes will be
      increased by educating the children and adolescents about healthy lifestyles.
      Through the community approach, 2000 children and adolescents from randomly
      selected residential colonies in Chennai will be screened for obesity, glucose
      intolerance, hypertension, dyslipidemia, and metabolic syndrome. EXPECTED
      OUTCOMES: Awareness about NCDs will be increased among children and their parents
      in Chennai. This study will also provide valuable epidemiological data on
      obesity, glucose intolerance, dyslipidemia, hypertension and metabolic syndrome
      in children and adolescents in urban India.

PMID- 20920449
TI  - We need tighter regulatory standards for blood glucose monitoring, but they
      should be for accuracy disclosure.
AB  - Regulatory interest has focused on the accuracy of blood glucose monitoring
      systems. Currently, almost all systems meet the International Organization for
      Standardization (ISO) 15197 clinical standard (>=95% of the values within 20% of
      the reference for values above 75 mg/dl and within 15 mg/dl below that level).
      Should the systems have to meet one of the extended ISO standards of 15%, 10%, or
      even 5%? There is a wide variety of people with diabetes doing glucose
      monitoring, and the majority do not need better accuracy. Indeed, when selecting
      an insulin dose, the inaccuracy of the glucose reading has little effect compared
      with the inaccuracy in counting carbohydrates and the variability in insulin
      absorption. It might be far better to evaluate the accuracy in a standard method
      and provide the accuracy values on a standard label. Patients and health care
      providers could then select the monitoring system that best meets their needs.

PMID- 20920450
TI  - Glucose information for tight glycemic control: different methods with different
      challenges.
AB  - Rigorous glucose control is essential for prevention of diabetes-related
      complications in diabetes patients. Even without diabetes, tight glucose control
      is beneficial in hospitalized, critically ill patients. Actually, three different
      glucose measurement methods are used: (1) hand held devices, (2) blood-gas
      analyzers, and (3) laboratory analyzers in core laboratories. Each method is
      subject to specific challenges and limitations that can affect the overall system
      performance. In this article, we aim to demonstrate that even glucose measurement
      results from core laboratories (professional laboratory systems) do not
      necessarily reflect the absolute "true" glucose level of a patient.

PMID- 20920451
TI  - Missing elements revisited: information engineering for managing quality of care
      for patients with diabetes.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Advances in information technology offer new avenues for assembling
      data about diet and care regimens of diabetes patients "in the field." This
      creates a challenge for their doctors and the diabetes care community--how to
      organize and use new data to produce better long-term outcomes for diabetes
      patients. METHODS: iAbetics approaches the challenge as a quality management
      problem, drawing on total quality concepts, which in turn are grounded in
      application of the scientific method. We frame the diabetes patient's quality-of
      care problem as an ongoing scientific investigation aimed at quantifying and
      predicting relationships between specific care-management actions and their
      outcomes for individual patients in their ordinary course of life. RESULTS:
      Framing diabetes quality-of-care management as a scientific investigation leads
      to a seven-step model termed "adaptive empirical iteration." Adaptive empirical
      iteration is a deliberate process to perfect the patient's choices, decisions,
      and actions in routine situations that make up most day-to-day life and to
      systematically adapt across differences in individual patients and/or changes in
      their physiology, diet, or environment. The architecture incorporates care
      protocol management and version control, structured formats for data collection
      using mobile smart phones, statistical analysis on secure Web sites, tools for
      comparing alternative protocols, choice architecture technology to improve
      patient decisions, and information sharing for doctor review. CONCLUSIONS:
      Adaptive empirical iteration is a foundation for information architecture
      designed to systematically improve quality-of-care provided to diabetes patients
      who act as their own day-to-day care provider under supervision and with support
      from their doctor. The approach defines "must-have" capabilities for systems
      using new information technology to improve long-term outcomes for diabetes
      patients.

PMID- 20920452
TI  - Bovine fasciolosis in the human fasciolosis hyperendemic Binh Dinh province in
      Central Vietnam.
AB  - A cross-sectional survey on bovine fasciolosis was conducted in the Binh Dinh
      province of Central Vietnam that was previously identified as hyperendemic for
      human fasciolosis. In Vietnam, both pure Fasciola gigantica and hybrid and/or
      introgressed populations of liverflukes bearing genetic material from both
      Fasciola hepatica and F. gigantica infect humans and animals. In this study, 825
      cattle were randomly selected from 8 of the 11 provincial districts for faecal
      collection; blood samples were taken from 400 of these animals. Fasciola eggs and
      antibodies against Fasciola were detected by a quantitative sedimentation method
      and an Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay, respectively. Overall, 54.9% of the
      animals were shedding Fasciola eggs while 72.2% were Fasciola seropositive.
      Animals under two years showed lower Fasciola infection rates than older animals.
      There were no differences in infection rates between districts. These results
      indicate a very high prevalence of Fasciola infections in cattle in Binh Dinh
      province. It is concluded that a fasciolosis control programme should be designed
      in this region aiming at reducing infection in both cattle and humans.

PMID- 20920453
TI  - Capacity building for the modified filarial hydrocelectomy technique in West
      Africa.
AB  - To harmonise the technique of filarial hydrocelectomy throughout the West African
      subregion, training workshops were organized in 10 endemic West African countries
      involving surgeries on Filarial hydrocele patients (Filariceles). Countries
      included Ghana, Nigeria, Niger, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Mali, Liberia, Gambia,
      Sierra Leone and Togo. Patients were recruited by the Filariasis programme
      managers in all these countries and workshops were done to train surgeons from
      teaching, government and district hospitals with funding mainly from the West
      African Filariasis Project. A total of 16 workshops were held in 10 West African
      Countries, and a total of 500 filarial hydrocele/chylocele cases were operated
      using the technique of total tunical resection without drainage with excellent
      postoperative results. The average operating time for a unilateral hydrocele was
      45 min to 1h and for bilateral hydrocele was 11/2 h to 2h depending on the size
      of the hydrocele .All patients were admitted for a minimum of 5 days
      postoperative. Training workshops were successfully organized in 10 out of the
      envisaged 12 west African Countries with 214 surgeons trained. Since 2004 till
      date the trained surgeons have also operated 2500 filaricele cases bringing it to
      a total of 3000 cases operated so far. Evaluation studies revealed that the
      infection rates in one country was initially 60% and then it later dropped to 20%
      and this was actually attributed to poor follow up by the selected National
      Coordinator. However complication rates in all the Countries where workshops were
      done ranged between 5% and 7% made up of infection, haematoma and or delayed
      wound healing. Recurrence rates have been very low about 3-5% per Country.

PMID- 20920454
TI  - Sequence-specific detection using a universal probe system based on the formation
      of a four-way junction structure.
AB  - We have developed a novel hybridization detection system using a universal probe
      based on the formation of a four-way junction (4WJ) structure. This methodology
      employs a combination of two sequence-specific probes and a universal quenching
      probe, and the same universal probe can be used for any target gene, allowing
      cost-effective assays. This 4WJ detection is ideal for extensive parallel
      identification of nucleic acids such as in multiplex polymerase chain reaction
      (PCR) systems. Compared with gel electrophoresis, this detection procedure is not
      only sensitive and rapid but also free of hazardous chemicals such as ethidium
      bromide. In addition, the 4WJ hybridization technology is more specific as an
      identifier than the size of a band on an agarose gel. We used a model multiplex
      PCR method that detected eight different virulence genes in Escherichia coli
      isolates, demonstrating that our 4WJ detection system is rapid, sensitive, and
      specific.

PMID- 20920455
TI  - Sodium dodecyl sulfate-agarose gel electrophoresis for the detection and
      isolation of amyloid curli fibers.
AB  - Curli are amyloid-like fibers on the surface of some strains of Escherichia coli
      and Salmonella enteritidis. We tested the use of horizontal sodium dodecyl
      sulfate (SDS)-agarose gel electrophoresis to detect, isolate, and quantitate
      curli. Cell extracts fractionated in SDS-agarose gels and stained with Coomassie
      blue exhibited a soluble fraction that entered the gel and an insoluble fraction
      that remained in the well. Much more insoluble material was observed with curli
      proficient strains than with strains that do not make curli. Both highly purified
      curli and the insoluble material isolated from an SDS-agarose gel could be
      dissociated into monomers when treated with formic acid. For quantitation, we
      immobilized samples in SDS-agarose prior to electrophoresis. This avoids losses
      during the staining of the gel. Our methods provide a rapid and simple
      fractionation of curli using equipment that is readily available.

PMID- 20920456
TI  - A high-affinity recombinant antibody permits rapid and sensitive direct detection
      of myeloperoxidase.
AB  - Over the past 10 years, a growing field of research supporting the value of
      myeloperoxidase (MPO) as a prognostic indicator in acute cardiac
      pathophysiologies has emerged. The availability of a rapid and disposable MPO
      detection platform would enable research clinicians to more readily assess MPO
      indications for guiding therapy and also facilitate clinicians at the patient
      interface to readily adopt MPO testing and potentially drive more informed
      prognoses. Here we describe the isolation of a high-affinity avian MPO-specific
      recombinant antibody panel using phage display. Rapid isolation of a suitable
      single-chain variable fragment (scFv) antibody was facilitated using a surface
      plasmon resonance (SPR)-based "off-rate ranking" screening process. The selected
      scFv was then successfully incorporated into a rapid, simple, and sensitive one
      step lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA) for the detection of MPO. This "one-step"
      feature of the developed assay was made possible by the scFv's strong affinity
      for MPO, obviating the need for sandwich signal enhancement steps. The assay's
      rapid performance was also further enhanced by exploiting the intrinsic enzymatic
      properties of MPO in its final detection. Use of the optimized LFIA facilitated
      the sensitive detection of MPO in MPO-depleted serum within clinically relevant
      reference ranges.

PMID- 20920457
TI  - Engineering of a broad-specificity antibody: detection of eight fluoroquinolone
      antibiotics simultaneously.
AB  - Recombinant sarafloxacin-recognizing antibody was engineered with the use of
      novel fluoroquinolone (FQ) derivatives. A monoclonal FQ antibody, 6H7, was
      targeted to random mutagenesis to broaden the specificity of the antibody in
      development of a generic assay for FQ antibiotics. Engineering involved the
      synthesis of different small-sized FQ molecules to immobilize and detect the
      mutant antibodies. Selections with labeled FQs resulted in several mutant
      antibodies with increased affinity or wider specificity toward different FQs. The
      best characterized mutant antibody was capable of recognizing seven of eight
      targeted FQs below maximum residue limits set by the European Union. The results
      are promising in regard to the development of a multiresidue immunoassay for FQs
      based on a single antibody.

PMID- 20920459
TI  - Vitamin B(12) incorporated with multiwalled carbon nanotube composite film for
      the determination of hydrazine.
AB  - Electrochemically active composite film containing multiwalled carbon nanotubes
      (MWCNTs) and vitamin B(12) was synthesized on glassy carbon, gold, and indium tin
      oxide electrodes by the potentiodynamic method. The presence of MWCNTs in the
      composite film (MWCNT-B(12)) modified electrode mediates vitamin B(12)'s redox
      reaction, whereas vitamin B(12)'s redox reaction does not occur at bare
      electrode. The electrochemical impedance spectroscopy studies reveal that MWCNTs
      present in MWCNT-B(12) film enhance electron shuttling between the reactant and
      electrode surface. The surface morphology of bare electrode, MWCNT film. and
      MWCNT-B(12) composite film was studied using atomic force microscopy, which
      reveals vitamin B(12) incorporated with MWCNTs. The MWCNT-B(12) composite film
      exhibits promising enhanced electrocatalysis toward hydrazine. The
      electrocatalysis response of hydrazine at MWCNT film and MWCNT-B(12) composite
      film was measured using cyclic voltammetry and amperometric current-time (i-t)
      curve techniques. The linear concentration range of hydrazine obtained at MWCNT
      B(12) composite film using the i-t curve technique is 2.0 MUM-1.95 mM. Similarly,
      the sensitivity of MWCNT-B(12) composite film for hydrazine determination using
      the i-t curve technique is 1.32 mA mM(-1)cm(-2), and the hydrazine's limit of
      detection at MWCNT-B(12) composite film is 0.7 MUM.

PMID- 20920458
TI  - Comparison of metalloproteinase protein and activity profiling.
AB  - Proteolytic enzymes play fundamental roles in many biological processes. Members
      of the matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) family have been shown to take part in
      processes crucial in disease progression. The current study used the ExcelArray
      Human MMP/TIMP Array to quantify MMP and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase
      (TIMP) production in the lysates and media of 14 cancer cell lines and 1 normal
      cell line. The overall patterns were very similar in terms of which MMPs and
      TIMPs were secreted in the media versus associated with the cells in the
      individual samples. However, more MMP was found in the media (in both amount and
      variety). TIMP-1 was produced in all cell lines. MMP activity assays with three
      different fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) substrates were then used
      to determine whether protein production correlated with function for the WM-266-4
      and BJ cell lines. Metalloproteinase activity was observed for both cell lines
      with a general MMP substrate (Knight SSP), consistent with protein production
      data. However, although both cell lines promoted the hydrolysis of a more
      selective MMP substrate (NFF-3), metalloproteinase activity was confirmed only in
      the BJ cell line. The use of inhibitors to confirm metalloproteinase activities
      pointed to the strengths and weaknesses of in situ FRET substrate assays.

PMID- 20920460
TI  - PHK from phenol hydroxylase of Pseudomonas sp. OX1. Insight into the role of an
      accessory protein in bacterial multicomponent monooxygenases.
AB  - Bacterial multicomponent monooxygenases (BMMs) are members of a wide family of
      diiron enzymes that use molecular oxygen to hydroxylate a variety of aromatic
      compounds. The presence of genes encoding for accessory proteins not involved in
      catalysis and whose role is still elusive, is a common feature of the gene
      clusters of several BMMs, including phenol hydroxylases and several soluble
      methane monooxygenases. In this study we have expressed, purified, and partially
      characterized the accessory component PHK of the phenol hydroxylase from
      Pseudomonas sp. OX1, a bacterium able to degrade several aromatic compounds. The
      phenol hydroxylase (ph) gene cluster was expressed in Escherichia coli/JM109
      cells in the absence and in the presence of the phk gene. The presence of the phk
      gene lead to an increase in the hydroxylase activity of whole recombinant cells
      with phenol. PHK was assessed for its ability to interact with the active
      hydroxylase complex. Our results show that PHK is neither involved in the
      catalytic activity of the phenol hydroxylase complex nor required for the
      assembly of apo-hydroxylase. Our results suggest instead that this component may
      be responsible for enhancing iron incorporation into the active site of the apo
      hydroxylase.

PMID- 20920461
TI  - Modulation of expression and polymerization of hemoglobin Polytaur, a potential
      blood substitute.
AB  - Chemically or genetically modified hemoglobins are a therapeutic class indicated
      for the treatment of a variety of hypo-oxygenation pathologies, severe trauma
      related hemorrhages or elective surgery when blood transfusions are refused or
      not available. Recombinant heterologous hemoglobins offer the possibility of a
      potentially unlimited production and genetically optimized properties in terms of
      oxygen affinity, NO reactivity and resistance to autoxidation. Hemoglobin
      Polytaur is an autopolymerizing human-bovine hybrid mutant, previously obtained
      as a 500kDa polymer, shown to reduce the infarct volume from focal cerebral
      ischemia in in vivo animal models. In this work, hemoglobin Polytaur
      polymerization, carried out under conditions to minimize heme oxidation and
      modification, resulted in a 180kDa cyclic homogeneous trimer of hemoglobin
      tetramers. This novel oligomer was characterized by electrophoresis, MALDI-TOF
      mass spectrometry and gel filtration. The size and the oxygen binding properties
      were shown to be ideally suited for its use as a blood substitute. Co-expression
      with the human alpha hemoglobin-stabilizing protein (AHSP), a chaperone that
      assists hemoglobin folding in vivo, resulted in an unexpected decrease in yield
      and in unusual spectroscopic and functional properties, suggesting the formation
      of strong protein-protein interactions that reduce the expression, hinder the
      tetramer assembly and prevent purification.

PMID- 20920462
TI  - Unusual P450 reactions in plant secondary metabolism.
AB  - Plant cytochromes P450 (P450s) participate in a variety of biochemical pathways
      to produce a vast diversity of plant natural products. The number of P450 genes
      in plant genomes is estimated to be up to 1% of the total gene annotations of
      each plant species, implying that plants are huge sources for various P450
      dependent reactions. Plant P450s catalyze a wide variety of
      monooxygenation/hydroxylation reactions in secondary metabolism, and some of them
      are involved in unusual reactions such as methylenedioxy-bridge formation, phenol
      coupling reactions, oxidative rearrangement of carbon skeletons, and oxidative C
      C bond cleavage. Here, we summarize unusual P450 reactions in various plant
      secondary metabolisms, and describe their proposed reaction mechanisms.

PMID- 20920463
TI  - The structure and function of eukaryotic photosystem I.
AB  - Eukaryotic photosystem I consists of two functional moieties: the photosystem I
      core, harboring the components for the light-driven charge separation and the
      subsequent electron transfer, and the peripheral light-harvesting complex (LHCI).
      While the photosystem I-core remained highly conserved throughout the evolution,
      with the exception of the oxidizing side of photosystem I, the LHCI complex shows
      a high degree of variability in size, subunits composition and bound pigments,
      which is due to the large variety of different habitats photosynthetic organisms
      dwell in. Besides summarizing the most current knowledge on the photosystem I
      core structure, we will discuss the composition and structure of the LHCI complex
      from different eukaryotic organisms, both from the red and the green clade.
      Furthermore, mechanistic insights into electron transfer between the donor and
      acceptor side of photosystem I and its soluble electron transfer carrier proteins
      will be given. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Regulation of
      Electron Transport in Chloroplasts.

PMID- 20920464
TI  - Interaction of chromium(III) complexes with model lipid bilayers: implications on
      cellular uptake.
AB  - To understand molecular cytotoxicity of chromium(III) and how it affects the
      stability of biological membranes, studies on the interaction of chromium(III)
      complexes aquapentaminechromium complex (complex I) and trans- [Cr(5
      methoxysalcyclohex) (H(2)O) (2)] ClO(4) (complex II) with model biomembranes have
      been carried out. Langmuir films of dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine (DMPC),
      dipalmitoylphosphatidic acid (DPPA), dioctadecyldimethylammoniumbromide (DOMA) at
      air/water interface interacting with the chromium(III) complexes have been
      characterized using the surface pressure-molecular area (pi-A) isotherms. Initial
      surface pressures changes for the two complexes show that the chromium(III)
      complexes inserted in the Langmuir films and complex I interacted strongly
      compared to complex II. Supported bilayers (SB) of the lipids on solid substrates
      formed by hydrating their Langmuir-Blodgett films (LB films) have been
      characterized using linear dichroic spectra, low angle X-ray diffraction and
      steady state fluorescence anisotropy. Depending on the geometry of the ligands
      and concentration, the complexes either insert in the alkyl or in the head group
      region of the SB and sometimes in both regions. The Supported lipid bilayers are
      well-layered and at low concentration, the metal complexes are incorporated near
      the head group region. Order and increase in lamellar spacing show stronger
      interaction of complex I with the lipids compared with complex II. This study
      provides some insights into the mechanism of chromium(III) toxicity and uptake of
      chromium(III) by the cells.

PMID- 20920465
TI  - Different membrane behaviour and cellular uptake of three basic arginine-rich
      peptides.
AB  - Cell penetrating peptides (CPPs) are peptides displaying the ability to cross
      cell membranes and transport cargo molecules inside cells. Several uptake
      mechanisms (endocytic or direct translocation through the membrane) are being
      considered, but the interaction between the CPP and the cell membrane is
      certainly a preliminary key point to the entry of the peptide into the cell. In
      this study, we used three basic peptides: RL9 (RRLLRRLRR-NH(2)), RW9 (RRWWRRWRR
      NH(2)) and R9 (RRRRRRRRR-NH(2)). While RW9 and R9 were internalised into wild
      type Chinese Hamster Ovary cells (CHO) and glycosaminoglycan-deficient CHO cells,
      at 4 degrees C and 37 degrees C, RL9 was not internalised into CHO cells. To
      better understand the differences between RW9, R9 and RL9 in terms of uptake, we
      studied the interaction of these peptides with model lipid membranes. The effect
      of the three peptides on the thermotropic phase behaviour of a zwitterionic lipid
      (DMPC) and an anionic lipid (DMPG) was investigated with differential scanning
      calorimetry (DSC). The presence of negative charges on the lipid headgroups
      appeared to be essential to trigger the peptide/lipid interaction. RW9 and R9
      disturbed the main phase transition of DMPG, whereas RL9 did not induce
      significant effects. Isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) allowed us to study
      the binding of these peptides to large unilamellar vesicles (LUVs). RW9 and R9
      proved to have about ten fold more affinity for DSPG LUVs than RL9. With circular
      dichroism (CD) and NMR spectroscopy, the secondary structure of RL9, RW9 and R9
      in aqueous buffer or lipid/detergent conditions was investigated. Additionally,
      we tested the antimicrobial activity of these peptides against Escherichia coli
      and Staphylococcus aureus, as CPPs and antimicrobial peptides are known to share
      several common characteristics. Only RW9 was found to be mildly bacteriostatic
      against E. coli. These studies helped us to get a better understanding as to why
      R9 and RW9 are able to cross the cell membrane while RL9 remains bound to the
      surface without entering the cell.

PMID- 20920466
TI  - Effect of trehalose on the interaction of Alzheimer's Abeta-peptide and anionic
      lipid monolayers.
AB  - The interaction of amyloid beta-peptide (Abeta) with cell membranes is believed
      to play a central role in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease. In particular,
      recent experimental evidence indicates that bilayer and monolayer membranes
      accelerate the aggregation and amyloid fibril formation rate of Abeta.
      Understanding that interaction could help develop therapeutic strategies for
      treatment of the disease. Trehalose, a disaccharide of glucose, has been shown to
      be effective in preventing the aggregation of numerous proteins. It has also been
      shown to delay the onset of certain amyloid-related diseases in a mouse model.
      Using Langmuir monolayers and molecular simulations of the corresponding system,
      we study several thermodynamic and kinetic aspects of the insertion of Abeta
      peptide into DPPG monolayers in water and trehalose subphases. In the water
      subphase, the insertion of the Abeta peptide into the monolayer exhibits a lag
      time which decreases with increasing temperature of the subphase. In the presence
      of trehalose, the lag time is completely eliminated and peptide insertion is
      completed within a shorter time period compared to that observed in pure water.
      Molecular simulations show that more peptide is inserted into the monolayer in
      the water subphase, and that such insertion is deeper. The peptide at the
      monolayer interface orients itself parallel to the monolayer, while it inserts
      with an angle of 50 degrees  in the trehalose subphase. Simulations also show
      that trehalose reduces the conformational change that the peptide undergoes when
      it inserts into the monolayer. This observation helps explain the experimentally
      observed elimination of the lag time by trehalose and the temperature dependence
      of the lag time in the water subphase.

PMID- 20920467
TI  - Corepressor MMTR/DMAP1 is an intrinsic negative regulator of CAK kinase to
      regulate cell cycle progression.
AB  - We have previously reported that MMTR (MAT1-mediated transcriptional repressor)
      is a co-repressor that inhibits TFIIH-mediated transcriptional activity via
      interaction with MAT1 (Kang et al., 2007). Since MAT1 is a member of the CAK
      kinase complex that is crucial for cell cycle progression and that regulates CDK
      phosphorylation as well as the general transcription factor TFIIH, we
      investigated MMTR function in cell cycle progression. We found that MMTR over
      expression delayed G1/S and G2/M transitions, whereas co-expression of MAT1 and
      MMTR rescued the cell growth and proliferation rate. Moreover, MMTR was required
      for inhibition of CAK kinase-mediated CDK1 phosphorylation. We also showed that
      the expression level of MMTR was modulated during cell cycle progression. Our
      data support the notion that MMTR is an intrinsic negative cell cycle regulator
      that modulates the CAK kinase activity via interaction with MAT1.

PMID- 20920468
TI  - The inhibition of the T-cell immunoglobulin and mucin domain 3 (Tim3) pathway
      enhances the efficacy of tumor vaccine.
AB  - T-cell immunoglobulin and mucin domain 3 (Tim3) plays an important role in the
      Th1-mediated immune response; however, its effect on the efficacy of tumor
      vaccines has not been fully evaluated. Here, we demonstrate the effect of Tim3
      pathway inhibition on tumor growth in mice. Lewis lung carcinoma (3LL) cells
      expressing a Tim3 pathway inhibitor, when injected into mice, showed suppressed
      tumor growth and a reduced frequency of CD4(+)CD25(+)Foxp3(+) T-cells.
      Furthermore, Tim3 pathway inhibition significantly enhanced the efficacy of a
      prophylactic tumor vaccine and marginally enhanced the efficacy of a therapeutic
      tumor vaccine. However, when given in combination with the chemotherapeutic
      agent, 5-fluorouracil, the therapeutic tumor vaccine capable of Tim3 pathway
      inhibition had no additional anti-tumor effect. Our results show that Tim3
      pathway inhibition can enhance tumor vaccine efficacy.

PMID- 20920469
TI  - Regulatory T cells as a potent target for controlling bone loss.
AB  - Metabolic bone diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and osteoporosis,
      affect hundreds and millions of people worldwide leading causes of long-term pain
      and disability. Effective clinical treatment for bone destruction in bone
      diseases is lacking because the knowledge about molecular mechanisms leading to
      bone destruction are incompletely understood. Recently, it has been confirmed
      that regulatory T cells (Tregs) play a crucial role in suppressing the immune
      response in the pathogenesis of various autoimmune diseases. In vitro, Tregs
      directly inhibit osteoclasts and differentiation and function. In mice, the
      injection of Tregs into the TNF transgenic results in enhanced systemic bone
      density. In addition, it has been shown that increase of Tregs numbers by
      overexpressing the FoxP3 is effective in the prevention of local and systemic
      bone destruction. In vivo treatment with anti-CD28 superagonist antibody leading
      to a stronger increase in Tregs numbers protect against TNF-a-induced bone loss
      in TNF-transgenic mice. In agreement, Tregs can control ovariectomy-induced bone
      loss in FoxP3-transgenic mice. In this paper, we will briefly discuss the
      biological features of Tregs and summarize recent advances on the role of Tregs
      in the pathogenesis and treatment of bone loss in metabolic bone diseases.

PMID- 20920470
TI  - Molecular expression of Ly6k, a putative glycosylphosphatidyl-inositol-anchored
      membrane protein on the mouse testicular germ cells.
AB  - Ly6k, a putative mouse glycosylphosphatidyl-inositol (GPI)-anchored membrane
      protein is specifically associated with a unique germ-cell marker, TEX101.
      Although a human orthologue LY6K has been proposed as a novel cancer/testis
      antigen, its molecular nature is largely obscure, because its characteristics
      have been gleaned mainly from qualitative studies of gene structure. The aim of
      this study is to characterize molecular nature of Ly6k more precisely,
      especially, to focus on the molecular expression during testicular development.
      The present study have shown that: (1) Ly6k was strongly observed in testis, but
      faint expression was broadly noticed in other tissues; (2) Ly6k was weakly
      detected in testes from 18-day postcoitus to 1-day postpartum (dpp), with a
      plateau starting around 8-dpp; and (3) testicular Ly6k showed two-peak expression
      at around 14-dpp and 24-dpp, then exhibited stable expression from 6-week after
      birth onward. Western blot and immunohistochemical analyses revealed that Ly6k
      exists in at least two forms: a GPI-anchored form (17kDa) and a water-soluble
      (non-membrane) form (12kDa), and the 17-kDa mature form is expressed in the
      testicular germ cells beginning approximately 10days after birth. This
      information is essential for the molecular classification of Ly6k, and may help
      uncover the detailed physiological role of Ly6k in gametogenesis, or cancer
      biology.

PMID- 20920471
TI  - Temperature dependence rigidity of non-taxol stabilized single microtubules.
AB  - Because microtubules are the structural elements of cells, it is essential to
      study the mechanical properties of single microtubules under physiological
      conditions. Previously, we measured the effect of temperature on the flexural
      rigidity of a single taxol-stabilized microtubule and found that the flexural
      rigidity is 2.5*10(-24)Nm(2), independent of temperature in the 20-35 degrees C
      range. Employing the same technique here, we have measured the flexural rigidity
      of microtubules polymerized in the presence of guanylyl-(a,b)-methylene
      diphosphonate (GMPCPP, the slowly hydrolyzable GTP analogue) and in the presence
      of GTP only; both of the states were taxol-free. The obtained values were
      approximately 5-fold (for GMPCPP) and three- to 4-fold (for GTP) greater than
      those of taxol-stabilized microtubules. Interestingly, rigidity decreased as
      temperature increased, that is, temperature dependence was only observed in taxol
      free microtubules. Length dependence was also observed. These results indicate
      that the transition of microtubule's rigidity is associated with the tubulin
      conformation change from a GTP-bound state to a GDP-bound state in the alpha/beta
      subunit. We discuss the relationship of the regulation mechanism of the
      microtubules in the cell body to the changes in rigidity through hydrolysis.

PMID- 20920472
TI  - ATP synthesis is impaired in isolated mitochondria from myotubes established from
      type 2 diabetic subjects.
AB  - To date, it is unknown whether mitochondrial dysfunction in skeletal muscle from
      subjects with type 2 diabetes is based on primarily reduced mitochondrial mass
      and/or a primarily decreased mitochondrial ATP synthesis. Mitochondrial mass were
      determined in myotubes established from eight lean, eight obese and eight
      subjects with type 2 diabetes precultured under normophysiological conditions.
      Furthermore, mitochondria were isolated and ATP production was measured by
      luminescence at baseline and during acute insulin stimulation with or without
      concomitant ATP utilization by hexokinase. Mitochondrial mass and the ATP
      synthesis rate, neither at baseline nor during acute insulin stimulation, were
      not different between groups. The ratio of ATP synthesis rate at hexokinase
      versus ATP synthesis rate at baseline was lower in diabetic mitochondria compared
      to lean mitochondria. Thus the lower content of muscle mitochondria in type 2
      diabetes in vivo is an adaptive trait and mitochondrial dysfunction in type 2
      diabetes in vivo is based both on primarily impaired ATP synthesis and an
      adaptive loss of mitochondrial mass.

PMID- 20920473
TI  - Thr 3 phosphorylated histone H3 concentrates at centromeric chromatin at
      metaphase.
AB  - Thr 3 was one of the newly characterized phosphorylation sites on histone H3.
      However, the functional significance of histone H3 Thr 3 phosphorylation during
      mitosis is unclear. In this study, SDS-PAGE and Western blotting analysis showed
      that histone H3 Thr 3 was phosphorylated specially during mitosis in MCF-10A and
      ECV-304 cells. Using indirect immunofluorescence labeling and laser confocal
      microscopy, we demonstrated that histone H3 Thr 3 phosphorylation occurred from
      prophase to anaphase and dephosphorylated completely in telophase. Remarkably,
      Thr 3 phosphorylated histone H3 mostly concentrated at centromeric chromatin at
      metaphase, which was distinct with Ser 10 phosphorylation aggregated at the
      telomere, but similar to that characteristic of Thr 11 phosphorylated H3 which is
      largely restricted to the centromeric chromatin. Using chromatin
      immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assay, we provided direct evidence that the Thr 3
      phosphorylated H3 is associated with centromeric DNA at metaphase. These findings
      suggested that at metaphase Thr 3 phosphorylated histone H3 may also participate
      in kinetochore assembly to promote faithful chromosome segregation and serve as
      another recognition code for kinetochore proteins.

PMID- 20920474
TI  - The tick saliva immunosuppressor, Salp15, contributes to Th17-induced pathology
      during Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis.
AB  - Salp15 is a tick saliva protein that inhibits CD4(+) T cell differentiation
      through its interaction with CD4. The protein inhibits early signaling events
      during T cell activation and IL-2 production. Because murine Experimental
      Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis development is mediated by central nervous system
      infiltrating CD4(+) T cells that are specific for myelin-associated proteins, we
      sought to determine whether the treatment of mice with Salp15 during EAE
      induction would prevent the generation of proinflammatory T cell responses and
      the development of the disease. Surprisingly, Salp15-treated mice developed more
      severe EAE than control animals. The treatment of EAE-induced mice with the tick
      saliva protein did not result in increased infiltration of T cells to the central
      nervous system, indicating that Salp15 had not affected the permeability of the
      blood-brain barrier. Salp15 treatment did not affect the development of antibody
      responses against the eliciting peptide or the presence of IFNgamma in the sera.
      The treatment with Salp15 resulted, however, in the increased differentiation of
      Th17 cells in vivo, as evidenced by higher IL-17 production from PLP(139-151)
      specific CD4(+) T cells isolated from the central nervous system and the
      periphery. In vitro, Salp15 was able to induce the differentiation of Th17 cells
      in the presence of IL-6 and the absence of TGFbeta These results suggest that a
      conductive milieu for the differentiation of Th17 cells can be achieved by
      restriction of the production of IL-2 during T cell differentiation, a role that
      may be performed by TGFbeta and other immunosuppressive agents.

PMID- 20920475
TI  - Promoter-exon relationship of H3 lysine 9, 27, 36 and 79 methylation on
      pluripotency-associated genes.
AB  - Evidence links pluripotency to a gene regulatory network organized by the
      transcription factors Oct4, Nanog and Sox2. Expression of these genes is
      controlled by epigenetic modifications on regulatory regions. However, little is
      known on profiles of trimethylated H3 lysine residues on coding regions of these
      genes in pluripotent and differentiated cells, and on the interdependence between
      promoter and exon occupancy of modified H3. Here, we determine how H3K9, H3K27,
      H3K36 and H3K79 methylation profiles on exons of OCT4, NANOG and SOX2 correlate
      with expression and promoter occupancy. Expression of OCT4, SOX2 and NANOG in
      embryonal carcinoma cells is associated with a looser chromatin configuration
      than mesenchymal progenitors or fibroblasts, determined by H3 occupancy. Promoter
      H3K27 trimethylation extends into the first exon of repressed OCT4, NANOG and
      SOX2, while H3K9me3 occupies the first exon of these genes irrespective of
      expression. Both H3K36me3 and H3K79me3 are enriched on exons of expressed genes,
      yet with a distinct pattern: H3K36me3 increases towards the 3' end of genes,
      while H3K79me3 is preferentially enriched on first exons. Down-regulation of the
      H3K36 methyltransferase SetD2 by siRNA causes global and gene-specific H3K36
      demethylation and global H3K27 hypermethylation; however it does not affect
      promoter levels of H3K27me3, suggesting for the genes examined independence of
      occupancy of H3K27me3 on promoters and H3K36me3 on exons. mRNA levels are however
      affected, raising the hypothesis of a role of SetD2 on transcription elongation
      and/or termination.

PMID- 20920476
TI  - A Novel mouse model of enhanced proteostasis: Full-length human heat shock factor
      1 transgenic mice.
AB  - The heat shock response (HSR) is controlled by the master transcriptional
      regulator heat shock factor 1 (HSF1). HSF1 maintains proteostasis and resistance
      to stress through production of heat shock proteins (HSPs). No transgenic model
      exists that overexpresses HSF1 in tissues of the central nervous system (CNS). We
      generated a transgenic mouse overexpressing full-length non-mutant HSF1 and
      observed a 2-4-fold increase in HSF1 mRNA and protein expression in all tissues
      studied of HSF1 transgenic (HSF1(+/0)) mice compared to wild type (WT)
      littermates, including several regions of the CNS. Basal expression of HSP70 and
      90 showed only mild tissue-specific changes; however, in response to forced
      exercise, the skeletal muscle HSR was more elevated in HSF1(+/0) mice compared to
      WT littermates and in fibroblasts following heat shock, as indicated by levels of
      inducible HSP70 mRNA and protein. HSF1(+/0) cells elicited a significantly more
      robust HSR in response to expression of the 82 repeat polyglutamine-YFP fusion
      construct (Q82YFP) and maintained proteasome-dependent processing of Q82YFP
      compared to WT fibroblasts. Overexpression of HSF1 was associated with fewer, but
      larger Q82YFP aggregates resembling aggresomes in HSF1(+/0) cells, and increased
      viability. Therefore, our data demonstrate that tissues and cells from mice
      overexpressing full-length non-mutant HSF1 exhibit enhanced proteostasis.

PMID- 20920477
TI  - Low concentration of 4-hydroxy hexenal increases heme oxygenase-1 expression
      through activation of Nrf2 and antioxidative activity in vascular endothelial
      cells.
AB  - Large-scale clinical studies have shown that n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3
      PUFAs) such as eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acids reduce cardiovascular
      events without improving classical risk factors for atherosclerosis. Recent
      studies have proposed that direct actions of n-3 PUFAs themselves, or of their
      enzymatic metabolites, have antioxidative and anti-inflammatory effects on
      vascular cells. Although a recent study showed that plasma 4-hydroxy hexenal (4
      HHE), a peroxidation product of n-3 PUFA, increased after supplementation of
      docosahexaenoic acid, the antiatherogenic effects of 4-HHE in vascular cells
      remain unclear. In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that 4-HHE induces
      the antioxidative enzyme heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) through activation of nuclear
      factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), a master regulatory transcriptional
      factor, and prevents oxidative stress-induced cytotoxicity in vascular
      endothelial cells. This mechanism could partly explain the cardioprotective
      effects of n-3 PUFAs. Human umbilical vein endothelial cells were stimulated with
      1-10MUM 4-HHE or 4-hydroxy nonenal (4-HNE), a peroxidation product of n-6 PUFAs.
      Both 4-HHE and 4-HNE dose-dependently increased HO-1 mRNA and protein expression,
      and intranuclear expression and DNA binding of Nrf2 at 5MUM. Small interfering
      RNA for Nrf2 significantly reduced 4-HHE- or 4-HNE-induced HO-1 mRNA and protein
      expression. Furthermore, pretreatment with 4-HHE or 4-HNE prevented tert-butyl
      hydroperoxide-induced cytotoxicity. In conclusion, 4-HHE, a peroxidation product
      of n-3 PUFAs, stimulated expression of the antioxidant enzyme HO-1 through the
      activation of Nrf2 in vascular endothelial cells. This resulted in prevention of
      oxidative stress-induced cytotoxicity, and may represent a possible mechanism to
      partly explain the cardioprotective effects of n-3 PUFAs.

PMID- 20920478
TI  - Differentiation of neural stem cells into Schwann-like cells in vitro.
AB  - Neural stem cells (NSCs) are multipotent stem cells that have the potential to
      differentiate into different cells of the neural lineage like neurons, astrocytes
      and oligodendrocytes. In the current work, we explored whether NSCs could be
      differentiated into functional Schwann-like cells, which has not been
      investigated up to date. NSCs were harvested from the hippocampus of rats and
      identified by single cell cloning and immunofluorescence staining. Then NSCs were
      treated with DMEM/F12 supplemented with forskolin, heregulin, bFGF, PDGF-AA and
      retinoic acid (RA). Differentiated NSCs (dNSCs) exhibited a spindle-like
      morphology similar to Schwann cells and expressed the glial markers p75 and S100.
      We also found that dNSCs could enhance neurite outgrowth when co-cultured with
      NG108-15 cells. These results indicated that NSCs, derived from hippocampus of
      rats, could differentiate into Schwann-like cells with morphological, phenotypic
      and functional similarities.

PMID- 20920479
TI  - Signaling through LRP1: Protection from atherosclerosis and beyond.
AB  - The low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein (LRP1) is a multifunctional
      cell surface receptor that belongs to the LDL receptor (LDLR) gene family and
      that is widely expressed in several tissues. LRP1 consists of an 85-kDa membrane
      bound carboxyl fragment (beta chain) and a non-covalently attached 515-kDa (alpha
      chain) amino-terminal fragment. Through its extracellular domain, LRP1 binds at
      least 40 different ligands ranging from lipoprotein and protease inhibitor
      complex to growth factors and extracellular matrix proteins. LRP-1 has also been
      shown to interact with scaffolding and signaling proteins via its intracellular
      domain in a phosphorylation-dependent manner and to function as a co-receptor
      partnering with other cell surface or integral membrane proteins. LRP-1 is thus
      implicated in two major physiological processes: endocytosis and regulation of
      signaling pathways, which are both involved in diverse biological roles including
      lipid metabolism, cell growth/differentiation processes, degradation of
      proteases, and tissue invasion. The embryonic lethal phenotype obtained after
      target disruption of the LRP-1 gene in the mouse highlights the biological
      importance of this receptor and revealed a critical, but yet undefined role in
      development. Tissue-specific gene deletion studies also reveal an important
      contribution of LRP1 in vascular remodeling, foam cell biology, the central
      nervous system, and in the molecular mechanisms of atherosclerosis.

PMID- 20920480
TI  - Thioredoxin reductase 1 knockdown enhances selenazolidine cytotoxicity in human
      lung cancer cells via mitochondrial dysfunction.
AB  - Thioredoxin reductase (TR1) is a selenoprotein that is involved in cellular redox
      status control and deoxyribonucleotide biosynthesis. Many cancers, including
      lung, overexpress TR1, making it a potential cancer therapy target. Previous work
      has shown that TR1 knockdown enhances the sensitivity of cancer cells to
      anticancer treatments, as well as certain selenocompounds. However, it is unknown
      if TR1 knockdown produces similar effect on the sensitivity of human lung cancer
      cells. To further elucidate the role of TR1 in the mechanism of selenocompounds
      in lung cancer, a lentiviral microRNA delivery system to knockdown TR1 expression
      in A549 human lung adenocarcinoma cells was utilized. Cell viability was assessed
      after 48 hr treatment with the selenocysteine prodrug selenazolidines 2
      butylselenazolidine-4(R)-carboxylic acid (BSCA) and 2-cyclohexylselenazolidine-4
      (R)-carboxylic acid (ChSCA), selenocystine (SECY), methylseleninic acid (MSA),
      1,4-phenylenebis(methylene)selenocyanate (p-XSC), and selenomethionine (SEM). TR1
      knockdown increased the cytotoxicity of BSCA, ChSCA, and SECY but did not
      sensitize cells to MSA, SEM, or p-XSC. GSH and TR1 depletion together decreased
      cell viability, while no change was observed with GSH depletion alone. Reactive
      oxygen species generation was induced only in TR1 knockdown cells treated with
      the selenazolidines or SECY. These three compounds also decreased total
      intracellular glutathione levels and oxidized thioredoxin, but in a TR1
      independent manner. TR1 knockdown increased selenazolidine and SECY-induced
      mitochondrial membrane depolarization, as well as DNA strand breaks and AIF
      translocation from the mitochondria. These results indicate the ability of TR1 to
      modulate the cytotoxic effects of BSCA, ChSCA and SECY in human lung cancer cells
      through mitochondrial dysfunction.

PMID- 20920481
TI  - Antiangiogenic agents and targets: A perspective.
AB  - The first generation of clinically useful antiangiogenic agents focused on VEGF
      and targets in the VEGF pathway. The strengths and limitations of these
      therapeutics are now clear. Some tumors do not respond to VEGF-directed therapies
      de novo and others become non-responsive or resistant over time by switching to
      other angiogenic pathways. The next generation of angiogenesis-directed
      therapeutics will expand the field beyond the VEGF pathway and become more
      disease selective. Placental growth factor, a protein closely related to VEGF, is
      induced as tumors lose responsiveness to VEGF-directed therapies. Angiopoietins 1
      and 2 are being targeted with a unique peptibody, a human recombinant Fc constant
      region fused to peptides, in clinical trials. The HGF/c-Met pathway is
      upregulated in some tumors as an alternate angiogenic pathway. The CXCL12 (SDF
      1)/CXCR4 pathway represents a stromal chemokine axis involved in tumor
      angiogenesis. CXCR2 is a G-protein coupled receptor with several ligands
      including interleukin-8 and other angiogenic cytokines and may represent a useful
      target for antiangiogenic agents. The notch pathway is being investigated as a
      target in the setting of tumor angiogenesis. Sphingosine-1-phosphate is a
      bioactive lipid that can be neutralized with a monoclonal antibody. The anti-S-1
      P antibody is under investigation as an antiangiogenic agent. Finally, several
      multi-targeted kinase inhibitors each with a unique pattern of inhibitory potency
      are in clinical trial with a focus on antiangiogenic activity. The expansion of
      the scope of potential antiangiogenic agents in or entering clinical trial should
      allow the development of antiangiogenic combination regimens and single agents
      that address diseases refractory to VEGF-directed therapeutics.

PMID- 20920483
TI  - Chronic antidepressant administration alleviates frontal and hippocampal BDNF
      deficits in CUMS rat.
AB  - Stress activates the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, regulates the
      expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the brain, and mediates
      mood. Antidepressants alleviate stress and up-regulate BDNF gene expression. In
      this study, we investigated the effect of chronic unpredictable mild stress
      (CUMS) and the different kinds of antidepressant treatments on the HPA axis and
      the BDNF expression in the rat brain. Adult Wistar male rats were exposed to a
      six-week CUMS procedure and received different antidepressant treatments
      including venlafaxine, mirtazapine, and fluoxetine. Immunohistochemistry and real
      time PCR were used to measure BDNF expression levels in the rat brain, and ELISAs
      were used to investigate the plasma corticosterone (CORT) and adrenocorticotropic
      hormone (ACTH) levels. CUMS significantly decreased the BDNF protein level in the
      DG, CA1, and CA3 of the hippocampus and increased plasma CORT level. Chronic
      antidepressant treatments all significantly increased BDNF protein levels in the
      hippocampus and the pre-frontal cortex. In addition, venlafaxine and mirtazapine
      inhibited the increase of plasma CORT level. These results suggested that an
      increase in the BDNF level in the brain could be a pivotal mechanism of various
      antidepressants to exert their therapeutic effects.

PMID- 20920484
TI  - Pre-attentive and attentive processing of French vowels.
AB  - This study aimed at investigating the effects of acoustic distance and of speaker
      variability on the pre-attentive and attentive perception of French vowels by
      French adult speakers. The electroencephalogram (EEG) was recorded while
      participants watched a silent movie (Passive condition) and discriminated deviant
      vowels (Active condition). The auditory sequence included 4 French vowels, /u/
      (standard) and /o/, /y/ and /o/ as deviants, produced by 3 different speakers. As
      the vowel /o/ is closer to /u/ than the other deviants in acoustic distance, we
      predicted smaller mismatch negativity (MMN) and smaller N1 component, as well as
      higher error rate and longer reaction times. Results were in line with these
      predictions. Moreover, the MMN was elicited by all deviant vowels independently
      of speaker variability. By contrast, the Vowel by Speaker interaction was
      significant in the Active listening condition thereby showing that subtle within
      category differences are processed at the attentive level. These results suggest
      that while vowels are categorized pre-attentively according to phonemic
      representations and independently of speaker variability, participants are
      sensitive to between-speaker differences when they focus attention on vowel
      processing.

PMID- 20920485
TI  - A reinforcement learning approach to model interactions between landmarks and
      geometric cues during spatial learning.
AB  - In contrast to predictions derived from the associative learning theory, a number
      of behavioral studies suggested the absence of competition between geometric cues
      and landmarks in some experimental paradigms. In parallel to these studies,
      neurobiological experiments suggested the existence of separate independent
      memory systems which may not always interact according to classic associative
      principles. In this paper we attempt to combine these two lines of research by
      proposing a model of spatial learning that is based on the theory of multiple
      memory systems. In our model, a place-based locale strategy uses activities of
      modeled hippocampal place cells to drive navigation to a hidden goal, while a
      stimulus-response taxon strategy, presumably mediated by the dorso-lateral
      striatum, learns landmark-approaching behavior. A strategy selection network,
      proposed to reside in the prefrontal cortex, implements a simple reinforcement
      learning rule to switch behavioral strategies. The model is used to reproduce the
      results of a behavioral experiment in which an interaction between a landmark and
      geometric cues was studied. We show that this model, built on the basis of
      neurobiological data, can explain the lack of competition between the landmark
      and geometry, potentiation of geometry learning by the landmark, and blocking.
      Namely, we propose that the geometry potentiation is a consequence of cooperation
      between memory systems during learning, while blocking is due to competition
      between the memory systems during action selection.

PMID- 20920482
TI  - Identified GnRH neuron electrophysiology: a decade of study.
AB  - Over the past decade, the existence of transgenic mouse models in which reporter
      genes are expressed under the control of the gonadotropin-releasing hormone
      (GnRH) promoter has made possible the electrophysiological study of these cells.
      Here, we review the intrinsic and synaptic properties of these cells that have
      been revealed by these approaches, with a particular regard to burst generation.
      Advances in our understanding of neuromodulation of GnRH neurons and
      synchronization of this network are also discussed.

PMID- 20920486
TI  - Attentional demand and processing of relevant visual information during simulated
      driving: a MEG study.
AB  - It is a well-known fact that attention is crucial for driving a car. This
      innovative study aims to assess the impact of attentional workload modulation on
      cerebral activity during a simulated driving task using magnetoencephalography
      (MEG). A car simulator equipped with a steering wheel, turn indicators, an
      accelerator and a brake pedal has been specifically designed to be used with MEG.
      Attentional demand has been modulated using a radio broadcast. During half of the
      driving scenarios, subjects could ignore the broadcast (simple task, ST) and
      during the other half, they had to actively listen to it in order to answer 3
      questions (dual task, DT). Evoked magnetic responses were computed in both
      conditions separately for two visual stimuli of interest: traffic lights (from
      green to amber) and direction signs (arrows to the right or to the left) shown on
      boards. The cortical sources of these activities have been estimated using a
      minimum-norm current estimates modeling technique. Results show the activation of
      a large distributed network similar in ST and DT and similar for both the traffic
      lights and the direction signs. This network mainly involves sensory visual areas
      as well as parietal and frontal regions known to play a role in selective
      attention and motor areas. The increase of attentional demand affects the
      neuronal processing of relevant visual information for driving, as early as the
      perceptual stage. By demonstrating the feasibility of recording MEG activity
      during an interactive simulated driving task, this study opens new possibilities
      for investigating issues regarding drivers' activity.

PMID- 20920487
TI  - The impact of agrin on the formation of orthogonal arrays of particles in
      cultured astrocytes from wild-type and agrin-null mice.
AB  - Astrocytic endfeet membranes are studded with aquaporin-4 (AQP4) containing
      orthogonal arrays of particles (OAP) which can be visualized exclusively by the
      freeze-fracturing method. They are predominantly expressed where the astroglial
      membrane is in contact with the superficial and perivascular basal lamina. This
      polarity seems to be essential for the integrity of the blood-brain barrier
      (BBB). The basal lamina containing many extracellular matrix (ECM) components
      such as collagen, laminin and heparansulfate proteoglycans like agrin is thought
      to influence this OAP-related polarity of astrocytes. Recently, we have shown
      that agrin, in particular the neuronal isoform A4B8, is capable of influencing
      the formation of OAPs in astrocytes when cultured in the presence of agrin
      conditioned media. In this paper we wanted to investigate whether coating with
      exogenous agrin compared to coating with other ECM components would induce OAP
      formation in astrocytes of the agrin-null mouse. For this purpose, we cultured
      astrocytes from agrin-null and wild-type mice on agrin- or ECM-coated surfaces.
      Immunofluorescent cytochemical staining of AQP4 indicated a higher AQP4
      expression level in cultures with agrin- or ECM-coated than in cultures with
      uncoated surfaces, whereas western blot analyses and PCR showed no differences.
      alpha-Dystroglycan is thought to be a potential receptor of agrin and was
      immunostained in wild-type as well as in agrin-null astrocytes. In freeze
      fracture replicas, we observed an increase in OAP density in astrocytes when
      growing on agrin- and ECM-coatings. These results concurred with other
      experiments in which changes in volume were measured following hypotonic stress,
      which supported the positive influence of exogenous agrin on AQP4 insertion into
      the membrane, on OAP formation and on water transport.

PMID- 20920488
TI  - Visuomotor mental rotation: reaction time is determined by the complexity of the
      sensorimotor transformations mediating the response.
AB  - In the visuomotor mental rotation (VMR) task, participants point to a location
      that deviates from a visual target by a predetermined angle. A seminal
      investigation of the VMR task reported a linear increase in reaction time (RT) as
      a function of increasing angle, for 5 degrees , 10 degrees , 15 degrees , 35
      degrees , 70 degrees , 105 degrees , and 140 degrees  (Georgopoulos and Massey,
      1987). This finding led to the development of the mental rotation model (MRM) and
      the assertion that response preparation is mediated via the imagined rotation of
      a movement vector. To determine if the MRM can be extrapolated to perceptually
      familiar angles (e.g., 90 degrees  and 180 degrees ) within a range of equally
      spaced angles, we evaluated two independent sets of angles: 5 degrees , 10
      degrees , 15 degrees , 35 degrees , 70 degrees , 105 degrees , and 140 degrees 
      (experiment one) and 30 degrees , 60 degrees , 90 degrees , 120 degrees , 150
      degrees , 180 degrees , and 210 degrees  (experiment two). Consistent with the
      MRM, experiment one revealed a linear increase in RT as a function of increasing
      angle; however, a non-linear relation was revealed for experiment two. RTs were
      fastest for 180 degrees , followed by 30 degrees , 90 degrees , 60 degrees , 150
      degrees , 210 degrees , and 120 degrees . Such results demonstrate that response
      preparation was not uniquely mediated via a mental rotation process. Instead, the
      present work provides evidence of a temporally demanding and cognitively mediated
      response substitution process, wherein the computational demands of response
      preparation are determined by the complexity of the sensorimotor transformations
      mediating the response.

PMID- 20920489
TI  - Neural correlates of task switching in paternal 15q11-q13 deletion Prader-Willi
      syndrome.
AB  - We report a first study of brain activity linked to task switching in individuals
      with Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS). PWS individuals show a specific cognitive
      deficit in task switching which may be associated with the display of temper
      outbursts and repetitive questioning. The performance of participants with PWS
      and typically developing controls was matched in a cued task switching procedure,
      and brain activity was contrasted on switching and non-switching blocks using
      fMRI. Individuals with PWS did not show the typical frontal-parietal pattern of
      neural activity associated with switching blocks, with significantly reduced
      activation in regions of the posterior parietal and ventromedial prefrontal
      cortices. We suggest that this is linked to a difficulty in PWS in setting
      appropriate attentional weights to enable task-set reconfiguration. In addition
      to this, PWS individuals did not show the typical pattern of deactivation, with
      significantly less deactivation in an anterior region of the ventromedial
      prefrontal cortex. One plausible explanation for this is that individuals with
      PWS show dysfunction within the default mode network, which has been linked to
      attentional control. The data point to functional changes in the neural circuitry
      supporting task switching in PWS even when behavioural performance is matched to
      controls and thus highlight neural mechanisms that may be involved in a specific
      pathway between genes, cognition and behaviour.

PMID- 20920491
TI  - Effect of menstrual cycle phase on corticolimbic brain activation by visual food
      cues.
AB  - Food intake is decreased during the late follicular phase and increased in the
      luteal phase of the menstrual cycle. While a changing ovarian steroid milieu is
      believed to be responsible for this behavior, the specific mechanisms involved
      are poorly understood. Brain activity in response to visual food stimuli was
      compared during the estrogen dominant peri-ovulatory phase and the progesterone
      dominant luteal phase of the menstrual cycle. Twelve women underwent functional
      magnetic resonance imaging during the peri-ovulatory and luteal phases of the
      menstrual cycle in a counterbalanced fashion. Whole brain T2* images were
      collected while subjects viewed pictures of high calorie (HC) foods, low calorie
      (LC) foods, and control (C) pictures presented in a block design. Blood oxygen
      level dependent (BOLD) signal in the late follicular phase and luteal phase was
      determined for the contrasts HC-C, LC-C, HC-LC, and LC-HC. Both HC and LC stimuli
      activated numerous corticolimbic brain regions in the follicular phase, whereas
      only HC stimuli were effective in the luteal phase. Activation of the nucleus
      accumbens (NAc), amygdala, and hippocampus in response to the HC-C contrast and
      the hippocampus in response to the LC-C contrast was significantly increased in
      the late follicular phase compared to the luteal phase. Activation of the
      orbitofrontal cortex and mid cingulum in response to the HC-LC contrast was
      greater during the luteal phase. These results demonstrate for the first time
      that brain responses to visual food cues are influenced by menstrual cycle phase.
      We postulate that ovarian steroid modulation of the corticolimbic brain
      contributes to changes in ingestive behavior during the menstrual cycle.

PMID- 20920490
TI  - Brain growth across the life span in autism: age-specific changes in anatomical
      pathology.
AB  - Autism is marked by overgrowth of the brain at the earliest ages but not at older
      ages when decreases in structural volumes and neuron numbers are observed
      instead. This has led to the theory of age-specific anatomic abnormalities in
      autism. Here we report age-related changes in brain size in autistic and typical
      subjects from 12 months to 50 years of age based on analyses of 586 longitudinal
      and cross-sectional MRI scans. This dataset is several times larger than the
      largest autism study to date. Results demonstrate early brain overgrowth during
      infancy and the toddler years in autistic boys and girls, followed by an
      accelerated rate of decline in size and perhaps degeneration from adolescence to
      late middle age in this disorder. We theorize that underlying these age-specific
      changes in anatomic abnormalities in autism, there may also be age-specific
      changes in gene expression, molecular, synaptic, cellular, and circuit
      abnormalities. A peak age for detecting and studying the earliest fundamental
      biological underpinnings of autism is prenatal life and the first three postnatal
      years. Studies of the older autistic brain may not address original causes but
      are essential to discovering how best to help the older aging autistic person.
      Lastly, the theory of age-specific anatomic abnormalities in autism has broad
      implications for a wide range of work on the disorder including the design,
      validation, and interpretation of animal model, lymphocyte gene expression, brain
      gene expression, and genotype/CNV-anatomic phenotype studies.

PMID- 20920492
TI  - Cross-regional cortical synchronization during affective image viewing.
AB  - Affective perception has been suggested to involve the coordinated activation of
      widely distributed cortical networks, including those involved in sensory
      storage/analysis and higher-order structures, such as the prefrontal cortex that
      regulate these processes. We measured regional electroencephalogram (EEG)
      activity while young adult participants viewed images varying in arousal and
      valence (pleasant, neutral, and unpleasant). Viewing highly arousing images led
      to a significant enhancement of EEG coherence between prefrontal and posterior
      electrodes in both cerebral hemispheres. Long distance interhemispheric coherence
      also increased during affective image viewing, but only among females. Increases
      in coherent brain electrical activity were specific to oscillations in the beta
      (14 to 30Hz) bandwidth, while right hemispheric networks oscillating in the theta
      (4 to 7Hz) range tended to de-synchronize during viewing of affective images.
      Although directionality could not be inferred, analyses of lead-lag relations
      showed the prefrontal electrodes leading the posterior clusters, consistent with
      top-down modulation. Our results suggest large-scale synchronization of cortical
      cells during affective viewing and emphasize the role of beta oscillations in
      mediating such binding.

PMID- 20920493
TI  - Neural mechanisms mediating circadian phase resetting by activation of 5-HT(7)
      receptors in the dorsal raphe: roles of GABAergic and glutamatergic
      neurotransmission.
AB  - 5-HT(7) receptors in the dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN) influence circadian rhythms,
      sleep, and serotonin release. Because interactions between 5-HT(7) receptors and
      glutamatergic and GABAergic neurons have been demonstrated previously, the
      current studies tested the hypothesis that GABAergic and/or glutamatergic neurons
      mediate phase shifts induced by activation of DRN 5-HT(7) receptors. Hamsters
      were fitted with guide cannulae aimed at the DRN, housed in cages with running
      wheels, and exposed to 14h light (L):10h dark (D). In Experiment 1, hamsters
      received DRN pretreatment with muscimol (87.6 pmol) or vehicle before DRN 8-OH
      DPAT (6 pmol) microinjections at ZT6. After exposure to constant darkness (10
      days), phase shifts were calculated and animals were re-exposed to 14L:10D. The
      procedure was repeated to give each animal the alternate pretreatment. In
      Experiment 2, hamsters received DRN pretreatment with NMDA (20 pmol) or vehicle
      before 8-OH-DPAT at ZT 6. Other experiments tested the effects of single DRN
      microinjections of muscimol, bicuculline (136 pmol), NMDA, MK-801 (10 pmol) or
      vehicle. Phase shifts (mean +/- S.E.M., h) in muscimol/8-OH-DPAT-microinjected
      hamsters (1.02 +/- 0.30) were not different (P=0.11) from those in vehicle/8-OH
      DPAT-microinjected hamsters (1.34 +/- 0.30), while those in NMDA/8-OH-DPAT
      microinjected hamsters (0.67 +/- 0.17) were smaller (P<0.05) than those in
      vehicle/8-OH-DPAT-microinjected hamsters (0.97 +/- 0.10). DRN single
      microinjections of bicuculline, but not muscimol, NMDA, or MK-801 induced phase
      advances. Bicuculline also potentiated 8-OH-DPAT-induced phase advances (P<0.05).
      These finding suggest that the mechanism mediating DRN 5-HT(7) receptor induction
      of phase advances involves decreased glutamatergic neurotransmission, and
      furthermore, that inhibition of DRN GABAergic neurotransmission causes a phase
      advance.

PMID- 20920494
TI  - Lipopolysaccharide-induced cytokine expression in alveolar epithelial cells: role
      of PKCzeta-mediated p47phox phosphorylation.
AB  - Chronic inflammation incited by bacteria in the saccular lung of premature
      infants contributes to the pathogenesis of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). LPS
      mediated type II alveolar epithelial cell (AEC) injury induces the expression of
      pro-inflammatory cytokines that trigger pulmonary neutrophil influx, alveolar
      matrix degradation and lung remodeling. We hypothesized that NADPH oxidase (Nox)
      dependent mechanisms mediate LPS-induced cytokine expression in AEC. We examined
      the role of p47phox in mediating LPS-dependent inflammatory cytokine expression
      in A549 cells (which exhibit phenotypic features characteristic of type II AEC)
      and elucidated the proximal signaling events by which Nox is activated by LPS.
      LPS-induced ICAM-1 and IL-8 expression was associated with increased superoxide
      formation in AEC. LPS-mediated oxidative stress and cytokine expression was
      inhibited by apocynin and augmented by PMA demonstrating that Nox-dependent redox
      signaling regulates LPS-dependent pro-inflammatory signaling in AEC. In LPS
      treated cells, p47phox translocated from the cytoplasm to the perinuclear region
      and co-localized with gp91phox. LPS also induced a temporal increase in p47phox
      serine304 phosphorylation in AEC. While inhibition of classical PKC and novel PKC
      with calphostin and rottlerin did not inhibit ICAM-1 or IL-8 expression, the
      myristolyated PKCzeta pseudosubstrate peptide (a specific inhibitor of PKCzeta)
      inhibited LPS-induced cytokine expression in AEC. Inhibition of PKCzeta also
      attenuated LPS-mediated p47phox phosphorylation and perinuclear translocation in
      AEC. Consistent with these data, LPS activated PKCzeta in AEC as evidenced by
      increased threonine410 phophorylation. We conclude that PKCzeta-mediated p47phox
      activation regulates LPS-dependent cytokine expression in AEC. Selective
      inhibition of PKCzeta or p47phox might attenuate LPS-mediated inflammation and
      alveolar remodeling in BPD.

PMID- 20920495
TI  - Enzymes that hydrolyze adenine nucleotides in patients with ischemic heart
      disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The extracellular nucleotides, ATP and ADP, as well as the nucleoside
      adenosine have been implicated in a great number of pathologic and physiological
      functions. However, extracellular adenine nucleotide levels are controlled by a
      complex cell surface-located group of enzymes called ectonucleotidases. We
      evaluated activities of enzymes that hydrolyze adenine nucleotides and
      nucleosides in platelets from patients with ischemic heart disease (IHD).
      METHODS: Sixty IHD patients were selected for the study. The activities of
      ectonucleoside triphosphate diphosphohydrolase (NTPDase, CD39), ectonucleotide
      pyrophosphatase/phosphodiesterase (E-NPP), ecto-5'-nucleotidase and adenosine
      deaminase (ADA) were studied in isolated platelets of these patients, as well as
      the platelet aggregation and NTPDase expression. RESULTS: The results show that
      NTPDase, ecto-5'-nucleotidase, E-NPP activities and NTPDase expression were
      increased in platelets of IHD patients when compared with the control group (p <
      0.05). On the other hand, ADA activity and platelet aggregation were decreased in
      IHD patients, when compared with the control group (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The
      pathological condition in IHD generates alterations in ectonucleotidase
      activities as a compensatory organic response to thrombotic events that occur in
      IHD.

PMID- 20920496
TI  - Co-peptin: Role as a novel biomarker in clinical practice.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Arginine vasopressin (AVP) is a key regulator of water balance, but
      its instability makes reliable measurement difficult and precludes its routine
      use. Co-peptin is the C-terminal part of the AVP precursor which plays an
      important role in the correct structural formation of the AVP precursor and its
      efficient proteolytic maturation. Because of its stoichiometric generation, co
      peptin mirrors the release of AVP and measurement of more stable co-peptin may be
      an indicator of AVP levels. METHOD: A comprehensive literature search was
      conducted from the websites of the National Library of Medicine
      (http://www.ncbl.nlm.nih.gov) and Pubmed Central, the US National Library of
      Medicine's digital archive of life sciences literature
      (http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/). The data was assessed from books and
      journals that published relevant articles in this field. RESULT: Recent and
      ongoing research indicates the diagnostic and prognostic roles of co-peptin in
      various clinical settings especially in critically ill patients. CONCLUSION: Co
      peptin levels are altered in various physiological and pathological conditions
      indicating its possible role as a biomarker. However, further research using co
      peptin in various clinical settings will prove its cost-effectiveness and
      clinical usefulness.

PMID- 20920497
TI  - Use of likelihood ratios improves clinical interpretation of IgG and IgA anti-DGP
      antibody testing for celiac disease in adults and children.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether taking into account anti-deamidated gliadin
      peptide (DGP) antibody concentrations improves clinical interpretation. DESIGN
      AND METHODS: We calculated likelihood ratios (LR) using data from two previously
      published studies for assays from EUROIMMUN and INOVA. RESULTS: LRs markedly
      increased with increasing IgG anti-DGP concentrations. LRs also increased with
      increasing IgA anti-DGP concentrations, although they were lower than for IgG
      anti-DGP. CONCLUSIONS: Use of LRs for different test result intervals improves
      clinical interpretation.

PMID- 20920498
TI  - Mice lacking FABP9/PERF15 develop sperm head abnormalities but are fertile.
AB  - The male germ cell-specific fatty acid-binding protein 9 (FABP9/PERF15) is the
      major component of the murine sperm perforatorium and perinuclear theca. Based on
      its cytoskeletal association and sequence homology to myelin P2 (FABP8), it has
      been suggested that FABP9 tethers sperm membranes to the underlying cytoskeleton.
      Furthermore, its upregulation in apoptotic testicular germ cells and its
      increased phosphorylation status during capacitation suggested multiple important
      functions for FABP9. Therefore, we investigated specific functions for FABP9 by
      means of targeted gene disruption in mice. FABP9(-/-) mice were viable and
      fertile. Phenotypic analysis showed that FABP9(-/-) mice had significant
      increases in sperm head abnormalities (~8% greater than their WT cohorts); in
      particular, we observed the reduction or absence of the characteristic structural
      element known as the "ventral spur" in ~10% of FABP9(-/-) sperm. However,
      deficiency of FABP9 affected neither membrane tethering to the perinuclear theca
      nor the fatty acid composition of sperm. Moreover, epididymal sperm numbers were
      not affected in FABP9(-/-) mice. Therefore, we conclude that FABP9 plays only a
      minor role in providing the murine sperm head its characteristic shape and is not
      absolutely required for spermatogenesis or sperm function.

PMID- 20920500
TI  - Ofd1 is required in limb bud patterning and endochondral bone development.
AB  - Oral-facial-digital type I (OFDI) syndrome is an X-linked male lethal
      developmental disorder. It is ascribed to ciliary dysfunction and characterized
      by malformation of the face, oral cavity, and digits. Conditional inactivation
      using different Cre lines allowed us to study the role of the Ofd1 transcript in
      limb development. Immunofluorescence and ultrastructural studies showed that Ofd1
      is necessary for correct ciliogenesis in the limb bud but not for cilia
      outgrowth, in contrast to what was previously shown for the embryonic node.
      Mutants with mesenchymal Ofd1 inactivation display severe polydactyly with loss
      of antero-posterior (A/P) digit patterning and shortened long bones. Loss of
      digit identity was found to be associated with a progressive loss of Shh
      signaling and an impaired processing of Gli3, whereas defects in limb outgrowth
      were due to defective Ihh signaling and to mineralization defects during
      endochondral bone formation. Our data demonstrate that Ofd1 plays a role in
      regulating digit number and identity during limb and skeletal patterning
      increasing insight on the functional role of primary cilia during development.

PMID- 20920499
TI  - BMP signaling modulates hedgehog-induced secondary heart field proliferation.
AB  - Sonic hedgehog signaling in the secondary heart field has a clear role in cardiac
      arterial pole development. In the absence of hedgehog signaling, proliferation is
      reduced in secondary heart field progenitors, and embryos predominantly develop
      pulmonary atresia. While it is expected that proliferation in the secondary heart
      field would be increased with elevated hedgehog signaling, this idea has never
      been tested. We hypothesized that up-regulating hedgehog signaling would increase
      secondary heart field proliferation, which would lead to arterial pole defects.
      In culture, secondary heart field explants proliferated up to 6-fold more in
      response to the hedgehog signaling agonist SAG, while myocardial differentiation
      and migration were unaffected. Treatment of chick embryos with SAG at HH14, just
      before the peak in secondary heart field proliferation, resulted unexpectedly in
      stenosis of both the aortic and pulmonary outlets. We examined proliferation in
      the secondary heart field and found that SAG-treated embryos exhibited a much
      milder increase in proliferation than was indicated by the in vitro experiments.
      To determine the source of other signaling factors that could modulate increased
      hedgehog signaling, we co-cultured secondary heart field explants with isolated
      pharyngeal endoderm or outflow tract and found that outflow tract co-cultures
      prevented SAG-induced proliferation. BMP2 is made and secreted by the outflow
      tract myocardium. To determine whether BMP signaling could prevent SAG-induced
      proliferation, we treated explants with SAG and BMP2 and found that BMP2
      inhibited SAG-induced proliferation. In vivo, SAG-treated embryos showed up
      regulated BMP2 expression and signaling. Together, these results indicate that
      BMP signaling from the outflow tract modulates hedgehog-induced proliferation in
      the secondary heart field.

PMID- 20920501
TI  - Investigation of Toxoplasma gondii presence in farmed shellfish by nested-PCR and
      real-time PCR fluorescent amplicon generation assay (FLAG).
AB  - To evaluate the presence of Toxoplasma gondii in edible farmed shellfish, 1734
      shellfish specimens i.e., 109 Crassostrea gigas (6 pools), 660 Mytilus
      galloprovincialis (22 pools), 804 Tapes decussatus (28 pools) and 161 Tapes
      philippinarum (6 pools), were collected from the Varano Lagoon (Apulia, Italy).
      Shellfish from 62 pools were subjected to two molecular techniques: a nested-PCR
      assay, and a fluorescent amplicon generation (FLAG) real-time PCR assay, both
      based on the multi-copy B1 target, were performed. One pooled sample of gills
      from C. gigas and one pooled sample of haemolymphs from T. decussatus were
      assessed as positive for T. gondii DNA by both techniques. The results
      demonstrated the presence of T. gondii in edible farmed C. gigas and T.
      decussatus and indicate that there may be a considerable health threat involved
      in eating contaminated raw shellfish.

PMID- 20920502
TI  - The dissociation activation model of B cell antigen receptor triggering.
AB  - To detect its cognate antigen, each B lymphocyte contains up to 120000 B cell
      antigen receptor (BCR) complexes on its cell surface. How these abundant
      receptors remain silent on resting B cells and how they can be activated by a
      molecularly diverse set of ligands is poorly understood. The antigen-specific
      activation of the BCR is currently explained by the cross-linking model (CLM).
      This model predicts that the many BCR complexes on the surface of a B cell are
      dispersed signalling-inert monomers and that it is BCR dimerization that
      initiates signalling from the receptor. The finding that the BCR forms auto
      inhibited oligomers on the surface of resting B cells falsifies these predictions
      of the CLM. We propose the dissociation activation model (DAM), which fits better
      with the existing body of experimental data.

PMID- 20920503
TI  - Identification and characterization of mesotocin and V1a-like vasotocin receptors
      in a urodele amphibian, Taricha granulosa.
AB  - The cDNA sequences encoding the mesotocin receptor (MTR) and vasotocin 1a
      receptor (VTR-1a) were identified in a urodele amphibian, the rough-skinned newt,
      Taricha granulosa. Saturation binding of [(3)H]oxytocin (OT) to the Taricha MTR
      (tMTR) was best fit by a two-state model; a high affinity-low abundance site and
      a lower affinity-high abundance site. Competition-binding studies found the
      following rank-order affinities for the tMTR: mesotocin (MT)>OT~vasotocin
      (VT)>vasopressin (VP)>isotocin (IT). Inositol phosphate (IP) accumulation studies
      demonstrated functional activity of both the tMTR and Taricha VTR-1a (tVTR-1a) in
      a heterologous cell culture system. The rank-order potencies for the tMTR were
      MT>OT>VT~VP>IT. The combined binding and IP results indicate that VT may act as a
      partial agonist of the tMTR. Rank-order potencies for the tVTR-1a were
      VT>VP>MT~OT>IT. For both receptors, stimulation of IP accumulation was blocked by
      d(CH(2))(5)[Tyr(Me)(2)]AVP (Manning compound) and
      d(CH(2))(5)[Tyr(Me)(2),Thr(4),Tyr-NH(2)]OVT (OTA). OTA was a more potent
      antagonist for the transiently expressed tMTR while Manning compound was
      relatively more potent at inhibiting IP accumulation in tVTR-1a expressing cells.
      In contradiction to earlier assumptions, the absolute IC(50) of Manning compound
      was lower for the tMTR (27nM+/-13) than the tVTR-1a (586nM+/-166) indicating its
      potential higher affinity for the tMTR, a finding with special relevance to
      interpretation of comparative studies investigating the behavioral and
      physiological actions of neurohypophysial peptides in non-mammalian species.

PMID- 20920504
TI  - Sex differences in the analgesic effects of ICI 182,780 and Flutamide on ureteral
      calculosis in rats.
AB  - To better define the involvement of gonadal hormones in the sex differences
      observed in experimental visceral pain, we administered antagonists of estrogen
      receptors (ICI 182,780 [ICI]) or androgen receptors (Flutamide [FLU]) to adult
      male and female rats suffering from artificial ureteral calculosis. Subjects were
      divided into groups and treated with one of the substances (ICI, FLU) or sweet
      almond oil (OIL, vehicle) for 5 days, starting 2 days before surgery. On day 3,
      animals underwent surgery, with half receiving an artificial calculosis (Stone)
      and half only a sham procedure. The animals' behavior (number and duration of
      ureteral crises) and blood hormone levels (estradiol and testosterone) were
      determined in all groups. In OIL-treated rats the number and duration of crises
      were higher in females than in males. The administration of ICI or FLU resulted
      in hormonal effects in males and behavioral effects in females. In males ICI
      treatment increased estradiol plasma levels and FLU increased testosterone plasma
      levels; in females ICI and FLU treatments both decreased the number and duration
      of the ureteral crises. These results, confirming previous findings of higher
      sensitivity of females than males to urinary tract pain, showed the modulatory
      effects of estrogen and androgen antagonists on the behavioral responses induced
      by pain but only in females.

PMID- 20920505
TI  - Comparing the relative amount of testosterone required to restore sexual arousal,
      motivation, and performance in male rats.
AB  - It is well established that male rat reproductive behaviors including sexual
      arousal, motivation, and performance are dependent on circulating levels of
      testosterone (T). The present study was designed to (1) compare the relative
      amount of T required to restore these different aspects of behavior in castrated
      rats, and (2) create an animal model for clinical populations with sexual
      impairments. Twenty-nine male Long-Evans rats were tested before and after
      castration for sexual performance (copulation), motivation (partner preference),
      and arousal (50 kHz ultrasonic vocalizations; measured together with scent
      marking). Sexual arousal was also inferred from copulation data. Rats were then
      assigned to one of four groups, and T was re-introduced via Silastic capsule
      implants varying in length and content: No T (empty capsules), Low T (2mm
      capsules), Medium T (5mm capsules), or High T (two 10mm capsules). The highest
      dose was intended to restore physiological levels. Results indicate that High T
      is required for 50 kHz vocalizations, while Medium T was sufficient for the
      restoration of copulation, partner preference, and scent marking. These data
      suggest that sexual arousal may be most sensitive to reductions in testosterone.
      The role of T levels in measures of generalized and specific (sexual) arousal is
      discussed in the context of other reproductive behaviors. Furthermore, because
      the Low T group showed impairments across all behaviors during post-implant
      tests, we propose that these animals may provide a good animal model for studying
      clinical conditions marked by reduced motivation and arousal, including
      Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder.

PMID- 20920506
TI  - The evolution of virulence in primate malaria parasites based on Bayesian
      reconstructions of ancestral states.
AB  - Plasmodium parasites, the causative agents of malaria, are generally considered
      as harmful parasites, but many of them cause mild symptoms. Little is known about
      the evolutionary history and phylogenetic constraints that generate this
      interspecific variation in virulence due to uncertainties about the phylogenetic
      associations of parasites. Here, to account for such phylogenetic uncertainty,
      phylogenetic methods based on Bayesian statistics were followed in combination
      with sequence data from five genes to estimate the ancestral state of virulence
      in primate Plasmodium parasites. When recent parasites were categorised according
      to the damage caused to the host, Bayesian estimates of ancestral states
      indicated that the acquisition of a harmful host exploitation strategy is more
      likely to be a recent evolutionary event than a result of an ancient change in a
      character state altering virulence. On the contrary, there was more evidence for
      moderate host exploitation having a deep origin along the phylogenetic tree.
      Moreover, the evolution of host severity is determined by the phylogenetic
      relationships of parasites, as severity gains did not appear randomly on the
      evolutionary tree. Such phylogenetic constraints can be mediated by the
      acquisition of virulence genes. As the impact of a parasite on a host is the
      result of both the parasite's investment in reproduction and host sensitivity,
      virulence was also estimated by calculating peak parasitemia after eliminating
      host effects. A directional random-walk evolutionary model showed that the
      ancestral primate malarias reproduced at very low parasitemia in their hosts.
      Consequently, the extreme variation in the outcome of malaria infection in
      different host species can be better understood in light of the phylogeny of
      parasites.

PMID- 20920507
TI  - MHC-I prediction using a combination of T cell epitopes and MHC-I binding
      peptides.
AB  - We propose a novel learning method that combines multiple experimental modalities
      to improve the MHC Class-I binding prediction. Multiple experimental modalities
      are often accessible in the context of a binding problem. Such modalities can
      provide different labels of data, such as binary classifications, affinity
      measurements, or direct estimations of the binding profile. Current machine
      learning algorithms usually focus on a given label type. We here present a novel
      Multi-Label Vector Optimization (MLVO) formalism to produce classifiers based on
      the simultaneous optimization of multiple labels. Within this methodology, all
      label types are combined into a single constrained quadratic dual optimization
      problem. We apply the MLVO to MHC class-I epitope prediction. We combine affinity
      measurements (IC50/EC50), binary classifications of epitopes as T cell activators
      and existing algorithms. The multi-label vector optimization algorithms produce
      classifiers significantly better than the ones resulting from any of its
      components. These matrix based classifiers are better or equivalent to the
      existing state of the art MHC-I epitope prediction tools in the studied alleles.

PMID- 20920508
TI  - Longevity and aging in insects: Is reproduction costly; cheap; beneficial or
      irrelevant? A critical evaluation of the "trade-off" concept.
AB  - The most prevalent hypothesis concerning the relationship between reproduction
      and longevity predicts that reproduction is costly, particularly in females.
      Specifically, egg production and sexual harassment of females by males reduce
      female longevity. This may apply to some short-lived species such as Drosophila,
      but not to some long-lived species such as the queens of ants and bees. Bee
      queens lay up to 2000 eggs a day for several years, but they nevertheless live at
      least 20 times longer than their sisters, the sterile workers. This discrepancy
      necessitates a critical reevaluation of the validity of both the trade-off
      concept as such, and of the current theories of aging. The widely accepted
      oxidative stress theory of aging with its links to metabolism and the insulin/IGF
      I system has been disproven in Caenorhabditis elegans and mice, but not in
      Drosophila, necessitating other approaches. The recent spermidine/mitophagy
      theory is gaining momentum. Two major mechanisms may have been largely
      overlooked, namely epigenetic control of longevity by imprinting through DNA
      methylation as suggested by recent data in the honey bee, and especially, a
      mechanism of which the principles are outlined here, the progressive weakening of
      the "electrical dimension" of cells up to the point of total collapse, namely
      death.

PMID- 20920509
TI  - Rhythmic beating of stem cell-derived cardiac cells requires dynamic coupling of
      electrophysiology and Ca cycling.
AB  - There is an intense interest in differentiating embryonic stem cells to engineer
      biological pacemakers as an alternative to electronic pacemakers for patients
      with cardiac pacemaker function deficiency. Embryonic stem cell-derived
      cardiocytes (ESCs), however, often exhibit dysrhythmic excitations. Using Ca(2+)
      imaging and patch-clamp techniques, we studied requirements for generation of
      spontaneous rhythmic action potentials (APs) in late-stage mouse ESCs.
      Sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) of ESCs generates spontaneous, rhythmic, wavelet-like
      Local Ca(2+)Releases (LCRs) (inhibited by ryanodine, tetracaine, or
      thapsigargin). L-type Ca(2+)current (I(CaL)) induces a global Ca(2+) release
      (CICR), depleting the Ca(2+) content SR which resets the phases of LCR
      oscillators. Following a delay, SR then generates a highly synchronized
      spontaneous Ca(2+)release of multiple LCRs throughout the cell. The LCRs generate
      an inward Na(+)/Ca(2+)exchanger (NCX) current (absent in Na(+)-free solution)
      that ignites the next AP. Interfering with SR Ca(2+) cycling (ryanodine,
      caffeine, thapsigargin, cyclopiazonic acid, BAPTA-AM), NCX (Na(+)-free solution),
      or I(CaL) (nifedipine) results in dysrhythmic excitations or cessation of
      automaticity. Inhibition of cAMP/PKA signaling by a specific PKA inhibitor, PKI,
      decreases SR Ca(2+) loading, substantially reducing both spontaneous LCRs
      (number, size, and amplitude) and rhythmic AP firing. In contrast, enhancing PKA
      signaling by cAMP increases the LCRs (number, size, duration) and converts
      irregularly beating ESCs to rhythmic "pacemaker-like" cells. SR Ca(2+) loading
      and LCR activity could be also increased with a selective activation of SR Ca(2+)
      pumping by a phospholamban antibody. We conclude that SR Ca(2+) loading and
      spontaneous rhythmic LCRs are driven by inherent cAMP/PKA activity. I(CaL)
      synchronizes multiple LCR oscillators resulting in strong, partially synchronized
      diastolic Ca(2+) release and NCX current. Rhythmic ESC automaticity can be
      achieved by boosting "coupling" factors, such as cAMP/PKA signaling, that enhance
      interactions between SR and sarcolemma.

PMID- 20920510
TI  - Mitochondrial complex II participates in normoxic and hypoxic regulation of alpha
      keto acids in the murine heart.
AB  - alpha-Keto acids (alpha-KAs) are not just metabolic intermediates but are also
      powerful modulators of different cellular pathways. Here, we tested the
      hypothesis that alpha-KA concentrations are regulated by complex II (succinate
      dehydrogenase=SDH), which represents an intersection between the mitochondrial
      respiratory chain for which an important function in cardiopulmonary oxygen
      sensing has been demonstrated, and the Krebs cycle, a central element of alpha-KA
      metabolism. SDH subunit D heterozygous (SDHD(+/-)) and wild-type (WT) mice were
      housed at normoxia or hypoxia (10% O(2)) for 4 days or 3 weeks, and right
      ventricular pressure, right ventricle/(left ventricle+septum) ratio,
      cardiomyocyte ultrastructure, pulmonary vascular remodelling, ventricular complex
      II subunit expression, SDH activity and alpha-KA concentrations were analysed. In
      both strains, hypoxia induced increases in right ventricular pressure and
      enhanced muscularization of distal pulmonary arteries. Right ventricular
      hypertrophy was less severe in SDHD(+/-) mice although the cardiomyocyte
      ultrastructure and mitochondrial morphometric parameters were unchanged. Protein
      amounts of SDHA, SDHB and SDHC, and SDH activity were distinctly reduced in
      SDHD(+/-) mice. In normoxic SDHD(+/-) mice, alpha-ketoisocaproate concentration
      was lowered to 50% as compared to WT animals. Right/left ventricular
      concentration differences and the hypoxia-induced decline in individual alpha-KAs
      were less pronounced in SDHD(+/-) animals indicating that mitochondrial complex
      II participates in the adjustment of cardiac alpha-KA concentrations both under
      normoxic and hypoxic conditions. These characteristics are not related to the
      hemodynamic consequences of hypoxia-induced pulmonary vascular remodelling, since
      its extent and right ventricular pressure were not affected in SDHD(+/-) mice
      albeit right ventricular hypertrophy was attenuated.

PMID- 20920511
TI  - The therapeutic potential of heat shock proteins in cardiomyopathies due to
      mutations in cardiac structural proteins.

PMID- 20920512
TI  - The human amygdala is necessary for developing and expressing normal
      interpersonal trust.
AB  - The human amygdala is known to be involved in processing social, emotional, and
      reward-related information. Previous reports have indicated that the amygdala is
      involved in extracting trustworthiness information from faces. Interestingly,
      functional neuroimaging research using economic tasks that presumably require
      developing and/or expressing interpersonal trust, such as the Trust Game (TG),
      have not routinely identified involvement of the amygdala. The present study
      sought to explore the role of the amygdala in developing and expressing
      interpersonal trust, via a multi-round, multiplayer economic exchange, a version
      of the TG, in a large sample of participants with focal brain damage.
      Participants with unilateral damage to the amygdala displayed increased
      benevolent behavior in the TG, and specifically, they tended to increase trust in
      response to betrayals. On the other hand, neurologically normal adults tended to
      repay trust in kind, i.e., they decreased interpersonal trust in response to
      betrayals or increased trust in response to increases from others. Comparison
      participants, with brain damage that does not include the amygdala, ventromedial
      prefrontal or insular cortices, tended to behave ambivalently to the expressed
      trust or betrayal of others. Our data suggest that the amygdala is necessary for
      developing and expressing normal interpersonal trust. This increased tendency to
      behave benevolently in response to defections from others may be related to the
      abnormal social behavior observed in this group. Moreover, increased benevolence
      may increase the likelihood or opportunity to be taken advantage of by others.

PMID- 20920514
TI  - A review on the effects of environmental conditions on growth and toxin
      production of Ostreopsis ovata.
AB  - Since the end of the 1990s the occurrence of blooms of the benthic
      dinoflagellates Ostreopsis spp. is spreading in many tropical and temperate
      regions worldwide, sometimes causing benthonic biocenosis suffering and
      occasional human distress. Ostreopsis ovata has been found to produce palytoxin
      like compounds, a class of highly potent toxins. As general, the highest
      abundances of Ostreopsis spp. are recorded during warmer periods characterized by
      high temperature, salinity, and water column stability. Moreover, as these cells
      are easily resuspended in the water column, the role of hydrodynamism in the
      blooms development and decline has been highlighted. The environmental conditions
      appear, therefore, to be one of the main factors determining the proliferation of
      these species as testified by several field surveys. Laboratory studies on the
      effect of environmental parameters on growth and toxicity of O. ovata are rather
      scarce. With regard to the effects of temperature, culture results indicate that
      different strains blooming along Italian coasts displayed different optima, in
      accordance to blooming periods, and that higher toxin levels correlated with best
      growth conditions. Additionally, in relation to an Adriatic strain, cell growth
      positively correlated with the increase in salinity, while toxicity was lowest at
      the highest salinity value (i.e. 40). For the same strain, both nitrogen and
      phosphorus limitation determined a decrease in cell toxicity showing different
      behaviour with respect to many other toxic dinoflagellates.

PMID- 20920515
TI  - Electrophysiological characterization of a novel small peptide from the venom of
      Conus californicus that targets voltage-gated neuronal Ca2+ channels.
AB  - Conus californicus belongs to a genus of marine gastropods with more than 700
      extant species. C. californicus has been shown to be distantly related to all
      Conus species, but showing unusual biological features. We report a novel peptide
      isolated from C. californicus with a significant inhibitory action over neuronal
      voltage-gated calcium channels. The new toxin is formed by 13-amino acid residues
      with two disulfide bonds, whose sequence (NCPAGCRSQGCCM) is strikingly different
      from regular omega-conotoxins. In the HPLC purification procedure, the venom
      fraction eluted in the first 10-15 min produced a significant decrease (54% +/-
      3%) of the Ca(2+) current in Xenopus laevis oocytes transfected with purified rat
      brain mRNA. A specific peptide obtained from the elution at 13 min decreased the
      Ca(2+) current in the adult rat dorsal-root ganglion neurons in a primary culture
      by 34% +/- 2%. The cysteine pattern of this peptide corresponds to the framework
      XVI described for the M-superfamily of conopeptides and is unprecedented among
      Conus peptides acting on Ca(2+) channels.

PMID- 20920513
TI  - The amygdala and decision-making.
AB  - Decision-making is a complex process that requires the orchestration of multiple
      neural systems. For example, decision-making is believed to involve areas of the
      brain involved in emotion (e.g., amygdala, ventromedial prefrontal cortex) and
      memory (e.g., hippocampus, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex). In this article, we
      will present findings related to the amygdala's role in decision-making, and
      differentiate the contributions of the amygdala from those of other structurally
      and functionally connected neural regions. Decades of research have shown that
      the amygdala is involved in associating a stimulus with its emotional value. This
      tradition has been extended in newer work, which has shown that the amygdala is
      especially important for decision-making, by triggering autonomic responses to
      emotional stimuli, including monetary reward and punishment. Patients with
      amygdala damage lack these autonomic responses to reward and punishment, and
      consequently, cannot utilize "somatic marker" type cues to guide future decision
      making. Studies using laboratory decision-making tests have found deficient
      decision-making in patients with bilateral amygdala damage, which resembles their
      real-world difficulties with decision-making. Additionally, we have found
      evidence for an interaction between sex and laterality of amygdala functioning,
      such that unilateral damage to the right amygdala results in greater deficits in
      decision-making and social behavior in men, while left amygdala damage seems to
      be more detrimental for women. We have posited that the amygdala is part of an
      "impulsive," habit type system that triggers emotional responses to immediate
      outcomes.

PMID- 20920516
TI  - Late hematologic toxicity following treatment of rattlesnake envenomation with
      crotalidae polyvalent immune Fab antivenom.
AB  - BACKGROUND: North American rattlesnake envenomations commonly produce
      defibrination, coagulopathy and/or thrombocytopenia, which may be reversed
      following treatment with Crotalidae Polyvalent Immune Fab Ovine (FabAV). Despite
      initial resolution with FabAV, late onset or recurrence of venom-induced
      hematologic effects may occur. Time at which onset of late hematotoxicity may
      first be detected is unknown. The purpose of this study was to identify the
      incidence and time of onset of recurrent or new late hypofibrinogenemia,
      coagulopathy, or thrombocytopenia in a cohort of rattlesnake envenomation
      patients seen in outpatient follow-up after treatment with FabAV, and to report
      hematologic outcomes in these patients. METHODS: Review of 66 charts of patients
      with rattlesnake envenomation who were treated with FabAV, and subsequently had
      outpatient follow-up evaluation at least 48 h after last FabAV, was performed.
      Demographic information, rattlesnake and bite characteristics, dose and timing of
      antivenom administration, adverse events, in-patient laboratory values, length of
      hospital stay, and follow-up laboratory values were collected. The primary
      outcome parameters were recurrent or delayed onset coagulopathy,
      hypofibrinogenemia, or thrombocytopenia identified no sooner than 48 h after last
      dose of FabAV. RESULTS: Prior to control of the envenomation with FabAV, 42
      patients (63.6%) experienced hematologic toxicity. At follow-up, 21 patients
      (32%) were found to have late coagulopathy, hypofibrinogenemia, or
      thrombocytopenia. Of twenty-three patients (35%) with more than one follow-up
      visit, fifteen had normal laboratory findings at the first follow-up visit. Five
      of these 15 patients (8% of total study group; 33% of this subgroup) with normal
      hematologic studies at first follow-up exhibited late hematologic toxicity at
      second follow-up. Severe late hematologic toxicity developed in five of 66 (8%)
      patients. One patient was retreated with FabAV for late severe thrombocytopenia.
      CONCLUSION: Recurrent and delayed onset of hematologic toxicity in rattlesnake
      envenomation victims treated with FabAV is common. Follow-up more than three days
      after treatment is necessary to detect all cases of late hematologic toxicity.

PMID- 20920518
TI  - Topology modification for surgical simulation using precomputed finite element
      models based on linear elasticity.
AB  - Surgical simulators provide another tool for training and practising surgical
      procedures, usually restricted to the use of cadavers. Our surgical simulator
      utilises Finite Element (FE) models based on linear elasticity. It is driven by
      displacements, as opposed to forces, allowing for realistic simulation of both
      deformation and haptic response at real-time rates. To achieve demanding
      computational requirements, the stiffness matrix K, which encompasses the
      geometrical and physical properties of the object, is precomputed, along with K
      1. Common to many surgical procedures is the requirement of cutting tissue.
      Introducing topology modifications, such as cutting, into these precomputed
      schemes does however come as a challenge, as the precomputed data needs to be
      modified, to reflect the new topology. In particular, recomputing K-1 is too
      costly to be performed during the simulation. Our topology modification method is
      based upon updating K-1 rather than entirely recomputing the matrix. By
      integrating condensation, we improve efficiency to allow for interaction with
      larger models. We can further enhance this by redistributing computational load
      to improve the system's real-time response. We exemplify our techniques with
      results from our surgical simulation system.

PMID- 20920517
TI  - Contributions of ideal observer theory to vision research.
AB  - An ideal observer is a hypothetical device that performs optimally in a
      perceptual task given the available information. The theory of ideal observers
      has proven to be a powerful and useful tool in vision research, which has been
      applied to a wide range of problems. Here I first summarize the basic concepts
      and logic of ideal observer analysis and then briefly describe applications in a
      number of different areas, including pattern detection, discrimination and
      estimation, perceptual grouping, shape, depth and motion perception and visual
      attention, with an emphasis on recent applications. Given recent advances in
      mathematical statistics, in computational power, and in techniques for measuring
      behavioral performance, neural activity and natural scene statistics, it seems
      certain that ideal observer theory will play an ever increasing role in basic and
      applied areas of vision science.

PMID- 20920519
TI  - SSR181507, a dopamine D2 receptor and 5-HT(1A) receptor ligand: evidence for
      mixed anxiolytic- and antidepressant-like activities.
AB  - SSR181507, a dopamine D2 receptor antagonist/partial agonist and 5-HT(1A)
      receptor agonist, is active in animal models of schizophrenia. Furthermore, it
      shows activity in several anxiety and/or depression models (Depoortere et al.
      2003). Presently, we sought to further characterize the latter two activities in
      rats, using a step-down passive avoidance procedure, a shock-induced ultrasonic
      vocalization (UV) test in adult subjects and a social interaction test. SSR181507
      (0.3 & 1 mg/kg ip), but not the atypical antipsychotics clozapine and olanzapine,
      decreased the latency time to step-down from a "safety" platform. Effects of
      SSR181507 were reversed by the selective 5-HT(1A) receptor antagonist SL88.0338.
      SSR181507 also reduced UV (0.3 & 1 mg/kg ip), an effect not reversed by
      SL88.0338, and observed with olanzapine, haloperidol, fluoxetine and the 5-HT(1A)
      receptor agonists 8-OH-DPAT and buspirone, but not diazepam. Furthermore,
      SSR181507 remained active following 3 weeks of administration (1 mg/kg ip, once
      daily) in the UV test. Lastly, SSR181507 (3 mg/kg ip) potentiated social
      interaction, an effect shared by diazepam and buspirone, but not by olanzapine,
      clozapine, haloperidol and 8-OH-DPAT. These data further strengthen previous
      findings that the putative atypical antipsychotic SSR181507 has mixed
      antidepressant and anxiolytic activities.

PMID- 20920520
TI  - How to analyze longitudinal multilevel physical activity data with many zeros?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Physical activity (PA) is a modifiable lifestyle factor for many
      chronic diseases with established health benefits. PA outcomes are measured and
      assessed in many longitudinal studies, but their analyses often pose difficulties
      due to the presence of many zeros, extreme skewness, and lack of independence,
      which render standard regression methods inappropriate. METHODS: A two-part
      multilevel modeling approach is used to analyze the heterogeneous and correlated
      PA data. In the first part, a logistic mixed regression model is fitted to
      estimate the prevalence of PA and factors associated with PA participation over
      time. For subjects engaging in PA, a gamma mixed regression model is adopted in
      the second part to assess the effects of predictor variables on the repeated PA
      outcomes nested within clusters. Extra variations are accommodated within the
      modeling process by random effects assigned to each cluster and each subject in
      the cohort. RESULTS: The findings in a longitudinal multilevel study of a
      community-based PA intervention for older adults demonstrate the effectiveness of
      the intervention program and enable the identification of pertinent factors
      affecting participation and PA levels over time. CONCLUSIONS: The two-part mixed
      regression approach provides a practical and statistically valid method to
      analyze the skewed and correlated PA data with many zeros. The methodology can be
      extended to handle complex hierarchical or multilevel settings by suitable
      specification of the covariance structure in the random components, model fitting
      of which can be performed in STATA using GLLAMM with various user-specified
      options.

PMID- 20920521
TI  - Comparison of women's breast cancer risk factors in Geneva, Switzerland and
      Shanghai, China.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We compared the prevalence of known and suspected breast cancer risk
      factors among women in Geneva, Switzerland, where the annual incidence of breast
      cancer is high, to women in Shanghai, China, where incidence is lower. METHODS:
      Different translations of the same woman's health questionnaire were administered
      to women aged 35 to 74 years in Shanghai (n=631) and Geneva (n=1,212) during 1996
      1997 and reproductive and lifestyle factors compared. RESULTS: Shanghai women
      reported older age at menarche (median 15 vs. 13 years), fewer nulliparity (7.3
      vs. 21.6%), younger age at first live birth (median 25.7 vs. 28.4 years), and
      shorter duration of reproductive life (median 35.7 vs. 38.4 years). Geneva women
      had a greater prevalence of current cigarette smoking (22.4 vs. 1.8%), oral
      contraceptive use (61.1 vs. 10.0%), hormone replacement therapy use (23.4 vs.
      0.8%), and family history of breast cancer (8.6 vs. 1.4%). Among women who
      breastfed, Shanghai women had more than twice the duration of breastfeeding than
      Geneva women (median 48 vs. 21 weeks). CONCLUSIONS: Differences in the prevalence
      of breast cancer risk factors, in particular reproductive characteristics, may
      contribute to the large contrast in cumulative risk between women living in
      Geneva and Shanghai.

PMID- 20920522
TI  - Influence of laminarin polysaccahrides on oxidative damage.
AB  - Laminarin is a tropical plant traditionally used in Chinese medicine. In this
      experiment, Laminarin polysaccharides were analysed using GC-MS method and result
      showed that the polysaccharides contained mannose (3.27%), arabinose (8.61%),
      glucose (4.23%), galactose (12.12%), fucose (46.93%). Laminarin polysaccharides
      were tested to evaluate their effect on lung oxidative stress and lipid
      peroxidation in rats. The animal were divided into model and polysaccharides
      treated animal. Laminarin polysaccharides were administered by gavage over a 14
      day period. The results indicated that Laminarin polysaccharides significantly
      normalized catalase (CAT) activity (P<0.01), increased glutathione peroxidase
      (GPx) activity (P<0.05), superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and reduced
      malondialdehyde (MDA) concentrations in animal. It could be concluded that
      Laminarin polysaccharides appeared to be more effective in reducing sepsis
      induced oxidative stress, lipid peroxidation in animal.

PMID- 20920523
TI  - Molecular characterization and enzymatic hydrolysis of naringin extracted from
      kinnow peel waste.
AB  - Kinnow peel, a waste rich in glycosylated phenolic substances, is the principal
      by-product of the citrus fruit processing industry and its disposal is becoming a
      major problem. This peel is rich in naringin and may be used for rhamnose
      production by utilizing alpha-L-rhamnosidase (EC 3.2.1.40), an enzyme that
      catalyzes the cleavage of terminal rhamnosyl groups from naringin to yield prunin
      and rhamnose. In this work, infrared (IR) spectroscopy confirmed molecular
      characteristics of naringin extracted from kinnow peel waste. Further,
      recombinant alpha-L-rhamnosidase purified from Escherichia coli cells using
      immobilized metal-chelate affinity chromatography (IMAC) was used for naringin
      hydrolysis. The purified enzyme was inhibited by Hg2+ (1 mM), 4
      hydroxymercuribenzoate (0.1 mM) and cyanamide (0.1 mM). The purified enzyme
      established hydrolysis of naringin extracted from kinnow peel and thus endorses
      its industrial applicability for producing rhamnose.

PMID- 20920525
TI  - Physical properties of edible emulsified films based on carboxymethyl cellulose
      and oleic acid.
AB  - Glycerol and oleic acid (OA) were incorporated into carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC)
      films by an emulsification method. Films containing different amounts of glycerol
      and OA were examined for mechanical properties, water vapor permeability (WVP),
      and moisture uptake, optical and thermal properties. Addition of OA to the CMC
      films significantly improved the barrier property. However, the effect of OA on
      the mechanical properties was lower than glycerol. By increasing of OA content,
      the cloudiness of the CMC films was intensified and Hunter value (b) of the films
      increased (by ca. 35.8%).

PMID- 20920524
TI  - Bacterial cellulose nanocrystals exhibiting high thermal stability and their
      polymer nanocomposites.
AB  - Nanocrystals prepared from bacterial cellulose are considered as 'green
      nanomaterials' depending on their renewable nature and ease of production without
      the involvement of hazardous chemical treatments. In this investigation, a top
      down approach was followed for the preparation of bacterial cellulose
      nanocrystals (BCNC) using a commercially available cellulase enzyme so as to
      retain native properties of bacterial cellulose even in its nanodimensional form.
      The morphological and dimensional parameters of BCNC were studied using atomic
      force microscope (AFM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM). Thermal
      properties of BCNC produced using the novel enzyme treatment and conventional
      sulfuric acid hydrolysis were compared. The thermal stability of enzyme processed
      BCNC was almost two fold higher than sulfuric acid processed ones. Further, the
      activation energy required for decomposition of enzyme processed BCNC was much
      higher than the other. Using this enzyme processed BCNC, Polyvinylalcohol (PVA)
      nanocomposite films were prepared and characterized. Incorporation of these
      nanocrystals in polymer matrix resulted in a remarkable improvement in the
      thermal stability as well as mechanical properties of nanocomposite films. These
      nanocomposites exhibited higher melting temperature (Tm) and enthalpy of melting
      (DeltaHm) than those of pure PVA, suggesting that the addition of nanocrystals
      modified the thermal properties of PVA. The effective load transfer from polymer
      chains to the BCNC resulted in an improved tensile strength from 62.5 MPa to 128
      MPa, by the addition of just 4 wt% of BCNC. Furthermore, the elastic modulus was
      found to increase from 2 GPa to 3.4 GPa. The BCNC obtained through cellulose
      treatment under controlled conditions were associated with several desirable
      properties and appear to be superior over the conventional methods of
      nanocrystals production. The enzymatic method followed in this study is expected
      to contribute the fabrication of high performance polymer nanocomposites in a
      much greener and innovative manner.

PMID- 20920526
TI  - Characterization and immune function of two intracellular sensors, HmTLR1 and
      HmNLR, in the injured CNS of an invertebrate.
AB  - Unlike mammals, the CNS of the medicinal leech can regenerate damaged neurites,
      thus restoring neural functions. Our group recently demonstrated that the injured
      leech nerve cord is able to mount an immune response, which promotes the
      regenerative processes. This defense mechanism is microorganism-specific,
      suggesting that the leech CNS is able to discriminate among microbial components.
      We report here the characterization of two receptors potentially implicated in
      this detection: HmTLR1 and HmNLR. Interestingly, HmTLR1 presents an endosomal
      distribution in neurons and appears as a chimera combining the mammalian
      intraendosomal domain of TLR3 and the cytoplasmic section of TLR13, while HmNLR
      is cytosolic and has the highest homology to NLRC3 receptors. Both receptors show
      patterns of induction upon stimulation that suggest their involvement in the
      leech neuroimmune response. This work constitutes the first demonstration in an
      invertebrate of (i) an intracellular TLR and (ii) a cytosolic PRR related to the
      NLR family.

PMID- 20920527
TI  - Alkhumra (Alkhurma) virus outbreak in Najran, Saudi Arabia: epidemiological,
      clinical, and laboratory characteristics.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: After its first appearance in Alkhumra district of Jeddah in 1994
      1995, and then in Makkah in 2001-2003, the new hemorrhagic fever virus, known as
      Alkhumra (misnamed as Alkhurma) virus (ALKV), has subsequently been reported from
      Najran, in the south border of Saudi Arabia. METHODS: This is a descriptive
      cohort study summarizing the epidemiological, clinical, and laboratory
      characteristics of ALKV infected patients diagnosed in Najran from 1 August 2003
      through 31 December 2009. RESULTS: A total of 148 suspected cases were reported,
      of which 78 (52.7%) cases were laboratory confirmed; 2 cases in 2003, 1 case in
      2004, 4 cases in 2005, 1 case in 2007, 12 cases in 2008, and 58 cases in 2009.
      The cases were reported year round but 64.1% (50/78) of them occurred in the
      summer time. Twenty-five (32.1%) cases occurred as clusters in 5 families. The
      virus seemed to be transmitted from livestock animals to humans by direct contact
      with these animals and likely by mosquito bites. Ticks did not seem to be
      involved in the transmission of infection from animals to humans. Clinical and
      laboratory features included fever (100%), headache (85.9%), malaise (85.9%),
      arthralgia (83.3%), anorexia (82.1%), myalgia (82.1%), backache (71.8%), nausea
      and vomiting (71.8%), chills (60.3%), retro-orbital pain (55.1%), diarrhea
      (51.3%), abdominal pain (48.7%), hemorrhagic manifestations (25.6%), central
      nervous system manifestations (23.1%), leucopenia (87.7%), elevated liver enzymes
      (85.7%), prolonged partial thromboplastin time (52.6%), thrombocytopenia (46.2%),
      elevated creatine kinase level (45.7%), and elevated lactate dehydrogenase
      (25.0%). CONCLUSION: ALKV infection has now been recognized outside its original
      boundaries in Saudi Arabia which may herald its identification in other
      countries.

PMID- 20920528
TI  - Adipocytokines, cardiovascular pathophysiology and myocardial protection.
AB  - Reducing myocardial damage resulting from ischaemia-reperfusion (I/R) is vital in
      ensuring patient recovery and survival. It relies upon the activation of the so
      called Reperfusion Injury Salvage Kinase (RISK) pathway. Experimentally various
      treatments, both mechanical and chemical, have been shown to protect the
      myocardium against I/R injury. Chemical facilitators of myocardial preservation
      include endogenous factors such as insulin, erythropoietin and glucagon-like
      peptide 1. The adipocytokines, products of white adipose tissue, are important
      peptide hormones with respect to metabolic control and satiety, and were formerly
      considered in the context of obesity and metabolic disease. More recently,
      however, evidence has been presented indicating that the adipocytokines play
      significant roles in cardiac function and, as we have suggested, in myocardial
      protection. To date leptin, adiponectin, apelin and visfatin have all been shown
      to protect against I/R injury. Significantly, the protection afforded by these
      peptides involves the activation of kinases which are key elements of the
      mechanisms underlying tissue preservation, including the RISK pathway components
      PI3K-Akt and p44/42, and inhibition of the mitochondrial permeability transition
      pore (MPTP). In this article we examine the roles played by the adipocytokines in
      cardiovascular function and disease. In particular, we focus on the evidence that
      these peptides promote myocardial survival, much of it having been obtained in
      this laboratory. To conclude, we discuss some future directions in the field,
      including the prospects for some of the adipocytokines finding application as
      therapeutic agents in myocardial infarction.

PMID- 20920529
TI  - Roles of prostanoids in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases: Novel
      insights from knockout mouse studies.
AB  - Prostanoids consisting of prostaglandins (PGs) and thromboxanes (TXs) are
      produced from arachidonic acids, representative fatty acids contained in cell
      membrane, by the sequential actions of phospholipase A(2), cyclooxygenases and
      respective prostanoid synthases. Prostanoids are released outside of the cells
      immediately after biosynthesis and exert a wide range of actions in the body.
      These actions are mediated by their respective G protein-coupled receptors
      expressed in the target cells, which receptors include the DP, EP, FP, IP and TP
      receptors for PGD(2), PGE(2), PGF(2)alpha, PGI(2) and TXA(2), respectively. In
      addition, there are four subtypes of the EP receptors: EP(1), EP(2), EP(3) and
      EP(4). Recently, roles of prostanoids in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular
      diseases have been widely examined using mice lacking each prostanoid receptor
      individually or enzyme participating in prostanoid biosynthesis. These studies
      have revealed important and novel roles of prostanoids in the development of
      cardiovascular diseases, such as acute myocardial infarction, cardiac
      hypertrophy, atherosclerosis, vascular remodeling, hypertension and cerebral
      thrombosis. Roles of prostanoids in the generation of inflammatory tachycardia
      and the regulation of platelet function have also been clarified. In this review,
      we summarize these roles of prostanoids revealed from knockout mouse studies.

PMID- 20920530
TI  - Dabigatran etexilate versus warfarin as the oral anticoagulant of choice? A
      review of clinical data.
AB  - For many years, warfarin was the only effective oral anticoagulant to prevent and
      treat thromboembolism. Nevertheless, its clinical use is limited by a narrow
      therapeutic window, extensive drug interactions, need of strict dietary control
      and frequent monitoring. The pharmacological response is also unpredictable and
      highly variable among patients. Suboptimal anticoagulation can lead to
      detrimental thromboembolic events or life-threatening bleeding. Direct thrombin
      inhibitor (DTI) activity represents a new class of anticoagulant activity that
      was intended to replace warfarin. Ximelagatran was the first DTI shown to have
      similar efficacy to warfarin, but failed to replace it because of a high
      incidence of liver toxicity. Dabigatran etexilate is another novel DTI with a
      more predictable pharmacokinetic profile and fewer drug interactions compared
      with warfarin. Recent large-scaled, randomized studies have shown that it does
      not share ximelagatran's hepatotoxicity, and is as effective as conventional
      anticoagulants for venous thromboembolism (VTE) and prophylaxis in atrial
      fibrillation (AF). These findings led to the approval of dabigatran etexilate for
      thromboprophylaxis following hip or knee replacement surgery in Europe, Canada
      and the United Kingdom. Here we summarize the latest evidence concerning the use
      of dabigatran etexilate in VTE (BISTRO, RE-MODEL, RE-NOVATE, RE-MOBILIZE and
      RECOVER) and AF (PETRO and RELY). Potential problems related to dabigatran use
      are also discussed to examine whether it can truly replace warfarin as the gold
      standard.

PMID- 20920531
TI  - A role for hypocretin/orexin in motivation.
AB  - Obesity and drug addiction, both a result of aberrant motivated behavior, are
      growing problems in western society. Increased dopamine neurotransmission occurs
      with both drug-seeking and ingestive behaviors and has been linked to effort
      related functions. Hypocretin/orexin (Hcrt/ox) neurons have long been known to
      mediate arousal and feeding. Over the last 5 years, hcrt/ox has been demonstrated
      to play a novel role in mediating a variety of reward-seeking behaviors and can
      modulate the activity and output of dopamine neurons. Here, we propose that
      hcrt/ox action on mesolimbic dopamine circuitry serves to promote effort to
      obtain highly salient natural or drug rewards.

PMID- 20920532
TI  - Interaction between early postnatal neurosteroid manipulations and adult infusion
      of neurosteroids into CA1 hippocampal region on the open field behaviour.
AB  - Recent findings suggest that neurosteroids acting as GABAA modulators, as
      allopregnanolone (AlloP), not only play an important role in brain development,
      especially in the maturation of the hippocampus, but also in adult behaviour. The
      aim of the present work is to investigate whether the effects of adult CA1
      intrahippocampal administrations of AlloP and pregnenolone sulphate (PregS),
      GABAA positive and negative modulators, respectively, on behavioural novelty
      responses measured in the open field test can be different depending on neonatal
      alterations (increase or decrease) of physiological AlloP levels. Rat pups
      received AlloP and a 5alpha-reductase inhibitor (finasteride) from the fifth to
      the ninth postnatal day. At maturity, a bilateral cannula was implanted into the
      hippocampus (CA1). Intrahippocampal AlloP and PregS decreased total locomotor
      activity in neonatal control rats. Instead, in neonatal AlloP rats only PregS
      decreased open field activity, whereas in neonatal finasteride rats the
      intrahippocampal injections (AlloP and PregS) did not affect locomotor activity.
      Also, the decrease in activity induced by PregS infusion was higher in neonatal
      AlloP rats than in controls. However, neonatal treatments did not affect any of
      the anxiety scores. Although intrahippocampal AlloP and PregS decreased inner
      activity and time spent in the first 5 min independently of the neonatal
      treatment, the extremely low inner values do not allow a conclusion of anxiogenic
      effects. Results indicate that neonatal AlloP administration potentiates and
      neonatal finasteride decreases the effects of adult intrahippocampal PregS
      administration on open field locomotion, suggesting neurobiological adaptations
      that remain until adult age.

PMID- 20920533
TI  - Evidence that the reward attenuating effect of the D1-like antagonist, SCH-23390,
      is not mediated by its agonist action at the 5-HT2c receptors.
AB  - This study investigated the effect of the 5-HT2c receptor antagonist, SB-242,084,
      on the attenuation of brain stimulation reward by SCH-23390. An additional
      experiment determined the effectiveness of SB-242,084 at blocking the reward
      attenuating effect of 5-HT2c agonist, CP-809,101. Results show that SB-242,084
      blocked the reward attenuating effect of CP-809,101 but failed to alter that of
      SCH-23390. These findings provide evidence that the agonist action of SCH-23390
      at the 5-HT2c receptors does not contribute to its attenuating effect on reward.

PMID- 20920534
TI  - Reprint of: Chromogranin A: a new proposal for trafficking, processing and
      induction of granule biogenesis.
AB  - Chromogranin A (CgA), a member of the granin family serves several important cell
      biological roles in (neuro)endocrine cells which are summarized in this review.
      CgA is a "prohormone" that is synthesized at the rough endoplasmic reticulum and
      transported into the cisternae of this organelle via its signal peptide. It is
      then trafficked to the Golgi complex and then to the trans-Golgi network (TGN)
      where CgA aggregates at low pH in the presence of calcium. The CgA aggregates
      provide the physical driving force to induce budding of the TGN membrane
      resulting in dense core granule (DCG) formation. Within the granule, a small
      amount of the CgA is processed to bioactive peptides, including a predicted C
      terminal peptide, serpinin. Upon stimulation, DCGs undergo exocytosis and CgA and
      its derived peptides are released. Serpinin, acting extracellularly is able to
      signal the increase in transcription of a serine protease inhibitor, protease
      nexin-1 (PN-1) that protects DCG proteins against degradation in the Golgi
      complex, which then enhances DCG biogenesis to replenish those that were
      released. Thus CgA and its derived peptide, serpinin, plays a significant role in
      granule formation and regulation of granule biogenesis, respectively, in (neuro)
      endocrine cells.

PMID- 20920535
TI  - Phosphorylation/dephosphorylation of human SULT4A1: role of Erk1 and PP2A.
AB  - SULT4A1 is a cytosolic sulfotransferase that shares little homology with other
      human sulfotransferases but is highly conserved between species. It is found in
      neurons located in several regions of the brain. Recently, the stability of
      SULT4A1 was shown to be regulated by Pin1, a peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans isomerase
      implicated in several neurodegenerative diseases. Since Pin1 binds preferentially
      to phosphoproteins, these findings suggested that SULT4A1 is post-translationally
      modified. In this study, we show that the Thr(11) residue of SULT4A1, which is
      involved in Pin1 binding is phosphorylated. MEK inhibition was shown to abolish
      Pin1 mediated degradation of SULT4A1 while in vitro phosphorylation assays using
      alanine substitution mutants of SULT4A1 demonstrated phosphorylation of Thr(11)
      by ERK1. We also show that dephosphorylation was catalyzed by the protein
      phosphatase 2A. The PP2A regulatory subunit, Bbeta was identified from a yeast-2
      hybrid screen of human brain cDNA as a SULT4A1 interacting protein. This was
      further confirmed by GST pull-downs and immunoprecipitation. Other members of the
      B subunit (alpha??delta??gamma) did not interact with SULT4A1. Taken together,
      these studies indicate that SULT4A1 stability is regulated by post-translational
      modification that involves the ERK pathway and PP2A. The phosphorylation of
      SULT4A1 allows interaction with Pin1, which then promotes degradation of the
      sulfotransferase.

PMID- 20920537
TI  - PCR-linked reverse DNA hybridization using oligonucleotide-specific probes of
      rpoB for identification of Mycobacterium avium and Mycobacterium intracellulare.
AB  - A PCR-linked reverse DNA hybridization method using two different specific rpoB
      DNA probes (Avp and Intp) of Mycobacterium avium and Mycobacterium
      intracellulare, respectively, were evaluated for the differentiation and
      identification of M. avium and M. intracellulare culture isolates. Among the 504
      culture isolates tested by this method, 48 strains showed positive results for M.
      avium and 60 strains showed positive results for M. intracellulare. The other 396
      culture isolates showed negative results for both M. avium and M. intracellulare.
      These results were consistent with those obtained from partial rpoB (306 bp)
      sequence analysis and biochemical tests. The negative strains obtained by this
      DNA hybridization method were identified as M. tuberculosis (366 strains), M.
      peregrinum (11 strains), M. abscessus (9 strains), M. fortuitum (8 strains), and
      M. flavescens (2 strains) by rpoB DNA sequence analysis. Due to the high
      sensitive and specific result obtained by this assay, we suggest that this PCR
      linked reverse DNA hybridization method using two different specific rpoB DNA
      probes of M. avium and M. intracellulare would be used for the rapid and precise
      method for differentiation and identification of M. avium and M. intracellulare.

PMID- 20920536
TI  - Role of hypoxia and EGF on expression, activity, localization and phosphorylation
      of carbonic anhydrase IX in MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells.
AB  - Carbonic anhydrase IX (CAIX) is a zinc metalloenzyme that catalyzes the
      reversible hydration of CO(2). CAIX is overexpressed in many types of cancer,
      including breast cancer, but is most frequently absent in corresponding normal
      tissues. CAIX expression is strongly induced by hypoxia and is significantly
      associated with tumor grade and poor survival. Herein, we show that hypoxia
      induces a significant increase in CAIX protein in MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells.
      Using a unique mass spectrophotometric assay, we demonstrate that CAIX activity
      in plasma membranes isolated from MDA-MB-231 is correlated with CAIX content. We
      also show that CAIX exists predominantly as a dimeric, high-mannose N-linked
      glycoprotein. While there is some evidence that the dimeric form resides
      specifically in lipid rafts, our data do not support this hypothesis. EGF, alone,
      did not affect the distribution of CAIX into lipid rafts. However, acute EGF
      treatment in the context of hypoxia increased the amount of CAIX in lipid rafts
      by about 5-fold. EGF did not stimulate tyrosine phosphorylation of CAIX, although
      EGFR and down-stream signaling pathways were activated by EGF. Interestingly,
      hypoxia activated Akt independent of EGF action. Together, these data demonstrate
      that the active form of CAIX in the MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cell line is dimeric
      but that neither lipid raft localization nor phosphorylation are likely required
      for its dimerization or activity.

PMID- 20920538
TI  - In vitro anaerobic biofilms of human colonic microbiota.
AB  - The human gastrointestinal tract hosts a complex community of microorganisms that
      grow as biofilms on the intestinal mucosa. These bacterial communities are not
      well characterized, although they are known to play an important role in human
      health. This study aimed to develop a model for culturing biofilms (surface
      adherent communities) of intestinal microbiota. The model utilizes adherent
      mucosal bacteria recovered from colonic biopsies to create multi-species
      biofilms. Culture on selective media and confocal microscopy indicated the
      biofilms were composed of a diverse community of bacteria. Molecular analyses
      confirmed that several phyla were represented in the model, and demonstrated
      stability of the community over 96 h when cultured in the device. This model is
      novel in its use of a multi-species community of mucosal bacteria grown in a
      biofilm mode of growth.

PMID- 20920539
TI  - PACAP up-regulates the expression of apolipoprotein D in 3T3-L1 adipocytes.
      DRG/3T3-L1 co-cultures study.
AB  - The existence of a cross-talk between nerves and fatty tissue is increasingly
      recognized. Using co-cultures of dorsal root ganglion (DRG)-derived cells and 3T3
      L1 adipocytes, we have previously shown that the presence of fat cells enhances
      neurite outgrowth and number of synapses. Vice versa, neural cells induced
      expression of neurotrophic adipokines apolipoprotein D and E (ApoD, ApoE) and
      angiopoietin-1 (Ang-1) by adipocytes. Here, we tested whether pituitary adenylate
      cyclase-activating peptide (PACAP), which is released by sensory fibres and
      causes Ca(2+) influx into fat cells, is involved in ApoD induction. Using 3T3-L1
      cell cultures, we found that PACAP at a dose of 1 nM up-regulated the expression
      of ApoD protein and mRNA approx. 2.5 fold. This effect was driven by ERK1/2
      acting upon PAC1/VPAC2 receptors. In turn, PACAP-treated 3T3-L1 adipocytes in co
      cultures with DRG cells enhanced neurite ramification of neurofilament 200
      (NF200)-positive neurons (measured using fluorescence microscopy) and
      neurofilament 68 protein levels (measured using Western blot analysis). This
      effect could be blocked using the PAC1/VPAC2 antagonist PACAP(6-38). Scanning
      cytometry revealed PACAP/ApoD induced low density lipoprotein receptors (LDLR)
      and ApoE receptor 2 (apoER2) in NF200-positive cells. Thus, a bidirectional loop
      seems to exist regulating the innervation of fatty tissues: PACAP released from
      sensory fibres might stimulate fat cells to synthesize neurotrophic adipokines,
      which, in turn, support peripheral innervation.

PMID- 20920541
TI  - The Wnt signaling pathway in cellular proliferation and differentiation: A tale
      of two coactivators.
AB  - Wnt signaling pathways play divergent roles during development, normal
      homeostasis and disease. The responses that result from the activation of the
      pathway control both proliferation and differentiation. Tight regulation and
      controlled coordination of the Wnt signaling cascade is required to maintain the
      balance between proliferation and differentiation. The non-redundant roles of the
      coactivator proteins CBP and p300, within the context of Wnt signaling are
      discussed. We highlight their roles as integrators of the various inputs that a
      cell receives to elicit the correct and coordinated response. We propose that
      essentially all cellular information - i.e. from other signaling pathways,
      nutrient levels, etc. - is funneled down into a choice of coactivators usage,
      either CBP or p300, by their interacting partner beta-catenin (or catenin-like
      molecules in the absence of beta-catenin) to make the critical decision to either
      remain quiescent, or once entering cycle to proliferate without differentiation
      or to initiate the differentiation process.

PMID- 20920542
TI  - Computational analysis for hepatic safety signals of constituents present in
      botanical extracts widely used by women in the United States for treatment of
      menopausal symptoms.
AB  - Black cohosh, red clover, hops, and chasteberry are botanicals commonly used to
      alleviate menopausal symptoms in the US, and are examined in this study as part
      of a FDA Office of Women's Health research collaboration to expand knowledge on
      the safety of these botanical products. Computational approaches using classic
      (quantitative) structure-activity relationships ((Q)SAR), probabilistic
      reasoning, machine learning methods, and human expert rule-based systems were
      employed to deliver human hepatobiliary adverse effect predictions. The objective
      is to profile and analyze constituents that are alerting for the human
      hepatobiliary adverse effects. Computational analysis of positively predicted
      constituents showed that common structural features contributing to the
      hepatobiliary adverse effect predictions contain phenolic, flavone, isoflavone,
      glucoside conjugated flavone and isoflavone, and 4-hydroxyacetophenone
      structures. Specifically, protocatechuic acid from black cohosh, benzofuran and 4
      vinylphenol from chasteberry, and xanthohumol I from hops were botanical
      constituents predicted positive for liver toxicity endpoints and were also
      confirmed with literature findings. However, comparison between the estimated
      human exposure to these botanical constituents and the LOAEL and NOAEL in
      published animal liver toxicology studies for these constituents demonstrated
      varying margins of safety. This study will serve as regulatory decision support
      information for regulators at the FDA to help with the process of prioritizing
      chemicals for testing.

PMID- 20920540
TI  - Mesenchymal stem cells for the sustained in vivo delivery of bioactive factors.
AB  - Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) are a promising tool for cell therapy, either
      through direct contribution to the repair of bone, tendon and cartilage or as an
      adjunct therapy through protein production and immune mediation. They are an
      attractive vehicle for cellular therapies due to a variety of cell intrinsic and
      environmentally responsive properties. Following transplantation, MSC are capable
      of systemic migration, are not prone to tumor formation, and appear to tolerize
      the immune response across donor mismatch. These attributes combine to allow MSC
      to reside in many different tissue types without disrupting the local
      microenvironment and, in some cases, responding to the local environment with
      appropriate protein secretion. We describe work done by our group and others in
      using human MSC for the sustained in vivo production of supraphysiological levels
      of cytokines for the support of cotransplanted hematopoietic stem cells and
      enzymes that are deficient in animal models of lysosomal storage disorders such
      as MPSVII. In addition, the use of MSC engineered to secrete protein products has
      been reviewed in several fields of tissue injury repair, including but not
      limited to revascularization after myocardial infarction, regeneration of
      intervertebral disc defects and spine therapy, repair of stroke, therapy for
      epilepsy, skeletal tissue repair, chondrogenesis/knee and joint repair, and
      neurodegenerative diseases. Genetically engineered MSC have thus proven safe and
      efficacious in numerous animal models of disease modification and tissue repair
      and are poised to be tested in human clinical trials. The potential for these
      interesting cells to secrete endogenous or transgene products in a sustained and
      long-term manner is highly promising and is discussed in the current review.

PMID- 20920543
TI  - Paliperidone-induced leukopenia and neutropenia: a case report.

PMID- 20920544
TI  - Effects of Salacia chinensis extract on reproductive outcome in rats.
AB  - Salaciachinensis is a traditional South and Southeast Asian herb medicine and has
      been reported to have an antidiabetic function via alpha-glucosidases inhibitory
      activity. In this study, the effects of S. chinensis extract (SCE) on
      reproductive functions of F0 males and females and the effects on survival and
      growth of F1 offspring were examined using Sprague-Dawley rats. SCE was
      administered at dose levels of 0, 500, 1000 and 2000 mg/kg/day orally to groups
      consisting of 25 males and 25 females. Males were dosed once a day in the morning
      from 8 weeks before mating, throughout the mating period and until the day before
      necropsy and females were dosed once a day in the morning for 2 weeks before
      mating and through the mating, gestation and lactation periods (until day 20 of
      lactation). In all SCE treatment groups, no toxic signs were noted on
      reproductive outcome such as estrous cycle of F0 females or any parameters for
      reproductive function or survival, growth, sensory reflex or function development
      of F1 pups. Therefore, we concluded that SCE has no effects on the reproductive
      outcome even at a remarkably high dosage level, 2000 mg/kg/day, in Sprague-Dawley
      rats.

PMID- 20920545
TI  - Gene expression profiling of DEHP-treated cardiomyocytes reveals potential causes
      of phthalate arrhythmogenicity.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Di-(2-ethylhexyl)-phthalate (DEHP) is a widely used plasticizer that
      imparts flexibility to polyvinyl chloride. We have recently reported that
      clinically relevant concentrations of DEHP can affect electrical coupling between
      cardiac myocytes causing significant rhythm disturbances. The underlying causes
      for this effect are currently unknown. OBJECTIVES: To use data on global mRNA
      expression as a tool to reveal possible pathways leading to arrhythmogenic
      effects of DEHP. METHODS: Rat neonatal cardiomyocytes were treated with 50 MUg/mL
      DEHP for 72 h. Extracted RNA samples were hybridized onto Affymetrix Rat Gene 1.0
      ST arrays. The mRNA expression of a subset of genes was validated by qRT-PCR. In
      a second set of experiments, cells were treated in a concentration dependent
      manner to identify genes affected by low DEHP concentrations. RESULTS: DEHP
      exposure is associated with global changes in mRNA expression, with
      differentially expressed genes overrepresented in 47 Gene Ontology categories.
      Modified expression was detected for genes associated with cell electrical
      activity, calcium handling, adhesion and microtubular transport. For a number of
      key proteins, including kinesin, TGFbeta2, alpha-tubulin, and alpha1 & beta1
      integrins, changes in mRNA levels were confirmed on the level of the protein
      expression. A number of genes associated with cell adhesion and electrical
      activity were identified as early DEHP targets as they were affected by
      concentrations as low as 1 MUg/mL. CONCLUSIONS: Exposure of neonatal rat
      cardiomyocytes to clinically relevant DEHP concentrations leads to global changes
      in mRNA expression. These changes help to explain the arrhythmogenic effects of
      phthalates on these cells.

PMID- 20920546
TI  - Mechanisms and genes involved in enhancement of HIV infectivity by tobacco smoke.
AB  - HIV infection is more common among smokers than nonsmokers, and, remarkably, HIV
      infected individuals are about 3 times more likely to smoke than the uninfected
      general population. However, the relationship between tobacco smoking and
      HIV/AIDS disease progression remains controversial. In this study, we demonstrate
      a potent enhancing effect of aqueous tobacco smoke extract (TSE) on HIV
      infectivity that is nicotine-independent. This increased infectivity is neither
      NF-kappaB mediated nor a direct result of oxidative stress, as it cannot be
      blocked by antioxidants. On the contrary, TSE itself was found to possess
      significant antioxidant potential, enabling it to protect the viability of both
      infected cells and HIV virions in the presence of peroxide. Assessment of TSE
      induced alterations in cellular gene expression that may be involved in
      increasing HIV infectivity in T cells showed that TSE up-regulates some genes
      known to be capable of enhancing HIV and HCV infection, or protecting HIV, but
      down-regulates several genes involved in cellular defense and antigen
      presentation. These results demonstrate that tobacco smoke can enhance HIV
      infectivity, possibly by a combination of direct (antioxidant) and indirect (gene
      based) mechanisms. This raises the concern that smoking may thereby increase the
      risk of acquisition or progression of HIV infection.

PMID- 20920547
TI  - Mutagenesis analyses explore residues responsible for the neurotoxic and
      anticoagulant activities of Trimucrotoxin, a pit-viper venom Asn6-phospholipase
      A2.
AB  - Trimucrotoxin (TmCT) is an Asn(6)-containing phospholipase A(2) (PLA(2)) from
      Protobothrops mucrosquamatus (pit-viper) venom. In an attempt to characterize the
      amino acid residues responsible for the neurotoxic and anticoagulant activities
      of TmCT, the recombinant fusion proteins of TmCT wild type and mutants were
      expressed in Escherichia coli. Correct refolding and processing of 37 TmCT
      mutants were confirmed by their HPLC retention times, circular dichroism spectra,
      and masses obtained from ESI-MS spectrometry. Each mutant was assayed by pH-stat
      titration using zwitterionic as well as anionic micelle substrates, and the
      neurotoxicity was evaluated by using the contractile responses of chick biventer
      cervicis muscles. The results demonstrated that the residues Asn(1), Asn(6),
      Lys(7), Ile(11), Met(12), Gly(53), Thr(79), His(108) and Met(118) are important
      to TmCT neurotoxicity. Through various tests, we also confirmed that enzymatic
      activity, as opposed to binding to Factor Xa, was a necessary part of TmCT's
      anticoagulant effect. In addition, pulldown assays of the WT and selected mutants
      revealed that TmCT's in vitro binding to crotoxin acidic subunit may involve a
      broad surface area. We conclude that the hot spot mutations at specific positions
      53, 79, 108, and 118 during the pit-viper Asn(6)-PLA(2) evolution regulate their
      neurotoxicities, and that many of the neurotoxic site residues and the
      anticoagulant mechanism of TmCT are different from those of ammodytoxin A (a true
      viper venom neurotoxic PLA(2)).

PMID- 20920548
TI  - Lack of association between the 5-HTTLPR and the error-related negativity (ERN).
AB  - The error-related negativity (ERN) is a negative waveform that occurs
      approximately 50ms after an incorrect response. Pharmacological manipulations and
      theoretical accounts suggest that the ERN reflects reward-related dopamine
      activity; however, it is likely that several neurotransmitters contribute to the
      generation of the ERN. Two studies have found an association between the ERN and
      the serotonin transporter-linked promoter region (5-HTTLPR) polymorphism. In
      order to investigate this further, 86 participants performed an arrow version of
      the flanker task and were genotyped for the 5-HTTLPR and the A/G SNP (rs25531)
      located within the L allele. Despite using multiple methods to group subjects by
      genotype and score the ERN, no reliable associations between the ERN and the 5
      HTTLPR were found. The current study casts doubt on the relationship between ERN
      and 5-HTTLPR; reasons for this discrepancy with previous work are discussed.

PMID- 20920549
TI  - Emergence of robust regulatory motifs from in silico evolution of sustained
      oscillation.
AB  - The relationship between robustness and evolvability (easiness to evolve), and
      the evolutionary emergence of robust genetic circuits in biology have attracted
      much attention in systems biology. This paper investigates in silico the
      influence of the cis-regulation logic and the coupling of feedback loops on the
      evolvability and robustness of gene regulatory motifs that can generate sustained
      oscillation. Our simulation results indicate that both evolvability and
      robustness of the considered regulatory motifs depend on the cis-regulation logic
      and the way in which positive and negative feedback loops are coupled. Most
      interestingly, our findings suggest that robust regulatory motifs can emerge from
      evolution without an explicit selection pressure on robustness and adding noise
      in the parameters during the evolution is likely to promote the evolution of
      sustained oscillation.

PMID- 20920550
TI  - Evidence for a role of calcineurin in the development of retinocollicular fine
      topography.
AB  - The fine-tuning of topographically organized projections in sensory systems is
      strongly influenced by electrical activity and use-dependent modifications in
      synaptic strength. Since calcineurin (CaN), a Ca(2+)-calmodulin dependent
      serine/threonine phosphatase has been associated with activity-dependent
      modifications in synaptic efficacy we studied the effects of systemic and local
      administration of CaN inhibitors during the critical period of development of the
      uncrossed retinocollicular projection in pigmented rats. We found that the
      expression of the catalytic subunit of calcineurin (CaNA) occurs throughout early
      development in the visual layers of the superior colliculus and peaks at PND14
      when eye opening is complete. The functional blockade of CaN activity by means of
      a systemic treatment with cyclosporine A (CsA) during the second postnatal week,
      induces sprouting of uncrossed retinal axons outside their main terminal zones.
      Additionally, the local treatment with intracranial implants of Elvax loaded with
      either CsA or a cell-permeable CaN inhibitory peptide (CIP) resulted in a similar
      expansion of retinocollicular terminal fields. Taken together, these results
      suggest CaN as a key element for the development of fine tuning of
      retinocollicular topography.

PMID- 20920551
TI  - Knockdown of glycogen synthase kinase 3 beta attenuates 6-hydroxydopamine-induced
      apoptosis in SH-SY5Y cells.
AB  - Glycogen synthase kinase 3 beta (GSK3beta) plays a critical role in signal
      transductions concerning neuronal death. In the present study, we investigated
      the potential role of GSK3beta in 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA)-induced toxicity in
      human neuroblastoma cell line SH-SY5Y. We assessed the apoptotic proteins and the
      relative levels of pGSK3beta (Ser9) and pGSK3beta (Tyr216) to GSK3beta in 6-OHDA
      treated SH-SY5Y. Furthermore, we downregulated the expression of GSK3beta by
      short hairpin RNA (shRNA) interference and compared the cell viability and
      expression of apoptotic proteins in knockdown group with those in control group
      under the treatment of 6-OHDA. We found that 6-OHDA increased the expression of
      caspase-3 and caspase-9 but not caspase-8. Additionally, 6-OHDA decreased the
      ratio of pGSK3beta (Ser9)/GSK3beta and increased the ratio of pGSK3beta
      (Tyr216)/GSK3beta. Moreover, 6-OHDA induced less cell viability loss and lower
      expression of caspase-9 and caspase-3 in GSK3beta knockdown group compared with
      control. The present data indicate that 6-OHDA may induce apoptosis in SH-SY5Y
      via the intrinsic death pathway and GSK3beta knockdown can partly attenuate 6
      OHDA-induced neuronal death and apoptosis, suggesting that GSK3beta may have the
      potential to serve as a therapeutic target for PD.

PMID- 20920552
TI  - Enhancement of long-term memory expression by a single trial during
      consolidation.
AB  - Before the memory trace is stored long term, it must undergo a phase of
      consolidation during which it remains susceptible to modifications. It has
      previously been proposed that during consolidation, memories are kept from being
      stored long term, and can therefore be modified with additional information
      resulting from ongoing behavior. The Chasmagnathus associative memory model is
      used here to test whether it is possible during consolidation to modify the long
      term expression of a memory generated by a weak training procedure. In this
      memory model, long-term memory expression is achieved after strong training
      protocols, a 15-spaced trial procedure. After a weak training protocol (WTP, six
      spaced trials), crabs do not show memory retention when tested in the long term.
      Nevertheless, the WTP builds a long-term memory that it is indeed consolidated,
      but remains unexpressed. Here we show that memory can be modified by experience
      during this short period after learning: memory expression can be enhanced by a
      Single Trial Session, on the condition that this session takes place contingent
      upon the consolidation period. We also found that during this time, the memory
      built by the WTP is behaviorally expressed, in contrast with what occurs at long
      term. Our results support the idea that during consolidation memories can be
      evaluated in the background of concurrent experiences. In particular, we propose
      that during the consolidation period it is possible for crabs to assess which
      experiences, among those stored long term, will be expressed long term.

PMID- 20920554
TI  - Modulation of spindle discharge from jaw-closing muscles during chewing foods of
      different hardness in awake rabbits.
AB  - The relationships between jaw-closing muscle spindle unit discharge and the
      hardness of foods were evaluated during chewing in awake rabbits. Spindle unit
      discharges recorded from the left mesencephalic trigeminal nucleus were
      correlated with the simultaneous recording of jaw movements and electromyographic
      (EMG) activities of the left masseter (jaw-closing) muscle during chewing soft
      and hard foods. A chewing cycle was divided into the fast-closing (FC), slow
      closing (SC) and opening (OP) phases according to jaw movements. The chewing was
      classified as ipsilateral and contralateral chewing according to ipsilateral and
      contralateral to the recording side of the neuron, respectively. Spindle unit
      discharge was significantly higher during the FC and SC phases of the hard food
      than the soft food during both ipsilateral and contralateral chewing. The
      discharge was observed to be higher when the masseter muscle activity was higher.
      A comparison between the chewing sides reveals that the discharge was
      significantly higher during the slow-closing phase of ipsilateral chewing than
      contralateral chewing. From the above findings, the relationship of the spindle
      unit discharge with the hardness of foods was observed. Moreover, this
      relationship exists even when an animal chews food on the contralateral side
      suggesting the significance of the muscle spindle information for smooth chewing.
      In addition, the phase dependent difference of the spindle unit discharge between
      chewing sides suggests the distinct roles of the spindle information on the
      chewing and non-chewing sides.

PMID- 20920553
TI  - Kv4.2 block of long-term potentiation is partially dependent on synaptic NMDA
      receptor remodeling.
AB  - Proper expression of synaptic NMDA receptors (NMDARs) is necessary to regulate
      synaptic Ca2(+) influx and the induction the long-term potentiation (LTP) in the
      mammalian hippocampus. Previously we reported that expressing the A-type K(+)
      channel subunit Kv4.2 in CA1 neurons of organotypic slice cultures reduced
      synaptic NR2B-containing NMDAR expression and completely blocked LTP induced by a
      pairing protocol. As pretreatment with an NMDAR antagonist (APV) overnight
      blocked the reduction of NR2B-containing receptors in neurons expressing EGFP
      labeled Kv4.2 (Kv4.2g), we hypothesized that LTP would be rescued in Kv4.2g
      neurons by overnight treatment with APV. We report here that the overnight APV
      pretreatment in Kv4.2g-expressing neurons only partially restored potentiation.
      This partial potentiation was completely blocked by inhibition of the CAMKII
      kinase. These results indicate that A-type K(+) channels must regulate synaptic
      integration and plasticity through another mechanism in addition to their
      regulation of synaptic NR2 subunit composition. We suggest that dendritic
      excitability, which is regulated by Kv4.2 expression, also contributes to
      synaptic plasticity.

PMID- 20920555
TI  - A slowing effect on visual search by advance information in pigeons (Columba
      livia): a comparison with humans (Homo sapiens).
AB  - A comparative study was conducted to investigate whether the search for a target
      letter was facilitated when the target and prime (preceding stimulus) letters
      were identical. Pigeons (Section 2) and human participants (Section 3) were first
      trained to search for "A" among "Y"s and "E" among "D"s in a condition in which a
      square shape appeared as the prime (Neutral condition). In subsequent testing, a
      prime was identical either to the corresponding target (Target-priming condition)
      or to the distractor (Distractor-priming condition). Humans and pigeons responded
      differently to the two priming conditions. On early trials, the Target prime
      facilitated search in humans, reducing reaction times (RTs) to targets. In
      pigeons, however, RTs were longer with Target primes, suggesting that pre
      exposure to target letters may directly inhibit the search for targets in
      subsequent search displays. Furthermore, pre-exposure to the distractor letters
      may inhibit the processing of the distractor. On later trials, RTs of humans were
      faster in both priming conditions than in the Neutral condition, suggesting that
      expectation of a target facilitated search ("Y" predicted "A" and "D" predicted
      "E"). In contrast, the pigeons showed no evidence of expectation-based
      facilitation, with constant slowing effects of the Target prime extending across
      sessions. Possible mechanisms underlying such a slowing priming effect in pigeons
      were discussed.

PMID- 20920556
TI  - Prior exposure to organophosphorus and organochlorine pesticides increases the
      allergic potential of environmental chemical allergens in a local lymph node
      assay.
AB  - The dysregulation of immune functions by some pesticides leads to various immune
      disorders, including immunodeficiency, tumorigenesis, allergies, and
      autoimmunity. This study's primary objective was to examine the relationship
      between immune disorders and the immunosuppression induced by immunosuppressive
      pesticides. We focused on the modulation of allergic potential by the
      organophosphorus pesticide parathion, organochlorine pesticide methoxychlor,
      phenoxyacetic acid herbicide 2,4-d-butyl, and benzoic acid fungicide eugenol, as
      detected by a local lymph node assay (LLNA), which was developed initially for
      hazard identification of skin sensitization. Parathion and methoxychlor are
      immunosuppressive chemicals, and 2,4-d-butyl and eugenol are contact allergens.
      After the immunosuppressive characteristics of parathion and methoxychlor were
      confirmed in a pilot study, 4-week-old mice were orally administered parathion
      (0, 0.4, 1.2mg/kg) or methoxychlor (0, 100, 300 mg/kg). Four weeks after the last
      administration, an LLNA was conducted using 2,4-d-butyl (0%, 2.5%, 5%, and 10%)
      and eugenol (0%, 5%, 10%, and 25%). In addition, detailed analysis of their
      auricular lymph nodes for number of surface antigen expression of T cells and
      local cytokine production were performed using 5% 2,4-d-butyl and 5% eugenol
      treatment groups. EC3 values (estimated concentration to yield a stimulation
      index of 3) of 2,4-d-butyl and eugenol decreased markedly in parathion- and
      methoxychlor-pretreated groups. Parathion- and methoxychlor-pretreated groups
      induced marked increase in number of surface antigen expression of T cells and
      levels of Th1 cytokines (IFN-gamma, TNF-alpha, and IL-17) produced by ex vivo
      restimulated lymph node cells. According to our results, the allergic potentials
      of 2,4-d-butyl and eugenol are increased by prior exposure to parathion and
      methoxychlor.

PMID- 20920557
TI  - Irciniastatin A induces JNK activation that is involved in caspase-8-dependent
      apoptosis via the mitochondrial pathway.
AB  - Irciniastatin A (ISA)/psymberin, a pederin-type natural product isolated from
      marine sponge, exhibits extremely potent and selective cytotoxicity against
      certain human cancer cell lines, but its molecular target and cytotoxic
      mechanisms are still unknown. Here we show that ISA is a potent inhibitor of
      protein translation, and induces apoptosis accompanied with activation of the
      stress-activated protein kinases via the mitochondrial pathway in human leukemia
      Jurkat cells. ISA potently inhibited protein translation, and induced a slow but
      prolonged activation of the stress-activated protein kinases, JNK and p38, at
      between 1h and 6h after treatment. In Bcl-x(L)-transfected cells, the activation
      of JNK and p38 by ISA was shortened. The same results were obtained in the cells
      treated with N-acetyl-L-cysteine, suggesting that the prolonged activation of JNK
      and p38 by ISA is mediated by reactive oxygen species generated from
      mitochondria. ISA strongly induced apoptosis, which was partially suppressed by
      the JNK inhibitor SP600125, but not by the p38 inhibitor SB202190. Apoptosis
      induction by ISA was partially reduced, but not suppressed by SP600125 in caspase
      8-deficient Jurkat cells. These results suggest that ISA activates stress
      activated kinases by a mitochondria-mediated mechanism, and that activation of
      JNK is required for caspase-8-dependent apoptosis.

PMID- 20920558
TI  - Pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate (PDTC)/Cu complex induces lung epithelial cell
      apoptosis through mitochondria and ER-stress pathways.
AB  - Pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate (PDTC) is widely used in pesticides, fungicides,
      insecticides, and herbicides. Copper (Cu) is a toxic heavy metal in the
      environment, and an essential trace metal element in the body, which is involved
      in many biological processes as a catalytic cofactor. The present study is
      designed to investigate the cellular toxicity of PDTC, CuCl(2), and PDTC/Cu
      complex exposure in lung alveolar epithelial cells that serve primary structural
      and functional roles in the lungs. The results showed that PDTC or CuCl(2) alone
      did not affect cell viability, but PDTC/Cu complex significantly decreased lung
      alveolar epithelial cell viability. PDTC/Cu complex also significantly increased
      intracellular copper concentration, but PDTC or CuCl(2) alone had low levels of
      copper. PDTC/Cu complex dramatically enhanced the JNK protein phosphorylation and
      ERK protein phosphorylation proteins. PDTC/Cu complex did not affect the p38
      protein phosphorylation. PDTC/Cu complex was capable of activating the apoptosis
      related caspases including caspase-9, caspase-7, and caspase-3, which could be
      reversed by the addition of JNK inhibitor SP600125 or transfection of MAPK8 short
      hairpin RNA. PDTC/Cu complex also increased cytosolic cytochrome c and decreased
      mitochondrial transmembrane potential. The Bcl-2 mRNA and protein expressions
      were decreased in lung epithelial cells treated with PDTC/Cu complex, which could
      be reversed by SP600125. Furthermore, PDTC/Cu complex could trigger the
      expressions of ER stress-associated signaling molecules including Grp78, Grp94,
      caspase-12, ATF4, and CHOP, which could be reversed by SP600125. Taken together,
      these results indicate that exposure to PDTC/Cu complex induces cytotoxicity and
      apoptosis in alveolar epithelial cells via the mitochondria- and ER-stress
      related signaling pathways.

PMID- 20920559
TI  - Ovotoxicity and PPAR-mediated aromatase downregulation in female Sprague-Dawley
      rats following combined oral exposure to benzo[a]pyrene and di-(2-ethylhexyl)
      phthalate.
AB  - The aim of the present study was to determine the ovotoxicity of female Sprague
      Dawley (SD) rats exposed to benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P) and di-(2-ethylhexyl)
      phthalate (DEHP), either alone or in combination; the molecular mechanism and the
      combined effects were also evaluated. Female rats were given intragastric
      administration of control (corn oil), B[a]P (5 and 10mg/kg), DEHP (300 and 600
      mg/kg) and B[a]P+DEHP (at 5mg/kg and 300 mg/kg respectively, or at 10mg/kg and
      600 mg/kg respectively) on alternate days for 60 days. Relative ovary weight,
      estrous cycle, 17beta-estradiol blood level, ovarian follicle populations,
      granulosa cell apoptosis, and gene and protein expression of P450Arom and PPAR
      were investigated. Our study demonstrated that the combination of B[a]P and DEHP
      exerts ovotoxicity in female rats and suppression of sex hormone secretion and
      homeostasis, which is associated with prolonged estrous cycles, decreases in
      ovarian follicle populations and granulosa cell apoptosis involving a PPAR
      mediated signaling pathway of action of the two chemicals. In addition, based on
      qualitative assessment of the combined toxicity, no interaction effects were
      observed following combined B[a]P and DEHP administration.

PMID- 20920560
TI  - Comparison of in vitro cell models in predicting in vivo brain entry of drugs.
AB  - Although several in vitro models have been reported to predict the ability of
      drug candidates to cross the blood-brain barrier, their real in vivo relevance
      has rarely been evaluated. The present study demonstrates the in vivo relevance
      of simple unidirectional permeability coefficient (P(app)) determined in three in
      vitro cell models (BBMEC, Caco-2 and MDCKII-MDR1) for nine model drugs
      (alprenolol, atenolol, metoprolol, pindolol, entacapone, tolcapone, baclofen,
      midazolam and ondansetron) by using dual probe microdialysis in the rat brain and
      blood as an in vivo measure. There was a clear correlation between the P(app) and
      the unbound brain/blood ratios determined by in vivo microdialysis (BBMEC r=0.99,
      Caco-2 r=0.91 and MDCKII-MDR1 r=0.85). Despite of the substantial differences in
      the absolute in vitro P(app) values and regardless of the method used (side-by
      side vs. filter insert system), the capability of the in vitro models to rank
      order drugs was similar. By this approach, thus, the additional value offered by
      the true endothelial cell model (BBMEC) remains obscure. The present results also
      highlight the need of both in vitro as well as in vivo methods in
      characterization of blood-brain barrier passage of new drug candidates.

PMID- 20920561
TI  - Salidroside promotes erythropoiesis and protects erythroblasts against oxidative
      stress by up-regulating glutathione peroxidase and thioredoxin.
AB  - ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Rhodiola rosea is commonly used in China and
      Tibet folk medicine for the treatment of high altitude sickness, anoxia and
      mountain malhypoxia. AIM OF STUDY: Salidroside (SDS) is an active ingredient of
      Rhodiola rosea. This study attempted to examine the potential erythropoiesis
      stimulating and anti-oxidative effect of SDS in TF-1 erythroblasts. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: The erythropoiesis-promoting effect was determined by treating human TF
      1 cells, one of the popular in vitro models for studying erythropoiesis, with SDS
      in the presence and absence of erythropoietin (EPO) through the measurement of
      the expression of a series of erythroid markers such as glycophorin A (GPA),
      transferrin receptor (CD71) and hemoglobin (Hb). The potential protective effect
      of SDS against H(2)O(2)-induced apoptosis and its underlying mechanism in TF-1
      erythroblasts were examined by flow cytometry and Western blot analysis. RESULTS:
      SDS promotes erythropoiesis in the EPO-treated cells and it also reduces the
      number of apoptotic cells in TF-1 erythroblasts after H(2)O(2) treatment probably
      through the up-regulation of protective proteins thioredoxin-1 (Trx1) and
      glutathione peroxidase-1 (GPx1). CONCLUSION: Our study provides evidence to
      explain the ethnopharmacological role of SDS and Rhodiola rosea in Chinese
      medicine. Our findings also support the use of SDS as an erythropoiesis-adjuvant
      agent to correct anemia and malhypoxia.

PMID- 20920562
TI  - Screening of Caesalpinia bonduc leaves for antipsoriatic activity.
AB  - ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Leaves of Caesalpinia bonduc (L.) Roxb.
      (Caesalpiniaceae) have been used by traditional Siddha healer of Malabar region
      for psoriasis treatment. AIM OF THE STUDY: To evaluate the Caesalpinia bonduc
      decoction (CBD), Caesalpinia bonduc hydroalcoholic extract (CBHA) for
      antipsoriatic activity. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Mouse tail test for psoriasis was
      used for the evaluation of antipsoriatic activity. Extracts were tested at a dose
      of 500 mg/kg b.w. and fractions at 250 mg/kg b.w. in Swiss albino mice.
      Parameters studied in the mouse tail test were changes in epidermal thickness and
      percentage orthokeratotic values. In vitro antiproliferant assay on HaCaT cell
      lines and in vitro lipoxygenase inhibition were also carried out. RESULTS:
      Butanol fraction of Caesalpinia bonduc hydroalcoholic extract (CBHAB) and water
      fraction of Caesalpinia bonduc hydroalcoholic extract (CBHAW) produced
      significant orthokeratosis (p<0.001). In relative epidermal thickness, a
      significant (p<0.05) reduction with respect to control was observed in groups
      treated with retinoic acid, CBD, butanol fraction of Caesalpinia bonduc decoction
      (CBDB), water fraction of Caesalpinia bonduc hydroalcoholic extract (CBHAW).
      Maximum antiproliferant activity was shown by CBHA (IC(50), 77.5+/-12.7 MUg/ml).
      In lipoxygenase inhibition assay, water fraction of Caesalpinia bonduc decoction
      (CBDW) showed maximum activity with an IC(50) value of 164.71+/-4.57 MUg/ml.
      CONCLUSIONS: Among all the tested samples only CBHAW showed good activity in the
      mouse tail test, antiproliferant activity in HaCaT cells and lipoxygenase
      inhibition assay. Other extracts and fractions showed varying degrees of
      activity. The present study supports the traditional use of Caesalpinia bonduc
      leaves for psoriasis treatment.

PMID- 20920563
TI  - Bronchospasm potentiating effect of methanolic extract of Ficus religiosa fruits
      in guinea pigs.
AB  - ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: The sacred tree Peepal (Ficus religiosa family:
      Moraceae) has numerous therapeutic utility in folk medicine. AIM OF THE STUDY: It
      has been reported to be used in ethno medical treatment of asthma and also in
      epilepsy due to its high serotonin content, which has been implicated in
      pathophysiology of asthma, this led us to carry out the present study. MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: The in vivo studies of histamine induced bronchospasm in guinea pigs
      and in vitro isolated guinea pig tracheal chain and ileum preparation. RESULTS:
      Pre-treatment of guinea pigs with ketotifen (1 mg/kg, p.o.) has significantly
      delayed the onset of histamine aerosol induced pre-convulsive dyspnea, compared
      with vehicle control (281.8(a)+/-11.7 vs. 112.2+/-9.8). The administration of
      methanolic extract (125, 250 and 500 mg/kg, p.o.) did not produced any
      significant effect on latency to develop histamine induced pre-convulsive
      dyspnea. On the other hand, methanolic extract of the fruits at the doses
      employed (i.e., 0.5, 1 and 2 mg/ml) has significantly potentiate the EC(50) doses
      of both histamine and acetylcholine in isolated guinea pig tracheal chain and
      ileum preparation. In addition, HPLC analysis of the methanolic extract showed
      the presence of high amounts of serotonin (2.89%, w/w). CONCLUSIONS: On the basis
      of data, it may be concluded that Ficus religiosa fruits have been found to be
      ineffective against histamine induced bronchospasm in guinea pigs. In addition,
      methanolic extract of the fruits have shown to potentiate the bronchoconstriction
      induced by both histamine and acetylcholine on guinea pig tracheal chain
      preparation.

PMID- 20920564
TI  - Bioactivity-guided fractionation for anti-fatigue property of Acanthopanax
      senticosus.
AB  - ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: The root of Acanthopanax senticosus (also called
      Eleutherococcus senticosus or Siberian ginseng) has been used extensively in
      China, Russia and Japan as an adaptogen to fight against stress and fatigue. AIM
      OF THE STUDY: The present study was designed to ascertain the anti-fatigue
      property of Acanthopanax senticosus by load-weighted swimming test, sleep
      deprivation test, also to isolate and characterize the active constituents.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Animals were orally administered with the extract of
      Acanthopanax senticosus. The anti-fatigue effects of the four fractions with
      different polarities from the 80% ethanol extract, and the different eluates
      collected from D101 macroporous resin chromatography and eleutheroside E, were
      examined based on the weight-loaded swimming capacity (physical fatigue) and the
      change of biochemical parameters in ICR mice. Moreover, the active fraction was
      later submitted to sleep-deprived mice (mental fatigue). RESULTS: The results
      shown that the n-butanol fraction significant extends the swimming time of mice
      to exhaustion. Furthermore, the 60% ethanol-water eluate, more purified
      eleutherosides (including eleutheroside E, E(2) and derivatives), were the
      exactly active constituents. Two compounds were isolated, which were identified
      as eleutheroside E, E(2). CONCLUSIONS: The eleutherosides possess the potent
      abilities to alleviate fatigue both in physical and mental fatigue. Eleutheroside
      E may be responsible for the pharmacological effect of anti-fatigue. Furthermore,
      the possible mechanisms were reduced the level of TG by increasing fat
      utilization, delayed the accumulation of blood urea nitrogen (BUN), and increased
      the LDH to reduce the accumulation of lactic acid in muscle and then protect the
      muscle tissue.

PMID- 20920565
TI  - Anti-angiogenesis effect of essential oil from Curcuma zedoaria in vitro and in
      vivo.
AB  - ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Curcuma zedoaria (Berg.) Rosc., a traditional
      Chinese herb, was used widely but absolutely prohibited for the pregnant in
      clinic. Based on that there is abundant angiogenesis in endometrium and placenta
      during gestation period, we hypothesized that some components from it could
      inhibit angiogenesis and then damaged the supply of oxygen and nutrition to the
      embryo, which finally led to gestation failure. AIM OF THE STUDY: This study was
      set to demonstrate whether essential oil, major components of Curcuma zedoaria
      had anti-angiogenic effect. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Essential oil of Curcuma
      zedoaria (EO-CZ) was abstracted by steam distillation extraction. Cell
      proliferation assay and two angiogenic models, rat aortic ring assay and chick
      embryo chorioallantoic membrane assay were presented. Furthermore, melanoma
      growth and experimental lung metastasis assay in mice were performed to evaluate
      its anti-angiogenesis effect in vivo. Immunohistochemical analysis and enzyme
      linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) were used to respectively detect the
      expression of CD34 and matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs). RESULTS: EO-CZ exhibited
      anti-proliferative effect on B16BL6 and SMMC-7721 cells, the IC(50), respectively
      was 41.8 MUg/ml and 30.7 MUg/ml, and on HUVEC (Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial
      Cells) cells with IC(50) of far more than 120 MUg/ml. Both 20 MUg/ml and 40
      MUg/ml EO-CZ indicated significant suppression on sprouting vessels of aortic
      ring and formation of microvessels in chick embryo chorioallantoic membrane in
      vitro. Moreover, solid melanoma grown in left oxter of mice was obviously
      inhibited after oral intake of 100 and 200 mg/kg of EO-CZ a day for 28 days, and
      CD34 expression indicating angiogenesis in melanoma reduced significantly
      compared with control; melanoma metastatic nodules in lung were detected to be
      inhibited, as well as MMP-2 and MMP-9 expression in serum. CONCLUSIONS: Essential
      oil, a fat-soluble fraction of Curcuma zedoaria, presented anti-angiogenic
      activity in vitro and in vivo, resulting in suppressing melanoma growth and lung
      metastasis. And this was associated with down-regulating MMPs.

PMID- 20920566
TI  - Euchresta horsfieldii Benn. activates peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor
      alpha and regulates expression of genes involved in fatty acid metabolism in
      human HepG2 cells.
AB  - AIM OF THE STUDY: Euchresta horsfieldii Benn., an oriental medicinal plant, has
      been used for the traditional treatment of hyperlipidemia and has been reported
      to possess bioactive isoflavones; however, the molecular mechanism underlying its
      hypolipidemic effects remains unclear. In the present study, we investigated the
      effect of Euchresta horsfieldii on peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor
      alpha (PPARalpha) activation and fatty acid metabolism in HepG2 hepatocytes.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: The dried Euchresta horsfieldii fruits were extracted with
      100% ethanol, and the ethanol evaporated to produce Euchresta horsfieldii extract
      (EHX). The effect of EHX on fatty acid metabolism was evaluated by PPARalpha
      transactivation assay, real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction,
      and Western blot analysis. RESULTS: We demonstrated that EHX significantly
      increased PPARalpha activation in a dose-dependent manner. In human HepG2
      hepatocytes, EHX increased mRNA levels of the following genes involved in fatty
      acid oxidation: carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1, liver form (CPT1L), acyl-CoA
      synthetase (ACS), medium-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase (MCAD), 3-hydroxy-3
      methylglutaryl-CoA synthase 2 (HMGCS2), acyl-CoA 1 (ACO1), acyl-CoA 2 (ACO2), and
      enoyl-CoA hydratase 1 (ECH1). EHX treatment also increased levels of proteins
      related to fatty acid oxidation, such as CPT1L, PPARalpha, and uncoupling protein
      2 (UCP2). In contrast, sterol regulatory element binding protein 1 (SREBP1), a
      key lipogenic transcription factor, was downregulated. CONCLUSION: Consistent
      with significant PPARalpha activation, EHX increased PPARalpha target genes
      expression and regulated protein expression for lipid metabolism. Taken together,
      these results indicate that Euchresta horsfieldii shows potential as a natural
      lipid-lowering agent.

PMID- 20920567
TI  - Pentacyclic triterpenoids and ceramide mediate the vasorelaxant activity of Vitex
      cienkowskii via involvement of NO/cGMP pathway in isolated rat aortic rings.
AB  - ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Vitex cienkowskii Kotschy & Peyritsch is a
      deciduous tree, prescribed by Cameroonian traditional healers as one of the most
      popular plant widely used in many disorders including cardiovascular diseases.
      The preliminary pharmacological studies carried out on Vitex cienkowskii showed
      its vasorelaxant activities on guinea-pig aortic rings. AIM OF THE STUDY: The
      present work evaluated the vasorelaxant activity of extract and isolated
      compounds from Vitex cienkowskii. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Rat aortic rings were
      used to evaluate the in vitro vascular effect of the extract. The antioxidant
      activity was determined by measuring the reduction of the free radical 1,1
      diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH). RESULTS: Vitex cienkowskii induced significant
      relaxation in a concentration- and endothelium-dependent manner (EC(50)=12.12
      MUg/ml, CH(2)Cl(2)-MeOH, 1:1) and did not produce a vasorelaxant effect on
      contraction evoked by KCl (60 mM). In order to determine its mode of action,
      Vitex cienkowskii-induced relaxant effect was evaluated in the presence of
      indomethacin (10 MUM), L-NAME (100 MUM), ODQ (1 MUM) and SQ22356 (100 MUM).
      Relaxation was significantly blocked by L-NAME and ODQ. These results indicate
      that Vitex cienkowskii-mediated relaxation is endothelium dependent, probably due
      to NO release, and the consequent activation of vascular smooth muscle soluble
      guanylate cyclase (sGC), a signal transduction enzyme that forms the second
      messenger cGMP. Bio-guided study of Vitex cienkowskii allowed the isolation of
      the known pentacyclic triterpenoids and a ceramide. It is the first report of
      salvin A, maslinic acid and a ceramide from Vitex cienkowskii. The activity
      induced by these compounds indicated that they may be partly responsible for the
      vasorelaxant effect of the plant extract. A dose of 40 mg/kg of CH(2)Cl(2)-MeOH
      (1:1) extract administered intravenously induced a decrease of mean arterial
      pressure but did not affect the heart rate. Moreover the plant extracts were
      found to be highly active in the DPPH radical scavenging assay. CONCLUSION: Vitex
      cienkowskii extract possesses antioxidant property, vasorelaxing, and hypotensive
      effect linked to the endothelium related factors, where nitric oxide is involved.

PMID- 20920568
TI  - The herbal market of Cyprus: traditional links and cultural exchanges.
AB  - AIM OF THE STUDY: Directive 2004/24/EC sets the frame for the herbal trade in
      Europe emphasizing the need of the botanical characterization of herbal
      substances intended for human consumption. Thus, the aim of the present study is
      to survey and identify taxonomically the herbs sold in the market of Cyprus and
      to document and evaluate their uses. Moreover, the relationship of the nowadays
      market to the local ethnobotanical tradition, as well as to other eastern
      Mediterranean markets (i.e. Greece, Israel, Jordan, Turkey) is also traced.
      MATERIAL AND METHODS: Herbs sold in 15 shops scattered in three major cities of
      Cyprus were surveyed. Data concerning their uses were collected through
      interviews with the herbal traders and studied quantitatively by the use of
      ethnobotanical indices (informant consensus factor, use value, relative
      importance value, fidelity level) and statistical tests (Spearman's correlation
      coefficient, Kruskal-Wallis test, paired-sample t-test). Comparisons to published
      information concerning other eastern Mediterranean markets were performed by
      multivariate tests (Ward's hierarchical cluster). RESULTS: A total number of 57
      taxa were surveyed from 15 selected shops, out of which 32 are cultivated, 14 are
      collected from the wild and 11 are imported. The highest Informant Consensus
      Factors were presented by the neuropsychiatric (0.78), gastrointestinal (0.76)
      and respiratory ailments (0.71). The comparison of our results to published
      information has shown that 40 of the traded taxa have also been used
      traditionally, while a considerable number of herbs are also found in the markets
      of Greece and Turkey (35 and 29 taxa, respectively); a lower number of the taxa
      traded, is found in the markets of the Middle East. CONCLUSIONS: The nowadays
      herbal trade in Cyprus is still linked to the local ethnobotanical legacy.
      Moreover the similarities between the Cypriot herbal market and the markets of
      Greece and Turkey are more prominent than those between Cyprus and the Middle
      East, reflecting the cultural exchanges among the three neighbouring countries.

PMID- 20920569
TI  - Evaluation of the disease modifying activity of Colchicum luteum Baker in
      experimental arthritis.
AB  - ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Colchicum luteum (CL) has been traditionally used
      in the Unani system of medicine as a chief ingredient of many polyherbal
      formulations for the treatment of joint pain and rheumatoid arthritis (RA). AIM
      OF THE STUDY: To evaluate the antiarthritic activity of CL hydroalcoholic extract
      (CLHE) in formaldehyde and complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA) induced arthritis.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Arthritis was induced by administration of either
      formaldehyde (2% v/v) or CFA into the subplantar surface of the hind paw of the
      animal. Joint swelling was measured on days 8, 9 and 10 in formaldehyde induced
      arthritis and days 3, 7, 14 and 21 in CFA induced arthritis. In order to evaluate
      the effect of CLHE on disease progression, serum TNF-alpha level and synovial
      expression of proinflammatory mediators (TNF-R1, IL-6 and IL-1beta) was
      determined in CFA induced arthritis. RESULTS: CLHE produced a significant and
      dose dependent inhibition of joint swelling during the entire duration of the
      study in both, formaldehyde and CFA induced arthritis. Serum TNF-alpha level was
      also reduced significantly in a dose dependent manner in all the CLHE treated
      groups. The expression of proinflammatory mediators (TNF-R1, IL-6 and IL-1beta)
      was also found to be less in the CLHE treated group as compared to control.
      CONCLUSION: We believe that the antiarthritic activity of CLHE was due to its
      modulatory effect on the expression of proinflammatory cytokine in the synovium.
      Our results contribute towards validation of the traditional use of CL in the
      treatment of RA and other inflammatory joint disorders.

PMID- 20920570
TI  - Antinociceptive activity of methanolic extract of Acmella uliginosa (Sw.) Cass.
AB  - ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Acmella uliginosa (Sw.) Cass. is a medicinal
      herbaceous plant that is commonly used by the Malay community in Malaysia to
      relieve pain often associated with mouth ulcers, toothache, sore throat, and
      stomach ache. AIM: The study was carried out to investigate the antinociceptive
      effect of the methanolic extract of A. uliginosa (Sw.) Cass. flowers (MEAU) using
      murine models of chemicals and thermal nociception. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      Chemicals (acetic acid-induced abdominal constriction and formalin-, capsaicin-,
      glutamate-induced paw licking test) and thermal models (hot plate test) of
      nociception in mice were employed to evaluate the MEAU analgesic effect. The
      extract was given via oral administration at doses of 3, 10, 30 and 100 mg/kg.
      RESULTS: It was demonstrated that MEAU produced significant antinociceptive
      response in all the chemical- and thermal-induced nociception models, which
      indicates the presence of both centrally and peripherally mediated activities.
      Furthermore, the reversal of antinociception of MEAU by naloxone suggests the
      involvement of opioid system in its centrally mediated analgesic activity.
      Moreover, MEAU-treated mice did not show any significant motor performance
      alterations. No mortality and signs of toxicity were recorded following treatment
      of the MEAU. CONCLUSION: The results from the present study appear to support the
      folkloric belief in the medicinal properties of A. uliginosa (Sw.) Cass. which
      against pain at both central and peripheral levels, in which the central
      antinociception is probably due to the participation of the opioid receptors.

PMID- 20920571
TI  - The lipid peroxidation products as possible markers of Alzheimer's disease in
      blood.
AB  - Oxidative stress, which is present in Alzheimer's disease (AD), results in the
      formation of various end-products of free radical reactions with proteins and
      lipids. At present there are no reliable diagnostic biomarkers of AD in the
      blood. Therefore, specific products of lipid peroxidation in the blood of AD
      patients were investigated. Lipophilic extracts of erythrocytes in the group of
      patients with AD (n = 44) and age-matched controls (n = 16) were studied. The end
      products of lipid peroxidation, so called lipofuscin-like pigments (LFP), were
      analysed by fluorescence spectroscopy. It was found that the level of these
      products is significantly increased in erythrocytes of AD patients compared to
      controls. LFP were further separated by means of HPLC into individual fractions
      to study their composition in AD and controls. The specific fraction of LFP in AD
      patients, which was isolated, might represent a disease-specific product in the
      blood.

PMID- 20920572
TI  - Protection in mice passively immunized with serum from cynomolgus macaques and
      humans vaccinated with recombinant plague vaccine (rF1V).
AB  - Passive transfer models were developed to evaluate the ability of antibodies
      generated in cynomolgus macaques and humans vaccinated with a recombinant plague
      vaccine (rF1V) to protect naive Swiss Webster mice against pneumonic plague.
      Development of the passive transfer model is intended to support clinical and
      nonclinical development of the rF1V vaccine. To evaluate protection,
      unfractionated serum collected from rF1V vaccinated cynomolgus macaques and human
      volunteers with known antibody titers to rF1, rV and rF1V was transferred into
      naive Swiss Webster mice via the intraperitoneal route. Results of these studies
      demonstrated that passive immunization protected mice from challenge or extended
      mean survival time and that the passive transfer assay can be used to evaluate
      the functional role of antibodies induced by rF1V vaccination in protection
      against aerosol exposure.

PMID- 20920573
TI  - Temporal changes in the gene signatures of BCG-vaccinated guinea pigs in response
      to different mycobacterial antigens.
AB  - Mycobacterium bovis BCG-vaccination in the guinea pig model of tuberculosis (TB)
      is sufficiently protective that candidate TB vaccines are judged against this.
      Little is understood about how the BCG vaccine works and, in the absence of a
      definitive correlate of protection, it is difficult to interpret the significance
      of novel vaccine induced host responses. Here an extended custom-made microarray
      (86 guinea pig genes) was used to dissect temporal changes in BCG-vaccine induced
      gene signatures to different mycobacterial antigens. Initially at 4h, pro
      inflammatory genes such as IL-1alpha, IL-1beta, IL-8 and GRO were up-regulated
      (P<0.001) and these were then superseded by IFN-gamma and GM-CSF (at 12 and 20h)
      post-stimulation, ex vivo with PPD. Similar genes were seen following stimulation
      with viable BCG but with the addition of IL-23 (P<0.01) after 8h. Our results
      suggest that temporal changes in the up- and down-regulation of a variety of
      genes are required to trigger a successful protective response to TB in guinea
      pigs. This provides base-line information against which new TB vaccines can be
      compared.

PMID- 20920574
TI  - A new murine model for testing vaccines against genital Chlamydia trachomatis
      infections in males.
AB  - Two groups of 50 BALB/c male mice were immunized with live Chlamydia trachomatis
      mouse pneumonitis (MoPn) using the intranasal (i.n.) or the meatus urethra
      (intraurethral: i.u.) routes. As a control group, 100 male mice were sham
      immunized in parallel. Both groups of animals vaccinated with live organisms
      developed strong Chlamydia-specific humoral and cell mediated immune responses.
      Based on the IgG2a/IgG1 ratio and the levels of IFN-gamma both groups mounted a
      Th1 immune response. At six weeks following the immunization, all mice were
      challenged in the meatus urethra. The urethra, urinary bladder, testes and
      epididymides were harvested at weekly intervals and tested for the presence of C.
      trachomatis. Based on the culture results from these four organs both groups of
      Chlamydia-immunized mice showed significant protection. In the group immunized
      i.u., 10% (5/50) had positive cultures, while in the group immunized i.n. 28%
      (14/50) had positive cultures during the 5 weeks of observation. In contrast, in
      the sham-immunized animals 47% (47/100) had positive cultures (P<0.005) during
      the study period. In addition, the number of positive organs, the length of time
      that the animal had positive cultures, and the total number of inclusion forming
      units (IFU) recovered were overall significantly lower in the i.u. or i.n. groups
      in comparison with the sham-immunized animals. However, in relation to the i.u.
      immunized group, the protection elicited in the i.n. group was delayed and not as
      robust. In conclusion, immunization of mice in the meatus urethra may provide the
      gold standard for testing Chlamydia vaccines in a male model.

PMID- 20920577
TI  - No effect of sustained systemic growth retardation on the distribution of Reelin
      expressing interneurons in the neuron-producing hippocampal dentate gyrus in
      rats.
AB  - Reelin signaling plays a role in neuronal migration and positioning during brain
      development. To clarify the effect of systemic growth retardation on the
      distribution of Reelin-expressing interneurons in the hilus of the hippocampal
      dentate gyrus, pregnant rats were fed a synthetic diet with either a normal (20%
      casein) or low (10% casein) protein concentration from gestational day 10 to
      postnatal day (PND) 21 at weaning. Male offspring were immunohistochemically
      examined at PND 21 and on PND 77. Protein-restricted offspring displayed systemic
      growth retardation through PND 77 and had decreased absolute brain weights and an
      increased number of external granular cells in the cerebellar cortex, suggestive
      of retarded brain growth at weaning. However, maternal protein restriction did
      not change the cellular distribution of immunoreactivity for Reelin, Calbindin-D
      28K, or glutamic acid decarboxylase 67 or of NeuN-positive postmitotic neurons in
      the dentate hilus either at PND 21 or PND 77, which suggests that the population
      of gamma-aminobutyric acid-ergic interneurons involving synthesis of Reelin was
      not affected. Furthermore, as well as the distribution of hilar neurons
      expressing neurogenesis-related FoxG1, cell proliferation and apoptosis in the
      subgranular zone were unaffected through PND 77. These results suggest that
      systemic growth retardation caused by maternal protein restriction does not
      affect neuronal migration and postnatal neurogenesis of the dentate gyrus
      resulting in unaltered distribution of Reelin-synthesizing interneurons.

PMID- 20920575
TI  - Effects of developmental stress and lead (Pb) on corticosterone after chronic and
      acute stress, brain monoamines, and blood Pb levels in rats.
AB  - Despite restrictions, exposure to lead (Pb) continues. Moreover, exposure varies
      and is often higher in lower socioeconomic status (SES) families and remains a
      significant risk to cognitive development. Stress is another risk factor. Lower
      SES may be a proxy for stress in humans. When stress and Pb co-occur, risk may be
      increased. A few previous experiments have combined Pb with intermittent or acute
      stress but not with chronic stress. To determine if chronic developmental stress
      affects outcome in combination with Pb, we tested such effects on growth, organ
      weight, brain monoamines, and response to an acute stressor. Sprague Dawley rats
      were gavaged with Pb acetate (1 or 10 mg/kg) or vehicle every other day from
      postnatal day (P)4-29 and reared in standard or barren cages. Subsets were
      analyzed at different ages (P11, 19, 29). Chronic stress did not alter blood Pb
      levels but altered HPA axis response during early development whereas Pb did not.
      Pb treatment and rearing each altered organ-to-body weight ratios, most notably
      of thymus weights. Both Pb and rearing resulted in age- and region-dependent
      changes in serotonin and norepinephrine levels and in dopamine and serotonin
      turnover. The model introduced here may be useful for investigating the
      interaction of Pb and chronic developmental stress.

PMID- 20920579
TI  - Regulation of MKP-1 expression and MAPK activation by PARP-1 in oxidative stress:
      a new mechanism for the cytoplasmic effect of PARP-1 activation.
AB  - Previously, it was suggested that the release of nuclearly formed ADP-ribose
      polymers or ADP-ribosylated proteins could be responsible for the cytosolic and
      mitochondrial effects of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP)-1 activation in
      oxidative stress. In this report, we provide a novel alternative mechanism. We
      found that reactive oxygen species-activated PARP-1 regulated the activation of
      JNK and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) because inhibition of PARP
      1 by pharmacons, small interfering RNA silencing of PARP-1 expression, or the
      transdominant expression of enzymatically inactive PARP-1 resulted in the
      inactivation of these MAPKs. This regulation was achieved by increased expression
      and enlarged cytoplasmic localization of MAPK phosphatase-1 (MKP-1) upon PARP-1
      inhibition in oxidative stress because changes in MKP-1 expression were reflected
      in the phosphorylation states of JNK and p38. Furthermore, we found that in MKP-1
      silenced cells, PARP inhibition was unable to exert its protective effect,
      indicating the pivotal roles of JNK and p38 in mediating the oxidative-stress
      induced cell death as well as that of increased MKP-1 expression in mediating the
      protective effect of PARP inhibition. We suggest that regulation of a protein
      that can directly influence cytoplasmic signaling cascades at the expression
      level represents a novel mechanism for the cytoplasmic action of PARP-1
      inhibition.

PMID- 20920580
TI  - Zebrafish as a tool in Alzheimer's disease research.
AB  - Alzheimer's disease is the most prevalent form of neurodegenerative disease.
      Despite many years of intensive research our understanding of the molecular
      events leading to this pathology is far from complete. No effective treatments
      have been defined and questions surround the validity and utility of existing
      animal models. The zebrafish (and, in particular, its embryos) is a malleable and
      accessible model possessing a vertebrate neural structure and genome. Zebrafish
      genes orthologous to those mutated in human familial Alzheimer's disease have
      been defined. Work in zebrafish has permitted discovery of unique characteristics
      of these genes that would have been difficult to observe with other models. In
      this brief review we give an overview of Alzheimer's disease and transgenic
      animal models before examining the current contribution of zebrafish to this
      research area. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled Zebrafish Models
      of Neurological Diseases.

PMID- 20920578
TI  - Redox modulation of diaphragm contractility: Interaction between DHPR and RyR
      channels.
AB  - Previous reports indicate that reactive oxygen species (ROS) may modulate
      contractility in skeletal muscle. Although Ca(2+)-sensitivity of the contractile
      apparatus appears to be a primary site of regulation, dihydropyridine receptor
      (DHPR or L-type Ca(2+) channels) and calcium efflux in isolated sarcoplasmic
      reticulum (SR) vesicles appear to be redox sensitive as well. However, DHPR as a
      target is poorly understood in intact muscles at body temperature, particularly
      in the diaphragm, a muscle more dependent on external Ca(2+) than locomotor
      muscles. Previously, we reported that oxidant challenge via xanthine oxidase (XO)
      alters the K(+) contractures in diaphragm fiber bundles, suggestive of a role of
      L-type Ca(2+) channels. Contractility of isolated rat diaphragm fiber bundles
      revealed a biphasic response to ROS challenge that was dose and time dependent.
      Potentiation of twitch and low-frequency diaphragm fiber bundle contractility
      with 0.02 U*ml(-1) XO was reversible or partially preventable with washout,
      dithiothreitol, and the SOD/catalase mimetic EUK-134. The RyR antagonist
      ruthenium red inhibited xanthine oxidase-induced potentiation, while the RyR
      agonist caffeine elevated diaphragm twitch and low-frequency tension in a non
      additive manner by 55% when introduced simultaneously with ROS challenge. The
      DHPR antagonist nitrendipine (15 MUM) inhibited elevation in low-frequency
      diaphragm tension produced by ROS challenge. Caffeine threshold tension curves
      were shifted to the left with 0.02 U*ml(-1) XO, but this effect was partially
      reversed with 15 MUM nitrendipine. These results are consistent with the
      hypothesis that DHPR redox state and RyR function are modulated in an interactive
      manner, affecting contractility in intact diaphragm fiber bundles.

PMID- 20920576
TI  - The 22q11.2 microdeletion: fifteen years of insights into the genetic and neural
      complexity of psychiatric disorders.
AB  - Over the last fifteen years it has become established that 22q11.2 deletion
      syndrome (22q11DS) is a true genetic risk factor for schizophrenia. Carriers of
      deletions in chromosome 22q11.2 develop schizophrenia at rate of 25-30% and such
      deletions account for as many as 1-2% of cases of sporadic schizophrenia in the
      general population. Access to a relatively homogeneous population of individuals
      that suffer from schizophrenia as the result of a shared etiological factor and
      the potential to generate etiologically valid mouse models provides an immense
      opportunity to better understand the pathobiology of this disease. In this review
      we survey the clinical literature associated with the 22q11.2 microdeletions with
      a focus on neuroanatomical changes. Then, we highlight results from work modeling
      this structural mutation in animals. The key biological pathways disrupted by the
      mutation are discussed and how these changes impact the structure and function of
      neural circuits is described.

PMID- 20920581
TI  - Both UDP N-acetylglucosamine pyrophosphorylases of Tribolium castaneum are
      critical for molting, survival and fecundity.
AB  - A bioinformatics search of the genome of the red flour beetle, Tribolium
      castaneum, resulted in the identification of two genes encoding proteins closely
      related to UDP-N-acetylglucosamine pyrophosphorylases (UAPs), which provide the
      activated precursor, UDP-N-acetylglucosamine, for the synthesis of chitin,
      glycoproteins and glycosylphosphoinositide (GPI) anchors of some membrane
      proteins as well as for the modification of other substrates. This is in contrast
      to other arthropods whose genomes have been completely sequenced, all of which
      have only a single copy of this gene. The two T. castaneum UAP genes, TcUAP1 and
      TcUAP2, share both nucleotide and amino acid sequence identities of about 60%. RT
      PCR analysis revealed that the two genes differ in their developmental and tissue
      specific patterns of expression. RNA interference (RNAi) indicated roles for
      TcUAP1 and TcUAP2 at the molt and intermolt stages, respectively: RNAi for TcUAP1
      resulted in specific arrest at the larval-larval, larval-pupal or pupal-adult
      molts, depending on time of injection of double-stranded RNAs, whereas RNAi for
      TcUAP2 prevented larval growth or resulted in pupal paralysis. Analysis of
      elytral cuticle indicated loss of structural integrity and chitin staining after
      RNAi for TcUAP1, but not after RNAi for TcUAP2. Loss of peritrophic matrix (PM)
      associated chitin was also observed following RNAi for TcUAP1, but not after RNAi
      for TcUAP2. Down-regulation of transcripts for either TcUAP gene at the mature
      adult stage resulted in cessation of oviposition in females, as well as fat body
      depletion and eventual death in both sexes. These results demonstrate that both
      TcUAP genes are critical for beetle development and survival, but that only
      TcUAP1 is clearly associated with synthesis of cuticular or PM chitin. However,
      both of these genes appear to have additional critical role(s) unrelated to
      chitin synthesis, presumably in the glycosylation of proteins and/or secondary
      metabolites.

PMID- 20920582
TI  - T-cell function in chronic lymphocytic leukaemia.
AB  - According to the immune-surveillance hypothesis, cancer cells evolve strategies
      to evade or suppress the immune system as part of the development of this
      disease. The malignant B-cells of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia are prime
      examples of this premise, having been shown to generate a variety of ways of
      suppressing T-cell anti-tumour immune responses and these are summarized here.
      These mechanisms range from impairment of antigen presentation by the tumour
      cells themselves, to suppression of the immune microenvironment by contact
      dependent pathways and alterations in the cytokine milieu. By understanding these
      defects, novel targeted therapies can be developed with the aim of restoring T
      cell function. Indeed, some of the recent advances in the treatment of chronic
      lymphocytic leukaemia have been demonstrated to have profound immunomodulatory
      effects, repairing these defects in T-cell function.

PMID- 20920583
TI  - Macromolecular docking restrained by a small angle X-ray scattering profile.
AB  - While many structures of single protein components are becoming available,
      structural characterization of their complexes remains challenging. Methods for
      modeling assembly structures from individual components frequently suffer from
      large errors, due to protein flexibility and inaccurate scoring functions.
      However, when additional information is available, it may be possible to reduce
      the errors and compute near-native complex structures. One such type of
      information is a small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) profile that can be
      collected in a high-throughput fashion from a small amount of sample in solution.
      Here, we present an efficient method for protein-protein docking with a SAXS
      profile (FoXSDock): generation of complex models by rigid global docking with
      PatchDock, filtering of the models based on the SAXS profile, clustering of the
      models, and refining the interface by flexible docking with FireDock. FoXSDock is
      benchmarked on 124 protein complexes with simulated SAXS profiles, as well as on
      6 complexes with experimentally determined SAXS profiles. When induced fit is
      less than 1.5A interface C(alpha) RMSD and the fraction residues of missing from
      the component structures is less than 3%, FoXSDock can find a model close to the
      native structure within the top 10 predictions in 77% of the cases; in
      comparison, docking alone succeeds in only 34% of the cases. Thus, the
      integrative approach significantly improves on molecular docking alone. The
      improvement arises from an increased resolution of rigid docking sampling and
      more accurate scoring.

PMID- 20920584
TI  - Poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) nanoparticles as candidate DNA vaccine carrier for
      oral immunization of Japanese flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus) against
      lymphocystis disease virus.
AB  - In order to protect DNA vaccine against degradation in alimentary tract of fish,
      poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) nanoparticles encapsulating vaccine were
      prepared using W/O/W emulsification combined with spray drying technique in our
      laboratory. The characteristics of PLGA nanoparticles were described as follows:
      (1) shape, spherical; (2) size, <500 nm; (3) yield, ~96.2%; loading percentage,
      ~0.5%; encapsulation efficiency, ~63.7%; supercoiled conformation percentage,
      ~65%; (4) release dynamics, gradual release. In vitro transfection in SISK cells
      showed that PLGA nanoparticles could be utilized to transfect eukaryotes. After
      oral administration, FITC-labeled PLGA nanoparticles were detected in blood of
      fish, and RNA containing major capsid protein (MCP) gene information existed in
      various tissues of fish 10-90 days. In addition, the analysis of immune
      parameters in sera of treatment fish showed that: (1) infection rate of LCDV post
      challenge, ~16.7%; (2) prophenoloxidase, superoxide dismutase, respiratory burst,
      lysozyme and antibody levels, increased significantly (p<0.05); (3) activities of
      serum complement, changed a little (p>0.05). Pearson's correlation displayed that
      correlation of immune factors mentioned above (not including serum complement)
      were all positive for fish vaccinated. The data in this study suggested that PLGA
      nanoparticles were promising carriers for plasmid DNA vaccine and might be used
      to vaccinate fish by oral approach.

PMID- 20920585
TI  - Dietary nucleotides influence immune responses and intestinal morphology of red
      drum Sciaenops ocellatus.
AB  - Dietary nucleotides have been shown to benefit many physiological and nutritional
      functions in higher vertebrates and fish. Therefore, a 6-week feeding trial was
      conducted to evaluate the effects of graded levels of a commercial nucleotide
      product on growth performance, immune responses and intestinal morphology of
      juvenile red drum (initial average weight of 7.1g). The basal diet was formulated
      to contain 40% protein, 10% lipid and a digestible energy level of 3.5 kcal g(
      1). Two levels of nucleotide (Ascogen P((r)), 0.5% and 1% of diet) were added to
      the basal diet with menhaden fishmeal and menhaden oil adjusted to provide
      isonitrogenous and isolipidic diets. Nucleotide supplementation tended to improve
      weight gain and survival of red drum, but not at a significant level. Neutrophil
      oxidative radical anion production and serum lysozyme activity tended to be
      higher for fish fed diets supplemented with nucleotide, while extracellular
      superoxide anion production of head kidney macrophages from fish fed diets with
      1% nucleotide was significantly (P<0.05) increased, although no significant
      differences were observed between fish fed 0.5% nucleotide diet and the basal
      diet. Nucleotide supplementation significantly (P<0.05) increased fold height in
      the proximal intestine, and enterocyte height in the pyloric caeca, proximal and
      distal enteric sections. A significantly (P<0.05) higher microvilli height was
      observed in all evaluated enteric sections of fish fed with diets supplemented
      with nucleotides. It is therefore possible to use dietary nucleotides
      supplementation to significantly enhance the intestinal structure of red drum.
      Likewise, nucleotides in the diet may improve some components of the non-specific
      immune response of this sciaenid fish.

PMID- 20920586
TI  - Callosal tracts and patterns of hemispheric dominance: a combined fMRI and DTI
      study.
AB  - Left-hemispheric dominance for language and right-hemispheric dominance for
      spatial processing are distinctive characteristics of the human brain. However,
      variations of these hemispheric asymmetries have been observed, with a minority
      showing crowding of both functions to the same hemisphere or even a mirror
      reversal of the typical lateralization pattern. Here, we used diffusion tensor
      imaging and functional magnetic imaging to investigate the role of the corpus
      callosum in participants with atypical hemispheric dominance. The corpus callosum
      was segmented according to the projection site of the underlying fibre tracts.
      Analyses of the microstructure of the identified callosal segments revealed that
      atypical hemispheric dominance for language was associated with high anisotropic
      diffusion through the corpus callosum as a whole. This effect was most evident in
      participants with crowding of both functions to the right. The enhanced
      anisotropic diffusion in atypical hemispheric dominance implies that in these
      individuals the two hemispheres are more heavily interconnected.

PMID- 20920587
TI  - Voltage-sensitive dye imaging analysis of functional development of the neonatal
      rat corticostriatal projection.
AB  - We examined the feasibility of voltage-sensitive dye imaging for detecting the
      neuronal activity in the neonatal rat corticostriatal projection and analyzed
      postnatal development of synaptic function in this projection. Coronal slice
      preparations were dissected from postnatal 3 to 14 day (P3-14) rats and were then
      stained with the voltage-sensitive absorption dye, NK2761. The transmembrane
      voltage-related optical changes evoked by cortical stimulation using a bipolar
      electrode could be recorded simultaneously from many loci in the preparation,
      using a 464ch hexagonal diode array system. In the striatum, the optical signal
      was composed of a fast spike-like signal and a slow signal. The slow signal was
      blocked by DL-2-amino-5-phosphonovaleric acid (APV) and 6-cyano-7
      nitroquinoxaline-2,3-dione (CNQX) and enhanced by bicuculline, suggesting that
      (1) the slow signal includes glutamatergic excitatory postsynaptic potentials
      (EPSPs) and that (2) inhibitory gamma-aminobutyric acid A (GABA(A)) receptor
      function is expressed in the corticostriatal pathway from the early postnatal
      stage. We compared the excitatory and inhibitory synaptic responses between the
      first and second postnatal week preparations, and we showed that (1) in the first
      postnatal week, excitatory transmission in the corticostriatal pathway is mostly
      mediated by glutamate, (2) in addition to glutamatergic transmission, other
      excitatory transmission mechanisms emerge in this pathway until the second
      postnatal week, and (3) the inhibitory transmission mediated by GABA rapidly
      develops during the postnatal 2 weeks.

PMID- 20920588
TI  - Correlation between baseline regional gray matter volume and global gray matter
      volume decline rate.
AB  - Evaluating whole-brain or global gray matter volume decline rate is important in
      distinguishing neurodegenerative diseases from normal aging and in anticipating
      cognitive decline over a given period in non-demented subjects. Whether a
      significant negative correlation exists between baseline regional gray matter
      volume of several regions and global gray matter volume decline in the subsequent
      time period in healthy subjects has not yet been clarified. Therefore, we
      analyzed the correlation between baseline regional gray matter volumes and the
      rate of global gray matter volume decline in the period following baseline using
      magnetic resonance images of the brains of 381 healthy subjects by applying a
      longitudinal design over 6 years using voxel-based morphometry. As a result, the
      annual percentage change in gray matter ratio (GMR, APC(GMR)), in which GMR
      represents the percentage of gray matter volume in the intracranial volume,
      showed a significant negative correlation with the baseline regional gray matter
      volumes of the right posterior cingulate cortex/precuneus and the left
      hippocampus. Additionally, baseline regional gray matter volume of both the right
      PCC/precuneus and the left hippocampus significantly distinguished whether the
      APC(GMR) was above or below the mean of APC(GMR). Our results suggest that
      baseline regional gray matter volume predicts the rate of global gray matter
      volume decline in the subsequent period in healthy subjects. Our study may
      contribute to distinguishing neurodegenerative diseases from normal aging and to
      predicting cognitive decline.

PMID- 20920590
TI  - A mini-cap for simultaneous EEG and fMRI recording in rodents.
AB  - Simultaneous recording of electroencephalography (EEG) and functional magnetic
      resonance imaging (fMRI) is now widely accepted as a prevailing tool to study
      brain functions. For over a decade, EEG caps with high-dense arrays of electrodes
      for EEG-fMRI studies in humans have been commercially available. However,
      simultaneous EEG and fMRI recording in rodents has been limited to only a few
      electrodes due mainly to two technical reasons, i.e. a small available scalp area
      and the proximity of the electrodes to the brain tissue. In this paper, we
      introduce both a new EEG mini-cap and a protocol to obtain whole scalp EEG
      recordings simultaneously with 7 T fMRI signals in rodents. We provide
      methodological protocol to evaluate a number of problems emerging from the
      particulars of using rodents in simultaneous EEG and fMRI recording. The quality
      and reproducibility of both EEG and fMRI signals were demonstrated using a
      conventional forepaw stimulation paradigm in Wistar rats. Based on this
      quantitative analysis, we conclude that simultaneous EEG-fMRI recordings are
      achievable in rodents without significant signal loss. In light of the
      contemporary transgenic models and advanced drug administration protocols in
      rodents, the proposed methodology could be remarkable as a futurist experimental
      platform.

PMID- 20920589
TI  - Quantitative analysis of brain pathology based on MRI and brain atlases-
      applications for cerebral palsy.
AB  - We have developed a new method to provide a comprehensive quantitative analysis
      of brain anatomy in cerebral palsy patients, which makes use of two techniques:
      diffusion tensor imaging and automated 3D whole brain segmentation based on our
      brain atlas and a nonlinear normalization technique (large-deformation
      diffeomorphic metric mapping). This method was applied to 13 patients and normal
      controls. The reliability of the automated segmentation revealed close agreement
      with the manual segmentation. We illustrate some potential applications for
      individual characterization and group comparison. This technique also provides a
      framework for determining the impact of various neuroanatomic features on brain
      functions.

PMID- 20920591
TI  - Pulmonate phylogeny based on 28S rRNA gene sequences: a framework for discussing
      habitat transitions and character transformation.
AB  - Pulmonate snails occupy a wide range of marine, estuarine, freshwater and
      terrestrial environments. Non-terrestrial forms are supposed to be basal in
      pulmonate evolution but the group's phylogeny is not well resolved either
      morphologically or on the basis of available DNA sequence data. The lack of a
      robust phylogeny makes it difficult to understand character polarization and
      habitat transformation in pulmonates. We have investigated pulmonate
      relationships using 27 new sequences of 28S rRNA from pulmonates and outgroups,
      augmented with data from GenBank. The complete alignments comprised about 3.8kb.
      Maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood and Bayesian analyses of alignments
      generated under different assumptions are reported. Complete alignments appear to
      have a degree of substitution saturation so where there is conflict between
      hypothesised relationships more weight is given to analyses where regions of
      random similarity are excluded and which are not affected by this complication.
      Monophyly of the five main pulmonate groups was robustly supported in almost all
      analyses. The marine group Amphiboloidea and the freshwater Glacidorbidae are the
      most basal. The remaining pulmonates (Siphonariidae, Hygrophila and Eupulmonata)
      form a moderately-supported monophyletic group in all analyses bar one probably
      affected by saturation of substitutions. Siphonariidae, a predominantly marine
      and intertidal family, and Eupulmonata (mainly terrestrial with marine, estuarine
      and freshwater species) form a strongly supported clade that is the sister group
      to Hygrophila (freshwater). Multiple colonizations of freshwater and terrestrial
      habitats by pulmonate snails are suggested. No analyses strongly support the
      possibility of habitat reversions. The colonizations of freshwater by Hygrophila
      and of land by Stylommatophora were apparently phylogenetically independent
      although it cannot yet be excluded that there were transient terrestrial phases
      in the history of the former group or freshwater phases in the latter.

PMID- 20920592
TI  - Phylogeny, biogeography, and host-plant association in the subfamily Apaturinae
      (Insecta: Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) inferred from eight nuclear and seven
      mitochondrial genes.
AB  - The subfamily Apaturinae consists of 20 genera and shows disjunct distributions
      and unique host-plant associations. Most genera of this subfamily are distributed
      in Eurasia South-East Asia and Africa, whereas the genera Doxocopa and
      Asterocampa are distributed mainly in South America and North America,
      respectively. Although the Apaturinae larvae mainly feed on the Cannabaceae,
      those of the genus Apatura are associated with Salix and Populus (Salicaceae),
      which are distantly related to the Cannabaceae. Here, we infer the phylogeny of
      Apaturinae and reconstruct the history of host shifting and of colonization in
      the New World. We analyzed 9761 bp of nuclear and mitochondrial DNA sequence
      data, including the genes encoding EF1a, Wg, ArgK, CAD, GAPDH, IDH, MDH, RpS5,
      COI, COII, ATPase8, ATPase6, COIII, ND3, and ND5 for 12 apaturine genera. We also
      inferred the phylogeny with six additional genera using mitochondrial sequence
      data alone. Within the Apaturinae, two major clades are recovered in all the
      datasets. These clades separate the New World genera, Doxocopa and Asterocampa,
      indicating that dispersal to the New World occurred at least twice. According to
      our divergence time estimates, these genera originated during the Early Oligocene
      to the Early Miocene, implying that they migrated across the Bering Land Bridge
      rather than the Atlantic Land Bridge. The temporal estimates also show that host
      shifting to Salix or Populus in Apatura occurred more than 15 million years after
      the divergence of their host plants. Our phylogenetic results are inconsistent
      with the previously accepted apaturine genus groups and indicate that their
      higher classification should be reconsidered.

PMID- 20920593
TI  - Endoplasmic reticulum protein 29 (ERp29): An emerging role in cancer.
AB  - The endoplasmic reticulum protein 29 (ERp29) is a molecule that facilitates
      processing and transport of proteins in the early secretory pathway. Structural
      and functional analyses have suggested a biological role as a putative chaperone
      in the endoplasmic reticulum. The N-terminal domain of ERp29 resembles the
      thioredoxin domain of protein disulfide isomerase, but lacks its redox-active
      function due to the absence of an active motif consisting of double cysteines. In
      the context of carcinogenesis, the role of ERp29 in cancer progression has not
      been fully elucidated. However, recent studies indicate that high expression of
      ERp29 inversely correlates to tumor progression. In addition, over-expression of
      ERp29 significantly inhibits proliferation and suppresses tumorigenesis by
      modulating ER stress signaling and the mesenchymal-epithelial transition in
      breast cancer cells. In this review, we summarize the biological properties of
      ERp29 and its novel function as a tumor suppressor.

PMID- 20920594
TI  - Regulation of mammalian desaturases by myristic acid: N-terminal myristoylation
      and other modulations.
AB  - Myristic acid, the 14-carbon saturated fatty acid (C14:0), usually accounts for
      small amounts (0.5%-1% weight of total fatty acids) in animal tissues. Since it
      is a relatively rare molecule in the cells, the specific properties and
      functional roles of myristic acid have not been fully studied and described. Like
      other dietary saturated fatty acids (palmitic acid, lauric acid), this fatty acid
      is usually associated with negative consequences for human health. Indeed, in
      industrialized countries, its excessive consumption correlates with an increase
      in plasma cholesterol and mortality due to cardiovascular diseases. Nevertheless,
      one feature of myristoyl-CoA is its ability to be covalently linked to the N
      terminal glycine residue of eukaryotic and viral proteins. This reaction is
      called N-terminal myristoylation. Through the myristoylation of hundreds of
      substrate proteins, myristic acid can activate many physiological pathways. This
      review deals with these potentially activated pathways. It focuses on the
      following emerging findings on the biological ability of myristic acid to
      regulate the activity of mammalian desaturases: (i) recent findings have
      described it as a regulator of the Delta4-desaturation of dihydroceramide to
      ceramide; (ii) studies have demonstrated that it is an activator of the Delta6
      desaturation of polyunsaturated fatty acids; and (iii) myristic acid itself is a
      substrate of some fatty acid desaturases. This article discusses several topics,
      such as the myristoylation of the dihydroceramide Delta4-desaturase, the
      myristoylation of the NADH-cytochrome b5 reductase which is part of the whole
      desaturase complex, and other putative mechanisms.

PMID- 20920595
TI  - Incorporation profiles of conjugated linoleic acid isomers in cell membranes and
      their positional distribution in phospholipids.
AB  - Although the conjugated linoleic acids (CLA) have several isomer-specific
      biological effects including anti-carcinogenic and anti-adipogenic effects, their
      mechanisms of action remain unclear. To determine their potential effects on
      membrane structure and function, we studied the incorporation profiles of four
      CLA isomers (trans-10 cis-12 (A), trans-9 trans-11 (B), cis-9 trans-11 (C), and
      cis-9 cis-11 (D)) in CHO and HepG2 cells. All four isomers were incorporated into
      cellular lipids as efficiently as linoleic acid (LA), with the majority of the
      incorporated CLA present in membrane rafts. Of the four isomers, only CLA-A
      increased the cholesterol content of the raft fraction. Over 50% of the
      incorporated CLAs were recovered in phosphatidylcholine of CHO cells, but in
      HepG2 the neutral lipids contained the majority of CLA. The desaturation index
      (18:1/18:0 and 16:1/16:0) was reduced by CLA-A, but increased by CLA-B, the
      effects being apparent mostly in raft lipids. The Delta9 desaturase activity was
      inhibited by CLAs A and C. Unlike LA, which was mostly found in the sn-2 position
      of phospholipids, most CLAs were also incorporated significantly into the sn-1
      position in both cell types. These studies show that the incorporation profiles
      of CLA isomers differ significantly from that of LA, and this could lead to
      alterations in membrane function, especially in the raft-associated proteins.

PMID- 20920596
TI  - Colon neoplasms develop early in the course of inflammatory bowel disease and
      primary sclerosing cholangitis.
AB  - BACKGROUND & AIMS: Colon cancer surveillance guidelines for patients with
      inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) suggest
      annual colonoscopy once the diagnosis of concomitant disease is made, but there
      is little evidence to support this recommendation. We conducted a retrospective
      review of patients with colonic neoplasms (colon cancer or dysplasia) to test
      this guideline's validity and determined when colonic neoplasms occurred in the
      population. METHODS: Records were retrospectively reviewed from 54 patients with
      IBD, PSC, and colonic neoplasia for dates of diagnosis of IBD, PSC, and colon
      neoplasia and descriptive information about the colon neoplasms that developed.
      RESULTS: The occurrence of colon neoplasms within 2 years of diagnosis of IBD and
      PSC (21.5 per 100 patient years of follow-up) was similar to the occurrence
      within 8 to 10 years from diagnosis of IBD and PSC (20.4 per 100 patient years of
      follow-up). The colonic neoplasms that developed in this population were spread
      throughout the colon. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with IBD and PSC have a risk of
      developing colonic neoplasms soon after the coexistence of the 2 diseases is
      discovered. This finding supports the current colon cancer surveillance guideline
      recommendations of yearly colonoscopies for this patient population, beginning at
      the time of diagnosis of PSC in patients with IBD or with the diagnosis of IBD in
      patients with PSC.

PMID- 20920597
TI  - CT and MRI improve detection of hepatocellular carcinoma, compared with
      ultrasound alone, in patients with cirrhosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND & AIMS: In patients with cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is
      detected by ultrasound (US), computed tomography (CT), or magnetic resonance
      imaging (MRI); US is recommended for screening and surveillance. We performed a
      retrospective analysis of the abilities of these cross-sectional imaging
      modalities to detect HCC. METHODS: We analyzed data from 638 consecutive adult
      patients with cirrhosis who received liver transplants within 6 months of imaging
      at a tertiary care institution. Imaging reports and serum alpha-fetoprotein
      levels were compared with results from pathology analysis of explants as the
      reference standard. Sensitivities of US, CT, and MRI were calculated overall and
      in defined size categories. False-positive imaging results and patient-based
      specificities were evaluated. RESULTS: Of the 638 patients, 225 (35%) had HCC,
      confirmed by pathology analysis of liver explants. In 23 cases, the lesions were
      infiltrative or extensively multifocal. In the remaining 202 explants (337
      numerable, discrete nodules), respective lesion-based sensitivities of US, CT,
      and MRI were 46%, 65%, and 72% overall and 21%, 40%, and 47% for small (<2 cm)
      HCC. The sensitivity of US increased with the availability of CT or MRI data (P =
      .049); sensitivity values were 62% and 85% for lesions 2-4 and >= 4 cm,
      respectively. Patient-based specificities of US, CT, and MRI were 96%, 96%, and
      87%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: US, CT, and MRI did not detect small HCC lesions
      with high levels of sensitivity, although CT and MRI provide substantial
      improvements over unenhanced US in patients with cirrhosis who received liver
      transplants.

PMID- 20920598
TI  - Umbilical metastasis: Sister Mary Joseph's nodule.

PMID- 20920599
TI  - Esophageal eosinophilic infiltration responds to proton pump inhibition in most
      adults.
AB  - BACKGROUND & AIMS: Despite consensus recommendations, eosinophilic esophagitis
      (EoE) is commonly diagnosed upon esophageal eosinophilic infiltration (EEI; based
      on >= 15 eosinophils per high power field; eo/HPF). We evaluated the prevalence
      of EEI before and after proton pump inhibitor (PPI) therapy and assessed the
      accuracy of EEI and pH monitoring analyses. METHODS: Biopsies were taken from the
      upper-middle esophagus of 712 adults with upper gastrointestinal symptoms who
      were referred for endoscopy due to upper gastrointestinal symptoms. Patients with
      EEI were treated with rabeprazole (20 mg, twice daily) for 2 months. EoE was
      defined by persistent symptoms and >15 eo/HPF following PPI therapy. RESULTS:
      Thirty-five patients (4.9%) had EEI, of whom 55% had a history of allergies, and
      70% had food impaction or dysphagia as their primary complaint. Twenty-six EEI
      patients (75%) achieved clinicopathological remission with PPI therapy; of these,
      17 had GERD-like profile (EEI <35 eo/HPF and objective evidence of reflux, based
      on endoscopy or pH monitoring), and 9 had EoE-like profile (EEI 35-165 eo/HPF,
      typical EoE symptoms and endoscopic findings). The PPI response was 50% in the
      EoE-like profile patients. The PPI-response was 50% in EoE-like profile patients.
      Likewise, PPI-responsive EEI occurred with normal (33%) and pathologic (80%) pH
      monitoring. Higher histologic cut-off values improved specificity and positive
      predictive for EoE (35%-35% for >20 eo/HPF; 46%-39% for >24 eo/HPF; 65%-50% for
      35 eo/HPF). CONCLUSIONS: In adults with EEI, 75% of unselected patients and 50%
      with an EoE phenotype respond to PPI therapy; pH monitoring is poorly predictive
      of response. Patients with PPI-responsive EEI >35 eo/HPF are phenotypically
      undistinguishable from EoE patients. EoE might be overestimated without clinical
      and pathologic follow-up of patient response to PPI.

PMID- 20920600
TI  - Incidence of sports-related sudden cardiac death: the Danish paradox.

PMID- 20920601
TI  - Current-to-load mismatch, Brugada ECG pattern, and the associated
      arrhythmogenesis.

PMID- 20920602
TI  - First experience with rotational angiography of the right ventricle to guide
      ventricular tachycardia ablation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Rotational angiography with three-dimensional reconstruction (3DRA)
      is a new imaging tool recently introduced to guide mapping and ablation of the
      left atrium. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine the utility of
      3DRA for imaging the ventricles and guiding ventricular tachycardia (VT)
      ablation. METHODS: Using the Philips Allura Xper FD10 system, 3DRA was performed
      in eight patients referred for right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT) VT
      ablation. The imaging protocol for right ventricular (RV) injection is described.
      IV contrast was injected at the RA/IVC junction over 4 sec and 3DRA was obtained
      immediately. Images were segmented manually on the EP Navigator workstation and
      registered on live fluoroscopy. Intracardiac electrograms were superimposed on
      3DRA creating a true electroanatomic map (ElectroNav). CARTO mapping and
      echocardiograms were performed on all patients, cardiac computed tomography (CT)
      in 4, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in 1. RESULTS: Three-dimensional
      rotational angiography was successful in 7 of 8 patients. Image interpretation
      was unsuccessful in one patient due to poor isocentering. RV imaging was
      performed with 82 +/- 18 mL of contrast. RV image segmentation required 19 +/- 5
      minutes. CARTO maps of the RVOT required 43 +/- 12 minutes and additional
      fluoroscopy. Three-dimensional rotational angiography was used to guide VT
      ablation by providing realistic anatomic images of the pulmonary valve plane,
      endo-views of the ventricle, and ablation point tagging. Anatomic detail provided
      by 3DRA was qualitatively superior to CARTO. VT ablation was acutely successful
      in all patients. Close concordance between echocardiographic, CT/MRI, and 3DRA
      measurements of the RVOT was observed (r = 0.9, P <.01). CONCLUSION: Three
      dimensional rotational angiography of the RV and RVOT is a feasible imaging
      technique that utilizes a protocol of timed angiography, manual segmentation,
      image registration, and superimposition of intracardiac electrograms to create an
      angiogram-based electroanatomic model of these structures.

PMID- 20920603
TI  - Case of coronary perforation with epicardial access for ablation of ventricular
      tachycardia.

PMID- 20920605
TI  - Statistical methods for a phase II oncology trial with a growth modulation index
      (GMI) endpoint.
AB  - For cytostatic cancer therapies, alternatives to traditional phase II endpoints
      are needed. Von Hoff (1998) proposed an intrapatient progression-free survival
      (PFS) ratio, the growth modulation index (GMI). Current practice in estimation of
      the GMI success rate is conservative and omits a measure of uncertainty. We
      investigated nonparametric and parametric methods to estimate the GMI success
      rate, including an approach using midranks for paired survival outcomes (Hudgens
      and Satten (2002)). Estimators were applied to a phase II GMI dataset (Bonetti et
      al. (2001)). From simulation studies, it was determined that a rank-based
      estimator had the most favorable statistical properties. Its point estimate bias
      was consistently within 1.5%; its bias and precision were robust over a range of
      effect and censoring scenarios. Using a proof of concept criterion of
      {P(GMI>=1)>=theta}, a simulation investigation found that a theta of 50%, for
      sample sizes between 20 and 30 patients, had type I error of <=20% and a power to
      detect Von Hoff's 1.33 effect of >=80%. When the amount of censoring was >=20%,
      the midrank estimator had a minimum of 14% greater power over the simple
      percentage estimator for the GMI success rate. Future investigations reporting
      the GMI should consider adopting the midrank methodology.

PMID- 20920607
TI  - IS6110-based global phylogeny of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
AB  - IS6110, a Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex species-specific insertion element,
      is targeted primarily for DNA fingerprinting of M. tuberculosis strains. The
      number and chromosomal positions of copies of this element have been found to be
      highly variable between unrelated strains and have been exploited for molecular
      epidemiological purpose but the utility of IS6110 as an informative marker of
      strain phylogeny has yet to be demonstrated. In the current study, a recently
      proposed IS6110-targetting PCR based typing methodology, fluorescent amplified
      fragment length polymorphism (fAFLP) was applied to a global panel of 166 of the
      clinically more predominant 'modern' strains characterised by spoligotype and,
      where available, Variable Number Tandem Repeat (VNTR) to identify potentially
      evolutionarily informative common fragments that could define strains as
      belonging to established genetic lineages. These common fragments are hereby
      proposed to be ancestral insertion sites present in common ancestors of these
      strains rather than preferential insertion sites or 'hot spots'. Results indicate
      that the exact same spoligotype and VNTR-defined lineages are reflected in the
      fragment patterns but with greater resolution and are able to clearly define the
      very distinct Haarlem, LAM, X and also the currently ill-defined T and S and
      lineages and spoligotypes designated as U, or unknown, without ambiguity. The
      biogeographical patterns generated reflect the migration of mankind across the
      globe and indicate that only four successful clones (or individual bacteria) gave
      rise to virtually all of the tuberculosis in Europe and the Americas. Potential
      lies in the application of the data to determine IS6110 evolutionary events that
      have occurred during the evolution of these lineages.

PMID- 20920606
TI  - Distinct tissue distributions and subcellular localizations of differently
      phosphorylated forms of the myosin regulatory light chain in Drosophila.
AB  - Nonmuscle myosin II (myosin hereafter) has well-established roles in generating
      contractile force on actin filaments during morphogenetic processes in all
      metazoans. Myosin activation is regulated by phosphorylation of the myosin
      regulatory light chain (MRLC, encoded by spaghettisquash or sqh in Drosophila)
      first on Ser21 and subsequently on Thr20. These phosphorylation events are
      positively controlled by a variety of kinases including myosin light chain
      kinase, Rho kinase, citron kinase, and AMP kinase and are negatively regulated by
      myosin phosphatase. The activation of myosin is thus highly regulated and likely
      developmentally controlled. In order to monitor the activity of myosin during
      development, we have generated antibodies against the monophosphorylated (Sqh1P)
      and diphosphorylated (Sqh2P) forms of Sqh. We first show that the antibodies are
      highly specific. We then used these antibodies to monitor myosin activation in
      wild type Drosophila tissues. Interestingly, Sqh1P and Sqh2P show distinct
      patterns of expression in embryos. Sqh1P is expressed nearly ubiquitously and
      outlines cells consistent with a junctional localization, whereas Sqh2P is
      strongly expressed on the apical surfaces and in filopodia of tissues undergoing
      extensive cell shape change or cell movements including the invaginating fore-
      and hindgut, the invaginating tracheal system, the dorsal pouch and the dorsal
      most row of epidermal (DME) cells during dorsal closure. In imaginal discs, Sqh1P
      predominantly localizes in the adherens junction, whereas Sqh2P locates to the
      apical domain. These antibodies thus have the potential to be very useful in
      monitoring myosin activation for functional studies of morphogenesis in
      Drosophila.

PMID- 20920608
TI  - EuPathDomains: the divergent domain database for eukaryotic pathogens.
AB  - Eukaryotic pathogens (e.g. Plasmodium, Leishmania, Trypanosomes, etc.) are a
      major source of morbidity and mortality worldwide. In Africa, one of the most
      impacted continents, they cause millions of deaths and constitute an immense
      economic burden. While the genome sequence of several of these organisms is now
      available, the biological functions of more than half of their proteins are still
      unknown. This is a serious issue for bringing to the foreground the expected new
      therapeutic targets. In this context, the identification of protein domains is a
      key step to improve the functional annotation of the proteins. However, several
      domains are missed in eukaryotic pathogens because of the high phylogenetic
      distance of these organisms from the classical eukaryote models. We recently
      proposed a method, co-occurrence domain detection (CODD), that improves the
      sensitivity of Pfam domain detection by exploiting the tendency of domains to
      appear preferentially with a few other favorite domains in a protein. In this
      paper, we present EuPathDomains (http://www.atgc-montpellier.fr/EuPathDomains/),
      an extended database of protein domains belonging to ten major eukaryotic human
      pathogens. EuPathDomains gathers known and new domains detected by CODD, along
      with the associated confidence measurements and the GO annotations that can be
      deduced from the new domains. This database significantly extends the Pfam domain
      coverage of all selected genomes, by proposing new occurrences of domains as well
      as new domain families that have never been reported before. For example, with a
      false discovery rate lower than 20%, EuPathDomains increases the number of
      detected domains by 13% in Toxoplasma gondii genome and up to 28% in
      Cryptospordium parvum, and the total number of domain families by 10% in
      Plasmodium falciparum and up to 16% in C. parvum genome. The database can be
      queried by protein names, domain identifiers, Pfam or Interpro identifiers, or
      organisms, and should become a valuable resource to decipher the protein
      functions of eukaryotic pathogens.

PMID- 20920609
TI  - Statistical phylogeography of Chagas disease vector Triatoma infestans: testing
      biogeographic hypotheses of dispersal.
AB  - Chagas disease is one of the most important vector-borne diseases in Latin
      America. The disease, caused by the flagellate protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi, is
      commonly transmitted to humans by Triatoma infestans in South America. Using
      mitochondrial DNA sequences, we assessed alternative biogeographic scenarios of
      dispersal of T. infestans using coalescence simulations. We also assessed
      phylogeographic structure and spatial genetics of T. infestans in Chile. Two
      major routes of dispersal in southern South America were supported including a
      dual-origin of T. infestans in Chile. Phylogeographic analyses identified two
      primary clades with Chilean haplotypes partitioned into either a northern cluster
      with Peruvian and Bolivian haplotypes or a north-central cluster with Argentinean
      and Uruguayan haplotypes. The north-central clade is further divided into two
      subgroups. Domestic and sylvatic T. infestans in central Chile were not
      segregated in the phylogeographic reconstruction. Spatial genetic analyses show
      higher distances in northern Chile, congruent with the presence of two divergent
      lineages of T. infestans. Phylogenetic evidence does not unequivocally support
      the hypothesized Bolivian origin of T. infestans, so we discuss alternative
      scenarios.

PMID- 20920610
TI  - Complex V TMEM70 deficiency results in mitochondrial nucleoid disorganization.
AB  - Mutations in the TMEM70 gene are responsible for a familial form of complex V
      deficiency presenting with 3-methylglutaconic aciduria, lactic acidosis,
      cardiomyopathy and mitochondrial myopathy. Here we present a case of TMEM70
      deficiency due to compound heterozygous mutations, who displayed abnormal
      mitochondria with whorled cristae in muscle. Immunogold electron microscopy and
      tomography shows for the first time that nucleoid clusters of mtDNA are disrupted
      in the abnormal mitochondria, with both nucleoids and mitochondrial respiratory
      chain complexes confined to the outer rings of the whorls. This could explain the
      differential effects on the expression and assembly of complex V in different
      tissues.

PMID- 20920611
TI  - Why docosahexaenoic acid and aspirin supplementation could be useful in women as
      a primary prevention therapy against Alzheimer's disease?
AB  - The assumption that disease specific risk factors are similar or the same in men
      and women may lead to incorrect primary prevention strategies. This study focused
      on the evaluation of gender-specific Alzheimer's disease (AD) risk factors. In
      AD, female gender appears to be an important risk factor associated with the
      aberrant production of beta amyloid (betaA) peptides. Although decreased levels
      in plasma DHA concentration are associated with cognitive decline in healthy
      elderly and Alzheimer's patients, pre-treatment with DHA significantly reduced
      the survival of cortical neurons incubated with beta amyloid (betaA). Hence, in
      the presence of an increasing amount of betaA, paradoxically women - who have
      higher plasma levels of DHA - are more likely to develop AD. Aspirin (ASA)
      converts cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 into a form that generates new neuroprotective
      docosanoids from DHA; therefore, ASA might positively resolve the paradoxical
      effect of the concomitant presence of DHA and betaA.

PMID- 20920612
TI  - Catastrophic antiphospholipid syndrome in a community-acquired methicillin
      resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection: a review of pathogenesis with a case
      for molecular mimicry.
AB  - Community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) has
      remarkable pathogenicity and can cause severe infections, such as necrotizing
      pneumonia, necrotizing fasciitis, and sepsis. To our knowledge, no case of CA
      MRSA resulting in catastrophic antiphospholipid syndrome (CAPS) has been
      reported. Furthermore, no specific pathogenic link between these two disorders
      has been described. Staphylococcal sequence homologies and binding capabilities
      to plasma protein beta2-glycoprotein I (beta2-GPI) may result in anti-beta2-GPI
      antibody production. These antibodies represent the critical prothrombotic factor
      in pathogenesis of antiphospholipid syndrome and CAPS. However, the development
      of CAPS requires additional prothrombotic activities. In our case, sepsis and CA
      MRSA-induced leukocytolysis likely represent the activity required to transform a
      hypercoagulable state into the life threatening, diffusely thrombotic CAPS. The
      presence of anti-beta2GPI-antibodies and diffuse microvascular occlusion are
      characteristic of CAPS. However, other life threatening syndromes cause
      microvascular thrombi and multiorgan failure, and more studies are needed to
      determine the frequency of antiphospholipid antibodies and clinical syndromes
      consistent with CAPS in patients with staphylococcal infections.

PMID- 20920613
TI  - Devic's syndrome and SLE: challenges in diagnosis and therapeutic possibilities
      based on two overlapping cases.
AB  - Neuromyelitis optica (NMO, Devic's disease), an uncommon demyelinating neuro
      immunological disease, can be associated with autoimmune diseases. In SLE
      associated forms anti-aquaporin-4 antibody positivity can help differentiating
      between SLE nerve system manifestation and NMO. In the literature rituximab, or
      immunoablative dose cyclophosphamide (CYC) was effective for the therapy
      resistant forms. Authors present 2 SLE overlapping NMO cases, one of them with
      SLE associated interstitial lung disease (ILD). In both cases neurological
      manifestations anticipated other SLE symptoms. Patients previously were treated
      with high dose corticosteroid therapy, plasmapheresis, and one of them with
      azathioprine, and the other one with oral CYC (which could not prevent flares).
      0.5 g/m2 body-surface monthly parenteral inductive CYC therapy was administered,
      in one patient followed by quarterly maintenance therapy. This patient completed
      her 18 month maintenance treatment and has been in neurological remission, but
      required steroid pulse and plasmapheresis for lung symptoms. The second patient
      had urogenital infection after the induction phase, followed by an exacerbation,
      requiring plasmapheresis and high dose parenteral corticosteroid treatment. After
      it he refused CYC therapy and has been taking azathioprine. He has no new
      symptoms, only residual ones. In our two patients conventional dose CYC therapy
      proved to be effective for NMO/SLE overlap, required only transient supportive
      therapy.

PMID- 20920614
TI  - Insights into the mechanism of magnetic particle assisted gene delivery.
AB  - In magnetic particle assisted gene delivery DNA is complexed with polymer-coated
      aggregated magnetic nanoparticles (AMNPs) to effect transfection. In vitro
      studies based on COS-7 cells were carried out using pEGFP-N1 and pMIR-REPORT
      complexed, polyethylenimine (PEI)-coated iron oxide magnetic nanoparticles
      (MNPs). PEI-coated AMNPs (PEI-AMNPs) with average individual particle diameters
      of 8, 16 and 30 nm were synthesized. Normal, reverse and retention magnetic
      transfection experiments and cell wounding assays were performed. Our results
      show that the optimum magnetic field yields maximum transfection efficiency with
      good viability. The results of the normal, reverse and retention magnetic
      transfection experiments show that the highest transfection efficiency was
      achieved in normal magnetic transfection mode due to clustering of the PEI-AMNPs
      on the cells. Cell wounding assay results suggest that the mechanism of magnetic
      transfection is endocytosis rather than cell wounding.

PMID- 20920615
TI  - Effects of humidity on the mechanical properties of gecko setae.
AB  - We tested the hypothesis that an increase in relative humidity (RH) causes
      changes in the mechanical properties of the keratin of adhesive gecko foot hairs
      (setae). We measured the effect of RH on the tensile deformation properties,
      fracture, and dynamic mechanical response of single isolated tokay gecko setae
      and strips of the smooth lamellar epidermal layer. The mechanical properties of
      gecko setae were strongly affected by RH. The complex elastic modulus (measured
      at 5 Hz) of a single seta at 80% RH was 1.2 GPa, only 39% of the value when dry.
      An increase in RH reduced the stiffness and increased the strain to failure. The
      loss tangent increased significantly with humidity, suggesting that water
      absorption produces a transition to a more viscous type of deformation. The
      influence of RH on the properties of the smooth epidermal layer was comparable
      with that of isolated seta, with the exception of stress at rupture. These values
      were two to four times greater for the setae than for the smooth layer. The
      changes in mechanical properties of setal keratin were consistent with previously
      reported increases in contact forces, supporting the hypothesis that an increase
      in RH softens setal keratin, which increases adhesion and friction.

PMID- 20920616
TI  - Structural and material approaches to bone tissue engineering in powder-based
      three-dimensional printing.
AB  - This article reviews the current state of knowledge concerning the use of powder
      based three-dimensional printing (3DP) for the synthesis of bone tissue
      engineering scaffolds. 3DP is a solid free-form fabrication (SFF) technique
      building up complex open porous 3D structures layer by layer (a bottom-up
      approach). In contrast to traditional fabrication techniques generally
      subtracting material step by step (a top-down approach), SFF approaches allow
      nearly unlimited designs and a large variety of materials to be used for scaffold
      engineering. Today's state of the art materials, as well as the mechanical and
      structural requirements for bone scaffolds, are summarized and discussed in
      relation to the technical feasibility of their use in 3DP. Advances in the field
      of 3DP are presented and compared with other SFF methods. Existing strategies on
      material and design control of scaffolds are reviewed. Finally, the possibilities
      and limiting factors are addressed and potential strategies to improve 3DP for
      scaffold engineering are proposed.

PMID- 20920617
TI  - Penicillium oxalicum SAEM-51: a mutagenised strain for enhanced production of
      chitin deacetylase for bioconversion to chitosan.
AB  - A novel chitin deacetylase (CDA) producing strain Penicillium oxalicum ITCC 6965
      was isolated from residual materials of sea food processing industries. Strain
      following mutagenesis using ethidium bromide (EtBr) and microwave irradiation had
      resulted into a mutant P. oxalicum SAE(M)-51 having improved levels of chitin
      deacetylase (210.71 +/- 1.65 Ul(-1)) as compared to the wild type strain (108.26
      +/- 1.98 Ul(-1)). Maximum enzyme production was achieved in submerged
      fermentation following 144 hours of incubation with notably improved productivity
      of 1.46 +/- 0.82 Ul(-1) h(-1) as compared to the wild type strain (0.75 +/- 0.53
      Ul(-1)h(-1)). Scanning electron micrographs of mutant and wild type strains had
      revealed distinct morphological features. Evaluation of kinetic parameters viz.
      Q(s), Q(p), Y(p/x), Y(p/s), q(p), q(s) had denoted that strain P. oxalicum SAE(M)
      51 is a hyper producer of chitin deacetylase. Glucose as compared to chitin or
      colloidal chitin had resulted in increased levels of enzyme production. However,
      replacement of glucose with chitinous substrates had prolonged the duration for
      enzyme production. The mutant strain had two pH optima that is 6.0 and 8.0 and
      had an optimum temperature of 30  degrees C for growth and enzyme production.

PMID- 20920618
TI  - Nutritional regulation of protease production by the feather-degrading bacterium
      Chryseobacterium sp. kr6.
AB  - The effects of nutritional conditions on growth and protease production by the
      feather-degrading Chryseobacterium sp. kr6 were investigated. Higher growth was
      observed on feather-containing or tryptone (TR) medium when compared to casein
      (CA) or glucose-nitrogen (GN) base medium. Protease production occurred during
      growth on feather-containing and TR media, whereas no protease activity was
      detected on CA or GN medium, indicating that protease production is not
      constitutive, depending on the presence of specific complex nitrogen sources.
      Supplementation of whole feathers (WF) medium with glucose (WFG) or NH(4)Cl (WFN)
      did not result in major differences in growth and protease production, whereas
      soluble protein was lower in supplemented media. Glucose consumption and growth
      were higher on WFG than on GN medium, suggesting that the absence of a specific
      complex nitrogen source limited bacterial growth. On WF medium, this strain grew
      closely attached to the feather structures, initially on the barbules and
      subsequently on the feather rachis. It was observed, through zymogram analysis,
      that strain kr6 produced diverse proteolytic enzymes in response to different
      growth substrates. These results were confirmed by the differential behaviors of
      crude proteases towards protease inhibitors.

PMID- 20920623
TI  - Nitrogen-containing bisphosphonates can inhibit angiogenesis in vivo without the
      involvement of farnesyl pyrophosphate synthase.
AB  - Nitrogen-containing bisphosphonates (N-BPs) are widely used to block bone
      destruction associated with bone metastasis because they are effective inhibitors
      of osteoclast-mediated bone resorption. More specifically, once internalized by
      osteoclasts, N-BPs block the activity of farnesyl pyrophosphate synthase (FPPS),
      a key enzyme in the mevalonate pathway. In addition to their antiresorptive
      activity, preclinical evidence shows that N-BPs have antiangiogenic properties.
      However, the exact reasons for which N-BPs inhibit angiogenesis remain largely
      unknown. Using different angiogenesis models, we examined here the effects of
      zoledronate, risedronate and three structural analogs of risedronate (NE-58025,
      NE-58051 and NE-10790) with lower potencies to inhibit FPPS activity. Risedronate
      and zoledronate were much more potent than NE-compounds at inhibiting both
      endothelial cell proliferation in vitro and vessel sprouting in the chicken egg
      chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) assay. In addition, only risedronate and
      zoledronate inhibited the revascularization of the prostate gland in testosterone
      stimulated castrated rats. Moreover, as opposed to NE-compounds, risedronate and
      zoledronate induced intracellular accumulation of isopentenyl pyrophosphate (IPP)
      in endothelial cells by blocking the activity of the IPP-consuming enzyme FPPS.
      Thus, these results indicated that N-BPs inhibited angiogenesis in a FPPS
      dependent manner. However, drug concentrations used to inhibit angiogenesis, both
      in vitro and in the CAM and prostate gland assays, were high. In contrast, a low
      concentration of risedronate (1 MUM) was sufficient to inhibit blood vessel
      formation in the ex vivo rat aortic ring assay. Moreover, NE-58025 (which had a 7
      fold lower potency than risedronate to inhibit FPPS activity) was as effective as
      risedronate to reduce angiogenesis in the rat aortic ring assay. In conclusion,
      our results suggest that low concentrations of N-BPs inhibit angiogenesis in a
      FPPS-independent manner, whereas higher drug concentrations were required to
      inhibit FPPS activity in vivo.

PMID- 20920628
TI  - SPECT V/Q imaging of the lungs.

PMID- 20920629
TI  - Why SPECT for V/Q lung scanning?

PMID- 20920630
TI  - Transition from planar to SPECT V/Q scintigraphy: rationale, practicalities, and
      challenges.
AB  - Compared with planar imaging, ventilation/perfusion scintigraphy performed with
      single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) has a greater sensitivity and
      specificity, greater accuracy, improved reproducibility, and a lower number of
      inconclusive reports in the detection of pulmonary embolism. Despite these
      improvements, there are several challenges that must be overcome for the
      transition from planar imaging to SPECT imaging to be successful, including a
      lack of familiarity with 3D imaging of the lungs by some reporting specialists,
      the selection of a ventilation agent appropriate for SPECT acquisitions, and a
      different approach in the image reporting. The transition to SPECT imaging can be
      facilitated by generating planar-like images from the SPECT data, with which many
      reporting specialists are more familiar. SPECT ventilation/perfusion acquisition
      times are generally equal to or shorter than conventional planar imaging, studies
      are easier for technologists to acquire, and modern computing provides several
      new approaches to image processing and display.

PMID- 20920631
TI  - V/Q imaging in 2010: a quick start guide.
AB  - In this article we review protocols for ventilation-perfusion (V/Q) imaging with
      current generation technology. Although many groups have expressed interest in
      moving from planar lung V/Q imaging to single-photon emission computed tomography
      (SPECT) methods, few resources or guidelines exist for suggested protocols. Here,
      we provide an introduction to help establish protocols for planar and SPECT V/Q
      imaging and display that should be readily transferable into a clinical
      department's routine practice. We emphasize, in particular, the need for a good
      ventilation study and that acquiring planar images as well as SPECT can be
      negated by producing acceptable planar-like images from the SPECT data.

PMID- 20920632
TI  - Methodology for ventilation/perfusion SPECT.
AB  - Ventilation/perfusion single-photon emission computed tomography (V/Q SPECT) is
      the scintigraphic technique of choice for the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism and
      many other disorders that affect lung function. Data from recent ventilation
      studies show that the theoretic advantages of Technegas over radiolabeled liquid
      aerosols are not restricted to the presence of obstructive lung disease.
      Radiolabeled macroaggregated human albumin is the imaging agent of choice for
      perfusion scintigraphy. An optimal combination of nuclide activities and
      acquisition times for ventilation and perfusion, collimators, and imaging matrix
      yields an adequate V/Q SPECT study in approximately 20 minutes of imaging time.
      The recommended protocol based on the patient remaining in an unchanged position
      during the initial ventilation study and the perfusion study allows presentation
      of matching ventilation and perfusion slices in all projections as well as in
      rotating volume images based upon maximum intensity projections. Probabilistic
      interpretation of V/Q SPECT should be replaced by a holistic interpretation
      strategy on the basis of all relevant information about the patient and all
      ventilation/perfusion patterns. PE is diagnosed when there is more than one
      subsegment showing a V/Q mismatch representing an anatomic lung unit. Apart from
      pulmonary embolism, other pathologies should be identified and reported, for
      example, obstructive disease, heart failure, and pneumonia. Pitfalls exist both
      with respect to imaging technique and scan interpretation.

PMID- 20920633
TI  - V/Q SPECT and computed tomographic pulmonary angiography.
AB  - Planar ventilation and perfusion (V/Q) scintigraphy has been largely displaced by
      computed tomography pulmonary angiography (CTPA) in recent years for the
      diagnosis of pulmonary embolism (PE). This change can be attributed to multiple
      studies that demonstrate CTPA has a reasonable sensitivity and good prognostic
      value in negative cases, associated with the ability to deliver few indeterminate
      results and provide an alternate diagnosis in a significant number of patients.
      However, the technique has significant limitations. The Prospective Investigation
      of Pulmonary Embolism Diagnosis II (PIOPED II) study has shown a sensitivity of
      83%, which is not optimal. However, CT technology has greatly progressed since
      this time, and therefore it is likely that this number has improved. The PIOPED
      II study has also shown that there may be a problem in positive or negative
      predictive value when the imaging results are discordant with the clinical
      probability. Additional concerns include allergies, contrast nephropathy
      associated with the use of intravenous contrast in patients with impaired
      creatinine clearance, suboptimal results in pregnant women, and high radiation
      exposure. In recent years, V/Q single-photon emission computed tomography has
      emerged as a mature technique for the diagnosis of PE and has been shown to be
      clearly superior to planar V/Q. The technique has excellent sensitivity for PE
      and is not associated with most of the limitations of CTPA, although it has its
      own set of limitations in patients with very severe chronic obstructive pulmonary
      disease or with a severely abnormal chest x-ray. V/Q single-photon emission
      computed tomography can be used as the initial modality for PE diagnosis in a
      wide variety of situations although CTPA remains invaluable in specific
      scenarios.

PMID- 20920634
TI  - Radiation dosimetry and safety issues in the investigation of pulmonary embolism.
AB  - When considering the investigation of the patient with possible pulmonary
      embolism, one needs to balance the likelihood of disease and the diagnostic
      utility of the test against the risks associated with the investigation. Both
      computed tomography pulmonary angiography (CTPA) and the ventilation/perfusion
      (V/Q) scan involve exposure to ionizing radiation. The effect of low-level
      ionizing radiation remains an issue of some controversy. CTPA delivers a greater
      effective dose and, in particular, greater doses to breast tissue, than the V/Q
      scan (typically 10-70 mGy for CTPA vs <1.5 mGy for V/Q to breast). Since breast
      tissue is particularly radiosensitive in younger women, the V/Q study has an
      advantage over CTPA in this group. In the pregnant patient, fetal exposure has
      been raised as a concern. In fact, there is typically only low fetal exposure
      from either study (<1 mGy). The CTPA does deliver less fetal exposure,
      particularly in the first trimester, but the difference between CTPA and V/Q scan
      is small when compared with the difference in dose to maternal breast from the 2
      investigations. The "as low as reasonably achievable" (ie, ALARA) principle
      favors the use of V/Q scans in young women, assuming the diagnostic power of the
      2 tests is comparable. CTPA requires a contrast injection that can cause adverse
      reactions in a small number of patients. No significant risk, however, has been
      demonstrated with the radiopharmaceuticals involved in V/Q scans.

PMID- 20920635
TI  - SPECT/CT in V/Q scanning.
AB  - Combining the functional data provided by single-photon emission computed
      tomography (SPECT) with the anatomical information provided by CT has been shown
      to improve overall diagnostic accuracy in many areas of nuclear medicine.
      Although planar lung scans have often relied on correlation with a chest x-ray to
      help optimize scan interpretation, the advent of 3D lung imaging with SPECT
      provides the opportunity to combine lung perfusion data with CT images. This can
      be done by performing the study on a hybrid SPECT/CT scanner, with the CT
      acquisition typically performed with the use of low-dose parameters, rather than
      full diagnostic quality settings, or by software fusion with a fully diagnostic
      CT or a contrast-enhanced CT pulmonary angiogram. Such an approach has been shown
      to improve specificity and overall accuracy of ventilation/perfusion scintigraphy
      as well as facilitating more accurate clot localization. With the increased
      availability of hybrid SPECT/CT scanners, such an approach can be implemented in
      most imaging departments with little additional acquisition time or radiation
      dose. Misregistration caused by respiratory motion can impact combined studies,
      although this can be minimized with attention to patient breathing patterns
      during image acquisition. For patients with lung cancer, ventilation/perfusion
      SPECT/CT may have a role in allowing the optimal selection of radiotherapy fields
      and can improve the preoperative quantification of lung function before
      resection.

PMID- 20920636
TI  - V/Q SPECT: utility for investigation of pulmonary physiology.
AB  - Single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) is being increasingly used as
      a tool in respiratory research, in particular ventilation SPECT. Much of the
      basic understanding of pulmonary physiology has been derived from inhaled
      radioactive inert gases because, as the lung behaves in an asymmetric manner, the
      nature of regional differences in ventilation is ideally studied with the use of
      imaging. It is well known to clinicians that ventilation is patchy in patients
      who have airways disease. However, the relevance to the disease mechanisms itself
      only started to be studied with the use of 3-dimensional imaging and with
      advances in quantitative image analysis. The measurements of both ventilation
      distribution and nonventilation (airway closure) have become very topical in the
      study of asthma, and accurate quantification of those parameters is of relevance
      to disease mechanisms. In chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, the drive is
      towards better characterization of disease groups ("phenotypes") and, again,
      description of ventilation patterns may prove to be useful. This is a review,
      therefore, on pulmonary SPECT imaging in respiratory research which includes a
      focus on methodology in relation to respiratory physiology. There has been
      relatively little published in this area but there is great potential for
      advances in the understanding of airways disease to be gained from SPECT imaging.

PMID- 20920637
TI  - SPECT imaging of pulmonary emboli with radiolabeled thrombus-specific imaging
      agents.
AB  - The safe and accurate diagnosis of acute pulmonary embolism (PE) remains
      challenging, and many PE-related deaths still occur before the detection of PE.
      Current techniques detect PE as "negative images," ie, the absence of contrast or
      downstream perfusion. There would be advantages to obtaining "positive images" of
      PE, by targeting imaging agents to components that are present primarily on
      thromboemboli. In addition to providing alternative means of diagnosing acute PE,
      they would also enable acute PE to be distinguished from other types of pulmonary
      arterial obstruction, such as unresolved intravascular defects attributable to
      previous PE. Positive images of PE require imaging agents to bind onto target
      antigens that are present predominantly on thromboemboli. The "D dimer" regions
      of polymerized fibrin are present in high concentrations on thromboemboli and are
      sufficiently accessible to binding. (99m)Tc-lableled anti-D-dimer deimmunized
      monoclonal antibody Fab' fragments (DI-DD-3B6/22-80B3) bind specifically to
      thromboemboli, with a thrombus: blood labeling ratio that allows scintigraphic
      detection. Another thrombus-specific imaging agent is (99m)Tc-labeled apcitide, a
      synthetic peptide that binds with a high affinity and specificity to the
      glycoprotein IIb/IIIa receptor on the membrane of activated platelets. Both of
      these agents have enabled the detection of lower extremity deep vein thrombi by
      planar scintigraphy. However, even highly radiolabeled PEs are difficult to
      distinguish by planar scintigraphy from the large blood pool in the heart and
      lungs. The spatial and contrast resolution inherent to single-photon emission
      computed tomography (SPECT) scanning allow the in situ imaging of pulmonary
      emboli that have been bound by radiolabeled thrombus-specific imaging agents.
      Preliminary trials in humans with acute PE have shown that the emboli can be
      detected after intravenous administration of (99m)Tc-lableled anti-D dimer,
      followed by SPECT scanning. Although clinical results are still preliminary, it
      appears that imaging of pulmonary emboli with SPECT, after administration of
      radiolabeled thrombus-specific antibody fragments, is accurate and clinically
      feasible.

PMID- 20920638
TI  - Antiplatelet therapy in acute coronary syndrome (ACS): applying new science to
      clinical decisions.
AB  - The platelet is central to the pathogenesis of acute coronary syndromes (ACS),
      and antiplatelet therapy has demonstrated a significant reduction in the risk for
      ischemic events in patients with ACS. For patients with unstable angina or non-ST
      elevation myocardial infarctions, regardless of whether a conservative or
      invasive (i.e., percutaneous intervention) treatment approach is used, current
      guidelines recommend combination antiplatelet therapies, including aspirin with
      the thienopyridines clopidogrel or prasugrel and/or a glycoprotein IIb/IIIa
      inhibitor. However, there remains a significant incidence of arterial thrombosis
      in patients receiving currently available antiplatelet therapy, indicating the
      need for improved and/or alternative agents and targets. Recent landmark clinical
      trials of new oral antiplatelet therapies, including the thienopyridine prasugrel
      and the investigational reversible oral adenosine diphosphate antagonist
      ticagrelor, indicate they have a faster onset of action, result in a more
      predictable response, and provide improved efficacy compared to clopidogrel, the
      current standard of care. Other promising potential targets under investigation
      to reduce the contribution of the platelet to ACS pathophysiology include von
      Willebrand factor, thromboxane A(2), and protease-activated receptor-1. Of these,
      the protease-activated receptor-1 antagonist vorapaxar (SCH 530348) is furthest
      along in clinical development, with phase II data showing profound inhibition of
      platelet aggregation and a large phase III development program under way. A
      fundamental lingering issue is whether improved prevention and treatment of
      thrombosis can be separated from an increase in hemorrhage or bleeding, and
      clinicians must continue to consider the potential risks and benefits when
      individualizing antiplatelet therapy for patients with ACS.

PMID- 20920639
TI  - Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol level in patients with acute myocardial
      infarction having percutaneous coronary intervention (the cholesterol paradox).
AB  - The relation between low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels and
      clinical outcomes after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in patients with
      acute myocardial infarction (AMI) has not been described. A total of 9,571
      eligible patients (mean age 62.6 +/- 12.5 years, 6,967 men) who underwent PCI
      with a final diagnosis of AMI from the Korea Acute Myocardial Infarction Registry
      (KAMIR) were divided into 5 groups according to LDL cholesterol level: < 70, 70
      to 99, 100 to 129, 130 to 159, and >= 160 mg/dl. Clinical outcomes in hospital
      and 1 and 12 months after PCI in patients with AMI were examined. Age and co
      morbidities decreased as LDL cholesterol increased. Patients with higher LDL
      cholesterol levels had favorable hemodynamic status and laboratory findings.
      Lifesaving medications, including lipid-lowering drugs, were underused in
      patients with lower LDL cholesterol levels. Clinical outcomes in hospital and 1
      and 12 months after PCI showed better results as LDL cholesterol increased,
      except for patients with LDL cholesterol levels >= 160 mg/dl. In a Cox
      proportional-hazards model, LDL cholesterol level was not an independent
      predictor of mortality at 12 months, after adjusting for clinical characteristics
      including demographics and biologic data. In conclusion, the cholesterol paradox
      in patients with AMI is related to confounding by baseline characteristics
      associated with survival. More intensive treatment including lipid-lowering
      therapy for AMI in patients with lower LDL cholesterol level may result in better
      clinical outcomes.

PMID- 20920640
TI  - Correlates and consequences of gastrointestinal bleeding complicating
      percutaneous coronary intervention.
AB  - Gastrointestinal bleeding (GIB) complicating percutaneous coronary intervention
      (PCI) results in high mortality, but clinical factors associated with and long
      term outcomes of GIB are poorly understood. We sought to examine clinical and
      procedural factors associated with GIB complicating PCI. We also examined the
      impact of GIB on 30-day mortality and 1-year major adverse cardiac events
      (MACEs). Patients undergoing PCI from January 2000 to January 2010 were
      retrospectively analyzed for the occurrence of in-hospital GIB. Multivariable
      logistic regression and Cox proportional hazards regression were used to identify
      predictors of in-hospital GIB and 30-day mortality. Landmark analysis of patients
      surviving to hospital discharge was performed to assess the impact of GIB on 1
      year MACEs. Of 20,621 patients who underwent PCI, 147 (0.72%) who developed in
      hospital GIB were identified. Variables associated with increased risk of GIB
      included older age, shock, acute myocardial infarction, chronic renal
      insufficiency, lower baseline hematocrit, and glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitors;
      bivalirudin decreased the risk. Unadjusted 30-day mortality rate of patients with
      GIB was 20.5% compared to 2.4% of patients without GIB. After multivariable
      adjustment, GIB and shock (and an interaction between the 2) were the most
      important correlates of 30-day mortality. In the population surviving to
      discharge, however, GIB was not associated with adjusted mortality or MACEs. In
      conclusion, GIB complicating PCI has a dramatic impact on 30-day mortality, and
      bivalirudin was associated with lower rates of GIB.

PMID- 20920641
TI  - Meta-analysis of incidence, clinical characteristics and implications of stent
      fracture.
AB  - A meta-analysis of published studies was conducted to evaluate the incidence,
      predictors, and clinical outcomes of stent fractures. Eight studies with 108
      stent fractures in 5,321 patients were analyzed using the Bayesian method. Study
      end points included in-stent restenosis (ISR) and target lesion revascularization
      (TLR). The mean incidence of stent fracture per patient was 4.0% (95% confidence
      interval 0.4% to 16.3%). All cases, except 1, were reported with sirolimus
      eluting stents. The incidence of stent fracture was 30.4% in the left anterior
      descending coronary artery, 10.9% in the left circumflex coronary artery, 56.4%
      in the right coronary artery, < 0.01% in the left main coronary artery, and 1.7%
      in saphenous vein grafts. The probability of stent fracture was significantly
      higher in the right coronary artery than in the left anterior descending and left
      circumflex lesions (p < 0.01). Left main stents were less likely to fracture
      compared to those in all other vessels (p < 0.01). The probability of stent
      fracture was significantly increased in overlapping stents (7.5% vs 2.1%, p =
      0.01) and long stents (46 vs 32.5 mm, p < 0.01). Lesions with stent fractures had
      higher rates of ISR (38% vs 8.2%, p < 0.01) and TLR (17% vs 5.6%, p < 0.01).
      Conversely, the probability of stent fractures was higher in patients with ISR
      (12.8% vs 2.1%, p < 0.01) and TLR (8.8% vs 2.7%, p < 0.01). In conclusion,
      although not always associated with clinical sequelae, the probability of ISR and
      TLR is increased with stent fracture. Conversely, the probability of stent
      fractures is increased in lesions with ISR or TLR, thus raising the need for
      surveillance and management guidelines for at-risk patients.

PMID- 20920642
TI  - Acute myocardial infarction due to left circumflex artery occlusion and
      significance of ST-segment elevation.
AB  - Acute occlusion of the left circumflex (LC) artery can be difficult to diagnose.
      The aim of the present study was to assess the incidence of LC occlusion in
      patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) requiring percutaneous coronary
      intervention (PCI), the frequency of ST-segment versus non-ST-segment elevation
      presentation among them, and to correlate the electrocardiographic findings with
      the outcomes. The clinical characteristics and outcomes of consecutive patients
      from November 2001 through December 2007 with AMI within 7 days before PCI of a
      single acutely occluded culprit vessel were included in the present analysis. Of
      the 1,500 patients, the culprit lesion was located in the right coronary artery,
      left anterior descending artery, or LC artery in 44.7%, 35.8%, and 19.5% of
      patients, respectively. Of the 1,500 patients, 72% presented with ST-segment
      elevation AMI, but only 43% were patients with a LC lesion (n = 127). PCI was
      significantly less likely (80%, 83%, and 70% for right coronary, left anterior
      descending, and LC artery, respectively; p < 0.001) to be performed within 24
      hours for LC occlusions than for occlusions in the other territories. Among those
      with a non-ST-segment elevation AMI, the highest post-PCI troponin levels were in
      patients with a LC artery occlusion (median 1.4, 1.3, and 2.5 ng/ml; p < 0.001).
      No significant difference was found in the in-hospital mortality (4.4%, 7.4%, and
      6.5%; p = 0.66) or major adverse cardiovascular event (9.2%, 13.9%, and 11.6%; p
      = 0.53) rates for right, left anterior descending, and LC occlusions,
      respectively. In conclusion, our results have demonstrated that in clinical
      practice, the LC artery is the least frequent culprit vessel among patients
      treated invasively for AMI. Patients with LC occlusion are less likely to present
      with ST-segment elevation AMI and have emergency PCI. The study results suggest
      that detection of these patients has been suboptimal, highlighting the need to
      improve the diagnostic approach toward the detection of an acutely occluded LC
      artery.

PMID- 20920643
TI  - Long-term outcomes after percutaneous coronary intervention of left main coronary
      artery for treatment of cardiac allograft vasculopathy after orthotopic heart
      transplantation.
AB  - The present study evaluated the safety and efficacy of percutaneous coronary
      intervention (PCI) of the unprotected left main coronary artery (ULMCA) for the
      treatment of cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV) in consecutive unselected
      patients with orthotopic heart transplantation (OHT). PCI in patients with OHT
      and develop CAV has been associated with greater restenosis rates compared to PCI
      in patients with native coronary artery disease. A paucity of short- and long
      term data is available from patients with OHT who have undergone PCI for ULMCA
      disease. The present retrospective, multicenter, international registry included
      21 patients with OHT and CAV who underwent ULMCA PCI from 1997 to 2009.
      Angiographic success was achieved in all patients. Drug-eluting stents were used
      in 14 of the 21 patients. No major adverse cardiac events or repeat OHT occurred
      within the first 30 days. At a mean follow-up of 4.9 +/- 3.2 years, 3 patients
      (14%) had died, myocardial infarction had occurred in 1 patient (5%), and target
      lesion revascularization had been required in 4 patients (19%). Follow-up
      angiography was performed in 16 patients (76%), and restenosis was observed in 4
      (19%). No stent thrombosis of the ULMCA was observed. One patient (5%) underwent
      coronary artery bypass grafting, and 5 patients (24%) underwent repeat OHT. In
      conclusion, the results of our study have shown ULMCA PCI to be safe and
      reasonably effective in patients with OHT and represents a viable treatment
      strategy for CAV in these patients.

PMID- 20920644
TI  - Aspirin adherence, aspirin dosage, and C-reactive protein in the first 3 months
      after acute coronary syndrome.
AB  - Persistent elevation of inflammatory markers such as C-reactive protein (CRP) has
      been associated with an increased risk of recurrent cardiac events after acute
      coronary syndromes (ACS). Conflicting evidence is available regarding whether
      aspirin can reduce CRP after ACS. We investigated whether the dosage and
      adherence to aspirin was associated with the CRP level 3 months after ACS.
      Adherence to aspirin was monitored for 3 months in a cohort of 105 patients
      enrolled within 1 week of an ACS using an electronic chip stored in the pill
      bottle cap. The CRP level was measured at baseline and 3 months. Logistic
      regression analysis was used to test whether poor adherence to aspirin and a
      lower aspirin dosage were associated with increased CRP levels, controlling for
      age, ACS type, disease co-morbidity, baseline CRP level, use of clopidogrel and
      statins, depressive symptoms, smoking, and adherence to other medications.
      Aspirin adherence was inversely correlated with the CRP level at 3 months
      (Spearman's r = -0.36, p < 0.001). In the adjusted model, every 10% decrease in
      aspirin adherence was associated with a 1.7 increased risk (95% confidence
      interval 1.2 to 2.4) of a CRP level of >= 3.0 mg/L at 3 months. Low-dose aspirin
      was associated with a 7.1 increased risk (95% confidence interval 1.5 to 33.3) of
      a CRP level of >= 3.0 mg/L. The Charlson co-morbidity index, depressive symptoms,
      and baseline CRP level were also predictive of a CRP level of >= 3.0 mg/L at 3
      months. The association between aspirin adherence and CRP level was not
      attenuated by controlling for other risk-reducing behaviors. In conclusion, a
      strong association was found between aspirin adherence and the CRP level after an
      ACS.

PMID- 20920645
TI  - Trends in incidence and mortality rates of ventricular septal rupture during
      acute myocardial infarction.
AB  - Since the introduction of reperfusion in the treatment of acute myocardial
      infarction (AMI), rates of ventricular septal rupture (VSR) and associated
      mortality have decreased, but it is not known if incidence and mortality have
      continued to decrease. We describe trends in incidence and mortality rates of
      patients with postinfarction VSR during the previous 2 decades and identify risk
      factors that predict the development and mortality of this rare but catastrophic
      complication. We analyzed occurrence and mortality rates in patients with first
      AMI with (n = 408) and without VSR (n = 148,473) who were hospitalized from 1990
      to 2007 using the New Jersey Myocardial Infarction Data Acquisition System
      (MIDAS) database. The annual rate of VSR in AMI was 0.25% to 0.31%. Compared to
      patients with AMI without VSR, patients with VSR were older, more likely to be
      women, had increased rate of chronic renal disease, congestive heart failure, and
      cardiogenic shock, and were less likely to be hypertensive or diabetic (all p
      values < 0.0001). During the 18-year study period, we found no change in hospital
      and 1-year mortalities, which were 41% and 60% in 1990 to 1992 and 44% and 56% in
      2005 to 2007, respectively. The survival benefit associated with VSR surgical
      repair was seen only in hospital (hazard ratio 0.66, 95% confidence interval 0.45
      to 0.95) but not at 30 days or 1 year. In conclusion, despite improvement in
      medical treatment and revascularization techniques, the rate of VSR complicating
      AMI has not changed during the previous 2 decades, and the mortality associated
      with VSR has remained high and relatively constant.

PMID- 20920646
TI  - Relation of alcohol consumption to angiographically proved coronary artery
      disease in chinese men.
AB  - Light-to-moderate alcohol consumption is believed to be protective against
      coronary artery disease (CAD) in many studies. However, the cardioprotective
      effects of alcohol intake lack epidemiologic evidence in a Chinese population.
      The present case-control study was designed to explore the relation between
      alcohol consumption and angiographically proved CAD in Chinese men. The study
      population consisted of 1,476 consecutive men 36 to 84 years of age who underwent
      coronary arteriography. Participants were categorized as nondrinkers, light
      drinkers, moderate drinkers, and heavy drinkers. Adjusted odds ratios for light,
      moderate, and heavy drinking were 1.16 (95% confidence interval 0.68 to 1.94),
      1.78 (1.35 to 2.27), and 2.18 (1.46 to 3.25). Adjusted odds ratios were 1.36
      (1.08 to 1.83) for drinking alcohol 2 to 3 days/week, 1.58 (1.17 to 2.26) for 4
      to 5 days/week, and 2.03 (1.36 to 3.27) for 6 to 7 days/week. Compared to
      nondrinking, adjusted odds ratios were 1.03 (0.54 to 1.87) for drinking 0 to 15
      years, 1.61 (1.28 to 2.14) for 16 to 30 years, and 1.98 (1.23 to 3.05) for > 30
      years. In conclusion, moderate-to-heavy alcohol consumption increased the risk of
      CAD in Chinese men. CAD risk tended to increase with an increase in frequency and
      duration of drinking.

PMID- 20920647
TI  - Depressive symptoms and all-cause mortality in unstable angina pectoris (from the
      Coronary Psychosocial Evaluation Studies [COPES]).
AB  - Although depression is clearly associated with increased mortality after acute
      myocardial infarction, there is a paucity of data examining the impact of
      depression on patients with unstable angina (UA). We analyzed the relation
      between depressive symptoms and all-cause mortality in patients with UA who were
      enrolled in a prospective multicenter study of depression and acute coronary
      syndrome (ACS). Depressive symptoms were measured with the Beck Depression
      Inventory (BDI) within 1 week of the ACS event, and patients were selected for a
      BDI score 0 to 4 or >= 10. Our sample included 209 patients with UA, with 104
      (50%) having a BDI score >= 10. Proportional hazards analyses adjusted for
      variables including left ventricular ejection fraction, Global Registry of Acute
      Coronary Events risk score, and Charlson co-morbidity index. In multivariable
      analyses, a BDI score >= 10 was associated with increased risk of 42-month all
      cause mortality (hazard ratio 2.04, 95% confidence interval 1.20 to 3.46, p =
      0.008) compared to a BDI score 0 to 4. In conclusion, our results confirm and
      extend previous evidence linking depression to worse outcomes in UA and suggest
      that interventions that address depression may be worth examining across the
      spectrum of risk in ACS.

PMID- 20920648
TI  - Variation in hospital mortality rates for patients with acute myocardial
      infarction.
AB  - Hospitals vary by twofold in their hospital-specific 30-day risk-stratified
      mortality rates (RSMRs) for Medicare beneficiaries with acute myocardial
      infarction (AMI). However, we lack a comprehensive investigation of hospital
      characteristics associated with 30-day RSMRs and the degree to which the
      variation in 30-day RSMRs is accounted for by these characteristics, including
      the socioeconomic status (SES) profile of hospital patient populations. We
      conducted a cross-sectional national study of hospitals with >=15 AMI discharges
      from July 1, 2005 to June 20, 2008. We estimated a multivariable weighted
      regression using Medicare claims data for hospital-specific 30-day RSMRs,
      American Hospital Association Survey of Hospitals for hospital characteristics,
      and the United States Census data reported by Neilsen Claritas, Inc., for zip
      code level estimates of SES status. Analysis included 2,908 hospitals with
      513,202 AMI discharges. Mean hospital 30-day RSMR was 16.5% (SD 1.7 percentage
      points). Our multivariable model explained 17.1% of the variation in hospital
      specific 30-day RSMRs. Teaching status, number of hospital beds, AMI volume,
      cardiac facilities available, urban/rural location, geographic region, ownership
      type, and SES profile of patients were significantly (p < 0.05) associated with
      30-day RSMRs. In conclusion, substantial variation in hospital outcomes for
      patients with AMI remains unexplained by measurements of hospital characteristics
      including SES patient profile.

PMID- 20920649
TI  - Usefulness of intravascular low-power laser illumination in preventing restenosis
      after percutaneous coronary intervention.
AB  - Despite the several years of studies, no factor that could reduce the restenosis
      rate without significant limitations has been introduced. The aim of the present
      study was to evaluate the influence of low-power 808-nm laser illumination of
      coronary vessels after percutaneous angioplasty in preventing restenosis. The
      procedure of laser intravascular illumination was performed on 52 patients (laser
      group), and another 49 patients formed the control group. All patients were
      monitored for major adverse cardiac events (MACE) at the 6- and 12-month follow
      up points. The MACE rate after 6 and 12 months was 7.7% in the laser group at
      both points. The MACE rate was 14.3% and 18.5% at 6 and 12 months of follow-up in
      the control group, respectively (p = NS). Follow-up coronary angiography was
      performed after 6 months. The difference in the restenosis rate was insignificant
      (15.0% vs 32.4%); however, significant differences were observed in the minimal
      lumen diameter (2.18 +/- 0.70 vs 1.76 +/- 0.74 mm; p < 0.05), late lumen loss
      (0.53 +/- 0.68 vs 0.76 +/- 0.76 mm; p < 0.01), and the late lumen loss index
      (0.28 +/- 0.39 vs 0.46 +/- 0.43; p < 0.005) in favor of the laser group. In
      conclusion, the new therapy seemed effective and safe. Marked differences between
      late loss, late loss index, and minimal lumen diameter were observed. The late
      lumen loss in the laser group was only slightly greater than that in studies of
      drug-eluting stents, and MACE rate remained within very comparable ranges. This
      suggests that intravascular laser illumination could bring advantages comparable
      to those of drug-eluting stents without the risk of late thrombosis.

PMID- 20920650
TI  - Relation of plasma fatty acid binding proteins 4 and 5 with the metabolic
      syndrome, inflammation and coronary calcium in patients with type-2 diabetes
      mellitus.
AB  - Fatty acid-binding proteins (FABPs) 4 and 5 play coordinated roles in rodent
      models of inflammation, insulin resistance, and atherosclerosis, but little is
      known of their role in human disease. The aim of this study was to examine the
      hypothesis that plasma adipocyte and macrophage FABP4 and FABP5 levels would
      provide additive value in the association with metabolic and inflammatory risk
      factors for cardiovascular disease as well as subclinical atherosclerosis. Using
      the Penn Diabetes Heart Study (PDHS; n = 806), cross-sectional analysis of FABP4
      and FABP5 levels with metabolic and inflammatory parameters and with coronary
      artery calcium, a measure of subclinical coronary atherosclerosis, was performed.
      FABP4 and FABP5 levels had strong independent associations with the metabolic
      syndrome (for a 1-SD change in FABP levels, odds ratio [OR] 1.85, 95% confidence
      interval [CI] 1.43 to 2.23, and OR 1.66, 95% CI 1.41 to 1.95, respectively) but
      had differential associations with metabolic syndrome components. FABP4 and FABP5
      were also independently associated with C-reactive protein and interleukin-6
      levels. FABP4 (OR 1.26, 95% CI 1.05 to 1.52) but not FABP5 (OR 1.13, 95% CI 0.97
      to 1.32) was associated with the presence of coronary artery calcium. An
      integrated score combining FABP4 and FABP5 quartile data had even stronger
      associations with the metabolic syndrome, C-reactive protein, interleukin-6, and
      coronary artery calcium compared to either FABP alone. In conclusion, this study
      provides evidence for an additive relation of FABP4 and FABP5 with the metabolic
      syndrome, inflammatory cardiovascular disease risk factors, and coronary
      atherosclerosis in type 2 diabetes mellitus. These findings suggest that FABP4
      and FABP5 may represent mediators of and biomarkers for metabolic and
      cardiovascular disease in type 2 diabetes mellitus.

PMID- 20920651
TI  - Prevalence and spectrum of large deletions or duplications in the major long QT
      syndrome-susceptibility genes and implications for long QT syndrome genetic
      testing.
AB  - Long QT syndrome (LQTS) is a cardiac channelopathy associated with syncope,
      seizures, and sudden death. Approximately 75% of LQTS is due to mutations in
      genes encoding for 3 cardiac ion channel alpha-subunits (LQT1 to LQT3). However,
      traditional mutational analyses have limited detection capabilities for atypical
      mutations such as large gene rearrangements. We set out to determine the
      prevalence and spectrum of large deletions/duplications in the major LQTS
      susceptibility genes in unrelated patients who were mutation negative after point
      mutation analysis of LQT1- to LQT12-susceptibility genes. Forty-two unrelated,
      clinically strong LQTS patients were analyzed using multiplex ligation-dependent
      probe amplification, a quantitative fluorescent technique for detecting multiple
      exon deletions and duplications. The SALSA multiplex ligation-dependent probe
      amplification LQTS kit from MRC-Holland was used to analyze the 3 major LQTS
      associated genes, KCNQ1, KCNH2, and SCN5A, and the 2 minor genes, KCNE1 and
      KCNE2. Overall, 2 gene rearrangements were found in 2 of 42 unrelated patients
      (4.8%, confidence interval 1.7 to 11). A deletion of KCNQ1 exon 3 was identified
      in a 10-year-old Caucasian boy with a corrected QT duration of 660 ms, a personal
      history of exercise-induced syncope, and a family history of syncope. A deletion
      of KCNQ1 exon 7 was identified in a 17-year-old Caucasian girl with a corrected
      QT duration of 480 ms, a personal history of exercise-induced syncope, and a
      family history of sudden cardiac death. In conclusion, because nearly 5% of
      patients with genetically elusive LQTS had large genomic rearrangements involving
      the canonical LQTS-susceptibility genes, reflex genetic testing to investigate
      genomic rearrangements may be of clinical value.

PMID- 20920652
TI  - Annual incidence of atrial fibrillation and related factors in adults.
AB  - The aim of this study was to investigate the annual incidence of atrial
      fibrillation (AF) and related factors from health surveys in 2006 and 2007.
      Participants (aged >= 40 years) were examined from annual health surveys provided
      by the Kurashiki Public Health Center twice, in 2006 and 2007. Participants were
      classified into 2 groups: a control group without AF in 2006 and 2007, and an AF
      group with documented AF in 2007 but not in 2006. Annual AF incidence (per 1,000
      patient-years) was calculated, and baseline characteristics were compared between
      groups. Independent factors for new documented AF were analyzed using
      multivariate logistic regression modeling. Health surveys were performed for
      30,449 participants in 2006 and 2007. Excluding 439 participants with AF in 2006,
      newly documented AF was observed in 278 participants (0.9%), while the control
      group comprised 29,732 participants. The overall incidence of newly documented AF
      was 9.3/1,000 patient-years. Newly documented AF was significantly associated
      with age >= 80 years (odds ratio [OR] 1.57, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.20 to
      2.06, p = 0.001), history of cardiac disease (OR 7.47, 95% CI 5.79 to 9.63, p <
      0.001), increasing estimated glomerular filtration rate of 10 ml/min/1.73 m(2)
      (OR 0.93, 95% CI 0.87 to 0.99, p = 0.025), and hypercholesterolemia (OR 0.75, 95%
      CI 0.58 to 0.96, p = 0.023).

PMID- 20920654
TI  - Impact of worsening renal function during hospital admission on resource
      utilization in patients with heart failure.
AB  - Renal impairment frequently accompanies heart failure (HF) and is a recognized
      independent risk factor for morbidity and mortality. Few data are available
      assessing the impact of worsening renal function (WRF) during hospitalization on
      health care resource use in patients with HF. Health Insurance Portability and
      Accountability Act-compliant, de-identified, clinical, laboratory, and economic
      data for patients admitted to a tertiary care medical center with a primary
      diagnosis of HF were extracted by MedMining and reviewed retrospectively by the
      authors. Patients were excluded if they had no previous HF or were admitted for
      acute coronary syndrome or coronary artery bypass grafting within 30 days of
      index hospitalization. WRF was defined as >= 0.3 mg/dl increase in serum
      creatinine from baseline at any time during hospitalization. Of 5,803
      hospitalized patients with primary HF diagnosis, 827 patients (14%) fulfilled all
      prespecified inclusion and exclusion criteria (74 +/- 14 years of age, 43% men,
      98% white, admission serum creatinine 1.4 +/- 0.9 mg/dl, estimated glomerular
      filtration rate < 90 ml/min/1.73 m(2) at admission in 83%). During index
      hospitalization, WRF was identified in nearly 33%. Compared to patients without
      WRF, those with WRF had greater prevalence of diabetes (54% vs 43%), lower
      estimated glomerular filtration rate (44 +/- 30 vs 62 +/- 35 ml/min/1.73 m(2)),
      higher serum potassium (4.3 +/- 0.7 vs 4.2 +/- 0.7 mEq/L), and higher B-type
      natriuretic peptide (845 +/- 821 vs 795 +/- 947 pg/ml) at baseline (all p values
      < 0.05). Patients developing WRF incurred higher total inpatient costs ($10,977,
      range 671 to 212,819, vs $7,820, range 697 to 269,797, p < 0.001) and longer
      hospital stay (8.2 +/- 6.8 vs 5.7 +/- 5.5 days, p < 0.001). In conclusion,
      occurrence of WRF during HF-related hospitalization is associated with higher
      hospitalization costs and longer hospital stay.

PMID- 20920653
TI  - Effect of serum insulin on the association between hyperuricemia and incident
      heart failure.
AB  - Increased serum uric acid (UA) is associated with incident heart failure (HF).
      However, whether it is a direct effect of UA or an effect of increased xanthine
      oxidase (XO) is unknown. Because hyperuricemia in hyperinsulinemia is primarily
      due to impaired renal UA excretion, its association with incident HF would
      suggest a direct UA effect. In contrast, hyperuricemia in normoinsulinemia is
      likely due to increased UA production and thus its association with incident HF
      would suggest an XO effect. To clarify this, we examined the association of
      hyperuricemia with centrally adjudicated incident HF in Cardiovascular Health
      Study participants with and without hyperinsulinemia. Of the 5,411 participants
      >= 65 years of age without baseline HF, 1,491 (28%) had hyperuricemia (serum UA
      >= 6 mg/dl for women and >= 7 mg/dl for men). Propensity scores for hyperuricemia
      were estimated using 63 baseline characteristics. Mean serum UA levels were 6.0
      and 5.3 mg/dl in those with (n = 2,731) and those without (n = 2,680)
      hyperinsulinemia (median serum insulin >= 13 mU/L), respectively (p < 0.001).
      Propensity-adjusted hazard ratios (95% confidence intervals) for hyperuricemia
      associated incident HF during 8 years of median follow-up were 0.99 (0.83 to
      1.18, p = 0.886) and 1.32 (1.04 to 1.67, p = 0.021) for those with and without
      hyperinsulinemia respectively (p for interaction = 0.014). In conclusion, the
      absence of an association of hyperuricemia with incident HF in those with
      hyperinsulinemia (despite a significantly higher mean serum UA) and a significant
      association in normoinsulinemia suggest that UA has no intrinsic association with
      incident HF and that it may predict incident HF when it is a marker of increased
      of XO activity.

PMID- 20920655
TI  - Effect of cardiac resynchronization therapy in patients with New York Heart
      Association functional class IV heart failure.
AB  - Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) is considered a class I indication in
      treatment of patients with New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class III
      and IV heart failure. However, only small numbers of patients in large clinical
      trials have been in NYHA functional class IV. Therefore, little is known about
      the effects of CRT in this group. Therefore, we evaluated the effects of CRT in
      patients with NYHA functional class IV heart failure. Of all patients referred
      for CRT implantation, 61 patients with symptoms according to NYHA functional
      class IV were included. All patients were evaluated before implantation and at 6
      month follow-up for clinical changes according to the clinical composite score
      and changes in left ventricular (LV) volumes and function. In addition, survival
      was evaluated during long-term follow-up. At 6-month follow-up, 9 patients (15%)
      had died and 2 patients (3%) were admitted for worsening heart failure. The
      remaining 39 patients (64%) showed improvement according to the clinical
      composite score. Decreases in LV end-systolic volume (from 167 +/- 88 to 147 +/-
      93 ml, p = 0.009) and LV end-diastolic volume (from 211 +/- 100 to 199 +/- 113
      ml, p = 0.135) were observed, as was a significant increase in LV ejection
      fraction (from 22 +/- 8% to 28 +/- 9%, p <0.001). During a mean follow-up of 30
      +/- 26 months, 36 patients (59%) died, 27 (75%) from worsening heart failure.
      Respective 1- and 2-year mortality rates were 25% and 38%. In conclusion, CRT
      decreases LV volumes and improves cardiac function in patients with NYHA
      functional class IV heart failure. Nevertheless, (heart failure) mortality
      remains high in these patients.

PMID- 20920656
TI  - Usefulness of left atrial volume versus diameter to assess thromboembolic risk in
      mitral stenosis.
AB  - In patients with mitral stenosis (MS) in sinus rhythm (SR), guidelines recommend
      anticoagulation if the left atrium is enlarged based on diameter measurements. We
      sought to compare the association of left atrial (LA) diameter and LA volume with
      markers of thromboembolic risk (peak LA appendage emptying velocity [LAAv] and LA
      spontaneous contrast density) measured during transesophageal echocardiography in
      152 patients with moderate to severe MS. High thromboembolic risk was defined by
      a peak LAAv < 25 cm/s and/or dense spontaneous contrast. Mean LA diameter (50 +/-
      7 mm, 32 to 77) and LA volume (152 +/- 70 ml, 67 to 720) were significantly
      correlated (r = 0.71, p < 0.0001), but the relation was curvilinear and the 95%
      confidence interval increased with LA diameter. In the subset of 80 patients in
      SR who underwent clinically indicated transesophageal echocardiography, body
      surface area (BSA)-indexed LA volume but not LA diameter differentiated patients
      with normal from those with low LAAv (86 +/- 17 vs 71 +/- 17 ml/m(2), p < 0.01,
      and 50 +/- 6 vs 48 +/- 6 mm, p = 0.13, respectively) and patients with dense
      spontaneous contrast from those with no or mild spontaneous contrast (81 +/- 16
      vs 63 +/- 15 ml/m(2), p < 0.01, and 49 +/- 6 vs 46 +/- 5 mm, p = 0.11,
      respectively). BSA-indexed LA volume provided the highest area under the curve
      (0.85) for high thromboembolic risk and LA diameter the lowest (0.65). A BSA
      indexed LA volume > 60 ml/m(2) provided an excellent 90% sensitivity despite 44%
      specificity, 76% positive predictive value, and 70% negative predictive value.
      Use of this threshold instead of 50 or 55 mm would have changed the indication
      for anticoagulation in 51% to 77% of patients. In conclusion, LA volume was more
      strongly associated with markers of thromboembolic risk than LA diameter, which
      poorly reflected LA size. Our results support the use of BSA-indexed LA volume to
      guide the decision for anticoagulation in patients with MS in SR, which may lead
      to significant change in the management of those patients. We suggest a threshold
      of 60 ml/m(2), which has good sensitivity, albeit with low specificity.

PMID- 20920657
TI  - Impact of aortic valve stenosis on left atrial phasic function.
AB  - The aim of this study was to determine the impact of aortic stenosis (AS) on the
      different components of left atrial (LA) function. The study consisted of a total
      of 52 consecutive patients with severe AS (aortic valve area < 1 cm(2)) and 20
      normal subjects matched for gender, heart rate, body surface area, and baseline
      systolic blood pressure. Phasic LA longitudinal function was assessed using
      tissue Doppler imaging. LA peak systolic (reservoir function), early diastolic
      (conduit function), and late diastolic (active function) strain rates were
      measured. During late diastole, LA peak strain (active function) was also
      measured. Mitral annular systolic, early diastolic (Ea), and late diastolic (Aa)
      velocities were also measured. Compared with controls, all strain values were
      significantly reduced in patients with AS. By multivariate regression analysis,
      mitral E-wave deceleration time (p = 0.033) and E/Ea ratio (p = 0.02, R(2) =
      0.43) emerged as independently associated with LA peak systolic strain rate. Ea
      was the sole determinant of LA early diastolic strain rate (p < 0.0001, R(2) =
      0.42), whereas LA late diastolic strain rate was independently related to aortic
      valve area (p = 0.031) and Aa (p = 0.022, R(2) = 0.51). In conclusion, in
      patients with severe AS, the 3 components of LA function are reduced. LA
      reservoir dysfunction is related to left ventricular filling pressures, whereas
      LA conduit dysfunction depends on left ventricular relaxation. Active LA
      dysfunction is related to the severity of AS and late left ventricular diastolic
      function.

PMID- 20920658
TI  - Sexuality in adult patients with congenital heart disease and their partners.
AB  - Data on relational and sexuality issues in adult patients with congenital heart
      disease (CHD) are scarce. The present study aimed to evaluate relational and
      sexual behaviors, satisfaction, and functioning in a representative sample of
      patients with CHD and their partners. In addition, we aimed to evaluate the
      relation between sexuality parameters and quality of life. Relational and
      sexuality issues were assessed using a sexuality questionnaire in 133 patients
      (52% men, 37 +/- 13 years old) with CHD (43 with coarctation of the aorta, 42
      with transposition of great arteries, 36 with Marfan syndrome, and 12 with
      Eisenmenger syndrome), and 74 partners. Quality of life was assessed using the
      Dutch translation of the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form 36-Item Health Survey.
      Data were compared to an age- and gender-matched control group (n = 3,642).
      Seventy-one percent of patients with CHD were involved in a relationship, which
      was significantly less compared to controls (79%, p < 0.05). Nonetheless,
      patients perceived their relationship as more satisfactory compared to controls
      (p < 0.05). Overall, sexual satisfaction was equal in patients compared to
      controls, although they perceived lower body esteem (p < 0.001), decreased sexual
      esteem (p < 0.05), and more distress during sex (p < 0.001). Patients reported no
      more erectile and lubrication problems compared to partners and to controls. We
      found significant associations between most relational and sexual parameters and
      quality of life. In conclusion, many aspects of sexuality are affected in adult
      patients with CHD, whereas their partners remain relatively unaffected. Moreover,
      sexuality is an important aspect of quality of life in these patients. We advise
      physicians to be receptive to discuss sexuality issues and provide patients with
      adequate therapy.

PMID- 20920659
TI  - Relation of cardiac ventricular repolarization and global cognitive performance
      in a community population.
AB  - Atherosclerosis is a risk factor for dementia. However, little is known about the
      association between cognitive performance and a widely used indicator of coronary
      heart disease, at rest electrocardiography. We identified 839 older residents
      (mean age 81 years, 58% black) from a geographically defined biracial community
      in Chicago, Illinois, who had undergone extensive cognitive performance testing
      and met the electrocardiographic eligibility criteria, including a QRS duration
      of < 120 ms. We then examined multivariate regression coefficients that described
      the associations between global cognitive performance and 4 novel descriptors of
      ventricular repolarization waveforms. All analyses were adjusted for age, gender,
      education, and race. The T wave nondipolar voltage had a significant association
      with global cognitive performance (p = 0.01), and this association largely
      remained after adjustment for cardiovascular disease risk factors (p = 0.03). In
      contrast, global cognitive performance was not significantly associated with the
      rate-adjusted QT interval, the voltage change from the beginning to end of the ST
      segment in lead V(5), or the spatial angle between the mean QRS and T wave
      vectors. In conclusion, the strengths of the associations varied between the
      novel electrocardiographic descriptors of ventricular repolarization and global
      cognitive performance. Nevertheless, the significant association observed with T
      wave nondipolar voltage suggests that the cardiac effects of heart disease are
      associated with cognitive declines.

PMID- 20920660
TI  - Differentiation between spontaneous echocardiographic contrast and left atrial
      appendage thrombus in patients with suspected embolic stroke using two-phase
      multidetector computed tomography.
AB  - The detection of a thrombus at the left atrial appendage (LAA) is an important
      step for management in a patient with a suspected embolic infarction. However,
      spontaneous echocardiographic contrast (SEC), which can mimic thrombus, can
      confuse clinicians in many cases. We examined electrocardiographic-gated 64-slice
      multidetector computed tomography with a 2-phase scan and transesophageal
      echocardiography in 314 patients with suspected embolic stroke. The
      transesophageal echocardiographic findings were classified using a 5-grade scale
      and the multidetector computed tomographic findings were categorized as no
      filling defect, an early filling defect (a filling defect seen on early-phase
      images without considering the late-phase images), and a persistent filling
      defect (a filling defect seen on added late-phase images, as well as on early
      phase images). For quantitative analysis, the ratio of Hounsfield units in the
      LAA to the ascending aorta (AA) was calculated for each early-phase and late
      phase image (LAA/AA(L)). Using transesophageal echocardiography as the reference
      standard, for no filling defect seen on early-phase images, the presence of a
      thrombus, including severe SEC, could be ruled out with 100% sensitivity and a
      100% negative predictive value. When considering the addition of late-phase
      images, all persistent filling defects had resulted from the presence of a
      thrombus and severe SEC. However, using the optimal cutoff value of 0.5 for the
      LAA/AA(L) ratio, thrombi could be distinguished from severe SEC where all thrombi
      had a LAA/AA(L) ratio < 0.5. In conclusion, our findings suggest that 2-phase
      multidector computed tomography is useful for the detection and differentiation
      of a thrombus from SEC at the LAA in patients with suspected embolic stroke.

PMID- 20920661
TI  - Effect of increasing body mass index on image quality and positive predictive
      value of 100-kV coronary computed tomographic angiography.
AB  - Lowering the voltage to 100 kV is an effective method of reducing the radiation
      of coronary computed tomographic angiography (CTA). It is unknown, however,
      whether one could use a 100-kV CTA protocol with overweight or obese patients.
      We, thus, evaluated the effect of increasing body mass index (BMI) on various
      image quality parameters of 100-kV CTA. We also compared the radiation dose and
      diagnostic accuracy of 100-kV CTA with CTA performed at 120 kV. Three different
      protocols were studied: 120 kV, retrospective; 100 kV, retrospective; and 100 kV,
      prospective. The image quality and radiation doses were analyzed for each
      protocol. The effect of increasing BMI was also examined. A worsening of the
      noise, contrast-to-noise, and signal-to-noise ratios occurred with increasing BMI
      and decreasing voltages. The radiation exposure was significantly lowered with
      the 100-kV protocol and with prospective gating. Despite this image degradation,
      however, diagnostic images were obtained with 100-kV CTA, even in overweight and
      many obese subjects. Of the 66 subjects referred for invasive angiography because
      of the findings from CTA, 55 were correctly characterized (overall positive
      predictive value [PPV] of 83.3%). This PPV remained reasonable, irrespective of
      the voltage, until a BMI of 35 kg/m(2) was reached (PPV for 100-kV protocol 90.0%
      [27 of 30]; PPV for a BMI of >= 25 kg/m(2) but < 30 kg/m(2) 84.4% [27 of 32]; and
      PPV for a BMI of >= 30 kg/m(2) but < 35 kg/m(2) 81.8% [18 of 22]). In conclusion,
      100-kV coronary CTA is feasible in overweight and many obese subjects.

PMID- 20920662
TI  - Usefulness of a Z-score of E' versus raw E' velocities to detect left ventricular
      dysfunction in patients with mitral or aortic regurgitation or dilated
      cardiomyopathy.
AB  - Despite their potential as a sensitive measure of ventricular performance, tissue
      Doppler velocities vary with normal aging. This is inconvenient for
      nonspecialists to interpret and makes it difficult to use as an entry criterion
      for clinical studies. The age-adjusted tissue Doppler Z-scores might avoid these
      disadvantages and be more discriminant for myocardial impairment than the raw
      velocities. We conducted a meta-regression of studies reporting age-specific
      normal tissue Doppler velocities to determine a consensus formula for Z-scores (8
      studies, 1,867 patients) that we then tested in an independent study at our
      institution. We next compared the Z-scores head-to-head with the raw velocities
      for their ability to distinguish a fresh set of 81 healthy subjects from groups
      in whom subtle ventricular dysfunction might be expected, including 50 patients
      with dilated cardiomyopathy, 50 with aortic regurgitation, and 50 with mitral
      regurgitation. The discriminant capacity, assessed by the area under the receiver
      operating characteristic curves, was higher for the Z-scores than for the raw
      velocities in each patient group. At the septal angle of the mitral annulus:
      dilated cardiomyopathy 0.95 versus 0.92 (p = 0.03), aortic regurgitation 0.83
      versus 0.78 (p = 0.02), mitral regurgitation 0.85 versus 0.81 (p = 0.04). At the
      lateral angle: dilated cardiomyopathy 0.94 versus 0.88 (p = 0.005), aortic
      regurgitation 0.92 versus 0.83 (p = 0.001), mitral regurgitation 0.87 versus 0.85
      (p = 0.31). In conclusion, the Z-scores of the tissue Doppler velocities were
      better than the raw velocities at detecting myocardial impairment in valvular or
      heart muscle disease. The calculation needs only the raw velocity and patient
      age. Tissue Doppler Z-scores could be used to create a novel, more sensitive,
      definition of ventricular dysfunction and might make it easier for nonspecialists
      to interpret the reports.

PMID- 20920663
TI  - Profound left ventricular remodeling associated with LAMP2 cardiomyopathy.
AB  - Lysosome-associated membrane protein (LAMP2) cardiomyopathy is an X-linked and
      highly progressive myocardial storage disorder associated with diminished
      survival, which clinically resembles sarcomeric hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. As
      shown here in a young woman, the natural history of LAMP2 may demonstrate an
      extreme profile of left ventricular remodeling with regression of hypertrophy
      (i.e. marked wall thinning), chamber dilatation, and severe systolic dysfunction,
      all of which are associated with widespread transmural scarring.

PMID- 20920664
TI  - Understanding FDA regulation of DTC genetic tests within the context of
      administrative law.
AB  - How the FDA should regulate direct-to-consumer genetic tests is fiercely
      contested. Passing a rule or issuing an order is only one down in the series.
      There is more to the regulatory game.

PMID- 20920665
TI  - Identification of copy number variation hotspots in human populations.
AB  - Copy number variants (CNVs) in the human genome contribute to both Mendelian and
      complex traits as well as to genomic plasticity in evolution. The investigation
      of mutational rates of CNVs is critical to understanding genomic instability and
      the etiology of the copy number variation (CNV)-related traits. However, the
      evaluation of the CNV mutation rate at the genome level poses an insurmountable
      practical challenge that requires large samples and accurate typing. In this
      study, we show that an approximate estimation of the CNV mutation rate could be
      achieved by using the phylogeny information of flanking SNPs. This allows a
      genome-wide comparison of mutation rates between CNVs with the use of vast,
      readily available data of SNP genotyping. A total of 4187 CNV regions (CNVRs)
      previously identified in HapMap populations were investigated in this study. We
      showed that the mutation rates for the majority of these CNVRs are at the order
      of 10-5 per generation, consistent with experimental observations at individual
      loci. Notably, the mutation rates of 104 (2.5%) CNVRs were estimated at the order
      of 10-3 per generation; therefore, they were identified as potential hotspots.
      Additional analyses revealed that genome architecture at CNV loci has a potential
      role in inciting mutational hotspots in the human genome. Interestingly, 49 (47%)
      CNV hotspots include human genes, some of which are known to be functional CNV
      loci (e.g., CNVs of C4 and beta-defensin causing autoimmune diseases and CNVs of
      HYDIN with implication in control of cerebral cortex size), implicating the
      important role of CNV in human health and evolution, especially in common and
      complex diseases.

PMID- 20920666
TI  - Mutations in the SPTLC2 subunit of serine palmitoyltransferase cause hereditary
      sensory and autonomic neuropathy type I.
AB  - Hereditary sensory and autonomic neuropathy type I (HSAN-I) is an axonal
      peripheral neuropathy associated with progressive distal sensory loss and severe
      ulcerations. Mutations in the first subunit of the enzyme serine
      palmitoyltransferase (SPT) have been associated with HSAN-I. The SPT enzyme
      catalyzes the first and rate-limiting step in the de novo sphingolipid synthesis
      pathway. However, different studies suggest the implication of other genes in the
      pathology of HSAN-I. Therefore, we screened the two other known subunits of SPT,
      SPTLC2 and SPTLC3, in a cohort of 78 HSAN patients. No mutations were found in
      SPTLC3, but we identified three heterozygous missense mutations in the SPTLC2
      subunit of SPT in four families presenting with a typical HSAN-I phenotype. We
      demonstrate that these mutations result in a partial to complete loss of SPT
      activity in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, they cause the accumulation of the
      atypical and neurotoxic sphingoid metabolite 1-deoxy-sphinganine. Our findings
      extend the genetic heterogeneity in HSAN-I and enlarge the group of HSAN
      neuropathies associated with SPT defects. We further show that HSAN-I is
      consistently associated with an increased formation of the neurotoxic 1
      deoxysphinganine, suggesting a common pathomechanism for HSAN-I.

PMID- 20920667
TI  - Mutations disrupting selenocysteine formation cause progressive cerebello
      cerebral atrophy.
AB  - The essential micronutrient selenium is found in proteins as selenocysteine
      (Sec), the only genetically encoded amino acid whose biosynthesis occurs on its
      cognate tRNA in humans. In the final step of selenocysteine formation, the
      essential enzyme SepSecS catalyzes the conversion of Sep-tRNA to Sec-tRNA. We
      demonstrate that SepSecS mutations cause autosomal-recessive progressive
      cerebellocerebral atrophy (PCCA) in Jews of Iraqi and Moroccan ancestry. Both
      founder mutations, common in these two populations, disrupt the sole route to the
      biosynthesis of the 21st amino acid, Sec, and thus to the generation of
      selenoproteins in humans.

PMID- 20920668
TI  - Compound heterozygosity for loss-of-function lysyl-tRNA synthetase mutations in a
      patient with peripheral neuropathy.
AB  - Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease comprises a genetically and clinically
      heterogeneous group of peripheral nerve disorders characterized by impaired
      distal motor and sensory function. Mutations in three genes encoding aminoacyl
      tRNA synthetases (ARSs) have been implicated in CMT disease primarily associated
      with an axonal pathology. ARSs are ubiquitously expressed, essential enzymes
      responsible for charging tRNA molecules with their cognate amino acids. To
      further explore the role of ARSs in CMT disease, we performed a large-scale
      mutation screen of the 37 human ARS genes in a cohort of 355 patients with a
      phenotype consistent with CMT. Here we describe three variants (p.Leu133His,
      p.Tyr173SerfsX7, and p.Ile302Met) in the lysyl-tRNA synthetase (KARS) gene in two
      patients from this cohort. Functional analyses revealed that two of these
      mutations (p.Leu133His and p.Tyr173SerfsX7) severely affect enzyme activity.
      Interestingly, both functional variants were found in a single patient with CMT
      disease and additional neurological and non-neurological sequelae. Based on these
      data, KARS becomes the fourth ARS gene associated with CMT disease, indicating
      that this family of enzymes is specifically critical for axon function.

PMID- 20920669
TI  - Exome sequencing in Brown-Vialetto-van Laere syndrome.

PMID- 20920671
TI  - Changes in 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring during the 2009
      earthquake at L'Aquila.

PMID- 20920672
TI  - Morgagni-type diaphragmatic hernia presenting as an abnormal cardiac silhouette.

PMID- 20920673
TI  - No association of catastrophic events with Advair.

PMID- 20920675
TI  - Notification of abnormal and critical values: the road ahead.

PMID- 20920677
TI  - Presence of other autoimmune diseases in subjects with autoimmune thyroid
      disease.

PMID- 20920679
TI  - We can reduce US health care costs: a resident's perspective.

PMID- 20920681
TI  - Right intra-atrial and ventricular polymethylmethacrylate embolus after balloon
      kyphoplasty.

PMID- 20920682
TI  - Papillary fibroelastoma of the subvalvular apparatus of the mitral valve found on
      echocardiography after the clinical presentation of embolic CVA.

PMID- 20920683
TI  - Trivial chest injury leading to azygos vein pseudoaneurysm.

PMID- 20920684
TI  - Aortic stenosis in the 21st century.

PMID- 20920685
TI  - Drug-induced osteoporosis: mechanisms and clinical implications.
AB  - Drug-induced osteoporosis is common and has a significant impact on the prognosis
      of patients suffering from chronic debilitating diseases. Glucocorticoids are the
      drugs causing osteoporotic fractures most frequently, but osteoporosis with
      fractures is observed also in women treated with aromatase inhibitors for breast
      cancer, in men receiving anti-androgen therapy for prostate cancer, in
      postmenopausal women treated with high doses of thyroxine, and in men and women
      treated with thiazolinediones for type 2 diabetes mellitus. Bone loss with
      fractures also occurs in patients treated with drugs targeting the immune system,
      such as calcineurin inhibitors, antiretroviral drugs, selective inhibitors of
      serotonin reuptake, anticonvulsants, loop diuretics, heparin, oral
      anticoagulants, and proton pump inhibitors.

PMID- 20920686
TI  - Adult nonhepatic hyperammonemia: a case report and differential diagnosis.
AB  - This article presents a case report of nonhepatic hyperammonemia, i.e., elevated
      serum ammonia secondary to a nonhepatic etiology. It then discusses the
      importance of broadening one's differential diagnosis to include such nonhepatic
      causes of elevated ammonia levels, and provides a short review of rarer causes of
      hyperammonemia in the adult population. Treating the underlying condition is the
      best way to prevent recurrence of hyperammonemia. However, symptomatic treatment
      should not be delayed while investigating the underlying source.

PMID- 20920687
TI  - Treating mixed hyperlipidemia and the atherogenic lipid phenotype for prevention
      of cardiovascular events.
AB  - Statins reduce cardiovascular events and cardiovascular and total mortality in
      persons at risk for and with coronary disease, but there remains a significant
      residual event rate, particularly in those with the atherogenic lipid phenotype
      that is characterized by a low high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and
      increase in non-HDL cholesterol. Large outcome trials designed to assess the
      value of combining statins with other agents to target HDL cholesterol and non
      HDL cholesterol will not be completed for a few years, but there is ample
      evidence for the clinician to consider combination therapy. The choices for
      therapies to supplement statins include niacin, fibrates, and omega-3 fatty
      acids. We present the argument that after therapeutic lifestyle changes, the
      first priority should be the maximally tolerated effective dose of a potent
      statin. Evidence supports the addition of niacin as the second agent. In some
      situations, high-dose omega-3 fatty acid therapy could be the first agent added
      to statins. Although fibrate monotherapy alone or in combination with non-statin
      low-density lipoprotein cholesterol-lowering agents can be effective in mixed
      hyperlipidemia when statins are not tolerated, the combination of statin+fibrate
      should be considered second-line therapy until the efficacy and safety are
      established.

PMID- 20920688
TI  - Improving abdominal aortic aneurysm screening with an electronic clinical
      reminder.

PMID- 20920689
TI  - Painless lumps: a manifestation of granulocytic sarcoma.

PMID- 20920690
TI  - Images in dermatology. A plethora of protein. Primary localized cutaneous nodular
      amyloidosis.

PMID- 20920691
TI  - ECG image of the month. A childhood illness ... in an adult. Complete
      atrioventricular block.

PMID- 20920692
TI  - Images in radiology. An element of surprise. Mercury poisoning.

PMID- 20920693
TI  - Etiology and diagnosis of systolic murmurs in adults.
AB  - BACKGROUND: It is unknown whether echocardiography can provide insights into the
      origin of systolic murmurs and the modern value of bedside cardiovascular
      diagnosis. METHODS: The author examined 376 inpatients and compared their
      physical findings to transthoracic echocardiography, exploring the associations
      between echocardiography and systolic murmurs and investigating the diagnostic
      accuracy of physical examination for pathologic murmurs. RESULTS: Four
      echocardiographic variables predict the presence of systolic murmurs: peak aortic
      velocity (P <.001); mitral regurgitation severity (P <.001); mitral valve E-point
      velocity (P=.09); and absence of pericardial effusion (P=.09). When diagnosing
      murmurs, the most helpful finding is its distribution on the chest wall with
      respect to the 3(rd) left parasternal space, a landmark that distinguishes
      murmurs into 6 patterns. The "apical-base" pattern indicates increased aortic
      velocity (likelihood ratio [LR] 9.7; 95% confidence interval [CI]; 6.7-14): a
      delayed carotid upstroke (LR 6.8; 95% CI; 4.0-11.5); absent S2 (LR 12.7; 95% CI;
      5.3-30.4); and humming quality to the murmur (LR 8.5; 95% CI; 4.3-16.5) further
      increase the probability of aortic valve disease. The "broad apical" murmur
      pattern suggests significant mitral regurgitation (LR 6.8; 95% CI; 3.9-11.9); and
      the "left lower sternal" murmur pattern indicates significant tricuspid
      regurgitation (LR 8.4; 95% CI; 3.5-20.3): additional bedside observations refine
      these diagnoses. Nonetheless, this study shows that some classic physical
      findings are no longer accurate, that physical examination cannot reliably
      distinguish severe aortic stenosis from less severe stenosis, and that classic
      physical findings, despite having proven value, are absent in many patients with
      significant cardiac lesions. CONCLUSIONS: In the diagnosis of systolic murmurs,
      physical examination has limitations but also unappreciated value. A simple
      system using onomatopoeia and classifying systolic murmurs into 1 of 6 patterns
      is diagnostically helpful.

PMID- 20920694
TI  - Outcomes in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and myocardial infarction.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Patients with rheumatoid arthritis have an increased risk for
      accelerated atherosclerosis. It is unknown, however, whether rheumatoid arthritis
      also increases in-hospital mortality after a myocardial infarction or influences
      the therapy patients receive. METHODS: A cross-sectional analysis of 1,112,676
      patients with myocardial infarction in the 2003-2005 Nationwide Inpatient Sample
      was performed. RESULTS: Patients with rheumatoid arthritis were 39% more likely
      to receive medical therapy (odds ratio [OR], 1.39; 95% confidence interval [CI],
      1.30-1.49) than interventional therapy. By using logistic regression, we adjusted
      for confounding variables to determine the effect of rheumatoid arthritis on the
      selection of therapy and found that rheumatoid arthritis itself was associated
      with a 38% increased likelihood of undergoing thrombolysis (OR, 1.38; 95% CI,
      1.10-1.71) and a 27% increased likelihood of undergoing percutaneous coronary
      intervention (OR, 1.27; 95% CI, 1.17-1.39). For the primary outcome measure, we
      determined that patients with rheumatoid arthritis overall had a 24% better in
      hospital mortality compared with other patients with a myocardial infarction (OR,
      0.76; 95% CI, 0.68-0.86), which was 34% better after adjusting for confounding
      variables (OR, 0.66; 95% CI, 0.59-0.74). This better in-hospital mortality was
      seen in patients with rheumatoid arthritis undergoing medical therapy (adjusted
      OR, 0.67; 95% CI, 0.59-0.75) and percutaneous coronary intervention (adjusted OR,
      0.47; 95% CI, 0.32-0.70), but not in patients undergoing thrombolysis or coronary
      artery bypass grafting. CONCLUSIONS: Among patients with myocardial infarction,
      rheumatoid arthritis was associated with an increased use of thrombolysis and
      percutaneous coronary intervention. Moreover, patients with rheumatoid arthritis
      had an in-hospital survival advantage, particularly those undergoing medical
      therapy and percutaneous coronary intervention.

PMID- 20920695
TI  - Adherence to oral contraception in women on Category X medications.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Over 6% of women become pregnant when taking teratogenic medications,
      and contraceptive counseling appears to occur at suboptimal rates. Adherence to
      contraception is an important component in preventing unwanted pregnancy and has
      not been evaluated in this population. We undertook a pharmacy claims-based
      analysis to evaluate the degree to which women of childbearing age who receive
      Category X medications adhere to their oral contraception. METHODS: We evaluated
      the prescription medication claims for over 6 million women, age 18-44 years,
      with prescription benefits administered by a pharmacy benefits manager. Women
      with 2 or more claims for a Category X medication and 2 or more claims for oral
      contraception were evaluated in further detail. Adherence to oral contraception
      was measured by analyzing pharmacy claims. Multivariable logistic regression was
      performed to identify factors associated with adherence. RESULTS: There were
      146,758 women of childbearing age who received Category X medications, of which
      26,136 also took oral contraceptive medication. Women who received Category X
      medications were prescribed oral contraception (18%) at rates similar to others
      of childbearing age (17%). Women prescribed both Category X and oral
      contraception demonstrated adherence similar to the overall population. Age,
      class of Category X medication, number of medications, prescriber's specialty,
      and ethnicity correlated with lower adherence rates. CONCLUSIONS: Despite added
      risk associated with unintended pregnancy, many women who receive Category X
      medications have refill patterns suggesting nonadherence to oral contraception.
      Compared with all women age 18-44 years, women receiving teratogenic medications
      do not have better adherence to oral contraception.

PMID- 20920696
TI  - Incidence and risk factors of venous thromboembolic events in lymphoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cancer patients are at increased risk of venous thromboembolism;
      however, the incidence and risk factors for venous thromboembolism in lymphoma
      patients are not well defined. METHODS: Medical records of 422 newly referred
      lymphoma patients at our institution were reviewed over 2-year follow-up for all
      venous thromboembolism events and potential risk factors. Multivariate logistic
      regression model was used to identify risk factors predictive of venous
      thromboembolism. RESULTS: Among 422 patients, 72 (17.1 %) had 80 new episodes of
      venous thromboembolism: 59 had deep vein thrombosis, 17 had pulmonary embolism,
      and 4 had combined deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism. Only 18 of 422
      patients (4.3%) were on thromboprophylaxis at baseline. Interestingly, 64%
      (51/80) of the episodes occurred by the third cycle of chemotherapy. By
      multivariate logistic regression, female sex (odds ratio [OR] 3.51, P=.001), high
      hemoglobin (OR 1.26, P=.020), high serum creatinine (OR 3.23, P=.009), and
      doxorubicin- or methotrexate-based chemotherapy (OR 3.47, P=0.003) were important
      risk factors for new venous thromboembolism. CONCLUSIONS: Lymphoma patients are
      at high risk for venous thromboembolism in the initial cycles of chemotherapy;
      the risk was higher for women, patients with elevated hemoglobin or creatinine,
      or those receiving doxorubicin or methotrexate. Future studies might focus on
      validation of these risk factors to identify the high-risk cohort and the
      potential role of thromboprophylaxis, particularly during initial cycles of
      chemotherapy.

PMID- 20920697
TI  - Empiric outpatient therapy with trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, cephalexin, or
      clindamycin for cellulitis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Limited data exist on optimal empiric oral antibiotic treatment for
      outpatients with cellulitis in areas with a high prevalence of community
      associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections.
      METHODS: We conducted a 3-year retrospective cohort study of outpatients with
      cellulitis empirically treated at a teaching clinic of a tertiary-care medical
      center in Hawaii. Patients who received more than 1 oral antibiotic, were
      hospitalized, or had no follow-up information were excluded. Treatment success
      rates for empiric therapy were compared among commonly prescribed antibiotics in
      our clinic: cephalexin, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, and clindamycin. Risk
      factors for treatment failure were evaluated using multivariate logistic
      regression analysis. RESULTS: Of 544 patients with cellulitis, 405 met the
      inclusion criteria. The overall treatment success rate of trimethoprim
      sulfamethoxazole was significantly higher than the rate of cephalexin (91% vs
      74%; P<.001), whereas clindamycin success rates were higher than those of
      cephalexin in patients who had subsequently culture-confirmed MRSA infections
      (P=.01), had moderately severe cellulitis (P=.03), and were obese (P=.04).
      Methicillin-resistant S. aureus was recovered in 72 of 117 positive culture
      specimens (62%). Compliance and adverse drug reaction rates were not
      significantly different among patients who received these 3 antibiotics. Factors
      associated with treatment failure included therapy with an antibiotic that was
      not active against community-associated MRSA (adjusted odds ratio 4.22; 95%
      confidence interval, 2.25-7.92; P<.001) and severity of cellulitis (adjusted odds
      ratio 3.74; 95% confidence interval, 2.06-6.79; P<.001). CONCLUSION: Antibiotics
      with activity against community-associated MRSA, such as trimethoprim
      sulfamethoxazole and clindamycin, are preferred empiric therapy for outpatients
      with cellulitis in the community-associated MRSA-prevalent setting.

PMID- 20920698
TI  - Diabetes enhances hepatocarcinogenesis in noncirrhotic, interferon-treated
      hepatitis C patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This retrospective cohort study assessed the impact of diabetes
      mellitus on hepatocarcinogenesis and determined the predictors of
      hepatocarcinogenesis in noncirrhotic, interferon-treated patients with hepatitis
      C virus infection. METHODS: A total of 2058 hepatitis C virus-positive,
      noncirrhotic patients treated with interferon were enrolled. The median follow-up
      period was 6.7 years. The primary end point was the onset of hepatocellular
      carcinoma. The cumulative rate of new hepatocellular carcinoma cases was computed
      by the Kaplan-Meier method and Cox proportional hazard analysis according to
      diabetic state and response to interferon therapy. RESULTS: The cumulative rates
      of hepatocellular carcinoma in diabetic patients (3.2% at 4 years, 8.5% at 8
      years, and 24.4% at 12 years) were significantly higher than those of nondiabetic
      patients (1.3% at 4 years, 2.2% at 8 years, and 5.6% at 12 years, P<.001). In
      patients with a sustained virologic response, diabetes had no significant effect
      on the rate of hepatocarcinogenesis. In contrast, the rate in patients with a
      nonsustained virologic response was significantly higher in diabetic than in
      nondiabetic patients. Multivariate analysis identified lack of sustained
      virologic response (hazard ratio [HR] 7.28; 95% confidence interval [CI], 3.28
      16.15; P<.001) and diabetes as independent risk factors for hepatocarcinogenesis
      (HR 2.00; 95% CI, 1.05-3.84; P=.036). CONCLUSIONS: Our results highlight the
      enhancing effect of diabetes mellitus on hepatocarcinogenesis in noncirrhotic,
      interferon-treated patients with hepatitis C virus. The sustained virologic
      response induced by interferon therapy eliminates the influence of diabetes and
      markedly reduces the rate of hepatocarcinogenesis in such patients.

PMID- 20920700
TI  - Should we systematically perform central nervous system imaging in patients with
      Whipple's endocarditis?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Whipple's endocarditis is an uncommon disease, with approximately 100
      cases reported to date. Case series suggest that Whipple's endocarditis usually
      presents without extracardiac manifestations of Whipple's disease. METHODS: We
      report 4 consecutive cases of Whipple's endocarditis associated with brain
      lesions. All patients fulfilled Duke Criteria for definite endocarditis.
      Whipple's disease was diagnosed through 16S rRNA polymerase chain reaction assays
      on valves excised from patients with culture-negative endocarditis (n=3) or
      through polymerase chain reaction and periodic acid staining-positive foamy
      macrophages on duodenal biopsy (n=1). RESULTS: All patients were male, aged 56 to
      72 years. They presented with mitral (n=1), aortic (n=1), mitral and aortic
      (n=1), and tricuspid (n=1) endocarditis. Brain magnetic resonance imaging was
      performed because of mild-to-moderate cognitive disorders (n=3) or ataxia (n=1)
      and revealed multiple (n=3) or solitary (n=1) contrast-enhancing lesions.
      Cerebrospinal fluid studies revealed meningitis in 1 case. Polymerase chain
      reaction assays on cerebrospinal fluid were negative for all patients. All
      patients received intravenous ceftriaxone (2-4 weeks) associated with gentamicin
      (2 weeks), followed by 1 year of oral trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, with
      favorable outcomes. CONCLUSION: Whipple's associated central nervous system
      disease may be common but frequently undiagnosed, in patients with Whipple's
      endocarditis. Because treatment is different when neurologic disease is present
      (ie, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole vs doxycycline/hydroxychloroquine), clinicians
      should consider brain imaging in patients diagnosed with Whipple's endocarditis.

PMID- 20920699
TI  - Serum uric acid levels and the risk of type 2 diabetes: a prospective study.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the impact of serum uric acid levels on the future risk of
      developing type 2 diabetes independent of other factors. METHODS: We used
      prospective data from the Framingham Heart Study original (n=4883) and offspring
      (n=4292) cohorts to examine the association between serum uric acid levels and
      the incidence of diabetes. We used Cox proportional hazards models to estimate
      the relative risk of incident diabetes adjusting for age, sex, physical activity,
      alcohol consumption, smoking, hypertension, body mass index, and blood levels of
      glucose, cholesterol, creatinine, and triglycerides. RESULTS: We identified 641
      incident cases of diabetes in the original cohort and 497 cases in the offspring
      cohort. The incidence rates of diabetes per 1000 person-years for serum uric acid
      levels <5.0, 5.0-5.9, 6.0-6.9, 7.0-7.9 and >=8.0 mg/dL were 3.3, 6.1, 8.7, 11.5,
      and 15.9, respectively, in the original cohort; and 2.9, 5.0, 6.6, 8.7, and 10.9,
      respectively, in the offspring cohort (P-values for trends <.001). Multivariable
      relative risks per mg/dL increase in serum uric acid levels were 1.20 (95%
      confidence interval; 1.11-1.28) for the original cohort and 1.15 (95% confidence
      interval; 1.06-1.23) for the offspring cohort. CONCLUSIONS: These prospective
      data from 2 generations of the Framingham Heart Study provide evidence that
      individuals with higher serum uric acid; including younger adults, are at a
      higher future risk of type 2 diabetes independent of other known risk factors.
      These data expand on cross-sectional associations between hyperuricemia and the
      metabolic syndrome, and extend the link to the future risk of type 2 diabetes.

PMID- 20920701
TI  - AAIM report on master teachers and clinician educators Part 3: finances and
      resourcing.

PMID- 20920702
TI  - Juvenile central ossifying fibroma of the mandible: a case report.
AB  - Central ossifying fibroma is a rare fibro-osseous neoplasm in young children. It
      is highly aggressive and has a strong tendency to recur. We describe an 11-year
      old girl with juvenile central ossifying fibromas of the mandible that caused
      obstruction of tooth eruption of the lower left second premolar. Oral examination
      revealed the presence of the primary lower left second molar and a small bony
      hard swelling over the left side of the mandibular body. After a computed
      tomographic scan, an incisional biopsy was performed, and the lesion proved to be
      a juvenile ossifying fibroma. Although this tumor often recurs early, and many
      authors suggest radical en bloc resection, we performed a more conservative
      procedure to avoid damage to the mandibular nerve. There has been no evidence of
      recurrence 1 year later.

PMID- 20920703
TI  - Distinct features of teratoid Wilms tumor.
AB  - Teratoid Wilms tumor is an unusual variant of nephroblastoma in which
      heterologous tissue predominates. Typically, histopathologic examination shows a
      mixture of mature squamous and mucus-producing columnar epithelium and a
      prominent component of mature adipose tissue. The treatment of this tumor has not
      been established because of its rarity with some reports doubting the value of
      chemotherapy. We report 3 new cases and review the 23 previously reported cases
      that we were able to identify. The first case was a 2-year-old boy with a huge
      tumor that occupied most of the abdominal cavity. The second case was a 5-year
      old girl with a metastatic tumor in association with horseshoe kidney and is the
      first case of teratoid Wilms tumor with brain metastasis. The third case was an
      11-month-old girl with bilateral involvement. Imaging studies of our patients
      were similar to those reported in the literature with areas of fat attenuation
      and calcification. Failure to respond to preoperative chemotherapy was seen in
      our patients and in most previously reported cases that were treated with
      preoperative chemotherapy. We recommend treating this entity with protocols
      designed for Wilms tumor and to conduct further basic research to understand its
      biologic nature.

PMID- 20920704
TI  - Lipoblastoma with unique localization requiring tracheal and esophageal
      resection.
AB  - Lipoblastoma and lipoblastomatosis are rare tumors of infancy. They originate
      from embryonic fat and localize in soft tissues. We present the case of a
      lipoblastoma of the neck with localization in tracheal and esophageal walls that
      required an extended laryngotracheal and esophageal resection. To our knowledge,
      this is the first report of such localization of this tumor.

PMID- 20920705
TI  - Compound colonic intussusception: a reason for failure of pneumatic reduction.
AB  - Intussusception is the most common cause of bowel obstruction in infants older
      than 3 months. The authors report a case of idiopathic compound
      (ileocolic/colocolic) intussusception in a 5-month-old girl that was resistant to
      nonsurgical pneumatic (enema) reduction and necessitated open surgery. Compound
      intussusception is extremely rare but represents a form of intussusception that
      is likely to be aggravated by attempts at pneumatic reduction with obvious
      dangers for the unwary. The literature is reviewed, and the terminology was
      discussed.

PMID- 20920706
TI  - Excision of ganglioneuroma from skull base to aortic arch.
AB  - High retropharyngeal neuroblastic tumors in children have been excised and
      debulked transorally or cervically, often with a covering tracheostomy. Although
      we and others have approached high thoracic lesions thoracoscopically, the
      trapdoor incision (or modification thereof) is generally reserved for
      cervicothoracic tumors with significant vessel encasement around the thoracic
      inlet. We report a case of symptomatic ganglioneuroma extending from the
      nasopharynx, at the level of the skull base, down to the aortic arch: macroscopic
      clearance was achieved via an extended trapdoor incision and without recourse to
      tracheostomy, transoral surgery, or transfusion.

PMID- 20920707
TI  - A retroperitoneal gastric duplication cyst mimicking a simple exophytic renal
      cyst in an adolescent.
AB  - Gastric duplications are rare anomalies and usually occur along the greater
      curvature of the stomach. The authors herein describe an uncommon case of a
      retroperitoneal gastric duplication, which was not found during previous
      emergency laparotomy for suspected peritonitis at another institution. On
      subsequent computed tomography scan, the lesion was misinterpreted as a simple
      exophytic renal cyst. Laparoscopy was undertaken because of unresolved symptoms,
      and a retroperitoneal duplication cyst was successfully excised. It was lined
      with gastric mucosa and islands of pancreatic tissue on pathologic examination.

PMID- 20920708
TI  - Differential diagnosis of tendon tumors: xanthomas caused by hyperlipidemia in
      children.
AB  - Tumors of tendons and tendon sheaths causing pain and mechanical problems are
      often because of overstraining, and in most cases the resulting common ganglia
      can be easily removed. We describe an 8-year-old child in whom the tumor's origin
      had remained undetected and was related to a homozygous familial
      hypercholesterolemia, which can be associated with multiple xanthomas of the skin
      and tendons. After a thorough investigation and therapy, a program to prevent
      arteriosclerosis and myocardial infarct in this patient was initiated.

PMID- 20920709
TI  - Heparin-binding epidermal growth factor-like growth factor overexpression in
      transgenic mice increases resistance to necrotizing enterocolitis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is the most common gastrointestinal
      emergency and the leading surgical cause of death in premature infants. We have
      shown that administration of exogenous heparin-binding epidermal growth factor
      like growth factor (HB-EGF) in mice protects the intestines from experimental
      NEC. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the effect of gain-of-function
      of endogenous HB-EGF on susceptibility to NEC. METHODS: Neonatal HB-EGF
      transgenic (TG) mice and their wild-type (WT) counterparts were exposed to
      experimental NEC. An additional group of HB-EGF TG pups were also exposed to NEC,
      but received the HB-EGF antagonist cross-reacting material 197 (CRM197) injected
      subcutaneously immediately after birth. To examine gut barrier function, HB-EGF
      TG and WT pups received intragastric fluorescein isothiocyanate-labeled dextran
      under basal and stressed conditions, and serum fluorescein isothiocyanate-labeled
      dextran levels were measured. RESULTS: Wild-type mice had an incidence of NEC of
      54.2%, whereas HB-EGF TG mice had a significantly decreased incidence of NEC of
      22.7% (P = .03). Importantly, administration of CRM197 to HB-EGF TG pups
      significantly increased the incidence of NEC to 65% (P = .004). HB-EGF TG mice
      had significantly decreased intestinal permeability compared to WT mice both
      under basal and stressed conditions. CONCLUSIONS: Our results provide evidence
      that overexpression of the HB-EGF gene decreases susceptibility to NEC and that
      administration of the HB-EGF antagonist CRM197 reverses this protective effect.

PMID- 20920710
TI  - The current state of evidence-based pediatric surgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The efficiency of medical care in the United States has become
      intensely scrutinized with expectations from patients, families, payors,
      lawmakers, and, currently, the President. The most effective vehicle to bring
      more efficient care is the employment of evidence-based medicine whenever
      possible. Evidence-based medicine is dependent on best evidence, and best
      evidence is generated from prospective trials. To evaluate current state of
      evidence based practice in pediatric surgery we reviewed the literature for
      trials conducted in our field the past 10 years. METHODS: All randomized
      controlled trials from January 1999 through December 2009 published in the
      English literature were identified through a literature search using PubMed
      (www.pubmed.com). We included only those in pediatric general surgery excluding
      transplant, oncology, and the other nongeneral subspecialties. RESULTS: The
      search criteria produced 56 manuscripts, of which 51 described appropriate
      randomization techniques. A definitive trial design with a sample size
      calculation was utilized in only 19 studies (34%). A statistically significant
      difference between treatment arms was identified in 29 of the 56 (52%) trials.
      There were 26 different journals of publication, with the Journal of Pediatric
      Surgery being most common (20) followed by Pediatric Surgery International (7).
      The combined total publications from January 1999 through December 2009 for the
      26 journals these randomized trials represent 0.04% of all publications.
      Appendicitis was the most common condition that was studied (n = 10) followed by
      pyloric stenosis (n = 4). Trials originated in 19 different countries led by the
      United States (28%), United Kingdom (14%), and Turkey (12%). There was a
      generally progressive increase in published trials from 1999 to 2009, however,
      the percentage of prospective articles published in pediatric surgery was similar
      to a previous review published in 1999. CONCLUSIONS: The current state of
      evidence-based surgery in pediatric surgery has remained stable in the first
      decade of the 21st century. Randomized controlled trials represent less than
      0.05% of all publications involving pediatric surgery. Some of the hurdles to
      evidence based surgery are identified and reviewed.

PMID- 20920711
TI  - Influence of lymph node metastases on survival in pediatric medullary thyroid
      cancer.
AB  - PURPOSE: Lymph node metastases (LNM) from medullary thyroid cancer (MTC) are
      common in adults and are a poor prognostic factor. Less is known about LNM in
      children, who often have hereditary forms of MTC. Guidelines recommend
      prophylactic thyroidectomy in early childhood, but randomized prospective trials
      are not feasible. We hypothesized that LNM is associated with poor prognosis in
      children. METHODS: Patients with MTC 21 years or younger from the National Cancer
      Data Base from 1985 to 2007 were studied. Multivariable logistic regression was
      used to identify factors associated with lymph node evaluation. Survival was
      estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. RESULTS: Of 430 patients, 276 (64.2%)
      had nodal evaluation with LNM present in 121 (28.1%). Older patients, those with
      tumors larger than 2 cm, and those with involved margins were more likely to have
      LNM (all P < .05). Patients undergoing total thyroidectomy, those with involved
      margins, and older patients were more likely to undergo lymph node evaluation
      after controlling for patient, tumor, and hospital factors (all P < .05). Over
      time an increasing number of patients with MTC have undergone total
      thyroidectomy. Patients 16 to 21 years of age had lower 10-year overall survival
      compared to patients 0 to 15 years old (88.7% vs 98.1%, P = .005). Lymph node
      metastases were also associated with decreased 10-year overall survival (84.4% vs
      100%, P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: In pediatric MTC, LNM predict poorer overall
      survival. Adequate lymph node assessment can provide valuable prognostic
      information for the pediatric MTC patient. Lymph node assessment should be
      considered for older pediatric patients undergoing surgery for hereditary MTC or
      biopsy confirmed MTC.

PMID- 20920712
TI  - Pediatric borderline ovarian tumors: a retrospective analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: Borderline ovarian tumors (BOTs) are uncommon in the
      pediatric population, and there have been limited studies that have included a
      small number of patients. In present study, we evaluated the clinical outcomes
      and the rates of recurrence of pediatric BOTs with larger sample size than those
      in previous studies. METHODS: A retrospective chart review was performed on 29
      patients who were treated for histopathologically confirmed BOTs at our
      institution between January 1997 and December 2009. RESULTS: Twenty-nine patients
      (median age, 18 years) had a large-sized tumor (median, 19.8 cm). Abdominal pain
      was the most common symptom, seen in 82.8% of the patients, followed by abdominal
      distension. The permanent section histology revealed 25 mucinous (86.2%) and 4
      serous type tumors (13.8%). There was considerable discordance between the
      permanent and frozen sections (rate of concordance, 55.1%). Disease stage was IA
      in 26 patients (89.7%) and stage IC in the other 3 patients (10.3%). All patients
      underwent fertility-preserving surgery. Overall, 4 patients (13.8%) experienced a
      clinically suspicious recurrence requiring surgery. In 2 cases, the suspected
      recurrences were found to be other benign ovarian tumors. In one case that was
      initially treated with left ovarian cystectomy for a mucinous BOT, subsequent
      left salpingo-oophorectomy confirmed recurrence of a mucinous BOT at 16-month
      follow-up. The last case was a newly developed primary ovarian mucinous carcinoma
      with no evidence of recurrence of a previous mucinous BOT at 26-month follow-up.
      CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that BOTs in pediatric populations can be
      successfully treated conservatively to preserve fertility with no apparent
      increased risk of morbidity or mortality compared with those of more radical
      surgical options.

PMID- 20920713
TI  - Preliminary results of a phase I trial of prophylactic ethanol-lock
      administration to prevent mediport catheter-related bloodstream infections.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Catheter-related bloodstream infections remain costly with no simple
      prevention. We report preliminary results of a phase I trial of ethanol-lock
      administration to prevent mediport catheter-related bloodstream infections in
      children. METHODS: Twelve patients receiving intravenous antibody treatments for
      neuroblastoma were enrolled. On 4 days of each 5-day antibody cycle, 70% ethanol
      was administered instead of heparin to dwell in each patient's mediport
      overnight. We used clinical monitoring/questionnaires to assess symptoms and
      measured blood ethanol levels and liver functions. Patients were tracked for
      positive blood cultures. Time to infection for ethanol-lock-treated patients was
      compared with historical controls. RESULTS: We administered 123 ethanol-locks. No
      adverse symptoms attributable to ethanol occurred; one patient's urticaria
      worsened. Blood ethanol levels averaged 11 mg/dL. The study was voluntarily
      suspended after 3 patients' catheters became occluded, 1 of which fractured. A
      positive blood culture occurred in 1 (8%) of 12 patients, but suspension of the
      study precluded statistical power to detect impact on time to infection.
      CONCLUSIONS: Although children with mediport catheters exhibited nontoxic blood
      ethanol levels and a low rate of bloodstream infections following prophylactic
      ethanol-lock use, there was a high incidence of catheter occlusion. Adjustments
      are necessary before adopting ethanol-locks for routine prophylaxis against
      catheter infections in children.

PMID- 20920714
TI  - Emergence of community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus skin
      and soft tissue infections as a common cause of hospitalization in United States
      children.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA
      MRSA) was first observed in pediatric patients in the late 1990s. Since then,
      possible risk factors for contracting CA-MRSA have been hypothesized, but
      supporting studies are limited. METHODS: We analyzed hospital discharge records
      for patients with a principal International Classification of Diseases, Ninth
      Revision code for skin and soft tissue infections, collected from 1996 to 2006 by
      the United States National Center for Health Statistics. Noninstitutional, short
      stay hospitals in the United States participated. The sample was limited to
      patients aged <=19 years. Staphylococcus aureus and CA-MRSA were defined by
      International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision codes. Data weights were
      used to derive regional and national estimates. Population estimates were
      obtained from the US Bureau of the Census, and incidence rates were reported per
      100,000 persons. Risk factors for CA-MRSA were first identified using chi(2) and
      chi(2) goodness-of-fit tests, then by multivariable logistic regression. RESULTS:
      These data represent 616,375 pediatric discharges for skin and soft tissue
      infections from U.S. hospitals between 1996 and 2006. This represents
      approximately 69.9 hospitalizations for skin and soft tissue infections per
      100,000 U.S. children per year. Staphylococcus aureus and CA-MRSA accounted for
      19.6% and 9.6% of these cases, respectively. The rate of hospitalization for CA
      MRSA skin and soft tissue infections increased dramatically over the study
      period; from less than one case per 100,000 in 1996 to 25.5 cases per 100,000 in
      2006. Rates of CA-MRSA varied by region, with the South region having the highest
      rate (11.5 per 100,000 US children), followed by the West (5.2), Northeast (3.4),
      and Midwest (3.2). Peak CA-MRSA incidence occurred from May to December; however,
      the incidence in the South region was consistently higher than other regions for
      most months and the period of peak incidence was longer than other regions.
      Independent risk factors for CA-MRSA included survey year, race, geographic
      region, hospital size, and health insurance status (P < .0001 for all risk
      factors). CONCLUSIONS: Pediatric hospitalizations for methicillin-susceptible S.
      aureus and CA-MRSA skin and soft tissue infections are on the rise. Possible risk
      factors for CA-MRSA infection include White race, residence in the South region
      of the United States, and lack of health insurance.

PMID- 20920715
TI  - State of the practice for pediatric surgery--career satisfaction and concerns. A
      report from the American Pediatric Surgical Association Task Force on Family
      Issues.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There has been increasing interest and concern raised in the surgical
      literature regarding changes in the culture of surgical training and practice,
      and the impact these changes may have on surgeon stress and the appeal of a
      career in surgery. We surveyed pediatric surgeons and their partners to collect
      information on career satisfaction and work-family balance. METHODS: The American
      Pediatric Surgical Association Task Force on Family Issues developed separate
      survey instruments for both pediatric surgeons and their partners that requested
      demographic data and information regarding the impact of surgical training and
      practice on the surgeon's opportunity to be involved with his/her family.
      RESULTS: We found that 96% of pediatric surgeons were satisfied with their career
      choice. Of concern was the lack of balance, with little time available for
      family, noted by both pediatric surgeons and their partners. CONCLUSION: The
      issues of work-family balance and its impact on surgeon stress and burnout should
      be addressed in both pediatric surgery training and practice. The American
      Pediatric Surgical Association is positioned to play a leading role in this
      effort.

PMID- 20920716
TI  - Research interests and funding of members of the American Pediatric Surgical
      Association: report from 2010 American Pediatric Surgical Association Outcomes
      and Clinical Trials Committee.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: There is lack of data relating to the research interests and funding
      of pediatric surgeons within the United States and Canada. These data may be
      helpful in promoting basic and clinical research among pediatric surgeons.
      METHODS: The American Pediatric Surgical Association (APSA) Outcomes and Clinical
      Trials Committee developed and administered an online survey via e-mail to the
      APSA membership to help characterize research activities and funding. The survey
      was available for completion during December of 2009. The survey contained 10
      items with a drop-down menu for multiple choice answers and required 5 to 10
      minutes to complete. Results based on research interests as well as funding
      sources were compiled and analyzed. RESULTS: A total of 275 members, which
      comprises 27.4% of the APSA membership, completed the survey. Of the respondents,
      177 (64%) described being in an academic practice, 44 (16%) in an academically
      associated private practice, 9 (3.3%) in a private solo practice, 17 (6.2%) in
      private group practice, and 3 (1%) in the military. A total of 189 (68.7%)
      respondents stated that they participated in formal research. Respondents also
      categorized their research interests, and the following were the most common
      subjects of study (decreasing order of frequency): appendicitis, trauma and
      critical care, outcomes, minimally invasive surgery, and congenital diaphragmatic
      hernia. Of those participating in research, 64.5% stated that they have no formal
      financial support. Of those supported through the National Institutes of Health,
      funding grants achieved were as follows: R01 (n = 29), K08 (n = 9), K23 (n = 2),
      and U01 (n = 8). CONCLUSIONS: Research activities are common among APSA members
      and encompass a wide range of pediatric surgery topics. Strikingly, the overall
      financial support of these efforts is limited, predominantly supported by the
      surgeons themselves. Funded respondents attained grants through Public Health
      Service grants, departmental grants, or private institutions.

PMID- 20920717
TI  - Abnormal platelet-derived growth factor signaling accounting for lung hypoplasia
      in experimental congenital diaphragmatic hernia.
AB  - PURPOSE: The pathogenesis of pulmonary hypoplasia in congenital diaphragmatic
      hernia (CDH) is not fully understood. Platelet-derived growth factor A (PDGFA)
      and platelet-derived growth factor receptor alpha (PDGFRalpha) play a crucial
      role in lung development. It has been reported that PDGF induces H(2)O(2)
      production and that oxidative stress may be an important mechanism for the
      impaired lung development in the nitrofen rat model. We hypothesized that
      pulmonary expression of PDGFA and PDGFRalpha is altered in the nitrofen induced
      CDH model. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Pregnant rats received 100 mg nitrofen or
      vehicle on gestational day 9 (D9) and were sacrificed on D15, D18 or D21. RNA was
      extracted from fetal left lungs and mRNA levels of PDGFA and PDGFRalpha were
      determined using real-time polymerase chain reaction. Immunohistochemistry for
      protein expression of PDGFA and PDGFRalpha was performed. Pulmonary H(2)O(2) was
      measured colorimetrically. RESULTS: mRNA levels of PDGFRalpha at D15 (4.50 +/-
      0.87) and PDGFA at D18 (2.90 +/- 1.38) were increased in the nitrofen group (P <
      .05). Immunohistochemistry revealed increased pulmonary expression of PDGFRalpha
      and PDGFA. H(2)O(2) content was significantly higher in the nitrofen group.
      CONCLUSIONS: Increased expression of PDGFA and PDGFRalpha suggests that pulmonary
      hypoplasia in the nitrofen CDH model may be owing to PDGF-induced oxidative
      stress during lung development.

PMID- 20920718
TI  - Factors associated with survival in pediatric extracorporeal membrane oxygenation
      -a single-center experience.
AB  - AIM: We aimed to examine outcomes of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO)
      therapy in the pediatric population and identify pre-ECMO and on-ECMO
      characteristics that are associated with survival. METHODS: We retrospectively
      reviewed the ECMO records at our institution between 1999 and 2008 and selected
      pediatric patients who were cannulated for respiratory failure or hemodynamic
      instability resistant to conventional interventions. We recorded details of pre
      ECMO clinical characteristics, including blood gas variables and mechanical
      ventilatory support, and details of ECMO therapy including survival off ECMO and
      to hospital discharge. Predictors of survival were analyzed using logistic
      regression modeling and a prediction algorithm was developed. RESULTS: Of the 445
      ECMO runs, data from 58 consecutive patients were analyzed: 57% were successfully
      decannulated, and 48% survived to discharge from the hospital. The cohort
      included 32 (55%) female patients, 22 postoperative patients (38%), and 15 (26%)
      with an immunosuppressive condition, with a median age of 5 years and weight 19.5
      kg, The mean duration of pre-ECMO respiratory support was 3 days, in the form of
      high-frequency oscillatory ventilation (n = 28, 48%) and conventional mechanical
      ventilation (n = 13, 22%). The median duration (interquartile range) of ECMO
      support was 142 hours (60, 321) or 5.9 days. Pre-ECMO pH above 7.2 (P < .001) and
      oxygenation index below 35 (P = .021) were associated with the highest survival
      rates. Pre-ECMO PaCO(2) and duration of mechanical ventilation were not
      associated with survival. CONCLUSIONS: Based on our results, ECMO therapy should
      be considered early in children with oxygenation index greater than 35 with
      worsening metabolic status. The restriction of ECMO based on ventilator days
      alone needs to be revisited in this era of lung protective ventilation.

PMID- 20920719
TI  - Maternal diabetes and risk of esophageal atresia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The etiology of esophageal atresia is poorly understood. The
      incidence of some congenital malformations is increased in children of mothers
      with diabetes, but the role of maternal diabetes in esophageal atresia
      development in the infant is unknown. We hypothesized that maternal diabetes
      increases the risk of esophageal atresia in the infant. METHODS: A population
      based, matched case-control study, nested within a cohort of neonates born in
      Sweden in January 1, 1982 through December 31, 2007, was undertaken. Conditional
      logistic regression was used to calculate relative risks, expressed as odds
      ratios with 95% confidence intervals. Adjustment for confounding was made through
      matching and by multivariable regression. RESULTS: Among 2,625,436 newborn
      infants in the study cohort, there were 780 cases of esophageal atresia, and
      7,800 infants were matched and randomly selected as controls. Exposure to
      preexisting or gestational diabetes was more frequent in the mothers of the case
      group (n = 18; 2.3%) than in those of the control group (n = 103; 1.3%). The
      adjusted risk of esophageal atresia was 70 % higher among infants of women with
      diabetes than among women without diabetes (odds ratio, 1.7; 95% confidence
      interval, 1.0-2.9). CONCLUSIONS: Maternal diabetes might increase the risk of
      esophageal atresia in the child.

PMID- 20920720
TI  - Experience in treating congenital esophageal atresia in China.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of the study was to evaluate our recent experience in treating
      esophageal atresia (EA) and the outcomes observed at a single center for
      pediatric surgery. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The records of infants with EA from
      2006 to 2009 were reviewed. Birth weight, associated anomalies, details of
      management, complications, and outcomes were examined. RESULTS: Forty-eight
      consecutive infants with EA were identified from 2006 to 2009, of which 33 (69%)
      were boys. Mean birth weight was 2668 g (range, 1700-3800 g). Common associated
      malformations (35%) were cardiac anomalies, imperforate anus, limb anomalies, and
      chromosomal anomalies. Forty-seven were Gross type C, and one was Gross type A.
      Forty-five infants underwent ligation of the tracheoesophageal fistula and end-to
      side primary anastomosis, and one received a colonic interposition. Six patients
      died (12.5% mortality). Three died before or during operation because of severe
      pneumonia and complex cardiac anomalies, and 3 died during recovery (within 1
      month after repair) because of aspiration and severe pneumonia (early
      postoperative mortality was 6.67%). Complications included pneumonia, anastomotic
      leakage (16%, all recovered after conservative treatment), wound sepsis (11%),
      recurrent tracheoesophageal fistula (9%) (3/4 recovered after conservative
      treatment), anastomotic stricture (10%), and gastroesophageal reflux in about 2
      of 3 patients. Preoperative computed tomographic imaging and 3-dimensional
      graphic reconstruction used in 15 patients were useful. CONCLUSIONS: Most
      patients with EA have excellent short- to midterm surgical outcomes. The main
      factors for mortality are complex cardiac anomalies, aspiration, and pneumonia.
      Computed tomographic imaging and 3-dimensional graphic reconstruction can provide
      surgeons with excellent preoperative reference about the anatomy of the defect.
      Most anastomotic related complications resolve with conservative treatment.
      Patients of low-risk prognosis group with type A and long gap EA can be managed
      with a primary colonic interposition with good results. The main midterm
      complications are gastroesophageal reflux and stricture.

PMID- 20920721
TI  - Overgrowth of costal cartilage is not the etiology of pectus excavatum.
AB  - PURPOSE: The etiology of pectus excavatum (PE) has not been clarified. In 1944,
      Sweet (Sweet RH. Pectus excavatum. Ann Surg 1944;119:922-934) mentioned about the
      possibility of the overgrowth of costal cartilage being involved. However, no
      additional report that supports his hypothesis is available. In this study, we
      investigated whether the overgrowth of costal cartilage was an actual cause of PE
      through measurement of the costal cartilage length in PE patients and healthy
      controls. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We investigated the length of the fifth and
      sixth costal cartilages and ribs in PE patients from reconstructed images of 3
      dimensional computed tomography. To examine the relative costal cartilage length,
      we calculated the C/R ratio, defined as the quotient of the costal cartilage
      length divided by the adjacent rib length, and compared it between PE patients
      and healthy controls. RESULTS: In PE patients, the C/R ratios were not larger
      than in healthy controls at any level. At the left sixth, the C/R ratio was
      significantly smaller in patients than in the healthy control group. DISCUSSION:
      The results revealed that, in PE patients, relative costal cartilage lengths were
      not longer than in healthy controls. We conclude that the overgrowth of costal
      cartilage is not the etiology of PE.

PMID- 20920722
TI  - Repeat abdominal computed tomography scans after pediatric blunt abdominal
      trauma: missed injuries, extra costs, and unnecessary radiation exposure.
AB  - PURPOSE: We hypothesized that pediatric blunt trauma patients, initially
      evaluated at nontrauma centers with abdominal computed tomography (CT) scans,
      often undergo repeat scans after transfer. This study was designed to quantify
      this phenomenon, assess consequences, and elucidate possible causes. METHODS:
      This article is an institutional review board-approved, retrospective chart
      review of pediatric blunt abdominal trauma patients transferred to a level I
      trauma center from 2002 to 2007 and evaluated with abdominal CT at the trauma
      center or at a referring facility. RESULTS: A total of 388 patients met the study
      criteria, with 6 patients being excluded because of inability to verify outside
      records resulting in study group of 382 patients. Of those 382 patients, 199
      (52%) underwent abdominal CT before transfer. Thirty-six (18%) of those 199
      patients underwent repeat CT scanning at our level I trauma center. Of these 36
      patients, 19 (53%) were transferred without their outside CT scans, with 10 (53%)
      of these 19 having significant abdominal injuries. Of the remaining 17, 6 (17%)
      had repeat scans to assess changes in vital signs, or patient condition, or
      because of inadequate outside imaging. The remaining 11 (30%) were repeated
      despite an acceptable outside CT and no change in patient condition. Only 2 of 11
      resulted in changed management. Additional radiation delivered from these repeat
      scans totaled 180 mSv, and additional patient charges totaled more than $110,000.
      There was an apparent trend toward increased repeat scanning (from 6.7% in 2002
      to 16.7% in 2007). CONCLUSIONS: Abdominal CT scans, for evaluation of pediatric
      blunt trauma, are frequently repeated after transfer from outside hospitals. In
      many cases, repeat scans provide useful diagnostic information. However, more
      than 80% of repeat scanning is potentially preventable with better education of
      transport personnel (paramedics, emergency medical technicians, and nurses) and
      emergency department physicians.

PMID- 20920723
TI  - Pathogenic implications of remnant vitelline structures in gastroschisis.
AB  - PURPOSE: The pathogenesis of gastroschisis is unknown. It may be helpful in
      understanding its pathogenesis to know the structural relationships among
      umbilical components including umbilical vessels, urachus, and vitelline
      structures, and thus, the authors investigated the remnants of vitelline
      structures in a series of cases of gastroschisis. METHODS: Medical records of 41
      cases with gastroschisis treated in our institute from 1979 to 2009 were
      retrospectively reviewed. RESULTS: Paraumbilical bands, possible remnants of
      vitelline structures, were observed in 4 cases (9.8%). All 4 bands were attached
      to the skin edge of the abdominal defect without incorporation into the umbilical
      cord. The band ended at the mesentery in 3 cases and at the antimesenteric site
      of the ileum in the remaining case. Histologic findings showed fibrous tissues in
      all cases. One was possibly associated with the development of colonic atresia.
      Another was noticed after silo reduction when herniated bowels became
      strangulated by the band. The other 2 cases were uncomplicated. CONCLUSIONS: Our
      findings may support the recently proposed hypothesis that the developmental
      failure of the yolk sac and related vitelline structures to merge with or to be
      incorporated into the umbilical stalk might be associated with the pathogenesis
      of the abdominal wall defect in gastroschisis. Paraumbilical bands derived from
      vitelline structures may possibly cause intestinal ischemia prenatally or
      postnatally.

PMID- 20920724
TI  - Perturbation of Fgf10 signal pathway in mouse embryonic palate by dexamethasone
      and vitamin B12 in vivo.
AB  - BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: The Fgf10 signaling pathway plays an important role in early
      stages of mouse embryonic palatal development, which is associated with cell
      proliferation and differentiation. The objective of this study was to assess
      whether dexamethasone and vitamin B(12) affected the Fgf10 signal pathway of
      mouse embryonic palate. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Immunohistochemical studies were
      performed for expression of Fgf10, Fgfr2b, and sonic hedgehog and for cell
      proliferation and apoptosis of mouse embryonic palate. RESULTS: The expression of
      Fgf10, Fgfr2b, and sonic hedgehog was changed in mouse embryonic palate after
      dexamethasone and vitamin B(12) treatment, resulting in reduced and restored
      proliferation of mesenchymal cells. CONCLUSIONS: Dexamethasone and vitamin B(12)
      affected the Fgf10 signaling pathway and cell proliferation of mouse embryonic
      palate. Cell apoptosis was not altered after dexamethasone and vitamin B(12)
      exposure.

PMID- 20920725
TI  - Long-term outcome after free autogenous muscle transplantation for anal
      incontinence in children with anorectal malformations.
AB  - PURPOSE: Patients with high anorectal anomalies are often incontinent after
      reconstruction, particularly with the older forms of surgical treatment, that is,
      anorectal pull-through or Stephen's operations. In 1974, a new treatment for anal
      incontinence in children was introduced at the Akademiska Hospital: free
      autogenous muscle transplantation (FAMT) to the perirectal area. All the patients
      receiving FAMT were totally incontinent before the procedure and had no rectal
      sensitivity. The aim of this study was to evaluate the long-term functional
      outcome of this procedure. METHODS: Twenty-two patients (17 males) operated on
      with FAMT below the age of 15 years were identified through records. One of the
      patients had died, and 2 were not available for follow-up. The remaining 19 were
      sent a validated bowel function questionnaire, and 15 (78.9%) of 19 patients
      responded (12 males). These 15 patients were compared with 15 patients with the
      same sex, age, and a similar malformation from our patient database. RESULTS: At
      follow-up, after an average of 30 years postoperatively, 2 of 15 patients with
      FAMT had a stoma compared with 3 of 15 in the control group. The Miller
      incontinence score had a mean of 6.2 (median, 6; range, 0-15) in the FAMT group
      and 3.7 (median, 4; range, 0-12) in the control group. All patients in both
      groups could sense stool, and 11 of 13 patients in the FAMT group could
      distinguish between feces and flatus. CONCLUSIONS: The patients with FAMT had a
      slightly inferior anorectal function compared with the controls. Considering they
      were all totally incontinent before FAMT, we conclude that FAMT has an acceptable
      effect 30 years postoperatively. Therefore, we find that FAMT could be an
      alternative for anorectal malformation patients who are totally incontinent.

PMID- 20920726
TI  - Umbilicoplasty with 3 triangular skin flaps and excised diamond-shaped skin flap.
AB  - PURPOSE: In cases of large umbilical hernias, standard surgical techniques have
      proven inadequate for diminishing the diameter of the umbilicus. We have modified
      the 3- and 4-triangular-skin-flap techniques to diminish the diameter of the
      umbilicus and achieve a cosmetically acceptable umbilicus. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      Umbilicoplasty was performed in 149 children (median age, 2.5 years; range, 3
      months-10 years) between 2003 and 2008. We created 4 skin flaps 1.5 cm in length
      on the umbilicus and excised the cranial diamond-shaped skin flap. After closure
      of the fascial defect, the diameter of the umbilicus was diminished by suturing
      the opened cranial part of the diamond-shaped skin flap vertically. The tips of
      the 3 remaining flaps were then anchored to the closed fascia. RESULTS:
      Postoperatively, granulation tissue occurred in 18 cases (12%), transient
      erythema of a flap in 15 cases (10%), and bulging of a skin flap in 15 cases
      (10%). These complications were reduced by suturing adjoining skin flaps. No
      recurrent hernias were encountered. The postoperative umbilical appearance was
      satisfactory in all cases. CONCLUSION: This surgical technique is effective for
      diminishing the diameter of the umbilicus and creating a cosmetically acceptable
      shaped umbilicus, even for large umbilical hernias.

PMID- 20920727
TI  - Metastatic neuroblastoma mimicking infantile hemangioma.
AB  - Many lesions can masquerade as deep infantile hemangioma, the most common tumor
      of infancy. We describe an infant with infantile hemangioma and concomitant
      metastatic subcutaneous neuroblastoma mimicking deep hemangioma. The patient
      presented at 8 months of age with 3 superficial infantile hemangiomas as well as
      3 subcutaneous masses. History, physical examination, and ultrasonography of the
      deep lesions were consistent with subcutaneous hemangioma. New masses appeared at
      10 months of age that prompted biopsy; histopathology demonstrated metastatic
      neuroblastoma. Deviation from the predictable clinical features of a deep
      infantile hemangioma should prompt consideration for other causes of a
      subcutaneous mass in infancy, including metastatic neuroblastoma.

PMID- 20920728
TI  - Case report: actinomycosis of the appendix--an unusual cause of acute
      appendicitis in children.
AB  - Abdominal actinomycosis in children is a rare disease, which is occasionally
      found on histologic examination after an operation for acute appendicitis.
      Because of its nonspecific clinical and radiological signs and symptoms and low
      prevalence, the diagnosis is hardly ever made before the patient undergoes an
      operation and tissue is available for pathologic evaluation. When the diagnosis
      is made, the patient should be treated with the appropriate long-term
      antibiotics. With antibiotic therapy, the prognosis is favorable. We describe a
      13-year-old girl who presented with acute appendicitis and was found to have
      abdominal actinomycosis after undergoing open appendectomy, which was treated
      successfully with penicillin and piperacillin-tazobactam.

PMID- 20920729
TI  - Magnetic resonance nephrography for planning of laparoscopic partial nephrectomy
      in a pediatric case of ureteral triplication.
AB  - We present the case of ureteral triplication with vesicoureteral reflux into the
      lowest and middle pole in a 5-year-old girl. Magnetic resonance (MR) nephrography
      depicted loss of function of the lowest pole, which could not be assessed through
      MAG3 renal scan. Morphologic analyses revealed organ structure and vascular
      anatomy in superior quality. A laparoscopic partial nephroureterectomy of the
      lower pole was performed. Intraoperative findings correlated exactly with
      morphologic data obtained through MR nephrography. Dynamic MR nephrography should
      be considered as diagnostic tool of choice for selected kidney anomalies before
      surgery.

PMID- 20920730
TI  - Dermoid cyst of the spermatic cord in children.
AB  - Most of inguinal masses in children correspond to inguinal indirect hernias, but
      other pathologic entities may be found. Dermoid cysts of the spermatic cord are
      very rare, with only 9 clear cases reported in the literature to date, all of
      them in adults. We present a case of dermoid cyst of the spermatic cord in a 2
      year-old boy, the youngest patient reported so far. Dermoid cysts of the
      spermatic cord should be considered as part of the differential diagnosis of
      inguinal masses in children, especially in cases of long-standing, nontender, and
      irreducible inguinal mass.

PMID- 20920731
TI  - Carcinoid tumor of the common bile duct in children: a case report.
AB  - Carcinoid tumors of common bile duct (CBD) are rare, with fewer than 60 cases
      reported worldwide. Typically, jaundice is the most common presenting symptom.
      Preoperative diagnosis is difficult because methods for obtaining adequate
      specimens for histologic analysis are limited. Surgery is the primary treatment
      for CBD carcinoids to have disease-free survival. This is a case report
      concerning a 10-year-old boy with a carcinoid tumor of the CBD. An overview of
      the clinical presentation, diagnosis, radiologic workup, surgical treatment,
      histologic features, and prognosis of carcinoid tumor is provided.

PMID- 20920732
TI  - Herniation of the brain after conservative treatment of a large congenital skull
      defect in an infant with Adams-Oliver syndrome.
AB  - We report the case of a newborn baby with a large congenital skull defect owing
      to Adams-Oliver syndrome. An initial attempt at conservative treatment failed and
      led to disruption of the leptomeningeal membrane and prolapse of the brain. After
      local debridement, delayed and stepwise surgical closure was complicated by
      cerebrospinal fluid leakage, which required the insertion of a cerebrospinal
      fluid shunt. This case report highlights the potential serious risks of
      nonsurgical management of largely extended congenital skull defects.

PMID- 20920733
TI  - Esophegeal replacement in children with AIDS.
AB  - We report 2 human immunodeficiency virus-positive patients with refractory
      esophageal strictures secondary to candidiasis. They presented with progressive
      dysphagia and had suffered from oropharyngeal and/or esophageal candidiasis
      within the preceding 3 months. Both failed conservative management of these
      strictures, including systemic antifungal therapy, administration of proton pump
      inhibitors, and numerous attempts at stricture dilation, ultimately progressing
      to open transhiatal esophagectomy. Although challenging in the immunocompromised
      host, successful treatment of these strictures by gastric interposition is
      achievable with minimal morbidity.

PMID- 20920734
TI  - Acute pancreatitis induced by ifosfamide therapy.
AB  - Ifosfamide used in the treatment of pediatric solid tumors is known to have
      serious adverse effects, including acute pancreatitis, a rare complication of
      therapy. This report describes a young girl who developed acute pancreatitis
      while being treated for recurrent Wilms tumor with the ifosfamide, carboplatin,
      and etoposide regimen. She recovered completely and without sequelae from
      ifosfamide-induced pancreatitis soon after the drug was stopped. Abdominal pain
      in patients on anticancer treatment is a common occurrence, but it is rarely
      investigated. Patients who receive ifosfamide as part of a chemotherapy regimen
      should be carefully monitored, and symptoms or signs suggestive of acute
      pancreatitis should be promptly investigated. Withholding the drug usually leads
      to complete recovery.

PMID- 20920735
TI  - What is new in cryptorchidism and hypospadias--a critical review on the
      testicular dysgenesis hypothesis.
AB  - It has been hypothesized that poor semen quality, testis cancer, undescended
      testis, and hypospadias are symptoms of one underlying entity--the testicular
      dysgenesis syndrome--leading to increasing male fertility impairment. Though
      testicular cancer has increased in many Western countries during the past 40
      years, hypospadias rates have not changed with certainty over the same period.
      Also, recent studies demonstrate that sperm output may have declined in certain
      areas of Europe but is probably not declining across the globe as indicated by
      American studies. However, at the same time, there is increasing recognition of
      male infertility related to obesity and smoking. There is no certain evidence
      that the rates of undescended testes have been increasing with time during the
      last 50 years. In more than 95% of the cases, hypospadias is not associated with
      cryptorchidism, suggesting major differences in pathogenesis. Placental
      abnormality may occasionally cause both cryptorchidism and hypospadias, as it is
      also the case in many other congenital malformations. The findings of early
      orchidopexy lowering the risk of both infertility and testicular cancer suggest
      that the abnormal location exposes the cryptorchid testis to infertility and
      malignant transformation, rather than there being a primary abnormality.
      Statistically, 5% of testicular cancers only are caused by cryptorchidism. These
      data point to the complexity of pathogenic and epidemiologic features of each
      component and the difficulties in ascribing them to a single unifying process,
      such as testicular dysgenesis syndrome, particularly when so little is known of
      the actual mechanisms of disease.

PMID- 20920736
TI  - Vaginal replacement in the pediatric age group: a 34-year experience of
      intestinal vaginoplasty in children and young girls.
AB  - BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: The absence of vagina is rare in the pediatric population. It
      can occur as a result of congenital malformations such as an aplasia of mullerian
      ducts (46,XX Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser syndrome) or a complete androgen
      insensitivity syndrome (46,XY testicular feminizing syndrome). Intersex patients,
      who underwent reassessment of a female sex, need a genital reconstruction toward
      a feminine phenotype. Patients with congenital adrenogenital syndrome with high
      urogenital sinus could have a severe hypoplastic vagina. In all these cases, a
      vaginal replacement is required. We reviewed our experience of vaginal
      replacement using a sigmoid conduit. METHODS: In 34 years, we evaluated 47
      patients. The observation period was from 1 to 34 years (mean: 12 years). The
      preoperative diagnosis was Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser syndrome in 17 cases,
      androgen insensitivity syndrome in 24 cases, adrenogenital syndrome with high
      urogenital sinus in 5 and 1 patient was affected by penile agenesis. Forty-six
      patients were treated with vaginal reconstruction by interposition of sigmoid
      colon. Only in 1 case we performed a vaginal construction with an ileal loop: in
      this case, the sigmoid colon was extremely dilated by a chronic constipation
      secondary to a high anorectal malformation corrected at birth. RESULTS: The
      outcome for 47 patients is excellent: 18 are sexually active and 4 are married.
      Only 1 patient with adrenogenital syndrome died of endocrine problems.
      Complications occurred in 17 cases: in 1 patient a necrosis of the replaced
      vagina occurred, thus requiring vaginal exeresis; now she is waiting for a second
      operation. Another patient had an abdominal abscess, which was surgically
      treated. In 12 cases a second procedure was required: 6 had stenotic new-vaginal
      introitus, 4 had new-vaginal prolapse, and 2 had intestinal obstruction.
      CONCLUSIONS: We believe that the preferable technique for vaginal replacement is
      the use of intestinal conduit. The sigmoid colon is the best intestinal tract to
      be used owing to its size, location and preserved blood supply. Our experience
      leads us to believe that the sigmoid segment is the segment of choice, although
      we consider ileal loop as a good alternative when the sigmoid colon is not
      available.

PMID- 20920737
TI  - Three-dimensional magnetic resonance imaging of Kommerell diverticulum in a child
      with recurrent dysphagia.
AB  - We report a case of a 3-year-old girl with a history of recurrent dysphagia and
      feeding difficulties. After chest x-ray and esophagogram examination, magnetic
      resonance imaging revealed the presence of a right-sided aortic arch with an
      aberrant retroesophageal left subclavian artery arising from a Kommerell
      diverticulum.

PMID- 20920738
TI  - Pilomatrixomas presenting as vascular tumors on color Doppler ultrasound.
AB  - Diagnosis of pilomatrixomas may be difficult because they can mimic other
      clinical conditions. Color Doppler ultrasound had been proven useful in the study
      of localized lesions of the skin and can both define lesion morphology and
      determine blood flow changes in real time, and may thus help differentiate
      primary from secondary vascular skin lesions. We present 3 cases of
      pilomatrixomas that mimic vascular lesions of the skin on physical examination.
      Clinical, sonographic, intraoperative, and histologic images are provided to
      highlight the nature of these challenging cases.

PMID- 20920739
TI  - Laparoscopic-assisted clearance of protein plugs in the common channel in
      children with choledochal cysts.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The purpose of the study was to assess the efficacy of laparoscopic
      assisted removal of protein plugs from the common channel in choledochal cysts.
      METHODS: Between 2001 and 2009, 34 patients with choledochal cysts (mean age,
      4.98 years) with protein plugs in the common channel successfully underwent
      laparoscopic cyst excision and Roux-en-Y hepatojejunostomy. Under direct vision
      during laparoscopy, urethroscopes or catheters were inserted into the common
      channel to irrigate and remove the protein plugs. Complete clearance was
      confirmed by either direct urethroscopic visualization or cholangiogram that
      demonstrated (1) no filling defects in the common channel, (2) significant
      reduction of common channel diameter, (3) free passage of contrast agent into the
      duodenum, and (4) no pancreatic duct reflux. Operative time and blood loss,
      postoperative hospital stay, duration of drainage, postoperative complications,
      perioperative ultrasonographic findings, and laboratory results were reviewed.
      RESULTS: Protein plugs were completely removed in all the patients. The mean
      operative time, postoperative hospital stay, and drainage duration were 3.51
      hours, 7.08 days, and 3.41 days, respectively. The median follow-up period was 32
      months. Neither mortality nor complications of pancreatic juice leak,
      pancreatitis, or stone formation were observed. Liver function parameters and
      serum amylase levels returned to normal postoperatively. CONCLUSIONS:
      Laparoscopic-assisted clearance of the protein plugs in the common channel in
      choledochal cyst is effective, with good medium-term results observed.

PMID- 20920740
TI  - Laparoscopic suture rectopexy for full-thickness anorectal prolapse in children:
      an effective outpatient procedure.
AB  - BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: Our approach to full-thickness anorectal prolapse has
      transitioned to laparoscopic suture rectopexy (LSRP). The purpose of this study
      was to describe the indications, technique, and postoperative outcomes for LSRP.
      METHODS: Rectopexy was performed using 3 or 4 laparoscopic ports. Redundant
      rectum was retracted from the pelvis, and the posterior rectal wall was secured
      to the sacral promontory using 3 permanent sutures. RESULTS: Nineteen children (7
      girls) underwent LSRP from March 2003 to January 2008. Mean age was 6.2 +/- 3.6
      years. Three patients had prior perineal operations: 2 sacrococcygeal teratoma
      resections and 1 pull-through for Hirschsprung disease. One patient had cystic
      fibrosis, and another had Prader-Willi syndrome. The remaining children had
      either chronic constipation or idiopathic prolapse. All patients were treated
      preoperatively with laxatives. Two patients received antegrade continent enemas.
      Length of stay was 1 +/- 0.8 days, with only the first 5 patients admitted to the
      hospital. The patient with Prader-Willi syndrome had a full-thickness recurrence
      (5%) owing to obsessive-compulsive behavior. Partial mucosal prolapse occurred in
      2 patients. There were no other complications. CONCLUSIONS: Laparoscopic suture
      rectopexy is an effective minimally invasive method to treat full-thickness
      rectal prolapse in children from various etiologies. It can be performed as an
      outpatient procedure with minimal morbidity and low recurrence rate (5%).

PMID- 20920741
TI  - "To illustrate and increase Chyrurgerie": Ambroise Pare (1510-1590).
AB  - The quincentenary of Ambroise Pare's birth celebrates a man who rose from a
      humble origin to become the leading surgeon of the Renaissance. Now remembered as
      a celebrated war surgeon, especially for his gentle treatment of gunshot wounds,
      it is generally forgotten that Pare also treated children and wrote about them.
      Despite his little schooling, Pare was appointed as the Head of the French
      College of Surgeons in 1567. Pare's contributions to child health include
      conservative management of childhood deformities, such as clubfoot and scoliosis.
      He also gave descriptions of conjoined twins and intersex. Pare managed childhood
      trauma and bladder stones using devices that he invented. This article will
      briefly demonstrate Pare's wide-ranging contribution to pediatric surgery, adding
      new insights and material to earlier work.

PMID- 20920743
TI  - Introduction: epigenetics and cancer.
AB  - The field of epigenetics has witnessed a recent explosion in our knowledge on the
      importance of epigenetic events in the control of both normal cellular processes
      and abnormal events associated with diseases, moving this field to the forefront
      of biomedical research. Advances in the field of cancer epigenetics and
      epigenomics have turned academic, medical, and public attention to the potential
      application of epigenetics in cancer control. A tremendous pace of discovery in
      this field requires that these recent conceptual breakthroughs and technological
      state-of-the-art in epigenetics and epigenomics are updated and summarized in one
      book with cancer focus. This book is primarily intended to academic and
      professional audience; however, an attempt has been made to make it
      understandable by and appealing to a wider audience among healthcare workers. The
      main aim of this book is to produce an authoritative and comprehensive reference
      source in print and online, covering all critical aspects of epigenetics and
      epigenomics and their implications in cancer research. This book discusses the
      state of science and determines the future research needs, covering most recent
      advances, both conceptual and technological, and their implication for better
      understanding of molecular mechanisms of cancer development and progression,
      early detection, risk assessment, and prevention of cancer. In this chapter, we
      describe the main aim and scope of this book and provide a brief emphasis of each
      of 22 chapters regrouped into eight major parts.

PMID- 20920744
TI  - DNA methylation and cancer.
AB  - DNA methylation is one of the most intensely studied epigenetic modifications in
      mammals. In normal cells, it assures the proper regulation of gene expression and
      stable gene silencing. DNA methylation is associated with histone modifications
      and the interplay of these epigenetic modifications is crucial to regulate the
      functioning of the genome by changing chromatin architecture. The covalent
      addition of a methyl group occurs generally in cytosine within CpG dinucleotides
      which are concentrated in large clusters called CpG islands. DNA
      methyltransferases are responsible for establishing and maintenance of
      methylation pattern. It is commonly known that inactivation of certain tumor
      suppressor genes occurs as a consequence of hypermethylation within the promoter
      regions and a numerous studies have demonstrated a broad range of genes silenced
      by DNA methylation in different cancer types. On the other hand, global
      hypomethylation, inducing genomic instability, also contributes to cell
      transformation. Apart from DNA methylation alterations in promoter regions and
      repetitive DNA sequences, this phenomenon is associated also with regulation of
      expression of noncoding RNAs such as microRNAs that may play role in tumor
      suppression. DNA methylation seems to be promising in putative translational use
      in patients and hypermethylated promoters may serve as biomarkers. Moreover,
      unlike genetic alterations, DNA methylation is reversible what makes it extremely
      interesting for therapy approaches. The importance of DNA methylation alterations
      in tumorigenesis encourages us to decode the human epigenome. Different DNA
      methylome mapping techniques are indispensable to realize this project in the
      future.

PMID- 20920745
TI  - Histone modifications and cancer.
AB  - It is now widely recognized that epigenetic events are important mechanisms
      underlying cancer development and progression. Epigenetic information in
      chromatin includes covalent modifications (such as acetylation, methylation,
      phosphorylation, and ubiquitination) of core nucleosomal proteins (histones). A
      recent progress in the field of histone modifications and chromatin research has
      tremendously enhanced our understanding of the mechanisms underlying the control
      of key physiological and pathological processes. Histone modifications and other
      epigenetic mechanisms appear to work together in establishing and maintaining
      gene activity states, thus regulating a wide range of cellular processes.
      Different histone modifications themselves act in a coordinated and orderly
      fashion to regulate cellular processes such as gene transcription, DNA
      replication, and DNA repair. Interest in histone modifications has further grown
      over the last decade with the discovery and characterization of a large number of
      histone-modifying molecules and protein complexes. Alterations in the function of
      histone-modifying complexes are believed to disrupt the pattern and levels of
      histone marks and consequently deregulate the control of chromatin-based
      processes, ultimately leading to oncogenic transformation and the development of
      cancer. Consistent with this notion, aberrant patterns of histone modifications
      have been associated with a large number of human malignancies. In this chapter,
      we discuss recent advances in our understanding of the mechanisms controlling the
      establishment and maintenance of histone marks and how disruptions of these
      chromatin-based mechanisms contribute to tumorigenesis. We also suggest how these
      advances may facilitate the development of novel strategies to prevent, diagnose,
      and treat human malignancies.

PMID- 20920746
TI  - Epigenetics and miRNAs in human cancer.
AB  - Epigenetic factors and microRNAs (miRNAs) are regulators of gene expression.
      Their regulatory function is frequently aberrant in cancer. In this chapter, we
      show that a tight connection occurs between miRNAs and epigenetics. Epigenetic
      factors can be responsible for the aberrancies of the miRNome (defined as the
      full spectrum of miRNAs for a specific genome) observed in cancer. Indeed, miRNAs
      undergo the same epigenetic regulatory laws like any other protein-coding gene.
      Moreover, a specific group of miRNAs (defined as epi-miRNAs) can directly target
      effectors of the epigenetic machinery (such as DNA methyltransferases, histone
      deacetylases, and polycomb repressive complex genes) and indirectly affect the
      expression of tumor suppressor genes, whose expression is controlled by
      epigenetic factors. The result of this epigenetic-miRNA interaction is a new
      layer of complexity in gene regulation, whose comprehension opens new avenues to
      understand human cancerogenesis and to achieve new cancer treatments.

PMID- 20920747
TI  - Interplay between different epigenetic modifications and mechanisms.
AB  - Cellular functions including transcription regulation, DNA repair, and DNA
      replication need to be tightly regulated. DNA sequence can contribute to the
      regulation of these mechanisms. This is exemplified by the consensus sequences
      that allow the binding of specific transcription factors, thus regulating
      transcription rates. Another layer of regulation resides in modifications that do
      not affect the DNA sequence itself but still results in the modification of
      chromatin structure and properties, thus affecting the readout of the underlying
      DNA sequence. These modifications are dubbed as "epigenetic modifications" and
      include, among others, histone modifications, DNA methylation, and small RNAs.
      While these events can independently regulate cellular mechanisms, recent studies
      indicate that joint activities of different epigenetic modifications could result
      in a common outcome. In this chapter, I will attempt to recapitulate the best
      known examples of collaborative activities between epigenetic modifications. I
      will emphasize mostly on the effect of crosstalks between epigenetic
      modifications on transcription regulation, simply because it is the most exposed
      and studied aspect of epigenetic interactions. I will also summarize the effect
      of epigenetic interactions on DNA damage response and DNA repair. The involvement
      of epigenetic crosstalks in cancer formation, progression, and treatment will be
      emphasized throughout the manuscript. Due to space restrictions, additional
      aspects involving histone replacements [Park, Y. J., and Luger, K. (2008).
      Histone chaperones in nucleosome eviction and histone exchange. Curr. Opin.
      Struct. Biol.18, 282-289.], histone variants [Boulard, M., Bouvet, P., Kundu, T.
      K., and Dimitrov, S. (2007). Histone variant nucleosomes: Structure, function and
      implication in disease. Subcell. Biochem. 41, 71-89; Talbert, P. B., and
      Henikoff, S. (2010). Histone variants-Ancient wrap artists of the epigenome. Nat.
      Rev. Mol. Cell Biol.11, 264-275.], and histone modification readers [de la Cruz,
      X., Lois, S., Sanchez-Molina, S., and Martinez-Balbas, M. A. (2005). Do protein
      motifs read the histone code? Bioessays27, 164-175; Grewal, S. I., and Jia, S.
      (2007). Heterochromatin revisited. Nat. Rev. Genet.8, 35-46.] will not be
      addressed in depth in this chapter, and the reader is referred to the reviews
      cited here.

PMID- 20920748
TI  - Genomic imprinting syndromes and cancer.
AB  - Genomic imprinting represents a form of epigenetic control of gene expression in
      which one allele of a gene is preferentially expressed according to the parent-of
      origin of the allele. Genomic imprinting plays an important role in normal growth
      and development. Disruption of imprinting can result in a number of human
      imprinting syndromes and predispose to cancer. In this chapter, we describe a
      number of human imprinting syndromes to illustrate the concepts of genomic
      imprinting and how loss of imprinting of imprinted genes their relationship to
      human neoplasia.

PMID- 20920749
TI  - Epigenetic codes in stem cells and cancer stem cells.
AB  - Definition of stemness states that a stem cell population should be maintained
      over long periods of time, while generating all differentiated cell types of the
      corresponding tissues. Epigenetic regulation plays an important role in such
      process because the context of genome sequences is generally unchanged by
      differentiation process. Recent evidence indicates that an abnormal control of
      cellular differentiation is involved in the process of carcinogenesis
      [Hochedlinger, K., Yamada, Y., Beard, C., and Jaenisch, R. (2005). Ectopic
      expression of Oct-4 blocks progenitor-cell differentiation and causes dysplasia
      in epithelial tissues. Cell 121, 465-477]. Therefore, understanding how cellular
      differentiation is controlled would be useful for obtaining a better
      understanding of the mechanisms underlying carcinogenesis. In this chapter, we
      will describe recent advances in understanding the epigenetic codes that govern
      differentiation of stem cells, especially focusing on embryonic stem cells. We
      will also discuss the concept of cancer stem cells, in which the epigenetic
      regulations control differentiation of tumor cells and such regulations play a
      central role in the determination of whether a tumor cell is capable of tumor
      initiation or not.

PMID- 20920750
TI  - Inheritance of epigenetic aberrations (constitutional epimutations) in cancer
      susceptibility.
AB  - The pathogenic role for heritable mutations in the DNA sequence of tumor
      suppressor and DNA repair genes has been well established in familial cancer
      syndromes. These germ line mutations confer a high risk of developing particular
      types of cancer, according to the gene affected, at a young age of onset when
      compared to sporadically arising cancers of a similar type. The widespread role
      for epigenetic dysregulation in the development and progression of sporadic
      cancers is also well recognized. However, it has only become apparent in recent
      years that epigenetic aberrations can also occur constitutionally to confer a
      similar cancer phenotype as a genetic mutation within the same gene. These
      epigenetic errors are termed "constitutional epimutations" and are characterized
      by promoter methylation and transcriptional silencing of a single allele of the
      gene in normal somatic tissues in the absence of a sequence mutation within the
      affected locus. This is best exemplified in Lynch syndrome, which is an autosomal
      dominant cancer susceptibility syndrome characterized by the early development of
      colorectal, uterine, and additional cancers exhibiting microsatellite instability
      due to impaired mismatch repair. Lynch syndrome is usually caused by heterozygous
      loss-of-function germ line mutations of the mismatch repair genes, namely MLH1,
      MSH2, MSH6, and PMS2. Tumors develop following an acquired somatic loss of the
      remaining functional allele. However, a subset of Lynch syndrome cases without
      genetic mutations instead has a constitutional epimutation of MLH1 or MSH2. These
      epimutations are associated with distinct patterns of inheritance depending on
      the nature of the mechanisms underlying them.

PMID- 20920751
TI  - Cancer epigenome.
AB  - Cancer is a heterogeneous disease caused largely by abnormalities of the genome
      and the epigenome. Typically, such abnormalities include genetic changes such as
      mutations and other genomic rearrangements or epigenetic changes such as aberrant
      DNA methylation and histone modifications that are frequently mediated by
      exposure to environmental or lifestyle factors. Therefore, comprehensive genetic
      and epigenetic analysis of cancer genomes is the most effective way to identify
      causative changes involved in tumorigenesis, irrespective of whether they are
      inherited or acquired. In this chapter, we review recent progress in the field
      and discuss some of the pilot studies that have already established epigenomic
      analysis as integral part of modern cancer research and present a major step
      toward personalized treatment of this disease in the future.

PMID- 20920753
TI  - Epigenetic drivers of genetic alterations.
AB  - DNA methylation plays a key role in the silencing of cancer-related genes,
      thereby affecting numerous cellular processes, including the cell cycle
      checkpoint, apoptosis, signal transduction, cell adhesion, and angiogenesis. DNA
      methylation also affects the expression of genes involved in maintaining the
      integrity of the genome through DNA repair and detoxification of reactive oxygen
      species. Here, we discuss how epigenetic changes lead to genetic alterations,
      including microsatellite instability and nucleotide and chromosomal alterations.
      Epigenetic inactivation of hMLH1 is a major cause of microsatellite instability
      in sporadic colorectal cancers, and germline epimutation of hMLH1 and hMSH2 is a
      cause of hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancers, which do not show mutation
      of mismatch repair genes. Epigenetic inactivation of MGMT is often associated
      with G:C-to-A:T mutations in K-ras and p53, while epigenetic inactivation of
      BRCA1, WRN, FANCF, and CHFR impairs the machinery involved in maintaining genomic
      integrity. Epigenetic alteration of the genes involved in the induction of
      senescence is often associated with cancers showing mutations in the Ras
      signaling pathway. In addition to regional hypermethylation, global
      hypomethylation is also a common feature of tumors. Hypomethylation of short and
      long interspersed repetitive elements has been reported, and hypomethylation
      affecting the integrity of the genome has been observed in ICF syndrome and
      various cancers. Dissection of the epigenetic drivers of genetic instability may
      be important for the development of novel approaches to the treatment of cancer.

PMID- 20920754
TI  - DNA demethylating agents and epigenetic therapy of cancer.
AB  - Epigenetic events have been associated with virtually every step of tumor
      development and progression, and epigenetic alterations are believed to occur
      early in tumor development and may precede the malignant process. In contrast to
      genetic changes, epigenetic alterations arise in a gradual manner, leading to a
      progressive silencing of specific genes. An important distinction between
      epigenetic and genetic alterations is intrinsic reversibility of the former,
      making cancer-associated changes in DNA methylation, histone modifications, and
      expression of noncoding RNAs attractive targets for therapeutic intervention.
      This realization has triggered an impressive quest for the development of
      "epigenetic drugs" and epigenetic therapies. A number of agents have been
      subjected to an intensive investigation, many of which have been found capable of
      altering epigenetic states, including DNA methylation patterns and histone
      modification states. Many of these agents are currently being tested in clinical
      trials, while several of them are already used in clinics. This review will focus
      on the recent advances in the development of epigenetic drugs based on the
      inhibition of DNA methylation. Combinatorial therapies that couple DNA
      demethylating agents with histone deacetylase inhibitors will also be discussed.

PMID- 20920755
TI  - Histone modification therapy of cancer.
AB  - The state of modification of histone tails plays an important role in defining
      the accessibility of DNA for the transcription machinery and other regulatory
      factors. It has been extensively demonstrated that the posttranslational
      modifications of the histone tails, as well as modifications within the
      nucleosome domain, regulate the level of chromatin condensation and are therefore
      important in regulating gene expression and other nuclear events. Together with
      DNA methylation, they constitute the most relevant level of epigenetic regulation
      of cell functions. Histone modifications are carried out by a multipart network
      of macromolecular complexes endowed with enzymatic, regulatory, and recognition
      domains. Not surprisingly, epigenetic alterations caused by aberrant activity of
      these enzymes are linked to the establishment and maintenance of the cancer
      phenotype and, importantly, are potentially reversible, since they do not involve
      genetic mutations in the underlying DNA sequence. Histone modification therapy of
      cancer is based on the generation of drugs able to interfere with the activity of
      enzymes involved in histone modifications: new drugs have recently been approved
      for use in cancer patients, clinically validating this strategy. Unfortunately,
      however, clinical responses are not always consistent and do not parallel closely
      the results observed in preclinical models. Here, we present a brief overview of
      the deregulation of chromatin-associated enzymatic activities in cancer cells and
      of the main results achieved by histone modification therapeutic approaches.

PMID- 20920752
TI  - Identification of driver and passenger DNA methylation in cancer by epigenomic
      analysis.
AB  - Human cancer genomes are characterized by widespread aberrations in DNA
      methylation patterns including DNA hypomethylation of mostly repetitive sequences
      and hypermethylation of numerous CpG islands. The analysis of DNA methylation
      patterns in cancer has progressed from single gene studies examining potentially
      important candidate genes to a more global analysis where all or almost all
      promoter and CpG island sequences can be analyzed. We provide a brief overview of
      these genome-scale methylation-profiling techniques, summarize some of the
      information that has been obtained with these approaches, and discuss what we
      have learned about the specificity of methylation aberrations in cancer at a
      genome-wide level. The challenge is now to identify those methylation changes
      that are thought to be crucial for the processes of tumor initiation, tumor
      progression, or metastasis and distinguish these from methylation changes that
      are merely passenger events that accompany the transformation process but have no
      effect per se on the process of carcinogenesis.

PMID- 20920756
TI  - Floquet theory in solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance.

PMID- 20920757
TI  - Radial sampling for fast NMR: Concepts and practices over three decades.

PMID- 20920758
TI  - Random sampling in multidimensional NMR spectroscopy.

PMID- 20920760
TI  - Airway obstructive diseases in older adults: from detection to treatment.
AB  - Asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease occur commonly and may overlap
      among older adults. Smoking, air pollution, and bronchial hyperresponsiveness are
      the main risk factors. The treatment of these diseases in older adults does not
      differ from the available guidelines but may be complicated by the presence of
      comorbidities. Smoking cessation is essential for smokers, and pulmonary
      rehabilitation must be considered regardless of the age of the patient.

PMID- 20920759
TI  - Age-related changes in immune function: effect on airway inflammation.
AB  - Immunosenescence is defined as changes in the innate and adaptive immune response
      associated with increased age. The clinical consequences of immunosenescence
      include increased susceptibility to infection, malignancy and autoimmunity,
      decreased response to vaccination, and impaired wound healing. However, there are
      several immune alterations that might facilitate persistence of asthma into late
      adulthood or development of asthma after the age of 50 to 60 years. Asthma in
      older patients is not uncommon, and this is a growing population as the average
      lifespan increases. Specific innate changes that might affect severity of asthma
      in older patients or be involved in the development of late-onset asthma include
      impaired mucociliary clearance and changes in airway neutrophil, eosinophil, and
      mast cell numbers and function. Additionally, age-related altered antigen
      presentation and decreased specific antibody responses might increase the risk of
      respiratory tract infections. Respiratory tract infections exacerbate asthma in
      older patients and possibly play a role in the pathogenesis of late-onset asthma.
      Furthermore, cytokine profiles might be modified with aging, with some
      investigators suggesting a trend toward T(H)2 cytokine expression. This review
      examines specific innate and adaptive immune responses affected by aging that
      might affect the inflammatory response in older adults with asthma.

PMID- 20920762
TI  - Alveolar nitric oxide concentration, small airways inflammation, and targeted
      asthma therapy: are we there yet?

PMID- 20920763
TI  - Does suppression of IL-4 synthesis by aspirin explain the therapeutic benefit of
      aspirin desensitization treatment?

PMID- 20920765
TI  - Statins enhance the anti-inflammatory effects of inhaled corticosteroids in
      asthmatic patients through increased induction of indoleamine 2, 3-dioxygenase.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We have previously shown that inhaled corticosteroids activate
      indoleamine 2, 3-dioxygenase (IDO) activity through increased IL-10 secretion.
      Statins might enhance the anti-inflammatory effects of corticosteroids.
      OBJECTIVE: In a double-blind study we added simvastatin to patients with mild
      asthma receiving a low dose of inhaled budesonide and evaluated sputum eosinophil
      counts, IL-10 secretion, and IDO activity, as well as their putative signaling
      pathways. METHODS: After a 2-week run-in period without treatment, 50 asthmatic
      patients were treated with 200 MUg of budesonide and randomly assigned to either
      10 mg of simvastatin or matched placebo for 8 weeks. Inflammation was evaluated
      through eosinophil counts, secretory signaling molecules, and immunocytochemistry
      of macrophages in sputum. RESULTS: Sputum eosinophil percentages were reduced
      significantly by the combined therapy with budesonide and simvastatin compared
      with budesonide alone (P = .02). Corticosteroids activated glucocorticoid-induced
      TNF receptor ligand, which induces activation of p52 through the noncanonical
      nuclear factor kappaB pathway, leading to the increased transcription and
      activation of IDO. Simvastatin enhanced corticosteroid-activated noncanonical
      nuclear factor kappaB-dependent induction of IDO by activating type I interferons
      and also enhanced the effect of corticosteroid on IL-10 release. CONCLUSION: A
      statin enhances the anti-inflammatory effect of an inhaled corticosteroid in
      asthma, and this was mediated through the alteration of IDO activity in
      macrophages.

PMID- 20920764
TI  - A trial of clarithromycin for the treatment of suboptimally controlled asthma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: PCR studies have demonstrated evidence of Mycoplasma pneumoniae and
      Chlamydophila pneumoniae in the lower airways of patients with asthma. OBJECTIVE:
      To test the hypothesis that clarithromycin would improve asthma control in
      individuals with mild-to-moderate persistent asthma that was not well controlled
      despite treatment with low-dose inhaled corticosteroids. METHODS: Adults with an
      Asthma Control Questionnaire score >=1.5 after a 4-week period of treatment with
      fluticasone propionate were entered into a PCR-stratified randomized, controlled
      trial to evaluate the effect of 16 weeks of either clarithromycin or placebo,
      added to fluticasone, on asthma control in individuals with or without lower
      airway PCR evidence of M pneumoniae or C pneumoniae. RESULTS: A total of 92
      participants were randomized. Twelve (13%) subjects demonstrated PCR evidence of
      M pneumoniae or C pneumoniae in endobronchial biopsies; 80 were PCR-negative for
      both organisms. In PCR-positive participants, clarithromycin yielded a 0.4 +/-
      0.4 unit improvement in the Asthma Control Questionnaire score, with a 0.1 +/-
      0.3 unit improvement in those allocated to placebo. This between-group difference
      of 0.3 +/- 0.5 (P = .6) was neither clinically nor statistically significant. In
      PCR-negative participants, a nonsignificant between-group difference of 0.2 +/-
      0.2 units (P = .3) was observed. Clarithromycin did not improve lung function or
      airway inflammation but did improve airway hyperresponsiveness, increasing the
      methacholine PC(20) by 1.2 +/- 0.5 doubling doses (P = .02) in the study
      population. CONCLUSION: Adding clarithromycin to fluticasone in adults with mild
      to-moderate persistent asthma that was suboptimally controlled by low-dose
      inhaled corticosteroids alone did not further improve asthma control. Although
      there was an improvement in airway hyperresponsiveness with clarithromycin, this
      benefit was not accompanied by improvements in other secondary outcomes.

PMID- 20920766
TI  - The immunostimulant OM-85 BV prevents wheezing attacks in preschool children.
AB  - BACKGROUND: No reagents have been shown to be effective in preventing wheezing
      attacks provoked by acute respiratory tract illnesses (ARTIs) in preschool
      children. New therapeutic agents and preventive strategies are needed.
      OBJECTIVES: We assessed the effect of OM-85 BV (Broncho-Vaxom; OM Pharma, Geneva,
      Switzerland) in preventing ARTI-provoked wheezing attacks in preschool children
      with recurrent wheezing. METHODS: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled,
      parallel-group study was carried out between August 2007 and September 2008. The
      study included 75 children with recurrent wheezing who were 1 to 6 years old.
      Participants were randomly assigned to groups given either OM-85 BV or a placebo
      (1 capsule per day for 10 days each month for 3 consecutive months) at the start
      of the trial. Participants were followed for 12 months, which included the
      administration period of the test article. RESULTS: Subjects given OM-85 BV had a
      lower rate of wheezing attacks. The cumulative difference in wheezing attacks
      between the 2 groups was 2.18 wheezing attacks per patient in 12 months; there
      was a 37.9% reduction in the group given OM-85 BV compared with the group given
      placebo (P < .001). Stepwise multiple (linear) regression analysis showed that
      the main difference between the OM-85 BV and placebo groups was a reduction the
      number of ARTIs (R = -0.805, P < .001). The duration of each wheezing attack was
      2 days shorter in the group given OM-85 BV than in the group given placebo (P =
      .001). CONCLUSION: Administration of OM-85 BV significantly reduced the rate and
      duration of wheezing attacks in preschool children with ARTIs.

PMID- 20920767
TI  - Can we prevent exacerbations of asthma caused by common cold viruses?

PMID- 20920768
TI  - Risk of perinatal mortality associated with inhaled corticosteroid use for the
      treatment of asthma during pregnancy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Four studies investigating the association between inhaled
      corticosteroid (ICS) use during pregnancy and perinatal mortality reported no
      significantly increased risk. These studies must be interpreted with caution
      because they have insufficient statistical power and a lack of adjustment for
      potential confounders. OBJECTIVES: We sought to evaluate whether asthmatic women
      exposed to ICSs during pregnancy are more at risk of perinatal mortality than
      asthmatic women not exposed. We also sought to estimate the risk of perinatal
      mortality as a function of the daily ICS dose taken during pregnancy. METHODS:
      From the linkage of 3 administrative databases from Quebec, a cohort including
      13,004 single pregnancies from asthmatic women was constructed. We used a 2-stage
      sampling cohort design to obtain information on cigarette smoking from the
      medical charts of 487 mothers. The final estimates of the odds ratios (ORs) of
      perinatal mortality were estimated with a logistic regression model. RESULTS: The
      cohort was formed of 4,140 women who used greater than 0 to 250 MUg/d ICS, 1,140
      women who used greater than 250 MUg/d ICS, and 7,724 nonusers of ICSs during
      pregnancy. Women exposed to ICSs (any dose) had a nonsignificant increased risk
      of perinatal mortality (OR, 1.07; 95% CI, 0.70-1.61). The use of greater than 250
      MUg/d ICS was associated with a nonsignificant 52% increased risk of perinatal
      mortality (OR, 1.52; 95% CI, 0.62-3.76). CONCLUSION: The risk of perinatal
      mortality was not found to be significantly associated with ICS use during
      pregnancy. The result associated with higher doses of ICSs is limited due to a
      lack of statistical power and a possibility of residual confounding by asthma
      severity and control.

PMID- 20920769
TI  - The epidemiology of ocular and nasal allergy in the United States, 1988-1994.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Allergies give rise to the fifth-leading group of chronic diseases.
      However, the specific prevalence of ocular allergy is poorly described.
      OBJECTIVE: We sought to provide a more accurate representation of the
      epidemiology of ocular allergy in the United States. METHODS: The National Health
      And Nutrition Examination Survey III performed in the United States from 1988
      1994 was the source for the data collected. Items from the questionnaire
      regarding ocular and nasal allergy symptoms in relation to skin prick testing
      were stratified by age, race, region, and sex. RESULTS: The sample size is
      20,010: 1,285 (6.4%) reported ocular symptoms, 3,294 (16.5%) reported nasal
      symptoms, 5,944 (29.7%) reported both ocular and nasal symptoms, and 9.487
      (47.4%) were asymptomatic. Forty percent of the population reported at least 1
      occurrence of ocular symptoms in the past 12 months. Those 50 years and older
      have a higher frequency of isolated ocular symptoms (P < .001). There is an
      increase in the frequency of symptoms in those younger than 50 years in the
      populations of subjects with ocular and nasal symptoms combined and isolated
      nasal symptoms (P < .001). Ocular symptoms are more frequent than nasal symptoms
      in relation to animals (P < .001), household dust (P < .001), and pollen (P <
      .001). CONCLUSION: This analysis provides the first representation of the
      epidemiology of ocular allergy in the United States. Up to 40% of the population,
      the highest reported to date, have experienced ocular symptoms at least once in
      their lifetime, with a peak of symptoms in the months of June and July.

PMID- 20920770
TI  - National prevalence and risk factors for food allergy and relationship to asthma:
      results from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2005-2006.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The national prevalence and patterns of food allergy (FA) in the
      United States are not well understood. OBJECTIVE: We developed nationally
      representative estimates of the prevalence of and demographic risk factors for FA
      and investigated associations of FA with asthma, hay fever, and eczema. METHODS:
      A total of 8203 participants in the National Health and Nutrition Examination
      Survey 2005-2006 had food-specific serum IgE measured to peanut, cow's milk, egg
      white, and shrimp. Food-specific IgE and age-based criteria were used to define
      likely FA (LFA), possible FA, and unlikely FA and to develop estimates of
      clinical FA. Self-reported data were used to evaluate demographic risk factors
      and associations with asthma and related conditions. RESULTS: In the United
      States, the estimated prevalence of clinical FA was 2.5% (peanut, 1.3%; milk,
      0.4%; egg, 0.2%; shrimp, 1.0%; not mutually exclusive). Risk of possible FA/LFA
      was increased in non-Hispanic blacks (odds ratio, 3.06; 95% CI, 2.14-4.36), males
      (1.87; 1.32-2.66), and children (2.04; 1.42-2.93). Study participants with doctor
      diagnosed asthma (vs no asthma) exhibited increased risk of all measures of food
      sensitization. Moreover, in those with LFA, the adjusted odds ratio for current
      asthma (3.8; 1.5-10.7) and an emergency department visit for asthma in the past
      year (6.9; 2.4-19.7) were both notably increased. CONCLUSION: Population-based
      serologic data on 4 foods indicate an estimated 2.5% of the US population has FA,
      and increased risk was found for black subjects, male subjects, and children. In
      addition, FA could be an under-recognized risk factor for problematic asthma.

PMID- 20920771
TI  - Can early introduction of egg prevent egg allergy in infants? A population-based
      study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Infant feeding guidelines have long recommended delaying introduction
      of solids and allergenic foods to prevent allergy in high-risk infants, despite a
      paucity of evidence. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to determine whether confirmed egg
      allergy in 12-month-old infants is associated with (1) duration of breast-feeding
      and (2) ages of introducing egg and solids. METHODS: In a population-based cross
      sectional study (HealthNuts) parents reported on infant feeding and potential
      confounding factors before skin prick testing for egg white. Egg-sensitized
      infants were then offered an egg oral food challenge. Multiple logistic
      regression was used to investigate associations between diet and egg allergy
      adjusted for possible confounding factors. RESULTS: A total of 2589 infants (73%
      response) participated. Compared with introduction at 4 to 6 months, introducing
      egg into the diet later was associated with higher risks of egg allergy (adjusted
      odds ratios [ORs], 1.6 [95% CI, 1.0-2.6] and 3.4 [95% CI, 1.8-6.5] for
      introduction at 10-12 and after 12 months, respectively). These findings
      persisted even in children without risk factors (OR, 3.3 [95% CI, 1.1-9.9]; 10-12
      months). At age 4 to 6 months, first exposure as cooked egg reduced the risk of
      egg allergy compared with first exposure as egg in baked goods (OR, 0.2 [95% CI,
      0.06-0.71]). Duration of breast-feeding and age at introduction of solids were
      not associated with egg allergy. CONCLUSIONS: Introduction of cooked egg at 4 to
      6 months of age might protect against egg allergy. Changes in infant feeding
      guidelines could have a significant effect on childhood egg allergy and possibly
      food allergy more generally.

PMID- 20920772
TI  - Recombinant human C1-inhibitor for the treatment of acute angioedema attacks in
      patients with hereditary angioedema.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hereditary angioedema (HAE) results from a genetic deficiency of C1
      inhibitor. Two similar independent, randomized, saline controlled, double-blind
      studies were conducted to evaluate the efficacy and safety of recombinant human
      C1-inhibitor (rhC1INH) as a treatment of acute angioedema attacks in patients
      with HAE. OBJECTIVE: Analysis of pooled study results. METHODS: Patients with an
      eligible attack were randomized to a single intravenous dose of rhC1INH or
      saline. Efficacy was assessed by using patient-reported visual analog scale
      outcomes, and safety was assessed by using adverse events and immunogenicity of
      rhC1INH. RESULTS: rhC1INH at 100 (n = 29) and 50 (n = 12) U/kg body weight
      resulted in a significant reduction for both the primary endpoint time to the
      beginning of relief of symptoms compared with saline (n = 29): median, 66 (95%
      CI, 61-122) minutes, 122 (72-136) minutes, and 495 (245-520) minutes, P < .001
      and P = .013, respectively; and for the secondary endpoint time to minimal
      symptoms, median, 266 (242-490) minutes, 247 (243-484) minutes, and 1210 (970
      1500) minutes, P < .001 and P = .001, respectively. Therapeutic failure occurred
      in 59% (17/29) of the saline group compared with 0% (0/12) of the 50 U/kg group
      and 10% (3/29) of the 100 U/kg group. Treatment-emergent adverse events were
      unremarkable and tended to be reported more frequently in the saline group. No
      postexposure antibody responses against rhC1INH or host-related impurities were
      observed. CONCLUSION: Administration of rhC1INH at 100 or 50 U/kg was highly
      effective as a treatment of acute attacks in patients with HAE and appeared to be
      safe and well tolerated.

PMID- 20920773
TI  - Ambient air pollution impairs regulatory T-cell function in asthma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Asthma is the most frequent chronic disease in children, and children
      are at high risk for adverse health consequences associated with ambient air
      pollution (AAP) exposure. Regulatory T (Treg) cells are suppressors of immune
      responses involved in asthma pathogenesis. Treg-cell impairment is associated
      with increased DNA methylation of Forkhead box transcription factor 3 (Foxp3), a
      key transcription factor in Treg-cell activity. Because AAP exposure can induce
      epigenetic changes, we hypothesized that Treg-cell function would be impaired by
      AAP, allowing amplification of an inflammatory response. OBJECTIVES: To assess
      whether exposure to AAP led to hypermethylation of the Foxp3 gene, causing
      impaired Treg-cell suppression and worsened asthma symptom scores. METHODS:
      Children with and without asthma from Fresno, Calif (high pollution, Fresno
      Asthma Group [FA], n = 71, and Fresno Non Asthmatic Group, n = 30, respectively),
      and from Stanford, Calif (low pollution, Stanford Asthma Group, n = 40, and
      Stanford Non Asthmatic Group, n = 40), were enrolled in a cross-sectional study.
      Peripheral blood Treg cells were used in functional and epigenetic studies.
      Asthma outcomes were assessed by Global Initiative in Asthma score. RESULTS:
      Fresno Asthma Group Treg-cell suppression was impaired and FA Treg-cell
      chemotaxis were reduced compared with other groups (P <= .05). Treg-cell
      dysfunction was associated with more pronounced decreases in asthma Global
      Initiative in Asthma score in FA versus the Stanford Asthma Group. Foxp3 was
      decreased in FA compared with the Fresno Non Asthmatic Group (P <= .05). FA also
      contained significantly higher levels of methylation at the Foxp3 locus (P <=
      .05). CONCLUSION: Increased exposure to AAP is associated with hypermethylation
      of the Foxp3 locus, impairing Treg-cell function and increasing asthma morbidity.
      AAP could play a role in mediating epigenetic changes in Treg cells, which may
      worsen asthma by an immune mechanism.

PMID- 20920774
TI  - Eoxins: a new inflammatory pathway in childhood asthma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Increased levels of leukotrienes (LTs) in exhaled breath condensate
      (EBC) are associated with asthma and bronchial hyperresponsiveness (BHR), whereas
      eicosanoids generated through the 15-lipoxygenase (LO) pathway (15
      hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid [HETE] and eoxins) have been less studied.
      OBJECTIVE: We investigated whether metabolites of the 5- and 15-LO pathways in
      EBC are associated with childhood asthma, asthma severity, and clinical
      parameters. METHODS: The present study included 131 school-aged children (27
      children with problematic severe asthma, 80 children with mild-to-moderate
      asthma, and 24 healthy children) from the Severe Asthma Recognized in Childhood
      study and 19 children with other nonasthmatic chronic lung diseases. Clinical
      work-up included spirometry, fractional exhaled nitric oxide measurements, skin
      prick testing, and methacholine challenge. Eicosanoids were analyzed in EBC by
      using mass spectrometry and are reported as concentrations (in picograms per
      milliliter) and eicosanoid/palmitic acid (PA) ratios. RESULTS: Eoxin C4/PA, eoxin
      D4/PA, eoxin E4/PA, 15-HETE/PA, and LTC4/PA ratios were significantly increased
      in asthmatic versus healthy children. Eoxin D4/PA and LTE4/PA ratios were also
      significantly higher in children with BHR. A nonsignificant trend was observed
      toward higher eoxin/PA ratios with increasing asthma severity. In contrast to
      asthma, children with chronic lung disease had the highest 15-HETE/PA, LTC4/PA,
      LTE4/PA, and LTB4/PA ratios. CONCLUSION: The results point to increased activity
      of the 15-LO inflammatory pathway in childhood asthma. Mass spectrometric
      analyses of EBC demonstrate that increased eoxin levels not only accompany the
      increased 5-LO product LTC4 but are also associated with BHR. These markers might
      represent a new therapeutic target for asthma treatment.

PMID- 20920775
TI  - Methacholine is more sensitive than mannitol for evaluation of bronchial
      hyperresponsiveness in children with asthma.

PMID- 20920776
TI  - PDE11A associations with asthma: results of a genome-wide association scan.

PMID- 20920777
TI  - Ineffectiveness of telephone-based environmental control intervention to improve
      asthma outcomes.

PMID- 20920778
TI  - IL-4 receptor alpha polymorphisms are predictors of a pharmacogenetic response to
      a novel IL-4/IL-13 antagonist.

PMID- 20920779
TI  - The need for standardization in exercise challenge testing for exercise-induced
      asthma/bronchoconstriction.

PMID- 20920780
TI  - Curcumin attenuates the effects of transport stress on serum cortisol
      concentration, hippocampal NO production, and BDNF expression in the pig.
AB  - Curcumin, the active component of curcuma longa, has been reported to be
      effective in alleviating chronic stress-induced disorders in rodents by
      modulating neuroprotection and neuroendocrine functions of the central nervous
      system, especially hippocampus. However, it is unclear whether curcumin can
      attenuate the subacute stress response induced by 2 h of road transport in the
      pig. Therefore, the present study was designed to identify the changes of serum
      cortisol concentration, hippocampal nitric oxide (NO) production, and related
      gene expression in response to 2 h of transport and to explore whether curcumin
      treatment (8 mg/kg, p.o.) for 21 d before transport may alleviate the stress
      induced responses in the hippocampus of pigs. We found that 2 h of transport
      elevated serum cortisol concentration (P < 0.01), increased hippocampal NO
      content, and reduced brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) mRNA expression in
      pigs not treated with curcumin, whereas these stress responses were all reversed
      or attenuated in curcumin-treated pigs. In addition, the stress-induced increase
      in the expression of constitutive nitric oxide synthase (cNOS) and enzyme
      activities of total NOS, cNOS, and inducible NOS (iNOS) was also reversed or
      attenuated in curcumin-treated pigs. However, neither transport nor curcumin
      caused significant alterations in hippocampal expression of 11beta-hydroxysteroid
      dehydrogenase type 1 and type 2 (11beta-HSD1 and 2), glucocorticoid and
      mineralocorticoid receptors (GR and MR), or pro-/anti-apoptotic molecules (Bax
      alpha and Bcl-xL). These results suggest that curcumin can alleviate subacute
      stress response in pigs through its neuroprotective effects on modulating
      hippocampal NO production and BDNF expression.

PMID- 20920781
TI  - Impacts of maternal selenium and nutritional level on growth, adiposity, and
      glucose tolerance in female offspring in sheep.
AB  - To examine effects of maternal nutrition and Se intake on adiposity and insulin
      sensitivity in female offspring, treatments were imposed during gestation on 82
      pregnant primiparous Rambouillet ewe lambs (52.2 +/- 0.8 kg) allotted randomly to
      1 of 6 treatments in a 2 * 3 factorial arrangement. Factors were adequate (9.5
      MUg Se.kg BW(-1).d(-1); ASe) or high (81.8 MUg Se.kg BW(-1).d(-1); HSe) levels of
      dietary Se (Se-enriched yeast) and maternal nutritional intake (100% of
      metabolizable energy [ME] requirement [MOD], 60% of MOD [LOW], and 140% of MOD
      [HIGH]). Selenium treatments were initiated at breeding and global nutritional
      treatments at day 50 of gestation. At parturition, lambs were removed from ewes
      before nursing and managed similarly. Glucose tolerance tests were performed at
      107 and 148 d of age. Necropsies were performed at 180 d of age. Although there
      was no effect of Se on maternal body condition or weight during gestation, both
      maternal nutritional intake and selenium treatment influenced (P <= 0.04)
      offspring growth and response to a glucose tolerance test. Female lambs from HSe
      ewes were heavier (P = 0.04) at birth. There were nutritional intake and Se
      interactions (P <= 0.05) on the growth rate of the lambs and their insulin
      response to a glucose bolus at 2 different times during growth. By 180 d, ewe
      lambs from HSe ewes had more (P <= 0.07) internal fat stores than lambs from ASe
      ewes. It appears that both maternal nutritional level and Se intake can influence
      insulin sensitivity, and maternal Se intake alone can enhance fat deposition in
      female offspring.

PMID- 20920782
TI  - Fibroblast growth factor-10 maintains the survival and promotes the growth of
      cultured goat preantral follicles.
AB  - The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of fibroblast growth
      factor-10 (FGF-10) on the survival, activation (transition from primordial to
      primary follicles), and growth of goat preantral follicles cultured in vitro.
      Pieces of ovarian cortex were cultured for 1 and 7 d in the absence or presence
      of FGF-10 (0, 1, 10, 50, 100, and 200 ng/mL). Noncultured and cultured tissues
      were processed and analyzed by histology, transmission electron microscopy, and
      viability testing. Results showed that after 7 d, a greater percentage (79.9%) of
      morphologically normal follicles (containing an oocyte with regular shape and
      uniform cytoplasm, and organized layers of granulosa cells without a pyknotic
      nucleus) was observed when cultured with 50 ng/mL of FGF-10 when compared with
      other concentrations of FGF-10 (0 ng/mL, 67.3%; 1 ng/mL, 68.2%; 10 ng/mL, 63.3%;
      100 ng/mL, 64.4%; 200 ng/mL, 52.7%). Ultrastructural analyses and viability
      testing using fluorescent markers confirmed the follicular integrity of FGF-10
      (50 ng/mL)-treated fragments after 7 d of culture. After 7 d, all FGF-10
      concentrations reduced the percentage of primordial follicles and increased the
      percentage of developing follicles. In the presence of 50 ng/mL of FGF-10,
      follicles increased in diameter after 7 d of culture when compared with other
      concentrations tested. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that FGF-10
      maintains the morphological integrity of goat preantral follicles and stimulates
      the growth of activated follicles in culture. The culture conditions identified
      here contribute to the understanding of the factors involved in goat early
      follicular development.

PMID- 20920783
TI  - Expression of the ACTH receptor, steroidogenic acute regulatory protein, and
      steroidogenic enzymes in canine cortisol-secreting adrenocortical tumors.
AB  - Studies of human adrenocortical tumors (ATs) causing Cushing's syndrome suggest
      that hypersecretion of cortisol is caused by altered expression of steroidogenic
      enzymes and that steroidogenesis can only be maintained when there is expression
      of the ACTH receptor (ACTH-R). Here we report the screening for the mRNA
      expression of the ACTH-R, steroidogenic acute regulatory protein (StAR),
      cholesterol side-chain cleavage enzyme, 3beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase, 21
      hydroxylase (all in 38 cortisol-secreting ATs), 17alpha-hydroxylase, and 11beta
      hydroxylase (both in 28 cortisol-secreting ATs). Real-time PCR (RT-PCR) was
      applied in all samples and was compared with that in normal canine adrenal
      glands. Messenger-RNA encoding StAR, steroidogenic enzymes, and ACTH-R were
      present in both normal adrenal glands and cortisol-secreting ATs. The amounts of
      mRNA encoding StAR and enzymes of the steroidogenic cluster needed for cortisol
      production did not differ significantly between either adenomas or carcinomas and
      normal adrenal glands. The amount of mRNA encoding ACTH-R was significantly lower
      in carcinomas than in normal adrenal glands (P = 0.008). In conclusion, RT-PCR
      analysis revealed no overexpression of StAR and steroidogenic enzymes in canine
      cortisol-secreting ATs. Significant downregulation of ACTH-R in carcinomas might
      be associated with the malignant character of the AT.

PMID- 20920784
TI  - Small molecule ion channel match making: a natural fit for new ASIC ligands.
AB  - ASICs (acid-sensing ion channels) are proton-gated channels that are important
      for pain sensation. New work by Yu and coworkers in this issue of Neuron
      identifies synthetic ligands and related small molecules found in the
      inflammatory soup that activate ASICs. These new findings highlight the power of
      small molecule screening to find new compounds that can control channel function.
      They also demonstrate how the discovery and characterization of such molecules
      can lead to new insights regarding channel mechanism and natural ligands.

PMID- 20920785
TI  - Snapin snaps into the dynein complex for late endosome-lysosome trafficking and
      autophagy.
AB  - Late endosome-lysosome trafficking plays a key role in regulating cell surface
      signaling and degradation of intracellular components by autophagy. New work by
      Cai and coworkers in this issue of Neuron provides evidence that snapin regulates
      the recruitment of late endosomes to the dynein motor complex for retrograde
      trafficking along microtubules and maturation of lysosomes.

PMID- 20920786
TI  - VGLUTs--potential targets for the treatment of seizures?
AB  - Vesicular glutamate transporters (VGLUTs) load glutamate into synaptic vesicles.
      In this issue of Neuron, Juge et al. report that ketone bodies compete with
      chloride-dependent activation of VGLUTs, leading to suppression of glutamate
      release and seizures. These findings provide a surprising explanation for the
      efficacy of the ketogenic diet in controlling epilepsy.

PMID- 20920787
TI  - Molecular mechanisms of synaptic specificity in developing neural circuits.
AB  - The function of the brain depends on highly specific patterns of connections
      between populations of neurons. The establishment of these connections requires
      the targeting of axons and dendrites to defined zones or laminae, the recognition
      of individual target cells, the formation of synapses on particular regions of
      the dendritic tree, and the differentiation of pre- and postsynaptic
      specializations. Recent studies provide compelling evidence that transmembrane
      adhesion proteins of the immunoglobulin, cadherin, and leucine-rich repeat
      protein families, as well as secreted proteins such as semaphorins and FGFs,
      regulate distinct aspects of neuronal connectivity. These observations suggest
      that the coordinated actions of a number of molecular signals contribute to the
      specification and differentiation of synaptic connections in the developing
      brain.

PMID- 20920788
TI  - Regulation of tau pathology by the microglial fractalkine receptor.
AB  - Aggregates of the hyperphosphorylated microtubule-associated protein tau (MAPT)
      are an invariant neuropathological feature of tauopathies. Here, we show that
      microglial neuroinflammation promotes MAPT phosphorylation and aggregation.
      First, lipopolysaccharide-induced microglial activation promotes
      hyperphosphorylation of endogenous mouse MAPT in nontransgenic mice that is
      further enhanced in mice lacking the microglial-specific fractalkine receptor
      (CX3CR1) and is dependent upon functional toll-like receptor 4 and interleukin-1
      (IL-1) receptors. Second, humanized MAPT transgenic mice lacking CX3CR1 exhibited
      enhanced MAPT phosphorylation and aggregation as well as behavioral impairments
      that correlated with increased levels of active p38 MAPK. Third, in vitro
      experiments demonstrate that microglial activation elevates the level of active
      p38 MAPK and enhances MAPT hyperphosphorylation within neurons that can be
      blocked by administration of an interleukin-1 receptor antagonist and a specific
      p38 MAPK inhibitor. Taken together, our results suggest that CX3CR1 and IL-1/p38
      MAPK may serve as novel therapeutic targets for human tauopathies.

PMID- 20920789
TI  - Presynaptic activity and CaMKII modulate retrograde semaphorin signaling and
      synaptic refinement.
AB  - Establishing synaptic connections often involves the activity-dependent
      withdrawal of off-target contacts. We describe an in vivo role for temporally
      patterned electrical activity, voltage-gated calcium channels, and CaMKII in
      modulating the response of Drosophila motoneurons to the chemorepellent Sema-2a
      during synaptic refinement. Mutations affecting the Sema-2a ligand, the plexin B
      receptor (plexB), the voltage-gated Ca(v)2.1 calcium channel (cac), or the
      voltage-gated Na(v)1 sodium channel (mle(nap-ts);tipE) each result in ectopic
      neuromuscular contacts. Sema-2a interacts genetically with both of the channel
      mutations. The cac phenotype is enhanced by the Sema-2a mutation and is
      suppressed by either plexB overexpression or patterned, low-frequency (0.01 Hz)
      bouts of electrical activity in the embryo. The calcium-dependent suppression of
      ectopic contacts also depends on the downstream activation of CaMKII. These
      results indicate a role for patterned electrical activity and presynaptic calcium
      signaling, acting through CaMKII, in modulating a retrograde signal during the
      refinement of synaptic connections.

PMID- 20920790
TI  - Nna1 mediates Purkinje cell dendritic development via lysyl oxidase propeptide
      and NF-kappaB signaling.
AB  - The molecular pathways controlling cerebellar Purkinje cell dendrite formation
      and maturation are poorly understood. The Purkinje cell degeneration (pcd) mutant
      mouse is characterized by mutations in Nna1, a gene discovered in an axonal
      regenerative context, but whose actual function in development and disease is
      unknown. We found abnormal development of Purkinje cell dendrites in postnatal
      pcd(Sid) mice and linked this deficit to a deletion mutation in exon 7 of Nna1.
      With single cell gene profiling and virus-based gene transfer, we analyzed a
      molecular pathway downstream to Nna1 underlying abnormal Purkinje cell
      dendritogenesis in pcd(Sid) mice. We discovered that mutant Nna1 dramatically
      increases intranuclear localization of lysyl oxidase propeptide, which interferes
      with NF-kappaB RelA signaling and microtubule-associated protein regulation of
      microtubule stability, leading to underdevelopment of Purkinje cell dendrites.
      These findings provide insight into Nna1's role in neuronal development and why
      its absence renders Purkinje cells more vulnerable.

PMID- 20920791
TI  - A nonproton ligand sensor in the acid-sensing ion channel.
AB  - Acid-sensing ion channels (ASICs) have long been considered as extracellular
      proton (H(+))-gated cation channels, and peripheral ASIC3 channels seem to be a
      natural sensor of acidic pain. Here, we report the identification of a nonproton
      sensor on ASIC3. We show first that 2-guanidine-4-methylquinazoline (GMQ) causes
      persistent ASIC3 channel activation at the normal pH. Using GMQ as a probe and
      combining mutagenesis and covalent modification analysis, we then uncovered a
      ligand sensor lined by residues around E423 and E79 of the extracellular "palm"
      domain of the ASIC3 channel that is crucial for activation by nonproton
      activators. Furthermore, we show that GMQ activates sensory neurons and causes
      pain-related behaviors in an ASIC3-dependent manner, indicating the functional
      significance of ASIC activation by nonproton ligands. Thus, natural ligands
      beyond protons may activate ASICs under physiological and pathological conditions
      through the nonproton ligand sensor, serving for channel activation independent
      of abrupt and marked acidosis.

PMID- 20920792
TI  - Snapin-regulated late endosomal transport is critical for efficient autophagy
      lysosomal function in neurons.
AB  - Neuron maintenance and survival require late endocytic transport from distal
      processes to the soma where lysosomes are predominantly localized. Here, we
      report a role for Snapin in attaching dynein to late endosomes through its
      intermediate chain (DIC). snapin(-/-) neurons exhibit aberrant accumulation of
      immature lysosomes, clustering and impaired retrograde transport of late
      endosomes along processes, reduced lysosomal proteolysis due to impaired delivery
      of internalized proteins and hydrolase precursors from late endosomes to
      lysosomes, and impaired clearance of autolysosomes, combined with reduced neuron
      viability and neurodegeneration. The phenotypes are rescued by expressing the
      snapin transgene, but not the DIC-binding-defective Snapin-L99K mutant. Snapin
      overexpression in wild-type neurons enhances late endocytic transport and
      lysosomal function, whereas expressing the mutant defective in Snapin-DIC
      coupling shows a dominant-negative effect. Altogether, our study highlights new
      mechanistic insights into how Snapin-DIC coordinates retrograde transport and
      late endosomal-lysosomal trafficking critical for autophagy-lysosomal function,
      and thus neuronal homeostasis.

PMID- 20920793
TI  - Circadian and homeostatic regulation of structural synaptic plasticity in
      hypocretin neurons.
AB  - Neurons exhibit rhythmic activity that ultimately affects behavior such as sleep.
      In living zebrafish larvae, we used time-lapse two-photon imaging of the
      presynaptic marker synaptophysin in hypocretin/orexin (HCRT) neurons to determine
      the dynamics of synaptic modifications during the day and night. We observed
      circadian rhythmicity in synapse number in HCRT axons. This rhythm is regulated
      primarily by the circadian clock but is also affected by sleep deprivation.
      Furthermore, NPTX2, a protein implicated in AMPA receptor clustering, modulates
      circadian synaptic changes. In zebrafish, nptx2b is a rhythmic gene that is
      mostly expressed in hypothalamic and pineal gland cells. Arrhythmic transgenic
      nptx2b overexpression (hcrt:NPTX2b) increases synapse number and abolishes
      rhythmicity in HCRT axons. Finally, hcrt:NPTX2b fish are resistant to the sleep
      promoting effects of melatonin. This behavioral effect is consistent with NPTX2b
      mediated increased activity of HCRT circuitry. These data provide real-time in
      vivo evidence of circadian and homeostatic regulation of structural synaptic
      plasticity.

PMID- 20920794
TI  - Metabolic control of vesicular glutamate transport and release.
AB  - Fasting has been used to control epilepsy since antiquity, but the mechanism of
      coupling between metabolic state and excitatory neurotransmission remains
      unknown. Previous work has shown that the vesicular glutamate transporters
      (VGLUTs) required for exocytotic release of glutamate undergo an unusual form of
      regulation by Cl(-). Using functional reconstitution of the purified VGLUTs into
      proteoliposomes, we now show that Cl(-) acts as an allosteric activator, and the
      ketone bodies that increase with fasting inhibit glutamate release by competing
      with Cl(-) at the site of allosteric regulation. Consistent with these
      observations, acetoacetate reduced quantal size at hippocampal synapses and
      suppresses glutamate release and seizures evoked with 4-aminopyridine in the
      brain. The results indicate an unsuspected link between metabolic state and
      excitatory neurotransmission through anion-dependent regulation of VGLUT
      activity.

PMID- 20920795
TI  - Endocannabinoids potentiate synaptic transmission through stimulation of
      astrocytes.
AB  - Endocannabinoids and their receptor CB1 play key roles in brain function.
      Astrocytes express CB1Rs that are activated by endocannabinoids released by
      neurons. However, the consequences of the endocannabinoid-mediated neuron
      astrocyte signaling on synaptic transmission are unknown. We show that
      endocannabinoids released by hippocampal pyramidal neurons increase the
      probability of transmitter release at CA3-CA1 synapses. This synaptic
      potentiation is due to CB1R-induced Ca(2+) elevations in astrocytes, which
      stimulate the release of glutamate that activates presynaptic metabotropic
      glutamate receptors. While endocannabinoids induce synaptic depression in the
      stimulated neuron by direct activation of presynaptic CB1Rs, they indirectly lead
      to synaptic potentiation in relatively more distant neurons by activation of
      CB1Rs in astrocytes. Hence, astrocyte calcium signal evoked by endogenous stimuli
      (neuron-released endocannabinoids) modulates synaptic transmission. Therefore,
      astrocytes respond to endocannabinoids that then potentiate synaptic
      transmission, indicating that astrocytes are actively involved in brain
      physiology.

PMID- 20920796
TI  - Spatial representation along the proximodistal axis of CA1.
AB  - CA1 cells receive direct input from space-responsive cells in medial entorhinal
      cortex (MEC), such as grid cells, as well as more nonspatial cells in lateral
      entorhinal cortex (LEC). Because MEC projects preferentially to the proximal part
      of the CA1, bordering CA2, whereas LEC innervates only the distal part, bordering
      subiculum, we asked if spatial tuning is graded along the transverse axis of CA1.
      Tetrodes were implanted along the entire proximodistal axis of dorsal CA1 in
      rats. Data were recorded in cylinders large enough to elicit firing at more than
      one location in many neurons. Distal CA1 cells showed more dispersed firing and
      had a larger number of firing fields than proximal cells. Phase-locking of spikes
      to MEC theta oscillations was weaker in distal CA1 than in proximal CA1. The
      findings suggest that spatial firing in CA1 is organized transversally, with the
      strongest spatial modulation occurring in the MEC-associated proximal part.

PMID- 20920798
TI  - Neural responses to ingroup and outgroup members' suffering predict individual
      differences in costly helping.
AB  - Little is known about the neurobiological mechanisms underlying prosocial
      decisions and how they are modulated by social factors such as perceived group
      membership. The present study investigates the neural processes preceding the
      willingness to engage in costly helping toward ingroup and outgroup members.
      Soccer fans witnessed a fan of their favorite team (ingroup member) or of a rival
      team (outgroup member) experience pain. They were subsequently able to choose to
      help the other by enduring physical pain themselves to reduce the other's pain.
      Helping the ingroup member was best predicted by anterior insula activation when
      seeing him suffer and by associated self-reports of empathic concern. In
      contrast, not helping the outgroup member was best predicted by nucleus accumbens
      activation and the degree of negative evaluation of the other. We conclude that
      empathy-related insula activation can motivate costly helping, whereas an
      antagonistic signal in nucleus accumbens reduces the propensity to help.

PMID- 20920799
TI  - Practitioners of Western herbal medicine and their practice in the UK: beginning
      to sketch the profession.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To profile the profession of Western herbal medicine (WHM) in the UK.
      DESIGN: A self-completion postal questionnaire sent to a sample of practitioners
      of WHM in England. RESULTS: A typical practitioner of WHM in the UK is female,
      aged 41-50, white, and practises part-time from a shared clinic or from home.
      Motivations to embark on a career in WHM are grounded in an interest in natural
      healing and the desire to help others. The practice of WHM in the UK responds
      extensively to women's health needs. Tensions in the practice of WHM are
      identified between a framework of healthcare that is described as 'traditional'
      and the influences of evidence-based developments in healthcare. CONCLUSION:
      Women, both as practitioners and as patients, and women's health needs play a
      central role in the contemporary practice of WHM in the UK.

PMID- 20920797
TI  - Preserved functional specialization for spatial processing in the middle
      occipital gyrus of the early blind.
AB  - The occipital cortex (OC) of early-blind humans is activated during various
      nonvisual perceptual and cognitive tasks, but little is known about its modular
      organization. Using functional MRI we tested whether processing of auditory
      versus tactile and spatial versus nonspatial information was dissociated in the
      OC of the early blind. No modality-specific OC activation was observed. However,
      the right middle occipital gyrus (MOG) showed a preference for spatial over
      nonspatial processing of both auditory and tactile stimuli. Furthermore, MOG
      activity was correlated with accuracy of individual sound localization
      performance. In sighted controls, most of extrastriate OC, including the MOG, was
      deactivated during auditory and tactile conditions, but the right MOG was more
      activated during spatial than nonspatial visual tasks. Thus, although the sensory
      modalities driving the neurons in the reorganized OC of blind individuals are
      altered, the functional specialization of extrastriate cortex is retained
      regardless of visual experience.

PMID- 20920800
TI  - A randomised controlled trial of yoga for the treatment of chronic low back pain:
      results of a pilot study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To conduct a pilot trial of yoga for the treatment of chronic low back
      pain (LBP) to inform the feasibility and practicality of conducting a full-scale
      trial in the UK; and to assess the efficacy of yoga for the treatment of chronic
      low back pain. DESIGN: A pragmatic randomised controlled trial was undertaken
      comparing yoga to usual care. PARTICIPANTS: Twenty participants who had presented
      to their GP with chronic low back pain in the previous 18 months were recruited
      via GP records from one practice in York, UK. INTERVENTIONS: Twenty patients were
      randomised to either 12 weekly 75-min sessions of specialised yoga plus written
      advice, or usual care plus written advice. Allocation was 50/50. MAIN OUTCOME
      MEASURES: Recruitment rate, levels of intervention attendance, and loss to follow
      up were the main non-clinical outcomes. Change as measured by the Roland and
      Morris disability questionnaire was the primary clinical outcome. Changes in the
      Aberdeen back pain scale, SF-12, EQ-5D, and pain self-efficacy were secondary
      clinical outcomes. Data were collected via postal questionnaire at baseline, 4
      weeks, and 12 weeks follow-up. RESULTS: Of the 286 patients identified from the
      GP database, 52 (18%) consented and returned the eligibility questionnaire, out
      of these 20 (6.9%) were eligible and randomised. The total percentage of patients
      randomised from the GP practice population was 0.28%. Ten patients were
      randomised to yoga, receiving an average of 1.7 sessions (range 0-5), and 10 were
      randomised to usual care. At 12 weeks follow-up data was received from 60% of
      patients in the yoga group and 90% of patients in the usual care group (75%
      overall). No significant differences were seen between groups in clinical
      outcomes apart from on the Aberdeen back pain scale at four weeks follow-up where
      the yoga group reported significantly less pain. CONCLUSION: This pilot study
      provided useful data and information to inform the design and development of a
      full-scale trial of yoga for CLBP in the UK. A key finding is the calculation of
      GP practice total list size required for patient recruitment in a full-scale
      trial, and the need to implement methods to increase class attendance.

PMID- 20920801
TI  - Development of ethical rules for boundaries of touch in complementary medicine-
      outcomes of a Delphi process.
AB  - The practice of complementary medicine (CAM) often involves touch. The unique
      philosophy of many CAM therapies, and the setting in which treatments are
      provided create a therapeutic space which may be less clearly defined than in
      conventional settings - a space in which the boundaries between professional
      touch and personal/intimate touch may become easily obscured. Thus, complementary
      therapists need clear definitions and firm boundaries in order to maintain
      therapeutic efficacy and commitment. The aim of the process described in this
      article, was to develop ethical guidelines for boundaries of touch that will
      promote the safety and protection of the public which use CAM. Through a modified
      Delphi process, a diverse group of CAM practitioners, physicians, ethicists,
      legal consultants, health policy specialists, and representatives from the
      public, developed Ethical Rules for Boundaries of Touch in CAM. These guidelines
      may be implemented in ethical codes of professional CAM organizations, and also
      serve as a foundation for curriculums in ethics in CAM schools.

PMID- 20920802
TI  - Effect of acupressure at the Sanyinjiao point on primary dysmenorrhea: a
      randomized controlled trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We conducted this study to assess the effect of acupressure at the
      Sanyinjiao point on primary dysmenorrhea. METHODS: Eighty-six students
      participated in the study. All participants met the inclusion criteria. The study
      group received acupressure at Sanyinjiao point, while the control received sham
      acupressure. The severity of dysmenorrhea was assessed at the following time
      periods: prior to the intervention, 30 min, 1, 2 and 3h following the
      intervention. Data were analyzed using SPSS. RESULTS: The acupressure caused
      decline in the severity of dysmenorrhea immediately after intervention in both
      groups during their first menstrual cycle, although, there difference was not
      significant (p>0.05). In addition, during the same cycle, the severity of the
      dysmenorrhea decreased more in study group rather than control group at 30 min,
      1, 2 and 3h after intervention (p<0.05). During the second menstrual cycle,
      acupressure made dysmenorrhea reduced in both study and control groups; however,
      the decline was more salient among participants of the study group at all stages
      after the intervention (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Acupressure at Sanyinjiao point can
      be an effective, feasible, cost-effective intervention for improving primary
      dysmenorrhea.

PMID- 20920803
TI  - Neuro-linguistic programming and application in treatment of phobias.
AB  - Phobias are a prevalent and often debilitating mental health problem all over the
      world. This article aims to explore what is known about the use of Neuro
      linguistic Programming (NLP) as a treatment for this condition. Whilst there is
      abundant experiential evidence from NLP practitioners attesting to the efficacy
      of this method as a treatment for phobias, experimental research in this area is
      somewhat limited. This paper reviews evidence available in literature produced in
      the UK and US and reveals that NLP is a successful treatment for phobias as well
      as being particularly efficient due to the relatively brief time period it takes
      to effect an improvement.

PMID- 20920804
TI  - The use of herbal preparations as complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in
      a sample of patients with cancer in Jordan.
AB  - PURPOSE: This study sought to describe the type, frequency, purpose and pattern
      of herbal preparation use as complementary medicine in a sample of patients with
      cancer in Jordan. METHOD: The study took the form of a cross-sectional survey of
      patients attending the outpatient departments at King Hussein Cancer Centre
      (KHCC), a specialist cancer centre in Amman. The method was based on using a semi
      structured questionnaire. RESULTS: A total of 1138 patients with cancer were
      interviewed, out of which 404 (35.5%) reported using botanicals based
      complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) primarily bought form Jordan (85.1%)
      and used in the crude form as infusions (73.3%). Only 6.8% used herbal products
      in a dosage form. Most of CAM users were above 40 years of age (63.1%).
      Recommendation of a friend was the main factor that prompted them to use CAM
      (41.8%). CONCLUSION: This study revealed that CAM use is common among patients
      with cancer in Jordan.

PMID- 20920805
TI  - Medicinal leech therapy (hirudotherapy): a brief overview.
AB  - Hirudotherapy is a treatment using medicinal leeches. Hirudo medicinali, have
      been used to treat patients for centuries. In the past, leeches have proved to be
      an effective treatment for a number of conditions including battle wound
      treatment. Currently leeches may be used to assist in the treatment of abscesses,
      arthritis, glaucoma, myasthenia gravis, thrombosis and some venous disorders.
      Medical leeches may also be used in plastic surgery and in some blood circulatory
      problems. During feeding, leeches secrete a complex mixture of different
      biologically and pharmacologically active substances into the wound. Hirudin is
      the prominent constituent of leech saliva. It is sometimes used to describe all
      the active constituents in the leech saliva. This paper outlines the potential
      use of leech therapy in current medical care in India.

PMID- 20920806
TI  - Sho-saiko-to-ka-kikyo-sekko as an alternative treatment for chronic tonsillitis
      to avoid surgery.
AB  - Sho-saiko-to-ka-kikyo-sekko (TJ-109) is composed of 9 herbs (gypsum, Bupleurum
      root, Pinellia tuber, Scutellaria root, Platycodon root, jujube fruit, ginseng
      root, Glycyrrhiza root, and ginger rhizome). It is a folk medicine that has been
      used to treat pharyngitis or acute tonsillitis. The efficacy of TJ-109 for
      treating patients with chronic tonsillitis was investigated. Ten outpatients who
      experienced chronic tonsillitis for more than 2 years were recruited. TJ-109 was
      prescribed, and after one year of daily treatment the incidence of acute
      tonsillitis before and after the treatment was compared. The incidence of acute
      tonsillitis due to chronic tonsillitis decreased in all 7 patients who were
      followed up. No adverse events were observed in any of the patients. In
      conclusion, the herbal medicine TJ-109 effectively reduced the incidence of acute
      tonsillitis. In some cases, planned tonsillectomy was avoided.

PMID- 20920807
TI  - Bathing in a bathtub and health status: a cross-sectional study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Bathing, or soaking, in a bathtub is a popular and often habitual
      pastime that has its roots in the culture of the Japanese people. The purpose of
      this study was to examine the effects of such bathing on health status. METHODS:
      We conducted a population-based cross-sectional study involving 617 Japanese
      participants who took routine medical checkups. The frequency of bathing in a
      bathtub was categorized into two levels: "less than seven times a week" (less
      frequent bathing group) and "seven or more times a week" (frequent bathing
      group). We compared the following characteristics between the two groups: age,
      body mass index, blood pressure, blood chemistry findings, self-rated health, and
      sleep quality. RESULTS: The frequent bathing group reported better self-rated
      health and sleep quality than the less frequent bathing group, with age- and sex
      adjusted odds ratios (95% confidence interval) of 2.11 (1.28-3.48) for self-rated
      health and 1.55 (0.98-2.44) for sleep quality. Other survey items were similar
      between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study suggested that
      bathing in a bathtub every day or more frequently was associated with a good
      state of self-rated health and sleep quality.

PMID- 20920808
TI  - The integration of healing into conventional cancer care in the UK.
AB  - Healing encompasses Reiki, therapeutic touch and healing touch, and is often used
      by cancer patients to supplement their health care, but the extent of healing
      provision in conventional cancer care is unknown. This study used snowball
      sampling to map the healing provision in UK conventional cancer care settings.
      Sixty-seven individuals at 38 centres were identified who provided healing within
      conventional care, 16 NHS-based. Less than half were paid or had specialist
      cancer training. Self-referral was the usual route to healing, followed by
      hospital nurse referral. Healing was perceived as well accepted and useful by
      healers. Providing healing in conventional cancer care may improve patient
      empowerment and choice. Despite the value to patients, staff and healers, many
      services receive little financial support. Exchange of information and
      communication on referral possibilities between healers and conventional staff
      needs to be improved. Voluntary healer self-regulation will facilitate the safe
      incorporation of healing into conventional care.

PMID- 20920809
TI  - Nurses' knowledge, attitudes, and professional use of complementary and
      alternative medicine (CAM): a survey at five metropolitan hospitals in Adelaide.
AB  - PURPOSE: To determine nurses' knowledge, attitudes, and professional use of
      complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) at five metropolitan hospitals in
      Adelaide, while also investigating the relationships between socio-demographic
      factors and use of CAM domains. METHOD: Information on nurses' demographics,
      knowledge, attitudes, and professional use of CAM was obtained using a self
      administered questionnaire. Data were analysed using descriptive and non
      parametric statistics. RESULTS: Almost 50% of nurses were using CAM for patients,
      with mind-body interventions being the most common form of CAM domain used in
      practice (31.4%). While 59% of nurses were positive about CAM, more than 60% of
      them had very little or no knowledge of CAM. Nurses' professional use of CAM was
      also associated with diverse socio-demographic factors, and a positive
      association was found between the nurses' knowledge and their attitudes towards
      CAM. CONCLUSION: Nurses have limited knowledge of CAM but remain open towards CAM
      use. Nurses' positive attitudes towards CAM use could be an indication that they
      are poised for further integration of clinically approved CAM into nursing care
      of patients.

PMID- 20920810
TI  - Tai chi/yoga effects on anxiety, heartrate, EEG and math computations.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the immediate effects of a combined form of Tai chi/yoga.
      DESIGN: 38 adults participated in a 20-min Tai chi/yoga class. The session was
      comprised of standing Tai chi movements, balancing poses and a short Tai chi form
      and 10 min of standing, sitting and lying down yoga poses. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:
      The pre- and post- Tai chi/yoga effects were assessed using the State Anxiety
      Inventory (STAI), EKG, EEG and math computations. RESULTS: Heartrate increased
      during the session, as would be expected for this moderate-intensity exercise.
      Changes from pre to post-session assessments suggested increased relaxation
      including decreased anxiety and a trend for increased EEG theta activity.
      CONCLUSIONS: The increased relaxation may have contributed to the increased speed
      and accuracy noted on math computations following the Tai chi/yoga class.

PMID- 20920811
TI  - Healing crisis in reflexology: becoming worse before becoming better.
AB  - PURPOSE: In the previous study the effects of reflexology on symptoms of
      fibromyalgia (FM) were investigated. In this paper it will be explored whether
      healing crisis is experienced after reflexology in the same sample of women.
      METHODS: Multiple case study method as developed by Stake was used to investigate
      the effects of reflexology on six cases of women with FM who were given ten
      weekly sessions of reflexology. Data were collected with observation, interviews
      and diary. Within and across case data analysis was employed. RESULTS: Several
      different symptoms were experienced by all of the women after reflexology
      sessions, although differently for each of them. The symptoms presented as
      mixture of pain, fatigue, and flu like along with a variety of some other
      symptoms. This constellation of symptoms was more in tune with descriptions of
      the healing crisis phenomenon than with fibromyalgia. It gradually became worse
      until rather abruptly started to diminish around the seventh and eighth session.
      CONCLUSIONS: For the majority of the women the healing crisis symptoms gradually
      became worse before they started to decrease. This has similarities with other
      health professionals' accounts in the literature. Nurses and health professionals
      need to be aware of healing crisis effects when offering reflexology to patients.

PMID- 20920812
TI  - Transfer of skill engendered by complex task training under conditions of
      variable priority.
AB  - We explored the theoretical underpinnings of a commonly used training strategy by
      examining issues of training and transfer of skill in the context of a complex
      video game (Space Fortress, Donchin, 1989). Participants trained using one of two
      training regimens: Full Emphasis Training (FET) or Variable Priority Training
      (VPT). Transfer of training was assessed with a large battery of cognitive and
      psychomotor tasks ranging from basic laboratory paradigms measuring reasoning,
      memory, and attention to complex real-world simulations. Consistent with previous
      studies, VPT accelerated learning and maximized task mastery. However, the
      hypothesis that VPT would result in broader transfer of training received limited
      support. Rather, transfer was most evident in tasks that were most similar to the
      Space Fortress game itself. Results are discussed in terms of potential
      limitations of the VPT approach.

PMID- 20920813
TI  - Long-term follow-up after submandibular gland transplantation in severe dry eyes
      secondary to cicatrizing conjunctivitis.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the long-term results of autologous submandibular gland
      transplantation in eyes with cicatrizing conjunctivitis and to determine
      biomechanical and biochemical features of the resulting salivary tear film.
      DESIGN: Prospective, observational case series. METHODS: Fifteen eyes with
      cicatrizing conjunctivitis with a viable autologous submandibular gland
      transplantation were compared with 10 eyes with cicatrizing conjunctivitis and a
      failed submandibular gland transplantation or no submandibular gland
      transplantation. Best-corrected visual acuity, frequency of tear substitute
      instillation, severity of dry eye discomfort, lid margin erythema, conjunctival
      hyperemia, corneal epithelial edema, tear film break-up time, Schirmer test
      results, and corneal fluorescein and conjunctival Rose Bengal staining were
      evaluated. In a subgroup central corneal thickness and sensitivity, corneal
      epithelial barrier function, conjunctival and lid margin flora, and conjunctival
      impression cytologic analysis results were evaluated. In 3 patients, preoperative
      and postoperative tear samples were analyzed for viscosity, surface tension, and
      presence of mucins. RESULTS: Submandibular gland autotransplantation resulted in
      long-term improvement of subjective, objective, and some ocular surface
      parameters. Salivary mucins were detectable in salivary tears after submandibular
      gland transplantation. The viscosity of salivary tears was more similar to normal
      saliva and the surface tension was intermediate between the 2 original
      secretions. CONCLUSIONS: Submandibular gland autotransplantation provides long
      term relief from pain and reduces the need for frequent installation of
      lubricants.

PMID- 20920814
TI  - Neuromuscular complications of hepatitis A virus infection and vaccines.
AB  - The hepatitis A virus (HAV) infects millions of people worldwide every year. Case
      histories report on various acute neuropathy syndromes in the context of acute
      HAV infection, but any causal link has not been established. Epidemiological data
      also cast doubt on the importance of HAV as a trigger for Guillain-Barre
      syndrome. The virtual absence of a chronic HAV-infected state likely explains the
      rare occurrence of extrahepatic immune-mediated diseases, including an absence of
      chronic autoimmune neuromuscular disorders. Several vaccines against HAV provide
      effective protection against natural infection. Isolated case histories report on
      an unconvincing association between HAV vaccination and neuropathy. Medical and
      epidemiological data show insufficient evidence to support a causal relationship
      between HAV vaccines and neuropathy syndromes. Aluminum hydroxide, a HAV vaccine
      adjuvant, is considered a trigger of the macrophagic myofasciitis syndrome. This
      review concludes that it seems unnecessary to routinely consider HAV infection or
      vaccination as triggers of neuromuscular diseases.

PMID- 20920815
TI  - Decisions on multiple sclerosis immunotherapy: new treatment complexities urge
      patient engagement.
AB  - For patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) involvement in treatment decisions
      becomes ever more imperative. Recently new therapeutic options have become
      available for the treatment of MS and more will be licensed in the near future.
      Although more efficacious and easier to administer, the new drugs pose increased
      risks of severe side effects. Also, new diagnostic criteria lead to more and
      earlier MS diagnoses. Facing increasingly complex decisions, patients need up-to
      date evidence-based information and decision support systems in order to make
      informed decision together with physicians based on their autonomy preferences.
      This article summarizes recently terminated and ongoing trials on MS patient
      education and decision aids conducted by the authors' study groups. Programs on
      relapse management, immunotherapy, and for patients with suspected and early MS
      have been developed and evaluated in randomized controlled clinical trials. It
      could be shown that the programs successfully increase knowledge and allow
      patients to make informed decisions based on their preferences. For the near
      future, we aim to develop a modular program for all relevant decisions in MS to
      increase patients' self-management and empower patients to develop their
      individual approach with the disease. Faced by a disease with many uncertainties,
      this should enhance patients' sense of control. Still, it remains a challenge to
      adequately assess decision quality. Therefore, a study in six European and one
      Australian centers will start soon aiming to establish adequate tools to assess
      decision-making quality.

PMID- 20920816
TI  - Toward a pathological definition of vascular dementia.
AB  - To date, there are no widely accepted neuropathological criteria for vascular
      dementia, although creating such a standard is ranked high on the wish list of
      all the researchers in this field. Such criteria would make it possible to
      perform large multicentre clinicopathological studies and, consequently, to
      better understand which, how, and where vascular brain lesions lead to cognitive
      decline, as it is possible to do in Alzheimer's disease or Parkinson's disease.
      However, a major obstacle in the standardization of diagnosis is the fact that
      vascular brain lesions are a large group comprising heterogeneous changes that
      have different pathogeneses. Although it is accepted that some kinds of vascular
      changes cause cognitive impairment, it is not uncommon to find reports of the
      assumed same histological changes in control subjects. An indispensable first
      step in the unequivocal establishment of neuropathological criteria is to uniform
      the definitions used for each one of the lesions, preferably based on its
      pathogenesis. In the present, non-standardized state of ambiguity, a given lesion
      is designated by different names between and within the clinical, radiological,
      and pathological settings, and several definitions simply overlap. Before
      attempting to create new criteria, a multidisciplinary group-task is urged to
      identify and minimize the uncontrolled proliferation of definitions. Only then,
      it will be possible to advance the understanding of how vascular brain changes
      affect cognition.

PMID- 20920817
TI  - Cross-species extrapolation of chronic nickel Biotic Ligand Models.
AB  - The use of Biotic Ligand Models (BLMs) to normalize metal ecotoxicity data and
      predict effects in non-BLM organisms should be supported by quantitative
      evidence. This study determined the ability of chronic nickel BLMs developed for
      the cladocera Daphnia magna and Ceriodaphnia dubia to predict chronic nickel
      toxicity to three invertebrates for which no specific BLMs were developed. Those
      invertebrates were the snail Lymnaea stagnalis, the insect Chironomus tentans,
      and the rotifer Brachionus calyciflorus. Similarly, we also determined the
      ability of chronic nickel BLMs developed for the alga Pseudokirchneriella
      subcapitata and the terrestrial vascular plant Hordeum vulgare to predict chronic
      nickel toxicity to the aquatic vascular plant Lemna minor. Chronic nickel
      toxicity to the three invertebrates and the aquatic plant were measured in five
      natural waters that varied in pH, Ca, Mg, and dissolved organic carbon (DOC),
      which are known to affect chronic nickel toxicity and are the important input
      variables for the chronic nickel BLMs. Nickel toxicity to the three invertebrates
      varied considerably among the test waters, i.e., a 14-fold variation of EC50s in
      L. stagnalis, a 3-fold variation in EC20s in C. tentans, and a 10-fold variation
      in EC20s in B. calyciflorus, but the cladoceran BLMs were able to predict nickel
      effect concentrations within a factor of two. Nickel toxicity (EC50s) to L. minor
      varied by 6-fold among the test waters. Although the P. subcapitata and H.
      vulgare BLMs offered reasonable predictions of nickel EC50s to L. minor, the D.
      magna and C. dubia BLM showed better predictions. Our results confirm the
      influence of site-specific pH, hardness, and DOC on chronic nickel toxicity to
      aquatic organisms, and support the use of chronic nickel BLMs to manage this
      influence through normalizations of ecotoxicity data.

PMID- 20920818
TI  - Sensitivity-related illness: the escalating pandemic of allergy, food intolerance
      and chemical sensitivity.
AB  - The prevalence of allergic-related diseases, food intolerance, and chemical
      sensitivities in both the pediatric and adult population has increased
      dramatically over the last two decades, with escalating rates of associated
      morbidity. Conditions of acquired allergy, food intolerance and chemical
      hypersensitivity are frequently the direct sequelae of a toxicant induced loss of
      tolerance (TILT) in response to a significant initiating toxic exposure.
      Following the primary toxicant insult, the individuals become sensitive to low
      levels of diverse and unrelated triggers in their environment such as commonly
      encountered chemical, inhalant or food antigens. Among sensitized individuals,
      exposure to assorted inciting stimuli may precipitate diverse clinical and/or
      immune sequelae as may be evidenced by clinical symptoms as well as varied
      lymphocyte, antibody, or cytokine responses in some cases. Recently recognized as
      a mechanism of disease development, TILT and resultant sensitivity-related
      illness (SRI) may involve various organ systems and evoke wide-ranging physical
      or neuropsychological manifestations. With escalating rates of toxicant exposure
      and bioaccumulation in the population-at-large, an increasing proportion of
      contemporary illness is the direct result of TILT and ensuing SRI. Avoidance of
      triggers will preclude symptoms, and desensitization immunotherapy or immune
      suppression may ameliorate symptomatology in some cases. Resolution of SRI
      generally occurs on a gradual basis following the elimination of bioaccumulated
      toxicity and avoidance of further initiating adverse environmental exposures. As
      has usually been the case throughout medical history whenever new evidence
      regarding disease mechanisms emerges, resistance to the translation of knowledge
      abounds.

PMID- 20920819
TI  - Management of deep vein thrombosis diagnosed during active labour.

PMID- 20920820
TI  - Protein C and protein S changes in GH-deficient adults on r-HGH replacement
      therapy: correlations with PAI-1 and t-PA plasma levels.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In the rat liver, growth hormone (GH) affects the synthesis of
      vitamin-K-dependent factors, including Protein C (prot.C) and protein S (prot.S),
      two natural anticoagulants that prevent hypercoagulable states. Adults with GH
      deficiency (GHD) are at risk of thrombotic events. High circulating levels of PAI
      1 and t-PA, that reflect hypercoagulable states, may contribute to such risk. In
      GHD adults on replacement therapy with recombinant human GH (r-HGH), %Delta PAI-1
      and %Delta t-PA are related to %Delta insulin changes. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate
      changes in vitamin-K-dependent factors in GHD on r-HGH replacement. METHODS: In
      60 GHD adults, to relate plasma levels of vitamin-K-dependent factors with those
      of PAI-1, t-PA and insulin before and after 6-month (6-mo) replacement therapy
      with r-HGH. RESULTS: After 6-mo r-HGH replacement, %Delta insulin enhancements
      occurred in 36/60 subjects. PAI-1, t-PA, Prot.C, Prot.S and FVIIact did not
      change in them. In the 24/40 subjects that experienced %Delta insulin reductions,
      Prot.C (p=0.025), Prot.S (p=0.031) and FVIIact (p=0.049) decreased significantly.
      PAI-1 (p=0.019) and t-PA antigen (p=0.009) behaved similarly. In a multivariate
      analysis, %? PAI-1 (beta=0.436, p<0.01) was the strongest predictor of %? prot.S,
      wheras %? t-PA (beta=0.385, p<0.008) and %? insulin (beta=0.429, p<0.004) were
      the strongest predictors of %? prot.C. In all cases, regardless of %Delta insulin
      changes, FII, FVII Ag and FIX levels did not change from baseline. CONCLUSIONS:
      In GHD adults on r-HGH replacement, changes in vitamin-K-dependent factors
      reflect a subtle adaptation of the natural anticoagulant system to PAI-1 and t-PA
      changes, via the response of insulin to r-HGH.

PMID- 20920821
TI  - Combined risk stratification with computerized tomography /echocardiography and
      biomarkers in patients with normotensive pulmonary embolism.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Right ventricular dysfunction (RVD) detected by computerized
      tomography (CT)/echocardiography or elevated biomarkers is associated with a poor
      prognosis for pulmonary embolism (PE). However, these prognostic factors have not
      previously been concomitantly elucidated in the same patient group. METHODS: This
      prospective study included 108 consecutive patients with normotensive PE
      confirmed by CT pulmonary angiography (CTPA). On admission, patient serum NT
      proBNP and troponin T (Tn-T) levels were measured, and echocardiography was
      performed within 24 hours after diagnosis of PE. Receiver operating
      characteristic (ROC) analysis was performed to determine the optimal
      echocardiographic end-diastolic diameters of the right ventricle, the ratio of
      the right ventricle to left ventricle (RV/LV ratio) on CTPA, and NT-proBNP and Tn
      T cut-off levels with regard to prognosis. RESULTS: All-cause 30-day mortality
      was 13% and PE-related mortality was 5.6%. RVD was defined as a right/left
      ventricular dimension ratio>=1.1 on CTPA and RV>30 mm on echocardiography by ROC
      analysis. A cut-off level of NT-proBNP<=90 pmol/ml had a high positive predictive
      value of 98% for survival, whereas NT-proBNP>300 and Tn-T>=0.027 had a negative
      predictive value, for all-cause deaths, of 95% and 96%, respectively. PE
      mortality in patients with NT-proBNP>300 and Tn-T>=0.027 reached 64%. In
      univariable analysis, the combination of Tn-T>=0.027 ng/ml with a
      echocardiographic RVD were the most significant predictors of overall mortality
      and PE-related death [HR: 14 (95% CI: 4.6-42,) and HR: 37.6 (95% CI: 4.4-324)],
      respectively. In multivariable Cox's regression analysis, NT-proBNP>300 and Tn
      T>=0.027 HR: 26.5 (95% CI: 4.1-169.9, p<0.001) were the best combination to
      predict all-cause of mortality. CONCLUSIONS: The combination of NT-proBNP and Tn
      T clearly appears to be a better risk stratification predictor than biomarkers
      plus RVD on CT/ echocardiography in patients with normotensive PE.

PMID- 20920822
TI  - Nitric oxide production and blood corpuscle dynamics in response to the endocrine
      status of female rats.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Menopause is associated with marked changes in the endocrine
      profile, and increases the risk of vascular disease. However, the effect of
      hormones on the vascular system is still unclear. Therefore, the aim of this
      study was to examine the effects of endocrine status in female rats on nitric
      oxide (NO) production, inflammatory reactions and thrombus organization potency
      in the mesenteric microcirculation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Female Wistar rats
      were divided into four groups: proestrus, metestrus, ovariectomized (OVX) and OVX
      plus estradiol treatment (OVX+E2). NO was imaged using an NO-sensitive dye. The
      leukocyte and platelet velocities relative to the erythrocyte velocity (VW/VRC
      and VP/VRE, respectively) and thrombi sizes created by laser radiation were
      measured as thrombogenesis indices. RESULTS: Changes in endocrine status did not
      affect vascular function in the arterioles. However, in venules, NO production,
      VW/VRC and VP/VRE were decreased in the OVX group compared with the proestrus and
      metestrus states. Thrombus size was significantly greater in the OVX group than
      in the proestrus and metestrus states. Administration of E2 for 2 weeks restored
      NO production, VW/VRC and VP/VRE to control levels. CONCLUSIONS: Changes in
      endocrine status did not affect arterioles. In contrast, in venules, reduced
      estrogen levels led to a decrease in NO production, thereby increasing
      thrombogenesis. Estrogen replacement restored NO production and leukocyte and
      platelet velocities, reducing thrombus formation relative to OVX. Although it is
      unclear how E2 reduces thrombus formation, our results indicate that leukocyte
      and platelet adhesion to the endothelium is a target for E2 via NO.

PMID- 20920823
TI  - Audiovisual communication and therapeutic jurisprudence: Cognitive and social
      psychological dimensions.
AB  - The effects of audiovisual communications on the emotional and psychological well
      being of participants in the legal system have not been previously examined.
      Using as a framework for analysis what Slobogin (1996) calls internal balancing
      (of therapeutic versus antitherapeutic effects) and external balancing (of
      therapeutic jurisprudence [TJ] effects versus effects on other legal values),
      this brief paper discusses three examples that suggest the complexity of
      evaluating courtroom audiovisuals in TJ terms. In each instance, audiovisual
      displays that are admissible based on their arguable probative or explanatory
      value - day-in-the-life movies, victim impact videos, and computer simulations of
      litigated events - might well reduce stress and thus improve the psychological
      well-being of personal injury plaintiffs, survivors, and jurors, respectively. In
      each situation, however, other emotional and cognitive effects may prove
      antitherapeutic for the target or other participants, and/or may undermine other
      important values including outcome accuracy, fairness, and even the conception of
      the legal decision maker as a moral actor.

PMID- 20920824
TI  - Ability of cirrus HD-OCT optic nerve head parameters to discriminate normal from
      glaucomatous eyes.
AB  - PURPOSE: To determine the ability of optic nerve head (ONH) parameters measured
      with spectral domain Cirrus HD-OCT (Carl Zeiss Meditec, Inc., Dublin, CA) to
      discriminate between normal and glaucomatous eyes and to compare them with the
      discriminating ability of peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL)
      thickness measurements performed with Cirrus HD-OCT. DESIGN: Evaluation of
      diagnostic test or technology. PARTICIPANTS: Seventy-three subjects with glaucoma
      and 146 age-matched normal subjects. METHODS: Peripapillary ONH parameters and
      RNFL thickness were measured in 1 randomly selected eye of each participant
      within a 200 * 200 pixel A-scan acquired with Cirrus HD-OCT centered on the ONH.
      MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Optic nerve head topographic parameters, peripapillary
      RNFL thickness, and area under receiver operating characteristic curves (AUCs).
      RESULTS: To distinguish normal from glaucomatous eyes, regardless of disease
      stage, the 6 best parameters (expressed as AUC) were vertical rim thickness (VRT,
      0.963), rim area (0.962), RNFL thickness at clock-hour 7 (0.957), RNFL thickness
      of the inferior quadrant (0.953), vertical cup-to-disc ratio (VCDR, 0.951), and
      average RNFL thickness (0.950). The AUC for distinguishing between normal eyes
      and eyes with mild glaucoma was greatest for RNFL thickness of clock-hour 7
      (0.918), VRT (0.914), rim area (0.912), RNFL thickness of inferior quadrant
      (0.895), average RNFL thickness (0.893), and VCDR (0.890). There were no
      statistically significant differences between AUCs for the best ONH parameters
      and RNFL thickness measurements (P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Cirrus HD-OCT ONH
      parameters are able to discriminate between normal eyes and eyes with glaucoma or
      even mild glaucoma. There is no difference in the ability of ONH parameters and
      RNFL thickness measurement, as measured with Cirrus OCT, to distinguish between
      normal and glaucomatous eyes.

PMID- 20920825
TI  - Characteristics of patients losing vision after 2 years of monthly dosing in the
      phase III ranibizumab clinical trials.
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate the cause of visual acuity (VA) loss in patients with
      neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD) receiving monthly ranibizumab
      injections in the pivotal ranibizumab phase III trials. DESIGN: Retrospective
      analysis. PARTICIPANTS: The Minimally Classic/Occult Trial of the Anti-VEGF
      Antibody Ranibizumab In the treatment of Neovascular AMD (MARINA) and Anti-VEGF
      Antibody for the Treatment of Predominantly Classic Choroidal Neovascularization
      in AMD (ANCHOR) trials. METHODS: Demographics and lesion characteristics at
      baseline and month 24 were compared in patients with >=15 letters VA loss and
      patients with >=15 letters VA gain from baseline to month 24. Additional
      evaluations of fundus photographs from these patients were performed to assess
      features of non-exudative AMD, such as geographic atrophy (GA) and retinal
      pigment epithelium (RPE) abnormalities. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Differences in
      lesion characteristics between patients who lost versus gained >=15 letters of VA
      from baseline to month 24. RESULTS: At month 24, 9% of ranibizumab-treated
      patients from MARINA and 10% of ranibizumab-treated patients from ANCHOR had lost
      >=15 letters VA; 30% of ranibizumab-treated patients from MARINA and 38% of
      ranibizumab-treated patients from ANCHOR had gained >=15 letters VA. Baseline
      characteristics associated with VA loss at month 24 included older age, better
      VA, and larger lesions. At month 24, an increased area of RPE abnormality was
      associated with VA loss in both the MARINA (P = 0.0008) and ANCHOR (P = 0.0046)
      trials. Increased total lesion area at month 24 was associated with VA loss in
      both trials. In MARINA, the increase in total lesion area was attributable to an
      increase in the angiographic designation of atrophic scar among VA losers (P =
      0.0043), but in ANCHOR it was attributable to an increased area of choroidal
      neovascularization (CNV) (P = 0.039) but not an increased area of leakage (P =
      0.17). Increased areas of GA, fibrosis, and hemorrhage were not associated with
      VA loss. CONCLUSIONS: Vision loss after 2 years of monthly ranibizumab therapy
      was associated with lesion characteristics commonly associated with suppressed
      CNV, such as pigmentary abnormalities, atrophic scar, and the absence of leakage.
      Future VA improvements in patients receiving ranibizumab therapy may require
      preservation of photoreceptor and RPE function rather than strategies that target
      CNV.

PMID- 20920826
TI  - Analysis of peripapillary atrophy using spectral domain optical coherence
      tomography.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To study retinal morphologic changes around the optic disc in patients
      with peripapillary atrophy (PPA) with high-resolution spectral domain optical
      coherence tomography (SD OCT). DESIGN: Cross-sectional, retrospective analysis.
      PARTICIPANTS: A total of 103 eyes of 73 patients with PPA and 21 eyes of 12
      normal patients seen at the New England Eye Center, Tufts Medical Center, between
      January 2007 and August 2009. METHODS: Spectral domain optical coherence
      tomography images taken through the region of PPA were quantitatively and
      qualitatively analyzed. Inclusion criteria included eyes with at least 300 MUm of
      temporal PPA as detected on color fundus photographs. The study population was
      divided into subgroups according to the following clinical diagnoses: glaucoma
      (n=13), age-related macular degeneration (n=11), high myopia (n=11), glaucoma and
      high myopia (n=3), and optic neuropathy (n=11). Fifty-four patients were
      classified with other diagnoses. By using OCT software, retinal thickness and
      retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness were both manually measured
      perpendicular to the internal limiting membrane and retinal pigment epithelium
      (RPE) 300 MUm temporal to the optic disc, within the region of PPA. Qualitative
      analysis for morphologic changes in the atrophic area was also performed. MAIN
      OUTCOME MEASURES: Qualitative assessment and quantitative measures of retinal and
      RNFL thickness in PPA. RESULTS: The study group was categorized by 6
      characteristics demonstrated in the area of PPA by SD OCT: RPE loss with
      accompanying photoreceptor loss, RPE disruption, RNFL thickening with plaque-like
      formation, intraretinal cystic changes, inner and outer retinal thinning, and
      abnormal retinal sloping. Statistical analysis of measurements revealed a
      statistically significant difference in the total retinal thickness between
      normal eyes and eyes with PPA (P=0.0005), with normal eyes 15% thicker than the
      eyes with PPA; however, the RNFL thickness was not significantly different
      between the normal eyes and the eyes with PPA (P=0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Eyes with
      PPA manifest characteristic retinal changes that can be described via SD OCT.

PMID- 20920827
TI  - Reversal of retinal ganglion cell dysfunction after surgical reduction of
      intraocular pressure.
AB  - PURPOSE: The pattern electroretinogram optimized for glaucoma screening (PERGLA)
      is a noninvasive method of objectively measuring retinal ganglion cell (RGC)
      function. This study was undertaken to quantify the RGC response to intraocular
      pressure (IOP) reduction after glaucoma surgery. DESIGN: Prospective cohort
      study. PARTICIPANTS: Forty-seven eyes of 47 patients with uncontrolled IOP or
      progressive glaucomatous optic neuropathy receiving maximal medical therapy
      requiring trabeculectomy or aqueous drainage device implantation who met
      eligibility criteria. METHODS: Eyes with visual acuity less than 20/30, corneal
      or retinal pathologic features, or unreliable standard automated perimetry (SAP)
      results were excluded. All patients underwent complete ocular examination,
      arterial blood pressure, SAP, and PERGLA at 2 sessions before surgery and at 3
      months after surgery. Mean ocular perfusion pressure (MOPP) was calculated. Each
      measure of PERGLA amplitude and phase was an average of 600 artifact-free signal
      registrations. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Intraocular pressure and PERGLA amplitude
      and phase. RESULTS: Forty-seven eyes of 47 patients (mean age +/- standard
      deviation [SD], 69.9 +/- 11.3 years) were enrolled. Thirty-four eyes (72%)
      underwent trabeculectomy with antifibrosis therapy; 13 eyes (28%) underwent
      glaucoma drainage implant surgery. Mean +/- SD postoperative IOP (10.4 +/- 4.6
      mmHg) was significantly (P< 0.001) reduced compared with that before surgery
      (19.7 +/- 8.6 mmHg). Mean +/- SD postoperative PERGLA amplitude (0.46 +/- 0.22
      MUV) was significantly (P = 0.001) increased compared with preoperative PERGLA
      amplitude (0.37 +/- 0.18 MUV). Mean +/- SD postoperative PERGLA phase (1.72 +/-
      0.20 pi-radian) was significantly (P = 0.01) reduced compared with preoperative
      PERGLA phase (1.81 +/- 0.22 pi-radian). Mean +/- SD postoperative MOPP (53.1 +/-
      6.4 mmHg) was significantly (P < 0.001) increased compared with mean +/- SD
      preoperative MOPP (45.8 +/- 10.1 mmHg). No correlation (P > 0.05) was identified
      between change in PERGLA amplitude and change in IOP or MOPP. CONCLUSIONS:
      Reversal of RGC dysfunction occurs after surgical reduction of IOP and may be
      quantified using PERGLA.

PMID- 20920828
TI  - Retinal and optic nerve head pathology in Susac's syndrome.
AB  - PURPOSE: This article describes the first retinal histopathologic findings in a
      patient with Susac's syndrome (SS). DESIGN: Observational case report.
      PARTICIPANT: A 51-year-old white woman diagnosed with SS. METHODS: Eyes from a 51
      year-old white woman diagnosed with SS were obtained at autopsy. One retina was
      dissected and processed for adenosine diphosphatase (ADPase) flat embedding.
      Selected areas were processed further for transmission electron microscopy. MAIN
      OUTCOME MEASURES: Histopathologic examination using ADPase flat-embedding
      technique. RESULTS: There were vaso-occlusive changes in the retinal periphery
      resulting in small areas of capillary dropout. Cross-sections demonstrated serous
      filled spaces between the retinal blood vessels and the internal limiting
      membrane. Lumens adjacent to these spaces appeared compressed and sometimes
      closed, but without thrombosis. Decreased ADPase activity in some peripheral
      blood vessels suggested endothelial cell dysfunction and vaso-occlusion. In the
      optic nerve head, numerous corpora amylacea were observed in the vicinity of
      capillaries with thickened walls and narrow lumens. Transmission electron
      microscopy demonstrated thickened and amorphous vascular basal lamina and open
      endothelial cell junctions in some retinal blood vessels. CONCLUSIONS: The serous
      deposits with compression of retinal vessel lumens observed histologically
      probably represent the so-called string of pearls described clinically in SS.
      Chronic extension of these serous deposits along the vessel wall possibly are the
      cause of retinal arterial wall plaques as described by Gass and other
      investigators. In the optic nerve head, corpora amylacea are probably a result of
      microinfarcts resulting from optic nerve head capillary angiopathy. Accumulation
      of amorphous material in the basal lamina, loss of viable endothelial cells, and
      capillary dropout suggest that SS may be an endotheliopathy.

PMID- 20920829
TI  - Relationship between malnutrition and depression or anxiety in Anorexia Nervosa:
      a critical review of the literature.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Depression, anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
      frequently co-occur with Anorexia Nervosa (AN). Clinical consensus admits that
      depressive symptoms and anxiety are the sequelae of malnutrition in AN. This
      review presents a critical assessment of the literature that looked into the link
      between depression/anxiety symptoms in relation to malnutrition and their
      improvement throughout the treatment. METHODS: We performed a systematic search
      of literature in Medline and PsychInfo for all the studies done to investigate
      psychological factors in relation to malnutrition in AN using the keywords
      "Anorexia Nervosa", "depression", "anxiety", "obsessive-compulsive disorder" and
      "malnutrition". Only articles published between 1980 and 2010 in English or
      French were reviewed. From the articles on AN and depression, anxiety, and/or
      OCD, only the ones which investigated on the relation with malnutrition were
      kept. This search was complemented by a manual search. We also checked the
      reference lists of the articles we found. RESULTS: Seven papers were analyzed and
      critically reviewed for their methods and results. Results are contradictory and
      inconsistent at all levels of assessment. CONCLUSIONS: Evidence based data is
      very rare. From the 7 reviewed studies, none of them draw the same conclusion.
      This is mainly due to the large differences in the samples' populations and the
      studies' protocols. Future studies are needed to focus on the relationship
      between depression/anxiety symptoms and malnutrition. A more critical nutritional
      assessment should be undertaken with multiple psychological assessment scales.

PMID- 20920830
TI  - Invariant NKT cells in adrenoleukodystrophy patients and mice.
AB  - X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy (X-ALD) is a severe neurological disease
      characterized by progressive demyelination within the CNS, adrenal insufficiency,
      and is associated with an accumulation of saturated very long chain fatty acids
      in plasma and tissues of patients. iNKT cells, a distinct lineage of T cells
      recognizing glycolipid antigens through CD1d molecules, exert immunoregulatory
      functions and can prevent various immune mediated-pathologies. In ALD patients,
      but not in ALD deficient mice, iNKT cell frequency and CD1d expression on the
      surface of B cells are slightly decreased. However, such minor differences might
      not influence the pathogenesis of the disease.

PMID- 20920831
TI  - IVIg inhibits classical pathway activity and anti-GM1 IgM-mediated complement
      deposition in MMN.
AB  - The effects of intravenous immunoglobulins (IVIg) on anti-GM1 IgM titer and
      function, classical complement pathway activity, and antibody-complement
      interaction were investigated in 62 patients with multifocal motor neuropathy
      (MMN). In vitro, IVIg decreased complement deposition by anti-GM1 IgM antibodies.
      First IVIg treatment (2 g/kg) decreased C1q and C4 concentrations and classical
      pathway activity in serum. In sera from patients receiving IVIg maintenance
      therapy (0.4 g/kg) C4 concentrations and classical pathway activity were
      generally lower at higher IgG concentrations. The beneficial effects of IVIg in
      MMN may be explained by reduced antibody-mediated complement deposition in nerves
      amplified by a systemically attenuated classical pathway.

PMID- 20920832
TI  - Differences in exon expression and alternatively spliced genes in blood of
      multiple sclerosis compared to healthy control subjects.
AB  - Using whole genome exon microarrays 120 exons were differentially expressed
      between medication-free multiple sclerosis (MS) subjects in remission and healthy
      control subjects (HS) (p<0.001, fold change>|1.2|). These exons differentiated MS
      from HS using cluster analyses, principal components analyses (PCAs) and cross
      validation. In addition, 340 genes (transcripts) were predicted to be
      alternatively spliced in MS compared to HS. These findings may provide insight
      into the pathophysiology of MS and potentially provide prognostic and diagnostic
      biomarkers. However, given that multiple comparisons were performed on a very
      small sample, these preliminary findings require confirmation using a much larger
      independent cohort.

PMID- 20920833
TI  - Protective effects of Lactobacilli, Bifidobacteria and Staphylococci on the
      infection of cultured HT29 cells with different enterohemorrhagic Escherichia
      coli serotypes are strain-specific.
AB  - In this study, we investigated the interaction of 19 benign strains of lactic
      acid bacteria (LAB), bifidobacteria and staphylococci with enterohemorrhagic
      Escherichia coli (EHEC) strains of different serotypes and virulence gene
      spectrum in a HT29 cell culture infection model. As markers of infection, the
      secretion of interleukin 8 (IL-8) and the activation of the transcription factor
      NF-kappaB by the infected cells were determined. With 12 of 19 tested strains, a
      weak reduction <30% of IL-8 secretion of HT29 cells after co-infection with EHEC
      O157:H7 strain EDL933 was observed. Six strains reduced the IL-8 secretion up to
      60% and the strain B. adolescentis DSMZ 20086 decreased the IL-8 production about
      73%. In further co-infection assays with EHEC strains of the serotypes O103:H2,
      O26:H-, 0157:H- and O113:H21, different abilities of the LAB strains to influence
      the infection with the different EHEC strains were noted. Therefore, the
      protective anti-inflammatory effect is strain specific for LAB and also depends
      on the application of EHEC strains with different sero- and virulence types. The
      differences in efficacy of protective bacteria against certain EHEC strains were
      unexpected and have not been shown so far. Furthermore, we could show that the
      inhibitory effects were not attributed to lower adhesion abilities of EHEC to the
      production of organic acids by the benign bacteria. In addition, viable bacteria
      are needed to inhibit the IL-8 secretion. Moreover, the NF-kappaB activation was
      reduced significantly by all tested LAB strains in co-infection trials, but was
      not strain-specific. The model described here is useful to screen for basic
      effects of protective bacteria that are able to counteract EHEC-mediated effects
      on human cells, and to study the molecular interaction between bacteria as well
      as between bacteria and human cultured cells.

PMID- 20920834
TI  - Efficacy of short-term psychotherapy for multiple medically unexplained physical
      symptoms: a meta-analysis.
AB  - Multiple medically unexplained physical symptoms (MUPS) are considered to be
      difficult and costly to treat. The current meta-analysis therefore investigates
      the efficacy of short-term psychotherapy for MUPS. Based on a multiple-phase
      literature search, studies were selected according to a-priori defined inclusion
      criteria. The standardized mean gain was used as the effect size index. Separate
      data aggregation of between- and within-group contrasts was performed on the
      basis of a mixed effects model. Outcome variables were physical symptoms,
      disorder specific emotions, cognitions and behaviors, depressive symptoms,
      general psychopathology, functional impairment, and health care utilization.
      Based on 27 included studies, small between-group effect sizes (range: d(+)=0.06
      d(+)=0.40) and small to large within-group effect sizes (range: d(+)=0.36
      d(+)=0.80) were found for post-treatment and follow-up assessments for the
      different outcome variables. Significant moderator variables were identified as
      the type, mode, and setting of therapy, number of therapy sessions, profession of
      therapist, age and sex of patients, quality of diagnostic procedure, and the
      control of concomitant treatments. Implications of the results for clinical
      practice and future research are discussed.

PMID- 20920835
TI  - Use of dietary vitamin E and selenium (Se) to increase the shelf life of modified
      atmosphere packaged light lamb meat.
AB  - The aim of this work was to determine the increase in the shelf life of modified
      atmosphere packaged fresh lamb meat due to the effect of dietary vitamin E and
      selenium supplementation on colour and lipid oxidation. 128 lambs were fed on a
      concentrate with standard levels of vitamin E (C), a concentrate enriched with
      vitamin E (V), a concentrate with sodium selenite (S) and a concentrate enriched
      with both vitamin E and sodium selenite (VS). The lambs were slaughtered at
      27.3+/-1.45 kg LW, and chops stored on MAP for 7, 9, 11 and 13 days. CIELab
      colour and TBARs were studied on these days. Use of dietary vitamin E extended
      the shelf life a further 4 days from the commercial sell-by date in terms of
      lightness, hue angle, metmyoglobin formation and lipid oxidation. Selenium could
      be used to increase the lightness of meat without vitamin E supplementation in
      lambs' diets.

PMID- 20920836
TI  - A biomechanical comparison of the pullout strength of No. 2 FiberWire suture and
      2-mm FiberWire tape in bovine rotator cuff tendons.
AB  - PURPOSE: To biomechanically compare No. 2 polyblend suture with 2-mm polyblend
      tape in a bovine rotator cuff model as well as in isolation. METHODS: Ten paired
      bovine infraspinatus specimens were randomly assigned to simple suture fixation
      with either No. 2 polyblend suture or 2-mm polyblend tape. Each specimen was
      subjected to cyclic testing followed by load-to-failure testing. Elongation,
      ultimate tensile load, and stiffness were determined. The failure method was
      recorded. Isolated suture specimens were also cycled and tested with the same
      protocol. RESULTS: For tendon-suture specimens, testing showed no significant
      difference for elongation (1.44 +/- 0.41 mm v 1.90 +/- 1.15 mm, P = .192) or
      stiffness (67 +/- 13 N/mm v 66 +/- 11 N/mm, P = .757). Statistical significance
      was found for ultimate tensile load (168 +/- 73 N v 184 +/- 83 N, P = .046). The
      most common mode of failure for both groups of specimens was disruption of the
      tendon by the suture. Isolated suture specimens showed significant differences
      for ultimate tensile load (349 +/- 7 N v 937 +/- 93 N, P = .001) and stiffness
      (85 +/- 12 N/mm v 218 +/- 20 N/mm, P = .002) but not for elongation (0.26 +/-
      0.05 mm v 0.19 +/- 0.04 mm, P = .124). CONCLUSIONS: Using the described testing
      method in bovine rotator cuff specimens, we found no difference in ultimate
      tensile load, stiffness, or elongation between the 2 tested sutures. Testing of
      the sutures in isolation showed that the 2-mm tape was approximately 3 times as
      stiff as the No. 2 suture and failed at 3 times the loads of the No. 2 suture.
      CLINICAL RELEVANCE: The larger 2-mm tape does not diminish the biomechanical
      performance of rotator cuff-suture specimens in comparison to No. 2 suture.
      Although the effect of tape on the vascularity of the rotator cuff is not known,
      the larger tape does not negatively affect elongation, ultimate tensile load, or
      stiffness in this in vitro animal model.

PMID- 20920837
TI  - The anterior cruciate ligament provides resistance to externally applied anterior
      tibial force but not to internal rotational torque during simulated weight
      bearing flexion.
AB  - PURPOSE: We investigated knee kinematics during simulated weight-bearing flexion
      and determined the effect of 3 different parameters of external tibial loading on
      the kinematics of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL)-intact and ACL-deficient
      knee. METHODS: Ten human knee specimens were mounted on a dynamic knee simulator,
      and weight-bearing muscle-loaded knee flexions were simulated while a
      robotic/universal force sensor system was used to provide external tibial loads
      during the motion. Three different loading conditions were simulated: partial
      body weight only, an additional 50 N of anterior tibial force (ATD), or an
      additional 5 Nm of internal rotational tibial torque (IRT). After arthroscopic
      transection of the ACL, these 3 trials were repeated. The kinematics were
      measured with an ultrasonic measuring system for 3-dimensional motion analysis,
      and different loading and knee conditions were examined. RESULTS: When the ACL
      was intact, ATD and IRT barely changed the anterior tibial translation. However,
      in the absence of the ACL, ATD significantly increased the anterior tibial
      translation by 5 mm whereas IRT did not. The application of IRT increased the
      internal tibial rotation of ACL-intact knees, but there was no difference in the
      internal rotation before and after transection of the ACL. Regardless of ACL
      status, the difference in the anterior tibial translation and the internal tibial
      rotation across different external tibial loadings was greater at lower flexion
      angles and gradually diminished with increasing flexion angles. CONCLUSIONS: We
      established an experimental protocol, incorporating a dynamic knee simulator and
      a robotic/universal force sensor system, to successfully measure the kinematics
      of the knee joint while applying external forces in weight-bearing flexion. Our
      findings suggest that, in muscle-loaded knee flexion, the ACL provides
      substantial resistance to externally applied ATD but not to IRT. CLINICAL
      RELEVANCE: Information from this study allows us to better understand the
      function of the ACL and, hence, treatment of injuries to this important
      stabilizing ligament.

PMID- 20920838
TI  - Magnetic resonance imaging evidence of meniscal extrusion in medial meniscus
      posterior root tear.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relation between meniscal
      extrusion on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and tearing of the posterior root
      of the medial meniscus, as well as to understand the relation between meniscal
      extrusion and chondral lesions. METHODS: From January 2007 to December 2008, 387
      consecutive cases of medial meniscal tears were treated arthroscopically. Of
      these cases, 248 (64.1%) with MRI were reviewed. Arthroscopic findings were
      reviewed for the type of tear and medial compartment cartilage lesion. Root tear
      was defined as a radial tear in the posterior horn of the medial meniscus near
      the tibial spine (i.e., within 5 mm of the root attachment). An MRI scan of the
      knee was used to evaluate the presence and extent of meniscal extrusion. Meniscal
      extrusion of 3 mm or greater was considered pathologic. Arthroscopic findings
      were compared with respect to the extent of meniscal extrusion. RESULTS: There
      were 98 male patients and 150 female patients. The mean age was 53.5 years
      (range, 15 to 81 years). The results showed 127 cases (51.2%) in which the medial
      meniscus had meniscal extrusion of 3 mm or greater. Posterior root tears were
      found in 66 (26.6%) of the 248 knees. The mean meniscal extrusion in patients
      with root tear was 3.8 +/- 1.4 mm, whereas the mean extrusion of those who had no
      root tear was 2.7 +/- 1.3 mm. We found an association between pathologic meniscal
      extrusion and root tear (P < .001). Meniscal extrusion showed a low positive
      predictive value (39%) and specificity (58%) with regard to the meniscal root
      tear. Meniscal extrusion was also significantly correlated with severity of
      chondral lesions (P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: Considerable extrusion (>=3 mm) can be
      associated with tearing of the medial meniscus root and chondral lesion of the
      medial femoral condyle. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level IV, therapeutic case series.

PMID- 20920839
TI  - Endovascular treatment of acute limb ischemia secondary to fracture of a
      popliteal artery stent.
AB  - The authors report the case of a patient with acute lower limb ischemia (category
      IIa) after occlusion of the popliteal artery due to fracture of a long indwelling
      stent. The patient refused surgical therapy for religious reasons, and an
      interventional revascularization was performed as acute rescue therapy. After
      reentry into the distal popliteal artery was achieved, the artery was dilated,
      and the fragmented stent was crushed, followed by implantation of two helical
      nitinol stents with high radial force and a third self-expandable nitinol stent.
      Sufficient primary technical success was achieved, and stent patency was present
      at midterm follow-up.

PMID- 20920841
TI  - Comparing strategies for operator eye protection in the interventional radiology
      suite.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the impact of common radiation-shielding strategies, used
      alone and in combination, on scattered dose to the fluoroscopy operator's eye.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: With an operator phantom positioned at the groin, upper
      abdomen, and neck, posteroanterior low-dose fluoroscopy was performed at the
      phantom patient's upper abdomen. Operator lens radiation dose rate was recorded
      with a solid-state dosimeter with and without a leaded table skirt, nonleaded and
      leaded (0.75 mm lead equivalent) eyeglasses, disposable tungsten-antimony drapes
      (0.25 mm lead equivalent), and suspended and rolling (0.5 mm lead equivalent)
      transparent leaded shields. Lens dose measurements were also obtained in right
      and left 15 degrees  anterior obliquities with the operator at the upper abdomen
      and during digital subtraction angiography (two images per second) with the
      operator at the patient's groin. Each strategy's shielding efficacy was expressed
      as a reduction factor of the lens dose rate compared with the unshielded
      condition. RESULTS: Use of leaded glasses alone reduced the lens dose rate by a
      factor of five to 10; scatter-shielding drapes alone reduced the dose rate by a
      factor of five to 25. Use of both implements together was always more protective
      than either used alone, reducing dose rate by a factor of 25 or more. Lens dose
      was routinely undetectable when a suspended shield was the only barrier during
      low-dose fluoroscopy. CONCLUSIONS: Use of scatter-shielding drapes or leaded
      glasses decreases operator lens dose by a factor of five to 25, but the use of
      both barriers together (or use of leaded shields) provides maximal protection to
      the interventional radiologist's eye.

PMID- 20920840
TI  - High-fidelity computer models for prospective treatment planning of
      radiofrequency ablation with in vitro experimental correlation.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the accuracy of computer simulation in predicting the
      thermal damage region produced by a radiofrequency (RF) ablation procedure in an
      in vitro perfused bovine liver model. The thermal dose end point in the liver
      model is used to assess quantitatively computer prediction for use in prospective
      treatment planning of RF ablation procedures. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Geometric
      details of the tri-cooled tip electrode were modeled. The resistive heating of a
      pulsed voltage delivery was simulated in four dimensions using finite element
      models (FEM) implemented on high-performance parallel computing architectures. A
      range of physically realistic blood perfusion parameters, 3.6-53.6 kg/sec/m(3),
      was considered in the computer model. An Arrhenius damage model was used to
      predict the thermal dose. Dice similarity coefficients (DSC) were the metric of
      comparison between computational predictions and T1-weighted contrast-enhanced
      images of the damage obtained from a RF procedure performed on an in vitro
      perfused bovine liver model. RESULTS: For a perfusion parameter greater than 16.3
      kg/sec/m(3), simulations predict the temporal evolution of the damaged volume is
      perfusion limited and will reach a maximum value. Over a range of physically
      meaningful perfusion values, 16.3-33.1 kg/sec/m(3), the predicted thermal dose
      reaches the maximum damage volume within 2 minutes of the delivery and is in good
      agreement (DSC > 0.7) with experimental measurements obtained from the perfused
      liver model. CONCLUSIONS: As measured by the computed volumetric DSC, computer
      prediction accuracy of the thermal dose shows good correlation with ablation
      lesions measured in vitro in perfused bovine liver models over a range of
      physically realistic perfusion values.

PMID- 20920842
TI  - Adenosine signaling via the adenosine 2B receptor is involved in bronchiolitis
      obliterans development.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Adenosine is produced in response to ischemia or inflammation and
      protects tissues from injury. Four adenosine receptors are critical in the
      physiologic negative-feedback mechanism for limitation and termination of tissue
      specific and systemic inflammatory responses. Accumulating evidence has focused
      on the anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive role of the adenosine 2A receptor
      (A(2A)R), and we have previously reported on its role in the development of
      bronchiolitis obliterans (BO) after lung transplantation. Few studies, however,
      have reported the role of the adenosine 2B receptor (A(2B)R) in BO. Data suggests
      that the A(2B)R has pro-inflammatory and pro-fibrotic roles. We hypothesized that
      adenosine signaling through A(2B)R is involved in the development of BO. METHODS:
      A murine heterotopic tracheal model across a total alloantigenic mismatch was
      used to study A(2B)R signaling in BO. Tracheal transplants consisted of Balb/c
      donor tracheas transplanted into wild-type or A(2B)R knockout (KO) C57BL/6
      recipients. Transplanted tracheas were removed 3, 7, 12, and 21 days after
      transplantation. The luminal obliteration was evaluated through hematoxylin and
      eosin staining, and the cellular infiltration (macrophage, neutrophil, CD3+ and
      Foxp3+ regulatory T cell) was detected by immunohistochemical staining. RESULTS:
      Compared with allografts in wild-type recipients, tracheas transplanted into
      A(2B)R KO mice displayed less BO development on Day 21. A(2B)R KO mice had an
      increase in CD3+ T cells and CD4+/CD25+/Foxp3+ regulatory T cells than did wild
      type mice on Day 7. By Day 12, more CD3+ T cells were present in the wild-type
      trachea compared with the A(2B)R KO, but the percentage of CD4+/CD25+/Foxp3+
      regulatory T cells remained higher in the tracheas of A(2B)R KO mice.
      CONCLUSIONS: A(2B)R stimulation may promote the development of BO by inhibiting
      CD4+/CD25+/Foxp3+ regulatory T-cell infiltration.

PMID- 20920844
TI  - The Dutch Objective Burden Inventory: validity and reliability in a Canadian
      population of caregivers for people with heart failure.
AB  - Evidence suggests that caregivers of people with heart failure (HF) often
      experience caregiver burden and emotional distress. However, these studies
      measured the caregiving experience using generic tools since a disease-specific
      tool was not available. Recently, the Dutch Objective Burden Inventory (DOBI) was
      developed as a disease-specific tool measuring objective caregiver burden in a
      Dutch HF population of caregivers. Using a cross-sectional design, caregivers of
      HF patients attending an outpatient HF clinic completed the DOBI, the Hosptial
      Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and the Caregiver Reaction Assessment (CRA).
      Caregivers (n=47) were mainly female (72%) and spouses (72%) of the HF patients
      with a mean age of 63.1 (+/-10.4) years. Patients were older (mean age 72.7; +/
      10.6), 64% male and had advanced HF. Feasibility for the objective portion of the
      DOBI was excellent with <10% missing values. The subjective component of the DOBI
      was incomplete and could not be used in the analyses. Seven items had minimal
      variability. Significant relationships emerged between the DOBI, CRA and HADS
      revealing construct validity for all subscales of the DOBI. Cronbach's alpha was
      >.80 for all DOBI subscales. The DOBI is the only disease-specific tool that
      measures burden for caregivers of HF patients. The objective portion of the DOBI
      showed evidence of adequate internal consistency and construct validity in a
      Canadian population of caregivers of HF patients attending a HF Clinic. Further
      testing is needed to determine floor and ceiling effects for DOBI items and
      responsiveness of this tool.

PMID- 20920843
TI  - Adventitious shoot regeneration from juvenile cotyledons of a biodiesel producing
      Plant, Jatropha curcas L.
AB  - An efficient and rapid adventitious shoot regeneration system from young
      cotyledons of Jatropha curcas L. was developed. After testing several
      combinations of plant growth regulators, the highest regeneration frequency was
      obtained for the medium supplemented with 3 mg/l BA and 0.1 mg/l IBA. This system
      will be useful for promoting genetic improvement efforts in J. curcas.

PMID- 20920845
TI  - A simplified method to assess affinity of insulin autoantibodies.
AB  - Insulin autoantibodies (IAA) precede type 1 diabetes, but not all IAA-positive
      children develop other islet autoantibodies and disease. Diabetes risk can be
      stratified by laborious IAA affinity measurement using competition with multiple
      ligand concentrations. Here, we identify a single competitor concentration that
      discriminates low- and high-affinity IAA. Discrimination was achieved among 122
      IAA-positive sera using 7.0 nM competitor which is 54-fold that of the assay
      radioligand concentration. Relative-binding <60% at this competitor concentration
      identified all 85 sera with affinities >=1.0*108 L/mol and none with lower
      affinities (P<0.0001), and 45 (96%) of 47 multiple islet autoantibody-positive
      sera (P<0.0001). IAA competition was further tested in a second set of 119 IAA
      positive sera. Of these, 99 fulfilled high-affinity competition criteria of <60%
      relative-binding at 7.0 nM competitor including 89 (94%) of 95 sera with multiple
      islet autoantibodies (P<0.0001). Thus, increased IAA specificity can be achieved
      with simple modification to existing assays.

PMID- 20920846
TI  - Administration of lithium and magnesium chloride inhibited tolerance to the
      anticonvulsant effect of morphine on pentylenetetrazole-induced seizures in mice.
AB  - Although morphine has an anticonvulsant effect in several animal models of
      seizures, its potential clinical application in epilepsy may be hindered by its
      adverse effects like opioid tolerance. The present study evaluated the
      development of tolerance to the anticonvulsant effect of morphine in a model of
      clonic seizures induced with pentylenetetrazole (PTZ) in male Swiss mice. We also
      examined whether administration of either lithium chloride (LiCl) or magnesium
      chloride (MgCl(2)) was able to prevent the probable tolerance. Our data
      demonstrated that the anticonvulsant effect of a potent dose of morphine (1mg/kg)
      was abolished in chronic morphine-treated mice (mice administered the same dose
      of morphine intraperitoneally twice daily for 4 days). Four days of pretreatment
      with low and noneffective doses of MgCl(2) (2 and 5mg/kg) and LiCl (5mg/kg)
      inhibited the development of tolerance to the anticonvulsant effect of morphine
      (1mg/kg, ip). Moreover, a single acute injection of the aforementioned agents at
      the same doses reversed the expression of tolerance to the anticonvulsant effects
      of morphine (1mg/kg, ip). Chronic 17-day treatment with LiCl (600 mg/L in
      drinking water) also inhibited the development of tolerance to the anticonvulsant
      effects of 1mg/kg morphine. These results demonstrate that the anticonvulsant
      effect of morphine is subject to tolerance after repeated administration. Both
      development and expression of tolerance are inhibited by either LiCl or MgCl(2).
      As both LiCl and MgCl(2) can modulate the function of N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA)
      receptors, we discuss how NMDA receptor functioning might be involved in the
      effects of LiCl and MgCl(2) on the development of tolerance to the anticonvulsant
      effect of morphine.

PMID- 20920847
TI  - Absence of gender effect on amygdala volume in temporal lobe epilepsy.
AB  - Sexual dimorphism has already been described in temporal lobe epilepsy with
      mesial temporal sclerosis (TLE-MTS). This study evaluated the effect of gender on
      amygdala volume in patients with TLE-MTS. One hundred twenty-four patients with
      refractory unilateral or bilateral TLE-MTS who were being considered for epilepsy
      surgery underwent a comprehensive presurgical evaluation and MRI. Amygdalas of 67
      women (27 with right; 32 with left, and 8 with bilateral TLE) and 57 men (22 with
      right, 30 with left, and 5 with bilateral TLE) were manually segmented.
      Significant ipsilateral amygdala volume reduction was observed for patients with
      right and left TLE. No gender effect on amygdala volume was observed.
      Contralateral amygdalar asymmetry was observed for patients with right and left
      TLE. Although no gender effect was observed on amygdala volume, ipsilateral
      amygdala volume reductions in patients with TLE might be related to differential
      rates of cerebral maturation between hemispheres.

PMID- 20920848
TI  - Twice vs three-times daily antibiotics in the treatment of pulmonary
      exacerbations of cystic fibrosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Once daily dosing of aminoglycosides is widely used but is limited by
      the inconvenience of the slow infusion it requires and the associated three-times
      daily infusion of a beta-lactam. Twice daily tobramycin can be given as a slow IV
      bolus and may be more convenient. This study compares twice with three-times
      daily dosing of both tobramycin and ceftazidime. METHODS: This was a randomised,
      open-label, parallel group trial. CF patients presenting with an infective
      exacerbation were randomised to either twice or three-times daily ceftazidime and
      tobramycin. Markers of treatment efficacy and safety were measured in the two
      groups. The primary outcome measure was improvement in FEV1. RESULTS: 146
      patients were randomised into the study. There was no significant difference in
      the two groups for improvement in FEV1% predicted (9.93% and 7.98% for twice
      daily and three-times daily respectively) and similar times to next exacerbation.
      There were no differences in the incidence of treatment failure, nephrotoxicity
      and ototoxicity. DISCUSSION: This study confirms that twice daily dosing of both
      tobramycin and ceftazidime is safe and effective and may be considered more
      convenient than current dosing schedules.

PMID- 20920849
TI  - Proteome analysis of the leukocytes from the American alligator (Alligator
      mississippiensis) using mass spectrometry.
AB  - Mass spectrometry was used in conjunction with gel electrophoresis and liquid
      chromatography, to determine peptide sequences from American alligator (Alligator
      mississippiensis) leukocytes and to identify similar proteins based on homology.
      The goal of the study was to generate an initial database of proteins related to
      the alligator immune system. We have adopted a typical proteomics approach for
      this study. Proteins from leukocyte extracts were separated using two-dimensional
      gel electrophoresis and the major bands were excised, digested and analyzed by on
      line nano-LC MS/MS to generate peptide sequences. The sequences generated were
      used to identify proteins and characterize their functions. The protein identity
      and characterization of the protein function were based on matching two or more
      peptides to the same protein by searching against the NCBI database using MASCOT
      and Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST). For those proteins with only one
      peptide matching, the phylum of the matched protein was considered. Forty-three
      proteins were identified that exhibit sequence similarities to proteins from
      other vertebrates. Proteins related to the cytoskeletal system were the most
      abundant proteins identified. These proteins are known to regulate cell mobility
      and phagocytosis. Several other peptides were matched to proteins that
      potentially have immune-related function.

PMID- 20920850
TI  - [Translational research in clinical oncology: challenges and opportunities].
AB  - The principal objective of the translational research in Oncology is to translate
      the knowledge derived from the basic research to the clinical practice as soon as
      possible. The goal is to develop and maximize the concepts of oncopharmacogenomic
      and oncopharmacogenetic. In this context it will be absolutely necessary that
      hospitals integrate the basic and clinical research in translational research
      units with the appropriate resources.

PMID- 20920851
TI  - [Antineoplastic drug-induced neutropenia: use of granulocyte colony stimulating
      factors].
AB  - Neutropenia is a frequent adverse event of the pharmacologic treatment of cancer.
      Morbidity and mortality-associated neutropenia can be successfully treated and
      prevented with granulocyte-colony stimulating factors (G-CSF). European and
      American Guidelines recommend their prophylactic use when the expected percentage
      of febrile neutropenia exceeds 20% or there are concomitant risk factors.
      Afebrile neutropenia is not considered to benefit from G-CSF treatment. Other
      approved indications include stem cell mobilization, and an adequate delivery of
      dose-intense and dose-dense chemotherapy regimens.

PMID- 20920852
TI  - [Pharmacoeconomics and cost of cancer drugs].
AB  - Cancer is a disease of high incidence, which determines that the health systems
      will be forced to allocation a significant amount of resources. In an era of
      evidence-based medicine and increasing cost pressures, it is important to
      understand the relative clinical and economic impact of the many drug treatment
      strategies available for cancer patients. Currently, resources that may be spent
      in pharmacoeconomics expenditure are limited so it is necessary to rationalize
      their consumption and priorize in the allocation of these resources to the
      options with higher economic advantages. Pharmacoeconomic studies will permit us
      to know what is the efficiency of different therapeutic alternatives so they will
      help to determine the therapeutic options that we should use in routine medical
      practice.

PMID- 20920853
TI  - [Biosimilars: regulatory status for approval].
AB  - Biotecnological drugs represents the future treatment in medicine. Since the
      expiry of the patent of the fi rst approved biotech drug, "copying" and marketing
      of them can be offered by any other biotech company, these new medicines are
      known as biosimilar medicines. They are approved by the EMEA (European Medicines
      Evaluation Agency) through the European centralised procedure, the EMEA issued
      several stringent guidelines to approve a biosimilar drug on the European market,
      preclinical and clinical studies are necessary to asses the highest standards in
      quality, efficacy and patient safety. The World Health Organization has
      determined that biosimilar have the same INN than the original product.

PMID- 20920854
TI  - [Biosimilar filgrastim: from development to record].
AB  - Ratiograstim(r) is the first filgrastim biosimilar approved by EMEA. The
      reference medicinal product is Neupogen(r). The active substance is filgrastim
      (the manufacturing laboratory, ratiopharm, is using the name XM02). Filgrastim is
      a non glycosylated recombinant methionyl human granulocyte colony stimulating
      factor expressed in E. coli. Differences with human granulocyte-colony
      stimulating factor (G-CSF) are a N-terminal methionyl extension and be a non
      glycosylated protein. Ratiograstim(r) has the same indications as the reference
      product: - Cytotoxic chemotherapy induced neutropenia. - Neutropenia caused by
      myeloablative therapy followed by BMT. - Mobilisation of peripheral blood
      progenitor cells (PBPC). - Congenital, cyclic or idiopathic neutropenia. -
      Persistant neutropenia in HIV-patients. Authorisation according to the EMEA
      guidelines for biosimilars by centralized approval procedure, to demonstrate
      quality, efficacy and safety compared to the reference product Neupogen(r).
      Comprehensive phase I and phase III clinical studies involving 880 subjects and
      patients have been completed (table 1).

PMID- 20920855
TI  - [Biosimilars: assessment of efficacy, safety and cost].
AB  - A biosimilar medicinal product is a successor to a biological medicinal product
      for which patent protection no longer applies. Manufactured by recombinant DNA
      technology (insertion of gene into the host cell to produce the protein).
      Comparable with the selected comparator, reference product, in terms of quality,
      safety and efficacy. The biosimilar product is usually approved for the same
      indications as the comparator reference product given that they share the same
      mode of actions.

PMID- 20920856
TI  - [Biosimilar medicines. Scientific and legal disputes].
AB  - Patent expiry dates for early biotechnological drugs is giving rise to the
      availability of biosimilar drugs. According to the EMEA, these are defined as
      drugs with a biotechnological origin that have proven comparable to their
      reference product once the latter's patent expired. Modifications in the
      manufacturing process of biotechnological medications or treatment changes from
      one biotechnological molecule to another have not been debated until these
      biosimilar drugs have become available. It is then that, among other issues, the
      potential risks of their substitution for reference molecules became
      controversial. EMEA guidelines for biosimilar drug approval grant that these will
      be as effective and safe as any other newly available biotechnological medicinal
      product, or as any other drug undergoing changes in its manufacturing processes
      once marketed. Their availability will promote competition and reduce the high
      financial impact healthcare systems endure following the introduction of new
      therapies based on biotechnological drugs.

PMID- 20920857
TI  - [Consensus document on the use of granulocyte colony stimulating factor
      biosimilars for correction of neutropenia in cancer patients].

PMID- 20920858
TI  - A new computerized measurement approach of carotid artery stenosis on tomographic
      image sequence.
AB  - RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES: The stenosis degree of carotid artery (CA) can be a
      critical factor for treatment of cerebrovascular disease and for determining
      candidate of carotid endarterectomy. Currently, three different measuring methods
      are applied only on projectional cervical images. These measurement methods
      introduce several demerits such as a thromboembolic event, and three reference
      positions provide the different measurement results even on same subject. In
      addition, projection image could not provide the most severe stenosis position by
      nature; and the manual measurements also provide the inter-observer and intra
      observer variability. Therefore, a computerized measuring scheme is necessary to
      overcome these drawbacks. MATERIALS AND METHODS: By applying local adaptive
      thresholding technique on cervical magnetic resonance angiogram image sequence,
      CA objects are initially identified. These are used to determine the three
      dimensional central axis of CA by using circumscribed quadrangle. The oblique
      slices are reformatted into two-dimensional image planes, which are perpendicular
      to the central axis of CA, to provide the circular shape of blood vessel provided
      that the artery runs horizontally across the scanning axis. After that, region
      growing technique is applied on obliquely reformatted image sequence followed by
      geometrically restoration of segmented CA objects. RESULTS: The percentage of
      stenosis can be defined by the area ratio of segmented CA to restored CA object.
      The stenosis grading of is [(A-B)/A]*100%, where A represents area measure of
      restored object, B represents area measure of segmented CA object. Experiments
      have been conducted on both phantom that simulated the mild (30%), moderate
      (50%), and severe (70%) stenosis degree for validation of proposed measurement
      approach and 86 carotid arteries from 43 clinical data sets (including 5
      occlusion cases). CONCLUSIONS: The automated approach is recommended to measure
      the carotid stenosis by using axial image sequence. This technique is not only
      accurate as possible but also robust, simple to handle, and less time consuming
      as compared to manual measurements. In addition, a computerized carotid stenosis
      measuring method is necessary to overcome the drawbacks introduced by using the
      projectional image and measurement variability of inter-observer, intra-observer.

PMID- 20920859
TI  - Cost analysis and feasibility of high-fidelity simulation based radiology
      contrast reaction curriculum.
AB  - RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES: Radiology residents have variable training in managing
      acute nonrenal adverse reactions to iodinated contrast media because of their
      rarity. Preliminary results show positive feedback and knowledge gain with high
      fidelity simulation-based training. Financial costs and the time required to
      implement a high-fidelity simulation curriculum are higher than for a lecture
      series. The objective of this study was to provide a financial and time cost
      benefit analysis for high-fidelity simulation training of acute adverse reactions
      to iodinated contrast media. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty-four radiology
      residents were divided into lecture and simulation groups. Five simulation
      scenarios were created, with core education content mirrored in the lecture.
      Lengths of faculty time commitment and resident training were recorded. Financial
      costs, including manikin and simulation facility rates, were recorded and divided
      by the number of residents to obtain per resident simulation and lecture costs. A
      written evaluation of the experience, with Likert-type items and unstructured
      response items, was conducted. RESULTS: Cost per resident for simulation training
      setup was $259.76, and $203.46 for subsequent years, compared to <$5 for lecture.
      Faculty time was 7 academic days for simulation versus 2 days for lecture format.
      Resident simulation commitment was 3 hours 30 minutes. Time to train
      technologists to run the simulation was 3 hours. All residents provided positive
      feedback regarding the simulation curriculum, with mean feedback scores
      statistically higher than lecture group (P < .05). CONCLUSIONS: This study
      illustrates that financial costs of implementation are low compared to the
      potential cost of morbidity associated with the life-threatening event of an
      acute adverse reaction to iodinated contrast media.

PMID- 20920860
TI  - Inframalleolar bypass grafts for limb salvage.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To report our experience of long-term results of inframalleolar
      bypass. DESIGN: Retrospective analysis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We analysed 122
      inframalleolar bypasses performed between January 1991 and June 2005 in 116
      patients. Most patients were treated for critical ischaemia (97%). The indication
      for the use of podalic arteries was a lack of tibial arteries with run-off to the
      foot. The dorsalis pedis was predominantly used for distal anastomoses (62.3%)
      and the greater saphenous vein (84.4%) as the conduit. The follow-up periods
      ranged from 1 to 60 months. The endpoints analysed were graft patency, limb
      salvage, preservation of deambulation and survival rate. RESULTS: The cumulative
      patency was 58.2% at 3 years and 53.4% at 5 years. The best results were achieved
      with the devalvulated greater saphenous veins. Limb salvage was 70.0% at 3 years
      and 50.4% at 5 years, with preserved deambulation rates of 57.3% and 47.1%,
      respectively. There were 36 major and 45 minor amputations. At 3 years, the
      survival rate was 50.2% and the surgical mortality 13%. Female sex was associated
      with worse results for cumulative patency and limb salvage (P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS:
      In the long term, inframalleolar bypass is a satisfactory option for limb
      salvage.

PMID- 20920861
TI  - Hybrid repair of the aortic arch in patients with extensive aortic disease.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the outcome of hybrid treatment of the aortic arch with
      supra-aortic debranching and endovascular stent-graft repair in a selected group
      of patients with complex disease. DESIGN: Case series study with retrospective
      analysis of prospectively collected non-randomised data. METHODS: Patients with
      hybrid repair of complex arch disease at a single centre over a 6-year period
      were enrolled in the study. Only patients with extensive arch pathologies
      requiring debranching of at least the left carotid artery were considered.
      Patients were divided into those who underwent complete and partial supra-aortic
      revascularisation. The chi2 test was used to evaluate differences in outcomes.
      Logistic regression analyses were applied to identify predictors of poor outcome.
      RESULTS: A total of 33 patients were included in the study. Complete and partial
      arch repair was performed in nine and 24 patients, respectively. The aortic
      disease extended to the thoracic and abdominal aorta in 39% and 52% of the
      patients, respectively. One-third of the patients (30%) were treated on an
      urgent/emergency basis. Elective 30-day mortality and morbidity rates were 13%
      and 35%, respectively. Early mortality was significantly higher in the complete
      arch repair group (p=0.046). Pre-existing renal impairment was identified as a
      poor prognostic factor. All extra-anatomic bypasses remained patent and no aortic
      disease-related deaths occurred during a mean follow-up period of 23 months
      (range, 1.5-58 months). Complete arch repair was associated with an increased
      incidence of late endoleak (p=0.018). CONCLUSIONS: Hybrid treatment of the aortic
      arch provides a feasible alternative treatment in patients who are high risk for
      conventional open surgical repair. Careful selection of patients is required to
      achieve satisfactory results.

PMID- 20920862
TI  - International psychometric validation of the Chronic Venous Disease quality of
      life Questionnaire (CIVIQ-20).
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To review the psychometric validation of the Chronic Venous dIsease
      quality of life Questionnaire (CIVIQ-20) in the countries that have used it since
      1996. DESIGN: Prospective, clinical, international study in 18 countries.
      PATIENTS: Patients with venous disease of the lower limb in the clinical,
      aetiological, anatomical and pathophysiological (CEAP) clinical stages C0s to C4
      presenting to surgical outpatient departments and general practices and receiving
      drug treatment for 6 months. METHODS: Quantification of symptoms on a four-point
      scale and pain on a visual analogue scale, and self-administration of CIVIQ-20 to
      patients before visit (baseline, 2, 4 and 6 months). RESULTS: In 3956 patients,
      CIVIQ-20 showed good internal consistency and reliability (above 0.80) through
      test-retest correlations. The discriminating power of items was good in known
      groups of patients. Factor analysis identified physical, psychological and pain
      factors as important, but revealed instability of the social factor. CIVIQ-20 was
      highly sensitive to changes in the quality of life of patients clinically
      improved after drug treatment. CONCLUSION: CIVIQ-20 is valuable in assessing
      treatment effects in longitudinal, multinational studies, but comparisons of
      different populations should use the global score rather than scores per
      dimension.

PMID- 20920863
TI  - The CAESAR trial--highlighting the need for different end points.

PMID- 20920864
TI  - Vitamin D Receptor (VDR) polymorphic variants in patients with cancer and Gaucher
      disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: An increased risk has been reported in Gaucher disease genotype
      N370S/N370S for multiple myeloma, hematologic and other malignancies, as well as
      skeletal involvement. The purpose of this study is to ascertain whether VDR
      genotype which is involved in the risk for many cancers including multiple
      myeloma is also correlated with cancers in patients with Gaucher disease.
      METHODS: VDR polymorphisms (ApaI, TaqI, BsmI, FokI) were analyzed by standard
      methods from 29 Gaucher patients (some on enzyme therapy) with various cancers
      and from 70 healthy Ashkenazi Jews. Associations between VDR and categorical
      variables were analyzed by chi-square and Fisher's exact tests; associations with
      quantitative variables used ANOVA and Scheffe post-hoc tests. Non-parametric
      Kruskal-Wallis ANOVA was used when one category was small. IRB Committee approval
      was received for this study. FINDINGS: There was a trend for statistical
      significance (p=0.04) between patients and controls for the ApaI aa genotype.
      There were no correlations between VDR polymorphic genotypes and disease
      severity, need for ERT, splenectomy, or bone disease except a trend associating
      TaqI TT genotype with Zimran's severity score (p=0.06). CONCLUSION: This survey
      highlights the possibility that Gaucher disease in itself may not be the only
      important risk factor for cancers (other than multiple myeloma) and that other
      modifiers may affect cancer morbidity in Gaucher disease.

PMID- 20920865
TI  - Screening for proteinuria in cats using a conventional dipstick test after
      removal of cauxin from urine with a Lens culinaris agglutinin lectin tip.
AB  - Proteinuria is an important indicator of urinary tract disease and urine
      dipsticks are simple and sensitive tools to screen for this marker. However, the
      use of dipsticks to screen for proteinuria may not be appropriate in cats, since
      cauxin, a 70 kDa glycoprotein, is secreted by the kidneys in clinically normal
      animals of this species. To circumvent this problem, a Lens culinaris agglutinin
      (LCA) lectin tip was developed to remove cauxin from feline urine, followed by
      conventional urine dipstick testing for proteinuria. Sodium dodecyl sulfate
      polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) with Coomassie brilliant blue R-250
      staining indicated that >90% cauxin in the urine of 13 clinically normal cats was
      trapped by the LCA lectin tip, so that the dipstick protein 'score' changed from
      'positive' (>=30 mg/dL) for untreated urine to 'negative' (<=10 mg/dL) for lectin
      tip-treated urine. In contrast, SDS-PAGE indicated that lectin tip-treated
      samples from 20 animals with renal disease contained high concentrations of
      albumin and low-molecular weight proteins; dipstick testing of lectin tip-treated
      urine resulted in a consistently positive protein score. The accuracy of the
      dipstick method for detecting cats with abnormal proteinuria is enhanced if
      dipsticks are used with urine samples that have first been passed through the LCA
      lectin tip.

PMID- 20920866
TI  - White noise: pigment-associated deafness.

PMID- 20920867
TI  - Autism in monogenic disorders.

PMID- 20920868
TI  - Z-spectroscopy with Alternating-Phase Irradiation.
AB  - Magnetization transfer (MT) MRI and Z-spectroscopy are tools to study both water
      macromolecule interactions and pH-sensitive exchange dynamics between water and
      the protons of mobile chemical groups within these macromolecules. Both rely on
      saturation of frequencies offset from water and observation of the on-resonance
      water signal. In this work, an RF saturation method called Z-spectroscopy with
      Alternating-Phase Irradiation (ZAPI) is introduced. Based on the T(2)-selectivity
      of the irradiation pulse, ZAPI can be used to separate the different
      contributions to a Z-spectrum, as well as to study the T(2) distribution of the
      macromolecules contributing to the MT signal. ZAPI can be run at resonance for
      water and with low power, thus minimizing problems with specific absorption rate
      (SAR) limits in clinical applications. In this paper, physical and practical
      aspects of ZAPI are discussed and the sequence is applied in vitro to sample
      systems and in vivo to rat head to demonstrate the method.

PMID- 20920869
TI  - Characteristics of zero-quantum correlation spectroscopy in MAS NMR experiments.
AB  - Zero-quantum coherence generation and reconversion in magic-angle spinning solid
      state NMR is analyzed. Two methods are discussed based on implementations using
      symmetry-based pulse sequences that utilize either isotropic J couplings or
      dipolar couplings. In either case, the decoupling of abundant proton spins plays
      a crucial role for the efficiency of the zero-quantum generation. We present
      optimized sequences for measuring zero-quantum single-quantum correlation spectra
      in solids, achieving an efficiency of 50% in ubiquitin. The advantages and
      disadvantages of zero-quantum single-quantum over single-quantum single-quantum
      correlation spectroscopy are explored, and similarities and differences with
      double-quantum single-quantum correlation spectroscopy are discussed. Finally,
      possible application of zero-quantum single-quantum experiments to polypeptides,
      where it can lead to better spectral resolution is investigated using ubiquitin,
      where we find high efficiency and high selectivity, but also increased line
      widths in the MQ dimension.

PMID- 20920870
TI  - IGF(CA)19 and IGFBP-3-202A/C gene polymorphism in patients with acromegaly.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We aimed to investigate IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 gene polymorphisms in
      patients with acromegaly. DESIGN: We included 34 patients with acromegaly and 37
      healthy subjects to study. At baseline examinations, antropometric measurements
      were done. Genomic DNA from the patients and controls were prepared. Serum,
      glucose, insulin, total cholesterol, triglyceride, HDL cholesterol, LDL
      cholesterol, growth hormone (GH), Insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) and IGFBP
      3 levels of subjects were analyzed. RESULTS: The frequency of genotype IGF
      1(CA)19 and IGFBP3-202 A/C gene was significantly different between control and
      patients. In acromegalic patients, a significant difference in the serum IGF-1
      levels and LDL cholesterol levels among the three IGF(CA)19 genotype. LDL levels
      were positively correlated with IGF-1. Subjects having >194 bp genotype had
      higher IGF-1 and LDL cholesterol levels. We observed that the patients with 194
      bp genotype have more invasive and bigger tumors and they require adjunctive
      therapies. Clinical characteristics among the three IGFBP3-202 A/C genotype, AA,
      AC and CC, did not display any significant difference. CONCLUSIONS: In our study,
      194 bp allele (20 CA repeats) of the IGF-I promoter have higher circulating IGF-I
      levels than others. We have found that the patients with 194 bp genotype are the
      resistant patients with active disease and they required high dose medication. We
      think this study may help to define the patients, who are resistant to drug
      therapy, and possible cardiovascular disease.

PMID- 20920871
TI  - Mutation spectrum of phenylketonuria in Iranian population.
AB  - Identification of molecular basis of phenylketonuria (PKU) in Iran has been
      accomplished through the analysis of 248 unrelated chromosomes from 124 Iranian
      classic PKU subjects. Phenylalanine hydroxylase (PAH) gene mutations were
      analyzed through a combined approach in which p.S67P, p.R252W, p.R261Q, p.R261X,
      p.L333F, IVS10-11G>A, IVS11+1G>C, p.L364del, p.R408Q and p.R408W mutations were
      first screened by PCR of PAH gene exons 3, 7, 10, 11 and 12, followed by
      digestion with the appropriate digestion enzymes. Subsequently SSCP analysis for
      exons 2, 6, 7 and 11 of the PAH gene and finally, sequencing of 13 PAH gene exons
      have been used to study uncharacterized PKU chromosomes. 26 different mutations
      were found. The predominant mutation in this population sample was IVS10-11G>A,
      with a frequency of 24.6%. Nine mutations (IVS10-11G>A, p.R261Q, p.P281L,
      IVS11+1G>C, p.K363>NFS, p.R243X, IVS2+5G>C, p.R261X and p.R252W) represent almost
      84% of all PKU chromosomes studied. IVS10-11G>A mutation is the major PKU-causing
      mutation throughout the Mediterranean region. The finding of the high prevalence
      of this mutation in Iranian population is consistent with the historical and
      geographical links between Iranian and Mediterranean populations.

PMID- 20920872
TI  - [Expression of the elastic fibers components during the foetal liver
      development].
AB  - Elastic fibers are composed of microfibrils containing fibrillin-1 and an elastic
      component, elastin. Microfibrils may not be associated with elastin. In the adult
      liver, fibrillin-1 and elastin are coexpressed within the stroma and portal
      tracts vessel walls. Fibrillin-1 is expressed alone around the bile ducts and
      within the Disse space. There is little work that has studied the elastic fiber
      organization during the foetal liver development. Here, we studied the expression
      of fibrillin-1 and elastin by immunohistochemistry on 20 cases of foetal liver.
      During the development of the portal tract, the two components are coexpressed on
      interstitial elastic fibers and within vessel walls. Fibrillin-1 is expressed
      alone around the bile structures during their maturation. Unlike adult liver,
      fibrillin-1 is expressed on thin and very irregular microfibrils within the Disse
      space. Our study shows that the elastic matrix development in the portal tract
      follows the development of the different structures, notably biliary structures.
      In the Disse space, microfibrils are not continuous. Their maturation may be in
      relation with the change of the hepatic blood flow after birth.

PMID- 20920873
TI  - A rapid and efficient ultrasound-assisted synthesis of 5,5-diphenylhydantoins and
      5,5-diphenyl-2-thiohydantoins.
AB  - To obtain a rapid, efficient and mild synthesis of 5,5-diphenylhydantoin and 5,5
      diphenyl-2-thiohydantoin derivatives, ultrasonic irradiation has been applied to
      the reaction mixtures containing substituted benzils and urea or thiourea
      derivatives catalyzed by KOH in DMSO/H(2)O, which allowed us to achieve products
      at room temperature in a good yield and short time without any side product. This
      convenient procedure will allow a further increase of the diversity within the
      hydantoin family.

PMID- 20920874
TI  - Recovery of bone strength in young pigs from an induced short-term dietary
      calcium deficit followed by a calcium replete diet.
AB  - This study investigated whether the deficits in bone strength of pre-pubertal
      pigs, induced by short-term deficits in dietary calcium can be recovered if
      followed by a calcium-fortified diet. Young pigs were divided into two groups
      based on diet: a marginal Ca diet (70% of established Ca requirements) or an
      excess Ca diet (150% of established Ca requirements) for 4 weeks. Each group was
      then randomly sub-divided into two groups and fed diets with either marginal or
      excess dietary Ca for 6 weeks in a cross-over design, resulting in four treatment
      groups: H150-H150, H150-L70, L70-H150, and L70-L70. Animals were DXA scanned at 2
      week intervals during the 10-week period to obtain whole body bone mineral
      content (BMC) and density (BMD). After animals were euthanized, right femurs were
      collected for this study. Traits such as bone mineral density, mass, volume, area
      moment of inertia (MI) and the section modulus (SM) were computed from computed
      tomography (CT) data and failure load was measured from four-point bending tests.
      DXA results showed significant reduction in BMC (61.6%) and BMD (37.5%) in the
      (L70-L70) group compared to the (H150-H150) group. DXA results additionally
      showed that deficiencies induced by the 4-week marginal Ca diet in the (L70-H150)
      group were not recovered with a subsequent excess Ca diet. While mechanical test
      results also showed significant reduction (75%) in strength in the L70-L70 group,
      compared to the H150-H150 group, they revealed no differences between the failure
      loads of the (L70-H150) group and the (H150-H150) group. Similar results were
      also found for bone mineral mass and volume, indicating that recovery from a
      short-term dietary Ca deficiency is possible at the pre-pubertal stage.
      Furthermore, bone mineral content and bone volume calculated from CT data
      correlated highly with failure load (R(2)=0.78 and 0.84, respectively), while
      density, MI and SM only showed weak-to-moderate correlations (R(2)=0.40-0.56),
      implying that bone mineral mass and volume calculated from CT data are good non
      invasive surrogates for strength of growing bones.

PMID- 20920875
TI  - Automatic microvolt T-wave alternans identification in relation to ECG
      interferences surviving preprocessing.
AB  - The aim was to investigate the effect of interferences surviving preprocessing
      (residual noise, baseline wanderings, respiration modulation, replaced beats,
      missed beats and T-waves misalignment) on automatic identification of T-wave
      alternans (TWA), an ECG index of risk for sudden cardiac death. The procedures
      denominated fast-Fourier-transform spectral method (FFTSM), complex-demodulation
      method (CDM), modified-moving-average method (MMAM), Laplacian-likelihood-ratio
      method (LLRM), and adaptive-match-filter method (AMFM) were applied to
      interferences-corrupted synthetic ECG tracings and Holter ECG recordings from
      control-healthy subjects (CH-group; n=25) and acute-myocardial-infarction
      patients (AMI group; n=25). The presence of interferences in simulated data
      caused detection of false-positive TWA by all techniques but the FFTSM and AMFM.
      Clinical applications evidenced a discrepancy in that the FFTSM and LLRM detected
      no more than one TWA case in each population, whereas the CDM, MMAM, and AMFM
      detected TWA in all CH-subjects and AMI-patients, with significantly lower TWA
      amplitude in the former group. Because the AMFM is not prone to false-positive
      TWA detections, the latter finding suggests TWA as a phenomenon having
      continuously changing amplitude from physiological to pathological conditions.
      Only occasional detection of TWA by the FFTSM and LLRM in clinics can be ascribed
      to their limited ability in identifying TWA in the presence of interferences
      surviving preprocessing.

PMID- 20920876
TI  - Autophagy induction by the 30-100kDa fraction of areca nut in both normal and
      malignant cells through reactive oxygen species.
AB  - Areca nut (AN) is an addictive carcinogen used by about 200-600 million people
      worldwide. Some AN components are shown to induce apoptosis; however, we
      previously demonstrated that AN extract (ANE) and the 30-100kDa fraction of ANE
      (ANE 30-100K) induced autophagy-like responses, such as swollen cell morphology,
      empty cytoplasm, acidic vesicles, and LC3-II accumulation, in an oral cancer cell
      line, OECM-1. To further assess the responses of other cell types to ANE 30-100K,
      we used both normal and malignant cells as the targets of ANE 30-100K and found
      that normal oral fibroblasts (CMT415), peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs),
      Jurkat leukemia T cells, and esophageal carcinoma cells (CE81T/VGH) exhibited
      similar responses after ANE 30-100K challenge. ANE 30-100K drastically increased
      acidic vesicle-containing PBLs isolated from two independent donors (from 0.1% to
      92.1% and 2.9% to 64.2%). Furthermore, both ANE- and ANE 30-100K-induced LC3-II
      accumulation in CMT415 and CE81T/VGH was further increased in the presence of the
      lysosomal protease inhibitors (pepstatin A, E64d, and leupeptin). On the other
      hand, ANE 30-100K also increased the level of intracellular reactive oxygen
      species (ROS), and the ROS scavengers, N-acetylcysteine (NAC) and Tiron,
      inhibited ANE 30-100K-induced cell death and LC3-II accumulation. Collectively,
      these results suggest the existence of an autophagy-inducing AN ingredient (AIAI)
      in ANE 30-100K, which renders ANE as an autophagic flux inducer through ROS in
      both normal and malignant cells.

PMID- 20920877
TI  - Phase II study of vinorelbine/cetuximab in patients with recurrent/metastatic
      squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck progressing after at least two
      chemotherapy regimens.
AB  - The aim of the present study was to identify a potentially effective new
      treatment regimen for patients with recurrent and/or metastatic squamous cell
      carcinoma of the head and neck in disease progression after at least two previous
      chemotherapy regimens. The "novel" regimen was Cetuximab administered weekly plus
      Vinorelbine on days 1, 8, 15 every 28days. The regimen was administered to
      patients with recurrent and/or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and
      neck previously treated with surgery, radiotherapy or both and progressing after
      at least two chemotherapy regimens. Twenty-four patients with histologically
      confirmed tumors of oral cavity, oropharynx, hypopharynx and larynx were
      enrolled. All patients were stage IV and 91.6% had an ECOG PS 0-1. After 3 cycles
      of treatment 23 patients (95.8%) were evaluable for response: 4 patients had
      partial response; 12 stable disease and 7 progressive disease. Disease control
      rate was 69.5%. At a median follow-up of 21.3months, the median progression-free
      survival was 5.8months. Median duration of response was 5.2months. At May 2010,
      11/24 (45.8%) patients were alive. The safety profile was quite good. The present
      study shows that the combination of Vinorelbine and Cetuximab in recurrent and/or
      metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck patients is effective,
      feasible and has a good safety profile. Our findings warrant further
      investigation in a wider patient population.

PMID- 20920878
TI  - Oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma: a unique disease on the rise?
AB  - Despite successful efforts to control tobacco and alcohol consumption in the
      western world, several developed countries report rising oropharyngeal squamous
      cell carcinoma (OPSCC) incidence figures, specifically in young individuals.
      Similar to anogenital cancers, a significant proportion of OPSCC (up to 60%) is
      caused by sexually acquired HPV infection and the rise in OPSCC has been
      attributed to changing sexual behaviours in the Western World. Accordingly,
      patients with HPV-positive OPSCC report divergent sexual histories and absence of
      classical risk factors as tobacco and alcohol exposure compared to patients with
      HPV-negative OPSCC. The profile of HPV-positive OPSCC differs from HPV-negative
      OPSCC in several other significant aspects, including a unique molecular biologic
      tumor characteristics and improved clinical behaviour. Thus, a further increase
      in HPV-positive OPSCC will impact significantly upon clinical management of
      OPSCC, unless it is halted by adequate preventive measures aimed at reduction of
      HPV-associated disease. HPV vaccination has been recently offered to young
      females in an attempt to reduce HPV-induced cervical cancer and may ultimately
      result in a decline of OPSCC incidence as well. Until then, close collaboration
      between otolaryngologists/head and neck surgeons and anogenital/genitourinary
      specialists is warranted to optimize clinical management of HPV-induced
      malignancy and improve detection of second primary tumor development.

PMID- 20920879
TI  - Impact of different surgical margin conditions on local recurrence of oral
      squamous cell carcinoma.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to analyze the impact of different surgical margin
      conditions on local recurrence of oral squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) in 148
      consecutive patients who underwent planned radical resection of oral SCC. The
      patients were classified into four categories according to the status of the
      surgical margin: clear (no SCC within 5mm, n=103), close (SCC within 5mm, n=21),
      dysplasia (dysplastic epithelium at margin, n=13), and involved (SCC at margin,
      n=11). Cox's proportional hazard model showed that the status of the surgical
      margin had a significant impact on local recurrence (p<0.003); hazard ratio was
      3.79 (95%CI: 1.17-12.28) with a close and 7.89 (2.38-26.17) with an involved
      margin. The presence of mucosal dysplasia at the surgical margin was also a
      significant predictor of local recurrence (hazard ratio: 5.29, 95%CI: 1.31
      21.29). Local recurrence was observed only with severe dysplasia, while no
      recurrence with mild and moderate dysplasia. In the patients with a clear and
      closed surgical margin, local recurrence was related with T4 tumor and an
      advanced mode of tumor invasion. The results of this study suggested that the
      presence of tumor cells at or close to the surgical margin increased the risk of
      local recurrence. The presence of dysplastic epithelium (especially severe
      dysplasia) at the mucosal surgical margin has a significant impact on local
      control. It was also suggested that not simply the width of the free margin but
      also clinical and histological risk factors should be included in deciding the
      necessity for adjuvant radiotherapy.

PMID- 20920880
TI  - Criteria to define true second primary oral squamous cell carcinoma.

PMID- 20920881
TI  - Phototropin signaling and stomatal opening as a model case.
AB  - Phototropins are plant-specific light-activated receptor kinases that regulate
      diverse blue-light-induced responses, and serve to optimize plant growth under
      various light environments. Phototropins undergo autophosphorylation as an
      essential step for their signaling and induce a variety of tissue-specific or
      organ-specific responses, but the divergent mechanisms for these responses are
      unknown. It is most likely that the phototropins generate a specific output after
      the event of autophosphorylation. In this report, we will review the common steps
      of phototropin signaling and the numerous interactive proteins of phototropins,
      which may act as signal transducers for the diverse responses. We also describe
      the phototropin-mediated signaling process of stomatal guard cells and its
      crosstalk with abscisic acid signaling.

PMID- 20920882
TI  - Alarming beta-lactamase-mediated resistance in multidrug-resistant
      Enterobacteriaceae.
AB  - Resistance to beta-lactams and other antibiotics in the Enterobacteriaceae is
      frequently associated with plasmidic resistance determinants that are easily
      transferred among species. beta-Lactamase-mediated resistance is increasingly
      associated with plasmid-encoded extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBLs) and
      carbapenemases, specifically the CTX-M family of ESBLs, the KPC family of serine
      carbapenemases, and the VIM, IMP, and NDM-1 metallo-beta-lactamases. Although
      clonal dispersion of resistant isolates was seen initially, more diverse genetic
      platforms are being observed as variations of mobile elements are transferred
      worldwide. These enzymes are now appearing in multiple combinations of ESBLs and
      carbapenemases, thereby conferring resistance to virtually all beta-lactam
      antibiotics.

PMID- 20920883
TI  - Glycopeptide biosynthesis in the context of basic cellular functions.
AB  - Using molecular genetics, biochemistry and organic chemistry the biosynthesis of
      glycopeptides has been elucidated in detail. It can be categorised in three
      parts: precursor supply, linking of the peptide backbone and modification
      reactions. The important steps of the biosynthesis are carried out at a multi
      enzyme complex consisting of three non-ribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPS),
      three oxygenases and one halogenase. Novel derivatives can be generated by
      precursor-directed biosynthesis or combinatorial approaches and the knowledge can
      be used to optimise the yield of production by metabolic engineering approaches.
      To protect themselves glycopeptide producers seem to have developed strategies
      which may differ from those of the resistant pathogens.

PMID- 20920884
TI  - Endocytosis in filamentous fungi: Cinderella gets her reward.
AB  - Endocytosis has been the Cinderella of membrane trafficking studies in
      filamentous fungi until recent work involving genetically tractable models has
      boosted interest in the field. Endocytic internalization predominates in the
      hyphal tips, spatially coupled to secretion. Early endosomes (EEs) show
      characteristic long-distance motility, riding on microtubule motors. The fungal
      tip contains a region baptised the 'dynein loading zone' where acropetally moving
      endosomes reaching the tip shift from a kinesin to dynein, reversing the
      direction of their movement. Multivesicular body biogenesis starts from these
      motile EEs. Maturation of EEs into late endosomes and vacuoles appears to be
      essential. The similarities between fungal and mammalian endocytic trafficking
      suggest that conditional mutant genetic screens would yield valuable information.

PMID- 20920885
TI  - Synthesis, characterization, spectrophotometric, structural and antimicrobial
      studies of the newly charge transfer complex of p-phenylenediamine with pi
      acceptor picric acid.
AB  - Charge transfer complex (CTC) of donor, p-phenylenediamine (PPD) and acceptor,
      2,4,6-trinitrophenol (picric acid) has been studied in methanol at room
      temperature. The CT complex was synthesized and characterized by elemental
      analysis, FTIR spectra, 1H NMR spectroscopy and electronic absorption spectra
      which indicate the CT interaction associated with proton migration from the
      acceptor to the donor followed by hydrogen bonding via N+-H?O-. The thermal
      stability of CT complex was studied using TGA and DTA analyses techniques. The CT
      complex was screened for its antifungal activity against Aspergillus niger
      (Laboratory isolate), Candida albicans (IQA-109) and Penicillium sp. (Laboratory
      isolate) and antibacterial activity against two Gram-positive bacteria
      Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA 22) and Bacillus subtilis (ATCC 6051) and two Gram
      negative bacteria Escherichia coli (K 12) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (MTCC 2488).
      It gives good antimicrobial activity. The stoichiometry of the CT complex was
      found to be 1:1. The physical parameters of CT complex were evaluated by the
      Benesi-Hildebrand equation. On the basis of the studies, the structure of CT
      complex is [(PPDH)+(PA)-], and a general mechanism for its formation is proposed.

PMID- 20920887
TI  - TMS-induced artifacts on EEG can be reduced by rearrangement of the electrode's
      lead wire before recording.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Our purpose was to establish a technique to reduce residual artifacts
      after transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) from electroencephalographic (EEG)
      signals. METHODS: We investigated the effects of coil direction and stimulus
      intensity on residual artifacts in an artificial circuit, and tested whether or
      not the size of the circuit area affects the residual artifact (the model study).
      Based on the results, the optimization by rearranging the electrode's lead wire
      was tested on the human scalp (the human study). RESULTS: The residual artifact
      after TMS was dependent on the direction of the figure-of-eight coil, and on the
      artificial circuit area size. CONCLUSIONS: In accordance with the model study,
      the scalp EEG shows that TMS-induced artifacts can be reduced dramatically before
      the amplifier input stages in TMS-EEG experiments by a step-wise procedure
      rearranging the lead wires relative to the fixed coil orientation. SIGNIFICANCE:
      Our technique makes it possible to significantly reduce the residual artifacts
      from recordings of short-latency TMS-evoked potentials.

PMID- 20920888
TI  - Nightmare and sleep paralysis among Japanese adolescents: a nationwide
      representative survey.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to clarify the prevalence of
      nightmares and sleep paralysis and associated factors among Japanese adolescents.
      METHODS: This study was designed as a cross-sectional sampling survey. The
      targets were junior and senior high schools throughout Japan. Self-reported
      anonymous questionnaires were sent to schools for all students to complete.
      RESULTS: A total of 90,081 questionnaires were analyzed. The overall response
      rate was 62.6%, and the prevalence of nightmares and sleep paralysis was 35.2%
      and 8.3%, respectively. Multiple logistic analyses revealed that female sex,
      drinking alcohol, poor mental health, difficulty initiating sleep, low subjective
      sleep assessment, presence of excessive daytime sleepiness, and presence of sleep
      paralysis had higher odds ratios than others for nightmares. Male sex, poor
      mental health, drinking alcohol, taking a long daytime nap, early or late
      bedtime, difficulty initiating sleep, low subjective sleep assessment, presence
      of excessive daytime sleepiness, and presence of nightmares had higher odds
      ratios than other factors for sleep paralysis. CONCLUSIONS: This study has
      revealed the prevalence of nightmares and sleep paralysis among Japanese
      adolescents. Furthermore, the results of this study suggest that it is important
      to maintain regular sleep habits for preventing these symptoms. We propose that
      health education about regular sleep habits should be promoted among Japanese
      adolescents.

PMID- 20920889
TI  - Humoral 'reactome' profiles using peptide microarray chips.

PMID- 20920890
TI  - Piggy-backing the concept of cancer drugs for schistosomiasis treatment: a
      tangible perspective?
AB  - The fear that schistosomes will become resistant to praziquantel (PZQ) motivates
      the search for alternatives to treat schistosomiasis. Recent studies of signaling
      proteins in schistosomes uncovered a way of achieving this goal relatively
      quickly. It was shown that protein kinases (PKs) control important biological
      processes in schistosomes. Concurrently, the involvement of mutant forms of PKs
      was demonstrated in the etiology of cancer. Therefore, different anticancer drugs
      have been developed to inhibit deregulated PKs. These can also inhibit
      schistosome PKs, thus blocking parasite development. Recent studies
      characterizing schistosome PKs are summarized and we discuss the concept of PK
      inhibitors, including approved cancer drugs, as novel candidate anti-schistosome
      agents. This is also likely to be of significance for other worm infections.

PMID- 20920891
TI  - Outcomes of vitrified-warmed day-4 embryos after day-3 cleavage-stage biopsy.
AB  - The objective of this study was to compare the post-warming survival rates of
      biopsied and non-biopsied day-3 embryos vitrified on day 4 and to evaluate the
      clinical outcomes of following transfers. This study included 18 preimplantation
      genetic diagnosis (PGD) patients and 18 non-PGD patients treated between January
      2005 and January 2009 who had not achieved live births during their fresh embryo
      transfer cycles and whose surplus embryos were cryopreserved on day 4. The embryo
      survival rate after warming in the PGD and non-PGD groups was similar (53/59,
      89.8% versus 55/64, 85.9%, respectively; difference of 3.9% 95% CI -7.3 to 13.4).
      Vitrified embryo-transfer cycles yielded no significant differences between PGD
      and non-PGD groups in implantation rates (12/46, 26.1% versus 9/47, 19.1%,
      respectively; difference of 6.9%, 95% CI -9.7 to 22.2), clinical pregnancy rates
      (11/18, 61.1% versus 9/18, 50%, respectively; difference of 11.1%, 95% CI -20.6
      to 40.6) and live birth rates (9/18, 50% versus 6/18, 33.3%, respectively;
      difference of 16.7%, 95% CI -15.1 to 44.8). These results showed that, in PGD
      cycles, embryos can be vitrified effectively on day 4 after biopsy on day 3. The
      objective of this study was to compare the post-warming survival rates of
      biopsied and non-biopsied day-3 embryos that vitrified on day 4 and to evaluate
      the clinical outcomes of following transfers. This retrospective study included
      18 preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) and 18 non-PGD patients treated
      between January 2005 and January 2009 who had not achieved live births during
      their fresh embryo transfer cycles and whose surplus were frozen on day 4. After
      warming in frozen embryo-transfer cycles, embryo survival with respect to embryo
      grades, implantation, clinical pregnancy and live birth rates were compared. The
      embryo survival rate after warming in the PGD group was similar to the survival
      rate in the non-PGD group (53/59, 89.8% versus 55/64, 85.9%, respectively;
      difference of 3.9%, 95% CI -7.3 to 13.4, P=0.701). Frozen embryo transfer yielded
      no significant differences between PGD and non-PGD groups in implantation rates
      (12/46, 26.1% versus 9/47, 19.1%, respectively; difference of 6.9%, 95% CI -9.7
      to 22.2, P=0.581), clinical pregnancy rates (11/18, 61.1% versus 9/18, 50%,
      respectively; difference of 11.1%, 95% CI -20.6 to 40.6, P=0.737) or live birth
      rates (9/18, 50% versus 6/18, 33.3%, respectively; difference of 16.7%, 95% CI 
      15.1 to 44.8, P=0.499). These results showed that, in PGD cycles, embryos can be
      vitrified effectively on day 4 after biopsy on day 3.

PMID- 20920892
TI  - Differences in corpus callosum volume and diffusivity between temporal and
      frontal lobe epilepsy.
AB  - We analyzed volume and diffusivity measures of the corpus callosum (CC) in
      patients with temporal (TLE) and frontal (FLE) lobe epilepsy in comparison with
      healthy subjects. On high-resolution T1-weighted scans of 18 controls and 44
      patients the volumes (cm(3)) of Witelson regions (WRs) and the entire CC were
      measured. The apparent diffusion coefficients (ADCs, 10(-5)mm(2)s(-1)) for the
      entire CC and three areas of interest were measured from co-registered ADC maps.
      The CC of patients with TLE and FLE, corrected for total brain volume, was
      smaller than that of controls. Patients' ADC values were higher than those of
      controls. Findings were significant for WR1, WR2, and WR6, the CC regions
      connecting the frontal and temporal lobes. Patients with FLE had smaller WR1 and
      higher ADC values; in patients with TLE, the findings were similar for WR6.
      Atrophy and increased diffusivity in subregions of the CC connecting homotopic
      contralateral cortical regions indicate anatomical abnormalities extending beyond
      the epileptogenic zone in FLE and TLE.

PMID- 20920893
TI  - Ictal consciousness in epilepsy and nonepileptic attack disorder.
AB  - Exploration of subjective experiences during seizures may enhance knowledge of
      the differing natures of epilepsy and nonepileptic attack disorder (NEAD). We
      performed a quantitative evaluation of both the general level of awareness and
      the specific contents of consciousness during seizures using the Ictal
      Consciousness Inventory (ICI). Ninety-five adult outpatients attending general
      neuropsychiatry and epilepsy clinics with established diagnoses of either
      epilepsy (n = 66) or NEAD (n = 29) completed one ICI for each witnessed seizure
      recalled. Patients with a dubious/dual diagnosis were excluded. ICI Level (ICI-L)
      and ICI Content (ICI-L) scores were calculated for the 167 questionnaires
      generated by patients with epilepsy (n = 119, of which 58 from patients with
      temporal lobe epilepsy, 14 frontal lobe epilepsy, and 47 idiopathic 30
      generalized epilepsy) and patients with NEAD (n = 48). Mann-Whitney U tests
      revealed statistically significant higher ICI-L and ICI-C scores for patients
      with NEAD (both P = 0.01). Subjective reports of consciousness experiences varied
      between epilepsy and NEAD, with patients with NEAD reporting significantly
      greater levels of general awareness/responsiveness and more vivid subjective
      experiences during attacks. The ICI is proposed as a potentially useful self
      report instrument to supplement clinical and instrumental tests for the
      differential diagnosis of epilepsy and NEAD.

PMID- 20920894
TI  - Cannabinoid subtype-2 receptors modulate the antihyperalgesic effect of WIN
      55,212-2 in rats with neuropathic spinal cord injury pain.
AB  - BACKGROUND CONTEXT: There is increasing evidence for a role of the cannabinoid
      (CB) system in the development of neuropathic pain (NP) after spinal cord injury
      (SCI). The nonspecific CB1 and CB2 receptor agonists, WIN 55, 212-2 (WIN), have
      previously been shown to alleviate both mechanical and thermal hyperalgesia (TH)
      after peripheral nerve injury. PURPOSE: The present study was designed to
      identify the CB receptors involved in the antihyperalgesic effect of WIN by using
      selective antagonists for CB1 and CB2 receptors. STUDY DESIGN: This is an in vivo
      and behavioral study using a moderate T9 contusion SCI. After injury, TH of the
      hind paws was measured on postinjury days 21 through 42. METHODS: Sprague-Dawley
      rats underwent a contusion SCI using the Multicenter Animal Spinal Cord Injury
      Study (MASCIS) weight-drop impactor, which induced a moderate T9 SCI. Only
      animals showing consistent plantar stepping and consistent forelimb and hind limb
      coordination (Basso, Beattie, and Bresnahan score=15) were tested for TH. Animals
      exhibiting decreased withdrawal latency time, indicating TH, on or before Day 42,
      were selected for pharmacological intervention. Animals not exhibiting TH did not
      receive pharmacological intervention and were sacrificed. Rats underwent hind paw
      testing before any drug administration (after injury), 45 minutes after selective
      CB antagonist (AM 251 or AM 630) administration (postantagonist) and again 45
      minutes after WIN administration (post-WIN). There were a total of seven
      treatment groups: saline vehicle control; Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) vehicle
      control; low-dose WIN (0.2 mg/kg); and high-dose WIN (2.0 mg/kg); AM 251 (3
      mg/kg) and AM 630 (1 mg/kg) were given subcutaneously in a total volume of 0.5
      mL. Followed by intraperitoneal injection of WIN after each antagonist, sham
      operated rats repeated pharmacological intervention used with treatment Groups 5
      and 6. RESULTS: Thermal hyperalgesia was significantly ameliorated in a dose
      dependent manner with systemically administered WIN. Cannabinoid receptor Type 1
      antagonist AM 251 pretreatment did not affect the antihyperalgesic effect of WIN.
      By contrast, pretreatment with the CB2 receptor antagonist AM 630 significantly
      attenuated the effect of WIN. CONCLUSION: Taken together, these results suggest a
      role of the CB2 receptor in modulating SCI-induced TH. Selective activation of
      the CB2 receptor could potentially lead to analgesic effects on NP while avoiding
      psychotropic side effects in patients with SCI.

PMID- 20920895
TI  - Abnormal electrochemical skin conductance in cystic fibrosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Electrochemical skin conductance measurement is an active
      electrophysiologic method in which incremental low direct voltage is applied on
      the skin. It generates a current due to reverse iontophoresis which previous
      studies suggested to be mostly related to chloride anion movements. As sweat
      chloride movements upon electric stimulation were likely to be impaired in cystic
      fibrosis (CF) patients, we designed a proof-of-concept study to measure
      electrochemical skin conductance in CF patients and control subjects and to test
      the ability of this method to discriminate CF from controls. METHODS:
      Electrochemical skin conductance was measured in 41 adult patients with classical
      CF and 20 healthy control subjects. Patients placed their hands and feet on
      nickel electrodes and an incremental low direct voltage was applied on the anode
      during 2min. The resulting voltage on the cathode and the current generated
      between anode and cathode were measured and from them, two electrochemical skin
      conductance variables were calculated: ESC, obtained when a low voltage of 1.6V
      was applied, and dESC which took into account electrochemical skin conductances
      obtained when low and high voltages were applied. RESULTS: ESC measurements on
      hands and feet were significantly different in CF patients (on feet: 75+/
      10MUSi), as compared with control subjects (62+/-13MUSi, p<0.0001); dESC was also
      significantly different and more discriminative in CF patients (on feet: 34+/
      24MUSi), as compared with control subjects (93+/-24MUSi, p<0.0001). dESC
      measurement provided a diagnostic specificity of 1 and a sensitivity of 0.93.
      CONCLUSIONS: These results show that electrochemical skin conductance which is
      easily and rapidly measured is abnormal in CF patients. Trial registry name in
      the European Clinical Trials Database (eudraCT): "EZSCAN MUCO1: Mesure de la
      conductance cutanee par chronoamperometrie", N degrees EUDRACT: 2007-A00221-52.

PMID- 20920896
TI  - Improved early diagnosis of Pseudomonas aeruginosa by real-time PCR to prevent
      chronic colonisation in a paediatric cystic fibrosis population.
AB  - Early detection of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in children with cystic fibrosis is
      hampered by the need to process a sub-optimal specimen type, namely cough swabs,
      which are known to have a lower positive yield than sputa or more invasive
      samples. This delay in the detection of low levels of P. aeruginosa could
      potentially result in the loss of an opportunity to initiate early aggressive
      antibiotic therapy and result in chronic colonisation, with a poorer overall
      prognosis. Quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) offers an opportunity to increase
      the detection rate of P. aeruginosa compared to traditional culture techniques.
      This study examined 500 cough swabs and 42 sputum samples from paediatric
      patients and showed that detection of P. aeruginosa could be increased in both
      sample types by 100% and 45% respectively. Overall the sensitivity was 100% and
      specificity of 58% when compared to culture as a gold standard. These results
      although initially promising require careful consideration both from a treatment
      and infection control standpoint as the significance of detection of very low
      levels of P. aeruginosa is unclear.

PMID- 20920897
TI  - [Peritoneal dialysis: a satisfactory experience of a misknown technique in Rabat
      University Hospital].
AB  - Peritoneal dialysis (PD) is a renal replacement therapy method that could be
      proposed in the first intention for the treatment of end stage renal disease
      (ESRD). The aim of the study is to describe the beginning and development of PD
      in "Ibn Sina" University Hospital in Rabat, and to evaluate the outcome of the
      patients treated by this technique. PATIENTS AND METHODS: It is a descriptive
      study between July 2006 and December 2009, including 41 ESRD patients treated by
      PD. PD parameters as well as clinical and biological data were collected and
      analyzed. RESULTS: The average age of our patients was 45.8+/-17.4-year-old. The
      sex-ratio (M/F) was 1.9. Professionally active patients (50%) as well as students
      (14) kept their activity throughout the study. Initially, 68.2% of the patients
      had hypertension whereas, at the end of the study, only 25.8% still suffered from
      hypertension. A better quality of dialysis as well as the conservation of a
      residual renal function were ensured in PD with 92.6% of the patients having a
      residual clearance higher than 2 mL/min. A correction of anemia was noted with
      higher rates of hemoglobin after the beginning of the treatment by peritoneal
      dialysis. None of our cases presented a denutrition and all our diabetic patients
      did not worsen with the exchanges in PD. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: PD has
      recently been introduced in Morocco. It must be encouraged and sustained. In our
      study, we noted a good quality of dialysis and a conservation of the residual
      renal function. These results should encourage the promotion of this technique,
      especially that there is an inequality of distribution of hemodialysis centers in
      Morocco and the inability to deal with all ESRD patients. Furthermore, renal
      transplantation is not always possible in our country. For that, a specific
      program of information of both generalists and specialists, especially
      nephrologists must be established.

PMID- 20920898
TI  - [Acute renal failure due to malignant lymphoma infiltration].
AB  - We present two cases of renal lymphoma revealed by acute renal failure (ARF),
      which remains a rare clinical entity. Case 1 was a 29-year-old man with an ARF.
      The diagnosis was a primitive kidney immunophenotype B lymphoma. The patient died
      after three courses of chemotherapy due to rapid spread lymphoma. The second case
      was a high-grade renal lymphomatous infiltration, with an unusual computer
      tomography image of two large kidneys compressing the stomach. Death happened
      early before initiating therapy. In both cases the diagnosis has been established
      by renal pathology. Early diagnosis is a key component of therapeutic success,
      however, the rapid spread of lymphoma worsened renal and vital prognosis.

PMID- 20920899
TI  - Effect of chromosome instability on the maintenance and differentiation of human
      embryonic stem cells in vitro and in vivo.
AB  - The therapeutic potential of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) has long been
      appreciated, and the recent FDA approval of hESC derivatives for cell-based
      therapy encourages the clinical application of hESCs. Here, using CHA3-hESCs with
      normal and abnormal karyotypes, we report the importance of maintaining normal
      chromosomes during in vitro culture and the differentiation of hESCs for
      minimization of posttransplantation complications. We found that undifferentiated
      CHA3-hESCs with trisomy chromosome 12 undergo abnormal cell division with
      multiple spindles in comparison to the bipolar cell division of the
      karyotypically normal CHA3-hESCs. Transplanted karyotypically abnormal CHA3-hESC
      derivatives formed a tumor-like tissue 6weeks after transplantation in two out of
      seven mice tested. Our results demonstrate that the preservation of normal
      chromosomes is indispensable for maintaining the true properties of hESCs in
      vitro and abolishing adverse effects posttransplantation. Thus, the development
      of optimized techniques for stabilizing the chromosome state during in vitro hESC
      culture is a prerequisite for the therapeutic application of hESCs.

PMID- 20920900
TI  - One-step generation of murine embryonic stem cell-derived mesoderm progenitors
      and chondrocytes in a serum-free monolayer differentiation system.
AB  - Cartilage defects have limited capacity for repair and are often replaced by
      fibrocartilage with inferior mechanical properties. To overcome the limitations
      of artificial joint replacement, high-throughput screens (HTS) could be developed
      to identify molecules that stimulate differentiation and/or proliferation of
      articular cartilage for drug therapy or tissue engineering. Currently embryonic
      stem cells (ESCs) can differentiate into articular cartilage by forming
      aggregates (embryoid body (EB), pellet, micromass), which are difficult to image.
      We present a novel, single-step method of generating murine ESC-derived
      chondrocytes in monolayer cultures under chemically defined conditions. Mesoderm
      induction was achieved in cultures supplemented with BMP4, activin A, or Wnt3a.
      Prolonged culture with sustained activin A, TGFbeta3, or BMP4 supplementation led
      to robust chondrogenic induction. A short pulse of activin A or BMP4 also induced
      chondrogenesis efficiently while Wnt3a acted as a later inducer. Long-term
      supplementation with activin A or with activin A followed by TGFbeta3 promoted
      articular cartilage formation. Thus, we devised a serum-free (SF) culture system
      to generate ESC-derived chondrocytes without the establishment of 3D cultures or
      the aid of cell sorting. Cultures were governed by the same signaling pathways as
      3D ESC differentiation systems and limb bud mesenchyme or articular cartilage
      explant cultures.

PMID- 20920901
TI  - Impact of the Quality assured Mamma Diagnostic (QuaMaDi) programme on survival of
      breast cancer patients.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of the Quality assured Mamma Diagnostic
      programme (QuaMaDi) introduced in 2001 on breast cancer and mortality on a
      population basis. QuaMaDi provides a standardized diagnostic process for
      symptomatic or at risk women of all ages. The process includes independent double
      reading of mammograms, additional ultrasound, and if suspicious an expert reading
      and assessment. We tested the hypothesis that QuaMaDi has influenced breast
      cancer epidemiology and survival positively. METHODS: The QuaMaDi cohort of
      breast cancer patients, diagnosed within the programme between 2001 and 2007, was
      linked to the cancer registry dataset of all breast cancer cases in Schleswig
      Holstein, Germany. By this record-linkage procedure participants of QuaMaDi could
      be marked in the cancer registry data. Overall survival rates of 3096 patients
      diagnosed within QuaMaDi were compared to 5417 patients diagnosed outside
      QuaMaDi, matched by year of diagnosis, using multivariate Cox proportional hazard
      models. RESULTS: Crude hazard ratio for overall survival was HR 0.43 (95% CI 0.35
      0.52) for breast cancer cases detected inside QuaMaDi versus those diagnosed
      outside the programme. After stepwise adjustment for age, grading, histology,
      treatment, and tumour stage, the survival advantage in QuaMaDi diagnosed breast
      cancer patients was still statistically significant (HR 0.78, 95% CI 0.64-0.96).
      CONCLUSION: Evidence is provided that the QuaMaDi programme has a beneficial
      impact on the first 5-year overall survival rate after breast cancer beyond a
      favourable tumour stage distribution. Thus, we conclude that QuaMaDi contributes
      to improved health care for women, who are not eligible for mammography
      screening.

PMID- 20920902
TI  - Conservative treatment of big yolk sac tumour of the ovary in young girl.
AB  - We present the case of a large yolk sac tumour of the ovary in a 14-year-old girl
      with high level of serum alpha-feto-protein (AFP). Multidisciplinary care is
      important to do appropriate surgical treatment with the aim of fertility
      preservation.

PMID- 20920903
TI  - Surgical approach to the juxtahepatic veins.

PMID- 20920904
TI  - Risk of biliary complications in bariatric surgery.
AB  - Gallstones are commonly observed after rapid weight loss, particularly after
      bariatric surgery. Preventive measures of gallstone formation and potential
      related complications are still debated. This study aimed to propose a
      standardized strategy according to the results of the literature. Thus,
      preventive measures should be determined according to patient status (evaluated
      clinically and by routine ultrasound) and the type of bariatric surgery.
      Cholecystectomy should be performed in patients with symptomatic gallstones
      irrespective of the planned operation, or for asymptomatic gallstones during a
      gastric by-pass. In other settings, ursodesoxycholic acid should be given
      postoperatively for 6 months.

PMID- 20920905
TI  - Single umbilical incision laparoscopic cholecystectomy: initial experience of the
      Coelio Club.
AB  - AIM: To assess the initial results of single umbilical incision laparoscopic
      cholecystectomies (SUILC) performed by the members of the Club Coelio. PATIENTS
      AND METHODS: This multicenter study involved 65 consecutive patients undergoing
      SUILC between September 2008 and December 2009. The operation was performed with
      a 0 degrees  scope in 35 and with a 30 degrees  scope in 30 patients. There were
      56 women and nine men with a mean age of 49 +/- 14 years and a mean body mass
      index of 25 +/- 4. The main perioperative parameters analyzed were duration of
      operation, conversion, morbidity and duration of hospitalization. One month after
      surgery, the esthetic result was assessed by each patient on a visual analogue
      scale (VAS). A VAS score between 9 and 10 was considered as an excellent result.
      RESULTS: During laparoscopy, some degree of cholecystitis was seen in 10
      patients. Intraoperative cholangiography was performed in 57 patients and the
      mean duration of operation was 68 +/- 22 min. Conversion to conventional
      laparoscopic cholecystectomy (CLC) was required in eight patients (12%). We noted
      three complications (4%): two wound abscesses and one hemoperitoneum. The mean
      hospital stay was 2 +/- 1 days. The esthetic result was considered as excellent
      by 45 patients (69%). Multivariable analysis revealed that duration of operation
      was shorter after five procedures (61 +/- 25 vs. 72 +/- 18 min, regression
      coefficient: -7, P<0.032) and when a 30 degrees  scope was used (56 +/- 18 vs. 76
      +/- 20 min, regression coefficient: -14, P<0.011), the conversion rate was higher
      in cholecystitis (60% [6/10] vs. 4% [2/55], OR: 33, P<0.002) and the percentage
      of excellent esthetic results was greater in patients who did not required a
      conversion to CLC (77% [44/57] vs. 12% [1/8], OR: 18, P<0.012). CONCLUSIONS: Our
      study showed that SUILC is feasible with low morbidity but duration of operation
      is long and conversion to CLC is frequent in cholecystitis. However, duration of
      operation decreases with rising experience of the surgeon and when a 30 degrees 
      scope is used. The major value of this technique is cosmetic.

PMID- 20920906
TI  - Patient positioning in laparoscopic surgery: tricks and tips.

PMID- 20920907
TI  - Gastric bypass. Principles, complications, and results.

PMID- 20920908
TI  - Where eagles dare.

PMID- 20920910
TI  - A newly identified transcriptional network for mesenchymal transformation of
      brain tumors: potential targets for therapeutic intervention.

PMID- 20920912
TI  - An international initiative to define the role for surgery for spinal metastases:
      the GSTSG.

PMID- 20920913
TI  - Transcranial magnetic stimulation may provide benefit in acute ischemic stroke.

PMID- 20920914
TI  - Neurosciences on Everest.

PMID- 20920915
TI  - Clipping versus coiling: the total hospital cost of aneurysm treatment.

PMID- 20920916
TI  - Expanding nepalese neurosurgery: challenges and opportunities.

PMID- 20920917
TI  - Devastation after the Haiti Earthquake: a neurosurgeon's Journal.

PMID- 20920918
TI  - The musical brain: myth and science.

PMID- 20920919
TI  - The magical power of music.

PMID- 20920920
TI  - Mind-Brain Identity Theory and the musical experience.

PMID- 20920921
TI  - Music and the brain.

PMID- 20920922
TI  - Microneurosurgical management of anterior choroidal artery aneurysms.

PMID- 20920923
TI  - Erythropoietin and subarachnoid hemorrhage.

PMID- 20920924
TI  - Erythropoietin: will it improve outcome after subarachnoid hemorrhage?

PMID- 20920925
TI  - The quantitative time-resolved near infrared spectroscopy (TR-NIRs) for bedside
      cerebrohemodynamic monitoring after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage: can we
      predict delayed neurological deficits?

PMID- 20920926
TI  - Why do we not have resolution on an ancient disease of the spine?

PMID- 20920927
TI  - Treatment of isthmic spondylolisthesis: still controversial.

PMID- 20920928
TI  - Using lumbar interspinous anchor with transforaminal lumbar interbody fixation.

PMID- 20920929
TI  - Extradural spinal nerve transfer for bladder reinnervation.

PMID- 20920930
TI  - Arab Islamic medical revelations.

PMID- 20920931
TI  - From atom to brain: applications of molecular imaging to neurosurgery.
AB  - Molecular imaging is a field born out of the happy marriage of molecular biology
      and radiology. The first installment of this two-part series on molecular imaging
      demonstrated basic principles for practitioners in the field of the
      neurosciences. This installment seeks to provide some illustrative examples,
      insights, and specific applications to the neurosciences. The fields of
      functional neurosurgery including the treatment of neuropsychiatric disorders,
      novel treatments and imaging of tumors, neuroregenerative medicine, and
      nanotechnology in vascular disorders are covered. Finally, we give some parting
      thoughts on the future of molecular imaging, including advances in the imaging of
      neurodegenerative disorders.

PMID- 20920932
TI  - Microneurosurgical management of anterior choroid artery aneurysms.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Anterior choroid artery aneurysms (AChAAs) constitute 2%-5% of all
      intracranial aneurysms. They are usually small, thin walled with one or several
      arteries originating at their base, and often associated with multiple aneurysms.
      In this article, we review the practical microsurgical anatomy, the preoperative
      imaging, surgical planning, and the microneurosurgical steps in the dissection
      and the clipping of AChAAs. METHODS: This review, and the whole series on
      intracranial aneurysms (IAs), are mainly based on the personal microneurosurgical
      experience of the senior author (J.H.) in two Finnish centers (Helsinki and
      Kuopio) that serve, without patient selection, the catchment area in Southern and
      Eastern Finland. RESULTS: These two centers have treated more than 10,000
      patients with IAs since 1951. In the Kuopio Cerebral Aneurysm Database of 3005
      patients with 4253 IAs, 831 patients (28%) had altogether 980 internal carotid
      artery (ICA) aneurysms, of whom 95 patients had 99 (2%) AChAAs. Ruptured AChAAs,
      found in 39 patients (41%), with median size of 6 mm (range = 2-19 mm), were
      associated with intracerebral hematoma (ICH) in only 1 (3%) patient. Multiple
      aneurysms were seen in 58 (61%) patients. CONCLUSIONS: The main difficulty in
      microneurosurgical management of AChAAs is to preserve flow in the anterior
      choroid artery originating at the base and often attached to the aneurysm dome.
      This necessitates perfect surgical strategy based on preoperative knowledge of 3
      dimensional angioarchitecture and proper orientation during the microsurgical
      dissection.

PMID- 20920933
TI  - Erythropoietin for the treatment of subarachnoid hemorrhage: a review.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) has a worldwide incidence of
      approximately 10.5 cases per 100,000 person-years and constitutes 3% of all
      strokes. Erythropoietin (EPO) has recently been proposed for the treatment of a
      variety of brain diseases, including SAH, because of its neuroprotective effects.
      Hence, the current evidence in the published literature was reviewed to determine
      the potential utility of EPO in the treatment of SAH. METHODS: A careful
      retrospective review of the literature was performed to determine the potential
      benefit of employing EPO in the treatment of SAH and its sequelae. RESULTS:
      Careful literature review revelaed that the use of EPO may not necessarily reduce
      the incidence of vasospasm after SAH, but it may reduce the severity and its
      eventual outcome. CONCLUSION: Given the recent trial results, a dose-escalation
      study and subsequent randomized trial should be considered.

PMID- 20920934
TI  - Bedside monitoring of cerebral blood oxygenation and hemodynamics after
      aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage by quantitative time-resolved near-infrared
      spectroscopy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Early detection of vasospasm is essential for the treatment of
      delayed ischemic neurological deficits in subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). We
      evaluated cerebral blood oxygenation (CBO) changes after SAH employing
      quantitative time-resolved near-infrared spectroscopy (TR-NIRS) for this purpose.
      METHODS: We investigated 11 age-matched controls and 14 aneurysmal SAH patients,
      including 10 patients with WFNS grade V and 4 patients with grade II. Employing
      TR-NIRS, we measured the cortical oxygen saturation (CoSO(2)) and baseline
      hemoglobin concentrations in the middle cerebral artery territory. Measurements
      of TR-NIRS and transcranial Doppler sonography (TCD) were performed repeatedly
      after SAH. RESULTS: In six patients, the CoSO(2) and hemoglobin concentrations
      remained stable after SAH; digital subtraction angiography (DSA) did not reveal
      vasospasm in these patients. In eight patients, however, CoSO(2) and total
      hemoglobin decreased abruptly between 5 and 9 days after SAH. DSA revealed
      diffuse vasospasms in six of eight patients. The reduction of CoSO(2) predicted
      occurrence of vasospasm at a cutoff value of 3.9%-6.4% with 100% of sensitivity
      and 85.7% of specificity. TCD failed to detect the vasospasm in four cases, which
      TR-NIRS could detect. Finally, TR-NIRS performed on Day 1 after SAH revealed
      significantly higher CoSO(2) than that of controls (p = .048), but there was no
      significant difference in total hemoglobin. CONCLUSION: TR-NIRS detected
      vasospasm by evaluating the CBO in the cortex and may be more sensitive than TCD,
      which assesses the blood flow velocity in the M1 portion. The cerebral oxygen
      metabolism in SAH might be reduced by brain damage due to aneurysmal rupture.

PMID- 20920935
TI  - Traumatic carotid-cavernous fistulas treated with covered stents: experience of
      12 cases.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Covered stents have recently become available for intracranial use,
      such as aneurysms, arterial dissections and carotid-cavernous fistulas (CCFs).
      However, there have been few reports of the successful application of covered
      stents for the treatment of traumatic CCFs (TCCFs). The purpose of this study is
      to investigate the efficacy and safety of endovascular treatment of TCCFs with
      covered stent. METHODS: Twelve consecutive patients with TCCFs treated with
      covered stent after initial failure of traditional techniques are presented. All
      the patients were followed up both clinically and angiographically for a mean of
      22.5 months. RESULTS: Eleven of the 12 patients had covered stents placed
      successfully. In one case, the covered stent placement failed after multiple
      attempts because of the tortuous anatomy of the internal carotid artery (ICA).
      Complete occlusion was achieved in nine cases immediately after stent deployment.
      Endoleak was observed in case 4 and redilation was performed to avoid the
      endoleak. In case 8, improved symptoms recurred the next morning, and cerebral
      angiogram revealed a small endoleak; redilation was performed to eliminate the
      endoleak successfully. Spasm of the ICA was observed in six cases, but
      angioplasty was not required. Symptoms improved in all cases after stent
      placement. Angiographic follow-up demonstrated complete occlusion of the TCCFs
      and patency of ICA, and no intra-stent stenosis or embolization occurred in the
      11 patients who received successful stent placement. CONCLUSION: Although larger
      sample and long-term follow-up are required, our series shows that covered stent
      is an effective, safe, and microinvasive method to treat TCCFs.

PMID- 20920936
TI  - Microroll retractor for surgical resection of brainstem cavernomas.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Safe and complete surgical resection of brainstem cavernoma is
      difficult without injury surrounding normal structures because the lesions are
      deep and intra-axial. In this article, the authors describe the "microroll
      retractor" technique for brainstem cavernoma surgery. METHODS: The microroll
      retractor is made of expanded polytetrafluoroethylene sheet. The sheet is cut in
      several sizes of square piece and transformed into a tubular shape. We insert
      this roll retractor via minimal brain incision and keep surgical corridor without
      usual spatulas during lesionectomy. RESULTS: This technique was adopted for 7
      patients with brainstem cavernomas. In all patients, we achieved total excision;
      improvement was recorded in 6 patients, and no change was recorded in 1 patient.
      CONCLUSIONS: The microroll retractor is extremely simple but provides enough
      surgical corridors for safe total resection of brainstem cavernomas.

PMID- 20920937
TI  - Surgical management of trigeminal neuralgia patients with recurrent or persistent
      pain despite three or more prior operations.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare facial pain outcomes from different surgical techniques for
      patients with idiopathic trigeminal neuralgia (TN) who continue to have
      persistent or recurrent TN despite multiple operations. METHODS: Review of a
      prospective surgical database identified 62 TN patients with ongoing facial pain
      despite having undergone three or more prior operations (mean = 3.4) from July
      1999 to March 2008. The mean patient age was 66.5 years and the mean pain
      duration was 11.8 years. Twenty-six patients (42%) underwent 33 additional
      procedures during the follow-up period. In total, 95 operations were performed:
      posterior fossa exploration (PFE; n = 37, 39%), stereotactic radiosurgery (n =
      31, 33%), glycerol rhizotomy (n = 18, 19%), and balloon compression (n = 9, 10%).
      Follow-up (median = 35 months; range = 1 day to 103 months) was censored at time
      of subsequent surgery, last patient contact, or death. RESULTS: Complete pain
      relief after surgery (no pain, no medications) was 66% at 1 year and 50% at 3
      years. Patients having PFE had better facial pain outcomes (70% complete relief
      at 3 years) compared to other procedures (36% at 3 years) (hazard ratio = 2.6,
      95% CI = 1.3-5.1, P < .01). No difference was noted between radiosurgery and the
      percutaneous techniques. Additional surgery was performed in 8 patients after PFE
      (22%) compared to 25 patients (48%) after radiosurgery (n = 16), glycerol
      rhizotomy (n = 7), or balloon compression (n = 2; P = .02). CONCLUSIONS: Although
      no procedure is best for all patients, PFE gives the operating surgeon the option
      of performing either a nondestructive (microvascular decompression) or
      destructive (partial sensory rhizotomy) procedure and is associated with better
      facial pain outcomes for this difficult patient group.

PMID- 20920938
TI  - A functional magnetic resonance imaging study of factors influencing motor
      function after surgery for gliomas in the rolandic region.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pre- and postoperative fMRI was performed in patients with rolandic
      gliomas to evaluate factors influencing motor function after surgery. METHODS:
      The study population consisted of 9 right-handed patients (mean age, 43.3 years;
      range, 25-67, 2 female/7 male) affected by high-grade gliomas growing within or
      adjacent to the rolandic cortex. Patients had a diverse onset and evolution of
      their disease. All patients underwent morphological imaging and fMRI on a 3-T
      scanner before and after surgery. Postprocessed imaging data were analyzed off
      line using SPM. RESULTS: Patterns of activation in real-time maps and SPM were
      similar when coregistered head motion artifacts did not exceed more than 50%
      voxel size of the echo-planar imaging sequence. Movements of the hand opposite
      the affected hemisphere showed activation of the cMI in all patients.
      Coactivation of the iMI occurred in 5 patients. The cMII was activated in 4
      patients, all with excellent postoperative motor function. The iMII and SMA were
      activated in patients with a good functional outcome. When the unaffected hand
      was tested, this activation pattern was similar. Postoperative fMRIs were
      comparable with the preoperative scans. CONCLUSIONS: Postoperative evaluation is
      feasible and may add confirmatory information to preoperative findings in
      selected patients. Bilateral activation of primary and secondary motor areas may
      be the correlate for compensatory recruitment of additional functional areas and
      a predictor for better functional outcome.

PMID- 20920939
TI  - Occult middle fossa encephaloceles in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Middle fossa encephaloceles are rare structural defects previously
      reported to cause complex partial seizures. Their debated etiology is either by
      failed union of temporal and sphenoid bone ossification centers or by erosion of
      the middle fossa floor secondary to pressure phenomena. Although magnetic
      resonance imaging (MRI) often reveals abnormalities, the actual encephalocele may
      not be identified preoperatively. METHODS: We present three cases of middle fossa
      encephaloceles that were identified intraoperatively and provide a review of the
      relevant literature. RESULTS: All three of our case presentations demonstrate
      patients with medically intractable epilepsy and intraoperative findings of
      middle fossa encephaloceles. In all patients, careful retrospective analysis of
      preoperative imaging provided clues to these encephaloceles, although none were
      suspected before surgery. After resection of the area all patients had improved
      seizure outcome. CONCLUSION: Middle fossa encephaloceles should be recognized as
      a potential source of epileptic pathology in patients with complex partial
      seizures. Although only 12 cases are reported in the literature, we believe that
      this phenomenon may be more common than previously recognized. We suggest that
      simple resection of the encephalocele alone may result in long-lasting, excellent
      seizure outcomes without amygdalohippocampectomy.

PMID- 20920940
TI  - Awake craniotomy, electrophysiologic mapping, and tumor resection with high-field
      intraoperative MRI.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Awake craniotomy and electrophysiologic mapping (EPM) is an
      established technique to facilitate the resection of near eloquent cortex.
      Intraoperative magnetic resonance imaging (iMRI) is increasingly used to aid in
      the resection of intracranial lesions. Standard draping protocols in high-field
      iMRI units make awake craniotomies challenging, and only two groups have
      previously reported combined EPM and high-field iMRI. METHODS: We present an
      illustrative case describing a simple technique for combining awake craniotomy
      and EPM with high-field iMRI. A movable platter is used to transfer the patient
      from the operating table to a transport trolley and into the adjacent MRI and
      still maintaining the patient's surgical position. This system allows excess
      drapes to be removed, facilitating awake craniotomy. RESULTS: A 57-year-old right
      handed man presented with new onset seizures. Magnetic resonance imaging
      demonstrated a large left temporal mass. The patient underwent an awake, left
      frontotemporal craniotomy. The EPM demonstrated a single critical area for speech
      in his inferior frontal gyrus. After an initial tumor debulking, the scalp flap
      was loosely approximated, the wound was covered with additional drapes, and the
      excess surrounding drapes were trimmed. An iMRI was obtained. The image-guidance
      system was re-registered and the patient was redraped. Additional resection was
      performed, allowing extensive removal of what proved to be an anaplastic
      astrocytoma. The patient tolerated this well without any new neurological
      deficits. CONCLUSIONS: Standard protocols for positioning and draping in high
      field iMRI units make awake craniotomies problematic. This straightforward
      technique for combined awake EPM and iMRI may facilitate safe removal of large
      lesions in eloquent cortex.

PMID- 20920941
TI  - Effectiveness and safety of subcutaneous abdominal preservation of autologous
      bone flap after decompressive craniectomy: a prospective pilot study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim was to assess the effectiveness and safety of reconstructing
      a cranial bone defect after decompressive craniectomy using an autologous bone
      flap banked in a subcutaneous pocket in the patient's abdominal wall. METHODS: A
      prospective pilot study was performed on 12 of 15 consecutive patients who had
      undergone decompressive craniotomy and subsequent autologous bone flap
      replacement. The bone flap had been stored in the abdominal wall for an average
      period of 40 days. To assess the safety of this method, we evaluated the
      infections rate and the need for a surgical revision. Efficacy was evaluated
      under different points of view: 1) clinical standpoint, as the cosmetic
      reconstructive result at 6 months after the replacement; 2) imaging point of
      view, as the extent of residual bony gap detectable on a three-dimensional
      computed tomography scan as well as the extent of the bone flap
      revascularization, detected with a three-phase technetium bone scan. All the bone
      flaps were evaluated to assess their viability by histological investigations.
      RESULTS: There was no bone flap infection. The only significant complication
      encountered in two cases was the formation of a collection under the bone flap,
      which required its removal. CONCLUSIONS: This preliminary and limited experience
      has led us to believe that the subcutaneous preservation of autologous bone flap
      is feasible. This method may be a very inexpensive option that preserves the
      viability of the bone flap, which can be ultimately responsible for the good
      cosmetic results and the very low infection rate.

PMID- 20920942
TI  - Posttraumatic human cerebral myiasis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Only eight cases of cerebral myiasis in humans have been reported
      worldwide and only one in the United States. Presented here is a case of cerebral
      myiasis in the setting of head trauma in suburban Los Angeles. METHODS: The
      article includes chart review and description of a clinical case presentation.
      RESULTS: A 42-year-old HIV-positive man was found in a ditch after 2 weeks, the
      victim of apparent assault. He had multiple facial fractures along with open
      depressed bifrontal sinus fractures with necrotic bone, eroded dura, exposed
      cortex, and extensive maggot infestation of the left frontal lobe. The patient
      was taken urgently to the operating room, where the maggots where evacuated by
      irrigation and suction. Debridement of necrotic bone, dura, and brain was
      performed, the frontal sinuses were exenterated, and skull defects plated with
      titanium mesh. Intraoperative cultures revealed a polymicrobial
      meningitis/encephalitis, which was treated postoperatively with antibiotics. The
      patient's neurologic exam stabilized and the patient was transferred to a
      rehabilitation facility for further care, ultimately achieving functionality and
      holding a job. CONCLUSION: This is the first published case of cerebral myiasis
      secondary to trauma, and to our knowledge, the first documented long-term
      survivor of extensive cerebral myiasis. Wide debridement to normal brain followed
      by 6 weeks of broad-spectrum antibiotic treatment is effective in managing this
      condition. A well-functioning outcome can be expected with prompt recognition and
      treatment of the disease. Larval infestation may have a protective effect against
      bacterial infection and may allow for greater tolerance of treatment delay.

PMID- 20920943
TI  - Chemotherapy in anterior instrumentation for spinal tuberculosis: highlighting a
      9-month three-drug regimen.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Anterior instrumentation has been used for surgical treatment of
      spinal tuberculosis, but there are different regimens of antituberculous
      chemotherapy used in combination with surgical intervention. The objective of
      this prospective study was to determine the efficacy of an antituberculous
      chemotherapy regimen by following a series of patients with spinal tuberculosis,
      for a minimum of 3 years, who underwent single-stage anterior radical
      debridement, autogenous bone grafting, and instrumentation. METHODS: The clinical
      and radiographic outcomes of these patients were analyzed with special reference
      to postoperative chemotherapy with a 9-month three-drug regimen. A total of 57
      consecutive patients were treated surgically with single-stage anterior radical
      debridement, autogenous bone grafting, and instrumentation between 1999 and 2004.
      These patients received postoperative antituberculous chemotherapy with a 9-month
      three-drug regimen of isoniazid, rifampicin, and ethambutol. They were followed
      for 3-8 years (average = 5.5 years) with clinical and radiologic outcomes
      examined at each follow-up visit. RESULTS: All patients received postoperative
      chemotherapy for 9 months except two for whom postoperative chemotherapy was
      discontinued 4 and 6 months after surgery because of noncompliance. All patients
      experienced complete or significant relief of cervical or back pain, rapid
      improvement of neurologic function, and kyphotic correction. Bony fusion and
      eradication of the infection were achieved in all patients, with no recurrence of
      the tuberculosis. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, postoperative chemotherapy with the
      9-month three-drug regimen of isoniazid, rifampicin, and ethambutol is effective
      when combined with surgical treatment of spinal tuberculosis using single-stage
      anterior autogenous bone grafting and instrumentation.

PMID- 20920944
TI  - Comparison study of the instrumented circumferential fusion with instrumented
      anterior lumbar interbody fusion as a surgical procedure for adult low-grade
      isthmic spondylolisthesis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Instrumented circumferential fusion has been used as a primary and
      salvage procedure in lumbar spine fusion, especially for adult low-grade isthmic
      spondylolisthesis. Recently, instrumented anterior lumbar interbody fusion (ALIF)
      has been shown to provide good clinical and radiologic results that are
      comparable with those attained with traditional lumbar fusion. However, there
      have been no reports available that compare instrumented circumferential fusion
      with instrumented ALIF. METHODS: Between January 2003 and November 2004, a total
      of 43 consecutive patients underwent instrumented ALIF (group I) at one hospital
      of the authors. Between February 2003 and October 2006, a total of 32 consecutive
      patients underwent instrumented circumferential fusion (group II) at the other
      hospital of the authors. The authors retrospectively reviewed clinical and
      radiologic data from patients. The time spent on the operation, blood loss, blood
      transfusions, the length of hospital stay, complications, clinical results, and
      radiologic results, including disc height (DH), degree of listhesis, segmental
      lordosis (SL), and whole lumbar lordosis (WL), were analyzed and compared.
      Clinical outcomes were graded using visual analog scale (VAS) scores. Functional
      outcomes were measured using Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) scores and return-to
      work status. RESULTS: The mean follow-up period was 41.1 and 32.9 months in group
      I and group II, respectively. Radiologic evidence of fusion was noted in 42 of 43
      patients in group I and in 32 of 32 patients in group II. In both groups, all of
      the radiologic data, including the DH, degree of listhesis, SL, and WL
      significantly changed from the preoperative to postoperative period except for WL
      in group II. In both groups, VAS scores for back and leg pain and ODI scores
      significantly changed from the preoperative to postoperative period. There was no
      significant difference for VAS scores for back ODI scores in the two treatment
      groups after surgery. The mean time until return to work was 3.7 months in group
      I and 3.6 months in group II (p < .05). The mean hospital stay for group I (7.4
      days) was shorter than that for group II (15.2 days) (p < .05). The mean
      operation time in group I (190 minutes) was shorter than that in group II (260.8
      minutes) (p < .05). The mean blood loss in group I (300 mL) was less than that in
      group II (379 mL) (p < .05). CONCLUSIONS: According to the present clinical
      outcome, instrumented ALIF is at least as effective as instrumented
      circumferential fusion for the treatment of back pain in adult patients with low
      grade isthmic spondylolisthesis. Moreover, in terms of operative data including
      the duration of operation and hospital stay, as well as blood loss, instrumented
      ALIF demonstrates better results.

PMID- 20920945
TI  - Biomechanics of a lumbar interspinous anchor with transforaminal lumbar interbody
      fixation.
AB  - OBJECT: To study the stability offered by a clamping lumbar interspinous anchor
      (ISA) for transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF). METHODS: Seven human
      cadaveric lumbosacral specimens were tested: 1) intact; 2) after placing ISA; 3)
      after TLIF with ISA; 4) with TLIF, ISA, and unilateral pedicle screws-rod; 5)
      with TLIF and unilateral pedicle screws-rod (ISA removed); and 6) with TLIF and
      bilateral pedicle screws-rods. Pure moments (7.5 Nm maximum) were applied in each
      plane to induce flexion-extension, axial rotation, and lateral bending while
      recording angular motion optoelectronically. Compression (400 N) was applied
      while upright foraminal height was measured. RESULTS: All instrumentation reduced
      angular range of motion (ROM) significantly from normal. The loading modes in
      which the ISA limited ROM most effectively were flexion and extension, where the
      ROM allowed was equivalent to that of pedicle screws-rods (P > .08). The ISA was
      least effective in reducing lateral bending, with this mode reduced to 81% of
      normal. TLIF with unilateral pedicle screws-rod was the least stable
      configuration. Addition of the ISA to this construct significantly improved
      stability during flexion, extension, lateral bending, and axial rotation (P <
      .008). Constructs that included the ISA increased the foraminal height an average
      of 0.7 mm more than the other constructs (P < .05). CONCLUSIONS: In cadaveric
      testing, the ISA limits flexion and extension equivalently to pedicle screws
      rods. It also increases foraminal height. When used with TLIF, a construct of ISA
      or ISA plus unilateral pedicle screws-rod may offer an alternative to bilateral
      pedicle screws-rods for supplemental posterior fixation.

PMID- 20920946
TI  - How does chronic endocrine disease affect cost in spine surgery?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Previous research has suggested that increases in length of stay and
      hospital cost in patients undergoing spine surgery can be due to comorbidities,
      especially diabetes mellitus. To study how endocrine comorbidities impact spine
      surgery cost, we conducted the further analysis. METHODS: We reviewed the charts
      of 787 patients operated between 2005 and 2008 and their treatment cost. Patients
      underwent one of three of the most common types of spine surgery: lumbar
      microdiskectomy (N = 237), anterior cervical decompression and fusion (N = 339),
      and lumbar decompression and fusion (N = 211). Patients were 14 to 92 years of
      age (mean 54.5 years), nearly equally divided by gender and mostly white.
      Demographics, body mass index, and comorbidities were studied versus length of
      stay and hospital charges. Data were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney and Pearson
      chi(2) tests with the help of the SPSS v16 software. RESULTS: Among the 653
      patients who had their glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) level measured, 32.5% had
      an HbA1c level >=6.1% and 4.3% had high HbA1c level and hypothyroidism. These two
      comorbidities increased with age. Cost analysis showed that in the lumbar
      decompression and fusion group, length of stay and hospital cost significantly
      increased with these comorbidities. Without HbA1c elevation or hypothyroidism,
      the average length of stay for lumbar decompression and fusion patients was 5
      days. This increased to 6 days with hypothyroidism. With both comorbidities the
      average length of stay increased to 8 days (P < .01). Regarding hospital cost,
      without these comorbidities the average was approximately $52,449. With elevated
      HbA1c the cost increased to $56,176 and with hypothyroidism to $63,278 (P < .01
      and P < .05, respectively). When both comorbidities were present the average
      hospital cost was $71,352. It was also noted that 89.7% of the patients with
      hypothyroidism were women. Cost and length of stay increased with age in the
      female lumbar decompression and fusion group. In addition, there was a surge in
      length of stay and cost in the >=70-year-old female group with hypothyroidism
      undergoing anterior cervical decompression and fusion. CONCLUSIONS: HbA1c
      elevation and hypothyroidism have an additive effect on hospital cost in lumbar
      decompression and fusion female patients. The finding of a surge in hospital cost
      parameters in elderly female hypothyroid patients undergoing surgery on their
      cervical spine needs more investigation.

PMID- 20920947
TI  - Reinnervation of atonic bladder after conus medullaris injury using a modified
      nerve crossover technique in canines.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Neurogenic bladder represents a major cause of morbidity in patients
      with spinal cord injuries (SCI). Herein, we evaluated a novel reconstructive
      surgical technique designed to restore afferent and efferent nerve function in
      atonic bladder caused by conus medullaris injury. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A new
      reflex pathway was established by extradural transfer of the left L5 ventral root
      (VR) to the left S2 VR root together with extradural postganglionic spinal nerve
      transfer of the L5 dorsal root (DR) to the S2 DR with a nerve graft in a canine
      model. The corresponding nerves on the right side were kept intact and served as
      a control. After the new reflex pathway was reestablished, the early function of
      the reflex arc was evaluated by electrophysiologic study, intravesical pressure,
      and histologic examination. RESULTS: Action potential (AP) curves were recorded
      with single focal stimulation of the left S2 DR before and after the spinal cord
      was destroyed horizontally between the L6 and S3 levels. Bladder contraction was
      successfully initiated by trains of stimuli targeting the left L5-S2 DR
      anastomosis. Achievable bladder pressures and the amplitude of bladder smooth
      muscle complex action potentials were unchanged before and after induced
      paraplegia and were comparable to those of the control. Prominent axonal
      sprouting was observed in the distal region of the nerve graft. CONCLUSION: Both
      afferent and efferent nerve pathways in the atonic bladder were reconstructed by
      suprasacral motor-to-motor and sensory-to-sensory extradural nerve transfer in
      canines. Taken together, these findings suggest a new potential clinical approach
      for restoring bladder function in individuals with paraplegia.

PMID- 20920948
TI  - From anesthetic sponge to nonsinking skull perforator, unitary work neurosurgery
      in the ancient Arabic and Islamic world.
AB  - During the Middle Ages, the work of Middle Eastern physicians such as Avicenna,
      Albucasis, and Rhazes was of paramount importance in guarding the knowledge that
      had been accumulated throughout history, particularly the contributions of Greek
      and Roman scholars, and it is well known that the Arabic versions of all of the
      works by Hippocrates and Galen by Islamic and Arabic scholars are the only copies
      that have survived until now. In addition to preserving this wealth of knowledge,
      these Middle Eastern scholars made significant contributions of their own to both
      medicine and neurosurgery. Many points regarding ancient Arabic and Islamic
      science need to be discussed and clarified, such as cadaver dissections, anatomic
      studies, neurosurgical practice and instruments, Arabic translations of
      Hippocratic and other works, and the influence of the Islamic civilization on
      Western civilization, especially the Renaissance.

PMID- 20920949
TI  - Reversed apical rotation and paradoxical increased left ventricular torsion in
      children with left ventricular non-compaction.

PMID- 20920950
TI  - Tobacco smoke exposure and altered nasal responses to live attenuated influenza
      virus.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Epidemiologic evidence links tobacco smoke and increased risk for
      influenza in humans, but the specific host defense pathways involved are unclear.
      OBJECTIVE: We developed a model to examine influenza-induced innate immune
      responses in humans and test the hypothesis that exposure to cigarette smoke
      alters nasal inflammatory and antiviral responses to live attenuated influenza
      virus (LAIV). METHODS: This was an observational cohort study comparing nasal
      mucosal responses to LAIV among young adult active smokers (n = 17), nonsmokers
      exposed to secondhand smoke (SHS; n = 20), and unexposed controls (n = 23). Virus
      RNA and inflammatory factors were measured in nasal lavage fluids (NLF) serially
      after LAIV inoculation. For key end points, peak and total (area under curve)
      responses were compared among groups. RESULTS: Compared with controls, NLF
      interleukin-6 (IL-6) responses to LAIV (peak and total) were suppressed in
      smokers. Virus RNA in NLF cells was significantly increased in smokers, as were
      interferon-inducible protein 10:virus ratios. Responses in SHS-exposed subjects
      were generally intermediate between controls and smokers. We observed significant
      associations between urine cotinine and NLF IL-6 responses (negative correlation)
      or virus RNA in NLF cells (positive correlation) for all subjects combined.
      CONCLUSIONS: Nasal inoculation with LAIV results in measurable inflammatory and
      antiviral responses in human volunteers, thus providing a model for investigating
      environmental effects on influenza infections in humans. Exposure to cigarette
      smoke was associated with suppression of specific nasal inflammatory and
      antiviral responses, as well as increased virus quantity, after nasal inoculation
      with LAIV. These data suggest mechanisms for increased susceptibility to
      influenza infection among persons exposed to tobacco smoke.

PMID- 20920951
TI  - Private drinking water wells as a source of exposure to perfluorooctanoic acid
      (PFOA) in communities surrounding a fluoropolymer production facility.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The C8 Health Project was established in 2005 to collect data on
      perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA, or C8) and human health in Ohio and West Virginia
      communities contaminated by a fluoropolymer production facility. OBJECTIVE: We
      assessed PFOA exposure via contaminated drinking water in a subset of C8 Health
      Project participants who drank water from private wells. METHODS: Participants
      provided demographic information and residential, occupational, and medical
      histories. Laboratory analyses were conducted to determine serum-PFOA
      concentrations. PFOA data were collected from 2001 through 2005 from 62 private
      drinking water wells. We examined the relationship between drinking water and
      PFOA levels in serum using robust regression methods. As a comparison with
      regression models, we used a first-order, single-compartment pharmacokinetic
      model to estimate the serum:drinking-water concentration ratio at steady state.
      RESULTS: The median serum PFOA concentration in 108 study participants who used
      private wells was 75.7 MUg/L, approximately 20 times greater than the levels in
      the U.S. general population but similar to those of local residents who drank
      public water. Each 1 MUg/L increase in PFOA levels in drinking water was
      associated with an increase in serum concentrations of 141.5 MUg/L (95%
      confidence interval, 134.9-148.1). The serum:drinking-water concentration ratio
      for the steady-state pharmacokinetic model was 114. CONCLUSIONS: PFOA
      contaminated drinking water is a significant contributor to PFOA levels in serum
      in the study population. Regression methods and pharmacokinetic modeling produced
      similar estimates of the relationship.

PMID- 20920952
TI  - Meeting report: Estimating the benefits of reducing hazardous air pollutants-
      summary of 2009 workshop and future considerations.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Quantifying the benefits of reducing hazardous air pollutants (HAPs,
      or air toxics) has been limited by gaps in toxicological data, uncertainties in
      extrapolating results from high-dose animal experiments to estimate human effects
      at lower doses, limited ambient and personal exposure monitoring data, and
      insufficient economic research to support valuation of the health impacts often
      associated with exposure to individual air toxics. OBJECTIVES: To address some of
      these issues, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency held the Workshop on
      Estimating the Benefits of Reducing Hazardous Air Pollutants (HAPs) in
      Washington, DC, from 30 April to 1 May 2009. DISCUSSION: Experts from multiple
      disciplines discussed how best to move forward on air toxics benefits assessment,
      with a focus on developing near-term capability to conduct quantitative benefits
      assessment. Proposed methodologies involved analysis of data-rich pollutants and
      application of this analysis to other pollutants, using dose-response modeling of
      animal data for estimating benefits to humans, determining dose-equivalence
      relationships for different chemicals with similar health effects, and analysis
      similar to that used for criteria pollutants. Limitations and uncertainties in
      economic valuation of benefits assessment for HAPS were discussed as well.
      CONCLUSIONS: These discussions highlighted the complexities in estimating the
      benefits of reducing air toxics, and participants agreed that alternative methods
      for benefits assessment of HAPs are needed. Recommendations included clearly
      defining the key priorities of the Clean Air Act air toxics program to identify
      the most effective approaches for HAPs benefits analysis, focusing on susceptible
      and vulnerable populations, and improving dose-response estimation for
      quantification of benefits.

PMID- 20920953
TI  - Examining the joint effect of multiple risk factors using exposure risk profiles:
      lung cancer in nonsmokers.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Profile regression is a Bayesian statistical approach designed for
      investigating the joint effect of multiple risk factors. It reduces
      dimensionality by using as its main unit of inference the exposure profiles of
      the subjects that is, the sequence of covariate values that correspond to each
      subject. OBJECTIVES: We applied profile regression to a case-control study of
      lung cancer in nonsmokers, nested within the European Prospective Investigation
      into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort, to estimate the combined effect of
      environmental carcinogens and to explore possible gene-environment interactions.
      METHODS: We tailored and extended the profile regression approach to the analysis
      of case-control studies, allowing for the analysis of ordinal data and the
      computation of posterior odds ratios. We compared and contrasted our results with
      those obtained using standard logistic regression and classification tree
      methods, including multifactor dimensionality reduction. RESULTS: Profile
      regression strengthened previous observations in other study populations on the
      role of air pollutants, particularly particulate matter <= 10 MUm in aerodynamic
      diameter (PM10), in lung cancer for nonsmokers. Covariates including living on a
      main road, exposure to PM10 and nitrogen dioxide, and carrying out manual work
      characterized high-risk subject profiles. Such combinations of risk factors were
      consistent with a priori expectations. In contrast, other methods gave less
      interpretable results. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that profile regression is a
      powerful tool for identifying risk profiles that express the joint effect of
      etiologically relevant variables in multifactorial diseases.

PMID- 20920955
TI  - [Severe respiratory disease in an intensive care unit during influenza A(H1N1)
      2009 pandemia].
AB  - We describe characteristics of patients admitted to our intensive care unit with
      severe acute respiratory illness and influenza-like syndrome during the first
      months of the pandemic influenza A(H1N1) 2009 in Argentina. We analyzed clinical
      data, severity scores, laboratory tests, microbiological and radiological
      findings at admission, clinical outcomes and in-hospital mortality. H1N1 was
      confirmed by RT-PCR. Data from positive and negative PCR patients were compared.
      We admitted 31 adult patients between June and July 2009; median age: 54 years
      (IQR 33-66). A 54% (17) had positive PCR; 16 patients presented underlying
      medical conditions. Bilateral interstitial opacities were observed in chest
      radiography in 20 cases; 5 had unilateral lobar consolidation. Bacterial co
      infection (isolation or IgM antibodies for bacterial infections) was found in 21
      patients. Mechanical ventilation was required in 23 patients and 18 developed
      ARDS. Lymphopenia and increased creatine kinase levels were frequently observed
      (83% and 65% among PCR+ and PCR- respectively). Six patients died (19%); they
      were all over 75 years old, had cancer or immune-suppression. Early antiviral
      treatment (<= 48 hours from symptoms onset) was associated with less frequency of
      mechanical ventilation (54% vs. 89%, p: 0.043). There were no differences in
      analyzed variables when comparing H1N1 positive and H1N1 negative patients; which
      suggests this approach as a most correct in future epidemic outbreaks. H1N1
      infection was associated with severe respiratory illness and ARDS. Fatal outcome
      was observed in very old patients, or in those with major co-morbidities.

PMID- 20920954
TI  - The dichloroacetate dilemma: environmental hazard versus therapeutic goldmine-
      both or neither?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Dichloroacetate (DCA) is known to environmental scientists as a by
      product of water chlorination and as a metabolite of industrial solvents,
      including Superfund chemicals. In contrast, DCA is studied by clinical
      investigators for its therapeutic potential in several life-threatening
      conditions, including genetic mitochondrial diseases, pulmonary arterial
      hypertension, and cancer. Thus, DCA holds an almost unique position at the
      interface between environmental science and allopathic medicine. OBJECTIVE: I
      critically reviewed laboratory and clinical pharmacological research on DCA to
      address questions about the current and future status of DCA in relation to human
      health. DISCUSSION: Recent information on the clinical toxicogenetics of DCA is
      interpreted particularly in light of its use as an investigational drug. Adverse
      effects from chronic DCA exposure have been identified in several target organs
      in animals. However, in humans, toxicity has so far been limited to reversible
      effects on the nervous system and liver. DCA is primarily biotransformed to
      glyoxylate by the bifunctional enzyme glutathione transferase zeta1 and
      maleylacetoacetate isomerase (GSTz1/MAAI), which also catalyzes the penultimate
      step in the phenylalanine and tyrosine catabolic pathway. DCA is a suicide
      inhibitor of GSTz1/MAAI, which can result in delayed plasma clearance of DCA and
      the accumulation of potentially toxic tyrosine intermediates. Age and GSTz1/MAAI
      haplotype can markedly affect the toxicokinetics of DCA in humans and rodents.
      CONCLUSIONS: I have defined new potential avenues of research that focus on
      discrete human populations that may be at increased health risk or that may
      receive increased health benefit from chronic exposure to DCA at both
      environmentally and clinically relevant concentrations.

PMID- 20920956
TI  - [Primary hyperparathyroidism: postoperative long-term evolution].
AB  - The long-term postoperative outcome of 87 patients with primary
      hyperparathyrodism is here presented. Of the total 78 were females and 9 males,
      ratio: 8.7:1. Mean age 55.3 +/- 10.2 years. Before surgery, 44% had kidney
      stones, 70% had osteopenia or osteoporosis and 71.2% had hypercalciuria. Decrease
      renal glomerular filtration was found in 12.6%. Of the total, 72 patients had a
      single adenoma, two double adenoma, two hyperplasia, four had normal histology
      and seven could not dispose of the result. Serum calcium, ionized calcium,
      phosphorus and intact parathyroid hormone were normalized in all post surgery
      patients. Bone mineral density increased by 6.9% in lumbar spine and 3% in
      femoral neck. Markers of bone remodeling were normalized and persisted normal 23
      months of follow-up, coinciding with the normal intact parathyroid hormone. Same
      thing happened with the values of 25 OH D. When patients whith initial
      hypercalciuria were compared with those with normocalciuria, no differences were
      found in the basal values and postsurgery in both groups. In 11 patients with
      previous renal glomerular filtration < 60 ml / min, we found a higher intact
      parathyroid hormone and lower bone mineral density than the rest. The glomerular
      filtration rate did not change significantly after surgery. In conclusion, the
      surgical primary hyperparathyroidism, operated by specialized surgeons has an
      excellent long-term outcome, with normalization of all parameters of
      phosphocalcic metabolism and bone remodeling and significant improvement in bone
      mineral density. Adverse effects were scarce and had spontaneous resolution.

PMID- 20920957
TI  - [Analysis of a pituitary adenoma registry].
AB  - Collection and analysis of data obtained during the clinical treatment of
      pituitary tumours are of great utility in the decision making process, when
      facing clinical situations. We report here data on 519 from 670 patients with
      pituitary adenomas obtained from a computerized registry. Three hundred and forty
      five were females (66%) and 174 males (34%), aged 14-80. Final diagnosis was
      acromegaly in 176, Cushing's disease in 153, prolactinoma in 101 and clinically
      non-functioning adenoma in 89. Mean age at diagnosis was 43.9 +/- 13.5 (16-80)
      for acromegalics, 35.7 +/- 12.9 (14-72) for Cushing's, 30.0 +/- 13.4 (15-79) for
      prolactinoma and 52.1 +/- 15.2 (17-79), for non-functioning tumours. The setup of
      an institutional registry on pituitary tumours constitutes a useful tool to
      analyze clinical experience, optimize the cost/benefit ratio of procedures used
      for diagnosis and to ameliorate therapeutic strategies, improving patient's care.
      It greatly contributes to teaching medical students as well as to post-graduate
      physicians and provides a basis for developing clinical research.

PMID- 20920958
TI  - [Prevalence of thrombocytopenia in HIV infected children].
AB  - Thrombocytopenia is a common hematologic finding in patients infected with the
      human immunodeficiency virus. Multiple mechanisms may contribute to the
      development of chronic thrombocytopenia as immune-mediated platelet destruction,
      enhanced platelet splenic sequestration and impaired platelet production. Acute
      thrombocytopenia is frequently associated with coexisting disorders. In this
      study, the prevalence of thrombocytopenia was evaluated in a cohort of HIV
      infected children analyzing the clinical features and the association with the
      immunological and virological status of the disease in a 14 year-follow-up
      period. Thrombocytopenia prevalence was of 8.5% (29 out 339 children evaluated).
      Chronic and acute thrombocytopenia was observed in 22 and 7 children
      respectively. The percentages of CD4+ T cells were variable and not related with
      the presence of thrombocytopenia. Thrombocytopenic patients showed viral load
      levels significantly increased; being the thrombocytopenia the initial clinical
      manifestation of HIV infection in 10 out 29 children. Mild chronic
      thrombocytopenia bleeding found in 23% of children evaluated was not correlated
      with the immunologic status of the disease. In contrast, the severity of acute
      thrombocytopenia depended on the evolution of associated clinical conditions.
      Constant viral activity and failure in the use of antiretroviral agents might
      induce the development of thrombocytopenia in HIV-infected children.

PMID- 20920959
TI  - [Adverse drug reactions in multidrug-resistant tuberculosis].
AB  - Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDRTB) poses difficulties in diagnosis and
      treatment, including increased frequency of adverse reactions to antituberculosis
      drugs (ADRAs), which compromise the effectiveness of treatment. This is specially
      complicated in the treatment of patients co-infected with HIV which includes the
      antiretroviral therapy plus the treatment of eventual comorbidities. A total of
      121 MDRTB patients, 87 HIV-negative and 34 HIV positive, assisted in the Hospital
      F. J. Muniz, Buenos Aires, during the period 2003-2007 were retrospectively
      studied. The incidence of ADRAs among the two groups of patients was compared.
      All the patients with adherence to treatment (no more than one abandon,
      recovered) were included in the study. Antituberculosis drugs used were:
      ethambutol, pyrazinamide, ofloxacin, moxifloxacin, cycloserine, ethionamide, PAS,
      streptomycin, kanamycin, amikacin and linezolid. The emergence of ADRAs and the
      proportion of severe reactions attributed to antituberculosis drugs were similar
      in both groups: 44.8% in HIV negative and 44.1% in HIV positive, but it was
      observed an additional 23.5% of adverse reactions to antiretroviral therapy in
      the second group. There were differences in the type of reactions and time of
      occurrence between the two groups. One HIV positive patient died of
      epidermolysis. The proportion of adverse reactions in HIV/AIDS patients increased
      50% when those attributed to antiretroviral treatment were included. We conclude
      that the studied population showed a frequency of ADRAs higher than it would be
      expected in the treatment of susceptible TB, but there was no difference in its
      frequency among HIV-negative and positive patients.

PMID- 20920961
TI  - [Pneumococcal surface protein A (PspA) families. Relation with serotypes and
      clinical site of infection].
AB  - PspA, a pneumococcal surface protein, is highly immunogenic and common to all
      serotypes. Although pspA gene shows a great heterogeneity at the N-terminal
      region, PspA protein has conserved epytopes which are able to elicit protective
      cross-reaction against various serotypes presenting different PspA. In spite of
      the high polimorfism of the PspA, three majority families can be identified.
      These properties convert PspA as ideal candidate for the formulation of a
      pneumococcal vaccine. Investigations of the PspA families were mostly carried out
      on prevalent serotypes in other countries. The aim of this study was to identify
      PspA families from Streptococcus pneumoniae isolates of our region as well as to
      associate them to prevalent serotypes or pathologies. We studied 70 isolates from
      pediatric patients with invasive infections. PCR was performed using specific
      primers for each family. In these studies we observed that 60% were PspA family
      1, 34% were PspA family 2 and 6% remained unclassified. Serotypes 1 and 5
      presented only family 1; serotypes 14, 6B, 19F y 18C showed genes from both
      families. Family 1 was observed respectively in 60 y 50% of pneumonias and
      meningitis. The family 2 was identified in 33 and 50% of pneumonias and
      meningitis. This information about the PspA family distribution could become a
      valuable contribution to develop an effective regional vaccine using recombinant
      PspA as immunogen.

PMID- 20920960
TI  - [Lower lung field tuberculosis].
AB  - Tuberculosis (TB) that affects lower lung fields (LLFTB) is infrequent in the
      adult population and is generally associated with immunodeficiency. The objective
      of our study was to determine the incidence of LLFTB in our patients population
      and compare the characteristics of these pa-tients with those who presented TB of
      typical pulmonary localization. We studied 42 patients with LLFTB retrospec
      tively between 2004 and 2008 and compared them to 84 patients with TB of typical
      localization (control group). HIV-positive patients were excluded. LLFTB
      represented 6% of the pulmonary TB cases. No significant differences were found
      with respect to age, sex, the presence of cavities in chest x-rays, days of
      evolution, and albumin levels. LLFTB had a significantly greater proportion of
      comorbilities (p < 0.001), the presence of condensation (p < 0.001), and
      unilateral involvement (p < 0.001), with a higher number of hospital admissions
      (p = 0.02). The observation that only 16 of the 42 patients with LLFTB (38%) had
      a notable comorbility is important. Thus, LLFTB can be present without associated
      comorbilities and must be suspected in pneumonias that have a torpid evolution
      regardless of pulmonary localization.

PMID- 20920962
TI  - [Systemic sclerosis complicated with syncope and complete AV block].
AB  - Systemic sclerosis is a complex disease that affects the connective tissue, the
      vascular system and the immune system. It typically produces skin and organ
      fibrosis. Cardiac bundle branch blocks and fascicular blocks occur in 25-75% of
      the cases and were found to be independent predictors of mortality. Second and
      third degree atrioventricular block are very rare. We present the case of a 47
      year-old female with diagnosis of systemic sclerosis, presented with syncope
      secondary to complete atrioventricular block requiring permanent pacemaker
      implantation.

PMID- 20920963
TI  - [Primary lung lymphoma].

PMID- 20920964
TI  - [Effect of a single dose of zoledronic acid in a case of Paget bone disease].
AB  - Paget's disease is a chronic disorder of bone remodeling characterized by
      increase of bone resorption by atypical osteoclasts, followed by rapid increase
      in bone formation resulting in a disorganized mosaic bone. The biochemical marker
      for early diagnosis and monitoring is serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP). We report
      the case of a 90 year old male, with diagnose of Paget's disease. Pamidronate
      treatment was started orally with partial response, so it was switched to
      intravenous pamidronate. Pain intensity and FAL levels diminished. The
      scyntigraphic scan, however, though improved, persisted abnormal. After several
      years of treatment, with adequate calcium and vitamin D support, the patient
      presents pain and increase of FAL. We administered intravenous zoledronic acid (4
      mg) in a single dose. After this treatment we observed clinical and biochemical
      remission during four years and a significantly improvement in the scintigraphy.
      We report a case of Paget's disease, resistant to pamidronate treatment in whom a
      single dose of zoledronic acid produced clinical and biochemical remission during
      4 years and a significant improvement in the scintigraphic scan.

PMID- 20920965
TI  - [Hyperperfusion syndrome after carotid angioplasty and stenting with cerebral
      hemorrhage].

PMID- 20920966
TI  - [The importance of early diagnosis for the survival of HIV positive patients].
AB  - In Argentina, HIV diagnosis is reached by voluntary testing or symptom-based case
      findings. However, because of the high proportion of infected individuals unaware
      of their serologic status new strategies are required. In this article we show
      how a mathematic model predicts the impact of expanding HIV testing in Argentina.
      The model is based on time-dependent Markov matrixes and applies parameters
      dependent transition-probabilities obtained from both national and international
      cohort studies. Outputs include time on clinical stages and therapy regime, CD4
      count, viral-load, infection-state and age; mortality rates and proportion of
      unidentified infection at a population-level. Simulations were performed for
      current testing strategy and for a theoretical scenario with earlier diagnosis.
      We show how our prediction suggests that diagnosis before onset of symptoms would
      increase life expectancy by 10.7 years. Also, we show how a reduction of time to
      diagnosis to 5 or less years from infection would reduce mortality rates in the
      first year of HAART from 7.6% to 2.1%, the proportion of unrecognized infection
      from 43.2% to 23.8% and the proportion of individuals with unaware infection
      needing treatment from 12% to 0.2%. Based on this prediction we stress the
      importance of implementing health policies aimed at detecting HIV infection in
      early stages in Argentina.

PMID- 20920967
TI  - Molecular mechanisms of glucocorticoid receptor signaling.
AB  - This review highlights the most recent findings on the molecular mechanisms of
      the glucocorticoid receptor (GR). Most effects of glucocorticoids are mediated by
      the intracellular GR which is present in almost every tissue and controls
      transcriptional activation via direct and indirect mechanisms. Nevertheless the
      glu-cocorticoid responses are tissue -and gene- specific. GR associates
      selectively with corticosteroid ligands produced in the adrenal gland in response
      to changes of humoral homeostasis. Ligand interaction with GR promotes either GR
      binding to genomic glucocorticoid response elements, in turn modulating gene
      transcription, or interaction of GR monomers with other transcription factors
      activated by other signalling pathways leading to transrepression. The GR
      regulates a broad spectrum of physiological functions, including cell
      differentiation, metabolism and inflammatory responses. Thus, disruption or
      dysregulation of GR function will result in severe impairments in the maintenance
      of homeostasis and the control of adaptation to stress.

PMID- 20920969
TI  - [Defining sex].

PMID- 20920968
TI  - [Update on interventional treatment of acute ischemic stroke].
AB  - New options have been developed for the prevention and treatment of acute
      ischemic stroke in the last 20 years, such as carotid endarterectomy and
      intravenous thrombolysis with tissue plasminogen activator. Scientific evidence
      has supported their use in developed countries, while there is an evident delay
      in their use among emerging countries. Other promising modalities require the
      conclusion of ongoing randomized, controlled trials. Malignant middle or carotid
      cerebral artery infarction accounts for 10 to 15% ischemic strokes and
      constitutes a devastating event associated with high morbidity and mortality.
      Decompressive craniectomy seems to be an effective and safe approach for rapidly
      lowering intracranial pressure. Although randomized trials are lacking, there is
      enough evidence to support this surgical procedure in appropriately selected
      patients.

PMID- 20920970
TI  - [The two cultures: hard science versus social sciences].

PMID- 20920971
TI  - [Two cultures or multiple cultures? Hard science, soft science and science
      studies].

PMID- 20920972
TI  - [Two cultures? or none].

PMID- 20920973
TI  - [Communication in sanitary crisis].

PMID- 20920974
TI  - [Pharmacogenomics and the path towards personalized medicine].

PMID- 20920977
TI  - Tailored local-regional treatment for early-stage breast cancer.

PMID- 20920979
TI  - Ixabepilone plus capecitabine for breast cancer patients with an early metastatic
      relapse after adjuvant chemotherapy: two clinical trials.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Despite recent advances in treating patients with metastatic breast
      cancer (MBC), outcomes remain poor. Ixabepilone is a semisynthetic analogue of
      epothilone B with low susceptibility to multiple mechanisms of tumor-cell
      resistance. This review examined the results of 2 phase III clinical trials of
      ixabepilone in patients with drug-resistant or heavily pretreated, locally
      advanced breast cancer or MBC. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In both studies, women with
      locally advanced breast cancer or MBC pretreated with, or resistant to, taxanes
      or anthracyclines were randomly assigned to ixabepilone plus capecitabine, or
      capecitabine alone, until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity occurred.
      RESULTS: Ixabepilone plus capecitabine significantly prolonged progression-free
      survival (PFS) compared with capecitabine alone. The median PFS was prolonged by
      1.5 months and 1.8 months in the 2 studies (hazard ratio, < 0.8 in both studies;
      P >= .001). These observations remained valid within several patient subsets:
      those receiving ixabepilone as first-line therapy, those with taxane-resistant
      disease, and those with particularly poor prognostic features. Ixabepilone plus
      capecitabine significantly improved overall survival (OS) compared with
      capecitabine in patients with symptomatic disease (12.3 vs. 9.5 months,
      respectively; P = .015). Peripheral neuropathy with ixabepilone was generally
      reversible and was effectively managed by dosage reduction in most patients.
      Ixabepilone did not exacerbate capecitabine-induced hand-foot syndrome or
      diarrhea. CONCLUSION: The results of these 2 large phase III trials suggest that
      ixabepilone plus capecitabine may improve treatment outcomes for patients with
      locally advanced breast cancer or MBC resistant to, or heavily pretreated with,
      taxanes or anthracyclines, even in those with poor prognostic features.

PMID- 20920980
TI  - Bisphosphonates as anticancer therapy for early breast cancer.
AB  - Bisphosphonates (BPs) are approved for preventing the skeletal-related events
      associated with malignant bone disease. Several studies indicate that they may
      also prevent cancer therapy-induced bone loss. Multiple preclinical and early
      clinical studies provide evidence of the anticancer activity of BPs, including an
      inhibition of tumor cell proliferation and survival, a reduction of angiogenesis,
      and a stimulation of innate anticancer immunity. In addition to their evident
      single-agent activity, BPs may also act synergistically with other antineoplastic
      agents. Translational studies corroborate the effects of bisphosphonates on
      angiogenesis and innate immunity. Moreover, many of these anticancer effects
      occur at clinically relevant drug concentrations. Indeed, clinical data suggest
      that in addition to being well-tolerated and efficacious in maintaining bone
      health, BPs including clodronate, pamidronate, and zoledronic acid also improve
      cancer-related outcomes such as tumor response, disease-free survival, and
      overall survival in patients with breast cancer. Among the BPs, zoledronic acid
      is the most extensively studied in the adjuvant and neoadjuvant settings and has
      accumulated the most data pointing to anticancer activity, although a survival
      benefit has not been documented. Future studies are necessary to elucidate the
      anticancer activity of BPs. Other aspects of BP therapy that require further
      study include the optimization of dosing regimens for single agents and
      combinations in various clinical settings and the identification of prognostic
      factors that predict treatment outcomes. This review summarizes the preclinical
      and clinical evidence of anticancer activity of BPs, with a focus on zoledronic
      acid.

PMID- 20920981
TI  - Association of DNMT1 gene polymorphisms in exons with sporadic infiltrating
      ductal breast carcinoma among Chinese Han women in the Heilongjiang Province.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Infiltrating ductal carcinoma (IDC) is the most common malignant
      breast cancer in women, and genetic factors appear to play a significant role in
      the susceptibility to IDC. Alteration of DNA methylation is an epigenetic change
      in human cancers, including breast cancer. DNA-methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1) is a
      major enzyme that determines genomic methylation patterns. In order to clarify
      the association of DNMT1 polymorphisms with IDC, a case-control study was
      conducted in women from the Heilongjiang Province, in the northeast of China.
      PATIENTS AND METHODS: We scrutinized the 2 genetic polymorphisms in exons of
      DNMT1 that may influence the activity of DNMT1. Our research subjects consisted
      of 305 patients with IDC and 314 age-matched healthy controls. Genotypes were
      determined by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism.
      Data were analyzed using the chi2 test by SPSS, version 13.0, and Haploview,
      version 4.1. The association between DNMT1 polymorphisms and the clinical
      features of IDC was analyzed. RESULTS: In rs16999593, the frequency of CT
      genotype and C allele were lower in patients than in controls (P = .028 and P =
      .017, respectively). Also, rs2228611 AG genotype was higher in patients than in
      controls (P = .015). The frequency of haplotype CA was lower in patients than in
      controls (P = .034). Significant association was shown between the 2 single
      nucleotide polymorphisms of the DNMT1 gene and progesterone receptor (PgR) and
      p53 status. No association was found between DNMT1 gene polymorphisms and tumor
      size or estrogen receptor status. CONCLUSION: Our results was a previous study,
      which suggested that DNMT1 gene polymorphisms in exons may provide valuable
      information for predicting the sporadic IDC risk and may be associated with
      prognosis factors such as PgR and p53 status in Chinese Han women in the
      Heilongjiang Province.

PMID- 20920982
TI  - Disseminated tumor cells in bone marrow assessed by TWIST1, cytokeratin 19, and
      mammaglobin A mRNA predict clinical outcome in operable breast cancer patients.
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate the prognostic relevance of disseminated tumor cells
      (DTCs) in bone marrow (BM) assessed by a multimarker mRNA panel consisting of
      TWIST1, cytokeratin 19 (CK19) and human mammaglobin A (hMAM) mRNA, in patients
      with early breast cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS: TWIST1 (gene name: TWIST1), CK19
      (gene name: KRT19), and hMAM (gene name: SCGB2A2) mRNA was quantitated in BM
      samples from 191 operable breast cancer patients by real-time reverse
      transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). RESULTS: Using the highest
      relative mRNA concentration of TWIST1 in the control population as a cut-off, 5
      of the 191 breast cancer patients showed elevated TWIST1 mRNA levels in their BM
      by real-time RT-PCR. Two of these patients experienced a systemic relapse during
      a median follow-up of 98 months. Combining these results with previous hMAM and
      CK19 mRNA quantifications in the same BM samples, 12 (40%) of the 30 patients
      with BM positive for at least 1 marker (multimarker positive) experienced a
      systemic relapse as compared with 18 (11%) of the 161 patients with multimarker
      negative BMs. The patients with multimarker-positive BM had significantly shorter
      systemic recurrence-free survival (P < .001, log-rank test), breast cancer
      specific survival (P < .001), and overall survival (P = .03). The prognostic
      relevance of BM multimarker detection appeared to be independent of adjuvant
      treatment, although the difference was not statistically significant in the
      subgroup of patients who received adjuvant chemotherapy. Multivariate analysis
      demonstrated the BM multimarker panel status to be a strong independent predictor
      of clinical outcome. CONCLUSION: Our results demonstrated the prognostic
      relevance of BM DTCs assessed by a multimarker mRNA panel consisting of TWIST1,
      CK19, and hMAM in operable breast cancer patients.

PMID- 20920983
TI  - Compliance differences between patients with breast cancer in university and
      county hospitals.
AB  - PURPOSE: Compliance with recommended breast cancer treatments outside the context
      of a clinical trial differs from that in study populations. The purpose of this
      study was to examine differences in compliance of breast cancer treatments.
      PATIENTS AND METHODS: We conducted a retrospective review of 529 patients treated
      at 2 teaching hospitals in the same city from 2003 to 2006. Compliance with
      adjuvant therapy recommendations and choice of breast-conserving operations were
      compared between a university hospital (UH) and a county hospital (CH). RESULTS:
      The 2 populations demonstrated similar rates of breast conservation (72% vs.
      69%). Although use of radiation therapy at the CH was acceptable (82%), patients
      at the UH were more likely to undergo radiation therapy (95%). The use of hormone
      therapy was similar at the UH and the CH (> 93%). Patients were more likely to
      follow physician recommendations for adjuvant chemotherapy at the UH (89%)
      compared with the CH (70%; P = .0005). Univariate analysis revealed that patient
      age, tumor size, stage, grade, and estrogen receptor status were all significant
      predictors of patient compliance with chemotherapy. Preoperative chemotherapy was
      a strong predictor of patient compliance with chemotherapy (P < .0001). In
      multivariate analysis, all of the factors predictive of patient compliance in
      univariate analysis remained significant except tumor grade. CONCLUSION:
      Preoperative chemotherapy appeared to increase compliance compared with adjuvant
      chemotherapy in the CH population. Compared with national standards, breast
      conserving operations and radiation therapy compliance can be accomplished in an
      acceptable percentage of underinsured patients.

PMID- 20920984
TI  - Changes of HER2 status in circulating tumor cells compared with the primary tumor
      during treatment for advanced breast cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: HER2/neu status of tumor cells at metastatic sites in patients with
      advanced disease may differ from that of the primary tumor. Assessing the
      presence of target antigens on circulating tumor cells (CTCs) might affect
      treatment choice. PATIENTS AND METHODS: From June 2007 to October 2008, we
      collected 23 mL of blood from each of the 76 consecutive patients before and
      during chemotherapy to determine CTC numbers and HER2 overexpression. CTCs were
      isolated with the CellSearch System(r) (Veridex, LLC; Raritan, NJ) and
      fluorescently stained with the Epithelial Cell Kit(r). Tumor Phenotyping
      Reagent(r) was used to investigate HER2/neu overexpression. RESULTS: Concordance
      of HER2 status between the primary tumor and CTCs was 86% (49 out of 57 patients)
      at baseline and 82% (50 out of 61 patients) in the treatment samples. HER2
      overexpression in CTCs was acquired in 8 out of 45 patients (18%) and lost in 3
      out of 16 patients (19%) during a treatment containing trastuzumab. The overall
      discordance rate between the primary tumor and CTCs was 18% (11 out of 61
      patients). Patients with HER2 overexpression in CTCs had poorer progression-free
      survival compared with those without CTCs or with HER2- CTCs (log-rank P =.036).
      CONCLUSION: Information on the presence or absence of HER2 overexpression can be
      obtained in CTCs. Larger trials are needed to evaluate the activity of HER2
      targeted therapy in patients with acquired HER2 overexpression in CTCs.

PMID- 20920985
TI  - Discrepancy between preference and actual adjuvant therapy for breast cancer.
AB  - PURPOSE: Pretreatment preferences for adjuvant therapy were examined and compared
      with actual treatment received. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Before definitive surgery,
      women with node-negative breast cancer were asked to indicate their preference
      for adjuvant therapy in response to 3 different clinical scenarios. The scenarios
      provided precise risk, benefit, and side effect information with low-, moderate-,
      or high-risk risk of death from breast cancer. Contingency table and Spearman
      rank correlation coefficients were used to examine associations. Kruskal-Wallis
      rank sum tests were used for group comparisons, with the Friedman rank sum test
      being used for correlated samples. RESULTS: A total of 75 women enrolled between
      February 2002 and April 2005; 24% were aged > 65 years. After definitive surgery,
      21% of women had ductal carcinoma in situ, and 89% had receptor-positive disease.
      There was a significant correlation between risk of recurrence and aggressiveness
      of treatment preferred (P < .001). After surgical staging, the high-risk group
      received more aggressive treatment compared with the low-risk group (P = .004).
      In the 51 women with invasive receptor-positive tumors, there was a significant
      difference (P = .002) in aggressiveness of treatment received based on risk of
      recurrence. Only 45% of the women received what they had preferred for the level
      of their risk before surgery. Women were more likely to receive a less aggressive
      therapy than they preferred initially (P = .0002). CONCLUSION: This study is
      among the first to correlate pretreatment preference for therapy with the actual
      therapy received. Less than half of women received their indicated preference
      before definitive surgery, with most women receiving less aggressive therapy.
      Future studies will need to examine this discrepancy.

PMID- 20920986
TI  - Levofloxacin-induced radiation recall dermatitis: a case report and a review of
      the literature.
AB  - Radiation recall dermatitis (RRD) is a rare phenomenon. There are a few reports
      in the literature reporting RRD triggered by quinolones administration after
      external beam radiation therapy (EBRT). We present an unusual case of RRD induced
      by levofloxacin 7 months after completion of EBRT. A 56-year-old Caucasian female
      was treated with EBRT for stage I carcinoma of the right breast with whole breast
      irradiation followed by the boost to the tumor bed to a total dose of 6080 cGy.
      Seven months post completion of EBRT, levofloxacin was administered for an upper
      respiratory tract infection. On day 8 of levofloxacin, the patient developed a
      blistering RRD in the skin overlying the area of previous radiation portals.
      Discontinuation of the RRD-inducing antibiotic and appropriate therapy led to the
      resolution of the condition. We review literature emphasizing this quinolone
      antibiotic as a causative of RRD.

PMID- 20920989
TI  - Microsatellite instability and mismatch repair genes in colorectal cancer: useful
      tools for managing patients and counseling their relatives.

PMID- 20920991
TI  - Diagnosing hereditary colorectal cancer.
AB  - Although progress in the treatment of patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) has
      resulted in improved median survival, most patients with metastatic CRC still die
      of their disease, and essentially all patients with early-stage disease must
      undergo surgical resection and subsequently face the possibility of adjuvant
      chemotherapy. As effective screening and prevention strategies for CRC have been
      developed, identification of individuals with a hereditary predisposition to
      developing CRC is especially important and provides the opportunity to reduce
      disease burden in this high-risk population. Increased awareness and improved
      diagnostic techniques for hereditary CRC syndromes have facilitated more frequent
      diagnosis and management of a small number of highly penetrant syndromes within
      families. However, known high-penetrance genetic predisposition syndromes account
      for a minority of all familial CRC, leaving much of the genetic basis of CRC
      unexplained. Recent advances in high-throughput genotyping have made possible
      genome-wide association studies, which have identified novel genetic variants
      associated with modest increases in CRC risk. While these associations have
      helped to identify potentially important pathways in CRC carcinogenesis, at the
      current time, the clinical use of such genetic risk variants in colon cancer risk
      stratification remains limited.

PMID- 20920992
TI  - The timing of chemotherapy and surgery for the treatment of colorectal liver
      metastases.
AB  - Combining surgery and chemotherapy in the treatment of patients with colorectal
      hepatic metastases is increasingly becoming the standard of care. However,
      controversy remains regarding the juxtapositioning of chemotherapy and surgery,
      the duration of chemotherapy, and particularly, the use of preoperative
      chemotherapy in the treatment of patients with initially resectable metastases.
      The arguments for and against the different approaches presented are based on the
      data published in the medical literature and on the data presented at the most
      recent major oncology meetings, coupled with the personal experience of the
      authors. For patients with liver metastases that are resectable at presentation,
      perioperative chemotherapy has become the standard treatment in many
      institutions, with the recommendation that surgery is performed after a maximum
      of 6 cycles of systemic therapy. In the case of patients with initially
      unresectable liver metastases receiving preoperative systemic therapy, patients
      should be carefully monitored and surgery performed as soon as the metastases
      become resectable. All patients should, where possible, be treated by a
      multidisciplinary team. Going forward, it needs to be established whether more
      intensive treatment (ie, perioperative versus postoperative systemic therapy) is
      merited for the treatment of patients with initially resectable disease, and what
      the precise contribution of new therapeutic agents in these settings is, based on
      new prospective randomized trial data.

PMID- 20920993
TI  - The insulin-like growth factor signaling pathway as a target for treatment of
      colorectal carcinoma.
AB  - The insulin-like growth factors (IGFs), IGF1 and IGF2, are peptide hormones that
      bind to the insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor (IGF1R) and cause intracellular
      signaling that ultimately results in cellular growth and proliferation. Evidence
      from epidemiologic and preclinical studies suggests that IGF signaling may be of
      importance in the pathogenesis of colorectal cancer (CRC). In recent years,
      agents that target the IGF1R pathway have been developed. These agents are
      currently under evaluation for the treatment of CRC.

PMID- 20920994
TI  - Routine dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase testing for anticipating 5-fluorouracil
      related severe toxicities: hype or hope?
AB  - 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) is a mainstay for treating colorectal cancer, alone or more
      frequently as part of combination therapies. However, its efficacy/toxicity
      balance is often limited by the occurrence of severe toxicities, showing in about
      15%-20% of patients. Several clinical reports have shown the deleterious effect
      of dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (DPD) genetic polymorphism, a condition that
      reduces the liver detoxification step of standard dosages of 5-FU, in patients
      undergoing fluoropyrimidine-based therapy. Admittedly, DPD deficiency accounts
      for 50%-75% of the severe and sometimes life-threatening toxicities associated
      with 5-FU (or oral 5-FU). However, technical consensus on the best way to
      identify patients with DPD deficiency before administrating 5-FU is far from
      being achieved. Consequently, no regulatory step has been undertaken yet to
      recommend DPD testing as part of routine clinical practice for securing the
      administration of 5-FU. This review covers the limits and achievements of the
      various strategies proposed so far for determining DPD status in patients
      scheduled for 5-FU therapy.

PMID- 20920995
TI  - Patients with locally advanced and metastatic colorectal cancer treated with
      capecitabine versus 5-fluorouracil as monotherapy or combination therapy with
      oxaliplatin: a cost comparison.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: This study quantified the costs associated with the acquisition of
      chemotherapy, its administration, and the management of chemotherapy-related
      complications, and their effect on total patient expenditures. PATIENTS AND
      METHODS: Patients with locally advanced and metastatic colorectal cancer treated
      with capecitabine or 5-fluorouracil/leucovorin (5-FU/LV) as monotherapy or
      combination therapy with oxaliplatin from 2003-2006 were identified in the
      Thomson Reuters MarketScan(r) databases. Selection bias between treatment groups
      was addressed by propensity score matching, assessment of the risk of
      complications using Cox models, and an estimate of expenditures using general
      linear models. RESULTS: In respect to monotherapy, capecitabine users (n = 1272)
      were propensity score matched to 5-FU/LV users on a 1:1 ratio. The adjusted mean
      monthly cost was significantly lower for patients treated with capecitabine
      versus 5-FU/LV ($6683 vs. $9304, respectively; P < .0001). Although the cost of
      drug acquisition was significantly higher for capecitabine than for 5-FU/LV
      (unadjusted P < .0001), significantly lower costs of capecitabine administration
      (unadjusted P < .0001) and management of complications (adjusted costs, P <
      .0001) offset the difference, and drove a lower overall cost. In regard to
      combination therapy, capecitabine/oxaliplatin users (n = 263) were propensity
      score matched to 5-FU/LV/oxaliplatin users (n = 526) on a 1:2 ratio. The adjusted
      mean monthly cost was significantly lower for capecitabine/oxaliplatin than for 5
      FU/LV/oxaliplatin ($11,436 vs. $14,320, respectively; P < .0001). The cost
      difference was driven by the significantly lower administration costs of
      capecitabine-based chemotherapy (unadjusted P < .0001) and management of
      complications (adjusted P < .0001). CONCLUSION: The monthly cost per patient
      during capecitabine or capecitabine/oxaliplatin treatment is significantly lower
      than during 5-FU/LV or 5-FU/LV/oxaliplatin treatment because of lower costs for
      the administration of chemotherapy and for the management of complications.

PMID- 20920996
TI  - Efficacy and toxicity of chemoradiation in the treatment of HIV-associated anal
      cancer.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this retrospective study is to determine the results and
      the toxicity of concurrent chemoradiation for squamous cell carcinoma of the anal
      canal in HIV-positive patients treated at a single institution. PATIENTS AND
      METHODS: HIV-positive patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the canal treated
      at Continuum Cancer Centers-affiliated hospitals were identified from tumor
      registries. We reviewed hospital and treatment charts to gather data relating to
      demographics, HIV status including cluster of differentiation 4 (CD4) count and
      viral load, tumor stage, radiation and chemotherapy treatment, toxicity and local
      control, and survival. RESULTS: Thirty-four patients were identified. All
      patients received radiation and concurrent chemotherapy consisting of either
      mitomycin-C and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU; 20 patients), cisplatin and 5-FU (13
      patients), or 5-FU alone (1 patient). The most frequently reported severe
      toxicities were dermatologic (50% grade 3 or 4 toxicity) and hematologic (36%
      grade 3 or 4 toxicity). Actuarial local control and overall survival (OS) at 3
      years were 63% and 69%, respectively. CONCLUSION: Concurrent chemoradiation with
      cisplatin or mitomycin and 5-FU in HIV-positive patients provides local control
      and OS comparable to that observed in the HIV-negative population, with
      acceptable toxicity.

PMID- 20920997
TI  - Differences in efficacy and safety between capecitabine and infusional 5
      fluorouracil when combined with irinotecan for the treatment of metastatic
      colorectal cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Capecitabine is an oral fluoropyrimidine that is shown to have
      similar efficacy to 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) when used both alone and in combination
      with oxaliplatin in the treatment of colorectal cancer (CRC). Capecitabine and
      irinotecan combinations (XELIRI) have been developed for the treatment of this
      disease but randomized comparisons with standard infusional 5-FU and irinotecan
      (FOLFIRI) showed conflicting results. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We searched the
      literature for randomized controlled trials comparing XELIRI to FOLFIRI for the
      treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer. Odds ratios with 95% confidence
      intervals were used to analyze dichotomous variables. Hazard ratios for
      progression and death were combined with an inverse variance method based on
      logarithmic conversion. The fixed-effect model and Mantel-Haenszel method were
      used. Heterogeneity was investigated with the Q-test and I2. Sensitivity analyses
      were performed. RESULTS: Only 3 studies were identified, involving a total of 450
      patients. XELIRI was associated with significantly shorter progression-free
      survival (PFS) and increased grade 3/4 gastrointestinal toxicities such as
      nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. Severe neutropenia, however, was significantly
      more frequent with FOLFIRI. No differences in responses and febrile neutropenia
      events were observed. CONCLUSION: Our analysis suggest that the 2 regimens are
      not equivalent. XELIRI remains an option for the first-line treatment of
      metastatic CRC but FOLFIRI should be preferred as it confers more benefits in
      terms of PFS and induces fewer GI toxicities.

PMID- 20920998
TI  - Evaluation of the combination 5-fluorouracil, dacarbazine, and epirubicin in
      patients with advanced well-differentiated neuroendocrine tumors.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The aim of this study was to retrospectively analyze the efficacy
      and safety of the combination of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), dacarbazine, and
      epirubicin (FDE) in 39 patients with advanced, well-differentiated neuroendocrine
      tumors (NETs). PATIENTS AND METHODS: The primary sites of the disease were the
      pancreas (16 cases), gastrointestinal tract (12 cases), and extradigestive sites
      (11 cases). Out of these, 54% of the patients were chemotherapy naive and 74%
      were progressive. The treatment was a combination of 5-FU 500 mg/m2/day,
      dacarbazine 250 mg/m2/day for 5 days, and epirubicin 50 mg/m2 on day 1,
      administered every 21 days. Tumoral response was assessed with response
      evaluation criteria in solid tumors. RESULTS: Partial response was seen in 17 out
      of the 39 patients (44%) and the median response duration was 12 months. The
      median progression-free survival and overall survival were 11 and 21 months,
      respectively. Disease control was achieved in 83% of the 29 patients in
      progression at the beginning of the treatment. Objective responses were 58%, 25%,
      and 36%, for pancreatic, gastrointestinal, and extradigestive NETs, respectively.
      The sole grade 3/4 toxicity was hematologic. CONCLUSION: The FDE regimen is
      effective in advanced well-differentiated NETs and represents an interesting
      alternative to streptozocin-based regimens as first- or second-line therapy.

PMID- 20920999
TI  - Prospective immunohistochemical analysis of primary colorectal cancers for loss
      of mismatch repair protein expression.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Evaluation of patients for Lynch syndrome includes assessment of age
      and family cancer history as well as testing for microsatellite instability and
      alterations in mismatch repair (MMR) genes. We examined the value of routine
      immunohistochemistry (IHC) for MMR proteins in patients with colorectal cancer
      (CRC) undergoing resection at a single institution. PATIENTS AND METHODS:
      Beginning in July 2006, all patients aged < 50 years who were undergoing
      resection of primary CRC had their specimens routinely examined by IHC for MMR
      proteins. Patients aged 50-60 years were examined if histopathology suggestive of
      Lynch syndrome was reported, and patients of any age were examined if strong
      clinical suspicion was present. Family cancer history was analyzed and
      fulfillment of Amsterdam II criteria determined. RESULTS: Over an 18-month
      period, 96 patients aged < 50 years underwent CRC resection. Out of these, 72
      patients (75%) had immunohistochemical testing, with an overall MMR protein loss
      rate of 19%. In selected patients aged 50-60 years and > 60 years, loss rates
      were 26% and 65%, respectively. Of all patients with MMR protein loss, 10 (32%)
      had reported histopathology, and 3 (10%) had family histories suggesting Lynch
      syndrome. CONCLUSION: We demonstrate the feasibility of routine
      immunohistochemical testing for MMR proteins in patients with CRC. As only a
      minority of patients with MMR protein loss met Amsterdam II criteria or had
      suggestive histopathology reported, routine IHC may identify patients with Lynch
      syndrome who might otherwise be missed.

PMID- 20921001
TI  - Demographic, behavioral, and psychosocial correlates of using the website
      component of a worksite physical activity and healthy nutrition promotion
      program: a longitudinal study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Internet-delivered behavior change programs have the potential to
      reach a large population. However, low participation levels and high levels of
      attrition are often observed. The worksite could be a setting suitable for
      reaching and retaining large numbers of people, but little is known about reach
      and use of Internet-delivered health promotion programs in the worksite setting.
      OBJECTIVE: This study aimed (1) to gain more insight in the use of the website
      component of a worksite behavior change intervention and (2) to identify
      demographic, behavioral, and psychosocial factors associated with website use.
      METHODS: The study was an observational study among participants from 5
      workplaces in a cluster randomized controlled trial. At baseline, all
      participants visited a study website to fill out the baseline questionnaire. Then
      a physical health check was done followed by face-to-face advice. After this
      contact, all participants received an email to promote visiting the website to
      view their health check results and the personal advice based on the baseline
      questionnaire. In the subsequent period, only participants in the intervention
      group received monthly email messages to promote website visits and were offered
      additional Web-based tools (self-monitors and a food frequency questionnaire
      [FFQ] assessing saturated fat intake) to support their behavior change. Website
      use was monitored by website statistics registering website access. Complete data
      were available for 726 employees. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to
      identify characteristics of employees who visited and used the website. RESULTS:
      In total, 43% of the participants visited the website after the email to promote
      website visits. Participants who were insufficiently physically active were less
      likely to visit the website (odds ratio [OR] 0.63, 95% confidence interval [CI]
      0.45-0.88), whereas individuals with an elevated total cholesterol level visited
      the website more often (OR 1.44, 95% CI 1.05-1.98). The monthly emails in the
      intervention group resulted in higher website use during a 3-month period (18%
      versus 5% in the reference group, OR 3.96, 95% CI 2.30-6.82). Participants with a
      positive attitude toward increasing physical activity were less likely to visit
      the website (OR 0.54, 95% CI 0.31-0.93) or to use the self-monitor and FFQ (OR
      0.50, 95% CI 0.25-0.99). Female workers visited the website more often to monitor
      their behavior and to receive advice on fat intake (OR 2.36, 95% CI 1.14-4.90).
      CONCLUSIONS: Almost half of the participants used the website component of a
      worksite behavior change program. Monthly emails were a prompt to visit the
      website, but website use remained low. More women than men used the website to
      obtain personalized advice for behavior change. No consistently higher
      participation was found among those with healthier behaviors. This health
      promotion program did not provide an indication that healthier subjects are more
      susceptible to health promotion. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN52854353;
      http://www.controlled-trials.com/ISRCTN52854353 (Archived by WebCite at
      http://www.webcitation.org/5smxIncB1).

PMID- 20921002
TI  - A new technique for complete intraluminal repair of iatrogenic posterior tracheal
      lacerations.
AB  - Tracheal laceration is a rare complication of endotracheal intubation. Early
      surgical treatment is mandatory in cases of pneumomediastinum with difficulty in
      ventilation to prevent mediastinitis and stricture. Surgical access to the
      posterior tracheal wall is via a right posterolateral thoracotomy, transcervical
      tracheotomy or tracheostomy, each of which is associated with specific
      morbidities. We developed a new optical needle holder consisting of a 12 degrees 
      HOPKINS telescope in a fixed attachment with an endoscopic needle holder to allow
      for complete intraluminal repair of posterior tracheal wall lacerations. Four
      patients were admitted with an iatrogenic tracheal laceration due to emergency
      intubation. In all cases, the repair of the tracheal laceration started with the
      introduction of a 14-mm rigid tracheoscope and subsequent jet-ventilation. Three
      of the tears were successfully repaired endotracheally with a running suture. In
      one case, the repair had to be converted to an open closure via posterolateral
      thoracotomy. Two patients were discharged extubated for further treatment of
      their underlying diseases. One patient died from a third cardiac infarction two
      days after the tracheal repair. We think that an exclusively endoluminal repair
      of longitudinal tracheal lacerations is feasible. This repair has convincing
      advantages including little surgical trauma, lack of scars and diminished
      postoperative pain.

PMID- 20921003
TI  - Theory of hybrid dynamical systems and its applications to biological and medical
      systems.
AB  - In this introductory article, we survey the contents of this Theme Issue. This
      Theme Issue deals with a fertile region of hybrid dynamical systems that are
      characterized by the coexistence of continuous and discrete dynamics. It is now
      well known that there exist many hybrid dynamical systems with discontinuities
      such as impact, switching, friction and sliding. The first aim of this Issue is
      to discuss recent developments in understanding nonlinear dynamics of hybrid
      dynamical systems in the two main theoretical fields of dynamical systems theory
      and control systems theory. A combined study of the hybrid systems dynamics in
      the two theoretical fields might contribute to a more comprehensive understanding
      of hybrid dynamical systems. In addition, mathematical modelling by hybrid
      dynamical systems is particularly important for understanding the nonlinear
      dynamics of biological and medical systems as they have many discontinuities such
      as threshold-triggered firing in neurons, on-off switching of gene expression by
      a transcription factor, division in cells and certain types of chronotherapy for
      prostate cancer. Hence, the second aim is to discuss recent applications of
      hybrid dynamical systems in biology and medicine. Thus, this Issue is not only
      general to serve as a survey of recent progress in hybrid systems theory but also
      specific to introduce interesting and stimulating applications of hybrid systems
      in biology and medicine. As the introduction to the topics in this Theme Issue,
      we provide a brief history of nonlinear dynamics and mathematical modelling,
      different mathematical models of hybrid dynamical systems, the relationship
      between dynamical systems theory and control systems theory, examples of complex
      behaviour in a simple neuron model and its variants, applications of hybrid
      dynamical systems in biology and medicine as a road map of articles in this Theme
      Issue and future directions of hybrid systems modelling.

PMID- 20921004
TI  - Discontinuity-induced bifurcations of piecewise smooth dynamical systems.
AB  - This paper presents an overview of the current state of the art in the analysis
      of discontinuity-induced bifurcations (DIBs) of piecewise smooth dynamical
      systems, a particularly relevant class of hybrid dynamical systems. Firstly, we
      present a classification of the most common types of DIBs involving non-trivial
      interactions of fixed points and equilibria of maps and flows with the manifolds
      in phase space where the system is non-smooth. We then analyse the case of limit
      cycles interacting with such manifolds, presenting grazing and sliding
      bifurcations. A description of possible classification strategies to predict and
      analyse the scenarios following such bifurcations is also discussed, with
      particular attention to those methodologies that can be applied to generic n
      dimensional systems.

PMID- 20921005
TI  - Stability analysis and controller synthesis for hybrid dynamical systems.
AB  - Wherever continuous and discrete dynamics interact, hybrid systems arise. This is
      especially the case in many technological systems in which logic decision-making
      and embedded control actions are combined with continuous physical processes.
      Also for many mechanical, biological, electrical and economical systems the use
      of hybrid models is essential to adequately describe their behaviour. To capture
      the evolution of these systems, mathematical models are needed that combine in
      one way or another the dynamics of the continuous parts of the system with the
      dynamics of the logic and discrete parts. These mathematical models come in all
      kinds of variations, but basically consist of some form of differential or
      difference equations on the one hand and automata or other discrete-event models
      on the other hand. The collection of analysis and synthesis techniques based on
      these models forms the research area of hybrid systems theory, which plays an
      important role in the multi-disciplinary design of many technological systems
      that surround us. This paper presents an overview from the perspective of the
      control community on modelling, analysis and control design for hybrid dynamical
      systems and surveys the major research lines in this appealing and lively
      research area.

PMID- 20921006
TI  - Robust dynamics in minimal hybrid models of genetic networks.
AB  - Many gene-regulatory networks necessarily display robust dynamics that are
      insensitive to noise and stable under evolution. We propose that a class of
      hybrid systems can be used to relate the structure of these networks to their
      dynamics and provide insight into the origin of robustness. In these systems, the
      genes are represented by logical functions, and the controlling transcription
      factor protein molecules are real variables, which are produced and destroyed. As
      the transcription factor concentrations cross thresholds, they control the
      production of other transcription factors. We discuss mathematical analysis of
      these systems and show how the concepts of robustness and minimality can be used
      to generate putative logical organizations based on observed symbolic sequences.
      We apply the methods to control of the cell cycle in yeast.

PMID- 20921007
TI  - Piecewise affine systems approach to control of biological networks.
AB  - In terms of a piecewise affine system representation, which is a kind of hybrid
      system model, this article discusses a series of approaches to modelling,
      analysing and synthesizing a biological network such as a gene-regulatory
      network. First, the input assignment problem, the controllable state set problem
      (CSP) and the input trajectory generation problem are emphasized as control
      problems to be addressed for biological networks. Subsequently, after the
      modelling issue on biological networks developed in the systems and control
      community is briefly explained, the CSP is described in detail with reference to
      control of the quorum-sensing system in the pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
      Finally, an optimal control design method to the quorum-sensing system is
      proposed as a solution to the input trajectory generation problem.

PMID- 20921008
TI  - Stochastic hybrid systems for studying biochemical processes.
AB  - Many protein and mRNA species occur at low molecular counts within cells, and
      hence are subject to large stochastic fluctuations in copy numbers over time.
      Development of computationally tractable frameworks for modelling stochastic
      fluctuations in population counts is essential to understand how noise at the
      cellular level affects biological function and phenotype. We show that stochastic
      hybrid systems (SHSs) provide a convenient framework for modelling the time
      evolution of population counts of different chemical species involved in a set of
      biochemical reactions. We illustrate recently developed techniques that allow
      fast computations of the statistical moments of the population count, without
      having to run computationally expensive Monte Carlo simulations of the
      biochemical reactions. Finally, we review different examples from the literature
      that illustrate the benefits of using SHSs for modelling biochemical processes.

PMID- 20921009
TI  - A hybrid approach to multi-scale modelling of cancer.
AB  - In this paper, we review multi-scale models of solid tumour growth and discuss a
      middle-out framework that tracks individual cells. By focusing on the cellular
      dynamics of a healthy colorectal crypt and its invasion by mutant, cancerous
      cells, we compare a cell-centre, a cell-vertex and a continuum model of cell
      proliferation and movement. All models reproduce the basic features of a healthy
      crypt: cells proliferate near the crypt base, they migrate upwards and are
      sloughed off near the top. The models are used to establish conditions under
      which mutant cells are able to colonize the crypt either by top-down or by bottom
      up invasion. While the continuum model is quicker and easier to implement, it can
      be difficult to relate system parameters to measurable biophysical quantities.
      Conversely, the greater detail inherent in the multi-scale models means that
      experimentally derived parameters can be incorporated and, therefore, these
      models offer greater scope for understanding normal and diseased crypts, for
      testing and identifying new therapeutic targets and for predicting their impacts.

PMID- 20921010
TI  - Mathematical modelling of prostate cancer growth and its application to hormone
      therapy.
AB  - Hormone therapy in the form of androgen deprivation is a major treatment for
      advanced prostate cancer. However, if such therapy is overly prolonged, tumour
      cells may become resistant to this treatment and result in recurrent fatal
      disease. Long-term hormone deprivation also is associated with side effects
      poorly tolerated by patients. In contrast, intermittent hormone therapy with
      alternating on- and off-treatment periods is a possible clinical strategy to
      delay progression to hormone-refractory disease with the advantage of reduced
      side effects during the off-treatment periods. In this paper, we first overview
      previous studies on mathematical modelling of prostate tumour growth under
      intermittent hormone therapy. The model is categorized into a hybrid dynamical
      system because switching between on-treatment and off-treatment intervals is
      treated in addition to continuous dynamics of tumour growth. Next, we present an
      extended model of stochastic differential equations and examine how well the
      model is able to capture the characteristics of authentic serum prostate-specific
      antigen (PSA) data. We also highlight recent advances in time-series analysis and
      prediction of changes in serum PSA concentrations. Finally, we discuss practical
      issues to be considered towards establishment of mathematical model-based tailor
      made medicine, which defines how to realize personalized hormone therapy for
      individual patients based on monitored serum PSA levels.

PMID- 20921011
TI  - Piecewise affine systems modelling for optimizing hormone therapy of prostate
      cancer.
AB  - Prostate cancer is one of the most common malignant neoplasms in men with an
      overall incidence of approximately 15 per cent during the normal life span.
      Androgen-deprivation therapy (hormone therapy) is an effective treatment of this
      disease when progressed to an advanced stage. Despite impressive responses, such
      treatment when applied on a continuous basis is not curative and eventually
      culminates in androgen-independent disease. On the other hand, intermittent
      androgen suppression (IAS) was first conceived as a potential way of delaying
      progression to androgen-independence, in addition offering the possibility of
      reducing adverse effects and improving the quality of life. Although the validity
      of this approach has been confirmed in several clinical studies, the optimal
      scheduling of the cycles of on- and off-treatment remains to be explored. In the
      present article, we show that IAS lends itself to mathematical modelling with
      hybrid dynamical systems and that the model we have developed can be used to
      select the best strategy for keeping prostate cancer in an androgen-dependent
      state as long as possible. Our results also suggest that the current way of using
      IAS exceeds what is necessary for optimal control; in fact, we have found that to
      achieve optimal control, the amount of therapy (dose and duration of drugs) can
      be reduced by a factor of one half.

PMID- 20921012
TI  - Hybrid spiking models.
AB  - I review a class of hybrid models of neurons that combine continuous spike
      generation mechanisms and a discontinuous 'after-spike' reset of state variables.
      Unlike Hodgkin-Huxley-type conductance-based models, the hybrid spiking models
      have a few parameters derived from the bifurcation theory; instead of matching
      neuronal electrophysiology, they match neuronal dynamics. I present a method of
      after-spike resetting suitable for hardware implementation of such models, and a
      hybrid numerical method for simulations of large-scale biological spiking
      networks.

PMID- 20921013
TI  - Hybrid discrete-time neural networks.
AB  - Hybrid dynamical systems combine evolution equations with state transitions. When
      the evolution equations are discrete-time (also called map-based), the result is
      a hybrid discrete-time system. A class of biological neural network models that
      has recently received some attention falls within this category: map-based neuron
      models connected by means of fast threshold modulation (FTM). FTM is a connection
      scheme that aims to mimic the switching dynamics of a neuron subject to synaptic
      inputs. The dynamic equations of the neuron adopt different forms according to
      the state (either firing or not firing) and type (excitatory or inhibitory) of
      their presynaptic neighbours. Therefore, the mathematical model of one such
      network is a combination of discrete-time evolution equations with transitions
      between states, constituting a hybrid discrete-time (map-based) neural network.
      In this paper, we review previous work within the context of these models,
      exemplifying useful techniques to analyse them. Typical map-based neuron models
      are low-dimensional and amenable to phase-plane analysis. In bursting models,
      fast-slow decomposition can be used to reduce dimensionality further, so that the
      dynamics of a pair of connected neurons can be easily understood. We also discuss
      a model that includes electrical synapses in addition to chemical synapses with
      FTM. Furthermore, we describe how master stability functions can predict the
      stability of synchronized states in these networks. The main results are extended
      to larger map-based neural networks.

PMID- 20921014
TI  - A phase-reduced neuro-mechanical model for insect locomotion: feed-forward
      stability and proprioceptive feedback.
AB  - In earlier work, we have developed an integrated model for insect locomotion that
      includes a central pattern generator (CPG), nonlinear muscles, hexapedal geometry
      and a representative proprioceptive sensory pathway. Here, we employ phase
      reduction and averaging theory to replace 264 ordinary differential equations
      (ODEs), describing bursting neurons in the CPG, their synaptic connections to
      motoneurons, muscle activation dynamics and sensory neurons, with 24 one
      dimensional phase oscillators that describe motoneuronal activation of agonist
      antagonist muscle pairs driving the jointed legs. Reflexive feedback is
      represented by stereotypical spike trains with rates proportional to joint
      torques, which change phase relationships among the motoneuronal oscillators.
      Restriction to the horizontal plane, neglect of leg mass and use of Hill-type
      muscle models yield a biomechanical body-limb system with only three degrees of
      freedom, and the resulting hybrid dynamical system involves 30 ODEs: reduction by
      an order of magnitude. We show that this reduced model captures the dynamics of
      unperturbed gaits and the effects of an impulsive perturbation as accurately as
      the original one. Moreover, the phase response and coupling functions provide an
      improved understanding of reflexive feedback mechanisms.

PMID- 20921015
TI  - Optic nerve gliomas: role of Ki-67 staining of tumour and margins in predicting
      long-term outcome.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although optic nerve gliomas (ONGs) are generally slow-growing with a
      good prognosis, factors for identifying cases that may pursue a more aggressive
      course are not well established. The authors investigated cell proliferation
      markers for prognostic significance in a series of resected ONGs. METHODS: Twelve
      cases of resected ONG were identified out of a total of 38 examined at the
      authors' institution between 1981 and 2008. Clinical data were reviewed. Ki-67
      and p53 immunohistochemical staining was performed on the tumour mass and the
      proximal resection margin. RESULTS: All of the tumours were low-grade pilocytic
      astrocytomas. Six patients were suspected to have histologically positive
      proximal resection margins. Ki-67 labelling indices (LI) ranged from 0.3% to 5.9%
      (mean 2.4%) for the tumour mass and from 0 to 2.1% (mean 0.9%) for the proximal
      resection margins. One patient had evidence of progression 25 months after
      subtotal surgical resection. The Ki-67 LI of the proximal resection margin in
      this case was similar to the main tumour value. The other six patients with
      histologically negative proximal resection margins all had lower relative
      proliferation indices at the resection margin when compared with the tumour mass
      and are currently stable with no evidence of progression. CONCLUSIONS: Routine
      histological examination of resection margins may be difficult to interpret in
      the setting of reactive gliosis. A resection margin with a Ki-67 LI similar to
      the tumour bulk value may have an adjunctive role in identifying cases with the
      potential for growth thereby facilitating the decision-making process for future
      management and surveillance.

PMID- 20921016
TI  - Young age as a risk factor for complicated course and visual outcome in
      intermediate uveitis in children.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To identify prognostic factors in intermediate uveitis (IU) in
      children. METHODS: Retrospective case series of 35 patients with onset of IU <=16
      years and a minimum follow-up of 1 year. Demographic and numerous clinical data
      were documented. Visual outcomes and development of complications were analysed
      in relation to age of onset and ocular signs at presentation. RESULTS: Forty-six
      per cent of patients had onset <=7 years, and 54% >7 years. The younger-onset
      group had a shorter event-free survival for secondary glaucoma (p=0.04) and
      vitreous haemorrhage (p=0.01). The mean age of onset in children with cataract
      (5.9 vs 8.7 years), glaucoma (5.0 vs 8.4) and vitreous haemorrhage (5.6 vs 8.5)
      was lower than in children without these complications (all p=0.03). Frequencies
      of other complications did not differ between both groups. The younger-onset
      group had worse BCVAs at presentation (0.3 vs 0.6), at 1 year (0.4 vs 0.9) and at
      3 years' follow-up (0.6 vs 0.9; all p<=0.04), and they needed longer treatment
      (p=0.01). Children with young onset of IU reached remission less frequently
      (p=0.05). Development of cystoid macular oedema was independently associated with
      papillitis (adjusted HR=3.4; p=0.02) and snowbanking (adjusted HR=3.3; p=0.03) at
      presentation. Other complications at onset were not predictive for future
      complications. CONCLUSIONS: Children with young onset of IU carry a higher risk
      of complications and worse visual outcome. The authors would recommend
      considering more intensive monitoring and earlier threshold for systemic
      treatment in those children with risk factors as early onset, papillitis and/or
      snowbanking at initial presentation.

PMID- 20921017
TI  - An evaluation of echo in life support (ELS): is it feasible? What does it add?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Emergency physicians were trained to perform echo in life support
      (ELS)--that is, limited transthoracic echocardiography during advanced life
      support (ALS) management of cardiac arrest. METHODS: Data were collected on the
      adequacy of views obtained and timing of the scan, as well as the clinical
      findings of pericardial effusion and ventricular wall motion. Any intervention
      performed as a result of the scan was also noted. ELS was performed on 50
      patients during cardiac arrest. RESULTS: Adequate views were obtained in 47 (94%)
      scans, and 45 (90%) were obtained within the 10 s rhythm check. Twenty patients
      (40%) had ventricular wall motion (VWM), three (6%) had pericardial effusions and
      six patients (12%) had an intervention performed as a direct result of the scan.
      These included pericardiocentesis, thrombolysis and insertion of a chest drain.
      The presence of VWM had a positive predictive value of 55%. The absence of VWM
      resulted in a negative predictive value of 97% for predicting return of
      spontaneous circulation (ROSC). CONCLUSION: It is concluded that ELS is feasible
      and that the scan findings may guide further interventions.

PMID- 20921018
TI  - Effects of pre-arrest comorbidities on 90-day survival of patients resuscitated
      from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Factors that affect prognosis in successfully resuscitated out-of
      hospital cardiopulmonary arrest (OHCA) patients in the intensive care unit (ICU)
      who survived the initial 24 h period of post-resuscitation have not been
      established. This study was conducted to evaluate the clinical prognostic factors
      associated with 90-day survival in patients who were successfully resuscitated
      from OHCA. METHODS: This study was conducted at a tertiary large university
      hospital. Clinical data were obtained from the medical records of 224 adult non
      traumatic patients who were successfully resuscitated from OHCA and who survived
      the initial 24 h post-resuscitation phase. Univariate and multivariate analyses
      were performed to identify independent predictors associated with 90-day
      survival. RESULTS: Significant adverse prognosticators included liver cirrhosis
      (HR 4.36, 95% CI 1.76 to 10.79), prolonged cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR)
      duration >20 min (HR 1.95, 95% CI 1.27 to 3.00) and underlying malignancy (HR
      1.64, 95% CI 1.06 to 2.54). Favourable prognostic factors included the best
      Glasgow Coma Scale within 24-48 h after return of spontaneous circulation >5 (HR
      0.16, 95% CI 0.04 to 0.68), mean arterial pressure on ICU admission >100 mmHg (HR
      0.81, 95% CI 0.43 to 0.94) and the presenting rhythm of pulseless electrical
      activity (HR 0.44, 95% CI 0.1 to 0.63). A high burden of comorbidities (by
      Charlson score >5) was associated with significantly poorer 90-day survival (HR
      1.60, 95% CI 1.03 to 2.49). CONCLUSIONS: Underlying comorbidities have a
      significant influence on survival. CPR duration, post-resuscitative blood
      pressure and early neurological recovery may serve as practical clinical
      predictors of short-term survival.

PMID- 20921019
TI  - Health utility and survival after hospital admission with acute cardiogenic
      pulmonary oedema.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to measure health utility and survival in
      patients with acute cardiogenic pulmonary oedema (ACPO), identify predictors of
      outcome and determine the effect of initial treatment with non-invasive
      ventilation (NIV) upon outcomes. METHODS: A randomised controlled trial was
      conducted at 26 hospitals in the UK. 1069 adults with ACPO were randomised to
      continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), non-invasive positive pressure
      ventilation (NIPPV) or standard oxygen therapy. The main outcome measures were
      survival to 1-5 years, health utility measured using the EQ-5D survey at 1, 3 and
      6 months, and quality-adjusted life years (QALYs). RESULTS: Median survival was
      771 days (95% CI 669 to 875), with no difference between the three treatment
      groups (p = 0.827). Age (HR 1.042, 95% CI 1.031 to 1.052), chronic obstructive
      pulmonary disease (HR 1.13, 95% CI 1.06 to 1.62), cerebrovascular disease (HR
      1.41, 95% CI 1.14 to 1.73) and diabetes mellitus (HR 1.31, 95% CI 1.01 to 1.63)
      independently predicted mortality. Mean EQ-5D scores were 0.578, 0.576 and 0.582
      at 1, 3 and 6 months, respectively, with no significant difference between the
      treatment groups. Male gender (+0.045 QALYs, 95% CI 0.009 to 0.081) and
      cerebrovascular disease (-0.080 QALYs, 95% CI -0.131 to -0.029) independently
      predicted health utility. CONCLUSION: Patients with ACPO have high mortality and
      reduced health utility. Initial treatment with CPAP or NIPPV does not alter
      subsequent survival or health utility.

PMID- 20921020
TI  - Cohen syndrome diagnosis using whole genome arrays.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cohen syndrome is a rare autosomal recessive disorder with a complex
      phenotype including psychomotor retardation, microcephaly, obesity with slender
      extremities, joint laxity, progressive chorioretinal dystrophy/myopia,
      intermittent isolated neutropenia, a cheerful disposition, and characteristic
      facial features. The COH1 gene, which contains 62 exons, is so far the only gene
      known to be associated with Cohen syndrome. Point mutations, deletions and
      duplications have been described in this gene. Oligonucleotide arrays have
      reached a resolution which allows the detection of intragenic deletions and
      duplications, especially in large genes such as COH1. METHOD AND RESULTS: High
      density oligonucleotide array data from patients with unexplained mental
      retardation (n=1523) and normal controls (n=1612) were analysed for copy number
      variation (CNV) changes. Intragenic heterozygous deletions in the COH1 gene were
      detected in three patients but no such changes were detected in the controls.
      Subsequent sequencing of the COH1 gene revealed point mutations in the second
      allele in all three patients analysed. CONCLUSION: Genome-wide CNV screening with
      high density arrays provides a tool to detect intragenic deletions in the COH1
      gene. This report presents an example of how microarrays can be used to identify
      autosomal recessive syndromes and to extend the phenotypic and mutational
      spectrum of recessive disorders.

PMID- 20921021
TI  - Germline mutations in CDH1 are infrequent in women with early-onset or familial
      lobular breast cancers.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Germline mutations in CDH1 are associated with hereditary diffuse
      gastric cancer; lobular breast cancer also occurs excessively in families with
      such condition. METHOD: To determine if CDH1 is a susceptibility gene for lobular
      breast cancer in women without a family history of diffuse gastric cancer,
      germline DNA was analysed for the presence of CDH1 mutations in 318 women with
      lobular breast cancer who were diagnosed before the age of 45 years or had a
      family history of breast cancer and were not known, or known not, to be carriers
      of germline mutations in BRCA1 or BRCA2. Cases were ascertained through breast
      cancer registries and high-risk cancer genetic clinics (Breast Cancer Family
      Registry, the kConFab and a consortium of breast cancer genetics clinics in the
      United States and Spain). Additionally, Multiplex Ligation-dependent Probe
      Amplification was performed for 134 cases to detect large deletions. RESULTS: No
      truncating mutations and no large deletions were detected. Six non-synonymous
      variants were found in seven families. Four (4/318 or 1.3%) are considered to be
      potentially pathogenic through in vitro and in silico analysis. CONCLUSION:
      Potentially pathogenic germline CDH1 mutations in women with early-onset or
      familial lobular breast cancer are at most infrequent.

PMID- 20921023
TI  - Ancestry informative markers for fine-scale individual assignment to worldwide
      populations.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The analysis of large-scale genetic data from thousands of
      individuals has revealed the fact that subtle population genetic structure can be
      detected at levels that were previously unimaginable. Using the Human Genome
      Diversity Panel as reference (51 populations - 650,000 SNPs), this works
      describes a systematic evaluation of the resolution that can be achieved for the
      inference of genetic ancestry, even when small panels of genetic markers are
      used. METHODS AND RESULTS: A comprehensive investigation of human population
      structure around the world is undertaken by leveraging the power of Principal
      Components Analysis (PCA). The problem is dissected into hierarchical steps and a
      decision tree for the prediction of individual ancestry is proposed. A complete
      leave-one-out validation experiment demonstrates that, using all available SNPs,
      assignment of individuals to their self-reported populations of origin is
      essentially perfect. Ancestry informative genetic markers are selected using two
      different metrics (In and correlation with PCA scores). A thorough cross
      validation experiment indicates that, in most cases here, the number of SNPs
      needed for ancestry inference can be successfully reduced to less than 0.1% of
      the original 650,000 while retaining close to 100% accuracy. This reduction can
      be achieved using a novel clustering-based redundancy removal algorithm that is
      also introduced here. Finally, the applicability of our suggested SNP panels is
      tested on HapMap Phase 3 populations. CONCLUSION: The proposed methods and
      ancestry informative marker panels, in combination with the increasingly more
      comprehensive databases of human genetic variation, open new horizons in a
      variety of fields, ranging from the study of human evolution and population
      history, to medical genetics and forensics.

PMID- 20921022
TI  - Recurrent microdeletions of 15q25.2 are associated with increased risk of
      congenital diaphragmatic hernia, cognitive deficits and possibly Diamond-
      Blackfan anaemia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) can occur in isolation or in
      association with other abnormalities. We hypothesised that some cases of non
      isolated CDH are caused by novel genomic disorders. METHODS AND RESULTS: In a
      cohort of >12, 000 patients referred for array comparative genomic hybridisation
      testing, we identified three individuals-two of whom had CDH--with deletions
      involving a ~2.3 Mb region on chromosome 15q25.2. Two additional patients with
      deletions of this region have been reported, including a fetus with CDH. Clinical
      data from these patients suggest that recurrent deletions of 15q25.2 are
      associated with an increased risk of developing CDH, cognitive deficits,
      cryptorchidism, short stature and possibly Diamond-Blackfan anaemia (DBA).
      Although no known CDH-associated genes are located on 15q25.2, four genes in this
      region--CPEB1, AP3B2, HOMER2 and HDGFRP3--have been implicated in CNS
      development/function and may contribute to the cognitive deficits seen in
      deletion patients. Deletions of RPS17 may also predispose individuals with
      15q25.2 deletions to DBA and associated anomalies. CONCLUSIONS: Individuals with
      recurrent deletions of 15q25.2 are at increased risk for CDH and other birth
      defects. A high index of suspicion should exist for the development of cognitive
      defects, anaemia and DBA-associated malignancies in these individuals.

PMID- 20921025
TI  - Manual therapy versus usual GP care for chronic tension-type headache: we now
      have better evidence, but important questions remain.

PMID- 20921024
TI  - Organic fertilization leads to increased peach root production and lifespan.
AB  - We evaluated the effects of mineral and organic fertilizers on peach root
      dynamics in the growing season from 2003 to 2006 in a nectarine (Prunus persica
      L.) orchard, planted in 2001 and located in the Po valley, northeastern Italy.
      Very few studies have conducted long-term investigations of root dynamics of
      fruit crops. Our main objective was to determine whether organic fertilizers
      affect root dynamics differently than mineral fertilizers. The experiment was a
      completely randomized block design with four replicates of three treatments:
      unfertilized, mineral fertilized and composted with municipal waste. Mineral
      fertilizers included P (100 kg ha(-1) year(-1)) and K (200 kg ha(-1) year(-1))
      applied only at planting and N (70-130 kg ha(-1) year(-1)) split into two
      applications, one at 40 days after full bloom (60%) and the other in September
      (40%) each year. The compost fertilization represented a yearly rate of 10 metric
      tons (t) dry weight ha(-1), which approximates (in kg ha(-1) year(-1)) 240 N, 100
      P and 200 K, split similarly to that described for the mineral fertilization of
      N. Both root growth and survival were evaluated at 20-day intervals during the
      growing season by the minirhizotron technique. Compost increased the production
      of new roots compared with the other treatments (P < 0.01). Roots were mainly
      produced at a depth of 41-80 cm and from March to May and in late summer. An
      analysis of covariance indicated no significant effect of soil nitrate on root
      production (P = 0.47). The root lifespan was longer in compost-treated trees than
      in mineral-fertilized or unfertilized trees (P < 0.01) and it was strongly
      affected by time of birth; roots born later in the summer lived longer than those
      born in the spring. Across years and treatments, the average root lifespan was
      positively correlated with soil nitrate (r = 0.60; P < 0.001). Variation in root
      lifespan with method of fertilization could be accounted for by variation in soil
      nitrate concentration as indicated by no effect of fertilizer treatment on root
      lifespan when soil nitrate was included as a covariate. These results reveal how
      shifting from mineral to organic fertilizers may shift both soil properties and
      nutrient availability, leading to changes in both root production and lifespan.

PMID- 20921026
TI  - Mendelian and complex causes of migraine: bridging the gap.

PMID- 20921027
TI  - Predicting the probability of relapse after discontinuation of migraine
      preventive treatment with topiramate.

PMID- 20921028
TI  - Spasticity and contractures at the wrist after stroke: time course of development
      and their association with functional recovery of the upper limb.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the time course of development of spasticity and
      contractures at the wrist after stroke and to explore if these are associated
      with upper limb functional recovery. DESIGN: Longitudinal observational study
      using secondary data from the control group of a randomized controlled trial.
      SETTING: The Acute Stroke Unit at the University Hospital of North Staffordshire.
      SUBJECTS: Patients without useful arm function (Action Research Arm Test - ARAT)
      score of 0 within 6 weeks of a first stroke. MAIN MEASURES: Spasticity was
      measured by quantifying muscle activity during passively imposed stretches at two
      velocities. Contractures were measured by quantifying passive range of movement
      and stiffness. Upper limb functional movement was assessed using the ARAT. All
      assessments were conducted at baseline, and at 6, 12, 24 and 36 weeks after
      recruitment. RESULTS: Thirty patients (43% male, median age 70 (range 52-90)
      years, median time since stroke onset 3 (range 1-5) weeks) were included. Twenty
      eight (92%) demonstrated signs of spasticity throughout the study period.
      Participants who recovered arm function (n = 5) showed signs of spasticity at all
      assessment points but did not develop contractures. Patients who did not recover
      useful arm function (n = 25) had signs of spasticity and changes associated with
      contracture formation at all time points tested. CONCLUSION: In this group of
      patients who had no arm function within the first 6 weeks of stroke, spasticity
      was seen early, but did not necessarily hinder functional recovery. Contractures
      were more likely to develop in patients who did not recover arm function.

PMID- 20921029
TI  - Comparison of an intermittent high-intensity vs continuous low-intensity
      physiotherapy service over 12 months in community-dwelling people with stroke: a
      randomized trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study compared two modes of physiotherapy service over 12 months
      in community-dwelling people with stroke, either following a train-wait train
      paradigm by providing bouts of intense physiotherapy, or a continuous less
      intense programme. DESIGN: Randomized trial. SETTING: Community-dwelling people
      with stroke. INTERVENTIONS: Fifty patients, first-time stroke, discharged home,
      following inpatient rehabilitation, allocated to two groups, A and B. Over 12
      months, Group A (n = 25) received three two-month blocks of therapy at home, each
      block contained four 30 to 45 minute sessions per week, totalling 96 sessions.
      Group B (n = 25) continuously received two 30 to 45 minute sessions per week,
      totalling 104 sessions. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Primary Rivermead Mobility Index
      (0-15), secondary upper- and lower-limb motor functions, Activities of Daily
      Living competence, tone and number of falls. RESULTS: Both groups were comparable
      at onset, the mean age in Group A (B) was 62.4 (61.9) years. A and B patients
      equally improved functions over time, between group differences did not occur.
      The initial (terminal) Rivermead Mobility Index was 9.4 +/- 2.8 (12.2 +/- 2.1) in
      Group A, and 8.5 +/- 3.5 (11.2 +/- 2.7) in Group B. More Group B patients fell
      seriously (7 versus 1). CONCLUSIONS: The intermittent high-intensity and
      continuous low-intensity therapy protocols were equally effective, the sheer
      intensity seems more important than the time-mode of application. The relatively
      young patients functionally improved in the first year after stroke, the reduced
      risk of serious falls in the intermittent high-intensity group should be
      validated.

PMID- 20921030
TI  - The relationship between objectively and subjectively measured activity levels in
      people with chronic low back pain.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare self-report measures of daily activities with objective
      activity data to determine whether patients with chronic lower back pain report
      their activity levels as accurately as controls do. DESIGN: A cross-sectional
      study was performed in patients and controls. SETTING: The study was carried out
      in the daily environment of the subjects. SUBJECTS: Thirty-two chronic lower back
      pain patients with symptoms more than three months and 20 healthy controls from
      the Netherlands, aged 18-65 years. MAIN MEASURES: A tri-axial accelerometer was
      worn for five weekdays and the Baecke Physical Activity Questionnaire was filled
      in. Pearson's correlation was calculated to get insight in the awareness of
      patients and controls. Comparisons of the relationship between the objective and
      subjective scores of each individual patient with those of the group of controls
      were used to allocate each patient into subgroups: overestimators,
      underestimators and aware patients. Physical and psychological characteristics of
      these groups were explored. RESULTS: Patients showed weak correlations between
      the objective and subjective scores of physical activity and appear to have
      problems in estimating their activity levels (r = -0.27), in contrast to controls
      who showed strong correlations between the objective and subjective scores (r =
      0.66). Comparison of the individual relationships of patients with those of
      controls showed that 44% of the patients were not aware of their activity level.
      There were relatively more underestimators (30%) than overestimators (14%).
      Physical characteristics between the three groups tended to be different.
      CONCLUSIONS: Patient self-reports about their activity level are relatively
      inaccurate when compared to objective measurements.

PMID- 20921031
TI  - Normative data, preliminary inter-rater reliability and predictive validity of
      the Drive Home Maze Test.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The Drive Home Maze Test has been developed as part of a clinic-based
      driver assessment battery. This article reports normative data and preliminary
      inter-rater reliability for this test together with predictive validity for a
      clinical sample. SUBJECTS AND SETTING: 223 individuals contributed to the
      normative data. Of these, data from 42 clients undergoing driver assessment as
      part of their rehabilitation or health care plan were used to ascertain the
      predictive validity of the Drive Home Maze Test for on-road driving performance
      (Pass/ Fail). MAIN MEASURE: The Drive Home Maze Test was developed for
      occupational therapy driver assessors to use with all older and/ or functionally
      impaired drivers prior to on-road testing. The test assesses a person s executive
      function, attention and visuoconstructive skills. RESULTS: The normative data
      indicated that time taken and number of errors on the maze increases with age.
      Performance on this test was strongly indicative of driver assessment outcome
      using the regression model: ln(Odds of failing on road) = 5.9451 + 2.7047 (log10
      time taken to complete the maze). Excellent preliminary inter-rater reliability
      was also found using Ordinary Least Products linear regression analysis to test
      for bias between two raters for time taken and number of errors on the maze, with
      values ranging from r = 0.858 to 0.999. CONCLUSIONS: The Drive Home Maze Test
      provides useful information concerning a person's cognitive skills prior to
      undertaking an on-road assessment. Time taken to complete this test is indicative
      of the outcome of an on-road driver assessment.

PMID- 20921032
TI  - Higher-intensity treadmill walking during rehabilitation after stroke in feasible
      and not detrimental to walking pattern or quality: a pilot randomized trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine whether higher-intensity treadmill walking during
      rehabilitation in those newly able to walk after stroke is feasible, is
      detrimental to walking or is beneficial. DESIGN: A single-blind, randomized
      trial. SETTING: Two rehabilitation units. PARTICIPANTS: Thirty people with first
      stroke. INTERVENTIONS: Experimental group received 30 minutes of higher-intensity
      treadmill walking, three times per week for six weeks, in addition to usual
      physiotherapy. Control group received usual physiotherapy only. MAIN OUTCOME
      MEASURES: Feasibility was measured by examining compliance and adverse events.
      Detriment to walking was measured by examining pattern and quality. Benefit to
      walking was measured as capacity using six-minute walk test and speed, at
      baseline (Week 0), immediately after (Week 6) and at three months (Week 18).
      RESULTS: Overall compliance was 89%, with no adverse events reported. There was
      no between-group difference in walking pattern and quality. By Week 6, the
      experimental group improved walking capacity by 62 m (95% confidence interval
      (CI) 10 to 114), comfortable walking speed by 0.18 m/s (95% CI 0.07 to 0.29) and
      fast walking speed by 0.18 m/s (95% CI 0.03 to 0.35) more than the control group.
      By Week 18, the experimental group was still walking 0.26 m/s (95% CI 0.12 to
      0.41) faster than the control group. CONCLUSIONS: Higher-intensity treadmill
      walking during rehabilitation after stroke is feasible and not detrimental to
      walking pattern and quality in those newly able to walk. 94 participants are
      required to detect a between-group difference of 75 m on six-minute walk test
      (alpha 0.05, beta 0.90) in future trials. TRIAL REGISTRATION:
      ACTRN12607000412437.

PMID- 20921033
TI  - Social networks, social capital and chronic illness self-management: a realist
      review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Existing literature on the design of interventions and health policy
      about self-management have tended to focus on individual-centred definitions of
      self-care and there is growing recognition of the need to extend consideration
      beyond individual factors, which determine self-care, to examine wider influences
      such as the health service, the family and the wider social context. AIMS: To
      explore the theoretical and empirical links between social networks, social
      capital and the self-care practices associated with chronic illness work and
      management in the context of people's everyday lives. METHOD: A realist review
      method was used to search and appraise relevant quantitative and qualitative
      literature. FINDINGS: The review findings indicate that social networks play an
      important part in the management of long-term conditions. We found that social
      networks tend to be defined narrowly and are primarily used as a way of
      acknowledging the significance of context. There is insufficient discussion in
      the literature of the specific types of networks that support or undermine self
      care as well as an understanding of the processes involved. This necessitates
      shifting the emphasis of self-care towards community and network-centred
      approaches, which may also prove more appropriate for engaging people in socially
      and economically deprived contexts.

PMID- 20921034
TI  - Active living--the perception of older people with chronic conditions.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To describe and understand factors which enhance and impede
      participation in physical activity for older adults with and without chronic
      illness and develop a framework of health behaviours for 'active living'.
      METHODS: A contrasting group framework was used to compare discussions in two
      sets of focus groups with relatively healthy and less healthy older adults. The
      thematic analysis was informed by the Transtheoretical Model, the Health Belief
      Model and Social Cognitive Theory. RESULTS: All participants affirmed the health
      benefits of physical activity and there was broad agreement that social support
      and conductive environments contributed to the promotion of opportunities for
      physical activity. However, perceptions of specific factors needed to maintain
      and promote good health differed between healthy and less healthy participants.
      Connection to community, sense of place and 'walkability' of neighbourhoods were
      identified as motivators for undertaking physical activity, whilst barriers were
      associated with health, the environment, family and attitudes to physical
      activity. DISCUSSIONS: The focus groups highlighted the importance of social,
      behavioural and contextual factors in promoting opportunities for physical
      activity in older adults with and without chronic illness. The findings were used
      to propose an Active Living Framework which is the subject of ongoing research.

PMID- 20921036
TI  - A model of the process of transformation in primary care for people living with
      chronic illnesses.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The objective of the research was to construct a conceptual framework
      that explains the process of personal transformation within a primary care
      context for people living with chronic illnesses. METHODS: A literature search of
      articles published from 1990 to 2007 in CINAHL, ERIC, Healthstar, MEDLINE,
      PsycINFO, dissertation abstracts and SocINFO databases, was conducted to identify
      qualitative research studies investigating personal change in chronic illness or
      disability. Five hundred and fifty-six articles were identified; the researchers
      conducted a metasynthesis of a subgroup of these articles whose focus was on
      transformation in primary care (n = 5). RESULTS: The metasynthesis project
      presents a model of the conceptualizations of transformation. Transformation in
      chronic illness is presented as a process of learning about self and the chronic
      illness in an iterative and continually changing manner. The primary care context
      has its greatest influence on critical reflection, which occurs in the first
      phase (initial response). DISCUSSION: This model illustrates the complex
      processes that occur for someone living with a chronic illness. Health
      practitioners who understand why and how people transform in living with chronic
      illnesses will be able to apply this model in determining people's needs and how
      to assist people during the transformative process.

PMID- 20921035
TI  - How effective are the linkages between self-management programmes and primary
      care providers, especially for disadvantaged patients?
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To describe the extent and effectiveness of strategies that have been
      used to improve linkages between primary healthcare (PHC) and chronic disease
      self-management programmes, especially for disadvantaged patients. METHODS: A
      systematic review of the published peer-reviewed literature. Studies conducted in
      an Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development country evaluating a
      group self-management programme of at least 4-week duration with some linkage
      between PHC and the programme were included. Linkage strategies were
      qualitatively derived. Studies were descriptively analysed in terms of the type
      of self-management programme, strategy for linking with PHC, culturally and
      linguistically diverse and socio-economic status and impact on health service
      usage. RESULTS: Sixteen studies were identified that used linkage strategies for
      a variety of functions-supporting communication, ongoing clinical care, programme
      development, recruitment or implementation. Of the four studies that evaluated
      impact on health service use, only one reported a positive change. DISCUSSION:
      Few programmes of self-management support included specific strategies to
      increase linkages with PHC as part of their intervention. There is insufficient
      evidence to determine which strategies or linkages are more effective and in what
      context.

PMID- 20921037
TI  - Self-managing versus self-management: reinvigorating the socio-political
      dimensions of self-management.
AB  - In Australia, self-management predominantly refers to education programmes that,
      theoretically, equip people with chronic disease with the necessary information
      and skills to manage their own healthcare, maintain optimal health, and minimize
      the consequences of their condition. These programmes are designed, and often
      delivered, by practitioners. Our research has demonstrated that for consumers,
      self-management involves navigating and responding to a myriad of information
      sources and experiences, many of which originate in their own lived bodily
      experiences and personal knowledge. In contrast to this organic and dynamic
      version of self-managing that is naturally practised by consumers, common
      practitioner and policy representations of self-management tend to discount
      consumer agency and overlook the daily ways in which people manage their own
      body, experiences and health choices. We argue that if the self-management
      movement is to tackle health inequalities (rather than creating new ones), health
      professionals and policy-makers must examine the potentially damaging assumptions
      that are inherent in contemporary self-management discourse.

PMID- 20921038
TI  - Patient engagement with a diabetes self-management intervention.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To explore how people living with type 2 diabetes self-manage their
      condition in everyday life and the impact of the Diabetes Manual programme, a one
      to-one structured educational intervention aiming to increase skills and
      confidence for self-management. METHOD: Semi-structured interviews with 12
      participants on the Diabetes Manual trial, sampled purposively according to
      baseline self-efficacy and educational attainment. RESULTS: When describing their
      experience of living with diabetes, there was little difference between
      intervention and control participants, although those who had received the
      programme talked more about the use of blood glucose self-assessment. Programme
      users were grouped into three categories, Programme Engagers (n = 2), Programme
      Browsers (n = 4) and Information Seekers (n = 6). Of the two participants
      engaging with the programme, one described a very positive experience, the other
      felt unsupported by their practice. None noticed a difference in the approach
      used by their health professional. Participants' approach to the Diabetes Manual
      programme suggests they will continue to use it as a resource in the future.
      CONCLUSION: Participants used the Diabetes Manual programme in different ways,
      choosing the timing and depth of engagement. Their experience suggests that the
      programme requires close communication and openness towards collaborative
      approaches to improve skills and confidence for self-management.

PMID- 20921039
TI  - The cross-informant concordance and concurrent validity of the Borderline
      Personality Features Scale for Children in a community sample of boys.
AB  - The Borderline Personality Disorder Features Scale for Children (BPFSC) is
      currently the only dimensional measure specifically developed to assess
      borderline features in children and adolescents. Few studies have investigated
      this measure for its concurrent validity and concordance between youth self
      report and parent-report versions. To this end, the current study had two aims:
      (1) to investigate the cross-informant concordance (youth self-report vs. parent
      report) of the BPFSC; and (2) to examine the concurrent validity of the BPFSC by
      showing that youth scoring high on the BPFSC also show poor clinical and
      psychosocial functioning, as measured by a standard Axis I scale. A community
      sample (N = 171) of boys between the ages of 8 and 18 completed the BPFSC and a
      self-report measure of Axis I psychopathology. Parents completed a newly
      developed parent-report version of the BPFSC (BPFSP) and a standard measure of
      Axis I psychopathology to index clinical and psychosocial functioning. Findings
      confirmed expectations. Modest concordance between parent- and self-report
      ratings were found. In addition, youth with borderline features showed poorer
      clinical and psychosocial functioning in all domains, especially where
      externalizing problems were concerned. Concurrent validity and modest parent
      child concordance were demonstrated for the BPFSC. The BPFSC and BPFSP show
      promise as dimensional measures to assess borderline features in boys. However, a
      criterion validity study is needed before the measure can be used.

PMID- 20921040
TI  - Rebuilding relationships: a pilot study of the effectiveness of the Mellow
      Parenting Programme for children with Reactive Attachment Disorder.
AB  - Mellow Parenting is an intensive parenting programme which has been shown to be
      effective in improving the psychosocial functioning of very vulnerable babies and
      preschool children. We used a complex interventions model to evaluate its use
      with school-age children with Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD), a serious
      disorder of social functioning associated with maltreatment. The programme had a
      positive effect on mothers' mental health, but had no measurable effects on
      symptoms of RAD or on parent-child interaction, although the variation between
      families after the group suggested that some had responded more than others.
      Mellow Parenting is an effective programme for vulnerable families with younger
      children and may be a useful adjunct in the treatment of school-age children with
      RAD, but it cannot be considered a definite treatment for RAD in this age group.
      The search continues for safe and effective treatments for RAD in school-age
      children.

PMID- 20921041
TI  - Re: Gene expression-based prognostic signatures in lung cancer: ready for
      clinical use?

PMID- 20921042
TI  - Dynamic energy budget theory restores coherence in biology.
AB  - We present the state of the art of the development of dynamic energy budget
      theory, and its expected developments in the near future within the molecular,
      physiological and ecological domains. The degree of formalization in the set-up
      of the theory, with its roots in chemistry, physics, thermodynamics, evolution
      and the consistent application of Occam's razor, is discussed. We place the
      various contributions in the theme issue within this theoretical setting, and
      sketch the scope of actual and potential applications.

PMID- 20921043
TI  - Subcellular metabolic organization in the context of dynamic energy budget and
      biochemical systems theories.
AB  - The dynamic modelling of metabolic networks aims to describe the temporal
      evolution of metabolite concentrations in cells. This area has attracted
      increasing attention in recent years owing to the availability of high-throughput
      data and the general development of systems biology as a promising approach to
      study living organisms. Biochemical Systems Theory (BST) provides an accurate
      formalism to describe biological dynamic phenomena. However, knowledge about the
      molecular organization level, used in these models, is not enough to explain
      phenomena such as the driving forces of these metabolic networks. Dynamic Energy
      Budget (DEB) theory captures the quantitative aspects of the organization of
      metabolism at the organism level in a way that is non-species-specific. This
      imposes constraints on the sub-organismal organization that are not present in
      the bottom-up approach of systems biology. We use in vivo data of lactic acid
      bacteria under various conditions to compare some aspects of BST and DEB
      approaches. Due to the large number of parameters to be estimated in the BST
      model, we applied powerful parameter identification techniques. Both models
      fitted equally well, but the BST model employs more parameters. The DEB model
      uses similarities of processes under growth and no-growth conditions and under
      aerobic and anaerobic conditions, which reduce the number of parameters. This
      paper discusses some future directions for the integration of knowledge from
      these two rich and promising areas, working top-down and bottom-up
      simultaneously. This middle-out approach is expected to bring new ideas and
      insights to both areas in terms of describing how living organisms operate.

PMID- 20921045
TI  - The impact of metabolism on stable isotope dynamics: a theoretical framework.
AB  - Stable isotope analysis is a powerful tool used for reconstructing individual
      life histories, identifying food-web structures and tracking flow of elemental
      matter through ecosystems. The mechanisms determining isotopic incorporation
      rates and discrimination factors are, however, poorly understood which hinders a
      reliable interpretation of field data when no experimental data are available.
      Here, we extend dynamic energy budget (DEB) theory with a limited set of new
      assumptions and rules in order to study the impact of metabolism on stable
      isotope dynamics in a mechanistic way. We calculate fluxes of stable isotopes
      within an organism by following fluxes of molecules involved in a limited number
      of macrochemical reactions: assimilation, growth but also structure turnover that
      is here explicitly treated. Two mechanisms are involved in the discrimination of
      isotopes: (i) selection of molecules occurs at the partitioning of assimilation,
      growth and turnover into anabolic and catabolic sub-fluxes and (ii) reshuffling
      of atoms occurs during transformations. Such a framework allows for isotopic
      routing which is known as a key, but poorly studied, mechanism. As DEB theory
      specifies the impact of environmental conditions and individual state on molecule
      fluxes, we discuss how scenario analysis within this framework could help reveal
      common mechanisms across taxa.

PMID- 20921044
TI  - Dynamic energy budget approaches for modelling organismal ageing.
AB  - Ageing is a complex multifactorial process involving a progressive physiological
      decline that, ultimately, leads to the death of an organism. It involves multiple
      changes in many components that play fundamental roles under healthy and
      pathological conditions. Simultaneously, every organism undergoes accumulative
      'wear and tear' during its lifespan, which confounds the effects of the ageing
      process. The scenario is complicated even further by the presence of both age
      dependent and age-independent competing causes of death. Various manipulations
      have been shown to interfere with the ageing process. Calorie restriction, for
      example, has been reported to increase the lifespan of a wide range of organisms,
      which suggests a strong relation between energy metabolism and ageing. Such a
      link is also supported within the main theories for ageing: the free radical
      hypothesis, for instance, links oxidative damage production directly to energy
      metabolism. The Dynamic Energy Budgets (DEB) theory, which characterizes the
      uptake and use of energy by living organisms, therefore constitutes a useful tool
      for gaining insight into the ageing process. Here we compare the existing DEB
      based modelling approaches and, then, discuss how new biological evidence could
      be incorporated within a DEB framework.

PMID- 20921046
TI  - Modelling the ecological niche from functional traits.
AB  - The niche concept is central to ecology but is often depicted descriptively
      through observing associations between organisms and habitats. Here, we argue for
      the importance of mechanistically modelling niches based on functional traits of
      organisms and explore the possibilities for achieving this through the
      integration of three theoretical frameworks: biophysical ecology (BE), the
      geometric framework for nutrition (GF) and dynamic energy budget (DEB) models.
      These three frameworks are fundamentally based on the conservation laws of
      thermodynamics, describing energy and mass balance at the level of the individual
      and capturing the prodigious predictive power of the concepts of 'homeostasis'
      and 'evolutionary fitness'. BE and the GF provide mechanistic multi-dimensional
      depictions of climatic and nutritional niches, respectively, providing a
      foundation for linking organismal traits (morphology, physiology, behaviour) with
      habitat characteristics. In turn, they provide driving inputs and cost functions
      for mass/energy allocation within the individual as determined by DEB models. We
      show how integration of the three frameworks permits calculation of activity
      constraints, vital rates (survival, development, growth, reproduction) and
      ultimately population growth rates and species distributions. When integrated
      with contemporary niche theory, functional trait niche models hold great promise
      for tackling major questions in ecology and evolutionary biology.

PMID- 20921047
TI  - Modelling effects of diquat under realistic exposure patterns in genetically
      differentiated populations of the gastropod Lymnaea stagnalis.
AB  - Pesticide use leads to complex exposure and response patterns in non-target
      aquatic species, so that the analysis of data from standard toxicity tests may
      result in unrealistic risk forecasts. Developing models that are able to capture
      such complexity from toxicity test data is thus a crucial issue for pesticide
      risk assessment. In this study, freshwater snails from two genetically
      differentiated populations of Lymnaea stagnalis were exposed to repeated acute
      applications of environmentally realistic concentrations of the herbicide diquat,
      from the embryo to the adult stage. Hatching rate, embryonic development
      duration, juvenile mortality, feeding rate and age at first spawning were
      investigated during both exposure and recovery periods. Effects of diquat on
      mortality were analysed using a threshold hazard model accounting for time
      varying herbicide concentrations. All endpoints were significantly impaired at
      diquat environmental concentrations in both populations. Snail evolutionary
      history had no significant impact on their sensitivity and responsiveness to
      diquat, whereas food acted as a modulating factor of toxicant-induced mortality.
      The time course of effects was adequately described by the model, which thus
      appears suitable to analyse long-term effects of complex exposure patterns based
      upon full life cycle experiment data. Obtained model outputs (e.g. no-effect
      concentrations) could be directly used for chemical risk assessment.

PMID- 20921048
TI  - How far details are important in ecosystem modelling: the case of multi-limiting
      nutrients in phytoplankton-zooplankton interactions.
AB  - We try to answer the question of to what extent details in nutrient uptake and
      phytoplankton physiology matter for population and community dynamics. To this
      end, we study how two nutrients interact in limiting phytoplankton growth. A
      popular formulation uses a product-rule for nutrient uptake, which we compare
      with that on the basis of synthesizing units. We first fit different nutrient
      uptake models to a dataset and conclude that the quantitative differences between
      the models are small. Then we study the sensitivity of phytoplankton growth and
      zooplankton-phytoplankton interactions (ZPi) models to uptake formulations. Two
      population models are compared; they are based on different assumptions on the
      relation between nutrient uptake and phytoplankton growth. We find that the
      population and community models are sensitive to uptake formulations. According
      to the uptake formulation used in the ZPi models, qualitative differences can be
      observed. Indeed, although two models based on functions with similar shapes have
      close equilibria, these can differ in stability properties. Since stability
      involves the derivatives of formulas, even if two formulas provide close values,
      large numerical differences in the stability criterion may occur after
      derivation. We conclude that mechanistic details can be of importance for
      community modelling.

PMID- 20921049
TI  - Stylized facts in microalgal growth: interpretation in a dynamic energy budget
      context.
AB  - A dynamic energy budget (DEB) model for microalgae is proposed. This model
      deviates from the standard DEB model as it needs more reserves to cope with the
      variation of assimilation pathways, requiring a different approach to growth
      based on the synthesizing unit (SU) theory for multiple substrates. It is shown
      that the model is able to accurately predict experimental data in constant and
      light-varying conditions with most of the parameter values taken directly from
      the literature. Also, model simulations are shown to be consistent with stylized
      facts (SFs) concerning NC ratio. These SFs are reinterpreted and the general
      conclusion is that all forcing variables (dilution rate, temperature and
      irradiance) impose changes in the nitrogen or carbon limitation status of the
      population, and consequently on reserve densities. Model predictions are also
      evaluated in comparison with SFs on chlorophyll concentration. It is proposed
      that an extra structure, more dependent on the nitrogen reserve, is required to
      accurately model chlorophyll dynamics. Finally, SFs concerning extracellular
      polymeric substances (EPSs) production by benthic diatoms are collected and
      interpreted and a formulation based on product synthesis and rejection flux is
      proposed for the EPSs production rate.

PMID- 20921050
TI  - How to lift a model for individual behaviour to the population level?
AB  - The quick answer to the title question is: by bookkeeping; introduce as
      p(opulation)-state a measure telling how the individuals are distributed over
      their common i(ndividual)-state space, and track how the various i-processes
      change this measure. Unfortunately, this answer leads to a mathematical theory
      that is technically complicated as well as immature. Alternatively, one may
      describe a population in terms of the history of the population birth rate
      together with the history of any environmental variables affecting i-state
      changes, reproduction and survival. Thus, a population model leads to delay
      equations. This delay formulation corresponds to a restriction of the p-dynamics
      to a forward invariant attracting set, so that no information is lost that is
      relevant for long-term dynamics. For such equations there exists a well-developed
      theory. In particular, numerical bifurcation tools work essentially the same as
      for ordinary differential equations. However, the available tools still need
      considerable adaptation before they can be practically applied to the dynamic
      energy budget (DEB) model. For the time being we recommend simplifying the i
      dynamics before embarking on a systematic mathematical exploration of the
      associated p-behaviour. The long-term aim is to extend the tools, with the DEB
      model as a relevant goal post.

PMID- 20921051
TI  - Extrapolating toxic effects on individuals to the population level: the role of
      dynamic energy budgets.
AB  - The interest of environmental management is in the long-term health of
      populations and ecosystems. However, toxicity is usually assessed in short-term
      experiments with individuals. Modelling based on dynamic energy budget (DEB)
      theory aids the extraction of mechanistic information from the data, which in
      turn supports educated extrapolation to the population level. To illustrate the
      use of DEB models in this extrapolation, we analyse a dataset for life cycle
      toxicity of copper in the earthworm Dendrobaena octaedra. We compare four
      approaches for the analysis of the toxicity data: no model, a simple DEB model
      without reserves and maturation (the Kooijman-Metz formulation), a more complex
      one with static reserves and simplified maturation (as used in the DEBtox
      software) and a full-scale DEB model (DEB3) with explicit calculation of reserves
      and maturation. For the population prediction, we compare two simple demographic
      approaches (discrete time matrix model and continuous time Euler-Lotka equation).
      In our case, the difference between DEB approaches and population models turned
      out to be small. However, differences between DEB models increased when
      extrapolating to more field-relevant conditions. The DEB3 model allows for a
      completely consistent assessment of toxic effects and therefore greater
      confidence in extrapolating, but poses greater demands on the available data.

PMID- 20921052
TI  - Dynamic energy budget theory and population ecology: lessons from Daphnia.
AB  - Dynamic energy budget (DEB) theory offers a perspective on population ecology
      whose starting point is energy utilization by, and homeostasis within, individual
      organisms. It is natural to ask what it adds to the existing large body of
      individual-based ecological theory. We approach this question pragmatically-
      through detailed study of the individual physiology and population dynamics of
      the zooplankter Daphnia and its algal food. Standard DEB theory uses several
      state variables to characterize the state of an individual organism, thereby
      making the transition to population dynamics technically challenging, while
      ecologists demand maximally simple models that can be used in multi-scale
      modelling. We demonstrate that simpler representations of individual
      bioenergetics with a single state variable (size), and two life stages (juveniles
      and adults), contain sufficient detail on mass and energy budgets to yield good
      fits to data on growth, maturation and reproduction of individual Daphnia in
      response to food availability. The same simple representations of bioenergetics
      describe some features of Daphnia mortality, including enhanced mortality at low
      food that is not explicitly incorporated in the standard DEB model. Size
      structured, population models incorporating this additional mortality component
      resolve some long-standing questions on stability and population cycles in
      Daphnia. We conclude that a bioenergetic model serving solely as a 'regression'
      connecting organismal performance to the history of its environment can rest on
      simpler representations than those of standard DEB. But there are associated
      costs with such pragmatism, notably loss of connection to theory describing
      interspecific variation in physiological rates. The latter is an important issue,
      as the type of detailed study reported here can only be performed for a handful
      of species.

PMID- 20921053
TI  - Temperature tolerance and energetics: a dynamic energy budget-based comparison of
      North Atlantic marine species.
AB  - Temperature tolerance and sensitivity were examined for some North Atlantic
      marine species and linked to their energetics in terms of species-specific
      parameters described by dynamic energy budget (DEB) theory. There was a general
      lack of basic information on temperature tolerance and sensitivity for many
      species. Available data indicated that the ranges in tolerable temperatures were
      positively related to optimal growth temperatures. However, no clear
      relationships with temperature sensitivity were established and no clear
      differences between pelagic and demersal species were observed. The analysis was
      complicated by the fact that for pelagic species, experimental data were
      completely absent and even for well-studied species, information was incomplete
      and sometimes contradictory. Nevertheless, differences in life-history strategies
      were clearly reflected in parameter differences between related species. Two
      approaches were used in the estimation of DEB parameters: one based on the
      assumption that reserve hardly contributes to physical volume; the other does not
      make this assumption, but relies on body-size scaling relationships, using
      parameter values of a generalized animal as pseudo-data. Temperature tolerance
      and sensitivity seemed to be linked with the energetics of a species. In terms of
      growth, relatively high temperature optima, sensitivity and/or tolerance were
      related to lower relative assimilation rates as well as lower maintenance costs.
      Making the step from limited observations to underlying mechanisms is complicated
      and extrapolations should be carefully interpreted. Special attention should be
      devoted to the estimation of parameters using body-size scaling relationships
      predicted by the DEB theory.

PMID- 20921054
TI  - Modelling shellfish growth with dynamic energy budget models: an application for
      cockles and mussels in the Oosterschelde (southwest Netherlands).
AB  - Dynamic energy budget models for growth of individual cockles (Cerastoderma
      edule) and mussels (Mytilus edulis) are adjusted and calibrated to the
      Oosterschelde by formulating and parametrizing their functional responses using
      an extensive set of field observations. The resulting model predictions fit the
      observations satisfactorily. Results indicate that food quality and the
      importance of detritus as a food source are site-specific as well as species
      specific. Despite these differences in their calibrated parameter values, both
      species show a very similar functional response. Compared with other systems,
      however, the functional responses of mussels in the present study are clearly
      higher than those of mussels in other systems. This may be explained by the
      absence of intra-specific competition in the measurement set-up that was used,
      and therefore supports the idea that the generally small functional response of
      M. edulis is caused by intra-specific competition.

PMID- 20921055
TI  - Bifurcation theory, adaptive dynamics and dynamic energy budget-structured
      populations of iteroparous species.
AB  - In this paper, we describe a technique to evaluate the evolutionary dynamics of
      the timing of spawning for iteroparous species. The life cycle of the species
      consists of three life stages, embryonic, juvenile and adult whereby the
      transitions of life stages (gametogenesis, birth and maturation) occur at species
      specific sizes. The dynamics of the population is studied in a semi-chemostat
      environment where the inflowing food concentration is periodic (annual). A
      dynamic energy budget-based continuous-time model is used to describe the uptake
      of the food, storage in reserves and allocation of the energy to growth,
      maintenance, development (embryos, juveniles) and reproduction (adults). A
      discrete-event process is used for modelling reproduction. At a fixed spawning
      date of the year, the reproduction buffer is emptied and a new cohort is formed
      by eggs with a fixed size and energy content. The population consists of cohorts:
      for each year one consisting of individuals with the same age which die after
      their last reproduction event. The resulting mathematical model is a finite
      dimensional set of ordinary differential equations with fixed 1-year periodic
      boundary conditions yielding a stroboscopic map. We will study the evolutionary
      development of the population using the adaptive dynamics approach. The trait is
      the timing of spawning. Pairwise and mutual invasibility plots are calculated
      using bifurcation analysis of the stroboscopic map. The evolutionary singular
      strategy value belonging to the evolutionary endpoint for the trait allows for an
      interpretation of the reproduction strategy of the population. In a case study,
      parameter values from the literature for the bivalve Macoma balthica are used.

PMID- 20921056
TI  - Bioaccumulation of heavy metals in mullet (Mugil cephalus) and oyster
      (Crassostrea madrasensis) from Pulicat lake, south east coast of India.
AB  - The accumulation of six heavy metals (Cr, Cd, Cu, Zn, Pb and Ni) in sediment,
      water and in tissue parts of Mugil cephalus and Crassostrea madrasensis was
      studied in two locations of Pulicat lake, Southeast coast of India, which
      receives considerable quantity of effluents from industries located in North
      Chennai coastal region. The results reveal that the metal concentration in water
      is decreasing in the following order of Zn > Ni > Cu > Cr > Pb > Cd both in lake
      and barmouth and highest concentration was observed for Zn (32.5 MUg L(-1) in
      lake and 25.2 MUg L(-1) in bar mouth). Metals were highly concentrated in
      sediments when compared to water and biota. Metals abundance in sediments has
      following sequential order of Cr > Ni > Zn > Cu > Pb > Cd and the accumulation
      pattern in barmouth showed minor variation indicating the following pattern of Zn
      > Ni > Cr > Cu > Pb > Cd. The geoaccumulation index (I(geo)) for Pulicat lake
      sediments indicate that the sediments are extremely contaminated with Cd and
      moderately contaminated with Cu and Ni. Bioaccumulation of heavy metals in Mugil
      cephalus and Crassostrea madrasensis showed marked differences in the
      accumulation patterns. It is observed that Zn, Cu and Pb are accumulated in
      elevated concentrations in various parts of the fish and oyster when compared
      with other metals.

PMID- 20921057
TI  - The protective role of zinc and calcium in Vicia faba seedlings subjected to
      cadmium stress.
AB  - The aim of the present study was to evidence the possible antagonistic effect of
      Zinc (Zn(2+)) and Calcium (Ca(2+)) against cadmium (Cd(2+))-induced DNA damage by
      using random amplification of polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and metabolic activities in
      Vicia faba. The results showed that all doses of Cd(2+) (10( -3) M, 10(-5) M)
      caused an increase in polymorphism value and a decrease in genomic template
      stability (GTS %). In addition, when 10( -4)-10(-6) M Ca(2+), 10(-6) M Zn(2+)
      were added together with 10(-3) M, 10(-4) M, 10(-5) M of Cd(2+), polymorphism
      value decreased besides GTS, total protein and chlorophyll content increased.
      Results suggested that Zn(2+) and Ca(2+) have an antagonistic effect against
      Cd(2+). The order of the antagonisms of Ca(2+), Zn(2+) against Cd(2+) toxicity
      was Ca(2+) > Zn(2+). Especially, the degree of antagonistic effect of Zn(2+)
      against Cd(2+) is probably related to its concentration ratio.

PMID- 20921058
TI  - Organic amendment based on vermicompost and compost: differences on soil
      properties and maize yield.
AB  - The objective of the present study was to study the effect of two vermicomposts
      [animal (VCD) and vegetal origin (VGF)] and a cotton gin compost (C) at rates of
      1780 and 3560 kg fresh organic matter ha(-1) for 3 years on an Typic Xerofluvent
      located near Seville (Spain) on soil biological properties, nutrition (leaf N, P
      and K concentration, pigments and soluble carbohydrate concentrations) and yield
      parameters of maize (Zea mays cv. Tundra) crop. All organic waste materials had a
      positive effect on the soil biological properties, plant nutrition and crop yield
      parameters, although at the end of the experimental period and at the high
      organic matter rate, the soil microbial biomass and dehydrogenase, urease, beta
      glucosidase, phosphatase and arylsulfatase activities increased more
      significantly in the VCD-amended soils (86.4, 85.8, 94.5, 99.3, 70.1 and 63.8%,
      respectively) respect to the control soil, followed by VGF-amended soils (84.8,
      80.6, 92.7, 99.1, 68.3 and 61.6%, respectively) and CC-amended soils (80.5, 75.9,
      89.7, 99, 65.7 and 59.9%, respectively). Leaf N, P and K contents and pigments
      and soluble carbohydrate contents were highest in VCD-amended soils, followed by
      VGF and CC treatments. Compared with the control soil, the application of VCD in
      soils at high doses increased the crop yield parameters, followed by VGF and CC
      treatments. This may have been due to a greater labile fraction of organic matter
      in the VCD than the VGF and CC, respectively.

PMID- 20921059
TI  - Landfill sustainability and aftercare completion criteria.
AB  - Although many countries are increasing their efforts to recycle and to re-use
      waste materials, landfilling will still be needed in order to dispose of wastes
      which cannot be recycled or treated in other ways. Since landfills will most
      probably be present for a long time, measures will have to be taken to reduce
      their (long-term) emissions. The European Commission has delegated the competent
      authorities to decide to end aftercare and several member states have provided
      regulations for this purpose. However, there is currently no guidance for long
      term risk assessment to support an aftercare completion procedure for landfills.
      The aim of this study is to provide examples of current regulations and to
      demonstrate an alternative approach for a quantitative risk assessment of
      landfill leachate. The presented modelling approach clearly demonstrates the
      added value of site specific risk assessments of the long-term emissions from
      landfills and might provide a basis for application when the acceptance criteria
      for landfill will be revisited in the future. In addition, the modelling approach
      can be used as one of the toolboxes to perform assessments of the long-term
      emissions from landfill leachates and might help the competent authorities to
      decide whether the remaining emission potential is acceptable or not. Moreover,
      the results imply that local environmental conditions contribute to the
      acceptability of landfill emissions and are important factors in choosing a
      landfill location.

PMID- 20921060
TI  - Littering--a persistent problem.

PMID- 20921061
TI  - Nanotechnology risk assessment from a waste management perspective: are the
      current tools adequate?
AB  - The burgeoning nanotechnology industry is rapidly generating new forms of waste
      streams generically referred herein as nanowastes. However, little is known about
      the fate and behavior of these waste streams and their impacts thereof in
      different ecological systems despite their increasingly widespread dispersion
      into the environment through production, distribution, handling, and
      nanomaterials (NMs) incorporation into bulk products processes. In this paper,
      risk assessment of nanotechnology from a waste management perspective was
      examined to elucidate potential new forms of challenges nanowastes may likely
      pose to the current legislative and waste management systems. This was through
      the identification of several knowledge gaps that merit urgent attention in order
      to increase our collective understanding of managing nanowastes safely,
      responsibly, and sustainably. The paper presents the identified gaps and
      consequently proposes a qualitative risk assessment of nanowastes to address some
      of the current challenges. The applicability of the proposed model is illustrated
      through several examples. In addition, the first nanowastes classification
      protocol presented in this article show that a given nanomaterial may result in
      generating nanowaste streams of different forms with variant hazard levels
      ranging from benign to extremely being hazardous waste streams - a dramatic
      phenomenon from the conventional waste streams due to macroscale chemicals. The
      study shows that it is in the early days to draw broad generic classification of
      different nanowastes, and each stream may require their risk profile be assessed
      on a case-by-case basis. We conclude by presenting several recommendations on
      what needs to be done in dealing with nanowastes as means of avoiding unintended
      long-term consequences of nanotechnology.

PMID- 20921062
TI  - The efficacy of high doses of vitamin C in patients with paraquat poisoning.
AB  - Paraquat (PQ) poisoning is an extremely difficult condition to manage clinically
      because of the lack of effective treatments. The purpose of this study was to
      assess the effect of high doses of vitamin C in combination with anti
      inflammatory and immunosuppressant therapy in patients with PQ poisoning. The
      medical records of 134 patients who presented to the emergency department within
      24 hours after PQ poisoning were reviewed retrospectively. The 57 patients
      presented between January 2004 and September 2005 were group 1; they received
      pulse therapy, which included cyclophosphamide and methylprednisolone, followed
      by the administration of dexamethasone over 2 weeks. The 77 patients that
      presented between October 2005 and January 2008 were group 2; they received the
      above-mentioned therapy and high-dose vitamin C for 2 weeks. There was no
      difference in the distribution of baseline variables between the 2 groups.
      However, group 2 showed a significant reduction in acute kidney injury related to
      PQ. Furthermore, a multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the
      addition of vitamin C to the treatment was significantly associated with an
      increased survival of the patients. Larger trials will be needed to verify the
      effect of high-dose vitamin C on survival in patients with PQ poisoning.

PMID- 20921063
TI  - Enhancement of gallic acid-induced human pulmonary fibroblast cell death by N
      acetyl cysteine and L-buthionine sulfoximine.
AB  - Gallic acid (GA) has various biological properties including anti-cancer effect.
      However, little is known about the toxicological effect of GA in primary normal
      cells. Here, we evaluated the effects of GA on human pulmonary fibroblast (HPF)
      cells in relation to reactive oxygen species (ROS) and glutathione (GSH). GA
      inhibited the growth of HPF cells at 24 hours in a dose-dependent manner. GA also
      induced HPF cell death, which was accompanied by the loss of mitochondrial
      membrane potential (MMP; DeltaPsi(m)). GA increased ROS levels including O(2)(*-)
      and GSH-depleted cell numbers in HPF cells at 24 hours. Treatment with 2 mM N
      acetyl-cysteine (NAC) intensified growth inhibition and death in GA-treated HPF
      cells. NAC decreased ROS levels and increased GSH depletion in these cells.
      Treatment with 10 MUM L-buthionine sulfoximine (BSO) also enhanced growth
      inhibition and death in GA-treated HPF cells. BSO increased ROS levels and GSH
      depletion in these cells. In conclusion, GA-induced HPF cell death was
      accompanied by ROS increase and GSH depletion. The changes of ROS and GSH levels
      by NAC and BSO appeared to affect cell growth and death in GA-treated HPF cells.

PMID- 20921066
TI  - An observational study of an employer intervention for children's healthy weight
      behaviors.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This observational study was undertaken to assess whether changes in
      healthy weight behaviors could be advanced in a short-term intervention involving
      parents and children at IBM. METHODS: IBM's Children's Health Rebate offered a
      cash incentive for parents to complete a 12-week program of self-selected
      activities in family food planning and meals, family physical activity, and
      sedentary time related to electronic entertainment ("screen time"). A
      preprogram/postprogram comparison of self-reported activities was used to assess
      behavior change. RESULTS: A total of 22,265 (52.3%) employees elected to
      participate, 11,631 (52.2%) of whom completed all program requirements and earned
      a $150 cash rebate. Families completing the program reported significant changes
      in levels of physical activity, amount of entertainment screen time, and
      proportion of healthy meals. For example, family physical activity >3 times per
      week increased by 17.1 percentage points (from 23.2% to 40.3%), eating healthy
      dinners >= 5 days/week increased by 11.8 percentage points (from 74.9% to 86.7%),
      and entertainment screen time <1 hour/day increased by 8.3 percentage points for
      children (from 22.4% to 30.7%) and by 6.1 percentage points for adults (from
      18.1% to 24.2%). CONCLUSIONS: The results of this short-term observational study
      suggest that healthy weight behaviors in children, adolescents, and parents can
      be improved by using a Web-based intervention linked with a cash incentive. The
      results also show that employers can activate parents and support a role for
      employers in community-based strategies for obesity prevention in children.
      Experimental designs with biometric data would strengthen the suggestion of
      positive impact.

PMID- 20921065
TI  - Isothermal DNA amplification using the T4 replisome: circular nicking
      endonuclease-dependent amplification and primase-based whole-genome
      amplification.
AB  - In vitro reconstitution of the bacteriophage T4 replication machinery provides a
      novel system for fast and processive isothermal DNA amplification. We have
      characterized this system in two formats: (i) in circular nicking endonuclease
      dependent amplification (cNDA), the T4 replisome is supplemented with a nicking
      endonuclease (Nb.BbvCI) and a reverse primer to generate a well-defined uniform
      double-stranded linear product and to achieve up to 1100-fold linear
      amplification of a plasmid in 1 h. (ii) The T4 replisome with its primase (gp61)
      can also support priming and exponential amplification of genomic DNA in primase
      based whole-genome amplification (T4 pWGA). Low amplification biases between 4.8
      and 9.8 among eight loci for 0.3-10 ng template DNA suggest that this method is
      indeed suitable for uniform whole-genome amplification. Finally, the utility of
      the T4 replisome for isothermal DNA amplification is demonstrated in various
      applications, including incorporation of functional tags for DNA labeling and
      immobilization; template generation for in vitro transcription/translation and
      sequencing; and colony screening and DNA quantification.

PMID- 20921064
TI  - Chronic ethanol ingestion induces aortic inflammation/oxidative endothelial
      injury and hypertension in rats.
AB  - The study aim was to investigate the relationship of chronic ethanol-induced
      inflammation leading to vascular endothelial injury and elevation of blood
      pressure (BP) in a rat model. Male Fisher rats were divided into two groups of
      six animals each and treated as follows: (1) Control (5% sucrose, orally) daily
      for 12 weeks and (2) 20% ethanol (4 g kg(-1), orally) daily for 12 weeks. The
      mean arterial blood pressure was recorded every week. The animals were
      anesthetized with pentobarbital after 12 weeks; thoracic aorta were isolated and
      analyzed for aortic reactivity response, inflammatory mediators,
      oxidant/antioxidant enzyme protein expression and endothelial nitric oxide
      generating system. The results show that the mean BP was significantly elevated
      12 weeks after ethanol ingestion. The increased BP was related to increased
      aortic inflammation (tumor necrosis factor [TNF]-alpha; nitric oxide synthase
      [iNOS], COX-2 and MCP-1 protein expression) and elevated angiotensin II levels in
      alcohol-treated group compared to control. Aortic Nicotinamide adenine
      dinucleotide phosphate reduced (NADPH) oxidase activity, membrane and cytosolic
      subunits p22(phox) and p47(phox) expression and Mn-SOD activity and protein
      expression significantly increased, whereas nitric oxide (NO), endothelial NO
      synthase (eNOS), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-A and CuZn-SOD
      activity and protein expression significantly decreased in alcohol-treated group
      compared to control. The acetylcholine-mediated vasorelaxation response was
      depressed in the aorta of ethanol-treated rats compared to control. In
      conclusion, chronic ethanol-induced elevation in BP is related to increased
      aortic inflammation, elevated angiotensin II levels, induction of NADPH oxidase
      causing endothelial injury, depletion of CuZn-SOD, down-regulation of endothelial
      NO generating system and impaired vascular relaxation in rats.

PMID- 20921067
TI  - Developmental trajectories from birth to school age in healthy term-born
      children.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the stability of the scores obtained on tests of motor
      development from birth until school age in healthy, term singletons and to
      determine if early motor scores are associated with more complex cognitive
      functions at school age, such as attention and memory. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This
      longitudinal, prospective cohort study included 77 infants. The motor development
      of these infants was assessed during the neonatal period with Prechtl's
      neurologic examination; in early infancy with Touwen's neurologic examination and
      general movement assessment; at toddler age with Hempel's neurologic examination
      and the Psychomotor Developmental Index from the Bayley Scales of Infant
      Development; and at school age with the Movement Assessment Battery for Children.
      Cognition was determined at toddler age with the Mental Developmental Index from
      the Bayley Scales of Infant Development; and at school age with an intelligence
      test and attention and memory tests. RESULTS: The mean absolute difference in
      standardized motor scores for all time points was 1.01 SD (95% confidence
      interval: 0.91-1.11). Only the explained proportions of variance of maternal
      socioeconomic status and verbal intelligence were significant for sustained
      attention and verbal memory (r(2) = 0.104, P = .030 and r(2) = 0.074, P = .027),
      respectively. The children's scores on early motor tests added little value for
      their motor and cognitive development at school age. CONCLUSIONS: In healthy
      children the stability of motor development from birth until school age is low.
      Maternal socioeconomic status and verbal intelligence rather than the infants'
      scores on early motor tests signified added value for complex cognitive functions
      at school age.

PMID- 20921068
TI  - Laptop computer-induced erythema ab igne in a child and review of the literature.
AB  - We report here the case of a 12-year-old boy with erythema ab igne on his left
      thigh caused by the use of a laptop computer. This is the youngest of the 10
      reported patients with this laptop-induced dermatosis since its first description
      in 2004. Erythema ab igne is a reticular, pigmented, sometimes telangiectatic
      dermatosis that is caused by prolonged exposure to a heat or infrared source. In
      laptop-induced erythema ab igne, the localization on the thighs and asymmetry are
      characteristic. The heat originates from the optical drive, the battery, or the
      ventilation fan of the computer.

PMID- 20921069
TI  - Retinal hemorrhage in abusive head trauma.
AB  - Retinal hemorrhage is a cardinal manifestation of abusive head trauma. Over the
      30 years since the recognition of this association, multiple streams of research,
      including clinical, postmortem, animal, mechanical, and finite element studies,
      have created a robust understanding of the clinical features, diagnostic
      importance, differential diagnosis, and pathophysiology of this finding. The
      importance of describing the hemorrhages adequately is paramount in ensuring
      accurate and complete differential diagnosis. Challenges remain in developing
      models that adequately replicate the forces required to cause retinal hemorrhage
      in children. Although questions, such as the effect of increased intracranial
      pressure, hypoxia, and impact, are still raised (particularly in court),
      clinicians can confidently rely on a large and solid evidence base when assessing
      the implications of retinal hemorrhage in children with concern of possible child
      abuse.

PMID- 20921070
TI  - A systematic review of faces scales for the self-report of pain intensity in
      children.
AB  - CONTEXT: Numerous faces scales have been developed for the measurement of pain
      intensity in children. It remains unclear whether any one of the faces scales is
      better for a particular purpose with regard to validity, reliability,
      feasibility, and preference. OBJECTIVES: To summarize and systematically review
      faces pain scales most commonly used to obtain self-report of pain intensity in
      children for evaluation of reliability and validity and to compare the scales for
      preference and utility. METHODS: Five major electronic databases were
      systematically searched for studies that used a faces scale for the self-report
      measurement of pain intensity in children. Fourteen faces pain scales were
      identified, of which 4 have undergone extensive psychometric testing: Faces Pain
      Scale (FPS) (scored 0-6); Faces Pain Scale-Revised (FPS-R) (0-10); Oucher pain
      scale (0-10); and Wong-Baker Faces Pain Rating Scale (WBFPRS) (0-10). These 4
      scales were included in the review. Studies were classified by using psychometric
      criteria, including construct validity, reliability, and responsiveness, that
      were established a priori. RESULTS: From a total of 276 articles retrieved, 182
      were screened for psychometric evaluation, and 127 were included. All 4 faces
      pain scales were found to be adequately supported by psychometric data. When
      given a choice between faces scales, children preferred the WBFPRS. Confounding
      of pain intensity with affect caused by use of smiling and crying anchor faces is
      a disadvantage of the WBFPRS. CONCLUSIONS: For clinical use, we found no grounds
      to switch from 1 faces scale to another when 1 of the scales is in use. For
      research use, the FPS-R has been recommended on the basis of utility and
      psychometric features. Data are sparse for children below the age of 5 years, and
      future research should focus on simplified measures, instructions, and anchors
      for these younger children.

PMID- 20921071
TI  - Recombinant human growth hormone in the treatment of patients with cystic
      fibrosis.
AB  - CONTEXT: Recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) improves growth in patients with
      growth hormone deficiency or idiopathic short stature. Its role in patients with
      cystic fibrosis (CF) is unclear. OBJECTIVE: To review the effectiveness of rhGH
      in the treatment of patients with CF. METHODS: Medline and the Cochrane Central
      Register of Controlled Trials were searched from the earliest date through April
      2010. Randomized controlled trials, observational studies, systematic
      reviews/meta-analyses, or case reports were included if rhGH therapy was
      administered to patients with CF and data on prespecified harms, intermediate
      outcomes, or final health outcomes were reported. When applicable, end points
      were pooled by using a random-effects model. The overall body of evidence was
      graded for each outcome as insufficient, low, moderate, or high. RESULTS: Ten
      unique controlled trials (n = 312) and 8 observational studies (n = 58) were
      included. On quantitative synthesis of controlled trials, several markers of
      pulmonary function, anthropometrics, and bone mineralization were significantly
      improved versus control. Results of single-arm observational studies for the
      aforementioned outcomes were generally supportive of findings in clinical trials.
      There is insufficient evidence to determine the effect of rhGH on intravenous
      antibiotic use during therapy, pulmonary exacerbations, health-related quality-of
      life, bone consequences, or total mortality, but moderate evidence suggests that
      rhGH therapy reduces the rate of hospitalization versus control. CONCLUSIONS:
      rhGH improved almost all intermediate measures of pulmonary function, height, and
      weight in patients with CF. Improvements in bone mineral content are also
      promising. However, with the exception of hospitalizations, the benefits on final
      health outcomes cannot be directly determined at this time.

PMID- 20921073
TI  - Should NHS mental health services fear the private sector? Yes.

PMID- 20921074
TI  - Should NHS mental health services fear the private sector? No.

PMID- 20921075
TI  - President Obama apologises to Guatemala over 1940s syphilis study.

PMID- 20921076
TI  - Dengue outbreak affects more than 7000 people in Nepal.

PMID- 20921078
TI  - Dutch groups appeal against "irresponsible" plan to exempt small cafes from
      smoking ban.

PMID- 20921079
TI  - Bacteria in the respiratory tract and wheeze in children.

PMID- 20921082
TI  - Tobacco giant fails to prevent Scottish ban on display in shops.

PMID- 20921080
TI  - Association of bacteria and viruses with wheezy episodes in young children:
      prospective birth cohort study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To study the association between wheezy symptoms in young children and
      the presence of bacteria in the airways. DESIGN: Birth cohort study. SETTING:
      Clinical research unit in Copenhagen. PARTICIPANTS: Children of asthmatic
      mothers, from age 4 weeks to 3 years, with planned visits and acute admissions to
      the research clinic. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Frequency of bacteria and virus
      carriage in airway aspirates during wheezy episodes and at planned visits without
      respiratory symptoms. RESULTS: 984 samples (361 children) were analysed for
      bacteria, 844 (299 children) for viruses, and 696 (277 children) for both viruses
      and bacteria. Wheezy episodes were associated with both bacterial infection (odds
      ratio 2.9, 95% confidence interval 1.9 to 4.3; P<0.001) and virus infection (2.8,
      1.7 to 4.4; P<0.001). The associations of bacteria and viruses were independent
      of each other. CONCLUSION: Acute wheezy episodes in young children were
      significantly associated with bacterial infections similar to but independent of
      the association with virus infections.

PMID- 20921083
TI  - Obstetricians defend safety of childbirth in Italy.

PMID- 20921084
TI  - The effect of oxygenator mechanical characteristics on energy transfer during
      clinical cardiopulmonary bypass.
AB  - The hollow-fibre oxygenator is a key component of any extracorporeal circuit used
      to provide cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) during open-heart surgery. Since the
      oxygenator is placed downstream of the pump, the energy losses over it have a
      direct impact on the quality of pulsatile pressure and flow waveforms. The
      objective of this study was to describe the effects of hydrodynamic
      characteristics of the oxygenator on energy transfer during pulsatile,
      normothermic CPB. Twenty-three adult patients scheduled for coronary bypass
      surgery were divided randomly into two groups, using either an oxygenator (Group
      1) with a relatively high-resistance and low-compliance (2079 +/- 148 dyn.s.cm(
      5) and 0.00348 +/- 0.00071 ml.mmHg(-1), respectively) or an oxygenator (Group 2)
      with a relatively low-resistance and high-compliance (884 +/- 464 dyn.s.cm(-5)
      and 0.01325 +/- 0.00161 ml.mmHg(-1), respectively). During perfusion, pre- and
      post-oxygenator pressures, radial artery pressure, and blood flow were recorded
      simultaneously. A 32% decline of mean pressure was observed in Group 1 and a 16%
      decline in Group 2 (p<0.0001). Another decrease by approximately 73% in mean
      pressure in the rest of the perfusion system was noted in both groups. The mean
      radial artery pressure did not differ between the groups (74 +/- 6 mmHg in Group
      1 and 73 +/- 6 mmHg in Group 2, p=0.608). Although lower total energy transfer
      indices were noticed through the low-resistance oxygenator (Group 2), both
      oxygenators showed a decrease of the generated pump oscillatory energy of
      approximately 50%. Despite the differences in resistance and compliance of the
      hollow-fibre oxygenators used, both oxygenators cause a comparable loss of
      generated oscillatory energy. Exclusion of the oxygenator downstream of the
      pulsatile pump would improve energy transfer during CPB.

PMID- 20921085
TI  - Steroids and statins: an old and a new anti-inflammatory strategy compared.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: This study compared the anti-inflammatory effects of
      methylprednisolone (MP) and atorvastatin and analysed their influences on
      clinical variables in patients undergoing coronary revascularization. METHODS:
      Ninety patients with compromised left ventricular ejection fraction (<=30%)
      undergoing elective coronary surgery were equally randomized to one of three
      groups: statin group, treatment with atorvastatin (20 mg/day) 3 weeks before
      surgery; methylprednisolone group, a single shot of methylpredniosolone
      (10mg/kg); and control group. RESULTS: Postoperative IL-6 was higher in the
      control group when compared to the methylprednisolone and statin groups (p<0.01).
      IL-6 was higher in the statin-treated patients (p<0.05 versus
      methylprednisolone). Administration of methylprednisolone as well as statin
      treatment increased postoperative cardiac index, left ventricular stroke work
      index, decreased postoperative atrial fibrilation rate and reduced ICU stay
      (p<0.05 versus control). The number of patients requiring inotropic support was
      lower in the methylprednisolone group when compared with the other two groups
      (p<0.01). Tracheal intubation time was reduced in patients who received
      methylprednisolone (p<0.01 versus control). CONCLUSIONS: Preoperative
      administration of either methylprednisolone or atorvastatin reduced pro
      inflammatory cytokine release, improved haemodynamics, decreased postoperative
      atrial fibrilation rate and reduced ICU stay in patients with significantly
      impaired cardiac function undergoing coronary revascularization. Treatment with
      methylprednisolone was associated with less inotropic support requirements and
      reduced mechanical ventilation time.

PMID- 20921086
TI  - Open aortic arch surgery: how to reduce air embolism risk during antegrade
      cerebral perfusion.
AB  - Antegrade cerebral perfusion (ACP) is used widely, with the aim of obtaining
      cerebral protection during open aortic arch surgery. ACP is considered by many to
      be the reason for improvements in the clinical outcome of this type of surgery.
      However, perioperative cerebral complications may still occur. Cerebral
      complications during ACP are considered to be due mainly to embolic events rather
      than hypoperfusion. We believe that many of the embolic events during ACP may be
      due to air embolism rather than to vessel manipulation only. To reduce the risk
      of air embolism during ACP, we propose an easy technique, with the suggested
      steps to be followed in an exact sequence.

PMID- 20921087
TI  - Troubleshooting a missing intra-cardiac tumor at the time of bypass.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Primary cardiac tumors are rare and the only curative treatment
      consists of complete excision under cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). This case
      report presents an unusual case of an intra-cardiac tumor which was missing at
      the time of surgical excision. METHOD AND RESULTS: The patient was scheduled to
      undergo surgical tumor removal and double coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG).
      Intraoperatively, transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) demonstrated a mobile
      and pediculated tumor in the left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT).
      Unfortunately, at the time of tumor excision under CPB, this was missing. Before
      confirming tumor embolization, the CPB system was inspected. The tumor was found
      on the lateral part of the defoaming filter. CONCLUSION: Careful mobilization of
      the heart is recommended during surgery. In this case, it was unexpected that the
      tumor made its way through the vent line and unidirectional valve up to the
      venous reservoir where it was fortunately found.

PMID- 20921088
TI  - Iopromide-induced encephalopathy following coronary angioplasty.
AB  - Non-ionic agents have pharmacological side effects, such as seizure, alteration
      of cerebral function, confusion, short-term memory loss, mental aberrations and
      ophthalmoplegia. In this report, we present two cases that developed contrast
      induced encephalopathy following coronary angioplasty by the non-ionic contrast
      agent, iopromide (Ultravist((r))). As a result, we concluded that iopromide
      induced encephalopathy may occur during angioplasty in patients with no
      particular predispositions. In addition to that, contrast-induced encephalopathy
      should be considered as a new-onset neurological disorder.

PMID- 20921089
TI  - Skeletal muscle myoblasts possess a stretch-responsive local angiotensin
      signalling system.
AB  - A paucity of information exists regarding the presence of local renin-angiotensin
      systems (RASs) in skeletal muscle and associated muscle stem cells. Skeletal
      muscle and muscle stem cells were isolated from C57BL/6 mice and examined for the
      presence of a local RAS using quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain
      reaction (qRT-PCR), immunohistochemistry (IHC), Western blotting and liquid
      chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). Furthermore, the effect of mechanical
      stimulation on RAS member gene expression was analysed. Whole skeletal muscle,
      primary myoblasts and C2C12 derived myoblasts and myotubes differentially
      expressed members of the RAS including angiotensinogen, angiotensin-converting
      enzyme (ACE), angiotensin II (Ang II) type 1 (AT(1)) and type 2 (AT(2)). Renin
      transcripts were never detected, however, mRNA for the 'renin-like' enzyme
      cathepsin D was observed and Ang I and Ang II were identified in cell culture
      supernatants from proliferating myoblasts. AT(1) appeared to co-localise with
      polymerised actin filaments in proliferating myoblasts and was primarily found in
      the nucleus of terminally differentiated myotubes. Furthermore, mechanical
      stretch of proliferating and differentiating C2C12 cells differentially induced
      mRNA expression of angiotensinogen, AT(1) and AT(2). Proliferating and
      differentiated muscle stem cells possess a local stress-responsive RAS in vitro.
      The precise function of a local RAS in myoblasts remains unknown. However,
      evidence presented here suggests that Ang II may be a regulator of skeletal
      muscle myoblasts.

PMID- 20921090
TI  - Platelet abnormalities in diabetes mellitus.
AB  - Patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) have accelerated atherosclerosis, which is
      the main underlying factor contributing to the high risk of atherothrombotic
      events in these patients. Atherothrombotic complications are the leading cause of
      morbidity and mortality in patients with DM. Among factors contributing to the
      prothrombotic condition which characterise patients with DM, platelet
      hyperreactivity plays a pivotal role. Platelets of DM patients are characterised
      by dysregulation of several signalling pathways leading to intensified adhesion,
      activation and aggregation. Multiple mechanisms are involved in platelet
      dysfunction of patients with DM, which can be categorised as follows: a)
      hyperglycaemia, b) insulin deficiency and resistance, c) associated metabolic
      conditions, and d) other cellular abnormalities.The present manuscript aims to
      provide an overview on the current status of knowledge on platelet abnormalities
      that characterise patients with DM.

PMID- 20921091
TI  - Antithrombotic therapy in patients with diabetes mellitus and coronary artery
      disease.
AB  - Currently approved antiplatelet treatment strategies have proved successful for
      reducing cardiovascular adverse events in patients with CAD. However, despite the
      use of recommended antiplatelet treatment strategies, the presence of DM has been
      consistently associated with a negative impact on outcomes and a high rate of
      adverse cardiovascular events continue to occur in patients with DM. The elevated
      prevalence of low response to standard oral antiplatelet agents contribute to
      these impaired outcomes. Thus, the search for more potent antiplatelet treatment
      strategies is warranted in high-risk patients, such as those with DM. The present
      manuscript provides an overview on the current status of knowledge on currently
      available antiplatelet agents, focusing on the benefits and limitations of these
      therapies in DM patients, and evaluating the potential role of new antithrombotic
      agents and treatment strategies currently under development to overcome these
      limitations.

PMID- 20921093
TI  - Using a prediction of death in the next 12 months as a prompt for referral to
      palliative care acts to the detriment of patients with heart failure and chronic
      obstructive pulmonary disease.

PMID- 20921092
TI  - Efficacy and tolerability of olmesartan/amlodipine combination therapy in
      patients with mild-to-severe hypertension: focus on 24-h blood pressure control.
AB  - European guidelines recommend that treating patients with hypertension to blood
      pressure (BP) goal is an important target for cardiovascular (CV) risk reduction.
      However, office BP may be a suboptimal target, given its limitations. Indeed,
      there is evidence that 24-h ambulatory BP monitoring (ABPM) parameters may score
      better in this regard, representing more accurate predictors of CV risk. In
      particular, mean 24-h BP and BP variability both correlate closely with
      hypertension end-organ damage and rate of CV events, which suggests that
      antihypertensive therapy should provide smooth BP control over the full 24-h
      dosing interval. The use of ABPM has demonstrated that fixed-dose combination
      therapy, comprising agents with complementary mechanisms of action, may overcome
      the challenge of suboptimal BP control by providing improvements in
      antihypertensive efficacy and tolerability throughout the 24-h period.
      Olmesartan/amlodipine is one of the latest combination therapies to be approved,
      and a number of large clinical trials have demonstrated the efficacy and
      tolerability of this combination in patients with mild-to-severe hypertension.
      Furthermore, recent ABPM studies of olmesartan/amlodipine-based treatment
      algorithms have shown the satisfactory 24-h antihypertensive efficacy of this
      fixed-dose combination. This review provides an overview of recent clinical data
      on the efficacy and tolerability of fixed-dose olmesartan/amlodipine combination
      therapy for the treatment of mild-to-severe hypertension, with a focus on
      sustained 24-h BP control.

PMID- 20921094
TI  - Sinus bradycardia related to methadone in a patient with myeloma receiving
      thalidomide therapy.

PMID- 20921095
TI  - Physicians' attitudes towards euthanasia in Finland: would training in palliative
      care make a difference?

PMID- 20921098
TI  - Temporal isolation effects in recognition and serial recall.
AB  - Recent temporal distinctiveness models of memory predict that temporally isolated
      items will be recalled better than temporally crowded items. The effect has been
      found in some tasks (free recall, memory for serial order when report order is
      unconstrained, running memory span) but not in others (forward serial recall).
      Such results suggest that the attentional weighting given to a temporal dimension
      in memory may vary with task demands. Here, we find robust temporal isolation
      effects in recognition memory (Experiment 1) and a smaller isolation effect in
      forward serial recall when an open pool of items is used (Experiment 2). Analysis
      of 26 temporal isolation effects suggests that the phenomenon occurs in a range
      of tasks but is larger when it is useful to attend to a temporal dimension in
      memory. The overall pattern of results is taken to favor memory models that rely
      on multiple weighted dimensions in memory, one of which is temporal.

PMID- 20921099
TI  - Prospective memory: are preparatory attentional processes necessary for a single
      focal cue?
AB  - The preparatory attentional and memory processes theory of prospective memory
      (PM) assumes that PM retrieval requires resource-demanding preparatory
      attentional processes, whereas the multiprocess theory assumes that retrieval can
      also occur spontaneously. On the basis of showing slowing on an ongoing task
      (i.e., task interference)-even when the PM cue was highly salient (i.e., the
      participant's own name)-Smith, Hunt, McVay, and McConnell (2007) concluded that
      preparatory attentional processes are always necessary for PM retrieval. We argue
      that the presence of preparatory attentional processes cannot be used to rule out
      the existence of spontaneous retrieval processes, and the goal of the present
      research was to examine whether PM retrieval can occur in the absence of
      preparatory attentional processes. We varied whether we emphasized the importance
      of the PM task or the ongoing task, and we assessed task interference across
      quarters of the ongoing task. Our results showed no evidence of task interference
      and, hence, no evidence of preparatory attentional processes in the periods
      proximal to the target event, and yet participants showed high PM performance.
      Thus, the results suggest the existence of spontaneous retrieval processes and
      support the multiprocess theory.

PMID- 20921097
TI  - False memories and fantastic beliefs: 15 years of the DRM illusion.
AB  - This article reviews research using the Deese/Roediger-McDermott (DRM)
      associative memory illusion, whereby people falsely remember words that were not
      presented. This illusion has broadly influenced basic theories of memory in
      cognitive psychology and neuroscience and naturally raises the question as to how
      these theories apply to more complex autobiographical memories. Some
      applicability is evident from research linking individual differences in the DRM
      illusion to false autobiographical memories (e.g., misremembering public events)
      and fantastic autobiographical beliefs (e.g., memories from past lives). But
      which aspects generalize? Here it is argued that a process-oriented approach is
      needed in order to answer this question. Many productive years of DRM research
      indicate that multiple and often opposing psychological processes cause even the
      most basic false memories. In light of these discoveries, more researchers need
      to use methods that isolate these component processes if the goal is to
      understand false memories both in the lab and in life.

PMID- 20921101
TI  - Working memory and insight in the nine-dot problem.
AB  - In the present article, we examine the contribution of working memory (WM) to
      solution of the nine-dot problem, a classic insight problem. Prior research has
      generally demonstrated a limited role for WM in the solution of insight problems,
      which are typically assumed to be solved without conscious planning. However,
      MacGregor, Ormerod, and Chronicle (2001) proposed an information-processing model
      that solves the nine-dot problem by relying on a visual WM mechanism, which they
      term lookahead. In the present research, we examine whether performance on the
      nine-dot problem is indeed predicted by WM capacity. The results indicated that
      spatial WM capacity predicted the tendency to draw lines outside the
      configuration of dots and predicted the solution on a hint-aided version of the
      problem. Furthermore, within those solving the problem, higher spatial WM
      capacity was also related to faster solutions. The results support the
      information-processing model and suggest a more essential role for WM and
      planning in insight problem solving than has previously been acknowledged.

PMID- 20921100
TI  - The influence of complex working memory span task administration methods on
      prediction of higher level cognition and metacognitive control of response times.
AB  - Participants between the ages of 18 and 80 were tested on a complex working
      memory span task that was administered either using a typical experimenter-paced
      method or using a method in which the processing component was presented at a
      fixed, limited-pace presentation rate. Path analyses revealed that even after
      controlling for individual differences in general processing speed, the limited
      pace task predicted unique variance in episodic memory, executive functioning,
      and fluid intelligence, whereas the experimenter-paced task did not. For the
      experimenter-paced task, slower responses on the processing component of the task
      were associated with better recall, but only when individual differences in
      processing speed were controlled. These findings suggest that metacognitive
      control of response times affects recall from working memory span tasks, as well
      as the relationship between span task recall and high-level cognition. These
      results support resource-sharing explanations of working memory and suggest that
      limiting processing times using computer pacing of complex span tasks can be an
      effective way to efficiently measure working memory capacity.

PMID- 20921102
TI  - Selective attention and response set in the Stroop task.
AB  - Response set membership contributes much to the interference in the color-word
      Stroop task. This may be due to selective allocation of attention to eligible
      responses or, alternatively, to greater inhibition of distractors that are not
      responses. In the present article, we report two experiments that were designed
      to adjudicate between these accounts. In Experiment 1, membership was manipulated
      on a trial-by-trial basis by cuing the possible responses for each trial.
      Response time (RT) was longer for distractors that corresponded to a cued,
      eligible response than to an ineligible one. This cuing effect was independent of
      the number of different responses. In Experiment 2, the distractor was cued on
      half the trials. Cuing the distractor decreased RTs on both incongruent and
      congruent trials. Vincentile analyses in both experiments revealed that the
      effects were constant throughout the entire RT distributions. These results
      suggest that response set effects arise because of selective allocation of
      attention to eligible responses.

PMID- 20921103
TI  - Implicit learning of fifth- and sixth-order sequential probabilities.
AB  - Serial reaction time (SRT) task studies have established that people can
      implicitly learn sequential contingencies as complex as fourth-order
      probabilities. The present study examined people's ability to learn fifth-order
      (Experiment 1) and sixth-order (Experiment 2) probabilities. Remarkably, people
      learned fifth- and sixth-order probabilities. This suggests that the implicit
      sequence learning mechanism can operate over a range of at least seven sequence
      elements.

PMID- 20921104
TI  - Classification response times in probabilistic rule-based category structures:
      contrasting exemplar-retrieval and decision-boundary models.
AB  - Experiments were conducted to contrast the predictions from exemplar models and
      rule-based decision-boundary models of perceptual classification. Observers
      classified multidimensional stimuli into categories that could be described in
      terms of easily verbalized logical rules. The critical manipulation was that some
      pairs of stimuli received probabilistic feedback, whereas other control pairs
      received deterministic feedback. Despite the probabilistic feedback, the
      probabilistic pairs and the deterministic pairs were the same distance from ideal
      observer, rule-based decision boundaries. Across two experiments with varying
      category structures, observers classified the probabilistic pairs with slower
      response times (RTs) and lower accuracies than the comparison deterministic
      pairs. The effects were relatively long term, extending into test blocks in which
      all feedback was withheld. The results were as predicted by exemplar models, but
      challenged models that posit that RT is a function solely of the distance of a
      stimulus from rule-based boundaries. The studies add considerable generality to
      previous ones and suggest that, even in domains involving rule-based category
      structures, exemplar-retrieval processes play a significant role. Supplemental
      materials related to this article may be downloaded from http://mc.psychonomic
      journals.org/content/supplemental.

PMID- 20921105
TI  - Belief-based and analytic processing in transitive inference depends on premise
      integration difficulty.
AB  - Three experiments investigated belief-based versus analytic processing in
      transitive inference. Belief-based and analytic processing were inferred from
      conclusion acceptance rates for problems with conclusions that were either valid
      or invalid and believable or unbelievable. Premise integration difficulty was
      manipulated by varying premise integration time (Experiment 1), premise
      presentation order (Experiment 2), and the markedness of the relational terms in
      the premises (Experiment 3). In all the conditions, reasoning accuracy and rated
      confidence were lower on conflict problems, where belief-based and analytic
      processes yielded different responses. Participants relied more on analytic
      processing and less on belief-based processing in conditions in which premise
      integration was easier. Fluid intelligence and premise integration ability
      predicted analytical reasoning on conflict problems after reasoning on the no
      conflict problems was controlled for. The findings were related to three dual
      process models of belief bias. They provide the first evidence of belief bias in
      transitive inference.

PMID- 20921106
TI  - Broadening the study of inductive reasoning: confirmation judgments with
      uncertain evidence.
AB  - Although evidence in real life is often uncertain, the psychology of inductive
      reasoning has, so far, been confined to certain evidence. The present study
      extends previous research by investigating whether people properly estimate the
      impact of uncertain evidence on a given hypothesis. Two experiments are reported,
      in which the uncertainty of evidence is explicitly (by means of numerical values)
      versus implicitly (by means of ambiguous pictures) manipulated. The results show
      that people's judgments are highly correlated with those predicted by normatively
      sound Bayesian measures of impact. This sensitivity to the degree of evidential
      uncertainty supports the centrality of inductive reasoning in cognition and opens
      the path to the study of this issue in more naturalistic settings.

PMID- 20921107
TI  - Scaffolding feedback to maximize long-term error correction.
AB  - Scaffolded feedback was tested against three other feedback presentation methods
      (standard corrective feedback, minimal feedback, and answer-until-correct
      multiple-choice feedback) over both short- and long-term retention intervals in
      order to assess which method would produce the most robust gains in error
      correction. Scaffolded feedback was a method designed to take advantage of the
      benefits of retrieval practice by providing incremental hints until the correct
      answer could be self-generated. In Experiments 1 and 3, on an immediate test,
      final memory for the correct answer was lowest for questions given minimal
      feedback, moderate for the answer-until-correct condition, and equally high in
      the scaffolded feedback condition and the standard feedback condition. However,
      tests of the maintenance of the corrections over a 30-min delay (Experiment 2)
      and over a 1-day delay (Experiment 3) demonstrated that scaffolded feedback gave
      rise to the best memory for the correct answers at a delay.

PMID- 20921108
TI  - Geometric and featural representations in semantic concepts.
AB  - We explore the adequacy of two types of similarity representation in the context
      of semantic concepts. To this end, we evaluate different categorization models,
      assuming either a geometric or a featural representation, using categorization
      decisions involving familiar and unfamiliar foods and animals. The study aims to
      assess the optimal stimulus representation as a function of the familiarity of
      the stimuli. For the unfamiliar stimuli, the geometric categorization models
      provide the best account of the categorization data, whereas for the familiar
      stimuli, the featural categorization models provide the best account. This
      pattern of results suggests that people rely on perceptual information to assign
      an unfamiliar stimulus to a category but rely on more elaborate conceptual
      knowledge when assigning a familiar stimulus.

PMID- 20921109
TI  - Body part representations in verbal semantics.
AB  - Embodied theories of language propose that word meaning is inextricably tied to
      grounded in-mental representations of perceptual, motor, and affective
      experiences of the world. The four experiments described in this article
      demonstrate that accessing the meanings of action verbs like smile, punch, and
      kick requires language understanders to activate modality-specific cognitive
      representations responsible for performing and perceiving those same actions. The
      main task used is a word-image matching task, where participants see an action
      verb and an image depicting an action. Their task is to decide as quickly as
      possible whether the verb and the image depict the same action. Of critical
      interest is participants' behavior when the verb and image do not match, in which
      case the two actions can use the same effector or different effectors. In
      Experiment 1, we found that participants took significantly longer to reject a
      verb-image pair when the actions depicted by the image and denoted by the verb
      used the same effector than when they used different effectors. Experiment 2
      yielded the same result when the order of presentation was reversed, replicating
      the effect in Cantonese. Experiment 3 replicated the effect in English with a
      verb-verb near-synonym task, and in Experiment 4, we once again replicated the
      effect with learners of English as a second language. This robust interference
      effect, whereby a shared effector slows discrimination, shows that language
      understanders activate effector-specific neurocognitive representations during
      both picture perception and action word understanding.

PMID- 20921110
TI  - The role of animacy in spatial transformations.
AB  - We present evidence that different mental spatial transformations are used to
      reason about three different types of items representing a spectrum of animacy:
      human bodies, nonhuman animals, and inanimate objects. Participants made two
      different judgments about rotated figures: handedness judgments ("Is this the
      left or right side?") and matching judgments ("Are these figures the same?").
      Perspective-taking strategies were most prevalent when participants made
      handedness judgments about human bodies and animals. In contrast, participants
      generally did not imagine changes in perspective to perform matching judgments.
      Such results suggest that high-level information about semantic categories,
      including information about a thing's animacy, can influence how spatial
      representations are transformed when performing online problem solving.
      Supplemental materials for this article may be downloaded from
      http://mc.psychonomic-journals.org/content/supplemental.

PMID- 20921111
TI  - Effect of mental health courts on arrests and jail days: a multisite study.
AB  - CONTEXT: Mental health courts are growing in popularity as a form of jail
      diversion for justice system-involved people with serious mental illness. This is
      the first prospective multisite study on mental health courts with treatment and
      control groups. OBJECTIVES: To determine if participation in a mental health
      court is associated with more favorable criminal justice outcomes than processing
      through the regular criminal court system and to identify defendants for whom
      mental health courts produce the most favorable criminal justice outcomes.
      DESIGN: Longitudinal study. SETTING: Four mental health courts in San Francisco
      County, CA, Santa Clara County, CA, Hennepin County (Minneapolis), MN, and Marion
      County (Indianapolis), IN. PARTICIPANTS: A total 447 persons in the mental health
      court (MHC) and 600 treatment-as-usual (TAU) controls. INTERVENTION: Eighteen
      months of pre-entry and postentry data for 4 jurisdictions. All subjects were
      interviewed at baseline, and 70% were interviewed at 6 months. Objective outcome
      data were obtained on all subjects from Federal Bureau of Investigation arrest
      records, jails, prisons, and community treatment providers. MAIN OUTCOME
      MEASURES: Annualized rearrest rates, number of rearrests, and postentry
      incarceration days. RESULTS: The MHC and TAU samples are similar on the major
      outcome measures in the pre-entry 18-month period. In the 18 months following
      treatment, defined as entry into mental health court, the MHC group has a lower
      annualized rearrest rate, fewer post-18-month arrests, and fewer post-18-month
      incarceration days than the TAU group. The MHC graduates had lower rearrest rates
      than participants whose participation was terminated both during MHC supervision
      and after supervision ended. Factors associated with better outcomes among the
      MHC participants include lower pre-18-month arrests and incarceration days,
      treatment at baseline, not using illegal substances, and a diagnosis of bipolar
      disorder rather than schizophrenia or depression. CONCLUSIONS: Mental health
      courts meet the public safety objectives of lowering posttreatment arrest rates
      and days of incarceration. Both clinical and criminal justice factors are
      associated with better public safety outcomes for MHC participants.

PMID- 20921112
TI  - Evidence that familial liability for psychosis is expressed as differential
      sensitivity to cannabis: an analysis of patient-sibling and sibling-control
      pairs.
AB  - CONTEXT: Individual differences in cannabis sensitivity may be associated with
      genetic risk for psychotic disorder. OBJECTIVES: To demonstrate and replicate,
      using 2 conceptually different genetic epidemiological designs, that (familial)
      liability to psychosis is associated with sensitivity to cannabis. DESIGN,
      SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Sibling-control and cross-sibling comparisons using
      samples of patients with a psychotic disorder (n = 1120), their siblings (n =
      1057), and community controls (n = 590) in the Netherlands and Flanders. MAIN
      OUTCOME MEASURES: Positive and negative schizotypy using the Structured Interview
      for Schizotypy-Revised (for siblings and controls) and self-reported positive and
      negative psychotic experiences using the Community Assessment of Psychic
      Experiences (for siblings and patients). Cannabis use was assessed as current use
      (by urinalysis) and lifetime frequency of use (by Composite International
      Diagnostic Interview). RESULTS: In the sibling-control comparison, siblings
      displayed more than 15 times greater sensitivity to positive schizotypy
      associated with particularly current cannabis use by urinalysis (adjusted B =
      0.197, P < .001) than controls (adjusted B = 0.013, P = .86) (P interaction =
      .04) and a similar difference in sensitivity to its effect on negative schizotypy
      (siblings: adjusted B = 0.120, P < .001; controls: B = -0.008, P = .87; P
      interaction = .03). Similarly, siblings exposed to cannabis resembled their
      patient relative nearly 10 times more closely in the positive psychotic dimension
      of the Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences (adjusted B = 0.278, P < .001)
      compared with nonexposed siblings (adjusted B = 0.025, P = .12) (P interaction <
      .001). No significant effect was apparent for the Community Assessment of Psychic
      Experiences negative domain, although the association was directionally similar
      (2 times more resemblance; P interaction = .17). Cross-sibling, cross-trait
      analyses suggested that the mechanism underlying these findings was moderation
      (familial risk increasing sensitivity to cannabis) rather than mediation
      (familial risk increasing use of cannabis). CONCLUSIONS: Genetic risk for
      psychotic disorder may be expressed in part as sensitivity to the psychotomimetic
      effect of cannabis. Cannabis use may synergistically combine with preexisting
      psychosis liability to cause positive and negative symptoms of psychosis.

PMID- 20921113
TI  - Postdisaster course of alcohol use disorders in systematically studied survivors
      of 10 disasters.
AB  - CONTEXT: Although several studies have suggested that alcohol use may increase
      after disasters, it is unclear whether any apparent postdisaster increases
      regularly translate into new cases of alcohol use disorders. OBJECTIVE: To
      determine the relationship of predisaster and postdisaster prevalence of alcohol
      use disorders and to examine the incidence of alcohol use disorders in relation
      to disasters. DESIGN: Data from 10 disasters, studied within the first few
      postdisaster months and at 1 to 3 years postdisaster, were merged and examined.
      PARTICIPANTS: Six hundred ninety-seven directly exposed survivors of 10
      disasters. MEASURES: The Diagnostic Interview Schedule for DSM-III-R provided
      lifetime diagnoses of alcohol abuse and dependence, and onset and recency
      questions allowed a determination of whether the disorder had been present either
      prior to or following the event, or both. RESULTS: While the postdisaster
      prevalence of alcohol use disorders was 19%, only 0.3% of the sample developed an
      acute new postdisaster alcohol use disorder. Most of those in recovery, however,
      consumed alcohol after the disaster (83%) and coped with their emotions by
      drinking alcohol (22%). Those with a postdisaster alcohol use disorder were more
      than 4 times as likely as those without to cope with their disaster-related
      emotions by drinking alcohol (40% vs 9%). CONCLUSIONS: The vast majority of
      postdisaster alcohol use disorders represented the continuation or recurrence of
      preexisting problems. Findings suggest that those in recovery as well as those
      who drink to cope with their emotions represent groups warranting potential
      concern for postdisaster mental health intervention. Further research is needed
      to clarify the clinical significance of changes in alcohol use after disasters.

PMID- 20921114
TI  - Camillo Golgi, nobel laureate: the olfactory bulb.

PMID- 20921115
TI  - Biological validation of increased schizophrenia risk with NRG1, ERBB4, and AKT1
      epistasis via functional neuroimaging in healthy controls.
AB  - CONTEXT: NRG1 is a schizophrenia candidate gene and plays an important role in
      brain development and neural function. Schizophrenia is a complex disorder, with
      etiology likely due to epistasis. OBJECTIVE: To examine epistasis between NRG1
      and selected N-methyl-d-aspartate-glutamate pathway partners implicated in its
      effects, including ERBB4, AKT1, DLG4, NOS1, and NOS1AP. DESIGN: Schizophrenia
      case-control sample analyzed using machine learning algorithms and logistic
      regression with follow-up using neuroimaging on an independent sample of healthy
      controls. PARTICIPANTS: A referred sample of schizophrenic patients (n = 296)
      meeting DSM-IV criteria for schizophrenia spectrum disorder and a volunteer
      sample of controls for case-control comparison (n = 365) and a separate volunteer
      sample of controls for neuroimaging (n = 172). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Epistatic
      association between single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and case-control
      status; epistatic association between SNPs and the blood oxygen level-dependent
      physiological response during working memory measured by functional magnetic
      resonance imaging. RESULTS: We observed interaction between NRG1 5' and 3' SNPs
      rs4560751 and rs3802160 (likelihood ratio test P = .00020) and schizophrenia,
      which was validated using functional magnetic resonance imaging of working memory
      in healthy controls; carriers of risk-associated genotypes showed inefficient
      processing in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (P = .015, familywise error
      corrected). We observed epistasis between NRG1 (rs10503929; Thr286/289/294Met)
      and its receptor ERBB4 (rs1026882; likelihood ratio test P = .035); a 3-way
      interaction with these 2 SNPs and AKT1 (rs2494734) was also observed (odds ratio,
      27.13; 95% confidence interval, 3.30-223.03; likelihood ratio test P = .042).
      These same 2- and 3-way interactions were further biologically validated via
      functional magnetic resonance imaging: healthy individuals carrying risk
      genotypes for NRG1 and ERBB4, or these 2 together with AKT1, were
      disproportionately less efficient in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex processing.
      Lower-level interactions were not observed between NRG1 /ERBB4 and AKT1 in
      association or neuroimaging, consistent with biological evidence that NRG1 *
      ERBB4 interaction modulates downstream AKT1 signaling. CONCLUSION: Our data
      suggest complex epistatic effects implicating an NRG1 molecular pathway in
      cognitive brain function and the pathogenesis of schizophrenia.

PMID- 20921116
TI  - Regional brain volume in depression and anxiety disorders.
AB  - CONTEXT: Major depressive disorder (MDD), panic disorder, and social anxiety
      disorder are among the most prevalent and frequently co-occurring psychiatric
      disorders in adults and may have, at least in part, a common etiology. OBJECTIVE:
      To identify the unique and shared neuroanatomical profile of depression and
      anxiety, controlling for illness severity, medication use, sex, age of onset, and
      recurrence. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: Netherlands Study of
      Depression and Anxiety. PARTICIPANTS: Outpatients with MDD (n = 68), comorbid MDD
      and anxiety (n = 88), panic disorder, and/or social anxiety disorder without
      comorbid MDD (n = 68) and healthy controls (n = 65). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:
      Volumetric magnetic resonance imaging was conducted for voxel-based morphometry
      analyses. We tested voxelwise for the effects of diagnosis, age at onset, and
      recurrence on gray matter density. Post hoc, we studied the effects of use of
      medication, illness severity, and sex. RESULTS: We demonstrated lower gray matter
      volumes of the rostral anterior cingulate gyrus extending into the dorsal
      anterior cingulate gyrus in MDD, comorbid MDD and anxiety, and anxiety disorders
      without comorbid MDD, independent of illness severity, sex, and medication use.
      Furthermore, we demonstrated reduced right lateral inferior frontal volumes in
      MDD and reduced left middle/superior temporal volume in anxiety disorders without
      comorbid MDD. Also, patients with onset of depression before 18 years of age
      showed lower volumes of the subgenual prefrontal cortex. CONCLUSIONS: Our
      findings indicate that reduced volume of the rostral-dorsal anterior cingulate
      gyrus is a generic effect in depression and anxiety disorders, independent of
      illness severity, medication use, and sex. This generic effect supports the
      notion of a shared etiology and may reflect a common symptom dimension related to
      altered emotion processing. Specific involvement of the inferior frontal cortex
      in MDD and lateral temporal cortex in anxiety disorders without comorbid MDD, on
      the other hand, may reflect disorder-specific symptom clusters. Early onset of
      depression is associated with a distinct neuroanatomical profile that may
      represent a vulnerability marker of depressive disorder.

PMID- 20921118
TI  - Randomized clinical trial comparing family-based treatment with adolescent
      focused individual therapy for adolescents with anorexia nervosa.
AB  - CONTEXT: Evidence-based treatment trials for adolescents with anorexia nervosa
      are few. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the relative efficacy of family-based treatment
      (FBT) and adolescent-focused individual therapy (AFT) for adolescents with
      anorexia nervosa in full remission. DESIGN: Randomized controlled trial. SETTING:
      Stanford University and The University of Chicago (April 2005 until March 2009).
      PARTICIPANTS: One hundred twenty-one participants, aged 12 through 18 years, with
      DSM-IV diagnosis of anorexia nervosa excluding the amenorrhea requirement.
      Intervention Twenty-four outpatient hours of treatment over 12 months of FBT or
      AFT. Participants were assessed at baseline, end of treatment (EOT), and 6
      months' and 12 months' follow-up posttreatment. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Full
      remission from anorexia nervosa defined as normal weight (>=95% of expected for
      sex, age, and height) and mean global Eating Disorder Examination score within 1
      SD of published means. Secondary outcome measures included partial remission
      rates (>85% of expected weight for height plus those who were in full remission)
      and changes in body mass index percentile and eating-related psychopathology.
      RESULTS: There were no differences in full remission between treatments at EOT.
      However, at both the 6- and 12-month follow-up, FBT was significantly superior to
      AFT on this measure. Family-based treatment was significantly superior for
      partial remission at EOT but not at follow-up. In addition, body mass index
      percentile at EOT was significantly superior for FBT, but this effect was not
      found at follow-up. Participants in FBT also had greater changes in Eating
      Disorder Examination score at EOT than those in AFT, but there were no
      differences at follow-up. CONCLUSION: Although both treatments led to
      considerable improvement and were similarly effective in producing full remission
      at EOT, FBT was more effective in facilitating full remission at both follow-up
      points. TRIAL REGISTRATION: clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT00149786.

PMID- 20921119
TI  - Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms in offspring of mothers with
      impaired serotonin production.
AB  - CONTEXT: Exposure to adverse events during prenatal and postnatal development, as
      well as serotonin deficiency, have been implicated in disturbances of mood and
      impulsivity, but the underlying mechanisms are unknown. OBJECTIVE: To investigate
      the long-term effects of an impaired serotonin synthesis on the developing human
      brain, we studied the effects of nonsynonymous mutations affecting tryptophan
      hydroxylase (TPH) enzymes responsible for serotonin production in maternal
      reproductive tissues (TPH1) and the brain (TPH2). DESIGN: Family-based case
      control and functional studies of candidate genes. SETTING: Adult outpatients
      with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), their family members, and
      random control subjects were recruited across Norway. PARTICIPANTS: Nine
      pedigrees with TPH1 and TPH2 mutation carriers were identified among 459 patients
      with ADHD and 187 controls. The TPH genes were then sequenced in 97 additional
      family members, and information about psychiatric diagnoses and symptoms was
      obtained from 606 controls, the 459 patients, and their relatives. MAIN OUTCOME
      MEASURES: The effects of maternal vs paternal TPH1 mutations compared in all
      families. RESULTS: Nine different TPH1 and TPH2 mutations were found by
      sequencing in 646 individuals (1.0% and 0.2% allele frequency, respectively). In
      vitro studies showed that 8 TPH mutants had significantly impaired enzyme
      function. Family analysis of 38 TPH1 mutation carriers and 41 of their offspring
      revealed that offspring of mothers carrying TPH1 mutations reported 1.5- to 2.5
      times-higher ADHD scores and related symptoms during childhood and as adults than
      did controls (P < 10(-6)) or offspring of fathers with the corresponding TPH1
      mutations (P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: Impaired maternal serotonin production may
      have long-term consequences for brain development and increase the risk of ADHD
      related symptoms and behavior in offspring. Replication studies are required to
      form conclusions about the clinical implications of mutations affecting serotonin
      biosynthesis.

PMID- 20921117
TI  - A meta-analysis of depression during pregnancy and the risk of preterm birth, low
      birth weight, and intrauterine growth restriction.
AB  - CONTEXT: Maternal depressive symptoms during pregnancy have been reported in
      some, but not all, studies to be associated with an increased risk of preterm
      birth (PTB), low birth weight (LBW), and intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR).
      OBJECTIVE: To estimate the risk of PTB, LBW, and IUGR associated with antenatal
      depression. DATA SOURCES AND STUDY SELECTION: We searched for English-language
      and non-English-language articles via the MEDLINE, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Social Work
      Abstracts, Social Services Abstracts, and Dissertation Abstracts International
      databases (January 1980 through December 2009). We aimed to include prospective
      studies reporting data on antenatal depression and at least 1 adverse birth
      outcome: PTB (<37 weeks' gestation), LBW (<2500 g), or IUGR (<10th percentile for
      gestational age). Of 862 reviewed studies, 29 US-published and non-US-published
      studies met the selection criteria. DATA EXTRACTION: Information was extracted on
      study characteristics, antenatal depression measurement, and other
      biopsychosocial risk factors and was reviewed twice to minimize error. DATA
      SYNTHESIS: Pooled relative risks (RRs) for the effect of antenatal depression on
      each birth outcome were calculated using random-effects methods. In studies of
      PTB, LBW, and IUGR that used a categorical depression measure, pooled effect
      sizes were significantly larger (pooled RR [95% confidence interval] = 1.39 [1.19
      1.61], 1.49 [1.25-1.77], and 1.45 [1.05-2.02], respectively) compared with
      studies that used a continuous depression measure (1.03 [1.00-1.06], 1.04 [0.99
      1.09], and 1.02 [1.00-1.04], respectively). The estimates of risk for
      categorically defined antenatal depression and PTB and LBW remained significant
      when the trim-and-fill procedure was used to correct for publication bias. The
      risk of LBW associated with antenatal depression was significantly larger in
      developing countries (RR = 2.05; 95% confidence interval, 1.43-2.93) compared
      with the United States (RR = 1.10; 95% confidence interval, 1.01-1.21) or
      European social democracies (RR = 1.16; 95% confidence interval, 0.92-1.47).
      Categorically defined antenatal depression tended to be associated with an
      increased risk of PTB among women of lower socioeconomic status in the United
      States. CONCLUSIONS: Women with depression during pregnancy are at increased risk
      for PTB and LBW, although the magnitude of the effect varies as a function of
      depression measurement, country location, and US socioeconomic status. An
      important implication of these findings is that antenatal depression should be
      identified through universal screening and treated.

PMID- 20921120
TI  - Very early predictors of adolescent depression and suicide attempts in children
      with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
AB  - CONTEXT: Major depression and dysthymia in adolescence are associated with
      substantial disability, need for mental health services, and risk for recurrence.
      Concrete suicidal ideation and attempts during adolescence are particularly
      associated with significant distress, morbidity, and risk for completed suicide.
      OBJECTIVES: To test the hypothesis that young children with attention
      deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are at increased risk for depression and
      suicidal ideation and attempts during adolescence and to identify early
      predictors of which young children with ADHD are at greatest risk. DESIGN:
      Prospective follow-up study. SETTING: Chicago, Illinois, and Pittsburgh,
      Pennsylvania. Patients  A cohort of 125 children who met DSM-IV criteria for ADHD
      at 4 to 6 years of age and 123 demographically matched comparison children
      without ADHD were prospectively followed up in 7 structured diagnostic
      assessments of depression and suicidal behavior in assessment years 6 through 14,
      spanning 9 through 18 years of age. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: DSM-IV criteria for
      depressive disorders and suicidal behavior. RESULTS: Children with ADHD at 4 to 6
      years of age were at greatly increased risk for meeting DSM-IV criteria for major
      depression or dysthymia (hazard ratio, 4.32) and for attempting suicide (hazard
      ratio, 3.60) through the age of 18 years relative to comparison children. There
      were marked variations in risk for these outcomes among children with ADHD,
      however. Within the ADHD group, children with each subtype of ADHD were at risk
      but for different adverse outcomes. Girls were at greater risk for depression and
      suicide attempts. Maternal depression and concurrent child emotional and behavior
      problems at 4 to 6 years of age predicted depression and suicidal behavior.
      CONCLUSIONS: All subtypes of ADHD in young children robustly predict adolescent
      depression and/or suicide attempts 5 to 13 years later. Furthermore, female sex,
      maternal depression, and concurrent symptoms at 4 to 6 years of age predict which
      children with ADHD are at greatest risk for these adverse outcomes. Identifying
      high-risk young children with ADHD sets the stage for early prevention trials to
      reduce risk for later depression and suicidal behavior.

PMID- 20921121
TI  - Similar white matter aberrations in children with autism and their unaffected
      siblings: a diffusion tensor imaging study using tract-based spatial statistics.
AB  - CONTEXT: Autism is a neurobiological condition with a strong genetic component.
      Recent diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) studies have indicated that white matter
      structure is aberrant in autism. To date, white matter structure has not been
      assessed in family members of children with autism. OBJECTIVE: To determine
      whether white matter structure is aberrant in children with autism and their
      unaffected siblings compared with controls, and to test the hypothesis that white
      matter structure in autism is correlated with autism spectrum symptomatology.
      DESIGN: Cross-sectional, case-control, voxel-based, whole-brain DTI analysis
      using Tract-Based Spatial Statistics. SETTING: University research center.
      Patients  A sample of 37 children: 13 subjects with autism, 13 of their
      unaffected siblings, and 11 controls. Controls were age- and intelligence
      quotient-matched to the unaffected siblings; all groups were age matched. Main
      Outcome Measure  Fractional anisotropy (FA) and axial and radial diffusivities.
      In addition, behavioral correlation analyses were conducted using the Autism
      Diagnostic Interview and Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule subscales and FA
      values, as well as axial diffusivity values in the autism group. RESULTS:
      Compared with the control group, both the autism and sibling groups had
      widespread, significantly reduced white matter FA values (P <= .05, corrected) in
      the frontal parietal and temporal lobes and included, but were not restricted to,
      regions known to be important for social cognition. Within regions of reduced FA,
      significant reductions in axial diffusivity, but not radial diffusivity, were
      observed. There were no significant differences in white matter structure between
      the autism and sibling groups. There were no significant correlations between
      autism symptomatology and white matter FA or axial diffusivity. CONCLUSIONS: Our
      findings suggest that white matter structure may represent a marker of genetic
      risk for autism or vulnerability to development of this disorder.

PMID- 20921122
TI  - Deep brain stimulation of the nucleus accumbens for treatment-refractory
      obsessive-compulsive disorder.
AB  - CONTEXT: Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a chronic psychiatric disorder
      that affects 2% of the general population. Even when the best available
      treatments are applied, approximately 10% of patients remain severely afflicted
      and run a long-term deteriorating course of OCD. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether
      bilateral deep brain stimulation of the nucleus accumbens is an effective and
      safe treatment for treatment-refractory OCD. DESIGN: The study consisted of an
      open 8-month treatment phase, followed by a double-blind crossover phase with
      randomly assigned 2-week periods of active or sham stimulation, ending with an
      open 12-month maintenance phase. SETTING: Academic research. Patients Sixteen
      patients (age range, 18-65 years) with OCD according to DSM-IV criteria meeting
      stringent criteria for refractoriness to treatment were included in the study.
      INTERVENTIONS: Treatment with bilateral deep brain stimulation of the nucleus
      accumbens. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Primary efficacy was assessed by score change
      from baseline on the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS). Responders
      were defined by a score decrease of at least 35% on the Y-BOCS. RESULTS: In the
      open phase, the mean (SD) Y-BOCS score decreased by 46%, from 33.7 (3.6) at
      baseline to 18.0 (11.4) after 8 months (P < .001). Nine of 16 patients were
      responders, with a mean (SD) Y-BOCS score decrease of 23.7 (7.0), or 72%. In the
      double-blind, sham-controlled phase (n = 14), the mean (SD) Y-BOCS score
      difference between active and sham stimulation was 8.3 (2.3), or 25% (P = .004).
      Depression and anxiety decreased significantly. Except for mild forgetfulness and
      word-finding problems, no permanent adverse events were reported. CONCLUSION:
      Bilateral deep brain stimulation of the nucleus accumbens may be an effective and
      safe treatment for treatment-refractory OCD. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION:
      isrctn.org Identifier: ISRCTN23255677.

PMID- 20921123
TI  - Effect of acamprosate on magnetic resonance spectroscopy measures of central
      glutamate in detoxified alcohol-dependent individuals: a randomized controlled
      experimental medicine study.
AB  - CONTEXT: Acamprosate is approved for the treatment of alcoholism, but its
      mechanism of action remains unclear. Results of animal studies suggest that a
      persistent hyperglutamatergic state contributes to the pathogenesis of alcoholism
      and that acamprosate may exert its actions by intervening in this process. Human
      translation of these findings is lacking. OBJECTIVE: To examine whether
      acamprosate modulates indices of central glutamate levels in recently abstinent
      alcohol-dependent patients as measured using proton nuclear magnetic resonance
      spectroscopy (1H-MRS). DESIGN: A 4-week, double-blind, placebo-controlled,
      randomized controlled experimental medicine study, with 1H-MRS measures obtained
      on days 4 and 25. SETTING: An inpatient research unit at the NIH Clinical Center.
      Patients Thirty-three patients who met the DSM-IV criteria for alcohol dependence
      and who were admitted for medically supervised withdrawal from ongoing alcohol
      use. Intervention Four weeks of acamprosate (initial oral loading followed by
      1998 mg daily) or matched placebo, initiated at the time of admission. MAIN
      OUTCOME MEASURES: The glutamate to creatine ratio as determined using single
      voxel 1H-MRS in the anterior cingulate. Exploratory neuroendocrine, biochemical,
      and behavioral outcomes were also collected, as were safety- and tolerability
      related measures. RESULTS: There was a highly significant suppression of the
      glutamate to creatine ratio across time by acamprosate (time * treatment
      interaction: F1(,)29 = 13.5, P < .001). Cerebrospinal fluid levels of glutamate
      obtained in a subset of patients 4 weeks into abstinence were uncorrelated with
      the MRS measures and unaffected by treatment but were strongly correlated (R2 =
      0.48, P < .001) with alcohol dependence severity. Other exploratory outcomes,
      including repeated dexamethasone-corticotropin-releasing hormone tests, and
      psychiatric ratings were unaffected. Among tolerability measures,
      gastrointestinal symptoms were significantly greater in acamprosate-treated
      individuals, in agreement with the established profile of acamprosate.
      CONCLUSION: The MRS measures of central glutamate are reduced across time when
      acamprosate therapy is initiated at the onset of alcohol abstinence. TRIAL
      REGISTRATION: clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT00106106.

PMID- 20921124
TI  - Economic costs of neuroticism: a population-based study.
AB  - CONTEXT: The importance of neuroticism for mental health care use and public
      health is well established. However, most research has focused on the association
      between neuroticism and a single specific disorder or health outcome, and the
      overall effect of neuroticism on use of somatic and mental health care and on
      society is not clear. OBJECTIVE: To examine the economic costs of neuroticism to
      get an impression of the overall effect of neuroticism on mental health care and
      on society in general. DESIGN: Cross-sectional population-based study. SETTING:
      General population. PARTICIPANTS: A large representative sample (N = 5504) of the
      Dutch general population. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The costs (health service uptake
      in primary and secondary mental health care, out-of-pocket costs, and production
      losses) associated with neuroticism. RESULTS: The total per capita excess costs
      were $12 362 per year for the reference year 2007 in the 5% highest scorers of
      neuroticism, $8243 in the 10% highest scorers, and $5572 in the 25% highest
      scorers. The per capita excess costs of neuroticism are considerably higher than
      those of mental disorders. The total excess costs of neuroticism per 1 million
      inhabitants resulting from the 25% highest scorers ($1.393 billion) were
      approximately 2.5 times as high as the excess costs of common mental disorders
      ($585 million). CONCLUSIONS: The economic costs of neuroticism are enormous and
      exceed those of common mental disorders. We should start thinking about
      interventions that focus not on each of the specific negative outcomes of
      neuroticism but rather on the starting point itself.

PMID- 20921125
TI  - In utero smoking exposure warrants further investigation.

PMID- 20921126
TI  - Fall prevention practices in adult medical-surgical nursing units described by
      nurse managers.
AB  - The purpose of this article was to describe nursing practices (e.g., assessment,
      interventions) around fall prevention, as perceived by nurse managers in adult,
      medical-surgical nursing units. One hundred forty nurse managers from 51
      hospitals from across the United States participated. Descriptive frequencies are
      used to describe nurse manager responses. The most commonly used fall risk
      assessment tool was the Morse Fall Risk Assessment Tool (40%). The most common
      fall prevention interventions included bed alarms (90%), rounds (70%), sitters
      (68%), and relocating the patient closer to the nurses' station (56%). Twenty
      nine percent of nurse managers identified physical restraints as an intervention
      to prevent falls whereas only 10% mentioned ambulation. No nurse manager
      identified that RN hours per patient-day were adjusted to prevent falls or fall
      related injuries. More work is needed to build systems that ensure evidence-based
      nursing interventions are consistently applied in acute care.

PMID- 20921127
TI  - Risk behaviors among adolescent girls in an HIV prevention trial.
AB  - Adolescent girls remain vulnerable to HIV and other sexually transmitted
      infections. Understanding their sexual and substance use behaviors is essential
      to designing effective interventions to reduce their risk. In this study,
      baseline data were analyzed from 738 adolescent girls ages 15 to 19 years in
      Rochester, New York. Data on sexual behavior and substance use (lifetime, past 3
      months, and most recent sexual experience) were collected. Nearly one half of
      recent vaginal (42%) and anal (45%) sex acts were not condom protected; 39% had a
      prior sexually transmitted infection (STI) and 12% were currently infected with
      an STI. Approximately one third (31%) of girls had more than one sex partner in
      the past 3 months. Girls with multiple partners reported that their recent sexual
      experiences were more likely to involve drug and alcohol use by themselves and
      partners. Adolescent girls, particularly those with multiple sexual partners,
      continue to report high-risk sexual behaviors and need focused risk-reduction
      interventions.

PMID- 20921128
TI  - Using the TRIP model to disseminate an IT-based pressure ulcer intervention.
AB  - Pressure ulcers (PUs) are among the most common harms experienced by patients in
      health care facilities. Despite the existence of evidence-based guidelines and
      protocols for PU prevention and treatment, the sustained success in reducing the
      development of PUs is elusive. The purpose of this article is to describe how the
      Translating Research Into Practice (TRIP) model was used to support
      implementation of a care management solution (i.e., the Daily Project) aimed at
      preventing PUs. Using a case study approach, the development and implementation
      of the Daily Project is described in relation to the TRIP model. Initial success
      was evidenced by a 34% reduction in PU rates and an 86% reduction in missed
      patient turns 3 months postimplementation of the Daily intervention. Based on our
      experiences, the TRIP model successfully can assist with the implementation and
      diffusion of a tool that addresses a complex clinical issue such as PU prevention
      and treatment.

PMID- 20921129
TI  - Implementing and sustaining evidence-based nursing practice to reduce pediatric
      cardiopulmonary arrest.
AB  - Rapid response teams (RRTs) improve outcomes for patients through early
      escalation of care. However, subtle signs of clinical deterioration in children
      may not be consistently recognized by the bedside acute care nurse and therefore
      the RRT may not be activated. The Pediatric Early Warning Score (PEWS), an
      evidence-based tool, provides nurses with a mechanism for early detection using
      quantitative data. We describe our process and outcomes of implementing and
      sustaining the use of PEWS at the unit and organizational level using the Plan-Do
      Check-Act methodology for performance improvement. Our outcome data indicate that
      cardiopulmonary arrests were reduced by 31% at the pilot unit level and
      subsequently 23.4% at the organizational level. Data also suggest that bedside
      nurses effectively escalated patient care needs without activating RRTs (19.4%
      reduction in RRT activations after PEWS implementation). Strategies to sustain
      the positive outcomes of PEWS at the unit and organizational levels are also
      described.

PMID- 20921130
TI  - Evidence-based practice day: an innovative educational opportunity.
AB  - To maximize patient outcomes, the latest research and practice updates must be
      disseminated across the patient care continuum to include all members of the
      nursing team. The Clinical Research Council (CRC) recognized the need to bridge
      the gap between nursing research and practice, using evidence to decrease
      variation in practice. To meet this challenge, a Magnet-designated, rural
      community hospital developed an innovative educational program. This article
      describes Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) day, an interactive learning environment
      that engages nursing staff and strengthens their understanding of the science
      that guides practice. Topics for inclusion were selected based on staff requests,
      current research, quality improvement data, and institutional priorities.
      Evidence was provided in a format that supported rapid implementation into
      practice. Key components of the program included a clinical scenario, internal
      and external data, nursing interventions, patient outcomes (nursing-sensitive and
      organizational), and regulatory requirement updates.

PMID- 20921131
TI  - Friends, colleagues, authors, lend us your data.

PMID- 20921132
TI  - Bettina Winckler: neuronal polarity on her mind. Interviewed by Caitlin Sedwick.

PMID- 20921133
TI  - The two faces of serotonin in bone biology.
AB  - The serotonin molecule has some remarkable properties. It is synthesized by two
      different genes at two different sites, and, surprisingly, plays antagonistic
      functions on bone mass accrual at these two sites. When produced peripherally,
      serotonin acts as a hormone to inhibit bone formation. In contrast, when produced
      in the brain, serotonin acts as a neurotransmitter to exert a positive and
      dominant effect on bone mass accrual by enhancing bone formation and limiting
      bone resorption. The effect of serotonin on bone biology could be harnessed
      pharmacologically to treat diseases such as osteoporosis.

PMID- 20921135
TI  - Sds22 regulates aurora B activity and microtubule-kinetochore interactions at
      mitosis.
AB  - We have studied Sds22, a conserved regulator of protein phosphatase 1 (PP1)
      activity, and determined its role in modulating the activity of aurora B kinase
      and kinetochore-microtubule interactions. Sds22 is required for proper
      progression through mitosis and localization of PP1 to mitotic kinetochores.
      Depletion of Sds22 increases aurora B T-loop phosphorylation and the rate of
      recovery from monastrol arrest. Phospho-aurora B accumulates at kinetochores in
      Sds22-depleted cells juxtaposed to critical kinetochore substrates. Sds22
      modulates sister kinetochore distance and the interaction between Hec1 and the
      microtubule lattice and, thus, the activation of the spindle assembly checkpoint.
      These results demonstrate that Sds22 specifically defines PP1 function and
      localization in mitosis. Sds22 regulates PP1 targeting to the kinetochore,
      accumulation of phospho-aurora B, and force generation at the kinetochore
      microtubule interface.

PMID- 20921134
TI  - BMI1-mediated histone ubiquitylation promotes DNA double-strand break repair.
AB  - Polycomb group (PcG) proteins are major determinants of cell identity, stem cell
      pluripotency, and epigenetic gene silencing during development. The polycomb
      repressive complex 1, which contains BMI1, RING1, and RING2, functions as an E3
      ubuiquitin ligase. We found that BMI1 and RING2 are recruited to sites of DNA
      double-strand breaks (DSBs) where they contribute to the ubiquitylation of gamma
      H2AX. In the absence of BMI1, several proteins dependent on ubiquitin signaling,
      including 53BP1, BRCA1, and RAP80, are impaired in recruitment to DSBs. Loss of
      BMI1 sensitizes cells to ionizing radiation to the same extent as loss of RNF8.
      The simultaneous depletion of both proteins revealed an additive increase in
      radiation sensitivity. These data uncover an unexpected link between the polycomb
      and the DNA damage response pathways, and suggest a novel function for BMI1 in
      maintaining genomic stability.

PMID- 20921136
TI  - The differential interaction of snRNPs with pre-mRNA reveals splicing kinetics in
      living cells.
AB  - Precursor messenger RNA (pre-mRNA) splicing is catalyzed by the spliceosome, a
      large ribonucleoprotein (RNP) complex composed of five small nuclear RNP
      particles (snRNPs) and additional proteins. Using live cell imaging of GFP-tagged
      snRNP components expressed at endogenous levels, we examined how the spliceosome
      assembles in vivo. A comprehensive analysis of snRNP dynamics in the cell nucleus
      enabled us to determine snRNP diffusion throughout the nucleoplasm as well as the
      interaction rates of individual snRNPs with pre-mRNA. Core components of the
      spliceosome, U2 and U5 snRNPs, associated with pre-mRNA for 15-30 s, indicating
      that splicing is accomplished within this time period. Additionally, binding of
      U1 and U4/U6 snRNPs with pre-mRNA occurred within seconds, indicating that the
      interaction of individual snRNPs with pre-mRNA is distinct. These results are
      consistent with the predictions of the step-wise model of spliceosome assembly
      and provide an estimate on the rate of splicing in human cells.

PMID- 20921137
TI  - JunB transcription factor maintains skeletal muscle mass and promotes
      hypertrophy.
AB  - The size of skeletal muscle cells is precisely regulated by intracellular
      signaling networks that determine the balance between overall rates of protein
      synthesis and degradation. Myofiber growth and protein synthesis are stimulated
      by the IGF-1/Akt/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway. In this study, we
      show that the transcription factor JunB is also a major determinant of whether
      adult muscles grow or atrophy. We found that in atrophying myotubes, JunB is
      excluded from the nucleus and that decreasing JunB expression by RNA interference
      in adult muscles causes atrophy. Furthermore, JunB overexpression induces
      hypertrophy without affecting satellite cell proliferation and stimulated protein
      synthesis independently of the Akt/mTOR pathway. When JunB is transfected into
      denervated muscles, fiber atrophy is prevented. JunB blocks FoxO3 binding to
      atrogin-1 and MuRF-1 promoters and thus reduces protein breakdown. Therefore,
      JunB is important not only in dividing populations but also in adult muscle,
      where it is required for the maintenance of muscle size and can induce rapid
      hypertrophy and block atrophy.

PMID- 20921138
TI  - Kinesin-1 and dynein at the nuclear envelope mediate the bidirectional migrations
      of nuclei.
AB  - Kinesin-1 and dynein are recruited to the nuclear envelope by the Caenorhabditis
      elegans klarsicht/ANC-1/Syne homology (KASH) protein UNC-83 to move nuclei. The
      mechanisms of how these motors are coordinated to mediate nuclear migration are
      unknown. Time-lapse differential interference contrast and fluorescence imaging
      of embryonic hypodermal nuclear migration events were used to characterize the
      kinetics of nuclear migration and determine microtubule dynamics and polarity.
      Wild-type nuclei display bidirectional movements during migration and are also
      able to roll past cytoplasmic granules. unc-83, unc-84, and kinesin-1 mutants
      have severe nuclear migration defects. Without dynein, nuclear migration
      initiates normally but lacks bidirectional movement and shows defects in nuclear
      rolling, implicating dynein in resolution of cytoplasmic roadblocks. Microtubules
      are highly dynamic during nuclear migration. EB1::green fluorescence protein
      imaging demonstrates that microtubules are polarized in the direction of nuclear
      migration. This organization of microtubules fits with our model that kinesin-1
      moves nuclei forward and dynein functions to move nuclei backward for short
      stretches to bypass cellular roadblocks.

PMID- 20921139
TI  - The dynamic interaction of AMBRA1 with the dynein motor complex regulates
      mammalian autophagy.
AB  - Autophagy is an evolutionary conserved catabolic process involved in several
      physiological and pathological processes such as cancer and neurodegeneration.
      Autophagy initiation signaling requires both the ULK1 kinase and the BECLIN 1
      VPS34 core complex to generate autophagosomes, double-membraned vesicles that
      transfer cellular contents to lysosomes. In this study, we show that the BECLIN 1
      VPS34 complex is tethered to the cytoskeleton through an interaction between the
      BECLIN 1-interacting protein AMBRA1 and dynein light chains 1/2. When autophagy
      is induced, ULK1 phosphorylates AMBRA1, releasing the autophagy core complex from
      dynein. Its subsequent relocalization to the endoplasmic reticulum enables
      autophagosome nucleation. Therefore, AMBRA1 constitutes a direct regulatory link
      between ULK1 and BECLIN 1-VPS34, which is required for core complex positioning
      and activity within the cell. Moreover, our results demonstrate that in addition
      to a function for microtubules in mediating autophagosome transport, there is a
      strict and regulatory relationship between cytoskeleton dynamics and
      autophagosome formation.

PMID- 20921140
TI  - Otoferlin is a calcium sensor that directly regulates SNARE-mediated membrane
      fusion.
AB  - Otoferlin is a large multi-C2 domain protein proposed to act as a calcium sensor
      that regulates synaptic vesicle exocytosis in cochlear hair cells. Although
      mutations in otoferlin have been associated with deafness, its contribution to
      neurotransmitter release is unresolved. Using recombinant proteins, we
      demonstrate that five of the six C2 domains of otoferlin sense calcium with
      apparent dissociation constants that ranged from 13-25 uM; in the presence of
      membranes, these apparent affinities increase by up to sevenfold. Using a
      reconstituted membrane fusion assay, we found that five of the six C2 domains of
      otoferlin stimulate membrane fusion in a calcium-dependent manner. We also
      demonstrate that a calcium binding-deficient form of the C2C domain is incapable
      of stimulating membrane fusion, further underscoring the importance of calcium
      for the protein's function. These results demonstrate for the first time that
      otoferlin is a calcium sensor that can directly regulate soluble N-ethyl
      maleimide sensitive fusion protein attachment protein receptor-mediated membrane
      fusion reactions.

PMID- 20921141
TI  - Distinct structural rearrangements of the VSV glycoprotein drive membrane fusion.
AB  - The entry of enveloped viruses into cells requires the fusion of viral and
      cellular membranes, driven by conformational changes in viral glycoproteins. Many
      studies have shown that fusion involves the cooperative action of a large number
      of these glycoproteins, but the underlying mechanisms are unknown. We used
      electron microscopy and tomography to study the low pH-induced fusion reaction
      catalyzed by vesicular stomatitis virus glycoprotein (G). Pre- and post-fusion
      crystal structures were observed on virions at high and low pH, respectively.
      Individual fusion events with liposomes were also visualized. Fusion appears to
      be driven by two successive structural rearrangements of G at different sites on
      the virion. Fusion is initiated at the flat base of the particle. Glycoproteins
      located outside the contact zone between virions and liposomes then reorganize
      into regular arrays. We suggest that the formation of these arrays, which have
      been shown to be an intrinsic property of the G ectodomain, induces membrane
      constraints, achieving the fusion reaction.

PMID- 20921142
TI  - Protein turnover of the Wallenda/DLK kinase regulates a retrograde response to
      axonal injury.
AB  - Regenerative responses to axonal injury involve changes in gene expression;
      however, little is known about how such changes can be induced from a distant
      site of injury. In this study, we describe a nerve crush assay in Drosophila
      melanogaster to study injury signaling and regeneration mechanisms. We find that
      Wallenda (Wnd), a conserved mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) kinase kinase
      homologous to dual leucine zipper kinase, functions as an upstream mediator of a
      cell-autonomous injury signaling cascade that involves the c-Jun NH(2)-terminal
      kinase MAPK and Fos transcription factor. Wnd is physically transported in axons,
      and axonal transport is required for the injury signaling mechanism. Wnd is
      regulated by a conserved E3 ubiquitin ligase, named Highwire (Hiw) in Drosophila.
      Injury induces a rapid increase in Wnd protein concomitantly with a decrease in
      Hiw protein. In hiw mutants, injury signaling is constitutively active, and
      neurons initiate a faster regenerative response. Our data suggest that the
      regulation of Wnd protein turnover by Hiw can function as a damage surveillance
      mechanism for responding to axonal injury.

PMID- 20921143
TI  - Evidence for the horizontal transfer of an unusual capsular polysaccharide
      biosynthesis locus in marine bacteria.
AB  - The most intensely studied of the Vibrio vulnificus virulence factors is the
      capsular polysaccharide (CPS). All virulent strains produce copious amounts of
      CPS. Acapsular strains are avirulent. The structure of the CPS from the clinical
      isolate ATCC 27562 is unusual. It is serine modified and contains, surprisingly,
      N-acetylmuramic acid. We identified the complete 25-kb CPS biosynthesis locus
      from ATCC 27562. It contained 21 open reading frames and was allelic to O-antigen
      biosynthesis loci. Two of the genes, murA(CPS) and murB(CPS), were paralogs of
      the murA(PG) and murB(PG) genes of the peptidoglycan biosynthesis pathway; only a
      single copy of these genes is present in the strain CMCP6 and YJ016 genomes.
      Although MurA(CPS) and MurB(CPS) were functional when expressed in Escherichia
      coli, lesions in either gene had no effect on CPS production, virulence, or
      growth in V. vulnificus; disruption of 8 other genes within the locus resulted in
      an acapsular phenotype and attenuated virulence. Thus, murA(CPS) and murB(CPS)
      were functional but redundant. Comparative genomic analysis revealed that while
      completely different CPS biosynthesis loci were found in the same chromosomal
      region in other V. vulnificus strains, most of the CPS locus of ATCC 27562 was
      conserved in another marine bacterium, Shewanella putrefaciens strain 200.
      However, the average GC content of the CPS locus was significantly lower than the
      average GC content of either genome. Furthermore, several of the encoded proteins
      appeared to be of Gram-positive and archaebacterial origin. These data indicate
      that the horizontal transfer of intact and partial CPS loci drives CPS diversity
      in marine bacteria.

PMID- 20921144
TI  - Increased Pho regulon activation correlates with decreased virulence of an avian
      pathogenic Escherichia coli O78 strain.
AB  - Avian pathogenic Escherichia coli (APEC) strains are associated with respiratory
      infections, septicemia, cellulitis, peritonitis, and other conditions, since
      colibacillosis manifests in many ways. The Pho regulon is jointly controlled by
      the two-component regulatory system PhoBR and by the phosphate-specific transport
      (Pst) system. To determine the specific roles of the PhoBR regulon and the Pst
      system in the pathogenesis of the APEC O78 strain chi7122, different phoBR and
      pst mutant strains were tested in vivo in chickens and in vitro for virulence
      traits. Mutations resulting in constitutive activation of the Pho regulon
      rendered strains more sensitive than the wild type to hydrogen peroxide and to
      the bactericidal effects of rabbit serum. In addition, production of type 1
      fimbriae was also impaired in these strains. Using a chicken competitive
      infection model, all PhoB constitutive mutants were outcompeted by the wild-type
      parent, including strains containing a functional Pst system. Cumulative
      inactivation of the Pst system and the PhoB regulator resulted in a restoration
      of virulence. In addition, loss of the PhoB regulator alone did not affect
      virulence in the chicken infection model. Interestingly, the level of attenuation
      of the mutant strains correlated directly with the level of activation of the Pho
      regulon. Overall, results indicate that activation of the Pho regulon rather than
      phosphate transport by the Pst system plays a major role in the attenuation of
      the APEC O78 strain chi7122.

PMID- 20921145
TI  - Role of adrenomedullin in Lyme disease.
AB  - Borrelia burgdorferi stimulates a strong inflammatory response during infection
      of a mammalian host. To understand the mechanisms of immune regulation employed
      by the host to control this inflammatory response, we focused our studies on
      adrenomedullin, a peptide produced in response to bacterial stimuli that exhibits
      antimicrobial activity and regulates inflammatory responses by modulating the
      expression of inflammatory cytokines. Specifically, we investigated the effect of
      B. burgdorferi on the expression of adrenomedullin as well as the ability of
      adrenomedullin to dampen host inflammatory responses to the spirochete. The
      concentration of adrenomedullin in the synovial fluid of untreated Lyme arthritis
      patients was elevated compared with that in control osteoarthritis patient
      samples. In addition, coculture with B. burgdorferi significantly increased the
      expression of adrenomedullin in RAW264.7 macrophages through MyD88-,
      phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3-K)-, and p38-dependent signaling cascades.
      Furthermore, the addition of exogenous adrenomedullin to B. burgdorferi
      stimulated RAW264.7 macrophages resulted in a significant decrease in the
      induction of proinflammatory cytokines. Taken together, these results suggest
      that B. burgdorferi increases the production of adrenomedullin, which in turn
      negatively regulates the B. burgdorferi-stimulated inflammatory response.

PMID- 20921146
TI  - Surface expression of MPT64 as a fusion with the PE domain of PE_PGRS33 enhances
      Mycobacterium bovis BCG protective activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis in
      mice.
AB  - To improve the current vaccine against tuberculosis, a recombinant strain of
      Mycobacterium bovis bacillus Calmette-Guerin (rBCG) expressing a Mycobacterium
      tuberculosis vaccine candidate antigen (MPT64) in strong association with the
      mycobacterial cell wall was developed. To deliver the candidate antigen on the
      surface, we fused the mpt64 gene to the sequence encoding the PE domain of the
      PE_PGRS33 protein of M. tuberculosis (to create strain (H)PE-DeltaMPT64-BCG),
      which we have previously shown to transport proteins to the bacterial surface. In
      a series of protection experiments in the mouse model of tuberculosis, we showed
      that (i) immunization of mice with (H)PE-DeltaMPT64-BCG provides levels of
      protection significantly higher than those afforded by the parental BCG strain,
      as assessed by bacterial colonization in lungs and spleens and by lung
      involvement (at both 28 and 70 days postchallenge), (ii) rBCG strains expressing
      MPT64 provide better protection than the parental BCG strain only when this
      antigen is surface expressed, and (iii) the (H)PE-DeltaMPT64-BCG-induced MPT64
      specific T cell repertoire when characterized by beta chain variable region-beta
      chain joining region (BV-BJ) spectratyping indicates that protection is
      correlated with the ability to recruit gamma interferon (IFN-gamma)-secreting T
      cells carrying the BV8.3-BJ1.5 (172 bp) shared rearrangement. These results
      demonstrate that (H)PE-DeltaMPT64-BCG is one of the most effective new vaccines
      tested so far in the mouse model of tuberculosis and underscore the impact of
      antigen cellular localization on the induction of the specific immune response
      induced by rBCG.

PMID- 20921147
TI  - Nod1 and Nod2 regulation of inflammation in the Salmonella colitis model.
AB  - The pattern recognition molecules Nod1 and Nod2 play important roles in
      intestinal homeostasis; however, how these proteins impact on the development of
      inflammation during bacterial colitis has not been examined. In the streptomycin
      treated mouse model of Salmonella colitis, we found that mice deficient for both
      Nod1 and Nod2 had attenuated inflammatory pathology, reduced levels of
      inflammatory cytokines, and increased colonization of the mucosal tissue. Nod1
      and Nod2 from both hematopoietic and nonhematopoietic sources contributed to the
      pathology, and all phenotypes were recapitulated in mice deficient for the
      signaling adaptor protein Rip2. However, the influence of Rip2 was strictly
      dependent on infection conditions that favored expression of the Salmonella
      pathogenicity island 2 (SPI-2) type III secretion system (TTSS), as Rip2 was
      dispensable for inflammation when mice were infected with bacteria grown under
      conditions that promoted expression of the SPI-1 TTSS. Thus, Nod1 and Nod2 can
      modulate inflammation and mediate efficient clearance of bacteria from the
      mucosal tissue during Salmonella colitis, but their role is dependent on the
      expression of the SPI-2 TTSS.

PMID- 20921148
TI  - Effects of the putative transcriptional regulator IclR on Francisella tularensis
      pathogenesis.
AB  - Francisella tularensis is a highly virulent Gram-negative bacterium and is the
      etiological agent of the disease tularemia. IclR, a presumed transcriptional
      regulator, is required for full virulence of the animal pathogen, F. tularensis
      subspecies novicida U112 (53). In this study, we investigated the contribution of
      IclR to the intracellular growth, virulence, and gene regulation of human
      pathogenic F. tularensis subspecies. Deletion of iclR from the live vaccine
      strain (LVS) and SchuS4 strain of F. tularensis subsp. holarctica and F.
      tularensis subsp. tularensis, respectively, did not affect their abilities to
      replicate within macrophages or epithelial cells. In contrast to F. tularensis
      subsp. novicida iclR mutants, LVS and SchuS4 DeltaiclR strains were as virulent
      as their wild-type parental strains in intranasal inoculation mouse models of
      tularemia. Furthermore, wild-type LVS and LVSDeltaiclR were equally cytotoxic and
      induced equivalent levels of interleukin-1beta expression by infected bone marrow
      derived macrophages. Microarray analysis revealed that the relative expression of
      a limited number of genes differed significantly between LVS wild-type and
      DeltaiclR strains. Interestingly, many of the identified genes were disrupted in
      LVS and SchuS4 but not in their corresponding F. tularensis subsp. novicida U112
      homologs. Thus, despite the impact of iclR deletion on gene expression, and in
      contrast to the effects of iclR deletion on F. tularensis subsp. novicida
      virulence, IclR does not contribute significantly to the virulence or
      pathogenesis of F. tularensis LVS or SchuS4.

PMID- 20921149
TI  - Interleukin-17 is not required for classical macrophage activation in a pulmonary
      mouse model of Cryptococcus neoformans infection.
AB  - Cryptococcus neoformans is an opportunistic fungal pathogen that causes disease
      in individuals with suppressed cell-mediated immunity. Recent studies in our
      laboratory have shown that increases in pulmonary Th1-type and interleukin-17A
      (IL-17A) cytokine production, classical macrophage activation, and sterilizing
      immunity are elicited in response to infection with a gamma interferon (IFN
      gamma)-producing C. neoformans strain, H99gamma. IL-17A-treated macrophages,
      compared to IL-4-treated macrophages, have been demonstrated to exhibit increased
      microbicidal activity in vitro, a characteristic consistent with classical
      macrophage activation. The purpose of these studies is to determine the role of
      IL-17A in the induction of classically activated macrophages following infection
      with C. neoformans. Immunohistochemistry and real-time PCR were used to
      characterize the macrophage activation phenotype in lung tissues of mice treated
      with isotype control or anti-IL-17A antibodies and given an experimental
      pulmonary infection with C. neoformans strain H99gamma. The pulmonary fungal
      burden was resolved, albeit more slowly, in mice depleted of IL-17A compared to
      the fungal burden in isotype control-treated mice. Nonetheless, no difference in
      classical macrophage activation was observed in IL-17A-depleted mice. Similarly,
      classical macrophage activation was evident in mice deficient in IL-17A or the IL
      17 receptor A, which mediates IL-17A signaling, following pulmonary infection
      with wild-type C. neoformans strain H99 or H99gamma. These studies suggest that
      IL-17A may play a role in the early immune response to C. neoformans but is not
      required for classical macrophage activation in mice experimentally infected with
      C. neoformans.

PMID- 20921151
TI  - Is there a relationship between forefoot alignment and ingrown toenail? A case
      control study.
AB  - Biomechanical imbalance between the hallux and the second toe and external
      compression of the lateral nail fold are proposed as the main reasons for ingrown
      toenail. Therefore, any anatomical predisposition facilitating this compression
      may play a role in the occurrence of ingrown toenail. The purpose of this study
      is to investigate the relationship between forefoot alignment and ingrown
      toenail. The authors retrospectively reviewed radiographs of 81 patients with
      ingrown toenails and compared them with 100 healthy subjects regarding forefoot
      alignment. Hallux valgus angle (HVA), intermetatarsal angle (IMA), and
      interphalangeal angle (IPA) were measured, and feet were classified according to
      digital formula as Egyptian, Greek, and square. The mean HVA was 14.5 degrees  +/
      5.0 degrees  in the case group and 13.2 degrees  +/- 5.9 degrees  in the control
      group. The mean IMA was 9.1 degrees  +/- 2.5 degrees  in the case group and 8.6
      degrees  +/- 3.1 degrees  in the control group. The mean IPA was 11.9 degrees  +/
      4.1 degrees  in the case group and 12.0 degrees  +/- 5.1 degrees  in the control
      group. There was no statistically significant difference between the groups
      regarding HVA, IMA, or IPA (P = .123, P = .198, and P = .925, respectively). The
      distribution of foot types between groups was also similar (P = .967). This study
      has failed to demonstrate any abnormality in forefoot alignment in patients with
      symptomatic ingrowing toenails, and it is suggested that treatment should not be
      based on the correction of the anatomy if no abnormality exists.

PMID- 20921150
TI  - CD46 engagement on human CD4+ T cells produces T regulatory type 1-like
      regulation of antimycobacterial T cell responses.
AB  - Understanding the regulation of human immune responses is critical for vaccine
      development and treating infectious diseases. We have previously shown that
      simultaneous engagement of the T cell receptor (TCR) and complement regulator
      CD46 on human CD4(+) T cells in the presence of interleukin-2 (IL-2) induces
      potent secretion of the immunomodulatory cytokine IL-10. These T cells mediate IL
      10-dependent suppression of bystander CD4(+) T cells activated in vitro with anti
      CD3 and anti-CD28 costimulation, reflecting a T regulatory type 1 (Tr1)-like
      phenotype. However, CD46-mediated negative regulation of pathogen-specific T
      cells has not been described. Therefore, we studied the ability of CD46-activated
      human CD4(+) T cells to suppress T cell responses to Mycobacterium bovis BCG, the
      live vaccine that provides infants protection against the major human pathogen
      Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Our results demonstrate that soluble factors secreted
      by CD46-activated human CD4(+) T cells suppress mycobacterium-specific CD4(+),
      CD8(+), and gamma(9)delta(2) TCR(+) T cells. Dendritic cell functions were not
      downregulated in our experiments, indicating that CD46-triggered factors directly
      suppress pathogen-specific T cells. Interestingly, IL-10 appeared to play a less
      pronounced role in our system, especially in the suppression of gamma(9)delta(2)
      TCR(+) T cells, suggesting the presence of additional undiscovered soluble
      immunoregulatory factors. Blocking endogenous CD46 signaling 3 days after
      mycobacterial infection enhanced BCG-specific T cell responses in a subset of
      volunteers. Taken together, these results indicate that CD46-dependent negative
      regulatory mechanisms can impair T cell responses vital for immune defense
      against mycobacteria. Therefore, modulating CD46-induced immune regulation could
      be integral to the development of improved tuberculosis therapeutics or vaccines.

PMID- 20921152
TI  - Bilateral atraumatic sequential rupture of tibialis anterior tendons.
AB  - Tibialis anterior tendon ruptures are rare but debilitating injuries. A high
      index of suspicion is warranted in patients presenting with atraumatic anterior
      ankle pain, especially in conjunction with diabetes or inflammatory disease. The
      authors present a case report of bilateral sequential rupture of tibialis
      anterior tendons, a discussion of management, and a review of the literature.

PMID- 20921153
TI  - Diffuse edema and bilateral massive pleural effusion as the presentation of
      systemic lupus erythematosus.
AB  - A rare case of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), with massive bilateral pleural
      effusions and generalized edema as the first manifestations, is reported. The
      patient was a previously healthy 13-year-old boy. He presented with a history of
      fever, lack of appetite, gradually increasing fatigue, cough, diffuse edema, and
      moderate dyspnea. He responded well to corticosteroids with resolution of the
      pleural effusions, and edema. SLE should always be kept in mind in cases of
      massive pleural effusions and/or diffuse edema, even in the absence of other
      clinical manifestations of the disease.

PMID- 20921154
TI  - Acute scrotum in a neonate caused by renal vein thrombosis.
AB  - The authors report on a rare case of neonatal scrotal oedema occurring
      concurrently with pain upon palpation of the spermatic cord on the first day of
      life. An ultrasound examination showed poor perfusion of the left testicle and a
      thrombosis of the left renal vein; intraoperative exploration indicated necrosis
      of the left testicle without signs of torsion. Gorged vessels with paravasal
      bleeding were found in the spermatic cord. The authors hypothesise that necrosis
      of the testicle may result from haemorrhagic infarction caused by renal venous
      thrombosis. Acute scrotal discolouration with pain upon palpation in neonates is
      usually attributed to testicular torsion. The authors report a case where these
      symptoms had a different cause.

PMID- 20921155
TI  - Cross talk between the KNOX and ethylene pathways is mediated by intron-binding
      transcription factors in barley.
AB  - In the barley (Hordeum vulgare) Hooded (Kap) mutant, the duplication of a 305-bp
      intron sequence leads to the overexpression of the Barley knox3 (Bkn3) gene,
      resulting in the development of an extra flower in the spikelet. We used a one
      hybrid screen to identify four proteins that bind the intron-located regulatory
      element (Kap intron-binding proteins). Three of these, Barley Ethylene Response
      Factor1 (BERF1), Barley Ethylene Insensitive Like1 (BEIL1), and Barley Growth
      Regulating Factor1 (BGRF1), were characterized and their in vitro DNA-binding
      capacities verified. Given the homology of BERF1 and BEIL1 to ethylene signaling
      proteins, we investigated if these factors might play a dual role in intron
      mediated regulation and ethylene response. In transgenic rice (Oryza sativa),
      constitutive expression of the corresponding genes produced phenotypic
      alterations consistent with perturbations in ethylene levels and variations in
      the expression of a key gene of ethylene biosynthesis. In barley, ethylene
      treatment results in partial suppression of the Kap phenotype, accompanied by up
      regulation of BERF1 and BEIL1 expression, followed by down-regulation of Bkn3
      mRNA levels. In rice protoplasts, BEIL1 activates the expression of a reporter
      gene driven by the 305-bp intron element, while BERF1 can counteract this
      activation. Thus, BEIL1 and BERF1, likely in association with other Kap intron
      binding proteins, should mediate the fine-tuning of Bkn3 expression by ethylene.
      We propose a hypothesis for the cross talk between the KNOX and ethylene
      pathways.

PMID- 20921157
TI  - Plant Physiology celebrates its 25,000th article!

PMID- 20921156
TI  - The Arabidopsis Botrytis Susceptible1 Interactor defines a subclass of RING E3
      ligases that regulate pathogen and stress responses.
AB  - We studied the function of Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) Botrytis
      Susceptible1 Interactor (BOI) in plant responses to pathogen infection and
      abiotic stress. BOI physically interacts with and ubiquitinates Arabidopsis BOS1,
      an R2R3MYB transcription factor previously implicated in stress and pathogen
      responses. In transgenic plants expressing the BOS1-beta-glucuronidase transgene,
      beta-glucuronidase activity could be detected only after inhibition of the
      proteosome, suggesting that BOS1 is a target of ubiquitin-mediated degradation by
      the proteosome. Plants with reduced BOI transcript levels generated through RNA
      interference (BOI RNAi) were more susceptible to the necrotrophic fungus Botrytis
      cinerea and less tolerant to salt stress. In addition, BOI RNAi plants exhibited
      increased cell death induced by the phytotoxin alpha-picolinic acid and by a
      virulent strain of the bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas syringae, coincident with
      peak disease symptoms. However, the hypersensitive cell death associated with
      different race-specific resistance genes was unaffected by changes in the level
      of BOI transcript. BOI expression was enhanced by B. cinerea and salt stress but
      repressed by the plant hormone gibberellin, indicating a complex regulation of
      BOI gene expression. Interestingly, BOI RNAi plants exhibit reduced growth
      responsiveness to gibberellin. We also present data revealing the function of
      three Arabidopsis BOI-RELATED GENES (BRGs), which contribute to B. cinerea
      resistance and the suppression of disease-associated cell death. In sum, BOI and
      BRGs represent a subclass of RING E3 ligases that contribute to plant disease
      resistance and abiotic stress tolerance through the suppression of pathogen
      induced as well as stress-induced cell death.

PMID- 20921158
TI  - Early evolution of photosynthesis.

PMID- 20921159
TI  - Basal signaling regulates plant growth and development.

PMID- 20921160
TI  - Emerging complexity in reactive oxygen species production and signaling during
      the response of plants to pathogens.

PMID- 20921161
TI  - Understanding lignification: challenges beyond monolignol biosynthesis.

PMID- 20921162
TI  - Flavonoids and isoflavonoids: from plant biology to agriculture and neuroscience.

PMID- 20921164
TI  - Opportunities to explore plant membrane organization with super-resolution
      microscopy.

PMID- 20921163
TI  - Endoplasmic reticulum: the rising compartment in auxin biology.

PMID- 20921165
TI  - Plant biology in the fourth dimension.

PMID- 20921166
TI  - Ubiquitin ligase-coupled receptors extend their reach to jasmonate.

PMID- 20921167
TI  - Genome-enabled research on the ecology of plant-insect interactions.

PMID- 20921168
TI  - Abscisic acid receptors.

PMID- 20921169
TI  - Plant cell walls.

PMID- 20921170
TI  - The perception of cytokinin: a story 50 years in the making.

PMID- 20921171
TI  - Climbing the branches of the strigolactones pathway one discovery at a time.

PMID- 20921172
TI  - Twenty-first century plant biology: impacts of the Arabidopsis genome on plant
      biology and agriculture.

PMID- 20921173
TI  - The power of auxin in plants.

PMID- 20921174
TI  - Do transcription factors play special roles in adaptive variation?

PMID- 20921175
TI  - The elements of plant micronutrients.

PMID- 20921176
TI  - The timing of flowering.

PMID- 20921177
TI  - Oxidative stress: antagonistic signaling for acclimation or cell death?

PMID- 20921178
TI  - How do we improve crop production in a warming world?

PMID- 20921179
TI  - Gene clusters for secondary metabolic pathways: an emerging theme in plant
      biology.

PMID- 20921180
TI  - Plant immunity: it's the hormones talking, but what do they say?

PMID- 20921181
TI  - The past, present, and future of vegetative phase change.

PMID- 20921182
TI  - Understanding plant vacuolar trafficking from a systems biology perspective.

PMID- 20921183
TI  - Pathogen-associated molecular pattern-triggered immunity: veni, vidi...?

PMID- 20921184
TI  - Lignin and biomass: a negative correlation for wood formation and lignin content
      in trees.

PMID- 20921185
TI  - Discover and connect cellular signaling.

PMID- 20921186
TI  - Gibberellin-GID1-DELLA: a pivotal regulatory module for plant growth and
      development.

PMID- 20921187
TI  - Molecular basis of plant cold acclimation: insights gained from studying the CBF
      cold response pathway.

PMID- 20921188
TI  - The puzzle of phloem pressure.

PMID- 20921189
TI  - Quantitative trait loci, epigenetics, sugars, and microRNAs: quaternaries in
      phosphate acquisition and use.

PMID- 20921190
TI  - Enhancing C3 photosynthesis.

PMID- 20921191
TI  - From endosymbiosis to synthetic photosynthetic life.

PMID- 20921192
TI  - Evolution of C4 photosynthesis--looking for the master switch.

PMID- 20921193
TI  - Retraction.

PMID- 20921194
TI  - Expression of early growth response protein 1 in vasopressin neurones of the rat
      anterior olfactory nucleus following social odour exposure.
AB  - The anterior olfactory nucleus (AON), a component of the main olfactory system,
      is a cortical region that processes olfactory information and acts as a relay
      between the main olfactory bulbs and higher brain regions such as the piriform
      cortex. Utilizing a transgenic rat in which an enhanced green fluorescent protein
      reporter gene is expressed in vasopressin neurones (eGFP-vasopressin), we have
      discovered a population of vasopressin neurones in the AON. These vasopressin
      neurones co-express vasopressin V1 receptors. They also co-express GABA and
      calbinin-D28k indicating that they are neurochemically different from the newly
      described vasopressin neurons in the main olfactory bulb. We utilized the
      immediate early gene product, early growth response protein 1 (Egr-1), to examine
      the functional role of these vasopressin neurons in processing social and non
      social odours in the AON. Exposure of adult rats to a conspecific juvenile or a
      heterospecific predator odour leads to increases in Egr-1 expression in the AON
      in a subregion specific manner. However, only exposure to a juvenile increases
      Egr-1 expression in AON vasopressin neurons. These data suggest that vasopressin
      neurones in the AON may be selectively involved in the coding of social odour
      information.

PMID- 20921195
TI  - Lung volume does not alter the distribution of pulmonary perfusion in dependent
      lung in supine humans.
AB  - There is a gravitational influence on pulmonary perfusion, including in the most
      dependent lung, where perfusion is reduced, termed Zone 4. Studies using xenon
      133 show Zone 4 behaviour, present in the dependent 4 cm at total lung capacity
      (TLC), affects the dependent 11 cm at functional residual capacity (FRC) and
      almost all the lung at residual volume (RV). These differences were ascribed to
      increased resistance in extra-alveolar vessels at low lung volumes although other
      mechanisms have been proposed. To further evaluate the behaviour of perfusion in
      dependent lung using a technique that directly measures pulmonary perfusion and
      corrects for tissue distribution by measuring regional proton density, seven
      healthy subjects (age = 38 +/- 6 years, FEV1 = 104 +/- 7% predicted) underwent
      magnetic resonance imaging in supine posture. Data were acquired in the right
      lung during breath-holds at RV, FRC and TLC. Arterial spin labelling quantified
      regional pulmonary perfusion, which was normalized for regional proton density
      measured using a fast low-angle shot technique. The height of the onset of Zone 4
      behaviour was not different between lung volumes (P = 0.23). There were no
      significant differences in perfusion (expressed as ml min-1 g-1) between lung
      volumes in the gravitationally intermediate (RV = 8.9 +/- 3.1, FRC = 8.1 +/- 2.9,
      TLC = 7.4 +/- 3.6; P = 0.26) and dependent lung (RV = 6.6 +/- 2.4, FRC = 6.1 +/-
      2.1, TLC = 6.4 +/- 2.6; P = 0.51). However, at TLC perfusion was significantly
      lower in non-dependent lung than at FRC or RV (3.6 +/- 3.3, 7.7 +/- 1.5, 7.9 +/-
      2.0, respectively; P < 0.001). These data suggest that the mechanism of the
      reduction in perfusion in dependent lung is unlikely to be a result of lung
      volume related increases in resistance in extra-alveolar vessels. In supine
      posture, the gravitational influence on perfusion is remarkably similar over most
      of the lung, irrespective of lung volume.

PMID- 20921196
TI  - Repeated transient mRNA bursts precede increases in transcriptional and
      mitochondrial proteins during training in human skeletal muscle.
AB  - Exercise training induces mitochondrial biogenesis, but the time course of
      molecular sequelae that accompany repetitive training stimuli remains to be
      determined in human skeletal muscle. Therefore, throughout a seven-session, high
      intensity interval training period that increased (12%), we examined the time
      course of responses of (a) mitochondrial biogenesis and fusion and fission
      proteins, and (b) selected transcriptional and mitochondrial mRNAs and proteins
      in human muscle. Muscle biopsies were obtained 4 and 24 h after the 1st, 3rd, 5th
      and 7th training session. PGC-1alpha mRNA was increased >10-fold 4 h after the
      1st session and returned to control within 24 h. This 'saw-tooth' pattern
      continued until the 7th bout, with smaller increases after each bout. In
      contrast, PGC-1alpha protein was increased 24 h after the 1st bout (23%) and
      plateaued at +30-40% between the 3rd and 7th bout. Increases in PGC-1beta mRNA
      and protein were more delayed and smaller, and did not persist. Distinct patterns
      of increases were observed in peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)
      alpha and gamma protein (1 session), PPAR beta/delta mRNA and protein (5
      sessions) and nuclear respiratory factor-2 protein (3 sessions) while no changes
      occurred in mitochondrial transcription factor A protein. Citrate synthase (CS)
      and beta-HAD mRNA were rapidly increased (1 session), followed 2 sessions later
      (session 3) by increases in CS and beta-HAD activities, and mitochondrial DNA.
      Changes in COX-IV mRNA (session 3) and protein (session 5) were more delayed.
      Training also increased mitochondrial fission proteins (fission protein-1, >2
      fold; dynamin-related protein-1, 47%) and the fusion protein mitofusin-1 (35%)
      but not mitofusin-2. This study has provided the following novel information: (a)
      the training-induced increases in transcriptional and mitochondrial proteins
      appear to result from the cumulative effects of transient bursts in their mRNAs,
      (b) training-induced mitochondrial biogenesis appears to involve re-modelling in
      addition to increased mitochondrial content, and (c) the 'transcriptional
      capacity' of human muscle is extremely sensitive, being activated by one training
      bout.

PMID- 20921197
TI  - Differential sensitivity of Ca2+ wave and Ca2+ spark events to ruthenium red in
      isolated permeabilised rabbit cardiomyocytes.
AB  - Spontaneous Ca2(+) waves in cardiac muscle cells are thought to arise from the
      sequential firing of local Ca2(+) sparks via a fire-diffuse-fire mechanism. This
      study compares the ability of the ryanodine receptor (RyR) blocker ruthenium red
      (RuR) to inhibit these two types of Ca2(+) release in permeabilised rabbit
      ventricular cardiomyocytes. Perfusing with 600 nm Ca2(+) (50 MUm EGTA) caused
      regular spontaneous Ca2(+) waves that were imaged with the fluorescence from Fluo
      5F using a laser-scanning confocal microscope. Addition of 4 MUm RuR caused
      complete inhibition of Ca2(+) waves in 50% of cardiomyocytes by 2 min and in 100%
      by 4 min. Separate experiments used 350 MUm EGTA (600 nm Ca2(+)) to limit Ca2(+)
      diffusion but allow the underlying Ca(2+) sparks to be imaged. The time course of
      RuR-induced inhibition did not match that of waves. After 2 min of RuR, none of
      the characteristics of the Ca2(+) sparks were altered, and after 4 min Ca2(+)
      spark frequency was reduced ~40%; no sparks could be detected after 10 min.
      Measurements of Ca(2+) within the SR lumen using Fluo-5N showed an increase in
      intra-SR Ca2(+) during the initial 2-4 min of perfusion with RuR in both wave and
      spark conditions. Computational modelling suggests that the sensitivity of Ca2(+)
      waves to RuR block depends on the number of RyRs per cluster. Therefore
      inhibition of Ca2(+) waves without affecting Ca2(+) sparks may be explained by
      block of small, non-spark producing clusters of RyRs that are important to the
      process of Ca2(+) wave propagation.

PMID- 20921198
TI  - The sense of self-motion, orientation and balance explored by vestibular
      stimulation.
AB  - The sense of orientation during locomotion is derived from our spatial
      relationship with the external environment, sensed predominantly by sight and
      sound, and from internal signals of motion, generated by the vestibular sense and
      the pattern of efferent and afferent signals to the muscles and joints. The
      sensory channels operate in different reference frames and have different time
      dependent adaptive properties and yet the inputs are combined by the central
      nervous system to create an internal representation of self-motion. In normal
      circumstances vestibular, visual and proprioceptive cues provide congruent
      information on locomotor trajectory; however, in cases of sensory discord there
      must be a recalibration of sensory signals to provide a unitary representation.
      We develop a means of studying these fusion processes by perturbing each channel
      in isolation about a consistent behavioural axis. This review focuses on creating
      the vestibular perturbation of the orientation sense by transmastoidal galvanic
      stimulation, a technique generally used to evoke balance reflexes. Vector
      summation across the population of semicircular canal afferents creates a net
      signal that is interpreted by the brain as a vector of angular acceleration in a
      craniocentric reference frame. The signal feeds perceptual processes of
      orientation after transformation that resolves the 3-D signal onto the
      terrestrial or behavioural plane. Changing head posture changes the
      interpretation of the galvanic vestibular signal for balance and orientation
      responses. With appropriate head alignments during locomotion, the galvanic
      stimulus can be used to either steer trajectory over the terrestrial plane or
      perturb balance.

PMID- 20921199
TI  - The neglected role of insulin-like growth factors in the maternal circulation
      regulating fetal growth.
AB  - Maternal insulin-like growth factors (IGFs) play a pivotal role in modulating
      fetal growth via their actions on both the mother and the placenta. Circulating
      IGFs influence maternal tissue growth and metabolism, thereby regulating nutrient
      availability for the growth of the conceptus. Maternal IGFs also regulate
      placental morphogenesis, substrate transport and hormone secretion, all of which
      influence fetal growth either via indirect effects on maternal substrate
      availability, or through direct effects on the placenta and its capacity to
      supply nutrients to the fetus. The extent to which IGFs influence the mother
      and/or placenta are dependent on the species and maternal factors, including age
      and nutrition. As altered fetal growth is associated with increased perinatal
      morbidity and mortality and a greater risk of developing degenerative diseases in
      adult life, understanding the role of maternal IGFs during pregnancy is essential
      in order to identify mechanisms underlying altered fetal growth and offspring
      programming.

PMID- 20921200
TI  - Correlated firing among major ganglion cell types in primate retina.
AB  - Retinal ganglion cells exhibit substantial correlated firing: a tendency to fire
      nearly synchronously at rates different from those expected by chance. These
      correlations suggest that network interactions significantly shape the visual
      signal transmitted from the eye to the brain. This study describes the degree and
      structure of correlated firing among the major ganglion cell types in primate
      retina. Correlated firing among ON and OFF parasol, ON and OFF midget, and small
      bistratified cells, which together constitute roughly 75% of the input to higher
      visual areas, was studied using large-scale multi-electrode recordings.
      Correlated firing in the presence of constant, spatially uniform illumination
      exhibited characteristic strength, time course and polarity within and across
      cell types. Pairs of nearby cells with the same light response polarity were
      positively correlated; cells with the opposite polarity were negatively
      correlated. The strength of correlated firing declined systematically with
      distance for each cell type, in proportion to the degree of receptive field
      overlap. The pattern of correlated firing across cell types was similar at
      photopic and scotopic light levels, although additional slow correlations were
      present at scotopic light levels. Similar results were also observed in two other
      retinal ganglion cell types. Most of these observations are consistent with the
      hypothesis that shared noise from photoreceptors is the dominant cause of
      correlated firing. Surprisingly, small bistratified cells, which receive ON input
      from S cones, fired synchronously with ON parasol and midget cells, which receive
      ON input primarily from L and M cones. Collectively, these results provide an
      overview of correlated firing across cell types in the primate retina, and
      constraints on the underlying mechanisms.

PMID- 20921201
TI  - Hyperoxia blunts counterregulation during hypoglycaemia in humans: possible role
      for the carotid bodies?
AB  - Chemoreceptors in the carotid bodies sense arterial oxygen tension and regulate
      respiration. Isolated carotid body glomus cells also sense glucose, and animal
      studies have shown the carotid bodies play a role in the counterregulatory
      response to hypoglycaemia. Thus, we hypothesized that glucose infusion rate would
      be augmented and neuro-hormonal counterregulation blunted during hypoglycaemia
      when the carotid bodies were desensitized by hyperoxia. Seven healthy adults
      (four male, three female) underwent two 180 min hyperinsulinaemic (2 mU (kg fat
      free mass (FFM))(-1) min(-1)), hypoglycaemic (3.33 mmol l(-1)) clamps 1 week
      apart, randomized to either normoxia (arterial P(O2) (P(aO2)) 111 +/- 6.3 mmHg)
      or hyperoxia (P(aO2) 345 +/- 80.6 mmHg) (P < 0.05). Plasma glucose concentrations
      were similar during normoxia and hyperoxia at baseline (5.52 +/- 0.15 vs. 5.55 +/
      0.13 MUmol ml(-1)) and during the clamp (3.4 +/- 0.05 vs. 3.3 +/- 0.05 MUmol ml(
      1)). The glucose infusion rate was 44.2 +/- 3.5% higher (P < 0.01) during
      hyperoxia than normoxia at steady state during the clamp (28.2 +/- 0.15 vs. 42.7
      +/- 0.65 MUmol (kg FFM)(-1) min(-1); P < 0.01). Area under the curve values
      (expressed as percentage normoxia response) for counterregulatory hormones during
      hypoglycaemia were significantly suppressed by hyperoxia (noradrenaline 50.7 +/-
      5.2%, adrenaline 62.6 +/- 3.3%, cortisol 63.2 +/- 2.1%, growth hormone 53.1 +/-
      2.7%, glucagon 48.6 +/- 2.1%, all P < 0.05 vs. normoxia). These data support the
      idea that the carotid bodies respond to glucose and play a role in the
      counterregulatory response to hypoglycaemia in humans.

PMID- 20921203
TI  - Multisensory space: from eye-movements to self-motion.
AB  - We perceive the world around us as stable. This is remarkable given that our body
      parts as well as we ourselves are constantly in motion. Humans and other primates
      move their eyes more often than their hearts beat. Such eye movements lead to
      coherent motion of the images of the outside world across the retina.
      Furthermore, during everyday life, we constantly approach targets, avoid
      obstacles or otherwise move in space. These movements induce motion across
      different sensory receptor epithels: optical flow across the retina, tactile flow
      across the body surface and even auditory flow as detected from the two ears. It
      is generally assumed that motion signals as induced by one's own movement have to
      be identified and differentiated from the real motion in the outside world. In a
      number of experimental studies we and others have functionally characterized the
      primate posterior parietal cortex (PPC) and its role in multisensory encoding of
      spatial and motion information. Extracellular recordings in the macaque monkey
      showed that during steady fixation the visual, auditory and tactile spatial
      representations in the ventral intraparietal area (VIP) are congruent. This
      finding was of major importance given that a functional MRI (fMRI) study
      determined the functional equivalent of macaque area VIP in humans. Further
      recordings in other areas of the dorsal stream of the visual cortical system of
      the macaque pointed towards the neural basis of perceptual phenomena (heading
      detection during eye movements, saccadic suppression, mislocalization of visual
      stimuli during eye movements) as determined in psychophysical studies in humans.

PMID- 20921202
TI  - Neuroeffector apparatus in gastrointestinal smooth muscle organs.
AB  - Control of gastrointestinal (GI) movements by enteric motoneurons is critical for
      orderly processing of food, absorption of nutrients and elimination of wastes.
      Work over the past several years has suggested that motor neurotransmission is
      more complicated than simple release of transmitter from nerve terminals and
      binding of receptors on smooth muscle cells. In fact the 'neuro-effector'
      junction in the tunica muscularis might consist of synaptic-like connectivity
      with specialized cells, and contributions from multiple cell types in integrated
      post-junctional responses. Interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC) were proposed as
      potential mediators in motor neurotransmission based on reduced post-junctional
      responses observed in W mutants that have reduced populations of ICC. More recent
      studies on W mutants have contradicted the original findings, and suggested that
      ICC may not be significant players in motor neurotransmission. This review
      examines the evidence for and against the role of ICC in motor neurotransmission
      and outlines areas for additional investigation that would help further resolve
      this controversy.

PMID- 20921205
TI  - Therapeutic potential of ketotifen in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) may involve
      changes in mast cells at sites beyond the rectum.

PMID- 20921206
TI  - Autologous bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stromal cell treatment for refractory
      luminal Crohn's disease: results of a phase I study.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIM: Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) are pluripotent cells that
      have immunosuppressive effects both in vitro and in experimental colitis.
      Promising results of MSC therapy have been obtained in patients with severe graft
      versus host disease of the gut. Our objective was to determine the safety and
      feasibility of autologous bone marrow derived MSC therapy in patients with
      refractory Crohn's disease. PATIENTS AND INTERVENTION: 10 adult patients with
      refractory Crohn's disease (eight females and two males) underwent bone marrow
      aspiration under local anaesthesia. Bone marrow MSCs were isolated and expanded
      ex vivo. MSCs were tested for phenotype and functionality in vitro. 9 patients
      received two doses of 1-2*10(6) cells/kg body weight, intravenously, 7 days
      apart. During follow-up, possible side effects and changes in patients' Crohn's
      disease activity index (CDAI) scores were monitored. Colonoscopies were performed
      at weeks 0 and 6, and mucosal inflammation was assessed by using the Crohn's
      disease endoscopic index of severity. RESULTS: MSCs isolated from patients with
      Crohn's disease showed similar morphology, phenotype and growth potential
      compared to MSCs from healthy donors. Importantly, immunomodulatory capacity was
      intact, as Crohn's disease MSCs significantly reduced peripheral blood
      mononuclear cell proliferation in vitro. MSC infusion was without side effects,
      besides a mild allergic reaction probably due to the cryopreservant DMSO in one
      patient. Baseline median CDAI was 326 (224-378). Three patients showed clinical
      response (CDAI decrease >=70 from baseline) 6 weeks post-treatment; conversely
      three patients required surgery due to disease worsening. CONCLUSIONS:
      Administration of autologous bone marrow derived MSCs appears safe and feasible
      in the treatment of refractory Crohn's disease. No serious adverse events were
      detected during bone marrow harvesting and administration.

PMID- 20921207
TI  - Colorectal cancer molecular biology moves into clinical practice.
AB  - The promise of personalised medicine is now a clinical reality, with colorectal
      cancer genetics at the forefront of this next major advance in clinical medicine.
      This is no more evident than in the recent advances in testing of colorectal
      cancers for specific molecular alterations in order to guide treatment with the
      monoclonal antibody therapies cetuximab and panitumumab, which target the
      epidermal growth factor receptor. In this review, genetic mechanisms of
      colorectal cancer and how these alterations relate to emerging biomarkers for
      early detection and risk stratification (diagnostic markers), prognosis
      (prognostic markers) and the prediction of treatment responses (predictive
      markers) are examined.

PMID- 20921208
TI  - Lack of TRPM2 impaired insulin secretion and glucose metabolisms in mice.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: TRPM2 is a Ca2(+)-permeable nonselective cation channel activated by
      adenosine dinucleotides. We previously demonstrated that TRPM2 is activated by
      coapplication of heat and intracellular cyclic adenosine 5'-diphosphoribose,
      which has been suggested to be involved in intracellular Ca2(+) increase in
      immunocytes and pancreatic beta-cells. To clarify the involvement of TRPM2 in
      insulin secretion, we analyzed TRPM2 knockout (TRPM2-KO) mice. RESEARCH DESIGN
      AND METHODS: Oral and intraperitoneal glucose tolerance tests (OGTT and IPGTT)
      were performed in TRPM2-KO and wild-type mice. We also measured cytosolic free
      Ca2(+) in single pancreatic cells using fura-2 microfluorometry and insulin
      secretion from pancreatic islets. RESULTS: Basal blood glucose levels were higher
      in TRPM2-KO mice than in wild-type mice without any difference in plasma insulin
      levels. The OGTT and IPGTT demonstrated that blood glucose levels in TRPM2-KO
      mice were higher than those in wild-type mice, which was associated with an
      impairment in insulin secretion. In isolated beta-cells, smaller intracellular
      Ca2(+) increase was observed in response to high concentrations of glucose and
      incretin hormone in TRPM2-KO cells than in wild-type cells. Moreover, insulin
      secretion from the islets of TRPM2-KO mice in response to glucose and incretin
      hormone treatment was impaired, whereas the response to tolbutamide, an ATP
      sensitive potassium channel inhibitor, was not different between the two groups.
      CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that TRPM2 is involved in insulin secretion
      stimulated by glucose and that further potentiated by incretins. Thus, TRPM2 may
      be a new target for diabetes therapy.

PMID- 20921209
TI  - Combination of temsirolimus (CCI-779) with chemoradiation in newly diagnosed
      glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) (NCCTG trial N027D) is associated with increased
      infectious risks.
AB  - PURPOSE: The mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) functions within the
      phosphoinositide 3-kinase/Akt signaling pathway as a critical modulator of cell
      survival. METHODS: The mTOR inhibitor temsirolimus (CCI-779) was combined with
      chemoradiotherapy in glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) patients in a dose-escalation
      phase I trial. The first 12 patients were treated with CCI-779 combined with
      radiation/temozolomide and adjuvant temozolomide. A second cohort of 13 patients
      was treated with concurrent CCI-779/radiation/temozolomide followed by adjuvant
      temozolomide monotherapy. RESULTS: Concomitant and adjuvant CCI-779 was
      associated with a high rate (3 of 12 patients) of grade 4/5 infections. By
      limiting CCI-779 treatment to the radiation/temozolomide phase and using
      antibiotic prophylaxis, the rate of infections was reduced, although 2 of 13
      patients developed exacerbation of pre-existing fungal or viral infections. Dose
      limiting toxicities were observed in 2 of 13 patients with this modified
      schedule. Weekly CCI-779 (50 mg/week) combined with radiation/temozolomide is the
      recommended phase II dose and schedule. The immune profile of patients in the
      second cohort was assessed before, during, and after CCI-779 therapy. There was
      robust suppression of helper and cytotoxic T cells, B cells, natural killer,
      cells and elevation of regulatory T cells during CCI-779/radiation/temozolomide
      therapy with recovery to baseline levels during adjuvant temozolomide of
      cytotoxic T cells, natural killer cells, and regulatory T cells. CONCLUSIONS: The
      increased infection rate observed with CCI-779 combined with chemoradiotherapy in
      GBM was reduced with antibiotic prophylaxis and by limiting the duration of CCI
      779 therapy. The combined suppressive effects of CCI-779 and temozolomide therapy
      on discrete immune compartments likely contributed to the increased infectious
      risks observed.

PMID- 20921210
TI  - Intratumoral mediated immunosuppression is prognostic in genetically engineered
      murine models of glioma and correlates to immunotherapeutic responses.
AB  - PURPOSE: Preclinical murine model systems used for the assessment of therapeutics
      have not been predictive of human clinical responses, primarily because their
      clonotypic nature does not recapitulate the heterogeneous biology and
      immunosuppressive mechanisms of humans. Relevant model systems with mice that are
      immunologically competent are needed to evaluate the efficacy of therapeutic
      agents, especially immunotherapeutics. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: Using the RCAS/Ntv-a
      system, mice were engineered to coexpress platelet-derived growth factor B (PDGF
      B) receptor + B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2) under the control of the glioneuronal
      specific Nestin promoter. The degree and type of tumor-mediated immunosuppression
      were determined in these endogenously arising gliomas on the basis of the
      presence of macrophages and regulatory T cells. The immunotherapeutic agent
      WP1066 was tested in vivo to assess therapeutic efficacy and immunomodulation.
      RESULTS: Ntv-a mice were injected with RCAS vectors to express PDGF-B + Bcl-2,
      resulting in both low- and high-grade gliomas. Consistent with observations in
      human high-grade gliomas, mice with high-grade gliomas also developed a marked
      intratumoral influx of macrophages that was influenced by tumor signal transducer
      and activator of transduction 3 (STAT3) expression. The presence of intratumoral
      F4/80 macrophages was a negative prognosticator for long-term survival. In mice
      coexpressing PDGF-B + Bcl-2that were treated with WP1066, there was 55.5%
      increase in median survival time (P < 0.01), with an associated inhibition of
      intratumoral STAT3 and macrophages. CONCLUSIONS: Although randomization is
      necessary for including mice in a therapeutic trial, these murine model systems
      are more suitable for testing therapeutics, especially immunotherapeutics, in the
      context of translational studies.

PMID- 20921211
TI  - Neuromuscular responses to hydration in moderate to warm ambient conditions
      during self-paced high-intensity exercise.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To examine the neuromuscular responses to 60 minutes of self-paced
      high-intensity exercise punctuated with 6 * 1-minute "all-out" sprints at 10
      minute intervals in moderate (19.8 degrees C, SEM 0.3) and warm (33.2, SEM 0.1),
      humid (~64% relative humidity) conditions with either complete hydration (CH) or
      without hydration (NF). DESIGN: Seven subjects (mean age 20.6 years (SE 1.1),
      mass 73.8 kg (SE 4.5), peak power 288 W (SE 11.3)) performed the time trial on
      four separate occasions, which were differentiated by ambient temperature and
      fluid ingestion. For each sprint interval, distance, power output and
      electromyographic (EMG) data from the rectus femoris and vastus lateralis muscles
      were recorded. RESULTS: The NF trials resulted in a reduction in body mass for
      the moderate and warm conditions of 1.7% and 2.1%, respectively. Final rectal
      temperatures were not different among conditions (~38.7 degrees C). Total body
      sweating was higher in the warm condition (19.1-21.3 ml/kg per hour) compared
      with the moderate condition (16.1-16.5 ml/kg per hour; p<0.05). Neither fluid
      ingestion nor ambient temperature altered total distance cycled for any of the
      trials (range 30.1-32.6 km). The normalised integrated EMG (as percentage of
      maximal voluntary contraction) when compared with the first sprint increased from
      sprint three for the rectus femoris muscle in both no and complete hydration but
      decreased for the vastus lateralis muscle. The mean percentile frequency shift
      increased for both the vastus lateralis and rectus femoris muscles in both no and
      complete hydration. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that the integrity of the
      neuromuscular system is adjusted according to hydration status and ambient
      temperatures during intense self-paced cycling.

PMID- 20921212
TI  - A-Z of nutritional supplements: dietary supplements, sports nutrition foods and
      ergogenic aids for health and performance--Part 13.

PMID- 20921213
TI  - A rare cause of acute abdominal pain in a young kickboxer.

PMID- 20921214
TI  - Serum uric acid levels predict new-onset type 2 diabetes in hospitalized patients
      with primary hypertension: the MAGIC study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Recent studies suggest that uric acid may predict the development of
      diabetes in the general population. Whether this association holds true in
      primary hypertension and is independent of renal function and metabolic syndrome
      is not clear at present. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: In a prospective,
      observational study, 758 untreated hypertensive patients were evaluated at
      baseline and followed-up for 11 years. RESULTS: A total of 8,332 person-years of
      follow-up revealed that slightly elevated uric acid levels (i.e., >=318 MUmol/l
      for women and >=420 MUmol/l for men) at baseline were associated with a
      significantly higher risk of developing diabetes (hazard ratio 3.65 [95% CI 1.99
      6.69], P < 0.0001), even after adjustment for several confounding factors such as
      metabolic syndrome (2.78 [1.35-5.70], P = 0.0054). CONCLUSIONS: Uric acid is an
      independent predictor of diabetes in primary hypertension.

PMID- 20921215
TI  - Frequent monitoring of A1C during pregnancy as a treatment tool to guide therapy.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: No guidelines for A1C measurement exist for women with gestational
      diabetes mellitus (GDM). The aim of this study was to document the rate of A1C
      decline in women with GDM. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Women with GDM in the
      Santa Barbara County Endocrine Clinic are managed with a carbohydrate-restricted
      diet and self-monitored blood glucose before and 1-h postprandial. Insulin is
      started if the preprandial glucose concentration is >=90 mg/dl and/or a 1-h
      postprandial glucose concentration is >=120 mg/dl. Capillary A1C was tested
      weekly using the DCA2000+ analyzer. RESULTS: Twenty-four women with GDM (aged
      29.0 +/- 7.3 years) with initial A1C >=7.0% were recruited. Baseline A1C was 8.8
      +/- 1.8%. Mean A1C decline was 0.47% per week (range 0.10-1.15%); the maximum was
      4.3% in 4 weeks. CONCLUSIONS: This study documents rapid decline in A1C during
      pregnancy and the utility of weekly A1C to guide therapy.

PMID- 20921216
TI  - Exercise-induced changes in metabolic intermediates, hormones, and inflammatory
      markers associated with improvements in insulin sensitivity.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To understand relationships between exercise training-mediated
      improvements in insulin sensitivity (S(I)) and changes in circulating
      concentrations of metabolic intermediates, hormones, and inflammatory mediators.
      RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Targeted mass spectrometry and enzyme-linked
      immunosorbent assays were used to quantify metabolic intermediates, hormones, and
      inflammatory markers at baseline, after 6 months of exercise training, and 2
      weeks after exercise training cessation (n = 53). A principal components analysis
      (PCA) strategy was used to relate changes in these intermediates to changes in
      S(I). RESULTS: PCA reduced the number of intermediates from 90 to 24 factors
      composed of biologically related components. With exercise training, improvements
      in S(I) were associated with reductions in by-products of fatty acid oxidation
      and increases in glycine and proline (P < 0.05, R2 = 0.59); these relationships
      were retained 15 days after cessation of exercise training (P < 0.05, R2 = 0.34).
      CONCLUSIONS: These observations support prior observations in animal models that
      exercise training promotes more efficient mitochondrial beta-oxidation and
      challenges current hypotheses regarding exercise training and glycine metabolism.

PMID- 20921217
TI  - Do physical activity and aerobic fitness moderate the association between birth
      weight and metabolic risk in youth?: the European Youth Heart Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Lower birth weight has been associated with a greater risk of
      metabolic diseases. The aim of this study was examine whether physical activity
      and aerobic fitness may modify associations between birth weigh and metabolic
      risk. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: The European Youth Heart Study is a population
      based study of 9 and 15 year olds (n = 1,254). Birth weight was maternally
      reported. Skin fold measures were used to calculate body fat and fat mass index
      (FMI = fat mass [kilograms]/height2). Insulin was measured using fasting blood
      samples. Physical activity was measured using a hip-worn accelerometer (MTI
      Actigraph) for >600 min/day for >=3 days and is expressed as "average activity"
      (counts per minute) and time spent in above moderate intensity activity (>2000
      cpm). Aerobic fitness was assessed using a maximal cycle ergometry test (watts
      per kilogram fat-free mass). RESULTS: Higher birth weight was associated with
      higher FMI (beta = 0.49 [95% CI 0.21-0.80]; P = 0.001) and greater waist
      circumference (0.90 [0.32-1.47]; P < 0.001), adjusted for sex, age-group, sexual
      maturity, height, and socioeconomic status. Lower birth weight was associated
      with higher fasting insulin only after further adjustment for adolescent waist
      circumference and height (-0.059 [-0.107 to -0.011]; P = 0.016). There was no
      evidence for any modification of the associations after adjustment for physical
      activity or aerobic fitness. CONCLUSIONS: The present study did not find any
      evidence that physical activity or aerobic fitness can moderate the associations
      among higher birth weight and increased fat mass and greater waist circumference
      or between lower birth weight and insulin resistance in healthy children and
      adolescents.

PMID- 20921218
TI  - Defective in cuticular ridges (DCR) of Arabidopsis thaliana, a gene associated
      with surface cutin formation, encodes a soluble diacylglycerol acyltransferase.
AB  - A key step in the triacylglycerol (TAG) biosynthetic pathway is the final
      acylation of diacylglycerol (DAG) by DAG acyltransferase. In silico analysis has
      revealed that the DCR (defective in cuticular ridges) (At5g23940) gene has a
      typical HX(4)D acyltransferase motif at the N-terminal end and a lipid binding
      motif VX(2)GF at the middle of the sequence. To understand the biochemical
      function, the gene was overexpressed in Escherichia coli, and the purified
      recombinant protein was found to acylate DAG specifically in an acyl-CoA
      dependent manner. Overexpression of At5g23940 in a Saccharomyces cerevisiae
      quadruple mutant deficient in DAG acyltransferases resulted in TAG accumulation.
      At5g23940 rescued the growth of this quadruple mutant in the oleate-containing
      medium, whereas empty vector control did not. Lipid particles were localized in
      the cytosol of At5g23940-transformed quadruple mutant cells, as observed by oil
      red O staining. There was an incorporation of 16-hydroxyhexadecanoic acid into
      TAG in At5g23940-transformed cells of quadruple mutant. Here we report a soluble
      acyl-CoA-dependent DAG acyltransferase from Arabidopsis thaliana. Taken together,
      these data suggest that a broad specific DAG acyltransferase may be involved in
      the cutin as well as in the TAG biosynthesis by supplying hydroxy fatty acid.

PMID- 20921219
TI  - Quality control of photosystem II: FtsH hexamers are localized near photosystem
      II at grana for the swift repair of damage.
AB  - The reaction center-binding D1 protein of Photosystem II is oxidatively damaged
      by excessive visible light or moderate heat stress. The metalloprotease FtsH has
      been suggested as responsible for the degradation of the D1 protein. We have
      analyzed the distribution and subunit structures of FtsH in spinach thylakoids
      and various membrane fractions derived from the thylakoids using clear native
      polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and Western blot analysis. FtsH was found not
      only in the stroma thylakoids but also in the Photosystem II-enriched grana
      membranes. Monomeric, dimeric, and hexameric FtsH proteases were present as major
      subunit structures in thylakoids, whereas only hexameric FtsH proteases were
      detected in Triton X-100-solubilized Photosystem II membranes. Importantly, among
      the membrane fractions examined, hexameric FtsH proteases were most abundant in
      the Photosystem II membranes. In accordance with this finding, D1 degradation
      took place in the Photosystem II membranes under light stress. Sucrose density
      gradient centrifugation analysis of thylakoids and the Photosystem II membranes
      solubilized with n-dodecyl-beta-d-maltoside and a chemical cross-linking study of
      thylakoids showed localization of FtsH near the Photosystem II light-harvesting
      chlorophyll-protein supercomplexes in the grana. These results suggest that part
      of the FtsH hexamers are juxtapositioned to PSII complexes in the grana in
      darkness, carrying out immediate degradation of the photodamaged D1 protein under
      light stress.

PMID- 20921220
TI  - Mutation analysis of the presenilin 1 N-terminal domain reveals a broad spectrum
      of gamma-secretase activity toward amyloid precursor protein and other
      substrates.
AB  - The gamma-secretase protein complex executes the intramembrane proteolysis of
      amyloid precursor protein (APP), which releases Alzheimer disease beta-amyloid
      peptide. In addition to APP, gamma-secretase also cleaves several other type I
      membrane protein substrates including Notch1 and N-cadherin. gamma-Secretase is
      made of four integral transmembrane protein subunits: presenilin (PS), nicastrin,
      APH1, and PEN2. Multiple lines of evidence indicate that a heteromer of PS
      derived N- and C-terminal fragments functions as the catalytic subunit of gamma
      secretase. Only limited information is available on the domains within each
      subunit involved in the recognition and recruitment of diverse substrates and the
      transfer of substrates to the catalytic site. Here, we performed mutagenesis of
      two domains of PS1, namely the first luminal loop domain (LL1) and the second
      transmembrane domain (TM2), and analyzed PS1 endoproteolysis as well as the
      catalytic activities of PS1 toward APP, Notch, and N-cadherin. Our results show
      that distinct residues within LL1 and TM2 domains as well as the length of the
      LL1 domain are critical for PS1 endoproteolysis, but not for PS1 complex
      formation with nicastrin, APH1, and PEN2. Furthermore, our experimental PS1
      mutants formed gamma-secretase complexes with distinct catalytic properties
      toward the three substrates examined in this study; however, the mutations did
      not affect PS1 interaction with the substrates. We conclude that the N-terminal
      LL1 and TM2 domains are critical for PS1 endoproteolysis and the coordination
      between the putative substrate-docking site and the catalytic core of the gamma
      secretase.

PMID- 20921221
TI  - Analysis of three-dimensional systems for developing and mature kidneys clarifies
      the role of OAT1 and OAT3 in antiviral handling.
AB  - The organic anion transporters OAT1 (SLC22A6, originally identified by us as NKT)
      and OAT3 (SLC22A8) are critical for handling many toxins, metabolites, and drugs,
      including antivirals (Truong, D. M., Kaler, G., Khandelwal, A., Swaan, P. W., and
      Nigam, S. K. (2008) J. Biol. Chem. 283, 8654-8663). Although microinjected
      Xenopus oocytes and/or transfected cells indicate overlapping specificities, the
      individual contributions of these transporters in the three-dimensional context
      of the tissues in which they normally function remain unclear. Here, handling of
      HIV antivirals (stavudine, tenofovir, lamivudine, acyclovir, and zidovudine) was
      analyzed with three-dimensional ex vivo functional assays using knock-out tissue.
      To investigate the contribution of OAT1 and OAT3 in various nephron segments, the
      OAT-selective fluorescent tracer substrates 5-carboxyfluorescein and 6
      carboxyfluorescein were used. Although OAT1 function (uptake in oat3(-/-) tissue)
      was confined to portions of the cortex, consistent with a proximal tubular
      localization, OAT3 function (uptake in oat1(-/-) tissue) was apparent throughout
      the cortex, indicating localization in the distal as well as proximal nephron.
      This functional localization indicates a complex three-dimensional context, which
      needs to be considered for metabolites, toxins, and drugs (e.g. antivirals)
      handled by both transporters. These results also raise the possibility of
      functional differences in the relative importance of OAT1 and OAT3 in antiviral
      handling in developing and mature tissue. Because the HIV antivirals are used in
      pregnant women, the results may also help in understanding how these drugs are
      handled by developing organs.

PMID- 20921222
TI  - Aggregation of detergent-insoluble tau is involved in neuronal loss but not in
      synaptic loss.
AB  - Neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs), which consist of highly phosphorylated tau, are
      hallmarks of neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer disease (AD). In
      neurodegenerative diseases, neuronal dysfunction due to neuronal loss and
      synaptic loss accompanies NFT formation, suggesting that a process associated
      with NFT formation may be involved in neuronal dysfunction. To clarify the
      relationship between the tau aggregation process and synapse and neuronal loss,
      we compared two lines of mice expressing human tau with or without an aggregation
      prone P301L mutation. P301L tau transgenic (Tg) mice exhibited neuronal loss and
      produced sarcosyl-insoluble tau in old age but did not exhibit synaptic loss and
      memory impairment. By contrast, wild-type tau Tg mice neither exhibited neuronal
      loss nor produced sarcosyl-insoluble tau but did exhibit synaptic loss and memory
      impairment. Moreover, P301L tau was less phosphorylated than wild-type tau,
      suggesting that the tau phosphorylation state is involved in synaptic loss,
      whereas the tau aggregation state is involved in neuronal loss. Finally,
      increasing concentrations of insoluble tau aggregates leads to the formation of
      fibrillar tau, which causes NFTs to form.

PMID- 20921223
TI  - Nucleocytoplasmic shuttling of dysbindin-1, a schizophrenia-related protein,
      regulates synapsin I expression.
AB  - Dysbindin-1 is a 50-kDa coiled-coil-containing protein encoded by the gene DTNBP1
      (dystrobrevin-binding protein 1), a candidate genetic factor for schizophrenia.
      Genetic variations in this gene confer a susceptibility to schizophrenia through
      a decreased expression of dysbindin-1. It was reported that dysbindin-1 regulates
      the expression of presynaptic proteins and the release of neurotransmitters.
      However, the precise functions of dysbindin-1 are largely unknown. Here, we show
      that dysbindin-1 is a novel nucleocytoplasmic shuttling protein and translocated
      to the nucleus upon treatment with leptomycin B, an inhibitor of exportin-1/CRM1
      mediated nuclear export. Dysbindin-1 harbors a functional nuclear export signal
      necessary for its nuclear export, and the nucleocytoplasmic shuttling of
      dysbindin-1 affects its regulation of synapsin I expression. In brains of sandy
      mice, a dysbindin-1-null strain that displays abnormal behaviors related to
      schizophrenia, the protein and mRNA levels of synapsin I are decreased. These
      findings demonstrate that the nucleocytoplasmic shuttling of dysbindin-1
      regulates synapsin I expression and thus may be involved in the pathogenesis of
      schizophrenia.

PMID- 20921225
TI  - Interaction of calcium-dependent activator protein for secretion 1 (CAPS1) with
      the class II ADP-ribosylation factor small GTPases is required for dense-core
      vesicle trafficking in the trans-Golgi network.
AB  - Ca(2+)-dependent activator protein for secretion (CAPS) regulates exocytosis of
      catecholamine- or neuropeptide-containing dense-core vesicles (DCVs) at secretion
      sites, such as nerve terminals. However, large amounts of CAPS protein are
      localized in the cell soma, and the role of somal CAPS protein remains unclear.
      The present study shows that somal CAPS1 plays an important role in DCV
      trafficking in the trans-Golgi network. The anti-CAPS1 antibody appeared to pull
      down membrane fractions, including many Golgi-associated proteins, such as ADP
      ribosylation factor (ARF) small GTPases. Biochemical analyses of the protein
      protein interaction showed that CAPS1 interacted specifically with the class II
      ARF4/ARF5, but not with other classes of ARFs, via the pleckstrin homology domain
      in a GDP-bound ARF form-specific manner. The pleckstrin homology domain of CAPS1
      showed high affinity for the Golgi membrane, thereby recruiting ARF4/ARF5 to the
      Golgi complex. Knockdown of either CAPS1 or ARF4/ARF5 expression caused
      accumulation of chromogranin, a DCV marker protein, in the Golgi, thereby
      reducing its DCV secretion. In addition, the overexpression of CAPS1 binding
      deficient ARF5 mutants induced aberrant chromogranin accumulation in the Golgi
      and consequently reduced its DCV secretion. These findings implicate a functional
      role for CAPS1 protein in the soma, a major subcellular localization site of
      CAPS1 in many cell types, in regulating DCV trafficking in the trans-Golgi
      network; this activity occurs via protein-protein interaction with ARF4/ARF5 in a
      GDP-dependent manner.

PMID- 20921224
TI  - Deceleration of the E1P-E2P transition and ion transport by mutation of
      potentially salt bridge-forming residues Lys-791 and Glu-820 in gastric H+/K+
      ATPase.
AB  - A lysine residue within the highly conserved center of the fifth transmembrane
      segment in P(IIC)-type ATPase alpha-subunits is uniquely found in H,K-ATPases
      instead of a serine in all Na,K-ATPase isoforms. Because previous studies
      suggested a prominent role of this residue in determining the electrogenicity of
      non-gastric H,K-ATPase and in pK(a) modulation of the proton-translocating
      residues in the gastric H,K-ATPases as well, we investigated its functional
      significance for ion transport by expressing several Lys-791 variants of the
      gastric H,K-ATPase in Xenopus oocytes. Although the mutant proteins were all
      detected at the cell surface, none of the investigated mutants displayed any
      measurable K(+)-induced stationary currents. In Rb(+) uptake measurements,
      replacement of Lys-791 by Arg, Ala, Ser, and Glu substantially impaired transport
      activity and reduced the sensitivity toward the E(2)-specific inhibitor SCH28080.
      Furthermore, voltage clamp fluorometry using a reporter site in the TM5/TM6 loop
      for labeling with tetra-methylrhodamine-6-maleimide revealed markedly changed
      fluorescence signals. All four investigated mutants exhibited a strong shift
      toward the E(1)P state, in agreement with their reduced SCH28080 sensitivity, and
      an about 5-10-fold decreased forward rate constant of the E(1)P <-> E(2)P
      conformational transition, thus explaining the E(1)P shift and the reduced Rb(+)
      transport activity. When Glu-820 in TM6 adjacent to Lys-791 was replaced by non
      charged or positively charged amino acids, severe effects on fluorescence signals
      and Rb(+) transport were also observed, whereas substitution by aspartate was
      less disturbing. These results suggest that formation of an E(2)P-stabilizing
      interhelical salt bridge is essential to prevent futile proton exchange cycles of
      H(+) pumping P-type ATPases.

PMID- 20921226
TI  - Dioxygenase activity of epidermal lipoxygenase-3 unveiled: typical and atypical
      features of its catalytic activity with natural and synthetic polyunsaturated
      fatty acids.
AB  - Epidermal lipoxygenase-3 (eLOX3) exhibits hydroperoxide isomerase activity
      implicated in epidermal barrier formation, but its potential dioxygenase activity
      has remained elusive. We identified herein a synthetic fatty acid, 9E,11Z,14Z
      20:3omega6, that was oxygenated by eLOX3 specifically to the 9S-hydroperoxide.
      Reaction showed a pronounced lag phase, which suggested that eLOX3 is deficient
      in its activation step. Indeed, we found that high concentrations of
      hydroperoxide activator (e.g. 65 MUM) overcame a prolonged lag phase (>1 h) and
      unveiled a dioxygenase activity with arachidonic acid; the main products were the
      5-, 9-, and 7-hydroperoxyeicosatetraenoic acids (HPETEs). These were R/S mixtures
      (ranging from ~50:50 to 73:27), and as the bis-allylic 7-HPETE can be formed only
      inside the enzyme active site, the results indicate there is oxygen availability
      along either face of the reacting fatty acid radical. That the active site oxygen
      supply is limited is implied from the need for continuous re-activation, as
      carbon radical leakage leaves the enzyme in the unactivated ferrous state. An Ala
      to-Gly mutation, known to affect the positioning of O(2) in the active site of
      other lipoxygenase enzymes, led to more readily activated reaction and a
      significant increase in the 9R- over the 5-HPETE. Activation and cycling of the
      ferric enzyme are thus promoted using the 9E,11Z,14Z-20:3omega6 substrate, by
      continuous hydroperoxide activation, or by the Ala-to-Gly mutation. We suggest
      that eLOX3 represents one end of a spectrum among lipoxygenases where activation
      is inefficient, favoring hydroperoxide isomerase cycling, with the opposite end
      represented by readily activated enzymes in which dioxygenase activity is
      prominent.

PMID- 20921227
TI  - Three- and four-repeat Tau coassemble into heterogeneous filaments: an
      implication for Alzheimer disease.
AB  - Tau filaments are the pathological hallmark of numerous neurodegenerative
      diseases including Alzheimer disease, Pick disease, and progressive supranuclear
      palsy. In the adult human brain, six isoforms are expressed that differ by the
      presence or absence of the second of four semiconserved repeats. As a
      consequence, half of the tau isoforms have three repeats (3R tau), whereas the
      other half of the isoforms have four repeats (4R tau). Tauopathies can be
      characterized based on the isoform composition of their filaments. Alzheimer
      disease filamentous inclusions contain all isoforms. Pick disease filaments
      contain 3R tau. Progressive supranuclear palsy filaments contain 4R tau. Here, we
      used site-directed spin labeling of recombinant tau in conjunction with electron
      paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy to obtain structural insights into these
      filaments. We find that filaments of 4R tau and 3R tau share a highly ordered
      core structure in the third repeat with parallel, in-register arrangement of beta
      strands. This structure is conserved regardless of whether full-length isoforms
      (htau40 and htau23) or truncated constructs (K18 and K19) are used. When mixed,
      3R tau and 4R tau coassemble into heterogeneous filaments. These filaments share
      the highly ordered core in the third repeat; however, they differ in their
      overall composition. Our findings indicate that at least three distinct types of
      filaments exist: homogeneous 3R tau, homogeneous 4R tau, and heterogeneous 3R/4R
      tau. These results suggest that individual filaments found in Alzheimer disease
      are structurally distinct from those in the 3R and 4R tauopathies.

PMID- 20921228
TI  - Increase in 4-coumaryl alcohol units during lignification in alfalfa (Medicago
      sativa) alters the extractability and molecular weight of lignin.
AB  - The lignin content of biomass can impact the ease and cost of biomass processing.
      Lignin reduction through breeding and genetic modification therefore has
      potential to reduce costs in biomass-processing industries (e.g. pulp and paper,
      forage, and lignocellulosic ethanol). We investigated compositional changes in
      two low-lignin alfalfa (Medicago sativa) lines with antisense down-regulation of
      p-coumarate 3-hydroxylase (C3H) or hydroxycinnamoyl-CoA:shikimate
      hydroxycinnamoyltransferase (HCT). We investigated whether the difference in
      reactivity during lignification of 4-coumaryl alcohol (H) monomers versus the
      naturally dominant sinapyl alcohol and coniferyl alcohol lignin monomers alters
      the lignin structure. Sequential base extraction readily reduced the H monomer
      content of the transgenic lines, leaving a residual lignin greatly enriched in H
      subunits; the extraction profile highlighted the difference between the control
      and transgenic lines. Gel permeation chromatography of isolated ball-milled
      lignin indicated significant changes in the weight average molecular weight
      distribution of the control versus transgenic lines (CTR1a, 6000; C3H4a, 5500;
      C3H9a, 4000; and HCT30a, 4000).

PMID- 20921229
TI  - Casein aggregates built step-by-step on charged polyelectrolyte film surfaces are
      calcium phosphate-cemented.
AB  - The possible mechanism of casein aggregation and micelle buildup was studied in a
      new approach by letting alpha-casein adsorb from low concentration (0.1 mg.ml(
      1)) solutions onto the charged surfaces of polyelectrolyte films. It was found
      that alpha-casein could adsorb onto both positively and negatively charged
      surfaces. However, only when its negative phosphoseryl clusters remained free,
      i.e. when it adsorbed onto a negative surface, could calcium phosphate (CaP)
      nanoclusters bind to the casein molecules. Once the CaP clusters were in place,
      step-by-step building of multilayered casein architectures became possible. The
      presence of CaP was essential; neither Ca(2+) nor phosphate could alone
      facilitate casein aggregation. Thus, it seems that CaP is the organizing motive
      in the casein micelle formation. Atomic force microscopy revealed that even a
      single adsorbed casein layer was composed of very small (in the range of tens of
      nanometers) spherical forms. The stiffness of the adsorbed casein layer largely
      increased in the presence of CaP. On this basis, we can imagine that casein
      micelles emerge according to the following scheme. The amphipathic casein
      monomers aggregate into oligomers via hydrophobic interactions even in the
      absence of CaP. Full scale, CaP-carrying micelles could materialize by
      interlocking these casein oligomers with CaP nanoclusters. Such a mechanism would
      not contradict former experimental results and could offer a synthesis between
      the submicelle and the block copolymer models of casein micelles.

PMID- 20921230
TI  - Direct and specific activation of human inward rectifier K+ channels by membrane
      phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate.
AB  - Many ion channels are modulated by phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate
      (PIP(2)), but studies examining the PIP(2) dependence of channel activity have
      been limited to cell expression systems, which present difficulties for
      controlling membrane composition. We have characterized the PIP(2) dependence of
      purified human Kir2.1 and Kir2.2 activity using (86)Rb(+) flux and patch clamp
      assays in liposomes of defined composition. We definitively show that these
      channels are directly activated by PIP(2) and that PIP(2) is absolutely required
      in the membrane for channel activity. The results provide the first quantitative
      description of the dependence of eukaryotic Kir channel function on PIP(2) levels
      in the membrane; Kir2.1 shows measureable activity in as little as 0.01% PIP(2),
      and open probability increases to ~0.4 at 1% PIP(2). Activation of Kir2.1 by
      phosphatidylinositol phosphates is also highly selective for PIP(2); PI, PI(4)P,
      and PI(5)P do not activate channels, and PI(3,4,5)P(3) causes minimal activity.
      The PIP(2) dependence of eukaryotic Kir activity is almost exactly opposite that
      of KirBac1.1, which shows marked inhibition by PIP(2). This raises the
      interesting hypothesis that PIP(2) activation of eukaryotic channels reflects an
      evolutionary adaptation of the channel to the appearance of PIP(2) in the
      eukaryotic cell membrane.

PMID- 20921231
TI  - MST1 promotes apoptosis through phosphorylation of histone H2AX.
AB  - MST1 (mammalian STE20-like kinase 1) is a serine/threonine kinase that is cleaved
      and activated by caspases during apoptosis. Overexpression of MST1 induces
      apoptotic morphological changes such as chromatin condensation, but the mechanism
      is not clear. Here we show that MST1 induces apoptotic chromatin condensation
      through its phosphorylation of histone H2AX at Ser-139. During etoposide-induced
      apoptosis in Jurkat cells, the cleavage of MST1 directly corresponded with strong
      H2AX phosphorylation. In vitro kinase assay results showed that MST1 strongly
      phosphorylates histone H2AX. Western blot and kinase assay results with a mutant
      S139A H2AX confirmed that MST1 phosphorylates H2AX at Ser-139. Direct binding of
      MST1 and H2AX can be detected when co-expressed in HEK293 cells and was also
      confirmed by an endogenous immunoprecipitation study. When overexpressed in HeLa
      cells, both the MST1 full-length protein and the MST1 kinase domain (MST1-NT),
      but not the kinase-negative mutant (MST1-NT-KN), could induce obvious endogenous
      histone H2AX phosphorylation. The caspase-3 inhibitor benzyloxycarbonyl-DEVD
      fluoromethyl ketone (Z-DEVD-fmk) attenuates phosphorylation of H2AX by MST1 but
      cannot inhibit MST1-NT-induced histone H2AX phosphorylation, indicating that
      cleaved MST1 is responsible for H2AX phosphorylation during apoptosis. Histone
      H2AX phosphorylation and DNA fragmentation were suppressed in MST1 knockdown
      Jurkat cells after etoposide treatment. Taken together, our data indicated that
      H2AX is a substrate of MST1, which functions to induce apoptotic chromatin
      condensation and DNA fragmentation.

PMID- 20921233
TI  - Young proteins experience more variable selection pressures than old proteins.
AB  - It is well known that young proteins tend to experience weaker purifying
      selection and evolve more quickly than old proteins. Here, we show that, in
      addition, young proteins tend to experience more variable selection pressures
      over time than old proteins. We demonstrate this pattern in three independent
      taxonomic groups: yeast, Drosophila, and mammals. The increased variability of
      selection pressures on young proteins is highly significant even after
      controlling for the fact that young proteins are typically shorter and experience
      weaker purifying selection than old proteins. The majority of our results are
      consistent with the hypothesis that the function of a young gene tends to change
      over time more readily than that of an old gene. At the same time, our results
      may be caused in part by young genes that serve constant functions over time, but
      nevertheless appear to evolve under changing selection pressures due to depletion
      of adaptive mutations. In either case, our results imply that the evolution of a
      protein-coding sequence is partly determined by its age and origin, and not only
      by the phenotypic properties of the encoded protein. We discuss, via specific
      examples, the consequences of these findings for understanding of the sources of
      evolutionary novelty.

PMID- 20921232
TI  - Conservation of an RNA regulatory map between Drosophila and mammals.
AB  - Alternative splicing is generally controlled by proteins that bind directly to
      regulatory sequence elements and either activate or repress splicing of adjacent
      splice sites in a target pre-mRNA. Here, we have combined RNAi and mRNA-seq to
      identify exons that are regulated by Pasilla (PS), the Drosophila melanogaster
      ortholog of mammalian NOVA1 and NOVA2. We identified 405 splicing events in 323
      genes that are significantly affected upon depletion of ps, many of which were
      annotated as being constitutively spliced. The sequence regions upstream and
      within PS-repressed exons and downstream from PS-activated exons are enriched for
      YCAY repeats, and these are consistent with the location of these motifs near
      NOVA-regulated exons in mammals. Thus, the RNA regulatory map of PS and NOVA1/2
      is highly conserved between insects and mammals despite the fact that the target
      gene orthologs regulated by PS and NOVA1/2 are almost entirely nonoverlapping.
      This observation suggests that the regulatory codes of individual RNA binding
      proteins may be nearly immutable, yet the regulatory modules controlled by these
      proteins are highly evolvable.

PMID- 20921234
TI  - Rapidly progressive course of very late onset multiple sclerosis presenting with
      Parkinsonism: case report.
AB  - Multiple sclerosis mainly affects young adolescents, making late-onset multiple
      sclerosis a rarity and diagnostic challenge, particularly for cases after age 80
      years. We present an 82-year-old patient with multiple sclerosis with very late
      onset. As well as spastic paraplegia, additional Parkinsonism secondary to
      demyelination in the basal ganglia was observed in this case. In most
      publications, spinal cord lesions were more common in late-onset multiple
      sclerosis which, in contrast, could not be found in our case. Despite different
      treatment strategies, rapid clinical deterioration and death after about 2 years
      of disease course occurred. Further discrimination in late-onset multiple
      sclerosis (50-70 years) and multiple sclerosis with very late onset (above 70
      years) might be considered. Future trials to elucidate potential benefit of
      immunosuppressive (and neuroprotective) therapies in these age groups are
      mandatory.

PMID- 20921235
TI  - Lower levels of glutathione in the brains of secondary progressive multiple
      sclerosis patients measured by 1H magnetic resonance chemical shift imaging at 3
      T.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Disability levels for patients with secondary progressive multiple
      sclerosis (SPMS) often worsen despite a stable MRI T(2) lesion burden. The
      presence of oxidative stress in the absence of measurable inflammation could help
      explain this phenomenon. In this study, the assessment of an in vivo marker of
      oxidative stress, cerebral glutathione (GSH), using magnetic resonance chemical
      shift imaging (CSI) is described, and GSH levels were compared in patients with
      SPMS and healthy controls. OBJECTIVE: To assess whether GSH, a key antioxidant in
      the brain, is lower in the SPMS patients compared to matched controls. METHODS:
      Seventeen patients with SPMS (Expanded Disability Status Scale=4.0-7.0; length of
      MS diagnosis=19.4 +/- 7 years) and 17 age- and gender-matched healthy controls
      were studied. GSH levels were measured in the fronto-parietal regions of the
      brain using a specially designed magnetic resonance spectroscopy technique, CSI
      of GSH, at 3T. RESULTS: The levels of GSH were lower for SPMS patients than for
      controls, the largest reduction (18.5%) being in the frontal region (p=0.001).
      CONCLUSION: The lower GSH levels in these patients indicate the presence of
      oxidative stress in SPMS. This process could be at least partially responsible
      for ongoing functional decline in SPMS.

PMID- 20921236
TI  - Autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation for multiple sclerosis: a
      systematic review.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this systematic review was to evaluate
      the safety and efficacy of autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation in
      patients with progressive multiple sclerosis (MS) refractory to conventional
      medical treatment. METHODS: Eight case series met our a priori inclusion criteria
      for the primary outcome of progression-free survival. Individual study quality
      was rated using an 11-item scale for case series. The strength of the overall
      body of evidence for each outcome was rated using a system developed by the ECRI
      Institute. Data from different studies were statistically combined using meta
      analysis. An additional six studies were included for a summary of mortality and
      morbidity. RESULTS: For secondary progressive MS, immunoablative therapy with
      autologous bone marrow/peripheral blood stem cell transplantation was associated
      with higher progression-free survival (up to 3 years following treatment) when
      using intermediate-intensity conditioning regimens compared with high-intensity
      conditioning regimens. The evidence was insufficient to determine whether the
      treatment was effective in patients with other types of MS. Treatment-related
      mortality was about 2.7%. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with secondary progressive MS
      refractory to conventional medical treatment have longer progression-free
      survival following autologous stem cell transplantation with intermediate
      intensity conditioning regimens than with high-intensity conditioning regimens.

PMID- 20921238
TI  - Osteopontin concentrations are increased in cerebrospinal fluid during attacks of
      multiple sclerosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The cytokine osteopontin (OPN) is a potential key player in the
      immunopathogenesis of multiple sclerosis (MS) and a candidate biomarker for
      disease activity. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to examine
      concentrations of OPN in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) across the clinical
      spectrum of MS. METHODS: Our research consisted of a cross-sectional study of
      patients from two randomized, placebo-controlled trials. Concentrations of OPN
      and other blood and CSF markers were determined using an enzyme-linked
      immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Samples were obtained from untreated patients with
      exacerbation of clinically isolated syndrome (CIS) (n = 25) and relapsing
      remitting MS (RRMS) (n = 41) of whom 48 participated in clinical trials, randomly
      allocated to treatment with placebo or methylprednisolone (MP) and undergoing
      repeated sampling after 3 weeks. Furthermore, we obtained CSF and blood samples
      from patients with primary progressive MS (PPMS, n = 9), secondary progressive MS
      (SPMS, n = 28) and other neurological disorders (OND, n = 44), and blood samples
      from 24 healthy subjects. RESULTS: OPN concentrations were significantly
      increased in the CSF of patients with CIS (p = 0.02) and RRMS (p < 0.001) in
      exacerbation compared to patients with OND, and increased levels of OPN were
      associated with high values of other biomarkers of inflammation. At 3-week follow
      up CSF OPN concentrations had decreased significantly from baseline regardless
      treatment with placebo or MP. Patients with PPMS had increased OPN levels in the
      CSF (p = 0.004) and high CSF levels of OPN were associated with high degrees of
      disability. CONCLUSIONS: OPN concentration in the CSF is a dynamic indicator of
      disease activity in RRMS, presumably reflecting ongoing inflammation. Increased
      CSF OPN concentrations in PPMS may indicate ongoing inflammation even in these
      patients.

PMID- 20921239
TI  - Internet intervention for increasing physical activity in persons with multiple
      sclerosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Physical activity has been associated with improvements in walking
      mobility and quality of life in persons with multiple sclerosis (MS), and yet
      this population is largely sedentary and inactive compared with the general
      population. OBJECTIVES: We conducted a pilot, randomized controlled trial (RCT)
      for examining the effect of an Internet intervention based on social cognitive
      theory (SCT) for favorably increasing physical activity among persons with MS. We
      further examined variables from SCT as possible mediators of the Internet
      intervention. METHODS: We randomly allocated 54 persons with MS into either an
      Internet intervention condition or a waitlist control condition. The participants
      completed measures of physical activity, self-efficacy, outcome expectations,
      functional limitations, and goal setting before and after the 12-week period.
      RESULTS: The intervention group reported a statistically significant (p = 0.01)
      and large increase in physical activity over time (d = 0.72), whereas the control
      group had a small (d = 0.04) and non-significant change in physical activity (p =
      0.71). The intervention group further reported a statistically significant (p =
      0.001) and large increase in goal setting over time (d = 0.97), whereas the
      control group had a small (d = -0.13) and non-significant change (p = 0.17). The
      change in goal setting over time mediated the effect of the Internet intervention
      on physical activity behavior. CONCLUSIONS: This pilot study sets the stage for a
      subsequent RCT that includes a larger sample of persons with MS, longer
      intervention period along with a follow-up, objective measure of physical
      activity, and secondary outcomes of walking mobility and QOL.

PMID- 20921240
TI  - Fetal head circumference growth in children with specific language impairment.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To characterise fetal brain growth in children with specific language
      impairment (SLI). DESIGN: A nested case-control study. SETTING: Perth, Western
      Australia. PARTICIPANTS: Thirty children meeting criteria for SLI at age 10 years
      were individually matched with a typically developing comparison child on sex,
      non-verbal ability, fetal gestational age, maternal age at conception, smoking
      and alcohol intake during pregnancy. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Occipitofrontal head
      circumference (HC) was measured using ultrasonography at approximately 18 weeks
      gestation. Femur length provided a measure of fetal length. Occipitofrontal HC
      was measured at birth and at the 1-year postnatal follow-up using a precise paper
      tape measure, while crown-heel length acted as an index of body length at both
      time points. Raw data were transformed to z-scores using reference norms.
      RESULTS: The SLI group had a significantly smaller mean HC than the typically
      developing comparison children at birth, but there was no group difference at 18
      weeks gestation or at the 1-year postnatal follow-up. Individual analyses found
      that 12 SLI children had an HC z-score less than -1 at birth, with three of these
      cases meeting criteria for microcephaly. There was no group difference in the
      indices of overall body size at any time point. CONCLUSIONS: Children with SLI
      are more likely to have a small HC at birth but not at 18 weeks gestation or
      infancy, suggesting growth asynchrony in brain development during the second half
      of pregnancy.

PMID- 20921241
TI  - The temporal relationship between glucose-corrected serum sodium and neurological
      status in severe diabetic ketoacidosis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Cerebral oedema is a potentially devastating complication of diabetic
      ketoacidosis (DKA). The relationship between osmolar changes, acid-base changes
      and development of cerebral oedema during therapy is unclear. DESIGN:
      Retrospective cohort study on 53 children with severe DKA (mean pH at
      presentation 6.92+/-0.08). Cerebral oedema was diagnosed using neurological
      status, response to osmotherapy, and neuroimaging, and classified as: early
      (occurring <=1 h after presentation, n=15), late (1-48 h, n=17) or absent
      (controls, n=21). The temporal profiles for various osmolar and acid-base
      profiles were examined using a random coefficients fractional polynomial mixed
      model, adjusted for known risk factors. RESULTS: The three groups could not be
      differentiated by demographic, osmolar or acid-base variables at presentation.
      All osmolar and acid-base variables showed non-linear temporal trajectories.
      Children who developed late onset oedema showed dramatically different temporal
      profiles for effective osmolality and glucose-corrected serum sodium (both
      p<0.001). Glucose-corrected sodium provided better qualitative discrimination, in
      that it typically fell in children who developed late oedema and rose in
      controls. The maximum between-group difference for both variables approximated
      the median time of clinical cerebral oedema onset. Blood glucose and acid-base
      temporal profiles did not differ between the groups. Late onset oedema patients
      received more fluid in the first 4 h, but this did not influence the osmolar or
      glucose-corrected sodium trajectories in a predictable fashion. CONCLUSIONS:
      Glucose-corrected serum sodium may prove a useful early warning for the
      development of cerebral oedema in DKA.

PMID- 20921242
TI  - New communication media for professional support, discussion and education.

PMID- 20921243
TI  - Mapping of AF1 transactivation domains in duplicated rainbow trout glucocorticoid
      receptors.
AB  - The glucocorticoid receptor (GR) is a ligand-dependent transcription factor
      mediating the genomic effects of glucocorticoids. Two activation functions (AFs)
      are present in the GR. While the N-terminal AF1 is ligand independent, the C
      terminal AF2 overlaps with the ligand-binding domain and is ligand dependent. In
      this study, we have mapped AF1 in duplicated rainbow trout GRs, called rtGR1 and
      rtGR2, showing a limited homology (24.5%) in the N-terminal domain. Ablation of
      this domain from rtGR1 or rtGR2 resulted in a marked decrease (>97%) in maximal
      hormone-dependent transactivation, but did not affect dexamethasone-binding
      activity or expression levels. This suggested that, similar to the situation in
      the human GR (hGR), AF1 is the main AF in the trout GRs. Sequence alignments with
      hGR suggested a localisation of AF1 to residues 70-230 of rtGR1 and 1-119 of
      rtGR2. These assignments were generally confirmed in the transactivation
      experiments with rtGR1- and rtGR2-derived mutants showing partial deletions of
      their N-terminal domains. In dexamethsone-treated cells (10-7  M, 2  h), the
      subcellular distribution of rtGR1 and rtGR2 mutants lacking the entire N-terminal
      domain, as well that of an rtGR1 mutant lacking the most N-terminal 234 amino
      acids, was similar to that of the corresponding wild-type GRs, suggesting that
      the disruption of transactivation activity was not caused by impairment of
      nuclear access of the mutants. Bioinformatic analyses predicted the presence of
      potential helical segments in the core of AF1 of rtGR1 and rtGR2, and further
      revealed that AF1 in rtGR1, rtGR2, and hGR shares a motif composed of hydrophobic
      and acidic amino acids.

PMID- 20921244
TI  - Has the time come to phase out codeine?

PMID- 20921245
TI  - Herpes zoster and postherpetic neuralgia.

PMID- 20921246
TI  - Simple stuff.

PMID- 20921249
TI  - Defining priorities for improving end-of-life care in Canada.
AB  - BACKGROUND: High-quality end-of-life care should be the right of every Canadian.
      The objective of this study was to identify aspects of end-of-life care that are
      high in priority as targets for improvement using feedback elicited from patients
      and their families. METHODS: We conducted a multicentre, cross-sectional survey
      involving patients with advanced, life-limiting illnesses and their family
      caregivers. We administered the Canadian Health Care Evaluation Project (CANHELP)
      questionnaire along with a global rating question to measure satisfaction with
      end-of-life care. We derived the relative importance of individual questions on
      the CANHELP questionnaire from their association with a global rating of
      satisfaction, as determined using Pearson correlation coefficients. To determine
      high-priority issues, we identified questions that had scores indicating high
      importance and low satisfaction. RESULTS: We approached 471 patients and 255
      family members, of whom 363 patients and 193 family members participated, with
      response rates of 77% for patients and 76% for families. From the perspective of
      patients, high-priority areas needing improvement were related to feelings of
      peace, to assessment and treatment of emotional problems, to physician
      availability and to satisfaction that the physician took a personal interest in
      them, communicated clearly and consistently, and listened. From the perspective
      of family members, similar areas were identified as high in priority, along with
      the additional areas of timely information about the patient's condition and
      discussions with the doctor about final location of care and use of end-of-life
      technology. INTERPRETATION: End-of-life care in Canada may be improved for
      patients and their families by providing better psychological and spiritual
      support, better planning of care and enhanced relationships with physicians,
      especially in aspects related to communication and decision-making.

PMID- 20921250
TI  - Chronic cough: tracheobronchopathia osteochondroplastica.

PMID- 20921252
TI  - Is bigger better? An argument for very low starting doses.

PMID- 20921251
TI  - The impact of herpes zoster and postherpetic neuralgia on health-related quality
      of life: a prospective study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Vaccination against herpes zoster is being considered in many
      countries. We conducted a multicentre prospective study to describe the impact of
      herpes zoster and postherpetic neuralgia on health-related quality of life.
      METHODS: From October 2005 to July 2006, 261 outpatients aged 50 years or older
      with herpes zoster were recruited from the clinical practices of 83 physicians
      within 14 days after rash onset. The Zoster Brief Pain Inventory was used to
      measure severity of pain and interference with activities of daily living because
      of pain. The EuroQol EQ-5D assessment tool was used to measure quality of life.
      These outcomes were assessed at recruitment and on days 7, 14, 21, 30, 60, 90,
      120, 150 and 180 following recruitment. RESULTS: Acute herpes zoster interfered
      in all health domains, especially sleep (64% of participants), enjoyment of life
      (58%) and general activities (53%). The median duration of pain was 32.5 days.
      The median duration of interference with activities of daily living because of
      pain varied between 27 and 30 days. Overall, 24% of the participants had
      postherpetic neuralgia (pain for more than 90 days after rash onset). Anxiety and
      depression, enjoyment of life, mood and sleep were most frequently affected
      during the postherpetic neuralgia period. The mean EQ-5D score was 0.59 at
      enrolment and remained at 0.67 at all follow-up points among participants who
      reported clinically significant pain. INTERPRETATION: These data support the need
      for preventive strategies and additional early intervention to reduce the burden
      of herpes zoster and postherpetic neuralgia.

PMID- 20921253
TI  - The red eye.

PMID- 20921254
TI  - Self-governance threatened, provincial association says.

PMID- 20921255
TI  - Regulation of genetic tests unnecessary, government says.

PMID- 20921256
TI  - "Blue button" access to medical records.

PMID- 20921257
TI  - China's "left behind" children often suffer health consequences.

PMID- 20921258
TI  - Britain's libel fighter.

PMID- 20921259
TI  - Clinical guidelines may need ethical component.

PMID- 20921260
TI  - Advertising campaigns for cystic fibrosis.

PMID- 20921261
TI  - Disclosure: only a first step.

PMID- 20921262
TI  - Prostitution gender.

PMID- 20921263
TI  - A new perspective for delinquency: culture conflict measured by seriousness
      perceptions.
AB  - Numerous theories have attempted to analyze and understand the factors and
      etiology of juvenile delinquency. The present study is the first to suggest the
      use of Sellin's "culture conflict" theory as a possible cultural explanation for
      the phenomenon of juvenile delinquency. According to Sellin, crime in many
      instances is a product of culture conflict between the values and norms of a
      certain subculture in a given society and those of the general culture. Following
      Sellin's rationale, this study argues that youths constitute a social subculture
      with certain values, norms, and stances toward the criminal law that is not
      necessarily concordant with the moral values and formal norms of the general
      culture of adults, who determine the content of the criminal law. These
      assertions are analyzed via a crime seriousness study, in which adult and teenage
      respondents from a national (Israeli) sample were asked to evaluate the
      seriousness of various criminal offenses committed by adolescents. Generally,
      significant differences were found between the seriousness and punishment values
      given by the adult and juvenile respondents to violent offenses (high) and self
      use of illegal drugs (low), with adult respondents providing significantly higher
      seriousness values and punishment options for them. Moreover, in a regression
      analysis, the variable of respondents' age was found as decisive in understanding
      both dependent variables. The implications of these findings are discussed in
      this study.

PMID- 20921264
TI  - Can a 12-step program work in methadone maintenance treatment?
AB  - Three consecutive, professionally led (as opposed to self-help) groups following
      the 12-step program (TSP) were integrated into a methadone maintenance treatment
      (MMT) program that included 32 heroin-addicted individuals in recovery. This
      report describes our experience in meeting the challenges that arose and our
      conclusions regarding the therapeutic potential of this integration. A
      professional therapeutic staff guided the groups. In-depth interviews of 10
      participants and the reflections of the group leaders provided data for learning
      about the groups' experience. Initially the participants rejected the concepts of
      Step 1, powerlessness and unmanageability of life. The assimilation of Step 4
      (defining character defect) also aroused some resistance. The participants
      eventually adopted the pragmatic aspects of TSP, including its terminology. The
      establishment of a common language of recovery helped to create group coherence
      and a sense of belonging, and helped to meet the needs of those who felt
      stigmatized by both the nonaddicted and addicted population undergoing
      nonmethadone recovery. TSP could be adapted to various aspects of daily life,
      produced a sense of self-efficacy, and stimulated motivation for change.
      Therapeutic implications are discussed.

PMID- 20921266
TI  - Importance of biomarkers for long-term mortality prediction in acutely dyspneic
      patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although numerous biomarkers may be prognostically meaningful in
      patients with acute dyspnea, few comparative analyses have addressed possible
      associations between a wide range of candidate biomarkers and clinical variables.
      METHODS: Vital status was obtained for 517 acutely dyspneic patients at 4 years
      after emergency department presentation. A wide array of biomarkers was measured
      in this cohort, including natriuretic peptides, necrosis markers, inflammatory
      markers, hematologic markers, and renal markers. We performed statistical
      evaluation by using minimization of the Bayesian information criterion to
      evaluate predictors of 4-year mortality. Cox proportional hazards analysis was
      used to confirm results from the Bayesian information criterion. A final risk
      model was derived, and this model was then validated by applying it to patients
      from a separate cohort of acutely dyspneic patients. RESULTS: By 4 years, there
      were 186 deaths (36%). In addition to several clinical variables, several
      biomarkers were significant predictors of death, including log-transformed
      concentrations of hemoglobin (hazard ratio=0.77; P < 0.001), soluble ST2 (hazard
      ratio=1.38; P < 0.001), and amino-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (hazard
      ratio=1.19; P < 0.001). Risk models that used these significant variables were
      accurate in predicting 4-year mortality in both the training and validation sets.
      CONCLUSIONS: When added to traditional clinical variables, selected biomarkers
      added significant value for long-term prognostication in acute dyspnea.

PMID- 20921267
TI  - A bioluminescent microbial biosensor for in vitro pretreatment assessment of
      cytarabine efficacy in leukemia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The nucleoside analog cytarabine (Ara-C [cytosine arabinoside]) is
      the key agent for treating acute myeloid leukemia (AML); however, up to 30% of
      patients fail to respond to treatment. Screening of patient blood samples to
      determine drug response before commencement of treatment is needed. This project
      aimed to construct and evaluate a self-bioluminescent reporter strain of
      Escherichia coli for use as an Ara-C biosensor and to design an in vitro assay to
      predict Ara-C response in clinical samples. METHODS: We used transposition
      mutagenesis to create a cytidine deaminase (cdd)-deficient mutant of E. coli
      MG1655 that responded to Ara-C. The strain was transformed with the luxCDABE
      operon and used as a whole-cell biosensor for development an 8-h assay to
      determine Ara-C uptake and phosphorylation by leukemic cells. RESULTS:
      Intracellular concentrations of 0.025 MUmol/L phosphorylated Ara-C were detected
      by significantly increased light output (P < 0.05) from the bacterial biosensor.
      Results using AML cell lines with known response to Ara-C showed close
      correlation between the 8-h assay and a 3-day cytotoxicity test for Ara-C cell
      killing. In retrospective tests with 24 clinical samples of bone marrow or
      peripheral blood, the biosensor-based assay predicted leukemic cell response to
      Ara-C within 8 h. CONCLUSIONS: The biosensor-based assay may offer a predictor
      for evaluating the sensitivity of leukemic cells to Ara-C before patients undergo
      chemotherapy and allow customized treatment of drug-sensitive patients with
      reduced Ara-C dose levels. The 8-h assay monitors intracellular Ara-CTP (cytosine
      arabinoside triphosphate) levels and, if fully validated, may be suitable for use
      in clinical settings.

PMID- 20921268
TI  - Statistical Methods in Medical Research. Editorial.

PMID- 20921269
TI  - Long-range tertiary interactions in single hammerhead ribozymes bias motional
      sampling toward catalytically active conformations.
AB  - Enzymes generally are thought to derive their functional activity from
      conformational motions. The limited chemical variation in RNA suggests that such
      structural dynamics may play a particularly important role in RNA function.
      Minimal hammerhead ribozymes are known to cleave efficiently only in ~ 10-fold
      higher than physiologic concentrations of Mg(2+) ions. Extended versions
      containing native loop-loop interactions, however, show greatly enhanced
      catalytic activity at physiologically relevant Mg(2+) concentrations, for reasons
      that are still ill-understood. Here, we use Mg(2+) titrations, activity assays,
      ensemble, and single molecule fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET)
      approaches, combined with molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, to ask what
      influence the spatially distant tertiary loop-loop interactions of an extended
      hammerhead ribozyme have on its structural dynamics. By comparing hammerhead
      variants with wild-type, partially disrupted, and fully disrupted loop-loop
      interaction sequences we find that the tertiary interactions lead to a dynamic
      motional sampling that increasingly populates catalytically active conformations.
      At the global level the wild-type tertiary interactions lead to more frequent, if
      transient, encounters of the loop-carrying stems, whereas at the local level they
      lead to an enrichment in favorable in-line attack angles at the cleavage site.
      These results invoke a linkage between RNA structural dynamics and function and
      suggest that loop-loop interactions in extended hammerhead ribozymes-and Mg(2+)
      ions that bind to minimal ribozymes-may generally allow more frequent access to a
      catalytically relevant conformation(s), rather than simply locking the ribozyme
      into a single active state.

PMID- 20921271
TI  - Light at night and health: the perils of rotating shift work.

PMID- 20921270
TI  - Optimization of enzymatic reaction conditions for generating representative pools
      of cDNA from small RNA.
AB  - Small regulatory RNA repertoires in biological samples are heterogeneous mixtures
      that may include species arising from varied biosynthetic pathways and
      modification events. Small RNA profiling and discovery approaches ought to
      capture molecules in a way that is representative of expression level. It follows
      that the effects of RNA modifications on representation should be minimized. The
      collection of high-quality, representative data, therefore, will be highly
      dependent on bias-free sample manipulation in advance of quantification. We
      examined the impact of 2'-O-methylation of the 3'-terminal nucleotide of small
      RNA on key enzymatic reactions of standard front-end manipulation schemes. Here
      we report that this common modification negatively influences the representation
      of these small RNA species. Deficits occurred at multiple steps as determined by
      gel analysis of synthetic input RNA and by quantification and sequencing of
      derived cDNA pools. We describe methods to minimize the effects of 2'-O-methyl
      modification of small RNA 3'-termini using T4 RNA ligase 2 truncated, and other
      optimized reaction conditions, demonstrating their use by quantifying
      representation of miRNAs and piRNAs in cDNA pools prepared from biological
      samples.

PMID- 20921272
TI  - 'Dippers' flu' and its relationship to PON1 polymorphisms.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Sheep-dippers report an acute flu-like condition (dippers' flu: DF)
      but the cause and relation to chronic disability are unknown. METHODS: In a case
      referent study previously reported, 175 sheep dippers with chronic disability and
      234 referents, sheep dippers in good health, completed an interview with
      information on dipping, type of pesticide used and health for each year 1970-2000
      and gave blood for typing of PON1 polymorphisms. RESULTS: Reports of DF were much
      higher (66.3% 116/175) in the chronically unwell than in those without chronic
      ill-health (18.0% 42/234: OR=8.99 95% CI 5.69-14.21). No significant relation was
      seen between reported exposures and DF in those with chronic illness, but risk
      was higher with concentrate handling in those without. An R allele at position
      192 on PON1 related to reports of DF both in those with chronic illness (OR=2.04
      95% CI 1.08-3.87) and in those who started dipping after 1969 and were not
      chronically unwell (OR=2.52 95%CI 1.00-6.37). Interaction between handling
      diazinon concentrate and PON1 (192R) increased the risk of DF. No precipitating
      factor was identified in a case-crossover analysis. In the group without chronic
      illness those with 192R developed DF earlier (risk ratio 2.49 95%CI 1.03-6.02).
      CONCLUSION: 'Dippers' flu' and chronic ill-health attributed to dipping share a
      common polymorphism (192R). The interaction between handling diazinon concentrate
      and PON1 genotype supports the conclusion that organophosphates may cause DF.
      Sheep dippers who are still healthy but experience 'dippers' flu' may be wise to
      further limit exposures to organophosphates.

PMID- 20921273
TI  - Air conditioning and intrahospital mortality during the 2003 heatwave in
      Portugal: evidence of a protective effect.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The objective of the study was to analyse the association between the
      presence of air conditioning in hospital wards and the intrahospital mortality
      during the 2003 heatwave, in mainland Portugal. METHODS: Historical cohort study
      design including all patients aged 45 or more who were hospitalised in the 7 days
      before the heatwave. The outcome was survival during the 18 days the heatwave
      lasted and during the 2 days after the end of the heatwave. A comparison group
      was also selected in four analogous periods without any heatwave event during
      January to May 2003. Data were obtained from the 2003 hospital discharges
      database. Air conditioning presence in hospital wards was determined using a
      survey sent to hospital administrations. A Cox-regression model was used to
      estimate the confounder-adjusted HR of death, during the heatwave and the
      comparison period, in patients in wards with air conditioning (AC+) versus
      patients in wards without air conditioning (AC-). RESULTS: 41 hospitals of
      mainland Portugal (49% of all hospitals in mainland Portugal) participated, and
      2093 patients were enrolled. The overall confounder-adjusted HR of death in AC+
      patients versus AC- patients was 0.60 (95% CI 0.37 to 0.97) for the heatwave
      period and 1.05 (95% CI 0.84 to 1.32) for the comparison group. CONCLUSIONS: The
      study found strong evidence that, during the August 2003 heatwave, the presence
      of air conditioning in hospital wards was associated with an increased survival
      of patients admitted before the beginning of the climate event. The reduction of
      the risk of dying is estimated to be 40% (95% CI 3% to 63%).

PMID- 20921274
TI  - Commonly consumed and specialty dietary mushrooms reduce cellular proliferation
      in MCF-7 human breast cancer cells.
AB  - Worldwide, over one million women will be newly diagnosed with breast cancer in
      the next year. Moreover, breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer
      death in the USA. An accumulating body of evidence suggests that consumption of
      dietary mushrooms can protect against breast cancer. In this study, we tested and
      compared the ability of five commonly consumed or specialty mushrooms to modulate
      cell number balance in the cancer process using MCF-7 human breast cancer cells.
      Hot water extracts (80 degrees C for 2 h) of maitake (MT, Grifola frondosa),
      crimini (CRIM, Agaricus bisporus), portabella (PORT, Agaricus bisporus), oyster
      (OYS, Pleurotus ostreatus) and white button (WB, Agaricus bisporus) mushrooms or
      water alone (5% v/v) were incubated for 24 h with MCF-7 cells. Cellular
      proliferation determined by bromodeoxyuridine incorporation was significantly (P
      < 0.05) reduced up to 33% by all mushrooms, with MT and OYS being the most
      effective. MTT (3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide)
      reduction, an often used mitochondrion-dependent marker of proliferation, was
      unchanged although decreased (P > 0.05) by 15% with OYS extract. Lactate
      dehydrogenase release, as a marker of necrosis, was significantly increased after
      incubation with MT but not with other test mushrooms. Furthermore, MT extract
      significantly increased apoptosis, or programmed cell death, as determined by
      terminal deoxynucleotidyl end labeling method, whereas other test mushrooms
      displayed trends of ~15%. The total numbers of cells per flask, determined by
      hemacytometry, were not different from control cultures. Overall, all test
      mushrooms significantly suppressed cellular proliferation, with MT further
      significantly inducing apoptosis and cytotoxicity in human breast cancer cells.
      This suggests that both common and specialty mushrooms may be chemoprotective
      against breast cancer.

PMID- 20921275
TI  - Renal and metabolic effects of three months of decarbonated cola beverages in
      rats.
AB  - Epidemiological studies have shown an association between the intake of cola
      beverages and chronic kidney diseases. Experimental evidence for the negative
      effects of cola intake on kidneys is lacking. Male Wistar rats had ad libitum
      access to water (control group) or three different sugar-sweetened cola beverages
      for three months. Despite very high cola intake (daily cca 140 mL), no
      differences were found in body weight, kidney weight, glomerular morphology,
      oxidative and carbonyl stress or expression of selected marker genes in the renal
      cortex. Interestingly, all groups consuming cola beverages had lower blood
      glucose levels during an oral glucose tolerance test, suggesting improved insulin
      sensitivity. Despite hyperfiltration (5-6-fold increase in diuresis), cola
      beverages had no effect on assessed parameters of renal function, histology, gene
      expression or oxidative stress. Moreover, cola intake seems to increase
      creatinine clearance and to decrease plasma levels of urea. In our study
      increased insulin sensitivity and altered renal functional parameters were
      observed in rats receiving cola beverages for three months. Whether the findings
      are due to the short duration of the study or interspecies metabolic differences
      should be uncovered in further studies. Even more interesting might be the
      analysis of effects of cola intake in animal models of diabetes.

PMID- 20921276
TI  - Dietary soy protein benefit in experimental kidney disease is preserved after
      isoflavone depletion of diet.
AB  - Soy diet ameliorates renal injury in the Han:SPRD-cy rat. The relative roles of
      protein, isoflavones and changes in polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) status are
      not determined. We fed male Han:SPRD-cy heterozygotes casein (C), high isoflavone
      soy protein (HIS), alcohol-extracted low isoflavone soy protein (LIS) or mixed
      soy protein diet (MIS). LIS and MIS were associated with a small decrease in
      animal weight compared with HIS or C. Soy diets preserved normal renal function
      and reduced relative renal weight (10.9-14.6 g/kg, cf. 23.6, P < 0.001), scores
      for cystic change (0.168-0.239, cf. 0.386, P < 0.05), fibrosis (0.013-0.015, cf.
      0.032, P < 0.05), tissue oxidized LDL content (0.012-0.021, cf. 0.048, P < 0.05),
      inflammation (8.5-12.9, cf. 31.2, P < 0.05) and epithelial cell proliferation
      (6.5-13.8, cf. 26.3, P < 0.05). In post hoc testing, LIS produced a greater
      reduction in relative renal weight, cystic change and epithelial proliferation,
      whereas HIS produced a significantly greater reduction in oxidized-LDL. Soy diets
      were associated with increased hepatic content of 18C PUFA (P < 0.001). LIS and
      HIS diets were associated with a small increase in body fat content (P < 0.001).
      Alcohol-extracted soy protein retains its major protective effects in this model
      with subtle differences attributable to isoflavones.

PMID- 20921279
TI  - How the adoption of impression management goals alters impression formation.
AB  - Five experiments (N = 390) tested the hypothesis that adopting an impression
      management goal leads the impression manager to view an interaction partner as
      having less of the trait he or she is attempting to express. This hypothesis was
      confirmed for the impression management goals of appearing introverted,
      extraverted, smart, confident, and happy. Experiment 2 shows that adoption of the
      impression goal could alter judgments even when participants could not act on the
      goal. Experiment 3 provides evidence that adopting an impression management goal
      prompted a comparison mind-set and that this comparison mind-set activation
      mediated target judgments. Experiment 4 rules out a potential alternative
      explanation and provides more direct evidence that comparison of the impression
      manager's self-concept mediates the impression of the target. Experiment 5
      eliminates a potential confound and extends the effect to another impression
      goal. These experiments highlight the dynamic interplay between impression
      management and impression formation.

PMID- 20921277
TI  - Characterization of Puma-dependent and Puma-independent neuronal cell death
      pathways following prolonged proteasomal inhibition.
AB  - Proteasomal stress and the accumulation of polyubiquitinated proteins are key
      features of numerous neurodegenerative disorders. Previously we demonstrated that
      stabilization of p53 and activation of its target gene, puma (p53-upregulated
      mediator of apoptosis), mediated proteasome inhibitor-induced apoptosis in cancer
      cells. Here we demonstrated that Puma also contributed to proteasome inhibitor
      induced apoptosis in mouse neocortical neurons. Although protection afforded by
      puma gene deletion was incomplete, we found little evidence indicating
      contributions from other proapoptotic BH3-only proteins. Attenuation of bax
      expression did not further reduce Puma-independent apoptosis, suggesting that
      pathways other than the mitochondrial apoptosis pathway were activated. Real-time
      imaging experiments in wild-type and puma-deficient neurons using a fluorescence
      resonance energy transfer (FRET)-based caspase sensor confirmed the involvement
      of a second cell death pathway characterized by caspase activation prior to
      mitochondrial permeabilization and, more prominently, a third, caspase
      independent and Puma-independent pathway characterized by rapid cell shrinkage
      and nuclear condensation. This pathway involved lysosomal permeabilization in the
      absence of autophagy activation and was sensitive to cathepsin but not autophagy
      inhibition. Our data demonstrate that proteasomal stress activates distinct cell
      death pathways in neurons, leading to both caspase-dependent and caspase
      independent apoptosis, and demonstrate independent roles for Puma and lysosomal
      permeabilization in this model.

PMID- 20921278
TI  - Dual functions of Nbs1 in the repair of DNA breaks and proliferation ensure
      proper V(D)J recombination and T-cell development.
AB  - Immunodeficiency and lymphoid malignancy are hallmarks of the human disease
      Nijmegen breakage syndrome (NBS; OMIM 251260), which is caused by NBS1 mutations.
      Although NBS1 has been shown to bind to the T-cell receptor alpha (TCRalpha)
      locus, its role in TCRbeta rearrangement is unclear. Hypomorphic mutations of
      Nbs1 in mice and patients result in relatively mild T-cell deficiencies, raising
      the question of whether the truncated Nbs1 protein might have clouded a certain
      function of NBS1 in T-cell development. Here we show that the deletion of the
      entire Nbs1 protein in T-cell precursors (Nbs1(T-del)) results in severe
      lymphopenia and a hindrance to the double-negative 3 (DN3)-to-DN4 transition in
      early T-cell development, due to abnormal TCRbeta coding and signal joints as
      well as the functions of Nbs1 in T-cell expansion. Chromatin immunoprecipitation
      (ChIP) analysis of the TCR loci reveals that Nbs1 depletion compromises the
      loading of Mre11/Rad50 to V(D)J-generated DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) and
      thereby affects resection of DNA termini and chromatin conformation of the
      postcleavage complex. Although a p53 deficiency relieves the DN3->DN4 transition
      block, neither a p53 deficiency nor ectopic expression of TCRalphabeta rescues
      the major T-cell loss in Nbs1(T-del) mice. All together, these results
      demonstrate that Nbs1's functions in both repair of V(D)J-generated DSBs and
      proliferation are essential for T-cell development.

PMID- 20921280
TI  - Fluorodesoxyglucose uptake in the remaining adrenal glands during the follow-up
      of patients with adrenocortical carcinoma: do not consider it as malignancy.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To make the specificity of fluorodesoxyglucose ((18)FDG) positron
      emission tomography (PET) precise, in the follow-up of patients with adrenal
      cancer. DESIGN: This single centre retrospective study assessed the frequency and
      outcome of (18)FDG uptake in the remaining adrenal glands after adrenalectomy for
      adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) or malignant phaeochromocytoma (PH). RESULTS: Two
      hundred and ten (18)FDG PET scans in 62 ACC patients, all under 1,ortho-1,para'
      dichloro-diphenyl-dichloro-ethane (o,p'-DDD) treatment, and 30 (18)FDG PET scans
      in 8 PH patients were reviewed. Abnormal (18)FDG uptake in the remaining adrenal
      glands was found in 19 (8%) (18)FDG PET scans, in 10 (16%) ACC patients and in
      none of the PH patients. (18)FDG uptake was found in 4% of the patients before
      the onset of o,p'-DDD, in 29% of the patients 0-6 months after the onset of o,p'
      DDD (P=0.05), in 26% of the patients 6-12 months (P=0.072) after the onset of
      o,p'-DDD and in 14% of the patients 12-24 months after the onset of o,p'-DDD. It
      was never found later than 24 months after the onset of o,p'-DDD. Adrenal glands
      with (18)FDG uptake were normal on computed tomography scans with i.v. contrast
      agent in all cases. (18)FDG uptake in the remaining adrenal glands decreased and
      disappeared on subsequent FDG PET imaging in eight of the patients with follow-up
      available. CONCLUSIONS: (18)FDG uptake in the remaining adrenal glands occurred
      in 14-29% of the patients followed for ACC within 24 months after adrenalectomy
      and onset of o,p'-DDD. This uptake is transient and should not be considered as
      suspicious for malignancy.

PMID- 20921281
TI  - The Valpha14 invariant natural killer T cell TCR forces microbial glycolipids and
      CD1d into a conserved binding mode.
AB  - Invariant natural killer T cells (iNKT cells) rapidly produce effector cytokines.
      In this study, we report the first crystal structures of the iNKT cell T cell
      receptor (TCR) bound to two natural, microbial glycolipids presented by CD1d.
      Binding of the TCR induced CDR3-alpha-dependent structural changes in the F' roof
      of CD1d; these changes resemble those occurring in the absence of TCR engagement
      when the highly potent synthetic antigen alpha-galactosylceramide (alpha-GalCer)
      binds CD1d. Furthermore, in the Borrelia burgdorferi alpha-galactosyl
      diacylglycerol-CD1d complex, TCR binding caused a marked repositioning of the
      galactose sugar into an orientation that closely resembles alpha-GalCer. The TCR
      dependent reorientation of the sugar, together with the induced CD1d fit, may
      explain the weaker potency of the microbial antigens compared with alpha-GalCer.
      We propose that the TCR of iNKT cells binds with a conserved footprint onto CD1d,
      regardless of the bound glycolipid antigen, and that for microbial antigens this
      unique binding mode requires TCR-initiated conformational changes.

PMID- 20921283
TI  - Pathogenic virus-specific T cells cause disease during treatment with the
      calcineurin inhibitor FK506: implications for transplantation.
AB  - Recently, several cases of fatal lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV)
      infection occurred in transplant recipients being treated with the
      immunosuppressive calcineurin inhibitor FK506. These findings were surprising
      because LCMV is a noncytolytic virus. To understand how a noncytolytic virus can
      cause disease under conditions of immunosuppression, we used the mouse LCMV model
      and found that, similar to the observations in human transplant recipients, LCMV
      infection of FK506-treated mice resulted in a lethal disease characterized by
      viremia, lack of seroconversion, and minimal lymphocytic infiltrates in the
      tissues. However, despite the apparent absence of an antiviral immune response,
      this disease was orchestrated by virus-specific T cells. FK506 did not prevent
      the generation and proliferation of LCMV-specific T cells but instead altered
      their differentiation so that these effector T cells lost the ability to control
      virus but were still capable of mediating disease. These pathogenic T cells
      initiated a cytokine storm characterized by high levels of tumor necrosis factor
      (TNF) and interleukin 6 (IL-6), and depletion of T cells or blockade of these
      inflammatory cytokines prevented the lethal disease. Our study shows that
      inhibiting calcineurin can generate pathogenic T cells and indicates that T cell
      mediated viral disease can occur even under conditions of immunosuppression.
      Furthermore, we identify a potential strategy (blockade of TNF and IL-6) for
      treatment of transplant recipients who have acute complications of viral
      infection.

PMID- 20921282
TI  - Macrophage-dependent nitric oxide expression regulates tumor cell detachment and
      metastasis after IL-2/anti-CD40 immunotherapy.
AB  - Using an orthotopic model of renal cell carcinoma, we showed previously that IL
      2/anti-CD40 immunotherapy resulted in synergistic anti-tumor responses, whereas
      IL-2 or alpha-CD40 alone mediated partial transient anti-tumor effects. We now
      show that treatment of tumor-bearing mice with IL-2/alpha-CD40, but not IL-2 or
      alpha-CD40, induced significant nitric oxide synthase (NOS) 2 expression in tumor
      associated macrophages. In control-treated mice (low NO), NOS2 inhibition reduced
      tumor burden. However, during immunotherapy (high NO), NOS2 inhibition or
      macrophage depletion reversed the ability of IL-2/alpha-CD40 treatment to reduce
      lung metastases but had no effect on primary tumor burden. Furthermore, IL
      2/alpha-CD40 induced the IFN-gamma- and NO-dependent decrease in matrix
      metalloproteinase (MMP) expression and activity, concomitant with increases in
      tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase (TIMP) 1 and E-cadherin expression within
      tumors. Finally, treatment of tumor-bearing mice with the NO donor JS-K
      significantly reduced metastases. These data differentiate the mechanism for
      primary anti-tumor effects of IL-2/alpha-CD40 immunotherapy, which are
      independent of NO, from the NO-dependent inhibition of metastases. Furthermore,
      reduced MMP9 activity implicates M1-polarized macrophages within the tumor
      microenvironment as critical components of therapeutic response. Our data
      demonstrate the mechanistic basis for IL-2/alpha-CD40-mediated control of
      metastases and suggest that the context-dependent application of NO donors may
      hold promise for prevention of metastatic disease.

PMID- 20921284
TI  - A critical role for regulatory T cell-mediated control of inflammation in the
      absence of commensal microbiota.
AB  - Suppression mediated by regulatory T cells (T reg cells) represents a unique,
      cell-extrinsic mechanism of in-trans negative regulation that restrains multiple
      types of immune cells. The loss of T reg cells leads to fatal, highly aggressive,
      and widespread immune-mediated lesions. This severe autoimmunity may be driven by
      commensal microbiota, the largest source of non-self ligands activating the
      innate and adaptive immune systems. Alternatively, T reg cells may primarily
      restrain T cells with a diverse self-major histocompatibility complex (MHC)
      restricted T cell receptor repertoire independently of commensal microbiota. In
      this study, we demonstrate that in germ-free (GF) mice, ablation of the otherwise
      fully functional T reg cells resulted in a systemic autoimmune lympho- and
      myeloproliferative syndrome and tissue inflammation comparable with those in T
      reg cell-ablated conventional mice. Importantly, there were two exceptions: in GF
      mice deprived of T reg cells, the inflammation in the small intestine was
      delayed, whereas exocrine pancreatitis was markedly accelerated compared with T
      reg cell-ablated conventional mice. These findings suggest that the main function
      of T reg cells is restraint of self-MHC-restricted T cell responsiveness, which,
      regardless of the presence of commensal microbiota, poses a threat of
      autoimmunity.

PMID- 20921285
TI  - A requirement for FcgammaR in antibody-mediated bacterial toxin neutralization.
AB  - One important function of humoral immunity is toxin neutralization. The current
      view posits that neutralization results from antibody-mediated interference with
      the binding of toxins to their targets, a phenomenon viewed as dependent only on
      antibody specificity. To investigate the role of antibody constant region
      function in toxin neutralization, we generated IgG2a and IgG2b variants of the
      Bacillus anthracis protective antigen-binding IgG1 monoclonal antibody (mAb)
      19D9. These antibodies express identical variable regions and display the same
      specificity. The efficacy of antibody-mediated neutralization was IgG2a > IgG2b >
      IgG1, and neutralization activity required competent Fcgamma receptor (FcgammaR).
      The IgG2a mAb prevented lethal toxin cell killing and mitogen-activated protein
      kinase/extracellular signal-regulated kinase kinase cleavage more efficiently
      than the IgG1 mAb. Passive immunization with IgG1 and IgG2a mAb protected wild
      type mice, but not FcgammaR-deficient mice, against B. anthracis infection. These
      results establish that constant region isotype influences toxin neutralization
      efficacy of certain antibodies through a mechanism that requires engagement of
      FcgammaR. These findings highlight a new parameter for evaluating vaccine
      responses and the possibility of harnessing optimal FcgammaR interactions in the
      design of passive immunization strategies.

PMID- 20921286
TI  - Bystander killing of cancer requires the cooperation of CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells
      during the effector phase.
AB  - Cancers frequently evade cytotoxic T lymphocyte-mediated destruction through loss
      or down-regulation of tumor antigens and antigen-presenting major
      histocompatibility complex molecules. Therefore, we have concentrated our efforts
      on immunological strategies that destroy nonmalignant stromal cells essential for
      the survival and growth of cancer cells. In this study, we developed a non-T cell
      receptor transgenic, immunocompetent tumor model to determine whether tumor
      bearing hosts' own immune systems could eliminate cancer cells through stromal
      targeting and what role CD4(+) T cells play alongside CD8(+) T cells in this
      process. We found that aggressive cancers could be eradicated by T cell targeting
      of tumor stroma. However, successful elimination required the cooperation of
      CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells not only during the induction phase but also during the
      effector phase in the tumor microenvironment, implying a new role for CD4(+) T
      cells that has not been previously described. Our study demonstrates the
      potential of stromal targeting as a cancer immunotherapy and suggests that
      successful anticancer strategies must facilitate cooperation between CD4(+) and
      CD8(+) T cells at the right times and the right places.

PMID- 20921287
TI  - A novel subset of CD4(+) T(H)2 memory/effector cells that produce inflammatory IL
      17 cytokine and promote the exacerbation of chronic allergic asthma.
AB  - The inflammatory cytokine interleukin (IL)-17 is involved in the pathogenesis of
      allergic diseases. However, the identity and functions of IL-17-producing T cells
      during the pathogenesis of allergic diseases remain unclear. Here, we report a
      novel subset of T(H)2 memory/effector cells that coexpress the transcription
      factors GATA3 and RORgammat and coproduce T(H)17 and T(H)2 cytokines. Classical
      T(H)2 memory/effector cells had the potential to produce IL-17 after stimulation
      with proinflammatory cytokines IL-1beta, IL-6, and IL-21. The number of IL-17
      T(H)2 cells was significantly increased in blood of patients with atopic asthma.
      In a mouse model of allergic lung diseases, IL-17-producing CD4(+) T(H)2 cells
      were induced in the inflamed lung and persisted as the dominant IL-17-producing T
      cell population during the chronic stage of asthma. Treating cultured bronchial
      epithelial cells with IL-17 plus T(H)2 cytokines induced strong up-regulation of
      chemokine eotaxin-3, Il8, Mip1b, and Groa gene expression. Compared with
      classical T(H)17 and T(H)2 cells, antigen-specific IL-17-producing T(H)2 cells
      induced a profound influx of heterogeneous inflammatory leukocytes and
      exacerbated asthma. Our findings highlight the plasticity of T(H)2 memory cells
      and suggest that IL-17-producing T(H)2 cells may represent the key pathogenic
      T(H)2 cells promoting the exacerbation of allergic asthma.

PMID- 20921288
TI  - Expanding the ecological validity of WAIS-IV and WMS-IV with the Texas functional
      living scale.
AB  - Assessment of functional status is an important aspect of clinical evaluation. As
      part of the standardization of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Fourth
      Edition (WAIS-IV) and Wechsler Memory Scale-Fourth Edition (WMS-IV), participants
      completed the Texas Functional Living Scale (TFLS), a measure of Instrumental
      Activities of Daily Living. The relationships between TFLS and WAIS-IV and WMS-IV
      were examined in both normally developing and clinical samples. In general, the
      highest correlations were between TFLS and measures of general cognitive ability
      (WAIS-IV FSIQ [Full Scale IQ] and GAI [General Ability Index]) and working memory
      (WAIS-IV WMI [Working Memory Index] and WMS-IV VWMI [Visual Working Memory
      Index]). Across the clinical populations, working memory subtests were generally
      strongly related to TFLS performance, although this relationship was more
      consistent with WAIS-IV than WMS-IV. Contrast scaled scores are presented for the
      TFLS based on WAIS-IV or WMS-IV performance. These scores allow the evaluation of
      functional abilities within the context of cognitive and memory ability,
      enhancing and expanding the utility of the WAIS-IV and WMS-IV.

PMID- 20921289
TI  - A pilot study on tertiary teledermatology: feasibility and acceptance of
      telecommunication among dermatologists.
AB  - Tertiary teledermatology (TTD), where a general dermatologist consults a
      specialized dermatologist on difficult cases, is a relatively new telemedicine
      service. We evaluated TTD in a Dutch university hospital, where 13 general
      dermatologists used TTD to consult 11 specialized dermatologists and two
      residents at the university medical centre. We measured the avoided referrals to
      the university centre, the usability of the system and the user acceptance of it.
      During a three-month study, general dermatologists consulted via TTD 28 times. In
      17 of the consultations (61%), the general dermatologists would have referred
      their patients to the university centre if teledermatology had not been
      available. Referral was not necessary after teledermatology for 12 of these 17
      consultations (71%). The mean usability score (0-100) of all the users was 80.
      All dermatologists were satisfied with TTD (mean satisfaction of 7.6 on a 10
      point scale) and acceptance was high. The baseline measurements showed that half
      of tertiary referrals were suitable for TTD. These results suggest that TTD
      reduces unnecessary physical referrals and that users are satisfied with it. A
      large-scale evaluation is now required.

PMID- 20921290
TI  - Paediatric health calls to Swedish telenurses: a descriptive study of content and
      outcome.
AB  - We collected data about telephone triage calls concerning children in Sweden. A
      sample of 110 paediatric calls were recorded. The transcribed data were analysed
      regarding word count, reasons for calling, results of calls, ages and gender of
      children, and gender of parents. The median call length was 4.4 min and the
      median child's age was 3.5 years. Mothers made 73% of calls, but mothers and
      fathers called to the same extent about daughters and sons, and regardless of
      age. The most common reasons for calls were ear problems, rash/wound or fever. In
      nearly half the calls, the telenurses provided self-care advice. Call length,
      word count or caller's part of word count did not differ according to gender of
      parents or children. However, mothers were more likely to receive self-care
      advice while fathers were more often referred to other health services by the
      telenurses. Telenurses might need to improve their gender competence, and more
      male telenurses in the service would potentially be beneficial to callers.

PMID- 20921291
TI  - The effect of sevelamer carbonate and lanthanum carbonate on the pharmacokinetics
      of oral calcitriol.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Lanthanum carbonate and sevelamer carbonate are non-calcium-based
      phosphate binders used to manage hyperphosphataemia in patients with chronic
      kidney disease (CKD). Patients with CKD may require intravenous or oral active
      vitamin D. We investigated the effects of lanthanum carbonate and sevelamer
      carbonate on the bioavailability of oral calcitriol. METHODS: This was a three
      period, crossover study in healthy volunteers. Forty-one individuals were
      randomized to one of six possible sequences, each consisting of three treatment
      periods separated by washouts. The treatments were calcitriol (1 MUg at lunch),
      calcitriol with lanthanum carbonate (3000 mg/day) and calcitriol with sevelamer
      carbonate (7200 mg/day). Serum calcitriol levels were assessed at baseline and
      throughout the study. RESULTS: Co-administration of lanthanum carbonate with
      calcitriol had no significant effect on area under the curve over 48 h (AUC(0
      48)) for serum exogenous calcitriol [least-squares (LS) mean, calcitriol with
      lanthanum carbonate vs calcitriol alone: 429 pg h/mL vs 318 pg h/mL,
      respectively; P = 0.171]. Similarly, there was no significant effect on maximum
      concentration (C(max)). In contrast, co-administration with sevelamer was
      associated with a significant reduction in bioavailability parameters for
      calcitriol (calcitriol with sevelamer carbonate vs calcitriol alone, LS mean
      AUC(0-48): 137 pg h/mL vs 318 pg h/mL, respectively; P = 0.024; LS mean C(max):
      40.1 pg/mL vs 49.7 pg/mL, respectively; P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Sevelamer
      carbonate significantly reduces serum concentrations of exogenous calcitriol when
      administered concomitantly with oral calcitriol, whereas lanthanum carbonate has
      no significant effect. This should be considered when treating CKD patients who
      require phosphate binders and oral vitamin D.

PMID- 20921292
TI  - Aliskiren improves insulin resistance and ameliorates diabetic vascular
      complications in db/db mice.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Aliskiren is a direct renin inhibitor (DRI) and provides an organ
      protective effect in human and animal experiments. However, there is no current
      evidence of the effect of DRI on insulin resistance and metabolic abnormalities
      in type 2 diabetic animals. Methods. We investigated the effects and molecular
      mechanism of aliskiren in db/db mice and cultured mesangial cells (MCs). RESULTS:
      Aliskiren treatment for 3 months at a dose of 25 mg/kg/day via an osmotic mini
      pump did not induce significant changes in blood glucose levels, systolic blood
      pressure, serum creatinine and electrolyte levels. However, aliskiren treatment
      improved insulin resistance confirmed by insulin tolerance test and various
      biomarkers including homeostasis model assessment index levels and lipid
      abnormalities. The treated group also exhibited significant improvement in
      cardiac functional and morphological abnormalities including left ventricular
      hypertrophy, and induced phenotypic changes in adipose tissue. Aliskiren
      treatment also markedly decreased urinary albumin excretion, glomerulosclerosis
      and suppressed profibrotic and proinflammatory cytokine synthesis and improved
      renal lipid metabolism. In cultured MCs, high glucose stimulation increased MC
      renin concentration. Furthermore, renin treatment directly up-regulates synthesis
      of proinflammatory and profibrotic cytokines, which were abolished by prior
      treatment with aliskiren and angiotensin receptor (AT1) antagonist. These results
      suggest that the beneficial effect of aliskiren is mediated by an angiotensin
      dependent mechanism. CONCLUSIONS: Together, these results imply that aliskiren
      provides an organ-protective effect through improvement in insulin resistance and
      lipid abnormality, as well as direct anti-fibrotic effect in target organ in
      db/db mice. Aliskiren may be a useful new therapeutic agent in the treatment of
      type 2 diabetes mellitus and diabetic nephropathy.

PMID- 20921293
TI  - Matrix metalloproteinase levels in the drained dialysate reflect the peritoneal
      solute transport rate: a multicentre study in Japan.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Long-term peritoneal dialysis (PD) leads to peritoneal injury with
      high solute transport of the peritoneal membrane. At worst, peritoneal injury
      leads to encapsulating peritoneal sclerosis with an extremely high mortality
      rate. To perform PD safely and adequately, it is necessary to monitor peritoneal
      injury. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential of matrix
      metalloproteinases (MMPs) as new indicators of peritoneal injury. METHODS: The
      subjects included 215 PD patients with end-stage renal disease at 20 centres in
      Japan. MMPs or tissue inhibitors of MMP (TIMPs) in the drained dialysate were
      quantified with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The peritoneal solute
      transport rate was assessed to estimate peritoneal injury and PD efficiency by
      the peritoneal equilibration test (PET). RESULTS: MMP-2, MMP-3 and TIMP-1 levels
      in the drained dialysate obtained by the PET were correlated with the D/P Cr
      ratios (rho = 0.69, rho = 0.52, rho = 0.55, respectively) and the D/D0 glucose
      ratios (rho = -0.60, rho = -0.47, rho = -0.48, respectively). The measured D/S
      ratios of MMP-2 and TIMP-1 were significantly higher than the expected D/S ratios
      when MMP-2 and TIMP-1 would have been transported from only the circulation. The
      measured D/S ratios of MMP-3 nearly corresponded to the expected ratios. MMP-1
      and TIMP-2 in the drainage were undetected in most patients. CONCLUSIONS: From
      these results, most MMP-2 in the drained dialysate may be produced from the
      peritoneum, and MMP-2 is expected to be a useful marker of peritoneal injury or
      change in peritoneal solute transport.

PMID- 20921294
TI  - An association between depressive symptoms and survival in incident dialysis
      patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Depression in end-stage renal disease patients is detrimental to
      quality of life, and is also associated with adverse clinical outcomes. The aim
      of this study was to examine whether depression symptoms in 'incident dialysis'
      patients predicted survival. METHODS: One hundred and sixty incident
      haemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis patients completed a self-report depression
      questionnaire (Beck Depression Inventory-II, BDI) at a point soon after dialysis
      initiation. Over the study period (May 2007-December 2009), patients were
      followed up with all-cause mortality recorded as the end point. RESULTS: The
      median follow-up time for the cohort was 511 days (min 47 days and max 1027
      days). There were 27 deaths (16.9%). Depression symptoms were evaluated both as a
      continuous variable and using a defined cut-off for depressed patients (BDI >=
      16). In a Cox proportional hazards model, adjusted for several covariates
      including albumin and extra renal comorbidity, depression score was an
      independent predictor of mortality (HR = 1.07, 95% CI 1.02-1.11, P = 0.002). In
      an additional adjusted model, a BDI score >= 16 was associated with a 2.7 times
      increase in the hazard for death (HR = 2.7, 95% CI 1.06-6.8, P = 0.037).
      CONCLUSIONS: The severity of depression symptoms following the start of dialysis
      treatment is an independent predictor of survival. Further studies will be
      required to determine whether the treatment of depression would alter health
      related outcomes, including survival.

PMID- 20921295
TI  - Relations between malnutrition-inflammation-atherosclerosis and volume status.
      The usefulness of bioimpedance analysis in peritoneal dialysis patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chronic fluid overload (FO) is frequently present in peritoneal
      dialysis (PD) patients and is associated with hypertension and left ventricular
      hypertrophy and dysfunction, which are important predictors of death in dialysis
      patients. In the present study, we investigated the relationship between
      nutrition, inflammation, atherosclerosis and body fluid volumes measured by multi
      frequency bioimpedance analysis (m-BIA) in PD patients. In addition, we analysed
      the relationship of extracellular volume values by m-BIA to echocardiographic
      parameters in order to define its usefulness as a measure of FO. METHODS: Ninety
      five prevalent PD patients (mean age 50 +/- 13 years, 10 of them diabetic) were
      enrolled. Extracellular water (ECW), total body water (TBW), dry lean mass (DLM)
      and phase angle (PA) were measured by m-BIA. Volume status was determined by
      measuring left atrium diameter (LAD) and left ventricular end-diastolic diameter
      (LVEDD). Measurement of carotid artery intima-media thickness (CA-IMT) was used
      to assess the presence of subclinical atherosclerosis. Serum albumin was used as
      a nutritional marker, and serum C-reactive protein (CRP) was used as an
      inflammatory marker. RESULTS: Mean ECW/height was 10.0 +/- 1.0 L/m for whole
      group and 9.3 +/- 0.6 L/m in patients with normal clinical hydration parameters.
      In correlation analysis, markers of nutrition, inflammation and atherosclerosis
      correlated well with m-BIA parameters. When we used echographically measured LAD
      (> 40 mm) or LVEDD (> 55 mm) as a confirmatory parameter, a cut-off value of
      10.48 L/m ECW/height (78% specificity, with a sensitivity of 77% for LAD and 72%
      specificity, with a sensitivity of 70% for LVEDD) was found in ROC analysis for
      the diagnosis of FO. Patients with FO were older and had higher systolic blood
      pressure, cardiothoracic index, serum CRP level and mean CA-IMT than patients
      without FO. Patients with inflammation had higher CA-IMT values. In multivariate
      analysis, only two factors-low urine output and ECW/height-were independently
      associated with the presence of inflammation. CONCLUSIONS: FO defined by m-BIA is
      significantly correlated with markers of malnutrition, inflammation and
      atherosclerosis in PD patients. The indices obtained from m-BIA, especially
      ECW/height, correlated well with volume overload as assessed by echocardiography
      and might be a measure worth testing in a properly designed clinical study.

PMID- 20921296
TI  - Comparing automated peritoneal dialysis with continuous ambulatory peritoneal
      dialysis: survival and quality of life differences?
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is a wide disparity in the use of automated peritoneal dialysis
      (APD) or continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) in the UK. This may be
      due to a perceived quality of life and technique survival advantage with APD,
      although evidence is lacking. METHODS: We conducted a single-centre retrospective
      study of incident end-stage renal disease initiating APD and CAPD with data
      collected prospectively over 5 years. PD modality was based on patient
      preference. Health status was assessed using SF-36 questionnaires at initial and
      1-year follow-up appointments. RESULTS: Three hundred and seventy-two patients
      were included: 194 patients chose APD, and 178 patients chose CAPD. CAPD patients
      were generally older and more dependent than APD patients. Univariate analysis
      for technique survival was inferior for CAPD (relative risk for failure 1.46, 95%
      CI 1.08-1.97). But on multivariate analysis when comorbidity was added into the
      model, PD modality was no longer a significant predictor of technique survival.
      There was no difference in decline in residual renal function. Baseline CAPD
      patients had worse health status (HS); mean (SEM) physical and social composite
      scores were 32.3 (0.9) vs 36.5 (0.9) and 33.3 (1.2) vs 40.3 (1.2). After 1 year,
      HS scores for CAPD and APD patients were similar, but the improvement in HS
      scores correlated with baseline scores (PD modality was not an independent
      predictor of the change in HS). CONCLUSIONS: This study did not show any
      advantages of APD over CAPD in terms of technique survival or HS. There is no
      evidence to support physician bias towards one PD modality, and both should be
      available to allow patient choice.

PMID- 20921297
TI  - Fresh and cryopreserved, uncultured adipose tissue-derived stem and regenerative
      cells ameliorate ischemia-reperfusion-induced acute kidney injury.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Acute kidney injury (AKI) represents a major clinical problem with
      high mortality and limited causal treatments. The use of cell therapy has been
      suggested as a potential modality to improve the course and outcome of AKI.
      METHODS: We investigated the possible renoprotection of freshly isolated,
      uncultured adipose tissue-derived stem and regenerative cells (ADRCs) before and
      after cryopreservation in a rat ischemia-reperfusion (I-R) model of AKI. RESULTS:
      We demonstrated that ADRC therapy drastically reduced mortality (survival 100%
      vs. 57%, ADRC vs. controls, respectively) and significantly reduced serum
      creatinine (sCr on Day 3: 3.03 +/- 1.58 vs. 7.37 +/- 2.32 mg/dL, ADRC vs.
      controls, respectively). Histological analysis further validated a significantly
      reduced intratubular cast formation, ameliorated acute tubular epithelial cell
      necrosis and mitigated macrophage infiltration. Furthermore, a reduced RNA
      expression of CXCL2 and IL-6 was found in the ADRC group which could explain the
      reduced macrophage recruitment. Use of cryopreserved ADRCs resulted in an equally
      high survival (90% vs. 33% in the control group) and similarly improved renal
      function (sCr on Day 3: 4.64 +/- 2.43 vs. 7.24 +/- 1.40 mg/dL in controls).
      CONCLUSIONS: Collectively, these results suggest a potential clinical role for
      ADRC therapy in patients with AKI. Importantly, cryopreservation of ADRCs could
      offer an autologous treatment strategy for patients who are at high risk for AKI
      during planned interventions.

PMID- 20921300
TI  - Gastric bypass in patients with chronic kidney disease.

PMID- 20921298
TI  - Chronic kidney disease and 1-year survival in elderly patients discharged from
      acute care hospitals: a comparison of three glomerular filtration rate equations.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Glomerular filtration rate (GFR) is directly associated with
      survival. However, the prognostic significance of GFR might be different
      according to the formula used to estimate it. We aimed at comparing the
      association between GFR estimated using three different formulas and 1-year
      survival in elderly patients discharged from acute care hospitals. METHODS: Our
      series consisted of 439 patients aged 65 and older admitted to 11 acute care
      medical wards enrolled in a multicentre prospective observational study. GFR was
      estimated by body surface area-adjusted Cockcroft-Gault (CG-BSA), Modification of
      Diet in Renal Disease study (MDRD) and Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology
      Collaboration (CKD-EPI) formulas. The relative risk of mortality in patients with
      estimated GFR = 30-59.9 or < 30 mL/min/1.73 m(2) compared to people with
      estimated GFR >= 60 mL/min/1.73 m(2) was calculated using Cox regression
      analysis. RESULTS: Participants with reduced GFR showed an increased mortality,
      regardless of the equation used, and the highest one was associated with CG-BSA
      estimated GFR < 30 mL/min/1.73 m(2). After adjusting for potential confounders,
      CKD-EPI-estimated GFR remained significantly associated with the outcome [30-59.9
      mL/min/1.73 m(2), hazard ratio (HR) = 1.70, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) =
      1.02-2.98; < 30 mL/min/1.73 m(2), HR = 2.60, 95% CI = 1.20-5.66], while the
      strength of the association was clearly reduced for MDRD (30-59.9 mL/min/1.73
      m(2), HR = 1.47, 95% CI = 0.83-2.38; < 30 mL/min/1.73 m(2), HR = 2.07, 95% CI =
      1.01-4.30) and CG-BSA (30-59.9 mL/min/1.73 m(2), HR = 1.79, 95% CI = 0.67-4.53; <
      30 mL/min/1.73 m(2), HR = 2.68, 95% CI = 0.92-7.55). CONCLUSION: GFR adds to the
      list of prognostic indicators in elderly and frail people, and CKD-EPI-derived
      GFR, which outperforms to some extent MDRD and CG-BSA-derived GFR in a
      multivariable predictive model, seems worthy of testing in wider populations.

PMID- 20921301
TI  - Elevated salivary potassium in paediatric CKD patients, a novel excretion
      pathway.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hyperkalaemia is one of the complications of chronic renal failure.
      Gastrointestinal excretion and cellular uptake are two adaptive mechanisms for
      extra-renal potassium (K) disposal in these patients. The salivary glands'
      secretion system can actively excrete K into the oral cavity. METHODS: We
      examined salivary K levels in four groups of paediatric chronic kidney disease
      (CKD) patients: 25 pre-dialytic (PreD) patients, 18 patients on maintenance
      dialysis (D), and 31 transplanted patients with a functioning graft (T), compared
      with 32 healthy children (C). RESULTS: Salivary K levels were significantly
      higher in the D and PreD groups than the C group (P = 0.03 and P = 0.0004,
      respectively). Interestingly, a significant negative correlation was found
      between glomerular filtration rate and salivary K in PreD and T patients.
      CONCLUSIONS: We suggest an extension of the gastrointestinal adaptive K pathway
      via salivary gland secretion in patients suffering from hyperkalaemia.

PMID- 20921302
TI  - Fractional excretions of albumin and IgG are the best predictors of progression
      in primary glomerulonephritis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Proteinuria is the most sensitive predictor of development of
      progressive renal insufficiency, with increasing focus on the composition of
      proteinuria, particularly high molecular weight proteins such as immunoglobulin G
      (IgG) (molecular weight 150 kDa). Differing methods of assessing excretion of
      proteinuria molecules have limited interpretation of results. We aimed to assess
      the utility of available indices of IgG, total proteinuria and albumin excretions
      as predictors of chronic kidney disease (CKD) progression in patients with
      primary glomerulonephritis. METHODS: We recruited 97 patients with primary
      glomerulonephritis and measured 24-h urinary protein excretion, 24-h urinary
      albumin excretion, selectivity index, albumin:creatinine ratio, urinary
      IgG:creatinine ratio, fractional excretion of albumin (FE Alb) and fractional
      excretion of IgG (FE IgG) at baseline. The composite endpoint was developing
      stage 5 CKD, requiring RRT or death. Receiver operating characteristics curve
      analysis was used to assess the value of each measure in predicting outcome. From
      this analysis, high- and low-risk patient groups according to each measure were
      established. These were then tested using Kaplan-Meier and Cox survival analysis.
      RESULTS: During a median follow-up of 7.07 years, 23 patients developed the
      primary endpoint. FE IgG and FE Alb were the most sensitive predictive tests. The
      hazard ratios (HR) of developing the primary endpoint using FE IgG [HR 37.1 (95%
      CI 8.6-158.8)] and FE Alb [HR 35.2 (95% CI 8.2-150.8)] cut-offs were double those
      using the other measures. CONCLUSIONS: FE IgG and FE Alb are superior to
      conventional measures of proteinuria in predicting outcome in patients with
      primary glomerulonephritis, possibly because they are more accurate indicators of
      impairment of glomerular permselectivity. FE Alb should be used, in conjunction
      with other measures of proteinuria, in future studies of prediction of CKD
      progression.

PMID- 20921303
TI  - Pregnancy decreases rat CYP1A2 activity and expression.
AB  - Pregnancy results in increased CYP3A- and CYP2D6-mediated clearance but decreases
      the clearance of CYP1A2 probe drugs. The aim of this study was to determine
      whether the decreased CYP1A2 activity during human pregnancy could be explained
      by decreased expression of CYP1A2 protein and mRNA using the rat as a model.
      Potential mechanisms leading to decreased CYP1A2 activity and expression were
      also investigated. Hepatic CYP1A2 activity, protein, and mRNA were measured
      during mid- and late gestation and compared to nonpregnant control levels. In
      addition, the effect of 17-beta-estradiol and progesterone on CYP1A2 mRNA levels
      was assessed using rat hepatocytes, and the effect of estrogens or progesterone
      on CYP1A2 activity in vitro was tested. CYP1A2-mediated probe clearance decreased
      between 48 and 62% (p < 0.05) during pregnancy, with no difference in CYP1A2
      activity between mid- and late pregnancy. This decrease in probe clearance was
      accompanied by a 33 +/- 8% (midpregnancy) and 29 +/- 27% (late pregnancy)
      decrease in CYP1A2 protein expression (p < 0.05) and a 53% decline in
      methoxyresorufin O-demethylation V(max) (p < 0.05). CYP1A2 mRNA was not
      significantly different from controls at midpregnancy and decreased by 27 +/- 20%
      (p < 0.05) of control during late pregnancy. Estradiol and progesterone had no
      effect on CYP1A2 mRNA in rat hepatocytes and did not inhibit CYP1A2 activity.
      These data demonstrate that pregnancy decreases CYP1A2 activity and expression
      with a modest effect on CYP1A2 mRNA and suggest that the rat can be used as a
      model to study mechanisms by which pregnancy decreases CYP1A2 activity in humans.

PMID- 20921304
TI  - Mechanism of antifungal activity of terpenoid phenols resembles calcium stress
      and inhibition of the TOR pathway.
AB  - Terpenoid phenols, including carvacrol, are components of oregano and other plant
      essential oils that exhibit potent antifungal activity against a wide range of
      pathogens, including Candida albicans, Staphylococcus aureus, and Pseudomonas
      aeruginosa. To gain a mechanistic view of the cellular response to terpenoid
      phenols, we used Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a model organism and monitored
      temporal changes in metabolic activity, cytosolic and vacuolar pH, and Ca(2+)
      transients. Using a panel of related compounds, we observed dose-dependent Ca(2+)
      bursts that correlated with antifungal efficacy. Changes in pH were long lasting
      and followed the Ca(2+) transients. A vma mutant lacking functional vacuolar H(+)
      ATPase (V-ATPase) and defective in ion homeostasis was hypersensitive to
      carvacrol toxicity, consistent with a role for ionic disruptions in mediating
      cell death. Genomic profiling within 15 min of exposure revealed a robust
      transcriptional response to carvacrol, closely resembling that of calcium stress.
      Genes involved in alternate metabolic and energy pathways, stress response,
      autophagy, and drug efflux were prominently upregulated, whereas repressed genes
      mediated ribosome biogenesis and RNA metabolism. These responses were strongly
      reminiscent of the effects of rapamycin, the inhibitor of the TOR pathway of
      nutrient sensing. The results point to the activation of specific signaling
      pathways downstream of cellular interaction with carvacrol rather than a
      nonspecific lesion of membranes, as has been previously proposed.

PMID- 20921305
TI  - Testing nucleoside analogues as inhibitors of Bacillus anthracis spore
      germination in vitro and in macrophage cell culture.
AB  - Bacillus anthracis, the etiological agent of anthrax, has a dormant stage in its
      life cycle known as the endospore. When conditions become favorable, spores
      germinate and transform into vegetative bacteria. In inhalational anthrax, the
      most fatal manifestation of the disease, spores enter the organism through the
      respiratory tract and germinate in phagosomes of alveolar macrophages. Germinated
      cells can then produce toxins and establish infection. Thus, germination is a
      crucial step for the initiation of pathogenesis. B. anthracis spore germination
      is activated by a wide variety of amino acids and purine nucleosides. Inosine and
      l-alanine are the two most potent nutrient germinants in vitro. Recent studies
      have shown that germination can be hindered by isomers or structural analogues of
      germinants. 6-Thioguanosine (6-TG), a guanosine analogue, is able to inhibit
      germination and prevent B. anthracis toxin-mediated necrosis in murine
      macrophages. In this study, we screened 46 different nucleoside analogues as
      activators or inhibitors of B. anthracis spore germination in vitro. These
      compounds were also tested for their ability to protect the macrophage cell line
      J774a.1 from B. anthracis cytotoxicity. Structure-activity relationship analysis
      of activators and inhibitors clarified the binding mechanisms of nucleosides to
      B. anthracis spores. In contrast, no structure-activity relationships were
      apparent for compounds that protected macrophages from B. anthracis-mediated
      killing. However, multiple inhibitors additively protected macrophages from B.
      anthracis.

PMID- 20921306
TI  - In vivo selection of a missense mutation in adeR and conversion of the novel
      blaOXA-164 gene into blaOXA-58 in carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii
      isolates from a hospitalized patient.
AB  - The mechanism of stepwise acquired multidrug resistance in Acinetobacter
      baumannii isolates from a hospitalized patient was investigated. Thirteen
      consecutive multidrug-resistant isolates were recovered from the same patient
      over a 2-month period. The Vitek 2 system identified the isolates as meropenem
      sensitive Acinetobacter lwoffii; however, molecular identification showed that
      the isolates were A. baumannii. Etest revealed that the isolates were meropenem
      resistant. The presence of oxacillinase (OXA)-type enzymes were investigated by
      sequencing. The clonal relatedness of isolates was assessed by pulsed-field gel
      electrophoresis (PFGE). Expression of the genes encoding the efflux pumps AdeB
      and AdeJ was performed by semiquantitative real-time reverse transcription-PCR
      (qRT-PCR). The adeRS two-component system was sequenced. All isolates had
      identical PFGE fingerprints, suggesting clonal identity. The first six isolates
      were positive for the novel bla(OXA-164) gene. The following seven isolates,
      recovered after treatment with a combination of meropenem, amikacin,
      ciprofloxacin, and co-trimoxazole showed an increase of >7-fold in adeB mRNA
      transcripts and a missense mutation in bla(OXA-164), converting it to bla(OXA
      58). Sequencing revealed a novel mutation in adeR. These data illustrate how A.
      baumannii can adapt during antimicrobial therapy, leading to increased
      antimicrobial resistance.

PMID- 20921307
TI  - Population pharmacokinetic modeling of the association between 63396C->T pregnane
      X receptor polymorphism and unboosted atazanavir clearance.
AB  - Atazanavir (ATV) plasma concentrations are influenced by CYP3A4 and ABCB1, which
      are regulated by the pregnane X receptor (PXR; NR1I2). PXR expression is
      correlated with CYP3A4 in liver in the absence of enzyme inducers. The PXR single
      nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) 63396C->T (rs2472677) alters PXR expression and
      CYP3A4 activity in vitro, and we previously showed an association of this
      polymorphism with unboosted ATV plasma concentrations. The aim of this study was
      to develop a population pharmacokinetic analysis to quantify the impact of 63396C
      >T and diurnal variation on ATV clearance. A population analysis was performed
      with 323 plasma samples from 182 randomly selected patients receiving unboosted
      ATV. Two hundred fifty-nine of the blood samples were collected at random time
      points, and 11 patients had a full concentration-time profile at steady state.
      Nonlinear mixed effects modeling was applied to explore the effects of PXR 63396C
      >T, patient demographics, and diurnal variation. A one-compartment model with
      first-order absorption and lag time best described the data. Population clearance
      was 19.7 liters/h with interpatient variability or coefficient of variation (CV)
      of 21.5%. Homozygosity for the T allele for PXR 63396 was associated with a 17.0%
      higher clearance that was statistically significant. Evening dosing was
      associated with 34% higher bioavailability than morning dosing. Patient
      demographic factors had no effect on ATV clearance. These data show an
      association of PXR 63396C->T and diurnal variation on unboosted ATV clearance.
      The association is likely to be mediated through an effect on hepatic PXR
      expression and therefore expression of its target genes (e.g., CYP3A4, SLCO1B1,
      and ABCB1), which are known to be involved in ATV clearance.

PMID- 20921308
TI  - In vitro evaluation of viability, integrity, and inflammation in genital
      epithelia upon exposure to pharmaceutical excipients and candidate microbicides.
AB  - The use of microbicides is a promising approach for the prevention of HIV-1
      transmission. Unfortunately, various candidates failed in clinical trials. In
      some cases, the candidate microbicide even resulted in enhanced virus
      transmission. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop more predictive
      preclinical strategies to anticipate the in vivo efficiency/toxicity rate,
      including in vitro assays that evaluate effects on epithelial integrity and
      inflammation. The present study aims to identify potential safety issues
      concerning the use of microbicides and excipients commonly used in vaginal
      microbicide preparations. The toxicities of various active pharmaceutical
      ingredients (APIs; TMC-120, UC-781, tenofovir [PMPA], PRO-2000, and glycerol
      monolaurate [GML]) and excipients (preservatives, cosolvents, surfactants, and
      cyclodextrins) were evaluated using an in vitro dual-chamber model and uterine
      cervical explants. Epithelial viability and permeation of fluorescent virus-sized
      beads, as well as induction of interleukin-8 (IL-8; as a sensitive marker of an
      inflammatory response), were assessed. Surprisingly, cell viability and
      epithelial layer integrity were compromised by most excipients at concentrations
      near the typical concentration used in vaginal gels, and a significant increase
      in the production of IL-8 was observed at subtoxic concentrations. Within the
      APIs, TMC-120, UC-781, and PMPA showed higher selectivity indices than PRO-2000
      and GML. In conclusion, identification of safety issues concerning the use of
      pharmaceutical excipients could help to formulate less toxic vaginal microbicide
      preparations.

PMID- 20921309
TI  - Rv1218c, an ABC transporter of Mycobacterium tuberculosis with implications in
      drug discovery.
AB  - Efflux systems are important in determining the efficacy of antibiotics used in
      the treatment of bacterial infections. In the last decade much attention has been
      paid to studying the efflux pumps of mycobacteria. New classes of compounds are
      under investigation for development into potential candidate drugs for the
      treatment of tuberculosis. Quite often, these have poor bactericidal activities
      but exhibit excellent target (biochemical) inhibition. Microarray studies
      conducted in our laboratories for deciphering the mode of action of experimental
      drugs revealed the presence of putative ABC transporters. Among these
      transporters, Rv1218c was chosen for studying its physiological relevance in
      mediating efflux in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. A DeltaRv1218c mutant of M.
      tuberculosis displayed a 4- to 8-fold increase in the inhibitory and bactericidal
      potency for different classes of compounds. The MICs and MBCs were reversed to
      wild-type values when the full-length Rv1218c gene was reintroduced into the
      DeltaRv1218c mutant on a multicopy plasmid. Most of the compound classes had
      significantly better bactericidal activity in the DeltaRv1218c mutant than in the
      wild-type H37Rv, suggesting the involvement of Rv1218c gene product in effluxing
      these compounds from M. tuberculosis. The implication of these findings on
      tuberculosis drug discovery is discussed.

PMID- 20921310
TI  - Efficacy of a doxycycline treatment regimen initiated during three different
      phases of experimental ehrlichiosis.
AB  - Doxycycline is the treatment of choice for canine monocytic ehrlichiosis (CME), a
      well-characterized disease and valuable model for tick-borne zoonoses.
      Conflicting reports of clearance of Ehrlichia canis after treatment with
      doxycycline suggested that the disease phase during which treatment is initiated
      influences outcomes of these treatments. The purpose of this study was to
      evaluate the efficacy of a 28-day doxycycline regimen for clearance of
      experimental E. canis infections from dogs treated during three phases of the
      disease. Ten dogs were inoculated with blood from E. canis carriers and treated
      with doxycycline during acute, subclinical, or chronic phases of CME. Daily
      rectal temperatures and semiweekly blood samples were monitored from each dog,
      and Rhipicephalus sanguineus ticks were acquisition fed on each dog for
      xenodiagnosis. Blood collected from dogs treated during acute or subclinical CME
      became PCR negative for E. canis as clinical parameters improved, but blood
      samples collected from dogs treated during chronic CME remained intermittently
      PCR positive. R. sanguineus ticks fed on dogs after doxycycline treatments became
      PCR positive for E. canis, regardless of when treatment was initiated. However,
      fewer ticks became PCR positive after feeding on two persistently infected dogs
      treated with doxycycline followed by rifampin, suggesting that antibiotic therapy
      can reduce tick acquisition of E. canis.

PMID- 20921311
TI  - In vivo pharmacodynamic activity of tomopenem (formerly CS-023) against
      Pseudomonas aeruginosa and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in a
      murine thigh infection model.
AB  - Tomopenem (formerly CS-023) is a novel carbapenem with broad-spectrum activities
      against diverse hospital pathogens, including Pseudomonas aeruginosa and
      methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). We examined the in vivo
      pharmacodynamic characteristics of tomopenem against P. aeruginosa and MRSA by
      using a neutropenic murine thigh infection model with P. aeruginosa 12467 (MIC, 1
      MUg/ml) and MRSA 12372 (MIC, 2 MUg/ml). The mice had 10(6) to 10(7) CFU/thigh of
      each strain 2 h after inoculation and were treated for 24 h with a fractionated
      administration of tomopenem given at intervals of 3, 6, 12, and 24 h. The serum
      protein binding of tomopenem was 17.4%. The efficacy of tomopenem in both
      infection models was enhanced by frequent dosing, which indicates that the
      efficacy is driven by the time above MIC (T(MIC)). In a sigmoid model, the
      cumulative percentages of the 24-h period that the concentrations of free,
      unbound fractions of the drug exceeded the MIC under steady-state pharmacokinetic
      conditions (f%T(MIC)s) were best correlated with efficacy when R(2) was 0.79 and
      0.86 against P. aeruginosa and MRSA, respectively. Other pharmacokinetic and
      pharmacodynamic (PK-PD) indexes for the free, unbound fractions, the area under
      the concentration-time curve over 24 h in the steady state divided by the MIC
      (AUC/MIC) and the maximum concentration of the drug in serum divided by the MIC
      (C(max)/MIC), showed poor correlation with efficacy when R(2) was <=0.42. The
      f%T(MIC) values required for a static effect, 1-log kill, and 2-log kill against
      P. aeruginosa were 29, 39, and 51, respectively, which were similar to those for
      meropenem, for which the values were 24, 33, and 45, respectively. Against MRSA,
      the values for tomopenem were 27, 35, and 47. In conclusion, the pharmacodynamic
      characteristics of tomopenem were similar to those of meropenem against P.
      aeruginosa, and there was no difference between the target values for P.
      aeruginosa and MRSA required for efficacy in this study.

PMID- 20921312
TI  - Tissue penetration and pharmacokinetics of tigecycline in diabetic patients with
      chronic wound infections described by using in vivo microdialysis.
AB  - Tissue penetration of systemic antibiotics is an important consideration for
      positive outcomes in diabetic patients. Herein we describe the exposure profile
      and penetration of tigecycline in the interstitial fluid of wound margins versus
      that of uninfected thigh tissue in 8 adult diabetic patients intravenously (IV)
      administered 100 mg and then 50 mg of tigecycline twice daily for 3 to 5 doses.
      Prior to administration of the first dose, 2 microdialysis catheters were
      inserted into the subcutaneous tissue, the first within 10 cm of the wound margin
      and the second in the thigh of the same extremity. Samples for determination of
      plasma and tissue concentrations were simultaneously collected over 12 h under
      steady-state conditions. Tissue concentrations were corrected for percent in vivo
      recovery by the retrodialysis technique. Plasma samples were also collected for
      determination of protein binding at 1, 6, and 12 h postdose for each patient.
      Protein binding data were corrected using a fitted polynomial equation. The mean
      patient weight was 95.1 kg (range, 63.6 to 149.2 kg), the mean patient age was
      63.5 +/- 9.4 years, and 75% of the patients were males. The mean values for the
      plasma, thigh, and wound free area under the concentration-time curve from 0 to
      24 h (fAUC(0-24)) were 2.65 +/- 0.33, 2.52 +/- 1.15, and 2.60 +/- 1.02 MUg.h/ml,
      respectively. Protein binding was nonlinear, with the percentage of free drug
      increasing with decreasing serum concentrations. Exposure values for thigh tissue
      and wound tissue were similar (P = 0.986). Mean steady-state tissue
      concentrations for the thigh and wound were similar at 0.12 +/- 0.02 MUg/ml, and
      clearance from the tissues appeared similar to that from plasma. Tissue
      penetration ratios (tissue fAUC/plasma fAUC) were 99% in the thigh and 100% in
      the wound (P = 0.964). Tigecycline penetrated equally well into wound and
      uninfected tissue of the same extremity.

PMID- 20921313
TI  - Effect of antacids on the pharmacokinetics of raltegravir in human
      immunodeficiency virus-seronegative volunteers.
AB  - Raltegravir's divalent metal ion chelating motif may predispose the drug to
      interactions with divalent cations. We determined whether a divalent cation
      containing antacid interacted with raltegravir. Twelve HIV-1-seronegative
      subjects were enrolled in this randomized, prospective, crossover study of single
      dose raltegravir (400 mg) with and without an antacid. Subjects underwent two
      intensive pharmacokinetic visits in the fasted state separated by a 5- to 12-day
      washout period. With simultaneous antacid administration, time to peak
      raltegravir concentration occurred 2 h sooner (P = 0.002) and there was a 67%
      lower raltegravir concentration at 12 h postdose (P < 0.0001) than with
      administration of raltegravir alone. The raltegravir area under the-concentration
      time curve from 0 to 12 h and maximum concentration were unchanged with the
      addition of an antacid. Studies are needed to determine the clinical relevance of
      this interaction, whether it remains after multiple dosing to steady state,
      whether it is mitigated by temporal separation, and whether raltegravir interacts
      with divalent cation-containing vitamins, supplements, or foods.

PMID- 20921314
TI  - Serotype distribution and susceptibility of Streptococcus pneumoniae isolates
      from pleural fluid in Spain from 1997 to 2008.
AB  - Trends in serotype incidence and susceptibility (1997 to 2008) of Spanish
      Streptococcus pneumoniae pleural isolates (n = 831) were explored. Penicillin
      (oral) nonsusceptibility rates and the incidence of 7-valent pneumococcal
      conjugate vaccine (PCV-7) serotypes showed decreasing trends (R(2) >= 0.600; P <=
      0.002). The incidence of serotypes 1 and 19A showed increasing trends (R(2) >=
      0.759; P < 0.001), with no trends for serotype 3. Serotypes 19A, 1, and 3
      represented 85% of pediatric isolates in 2008. In serotype 19A, the penicillin
      nonsusceptibility rate was 82.4% in 2008, associated with amoxicillin and
      cefotaxime nonsusceptibility in 21.4% of isolates. Inclusion of these serotypes
      in new vaccines offers the broadest coverage.

PMID- 20921315
TI  - Tigecycline population pharmacokinetics in patients with community- or hospital
      acquired pneumonia.
AB  - Tigecycline is a new-generation of tetracycline (glycylcyclines) and is active in
      vitro against bacteria that possess any of the classical genes that confer
      tetracycline resistance through ribosomal protection or efflux pumps. Herein,
      tigecycline disposition in patients with community- or hospital-acquired
      pneumonia was described using a population pharmacokinetic model. Additionally,
      the influence of covariates, such as body surface area, severity of illness, and
      clinical laboratory measures, on tigecycline disposition was evaluated. An
      intravenous loading dose of 100 mg was followed by 50 mg of tigecycline every 12
      h. The final population pharmacokinetic model was a two-compartment model with
      linear elimination and with a relationship between tigecycline clearance and body
      surface area and creatinine clearance. The model was parameterized using total
      clearance (CL), the volume of the central compartment, distributional clearance
      from the central to the peripheral compartment, and volumes of distribution at
      steady state. Relationships between body surface area and creatinine clearance
      were identified as significant predictors of interindividual variability on CL.
      This model will serve as the basis for estimating tigecycline exposure for
      pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic analyses for efficacy and safety among patients
      with community- or hospital-acquired pneumonia.

PMID- 20921316
TI  - Mechanistic studies of the inactivation of TEM-1 and P99 by NXL104, a novel non
      beta-lactam beta-lactamase inhibitor.
AB  - NXL104 is a potent inhibitor of class A and C serine beta-lactamases, including
      KPC carbapenemases. Native and NXL104-inhibited TEM-1 and P99 beta-lactamases
      analyzed by liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-time of flight mass
      spectrometry revealed that the inactivated enzymes formed a covalent adduct with
      NXL104. The principal inhibitory characteristics of NXL104 against TEM-1 and P99
      beta-lactamases were determined, including partition ratios, dissociation
      constants (K), rate constants for deactivation (k(2)), and reactivation rates.
      NXL104 is a potent inhibitor of TEM-1 and P99, characterized by high
      carbamylation efficiencies (k(2)/K of 3.7 * 10(5) M(-1) s(-1) for TEM-1 and 1 *
      10(4) M(-1) s(-1) for P99) and slow decarbamylation. Complete loss of beta
      lactamase activity was obtained at a 1/1 enzyme/NXL104 ratio, with a k(3) value
      (rate constant for formation of product and free enzyme) close to zero for TEM-1
      and P99. Fifty percent inhibitory concentrations (IC(50)s) were evaluated on
      selected beta-lactamases, and NXL104 was shown to be a very potent inhibitor of
      class A and C beta-lactamases. IC(50)s obtained with NXL104 (from 3 nM to 170 nM)
      were globally comparable on the beta-lactamases CTX-M-15 and SHV-4 with those
      obtained with the comparators (clavulanate, tazobactam, and sulbactam) but were
      far lower on TEM-1, KPC-2, P99, and AmpC than those of the comparators. In-depth
      studies on TEM-1 and P99 demonstrated that NXL104 had a comparable or better
      affinity and inactivation rate than clavulanate and tazobactam and in all cases
      an improved stability of the covalent enzyme/inhibitor complex.

PMID- 20921318
TI  - Novel daptomycin combinations against daptomycin-nonsusceptible methicillin
      resistant Staphylococcus aureus in an in vitro model of simulated endocardial
      vegetations.
AB  - Reduced susceptibility to daptomycin has been reported in patients with
      infections due to methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Although
      infections with daptomycin-nonsusceptible (DNS) MRSA are infrequent, optimal
      therapy of these strains has not been determined. We investigated the killing
      effects of novel antibiotic combinations with daptomycin (DAP) against two
      clinical DNS MRSA isolates (SA-684 and R6003) in a 72-h in vitro
      pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) model with simulated endocardial
      vegetations (SEV). Simulated regimens included DAP at 6 mg/kg every 24 h (q24h)
      alone or in combination with trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP/SMX) at 160/800
      mg q12h, linezolid (LIN) at 600 mg q12h, cefepime (CEF) at 2 g q12h, and
      nafcillin (NAF) at 4 g q4h. Bactericidal activity was defined as a >=3-log(10)
      CFU/g kill. Differences in CFU/g were evaluated between 4 and 72 h by analysis of
      variance with the Bonferroni post hoc test. DAP MICs were 4 and 2 mg/liter for SA
      684 and R6003, respectively. In the PK/PD model, DAP alone was slowly
      bactericidal, achieving a 3-log(10) kill at 24 and 50 h for SA-684 and R6003,
      respectively. Against SA-684, DAP plus TMP/SMX, CEF, LIN, or NAF was bactericidal
      at 4, 4, 8, and 8 h, respectively, and maintained this activity for the 72-h
      study duration. DAP plus TMP/SMX or CEF exhibited superior killing than DAP alone
      against SA-684 between 4 and 72 h, and overall this was significant (P < 0.05).
      Against R6003, DAP plus TMP/SMX was bactericidal (8 h) and superior to DAP alone
      between 8 and 72 h (P < 0.001). The unique combination of DAP plus TMP/SMX was
      the most effective and rapidly bactericidal regimen against the two isolates
      tested and may provide a clinical option to treat DNS S. aureus infections.

PMID- 20921317
TI  - Identification and characterization of the multidrug resistance gene cfr in a
      Panton-Valentine leukocidin-positive sequence type 8 methicillin-resistant
      Staphylococcus aureus IVa (USA300) isolate.
AB  - The staphylococcal cfr gene mediates resistance to phenicols, lincosamides,
      oxazolidinones, pleuromutilins, and streptogramin A, a phenotype that has been
      termed PhLOPS(A). The cfr gene has mainly been associated with coagulase-negative
      staphylococcal isolates from animals, and only a few cfr-positive methicillin
      resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolates have been described so far. This
      study reports the first description of a cfr-positive MRSA isolate (M05/0060)
      belonging to the pandemic Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL)-positive sequence
      type 8 MRSA IVa/USA300 (ST8-MRSA-IVa/USA300) clone. The cfr gene was detected in
      M05/0060 using a DNA microarray which was used to screen PVL-positive MRSA
      isolates for the presence of virulence genes, typing markers, and antimicrobial
      resistance genes. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing revealed that M05/0060
      exhibited the cfr-associated resistance phenotype. Molecular analysis identified
      the presence of cfr and a second phenicol resistance gene, fexA, on a novel 45-kb
      conjugative plasmid, which was designated pSCFS7. Within pSCFS7, a DNA segment
      consisting of cfr, a truncated copy of insertion sequence IS21-558, and a region
      with homology to the DNA invertase gene bin3 of transposon Tn552 from Bacillus
      mycoides was integrated into the transposase gene tnpB of the fexA-carrying
      transposon Tn558. The emergence of a multidrug-resistant cfr-positive variant of
      ST8-MRSA-IVa/USA300 is alarming and requires ongoing surveillance. Moreover, the
      identification of a novel conjugative plasmid carrying the cfr gene indicates the
      ability of cfr to spread to other MRSA strains.

PMID- 20921319
TI  - Photolysis of hydrogen peroxide, an effective disinfection system via hydroxyl
      radical formation.
AB  - The relationship between the amount of hydroxyl radicals generated by photolysis
      of H(2)O(2) and bactericidal activity was examined. H(2)O(2) (1 M) was irradiated
      with laser light at a wavelength of 405 nm to generate hydroxyl radicals.
      Electron spin resonance spin trapping analysis showed that the amount of hydroxyl
      radicals produced increased with the irradiation time. Four species of pathogenic
      oral bacteria, Staphylococcus aureus, Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans,
      Streptococcus mutans, and Enterococcus faecalis, were used in the bactericidal
      assay. S. mutans in a model biofilm was also examined. Laser irradiation of
      suspensions in 1 M H(2)O(2) resulted in a >99.99% reduction of the viable counts
      of each of the test species within 3 min of treatment. Treatment of S. mutans in
      a biofilm resulted in a >99.999% reduction of viable counts within 3 min. Other
      results demonstrated that the bactericidal activity was dependent on the amount
      of hydroxyl radicals generated. Treatment of bacteria with 200 to 300 MUM
      hydroxyl radicals would result in reductions of viable counts of >99.99%.

PMID- 20921320
TI  - Ultra-performance liquid chromatography mass spectrometry and sensitive bioassay
      methods for quantification of posaconazole plasma concentrations after oral
      dosing.
AB  - Posaconazole (POS) is a new antifungal agent for prevention and therapy of
      mycoses in immunocompromised patients. Variable POS pharmacokinetics after oral
      dosing may influence efficacy: a trough threshold of 0.5 MUg/ml has been recently
      proposed. Measurement of POS plasma concentrations by complex chromatographic
      techniques may thus contribute to optimize prevention and management of life
      threatening infections. No microbiological analytical method is available. The
      objective of this study was to develop and validate a new simplified ultra
      performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) method
      and a sensitive bioassay for quantification of POS over the clinical plasma
      concentration range. The UPLC-MS/MS equipment consisted of a triple quadrupole
      mass spectrometer, an electrospray ionization (ESI) source, and a C(18)
      analytical column. The Candida albicans POS-hypersusceptible mutant (MIC of 0.002
      MUg/ml) Deltacdr1 Deltacdr2 Deltaflu Deltamdr1 Deltacan constructed by targeted
      deletion of multidrug efflux transporters and calcineurin genes was used for the
      bioassay. POS was extracted from plasma by protein precipitation with
      acetonitrile-methanol (75%/25%, vol/vol). Reproducible standard curves were
      obtained over the range 0.014 to 12 (UPLC-MS/MS) and 0.028 to 12 MUg/ml
      (bioassay). Intra- and interrun accuracy levels were 106% +/- 2% and 103% +/- 4%
      for UPLC-MS/MS and 102% +/- 8% and 104% +/- 1% for bioassay, respectively. The
      intra- and interrun coefficients of variation were 7% +/- 4% and 7% +/- 3% for
      UPLC-MS/MS and 5% +/- 3% and 4% +/- 2% for bioassay, respectively. An excellent
      correlation between POS plasma concentrations measured by UPLC-MS/MS and bioassay
      was found (concordance, 0.96). In 26 hemato-oncological patients receiving oral
      POS, 27/69 (39%) trough plasma concentrations were lower than 0.5 MUg/ml. The
      UPLC-MS/MS method and sensitive bioassay offer alternative tools for accurate and
      precise quantification of the plasma concentrations in patients receiving oral
      posaconazole.

PMID- 20921321
TI  - Efficacy of usual and high doses of daptomycin in combination with rifampin
      versus alternative therapies in experimental foreign-body infection by
      methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.
AB  - The treatment of prosthetic joint infections caused by methicillin-resistant
      Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) continues to be a challenge for the clinician. The
      aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacies of daptomycin at usual and high
      doses (equivalent to 6 and 10 mg/kg of body weight/day, respectively, in humans)
      and in combination with rifampin and to compare the activities to those of
      conventional anti-MRSA therapies. We used MRSA strain HUSA 304, with the
      following MICs and minimal bactericidal concentrations (MBCs), respectively:
      daptomycin, 1 MUg/ml and 4 MUg/ml; vancomycin, 2 MUg/ml and 4 MUg/ml; linezolid,
      2 MUg/ml and >32 MUg/ml; and rifampin, 0.03 MUg/ml and 0.5 MUg/ml. In time-kill
      curves, only daptomycin and its combinations with rifampin achieved a
      bactericidal effect in log and stationary phases. For in vivo studies, we used a
      rat foreign-body infection model. Therapy was administered for 7 days with
      daptomycin at 100 mg/kg/day and 45/mg/kg/day, vancomycin at 50 mg/kg/12 h,
      rifampin at 25 mg/kg/12 h, and linezolid at 35 mg/kg/12 h, and each antibiotic
      was also combined with rifampin. Among monotherapies, daptomycin at 100 mg/kg/day
      and rifampin performed better than vancomycin and linezolid. In combination with
      rifampin, both dosages of daptomycin were significantly better than all other
      combinations, but daptomycin at 100 mg/kg/day plus rifampin achieved better cure
      rates at day 11 (P < 0.05) than daptomycin at 45 mg/kg/day plus rifampin.
      Resistant strains were found in monotherapies with rifampin and daptomycin at 45
      mg/kg/day. In conclusion, daptomycin at high doses was the most effective
      monotherapy and also improved the efficacy of the combination with rifampin
      against foreign-body infections by MRSA. Clinical studies should confirm whether
      this combination may be considered the first-line treatment for foreign-body
      infections by MRSA in humans.

PMID- 20921323
TI  - Experimental transmission of h-type bovine spongiform encephalopathy to bovinized
      transgenic mice.
AB  - To characterize the biological and biochemical properties of H-type bovine
      spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), a transmission study with a Canadian H-type
      isolate was performed with bovinized transgenic mice (TgBoPrP), which were
      inoculated intracerebrally with brain homogenate from cattle with H-type BSE. All
      mice exhibited characteristic neurologic signs, and the subsequent passage showed
      a shortened incubation period. The distribution of disease-associated prion
      protein (PrP(Sc)) was determined by immunohistochemistry, Western blot, and
      paraffin-embedded tissue (PET) blot. Biochemical properties and higher molecular
      weight of the glycoform pattern were well conserved within mice. Immunolabeled
      granular PrP(Sc), aggregates, and/or plaque-like deposits were mainly detected in
      the following brain locations: septal nuclei, subcallosal regions, hypothalamus,
      paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus, interstitial nucleus of the stria
      terminalis, and the reticular formation of the midbrain. Weak reactivity was
      detected by immunohistochemistry and PET blot in the cerebral cortex, most
      thalamic nuclei, the hippocampus, medulla oblongata, and cerebellum. These
      findings indicate that the H-type BSE prion has biological and biochemical
      properties distinct from those of C-type and L-type BSE in TgBoPrP mice, which
      suggests that TgBoPrP mice constitute a useful animal model to distinguish
      isolates from BSE-infected cattle.

PMID- 20921322
TI  - Novel betapapillomavirus associated with hand and foot papillomas in a cynomolgus
      macaque.
AB  - Betapapillomavirus is a genus of papillomaviruses (PVs) commonly found in human
      skin and associated with both benign and malignant skin lesions. Only 2 previous
      beta-PVs have been fully characterized in nonhuman species. This report describes
      a novel beta-PV, named Macaca fascicularis PV type 2 (MfPV2), isolated from
      exophytic skin papillomas on the hands and feet of a 2-year-old male cynomolgus
      monkey (M. fascicularis). On histology the papillomas were composed of diffusely
      thickened epidermis with superficial foci of cytomegaly, cytoplasmic pallor,
      marginalized chromatin, and rare eosinophilic intranuclear inclusion bodies.
      Positive immunostaining for p16 and the proliferation marker Ki67 was present
      multifocally within affected epidermis, most prominently within basal-type cells.
      Complete sequence identity (100%) was noted between PV genomes fully sequenced
      from hand and foot lesions. The MfPV2 genome was 7632 base pairs in length and
      included putative open reading frames (ORFs) for E1, E2, E4, E6, E7, L1, and L2
      genes, similar to other PVs. The closest relatives to MfPV2 based on the L1 ORF
      sequence were all beta-PVs. These included human PV (HPV) 9, HPV115, HPV76,
      HPV75, and MfPV1 (60-70% pairwise identity for all), the latter of which was also
      isolated from hand and foot papillomas in a cynomolgus macaque. Phylogenetic
      analysis placed MfPV2 in a new species group (beta-6), distinct from HPVs (beta-1
      to beta-5) and MfPV1 (beta-1). These findings characterize a new nonhuman beta-PV
      and provide additional support for the idea that tissue tropism among ancestral
      primate PVs developed prior to divergence of certain Old World primate lineages.

PMID- 20921324
TI  - Effects of wrist tendon vibration on targeted upper-arm movements in poststroke
      hemiparesis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Impaired motor control of the upper extremity after stroke may be
      related to lost sensory, motor, and integrative functions of the brain.
      Artificial activation of sensory afferents might improve control of movement by
      adding excitatory drive to sensorimotor control structures. The authors evaluated
      the effect of wrist tendon vibration (TV) on paretic upper-arm stability during
      point-to-point planar movements. METHODS: TV (70 Hz) was applied to the forearm
      wrist musculature of 10 hemiparetic stroke patients as they made center-out
      planar arm movements. End-point stability, muscle activity, and grip pressure
      were compared as patients stabilized at the target position for trials completed
      before, during, and after the application of the vibratory stimulus. RESULTS:
      Prior to vibration, hand position fluctuated as participants attempted to
      maintain the hand at the target after movement termination. TV improved arm
      stability, as evidenced by decreased magnitude of hand tangential velocity at the
      target. Improved stability was accompanied by a decrease in muscle activity
      throughout the arm as well as a mean decrease in grip pressure. CONCLUSIONS:
      These results suggest that vibratory stimulation of the distal wrist musculature
      enhances stability of the proximal arm and can be studied further as a mode for
      improving end-point stability during reaching in hemiparetic patients.

PMID- 20921325
TI  - Influence of task-oriented training content on skilled arm-hand performance in
      stroke: a systematic review.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This review evaluates the underlying training components currently
      used in task-oriented training and assesses the effects of these components on
      skilled arm-hand performance in patients after a stroke. METHODS: A computerized
      systematic literature search in 5 databases (PubMed, CINAHL, EMBASE, PEDro, and
      Cochrane) identified randomized clinical trials, published through March 2009,
      evaluating the effects of task-oriented training. Relevant article references
      listed in publications included were also screened. The methodological quality of
      the selected studies was assessed with the Van Tulder Checklist. For each
      functional outcome measure used, the effect size (bias corrected Hedges's g) was
      calculated. RESULTS: The intervention results in 528 patients (16 studies) were
      studied. From these, 15 components were identified to characterize task-oriented
      training. An average of 7.8 (standard deviation = 2.1) components were used in
      the included trials. There was no correlation between the number of task-oriented
      training components used in a study and the treatment effect size. "Distributed
      practice" and "feedback" were associated with the largest postintervention effect
      sizes. "Random practice" and "use of clear functional goals" were associated with
      the largest follow-up effect sizes. CONCLUSION: The task-oriented training was
      operationalized with 15 components. The number of components used in an
      intervention aimed at improving arm-hand performance after stroke was not
      associated with the posttreatment effect size. Certain components, which optimize
      storage of learned motor performance in the long-term memory, occurred more in
      studies with larger treatment effects.

PMID- 20921326
TI  - Control of a visual keyboard using an electrocorticographic brain-computer
      interface.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) are devices that enable severely
      disabled people to communicate and interact with their environments using their
      brain waves. Most studies investigating BCI in humans have used scalp EEG as the
      source of electrical signals and focused on motor control of prostheses or
      computer cursors on a screen. The authors hypothesize that the use of brain
      signals obtained directly from the cortical surface will more effectively control
      a communication/spelling task compared to scalp EEG. METHODS: A total of 6
      patients with medically intractable epilepsy were tested for the ability to
      control a visual keyboard using electrocorticographic (ECOG) signals. ECOG data
      collected during a P300 visual task paradigm were preprocessed and used to train
      a linear classifier to subsequently predict the intended target letters. RESULTS:
      The classifier was able to predict the intended target character at or near 100%
      accuracy using fewer than 15 stimulation sequences in 5 of the 6 people tested.
      ECOG data from electrodes outside the language cortex contributed to the
      classifier and enabled participants to write words on a visual keyboard.
      CONCLUSIONS: This is a novel finding because previous invasive BCI research in
      humans used signals exclusively from the motor cortex to control a computer
      cursor or prosthetic device. These results demonstrate that ECOG signals from
      electrodes both overlying and outside the language cortex can reliably control a
      visual keyboard to generate language output without voice or limb movements.

PMID- 20921327
TI  - Exploring the factors that influence functional performance among nursing home
      residents.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To promote healthy aging in older nursing home (NH) residents, it is
      important to identify factors that impact functional performance. Using the
      Disablement Process Model, it was hypothesized that variables from all levels of
      the model would significantly impact the ability of a NH resident to get up from
      a chair. METHOD: A stepwise multiple logistic regression model was used to test
      the impact of sociodemographic, physiologic, physical, psychosocial, and
      environmental factors on chair rise. RESULTS: Analysis indicated that three
      factors, strength, gait, and self-efficacy, were significantly associated with
      chair-rise ability and together explained approximately 64% of the variance and
      successfully classified 88.4% of the chair-rise cases. DISCUSSION: These findings
      indicate that identifying physical and psychosocial variables early in the
      disablement process will help health care providers tailor medical and
      restorative care interventions that may help older adults maintain the ability to
      chair rise.

PMID- 20921329
TI  - Recommendations for publishing case studies of cell transplantation for spinal
      cord injury.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cellular transplantation for subacute and chronic spinal cord injury
      (SCI) continues to proceed around the world, but clinicians and patients have
      only 10 English language publications of case reports and self-serving Web page
      anecdotes to guide them. METHODS: Recent publications about the use of olfactory
      ensheathing, bone marrow stromal, and fetal tissue stem cells in human subjects
      are examined to assess the adequacy of their designs, conclusions, and
      interpretation. RESULTS: Case series reports to date reveal adverse responses to
      cellular therapy when clinicians look for these and no clear functional effects
      when a matched group that is not treated is compared. Rehabilitation that focuses
      on potential targets for sensorimotor and functional gains must precede a
      transplantation until a plateau of change is reached and then continue for at
      least 6 months if not a year. CONCLUSION: Criteria are listed as the minimum
      requirements for any further case series reports to be considered by journals in
      regard to cellular interventions for SCI. Based on available reports, the
      published interventions should not be given to additional patients. One or two of
      the strategies can be considered for testing in a randomized trial with blinded
      assessors and an independent data monitoring committee to examine for biological
      activity in patients with motor complete SCI of greater than 4 to 6 months
      duration.

PMID- 20921331
TI  - Abstracts of the Societa Italiana di Patologia XXX National Congress. October 14
      17, 2010. Salerno, Italy.

PMID- 20921330
TI  - Olfactory ensheathing cells for human spinal cord injury.

PMID- 20921332
TI  - A clinical study of ADHD symptoms with relation to symptoms of learning disorders
      in schoolchildren in Bogota, Colombia.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate possible relationships between symptoms of ADHD and of
      learning disorder (LD) in a population geographically, culturally, and
      linguistically distinct from previous studies. METHOD: The authors evaluated a
      cross section of 834 Colombian schoolchildren for childhood neurological
      pathologies on the basis of a medical examination and performance with reference
      to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (4th ed.) attention checklist, the
      General and Differential Aptitudes Battery, and the Visual-Motor Integration
      (VMI) test. RESULTS: Of the total sample, 382 were classified as "ADHD only," 54
      as "LD only," and 75 as "ADHD + LD." A total of 459 had low VMI scores. ADHD, LD,
      and low VMI were significantly interrelated. Among the children with ADHD, the
      attention deficit subtype tended to have more learning problems than the
      hyperactive subtype, who showed no major deficiencies in their learning ability.
      CONCLUSIONS: This study provides additional evidence demonstrating a relationship
      between LD and ADHD, particularly with respect to verbal reasoning, visual
      auditory memory, and VMI.

PMID- 20921333
TI  - Circulating MicroRNA-208b and MicroRNA-499 reflect myocardial damage in
      cardiovascular disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Small RNA molecules, called microRNAs, freely circulate in human
      plasma and correlate with varying pathologies. In this study, we explored their
      diagnostic potential in a selection of prevalent cardiovascular disorders.
      METHODS AND RESULTS: MicroRNAs were isolated from plasmas from well-characterized
      patients with varying degrees of cardiac damage: (1) acute myocardial infarction,
      (2) viral myocarditis, (3) diastolic dysfunction, and (4) acute heart failure.
      Plasma levels of selected microRNAs, including heart-associated (miR-1, -133a, 
      208b, and -499), fibrosis-associated (miR-21 and miR-29b), and leukocyte
      associated (miR-146, -155, and -223) candidates, were subsequently assessed using
      real-time polymerase chain reaction. Strikingly, in plasma from acute myocardial
      infarction patients, cardiac myocyte-associated miR-208b and -499 were highly
      elevated, 1600-fold (P<0.005) and 100-fold (P<0.0005), respectively, as compared
      with control subjects. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis revealed
      an area under the curve of 0.94 (P<10(-10)) for miR-208b and 0.92 (P<10(-9)) for
      miR-499. Both microRNAs correlated with plasma troponin T, indicating release of
      microRNAs from injured cardiomyocytes. In viral myocarditis, we observed a milder
      but significant elevation of these microRNAs, 30-fold and 6-fold, respectively.
      Plasma levels of leukocyte-expressed microRNAs were not significantly increased
      in acute myocardial infarction or viral myocarditis patients, despite elevated
      white blood cell counts. In patients with acute heart failure, only miR-499 was
      significantly elevated (2-fold), whereas no significant changes in microRNAs
      studied could be observed in diastolic dysfunction. Remarkably, plasma microRNA
      levels were not affected by a wide range of clinical confounders, including age,
      sex, body mass index, kidney function, systolic blood pressure, and white blood
      cell count. CONCLUSIONS: Cardiac damage initiates the detectable release of
      cardiomyocyte-specific microRNAs-208b and -499 into the circulation.

PMID- 20921334
TI  - Formation of cholesterol ozonolysis products in vitro and in vivo through a
      myeloperoxidase-dependent pathway.
AB  - 3beta-Hydroxy-5-oxo-5,6-secocholestan-6-al (secosterol-A) and its aldolization
      product 3beta-hydroxy-5beta-hydroxy-B-norcholestane-6beta-carboxaldehyde
      (secosterol-B) were recently detected in human atherosclerotic tissues and brain
      specimens, and they may play pivotal roles in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis
      and neurodegenerative diseases. However, as their origin remains unidentified, we
      examined the formation mechanism, the stability, and the fate of secosterols in
      vitro and in vivo. About 40% of secosterol-A remained unchanged after 3 h
      incubation in the FBS-free medium, whereas 20% and 40% were converted to its
      aldehyde-oxidation product, 3beta-hydroxy-5-oxo-secocholestan-6-oic acid, and
      secosterol-B, respectively. In the presence of FBS, almost all secosterol-A was
      converted immediately to these compounds. Secosterol-B in the medium, with and
      without FBS, was relatively stable, but ~30% was converted to its aldehyde
      oxidation product, 3beta-hydroxy-5beta-hydroxy-B-norcholestane-6-oic acid (secoB
      COOH). When neutrophil-like differentiated human leukemia HL-60 (nHL-60) cells
      activated with PMA were cultured in the FBS-free medium containing cholesterol,
      significantly increased levels of secosterol-A and its aldehyde-oxidation
      product, but not secosterol-B, were formed. This secosterol-A formation was
      decreased in the culture of PMA-activated nHL-60 cells containing several
      reactive oxygen species (ROS) inhibitors and scavengers or in the culture of PMA
      activated neutrophils isolated from myeloperoxidase (MPO)-deficient mice. Our
      results demonstrate that secoterol-A is formed by an ozone-like oxidant generated
      with PMA-activated neutrophils through the MPO-dependent mechanism.

PMID- 20921336
TI  - Volumetric breast density from full-field digital mammograms and its association
      with breast cancer risk factors: a comparison with a threshold method.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Breast density, a strong breast cancer risk factor, is usually
      measured on the projected breast area from film screen mammograms. This is far
      from ideal, as breast thickness and technical characteristics are not taken into
      account. We investigated whether volumetric density measurements on full-field
      digital mammography (FFDM) are more strongly related to breast cancer risk
      factors than measurements with a computer-assisted threshold method. METHODS:
      Breast density was measured on FFDMs from 370 breast cancer screening
      participants, using a computer-assisted threshold method and a volumetric method.
      The distribution of breast cancer risk factors among quintiles of density was
      compared between both methods. We adjusted for age and body mass index (BMI) with
      linear regression analysis. RESULTS: High percent density was strongly related to
      younger age, lower BMI, nulliparity, late age at first delivery and
      pre/perimenopausal status, to the same extent with both methods (all P < 0.05).
      Similarly strong relationships were seen for the absolute dense area but to a
      lesser extent for absolute dense volume. A larger dense volume was only
      significantly associated with late age at menopause, use of menopausal hormone
      therapy, and, in contrast to the other methods, high BMI. CONCLUSION: Both
      methods related equally well to known breast cancer risk factors. IMPACT: Despite
      its alleged higher precision, the volumetric method was not more strongly related
      to breast cancer risk factors. This is in agreement with other studies. The
      definitive relationship with breast cancer risk still needs to be investigated.

PMID- 20921335
TI  - Bulky DNA adducts in white blood cells: a pooled analysis of 3,600 subjects.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Bulky DNA adducts are markers of exposure to genotoxic aromatic
      compounds, which reflect the ability of an individual to metabolically activate
      carcinogens and to repair DNA damage. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)
      represent a major class of carcinogens that are capable of forming such adducts.
      Factors that have been reported to be related to DNA adduct levels include
      smoking, diet, body mass index (BMI), genetic polymorphisms, the season of
      collection of biologic material, and air pollutants. METHODS: We pooled 11
      studies (3,600 subjects) in which bulky DNA adducts were measured in human white
      blood cells with similar (32)P-postlabeling techniques and for which a similar
      set of variables was available, including individual data on age, gender,
      ethnicity, batch, smoking habits, BMI, and season of blood collection, and a
      limited set of gene variants. RESULTS: Lowest DNA adduct levels (P = 0.006) were
      observed in the spring (median = 0.50 adducts per 10(8) nucleotides), followed by
      summer (0.64), autumn (0.70), and winter (0.85). The same pattern emerged in
      multivariate analysis but only among never smokers (P = 0.02). Adduct levels were
      significantly lower (P = 0.001) in northern Europe (the Netherlands and Denmark;
      mean = 0.60, median = 0.40) than in southern Europe (Italy, Spain, France, and
      Greece; mean = 0.79, median = 0.60). CONCLUSIONS: In this large pooled analysis,
      we have found only weak associations between bulky DNA adducts and exposure
      variables. Seasonality (with higher adducts levels in winter) and air pollution
      may partly explain some of the interarea differences (north vs. south Europe),
      but most inter-area and interindividual variations in adduct levels still remain
      unexplained. IMPACT: Our study describes the largest pooled analysis of bulky DNA
      adducts so far, showing that interindividual variation is still largely
      unexplained, though seasonality seems to play a role.

PMID- 20921337
TI  - Remuneration of hematopoietic stem cell donors: principles and perspective of the
      World Marrow Donor Association.
AB  - Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is a curative procedure for life
      threatening hematologic diseases. Donation of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs)
      from an unrelated donor, frequently residing in another country, may be the only
      option for 70% of those in need of unrelated hematopoietic stem cell
      transplantation. To maximize the opportunity to find the best available donor,
      individual donor registries collaborate internationally. To provide homogeneity
      of practice among registries, the World Marrow Donor Association (WMDA) sets
      standards against which registries are accredited and provides guidance and
      regulations about unrelated donor safety and care. A basic tenet of the donor
      registries is that unrelated HSC donation is an altruistic act; nonpayment of
      donors is entrenched in the WMDA standards and in international practice. In the
      United States, the prohibition against remuneration of donors has recently been
      challenged. Here, we describe the reasons that the WMDA continues to believe that
      HSC donors should not be paid because of ethical concerns raised by remuneration,
      potential to damage the public will to act altruistically, the potential for
      coercion and exploitation of donors, increased risk to patients, harm to local
      transplantation programs and international stem cell exchange, and the
      possibility of benefiting some patients while disadvantaging others.

PMID- 20921338
TI  - Endogenous oncogenic Nras mutation promotes aberrant GM-CSF signaling in
      granulocytic/monocytic precursors in a murine model of chronic myelomonocytic
      leukemia.
AB  - Oncogenic NRAS mutations are frequently identified in myeloid diseases involving
      monocyte lineage. However, its role in the genesis of these diseases remains
      elusive. We report a mouse bone marrow transplantation model harboring an
      oncogenic G12D mutation in the Nras locus. Approximately 95% of recipient mice
      develop a myeloproliferative disease resembling the myeloproliferative variant of
      chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML), with a prolonged latency and acquisition
      of multiple genetic alterations, including uniparental disomy of oncogenic Nras
      allele. Based on single-cell profiling of phospho-proteins, a novel population of
      CMML cells is identified to display aberrant granulocyte-macrophage colony
      stimulating factor (GM-CSF) signaling in both the extracellular signal-regulated
      kinase (ERK) 1/2 and signal transducer and activator of transcription 5 (Stat5)
      pathways. This abnormal signaling is acquired during CMML development. Further
      study suggests that aberrant Ras/ERK signaling leads to expansion of
      granulocytic/monocytic precursors, which are highly responsive to GM-CSF.
      Hyperactivation of Stat5 in CMML cells is mainly through expansion of these
      precursors rather than up-regulation of surface expression of GM-CSF receptors.
      Our results provide insights into the aberrant cytokine signaling in oncogenic
      NRAS-associated myeloid diseases.

PMID- 20921340
TI  - Combination of HOXB4 and Delta-1 ligand improves expansion of cord blood cells.
AB  - Umbilical cord blood (UCB) is an attractive cell source for hematopoietic cell
      transplantation (HCT). Here we examine whether the combination of homeobox B4
      (HOXB4) and Delta-1 ligand (DL) synergize when used together. Monkey and human
      UCB CD34(+) cells were transduced with a HOXB4-expressing gammaretroviral vector
      and cultured with DL. Individual and combined effects of HOXB4 and DL were
      assessed by colony-forming unit assays, flow cytometry, and nonobese
      diabetic/severe combined immune deficienct mouse transplantation. The presence of
      DL yielded higher percentage of CD34(+) and CD7(+) cells and lower percentages of
      CD14(+) cells than non-DL cultures. Furthermore, HOXB4 yielded higher percentages
      of CD34(+) and CD14(+) cells than non-HOXB4 cultures. Interestingly, coculture
      with DL-expressing OP9 cells resulted in better maintenance of HOXB4 than culture
      in DL-conditioned medium. Culture of HOXB4-transduced human cells in the presence
      of DL yielded enhanced generation of repopulating cells with higher levels of
      engraftment of human CD45(+), CD34(+), CD3(+), CD20(+), and CD41(+) cells
      compared with either factor individually. Our results demonstrate enhanced
      generation of hematopoietic progenitors by combining HOXB4 and DL; addition of DL
      further enhances expansion of multipotent cells capable of repopulating lymphoid
      and megakaryocyte lineages, which is not observed with HOXB4 alone.

PMID- 20921339
TI  - A liver enhancer in the fibrinogen gene cluster.
AB  - The plasma concentration of fibrinogen varies in the healthy human population
      between 1.5 and 3.5 g/L. Understanding the basis of this variability has clinical
      importance because elevated fibrinogen levels are associated with increased
      cardiovascular disease risk. To identify novel regulatory elements involved in
      the control of fibrinogen expression, we used sequence conservation and in silico
      predicted regulatory potential to select 14 conserved noncoding sequences (CNCs)
      within the conserved block of synteny containing the fibrinogen locus. The
      regulatory potential of each CNC was tested in vitro using a luciferase reporter
      gene assay in fibrinogen-expressing hepatoma cell lines (HuH7 and HepG2). 4
      potential enhancers were tested for their ability to direct enhanced green
      fluorescent protein expression in zebrafish embryos. CNC12, a sequence
      equidistant from the human fibrinogen alpha and beta chain genes, activates
      strong liver enhanced green fluorescent protein expression in injected embryos
      and their transgenic progeny. A transgenic assay in embryonic day 14.5 mouse
      embryos confirmed the ability of CNC12 to activate transcription in the liver.
      While additional experiments are necessary to prove the role of CNC12 in the
      regulation of fibrinogen, our study reveals a novel regulatory element in the
      fibrinogen locus that is active in the liver and may contribute to variable
      fibrinogen expression in humans.

PMID- 20921341
TI  - Effects of adverse events on the projected population benefits and cost
      effectiveness of using live attenuated influenza vaccine in children aged 6
      months to 4 years.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of adverse events associated with live
      attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV) in children younger than 5 years on the cost
      effectiveness of influenza vaccination. DESIGN: A decision analytic model was
      developed to predict costs and health effects of no vaccination, vaccination with
      LAIV, and vaccination with inactivated influenza vaccine (IIV). Probabilities,
      costs, and quality adjustments for uncomplicated influenza, outpatient visits,
      hospitalizations, deaths, vaccination, and vaccine adverse events were based on
      primary and published data. The analysis included the possible increased
      incidence of adverse events following vaccination with LAIV for children younger
      than 5 years, including fever, wheezing, and hospitalization. A societal
      perspective was used. Sensitivity analyses, including probabilistic sensitivity
      analysis, were conducted. SETTING: Vaccination in the physician office setting in
      the United States. PARTICIPANTS: Hypothetical cohorts of healthy children aged 6
      months to 4 years. INTERVENTION: Vaccination with LAIV or IIV. MAIN OUTCOME
      MEASURE: Incremental cost-effectiveness ratio in dollars per quality-adjusted
      life-year (QALY). RESULTS: Cost-effectiveness ratios ranged from $20 000/QALY
      (age 6-23 months) to $33 000/QALY (age 3-4 years) for LAIV and from $21 000/QALY
      to $37 000/QALY for IIV for healthy children aged 6 months to 4 years. Inclusion
      of possible new adverse events for LAIV had varying effects on cost-effectiveness
      results. Results were not sensitive to the inclusion of wheezing as an adverse
      event but were sensitive to a possible increase in the probability of
      hospitalization. CONCLUSION: Live attenuated influenza vaccine had comparable
      cost-effectiveness compared with IIV for children younger than 5 years under a
      wide range of assumptions about the incidence of adverse events.

PMID- 20921342
TI  - Relationship between neighborhood disadvantage and social function of Wisconsin 2
      and 3-year-olds born at very low birth weight.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To examine whether (1) neighborhood disadvantage is associated with
      social function in 2- and 3-year-olds born at very low birth weight (<1500 g) and
      (2) the association between social function and child's health-related quality of
      life (HRQoL) is moderated by neighborhood disadvantage. DESIGN: Cross-sectional
      study using the Newborn Lung Project, a cohort of infants born at very low birth
      weight in 2003 and 2004 in Wisconsin. SETTING: Wisconsin. PARTICIPANTS: This
      study includes the subgroup of 626 non-Hispanic black or white infants who were
      followed up at ages 24 to 43 months with parent-reported health and developmental
      information. MAIN EXPOSURE: An index of neighborhood disadvantage was derived by
      principal component analysis of 5 census tract variables (percentage of families
      in poverty, percentage of households with income higher than the state median,
      percentage of women with bachelor's degree or more, percentage of single mothers,
      and percentage of mothers of young children unemployed). Children were then
      classified (based on index tertiles) as living in either disadvantaged, middle
      advantage, or advantaged neighborhoods. Children's HRQoL was measured using the
      Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Social function was
      measured using the Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory. RESULTS:
      Adjusting for child medical and family socioeconomic attributes, social function
      was lower (mean difference, -4.60; 95% confidence interval, -8.4 to -0.8) for
      children living in disadvantaged vs advantaged neighborhoods. We also found that
      the ill effects of lower HRQoL are particularly bad for children living in a
      disadvantaged neighborhood. CONCLUSION: Children born at very low birth weight
      have disparities in social function at ages 2 and 3 years that are associated
      with both HRQoL and neighborhood characteristics.

PMID- 20921343
TI  - Cultural and gender convergence in adolescent drunkenness: evidence from 23
      European and North American countries.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate time-trend changes in the frequency of drunkenness
      among European and North American adolescents. DESIGN: Cross-sectional surveys in
      the 1997/1998 and 2005/2006 Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children Study
      (HBSC). SETTING: High schools in 23 countries. PARTICIPANTS: A sample of 77 586
      adolescents aged 15 years was analyzed by means of hierarchical linear modeling.
      MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: The frequency of drunkenness. RESULTS: We observed a
      significant increase of about 40% in the mean frequency of drunkenness in all 7
      participating Eastern European countries. This increase was evident among both
      genders, but most consistently among girls. Meanwhile, it declined in 13 of 16
      Western countries, about 25% on average. Declines in Western countries were
      particularly notable among boys and in North America, Scandinavia, the United
      Kingdom, and Ireland. Despite this gender convergence, with few exceptions
      (Greenland, Norway, United Kingdom) boys continued to have a higher frequency of
      drunkenness in 2005/2006 than girls. CONCLUSIONS: The confirmed cultural
      convergence implies that adoption and implementation of evidence-based measures
      to mitigate the frequency of adolescent drunkenness such as tax increases and
      restricting alcohol access and advertisement should get the same priority in
      Eastern European countries as in Western countries. Policy measures that might
      facilitate decreases in drunkenness such as server training and the promotion of
      alcohol-free leisure-time activities should be reinforced in Western countries.
      The gender convergence implies that prevention policy should be less exclusively
      focused on male adolescents.

PMID- 20921344
TI  - The promise of maternal vaccination to prevent influenza in young infants.

PMID- 20921345
TI  - Maternal influenza vaccination and effect on influenza virus infection in young
      infants.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the effect of seasonal influenza vaccination during
      pregnancy on laboratory-confirmed influenza in infants to 6 months of age.
      DESIGN: Nonrandomized, prospective, observational cohort study. SETTING: Navajo
      and White Mountain Apache Indian reservations, including 6 hospitals on the
      Navajo reservation and 1 on the White Mountain Apache reservation. PARTICIPANTS:
      A total of 1169 mother-infant pairs with mothers who delivered an infant during 1
      of 3 influenza seasons. MAIN EXPOSURE: Maternal seasonal influenza vaccination.
      MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: In infants, laboratory-confirmed influenza, influenza-like
      illness (ILI), ILI hospitalization, and influenza hemagglutinin inhibition
      antibody titers. RESULTS: A total of 1160 mother-infant pairs had serum collected
      and were included in the analysis. Among infants, 193 (17%) had an ILI
      hospitalization, 412 (36%) had only an ILI outpatient visit, and 555 (48%) had no
      ILI episodes. The ILI incidence rate was 7.2 and 6.7 per 1000 person-days for
      infants born to unvaccinated and vaccinated women, respectively. There was a 41%
      reduction in the risk of laboratory-confirmed influenza virus infection (relative
      risk, 0.59; 95% confidence interval, 0.37-0.93) and a 39% reduction in the risk
      of ILI hospitalization (relative risk, 0.61; 95% confidence interval, 0.45-0.84)
      for infants born to influenza-vaccinated women compared with infants born to
      unvaccinated mothers. Infants born to influenza-vaccinated women had
      significantly higher hemagglutinin inhibition antibody titers at birth and at 2
      to 3 months of age than infants of unvaccinated mothers for all 8 influenza virus
      strains investigated. CONCLUSIONS: Maternal influenza vaccination was
      significantly associated with reduced risk of influenza virus infection and
      hospitalization for an ILI up to 6 months of age and increased influenza antibody
      titers in infants through 2 to 3 months of age.

PMID- 20921346
TI  - My special daughter.

PMID- 20921347
TI  - Six-year follow-up of a preventive intervention for parentally bereaved youths: a
      randomized controlled trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy of the Family Bereavement Program (FBP) to
      prevent mental health problems in parentally bereaved youths and their parents 6
      years later. DESIGN: Randomized controlled trial. SETTING: Arizona State
      University Prevention Research Center from November 2002 to July 2005.
      PARTICIPANTS: Two hundred eighteen bereaved youths (89.34% of 244 enrolled in the
      trial 6 years earlier) and 113 spousally bereaved parents. INTERVENTIONS: The FBP
      includes 12 group sessions for caregivers and youths; the literature control (LC)
      condition includes bereavement books for youths and caregivers. MAIN OUTCOME
      MEASURES: Comparisons of youths in the FBP and LC on a measure of mental disorder
      diagnosis, 5 measures of mental health problems, and 4 measures of competent
      functioning; and comparisons of spousally bereaved parents on 2 measures of
      mental health problems. RESULTS: Youths in the FBP as compared with those in the
      LC had significantly lower externalizing problems as reported by caregivers and
      youths (adjusted mean, -0.06 vs 0.13, respectively; P = .02) and on teacher
      reports of externalizing problems (adjusted mean, 52.69 vs 56.27, respectively; P
      = .001) and internalizing problems (adjusted mean, 47.29 vs 56.27, respectively;
      P = .002), and they had higher self-esteem (adjusted mean, 33.93 vs 31.91,
      respectively; P = .005). Parents in the FBP had lower depression scores than
      those in the LC (adjusted mean, 5.48 vs 7.83, respectively; P = .04). A
      significant moderated program effect indicated that for youths with lower
      baseline problems, the rate of diagnosed mental disorder was lower for those in
      the FBP than in the LC. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates efficacy of the FBP
      to reduce mental health problems of bereaved youths and their parents 6 years
      later. TRIAL REGISTRATION: clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT01008189.

PMID- 20921348
TI  - Recurrent wheezing in the third year of life among children born at 32 weeks'
      gestation or later: relationship to laboratory-confirmed, medically attended
      infection with respiratory syncytial virus during the first year of life.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To quantify the relationship between recurrent wheezing (RW) in the
      third year of life and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection, prematurity,
      and neonatal oxygen exposure. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study linking
      inpatient, outpatient, and laboratory databases for cohort assembly and logistic
      regression analysis. SETTING: Integrated health care delivery system in Northern
      California. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 71,102 children born from 1996 to 2002 at 32
      weeks' gestational age or later who were health plan members for 9 or more months
      in their first and third years. MAIN EXPOSURES: Laboratory-confirmed, medically
      attended RSV infection during first year and supplemental oxygen during birth
      hospitalization. OUTCOME MEASURES: Recurrent wheezing, quantified through
      outpatient visits, inpatient hospital stays, and asthma prescriptions. RESULTS:
      The rate of RW in the third year of life was 16.23% among premature infants with
      RSV and 6.22% among those without RSV. The risk of RW increased among infants who
      had an RSV outpatient encounter (adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 2.07; 95% CI, 1.61
      2.67), uncomplicated RSV hospitalization (AOR, 4.66; 95% CI, 3.55-6.12), or
      prolonged RSV hospitalization (AOR, 3.42; 95% CI, 2.01-5.82) compared with
      infants without RSV encounters. Gestational age of 34 to 36 weeks was associated
      with increased risk of RW (AOR, 1.23; 95% CI 1.07-1.41) compared with 38 to 40
      weeks, while a gestational age of 41 weeks or more was protective (AOR, 0.90; 95%
      CI, 0.81-0.99). Supplemental oxygen exposure was associated with increased risk
      at all levels. CONCLUSION: Laboratory-confirmed, medically attended RSV
      infection, prematurity, and exposure to supplemental oxygen during the neonatal
      period have independent associations with the development of RW in the third year
      of life.

PMID- 20921349
TI  - School-based randomized controlled trial of an HIV/STD risk-reduction
      intervention for South African adolescents.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To test the efficacy of a school-based human immunodeficiency
      virus/sexually transmitted disease (HIV/STD) risk-reduction intervention for
      South African adolescents. DESIGN: A cluster-randomized, controlled design with
      assessments of self-reported sexual behavior collected before intervention and 3,
      6, and 12 months after intervention. SETTING: Primary schools in a large, black
      township and a neighboring rural settlement in Eastern Cape Province, South
      Africa. PARTICIPANTS: Nine of 17 matched pairs of schools were randomly selected.
      Sixth-grade students with parent or guardian consent were eligible.
      INTERVENTIONS: Two 6-session interventions based on behavior-change theories and
      qualitative research. The HIV/STD risk-reduction intervention targeted sexual
      risk behaviors; the attention-matched health promotion control intervention
      targeted health issues unrelated to sexual behavior. OUTCOME MEASURES: The
      primary outcome was self report of unprotected vaginal intercourse in the
      previous 3 months averaged over the 3 follow-ups. Secondary outcomes were other
      sexual behaviors. RESULTS: A total of 1057 (94.5%) of 1118 eligible students
      (mean age, 12.4 years) participated, with 96.7% retained at the 12-month follow
      up. Generalized estimating equation analyses adjusted for clustering from 18
      schools revealed that, averaged over the 3 follow-ups, a significantly smaller
      percentage of HIV/STD risk-reduction intervention participants reported having
      unprotected vaginal intercourse (odds ratio [OR], 0.51; 95% confidence interval
      [CI], 0.30-0.85), vaginal intercourse (OR, 0.62; 95% CI, 0.42-0.94), and multiple
      sexual partners (OR, 0.50; 95% CI, 0.28-0.89), when adjusted for baseline
      prevalences, compared with health-promotion control participants. CONCLUSION:
      This is the first large-scale, community-level, randomized intervention trial to
      show significant effects on the HIV/STD sexual risk behavior of South African
      adolescents in the earliest stages of entry into sexual activity.

PMID- 20921350
TI  - Association between attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in adolescence and
      substance use disorders in adulthood.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine whether attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
      in adolescence is related to substance use disorders (SUDs) in adulthood and
      whether conduct disorder (CD) mediates this relationship. DESIGN: A prospective
      design incorporating 5 assessments in participants spanning the mean ages of 14
      to 37 years. Two baseline assessments were taken at ages 14 and 16 years, and 3
      outcome assessments were taken between ages 27 and 37 years. SETTING: United
      States. PARTICIPANTS: A community sample of individuals initially drawn from
      upstate New York in 1975 and observed to a mean age of 37 years. INTERVENTIONS:
      The Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children was used to assess ADHD and CD and
      the University of Michigan Composite International Diagnostic Interview was used
      to assess SUDs. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: A diagnosis of SUDs given to participants
      in adulthood. RESULTS: The odds ratios for ADHD and CD in adolescence as related
      to SUDs in adulthood were 1.9 and 3.5, respectively. The association between ADHD
      and SUDs, however, was indirect because CD served as a mediator between ADHD and
      SUDs. CONCLUSIONS: Pediatricians should focus on adolescent ADHD when it
      progresses to CD because CD is a major predictor of SUDs in adulthood.

PMID- 20921351
TI  - The effect of perceived and structural neighborhood conditions on adolescents'
      physical activity and sedentary behaviors.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To test whether physical activity and sedentary behaviors are
      associated with perceived and structural neighborhood conditions. DESIGN:
      Secondary analysis of data from wave I (1994-1995) of the National Longitudinal
      Study of Adolescent Health in the United States. SETTING: In-home interviews of
      adolescents and their parents. PARTICIPANTS: Thirteen thousand six hundred sixty
      eight adolescents (6794 adolescent boys and 6874 adolescent girls; grades 7-12).
      MAIN EXPOSURES: Perceived neighborhood conditions (public nuisance,
      acquaintanceship, and informal control measured at both individual and census
      tract levels) and structural neighborhood characteristics (concentrated poverty,
      immigrant concentration, and residential stability at the census tract level).
      OUTCOME MEASURES: Failure to meet moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA)
      guidelines (<5 bouts of MVPA per week) and excessive screen time (>2 hours per
      day). RESULTS: Individual-level perception of intermediate (adjusted odds ratio
      [OR], 0.76; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.68-0.84) or high (OR, 0.56; 95% CI,
      0.50-0.61) acquaintanceship and high informal control (OR, 0.90; 95% CI, 0.82
      0.99) in the neighborhood were negatively associated with failure to meet the
      MVPA guidelines compared with lower levels. At the census tract level, high
      informal control (OR, 1.16; 95% CI, 1.04-1.29) and intermediate (OR, 1.13; 95%
      CI, 1.01-1.26) and high (OR, 1.22; 95% CI, 1.06-1.40) concentrated poverty
      compared with lower levels were also associated with failing to meet the MVPA
      guidelines (when adjusted for sociodemographic characteristics). Compared with
      the lowest levels, high public nuisance (OR, 1.19; 95% CI, 1.04-1.36) and
      immigrant concentration (OR, 1.18; 95% CI, 1.01-1.38) at the census tract level
      were associated with excessive screen time. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest
      that both perceptual and structural neighborhood factors should be considered to
      understand adolescents' physical activity and sedentary behaviors.

PMID- 20921353
TI  - Relationship between the cognitive environment and vocabulary development during
      the second year of life.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To examine the relationship between characteristics of the cognitive
      environment at age 10 to 18 months and vocabulary at age 18 to 30 months. DESIGN:
      Analysis of baseline and follow-up data on 157 families participating in a
      comparison of 2 anticipatory guidance programs. SETTING: Children's Hospital
      outpatient department serving low-income families. PARTICIPANTS: Parents of
      children aged 10 to 18 months at baseline who participated in a follow-up
      telephone interview at age 18 to 30 months. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Three
      subscales of the StimQ (reading, parental involvement in developmental
      activities, and parental verbal responsivity [PVR]) and the short form of the
      MacArthur Communicative Development Inventories. RESULTS: Vocabulary score
      percentiles dropped significantly between baseline and follow-up, with scores for
      bilingual families showing a greater decrease than those for English speaking
      only families. StimQ subscale scores increased with maternal education and
      increased between baseline and follow-up. Multiple regression analysis showed
      that baseline variables accounted for 25% of the variance in follow-up vocabulary
      score percentile, with significant contributions from baseline expressive
      vocabulary (P < .001), PVR (P = .01), and home language (P = .03) scores. Seventy
      seven percent of children with PVR scores less than 4 had follow-up vocabulary
      scores at or less than the 25th percentile, with an associated likelihood ratio
      of 4.33. However, 35% of children with a PVR score of 4 also had vocabulary
      scores less than the 25th percentile at follow-up, with an associated likelihood
      ratio of 0.67. CONCLUSIONS: The StimQ is a clinically useful method for assessing
      early environmental factors that influence vocabulary development. The PVR
      subscale score was the best StimQ predictor of later vocabulary delay and may be
      useful in identifying children needing referral for evaluation.

PMID- 20921352
TI  - Household, family, and child risk factors after an investigation for suspected
      child maltreatment: a missed opportunity for prevention.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine whether a Child Protection Services investigation for
      suspected child maltreatment is associated with subsequent improvements in
      household, caregiver, and child risk factors. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study.
      SETTING: The Longitudinal Studies of Child Abuse and Neglect, a multicenter
      cohort study of the antecedents and consequences of child maltreatment.
      PARTICIPANTS: A total of 595 children with the same maternal caregiver responding
      to Longitudinal Studies of Child Abuse and Neglect surveys at ages 4 and 8 years.
      MAIN EXPOSURE: Investigation for suspected child maltreatment between ages 4 and
      8 years. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Adjusted differences in 7 modifiable risk factors
      (social support, family functioning, poverty, maternal education, maternal
      depressive symptoms, anxious or depressive child behaviors, and aggressive or
      destructive child behaviors) at age 8 years. RESULTS: Of 595 subjects, 164
      (27.6%) experienced an investigation for suspected child maltreatment between
      ages 4 and 8 years. At age 8 years, investigated subjects were not perceptibly
      different from noninvestigated subjects in social support, family functioning,
      poverty, maternal education, or child behavior problems after adjusting for
      baseline risk factors. Mothers of investigated subjects did have more depressive
      symptoms than mothers of noninvestigated peers at the child's age of 8 years.
      Substantiation of child maltreatment by Child Protective Services did not alter
      these findings. CONCLUSIONS: Our finding that an investigation for suspected
      child maltreatment is not associated with relative improvements in common,
      modifiable risk factors suggests that we may be missing an opportunity for
      secondary prevention of maltreatment and maltreatment consequences.

PMID- 20921354
TI  - Improving evidence-based care in cystic fibrosis through quality improvement.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To increase clinician adherence to prescribing guidelines for
      pulmonary medications in children with cystic fibrosis (CF). DESIGN: Quality
      improvement project with multiple time series design. SETTING: The CF center at a
      tertiary care pediatric hospital in the United States. PATIENTS: Children with CF
      who were eligible to receive oral azithromycin, nebulized dornase alfa, or
      inhaled tobramycin sulfate based on prescribing guidelines for CF lung disease.
      INTERVENTION: Evidence-based prescribing guidelines were designed by a local
      committee to reflect consensus recommendations from the CF Foundation. Clinicians
      and families were educated about guidelines. Adherence to prescribing guidelines
      was tracked using a local CF database and record reviews. Weekly meetings were
      used to highlight adherence failures and promote clinician accountability. MAIN
      OUTCOME MEASURE: The rate of clinician adherence to prescribing guidelines.
      RESULTS: One hundred seventy patients with CF were included. At the start of the
      project, the rate of clinician adherence to prescribing guidelines was 62%. After
      3 months of the project, the rate of clinician adherence to prescribing
      guidelines was 87% (odds ratio = 4.6; 95% confidence interval, 3.0-7.0). The
      improvements in adherence to prescribing guidelines were sustained for 21 months
      of follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Educating clinicians about prescribing guidelines,
      sharing guidelines with families, and monitoring clinician adherence improve
      prescribing adherence to evidence-based recommendations.

PMID- 20921355
TI  - Longitudinal assessment of the timing of career choice among pediatric residents.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the timing of and key factors in resident decision making
      to pursue either a career in general pediatrics or subspecialty training. DESIGN:
      We used a 10-item fixed-choice questionnaire that focused on exploring how and
      when pediatric residents make career choices. SETTING: The survey was
      administered to all categorical pediatric residents in the United States and
      Canada as part of the General Pediatrics In-Training Examination in 2007 and
      2009. The 2007 level 1 residents and 2009 level 3 residents were matched by a
      unique person identifier to create a longitudinal data set. PARTICIPANTS: A total
      of 2305 individuals completed the survey as level 1 residents in 2007 and level 3
      residents in 2009, representing a retention rate of 83.5%. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:
      Change in individual and aggregate pediatric resident response over time.
      RESULTS: A similar number of individuals planned to pursue fellowship training in
      2007 and 2009 (1026 vs 1062). Among this group, 745 (72.6%) of the 2009 residents
      were the same individuals who had indicated that they planned to pursue
      fellowship training in 2007. A total of 258 (71.9%) of all residents who reported
      in 2007 that they intended to pursue careers in general pediatrics with little or
      no inpatient care were still planning to do so in 2009. CONCLUSIONS: Most
      pediatricians make their decisions regarding pursuit of a career in primary care
      or to complete a fellowship before they ever enter residency training. It is
      unknown whether a similar timeline of decision making is consistent across
      specialties.

PMID- 20921357
TI  - Picture of the month--quiz case. Ruptured hydatid lung cyst.

PMID- 20921356
TI  - Burden of anxiety disorders in pediatric medical settings: prevalence,
      phenomenology, and a research agenda.
AB  - The current review describes the phenomenology of several common anxiety
      disorders in children and adolescents as they present in medical settings.
      Anxiety disorders and associated features in children are described, along with
      epidemiology, functional impairment, common somatic complaints, medical
      comorbidity, health care utilization, and presentation in general and in
      specialty pediatric medical settings. Recommendations for clinical management in
      pediatric settings are presented, and evidence-based interventions and emerging
      treatments for pediatric anxiety disorders are described. The review concludes
      with a discussion of future research directions that may lead to increased
      recognition and improved management of anxiety disorders in pediatric medical
      settings.

PMID- 20921358
TI  - Protecting families from harm.

PMID- 20921359
TI  - Child protective services has outlived its usefulness.

PMID- 20921360
TI  - Anxiety disorders in children and adolescents.

PMID- 20921361
TI  - Three-dimensional tracking of single mRNA particles in Saccharomyces cerevisiae
      using a double-helix point spread function.
AB  - Optical imaging of single biomolecules and complexes in living cells provides a
      useful window into cellular processes. However, the three-dimensional dynamics of
      most important biomolecules in living cells remains essentially uncharacterized.
      The precise subcellular localization of mRNA-protein complexes plays a critical
      role in the spatial and temporal control of gene expression, and a full
      understanding of the control of gene expression requires precise characterization
      of mRNA transport dynamics beyond the optical diffraction limit. In this paper,
      we describe three-dimensional tracking of single mRNA particles with 25-nm
      precision in the x and y dimensions and 50-nm precision in the z dimension in
      live budding yeast cells using a microscope with a double-helix point spread
      function. Two statistical methods to detect intermittently confined and directed
      transport were used to quantify the three-dimensional trajectories of mRNA for
      the first time, using ARG3 mRNA as a model. Measurements and analysis show that
      the dynamics of ARG3 mRNA molecules are mostly diffusive, although periods of non
      Brownian confinement and directed transport are observed. The quantitative
      methods detailed in this paper can be broadly applied to the study of mRNA
      localization and the dynamics of diverse other biomolecules in a wide variety of
      cell types.

PMID- 20921362
TI  - Structures of aminoacylase 3 in complex with acetylated substrates.
AB  - Trichloroethylene (TCE) is one of the most widespread environmental contaminants,
      which is metabolized to N-acetyl-S-1,2-dichlorovinyl-L-cysteine (NA-DCVC) before
      being excreted in the urine. Alternatively, NA-DCVC can be deacetylated by
      aminoacylase 3 (AA3), an enzyme that is highly expressed in the kidney, liver,
      and brain. NA-DCVC deacetylation initiates the transformation into toxic products
      that ultimately causes acute renal failure. AA3 inhibition is therefore a target
      of interest to prevent TCE induced nephrotoxicity. Here we report the crystal
      structure of recombinant mouse AA3 (mAA3) in the presence of its acetate
      byproduct and two substrates: N(alpha)-acetyl-L-tyrosine and NA-DCVC. These
      structures, in conjunction with biochemical data, indicated that AA3 mediates
      substrate specificity through van der Waals interactions providing a dynamic
      interaction interface, which facilitates a diverse range of substrates.

PMID- 20921364
TI  - Satellite-based global-ocean mass balance estimates of interannual variability
      and emerging trends in continental freshwater discharge.
AB  - Freshwater discharge from the continents is a key component of Earth's water
      cycle that sustains human life and ecosystem health. Surprisingly, owing to a
      number of socioeconomic and political obstacles, a comprehensive global river
      discharge observing system does not yet exist. Here we use 13 years (1994-2006)
      of satellite precipitation, evaporation, and sea level data in an ocean mass
      balance to estimate freshwater discharge into the global ocean. Results indicate
      that global freshwater discharge averaged 36,055 km(3)/y for the study period
      while exhibiting significant interannual variability driven primarily by El Nino
      Southern Oscillation cycles. The method described here can ultimately be used to
      estimate long-term global discharge trends as the records of sea level rise and
      ocean temperature lengthen. For the relatively short 13-year period studied here,
      global discharge increased by 540 km(3)/y(2), which was largely attributed to an
      increase of global-ocean evaporation (768 km(3)/y(2)). Sustained growth of these
      flux rates into long-term trends would provide evidence for increasing intensity
      of the hydrologic cycle.

PMID- 20921363
TI  - Engineering of self-assembled nanoparticle platform for precisely controlled
      combination drug therapy.
AB  - The genomic revolution has identified therapeutic targets for a plethora of
      diseases, creating a need to develop robust technologies for combination drug
      therapy. In the present work, we describe a self-assembled polymeric nanoparticle
      (NP) platform to target and control precisely the codelivery of drugs with
      varying physicochemical properties to cancer cells. As proof of concept, we
      codelivered cisplatin and docetaxel (Dtxl) to prostate cancer cells with
      synergistic cytotoxicity. A polylactide (PLA) derivative with pendant hydroxyl
      groups was prepared and conjugated to a platinum(IV) [Pt(IV)] prodrug, c,t,c
      [Pt(NH(3))(2)(O(2)CCH(2)CH(2)COOH)(OH)Cl(2)] [PLA-Pt(IV)]. A blend of PLA-Pt(IV)
      functionalized polymer and carboxyl-terminated poly(D,L-lactic-co-glycolic acid)
      block-poly(ethylene glycol) copolymer in the presence or absence of Dtxl, was
      converted, in microfluidic channels, to NPs with a diameter of ~100 nm. This
      process resulted in excellent encapsulation efficiency (EE) and high loading of
      both hydrophilic platinum prodrug and hydrophobic Dtxl with reproducible EEs and
      loadings. The surface of the NPs was derivatized with the A10 aptamer, which
      binds to the prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) on prostate cancer cells.
      These NPs undergo controlled release of both drugs over a period of 48-72 h.
      Targeted NPs were internalized by the PSMA-expressing LNCaP cells via
      endocytosis, and formation of cisplatin 1,2-d(GpG) intrastrand cross-links on
      nuclear DNA was verified. In vitro toxicities demonstrated superiority of the
      targeted dual-drug combination NPs over NPs with single drug or nontargeted NPs.
      This work reveals the potential of a single, programmable nanoparticle to blend
      and deliver a combination of drugs for cancer treatment.

PMID- 20921365
TI  - Controlling the growth and shape of chiral supramolecular polymers in water.
AB  - A challenging target in the noncovalent synthesis of nanostructured functional
      materials is the formation of uniform features that exhibit well-defined
      properties, e.g., precise control over the aggregate shape, size, and stability.
      In particular, for aqueous-based one-dimensional supramolecular polymers, this is
      a daunting task. Here we disclose a strategy based on self-assembling discotic
      amphiphiles that leads to the control over stack length and shape of ordered,
      chiral columnar aggregates. By balancing out attractive noncovalent forces within
      the hydrophobic core of the polymerizing building blocks with electrostatic
      repulsive interactions on the hydrophilic rim we managed to switch from
      elongated, rod-like assemblies to small and discrete objects. Intriguingly this
      rod-to-sphere transition is expressed in a loss of cooperativity in the
      temperature-dependent self-assembly mechanism. The aggregates were characterized
      using circular dichroism, UV and 1H-NMR spectroscopy, small angle X-ray
      scattering, and cryotransmission electron microscopy. In analogy to many systems
      found in biology, mechanistic details of the self-assembly pathways emphasize the
      importance of cooperativity as a key feature that dictates the physical
      properties of the produced supramolecular polymers.

PMID- 20921366
TI  - Mimicking nature by codelivery of stimulant and inhibitor to create temporally
      stable and spatially restricted angiogenic zones.
AB  - Nature frequently utilizes opposing factors to create a stable activator gradient
      to robustly control pattern formation. This study employs a biomimicry approach,
      by delivery of both angiogenic and antiangiogenic factors from spatially
      restricted zones of a synthetic polymer to achieve temporally stable and
      spatially restricted angiogenic zones in vivo. The simultaneous release of the
      two spatially separated agents leads to a spatially sharp angiogenic region that
      is sustained over 3 wk. Further, the contradictory action of the two agents leads
      to a stable level of proangiogenic stimulation in this region, in spite of
      significant variations in the individual release rates over time. The resulting
      spatially restrictive and temporally sustained profiles of active signaling allow
      the creation of a spatially heterogeneous and functional vasculature.

PMID- 20921367
TI  - Direct and enantioselective {alpha}-allylation of ketones via singly occupied
      molecular orbital (SOMO) catalysis.
AB  - The first enantioselective organocatalytic alpha-allylation of cyclic ketones has
      been accomplished via singly occupied molecular orbital catalysis. Geometrically
      constrained radical cations, forged from the one-electron oxidation of
      transiently generated enamines, readily undergo allylic alkylation with a variety
      of commercially available allyl silanes. A reasonable latitude in both the ketone
      and allyl silane components is readily accommodated in this new transformation.
      Moreover, three new oxidatively stable imidazolidinone catalysts have been
      developed that allow cyclic ketones to successfully participate in this
      transformation. The new catalyst platform has also been exploited in the first
      catalytic enantioselective alpha-enolation and alpha-carbooxidation of ketones.

PMID- 20921368
TI  - Structure, function, and folding of phosphoglycerate kinase are strongly
      perturbed by macromolecular crowding.
AB  - We combine experiment and computer simulation to show how macromolecular crowding
      dramatically affects the structure, function, and folding landscape of
      phosphoglycerate kinase (PGK). Fluorescence labeling shows that compact states of
      yeast PGK are populated as the amount of crowding agents (Ficoll 70) increases.
      Coarse-grained molecular simulations reveal three compact ensembles: C (crystal
      structure), CC (collapsed crystal), and Sph (spherical compact). With an
      adjustment for viscosity, crowded wild-type PGK and fluorescent PGK are about 15
      times or more active in 200 mg/ml Ficoll than in aqueous solution. Our results
      suggest a previously undescribed solution to the classic problem of how the ADP
      and diphosphoglycerate binding sites of PGK come together to make ATP: Rather
      than undergoing a hinge motion, the ADP and substrate sites are already located
      in proximity under crowded conditions that mimic the in vivo conditions under
      which the enzyme actually operates. We also examine T-jump unfolding of PGK as a
      function of crowding experimentally. We uncover a nonmonotonic folding relaxation
      time vs. Ficoll concentration. Theory and modeling explain why an optimum
      concentration exists for fastest folding. Below the optimum, folding slows down
      because the unfolded state is stabilized relative to the transition state. Above
      the optimum, folding slows down because of increased viscosity.

PMID- 20921369
TI  - Nucleosome depletion at yeast terminators is not intrinsic and can occur by a
      transcriptional mechanism linked to 3'-end formation.
AB  - Genome-wide mapping of nucleosomes generated by micrococcal nuclease (MNase)
      suggests that yeast promoter and terminator regions are very depleted of
      nucleosomes, predominantly because their DNA sequences intrinsically disfavor
      nucleosome formation. However, MNase has strong DNA sequence specificity that
      favors cleavage at promoters and terminators and accounts for some of the
      correlation between occupancy patterns of nucleosomes assembled in vivo and in
      vitro. Using an improved method for measuring nucleosome occupancy in vivo that
      does not involve MNase, we confirm that promoter regions are strongly depleted of
      nucleosomes, but find that terminator regions are much less depleted than
      expected. Unlike at promoter regions, nucleosome occupancy at terminators is
      strongly correlated with the orientation of and distance to adjacent genes. In
      addition, nucleosome occupancy at terminators is strongly affected by growth
      conditions, indicating that it is not primarily determined by intrinsic histone
      DNA interactions. Rapid removal of RNA polymerase II (pol II) causes increased
      nucleosome occupancy at terminators, strongly suggesting a transcription-based
      mechanism of nucleosome depletion. However, the distinct behavior of terminator
      regions and their corresponding coding regions suggests that nucleosome depletion
      at terminators is not simply associated with passage of pol II, but rather
      involves a distinct mechanism linked to 3'-end formation.

PMID- 20921370
TI  - Structure of bacterial cellulose synthase subunit D octamer with four inner
      passageways.
AB  - The cellulose synthesizing terminal complex consisting of subunits A, B, C, and D
      in Acetobacter xylinum spans the outer and inner cell membranes to synthesize and
      extrude glucan chains, which are assembled into subelementary fibrils and further
      into a ribbon. We determined the structures of subunit D (AxCeSD/AxBcsD) with
      both N- and C-terminal His(6) tags, and in complex with cellopentaose. The
      structure of AxCeSD shows an exquisite cylinder shape (height: ~65 A, outer
      diameter: ~90 A, and inner diameter: ~25 A) with a right-hand twisted dimer
      interface on the cylinder wall, formed by octamer as a functional unit. All N
      termini of the octamer are positioned inside the AxCeSD cylinder and create four
      passageways. The location of cellopentaoses in the complex structure suggests
      that four glucan chains are extruded individually through their own passageway
      along the dimer interface in a twisted manner. The complex structure also shows
      that the N-terminal loop, especially residue Lys6, seems to be important for
      cellulose production, as confirmed by in vivo assay using mutant cells with
      axcesD gene disruption and N-terminus truncation. Taking all results together, a
      model of the bacterial terminal complex is discussed.

PMID- 20921371
TI  - Impacts of wind farms on surface air temperatures.
AB  - Utility-scale large wind farms are rapidly growing in size and numbers all over
      the world. Data from a meteorological field campaign show that such wind farms
      can significantly affect near-surface air temperatures. These effects result from
      enhanced vertical mixing due to turbulence generated by wind turbine rotors. The
      impacts of wind farms on local weather can be minimized by changing rotor design
      or by siting wind farms in regions with high natural turbulence. Using a 25-y
      long climate dataset, we identified such regions in the world. Many of these
      regions, such as the Midwest and Great Plains in the United States, are also rich
      in wind resources, making them ideal candidates for low-impact wind farms.

PMID- 20921372
TI  - Asian dust particles converted into aqueous droplets under remote marine
      atmospheric conditions.
AB  - The chemical history of dust particles in the atmosphere is crucial for assessing
      their impact on both the Earth's climate and ecosystem. So far, a number of
      studies have shown that, in the vicinity of strong anthropogenic emission
      sources, Ca-rich dust particles can be converted into aqueous droplets mainly by
      the reaction with gaseous HNO(3) to form Ca(NO(3))(2). Here we show that other
      similar processes have the potential to be activated under typical remote marine
      atmospheric conditions. Based on field measurements at several sites in East Asia
      and thermodynamic predictions, we examined the possibility for the formation of
      two highly soluble calcium salts, Ca(NO(3))(2) and CaCl(2), which can deliquesce
      at low relative humidity. According to the results, the conversion of insoluble
      CaCO(3) to Ca(NO(3))(2) tends to be dominated over urban and industrialized areas
      of the Asian continent, where the concentrations of HNO(3) exceed those of HCl
      ([HNO(3)/HCl] >  ~ 1). In this regime, CaCl(2) is hardly detected from dust
      particles. However, the generation of CaCl(2) becomes detectable around the Japan
      Islands, where the concentrations of HCl are much higher than those of HNO(3)
      ([HNO(3)/HCl] <  ~ 0.3). We suggest that elevated concentrations of HCl in the
      remote marine boundary layer are sufficient to modify Ca-rich particles in dust
      storms and can play a more important role in forming a deliquescent layer on the
      particle surfaces as they are transported toward remote ocean regions.

PMID- 20921373
TI  - DNA conformational changes at the primer-template junction regulate the fidelity
      of replication by DNA polymerase.
AB  - Local conformational changes in primer-template (P/T) DNA are involved in the
      selective incorporation of dNTP by DNA polymerases (DNAP). Here we use near UV CD
      and fluorescence spectra of pairs of base analogue probes, substituted either at
      the primer terminus or in the coding region of the template strand, to monitor
      and interpret conformational changes at and near the coding base of the template
      in P/T DNA complexes with Klenow fragment (KF) DNAP as the polymerase moves
      through the nucleotide addition cycle. Incoming dNTPs and rNTPs encounter binary
      complexes in which the 3'-end of the primer shuttles between the polymerization
      (pol) and exonuclease (exo) sites of DNAPs, even for perfectly complementary P/T
      DNA sequences. We have used spectral changes of probes inserted in both strands
      to monitor this two-state distribution and determine how it depends on the
      formation of ternary complexes with both complementary ("correct") and
      noncomplementary ("incorrect") NTPs and on the local sequence of the P/T DNA. The
      results show that the relative occupancy of the exo and pol sites is coupled to
      conformational changes in the P/T DNA of the complex that are partially regulated
      by the incoming NTP. We find that the coding base on the template strand is
      unperturbed by the binding of incorrect dNTPs, while binding of complementary
      rNTPs induces a novel template conformation. We conclude that, in addition to its
      editing function, primer strand occupancy of the 3'-exo site may also serve as a
      regulatory checkpoint for accurate dNTP selection in DNA synthesis.

PMID- 20921374
TI  - Injectable hydrogel microbeads for fluorescence-based in vivo continuous glucose
      monitoring.
AB  - Fluorescent microbeads hold great promise for in vivo continuous glucose
      monitoring with wireless transdermal transmission and long-lasting activity. The
      full potential of fluorescent microbeads has yet to be realized due to
      insufficient intensity for transdermal transmission and material toxicity. This
      paper illustrates the highly-sensitive, biostable, long-lasting, and injectable
      fluorescent microbeads for in vivo continuous glucose monitoring. We synthesized
      a fluorescent monomer composed of glucose-recognition sites, a fluorogenic site,
      spacers, and polymerization sites. The spacers are designed to be long and
      hydrophilic for increasing opportunities to bind glucose molecules; consequently,
      the fluorescent monomers enable high-intensive responsiveness to glucose. We then
      fabricated injectable-sized fluorescent polyacrylamide hydrogel beads with high
      uniformity and high throughput. We found that our fluorescent beads provide
      sufficient intensity to transdermally monitor glucose concentrations in vivo. The
      fluorescence intensity successfully traced the blood glucose concentration
      fluctuation, indicating our method has potential uses in highly-sensitive and
      minimally invasive continuous blood glucose monitoring.

PMID- 20921375
TI  - Forecasting potential global environmental costs of livestock production 2000
      2050.
AB  - Food systems--in particular, livestock production--are key drivers of
      environmental change. Here, we compare the contributions of the global livestock
      sector in 2000 with estimated contributions of this sector in 2050 to three
      important environmental concerns: climate change, reactive nitrogen mobilization,
      and appropriation of plant biomass at planetary scales. Because environmental
      sustainability ultimately requires that human activities as a whole respect
      critical thresholds in each of these domains, we quantify the extent to which
      current and future livestock production contributes to published estimates of
      sustainability thresholds at projected production levels and under several
      alternative endpoint scenarios intended to illustrate the potential range of
      impacts associated with dietary choice. We suggest that, by 2050, the livestock
      sector alone may either occupy the majority of, or significantly overshoot,
      recently published estimates of humanity's "safe operating space" in each of
      these domains. In light of the magnitude of estimated impacts relative to these
      proposed (albeit uncertain) sustainability boundary conditions, we suggest that
      reining in growth of this sector should be prioritized in environmental
      governance.

PMID- 20921376
TI  - Recruitment of genes and enzymes conferring resistance to the nonnatural toxin
      bromoacetate.
AB  - Microbial niches contain toxic chemicals capable of forcing organisms into
      periods of intense natural selection to afford survival. Elucidating the
      mechanisms by which microbes evade environmental threats has direct relevance for
      understanding and combating the rise of antibiotic resistance. In this study we
      used a toxic small-molecule, bromoacetate, to model the selective pressures
      imposed by antibiotics and anthropogenic toxins. We report the results of genetic
      selection experiments that identify nine genes from Escherichia coli whose
      overexpression affords survival in the presence of a normally lethal
      concentration of bromoacetate. Eight of these genes encode putative transporters
      or transmembrane proteins, while one encodes the essential peptidoglycan
      biosynthetic enzyme, UDP-N-acetylglucosamine enolpyruvoyl transferase (MurA).
      Biochemical studies demonstrate that the primary physiological target of
      bromoacetate is MurA, which becomes irreversibly inactivated via alkylation of a
      critical active-site cysteine. We also screened a comprehensive library of E.
      coli single-gene deletion mutants and identified 63 strains displaying increased
      susceptibility to bromoacetate. One hypersensitive bacterium lacks yliJ, a gene
      encoding a predicted glutathione transferase. Herein, YliJ is shown to catalyze
      the glutathione-dependent dehalogenation of bromoacetate with a k(cat)/K(m) value
      of 5.4 * 10(3) M(-1) s(-1). YliJ displays exceptional substrate specificity and
      produces a rate enhancement exceeding 5 orders of magnitude, remarkable
      characteristics for reactivity with a nonnatural molecule. This study illustrates
      the wealth of intrinsic survival mechanisms that can be exploited by bacteria
      when they are challenged with toxins.

PMID- 20921377
TI  - Escherichia coli condensin MukB stimulates topoisomerase IV activity by a direct
      physical interaction.
AB  - In contrast to the current state of knowledge in the field of eukaryotic
      chromosome segregation, relatively little is known about the mechanisms
      coordinating the appropriate segregation of bacterial chromosomes. In Escherichia
      coli, the MukB/E/F complex and topoisomerase IV (Topo IV) are both crucial
      players in this process. Topo IV removes DNA entanglements following the
      replication of the chromosome, whereas MukB, a member of the structural
      maintenance of chromosomes protein family, serves as a bacterial condensin. We
      demonstrate here a direct physical interaction between the dimerization domain of
      MukB and the C-terminal domain of the ParC subunit of Topo IV. In addition, we
      find that MukB alters the activity of Topo IV in vitro. Finally, we isolate a
      MukB mutant, D692A, that is deficient in its interaction with ParC and show that
      this mutant fails to rescue the temperature-sensitive growth phenotype of a mukB(
      ) strain. These results show that MukB and Topo IV are linked physically and
      functionally and indicate that the activities of these proteins are not limited
      to chromosome segregation but likely also play a key role in the control of
      higher-order bacterial chromosome structure.

PMID- 20921378
TI  - Alkyltransferase-like protein (eATL) prevents mismatch repair-mediated toxicity
      induced by O6-alkylguanine adducts in Escherichia coli.
AB  - O(6)-alkylG adducts are highly mutagenic due to their capacity to efficiently
      form O(6)-alkylG:T mispairs during replication, thus triggering G->A transitions.
      Mutagenesis is largely prevented by repair strategies such as reversal by
      alkyltransferases or excision by nucleotide excision repair (NER). Moreover,
      methyl-directed mismatch repair (MMR) is known to trigger sensitivity to
      methylating agents via a mechanism that involves recognition by MutS of the O(6)
      mG:T replication intermediates. We wanted to investigate the mechanism by which
      MMR controls the genotoxicity of environmentally relevant O(6)-alkylG adducts
      formed by ethylene oxide and propylene oxide. Recently, the alkyltransferase-like
      gene ybaZ (eATL) was shown to enhance repair of these slightly larger O(6)-alkylG
      adducts by NER. We analyzed the toxicity and mutagenesis induced by these O(6)
      alkylG adducts using single-adducted plasmid probes. We show that the eATL gene
      product prevents MMR-mediated attack of the O(6)-alkylG:T replication
      intermediate for the larger alkyl groups but not for methyl. In vivo data are
      compatible with the occurrence of repeated cycles of MMR attack of the O(6)
      alkylG:T intermediate. In addition, in vitro, the eATL protein efficiently
      prevents binding of MutS to the O(6)-alkylG:T mispairs formed by the larger alkyl
      groups but not by methyl. In conclusion, eATL not only enhances the efficiency of
      repair of these larger adducts by NER, it also shields these adducts from MMR
      mediated toxicity.

PMID- 20921379
TI  - Demonstration of the importance for cellulose hydrolysis of CelS, the most
      abundant cellulosomal cellulase in Clostridium thermocellum [corrected].

PMID- 20921380
TI  - Cancer stem cells from human breast tumors are involved in spontaneous metastases
      in orthotopic mouse models.
AB  - To examine the role of breast cancer stem cells (BCSCs) in metastasis, we
      generated human-in-mouse breast cancer orthotopic models using patient tumor
      specimens, labeled with optical reporter fusion genes. These models recapitulate
      human cancer features not captured with previous models, including spontaneous
      metastasis in particular, and provide a useful platform for studies of breast
      tumor initiation and progression. With noninvasive imaging approaches, as few as
      10 cells of stably labeled BCSCs could be tracked in vivo, enabling studies of
      early tumor growth and spontaneous metastasis. These advances in BCSC imaging
      revealed that CD44(+) cells from both primary tumors and lung metastases are
      highly enriched for tumor-initiating cells. Our metastatic cancer models,
      combined with noninvasive imaging techniques, constitute an integrated approach
      that could be applied to dissect the molecular mechanisms underlying the
      dissemination of metastatic CSCs (MCSCs) and to explore therapeutic strategies
      targeting MCSCs in general or to evaluate individual patient tumor cells and
      predict response to therapy.

PMID- 20921381
TI  - EEG microstate sequences in healthy humans at rest reveal scale-free dynamics.
AB  - Recent findings identified electroencephalography (EEG) microstates as the
      electrophysiological correlates of fMRI resting-state networks. Microstates are
      defined as short periods (100 ms) during which the EEG scalp topography remains
      quasi-stable; that is, the global topography is fixed but strength might vary and
      polarity invert. Microstates represent the subsecond coherent activation within
      global functional brain networks. Surprisingly, these rapidly changing EEG
      microstates correlate significantly with activity in fMRI resting-state networks
      after convolution with the hemodynamic response function that constitutes a
      strong temporal smoothing filter. We postulate here that microstate sequences
      should reveal scale-free, self-similar dynamics to explain this remarkable effect
      and thus that microstate time series show dependencies over long time ranges. To
      that aim, we deploy wavelet-based fractal analysis that allows determining scale
      free behavior. We find strong statistical evidence that microstate sequences are
      scale free over six dyadic scales covering the 256-ms to 16-s range. The degree
      of long-range dependency is maintained when shuffling the local microstate labels
      but becomes indistinguishable from white noise when equalizing microstate
      durations, which indicates that temporal dynamics are their key characteristic.
      These results advance the understanding of temporal dynamics of brain-scale
      neuronal network models such as the global workspace model. Whereas microstates
      can be considered the "atoms of thoughts," the shortest constituting elements of
      cognition, they carry a dynamic signature that is reminiscent at characteristic
      timescales up to multiple seconds. The scale-free dynamics of the microstates
      might be the basis for the rapid reorganization and adaptation of the functional
      networks of the brain.

PMID- 20921382
TI  - On the swimming of Dictyostelium amoebae.

PMID- 20921383
TI  - Bacterial Na+-translocating ferredoxin:NAD+ oxidoreductase.
AB  - The anaerobic acetogenic bacterium Acetobacterium woodii carries out a unique
      type of Na(+)-motive, anaerobic respiration with caffeate as electron acceptor,
      termed "caffeate respiration." Central, and so far the only identified membrane
      bound reaction in this respiration pathway, is a ferredoxin:NAD(+) oxidoreductase
      (Fno) activity. Here we show that inverted membrane vesicles of A. woodii couple
      electron transfer from reduced ferredoxin to NAD(+) with the transport of Na(+)
      from the outside into the lumen of the vesicles. Na(+) transport was
      electrogenic, and accumulation was inhibited by sodium ionophores but not
      protonophores, demonstrating a direct coupling of Fno activity to Na(+)
      transport. Results from inhibitor studies are consistent with the hypothesis that
      Fno activity coupled to Na(+) translocation is catalyzed by the Rnf complex, a
      membrane-bound, iron-sulfur and flavin-containing electron transport complex
      encoded by many bacterial and some archaeal genomes. Fno is a unique type of
      primary Na(+) pump and represents an early evolutionary mechanism of energy
      conservation that expands the redox range known to support life. In addition, it
      explains the lifestyle of many anaerobic bacteria and gives a mechanistic
      explanation for the enigma of the energetic driving force for the endergonic
      reduction of ferredoxin with NADH plus H(+) as reductant in a number of aerobic
      bacteria.

PMID- 20921384
TI  - Initiation context modulates autoregulation of eukaryotic translation initiation
      factor 1 (eIF1).
AB  - The central feature of standard eukaryotic translation initiation is small
      ribosome subunit loading at the 5' cap followed by its 5' to 3' scanning for a
      start codon. The preferred start is an AUG codon in an optimal context. Elaborate
      cellular machinery exists to ensure the fidelity of start codon selection.
      Eukaryotic initiation factor 1 (eIF1) plays a central role in this process. Here
      we show that the translation of eIF1 homologs in eukaryotes from diverse taxa
      involves initiation from an AUG codon in a poor context. Using human eIF1 as a
      model, we show that this poor context is necessary for an autoregulatory negative
      feedback loop in which a high level of eIF1 inhibits its own translation,
      establishing that variability in the stringency of start codon selection is used
      for gene regulation in eukaryotes. We show that the stringency of start codon
      selection (preferential utilization of optimal start sites) is increased to a
      surprising degree by overexpressing eIF1. The capacity for the cellular level of
      eIF1 to impact initiation through the variable stringency of initiation codon
      selection likely has significant consequences for the proteome in eukaryotes.

PMID- 20921385
TI  - Correlation of brain amyloid with "aerobic glycolysis": A question of
      assumptions?

PMID- 20921386
TI  - Genome-wide analysis reveals methyl-CpG-binding protein 2-dependent regulation of
      microRNAs in a mouse model of Rett syndrome.
AB  - MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of small, noncoding RNAs that function as
      posttranscriptional regulators of gene expression. Many miRNAs are expressed in
      the developing brain and regulate multiple aspects of neural development,
      including neurogenesis, dendritogenesis, and synapse formation. Rett syndrome
      (RTT) is a progressive neurodevelopmental disorder caused by mutations in the
      gene encoding methyl-CpG-binding protein 2 (MECP2). Although Mecp2 is known to
      act as a global transcriptional regulator, miRNAs that are directly regulated by
      Mecp2 in the brain are not known. Using massively parallel sequencing methods, we
      have identified miRNAs whose expression is altered in cerebella of Mecp2-null
      mice before and after the onset of severe neurological symptoms. In vivo genome
      wide analyses indicate that promoter regions of a significant fraction of
      dysregulated miRNA transcripts, including a large polycistronic cluster of brain
      specific miRNAs, are DNA-methylated and are bound directly by Mecp2. Functional
      analysis demonstrates that the 3' UTR of messenger RNA encoding Brain-derived
      neurotrophic factor (Bdnf) can be targeted by multiple miRNAs aberrantly up
      regulated in the absence of Mecp2. Taken together, these results suggest that
      dysregulation of miRNAs may contribute to RTT pathoetiology and also may provide
      a valuable resource for further investigations of the role of miRNAs in RTT.

PMID- 20921387
TI  - NADPH oxidase-4 mediates protection against chronic load-induced stress in mouse
      hearts by enhancing angiogenesis.
AB  - Cardiac failure occurs when the heart fails to adapt to chronic stresses.
      Reactive oxygen species (ROS)-dependent signaling is implicated in cardiac stress
      responses, but the role of different ROS sources remains unclear. Here we report
      that NADPH oxidase-4 (Nox4) facilitates cardiac adaptation to chronic stress.
      Unlike other Nox proteins, Nox4 activity is regulated mainly by its expression
      level, which increases in cardiomyocytes under stresses such as pressure overload
      or hypoxia. To investigate the functional role of Nox4 during the cardiac
      response to stress, we generated mice with a genetic deletion of Nox4 or a
      cardiomyocyte-targeted overexpression of Nox4. Basal cardiac function was normal
      in both models, but Nox4-null animals developed exaggerated contractile
      dysfunction, hypertrophy, and cardiac dilatation during exposure to chronic
      overload whereas Nox4-transgenic mice were protected. Investigation of mechanisms
      underlying this protective effect revealed a significant Nox4-dependent
      preservation of myocardial capillary density after pressure overload. Nox4
      enhanced stress-induced activation of cardiomyocyte hypoxia inducible factor 1
      and the release of vascular endothelial growth factor, resulting in increased
      paracrine angiogenic activity. These data indicate that cardiomyocyte Nox4 is a
      unique inducible regulator of myocardial angiogenesis, a key determinant of
      cardiac adaptation to overload stress. Our results also have wider relevance to
      the use of nonspecific antioxidant approaches in cardiac disease and may provide
      an explanation for the failure of such strategies in many settings.

PMID- 20921388
TI  - Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis fermented milk product reduces
      inflammation by altering a niche for colitogenic microbes.
AB  - Intestinal health requires the coexistence of eukaryotic self with the gut
      microbiota and dysregulated host-microbial interactions can result in intestinal
      inflammation. Here, we show that colitis improved in T-bet(-/-)Rag2(-/-) mice
      that consumed a fermented milk product containing Bifidobacterium animalis subsp.
      lactis DN-173 010 strain. A decrease in cecal pH and alterations in short chain
      fatty acid profiles occurred with consumption, and there were concomitant
      increases in the abundance of select lactate-consuming and butyrate-producing
      bacteria. These metabolic shifts created a nonpermissive environment for the
      Enterobacteriaceae recently identified as colitogenic in a T-bet(-/-)Rag2(-/-)
      ulcerative colitis mouse model. In addition, 16S rRNA-based analysis of the T
      bet(-/-)Rag2(-/-) fecal microbiota suggest that the structure of the endogenous
      gut microbiota played a key role in shaping the host response to the bacterial
      strains studied herein. We have identified features of the gut microbiota, at the
      membership and functional level, associated with response to this B. lactis
      containing fermented milk product, and therefore this model provides a framework
      for evaluating and optimizing probiotic-based functional foods.

PMID- 20921389
TI  - Network-level structural covariance in the developing brain.
AB  - Intrinsic or resting state functional connectivity MRI and structural covariance
      MRI have begun to reveal the adult human brain's multiple network architectures.
      How and when these networks emerge during development remains unclear, but
      understanding ontogeny could shed light on network function and dysfunction. In
      this study, we applied structural covariance MRI techniques to 300 children in
      four age categories (early childhood, 5-8 y; late childhood, 8.5-11 y; early
      adolescence, 12-14 y; late adolescence, 16-18 y) to characterize gray matter
      structural relationships between cortical nodes that make up large-scale
      functional networks. Network nodes identified from eight widely replicated
      functional intrinsic connectivity networks served as seed regions to map whole
      brain structural covariance patterns in each age group. In general, structural
      covariance in the youngest age group was limited to seed and contralateral
      homologous regions. Networks derived using primary sensory and motor cortex seeds
      were already well-developed in early childhood but expanded in early adolescence
      before pruning to a more restricted topology resembling adult intrinsic
      connectivity network patterns. In contrast, language, social-emotional, and other
      cognitive networks were relatively undeveloped in younger age groups and showed
      increasingly distributed topology in older children. The so-called default-mode
      network provided a notable exception, following a developmental trajectory more
      similar to the primary sensorimotor systems. Relationships between functional
      maturation and structural covariance networks topology warrant future
      exploration.

PMID- 20921390
TI  - In an early branching metazoan, bacterial colonization of the embryo is
      controlled by maternal antimicrobial peptides.
AB  - Early embryos of many organisms develop outside the mother and are immediately
      confronted with myriads of potential colonizers. How these naive developmental
      stages control and shape the bacterial colonization is largely unknown. Here we
      show that early embryonic stages of the basal metazoan Hydra are able to control
      bacterial colonization by using maternal antimicrobial peptides. Antimicrobial
      peptides of the periculin family selecting for a specific bacterial colonization
      during embryogenesis are produced in the oocyte and in early embryos. If
      overexpressed in hydra ectodermal epithelial cells, periculin1a drastically
      reduces the bacterial load, indicating potent antimicrobial activity.
      Unexpectedly, transgenic polyps also revealed that periculin, in addition to
      bactericidal activity, changes the structure of the bacterial community. These
      findings delineate a role for antimicrobial peptides both in selecting particular
      bacterial partners during development and as important components of a "be
      prepared" strategy providing transgenerational protection.

PMID- 20921391
TI  - SNARE tagging allows stepwise assembly of a multimodular medicinal toxin.
AB  - Generation of supramolecular architectures through controlled linking of suitable
      building blocks can offer new perspectives to medicine and applied technologies.
      Current linking strategies often rely on chemical methods that have limitations
      and cannot take full advantage of the recombinant technologies. Here we used
      SNARE proteins, namely, syntaxin, SNAP25, and synaptobrevin, which form stable
      tetrahelical complexes that drive fusion of intracellular membranes, as versatile
      tags for irreversible linking of recombinant and synthetic functional units. We
      show that SNARE tagging allows stepwise production of a functional modular
      medicinal toxin, namely, botulinum neurotoxin type A, commonly known as BOTOX.
      This toxin consists of three structurally independent units: Receptor-binding
      domain (Rbd), Translocation domain (Td), and the Light chain (Lc), the last being
      a proteolytic enzyme. Fusing the receptor-binding domain with synaptobrevin SNARE
      motif allowed delivery of the active part of botulinum neurotoxin (Lc-Td), tagged
      with SNAP25, into neurons. Our data show that SNARE-tagged toxin was able to
      cleave its intraneuronal molecular target and to inhibit release of
      neurotransmitters. The reassembled toxin provides a safer alternative to existing
      botulinum neurotoxin and may offer wider use of this popular research and medical
      tool. Finally, SNARE tagging allowed the Rbd portion of the toxin to be used to
      deliver quantum dots and other fluorescent markers into neurons, showing
      versatility of this unique tagging and self-assembly technique. Together, these
      results demonstrate that the SNARE tetrahelical coiled-coil allows controlled
      linking of various building blocks into multifunctional assemblies.

PMID- 20921392
TI  - Somatic sex determination in Caenorhabditis elegans is modulated by SUP-26
      repression of tra-2 translation.
AB  - Translational repression mediated by RNA-binding proteins or micro RNAs has
      emerged as a major regulatory mechanism for fine-tuning important biological
      processes. In Caenorhabditis elegans, translational repression of the key sex
      determination gene tra-2 (tra, transformer) is controlled by a 28-nucleotide
      repeat element, the TRA-2/GLI element (TGE), located in its 3' untranslated
      region (UTR). Mutations that disrupt TGE or the germline-specific TGE-binding
      factor GLD-1 increase TRA-2 protein expression and inhibit sperm production in
      hermaphrodites. Here we report the characterization of the sup-26 gene, which
      regulates sex determination in the soma and encodes an RNA recognition motif
      (RRM)-containing protein. We show that SUP-26 regulates the level of the TRA-2
      protein through TGE in vivo and binds directly to TGE in vitro through its RRM
      domain. Interestingly, SUP-26 associates with poly(A)-binding protein 1 (PAB-1)
      in vivo and may repress tra-2 expression by inhibiting the translation
      stimulating activity of PAB-1. Taken together, our results provide further
      insight into how mRNA-binding factors repress translation and modulate sexual
      development in different tissues of C. elegans.

PMID- 20921393
TI  - Surprising flexibility in a conserved Hox transcription factor over 550 million
      years of evolution.
AB  - Although metazoan body plans are remarkably diverse, the structure and function
      of many embryonic regulatory genes are conserved because large changes would be
      detrimental to development. However, the fushi tarazu (ftz) gene has changed
      dramatically during arthropod evolution from Hox-like to a pair-rule segmentation
      gene in Drosophila. Changes in both expression and protein sequence contributed
      to this new function: ftz expression switched from Hox-like to stripes and
      changes in Ftz cofactor interaction motifs led to loss of homeotic and gain of
      segmentation potential. Here, we reconstructed ftz changes in a rigorous
      phylogenetic context. We found that ftz did not simply switch from Hox-like to
      segmentation function; rather, ftz is remarkably labile, having undergone
      multiple changes in sequence and expression. The segmentation LXXLL motif was
      stably acquired in holometabolous insects after the appearance of striped
      expression in early insect lineages. The homeotic YPWM motif independently
      degenerated multiple times. These "degen-YPWMs" showed varying degrees of
      homeotic potential when expressed in Drosophila, suggesting variable loss of Hox
      function in different arthropods. Finally, the intensity of ftz Hox-like
      expression decreased to marginal levels in some crustaceans. We propose that
      decreased expression levels permitted ftz variants to arise and persist in
      populations without disadvantaging organismal development. This process, in turn,
      allowed evolutionary transitions in protein function, as weakly expressed
      "hopeful gene variants" were coopted into alternative developmental pathways. Our
      findings show that variation of a pleiotropic transcription factor is more
      extensive than previously imagined, suggesting that evolutionary plasticity may
      be widespread among regulatory genes.

PMID- 20921394
TI  - Connexin 43 is critical to maintain the homeostasis of the blood-testis barrier
      via its effects on tight junction reassembly.
AB  - In mammalian testes, the blood-testis barrier (BTB) or Sertoli cell barrier
      created by specialized junctions between Sertoli cells near the basement membrane
      confers an immunological barrier by sequestering the events of meiotic division
      and postmeiotic germ cell development from the systemic circulation. The BTB is
      constituted by coexisting tight junctions (TJs), basal ectoplasmic
      specializations, desmosomes, and gap junctions. Despite being one of the tightest
      blood-tissue barriers, the BTB has to restructure cyclically during
      spermatogenesis. A recent study showed that gap junction protein connexin 43
      (Cx43) and desmosome protein plakophilin-2 are working synergistically to
      modulate the BTB integrity by regulating the distribution of TJ-associated
      proteins at the Sertoli-Sertoli cell interface. However, the precise role of Cx43
      in regulating the cyclical restructuring of junctions remains obscure. In this
      report, the calcium switch and the bisphenol A (BPA) models were used to induce
      junction restructuring in primary cultures of Sertoli cells isolated from rat
      testes that formed a TJ-permeability barrier that mimicked the BTB in vivo. The
      removal of calcium by EGTA perturbed the Sertoli cell tight junction barrier, but
      calcium repletion allowed the "resealing" of the disrupted barrier. However, a
      knockdown of Cx43 in Sertoli cells by RNAi significantly reduced the kinetics of
      TJ-barrier resealing. These observations were confirmed using the bisphenol A
      model in which the knockdown of Cx43 by RNAi also perturbed the TJ-barrier
      reassembly following BPA removal. In summary, Cx43 is crucial for TJ reassembly
      at the BTB during its cyclic restructuring throughout the seminiferous epithelial
      cycle of spermatogenesis.

PMID- 20921395
TI  - Correction of respiratory disorders in a mouse model of Rett syndrome.
AB  - Rett syndrome (RTT) is an autism spectrum disorder caused by mutations in the X
      linked gene that encodes the transcription factor methyl-CpG-binding protein 2
      (MeCP2). A major debilitating phenotype in affected females is frequent apneas,
      and heterozygous Mecp2-deficient female mice mimic the human respiratory
      disorder. GABA defects have been demonstrated in the brainstem of Mecp2-deficient
      mice. Here, using an intact respiratory network, we show that apnea in RTT mice
      is characterized by excessive excitatory activity in expiratory cranial and
      spinal nerves. Augmenting GABA markedly improves the respiratory phenotype. In
      addition, a serotonin 1a receptor agonist that depresses expiratory neuron
      activity also reduces apnea, corrects the irregular breathing pattern, and
      prolongs survival in MeCP2 null males. Combining a GABA reuptake blocker with a
      serotonin 1a agonist in heterozygous females completely corrects their
      respiratory defects. The results indicate that GABA and serotonin 1a receptor
      activity are candidates for treatment of the respiratory disorders in Rett
      syndrome.

PMID- 20921396
TI  - Neurotoxic lupus autoantibodies alter brain function through two distinct
      mechanisms.
AB  - Damaging interactions between antibodies and brain antigenic targets may be
      responsible for an expanding range of neurological disorders. In the case of
      systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), patients generate autoantibodies (AAbs) that
      frequently bind dsDNA. Although some symptoms of SLE may arise from direct
      reactivity to dsDNA, much of the AAb-mediated damage originates from cross
      reactivity with other antigens. We have studied lupus AAbs that bind dsDNA and
      cross-react with the NR2A and NR2B subunits of the NMDA receptor (NMDAR). In
      adult mouse models, when the blood-brain barrier is compromised, these NMDAR
      reactive AAbs access the brain and elicit neuronal death with ensuing cognitive
      dysfunction and emotional disturbance. The cellular mechanisms that underlie
      these deleterious effects remain incompletely understood. Here, we show that, at
      low concentration, the NMDAR-reactive AAbs are positive modulators of receptor
      function that increase the size of NMDAR-mediated excitatory postsynaptic
      potentials, whereas at high concentration, the AAbs promote excitotoxicity
      through enhanced mitochondrial permeability transition. Other synaptic receptors
      are completely unaffected by the AAbs. NMDAR activation is required for producing
      both the synaptic and the mitochondrial effects. Our study thus reveals the
      mechanisms by which NMDAR-reactive AAbs trigger graded cellular alterations,
      which are likely to be responsible for the transient and permanent
      neuropsychiatric symptoms observed in patients with SLE. Our study also provides
      a model in which local AAb concentration determines the exact nature of the
      cellular response.

PMID- 20921398
TI  - Bird communities in future bioenergy landscapes of the Upper Midwest.
AB  - Mandates for biofuel and renewable electricity are creating incentives for
      biomass production in agricultural landscapes of the Upper Midwest. Different
      bioenergy crops are expected to vary in their effects on biodiversity and
      ecosystem services. Here, we use data from the North American Breeding Bird
      Survey to forecast the impact of potential bioenergy crops on avian species
      richness and the number of bird species of conservation concern in Midwestern
      landscapes. Our analysis suggests that expanded production of annual bioenergy
      crops (e.g., corn and soybeans) on marginal land will lead to declines in avian
      richness between 7% and 65% across 20% of the region, and will make managing at
      risk species more challenging. In contrast, replacement of annual with diverse
      perennial bioenergy crops (e.g., mixed grasses and forbs) is expected to bring
      increases in avian richness between 12% and 207% across 20% of the region, and
      possibly aid the recovery of several species of conservation concern.

PMID- 20921397
TI  - Development of a highly efficacious vaccinia-based dual vaccine against smallpox
      and anthrax, two important bioterror entities.
AB  - Bioterrorism poses a daunting challenge to global security and public health in
      the 21st century. Variola major virus, the etiological agent of smallpox, and
      Bacillus anthracis, the bacterial pathogen responsible for anthrax, remain at the
      apex of potential pathogens that could be used in a bioterror attack to inflict
      mass casualties. Although licensed vaccines are available for both smallpox and
      anthrax, because of inadequacies associated with each of these vaccines, serious
      concerns remain as to the deployability of these vaccines, especially in the
      aftermath of a bioterror attack involving these pathogens. We have developed a
      single vaccine (Wyeth/IL-15/PA) using the licensed Wyeth smallpox vaccine strain
      that is efficacious against both smallpox and anthrax due to the integration of
      immune-enhancing cytokine IL-15 and the protective antigen (PA) of B. anthracis
      into the Wyeth vaccinia virus. Integration of IL-15 renders Wyeth vaccinia
      avirulent in immunodeficient mice and enhances anti-vaccinia immune responses.
      Wyeth/IL-15/PA conferred sterile protection against a lethal challenge of B.
      anthracis Ames strain spores in rabbits. A single dose of Wyeth/IL-15/PA
      protected 33% of the vaccinated A/J mice against a lethal spore challenge 72 h
      later whereas a single dose of licensed anthrax vaccine protected only 10%. Our
      dual vaccine Wyeth/IL-15/PA remedies the inadequacies associated with the
      licensed vaccines, and the inherent ability of Wyeth vaccinia virus to be
      lyophilized without loss of potency makes it cold-chain independent, thus
      simplifying the logistics of storage, stockpiling, and field delivery in the
      event of a bioterror attack involving smallpox or anthrax.

PMID- 20921399
TI  - Long-running German panel survey shows that personal and economic choices, not
      just genes, matter for happiness.
AB  - Psychologists and economists take contradictory approaches to research on what
      psychologists call happiness or subjective well-being, and economists call
      subjective utility. A direct test of the most widely accepted psychological
      theory, set-point theory, shows it to be flawed. Results are then given, using
      the economists' newer "choice approach"--an approach also favored by positive
      psychologists--which yields substantial payoffs in explaining long-term changes
      in happiness. Data come from the German Socio-Economic Panel (1984-2008), a
      unique 25-y prospective longitudinal survey. This dataset enables direct tests of
      theories explaining long-term happiness.

PMID- 20921400
TI  - Decreased ENaC expression compensates the increased NCC activity following
      inactivation of the kidney-specific isoform of WNK1 and prevents hypertension.
AB  - Mutations in WNK1 and WNK4 lead to familial hyperkalemic hypertension (FHHt).
      Because FHHt associates net positive Na(+) balance together with K(+) and H(+)
      renal retention, the identification of WNK1 and WNK4 led to a new paradigm to
      explain how aldosterone can promote either Na(+) reabsorption or K(+) secretion
      in a hypovolemic or hyperkalemic state, respectively. WNK1 gives rise to L-WNK1,
      an ubiquitous kinase, and KS-WNK1, a kinase-defective isoform expressed in the
      distal convoluted tubule. By inactivating KS-WNK1 in mice, we show here that this
      isoform is an important regulator of sodium transport. KS-WNK1(-/-) mice display
      an increased activity of the Na-Cl cotransporter NCC, expressed specifically in
      the distal convoluted tubule, where it participates in the fine tuning of sodium
      reabsorption. Moreover, the expression of the ROMK and BKCa potassium channels
      was modified in KS-WNK1(-/-) mice, indicating that KS-WNK1 is also a regulator of
      potassium transport in the distal nephron. Finally, we provide an alternative
      model for FHHt. Previous studies suggested that the activation of NCC plays a
      central role in the development of hypertension and hyperkalemia. Even though the
      increase in NCC activity in KS-WNK1(-/-) mice was less pronounced than in mice
      overexpressing a mutant form of WNK4, our study suggests that the activation of
      Na-Cl cotransporter is not sufficient by itself to induce a hyperkalemic
      hypertension and that the deregulation of other channels, such as the Epithelial
      Na(+) channel (ENaC), is probably required.

PMID- 20921401
TI  - Prefrontal cortex and basal ganglia contributions to visual working memory.
AB  - Visual working memory (VWM) is a remarkable skill dependent on the brain's
      ability to construct and hold an internal representation of the world for later
      comparison with an external stimulus. The prefrontal cortex (PFC) and basal
      ganglia (BG) interact within a cortical and subcortical network supporting VWM.
      We used scalp electroencephalography in groups of patients with unilateral PFC or
      BG lesions to provide evidence that these regions play complementary but
      dissociable roles in VWM. PFC patients show behavioral and electrophysiological
      deficits manifested by attenuation of extrastriate attention and VWM-related
      neural activity only for stimuli presented to the contralesional visual field. In
      contrast, patients with BG lesions show behavioral and electrophysiological VWM
      deficits independent of the hemifield of stimulus presentation but have intact
      extrastriate attention activity. The results support a model wherein the PFC is
      critical for top-down intrahemispheric modulation of attention and VWM with the
      BG involved in global support of VWM processes.

PMID- 20921402
TI  - Development of the malaria parasite in the skin of the mammalian host.
AB  - The first step of Plasmodium development in vertebrates is the transformation of
      the sporozoite, the parasite stage injected by the mosquito in the skin, into
      merozoites, the stage that invades erythrocytes and initiates the disease. The
      current view is that, in mammals, this stage conversion occurs only inside
      hepatocytes. Here, we document the transformation of sporozoites of rodent
      infecting Plasmodium into merozoites in the skin of mice. After mosquito bite,
      ~50% of the parasites remain in the skin, and at 24 h ~10% are developing in the
      epidermis and the dermis, as well as in the immunoprivileged hair follicles where
      they can survive for weeks. The parasite developmental pathway in skin cells,
      although frequently abortive, leads to the generation of merozoites that are
      infective to erythrocytes and are released via merosomes, as typically observed
      in the liver. Therefore, during malaria in rodents, the skin is not just the
      route to the liver but is also the final destination for many inoculated
      parasites, where they can differentiate into merozoites and possibly persist.

PMID- 20921403
TI  - Characterization of mononuclear phagocytic cells in medaka fish transgenic for a
      cxcr3a:gfp reporter.
AB  - Chemokines and chemokine receptors are key evolutionary innovations of
      vertebrates. They are involved in morphogenetic processes and play an important
      role in the immune system. Based on an analysis of the chemokine receptor gene
      family in teleost genomes, and the expression patterns of chemokine receptor
      genes during embryogenesis and the wounding response in young larvae of Oryzias
      latipes, we identified the chemokine receptor cxcr3a as a marker of innate immune
      cells. Cells expressing cxcr3a were characterized in fish transgenic for a
      cxcr3a:gfp reporter. In embryos and larvae, cxcr3a-expressing cells are motile in
      healthy and damaged tissues, and phagocytic; the majority of these cells has the
      morphology of tissue macrophages, whereas a small fraction has a dendritic
      phenotype. In adults, cxcr3a-positive cells continue to specifically express
      myeloid-associate markers and genes related to antigen uptake and presentation.
      By light microscopy and ultrastructural analysis, the majority of cxcr3a
      expressing cells has a dendritic phenotype, whereas the remainder resembles
      macrophage-like cells. After challenge of adult fish with bacteria or CpG
      oligonucleotides, phagocytosing cxcr3a-positive cells in the blood up-regulated
      il12p40 genes, compatible with their function as part of the mononuclear
      phagocytic system. Our results identify a marker of teleost mononuclear
      phagocytic cells and suggest a surprising degree of morphological and functional
      similarity between the innate immune systems of lower and higher vertebrates.

PMID- 20921404
TI  - Dopamine modulates synaptic plasticity in dendrites of rat and human dentate
      granule cells.
AB  - The mechanisms underlying memory formation in the hippocampal network remain a
      major unanswered aspect of neuroscience. Although high-frequency activity appears
      essential for plasticity, salience for memory formation is also provided by
      activity in ventral tegmental area (VTA) dopamine projections. Here, we report
      that activation of dopamine D1 receptors in dentate granule cells (DGCs) can
      preferentially increase dendritic excitability to both high-frequency afferent
      activity and high-frequency trains of backpropagating action potentials. Using
      whole-cell patch clamp recordings, calcium imaging, and neuropeptide Y to inhibit
      postsynaptic calcium influx, we found that activation of dendritic voltage
      dependent calcium channels (VDCCs) is essential for dopamine-induced long-term
      potentiation (LTP), both in rat and human dentate gyrus (DG). Moreover, we
      demonstrate previously unreported spike-timing-dependent plasticity in the human
      hippocampus. These results suggest that when dopamine is released in the dentate
      gyrus with concurrent high-frequency activity there is an increased probability
      that synapses will be strengthened and reward-associated spatial memories will be
      formed.

PMID- 20921405
TI  - NF-kappaB inhibits T-cell activation-induced, p73-dependent cell death by
      induction of MDM2.
AB  - NF-kappaB is a key transcription factor involved in the regulation of T-cell
      activation and proliferation upon engagement of the T-cell receptor (TCR). T
      cells that lack the IkappaB kinase (IKKbeta) are unable to activate NF-kappaB,
      and rapidly undergo apoptosis upon activation. NF-kappaB activation following T
      cell receptor engagement induces the expression of Mdm2 through interaction with
      NF-kappaB sites in its P1 promoter, and enforced expression of Mdm2 protected T
      cells deficient for NF-kappaB activation from activation-induced cell death. In T
      cells with intact NF-kappaB signaling, ablation or pharmacologic inhibition of
      Mdm2 resulted in activation-induced apoptosis. Mdm2 coprecipitates with p73 in
      activated T cells, and apoptosis induced by inhibition of Mdm2 was p73-dependent.
      Further, Bim was identified as a p73 target gene required for cell death induced
      by Mdm2 inhibition, and a p73-responsive element in intron 1 of Bim was
      characterized. Our results demonstrate a pathway for survival of activated T
      cells through NF-kappaB-induced Mdm2, which blocks Bim-dependent apoptosis
      through binding and inhibition of p73.

PMID- 20921406
TI  - Duration of antigen receptor signaling determines T-cell tolerance or activation.
AB  - The early events that determine the decision between lymphocyte tolerance and
      activation are not well-understood. Using a model of systemic self-antigen
      recognition by CD4(+) T cells, we show, using single-cell biochemical analyses,
      that tolerance is characterized by transient signaling events downstream of T
      cell receptor engagement in the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) and NF
      kappaB pathways. Parallel studies done by live cell imaging show that the key
      difference between tolerance and activation is the duration of the T cell-antigen
      presenting cell (APC) interaction, as revealed by stable T-cell immobilization on
      antigen encounter. Brief T cell-APC interactions result in tolerance, and
      prolonged interactions are associated with activation and the development of
      effector cells. These studies show that the duration of T cell-APC interactions
      and magnitude of associated TCR-mediated signaling are key determinants of
      lymphocyte tolerance vs. activation.

PMID- 20921407
TI  - Loss of Goosecoid-like and DiGeorge syndrome critical region 14 in
      interpeduncular nucleus results in altered regulation of rapid eye movement
      sleep.
AB  - Sleep and wakefulness are regulated primarily by inhibitory interactions between
      the hypothalamus and brainstem. The expression of the states of rapid eye
      movement (REM) sleep and non-REM (NREM) sleep also are correlated with the
      activity of groups of REM-off and REM-on neurons in the dorsal brainstem.
      However, the contribution of ventral brainstem nuclei to sleep regulation has
      been little characterized to date. Here we examined sleep and wakefulness in mice
      deficient in a homeobox transcription factor, Goosecoid-like (Gscl), which is one
      of the genes deleted in DiGeorge syndrome or 22q11 deletion syndrome. The
      expression of Gscl is restricted to the interpeduncular nucleus (IP) in the
      ventral region of the midbrain-hindbrain transition. The IP has reciprocal
      connections with several cell groups implicated in sleep/wakefulness regulation.
      Although Gscl(-/-) mice have apparently normal anatomy and connections of the IP,
      they exhibited a reduced total time spent in REM sleep and fewer REM sleep
      episodes. In addition, Gscl(-/-) mice showed reduced theta power during REM sleep
      and increased arousability during REM sleep. Gscl(-/-) mice also lacked the
      expression of DiGeorge syndrome critical region 14 (Dgcr14) in the IP. These
      results indicate that the absence of Gscl and Dgcr14 in the IP results in altered
      regulation of REM sleep.

PMID- 20921408
TI  - Dated molecular phylogenies indicate a Miocene origin for Arabidopsis thaliana.
AB  - Dated molecular phylogenies are the basis for understanding species diversity and
      for linking changes in rates of diversification with historical events such as
      restructuring in developmental pathways, genome doubling, or dispersal onto a new
      continent. Valid fossil calibration points are essential to the accurate
      estimation of divergence dates, but for many groups of flowering plants fossil
      evidence is unavailable or limited. Arabidopsis thaliana, the primary genetic
      model in plant biology and the first plant to have its entire genome sequenced,
      belongs to one such group, the plant family Brassicaceae. Thus, the timing of A.
      thaliana evolution and the history of its genome have been controversial. We
      bring previously overlooked fossil evidence to bear on these questions and find
      the split between A. thaliana and Arabidopsis lyrata occurred about 13 Mya, and
      that the split between Arabidopsis and the Brassica complex (broccoli, cabbage,
      canola) occurred about 43 Mya. These estimates, which are two- to threefold older
      than previous estimates, indicate that gene, genomic, and developmental evolution
      occurred much more slowly than previously hypothesized and that Arabidopsis
      evolved during a period of warming rather than of cooling. We detected a 2- to 10
      fold shift in species diversification rates on the branch uniting Brassicaceae
      with its sister families. The timing of this shift suggests a possible impact of
      the Cretaceous-Paleogene mass extinction on their radiation and that Brassicales
      codiversified with pierid butterflies that specialize on mustard-oil-producing
      plants.

PMID- 20921409
TI  - Sequential action of Caenorhabditis elegans Rab GTPases regulates phagolysosome
      formation during apoptotic cell degradation.
AB  - Phagocytosis of apoptotic cells requires recognition of cell corpses followed by
      internalization and enclosure within plasma membrane-derived phagosomes.
      Phagosomes undergo maturation to generate phagolysosomes in which cell corpses
      are degraded; however, regulation of the maturation process is poorly understood.
      Here, we identified Rab GTPase 14, which regulates apoptotic cell degradation in
      Caenorhabditis elegans. rab-14 mutants accumulate many persistent cell corpses
      owing to defective cell corpse clearance. Loss of rab-14 function affects several
      steps of phagosome maturation including phagosomal acidification and
      phagolysosome formation. RAB-14 and UNC-108/RAB2 are recruited to phagosomes at a
      similar stage and function redundantly to regulate phagosome maturation. Three
      Rabs, RAB-14, UNC-108/RAB2, and RAB-7, act in sequential steps to control
      phagolysosome formation. RAB-14 and UNC-108 recruit lysosomes, whereas RAB-7
      mediates fusion of lysosomes to phagosomes. Our data reveal the sequential action
      of Rab GTPases in regulating tethering, docking, and fusion of lysosomes to
      apoptotic cell-containing phagosomes.

PMID- 20921410
TI  - Arc regulates spine morphology and maintains network stability in vivo.
AB  - Long-term memory relies on modulation of synaptic connections in response to
      experience. This plasticity involves trafficking of AMPA receptors (AMPAR) and
      alteration of spine morphology. Arc, a gene induced by synaptic activity,
      mediates the endocytosis of AMPA receptors and is required for both long-term and
      homeostatic plasticity. We found that Arc increases spine density and regulates
      spine morphology by increasing the proportion of thin spines. Furthermore, Arc
      specifically reduces surface GluR1 internalization at thin spines, and Arc
      mutants that fail to facilitate AMPAR endocytosis do not increase the proportion
      of thin spines, suggesting that Arc-mediated AMPAR endocytosis facilitates
      alterations in spine morphology. Thus, by linking spine morphology with AMPAR
      endocytosis, Arc balances synaptic downscaling with increased structural
      plasticity. Supporting this, loss of Arc in vivo leads to a significant decrease
      in the proportion of thin spines and an epileptic-like network hyperexcitability.

PMID- 20921411
TI  - Anaphase-promoting complex/cyclosome-Cdh1 coordinates glycolysis and
      glutaminolysis with transition to S phase in human T lymphocytes.
AB  - Cell proliferation is accompanied by an increase in the utilization of glucose
      and glutamine. The proliferative response is dependent on a decrease in the
      activity of the ubiquitin ligase anaphase-promoting complex/cyclosome (APC/C)
      Cdh1 which controls G1-to-S-phase transition by targeting degradation motifs,
      notably the KEN box. This occurs not only in cell cycle proteins but also in the
      glycolysis-promoting enzyme 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase/fructose-2,6-bisphosphatase
      isoform 3 (PFKFB3), as we have recently demonstrated in cells in culture. We now
      show that APC/C-Cdh1 controls the proliferative response of human T lymphocytes.
      Moreover, we have found that glutaminase 1 is a substrate for this ubiquitin
      ligase and appears at the same time as PFKFB3 in proliferating T lymphocytes.
      Glutaminase 1 is the first enzyme in glutaminolysis, which converts glutamine to
      lactate, yielding intermediates for cell proliferation. Thus APC/C-Cdh1 is
      responsible for the provision not only of glucose but also of glutamine and, as
      such, accounts for the critical step that links the cell cycle with the metabolic
      substrates essential for its progression.

PMID- 20921412
TI  - Endocytosis is required for Toll signaling and shaping of the Dorsal/NF-kappaB
      morphogen gradient during Drosophila embryogenesis.
AB  - Dorsoventral cell fate in the Drosophila embryo is specified by activation of the
      Toll receptor, leading to a ventral-to-dorsal gradient across nuclei of the NF
      kappaB transcription factor Dorsal. Toll receptor has been investigated
      genetically, molecularly, and immunohistologically, but much less is known about
      its dynamics in living embryos. Using live imaging of fluorescent protein
      chimeras, we find that Toll is recruited from the plasma membrane to Rab5(+)
      early endosomes. The distribution of a constitutively active form of Toll,
      Toll(10b), is shifted from the plasma membrane to early endosomes. Inhibition of
      endocytosis on the ventral side of the embryo attenuates Toll signaling ventrally
      and causes Dorsal to accumulate on the dorsal side of the embryo, essentially
      inverting the dorsal/ventral axis. Conversely, enhancing endocytosis laterally
      greatly potentiates Toll signaling locally, altering the shape of the Dorsal
      gradient. Photoactivation and fluorescence recovery after photobleaching studies
      reveal that Toll exhibits extremely limited lateral diffusion within the plasma
      membrane, whereas Toll is highly compartmentalized in endosomes. When endocytosis
      is blocked ventrally, creating an ectopic dorsal signaling center, Toll is
      preferentially endocytosed at the ectopic signaling center. We propose that Toll
      signals from an endocytic compartment rather than the plasma membrane. Our
      studies reveal that endocytosis plays a pivotal role in the spatial regulation of
      Toll receptor activation and signaling and in the correct shaping of the nuclear
      Dorsal concentration gradient.

PMID- 20921413
TI  - Climate mitigation and the future of tropical landscapes.
AB  - Land-use change to meet 21st-century demands for food, fuel, and fiber will
      depend on many interactive factors, including global policies limiting
      anthropogenic climate change and realized improvements in agricultural
      productivity. Climate-change mitigation policies will alter the decision-making
      environment for land management, and changes in agricultural productivity will
      influence cultivated land expansion. We explore to what extent future increases
      in agricultural productivity might offset conversion of tropical forest lands to
      crop lands under a climate mitigation policy and a contrasting no-policy scenario
      in a global integrated assessment model. The Global Change Assessment Model is
      applied here to simulate a mitigation policy that stabilizes radiative forcing at
      4.5 W m(-2) (approximately 526 ppm CO(2)) in the year 2100 by introducing a price
      for all greenhouse gas emissions, including those from land use. These scenarios
      are simulated with several cases of future agricultural productivity growth rates
      and the results downscaled to produce gridded maps of potential land-use change.
      We find that tropical forests are preserved near their present-day extent, and
      bioenergy crops emerge as an effective mitigation option, only in cases in which
      a climate mitigation policy that includes an economic price for land-use
      emissions is in place, and in which agricultural productivity growth continues
      throughout the century. We find that idealized land-use emissions price
      assumptions are most effective at limiting deforestation, even when cropland area
      must increase to meet future food demand. These findings emphasize the importance
      of accounting for feedbacks from land-use change emissions in global climate
      change mitigation strategies.

PMID- 20921414
TI  - Genome-wide association study (GWAS)-identified disease risk alleles do not
      compromise human longevity.
AB  - A set of currently known alleles increasing the risk for coronary artery disease,
      cancer, and type 2 diabetes as identified by genome-wide association studies was
      tested for compatibility with human longevity. Here, we show that nonagenarian
      siblings from long-lived families and singletons older than 85 y of age from the
      general population carry the same number of disease risk alleles as young
      controls. Longevity in this study population is not compromised by the cumulative
      effect of this set of risk alleles for common disease.

PMID- 20921415
TI  - Both sides retaliate in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
AB  - Ending violent international conflicts requires understanding the causal factors
      that perpetuate them. In the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Israelis and
      Palestinians each tend to see themselves as victims, engaging in violence only in
      response to attacks initiated by a fundamentally and implacably violent foe bent
      on their destruction. Econometric techniques allow us to empirically test the
      degree to which violence on each side occurs in response to aggression by the
      other side. Prior studies using these methods have argued that Israel reacts
      strongly to attacks by Palestinians, whereas Palestinian violence is random
      (i.e., not predicted by prior Israeli attacks). Here we replicate prior findings
      that Israeli killings of Palestinians increase after Palestinian killings of
      Israelis, but crucially show further that when nonlethal forms of violence are
      considered, and when a larger dataset is used, Palestinian violence also reveals
      a pattern of retaliation: (i) the firing of Palestinian rockets increases sharply
      after Israelis kill Palestinians, and (ii) the probability (although not the
      number) of killings of Israelis by Palestinians increases after killings of
      Palestinians by Israel. These findings suggest that Israeli military actions
      against Palestinians lead to escalation rather than incapacitation. Further, they
      refute the view that Palestinians are uncontingently violent, showing instead
      that a significant proportion of Palestinian violence occurs in response to
      Israeli behavior. Well-established cognitive biases may lead participants on each
      side of the conflict to underappreciate the degree to which the other side's
      violence is retaliatory, and hence to systematically underestimate their own role
      in perpetuating the conflict.

PMID- 20921416
TI  - Regional differences in cellular mechanisms of adipose tissue gain with
      overfeeding.
AB  - Body fat distribution is an important predictor of the metabolic consequences of
      obesity, but the cellular mechanisms regulating regional fat accumulation are
      unknown. We assessed the changes in adipocyte size (photomicrographs) and number
      in response to overfeeding in upper- and lower-body s.c. fat depots of 28
      healthy, normal weight adults (15 men) age 29 +/- 2 y. We analyzed how these
      changes relate to regional fat gain (dual energy X-ray absorptiometry and
      computed tomography) and baseline preadipocyte proliferation, differentiation
      [peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma2 (PPARgamma2) and
      CCAAT/enhancer binding protein-alpha (C/EBPalpha) mRNA]), and apoptotic response
      to TNF-alpha. Fat mass increased by 1.9 +/- 0.2 kg in the upper body and 1.6 +/-
      0.1 kg in the lower body. Average abdominal s.c. adipocyte size increased by 0.16
      +/- 0.06 MUg lipid per cell and correlated with relative upper-body fat gain (r =
      0.74, P < 0.0001). However, lower-body fat responded to overfeeding by fat-cell
      hyperplasia, with adipocyte number increasing by 2.6 +/- 0.9 * 10(9) cells (P <
      0.01). We found no depot-differences in preadipocyte replication or apoptosis
      that would explain lower-body adipocyte hyperplasia and abdominal s.c. adipocyte
      hypertrophy. However, baseline PPARgamma2 and C/EBPalpha mRNA were higher in
      abdominal than femoral s.c. preadipocytes (P < 0.005 and P < 0.03, respectively),
      consistent with the ability of abdominal s.c. adipocytes to achieve a larger
      size. Inherent differences in preadipocyte cell dynamics may contribute to the
      distinct responses of different fat depots to overfeeding, and fat-cell number
      increases in certain depots in adults after only 8 wk of increased food intake.

PMID- 20921417
TI  - GAPDH regulates cellular heme insertion into inducible nitric oxide synthase.
AB  - Heme proteins play essential roles in biology, but little is known about heme
      transport inside mammalian cells or how heme is inserted into soluble proteins.
      We recently found that nitric oxide (NO) blocks cells from inserting heme into
      several proteins, including cytochrome P450s, hemoglobin, NO synthases, and
      catalase. This finding led us to explore the basis for NO inhibition and to
      identify cytosolic proteins that may be involved, using inducible NO synthase
      (iNOS) as a model target. Surprisingly, we found that GAPDH plays a key role.
      GAPDH was associated with iNOS in cells. Pure GAPDH bound tightly to heme or to
      iNOS in an NO-sensitive manner. GAPDH knockdown inhibited heme insertion into
      iNOS and a GAPDH mutant with defective heme binding acted as a dominant negative
      inhibitor of iNOS heme insertion. Exposing cells to NO either from a chemical
      donor or by iNOS induction caused GAPDH to become S-nitrosylated at Cys152.
      Expressing a GAPDH C152S mutant in cells or providing a drug to selectively block
      GAPDH S-nitrosylation both made heme insertion into iNOS resistant to the NO
      inhibition. We propose that GAPDH delivers heme to iNOS through a process that is
      regulated by its S-nitrosylation. Our findings may uncover a fundamental step in
      intracellular heme trafficking, and reveal a mechanism whereby NO can govern the
      process.

PMID- 20921418
TI  - Epithelial cell proliferation in the developing zebrafish intestine is regulated
      by the Wnt pathway and microbial signaling via Myd88.
AB  - Rates of cell proliferation in the vertebrate intestinal epithelium are modulated
      by intrinsic signaling pathways and extrinsic cues. Here, we report that
      epithelial cell proliferation in the developing zebrafish intestine is stimulated
      both by the presence of the resident microbiota and by activation of Wnt
      signaling. We find that the response to microbial proliferation-promoting signals
      requires Myd88 but not TNF receptor, implicating host innate immune pathways but
      not inflammation in the establishment of homeostasis in the developing intestinal
      epithelium. We show that loss of axin1, a component of the beta-catenin
      destruction complex, results in greater than WT levels of intestinal epithelial
      cell proliferation. Compared with conventionally reared axin1 mutants, germ-free
      axin1 mutants exhibit decreased intestinal epithelial cell proliferation, whereas
      monoassociation with the resident intestinal bacterium Aeromonas veronii results
      in elevated epithelial cell proliferation. Disruption of beta-catenin signaling
      by deletion of the beta-catenin coactivator tcf4 partially decreases the
      proliferation-promoting capacity of A. veronii. We show that numbers of
      intestinal epithelial cells with cytoplasmic beta-catenin are reduced in the
      absence of the microbiota in both WT and axin1 mutants and elevated in animals'
      monoassociated A. veronii. Collectively, these data demonstrate that resident
      intestinal bacteria enhance the stability of beta-catenin in intestinal
      epithelial cells and promote cell proliferation in the developing vertebrate
      intestine.

PMID- 20921419
TI  - Inhibition of brain tumor growth by intravenous poly (beta-L-malic acid)
      nanobioconjugate with pH-dependent drug release [corrected].
AB  - Effective treatment of brain neurological disorders such as Alzheimer's disease,
      multiple sclerosis, or tumors should be possible with drug delivery through blood
      brain barrier (BBB) or blood-brain tumor barrier (BTB) and targeting specific
      types of brain cells with drug release into the cell cytoplasm. A polymeric
      nanobioconjugate drug based on biodegradable, nontoxic, and nonimmunogenic
      polymalic acid as a universal delivery nanoplatform was used for design and
      synthesis of nanomedicine drug for i.v. treatment of brain tumors. The polymeric
      drug passes through the BTB and tumor cell membrane using tandem monoclonal
      antibodies targeting the BTB and tumor cells. The next step for polymeric drug
      action was inhibition of tumor angiogenesis by specifically blocking the
      synthesis of a tumor neovascular trimer protein, laminin-411, by attached
      antisense oligonucleotides (AONs). The AONs were released into the target cell
      cytoplasm via pH-activated trileucine, an endosomal escape moiety. Drug delivery
      to the brain tumor and the release mechanism were both studied for this
      nanobiopolymer. Introduction of a trileucine endosome escape unit resulted in
      significantly increased AON delivery to tumor cells, inhibition of laminin-411
      synthesis in vitro and in vivo, specific accumulation in brain tumors, and
      suppression of intracranial glioma growth compared with pH-independent leucine
      ester. The availability of a systemically active polymeric drug delivery system
      that passes through the BTB, targets tumor cells, and inhibits glioma growth
      gives hope for a successful strategy of glioma treatment. This delivery system
      with drug release into the brain-specific cell type could be useful for treatment
      of various brain pathologies.

PMID- 20921420
TI  - Claudin-4 forms paracellular chloride channel in the kidney and requires claudin
      8 for tight junction localization.
AB  - Tight junctions (TJs) play a key role in mediating paracellular ion reabsorption
      in the kidney. The paracellular pathway in the collecting duct of the kidney is a
      predominant route for transepithelial chloride reabsorption that determines the
      extracellular NaCl content and the blood pressure. However, the molecular
      mechanisms underlying the paracellular chloride reabsorption in the collecting
      duct are not understood. Here we showed that in mouse kidney collecting duct
      cells, claudin-4 functioned as a Cl(-) channel. A positively charged lysine
      residue at position 65 of claudin-4 was critical for its anion selectivity.
      Claudin-4 was observed to interact with claudin-8 using several criteria. In the
      collecting duct cells, the assembly of claudin-4 into TJ strands required its
      interaction with claudin-8. Depletion of claudin-8 resulted in the loss of
      paracellular chloride conductance, through a mechanism involving its recruitment
      of claudin-4 during TJ assembly. Together, our data show that claudin-4 interacts
      with claudin-8 and that their association is required for the anion-selective
      paracellular pathway in the collecting duct, suggesting a mechanism for coupling
      chloride reabsorption with sodium reabsorption in the collecting duct.

PMID- 20921421
TI  - An atypical member of the light-harvesting complex stress-related protein family
      modulates diatom responses to light.
AB  - Diatoms are prominent phytoplanktonic organisms that contribute around 40% of
      carbon assimilation in the oceans. They grow and perform optimally in variable
      environments, being able to cope with unpredictable changes in the amount and
      quality of light. The molecular mechanisms regulating diatom light responses are,
      however, still obscure. Using knockdown Phaeodactylum tricornutum transgenic
      lines, we reveal the key function of a member of the light-harvesting complex
      stress-related (LHCSR) protein family, denoted LHCX1, in modulation of excess
      light energy dissipation. In contrast to green algae, this gene is already
      maximally expressed in nonstressful light conditions and encodes a protein
      required for efficient light responses and growth. LHCX1 also influences natural
      variability in photoresponse, as evidenced in ecotypes isolated from different
      latitudes that display different LHCX1 protein levels. We conclude, therefore,
      that this gene plays a pivotal role in managing light responses in diatoms.

PMID- 20921422
TI  - Control of salicylic acid synthesis and systemic acquired resistance by two
      members of a plant-specific family of transcription factors.
AB  - Salicylic acid (SA) is a defense hormone required for both local and systemic
      acquired resistance (SAR) in plants. Pathogen infections induce SA synthesis
      through up-regulating the expression of Isochorismate Synthase 1 (ICS1), which
      encodes a key enzyme in SA production. Here we report that both SAR Deficient 1
      (SARD1) and CBP60g are key regulators for ICS1 induction and SA synthesis.
      Whereas knocking out SARD1 compromises basal resistance and SAR, overexpression
      of SARD1 constitutively activates defense responses. In the sard1-1 cbp60g-1
      double mutant, pathogen-induced ICS1 up-regulation and SA synthesis are blocked
      in both local and systemic leaves, resulting in compromised basal resistance and
      loss of SAR. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays showed that SARD1 and CBP60g
      represent a plant-specific family of DNA-binding proteins. Both proteins are
      recruited to the promoter of ICS1 in response to pathogen infections, suggesting
      that they control SA synthesis by regulating ICS1 at the transcriptional level.

PMID- 20921423
TI  - Salt and aldosterone: a concert of bad effects.

PMID- 20921424
TI  - DORADO: opportunity postponed: lessons from studies of endothelin receptor
      antagonists in treatment-resistant hypertension.

PMID- 20921425
TI  - Enhanced Ca2+-dependent activation of phosphoinositide 3-kinase class IIalpha
      isoform-Rho axis in blood vessels of spontaneously hypertensive rats.
AB  - Rho-mediated inhibition of myosin light chain (MLC) phosphatase (MLCP), together
      with Ca(2+)-dependent MLC kinase activation, constitutes the major signaling
      mechanisms for vascular smooth muscle contraction. We recently unveiled the
      involvement of Ca(2+)-induced, phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) class IIalpha
      isoform (PI3K-C2alpha)-dependent Rho activation and resultant Rho kinase
      dependent MLCP suppression in membrane depolarization- and receptor agonist
      induced contraction. It is unknown whether Ca(2+)- and PI3K-C2alpha-dependent
      regulation of MLCP is altered in vascular smooth muscle of hypertensive animals
      and is involved in hypertension. Therefore, we studied the role of the Ca(2+)
      PI3K-C2alpha-Rho-MLCP pathway in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs). PI3K
      C2alpha was readily detected in various vascular beds of Wistar-Kyoto rats and
      activated by high KCl. High KCl also stimulated vascular Rho activity and
      phosphorylation of the MLCP regulatory subunit MYPT1 at Thr(853) in a PI3K
      inhibitor wortmannin-sensitive manner. In mesenteric and other vessels of SHRs at
      the hypertensive but not the prehypertensive stage, the activity of PI3K-C2alpha
      but not class I PI3K p110alpha was elevated with concomitant rises of Rho
      activity and Thr(853)-phosphorylation of MYPT1, as compared with normotensive
      controls. Infusion of the Ca(2+) channel antagonist nicardipine reduced blood
      pressure with suppression of vascular activity of PI3K-C2alpha-Rho and
      phosphorylation of MYPT1 in hypertensive SHRs. Infusion of wortmannin lowered
      blood pressure with inhibition of PI3K-C2alpha-Rho activities and MYPT1
      phosphorylation in hypertensive SHRs. These observations suggest that an
      increased activity of the Ca(2+)-PI3K-C2alpha-Rho signaling pathway with
      resultant augmented MLCP suppression contributes to hypertension in SHRs. The
      Ca(2+)- and PI3K-C2alpha-dependent Rho stimulation in vascular smooth muscle may
      be a novel, promising target for treating hypertension.

PMID- 20921426
TI  - New recommendations for treating hypertension in black patients: evidence and/or
      consensus?

PMID- 20921427
TI  - Does interleukin 6 contribute to renal hemodynamic changes during angiotensin II
      dependent hypertension?

PMID- 20921428
TI  - Dietary sodium, aldosterone, and left ventricular mass changes during long-term
      inhibition of the renin-angiotensin system.
AB  - In essential hypertension, the regression of left ventricular hypertrophy is an
      important goal of treatment. In addition to treatment-associated changes in blood
      pressure (BP), the roles of other determinants of left ventricular hypertrophy
      regression, including dietary sodium intake, deserve investigation. In the
      present study, the change in echographic left ventricular mass index (LVMI) was
      assessed in 182 patients with never-treated essential hypertension at baseline
      and after 3 years of treatment by angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors or
      angiotensin II receptor antagonists given at recommended doses and associated
      with other antihypertensive agents. Treatment was associated with satisfactory
      control of BP (<140/90 mm Hg) in 64% of patients, and left ventricular
      hypertrophy prevalence decreased from 56% to 39%. Twenty-four-hour urinary sodium
      was positively related to LVMI at baseline and at the end of the study,
      independently of age, sex, and systolic BP. Supine plasma aldosterone
      concentration was correlated with LVMI only at baseline but not in multivariate
      analysis. In response to treatment, the percentage of change in LVMI was
      positively correlated with the absolute changes in systolic BP, urinary sodium,
      and plasma aldosterone concentration, independently of baseline LVMI. The
      population was divided into 3 tertiles according to final values of gender
      specific urinary sodium. When, within each urinary sodium tertile, patients were
      divided into those with plasma aldosterone concentration below and above the
      median (11.6 ng/dL), LVMI progressively increased across sodium tertiles only in
      patients with high plasma aldosterone concentration. Systolic BP was similar
      across all of the groups. In conclusion, aldosterone requires the presence of
      high dietary salt for the expression of its unfavorable effect on the heart.

PMID- 20921429
TI  - Interleukin 6 knockout prevents angiotensin II hypertension: role of renal
      vasoconstriction and janus kinase 2/signal transducer and activator of
      transcription 3 activation.
AB  - Chronic angiotensin II (Ang II) infusion stimulates interleukin (IL) 6 release,
      and we and others have shown that preventing the increase in IL-6 significantly
      attenuates Ang II hypertension. This study measured renal blood flow (RBF)
      chronically, using Transonic flow probes in wild-type (WT) and IL-6 knockout (KO)
      mice, to determine the role of RBF regulation in that response. Ang II infusion
      at 200, 800, and 3600 ng/kg per minute caused a dose-dependent decrease in RBF in
      WT mice, and the response at 800 ng/kg per minute was compared between WT and IL
      6 KO mice. Ang II infusion increased plasma IL-6 concentration in WT mice and
      increased mean arterial pressure (19 h/d with telemetry) from 113+/-4 to 149+/-4
      mm Hg (Delta36 mm Hg) over the 7-day infusion period, and that effect was blocked
      in IL-6 KO mice (119+/-7 to 126+/-7 mm Hg). RBF decreased to an average of 61+/
      8% of control over the 7-day period (control: 0.86+/-0.02 mL/min) in the WT mice;
      however, the average decrease to 72+/-6% of control (control: 0.88+/-0.02 mL/min)
      in the KO mice was not significantly different. There also was no difference in
      afferent arteriolar constriction by Ang II in blood-perfused juxtamedullary
      nephrons in WT versus KO mice. Phosphorylation of janus kinase 2 and signal
      transducer and activator of transcription 3 in renal cortex homogenates increased
      significantly in Ang II-infused WT mice, and that effect was prevented completely
      in Ang II-infused IL-6 KO mice. These data suggest that IL-6-dependent activation
      of the renal janus kinase 2/signal transducer and activator of transcription 3
      pathway plays a role in Ang II hypertension but not by mediating the effect of
      Ang II to decrease total RBF.

PMID- 20921430
TI  - Divergent results using clinic and ambulatory blood pressures: report of a
      darusentan-resistant hypertension trial.
AB  - Patients with resistant hypertension are at increased risk for cardiovascular
      events. The addition of new treatments to existing therapies will help achieve
      blood pressure (BP) goals in more resistant hypertension patients. In the current
      trial, 849 patients with resistant hypertension receiving >=3 antihypertensive
      drugs, including a diuretic, at optimized doses were randomized to the selective
      endothelin A receptor antagonist darusentan, placebo, or the central alpha-2
      agonist guanfacine. The coprimary end points of the study were changes from
      baseline to week 14 in trough, sitting systolic BP, and diastolic BP measured in
      the clinic. Decreases from baseline to week 14 in systolic BP for darusentan (
      15+/-14 mm Hg) were greater than for guanfacine (-12+/-13 mm Hg; P<0.05) but not
      greater than placebo (-14+/-14 mm Hg). Darusentan, however, reduced mean 24-hour
      systolic BP (-9+/-12 mm Hg) more than placebo (-2+/-12 mm Hg) or guanfacine (-4+/
      12 mm Hg) after 14 weeks of treatment (P<0.001 for each comparison). The most
      frequent adverse event associated with darusentan was fluid retention/edema at
      28% versus 12% in each of the other groups. More patients withdrew because of
      adverse events on darusentan as compared with placebo or guanfacine. We conclude
      that darusentan provided greater reduction in systolic BP in resistant
      hypertension patients as assessed by ambulatory BP monitoring, in spite of not
      meeting its coprimary end points. The results of this trial highlight the
      importance of ambulatory BP monitoring in the design of hypertension clinical
      studies.

PMID- 20921431
TI  - Estrogen metabolomics: a physiologist's perspective.

PMID- 20921433
TI  - Management of high blood pressure in Blacks: an update of the International
      Society on Hypertension in Blacks consensus statement.
AB  - Since the first International Society on Hypertension in Blacks consensus
      statement on the "Management of High Blood Pressure in African American" in 2003,
      data from additional clinical trials have become available. We reviewed
      hypertension and cardiovascular disease prevention and treatment guidelines,
      pharmacological hypertension clinical end point trials, and blood pressure
      lowering trials in blacks. Selected trials without significant black
      representation were considered. In this update, blacks with hypertension are
      divided into 2 risk strata, primary prevention, where elevated blood pressure
      without target organ damage, preclinical cardiovascular disease, or overt
      cardiovascular disease for whom blood pressure consistently <135/85 mm Hg is
      recommended, and secondary prevention, where elevated blood pressure with target
      organ damage, preclinical cardiovascular disease, and/or a history of
      cardiovascular disease, for whom blood pressure consistently <130/80 mm Hg is
      recommended. If blood pressure is <=10 mm Hg above target levels, monotherapy
      with a diuretic or calcium channel blocker is preferred. When blood pressure is
      >15/10 mm Hg above target, 2-drug therapy is recommended, with either a calcium
      channel blocker plus a renin-angiotensin system blocker or, alternatively, in
      edematous and/or volume-overload states, with a thiazide diuretic plus a renin
      angiotensin system blocker. Effective multidrug therapeutic combinations through
      4 drugs are described. Comprehensive lifestyle modifications should be initiated
      in blacks when blood pressure is >=115/75 mm Hg. The updated International
      Society on Hypertension in Blacks consensus statement on hypertension management
      in blacks lowers the minimum target blood pressure level for the lowest-risk
      blacks, emphasizes effective multidrug regimens, and de-emphasizes monotherapy.

PMID- 20921435
TI  - Diversity in cardiovascular outcomes among Chinese and South Asian patients.

PMID- 20921436
TI  - Perhexiline and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: a new horizon for metabolic
      modulation.

PMID- 20921434
TI  - Candidate genes and mechanisms for 2-methoxyestradiol-mediated vasoprotection.
AB  - 2-Methoxyestradiol (2-ME; estradiol metabolite) inhibits vascular smooth muscle
      cell (VSMC) growth and protects against atherosclerosis and vascular injury;
      however, the mechanisms by which 2-ME induces these actions remain obscure. To
      assess the impact of 2-ME on biochemical pathways regulating VSMC biology, we
      used high-density oligonucleotide microarrays to identify differentially
      expressed genes in cultured human female aortic VSMCs treated with 2-ME acutely
      (4 hours) or long term (30 hours). Both single gene analysis and Gene Set
      Enrichment Analysis revealed 2-ME-induced downregulation of genes involved in
      mitotic spindle assembly and function in VSMCs. Also, Gene Set Enrichment
      Analysis identified effects of 2-ME on genes regulating cell-cycle progression,
      cell migration/adhesion, vasorelaxation, inflammation, and cholesterol
      metabolism. Transcriptional changes were associated with changes in protein
      expression, including inhibition of cyclin D1, cyclin B1, cyclin-dependent kinase
      6, cyclin-dependent kinase 4, tubulin polymerization, cholesterol and steroid
      synthesis, and upregulation of cyclooxygenase 2 and matrix metalloproteinase 1.
      Microarray data suggested that 2-ME may activate peroxisome proliferator
      activated receptors (PPARs) in VSMCs, and 2-ME has structural similarities with
      rosiglitazone (PPARgamma agonist). However, our finding of weak activation and
      lack of binding of 2-ME to PPARs suggests that 2-ME may modulate PPAR-associated
      genes via indirect mechanisms, potentially involving cyclooxygenase 2. Indeed,
      the antimitogenic effects of 2-ME at concentrations that do not inhibit tubulin
      polymerization were blocked by the PPAR antagonist GW9662 and the cyclooxygenase
      2 inhibitor NS398. Finally, we demonstrated that 2-ME inhibited hypoxia-inducible
      factor 1alpha. Identification of candidate genes that are positively or
      negatively regulated by 2-ME provides important leads to investigate and better
      understand the mechanisms by which 2-ME induces its vasoprotective actions.

PMID- 20921432
TI  - Common variants in the ATP2B1 gene are associated with susceptibility to
      hypertension: the Japanese Millennium Genome Project.
AB  - Hypertension is one of the most common complex genetic disorders. We have
      described previously 38 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with suggestive
      association with hypertension in Japanese individuals. In this study we extend
      our previous findings by analyzing a large sample of Japanese individuals (n=14
      105) for the most associated SNPs. We also conducted replication analyses in
      Japanese of susceptibility loci for hypertension identified recently from genome
      wide association studies of European ancestries. Association analysis revealed
      significant association of the ATP2B1 rs2070759 polymorphism with hypertension
      (P=5.3*10(-5); allelic odds ratio: 1.17 [95% CI: 1.09 to 1.26]). Additional SNPs
      in ATP2B1 were subsequently genotyped, and the most significant association was
      with rs11105378 (odds ratio: 1.31 [95% CI: 1.21 to 1.42]; P=4.1*10(-11)).
      Association of rs11105378 with hypertension was cross-validated by replication
      analysis with the Global Blood Pressure Genetics consortium data set (odds ratio:
      1.13 [95% CI: 1.05 to 1.21]; P=5.9*10(-4)). Mean adjusted systolic blood pressure
      was highly significantly associated with the same SNP in a meta-analysis with
      individuals of European descent (P=1.4*10(-18)). ATP2B1 mRNA expression levels in
      umbilical artery smooth muscle cells were found to be significantly different
      among rs11105378 genotypes. Seven SNPs discovered in published genome-wide
      association studies were also genotyped in the Japanese population. In the
      combined analysis with replicated 3 genes, FGF5 rs1458038, CYP17A1, rs1004467,
      and CSK rs1378942, odds ratio of the highest risk group was 2.27 (95% CI: 1.65 to
      3.12; P=4.6*10(-7)) compared with the lower risk group. In summary, this study
      confirmed common genetic variation in ATP2B1, as well as FGF5, CYP17A1, and CSK,
      to be associated with blood pressure levels and risk of hypertension.

PMID- 20921438
TI  - Chemokine receptor 7 knockout attenuates atherosclerotic plaque development.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Atherosclerosis is a systemic inflammatory disease characterized by
      the formation of atherosclerotic plaques. Both innate immunity and adaptive
      immunity contribute to atherogenesis, but the mode of interaction is poorly
      understood. Chemokine receptor 7 (CCR7) is critically involved in the transition
      from innate to adaptive immune activation by coordinating the migration to and
      positioning of antigen-presenting dendritic cells and T cells in secondary
      lymphoid organs. More recently, it was shown that CCR7 is also responsible for T
      cell migration into inflamed tissues and T-cell egress from these tissues via the
      afferent lymph. Thus, we investigated the influence of a systemic CCR7 deficiency
      on atherogenesis in atherosclerosis-prone low-density lipoprotein receptor (ldlr)
      knockout mice. METHODS AND RESULTS: CCR7 deficiency resulted in reduced
      atherosclerotic plaque development. CCR7(-/-) T cells showed impaired entry and
      exit behavior from atherosclerotic lesions. Oxidized low-density lipoprotein, a
      key molecule for atherogenesis with antigenic features, was used to pulse
      dendritic cells and to expand T cells ex vivo. Adoptive transfer of C57BL/6 wild
      type T cells but not ccr7(-/-)-derived T cells primed with oxidized low-density
      lipoprotein-pulsed dendritic cells resulted in a reconstitution of atherogenesis
      in ccr7(-/-)/ldlr(-/-) mice. CONCLUSION: These results demonstrate that both CCR7
      dependent T-cell priming in secondary lymphoid organs and CCR7-dependent
      recirculation of T cells between secondary lymphoid organs and inflamed tissue
      are crucially involved in atherosclerotic plaque development.

PMID- 20921437
TI  - Complication rates associated with pacemaker or implantable cardioverter
      defibrillator generator replacements and upgrade procedures: results from the
      REPLACE registry.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Prospective studies defining the risk associated with pacemaker or
      implantable cardioverter-defibrillator replacement surgeries do not exist. These
      procedures are generally considered low risk despite results from recent
      retrospective series reporting higher rates. METHODS AND RESULTS: We
      prospectively assessed predefined procedure-related complication rates associated
      with elective pacemaker or implantable cardioverter-defibrillator generator
      replacements over 6 months of follow-up. Two groups were studied: those without
      (cohort 1) and those with (cohort 2) a planned transvenous lead addition for
      replacement or upgrade to a device capable of additional therapies. Complications
      were adjudicated by an independent events committee. Seventy-two US academic and
      private practice centers participated. Major complications occurred in 4.0% (95%
      confidence interval, 2.9 to 5.4) of 1031 cohort 1 patients and 15.3% (95%
      confidence interval, 12.7 to 18.1) of 713 cohort 2 patients. In both cohorts,
      major complications were higher with implantable cardioverter-defibrillator
      compared with pacemaker generator replacements. Complications were highest in
      patients who had an upgrade to or a revised cardiac resynchronization therapy
      device (18.7%; 95% confidence interval, 15.1 to 22.6). No periprocedural deaths
      occurred in either cohort, although 8 later procedure-related deaths occurred in
      cohort 2. The 6-month infection rates were 1.4% (95% confidence interval, 0.7 to
      2.3) and 1.1% (95% confidence interval, 0.5 to 2.2) for cohorts 1 and 2,
      respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Pacemaker and implantable cardioverter-defibrillator
      generator replacements are associated with a notable complication risk,
      particularly those with lead additions. These data support careful decision
      making before device replacement, when managing device advisories, and when
      considering upgrades to more complex systems.

PMID- 20921439
TI  - Pediatric metabolic syndrome predicts adulthood metabolic syndrome, subclinical
      atherosclerosis, and type 2 diabetes mellitus but is no better than body mass
      index alone: the Bogalusa Heart Study and the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns
      Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The clinical utility of identifying pediatric metabolic syndrome
      (MetS) is controversial. This study sought to determine the status of pediatric
      MetS as a risk factor for adult subclinical atherosclerosis (carotid intima-media
      thickness [cIMT]) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and compare and contrast
      this prediction with its individual components. METHODS AND RESULTS: Using data
      from the population-based, prospective, observational Bogalusa Heart and
      Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns studies, we examined the utility of 4
      categorical definitions of youth MetS and their components in predicting adult
      high cIMT and T2DM among 1781 participants aged 9 to 18 years at baseline (1984
      to 1988) who were then examined 14 to 27 years later (2001-2007) when aged 24 to
      41 years. Youth with MetS were at 2 to 3 times the risk of having high cIMT and
      T2DM as adults compared with those free of MetS at youth. Risk estimates with the
      use of high body mass index were similar to those of MetS phenotypes in
      predicting adult outcomes. Comparisons of area under the receiver operating
      characteristic curve and net reclassification index suggested that prediction of
      adult MetS, high cIMT, and T2DM in adulthood with the use of youth MetS was
      either equivalent or inferior to classification based on high body mass index or
      overweight and obesity. CONCLUSIONS: Youth with MetS are at increased risk of
      meaningful adult outcomes; however, the simplicity of screening for high BMI or
      overweight and obesity in the pediatric setting offers a simpler, equally
      accurate alternative to identifying youth at risk of developing adult MetS, high
      cIMT, or T2DM.

PMID- 20921440
TI  - Metabolic modulator perhexiline corrects energy deficiency and improves exercise
      capacity in symptomatic hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy patients exhibit myocardial energetic
      impairment, but a causative role for this energy deficiency in the
      pathophysiology of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy remains unproven. We hypothesized
      that the metabolic modulator perhexiline would ameliorate myocardial energy
      deficiency and thereby improve diastolic function and exercise capacity. METHODS
      AND RESULTS: Forty-six consecutive patients with symptomatic exercise limitation
      (peak Vo(2) <75% of predicted) caused by nonobstructive hypertrophic
      cardiomyopathy (mean age, 55+/-0.26 years) were randomized to perhexiline 100 mg
      (n=24) or placebo (n=22). Myocardial ratio of phosphocreatine to adenosine
      triphosphate, an established marker of cardiac energetic status, as measured by
      (31)P magnetic resonance spectroscopy, left ventricular diastolic filling (heart
      rate normalized time to peak filling) at rest and during exercise using
      radionuclide ventriculography, peak Vo(2), symptoms, quality of life, and serum
      metabolites were assessed at baseline and study end (4.6+/-1.8 months).
      Perhexiline improved myocardial ratios of phosphocreatine to adenosine
      triphosphate (from 1.27+/-0.02 to 1.73+/-0.02 versus 1.29+/-0.01 to 1.23+/-0.01;
      P=0.003) and normalized the abnormal prolongation of heart rate normalized time
      to peak filling between rest and exercise (0.11+/-0.008 to -0.01+/-0.005 versus
      0.15+/-0.007 to 0.11+/-0.008 second; P=0.03). These changes were accompanied by
      an improvement in primary end point (peak Vo(2)) (22.2+/-0.2 to 24.3+/-0.2 versus
      23.6+/-0.3 to 22.3+/-0.2 mL . kg(-1) . min(-1); P=0.003) and New York Heart
      Association class (P<0.001) (all P values ANCOVA, perhexiline versus placebo).
      CONCLUSIONS: In symptomatic hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, perhexiline, a modulator
      of substrate metabolism, ameliorates cardiac energetic impairment, corrects
      diastolic dysfunction, and increases exercise capacity. This study supports the
      hypothesis that energy deficiency contributes to the pathophysiology and provides
      a rationale for further consideration of metabolic therapies in hypertrophic
      cardiomyopathy.

PMID- 20921441
TI  - Conditional overexpression of neuronal nitric oxide synthase is cardioprotective
      in ischemia/reperfusion.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We previously demonstrated that conditional overexpression of
      neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) inhibited L-type Ca2+ channels and
      decreased myocardial contractility. However, nNOS has multiple targets within the
      cardiac myocyte. We now hypothesize that nNOS overexpression is cardioprotective
      after ischemia/reperfusion because of inhibition of mitochondrial function and a
      reduction in reactive oxygen species generation. METHODS AND RESULTS:
      Ischemia/reperfusion injury in wild-type mice resulted in nNOS accumulation in
      the mitochondria. Similarly, transgenic nNOS overexpression caused nNOS abundance
      in mitochondria. nNOS translocation into the mitochondria was dependent on heat
      shock protein 90. Ischemia/reperfusion experiments in isolated hearts showed a
      cardioprotective effect of nNOS overexpression. Infarct size in vivo was also
      significantly reduced. nNOS overexpression also caused a significant increase in
      mitochondrial nitrite levels accompanied by a decrease of cytochrome c oxidase
      activity. Accordingly, O(2) consumption in isolated heart muscle strips was
      decreased in nNOS-overexpressing nNOS(+)/alphaMHC-tTA(+) mice already under
      resting conditions. Additionally, we found that the reactive oxygen species
      concentration was significantly decreased in hearts of nNOS-overexpressing
      nNOS(+)/alphaMHC-tTA(+) mice compared with noninduced nNOS(+)/alphaMHC-tTA(+)
      animals. CONCLUSION: We demonstrated that conditional transgenic overexpression
      of nNOS resulted in myocardial protection after ischemia/reperfusion injury.
      Besides a reduction in reactive oxygen species generation, this might be caused
      by nitrite-mediated inhibition of mitochondrial function, which reduced
      myocardial oxygen consumption already under baseline conditions.

PMID- 20921442
TI  - Enhanced external counterpulsation improves peripheral artery flow-mediated
      dilation in patients with chronic angina: a randomized sham-controlled study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mechanisms responsible for anti-ischemic benefits of enhanced
      external counterpulsation (EECP) remain unknown. This was the first randomized
      sham-controlled study to investigate the extracardiac effects of EECP on
      peripheral artery flow-mediated dilation. METHODS AND RESULTS: Forty-two
      symptomatic patients with coronary artery disease were randomized (2:1 ratio) to
      thirty-five 1-hour sessions of either EECP (n=28) or sham EECP (n=14). Flow
      mediated dilation of the brachial and femoral arteries was performed with the use
      of ultrasound. Plasma levels of nitrate and nitrite, 6-keto-prostaglandin
      F(1alpha), endothelin-1, asymmetrical dimethylarginine, tumor necrosis factor
      alpha, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1, soluble vascular cell adhesion
      molecule, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, and 8-isoprostane were measured.
      EECP increased brachial (+51% versus +2%) and femoral (+30% versus +3%) artery
      flow-mediated dilation, the nitric oxide turnover/production markers nitrate and
      nitrite (+36% versus +2%), and 6-keto-prostaglandin F(1alpha) (+71% versus +1%),
      whereas it decreased endothelin-1 (-25% versus +5%) and the nitric oxide synthase
      inhibitor asymmetrical dimethylarginine (-28% versus +0.2%) in treatment versus
      sham groups, respectively (all P<0.05). EECP decreased the proinflammatory
      cytokines tumor necrosis factor-alpha (-16% versus +12%), monocyte
      chemoattractant protein-1 (-13% versus +0.2%), soluble vascular cell adhesion
      molecule-1 (-6% versus +1%), high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (-32% versus
      +5%), and the lipid peroxidation marker 8-isoprostane (-21% versus +1.3%) in
      treatment versus sham groups, respectively (all P<0.05). EECP reduced angina
      classification (-62% versus 0%; P<0.001) in treatment versus sham groups,
      respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings provide novel mechanistic evidence that
      EECP has a beneficial effect on peripheral artery flow-mediated dilation and
      endothelial-derived vasoactive agents in patients with symptomatic coronary
      artery disease.

PMID- 20921443
TI  - In vivo therapeutic gas delivery for neuroprotection with echogenic liposomes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Ischemia-related neurological injury is a primary cause of stroke
      disability. Studies have demonstrated that xenon (Xe) may have potential as an
      effective and nontoxic neuroprotectant. Xe delivery is, however, hampered by lack
      of suitable administration methods. We have developed a pressurization-freeze
      method to encapsulate Xe into echogenic liposomes (Xe-ELIP) and have modulated
      local gas release with transvascular ultrasound exposure. METHODS AND RESULTS:
      Fifteen microliters of Xe were encapsulated into each 1 mg of liposomes (70% Xe
      and 30% argon). Xe delivery from Xe-ELIP into cells and consequent
      neuroprotective effects were evaluated with oxygen/glucose-deprived and control
      neuronal cells in vitro. Xe-ELIP were administered into Sprague-Dawley rats
      intravenously or intra-arterially after right middle cerebral artery occlusion.
      One-megahertz low-amplitude (0.18 MPa) continuous wave ultrasound directed onto
      the internal carotid artery triggered Xe release from circulating Xe-ELIP.
      Effects of Xe delivery on ischemia-induced neurological injury and disability
      were evaluated. Xe-ELIP delivery to oxygen/glucose-deprived neuronal cells
      improved cell viability in vitro and resulted in a 48% infarct volume decrease in
      vivo. Intravenous Xe-ELIP administration in combination with the ultrasound
      directed onto the carotid artery enhanced local Xe release from circulating Xe
      ELIP and demonstrated 75% infarct volume reduction. This was comparable to the
      effect after intra-arterial administration. Behavioral tests on limb placement
      and grid and beam walking correlated with infarct reduction. CONCLUSIONS: This
      novel methodology may provide a noninvasive strategy for ultrasound-enhanced
      local therapeutic gas delivery for cerebral ischemia-related injury while
      minimizing systemic side effects.

PMID- 20921444
TI  - Outcomes after acute myocardial infarction in South Asian, Chinese, and white
      patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cardiac mortality rates vary substantially between countries and
      ethnic groups. It is unclear, however, whether South Asian, Chinese, and white
      populations have a variable prognosis after acute myocardial infarction (AMI). To
      clarify this association, we compared mortality, use of revascularization
      procedures, and risk of recurrent AMI and hospitalization for heart failure
      between these ethnic groups in a universal-access healthcare system. METHODS AND
      RESULTS: We used a population cohort study design using hospital administrative
      data linked to cardiac procedure registries from British Columbia and the Calgary
      Health Region Area in Alberta (1994 to 2003) to identify AMI cases. Patient
      ethnicity was categorized using validated surname algorithms. There were 2190
      South Asian, 946 Chinese, and 38479 white patients with AMI identified. There was
      no significant difference in use of revascularization procedures between ethnic
      groups at 30 d and 1 year. Short-term (30-day) mortality was higher among Chinese
      relative to white patients (odds ratio, 1.23; 95% confidence interval, 1.02 to
      1.48). There was no significant difference in 30-day mortality between South
      Asian and white patients. South Asian patients had a 35% lower relative risk of
      long-term mortality compared with white patients (hazard ratio, 0.65; 95%
      confidence interval, 0.57 to 0.72). There was no significant difference in long
      term mortality between Chinese and white patients. Among AMI survivors, Chinese
      patients had a lower risk of recurrent AMI, whereas there was no difference
      between South Asian and white patients. CONCLUSION: The ethnic groups studied
      have striking differences in outcomes after AMI, with South Asian patients having
      significantly lower long-term mortality after AMI.

PMID- 20921445
TI  - Arteriotomy closure devices for cardiovascular procedures: a scientific statement
      from the American Heart Association.

PMID- 20921446
TI  - Bypass graft stent fracture leading to saphenous vein graft pseudoaneurysm.

PMID- 20921447
TI  - Letter by Gurbel et al regarding article, "Cytochrome 2C19*17 allelic variant,
      platelet aggregation, bleeding events, and stent thrombosis in clopidogrel
      treated patients with coronary stent placement".

PMID- 20921449
TI  - Drug-induced arrhythmia.

PMID- 20921450
TI  - Aortic root pseudoaneurysm 1 year after transapical aortic valve implantation.

PMID- 20921451
TI  - Neuropathic pain features in patients with bone metastases referred for
      palliative radiotherapy.
AB  - PURPOSE: To estimate the prevalence of pain with neuropathic features among
      patients with metastatic bone pain and to assess differences between patients
      with and without neuropathic features by pain severity, functional interference,
      and quality-of-life (QOL) measures. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A prospective cross
      sectional survey of consecutive patients with symptomatic bone metastases was
      conducted between December 2006 and March 2008 at a comprehensive cancer center.
      Patients completed the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI), the Self-Reported Leeds
      Assessment of Neuropathic Symptoms and Signs (S-LANSS), and the European
      Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire
      C30 (EORTC QLQ-C30). Statistical associations between pain with neuropathic
      features and other measures were explored. RESULTS: Ninety-eight patients were
      enrolled. Seventeen percent of patients (95% CI, 10% to 24%) had positive S-LANSS
      scores suggesting pain with neuropathic features. Mean worst pain and mean
      interference scores were 7.2 (standard deviation [SD], 2.0) and 5.8 (SD, 2.5),
      respectively. EORTC QLQ-C30 global QOL, function, and symptom scores were 42 (SD,
      24), 52 (SD, 20), and 46 (SD, 17), respectively. Patients with neuropathic
      features had a higher BPI worst pain score than patients without neuropathic
      features (8.3 v 7.0, respectively; P = .016). Corticosteroid use, oral morphine
      equivalent dosing, and site of bone pain were not associated with neuropathic
      features. CONCLUSION: Some patients with bone metastases manifest bone pain with
      distinguishable neuropathic features, and these patients reported greater pain
      intensity. Additional work is required to validate the S-LANSS against clinical
      criteria for neuropathic pain in this context and to explore the unmet pain
      management needs in this population.

PMID- 20921452
TI  - Urinary obstructive problems exposed but hormonal health-related quality-of-life
      concerns eschewed in prostate cancer quality-of-life study.

PMID- 20921453
TI  - Optimizing collection of adverse event data in cancer clinical trials supporting
      supplemental indications.
AB  - PURPOSE: Although much is known about the safety of an anticancer agent at the
      time of initial marketing approval, sponsors customarily collect comprehensive
      safety data for studies that support supplemental indications. This adds
      significant cost and complexity to the study but may not provide useful new
      information. The main purpose of this analysis was to assess the amount of safety
      and concomitant medication data collected to determine a more optimal approach in
      the collection of these data when used in support of supplemental applications.
      METHODS: Following a prospectively developed statistical analysis plan, we
      reanalyzed safety data from eight previously completed prospective randomized
      trials. RESULTS: A total of 107,884 adverse events and 136,608 concomitant
      medication records were reviewed for the analysis. Of these, four grade 1 to 2
      and nine grade 3 and higher events were identified as drug effects that were not
      included in the previously established safety profiles and could potentially have
      been missed using subsampling. These events were frequently detected in
      subsamples of 400 patients or larger. Furthermore, none of the concomitant
      medication records contributed to labeling changes for the supplemental
      indications. CONCLUSION: Our study found that applying the optimized methodologic
      approach, described herein, has a high probability of detecting new drug safety
      signals. Focusing data collection on signals that cause physicians to modify or
      discontinue treatment ensures that safety issues of the highest concern for
      patients and regulators are captured and has significant potential to relieve
      strain on the clinical trials system.

PMID- 20921454
TI  - Is zidovudine and interferon-alfa the gold standard for adult T-cell leukemia
      lymphoma?

PMID- 20921455
TI  - Clinical trials data collection: when less is more.

PMID- 20921456
TI  - Phase I study of vandetanib during and after radiotherapy in children with
      diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the safety, maximum-tolerated dose, pharmacokinetics, and
      pharmacodynamics of vandetanib, an oral vascular endothelial growth factor
      receptor 2 (VEGFR2) and epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitor, administered
      once daily during and after radiotherapy in children with newly diagnosed diffuse
      intrinsic pontine glioma. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Radiotherapy was administered as
      1.8-Gy fractions (total cumulative dose of 54 Gy). Vandetanib was administered
      concurrently with radiotherapy for a maximum of 2 years. Dose-limiting toxicities
      (DLTs) were evaluated during the first 6 weeks of therapy. Pharmacokinetic
      studies were obtained for all patients. Plasma angiogenic factors and VEGFR2
      phosphorylation in mononuclear cells were analyzed before and during therapy.
      RESULTS: Twenty-one patients were administered 50 (n = 3), 65 (n = 3), 85 (n =
      3), 110 (n = 6), and 145 mg/m(2) (n = 6) of vandetanib. Only one patient
      developed DLT (grade 3 diarrhea) at dosage level 5. An expanded cohort of
      patients were treated at dosage levels 4 (n = 10) and 5 (n = 4); two patients
      developed grade 4 hypertension and posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome
      while also receiving high-dose dexamethasone. Despite significant interpatient
      variability, exposure to vandetanib increased with higher dosage levels. The
      bivariable analysis of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) before and
      during therapy showed that patients with higher levels of VEGF before therapy had
      a longer progression-free survival (PFS; P = .022), whereas patients with
      increases in VEGF during treatment had a shorter PFS (P = .0015). VEGFR2
      phosphorylation was inhibited on day 8 or 29 of therapy compared with baseline (P
      = .039). CONCLUSION: The recommended phase II dose of vandetanib in children is
      145 mg/m(2) per day. Close monitoring and management of hypertension is required,
      particularly for patients receiving corticosteroids.

PMID- 20921457
TI  - EGFR antibodies in colorectal cancer: where do they belong?

PMID- 20921458
TI  - Definition of disease-risk stratification groups in childhood medulloblastoma
      using combined clinical, pathologic, and molecular variables.
AB  - PURPOSE: Medulloblastomas are heterogeneous and include relatively good-prognosis
      tumors characterized by Wnt pathway activation, as well as those that cannot be
      successfully treated with conventional therapy. Developing a practical
      therapeutic stratification that allows accurate identification of disease risk
      offers the potential to individualize adjuvant therapy and to minimize long-term
      adverse effects in a subgroup of survivors. METHODS: Using formalin-fixed
      paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue for immunohistochemistry, fluorescent in situ
      hybridization, and direct sequencing to identify tumors with a Wnt pathway
      signature and those harboring copy number abnormalities (CNAs) of potential
      prognostic significance (MYC/MYCN amplification, CNAs of chromosome 6 and 17), we
      evaluated clinical, pathologic, and molecular outcome indicators and
      stratification models in a cohort (n = 207) of patients with medulloblastoma 3 to
      16 years of age from the International Society of Pediatric Oncology CNS9102
      (PNET3) trial. RESULTS: Metastatic disease and large-cell/anaplastic (LC/A)
      phenotype were the clinicopathologic variables associated with poor progression
      free survival (PFS). Nuclear immunoreactivity for beta-catenin, CTNNB1 mutation,
      and monosomy 6 all identified a group of good-prognosis patients. MYC
      amplification was associated with poor outcome, but other CNAs were not. Low-risk
      medulloblastomas were defined as beta-catenin nucleopositive tumors without
      metastasis at presentation, LC/A phenotype, or MYC amplification. High-risk
      medulloblastomas were defined as tumors with metastatic disease, LC/A phenotype,
      or MYC amplification. Low-risk, standard-risk, and high-risk categories of
      medulloblastoma had significantly (P < .0001) different outcomes. CONCLUSION:
      Integrating assays of molecular biomarkers undertaken on routinely collected
      diagnostic FFPE tissue into stratification schemes for medulloblastoma alongside
      clinical and pathologic outcome indicators can refine current definition of
      disease risk and guide adjuvant therapy.

PMID- 20921459
TI  - Immunologic escape after prolonged progression-free survival with epidermal
      growth factor receptor variant III peptide vaccination in patients with newly
      diagnosed glioblastoma.
AB  - PURPOSE: Immunologic targeting of tumor-specific gene mutations may allow precise
      eradication of neoplastic cells without toxicity. Epidermal growth factor
      receptor variant III (EGFRvIII) is a constitutively activated and immunogenic
      mutation not expressed in normal tissues but widely expressed in glioblastoma
      multiforme (GBM) and other neoplasms. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A phase II,
      multicenter trial was undertaken to assess the immunogenicity of an EGFRvIII
      targeted peptide vaccine and to estimate the progression-free survival (PFS) and
      overall survival (OS) of vaccinated patients with newly diagnosed EGFRvIII
      expressing GBM with minimal residual disease. Intradermal vaccinations were given
      until toxicity or tumor progression was observed. Sample size was calculated to
      differentiate between PFS rates of 20% and 40% 6 months after vaccination.
      RESULTS: There were no symptomatic autoimmune reactions. The 6-month PFS rate
      after vaccination was 67% (95% CI, 40% to 83%) and after diagnosis was 94% (95%
      CI, 67% to 99%; n = 18). The median OS was 26.0 months (95% CI, 21.0 to 47.7
      months). After adjustment for age and Karnofsky performance status, the OS of
      vaccinated patients was greater than that observed in a control group matched for
      eligibility criteria, prognostic factors, and temozolomide treatment (hazard
      ratio, 5.3; P = .0013; n = 17). The development of specific antibody (P = .025)
      or delayed-type hypersensitivity (P = .03) responses to EGFRvIII had a
      significant effect on OS. At recurrence, 82% (95% CI, 48% to 97%) of patients had
      lost EGFRvIII expression (P < .001). CONCLUSION: EGFRvIII-targeted vaccination in
      patients with GBM warrants investigation in a phase III, randomized trial.

PMID- 20921460
TI  - Cancer vaccines in glioma: how to balance the challenges of small trials,
      efficiency, and potential adverse events.

PMID- 20921461
TI  - Personalized medicine in non-small-cell lung cancer: is KRAS a useful marker in
      selecting patients for epidermal growth factor receptor-targeted therapy?
AB  - In patients with metastatic colorectal cancer, the predictive value of KRAS
      mutational status in the selection of patients for treatment with anti-epidermal
      growth factor (EGFR) monoclonal antibodies is established. In patients with non
      small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), the utility of determining KRAS mutational status
      to predict clinical benefit to anti-EGFR therapies remains unclear. This review
      will provide a brief description of Ras biology, provide an overview of aberrant
      Ras signaling in NSCLC, and summarize the clinical data for using KRAS mutational
      status as a negative predictive biomarker to anti-EGFR therapies. Retrospective
      investigations of KRAS mutational status as a negative predictor of clinical
      benefit from anti-EGFR therapies in NSCLC have been performed; however, small
      samples sizes as a result of low prevalence of KRAS mutations and the low rate of
      tumor sample collection have limited the strength of these analyses. Although an
      association between the presence of KRAS mutation and lack of response to EGFR
      tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) has been observed, it remains unclear whether
      there is an association between KRAS mutation and EGFR TKI progression-free and
      overall survival. Unlike colorectal cancer, KRAS mutations do not seem to
      identify patients who do not benefit from anti-EGFR monoclonal antibodies in
      NSCLC. The future value of testing for KRAS mutational status may be to exclude
      the possibility of an EGFR mutation or anaplastic lymphoma kinase translocation
      or to identify a molecular subset of patients with NSCLC in whom to pursue a drug
      development strategy that targets the KRAS pathway.

PMID- 20921462
TI  - Randomized phase III study of panitumumab with fluorouracil, leucovorin, and
      irinotecan (FOLFIRI) compared with FOLFIRI alone as second-line treatment in
      patients with metastatic colorectal cancer.
AB  - PURPOSE: Panitumumab is a fully human anti-epidermal growth factor receptor
      (EGFR) monoclonal antibody that improves progression-free survival (PFS) in
      chemotherapy-refractory metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). This trial evaluated
      the efficacy and safety of panitumumab plus fluorouracil, leucovorin, and
      irinotecan (FOLFIRI) compared with FOLFIRI alone after failure of initial
      treatment for mCRC by tumor KRAS status. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients with
      mCRC, one prior chemotherapy regimen for mCRC, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group
      performance status 0 to 2, and available tumor tissue for biomarker testing were
      randomly assigned 1:1 to panitumumab 6.0 mg/kg plus FOLFIRI versus FOLFIRI every
      2 weeks. The coprimary end points of PFS and overall survival (OS) were
      independently tested and prospectively analyzed by KRAS status. RESULTS: From
      June 2006 to March 2008, 1,186 patients were randomly assigned 1:1 and received
      treatment. KRAS status was available for 91% of patients: 597 (55%) with wild
      type (WT) KRAS tumors, and 486 (45%) with mutant (MT) KRAS tumors. In the WT KRAS
      subpopulation, when panitumumab was added to chemotherapy, a significant
      improvement in PFS was observed (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.73; 95% CI, 0.59 to 0.90;
      P = .004); median PFS was 5.9 months for panitumumab-FOLFIRI versus 3.9 months
      for FOLFIRI. A nonsignificant trend toward increased OS was observed; median OS
      was 14.5 months versus 12.5 months, respectively (HR = 0.85, 95% CI, 0.70 to
      1.04; P = .12); response rate was improved to 35% versus 10% with the addition of
      panitumumab. In patients with MT KRAS, there was no difference in efficacy.
      Adverse event rates were generally comparable across arms with the exception of
      known toxicities associated with anti-EGFR therapy. CONCLUSION: Panitumumab plus
      FOLFIRI significantly improved PFS and is well-tolerated as second-line treatment
      in patients with WT KRAS mCRC.

PMID- 20921463
TI  - Quality-of-life impact of primary treatments for localized prostate cancer in
      patients without hormonal treatment.
AB  - PURPOSE: Earlier studies evaluating the effect on quality of life (QoL) of
      localized prostate cancer interventions included patients receiving adjuvant
      hormone therapy, which could have affected their outcomes. Our objective was to
      compare the QoL impact of the three most common primary treatments on patients
      who were not receiving adjuvant hormonal treatment. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This
      was a prospective study of 435 patients treated with radical prostatectomy,
      external-beam radiotherapy, or brachytherapy. QoL was assessed before and after
      treatment with the Short Form-36 and the Expanded Prostate Cancer Index
      Composite. Differences between groups were tested by analysis of variance.
      Distribution of outcome at 3 years was examined by stratifying according to
      baseline status. Generalized estimating equation models were constructed to
      assess the effect of treatment over time. RESULTS: Compared with the
      brachytherapy group, the prostatectomy group showed greater deterioration on
      urinary incontinence and sexual scores but better urinary irritative-obstructive
      results (-18.22, -13.19, and +6.38, respectively, at 3 years; P < .001). In
      patients with urinary irritative-obstructive symptoms at baseline, improvement
      was observed in 64% of those treated with nerve-sparing radical prostatectomy.
      Higher bowel worsening (-2.87, P = .04) was observed in the external radiotherapy
      group, with 20% of patients reporting bowel symptoms. CONCLUSION: Radical
      prostatectomy caused urinary incontinence and sexual dysfunction but improved pre
      existing urinary irritative-obstructive symptoms. External radiotherapy and
      brachytherapy caused urinary irritative-obstructive adverse effects and some
      sexual dysfunction. External radiotherapy also caused bowel adverse effects.
      Relevant differences between treatment groups persisted for up to 3 years of
      follow-up, although the difference in sexual adverse effects between
      brachytherapy and prostatectomy tended to decline over long-term follow-up. These
      results provide valuable information for clinical decision making.

PMID- 20921464
TI  - Compliance with tamoxifen in women with breast cancer and a BRCA1 or BRCA2
      mutation.

PMID- 20921466
TI  - Selecting systemic cancer therapy one patient at a time: is there a role for
      molecular profiling of individual patients with advanced solid tumors?

PMID- 20921465
TI  - Randomized, phase III trial of panitumumab with infusional fluorouracil,
      leucovorin, and oxaliplatin (FOLFOX4) versus FOLFOX4 alone as first-line
      treatment in patients with previously untreated metastatic colorectal cancer: the
      PRIME study.
AB  - PURPOSE: Panitumumab, a fully human anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)
      monoclonal antibody that improves progression-free survival (PFS), is approved as
      monotherapy for patients with chemotherapy-refractory metastatic colorectal
      cancer (mCRC). The Panitumumab Randomized Trial in Combination With Chemotherapy
      for Metastatic Colorectal Cancer to Determine Efficacy (PRIME) was designed to
      evaluate the efficacy and safety of panitumumab plus infusional fluorouracil,
      leucovorin, and oxaliplatin (FOLFOX4) versus FOLFOX4 alone as initial treatment
      for mCRC. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In this multicenter, phase III trial, patients
      with no prior chemotherapy for mCRC, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group
      performance status of 0 to 2, and available tissue for biomarker testing were
      randomly assigned 1:1 to receive panitumumab-FOLFOX4 versus FOLFOX4. The primary
      end point was PFS; overall survival (OS) was a secondary end point. Results were
      prospectively analyzed on an intent-to-treat basis by tumor KRAS status. RESULTS:
      KRAS results were available for 93% of the 1,183 patients randomly assigned. In
      the wild-type (WT) KRAS stratum, panitumumab-FOLFOX4 significantly improved PFS
      compared with FOLFOX4 (median PFS, 9.6 v 8.0 months, respectively; hazard ratio
      [HR], 0.80; 95% CI, 0.66 to 0.97; P = .02). A nonsignificant increase in OS was
      also observed for panitumumab-FOLFOX4 versus FOLFOX4 (median OS, 23.9 v 19.7
      months, respectively; HR, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.67 to 1.02; P = .072). In the mutant
      KRAS stratum, PFS was significantly reduced in the panitumumab-FOLFOX4 arm versus
      the FOLFOX4 arm (HR, 1.29; 95% CI, 1.04 to 1.62; P = .02), and median OS was 15.5
      months versus 19.3 months, respectively (HR, 1.24; 95% CI, 0.98 to 1.57; P =
      .068). Adverse event rates were generally comparable across arms with the
      exception of toxicities known to be associated with anti-EGFR therapy.
      CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated that panitumumab-FOLFOX4 was well tolerated
      and significantly improved PFS in patients with WT KRAS tumors and underscores
      the importance of KRAS testing for patients with mCRC.

PMID- 20921468
TI  - Pilot study using molecular profiling of patients' tumors to find potential
      targets and select treatments for their refractory cancers.
AB  - PURPOSE: To compare the progression-free survival (PFS) using a treatment regimen
      selected by molecular profiling (MP) of a patient's tumor with the PFS for the
      most recent regimen on which the patient had experienced progression (ie, patient
      as his own control). PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients with refractory metastatic
      cancer had tissue samples submitted for MP in two formats including formalin
      fixed tissue for immunohistochemistry and fluorescent in situ hybridization
      assays and immediately frozen tissue for oligonucleotide microarray (MA) gene
      expression assays (all performed in a Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments
      [CLIA]-certified laboratory). The MP approach was deemed of clinical benefit for
      the individual patient who had a PFS ratio (PFS on MP-selected therapy/PFS on
      prior therapy) of >= 1.3. RESULTS: In 86 patients who had MP attempted, there was
      a molecular target detected in 84 (98%). Sixty-six of the 84 patients were
      treated according to MP results. Eighteen (27%) of 66 patients had a PFS ratio of
      >= 1.3 (95% CI, 17% to 38%; one-sided, one-sample P = .007). Therefore, the null
      hypothesis (that <= 15% of this patient population would have a PFS ratio of >=
      1.3) was rejected. CONCLUSION: It is possible to identify molecular targets in
      patients' tumors from nine different centers across the United States. In 27% of
      patients, the MP approach resulted in a longer PFS on an MP-suggested regimen
      than on the regimen on which the patient had just experienced progression. Issues
      to be considered in interpretation of this study include limited prior experience
      with patients as their own controls as a study end point and overall patient
      attrition.

PMID- 20921467
TI  - Phase II selection design trial of concurrent chemotherapy and cetuximab versus
      chemotherapy followed by cetuximab in advanced-stage non-small-cell lung cancer:
      Southwest Oncology Group study S0342.
AB  - PURPOSE: Randomized clinical trials failed to show a survival benefit for
      epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitors plus
      concurrent chemotherapy in patients with metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer
      (NSCLC), with preclinical data suggesting potential negative interactions. In
      contrast, pilot trials of the EGFR-targeted antibody, cetuximab, plus
      chemotherapy suggested enhanced antitumor activity. This randomized phase II
      trial was designed to select a cetuximab plus chemotherapy regimen for phase III
      evaluation. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Treatment-naive patients with advanced-stage
      NSCLC were randomly assigned to receive paclitaxel (225 mg/m(2)) and carboplatin
      (area under the curve, 6) every 3 weeks plus concurrent cetuximab (400 mg/m(2)
      loading dose followed by 250 mg/m(2) weekly) for four cycles followed by
      maintenance cetuximab or sequential paclitaxel-carboplatin for four cycles
      followed by cetuximab. RESULTS: Of 242 patients enrolled, 224 were eligible and
      assessable for response (106 and 118 patients in the concurrent and sequential
      arms, respectively). With a median follow-up time of 32 months, the median
      overall survival was 10.9 months (95% CI, 9.2 to 13.0 months) for patients
      receiving concurrent therapy and 10.7 months (95% CI, 8.5 to 12.8 months) for
      patients receiving sequential therapy (P = .57); 1-year survival rates were 45%
      (95% CI, 36% to 54%) and 44% (95% CI, 35% to 53%), respectively. Response rates
      and progression-free survival times were similar in both arms, as was grade 3
      rash, whereas sensory neuropathy was higher in the concurrent arm (15% v 5% in
      the sequential arm; P = .036). CONCLUSION: Although both regimens met the
      efficacy criterion for continued evaluation, the concurrent regimen of
      paclitaxel/carboplatin plus cetuximab was chosen.

PMID- 20921470
TI  - Stand and wait.

PMID- 20921471
TI  - Comparative effectiveness: coherent health care at last?

PMID- 20921469
TI  - Antitumor activity of hu14.18-IL2 in patients with relapsed/refractory
      neuroblastoma: a Children's Oncology Group (COG) phase II study.
AB  - PURPOSE: The hu14.18-IL2 fusion protein consists of interleukin-2 molecularly
      linked to a humanized monoclonal antibody that recognizes the GD2
      disialoganglioside expressed on neuroblastoma cells. This phase II study assessed
      the antitumor activity of hu14.18-IL2 in two strata of patients with recurrent or
      refractory neuroblastoma. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Hu14.18-IL2 was given
      intravenously (12 mg/m(2)/daily) for 3 days every 4 weeks for patients with
      disease measurable by standard radiographic criteria (stratum 1) and for patients
      with disease evaluable only by [(123)I]metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG)
      scintigraphy and/or bone marrow (BM) histology (stratum 2). Response was
      established by independent radiology review as well as BM histology and
      immunocytology, and durability was assessed by repeat evaluation after more than
      3 weeks. RESULTS: Thirty-nine patients were enrolled (36 evaluable). No responses
      were seen in stratum 1 (n = 13). Of 23 evaluable patients in stratum 2, five
      patients (21.7%) responded; all had a complete response (CR) of 9, 13, 20, 30,
      and 35+ months duration. Grade 3 and 4 nonhematologic toxicities included
      capillary leak, hypoxia, pain, rash, allergic reaction, elevated transaminases,
      and hyperbilirubinemia. Two patients required dopamine for hypotension, and one
      patient required ventilatory support for hypoxia. Most toxicities were reversible
      within a few days of completing a treatment course and were expected based on
      phase I results. CONCLUSION: Patients with disease evaluable only by MIBG and/or
      BM histology had a 21.7% CR rate to hu14.8-IL2, whereas patients with bulky
      disease did not respond. Hu14.18-IL2 warrants further testing in children with
      nonbulky high-risk neuroblastoma.

PMID- 20921472
TI  - The political fight over comparative effectiveness research.

PMID- 20921474
TI  - An evaluation of recent federal spending on comparative effectiveness research:
      priorities, gaps, and next steps.
AB  - The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 included new funding for
      developing better evidence about health interventions, with a down payment of
      $1.1 billion for comparative effectiveness research. Our analysis of funds
      allocated in the legislation found that nearly 90 percent of the $1.1 billion
      will eventually be spent on two main types of activity: developing and
      synthesizing comparative effectiveness evidence, and improving the capacity to
      conduct comparative effectiveness research. Based on our analysis, priorities for
      the new funding should include greater emphasis on experimental research;
      evaluation of reforms at the health system level; identification of effects on
      subgroups of patients; inclusion of understudied groups of patients; and
      dissemination of results.

PMID- 20921473
TI  - Creating a high-performance system for comparative effectiveness research.
AB  - Enactment of the federal stimulus and health reform legislation heralds the
      beginning of a national comparative effectiveness research program. This article
      suggests how the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) can, with
      collaborators, build a high-performing comparative effectiveness research system.
      New policies and investments should exploit the rapid-learning potential of
      electronic health records, computerized databases, data sharing, and research
      networks. A national database for effectiveness research studies should be
      established by presidential order. HHS will need to support all of these pieces
      and take the lead in creating a rapid-learning culture for the US health system.

PMID- 20921475
TI  - Health reform's tortuous route to the patient-centered outcomes research
      institute.
AB  - The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act established a new public-private
      entity for comparative effectiveness research: the Patient-Centered Outcomes
      Research Institute. The institute is charged with identifying priorities,
      establishing an agenda, and carrying out comparative effectiveness research. The
      political process through which the institute was formalized greatly influenced
      its scope and charge, including the organization's goals, its unique private
      public composition, and its funding. In this paper I highlight key moments and
      offer background and insights into what did and did not end up in the final
      legislation.

PMID- 20921476
TI  - Comparative effectiveness and personalized medicine: evolving together or apart?
AB  - Comparative effectiveness research and personalized medicine can at first appear
      to be at odds with each other. This research initially compares the overall
      benefits of one therapeutic approach with those of another for the majority of
      patients, while personalized medicine identifies the subsets of patients who
      could benefit based on personal characteristics such as genetics. But because
      comparative effectiveness research typically enrolls heterogeneous patient
      populations, it can uncover subpopulations that might benefit most from
      particular treatments. Thus, comparative effectiveness research can help discern
      the appropriate role of personalized medicine in improving health care outcomes
      and rationalizing costs.

PMID- 20921477
TI  - Comparative effectiveness research: from clinical information to economic
      incentives.
AB  - Comparative effectiveness research has been promoted as a way to control health
      care costs, but there has been less discussion of the mechanisms through which
      new evidence actually will influence physician practice, patient preference, and
      manufacturer investment. Public and private insurers use conditional coverage,
      consumer cost sharing, provider contracting, and drug payment policies to manage
      and direct the flow of resources into the health care system. This paper examines
      how each of these approaches may be adapted to incorporate new evidence from
      comparative effectiveness research.

PMID- 20921478
TI  - How Medicare could use comparative effectiveness research in deciding on new
      coverage and reimbursement.
AB  - Medicare must find new ways to achieve cost control without limiting access to
      beneficial services. We propose a payment model incorporating comparative
      effectiveness research to encourage Medicare to pay equally for services that
      provide comparable patient outcomes. The model would include higher payments for
      services demonstrated by adequate evidence to provide superior health benefits
      compared to alternative options. New services without such evidence would receive
      usual reimbursement rates for a limited time but then be reevaluated as evidence
      emerged. In spite of the substantial political hurdles to changing Medicare
      reimbursement, efforts should be made to use comparative effectiveness research
      to reward superior services, improve incentives for cost-effective innovation,
      and place Medicare on a more sustainable financial footing.

PMID- 20921479
TI  - The role of costs in comparative effectiveness research.
AB  - The major expansion of federal comparative effectiveness research launched in
      2009 held the potential to supply the information needed to help slow health
      spending growth while improving the outcomes of care. However, when Congress
      passed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act one year later, it limited
      the role of cost analysis in the work sponsored by the Patient-Centered Outcomes
      Research Institute. Despite this restriction, cost-effectiveness analysis meets
      important needs and is likely to play a larger role in the future. Under the
      terms of the Affordable Care Act, the institute can avoid commissioning cost
      effectiveness analyses and still provide information bearing on the use and costs
      of health care interventions. This information will enable others to investigate
      the comparative value of these interventions. We argue that doing so is necessary
      to decision makers who are attempting to raise the quality of care while reining
      in health spending.

PMID- 20921480
TI  - A flexible approach to evidentiary standards for comparative effectiveness
      research.
AB  - The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act established a new Patient-Centered
      Outcomes Research Institute to identify and address research priorities for
      comparative effectiveness research. Among its many responsibilities, the
      institute has been charged with setting priorities, developing methodological
      standards, and communicating research results to decision makers. In this paper
      we consider how the institute can support the different standards for acceptable
      evidence used by various government agencies, providers, patients, and other
      decision makers. We argue that the public interest will best be served if the
      institute develops a balanced and flexible approach to deciding which types of
      studies to fund.

PMID- 20921481
TI  - Why observational studies should be among the tools used in comparative
      effectiveness research.
AB  - Doctors, patients, and other decision makers need access to the best available
      clinical evidence, which can come from systematic reviews, experimental trials,
      and observational research. Despite methodological challenges, high-quality
      observational studies have an important role in comparative effectiveness
      research because they can address issues that are otherwise difficult or
      impossible to study. In addition, many clinical and policy decisions do not
      require the very high levels of certainty provided by large, rigorous randomized
      trials. This paper provides insights and a framework to guide good decision
      making that involves the full range of high-quality comparative effectiveness
      research techniques, including observational research.

PMID- 20921482
TI  - The critical role of observational evidence in comparative effectiveness
      research.
AB  - Although not the gold standard of clinical research, observational studies can
      play a central role as the nation's health care system embraces comparative
      effectiveness research. Investigators generally prefer randomized trials to
      observational studies because the former are less subject to bias. Randomized
      studies, however, often don't represent real-world patient populations, while
      observational studies can offer quicker results and the opportunity to
      investigate large numbers of interventions and outcomes among diverse populations
      -sometimes at lower costs. But some decisions based on observational studies have
      turned out to be wrong. We recommend that researchers adopt a "body of evidence"
      approach that includes both randomized and observational evidence.

PMID- 20921483
TI  - How best to engage patients, doctors, and other stakeholders in designing
      comparative effectiveness studies.
AB  - Having patients, doctors, health plan managers, hospital executives, and other
      stakeholders participate in the design of comparative effectiveness studies can
      ensure that this vital research focuses on the evidence gaps most relevant to
      health care decision makers. Through a qualitative assessment of case studies, we
      identify five key principles for the effective engagement of a broad coalition of
      participants in research intended to improve health care and control costs. Those
      principles are to ensure balance among the participating stakeholders; get
      participants to "buy in" to the process and understand their roles; provide
      neutral and expert facilitators for research discussions; establish connections
      among the participants; and keep the participants engaged throughout the research
      process.

PMID- 20921484
TI  - Designing comparative effectiveness research on prescription drugs: lessons from
      the clinical trial literature.
AB  - As comparative effectiveness research becomes a more prominent feature of
      clinical medicine, investigators and policy makers would do well to seek lessons
      from prior examples of this type of research. Our analysis of previous examples
      reveals lessons in three key areas: choice of comparison treatments, time frame
      of study, and widespread applicability of study results. Based on our
      observations, we offer suggestions for increasing the clinical applicability of
      comparative effectiveness research, such as employing surrogate endpoints that
      meet a specific threshold of validity. Future trials that address these areas of
      concern hold the greatest promise for improving patients' outcomes.

PMID- 20921485
TI  - Special challenges in comparative effectiveness research on children's and
      adolescents' health.
AB  - The United States is undertaking a major expansion of comparative effectiveness
      research, with the potential to achieve systemwide improvements in health care
      quality, outcomes, and resource allocation. However, to achieve these
      improvements in children's health and health care, comparative effectiveness
      research needs to be targeted, designed, conducted, and reported in ways that are
      responsive to the unique circumstances of children and adolescents. These include
      clinically important differences in the type and course of disease in children;
      demographic differences between the overall child and adult population in the
      United States, such as racial and ethnic makeup; and methodological issues
      involving study design. Our overarching point is that the base of evidence in
      pediatrics must not fall even further behind that for the adult population in an
      era of rapid advancement and funding of comparative effectiveness research.

PMID- 20921486
TI  - Comparative effectiveness research in mental health: an advocate's perspective.
AB  - Comparative effectiveness research holds great promise for improving the care of
      people with mental health conditions and disorders related to substance abuse.
      But inappropriate application of such research can threaten the quality of that
      care. We examine the controversy surrounding a large real-world trial of
      schizophrenia treatments and conclude that the initial presentation of results
      led to overly simplistic policy suggestions that had the potential to harm
      patients. Patient advocacy groups helped illuminate these consequences and helped
      stimulate further discussion and analysis. Researchers must engage stakeholders,
      especially patients, in all aspects of comparative effectiveness research and
      translate the findings into sound mental health policy and practice.

PMID- 20921487
TI  - Adding the patient perspective to comparative effectiveness research.
AB  - Comparative effectiveness research generates evidence that helps consumers,
      clinicians, purchasers, and policy makers make better decisions about health
      care. Capturing the patient's perspective is central to this research because it
      provides a complete picture of treatment impact. This can be done with
      standardized questionnaires that ask patients to report on their functioning,
      well-being, symptoms, and satisfaction with care. These data, however, are not
      collected routinely in either clinical research or practice. Strategies and
      incentives to link patient-reported outcomes to data from conventional sources-
      including clinical research, electronic health records, and administrative data-
      will accelerate the development of useful evidence.

PMID- 20921488
TI  - The public wants information, not board mandates, from comparative effectiveness
      research.
AB  - We conducted two national surveys of public opinion about comparative
      effectiveness research and the integration of findings from the research into
      clinical practice. The first survey found broad support for using research
      results to provide information, but less support for using them to allocate
      government resources or mandate treatment decisions. In addition, the public is
      willing to consider the use of financial incentives to encourage patients to
      choose cheaper treatments, if research demonstrates that they work as well as
      more expensive ones. The second survey found that support for comparative
      effectiveness research dropped in response to general debates about its
      consequences but that arguments against the research could be effectively
      countered by specific, targeted rebuttals.

PMID- 20921489
TI  - A national survey reveals public skepticism about research-based treatment
      guidelines.
AB  - Using research to develop treatment guidelines is one way to lower medical costs
      and improve care. However, findings from a national survey show that the public
      is skeptical about this approach. Specifically, the public finds arguments
      against establishing research-based treatment guidelines more convincing than
      arguments in favor of it. Our findings suggest that for evidence-based treatment
      guidelines to win public acceptance, the public needs to be reassured that
      guidelines would not lead to the limiting of access to beneficial care.

PMID- 20921490
TI  - A patient advocate's perspective on patient-centered comparative effectiveness
      research.
AB  - The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act created a new phrase and concept:
      patient-centered outcomes research. The author of this commentary, who served as
      a member of the US House of Representatives from California, is also a patient
      with epilepsy and a patient advocate. He consulted with lawmakers in the passage
      of the health reform law. Here he draws on his varied experiences to provide
      perspective on how the law will provide the necessary policy framework for
      patient-centered comparative effectiveness research. Elements of that framework
      include the meaningful engagement of multiple stakeholders, most especially
      patients; acknowledgment of individual differences among patients and the
      importance of advancing personalized medicine; transparency and opportunities to
      participate; a broad, clinically focused research agenda; and the need to
      communicate results appropriately.

PMID- 20921491
TI  - 'Bench to behavior': translating comparative effectiveness research into improved
      clinical practice.
AB  - The new national emphasis on comparative effectiveness research is likely to
      generate an unprecedented volume of new findings. It is essential to anticipate
      the obstacles that front-line health care professionals will face in translating
      these results into better clinical decision making. We review the current
      barriers to the dissemination of evidence-based clinical recommendations,
      including problems with continuing medical education, provider incentives, and
      quality assurance. We then propose solutions, including more effective
      educational outreach programs, requirements for practitioners to master important
      findings, and alignment of incentives to encourage evidence-based practice. Such
      strategies can lead to policies that could encourage the uptake of new
      comparative effectiveness data and encourage their translation into better
      clinical practice.

PMID- 20921492
TI  - Moving comparative effectiveness research into practice: implementation science
      and the role of academic medicine.
AB  - The success of the federal investment in comparative effectiveness research will
      hinge on using the power of science to guide reforms in health care delivery and
      improve patient-centered outcomes. Translating the results of comparative
      effectiveness research into practice calls for the rigors of implementation
      science to ensure the efficient and systematic uptake, dissemination, and
      endurance of these innovations. Academic medicine can help answer the call by
      thoroughly integrating its research and training missions with clinical care that
      is focused on patient-centered outcomes; building multidisciplinary teams that
      include a wide range of experts such as clinicians, clinical and implementation
      scientists, systems engineers, behavioral economists, and social scientists; and
      training future care providers, scientists, and educators to carry innovations
      forward.

PMID- 20921493
TI  - The Veterans Affairs experience: comparative effectiveness research in a large
      health system.
AB  - Comparative effectiveness research is a tool to use in achieving patient
      centered, high-value health care. However, applying the results to individual
      patients and health systems raises unique issues. Here, we review lessons learned
      by the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) in developing and implementing the
      research in a large integrated health system. Decision makers should examine
      whether individual studies apply to diverse populations, align tools and
      incentives to adopt evidence-based practices, and consider both the patient and
      population perspectives. A key challenge remains how to incorporate comparative
      evidence and patient values into busy clinical practices.

PMID- 20921495
TI  - The case for a national patient library.
AB  - A national patient library that stored and communicated findings from research on
      the comparative effectiveness of health services could be a valuable resource for
      patients and clinicians. It could assist in improving the quality of health care
      and help reduce inappropriate costs. Public confidence in a national patient
      library would require that its activities be insulated from government as well as
      from professional, provider, payer, and commercial groups and advocacy
      organizations. This article describes why such a library is possible and
      desirable, what it would do for whom, how it could be governed and financed, and
      how it could overcome initial challenges.

PMID- 20921496
TI  - Why I don't get mammograms.

PMID- 20921497
TI  - Helping nursing homes prepare for disasters.
AB  - Responding to the deaths and suffering of older adults in long-term care
      facilities following Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma, the John A. Hartford
      Foundation funded an initiative called Hurricane and Disaster Preparedness for
      Long-Term Care Facilities. Long-term care providers are now acknowledged as
      health care providers by most federal and state emergency response centers. This
      paper describes the planning, research, and dissemination efforts of the Hartford
      grantees. It also provides insights into successful disaster grant making, noting
      foundations' unique flexibility, strategic and long-term view, and ability to be
      a neutral convener of stakeholders that can help grantees work toward achieving
      major policy change.

PMID- 20921499
TI  - Providers of anesthesia: does quality vary?

PMID- 20921500
TI  - Anesthesia training: another view.

PMID- 20921502
TI  - Communication goes two ways.

PMID- 20921501
TI  - The emotional work of dealing with patients.

PMID- 20921504
TI  - Continued education needed as reforms are implemented.

PMID- 20921506
TI  - Teaching NeuroImages: acquired Chiari malformation with syringohydromyelia caused
      by posterior fossa tumor.

PMID- 20921507
TI  - Teaching NeuroImages: vestibular schwannomas in neurofibromatosis type 2.

PMID- 20921508
TI  - MxA: a biomarker for predicting multiple sclerosis disease activity.

PMID- 20921509
TI  - Spontaneous MxA mRNA level predicts relapses in patients with recently diagnosed
      MS.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine if myxovirus resistance protein A (MxA) mRNA is related
      to clinical disease activity in multiple sclerosis (MS). METHODS: Baseline MxA
      mRNA levels were measured in a prospective cohort of 116 untreated patients with
      early MS and were related to clinical relapses and MRI at baseline and at follow
      up. RESULTS: Low levels of MxA mRNA were associated with the occurrence of
      relapses (p = 0.002) and contrast-enhancing lesions (CELs) on baseline MRI (p =
      0.045). In addition, high baseline MxA mRNA levels were related to a longer time
      to a first new relapse (hazard ratio [HR] 0.59; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.35
      1.00; p = 0.044). Adding the absence of CELs to high MxA mRNA, the predictive
      value increased (HR 0.35; 95% CI 0.17-0.74; p = 0.006), clearly showing a
      cumulative value for combining both factors. CONCLUSIONS: MxA mRNA is related to
      clinical exacerbations, the number of CELs on MRI, and is indicative for the time
      to a subsequent relapse. If confirmed, MxA mRNA has potential as a biomarker for
      clinical disease activity in MS.

PMID- 20921510
TI  - Cognitive compensation failure in multiple sclerosis.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Compensatory processes involving the recruitment of additional
      cerebral areas can limit cognitive impairment caused by brain damage as revealed
      by fMRI. Multiple sclerosis (MS) is characterized by frequent cognitive
      deficiencies and diffuse brain damage. Understanding the missing or disturbed
      processes resulting in cognitive compensation failure is a major challenge in MS.
      METHODS: Fifteen patients with relapsing-remitting (RR) MS and 20 healthy
      controls underwent an fMRI paradigm based on Go/No-go task with increasing
      complexity and neuropsychological and morphologic MRI examinations. RESULTS: To
      perform all the Go/No-go conditions, patients with RRMS exhibited supplementary
      cerebral recruitment compared to controls. For the most complex condition,
      patients presented both collapse of additional cerebral recruitment and
      significant lower cognitive performance compared to controls. In patients, both
      response times and diffuse tissue damage were correlated with medial frontal
      activations. Functional connectivity analysis demonstrated strong correlation
      between dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and medial frontal region activations.
      CONCLUSIONS: High cognitive demand causes beneficial cerebral recruitment
      failure, leading to cognitive impairment in patients with RRMS. Functional
      compensatory mechanisms preserving good cognitive performances operate by a new
      cerebral strategy involving medial prefrontal regions recruitment, instead of
      cerebellar regions seen in controls. This new recruitment is diffuse tissue
      damage-dependent. Missing cerebellar involvement argues for an inability to
      generate proficient cognitive automation processes in patients, directly leading
      to recruitment of high-level decision-making areas. Recurrent mobilization of
      cortical regions could explain the limiting effect of the cognitive load on the
      cognitive compensatory phenomena in patients with MS.

PMID- 20921511
TI  - Assessment of potential measures in models of progression in Alzheimer disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In estimating the potential benefits of treatment, it is often
      necessary to extrapolate beyond clinical trial results using economic modeling.
      Previous attempts in Alzheimer disease (AD) were primarily based on the Mini
      Mental State Examination (MMSE) due to its widespread use. These models were
      criticized as not accurately reflecting the total impact of the disease,
      providing untrustworthy estimates of treatment benefit. We compared 3
      alternatives to the MMSE with respect to bridging between clinical outcomes
      needed for regulatory approval and economic and quality of life (QOL) outcomes
      important to reimbursement agencies. METHODS: The MMSE, Disability Assessment in
      Dementia (DAD) scale, Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) scale, and Dependence Scale
      (DS) were compared in their ability to explain variation in cognitive,
      functional, and behavioral measures as well as economic and QOL outcomes using
      univariate (Pearson correlations) and multivariate (linear regression) analyses
      of data from research sites in the United States and Europe. RESULTS: Subjects
      with mild to moderate AD (n = 196; mean 75.9 years; 56% female) were evaluated.
      The DS, DAD, and CDR were moderately correlated with the MMSE (Pearson
      correlations, range 0.54-0.58) but performed better (higher adjusted R(2)) than
      the MMSE in explaining variations in subject behavior, QOL, and health status.
      The DS and DAD performed better in explaining variation in medical costs,
      caregiver QOL, and caregiver time. CONCLUSIONS: Measures of function (DAD) or
      dependence on others (DS), or global measures (CDR), appear to be better
      candidates than the MMSE for modeling AD progression.

PMID- 20921512
TI  - What predicts mortality in Parkinson disease?: a prospective population-based
      long-term study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To identify independent risk factors of mortality in a community-based
      Parkinson disease (PD) cohort during prospective long-term follow-up. METHODS: A
      community-based prevalent sample of 230 patients with PD from southwestern Norway
      was followed prospectively with repetitive assessments of motor and nonmotor
      symptoms from 1993 to 2005. Information on vital status until October 20, 2009,
      was obtained from the National Population Register in Norway. Cox proportional
      hazards models were applied to identify independent predictors of mortality
      during follow-up. Chronological age, Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale
      (UPDRS) motor score, levodopa equivalent dose, probable REM sleep behavior
      disorder, psychotic symptoms, dementia, and use of antipsychotics were included
      as time-dependent variables, and age at onset (AAO) and sex as time-independent
      variables. RESULTS: Of 230 patients, 211 (92%) died during the study period.
      Median survival time from motor onset was 15.8 years (range 2.2-36.6).
      Independent predictors of mortality during follow-up were AAO (hazard ratio [HR]
      1.40 for 10-years increase, p = 0.029), chronological age (HR 1.51 for 10-years
      increase, p = 0.043), male sex (HR 1.63, p = 0.001), UPDRS motor score (HR 1.18
      for 10-point increase, p < 0.001), psychotic symptoms (HR 1.45, p = 0.039), and
      dementia (HR 1.89, p = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: This population-based long-term study
      demonstrates that in addition to AAO, chronological age, motor severity, and
      dementia, psychotic symptoms independently predict increased mortality in PD. In
      contrast, no significant impact of antipsychotic or antiparkinsonian drugs on
      survival was observed in our PD cohort. Early prevention of motor progression and
      development of psychosis and dementia may be the most promising strategies to
      increase life expectancy in PD.

PMID- 20921513
TI  - The Causative Classification of Stroke system: an international reliability and
      optimization study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Valid and reliable ischemic stroke subtype determination is crucial
      for well-powered multicenter studies. The Causative Classification of Stroke
      System (CCS, available at http://ccs.mgh.harvard.edu) is a computerized, evidence
      based algorithm that provides both causative and phenotypic stroke subtypes in a
      rule-based manner. We determined whether CCS demonstrates high interrater
      reliability in order to be useful for international multicenter studies. METHODS:
      Twenty members of the International Stroke Genetics Consortium from 13 centers in
      8 countries, who were not involved in the design and development of the CCS,
      independently assessed the same 50 consecutive patients with acute ischemic
      stroke through reviews of abstracted case summaries. Agreement among ratings was
      measured by kappa statistic. RESULTS: The kappa value for causative
      classification was 0.80 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.78-0.81) for the 5
      subtype, 0.79 (95% CI 0.77-0.80) for the 8-subtype, and 0.70 (95% CI 0.69-0.71)
      for the 16-subtype CCS. Correction of a software-related factor that generated
      ambiguity improved agreement: kappa = 0.81 (95% CI 0.79-0.82) for the 5-subtype,
      0.79 (95% CI 0.77-0.80) for the 8-subtype, and 0.79 (95% CI 0.78-0.80) for the 16
      subtype CCS. The kappa value for phenotypic classification was 0.79 (95% CI 0.77
      0.82) for supra-aortic large artery atherosclerosis, 0.95 (95% CI 0.93-0.98) for
      cardioembolism, 0.88 (95% CI 0.85-0.91) for small artery occlusion, and 0.79
      (0.76-0.82) for other uncommon causes. CONCLUSIONS: CCS allows classification of
      stroke subtypes by multiple investigators with high reliability, supporting its
      potential for improving stroke classification in multicenter studies and ensuring
      accurate means of communication among different researchers, institutions, and
      eras.

PMID- 20921514
TI  - Decreased serum BDNF levels in patients with epileptic and psychogenic
      nonepileptic seizures.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Neurotrophins promote neurogenesis and help regulate synaptic
      reorganization. Their dysregulation has been implicated in a number of neurologic
      and psychiatric disorders. Previous studies have shown decreased levels of brain
      derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the serum of patients with psychiatric
      disorders such as major depressive disorder (MDD) and conversion disorder (CD).
      In human patients with temporal lobe epilepsy, there is an increase in both BDNF
      mRNA and protein levels in surgically resected hippocampi compared to controls.
      One study of children with epilepsy has found normal to increased serum BDNF
      levels compared to controls. Plasma [corrected] BDNF levels have not been
      investigated in adult patients with epileptic seizures (ES). We hypothesized that
      BDNF would differentiate between ES and psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES).
      METHODS: We assessed plasma [corrected] BDNF immunoreactivity in 15 patients with
      ES, 12 patients with PNES, and 17 healthy volunteers. Plasma [corrected] BDNF
      levels were measured using an enzyme-linked immunoassay. RESULTS: Healthy
      controls showed higher BDNF levels (4,289 +/- 1,810 pg/mL) compared to patients
      with PNES (1,033 +/- 435 pg/mL) (p < 0.001). However, unexpectedly, healthy
      controls also showed higher levels of BDNF compared to patients with ES without
      comorbid MDD (977 +/- 565 pg/mL) (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Unlike children,
      adults with epilepsy appear to have decreased levels of plasma [corrected] BDNF.
      Reduced plasma [corrected] BDNF levels can be used to differentiate adult
      patients with ES or PNES from healthy controls. Further human studies are needed
      to better understand the pathophysiology explaining the decreased plasma
      [corrected] BDNF levels found in epilepsy and in PNES.

PMID- 20921515
TI  - A meta-regression of the long-term effects of deep brain stimulation on balance
      and gait in PD.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Deep brain stimulation (DBS) alleviates the cardinal Parkinson disease
      (PD) symptoms of tremor, rigidity, and bradykinesia. However, its effects on
      postural instability and gait disability (PIGD) are uncertain. Contradictory
      findings may be due to differences the in stimulation site and the length of time
      since DBS surgery. This prompted us to conduct the first meta-regression of long
      term studies of bilateral DBS in the subthalamic nucleus (STN) and globus
      pallidus interna (GPi). RESULTS: Eleven articles reported a breakdown of the
      Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale score before and beyond 3 years
      postsurgery (mean 4.5 years). Random effects meta-regression revealed that DBS
      initially improved PIGD compared to the OFF medicated state before surgery, but
      performance declined over time and extrapolation showed subjects would reach
      presurgery levels 9 years postsurgery. ON medication, DBS improved PIGD over and
      above the effect of medication before surgery. Nevertheless, for the STN group,
      PIGD progressively declined and was worse than presurgery function within 2
      years. In contrast, GPi patients showed no significant long-term decline in PIGD
      in the medicated state. Improvements in cardinal signs with DBS at both sites
      were maintained across 5 years in the OFF and ON medication states. CONCLUSIONS:
      DBS alone does not offer the same improvement to PIGD as it does to the cardinal
      symptoms, suggesting axial and distal control are differentially affected by DBS.
      GPi DBS in combination with levodopa seemed to preserve PIGD better than did STN
      DBS, although more studies of GPi DBS and randomized controls are needed.

PMID- 20921516
TI  - Relapsing rhabdomyolysis due to peroxisomal alpha-methylacyl-coa racemase
      deficiency.

PMID- 20921517
TI  - An unusual cause of isolated vomiting.

PMID- 20921518
TI  - Clinical and prognostic subforms of new daily-persistent headache.

PMID- 20921519
TI  - Distinct roles of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-1- and receptor-2
      mediated signaling in T cell priming and Th17 polarization to lipopolysaccharide
      containing allergens in the lung.
AB  - Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a key mediator in the development of
      airway immune dysfunction to inhaled allergens. However, the exact role of its
      receptors-mediated signaling is controversial. In this study, we evaluated the
      role of VEGF receptor (VEGFR)-1- and VEGFR-2-mediated signaling in T cell priming
      and polarization in the context of inhalation of LPS-containing allergens. A
      murine asthma model of mixed Th1 and Th17 cell responses was generated using
      intranasal sensitization with LPS-containing allergens. Pharmacologic
      intervention was performed during sensitization. In vivo production of VEGF and
      Th1- and Th17-polarizing cytokines (IL-12p70 and IL-6, respectively) were
      upregulated by airway exposure to LPS. Pharmacological intervention with a VEGFR
      2-neutralizing Ab (anti-Flk1 mAb) abolished the production of IL-6 (but not IL
      12p70) and the subsequent development of allergen-specific Th17 cell response. On
      the other hand, blocking VEGFR-1 signaling with a VEGFR-1 antagonist (anti-Flt1
      hexapeptide) did not affect the production of IL-12p70 and IL-6. However,
      blocking VEGFR-1 signaling resulted in T cell tolerance rather than priming,
      mainly by inhibiting the maturation of lung dendritic cells, and their migration
      into lung-draining lymph nodes. These results suggest that T cell priming to LPS
      containing allergens depends on VEGFR-1-mediated signaling, and the subsequent
      Th17 polarization depends on VEGFR-2 signaling.

PMID- 20921520
TI  - Error-prone DNA repair activity during somatic hypermutation in shark B
      lymphocytes.
AB  - Sharks are representatives of the earliest vertebrates that possess an immune
      system utilizing V(D)J recombination to generate Ag receptors. Their Ab
      repertoire diversity is based in part on a somatic hypermutation process that
      introduces adjacent nucleotide substitutions of 2-5 bp. We have isolated mutant
      nonfunctional Ig rearrangements and intronic flank sequences to characterize the
      nonselected, intrinsic properties of this phenomenon; changes unique to shark
      were observed. Duplications and deletions were associated with N additions,
      suggesting participation of a DNA polymerase with some degree of template
      independence during the repair of DNA breaks initiated by activation-induced
      cytidine deaminase. Other mutations were consistent with some in vitro activities
      of mammalian translesion DNA polymerase eta: tandem base substitutions, strand
      slippage, and small insertions/deletions. The nature of substitution patterns
      shows that DNA lesions at shark Ig genes recruit DNA repair factors with a
      species-specific repertoire of activities. We speculate that the tandem mutations
      are introduced by direct sequential misinsertions and that, in shark B cells, the
      mispairs tend to be extended rather than proofread. Despite extensive changes
      undergone by some mutants, the physical range of mutational activity remained
      restricted to VDJ and within the first 2-kb portion of the 6.8-kb J-C intron,
      perhaps a self-regulating aspect of activation-induced cytidine deaminase action
      that is conserved in evolution.

PMID- 20921521
TI  - Gender-associated differences of perforin polymorphisms in the susceptibility to
      multiple sclerosis.
AB  - The granule-dependent exocytosis pathway is an important mechanism to induce
      apoptosis by CD8(+) T cells and NK cells and involves lytic molecules such as
      perforin. In the current study, we investigated the perforin 1 gene (PRF1) as a
      candidate for multiple sclerosis (MS) susceptibility in the Spanish population.
      We genotyped three PRF1 single nucleotide polymorphisms (rs885822, rs10999426,
      and rs3758562) in 420 patients with MS and 512 controls. Associations of PRF1
      polymorphisms with the disease were restricted to male patients with MS, and the
      finding was consistently observed at the allele, genotype, and haplotype levels.
      Gender-associated differences were validated in an additional replication cohort
      comprised of 292 MS cases and 300 controls. In addition, we identified minor risk
      haplotypes strongly associated with male patients having primary progressive MS
      (PPMS). Further characterization of male patients with PPMS carrying the risk
      haplotypes by means of gene expression microarrays revealed overrepresentation of
      the cell killing gene ontology category among downregulated genes in these
      patients compared with male patients with PPMS carrying protective haplotypes.
      Moreover, PRF1 mRNA expression levels were significantly lower in patients with
      risk haplotypes, and changes in perforin protein expression by CD8(+) T cells
      mirrored those observed in gene expression. These findings suggest a gender
      dimorphism in the PRF1 association with MS and point to the presence of a
      generalized defect in the expression of genes that code for proteins involved in
      cell killing in a subgroup of male patients with PPMS.

PMID- 20921522
TI  - Genetic susceptibility to the delayed sequelae of neonatal respiratory syncytial
      virus infection is MHC dependent.
AB  - Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a major cause of respiratory morbidity,
      resulting in hospitalization for bronchiolitis in some infected infants that is
      associated with wheeze in later life. Genetic factors are known to affect the
      severity of the sequelae after RSV infection, but the complexity of the temporal
      and genetic effects makes it difficult to analyze this response in studies in
      man. Therefore, we developed a murine genetic model to analyze the sequelae
      occurring after RSV infection in early life. Haplotype-based genetic analysis of
      interstrain differences in severity identified the MHC as an important genetic
      determinant. This was confirmed by analysis of responses in congenic mice with
      different MHC haplotypes. We also found that susceptible strains had high CD8
      levels during secondary infection. Analysis of first filial generation, second
      filial generation, and back-cross progeny produced by intercrossing resistant (H
      2(k), C3H/HeN) and sensitive (H-2(b), BALB/c) strains indicated that
      susceptibility to sequelae after RSV infection was dominantly inherited but also
      segregated in a non-MHC-dependent manner. Thus, MHC haplotype and its effect on
      CD8 cell response is an important determinant of the outcome of neonatal RSV
      infection.

PMID- 20921523
TI  - Naive human T cells are activated and proliferate in response to the heme
      oxygenase-1 inhibitor tin mesoporphyrin.
AB  - Heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) and its catabolic by-products have potent anti
      inflammatory activity in many models of disease. It is not known, however, if HO
      1 also plays a role in the homeostatic control of T cell activation and
      proliferation. We demonstrate here that the HO-1 inhibitor tin mesoporphyrin
      (SnMP) induces activation, proliferation, and maturation of naive CD4(+) and
      CD8(+) T cells via interactions with CD14(+) monocytes in vitro. This response is
      dependent upon interactions of T cells with MHC class I and II on the surface of
      CD14(+) monocytes. Furthermore, CD4(+)CD25(+)FoxP3(+) regulatory T cells were
      able to suppress this proliferation, even though their suppressive activity was
      itself impaired by SnMP. Given the magnitude of the Ag-independent T cell
      response induced by SnMP, we speculate that HO-1 plays an important role in
      dampening nonspecific T cell activation. Based on these findings, we propose a
      potential role for HO-1 in the control of naive T cell homeostatic proliferation.

PMID- 20921524
TI  - Neutrophil elastase mediates pathogenic effects of anthrax lethal toxin in the
      murine intestinal tract.
AB  - Neutrophils isolated from BALB/c or C57BL/6 mice and treated in vitro with
      anthrax lethal toxin release bioactive neutrophil elastase, a proinflammatory
      mediator of tissue destruction. Similarly, neutrophils isolated from mice treated
      with anthrax lethal toxin in vivo and cultured ex vivo release greater amounts of
      elastase than neutrophils from vehicle-treated controls. Direct measurements from
      murine intestinal tissue samples demonstrate an anthrax lethal toxin-dependent
      increase in neutrophil elastase activity in vivo as well. These findings
      correlate with marked lethal toxin-induced intestinal ulceration and bleeding in
      neutrophil elastase(+/+) animals, but not in neutrophil elastase(-/-) animals.
      Moreover, neutrophil elastase(-/-) mice have a significant survival advantage
      over neutrophil elastase(+/+) animals following exposure to anthrax lethal toxin,
      thereby establishing a key role for neutrophil elastase in mediating the
      deleterious effects of anthrax lethal toxin.

PMID- 20921525
TI  - Differential localization of effector and memory CD8 T cell subsets in lymphoid
      organs during acute viral infection.
AB  - It is unclear where within tissues subsets of effector and memory CD8 T cells
      persist during viral infection and whether their localization affects function
      and long-term survival. Following lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus infection,
      we found most killer cell lectin-like receptor G1 (KLRG1)(lo)IL-7R(hi) effector
      and memory cells, which are long-lived and high proliferative capacity, in the T
      cell zone of the spleen. In contrast, KLRG1(hi)IL-7R(lo) cells, which appear
      terminally differentiated and have shorter life spans, were exclusively localized
      to the red pulp. KLRG1(lo)IL-7R(hi) T cells homed to the T cell zone using
      pertussis toxin-sensitive chemokine receptors and appeared to contact gp38(+)
      stromal cells, which produce the chemokines CCL19 and CCL21 and the T cell
      survival cytokine IL-7. The transcription factors T-bet and B lymphocyte-induced
      maturation protein-1 controlled effector CD8 T cell splenic migration. Effector
      CD8 T cells overexpressing T-bet homed to the red pulp, whereas those lacking B
      lymphocyte-induced maturation protein-1 homed to the T cell zone. Upon memory
      formation, CD62L(+) memory T cells were predominantly found in the T cell zone,
      whereas CD62L(-) cells were found in the red pulp. Thus, effector and memory CD8
      T cell subset localization within tissues is linked to their differentiation
      states, and this may identify anatomical niches that regulate their longevity and
      homeostasis.

PMID- 20921526
TI  - Human plasma membrane-derived vesicles halt proliferation and induce
      differentiation of THP-1 acute monocytic leukemia cells.
AB  - Plasma membrane-derived vesicles (PMVs) are small intact vesicles released from
      the cell surface that play a role in intercellular communication. We have
      examined the role of PMVs in the terminal differentiation of monocytes. The
      myeloid-differentiating agents all-trans retinoic acid/PMA and histamine, the
      inflammatory mediator that inhibits promonocyte proliferation, induced an
      intracellular Ca(2+)-mediated PMV (as opposed to exosome) release from THP-1
      promonocytes. These PMVs cause THP-1 cells to enter G(0)-G(1) cell cycle arrest
      and induce terminal monocyte-to-macrophage differentiation. Use of the TGF-beta
      receptor antagonist SB-431542 and anti-TGF-beta1 Ab showed that this was due to
      TGF-beta1 carried on PMVs. Although TGF-beta1 levels have been shown to increase
      in cell culture supernatants during macrophage differentiation and dendritic cell
      maturation, the presence of TGF-beta1 in PMVs is yet to be reported. In this
      study, to our knowledge we show for the first time that TGF-beta1 is carried on
      the surface of PMVs, and we confirm the presence within PMVs of certain
      leaderless proteins, with reported roles in myeloid cell differentiation. Our in
      vitro findings support a model in which TGF-beta1-bearing PMVs, released from
      promonocytic leukemia cells (THP-1) or primary peripheral blood monocytes on
      exposure to sublytic complement or after treatment with a differentiation therapy
      agent, such as all-trans retinoic acid, significantly reduce proliferation of THP
      1 cells. Such PMVs also induce the terminal differentiation of primary peripheral
      blood monocytes as well as THP-1 monocytes.

PMID- 20921527
TI  - Deletion of ripA alleviates suppression of the inflammasome and MAPK by
      Francisella tularensis.
AB  - Francisella tularensis is a facultative intracellular pathogen and potential
      biothreat agent. Evasion of the immune response contributes to the extraordinary
      virulence of this organism although the mechanism is unclear. Whereas wild-type
      strains induced low levels of cytokines, an F. tularensis ripA deletion mutant
      (LVSDeltaripA) provoked significant release of IL-1beta, IL-18, and TNF-alpha by
      resting macrophages. IL-1beta and IL-18 secretion was dependent on inflammasome
      components pyrin-caspase recruitment domain/apoptotic speck-containing protein
      with a caspase recruitment domain and caspase-1, and the TLR/IL-1R signaling
      molecule MyD88 was required for inflammatory cytokine synthesis. Complementation
      of LVSDeltaripA with a plasmid encoding ripA restored immune evasion. Similar
      findings were observed in a human monocytic line. The presence of ripA nearly
      eliminated activation of MAPKs including ERK1/2, JNK, and p38, and pharmacologic
      inhibitors of these three MAPKs reduced cytokine induction by LVSDeltaripA.
      Animals infected with LVSDeltaripA mounted a stronger IL-1beta and TNF-alpha
      response than that of mice infected with wild-type live vaccine strain. This
      analysis revealed novel immune evasive mechanisms of F. tularensis.

PMID- 20921528
TI  - The early marginal zone B cell-initiated T-independent type 2 response resists
      the proteasome inhibitor bortezomib.
AB  - The proteasome inhibitor bortezomib is approved for the treatment of multiple
      myeloma and mantle cell lymphoma. We recently demonstrated that bortezomib
      eliminates autoreactive plasma cells in systemic lupus erythematosus mouse
      models, thereby representing a promising novel treatment for Ab-mediated
      diseases. In this study, we investigated the effects of bortezomib on the just
      developing and pre-existing T-dependent Ab response toward dinitrophenyl-keyhole
      limpet hemocyanin and the T-independent type 2 response toward (4-hydroxy-3-iodo
      5-nitrophenyl)acetyl (NIP)-Ficoll in BALB/c mice. Bortezomib treatment strongly
      reduced T-dependent Ab titers mainly due to depletion of plasma cells. In
      contrast, the early T-independent type 2 response against i.v. administered NIP
      Ficoll, which is predominantly dependent on marginal zone (MZ) B cells, resisted
      bortezomib. Upon bortezomib treatment, immunoproteasome subunits and the
      antiapoptotic unfolded protein response including NF-kappaB were induced in NIP
      Ficoll-stimulated MZ B cells, but not in plasma cells and follicular B cells. In
      summary, bortezomib treatment decreases Ab titers arising from T-dependent immune
      responses predominantly by eliminating plasma cells. In contrast, the early T
      independent type 2 response protecting the organism against blood-borne pathogens
      remains largely intact due to a remarkable resistance of MZ B cells against
      proteasome inhibition.

PMID- 20921530
TI  - A cyclooxygenase-2/prostaglandin E2 pathway augments activation-induced cytosine
      deaminase expression within replicating human B cells.
AB  - Within inflammatory environments, B cells encountering foreign or self-Ag can
      develop tertiary lymphoid tissue expressing activation-induced cytosine deaminase
      (AID). Recently, this DNA-modifying enzyme was detected in nonlymphoid cells
      within several inflamed tissues and strongly implicated in malignant
      transformation. This study examines whether a cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2) pathway,
      often linked to inflammation, influences AID expression in activated B
      lymphocytes. In this paper, we report that dividing human B cells responding to
      surrogate C3d-coated Ag, IL-4, and BAFF express AID, as well as COX-2. A
      progressive increase in AID with each division was paralleled by a division
      related increase in a COX-2-linked enzyme, microsomal PGE(2) synthase-1, and the
      PGE(2)R, EP2. Cells with the greatest expression of AID expressed the highest
      levels of EP2. Although COX-2 inhibitors diminished both AID expression and IgG
      class switching, exogenous PGE(2) and butaprost, a selective EP2 agonist,
      augmented AID mRNA/protein and increased the numbers of IgG(+) progeny. Despite
      the latter, the proportion of IgG(+) cells within viable progeny generally
      declined with PGE(2) supplementation. This was not due to PGE(2)-promoted
      differentiation to plasma cells or to greater downstream switching. Rather,
      because phosphorylated ataxia telangiectasia mutated levels were increased in
      progeny of PGE(2)-supplemented cultures, it appears more likely that PGE(2)
      facilitates AID-dependent DNA double-strand breaks that block B cell cycle
      progression or promote activation-induced cell death, or both. Taken together,
      the results suggest that a PGE(2) feed-forward mechanism for augmenting COX-2
      pathway proteins promotes progressively increased levels of AID mRNA, protein,
      and function.

PMID- 20921529
TI  - IL-23 and IL-17A, but not IL-12 and IL-22, are required for optimal skin host
      defense against Candida albicans.
AB  - IL-23 and Th17 cells play important roles in host defense against systemic
      infections with extracellular bacteria and fungi, although their roles in
      immunity against localized skin infections are less well defined. Here, the
      contributions of IL-23 and Th17 cytokines in host defense against cutaneous
      Candida albicans infection were evaluated. Mice deficient in IL-23 or IL-17A
      demonstrated delayed healing and decreased IL-17A production after skin infection
      with C. albicans compared with wild-type mice or mice deficient in IL-12 or IL
      22. Histologic examination revealed epidermal hyperplasia overlying infected
      dermis four days postinoculation in wild-type mice. In IL-23-deficient mice,
      fungal burden was greater in skin, neither IL-17A nor IL-22 mRNAs were expressed
      postinfection, and these mice demonstrated only minimal epidermal hyperplasia.
      Exogenous recombinant IL-17A injected at the site of skin infection promoted more
      rapid healing of candidiasis in both wild-type mice and mice deficient in IL-23
      and IL-12. Taken together, these results demonstrate that IL-23 and IL-17A, but
      not IL-12 and IL-22, are required for optimal host defense against cutaneous
      candidiasis. In addition, recombinant IL-17A may serve as a potential therapy to
      enhance healing in individuals with chronic cutaneous candidiasis.

PMID- 20921531
TI  - Dual effects of TRAIL in suppression of autoimmunity: the inhibition of Th1 cells
      and the promotion of regulatory T cells.
AB  - TRAIL is known to play a pivotal role in the inhibition of autoimmune disease. We
      previously demonstrated that administration of dendritic cells engineered to
      express TRAIL and myelin-oligodendrocyte glycoprotein reduced the severity of
      experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis and suggested that CD4(+)CD25(+)
      regulatory T cells (Tregs) were involved in mediating this preventive effect. In
      the current study, we investigated the effect of TRAIL on Tregs, as well as
      conventional T cells, using TRAIL-deficient mice. Upon induction of experimental
      autoimmune encephalomyelitis, TRAIL-deficient mice showed more severe clinical
      symptoms, a greater frequency of IFN-gamma-producing CD4(+) T (Th1) cells, and a
      lower frequency of CD4(+)Foxp3(+) Tregs than did wild-type mice. In vitro,
      conventional T cells stimulated by bone marrow-derived dendritic cells (BM-DCs)
      from TRAIL-deficient mice showed a greater magnitude of proliferation than did
      those stimulated by BM-DCs from wild-type mice. In contrast, TRAIL expressed on
      the stimulator BM-DCs enhanced the proliferative response of CD4(+)CD25(+) Tregs
      in the culture. The functional TRAILR, mouse death receptor 5 (mDR5), was
      expressed in conventional T cells and Tregs upon stimulation. In contrast, the
      decoy receptor, mDc-TRAILR1, was slightly expressed only on CD4(+)CD25(+) Tregs.
      Therefore, the distinct effects of TRAIL may be due to differences in the mDc
      TRAILR1 expression or the signaling pathways downstream of mouse death receptor 5
      between the two T cell subsets. Our data suggest that TRAIL suppresses
      autoimmunity by two mechanisms: the inhibition of Th1 cells and the promotion of
      Tregs.

PMID- 20921533
TI  - Differential suppression of tumor-specific CD8+ T cells by regulatory T cells.
AB  - In the CT26 BALB/c murine model of colorectal carcinoma, depletion of regulatory
      T cells (Tregs) prior to tumor inoculation results in protective immunity to both
      CT26 and other BALB/c-derived tumors of diverse histological origin. In this
      paper, we show that cross-protection can be conferred by adoptively transferred
      CD8(+) CTLs. Other schedules for inducing immunity to CT26 have been described,
      but they do not lead to cross-protection. We show that Treg ablation facilitates
      the development of new CTL specificities that are normally cryptic, and have
      mapped the root epitope of one of these responses. This work has allowed us to
      demonstrate how the specificity of CTL responses to tumor Ags can be controlled
      via differential suppression of CTL specificities by Tregs, and how this can
      result in very different physiological outcomes.

PMID- 20921532
TI  - Identification of an autophagy defect in smokers' alveolar macrophages.
AB  - Alveolar macrophages are essential for clearing bacteria from the alveolar
      surface and preventing microbe-induced infections. It is well documented that
      smokers have an increased incidence of infections, in particular lung infections.
      Alveolar macrophages accumulate in smokers' lungs, but they have a functional
      immune deficit. In this study, we identify an autophagy defect in smokers'
      alveolar macrophages. Smokers' alveolar macrophages accumulate both
      autophagosomes and p62, a marker of autophagic flux. The decrease in the process
      of autophagy leads to impaired protein aggregate clearance, dysfunctional
      mitochondria, and defective delivery of bacteria to lysosomes. This study
      identifies the autophagy pathway as a potential target for interventions designed
      to decrease infection rates in smokers and possibly in individuals with high
      environmental particulate exposure.

PMID- 20921535
TI  - Zinc-induced copper deficiency in Wilson disease.

PMID- 20921534
TI  - LRRK2 is involved in the IFN-gamma response and host response to pathogens.
AB  - LRRK2 was previously identified as a defective gene in Parkinson's disease, and
      it is also located in a risk region for Crohn's disease. In this study, we aim to
      determine whether LRRK2 could be involved in immune responses. We show that LRRK2
      expression is enriched in human immune cells. LRRK2 is an IFN-gamma target gene,
      and its expression increased in intestinal tissues upon Crohn's disease
      inflammation. In inflamed intestinal tissues, LRRK2 is detected in the lamina
      propria macrophages, B-lymphocytes, and CD103-positive dendritic cells.
      Furthermore, LRRK2 expression enhances NF-kappaB-dependent transcription,
      suggesting its role in immune response signaling. Endogenous LRRK2 rapidly
      translocates near bacterial membranes, and knockdown of LRRK2 interferes with
      reactive oxygen species production during phagocytosis and bacterial killing.
      These observations indicate that LRRK2 is an IFN-gamma target gene, and it might
      be involved in signaling pathways relevant to Crohn's disease pathogenesis.

PMID- 20921536
TI  - Summaries for patients: Using a gene test to better identify heart disease in
      patients with chest pain.

PMID- 20921537
TI  - Summaries for patients. Insufficient sleep, diet, and obesity.

PMID- 20921538
TI  - Summaries for patients. Cancer screening among adults who have survived childhood
      cancer.

PMID- 20921539
TI  - Summaries for patients. Do persons with AIDS develop common types of cancer at
      younger ages?

PMID- 20921540
TI  - In the clinic. Clostridium difficile Infection.
AB  - This issue provides a clinical overview of Clostridium difficile infection
      focusing on prevention, diagnosis, treatment, practice improvement, and patient
      information. Readers can complete the accompanying CME quiz for 1.5 credits. Only
      ACP members and individual subscribers can access the electronic features of In
      the Clinic. Non-subscribers who wish to access this issue of In the Clinic can
      elect "Pay for View." Subscribers can receive 1.5 category 1 CME credits by
      completing the CME quiz that accompanies this issue of In the Clinic. The content
      of In the Clinic is drawn from the clinical information and education resources
      of the American College of Physicians (ACP), including PIER (Physicians'
      Information and Education Resource) and MKSAP (Medical Knowledge and Self
      Assessment Program). Annals of Internal Medicine editors develop In the Clinic
      from these primary sources in collaboration with the ACP's Medical Education and
      Publishing division and with assistance of science writers and physician writers.
      Editorial consultants from PIER and MKSAP provide expert review of the content.
      Readers who are interested in these primary resources for more detail can consult
      www.acponline.org, http://pier.acponline.org, and other resources referenced
      within each issue of In the Clinic.

PMID- 20921541
TI  - Multicenter validation of the diagnostic accuracy of a blood-based gene
      expression test for assessing obstructive coronary artery disease in nondiabetic
      patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Diagnosing obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD) in at-risk
      patients can be challenging and typically requires both noninvasive imaging
      methods and coronary angiography, the gold standard. Previous studies have
      suggested that peripheral blood gene expression can indicate the presence of CAD.
      OBJECTIVE: To validate a previously developed 23-gene, expression-based
      classification test for diagnosis of obstructive CAD in nondiabetic patients.
      DESIGN: Multicenter prospective trial with blood samples obtained before coronary
      angiography. (ClinicalTrials.gov registration number: NCT00500617) SETTING: 39
      centers in the United States. PATIENTS: An independent validation cohort of 526
      nondiabetic patients with a clinical indication for coronary angiography.
      MEASUREMENTS: Receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) analysis of classifier
      score measured by real-time polymerase chain reaction, additivity to clinical
      factors, and reclassification of patient disease likelihood versus disease status
      defined by quantitative coronary angiography. Obstructive CAD was defined as 50%
      or greater stenosis in 1 or more major coronary arteries by quantitative coronary
      angiography. RESULTS: The area under the ROC curve (AUC) was 0.70 +/- 0.02 (P <
      0.001); the test added to clinical variables (Diamond-Forrester method) (AUC,
      0.72 with the test vs. 0.66 without; P = 0.003) and added somewhat to an expanded
      clinical model (AUC, 0.745 with the test vs. 0.732 without; P = 0.089). The test
      improved net reclassification over both the Diamond-Forrester method and the
      expanded clinical model (P < 0.001). At a score threshold that corresponded to a
      20% likelihood of obstructive CAD (14.75), the sensitivity and specificity were
      85% and 43% (yielding a negative predictive value of 83% and a positive
      predictive value of 46%), with 33% of patient scores below this threshold.
      LIMITATION: Patients with chronic inflammatory disorders, elevated levels of
      leukocytes or cardiac protein markers, or diabetes were excluded. CONCLUSION: A
      noninvasive whole-blood test based on gene expression and demographic
      characteristics may be useful for assessing obstructive CAD in nondiabetic
      patients without known CAD. PRIMARY FUNDING SOURCE: CardioDx.

PMID- 20921542
TI  - Insufficient sleep undermines dietary efforts to reduce adiposity.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sleep loss can modify energy intake and expenditure. OBJECTIVE: To
      determine whether sleep restriction attenuates the effect of a reduced-calorie
      diet on excess adiposity. DESIGN: Randomized, 2-period, 2-condition crossover
      study. SETTING: University clinical research center and sleep laboratory.
      PATIENTS: 10 overweight nonsmoking adults (3 women and 7 men) with a mean age of
      41 years (SD, 5) and a mean body mass index of 27.4 kg/m2 (SD, 2.0).
      INTERVENTION: 14 days of moderate caloric restriction with 8.5 or 5.5 hours of
      nighttime sleep opportunity. MEASUREMENTS: The primary measure was loss of fat
      and fat-free body mass. Secondary measures were changes in substrate utilization,
      energy expenditure, hunger, and 24-hour metabolic hormone concentrations.
      RESULTS: Sleep curtailment decreased the proportion of weight lost as fat by 55%
      (1.4 vs. 0.6 kg with 8.5 vs. 5.5 hours of sleep opportunity, respectively; P =
      0.043) and increased the loss of fat-free body mass by 60% (1.5 vs. 2.4 kg; P =
      0.002). This was accompanied by markers of enhanced neuroendocrine adaptation to
      caloric restriction, increased hunger, and a shift in relative substrate
      utilization toward oxidation of less fat. LIMITATION: The nature of the study
      limited its duration and sample size. CONCLUSION: The amount of human sleep
      contributes to the maintenance of fat-free body mass at times of decreased energy
      intake. Lack of sufficient sleep may compromise the efficacy of typical dietary
      interventions for weight loss and related metabolic risk reduction. PRIMARY
      FUNDING SOURCE: National Institutes of Health.

PMID- 20921543
TI  - Screening and surveillance for second malignant neoplasms in adult survivors of
      childhood cancer: a report from the childhood cancer survivor study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Survivors of childhood cancer may develop a second malignant neoplasm
      during adulthood and therefore require regular surveillance. OBJECTIVE: To
      examine adherence to population cancer screening guidelines by survivors at
      average risk for a second malignant neoplasm and adherence to cancer surveillance
      guidelines by survivors at high risk for a second malignant neoplasm. DESIGN:
      Retrospective cohort study. SETTING: The Childhood Cancer Survivor Study (CCSS),
      a 26-center study of long-term survivors of childhood cancer that was diagnosed
      between 1970 and 1986. PATIENTS: 4329 male and 4018 female survivors of childhood
      cancer who completed a CCSS questionnaire assessing screening and surveillance
      for new cases of cancer. MEASUREMENTS: Patient-reported receipt and timing of
      mammography, Papanicolaou smear, colonoscopy, or skin examination was categorized
      as adherent to the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force guidelines for survivors
      at average risk for breast or cervical cancer or the Children's Oncology Group
      guidelines for survivors at high risk for breast, colorectal, or skin cancer as a
      result of cancer therapy. RESULTS: In average-risk female survivors, 2743 of 3392
      (80.9%) reported having a Papanicolaou smear within the recommended period, and
      140 of 209 (67.0%) reported mammography within the recommended period. In high
      risk survivors, rates of recommended mammography among women were only 241 of 522
      (46.2%) and the rates of colonoscopy and complete skin examinations among both
      sexes were 91 of 794 (11.5%) and 1290 of 4850 (26.6%), respectively. LIMITATIONS:
      Data were self-reported. Participants in the CCSS are a selected group of
      survivors, and their adherence may not be representative of all survivors of
      childhood cancer. CONCLUSION: Female survivors at average risk for a second
      malignant neoplasm show reasonable rates of screening for cervical and breast
      cancer. However, surveillance for new cases of cancer is very low in survivors at
      the highest risk for colon, breast, or skin cancer, suggesting that survivors and
      their physicians need education about their risks and recommended surveillance.
      PRIMARY FUNDING SOURCE: The National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of
      Health, and the American Lebanese Syrian Associated Charities.

PMID- 20921545
TI  - Screening adults for bladder cancer: a review of the evidence for the U.S.
      preventive services task force.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Bladder cancer is 1 of the 10 most frequently diagnosed types of
      cancer. Screening could identify high-grade bladder cancer at earlier stages,
      when it may be more easily and effectively treated. PURPOSE: To update the 2004
      U.S. Preventive Services Task Force evidence review on screening for bladder
      cancer in adults in primary care settings. DATA SOURCES: MEDLINE (2002 to
      December 2009), the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, the Cochrane Central
      Register of Controlled Trials (through the fourth quarter of 2009), and the
      CancerLit subsection of PubMed (through March 2010) were searched for studies
      published in English. STUDY SELECTION: Randomized trials and controlled
      observational studies that directly evaluated screening for bladder cancer in
      adults, studies on the diagnostic accuracy of screening tests for bladder cancer,
      and randomized trials and controlled observational studies on clinical outcomes
      associated with treatment compared with no treatment of screen-detected or
      superficial bladder cancer. DATA EXTRACTION: Details were abstracted about the
      patient sample, study design, data analysis, follow-up, and results. Quality was
      assessed by using methods developed by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force.
      DATA SYNTHESIS: No randomized trials or high-quality controlled observational
      studies evaluated clinical outcomes associated with screening compared with no
      screening or treatment of screen-detected bladder cancer compared with no
      treatment. No study evaluated the sensitivity or specificity of tests for
      hematuria, urinary cytology, or other urinary biomarkers for bladder cancer in
      asymptomatic persons without a history of bladder cancer. The positive predictive
      value of screening is less than 10% in asymptomatic persons, including higher
      risk populations. No study evaluated harms associated with treatment of screen
      detected bladder cancer compared with no treatment. LIMITATION: High-quality
      evidence was not available for any of the key questions. CONCLUSION: Additional
      research is needed to determine whether screening of adults for bladder cancer
      leads to better outcomes compared with no screening. PRIMARY FUNDING SOURCE:
      Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

PMID- 20921544
TI  - Age at cancer diagnosis among persons with AIDS in the United States.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Studies have reported young ages at cancer diagnosis in HIV-infected
      persons and have suggested that HIV accelerates carcinogenesis. However, these
      comparisons did not account for differences in population age structures.
      OBJECTIVE: To compare ages at diagnosis for non-AIDS-defining types of cancer
      that occur in both the AIDS and general populations, after adjustment for
      differences in age and other demographic characteristics between these
      populations. DESIGN: Registry linkage study. SETTING: 15 HIV/AIDS and cancer
      registry databases in the United States. PARTICIPANTS: 212 055 persons with AIDS
      enrolled in the U.S. HIV/AIDS Cancer Match Study from 1996 to 2007. MEASUREMENTS:
      Comparison of age-at-diagnosis distributions for various types of cancer in both
      the AIDS and general populations, after adjustment for age and other demographic
      characteristics. RESULTS: The proportion of person-time contributed by older
      persons (age >=65 years) was far smaller in the AIDS population (1.5%) than in
      the general population (12.5%). Reflecting this difference, the ages at diagnosis
      for most types of cancer were approximately 20 years younger among persons with
      AIDS. However, after adjustment for differences in the populations at risk, the
      median ages at diagnosis in the AIDS and general populations did not differ for
      most types of cancer (for example, colon, prostate, or breast cancer; all P >
      0.100). In contrast, ages at diagnosis of lung (median, 50 vs. 54 years) and anal
      cancer (median, 42 vs. 45 years) were significantly younger in persons with AIDS
      than expected in the general population (P < 0.001), and the age at diagnosis of
      Hodgkin lymphoma was significantly older (median, 42 vs. 40 years; P < 0.001).
      LIMITATIONS: Information on other cancer risk factors, including cigarette
      smoking, was not available. Analysis was restricted to non-Hispanic white and
      black persons who had AIDS, which could limit the generalizability of the
      findings to other racial and ethnic groups or to persons with HIV but not AIDS.
      CONCLUSION: For most types of cancer, the age at diagnosis is similar in the AIDS
      and general populations, after adjustment for the ages of the populations at
      risk. Modest age differences remained for a few types of cancer, which may
      indicate either acceleration of carcinogenesis by HIV or earlier exposure to
      cancer risk factors. PRIMARY FUNDING SOURCE: National Cancer Institute.

PMID- 20921546
TI  - Gene expression algorithm for prevalent coronary artery disease: a first step in
      a long journey.

PMID- 20921547
TI  - Sleep well and stay slim: dream or reality?

PMID- 20921548
TI  - HIV and premature aging: A field still in its infancy.

PMID- 20921549
TI  - Whose funeral is it anyway?

PMID- 20921550
TI  - Attending rounds.

PMID- 20921551
TI  - Time of exposure and type of diabetes may determine treatment outcome of group
      clinics.

PMID- 20921552
TI  - The social mission of medical education.

PMID- 20921553
TI  - The social mission of medical education.

PMID- 20921554
TI  - The social mission of medical education.

PMID- 20921555
TI  - The social mission of medical education.

PMID- 20921556
TI  - The social mission of medical education.

PMID- 20921557
TI  - The social mission of medical education.

PMID- 20921558
TI  - The social mission of medical education.

PMID- 20921559
TI  - Successful extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for refractory cardiogenic shock
      due to the catastrophic antiphospholipid syndrome.

PMID- 20921560
TI  - Reducing alcohol-related harm and social disorder in a university community: a
      framework for evaluation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In New Zealand and other middle to high income countries, university
      student are at high risk of alcohol-related injury and other problems due to
      their typical pattern of episodic heavy drinking. In 2007, one university
      implemented Campus Watch, a novel and extensive programme to reduce social
      disorder, including alcohol-related injury, in the university area. OBJECTIVES:
      To quantify the effects of this complex intervention. SETTING: A large public
      university campus and surrounding community in New Zealand. DESIGN: A health
      promotion evaluation model was used, examining: (1) how the programme was
      developed, introduced and received by the community? (process); (2) whether the
      programme affected behaviour? (impact); and (3) whether the programme reduced
      social disorder and alcohol-related harm in particular? (outcome). The outcome
      phase uses a non-equivalent control group design to measure changes occurring in
      the Campus Watch area compared with other universities, and with a same-city
      control site. PARTICIPANTS: Programme staff, university students and other
      community members. DATA: Interviews with university administrators and Campus
      Watch staff; surveys of local residents' views; Campus Watch incident data;
      national surveys of university students in 2005, 2007 and 2009; police data; fire
      department data. OUTCOME MEASURES: Prevalence of heavy episodic drinking; number
      of acute alcohol-related harms; incidence of antisocial behaviour, assault and
      street fires. ANALYSIS: Regression analyses will be used to examine changes in
      the intervention site relative to changes in the control areas.

PMID- 20921561
TI  - Cultural translation: acceptability and efficacy of a US-based injury prevention
      intervention in China.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Increased belt-positioning booster seat (BPB) awareness and access
      have led to increased use in the USA. Although transportation in Beijing is
      rapidly becoming 'motorised', Beijing's population has limited awareness of or
      access to BPBs. OBJECTIVE: To explore the efficacy and acceptability of using a
      US-developed BPB use promotion intervention in Beijing. DESIGN: Methods were
      adapted from a previously executed US-based study involving parents of 3-8-year
      old children. Focus groups (five groups, 71 participants) elicited behavioural
      antecedents to BPB use and reactions to video interventions promoting BPB use: a
      Chinese-produced instructional video and an English-language (dubbed into
      Mandarin) video that delivered concrete, theoretically driven messages through a
      personal story. Immediately after the focus groups, participants were provided
      with education and a free BPB. Participants were contacted 6&emsp14;weeks later
      via telephone about use, knowledge and attitudes. RESULTS: Chinese parents saw
      safety as the most important benefit of BPB use; lack of accurate knowledge about
      and access to BPBs were parents' most prevalent barriers. Chinese participants
      described the videos as persuasive and instructional. At 6&emsp14;weeks,
      participants remembered the messages of the English-language video, and reported
      BPB use increased from a baseline of 15.5% to 85.5%. CONCLUSIONS: This study
      shows the possibility of exporting US-designed prevention interventions dubbed
      into Mandarin without the need to alter their original context (in this case, an
      African American family in a US setting) into a Chinese context. Successful
      cultural translation involved ensuring that the behavioural antecedents targeted
      in the intervention (eg, barriers and benefits) were of relevance to the Chinese
      population.

PMID- 20921562
TI  - Advancing research in youth violence prevention to inform evidence-based policy
      and practice.

PMID- 20921563
TI  - Preventing intimate partner and sexual violence against women: taking action and
      generating evidence.

PMID- 20921564
TI  - Slow wave activity during sleep: functional and therapeutic implications.
AB  - Electroencephalographic slow-wave activity (EEG SWA) is an electrophysiological
      signature of slow (0.5 to 4.0 Hz), synchronized, oscillatory neocortical
      activity. In healthy individuals, EEG SWA is maximally expressed during non-rapid
      eye-movement (non-REM) sleep, and intensifies as a function of prior wake
      duration. Many of the cellular and network mechanisms generating EEG SWA have
      been identified, but a number of questions remain unanswered. For example,
      although EEG SWA is a marker of sleep need, its precise relationship with sleep
      homeostasis and its roles in the brain are unknown. In this review, the authors
      discuss their current understanding of the neural mechanisms and possible
      functions of EEG SWA.

PMID- 20921565
TI  - Longitudinal hand function in Rett syndrome.
AB  - Loss of hand function is a core feature of Rett syndrome. This article describes
      longitudinal hand function at 3 time points for 72 subjects participating in the
      Australian Rett Syndrome Database. Approximately 40% of subjects with some
      grasping abilities lost skill over the 3- to 4-year period between video
      assessments. In these subjects, a decrease in hand function was seen less
      frequently in girls 13 to 19 years old than in those younger than 8 years, in
      subjects with some mobility compared with those who were wheelchair bound, and in
      those who had previously been able to finger feed. Relationships with the
      magnitude of change reflected these findings. Change in hand function did not
      vary with clinical severity. The results for all subjects were similar to results
      obtained when analysis was restricted to those with a pathogenic mutation.
      Variability in the longitudinal course of hand function in Rett syndrome was
      observed.

PMID- 20921566
TI  - Congenital hypotonia in a child with a de novo 22q13 monosomy and 2pter
      duplication: a clinical and molecular genetic study.
AB  - The authors describe a 5-year-old girl with a neurological phenotype of 22q13
      deletion syndrome (neonatal and persisting hypotonia, developmental delay,
      absence of language, decreased perception of pain) and minor dysmorphisms.
      Subtelomeric fluorescent in situ hybridization tests revealed de novo 22q13
      monosomy and 2pter duplication. Numerous genetic and neurologic disorders of
      childhood are characterized by congenital hypotonia. This muscle tone disorder is
      often one of the symptoms that a neurologist is asked to evaluate. Recent
      advances in genetic testing can help provide a specific diagnosis for children
      with this symptom. Subtelomeric deletions are a category of disorders of which
      hypotonia can be a prominent feature. Deletions of chromosome 22q13 are some of
      the most commonly observed terminal deletions in humans, whereas duplications of
      chromosome 2p25.2 are very rare, and little is known about the phenotypic effect
      of these duplications. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this association
      has never been described before.

PMID- 20921567
TI  - Idiopathic intracranial hypertension and facial palsy: case report and review of
      the literature.
AB  - We present the case of an 11-year-old obese girl who presented with idiopathic
      intracranial hypertension affecting first the lateral abducens nerve. She
      received acetazolamide, but 5 days later she developed lateral, peripheral facial
      palsy. Imaging evaluation was normal, which primarily excluded cerebral venous
      thrombosis and sustained the initial diagnosis. Despite some complicating factors
      (obesity, elevated intracranial pressure), prednisolone was administered for a
      short-term period to counteract the facial palsy. Ophthalmological residuals
      resolved within almost 1.5 months, while facial palsy receded after 4 months.
      Peripheral facial palsy is an extremely rare, but not unknown condition in
      idiopathic intracranial hypertension. As a symptom, it should be investigated
      thoroughly, primarily to exclude cerebral venous sinus thrombosis, before it can
      be attributed to idiopathic intracranial hypertension. As far as treatment is
      concerned, corticosteroids can be added to the initial treatment with
      acetazolamide, without worsening already elevated intracranial hypertension or
      ophthalmologic findings.

PMID- 20921568
TI  - Inattention, hyperactivity, impulsivity--epidemiology and correlations: a
      nationwide greek study from birth to 18 years.
AB  - We examined the prevalence of inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity
      (attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder [ADHD]-like symptoms) at 7 and 18 years
      in a Greek birth cohort, and associated factors. Information was derived from a
      representative sample of 2695 Greek individuals followed-up from birth to18 years
      through 3 questionnaire surveys (1983, 1990, 2001). At 7 years, the prevalence of
      hyperactivity was 7%, inattention 9.5%, and impulsivity 7% for all children,
      while a significant decrease was observed at 18 years. Adverse perinatal factors,
      poor academic performance, fights or quarrels with peers, comorbidity, and a
      higher frequency of physical punishment and accidents during childhood were found
      to be associated with ADHD-like symptoms at 7 years. Factors identified to be
      related with these symptoms at 18 years included male gender, maternal stress,
      smoking during pregnancy, physical punishment, and psychological problems in
      childhood. These longitudinal findings provide significant information for health
      and educational planning in Greece and other countries.

PMID- 20921570
TI  - Blood ammonia levels in epileptic children on 2 dose ranges of valproic acid
      monotherapy: a cross-sectional study.
AB  - This cross-sectional study was planned to study the blood ammonia levels in
      epileptic children on 2 dose ranges of valproic acid monotherapy. A total of 60
      epileptic children aged 3 months to 12 years, that were on valproic acid
      monotherapy for at least 3 months, were enrolled and divided into 2 groups, a low
      dose group (dose, 20-39 mg/kg/d [n = 32]) and a high-dose group (dose, 40-60
      mg/kg/d [n=31]). Measurements of blood ammonia, serum valproic acid levels, and
      liver and renal function tests were performed. Blood ammonia levels were
      significantly higher in the high-dose group (median, 79.2 ug/dL; range, 55.23
      114.29 ug/dL) as compared with the low-dose group (median, 47.2 ug/dL; range,
      20.62-73.25 ug/dL). Blood ammonia levels significantly correlated with both the
      dose (r = .77, P < .001) and serum levels (r = .88, P < .001) of valproic acid.
      All the children with hyperammonemia were asymptomatic. There were no significant
      differences in the other biochemical parameters between the 2 groups.

PMID- 20921569
TI  - Clinical seizures in neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy have no independent
      impact on neurodevelopmental outcome: secondary analyses of data from the
      neonatal research network hypothermia trial.
AB  - It remains controversial as to whether neonatal seizures have additional direct
      effects on the developing brain separate from the severity of the underlying
      encephalopathy. Using data collected from infants diagnosed with hypoxic-ischemic
      encephalopathy, and who were enrolled in an National Institute of Child Health
      and Human Development trial of hypothermia, we analyzed associations between
      neonatal clinical seizures and outcomes at 18 months of age. Of the 208 infants
      enrolled, 102 received whole body hypothermia and 106 were controls. Clinical
      seizures were generally noted during the first 4 days of life and rarely
      afterward. When adjustment was made for study treatment and severity of
      encephalopathy, seizures were not associated with death, or moderate or severe
      disability, or lower Bayley Mental Development Index scores at 18 months of life.
      Among infants diagnosed with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, the mortality and
      morbidity often attributed to neonatal seizures can be better explained by the
      underlying severity of encephalopathy.

PMID- 20921571
TI  - Serial and free recall in children can be improved by training: evidence for the
      importance of phonological and semantic representations in immediate memory
      tasks.
AB  - Children were assigned to three groups given training on unfamiliar words-
      phoneme-awareness training, rhyme training, and vocabulary training--and an
      untrained control group. Before and after training, we assessed the children's
      performance on serial- and free-recall tasks with these words, as well as their
      ability to define the words, manipulate phonemes in them, and generate rhymes for
      them. We found that phoneme-awareness training improved serial recall
      substantially and improved free recall to a lesser extent. In contrast,
      vocabulary training produced a substantial increase in free recall and a lesser
      increase in serial recall. These effects on recall were specific and did not
      generalize to untrained words. Rhyme training produced increases in rhyming
      skills but no increase in either serial or free recall. We argue that serial and
      free recall depend on common memory mechanisms, but serial recall relies more on
      phonological codes and free recall relies more on semantic codes.

PMID- 20921573
TI  - Learned liking versus inborn delight: can sweetness give sensual pleasure or is
      it just motivating?
AB  - In this study, we separated for the first time the learned liking for a
      particular level of sweetness in a familiar drink from the infantile delight in
      sweetness as such ("the sweeter, the better"). It is widely assumed that sensing
      a liked food or drink evokes a pleasurable experience, but the only psychological
      evidence for this assumption has been tongue movements that are elicited
      specifically by sweet taste in animals and human neonates. We found that adults
      felt such movements in response to drinking juice at both their personally
      preferred level of sweetness and levels they deemed so sweet as to be
      undrinkable. Yet only the intolerably strong level of sweetness elicited
      enjoyment of the experienced movements, elevation of mood, and a sense of
      smiling. Hence, the pleasure that adults experience during ingestion could be
      exclusively linked with the congenital sweetness reflex that sends mother's milk
      down an infant's throat.

PMID- 20921572
TI  - The role of brain-derived neurotrophic factor genotype, parental depression, and
      relationship discord in predicting early-emerging negative emotionality.
AB  - The brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gene is a plausible candidate for
      early-emerging negative emotionality (NE), and evidence suggests that the effects
      of this gene may be especially salient in the context of familial risk for child
      maladjustment. We therefore examined whether the single-nucleotide polymorphism
      producing a valine-to-methionine substitution at codon 66 (val66met) of the BDNF
      gene was associated with childhood NE, in the context of parental depression and
      relationship discord. A sample of 413 three-year-old children was assessed for NE
      using standardized laboratory measures. The children's parents completed clinical
      interviews as well as a measure of marital satisfaction. Children with at least
      one BDNF methionine (met) allele exhibited elevated NE when a parent had a
      history of depressive disorder or when relationship discord was reported by a
      parent. In contrast, this allele was associated with especially low NE when
      parental depression was absent and when the parental relationship was not
      discordant. Our findings suggest that the BDNF met allele confers increased child
      sensitivity to both positive and negative familial influences.

PMID- 20921574
TI  - Scene memory is more detailed than you think: the role of categories in visual
      long-term memory.
AB  - Observers can store thousands of object images in visual long-term memory with
      high fidelity, but the fidelity of scene representations in long-term memory is
      not known. Here, we probed scene-representation fidelity by varying the number of
      studied exemplars in different scene categories and testing memory using exemplar
      level foils. Observers viewed thousands of scenes over 5.5 hr and then completed
      a series of forced-choice tests. Memory performance was high, even with up to 64
      scenes from the same category in memory. Moreover, there was only a 2% decrease
      in accuracy for each doubling of the number of studied scene exemplars.
      Surprisingly, this degree of categorical interference was similar to the degree
      previously demonstrated for object memory. Thus, although scenes have often been
      defined as a superset of objects, our results suggest that scenes and objects may
      be entities at a similar level of abstraction in visual long-term memory.

PMID- 20921575
TI  - What do we need to do to cure HIV infection.
AB  - Finding a cure for HIV infection requires methods to stop ongoing viral
      replication, to identify all reservoirs in which nonreplicating HIV persists, and
      to eliminate each of these reservoirs. Current antiretroviral therapy largely
      stops ongoing viral replication. This is a reflection of the extremely high
      antiviral activity of some classes of antiretroviral drugs as revealed in a novel
      index, the inhibitory potential, which incorporates the slope parameter of the
      dose-response curve. This index may aid in the rational selection of fully
      suppressive therapy. At least 2 stable reservoirs of latently infected cells have
      been identified, and attempts are under way to identify compounds that
      selectively reactivate latent HIV and allow elimination of these reservoirs. This
      article summarizes a presentation made by Robert F. Siliciano, MD, PhD, at the
      International AIDS Society-USA continuing medical education program held in
      Atlanta in March 2010.

PMID- 20921576
TI  - Cervical injection drug use: a pain in the neck.

PMID- 20921578
TI  - When to start antiretroviral therapy.
AB  - The question of when to initiate antiretroviral therapy has been a central
      controversy in HIV management for more than 15 years, yet there are limited data
      from randomized controlled trials addressing it. A major obstacle to performing
      such a study is the need for large numbers of asymptomatic, antiretroviral
      therapy-naive individuals observed over many years beginning from when their CD4+
      cell counts are above 500/mm3. Observational cohort studies with substantial
      person-years of follow-up have informed this debate in the absence of randomized
      trials. Emerging evidence regarding the damage caused by untreated HIV infection
      related inflammation and immune activation at all stages of disease, and the
      benefits of modern antiretroviral therapy in preventing both AIDS- and non-AIDS
      related morbidity and mortality has supported a return to starting treatment
      early. The NA-ACCORD (North American AIDS Cohort Collaboration on Research and
      Design) study compared long-term outcomes of immediate versus deferred therapy at
      2 CD4+ cell count thresholds. Results showed a 94% increased risk of all-cause
      mortality when antiretroviral therapy was deferred at CD4+ cell counts greater
      than 500/mm3. This article summarizes presentations made by Mari M. Kitahata, MD,
      MPH, at the International AIDS Society-USA continuing medical education programs
      held in November 2009 in New York City and May 2010 in San Francisco. The
      original presentations are available as Webcasts at www.iasusa.org.

PMID- 20921577
TI  - Dyslipidemia and its Treatment in HIV Infection.
AB  - HIV-infected patients have metabolic abnormalities that put them at increased
      risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), including abnormalities associated with HIV
      infection itself, antiretroviral treatment, restoration to health, and body
      composition changes. The 2 major components of dyslipidemia in HIV-infected
      patients are hypertriglyceridemia and reduction in high-density lipoprotein (HDL)
      cholesterol (with likely altered function of HDL cholesterol); these
      abnormalities contribute to increased atherosclerotic risk. Adverse effects of
      antiretroviral drugs on lipids are not class specific but rather are associated
      with particular drugs. Thus, practitioners need to be cognizant of the risks of
      metabolic abnormalities posed by individual drugs. HIV infection increases CVD
      risk independent of the effects of traditional risk factors. The relative risk of
      CVD in HIV-infected patients has decreased in recent years with increasing use of
      lipid-lowering therapy. However, use of lipid-lowering therapy is complicated by
      numerous potential drug interactions with antiretroviral drugs that practitioners
      need to consider when prescribing lipid-lowering therapy. This article summarizes
      a presentation made by Carl Grunfeld, MD, PhD, at the International AIDS Society
      USA continuing medical education program in Los Angeles in March 2010. The
      original presentation is available as a Webcast at www.iasusa.org.

PMID- 20921579
TI  - Vehicle detection using partial least squares.
AB  - Detecting vehicles in aerial images has a wide range of applications, from urban
      planning to visual surveillance. We describe a vehicle detector that improves
      upon previous approaches by incorporating a very large and rich set of image
      descriptors. A new feature set called Color Probability Maps is used to capture
      the color statistics of vehicles and their surroundings, along with the
      Histograms of Oriented Gradients feature and a simple yet powerful image
      descriptor that captures the structural characteristics of objects named Pairs of
      Pixels. The combination of these features leads to an extremely high-dimensional
      feature set (approximately 70,000 elements). Partial Least Squares is first used
      to project the data onto a much lower dimensional sub-space. Then, a powerful
      feature selection analysis is employed to improve the performance while vastly
      reducing the number of features that must be calculated. We compare our system to
      previous approaches on two challenging data sets and show superior performance.

PMID- 20921580
TI  - Multiple kernel learning for dimensionality reduction.
AB  - In solving complex visual learning tasks, adopting multiple descriptors to more
      precisely characterize the data has been a feasible way for improving
      performance. The resulting data representations are typically high-dimensional
      and assume diverse forms. Hence, finding a way of transforming them into a
      unified space of lower dimension generally facilitates the underlying tasks such
      as object recognition or clustering. To this end, the proposed approach (termed
      MKL-DR) generalizes the framework of multiple kernel learning for dimensionality
      reduction, and distinguishes itself with the following three main contributions:
      first, our method provides the convenience of using diverse image descriptors to
      describe useful characteristics of various aspects about the underlying data.
      Second, it extends a broad set of existing dimensionality reduction techniques to
      consider multiple kernel learning, and consequently improves their effectiveness.
      Third, by focusing on the techniques pertaining to dimensionality reduction, the
      formulation introduces a new class of applications with the multiple kernel
      learning framework to address not only the supervised learning problems but also
      the unsupervised and semi-supervised ones.

PMID- 20921581
TI  - Shape Analysis of Elastic Curves in Euclidean Spaces.
AB  - This paper introduces a square-root velocity (SRV) representation for analyzing
      shapes of curves in euclidean spaces under an elastic metric. In this SRV
      representation, the elastic metric simplifies to the IL(2) metric, the
      reparameterization group acts by isometries, and the space of unit length curves
      becomes the unit sphere. The shape space of closed curves is the quotient space
      of (a submanifold of) the unit sphere, modulo rotation, and reparameterization
      groups, and we find geodesics in that space using a path straightening approach.
      These geodesics and geodesic distances provide a framework for optimally
      matching, deforming, and comparing shapes. These ideas are demonstrated using: 1)
      shape analysis of cylindrical helices for studying protein structure, 2) shape
      analysis of facial curves for recognizing faces, 3) a wrapped probability
      distribution for capturing shapes of planar closed curves, and 4) parallel
      transport of deformations for predicting shapes from novel poses. 

PMID- 20921582
TI  - Overcoming shadows in 3-source photometric stereo.
AB  - Light occlusions are one of the most significant difficulties of photometric
      stereo methods. When three or more images are available without occlusion, the
      local surface orientation is overdetermined so that shape can be computed and the
      shadowed pixels can be discarded. In this paper, we look at the challenging case
      when only two images are available without occlusion, leading to a one degree of
      freedom ambiguity per pixel in the local orientation. We show that, in the
      presence of noise, integrability alone cannot resolve this ambiguity and
      reconstruct the geometry in the shadowed regions. As the problem is ill-posed in
      the presence of noise, we describe two regularization schemes that improve the
      numerical performance of the algorithm while preserving the data. Finally, the
      paper describes how this theory applies in the framework of color photometric
      stereo where one is restricted to only three images and light occlusions are
      common. Experiments on synthetic and real image sequences are presented.

PMID- 20921584
TI  - Accuracy of Pseudo-Inverse Covariance Learning--A Random Matrix Theory Analysis.
AB  - For many learning problems, estimates of the inverse population covariance are
      required and often obtained by inverting the sample covariance matrix.
      Increasingly for modern scientific data sets, the number of sample points is less
      than the number of features and so the sample covariance is not invertible. In
      such circumstances, the Moore-Penrose pseudo-inverse sample covariance matrix,
      constructed from the eigenvectors corresponding to nonzero sample covariance
      eigenvalues, is often used as an approximation to the inverse population
      covariance matrix. The reconstruction error of the pseudo-inverse sample
      covariance matrix in estimating the true inverse covariance can be quantified via
      the Frobenius norm of the difference between the two. The reconstruction error is
      dominated by the smallest nonzero sample covariance eigenvalues and diverges as
      the sample size becomes comparable to the number of features. For high
      dimensional data, we use random matrix theory techniques and results to study the
      reconstruction error for a wide class of population covariance matrices. We also
      show how bagging and random subspace methods can result in a reduction in the
      reconstruction error and can be combined to improve the accuracy of classifiers
      that utilize the pseudo-inverse sample covariance matrix. We test our analysis on
      both simulated and benchmark data sets. 

PMID- 20921583
TI  - Force estimation and prediction from time-varying density images.
AB  - We present methods for estimating forces which drive motion observed in density
      image sequences. Using these forces, we also present methods for predicting
      velocity and density evolution. To do this, we formulate and apply a Minimum
      Energy Flow (MEF) method which is capable of estimating both incompressible and
      compressible flows from time-varying density images. Both the MEF and force
      estimation techniques are applied to experimentally obtained density images,
      spanning spatial scales from micrometers to several kilometers. Using density
      image sequences describing cell splitting, for example, we show that cell
      division is driven by gradients in apparent pressure within a cell. Using density
      image sequences of fish shoals, we also quantify 1) intershoal dynamics such as
      coalescence of fish groups over tens of kilometers, 2) fish mass flow between
      different parts of a large shoal, and 3) the stresses acting on large fish
      shoals.

PMID- 20921585
TI  - Matching forensic sketches to mug shot photos.
AB  - The problem of matching a forensic sketch to a gallery of mug shot images is
      addressed in this paper. Previous research in sketch matching only offered
      solutions to matching highly accurate sketches that were drawn while looking at
      the subject (viewed sketches). Forensic sketches differ from viewed sketches in
      that they are drawn by a police sketch artist using the description of the
      subject provided by an eyewitness. To identify forensic sketches, we present a
      framework called local feature-based discriminant analysis (LFDA). In LFDA, we
      individually represent both sketches and photos using SIFT feature descriptors
      and multiscale local binary patterns (MLBP). Multiple discriminant projections
      are then used on partitioned vectors of the feature-based representation for
      minimum distance matching. We apply this method to match a data set of 159
      forensic sketches against a mug shot gallery containing 10,159 images. Compared
      to a leading commercial face recognition system, LFDA offers substantial
      improvements in matching forensic sketches to the corresponding face images. We
      were able to further improve the matching performance using race and gender
      information to reduce the target gallery size. Additional experiments demonstrate
      that the proposed framework leads to state-of-the-art accuracys when matching
      viewed sketches.

PMID- 20921586
TI  - Efficient edit propagation using hierarchical data structure.
AB  - This paper presents a novel unified hierarchical structure for scalable edit
      propagation. Our method is based on the key observation that in edit propagation,
      appearance varies very smoothly in those regions where the appearance is
      different from the user-specified pixels. Uniformly sampling in these regions
      leads to redundant computation. We propose to use a quadtree-based adaptive
      subdivision method such that more samples are selected in similar regions and
      less in those that are different from the user-specified regions. As a result,
      both the computation and the memory requirement are significantly reduced. In
      edit propagation, an edge-preserving propagation function is first built, and the
      full solution for all the pixels can be computed by interpolating from the
      solution obtained from the adaptively subdivided domain. Furthermore, our
      approach can be easily extended to accelerate video edit propagation using an
      adaptive octree structure. In order to improve user interaction, we introduce
      several new Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM) brushes to find pixels that are similar
      to the user-specified regions. Compared with previous methods, our approach
      requires significantly less time and memory, while achieving visually same
      results. Experimental results demonstrate the efficiency and effectiveness of our
      approach on high-resolution photographs and videos.

PMID- 20921587
TI  - Stochastic transparency.
AB  - Stochastic transparency provides a unified approach to order-independent
      transparency, antialiasing, and deep shadow maps. It augments screen-door
      transparency using a random sub-pixel stipple pattern, where each fragment of
      transparent geometry covers a random subset of pixel samples of size proportional
      to alpha. This results in correct alpha-blended colors on average, in a single
      render pass with fixed memory size and no sorting, but introduces noise. We
      reduce this noise by an alpha correction pass, and by an accumulation pass that
      uses a stochastic shadow map from the camera. At the pixel level, the algorithm
      does not branch and contains no read-modify-write loops, other than traditional z
      buffer blend operations. This makes it an excellent match for modern massively
      parallel GPU hardware. Stochastic transparency is very simple to implement and
      supports all types of transparent geometry, able without coding for special cases
      to mix hair, smoke, foliage, windows, and transparent cloth in a single scene.

PMID- 20921588
TI  - Hybrid, Multiresolution Wires with Massless Frictional Contacts.
AB  - We describe a method for the visual interactive simulation of wires contacting
      with rigid multibodies. The physical model used is a hybrid combining lumped
      elements and massless quasistatic representations. The latter is based on a
      kinematic constraint preserving the total length of the wire along a segmented
      path which can involve multiple bodies simultaneously and dry frictional contact
      nodes used for roping, lassoing, and fastening. These nodes provide stick and
      slide friction along the edges of the contacting geometries. The lumped element
      resolution is adapted dynamically based on local stability criteria, becoming
      coarser as the tension increases, and up to the purely kinematic representation.
      Kinematic segments and contact nodes are added, deleted, and propagated based on
      contact geometries and dry friction configurations. The method gives a dramatic
      increase in both performance and robustness because it quickly decimates
      superfluous nodes without loosing stability, yet adapts to complex configurations
      with many contacts and high curvature, keeping a fixed, large integration time
      step. Numerical results demonstrating the performance and stability of the
      adaptive multiresolution scheme are presented along with an array of
      representative simulation examples illustrating the versatility of the frictional
      contact model. 

PMID- 20921589
TI  - Quantifying enzymatic lysis: estimating the combined effects of chemistry,
      physiology and physics.
AB  - The number of microbial pathogens resistant to antibiotics continues to increase
      even as the rate of discovery and approval of new antibiotic therapeutics
      steadily decreases. Many researchers have begun to investigate the therapeutic
      potential of naturally occurring lytic enzymes as an alternative to traditional
      antibiotics. However, direct characterization of lytic enzymes using techniques
      based on synthetic substrates is often difficult because lytic enzymes bind to
      the complex superstructure of intact cell walls. Here we present a new standard
      for the analysis of lytic enzymes based on turbidity assays which allow us to
      probe the dynamics of lysis without preparing a synthetic substrate. The
      challenge in the analysis of these assays is to infer the microscopic details of
      lysis from macroscopic turbidity data. We propose a model of enzymatic lysis that
      integrates the chemistry responsible for bond cleavage with the physical
      mechanisms leading to cell wall failure. We then present a solution to an inverse
      problem in which we estimate reaction rate constants and the heterogeneous
      susceptibility to lysis among target cells. We validate our model given simulated
      and experimental turbidity assays. The ability to estimate reaction rate
      constants for lytic enzymes will facilitate their biochemical characterization
      and development as antimicrobial therapeutics.

PMID- 20921590
TI  - Morphology and texture evolution of nanostructured CaF2 films on amorphous
      substrates under oblique incidence flux.
AB  - The morphology and biaxial texture of vacuum evaporated CaF(2) films on amorphous
      substrates as a function of vapour incident angle, substrate temperature and film
      thickness were investigated by scanning electron microscopy, x-ray pole figure
      and reflection high energy electron diffraction surface pole figure analyses.
      Results show that an anomalous [220] out-of-plane texture was preferred in CaF(2)
      films deposited on Si substrates at < 200  degrees C with normal vapour
      incidence. With an increase of the vapour incident angle, the out-of-plane
      orientation changed from [220] to [111] at a substrate temperature of 100 
      degrees C. In films deposited with normal vapour incidence, the out-of-plane
      orientation changed from [220] at 100  degrees C to [111] at 400  degrees C. In
      films deposited with an oblique vapour incidence at 100  degrees C, the texture
      changed from random at small thickness (5 nm) to biaxial at larger thickness (20
      nm or more). Using first principles density functional theory calculation, it was
      shown that [220] texture formation is a consequence of energetically favourable
      adsorption of CaF(2) molecules onto the CaF(2)(110) facet.

PMID- 20921591
TI  - Magnetization reversal in Pt/Co(0.5 nm)/Pt nano-platelets patterned by focused
      ion beam lithography.
AB  - Arrays of ultrathin Pt/Co(0.5 nm)/Pt nano-platelets with lateral sizes ranging
      from 30 nm to 1 um have been patterned by focused ion beam (FIB) lithography
      under a weak Ga(+) ion fluence. From polar magneto-optical Kerr microscopy it is
      demonstrated that nano-platelets are ferromagnetic with perpendicular anisotropy
      down to a size of 50 nm. The irradiation process creates a magnetically soft ring
      at the nano-platelet periphery in which domain nucleation is initiated at a low
      field. The magnetization reversal in nano-platelets can be interpreted using a
      confined droplet model. All of the results prove that ultimate FIB patterning is
      suitable for preparing discrete magnetic recording media or small magnetic memory
      elements and nano-devices.

PMID- 20921592
TI  - Stress relaxation and creep on living cells with the atomic force microscope: a
      means to calculate elastic moduli and viscosities of cell components.
AB  - In this work we present a unified method to study the mechanical properties of
      cells using the atomic force microscope. Stress relaxation and creep compliance
      measurements permitted us to determine, the relaxation times, the Young moduli
      and the viscosity of breast cancer cells (MCF-7). The results show that the
      mechanical behaviour of MCF-7 cells responds to a two-layered model of similar
      elasticity but differing viscosity. Treatment of MCF-7 cells with an actin
      depolymerising agent results in an overall decrease in both cell elasticity and
      viscosity, however to a different extent for each layer. The layer that undergoes
      the smaller decrease (36-38%) is assigned to the cell membrane/cortex while the
      layer that experiences the larger decrease (70-80%) is attributed to the cell
      cytoplasm. The combination of the method presented in this work, together with
      the approach based on stress relaxation microscopy (Moreno-Flores et al 2010 J.
      Biomech. 43 349-54), constitutes a unique AFM-based experimental framework to
      study cell mechanics. This methodology can also be extended to study the
      mechanical properties of biomaterials in general.

PMID- 20921593
TI  - Phonon softening on the specific heat of nanocrystalline metals.
AB  - Specific heat enhancement in several common nanocrystalline metals is established
      by comparison with their bulk counterparts. Measurements were carried out in Fe,
      Cu, Ni and binary alloy LaAl(2). The excess specific heat is evidenced as a low
      temperature peak below 65 K and a high temperature slope above 150 K. The
      experimental data are in good agreement with a model which considers
      contributions from the grain boundary and core atoms in the nanoparticles. This
      model is supported by Raman spectroscopy measurements, showing a softening of the
      frequency phonon modes associated with a size reduction and increase of the
      atomic disorder.

PMID- 20921594
TI  - Step and repeat UV nanoimprint lithography on pre-spin coated resist film: a
      promising route for fabricating nanodevices.
AB  - A step and repeat UV nanoimprint lithography process on pre-spin coated resist
      film is demonstrated for patterning a large area with features sizes down to sub
      15 nm. The high fidelity between the template and imprinted structures is
      verified with a difference in their line edge roughness of less than 0.5 nm
      (3sigma deviation value). The imprinted pattern's residual layer is well
      controlled to allow direct pattern transfer from the resist into functional
      materials with very high resolution. The process is suitable for fabricating
      numerous nanodevices.

PMID- 20921595
TI  - Tunable superconducting nanoinductors.
AB  - We characterize inductors fabricated from ultra-thin, approximately 100 nm wide
      strips of niobium (Nb) and niobium nitride (NbN). These nanowires have a large
      kinetic inductance in the superconducting state. The kinetic inductance scales
      linearly with the nanowire length, with a typical value of 1 nH um(-1) for NbN
      and 44 pH um(-1) for Nb at a temperature of 2.5 K. We measure the temperature and
      current dependence of the kinetic inductance and compare our results to
      theoretical predictions. We also simulate the self-resonant frequencies of these
      nanowires in a compact meander geometry. These nanowire inductive elements have
      applications in a variety of microwave frequency superconducting circuits.

PMID- 20921596
TI  - On the photoconduction properties of low resistivity TiO2 nanotubes.
AB  - TiO(2) nanotubes were synthesized by anodic oxidation of titanium foils using
      dimethyl sulfoxide and hydrofluoric acid as the electrolyte. The electrical
      properties of individual nanotube-based devices were evaluated and modeled after
      exposing some of them to different gas and illumination conditions. Resistivity
      values fully comparable to those of TiO(2) single crystal anatase (rho(SA) = 1.09
      +/- 0.01Omega cm) were found, and their photoconductive characteristics,
      explained in terms of the Shockley-Read-Hall model for non-radiative
      recombination in semiconductors, were found to be strongly influenced by the
      applied experimental conditions such as the surrounding atmosphere. These devices
      may have potential applications in photocatalytic processes, such as CO(2)
      reduction or H(2)O splitting, avoiding the interfering effects typical of
      nanotube arrays.

PMID- 20921597
TI  - A versatile nanotechnology to connect individual nano-objects for the fabrication
      of hybrid single-electron devices.
AB  - We report on the high yield connection of single nano-objects as small as a few
      nanometres in diameter to separately elaborated metallic electrodes, using a
      'table-top' nanotechnology. Single-electron transport measurements validate that
      transport occurs through a single nano-object. The vertical geometry of the
      device natively allows an independent choice of materials for each electrode and
      the nano-object. In addition ferromagnetic materials can be used without
      encountering oxidation problems. The possibility of elaborating such hybrid
      nanodevices opens new routes for the democratization of spintronic studies in low
      dimensions.

PMID- 20921598
TI  - K2[Hg(SO3)2].2.25H2O.
AB  - The characteristic feature of the structure of the title compound, dipotassium
      bis(sulfito-kappaS)mercurate(II) 2.25-hydrate, is a layered arrangement parallel
      to (001) where each of the two independent [Hg(SO(3))(2)](2-) anions are grouped
      into centrosymmetric pairs and are surrounded by two K(+) cations to give the
      overall layer composition {K(2)[Hg(SO(3))(2)](2)}(2-). The remaining cations and
      the uncoordinated water molecules are situated between these layers. Within the
      [Hg(SO(3))(2)](2-) anions, the central Hg atoms are twofold coordinated by S
      atoms, with a mean Hg-S bond length of 2.384 (2) A. The anions are slightly bent
      [174.26 (3) and 176.99 (3) degrees ] due to intermolecular O...Hg interactions
      greater than 2.8 A. All coordination polyhedra around the K(+) cations are
      considerably distorted, with coordination numbers ranging from six to nine.
      Although the H atoms of the five water molecules (one with symmetry 2) could not
      be located, O...O separations between 2.80 and 2.95 A suggest a system of medium
      to weak O-H...O hydrogen bonds which help to consolidate the structural set-up.
      Differences and similarities between the bis(sulfito-kappaS)mercurate(II) anions
      in the title compound and those in the related salts (NH(4))(2)[Hg(SO(3))(2)] and
      Na(2)[Hg(SO(3))(2)].H(2)O are discussed.

PMID- 20921599
TI  - Mg5TiO4(BO3)2.
AB  - Single crystals of pentamagnesium titanium(IV) tetraoxide bis(borate),
      Mg(5)TiO(4)(BO(3))(2), were prepared by slow cooling of the melt from 1623 K in
      air. The crystal is isostructural with the mineral ludwigite (Mg(2)FeO(2)BO(3)).
      The Mg and Ti atoms are coordinated by six O atoms and the B atom is coordinated
      by three O atoms. There are three Mg sites and one mixed site statistically
      occupied by Mg and Ti atoms. Atoms are at the following special positions: 2a (0,
      0, 0) and 2d (0, 1/2, 1/2) for two Mg atoms, 4g (x, y, 0) for the mixed Ti/Mg
      site and the BO(3) group, and 4h (x, y, 1/2) for a third Mg and two oxide O
      atoms. MgO(6) and (Ti/Mg)O(6) octahedra are connected by sharing of edges to form
      zigzag folding layers along the c axis. Triangular prismatic tunnels are formed
      between the folding layers by sharing apical O atoms of the MgO(6) and
      (Ti/Mg)O(6) octahedra.

PMID- 20921600
TI  - The novel arsenate Na4Co(7-x)Al(2/3x)(AsO4)6 (x = 1.37): crystal structure,
      charge-distribution and bond-valence-sum investigations.
AB  - The title compound, tetrasodium cobalt aluminium hexaarsenate, Na(4)Co(7
      x)Al(2/3x)(AsO(4))(6) (x = 1.37), is isostructural with K(4)Ni(7)(AsO(4))(6);
      however, in its crystal structure, some of the Co(2+) ions are substituted by
      Al(3+) in a fully occupied octahedral site (site symmetry 2/m) and a partially
      occupied tetrahedral site (site symmetry 2). A third octahedral site is fully
      occupied by Co(2+) ions only. One of the two independent tetrahedral As atoms and
      two of its attached O atoms reside on a mirror plane, as do two of the three
      independent Na(+) cations, all of which are present at half-occupancy. The
      proposed structural model based on a careful investigation of the crystal data is
      supported by charge-distribution (CHARDI) analysis and bond-valence-sum (BVS)
      calculations. The correlation between the X-ray refinement and the validation
      results is discussed.

PMID- 20921601
TI  - A new [(1R,2R)-1,2-diaminocyclohexane]platinum(II) complex: formation by nitrate
      acetonitrile ligand exchange.
AB  - The title compound, cis-diacetonitrile[(1R,2R)-1,2-diaminocyclohexane
      kappa(2)N,N']platinum(II) dinitrate monohydrate,
      [Pt(C(2)H(3)N)(2)(C(6)H(14)N(2))](NO(3))(2).H(2)O, is a molecular salt of the
      diaminocyclohexane-Pt complex cation. There are two formula units in the
      asymmetric unit. Apart from the two charge-balancing nitrate anions, one neutral
      molecule of water is present. The components interact via N-H...O and O-H...O
      hydrogen bonds, resulting in supramolecular chains. The title compound
      crystallizes only from acetonitrile with residual water, with the acetonitrile
      coordinating to the molecule of cis-[Pt(NO(3))(2)(DACH)] (DACH is 1,2
      diaminocyclohexane) and the water forming a monohydrate.

PMID- 20921602
TI  - catena-Poly[thorium(IV)-tetrakis(MU(2)-3-carboxyadamantane-1-carboxylato)]: a
      quadruple helical strand driven by a synergy of coordination and hydrogen
      bonding.
AB  - The title compound, [Th(C(12)H(15)O(4))(4)](n), is the first homoleptic thorium
      carboxylate coordination polymer. It has a one-dimensional structure supported by
      the bidentate bridging coordination of the singly charged 3-carboxyadamantane-1
      carboxylate (HADC(-)) anions. The metal ion is situated on a fourfold axis (site
      symmetry 4) and possesses a square-antiprismatic ThO(8) coordination, including
      four bonds to anionic carboxylate groups [Th-O = 2.359 (2) A] and four to neutral
      carboxyl groups [Th-O = 2.426 (2) A], while a strong hydrogen bond between these
      two kinds of O-atom donor [O...O = 2.494 (3) A] affords planar pseudo-chelated
      Th{CO(2)...HO(2)C} cycles. This combination of coordination and hydrogen bonding
      is responsible for the generation of quadruple helical strands of HADC(-)
      ligands, which are wrapped around a linear chain of Th(IV) ions [Th...Th = 7.5240
      (4) A] defining the helical axis.

PMID- 20921603
TI  - Bis{MU-2-[(2-carbamoylhydrazin-1-ylidene)methyl]phenolato}bis[chloridozinc(II)]
      methanol disolvate, with non-aromatic-aromatic pi-pi stacking and N-H...Cl-Zn
      hydrogen bonding.
AB  - Centrosymmetric dimers of Zn(II) with singly deprotonated 2-[(2-carbamoylhydrazin
      1-ylidene)methyl]phenolate, [Zn(2)(C(8)H(8)N(3)O(2))Cl(2)].2CH(3)OH, form an
      infinite one-dimensional hydrogen-bonded chain which is further aggregated by non
      aromatic-aromatic pi-pi stacking and nonclassical N-H...Cl hydrogen bonding.

PMID- 20921604
TI  - A two-dimensional Zn(II) coordination polymer constructed by benzotriazole-5
      carboxylate and 1,4,8,9-tetraazatriphenylene.
AB  - Poly[[(MU(3)-benzotriazole-5-carboxylato-kappa(4)N(1):N(3):O,O')(1,4,8,9
      tetraazatriphenylene-kappa(2)N(8),N(9))zinc(II)] 0.25-hydrate],
      {[Zn(C(7)H(3)N(3)O(2))(C(14)H(8)N(4))].0.25H(2)O}(n), exhibits a two-dimensional
      layer structure in which the asymmetric unit contains one Zn(II) centre, one
      1,4,8,9-tetraazatriphenylene (TATP) ligand, one benzotriazole-5-carboxylate
      (btca) ligand and 0.25 solvent water molecules. Each Zn(II) ion is six
      coordinated and surrounded by four N atoms from two different btca ligands and
      one chelating TATP ligand, and by two O atoms from a third btca ligand, to
      furnish a distorted octahedral geometry. The infinite connection of the metal
      ions and ligands forms a two-dimensional wave-like (6,3) layer structure.
      Adjacent layers are connected by C-H...N hydrogen bonds. The solvent water
      molecules are located in partially occupied sites between parallel pairs of
      inversion-related TATP ligands that belong to two separate layers.

PMID- 20921605
TI  - A new coordination complex based on a polynitrile ligand: bis(4-amino-3,5-di-2
      pyridyl-4H-1,2,4-triazole)diaquairon(II) bis(1,1,3,3-tetracyano-2
      methylsulfanylpropenide).
AB  - The new high-spin iron(II) complex,
      [Fe(C(12)H(10)N(6))(2)(H(2)O)(2)](C(8)H(3)N(4)S)(2) or
      [Fe(abpt)(2)(H(2)O)(2)](tcnsme)(2) [where abpt is 4-amino-3,5-di-2-pyridyl-4H
      1,2,4-triazole and tcnsme is the 1,1,3,3-tetracyano-2-methylthiopropenide anion],
      consists of discrete [Fe(abpt)(2)(H(2)O)(2)](2+) dications, where the Fe(II) ion
      is coordinated by two N,N'-bidentate chelating abpt ligands in the equatorial
      plane and two water molecules in trans positions, generating a distorted
      octahedral [FeN(4)O(2)] environment. The cationic unit is neutralized by two
      polynitrile tcnsme anions, in which the C-N, C-C and C-S bond lengths indicate
      extensive electronic delocalization. In the crystal structure, the dications and
      anions are linked through O-H...N and N-H...N hydrogen bonds involving the water
      H atoms and those of the NH(2) groups and the N atoms of the CN groups, leading
      to the formation of a three-dimensional network.

PMID- 20921606
TI  - An optically pure P-alkene-ligated Ir(I) complex.
AB  - The asymmetric unit of (P)-chloridobis[(S)-(+)-5-(3,5-dioxa-4
      phosphacyclohepta[2,1-a:3,4-a']dinaphthalen-4-yl)dibenz[b,f]azepine]iridium(I)
      benzene-pentane (1/1/1), [IrCl(C(34)H(22)NO(2)P)(2)].C(6)H(6).C(5)H(12), contains
      two formula units. The two symmetry-independent molecules of the Ir complex have
      similar conformations and approximate C(2) symmetry, with small deviations
      arising from slightly different puckering of the seven-membered
      dioxaphosphacycloheptadiene rings. The Ir atoms have trigonal-bipyramidal
      coordination geometry, with the P atoms in axial positions. The steric strain of
      the bidentate coordination of the P-alkene ligand through its P and alkene C
      atoms causes the N atom to have pyramidal geometry, compared with the trigonal
      planar geometry observed in the free ligand. The coordination also results in an
      anti conformation of the binaphthyl and alkene groups within the P-alkene ligand.

PMID- 20921607
TI  - A urea adduct of bis(hinokitiolato)copper(II).
AB  - Bis(MU(2)-3-isopropyl-7-oxocyclohepta-1,3,5-trien-1-olato)bis[(3-isopropyl-7
      oxocyclohepta-1,3,5-trien-1-olato)copper(II)]-urea-acetone (1/6/2),
      [Cu(2)(C(10)H(11)O(2))(4)].6CH(4)N(2)O.2C(3)H(6)O, where 3-isopropyl-7
      oxocyclohepta-1,3,5-trien-1-olate is the systematic name for the hinokitiolate
      anion, contains three novel structural features. First, it contains a
      bis(hinokitiolato)copper(II) dimer, [Cu(hino)(2)](2), unlike any other,
      demonstrating that linkage isomerism is another avenue by which Cu(hino)(2) can
      transmute from one form to another. Second, [Cu(hino)(2)](2) is hydrogen bonded
      to two urea molecules, indicating that hydrogen bonding cannot yet be discounted
      from any proposed mechanism of action for the antimicrobial and antiviral
      properties of bis(hinokitiolato)copper(II). Finally, corrugated urea layers
      crosslinked by [Cu(hino)(2)](2) dimers are observed, suggesting that a new family
      of host-guest materials, i.e. metallo-urea clathrates, exists to challenge our
      understanding of crystal engineering and crystal growth and design. Selected
      details of the structure are that the [Cu(hino)(2)](2) dimers possess
      crystallographic inversion symmetry, the Cu atoms have square-pyramidal
      coordination geometries, the basal Cu-O bonds are in the range 1.916 (2)-1.931
      (2) A, the apical Cu-O bond length is 2.582 (2) A, the hinokitiolate bite angles
      are in the range 83.41 (7)-83.96 (8) degrees , the urea-Cu(hino)(2) interactions
      have an R(2)(2)(8) motif, and the urea layers result from the close packing of
      R(8)(6)(28) 'butterflies' and R(8)(6)(24) 'strips of tape'.

PMID- 20921608
TI  - The first square-planar copper(II) 1:2 complex with differently coordinated 2
      hydroxybenzaldehyde 4-allylthiosemicarbazone ligands.
AB  - The title compound, [(Z)-4-allyl-2-(2-hydroxybenzylidene)thiosemicarbazide
      kappaS][(E)-4-allyl-1-(2-oxidobenzylidene)thiosemicarbazidato
      kappa(3)O,N(1),S]copper(II) monohydrate,
      [Cu(C(11)H(11)N(3)OS)(C(11)H(13)N(3)OS)].H(2)O, crystallized as a rotational twin
      in the monoclinic crystal system (space group Cc) with two formula unit (Z' = 2)
      in the asymmetric unit, one of which contains an allyl substituent disordered
      over two positions. The Cu(II) atom exhibits a distorted square-planar geometry
      involving two differently coordinated thiosemicarbazone ligands. One ligand is
      bonded to the Cu(II) atom in a tridentate manner via the phenolate O, azomethine
      N and thioamide S atoms, while the other coordinates in a monodentate manner via
      the S atom only. The complex is stabilized by an intramolecular hydrogen bond,
      which creates a six-membered pseudo-chelate metalla-ring. The structure analysis
      indicates the presence of the E isomer for the tridentate ligand and the Z isomer
      for the monodentate ligand. The crystal structure contains a three-dimensional
      network built from intermolecular O-H...O, N-H...O, O-H...N and N-H...S hydrogen
      bonds.

PMID- 20921609
TI  - A low-temperature phase of bis(tetrabutylammonium) octa-MU(3)-chlorido
      hexachlorido-octahedro-hexatungstate.
AB  - The title compound, (C(16)H(36)N)(2)[W(6)Cl(14)], undergoes a reversible phase
      transition at 268 (1) K. The structure at 150 and 200 K has monoclinic (P2(1)/c)
      symmetry. Both crystallographically independent tungsten chloride cluster anions
      sit on crystallographic inversion centers [symmetry codes: (-x, -y + 1, -z) and (
      x + 1, -y + 2, -z)]. Two previous studies at room temperature describe the
      structure in the space group P2(1)/n with a unit-cell volume approximately half
      the size of the low-temperature unit cell [Zietlow, Schaefer et al. (1986).
      Inorg. Chem. 25, 2195-2198; Venkataraman et al. (1999). Inorg. Chem. 38, 828
      830]. The unit cells of the room- and low-temperature polymorphs are closely
      related. The hydrocarbon chain of one of the tetrabutylammonium cations is
      disordered at both 150 and 200 K.

PMID- 20921610
TI  - (Acetato-kappa2O,O')dihydroxidoytterbium(III) hemihydrate.
AB  - The title compound, [Yb(C(2)H(3)O(2))(OH)(2)].0.5H(2)O, was obtained via
      hydrothermal reaction of Yb(CH(3)COO)(3).H(2)O with NaOH at 443 K. The compound
      forms two-dimensional layers with six crystallographically independent Yb(III)
      atoms. Four of these form YbO(8) coordination polyhedra, while the coordination
      number of the remaining two Yb(III) atoms is 7. Five of these coordination
      polyhedra are interconnected mainly via hydroxide groups, as they build a narrow
      inner layer that extends infinitely within the ab plane. The sixth Yb(III) atom
      resides outside this inner layer and builds a terminal YbO(8) coordination
      polyhedron on the layer surface. Its coordination environment comprises four
      carboxylate O atoms belonging to three different acetate entities, three
      hydroxide groups and one water molecule. Adjacent layers experience weak
      interactions via hydrogen bonds. The Yb-O distances lie in the range 2.232 (4)
      2.613 (5) A.

PMID- 20921611
TI  - Poly[(MU4-biphenyl-3,3',4,4'-tetracarboxylato)bis[MU2-1,4-bis(imidazol-1
      ylmethyl)benzene]dicobalt(II)].
AB  - The asymmetric unit of the title two-dimensional coordination polymer,
      [Co(2)(C(16)H(6)O(8))(C(14)H(14)N(4))(2)](n), contains one Co(2+) ion, half of a
      biphenyl-3,3',4,4'-tetracarboxylate (bptc) anion lying about an inversion centre
      and one 1,4-bis(imidazol-1-ylmethyl)benzene (bix) ligand. The Co(II) atom is
      coordinated by three carboxylate O atoms from two different bptc ligands and two
      N atoms from two bix ligands constructing a distorted square pyramid. Each Co(2+)
      ion is interlinked by two bptc anions, while each bptc anion coordinates to four
      Co atoms as a hexadentate ligand so that four Co(II) atoms and four bptc anions
      afford a larger 38-membered ring. These inorganic rings are further extended into
      a two-dimensional undulated network in the (101) plane. Two Co(II) atoms in
      adjacent 38-membered rings are joined together by pairs of bix ligands forming a
      26-membered [Co(2)(bix)(2)] ring that is penetrated by a bptc anion; these
      components share a common inversion centre.

PMID- 20921612
TI  - Structural properties of trans-cyclohexane-1,2-diamine complexes of copper(II)
      and zinc(II) acesulfamates.
AB  - The title compounds, trans-bis(trans-cyclohexane-1,2-diamine)bis(6-methyl-2,2,4
      trioxo-3,4-dihydro-1,2,3-oxathiazin-3-ido)copper(II),
      [Cu(C(4)H(4)NO(4)S)(2)(C(6)H(14)N(2))(2)], (I), and trans-diaquabis(cyclohexane
      1,2-diamine)zinc(II) 6-methyl-2,2,4-trioxo-3,4-dihydro-1,2,3-oxathiazin-3-ide
      dihydrate, [Zn(C(6)H(14)N(2))(2)(H(2)O)(2)](C(4)H(4)NO(4)S)(2).2H(2)O, (II), are
      two-dimensional hydrogen-bonded supramolecular complexes. In (I), the Cu(II) ion
      resides on a centre of symmetry in a neutral complex, in a tetragonally distorted
      octahedral coordination environment comprising four amine N atoms from
      cyclohexane-1,2-diamine ligands and two N atoms of two acesulfamate ligands.
      Intermolecular N-H...O and C-H...O hydrogen bonds produce R(2)(2)(12) motif rings
      which lead to two-dimensional polymeric networks. In contrast, the Zn(II) ion in
      (II) resides on a centre of symmetry in a complex dication with a less distorted
      octahedral coordination environment comprising four amine N atoms from
      cyclohexane-1,2-diamine ligands and two O atoms from aqua ligands. In (II), an
      extensive two-dimensional network of N-H...O, O-H...O and C-H...O hydrogen bonds
      includes R(2)(1)(6) and R(4)(4)(16) motif rings.

PMID- 20921613
TI  - Two isomorphous azastilbene derivatives: 1-(2-chlorobenzyl)-4-[(E)-2-(4
      hydroxyphenyl)ethenyl]pyridinium chloride and 1-(2-bromobenzyl)-4-[(E)-2-(4
      hydroxyphenyl)ethenyl]pyridinium bromide.
AB  - The crystal structures of the two title (E)-stilbazolium halogenates,
      C(20)H(17)ClNO(+).Cl(-) and C(20)H(17)BrNO(+).Br(-), are isomorphous, with an
      isostructurality index of 0.985. The azastyryl fragments are almost planar, with
      dihedral angles between the benzene and pyridine rings of ca 4.5 degrees . The
      rings of the benzyl groups are, in turn, almost perpendicular to the azastyryl
      planes, with dihedral angles larger than 80 degrees . The cations and anions are
      connected by O-H...X(-) (X = halogen) hydrogen bonds. The halide anions are
      'sandwiched' between the charged pyridinium rings of neighbouring molecules, and
      weak C-H...O hydrogen bonds and C-H...X and C-H...pi interactions also contribute
      to the crystal structures.

PMID- 20921614
TI  - 4-Deoxy-4-fluoro-beta-D-glucopyranose.
AB  - 4-Deoxy-4-fluoro-beta-D-glucopyranose, C(6)H(11)FO(5), (I), crystallizes from
      water at room temperature in a slightly distorted (4)C(1) chair conformation. The
      observed chair distortion differs from that observed in beta-D-glucopyranose
      [Kouwijzer, van Eijck, Kooijman & Kroon (1995). Acta Cryst. B51, 209-220], (II),
      with the former skewed toward a B(C3,O5) (boat) conformer and the latter toward
      an (O5)TB(C2) (twist-boat) conformer, based on Cremer-Pople analysis. The
      exocyclic hydroxymethyl group conformations in (I) and (II) are similar; in both
      cases, the O-C-C-O torsion angle is ~-60 degrees  (gg conformer). Intermolecular
      hydrogen bonding in the crystal structures of (I) and (II) is conserved in that
      identical patterns of donors and acceptors are observed for the exocyclic
      substituents and the ring O atom of each monosaccharide. Inspection of the
      crystal packing structures of (I) and (II) reveals an essentially identical
      packing configuration.

PMID- 20921615
TI  - 6-[(4-Fluorophenyl)(1H-imidazol-1-yl)methyl]-1,3-benzodioxol-5-ol and 6-[(4
      methoxyphenyl)(1H-imidazol-1-yl)methyl]-1,3-benzodioxol-5-ol.
AB  - The title compounds, C(17)H(13)FN(2)O(3) and C(18)H(16)N(2)O(4), are new potent
      aromatase inhibitors combining the common features of second- and third
      generation nonsteroid anti-aromatase compounds. The molecules have a propeller
      shape, with dihedral angles between adjacent planes in the range 49-86 degrees .
      A quantum mechanical ab initio Roothaan-Hartree-Fock calculation for the isolated
      molecules shows values for these angles close to the ideal value of 90 degrees .
      Docking studies of the molecules in the aromatase substrate show that their
      strong inhibitor potency can be attributed to molecular flexibility, hydrophobic
      interactions, heme Fe coordination and hydrogen bonding.

PMID- 20921616
TI  - 7-Amino-2-methylsulfanyl-1,2,4-triazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidine-6-carboxylic acid as the
      dimethylformamide and water monosolvates at 293 K.
AB  - The molecular structure of 7-amino-2-methylsulfanyl-1,2,4-triazolo[1,5
      a]pyrimidine-6-carboxylic acid is reported in two crystal environments, viz. as
      the dimethylformamide (DMF) monosolvate, C(7)H(7)N(5)O(2)S.C(3)H(7)NO, (I), and
      as the monohydrate, C(7)H(7)N(5)O(2)S.H(2)O, (II), both at 293 (2) K. The
      triazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidine molecule is of interest with respect to the possible
      biological activity of its coordination compounds. While the DMF solvate exhibits
      a layered structural arrangement through N...O hydrogen-bonding interactions, the
      monohydrate displays a network of intermolecular O...O and N...O hydrogen bonds
      assisted by cocrystallized water molecules and weak pi-pi stacking interactions,
      leading to a different three-dimensional supramolecular architecture. Based on
      results from topological analyses of the electron-density distribution in X-H...O
      (X = O, N and C) regions, hydrogen-bonding energies have been estimated from
      structural information only, enabling the characterization of hydrogen-bond graph
      energies.

PMID- 20921617
TI  - Two three-dimensional networks in two polymorphs of biphenyl-4,4'-diaminium bis(3
      carboxy-4-hydroxybenzenesulfonate) dihydrate.
AB  - Two polymorphs of biphenyl-4,4'-diaminium bis(3-carboxy-4
      hydroxybenzenesulfonate) dihydrate, C(12)H(14)N(2)(2+).2C(7)H(5)O(6)S(-).2H(2)O,
      have been obtained and crystallographically characterized. Polymorph (I)
      crystallizes in the space group P2(1)/c with Z' = 2 and polymorph (II) in the
      space group P-1 with Z' = 0.5. The benzidinium cation in (II) is located on a
      crystallographic inversion centre. In both (I) and (II), the sulfonic acid H
      atoms are transferred to the benzidine N atoms, forming dihydrated 1:2 molecular
      adducts (base-acid). In the crystal packings of (I) and (II), the component ions
      are linked into three-dimensional networks by combinations of X-H...O (X = O, N
      and C) hydrogen bonds. In addition, pi-pi interactions are observed in (I)
      between inversion-related benzene rings [centroid-centroid distances = 3.632 (2)
      and 3.627 (2) A]. In order to simplify the complex three-dimensional networks in
      (I) and (II), we also give their rationalized topological analyses.

PMID- 20921618
TI  - Unconventional hydrogen bonding and pi-stacking in two substituted pyridine
      carboxamides.
AB  - The crystal structures of two para-substituted aryl derivatives of pyridine-2
      carboxamide, namely N-(4-fluorophenyl)pyridine-2-carboxamide, C(12)H(9)FN(2)O,
      (I), and N-(4-nitrophenyl)pyridine-2-carboxamide, C(12)H(9)N(3)O(3), (II), have
      been studied. Compound (I) exhibits unconventional aryl-carbonyl C-H...O and
      pyridine-fluorine C-H...F hydrogen bonding in two dimensions and well defined pi
      stacking involving pyridine rings in the third dimension. The conformation of
      (II) is more nearly planar than that of (I) and the intermolecular interactions
      comprise one-dimensional aryl-carbonyl C-H...O hydrogen bonds leading to a
      stepped or staircase-like progression of loosely pi-stacked molecules. The close
      packed layers of planar pi-stacked molecules are related by inversion symmetry.
      Two alternating interplanar separations of 3.439 (1) and 3.476 (1) A are observed
      in the crystal lattice and are consistent with a repetitive packing sequence,
      ABA'B'AB..., for the pi-stacked inversion pairs of (II).

PMID- 20921619
TI  - 6,6'-Dimethoxygossypolone.
AB  - 6,6'-Dimethoxygossypolone (systematic name: 7,7'-dihydroxy-5,5'-diisopropyl-6,6'
      dimethoxy-3,3'-dimethyl-1,1',4,4'-tetraoxo-2,2'-binaphthalene-8,8'
      dicarbaldehyde), C(32)H(30)O(10), is a dimeric molecule formed by oxidation of
      6,6'-dimethoxygossypol. When crystallized from acetone, 6,6'-dimethoxygossypolone
      has monoclinic (P2(1)/c) symmetry, and there are two molecules within the
      asymmetric unit. Of the four independent quinoid rings, three display flattened
      boat conformations and one displays a flattened chair/half-chair conformation.
      The angles between the planes of the two bridged naphthoquinone structures are
      fairly acute, with values of about 68 and 69 degrees . The structure has several
      intramolecular O-H...O and C-H...O hydrogen bonds and several weak intermolecular
      C-H...O hydrogen bonds, but no intermolecular O-H...O hydrogen bonds.

PMID- 20921620
TI  - 2-Cyano-N-(4,6-dimethoxypyrimidin-2-yl)acetamide: complex sheets built from N
      H...O and C-H...O hydrogen bonds.
AB  - Molecules of the title compound, C(9)H(10)N(4)O(3), (I), are linked into complex
      sheets by a combination of one N-H...O hydrogen bond and two C-H...O hydrogen
      bonds. Comparisons are drawn between (I) and some related compounds in respect of
      both their molecular conformations and their hydrogen-bonding arrangements.

PMID- 20921621
TI  - N,N-diphenylbenzamide.
AB  - In the title compound, C(19)H(15)NO, the neutral molecules are held together in
      the crystal structure by very weak C-H...O interactions, giving rise to a linear
      chain-like structure. The structure of the molecule has been optimized using
      density functional theory at the B3LYP/6-31G(d) level and this is compared with
      the molecular structure in the solid state. The two structures show significant
      differences in the relative orientations of the aromatic rings, which is
      interesting for further supramolecular study. Apart from the crystal structure
      analysis, powder X-ray diffraction, UV-visible and thermogravimetric analyses of
      the compound have been carried out.

PMID- 20921622
TI  - Molecular profiling of cytomegalovirus-induced human CD8+ T cell differentiation.
AB  - CD8+ T cells play a critical role in the immune response to viral pathogens.
      Persistent human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection results in a strong increase in
      the number of virus-specific, quiescent effector-type CD8+ T cells with
      constitutive cytolytic activity, but the molecular pathways involved in the
      induction and maintenance of these cells are unknown. We show here that HCMV
      infection induced acute and lasting changes in the transcriptomes of virus
      reactive T cells collected from HCMV-seropositive patients at distinct stages of
      infection. Enhanced cell cycle and metabolic activity was restricted to the acute
      phase of the response, but at all stages, HCMV-specific CD8+ T cells expressed
      the Th1-associated transcription factors T-bet (TBX21) and eomesodermin (EOMES),
      in parallel with continuous expression of IFNG mRNA and IFN-gamma-regulated
      genes. The cytolytic proteins granzyme B and perforin as well as the fractalkine
      binding chemokine receptor CX3CR1 were found in virus-reactive cells throughout
      the response. During HCMV latency, virus-specific CD8+ T cells lacked the typical
      features of exhausted cells found in other chronic infections. Persistent
      effector cell traits together with the permanent changes in chemokine receptor
      usage of virus-specific, nonexhausted, long-lived CD8+ T cells may be crucial to
      maintain lifelong protection from HCMV reactivation.

PMID- 20921623
TI  - Lipocalin 2 is essential for chronic kidney disease progression in mice and
      humans.
AB  - Mechanisms of progression of chronic kidney disease (CKD), a major health care
      burden, are poorly understood. EGFR stimulates CKD progression, but the molecular
      networks that mediate its biological effects remain unknown. We recently showed
      that the severity of renal lesions after nephron reduction varied substantially
      among mouse strains and required activation of EGFR. Here, we utilized two mouse
      strains that react differently to nephron reduction--FVB/N mice, which develop
      severe renal lesions, and B6D2F1 mice, which are resistant to early deterioration
      -coupled with genome-wide expression to elucidate the molecular nature of CKD
      progression. Our results showed that lipocalin 2 (Lcn2, also known as neutrophil
      gelatinase-associated lipocalin [NGAL]), the most highly upregulated gene in the
      FVB/N strain, was not simply a marker of renal lesions, but an active player in
      disease progression. In fact, the severity of renal lesions was dramatically
      reduced in Lcn2-/- mice. We discovered that Lcn2 expression increased upon EGFR
      activation and that Lcn2 mediated its mitogenic effect during renal
      deterioration. EGFR inhibition prevented Lcn2 upregulation and lesion development
      in mice expressing a dominant negative EGFR isoform, and hypoxia-inducible factor
      1alpha (Hif-1alpha) was crucially required for EGFR-induced Lcn2 overexpression.
      Consistent with this, cell proliferation was dramatically reduced in Lcn2-/-
      mice. These data are relevant to human CKD, as we found that LCN2 was increased
      particularly in patients who rapidly progressed to end-stage renal failure.
      Together our results uncover what we believe to be a novel function for Lcn2 and
      a critical pathway leading to progressive renal failure and cystogenesis.

PMID- 20921624
TI  - Placental growth factor mediates aldosterone-dependent vascular injury in mice.
AB  - In clinical trials, aldosterone antagonists reduce cardiovascular ischemia and
      mortality by unknown mechanisms. Aldosterone is a steroid hormone that signals
      through renal mineralocorticoid receptors (MRs) to regulate blood pressure. MRs
      are expressed and regulate gene transcription in human vascular cells, suggesting
      that aldosterone might have direct vascular effects. Using gene expression
      profiling, we identify the pro-proliferative VEGF family member placental growth
      factor (PGF) as an aldosterone-regulated vascular MR target gene in mice and
      humans. Aldosterone-activated vascular MR stimulated Pgf gene transcription and
      increased PGF protein expression and secretion in the mouse vasculature. In mouse
      vessels with endothelial damage and human vessels from patients with
      atherosclerosis, aldosterone enhanced expression of PGF and its receptor, FMS
      like tyrosine kinase 1 (Flt1). In atherosclerotic human vessels, MR antagonists
      inhibited PGF expression. In vivo, aldosterone infusion augmented vascular
      remodeling in mouse carotids following wire injury, an effect that was lost in
      Pgf-/- mice. In summary, we have identified PGF as what we believe to be a novel
      downstream target of vascular MR that mediates aldosterone augmentation of
      vascular injury. These findings suggest a non-renal mechanism for the vascular
      protective effects of aldosterone antagonists in humans and support targeting the
      vascular aldosterone/MR/PGF/Flt1 pathway as a therapeutic strategy for ischemic
      cardiovascular disease.

PMID- 20921625
TI  - MAPK phosphatase-3 promotes hepatic gluconeogenesis through dephosphorylation of
      forkhead box O1 in mice.
AB  - Insulin resistance results in dysregulated hepatic gluconeogenesis that
      contributes to obesity-related hyperglycemia and progression of type 2 diabetes
      mellitus (T2DM). Recent studies show that MAPK phosphatase-3 (MKP-3) promotes
      gluconeogenic gene transcription in hepatoma cells, but little is known about the
      physiological role of MKP-3 in vivo. Here, we have shown that expression of MKP-3
      is markedly increased in the liver of diet-induced obese mice. Consistent with
      this, adenovirus-mediated MKP-3 overexpression in lean mice promoted
      gluconeogenesis and increased fasting blood glucose levels. Conversely, shRNA
      knockdown of MKP-3 in both lean and obese mice resulted in decreased fasting
      blood glucose levels. In vitro experiments identified forkhead box O1 (FOXO1) as
      a substrate for MKP-3. MKP-3-mediated dephosphorylation of FOXO1 at Ser256
      promoted its nuclear translocation and subsequent recruitment to the promoters of
      key gluconeogenic genes. In addition, we showed that PPARgamma coactivator-1alpha
      (PGC-1alpha) acted downstream of FOXO1 to mediate MKP-3-induced gluconeogenesis.
      These data indicate that MKP-3 is an important regulator of hepatic
      gluconeogenesis in vivo and suggest that inhibition of MKP-3 activity may provide
      new therapies for T2DM.

PMID- 20921626
TI  - Cytokinesis failure occurs in Fanconi anemia pathway-deficient murine and human
      bone marrow hematopoietic cells.
AB  - Fanconi anemia (FA) is a genomic instability disorder characterized by bone
      marrow failure and cancer predisposition. FA is caused by mutations in any one of
      several genes that encode proteins cooperating in a repair pathway and is
      required for cellular resistance to DNA crosslinking agents. Recent studies
      suggest that the FA pathway may also play a role in mitosis, since FANCD2 and
      FANCI, the 2 key FA proteins, are localized to the extremities of ultrafine DNA
      bridges (UFBs), which link sister chromatids during cell division. However,
      whether FA proteins regulate cell division remains unclear. Here we have shown
      that FA pathway-deficient cells display an increased number of UFBs compared with
      FA pathway-proficient cells. The UFBs were coated by BLM (the RecQ helicase
      mutated in Bloom syndrome) in early mitosis. In contrast, the FA protein FANCM
      was recruited to the UFBs at a later stage. The increased number of bridges in FA
      pathway-deficient cells correlated with a higher rate of cytokinesis failure
      resulting in binucleated cells. Binucleated cells were also detectable in primary
      murine FA pathway-deficient hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) and bone marrow
      stromal cells from human patients with FA. Based on these observations, we
      suggest that cytokinesis failure followed by apoptosis may contribute to bone
      marrow failure in patients with FA.

PMID- 20921629
TI  - Autologous thin thiersch's grafts in vitiligo: experience of 8000 cases, 50000
      grafts (1959-98) with modified technique in 198 cases in the year 1997-98.
AB  - The present study, spread over past four decades of experience gathered after
      operating 8000 stable vitiligo patients, reaffirms the value of thin Thiersch's
      grafts in treating this disfiguring disease. Under experienced hands, the success
      rate can be over 95%. However, selection of the patient, quality of the graft and
      the state of the donor and recipient sites can affect the final outcome.

PMID- 20921627
TI  - Distinct growth hormone receptor signaling modes regulate skeletal muscle
      development and insulin sensitivity in mice.
AB  - Skeletal muscle development, nutrient uptake, and nutrient utilization is largely
      coordinated by growth hormone (GH) and its downstream effectors, in particular,
      IGF-1. However, it is not clear which effects of GH on skeletal muscle are direct
      and which are secondary to GH-induced IGF-1 expression. Thus, we generated mice
      lacking either GH receptor (GHR) or IGF-1 receptor (IGF-1R) specifically in
      skeletal muscle. Both exhibited impaired skeletal muscle development
      characterized by reductions in myofiber number and area as well as accompanying
      deficiencies in functional performance. Defective skeletal muscle development, in
      both GHR and IGF-1R mutants, was attributable to diminished myoblast fusion and
      associated with compromised nuclear factor of activated T cells import and
      activity. Strikingly, mice lacking GHR developed metabolic features that were not
      observed in the IGF-1R mutants, including marked peripheral adiposity, insulin
      resistance, and glucose intolerance. Insulin resistance in GHR-deficient myotubes
      derived from reduced IR protein abundance and increased inhibitory
      phosphorylation of IRS-1 on Ser 1101. These results identify distinct signaling
      pathways through which GHR regulates skeletal muscle development and modulates
      nutrient metabolism.

PMID- 20921630
TI  - Short term treatment of pityrosporum folliculitis with itraconazole.
AB  - We compared the efficacy and safely of short-term itraconazole with that of
      placebo in 26 patients of pityrosporum folliculitis. Twenty-six patients of
      mycologically proven pityrosporum folliculitis entered a double-blind placebo
      controlled trial. Patients were randomly assigned to 7 days of treatment with
      either itraconazole, 200 mg once daily, or placebo. A global clinical assessment
      and mycological examination (KOH and smear examination) were performed at
      baseline and at 4 weeks after treatment. In this study, itraconazole in a dose of
      200 mg for 7 days produced a distinct and statistically significant improvement
      over placebo (p<0.01). 84.6% of itraconazole treated patients were considered to
      be healed or markedly improved at the study's end point compared with 8.3% of
      placebo treated group (p<0.01). Eighty-four percent of patients receiving active
      treatment showed negative mycological examination as compared to 8.3% of placebo
      treated group (p<0.01). Short-term treatment with itraconazole is effective and
      well tolerated in the management of pityrosporum folliculitis.

PMID- 20921631
TI  - Dermatoses of the hand-an observation.
AB  - After going through 1000 case files of patients registered in the skin department
      of K.M.C. Hospital, it was found that 166 (16.6%) of them had dermatoses
      restricted to their hands. Based on the clinical findings and clinical diagnosis
      recorded, the various dermatoses were tabulated and evaluated. Ninety-two males
      and 74 females had dermatoses of hands. Warts and eczemas formed the major chunk
      of cases. Females out numbered males among patients with warts and eczemas.

PMID- 20921632
TI  - Prevalence of various dermatoses in school children.
AB  - In a school survey of 1161 children from 2 different schools studying in 1st to
      5th standard between the age of 6 and 12 years, 890 (76.65%) students were found
      to have disorders of skin and its appendage. Most of the dermatoses were
      asymptomatic and were diagnosed in the routine examination. Nevoid conditions
      were seen in 255 (21.96%) students. Communicable dermatoses were noted in 221
      (19%) students and nutritional deficiencies were seen in 78 (6.71%) students.
      Rest of the students had miscellaneous condition. Health education and good
      personal hygiene will definitely help to improve the health status of the school
      children.

PMID- 20921633
TI  - Assessment of the aetiological factors of non-specific (non gonococcal)
      urethritis, taking burning micturition as criteria.
AB  - Out of 90 cases of non-specific urethritis investigated, aetiological factors
      could be found in 58 cases. However, in 45 cases i.e. 50%, the causative factors
      turned out to be common factors like pyogenic, fungal, and trichomonal infections
      only.

PMID- 20921634
TI  - Hiv infection in patients of sexually transmitted disease.
AB  - A total of 1027 male patients suffering from sexually transmitted diseases (STD)
      during 1990 to 1996 were screened for HIV infection. All cases were in the age
      group 17 years to 48 years. One hundred and sixty-seven STD cases (16.3%) were
      found to have HIV infection. A rising trend in incidence of HIV infection in STD
      patients from 1990 (2.8%) to 1996 (27.8%) was noticed countrary to declining
      trend of STDs from 213 cases in 1990 to 79 cases in 1996. The incidence of HIV
      infection was 30.3% in lymphogranuloma venereum, 19.5% in chancroid, 13.5% in
      syphilis, 17.6% in herpes genitatis, 6.7% in gonorrhoea and 11.2% in other STD
      cases.

PMID- 20921628
TI  - Specialized roles for cysteine cathepsins in health and disease.
AB  - Cathepsins were originally identified as proteases that act in the lysosome.
      Recent work has uncovered nontraditional roles for cathepsins in the
      extracellular space as well as in the cytosol and nucleus. There is strong
      evidence that subspecialized and compartmentalized cathepsins participate in many
      physiologic and pathophysiologic cellular processes, in which they can act as
      both digestive and regulatory proteases. In this review, we discuss the
      transcriptional and translational control of cathepsin expression, the regulation
      of intracellular sorting of cathepsins, and the structural basis of cathepsin
      activation and inhibition. In particular, we highlight the emerging roles of
      various cathepsin forms in disease, particularly those of the cardiac and renal
      systems.

PMID- 20921635
TI  - Role of laser therapy in post herpetic neuralgia.
AB  - The efficacy of combi laser therpay was evaluated in fifty cases of post
      neuralgia (PHN) of different age groups (31 to 81 years) and with varying
      duration of illness from 2 months to 4 and a half years in the present study. The
      affected areas were irradiated from a distance of 5 cms. using the probe of 12x70
      watts at a frequency of 1000 Hz. each area being exposed for a time period of 5
      minutes and 6 seconds. In each case the combi laser therapy was given for 15
      consecutive days and therapeutic effect of the therapy was evaluated after 5th,
      10th and 15th laser application during the treatment with the help of visual
      analouge scale (VAS). Patients started responding to the therapy after an average
      of 3.28 laser applications and VAS steadily decreased as the therapy progressed.
      After completion of therapy, 43 (86%) out of 50 cases showed excellent relief (76
      100%) and remaining 7 (14%) cases showed partial relief, 4(8%) cases with good
      relief (51-75%), 2 (4%) cases with fair relief (26-50%) and 1(2%) case with poor
      relief (1-25%). Partial relief in our 7 cases could be due to multiple factors
      like prolonged duration of illness, involvement of ophthalmic division of
      trigeminal nerve and formation of scarring and keloids. No side effects were
      observed during the treatment as well as duing the follow up period of 8 weeks.

PMID- 20921636
TI  - Cutaneous tuberculosis in children a clinico-microbiological study.
AB  - Twenty untreated patients of cutaneous tuberculosis varying from 2-12 years of
      age were included in the study. The incidence of cutaneous tuberculosis amongst
      the paediatric dermatological patients was 0.36%. Of these, 10 had lupus
      vulgaris, 8 had scrofuloderma, 3 had tuberculosis verrucosa cutis and 2 had
      lichen scrofulosorum. Three patients concomitantly had more than one type of skin
      tuberculosis. Systemic involvement in the form of pulmonary and osseous system
      was seen in 45% cases. The tuberculin test was uniformly positive. Affirmative
      clinico-histopathological correlation was observed in all the patients. However,
      acid fast bacilli could not be demonstrated in any of the sections. Only one
      patient (scrofuloderma) exhibited AFB on smear examination. In the same patient,
      M. tuberculosis could be cultured on L-J medium. However, Elisa for IgM
      antibodies in serum was positive in 12 (60%) cases. Need for newer techniques in
      the diagnosis is emphasised.

PMID- 20921637
TI  - Cutaneous leishmaniasis with unusual presentation.
AB  - Three cases of cutaneous leishmaniasis with unusual presentation seen at Central
      Hospital Tripoli, Libya are described. Case No. 1 and 2 had 102 and 109
      noduloulcerative lesions with generalized almost bilaterally symmetrical
      distribution, suggestive of dissemination. Case No. 3 had large verrucous
      carcinoma but histopathology suggested lupoid (chronic cutaneous) leishmaniasis.
      Patient No. 2 developed hypersensitivity reaction to sodium stibogluconate after
      10 days but responded well to the treatment. Case No. 2 did not tolerate the
      above treatment and was treated successfully with combination of rifampicin and
      INH. Case No. 3 was treated successfully with liquid nitrogen cryotherapy by
      Cryosurg-Frigitonics, using special open probes.

PMID- 20921638
TI  - Goldenhar syndrome with unusual features.
AB  - We report two cases of Goldenhar syndrome in whom bilateral ocular and auricular
      changes were observed. One patient also had hypertelorism, macrophthalmia and
      bulbous nose.

PMID- 20921639
TI  - De sanctis cacchione syndrome.
AB  - A case of de Sanctis Cacchine syndrome in a female infant is presented.

PMID- 20921640
TI  - Vulval varicosities in pregnancy.
AB  - Vulval varicosities reportedly occurs in pregnant women. We report a case of
      vulval varicosities with associated varicosities of the breast and saphenous
      veins, which regressed completely post partum with conservative management.

PMID- 20921641
TI  - Lepromatous leprosy presenting as a swelling in the neck.
AB  - A 25-year-old electrician presented with gradually, asymptomatic swelling on left
      of the neck since 2 years. The swelling which was initially diagnosed as cervical
      lymphadenitis by the internist represented the enlarged left great auricular
      nerve. Cutaneous examination revealed an ill-defined, hypoaesthetic macule with
      minimal atrophy on the pinna of the left ear. The histopathology of the nerve
      showed a lepromatous neuritis with bacteriological index (BI) of 5+.

PMID- 20921642
TI  - Single dose itraconazole therapy in tinea versicolor; a double blind, randomised
      placebo controlled study.

PMID- 20921643
TI  - Peyronies disease, scleroderma and diabetes mellitus.

PMID- 20921644
TI  - Nevus depigmentosus with segmental vitiligo.

PMID- 20921645
TI  - Etiopathogenesis of vitiligo : Are we dealing with an environmental disorder ?
AB  - The increasing incidence of vitiligo in this part of the world (4.25%), prompted
      us to study 5000 fresh vitiligo patients. Several triggering factors were
      elicitable. Malnutrition and intake of junk food were very common in childhood
      vitiligo. Intercurrent infections as well as intake of antibotics were also
      significant, immediately preceding the development of depigmented patches in
      younger age group. Genetic predisposition was uncommon. Autoimmune disorders were
      infrequent and usually accompanied late onset vitiligo. For management, vitiligo
      was classified into VI (active), V2 (quiescent) and V3 (improving) stages. The
      therapy administered varied in each stage. As a common denominator, all out
      efforts were made to eliminate possible trigger factors in individual cases
      throughout the period of treatment, and building the general health to prevent
      recurrence in future. The study strongly points out that vitiligo is a
      multifactorial disorder. It can be effectively managed after each patient is
      individually assessed. Elimination of possible triggering factors may form the
      mainstay of vitiligo therapy along with controlled pharmacological intervention.
      The improvement of general resistance of body may bring spontaneous
      repigmentation.

PMID- 20921646
TI  - A clinico-pathological study of 70 cases of pemphigus.
AB  - A clinicopalhological study of 70 cases of pemphigus observed over a span of four
      and a half years from January 1992 to June 1996 at the Sir J.J. Group of
      Hospitals and Grant Medical College, Mumbai is reported. Pemphigus vulgaris
      constituted the single largest group of 43 cases, followed by pemphigus foliaceus
      (25 cases) and pemphigus vegetans (2 cases). Majority of the cases were seen in
      the age group of 21-60 years, with a slight male predominance. The youngest
      patient was 14 years while the eldest was aged 75 years. Mucosal involvement was
      seen in 31 cases of pemphigus vulgaris, as opposed to only 5 cases of pemphigus
      foliaceus. Flaccid bullae were present in 100% cases. Pruritus was complained of
      in 14 cases, though it was more common in pemphigus vegetans and vulgaris.
      Salient histopathological features of pemphigus vulgaris observed were (I)
      intraepidermal suprabasal blisters (35 cases), (2) presence of acantholytic cells
      (40 cases), (3) "Row of tombstone appearance" (I8 cases) and (4) acantholysis
      involving follicular sheath (20 cases). Main histopathological features of
      pemphigus foliaceus were (1) subcorneal blister (15 case), (2) acantholysis (24
      cases) and (3) bulla cavity containing inflammatory infiltrate (12 cases). Both
      cases of pemphigus vegetans showed hyperkeratosis, papillomatosis and irregular
      acanthosis with intra-epidermal eosinophilic abscesses besides suprabasal
      lacunae.

PMID- 20921647
TI  - A clinico - histopathological outcome of 4 weeks methotrexate pluse therapy in
      psoriasis.
AB  - A clinico-histopathological study was carried out In 50 patients of psoriasis to
      see clinical and histological outcome and/or correlation of weekly methotrexate
      pulse therapy. Clinically, results of therapy were evalutated by estimating the
      percentage of total body coverage with psoriasis. Prior to therapy, average
      involvement was 47.5% which after 4 weeks methotrexate therapy reduced to 8. 3%.
      A complete clearing of psoriasis occurred in 40% of patients after methotrexate
      therapy. The clinical response started as early as I week in most of patients.
      Only 2 patients failed to respond even after 4 weeks of therapy.
      Histopathologically in pretreatmenl biopsy, 34 showed classical psoriatic
      pathology while in 16 biopsy was suggestive of psoriasis but not confirmative.
      Histopathological examination after 4 weeks treatment showed that 41 still showed
      one or more histological evidence of psoriasis, although only two patients had
      classical, psoriatic pathology, in rest 9 patients there were complete
      regression. Thus, with methotrexate, clinical clearance was much faster than
      histopathological clearance.

PMID- 20921648
TI  - Prolong continuous versus weekly oral acyclovir in recurrent herpes genitalis.
AB  - Patients with frequent recurrences of genital herpes were treated with oral
      acyclovir tablet, 800 mg once daily or once a week for 2 years. Confirmed
      recurrences for all patients were treated with acyclovir, 200 mg orally 5 times
      per day, for five days. Of 58 patients enrolled, 12 of 26 daily acyclovir
      recipients and 22 of 32 weekly acyclovir recipients completed two years of study.
      Patients receiving daily acyclovir experienced a mean of 0.0991 recurrences /
      month compared with mean of 0.113 recurrences / month for patients receiving
      weekly acyclovir. A total of 33% of daily acyclovir recipients and 27% weekly
      acyclovir recipients were free of recurrences for two years.

PMID- 20921649
TI  - Bacteriological study of pyoderma with special reference to antibiotic
      susceptibility to newer antibiotics.
AB  - Five hundred and forty-two cases of pyoderma were investigated to study bacterial
      aetiology and their antibiotic susceptibility patterns. Of these 65.87% cases
      were of primary pyoderma and the rest were of secondary pyoderma. Maximum cases
      were of impetigo (38.78%) followed by folliculitis (12.92%), furunculosis
      (2.95%), ecthyma (3.5%), carbuncle (1.5%) and sycosis barbae (0.4%). Secondary
      pyoderma constituted infected trophic ulcer (18.82%), infected pemphigus (7.2%),
      infected contact dermatitis (6.27%), and infected scabies (1.8%). Single organism
      was isolated from 46.9% cases and more than one type of organisms in 65.46% of
      cases. No organism was isolated in 5% of cases. Staphylococcus (67.34%) was the
      predominant species isolated followed by beta-haemolytic streptococcus (21.77%).
      Maximum strains of Staph. aureus were susceptible to amikacin (75%), co
      trimoxazole (72%), cefotaxime (65%), chloramphenicol (62%), ciprofloxacin (61%)
      and clindamycin (61%). There was low susceptibility to cephaloridin (11%),
      gentamicin (12%) and penicillin (21%). Streptococcus betahaemolyticus was highly
      sensitive to most of the antibiotics and less sensitive to cefotaxime (7%), co
      trimoxazole (11%) and penicillin (27%). Most of the strains were found to be
      resistant to one or more antibiotics.

PMID- 20921650
TI  - Sexual behaviour and HIV prevalence in patients with sexually transmitted disease
      attending an STD clinic in north eastern state of India.
AB  - The study was done to determine the sexual risk behaviour and to monitor HIV
      seroprevalence among STD patients attending a STD clinic as a part of sentinel
      surveillance programme in North Eastern State of India. Face to face interviews,
      clinical and epidemiological investigations were carried out in all new patients.
      The frequency of condom use, and the number of sexual partners during the
      preceding 6 months were recorded. Out of 680 males, majority (66.4%) were aged 20
      29 years. 89.2% men reported to have had sexual contacts with prostitutes. Being
      younger, single and staying away from home were independent risk factors for
      having sexual contact. 34.7% men used condom at all times, 27.2% reported
      inconsistent use and 38.1% did not use condoms. Eleven (1.6%) of the 680 STD
      patients tested were found to be HIV positive, did not use condom and had
      genitoulcerative disease.

PMID- 20921651
TI  - Angiolymphoid hyperplasia with eosinophilia (alhe) versus kimura's disease :
      Changing concepts.
AB  - The clinico-pathological differences between Kimura's angiolymphoid hyperplasia
      with eosinophilia are presented to emphasize that they are two separate disease
      entities which until now were considered as the same disease.

PMID- 20921652
TI  - Congenital erythropoietic porphyria associated with ventricular septal defect.
AB  - A case of congenital erythropoietic porphyria associated with ventricular septal
      defect in a 6-year-old girl is reported.

PMID- 20921653
TI  - Symmetrical progressive erythro-keratoderma.
AB  - A 13-year-old male child had gradually progressive, bilaterall, symmetrical,
      erythematous hyperkeratotic plaques over knees, elbows, natal cleft, dorsa of
      hands and feet with palmoplantar keratoderma. High arched palate, fissured tongue
      and sternal depression (pectus-excavatum) were unusual associations.

PMID- 20921654
TI  - Pyoderma gangrenosum associated with ulceratlve colitis-first case report from
      Nepal.
AB  - A case of pyoderma gangrenosum with ulcerative colitis from Nepal is reported.
      The patient responded well to a combination of oral steroids, clofazimine.
      dapsone and salazopyrine within a period of 3 months.

PMID- 20921655
TI  - Nail changes secondary to systemic drugs.

PMID- 20921656
TI  - Post kala azar dermal leishmaniasis.

PMID- 20921657
TI  - Foot wear dermatitis.

PMID- 20921658
TI  - Ichthyosis vulgaris involving the scalp area affected by androgenetic alopecia.

PMID- 20921659
TI  - Sexually transmitted diseases and infertility.

PMID- 20921660
TI  - Role of local NGOs as peer educators in slowing the slowing the spread of HIV in
      kasargod (1991-96).
AB  - The study reports the effective role of local NGOs in reaching traditional Indian
      community with information and education on HIV/AIDS. Target oriented IE programs
      with members of local NGOs as peer educators have resulted in significant slowing
      in the spread of HIV from the rate of 1.6% in 1992 to 0.4% in 1996.

PMID- 20921661
TI  - Incidence of HIV seropositivity in STD cases.
AB  - Two hundred patients comprising of 144 males and 56 females ranging in age from
      10 years to 68 years were studied. The incidence of HIV positive cases in STD
      patients was 13.5%. Maximum incidence of STD cases were seen in the age group
      between 21-25 years (27%). Maximum incidence of HIV seropositivity was seen in 19
      and 20 years age group (33.8%). In HIV positive cases, there was a male
      predominance (62.9%). Most of the patients were from low socio-economic status,
      CSW were the common source and GUD was the most common STD association.

PMID- 20921662
TI  - Fluconazole and itraconazole in pityriasis versicolor.
AB  - Pityriasis versicolor is a common superficial fungal infection caused by
      Malassezia species. It has a high incidence and prevalence in tropical climates.
      Although it responds well to treatment, relapses and recurrences are frequent. In
      the present study the therapeutic response of single dose fluconazole (400 mg)
      with itraconazole (100mg twice daily ? 7 days) was compared in sixty patients of
      pityriasis versicolor. No significant statistical difference (p>0.05%) was
      observed between efficacy of two drugs. Therapy with fluconazole is preferable in
      view of single dose administration and lesser cost as compared to itraconazole.

PMID- 20921663
TI  - Topical mometasone furoate for the treatment of childhood vltiligo.
AB  - Forty-five children with vitiligo were treated with topical applications of
      mometasone furoate for 2 to 6 months. The best results occurred in the facial
      vitiligo. Repigmentation of 90-100% was achieved in more than 80% of patients
      with vitiligo of the face and more than 60% of patients with vitiligo on other
      part of the body. Interestingly there was no single side effect noted even after
      six months application in children.

PMID- 20921664
TI  - Methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in skin isolates from hospital
      acquired infections.
AB  - Eighty-four isolates of Staphylococcus aureus (S.aureus) obtained from nosocomial
      infections were screened for methicillin resistance, which was found to be about
      40.47%. This indicates a rising trend in the incidence of MRSA over the previous
      years. Early detection of resistant strains as well as prudent use of antibiotics
      can help to combat the global problem of resistance.

PMID- 20921665
TI  - Unilateral multiple linear lichen planus along the lines of blaschko : A report
      of two cases.
AB  - Two cases, a 54-yearl-old woman and a 48-year-old man developed papular lesions
      confined to the left side of their body. The lesions on the trunk were arranged
      in S-shaped manner. This arrangement was along Blaschko's lines and could be
      misinterpreted as that of zosteriform lichen planus.

PMID- 20921666
TI  - Glucagonoma syndrome.
AB  - Glucagonoma is a rare syndrome with pancreatic tumour, necrolytic migratory
      erythema, weight loss and diabetes mellitus. Two such cases are reported here to
      highlight the variety of presentation of this syndrome and also to stress the
      importance of early diagnosis of this condition.

PMID- 20921667
TI  - Disseminated malignant melanoma.
AB  - A 25-year-old man had multiple asymptomatic, nodular lesions on the trunk,
      extremities and the face for 3 months. He also had left facial palsy with severe
      headache and vomiting. There were no other systemic or constitutional symptoms.
      Skin biopsy from a nodular lesion showed features of malignant melanoma,
      confirmed by Fontana Masson and S-100 protein staining. A diagnosis of
      disseminated malignant melanoma was made and the patient was treated
      symptomatically. The patient died in 4 months.

PMID- 20921668
TI  - Lichenoid epidermal naevus.
AB  - A case of lichenoid epidermal naevus with unusual clinical presentation is
      reported.

PMID- 20921669
TI  - Hyperkeratotic oral lichen planus role of vitamin A.
AB  - Chronic tobacco chewing and smoking have been implicated as precipitating factors
      for the development of oral lichen planus (OLP). We here report a case of chronic
      cigarette smoker who developed OLP plaque, without any other clinical pattern of
      OLP and skin involvement, which did not respond to conventional corticosteroid
      treatment and dapsone, but responded when vitamin A was added.

PMID- 20921670
TI  - Acropigmentation of dohi.
AB  - Two cases of acropigmentation of Dohi are reported. First case was 9-year-old boy
      and the second was a 8-year-old girl. Hypopigmented macules with interspersed
      brownish macules were seen on dorsa of hands, feet and they became stationary
      after initial progression.

PMID- 20921671
TI  - Olmsted syndrome.
AB  - A 20-year-old Sikh man had palmoplantar keratoderma, flexion deformity of digits,
      universal alopecia, keratotic plaques at the angles of mouth, gluteal cleft,
      knees and dorsal aspects of the metacarpophalangeal joints of the hand; features
      of Olmsted syndrome. He had normal nails, teeth, oral mucosa and normal joint
      movements. Treatment with acitretin, 25mg/day for three and a half months,
      followed by 25mg once daily alternating with 50mg once daily for 3 months
      resulted in significant improvement.

PMID- 20921672
TI  - Angiokeratoma of fordyce on unusual site.
AB  - A 19-year-old married man presented with multiple, bright-red and reddish-blue
      papular lesions on glans and prepuce with intermittent bleeding on maceration
      since 6 months duration. Histopathological study revealed features of
      angiokeratoma.

PMID- 20921673
TI  - Jackson-lawler syndrome.
AB  - A 36-year-old woman presented with multiple yellowish cutaneous cysts of 5 years
      duration, over the scalp, trunk and upper limbs. She had pachyonychia,
      keratoderma of hands and feet, eyebrows which stood straight out and a single
      cafe-au-lait macule.

PMID- 20921674
TI  - Environmental influence, atopy and contact sensitivity in nummular dermatitis.

PMID- 20921676
TI  - Cryosurgery with liquid nitrogen in stable vitiligo.

PMID- 20921675
TI  - Skin diseases in the elderly.

PMID- 20921677
TI  - Multiple mucosal neuroma syndrome.

PMID- 20921678
TI  - Atopic dermatitis: Indian scenario.

PMID- 20921679
TI  - Pattern of skin diseases in Kashmir region of India.

PMID- 20921681
TI  - Airborne salicaceae allergy in Ladakh.

PMID- 20921680
TI  - Pattern of dermatological diseases in Trivandrum.

PMID- 20921682
TI  - Comparative study of ketoconazole and itraconazole in pityriasis versicolor.

PMID- 20921683
TI  - Topical methotrexate therapy in palmoplantar psoriasis.

PMID- 20921684
TI  - Lichen planus and liver disease.

PMID- 20921685
TI  - Allergic contact dermatitis to doxepin.

PMID- 20921686
TI  - Scar sarcoidosis - sparing post surgical scar.

PMID- 20921687
TI  - Focal dermal hypoplasia syndrome.

PMID- 20921688
TI  - Erythema annulare centrifugum due to candida infection.

PMID- 20921689
TI  - Hypopigmented mycosis fungoides treated successfully with puva.
AB  - Hypopigmented lesions are rarely encountered in mycosis fungoides. We here report
      a 22-year old female patient who presented with a 5-year history of asymptomatic
      progressively increasing discrete and confluent hypopigmented macules and a 1
      year history of a few itchy erythematous, scaly, indurated plaques. The
      histological features were consistent with a clinical diagnosis of mycosis
      fungoides. She was successfully treated with PUVA therapy.

PMID- 20921690
TI  - Giant cell synovioma following physical trauma.

PMID- 20921691
TI  - Giant molluscum contagiosum in an infant.

PMID- 20921692
TI  - Cutaneous polyarteritis nodasa.

PMID- 20921693
TI  - Herpes zoster in a 9 - month - old infant.

PMID- 20921694
TI  - Epidermolysis bullosa acquisita in a young female.

PMID- 20921695
TI  - Tumour implantation on a donor site from malignant melanoma of the right arm: a
      rare clinical entity.

PMID- 20921696
TI  - Toxic epidermal necrolysis (le).

PMID- 20921697
TI  - Inflammatory linear verrucous epidermal nevus and spinal anomaly.

PMID- 20921698
TI  - Dapsone syndrome in pure neuritic hansen's disease.

PMID- 20921699
TI  - Generalised and bullous lichen planus treated successfully with oral mini-pulse
      therapy.

PMID- 20921700
TI  - Presidential address.

PMID- 20921701
TI  - Antiphospholipid syndrome-current status.

PMID- 20921702
TI  - A multicentric trial of loratadine and cetirizine in urticaria.
AB  - Two hundred and ten patients with chronic urticaria were divided into two groups;
      one group was treated with Loratadine 10mg daily while the other with cetirizine
      10mg daily. The total duration of treatment was four weeks. Pretreatment and post
      treatment evaluations were made. It was noticed that loratadine was superior to
      cetirizine in terms of a rapid onset of actions, overall clinical efficacy and
      minimal side effects.

PMID- 20921703
TI  - The efficacy of flutamide, an antiandrogen in idiopathic hirsutism.
AB  - The efficacy of flutamide, an antiandrogen in idiopathic hirsutism was studied.
      The long term effects of. treatment with low doses of flutamide on clinical and
      hormonal parameters were investigated. Nine patients with idiopathic hirsutism
      were studied basally and during treatment with 125mg flutamide thrice daily for a
      period of 9 months. Safety parameters were assessed throughout the study.
      Hirsutism was graded by Ferriman and Gallwey score and hormones were evaluated
      basally and later quarterly. After three months of therapy, flutamide had caused
      a significant alleviation of hirsutism and this continued during the subsequent
      months. No clinical significant side effects were observed during the period of
      the study. Biochemical and hormonal parameters remained unchanged after 9 months
      of flutamide.

PMID- 20921704
TI  - Effect of minoxidil on hair transplantation in alopecia androgenetica.
AB  - Forty patients suffering from androgenetic alopecia were given 3 to 4 sittings of
      hair transplantation at an interval of 4 to 6 weeks each. Only patients of type
      III, type III(vertex) and type IV baldness were operated. Twenty patients, six of
      type III, six of type III(vertex) and eight of type IV baldness were advised to
      use minoxidil 2% locally at the recipient area in the dose of 1 ml applied twice
      daily. Twenty patients of similar types of baldness were advised to just shampoo
      their hair daily without using topical minoxidil. Percentage of response was
      compared between the two groups. Minoxidil did not play any role in the
      percentage of hair survival before and after transplantation in androgenetic
      alopecia. However in 60percent grafts of patients who had used topical minoxidil,
      there was no initial postoperative hair shedding.

PMID- 20921705
TI  - Cutaneous cryptococcosis and molluscum contagiosum occurring in the same lesion
      in a patient with AIDS.
AB  - Patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) are susceptible to a wide
      range of pathogens due to profound defect in cell-mediated immunity. The co
      existence of different diseases within the same lesion is a feature of human
      immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. We describe co-existent cutaneous
      cryptococcosis and molluscum contagiosum in the same lesion in a patient with the
      acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.

PMID- 20921706
TI  - Malignant acanthosis nigricans in a 2 year old child with Wilm's Tumour.
AB  - Case report of a 2-year-old male child who developed acanthosis nigricans lesions
      of sudden onset and rapid spread is described. The child was diagnosed as having
      Wilm's tumour and the lesions of acanthosis nigricans subsided with resection of
      the tumour.

PMID- 20921707
TI  - Werner's Syndrome.
AB  - A 41-year old unmarried man presented with erosions, ulcers and keratosis of
      tendoachilles. He was short statured and had features of premature aging,
      sclerosis of the skin of the limbs and hypogonadism. The head was small with a
      beak-like nose. Investigations revealed diabetes mellitus, generalised
      osteoporosis, calcification of blood vessel walls and microsplanchia of kidneys.
      All the features suggested a diagnosis of Werners's syndrome.

PMID- 20921708
TI  - Lichen nitidus of palms and soles.
AB  - Lichen nitidus occurs uncommonly on the palms and soles and has an unusual
      morphology at these sites. Two patients who presented with lesions on the palms
      and soles are reported. The first patient had rough papules with prominent
      keratotic plugs. In the second patient, the lesion was an irregular plaque with
      peripheral papules showing keratotic plugs. Both patients had typical lesions
      elsewhere on the body. Histopathology confirmed the diagnosis. Awareness of this
      variant will help in prompt recognition of the condition.

PMID- 20921709
TI  - Bowenoid papulosis turning to squamous cell carcinoma.
AB  - Bowenoid papulosis is clinically a benign appearing genital lesion that shows
      histologic features of squamous cell carcinoma-in-situ. Bowenoid papulosis of the
      scrotum turning to invasive squamous cell carcinoma is reported in an elderly
      male.

PMID- 20921710
TI  - Dracunculosis medinensis.

PMID- 20921711
TI  - Metastatic cutaneous adenocarcinoma.

PMID- 20921712
TI  - Koebner response in psoriasis.

PMID- 20921713
TI  - Allergic reaction to phorate : an organophosphorus compound.

PMID- 20921714
TI  - Photodynamic hyperpigmentation light- induced cumulative insult dermatitis - A
      new nomenclature.

PMID- 20921715
TI  - Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation in treatment of post herpetic
      neuralgia.

PMID- 20921716
TI  - Advances in laboratory diagnosis of systemic lupus erythematosus.

PMID- 20921717
TI  - Sexual behaviour of youths in Chandigarh.

PMID- 20921718
TI  - A study of 200 cases of genital lesions of non-venereal origin.

PMID- 20921719
TI  - Comparative evaluation of topical benzoyl peroxide, metronidazole and benzoyl
      peroxide - clindamycin combination in treatment of acne vulgaris.

PMID- 20921720
TI  - High risk behaviour and psychiatric morbidity in HIV positive intravenous drug
      users (report of two cases).

PMID- 20921721
TI  - Acquired digital fibrokeratoma.

PMID- 20921722
TI  - Metastatic Crohn's disease.
AB  - Crohn's disease is a granulomatous inflammatory disease of the gastrointestinal
      tract. It can involve other sites of the body also. When such lesion are
      separated from Crohn's lesion of the intestine by normal skin, they are referred
      to as metastatic Crohn's disease. Two such cases are reported.

PMID- 20921723
TI  - Multiple chondroid syringoma.

PMID- 20921724
TI  - Arciform purpura annularis telangiectoides.

PMID- 20921725
TI  - Familial woolly hair.

PMID- 20921726
TI  - Subcutaneous phycomycosis.

PMID- 20921727
TI  - Tinea nigra.

PMID- 20921728
TI  - Malignant atrophic papulosis.
AB  - Malignant atrophic papulosis (MAP) is a rare disorder and only a few cases have
      been reported in blacks and Asians. A 38-year old male with typical cutaneous
      lesions of MAP which were confirmed histopathologically is reported.

PMID- 20921729
TI  - Oral zinc in Job's syndrome.

PMID- 20921731
TI  - Azathioprine - hypersensitivity.

PMID- 20921730
TI  - Pulse steroid therapy in generalized lichen planus.

PMID- 20921732
TI  - Kerosene - Induced Acute Irritant Dermatitis (le).

PMID- 20921734
TI  - Toxic epidermal necrolysis.

PMID- 20921733
TI  - Photosensitve lichenoid papular sarcoidosis.

PMID- 20921735
TI  - Pattern of skin diseases in paediatric age group and adolescents.
AB  - A total of 300 patients from first day of life to 17 years of age were analysed
      for pattern of skin disorders. School going children formed majority (41.3%) of
      cases followed by preschool children (32%). Infections formed the commonest
      disorder (31 %) followed by eczemas (24%), papulosquamous disorders (12%),
      infestation (8.6%) and urticaria (5.3%) while vitiligo, acne vulgaris, alopecia
      areata and genodermatoses were seen in 2.7% cases each.

PMID- 20921736
TI  - Clinical profile of cutaneous leishmaniasis in Faifa-Gizan, South west province
      of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (A study of 140 cases).
AB  - A preliminary study was conducted to know the age, sex distribution and clinical
      pattern of cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) in a remote hilly area, Faifa, Gizan
      situated in the South West region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. C L accounted
      for nearly 5% of the new outpatient attendance in the study period (1988-90) of
      20 months. Out of the 140 new patients who formed the study group, 82 were males
      (58.57%) and 58 females (41.43%) in the age range of 9 months to 60 years. Ninety
      two patients were children (65.71%) below 15 years. including 58 boys and 34
      girls and CL is a major public health problem in children of this area. The fact
      that out of 140 affected individuals, 134 were local Saudis and 6 non-Saudis
      reveals the autochthonous nature of the disease in this region. The clinical
      spectrum included dry crusted ulcers, erythematous indurated plaques, nodules,
      papules, and oozing shallow ulcers. The lesions were distributed mostly on face
      and extremities. Response to pentostam (Sodium stibogluconate) was highly
      satisfactory.

PMID- 20921737
TI  - Itraconazole pulse therapy in onychomycosis.
AB  - A prospective study of 30 clinically and mycologically diagnosed cases of
      onychomycosis was carried out for a period of twelve months from May 1996 to
      April 1997. Itraconazole pulse therapy was given for the 1st week followed by 3
      week drug-free period, for 1st 3 months for the finger nail cases and 4 monthes
      for finger nail + toe nail and toe nail cases. Patients were evaluated at
      baseline, week 4, week 12, week 16, week 24, up to 12 months and assessed as
      cleared or markedly improved with clinical and mycological success. The result of
      our study is very much encouraging. It suggests that the use of itraconazole
      pulse therapy will maintain the continuous treatment efficacy and is cost
      effective than continuous therapy.

PMID- 20921738
TI  - Erythrokeratodermia progressivum symmetricum.
AB  - A case of progressive symmetric erythrokeratodermia (PSEK) in an Indian male is
      being reported. He presented with slowly progressive bilateral symmetrical
      plaques with peripheral rim of erythematous halo, which were limited only to the
      limbs. Koebner's phenomenon was positive. Family history was negative.
      Histopathology ruled out psoriasis and confirmed the diagnosis of PSEK.

PMID- 20921739
TI  - Acropigmentation of dohi.
AB  - A 9-year-old girl with multiple hyperpigmented and hypopigmented macules over the
      hands and neck since childhood is reported.

PMID- 20921740
TI  - Atypical multicentric reticulohistiocytosis.
AB  - A 38-year-old male had arthritis since 8 years and erythematous papules, plaques,
      cutaneous and subcutaneous nodules over face, ears, trunk, and extensors of arms
      since 2 years, Histopathologically, presence of multiple foreign body giant cells
      confirmed the clinical diagnosis of multicentric reticulohistiocytosis. Unusual
      associations were: tapered fingers with depressed scars on their tips, low ESR -
      (5mm 1st hour). Raynaud's phenomenon and exaggeration of lesions after
      methotrexate.

PMID- 20921741
TI  - Angiolymphoid hyperplasia with eosinophilia.
AB  - A 35-year old woman presented with asymptomatic dermal nodules over the scalp of
      10- years duration. Histopathological study revealed proliferation of thick
      walled blood vessels lined by plump endothelium and lymphocyte and eosinophilic
      infiltrate with blood eosinophilia.

PMID- 20921742
TI  - Anhidrotic ectodermal dysplasia with pectus excavatum, mitral valve prolapse and
      palmo-plantar keratoderma.
AB  - Anhidrotic ectodermal dysplasia (AED) is a rare x-linked recessive disorder
      characterised by the triad of hypotrichosis, anodontia and anhidrosis. Here we
      report a case of AED with associated features of pectus excavatum, mitral valve
      prolapse and palmoplantar keratoderma.

PMID- 20921743
TI  - Hypopigmented pityriasis versicolor on Becker's naevus : Hope for new method of
      treatment ?
AB  - A case of hypopigmented pityriasis versicolor superimposed on pre existing
      Becker's naevus associated with congenital melanocytic naevus is being reported
      for its rarity. The possible role of dicarboxylic acid and other free radicles
      produced by Pityrosporum ovale in treating Becker's Naevus is also suggested.

PMID- 20921744
TI  - Pre-sezary To Sezary Erythroderma Syndrome.
AB  - A 50-year old woman was admitted with pre-Se'zary syndrome in May, 97 as she had
      intractable progressive erythroderma with intense pruritus since 15 months. She
      also had axillary, inguinal, hilar and para-aortic lymphadenopathy, hepatomegaly,
      alopecia, hypersensitivity to cefadroxyl, and abnormal Sezary cells in peripheral
      blood film. Histopathology confirmed the diagnosis. Initially she was given 20 mg
      of prednisolone which was later increased to 40 mg daily but she did not respond.
      She responded favourably to combination of 20 mg prednisolone and chlorambucil
      2.5 mg daily.

PMID- 20921745
TI  - Necrotising fasciitis.
AB  - A case of necrotising fasciitis is being reported. Due to delay in diagnosis and
      treatment, patient developed contracture leading to flerxion deformity.

PMID- 20921746
TI  - Nail changes in systemic diseases : A clinical study of 435 cases.
AB  - Nail changes often are reflectors of an internal disease. Four hundred and thirty
      five patients admitted in the Medical, Surgical and Obstetric and Gynaecology
      wards were studied. Nail changes were seen in 134 which included clubbing (21.3%)
      longitudinal melanonychia (17.2%) and platonychia (14.2%). In patients with HIV
      associated pulmonary tuberculosis, clubbing was associated with an unique red
      "crescent sign".

PMID- 20921747
TI  - Effect of dialysis on psoriasis : A clinical study.
AB  - Twenty patients with extensive psoriasis of more than three years duration not
      responding to conventional medical treatment were studied to assess the effect of
      dialysis. Ten patients were subjected to haemodialysis and ten to peritoneal
      dialysis. Patients were periodically assessed regarding responses by standard
      critera. At the end of six months 4/8 (50%) in haemodialysis group and 6/10(60%)
      in peritoned dialysis group showed improvement. One patient in haemodialysis
      group developed exfoliative dermatitis eleven days after onset of dialysis. In
      this study though a beneficial effect in psoriasis was noted following dialysis,
      the effect was temporary.

PMID- 20921748
TI  - Direct immunofluorescence in lesional and uninvolved skin in dle.
AB  - Direct immunofluroscence was evaluated in 16 patients with DLE including 1 case
      of lupus profundus and 4 with disseminated DLE. A BMZ band with multiple
      immunoreactants was demonstrated in lesional skin in 14 patients (87.5%), while 2
      had only single immunoreactants. C3 and lgM were the commonest reactants followed
      by lgG, lgA and fibrinogen. A perifollicular prominence was seen in several
      patients. Four patients showed a band in uninvolved skin. This may indicate a
      potential to develop SLE. ANA was also positive in 5 patients but ds DNS was
      negative.

PMID- 20921749
TI  - Clinical and bacteriological study of pyoderma in Jodhpur-Western Rajasthan (le).

PMID- 20921750
TI  - Kyrle's disease and vitamin D resistant rickets in chronic renal failure (le).

PMID- 20921751
TI  - Treatment of nodular scabies (le).

PMID- 20921752
TI  - Pediculosis palpebrarum (le).

PMID- 20921753
TI  - Vaccines in leprosy.

PMID- 20921754
TI  - Natural history of herpes zoster in the era of AIDS.
AB  - Seventy-four consecutive patients with herpes zoster (HZ) in Mumbai were
      recruited into the study to determine its natural history. Thirty-five (47.3%)
      with HZ were infected with HIV-1/2. HZ+HIV+ and HZ+HIV- were demographically
      similar but HZ+HIV+ were clinically different; the latter were characterised by
      multidermatomal involvement of thoracic dermatomes below T6 or that of trigeminal
      nerve, recurrent episodes, bullous lesions and 17/35 had associated illnesses
      such as severe weight loss, recurrent fever, chronic cough, active tuberculosis
      and oral candidiasis. Significant differences in the course of healing, incidence
      of secondary bacterial infection and scaring emerged between the two groups after
      day-10. HZ+HIV+ individuals had vesicles and ulcers persisting for significantly
      longer time with frequent sequelae of post inflammatory pigmentation and post
      herpetic neuralgia. In areas where resources are limited for health information,
      such clinical differences between HZ+HIV+ and HZ+HIV- will serve to identify
      individuals with HIV infection in dermatologic clinic. These findings will also
      be helpful for early diagnosis of HIV infection, associated opportunistic
      infections and prevent their secondary transmission through appropriate
      interventions.

PMID- 20921755
TI  - A regionwise comparative study of the extent of post punch graft surgical
      repigmentation in cutaneous achromia.
AB  - One hundred and ten cases of stable cutaneous achromia constituted the sample
      population, of which 67 were females and 43 males. Age ranged between 6 and 71
      years. A total of 1742 grafts were placed over 177 lesions on 29 regions and the
      cases were followed up to a maximum period of 2 years. The extent of maximum
      pigment spread (MPS) was noted in different regions of the body. It was observed
      that exposed parts exhibited better outcome vis-a-vis covered and shadowed part.
      MPS ranged between 0 to 10 mm., with an overall average of approximately 5.5mm.

PMID- 20921756
TI  - A comparison of systemic photochemotherapy with 8-methoxypsoralen (8-MOP) and
      with trimethylpsoralen (TMP) in vitiligo.
AB  - Oral 8-MOP and TMP were compared in the PUVA therapy for vitiligo. Group A (25
      cases) was initiated on 0.3 mg/kg of 8-MOP with 1/2 Joule/cm2 of UVA and weekly
      increments of 1/2 Joule/ cm2 and Group B was started on 0.6 mg/kg of TMP with 1
      Joule/cm2 of UVA and weekly increments of 1 Joule/cm2. Therapy was given thrice a
      week. Repigmentation was evaluated by using a 0-6 scale. At the end of 60
      sittings, on acceptable cosmetic response was seen over the face, neck and upper
      extremities in both groups, while trunk and lower extremities showed lesser
      response. 8-MOP gave earlier response, needing a lower cumulative UVA dose i.e.
      75 J/cm2 as compared to TMP i.e. 106 J/cm2. Phototoxicity was seen more often
      with 8-MOP. In conclusion, in Indians, 8-MOP is the drug of choice in PUVA
      therapy of vitiligo provided precautions against phototoxicity are adequate.

PMID- 20921757
TI  - Antigen mapping in hereditary epidermolysis bullosa.
AB  - Standard immunofluorescence tests are not positive in the various inherited
      epidermolysis bullosa (EB). Using antibodies to known antigens present in the
      basement membrane zone, antigen mapping can be done by immuno fluorescence, to
      determine the level of blistering and establish the diagnosis. We report three
      cases of junctional EB and one case of dystrophic EB in whom the diagnosis was
      confirmed by antigen mapping.

PMID- 20921758
TI  - Varied forms of lupus vulgaris.
AB  - Two unusual forms of lupus vulgaris affecting the perinasal skin are reported.
      One presented with mutilating type of lupus vulgaris while the other had
      vegetative type.

PMID- 20921759
TI  - Pityriasis rosea with unsusual herald patch.
AB  - A case of pityriasis rosea is reported in a 15-year old boy. The herald patch was
      unusual being multiple and located in crural areas and armpit. The other features
      of the disease were however expressed classically.

PMID- 20921760
TI  - Ano-rectal involvement in lymphogranuloma venereum.

PMID- 20921761
TI  - Eruptive syringoma.

PMID- 20921762
TI  - A case of dermatomyositis responding to three weeks of treatment with
      methotrexate and steroid.
AB  - A case of dermatomyositis in a young girl of 18 years is reported. Though it is
      generally held that it is a very recalcitrant condition, we found that the
      patient improved by all parameters to treatment with methotrexate and steroids in
      three weeks.

PMID- 20921763
TI  - Multicentric reticulohistiocytosis.
AB  - A 54-year old male presented with multiple, itchy, reddish-brown coloured papules
      on the face, arms and trunk of 8 months duration. Histopathological study of the
      skin biopsy specimen revealed features typical of multicentric
      reticulohistiocytosis.

PMID- 20921765
TI  - Naevus comedonicus affecting the palms.

PMID- 20921764
TI  - Epidermodysplasia verruciformis with bowenoid changes.

PMID- 20921766
TI  - Poikilodermatous mycosis fungoides.

PMID- 20921767
TI  - Effect of parenteral vitamin D3 in skin diseases.

PMID- 20921768
TI  - Hand dermatitis in beauticians.

PMID- 20921770
TI  - Repigmentation of leukotrichia over vitiligo patches after punch grafting.

PMID- 20921769
TI  - Mupirocin in folliculitis cruris pustulosa et atrophicans.

PMID- 20921771
TI  - Clofazimine.

PMID- 20921772
TI  - A Clinico-epidermiological study of atopic dermatitis.

PMID- 20921773
TI  - A study of facial dermatosis-370 cases (Excluding pyoderma and acne vulgaris
      grade 1 and 2).

PMID- 20921774
TI  - A clinical trial of minocycline in uncomplicated gonococcal urethritis.

PMID- 20921775
TI  - Peripheral T-lymphocyte count in pityriasis rosea.

PMID- 20921776
TI  - Pattern of sexually transmitted diseases at VSS medical college.

PMID- 20921777
TI  - Cutaneous T-cell lymphoma, tumour d'emblee (THREE CASES).

PMID- 20921778
TI  - Siemens syndrome.

PMID- 20921779
TI  - Recurrent pityriasis rosea.
AB  - A case of recurrent pityriasis rosea in a 25-year old man is reported. He had his
      first attack 4 years ago and new outbreaks followed every year in winter with
      last 2 episodes occurring in the same year. All investigations were normal and no
      explanation for recurrences was found.

PMID- 20921780
TI  - Atypical fibroxanthoma.

PMID- 20921781
TI  - Spitz nevus.
AB  - A case of Spitz nevus is presented in view of the difficulties of differentiating
      it from malignant melanoma. Spitz nevus with predominantly epithelioid cell is
      uncommon.

PMID- 20921783
TI  - Battered child syndrome.
AB  - Primary genital herpes in a girl of 12 years age is reported as the condition is
      rare in this age group and sexual abuse was the direct cause for the Battered
      child syndrome.

PMID- 20921782
TI  - Post kala azar dermal leishmaniasis.
AB  - A 26 - year - old Muslim male patient of Bihar presented with multiple
      asymptomatic hypopigmented macules and nodules mainly over back, abdomen,
      extremities and scrotum. Clinical examination revealed hypopigmented macules on
      back, abdomen, extremities with nodular lesions on the scrotum. Common warts were
      present on dorsa of hands. Skin biopsy was helpful in diagnosis.

PMID- 20921784
TI  - Monilethrix.

PMID- 20921785
TI  - Mixed connective tissue disorder : A Clarification (le).

PMID- 20921786
TI  - Use of hydrogen peroxide in electrocautery procedures.

PMID- 20921787
TI  - Role of blood transfusion in the management of Stevens-Johnson Syndrome (SJS) and
      Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis (TEN).

PMID- 20921788
TI  - Effect of parenteral vitamin D3 in skin diseases.

PMID- 20921789
TI  - Repigmentation of leukotrichia over vitiligo patches after punch grafting.

PMID- 20921790
TI  - Chemokines in the skin.
AB  - In last few years, focus has shifted from cytokines which have pleiotropic
      biologic properties to chemokines with target cell selective activity. The
      separation has led frequently espoused proposition that chemokines are involved
      in the pathogenesis of disease having specific infiltrates and point to possible
      role in Chronic skin diseases. Depending upon the structure these chemokines are
      divided into three subfamilies, two major subfamilies: CXC and CC, and one
      putative subfamily C with only one member known as lymphotactin. A recent insight
      into chemokine physiology comes from demonstration of interaction between
      chemokines and their cloned receptors. These chemokine receptors are members of
      the transmembrane spanning (7-TMS), G-protein- coupled receptor family. So far
      CXC chemokine receptors and seven CC receptors have been cloned. Recently, the
      importance of selective chemoattractant activity of chemokines has been
      overshadowed by chemokine receptors emerging as new targets for anti-HIV therapy
      as the connection between chemokines and HIV-I had been established. Among the
      CXC chemokine receptors, CXCR4, and among the CC chemokines receptors, CCRI,
      CCR2b, CCR3, and CCR5 have been implicated as HIV-1 coreceptors.

PMID- 20921791
TI  - Knowledge, attitude, belief and practice (K.A.B.P) study on AIDS among senior
      secondary students.
AB  - A cross-sectional survey was done among students of four senior secondary schools
      including two boys and two girls schools of rural Delhi to know the knowledge,
      attitude, belief and practices regarding AIDS. A large majority (83.0%) of
      students though had heard about AIDS, yet majority of them did not know the
      possible methods for prevention of AIDS. There were only 27.1% girls who knew
      about regular condom usage. Half of them had permissible attitude for pre
      maritial sex, while sexual activity was observed in one-fourth students. Students
      were less reluctant to discuss about AIDS than sex, and teachers were preferred
      as compared to parents in this regard. School is an ideal setting to educate
      adolescents regarding HIV/AIDS transmission and safer sex behaviour.

PMID- 20921792
TI  - A study of dermatological disorders in geriatric age group.
AB  - A total of 320 patients of more than 60 years of age were studied for
      dermatological changes with aging. The male female ratio of patients was 3:1.
      Majority of cases (60.6%) were between 60-65 years of age. Pruritus was present
      in 37.5% cases, wrinkles in 82.1%, senile lentigenes in 57.8%, seborrhoeic
      keratosis in 48.8%, cherry angioma in 48.1%, idiopathic guttate hypomelanosis in
      43%, skin tags in 37%, xerosis in 28%, comedones in 19%, infection and
      infestation in 40%, eczematous disorders in 36.9%, papulosquamous disorders in
      10%, metabolic disorders in 16%, pigmentary disorders in 8.7%, keratinisation
      disorders in 4.1%, vesiculobullous disorders in 2.8% and associated systemic
      disorders in 49.7% cases.

PMID- 20921793
TI  - Heparin in psoriasis.
AB  - Ten patients with chronic stable psoriasis of more than three years duration were
      treated with injection heparin 2500 IU subcutaneously twice a day for 7 days. Six
      patients showed aggravation. Three showed no response and one patient improved
      and went into remission after 6 months.

PMID- 20921794
TI  - Trichomoniasis as sexually transmitted disease in sex partners.
AB  - Study of 30 male consorts of 30 cases of vaginal trichomoniasis with high levels
      of parasitic infection was undertaken to evaluate the sexually transmitted role
      of trichomoniasis in sex partners. There were 20 symptomatic and 10 asymptomatic
      male partners, who revealed T. vaginalis in 80.0% and 60.0 of the cases
      respectively and the overall prevalence was 73.3% (22 Of 30). T. vaginalis was
      detected in 83.3% male with urethritis and 50.0% males with prostatitis.
      Detection of trichomonas in urethral discharge, morning drop secretion, urine
      deposit and prostatic fluid was 80.0%, 50.0% 35.7% and 21.4% in that order. It is
      evident from these results that the sex consorts of all cases of trichomoniasis
      should be considered as harbouring T. vaginalis in their genito-urinary tract as
      carriers and be treated to break the chain of transmission. Fontanna smear was
      superior to culture and wet mount in the detection of T. vaginalis, the success
      rates being 73.3%, 63.3% and 53.3%. A good correlation was observed between smear
      and culture at high levels of parasitic infection.

PMID- 20921795
TI  - Trichomonas vaginalis - an indicator for other sexually transmitted infecting
      agents.
AB  - The present study is based on 350 women having sexually transmitted diseases and
      68 men counterparts. Trichomonas vaginalis was a significant contributor in 216
      (61.7%) out of 350 female SID cases' and in 56 (82.3%) out of 68 male
      counterparts. Further, out of 216 cases of T.vaginalis, 41 cases (32.5%) were
      associated with infection with Candida species; 29 (23%) with Neisseria
      gonorrhoea. 18 cases (14.3%) with Haemophilus ducreyi and 11 cases (8.7%),
      Chlamydia trachomatis. Treponema pallidum was observed in 8 cases (6.3%) which
      constituted a low percentage. Present study highlighted the importance of T.
      vaginalis by showing positivity in two-third cases which suggested that it can be
      an important indicator for other etiological STD agents in women.

PMID- 20921796
TI  - Relationship between lichen planus and hepatitis C virus.
AB  - The present study was conducted on 75 patients of lichen planus to observe the
      relationship of hepatitis C virus. Only 2 cases (2.66%) were positive for the
      hepatitis C virus antibody, which is almost parallel to the prevalence of
      hepatitis C virus in the general population in India (1.5 to 2.2%).

PMID- 20921797
TI  - Clinico-mycological profile of superficial mycoses.
AB  - Clinico-mycological study of 2743 clinically diagnosed cases of superficial
      mycoses attending skin and VD OPD of VSS Medical College during the year 1995 -
      96 was conducted. Male predominance was observed. Highest incidence of tinea
      versicolor was found. T. rubrum was the commonest fungus isolated.

PMID- 20921798
TI  - Porokeratosis - report of three unsusual cases.
AB  - Three unusual cases of porokeratosis - linear, punctate and warty porokeratoses
      are reported with histopathological features. These three types are rarely seen
      in clinical practice.

PMID- 20921799
TI  - Lymphangioma circumscriptum of scrotum of late onset.
AB  - Lymphangioma circumscriptum is the commonest type of lymphangioma which is
      characterised by small, grouped vesicles resembling frog spawn. An interesting
      case of thin walled lymphangioma circumscriptum is reported which started at a
      late age of 45 years and limited to scrotum in a 70-year old man.

PMID- 20921800
TI  - Granuloma faciale.
AB  - A 40-year old woman presented with asymptomatic erythematous well-demarcated,
      infiltrated plaque of 8 cm x 7 cm in size on the right cheek for past four years.
      Histopathological study of skin biopsy revealed features of granuloma faciale.
      Oral dapsone and intralesional corticosteroid caused marked improvement.

PMID- 20921801
TI  - Fauntail naevus.
AB  - A case of fauntail naevus in a teenaged girl with radiological evidence of bifid
      vertebrae without any neurological, urological or orthopaedic complications is
      presented.

PMID- 20921802
TI  - Lichenoid epidermal naevus.
AB  - A case of lichenoid epidermal naevus with unusual clinical presentation is
      reported.

PMID- 20921803
TI  - Papulonecrotic tuberculid - relapse after treatment.
AB  - A 44-year old female suffered from boils on her elbows for the last 2 years. A
      diagnosis of papulonecrotic tuberculid was made based on clinical, laboratory
      parameters, histopathology and a prompt response to antituberculosis treatment.
      Ten months following the completion of multi-drug treatment her lesions relapsed.

PMID- 20921804
TI  - Linear focal elastosis.
AB  - A case of linear focal elastosis is reported. A 19-year old male presented with
      asymptomatic, palpable yellow lines over back along with striae distensae over
      axilla. Light microscopic examination demonstrated dermal thickening but no
      change in the epidermis. The elastic tissue stain revealed fragmented elastic
      fibres throughout the dermis.

PMID- 20921805
TI  - Eruptive mollusca contagiosa in an immunocompetent Indian adult.
AB  - A 35-year old Indian woman with eruptive onset of mollusca contagiosa with no
      underlying immunodeficiency who responded to etretinate therapy is reported.

PMID- 20921806
TI  - Papillon - lefevre syndrome with mental retardation.
AB  - A 9-year old boy, born of consanguineous parents, presented with keratoderma of
      palms and soles associated with severe enamel hypoplasia and mental retardation.
      A clinical diagnosis of Papillon - Lefevre was supported by histopathology.

PMID- 20921807
TI  - Generalized umbilicated granuloma annulare.
AB  - Generalised umbilicated granuloma annulare is reported in an elderly man. There
      was no association of diabetes or other systemic disease.

PMID- 20921809
TI  - Unstable vitiligo responding to methotrexate.

PMID- 20921808
TI  - Monomorphic cutaneous metastases with different primaries.
AB  - Telangiectatic type of secondary cutaneous metastases is described with primary
      malignancies in different organs in a female and in a male. The clinical and
      histopathological features of the secondary metastases are described along with
      the features of the primaries manifesting as adenocarcinoma of breast in the
      former and squamous cell carcinoma in the larynx in the latter.

PMID- 20921810
TI  - Shield as topical ointment in herpes zoster.

PMID- 20921811
TI  - Punch grafting in vitiligo.

PMID- 20921813
TI  - Effect of preoperative statin therapy on postoperative atrial fibrillation in
      cardiac surgery.

PMID- 20921814
TI  - Clinical characteristics of patients with kawasaki disease and levels of
      peripheral endothelial progenitor cells and blood monocyte subpopulations.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Coronary sequelae that persist after Kawasaki disease (KD) have been
      associated with coronary vascular events in adolescents and young adults. The aim
      of this study was to investigate the relationship between coronary sequelae late
      after KD and circulating endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs), as a marker of
      vascular repair, or monocyte subsets as a marker of inflammation. METHODS AND
      RESULTS: The 31 KD patients were divided into 3 groups according to the type of
      coronary artery lesion (CAL): group 1 consisted of 14 patients with persistent
      aneurysm; group 2 consisted of 9 patients with regressed aneurysms; group 3
      included 8 KD patients with normal coronary arteries from disease onset. The
      control group (group 4) consisted of 10 healthy subjects. Flow cytometric
      analysis was used to quantify circulating EPCs defined as CD34(+)KDR(+) cells and
      2 distinct monocyte subsets (CD14(+)CD16(+) and CD14(+)CD16(-)). The number of
      EPCs in group 1 and group 2 was significantly decreased compared with group 4. In
      contrast, neither the number of CD14(+)CD16(+) monocytes nor that of CD14(+)CD16(
      ) monocytes was significantly different among the 4 groups. Finally, there were
      not any significant relationship between the numbers of EPCs and the 2 monocyte
      subsets. CONCLUSIONS: There are lower numbers of EPCs in the chronic phase of KD,
      irrespective of both CAL formation and monocyte subsets.

PMID- 20921815
TI  - Tracking serum lipid levels and the association of cholesterol concentrations,
      blood pressure and cigarette smoking with carotid artery intima-media thickness
      in young adults born small for gestational age.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Small birth size is associated with increased cardiovascular disease
      risk, but the mediating factors are poorly understood. METHODS AND RESULTS: Serum
      lipids, blood pressure (BP), carotid artery intima-media thickness (CA-IMT), and
      brachial artery flow-mediated dilatation (BA-FMD) were studied in 70 20-year-old
      subjects [35 sex- and age-matched pairs born small (SGA) and appropriate for
      gestational age (AGA)]. The SGA subjects had higher serum levels of low-density
      lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, total/high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and LDL/HDL
      cholesterol ratios, and lower HDL cholesterol levels than the AGA subjects (2.71
      vs 2.37 mmol/L, P<0.05; 3.12 vs 2.80, P<0.01; 1.98 vs 1.61, P=0.002; 1.43 vs 1.56
      mmol/L, P<0.05, respectively). In the SGA group, total and LDL cholesterol levels
      correlated inversely with adult height SD score (r=0.463, P=0.006 and r=0.413,
      P=0.015, respectively). CA-IMT or BA-FMD did not differ between the groups, but
      cigarette smoking, higher diastolic BP, and shorter birth length associated with
      higher CA-IMT in the whole study population. A clear tracking of cholesterol
      levels was found from 12 to 20 years. CONCLUSIONS: SGA subjects had more
      unfavorable lipid profiles than the controls, the shortest having the highest LDL
      cholesterol. Cigarette smoking, higher diastolic BP, and shorter birth length
      associated with higher CA-IMT in the whole study population. A clear tracking of
      cholesterol levels through adolescence enables early targeting of lifestyle
      counseling for reducing cardiovascular disease risk.

PMID- 20921816
TI  - Preoperative indexed left ventricular dimensions to predict early recovery of
      left ventricular function after aortic valve replacement for chronic aortic
      regurgitation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Aortic valve replacement (AVR) improves left ventricular (LV)
      systolic function in patients with chronic aortic regurgitation (AR). The
      objective of this study is to determine predictors for normalization of impaired
      LV systolic function after valve replacement for chronic AR. METHODS AND RESULTS:
      Between 1997 and 2007, 171 patients underwent AVR for severe chronic AR. Of these
      patients, 79 patients with LV systolic dysfunction or severe LV dilatation
      preoperatively, who were evaluated by echocardiography at predischarge and early
      follow up (mean, 6 months) were examined. The mean preoperative ejection fraction
      was 49%. The mean LV end-systolic and end-diastolic dimensions were 52.32 +/-
      8.35 mm and 69.59 +/- 7.80 mm, respectively. In the early follow up, 62 of 79
      patients exhibited restored normal LV function. LV end-systolic dimension and LV
      end-diastolic dimension were significantly decreased early after AVR (52.32 +/-
      8.35 mm vs 37.82 +/- 6.88 mm, and 69.59 +/- 7.80 mm vs 51.55 +/- 6.40 mm,
      respectively). Operative mortality was 3.7%. Multivariate stepwise regression
      analysis revealed that preoperative indexed LV end-systolic and end-diastolic
      dimensions were independent predictors of restored LV systolic function. The
      sensitivity and specificity in predicting normalization of LV function were 88%
      and 92% for indexed LVESD <35.32 mm/m(2) and 71% and 86% for indexed LVEDD <44.42
      mm/m(2). CONCLUSIONS: In patients who received a valve replacement for chronic
      AR, smaller indexed LV systolic and diastolic dimensions were associated with
      early restoration of LV systolic function.

PMID- 20921817
TI  - Plasma cystatin C concentration reflects the severity of coronary artery disease
      in patients without chronic kidney disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This study examines whether the serum concentration of cystatin C
      (Cys C) correlates with the severity of coronary artery disease (CAD) and whether
      it provides additional information on the risk for CAD in patients without
      chronic kidney disease (CKD) estimated by the creatinine-based glomerular
      filtration rate (GFR). METHODS AND RESULTS: The relationship between serum Cys C
      and the severity of CAD in 526 patients was investigated. Based on GFR, patients
      were divided into those with and without CKD. The relationship of serum Cys C
      with the severity of CAD was examined. Serum Cys C was closely correlated with
      GFR in all cases and in CKD patients, but not in non-CKD patients. The average
      number of stenotic coronary arteries was significantly higher in the quartiles of
      higher concentration of Cys C as well as in those of GFR. In 348 patients (66%)
      the GFR was >=60 ml . min(-1).1.73 m(-2). Those patients with increased Cys C
      (>0.90 mg/L, 143 patients) had a significantly larger number of stenotic coronary
      arteries than those patients with normal Cys C. CONCLUSIONS: Among patients
      considered to be at low risk based on the estimated GFR using serum creatinine,
      those with high concentrations of Cys C could have severe CAD. Besides CKD, Cys C
      might serve as a marker of CAD severity.

PMID- 20921818
TI  - Cardiac abnormalities in primary hyperoxaluria.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In patients with primary hyperoxaluria (PH), oxalate overproduction
      can result in recurrent urolithiasis and nephrocalcinosis, which in some cases
      results in a progressive decline in renal function, oxalate retention, and
      systemic oxalosis involving bone, retina, arterial media, peripheral nerves,
      skin, and heart. Oxalosis involving the myocardium or conduction system can
      potentially lead to heart failure and fatal arrhythmias. METHODS AND RESULTS: A
      retrospective review of our institution's database was conducted for all patients
      with a confirmed diagnosis of PH between 1/1948 and 1/2006 (n=103).
      Electrocardiogram (ECG) and echocardiography were used to identify cardiac
      abnormalities. Ninety-three patients fulfilled the inclusion criteria, 58% were
      male. Mean follow-up was 11.9 (median 8.8) years. In 38 patients who received an
      ECG or echocardiography, 31 were found to have any cardiac abnormalities. Cardiac
      findings correlated with decline in renal function. CONCLUSIONS: Our data
      suggests that physicians caring for patients with PH should pay close attention
      to cardiac status, especially if renal function is impaired.

PMID- 20921819
TI  - Activation of dopamine D4 receptors is protective against hypoxia/reoxygenation
      induced cell death in HT22 cells.
AB  - Several reports have shown that some dopamine receptor ligands modulate the
      ischemia-reperfusion injury in animal models; however, its underling mechanisms
      are still unclear. In this study, we sought to establish an in vitro experimental
      model of hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R) using HT22 cells that originated from mouse
      hippocampal neurons and to examine protective the effect of dopamine-receptor
      ligands against H/R-induced cell injury. The treatment with hypoxia for 18 h
      followed by reoxygenation for 6 h induced the elevation of intracellular reactive
      oxygen species (ROS) and reduction of mitochondrial membrane potential; however,
      lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release was not changed at this time point. LDH
      release was increased after reoxygenation for 18 h and longer, and this increase
      in LDH release was suppressed by dopamine receptor agonists such as apomorphine
      and apocodeine. The suppressive effects of these agonists were reversibly
      inhibited by L750667, a D(4)-receptor antagonist but not by D(2)- or D(3)
      receptor antagonists. In addition, PD168077, a selective dopamine D(4)-receptor
      agonist, also protected against H/R-induced cell death. These results suggest
      that H/R causes oxidative stress-induced cell death and that the activation of
      dopamine D(4) receptors protects against H/R-induced cell death in HT22 cells.

PMID- 20921820
TI  - Vascular homeostasis regulators, Edn1 and Agpt2, are upregulated as a protective
      effect of heat-treated zinc yeast in irradiated murine bone marrow.
AB  - PURPOSE: To elucidate the mechanism underlying the in vivo radioprotection
      activity by Zn-containing, heat-treated Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast (Zn
      yeast). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Zn-yeast suspension was administered into C3H/He
      mice immediately after whole body irradiation (WBI) at 7.5 Gy. Bone marrow was
      extracted from the mice 6 hours after irradiation and analyzed on a microarray.
      Expression changes in the candidate responsive genes differentially expressed in
      treated mice were re-examined by qRT-PCR. The bone marrow was also examined
      pathologically at 6 h, 3, 7, and 14 days postirradiation. RESULTS: Thirty-six
      genes, including Edn1 and Agpt2, were identified as candidate responsive genes in
      irradiated mouse bone marrow treated with Zn-yeast by showing a greater than
      three-fold change compared with control (no irradiation and no Zn-yeast) mice.
      The expressions of Cdkn1a, Bax, and Ccng, which are well known as radioresponsive
      genes, were upregulated in WBI mice and Zn-yeast treated WBI mice. Pathological
      examination showed the newly formed microvessels lined with endothelial cells,
      and small round hematopoietic cells around vessels in bone marrow matrix of mice
      administered with Zn-yeast after WBI, while whole-body irradiated mice developed
      fatty bone marrow within 2 weeks after irradiation. CONCLUSION: This study
      identified a possible mechanism for the postirradiation protection conferred by
      Zn-yeast. The protective effect of Zn-yeast against WBI is related to maintaining
      the bone marrow microenvironment, including targeting endothelial cells and
      cytokine release.

PMID- 20921821
TI  - Protective effect of atorvastatin on radiation-induced vascular endothelial cell
      injury in vitro.
AB  - Vascular endothelial cells are very sensitive to ionizing radiation, and it is
      important to develop effective prevent agents and measures in radiation exposure
      protection. In the present study, the protective effects of atorvastatin on
      irradiated human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) and the possible
      mechanisms were explored. Cultured HUVEC were treated by atorvastatin at a final
      concentration of 10 u mol/ml for 10 minutes, and then irradiated at a dose of 2
      Gy or 25 Gy. Twenty-four hours after irradiation, apoptosis of HUVEC was
      monitored by flow cytometry, and the expression of thrombomodulin (TM) and
      protein C activation in HUVEC was respectively assessed by flow cytometry and
      spectrophotometry. After treatment with atorvastatin for 24 h, the rate of cell
      apoptosis decreased by 6% and 16% in cells irradiated with 2 Gy and 25 Gy,
      respectively. TM expression increased by 77%, 59%, and 61% in untreated cells, 2
      Gy irradiation-treated cells, and 25 Gy irradiation-treated cells, respectively.
      The protein C levels in 2 Gy and 25 Gy irradiation-treated cells were reduced by
      23% and 34% when compared with untreated cells, but up-regulated by 79% and 76%
      when compared with cells which were irradiated and treated with atorvastatin. In
      conclusion, these data indicate that atorvastatin exerts protective effects on
      irradiated HUVEC by reducing apoptosis by up-regulating TM expression and
      enhancing protein C activation in irradiated HUVEC.

PMID- 20921822
TI  - Evaluation of the dosimetric parameters for 125I brachytherapy determined in
      prostate medium using CT images.
AB  - In the present study, the prostate medium determined from the CT images of 149
      patients was developed. The dosimetric parameters such as Lambda, g(L)(r) and
      F(r, theta) used in TG-43U1-based calculation for an iodine-125 ((125)I)
      brachytherapy-source were examined using Monte Carlo code Geant4. Clinical
      dosimetry parameters such as the D(90) were evaluated among a subgroup of 50
      randomly selected patients who had been treated with permanent brachytherapy
      between January 2008 and December 2008 at the Tokyo Medical Center. The results
      show a slight difference in the dose rate constant Lambda (within 1.0%). The
      radial dose function g(L)(r) exhibits a prominent difference in the region over 3
      cm, and this difference is maintained within 2.9% in the region close to the
      source. The calculated values of F(r, theta) for the prostate medium were similar
      to values for water (within 1%), except in the longitudinal axis. A comparison of
      D(90) values shows a systematic dose overestimation of 2.8 +/- 0.7 Gy in water,
      where the distribution of the differences can be seen with a spread of 1.8 +/-
      0.3% compared to that in prostate medium. It was concluded that the introduction
      of any kind of tissue correction for the TG-43U1-based calculation was not
      necessary to allow for the differences in elemental compositions and densities
      between water and prostate medium. PACS number: 87.00.00; 87.55.dk; 87.55.K-;
      87.56.B-.

PMID- 20921823
TI  - Quantitative structure activity relationship modeling for predicting
      radiosensitization effectiveness of nitroimidazole compounds.
AB  - This paper provides quantitative structure activity relationship (QSAR) models
      for predicting the radiosensitization effectiveness of nitroimidazole compounds.
      A new method, combining a heuristic method and projection pursuit regression, was
      used to build an advanced QSAR model. Compared to the conventional multi-linear
      regression model, this model showed better predictive ability and reliability,
      with the values of regression coefficient (R(2)) and root mean square error
      (RMSE) 0.92 and 0.18 for the training set and 0.90 and 0.17 for the test set,
      respectively. The provided models were useful tools to predict the
      radiosensitization effectiveness of nitroimidazole compounds. Also, the new
      finding descriptors derived from this study will help us to facilitate the design
      of new radiation sensitizers with better activities.

PMID- 20921824
TI  - Effect of hBD2 genetically modified dermal multipotent stem cells on repair of
      infected irradiated wounds.
AB  - Deficiencies in repair cells and infection are two of the main factors that can
      hinder the process of wound healing. In the present study, we investigated the
      ability of human beta-defensin-2 (hBD2) genetically modified dermal multipotent
      stem cells (dMSCs) to accelerate the healing irradiated wounds complicated by
      infections. An hBD2 adenovirus expression vector (Adv-hBD2) was firstly
      constructed and used to infect dMSCs. The antibacterial activity of the
      supernatant was determined by Kirby-Bauer method and macrodilution broth assay.
      Time to complete wound healing, residual percentage of wound area, and the number
      of bacteria under the scar were measured to assess the effects of Adv-hBD2
      infected dMSC transplantation on the healing of irradiated wounds complicated by
      Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection. Results showed that the supernatant from Adv
      hBD2-infected dMSCs had obvious antibacterial effects. Transplantation of Adv
      hBD2-infected dMSCs killed bacteria in the wound. The complete wound healing time
      was 19.8 +/- 0.45 days, which was significantly shorter than in the control
      groups (P < 0.05). From 14 days after transplantation, the residual wound area
      was smaller in the experimental group than in the control groups (P < 0.05). In
      conclusion, we found that transplantation of hBD2 genetically modified dMSCs
      accelerated the healing of wounds complicated by P. aeruginosa infection in whole
      body irradiated rats.

PMID- 20921825
TI  - Dosimetric comparison of three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy in salvage
      radiotherapy for PSA relapse after radical prostatectomy.
AB  - The purpose of this study is to compare three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy
      (3D-CRT) plans in a setting of salvage radiotherapy after radical prostatectomy
      (RP) and to simulate whether dose escalation is possible with the most adequate
      3D-CRT technique. This study included consecutive 10 patients underwent salvage
      radiotherapy (RT) for biochemical relapse of prostate cancer after RP. Normal
      structures included the rectum, bladder, and femoral head. For each patient, four
      different treatment plans including four fields RT (4F-RT), dynamic conformal arc
      radiotherapy (DCAT), six fields RT (6F-RT), and DCAT with rectum hollow-out
      technique (DCAT-HO), were created to entire the prostate bed. The parameters of
      the maximum and mean doses received by organs at risk (OAR), target coverage,
      dose homogeneity for the planning target volume (PTV) were compared. All plans
      were considered to be clinically tolerable for PTV coverage and dose homogeneity.
      The rectum sparing at the high dose area for DCAT-HO was considered to be the
      most superior to those for other three techniques by comparison of the dose
      delivered to a 1%, 5%, and 10% volume of the rectum. In the simulation of dose
      escalation to 70 Gy with DCAT-HO, OAR met a requirement of the dose-volume
      constraints. However, in the simulation of dose escalation to 72 Gy, the rectum
      that receives 60 to 65 Gy and bladder that receives 65 Gy exceeded the optimal
      dose-volume constraints. DCAT-HO was considered to be one of the most appropriate
      techniques in 3D-CRT if dose escalation to 70 Gy might be needed in a setting of
      salvage RT after RP in the future.

PMID- 20921826
TI  - Influence of histological subtype on survival after combined therapy of surgery
      and radiation in WHO grade 3 glioma.
AB  - World Health Organization (WHO) grade 3 glioma is one of the common brain tumors
      and has three main histological subtypes, including anaplastic astrocytoma (AA),
      anaplastic oligoastrocytoma (AOA) and anaplastic oligodendroglioma (AO). However,
      most previous studies have considered AOA and AO as one group because of the
      difficult differential diagnosis between AOA and AO. Therefore the prognostic
      difference among patients with these histological subtypes has been unclear. In
      this study, 68 patients with histologically proven WHO grade 3 glioma,
      consecutively received postoperative radiotherapy at the Gunma University
      Hospital, Japan, between 1983 and 2005, were investigated to assess the impact of
      histological subtype on the survival. The number of AA, AOA and AO patients was
      41, 16 and 11, respectively. The mean and median follow-up periods were 72 and 48
      months, respectively. The number of patients treated with gross total resection,
      partial resection and biopsy was 14, 38 and 16, respectively. The mean and median
      radiation doses were 58 +/- 5 Gy and 60 Gy, respectively. The 5-year overall
      survival rates of AA, AOA and AO were 21%, 38% and 80%, and median survival
      period were 16 months, 58 months and not reached, respectively. Univariate
      analysis showed that the histological subtype (P < 0.01) and extent of surgery (P
      < 0.01) were significant prognostic factors for survival. Selective comparison
      showed that overall survival of patients with AA was significantly worse than for
      those with AOA (P = 0.01) and AO (P < 0.01). The overall survival of patients
      with AO was better than for those with AOA; however, the difference was not
      statistically significant (P = 0.14). Multivariate analysis demonstrated that
      histological subtype, age and extent of surgery were the significant independent
      variable for survival (P < 0.01, P < 0.01 and P = 0.04). In our study,
      histological subtype was one of the most important prognostic factors of WHO
      grade 3 glioma.

PMID- 20921827
TI  - Therapeutic effects of recombinant human epidermal growth factor (rhEGF) in a
      murine model of concurrent chemo- and radiotherapy-induced oral mucositis.
AB  - Concurrent chemotherapy with radiotherapy (CCRT) has been applied for the
      treatment of advanced stage of head and neck cancer patients. However CCRT is
      associated with several complications including mucositis, dermatitis,
      stomatitis, etc. This study was conducted to evaluate the therapeutic effect of
      systemically administrated recombinant human epidermal growth factor (rhEGF) in
      CCRT-induced oral mucositis in a mouse model. Oral mucositis was induced in male
      BALB/c mice through combination treatment with cisplatin (11 mg/kg, i.p.) and
      irradiation (17 Gy) of the head and neck area. rhEGF (1.0 mg/kg/day for
      consecutive 3 days) was administered systemically, and the therapeutic effect was
      determined by histological evaluation of the oral mucosa. To elucidate optimal
      dose of rhEGF on CCRT-induced mucositis, various concentrations (0.04-3 mg/kg) of
      rhEGF were injected for 3 days. Systemic rhEGF administration accelerated the
      recovery of body weight. Histologically, rhEGF-treated mice showed significantly
      increased epithelial cell layer thickness, basal cell number, and expression of
      Ki-67 compared to control mice. Most effective dose was 1 mg/kg among other doses
      tested. Systemic administration of 1 mg/kg of rhEGF reduces the severity of oral
      mucositis induced by CCRT in a mouse model, suggesting that rhEGF can be used for
      treating CCRT-induced mucositis during the cancer treatment.

PMID- 20921828
TI  - A Study on the effects of 50 Hz magnetic fields on UV-induced radical reactions
      in murine fibroblasts.
AB  - The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that the "radical pair
      mechanism" (magnetic field effect on recombination rate of radical pairs)
      explains our previous findings indicating that 50 Hz magnetic fields (MF) of
      about 100 uT modify biological responses to ultraviolet (UV) radiation. In the
      present study, the effects of 50 Hz MF on cellular oxidative processes induced by
      UV radiation were investigated. Murine L929 fibroblast cells were exposed to 50
      Hz MF of 100 or 300 uT during a 1-h UV exposure or for 24 h before it. The decay
      kinetics of oxidative reactions were analysed by measuring ultraweak
      chemiluminescence (photon emissions) of the exposed cells by scintillation
      counter in the out-of-coincidence mode. No significant MF effects were found. The
      results do not support the hypothesis that 100-300 uT MF modify biological
      responses to UV radiation by causing an overall change in oxidative reactions at
      cellular level.

PMID- 20921829
TI  - G0 and G2 chromosomal assays in the evaluation of radiosensitivity in a cohort of
      Italian breast cancer patients.
AB  - Breast cancer (BC) is the most common type of malignancy in female patients and
      radio-treatment is the conventional therapy even if a great number of studies
      reported that enhanced sensitivity to ionizing radiation as measured as
      chromosome effects is present in a significant proportion of cancer patients,
      including breast cancer ones. In this study we analysed whether peripheral blood
      lymphocytes from sporadic BC patients and healthy subjects showed a different
      sensitivity to ionizing radiation and whether cytogenetic radiosensitivity may
      serve as a breast cancer risk biomarker. To test this hypothesis, the in vitro
      radiation sensitivity was measured by using both G(0) and G(2) chromosome
      radiosensitivity assays, on 46 subjects (23 BC patients and 23 healthy subjects).
      Results show that cancer patients are more radiosensitive than healthy controls
      and that G(2) assay could be more appropriate to define the individual
      radiosensitivity if compared to G(0) assay.

PMID- 20921830
TI  - A novel method of boron delivery using sodium iodide symporter for boron neutron
      capture therapy.
AB  - Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT) effectiveness depends on the preferential
      sequestration of boron in cancer cells relative to normal tissue cells. We
      present a novel strategy for sequestering boron using an adenovirus expressing
      the sodium iodide symporter (NIS). Human glioma grown subcutaneously in athymic
      mice and orthotopic rat brain tumors were transfected with NIS using a direct
      tumor injection of adenovirus. Boron bound as sodium tetrafluoroborate (NaBF(4))
      was administered systemically several days after transfection. Tumors were
      excised hours later and assessed for boron concentration using inductively
      coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy. In the human glioma transfected with
      NIS, boron concentration was more than 10 fold higher with 100 mg/kg of NaBF(4),
      compared to tumor not transfected. In the orthotopic tumor model, the presence of
      NIS conferred almost 4 times the boron concentration in rat tumors transfected
      with human virus compared with contralateral normal brain not transfected. We
      conclude that adenovirus expressing NIS has the potential to be used as a novel
      boron delivery agent and should be explored for future clinical applications.

PMID- 20921831
TI  - Revisiting anatomic landmarks: lateral popliteal approach for sciatic nerve block
      based on magnetic resonance imaging.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: When the conventional lateral popliteal sciatic nerve
      (SN) block is performed, the needle angle required to localize and the level of
      the SN bifurcation are highly variable. The aim of our magnetic resonance imaging
      (MRI) study was to determine the most common range of needle-insertion angles and
      the relationship between skin-to-femur distance and angle. We also evaluated the
      variability of the SN bifurcation level and the relationship between patient
      height and nerve bifurcation level. METHODS: Using 289 thigh MRIs to simulate a
      lateral approach in the supine position, we measured and analyzed with simple
      linear regressions the level of SN bifurcation, the skin-to-femur and SN-to-femur
      distances, and the angle at which the needle must be directed posteriorly to
      intersect the SN at 9 cm proximal to the lateral joint line. RESULTS: The mean
      insertion angle was 30 (SD, 8) degrees. In 95% of cases, angles ranged from 15 to
      45 degrees, and the larger the thigh, the smaller the angle. The SN divided at a
      mean distance of 7.5 (SD, 1.6) cm (range, 1.5-12.8 cm) proximal to the lateral
      joint line. In 93% of cases, the bifurcation level was 10 cm or less.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our simulated lateral popliteal SN block on MRIs shows a 15- to 45
      degree range of needle-insertion angles. As the skin-to-femur distance was
      greater than 4.5 cm, the angles were progressively smaller than 30 degrees.
      Although this was an MRI study, it does provide some evidence that indicates the
      conventional clinically recommended 25- to 30-degree-angle ranges may need to be
      reevaluated. Needle insertion of 10 cm or greater proximal to the popliteal
      crease may increase the chance of placement at or proximal to the SN bifurcation.

PMID- 20921832
TI  - Intrathecal infusion of pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate for the prevention and
      reversal of neuropathic pain in rats using a sciatic chronic constriction injury
      model.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Recent studies have suggested that nuclear factor
      kappaB (NF-kappaB) may play a role in mediating nerve injury-induced neuropathic
      pain. Here, we examined the effects of intrathecal pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate
      (PDTC), a NF-kappaB inhibitor, on the development of neuropathic pain, spinal
      microglial activation, and CX3CR1 expression induced by sciatic chronic
      constriction injury (CCI) model in rats. METHODS: Under chloral hydrate
      anesthesia, male Sprague-Dawley rats (300-350 g) fitted with intrathecal
      catheters underwent either sciatic CCI or sham surgery. Intrathecal saline or
      PDTC (100 or 1000 pmol/d) was infused 1 day before or 3 days after CCI (n = 8).
      The rat hind-paw withdrawal threshold to mechanical stimuli and withdrawal
      latency to radiant heat were determined before surgery and from days 1 to 7 after
      CCI. Spinal microglial activation was evaluated with OX-42 immunoreactivity, and
      spinal CX3CR1 expression was assessed by Western blotting. RESULTS: Chronic
      constriction injury induced mechanical allodynia and thermal hyperalgesia and
      microglial activation as demonstrated by OX-42 expression. Whereas it had no
      apparent effect on spinal cord histology, intrathecal administration of PDTC
      prevented the development of the mechanical and thermal hyperalgesia and
      inhibited nerve injury-induced microglial activation and spinal CX3CR1
      expression. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, we have shown the protective effect of
      intrathecal PDTC on the development of nociceptive behaviors induced by CCI in
      rats. The activation of NF-kappaB pathway may contribute to spinal microglial
      activation and CX3CR1 up-regulation.

PMID- 20921833
TI  - A macromolecular tracer indicates that the spinal epidural space connects
      directly to the venous circulation in pigs.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Air injected into the epidural space of the spine
      reaches the heart within 15 secs, suggesting easy access to the bloodstream. We
      wished to quantify the washout of a macromolecular tracer (albumin labeled with
      Evans blue) from the thoracic epidural space. METHODS: Eleven juvenile pigs were
      anesthetized with isoflurane and positioned on their sides. We injected a bolus
      of the tracer into the thoracic epidural space followed by serial saline
      infusions (total, 50-70 mL). We measured plasma concentrations of the tracer
      during washout. Finally, we injected Microfil (a liquid rubber compound that
      hardens on standing) into the epidural space and later inspected with a
      dissecting microscope the nerve roots and veins draining the spine. RESULTS: More
      than half (60% +/- 12%; range, 31%-79%) of the tracer injected in the epidural
      space was detected in the bloodstream. Microfil was detected in the veins
      draining the cervical or high thoracic spine, but never in veins draining the
      lumbar spine or sacrum. CONCLUSIONS: Because the macromolecular tracer cannot
      enter the bloodstream by absorption, these results indicate that pathways capable
      of handling bulk flow connect the spinal epidural space to the venous
      circulation. These pathways are located in the cervical and high thoracic spine
      of the pig.

PMID- 20921834
TI  - Does "opening the perineural space" before stimulating catheter placement for
      continuous nerve block add value in clinical practice?
AB  - INTRODUCTION: A study using unblinded block performance and subjective outcome
      measurements suggested that "opening the space" surrounding the femoral nerve
      with 10 mL dextrose 5% in water (D5W) before catheter placement facilitated
      placement and improved the quality of the nerve block. We conducted a double
      blind, prospectively randomized study to evaluate this suggestion by adding
      objective measurements to the original subjective measurements. METHODS: A Tuohy
      needle was directed toward the femoral nerve under ultrasound and nerve
      stimulator guidance. A quadriceps femoris motor response was identified by
      cephalad patellar movements with a maximum nerve stimulator output of 0.5 mA. The
      primary anesthesiologist either injected D5W or made no injection through the
      needle, depending on patient randomization. A second anesthesiologist, unaware of
      randomization, placed the stimulating perineural catheter. The primary
      measurement was the procedure time (in seconds) for threading the catheter.
      Additional measurements included total nerve block time (in minutes), number of
      attempts passing the catheter, subjective ease of placement by the second
      anesthesiologist, depth of needle and catheter, minimum stimulating current
      through needle and catheter, and the quality of the nerve block. RESULTS: Two
      groups of 35 patients were enrolled. Statistically significant differences were
      found in the median (5th-95th confidence intervals) catheter threading time (21.0
      [9.6-118] and 33.0 [13.4-193] secs in the control and D5W groups, respectively; P
      = 0.03). Significant difference was also found in the number of attempts at
      passing the catheter (1 [1-2] and 2 [1-4] in the control and D5W groups,
      respectively; P = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study do not support
      the concept that opening the space surrounding the femoral nerve with D5W before
      femoral catheter placement adds value to perineural catheter placement.

PMID- 20921835
TI  - Intravenous lidocaine reduces ischemic pain in healthy volunteers.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Lidocaine, a local anesthetic and antiarrhythmic drug
      that alters depolarization in neurons by blocking the fast voltage-gated sodium
      (Na+) channels in the cell membrane, is used for regional anesthesia, as
      antiarrhythmic drug, and as analgesic for various painful conditions. It is
      unclear whether monotherapy with intravenous lidocaine has an analgesic effect in
      healthy individuals. To address this important question, we studied pain
      perception before, during, and after the administration of intravenous lidocaine
      in 16 human volunteers. Our hypothesis was that lidocaine, administered as a
      short intravenous infusion, does not have an analgesic effect in healthy
      volunteers. METHODS: Sixteen healthy human volunteers received systemic lidocaine
      at plasma concentration 2 mg/mL using a computer-assisted infusion. Participants
      underwent a series of sensory tests-thermal, electrical, and ischemic pain and
      normal pinprick sensation-at baseline, during, and 30 mins after administration
      of a 20-min lidocaine infusion at a 2 mg/mL effect site concentration. RESULTS:
      We found a sustained decrease in ischemic pain ratings and a limited analgesic
      effect for electrical pain, whereas thermal pain and normal sensation did not
      change. CONCLUSIONS: The observed sustained analgesic effect of systemic
      lidocaine in the ischemic pain model suggests that lidocaine may be used to treat
      acute pain.

PMID- 20921836
TI  - A double-blind, controlled, randomized trial to evaluate the efficacy of
      botulinum toxin for the treatment of lumbar myofascial pain in humans.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Among all the causes of chronic low back pain, myofascial pain
      syndrome of the spinal stabilizer muscles is one of the most frequent, yet
      underconsidered sources of pain. The purpose of this prospective, randomized,
      double-blind, controlled trial was to evaluate the efficacy of type-A botulinum
      toxin (BTX-A) in relieving myofascial pain in patients experiencing mechanical
      low back pain due to bilateral myofascial pain syndrome involving the iliopsoas
      and/or the quadratus lumborum muscles. METHODS: Each of the 27 enrolled patients
      received a bilateral, fluoroscopically guided injection in the affected muscle(s)
      to randomly deliver BTX-A in one side of the low back and a control drug
      (randomly constituted by NaCl 0.9% or bupivacaine 0.25%) in the opposite side. To
      evaluate the effects of treatment on daily life activities and psychologic
      status, 5 different questionnaires were administered (Hospital Anxiety and
      Depression scale [HAD-A and HAD-D], Lattinen, Oswestry, and Spielberger State
      Trait Anxiety Index). RESULTS: BTX-A injection did not significantly reduce
      visual analog scale scores more than treatment with NaCl or bupivacaine in the
      contralateral side; furthermore, the treatments administered did not result in a
      significant improvement of patients' daily life activities or psychologic status.
      Although a trend toward a decrease in postintervention visual analog scale scores
      could be recognized in all low back sides, this trend was significant only in the
      sides treated with BTX-A. CONCLUSIONS: BTX-A seems to provide significant
      postintervention pain relief. However, considering its high cost and the small
      differences compared with control treatments, its use should be reserved only for
      patients with pain refractory to other invasive treatments.

PMID- 20921837
TI  - Evaluation of the addition of bupivacaine to intrathecal morphine and fentanyl
      for postoperative pain management in laparascopic liver resection.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Optimal modality of pain management after liver resection has been
      controversial. Epidural analgesia is often avoided because of transient
      coagulopathy and the associated risk of epidural hematoma. Single-dose
      intrathecal morphine has been shown to be an effective alternative in open liver
      resection. The purpose of this trial was to compare the analgesic efficacy of
      intrathecal morphine and fentanyl versus intrathecal bupivacaine 0.5%, morphine,
      and fentanyl for patients undergoing laparoscopic liver resection. METHODS: This
      prospective randomized controlled double-blind trial compared morphine
      consumption between control (CTRL) group receiving a spinal injection of fentanyl
      15 MUg and morphine 0.4 mg and bupivacaine (BUPI) group receiving the same
      medications in addition to bupivacaine 0.5% (15 mg). Forty patients scheduled for
      laparoscopic liver resection were enrolled. Primary outcome was intravenous
      patient-controlled analgesia morphine consumption measured at 6, 9, 12, 18, 24,
      36, and 48 hrs after spinal injection. Secondary outcomes were pain scores at
      rest and with movement, sedation, nausea, pruritus, and respiratory rate.
      RESULTS: Cumulative doses of morphine were significantly lower for all time
      intervals in the BUPI group: 54 (30) versus 94 (47) mg (P = 0.01) at 48 hrs.
      Morphine consumption was significantly lower for each time interval up to 18 hrs.
      Pain scores with movement were significantly lower in the BUPI group up to 24 hrs
      after injection. Pain score at rest was significantly lower in the BUPI group 9
      hrs after injection. There were no differences in adverse effects. CONCLUSIONS:
      The addition of bupivacaine to intrathecal morphine and fentanyl significantly
      reduced intravenous morphine consumption after laparoscopic liver resection.

PMID- 20921838
TI  - Ultrasound-guided popliteal block distal to sciatic nerve bifurcation shortens
      onset time: a prospective randomized double-blind study.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Popliteal sciatic nerve block (SNB) in combination
      with saphenous nerve block provides anesthesia and analgesia for foot and ankle
      surgeries. Landmark-based and image-guided techniques, to date, aim at blocking
      the sciatic nerve proximal to its bifurcation. Sciatic nerve block is usually
      associated with a long onset time (30-60 mins). We hypothesized that SNB distal
      to its bifurcation (blocking its 2 main branches tibial and common peroneal
      nerves separately) is associated with a shorter onset time than blockade proximal
      to its bifurcation. METHODS: Fifty patients scheduled for major elective foot or
      ankle surgery were randomly allocated to receive ultrasound-guided SNB 5 cm
      proximal to (group P) or 3 cm distal to (group D) its bifurcation in the
      popliteal fossa. Thirty milliliters of a standardized local anesthetic solution
      of equal volumes of 2% lidocaine and 0.5% bupivacaine with 1:200,000 epinephrine
      was used. Sensory and motor assessments were performed every 5 mins by a blinded
      observer until complete sensory and motor blockade developed in both tibial and
      common peroneal nerve territories. RESULTS: All patients in both groups developed
      a complete block. Patients in group D presented a 30% shorter onset of both
      sensory (21.4 [SD, 9.9] vs 31.4 [SD, 13.9] mins) (P = 0.005) and motor block
      (21.5 [SD, 11.3] vs 32.4 [SD, 14.9] mins) (P = 0.006) than patients in group P.
      Procedure time, procedure-related discomfort, and patient satisfaction were
      similar in both groups. CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that popliteal SNB distal
      to the bifurcation has a shorter onset time than SNB proximal to its bifurcation,
      and therefore, it may be a good option when a fast onset for a surgical block is
      required.

PMID- 20921839
TI  - Clinical sonopathology for the regional anesthesiologist: part 1: vascular and
      neural.
AB  - The use of ultrasound to facilitate regional anesthesia is an evolving area of
      clinical, education, and research interests. As our community's experience grows,
      it has become evident that anesthesiologists performing "routine" ultrasound
      guided blocks may very well be confronted with atypical or even pathologic
      anatomy. As an educational resource for anesthesiologists, the following articles
      present examples of common sonopathology that may be encountered during
      ultrasound-guided regional anesthesia. This present article describes
      sonopathology related to blood vessels and nerves.

PMID- 20921840
TI  - Clinical sonopathology for the regional anesthesiologist: part 2: bone, viscera,
      subcutaneous tissue, and foreign bodies.
AB  - The use of ultrasound to facilitate regional anesthesia is an evolving area of
      clinical, education, and research interests. As our community's experience grows,
      it has become evident that anesthesiologists performing "routine" ultrasound
      guided blocks may very well be confronted with atypical or even pathologic
      anatomy. As an educational resource for anesthesiologists, the following articles
      present examples of common sonopathology that may be encountered during
      ultrasound-guided regional anesthesia. This present article describes
      sonopathology related to bone, viscera, and subcutaneous tissue.

PMID- 20921841
TI  - A low-cost ultrasound phantom of the lumbosacral spine.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: This report describes the production of a low-cost
      ultrasound phantom of the lumbosacral spine. The phantom should be a very useful
      tool to teach the basic skills for ultrasound-guided procedures of the
      lumbosacral spine. METHODS: A lumbosacral spine model is secured to the bottom of
      a microwave-safe container and is immersed in a concentrated gelatin solution.
      After the gelatin hardens, the model can be used for scanning practice as well as
      needle placement. The phantom can be recovered after use by melting the gelatin
      in a microwave to "erase" any needle track marks. RESULTS: A transparent and
      durable gelatin block is produced. This allows trainees to have direct visual
      access to the lumbosacral spine model to correlate with the ultrasound images as
      well as to confirm proper needle placement. Disadvantages of the model include
      lack of simulated soft tissue structures and an absence of simulated haptic
      feedback during needle placement. Metamucil can be added to the gelatin to
      simulate the appearance of soft tissue, although this increases the opacity and
      thus decreases the visual access of the gelatin. CONCLUSIONS: This teaching tool
      can provide trainees with an opportunity to familiarize themselves with
      sonoanatomy of the lumbosacral spine in addition to practicing probe handling
      techniques and needle placement.

PMID- 20921851
TI  - Optimal surgical staging in early stage epithelial ovarian cancer: a sorry state.

PMID- 20921842
TI  - Duloxetine: a review of its pharmacology and use in chronic pain management.
AB  - Duloxetine is a serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor that possesses
      antidepressant and pain-relieving properties. Compared with other
      antidepressants, it has a high affinity for both norepinephrine and serotonin
      reuptake transporters, which are relatively balanced. Analgesic onset has been
      observed within the first week of administration in randomized controlled trials
      and is likely obtained by enhancing the tone of the descending pain inhibition
      pathways of the central nervous system. Randomized trials have documented
      significant analgesic effects for managing chronic pain associated with
      fibromyalgia and diabetic peripheral neuropathic pain. Studies have also
      suggested that pain associated with major depressive disorder can be reduced with
      this medication. Modest effects for headache, osteoarthritic pain, and pain
      secondary to Parkinson disease have also been documented, but data are obtained
      from single-blinded or open-label trials that require further corroboration with
      larger randomized studies. Duloxetine has not yet been directly compared with
      other antidepressants or anticonvulsants for the treatment of pain syndromes.

PMID- 20921852
TI  - What can the tongue tell you about Sjogren's syndrome?

PMID- 20921853
TI  - Ectopic calcification and weakness in an adult.

PMID- 20921854
TI  - Severe atlantoaxial subluxation in early ankylosing spondylitis.

PMID- 20921856
TI  - The impact of human papillomavirus and human papillomavirus vaccination among
      rheumatology patients.

PMID- 20921857
TI  - Serious concerns related to the article entitled "Tai Chi improves physical
      function in older Chinese women with knee osteoarthritis".

PMID- 20921858
TI  - Tai Chi improves physical function in older Chinese women with knee
      osteoarthritis: retraction.

PMID- 20921859
TI  - War zone veterans returning to treatment: effects of social functioning and
      psychopathology.
AB  - Patients with mental illness often return for further treatment after an initial
      episode of care. Two processes that may contribute to the return for further
      treatment are the severity of patients' initial social and clinical status;
      and/or deterioration in their status over time, regardless of their initial
      status. This study examined these processes in an administrative database of war
      zone veterans who had received outpatient treatment from a Veterans Affairs
      specialized posttraumatic stress disorder program. The results suggest that both
      initial severity and deterioration of status contribute to return to treatment
      and involve changes in both social functioning and psychopathology. Determination
      of the direction of effects between social functioning and psychopathology showed
      that psychopathology in the form of PTSD, other Axis I disorder or violent
      behavior generally affected subsequent social functioning, but not vice versa.
      Psychopathology in the form of alcohol or drug abuse/dependence, however, showed
      reciprocal effects with social functioning. These results point to the importance
      of emphasizing interventions that address social dysfunction and that address
      psychopathology, from the beginning of treatment as a way of maximizing the
      benefits and minimizing the need for recurrent care.

PMID- 20921860
TI  - Impact of traumatic and violent victimization experiences in individuals with
      schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder.
AB  - Individuals with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder (SZ) experience more
      violent victimization and noninterpersonal traumatic experiences than the general
      population. Earlier studies, however, have generally excluded one or grouped
      together victimization and trauma experiences into single outcome variables,
      which may obscure their contributory role to SZ symptoms. This issue is important
      because there is some evidence that intentionally induced violence produces
      higher rates of psychopathology than nonintentional traumatic experiences. We
      examined the independent contribution of both types of victimization experiences
      on SZ patients' symptomatology. We were also interested in determining whether SZ
      patients' pattern of acute symptom presentation could discriminate between SZ
      patients with and without posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) comorbidity. SZ
      inpatients (n = 70) were assessed for the presence of comorbid PTSD diagnosis,
      violent victimization, and noninterpersonal traumatic experiences. Patients were
      also rated on SZ symptom severity and general psychopathology measures. Past
      violent victimization experiences predicted severity of dysphoria and anxiety in
      SZ. Past traumatic experiences, however, predicted severity of psychosis.
      Victimization predicted severity of patients' autistic/cognitive symptoms. SZ
      patients with comorbid PTSD presented with significantly more anxiety and
      dysphoria symptoms and SZ illness chronicity than their non-PTSD counterparts.
      Discriminant function analysis revealed that the severity of positive, dysphoric,
      autistic/cognitive, and anxiety symptoms differentiated comorbid PTSD patients
      from their non-PTSD counterparts, with an overall 72.9% classification rate. Past
      traumatic and victimization experiences are significantly associated with SZ
      patients' symptom severity and illness course in partially overlapping domains.
      Use of common assessment strategies may be employed to increase detection of PTSD
      in SZ patients presenting for acute treatment.

PMID- 20921861
TI  - Mobile interventions for severe mental illness: design and preliminary data from
      three approaches.
AB  - Mobile devices can be used to deliver psychosocial interventions, yet there is
      little prior application in severe mental illness. We provide the rationale,
      design, and preliminary data from 3 ongoing clinical trials of mobile
      interventions developed for bipolar disorder or schizophrenia. Project 1 used a
      personal digital assistant to prompt engagement in personalized self-management
      behaviors based on real-time data. Project 2 employed experience sampling through
      text messages to facilitate case management. Project 3 was built on group
      functional skills training for schizophrenia by incorporating between-session
      mobile phone contacts with therapists. Preliminary findings were of minimal
      participant attrition, and no broken devices; yet, several operational and
      technical barriers needed to be addressed. Adherence was similar to that reported
      in nonpsychiatric populations, with high participant satisfaction. Therefore,
      mobile devices seem feasible and acceptable in augmenting psychosocial
      interventions for severe mental illness, with future research in establishing
      efficacy, cost effectiveness, and ethical and safety protocols.

PMID- 20921862
TI  - Alexithymia, human relationships, and mobile phone use.
AB  - Alexithymia is a personality trait associated with difficulties in identifying
      feelings, difficulties in describing feelings to other people, constricted
      imaginal processes, and an externally oriented cognitive style. It has been found
      to be associated with personality features that may cause interpersonally
      avoidant behavior and other interpersonal problems. The present study explored,
      in a sample of primary care patients (N = 491), whether alexithymia is associated
      with mobile phone usage, and whether the perceived quality and quantity of human
      relationships mediate its effect. Even controlling for sociodemographic variables
      and symptoms of depression, mania and psychoses, alexithymia, measured by the 20
      Item Toronto Alexithymia Scale, was associated with less frequent mobile phone
      use. Not having enough relationships or a close friend, and relationships being
      less satisfactory mediated the effect of alexithymia on less frequent mobile
      phone use. The results support the findings of earlier studies that have linked
      interpersonal problems with alexithymia.

PMID- 20921863
TI  - Is a history of school bullying victimization associated with adult suicidal
      ideation?: a South Australian population-based observational study.
AB  - The objective of this research was to determine whether a history of school
      bullying victimization is associated with suicidal ideation in adult life. A
      random and representative sample of 2907 South Australian adults was surveyed in
      Autumn, 2008. Respondents were asked "When you were at school, did you experience
      traumatic bullying by peers that was particularly severe, for example, being
      frequently targeted or routinely harassed in any way by 'bullies'?" Depression
      was determined by the mood module of the PRIME-MD which includes a suicidal
      ideation question; "In the last 2 weeks, have you had thoughts that you would be
      better off dead or hurting yourself in some way?" The overall prevalence of
      suicidal ideation in postschool age respondents was 3.4% (95% confidence
      interval: 2.8%-4.2%) in 2008. Bullying by peers was recalled by 18.7% (17.2%
      20.3%). Respondents with a history of being bullied were approximately 3 times
      (odds ratio: 3.2) more likely to report suicidal ideation compared with those who
      did not. The association between being bullied and suicidal ideation remained
      after controlling for both depression and sociodemographic variables (odds ratio:
      2.1). The results from the present research suggest that there is a strong
      association between a history of childhood bullying victimization and current
      suicidal ideation that persists across all ages. Bullying prevention programs in
      schools could hold the potential for longer lasting benefits in this important
      area of public health.

PMID- 20921864
TI  - Persistent insomnia in chronic hypnotic users presenting to a sleep medical
      center: a retrospective chart review of 137 consecutive patients.
AB  - Chronic insomnia patients may fail pharmacotherapy. We reviewed charts on 137
      chronic insomnia patients new to our sleep medical center who reported persisting
      insomnia despite long-term usage of pharmacotherapy. We examined 4 areas: (1)
      patient views on encounters with prescribing physicians; (2) self-reported
      medication efficacy; (3) treatment-seeking goals; and (4) completion of a sleep
      medicine workup. Insomnia chronicity averaged 13 years; use of prescription
      medication for sleep averaged 3.81 years. Encounters with prescribing physicians
      yielded few options beyond drugs. Drug efficacy was not optimal for most of these
      patients. Sleeping better or drug-free were their chief goals. Subjective and
      objective sleep measures confirmed moderately severe residual insomnia as well as
      fair to poor waking impairment and quality of life. Sleep workup revealed high
      rates of maladaptive behavioral influences (96%), psychiatric complaints (89%),
      and obstructive sleep apnea (71%). In chronic insomnia patients who failed
      pharmacotherapy, comorbid mental and physical factors indicated a sleep
      disturbance complexity unlikely to respond fully to medication.

PMID- 20921865
TI  - Knowledge of and stigma associated with mental disorders in a South african
      community sample.
AB  - The aim of this study was to assess the awareness of, attitudes toward, and
      stigma associated with psychiatric disorders among South Africans. A convenience
      sample of 1081 members of the general public participated in the study. One of 10
      vignettes portraying different psychiatric disorders with subtle or obvious
      symptoms was presented to each respondent. Schizophrenia was reported as being
      the most representative of a psychiatric disorder and post-traumatic stress
      disorder as the least representative. Psychosocial stress was reported more
      frequently than medical etiologies as a possible cause of mental disorders.
      Seeking help from a health professional in the form of psychotherapy was often
      endorsed as an effective treatment option, whereas taking medication was rarely
      endorsed. Respondents held more stigmatizing attitudes toward patients with
      substance abuse and schizophrenia, whereas post-traumatic stress disorder was
      stigmatized significantly less than the other conditions. Further effort is
      required to educate the public about the psychobiological underpinnings of
      psychiatric disorders and about the value of effective treatments.

PMID- 20921866
TI  - Clinical characteristics of depressed patients with a history of suicide
      attempts: results from the CRESCEND study in South Korea.
AB  - South Korea is a country with one of the highest suicide rates in the world, and
      the suicide rate is still on the rise. The purpose of this study was to determine
      the sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of suicide attempts and risk
      factors related to suicide attempts among depressed patients in South Korea.
      Among the 1183 participants, 21.4% had a history of a suicide attempt. When the
      severity of depression was controlled, the risk factors for patients who
      attempted suicide included younger age, experienced significant life events
      before 12 years of age, psychotic symptoms, and previous depressive episodes. The
      characteristics of attempted suicide in depressed patients in South Korea can be
      summarized as a high suicide attempt rate with no difference in the number of
      suicide attempts and lethality between males and females. This unique tendency is
      probably related to the sociodemographic and cultural characteristics of South
      Korea.

PMID- 20921867
TI  - Genetic and environmental influences on multiple dimensions of religiosity: a
      twin study.
AB  - In recent years there has been a renewed scientific interest in the study of
      religiosity, including research on genetic and environmental contributions to
      religiosity. In this article, we investigate genetic and environmental effects on
      7 religiosity factors and explore how genetic and environmental effects covary
      across these factors. Seven religiosity factors estimated from 78 items were
      examined in a sample of adult male and female twins. The 7 religiosity factors
      were largely influenced by additive genetic and unique environmental effects,
      with relatively little influence from common environmental effects. Multivariate
      genetic analyses found the 7 religiosity factors were influenced by 1 common
      additive genetic factor, 3 common unique environmental factors, and unique
      environmental effects specific to each religiosity factor. The results suggest
      that for the population studied, additive genetic and unique environmental
      effects largely account for the variance across the religiosity construct.

PMID- 20921868
TI  - HADStress screen for posttraumatic stress: replication in ethiopian refugees.
AB  - Purpose was to assess whether a 4-symptom somatic screen, shown to correlate with
      current post-traumatic stress symptoms in 1 refugee group, could function as a
      screening instrument in another group of refugees. Sample consisted of 512
      community-dwelling refugees from Ethiopia. Data collection included demography,
      types of torture and nontorture trauma experienced a decade earlier in Africa,
      and current posttraumatic stress symptoms. Somatic symptoms included headaches
      (H), appetite change (A), dizziness and faintness (D), and sleep problems (S),
      added with equal weighting into the HADStress Screen, ranging from 0 to 4.
      Results showed that age, gender, torture, and other trauma experiences from a
      decade ago, and current posttraumatic stress symptoms predicted current somatic
      symptoms on univariate analyses. On a negative binomial regression model, current
      posttraumatic stress symptoms, male gender, and number of torture types predicted
      a high HADStress score. Post hoc tests supported cut-off levels at 3 and at 4
      symptoms. Conclusion is that the HADStress Screen can serve as an efficient,
      nonthreatening screen for posttraumatic stress symptoms among refugees.

PMID- 20921869
TI  - Evaluation of the linkoping youth life experience scale.
AB  - The objective of this study was to investigate the psychometric properties of a
      newly developed instrument for potentially traumatic life events, the Linkoping
      Youth Life Experience Scale (LYLES), and determine the benefits of including
      adverse childhood circumstances (ACCs) as factors in the evaluation. In addition,
      we wanted to investigate the difference between interpersonal and
      noninterpersonal traumatic events, the impact of ACCs, and the cumulative effects
      of these events on self-reported symptoms of dissociation, depression, and
      anxiety. Adolescents from the normative population (n = 188) answered the
      questionnaire LYLES and also the Dissociation-Questionnaire-Sweden and Hospital
      Anxiety and Depression Scale. The results showed that LYLES was stable, with test
      retest r = 0.79 and kappa item per item ranging between k = 0.44 and 1.0. ACCs
      contributed independently to the explanation of symptoms explaining them better
      than potentially traumatic events alone, particularly for boys where the impact
      of ACCs exceeded the impact of events. The conclusions are that LYLES displayed
      satisfactory psychometric properties and that ACCs seem to be a valuable addition
      to an instrument to evaluate potentially traumatic events.

PMID- 20921870
TI  - Traumatic events, posttraumatic stress disorder, attachment style, and working
      alliance in a sample of people with psychosis.
AB  - There is a high incidence of trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in
      people with a diagnosis of psychosis. Sequelae of trauma may affect the ability
      to engage in both attachment and therapeutic relationships. This study
      investigated associations between trauma histories, PTSD, attachment styles, and
      working alliance in a sample of 110 individuals with psychosis and substance
      misuse. Anxious attachment was associated with number of interpersonal traumas
      and PTSD reported, but there were no associations between trauma and alliance.
      There were discrepancies in number of traumatic events reported by care
      coordinators and patients. The findings of this study highlight the potential use
      of attachment theory in working with trauma and PTSD in psychosis.

PMID- 20921871
TI  - Selective attention impairment in Schizophrenia: can it explain source monitoring
      failure?
AB  - Impairments in selective attention have been proposed as an explanation for the
      source monitoring deficits in schizophrenia. We tested this hypothesis by
      examining correlations between source monitoring variables and a measure of
      selective attention (from the Stroop Test) in 54 individuals with schizophrenia
      subjects and 42 normal controls. We did not find significant correlations between
      source monitoring measures and selective attention. Selective attention
      impairments do not explain source monitoring deficits observed in schizophrenia.
      Source monitoring deficits deserve continued efforts to elucidate their causes
      and consequences.

PMID- 20921872
TI  - Instrumented posterior lumbar fusion outcomes for lumbar degenerative disorders
      in a southern European, semirural population.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: Prospective, clinical study. OBJECTIVE: This study compares the
      preoperative and postoperative status of patients with degenerative lumbar spine
      disorders, who underwent instrumented posterior lumbar fusion (IPLF), from the
      functional, economic and psychologic perspectives in a semirural population.
      SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: IPLF is a common procedure in the treatment of a more
      common disorder, lumbar spine degeneration. It has been postulated that both the
      disorder and the surgical procedure may affect many aspects of patients' life.
      METHODS: During a 2 years period, 46 patients underwent IPLF for degenerative
      disorders of the lumbar spine. The surgical procedure included posterior
      decompression of the affected segment(s) and stabilization by means of pedicle
      screws and rods in every case, and interbody implants in selected cases. The
      outcome measures included the Greek versions of (a) Visual Analogue Scale (VAS)
      for pain assessment, (b) Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) for back-related
      disability, (c) Prolo Scale for the functional and economic status and (d) Zung
      Depression Scale to screen for depression. Measurements were taken 1-week
      preoperatively, and 3 years after the procedure. The comparison of the
      preoperative and postoperative results was done using the paired-samples t test.
      RESULTS: Thirty-nine patients (25 females, 14 males) with a mean age of 59 years
      were eligible for our study. Half of them worked in the agricultural sector. All
      developed solid, lumbar fusions. Instrumented posterior lumbar fusion decreased
      patient's somatic pain, as shown by the VAS (P<0.001) and improved function as
      indicated by the ODI (P<0.001), and allowed return to work (P<0.001).
      Nevertheless, the Zung Depression Scale revealed that the incidence of depression
      increased postoperatively (P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: IPLF in the treatment of
      degenerative disorders of the lumbar spine improves function and promotes the
      patients' complete or partial return to work. In contrast, degenerative lumbar
      spine disorders are chronic conditions and may negatively affect patients'
      psychology.

PMID- 20921873
TI  - Shortening osteotomy and sacro-sacral fixation for U-shaped sacral fractures.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: Technical note and retrospective first cases study. OBJECTIVE: To
      present a novel surgical procedure for treating rare and challenging U-shaped
      fractures of the sacrum. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: U-shaped fractures of the
      sacrum are not frequent and usually seen in the context of high energy trauma
      (high-fall injury). There is no consensus about the therapeutic strategy. When
      surgery is decided on selected patients, the technique raises several issues for
      the neural decompression, reduction, and fixation. The L5-S1 mobility has to be
      sacrificed for most authors. METHODS: Based on anatomic considerations, the
      authors present here the original surgical technique they have been using at
      their institution and a consecutive series of patients. The procedure associates
      a shortening osteotomy of the sacrum at the site of the fracture and a sacro
      sacral fixation. RESULTS: The proposed procedure was simple, safe, and effective.
      CONCLUSIONS: Performing the osteotomy helps in the reduction and allows a short
      fixation, which spares the mobility of the lumbo-sacral junction.

PMID- 20921874
TI  - Awareness of cognitive deficits in older adults with cognitive-impairment-no
      dementia (CIND): comparison with informant report.
AB  - Impaired awareness of cognitive deficits is a common symptom of dementia, but its
      prognostic importance in people with cognitive impairment-no dementia (CIND) is
      uncertain. In this study, we examined whether community volunteers with CIND and
      reduced awareness had worse cognitive performance and cognitive decline over 18
      months than CIND participants with intact awareness or healthy controls. We
      recruited 92 participants with CIND and 91 healthy controls with their respective
      informants. We used discrepancy scores (informant minus participant) on the
      Anosognosia Questionnaire for Dementia and Dysexecutive Questionnaire to
      ascertain participants' awareness of their cognitive performance. The main
      cognitive outcome variable was the Alzheimer Disease Assessment Scale: Cognitive
      Section. Bivariate correlations showed no relationship between the awareness
      measures and cognitive performance or decline. Overall, CIND participants'
      ratings of cognitive deficits correlated significantly with their Alzheimer
      Disease Assessment Scale: Cognitive Section score after 18-months (for
      Anosognosia Questionnaire for Dementia, r=0.45, P <0.001) and showed a stronger
      relationship with cognitive performance than informant ratings. These results
      indicate that reduced awareness of deficit may be uncommon in community volunteer
      samples with CIND. In addition, self-report of cognitive complaints may be at
      least as useful as informant report when screening community-dwelling older
      adults at risk of cognitive decline and dementia.

PMID- 20921875
TI  - Could Toxoplasma gondii have any role in Alzheimer disease?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Alzheimer disease (AD), a chronic progressive neurodegenerative
      disorder, has a mainly unknown multifactorial etiology. Neuroinflammatory
      mechanisms might contribute to the cascade of events leading to neuronal
      degeneration. Central nervous system infections have been previously suggested as
      possible etiological agents in the development of sporadic AD. Toxoplasmosis can
      be associated with various neuropsychiatric disorders. In this study, we aimed to
      investigate the possible association between toxoplasma infection and AD.
      METHODS: This study evaluated the serum anti-Toxoplasma gondii IgG levels. It
      included an age-matched and sex-matched study and control groups that consisted
      of 34 patients with AD and 37 healthy individuals, respectively. There were no
      difference between the socio economic states of the patients and control
      subjects. serecm anti-I-gondi IgG levels were measured by using ELISA. RESULTS:
      According to the statistical analysis, there were no significant differences
      among the patients and the control participants with respect to age (68.05+/
      15.98, 62.91+/-5.89 y, P=0.072; respectively) and sex. The seropositivity rate
      for anti-T. gondii IgG antibodies among AD patients and control groups were 44.1%
      and 24.3%, respectively, and there was significant difference between the serum
      anti-T. gondii IgG levels (P=0.005). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that
      toxoplasma infection may be involved in the pathogenetic mechanisms of AD. If
      confirmed, a positive correlation between toxoplasmosis and AD may lead to new
      approaches for the management of AD.

PMID- 20921876
TI  - Adding delayed recall to the Alzheimer Disease Assessment Scale is useful in
      studies of mild cognitive impairment but not Alzheimer disease.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine if the addition of delayed recall (DR) assessment adds
      sensitivity to the cognitive subscale of the Alzheimer Disease Assessment Scale
      (ADAS-cog) in clinical trials in mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer
      Disease (AD). BACKGROUND: Memory, particularly DR, is the most sensitive test for
      early detection of AD and MCI. However, it is not clear that assessment of DR
      adds benefit for measuring change over time after a diagnosis is made or in
      clinical trials. The ADAS-cog is the most commonly used tool to assess treatment
      efficacy in AD clinical trials. In an attempt to improve sensitivity to change,
      assessment of DR after the 3-trial, 10-word list was added to the standard 11
      item ADAS-cog. We examined the added value of the DR in participants with MCI and
      AD followed for at least 1 year. DESIGN/METHODS: Data from 111 subjects with AD
      and 259 subjects with MCI who were randomly assigned to the placebo arm of 2
      clinical trials were included. Participants with AD had Mini-Mental State
      Examination scores of 13 to 27 and those with MCI had 24 to 30. We calculated the
      ADAS-cog11 score based on the original 11 items (range: best to worse, 0 to 70),
      the DR item score (range: 0 to 10 words not recalled), and the ADAS-cog12 (range:
      0 to 80). We assessed the rate of missing items for DR over time, the change
      scores, the association between scores and baseline performance, and used
      longitudinal mixed effects regression models to examine the rate of change.
      RESULTS: At baseline AD subjects were near floor on DR (8.93 +/- 1.6 SD) and
      showed little change over 1 year (0.12 +/- 1.34); the MCI subjects baseline DR
      was 6.2 +/- 2.2 with 1-year change of 0.20+/-1.7. We compared standardized change
      (change/SD) for ADAS-cog11, and 12 in MCI and found a 10% improvement with ADAS
      cog12; there was no improvement in the AD group. In a subset of MCI and AD cases
      with matching Mini-Mental State Examination (23 to 27), the ADAS-cog12 provided
      an 18% improvement in standardized change in MCI subjects, with no benefit in the
      AD cohort, primarily owing to increased variance. CONCLUSIONS/RELEVANCE: The
      addition of DR to the ADAS-cog score increased the ability to detect change in
      subjects with MCI over 1 year compared with the ADAS-cog11 but increased the
      variance in subjects with AD, even in those with mild impairment These findings
      speak to the need to tailor outcome measures to the specific study population and
      diagnosis for maximal efficiency and economy when conducting clinical trials.

PMID- 20921877
TI  - Nonfibrillar Abeta 1-42 inhibits glutamate uptake and phosphorylates p38 in human
      fibroblasts.
AB  - Alzheimer disease (AD) is the most prevalent neurodegenerative disease,
      characterized by an increased deposition of beta-amyloid (Abeta) within the
      central nervous system, leading to neuronal death. The availability of effective
      models, in which confirming novel pathogenic hypotheses and developing
      therapeutic targets, represents a very important goal for the field of AD.
      Fibroblasts from these patients may be relevant models in which addressing these
      issues, as they display biochemical alterations mirroring SNC ones. In this work,
      fibroblasts obtained from controls were studied after exposure to nonfibrillar
      Abeta 1-42, showing decreased glutamate uptake, similar to that observed in AD
      cells, in absence of transporters modifications. Nonfibrillar Abeta 1-42 was able
      to induce in control cells mitochondrial alterations and p38-phosphorylation,
      mirroring similar alterations found in AD fibroblasts. Under our experimental
      conditions, this treatment induced neither apoptosis nor necrosis. To investigate
      a putative role of p38-modulation in mediating nonfibrillar Abeta 1-42 toxicity,
      fibroblasts from controls were pretreated with retinoic-acid, and SB203580, a p38
      inhibitor. These pretreatments prevented both p38-phosphorylation and glutamate
      uptake inhibition. Our results suggest that nonfibrillar Abeta 1-42 downregulates
      glutamate transporters activity interfering with p38-activation and mitochondrial
      stress. Thus, modulating complex kinase signaling pathway might represent a
      future therapeutic target in AD.

PMID- 20921878
TI  - The measurement of psychosis in dementia: a comparison of assessment tools.
AB  - The precise operational definition of psychosis in dementia lacks consensus,
      partially owing to incongruence in the various assessment tools used. This study
      compares assessments of psychotic symptoms in persons with dementia, specifically
      of hallucinations and delusions, through the 4 most frequently used assessments.
      Participants were 74 nursing home residents from 9 nursing homes in Israel,
      diagnosed with dementia. Assessment tools used included the Behavioral Pathology
      in Alzheimer's Disease Rating Scale (BEHAVE-AD), the Neuropsychiatric Inventory
      Nursing Homes (NPI-NH), the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's
      Disease Behavior Rating Scale for Dementia (CERAD-BRSD), and the Columbia
      University Scale for Psychopathology in Alzheimer's Disease (CUSPAD). The highest
      prevalence rates of delusions were found through the CUSPAD, and the lowest
      through the CERAD-BRSD. Rates identified by the BEHAVE-AD were intermediate and
      similar to those of the NPI-NH. As for hallucinations, rates indicated by the
      BEHAVE-AD, the NPI-NH, and the CUSPAD were similar, with small sample-based
      differences, and higher than those found through the CERAD-BRSD. The CERAD-BRSD,
      soliciting reports of the fewest specific symptoms, detected the fewest psychotic
      symptoms. The CUSPAD, soliciting the most items, presented the highest prevalence
      rates. The BEHAVE-AD and the NPI-NH had similar rates and showed a high
      convergent validity.

PMID- 20921880
TI  - Development and validity of the Family Stigma in Alzheimer's disease Scale (FS
      ADS).
AB  - Although it is widely assumed that persons with Alzheimer disease (AD) and their
      family caregivers are victims of stigmatization, family stigma in the area of AD
      has received surprisingly limited attention. Reliable, valid, and user-friendly
      scales are a first step in expanding this body of knowledge. The aim of this
      study was to develop and examine the validity of the Family Stigma in Alzheimer's
      disease Scale. Interviews were conducted with 185 children of persons with AD. A
      pool of 100 items was identified from the literature and an earlier qualitative
      study including 3 dimensions (caregivers' stigma, lay persons' stigma, and
      structural stigma). Exploratory factor analyses, theoretical relevance, and
      internal reliability analyses allowed us to reduce the pull to 62 items.
      Regarding construct validity, statistically significant associations were found
      between family stigma and caregivers' burden and behavioral problems, in most of
      the scales. Although further testing is warranted, these findings indicate that
      the Family Stigma in Alzheimer's disease Scale is a reliable and valid instrument
      for assessing stigma in the context of AD.

PMID- 20921879
TI  - Undiagnosed illness and neuropsychiatric behaviors in community residing older
      adults with dementia.
AB  - The aim of this retrospective analysis was to examine prevalence of undiagnosed
      acute illness and characteristics including neuropsychiatric symptoms associated
      with illness in community residing older adults with Alzheimer disease or related
      disorders. Subjects included 265 community residing older adults with dementia
      who participated in 1 of 2 interventions being tested in randomized clinical
      trials. Measures included a brief nursing assessment and laboratory evaluations
      including complete blood count, blood chemistry (Chem 7), and thyroid function
      tests of serum samples and culture and sensitivity tests of urine samples.
      Undiagnosed illness was identified according to currently published criteria.
      Neuropsychiatric behaviors were assessed using 21 behaviors derived from standard
      measures. Thirty-six percent (N=96) of patients had clinical findings indicative
      of undetected illness. Conditions most prevalent were bacteriuria (15%), followed
      by hyperglycemia (6%) and anemia (5%). The behavior most often demonstrated among
      those with detected illness was resisting or refusing care (66% vs. 47% for those
      without detected illness). Individuals with detected illness had significantly
      lower functional status scores [3.8 vs. 4.4, t(275)=7.01, P=0.01], lower
      cognitive status scores [10.5 vs. 14.4, t(275)=12.1, P<0.01], and were more
      likely to be prescribed psychotropic medications for behavior (41% vs. 26%,
      chi=3.67, P<0.05) than those without illness. Findings suggest that challenges of
      diagnosing acute illness with atypical presentation must be addressed to promote
      quality of care and the specialized needs for this vulnerable population.

PMID- 20921882
TI  - General selection criteria of patients for radioembolization of liver tumors: an
      international working group report.
AB  - A combined treatment approach that incorporates surgical resection, ablation,
      chemotherapy, targeted agents, and radiotherapy has augmented the management of
      liver tumors (both primary and metastatic). The challenge that remains is how to
      reduce the burden of liver disease and thus enable greater patient eligibility
      for resection as well as lengthened survival for those who remain unsuitable for
      surgery. Radioembolization can deliver high doses of radiation preferentially to
      liver tumors and is a valuable treatment option that should be considered as part
      of a multimodal treatment approach for the management of patients in whom the
      liver is the sole or dominant site of disease. Essential in this consideration is
      a careful assessment by a multidisciplinary team of the individuals most likely
      to benefit from this treatment modality. Along with the clinical benefits,
      integration of radioembolization into the treatment paradigm can provide added
      options of using systemic chemotherapy synergistically as a radiosensitizer and
      to control extrahepatic metastases, permitting a reduction in hepatic disease and
      conserving remaining liver function. If successful, the possibility of improved
      patient survival and quality of life is increased.

PMID- 20921881
TI  - Incidence and risk factors for cognitive impairment no dementia and mild
      cognitive impairment in African Americans.
AB  - The aim of this study was to estimate the age-specific incidence of cognitive
      impairment, no dementia and mild cognitive impairment (CIND/MCI) in a large,
      community-based sample of older African Americans in Indianapolis, IN. A
      longitudinal, prospective, 2-stage design was used with follow-up assessments 2
      and 5 years after the baseline. A total of 1668 participants completed the 2-year
      follow-up and a total of 1255 participants completed the 5-year follow-up. The
      person-years method was used to calculate incidence rates. The age-standardized,
      annual incidence of CIND/MCI was 4.95% (CI=3.39-6.52) and the subtype of
      medically unexplained memory loss (single-domain and multidomain amnestic MCI)
      was 3.67% (CI 2.75-4.48). Rates increased with age (3.43% for participants aged
      65 to 74 y, 6.44% from age 75 to 84 y, and 9.62% from age 85+ y), history of head
      injury [OR 2.37 (CI 1.31-4.29)], and history of depression [OR 2.22 (CI 1.16
      4.25)] while increased years of schooling was protective [OR 0.91 (CI 0.85
      0.97)]. Rates did not vary substantially by sex. Almost 1 in 20 elderly community
      dwelling African Americans, and almost 1 in 10 of the oldest-old (85+ y)
      developed CIND/MCI each year in this cohort. Risk factors of age and education
      suggest exposures or mechanisms at both ends of the life span may be important
      variables in onset of CIND/MCI.

PMID- 20921883
TI  - Multidrug resistance gene (MDR-1) and risk of brain metastasis in epithelial
      ovarian, fallopian tube, and peritoneal cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To evaluate risk factors that predict brain metastasis in epithelial
      ovarian, fallopian tube, and peritoneal cancer. METHODS: All patients with FIGO
      stage I to IV who underwent initial cytoreductive surgery between January 1995
      and January 2009 were evaluated. The tumor samples were evaluated for 7 markers
      including multidrug resistance gene (MDR-1), DNA aneuploidity and S-phase
      fraction, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2, estrogen receptor,
      progesterone receptor, p53 mutation, epidermal growth factor receptor, and CD31.
      Biomarker expression was evaluated as a predictor of hematogenous metastasis to
      the following locations: (i) liver and spleen, (ii) lung, and (iii) brain.
      RESULTS: There were 309 cases identified during the period. Of those, 5 (1.6%,
      95% CI: 0.2%-3.0%) women developed brain metastasis. Time to onset of brain
      metastasis was significantly longer than that for other recurrent sites (median
      time to recurrence after initial cytoreduction, brain vs. lung vs. liver, 21.4
      vs. 12.6 vs. 11.0 months, P< 0.05). Significantly increased expression of MDR-1
      was seen in tumors from women who developed brain metastasis (brain vs. nonbrain
      sites, 80% vs. 4.2%-24.3%, P= 0.004). In multivariate analysis, MDR-1 was the
      only significant variable associated with the risk of brain metastasis. MDR-1
      expression predicted brain metastasis (receiver-operator-characteristic curve
      analysis, AUC 0.808, P= 0.018), and with a 10% positive expression of MDR-1 as
      the cutoff value, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative
      predictive value, accuracy of prediction of brain metastasis were 80%, 86.1%,
      15.4%, 99.3%, and 85.9%, respectively (odds ratio: 24.7, 95% CI: 2.64-232, P=
      0.002). CONCLUSIONS: Increased expression of MDR-1 in the tumor tissue obtained
      at initial cytoreduction is associated with increased risk of developing brain
      metastases in women with epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube, or peritoneal
      cancer.

PMID- 20921884
TI  - "But I'm (became) different": cancer generates reprioritizations in masculine
      identity.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide. The disease accounted
      for 7.4 million deaths (or around 13% of all deaths worldwide) in 2005. A sharp
      increase in new cases to 15 million is predicted to occur by 2020. Recently, the
      National Cancer Intelligence Network showed that men have 40% more risk of death
      related to cancer, and in Brazil, it is estimated by the National Cancer
      Institute that there were 466,730 new cases of cancer in 2009, 231,860 of which
      occurred in men. However, there is little literature describing how Brazilian men
      experience cancer treatment related to their sense of personal masculinity.
      OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to describe the experience of cancer
      treatment from the perspective of Brazilian men receiving chemotherapy for
      various cancers. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional descriptive qualitative
      study using semistructured interviews with 12 men during a chemotherapy session
      at a major chemotherapy clinic in Brazil. Interviews were audiotaped and
      transcribed verbatim. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis. RESULTS: The
      analysis resulted in the identification of several major themes. These were the
      life before cancer, the cancer treatment, reprioritizations of values, and a
      glimpse of the postcancer life. CONCLUSIONS: Results illuminate changes in
      masculine identity among Brazilian men treated for cancer. Men are capable of
      reprioritizing and reestablishing a sense of order in their social worlds to
      maintain a sense of masculinity despite the challenges of cancer treatment.
      IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Understanding the complex dynamics between masculine
      identity and health across cultures is necessary to develop interventions
      designed to promote effective coping with cancer treatment in ways that are
      consistent with the cultural context in which masculine identity is developed.

PMID- 20921885
TI  - Chinese nurses' attitudes and beliefs toward sexuality care in cancer patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The importance of having nurses address patients' sexuality concerns
      is emphasized by a growing body of literature. Most relevant studies were
      conducted in Western cultural settings. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was
      to describe Chinese nurses' attitudes and beliefs regarding sexuality care in
      cancer patients. METHODS: A descriptive and correlation design was adopted. Data
      were collected by an inventory of Sexuality Attitudes and Beliefs Survey.
      RESULTS: Oncology nurses (n = 199) were recruited from a tumor hospital in China.
      The study results indicate that most Chinese nurses (76.4%) perceived sexuality
      as too private an issue to discuss with cancer patients, and 63.8% assumed that
      most cancer patients lacked interest in sexuality because of their illnesses. The
      results also show that most nurses (77.9%) did not make time to discuss sexuality
      issues with patients, and nearly 70% did not feel confident and comfortable
      discussing cancer patients' sexuality concerns. CONCLUSION: Helping nurses
      overcome barriers to addressing patients' sexuality concerns requires a careful
      assessment of their attitudes and beliefs. This study added insights into Chinese
      nurses' attitudes and beliefs surrounding the sexuality issues of cancer
      patients. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: In this study, nurses reported that they
      were less likely to make time to discuss sexuality issues with cancer patients;
      thus, future research needs to identify specific factors keeping nurses from
      incorporating sexuality care into practice. Additionally, most nurses felt less
      confident and uncomfortable in addressing cancer patients' sexuality concerns.
      More training related to sexuality care is needed for Chinese nurses.

PMID- 20921886
TI  - Assessment of symptom distress in cancer patients before and after radiotherapy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Previous literature revealed that cancer patients undergoing
      radiotherapy commonly experience physical and psychological symptom distress.
      Except lack of medical information, inadequate communication with physicians also
      affected patients' willingness and preparation toward radiotherapy. The prognosis
      consequently becomes worse. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate the change in
      symptom distress in cancer patients after radiotherapy and its predisposing
      factors. METHODS: A longitudinal design was conducted on 164 cancer patients who
      underwent radiotherapy at a medical center in southern Taiwan. The structured
      questionnaire included sections on demographics, medical conditions, and a
      symptom distress scale. RESULTS: Of the cancer patients, 35.9% reported an
      increase in the overall figures of symptom distress after radiotherapy, whereas
      32.2% experienced a decrease. Cancer patients 20 to 39 years old or who received
      radiotherapy on the head and neck reported the greatest increase in bleeding and
      the overall figure of symptom distress. Patients after radiotherapy on the head
      and neck experienced significant increase in bowel disturbance. CONCLUSIONS:
      Radiotherapy did not necessarily increase symptom distress in all patients. The
      development of bleeding and the overall figure of symptom distress were closely
      related to younger age and site of radiotherapy. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: For
      those cancer patients 20 to 39 years old or who received radiotherapy on the head
      and neck, nurses may strengthen health education before radiotherapy and pay more
      attention after radiotherapy, especially in bleeding distress, and remind their
      families of the correct steps for nursing a wound after radiotherapy and the
      harmful effects of wound odor on patients' interpersonal relations.

PMID- 20921887
TI  - Left hanging in the air: experiences of living with cancer as expressed through E
      mail communications with oncology nurses.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cancer patients experience many physical, psychosocial, and
      existential problems and worries during their illness. To support patients in
      managing their illness, we implemented an online patient-nurse communication
      (OPNC) service, where breast and prostate cancer patients could ask questions and
      receive advice from oncology nurses. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to
      explore the use and content of patients' e-mail messages sent to oncology nurses
      and thus gain a "snapshot" of patients' experiences of living with cancer as
      expressed through these messages. METHODS: Using qualitative content analysis,
      276 messages from 60 breast and prostate cancer patients were analyzed. Messages
      were coded into categories and major themes. Both manifest and latent content was
      coded. RESULTS: Four main themes emerged from patients' messages: (1) living with
      symptoms and side effects, (2) living with a fear of relapse, (3) concerns for
      everyday life, and (4) unmet information needs from health care providers.
      CONCLUSIONS: Patients used the OPNC service actively to pose questions and raise
      concerns related to symptom experiences, fear of relapses, and uncertainty in
      everyday life. However, patients also expressed experiences of being "left in a
      void" after being discharged from hospital and living with serious unmet
      informational needs. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: The study demonstrated that
      online communication can provide patients with a space for otherwise unmet
      questions and worries and that they will seek support from nurses online when
      given the opportunity. Therefore, OPNC can be an important means and supplement
      to traditional health care in the effort to support patients to better manage
      their illness.

PMID- 20921888
TI  - The experiences and feelings of Chinese children living with leukemia: a
      qualitative study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Leukemia is the most common pediatric malignancy. Many children with
      leukemia display behavioral and emotional problems. Promoting children's
      psychological development and quality of life during hospitalization is an
      important activity carried out by health professionals. OBJECTIVE: The objective
      of this study was to describe the experiences and feelings of Chinese children
      with leukemia in the hospital. METHOD: In-depth interviews were conducted with
      Chinese children with leukemia using a descriptive qualitative research method.
      The data were analyzed using content analysis. RESULTS: Twenty-nine children with
      leukemia were interviewed. Almost all children had negative experiences and
      feelings during the early stage of hospitalization, and there were 3 levels of
      adaptation that they displayed: inability to adapt to hospitalization, a sense of
      being compelled to accept hospitalization, and adaptation to hospitalization.
      CONCLUSIONS: Three factors are associated with children's psychological distress,
      including the duration of treatment, children's personality, and age. Children of
      a younger age, with more extrovert personalities and who were undergoing longer
      treatment courses, adapted to hospitalization more easily. IMPLICATIONS FOR
      PRACTICE: The findings provide information for health professionals to understand
      children's psychological status during hospitalization and help nurses to plan
      individualized psychological care for children.

PMID- 20921889
TI  - Advancing palliative care in Kenya.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Life-threatening illnesses such as HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis,
      and other disorders are prevalent in the developing world, including Kenya.
      OBJECTIVE: The aim of this project was to assist in the development of palliative
      care throughout Kenya by enhancing the knowledge and skill of faculty members in
      palliative care so they could integrate this content into existing nursing
      curricula. METHODS: In an effort to develop palliative care throughout the
      country, experts from the Kenya Hospices and Palliative Care Association and the
      Kenyatta National Hospital invited faculty from the End-of-Life Nursing Education
      Consortium with the United States to adopt the content of its training program to
      address the needs of nurses and other health care professionals in Kenya. This
      curriculum was delivered to nursing faculty from throughout Kenya during a 5-day
      training course that incorporated presentations, case studies, exercises, and
      other teaching methods. RESULTS: The course participants completed daily course
      evaluations in which they rated each session on a scale of 0 = not helpful to 5 =
      very helpful. All of the sessions were rated very favorably, with scores for all
      sessions across the 5 days ranging from 4.57 to 4.91. CONCLUSION: End-of-Life
      Nursing Education Consortium provided educational and other support to faculty
      teaching in nursing schools in Kenya so they could advance palliative care
      efforts in this country. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Nurses working in the United
      States can share their expertise and learn immense lessons from colleagues in
      developing worlds.

PMID- 20921890
TI  - An open-label tolerability study of BL-1020 antipsychotic: a novel gamma
      aminobutyric acid ester of perphenazine.
AB  - BACKGROUND: BL-1020, a novel gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA) ester of
      perphenazine, is a new oral antipsychotic with a strong affinity for dopamine and
      serotonin receptors. Unlike first- and second-generation antipsychotics, it has
      agonist activity at GABA(A). OBJECTIVE: This is the first study to examine
      tolerability and safety of BL-1020 in schizophrenia. METHODS: This was a phase
      II, open-label, multicenter, 6-week study treating patients (n = 36) with chronic
      schizophrenia. Dosing started at 20 mg/d and increased over 7 days to 40 mg/d.
      Weekly assessments were conducted. RESULTS: All but 1 patient was titrated to 30
      mg/d at day 4; on day 7, 30 were titrated to 40 mg/d. Four patients discontinued
      the study prematurely. There was no clinically relevant increase in vital signs,
      sedation, dizziness, or other central nervous system effects or electrocardiogram
      or laboratory abnormalities and a small increase in weight. Ten patients
      experienced extrapyramidal symptoms (EPS) requiring treatment with an
      anticholinergic; 4 patients were unable to reach maximum dose because of EPS.
      Extrapyramidal Symptom Rating Scale did not indicate clinically significant
      changes in EPS. The most common adverse event was insomnia (6 patients); other
      frequent adverse effects (all n = 3) were extrapyramidal disorder, headache,
      parkinsonism, tremor, and hyperprolactinemia. There was improvement on Positive
      and Negative Syndrome Scale and Clinical Global Impression of Change with 22
      patients showing at least 20% decrease by end point on Positive and Negative
      Syndrome Scale and 31 patients showing at least minimal improvement on Clinical
      Global Impression of Change. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that 20 to 40 mg/d
      of BL-1020 is associated with clinically relevant improvement of psychosis with
      no worsening of EPS and support further testing in randomized controlled trials.

PMID- 20921891
TI  - Effect of varying phase between frequency and amplitude modulation on bone
      conduction auditory steady state responses.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Auditory steady state response (ASSR) testing provides a means to
      objectively estimate hearing levels in newborns and adults for whom behavioral
      tests prove difficult. When testing these patient groups, it is preferable that
      clear responses to both air and bone conduction stimuli are obtained in a short
      amount of time. Much of the literature addressing ASSRs, such as investigations
      of stimulus and recording parameters, have focused on air conduction ASSRs. The
      aim of this investigation was to study the amplitudes, latencies, and test times
      of bone conduction ASSRs elicited using amplitude- (AM), frequency- (FM), and
      mixed-modulated (MM) stimuli and provide suggestions for optimum recording
      parameters. DESIGN: Bone and air conduction multiple ASSRs were recorded from two
      groups of 20 normal-hearing adults using the Multiple Auditory Steady State
      Response research system. AM, FM, and MM sinusoidal tones were used (0.5-, 1-, 2
      , and 4-kHz carrier frequencies), which were modulated between 78 and 92 Hz. AM
      depth was 100% and FM depth was 20%. ASSR amplitudes and latencies (calculated
      using the "preceding cycles" technique) were analyzed for MM phase settings
      across the cycle from 0 degrees  at 45 degrees  intervals and compared with AM
      responses. Optimum phase settings for bone and air conduction ASSRs were
      calculated using a sinusoidal model based on the amplitude data. RESULTS: Similar
      effects of stimulus type and carrier frequency were observed for bone and air
      conduction ASSRs. AM responses were larger in amplitude compared with FM
      responses. MM (at all phase settings tested) and AM response latencies increased
      with decreasing carrier frequency. MM phase setting had a significant (p < 0.01)
      sinusoidal effect on ASSR amplitudes, compared with AM responses, at 1, 2, and 4
      kHz but not 0.5 kHz for air conduction and 1 and 2 kHz but not 0.5 and 4 kHz for
      bone conduction. Using a sinusoidal function to model this effect, MM phase
      settings (+/-95% confidence intervals) of 318 degrees  (295 to 350 degrees ) and
      295 degrees  (290 to 310 degrees ) are predicted to evoke the largest responses
      for bone conduction ASSRs at 1 and 2 kHz, respectively. Phase settings of 293
      degrees  (285 to 310 degrees ), 300 degrees  (280 to 310 degrees ), and 280
      degrees  (255 to 330 degrees ) are predicted for air conduction ASSRs at 1, 2,
      and 4 kHz, respectively. MM phase setting had little effect on estimated latency.
      Test times were significantly (p < 0.01) affected by phase setting with both
      increases and decreases being observed. Test times for ASSRs at 1, 2, and 4 kHz
      could be significantly reduced if the estimated optimum phase settings are used.
      CONCLUSIONS: Different stimuli can significantly affect the amplitudes of bone
      conduction ASSRs. These effects are similar to those observed for air conduction
      ASSRs. MM stimuli with specific phase settings evoke larger bone conduction ASSRs
      compared with AM and FM stimuli alone, and calculations show that the time taken
      to obtain these responses is reduced. Implementation of the suggested optimum
      settings will promote efficient collection of bone conduction, and indeed air
      conduction, ASSR data.

PMID- 20921892
TI  - Impact of communicating personalized genetic risk information on perceived
      control over the risk: a systematic review.
AB  - PURPOSE: Much concern has been expressed that feedback of personalized genetic
      risk information may lead to fatalism, i.e., a lack of perceived control over the
      risk. This review aimed to assess the strength of evidence for such a view.
      METHOD: Electronic databases were searched to find eligible studies, which
      comprised randomized, controlled trials and analog studies, in which participants
      in one arm received either real or imagined personalized genetic risk information
      and assessed perceived control in relation to the treatability or preventability
      of the health problem. RESULTS: Inspection of 1340 abstracts resulted in 5
      studies meeting the inclusion criteria, involving the prediction of obesity,
      heart disease, depression, and diabetes. Meta-analyses of the clinical studies
      revealed no impact of personalized genetic risk information on perceived control
      in either the short term (pooled standardized mean difference 0.09, 95%
      confidence interval, -0.51 to 0.70) or longer term (pooled standardized mean
      difference 0.00, confidence interval, -0.20 to 0.21). Similarly, no impact on
      perceived control was evident in the three analog studies (pooled standardized
      mean difference 0.02, confidence interval, -0.17 to 0.20). CONCLUSION: Few
      studies have assessed empirically the impact of personalized genetic risk
      information on fatalism, assessed using perceptions of control over the risk.
      Limited evidence suggests feedback of genetic risk information may have little
      impact on such beliefs.

PMID- 20921893
TI  - Regulating direct-to-consumer genetic tests: what is all the fuss about?
AB  - The number of genetic tests available direct-to-consumer has burgeoned over the
      last few years, prompting numerous calls for tighter regulation of these
      services. However, there is a lack of consensus about the most appropriate and
      achievable level of regulation, particularly given the global nature of the
      market. By consideration of potential for direct and indirect harms caused by
      genetic susceptibility or genomic profiling tests, in this study we offer an
      overarching framework that we believe to be feasible for the regulation of direct
      to-consumer genetic tests and likely to be relevant to other forms of predictive
      testing. We suggest that just five key requirements would adequately protect the
      consumer: a proportionate set of consent procedures; formal laboratory
      accreditation; evidence of a valid gene-disease association; appropriately
      qualified staff to interpret the test result; and consumer protection legislation
      to prevent false or misleading claims.

PMID- 20921895
TI  - Research use of leftover newborn bloodspots: attitudes of Canadian geneticists
      regarding storage and informed consent requirements.
AB  - PURPOSE: Leftover newborn spots can provide a powerful research tool as a
      population-wide DNA bank. Some provinces/states store them for more than 20
      years; however, parents are usually not informed of the retention of leftover
      newborn spots. To examine the opinions of Canadian geneticists regarding
      permission for leftover newborn spots storage for research purposes and the
      associated risks, a web-based survey was distributed to all members of the
      Canadian College of Medical Geneticists with a valid e-mail address (n = 209) and
      completed by 78 respondents (37%). RESULTS: The majority of respondents (73%)
      favored opt-out notification for retention of samples that would be held for
      longer than 2 years. For research on multifactorial conditions using leftover
      newborn spots originally banked without parental permission, geneticists favored
      different types of permission depending on the level of identifiable information
      attached to samples. Thirty-eight percent were concerned that information
      pamphlets that state that leftover newborn spots will be stored and may be "a
      source of DNA for research" would lead to a decreased participation in newborn
      screening. Twenty-eight percent believed that group stigma or family anxiety was
      likely to result from using nonidentified leftover newborn spots to study
      multifactorial conditions. CONCLUSION: The concerns of this knowledgeable cohort
      supports the critical importance of public engagement about both the potential
      risks and societal benefits associated with the use of leftover newborn spots in
      research as policy for leftover newborn spots is developed.

PMID- 20921894
TI  - Generation after generation: exploring the psychological impact of providing
      genetic services through a cascading approach.
AB  - PURPOSE: The provision of genetic services often occurs in a cascading fashion
      within families experiencing inherited diseases. This study examines whether
      previous family experiences with genetic services influences levels of
      psychological well-being of family members receiving services later. METHODS: Two
      hundred ninety-seven persons from 38 families with Lynch syndrome completed
      questionnaires before receiving genetic services. Baseline levels of test-related
      distress, depressive symptoms, and cancer worries were assessed in relationship
      to the (1) amount of time elapsed since services were provided to the index case
      and (2) generation of the family member relative to the index case. RESULTS:
      Family members in the same generation as the index case experienced significant
      increases in test-related distress (P = 0.003) and cancer worry (P = 0.001) with
      increasing time between receipt of genetic test results by the index case and
      provision of services to family members. Change in the number of depressive
      symptoms was not significant (P = 0.17). CONCLUSION: The provision of genetic
      services through a cascading approach significantly increases distress and worry
      among family members within the same generation as the index case who receive
      services at increasingly distant time intervals. Additional research is needed to
      explore social influences after the introduction of genetic services.

PMID- 20921896
TI  - Time to prophylactic surgery in BRCA1/2 carriers depends on psychological and
      other characteristics.
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate the medical and psychosocial factors determining the time
      to prophylactic surgery of unaffected women carriers of a deleterious BRCA1/2
      mutation. METHODS: Prospective study on a French national cohort of unaffected
      BRCA1/2 carriers (N = 244); multivariate Cox proportional hazard modeling.
      RESULTS: Median follow-up time was 2.33 years (range, 0.04-6.84 years). Time to
      surgery was shorter when the psychological impact of BRCA1/2 result disclosure
      was stated to be higher (P <= 0.01). Those who intended to opt for prophylactic
      surgery before being tested did so faster and more frequently after test
      disclosure than those who were undecided/opposed. The older the women were, the
      faster their uptake of risk-reducing salpingo-oophorectomy (adjusted hazard ratio
      >2.95; P < 0.001) was; the uptake of those with at least two children was also
      faster (adjusted hazard ratio = 2.51; [1.38-4.55]). Those who opted most quickly
      for risk-reducing mastectomy more frequently had a younger child at the time of
      testing (adjusted hazard ratio = 4.63 [1.56-13.74]). Time to surgery was shorter
      when there was a first-degree relative with ovarian/breast cancer (P <= 0.01).
      CONCLUSION: Time to prophylactic surgery depends on the stated psychological
      impact of disclosure and on women's cognitive anticipation of surgery after
      adjusting on sociodemographic characteristics.

PMID- 20921897
TI  - Population prevalence of familial cancer and common hereditary cancer syndromes.
      The 2005 California Health Interview Survey.
AB  - PURPOSE: Family history guides cancer prevention and genetic testing. We sought
      to estimate the population prevalence of increased familial risk for breast,
      ovarian, endometrial, prostate, and colorectal cancers and hereditary cancer
      syndromes that include these cancers. METHODS: Using the 2005 California Health
      Interview Survey data, a weak, moderate, or strong familial cancer risk was
      assigned to 33,187 respondents. Guidelines were applied to identify individuals
      with hereditary breast-ovarian cancer and hereditary nonpolyposis colon cancer.
      RESULTS: Among respondents without a personal history of cancer, familial breast
      cancer was most prevalent; 7% had a moderate and 5% a strong familial risk. Older
      individuals and women were more likely to report family history of cancer.
      Generally, whites had the highest prevalence, and Asians and Latinos had the
      lowest prevalence. Among women without a personal history of breast or ovarian
      cancer, 2.5% met criteria for hereditary breast-ovarian cancer, and among
      individuals without a personal history of colorectal, endometrial or ovarian
      cancer, 1.1% met criteria for hereditary nonpolyposis colon cancer. CONCLUSIONS:
      We provide population-based prevalence estimates for moderate and strong familial
      risk for five common cancers and hereditary breast-ovarian cancer and hereditary
      nonpolyposis colon cancer. Such estimates are helpful in planning and evaluation
      of genetic services and prevention programs, and assessment of cancer
      surveillance and prevention strategies.

PMID- 20921900
TI  - Macrophage activation syndrome: why and what should a gastroenterologist know.
AB  - We recently treated a patient with adult-onset Still's disease who developed
      macrophage activation syndrome (MAS) secondary to disseminated histoplasmosis
      while being treated with adalimumab. The gastroenterology service was consulted
      early, before diagnosis, as the patient presented with elevated liver enzymes and
      disseminated intravascular coagulation. MAS is an exaggerated immune response
      that can develop as a primary condition or secondary to infections, drugs and
      various diseases, resulting in liver dysfunction, encephalopathy, pancytopenia
      and disseminated intravascular coagulation. The development of MAS has also been
      reported in patients with inflammatory bowel disease and post-liver
      transplantation and has been triggered by medications used by
      gastroenterologists, particularly sulfasalazine and anti-tumor necrosis factor
      biologic modifiers. Therefore, we present a review on etiology, pathogenesis,
      clinical and laboratory features, and treatment of MAS with a focus on
      gastrointestinal aspects and presentations. MAS is a life threatening condition
      with a high mortality rate if untreated. Therefore it is important to recognize
      this condition early. As these patients may occasionally present to
      gastroenterologists we hope this review will increase awareness of this rare, but
      serious syndrome.

PMID- 20921899
TI  - Extreme genetic divergence is required for coreceptor switching in HIV-1 subtype
      C.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Coreceptor switching from CCR5 to CXCR4 is less common in subtype C
      HIV-1 infection than in subtype B for reasons that are unclear. We have examined
      sequential virus samples from a subtype C-infected child who had evidence of
      coreceptor switching. METHODS: To examine HIV-1 envelope evolution towards CXCR4
      usage, env sequences were correlated with phenotypic characteristics determined
      by entry assays, as well as the ability to use alternative coreceptors such as
      FPRL1, CCR3, CCR8 and others. The value of a phenotype predictor based on V3
      sequences was also assessed. RESULTS: Ninety-three sequences revealed 3 distinct
      coexistent virus lineages and only some members of one lineage evolved to use
      CXCR4. These lineages also had diverse alternative coreceptor patterns including
      the ability to use FPRL1, CCR3, CCR8, APJ, CMKLR1, RDC-1, CXCR6, CCR1, GPCR1,
      GPR15 and CCR6. Coreceptor switching was associated with extensive and rapid
      sequence divergence in the V1/V2 region in addition to V3 changes. Furthermore,
      interlineage recombination within the C2 region resulted in low predictability of
      a V3 sequence-based phenotype algorithm, and highlighted the importance of V1/V2
      and V3 sequences in coreceptor usage. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that the
      evolution to coreceptor switching in subtype C infection requires more mutations
      than other subtypes, and this contributes to the reduced incidence of R5X4
      viruses.

PMID- 20921901
TI  - Eosinophilic myenteric ganglionitis: a case of intestinal pseudo-obstruction in a
      93-year-old female.
AB  - Eosinophilic myenteric ganglionitis is a disorder characterized by infiltration
      of the Auerbach plexus by eosinophils. It can be associated with a bowel
      dysmotility and a few cases of intestinal pseudo-obstructive syndrome have been
      described in children. In this case report, we present an elderly 93-year-old
      woman who presented with episodes of functional bowel obstruction of unknown
      etiology. After several admissions for recurrent obstipation requiring fecal
      disimpaction, she had a Hartmann procedure performed with a resection of the
      sigmoid colon. The sigmoid colon was markedly dilated and the only significant
      finding on histology was infiltration of the Auerbach plexus by eosinophils. The
      mucosa and the muscular layers appeared unremarkable. Her symptoms resolved after
      the resection and the patient is currently well after 5 months. Recurrent
      gastrointestinal pseudo-obstruction can arise secondary to eosinophilic myenteric
      ganglionitis even in adults. Clinical improvement is likely if this disease
      entity is promptly recognized and treated.

PMID- 20921898
TI  - Sustained long-term antiviral maintenance therapy in HCV/HIV-coinfected patients
      (SLAM-C).
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hepatitis C virus (HCV)/HIV coinfection treatment is suboptimal with
      low sustained viral response rates to standard therapies. A multicenter
      randomized clinical trial designed to assess the efficacy/safety of pegylated
      interferon maintenance therapy was performed by the National Institutes of Health
      funded AIDS Clinical Trials Group network. METHODS: HCV treatment-naive and
      nonresponding interferon-experienced subjects with confirmed HCV and HIV, CD4
      >200 cells per cubic millimeter, and at least stage 1 fibrosis were enrolled and
      treated for 12 weeks with pegylated interferon alfa 2a 180 mcg per week (PEG) +
      weight-based ribavirin to determine response status. Nonresponder subjects
      (failure to clear HCV RNA or achieve 2-log drop) underwent liver biopsy and were
      randomized to receive full dose PEG or observation only for 72 weeks. Paired
      biopsies were evaluated by a central pathologist. RESULTS: Three hundred thirty
      subjects were enrolled; median age was 48 years; 43% white, 37% black, non
      Hispanic; 83% male; CD4+ 498 cells per cubic millimeter; 32% were interferon
      experienced; 74% had entry HIV RNA <50 copies per milliliter. early virologic
      responder was observed in 55.9% and 42.5% achieved complete Early Viral Response
      (cEVR). A planned interim analysis of occurred when 84 subjects were randomized.
      With data on 40 paired biopsies available, a safety monitoring board stopped the
      trial due to lack of fibrosis progression (median = 0 Metavir units/year) in the
      observation arm. CONCLUSIONS: Lack of fibrotic progression in the control arm was
      unexpected and may represent a short-term PEG/ribavirin therapy effect, high
      levels of HIV viral suppression, and use of antiretroviral regimens that may be
      less toxic than prior generations of therapy.

PMID- 20921902
TI  - Initial report of a variable stiffness duodenoscope for use during endoscopic
      retrograde cholangiopancreatography.
AB  - GOALS: To evaluate a new variable stiffness duodenoscope. BACKGROUND: Variable
      stiffness colonoscopies have been in use for nearly a decade. We report the
      initial experience with a new, variable stiffness duodenoscope for use during
      endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP). STUDY: Retrospective,
      single tertiary referral academic center. Among the first 50 patients to undergo
      ERCP with the variable stiffness cope, 3 patients in whom the variable stiffness
      duodenoscope was instrumental in procedural success are discussed in detail.
      RESULTS: In the first 50 patients in whom the variable stiffness duodenoscope was
      used, the variable stiffness function was critical to procedural success in 3
      patients (6%). One patient had a gastric bypass with Roux-en-Y anatomy, 1 patient
      had a large J-shaped stomach that could not be traversed by a routine
      duodenoscope, and 1 patient had a duodenal stenosis that could not be traversed
      by a routine duodenoscope. In these 3 patients, the variable stiffness function
      allowed for procedure success. CONCLUSIONS: Although most ERCPs can be
      accomplished with standard duodenoscopes, in cases in which extra endoscope
      stiffness was felt to be required, the variable stiffness function was extremely
      helpful.

PMID- 20921903
TI  - Interobserver agreement for pancreatic endoscopic ultrasonography determined by
      same day back-to-back examinations.
AB  - GOALS: We aimed to determine interobserver agreement between endosonographers for
      pancreatic morphology by performing same day back-to-back endoscopic
      ultrasonography (EUS) examinations on patients without known
      hepatopancreaticobiliary disease. BACKGROUND: Morphologic EUS examination is
      often used to make the diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis, although perceived lack
      of interobserver agreement limits it accuracy. STUDY: A prospective clinical
      trial was performed in patients without known hepatopancreaticobiliary disease
      referred for EUS. All subjects underwent back-to-back same day EUS examinations
      at our institution performed by 2 blinded endosonographers. The main outcome
      measurement was the Cohen kappa scores between endosonographers calculated for
      each parenchymal and ductal EUS feature. RESULTS: Twenty-four patients were male
      and indications for EUS included staging of esophageal malignancy (10),
      submucosal mass (9), lymphadenopathy (7), gastrointestinal stromal tumor (4), and
      other (14). Both endosonographers agreed that 32% (14 of 44) had hyperechoic
      strands, 30% (13 of 44) had hyperechoic duct walls, 16% (7 of 44) had hyperechoic
      foci, 14% (6 of 44) had a dilated main pancreatic duct, 9% (4 of 44) had
      parenchymal lobularity, and 5% (2 of 44) had parenchymal cysts. Kappa scores
      showed "good" or better correlation only for the presence of hyperechoic strands
      and parenchymal cysts; the presence of parenchymal lobularity, a dilated main
      pancreatic duct, and hyperechoic foci had "moderate" correlation. The correlation
      for the presence of hyperechoic foci was "fair." CONCLUSIONS: Same day back-to
      back EUS examinations on patients without known hepatopancreaticobiliary disease
      showed a wide variation in interobserver agreement for standard pancreatic
      morphologic findings. These results suggest the need for improvements in the
      current EUS classification system of chronic pancreatitis.

PMID- 20921904
TI  - Role of ghrelin and insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3 in the
      development of osteoporosis in inflammatory bowel disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A high prevalence of bone loss is observed in patients with
      inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Leptin, ghrelin, insulin-like growth factor
      (IGF)-1, and IGF binding protein (IGFBP)-3 have been suggested to interfere in
      the bone metabolism. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of these
      peptides in the development of osteoporosis in IBD. METHODS: One hundred and
      eighteen consecutive IBD patients were included. All patients underwent bone
      densitometry by dual energy x-ray absorptiometry at the femoral neck and lumbar
      spine levels. Serum samples were collected from all patients and analyzed for
      concentrations of the aforementioned peptides by radioimmunoassay. RESULTS: Forty
      (33.9%) patients were normal, 55 (46.6%) were osteopenic, and 23 (19.5%) were
      osteoporotic. Positive statistically significant correlations were found between
      body mass index (BMI), leptin, IGFBP-3 levels, and the bone mineral density (BMD)
      of the femoral neck and lumbar spine. Moreover, an inverse statistically
      significant correlation was found between BMD of the femoral neck and the lumbar
      spine, and age, duration of the disease, and ghrelin levels. Multivariate
      analysis revealed that the most significant factors associated with the BMD were
      age and BMI. A weak but statistically significant correlation was found between
      IGFBP-3 and femoral neck BMD (P=0.045) and between ghrelin and spine BMD
      (P=0.039). No correlation was observed between leptin and BMD. CONCLUSIONS: Low
      BMI is the most important independent risk factor for osteoporosis in IBD
      patients. There is no independent influence of leptin but ghrelin and IGFBP-3 may
      play a role in the bone metabolism in the IBD.

PMID- 20921905
TI  - Mixed variant multicentric Castleman disease treated with rituximab: case report.

PMID- 20921906
TI  - The safety, tolerability, and efficacy of a liquid formulation of deferiprone in
      young children with transfusional iron overload.
AB  - Limited data are available on the use of deferiprone in children younger than 10
      years of age. This study evaluated the safety and efficacy of a new liquid
      formulation of deferiprone for the treatment of transfusional iron overload in
      children 1-10 years old. One hundred children (91 thalassemia major, 8 Hb E-beta
      thalassemia, and 1 sickle cell disease) were enrolled for a 6-month treatment
      with deferiprone (50 to 100 mg/kg/d). The safety profile was similar to or better
      than that reported in earlier studies with deferiprone tablets in older children
      and adults. No unexpected adverse reactions were observed. Gastrointestinal
      intolerance (GI) was observed in 11% and an increased serum ALT in 12% of the
      children. Both events were transient. Mild neutropenia, observed in 6% of
      patients, did not progress to agranulocytosis and resolved despite continuous
      deferiprone treatment. Two patients experienced agranulocytosis that resolved
      without complications upon discontinuation of therapy. Deferiprone use was
      associated with a significant decline in mean serum ferritin level from 2532+/
      1463 MUg/L at baseline to 2176+/-1144 MUg/L (P<0.0005). The results of this study
      show a favorable benefit/risk ratio of deferiprone oral solution for the
      treatment of young children with transfusional iron overload.

PMID- 20921907
TI  - Anaphylactic reaction owing to ondansetron administration in a child with
      neuroblastoma and safe use of granisetron: a case report.
AB  - A 1-year-old girl with stage-IV neuroblastoma developed ondansetron hydrochloride
      anaphylaxis. Safe use of granisetron as an antiemetic after skin prick, oral, and
      intravenous challenge tests is presented. We present this case to emphasize that
      ondansetron hydrochloride may cause a serious anaphylactic reaction. In such a
      case, granisetron may be given to patients as an antiemetic after some
      provocative tests performed.

PMID- 20921908
TI  - Reduced methotrexate clearance and renal impairment in a boy with osteosarcoma
      and earlier undetected autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD).
AB  - We report a 12-year-old boy with osteoblastic osteosarcoma of the right femur. He
      was started on chemotherapy according to the EURAMOS/COSS 1 protocol.
      Chemotherapy with doxorubicin/cisplatin resulted in reversible acute renal
      failure and methotrexate levels were repeatedly elevated. Family history
      suggested an autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease. Genetic testing
      revealed a novel mutation c.10707_10712del (p.Val3569_3570del) in exon 36 of the
      PKD1 gene. Patients with autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease may be at
      risk for acute renal failure during chemotherapy without signs of renal
      impairment. A careful family history is important to exclude risk factors for
      renal impairment before introducing high-dose chemotherapy.

PMID- 20921909
TI  - A trial to assess the efficacy of glutamic acid in prevention of vincristine
      induced neurotoxicity in pediatric malignancies: a pilot study.
AB  - Vincristine is considered as a backbone of therapy in the induction and
      consolidation phases of pediatric malignancies. Neurotoxicity is a principal side
      effect of its use. This study is a randomized single-blinded placebo-controlled
      clinical trial to evaluate the role of glutamic acid in ameliorating
      neurotoxicity in pediatric patients with hematologic and solid tumors receiving
      vincristine during induction course. Fifty-four patients in the glutamic acid
      group received glutamic acid 1.5 grams daily orally in 3 divided doses during the
      4-week induction with vincristine in a dose of 1.5 mg/m2 IV weekly. Placebo group
      (40 patients) received oral placebo 3 times daily in the same way as the glutamic
      acid group. The onset of neurotoxicity was significantly earlier in placebo group
      than in glutamic acid group regarding tendon Achilles reflex, Patellar reflex,
      parasthesia, and increased frequency of constipation. This was statistically
      significant mostly in third and fourth visits, no severe cases of strength and
      mental alteration side effects in both groups. Glutamic acid was well tolerated
      with no gastrointestinal side effects in patients. This study suggests that the
      coadministration of oral glutamic acid with repetitive intravenous bolus
      injections of vincristine resulted in a reduction of its neurotoxicity.

PMID- 20921910
TI  - Prevalence of valvular regurgitation in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis patients.
AB  - Sixty-seven adolescent scoliosis patients with thoracic curve (Lenke type 1, 3,
      and 6) and 16 nonthoracic curve patients (Lenke type 5) were evaluated with color
      Doppler echocardiography to identify and compare the prevalence and frequency of
      valvular regurgitation. Regurgitation of one or more valves was detected in 36
      thoracic curve patients (53.73%) and seven nonthoracic curve patients (43.75%).
      Regurgitation with tricuspid valve involvement was statistically significant in
      patients with thoracic curve (P=0.0216). Frequency of tricuspid valve involvement
      was statistically significant (28.57 vs. 83.33%, P=0.0076) in patients with
      thoracic curve. Those without cardiac disease had a higher incidence of valvular
      regurgitation.

PMID- 20921911
TI  - Focal fatty areas in the myocardium of patients with tuberous sclerosis complex:
      a unique finding.
AB  - With this collection of computed tomography and magnetic resonance images, we
      illustrate a recently described novel finding in the myocardium of patients with
      tuberous sclerosis complex.

PMID- 20921912
TI  - Takotsubo cardiomyopathy: utility of cardiac computed tomography angiography for
      acute diagnosis.
AB  - Takotsubo (stress) cardiomyopathy may present as acute cardiovascular collapse,
      simulating an acute coronary syndrome or other emergencies such as pulmonary
      embolism or aortic dissection. The diagnosis relies on demonstration of
      characteristic wall motion abnormalities in the absence of obstructive coronary
      lesions and is typically diagnosed with cardiac catheterization. Cardiac computed
      tomography angiography is well suited to use in the emergency setting to diagnose
      or exclude thoracic cardiovascular events. We describe a case of Takotsubo
      cardiomyopathy that occurred during induction of anesthesia, in which emergent
      cardiac computed tomography angiography confirmed the diagnosis and excluded
      other potential etiologies of disease.

PMID- 20921913
TI  - Ovarian cancer: Listen for the disease that whispers.

PMID- 20921914
TI  - Fulminant valvulitis from acute rheumatic fever: successful use of extracorporeal
      support.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To describe an unusual case of fulminant rheumatic fever presenting
      acutely as severe respiratory failure managed with extracorporeal membrane
      oxygenation and ultimately valve replacement while on extracorporeal membrane
      oxygenation. DESIGN: Case report. SETTING: Large quaternary care pediatric
      intensive care unit. PATIENT: A 6-yr-old female with profound respiratory failure
      found to be due to mitral valve dysfunction stemming from acute fulminant
      rheumatic fever. INTERVENTIONS AND MAIN RESULTS: The patient was originally
      maintained on venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation but required
      conversion to venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation due to the
      progression of her mitral valve disease. Her condition did not improve with
      atrial septostomy, and she required valve replacement while anticoagulated. She
      was decannulated in the operating room and extubated 2 days later, and she
      survived to discharge. The institutional review board subsequently granted a
      waiver of consent for a report of this case. CONCLUSIONS: Manifestations of
      rheumatic fever can develop acutely even in the setting of an industrialized
      country. Valvulitis with severe, isolated mitral valve dysfunction may masquerade
      initially as respiratory failure. Multiple invasive procedures can be performed
      successfully while patients are fully anticoagulated and on extracorporeal
      membrane oxygenation support.

PMID- 20921915
TI  - Evaluation of a new pediatric continuous oximetry catheter.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the accuracy of central venous oxygen saturation recordings
      from a new in-line pediatric oximetry catheter. DESIGN: Prospective,
      observational study. STUDY POPULATION: Eighteen pediatric patients who needed
      central venous access for monitoring and/or treatment between January 2006 and
      June 2006 in the pediatric intensive care unit of the Hospital for Sick Children
      in Toronto, Canada. METHODS AND MAIN RESULTS: Measurements were done at the
      baseline and then every 4-8 hrs. The monitor was calibrated in vivo at the
      baseline and then daily. In vitro calibration of the monitor was also performed
      in the last five patients. The hemoglobin value was updated when there was a
      significant change. The maximum duration of sampling was 72 hrs (if indicated).
      There were 131 measurements in 17 patients; each subject had a different number
      of paired measurements (median 5). Three patients were excluded due to violation
      of the protocol, and 113 measurements were left in analysis. The mean difference
      of catheter value from the laboratory value was -1.01 (median 0). The
      interquartile range was 5. The difference of both methods was evenly distributed
      as per a Bland-Altman plot, with one patient's data lying outside of the
      comparable limits of +/- 1.96 sd from the mean differences. The relationship of
      the difference between the catheter data and the lab data to the independent
      variables (age, weight, gender, catheter tip, diagnosis, and signal quality
      index) was estimated by using the multiple regression analysis (version 9.1, SAS
      Institute, Cary, NC). All variables were eliminated. The Pearson correlation
      coefficient between lab-mixed venous oxygen saturation and oximetry catheter
      readings for measurements was 0.88. CONCLUSION: In this limited number of
      patients, use of the PediaSat venous oximetry catheter was safe and had good
      agreement with co-oximetry-measured values.

PMID- 20921916
TI  - U.S. attitudes and perceived practice for noninvasive ventilation in pediatric
      acute respiratory failure.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Few pediatric studies exist regarding the use of noninvasive positive
      pressure ventilation for acute respiratory failure; however, those that do
      suggest a role. This study seeks to describe attitudes and perceived practices of
      pediatric intensivists regarding the use of noninvasive positive-pressure
      ventilation in children with acute respiratory failure. DESIGN: Electronic
      survey. SETTING: Medical institutions. PARTICIPANTS: Of the 932 physicians
      approached, 353 (38%) responded to the survey. Respondents included U.S.
      physicians practicing pediatric critical care (90%), pediatric anesthesia
      critical care (4%), pediatric pulmonary critical care (4%), and other disciplines
      (2%). INTERVENTIONS: Survey. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: The survey contained
      questions regarding 1) practitioner demographics, 2) patient characteristics, and
      3) clinical cases designed to assess noninvasive positive-pressure ventilation
      use in certain patient scenarios. Noninvasive positive-pressure ventilation was
      used by 99% of the respondents, with 60% using noninvasive positive-pressure
      ventilation as initial support >10% of the time. Respondents reported use of
      noninvasive positive-pressure ventilation for acute respiratory failure in lower
      airway disease (70%), asthma (51%), acute lung injury/acute respiratory distress
      syndrome (43%), and upper airway obstruction (31%). In clinical scenarios,
      respondents reported that the factors associated with nonuse of noninvasive
      positive-pressure ventilation as initial support were disease process (31%),
      oxygenation (19%), ventilation severity (15%), expectation that the patient was
      likely to worsen (12%), and age or inability to cooperate (11%). CONCLUSIONS:
      Noninvasive positive-pressure ventilation is widely used and most frequently
      utilized in patients with acute lower airway disease. Factors such as severe
      defects in oxygenation and ventilation, disease progression, and patient
      tolerability decreased the likelihood of use. These findings may help direct
      further studies of noninvasive positive-pressure ventilation in children with
      acute respiratory failure.

PMID- 20921917
TI  - Early blood exchange transfusion in malignant pertussis: a case report.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To report early blood exchange transfusion in malignant pertussis and
      a favorable clinical outcome. SETTING: A pediatric intensive care unit in a
      tertiary hospital in Geneva, Switzerland. DESIGN: A descriptive case report.
      PATIENT: An 8-wk-old girl was diagnosed with malignant pertussis (extreme
      leukocytosis, seizures, pneumonia, and secondary severe hypoxic respiratory
      failure associated with pulmonary hypertension). After administration of a one
      volume blood exchange transfusion, a rapid decrease in white blood cell count
      (from 119,000/mm(3) to 36,500/mm(3)) was observed and followed by clinical
      improvement and favorable outcome despite the initial presence of all described
      risk factors associated with a high mortality. CONCLUSION: The use of exchange
      blood transfusion early in the course of the disease might help to prevent a
      fatal outcome of malignant pertussis.

PMID- 20921918
TI  - Toddlers requiring pediatric intensive care unit admission following at-home
      exposure to buprenorphine/naloxone.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sublingual buprenorphine is an alternative to methadone for office
      based treatment of opioid dependence. Recent reports have examined a growing
      number of unintentional buprenorphine exposures in children resulting in
      significant toxicity, even after a single lick or taste of a sublingual tablet.
      Here, we report a series of unintentional buprenorphine exposures in toddlers
      over a 2.5-yr period that led to admission to the pediatric intensive care unit.
      OBJECTIVES: The goals of this study were to determine: 1) the prevalence of
      symptomatic buprenorphine exposure in children <3 yrs of age; 2) the severity of
      toxicity associated with such exposures; and 3) effective clinical interventions.
      METHODS AND MAIN RESULTS: A retrospective case review was performed on records
      from the pediatric intensive care unit at an academic medical center located in
      the northeastern United States. Unintentional buprenorphine/naloxone exposure (n
      = 9) accounted for the largest single fraction of toxic ingestions among patients
      younger than 3 yrs within the study period (9/33, 27%). All exposures occurred at
      the child's place of residence (n = 9, 100%). Clinical signs of opioid toxicity
      were evident in all nine cases, with the most common symptom being drowsiness or
      lethargy (n = 9, 100%), followed by miosis (n = 6, 67%) and respiratory
      depression (n = 5, 56%). Six patients were effectively treated with naloxone (n =
      6, 67%). CONCLUSIONS: The increased use and similarity to candy of the current
      formulation of buprenorphine pose a special risk to children, especially
      toddlers. Buprenorphine exposure in children <3 yrs old can cause significant
      opioid toxidrome. Naloxone is an effective agent for reversal of symptoms;
      however, given buprenorphine's high affinity and long action, higher doses or
      continuous infusion may be required. Adults on buprenorphine should be educated
      on the risks posed to young children in their household and the appropriate
      storage of medication.

PMID- 20921919
TI  - Pediatric residents experience a significant decline in their response
      capabilities to simulated life-threatening events as their training frequency in
      cardiopulmonary resuscitation decreases.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the frequency of cardiopulmonary resuscitation education
      using high-fidelity patient simulators during pediatric residency training.
      DESIGN: Randomized controlled trial. SETTING: Suburban tertiary care children's
      hospital residency training program. SUBJECTS: Twenty-four second year pediatric
      residents. INTERVENTIONS: Twenty-four second year pediatric residents were
      randomized into two study groups, 12 residents in each. Both groups completed a
      formal resuscitation training course utilizing lectures, skill stations, and six
      scenarios on high-fidelity patient stimulators. Group A was retested on three
      scenarios 4 months after training and group B was similarly retested 8 months
      after training. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Time intervals from induction of a
      clinical problem to its definitive management were recorded for each resident.
      Residents were also asked to complete surveys following each episode of training
      and testing. The mean time intervals, for group A, to start effective bag mask
      ventilation and chest compressions in response to apnea and cardiac arrest were
      17.75 secs (+/- 3.39 secs) and 23.42 secs (+/- 9.33 secs), respectively. These
      were significantly shorter than 32.7 secs (+/- 18.6 secs) and 81.2 secs (+/- 74.9
      secs), for group B, respectively (p < .05). Residents in group A provided higher
      survey scores for their level of confidence in using cardiopulmonary
      resuscitation pharmacology than residents in group B did (p < .05). The two
      groups were no different in their response time to defibrillate or to start anti
      arrhythmia medications for life-threatening arrhythmias and in their endotracheal
      intubation skills. CONCLUSIONS: Pediatric residents show a significantly slower
      response time to effectively manage episodes of apnea and cardiac arrest 8 months
      after their initial resuscitation training, when compared to 4 months after
      training. These results may indicate that residents require more frequent
      training than currently recommended.

PMID- 20921920
TI  - Opportunities for antibiotic reduction in mechanically ventilated children.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To identify opportunities to safely reduce antibiotic use in
      critically ill children with moderately severe respiratory failure. DESIGN:
      Prospective observational. SETTING: Four pediatric intensive care units at three
      American tertiary care children's hospitals. PATIENTS: Children aged 2 months to
      18 yrs who were mechanically ventilated, had an abnormal chest radiograph, and
      for whom the attending physicians had initiated antibiotics for presumed
      bacterial pneumonia. INTERVENTION: Nonbronchoscopic bronchoalveolar lavage.
      METHODS AND MAIN RESULTS: Eligible children were subjected to nonbronchoscopic
      bronchoalveolar lavage within 12 hrs of initiating antibiotics. The concentration
      of bacteria in the lavage fluid was determined by quantitative assay, and the
      diagnosis of pneumonia was confirmed if >10 (4)pathogenic bacteria/mL were
      cultivated. Twenty-one subjects were enrolled, in whom 20 nonbronchoscopic
      bronchoalveolar lavage procedures were completed. Six of 20 subjects had
      nonbronchoscopic bronchoalveolar lavage results confirmatory of bacterial
      pneumonia, three additional subjects had bacteria isolated at concentrations
      below levels conventionally used to diagnose bacterial pneumonia, and the
      remaining 11 demonstrated no growth. Clinical parameters reflective of severity
      of disease and laboratory parameters reflective of systemic and local
      inflammation were tested for their association with a positive nonbronchoscopic
      bronchoalveolar lavage, but none was demonstrated. CONCLUSIONS: Eleven of 20
      mechanically ventilated children treated with antibiotics for presumed infectious
      pneumonia had undetectable concentrations of bacteria in their lower respiratory
      tract, and three others had organisms present at low concentrations, suggesting
      that opportunities exist to reduce antibiotic exposure in this population.

PMID- 20921921
TI  - In the absence of a central venous catheter, risk of venous thromboembolism is
      low in critically injured children, adolescents, and young adults: evidence from
      the National Trauma Data Bank.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To describe the incidence and risk factors of venous thromboembolism
      in a large sample of critical care pediatric, adolescent, and young adult trauma
      patients. DATA SOURCE: The National Trauma Data Bank-the largest and most
      complete aggregation of trauma registry data in the United States. SETTING: Seven
      hundred eighty-four level I to level IV trauma centers. PATIENTS: Patients <= 21
      yrs of age who spent at least 1 day in a critical care unit during a trauma
      admission between 2001 and 2005. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: To characterize
      differences between patients with and without venous thromboembolism, we
      extracted variables regarding patient demographics, injury pattern and severity,
      procedures, total length of stay, and intensive care unit and ventilator days.
      Odds ratios for predictors of venous thromboembolism were estimated with a
      logistic regression model. Among the 135,032 critical care patients analyzed,
      venous thromboembolism was uncommon (6 per 1,000 discharges). Placement of a
      central venous catheter was a significant predictor of venous thromboembolism
      (odds ratio = 2.24; p < .0001) when populations were analyzed collectively. When
      we narrowed our focus to injuries associated with venous thromboembolism, such as
      lower-extremity fractures, the effects of central venous catheter were of even
      greater magnitude, particularly in adolescents and young adults. The risk of
      venous thromboembolism in critical care patients without a central venous
      catheter was <1% even in adolescents/young adults. CONCLUSIONS: Venous
      thromboembolism is rare in young critical care trauma patients, even older
      adolescents. The absence of published data on both the baseline risk of venous
      thromboembolism in pediatric critical care patients and the efficacy and safety
      of venous thromboembolism prophylaxis preclude the ability to make definitive
      recommendations for the use of venous thromboembolism prophylaxis in this
      setting. Our results, however, suggest that venous thromboembolism prophylaxis
      may need to be considered only in critically injured adolescents and young adults
      with a continuing need for central venous access.

PMID- 20921922
TI  - Hemodynamic correlates of serum cortisol in neonates after cardiopulmonary
      bypass.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To document preoperative and early postoperative serum cortisol
      levels among a group of neonates with complex congenital heart disease undergoing
      cardiopulmonary bypass surgery and to describe the relationship between serum
      cortisol and hemodynamic variables in the early postoperative period. DESIGN:
      Prospective observational substudy conducted within a randomized controlled
      trial. SETTING: Tertiary-care pediatric cardiac intensive care unit. PATIENTS: :
      We consecutively enrolled neonates undergoing a modified Norwood procedure or
      repair of interrupted aortic arch with ventricular septal defect in a randomized,
      placebo-controlled trial of triiodothyronine replacement. Methylprednisolone (30
      mg/kg intravenously) was administered at anesthetic induction. MEASUREMENTS AND
      MAIN RESULTS: We measured serum cortisol preoperatively and at 24 and 48 hrs
      postoperatively. Atrial filling pressures were documented 24 and 48 hrs after
      surgery. Oxygen consumption was measured and cardiac index was calculated 48 hrs
      after surgery. Spearman's correlation and linear regression were used to examine
      the relationship between serum cortisol and postoperative variables. Thirty-eight
      patients met eligibility criteria. Median serum cortisol levels 24 and 48 hrs
      postoperatively were 5.0 MUg/dL (range 0.4-74.0) and 4.0 MUg/dL (range 0.3-17.0),
      respectively (p = not significant). Greater atrial filling pressures were
      correlated with higher serum cortisol levels 24 hrs (r = .42, p = .019) and 48
      hrs (r = .46, p = .022) after surgery. A lower cardiac index was correlated with
      higher serum cortisol levels 48 hrs postoperatively (r = -.49, p = .039), and
      this relationship remained significant after controlling for inotrope score,
      treatment with triiodothyronine, and atrial filling pressure in bivariate models.
      Systolic and diastolic BP did not correlate with serum cortisol at 24 or 48 hrs.
      CONCLUSIONS: Serum cortisol levels were low in the majority of subjects, although
      a wide range was observed. Higher cortisol levels were associated with greater
      atrial filling pressures and a lower cardiac index. The relationship between
      serum cortisol and cardiovascular performance after cardiopulmonary bypass in
      infants warrants further evaluation.

PMID- 20921923
TI  - Continuous veno-venous single-pass albumin hemodiafiltration in children with
      acute liver failure.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the applicability, efficacy, and safety of single-pass
      albumin dialysis in children. DESIGN: Retrospective data review of uncontrolled
      clinical data. SETTING: University-based pediatric intensive care unit
      collaborating with a local center for liver transplantation. PATIENTS: Nine
      children, aged 2 to 15 yrs, who were treated with single-pass albumin dialysis
      for acute liver failure of various origins under a compassionate-use protocol
      between 2000 and 2006. All patients met high-urgency liver transplantation
      criteria. INTERVENTIONS: Single-pass albumin dialysis was performed as rescue
      therapy for children with acute liver failure. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: The
      decrease in hepatic encephalopathy (grades 1-4) and the serum levels of
      bilirubin, bile acids, and ammonium were measured to assess the efficacy of
      detoxification. As a measure of liver synthesis function, thromboplastin time and
      fibrinogen were analyzed. The safety of the procedure was assessed by documenting
      adverse effects on mean arterial blood pressure, platelet count, and clinical
      course. Seven out of nine patients were bridged successfully to either native
      organ recovery (n = 1) or liver transplantation (n = 6), one of them twice. Six
      out of nine patients undergoing single-pass albumin dialysis (ten treatments)
      survived. In six patients, hepatic encephalopathy could be reduced at least by
      one degree. Ammonium, bilirubin, and bile acid levels decreased in all patients.
      One patient had an allergic reaction to albumin. CONCLUSIONS: In childhood acute
      liver failure, treatment with single-pass albumin dialysis was generally well
      tolerated and seems to be effective in detoxification and in improving blood
      pressure, thus stabilizing the critical condition of children before liver
      transplantation and facilitating bridging to liver transplantation. It may be
      beneficial in avoiding severe neurologic sequelae after acute liver failure and
      thereby improve survival. Single-pass albumin dialysis is an inexpensive albumin
      based detoxification system that is easy to set up and requires little training.
      Whether and to what extent single-pass albumin dialysis can support children with
      acute liver failure until native liver recovery remains unclear.

PMID- 20921924
TI  - Relationship Between Neonatal Blood Protein Concentrations and Placenta
      Histologic Characteristics in Extremely Low GA Newborns.
AB  - Amniotic fluid infection with chorioamnionitis is associated with increased risks
      of morbidity and mortality in children born prematurely. These risks depend on
      the presence of a fetal inflammatory response. We measured the concentrations of
      25 proteins in the blood of 871 infants born before the 28th wk of gestation and
      examined their placentas for acute inflammation. Newborns who had inflammatory
      lesions of the placenta were much more likely than their peers (p < 0.01) to have
      elevated blood concentrations of cytokines (IL-1beta, IL-6, and TNF-alpha),
      chemokines (IL-8, MIP-1beta, RANTES, and I-TAC), adhesion molecules (ICAM-1, ICAM
      3, and E-selectin), matrix metalloproteinases (MMP-1 and MMP-9), the angiogenic
      inflammatory factor VEGF and its receptor VEGF-R2, and acute phase proteins (SAA
      and CRP) during the first 3 d after birth. In contrast, newborns with poor
      placental perfusion had lower levels of inflammatory proteins (p < 0.01; IL-6,
      RANTES, ICAM-1, ICAM-3, VCAM-1, E-selectin, MMP-1, MMP-9, MPO, and VEGF). An
      inverse pattern was found between newborn levels of VEGF and its competitive
      inhibitor VEGF-R1 in both the inflamed and poorly perfused placenta categories.
      These results confirm the predictive value of placental histology for the
      presence or absence of elevated inflammatory response in newborns.

PMID- 20921925
TI  - Effect of single nucleotide polymorphisms within the interleukin-4 promoter on
      aspirin intolerance in asthmatics and interleukin-4 promoter activity.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Aspirin affects interleukin-4 (IL-4) synthesis; however, the genetic
      role of IL-4 has not been evaluated in asthmatics with aspirin hypersensitivity.
      The objective of the study was to examine the influence of single nucleotide
      polymorphisms (SNPs) in IL-4 gene on aspirin hypersensitivity in asthmatics at
      the genetic and molecular levels. METHODS: Aspirin-intolerant (AIA, n=103) and
      aspirin-tolerant asthmatics (n=270) were genotyped and functional promoter assays
      were performed. RESULTS: Of 15 SNPs tested, seven (-589T>C (rs2243250) in
      promoter, -33T>C (rs2070874) in the 5'-untranslated region, +4047A>G (rs2243266),
      +4144C>G (rs2243267), +4221C>A (rs2243268), +4367G>A (rs2243270), and +5090A>G
      (rs2243274) in introns) were significantly associated with AIA risk. The
      frequency of the rare allele (C) of -589T>C was higher in the AIA group than in
      the aspirin-tolerant asthmatic group (P=0.016), and a gene dose-dependent decline
      in forced expiratory volume in 1 s was noted after an aspirin challenge
      (P=0.0009). Aspirin unregulated IL-4 mRNA production in Jurkat T and K562
      leukemia cells. A reporter plasmid assay revealed that aspirin augmented IL-4
      promoter transactivation with the -589T>C C and -33T>C C alleles, compared with
      that bearing the -589T>C T and -33T>C T alleles. Further, electrophoretic
      mobility shift assay showed the formation of nuclear complexes with -33T>C and 
      589T>C allele-containing probes; this was augmented by aspirin. The complexes
      formed with the -33T>C and -589T>C probes were shifted by treatment with anti
      CCAAT-enhancer-binding proteins beta and anti-nuclear factor of activated T-cells
      antibodies, respectively, indicating the inclusion of these transcription
      factors. CONCLUSION: Aspirin may regulate IL4 expression in an allele-specific
      manner by altering the availability of transcription factors to the key
      regulatory elements in the IL4 promoter, leading to aspirin hypersensitivity.

PMID- 20921926
TI  - Residual triamcinolone acetonide sequestered in the fovea after macular hole
      repair.
AB  - PURPOSE: To report the macular hole closure rate and visual outcomes of patients
      with residual triamcinolone acetonide in the fovea after macular hole repair.
      METHODS: We reviewed the medical records of consecutive patients who underwent
      macular hole surgery at our institution between 2005 and 2008. Only patients with
      visible triamcinolone in the fovea in the first postoperative month were
      included. RESULTS: Six patients with Stage III or IV macular holes were included.
      All patients underwent pars plana vitrectomy, internal limiting membrane peeling,
      and gas tamponade. Triamcinolone acetonide was used to visualize the vitreous in
      every patient, and diluted indocyanine green was used to stain the internal
      limiting membrane in five patients. The median preoperative best-corrected visual
      acuity was 20/200, which improved to a median of 20/40 at the last follow-up.
      Five patients eventually developed retinal pigment epithelial alterations.
      Anatomic hole closure was achieved in every patient. The mean follow-up was 23
      months (range, 3-36 months). CONCLUSION: Residual triamcinolone sequestered in
      the fovea after macular hole surgery did not affect hole closure or prevent
      improvement in visual acuity. It is unclear whether the retinal pigment
      epithelial alterations in our patients represent toxicity or are unrelated to the
      triamcinolone exposure.

PMID- 20921927
TI  - Nidek MP1 is able to detect subtle decline in function in inherited and age
      related atrophic macular disease with stable visual acuity.
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate whether the Nidek MP1 microperimeter (NAVIS software
      Version 1.7; Nidek Technologies, Padua, Italy) can detect functional decline in
      progressive atrophic macular disease with stable visual acuity. METHODS: Nine
      eyes of nine patients with stable acuity but progressive inherited or age-related
      atrophic macular disease evident on fundus autofluorescence imaging were
      reviewed. Each patient underwent 3 consecutive microperimetry tests at baseline,
      6 months, and 12 months. Acuity, fixation, and microperimetry tests were
      performed at each visit. Changes in acuity, fixation stability, and macular
      sensitivity were analyzed. To detect regional change in retinal sensitivity, the
      test grid was divided into clusters based on either topographical or functional
      features. The mean sensitivities within each zone were also compared across the
      three visits. RESULTS: In this cohort, there was no significant change in visual
      acuity, fixation stability, and macular sensitivity over 1 year. However,
      significant decline in mean sensitivity within the central macula and test loci
      adjacent to dense scotoma was found (P = 0.004 and 0.002, respectively). In
      contrast, mean sensitivity elsewhere remained stable. CONCLUSION: The MP1 can
      detect significant change in regional retinal sensitivity within 12 months in
      patients with progressive atrophic macular disease and stable acuity.
      Individualized analysis of regional sensitivity may be a useful method for
      quantifying microperimetry.

PMID- 20921928
TI  - Grading diabetic retinopathy severity from compressed digital retinal images
      compared with uncompressed images and film.
AB  - PURPOSE: To compare research grading of diabetic retinopathy (DR) severity level
      from compressed digital images versus uncompressed images and film. METHODS:
      Compressed (JPEG2000, 37:1) digital images (C) were compared with uncompressed
      digital (U) and film (F) stereoscopic photographs from a 152-eye cohort with full
      spectrum Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study severity levels for agreement
      on severity level, DR presence with ascending severity threshold, presence of DR
      index lesions, and repeatability of grading. RESULTS: Classification of Early
      Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study severity levels from C images agreed
      substantially with results from F images (kappa = 0.60, kappa(w) [linear
      weighted] = 0.86) and uncompressed digital images (kappa = 0.76, kappa(w) =
      0.92). For agreement of uncompressed digital versus F images, kappa = 0.62 and
      kappa(w) = 0.86. Distribution of Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study
      levels was not significantly different between C and F images (P = 0.09,
      Bhapkar's test for marginal homogeneity). For presence/absence of DR at 8
      ascending severity thresholds, agreement between C and F was "almost perfect"
      (kappa >= 0.8). Agreement on severity level between readers with C images was at
      least as good as that with uncompressed digital image or F. Repeatability of
      severity threshold grading between readers was similar using C or F images. For
      identifying individual DR lesions, agreement between C and F ranged from
      "moderate" to "perfect." Agreement of grading venous beading from C was slightly
      lower than from F. CONCLUSION: Full Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study
      scale DR severity level grading using C images is comparable to that using U
      images or film.

PMID- 20921929
TI  - Intravitreous injection of bevacizumab, tissue plasminogen activator, and gas in
      the treatment of submacular hemorrhage in age-related macular degeneration.
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate the benefit of adding bevacizumab to intravitreal
      recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rTPA) and gas as initial therapy in
      subretinal hemorrhage and choroidal neovascularization because of age-related
      macular degeneration. METHODS: Thirty-eight consecutive patients with recent (1
      31 days) subretinal hemorrhage who were treated with intravitreal rTPA and gas
      (26 patients) or with intravitreal bevacizumab, rTPA, and gas (12 patients) were
      included in this retrospective analysis. In all patients, a standardized
      antivascular endothelial growth factor therapy was followed. Testing of best
      corrected visual acuity, biomicroscopy, and fundus examination were performed at
      4 weeks and 7 months. RESULTS: The mean pretreatment best-corrected visual acuity
      in the rTPA/gas group was 0.08 +/- 0.09 and 0.12 +/- 0.13 in the
      bevacizumab/rTPA/gas group. After 4 weeks, it was significantly higher in the
      bevacizumab/rTPA/gas group (0.25 +/- 0.26) than in the rTPA/gas (0.08 +/- 0.1)
      group (P < 0.05). Also, after 7 months, best-corrected visual acuity was
      significantly higher in the bevacizumab/rTPA/gas group (0.07 +/- 0.07 vs. 0.24 +/
      0.35; P < 0.05). Reading vision could be restored in 0% (rTPA/gas) versus 50%
      (bevacizumab/rTPA/gas). Stabilization (0 +/- 2 lines) or improvement of best
      corrected visual acuity was obtained in 62% (rTPA/gas) versus 84%
      (bevacizumab/rTPA/gas). CONCLUSION: From our retrospective pilot study, there is
      a strong indication that the addition of intravitreal bevacizumab is safe and
      superior to the displacement of submacular hemorrhages alone with rTPA and gas.

PMID- 20921930
TI  - Changing patterns of sexual risk behavior among London gay men: 1998-2008.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To examine changes in the sexual behavior of London gay men between
      1998 and 2008. METHODS: Gay men using London gyms were surveyed annually between
      1998 and 2005, and again in 2008 (n=6064; range, 482-834 per year). Information
      was collected on human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) status of the respondent,
      unprotected anal intercourse (UAI) in the previous 3 months, type (main or
      casual) and HIV status of partner for UAI. Nonconcordant UAI (ncUAI) was defined
      as UAI with a partner of unknown or discordant HIV status. Concordant UAI (cUAI)
      was defined as UAI with a partner of the same HIV status ("serosorting").
      RESULTS: Between 1998 and 2008, the percentage of men reporting UAI increased
      from 24.3% to 36.6% (P=0.07). This overall increase concealed important
      differences between nonconcordant and concordant UAI. While the percentage of men
      engaging in cUAI increased steadily between 1998 and 2008 (9.8%, 20.8%; P=0.01),
      the percentage reporting ncUAI increased between 1998 and 2001 (14.5%, 23.7%;
      P<0.001), decreased between 2001 and 2005 (23.7%, 15.6%; P<0.001), and then
      leveled off between 2005 and 2008 (15.6%, 15.7%; P=0.2). However, the percentage
      of men reporting ncUAI with a main partner increased between 2005 and 2008 for
      HIV-positive men (2.5%, 8.1%; P<0.05) and HIV negative men (2.1%, 5.5%; P=0.06).
      While the percentage of HIV negative men who reported cUAI with a main partner
      (i.e., serosorting) increased between 1998 and 2008 (12.4%, 21.1%; P<0.05), less
      than half established seroconcordance by testing together. CONCLUSIONS: The
      patterns of sexual behavior among London's gay men between 1998 and 2008 were
      dynamic and complex. Our data suggest that HIV risk with a main partner and HIV
      testing among couples should be given greater priority by health promotion
      programmes.

PMID- 20921931
TI  - The short-term variability of bacterial vaginosis diagnosed by Nugent Gram stain
      criteria among sexually active women in Rakai, Uganda.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Studies evaluating clinical and behavioral factors related to short
      term fluctuations in vaginal microbiota are limited. We sought to describe
      changes in vaginal microbiota evaluated by Gram stain and assess factors
      associated with progression to and resolution of bacterial vaginosis (BV) at
      weekly intervals. METHODS: A cohort of 255 sexually experienced, postmenarcheal
      women provided self-collected vaginal swabs to assess vaginal microbiota by
      Nugent score criteria at weekly visits for up to 2 years contributing 16,757
      sequential observations. Absolute differences in Nugent scores (0-10) and
      transition probabilities of vaginal microbiota states classified by Nugent score
      into normal (0-3), intermediate (4-6), and BV (7-10) between visits were
      estimated. Allowing each woman to serve as her own control, weekly time-varying
      factors associated with progression from normal microbiota to BV and resolution
      of BV to normal microbiota were estimated using conditional logistic regression.
      RESULTS: The distribution of absolute difference in Nugent scores was fairly
      symmetric with a mode of 0 (no change) and a standard deviation of 2.64.
      Transition probabilities showed weekly persistence, was highest for normal
      (76.1%) and BV (73.6%) states; whereas, intermediate states had similar
      probabilities of progression (36.6%), resolution (36.0%), and persistence
      (27.4%). Weekly fluctuation between normal and BV states was associated with
      menstrual cycle phase, recency of sex, treatment for vaginal symptoms, pregnancy,
      and prior Nugent score. CONCLUSIONS: Weekly changes in vaginal microbiota were
      common in this population. Clinical and behavioral characteristics were
      associated with vaginal microbiota transitioning, which may be used to inform
      future studies and clinical management of BV.

PMID- 20921932
TI  - Antimicrobial activity of flavonoids from Piper lanceaefolium and other Colombian
      medicinal plants against antibiotic susceptible and resistant strains of
      Neisseria gonorrhoeae.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The successful treatment of Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG) infections is
      increasingly problematic because of the resistance of this pathogen to multiple
      antimicrobial agents. This development underscores the need for new antimicrobial
      sources. In the current study, 21 crude methanol extracts, from 19 plants used in
      Colombian traditional medicine for cutaneous infections, were screened for
      antimicrobial activity against NG. METHODS: Extracts were screened by disc
      susceptibility assay. In addition, the minimum inhibitory concentrations of
      active compounds from P. lanceaefolium were assayed using a panel of 26 NG
      strains comprising 12 antibiotic-resistant phenotypes. RESULTS: In all, 71% of
      the crude extracts exhibited antibacterial activity against the antibiotic
      susceptible NG strain WHO V, whereas 10% of the extracts inhibited penicillinase
      producing NG strain GC1-182. The crude extract of Piper lanceaefolium was the
      only extract to show significant activity without ultraviolet (UV) light
      activation. Preliminary screening identified 3 compounds in this plant possessing
      antimicrobial activity: the flavonoids 5,7-dihydroxyflavanone (pinocembrin),
      2',4',6'-trihydroxychalcone (pinocembrin chalcone), and the prenylated benzoic
      acid derivative cyclolanceaefolic acid methyl ester. Pinocembrin and pinocembrin
      chalcone inhibited 100% of the NG panel at 64 MUg/mL and 128 MUg/mL,
      respectively, whereas cyclolanceaefolic acid methyl ester inhibited 44% of the
      strains at 128 MUg/mL. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first report of the antibacterial
      activity of Columbian plants against NG. The activity of the 2 flavonoids,
      pinocembrin, and pinocembrin chalcone, toward both susceptible and resistant NG
      strains makes them promising candidates for further research.

PMID- 20921933
TI  - Pandemic influenza A/H1N1 virus infection in solid organ transplant recipients: a
      multicenter study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The 2009 novel influenza A/H1N1 virus pandemic did not spare solid
      organ transplant (SOT) recipients. We aimed to describe the behavior of pandemic
      influenza infection in a group of SOT recipients in Argentina. METHODS: Data from
      10 transplant (Tx) centers were retrospectively collected for SOT that presented
      with a respiratory illness compatible with pandemic influenza A infection,
      between May and September 2009. Cases were defined as suspected, probable, or
      confirmed according to diagnostic method. RESULTS: Seventy-seven cases were
      included. No significant differences in presenting symptoms, pulmonary
      infiltrates, and graft involvement were found among 35 suspected, 19 probable,
      and 23 confirmed cases. The 33 ambulatory cases had significantly more sore
      throat and headache when compared with 34 cases admitted to medical ward (MW) and
      10 admitted to intensive care unit (ICU), 9 of whom required ventilatory support.
      MW and ICU cases had significantly more dyspnea, hypoxemia, pulmonary
      infiltrates, and graft dysfunction. Time from onset of symptoms to first visit
      and to treatment was significantly longer in MW and ICU cases (P=0.008).
      Coinfections were found in six cases. Most cases received oseltamivir for 5 to 10
      days. Six patients (7.8%) died from viral infection at a median of 15 days from
      admission. No differences in outcome were seen related to the transplanted organ,
      the immunosuppressive regimen, time from Tx, or confirmation of diagnosis.
      CONCLUSIONS: Mortality is higher in Tx recipients than in the general population.
      Poor outcome seems to be related to a delay in the beginning of treatment.

PMID- 20921934
TI  - Dual-kidney transplants as an alternative for very marginal donors: long-term
      follow-up in 63 patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Organ shortage has led to the use of dual-kidney transplant (DKT) of
      very marginal donors into a single recipient to increase the use of marginal
      organs. To date, few data are available about the long-term outcome of DKT and
      its usefulness to increase the pool of available organ. METHODS: We conducted a
      single-center cohort study of DKTs with longitudinal follow-up over an 8-year
      period. Between 1999 and 2007, 63 DKTs were performed. All kidneys from donors
      younger than 75 years refused by all centers for single transplantation, and
      kidneys from donors aged 75 years or older were routinely evaluated based on
      preimplantation glomerulosclerosis. Renal function, patient or graft survival,
      and perioperative complications were compared with 66 single kidneys from
      expanded criteria donors (ECD) and 63 ideal kidney donors. RESULTS: After a
      median follow-up of 56 months, patient or graft survival was similar between the
      three groups. Twelve-, 36-, and 84-month creatinine clearance were similar for
      DKT and ECD (12 months: 58 and 59 mL/min; 36 months: 54 and 60 mL/min; and 84
      months: 62 and 51 mL/min, respectively). For the study period, the routine
      evaluation of very marginal kidneys for DKT in our center has led to an increase
      of 47% in the transplants from donors aged 50 years or older, which represent 12%
      at the level of our organ procurement organization. CONCLUSIONS: DKT patients can
      expect long-term results comparable with single kidney ECD. The implementation of
      a DKT program in our unit safely increased the pool of organs from marginal
      donors.

PMID- 20921936
TI  - Impaired bone geometry after heart and heart-lung transplantation in childhood.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Impaired bone health has been advocated after solid organ
      transplantation in adult and pediatric patients. Osteoporosis accompanied by
      fractures have been found also in heart transplantation recipients. METHODS:
      Parameters of bone mineral density (BMD) and bone geometry were measured in 34
      patients (15 females, mean age: 14.6 +/- 5.5 years) 5.28 +/- 5.16 years after
      heart transplantation (n=30) and heart-lung transplantation (n=4) using
      peripheral quantitative computed tomography. Transplantation had been performed
      because of dilated cardiomyopathy in 25, congenital heart disease in five,
      idiopathic pulmonary hypertension in three patients, and arrhythmogenic right
      ventricular dysplasia in one patient at a mean age of 9.4 +/- 6.1 years. RESULTS:
      Trabecular BMD (z scores -0.82 +/- 0.50, P<0.01) was reduced and cortical BMD
      (0.62 +/- 1.17, P<0.05) increased in patients (n=11) on steroids, whereas
      patients on immunosuppression with tacrolimus showed normal trabecular BMD (-0.19
      +/- 1.03). All patients had normal total cross-sectional area (CSA; -0.22 +/-
      1.50) and relatively enlarged medullary CSA (0.44 +/- 1.37) resulting in smaller
      cortical CSA (-0.91 +/- 1.20, P<0.01). Mean muscle CSA was significantly reduced
      (-2.02 +/- 0.99, P<0.001) irrespective of glucocorticoid treatment and correlated
      significantly with cortical CSA (r=0.43, P=0.001). CONCLUSION: After heart
      transplantation and heart-lung transplantation in childhood, all our patients
      showed altered bone geometry and low muscle CSA. Patients on glucocorticoid
      treatment had additionally lower trabecular BMD. The clinical impact of these
      findings on increased risk for fractures has to be determined.

PMID- 20921938
TI  - Identification of p100 target promoters by chromatin immunoprecipitation-guided
      ligation and selection (ChIP-GLAS).
AB  - The multifunctional protein p100 is a vital transcriptional regulator that
      increases gene transcription by forming a physical bridge between promoter
      specific transcription factors and the basal transcription machinery. To identify
      potential signal transduction pathways in which human p100 acts as a coregulator
      and to find target promoter regions that may interact with p100, we performed a
      promoter microarray assay called chromatin immunoprecipitation-guided ligation
      and selection (ChIP-GLAS). From this assay, we determined that a set of promoter
      fragments, including several factors in the transforming growth factor beta (TGF
      beta) signaling pathway, exhibited interaction with p100. The ChIP-GLAS data were
      validated by RT-PCR assessing the mRNA expression of various factors in the TGF
      beta signaling pathway in cell lines.

PMID- 20921939
TI  - Enhancing the antihepatitis B virus immune response by adefovir dipivoxil and
      entecavir therapies.
AB  - Chronicity of hepatitis B (CHB) infection is characterized by a weak immune
      response to the virus. Entecavir (ETV) and adefovir dipivoxil (ADV) are effective
      in suppressing hepatitis B virus (HBV) replication. However, the underlying
      immune mechanism in the antiviral response of patients treated with nucleoside or
      nucleotide analogs is not clearly understood. In this study, regulatory T cells
      (Tregs) and intracellular cytokines, including IL-2, interferon (IFN)-gamma,
      tumor-necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha and IL-4, were measured prior to and at 12, 24,
      36 and 48 weeks after treatment with ETV or ADV. The cytokines were increased
      from 24 to 48 weeks after treatment. Higher levels of Th1 cytokines were observed
      with ETV (n=29) versus ADV (n=28) treatment. By contrast, the numbers of Tregs in
      both groups were decreased. The altered cytokine profile and cellular component
      was accompanied by a decrease in HBV DNA levels in both groups, which may
      contribute to their therapeutic effect in CHB infection. Our findings suggest
      that the antiviral effect of the drugs may be attributed not only to their direct
      effect on virus suppression but also to their immunoregulatory capabilities.

PMID- 20921940
TI  - An instructive case of hypercalcemia preceding relapse of AML following
      allogeneic BMT.

PMID- 20921941
TI  - UVA (UVA-1) therapy for the treatment of acute GVHD of the skin.
AB  - Long-wavelength UVA (340-400 nm UVA-1) phototherapy has been reported to be
      effective in atopic dermatitis, localized scleroderma and T-cell-derived skin
      diseases. We retrospectively investigated 70 patients with acute cutaneous GVHD
      after allogeneic haematopoietic cell transplantation or donor lymphocyte
      infusion. Complete and partial responses with a median duration of 10 months were
      achieved in 49 (70%) and 17 (24.3%) patients, respectively. Overall, 47 (67.1%)
      patients were not treated with systemic steroids. Furthermore, immunosuppression
      could be tapered in 24 (34.3%) patients while they were receiving UVA-1
      treatment. Responses were seen irrespective of age or type of conditioning.
      Treatment was very well tolerated. After a median follow-up of 18 (range 10-60)
      months, three patients developed epithelial skin neoplasia. We conclude that UVA
      1 therapy is feasible, well tolerated and can be an effective treatment for acute
      GVHD of the skin, thereby avoiding the use of systemic steroids and/or allowing a
      more rapid tapering of systemic immunosuppression in a substantial number of
      patients. The results of this retrospective analysis warrant larger, prospective
      studies and the effectiveness of UVA-1 therapy should be compared with other
      established treatment modalities.

PMID- 20921942
TI  - Polyomavirus JC-targeted T-cell therapy for progressive multiple
      leukoencephalopathy in a hematopoietic cell transplantation recipient.
AB  - Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) associated with polyomavirus JC
      (JCV) infection has been reported to be usually fatal in allogeneic hematopoietic
      SCT (HSCT) recipients. We present the case of a 19-year-old HSCT patient
      diagnosed with JCV-associated PML after prolonged immunosuppression for severe
      GVHD. No short-term neurological improvement was observed after antiviral
      treatment and discontinuation of immunosuppressive therapy. Donor-derived JCV Ag
      specific CTLs were generated in vitro after stimulation with 15-mer peptides
      derived from VP1 and large T viral proteins. After adoptive CTL infusion, virus
      specific cytotoxic cells were shown in the peripheral blood, JCV-DNA was cleared
      in the cerebrospinal fluid and the patient showed remarkable improvement.
      Adoptive T-lymphocyte therapy with JCV-specific CTLs was feasible and had no side
      effects. This case suggests that adoptive transfer of JCV-targeted CTLs may
      contribute to restore JCV-specific immune competence and control PML in
      transplanted patients.

PMID- 20921943
TI  - Delayed platelet recovery after allogeneic transplantation: a predictor of
      increased treatment-related mortality and poorer survival.
AB  - Delayed platelet recovery (DPR) is common after allo-SCT. Insufficient data on
      risk factors and association with OS and TRM are available. We conducted a
      retrospective analysis of all allografts at the University of Minnesota between
      2000 and 2005 to characterize the frequency of DPR (platelets <50 000/MUL by day
      60), risk factors and related complications. A total of 850 patients with
      hematological malignancies and benign disorders were included. Myeloablative (MA)
      conditioning was used in 65% of the patients and 45% received umbilical cord
      blood (UCB) grafts. The 60-day cumulative incidence of platelet recovery was 40%
      in UCB, 57% in unrelated donor (URD) and 74% in sibling donor. Multivariate
      analysis confirmed that the variables associated with DPR were MA (versus reduced
      intensity) conditioning, graft source other than sibling donor, ABO major
      mismatch, recipient CMV-positive serostatus, the presence of grade II-IV acute
      GVHD and slower neutrophil recovery. These data demonstrate that DPR is frequent
      after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation, especially after UCB. DPR is
      a significant independent risk factor for increased TRM and poorer OS along with
      HLA-mismatched URD, but not UCB, grade II-IV acute GVHD, old age and advanced
      disease stage.

PMID- 20921944
TI  - Plerixafor 'just in time' for stem cell mobilization in a normal donor.

PMID- 20921945
TI  - Retrospective analysis of common scoring systems and outcome in patients older
      than 60 years treated with reduced-intensity conditioning regimen and alloSCT.
AB  - In this retrospective study, 63 patients >60 years with hematological
      malignancies and treated with allo-SCT and with reduced-intensity conditioning
      (RIC) were reviewed. A total of 51% of patients suffered from AML or
      myelodysplastic syndromes. Disease status before transplantation was CR or PR 71
      with 29% transplanted with active disease. Patients were classified according to
      three published prognostic indexes: (1) hematopoietic cell transplantation
      comorbidity index (HCT-CI); (2) European BMT (EBMT) score; and (3)
      Pretransplantation Assessment of Mortality (PAM) score. The 100-day and 1-year
      treatment-related mortality (TRM) were 6 and 22%, respectively, for the entire
      group. The 2-year OS and PFS were 60 and 58%, respectively. The incidence of
      grade II-IV acute GVHD (aGVHD) and extensive chronic GVHD was 46 and 48%,
      respectively. In a univariate analysis, neither the HCT-CI nor the EBMT score,
      nor the PAM score were predictive of TRM and OS. Only the occurrence of aGVHD
      affected the TRM and OS. ALLO-RIC is feasible in elderly patients. Even if those
      prognostic scores were not adapted to elderly patients, they did not predict for
      TRM and OS. aGVHD is the main cause of TRM and more efforts should be made to
      reduce its incidence without sacrificing graft vs tumor effect.

PMID- 20921946
TI  - Standardization of Aspergillus PCR is needed.

PMID- 20921947
TI  - beta-Adrenoceptor blockade in sclerosing cholangitis of Mdr2 knockout mice:
      antifibrotic effects in a model of nonsinusoidal fibrosis.
AB  - Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is a cholestatic liver disease with high
      propensity to develop into cholangiocarcinoma. The hepatobiliary disorder of PSC
      is due to progressive fibrosis surrounding the intra- and extrahepatic bile
      ducts. Until now, no effective medical therapy exists. To study the progression
      of sclerosing cholangitis after inhibition of the sympathetic nervous system by
      blockade of the beta-adrenoceptors, we used the Mdr2(-/-) mouse model, which
      develops periportal fibrosis similar to human PSC. Liver tissues of Mdr2(-/-)
      mice untreated or treated with the beta-adrenoceptor antagonist propranolol were
      analyzed for inflammation and fibrosis progression at different time points by
      histological scoring and immunostaining for alpha-smooth muscle actin (alpha
      SMA), CD45 and S100A4. Transaminases and hydroxyproline contents were determined.
      Expression of angiotensinogen, endothelin-1, TGF-beta, TNF-alpha, CTGF and
      procollagen 1A1 was studied by real-time PCR on laser-microdissected areas of
      acinar zones I and II-III. After 3 months, periportal fibrosis had developed in
      Mdr2(-/-) mice, but immunostaining revealed no sinusoidal and only minor
      periportal contribution of myofibroblasts with prominent fibroblasts. Propranolol
      treatment of Mdr2(-/-) mice improved liver architecture. Additionally,
      inflammation and fibrosis were significantly reduced. After 3 months of
      treatment, the antifibrotic effect of the beta-blockade was most obvious. The
      transcript levels of procollagen 1A1, TNF-alpha, TGF-beta, CTGF and endothelin-1
      were markedly repressed in the portal areas of treated mice. Taken together,
      these data show that propranolol efficiently delays progression of sclerosing
      cholangitis. Therefore, the blockade of beta-adrenoceptors is a promising option
      to support future therapeutic strategies in the treatment of human PSC.

PMID- 20921949
TI  - Kupffer cells are associated with apoptosis, inflammation and fibrotic effects in
      hepatic fibrosis in rats.
AB  - Hepatocellular apoptosis, hepatic inflammation, and fibrosis are prominent
      features in chronic liver diseases. However, the linkage among these processes
      remains mechanistically unclear. In this study, we examined the apoptosis and
      activation of Kupffer cells (KCs) as well as their pathophysiological involvement
      in liver fibrosis process. Hepatic fibrosis was induced in rats by
      dimethylnitrosamine (DMN) or carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) treatment. KCs were
      isolated from normal rats and incubated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or from
      fibrotic rats. The KCs were stained immunohistochemically with anti-CD68
      antibody, a biomarker for KC. The level of expression of CD68 was analyzed by
      western blot and real-time PCR methods. The apoptosis and pathophysiological
      involvement of KCs in the formation of liver fibrosis were studied using confocal
      microscopy. The mRNA and protein expression of CD68 were significantly increased
      in DMN- and CCL4-treated rats. Confocal microscopy analysis showed that CD68
      positive KCs, but not alpha-smooth muscle actin (SMA)-positive cells, underwent
      apoptosis in the liver of DMN- and CCL4-treated rats. It was also revealed that
      the terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling and
      CD68-double-positive apoptotic KCs located in the portal or fibrotic septa area
      were situated next to hepatic stellate cells (HSCs). Tumor necrosis factor-alpha
      (TNF-alpha) and KC co-localized in the liver in the neighbor of HSCs. The double
      alpha-SMA- and collagen type I-positive cells predominantly existed in fibrotic
      septa, and those cells were co-localized clearly with CD68-positive cells.
      Interestingly, some CD68 and Col (1) double positive, but completely negative for
      alpha-SMA, were found in the portal areas and hepatic sinusoids; this phenomenon
      was also validated in primary isolated KCs after 6 h LPS exposure or fibrotic
      rats in vitro. These results show that KCs are associated with hepatocellular
      apoptosis, inflammation, and fibrosis process in a liver fibrosis models.

PMID- 20921948
TI  - Dynamic control of the complement system by modulated expression of regulatory
      proteins.
AB  - The complement system serves many biological functions, including the eradication
      of invasive pathogens and the removal of damaged cells and immune-complexes.
      Uncontrolled complement activation causes injury to host cells, however, so
      adequate regulation of the system is essential. Control of the complement system
      is maintained by a group of cell surface and circulating proteins referred to as
      complement regulatory proteins. The expression of the cell surface complement
      regulatory proteins varies from tissue to tissue. Furthermore, specific cell
      types can upregulate or downregulate the expression of these proteins in response
      to a variety of signals or insults. Altered regulation of the complement
      regulatory proteins can have important effects on local complement activation. In
      some circumstances this can be beneficial, such as in the setting of certain
      infections. In other circumstances, however, this can be a cause of complement
      mediated injury of the tissue. A full understanding of the mechanisms by which
      the complement system is modulated at the local level can have important
      implications for how we diagnose and treat a wide range of inflammatory diseases.

PMID- 20921950
TI  - Hepatic and HSC-specific sorafenib effects in rats with established secondary
      biliary cirrhosis.
AB  - Portal hypertension in cirrhosis depends on increased intrahepatic vascular
      resistance, which is explained by fibrosis and intrahepatic hyperresponsiveness
      to vasoconstrictors. Both are caused by activation and proliferation of hepatic
      stellate cells (HSCs). Portal hypertension of cirrhotic rats can be reduced by
      the multikinase inhibitor sorafenib, due to a reduction of intrahepatic vascular
      resistance. Therefore, the hepatic effects of sorafenib require further
      understanding. Here, we investigated hepatic and HSC-specific sorafenib effects
      in cirrhotic rats. Animal models of bile duct ligation-induced secondary biliary
      cirrhosis in rats were studied. The rats were treated with sorafenib (60
      mg/kg/day) for 1 week, starting after established cirrhosis. Histological
      evaluation was carried out using hemalaun and eosin (HE) staining. Apoptosis was
      studied by PARP cleavage, colorimetric caspase-3 assay, and electrophoretic DNA
      detection. HSC activation was studied by hepatic Sirius red and
      immunohistochemical alphaSMA (alpha-smooth muscle actin) staining, and by in
      vitro experiments with culture-activated primary HSCs. Biochemical serum
      parameters suggested the occurrence of sorafenib-induced liver damage. HE
      staining revealed histological changes in livers of sham-operated and bile duct
      ligated (BDL) rats in response to sorafenib, which were different in both groups.
      In BDL rats and isolated HSCs, the treatment with sorafenib reduced hepatic
      alphaSMA and procollagen-1alpha mRNA expression. As shown by immunohistochemical
      staining, perisinusoidal alphaSMA expression was reduced by sorafenib in BDL
      rats. This was associated with reduced perisinusoidal deposition of extracellular
      matrix, as revealed by Sirius red staining. Although no change in PARP cleavage
      and only a minor increase in hepatic caspase-3 activity were detected in BDL rats
      in response to sorafenib, livers of sorafenib-treated BDL rats contained small
      DNA fragments, which were not observed in untreated BDL rats. In conclusion,
      sorafenib treatment reduces the number of activated HSCs in cirrhotic livers.
      This leads to the decrease in intrahepatic vascular resistance, but also to liver
      damage in the dosage we used. Therefore, any translation to portal hypertensive
      patients who may profit from sorafenib should be done with particular care.

PMID- 20921951
TI  - Mitochondrial damage-induced impairment of angiogenesis in the aging rat kidney.
AB  - Decreased expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in the renal
      tubules is thought to cause progressive loss of the renal microvasculature with
      age. Mitochondrial dysfunction may be a principal phenomenon underlying the
      process of aging. The relation between VEGF expression and mitochondrial
      dysfunction in aging is not fully understood. We hypothesized that mitochondrial
      dysfunction blocks VEGF expression and contributes to impaired angiogenesis in
      the aging kidney. The aim of this study was to assess the role of mitochondria in
      VEGF expression in the aging rat kidney. We evaluated the accumulation of 8
      hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine in mitochondrial DNA, as well as mitochondrial
      dysfunction, as assessed by electron microscopy of mitochondrial structure and
      histochemical staining for respiratory chain complex IV, in aging rat kidney. An
      increase in hypoxic area and a decrease in peritubular capillaries were detected
      in the cortex of aging rat kidneys; however, upregulation of VEGF expression was
      not observed. The expression of VEGF in proximal tubular epithelial cells in
      response to hypoxia was suppressed by the mitochondrial electron transfer
      inhibitor myxothiazol. Mitochondrial DNA-deficient cells also failed to
      upregulate VEGF expression under hypoxic conditions. These results indicate that
      impairment of VEGF upregulation, possibly as a result of mitochondrial
      dysfunction, contributes to impaired angiogenesis, which in turn leads to renal
      injury in the aging rat kidney.

PMID- 20921952
TI  - Adapting in vitro dual perfusion of the human placenta to soluble oxygen tensions
      associated with normal and pre-eclamptic pregnancy.
AB  - For decades, superoxic ex vivo dual perfusion of the human placental lobule has
      been used as a model to study the physiology and metabolism of the placenta. The
      aim of this study was to further develop the technique to enable perfusion at
      soluble oxygen concentrations similar to those in normal pregnancy (normoxia) and
      in pre-eclampsia (PE; hypoxia). Our design involved reducing the mean soluble
      oxygen tension in the maternal-side intervillous space (IVS) perfusate to 5-7%
      and <3% for normoxia and hypoxia, respectively, while providing a more ubiquitous
      delivery of perfusate into the IVS, using 22 maternal-side cannulae. We achieved
      quasi-steady states in [O2](fetal venous (soluble)), which were statistically
      different between the two adaptations at t=150 to t=240 min of dual perfusion
      (2.1, 1.2, 2.8 and 0.4, 0.0, 1.5%; median, 25th, 75th percentiles, n=20 and 24
      readings in n=5 and n=6 lobules, normoxic and hypoxic perfusion, respectively;
      P<0.001, Mann-Whitney U-test). Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels in fetal and
      maternal venous outflow perfusates were unaffected by the adaptations. There was
      also no difference in tissue lactate release between the two adaptations. Glucose
      consumption from the fetal circulation and maternal-side 'venous' pyruvate
      release were higher under normoxic conditions, indicative of a greater metabolic
      flux through glycolysis. Furthermore, there was greater release of the hypoxic
      sensitive marker, macrophage inflammatory protein-1alpha, into the maternal
      venous perfusate in the hypoxic model. Also, during hypoxic perfusion, we found
      that fetal-side venous placental growth factor (PlGF) levels were higher compared
      with normoxic perfusion. We conclude that these ex vivo adapted methods of
      placental perfusion provide a means of studying aspects of placental metabolism
      in relation to normal oxygenation and hypoxia-associated pregnancy disease.

PMID- 20921953
TI  - Frontiers of vascular biology and disease research.

PMID- 20921955
TI  - Evidence for disease and antipsychotic medication effects in post-mortem brain
      from schizophrenia patients.
AB  - Extensive research has been conducted on post-mortem brain tissue in
      schizophrenia (SCZ), particularly the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC).
      However, to what extent the reported changes are due to the disorder itself, and
      which are the cumulative effects of lifetime medication remains to be determined.
      In this study, we employed label-free liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry
      based proteomic and proton nuclear magnetic resonance-based metabonomic profiling
      approaches to investigate DLPFC tissue from two cohorts of SCZ patients grouped
      according to their lifetime antipsychotic dose, together with tissue from bipolar
      disorder (BPD) subjects, and normal controls (n=10 per group). Both techniques
      showed profound changes in tissue from low-cumulative-medication SCZ subjects,
      but few changes in tissue from medium-cumulative-medication subjects. Protein
      expression changes were validated by Western blot and investigated further in a
      third group of subjects who were subjected to high-cumulative-medication over the
      course of their lifetime. Furthermore, key protein expression and metabolite
      level changes correlated significantly with lifetime antipsychotic dose. This
      suggests that the detected changes are present before antipsychotic therapy and,
      moreover, may be normalized with treatment. Overall, our analyses revealed novel
      protein and metabolite changes in low-cumulative-medication subjects associated
      with synaptogenesis, neuritic dynamics, presynaptic vesicle cycling, amino acid
      and glutamine metabolism, and energy buffering systems. Most of these markers
      were altered specifically in SCZ as determined by analysis of the same brain
      region from BPD patients.

PMID- 20921957
TI  - Minimal invasive electrode implantation for conditional stimulation of the dorsal
      genital nerve in neurogenic detrusor overactivity.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: Experimental. OBJECTIVES: Electrical stimulation of the dorsal
      genital nerves (DGN) suppresses involuntary detrusor contractions (IDCs) in
      patients with neurogenic detrusor overactivity (DO). The feasibility of minimal
      invasive electrode implantation near the DGN and the effectiveness of conditional
      stimulation to suppress IDCs at different amplitudes in spinal cord injury (SCI)
      patients with DO were studied. SETTING: Radboud University Nijmegen MC, The
      Netherlands. METHODS: In eight healthy volunteers, a needle electrode was
      inserted from both a medial and lateral-to-midline site at the level of the pubic
      bone. Electrode insertion was guided by the genito-anal reflex (GAR) evoked by
      electrical stimulation and by sensation to this stimulation. In eight SCI
      patients with DO, the bladder was repeatedly filled and emptied partially in
      between. Conditional stimulation using a needle electrode was applied when an IDC
      was observed at urodynamics. Different amplitudes were used during each filling.
      Control cystometry was carried out before electrode insertion and after
      stimulation. RESULTS: The lateral implant approach was preferred, as it was
      easier to manoeuvre the needle along the pubic bone and fixate the needle. In SCI
      patients, the electrode was positioned successfully, and IDCs were suppressed
      (range 1-6 IDC suppressions) with conditional stimulation at maximum tolerable
      amplitude, except for one patient. Stimulation was less effective at lower
      amplitudes. Stimulation lowered the intensity of bladder sensations concomitant
      with IDC. CONCLUSION: The lateral-to-midline implant approach, in combination
      with GAR and sensation to stimulation, is feasible for electrode implantation
      near the DGN in SCI patients. Conditional stimulation effectively suppresses
      IDCs.

PMID- 20921958
TI  - Epidemiology of traumatic spinal cord injury in Tianjin, China.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: A retrospective epidemiological study. OBJECTIVES: To provide
      recent epidemiological characteristics of traumatic spinal cord injuries (TSCIs)
      in adults living in Tianjin. SETTING: Tianjin, China. METHODS: This study
      included all TSCI patients aged 15 years or older who were admitted to tertiary
      hospitals in Tianjin from 2004 to 2008. Epidemiological characteristics, such as
      age, sex, date of admission, causes of injury, level of injury, America Spinal
      Injury Association impairment scale and date of discharge were included. RESULTS:
      A total of 869 patients were included, with an estimated annual incidence was
      23.7 per million populations. The male/female ratio was 5.63:1. Mean age of TSCI
      was 46.0+/-14.2 years (men 45.8+/-14.2 years, women 47.5+/-14.5 years), with a
      range of 16-90 years. Falls were regarded as the leading causes of injury,
      followed by motor vehicle collisions. The lesion level was cervical in 71.5%,
      thoracic in 13.3% and lumbar/sacral in 15.1%. The frequency of tetraplegia
      (71.5%) was higher than paraplegia (28.5%), and roughly four-fifth of tetraplegia
      cases were incomplete injury. CONCLUSION: To our knowledge, national or local
      epidemiological study of spinal cord injury (SCI) has not been carried out
      previously in China. The number of SCI patients in this country is large and
      would increase gradually. Similar to other developing countries, falls were the
      main causes of TSCI. Low falls were more common in those over 60 years old. As
      the ageing society coming, the number of low falls-induced TSCI would increase
      gradually, which poses a challenge to the society health system.

PMID- 20921959
TI  - Length of stay and medical stability for spinal cord-injured patients on
      admission to an inpatient rehabilitation hospital: a comparison between a model
      SCI trauma center and non-SCI trauma center.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective database review. OBJECTIVE: To compare lengths of
      stay (LOS), pressure ulcers and readmissions to the acute care hospital of
      patients admitted to the inpatient rehabilitation facility (IRF) from a model
      spinal cord injury (SCI) trauma center or from a non-SCI acute hospital.
      BACKGROUND: Only sparse data exist comparing the status of patients admitted to
      IRF from a model SCI trauma center or from a non-SCI acute hospital. METHODS:
      Acute care, IRF and total LOS were compared between patients transferred to IRF
      from the SCI center (n=78) and from non-SCI centers (n=131). The percentages of
      pressure ulcers on admission to IRF and transfer back to acute care were also
      compared. RESULTS: Patients admitted to IRF from the SCI trauma center (SCI TC)
      had significantly shorter (P=0.01) acute care LOS and total LOS compared with
      patients admitted from non-SCI TCs. By neurological category, acute-care LOS was
      less for all groups admitted from the SCI center, but statistically significant
      only for tetraplegia. There was no significant difference in the incidence of
      readmissions to acute care from IRF. More patients from non-SCI centers (34%)
      than SCI centers (12%) had pressure ulcers (P<0.001). CONCLUSION: Acute care in
      organized SCI TCs before transfer to IRF can significantly lower acute-care LOS
      or total LOS and incidence of pressure ulcers compared with non-SCI TCs. Patients
      admitted to IRF from SCI TCs are no more likely to be sent back to an acute
      hospital than those from non-SCI TCs.

PMID- 20921960
TI  - Epigenetics: Demethylation links cell fate and cancer.

PMID- 20921962
TI  - Gene expression: Genomic space-savers.

PMID- 20921961
TI  - Stress and the epigenetic landscape: a link to the pathobiology of human
      diseases?
AB  - Accumulating evidence points to a major role for chronic stress of cell renewal
      systems in the pathogenesis of important human diseases, including cancer,
      atherosclerosis and diabetes. Here we discuss emerging evidence that epigenetic
      abnormalities may make substantial contributions to these stress-induced
      pathologies. Although the mechanisms remain to be fully elucidated, we suggest
      that chronic stress can elicit heritable changes in the chromatin landscape that
      'lock' cells in abnormal states, which then lead to disease. We emphasize the
      need to investigate epigenetic states in disease and links to stress and to
      consider how the knowledge gained through these studies may foster new means of
      disease prevention and management.

PMID- 20921963
TI  - The relationship between body size and mortality in the linked Scottish Health
      Surveys: cross-sectional surveys with follow-up.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between body mass index (BMI), waist
      circumference (WC) or waist-hip ratio (WHR) and all-cause mortality or cause
      specific mortality. DESIGN: Cross-sectional surveys linked to hospital admissions
      and death records. SUBJECTS: In total, 20,117 adults (aged 18-86 years) from a
      nationally representative sample of the Scottish population. MEASUREMENTS: Cox
      proportional hazards models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) for all
      cause, or cause-specific, mortality. The three anthropometric measurements BMI,
      WC and WHR were the main variables of interest. The following were adjustment
      variables: age, gender, smoking status, alcohol consumption, survey year, social
      class and area of deprivation. RESULTS: BMI-defined obesity (>= 30 kg m(-2)) was
      not associated with increased risk of mortality (HR = 0.93; 95% confidence
      interval = 0.80-1.08), whereas the overweight category (25-<30 kg m(-2)) was
      associated with a decreased risk (0.80; 0.70-0.91). In contrast, the HR for a
      high WC (men >= 102 cm, women >= 88 cm) was 1.17 (1.02-1.34) and a high WHR (men
      >= 1, women >= 0.85) was 1.34 (1.16-1.55). There was an increased risk of
      cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality associated with BMI-defined obesity, a
      high WC and a high WHR categories; the HR estimates for these were 1.36 (1.05
      1.77), 1.41 (1.11-1.79) and 1.44 (1.12-1.85), respectively. A low BMI (<18.5 kg
      m(-2)) was associated with elevated HR for all-cause mortality (2.66; 1.97-3.60),
      for chronic respiratory disease mortality (3.17; 1.39-7.21) and for acute
      respiratory disease mortality (11.68; 5.01-27.21). This pattern was repeated for
      WC but not for WHR. CONCLUSIONS: It might be prudent not to use BMI as the sole
      measure to summarize body size. The alternatives WC and WHR may more clearly
      define the health risks associated with excess body fat accumulation. The lack of
      association between elevated BMI and mortality may reflect the secular decline in
      CVD mortality.

PMID- 20921965
TI  - Gender differences in the association between maternal smoking during pregnancy
      and childhood growth trajectories: multilevel analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: This study examines the gender differences in the association between
      maternal smoking during pregnancy and later growth in childhood. DESIGN: Ongoing
      prospective cohort study, which is called 'the Project Koshu', initiated in the
      foetal stage to the age of 9-10 years. SETTING: Koshu City which was in Japanese
      rural area. PARTICIPANTS: The study population comprised children born between 1
      April 1991 and 31 March 1999 in Koshu City, Japan, and their mothers. Maternal
      smoking during early pregnancy was the exposure studied. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:
      Childhood body mass index (BMI) and BMI z-score trajectories of the children born
      to the smoking and non-smoking mothers by gender. Multilevel analysis that
      includes both individual and age as different-level variables was used for
      statistical analyses. RESULTS: The participating mothers delivered 1619 babies
      during the study period. Birth weight and anthropometric data were collected from
      1603 (at birth, 99.0%), 1358 (at age 3, 83.9%), 1248 (at age 5, 77.1%), 1270 (at
      age 7-8, 78.4%) and 1274 (at age 9-10, 78.7%) of these children. The mean birth
      weight of both the male and female children whose mothers had smoked during
      pregnancy was significantly low compared with those born to non-smoking mothers
      (P < 0.01). However, the childhood BMI at each subsequent checkup age
      significantly increased only among the male children born to the smoking mothers.
      Moreover, this increase was continuously observed after 3 years of age. The
      results of BMI z-score analysis were also similar to these of BMI analysis.
      CONCLUSIONS: Smoking by pregnant women decreases the infant birth weight
      irrespective of gender but increases childhood weight gain especially by male
      children. The results might be valuable to explore the mechanism of fetal
      programming.

PMID- 20921964
TI  - The effects of intermittent or continuous energy restriction on weight loss and
      metabolic disease risk markers: a randomized trial in young overweight women.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The problems of adherence to energy restriction in humans are well
      known. OBJECTIVE: To compare the feasibility and effectiveness of intermittent
      continuous energy (IER) with continuous energy restriction (CER) for weight loss,
      insulin sensitivity and other metabolic disease risk markers. DESIGN: Randomized
      comparison of a 25% energy restriction as IER (~ 2710 kJ/day for 2 days/week) or
      CER (~ 6276 kJ/day for 7 days/week) in 107 overweight or obese (mean (+/- s.d.)
      body mass index 30.6 (+/- 5.1) kg m(-2)) premenopausal women observed over a
      period of 6 months. Weight, anthropometry, biomarkers for breast cancer,
      diabetes, cardiovascular disease and dementia risk; insulin resistance (HOMA),
      oxidative stress markers, leptin, adiponectin, insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-1
      and IGF binding proteins 1 and 2, androgens, prolactin, inflammatory markers
      (high sensitivity C-reactive protein and sialic acid), lipids, blood pressure and
      brain-derived neurotrophic factor were assessed at baseline and after 1, 3 and 6
      months. RESULTS: Last observation carried forward analysis showed that IER and
      CER are equally effective for weight loss: mean (95% confidence interval ) weight
      change for IER was -6.4 (-7.9 to -4.8) kg vs -5.6 (-6.9 to -4.4) kg for CER (P
      value for difference between groups = 0.4). Both groups experienced comparable
      reductions in leptin, free androgen index, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein,
      total and LDL cholesterol, triglycerides, blood pressure and increases in sex
      hormone binding globulin, IGF binding proteins 1 and 2. Reductions in fasting
      insulin and insulin resistance were modest in both groups, but greater with IER
      than with CER; difference between groups for fasting insulin was -1.2 (-1.4 to 
      1.0) MUU ml(-1) and for insulin resistance was -1.2 (-1.5 to -1.0) MUU mmol(-1)
      l(-1) (both P = 0.04). CONCLUSION: IER is as effective as CER with regard to
      weight loss, insulin sensitivity and other health biomarkers, and may be offered
      as an alternative equivalent to CER for weight loss and reducing disease risk.

PMID- 20921966
TI  - Heterogeneous expression of toll-like receptors in lymphatic endothelial cells
      derived from different tissues.
AB  - As lymphatic endothelial cells (LECs) express different lymphatic and vascular
      markers depending on the organ they are derived from, we analysed whether they
      also show a heterogeneity of response against pathogens. To this end we analysed,
      for the presence of mRNA encoding for all human toll-like receptor (TLR), LECs
      isolated from lymph nodes and thymuses. RNA for TLR1-6 and 9 was identified in
      thymus-derived cells, whereas cells derived from lymph nodes contained mRNA for
      TLR1-4, 6 and 9, but failed to express mRNA specific for TLR5. The differential
      expression of TLRs was confirmed by the phosphorylation of nuclear factor-kappaB
      p65 only when the two types of LECs were incubated with the appropriate TLR
      agonists. The stimulation with specific agonists gives rise to a heterogeneous
      pattern of cytokine and chemokine secretion: thymus-derived LECs produced
      preferentially interleukin-6, interferon-inducible protein (IP)-10 and tumour
      necrosis factor-alpha, whereas cells prepared from lymph nodes mainly released
      interleukin-8, monocyte chemotactic protein-1, RANTES and (IP)-10. Finally, cells
      purified from lymph nodes expressed a higher level of intercellular adhesion
      molecule-1 than did cells prepared from the thymus when stimulated with several
      TLR agonists. The expression of a large set of TLRs and the responsiveness to
      specific agonists suggest that LECs are able to respond to pathogens, and the
      observed differences reflect specialized functions, redundancy and/or roles of
      LECs of different origin.

PMID- 20921967
TI  - B cells do not take up bacterial DNA: an essential role for antigen in exposure
      of DNA to toll-like receptor-9.
AB  - Murine dendritic cells (DC) and macrophages respond to bacterial CpG DNA through
      toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9). Although it is frequently assumed that bacterial DNA
      is a direct stimulus for B cells, published work does not reliably show responses
      of purified B cells. Here we show that purified splenic B cells did not respond
      to Escherichia coli DNA with induction of CD86, despite readily responding to
      single-stranded (ss) phosphodiester CpG oligodeoxynucleotides (ODN). This was due
      to a combination of weak responses to both long and double-stranded (ds) DNA. B
      cell DNA uptake was greatly reduced with increasing DNA length. This contrasts
      with macrophages where DNA uptake and subsequent responses were enhanced with
      increasing DNA length. However, when DNA was physically linked to hen egg
      lysozyme (HEL), HEL-specific B cells showed efficient uptake of DNA, and limited
      proliferation in response to the HEL-DNA complex. We propose that, in the absence
      of other signals, B cells have poor uptake and responses to long dsDNA to prevent
      polyclonal activation. Conversely, when DNA is physically linked to a B-cell
      receptor (BCR) ligand, its uptake is increased, allowing TLR9-dependent B-cell
      activation in an antigen-specific manner. We could not generate fragments of E.
      coli DNA by limited DNaseI digestion that could mimic the stimulatory effect of
      ss CpG ODN on naive B cells. We suggest that the frequently studied polyclonal B
      cell responses to CpG ODN are relevant to therapeutic applications of
      phosphorothioate-modified CpG-containing ODN, but not to natural responses to
      foreign or host dsDNA.

PMID- 20921968
TI  - Effects of OCT1 polymorphisms on the cellular uptake, plasma concentrations and
      efficacy of the 5-HT(3) antagonists tropisetron and ondansetron.
AB  - After uptake into liver cells, the antiemetic drugs tropisetron and ondansetron
      undergo metabolic inactivation by cytochrome P450 2D6 (CYP2D6). We investigated
      whether the hepatic organic cation transporter 1 (OCT1; SLC22A1) mediates
      cellular uptake and whether common OCT1 loss-of-function polymorphisms affect
      pharmacokinetics and efficacy of both drugs. Both tropisetron and ondansetron
      inhibited ASP(+) uptake in OCT1-overexpressing HEK293 cells. Overexpression of
      wild-type, but not OCT1 loss-of-function variants, significantly increased
      tropisetron uptake. Correspondingly, patients with two loss-of-function OCT1
      alleles had higher tropisetron plasma concentrations (n=59, P<0.04) and higher
      clinical efficacy (n=91, P=0.009) compared with carriers of fully active OCT1.
      Overexpression of OCT1 did not increase ondansetron uptake. Nevertheless, OCT1
      genotypes correlated with pharmacokinetics (n=45, P<0.05) and clinical efficacy
      (n=222, P<0.02) of ondansetron, the effect size of OCT1 genotypes on
      pharmacokinetics and efficacy was greater for tropisetron than for ondansetron.
      In conclusion, in addition to the known effects of CYP2D6, OCT1 deficiency may
      increase efficacy of tropisetron and potentially of ondansetron by limiting their
      hepatic uptake.

PMID- 20921969
TI  - Genome-wide association study of antipsychotic-induced QTc interval prolongation.
AB  - QT prolongation is associated with increased risk of cardiac arrhythmias.
      Identifying the genetic variants that mediate antipsychotic-induced prolongation
      may help to minimize this risk, which might prevent the removal of efficacious
      drugs from the market. We performed candidate gene analysis and five drug
      specific genome-wide association studies (GWASs) with 492K single-nucleotide
      polymorphisms to search for genetic variation mediating antipsychotic-induced QT
      prolongation in 738 schizophrenia patients from the Clinical Antipsychotic Trial
      of Intervention Effectiveness study. Our candidate gene study suggests the
      involvement of NOS1AP and NUBPL (P-values=1.45 * 10(-05) and 2.66 * 10(-13),
      respectively). Furthermore, our top GWAS hit achieving genome-wide significance,
      defined as a Q-value <0.10 (P-value=1.54 * 10(-7), Q-value=0.07), located in
      SLC22A23, mediated the effects of quetiapine on prolongation. SLC22A23 belongs to
      a family of organic ion transporters that shuttle a variety of compounds,
      including drugs, environmental toxins and endogenous metabolites, across the cell
      membrane. This gene is expressed in the heart and is integral in mouse heart
      development. The genes mediating antipsychotic-induced QT prolongation partially
      overlap with the genes affecting normal QT interval variation. However, some
      genes may also be unique for drug-induced prolongation. This study demonstrates
      the potential of GWAS to discover genes and pathways that mediate antipsychotic
      induced QT prolongation.

PMID- 20921970
TI  - A genetic marker at the OLIG3/TNFAIP3 locus associates with methotrexate
      continuation in early inflammatory polyarthritis: results from the Norfolk
      Arthritis Register.
AB  - Whole-genome association studies in rheumatoid arthritis have identified single
      nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) predisposing to disease with moderate risk. We
      aimed to investigate the role of these markers in predicting methotrexate (MTX)
      response, measured by continuation on MTX monotherapy in patients with recent
      onset inflammatory polyarthritis (IP). In all, 19 SNPs were genotyped in 736
      patients treated with MTX following registration, or not more than 3 months
      before registration, to the Norfolk Arthritis Register. The association of SNPs
      with MTX continuation by year 1 and by year 2 was investigated using Cox
      proportional hazard regression models. A SNP within the OLIG3/TNFAIP3 locus
      (rs6920220) was associated with being less likely to maintain MTX monotherapy at
      year 1, hazards ratio (HR) 1.73 (1.18, 2.52) and year 2, HR 1.49 (1.11, 2.00);
      correlating with an increased in adverse events. Weak evidence for an effect at
      the PTPN22 locus was also observed. These findings require replication in other
      large datasets.

PMID- 20921972
TI  - Scaffolds in tissue engineering of blood vessels.
AB  - Tissue engineering of small diameter (<5 mm) blood vessels is a promising
      approach for developing viable alternatives to autologous vascular grafts. It
      involves in vitro seeding of cells onto a scaffold on which the cells attach,
      proliferate, and differentiate while secreting the components of extracellular
      matrix that are required for creating the tissue. The scaffold should provide the
      initial requisite mechanical strength to withstand in vivo hemodynamic forces
      until vascular smooth muscle cells and fibroblasts reinforce the extracellular
      matrix of the vessel wall. Hence, the choice of scaffold is crucial for providing
      guidance cues to the cells to behave in the required manner to produce tissues
      and organs of the desired shape and size. Several types of scaffolds have been
      used for the reconstruction of blood vessels. They can be broadly classified as
      biological scaffolds, decellularized matrices, and polymeric biodegradable
      scaffolds. This review focuses on the different types of scaffolds that have been
      designed, developed, and tested for tissue engineering of blood vessels,
      including use of stem cells in vascular tissue engineering.

PMID- 20921971
TI  - Mapping genes that predict treatment outcome in admixed populations.
AB  - There is great interest in characterizing the genetic architecture underlying
      drug response. For many drugs, gene-based dosing models explain a considerable
      amount of the overall variation in treatment outcome. As such, prescription drug
      labels are increasingly being modified to contain pharmacogenetic information.
      Genetic data must, however, be interpreted within the context of relevant
      clinical covariates. Even the most predictive models improve with the addition of
      data related to biogeographical ancestry. The current review explores analytical
      strategies that leverage population structure to more fully characterize genetic
      determinants of outcome in large clinical practice-based cohorts. The success of
      this approach will depend upon several key factors: (1) the availability of
      outcome data from groups of admixed individuals (that is, populations recombined
      over multiple generations), (2) a measurable difference in treatment outcome
      (that is, efficacy and toxicity end points), and (3) a measurable difference in
      allele frequency between the ancestral populations.

PMID- 20921973
TI  - Effect of fasudil on growth, adhesion, invasion, and migration of 95D lung
      carcinoma cells in vitro.
AB  - The objective of the study was to investigate the effects of a Rho-kinase
      inhibitor on 95D lung carcinoma cell growth, adhesion, invasion, and migration
      and to explore the underlying molecular mechanisms involved in this process.
      After treatment of 95D lung carcinoma cells with fasudil, an inhibitor of Rho
      kinase, cell biological behaviors such as growth, adhesion, invasion, and
      migration were observed. Matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) activity and Western blot
      assay were used to evaluate underlying molecular mechanisms. The IC50 of fasudil
      to 95D lung carcinoma cells was approximately 0.79 mg/mL (95% confidence limits
      0.58-1.11 mg/mL). After treatment with 0.75 mg/mL fasudil, the ability of 95D
      lung carcinoma cells for growth, adhesion, migration, and invasion was decreased
      significantly. Total active MMP2 was decreased approximately 22.7% (p < 0.05) and
      total MMP9 65.9% (p < 0.01). Myosin phosphatase target subunit 1 (MYPT1) was
      reduced by 29.4% (p < 0.05). We conclude that the Rho-kinase inhibitor prevents
      the growth, adhesion, invasion, and migration of 95D lung carcinoma cells by
      inhibiting the Rho/Rho-kinase pathway. Changes in MMP2, MMP9, and MYPT1 may be
      part of its molecular mechanisms.

PMID- 20921974
TI  - In vitro myometrial inhibition by the partitioned aqueous fraction of
      Anthocleista djalonensis leaves.
AB  - This study investigated the effect on the uterus of the aqueous fraction of the
      partitioned methanol crude extract of the leaves of Anthocleista djalonensis (AD)
      and the possible mechanism of AD activity. AD inhibited the concentration
      response curves induced by oxytocin and CaCl2 on the rat uterus in vitro and
      significantly reduced the EC50 in a concentration-dependent manner (p < 0.05). A
      similar effect was observed with salbutamol and verapamil on the concentration
      response curves obtained for oxytocin and CaCl2. The inhibitory effect of AD was
      not attenuated in the presence of propranolol. AD, salbutamol, and verapamil also
      produced a concentration-dependent relaxation on K+-induced sustained uterine
      contraction. In Ca2+-free medium, AD and salbutamol similarly inhibited oxytocin
      induced contraction, but verapamil failed to produce this effect. The present
      results suggest that AD, being a mixture of phytochemicals, probably exerts
      inhibitory activity on in vitro uterine contractions of the nonpregnant,
      diethylstilboestrol-treated rat by multiple mechanisms that do not involve
      interaction with &beta;-adrenergic receptors and do not solely depend on
      inhibition of calcium influx.

PMID- 20921975
TI  - Effects of proanthocyanidins from grape seed on treatment of recurrent ulcerative
      colitis in rats.
AB  - The aim of the present study was to investigate the therapeutic effect and
      mechanism of proanthocyanidins from grape seed (GSPE) in the treatment of
      recurrent ulcerative colitis (UC) in rats. To induce recurrent colitis, rats were
      instilled with 2,4,6-trinitrobenzenesulfonic acid (TNBS) (80 mg/kg) into the
      colon through the cannula in the first induced phase, and then the rats were
      instilled a second time with TNBS (30 mg/kg) into the colon on the sixteenth day
      after the first induction UC. Rats were intragastrically administered GSPE (200
      mg/kg) per day for 7 days after twice-induced colitis by TNBS. Sulfasalazine at
      500 mg/kg was used as a positive control drug. Rats were killed 7 days after GSPE
      treatment. The colonic injury and inflammation were assessed by macroscopic and
      macroscopic damage scores, colon weight/length ratio (mg/cm), and myeloperoxidase
      activity. Then, superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, inducible nitric
      oxide synthase (iNOS) activities, and the levels of malonyldialdehyde,
      glutathione, and nitric oxide in serum and colonic tissues were measured.
      Compared with the recurrent UC group, GSPE treatment facilitated recovery of
      pathologic changes in the colon after induction of recurrent colitis, as
      demonstrated by reduced colonic weight/length ratio and macroscopic and
      microscopic damage scores. The myeloperoxidase and iNOS activities with
      malonyldialdehyde and nitric oxide levels in serum and colon tissues of colitis
      rats were significantly decreased in the GSPE group compared with those in the
      recurrent UC group. In addition, GSPE treatment was associated with notably
      increased superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase activities, and
      glutathione levels of colon tissues and serum of rats. GSPE exerted a protective
      effect on recurrent colitis in rats by modifying the inflammatory response,
      inhibiting inflammatory cell infiltration and antioxidation damage, promoting
      damaged tissue repair to improve colonic oxidative stress, and inhibiting colonic
      iNOS activity to reduce the production of nitric oxide.

PMID- 20921976
TI  - Hyperosmolarity alters micturition: a comparison of urinary bladder motor
      activity in hyperosmolar and cyclophosphamide-induced models of overactive
      bladder.
AB  - Hyperosmolar factors induce the neurogenic inflammatory response, leading to
      bladder overactivity (OAB). The aim of the study was to compare the bladder motor
      activity in a hyperosmolar and acute cyclophosphamide (CYP)-induced model of OAB.
      Furthermore, we set our sights on defining the most physiological model of OAB in
      experimental practice. Forty-two female rats were divided randomly into 5 groups.
      All animals underwent cystometry with the usage of isotonic saline or saline of
      increasing concentration. Acute chemical cystitis was induced by CYP to elicit
      OAB. The following cystometric parameters were analyzed: basal pressure,
      threshold pressure, micturition voiding pressure, intercontraction interval,
      compliance, functional bladder capacity, motility index, and detrusor
      overactivity index. CYP and hypertonic saline solutions induced OAB. Having been
      compared with CYP OAB, none of the rats infused with hypertonic solution
      exhibited macroscopic signs of bladder inflammation. The comparison of CYP and
      hyperosmolar models of OAB revealed that the greatest similarity existed between
      the 2080 mOsm/L OAB model and the acute CYP-induced model. We postulate that the
      2080 mOsm/L model of OAB can be established as being a less invasive and more
      physiological model when compared with the CYP-induced OAB model. Additionally,
      it may also be a more reliable experimental tool for evaluating novel
      therapeutics for OAB as compared with CYP-induced models.

PMID- 20921977
TI  - Apocynum venetum leaf extract protects rat cortical neurons from injury induced
      by oxygen and glucose deprivation in vitro.
AB  - This study aimed to investigate the protective effect of Apocynum venetum leaf
      extract (AVLE) on an in vitro model of ischemia-reperfusion induced by oxygen and
      glucose deprivation (OGD) and further explored the possible mechanisms underlying
      protection. Cell injury was assessed by morphological examination using phase
      contrast microscopy and quantified by measuring the amount of lactate
      dehydrogenase (LDH) leakage; cell viability was measured by XTT reduction.
      Neuronal apoptosis was determined by flow cytometry, and electron microscopy was
      used to study morphological changes of neurons. Caspase-3, -8, and -9 activation
      and Bcl-2/Bax protein expression were determined by Western blot analysis. We
      report that treatment with AVLE (5 and 50 ug/mL) effectively reduced neuronal
      cell death and relieved cell injury induced by OGD. Moreover, AVLE decreased the
      percentage of apoptotic neurons, relieved neuronal morphological damage,
      suppressed overexpression of active caspase-3 and -8 and Bax, and inhibited the
      reduction of Bcl-2 expression. These findings indicate that AVLE protects against
      OGD-induced injury by inhibiting apoptosis in rat cortical neurons by down
      regulating caspase-3 activation and modulating the Bcl-2/Bax ratio.

PMID- 20921978
TI  - Using blood pressure telemetry to assess acute changes in arterial stiffness in
      rats after nitric oxide synthase inhibition or environmental tobacco smoke
      exposure.
AB  - Although environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure has been reported to acutely
      increase arterial stiffness in humans, understanding of the underlying mechanisms
      is unclear and few studies have measured these effects in experimental animals.
      One potential mechanism for the increased arterial stiffness is reduced nitric
      oxide (NO) bioactivity as a result of oxidative stress. Thus, the objective of
      this study was to determine whether acute changes in arterial stiffness could be
      detected using arterial pulse wave dP/dt in blood pressure telemetry implanted
      rats and to investigate the role of NO in regulating dP/dt. Intravenous injection
      of acetylcholine (0.91 ng/kg) decreased and norepinephrine (0.02 mg/kg) increased
      dP/dt compared to saline vehicle (0.5 mL/kg). Injection of the NO synthase
      inhibitor, N(G)-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME; 30 mg/kg) decreased plasma
      nitrate/nitrite (NOx), but transiently increased dP/dt. ETS at low and high doses
      had no effect on dP/dt, but increased plasma NOx levels at high ETS exposure and
      increased plasma nitrotyrosine levels in both ETS groups. In conclusion, acute
      changes in NO production via acetylcholine or L-NAME alter the arterial pulse
      wave dP/dt consistently with the predicted changes in arterial stiffness.
      Although acute ETS appears to biologically inactivate NO, a concomitant increase
      in NO production at high ETS exposure may explain why dP/dt was not acutely
      altered by ETS in the current study.

PMID- 20921979
TI  - Extracellular glutamate alters mature osteoclast and osteoblast functions.
AB  - Glutamatergic intercellular communication is involved in many aspects of
      metabolic homeostasis in normal bone. In bone metastasis, the balance between
      bone formation and degradation is disrupted. Although the responsible mechanisms
      are not clear, we have previously identified that cancer cell lines used in bone
      tumour models secrete glutamate, suggesting that tumour-derived glutamate may
      disrupt sensitive signalling systems in bone. This study examines the role of
      glutamate in mature osteoclastic bone resorption, osteoblast differentiation, and
      bone nodule formation. Glutamate was found to have no effect on the survival or
      activity of mature osteoclasts, although glutamate transporter inhibition and
      receptor blockade increased the number of bone resorption pits. Furthermore,
      transporter inhibition increased the area of resorbed bone while significantly
      decreasing the number of osteoclasts. Alkaline phosphatase activity and
      extracellular matrix mineralization were used as measurements of osteoblast
      differentiation. Glutamate significantly increased osteoblast differentiation and
      mineralization, but transport inhibitors had no effect. These studies support
      earlier findings suggesting that glutamate may be more important for
      osteoclastogenesis than for osteoclast proliferation or functions. Since
      glutamate is capable of changing the differentiation and activities of both
      osteoclast and osteoblast cell types in bone, it is reasonable to postulate that
      tumour-derived glutamate may impact bone homeostasis in bone metastasis.

PMID- 20921980
TI  - Abstracts from the 2010 Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology (CSEP) General
      Meeting, 3-6 November, 2010, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

PMID- 20921981
TI  - Occurrence and dominance of yeast species in naturally fermented milk from the
      Tibetan Plateau of China.
AB  - To determine which yeasts are present in the naturally fermented milks of China,
      69 samples made by the nomads of Tibet were collected from the Tibetan Plateau in
      China. From these samples, 225 strains of yeast were isolated and identified
      using conventional microbiological analysis and gene sequencing analysis of the
      D1/D2 domain of the large subunit (26S) ribosomal DNA. The results showed that
      the total concentration of yeasts in these samples ranged from 5.01 to 8.97 log10
      colony-forming units (CFU)/mL (6.91 +/- 1.02 log10 CFU/mL; mean +/- SD). The
      number of cultivable yeasts was higher in the samples from Qinghai (7.55 +/- 0.75
      log10 CFU/mL) than those from Tibet (6.21 +/- 0.79 log10 CFU/mL, P < 0.05).
      Moreover, there were 15 phylotypes in these 69 samples. Among these phylotypes,
      Kluyveromyces marxianus (49.3%, frequency percentage), Saccharomyces cerevisiae
      (62.3%), and Pichia fermentans (46.4%) appeared frequently and can be considered
      the most common culturable species in naturally fermented milk products.
      Traditional fermented Mongolian cow milk featured a wide diversity of yeast
      species, including Issatchenkia orientalis, Kazachstania unisporus, Rhodotorula
      mucilaginosa, Candida pararugosa, Torulaspora delbrueckii, Geotrichum sp.,
      Kazachstania unisporus, Geotrichum fragrans, Debaryomyces hansenii, Yarrowia
      lipolytica, Trichosporon gracile, and Pichia membranifaciens. This study provides
      new data on yeast composition in naturally fermented milk and shows the yeast
      biodiversity of fermented milk products from the Tibetan Plateau of China.

PMID- 20921982
TI  - Frequency of virulence genes and antibiotic resistances in Enterococcus spp.
      isolates from wastewater and feces of domesticated mammals and birds, and
      wildlife.
AB  - Enterococci are gastrointestinal tract residents and also an important cause of
      nosocomial infections. To understand which species, virulence determinants, and
      antibiotic resistances are prevalent in enterococci shed by various hosts groups,
      a total of 1460 strains isolated from 144 fecal samples obtained from wastewater,
      domesticated mammals and birds, and wildlife were characterized. Identification
      of isolates to the species level showed that Enterococcus faecalis was dominant
      in domesticated mammals and birds and wildlife feces, whereas Enterococcus
      faecium was dominant among wastewater isolates, and that no single Enterococcus
      species could be associated with a specific host group. The frequency of 12
      virulence determinants was evaluated among isolates, but no single virulence
      determinant could be associated with a specific host group. Resistance to 12
      antibiotics was evaluated among isolates, and it was shown that the highest
      frequency of resistance at breakpoint concentration was found in domesticated
      mammals and birds (P &le; 0.05 for 4 antibiotics). Our results suggests that (1)
      species identification and virulence typing of Enterococcus spp. isolates are not
      useful for the identification of the host groups responsible for fecal
      contamination of water by microbial source tracking and that (2) antibiotic use
      for clinical, veterinary, or animal husbandry practices is promoting resistance.

PMID- 20921983
TI  - Development and pilot evaluation of a novel probiotic mixture for the management
      of seasonal allergic rhinitis.
AB  - Microbial exposure may direct the immune system away from allergic-type
      responses, but until now probiotic interventions have had limited success in the
      prevention and treatment of allergic diseases. In this study, a novel probiotic
      mixture was specifically created based on preliminary in vitro investigations on
      pollen-induced immune responses. A mixture with Lactobacillus rhamnosus GR-1 and
      a novel fecal Bifidobacterium adolescentis isolate was formulated into a yogurt
      and tested for its effects in 36 subjects with allergic rhinitis over 2 pollen
      seasons in a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. The new formulation was well
      tolerated, but did not have significant effects on the quality of life scores,
      use of antihistamines, or eosinophil cationic protein concentration in nasal
      lavage. However, at the end of the grass pollen season, serum IL-10 and IL-12
      levels were increased in the probiotic group compared to the controls. During the
      ragweed season, the serum TGF-&beta; levels were significantly higher in the
      probiotic group than in the controls. In conclusion, the novel probiotic
      formulation had potentially desirable effects on the cytokine profile of patients
      with allergic rhinitis, but provided few clinical benefits. The study highlights
      the challenges in designing efficient immunomodulatory probiotic therapies based
      upon in vitro findings.

PMID- 20921984
TI  - The role of Tir, EspA, and NleB in the colonization of cattle by Shiga toxin
      producing Escherichia coli O26:H11.
AB  - Shiga toxin producing Escherichia coli (STEC) O26:H11 is an enteric pathogen
      capable of causing severe hemorrhagic colitis that can lead to hemolytic uremic
      syndrome. This organism is able to colonize cattle and human intestinal
      epithelial cells by secreting effectors via a type III secretion system (T3SS).
      In this investigation, we examined the role of 2 effectors, Tir and NleB, and the
      structural translocator component EspA in the adherence of STEC to epithelial
      cells and in the colonization of cattle. Isogenic deletion mutants were
      constructed and using microscopy and flow cytometry compared to the wild-type
      strain in their ability to adhere to HEp-2 cells. A competitive assay was also
      used to measure the capacity of the mutants to colonize the intestinal tract of
      cattle, where both the mutant and the parental strains were introduced orally at
      the same time. Genomic DNA was extracted from enriched fecal samples collected at
      various time points, and quantitative real-time PCR was used to quantify
      bacteria. A significant reduction in fecal shedding was observed, and adherence
      to HEp-2 cells was decreased for the tir and espA mutants. Deletion of the nleB
      gene did not have a significant effect on the adherence of HEp-2 cells; however,
      in an in vivo model, it strongly reduced the ability of STEC O26:H11 to colonize
      the bovine intestinal tract.

PMID- 20921985
TI  - Keratinolytic activity from new recombinant fusant AYA2000, derived from
      endophytic Micromonospora strains.
AB  - Two different endophytic strains, ESRAA1997 and ALAA2000, were isolated from the
      Egyptian herbal plant Anastatica hierochuntica. The 2 strains produced alkaline
      serine protease and were identified based on their phenotypic and chemotypic
      characteristics as different strains of Micromonospora spp. Both strains grew and
      produced keratinase, using different keratinous waste substances as the sole
      source of carbon and nitrogen. In our study, the activity and properties of
      keratinase enzymes of the wild strains ESRAA1997 and ALAA2000 were altered by
      genetic recombination through protoplast fusion between them, leading to a potent
      keratinolytic fusant Micromonospora strain AYA2000 with improved properties
      (activity, stability, specificity, and tolerance to inhibitors). Using a mixture
      of yeast extract, peptone, and malt extract as a supplement to the bovine hair
      medium increased keratinase production by 48%, and addition of 1% glucose
      suppressed enzyme production by Micromonospora strain AYA2000. The enzyme was
      purified by ammonium sulphate precipitation and DEAE-cellulose chromatography
      followed by gel filtration. The molecular weight, estimated using SDS-PAGE, was
      39 kDa. The enzyme exhibited remarkable activity towards all keratinous wastes
      used and could also adapt to a broad range of pH and temperatures, with optima at
      pH 11 and 60  degrees C. The enzyme was not influenced by chelating reagents,
      metal ions, or alcohols. These properties make AYA2000 keratinase an ideal
      candidate for biotechnological application.

PMID- 20921986
TI  - Presence of antibiotic-resistant commensal bacteria in samples from agricultural,
      city, and national park environments evaluated by standard culture and real-time
      PCR methods.
AB  - This study examined the presence of antibiotic-resistant commensal bacteria among
      cattle operations representing areas heavily affected by agriculture, city
      locations representing areas affected by urban activities and indirectly affected
      by agriculture, and a national park representing an area not affected by
      agriculture. A total of 288 soil, fecal floor, and water samples were collected
      from cattle operations, from the city of Fort Collins, and from Rocky Mountain
      National Park (RMNP) in Colorado. In addition, a total of 42 new and unused feed,
      unused bedding, compost, and manure samples were obtained from the cattle
      operations. Total, tetracycline-resistant, and ceftiofur-resistant bacterial
      populations were enumerated by both standard culture plating and real-time PCR
      methods. Only wastewater samples from the cattle operations demonstrated both
      higher tetracycline-resistant bacterial counts (enumerated by the culture plating
      method) and tetracycline resistance gene copies (quantified by real-time PCR)
      compared to water samples collected from non-farm environments. The ceftiofur
      resistance gene, blaCMY-2, was not detectable in any of the samples, while the
      tetracycline resistance genes examined in this study, tet(B), tet(C), tet(W), and
      tet(O), were detected in all types of tested samples, except soil samples from
      RMNP. Tetracycline resistance gene pools quantified from the tet(O) and tet(W)
      genes were bigger than those from the tet(B) and tet(C) genes in fecal and water
      samples. Although only limited resistance genes, instead of a full set, were
      selected for real-time PCR quantification in this study, our results point to the
      need for further studies to determine natural and urban impacts on antibiotic
      resistance.

PMID- 20921987
TI  - Invasive aspergillosis promotes tumor growth and severity in a tumor-bearing
      mouse model.
AB  - Invasive aspergillosis increases in chronic immunosuppressive diseases such as
      cancer. There is little information about the mechanisms by which Aspergillus
      infection affects the immune regulation and microenvironment of cancer cells.
      Hence, this study was aimed at investigating the effect of invasive aspergillosis
      on immunosurveillance, metastasis, and prognosis of cancer in tumor-bearing mice.
      After implantation of mouse mammary tumor in BALB/c mice, they were infected with
      Aspergillus conidia intravenously. For comparison, groups of mice were
      experimentally infected with Aspergillus conidia or implanted with tumor cells
      separately. Seven days after Aspergillus infection, the serum levels of tissue
      inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1 (TIMP-1) were measured by ELISA, and
      subsequently regulatory T lymphocytes were analyzed by flow cytometry. The
      survival of animals and mean tumor size were then determined. Our results
      indicated that tumor sizes in mice increased significantly after infection with
      Aspergillus conidia. Moreover, invasive aspergillosis enhanced the population of
      regulatory lymphocytes and level of TIMP-1. This study supports the idea that
      massive Aspergillus infection could stimulate tumor growth and increases the
      possibility of a bad prognosis. As a result, treatment of Aspergillus infection
      could be considered an important issue for efficient cancer therapy.

PMID- 20921988
TI  - Responses of Staphylococcus aureus exposed to HCl and organic acid stress.
AB  - Staphylococcus aureus is an important food poisoning bacterium. In food
      preservation, acidification is a well-known method. Permeant weak organic acids,
      like lactic and acetic acids, are known to be more effective against bacteria
      than inorganic strong acids (e.g., HCl). Growth experiments and metabolic and
      transcriptional analyses were used to determine the responses of a food
      pathogenic S. aureus strain exposed to lactic acid, acetic acid, and HCl at pH
      4.5. Lactic and acetic acid stress induced a slower transcriptional response and
      large variations in growth patterns compared with the responses induced by HCl.
      In cultures acidified with lactic acid, the pH of the medium gradually increased
      to 7.5 during growth, while no such increase was observed for bacteria exposed to
      acetic acid or HCl. Staphylococcus aureus increased the pH in the medium mainly
      through accumulation of ammonium and the removal of acid groups, resulting in
      increased production of diacetyl (2,3-butanedione) and pyrazines. The results
      showed flexible and versatile responses of S. aureus to different types of acid
      stress. As measured by growth inhibition, permeant organic acid stress introduced
      severe stress compared with the stress caused by HCl. Cells exposed to lactic
      acid showed specific mechanisms of action in addition to sharing many of the
      mechanisms induced by HCl stress.

PMID- 20921989
TI  - FTIR spectroscopic discrimination of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Saccharomyces
      bayanus strains.
AB  - In this study, we tested the potential of Fourier-transform infrared absorption
      spectroscopy to screen, on the one hand, Saccharomyces cerevisiae and non-S.
      cerevisiae strains and, on the other hand, to discriminate between S. cerevisiae
      and Saccharomyces bayanus strains. Principal components analysis (PCA), used to
      compare 20 S. cerevisiae and 21 non-Saccharomyces strains, showed only 2
      misclassifications. The PCA model was then used to classify spectra from 14 Samos
      strains. All 14 Samos strains clustered together with the S. cerevisiae group.
      This result was confirmed by a routinely used electrophoretic pattern obtained by
      pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. The method was then tested to compare S.
      cerevisiae and S. bayanus strains. Our results indicate that identification at
      the strain level is possible. This first result shows that yeast classification
      and S. bayanus identification can be feasible in a single measurement.

PMID- 20921990
TI  - ATP-type DNA ligase requires other proteins for its activity in vitro and its
      operon components for radiation resistance in Deinococcus radiodurans in vivo.
AB  - A multiprotein DNA processing complex isolated from Deinococcus radiodurans
      contains the DNA repair protein PprA, an ATP-type DNA repair ligase (LigB)
      encoded by the drB0100 gene, and protein kinase activity. An ATP-dependent DNA
      end-joining activity was detected in the complex. To elucidate the function of
      the drB0100 gene, we generated the deletion mutant for the DR_B0100 ORF. The
      mutant exhibited a nearly 2-log cycle reduction in growth rate when exposed to a
      10,000 Gray dose of gamma-radiation, and a significant loss in mitomycin C and
      methylmethane sulphonate tolerance as compared with wild type. Functional
      complementation of these phenotypes required the wild-type copy of drB0100 along
      with other genes such as drb0099 and drb0098, organized downstream in the operon.
      The in vitro DNA ligase activity of LigB was stimulated severalfold by PprA in
      the presence of the recombinant DRB0098 protein. However, this activity did not
      improve when PprA was substituted with purified DRB0099 protein or when DRB0098
      protein was substituted with the DRB0099 protein in the presence of PprA in
      solution. These results suggest that PprA and DRB0098 protein are required for
      LigB function. Furthermore, they also suggest that the LigB operon components
      contribute to radiation resistance and double-strand break (DSB) repair in D.
      radiodurans.

PMID- 20921991
TI  - Interactions of intrinsically disordered Thellungiella salsuginea dehydrins TsDHN
      1 and TsDHN-2 with membranes - synergistic effects of lipid composition and
      temperature on secondary structure.
AB  - Dehydrins are intrinsically disordered (unstructured) proteins that are expressed
      in plants experiencing stressful conditions such as drought or low temperature.
      Dehydrins are typically found in the cytosol and nucleus, but also associate with
      chloroplasts, mitochondria, and the plasma membrane. Although their role is not
      completely understood, it has been suggested that they stabilize proteins or
      membrane structures during environmental stress, the latter association mediated
      by formation of amphipathic &alpha;-helices by conserved regions called the K
      segments. Thellungiella salsuginea is a crucifer that thrives in the Canadian sub
      Arctic (Yukon Territory) where it grows on saline-rich soils and experiences
      periods of both extreme cold and drought. We have cloned and expressed in
      Escherichia coli two dehydrins from this plant, denoted TsDHN-1 (acidic) and
      TsDHN-2 (basic). Here, we show using transmission-Fourier transform infrared
      (FTIR) spectroscopy that ordered secondary structure is induced and stabilized in
      these proteins by association with large unilamellar vesicles emulating the lipid
      compositions of plant plasma and organellar membranes. Moreover, this induced
      folding is enhanced at low temperatures, lending credence to the hypothesis that
      dehydrins stabilize plant outer and organellar membranes in conditions of cold.

PMID- 20921992
TI  - Prevention of cytokine withdrawal-induced apoptosis by Mcl-1 requires interaction
      between Mcl-1 and Bim.
AB  - Growth factor withdrawal from hemopoietic cells results in activation of the
      mitochondrial pathway of apoptosis. Members of the Bcl-2 family regulate this
      pathway, with anti-apoptotic members counteracting the effects of pro-apoptotic
      members. We investigated the effect on Mcl-1 function of mutation at a conserved
      threonine 163 residue (T163) in its proline, glutamate, serine, and threonine
      rich (PEST) region. Under normal growth conditions, Mcl-1 half-life increased
      with alteration of T163 to glutamic acid, but decreased with mutation to alanine.
      However, both T163 mutants exhibited greater pro-survival effects compared with
      the wild type, which can be explained by an increased stability of the T163A
      mutant in cytokine-starved conditions. Both the mutant forms exhibited prolonged
      binding to pro-apoptotic Bim in cytokine-deprived cells. The extent to which Mcl
      1 mutants were able to exert their anti-apoptotic effects correlated with their
      ability to associate with Bim. We further observed that primary bone marrow
      derived macrophages survived following cytokine withdrawal as long as Bim and Mcl
      1 remained associated. In our study, we were unable to detect a role for GSK-3
      mediated regulation of Mcl-1 expression. Based on these results we propose that
      upon cytokine withdrawal, survival of hemopoietic cells depends on association
      between Mcl-1 and Bim. Furthermore, alteration of T163 of Mcl-1 may change the
      protein such that its association with Bim is affected, resulting in prolonged
      association and increased survival.

PMID- 20921993
TI  - Hepatoprotection by carotenoids in isoniazid-rifampicin induced hepatic injury in
      rats.
AB  - This study evaluates the hepatoprotective effect of carotenoids against isoniazid
      (INH) and rifampicin (RIF). Thirty-six adult rats were divided into the following
      4 groups: (1) control group treated with normal saline; (2) INH + RIF group
      treated with 50 mg.(kg body mass)-1.day-1 of INH and RIF each; (3) INH + RIF+
      carotenoids group treated with 50 mg.(kg body mass)-1.day-1 of INH and RIF each
      and 10 mg.(kg body mass)-1.day-1 of carotenoids; and (4) carotenoids group
      treated with 10 mg.(kg body mass)-1.day-1 of carotenoids for 28 days
      intragastrically. Oxidative stress and antioxidant levels in liver and blood,
      liver histology and change in transaminases were measured in all the above
      mentioned groups. There was an increase in lipid peroxidation with a reduction in
      thiols, catalase, and superoxide dismutase (SOD) in the liver and blood of rats
      accompanied by an increase in transaminases, bilirubin, and alkaline phosphatase.
      Treatment with carotenoids along with INH + RIF partially reversed lipid
      peroxidation, thiols, catalase, and SOD in the liver and blood of rats. Elevated
      levels of the enzymes in serum were also reversed partially by this treatment.
      The degree of necrosis, portal triaditis, and inflammation were also lowered in
      the carotenoids group. In conclusion, carotenoids supplementation in INH + RIF
      treated rats showed partial protection.

PMID- 20921994
TI  - Higher expression of ferritin protects Chlamydia trachomatis infected HeLa 229
      cells from reactive oxygen species mediated cell death.
AB  - Apoptosis plays an important role in modulating the pathogenesis of a variety of
      infectious diseases. Chlamydial infection protects cells against different forms
      of apoptosis: extrinsic, intrinsic, and granzyme B mediated. Redox reactions are
      central to the life and death decision of cells and pathogens and an intimate
      relationship exists between oxidative stress and iron metabolism. The link
      between redox status and ferritin was largely unexplored in chlamydia-infected
      cells. In the present study, we showed that Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) infection
      induced FHC protein in HeLa cells. FHC induction by CT-infected cells stably
      expressing FHC blunted ROS production compared with mock infected cells, and the
      infected cells were relatively resistant to apoptosis induced by H2O2. We also
      demonstrated that endogenous FHC overexpression correlates well with the
      stabilization of the mitochondrial membrane potential in CT-infected cells.
      Increased expression of FHC is independent of iron supplementation (FAC) and
      depletion (DFO) in CT-infected cells. These data suggest that FHC up-regulation
      is an acute response of HeLa cells against CT infection and that FHC exerts anti
      apoptotic activity against oxidative stress.

PMID- 20921995
TI  - Trends in matrix metalloproteinase research from 1986-2007: a bibliometric study.
AB  - Using the SCI-expanded database, this study provides a quantitative description
      of the development of the research involving matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) over
      a period of 20 years. From 1986 to 2007 the scientific literature related to MMP
      increased sevenfold (397 papers in 1986-1987 and 2834 in 2006-2007). The number
      of countries participating in MMP-related research doubled during this period (33
      in 1986-1987 to 67 in 2006-2007), and the USA continually remained the leader.
      Several industrialized nations (Japan, Germany, UK, Canada, and France) also
      continuously played important roles, with some emerging Asian countries joining
      the top 10 most productive countries in 2006-2007: China (ranked 5th), South
      Korea (6th), and Taiwan (10th). The MMP-related literature was distributed among
      a continuously growing number of journals (188 in 1986-1987, 527 in 1996-1997,
      and 913 in 2006-2007) and The Journal of Biological Chemistry remained the most
      prolific throughout the entire period. The development of the research involving
      MMPs during the past two decades was also characterized by a progressive transfer
      of interest from basic research to clinical medicine; cell biology and
      pharmacology were important routes of investigation generally pursued by
      researchers. Journals dedicated to oncology have progressively risen to the top 8
      most prolific journals during the 20 year period analyzed.

PMID- 20921996
TI  - Rosiglitazone regulates IL-6-stimulated lipolysis in porcine adipocytes.
AB  - Interleukin (IL)-6, a proinflammatory cytokine, stimulates adipocyte lipolysis
      and induces insulin resistance in obese and diabetic subjects. However, the
      effects of the anti-diabetic drug rosiglitazone on IL-6-stimulated lipolysis and
      the underlying molecular mechanism are largely unknown. In this study, we
      demonstrated that rosiglitazone suppressed IL-6-stimulated lipolysis in
      differentiated porcine adipocytes by inactivation of extracellular signal-related
      kinase (ERK). Meanwhile, rosiglitazone enhanced the lipolysis response of
      adipocytes to isoprenaline. In addition, rosiglitazone significantly reversed IL
      6-induced down-regulation of several genes such as perilipin A, peroxisome
      proliferators activated receptor gamma (PPAR&gamma;), and fatty acid synthetase,
      as well as the up-regulation of IL-6 mRNA. However, mRNA expression of
      PPAR&gamma; coactivator-1 alpha (PCG-1&alpha;) was enhanced by rosiglitazone in
      IL-6-stimulated adipocytes. These results indicate that rosiglitazone suppresses
      IL-6-stimulated lipolysis in porcine adipocytes through multiple molecular
      mechanisms.

PMID- 20921997
TI  - Role of Met-542 as a guide for the conformational changes of Phe-601 that occur
      during the reaction of &beta;-galactosidase (Escherichia coli).
AB  - The Met-542 residue of beta-galactosidase is important for the enzyme's activity
      because it acts as a guide for the movement of the benzyl side chain of Phe-601
      between two stable positions. This movement occurs in concert with an important
      conformational change (open vs. closed) of an active site loop (residues 794
      803). Phe-601 and Arg-599, which interact with each other via the pi electrons of
      Phe-601 and the guanidium cation of Arg-599, move out of their normal positions
      and become disordered when Met-542 is replaced by an Ala residue because of the
      loss of the guide. Since the backbone carbonyl of Phe-601 is a ligand for Na(+),
      the Na(+) also moves out of its normal position and becomes disordered; the Na(+)
      binds about 120 times more poorly. In turn, two other Na(+) ligands, Asn-604 and
      Asp-201, become disordered. A substrate analog (IPTG) restored Arg-599, Phe-601,
      and Na(+) to their normal open-loop positions, whereas a transition state analog
      d-galactonolactone) restored them to their normal closed-loop positions. These
      compounds also restored order to Phe-601, Asn-604, Asp-201, and Na(+). Binding
      energy was, however, necessary to restore structure and order. The K(s) values of
      oNPG and pNPG and the competitive K(i) values of substrate analogs were 90-250
      times higher than with native enzyme, whereas the competitive K(i) values of
      transition state analogs were ~3.5-10 times higher. Because of this, the E*S
      energy level is raised more than the E*transition state energy level and less
      activation energy is needed for galactosylation. The galactosylation rates (k2)
      of M542A-beta-galactosidase therefore increase. However, the rate of
      degalactosylation (k3) decreased because the E*transition state complex is less
      stable.

PMID- 20921999
TI  - Color constancy based on texture pyramid matching and regularized local
      regression.
AB  - Considering that no single algorithm available is universal in color constancy,
      we propose an effective combination approach using a texture-based matching
      strategy and a local regression with prior-knowledge regularization. To represent
      the images, we construct a texture pyramid using an integrated Weibull
      distribution. Then we define an image similarity measure to search for the K most
      similar images of the test image. To combine the single algorithms, we integrate
      prior knowledge into a regularized local regression in a decorrelated color
      space. Regression weights are obtained on these similar images, and the
      regularization is implemented by the frequency ratio of the best single
      algorithm. Experiments on two real world datasets show our approach outperforms
      the state-of-the-art single algorithms and popular combination approaches with a
      performance increase of at least 29% compared to the best-performing single
      algorithm w.r.t median angular error.

PMID- 20922000
TI  - Number of discernible colors for color-deficient observers estimated from the
      MacAdam limits.
AB  - We estimated the number of colors perceived by color normal and color-deficient
      observers when looking at the theoretic limits of object-color stimuli. These
      limits, the optimal color stimuli, were computed for a color normal observer and
      CIE standard illuminant D65, and the resultant colors were expressed in the
      CIELAB and DIN99d color spaces. The corresponding color volumes for abnormal
      color vision were computed using models simulating for normal trichromatic
      observers the appearance for dichromats and anomalous trichomats. The number of
      colors perceived in each case was then computed from the color volumes enclosed
      by the optimal colors also known as MacAdam limits. It was estimated that
      dichromats perceive less than 1% of the colors perceived by normal trichromats
      and that anomalous trichromats perceive 50%-60% for anomalies in the medium
      wavelength-sensitive and 60%-70% for anomalies in the long-wavelength-sensitive
      cones. Complementary estimates obtained similarly for the spectral locus of
      monochromatic stimuli suggest less impairment for color-deficient observers, a
      fact that is explained by the two-dimensional nature of the locus.

PMID- 20922001
TI  - Probabilistic spectral model of color halftone incorporating substrate
      fluorescence and interface reflections.
AB  - A spectral model incorporating three major physical phenomena, lateral light
      scattering, substrate fluorescence, and interface reflections governing light
      print interaction is presented. In the model, light scattering inside a paper
      substrate is described by probabilities applicable for any degree of light
      diffusion. The concept of fluorescence enhanced transmittance has been proven
      very useful for extending the probability approach to prints on fluorescent
      substrates. The contribution of multiple internal reflections is accounted for by
      series expansion of fast convergence. Previously developed models like the
      Neugebauer equation and the Clapper-Yule model can easily be obtained as special
      cases of the present model.

PMID- 20922002
TI  - Comparison of depth-of-focus-enhancing pupil masks based on a signal-to-noise
      ratio criterion after deconvolution.
AB  - We consider optimization of hybrid imaging systems including a pupil mask for
      enhancing the depth of field and a digital deconvolution step. In a previous
      paper [Opt. Lett. 34, 2970 (2009)] we proposed an optimization criterion based on
      the signal-to-noise ratio of the restored image. We use this criterion in order
      to optimize different families of phase or amplitude masks and to compare them,
      on an objective basis, for different desired defocus ranges. We show that
      increasing the number of parameters of the masks allows one to obtain better
      performance.

PMID- 20922003
TI  - Designing coupled free-form surfaces.
AB  - The problem of designing optical systems that contain free-form surfaces is a
      challenging one, even in the case of designing a single surface. Here we present
      a method for the coupled design of two free-form reflective surfaces that will
      have a prescribed distortion. On one hand, the method can be described using
      traditional vectors and matrices, which we do, but it is motivated by viewing the
      problem in the language of distributions from differential geometry and makes use
      of the exterior differential systems, which we relegate to an appendix. Example
      applications are given to the design of a mirror pair that increases the field of
      view of an observer, a similar mirror pair that also rotates the observer's view,
      and a pair of mirrors that give the observer a traditional panoramic strip view
      of the scene.

PMID- 20922004
TI  - Evolution of the scintillation index and the optical vortex density in speckle
      fields after removal of the least-squares phase.
AB  - Knowledge of the behavior of stochastic optical fields can aid the understanding
      of the scintillation of light propagating through a turbulent medium. For this
      purpose, we perform a numerical investigation of the evolution of the
      scintillation index and the optical vortex density in a speckle field after
      removing its continuous phase. We find that both the scintillation index and the
      vortex density initially drop and then increase again to reach an equilibrium
      level. It is also found that the initial rate of decrease in both cases is 1
      order of magnitude faster than the eventual rate of increase. Their detail shapes
      are however different. Therefore different empirical functions are used to fit
      the shapes of these curves.

PMID- 20922005
TI  - Operational and convolution properties of three-dimensional Fourier transforms in
      spherical polar coordinates.
AB  - For functions that are best described with spherical coordinates, the three
      dimensional Fourier transform can be written in spherical coordinates as a
      combination of spherical Hankel transforms and spherical harmonic series.
      However, to be as useful as its Cartesian counterpart, a spherical version of the
      Fourier operational toolset is required for the standard operations of shift,
      multiplication, convolution, etc. This paper derives the spherical version of the
      standard Fourier operation toolset. In particular, convolution in various forms
      is discussed in detail as this has important consequences for filtering. It is
      shown that standard multiplication and convolution rules do apply as long as the
      correct definition of convolution is applied.

PMID- 20922006
TI  - Strategies for global optimization in photonics design.
AB  - This paper reports on two important issues that arise in the context of the
      global optimization of photonic components where large problem spaces must be
      investigated. The first is the implementation of a fast simulation method and
      associated matrix solver for assessing particular designs and the second, the
      strategies that a designer can adopt to control the size of the problem design
      space to reduce runtimes without compromising the convergence of the global
      optimization tool. For this study an analytical simulation method based on Mie
      scattering and a fast matrix solver exploiting the fast multipole method are
      combined with genetic algorithms (GAs). The impact of the approximations of the
      simulation method on the accuracy and runtime of individual design assessments
      and the consequent effects on the GA are also examined. An investigation of
      optimization strategies for controlling the design space size is conducted on two
      illustrative examples, namely, 60 degrees  and 90 degrees  waveguide bends based
      on photonic microstructures, and their effectiveness is analyzed in terms of a
      GA's ability to converge to the best solution within an acceptable timeframe.
      Finally, the paper describes some particular optimized solutions found in the
      course of this work.

PMID- 20922007
TI  - Beam scintillations for ground-to-space propagation. Part I: Path integrals and
      analytic techniques.
AB  - We extend our theory of on-axis beam scintillations [Waves Random Media 4, 243
      (1994)] for the case of propagation on slant turbulent paths, where turbulence is
      concentrated in a relatively thin layer near the transmitter. Our technique is
      based on the parabolic equation for optical wave propagation and the Markov
      approximation for the calculation of statistical moments of beam intensity. This
      first of two companion papers presents the details of the path integral
      formulation of the solution for the fourth-order coherence function. We also
      discuss in detail two analytic techniques that can be used for the treatment of
      the path integrals.

PMID- 20922008
TI  - Beam scintillations for ground-to-space propagation. Part 2: Gaussian beam
      scintillation.
AB  - On the basis of the analytic techniques presented in the first of these two
      companion papers [J. Opt. Soc. Am. A27, 2169 (2010)] we present the complete
      asymptotic analysis of the axial beam scintillation index for coherent Gaussian
      beams on the ground-to-space propagation paths. The ratio of turbulence layer
      thickness to overall propagation path length contributes an additional small
      parameter to the analysis. We show that it is possible to use three dimensionless
      parameters to describe the problem and that the general arrangement of the
      asymptotic regions established in our earlier work [Waves Random Media 4, 243
      (1994)]) is preserved. We find that on a slant propagation path, collimated beams
      can experience the unusual double-scattering-dominated scintillation found
      originally for focused beams.

PMID- 20922009
TI  - Controlling the contribution of the electric field components to the focus of a
      high-aperture lens using binary phase structures.
AB  - We show that the contribution of the electric field components into the focal
      region can be controlled using binary phase structures. We discuss differently
      polarized incident waves, for each case suggesting easily implemented binary
      phase distributions that ensure a maximum contribution of a definite electric
      field component on the optical axis. A decrease in the size of the central focal
      spot produced by a high numerical aperture (NA) focusing system comes as the
      result of the spatial redistribution of the contribution of different electric
      field components into the focal region. Using a polarization conversion matrix of
      a high NA lens and the numerical simulation of the focusing system in Debye's
      approximation, we demonstrate benefits of using asymmetric to polar angle phi
      binary phase distributions (such as arg[cos phi] or arg[sin 2phi]) for generating
      a subwavelength focal spot in separate electric field components. Additional
      binary structure variations with respect to the azimuthal angle also make
      possible controlling the longitudinal distribution of light. In particular, the
      contribution of the transverse components in the focal plane can be reduced by
      the use of a simple axicon-like structure that serves to enhance the NA of the
      lens central part, redirecting the energy from focal plane. As compared with the
      superimposition of a narrow annular aperture, this approach is more energy
      efficient, and as compared with the Toraldo filters, it is easier to control when
      applied to three-dimensional focal shaping.

PMID- 20922010
TI  - Optimum sensors for color constancy in scenes illuminated by daylight.
AB  - The apparent color of an object within a scene depends on the spectrum of the
      light illuminating the object. However, recording an object's color independent
      of the illuminant spectrum is important in many machine vision applications. In
      this paper the performance of a blackbody-model-based color constancy algorithm
      that requires four sensors with different spectral responses is investigated
      under daylight illumination. In this investigation sensor noise was modeled as
      gaussian noise, and the responses were quantized using different numbers of bits.
      A projection-based algorithm whose output is invariant to illuminant is
      investigated to improve the results that are obtained. The performance of both of
      these algorithms is then improved by optimizing the spectral sensitivities of the
      four sensors using freely available CIE standard daylight spectra and a set of
      lightness-normalized Munsell reflectance data. With the optimized sensors the
      performance of both algorithms is shown to be comparable to the human visual
      system. However, results obtained with measured daylight spectra show that the
      standard daylights may not be sufficiently representative of measured daylight
      for optimization with the standard daylight to lead to a reliable set of optimum
      sensor characteristics.

PMID- 20922011
TI  - Comparison among the variants of subspace-based optimization method for
      addressing inverse scattering problems: transverse electric case.
AB  - The subspace-based optimization method (SOM) is an efficient approach to
      addressing the inverse scattering problem. In this paper, a comparative study, on
      the basis of numerical experiments, is conducted to evaluate the performances of
      variants of SOM, so as to find the optimal method for the determination of the
      ambiguous portion, which has a dominant influence on the computational cost and
      the reconstruction capability of the algorithm.

PMID- 20922012
TI  - Image formation and tomogram reconstruction in optical coherence microscopy.
AB  - In this work we present a model for image formation in optical coherence
      microscopy. In the spectral domain detection, each wavenumber has a specific
      coherent transfer function that samples a different part of the object's spatial
      frequency spectrum. The reconstruction of the tomogram is usually accurate only
      in a short depth of field. Using numerical simulations based on the developed
      model, we identified two distinct mechanisms that influence the signal of out-of
      focus sample information. Besides the lateral blurring induced through
      defocusing, an additional axial envelope contributing equally to the signal
      degradation was found.

PMID- 20922014
TI  - Design of a one-dimensional electromagnetic transparent wall.
AB  - For a one-dimensional (1D) anisotropic slab, if its electromagnetic parameters
      satisfy certain conditions, an incident wave can be totally transmitted without
      any reflections. In this work, a classical method based on analytical results and
      a transformation optics method using an arbitrary piecewise continuous
      transformation function are applied to design a 1D electromagnetic transparent
      wall, whose presence does not disturb the field distribution in the ambient
      environment. Material parameters and the geometrical requirement of the layered
      structure using these two different methods are derived, and they agree well with
      each other. Full-wave simulations validate the transparency of the proposed wall.
      Because of the simple constitutive parameters and geometry, a transparent
      structure could be realized using anisotropic and homogeneous materials. The
      proposed structure has potential applications in radomes, anti-reflection films,
      and various sensor sectors.

PMID- 20922013
TI  - Investigation on an application of silver substrates for sensitive surface
      plasmon resonance imaging detection.
AB  - A surface plasmon resonance (SPR) imaging biosensor based on silver substrates
      was investigated to demonstrate that silver could be used as a substrate material
      for sensitive detection of biomolecular interactions, despite its poor chemical
      stability. The calculation results showed that oxidation of silver film may lead
      to a decrease in the sensitivity due to a variation in SPR characteristics such
      as a broader curve width and shallower minimum reflectance at resonance. The
      effect of a change in the refractive index of target analytes on the sensitivity
      was also explored. In particular, it is noteworthy that Ag/Au bimetallic
      substrates with a thin gold protection layer to prevent oxidation of a silver
      film can provide a significant amplification of SPR imaging signals in comparison
      with conventional gold substrates.

PMID- 20922015
TI  - Non-interferometric, non-iterative phase retrieval by Green's functions.
AB  - In this paper a non-interferometric, non-iterative method for phase retrieval by
      Green's functions is presented. The theory is based on the parabolic wave
      equation that describes propagation of light in the Fresnel approximation in
      homogeneous media. Green's first identity will be used to derive an algorithm for
      phase retrieval considering different boundary conditions. Finally it will be
      shown that a commonly used solution of the transport-of-intensity equation can be
      obtained as a special case of the more general Green's function formulation
      derived here.

PMID- 20922016
TI  - Properties of caustics produced by a positive lens: meridional rays.
AB  - We study the formation of the caustic surfaces formed in both convex-plane and
      plano-convex spherical lenses by considering a plane wave incident on the lens
      along the optical axis. Using the caustic formulas and a paraxial approximation
      we derive analytical expressions to evaluate the spherical aberration to third
      order. Furthermore, we apply the formulas to evaluate the circle of least
      confusion for a positive lens.

PMID- 20922017
TI  - Accurate and versatile modeling of electromagnetic scattering on periodic
      nanostructures with a surface integral approach.
AB  - A surface integral formulation for light scattering on periodic structures is
      presented. Electric and magnetic field equations are derived on the scatterers'
      surfaces in the unit cell with periodic boundary conditions. The solution is
      calculated with the method of moments and relies on the evaluation of the
      periodic Green's function performed with Ewald's method. The accuracy of this
      approach is assessed in detail. With this versatile boundary element formulation,
      a very large variety of geometries can be simulated, including doubly periodic
      structures on substrates and in multilayered media. The surface discretization
      shows a high flexibility, allowing the investigation of irregular shapes
      including fabrication accuracy. Deep insights into the extreme near-field of the
      scatterers as well as in the corresponding far-field are revealed. This method
      will find numerous applications for the design of realistic photonic
      nanostructures, in which light propagation is tailored to produce novel optical
      effects.

PMID- 20922018
TI  - Illumination artifacts in hyper-NA vector imaging.
AB  - Off-axis polarized monopole illumination is applied to a hyper-numerical-aperture
      (NA) (NA>1) microscopic system. Illumination artifacts due to vector effects are
      observed, which are asymmetric and depend on illumination conditions. A model
      based on rigorous coupled wave theory is used to simulate image profiles for
      dielectric, semiconductor, and metal gratings with different monopole locations
      and polarization states. A solid immersion lens microscope is used to image
      different types of samples including MoSi photomask, patterned silicon wafer, and
      chrome photomask. The experimental images are in good agreement with simulation
      results.

PMID- 20922019
TI  - Topography retrieval using different solutions of the transport intensity
      equation.
AB  - The topography of a phase plate is recovered from the phase reconstruction by
      solving the transport intensity equation (TIE). The TIE is solved using two
      different approaches: (a) the classical solution of solving the Poisson
      differential equation and (b) an algebraic approach with Zernike functions. In
      this paper we present and compare the topography reconstruction of a phase plate
      with these solution methods and justify why one solution is preferable over the
      other.

PMID- 20922020
TI  - Surface waves and atomic force microscope probe-particle near-field coupling:
      discrete dipole approximation with surface interaction.
AB  - Evanescent waves on a surface form due to the collective motion of charges within
      the medium. They do not carry any energy away from the surface and decay
      exponentially as a function of the distance. However, if there is any object
      within the evanescent field, electromagnetic energy within the medium is tunneled
      away and either absorbed or scattered. In this case, the absorption is localized,
      and potentially it can be used for selective diagnosis or nanopatterning
      applications. On the other hand, scattering of evanescent waves can be employed
      for characterization of nanoscale structures and particles on the surface. In
      this paper we present a numerical methodology to study the physics of such
      absorption and scattering mechanisms. We developed a MATLAB implementation of
      discrete dipole approximation with surface interaction (DDA-SI) in combination
      with evanescent wave illumination to investigate the near-field coupling between
      particles on the surface and a probe. This method can be used to explore the
      effects of a number of physical, geometrical, and material properties for
      problems involving nanostructures on or in the proximity of a substrate under
      arbitrary illumination.

PMID- 20922021
TI  - Upscaling image resolution of compact imaging systems using wavefront coding and
      a property of the point-spread function.
AB  - We propose an image-resolution upscaling method for compact imaging systems. The
      image resolution is calculated using the resolving power of the optics and the
      pixel size of a digital image sensor. The resolution limit of the compact imaging
      system comes from its size and the number of allowed lenses. To upscale the image
      resolution but maintain the small size, we apply wavefront coding and image
      restoration. Conventional image restoration could not enhance the image
      resolution of the sensor. Here, we use the upscaled image of a wavefront-coded
      optical system and apply an image-restoration algorithm using a more precisely
      calculated point-spread function (PSF) as the deconvolution filter. An example of
      a wavefront-coded optical system with a 5-megapixel image sensor is given. The
      final image had a resolution equivalent to that of a 10-megapixel image using
      only four plastic lenses. Moreover, image degradation caused by hand motion could
      also be reduced using the proposed method.

PMID- 20922022
TI  - Fisher information and surrogate figures of merit for the task-based assessment
      of image quality.
AB  - Fisher information can be used as a surrogate for task-based measures of image
      quality based on ideal observer performance. A new and improved derivation of the
      Fisher information approximation for ideal-observer detectability is provided.
      This approximation depends only on the presence of a weak signal and does not
      depend on Gaussian statistical assumptions. This is also not an asymptotic result
      and therefore applies to imaging, where there is typically only one dataset,
      albeit a large one. Applications to statistical mixture models for image data are
      presented. For Gaussian and Poisson mixture models the results are used to
      connect reconstruction error with ideal-observer detection performance. When the
      task is the estimation of signal parameters of a weak signal, the ensemble mean
      squared error of the posterior mean estimator can also be expanded in powers of
      the signal amplitude. There is no linear term in this expansion, and it is shown
      that the quadratic term involves a Fisher information kernel that generalizes the
      standard Fisher information. Applications to imaging mixture models reveal a
      close connection between ideal performance on these estimation tasks and
      detection tasks for the same signals. Finally, for tasks that combine detection
      and estimation, we may also define a detectability that measures performance on
      this combined task and an ideal observer that maximizes this detectability. This
      detectability may also be expanded in powers of the signal amplitude, and the
      quadratic term again involves the Fisher information kernel. Applications of this
      approximation to imaging mixture models show a relation with the pure detection
      and pure estimation tasks for the same signals.

PMID- 20922023
TI  - Region-based reconstruction method for fluorescent molecular tomography.
AB  - A common difficulty for the traditional methods of fluorescent molecular
      tomographic (FMT) reconstruction is that only a small amount of measurements can
      be used to recover the image comprised of a large number of pixels. This
      difficulty not only leads to expensive computational cost but also likely results
      in an unstable solution prone to be affected by the noise in the measurement
      data. In this paper, we propose a region-based method for reducing the unknowns,
      where the target areas are determined by searching for the nearest neighbor
      nodes. In this method, the Hessian matrix of the second-order derivatives is
      incorporated to speed up the optimization process. An iteration strategy of multi
      wavelength measurement is introduced to further improve the accuracy of inverse
      solutions. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed approach can
      significantly speed up the reconstruction process and improve the image quality
      of FMT.

PMID- 20922024
TI  - Application of orbital angular momentum to simultaneous determination of tilt and
      lateral displacement of a misaligned laser beam.
AB  - We present an analysis of the combined effects of tilt and lateral displacement
      on the orbital angular momentum spectrum of a laser beam. Our theory explains the
      symmetries and properties of the spectrum under the influence of misalignments.
      We apply the theory to establish a reliable and efficient method for determining
      and subsequently eliminating tilt and lateral displacement. An improved technique
      for obtaining the orbital angular momentum spectrum employing Laguerre-Gaussian
      modes is proposed. Finally, a numerical experiment is carried out to verify the
      method.

PMID- 20922025
TI  - Optical element for generation of accelerating Airy beams.
AB  - We demonstrate an optical element for generation of accelerating Airy beams. The
      element is conveniently constructed by combination of positive and negative
      cylindrical lenses of matching radii of curvature. With proper choice of lens
      curvatures, the resulting surface profile closely follows a cubic polynomial.
      Passing a gaussian beam through this element and performing optical Fourier
      transform yields beam profiles close to the Airy function. Our experiments
      demonstrate parabolic propagation, or acceleration, of the resulting focal spots.

PMID- 20922026
TI  - Assessing Coping Responses within Specific Faith Traditions: Suffering in
      Silence, Stress, and Depressive Symptoms Among Older Catholics.
AB  - The purpose of this study is empirically evaluate a coping response that is
      thought to be unique among older Catholics - suffering in silence. Two hypotheses
      are examined. The first predicts that older Catholics will be more likely than
      older Protestants to suffer in silence when ongoing economic difficulty is
      encountered. The second hypothesis specifies that the potentially deleterious
      effects of financial problems on depressive symptoms will be offset for older
      adults who prefer to suffer in silence. Data from an ongoing nationwide survey of
      older people in the United States provide support for both hypotheses.

PMID- 20922027
TI  - Application of virtual microscopy in consultation practice of gastrointestinal
      and liver pathology.

PMID- 20922028
TI  - Digital pathology in clinical consultation practice.

PMID- 20922029
TI  - A decade of experience in the development and implementation of tissue banking
      informatics tools for intra and inter-institutional translational research.
AB  - CONTEXT: Tissue banking informatics deals with standardized annotation,
      collection and storage of biospecimens that can further be shared by researchers.
      Over the last decade, the Department of Biomedical Informatics (DBMI) at the
      University of Pittsburgh has developed various tissue banking informatics tools
      to expedite translational medicine research. In this review, we describe the
      technical approach and capabilities of these models. DESIGN: Clinical annotation
      of biospecimens requires data retrieval from various clinical information systems
      and the de-identification of the data by an honest broker. Based upon these
      requirements, DBMI, with its collaborators, has developed both Oracle-based organ
      specific data marts and a more generic, model-driven architecture for
      biorepositories. The organ-specific models are developed utilizing Oracle 9.2.0.1
      server tools and software applications and the model-driven architecture is
      implemented in a J2EE framework. RESULT: The organ-specific biorepositories
      implemented by DBMI include the Cooperative Prostate Cancer Tissue Resource
      (http://www.cpctr.info/), Pennsylvania Cancer Alliance Bioinformatics Consortium
      (http://pcabc.upmc.edu/main.cfm), EDRN Colorectal and Pancreatic Neoplasm
      Database (http://edrn.nci.nih.gov/) and Specialized Programs of Research
      Excellence (SPORE) Head and Neck Neoplasm Database
      (http://spores.nci.nih.gov/current/hn/index.htm). The model-based architecture is
      represented by the National Mesothelioma Virtual Bank (http://mesotissue.org/).
      These biorepositories provide thousands of well annotated biospecimens for the
      researchers that are searchable through query interfaces available via the
      Internet. CONCLUSION: These systems, developed and supported by our institute,
      serve to form a common platform for cancer research to accelerate progress in
      clinical and translational research. In addition, they provide a tangible
      infrastructure and resource for exposing research resources and biospecimen
      services in collaboration with the clinical anatomic pathology laboratory
      information system (APLIS) and the cancer registry information systems.

PMID- 20922030
TI  - The state of telepathology in Japan.
AB  - Telepathology began in Japan in the early 1990s in response to advances in
      computing and telecommunications equipment development and a dearth of
      pathologists. Telepathology in Japan is most often used for rapid intraoperative
      pathological diagnosis using frozen section, followed by second opinions and
      consultation. Intraoperatively, telepathology is used to determine malignancy,
      metastasis of malignant tumors, and the extent of excision. Infrastructure and
      equipment has evolved from analog lines to digital lines like integrated services
      digital network (ISDN) and asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL), and
      recently to fiber optics. The use of communications satellites is also being
      considered. Image quality is being improved to Hi-Vision (HDTV), and from still
      images to real-time video. Digital microscopy has been introduced, and is used in
      education and consultation.

PMID- 20922031
TI  - Medical education in the digital age: Digital whole slide imaging as an e
      learning tool.

PMID- 20922032
TI  - Digital images and the future of digital pathology.

PMID- 20922033
TI  - Students' perception of the learning environment in a distributed medical
      programme.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The learning environment of a medical school has a significant impact
      on students' achievements and learning outcomes. The importance of equitable
      learning environments across programme sites is implicit in distributed
      undergraduate medical programmes being developed and implemented. PURPOSE: To
      study the learning environment and its equity across two classes and three
      geographically separate sites of a distributed medical programme at the
      University of British Columbia Medical School that commenced in 2004. METHOD: The
      validated Dundee Ready Educational Environment Survey was sent to all students in
      their 2nd and 3rd year (classes graduating in 2009 and 2008) of the programme.
      The domains of the learning environment surveyed were: students' perceptions of
      learning, students' perceptions of teachers, students' academic self-perceptions,
      students' perceptions of the atmosphere, and students' social self-perceptions.
      Mean scores, frequency distribution of responses, and inter- and intrasite
      differences were calculated. RESULTS: The perception of the global learning
      environment at all sites was more positive than negative. It was characterised by
      a strongly positive perception of teachers. The work load and emphasis on factual
      learning were perceived negatively. Intersite differences within domains of the
      learning environment were more evident in the pioneer class (2008) of the
      programme. Intersite differences consistent across classes were largely related
      to on-site support for students. CONCLUSIONS: Shared strengths and weaknesses in
      the learning environment at UBC sites were evident in areas that were managed by
      the parent institution, such as the attributes of shared faculty and curriculum.
      A greater divergence in the perception of the learning environment was found in
      domains dependent on local arrangements and social factors that are less amenable
      to central regulation. This study underlines the need for ongoing comparative
      evaluation of the learning environment at the distributed sites and interaction
      between leaders of these sites.

PMID- 20922034
TI  - Retinal nerve fiber layer evaluation in multiple sclerosis with spectral domain
      optical coherence tomography.
AB  - PURPOSE: Histopathologic studies have reported retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL)
      thinning in various neurodegenerative diseases. Attempts to quantify this loss in
      vivo have relied on time-domain optical coherence tomography (TDOCT), which has
      low resolution and requires substantial interpolation of data for volume
      measurements. We hypothesized that the significantly higher resolution of
      spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SDOCT) would better detect RNFL
      changes in patients with multiple sclerosis, and that RNFL thickness differences
      between eyes with and without optic neuritis might be identified more accurately.
      METHODS: In this retrospective case series, patients with multiple sclerosis were
      recruited from the Judith Jaffe Multiple Sclerosis Center at Weill Cornell
      Medical College in New York. Patients with a recent clinical diagnosis of optic
      neuritis (less than three months) were excluded. Eyes with a history of glaucoma,
      optic neuropathy (other than multiple sclerosis-related optic neuritis), age
      related macular degeneration, or other relevant retinal and/or optic nerve
      disease were excluded. Both eyes of each patient were imaged with the Heidelberg
      Spectralis((r)) HRA + OCT. RNFL and macular thickness were measured for each eye
      using the Heidelberg OCT software. These measurements were compared with
      validated published normal values, and were modeled as linear functions of
      duration of disease. The odds of an optic neuritis diagnosis as a function of
      RNFL and macular thickness were calculated. RESULTS: Ninety-four eyes were
      prospectively evaluated using OCT. Ages of patients ranged from 26 to 69 years,
      with an average age of 39 years. Peripapillary RNFL thinning was demonstrated in
      multiple sclerosis patients; mean RNFL thickness was 88.5 MUm for individuals
      with multiple sclerosis compared with a reported normal value of 97 MUm (P <
      0.001). Eyes with a history of optic neuritis had more thinning compared with
      those without optic neuritis (83.0 MUm versus 90.5 MUm, respectively, P = 0.02).
      No significant differences were observed in macular thickness measurements
      between eyes with and without optic neuritis, nor were macular thickness
      measurements significantly different from normal values. As a function of
      multiple sclerosis duration and controlling for age, RNFL thickness was decreased
      in patients with a duration of multiple sclerosis greater than five years
      compared with those with a duration less than or equal to one year (P = 0.008).
      CONCLUSIONS: Patients with a history of multiple sclerosis had RNFL thinning that
      was detectable on SDOCT. Decreasing RNFL thickness in eyes with optic neuritis
      was found, and the odds of having optic neuritis were increased significantly
      with decreasing RNFL thickness. Average RNFL thinning with increasing duration of
      disease was an excellent predictor of a reported history of optic neuritis. SDOCT
      retinal imaging may represent a high-resolution, objective, noninvasive, and
      easily quantifiable in vivo biomarker of the presence of optic neuritis and
      severity of multiple sclerosis.

PMID- 20922036
TI  - Cytotoxicity of five fluoroquinolone and two nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory
      benzalkonium chloride-free ophthalmic solutions in four corneoconjunctival cell
      lines.
AB  - PURPOSE: Epithelial disorders after eye surgery can result in visual
      deterioration and patient discomfort. Such disorders may be caused by drug
      toxicity. In the present study, we evaluated the toxicity of ophthalmic
      solutions, with or without benzalkonium chloride (BAK) as the preservative, used
      for postoperative care. METHODS: A range of commercially available antibiotic and
      anti-inflammatory ophthalmic solutions used postoperatively (ie, levofloxacin,
      moxifloxacin, gatifloxacin, norfloxacin, tosufloxacin, dibekacin, cefmenoxime,
      diclofenac, bromfenac, pranoprofen, betamethasone, and fluoromethorone) were
      assessed in three corneal cell lines and one conjunctival cell line. All
      antibiotic solutions were BAK free. Cell viability was determined with the 3-(4,5
      dimethyl-2 thiazoyl)-2,5-diphenyl-2H-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay after cells
      had been exposed to the drugs for 48 h. The effects of preservatives on cell
      viability were also determined. Toxicity was compared using the cell viability
      score (CVS). RESULTS: Based on results of the MTT assay and CVS, the order of
      cell viability after exposure to the antibiotic solutions was cefmenoxime >=
      tosufloxicin >= dibekacin >= levofloxacin >= norfloxacin = gatifloxacin =
      moxifloxacin. For the anti-inflammatory solutions, the order of cell viability
      was betamethasone >= betamethasone + fradiomycin > preservative-free diclofenac
      >= preservative-free bromfenac >> 0.02% fluoromethorone >= 0.1% fluoromethorone =
      diclofenac + preservative = bromfenac + preservative = pranoprofen. The anti
      inflammatory drugs were more toxic than the antibiotics. The toxicity of
      antibiotic drugs against ocular surface cells was dependent on the pharmaceutical
      components of the solution, whereas that of the anti-inflammatory drugs was
      dependent on both the pharmaceutical components and the preservatives.
      CONCLUSION: Postoperative drug-induced epitheliopathy may be caused primarily by
      anti-inflammatory drugs. CVS is useful in comparing the cytotoxicity of different
      drugs.

PMID- 20922035
TI  - Photorefractive keratectomy: measuring the matrix metalloproteinase activity and
      chondroitin sulfate concentration in tear fluid.
AB  - We herein report the case of a 20-year-old man who underwent a photorefractive
      keratectomy (PRK). We measured matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) activity and
      chondroitin 4 sulfate and chondroitin 6 sulfate concentrations in tear fluid.
      Tear fluid was collected pre-operatively via microcapillary tube, and was
      collected postoperatively on the first and fourth days, and after one week, one
      month, three months, and six months. Samples were formulated by dilution with 200
      MUL of saline. MMP-9 activity was analyzed by an enzyme immunocapture activity
      assay, and the concentrations of chondroitin sulfate were analyzed by enzyme
      linked immunosorbent assay. No complications were observed after surgery, except
      for a minimal subepithelial haze. Although MMP-9 activity changed on the fourth
      postoperative day, the activity changed only minimally at this time. Chondroitin
      4 sulfate concentrations in tear fluid increased dramatically from one week to
      one month, decreased transiently at three months, and increased by six months.
      The chondroitin 6 sulfate concentration did not normalize within one week, and
      decreased from one week to three months compared with the preoperative score, and
      was close to the preoperative score at six months. We conclude that corneal wound
      healing was still incomplete six months after PRK, and chondroitin 4 sulfate
      appears to be critical in this process.

PMID- 20922038
TI  - A case of acute retinal pigment epithelitis: spectral domain optical coherence
      tomography time course and physiopathologic hypothesis.
AB  - PURPOSE: To report the time course of retinal morphologic changes in a patient
      with acute retinal pigment epithelitis (ARPE) using spectral domain optical
      coherence tomography (SD-OCT). METHODS: A 30-year old man was referred for
      blurred vision of his right eye after five days that appeared suddenly 15 days
      after recovery from a flu-like syndrome. SD-OCT was performed immediately,
      followed by fluorescein and infracyanine angiography at eight days and then at
      three weeks. RESULTS: At presentation, a bubble of sub-macular deposit was
      observed on the right macula with central golden micronodules in a honeycomb
      pattern. SD-OCT showed an "anterior dislocation" of all the retinal layers up to
      the inner/outer segment (IS/OS) line and irregular deposits at the OS level
      together with thickening of the retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) layer. As visual
      acuity increased, eight days later, the OCT showed reduction of the sub-retinal
      deposits and an abnormal hyperflectivity of the sub-retinal and RPE layers was
      observed. The patient showed a positive serology for picornavirus. DISCUSSION:
      The acute SD-OCT sections of this patient with ARPE were compared with
      histological sections of a 35 day old Royal College of Surgeons rat. Similar
      findings could be observed, with preservation of the IS/OS line and accumulation
      of debris at the OS level, suggesting that ARPE symptoms could result from a
      transient phagocytic dysfunction of the RPE at the fovea, inducing reversible
      accumulation of undigested OS. Picornaviruses comprising enterovirus and
      coxsachievirus described as being associated with acute chorioretinitis. In this
      case, it was responsible for ARPE. CONCLUSION: We hypothesize that ARPE syndrome
      results from a transient dysfunction of RPE, which can occur as a post viral
      reaction.

PMID- 20922037
TI  - Optic disc measurements using the Heidelberg Retina Tomograph in amblyopia.
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate the characteristics of optic disc parameters in amblyopic
      eyes in which retinal involvement is uncertain. METHODS: A total of 44 patients
      with a history of unilateral amblyopia (27 patients with persistent amblyopia and
      17 patients with resolved amblyopia) were examined using the Heidelberg Retina
      Tomograph (HRT) II. Parameters examined included disc area, cup area, cup volume,
      rim area, rim volume, cup-to-disc area ratio, and mean retinal nerve fiber layer
      thickness. RESULTS: In patients with persistent amblyopia, the amblyopic eyes
      were significantly more hyperopic than the fellow eyes. In the HRT parameters,
      there were no significant differences between the amblyopic and fellow eyes. In
      addition, after adjusting for refraction, the presence of strabismus, and the
      disc area, there was no significant difference in any HRT parameter between the
      amblyopic eyes of patients with persistent amblyopia and the previously amblyopic
      eyes of patients with resolved amblyopia. CONCLUSIONS: We did not find any strong
      evidence for the deformity of the optic disc of amblyopic eyes.

PMID- 20922039
TI  - Efficacy of two-month treatment with Xiloial eyedrops for discomfort from
      disposable soft contact lenses.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of Xiloial((r)) monodose
      eyedrops in the treatment of patients suffering from subjective symptoms of
      discomfort related to disposable soft contact lens (dSCL) wear. METHODS: Fifteen
      (12 female, three male, medium age 39 +/- 9 years) dSCL wearers were enrolled.
      Inclusion criteria were Ocular Surface Disease Index (ODSI) symptom questionnaire
      score >12, tear film break-up time (TFBUT) <10 sec, Schirmer test I >10 mm over
      five minutes, mild punctuate keratopathy, and conjunctival staining (Oxford
      grading <=4). Monodose Xiloial eyedrops were administered three times daily for a
      two-month period. Patients were evaluated at enrollment, after three days of
      washout (baseline), and after one and two months of treatment, by OSDI score,
      Schirmer test I, TFBUT, ferning test, ocular surface damage (Oxford grade), and
      serum albumin in tears (index of passive exudation related to serum leakage).
      RESULTS: At endpoint versus baseline, respectively, the mean +/- standard
      deviation of all variables improved as follows: OSDI (8.5 +/- 3 versus 20.2 +/-
      1.6); TFBUT (9.6 +/- 1.1 versus 7.1 +/- 1.0); Oxford grading (0.5 +/- 0.1 versus
      3.6 +/- 0.8); ferning test (2 +/- 1 versus 2.4 +/- 0.5); and Schirmer test I
      (14.6 +/- 1.1 versus 12 +/- 2.1), with P < 0.05 for all variables (Friedman and
      Wilcoxon tests). Tolerability was high, with no adverse events noted.
      CONCLUSIONS: A two-month treatment with Xiloial showed good tolerance and
      appeared to reduce ocular surface damage and symptoms of discomfort.

PMID- 20922040
TI  - Vitreous levels of vascular endothelial growth factor in eyes with anterior
      hyaloidal fibrovascular proliferation.
AB  - PURPOSE: To determine the intravitreal levels of vascular endothelial growth
      factor (VEGF) in eyes with anterior hyaloidal fibrovascular proliferation
      (AHFVP). METHODS: Three eyes of three patients who underwent vitrectomy for
      proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) and subsequently developed an AHFVP
      (AHFVP group) were studied. We measured the level of VEGF in vitreous samples
      collected at the primary and following operations by enzyme-linked immunosorbent
      assay. The vitreous levels of VEGF in 25 eyes of 22 patients with PDR were also
      studied as controls (PDR group). RESULTS: The averaged VEGF level in the samples
      collected at the primary surgery was 1.98 +/- 2.23 ng/mL in the PDR group, and it
      was 9.07, 1.94, and 8.07 ng/mL in the AHFVP cases. After the primary surgery, the
      VEGF level rose up to 49.50, 15.60, and 50.60 ng/mL at the subsequent surgeries
      for respective cases of the AHFVP group. These levels of VEGF were more than five
      times higher than the baseline at the primary surgery. CONCLUSION: The subsequent
      increase of the VEGF level after the primary surgery in eyes with an AHFVP
      suggests that the vitreous levels of VEGF are associated with the development of
      the AHFVP although only three eyes were studied.

PMID- 20922041
TI  - Correlation between penile cavernosal artery blood flow and retinal vascular
      findings in arteriogenic erectile dysfunction.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Arteriogenic erectile dysfunction (ED) is a target organ disease of
      atherosclerosis, and therefore might be a predictor of systemic atherosclerosis.
      Being systemic, it might be possible to evaluate the extent of atherosclerosis
      from retinal vascular findings. We investigated the possible correlation between
      penile cavernosal artery blood flow and retinal vascular findings in patients
      with arteriogenic ED. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Sixty patients with ED were divided
      according to the peak systolic velocity (PSV) in their penile cavernosal arteries
      into two groups; Group A included 30 patients with PSV less than 25 cm/sec, and
      Group B included 30 patients with PSV more than 35 cm/sec. Blood flow in the
      penile cavernosal artery was measured with color Doppler ultrasonography. All
      patients were assessed by ocular fundus examination under amydriatic conditions
      to evaluate retinal vascular atherosclerotic changes using Hyman's
      classification. RESULTS: Evidence of retinal vascular atherosclerotic changes was
      found in 19 patients (63.3%) in Group A and in 10 patients (33.3%) in Group B.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our study confirms the possibility of predicting penile arterial
      vascular status in patients with ED from their retinal vascular findings by using
      amydriatic simple, practical funduscopy.

PMID- 20922042
TI  - Swelling studies of camel and bovine corneal stroma.
AB  - In the present study we investigated the swelling characteristics of fresh camel
      and bovine cornea in sodium salt solutions. Swelling studies were carried out at
      20 minutes, 14 hours, and 46 hours on five fresh camel and 5 five fresh bovine
      corneas. During the 20-minute hydration of fresh corneal stroma was investigated
      using sodium chloride (NaCl), sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO(3)), sodium acetate
      (CH(3)COONa), sodium thiocyanate (NaSCN), and sodium floride (NaF) at 2-minute
      time intervals. During a 46-hour time period, the hydration study was carried out
      using NaCl (150, 300 mM) and NaF (150 mM) at random intervals. The 14-hour study
      was carried out to assess the rehydration of corneal stroma after 6 hours of
      drying. During the 20-minute swelling studies in the first 2 minutes the rate of
      hydration in both camel and bovine corneas was high but gradually reduced in the
      2-20-minute period. The rates and levels of hydration of camel and bovine cornea
      were not significantly different from each other in all the strengths of
      solutions. During the 46-hour swelling studies, the initial rate of hydration (0
      2 hours) of camel and bovine stroma, in all solutions was significantly higher (Z
      = 0.056) compared to hydration during later hours (2-46 hours). Camel stromal
      hydration (high) in 150 mM NaCl was significantly higher compared to bovine
      stromal hydration in the same solution during the 10-24, and 24-46-hour time
      periods. Rehydration in camel stroma was significantly lower than bovine in 150
      mM NaF. The 20-minute study showed that there was no selective affinity for
      particular ions in camel or bovine corneal stroma. Initial swelling in both
      corneal and bovine stroma is faster and more prominant compared to later
      swelling. The swelling in camel cornea is more prominant compared to bovine
      corneal stroma. This could be due to higher negatively charged keratin sulfate
      proteoglycans in the stroma. Lower rehydration in camel cornea suggests stronger
      leaching of proteoglycans from stroma in NaF.

PMID- 20922043
TI  - Retinal nerve fiber layer thickness in recovered and persistent amblyopia.
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate, using optical coherence tomography (OCT), whether
      retinal nerve fiber layer thickness (RNFLT) is affected in amblyopic eyes.
      METHODS: Using OCT (Stratus OCTTM [Carl Zeiss, Dublin, CA]), the RNFLT was
      measured in 26 patients with persistent unilateral amblyopia and in 25 patients
      with recovered unilateral amblyopia. The RNFLT was compared between the affected
      and fellow eyes in patients with persistent amblyopia and in those with recovered
      amblyopia, and between the amblyopic eyes of patients with persistent amblyopia
      and the previously amblyopic eyes of patients with recovered amblyopia. RESULTS:
      In patients with persistent amblyopia and in those with recovered amblyopia, the
      affected eyes were significantly more hyperopic than the fellow eyes. The average
      (+/-standard deviation) RNFLT measured 105.5 +/- 14.0 MUm for the persistently
      amblyopic eyes; this value did not significantly differ from that of the fellow
      eyes (105.2 +/- 13.0 MUm) or the previously amblyopic eyes of recovered amblyopia
      (107.1 +/- 11.7 MUm). Also, logistic regression analysis adjusting for refraction
      showed no significant difference in the RNFLT between the persistently amblyopic
      eyes and the previously amblyopic eyes. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that
      there is no significant change in the RNFLT in amblyopic eyes.

PMID- 20922045
TI  - Mind and language architecture.
AB  - A distinction is made between the brain and the mind. The architecture of the
      mind and language is then described within a neo-dualistic framework. A model for
      the origin of language based on emergence theory is presented. The complexity of
      hominid existence due to tool making, the control of fire and the social
      cooperation that fire required gave rise to a new level of order in mental
      activity and triggered the simultaneous emergence of language and conceptual
      thought. The mind is shown to have emerged as a bifurcation of the brain with the
      emergence of language. The role of language in the evolution of human culture is
      also described.

PMID- 20922044
TI  - Cell membrane modification for rapid display of bi-functional peptides: a novel
      approach to reduce complement activation.
AB  - Ischemia and reperfusion of organs is an unavoidable consequence of
      transplantation. Inflammatory events associated with reperfusion injury are in
      part attributed to excessive complement activation. Systemic administration of
      complement inhibitors reduces reperfusion injury but leaves patients vulnerable
      to infection. Here, we report a novel therapeutic strategy that decorates cells
      with an anti-complement peptide. An analog of the C3 convertase inhibitor
      Compstatin (C) was synthesized with a hexahistidine (His(6)) tag to create C
      His(6). To decorate cell membranes with C-His(6), fusogenic lipid vesicles (FLVs)
      were used to incorporate lipids with nickel (Ni(2+)) tethers into cell membranes,
      and these could then couple with C-His(6). Ni(2+) tether levels to display C
      His(6) were modulated by changing FLV formulation, FLV incubation time and FLV
      levels. SKOV-3 cells decorated with C-His(6) effectively reduced complement
      deposition in a classical complement activation assay. We conclude that our
      therapeutic approach appears promising for local ex vivo treatment of
      transplanted organs to reduce complement-mediated reperfusion injury.

PMID- 20922047
TI  - Brain, mind and language functional architectures.
AB  - The interaction between brain and language has been investigated by a vast amount
      of research and different approaches, which however do not offer a comprehensive
      and unified theoretical framework to analyze how brain functioning performs the
      mental processes we use in producing language and in understanding speech. This
      Special Issue addresses the need to develop such a general theoretical framework,
      by fostering an interaction among the various scientific disciplines and
      methodologies, which centres on investigating the functional architecture of
      brain, mind and language, and is articulated along the following main dimensions
      of research: (a) Language as a regulatory contour of brain and mental processes;
      (b) Language as a unique human phenomenon; (c) Language as a governor of human
      behaviour and brain operations; (d) Language as an organizational factor of
      ontogenesis of mentation and behaviour.

PMID- 20922046
TI  - The role of speech production system in audiovisual speech perception.
AB  - Seeing the articulatory gestures of the speaker significantly enhances speech
      perception. Findings from recent neuroimaging studies suggest that activation of
      the speech motor system during lipreading enhance speech perception by tuning, in
      a top-down fashion, speech-sound processing in the superior aspects of the
      posterior temporal lobe. Anatomically, the superior-posterior temporal lobe areas
      receive connections from the auditory, visual, and speech motor cortical areas.
      Thus, it is possible that neuronal receptive fields are shaped during development
      to respond to speech-sound features that coincide with visual and motor speech
      cues, in contrast with the anterior/lateral temporal lobe areas that might
      process speech sounds predominantly based on acoustic cues. The superior
      posterior temporal lobe areas have also been consistently associated with
      auditory spatial processing. Thus, the involvement of these areas in audiovisual
      speech perception might partly be explained by the spatial processing
      requirements when associating sounds, seen articulations, and one's own motor
      movements. Tentatively, it is possible that the anterior "what" and posterior
      "where / how" auditory cortical processing pathways are parts of an interacting
      network, the instantaneous state of which determines what one ultimately
      perceives, as potentially reflected in the dynamics of oscillatory activity.

PMID- 20922048
TI  - A diffusion tensor imaging study on the auditory system and tinnitus.
AB  - Tinnitus is an auditory percept in the absence of an external sound source.
      Mechanisms in the central nervous system are believed to be key in the
      pathophysiology of tinnitus. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) is an MR imaging
      technique that allows in vivo exploration of white matter tissue in the human
      brain. Using a probabilistic DTI approach, we determined the characteristics of
      fiber tracts from the inferior colliculus to the medial geniculate body up to the
      primary auditory cortex. We also investigated the connections between the
      auditory system and the amygdala, which may be involved in some forms of
      tinnitus. White matter tracts were characterized by three quantities: the mean
      fractional anisotropy, the weighted mean fractional anisotropy and the path
      strength. All these quantities are measures of the patency of white matter
      tracts. The most important finding is an increased patency of the white matter
      tracts between the auditory cortex and the amygdala in tinnitus patients as
      compared to healthy controls.

PMID- 20922049
TI  - GPIIb/IIIa Receptor Antagonism Using Small Molecules Provides no Additive Long
      Term Protection after Percutaneous Coronary Intervention as Compared to
      Clopidogrel Plus Aspirin.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is some controversy as to whether tirofiban or eptifibatide,
      two small anti-aggregating drugs (AAD), may reduce the incidence of composite
      ischemic events within one year in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary
      intervention (PCI) in the real clinical world. METHODS: We compared consecutive
      patients on oral double AAD (with clopidogrel and aspirin) who underwent PCI
      (n=207) and patients who were on single AAD and received a second AAD, just prior
      to PCI, and either high-dose tirofiban or double-bolus eptifibatide (double AAD
      plus small molecules group, n=666). The primary end point (incidence of composite
      ischemic events within one year) included death, acute myocardial infarction,
      unstable angina, stent thrombosis or repeat PCI or coronary bypass surgery
      (related to the target vessel PCI failure) and was modelled by Cox's regression.
      RESULTS: There were 89 composite ischemic events: 24 (11.6%) in double AAD alone
      and 65 (9.8%) in double AAD plus small molecules groups (log-rank test: p=0.36).
      Incidences by type of ischemic events were similar between the 2 groups. Based on
      21 potential covariates fitted simultaneously, adjusted hazard ratios (HR and 95%
      confidence intervals) showed that age (HR 1.03, 1.01-1.06, p=0.01), diabetes (HR
      1.68, 1.01-2.79, p=0.05) and intra aortic balloon pump (HR 5.12, 2.36-11.10,
      p=0.0001) were significant risk factors whereas thrombolysis by tenecteplase (HR
      0.35, 0.13-0.98, p=0.05) and having had hypertension or anti-hypertensive
      treatment (HR 0.58, 0.36-0.93, p=0.03) were significant protectors for events.
      Whether small molecules were present provided a non significant additional
      benefit as compared to double AAD alone (HR 0.83, 0.51-1.36, p=0.46). Pre-PCI CK
      MB were not useful to predict events (HR 1.01, 0.99-1.01, p=0.17). CONCLUSIONS:
      In clinical world patients undergoing PCI (rescue plus primary <13%) while on
      double AAD, based on clopidogrel plus aspirin, small molecules (tirofiban or
      eptifibatide) provided no additive long-term protection against the occurrence of
      composite ischemic events whereas thrombolysis by tenecteplase did.

PMID- 20922050
TI  - Acute myocardial infarction manifested with headache.
AB  - We report a very rare case of a patient who presented with headache as the sole
      symptom of an acute myocardial infarction (AMI). The patient underwent primary
      percutaneous coronary angioplasty followed by drug-eluting stent implantation and
      the headache was immediately relieved. The pathophysiologic explanation of the
      occurrence of headache as a sole manifestation of an AMI is discussed.

PMID- 20922051
TI  - DNA stretching as a probe for nucleic acid interactions: Reply to Comments on
      "Biophysical characterization of DNA binding from single molecule force
      measurements" by Kathy R. Chaurasiya, Thayaparan Paramanathan, Micah J. McCauley,
      Mark C. Williams.

PMID- 20922052
TI  - Severe anisocoria after oral surgery under general anesthesia.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Anisocoria indicates a difference in pupil diameter. Etiologies of
      this clinical manifestation usually include systemic causes as neurological or
      vascular disorders, and local causes as congenital iris disorders and
      pharmacological effects. CASE REPORT: We present a case of a 47-year-old man,
      suffering from spastic tetraparesis. After the oral surgery under general
      anesthesia, the patient developed severe anisocoria: in particular, a ~4 mm
      diameter increase of the left pupil compared to the right pupil. We performed
      Computed Tomography (CT) in the emergency setting, Nuclear magnetic resonance
      (NMR) of the brain and Magnetic Resonance Angiography of intracranial vessels.
      These instrumental examinations did not show vascular or neurological diseases.
      The pupils returned to their physiological condition (isocoria) after about 180
      minutes. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: Literature shows that the cases of
      anisocoria reported during or after oral surgery are rare occurrences, especially
      in cases of simple tooth extraction. Anisocoria can manifest in more or less
      evident forms: therefore, it is clear that knowing this clinical condition is of
      crucial importance for a correct and timely resolution.

PMID- 20922053
TI  - Influenza vaccination: healthcare workers attitude in three Middle East
      countries.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Healthcare workers (HCWs) pose a potential risk of transmitting
      communicable diseases in the hospital settings where they usually work. This
      study aims to determine the current influenza vaccination rates among HCWs in
      three Middle East countries namely United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kuwait and Oman,
      and also to identify the different variables associated with the noncompliance of
      HCWs to the recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices
      (ACIP) set in those countries. METHODS: 1500 questionnaires were distributed to
      health care workers in the three countries during the period of July-October
      2009. RESULTS: Among 993 respondents, the vaccination rate was 24.7%, 67.2% and
      46.4% in UAE, Kuwait and Oman, respectively. The different motivating factors
      that influenced the health care workers to take the vaccine was assessed and
      found that the most common factor that influenced their decision to take the
      vaccine was for their self protection (59%). On the other hand, the most common
      reason that discouraged HCWs to take the vaccine was "lack of time" as reported
      by 31.8% of the respondents. Other reasons for not taking the vaccine were
      unawareness of vaccine availability (29.4%), unavailability of vaccine (25.4%),
      doubts about vaccine efficacy (24.9%), lack of information about importance
      (20.1%) and concerns about its side effects (17.3%). CONCLUSIONS: influenza
      immunization by healthcare workers in the studied countries was suboptimal which
      could be improved by setting different interventions and educational programs to
      increase vaccination acceptance among HCWs.

PMID- 20922054
TI  - Inhibition of Hypoxia-Induced Cell Motility by p16 in MDA-MB-231 Breast Cancer
      Cells.
AB  - Our previous studies indicated that p16 suppresses breast cancer angiogenesis and
      metastasis, and downregulates VEGF gene expression by neutralizing the
      transactivation of the VEGF transcriptional factor HIF-1alpha. Hypoxia stimulates
      tumor malignant progression and induces HIF-1alpha. Because p16 neutralizes
      effect of HIF-1alpha and attenuates tumor metastatic progression, we intended to
      investigate whether p16 directly affects one or more aspects of the malignant
      process such as adhesion and migration of breast cancer cells. To approach this
      aim, MDA-MB-231 and other breast cancer cells stably transfected with Tet-on
      inducible p16 were used to study the p16 effect on growth, adhesion and migration
      of the cancer cells. We found that p16 inhibits breast cancer cell proliferation
      and migration, but has no apparent effect on cell adhesion. Importantly, p16
      inhibits hypoxia-induced cell migration in breast cancer in parallel with its
      inhibition of HIF-1alpha transactivation activity. This study suggests that p16's
      ability to suppress tumor metastasis may be partially resulted from p16's
      inhibition on cell migration, in addition to its known functions on inhibition of
      cell proliferation, angiogenesis and induction of apoptosis.

PMID- 20922055
TI  - Functional mechanisms for human tumor suppressors.
AB  - Tumor suppressors refer to a large group of molecules that are capable of
      controlling cell division, promoting apoptosis, and suppressing metastasis. The
      loss of function for a tumor suppressor may lead to cancer due to uncontrolled
      cell division. Because of their importance, extensive studies have been
      undertaken to understand the different functional mechanisms of tumor
      suppressors. Here, we briefly review the four major mechanisms, inhibition of
      cell division, induction of apoptosis, DNA damage repair, and inhibition of
      metastasis. It is noteworthy that some tumor suppressors, such as p53, may adopt
      more than one mechanism for their functions.

PMID- 20922056
TI  - Mesothelin as a potential therapeutic target in human cholangiocarcinoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) are the
      two most common primary liver cancers, yet there have been no significant
      advances in effective therapeutics. Mesothelin has been reported as a new
      therapeutic target in various types of cancer. Here, we investigated the
      expression of mesothelin in liver cancer and its potential role as a novel
      therapeutic target for immunotherapy. METHODS: HCC and CCA specimens were
      examined by immunohistochemistry for mesothelin expression. Protein expression
      was assessed by immunoblotting and flow cytometry. The SS1P immunotoxin targeting
      mesothelin was evaluated in the well-established CCA cell lines HuCCT1, HuH-28,
      KMBC, KMCH, Mz-ChA-1 and OZ. RESULTS: We showed strong immunochemical mesothelin
      staining in 33% of the surgically resected CCA specimens and 3 of 6 CCA cell
      lines (OZ, KMBC and KMCH). No mesothelin staining was found in HCC or normal
      liver tissue. Mesothelin was primarily localized to the cellular plasma membrane
      and the mature form (molecular weight, ~40 kDa) was expressed at a high level in
      CCA tissues. Moreover, 22% of CCA specimens had a high mesothelin expression
      level which was comparable to the CCA cell line models. Interestingly, SS1P
      showed very high and specific growth inhibition when added to mesothelin
      expressing CCA cells with IC(50) values ranging from 0.5 to 11 ng/mL.
      CONCLUSIONS: Mesothelin is overexpressed in one-third of CCA tissues. SS1P
      targeting mesothelin reveals a remarkable single agent activity against CCA in
      vitro. These findings indicate a potential for SS1P in the immunotherapeutic
      treatment of CCA.

PMID- 20922058
TI  - Is Analogical Reasoning just Another Measure of Executive Functioning?

PMID- 20922057
TI  - Astroglial Wiring is Adding Complexity to Neuroglial Networking.
AB  - Astrocytes are organized as networks of communicating cells due to their high
      expression level of connexins, the molecular constituents of gap junction
      channels. Based on their permeability properties for ions and small signaling
      molecules such astroglial wiring interferes with neuronal activity and survival.
      In this paper, I identify and discuss which future technical and conceptual
      progress or advances should be achieved in order to better understand how
      neuroglial networking contributes to brain functions and dysfunctions.

PMID- 20922060
TI  - Ambiguity aversion in rhesus macaques.
AB  - People generally prefer risky options, which have fully specified outcome
      probabilities, to ambiguous options, which have unspecified probabilities. This
      preference, formalized in economics, is strong enough that people will reliably
      prefer a risky option to an ambiguous option with a greater expected value.
      Explanations for ambiguity aversion often invoke uniquely human faculties like
      language, self-justification, or a desire to avoid public embarrassment.
      Challenging these ideas, here we demonstrate that a preference for unambiguous
      options is shared with rhesus macaques. We trained four monkeys to choose between
      pairs of options that both offered explicitly cued probabilities of large and
      small juice outcomes. We then introduced occasional trials where one of the
      options was obscured and examined their resulting preferences; we ran humans in a
      parallel experiment on a nearly identical task. We found that monkeys reliably
      preferred risky options to ambiguous ones, even when this bias was costly,
      closely matching the behavior of humans in the analogous task. Notably, ambiguity
      aversion varied parametrically with the extent of ambiguity. As expected,
      ambiguity aversion gradually declined as monkeys learned the underlying
      probability distribution of rewards. These data indicate that ambiguity aversion
      reflects fundamental cognitive biases shared with other animals rather than
      uniquely human factors guiding decisions.

PMID- 20922059
TI  - Ten challenges for decision neuroscience.
AB  - Decision neuroscience research, as currently practiced, employs the methods of
      neuroscience to investigate concepts drawn from the social sciences. A typical
      study selects one or more variables from psychological or economic models,
      manipulates or measures choices within a simplified choice task, and then
      identifies neural correlates. Using this "neuroeconomic" approach, researchers
      have described brain systems whose functioning shapes key economic variables,
      most notably aspects of subjective value. Yet, the standard approach has
      fundamental limitations. Important aspects of the mechanisms of decision making -
      from the sources of variability in decision making to the very computations
      supported by decision-related regions - remain incompletely understood. Here, I
      outline 10 outstanding challenges for future research in decision neuroscience.
      While some will be readily addressed using current methods, others will require
      new conceptual frameworks. Accordingly, a new strain of decision neuroscience
      will marry methods from economics and cognitive science to concepts from
      neurobiology and cognitive neuroscience.

PMID- 20922061
TI  - Year-round variability of ambient noise in temperate freshwater habitats and its
      implications for fishes.
AB  - Changes in habitat acoustics over the year can potentially affect fish hearing
      and orientation to sound, especially in temperate climates. This is the first
      study where year-round changes in ambient noise in aquatic habitats were
      assessed. Seven different European fresh-water habitats were chosen for this
      study. Sound pressure level (SPL) and spectral composition of the ambient noise
      varied in both quiet stagnant habitats (lakes, backwaters) and in flowing
      habitats (streams, rivers). Linear equivalent SPL (L(Leq, 60s)) tended to be
      lower in stagnant habitats (means: 91.6-111.7 dB) than in flowing habitats
      (means: 111.2-133.4 dB). The changes in SPL were smallest in the river (means:
      4.2-4.4 dB, maxima: 8.5-10.1 dB), whereas significantly higher values were
      measured in stagnant habitats and the stream (means: 9.9-14.9 dB, maxima: 25.1
      30.9 dB). The spectral compositions of the ambient noise determined at different
      times of the year were highly correlated to each other at the river sites (mean
      cross-correlation coefficients: 0.85 and 0.94) and were weaker or not correlated
      at the other study sites (means: 0.24-0.76). The changes in ambient noise spectra
      were negatively correlated to changes in SPL, indicating that large changes in
      SPLs were accompanied by large changes in spectral composition and vice versa.
      Comparison of these ecoacoustical data with a preceding study (Amoser and Ladich
      in J Exp Biol 208:3533-3542, 2005) indicates that the auditory sensitivity in
      hearing specialists is affected by changes in ambient noise levels and spectra
      throughout a year and that this effect tends to be more pronounced in stagnant
      waters and the stream than at river sites. On the other hand, absolute noise
      levels result in a higher degree of masking in flowing waters.

PMID- 20922062
TI  - Drug Discovery in Academia- the third way?
AB  - As the pharmaceutical industry continues to re-strategise and focus on low-risk,
      relatively short term gains for the sake of survival, we need to re-invigorate
      the early stages of drug discovery and rebalance efforts towards novel modes of
      action therapeutics and neglected genetic and tropical diseases. Academic drug
      discovery is one model which offers the promise of new approaches and an
      alternative organisational culture for drug discovery as it attempts to apply
      academic innovation and thought processes to the challenge of discovering drugs
      to address real unmet need.

PMID- 20922063
TI  - Collaborative working within UK NHS secondary care and across sectors for COPD
      and the impact of peer review: qualitative findings from the UK National COPD
      Resources and Outcomes Project.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: WE INVESTIGATED THE EFFECTS ON COLLABORATIVE WORK WITHIN THE UK
      NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE (NHS) OF AN INTERVENTION FOR SERVICE QUALITY IMPROVEMENT:
      informal, structured, reciprocated, multidisciplinary peer review with feedback
      and action plans. The setting was care for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
      (COPD). THEORY AND METHODS: We analysed semi-structured interviews with 43
      hospital respiratory consultants, nurses and general managers at 24 intervention
      and 11 control sites, as part of a UK randomised controlled study, the National
      COPD Resources and Outcomes Project (NCROP), using Scott's conceptual framework
      for action (inter-organisational, intra-organisational, inter-professional and
      inter-individual). Three areas of care targeted by NCROP involved collaboration
      across primary and secondary care. RESULTS: Hospital respiratory department
      collaborations with commissioners and hospital managers varied. Analysis
      suggested that this is related to team responses to barriers. Clinicians in
      unsuccessful collaborations told 'atrocity stories' of organisational, structural
      and professional barriers to service improvement. The others removed barriers by
      working with government and commissioner agendas to ensure continued involvement
      in patients' care. Multidisciplinary peer review facilitated collaboration
      between participants, enabling them to meet, reconcile differences and exchange
      ideas across boundaries. CONCLUSIONS: The data come from the first randomised
      controlled trial of organisational peer review, adding to research into UK health
      service collaborative work, which has had a more restricted focus on inter
      professional relations. NCROP peer review may only modestly improve collaboration
      but these data suggest it might be more effective than top-down exhortations to
      change when collaboration both across and within organisations is required.

PMID- 20922064
TI  - Open Dialogues in social networks: professional identity and transdisciplinary
      collaboration.
AB  - AIM: The aim of this article is to explore the challenges connected to the
      transformation and emergence of professional identity in transdisciplinary multi
      agency network meetings and the use of Open Dialogue. INTRODUCTION: The empirical
      findings have been taken from a clinical project in southern Norway concerning
      multi-agency network meetings with persons between 14 and 25 years of age. The
      project explores how these meetings are perceived by professionals working in
      various sectors. METHODOLOGY: Data was collected through three interviews
      conducted with two focus groups, the first comprising health care professionals
      and the second professionals from the social and educational sectors. Content
      analysis was used to create categories through condensation and interpretation.
      The two main categories that emerged were 'professional role' and 'teamwork'.
      These were analysed and compared according to the two first meeting in the two
      focus groups. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: The results indicate different levels of
      motivation and understanding regarding role transformation processes. The
      realization of transdisciplinary collaboration is dependent upon the
      professionals' mutual reliance. The professionals' participation is affected by
      stereotypes and differences in their sense of belonging to a certain network, and
      thus their identity transformation seems to be strongly affected. To encourage
      the use of integrated solutions in mental health care, the professionals'
      preference for teamwork, the importance of familiarity with each other and
      knowledge of cultural barriers should be addressed.

PMID- 20922065
TI  - Coordination in networks for improved mental health service.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Well-organised clinical cooperation between health and social
      services has been difficult to achieve in Sweden as in other countries. This
      paper presents an empirical study of a mental health coordination network in one
      area in Stockholm. The aim was to describe the development and nature of
      coordination within a mental health and social care consortium and to assess the
      impact on care processes and client outcomes. METHOD: Data was gathered through
      interviews with 'joint coordinators' (n=6) from three rehabilitation units. The
      interviews focused on coordination activities aimed at supporting the clients'
      needs and investigated how the joint coordinators acted according to the
      consortium's holistic approach. Data on The Camberwell Assessment of Need (CAN-S)
      showing clients' satisfaction was used to assess on set of outcomes (n=1262).
      RESULTS: The findings revealed different coordination activities and factors both
      helping and hindering the network coordination activities. One helpful factor was
      the history of local and personal informal cooperation and shared
      responsibilities evident. Unclear roles and routines hindered cooperation.
      CONCLUSIONS: This contribution is an empirical example and a model for
      organisations establishing structures for network coordination. One lesson for
      current policy about integrated health care is to adapt and implement joint
      coordinators where full structural integration is not possible. Another lesson,
      based on the idea of patient quality by coordinated care, is specifically to
      adapt the work of the local addiction treatment and preventive team (ATPT)-an
      independent special team in the psychiatric outpatient care that provides
      consultation and support to the units and serves psychotic clients with addictive
      problems.

PMID- 20922066
TI  - Integrative treatment approaches: family satisfaction with a multidisciplinary
      paediatric Abdominal Pain Clinic.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To assess patient and family satisfaction with evaluation received
      through a multidisciplinary paediatric Abdominal Pain Clinic (APC) staffed by a
      paediatric gastroenterologist and a paediatric psychologist as compared to a
      traditional gastroenterology clinic (GI) staffed by a paediatric
      gastroenterologist only. METHODS: Two hundred and ninety-eight families (145 APC,
      153 GI) with a child or adolescent aged 8-17 years seen for initial evaluation of
      a chronic abdominal pain completed an anonymous survey to assess understanding of
      the treatment recommendations made, intent to follow through with various
      treatment recommendations, and the overall level of satisfaction with the
      evaluation service provided. Family perceptions of strengths and challenges of
      the APC evaluation process also were explored. RESULTS: APC families reported
      being prescribed adjunctive mental health and other therapies at significantly
      higher rates than GI families, while the rates of medication were comparable. APC
      families also reported significantly greater receptivity to beginning the
      treatments prescribed and higher levels of overall satisfaction with the
      evaluation process. The contribution of integrated medical and psychological
      perspectives frequently was identified as a strength of the APC evaluation
      process. Challenges identified for the APC evaluation were few and focused on
      issues related to paperwork and scheduling issues. CONCLUSIONS: Integrative care
      approaches to the evaluation of paediatric abdominal pain appear well accepted by
      families, yielding high levels of satisfaction, and enhance receptivity to
      treatment recommendations. Integrative care starting at the time of first
      evaluation may be particularly well-tailored to enhance outcomes, reduce health
      care utilization, and yield financial savings within this population.

PMID- 20922067
TI  - Looking back whilst moving forward: observations on the science and application
      of integrated care over the past 10 years and predictions for what the next 10
      years may hold.

PMID- 20922068
TI  - Evaluation of UK Integrated Care Pilots: research protocol.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In response to concerns that the needs of the aging population for
      well-integrated care were increasing, the English National Health Service (NHS)
      appointed 16 Integrated Care Pilots following a national competition. The pilots
      have a range of aims including development of new organisational structures to
      support integration, changes in staff roles, reducing unscheduled emergency
      hospital admissions, reduced length of hospital stay, increasing patient
      satisfaction, and reducing cost. This paper describes the evaluation of the
      initiative which has been commissioned. STUDY DESIGN AND DATA COLLECTION METHODS:
      A mixed methods approach has been adopted including interviews with staff and
      patients, non-participant observation of meetings, structured written feedback
      from sites, questionnaires to patients and staff, and analysis of routinely
      collected hospital utilisation data for patients/service users. The qualitative
      analysis aims to identify the approaches taken to integration by the sites, the
      benefits which result, the context in which benefits have resulted, and the
      mechanisms by which they occur. METHODS OF ANALYSIS: The quantitative analysis
      adopts a 'difference in differences' approach comparing health care utilisation
      before and after the intervention with risk-matched controls. The qualitative
      data analysis adopts a 'theory of change' approach in which we triangulate data
      from the quantitative analysis with qualitative data in order to describe causal
      effects (what happens when an independent variable changes) and causal mechanisms
      (what connects causes to their effects). An economic analysis will identify what
      incremental resources are required to make integration succeed and how they can
      be combined efficiently to produce better outcomes for patients. CONCLUSION: This
      evaluation will produce a portfolio of evidence aimed at strengthening the
      evidence base for integrated care, and in particular identifying the context in
      which interventions are likely to be effective. These data will support a series
      of evaluation judgements aimed at reducing uncertainties about the role of
      integrated care in improving the efficient and effective delivery of healthcare.

PMID- 20922069
TI  - JISP is in PubMed.

PMID- 20922070
TI  - Rapidly progressing periodontology.

PMID- 20922071
TI  - Omega fatty acids and resolution of inflammation: A new twist in an old tale.
AB  - Identification of the factors that regulate immune tolerance and control the
      appearance of exacerbated inflammatory conditions is crucial for the development
      of new therapies of inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. Resolution of
      inflammation and the return of tissues to homeostasis protect us against
      excessive tissue injury and promote the restoration of function and structure.
      Resolution of inflammation, which was considered a passive event, is actually an
      active process where new families of endogenous lipid mediators from omega-3
      polyunsaturated fatty acids play an important role in removing proinflammatory
      mediators generated from arachidonic acid. These chemical mediator families,
      termed Resolvins and Protectins, are potent stereoselective agonists that control
      the duration and magnitude of inflammation, along with the Lipoxins as signals in
      resolution. This review examines the mapping of these circuits and recent
      advances in our understanding of the biosynthesis and actions of these novel
      proresolving lipid mediators. A search in the electronical databases PubMed and
      the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials was carried out. The search
      strategy applied was: "Omega fatty acid" AND "resolution of inflammation,"
      including articles from January 1,1985 to October 2009. This resulted in the
      identification of a total of 52 articles, which were analyzed in full text
      leading to consideration of only nine full texts.

PMID- 20922072
TI  - Phagocytic activity of peripheral blood and crevicular phagocytes in health and
      periodontal disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Neutrophils constitute the main phagocytic cell system in mammalian
      host defense against an infecting agent. Abnormalities in leukocyte number and
      function are associated with increased susceptibility to periodontal diseases.
      The purpose of this study is to evaluate the in vitro phagocytic properties of
      crevicular and peripheral blood neutrophils in healthy and periodontitis
      subjects. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 30 subjects, that is, 10 patients in
      each of the following three groups: healthy controls, chronic periodontitis (CP),
      and localized aggressive periodontitis (LAP), were included in the study. The
      neutrophils were isolated from the peripheral blood and gingival crevice and
      tested for phagocytosis of Candida albicans. The percentage of leukocytes with
      ingested C. albicans was determined by light microscopy. RESULTS: A significant
      reduction in the phagocytic activity of crevicular fluid polymorphonuclear
      neutrophils (CF-PMN) of LAP subjects (mean: 54.3+/-7)(P<0.001) was observed,
      compared to healthy controls (mean: 74.2+/-9) and chronic periodontitis subjects
      (mean: 69+/-9)(P=0.352). The mean percentage of peripheral blood
      polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMNs) with phagocytosis of opsonized C. albicans
      in LAP patients was significantly reduced (mean: 74.9+/-5)(P<0.0068) compared to
      the phagocytic activity of neutrophils from controls (mean:82.1+/-3) and chronic
      periodontitis subjects (mean: 82.0+/-5)(P=0.970). There was no significant
      reduction in the phagocytic activity of CF PMNs (mean: 69+/-9) (P=0.35) and
      peripheral blood PMNs (mean: 82.5)(P=0.97) in the chronic periodontitis group
      when compared to the control group. CONCLUSION: The phagocytic activity of both
      crevicular and peripheral neutrophils in subjects with periodontitis is altered,
      increasing the susceptibility to periodontitis. Thus individual susceptibility
      may be an additional and important modifying factor in the pathogenesis of
      periodontal disease.

PMID- 20922073
TI  - Osteoplant acts on stem cells derived from peripheral blood.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The osteoplant is an equine, flexible, heterologous, deantigenic,
      cortical, and spongy bone tissue, totally reabsorbable, used for implantation of
      bone tissue, to restore skeletal, even weight-bearing structures. However, how
      the osteoplant alters osteoblast activity to promote bone formation is poorly
      understood. MATERIALS AND METHODS: To study how the osteoplant induces osteoblast
      differentiation in mesenchymal stem cells, the expression levels of bone-related
      genes, and mesenchymal stem cell markers are analyzed, using real time Reverse
      Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR). RESULTS: The osteoplant causes
      induction of osteoblast transcriptional factors such as osterix (RUNX2), and of
      bone-related genes such as osteopontin (SPP1) and osteocalcin (BGLAP). In
      contrast the expression of ENG (CD105) is significantly decreased in stem cells
      treated with osteoplant, with respect to untreated cells, indicating the
      differentiation effect of this biomaterial on stem cells. CONCLUSION: The
      obtained results can be relevant to better understand the molecular mechanism of
      bone regeneration and as a model for comparing other materials with similar
      clinical effects.

PMID- 20922074
TI  - Postoperative bacteremia in periodontal flap surgery, with and without
      prophylactic antibiotic administration: A comparative study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Many a times in clinical periodontology, the decision whether to
      prescribe prophylactic antibiotics or not, is perplexing.The present study was
      conducted to compare the bacteremias induced after periodontal flap surgeries
      with and without prophylactic antibiotics. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The occurrence
      of postoperative bacteremia following periodontal flap surgery was studied in 30
      patients. On these patients, 30 quadrant wise flap surgeries were carried out
      without any preoperative prophylactic antibiotics and 30 surgeries carried out
      after prophylactic administration of amoxycillin preoperatively. A blood sample
      was taken from each patient at the time of maximum surgical trauma and was
      cultured for micro-organisms and antibiotic sensitivity. RESULTS: 18 out of 60
      blood samples were positive for micro-organisms. There was a significant
      reduction in post operative bacteremia after amoxycillin prophylaxis (x(2) - 7.96
      with P<0.01) as post operative bacteremia was found in 14 of the non medicated
      patients as compared to only 4 of the pre medicated patients. The micro-organisms
      encountered in the study are as follows:- 1) Staphylococcus albus coagulase
      negative, 2) Klebsiella, 3) Psedomonas aerugenosa, 4) Streptococcus viridans, 5)
      Alpha hemolytic streptococcus, 6) Neisseria catarrhalis CONCLUSION: On the basis
      of the study, it is concluded that the incidence of postoperative bacteremia
      following periodontal flap surgery is not as high as previously reported. The
      clinical results show that Amoxicillin is highly effective in reducing
      postoperative bacteremia in periodontal flap surgery and thus in preventing the
      possible sequelae (Infective Endocarditis and other systemic maladies) in
      susceptible patients. However, cefotaxime and cephalexin may prove to be more
      effective in preventing the same.

PMID- 20922075
TI  - Clinical evaluation of regenerative potential of type I collagen membrane along
      with xenogenic bone graft in the treatment of periodontal intrabony defects
      assessed with surgical re-entry and radiographic linear and densitometric
      analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The primary goal of periodontal therapy is to restore
      the tooth supporting tissues lost due to periodontal disease. The aim of the
      present study was to compare the efficacy of combination of type I collagen (GTR
      membrane) and xenogenic bone graft with open flap debridement (OFD) in treatment
      of periodontal intrabony defects. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty paired intrabony
      defects were surgically treated using split mouth design. The defects were
      randomly assigned to treatment with OFD + collagen membrane + bone graft (Test)
      or OFD alone (Control). The clinical efficacy of two treatment modalities was
      evaluated at 9 month postoperatively by clinical, radiographical, and
      intrasurgical (re-entry) parameters. The measurements included probing pocket
      depth (PD), clinical attachment level (CAL), gingival recession (GR), bone fill
      (BF), bone density (BD) and intra bony component (INTRA). RESULTS: The mean
      reduction in PD at 0-9 month was 3.3+/-0.82 mm and CAL gain of 3.40+/-1.51 mm
      occurred in the collagen membrane + bone graft (Test) group; corresponding values
      for OFD (Control) were 2.20+/-0.63 mm and 1.90+/-0.57 mm. Similar pattern of
      improvement was observed when radiographical and intra-surgical (re-entry) post
      operative evaluation was made. All improvement in different parameters was
      statistically significant (P< 0.01). INTERPRETATION AND CONCLUSION: Treatment
      with a combination of collagen membrane and bone graft led to a significantly
      more favorable clinical outcome in intrabony defects as compared to OFD alone.

PMID- 20922076
TI  - Periodontitis and bone mineral density among pre and post menopausal women: A
      comparative study.
AB  - AIM: The aim of the study was to assess the relationship between bone mineral
      density and periodontitis in premenopausal and postmenopausal women. MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: Twenty women between the age group of 45-55 years were selected for
      this study. Ten premenopausal women with healthy periodontium constituted the
      control group and 10 postmenopausal women with >=2mm of clinical attachment loss
      in >30% of sites constituted the study group. All patients were assessed for
      plaque index, probing depth and clinical attachment loss. Radiographs (six IOPA
      and two posterior bitewing) were taken and assessed for interproximal alveolar
      bone loss. The patients were scanned to assess the bone mineral density of lumbar
      spine (L2) and femur using dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA). RESULTS: The
      bone mineral densities of lumbar spine (L2) and femur were significantly lower in
      the study group than the control group. Osteopenia of the lumbar spine and femur
      was observed in 60% whereas osteoporosis of lumbar spine was observed in 30% of
      cases in study group. CONCLUSION: Increased proportion of osteopenia and
      osteoporosis cases of lumbar spine and femur in postmenopausal women with
      periodontitis suggests that there is association between bone mineral density and
      periodontitis.

PMID- 20922077
TI  - Effect of retraction materials on gingival health: A histopathological study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Gingival retraction methods are used in dentistry for impressions of
      subgingival crown margins, such as, mechanical, chemical, chemicomechanical, and
      surgical. These methods may injure the gingival sulcular epithelium. Hence, the
      present study is carried out to evaluate the effect of different retraction
      materials, such as, Expasyl, Magic Foam Cord, and impregnated retraction cord on
      the gingival sulcular epithelium. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study included 30
      cases of bilateral premolar extraction patients with Loe and Silness gingival
      index zero. Retraction materials were kept in the dry, isolated labial gingival
      sulcus for the required time. The retraction materials were removed by rinsing
      with water. Retracted gingiva of 2 - 3 mm from the gingival margin along with the
      tooth was extracted and the decalcified sections were microscopically studied.
      DATA ANALYSIS: Data were analyzed by applying the chi-square test. RESULTS: This
      study showed better results with retraction paste as compared to the retraction
      cord, and there was a significant association between retraction materials and
      the relative degree of injury to the sulcular epithelium. CONCLUSION: There is a
      significant association between retraction materials and gingival sulcular
      epithelium. It can be stated that impregnated retraction cord, may be used
      commonly but it needs proper tissue manipulation and is technique sensitive.
      Newly advanced material in the form of retraction paste like Expasyl or Magic
      Foam Cord was found to be better than cord as assessed histologically, it
      respects periodontium.

PMID- 20922078
TI  - Evaluation of an aminobisphosphonate (alendronate) in the management of
      periodontal osseous defects.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Alendronate, an aminobisphosphonate, is capable of
      inhibiting periodontitis associated osteoclastic activity and hence is effective
      in protecting the alveolar bone in periodontitis. In the present study, we
      explored the efficacy of local delivery of alendronate on the alveolar bone
      following mucoperiosteal flap surgery. This is the first study to use polymer
      impregnated gel based delivery of alendronate. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of
      15 patients with chronic periodontitis in the age group of 35 - 55 years, of both
      sexes, with pocket depth of >= 5mm and radiographic evidence of identical osseous
      defects in the mandibular molar region bilaterally were included in this
      prospective study. A gel based drug delivery system of Alendronate was
      formulated. Following surgical flap debridement, 0.1 ml alendronate gel and 0.1
      ml placebo gel was placed at the experimental and control sites respectively.
      Clinical and radiographic parameters were recorded at baseline, three months and
      six months post surgery. RESULTS: Alendronate was more effective in improving
      clinical and radiographic parameters compared to placebo. INTERPRETATION AND
      CONCLUSION: Alendronate is effective in the management of periodontitis
      associated bone loss. Gel based local delivery of the drug addresses the critical
      concern of exposing the patient to adverse effects of systemic administration.

PMID- 20922079
TI  - Comparative evaluation of micronutrient status in the serum of diabetes mellitus
      patients and healthy individuals with periodontitis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Periodontal diseases are microbial induced chronic inflammatory
      conditions characterized by infiltration of leukocytes, loss of connective
      tissue, alveolar bone resorption, and formation of periodontal pockets. In
      response to periodontal pathogens, the leukocytes (PMN) elaborate destructive
      oxidants, proteinases and other factors. The balance between these factors, the
      antioxidants and endogenously synthesized antiproteinases determine the extent of
      periodontal damage. Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disorder. Most of the
      complications of diabetes are due to hyperglycemia. Persons with diabetes are at
      a greater risk for periodontal disease Malnutrition is characterized by marked
      tissue depletion of antioxidant nutrients and impaired acute phase protein
      response to infections resulting in impaired healing. Diabetes mellitus also
      alters the micronutrient levels. Malnutrition is characterized by marked tissue
      depletion of antioxidant nutrients and impaired acute phase protein response to
      infections resulting in impaired healing. Malnutrition, which usually involves
      concomitant deficiencies of several essential macro and micro nutrients,
      therefore, has the potential to adversely influence the prognosis of periodontal
      infections. OBJECTIVES: This study has been conducted to evaluate and compare the
      serum levels of vitamin C, zinc and copper in diabetic and healthy individuals
      with periodontitis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this case control study 60 subjects
      inclusive of both sexes were selected and divided into 3 groups of 20 each. Group
      1 comprised of 20 subjects with type 2 diabetes mellitus and periodontal disease,
      Group 2 comprised of 20 healthy subjects with periodontal disease. And Group 3
      comprised of 20 healthy subjects without periodontal disease. Venous blood
      samples were collected and centrifuged at 3000rpm for 15 minutes and the
      superanatant serum is collected to measure the vitamin C, zinc and copper levels.
      The vitamin C levels of clinical samples were measured using spectrophotometric
      quantitation (dinitrophenyl hydrazine method) and zinc and copper levels were
      measured using atomic absorption spectrophotometry. RESULTS: The results showed
      that the levels of vitamin C and zinc decreased and copper levels increased in
      diabetic patients with periodontits compared to healthy individuals with
      periodontitis. CONCLUSION: It may be reasonable to suggest vitamin and/or mineral
      supplements for patients whose nutrition might be inadequate. Future research
      should focus on an evaluation of which nutrients may help to prevent the onset
      and progression of periodontal disease.

PMID- 20922080
TI  - Treatment of protruding osseo integrated dental implant.
AB  - Titanium dental implants have been used in the treatment of partial or complete
      edentulism. The height and width of the residual alveolus and surrounding
      anatomical structures can determine the proper position and path of insertion of
      dental implants. The following case report describes the treatment of a
      malpositioned osseo integrated dental implant with an apex perforating the buccal
      cortex of alveolar bone. A 61-year-old male was referred by his local dentist for
      the chief complaint of a swelling at site of tooth 14 where an implant was
      present. Intraoral clinical examination revealed an implant supported porcelain
      fused to metal crown replacing the maxillary right first premolar. A peri-apical
      radiograph of the implant revealed no signs of peri-implant bone loss or
      radiolucency. Surgical exploration and modification of the protruding implant.
      The area healed uneventfully without the need of explantation of the implant in
      site of tooth 14. We felt that the conservative treatment provided was prudent
      and treatment of choice and anticipate that the implant will most likely continue
      to function for a lifetime.

PMID- 20922081
TI  - Management of infrabony defects in mandibular molars in a patient with
      generalized aggressive periodontitis using autogenous bone graft from maxillary
      tuberosity.
AB  - This clinical case report presents a technique utilizing autogenous cancellous
      bone from maxillary tuberosity to fill two infrabony defects distal to mandibular
      molars in a patient diagnosed with aggressive periodontitis. After debridement a
      6 mm defect was present distal to mandibular right first molar and 6.5 mm defect
      was present distal to mandibular second molar of same side. Autogenous bone graft
      from maxillary tuberosity was placed in both the defects. There was a significant
      bony fill present six months post surgery and probing depth reduced by 7mm on
      both the sites.

PMID- 20922082
TI  - Retrograde peri-implantitis.
AB  - Retrograde peri-implantitis constitutes an important cause for implant failure.
      Retrograde peri-implantitis may sometimes prove difficult to identify and hence
      institution of early treatment may not be possible. This paper presents a report
      of four cases of (the implant placed developing to) retrograde peri-implantitis.
      Three of these implants were successfully restored to their fully functional
      state while one was lost due to extensive damage. The paper highlights the
      importance of recognizing the etiopathogenic mechanisms, preoperative assessment,
      and a strong postoperative maintenance protocol to avoid retrograde peri-implant
      inflammation.

PMID- 20922083
TI  - An update on periodontic-orthodontic interrelationships.
AB  - Talking about periodontic-orthodontic interrelationships is related primarily to
      the 1960s, where a generalized increase in salivary bacterial counts, especially
      Lactobacillus, had been shown after orthodontic band placement. The purpose of
      this article is to provide the dental practitioner with basic understanding of
      the interrelationship between periodontics and orthodontics by means of
      representing classical studies, and, to give an update on this topic by
      demonstrating the most recent opinions concerning periodontic-orthodontic
      interrelationships. Specific areas reviewed are the ability of orthodontic
      treatment to afford some degree of protection against periodontal breakdown,
      short-term and long-term effects of orthodontic treatment on the periodontium,
      and some mucogingival considerations. Topics considering orthodontic treatment in
      periodontally compromised patients were not included in this review. While past
      studies have shown that orthodontic treatment can positively affect the
      periodontal health, recent reviews indicate an absence of reliable evidence for
      the positive effects of orthodontic therapy on patients' periodontal status.
      Periodontic-orthodontic interrelationships are still controversial issues.
      However, a standard language between the periodontist and the orthodontist must
      always be established to eliminate the existing communications barrier, and to
      improve the outcomes of the whole treatment.

PMID- 20922085
TI  - Can we help?

PMID- 20922084
TI  - Nicotine and periodontal tissues.
AB  - Tobacco use has been recognized to be a significant risk factor for the
      development and progression of periodontal disease. Its use is associated with
      increased pocket depths, loss of periodontal attachment, alveolar bone and a
      higher rate of tooth loss. Nicotine, a major component and most pharmacologically
      active agent in tobacco is likely to be a significant contributing factor for the
      exacerbation of periodontal diseases. Available literature suggests that nicotine
      affects gingival blood flow, cytokine production, neutrophil and other immune
      cell function; connective tissue turnover, which can be the possible mechanisms
      responsible for overall effects of tobacco on periodontal tissues. Inclusion of
      tobacco cessation as a part of periodontal therapy encourages dental
      professionals to become more active in tobacco cessation counseling. This will
      have far reaching positive effects on our patients' oral and general health.

PMID- 20922086
TI  - New trends in regional anesthesia for shoulder surgery: Avoiding devastating
      complications.
AB  - Surgeons and patients are often reluctant to support regional anesthesia (RA) for
      shoulder and other orthopedic surgeries. This is because of the sometimes true
      but usually incorrectly perceived "slowing down" of operating room turnover time
      and the perceived potential for added morbidity. Recently, severe devastating and
      permanent nerve injury complications have surfaced, and this article attempts to
      clarify the modern place of RA for shoulder surgery and the prevention of these
      complications. A philosophical approach to anesthesiology and regional
      anesthesiology is offered, while a fresh appreciation for the well-described and
      often forgotten microanatomy of the brachial plexus is revisited to explain and
      avoid some of the devastating complications of RA for shoulder surgery.

PMID- 20922087
TI  - Variation of tension in the long head of the biceps tendon as a function of limb
      position with simulated biceps contraction.
AB  - PURPOSE: This study was designed to quantify tensile forces within the intra
      articular long head of the bicep tendon (LHBT) under conditions of passive limb
      positioning and physiologic load, which simulate contraction of the LHBT.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: A force probe was inserted into the intra-articular LHBT,
      just distal to its supra-glenoid origin, in six fresh-frozen cadaveric specimens.
      Initially, specimens were manually manipulated through 30 glenohumeral joint
      positions, combining humeral rotation and elbow/forearm position. In the second
      phase, a 55 N tensile load was applied through the LHBT in 18 limb positions.
      Intra-tendinous tension was recorded in all positions under both conditions.
      RESULTS: External humeral rotation significantly increased tension with
      glenohumeral forward flexion (P<0.0001). Conversely, internal humeral rotation
      significantly increased tension with glenohumeral abduction and extension
      (P<0.0001). A position of glenohumeral extension and internal rotation, with the
      elbow extended and forearm pronated, produced the highest tension in the intra
      articular LHBT (P<0.0001). Under applied load conditions, observed LHTB tension
      was not statistically different in any glenohumeral position (P=0.1468, power =
      88%). The greater tuberosity was noted to impinge on the force probe in forward
      flexion and internal rotation in two specimens. CONCLUSIONS: Variable tensile
      forces are seen in the intra-articular LHBT as a function of both limb position
      and simulated biceps contraction. Our findings provide a thorough data set that
      may be used to help substantiate or refute current or future hypotheses regarding
      LHBT function, pathology, and clinical tests. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Identifying
      positions of glenohumeral motion, which affect LHBT tension will provide an
      anatomic basis for clinical tests proposed to be for diagnosing LHBT lesions,
      including superior labral anterior and posterior tears.

PMID- 20922088
TI  - A simple and safe technique for reconstruction of the acromioclavicular joint.
AB  - Surgical reconstruction of the dislocated acromioclavicular joint often requires
      exposure and instrumentation of the coracoid. This carries risks to the
      surrounding neurovascular structures. We present a safe and simple technique of
      primary fixation of the acromioclavicular joint, relying on mechanical principles
      and biological repair, without the need for metalwork. By avoiding the coracoid
      we hope this approach will appeal to the general orthopedic surgeon. We have
      found that this technique is suited to both acute and chronic acromioclavicular
      joint dislocation.

PMID- 20922089
TI  - Metastasis from scapular Ewing's sarcoma presenting as sutural diastasis: An
      unusual presentation.
AB  - Ewing's sarcoma is a malignant non-osteogenic primary tumor of the bone. It is
      one of the most common primary malignant tumors of bone. Peak incidence is
      noticed in second decade of life with male preponderance of 1.6:1. It occurs most
      frequently in long bones and flat bones of pelvic girdles. In 30% cases, Ewing's
      sarcoma is multicentric in origin. In 14-50%, multiple metastases are present at
      the time of diagnosis. CNS spread is rare and isolated CNS involvement is not
      seen. Skull metastasis of Ewing's sarcoma is not rare compared to primary Ewing's
      sarcoma of the skull, but the actual frequency is unknown. We wish to report a
      case of "Primary Ewing's sarcoma of scapula with metastasis to Skull Vault in a
      Child resulting in sutural diastasis" diagnosed by clinicoradiological
      examination and confirmed by histopathology.

PMID- 20922090
TI  - Streptococcus subpectoral abscess with shoulder pain: A rare emergency with a
      common symptom?

PMID- 20922091
TI  - Tackling diabetes through translation.

PMID- 20922092
TI  - Avian flu: examining role of ducks in Indian context.

PMID- 20922093
TI  - West nile virus: do we need its surveillance and control program in punjab state
      of India?

PMID- 20922094
TI  - Community-based monitoring: key to success of national health programs.

PMID- 20922095
TI  - Censoring in clinical trials: review of survival analysis techniques.

PMID- 20922096
TI  - HIV/AIDS Vaccine: An Update.

PMID- 20922097
TI  - Where and how breastfeeding promotion initiatives should focus its attention? A
      study from rural wardha.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In India, the practice of breastfeeding is almost universal, but
      initiation of breastfeeding is generally quite late and colostrum is discarded.
      Integrated Management of Neonatal and Childhood Illness (IMNCI) strategy
      recommended systematic assessment of breastfeeding and emphasized counseling of
      the mother on proper positioning and attachment of infant to the breast.
      OBJECTIVE: To assess breastfeeding among mothers of below six months children in
      rural Wardha. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The present cross-sectional study was
      undertaken in surrounding 23 villages of Kasturba Rural Health Training Center
      (KRHTC), Anji. Two Auxiliary Nurse Midwives (ANMs) trained in IMNCI paid house
      visits to 99 mothers during the study period and undertook the assessment of
      breastfeeding using IMNCI assessment form for young infants. Auxiliary Nurse
      Midwives observed and recorded the positioning and attachment of infant to the
      breast as per IMNCI guidelines. The data were entered and analyzed using Epi_Info
      (version 6.04d) software package. RESULTS: Most of the deliveries 94 (94.9%) took
      place in the healthcare facilities. Majority 61 (61.6%) newborn babies had
      received breastfeeding within half an hour. About half of the mothers had any of
      the feeding problems like feeding less than eight times in 24 h, giving any other
      food or drinks or is low weight for age. Significantly more mothers with feeding
      problems had problems in positioning and attachment of infant to the breast as
      compared with those mothers who did not have any feeding problems. CONCLUSIONS:
      In the settings, where practice of institutional delivery is high, the staff of
      healthcare facility should ensure education of the mothers regarding position and
      attachment of infant to the breast before discharge from the healthcare facility.
      At the village level, Village Health Nutrition Day (VHND) can be utilized for
      health education of future mothers and support for the breastfeeding mothers. The
      IMNCI assessment form for young infant should also include assessment of
      positioning of infant.

PMID- 20922098
TI  - A study of gender differentials in the prevalence of tuberculosis based on NFHS-2
      and NFHS-3 data.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Worldwide, the case notification rate of tuberculosis has been
      reported to be higher for men than women. In India also, the prevalence of TB is
      higher among males as compared to females but it is important to study the trend
      of gender gap in the prevalence of tuberculosis over the years. OBJECTIVE: To
      examine the trend in gender gap in the prevalence of TB over the years. MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: The unit level data of NFHS-2 (1998-99) and NFHS-3 (2005-06) has
      been utilized. Gender gap in the prevalence of TB has been estimated for the two
      rounds of the surveys. The delta (Delta), the difference in gender gap in two
      surveys, has been estimated and decomposed by background characteristics such as
      place of residence(urban/rural), religion (Hindus/Muslims/others),
      caste(SC/ST/OBC/others) and standard of living(SLI) (low/medium/high) categories.
      MAIN FINDINGS: Overall, the prevalence of TB has remained almost same in the two
      surveys [432/lakh in NFHS-2 and 418/lakh in NFHJS-3; Z=1.19, P=0.275. The gender
      gap has increased to 217/lakh in NFHS-3 in comparison to 145 per lakh in NFHS-2.
      The increase in gender gap is significantly higher in rural areas [of 98 per
      lakh;167/ lakh in NFHS-2 vs 265/lakh in NFHS-3; P<0.05] as compared to
      corresponding increase in urban areas [of 30 per lakh; 88/ lakh in NFHS-2 vs118/
      lakh in NFHS-3, P>0.05]. The increase in delta (D) (difference in gender gap in
      two surveys) is accounted for as 88% by the rural areas and 12% by the urban
      areas. CONCLUSION: The increase in gender gap in the prevalence of TB is more in
      rural areas as compared to urban areas. The increase in rural areas is mainly
      contributed by Hindus, SC and ST and low and medium SLI categories and in urban
      areas, the contribution is mainly by Hindus, other castes and high SLI
      categories.

PMID- 20922099
TI  - Alcohol use and implications for public health: patterns of use in four
      communities.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Alcohol is one of the leading causes of death and disability globally
      and in India. Information on quantum and pattern of consumption is crucial to
      formulate intervention programs. OBJECTIVES: To identify the extent and pattern
      of alcohol use in urban, rural, town and slum populations using a uniform
      methodology. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Door-to-door survey was undertaken and simple
      random sampling methodology was adopted; households were the primary sampling
      unit. One respondent in each alcohol-user household was randomly chosen for
      detailed interview. RESULTS: Overall, 13% of males and females consumed alcohol.
      Proportion of users was greater in town (15.7%) and among 26-45 years (67.4%).
      Whisky (49%) and arrack (35%) were the preferred types and the preferences
      differed between rural (arrack) and urban (beer) areas. Nearly half (45%) of
      rural population were very frequent users (consuming daily or every alternate
      days) as against users in town (23%) or slum (20%). Two-thirds were long-term
      users and the proportions were greater in the rural and town areas. While,
      overall 17% of the users were heavy-users, frequent-heavy-drinking was more in
      slum and rural areas. Nearly two-thirds consumed alcohol in liquor-shops,
      restaurants, bars and pubs. Habituation and peer-pressure were the key reasons
      for alcohol use. CONCLUSIONS: The study documented alcohol use and patterns of
      use in four different communities particularly in transitional areas using
      similar methodology. Many of the patterns identified are detrimental to health
      both immediate and over the long period of time.

PMID- 20922100
TI  - Patterns of tobacco use across rural, urban, and urban-slum populations in a
      north Indian community.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Tobacco is the leading cause of mortality globally and in India. The
      magnitude and the pattern of tobacco consumption are likely to be influenced by
      the geographical setting and with rapid urbanization in India there is a need to
      study this differential pattern. AIM: The aim was to study the rural, urban, and
      urban-slum differences in patterns of tobacco use. SETTINGS: The study was
      conducted in Ballabgarh block, Faridabad district, Haryana, and was a community
      based cross-sectional study. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was conducted in
      years 2003-2004 using the WHO STEPS approach with 7891 participants,
      approximately equal number of males and females, selected using multistage
      sampling from urban, urban-slum, and rural strata. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: The
      analysis was done using the SPSS 12.0 statistical package (SPSS Inc., Chicago,
      IL, USA). Direct standardization to the WHO world standard population was done to
      and chi-square and ANOVA tests were used for comparison across three study
      settings. RESULTS: Self-reported tobacco use among males was as follows: urban
      35.2%; urban-slums 48.3%; and rural 52.6% (P value <0.05). Self-reported tobacco
      use among females was as follows: Urban 3.5%; urban-slums 11.9%; and rural 17.7%
      (P value <0.05). More males reported daily bidi (tobacco wrapped in temburini
      leaf) smoking (urban 17.8%, urban-slums 36.7%, rural 44.6%) than cigarette use
      (urban 9.6%, urban-slums 6.3%, rural 2.9%). Females using smoked tobacco were
      almost exclusively using bidis (urban 1.7%, 7.9%, 11% in rural). Daily chewed
      tobacco use had urban, urban-slum, and rural gradients of 12%, 10.5%, and 6.8% in
      males respectively. Its use was low in females. CONCLUSION: The antitobacco
      policies of India need to focus on bidis in antitobacco campaigns. The program
      activities must find ways to reach the rural and urban-slum populations.

PMID- 20922101
TI  - Analysis of birth weights of a rural hospital.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Low birth weight remains a major reason behind childhood
      malnutrition. The NFHS findings show no dent in this problem. OBJECTIVE: This
      study was undertaken to explore change in birth weights in a period from 1989 to
      2007 and any associations thereof. MATERIALS AND METHODS: All birth records of a
      private rural hospital spanning two decades (1989-2007) were analyzed for birth
      weight, age of mother, gender, birth order of the baby, proportion of pre-term
      babies and low birth weight babies. RESULTS: No change was observed in the
      average birth weights (average 2.71 kg) over the period. Although the birth
      weight shows some expected variance with the age of mother, it was found to have
      no relation with the baby's birth order and gender. The low birth weight
      proportion is about 24% and shows little difference before and after the series
      midpoint of year 1998. CONCLUSION: The birth weights have hardly changed in this
      population in the two decades.

PMID- 20922102
TI  - Patient's Utilization and Perception of the Quality of Curative Care in Community
      Health Centers of the Fifth Commune of Bsamako.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Community health centers are an important component of the health
      system in Mali. Despite the adhesion of the populations and the commitment of the
      authorities, many things must be done to improve the quality of care provided in
      those structures. OBJECTIVES: The study aimed to know the patients' utilization
      and perception of the curative care in the community health centers of Bamako and
      the physicians' satisfaction of their work condition and perspective in the
      community health sector. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was
      conducted in nine community health centers of Bamako in 2008. A total of 270
      patients were interviewed through a face-to-face interview. Thirteen physicians
      took a self-administrated questionnaire relating to their material and financial
      conditions and their plan for the future. RESULTS: The sample was characterized
      by the low literacy (32.6%) and socio-economic level (15.9% of steady income).139
      patients claimed the nearness as the reason of the choice of the health center
      whereas only 51 claimed the health staff skill. The women felt more satisfied
      than men (P=0.005) and illiterates felt more satisfied than bachelors and beyond
      (P=0.034). The patients claimed the reduction of waiting time, the improvement of
      information and the creation of news services. 30.80% of physicians were
      satisfied from their material and financial conditions, 38.46% were motivated and
      76.92% planned to leave their health center. CONCLUSION: Although a high level of
      satisfaction regarding the provided service was observed, user reported some
      shortage in the quality of care and claimed a widening of CSCom capability.

PMID- 20922103
TI  - Risk Factor Scenario in an Industrial Set-up: Need for an Effective Screening
      Tool to Assess the High-Risk Group.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Industrial and technological revolution has resulted in nutrition
      transition. This calls for analyzing the risk factor scenario in the industrial
      population. OBJECTIVE: The objective was to map the prevalence and assess the
      risk factors of industrial employees. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The employees of a
      large petrochemical industry were enrolled (N=269) for the study. Risk factors
      were elicited through a structured questionnaire. Parameters monitored were
      fasting blood sugar and lipid profile. Relative risk was calculated to find out
      significant predictor variables. RESULTS: The employees had high prevalence of
      overweight (27%), obesity (22%), central obesity (48.7%), prehypertension
      (43.2%), hypertension (36.6%), and dyslipidemia (41.4%). They had erroneous
      dietary habits such as low intake of fruits and vegetables and high fat intake.
      Most of the employees had low physical activity levels. The prevalence of smoking
      (13.5%), tobacco (28.2%), and alcohol use (22.2%) were also high with 15.1%
      having multiple habits. One-fifth of the employees had metabolic syndrome (MS).
      Seven predictor variables, namely, family history, BMI, WHR, blood pressure,
      physical inactivity, TG, and TG/H were identified and used to develop the risk
      score card to identify people at high risk of CVD and DM. CONCLUSION: Multiple
      risk factor scenario among the industrial population studied calls for effective
      intervention strategies and policy changes to combat the burden of non
      communicable diseases. The risk score card can be used to screen the high-risk
      group in the industrial population.

PMID- 20922104
TI  - Increased prevalence of pulmonary tuberculosis in male adults of sahariya tribe
      of India: a revised survey.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A survey made in 1991-92, reported Sahariya, a primitive tribe of
      India (M. P.), having high prevalence of pulmonary tuberculosis. No follow-up
      study was undertaken thereafter. OBJECTIVE: The present study was aimed to know
      the current status of tuberculosis (TB) in Sahariya after more than a decade of
      the last survey of 1991-92, as compared to that in Bhil, another primitive tribe
      living in the same area but never investigated for TB incidence. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: A total of 763 random sputum smears from Sahariya and 169 sputum smears
      from Bhil were screened for the presence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M..tb) in
      order to evaluate the prevalence of pulmonary tuberculosis in both the tribes.
      Chi square (chi(2)) statistics was performed to study the correlation between
      age, sex on the one hand and with the prevalence of smear-positive pulmonary TB
      on the other hand, if any. RESULTS: In Sahariya, the prevalence of smear-positive
      pulmonary TB was found increased significantly (P<0.005) to 0.454 as against
      0.274 estimated in the earlier survey (1991-92). Males, particularly, appeared
      most affected (P<0.005; 0.382), especially adults (0.260). In contrast, among
      Bhil, the prevalence was very low. CONCLUSION: The observed increase in TB
      prevalence and its gender bias in Sahariya tribe indicate the high incidence rate
      and faster transmission of infection, especially in male sex.

PMID- 20922105
TI  - Tobacco use among adolescent students and the influence of role models.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Seventy per cent of premature deaths among adults are due to
      behavioral patterns that emerge in adolescence, including smoking. OBJECTIVE: The
      objective was to study the prevalence of tobacco use among adolescent students in
      South Delhi and its epidemiological correlates. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a
      cross-sectional study. SETTING: Three schools and two colleges of South Delhi
      were chosen. There were 550 adolescent students aged 14-19. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS:
      Statistical analysis was done using proportions, the chi-square test, and
      multivariate logistic regression. RESULTS: A total of 88 (16.0%) students
      reported having ever tried cigarette or bidi smoking. The prevalence of current
      smoking was 7.1%. Exactly 10% (55) of the students reported having ever used
      smokeless forms of tobacco. The prevalence of tobacco use overall was found to be
      20.9%, and was significantly higher (P=0.016) among the males than the females.
      Tobacco use was found to be significantly associated with having seen a
      brother/sister smoke (OR 5.15), best friend smoke (OR 2.92), and belonging to a
      nuclear family (OR 1.96). CONCLUSIONS: Tobacco use is still an important risk
      behavior among adolescent students. This study found a strong association of
      tobacco use by the adolescents with their having seen various role models ever
      smoking.

PMID- 20922106
TI  - Assessment of Malnutrition Among Adolescents:Can BMI be Replaced by MUAC.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To find out the magnitude of malnutrition among the adolescents of an
      urban slum of Kolkata study population. To compare the middle upper arm
      circumference (MUAC) with that of body mass index (BMI) for determination of
      nutritional status of the study population. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a
      school-based descriptive epidemiological study done among adolescent male
      students aged 10-19 years in the service area of Urban Health Centre, Chetla. The
      school is an all boy's government aided school and all the students reside in the
      Chetla slum, the largest slum of Kolkata. Anthropometric measurements of the
      students of one section selected from each class i.e. class V to XII were
      recorded. RESULTS: Results showed 47.93% of study population as per BMI and
      60.30% as per MUAC were malnourished. Evaluation of screening test showed MUAC as
      a marker was 94.6% sensitive and 71.2% specific. A correlation between
      measurements of MUAC and BMI was demonstrated (r=0.822; SE=0.035; 95% CI;
      P=0.000000; r(2)=0.74).

PMID- 20922107
TI  - Relationship of personal hygiene with nutrition and morbidity profile: a study
      among primary school children in South kolkata.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Majority of the health problems affecting school children are
      preventable by promotion of hygienic practices through proper health education by
      the teachers, who are the first contacts. OBJECTIVES: The study was undertaken to
      find out the status of nutrition and personal hygiene among primary school
      children and their association with their varied morbidity profiles. MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: A descriptive, observational, cross-sectional study was conducted in
      a primary school situated in the largest slum of Kolkata. RESULTS: The
      participants included 103 boys and 81 girls, with a mean age of 6.2 years. The
      mean personal hygiene score of the girls (4.15 +/- 0.98) was significantly higher
      than that of boys (3.2 +/- 1.4) [P<0.05]. Most of the boys (54.37%) and girls
      (74.07%) were normally nourished as per the CDC growth chart. Over 70% of the
      children were suffering from one or more morbidities, the most common morbidity
      in both the sexes being pallor, followed by worm infestation. Personal hygiene
      scores were significantly higher (P<0.05) among those children who were normally
      nourished as well as those who did not suffer from any morbidity in the last 15
      days. CONCLUSIONS: Care should be taken to improve the pitiable state of personal
      hygiene and poor sanitary practices of these school children through coordinated
      and concerted health education measures by teachers as well as parents.

PMID- 20922108
TI  - Estimation of the Incidence of Bacterial Vaginosis and other Vaginal Infections
      and its Consequences on Maternal/Fetal Outcome in Pregnant Women Attending an
      Antenatal Clinic in a Tertiary Care Hospital in North India.
AB  - AIMS: This study was undertaken to estimate the incidence of bacterial vaginosis
      (BV) and other vaginal infections during pregnancy and its association with
      urinary tract infections (UTI) and its consequences on pregnancy outcome,
      maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: Prospective
      cohort study. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The present prospective cohort study was
      conducted on 200 women attending the antenatal clinic (ANC) of a tertiary
      hospital. All pertinent obstetric and neonatal data covering antenatal events
      during the course of pregnancy, delivery, puerperium and condition of each
      newborn at the time of birth were collected. BV was detected by both Gram stain
      and gold standard clinical criteria (Amsel's composite criteria). STATISTICAL
      ANALYSIS USED: Data were analyzed using SPSS version 9. Fischer's exact test, chi
      square tests and Student's' test has been used for analysis. The probability of
      5% was considered as significant for continuous variables such as age, period of
      gestation and birth weight. Odds ratio (OR) and confidence interval (CI) with 95%
      probability were determined. RESULTS: The incidence of bacterial vaginosis was 41
      in 200 patients. Adverse outcomes such as preterm labor, PROM and fetal
      complications were found more in pregnant women who had bacterial vaginosis
      (N=41), bacterial vaginosis with UTI (N=14) as compared to those without
      bacterial vaginosis (N=118). CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of poor pregnancy outcome
      was higher in bacterial vaginosis with UTI. Prevention of BV and UTI is cost
      effective to minimize the pregnancy-related complications and preterm labor to
      decrease in perinatal and maternal mortality and morbidity. We recommend all
      antenatal patients should be screened for the presence of bacterial vaginosis,
      other infections and UTI.

PMID- 20922109
TI  - Knowledge and Outcome Measure of HbA1c Testing in Asian Indian Patients with Type
      2 Diabetes from a Tertiary Care Center.
AB  - AIM: HbA1c test is considered to be the reliable measure for evaluating long-term
      glycemic control in type 2 diabetes. The purpose of this study was to evaluate
      whether knowledge about HbA1c test is associated with a better glycemic control.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional survey of 480 (M:F;
      287:193) adults with type 2 diabetes attending a tertiary care center during a
      period of four months. Baseline demographic and clinical data of all the subjects
      was obtained. Subject's knowledge about HbA1c test and their target goal was
      assessed using a questionnaire. Recent HbA1c results were obtained from medical
      records. RESULTS: Seventy four per cent of the subjects had awareness about HbA1c
      test and about 43% of those who knew HbA1c test also knew their target goal. 33%
      remember their last HbA1c result. The mean A1C of Group A was significantly lower
      when compared with Group B (8.1 +/- 1.7 vs 9.2 +/- 1.9, P<0.0001). Group C had
      lower A1C levels compared to Group D (7.7 +/- 1.4 vs 8.5 +/- 1.9, p<0.0001).
      Patients who kept their HbA1c less than 7% were significantly higher in Group C
      than in Group D. (37.8 vs 12.7%, p<0.00001). Subjects had good glycemic control
      with increasing levels of awareness about HbA1c. CONCLUSION: Majority of the
      diabetic patients who attended the tertiary care center for diabetes care knew
      HbA1c test and half of them were aware about their target goal. Awareness about
      HbA1c had a positive impact on maintenance of better glycemic control.

PMID- 20922110
TI  - Epidemic investigation of the jaundice outbreak in girdharnagar, ahmedabad,
      gujarat, India, 2008.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Since 1976, seven outbreaks of hepatitis E occurred in Ahmedabad.
      Clusters of jaundice cases were reported on June 19, 2008, by a civic center,
      Girdharnagar ward, Ahmedabad. OBJECTIVES: THE OBJECTIVES WERE AS FOLLOWS: (1) to
      identify the etiological agent, source of outbreak, and mode of transmission; (2)
      to propose a control measure based on the outbreak investigation. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: We defined a case as an acute illness with (a) a discrete onset of
      symptoms and (b) jaundice or elevated serum aminotransferase levels, from March
      to September 2008 in the households of the Girdharnagar ward. We collected data
      through a door-to-door survey and hospital records. We described the outbreak in
      terms of time, place, and person. We collected laboratory investigation reports
      of case patients admitted to the civil hospital. To test our hypothesis we
      conducted a retrospective cohort study to find out the relative risk for
      hepatitis. We conducted environment investigation to find out the source of
      contamination of water supply. RESULTS: A total 233 case patients of hepatitis
      were identified with the attack rate of 10.9/1000 population. Cases were reported
      in all the age groups with a higher attack rate in the age group of 20-29 years
      (18.5/1000). Out of 17 case patients, 16 were positive for the hepatitis E IgM
      antibody. The attack rate was two times more among those who were exposed to the
      leaking pipeline than the non-exposed (RR=2.3, 95% CI 1.76, 2.98). Environmental
      investigation also confirmed the sewage contamination of drinking water in the
      distribution system. CONCLUSION: The outbreak was due to hepatitis E virus. We
      recommended a temporary alternative water supply, repair of the leakages, and
      water quality surveillance.

PMID- 20922111
TI  - Assessment of Skeletal and Non-skeletal Fluorosis in Endemic Fluoridated Areas of
      Vidharbha Region, India: A Survey.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To evaluate skeletal and non-skeletal fluorosis in patients living at
      endemic fluoridated areas and also the morphological changes in red blood cells
      (R.B.C.'s). MATERIALS AND METHODS: The cross-sectional study was conducted at
      Vidharbha region of Maharashtra, India. An ethical clearance was obtained from
      the concerned authorities. Fifty families were screened and 204 subjects who had
      dental/skeletal fluorosis were included in the study. The aims and objectives
      were explained to the study subjects of the village and biochemical,
      hematological and radiological assessment was done. The main source of drinking
      water in this area was tube well. The concentrations of fluoride in two different
      areas of same village were 4 and 4.5 ppm. RESULTS: Prevalence of skeletal
      fluorosis and non-skeletal fluorosis in male patients was 56.87% (116) and in
      female patients (88) it was 43.13%. RBC count in male patients was 5.03 +/- 0.49
      while in female patients it was 4.70 +/- 0.47. With significant difference
      between male and female patients, P value was 0.003. Hb% in male patients was
      12.44 +/- 1.76 and in female patients it was 11.31+/- 1.34, showing significant
      difference between male and female patients P value 0.038. Alkaline phosphate
      level in male patients was 289.68 +/- 149.09 and in female patients it was 276.68
      +/- 164.97. ESR count in male patients was found 11.41 +/- 8.75 and in female
      patients it was 13.29 +/-7.37. Radiological finding of fluorosis patients shows
      thickening of inner and outer tables of skull bone in 83.92% of patients and only
      7.84% of the patients were suffering from barrowing of long bone.

PMID- 20922112
TI  - Awareness and Perceptions of School Children about Female Feticide in Urban
      Ludhiana.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although the Indian girl child's position is precarious throughout
      the country, she remains the most vulnerable in Punjab. OBJECTIVES: To assess the
      awareness and perceptions of school children regarding female feticide. STUDY
      DESIGN: Crosssectional study. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study involved
      collection of information regarding knowledge and perception of school students
      about female feticide using multiple choice questionnaire. A total of 527
      students between the age group of 11-18 years of various schools of district
      Ludhiana, Punjab were the study subjects. They had come to participate in the
      poster competition on organ donation (SAARC Transplant games), organized by
      Department of Community Medicine, D.M.C and H, Ludhiana. RESULTS: Out of total
      527 students, 97.9% were aware of female feticide. Main source of information was
      TV (56%), followed by newspaper (33%). Majority of the students (65.2 %) felt
      that discrimination between boys and girls is prevalent in the society. Regarding
      perception of school students for curbing this social evil, 37.8% school students
      were of the view that awareness among the masses is the solution to stop this
      practice, while 25% of the students responded that equal status to girls will
      stop this practice of female feticide. CONCLUSIONS: The school students had
      optimum level of awareness about female feticide and almost all of them strongly
      felt that this harmful practice should be stopped altogether.

PMID- 20922113
TI  - A Multi-sectoral Approach to Capture Information on Road Traffic Injuries.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Regularly available data is shown to be inadequate for developing,
      implementing, and evaluating injury prevention and control programs in India. The
      present study was undertaken in the hospitals of Bangalore and Pune, to examine
      the feasibility of gathering information on injuries using multiple sources.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Stakeholders meeting and training programs were held for
      the hospital staff, police personnel, and traffic and transport staff, to
      identify their roles and responsibilities. Prospective data on morbidity and
      mortality due to injuries were collected by trained staff from Emergency
      Departments on a pre-tested questionnaire. The information gathered was cross
      checked with the hospital and police records. RESULTS: The stakeholders meeting
      and training programs were able to motivate the departments to provide the
      correct data. Data on 32188 patients could be extracted from hospital and police
      records during the study period. Injuries accounted for 16% of the emergency
      cases. Unintentional injuries were 64%, and 32% were intentional. Road traffic
      injuries accounted for 44% of all the injuries. One-third of the injured were
      children and young adults below 25 years. Among the injured, two wheeler riders
      were 29% and pedestrians were 23%. CONCLUSION: It was possible to improve the
      data on injuries by adequate training and a data linking mechanism between the
      Police, Hospital, and Transport Departments. The problem of road traffic injuries
      could be highlighted and addressed by a good data capture mechanism.

PMID- 20922114
TI  - A study on domestic violence against adult and adolescent females in a rural area
      of west bengal.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Globally, domestic violence against females is common across culture,
      religion, class and ethnicity. There are various reasons for domestic violence
      and it might have serious health outcomes. OBJECTIVES: The study was undertaken
      to determine the prevalence, characteristics, reasons and the socio-demographic
      correlates of domestic violence, if any, and to find out the perceptions of the
      females to cope with the act of violence and to overcome the situation. MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: A cross-sectional observational study was undertaken by interviewing
      141 adult and adolescent females residing in a village of West Bengal, with the
      help of a pre-designed and pre-tested questionnaire. Data were analyzed
      statistically by simple proportions and tests of significance (Chi-square test).
      RESULTS: Out of 141 respondents, 33 (23.4%) adult and adolescent females in this
      village were exposed to domestic violence in the past year. Among the demographic
      characteristics, statistically significant maximum prevalence was observed among
      30-39 years age group, illiterate and unmarried females. For most of the females
      who were exposed to domestic violence, their husbands acted as the perpetrators
      (72.73%) and they reported slapping as the specific act of physical assault
      (72.73%). Majority of the respondents reported that opportunity of education
      (31.9%), being economically productive (31.9%) and better family income (23.4%)
      would help them to overcome the situation. CONCLUSION: This study emphasizes the
      need for justified female empowerment and this calls for multidisciplinary
      approach to develop public health measures, which would most effectively address
      the problem of domestic violence.

PMID- 20922115
TI  - Body Image Perception and Attempts to Change Weight among Female Medical Students
      at Mangalore.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Assessing body image self-perception has used BMI as an indicator of
      nutritional status. The visual analogue scale is a highly effective instrument
      for assessing people's level of dissatisfaction with their body weight while
      evaluating the perceptual component of body image. OBJECTIVE: By knowing body
      mass index of female medical students, to find out their pattern of body image
      perception and any attempts done to change their weight. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      All the students residing in MBBS ladies hostel were included in this study and a
      questionnaire regarding body image perception, diet, physical activity and
      attempts to change weight was instituted. Their responses were collected,
      tabulated, analyzed and interpreted. RESULTS: Among 147 study subjects, according
      to BMI, 25(17%) were undernourished while 111(75.5%) and 11(7.5%) were normally
      nourished and overweight respectively. 35(23.8%) of the subjects felt they were
      lean, 95(64.6%) felt they were normal and 17(11.6%) felt they were overweight.
      Regarding image satisfaction, 98(66.7%) of them were satisfied with their image
      and out of 49 who were not satisfied 30 (20.4 %) wanted to reduce weight.
      Skipping meals was practiced by 42 (28.6%) of subjects. CONCLUSION: About 75.5%
      of the study group were having normal BMI. Most of them perceived their image
      correctly regarding to their weight. Most of the underweight and all overweight
      females were not satisfied. Underweight females preferred to gain weight and
      overweight females preferred to lose weight.

PMID- 20922116
TI  - Work-related Musculoskeletal Disorder: An Occupational Disorder of the Goldsmiths
      in India.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Gold ornament making industries are one of the widespread small-scale
      industries of India. These industries belong to the unorganized sector of the
      state. A large number of goldsmiths are working there for prolonged period in
      cross leg posture at semi-confined workstation. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study
      is to identify Occupational Disorder of the Goldsmiths in India. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: In the spresent study, 120 male goldsmiths were randomly selected from
      the Davangere district of Karnataka. A detailed questionnaire study on discomfort
      feeling was done by the modified Nordic questionnaire, which considering the
      information about work nature, job stress and discomfort feeling. The existing
      workstations were assessed by the measurement of work areas. Analysis of body
      posture by rapid upper limb assessment was done to evaluate the work stress
      during their job. RESULTS: From the analysis, it was revealed that MSDs were the
      major problem of the goldsmiths. The activities of the goldsmiths were also
      highly repetitive. Moreover, the questionnaire study revealed that most of the
      workers were affected by occupational disorder like pain at neck (80%), shoulder
      (20%), wrist (45%), and low back (75%) and also eye problem like irritation (30%)
      and burning sensation (70%). They also perform their job in hazardous postures.
      It was recorded that the workstations were poorly illuminated (19 Lux) in respect
      to precision work. Accidents like cut and burn occurred frequently due to the
      unsafe condition of the workstation. CONCLUSIONS: From the observation and
      analysis of the result it was concluded that health of the goldsmiths were highly
      affected improper body posture and workload. Twisting, bending, and over-reaching
      are the resultant of poorly designed workstation. These actions force them into a
      non-neutral position that increases the overall discomfort and pain at the lower
      back, neck, and shoulders. Moreover, lack of proper illumination at work site
      also exerts an additional adverse effect on the health of the goldsmiths.

PMID- 20922117
TI  - Putting people first: a primary health care success in rural India.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The World Health Report, 2008, contains a global review of primary
      health care on the 30th anniversary of the Declaration of Alma-Ata. The period
      covered by the study reported on here corresponds with that of the Report,
      allowing for a comparison of achievements and challenges in one primary health
      care centre vis-a-vis the WHO standards. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study uses
      qualitative and quantitative data from a rural primary care facility in Western
      Maharashtra, collected over three decades. It analyzes the four groups of reforms
      defined by WHO in the context of the achievements and challenges of the study
      facility. RESULTS: According to the WHO Report, health systems in developing
      countries have not responded adequately to people's needs. However, our in-depth
      observations revealed substantial progress in several areas, including in family
      planning, safe deliveries, immunization and health promotion. Satisfaction with
      services in the study area was high. CONCLUSION: Adequate primary health care is
      possible, even when all recommended WHO reforms are not fully in place.

PMID- 20922118
TI  - Arsenic contamination of ground water and its health impact on population of
      district of nadia, west bengal, India.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The global health impact and disease burden due to chronic arsenic
      toxicity has not been well studied in West Bengal. OBJECTIVE: To ascertain these,
      a scientific epidemiological study was carried out in a district of the state.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Epidemiological study was carried out by house-to-house
      survey of arsenic affected villages in the district of Nadia. A stratified multi
      stage design has been adopted for this survey for the selection of the
      participants. A total number of 2297 households of 37 arsenic affected villages
      in all the 17 blocks were surveyed in the district. RESULT: Out of 10469
      participants examined, prevalence rate of arsenicosis was found to be 15.43%. Out
      of 0.84 million people suspected to be exposed to arsenic, 0.14 million people
      are estimated to be suffering from arsenicosis in the district. Highest level of
      arsenic in drinking water sources was found to be 1362 MUg/l, and in 23% cases it
      was above 100 MUg/l. Majority of the population living in the arsenic affected
      villages were of low socio-economic condition, inadequate education and were
      farmers or doing physical labour. Chronic lung disease was found in 207 (12.81%)
      subjects among cases and 69 (0.78%) in controls. Peripheral neuropathy was found
      in 257 (15.9%) cases and 136 (1.5%) controls. CONCLUSION: Large number of people
      in the district of Nadia are showing arsenical skin lesion. However, insufficient
      education, poverty, lack of awareness and ineffective health care support are
      major factors causing immense plight to severely arsenic affected people.

PMID- 20922119
TI  - A study to evaluate mobile phone dependence among students of a medical college
      and associated hospital of central India.

PMID- 20922120
TI  - Red Tide Phenomenon Leading to Panic Attack and Mass Casualty among Children in
      Coastal Kerala.

PMID- 20922121
TI  - A study on the Perception of General Practitioners of a Locality in Kolkata
      Regarding RNTCP and DOTS.

PMID- 20922122
TI  - Proportion, pattern and need assessment of deformities among registered leprosy
      affected individuals in chamrajanagar district.

PMID- 20922123
TI  - Harassment among Women at Workplace: A Cross-Sectional Study in Coastal South
      India.

PMID- 20922124
TI  - Potentially Modifiable Micro-Environmental and Co-Morbid Factors Associated with
      Severe Wasting and Stunting in Children below 3 Years of Age in Aligarh District.

PMID- 20922125
TI  - Community ophthalmology: revisited.

PMID- 20922126
TI  - Clinical Course of Development of Alcohol and Opioid Dependence: What are the
      Implications in Prevention?

PMID- 20922127
TI  - Use of condoms: clarifying the message.

PMID- 20922128
TI  - Low birth weight of newborns: magnitude of the problem seen in a 100 bed hospital
      of a rural area in vellore district, Tamil Nadu (India).

PMID- 20922129
TI  - Risk factors among patients with acute coronary syndrome in rural kerala.

PMID- 20922130
TI  - Sharp disposal practices in urban dispensaries.

PMID- 20922131
TI  - Selecting the Right Toys for Your child is Not a Child's Play.

PMID- 20922132
TI  - Assessment of the Quality of Service Given by Health Care Provider about
      Tuberculosis in RNTCP.

PMID- 20922133
TI  - Study of Knowledge, Attitude and Practices Regarding Biomedical Waste among
      Paramedical Workers.

PMID- 20922135
TI  - Overview on the 1st international workshop on gynecologic oncology.

PMID- 20922134
TI  - A cyclic-RGD-BioShuttle functionalized with TMZ by DARinv "Click Chemistry"
      targeted to alphavbeta3 integrin for therapy.
AB  - Clinical experiences often document, that a successful tumor control requires
      high doses of drug applications. It is widely believed that unavoidable adverse
      reactions could be minimized by using gene-therapeutic strategies protecting the
      tumor-surrounding healthy tissue as well as the bone-marrow. One new approach in
      this direction is the use of "Targeted Therapies" realizing a selective drug
      targeting to gain effectual amounts at the target site, even with drastically
      reduced application doses. MCF-7 breast cancer cells expressing the
      alpha(v)beta(3) [alpha(v)beta(3)] integrin receptor are considered as appropriate
      candidates for such a targeted therapy. The modularly composed BioShuttle carrier
      consisting of different units designed to facilitate the passage across the cell
      membranes and for subcellular addressing of diagnostic and/or therapeutic
      molecules could be considered as an eligible delivery platform. Here we used the
      cyclic RGD-BioShuttle as a carrier for temozolomide (TMZ) at the alpha(v)beta(3)
      integrin receptor realizing local TMZ concentrations sufficient for cell killing.
      The IC50 values are 12 uMol/L in the case of cRGD-BioShuttle-TMZ and 100 uMol/L
      for underivatized TMZ, which confirms the advantage of TMZ reformulation to
      realize local concentrations sufficient for cell killing. Our paper focuses on
      the design, synthesis and application of the cRGD-BioShuttle conjugate composed
      of the cyclic RGD, a alpha(v)beta(3) integrin-ligand, ligated to the cytotoxic
      drug TMZ. The ligation was carried out by the Diels Alder Reaction with inverse
      electron demand (DAR(inv)).

PMID- 20922136
TI  - Asian society of gynecologic oncology workshop 2010.
AB  - This workshop was held on July 31-August 1, 2010 and was organized to promote the
      academic environment and to enhance the communication among Asian countries prior
      to the 2nd biennial meeting of Australian Society of Gynaecologic Oncologists
      (ASGO), which will be held on November 3-5, 2011. We summarized the whole
      contents presented at the workshop. Regarding cervical cancer screening in Asia,
      particularly in low resource settings, and an update on human papillomavirus
      (HPV) vaccination was described for prevention and radical surgery overview,
      fertility sparing and less radical surgery, nerve sparing radical surgery and
      primary chemoradiotherapy in locally advanced cervical cancer, were discussed for
      management. As to surgical techniques, nerve sparing radical hysterectomy,
      optimal staging in early ovarian cancer, laparoscopic radical hysterectomy, one
      port surgery and robotic surgery were introduced. After three topics of
      endometrial cancer, laparoscopic surgery versus open surgery, role of
      lymphadenectomy and fertility sparing treatment, there was a special additional
      time for clinical trials in Asia. Finally, chemotherapy including neo-adjuvant
      chemotherapy, optimal surgical management, and the basis of targeted therapy in
      ovarian cancer were presented.

PMID- 20922138
TI  - Survival benefit of laparoscopic surgical staging-guided radiation therapy in
      locally advanced cervical cancer.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study was designed to evaluate the survival benefit of
      laparoscopic surgical staging (LSS)-guided tailored radiation therapy (RT) in
      locally advanced cervical cancer (LACC). METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed 89
      LACC patients' medical records who primarily received non-surgical treatment, of
      which pretreatment LSS was performed in 20 (LSS group) and primary chemoradiation
      therapy (CCRT) without LSS (CCRT group) was carried out in 69 from January 2000
      to January 2006. We analyzed clinical characteristics, pretreatment imaging study
      results and survival outcomes including disease free survival (DFS) and overall
      survival (OS) to compare them between the two groups. RESULTS: There were as many
      as eight cases (40%) of LSS related complications. The mean time interval between
      LSS and RT or CCRT was 26.6 days (+/-18.8 days). Six out of twenty (30%) in LSS
      group and 10 out of 69 (14.5%) in CCRT group received extended field RT when
      paraaortic lymph nodes (LNs) were positive based on the pathologic findings after
      LSS and the results of imaging studies, respectively. Three-year DFS and OS were
      both better in 33 imaging-negative CCRT group patients than those in 4 imaging
      negative/pathology-positive (false negative) patients after LSS (3-year DFS, 50%
      vs. 87%, p=0.022; 3-year OS, 50% vs. 84%, p=0.033). The 5-year DFS rates were 52%
      and 55% in LSS group and in CCRT group, respectively (p=0.28). The 5-year OS
      rates were 68% in LSS group and 62% in CCRT group without significant difference
      between the two groups (p=0.79). CONCLUSION: We found that LSS-based RT tailoring
      did not show survival benefit in LACC despite inaccuracy of imaging-based RT
      tailoring. Further studies are required to find new method to overcome this
      inaccuracy and improve survival outcomes.

PMID- 20922137
TI  - Current status in the management of uterine corpus cancer in Korea.
AB  - Uterine corpus cancer has increased in prevalence in Korean women over the last
      decade. Recently, elegant studies have been reported from many institutes. To
      improve treatment strategies, a review of our own data is warranted. This work
      will discuss the risks and prognostic factors for uterine corpus cancer, and the
      radiologic evaluation, prediction of lymph node metastasis, systematic
      lymphadenectomy, minimally invasive surgery, ovarian-saving surgery, fertility
      sparing treatment, and adjuvant treatment in women with uterine cancer.

PMID- 20922139
TI  - GST (GSTM1, GSTT1, and GSTP1) polymorphisms in the genetic susceptibility of
      Turkish patients to cervical cancer.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This work investigates the role of glutathione S-transferase M1
      (GSTM1), glutathione S-transferase T1 (GSTT1), and glutathione S-transferase P1
      (GSTP1) enzymes and polymorphisms, which are found in phase II detoxification
      reactions in the development of cervical cancer. METHODS: This study was
      conducted with 46 patients diagnosed with cervical cancer and 52 people with no
      cancer history. Multiplex PCR methods were used to evaluate the GSTM1 and GSTT1
      gene polymorphism. However, the GSTP1 (Ile105Val) gene polymorphism was studied
      using a PCR-RFLP method. The patient and control groups were compared using a chi
      square test with p<0.05. RESULTS: In the patient group, statistical significance
      was determined for gravidity (p=0.03), parity (p=0.01), and the number of living
      children (p=0.01) compared to the control group. The gene frequency of GSTM1,
      GSTT1, and GSTP1 polymorphisms was evaluated. We observed that GSTM1 and GSTT1
      null genotype frequencies were 54.3% and 32.6% respectively, while GSTP1
      (Ile/Val), (Ile/Ile), (Val/Val) genotype frequencies were 52%, 44%, and 4%,
      respectively, in the cervical cancer patients. No statistical variation was
      determined between the control and patient groups in terms of GSTM1, GSTT1, and
      GSTP1 polymorphisms (p>0.05). CONCLUSION: Our results demonstrate that GSTT1,
      GSTM1, and GSTP1 polymorphisms are not associated with cervical cancer in Turkish
      patients.

PMID- 20922141
TI  - High expression of mTOR is associated with radiation resistance in cervical
      cancer.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) is known to promote cell
      proliferation, survival, and resistance to radiation. The aim of this study was
      to determine whether mTOR expression was associated with survival and the
      response to radiation in patients with cervical cancer. METHODS: After reviewing
      119 patients treated by primary radiotherapy for stage IIB-IVA cervical cancer, a
      case-control study was performed. The cases (n=12) with local recurrence or
      radiation failure after primary radiation therapy were selected. For each case,
      two controls that had no recurrence were selected. Using pretreatment paraffin
      embedded tissues, the cytoplasmic expression of phosphorylated-mTOR (p-mTOR) was
      evaluated by immunohistochemistry. Staining was scored based on intensity
      (intensity score [IS] 0-3) and proportion (proportion score [PS] 0-100). The
      progression free survival (PFS) was defined from the end of treatment to the day
      of recurrence by imaging studies or biopsy. The staining distribution and PFS
      were compared between the two groups. The results were analyzed by the Student t
      test, Mann-Whitney U-test, Fisher's exact test, and Cox proportional hazards
      regression model. RESULTS: The p-mTOR cytoplasmic expression was significantly
      associated with a poor response to radiotherapy (p<0.01). With respect to
      survival, a higher cytoplasmic expression of p-mTOR was associated with a worse
      outcome (p=0.02). The hazard ratio for recurrence or radiation failure was 6.18
      for mTOR IS and 1.04 for mTOR PS (p<0.05 for both), indicating that the degree of
      p-mTOR staining correlated with the recurrence risk. CONCLUSION: High expression
      of p-mTOR was associated with radiation resistance; therefore p-mTOR may be a
      prognostic marker for response to radiotherapy in patients with cervical cancer.

PMID- 20922140
TI  - Plasma levels of insulin-like growth factor-1 and insulin-like growth factor
      binding protein-3 in women with cervical neoplasia.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study was to investigate the relationship between
      plasma levels of insulin-like growth factors-1 (IGF-1) and IGF-binding protein-3
      (IGFBP-3) and the risk for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) and cervical
      cancer. METHODS: Plasma levels of IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 of 44 cervical cancer
      patients, 82 CIN patients and 40 neoplasm-free patients were investigated. Then
      the associations of the plasma levels of IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 with cervical neoplasm
      or its clinicopathologic parameters were analyzed. RESULTS: The mean IGF-1
      concentrations were significantly different among the control, CIN, and cervical
      cancer groups; the levels were higher in the CIN group compared to the controls.
      According to the quartile category, the plasma IGF-1 level was significantly
      higher (p=0.0015) in the CIN group than in the controls. The IGFBP-3 level showed
      no association between the controls and CIN groups (p=0.842). Although the mean
      IGF-1/IGFBP-3 molar ratio had borderline significance (p=0.08) among the study
      population, the quartile comparison showed a significantly higher IGF-1/IGFBP-3
      molar ratio in the CIN group compared to the control group (p=0.041). CONCLUSION:
      Plasma levels of IGF-1 and the IGF-1/IGFBP-3 molar ratio might be useful for the
      development early detection of cervical lesions and used as an adjuvant
      diagnostic tool for cervical neoplasia after more larger scale research.

PMID- 20922142
TI  - The type of metastasis is a prognostic factor in disseminated cervical cancer.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: THE OBJECTIVES OF THIS STUDY WERE TWOFOLD: to verify whether the type
      of metastasis (lymphatic vs. hematogenous) is a prognostic factor, and to
      identify molecular markers associated with survival in patients with disseminated
      cervical cancer. METHODS: Between April 1997 and May 2008, 30 patients with
      disseminated cervical cancer who had supraclavicular lymph node (N=13) or
      hematogenous metastases (N=17) were initially treated at our institute. We
      reviewed medical records to extract clinicopathologic variables. For 17 patients
      with available pathological specimens, we evaluated the association of
      immunohistochemical staining for metalloproteinase (MMP)-2, vascular endothelial
      growth factor (VEGF)-A, and laminin V gamma (LAMC)-2 with survival and
      clinicopathologic variables via a log-rank test and Cox regression analysis.
      RESULTS: Patients who had only lymphatic metastasis (odds ratio [OR], 5.3; 95%
      confidence interval [CI], 1.4 to 19.5) or completed initial treatment (OR, 3.2;
      95% CI, 1.1 to 9.9) showed better survival than patients who did not, but none of
      the molecular markers were associated with survival. Out of 13 patients with only
      lymphatic metastasis, three patients who had received volume-directed radiation
      with concurrent chemotherapy had a long-term survival of over two years. However,
      patients with hematogenous metastasis showed extremely poor prognosis.
      CONCLUSION: The type of metastasis and completion of initial treatment were
      associated with prolonged survival in patients with disseminated cervical cancer,
      and over 20% of patients with lymphatic metastasis were salvaged with volume
      directed radiation with concurrent chemotherapy. None of the molecular markers
      were associated with survival in patients with disseminated cervical cancer.

PMID- 20922143
TI  - Uterine metastases in ovarian carcinoma: frequency and survival in women who
      underwent hysterectomy.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Possible reasons for hysterectomy in the initial surgical management
      of advanced invasive epithelial ovarian carcinoma (EOC) might be a high frequency
      of uterine involvement and its impact on survival. The aim of the present study
      was to describe the frequency of uterine involvement and its association with
      survival in an unselected population of EOC patients who underwent hysterectomy.
      METHODS: All incident cases of EOC diagnosed in Israeli Jewish women between
      March 1994 to June 1999, were identified within the framework of a nationwide
      case-control epidemiological study. The target population of the present report
      includes all stage II-IV EOC patients who had a uterus at the time of diagnosis.
      Of the 822 such patients, 695 fulfilled the inclusion criterion. Excluded were
      141 patients for various reasons. The present analysis is based on the remaining
      554 patients. RESULTS: Uterine involvement was present in 291 (52.5%) of the
      patients and it was macroscopic in only 78 (14.1%). The serosa was the most
      common site of isolated metastases. Multivariate analysis showed that advanced
      stage significantly increased the risk for uterine involvement. The overall
      median survival with any uterine involvement was significantly lower compared to
      those with no involvement (38.9 months vs. 58.0 months; p<0.001). CONCLUSION:
      There is an association between uterine involvement, whether macro- or
      microscopic, and lower survival even after hysterectomy although residual tumor
      could not be included in the analysis. Further studies are required to establish
      whether uterine involvement itself is an unfavorable risk factor or merely a
      marker of other unfavorable prognostic factors.

PMID- 20922144
TI  - Skeletal muscle metastasis from carcinoma cervix: a case report.
AB  - Cervical cancer is the most common malignancy in Indian women. Cervical cancer
      usually spread by local extension and through the lymphatics to the
      retroperitoneal lymph nodes. Direct invasion of muscles by primary growth is more
      common than by metastatic involvement. We present a case of carcinoma of the
      cervix post radiotherapy to pelvis who on follow up presented with biceps muscle
      metastases as the initial sign of disseminated disease.

PMID- 20922145
TI  - Primary amelanotic melanoma of the cervix: case report with review of literature.
AB  - Primary malignant melanoma of the uterine cervix is a rare neoplasm with poor
      prognosis. It may be misdiagnosed especially when amelanotic, in which case
      immunohistochemistry is useful in reaching the diagnosis. We present one such
      case of a 65-year-old postmenopausal female patient presenting with bleeding per
      vaginum. Speculum examination revealed an ulcero-proliferative growth involving
      the cervix. On histopathological examination it was originally suspected to be a
      poorly differentiated carcinoma or a non-epithelial malignant tumor, but was
      subsequently correctly diagnosed by immunohistochemical staining with the HMB-45
      antibody and S-100 protein.

PMID- 20922146
TI  - Co-occurrence of an adenoma malignum and an endocervical-type adenocarcinoma of
      the uterine cervix in a woman with Peutz-Jeghers syndrome.
AB  - We report a rare co-occurrence of an adenoma malignum and an adenocarcinoma in a
      30-year-old woman with Peutz-Jeghers syndrome. The woman was diagnosed with Peutz
      Jeghers syndrome based on an endoscopic biopsy after vaginal bleeding. A pelvic
      examination and an MRI revealed the co-occurrence of a 4*5 cm protruding
      adenocarcinoma of FIGO stage Ib2 based on a punch biopsy and a 4.5*5.7 cm
      multilocular cystic mass above the solid cancer. The patient received two courses
      of neoadjuvant chemotherapy, followed by a laparoscopic radical hysterectomy with
      pelvic lymph node dissection. Pathologic findings were consistent with
      adenocarcinoma (40%) and adenoma malignum (60%) confined to the cervix. Three
      courses of adjuvant chemotherapy were performed and no clinical evidence of
      recurrence was seen during a 12 month follow-up period. This study will
      contribute to defining the best diagnosis and treatment for these rare
      complicating tumors.

PMID- 20922147
TI  - Diagnosing homicidal mania: forensic psychiatry and the purposeless murder.

PMID- 20922148
TI  - Specialization without the Hospital: The Case of British Sports Medicine.

PMID- 20922149
TI  - "Open the other eye": payment, civic duty and hospital contributory schemes in
      Bristol, c. 1927-1948.

PMID- 20922150
TI  - "Fascinating scalpel-wielders and fair dissectors": women's experience of Irish
      medical education, c. 1880s-1920s.

PMID- 20922151
TI  - The truth about our bones: William Cheselden's Osteographia.

PMID- 20922152
TI  - Clifford Dobell and the Making of Paul de Kruif's Microbe Hunters.

PMID- 20922154
TI  - Oral health status of disabled individuals attending special schools.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of the dmft
      DMFT indexes and the oral hygiene status of 136 individuals attending a special
      school for the disabled. METHODS: Participants were grouped according to
      disability [Mental Retardation (MR), Cerebral Palsy (CP), Autistic Disorder (AD),
      Down Syndrome (DS), Other (OTH)] and age [2-6 years (n=24), 7-12 years (50
      children) and 13+ years (62 children]. Caries examinations were carried out in
      accordance with WHO criteria and oral cleanliness was evaluated by visually
      assessing the presence of plaque on teeth. RESULTS: The age range of patients was
      2-26 years (mean age: 11.89+/-5.19 years). Mean dmft and DMFT scores by age group
      were as follows: 2-6 years: dmft=2.04+/-2.24; 7-12 years: dmft=2.24+/-2.60,
      DMFT=0.98+/-2.58; 13+years: DMFT=2.68+/-2.91. Overall, 15.4% of children had no
      caries or fillings. While dmft and DMFT levels (P>.05) did not vary significantly
      by type of disability, oral cleanliness did. Children with autism were observed
      to maintain the best oral hygiene and those with mental retardation (MR), the
      poorest. CONCLUSIONS: It is important for the dentist to concentrate on a
      preventive approach and provide proper dental education to parents of disabled
      individuals. Among the children with disabilities, more attention should be paid
      to the oral hygiene of MR group.

PMID- 20922155
TI  - The effects of prophylactic ozone pretreatment of enamel on shear bond strength
      of orthodontic brackets bonded with total or self-etch adhesive systems.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of this in vitro study is to determine (1) shear bond
      strength (SBS) of brackets bonded with self-etch and total-etch adhesive after
      ozone treatment (2) bond failure interface using a modified Adhesive Remnant
      Index (ARI). METHODS: 52 premolars were randomly assigned into four groups (n=13)
      and received the following treatments: Group 1: 30 s Ozone (Biozonix, Ozonytron,
      Vehos Medikal, Ankara, Turkey) application + Transbond Plus Self-Etching Primer
      (SEP) (3M) + Transbond XT (3M), Group 2: Transbond Plus SEP + Transbond XT, Group
      3: 30 s Ozone application + 37% orthophosphoric acid + Transbond XT Primer (3M) +
      Transbond XT, Group 4: 37% orthophosphoric acid + Transbond XT Primer + Transbond
      XT. All samples were stored in deionised water at 37 degrees C for 24 hours.
      Shear debonding test was performed by applying a vertical force to the base of
      the bracket at a cross-head speed of 1 mm/min. RESULTS: The mean SBS results were
      Group 1: 10.48 MPa; Group 2: 8.89 MPa; Group 3: 9.41 MPa; Group 4: 9.82 MPa. One
      Way Variance Test revealed that the difference between the groups was not
      statistically significant (P=0.267). Debonded brackets were examined by an
      optical microscope at X16 magnification to determine the bond failure interface
      using a modified ARI. The results were (mean) Group 1: 2.38; Group 2: 1.31; Group
      3: 3.00; Group 4: 1.92. Multiple comparisons showed that Groups 1 and 2, 2 and 3,
      3 and 4 were statistically different (P=0.014, P<.001 and P=0.025). CONCLUSIONS:
      Ozone treatment prior to bracket bonding does not affect the shear bond strength.

PMID- 20922156
TI  - The Effect of Framework Design on Stress Distribution in Implant-Supported FPDs:
      A 3-D FEM Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The biomechanical behavior of the superstructure plays an important
      role in the functional longevity of dental implants. However, information about
      the influence of framework design on stresses transmitted to the implants and
      supporting tissues is limited. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the
      effects of framework designs on stress distribution at the supporting bone and
      supporting implants. METHODS: In this study, the three-dimensional (3D) finite
      element stress analysis method was used. Three types of 3D mathematical models
      simulating three different framework designs for implant-supported 3-unit
      posterior fixed partial dentures were prepared with supporting structures. Convex
      (1), concave (2), and conventional (3) pontic framework designs were simulated. A
      300-N static vertical occlusal load was applied on the node at the center of
      occlusal surface of the pontic to calculate the stress distributions. As a second
      condition, frameworks were directly loaded to evaluate the effect of the
      framework design clearly. The Solidworks/Cosmosworks structural analysis programs
      were used for finite element modeling/analysis. RESULTS: The analysis of the von
      Mises stress values revealed that maximum stress concentrations were located at
      the loading areas for all models. The pontic side marginal edges of restorations
      and the necks of implants were other stress concentration regions. There was no
      clear difference among models when the restorations were loaded at occlusal
      surfaces. When the veneering porcelain was removed, and load was applied directly
      to the framework, there was a clear increase in stress concentration with a
      concave design on supporting implants and bone structure. CONCLUSIONS: The
      present study showed that the use of a concave design in the pontic frameworks of
      fixed partial dentures increases the von Mises stress levels on implant abutments
      and supporting bone structure. However, the veneering porcelain element reduces
      the effect of the framework and compensates for design weaknesses.

PMID- 20922157
TI  - Effects of Finger Pressure Applied By Dentists during Cementation of All-Ceramic
      Crowns.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To compare the finger pressure applied by dentists during cementation
      and to examine the effect of gender and time of day on finger pressure. METHODS:
      Fifteen dentists (9 males, 6 females) formed a study group and 10 master dies in
      premolar shape and Turcom Cera all-ceramic crowns were prepared to measure the
      maximum finger pressure applied by dentists during cementation. The dentists
      performed a total of 300 cementation processes. One-way analysis of variance and
      independent t tests were used to evaluate the results. RESULTS: A statistically
      significant difference was found in the amount of pressure applied during
      cementation (P<.005). However, there was no significant difference for time of
      day or gender according to one-way analysis of variance. CONCLUSIONS: Our results
      show that finger pressure varies by dentist. For this reason, the optimum
      pressure should be determined exactly. Special equipment or an apparatus could be
      developed to apply that pressure.

PMID- 20922158
TI  - Age estimation for dental patients using orthopantomographs.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to conduct age estimates for dental
      patients using orthopantomographs (OPGs). The OPGs were selected by an
      independent author with respect to criteria and evaluated by two independent
      dentists. The results were compared to chronologic ages. The reliability of the
      estimates, concurrently made by the two independent dentists using OPGs, was also
      evaluated. METHODS: In this retrospective study, the OPGs of 238 Turkish
      individuals of known chronological age, ranging from 1 to 60 years, were
      measured. Patients were then classified. Radiographs were evaluated by two
      independent dentists and age estimation was achieved according to the decades.
      RESULTS: The truest age estimates made by the dentists were in the 1-10 years age
      range (89.6%), the most inaccurate age estimates were in the 41-50 years age
      range (41.7%). Results indicate that the accuracy of age estimation diminishes
      with age. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the variations related to the practitioners, in
      this study, there were no significant differences in age estimations between the
      two participant practitioners. Age estimation through evaluating OPGs was the
      most accurate in the first decade and the least in fourth decade. It can be
      concluded that OPGs are not adequate for accurate age estimation.

PMID- 20922159
TI  - Effectiveness of two methods for preparation of autologous platelet-rich plasma:
      an experimental study in rabbits.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to compare the quantity and quality of
      platelets in platelet-rich plasma (PRP) samples prepared using either the single-
      or the double-centrifugation protocol. METHODS: Ten adult white New Zealand
      rabbits were used. Ten ml of blood were drawn from each animal via cardiac
      puncture. Each blood sample was divided into two equal parts for PRP preparation:
      5 ml of blood were centrifuged according to a single-centrifugation protocol
      (Group I), and 5 ml were centrifuged according to a double-centrifugation
      protocol (Group II). Manual platelet counts were performed on the whole blood and
      PRP samples of each group. Smears were also done on all samples in order to see
      the morphology of the platelets. The data obtained in the manual platelet count
      were submitted to statistical analysis (repeated measures ANOVA, Tukey, P<.05).
      RESULTS: The average whole blood platelet count was 446,389/MUl. The PRP samples
      in Group II presented an average platelet amount significantly higher than that
      of Group I (1,986,875 +/- 685,020/MUl and 781,875 +/- 217,693/MUl, respectively).
      The PRP smears from Group II were the only one to present platelets with altered
      morphology (75% of the smears). A few lymphocytes with increased cytoplasm were
      observed in the PRP smears of both Groups I (25% of the smears) and II (62.5% of
      the smears). CONCLUSIONS: Within the limits of this study, it can be concluded
      that the double-centrifugation protocol resulted in higher platelet
      concentrations than did the single-centrifugation protocol. However, the double
      centrifugation protocol caused alterations in platelet morphology and was more
      sensitive to small processing errors.

PMID- 20922160
TI  - Effect of autogenous cortical bone grafting in conjunction with guided tissue
      regeneration in the treatment of intraosseous periodontal defects.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of this clinical trial was to evaluate the additional benefit
      of using guided tissue regeneration (GTR) with autogenous cortical bone (ACB)
      grafting versus ACB grafting alone for the regenerative treatment of intraosseous
      periodontal defects. METHODS: Via a split-mouth design, 12 patients with chronic
      periodontitis (five men, seven women; mean age, 45.3+/-4.6 years) who had probing
      pocket depths (PPDs) of >=6 mm following initial periodontal therapy were
      randomly assigned to two treatments in contralateral areas of the dentition: a
      combination of ACB grafting and GTR (with a absorbable membrane of polylactic
      acid) or ACB grafting alone. The compared parameters were preoperative and 6
      month postoperative PPDs, clinical attachment levels (CALs), and radiographic
      alveolar bone heights. RESULTS: Both treatment modalities resulted in significant
      changes in the postoperative measurements from the preoperative values (P<.01).
      The reduction in the PPDs, gain in the CALs, and gain in the radiographic
      alveolar bone heights were 4.58+/-1.08, 4.25+/-1.06, and 5.50+/-2.24 mm in the
      patients treated with ACB grafting and GTR and 4.92+/-1.00, 4.50+/-0.80, and
      5.92+/-1.83 mm in those treated with ACB grafting alone, respectively. The
      differences between the treatments were not statistically significant (P>.05).
      CONCLUSIONS: Within the study limitations, both ACB grafting with GTR and ACB
      grafting alone lead to significant improvements in clinical and radiographic
      parameters at 6 months postoperatively. The combined approach does not provide
      any additional benefit for treating intraosseous periodontal defects.

PMID- 20922161
TI  - Effect of acidic challenge preceded by food consumption on enamel erosion.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: This in vitro study aimed to evaluate the effect of food consumption
      followed by acidic challenge on enamel erosion. METHODS: Seventy-five enamel
      blocks obtained from bovine teeth were divided randomly into five groups (n=15
      per group): GI - erosion with previous immersion in milk; GII - erosion with
      previous immersion in cheese extract; GIII - erosion with previous immersion in
      liver extract; GIV - erosion with previous immersion in broccoli extract; and GV 
      erosive effect of cola drink (control). Over 24 h, the slabs were submitted to 3
      pH-cycles, each consisting of immersion in the studied food (GI to GIV) for 5 min
      followed by immersion in a cola drink for 5 min, and subsequently, the slabs were
      stored in artificial saliva (110 min). At the end of the pH-cycles, the slabs
      were stored in artificial saliva for 18 h. Enamel alterations were assessed by
      profilometry (MUm). Data were tested using ANOVA and Scott-Knott's tests (P<.05).
      RESULTS: Mean erosion depths for enamel (MUm) were 0.46 in GI, 0.55 in GII, 0.64
      in GIII, 0.54 in GIV, and 1.18 in GVI. Enamel loss by acidic challenge alone (GV)
      was significantly higher than when the acidic challenges were preceded by food
      extract immersion. CONCLUSIONS: The data suggest that all studied foods could
      minimize the erosive effect on enamel.

PMID- 20922162
TI  - Effect of EDTA and phosphoric Acid pretreatment on the bonding effectiveness of
      self-etch adhesives to ground enamel.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: This in vitro study determined the effect of enamel pretreatment with
      phosphoric acid and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) on the bond strength
      of strong, intermediary strong, and mild self-etching adhesive systems. METHODS:
      Ninety sound human premolars were used. Resin composite cylinders were bonded to
      flat ground enamel surfaces using three self-etching adhesive systems: strong
      Adper Prompt L-Pop (pH=0.9-1.0), intermediary strong AdheSE (pH=1.6-1.7), and
      mild Frog (pH=2). Adhesive systems were applied either according to manufacturer
      instructions (control) or after pretreatment with either phosphoric acid or EDTA
      (n=10). After 24 hours, shear bond strength was tested using a universal testing
      machine at a cross-head speed of 0.5 mm/minute. Ultra-morphological
      characterization of the surface topography and resin/enamel interfaces as well as
      representative fractured enamel specimens were examined using scanning electron
      microscopy (SEM). RESULTS: Neither surface pretreatment statistically increased
      the mean shear bond strength values of either the strong or the intermediary
      strong self-etching adhesive systems. However, phosphoric acid pretreatment
      significantly increased the mean shear bond strength values of the mild self
      etching adhesive system. SEM examination of enamel surface topography showed that
      phosphoric acid pretreatment deepened the same etching pattern of the strong and
      intermediary strong adhesive systems but converted the irregular etching pattern
      of the mild self-etching adhesive system to a regular etching pattern. SEM
      examination of the resin/enamel interface revealed that deepening of the etching
      pattern was consistent with increase in the length of resin tags. EDTA
      pretreatment had a negligible effect on ultra-morphological features.
      CONCLUSIONS: Use of phosphoric acid pretreatment can be beneficial with mild self
      etching adhesive systems for bonding to enamel.

PMID- 20922163
TI  - Permeability of Dental Adhesives - A SEM Assessment.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To morphologically evaluate the permeability of different commercial
      dental adhesives using scanning electron microscopy. METHODS: SEVEN ADHESIVE
      SYSTEMS WERE EVALUATED: one three-step system (Scotchbond Multi-Purpose - MP);
      one two-step self-etching primer system (Clearfil SE Bond - SE); three two-step
      etch-and-rinse systems (Single Bond 2 - SB; Excite - EX; One-Step - OS); and two
      single-step self-etching adhesives (Adper Prompt - AP; One-Up Bond F - OU). The
      mixture of primer and bond agents of the Clearfil SE Bond system (SE-PB) was also
      tested. The adhesives were poured into a brass mold (5.8 mm x 0.8 mm) and light
      cured for 80 s at 650 mW/cm2. After a 24 h desiccation process, the specimens
      were immersed in a 50% ammoniac silver nitrate solution for tracer permeation.
      Afterwards, they were sectioned in ultra-fine slices, carbon-coated, and analyzed
      under backscattered electrons in a scanning electron microscopy. RESULTS: MP and
      SE showed slight and superficial tracer permeation. In EX, SB, and OS, permeation
      extended beyond the inner superficies of the specimens. SE-PB did not mix well,
      and most of the tracer was precipitated into the primer agent. In AP and OU,
      "water-trees" were observed all over the specimens. CONCLUSIONS: Different
      materials showed distinct permeability in aqueous solution. The extent of tracer
      permeation varied according to the composition of each material and it was more
      evident in the more hydrophilic and solvated ones.

PMID- 20922164
TI  - The effect of irradiation distance on microhardness of resin composites cured
      with different light curing units.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to compare the microhardness of five
      different resin composites at different irradiation distances (2 mm and 9 mm) by
      using three light curing units (quartz tungsten halogen, light emitting diodes
      and plasma arc). METHODS: A total of 210 disc-shaped samples (2 mm height and 6
      mm diameter) were prepared from different resin composites (Simile, Aelite
      Aesthetic Enamel, Clearfil AP-X, Grandio caps and Filtek Z250). Photoactivation
      was performed by using quartz tungsten halogen, light emitting diode and plasma
      arc curing units at two irradiation distances (2 mm and 9 mm). Then the samples
      (n=7/per group) were stored dry in dark at 37 degrees C for 24 h. The Vickers
      hardness test was performed on the resin composite layer with a microhardness
      tester (Shimadzu HMV). Data were statistically analyzed using nonparametric
      Kruskal Wallis and Mann-Whitney U tests. RESULTS: Statistical analysis revealed
      that the resin composite groups, the type of the light curing units and the
      irradiation distances have significant effects on the microhardness values
      (P<.05). CONCLUSIONS: Light curing unit and irradiation distance are important
      factors to be considered for obtaining adequate microhardness of different resin
      composite groups.

PMID- 20922165
TI  - The prevalence and treatment outcomes of primary tooth injuries.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the type and prevalence
      of primary tooth injuries, as well as their treatment and treatment outcomes,
      among children referred to the Department of Pedodontics at the Ankara University
      Faculty of Dentistry in Turkey. METHODS: The study population consisted of
      patients applying to the department with a primary tooth injury over a period of
      21 months. Fifty-one patients presented with trauma to 99 primary teeth. Clinical
      and radiographic examinations were conducted on each patient. Age, sex, time,
      cause of injury, and number of teeth affected were recorded, and the type of
      trauma was identified according to Andreasen's classification. The teeth were
      treated by one of the authors. RESULTS: The majority of trauma occurred between
      the ages of 2 and 4. The most common type of injury was lateral luxation (33.3%).
      Most injuries (33.3%) presented during May. The most common form of treatment was
      follow-up only (39.4%), followed by extraction (29.3%) and root canal treatment
      (12.1%). The average follow-up period was 11 months. During the follow-up period,
      complications were observed in 4 teeth. CONCLUSIONS: The study results show that
      in the absence of acute symptoms, parents tend not to apply to a dental clinic
      for children's injuries. This finding highlights the importance of informing the
      public about primary tooth injuries and their consequences.

PMID- 20922166
TI  - Immunohistochemical and Stereologic Analysis of NF-kappaB Activation in Chronic
      Periodontitis.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kappaB) is a member of the transcription
      factor family, and it plays a key role in coordinating the expression of genes in
      many chronic inflammatory diseases. This study investigated the cytoplasmic and
      nuclear activation of (NF-kappaB) and the cytoplasmic expression of inhibitor
      kappa B (IkappaB) in gingival tissues of subjects who had chronic periodontitis.
      METHODS: Thirty-five patients were included in this study; 17 patients had
      chronic periodontitis, and 18 were healthy. Gingival tissues were obtained from
      each individual and then stained immunohistochemically. The obtained sections
      were examined under a stereomicroscope, and the numerical density values of the
      stained cells were computed using the stereologic method. A one-way analysis of
      variance (ANOVA) and a multiple range least significant difference (LSD) were
      used for intergroup comparisons (P=0.05). RESULTS: According to the
      immunohistochemical analysis of the cytoplasmic positive cells stained with
      IkappaB, statistically significant differences were found between the case and
      control groups. When comparing the cytoplasmic and nuclear positive
      immunoreactivity of p50 and p65, statistically significant differences were found
      between the diseased and control groups. Statistically significant correlations
      were also found between the clinical periodontal scores and the
      immunohistochemical results of the diseased subjects. CONCLUSIONS: It was shown
      that NF-kappaB was highly activated in subjects who had chronic periodontitis,
      compared to healthy controls. The findings of this study can be useful in
      planning new treatment strategies for periodontal diseases. Further
      investigations are needed to understand more about the signaling mechanisms of
      inflammatory mediators and their interactions with NF-kappaB in chronic
      periodontitis.

PMID- 20922167
TI  - An Assessment of the Relationship between the Maxillary Sinus Floor and the
      Maxillary Posterior Teeth Root Tips Using Dental Cone-beam Computerized
      Tomography.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of the present study was to assess the relationship between
      the maxillary sinus floor and the maxillary posterior teeth root tips using
      dental cone-beam CT. METHODS: A total of 87 right and 89 left maxillary sinus
      regions from 92 patients were examined using dental cone-beam CT. Images were
      analyzed by a specialist in oral and maxillofacial radiology. Perpendicular lines
      were drawn on the cross-sectional images between the deepest point of the
      maxillary sinus floor and the root tips of the maxillary first and second
      premolars and first, second and third molars, and the distances were measured
      using built-in measurement tools. Means, standard deviations and minimum and
      maximum values were calculated for all right and left premolars and molars. T
      tests were used to compare measurements between left and right sides and between
      female and male patients. RESULTS: The distance between sinus floor and root tip
      was longest for the first premolar root tip and shortest for the second molar
      buccodistal root tip for both right and left sides. No statistically significant
      differences were found between the right and left side measurements or between
      female and male patients (P>.05). CONCLUSIONS: Knowledge of the anatomical
      relationship between the maxillary sinus floor and the maxillary posterior teeth
      root tips is important for the preoperative treatment planning of maxillary
      posterior teeth.

PMID- 20922168
TI  - Use of mineral trioxide aggregate in the treatment of large periapical lesions:
      reports of three cases.
AB  - Pulpal and periradicular pathosis are the result of microbial, mechanical, or
      chemical invasion. Microorganisms are the main irritants of pulpal and periapical
      tissues. The goal of the obturation is to obtain a fluid-tight seal of the root
      canal system from its coronal aspect through its apical extent to preserve from
      the irritants.. Root apices have morphological irregularities in teeth with
      periapical lesions. Therefore, it is more difficult to produce hermetically
      apical stop with conventional guttapercha obturation techniques. This case report
      describes the treatment and six years follow-up of the teeth with large
      periapical lesion using MTA as apical filling material.

PMID- 20922169
TI  - Repair of Furcal Iatrogenic Perforation with Mineral Trioxide Aggregate: Two
      Years Follow-up of Two Cases.
AB  - Furcal perforation is usually an undesired complication that can occur during
      preparation of endodontic access cavities or exploring canal orifice of
      multirooted teeth. Inadequacy of the repair materials has been a contributing
      factor to the poor outcome of repair procedures. On the basis of the recent
      physical and biologic property studies of the relatively new introduced mineral
      trioxide aggregate, this material may be suitable for closing the communication
      between the pulp chamber and the underlying periodontal tissues. There are few
      reports on repair of furcal perforation with MTA in molar teeth. The purpose of
      this case report was to describe the treatment of two furcal perforation using
      MTA in molar teeth. The perforations were cleaned with NaOCl and saline solution
      and sealed with MTA without internal matrix. Finally, the teeth were
      endodontically treated and coronally restored with composite resin and ceramic
      veneer crown and bridge. After 2 years, the absence of periradicular radiolucent
      lesions, pain, and swelling along with functional tooth stability indicated a
      successful outcome of sealing perforations in two cases.

PMID- 20922170
TI  - Interim prosthetic rehabilitation of a patient following partial rhinectomy: a
      clinical report.
AB  - Surgical defects often have adverse effects on patient perception of esthetics
      and self-esteem. Rehabilitation of such surgical defects poses a challenge to the
      clinician. Presented here is a clinical report of an interim prosthetic
      rehabilitation of a patient who underwent partial rhinectomy for basal cell
      carcinoma. Nasal resection included part of the nasal septum, the entire
      cartilage, and the ala. An interim nasal prosthesis was fabricated for this
      patient 3 weeks after surgery, to provide early rehabilitation. This prosthesis
      provided a sociopsychological benefit to the patient, and the prosthesis was well
      tolerated. The spectacle glasses retained the prosthetic nose.

PMID- 20922171
TI  - Occlusal interferences: how can this concept influence the clinical practice?
AB  - This brief review discusses the role of occlusal interferences on the development
      and progression of temporomandibular dysfunction (TMD) and postural disorders.
      The eligible literature is described and critically presented to demonstrate that
      occlusal interferences are an important factor in the risk of TMD. Several
      studies have demonstrated through their findings that the use of occlusal
      adjustments, whether or not associated with restorative procedures, might avoid
      the development of articular problems in vulnerable patients. The occlusal
      interferences caused by restorative procedures or orthodontic treatment can cause
      TMDs in susceptible patients, and occlusal adjustments can be an alternative in
      the treatment of these TMDs.

PMID- 20922172
TI  - Is the thyroid to blame?
AB  - Treat the rare case of acute suppurative thyroiditis as a medical emergency, with
      attention to airway protection, intravenous antibiotics, and surgical drainage.
      Order a sedimentation rate if you suspect subacute thyroiditis. It is almost
      always elevated in patients with this disease. Treat subacute thyroiditis with
      prednisone 40 mg daily in patients refractory to treatment with nonsteroidal anti
      inflammatory drugs.

PMID- 20922173
TI  - Don't overlook the complications of tonsillectomy.

PMID- 20922174
TI  - A package worth paying for.

PMID- 20922175
TI  - What's causing your young patient's hip pain?
AB  - Diagnosing hip pain--which is increasingly common in children and adolescents-
      can be a daunting task, unless you know what to look for. These tips can help.

PMID- 20922176
TI  - Beneath the surface: derm clues to underlying disorders.
AB  - When evaluating patients with suspected cutaneous lupus erythematosus, use
      multiple criteria--including histologic and immunofluorescent biopsy findings and
      American College of Rheumatology criteria--to rule out systemic disease.

PMID- 20922177
TI  - Breast cancer prevention and Tx: an evidence-based guide.
AB  - When to begin screening mammography may be the latest controversy, but it's not
      the only uncertainty regarding breast health and cancer care. We've culled the
      latest evidence to help you do what's best.

PMID- 20922178
TI  - PURLs: Add a fibrate to a statin?
AB  - For most patients with diabetes and dyslipidemia, adding a fibrate does not
      improve cardiovascular outcomes.

PMID- 20922179
TI  - Erythematous rash on face.

PMID- 20922180
TI  - Clinical inquiries. Does office spirometry improve quit rates in smokers?
AB  - It depends. Simply performing spirometry and offering cessation advice doesn't
      improve quit rates in patients who smoke (strength of recommendation [SOR]: A,
      systematic review of randomized controlled trials [RCTs]). However, when the
      spirometry results are communicated in terms of "lung age", smokers are more
      likely to quit (SOR: B, large RCT). Patients with abnormal spirometry results may
      be more likely to quit than patients with normal results (SOR: B, cohort
      studies).

PMID- 20922181
TI  - Clinical inquiries. Which drugs are best when aggressive Alzheimer's patients
      need medication?
AB  - Atypical antipsychotics are effective; so are selective serotonin reuptake
      inhibitors (SSRIs), and they may be safer. Atypical antipsychotics are an
      effective short-term (6-12 weeks) treatment for aggressive behavior in patients
      with Alzheimer's disease because they consistently decrease aggression scores
      (strength of recommendation [SOR]: A, multiple randomized controlled trials
      [RCTs]). However, evidence of drug-related deaths in patients taking these drugs
      mandates weighing the benefits against the risks. SSRIs may be a safer, effective
      alternative (SOR: B, limited studies).

PMID- 20922183
TI  - JGLD has got its first impact factor.

PMID- 20922184
TI  - Is the future of Romanian gastroenterology training bright?

PMID- 20922185
TI  - Incarcerated umbilical hernia after large volume paracentesis for refractory
      ascites.

PMID- 20922186
TI  - Alkaline reflux esophagitis in patients with total gastrectomy and Roux en Y
      esojejunostomy.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Alkaline reflux esophagitis is a complication that might
      develop in patients with total gastrectomy. The aim of the study was to analyze
      the prevalence and severity of reflux esophagitis and the occurence of
      complications (Barrett's esophagus and esophageal stenosis) in patients with
      total gastrectomy and Roux en Y esojejunostomy. METHODS: 92 patients with total
      gastrectomy performed for gastric cancer were included in the study. None of the
      patients had esophagitis prior to gastrectomy. The patients were assessed
      clinically and endoscopically after a certain interval from surgery. RESULTS: An
      important number of patients (14 out of 92, 15.22%) had reflux esophagitis; 5.43%
      of the patients had also complications of reflux esophagitis (Barrett's esophagus
      and benign esophageal stenosis) and 6.52% had local tumor recurrence. Of the 14
      patients with reflux esophagitis, the majority (9/14) had Los Angeles (LA) grade
      C esophagitis. The mean interval between surgery and the endoscopic evaluation
      was 4.43 years. Barrett's esophagus and benign stenosis were diagnosed after a
      longer period of time (10.33 and 8 years, respectively) as compared to reflux
      esophagitis (5.29 years). More than half of the esophagitis patients had reflux
      symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Although Roux en Y esojejunostomy is a reconstructive
      technique which prevents the reflux, an important percentage of our patients
      developed alkaline reflux esophagitis. In most cases, the esophagitis was
      moderate or severe. Complications of alkaline reflux, i.e. benign stenosis and
      Barrett's esophagus, also occurred after longer periods of time (8 to 10 years)
      in a small percentage of patients.

PMID- 20922187
TI  - Association of gastroesophageal reflux disease symptoms with exacerbations of
      chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) are common in
      various chronic respiratory diseases, but little is known about GERD in the
      setting of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The aim of this study
      was to determine the effect of GERD symptoms on COPD exacerbations and subsequent
      hospitalization and drug usage. METHODS: This retrospective study was conducted
      from December 2008 to February 2009 in the Pulmonary Clinic of Dr. Shariati
      University Hospital, Isfahan, Iran. Consecutive patients who were diagnosed with
      COPD based on clinical features and pulmonary function tests were included.
      Patients were categorized in GERD positive and GERD negative groups based on the
      Mayo GERD questionnaire. Exacerbation of COPD, hospitalization, and drug usage
      were compared between the two groups. RESULTS: During the study period, 110
      patients with COPD (mean age = 68.0 +/- 8.4 years, 87.3% male) were included; 59
      (53.6%) patients were GERD positive. There was no significant difference between
      the GERD positive and GERD negative patients in age, gender, tobacco use, or body
      mass index. GERD positive patients experienced significantly more acute
      exacerbations of COPD than patients who were GERD negative (p < 0.001). The rate
      of hospitalization due to COPD exacerbations was significantly higher in GERD
      positive patients and they had a more severe COPD (p < 0.05) and more concurrent
      use of multiple therapies as compared with GERD negative patients (p < 0.05).
      CONCLUSION: Patients with GERD symptoms have more COPD exacerbations and
      subsequent hospitalizations and drug usage. Clinical trials and preventive
      strategies for GERD in patients with COPD are warranted.

PMID- 20922188
TI  - Faecal lactoferrin, capsule endoscopy and Crohn's disease. Is there a three way
      relationship? A pilot study.
AB  - BACKGROUND & AIMS: Capsule endoscopy has been shown to be useful in diagnosing
      small bowel Crohn's disease. Faecal lactoferrin has been shown to have a high
      sensitivity and specificity in discriminating between inflammatory bowel disease
      and irritable bowel syndrome. There have been no studies on the use of faecal
      lactoferrin in the setting of suspected Crohn's disease using capsule endoscopy.
      Our aim was to investigate the clinical utility of lactoferrin in patients with
      suspected Crohn's disease using capsule endoscopy. METHODS: Data was collected
      prospectively on patient symptoms, family history and blood parameters. Patients
      were requested to return a stool sample and quantitative analysis using sandwich
      ELISA was performed for faecal lactoferrin. RESULTS: Seventeen patients were
      recruited with all patients having had more than one criterion for referral. The
      diagnostic yield for capsule endoscopy was 41%, of which 71% of patients had an
      elevated faecal lactoferrin (correlation coefficient 0.56, p=0.01). The
      sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value
      of faecal lactoferrin were 71%, 100%, 100% and 83%, respectively. CONCLUSION:
      Faecal lactoferrin has a high positive and negative predictive value for the
      diagnosis of small bowel Crohn's disease, detected by capsule endoscopy. Faecal
      lactoferrin is a useful marker (in conjunction with clinical parameters) to
      determine which patients should be referred for capsule endoscopy.

PMID- 20922189
TI  - Outcome of antiviral treatment in patients with chronic genotype 1 HCV hepatitis.
      A retrospective study in 507 patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIM: The current standard of care in chronic HCV genotype 1
      hepatitis is the combination of pegylated interferon (PegIFN) with ribavirin for
      48 weeks. The aim of our paper was to verify if there are significant differences
      regarding the sustained virologic response (SVR) in patients treated with PegIFN
      alfa-2a vs. those treated PegIFN alpha-2b, both in combination with ribavirin.
      METHOD: We performed a retrospective study on 507 patients with chronic viral C
      hepatitis treated with PegIFN alpha-2a 180 microg/kg/week or PegIFN alpha-2b 1.5
      microg/kg/week plus ribavirin in the recommended doses according to weight,
      following the current treatment guidelines. We evaluated the SVR defined as PCR
      RNA-HCV undetectable 24 weeks after the end of treatment. RESULTS: There were no
      differences regarding the baseline characteristics among the subgroups of
      patients treated with PegIFN alpha-2a or PegIFN alpha-2b concerning the
      pretreatment viral load (p=0.2445), the severity of fibrosis (p=0.2403), the mean
      age of the patients (p=0.9597) and the women/men ratio (p=0.2087). The SVR rates
      in patients treated with PegIFN alpha-2a were similar to those in patients
      treated with PegIFN alpha-2b: 208/338 (61.5%) vs. 94/169 (55.6%) (p=0.2129).
      CONCLUSION: Sustained virologic response rates were similar in HCV genotype 1
      patients treated with PegIFN alpha-2a and with Peg-IFN alpha-2b.

PMID- 20922190
TI  - Effects of pro-inflammatory cytokines on the production of soluble fractalkine
      and ADAM17 by HepG2 cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND & AIMS: Soluble fractalkine is increased in the liver during times of
      injury; however the effect of pro-inflammatory cytokines in this process is
      currently unknown. The aim of this study was to determine whether pro
      inflammatory cytokines elevated in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma
      influence fractalkine shedding from HepG2 cells and whether ADAM17 was involved
      in this process. METHODS: In vitro experiments were performed in the human
      hepatocellular carcinoma cell line HepG2. Soluble fractalkine was detected using
      an ELISA. ADAM17 expression was investigated using quantitative real time
      (reverse transcription)-polymerase chain reaction and flow cytometry. Short
      interfering RNA transfection was used to down-regulate ADAM17 expression.
      RESULTS: Soluble fractalkine was present in supernatants of HepG2 cells, and was
      significantly increased by interleukin-1beta (p <= 0.005) and tumour necrosis
      factor-alpha (p <= 0.043), but not by interleukin-6 (p >= 0.316). This
      corresponded to minor increases in ADAM17 protein, but not ADAM17 mRNA, following
      the same treatments. However, the down-regulation of ADAM17 protein did not
      affect fractalkine shedding. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that soluble
      fractalkine is up-regulated under inflammatory conditions associated with
      hepatocellular carcinoma development, but ADAM17 does not appear to be
      responsible for regulating this process.

PMID- 20922191
TI  - Analysis of the common vasoactive intestinal peptide receptor 1 polymorphism in
      gallstone patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIM: Cholesterol gallstone disease is caused by both genetic and
      environmental factors (e.g., deranged motility of the gallbladder wall).
      Recently, a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of the vasoactive intestinal
      peptide receptor 1 (VIPR1) gene has been linked to late onset of achalasia, a
      lower esophagus dysmotility disorder. As VIPR1 is expressed in the gallbladder
      wall as well, and patients with achalasia exhibit extraesophageal motility
      disorders, the influence of VIPR1 SNP on cholelithiasis was investigated.
      METHODS: We analyzed 254 gallstone-free controls (confirmed by ultrasound, age 21
      78 years, 88% women, BMI 16-43 kg/m2) and 226 individuals from 107 families with
      gallstones (age 24-80 years, 87% women, BMI 17-55 kg/m2). All individuals were
      genotyped for the VIPR1 rs437876 SNP (intron 4) with PCR-based 5'-nuclease and
      fluorescence detection assays (TaqMan). We performed nonparametric linkage (NPL)
      analysis in affected sib-pairs (ASP), association tests, and regression analyses.
      RESULTS: Controls were significantly younger (P < 0.01) and leaner than ASP and
      cases (P < 0.01), and both age as well as BMI significantly increased the risk of
      developing gallstones (P < 0.001). Allele frequencies were in line with database
      entries and no deviation from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium was detected. Neither
      allele and genotype distributions nor NPL scores or the restriction of analysis
      to individuals older than 50 years provided evidence for association or linkage
      of the VIPR1 SNP and cholelithiasis. CONCLUSION: The VIPR1 polymorphism,
      previously linked to gastrointestinal dysmotility disorders, does not represent a
      common risk factor for gallstones in the general or in an elderly population.

PMID- 20922192
TI  - Prevalence of gastroparesis in type 1 diabetes mellitus and its relationship to
      dyspeptic symptoms.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIM: Gastroparesis and/or dyspeptic symptoms occur in around 50%
      of type 1 diabetic patients. The aim of our study was to evaluate the prevalence
      of gastroparesis in patients with type 1 diabetes using 13C-octanoic acid breath
      test (13C-OBT) and the relationship between dyspeptic symptoms and gastric
      emptying. METHODS: Gastric emptying of solids was evaluated prospectively in
      euglycemic conditions in 69 type 1 diabetic patients (male/female: 36/33; mean
      age 49.5 +/- 14.2 years; mean duration of diabetes 20.4 +/- 8.2 years) and 40
      healthy volunteers (male/female 17/23; mean age 34.3 +/- 16 years) using 13C-OBT.
      Dyspeptic symptoms, autonomic nerve function and Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori)
      status were assessed. RESULTS: Solid gastric emptying was slower in diabetic
      patients (T1/2 = 125.36 +/- 31.5 min) than in healthy subjects (T1/2 = 88.5 +/-
      27.3 min) (p < 0.05). Gastric emptying was slower in diabetic female compared to
      diabetic male patients (p < 0.05). Body mass index (BMI) was the only independent
      predictor for delayed solid gastric emptying in a logistic regression model
      testing HbA1c, BMI, age, diabetes duration, H. pylori status, peripheral
      neuropathy, retinopathy, nephropathy, and autonomic neuropathy. Abdominal
      bloating and upper abdominal pain were associated with delayed gastric emptying.
      CONCLUSIONS: We found that 33.7% of type 1 diabetic patients had delayed gastric
      emptying that correlated with female gender, increased BMI, abdominal bloating
      and upper abdominal pain.

PMID- 20922193
TI  - Survival and quality of life of cholangiocarcinoma patients: a prospective study
      over a 4 year period.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Cholangiocarcinomas (CCAs) are tumors with a poor prognosis
      and a lower quality of life (QoL). The aim of this study was to evaluate the
      survival rate and quality of life in CCA patients. METHOD: We prospectively
      enrolled 133 patients diagnosed with CCA in the 3rd Medical Clinic, Cluj Napoca,
      over a 4-year period (2005-2009). The QoL was evaluated by means of a QoL
      questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30). RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 65 +/-
      10.6 years: 55% were males. 71% of the patients had hilar tumor (Klatskin), 23%
      distal and 6% intrahepatic CCA (IH). Only 11.3% of the patients were eligible to
      receive curative treatment. The 1-year overall survival was 22.3 +/- 4.4% and the
      2-year survival was 3.4 +/- 2.1%. The patients receiving metallic stents had
      better survival than those receiving plastic stents (40.4% vs 12.5% at 1 year,
      9.1% vs 5.0% at 2 years, respectively). The 1-year survival was significantly
      improved for patients who underwent surgery plus adjuvant chemotherapy. The post
      therapy QoL demonstrated a less improvement in Klatskin tumor patients than in
      patients with other types of tumors. Endoscopic palliative therapy allowed a
      faster community reintegration, but with variable evolution. CONCLUSIONS: The
      highest 2-year survival rate was 5.5%. Slightly longer survival was recorded when
      chemotherapy was added and also after endoscopic placement of metallic stents.
      Endoscopic biliary decompression improved the QoL faster than surgery.

PMID- 20922194
TI  - Dosing 6-thioguanine in inflammatory bowel disease: expert-based guidelines for
      daily practice.
AB  - Conventional thiopurines are considered to be effective and safe in the treatment
      of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients; unfortunately more than 50% of
      patients discontinue thiopurine therapy, mainly due to the development of
      intractable adverse events. In recent years, the use of 6-thioguanine has been
      proposed as an alternative thiopurine in IBD patients failing to tolerate or to
      respond to conventional thiopurine therapy. In this clinical review, we describe
      the rationale for 6-thioguanine therapy and discuss the reported hepatotoxicity
      of 6-thioguanine (especially nodular regenerative hyperplasia). We propose expert
      based guidelines for balanced treatment.

PMID- 20922195
TI  - Cyclic antibiotic therapy for diverticular disease: a critical reappraisal.
AB  - Different symptoms have been attributed to uncomplicated diverticular disease
      (DD). Poor absorbable antibiotics are largely used for uncomplicated DD, mainly
      for symptom treatment and prevention of diverticulitis onset. Controlled trials
      on cyclic administration of rifaximin in DD patients were evaluated. Four
      controlled, including 1 double-blind and 3 open-label, randomized studies were
      available. Following a long-term cyclic therapy, a significant difference emerged
      in the global symptoms score (range: 0-18) between rifaximin plus fibers (from 6
      6.5 to 1-2) and fibers alone (from 6.7 to 2-3.8), although the actual clinically
      relevance of such a very small difference remains to be ascertained. Moreover, a
      similar global symptom score reduction (from 6 to 2.4) can be achieved by simply
      recommending an inexpensive high-fiber diet. Current data suggest that cyclic
      rifaximin plus fibers significantly reduce the incidence of the first episode of
      acute diverticulitis as compared to fibers alone (1.03% vs 2.75%), but a cost
      efficacy analysis is needed before this treatment can be routinely recommended.
      The available studies have been hampered by some limitations, and definite
      conclusions could not be drawn. The cost of a long-life, cyclic rifaximin therapy
      administered to all symptomatic DD patients would appear prohibitive.

PMID- 20922196
TI  - Clostridium difficile infection and liver disease.
AB  - The rates of the predominantly hospital acquired infection, Clostridium
      difficile, have increased throughout the world. Several risk factors and
      susceptible patient populations have been identified. Patients with pre-existing
      liver disease represent an important cohort; recent evidence suggests that
      Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) is associated with a worse outcome and
      increased health care costs. This review focuses on the epidemiology, risk
      factors, pathogenesis, treatment options and outcomes associated with CDI in
      patients with liver disease.

PMID- 20922197
TI  - World Gastroenterology Organisation Guideline. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC): a
      global perspective.

PMID- 20922199
TI  - An unusual cause of dysphagia: esophageal tuberculosis.
AB  - A 25-year old Indian exchange-student presented to our department with a three
      week history of dysphagia. Diagnostic evaluation by upper gastrointestinal
      endoscopy, endosonography and chest-CT revealed a tumor-suspect ulcerative lesion
      at the middle esophagus, and a mediastinal lymph node enlargement. Initial
      histopathological evaluation of multiple esophageal tissue biopsies showed an
      unspecific esophagitis without signs for malignancy. A positive T-spot (R) TB
      assay result, together with the bronchoscopic detection of a small exophytic
      lesion at the right main bronchus depicting caseating epitheloid cell granulomas,
      provided evidence for a tuberculous etiology of the esophageal tumor. Multiple
      further deep submucosal biopsies were needed to finally detect epitheloid cell
      granulomas in the esophageal lesion. Microbacteriological or molecular tests were
      negative for M. tuberculosis. Tuberculostatic treatment resulted in a good
      response with complete remission of the esophageal lesion and the mediastinal
      lymph node enlargement. Esophageal tuberculosis is rare in developed countries,
      and its possible presence deserves consideration particularly in patients at
      risk.

PMID- 20922200
TI  - Incomplete deployment of an expandable metallic stent in a patient with
      esophageal malignant stenosis.
AB  - The use of self expandable metallic stents (SEMS) in the palliation of dysphagia
      due to malignant esophageal stenosis is a gold standard. Covered stents are used
      in all cases with overt air-digestive fistula or high potential for fistula
      development. The procedure is associated with a low incidence of procedure
      related complications. We present a case with a major accident which developed
      during stent deployment. The delivery system became blocked and we found it
      impossible to fully deploy the stent, which remained attached to the introductory
      system. The stent was forcefully removed and replaced later on with a new stent.
      This is the first report of a SEMS related accident due to malfunction of the
      stent deployment system. Stent malfunction is unusual and unlikely to happen, but
      one should be aware and prepared for such unusual situations.

PMID- 20922201
TI  - Rapid recovery of a rectovaginal fistula with infliximab in a patient with
      Crohn's disease.
AB  - We present the case of a female patient diagnosed with colonic Crohn's disease,
      having a clinical evolution with many recurrences and in whom conventional
      therapy had failed. The patient was admitted in our department 4 years after the
      onset of the disease, with an altered general state, diarrhea, malnutrition,
      fever and fecaloid vaginal discharge. Investigations classified the patient in a
      severe activity flare of Crohn's disease (CDAI 329), complicated with a
      rectovaginal fistula. Infliximab therapy was initiated. The evolution was rapidly
      favorable and the fistula closed after 4 weeks of therapy.

PMID- 20922202
TI  - Acute spontaneous chylous peritonitis: report of a case.
AB  - Acute abdominal pain with peritonitis due to sudden extravasation of lymph into
      the peritoneal cavity is a rare condition that is often mistaken for other causes
      of acute abdomen. The diagnosis of spontaneous chylous peritonitis is rarely
      suspected preoperatively, usually misdiagnosed with diverse common surgical
      emergencies. We report the case of an 81 year old female who presented with
      typical symptoms of acute abdomen, presumed as acute mesenteric ischemia. The
      diagnosis of chylous peritonitis was established during laparoscopy and treatment
      consisted of low fat diet and octreotide.

PMID- 20922203
TI  - Ranitidine induced hepatitis.

PMID- 20922204
TI  - More on serum markers of liver fibrosis:are they still clinically limited?

PMID- 20922205
TI  - Is it untrue that ultrasonography guidance is superior to the blind method for
      liver biopsy?

PMID- 20922208
TI  - Primary neuroendocrine tumor of the extrahepatic biliary tree mimicking Klatskin
      tumor.

PMID- 20922209
TI  - Emergence of Crohn's disease in juvenile idiopathic arthritis during treatment
      with etanercept: a causal link or a mere coincidence?

PMID- 20922210
TI  - TiO2 and SnO2@TiO2 hollow spheres assembled from anatase TiO2 nanosheets with
      enhanced lithium storage properties.
AB  - TiO(2) and SnO(2)@TiO(2) hollow spheres assembled from anatase TiO(2) nanosheets
      with exposed (001) high-energy facets are constructed via a templating approach,
      and the as-prepared samples exhibit enhanced lithium storage properties.

PMID- 20922211
TI  - A versatile gold synthon for acetylene C-H bond activation.
AB  - The reaction of N,N'-bis(2,6-diisopropylphenyl)imidazol-2-ylidene gold hydroxide
      ([Au(OH)(IPr)]; 1) with acetylene and trimethylsilylacetylene derivatives cleanly
      leads to the formation of a gold-acetylide bond with the concomitant formation of
      water or trimethylsilanol. All compounds were isolated in high yield (>85%). The
      crystal structures of selected gold acetylides in conjunction with their UV-vis
      absorption/emission properties were investigated. Finally, DFT calculations were
      performed in an attempt to gain an insight into the mechanism of the general
      reaction.

PMID- 20922212
TI  - Genome-wide analysis of eukaryotic twin CX9C proteins.
AB  - Twin CX(9)C proteins are eukaryotic proteins that derive their name from their
      characteristic motif, consisting of two pairs of cysteines that form two
      disulfide bonds stabilizing a coiled coil-helix-coiled coil-helix (CHCH) fold.
      The best characterized of these proteins are Cox17, a copper chaperone acting in
      cytochrome c oxidase biogenesis, and Mia40, the central component of a system for
      protein import into the mitochondrial inter-membrane space (IMS). However, the
      range of possible functions for these proteins is unclear. Here, we performed a
      systematic search of twin CX(9)C proteins in eukaryotic organisms, and classified
      them into groups of putative homologues, by combining bioinformatics methods with
      literature analysis. Our results suggest that the functions of most twin CX(9)C
      proteins vary around the common theme of playing a scaffolding role, which can
      tie their observed roles in mitochondrial structure and function. This study will
      enhance the present annotation of eukaryotic proteomes, and will provide a
      rational basis for future experimental work aimed at a deeper understanding of
      this remarkable class of proteins.

PMID- 20922214
TI  - Preparation of large thermally stable platinum nanocubes by using solvent-thermal
      reaction.
AB  - We describe the synthesis of single-crystalline Pt nanocubes with a large
      diameter (around 35 nm) using a solvent-thermal reaction in a polarity-controlled
      mixture of 1-butanol, toluene, and N,N-dimethylformamide at 185  degrees C.

PMID- 20922213
TI  - Impact of linker length on the activity of PROTACs.
AB  - Conventional genetic approaches have provided a powerful tool in the study of
      proteins. However, these techniques often preclude selective manipulation of
      temporal and spatial protein functions, which is crucial for the investigation of
      dynamic cellular processes. To overcome these limitations, a small molecule-based
      novel technology termed "PROteolysis TArgeting ChimeraS (PROTACs)" has been
      developed, targeting proteins for degradation at the post-translational level.
      Despite the promising potential of PROTACs to serve as molecular probes of
      complex signaling pathways, their design has not been generalized for broad
      application. Here, we present the first generalized approach for PROTAC design by
      fine-tuning the distance between the two participating partner proteins, the E3
      ubiquitin ligase and the target protein. As such, we took a chemical approach to
      create estrogen receptor (ER)-alpha targeting PROTACs with varying linker lengths
      and the loss of the ER in cultured cells was monitored via western blot and
      fluorometric analyses. We found a significant effect of chain length on PROTAC
      efficacy, and, in this case, the optimum distance between the E3 recognition
      motif and the ligand was a 16 atom chain length. The information gathered from
      this experiment may offer a generalizable PROTAC design strategy to further the
      expansion of the PROTAC toolbox, opening new possibilities for the broad
      application of the PROTAC strategy in the study of multiple signaling pathways.

PMID- 20922215
TI  - Towards preparative-scale, biocatalytic alkene reductions.
AB  - Simple strategies for using alkene reductase enzymes to produce gram-scale
      quantities of both (R)- and (S)-citronellal have been developed. The methodology
      is easily accessible to non-specialist laboratories, allowing alkene reductases
      to be added to the toolbox of routine synthetic transformations.

PMID- 20922216
TI  - Large scale lithography-free nano channel array on polystyrene.
AB  - This paper reports a new fabrication method of lithography-free nanochannel
      array. It is based on the cracking process on the surface of a polystyrene (PS)
      Petri-dish, one type of thermoplastic that is composed of uni-axial
      macromolecular chains. Under proper conditions, parallel nanochannels with equal
      interspaces are obtained. Control over the channel depth from 20 nm to 200 nm is
      achieved, with the channel length reaching tens of millimetres. The PDMS
      replication based on PS nanochannel array has been successfully carried out. In
      combination with the microstructure, both an ion enrichment device and a current
      rectification device are fabricated, and their quantified characters manifested
      the applicability of the channel array structure in nanofluidics.

PMID- 20922217
TI  - Natural sesquiterpenoids.

PMID- 20922218
TI  - Bioprospecting for antituberculosis leads from microbial metabolites.

PMID- 20922219
TI  - Energetic features of copper and lead sorption by innovative aminoalcohol
      functionalized cobalt phyllosilicates.
AB  - Inorganic-organic cobalt phyllosilicate hybrids were synthesized by the sol-gel
      procedure under mild non-hydrothermal conditions with a silicon precursor, formed
      through individual reactions between the silane 3-glycidoxypropyltriethoxysilane
      and the aminoalcohols ethanol- or diethanolamine. These procedures generated talc
      like phyllosilicates containing pendant organic chains with nitrogen and oxygen
      basic centres located in the interlamellar region. For organofunctionalized
      phyllosilicates the lamellar structure obtained through the sol-gel method was
      confirmed by X-ray powder diffraction, while elemental analysis indicated that
      the densities of the organic groups attached to the new matrices were 3.31 +/-
      0.05 and 3.08 +/- 0.07 mmol g(-1) for hybrids functionalized with ethanol- and
      diethanolamines, respectively. Infrared spectroscopy and nuclear magnetic
      resonance in the solid state for (13)C and (29)Si showed that the organic groups
      are indeed covalently bonded to the inorganic structures and the process of
      functionalization did not affect the original structures of the silylating agents
      employed. The thermally stable hybrids presented well-formed particles with a
      homogeneous distribution of cobalt and nitrogen atoms. Their abilities for copper
      removal from aqueous solutions gave maximum capacities of sorption of 2.01 +/-
      0.11 and 2.55 +/- 0.15 mmol g(-1) for phyllosilicates containing ethanol- and
      diethanolamine groups, respectively. For lead sorption the values of 2.59 +/-
      0.11 and 2.43 +/- 0.12 mmol g(-1) were found for this same sequence. These
      sorption data were adjusted to the non-linear regression of the Langmuir
      equation. Energetic features related to the interactions between the cations and
      the pendant basic centres were determined through calorimetric titrations. The
      acid-basic interactions reflect the spontaneity of the reactions, which are also
      enthalpically and entropically favourable for these chelating processes at the
      solid-liquid interface.

PMID- 20922225
TI  - Cerium-based triple-stranded helicates as luminescent chemosensors for the
      selective sensing of magnesium ions.
AB  - Cerium-based triple-strand helicates Ce-CL(1) and Ce-CL(2) were achieved via self
      assembly from malonohydrazone derived bis-tridentate ligands H(2)CL(1) and
      H(2)CL(2), respectively. Structure analysis of Ce-CL(1) shows that six oxygen
      atoms of the beta-diketone groups on the ligands form a lantern-like cavity
      inside the helicate. Thus the helicates exhibit crown ether recognition behaviors
      and could work as luminescent magnesium chemosensors. The restricted geometry
      constraints of the internal cavities provide high selectivities of the helical
      probes towards Mg(2+) ion over other alkaline and alkaline-earth ions such as
      Li(+), Na(+), K(+), Ca(2+) and Ba(2+).

PMID- 20922220
TI  - Synthesis, DNA binding, photo-induced DNA cleavage and cytotoxicity studies of
      europium(III) complexes.
AB  - Two Eu(III) complexes, [Eu(acac)(3)(dpq)] (1) and [Eu(acac)(3)(dppz)] CH(3)OH (2)
      {viz. acetylacetonate (acac), dipyrido[3,2-d:20,30-f]quinoxaline (dpq),
      dipyrido[3,2-a:20,30-c] phenazine (dppz)}, have been synthesized and their DNA
      binding, photo-induced DNA cleavage activity and cell cytotoxicity are studied.
      The complexes display significant binding propensity to the calf thymus DNA in
      the order: 2(dppz) >1(dpq). Cleavage experiments using pBR322 supercoiled DNA
      suggest major groove binding for 2 and minor groove binding for 1. The
      mechanistic aspects on natural light (natural light in room during the day) and
      UV-A (365 nm) irradiation are via a mechanistic pathway involving formation of
      singlet oxygen and hydroxyl radical as the reactive species. The photo-induced
      DNA cleavage activity of 2 is also stronger than 1. The cytotoxicity of 1 and 2
      against HeLa (cervical) cancer cells show that the IC(50) value of 19.11 +/- 3.56
      MUM and 17.95 +/- 5.47 MUM, respectively.

PMID- 20922226
TI  - Enhanced mixing of droplets during coalescence on a surface with a wettability
      gradient.
AB  - We investigated the dynamics of head-on collisions between a moving droplet and a
      stationary droplet on a surface with a wettability gradient. The mixing of fluids
      is achieved passively through convective mass transfer caused by the release of
      surface energy during coalescence, and also through diffusive mass transfer. The
      coalescence dynamics were visualized with a high-speed camera; the internal flow
      patterns were resolved with measurement of micro-PIV (particle image
      velocimetry). The results show that the released surface energy creates a pair
      recirculation flow inside the merged droplet when the stationary droplet is
      placed near the gradient, whereas most released surface energy is converted into
      oscillation when the stationary droplet is far from the gradient. This
      distinction is attributed to the motion of the contact line during coalescence.
      The mixing of fluorescently labeled oligonucleotides in these two modes is
      revealed with confocal micro-laser induced fluorescence technique. The results of
      3D scans demonstrate that the motion of the contact line during coalescence
      distributes the fluids in a complicated manner, thus beneficial for mixing. This
      mechanism of enhanced mixing is applicable also for platforms other than a
      surface with a wettability gradient; prospective applications include improving
      the mixing of biochemical fluids.

PMID- 20922227
TI  - Cu(I)-containing room temperature ionic liquids as selective and reversible
      absorbents for propyne.
AB  - A Cu(i)-containing room temperature ionic liquid (Cu-RTIL), prepared from CuCl
      and 1,3-dimethylimidazolium methylphosphite ([DMIM][MeHPO(3)]), was found to
      reversibly and selectively interact with propyne over propylene. Cu-RTIL
      exhibited 12 times higher propyne absorption capacity and 14 times higher ideal
      propyne/propylene selectivity than [DMIM][MeHPO(3)]. Fast atom bombardment (FAB)
      mass spectral and computational results with Cu-RTIL (CuCl/[DMIM][MeHPO(3)] =
      1/2) strongly imply that the Cu-RTIL contains stable methylphosphite-coordinated
      anionic Cu(i) species such as CuCl(MeHPO(3))(-) and Cu(MeHPO(3))(2)(-).
      Computational studies on the optimized structures demonstrate that the
      preferential absorption of propyne over propylene in a Cu-RTIL originates from
      the difference in the interaction mode between the coordinated phosphite ligand
      and propyne or propylene. Strong pi-complexation of propylene and propyne with Cu
      in Cu-RTIL is not observed.

PMID- 20922228
TI  - Tandem driven dynamic self-inhibition of acetylcholinesterase.
AB  - A concept of tandem driven dynamic self-inhibition is demonstrated through
      dynamic inhibitors of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) using reversible
      transthiolesterification.

PMID- 20922229
TI  - Amplification of chirality in N,N'-1,2-ethanediylbisbenzamides: from planar
      sheets to twisted ribbons.
AB  - A remarkable sergeants-and-soldiers effect is observed in the coassembly of N,N'
      1,2-ethanediylbisbenzamides onto surfaces that experience an amplification of
      chirality able to transform flat lamellae into twisted ribbons.

PMID- 20922230
TI  - Perylene bisimide macrocycles and their self-assembly on HOPG surfaces.
AB  - Acetylene-linked macrocycles incorporating multiple perylene tetracarboxylic acid
      bisimide (PBI) chromophores have been synthesised and separated by recycling GPC.
      The very first example of such macrocycles, i.e., cyclic trimer 5, containing
      three PBI dyes self-assembles into highly ordered donut-shaped unique hexagonal
      nanopatterns on HOPG surfaces as revealed by atomic force microscopy (AFM).

PMID- 20922231
TI  - Novel interstrand communication systems within DNA duplexes based on 1-, 2- and 4
      (phenylethynyl)pyrenes attached to 2'-amino-LNA: high-affinity hybridization and
      fluorescence sensing.
AB  - Functionalisation of 2'-amino-LNA oligonucleotides with 1-, 2- and 4
      (phenylethynyl)pyrene fluorophores via a carbonyl linker (PEPyc) resulted in
      efficient interstrand communication systems in nucleic acid duplexes, providing
      effective tools for stabilization of nanostructures and fluorescence monitoring
      of DNA self-assembly.

PMID- 20922232
TI  - On the route to mimic natural movements: synthesis and photophysical properties
      of a molecular arachnoid.
AB  - The synthesis, photoswitchability and NIR emitting properties of a novel pi
      extended pyrene derivative, peripherally decorated with four azobenzenyl-ethynyl
      legs, are reported.

PMID- 20922233
TI  - Dramatic lithium chloride effect on the reaction stereocontrol in Zn-mediated
      asymmetric cinnamylation: highly practical synthesis of beta-aryl homoallylic
      amines.
AB  - An extremely mild and practical approach for the preparation of enantiomerically
      enriched beta-aryl substituted homoallylic amines bearing two adjacent
      stereogenic centers was realized by room temperature zinc-mediated highly
      stereoselective cinnamylation of N-sulfinyl imines.

PMID- 20922234
TI  - Ultrafine tin nanocrystallites encapsulated in mesoporous carbon nanowires:
      scalable synthesis and excellent electrochemical properties for rechargeable
      lithium ion batteries.
AB  - A morphology-conserved transformation yields Sn@C nanowires (UTP@CW, ~21 wt%
      carbon and ~77 wt% tin) with a high encapsulation density of ultrafine tin
      nanoparticles in porous carbon nanowires, which exhibit excellent reversible
      capacities and cycling performance for lithium ion batteries, especially at high
      current rates.

PMID- 20922235
TI  - Bismuth- and lead-texaphyrin complexes: towards potential alpha-core emitters for
      radiotherapy.
AB  - Lead(II)-texaphyrins and the first discrete binuclear MU-oxo bismuth(III)
      texaphyrin are reported. The latter was characterized via single crystal X-ray
      diffraction analysis. Cell proliferation assays using the A2780 ovarian cancer
      cell line were used to determine the cytotoxicity of the complexes.

PMID- 20922236
TI  - NMR studies into colloidal stability and magnetic order in fatty acid stabilised
      aqueous magnetic fluids.
AB  - We report the physico-chemical characterisation of fatty acid stabilised aqueous
      magnetic fluids, which are ideal systems for studying the influence of
      nanoparticle aggregation on the emergent magnetic resonance properties of the
      suspensions. Stable colloids of superparamagnetic magnetite, Fe(3)O(4),
      nanoparticle clusters in the 80 to 100 nm size range were produced by in situ
      nanoparticle growth and stabilisation, and by suspending pre-formed
      nanoparticles. NMR relaxation analysis shows that the magnetic resonance
      properties of the two types of suspension differ substantially and provides new
      insights into how the relaxation mechanisms are determined by the organisation of
      the nanoparticles within the clusters.

PMID- 20922237
TI  - Conformational transitions of glycine induced by vibrational excitation of the O
      H stretch.
AB  - Vibrational energy flow and conformational transitions following excitation of
      the OH stretching mode of the most stable conformer of glycine are studied by
      classical trajectories. "On the fly" simulations with the PM3 semiempirical
      electronic structure method for the potential surface are used. Initial
      conditions are selected to correspond to the nu=1 excitation of the OH stretch.
      The main findings are: (1) An an equilibrium-like ratio is established between
      the populations of the 3 lowest-lying conformers after about 10 picoseconds. (2)
      There is a high probability throughout the 150 ps of the simulations for finding
      the molecule in geometries far from the equilibrium structures of the lowest
      energy conformers. (3) Energy from the initial excited OH (nu=1) stretch flows
      preferentially to 5 other vibrational modes, including the bending motion of the
      H atom. (4) RRK theory yields conformational transition rates that deviate
      substantially from the classical trajectory results. Possible implication of
      these results for vibrational energy flow and conformational transitions in small
      biological molecules are discussed.

PMID- 20922238
TI  - Synthesis, X-ray crystal structures, thermal and electrochemical properties of
      thiosemicarbazidatodioxouranium(VI) complexes.
AB  - The stable uranyl complexes, [UO(2)(L)C(9)H(19)OH], were obtained from 3,5
      dichlorosalicyl-(L(I)) and salicyl-aldehyde-S-propyl-thiosemicarbazones (L(II))
      with substituted-salicylaldehyde in nonyl alcohol. The structures of the
      complexes have been characterized by elemental analysis, IR, (1)H NMR,
      conductivity, magnetic moment measurements, cyclic voltammetry, thermal
      gravimetric analysis and single crystal X-ray diffraction technique. The U(VI)
      centre is seven-coordinated in a distorted pentagonal bipyramidal geometry. The
      relative orientations of the nonyl alcohol and S-propyl group in the title
      complexes are completely different due to different crystal packing.
      Electrochemical behaviors of the thiosemicarbazone ligands and the uranyl
      complexes were studied using cyclic voltammetry and square wave voltammetry.
      Redox processes of the compounds are significantly influenced by the central
      metal ions and the nature of substituents on the thiosemicarbazones, which are
      important factors in controlling the redox properties. In situ
      spectroelectrochemical studies were employed to determine the colors and spectra
      of electro-generated species of the complexes.

PMID- 20922239
TI  - Structural and electronic properties of luminescent copper(I) halide complexes of
      bis[2-(diphenylphosphano)phenyl] ether (DPEphos). Crystal structure of
      [CuCl(DPEphos)(dmpymtH].
AB  - Heteroleptic copper(I) halide complexes containing the bis[2
      (diphenylphosphano)phenyl]ether (DPEphos) ligand and the heterocyclic thioamides
      pyridine-2(1H)-thione (py2SH), pyrimidine-2(1H)-thione (pymtH) or 4,6
      dimethylpyrimidine-2(1H)-thione (dmpymtH) have been synthesized and characterized
      by (1)H-NMR, IR spectroscopy, elemental analyses and melting point
      determinations. The complexes can be readily obtained by the addition of the
      thione ligand to a CuX-diphosphane adduct in dichloromethane-ethanol solution.
      The molecular structure of [CuCl(DPEphos)(dmpymtH)] complex has been established
      by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The structure features a tetrahedral
      copper(I) center with two phosphorus atoms from the chelating diphos ligand, one
      halogen atom and the exocyclic sulfur atom of the heterocyclic thioamide unit.
      The complexes are strongly emissive in the solid state at ambient temperature.
      DFT and TD-DFT calculations were employed to study the structural, electronic and
      photophysical properties of the novel complexes. Electronic absorption spectra
      show two broad bands in the regions 275-290 and 380-398 nm of mixed MLCT/IL
      character. Intense blue-green emission is observed in the region 500-558 nm for
      complexes having py2SH or dmpymtH thione ligands. The emitting first triplet
      excited state, T(1) is mainly localized on the thione ligand.

PMID- 20922240
TI  - Hydride ion-carrier ability in Rh(I) complexes of a nicotinamide-functionalised N
      heterocyclic carbene ligand.
AB  - (Spectro-)electrochemical results demonstrate ligand-centred hydride ion-carrier
      capacity for a Rh(I) complex of a novel 'non-innocent' N-heterocyclic carbene
      ligand created by nicotinamide functionalisation.

PMID- 20922241
TI  - Improved dehydrogenation properties of Ca(BH4)2-LiNH2 combined system.
AB  - Ca(BH(4))(2)-LiNH(2) combined system is shown to release hydrogen at much lower
      temperature compared to the pure Ca(BH(4))(2). The improved dehydrogenation in
      this system can be ascribed to a combination reaction between [BH(4)] and [NH(2)]
      based on the reaction mechanism of positive H and negative H.

PMID- 20922242
TI  - Syntheses and structures of copper(I) complexes based on Cu(n)X(n) (X = Br and I;
      n = 1, 2 and 4) units and bis(pyridyl) ligands with longer flexible spacer.
AB  - Self-assembly of four bis(pyridyl) ligands with longer flexible spacer: 1,4-bis(3
      pyridylaminomethyl)benzene (L1), 1,4-bis(2-pyridylaminomethyl)benzene (L2), 1,3
      bis(3-pyridylaminomethyl)benzene (L3) and 1,3-bis(2-pyridylaminomethyl)benzene
      (L4), and CuX (X = Br and I) leads to the formation of eight [Cu(n)X(n)]-based (X
      = Br and I; n = 1, 2, and 4) complexes, [Cu(2)I(2)L1(PPh(3))(4)] (1),
      [Cu(4)Cl(2)Br(2)(L4)(2)(PPh(3))(6)].(CH(3)CN)(2) (2), [Cu(2)I(2)(L3)(2)] (3),
      {[Cu(2)Br(2)L2(PPh(3))(2)].(CH(2)Cl(2))(2)}(n) (4), [CuIL1](n).nCH(2)Cl(2) (5),
      [CuIL1](n) (6), [CuIL4](n) (7) and [Cu(2)I(2)L4](n) (8), which have been
      synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, IR, TG, powder and single
      crystal X-ray diffraction. Structural analyses show that the eight complexes
      possess an increasing dimensionality from 0D (1-3) to 1D (4) to 2D (5-8), in
      which 1 and 2 contain a CuX unit, 2-7 contain a Cu(2)X(2) unit and 8 contains a
      Cu(4)X(4) unit. Such evolvement indicates that the conformation of flexible
      bis(pyridyl) ligands and the participation of triphenylphosphine (PPh(3)) as a
      second ligand take an essential role in the framework formation of the Cu(i)
      complexes. Moreover, a pair of symmetry-related L3 ligands in complex 3
      coordinate to the rhomboid Cu(2)I(2) dimer to form "handcuff-shaped" dinuclear
      structures, which are further joined together through intermolecular N-HI
      hydrogen bonds to furnish a 2D (4,4) layer. Although complexes 5 and 6 exhibit a
      similar 2D (4,4) layer constructed from L1 ligand bridging [Cu(2)I(2)](n) units,
      the different packing fashion of the layers leads to the formation of 3D porous
      frameworks of 5 and dense 3D frameworks of 6. The "twisted-boat" conformation of
      the Cu(4)I(4) tetramer unit in complex 8 has not been reported so far.

PMID- 20922243
TI  - Insights into the control of magnetic coupling in the Mn4(III) complex: from
      ferromagnetic to antiferromagnetic.
AB  - Magnetic coupling interactions of a Mn(III)(4) system are investigated by
      calculations based on density functional theory combined with a broken-symmetry
      approach (DFT-BS). Three different interactions including ferromagnetic and
      antiferromagnetic coupling are concomitant in this complex. This magnetic
      phenomenon of the complex is due to the different bridging angles between the
      Mn(III) centers in the three different models and the orbital complementarity of
      the MU-pzbg and MU-OCH(3) bridging ligands, which is proven by the analyses of
      the molecular orbitals. According to the analyses of the magneto-structural
      correlation, it is revealed that the magnetic coupling interaction switches from
      ferromagnetic to antiferromagnetic at the point of the bridging angle Mn-(MU
      OCH(3))-Mn = 99 degrees , which is equal to the value in the origin crystal.
      Significant correlation between the magnetic properties and the component of the
      d orbitals in these systems shows that the larger contribution of the d(z(2))
      orbital corresponds to the larger ferromagnetic coupling interaction. These
      results should provide a means to control the magnetic coupling of the
      polynuclear Mn systems, which is instructive for the design of new molecular
      magnetic materials.

PMID- 20922244
TI  - Complex formation between Ru(eta(6)-p-cym)(H2O)3]2+ and (O,O) donor ligands with
      biological relevance in aqueous solution.
AB  - The interaction between [Ru(eta(6)-p-cym)(H(2)O)(3)](2+) and (O,O) type chelators
      with different basicity of the donor atoms was studied using combined pH
      potentiometric, (1)H-NMR and ESI-TOF-MS techniques. The studied nine ligands are
      building blocks of reported complexes with antitumor activity or may model (O,O)
      donor serum components capable of interacting with the administered half-sandwich
      ruthenium(II) type drug. Composition and stability constants of the [Ru(eta(6)-p
      cym)(O,O)Y] type species (Y: H(2)O or OH(-)) were determined (T = 25.0  degrees
      C; I = 0.20 M (KCl)) and the metal ion binding strengths of the ligands are
      discussed. It was found that ligands with two low basicity O donors (oxalic and
      cyclobutane-1,1-dicarboxylic acid) bind the metal ion at acidic conditions but
      are not able to prevent the hydrolysis at physiologically relevant conditions.
      Ligands with one low and one high basicity O donor (lactic and salicylic acid)
      are weak binders for Ru(eta(6)-p-cym)(H(2)O)(3)](2+). Pyrone or pyridinone based
      ligands are capable of binding the metal ion over a wide pH range and no
      hydrolysis product is detectable at pH = 7.4. The obtained speciation models may
      help in the rationalization of the biological activity of such complexes and
      provide a deeper insight into the solution behaviour of half-sandwich Ru(II)
      complexes with potential anticancer activity.

PMID- 20922245
TI  - Sonochemical synthesis of Ce(1-x)Fe(x)O(2-delta) (0 <= x <= 0.45) and
      Ce(0.65)Fe(0.33)Pd(0.02)O(2-delta) nanocrystallites: oxygen storage material, CO
      oxidation and water gas shift catalyst.
AB  - Nanocrystalline Ce(1-x)Fe(x)O(2-delta) (0 <= x <= 0.45) and
      Ce(0.65)Fe(0.33)Pd(0.02)O(2-delta) of ~4 nm sizes were synthesized by a
      sonochemical method using diethyletriamine (DETA) as a complexing agent.
      Compounds were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photo
      electron spectroscopy (XPS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Ce(1
      x)Fe(x)O(2-delta) (0 <= x <= 0.45) and Ce(0.65)Fe(0.33)Pd(0.02)O(2-delta)
      crystallize in fluorite structure where Fe is in +3, Ce is in +4 and Pd is in +2
      oxidation state. Due to substitution of smaller Fe(3+) ion in CeO(2), lattice
      oxygen is activated and 33% Fe substituted CeO(2)i.e. Ce(0.67)Fe(0.33)O(1.835)
      reversibly releases 0.31[O] up to 600  degrees C which is higher or comparable to
      the oxygen storage capacity of CeO(2)-ZrO(2) based solid solutions (Catal. Today
      2002, 74, 225-234). Due to interaction of redox potentials of Pd(2+/0)(0.89 V)
      and Fe(3+/2+) (0.77 V) with Ce(4+/3+) (1.61 V), Pd ion accelerates the electron
      transfer from Fe(2+) to Ce(4+) in Ce(0.65)Fe(0.33)Pd(0.02)O(1.815), making it a
      high oxygen storage material as well as a highly active catalyst for CO oxidation
      and water gas shift reaction. The activation energy for CO oxidation with
      Ce(0.65)Fe(0.33)Pd(0.02)O(1.815) is found to be as low as 38 kJ mol(-1).
      Ce(0.67)Fe(0.33)O(1.835) and Ce(0.65)Fe(0.33)Pd(0.02)O(1.815) have also shown
      high activity for the water gas shift reaction. CO conversion to CO(2) is 100%
      H(2) specific with these catalysts and conversion rate was found to be as high
      27.2 MUmoles g(-1) s(-1) and the activation energy was found to be 46.4 kJ mol(
      1) for Ce(0.65)Fe(0.33)Pd(0.02)O(1.815).

PMID- 20922246
TI  - Binding of H+ and Zn(II) ions with a new fluorescent macrocyclic
      phenanthrolinophane.
AB  - The new macrocyclic ligand 1,9(4,7)-diphenanthroline-3,7,11,15
      tetraazacyclohexadecaphane (L) was synthesized by a 2 : 2 reaction of 1,10
      phenanthroline-4,7-dialdehyde with 1,3-diaminopropane, followed by reduction with
      NaBH(4). L contains two phenanthroline groups linked together by two 1,3
      diaminopropane chains in such a way that the heteroaromatic nitrogen atoms point
      outside the ligand cavity. The ligand structure defines two pairs of identical
      compartments displaying a specific ability in the binding of protons (1,3
      diaminopropane) and metal ions (phenanthroline). Protonation and Zn(II)
      coordination were studied by means of potentiometric and spectroscopic ((1)H NMR,
      UV-vis, fluorescence) techniques. Both protonation and Zn(II) coordination
      consistently affect the fluorescence emission properties of L, giving rise to
      enhancement or quenching of the emission, depending on the species involved. L
      becomes emissive upon protonation, but the formation of the highly protonated
      species, in particular the fully protonated [H(6)L](6+), quenches the emission.
      The mono- and dinuclear Zn(II) complexes of the unprotonated ligand are non
      emissive, like free L, while Zn(II) binding to [HL](+) activates the emission.
      The most interesting aspect, however, is the chelation enhancement of quenching
      (CHEQ) observed upon Zn(II) binding to [H(2)L](2+) and [H(4)L](4+), being among
      the few examples of CHEQ effect observed for Zn(II) complexes. Hydrogen bonding
      between a metal coordinated water molecule and a phenanthroline group seems to be
      responsible for the CHEQ observed for [ZnH(2)L](4+).

PMID- 20922247
TI  - Gold- and silver-based ionic liquids: modulation of luminescence depending on the
      physical state.
AB  - A series of gold- and silver-containing ionic liquids, [C(n)MIM][M(CN)(2)] (M =
      Au, Ag; n = 12, 14, 18), prepared by metathesis reactions, present luminescence
      depending on their physical state i.e. crystalline or smectic A phases. The
      photoluminescent measurements as well as DFT calculations suggest that the
      modulation of aurophilic intermolecular interactions are responsible for this
      phosphorescent behaviour.

PMID- 20922248
TI  - A unique single carboxylate-bridged spin-frustrated chiral Mn(II)
      metallatriangle.
AB  - The reaction between Hmbpymca ligand (prepared in situ from the hydrolysis of 5
      methyl-4-cyano-bispyrimidine with NaOH and further neutralization with 2 M HCl)
      and Mn(ClO(4))(2).4H(2)O in 1:1 molar ratio afforded the triangulo
      trimanganese(II) complex [Mn(3)(bpymca)(3)(H(2)O)(6)]Cl(3).6H(2)O 1. The chloride
      anions in this complex come from the HCl used in the neutralization process. The
      molecular structure of 1 consists of cationic molecular triangles [Mn(3)(MU
      mbpymca)(3)(H(2)O)(6)](3+) with C(3) symmetry, chloride anions and
      crystallization water molecules, all of them involved in an extensive network of
      hydrogen bonds, leading to a chiral network. Within the [Mn(3)(MU
      mbpymca)(3)(H(2)O)(6)](3+) cations, seven-coordinated Mn(II) ions are bridged by
      both oxygen atoms of the carboxylate groups and exhibit a MnO(5)N(2) compressed
      pentagonal bipyramidal coordination environment. The temperature dependence of
      the magnetic susceptibility shows the presence of weak antiferromagnetic
      interactions between Mn(II) ions mediated by the carboxylate group of the mbpymca
      ligand and the existence of a 3D antiferromagnetic ordering below 4 K, which has
      its origin in the AF inter-trimer exchange interactions mediated by the strong
      hydrogen bonds present in the crystal of 1. The experimental magnetic
      susceptibility data above 7 K could be satisfactorily fitted to the theoretical
      analytical expression derived from the spin Hamiltonian H = -J(S(1)S(2) +
      S(1)S(3) + S(2)S(3)) with J = -0.782(3) cm(-1) and g = 2.092(3). The model
      predicts a degenerate ground state with an S = 1/2, which is typical of
      triangular trimetallic spin frustrated systems containing metal with non-integer
      spins. DFT calculations were performed on the molecular structure as found in the
      solid state to support the experimental J value and the Mn-O(carb)-Mn as the
      primarily exchange pathway.

PMID- 20922249
TI  - Rational synthesis of chiral layered magnets by functionalization of metal simple
      hydroxides with chiral and non-chiral Ni(II) Schiff base complexes.
AB  - Synthesis of new heterometallic layered magnets with controlled chirality have
      been achieved by insertion of chiral and non-chiral salen-type Ni(II) complexes
      into copper and cobalt layered simple hydroxides.

PMID- 20922250
TI  - On the nature of the transition metal-main group metal bond: synthesis and
      theoretical calculations on iridium gallyl complexes.
AB  - The iridum-gallyl complex MeIr(PCy(3))(2)(GaMe(2))(Cl*GaMe(3)) exhibits a short
      Ir-Ga bond length of 2.381(1)-2.389(2) A. Theoretical calculations (ZORA
      BP86/TZ2P) support the presence of a Ir-Ga single bond but highlight a pi orbital
      contribution.

PMID- 20922251
TI  - Blue light induced A2E oxidation in rat eyes--experimental animal model of dry
      AMD.
AB  - Previous studies have shown that short-wavelength blue visible light induces
      retinal injury and may be a risk factor for age related macular degeneration. A2E
      is a blue light absorbing retinal chromophore that accumulates with age. Our
      previous in vitro studies have determined that, although A2E itself has a low
      phototoxic efficiency, the oxidation products of A2E that are formed in the
      presence of visible light can contribute to observed retinal pigment epithelial
      photodamage. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of blue
      light on retinal phototoxicity and its relationship to A2E, oxidized A2E and its
      isomers. Sprague-Dawley albino rats were dark adapted for 24 h. Control rats
      remained in the dark while experimental rats were exposed to blue light (lambda =
      450 nm, 3.1 mW cm(-2)) for 6 h. Isolated retinas were homogenized in Folch
      extraction mixture and then in chloroform. The dried extracts were reconstituted
      and divided for determination of organic soluble compound. Esters of fatty acids
      were determined with GC-MS, A2E and other chromophores using HPLC, and A2E
      oxidation products with LC-MS. Exposure of rat eyes to blue light did not
      significantly change the fatty acid composition of the retina. The A2E
      concentration (normalized to fatty acid content) in blue light exposed animals
      was found to be lower than the A2E concentration in control rats. The
      concentrations of all-trans-retinal-ethanolamine adduct and iso-A2E a precursor
      and an isomer of A2E respectively, were also lower after blue-light exposure than
      in the retinas of rats housed in the dark. On the other hand, the amount of
      oxidized forms of A2E was higher in the animals exposed to blue light. We
      conclude that in the rat eye, blue-light exposure promotes oxidation of A2E and
      iso-A2E to the products that are toxic to retinal tissue. Although high
      concentrations of A2E may be cytotoxic to the retina, the phototoxicity
      associated with blue light damage to the retina is in part a result of the
      formation of toxic A2E oxides. This effect may partially explain the association
      between blue light induced retinal injury and macular degeneration.

PMID- 20922252
TI  - Mechanism of photooxidation of folic acid sensitized by unconjugated pterins.
AB  - Folic acid, or pteroyl-l-glutamic acid (PteGlu), is a precursor of coenzymes
      involved in the metabolism of nucleotides and amino acids. PteGlu is composed of
      three moieties: a 6-methylpterin (Mep) residue, a p-aminobenzoic acid (PABA)
      residue, and a glutamic acid (Glu) residue. Accumulated evidence indicates that
      photolysis of PteGlu leads to increased risk of several pathologies. Thus, a
      study of PteGlu photodegradation can have significant ramifications. When an air
      equilibrated aqueous solution of PteGlu is exposed to UV-A radiation, the rate of
      the degradation increases with irradiation time. The mechanism involved in this
      "auto-photo-catalytic" effect was investigated in aqueous solutions using a
      variety of tools. Whereas PteGlu is photostable under anaerobic conditions, it is
      converted into 6-formylpterin (Fop) and p-aminobenzoyl-l-glutamic acid (PABA-Glu)
      in the presence of oxygen. As the reaction proceeds and enough Fop accumulates in
      the solution, a photosensitized electron-transfer process starts, where Fop
      photoinduces the oxidation of PteGlu to Fop, and H(2)O(2) is formed. This process
      also takes place with other pterins as photosensitizers. The results are
      discussed with the context of previous mechanisms for processes photosensitized
      by pterins, and their biological implications are evaluated.

PMID- 20922253
TI  - Selective hydrophobic pocket binding observed within the carbonic anhydrase II
      active site accommodate different 4-substituted-ureido-benzenesulfonamides and
      correlate to inhibitor potency.
AB  - 4-Substituted-ureido benzenesulfonamides showing inhibitory activity against
      carbonic anhydrase (CA, EC 4.2.1.1) II between 3.3-226 nM were crystallized in
      complex with the enzyme. Hydrophobic interactions between the scaffold of the
      inhibitors in different hydrophobic pockets of the enzyme were observed,
      explaining the diverse inhibitory range of these derivatives.

PMID- 20922254
TI  - Modular approach to functional hyaluronic acid hydrogels using orthogonal
      chemical reactions.
AB  - A modular approach for the synthesis of hyaluronic acid hydrogels using
      orthogonal chemoselective reactions for subsequent enzymatic decomposition to
      nanoparticles is described.

PMID- 20922255
TI  - The use of artificial neural networks to forecast biological atmospheric
      allergens or pathogens only as Alternaria spores.
AB  - The monitoring of atmospheric Alternaria spores is of major importance due to
      their adverse effects on crops and their role as human allergens. Most species
      act as plant pathogens, prompting considerable economic losses worldwide on
      important crops such as potato, tomato or wheat. Fungal spores can also have
      serious detrimental effects on human health, triggering respiratory diseases and
      allergenic processes. The aim of this study was not only to examine the
      relationship between the atmospheric Alternaria spore content and the prevailing
      meteorological parameters, but also to predict the atmospheric Alternaria spore
      content in the Northwest Spain using a novel data analysis technique, ANNs
      (Artificial Neural Networks). A Hirst-type LANZONI VPPS 2000 volumetric 7-day
      recording sampler was used to collect the airborne spores from 1997 to 2008.
      Neural networks provided us with a good tool for forecasting Alternaria airborne
      spore concentration, and thus could help the automation of the prediction system
      in the aerobiological information diffusion to the population suffering from
      allergic problems or the prevention of considerable economic worldwide losses on
      important crops. Our proposed model would be applied to different geographical
      areas; nevertheless, the adjustment of the model, by using the available and
      adequate variables, would be realised in each case.

PMID- 20922256
TI  - Vertebrate ancient opsin and melanopsin: divergent irradiance detectors.
AB  - Both vertebrates and invertebrates respond to light by utilising a wide-ranging
      array of photosensory systems, with diverse photoreceptor organs expressing a
      characteristic photopigment, itself consisting of an opsin apoprotein linked to a
      light-sensitive retinoid chromophore based on vitamin A. In the eye, the pigments
      expressed in both cone and rod photoreceptors have been studied in great depth
      and mediate contrast perception, measurement of the spectral composition of
      environmental light, and thus classical image forming vision. By contrast, the
      molecular basis for non-visual and extraocular photoreception is far less
      understood; however, two photopigment genes have become the focus of much study,
      the vertebrate ancient (va) opsin and melanopsin (opn4). In this review, we
      discuss the history of discovery for each gene, as well as focusing on the
      evolution, expression profile, functional role and broader physiological
      significance of each photopigment. Recently, it has been suggested independently
      by Arendt et al. and Lamb that an ancestral opsin bifurcated in early metazoans
      and evolved into two quite different photopigments, one expressed in rhabdomeric
      photoreceptors and the other in ciliary photoreceptors. This interpretation of
      the evolution of the metazoan eye has provided a powerful framework for
      understanding photobiological organization. Their proposal, however, does not
      encompass all current experimental observations that would be consistent with
      what we term a central "Evolution of Photosensory Opsins with Common Heredity
      (EPOCH)" hypothesis to explain the complexity of animal photosensory systems.
      Clearly, many opsin genes (e.g. va opsin) simply do not fit neatly within this
      scheme. Thus, the review concludes with a discussion of these anomalies and their
      context regarding the phylogeny of photoreceptor and photopigment development.

PMID- 20922257
TI  - Nanostructured materials for thermoelectric applications.
AB  - Recent studies indicate that nanostructuring can be an effective method for
      increasing the dimensionless thermoelectric figure of merit (ZT) in materials.
      Most of the enhancement in ZT can be attributed to large reductions in the
      lattice thermal conductivity due to increased phonon scattering at interfaces.
      Although significant gains have been reported, much higher ZTs in practical, cost
      effective and environmentally benign materials are needed in order for
      thermoelectrics to become effective for large-scale, wide-spread power and
      thermal management applications. This review discusses the various synthetic
      techniques that can be used in the production of bulk scale nanostructured
      materials. The advantages and disadvantages of each synthetic method are
      evaluated along with guidelines and goals presented for an ideal thermoelectric
      material. With proper optimization, some of these techniques hold promise for
      producing high efficiency devices.

PMID- 20922258
TI  - Diols and anions can control the formation of an exciplex between a pyridinium
      boronic acid with an aryl group connected via a propylene linker.
AB  - The exciplex formation between a pyridinium boronic acid and phenyl group
      connected via a propylene linker can be monitored using fluorescence. Addition of
      pinacol affords a cyclic boronate ester with enhanced Lewis acidity that
      increases the strength of its cation-pi stacking interaction causing a four-fold
      fluorescence enhancement.

PMID- 20922259
TI  - Arylation of unactivated arenes.
AB  - Transition metal-catalyzed and metal-free direct arylation of unactivated arenes
      is described. The transition metal-catalyzed direct arylation of unactivated
      arenes as a state-of-the-art method towards biaryl synthesis is highlighted in
      this Perspective.

PMID- 20922260
TI  - New reactions of anticancer-platinum complexes and their intriguing behaviour
      under various experimental conditions.
AB  - The anticancer platinum complexes here described react with organic substrates
      (such as acids, alkenes, alkynes) and catalyze transformations that can occur in
      biomolecules which contain unsaturated functions. We have analyzed the role of
      the platinum complexes in the observed reactions and studied the progress of the
      detected transformations upon variation of the reaction conditions.

PMID- 20922261
TI  - Synthesis and structural analysis of a novel iodinated cyclopentadienone via ring
      contraction iodination and its application in synthesis of alkyne-functionalized
      cyclopentadienones.
AB  - The first iodinated cyclopentadienone was isolated and its structure was
      confirmed by single crystal X-ray analysis. Based on this intermediate, the first
      direct C-C bond formation on cyclopentadienone ring was achieved. The photo
      induced intramolecular charge transfer of alkynylated cyclopentadienones was
      evaluated by solvent polarity effect on their electronic absorption spectra.

PMID- 20922262
TI  - Carving two adjacent holes on [60]fullerene through two consecutive epoxide to
      diol to dione transformations.
AB  - Repeated acid catalyzed epoxide opening and oxidation of the resulting diol with
      diacetoxyiodobenzene led to two 10-membered orifices on C(60) cage.

PMID- 20922263
TI  - Artificial hydrogenases: assembly of an H-cluster analogue within a
      functionalised poly(pyrrole) matrix.
AB  - We show that a redox active {Fe(4)S(4)}(2+)-cubane assembly covalently bound
      within a cysteinyl-alkylammonium functionalised polypyrrole can be modified with
      a diiron dithiolate carbonyl unit to give an artificial hydrogenase H-cluster
      framework confined within the polymer matrix.

PMID- 20922264
TI  - Gas pressure effects on the rates of catalytic H(2) oxidation by hydrogenases.
AB  - During catalysis by hydrogenases, entities no larger than H(2) or H(+) reach and
      leave a deeply buried active site, by as yet unidentified pathways. Novel
      experiments, conducted mainly with the membrane-bound [NiFe]-hydrogenase from
      Ralstonia eutropha, explore why small excess gas pressures (H(2) or He) attenuate
      the rate of H(2) oxidation.

PMID- 20922265
TI  - Decrease in blood pressure, body mass index and glycemia after aerobic training
      in elderly women with type 2 diabetes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aging process is associated with the development of several
      diseases, which can be attenuated by the practice of physical activities. Aerobic
      training is an effective method to maintain and improve cardiovascular function.
      Additionally, it has a crucial role in the prevention and treatment of several
      chronic-degenerative diseases, especially diabetes mellitus. } OBJECTIVE: To
      verify the effect of a 13-week aerobic training program on blood pressure (BP),
      body mass index (BMI) and glycemia levels in elderly women with type-2 diabetes
      mellitus (DM2). METHODS: Eleven sedentary elderly women with DM2, aged 61.0 +/-
      9.1 years, were submitted a 13-week aerobic training program, constituting group
      G2. Eleven controlled elderly women (aged 60.2 +/- 6.8 years) were not submitted
      to the aerobic training, constituting the control group (G1). G1 attended
      educational lectures once a week, whereas G2 walked three times a week. RESULTS:
      Both groups presented a significant decrease in glycemia and diastolic blood
      pressure levels. No significant decreases in BMI were observed after the aerobic
      training in either group. CONCLUSION: The 13-week aerobic training program was
      enough to promote significant decrease in the diastolic blood pressure and
      glycemia levels; therefore, this type of exercise training decreases the risk
      factors for cardiovascular and metabolic diseases.

PMID- 20922266
TI  - Cost-effectiveness of implantable cardioverter defibrillators in Brazil in the
      public and private sectors.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Many randomized clinical trials have demonstrated the effectiveness
      of the implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICDs) in death reduction of
      chronic heart failure (CHF) patients. Some developed countries studies have
      evaluated its cost-effectiveness, but these data are not applicable to Brazil.
      OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the cost-effectiveness of ICD in CHF patients under two
      perspectives in Brazil: public and supplementary health systems. METHODS: A
      Markov model was developed to analyze the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio
      (ICER) of ICD compared to conventional therapy in patients with CHF.
      Effectiveness was measured in quality-adjusted life years (QALYs). We searched
      the literature for data regarding effectiveness and complications. Costs were
      retrieved from public and health insurances reimbursement codebooks and from mean
      cost of admissions from a public and a private hospital. One-way sensitivity
      analysis was performed in all variables of the model. RESULTS: ICER was R$
      68,318/QALY in the public and R$ 90,942/QALY in the private perspective. These
      values are much higher than the one suggested by the World Health Organization of
      3 times the gross domestic product per head (R$ 40,545 in Brazil). The results
      were sensitive to the cost of the device, battery replacement interval and ICD
      effectiveness. In a simulation resembling MADIT-I population survival and ICD
      benefit, ICER was R$ R$ 23,739/QALY in the public and R$ 33,592/QALY in the
      private perspective. CONCLUSION: The ICER of ICD is elevated in the general ICC
      population, in either the public or private perspective. A more favorable result
      occurs in patients with a high sudden death risk.

PMID- 20922267
TI  - Quality of life of patients that had a heart transplant: application of Whoqol
      Bref scale.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The success of cardiac transplantation involves ensuring the survival
      of patients with heart disease and allowing them to carry out their daily
      activities. Heart transplant is the first option of treatment for heart failure
      and it represents an increase in the survival rate and quality of life of
      transplant patients. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the quality of life of patients that
      had a heart transplant by using a standardized scale (Whoqol-Bref). METHODS: A
      quantitative descriptive exploratory study, conducted with 55 patients that had a
      heart transplant, in a period ranging between the third and 103(rd) months, who
      were monitored at the Transplant and Heart Failure Unit in a benchmark cardiology
      hospital in the city of Fortaleza, State of Ceara. The data were collected from
      February 2009 to April 2009, by administering a WHO-standardized questionnaire
      and by using data contained in medical records. RESULTS: With respect to the
      physical domain, 62.8% of male patients and 58.3% of female patients are
      satisfied. In the psychological domain, 65.1% of males are satisfied with the
      quality of life and, 58.3% of females are satisfied. In terms of social
      relations, it was observed that 53.5% of males are very satisfied and 100% of
      females are satisfied. With regard to the environment, 65.1% of male patients and
      83.3% of female patients are satisfied. CONCLUSION: The heart transplant had a
      lot of influence on the quality of life of transplant patients, because the
      results have proven to be statistically significant after the transplant.

PMID- 20922268
TI  - Biopsychosocial variables and attitudes towards treatment influence complicated
      hypertension.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Complicated hypertension can be influenced by the characteristics of
      hypertensive patients. OBJECTIVE: To associate the condition of complicated
      hypertension with biosocial variables such as attitudes and beliefs about the
      disease and treatment and subjective well-being. METHODS: We studied 251
      uncomplicated hypertensive patients (SBP > 140 mmHg and/or 90 < DBP < 110 mmHg
      for patients under no treatment and DBP <110mmHg for patients under treatment
      without target organ damage and other diseases) and 260 complicated hypertensive
      patients (DBP > 110 mmHg with or without treatment, with target organ damage or
      other diseases). RESULTS: Complicated hypertensive patients were significantly
      different from uncomplicated ones (p <0.05) in relation to: 1 - Prevalence of
      men, not white (53.0%), higher body mass index (29.5 +/- 4.6 vs 28.5 +/- 4.0
      kg/m2), over 10 years of disease (54.0%), completion of previous treatment
      (53.0%) and reports of sadness about life as a whole (74.0%) 2 - Complicated
      hypertensive patients never bring the drugs when they travel (59.0%), nor do they
      buy them before running out the drugs (71.0%) and rarely follow eating guidelines
      (69.0%) 3 - Uncomplicated hypertensive patients showed no more migraines, joint
      pain and, among women, menopausal status and hormone replacement therapy, and 4 -
      Of those who had pressure control (< 140/90 mmHg), 61.9% were uncomplicated
      hypertensive patients; and 5 - Complicated hypertensive patients were not aware
      that treatment can prevent kidney problems and they thought that young people do
      not have high blood pressure. CONCLUSION: Complicated hypertensive patients
      showed more negative structural and psychosocial characteristics, more negative
      attitudes towards treatment and are unaware of the disease.

PMID- 20922269
TI  - Regulation of protein synthesis and the role of eIF3 in cancer.
AB  - Maintenance of cell homeostasis and regulation of cell proliferation depend
      importantly on regulating the process of protein synthesis. Many disease states
      arise when disregulation of protein synthesis occurs. This review focuses on
      mechanisms of translational control and how disregulation results in cell
      malignancy. Most translational controls occur during the initiation phase of
      protein synthesis, with the initiation factors being the major target of
      regulation through their phosphorylation. In particular, the recruitment of mRNAs
      through the m7G-cap structure and the binding of the initiator methionyl-tRNA(i)
      are frequent targets. However, translation, especially of specific mRNAs, may
      also be regulated by sequestration into processing bodies or stress granules, by
      trans-acting proteins or by microRNAs. When the process of protein synthesis is
      hyper-activated, weak mRNAs are translated relatively more efficiently, leading
      to an imbalance of cellular proteins that promotes cell proliferation and
      malignant transformation. This occurs, for example, when the cap-binding protein,
      eIF4E, is overexpressed, or when the methionyl-tRNA(i)-binding factor, eIF2, is
      too active. In addition, enhanced activity of eIF3 contributes to oncogenesis.
      The importance of the translation initiation factors as regulators of protein
      synthesis and cell proliferation makes them potential therapeutic targets for the
      treatment of cancer.

PMID- 20922270
TI  - Acute kidney injury in AIDS: frequency, RIFLE classification and outcome.
AB  - The objective of the present study was to evaluate the characteristics of acute
      kidney injury (AKI) in AIDS patients and the value of RIFLE classification for
      predicting outcome. The study was conducted on AIDS patients admitted to an
      infectious diseases hospital inBrazil. The patients with AKI were classified
      according to the RIFLE classification: R (risk), I (injury), F (failure), L
      (loss), and E (end-stage renal disease). Univariate and multivariate analyses
      were used to evaluate the factors associated with AKI. A total of 532 patients
      with a mean age of 35 +/- 8.5 years were included in this study. AKI was observed
      in 37% of the cases. Patients were classified as "R" (18%), "I" (7.7%) and "F"
      (11%). Independent risk factors for AKI were thrombocytopenia (OR = 2.9, 95%CI =
      1.5-5.6, P < 0.001) and elevation of aspartate aminotransferase (AST) (OR = 3.5,
      95%CI = 1.8-6.6, P < 0.001). General mortality was 25.7% and was higher among
      patients with AKI (40.2 vs17%, P < 0.001). AKI was associated with death and
      mortality increased according to RIFLE classification - "R" (OR 2.4), "I" (OR
      3.0) and "F" (OR 5.1), P < 0.001. AKI is a frequent complication in AIDS
      patients, which is associated with increased mortality. RIFLE classification is
      an important indicator of poor outcome for AIDS patients.

PMID- 20922271
TI  - In vitro modulation of Bcl-2 levels in small cell lung cancer cells: effects on
      cell viability.
AB  - Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is an aggressive disease, representing 15% of all
      cases of lung cancer, has high metastatic potential and low prognosis that
      urgently demands the development of novel therapeutic approaches. One of the
      proposed approaches has been the down-regulation of BCL2, with poorly clarified
      and controversial therapeutic value regarding SCLC. The use of anti-BCL2 small
      interfering RNA (siRNA) in SCLC has never been reported. The aim of the present
      study was to select and test the in vitro efficacy of anti-BCL2 siRNA sequences
      against the protein and mRNA levels of SCLC cells, and their effects on
      cytotoxicity and chemosensitization. Two anti-BCL2 siRNAs and the anti-BCL2 G3139
      oligodeoxynucleotide (ODN) were evaluated in SCLC cells by the simultaneous
      determination of Bcl-2 and viability using a flow cytometry method recently
      developed by us in addition to Western blot, real-time reverse-transcription PCR,
      and cell growth after single and combined treatment with cisplatin. In contrast
      to previous reports about the use of ODN, a heterogeneous and up to 80% sequence
      specific Bcl-2 protein knockdown was observed in the SW2, H2171 and H69 SCLC cell
      lines, although without significant sequence-specific reduction of cell
      viability, cell growth, or sensitization to cisplatin. Our results question
      previous data generated with antisense ODN and supporting the present concept of
      the therapeutic interest in BCL2 silencing per se in SCLC, and support the
      growing notion of the necessity of a multitargeting molecular approach for the
      treatment of cancer.

PMID- 20922272
TI  - An improved strategy for evaluating the extent of chronic arterial baroreceptor
      denervation in conscious rats.
AB  - There is no index or criterion of aortic barodenervation, nor can we
      differentiate among rats that have suffered chronic sham, aortic or sino-aortic
      denervation. The objective of this study was to develop a procedure to generate
      at least one quantitative, reproducible and validated index that precisely
      evaluates the extent of chronic arterial barodenervation performed in conscious
      rats. Data from 79 conscious male Wistar rats of about 65-70 days of age with
      diverse extents of chronic arterial barodenervation and used in previous
      experiments were reanalyzed. The mean arterial pressure (MAP) and the heart rate
      (HR) of all rats were measured systematically before (over 1 h) and after three
      consecutive iv bolus injections of phenylephrine (PHE) and sodium nitroprusside
      (SNP). Four expressions of the effectiveness of barodenervation (MAP lability,
      PHE ratio, SNP ratio, and SNP-PHE slope) were assessed with linear fixed models,
      three-level average variance, average separation among levels, outlier box plot
      analysis, and overlapping graphic analysis. The analysis indicated that a)
      neither MAP lability nor SNP-PHE slope was affected by the level of chronic
      sodium intake; b) even though the Box-Cox transformations of both MAP lability
      [transformed lability index (TLI)] and SNP-PHE slope [transformed general
      sensitivity index (TGSI), {((3-(DeltaHR(SNP)-DeltaHR(PHE)/DeltaMAP(SNP)
      DeltaMAP(PHE)))(-0.4)-1)/-0.04597}] could be two promising indexes, TGSI proved
      to be the best index; c) TLI and TGSI were not freely interchangeable indexes for
      this purpose. TGSI ranges that permit differentiation between sham (10.09 to
      11.46), aortic (8.40 to 9.94) and sino-aortic (7.68 to 8.24) barodenervated
      conscious rats were defined.

PMID- 20922273
TI  - [The insertion of the violence against elderly theme at health care public
      policies in Brazil].
AB  - This article approaches the insertion of violence against elderly in the
      Brazilian health care public policies. It presents concepts of violence applied
      to this group of population, mortality data and number of elder interned by
      violence and accidents. Also, it compares and discusses some policies that are,
      direct or indirectly, about elder care, victims of violence, and the specific
      object of the text. Methodologically, it first aimed to identify if the theme of
      violence was contemplated in official documents, and if so, which are the
      guidelines that orient elder care, not only regarding attendance, but also
      regarding prevention actions. The conclusions are that official policies, with
      special emphasis to the Elder Statute and the National Policy to Elder Care, are
      very slowly incorporating this theme and offering support to the Protection
      Network, mainly in this first decade of the 21st century.

PMID- 20922274
TI  - [The construction of public polices in democratic spaces of civic participation:
      the violence against elder in the social movement agenda].

PMID- 20922275
TI  - [Living a full life without violence at maturity: the contemporary search].

PMID- 20922276
TI  - [Thinking on the violence origins].

PMID- 20922277
TI  - [Health care for aged victims of accidents and violence: analysis of SUS health
      services in Recife (PE, Brazil)].
AB  - A situational diagnosis of the health services regarding the care of aged victims
      of accidents and violence (AVAV) was carried out in Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil.
      The National Policy for Reducing Accident and Violence Related Morbidity and
      Mortality and the National Policy for the Aged People Health were used as
      references. The methodology was based on the triangulation method, with both
      quantitative and qualitative approaches. Questionnaires and interviews were
      answered by managers and health staff of hospital, prehospital and rehabilitation
      services; and local aged health policy managers. In 2006, only the Family Health
      Program reported prehospital care for AVAV, 31 cases were due to violence and 18
      to accidents. The hospital care for aged people was 7.2% of the total care, 27%
      from accidents and 10% from violence. In the same year, there was no record of
      rehabilitation care of AVAV. The directives of the policies studied are only
      partially followed. The health care is deficient in several aspects, such as:
      clinical protocols; notification devices; support to the aged, caregivers and
      aggressors; and also continuous training. This analysis can be such a
      contribution to the reorganization of the local health system, recognizing the
      aged person as vulnerable to accidents and violence.

PMID- 20922278
TI  - [Analysis of hospital clinical services to elderly victims of accidents and
      violence].
AB  - The increase of elderly population and more active life allow a greater exposure
      to accidents and violence in this population. A diagnostic analysis of hospital
      services for emergency and urgent care to victims of accidents and violence in
      the elderly population was carried out in five capitals of Brazil. The research
      was based on the principles of triangulation of methods, including quantitative
      approaches, through the application of questionnaires to managers and pre
      hospital, hospital and rehabilitation service professionals, as well as
      qualitative, in which interviews were made with managers and professionals and
      with those in charge of elderly health. Based on the guidelines of the policies
      studied, it was realized that none of the capitals has met all requirements, with
      a poor attendance characterized by lack of structure to keep a companion for the
      elderly, referrals to reference services, specific clinical protocols, reporting
      sheets, support to the elderly, job training and definition of the flow for this
      population. The outcome showed that the selected health services do not have the
      appropriate and integral profile to look after the elderly population,
      demonstrating the need for adequacy of these services aiming the accomplishment
      of the guidelines of the policies reviewed.

PMID- 20922279
TI  - [Perceptions of managers and health professionals about health care to elderly
      victims of violence in the city of Rio de Janeiro (RJ, Brazil)].
AB  - This article presents the vision of managers and health professionals about the
      care of elderly victims of violence in Rio de Janeiro, showing the specificities
      of this attention in pre-hospital, hospital and rehabilitation areas, including
      mental health services. Based on a qualitative methodology, 20 semi-structured
      interviews with managers and health professionals were produced. The analysis
      considered the perceptions about violence against elderly, and the specificities
      of attention provided by SUS services to elderly victims. The State, the family
      and the social support organizations emerged as structuring categories of the
      network of care for elderly victims of violence. All attention areas presented
      insufficient care services or specific programs for the elderly victims of
      accidents and violence. Also there was a precarious network of social support for
      care of dependent elderly. With few exceptions elderly are treated as anyone else
      in public health services, without the priority set by the Statute of the
      Elderly. The family is called to participate in the care for the elderly in all
      areas of care. Abandonment, neglect, physical and psychological abuse against
      seniors cases were reported.

PMID- 20922280
TI  - [Systematic review of the Brazilian academic production about external causes and
      violence against the elderly].
AB  - This article presents a review about violence against the elderly, covering the
      period of 2000 to 2009. The database used in this research was the collection of
      articles, books, book chapters, manuals and plans of action of the Virtual
      Library on Violence and Health. We analyzed 115 documents divided into the
      following categories: falls; external causes and violence in general;
      epidemiological and socio-epidemiological studies; prevention of violence;
      violence and accidents in the family; conceptual and methodological review; legal
      order and denunciation; violence from the elderly's point of view; health
      services, professionals and caretakers; and construction and validation of
      research instruments. The results show a relevant increase in production and
      methodological improvement in public health, social work, law, physiotherapy,
      nursing, psychology and otorhinolaryngology. However, there are issues that have
      not been sufficiently approached such as traffic accidents, homicides, suicides,
      drowning and suffocation.

PMID- 20922281
TI  - [Situational analysis of the pre-hospital health services for attending accidents
      and violence against the elderly in Curitiba (PR, Brazil)].
AB  - This study is a situational analysis of the health care services for attending
      accidents and violence, in Curitiba, focusing the general conditions of
      infrastructure, planning and support at the pre-hospital assistance level,
      considering mobile and fixed emergency services dedicated to the victimized
      elderly. Positive points were evidenced as well as gaps and needs to meet the
      national guidelines. The investigation integrated quantitative and qualitative
      approaches and it was carried out on the grounds of the triangulation of methods.
      It is concluded that on the theme of accidents and violence against the elderly
      still there is room for important improvements in the actions developed by the
      researched services: (1) preventive actions are not part of the routine of the
      services; (2) most of the services does not develop specific services, addressed
      to the peculiar demands of the elderly; (3) the interviewees' experience reveals
      difficulties for obtaining hospital beds, either for referral or
      transfer/admission of patients. Facing the issue of accidents and violence
      against the elderly in Curitiba requires considering the organization of data,
      flows, training of professionals and planning in the development of prevention
      programs, attendance and rehabilitation to the elderly.

PMID- 20922282
TI  - [Rehabilitation service to the elder person victim of accidents and violence on
      different regions of Brazil].
AB  - The purpose of this work is to describe the structure and characterize the
      services offered for rehabilitation of elder people, victims of accidents and
      violence, based on the main public policies of health for this population in
      Brazil. Following the principles of the triangulation method, a 27 question
      questionnaire was applied to 19 rehabilitation services (five in Manaus, seven in
      Recife, two in Brasilia, two in Rio de Janeiro and three in Curitiba) about
      structure and organization of the service besides data registration. Managers and
      health professionals were interviewed about the flow, characterization and
      specificities of the service to elder people, protection chains, services
      evaluation and suggestions. Services in Manaus and Brasilia are better prepared
      to attend elder victims of accidents and violence. The services in Brasilia
      surpass the specific issues of elderly care. The rehabilitation units in Recife
      are more unprepared, especially regarding laboratorial support, qualification of
      professionals to identify and attend the cases of violence, registration and
      analysis of data. It is concluded that the rehabilitation service presents great
      fragility on the implantation of public policies and in insertion of the violence
      theme.

PMID- 20922283
TI  - [Scenario of the service to damage provoked by accidents and violence against
      elderly at SUS in Manaus (AM, Brazil)].
AB  - The aim of this article is to describe the public service of Manaus to elderly,
      either victims of accidents or violence, on three levels of service (32 pre
      hospital, 5 hospital and 5 rehabilitation). It is a descriptive study with a
      quantitative and qualitative approach, where 42 health units were investigated.
      The results reveal that the emergency services department presents a better
      physical structure. The organization concerning these matters is still incipient
      in Manaus. It was detected scarcity in the number of hospital beds and vacancies
      in the intensive care unit to offer the continuity of the treatment. There's a
      need for professional qualifications and medical specialties to attend elderly
      admitted due to injury. Very little has been done in the prevention area. Data
      entry and notification appear as one of the weakest points on the three levels of
      attention. The most critical point is related to hospitalization, being this
      level of attention largely mentioned by managers and health professionals as in
      great need for re-structuring.

PMID- 20922284
TI  - [Construction of indicators for assessing the policy of reducing accidents and
      violence for the elderly care].
AB  - The follow article presents the methodology used to construct indicators to
      assess the implementation of the National Policy of Mortality Reduction by
      Accidents and Violence, of public health policies aimed at the elderly and the
      Mental Health Policy developed in the research entitled Diagnostic Analysis of
      Local Health Systems to Meet the Problems Caused by Accidents and Violence
      against Elderly. These indicators were applied in health services that meet
      elderly victims of accidents and violence in five Brazilian cities: Brasilia,
      Curitiba, Manaus, Recife and Rio de Janeiro. It started with 124 indicatives to
      assistance level pre-hospital, hospital, rehabilitation and CAPS. There was a
      selection phase where indicatives without discriminatory capability were
      eliminated. It was also decided by the relaxation of some criteria are creating
      new categories. After this step, a group of the experts validate the
      questionnaires created with these indicators by using Nominal Technical Group. We
      performed the Kruskal-Wallis test and a graphical analysis. In the final round,
      the indicators were grouped by similarity, building synthetic indices, 60
      indicatives left. These methods can be used in other organizations to evaluate
      and adjust their health care based on public policies.

PMID- 20922285
TI  - [Violence against the elderly: analysis of aspects of mental health care in five
      Brazilian cities].
AB  - This is a research on the aspects of mental health care offered to elderly
      victims of violence in the cities of Curitiba, Rio de Janeiro, Brasilia, Recife
      and Manaus. It was used the triangulation method that relied on the analysis of
      secondary data, information from questionnaires and individual and group
      interviews, defining itself as a target audience of this study, professionals and
      managers in mental health care. It was investigated the line of practices
      developed in services regarding policies governing mental health attention and
      addressed to the elderly who are victims of violence. Among the findings are: the
      disparity in records between elderly care hospitals (22.3%) and outpatient
      (0.4%), lack of information on the care of elderly victims of violence; and the
      incipient perception of professionals regarding the violence as a health
      intervention. In conclusion, there is a need for greater public investments: in
      improving the quality of information; the adequacy of the physical structure of
      services; the training/qualification of professionals to attend for specific
      elder health issues; under the aspect of violence, it was observed the need to
      adopt actions of prevention and attention of the most frequent disorders in the
      elderly.

PMID- 20922286
TI  - [Pre-hospital attendance to elders victims of violence in five Brazilian
      capitals].
AB  - This article reviews the characteristics and operation in the daily routine of a
      pre-hospital care to the elderly victims of violence and accidents in five
      capitals (Manaus, Recife, Brasilia, Rio de Janeiro and Curitiba). Besides that,
      it analyses their abilities, and potential obstacles. It was based on the
      triangulation of quantitative and qualitative methods analyzing data from 80
      departments of mobile and fixed pre-hospitals: 32 in Manaus, 18 in Recife, 10 in
      Brasilia, 12 in Rio de Janeiro and eight in Curitiba. Among the findings are the
      differences in size and diversity of occupational categories and difficulties of
      the teams to identify, serve and report cases for lack of training, limited
      preventive action, almost no involvement and guidance to the family, practically
      no attention to the perpetrator; incipient articulation and partnership network,
      especially regarding on pre-hospital services and the hospital.

PMID- 20922287
TI  - Endotoxin and cancer.
AB  - Exposure to endotoxin, a component of gram-negative bacterial cell walls, is
      widespread in many industrial settings and in the ambient environment. Heavy
      exposure environments include livestock farms, cotton textile facilities, and saw
      mills. In this article, we review epidemiologic, clinical trial, and experimental
      studies pertinent to the hypothesis that endotoxin prevents cancer. Since the
      1970s, epidemiologic studies of cotton textile and other endotoxin-exposed
      occupational groups have consistently demonstrated reduced lung cancer risks.
      Experimental animal toxicology research and some limited therapeutic trials in
      cancer patients offer additional support for an anticarcinogenic potential. The
      underlying biological mechanisms of anticarcinogenesis are not entirely
      understood but are thought to involve the recruitment and activation of immune
      cells and proinflammatory mediators (e.g., tumor necrosis factor alpha and
      interleukin-1 and -6). In view of the current state of knowledge, it would be
      premature to recommend endotoxin as a cancer-chemopreventive agent. However,
      further epidemiologic and experimental investigations that can clarify further
      dose-effect and exposure-timing relations could have substantial public health
      and basic biomedical benefits.

PMID- 20922288
TI  - [Vocal care: question of prevention and health].
AB  - Planned by Brazilian doctors, the National Week of the Voice (Semana Nacional da
      Voz) conquered the world due to the huge reached success. This study has the
      objective to demonstrate the results reached during the 9th National Week of the
      Voice (9a Semana Nacional da Voz) that took place in the Hospital das Clinicas of
      the Federal University of Goias. During the event, 125 patients had been selected
      by the phonoaudiology team and manually filled a questionnaire elaborated for the
      campaign in the validity of possible pharyngolaryngeal alterations. The patients
      had been examined by the otorhinolaryngologist using indirect laryngoscopy and,
      when necessary, submitted to videolaryngoscopy. After medical evaluation, it was
      observed that 52 people (41.6%) had presented alterations in the speech organs or
      in proximal regions, in one patient paralysis of left vocal fold was detected and
      one patient presented tumoral injury. Considering all the patients attended, only
      one presented malignant neoplasm (squamous cell carcinoma), confirmed later by
      biopsy.

PMID- 20922289
TI  - [Effect of vestibular rehabilitation in elder people: regarding balance, quality
      of life and perception].
AB  - The current concerns with quality of life, population aging, limitations imposed
      by balance disturbance in the elder population and the alternative treatment
      through the vestibular rehabilitation had justified this study. The objective was
      to analyze in perspective the application of the Cawtome & Cooksey protocol for
      vestibular rehabilitation results in aged institutionalized people with complains
      of balance alterations and probability of fall, aiming the improvement of quality
      of life and that elders could perceive the limitations imposed by the balance
      disturbance. A hybrid methodology was used, searching an integration of
      quantitative and qualitative data associating the experimental to the
      phenomenological in a population of 30 elders with complains of balance
      alterations living in an asylum. The evaluation instruments had been the Berg
      Scale, Dizziness Handicap Inventory (DHI) and speech analysis. As conclusion, it
      was evidenced that, within the population studied, the vestibular rehabilitation
      was effective regarding the improvement of symptoms of balance alteration in
      relation to quality of life, probability of fall as well as the security and
      independence feelings of the elders.

PMID- 20922290
TI  - [Factors potentially associated to domestic negligence among elders assisted in
      home assistance program].
AB  - The cases of abuse against elderly people have been growing significantly
      throughout the entire world. Among the various forms of abuse, one of the less
      known and denounced is the domestic negligence. As it occurs mostly inside family
      and nursing homes, it is hardly identified. This article presents the results of
      a cross-sectional descriptive/analytical study that pointed out the existing
      factors potentially associated to domestic negligence towards elderly patients
      attended by the Elderly Home Care Program as part of the discipline of Geriatrics
      of the Paulista Medical School, Federal University of Sao Paulo, Brazil.
      Interviews were made with 40 familiar caregivers of these patients who had
      functional disability. The profiles of those patients and their caregivers were
      identified by questionnaires and the impact on those familiars by the Caregiver
      Burden Scale. The results revealed the existence of the following factors
      potentially associated with domestic negligence among elderly people, in the
      study population: the dimensions general tension and isolation, as well as
      depression and stress on the caregiver's side, and the elder's functional
      ability, are the causes that impact the most on caregivers.

PMID- 20922291
TI  - [Constructivist evaluation, under an integrating and intersectoral approach, of
      actions of the Disque Idoso Project in Sobral (CE, Brazil)].
AB  - The population aging in Brazil and in the world is a reason for an epidemic
      inquietude. So, the violence against senior people has been considered a problem
      of public health. This study takes as context the health need of seniors that
      suffer of violence, aiming to evaluate in a constructive way the Disque Idoso
      Project in Sobral (Ceara, Brazil). We used Furtado's Constructivist Method of
      Evaluation, which provides practices of participative evaluation. Trying to reach
      such perspective, we are guided by paths of the integrative approach (inter,
      multi and transdisciplinary) and intersectoral. We accomplished the focal groups
      with representatives of the sections of health, social assistance, justice and
      senior, the benefited by the project as well as others that contribute to its
      development. When interacting with the professionals that act in the project
      headquarters we understood that there is a fear in publishing their work, because
      there is not structure to enlarge the attendance. The group believes that the
      efficiency of its actions is limited due to the lack of transport and other
      professionals. For the professionals of the support social networks, the project
      should look for intersectoral performance, once it intends to reach a complete
      attendance. For the seniors, the project is quite valid and needs to be
      consolidated in the district.

PMID- 20922292
TI  - [Reflexions about aging and work].
AB  - This qualitative research has the aim to know the meaning of the aging process in
      the work market referring to the aged people. Six aged persons have participated
      in this research. The data were collected through an interview and were analyzed
      using the technique of thematically analyze. Three analytical categories emerged:
      the meaning of aging/to be aged; the meaning of work; the meaning of aging in the
      work. Concluding, this paper reinforces the theory that the capitalist societies
      attach excessive value to the work in the human being life. When it isn't into
      the life--because of the retirement or the unemployment--it compromises the
      quality of aging/to be aged of the person, mainly if skills and (individual,
      social and economical) conditions will lack participation and priority to others
      activities and values in her/his life.

PMID- 20922293
TI  - [Biology of aging: theories, mechanisms, and perspectives].
AB  - Abstract The article reviews the major biological theories of aging, and
      discusses the most relevant mechanisms to explain the aging process. It begins
      with the evolutionary theories, explores the molecular-cellular mechanisms, and
      presents the perspective of the systemic theories. The complex etiology of aging
      is a challenge to the researchers. The knowledge on that phenomenon develops
      towards an integrative approach.

PMID- 20922294
TI  - [Information on seniors' morbidity upon internments on the Brazilian Unified
      Health System].
AB  - Considering the high hospital costs of the elderly, this study aimed to compare
      the seven highest frequencies of morbidity in the elderly using data from
      Hospital Information System. The methodology used was the evaluation of
      information obtained in the database Datasus/Ministry of Health on the morbidity
      of hospital admissions in the elderly, in 2005 and 1994. Additionally, it was
      performed the calculation of standard and adjusted rates by the direct
      standardization method using Epidat 3.1. The main results were the diseases of
      the circulatory system remained prevalent in 2005 (28%) and 1994 (32%), with a
      reduction of 4% between these years. The number of cases of neoplasms doubled
      from 1994 (4%) to 2005 (8%), and infectious and parasitic diseases were basically
      maintaining the same percentage of 7% in 1994 and 2005. It can be concluded that
      in Brazil, the hospital morbidity in elderly remains the prevalence of
      cardiovascular diseases. At the same time, there is a reduction of non-infectious
      and parasitic diseases, and also signs of recent and sharp increase of neoplasms.
      It is recommended the use of comparison studies between periods become as a tool
      used in management.

PMID- 20922295
TI  - [Epidemiological characteristics, functional capacity and factors associated with
      elders in a private health insurance].
AB  - This cross-sectional study aimed to trace the epidemiological profile of elders
      associated to a private healthcare insurance and to check their functional
      capacity, through the Barthel index and associated factors. The population of the
      study included all associates of the insurance over 60 years old. The data was
      collected with two self-answered questionnaires: one about family socioeconomic
      factors and another related to individual health issues. Regarding the functional
      capacity among the 254 aged participants, four (1.6%) individuals presented total
      dependence, one (0.4%) was seriously dependent, one (0.4%) was moderately
      dependent, 29 (11.4%) were somewhat dependent, and 219 (86.2%) were classified as
      independent. Thus, the variable was added in such way that 86.2% had been
      classified as independents and 13.8% (CI 95%: 9.5 to 18.0) as dependents. The
      adjusted analysis showed that only age remained associated to the outcome.
      Results showed that the individuals over 80 years old presented greater
      probability of functional incapacity. It was also pointed that in populations
      with improved socioeconomic conditions there is the possibility of survival bias.

PMID- 20922296
TI  - [Influenza-vaccinated and non-vaccinated elderly: reported morbidity and
      sociodemographic aspects, Porto Alegre (RS, Brazil), 2004].
AB  - This descriptive transversal epidemiological study had the objective of comparing
      the elderly population who took the influenza vaccine and who did not regarding
      the occurrence of events of diseases or hospital admittances within three months
      after the vaccination. It was not possible to work with probable sampling and the
      attempt of pairing the vaccinated and non-vaccinated elderly was not successful
      due to the high vaccine coverage observed (73% of the target population) and due
      to the short time available to make the interviews. The result of the descriptive
      analysis of the 1,130 elderly interviewed was quite interesting even not being
      possible to infer it regarding the universe of the elderly population from Porto
      Alegre. We found a higher proportion of vaccinated people in the age group of 70
      to 79 years old (42%), and a prevalence of non-vaccinated among the age group of
      60 to 64 years old (40%). The vaccinated elderly were mostly older; female, who
      have private health care insurance; with higher income; that perform physical
      activities and non-smokers. The non-vaccinated were mostly men; younger; with
      lower income; that do not perform physical exercises; and smoke. A lower
      percentage of pneumonias reports and hospital admittances was observed among the
      vaccinated in comparison to the non-vaccinated people.

PMID- 20922297
TI  - [Functional capacity, socioeconomic conditions and of health of elderly assisted
      by Family Health teams in Goiania (GO, Brazil)].
AB  - The population ageing is a challenge for health professionals. This study seek to
      evaluate the functional capacity and to identify the factors associated to the
      dependence for the activities of daily life (ADL) and activities instrumental of
      daily life (AIDL), and also to describe the socioeconomic, demographic and health
      profile of the elderly. A transverse study was carried out with seniors assisted
      by Family Health teams of the District East Sanitary of Goiania (GO). A
      questionnaire was applied to obtain socioeconomic and demographic date, factors
      related to the health and scales of the functional evaluation. For analyses it
      was used Square-Qui Test considering the level of significance of 5%. The sample
      was composed by 388 elderly, 57.5% with age varying from 60 to 69 years, 58.5%
      female, 39.7% illiterate, 77.3% with income <= 2 minimum wages and 70.9% bearers
      of chronic diseases. It was verified that 34.8% needed help in one or more ADL
      and 60.6% in AIDL. The factors more frequently associated at dependence in both
      activities were: balance and mobility debilitated, depression, cognitive deficit
      and age >= 80 years. These results denote that the elderly are living aging
      characterized by comorbidities and dependence to accomplish daily activities.

PMID- 20922298
TI  - [Study of the use of medicine in elderly living in a city in the South of Santa
      Catarina (Brazil): a look at the polymedication].
AB  - The objective was to evaluate the use of medicines in the elderly population
      living in a city in the South of Santa Catarina state. It was carried out a
      transverse study where 104 patients distributed in five Family Health Program
      covering area were interviewed. 68.3% of the interviewed people were women, 78.8%
      aged between 60 and 79 years old and most of them with low schooling. The number
      of medicines in use was 3.5 (DP=2.58) per elderly and the number of daily rate
      doses were 5.4 (DP=4.78). 64.4% of the elderly people reported to have used the
      health services two times or more last year. It was observed that 51.9% of the
      elderly were classified as smaller polymedication and 28.8% as larger
      polymedication. The classes of medicines that contributed the most to the
      polymedication were the ones acting in the cardiovascular and nervous system,
      eating treatment and metabolism mainly used for hypertension, heart and
      circulatory problems, diabetes, insomnia and depression. It was verified that
      16.5% of the elderly people presented risk of having drug-related problems. It
      was identified the association between the polymedication and the gender,
      schooling and the frequency they searched for health services. It was noticed
      that in this population the polymedication may be related to the elderly profile.

PMID- 20922299
TI  - [Voice perception and quality of life of elder teachers and non teachers].
AB  - The aim of this article is to compare elder teachers (GP) and non-teachers' (GNP)
      scores from the voice related quality of life (VR-QOL) protocol and verify the
      relation between these scores, chronological age and voice change perception.
      Data from the vocal change perception was collected in 47 subjects, 23 GP and 24
      GNP, over 65 years old, both sexes, and the VR-QOL protocol has been applied.
      There was no significant difference between the score of the two groups or
      between these scores and the voice change perception. There was a positive
      correlation (p=0.039) between chronological age and the VR-QOL physical domain
      scores for the GP. There was significant difference between the two groups of
      subjects that realized the vocal change, for the VR-QOL answers to questions 2
      (p=0.02), 4 (p=0.007), 5 (p=0.012) and 9 (p=0.002). In both groups, the impact of
      the voice changes was higher in the VR-QOL physical than in the socio-emotional
      domain. The self perception of vocal aging was related to the professional or non
      professional use of the voice. Teachers, apart from having this perception had
      more problems in the VR-QOL questions of the physical domain, related to the
      professional requests. Non-teachers that noticed the vocal aging had difficulties
      with the socio-emotional and physical aspects.

PMID- 20922300
TI  - [Medication leaflets used by elderly with hypertension: adequacy of information
      for sanitary regulation and possible implications for health].
AB  - The medication leaflets represent the main source of written information supplied
      to the patients, in special to the elderly. This study aimed to analyze the
      content of the leaflets of drugs often prescribed for elderly people with
      hypertension, as well as their adequacy to the sanitary regulations and possible
      health implications. A descriptive study was conducted in two stages: A, in July
      2002, and B, in July 2007. In each stage were analyzed 34 medication leaflets of
      seven antihypertensive drugs of the National Essential Drugs List (2006). Among
      the 68 leaflets analyzed, most did not contain all the information required by
      Portaria no 110/1997 (89.5%) in the stage A and the RDC no 140/2003 (100%) in B.
      In 100% of the leaflets, the legislation had not been fulfilled. Some important
      topics as way of administration, how to use and overdose had been absent in 76%
      of the leaflets, the lack of this information has an impact in the security of
      the antihypertensive users. Based on these data, it was possible to evidence
      inadequate contents of the medication leaflets. So, it is necessary greater
      surveillance by Anvisa, to ensure the rational use of medicines and the reduction
      of the risks to the elderly health.

PMID- 20922301
TI  - [Self-perception of oral health condition of the institutionalized and non
      institutionalized elders].
AB  - This study evaluated the self-perception of oral health condition of
      institutionalized and non institutionalized elder population using a oral
      examination and a questionnaire divided in three parts: demographic data, general
      health and the GOHAI index. A total of 96 individuals above 60 years old living
      in Fortaleza, Brazil, were interviewed. They were divided in two groups, G1-
      institutionalized (n=48) and G2--non-institutionalized (n=48). The mean age of
      the study population was 69.8 years (SD 7.5) and 70.8% of the interviewed were
      woman. 62% had some type of medical treatment in the last year, and despite the
      fact that the majority (84.4%) of the elders thought that their general health
      was good or regular, the average number of teeth presented was 3.9 in both
      groups. Among them, 47.9% were using superior prosthesis and 26% inferior
      prosthesis. The GOHAI average was 17.53 qualifying as negative the self
      perception of oral health. There was no difference between the two groups
      regarding physical and psychological aspects.

PMID- 20922302
TI  - [Difficulties and rewards on aging: the elderly's self perception].
AB  - The purpose of this study was to identify in the scientific literature, the self
      image and representations that elders have about themselves in different
      contexts. Frequently, the society considers aging as a "problem", creating
      stereotypes that could result in the exclusion of the aged. Through the analysis
      of researches that investigated the opinion of the elders about their
      difficulties and rewards in old age, it was evidenced how important are the
      choices people make through the life. The inner possibilities and the social
      participation were identified as important elements for the elderly self
      perception.

PMID- 20922303
TI  - [Aging by the perspective of elderly caregivers].
AB  - This study reports elderly caregivers' perception in charge of giving assistance
      to three benefiting institutions in elderly care, in the city of Aracatuba, Sao
      Paulo, Brazil. Questions were approached regarding aging, caregivers' personal
      motivation in the search of working with this sector of population, relationship
      with elderly, most common difficulties found during work and caregivers'
      satisfaction. An interview was done with caregivers and the collected verbal
      material was analyzed through the Collective Subject Discursive Technique. It was
      possible to realize through the reports the emotional involvement of caregivers
      with their work as well as the emotional and physical overload which they are
      exposed to. Reports related to aging could also be collected as well as social
      questions which motivated caregivers to search for this kind of job. The several
      eyes of caregivers lead us to search for new strategies of theoretical capability
      and psychological support for this group, thinking of their well-being along with
      the elderly well-being.

PMID- 20922304
TI  - [Oral condition, habits and treatment necessity of institutionalized elders in
      Araras (SP, Brazil)].
AB  - The aim of this study was to check the oral condition of the elderly citizens
      from the city of Araras (Sao Paulo, Brazil), and to evaluate treatment needs for
      this population. 118 volunteers were interviewed and 112 were examined, all of
      them with age above 60 years. The research was accomplished through a previous 14
      question questionnaire that evaluated the patient general health, besides
      verified the self-knowledge of their oral health in addition to an intraoral
      physical exam, observing the oral conditions of the patients. In order to verify
      cavities prevalence, it was used an advocated criterion and index by WHO. It was
      observed that the systemic diseases that presented most prevalence were insomnia
      (40.67%), followed by visual disturbances (36.44%) and arthritis (33.05%). In
      relation to the self-knowledge of the volunteers as to their oral condition, it
      was noticed that 90.67% of the individuals thought that oral condition does not
      affect their quality of life. With the intraoral exam, it was obtained a DMF-T
      media equals to 30.6 with the lost component contributing to 93.9% of the
      cavities prevalence value (p = 28.7). This population requires special care
      focused on the oral health because besides having a high DMF-T, they also present
      inadequate oral health self-knowledge.

PMID- 20922305
TI  - [Impact of oral health in the daily life of institutionalized and non
      institutionalized elder in the city of Recife (PE, Brazil)].
AB  - The objective of the study is to assess the influence of oral health in the daily
      routine of both institutionalized and non-institutionalized elders living in the
      city of Recife-PE, as well as to come to conclusions concerning the relevance
      level of oral health in both groups. In order to assess the perception of oral
      health, it was used the Geriatric Oral Health Assessment Index (GOHAI). The GOHAI
      levels, concerning the perception, were categorized in: low (<= 50), average (51
      to 60) and high (57 to 60). Oral health conditions were represented by the DMFT
      index (with cavity, lost and repaired teeth). It was observed that the percentage
      of elderly with a GOHAI not higher than 50 (low perception of oral health) was
      rather higher in the non-institutionalized group than in the institutionalized
      (92.2% x 64.9%). The average DMFT and the number of lost teeth were higher in the
      institutionalized group (96.01% x 87.87%). The perception of oral health was
      lower for more than half of the examined elderly population, but there being a
      meaningful difference between the two groups concerning the GOHAI, with lower
      levels for the non-institutionalized group. The result of the perception of oral
      health was compatible with the high number of decayed and lost teeth.

PMID- 20922306
TI  - [Design, implementation and evaluation of a health education program for the
      elderly].
AB  - The objective was to design, implement and evaluate a health education program,
      using the analysis of the habits that harm the health of people over 65 years
      old. An evaluative research was carried out from a multiple case study in the
      North-West area of Spain, combining both the quantitative and the qualitative
      approach. A questionnaire and interview were used as tools for data collection.
      The elderly take a lot of medicines and also treat themselves. A small group
      smoke and drink alcohol. Over 25% have sedentary habits and their average body
      mass rate was 30.55. The implementation of the programme has significantly
      influenced their quality of life. Elderly people have deep rooted unhealthy
      habits. The achievement of educational contents improved their quality of life.
      However, they are reluctant to assume new habits, even though they are healthy.

PMID- 20922307
TI  - Moving from reclusion to partial freedom: the experience of family caregivers for
      disabled elderly persons assisted in a day care center.
AB  - This study aimed at understanding the interactional experience between family
      caregivers and disabled elderly persons supported in a Day Care Center according
      to the caregiver's perspective. It also aimed at developing a representative
      theoretical model for the events experienced by such caregiver. The Grounded
      Theory was used as methodological framework whereas Interactional Symbolism
      served as the theoretical framework. Observation and interviews were used for
      data collection. The following phenomenon arose from the results: feeling of
      support by the Day Care Center, by the strength of the bond with the elderly and
      by spirituality in order to continue playing the challenging role of a family
      caregiver for a disabled elderly person. The study made possible to understand
      that, among these three supporting cornerstones for coping with the burden
      generated by the family caregiver role, the care model promoted by the Day Care
      Center was the intervenient variable in the process of improving the quality of
      life of the family caregiver-disabled elderly person binomial. This allowed the
      identification of the main category--moving from reclusion to partial freedom:
      the experience of family caregivers for disabled elderly persons assisted in a
      Day Care Center.

PMID- 20922310
TI  - Nursing taxonomy and studies of efficacy, efficiency and effectiveness: a
      challenge.

PMID- 20922308
TI  - [The domestic violence against the elderly within the Family Health Program of
      Niteroi (RJ, Brazil)].
AB  - This article investigates the magnitude and characteristics of violence against
      the elderly by trusted people at Ilha da Conceicao, Niteroi--RJ registered at the
      Family Health Program. A domestic survey interviewed 343 individuals with 60
      years or more, selected by a simple random sample. To identify the violence it
      was used the Conflict Tactics Scales. Information about identification,
      demographics and socio-economics characteristics were obtained using the National
      Health Interview Survey. The Mini-Mental State Examination was used to evaluate
      mental health. In order to evaluate the functional capacity, the Health
      Assessment Questionnaire was used. In cases of alcohol suspicion among men, it
      was used the instrument CAGE. To female elder or caregivers, the TWEAK instrument
      was used. 43% reported at least one episode of psychological violence. Physical
      violence was reported by 9.6% of the interviewed, 6.1% reported serious physical
      violence in this period. The prevalence of different modalities of violence was
      higher among the youngest individuals, with higher scholarity, among those who
      have one of the pathologies that characterize the elderly as having a
      vulnerability (depression and/or urinary incontinence/fecal and/or diabetes
      and/or rheumatism) and those living with the greatest number of individuals.

PMID- 20922311
TI  - The ISO 18.104: 2003 as integrative model of nursing terminologies.
AB  - This paper presents the ISO 18.104:2003 as an integrative model of nursing
      terminology. It describes the standard, studies and experiences with its use and
      discusses possibilities to develop knowledge in the field. The standard has been
      shown to be effective in developing reference terminologies, and as a standard
      method for interoperability and reuse. Studies have internal limitations such as
      language and notations unknown to nursing. Correspondence of the model with
      classifications used in health services and practice is incipient, which hinders
      its applicability and development due to the lack of examples to be analyzed and
      discussed.

PMID- 20922312
TI  - Self-care behaviors and health indicators in adults with type 2 diabetes.
AB  - This descriptive correlational study aimed to analyze self-care behaviors and
      their relationship with health indicators represented by glycemic control, lipid
      profile, Body Mass Index [BMI], waist circumference and body fat percentage in a
      sample of 98 adults with type 2 diabetes in an area of Nuevo Leon, Mexico (August
      2005/May 2006). The results showed a low self-care behaviors index (X = 36.94,
      SD=15.14). A significant relationship was found between self-care behaviors and
      glycosilated hemoglobin [HbA1c] (r s=-.379, p<.001), triglycerides (r s=-.208,
      p=.040), BMI (r s=-.248, p=.014) and body fat percentage (r s=-.221, p=.029).
      Multivariate analysis revealed the influence of self-care behaviors on HbA1c, BMI
      and body fat percentage with explained variances of 9 to 41% (p < .05). From all
      self-care dimensions, diet was the most predictive for health indicators,
      moderated by gender and understanding of diabetes contents (p< .05).

PMID- 20922313
TI  - Dermatological toxicity in women with breast cancer undergoing chemotherapy
      treatment.
AB  - This study aimed to analyze the occurrence of skin toxicity caused by drugs used
      in the protocol of neoadjuvant and adjuvant chemotherapy among women with breast
      cancer. Patient records of 72 women who were subject to this therapy between 2003
      and 2006 were assessed. Of the 558 cycles of chemotherapy, 152 adverse events
      were registered. There were 37 registrations of dermatological toxicity, of
      those, 20 were extravasations that affected 17 women. Nine reports of hardened
      local injury, local fibrosis, pain, and hyperemia were registered during
      neoadjuvancy. In adjuvancy, among the 11 extravasations registered there were
      reports of hardened local injury, fibrosis and local pain. Lack of follow-up
      records for both periods was observed. Registration of the events and reports by
      the nursing team are essential to monitor the sites of venous puncture during the
      chemotherapy treatment, besides measuring and making a photographic record of the
      site.

PMID- 20922314
TI  - Stressors in breast cancer post-treatment: a qualitative approach.
AB  - With the increasing effectiveness of breast cancer treatment, the scientific
      interest in investigating the quality of life of survivors has increased.
      However, research addressing the post-treatment period is still scarce. The aim
      of this study was to identify the stressors present in the lives of women in the
      one to five years post-diagnosis period. The sample was composed of 16 women
      assisted at a specialized mastectomy rehabilitation service. Data were collected
      through semi-structured interviews and analyzed using content analysis. The
      results indicate conflicts with self-image and alteration in the feeling of
      autonomy, fear in relation to the evolution of the condition, feelings of guilt
      about the disorder generated in the family, experience of disturbing social
      situations and a desire to return to their professional occupation. These results
      reveal the existence of stressors in this phase and the importance of support
      offered by psychosocial rehabilitation services for this population.

PMID- 20922315
TI  - Knowledge of patients with mechanical valve prostheses concerning chronic oral
      anticoagulant therapy.
AB  - Adherence to chronic Oral Anticoagulant Therapy (OAT) is directly related to
      patients' understanding of the therapy. This study verified the knowledge of
      patients with mechanical valve prostheses concerning OAT. This is a contemporary
      cross-sectional study, the sample is composed of patients with mechanical valve
      prostheses (MVP) in outpatient follow-up. A 10-question instrument was used;
      answers were 'know' (1 point), 'know partially' (half point), or 'do not know'
      (zero). Patients were grouped according to the result obtained: <= 4 points was
      considered insufficient knowledge; > 4 <= 8 equated to moderate knowledge; and >
      8 was considered appropriate knowledge. Of the 110 patients, 61.8% presented
      moderate knowledge, 40.9% were not able to name at least one factor that may
      alter the INR (International Normalized Ratio) and 37.3% were not able to report
      their INR target range. The majority of patients presented moderate knowledge
      concerning the treatment. Strategies to improve knowledge on the topic should be
      implemented to minimize risks.

PMID- 20922316
TI  - Demographic factors and risk indicators of stroke: comparison between inhabitants
      of Fortaleza municipal district and the national profile.
AB  - The aim of this study was to compare the demographic factors and the risk
      indicators for the occurrence of the stroke in the city of Fortaleza with other
      cities, based on national studies. A transversal study developed with 180
      patients who were diagnosed with stroke in nine different public institutions
      within the period from October 2007 to April 2008. For data collection, a
      questionnaire was applied by interviewing the patient and/or their companions.
      The following tests were used for the comparative analysis of epidemiological
      data: The Chi-Square Test for the adherence and the T-Test for the mean. The
      patients with stroke evaluated in Fortaleza were younger and had higher rates of
      hypertension than in the national profile, however, fewer were smokers or
      consumers of alcohol. It is necessary to increase knowledge about the health of
      the Brazilian population by region, since there are specific influential factors
      in the occurrence of stroke.

PMID- 20922317
TI  - Mothers' view on late postoperative pain management by the nursing team in
      children after cardiac surgery.
AB  - Postoperative pain management in children is a complex, multidimensional and
      subjective phenomenon. It represents a challenge for children, parents and health
      professionals. This study aimed to understand how mothers assess their children's
      pain management by the nursing team in the late postoperative phase of cardiac
      surgery. Empirical data collection was carried out through semistructured
      interviews with 17 mothers who accompanied their children. Data were subject to
      qualitative analysis, revealing that, for the mothers, taking good care results
      from the confidence they vest in the nursing team and from the observation of the
      medication interventions this team performs. Not taking good care of their
      children is a consequence of lack of information or inadequate communication
      between the team and the mothers. The results of this study permit identifying
      aspects that strengthen and weaken nursing care for these clients, contributing
      to the improvement of the delivered care.

PMID- 20922318
TI  - Infusion of hematopoietic stem cells: types, characteristics, adverse and
      transfusion reactions and the implications for nursing.
AB  - Hematopoietic stem cell infusion is an important procedure in Hematopoietic Stem
      Cell Transplantation (HSCT). This study identifies transfusion and other adverse
      reactions that can occur during infusion and the nursing care related to the
      procedure. This epidemiologic study used transplantations performed between 2006
      and 2008. A total of 166 transplantations were performed: 114 were autologous, 47
      allogeneic and five haploidentical. Three transfusion reactions and 96 adverse
      reactions were observed. Adverse reactions were related to the presence of
      cryoprotectant, though the infusion rate and quantity of infused cryoprotectant
      were not related to the occurrence of reactions. The products were fresh and
      infused within the recommended time when transfusion reactions occurred. In
      regard to cell source, lower engraftment time was found in peripheral blood.
      Nursing documentation is relevant for patients' safety as well to planning an
      infusion in order to minimize the occurrence of reactions.

PMID- 20922319
TI  - Factors related to the quality of the dying process in cancer patients.
AB  - This correlational and descriptive research examined the Quality of the Dying
      Process (QDP) in cancer patients. Data were collected from one significant person
      for each of the 78 patients who had died, using QDP and communication quality
      questionnaires. The highest QDP scores were found for social experiences related
      to: the moment of death, family company and their concern with the person. The
      lowest score was for symptoms. A statistically significant association (p<0.001)
      was found between a better QDP and: preparation for death, spending time with the
      family, concern and care for the patient, communication quality. CONCLUSIONS:
      patient care needs to be focused on the aspects fostering closeness and dialogue
      with the patient's close relatives, promoting communication in order to detect
      and handle the real problems, along with efficient pain management, in which
      humanized care is essential.

PMID- 20922320
TI  - Body and sexuality: puerperas' experiences.
AB  - The aim of this study was to determine how women deal with sexuality and bodily
      changes during the puerperium. A qualitative methodology was used and a semi
      structured interview with a leading question script was chosen as the research
      tool. Six puerperas from the west area of Sao Paulo (Brazil) took part in this
      study. The interviews were accomplished at their homes. In analysis, the
      responses were grouped into three main categories: "Changes", Sexuality" and
      "Social Support". The study results revealed that during this period there are
      important changes. Sexuality has been shown to evolve many difficulties, fears
      and worries. The relationships with the person's partner and support network have
      revealed themselves as being of great importance. It can be concluded that the
      puerperal period evolves in terms of many transformations in the emotional and
      psychosocial areas. Thus it is necessary for health professionals who deal with
      women's care to value this period.

PMID- 20922321
TI  - Nursing care of women who suffered sexual violence.
AB  - The aim of this study was to characterize the nursing care, provided to women who
      suffered sexual violence, treated at The Women's Hospital-CAISM/UNICAMP. A
      retrospective, descriptive study performed using 146 nursing care records of
      women attended from June 2006 to May 2007. The results showed that the majority
      of attendances occurred during the day period, that there was consistency between
      the interventions and the nursing diagnoses identified, and that women reported
      having received guidance in accordance with the protocol of the program. The
      nursing consultation time was greater at night (p=0.0227) and the women
      frequently understood the health risks resulting from sexual violence (p=0.0072),
      the use of antiretrovirals according to their daily activities (p=0.0397) and
      they were more focused on the purpose of the serology (p=0.0351). We concluded
      that the care provided was shown to be appropriate and of a better quality in the
      nightshift period.

PMID- 20922322
TI  - Representations of primary care professionals about the occupational risk of HIV
      infection.
AB  - This was a qualitative study, based on the Social Representations Theory, with
      professionals that work in primary care, about the risk of HIV infection to which
      they are exposed in their quotidian work routine. Twelve physicians and nurses
      who work in two Health Centers in the city of Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil, were
      interviewed. The final analysis, carried out using the saturation of information
      criterion, was based on the method proposed by Structural Analysis of Narrative.
      The results show that the health professionals interviewed knew the infection
      risk in their work routine, representing it as very low in primary care, because
      they relate it to technological complexity which they consider does not exist in
      the level of assistance in which they work. They believed that the use of
      personal protection equipment may minimize the risks and that, nowadays, no
      primary care professional refuses to attend a patient due to fear of infection,
      even if not using all the recommended precautions.

PMID- 20922323
TI  - Social representations of the wheelchair for people with spinal cord injury.
AB  - In seeking to understand the social representation of the use of the wheelchair
      through the analysis of interviews with ten people who have suffered spinal cord
      injury, the construction of five representations was elaborated. The phenomenon
      experienced regarding the wheelchair provided a route of meanings and
      symbologies: essential equipment, after the person perceive the inability to
      walk; a symbol of disability when the person experienced functional dependence;
      means of locomotion and transport after the rescue of their potential functional;
      becoming an integral part or all of their body and, finally, the concept of
      autonomy on four wheels by adjusting to their new ability to walk emerges. The
      wheelchair as an extension of the modified body for spinal cord injury, returns
      them the right of locomotion, presents them not only with autonomy for various
      acts of life, but also restores their dignity, so essential to human life.

PMID- 20922324
TI  - Humanization of care from the perspective of the family health strategy teams in
      a city in the interior of Sao Paulo, Brazil.
AB  - This study analyzes the understanding of professionals composing teams of the
      Family Health Strategy concerning humanization of care. This qualitative survey
      was carried out in a city in the interior of Sao Paulo through interviews with 20
      professionals. The data analysis method used was Interpretation of Meanings based
      on the hermeneutic-dialectic perspective. The meaning of humanization according
      to the interviewed professionals includes an enlarged view, respect for ethical
      principles and facilitated access. The difficulties refer to the lack of prepared
      professionals, excessive demand and deficiencies in service organization. The
      professionals propose to educate and qualify professionals, make activities
      adequate given the professionals' roles and improve the organization of services.
      The professionals demonstrate understanding of the meaning of humanization and
      acknowledge the need to cope with difficulties.

PMID- 20922325
TI  - Analysis of the organizational aspects of a clinical emergency department: a
      study in a General Hospital in Ribeirao Preto, SP, Brazil.
AB  - Demand for the Emergency Department (ED) has increased, making the organization
      of work difficult. This quantitative, descriptive and documental study identifies
      and analyzes the characteristics of clinical care in the ED of a General Hospital
      in Ribeirao Preto, SP, in 2007, according to organizational variables. The study
      population included all clinical care consultations registered in the Hospital
      Management Information System. Data were analyzed through descriptive statistics
      and discussed considering the theoretical framework of the Single Health System
      (SUS). A total of 5,285 consultations were registered in the period, which were
      more frequent in patients from the city itself, in January (10%), on Mondays
      (16%), from 12pm to 12am (67.1%). The main reason for discharge from the unit was
      hospitalization (63.8%) and the predominant length of stay in the unit was less
      than six hours (39.8%). The results support the management of human resources,
      materials and equipment, indicating the desirability of reorganizing emergency
      care in the hospital.

PMID- 20922326
TI  - Attention demands in the workplace and the capacity to direct attention of
      nurses.
AB  - This was a descriptive, correlational study designed to evaluate the capacity to
      direct attention (CDA) of the nurse and to verify an association between the CDA
      and attention demand situations. For data collection the instruments used were:
      the Attentional Function Index and the Directed Attention Demands. The
      participants were 169 nurses of a teaching hospital in the State of Sao Paulo.
      The mean perception of performance or CDA was 60.4 which differed between the
      variables: unit of work (p=0.013), work hours (p=0.044), presence of health
      problems (p=0.026) and problems of a psychological nature (p=0.005). There was a
      negative association between the situations of demand and CDA (r = - 0.294,
      p<0.0001). It was concluded that nurses showed good CDA, which was related to
      some professional and demographic variables, and the higher the attentional
      demands, the lower the CDA.

PMID- 20922327
TI  - Sterility maintenance assessment of moist/wet material after steam sterilization
      and 30-day storage.
AB  - Moist/wet materials stored after autoclaving are considered contaminated and not
      recommended for use. This study evaluates the maintenance of sterility in
      moist/wet material after being submitted to steam sterilization and stored for a
      period of 30 days. Aiming to support decision-making in emergency situations, 40
      surgical boxes packed in nonwoven cloth covering Spunbound, Metblouwn, Spunbound
      (SMS): half (the experimental group) were placed in an autoclave but the drying
      phase was interrupted, yielding moist/wet materials and the other half (the
      negative control group) underwent the complete cycle. The external parts of each
      surgical box were deliberately contaminated with Serratia marcescens and
      subsequently stored for 30 days. After this period, the boxes' contents were
      submitted to sterility tests and no growth was observed. The presence of moisture
      inside the surgical boxes did not interfere with maintaining their sterility.

PMID- 20922328
TI  - Prevalence of anemia in children three to 12 months old in a health service in
      Ribeirao Preto, SP, Brazil.
AB  - Iron deficiency anemia is the most common nutritional deficiency among children.
      This cross-sectional, descriptive and quantitative study is part of a multicenter
      project, which verified the prevalence of anemia in children aged three to 12
      months, treated by a health service unit in Ribeirao Preto, SP, Brazil.
      Interviews with mothers and determining hemoglobin dosage were carried out with
      121 children who participated in the study. Two international criteria were
      adopted as parameters of anemia according to the children's age. Descriptive
      statistics, measures of central tendency and associations were used for data
      analysis. The prevalence of anemia among 69 children aged three to 5 months was
      20.2% and 48.0% among 52 children aged six to 12 months. The total prevalence of
      anemia was 32.2%. There was significant association between anemia and children's
      age, and anemia and the consumption of liquid cow's milk.

PMID- 20922329
TI  - Sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of psychiatric re-hospitalizations.
AB  - Segregated individuals with mental disorders, families without support or
      guidance concerning disease and treatment, and unprepared professionals are some
      of the factors that can contribute to re-hospitalizations. This study identifies
      sociodemographic variables, clinical conditions, diagnoses and treatments in
      order to identify their relationship with psychiatric re-hospitalizations. This
      is an exploratory and descriptive study. A form was used to search data in
      patients' files from 2006 and 2007 in a regional psychiatric facility. A total of
      681 re-hospitalizations were identified, the majority due to treatment
      abandonment. Length of hospitalization was higher for women between 40 and 49
      years of age. Positive associations of sociodemographic data with previous
      hospitalizations were found, such as type of discharge, and physical and mental
      condition, which is in accordance with the literature. Readmissions are
      associated with sociodemographic and clinical indicators. These findings can
      guide care and public policies regarding mental health.

PMID- 20922330
TI  - Factors associated with smoking in pregnancy.
AB  - The aim of this cross-sectional study was to identify factors related to smoking
      during pregnancy. The sample included 267 puerperae hospitalized in the maternity
      unit of a university hospital in Porto Alegre/RS. The data were collected through
      a self-applied instrument and statistically analyzed. The majority of the
      puerperae (51.3%) were between 18 and 25 years old, 55.4% were nonsmokers, 25.5%
      were smokers, 19.1% had recently ceased smoking (in abstinence). The nonsmokers
      had more consultations than the smokers and the abstinent smokers (p=0.025). The
      number of women who had more than one child was higher among smokers than among
      nonsmokers and abstinent smokers (p=0.002). Women were more likely to stop
      smoking before pregnancy when they had a partner who was a nonsmoker (p=0.007).
      Several factors influence smoking and smoking cessation and these are important
      in prenatal interventions aimed at pregnant women and their partners.

PMID- 20922331
TI  - Social model: a new approach of the disability theme.
AB  - The experience of disability is part of the daily lives of people who have a
      disease, lesion or corporal limitation. Disability is still understood as
      personal bad luck; moreover, from the social and political points of view, the
      disabled are seen as a minority. The aim of this study is to contribute to the
      knowledge about the experience of disability. The research presents a new
      approach on the theme: the social model. This approach appeared as an alternative
      to the medical model of disability, which sees the lesion as the primary cause of
      social inequality and of the disadvantages experienced by the disabled, ignoring
      the role of social structures in their oppression and marginalization. The study
      permits reflecting on how the difficulties and barriers society imposed on people
      considered different make disability a reality and portray social injustice and
      the vulnerability situation lived by excluded groups.

PMID- 20922332
TI  - Systematic review and its relationship with evidence-based practice in health.
AB  - Systematic reviews (SR) have gained relevance in the world and Latin America
      because of their credibility in the search, compilation, arranging and analysis
      of the information obtained from research about health interventions, during a
      period of time. Consequently, evidence-based practice uses SR as a way to capture
      the best evidence of clinical effectiveness. This article reviews SR methodology,
      process, and its usefulness in health professions like nursing and medicine.

PMID- 20922335
TI  - Can self-reported height and weight be used to calculate 10 year risk of
      osteoporotic fracture?
AB  - OBJECTIVES: 1) To determine the magnitude of error between self reported height
      and weight and measured height and weight, 2) To measure what affect this has on
      calculating 10 year probability of osteoporotic fracture using the World Health
      Organisation Fracture Risk Assessment Tool (FRAX(r)). DESIGN: Data collection
      from a nurse led community osteoporosis clinic. PARTICIPANTS: 214 post-menopausal
      women with at least one risk factor for osteoporosis. MEASUREMENTS: Self reported
      and measured height and weight, risk factors for osteoporosis, demographic
      details, and 10 year probability of hip fracture or any major osteoporotic
      fracture as measured by FRAX(r). RESULTS: Patients over-reported their height by
      a mean (95% confidence interval) of 2.8 (2.3-3.2) cm and under reported their
      weight by a mean of 2.1 (1.3-2.6) Kg. The resulting underestimation of body mass
      index was 1.8 (1.3-2.0) units. Using self reported height and weight resulted in
      a significant over-estimation of 10 year risk of hip fracture and any major
      osteoporotic fracture when compared to measured height and weight; Median 10
      probability of hip fracture 3.75% Vs 3.25% (p < 0.001 ), median 10 year
      probability of any major osteoporotic fracture 15% Vs. 14% (p < 0.001).
      CONCLUSION: When calculating 10 year risk of fracture using the FRAX on line
      assessment tool, measured height and weight should be used instead of self
      reported height and weight.

PMID- 20922336
TI  - Influence of the consumption of fruits and vegetables on the nutritional status
      of a group of institutionalized elderly persons in the Madrid region.
AB  - AIM: To determine the nutritional status in a group of institutionalized elderly
      people in the Madrid region of Spain, with respect to their consumption of fruits
      and vegetables. SETTING: The Madrid region, Spain. PARTICIPANTS: Men and women 65
      years of age (n=180). MEASUREMENTS: A dietetic study undertaken using the precise
      weighing method (7 consecutive days). Anthropometric and blood analysis data were
      also recorded. The study subjects were grouped according to whether or not they
      consumed the WHO/FAO-recommended amount of 400 g/day of fruits and vegetables.
      RESULTS: Mean fruit and vegetable consumption was 446.77 +/- 168.80 g/day. The
      subjects who consumed at least 400 g/day of these foods also took in the largest
      total weight of food, and had the largest macronutrient, fiber, vitamin and
      mineral intakes. They also had higher serum and erythrocyte folate concentrations
      and lower plasma homocysteine concentrations than those who consumed less than
      the recommended 400 g/day of fruits and vegetables. CONCLUSIONS: The subjects who
      consumed at least 400 g/day of fruits and vegetables generally showed a better
      nutritional status. It would be advisable that the consumption of such foods be
      relatively increased, especially by those who currently consume less than 400
      g/day.

PMID- 20922337
TI  - Older rehabilitation patients are at high risk of malnutrition: evidence from a
      large Australian database.
AB  - BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Routine nutrition screening is recommended for all older
      patients admitted to hospital however data on the prevalence of malnutrition in
      rehabilitation settings is sparse. This study assessed the nutritional status of
      older patients admitted to rehabilitation hospitals over a 5 year period and
      described the association between nutritional status and length of hospital stay
      (LOS) in this context. The usefulness of a recently revised version of the
      shortened MNA (MNA-SF) was also investigated. METHODS: A retrospective analysis
      was conducted of patients aged 65 + y admitted to two rehabilitation hospitals in
      New South Wales, Australia between 1st March 2003-30th June 2004, and 11th
      January 2005-10th December 2008. Nutritional status was determined on admission
      by trained dietitians using the full MNA instrument and the MNA-SF. Information
      on diagnosis-related grouping and length of stay (LOS) was obtained. RESULTS:
      Data was available for 2076 patients with a mean age of 80.6 (27.7) y. Thirty
      three percent and 51.5% of patients were classified as malnourished and at
      nutritional risk, respectively. Controlling for date of admission and diagnosis
      related grouping, LOS was higher in malnourished and at risk groups compared to
      their well nourished peers (P < 0.001) by 18.5 and 12.4 days, respectively. MNA
      SF demonstrated high sensitivity but relatively low specificity against the full
      MNA. CONCLUSION: The majority of older patients in the rehabilitation setting are
      nutritionally compromised which adversely influences LOS. In order to encourage
      more widespread screening, the MNA-SF may be able to replace the full MNA.

PMID- 20922338
TI  - Health economics and health policy issues in Alzheimer's disease.

PMID- 20922339
TI  - Costs of dementia in Hungary.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The main aim of this paper is to give an overview on the quality of
      life, health care utilisation and costs of dementia in Hungary. METHOD: A cross
      sectional non-population based study of 88 consecutive dementia patients and
      their caregivers was conducted in three GP practices and one outpatient setting
      in 2008. Resource Utilization in Dementia (RUD), Mini Mental State Examination
      (MMSE) and quality of life (EQ-5D) were surveyed and cost calculations were
      performed. Costs of patients living at home were estimated by the current bottom
      up cost-of-illness calculations, while costs of nursing home patients were
      considered by official reimbursement to determine the disease burden from a
      societal viewpoint. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 77.4 years
      (SD=9.2), 59% of them were female. The mean MMSE score was 16.70 (SD=7.24), and
      the mean EQ-5D score was 0.40 (SD=0.34). The average annual cost of dementia was
      6,432 Euros per patient living at home and 6,086 Euros per patient living in
      nursing homes. For the whole demented population (based on EuroCoDe data) we
      estimated total annual costs of 846.8 million Euros; of which 55% are direct
      costs, 9% indirect costs and 36% informal care cost. Compared to acute myocardial
      infarction the total disease burden of dementia is 26.3 times greater.
      CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study investigating resource utilisation, costs,
      and quality of life of dementia patients in the Central and Eastern European
      region. Compared to the general population of Hungary EQ-5D values of the
      demented patients are lower in all age groups. Dementia related costs are much
      lower in Hungary compared to Western European countries. There is no remarkable
      difference between the costs of demented patients living at home and in nursing
      homes, from the societal point of view.

PMID- 20922340
TI  - Novel approaches to incorporating pharmacoeconomic studies into phase III
      clinical trials for Alzheimer's disease.
AB  - The societal and individual costs of Alzheimer's disease are significant,
      worldwide. As the world ages, these costs are increasing rapidly, while health
      systems face finite budgets. As a result, many regulators and payers will require
      or at least consider phase III cost-effectiveness data (in addition to safety and
      efficacy data) for drug approval and reimbursement, increasing the risks and
      costs of drug development. Incorporating pharmacoeconomic studies in phase III
      clinical trials for Alzheimer's disease presents a number of challenges. We
      propose several specific suggestions to improve the design of pharmacoeconomic
      studies in phase III clinical trials. We propose that acute episodes of care are
      key outcome measures for pharmacoeconomic studies. To improve the possibility of
      detecting a pharmacoeconomic impact in phase III, we suggest several strategies
      including; study designs for enrichment of pharmacoeconomic outcomes that include
      co-morbidity of patients; reducing variability of care that can affect
      pharmacoeconomic outcomes through standardized care management; employing
      administrative claims data to better capture meaningful pharmacoeconomic data;
      and extending clinical trials in open label follow-up periods in which
      pharmacoeconomic data are captured electronically by administrative claims.
      Specific aspects of power analysis for pharmacoeconomic studies are presented.
      The particular pharmacoeconomic challenges caused by the use of biomarkers in
      clinical trials, the increasing use of multinational studies, and the
      pharmacoeconomic challenges presented by biologicals in development for
      Alzheimer's disease are discussed. In summary, since we are entering an era in
      which pharmacoeconomic studies will be essential in drug development for
      supporting regulatory approval, payor reimbursement and integration of new
      therapies into clinical care, we must consider the design and incorporation of
      pharmacoeconomic studies in phase III clinical trials more seriously and more
      creatively.

PMID- 20922341
TI  - Differences in resource use and costs of dementia care between European
      countries: baseline data from the ICTUS study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to estimate the costs of formal and informal care of
      patients with Alzheimer's disease, to compare care costs across European
      countries and identify potential differences in cost patterns between countries
      and regions. SETTING: The ICTUS study is a prospective, naturalistic
      observational study conducted in specialised memory clinics in 12 European
      countries. In total, 1385 patients diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease were
      enrolled at baseline. All subjects had a reliable informant (primary caregiver)
      and informed consent was obtained from patients or their primary caregiver. MAIN
      OUTCOME MEASURES: Resource utilization data was captured with the RUD Lite
      (Resource Utilization in Dementia) instrument and caregiver burden with the Zarit
      Burden Interview (ZBI). Patient disease severity was measured with the Mini
      Mental State Examination (MMSE), Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale-Cognitive
      subscale (ADAS-cog), Katz' index (PADL), Instrumental activities of daily living
      (IADL) scale and Neuropsychiatric inventory (NPI). RESULTS: The mean annual cost
      of care per patient was estimated to ?7,820 (95% CI: ?7,194-?8,446), whereof 54%
      were costs of informal care, 16% direct medical costs and 30% community care
      costs. There were substantial differences in total resource utilization and also
      in the balance between formal and informal care between Northern, Western and
      Southern Europe. PADL scores were strongly associated with formal care costs
      while IADL scores correlated strongly with informal care costs. CONCLUSIONS:
      Costs of Alzheimer's disease are high across European countries. Activities of
      daily living is an important determinant of care costs. Formal care service use
      is lower and informal care higher in Southern Europe compared to Western and
      Northern Europe. Differences in resource utilization patterns are important to
      consider in international studies of dementia care costs as well as in economic
      evaluations of new treatments for dementia.

PMID- 20922342
TI  - Alzheimer's disease: the strength of association of costs with different measures
      of disease severity.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To identify Alzheimer's disease (AD) severity measures for use in cost
      effectiveness models that effectively capture the impact of AD on costs. METHODS:
      A review of the literature and data abstraction from papers that present 1) mean
      AD costs (direct, indirect, or total) by disease severity, defined using measure
      of cognition, functional status, and behavior; and/or 2) the results of
      regression analyses that estimate the strength of the association between AD
      costs and disease severity. RESULTS: All papers reviewed showed that mean total
      costs increase with disease severity regardless of severity-measurement method.
      The relative difference in mean total costs between patients with severe disease
      compared to those with moderate disease, or moderate disease compared to mild
      disease, was fairly consistent across studies, suggesting that any of the disease
      severity measures may be used to broadly categorize patients by cost. However,
      when regression analysis included multiple disease-severity measures, independent
      associations with costs were noted for the different measures. Cognitive and
      functional status measures were consistently associated with direct costs,
      whereas functional status and behavioral measures were consistently associated
      with indirect costs and caregiver hours. CONCLUSIONS: Either multidimensional
      disease-severity measures, or a single disease-severity measure, that capture the
      impact of cognition, functional status, and behavior on costs are needed for cost
      effectiveness models.

PMID- 20922343
TI  - Savings from sub-groups?: Policy guidance and Alzheimer's disease treatments.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A range of new therapeutic agents are now available for the
      management of Alzheimer's disease. With limited resources available however,
      policy-makers and other health care professionals have to prioritise and judge
      competing treatments on criteria such as the magnitude of clinical effectiveness
      and cost-effectiveness. Policy guidance that restricts treatments to defined
      patient sub-groups can improve the cost-effectiveness of treatments, and can help
      limit rises in health care expenditures. Budget impact models that estimate the
      amount of additional costs and potential savings are being increasingly used by
      policy-makers. However, the amount of savings estimated in such models depends on
      the effectiveness of treatment in changing morbidity, and the association between
      morbidity and costs. AIM: To examine the magnitude of cost savings arising from
      provision of treatment to different patient sub-groups, using policy guidance
      decisions made by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence
      (NICE) for cholinesterase inhibitor therapies in Alzheimer's Disease (AD) in the
      United Kingdom National Health Service (NHS). METHOD: Cohort simulation
      modelling. RESULTS: Policy guidance decisions that restricted treatment to
      smaller patient sub-groups were associated with lower overall care costs, but did
      not reduce drug costs. CONCLUSIONS: Given increasing recognition by health policy
      makers of the importance of affordability of new treatments, greater attention
      should be paid to measurement of cost impacts by sub-groups within health
      economic modelling.

PMID- 20922344
TI  - Dementia case management effectiveness on health care costs and resource
      utilization: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials.
AB  - The growing number of dementia patients leads to both policy, economic and health
      organization constraints. Many healthcare systems have developed case management
      programs in order to optimize dementia patients and caregivers care and services
      delivery. Nevertheless, to what extend case management programs can lead to an
      improvement of care and expenditures savings is not known. Thus, the objective of
      this paper was to analyse the efficacy of case management programs on health care
      cost, institutionalization and hospitalization. A systematic review of randomized
      controlled trials was therefore conducted of the databases MEDLINE and SCOPUS up
      to September 2009. Included were English language randomized controlled trials of
      case management for community dwelling dementia patients and their caregivers
      evaluating costs, institutionalization and hospitalization. An evaluation of the
      methodological quality was performed. Thirteen relevant studies concerning 12
      trials were identified and included. None of the 7 low quality studies reported
      positive impact of case management on the outcomes of interest. Among the 6 good
      quality studies, 4 reported positive impact on institutionalization delay,
      institutionalization length or nursing home admission rate. In none of the good
      quality studies was evidence found for savings in health care expenditures or
      reduction in hospitalization recourse. The weak convincing evidences from
      randomized trials do not allow any conclusion about the efficacy of case
      management for dementia patient and caregivers on costs and resource utilization.
      Further research should focus on determining subgroups of caregivers who could
      benefit the most from case management.

PMID- 20922345
TI  - Clinic visits and prescribing patterns among Veterans Affairs Maryland Health
      Care System dementia patients.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Our objective was to determine how patient demographics and outpatient
      referrals to specialized dementia (DEM) or mental health (MH) clinics influence
      receipt of anti-dementia (AD), antidepressant (ADEP), antipsychotic (APSY) and
      sedative-hypnotic (SEDH) medications among veterans with dementia. DESIGN:
      Retrospective, cross-sectional observational study. SETTING: Veterans Affairs
      Maryland Health Care System (VAMHCS). PARTICIPANTS: Veterans aged >= 60 years
      with Alzheimer's or related dementia diagnosis after 1999 with minimum of one
      year follow-up or death were included. MEASUREMENTS: Retrospective analysis of
      VAMHCS electronic medical records were used to determine predictors of AD, ADEP,
      APSY, and SEDH prescribing using logistic regression models that examined visits
      to DEM or MH clinics, patient age, follow-up time, race/ethnicity and marital
      status. RESULTS: Among 1209 veterans with average follow-up of 3.2 (SD 1.9)
      years, 36% percent had MH visits, 38% had DEM visits and 19% visited both
      clinics. DEM visits were associated with AD and ADEP but not APSY medication
      receipt (OR(AD:DEM) = 1.47, 95% CI = (1.052, 2.051); OR(ADEP:DEM) = 1.66, 95% CI
      = (1.193, 2.302); OR(APSY:DEM) = 1.35, 95% CI = (0.941, 1.929)). MH visit was
      associated with ADEP and APSY medication receipt (OR(AD:MH)? = 1.16, 95% CI =
      (0.821, 1.631); OR(ADEP:MH) = 2.83, 95% CI = (2.005, 4.005); OR (APSY:MH) = 4.41,
      95% CI = (3.109, 6.255)). CONCLUSION: In the VAMHCS dementia population, visits
      to DEM or MH specialty clinics increase the odds of receiving AD, ADEP, and APSY
      medications.

PMID- 20922346
TI  - The Resource Utilization in Dementia (RUD) instrument is valid for assessing
      informal care time in community-living patients with dementia.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Informal care is a significant component of the societal resource use
      and costs in dementia care. Thus it is fundamental that assessments of informal
      care are valid. Thus the aim was to analyse the validity of time estimates with
      the Resource Utilization in Dementia (RUD) instrument. DESIGN: Prospective
      observational study. SETTING: Community sample. PARTICIPANTS: Fourteen married
      and cohabiting patient-caregiver pairs. MEASUREMENTS: Comparisons of estimates of
      caregiver time by recall with the RUD instrument, by diaries and by direct
      observation, with calculation of agreement statistics for recall vs. diary and
      recall vs. direct observation to assess accuracy of the time estimates derived
      from recall. RESULTS: The patients and their caregivers participated in 47
      diaries and 30 observation sessions. The agreement between diaries and recall
      estimates was high for personal ADL (intra-class correlation (ICC) 0.93),
      supervision (ICC 0.87) and total time (ICC 0.91) and lower but acceptable for
      instrumental ADL (ICC 0.75). Regarding observation vs recall estimates, the
      corresponding figures were for personal ADL (ICC 0.81), for instrumental ADL (ICC
      0.74), for supervision (ICC 0.78) and for total time (ICC 0.80). CONCLUSION: The
      RUD instrument appears to accurately estimate the amount of informal care
      provided by caregivers to dementia patients.

PMID- 20922347
TI  - Effects of swimming on eye hand coordination and balance in the elderly.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effects of swimming on upper extremity motor control,
      and balance in elderly population. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: The
      biomechanical laboratory in a tertiary hospital. PARTICIPANTS: The swimming group
      consisted of 20 swimmers (n_20, 65.4 +/- 5.5 years) who received regular swimming
      exercise for more than 2 years. The control group consisted of 34 healthy active
      subjects (n_34, 67.4 +/- 5.7 years) who have regular exercises other than
      swimming. MEASUREMENTS: The eye hand coordination was evaluated by calculating
      the mean reaction time required in accurately pointing onto the center of the
      target sensors that come in three different sizes (1 cm, 1.5 cm, and 2 cm in
      diameter). The SMART Balance Master device was used to measure posture balance.
      The maximal stability, center of pressure (COP) velocity, and percentage ankle
      strategy were obtained under six different balance conditions. RESULTS: In the
      testing of upper extremity motor control, the swimming group had significant
      shorter mean reaction time as compared with the control group in all three target
      sensor sizes (p < 0.05). In balance testing, the swimming group had significant
      greater percentage of ankle strategy during eyes closed and fixed support (EC),
      and sway-referenced vision and support (SVSS) conditions as compared with the
      control group (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Regular swimming exercise may result in
      improved eye hand coordination as faster and more accurate repetitive movements.
      Swimming may also result in improved balance function under few complicated
      balance conditions.

PMID- 20922348
TI  - Do general practitioners recognize mild cognitive impairment in their patients?
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The need for recognition of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in
      primary care is increasingly discussed because MCI is a risk factor for dementia.
      General Practitioners (GPs) could play an important role in the detection of MCI
      since they have regular and long-term contact with the majority of the elderly
      population. Thus the objective of this study is to find out how well GPs
      recognize persons with MCI in their practice population. DESIGN: Cross-sectional
      study. SETTING: Primary care chart registry sample. PARTICIPANTS: 3,242 non
      demented GP patients aged 75-89 years. MEASUREMENTS: GPs assessed the cognitive
      status of their patients on the Global Deterioration Scale (GDS). Thereafter,
      trained interviewers collected psychometric data by interviewing the patients at
      home. The interview data constitute the basis for the definition of MCI cases
      (gold standard). RESULTS: The sensitivity of GPs to detect MCI was very low (11
      12%) whereas their specificity amounts to 93-94%. Patients with MCI with a middle
      or high level of education more often got a false negative assignment than
      patients with a low educational level. The risk of a false positive assignment
      rose with the patients' degree of comorbidity. GPs were better at detecting MCI
      when memory or two and more MCI-domains were impaired. CONCLUSION: The results
      show that GPs recognise MCI in a very limited number of cases when based on
      clinical impression only. A further development of the MCI concept and its
      operationalisation is necessary. Emphasis should be placed on validated, reliable
      and standardised tests for routine use in primary care encompassing other than
      only cognitive domains and on case finding approaches rather than on screening.
      Then a better attention and qualification of GPs with regard to the recognition
      of MCI might be achievable.

PMID- 20922349
TI  - Functional evaluation distinguishes MCI patients from healthy elderly people--the
      ADCS/MCI/ADL scale.
AB  - Patients with MCI may present minor impairments in activities of daily living
      (ADL). The main objective of this work was to evaluate the ability of two
      versions of the Alzheimer's Disease Cooperative Study/Activities of Daily Living
      scale adapted for MCI patients (ADCS/MCI/ADL18 and ADCS/MCI/ADL24) to distinguish
      patients with MCI from healthy control subjects. Participants were 60 years or
      older and community dwelling: 31 control subjects, 30 aMCI patients and 33 AD
      patients. A protocol of neuropsychological tests, global evaluation scales,
      functional scales, and depressive symptoms assessment was used. Activities of
      balancing the cheque book, using a telephone, going shopping, taking medication
      regularly, finding objects, talking about current events, watching television,
      initiating complex activities, keeping appointments or meetings, reading, getting
      around outside the home and driving a car were impaired in aMCI patients. The
      ADCS/MCI/ADL24 scale was better than the ADCS/MCI/ADL18 scale in distinguishing
      aMCI patients from healthy controls (sensitivity=0.87, specificity=0.87, ROC
      c=0.887, cut-off point=52/53). The detection of initial functional changes with
      appropriate scales may contribute to the early diagnosis of MCI and the
      development of targeted interventions to improve everyday function or prolong
      independence.

PMID- 20922350
TI  - An urgent need to improve life conditions of seniors.
AB  - In the fall of 2007, the Government of Quebec set up a Public Consultation on
      Living Conditions of Seniors. Fifty sessions were held in 26 cities across all 17
      regions of the province. More than 4000 seniors attended the sessions and 275
      briefs were received from scientists and associations. Three themes were
      identified in the report published in 2008: supporting seniors and their
      caregivers, reinforcing the place of seniors in society, and preventing problems
      associated with aging (suicide, abuse, addictions). The main actions that I
      recommended included: Increasing the Guaranteed Income Supplement to prevent
      poverty; Modifying pension plans and working conditions to allow for progressive
      retirement; Making a major investment in home care to provide access to services
      regardless of place of residence; Introducing an Autonomy Support Benefit and
      autonomy insurance program for financing services to support people with
      disabilities; Generalizing an Integrated Service Delivery Network providing
      services to frail older people; Better training for professionals in gerontology.
      I also recommended setting up a National Policy on Seniors to align all
      government departments and agencies, municipalities and the private sector around
      a vision, objectives and a set of actions for improving the integration of
      seniors in an aging society. This would contribute to a more equitable,
      interdependent and wiser society. Unfortunately, the Government did not support
      these recommendations. It is now time for scientists to get involved in leading
      policy on seniors and in the political arena.

PMID- 20922351
TI  - Circulating TNF alpha receptor levels identify older adults who fail to regain
      weight after acute weight loss.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Some healthy older adults have difficulty regaining weight after acute
      weight loss, and the reason for this failure to regain weight is unknown. The
      objective of this study was to determine if elevated leptin or pro-inflammatory
      cytokine levels are associated with failure to regain weight over two years after
      an acute weight loss intervention. DESIGN: Two year prospective study after an
      acute weight loss intervention. SETTING: University of Washington Medical Center
      from 2001-2006. PARTICIPANTS: Nineteen older (>= 70 years old) men and women.
      MEASUREMENTS: Body weights, health status questionnaire, body composition data,
      serum leptin, glucose, insulin, C- reactive protein and pro-inflammatory cytokine
      levels were measured every six months for two years. RESULTS: Five subjects out
      of 19 failed to regain weight after two years. The subjects who failed to regain
      weight after 2 years had higher circulating levels of tumor necrosis factor
      receptor particle 55 (TNFRp55) at baseline and at 6, 12, 18 and 24 months of
      follow up compared to subjects who regained weight after 2 years (P = 0.02 ).
      CONCLUSION: Five out of 19 older subjects had difficulty regaining weight for up
      to 2 years following an acute weight loss intervention, and their TNFRp55 levels
      were persistently higher than in subjects who regained weight. Greater TNF alpha
      action, as reflected by higher circulating levels of TNFRp55, could be
      contributing towards inability of some older persons to regain weight after acute
      weight loss.

PMID- 20922352
TI  - [Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor induced angioedema : new therapy
      options].
AB  - Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors block the catalysis of angiotensin
      I to angiotensin II and also the breakdown of bradykinin. ACE inhibitor-induced
      angioedema is mediated by inhibited bradykinin degradation leading to enhanced
      bradykinin plasma levels. The efficacy of currently used standard treatments with
      antiallergic drugs is questionable. A patient with acute ACE inhibitor-induced
      angioedema was treated with icatibant, a specific bradykinin B2 receptor
      antagonist approved for the treatment of hereditary angioedema. A single
      subcutaneous injection of 30 mg icatibant resulted in a rapid onset of symptom
      relief and a remarkable shortening of duration of the attack.

PMID- 20922353
TI  - [Management of complex thrombocytopenia with thrombelastometry : a case of
      simultaneous posttransfusion purpura and heparin-induced thrombocytopenia].
AB  - The case presented describes the combined onset of heparin-induced
      thrombocytopenia II (HIT) and post-transfusion purpura (PTP) 5-10 days following
      exposure to heparin and blood transfusion during aortic dissection repair. On day
      4 the platelet count decreased by 40% and D-dimers started to increase again.
      Despite a low clinical probability for HIT-II at this time (4T score of 3)
      serological testing was done the next day and yielded a negative test result.
      Following a transient rise after platelet transfusion another 40% decrease in
      platelet count occurred on day 8. To increase precision of the 4T score,
      screening ultrasonography was performed and identified a clinically unapparent
      jugular vein thrombosis. As this increased the 4T score to 6 points, serological
      testing was repeated and now showed the presence of HIT-II antibodies. Despite
      switching from heparin to argatroban the platelet count continued to decrease to
      <5*10(3)/ul. Conventional clotting tests showed a prolonged prothrombin time and
      severe hypofibrinogenemia. Because of the female sex, age >50 years, history of
      pregnancy and transfusion 8 days before, PTP was suspected. The alteration of the
      plasmatic coagulation, however, could not be explained by PTP. Therefore,
      disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) and interference of argatroban with
      conventional clotting tests were considered as alternative diagnoses. In order to
      differentiate between the two alternatives rotational thrombelastometry
      (ROTEM(r)) was performed and revealed an increased functional fibrinogen level
      without signs of hyperfibrinolysis. This argued for an interference of argatroban
      with the Clauss method of fibrinogen measurement and rendered DIC unlikely. Under
      suspicion of PTP, treatment with immunoglobulin was initiated and blood
      transfusions were avoided. Detection of PTP antibodies 1 day later confirmed the
      combined presence of PTP and HIT-II. As hyperfibrinogenemia compensated for the
      effects of thrombocytopenia on clot firmness in ROTEM(r), anticoagulation with
      lepirudin was started at 9*10(3) platelets/ul only. The next day the platelet
      count increased to 32*10(3)/ul and clot firmness returned to normal. No
      thromboembolic complications and no relevant bleeding were observed. In summary,
      this case shows for the first time that HIT-II and PTP can occur in parallel in
      patients with simultaneous exposure to heparin and blood transfusions.
      Confounding effects of argatroban on conventional clotting tests may mimic DIC
      under these circumstances and make diagnosis difficult. Careful evaluation of the
      time-related magnitude in platelet decrease, patient history, course of D-dimers,
      screening ultrasonography and ROTEM(r) seem to be helpful to initiate early
      appropriate therapy before serological test results become available. In contrast
      to the Clauss method of fibrinogen measurement, assessment of clot firmness in
      ROTEM(r) is not influenced by argatroban. Moreover, ROTEM(r) reveals the
      compensatory effects of increased functional fibrinogen on clot firmness during
      severe thrombocytopenia as an important variable for anticoagulation therapy
      during thrombocytopenia with increased thromboembolic risk.

PMID- 20922354
TI  - [Anesthesia with neuromuscular diseases].
AB  - Among the neuromuscular diseases (NMDs) over 800 individual entities have been
      identified. The vast majority of these diseases occur very seldom but all NMDs
      together add up to a prevalence of 1:1,500. Accordingly the conclusion "seldom
      diseases are common" seems to be appropriate. The scope of NMDs is very wide
      varying from the affection of single muscle groups to the complete musculature,
      from slowly progressive to fulminant progressive forms, from perinatal to the
      adult manifestation as well as number, course and character of associated
      comorbidities. Due to the wide heterogeneity concerning NMDs it is of great
      importance for anesthesiologists to be knowledgeable on relevant comorbidities as
      well as indications and contraindications for the various anesthetics.

PMID- 20922355
TI  - [Emergency rescue XXL. Morbidly obese patient in the emergency medical service].
AB  - Obesity in Germany is becoming more and more prevalent. Significantly overweight
      patients (>200 kg) pose an increasing and difficult challenge for emergency
      medical services, emergency doctors and the hospitals responsible for further
      treatment. The anatomic and physiological characteristics of patients with
      extreme obesity must be taken into consideration, particularly the airway,
      breathing, circulation, disability, exposure and environment of the patient.
      Furthermore special preparations for medical supplies, concepts and strategies
      for transport and further treatment in hospital are required. Suitable equipment
      and coordinated processes are essential for both the safety of the persons
      involved and the patient's dignity. It is, however, a fact that many
      organizations and hospitals are poorly prepared for this challenge as the
      complete infrastructure of a hospital has to be adapted. Emergency transport in a
      bed should be avoided. Neighboring rescue services must be alarmed at an early
      stage if the commune concerned does not have adequate means of its own. Politics
      should guarantee cost-covering remuneration for hospitals and rescue services.

PMID- 20922356
TI  - [Xenon revisited].

PMID- 20922357
TI  - [Diagnostic and interventional operations in childhood: anesthesiology
      management].
AB  - Diagnostic and interventional procedures in children often need to be performed
      under sedation. This prevents pain and stress in children and provides optimal
      examination conditions. For complete immobilization and stress shielding the
      depth of sedation often corresponds with general anesthesia. Therefore,
      established safety standards need to be observed and a fundamental precondition
      is implementation by a skilled anesthesiologist who can handle the anesthesiology
      procedure and its possible complications. Organization, schedule, medication,
      equipment, monitoring and post-anesthesiology care should be institutionally
      defined. A professional anesthesiology management of pediatric patients is an
      important factor to increase the quality of care, patient safety and patient
      satisfaction.

PMID- 20922358
TI  - [Improved survival by guideline compliant cardiopulmonary resuscitation: analysis
      of primary survival rates in the Hamburg emergency medical service].
AB  - BACKGROUND: In 2005 revised guidelines for cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR)
      were published by the European Resuscitation Council replacing the guidelines
      implemented in the year 2000. The aim of this study was to test the compliance
      with valid guidelines and to establish the quality of pre-hospital CPR provided
      by paramedics over a period of 38 months. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 299
      CPRs performed by paramedics of the emergency medical services of Hamburg,
      Germany between 1(st) November 2004 and 31(st) December 2007 were analyzed.
      Digital recordings of automated external defibrillators and emergency protocol
      data were analyzed in detail. CPR was judged as incorrect if the defibrillation
      energy level did not correspond to the valid guidelines or if the interval
      between defibrillations exceeded a tolerance range of more than 30% compared to
      the valid guidelines. RESULTS: All CPRs (299) were included in the analysis of
      which 197 (65.9%) were intended to follow the 2000 guidelines and 102 (34.1%) the
      2005 guidelines. Return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) was achieved in 164
      cases (54.8%) and survival to hospital admission in 125 cases (41.8%). CPR was
      performed accurately according to guidelines in only 26 cases (8.7%). In 273
      cases (91.3%) the guidelines were not followed completely. Concerning the
      translation of guidelines into practice most faults occurred due to wrong
      intervals (89.3%), wrong defibrillation energy (33.4%) and medical errors, such
      as defibrillating an asystolic patient (7.0%). Primary survival rates were not
      significantly different when CPR accurately followed the 2000 or 2005 guidelines
      (40.1% versus 45.1%). Comparing primary survival rates of cases in which the
      guidelines were followed completely, there was no significant difference between
      the 2000 guidelines (15 out of 21 cases 71.4%) and 2005 guidelines (4 out of 5
      cases 80.0%). However, compliance with valid guidelines significantly increased
      primary survival rates compared to non-compliance with valid guidelines (19 out
      of 26 cases 73.1% versus 106 out of 273 cases 38.8%; p=0.007). This effect was
      independent of the duration of CPR. Comparing CPR with monophasic defibrillation
      (189 cases) or biphasic defibrillation (58 cases), there was a significantly
      higher rate of ROSC (56.1% versus 72.4%) and a significantly higher rate of
      primary survival (41.3% versus 56.9%) in favour of biphasic defibrillation.
      CONCLUSION: The results of our study show that compliance with valid guidelines
      is low and furthermore suggest that compliance with guidelines significantly
      reduces mortality. Future research may be warranted into the question of how to
      increase compliance with current CPR guidelines in pre-hospital emergency care.

PMID- 20922360
TI  - [Importance of mammography, sonography and MRI for surveillance of neoadjuvant
      chemotherapy for locally advanced breast cancer].
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of this study is to give an overview on the surveillance of
      response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in locally advanced breast cancer with
      mammography, ultrasound and breast MRI. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The results of a
      recently presented study on surveillance in the course of chemotherapy with
      contrast-enhanced MRI are compared with ratings based on mammography and
      ultrasound. RESULTS: Contrast-enhanced MRI correlates best with the histological
      tumor size when compared with mammography and ultrasound. Tumors with a high HER2
      score (2+ with positive FISH test or 3+) show a significantly higher response
      compared to tumors with a lower HER2 score: size p <0.01, maximum enhancement p
      <0.01 and area under the curve (AUC) p <0.05. Reduction of tumor size and
      enhancement are complementary parameters and are not correlated to each other
      (r=0.22). DISCUSSION: Contrast-enhanced MRI of the breast is a reliable method
      for quantification of the response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy. The reductions of
      tumor size and of tumor enhancement are not correlated. Therefore, it may be
      reasonable to take both aspects for quantification of therapy response into
      account. Further studies are needed for evaluation of the value of breast MRI as
      a prognostic factor.

PMID- 20922361
TI  - Roles of the alpha1A-adrenergic receptor carboxyl tail in protein kinase C
      induced phosphorylation and desensitization.
AB  - Noradrenaline- and tetradecanoyl phorbol acetate (TPA)-induced phosphorylation
      and functional desensitization of the following receptors were studied: (1) wild
      type bovine alpha(1A)- and hamster alpha(1B)-adrenergic receptors (ARs), (2)
      chimeric ARs in which the carboxyl terminus tails were exchanged (alpha(1AB)- and
      alpha(1BA)-ARs), and (3) carboxyl terminus-truncated alpha(1A)-ARs fussed to
      enhanced green fluorescent protein. Noradrenaline and TPA pronouncedly increased
      alpha(1B)-AR phosphorylation while TPA markedly desensitized these receptors. In
      contrast, TPA-induced desensitization and TPA- and noradrenaline-induced
      phosphorylation of alpha(1A)-ARs were clearly of lesser magnitude. Chimeric ARs
      with exchanged carboxyl terminus tails showed that the extent of phosphorylation
      reflected the carboxyl domain rather than the receptor core. Surprisingly, there
      was no correlation between phosphorylation and functional desensitization, i.e.,
      activation of protein kinase C clearly desensitized both chimeric receptors to a
      similar extent. Interestingly, TPA and noradrenaline increased carboxyl terminus
      truncated alpha(1A)-AR phosphorylation and TPA also induced receptor
      desensitization. We were unable to detect carboxyl terminus-truncated alpha(1A)
      AR internalization after 5-min stimulations with noradrenaline or TPA. Our
      results suggest the following: (a) the alpha(1A)-AR carboxyl terminus tail was
      not essential for signaling or desensitization; (b) carboxyl terminus tail
      exchange "transplanted" the phosphorylation pattern of the receptors, but the
      functional consequences of such a transplant were very limited; (c) alpha(1A)-AR
      desensitization was not associated to receptor internalization.

PMID- 20922362
TI  - Reduction of fear-potentiated startle by benzodiazepines in C57BL/6J mice.
AB  - RATIONALE: Anxiety disorders affect 18% of the United States adult population
      annually. Recent surges in the diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
      from combat-exposed veterans have prompted an urgent need to understand the
      pathophysiology underlying this debilitating condition. OBJECTIVES: Anxiety and
      fear responses are partly modulated by gamma aminobutyric acid type A (GABA(A))
      receptor-mediated synaptic inhibition; benzodiazepines potentiate GABAergic
      inhibition and are effective anxiolytics. Many genetically modified mouse lines
      are generated and/or maintained on the C57BL/6J background, a strain where
      manipulation of anxiety-like behavior using benzodiazepines is difficult. Fear
      potentiated startle (FPS), a test of conditioned fear, is a useful preclinical
      tool to study PTSD-like responses but has been difficult to establish in C57BL/6J
      mice. METHODS: We modified several FPS experimental parameters and developed a
      paradigm to assess conditioned fear in C57BL/6J mice. The 6-day protocol
      consisted of three startle Acclimation days, a Pre-Test day followed by Training
      and Testing for FPS. Subject responses to the effects of three benzodiazepines
      were also examined. RESULTS: C57BL/6J mice had low levels of unconditioned fear
      assessed during Pre-Test (15-18%) but showed robust FPS (80-120%) during the Test
      session. Conditioned fear responses extinguished over repeated test sessions.
      Administration of the benzodiazepines alprazolam (0.5 and 1 mg/kg, i.p.),
      chlordiazepoxide (5 and 10 mg/kg, i.p.), and diazepam (1, 2, and 4 mg/kg, i.p.)
      significantly reduced FPS to Pre-Test levels. CONCLUSIONS: We used a modified and
      pharmacologically-validated paradigm to assess FPS in mice thereby providing a
      powerful tool to examine the neurobiology of PTSD in genetic models of anxiety
      generated on the C57BL/6J background.

PMID- 20922364
TI  - An assessment of serum sodium within 48 h after percutaneous nephrolithotomy with
      half-strength saline solution.
AB  - The aim of this study was to evaluate the postoperative serum sodium changes
      after percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) with half-strength saline irrigation.
      PCNL operations from June to August 2008 were included. PCNL was performed
      according to the standard prone position with fluoroscopic guidance. Patients
      received 0.3% saline-3.3% dextrose by intravenous infusion in the first 24 h
      after operation. Serum sodium was measured before the operation and at 6, 24 and
      48 h after the operation. 96 patients were included. Serum sodium slightly
      decreased from preoperative 140.3 +/- 2.8 mEq/l to 140.1 +/- 3.6, 139.1 +/- 3.4
      (p < 0.01) and 139.3 +/- 2.7 (p < 0.05) at 6, 24 and 48 h after the operation,
      respectively. Half-strength saline irrigation does not result in considerable
      change in the postoperative serum sodium in simple PCNL operations. The use of
      intravenous solutions with hypotonic sodium is discouraged in PCNL patients with
      the possibility of high volume absorption of hypotonic irrigation fluid.

PMID- 20922363
TI  - Revisiting the thermodynamic theory of optimal ATP stoichiometries by analysis of
      various ATP-producing metabolic pathways.
AB  - The stoichiometry of ATP-producing metabolic pathways had been analysed
      theoretically by several authors by using evolutionary arguments and optimality
      principles. Waddell et al. (Biochem Educ 27:12-13, 1999) analysed (lactate
      producing) glycolysis and used linear irreversible thermodynamics. The result was
      that half of the free-energy difference should be converted into free-energy of
      ATP and the remaining half should be used to drive the pathway. The calculated
      stoichiometry is in agreement with the observed yield of two moles of ATP per
      mole of glucose. Using the same approach, we here analyse eight other metabolic
      pathways. Although the deviation is not very large, the calculated values do not
      fit as nicely as for glycolysis as leading to lactate. For example, for O2
      respiration, the theoretical ATP yield equals 27.9. The real value varies among
      organisms between 26 and 38. For mixed-acid fermentation in Escherichia coli, the
      theoretical and experimental values are 2.24 and 2, respectively. For arginine
      degradation in M. pneumoniae, the calculated value is 2.43 mol of ATP, while in
      vivo only one mole is produced. During evolution, some pathways may not have
      reached their optimal ATP net production because energy yield is not their only
      function. Moreover, it should be acknowledged that the approach by linear
      irreversible thermodynamics is a rough approximation.

PMID- 20922366
TI  - Progressive noninfectious anterior vertebral fusion.

PMID- 20922367
TI  - Nasopharyngeal carcinoma with splenic and cystic liver metastases in a pediatric
      patient: 18F-FDG PET-CT findings.
AB  - Pediatric nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is rare and usually poorly
      differentiated. We report a 14-year-old boy with NPC with metastases to liver,
      spleen, lymph nodes and bone marrow. The liver metastases closely resembled
      benign cystic liver disease on imaging; however, they showed intense uptake
      similar to other metastatic sites on positron emission tomography (PET) scan. A
      liver biopsy could not be performed on the boy. The boy responded clinically to
      platinum-based chemotherapy, and all the baseline PET-positive lesions became
      negative. This case highlights the rarity of splenic and cystic liver metastases
      in pediatric NPC and demonstrates the potential use of PET/CT in diagnosis,
      staging and response assessment in metastatic pediatric NPC.

PMID- 20922368
TI  - Temporomandibular joint injections: interventional MR imaging demonstrates
      anatomical landmark approach to be inaccurate when compared to direct
      visualization of the injectant.

PMID- 20922369
TI  - Nasogastric tubes and videofluoroscopic swallowing studies in children.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Videofluoroscopic swallowing study (VFSS) is considered to be the
      gold standard method in assessing the risk of aspiration. Not infrequently,
      children who undergo VFSS are on tube feeds. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the
      reliability of the findings of VFSS when a nasogastric tube is in place at the
      time of the study. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective review of VFSS covered
      a 6.5-year period. This review included only patients who had studies performed
      both with and without a nasogastric tube in place. Ninety-two studies (46 with
      and 46 without a nasogastric tube) were assessed in 46 children (30 boys, 16
      girls) with a mean age of 6.7 months. The VFSS checklist of findings included
      weak sucking, incoordination, nasopharyngeal reflux, valecular and pyriform sinus
      pooling, penetration, aspiration and associated cough or respiratory compromise.
      We compared the occurrence rates of these events between studies with and without
      a nasogastric tube. RESULTS: No significant statistical difference was found in
      the occurrence of the different swallowing events during VFSS in the two groups.
      The presence of a nasogastric tube does not significantly alter the association
      of cough; however, it shows a moderately significant (P=0.06) higher incidence of
      clinical respiratory compromise if aspiration does occur (8.5% of aspiration
      events). CONCLUSION: The presence of a nasogastric tube does not alter the
      findings of VFSS; however, it might increase the incidence of respiratory
      compromise when aspiration is present.

PMID- 20922370
TI  - Membrane protein dynamics in different environments: simulation study of the
      outer membrane protein X in a lipid bilayer and in a micelle.
AB  - The bacterial outer membrane protein OmpX from Escherichia coli has been
      investigated by molecular dynamics simulations when embedded in a phospholipid
      bilayer and as a protein-micelle aggregate. The resulting simulation trajectories
      were analysed in terms of structural and dynamic properties of the membrane
      protein. In agreement with experimental observations, highest relative stability
      was found for the beta-barrel region that is embedded in the lipophilic phase,
      whereas an extracellular protruding beta-sheet, which is a unique structural
      feature of OmpX that supposedly plays an important role in cell adhesion and
      invasion, shows larger structure fluctuations. Additionally, we investigated
      water permeation into the core of the beta-barrel protein, which contains a tight
      salt-bridge and hydrogen-bond network, so that extensive water flux is unlikely.
      Differences between the bilayer and the micellar system were observed in the
      length of the barrel and its position inside the lipid environment, and in the
      protein interactions with the hydrophilic part of the lipids near the lipid/water
      interface. Those variations suggest that micelles and other detergent
      environments might not offer a wholly membrane-like milieu to promote adoption of
      the physiological conformational state by OmpX.

PMID- 20922371
TI  - Engineering of nitrogen metabolism and its regulation in Corynebacterium
      glutamicum: influence on amino acid pools and production.
AB  - Nitrogen is one of the macronutrients necessary for living cells, and
      consequently, assimilation of nitrogen is a crucial step for metabolism. To
      satisfy their nitrogen demand and to ensure a sufficient nitrogen supply even in
      situations of nitrogen limitation, microorganisms have evolved sophisticated
      uptake and assimilation mechanisms for different nitrogen sources. This mini
      review focuses on nitrogen metabolism and its control in the biotechnology
      workhorse Corynebacterium glutamicum, which is used for the industrial production
      of more than 2 million tons of L: -amino acids annually. Ammonium assimilation
      and connected control mechanisms on activity and transcription level are
      summarized, and the influence of mutations on amino acid pools and production is
      described with emphasis on L: -glutamate, L: -glutamine, and L: -lysine.

PMID- 20922372
TI  - Identification and quantification of mycothiol in Actinobacteria by a novel
      enzymatic method.
AB  - Mycothiol (MSH) was reported to be the dominant low molecular weight thiol in
      members of the Actinobacteria. In this study, a simple, fast, and sensitive
      method for qualitative and quantitative determination of MSH molecules was
      developed based on maleylpyruvate isomerase (MPI) from Corynebacterium
      glutamicum. The principle of this method is that the activity of MPI from C.
      glutamicum was dependent on MSH molecules. It was found that this MPI activity
      displayed a linear response (R (2) = 0.9928) at MSH amounts ranging from 0.12 to
      3.98 pmol in the defined assay system. This observation was applied to calculate
      the MSH levels, and the newly developed method was compared with thiol-specific
      fluorescent-labeling high-performance liquid chromatography method. Forty-eight
      genera of Actinobacteria were screened for MSH and 43 genera were reported for
      MSH occurrence, and the MSH levels in Actinobacteria were determined to be 0.01
      to 9.69 MUmol/g of residual dry cell weight.

PMID- 20922373
TI  - Identification of chitinases Is-chiA and Is-chiB from Isoptericola jiangsuensis
      CLG and their characterization.
AB  - A 274-bp conserved fragment of chiA (chiA-CF) was amplified from the genomic DNA
      of Isoptericola jiangsuensis CLG (DSM 21863, CCTCC AB208287) using the specific
      PCR primers. Based on chiA-CF sequences, a 5233-bp DNA fragment was obtained by
      self-formed adaptor PCR. DNA sequencing analysis revealed there were two
      contiguous open reading frames coding for the precursors of Is-chiA [871 amino
      acids (aa)] and Is-chiB (561 aa) in the 5233-bp DNA fragment. The Is-chiA and Is
      chiB exhibited 58% and 62% identity with ArChiA and ArChiB chitinase from
      Arthrobacter sp. TAD20, respectively. The Is-chiA and Is-chiB genes were cloned
      into expression vector pET28a (+) and expressed in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3)
      with isopropyl-beta-D-thiogalactopyranoside induction. Is-chiA and Is-chiB were
      92 kDa and 60 kDa by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis
      and showed chitobiosidase and endochitinase activity, respectively. Is-chiA and
      Is-chiB were purified by Ni-nitrilotriacetic acid affinity chromatography and the
      characteristics of both Is-chiA and Is-chiB were studied.

PMID- 20922374
TI  - Effects of a defective ERAD pathway on growth and heterologous protein production
      in Aspergillus niger.
AB  - Endoplasmic reticulum associated degradation (ERAD) is a conserved mechanism to
      remove misfolded proteins from the ER by targeting them to the proteasome for
      degradation. To assess the role of ERAD in filamentous fungi, we have examined
      the consequences of disrupting putative ERAD components in the filamentous fungus
      Aspergillus niger. Deletion of derA, doaA, hrdC, mifA, or mnsA in A. niger yields
      viable strains, and with the exception of doaA, no significant growth phenotype
      is observed when compared to the parental strain. The gene deletion mutants were
      also made in A. niger strains containing single- or multicopies of a glucoamylase
      glucuronidase (GlaGus) gene fusion. The induction of the unfolded protein
      response (UPR) target genes (bipA and pdiA) was dependent on the copy number of
      the heterologous gene and the ERAD gene deleted. The highest induction of UPR
      target genes was observed in ERAD mutants containing multiple copies of the
      GlaGus gene. Western blot analysis revealed that deletion of the derA gene in the
      multicopy GlaGus overexpressing strain resulted in a 6-fold increase in the
      intracellular amount of GlaGus protein detected. Our results suggest that
      impairing some components of the ERAD pathway in combination with high expression
      levels of the heterologous protein results in higher intracellular protein
      levels, indicating a delay in protein degradation.

PMID- 20922375
TI  - Cloning and characterisation of a cystathionine beta/gamma-lyase from two
      Oenococcus oeni oenological strains.
AB  - Sulphur-containing compounds in wine have been extensively studied because of
      their effect on wine flavour and quality. In this study, an enzyme that degrades
      sulphur-containing amino acids was cloned and characterised from two Oenococcus
      oeni strains of oenological origins. The enzyme has features of a cystathionine
      gamma-lyase (EC 4.4.1.1), a pyridoxal-5-phosphate-dependent enzyme catalysing an
      alpha,gamma-elimination reaction of L: -cystathionine to produce L: -cysteine,
      alpha-ketobutyrate and ammonia. Moreover, it was able to catalyse an alpha,beta
      elimination reaction producing homocysteine, pyruvate and ammonia from L: 
      cystathionine. An elimination reaction of L: -cysteine and DL: -homocysteine was
      also efficiently catalysed by the enzyme, resulting in the formation of hydrogen
      sulphide. Furthermore, the ability to demethiolate methionine into methanethiol,
      an unfavourable volatile sulphur compound in terms of wine aroma, was observed.
      The findings of this work suggest that O. oeni seems to play a minor role in the
      production of volatile sulphur compounds during the vinification process as the
      optimal conditions were far from the harsh wine environment.

PMID- 20922376
TI  - Interaction of SCO2127 with BldKB and its possible connection to carbon
      catabolite regulation of morphological differentiation in Streptomyces
      coelicolor.
AB  - In Streptomyces coelicolor, the sco2127 gene is located upstream of the gene
      encoding for glucose kinase. This region restores sensitivity to carbon
      catabolite repression (CCR) of Streptomyces peucetius var. caesius mutants,
      resistant to 2-deoxyglucose (Dog(R)). In order to search for the possible
      mechanisms behind this effect, sco2127 was overexpressed and purified for protein
      protein interaction studies. SCO2127 was detected during the late growth phase of
      S. coelicolor grown in a complex media supplemented with 100 mM glucose. Pull
      down assays using crude extracts from S. coelicolor grown in the same media,
      followed by far-western blotting, allowed detection of two proteins bound to
      SCO2127. The proteins were identified by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry as SCO5113
      and SCO2582. SCO5113 (BldKB) is a lipoprotein ABC-type permease (~66 kDa)
      involved in mycelium differentiation by allowing the transport of the morphogenic
      oligopeptide Bld261. SCO2582, is a putative membrane metalloendopeptidase (~44
      kDa) of unknown function. In agreement with the possible role of SCO2127 in
      mycelium differentiation, delayed aerial mycelium septation and sporulation was
      observed when S. coelicolor A3(2) was grown in the presence of elevated glucose
      concentrations (100 mM), an effect not seen in a Delta-sco2127 mutant derived
      from it. We speculate that SCO2127 might represent a key factor in CCR of
      mycelium differentiation by interacting with BldKB.

PMID- 20922377
TI  - Microbial community differences between propionate-fed microbial fuel cell
      systems under open and closed circuit conditions.
AB  - We report the electrochemical characterization and microbial community analysis
      of closed circuit microbial fuel cells (CC-MFCs) and open circuit (OC) cells
      continuously fed with propionate as substrate. Differences in power output
      between MFCs correlated with their polarization behavior, which is related to the
      maturation of the anodophilic communities. The microbial communities residing in
      the biofilm growing on the electrode, biofouled cation-exchange membrane and
      anodic chamber liquor of OC-and CC-MFCs were characterized by restriction
      fragment length polymorphism screening of 16S rRNA gene clone libraries. The
      results show that the CC-MFC anode was enriched in several microorganisms related
      to known electrochemically active and dissimilatory Fe(III) reducing bacteria,
      mostly from the Geobacter spp., to the detriment of Bacteroidetes abundant in the
      OC-MFC anode. The results also evidenced the lack of a specific pelagic community
      in the liquor sample. The biofilm growing on the cation-exchange membrane of the
      CC-MFC was found to be composed of a low-diversity community dominated by two
      microaerophilic species of the Achromobacter and Azovibrio genus.

PMID- 20922378
TI  - Change in ammonia-oxidizing microorganisms in enriched nitrifying activated
      sludge.
AB  - In this study, sludge was taken from a municipal wastewater treatment plant that
      contained a nearly equal number of archaeal amoA genes (5.70 * 106 +/- 3.30 * 105
      copies mg sludge-1) to bacterial amoA genes (8.60 * 106 +/- 7.64 * 105 copies mg
      sludge-1) and enriched in three continuous-flow reactors receiving an inorganic
      medium containing different ammonium concentrations: 2, 10, and 30 mM NH (4) (+) 
      N (28, 140, and 420 mg N l-1). The abundance and communities of ammonia-oxidizing
      archaea (AOA) and ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) in enriched nitrifying
      activated sludge (NAS) were monitored at days 60 and 360 of the operation. Early
      on, between day 0 and day 60 of reactor operation, comparative abundance of AOA
      amoA genes to AOB amoA genes varied among the reactors depending on the ammonium
      levels found in the reactors. As compared to the seed sludge, the number of AOA
      amoA genes was unchanged in the reactor with lower ammonium level (0.06 +/- 0.04
      mgN l-1), while in the reactors with higher ammonium levels (0.51 +/- 0.33 and
      0.25 +/- 0.10 mgN l-1), the numbers of AOA amoA genes were deteriorated. By day
      360, AOA disappeared from the ammonia-oxidizing consortiums in all reactors. The
      majority of the AOA sequences from all NASs at each sampling period fell into a
      single AOA cluster, however, suggesting that the ammonium did not affect the AOA
      communities under this operational condition. This result is contradictory to the
      case of AOB, where the communities varied significantly among the NASs. AOB with
      a high affinity for ammonia were present in the reactors with lower ammonium
      levels, whereas AOB with a low affinity to ammonia existed in the reactors with
      higher ammonium levels.

PMID- 20922379
TI  - Proteomics of industrial fungi: trends and insights for biotechnology.
AB  - Filamentous fungi are widely known for their industrial applications, namely, the
      production of food-processing enzymes and metabolites such as antibiotics and
      organic acids. In the past decade, the full genome sequencing of filamentous
      fungi increased the potential to predict encoded proteins enormously, namely,
      hydrolytic enzymes or proteins involved in the biosynthesis of metabolites of
      interest. The integration of genome sequence information with possible phenotypes
      requires, however, the knowledge of all the proteins in the cell in a system-wise
      manner, given by proteomics. This review summarises the progress of proteomics
      and its importance for the study of biotechnological processes in filamentous
      fungi. A major step forward in proteomics was to couple protein separation with
      high-resolution mass spectrometry, allowing accurate protein quantification.
      Despite the fact that most fungal proteomic studies have been focused on proteins
      from mycelial extracts, many proteins are related to processes which are
      compartmentalised in the fungal cell, e.g. beta-lactam antibiotic production in
      the microbody. For the study of such processes, a targeted approach is required,
      e.g. by organelle proteomics. Typical workflows for sample preparation in fungal
      organelle proteomics are discussed, including homogenisation and sub-cellular
      fractionation. Finally, examples are presented of fungal organelle proteomic
      studies, which have enlarged the knowledge on areas of interest to biotechnology,
      such as protein secretion, energy production or antibiotic biosynthesis.

PMID- 20922380
TI  - A novel plasmid addiction system for large-scale production of cyanophycin in
      Escherichia coli using mineral salts medium.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Hitherto the production of the biopolymer cyanophycin (CGP) using
      recombinant Escherichia coli strains and cheap mineral salts medium yielded only
      trace amounts of CGP (<0.5%, w/w) of the cell dry matter (CDM). This was probably
      due to the instability of the plasmids encoding the cyanophycin synthetase.
      MATERIAL AND METHODS: In this study, we developed an anabolism-based media
      dependent plasmid addiction system (PAS) to enhance plasmid stability, and we
      established a process based on a modified mineral salts medium yielding a CGP
      content of 42% (w/w) at the maximum without the addition of amino acids to the
      medium for the first time. This PAS is based on different lysine biosynthesis
      pathways and consists of two components: (1) a knockout of the chromosomal dapE
      disrupts the native succinylase pathway in E. coli and (2) the complementation by
      the plasmid-encoded artificial aminotransferase pathway mediated by the dapL gene
      from Synechocystis sp. PCC 6308, which allows the synthesis of the essential
      lysine precursor L,L-2,6-diaminopimelate. In addition, this plasmid also harbors
      cphAC595S, an engineered cyanophycin synthetase gene responsible for CGP
      production. RESULTS: Cultivation experiments in Erlenmeyer flask and also in
      bioreactors in mineral salts medium without antibiotics revealed an at least 4.5
      fold enhanced production of CGP in comparison to control cultivations without
      PAS. DISCUSSION: Fermentation experiments with culture volume of up to 400 l
      yielded a maximum of 18% CGP (w/w) and a final cell density of 15.2 g CDM/l.
      Lactose was used constantly as an effective inducer and carbon source. Thus, we
      present a convenient option to produce CGP with E. coli at a technical scale
      without the need to add antibiotics or amino acids using the mineral salts medium
      designed in this study.

PMID- 20922381
TI  - Citrus peel influences the production of an extracellular naringinase by
      Staphylococcus xylosus MAK2 in a stirred tank reactor.
AB  - Staphylococcus xylosus MAK2, Gram-positive coccus, a nonpathogenic member of the
      coagulase-negative Staphylococcus family was isolated from soil and used to
      produce naringinase in a stirred tank reactor. An initial medium at pH 5.5 and a
      cultivation temperature of 30 degrees C was found to be optimal for enzyme
      production. The addition of Ca(+)2 caused stimulation of enzyme activity. The
      effect of various physico-chemical parameters, such as pH, temperature,
      agitation, and inducer concentration was studied. The enzyme production was
      enhanced by the addition of citrus peel powder (CPP) in the optimized medium. A
      twofold increase in naringinase production was achieved using different
      technological combinations. The process optimization using technological
      combinations allowed rapid optimization of large number of variables, which
      significantly improved enzyme production in a 5-l reactor in 34 h. An increase in
      sugar concentration (15 g l-1) in the fermentation medium further increased
      naringinase production (8.9 IU ml-1) in the bioreactor. Thus, availability of
      naringinase renders it attractive for potential biotechnological applications in
      citrus processing industry.

PMID- 20922382
TI  - Bacterial community analysis of swine manure treated with autothermal
      thermophilic aerobic digestion.
AB  - Due to the environmental problems associated with disposal of livestock sludge,
      many stabilization studies emphasizing on the sludge volume reduction were
      performed. However, little is known about the microbial risk present in sludge
      and its stabilized products. This study microbiologically explored the effects of
      anaerobic lagoon fermentation (ALF) and autothermal thermophilic aerobic
      digestion (ATAD) on pathogen-related risk of raw swine manure by using culture
      independent 16S rDNA cloning and sequencing methods. In raw swine manure, clones
      closely related to pathogens such as Dialister pneumosintes, Erysipelothrix
      rhusiopathiae, Succinivibrioan dextrinosolvens, and Schineria sp. were detected.
      Meanwhile, in the mesophilic ALF-treated swine manure, bacterial community clones
      closely related to pathogens such as Schineria sp. and Succinivibrio
      dextrinosolvens were still detected. Interestingly, the ATAD treatment resulted
      in no detection of clones closely related to pathogens in the stabilized
      thermophilic bacterial community, with the predominance of novel Clostridia class
      populations. These findings support the superiority of ATAD in selectively
      reducing potential human and animal pathogens compared to ALF, which is a typical
      manure stabilization method used in livestock farms.

PMID- 20922383
TI  - Optimization of cold-active chitinase production from the Antarctic bacterium,
      Sanguibacter antarcticus KOPRI 21702.
AB  - In the present study, cultivation conditions and medium components were optimized
      using statistical design and analysis to enhance the production of Chi21702, a
      cold-active extracellular chitinase from the Antarctic bacterium Sanguibacter
      antarcticus KOPRI 21702. Identification of significant carbon sources and other
      key elements was performed using a statistical design technique. Chitin and
      glycerol were selected as main carbon sources, and the ratio of complex nitrogen
      sources to carbon sources was determined to be 0.5. Among 15 mineral components
      included in basal medium, NaCl, Fe(C6H5O7), and MgCl2 were found to have the most
      influence on Chi21702 production. The optimal parameters of temperature, initial
      pH, and dissolved oxygen level were found to be 25 degrees C, 6.5, and above 30%
      of air saturation, respectively. The maximum Chi21702 activity obtained under the
      optimized conditions was 90 U/L. Through statistical optimization methods, a 7.5
      fold increase in Chi21702 production was achieved over unoptimized conditions.
      Chi21702 showed relatively high activity, even at low temperatures close to 0
      degrees C. The information obtained in the present study could be applied to the
      production of cold-active endochitinase on a large scale, suitable for a process
      at low temperature in industry.

PMID- 20922384
TI  - Increased bioclogging and corrosion risk by sulfate addition during iodine
      recovery at a natural gas production plant.
AB  - Iodine recovery at a natural gas production plant in Japan involved the addition
      of sulfuric acid for pH adjustment, resulting in an additional about 200 mg/L of
      sulfate in the waste brine after iodine recovery. Bioclogging occurred at the
      waste brine injection well, causing a decrease in well injectivity. To examine
      the factors that contribute to bioclogging, an on-site experiment was conducted
      by amending 10 L of brine with different conditions and then incubating the brine
      for 5 months under open air. The control case was exposed to open air but did not
      receive additional chemicals. When sulfate addition was coupled with low iodine,
      there was a drastic increase in the total amount of accumulated biomass (and
      subsequently the risk of bioclogging) that was nearly six times higher than the
      control. The bioclogging-associated corrosion rate of carbon steel was 84.5
      MUm/year, which is four times higher than that observed under other conditions.
      Analysis of the microbial communities by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis
      revealed that the additional sulfate established a sulfur cycle and induced the
      growth of phototrophic bacteria, including cyanobacteria and purple bacteria. In
      the presence of sulfate and low iodine levels, cyanobacteria and purple bacteria
      bloomed, and the accumulation of abundant biomass may have created a more
      conducive environment for anaerobic sulfate-reducing bacteria. It is believed
      that the higher corrosion rate was caused by a differential aeration cell that
      was established by the heterogeneous distribution of the biomass that covered the
      surface of the test coupons.

PMID- 20922385
TI  - Organisation, data evaluation, interpretation and effect of arthroplasty register
      data on the outcome in terms of revision rate in total hip arthroplasty.
AB  - Originally developed in Scandinavia, national arthroplasty registers have spread
      worldwide during the last decade. The value of registers for quality improvement
      in arthroplasty has frequently been documented. However, for the development of a
      successful register a few key points should be taken into account. Uncontrolled
      loss of patients from the registry area should be avoided. Registers should form
      an integral part of a country's medical system. To realise the potential for
      improvement, it is crucial that physicians deal with the results in detail. Thus
      it is absolutely essential to involve the specialty societies in the
      interpretation and dissemination of results. With respect to revision rates,
      register data are usually more valid than meta-analyses of clinical studies. For
      every physician the most valuable data are those coming from a register in his
      own country; the development of national arthroplasty registers should therefore
      be continued.

PMID- 20922387
TI  - A prognostic model and treatment strategy for intrahepatic recurrence of
      hepatocellular carcinoma after curative resection.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to evaluate the prognostic factors for
      intrahepatic recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after curative
      resection. METHODS: Of 297 patients with HCC who underwent curative resection
      between 1998 and 2007, 145 had intrahepatic recurrence, and 125 of these were
      enrolled in this study. We analyzed the relationships between overall survival
      after HCC recurrence and 20 variables at initial hepatectomy and recurrence.
      RESULTS: Recurrent HCC was treated by repeat hepatectomy (Re-Hr, n = 29),
      radiofrequency ablation (RFA, n = 58), or transarterial chemoembolization (TAE, n
      = 38). Complete tumor control (CTC) by Re-He and RFA was selected for 70% of
      patients. RFA-treated patients had more tumors, smaller tumors, and poorer liver
      function at recurrence than the Re-Hr group. The overall 1-, 3-, and 5-year post
      recurrence survival rates (SR) were 93.1, 66.8, 58.1%; 94.7, 75.1, 48.3%; and
      80.1, 22.5, 0%, respectively, in the Re-Hr, RFA, and TAE groups. The SR was
      better for Re-Hr and RFA than for TAE (p < 0.0001). Outcomes were similar in Re
      Hr and RFA, regardless of recurrent tumor size. Multivariate analysis identified
      Child-Pugh grade B, AFP >=100 ng/ml at recurrence, recurrent tumor size >=3 cm,
      tumor number >=3, and CTC as significant prognostic factors for overall post
      recurrence survival. A scoring system using 1 point for each patient-background
      factor provided a well-categorized predictive model. The overall 3-/5-year post
      recurrence SRs were 83.1/59.3%, 64.1/41.9%, 42.0/18.0%, and 13.6/0% at risk
      number (R) R0, R1, R2, and R3/4, respectively (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS:
      Significant prognostic factors for intrahepatic recurrent HCC are poor hepatic
      reserve, AFP, recurrent tumor size and number, and CTC. Selection of treatment
      modality for intrahepatic recurrence requires the clinician to be mindful of the
      predictive factors and to control tumors aggressively by adequate treatment,
      selected by balancing various conditions.

PMID- 20922388
TI  - Managing BRCA mutation carriers in China.

PMID- 20922389
TI  - Salvage treatment in metastatic breast cancer with weekly paclitaxel and
      bevacizumab.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Weekly paclitaxel (P) in combination with bevacizumab (B) is an
      effective regimen as initial treatment of metastatic breast cancer (MBC). We
      investigated in a phase II study the activity of the same regimen as salvage
      therapy in MBC. METHODS: Pretreated women with MBC received weekly P (90 mg/m(2)
      days 1, 8, 15) and B (10 mg/kg days 1, 15) every 28 days. B could continue after
      discontinuing P until disease progression. This was second-line chemotherapy for
      30% and third-line or more for 70% of patients. RESULTS: A total of 40 patients
      were enrolled. Median age: 61 (range 32-80) years; postmenopausal: 80%; baseline
      ECOG performance status <2 in 80% of patients. Two patients (5%) achieved
      complete response, 10 (25%) partial response (overall response rate 30%; 95% CI
      15.8-44.2), and 10 (25%) stable disease. The response rate was 28% for the
      patients who had previously received taxanes. After a median follow-up of 20.6
      months, the median time to progression was 4.8 months (95% CI 1.7-7.8), median
      survival 13.0 months (95% CI 10.3-15.7), and the probability of 1-year survival
      55.5%. Main grade 3-4 toxicities were neutropenia 42.5%, febrile neutropenia 5%,
      and asthenia 10%. There was one toxic death due to sepsis. CONCLUSION: The PB
      regimen is well tolerated and active as salvage therapy in pretreated women with
      MBC. It could be an effective option even for patients exposed to taxanes during
      prior treatments.

PMID- 20922390
TI  - Sandostatin desensitization--a strategy useful for patients with carcinoid
      tumors, intolerant to sandostatin.
AB  - Sandostatin immediate release (IR) is frequently used to treat patients with
      carcinoid tumors. However, some patients are unable to tolerate the immediate
      side effects of sandostatin IR leading to discontinuation of the drug. There is
      no literature available to guide the management of patients'
      sensitivity/intolerance to sandostatin IR. We report a 49-year-old male with
      carcinoid tumor who was intolerant to sandostatin IR initially but was able to
      tolerate the drug after we employed a desensitization strategy.

PMID- 20922391
TI  - MR enterography versus capsule endoscopy in paediatric patients with suspected
      Crohn's disease.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this prospective study was to compare the diagnostic yield
      of MR enterography (MRE) with small-bowel capsule endoscopy (SBCE) in paediatric
      patients with suspected Crohn's disease (CD). METHODS: Paediatric patients with
      suspected CD were considered eligible to be enrolled in the study. All patients
      underwent diagnostic work-up including 1.5-T MRE, ileo-colonoscopy and
      oesophagogastroduodenoscopy. SBCE was not performed if MRE showed SB stricture or
      extra-intestinal findings consistent with symptoms. RESULTS: Sixty consecutive
      paediatric patients (36 male; average age 14) were enrolled into the study. A
      positive diagnosis for CD was made in 19 patients, 29 had a negative result and
      12 were affected by other gastro-intestinal conditions. SBCE was performed in 37
      patients (61.7%); 23 patients were excluded (strictures in five, extra-intestinal
      findings in 11 and parents' refusal in seven cases). The accuracy, sensitivity,
      and specificity of MRE and SBCE were 98.3%, 100%, 97.6%, and 91.9%, 90.9%, 92.3%,
      respectively. CONCLUSION: Both MRE and SBCE are accurate methods for patients
      with suspected CD. MRE can be used as a primary imaging technique in suspected
      CD, in that it allows access to the ileal stricture, which forms a contra
      indication for SBCE and provides extra-intestinal information.

PMID- 20922392
TI  - Commercial software upgrades may significantly alter Perfusion CT parameter
      values in colorectal cancer.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine how commercial software platform upgrades impact on
      derived parameters for colorectal cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Following
      ethical approval, 30 patients with suspected colorectal cancer underwent
      Perfusion CT using integrated 64 detector PET/CT before surgery. Analysis was
      performed using software based on modified distributed parameter analysis
      (Perfusion software version 4; Perfusion 4.0), then repeated using the previous
      version (Perfusion software version 3; Perfusion 3.0). Tumour blood flow (BF),
      blood volume (BV), mean transit time (MTT) and permeability surface area product
      (PS) were determined for identical regions-of-interest. Slice-by-slice and 'whole
      tumour' variance was assessed by Bland-Altman analysis. RESULTS: Mean BF, BV and
      PS was 20.4%, 59.5%, and 106% higher, and MTT 14.3% shorter for Perfusion 4.0
      than Perfusion 3.0. The mean difference (95% limits of agreement) were +13.5 (
      44.9 to 72.0), +2.61 (-0.06 to 5.28), -1.23 (-6.83 to 4.36), and +14.2 (-4.43 to
      32.8) for BF, BV, MTT and PS respectively. Within subject coefficient of
      variation was 36.6%, 38.0%, 27.4% and 60.6% for BF, BV, MTT and PS respectively
      indicating moderate to poor agreement. CONCLUSION: Software version upgrades of
      the same software platform may result in significantly different parameter
      values, requiring adjustments for cross-version comparison.

PMID- 20922393
TI  - Transperitoneal in situ intraarterial cooling in laparoscopic partial
      nephrectomy.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Aiming the principles of open partial nephrectomy, warm ischemia
      time is the limiting factor especially in case of central or complex tumors in
      laparoscopy. We demonstrate a novel solely laparoscopic technique for in situ
      cold perfusion of kidneys with direct catheterization of the renal artery to
      increase the tolerance of renal parenchyma for ischemia. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      In two patients with hilus compromising tumors, renal artery was clamped; a small
      incision in the artery was used to place a 5Fr centrally open angiographic
      balloon catheter and blocked with 1 ml NaCl. The kidney was perfused with 4
      degrees C Ringer solution. After tumor excision, the kidney was subsequently
      reconstructed by mattress bolster sutures and fibrin glue. The arterial incision
      was closed by a 4/0 Prolene suture. RESULTS: Both patients had an uneventful
      follow-up without neither intraoperative nor postoperative complications. No
      intraoperative body temperature drop occurred. Cold ischemia time was 66 (men,
      65a) and 60 min (women, 43a), respectively. Hemoglobin drop was 4.1 and 1.9 g/dl;
      no transfusion was necessary. Preoperative and postoperative creatinine levels
      were 0.90 and 0.76 mg/dl, and 1.3 and 0.9 mg/dl, respectively. Patients were
      discharged on day 12 and day 8. Histology revealed clear cell RCC (pT1b pNx pMx
      G2 R0) in the first patient and oncocytoma in the second patient. Postoperative
      CT angiograpy demonstrated no sign of arterial insufficiency. DISCUSSION:
      Intraarterial renal cooling could expand the ischemia time and therefore the
      indication of laparoscopic partial nephrectomy in complex exposition.
      Furthermore, the identification of tumor borders and injured vessels is
      facilitated by the outflow of the cooling solution. Further investigations into
      this promising method could proof its feasibility in everyday clinical routine.

PMID- 20922394
TI  - Toothy craniopharyngioma: a literature review and case report of
      craniopharyngioma with extensive odontogenic differentiation and tooth formation.

PMID- 20922395
TI  - Impact of tethered cord release on symptoms of Chiari II malformation in children
      born with a myelomeningocele.
AB  - PURPOSE: The role of distal traction in the form of a tethered spinal cord in
      exacerbating anatomical findings or symptoms of Chiari II malformation (CIIM) has
      been debated for decades. Despite the association of Chiari II malformation with
      myelomeningocele, the impact of tethered cord release on CIIM symptoms in
      patients has not been explored. METHODS: A retrospective review of 59 patients
      born with a myelomeningocele was performed. A total of 92 untethering procedures
      were performed in which symptoms of CIIM were present in 29 cases. In 57 out of
      92 cases, the patients did not have symptoms of CIIM prior to untethering. Six
      cases were excluded because cervicomedullary decompression was performed prior to
      untethering. The response of CIIM symptoms, syrinx size, and cerebellar tonsil
      position were examined before and after spinal cord untethering. RESULTS: Forty
      four characteristic signs and symptoms of CIIM were present prior to 29
      untetherings. Thirty-three of 44 (75%) symptoms improved following spinal cord
      untethering, though no symptom resolved completely. Syrinx size and cerebellar
      tonsil position were unchanged following untethering. CONCLUSION: The authors
      conclude that mild to moderate symptoms of CIIM may respond positively to spinal
      cord untethering, potentially by normalization cerebrospinal fluid flow dynamics.
      Symptom improvement occurs despite the lack of radiographic evidence of CIIM
      resolution.

PMID- 20922396
TI  - Pediatric stroke: clinical characteristics, acute care utilization patterns, and
      mortality.
AB  - PURPOSE: Acute care utilization patterns are not well described but may help
      inform care coordination and treatment for pediatric stroke. The Kids Inpatient
      Database was queried to describe demographics and clinical characteristics of
      children with stroke, compare acute care utilization for hemorrhagic vs. ischemic
      stroke and Children's vs. non-Children's Hospitals, and identify factors
      associated with aggressive care and in-hospital mortality. METHODS: Using a
      retrospective cohort of children hospitalized with stroke, demographics,
      predisposing conditions, and intensive (mechanical ventilation, advanced
      monitoring, and blood product administration) or aggressive (pharmacological
      therapy and/or invasive interventions) care were compared by stroke and hospital
      types. Factors associated with aggressive care or in-hospital mortality were
      explored using logistic regression. RESULTS: Hemorrhagic stroke comprised 43% of
      stroke discharges, was more common in younger children, and carried greater
      mortality. Ischemic stroke was more common in older children and more frequently
      associated with a predisposing condition. Rates of intensive and aggressive care
      were low (30% and 15%), similar by stroke type, and greater at Children's
      Hospitals. Older age, hemorrhagic stroke, predisposing condition, and treatment
      at a Children's Hospital were associated with aggressive care. Hemorrhagic stroke
      and aggressive care were associated with in-hospital mortality. CONCLUSIONS:
      Acute care utilization is similar by stroke type but both intensive and
      aggressive care are more common at Children's Hospitals. Mortality remains
      relatively high after pediatric stroke. Widespread implementation of treatment
      guidelines improved outcomes in adult stroke. Adoption of recently published
      treatment recommendations for pediatric stroke may help standardize care and
      improve outcomes.

PMID- 20922398
TI  - Neuropathology in Parkinson's disease with mild cognitive impairment.

PMID- 20922397
TI  - Outcome of hepatoblastomas treated using the Japanese Study Group for Pediatric
      Liver Tumor (JPLT) protocol-2: report from the JPLT.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In the recent years, surgical resection with pre- and/or
      postoperative chemotherapy has markedly improved the survival rate of
      hepatoblastoma patients. We herein report the results of patients treated with
      the current protocol of the Japanese Study Group for Pediatric Liver Tumor, JPLT
      2. METHODS: A total of 279 patients with malignant liver tumor were enrolled in
      JPLT-2. Data from 212 hepatoblastoma cases were analyzed. PRETEXT I patients were
      treated with primary resection followed by low doses of cisplatin-pirarubicin
      (tetrahydropyranyl-adriamycin). Otherwise, patients received preoperative
      cisplatin-pirarubicin (CITA), followed by surgery and postoperative chemotherapy.
      Ifosfamide, pirarubicin, etoposide, and carboplatin (ITEC) were given as a
      salvage treatment. High-dose chemotherapy with hematopoietic stem cell
      transplantation (SCT) was reserved for patients with metastatic diseases.
      RESULTS: The 5-year overall survival rate (OS) in non-metastatic cases was 100%
      for PRETEXT I, 87.1% for PRETEXT II, 89.7% for PRETEXT III, and 78.3% for PRETEXT
      IV. The 5-year OS in metastatic cases was 43.9%. The outcome in non-metastatic
      PRETEXT IV cases was markedly improved, while the results of metastatic tumors
      remained poor. CONCLUSIONS: JPLT-2 protocol achieved satisfactory survival among
      children with non-metastatic hepatoblastoma. New approaches are needed for
      patients with metastatic diseases.

PMID- 20922399
TI  - Management and outcomes of adnexal torsion: a 5-year experience.
AB  - PURPOSE: To discuss the surgical results of patients with diagnosis of adnexal
      torsion. METHODS: One hundred and fifty patients with diagnosis of adnexal
      torsion who presented to our clinic between January 2005 and December 2009 were
      included in this retrospective analysis. Data regarding age, gravidity, parity,
      size of mass, operation time, and duration of hospitalization were recorded and
      compared between the patients who had laparoscopy to those who had laparotomy.
      The pathological results of patients were also recorded. RESULTS: Fifty-eight
      patients were treated laparoscopically while 92 patients had laparotomy. The most
      frequent presenting symptom was pelvic pain (96%). Laparoscopy group consisted of
      young patients with low parity; operation and hospital stay time was shorter in
      laparoscopy group. Velocity loss in Doppler ultrasonography was noted in 81.3% of
      the patients. Of the laparotomy group 35 postmenopausal patients had hysterectomy
      and bilateral salpingo-oopherectomy, and staging surgery was done for 16 of them.
      The pathological finding was found to be malignant in four and borderline serous
      tumor in four patients. CONCLUSION: Laparoscopy is preferred for young patients
      who want to preserve their fertility. Because of high risk of malignancy in
      postmenopausal ovarian masses presenting with torsion; frozen section should be
      used. If not possible or not conclusive, staging surgery is more appropriate
      especially if there is suspicion of malignancy.

PMID- 20922400
TI  - Secondary malignant fibrous histiocytoma of thigh with surface ulceration
      following radiotherapy for carcinoma cervix.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Radiotherapy is known to cause rarely various malignancies
      including leukemia, sarcoma, and thyroid and lung carcinoma. Post-radiation
      sarcomas account for 0.5-5.5% of all sarcomas; and include extra skeletal
      osteosarcoma, fibrosarcoma leiomyosarcoma, and malignant fibrous histiocytoma.
      Reports on post radiotherapy malignant fibrous histiocytoma in cervical cancer
      patients are rare. CASE REPORT: We present a case of 45-years-old female
      diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix stage IIB; she
      underwent a radical hysterectomy with pelvic lymphadenectomy and postoperative
      radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Five years later, she presented with ulcerated
      nodular masses in right and left medial aspect of thigh. Cytological and
      histological diagnosis of the masses was malignant fibrous histiocytoma which was
      further confirmed by immunohistochemistry. CONCLUSION: Post-irradiation sarcoma
      must be considered in patients of carcinoma cervix treated with radiotherapy,
      when soft tissue mass is seen in the previously irradiated area. It should be
      differentiated from metastasis from primary tumor with the help of appropriate
      markers as it has a grave prognosis.

PMID- 20922401
TI  - Perception of intimate pelvic examination by gynaecological clinic attendees in
      rural Southeast Nigeria.
AB  - CONTEXT: Intimate gynaecological examinations are part of the necessary retinue
      in gynaecological consultation and management. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate women's
      perception of digital and speculum vaginal examinations in rural Southeast
      Nigeria. METHODS: This was a prospective descriptive study. Gynaecologic clinic
      attendees in a Mission hospital in rural Nigeria were interviewed using a pre
      tested questionnaire over a 3-year period. RESULTS: Four hundred and eighty-six
      women with a mean age of 35.2 +/- 8.1 years were interviewed. They presented
      mainly for infertility (36.8%), menstrual abnormalities (31.1%) and early
      pregnancy complications (10.7%). Over a quarter of the women felt embarrassed at
      vaginal examination and 37.2% found it a bit painful or felt discomfort. In spite
      of the discomfort, 73.7% believed vaginal examination was necessary and over 95%
      indicated readiness to undergo such examination in future if necessary.
      CONCLUSION: Performing intimate gynaecological examination should be a carefully
      planned procedure with patient's consent, and performed conscientiously taking
      patient's feelings and emotions into consideration, to engender confidence.

PMID- 20922402
TI  - Endoscope assisted submandibular sialadenectomy: the face-lift approach.
AB  - This study evaluated the benefits of a new approach, endoscopic resection of a
      submandibular gland through the face-lift approach. The study comprised the
      clinical trial of new procedure. Six submandibular sialadenectomies were carried
      out (4 women, 2 men; mean age 28 years) via the face-lift approach by endoscopy.
      All six submandibular gland resections were successfully performed
      endoscopically, and no conversion to conventional open resection was necessary.
      Five patients had a mixed tumor and one patient had sialadenitis. The procedures
      lasted 55-115 min (mean 74 min). No complications associated with the operation
      occurred, and the scar was almost invisible. Endoscope assisted submandibular
      sialadenectomy via the face-lift approach was safe and effective treatment of
      benign lesions. The main advantage of this procedure is that the operative scar
      is concealed by the hairline.

PMID- 20922404
TI  - Usefulness of triglyceride levels in pleural fluid.
AB  - The determination of pleural fluid triglycerides (PF-TRIG) is useful in the
      diagnosis of chylothorax, but its diagnostic value for other causes of pleural
      effusions is unknown. The aim of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of PF
      TRIG in the diagnosis of other pleural effusions and investigate the origin of
      their increase in these fluids. We studied 390 pleural effusions (75 tuberculous,
      107 neoplastic, 39 parapneumonic, 30 miscellaneous, 42 idiopathic, and 97
      transudates). The correlation was analyzed with the PF-TRIG values as the
      dependent variable and serum triglycerides (S-TRIG) and the pleural fluid/serum
      protein ratio (PF/S PROT ratio) as independent variables. The PF-TRIG was
      significantly higher in exudates. The sensitivity of PF-TRIG for identifying
      exudates was 84.3%, specificity 61.9%. The correlation between PF-TRIG and S-TRIG
      was significant in the exudates and in the total pleural effusions. There was a
      significant correlation between PF-TRIG and S-TRIG and capillary permeability,
      which worsened when looking at the transudates and exudates separately. No
      correlations were found between the PF-TRIG and the number of red cells and white
      cells in any of the groups. Except for diagnosing a chylothorax, the
      determination of triglycerides in pleural fluid does not appear to be justified.
      The cause of the increase in PF-TRIG in exudates could not be established because
      the correlations obtained were insufficient to be able to predict PF-TRIG values
      from their serum values and the measurement of capillary permeability.

PMID- 20922405
TI  - A multicenter study of the predictors of adherence to self-injected glatiramer
      acetate for treatment of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis.
AB  - Treatment with disease-modifying immunomodulators is recommended for patients
      with relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS). However, continuous adherence to treatment
      with these injected therapies can be challenging. The main objective was to
      examine the predictors of adherence to glatiramer acetate using a study model
      derived from Prochaska's transtheoretical model of change. We conducted a 12
      week, prospective, observational study. Potential predictors included readiness
      stage, MS self-efficacy, decisional balance (pros and cons of self-injection),
      and injection competence. Adults with RRMS, either treatment-naive (TN) or
      treatment-experienced (TE), taking glatiramer acetate for the first time were
      studied. Interventions (including injection training) were implemented to promote
      adherence. The evaluable population included 146 TN patients and 88 TE patients
      who had previously discontinued beta-interferons. Adherence rates did not differ
      between TN and TE groups (86% for both at week 12); however, predictors of
      adherence did. For TN patients, greater functional self-efficacy, higher self
      injection competence at baseline, and improvement in self-injection competence
      over the first month of therapy predicted adherence. For TE patients, lower body
      mass index and longer duration of MS predicted adherence. Interventions to
      improve self-efficacy and self-injection competence should be a priority when
      treating TN patients. Behavioral predictors of adherence in TE patients warrant
      further study.

PMID- 20922406
TI  - A novel primary KIT exon 9 single nucleotide substitution c.1427G>T (p.Ser476Ile)
      in a gastrointestinal stromal tumor.

PMID- 20922407
TI  - Glucagon expression in cystic pancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms: an
      immunohistochemical analysis.
AB  - Pancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms (P-NENs) are usually solid and only rarely
      cystic. Glucagon expression and the association with multiple endocrine neoplasia
      type 1 (MEN1) seem to be common in cystic P-NENs. In this study, we analyzed 404
      P-NENs to gain information about the relative frequency of grossly cystic P-NENs
      and their association with glucagon production by the tumor cells. Three hundred
      forty-six solitary P-NENs and 58 P-NENs (>1 cm in diameter) from 35 patients with
      an MEN1 syndrome were studied. Immunostaining was performed for the four
      pancreatic hormones; 5.5% (19/346) of the sporadic P-NENs showed unilocular or
      multilocular cystic changes that were macroscopically detectable. Sixty-three
      percent of the solitary cystic P-NENs (versus 7% of the solitary non-cystic P
      NENs) expressed predominantly glucagon. In MEN1-associated P-NENs, the relative
      frequency of cystic tumors was 10.3%, and all of them expressed glucagon. None of
      the glucagon-positive cystic P-NENs were associated with a glucagonoma syndrome.
      Solitary non-MEN1-associated and MEN1-associated cystic P-NENs are predominantly
      non-syndromic glucagon-expressing tumors. However, cystic insulinomas may also
      occur. Cyst formation seems to be related to hormone production.

PMID- 20922408
TI  - Nasal seromucinous hamartoma (microglandular adenosis of the nose): a
      morphological and molecular study of five cases.
AB  - Five cases of nasal seromucinous hamartoma were studied and their clinical,
      morphological, immunohistochemical and molecular data are reported. The patients,
      three females and two males, ranged in age from 49 to 66 years (mean 56 year, SD
      +/- 7.91). All lesions were located in the nasal cavity. In four cases where
      follow-up was obtained, no recurrence was evident. In all cases, numerous small
      seromucinous tubules, embedded in a cellular stroma, were present in the lamina
      propria. Tubules were lined by one layer of cuboidal cells which displayed
      luminal phenotype positive for lysozyme and EMA in four, and S100 protein in all
      cases. Collagen IV and laminin positive basal lamina outlined the tubules which
      lacked basal cells. Stromal spindle cells present among tubules were
      immunoreactive for calponin in all cases and for alpha-smooth muscle actin in
      four cases. DNA mutation analysis of mitochondrial D-loop region was performed by
      direct sequencing in order to verify the mutation rate of these lesions. The
      tubules of the five seromucinous hamartomas showed a higher mutation rate
      especially in heteroplasmy (0.52% homoplasmy, 2.02% heteroplasmy) in comparison
      to normal seromucinous glands which exhibited a lower mutation frequency (0.83%).
      This is considered a sign of a low cellular proliferation rate consistent with a
      benign process. It is concluded that nasal seromucinous hamartomas are benign
      glandular proliferations that may resemble microglandular adenosis of the breast.
      Their distinction from benign and malignant mimics is discussed.

PMID- 20922409
TI  - A moulage museum is not just a museum : Wax models as teaching instruments.
AB  - The technique of making moulages (wax models) for the teaching of anatomy was
      introduced in Florence from the late 1600s. Studying the moulages was a much more
      pleasant way of learning anatomy than the alternative of dissecting dead bodies,
      when the tissues were undergoing postmortem decay. The technique spread to other
      medical schools in Europe as well as to England, Russia, North and South America,
      and Japan. The introduction of photography in the late 1800s made the moulageurs
      redundant. However, all of these countries now have historical museums that
      exhibit the specimens that remain from this period. A few moulageurs did continue
      to make specimens, mainly of dermatological conditions, right into the late
      1900s. In 2005, the University of Zurich opened a new museum to showcase some
      such moulages made by local artists.

PMID- 20922410
TI  - Warfarin embryopathy: fetal manifestations.
AB  - During the period 1991-2007, autopsy was undertaken in 13 fetuses with warfarin
      embryopathy. Pregnancy data and radiographic babygrams were available in each
      instance. Gestational age ranged from 17 to 37 weeks. Eleven of the fetuses had
      the characteristic nasal hypoplasia, but only three had radiological epiphyseal
      stippling. Cerebral hemorrhage was a major feature of autopsy in 8 of the
      fetuses, and it is evident that bleeding is a significant factor in the
      pathogenesis of warfarin embryopathy. A wide variety of additional visceral
      manifestations which were observed at autopsy have been tabulated. There was no
      obvious correlation between maternal or gestational age and the presence and
      severity of any specific embryopathic feature. No information was available
      concerning the dose and timing of warfarin administration in this series.

PMID- 20922411
TI  - Protein change of intestinal epithelial cells induced in vitro by Trichinella
      spiralis infective larvae.
AB  - The aim of this study was to observe the protein changes of intestinal epithelial
      cells induced in vitro by Trichinella spiralis infective larvae and their
      excretory-secretory (ES) or surface antigens and identity the proteins related
      with invasion. HCT-8 cells were incubated for 2 h in the culture medium contained
      ES or surface antigens of infective larvae, and observed by Immunofluorescent
      test (IFT). The infective larvae were inoculated into culture of HCT-8 cells to
      incubate for 18 h, and the lysates of HCT-8 cells were analyzed by SDS-PAGE and
      Western blot. IFA showed that normal HCT-8 cells had positively reactions with
      sera of the infected mice and mice immunized with ES or surface antigens.
      However, after incubating with ES or surface antigens, HCT-8 cells had stronger
      positively reaction with the above sera. On Western blot, after cultured with
      infective larvae, additional seven protein bands (66, 61, 57, 45, 34, 21, and 17
      kDa) of HCT-8 cells were recognized by sera of the infected or immunized mice,
      but three protein bands (48, 43, and 23 kDa) of HCT-8 cells were not recognized
      by the above sera, compared with normal HCT-8 cells. Our results showed that
      after cultured with infective larvae the protein components of HCT-8 cell
      changed, suggesting that additional seven proteins recognized by sera of the
      infected or immunized mice may be related with invasion of intestinal epithelial
      cells by infective larvae, these proteins might mediate or facilitate entry into
      the cells, while the three proteins not recognized by the above sera may be the
      specific mediators released from the cells which permit invasion.

PMID- 20922412
TI  - Larvicidal activity of metabolites from the endophytic Podospora sp. against the
      malaria vector Anopheles gambiae.
AB  - In a screening for natural products with mosquito larvicidal activities, the
      endophytic fungus Podospora sp. isolated from the plant Laggera alata
      (Asteraceae) was conspicuous. Two xanthones, sterigmatocystin (1) and
      secosterigmatocystin (2), and an anthraquinone derivative (3) 13
      hydroxyversicolorin B were isolated after fermentation on M(2) medium. These
      compounds were characterised using spectroscopic and X-ray analysis and examined
      against third instar larvae of Anopheles gambiae. The results demonstrated that
      compound 1 was the most potent one with LC(50) and LC(90) values of 13.3 and 73.5
      ppm, respectively. Over 95% mortality was observed at a concentration 100 ppm
      after 24 h. These results compared farvorably with the commercial larvicide
      pylarvex(r) that showed 100% mortality at the same concentration. Compound 3 was
      less potent and had an LC(50) of 294.5 ppm and over 95% mortality was achieved at
      a concentration of 1,000 ppm. Secosterigmatocystin (2) revealed relatively weak
      activity and therefore LC values were not determined.

PMID- 20922413
TI  - Association of Blastocystis hominis genetic subtypes with urticaria.
AB  - Although intestinal parasites are a possible cause of skin disorders, there are
      few case reports concerning the role of Blastocystis hominis in urticaria. To
      clarify this association, we determined the frequency of B. hominis genetic
      subtype in urticarial patients by stool culture and polymerase chain reaction
      (PCR) and evaluated the clinical and parasitological recovery of urticarial
      patients after treatment with metronidazole. Of 54 urticarial patients (group I),
      18 (33.3%) were diagnosed as acute urticaria (group IA) and 36 (66.7%) were
      diagnosed as chronic (group IB). Thirty-three (61.1%) out of 54 urticarial (group
      I) patients were Blastocystis positive by stool culture and PCR. Out of these 33
      patients, 21 were symptomatic and 12 were asymptomatic. The amoeboid form was
      found in 20 (95.2%) out of 21 symptomatic Blastocystis urticarial patients
      assuring their pathogenic potential. Of 50 normal control group (group II), four
      (8%) Blastocystis isolates were found with no amoeboid form. B. hominis subtype 3
      was the only detected genotype in both groups. Of 20 symptomatic Blastocystis
      urticarial patients, 12 (60%) patients recovered symptomatically and
      parasitologically after one course of metronidazole. Recovery reached 100% on
      repeating the treatment for a second course with disappearance of the amoeboid
      form. It was concluded that acute urticaria of unknown etiology and chronic
      idiopathic urticaria patients who are resistant to the ordinary regimen of
      urticaria treatment might be examined for infection with B. hominis, in order to
      prescribe the proper specific anti-protozoan treatment.

PMID- 20922414
TI  - Morphological alterations and growth inhibition of Leishmania (L.)amazonensis
      promastigotes exposed to zidovudine (AZT).
AB  - Leishmania parasites cause a worldwide public health disease and its treatment is
      still based on pentavalent antimonials which present financial and toxicologic
      limitations. Some nucleosidic derivatives have demonstrated anti-leishmanial
      properties and this study aims to evaluate the in vitro morphologic alterations
      and growth inhibition of Leishmania (L.) amazonensis promastigotes exposed to
      zidovudine at several concentrations. The citotoxicity of zidovudine (AZT) to
      macrophages was determined by an MTT assay. After which the promastigotes were
      exposed to concentrations of AZT, ranging from 1 to 50 MUM. The evaluation of
      survival and morphometry alterations were performed in two distinct phases of in
      vitro growth, on the third and sixth days, representing the logarithmic and
      stationary phases, respectively. Slides with the promastigotes were photographed
      and analyzed using Image J. A significant reduction of parasite number in the
      logarithmic phase of in vitro growth was observed when the parasites were
      submitted to 20, 30, 40, and 50 MUM of AZT. Morphometric alterations were
      observed such as an increase in width of the body, cytoplasmic granulations and
      vacuolizations. These data indicate the toxicity of AZT which prevents the
      parasite's multiplication, indicating a promising use of AZT as an anti
      leishmania drug.

PMID- 20922415
TI  - Clinical efficacy of Saccharomyces boulardii or metronidazole in symptomatic
      children with Blastocystis hominis infection.
AB  - Although many Blastocystis infections remain asymptomatic, recent data suggest it
      also causes frequent symptoms. Therapy should be limited to patients with
      persistent symptoms and a complete workup for alternative etiologies. The goal of
      this study was to compare the natural evolution (no treatment) to the efficacy of
      Saccharomyces boulardii (S. boulardii) or metronidazole for the duration of
      diarrhea and the duration of colonization in children with gastrointestinal
      symptoms and positive stool examination for Blastocystis hominis. This randomized
      single-blinded clinical trial included children presenting with gastrointestinal
      symptoms (abdominal pain, diarrhea, nausea-vomiting, flatulence) more than 2
      weeks and confirmed B. hominis by stool examination (B. hominis cysts in the
      stool with microscopic examination of the fresh stool). The primary end points
      were clinical evaluation and result of microscopic stool examination at day 15.
      Secondary end points were the same end points at day 30. Randomization was
      performed by alternating inclusion: group A, S. boulardii (250 mg twice a day,
      Reflor(r)) during 10 days; group B, metronidazole (30 mg/kg twice daily) for 10
      days; group C, no treatment. At day 15 and 30 after inclusion, the patients were
      re-evaluated, and stool samples were examined microscopically. On day 15,
      children that were still symptomatic and/or were still B. hominis-infected in
      group C were treated with metronidazole for 10 days. There was no statistically
      significant difference between the three study groups for age, gender, and the
      presence of diarrhea and abdominal pain. On day 15, clinical cure was observed in
      77.7% in group A (n, 18); in 66.6% in group B (n, 15); and 40% in group C (n:15)
      (p < 0.031, between groups A and C). Disappearance of the cysts from the stools
      on day 15 was 80% in group B, 72.2% in group A, and 26.6% in group C (p = 0.011,
      between group B and group C; p = 0.013, between group A and group C). At the end
      of the first month after inclusion, clinical cure rate was 94.4% in group A and
      73.3% in group B (p = 0.11). Parasitological cure rate for B. hominis was very
      comparable between both groups (94.4% vs. 93.3%, p = 0.43). Metronidazole or S.
      boulardii has potential beneficial effects in B. hominis infection (symptoms,
      presence of parasites). These findings challenge the actual guidelines.

PMID- 20922416
TI  - Elimination of Angiostrongylus costaricensis larvae in feces from experimentally
      infected Swiss mice: circadian rhythm and correlation with survival.
AB  - Angiostrongylus costaricensis is a nematode which harbors mesentery arteries of
      rodents. In these animals, a circadian rhythm of elimination of first-stage
      larvae (L1) and a relation between the amount of L1 in feces and survival are
      unknown. We assessed fecal elimination of A. costaricensis L1 from experimentally
      infected Swiss mice and tried to correlate L1 elimination with survival. Thirteen
      Swiss mice were infected by gavage with ten A. costaricensis L3 larvae obtained
      from Phyllocaulis slugs. Feces were weighed at 7 A.M: . and 7 P.M: . starting
      from the 24th day post-infection until animal death. Feces sediment was examined
      in microscope for L1 counting. The mice were dead after a period ranging 19-61
      days post-infection. Compared to diurnal samples, both feces' weight (2.3 +/- 0.7
      vs. 1.8 +/- 0.5 g; P < 0.0001) and L1 total count [median 1,950 vs. 1,250; P =
      0.015] were higher in feces eliminated at night. No difference was observed
      between diurnal and nocturnal elimination when counting L1 by gram of feces (725
      vs. 650 L1/g; P = 0.821). A significant correlation was observed between survival
      and total number of L1 in feces (r = 0.84; P = 0.0007). This study suggests that
      mice experimentally infected with A. costaricensis eliminate more L1 at night due
      to higher fecal volume at this period. The correlation between number of L1 in
      feces and survival suggests a phenomenon of tolerance to A. costaricensis
      infection in mice with longer survival.

PMID- 20922417
TI  - Cutaneus myxosporidiasis in the Australian green tree frog (Litoria caerulea).
AB  - This case is reported with the intention of highlighting the presentation of
      cutaneous myxosporidiasis in Australian tree frog (Litoria caerulea) caused by
      genus Myxobolus. The morphology and morphometric characteristic of the spores
      were determined using light microscopy and differential interference contrast
      microscopy. Spores were pyriform in shape in frontal view and oval in lateral
      view, and the average size was respectively 11.4 * 6.0 * 4.5 MUm (12.1 - 9.5 *
      6.3 - 5.4 * 5.0 - 4.1 MUm). To the best of our knowledge, this is the second case
      of skin invasion caused by myxosporeans in amphibians.

PMID- 20922418
TI  - Sequence analysis of cox1 and nad1 genes in Echinococcus granulosus G3 genotype
      in camels (Camelus dromedarius) from central Iran.
AB  - Nineteen hydatid cyst isolates collected from camels in central Iran were
      subjected to sequences analysis of mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1
      (cox1) and NADH dehydrogenase subunit 1 (nad1) genes. A consensus sequence
      obtained containing 366 nucleotides for cox1 and 471 nucleotides for nad1 genes.
      Overall, the camel isolates indicated five different sequences in cox1 and nine
      in nad1 genes. The sequences analysis indicated that 26.3%, 42.1%, and 31.6% of
      isolates belonging to G1, G3, and G6 genotypes of Echinococcus granulosus,
      respectively. The isolates with G3 genotype indicated one cox1 sequence having
      100% homology with reference G3 sequence (AN: M84663) and two different nad1
      sequences, one having 100% homology with reference G3 sequence (AN: AJ237634) and
      the other with a silent mutation (G to A) in position 279. The presence of G3
      genotype (buffalo strain) of E. granulosus as dominant genotype in camels is
      emphasized. As G3 genotype has formerly been reported in human, the
      epidemiological role of camels is warranted in future surveys.

PMID- 20922419
TI  - Evaluation of medicinal plant extracts against ticks and fluke.
AB  - The present study was based on assessments of the antiparasitic activities to
      determine the efficacies of leaf hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate, acetone and
      methanol extracts of Aegle marmelos (Linn.) Correa ex Roxb, Andrographis lineata
      Wallich ex Nees., Andrographis paniculata (Burm.f.) Wallich ex Nees., Cocculus
      hirsutus (L.) Diels, Eclipta prostrata L., and Tagetes erecta L. against the
      adult cattle tick Haemaphysalis bispinosa Neumann 1897 (Acarina: Ixodidae), the
      larvae of Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus Canestrini 1887 (Acari: Ixodidae)
      and sheep fluke Paramphistomum cervi Zeder 1790 (Digenea: Paramphistomatidae).
      All plant extracts showed moderate toxic effect on parasites after 24 h of
      exposure; however, the highest parasitic activity was found in leaf ethyl acetate
      extract of A. lineata, methanol extract of A. marmelos, A. paniculata, and C.
      hirsutus against H. bispinosa (LC(50) = 395.27, 358.45, 327.21 and 420.50 ppm);
      ethyl acetate extract of A. paniculata, C. hirsutus, methanol extracts of A.
      marmelos, A. lineata, and E. prostrata against the larvae of R. microplus (LC(50)
      = 207.70, 258.61, 134.09, 206.00, and 274.33 ppm); hexane extract of A. lineata,
      ethyl acetate extract of A. paniculata, E. prostrata, acetone extracts of T.
      erecta, methanol extracts of A. marmelos and C. hirsutus against P. cervi (LC(50)
      = 254.23, 451.17, 425.73, 253.60, 542.71, and 360.17 ppm), respectively. The
      present study is the first report on the veterinary parasitic activity of plant
      extracts from Southern India.

PMID- 20922420
TI  - Structure of capsule surrounding acanthocephalans Corynosoma strumosum in
      paratenic hosts of three species.
AB  - Morphology of capsules surrounding acanthocephalan Corynosoma strumosum in
      paratenic hosts (sea fishes of three species from the northern part of the Sea of
      Okhotsk) was studied. A thick layer of glycocalyx is formed on the surface of
      acanthocephalan's tegument in smelts Osmerus mordax dentex and Hypomesus olidus;
      the surrounding capsule is formed by fibroblasts and collagen fibers and do not
      include inflammatory cells. Besides fibroblasts, capsule of the sole Limanda
      aspera consists also of macrophages, granulocytes, "dark" cells, and once of
      erythrocytes that indicate obvious inflammatory response of the host's organism
      to invasion; glycocalyx on the surface of acanthocephalans from the sole is
      weakly developed. The obtained results allow considering the smelts as the most
      suitable paratenic hosts and the yellow-finned sole as unsuitable paratenic host
      for the studied acanthocephalans.

PMID- 20922421
TI  - Entamoeba histolytica calreticulin: an endoplasmic reticulum protein expressed by
      trophozoites into experimentally induced amoebic liver abscesses.
AB  - Entamoeba histolytica calreticulin (EhCRT) is remarkably immunogenic in humans
      (90-100% of invasive amoebiasis patients). Nevertheless, the study of
      calreticulin in this protozoan is still in its early stages. The exact location,
      biological functions, and its role in pathogenesis are yet to be fully
      understood. The aim of the present work is to determine the location of EhCRT in
      virulent trophozoites in vivo and the expression of the Ehcrt gene during the
      development of experimentally induced amoebic liver abscesses (ALA) in hamsters.
      Antibodies against recombinant EhCRT were used for the immunolocalization of
      EhCRT in trophozoites through confocal microscopy; immunohistochemical assays
      were also performed on tissue sections of ALAs at different times after
      intrahepatic inoculation. The expression of the Ehcrt gene during the development
      of ALA was estimated through both in situ RT-PCR and real-time RT-PCR. Confocal
      assays of virulent trophozoites showed a distribution of EhCRT in the cytoplasmic
      vesicles of different sizes. Apparently, EhCRT is not exported into the hepatic
      tissue. Real-time RT-PCR demonstrated an over-expression of the Ehcrt gene at 30
      min after trophozoite inoculation, reaching a peak at 1-2 h; thereafter, the
      expression fell sharply to its original levels. These results demonstrate for the
      first time in an in vivo model of ALA, the expression of Ehcrt gene in E.
      histolytica trophozoites and add evidence that support CRT as a resident protein
      of the ER in E. histolytica species. The in vivo experiments suggest that CRT may
      play an important role during the early stages of the host-parasite relationship,
      when the parasite is adapting to a new environment, although the protein seems to
      be constitutively synthesized. Moreover, trophozoites apparently do not export
      EhCRT into the hepatic tissue in ALA.

PMID- 20922422
TI  - Schistosoma japonicum-infected hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus) used as a model in
      experimental chemotherapy with praziquantel, artemether, and OZ compounds.
AB  - The purpose of the study is to better understand the antischistosomal properties
      of artemether, praziquantel, and ozonide (OZ) compounds (synthetic trioxolanes,
      secondary ozonides) in hamster (Mesocricetus auratus) model. A total of 230 male
      hamsters infected each with 100 Schistosoma japonicum cercariae were used in the
      study. Groups of five to ten hamsters were treated orally with artemether,
      praziquantel, and OZ78 or OZ277 7-35 days post-infection at single doses of 50,
      100, 150, or 200 mg/kg. Untreated but infected hamsters in each batch of test
      served as the control. All treated hamsters were sacrificed 4 weeks post
      treatment for collection of residual worms using perfusion technique.
      Nonparametric method (Mann-Whitney test) was used to analyze the data. In groups
      of five hamsters treated with artemether 7, 14, 21, 28, and 35 days post
      infection at single doses of 150 and 200 mg/kg, the difference of mean worm
      burden between each treated group and control group was statistically significant
      (P<0.01). Apart from individual group, no difference in mean worm burden between
      each two groups of them was seen (P>0.05). Further test with various single doses
      of 50-200 mg/kg confirmed the similar susceptibility of 7-day-old juvenile and 35
      day-old adult schistosomes to artemether. After administration of praziquantel
      100 mg/kg to groups of five hamsters 7, 21, and 35 days post-infection, higher
      worm burden reduction of 95.5% was seen in the group with 35-day-old adult
      schistosomes while in the groups with 7- and 21-day-old juvenile schistosomes,
      poor efficacy was seen with mean worm burden reductions of 36.6% and 35.6%. In
      the same batch of hamster treated with praziquantel 200 mg/kg, the moderate
      effect of the drug against 7- and 21-day-old worms was seen, but their mean worm
      burden was significantly higher than that of the group with adult schistosomes.
      In comparison of artemether and praziquantel against various stages of
      schistosomes, the results further demonstrated that artemether possessed similar
      effect against juvenile and adult schistosomes in hamsters, while praziquantel
      was more effective against adult schistosomes than the juvenile ones in the same
      host. Finally, after administration of OZ78 and OZ277 to the groups of four to
      six hamsters with 14- and 35-day-old schistosomes at a single dose of 200 mg/kg,
      promising effect against juvenile and adult schistosome was observed with the
      mean worm burden and female worm burden reductions of 69.6-94.2% and 64.2-100% as
      well as 73.3-80.7% and 68.3-81.1%, respectively. The results indicate that in
      hamster model, praziquantel exhibits higher effect against adult schistosomes
      than the juvenile ones, while artemether and OZ compound display similar effect
      against both juvenile and adult schistosomes.

PMID- 20922423
TI  - Comparison of protein-free defined media, and effect of L-cysteine and ascorbic
      acid supplementation on viability of axenic Entamoeba histolytica.
AB  - Entamoeba histolytica is the etiologic agent for amoebiasis. The excretory
      secretory (ES) products of the trophozoites contain virulence factors and
      antigens useful for diagnostic applications. Contaminants from serum supplements
      and dead trophozoites impede analysis of ES. Therefore, a protein-free medium
      that can sustain maximum viability of E. histolytica trophozoites for the longest
      time duration will enable collection of contaminant-free and higher yield of ES
      products. In the present study, we compared the efficacy of four types of media
      in maintaining >= 95% trophozoite viability namely Roswell Memorial Park
      Institute (RPMI-1640), Dulbecco's Modified Eagle Medium (DMEM), phosphate
      buffered saline for amoeba (PBS-A), and Hank's balanced salt solution (HBSS).
      Concurrently, the effect of adding L: -cysteine and ascorbic acid (C&A) to each
      medium on the parasite viability was also compared. DMEM and RPMI 1640 showed
      higher viabilities as compared to PBS-A and HBSS. Only RPMI 1640 showed no
      statistical difference with the control medium for the first 4 h, however the >=
      95% viability was only maintained for the first 2 h. The other protein-free media
      showed differences from the serum- and vitamin-free TYI-S-33 control media even
      after 1 h of incubation. When supplemented with C&A, all media were found to
      sustain higher trophozoite viabilities than those without the supplements. HBSS
      C&A, DMEM-C&A, and RPMI 1640-C&A demonstrated no difference (P>0.05) in parasite
      viabilities when compared with the control medium throughout the 8-h incubation
      period. DMEM-C&A showed an eightfold increment in time duration of sustaining >=
      95% parasite viability, i.e. 8 h, as compared to DMEM alone. Both RPMI 1640-C&A
      and HBSS-C&A revealed fourfold and threefold increments (i.e., 8 and 6 h,
      respectively), whereas PBS-A-C&A showed only one fold improvement (i.e., 2 h) as
      compared to the respective media without C&A. Thus, C&A-supplemented DMEM or RPMI
      are recommended for collection of ES products.

PMID- 20922424
TI  - prag01, a novel deltamethrin-resistance-associated gene from Culex pipiens
      pallens.
AB  - The prag01 gene (GenBank accession no. EU073017) was cloned from Culex pipiens
      pallens. An open reading frame of 270 bp was found to encode a putative 89-amino
      acid protein which has the highest homology with Culex quinquefasciatus and
      Anopheles funestus. Real-time quantitative PCR analysis demonstrated that the
      transcription level of prag01 gene in deltamethrin-resistant strain was 1.65-fold
      higher than in deltamethrin-susceptible strain of C. pipiens pallens.
      Overexpression of prag01 gene in the mosquito C6/36 cells showed better
      prolification than the cells with empty vector when treated by deltamethrin. Our
      data for the first time approved that prag01 gene might play some role in the
      development of deltamethrin resistance in C. pipiens pallens.

PMID- 20922425
TI  - Effect of mefloquine administered orally at single, multiple, or combined with
      artemether, artesunate, or praziquantel in treatment of mice infected with
      Schistosoma japonicum.
AB  - The purpose of the study is to explore the efficacy of mefloquine administered
      orally at single, multiple doses, or in combination with artesuante, artemether,
      or praziquantel in mouse--Schistosoma japonicum model. A total of 205 mice were
      divided into 4 batches and each batch of mice was infected percutaneously with 40
      S. japonicum cercariae for 35 days. The infected mice were treated orally with
      mefloquine at single doses, multiple daily doses, or combined with artesunate,
      artemether, or praziquantel, while infected but untreated mice served as control.
      All treated animals were killed 4 weeks post-treatment for assessment of effect.
      When infected mice were treated orally with mefloquine at single or multiple
      daily doses under the same total dose levels, the tendency to decrease the
      efficacy was seen. Particularly, when a lower single dose of 100 mg/kg was
      divided equally into five daily doses of 20 mg/kg, the efficacy decreased
      statistically significant (P<0.05), i.e., the total worm and female worm
      reductions of 67.9% and 73.4% decreased to 31.3% and 30.3%, respectively. In
      infected mice treated with mefloquine or artesuante at a single dose of 100
      mg/kg, a moderate effect against schistosomes was observed. No further
      significant reduction of total and female worm burdens was seen, when the two
      drugs combined together at the same dose level. On the other hand, administration
      of mefloquine combined with artesunate at single dose of 50 mg/kg, which
      exhibited no effect against schistosomes, resulted in significant reduction of
      total and female worm burdens in comparison with the groups treated with
      mefloquine and artesunate alone at the same dose level. Similar results were
      observed in treatment of infected mice with mefloquine in combination with
      artemether at the smaller dose of 50 mg/kg. The total worm burden was
      significantly lower than that of control and the female worm burden was also
      significant lower than that of groups treated with mefloquine and artemether
      alone. Interestingly, in administration of mefloquine 100 mg/kg combined with
      artemether 100 mg/kg to the infected mice, all female worms were killed and the
      total worm burden was also statistically significant lower than that of groups
      treated with either drug alone. Finally, when infected mice were treated with
      mefloquine combined with prazqiuatel at single dose of 50 mg/kg, no apparent
      improvement in efficacy was seen. Administration of mefloquine 100 mg/kg combined
      with praziquantel 100 mg/kg, only the difference of female worm burdens between
      praziquantel group and combined treatment group was statistically significant.
      The results indicate that under the same dose level of mefloquine, the efficacy
      of single dose is superior to that of multiple daily doses; mefloquine combined
      with artesunate or artemether at an invalid or moderate effective dose may show
      synergistic effect, especially the effect against female worms; no prominent
      synergistic effect is observed, when the similar dose level of mefloquine in
      combination with praziquantel.

PMID- 20922426
TI  - Up-regulation of lipophorin (Lp) and lipophorin receptor (LpR) gene in the
      mosquito, Culex quinquefasciatus (Diptera: Culicidae), infected with the filarial
      parasite, Wuchereria bancrofti (Spirurida: Onchocercidae).
AB  - In mosquitoes, including Culex quinquefasciatus, immune molecules are known to be
      upregulated or produced de novo upon exposure to parasites or pathogens. These
      molecules are regulatory in nature acting against parasite or pathogen infection
      and development. Similarly, there are molecules that are upregulated to
      facilitate parasite development in the vector mosquitoes. Lipophorin, a major
      lipid transporting lipoprotein in the hemolymph of insects, is implicated as a
      helper molecule in the clotting mechanism and facilitator of parasite and
      pathogen development in mosquitoes. In the present study, upregulation of a 240
      kDa protein was detected in C. quinquefasciatus infected with the human lymphatic
      filarial parasite, Wuchereria bancrofti. It was identified as a lipophorin
      through nano-Lc-MS/MS analysis. Transcription of the lipophorin receptor gene
      also was identified through RACE-PCR. C. quinquefasciatus is the vector of W.
      bancrofti, and it allows successful development of the parasite. The role of
      upregulated lipophorin and transcription of its receptor gene in this mosquito
      could be implicated as a facilitator for the parasite development.

PMID- 20922427
TI  - Comparative analysis of the diagnostic performance of crude sheep hydatid cyst
      fluid, purified antigen B and its subunit (12 Kda), assessed by ELISA, in the
      diagnosis of human cystic echinococcosis.
AB  - The diagnosis of patients with cystic echinococcosis (CE) by means of serology
      has a limited support in clinical practice due to cross-reactivity with other
      helminthes leading to overestimation of the parasite's true prevalence. A wealth
      of reports on the diagnostic performance of antigen B (AgB) has been produced.
      This study was designed to comparatively assess the diagnostic efficacy of crude
      sheep hydatid cyst fluid (HCF), AgB and its subunit (12 KDa) to detect IgG or
      IgG4 antibodies in CE patients' sera using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay
      (ELISA).The best diagnostic performance was obtained with anti-HCF IgG ELISA
      which gave 92.4% sensitivity and 92.6% specificity. Despite the low sensitivity
      of anti AgB IgG ELISA (84%), it gave the best specificity (94.4%) with less cross
      reaction with sera of subjects infected with other parasites. In conclusion, it
      is recommended to use anti-HCF IgG ELISA for initial screening in large
      seroprevalence studies. Further analysis of positive serum samples with anti AgB
      IgG ELISA would allow the confirmation of true positives. Specific IgG4 ELISA may
      represent a complementary assay, useful as secondary confirmatory tests for
      patients with suspected CE and negative for total IgG ELISA.

PMID- 20922428
TI  - Antileishmanial activity of imidothiocarbamates and imidoselenocarbamates.
AB  - In the present study, a family of 15 imidothio- and imidoselenocarbamates (1-15)
      analogs have been synthesized and screened for their in vitro antileishmanial
      potential against Leishmania infantum promastigotes. The six most active ones (2,
      4, 7, 13, 14, and 15) were also tested in an axenic amastigote model. In order to
      establish their selectivity indexes (SI) the cytotoxic effect of each compound
      was also assayed against Jurkat and THP-1 cell lines. Compounds 2 and 4, both
      with a pyridine moiety, showed a moderate antileishmanial activity with an IC(50)
      value of 4.68 +/- 0.46 and 3.03 +/- 0.24 MUM, respectively, in the amastigote
      model. The activity was compared with that of standard drugs, edelfosine (IC50 =
      0.82 +/- 0.13 MUM) and miltefosine (IC50 = 2.84 +/- 0.10 MUM). Related to
      selectivity, the SI of both compounds are similar to those of the standard drugs
      when compared against the THP-1 cell line. Moreover, compound 4 was able to
      reduce the number of amastigote-infected THP-1 cells to 40% of that observed in
      untreated controls after a 96-h period of treatment. These derivatives thus
      represent two new leads for further studies aimed at establishing their mechanism
      of action.

PMID- 20922429
TI  - What is the evidence for the existence of Plasmodium ovale hypnozoites?
AB  - Relapsing human malaria is regarded to be caused by Plasmodium vivax and
      Plasmodium ovale. P. vivax relapses originate from dormant liver stages:
      "hypnozoites". Also, P. ovale, a species considered as closely related to P.
      vivax, is in analogy assumed to display hypnozoites. A close biologic
      relationship is, however, not supported by molecular genetic studies. Therefore,
      original literature published since the description of P. ovale in 1922 was
      systematically screened for the demonstration of hypnozoites or circumstantial
      evidence for their existence, i.e. the occurrence of true relapses. In P. ovale
      infection, hypnozoites have never been demonstrated by biological experiments,
      and the few reports published on relapses have conflicting results.

PMID- 20922430
TI  - Seasonal prevalence of gastrointestinal nematode parasites of sheep in Northern
      region of Nile Delta, Egypt.
AB  - Over 1 year, from January to December 1999, a total of 173 slaughtered sheep at
      Al-Mahala abattoir were examined for presence of nematode parasites. Eighteen
      sheep (10.4%) were infected with eight different species of nematodes. The
      prevalence rates of detected nematode parasites were; Haemonchus contortus
      (3.5%), Haemonchus placei (1.7%), Trichuris ovis (5.8%), Parabronema skrjabini
      (2.9%), Ostertagia trifurcata (1.2%), Chabertia ovina (0.6%) and Strongyloides
      papillosus (0.6%), and Graphidiops species (2.9%). The seasonal prevalence of the
      infection with the nematode parasites was studied and the highest rate was during
      autumn (15.2%) followed by summer (11.1%) and winter (9.4%) while the lowest rate
      was during spring (5.6%).

PMID- 20922431
TI  - Long-term changes in a population of an invasive bivalve and its effects.
AB  - Although the ecological and economic effects of non-native species probably often
      change through time, few studies have documented such effects. The zebra mussel
      (Dreissena polymorpha) is an important invader that has had large ecological and
      economic effects on the ecosystems it has invaded in North America and western
      Europe. Our 20-year study of the Hudson River, New York, showed that the
      characteristics of a zebra mussel population and its effects on other benthic
      animals both changed substantially through time. Over the period of study, annual
      survivorship of adult zebra mussels fell >100-fold, which caused the aggregate
      filtration rate of the population to fall by 82%. Population size and body size
      of zebra mussels may also have fallen. In the early years of the invasion,
      densities of nearly all benthic animals in deepwater sites fell steeply (by 80
      99%). After about 8 years of decline, these populations began to recover, and are
      approaching pre-invasion densities. The littoral zoobenthos showed neither the
      initial decline nor the subsequent recovery. Although the mechanisms behind these
      changes are not fully clear, our study shows that the effects of an invader may
      change considerably over time.

PMID- 20922432
TI  - Risperidone-induced bulbar palsy-like syndrome.
AB  - There have been several case reports of risperidone-associated dysphagia.
      Risperidone-induced bulbar palsy-like syndrome has not been previously described.
      We report on a 58-year-old gentleman with prior history of schizophrenia and
      remote chlorpromazine use with no history of extrapyramidal symptoms who
      experienced acute onset of dysphagia and facial diplegia with hyperprolactinemia
      while being treated with risperidone. To date there have been five reported cases
      of dysphagia associated with risperidone, occurring by such mechanisms as
      isolated pharyngeal dysfunction from pharyngeal constrictor palsy and dystonia,
      drug-induced parkinsonism, and acute dystonic reaction. These cases were
      associated either with initiation or up-titration of risperidone, with complete
      resolution of dysphagia after medication discontinuation or dose change. Our
      patient developed dysphagia within 2 weeks of taking risperidone and completely
      resolved 1 month after the medication was stopped. Unlike other reported cases,
      our patient also experienced symptomatic hyperprolactinemia, another known side
      effect of risperidone. Physicians should also be aware that risperidone can be
      associated with oropharyngeal dysphagia secondary to an acute bulbar palsy-like
      syndrome that places patients at increased risk of aspiration events and its
      associated morbidity and mortality.

PMID- 20922434
TI  - Arbuscular mycorrhizal inoculum potential: a mechanism promoting positive
      diversity-invasibility relationships in mountain beech forests in New Zealand?
AB  - Mycorrhizal fungi are important symbionts for the majority of plant species, but
      their role in determining the susceptibility of habitat to plant invasion is
      poorly understood. Hieracium lepidulum is an arbuscular mycorrhizal herb,
      currently invading the understorey of ectomycorrhizal Nothofagus solandri var.
      cliffortioides (mountain beech) forest in New Zealand. Mountain beech is solely
      ectomycorrhizal, and other plant species within the understorey occur
      sporadically. Hieracium has been shown to establish preferentially in microsites
      with higher plant species richness at a scale of less than 1 m(2) within mountain
      beech forest, and we tested the hypothesis that more diverse microsites (<1 m(2))
      are associated with higher levels of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal (AMF)
      inoculum. We found low levels of AMF inoculum across all microsites, and over a
      third of samples contained no inoculum at all. Higher vascular-plant species
      richness (but not biomass) was associated with higher AMF spore densities in
      field soil, and greater AMF colonization of H. lepidulum seedlings in a bioassay.
      Absence of AMF inoculum from much of the soil and the positive association of
      inoculum potential with species richness provide a potential mechanism for the
      establishment of a positive diversity-invasibility relationship in the mountain
      beech forest.

PMID- 20922433
TI  - Vertebral fractures despite normal spine bone mineral density in a boy with
      nephrotic syndrome.
AB  - Glucocorticoids (GCs) are associated with fragility fractures in children with
      various chronic illnesses. The impact of GCs on bone health in children with
      nephrotic syndrome (NS) is less well understood. Here we report skeletal findings
      in a 10-year-old boy with steroid-sensitive NS who presented with back pain due
      to vertebral fractures 5 years after NS diagnosis. Spine radiographs showed a
      Genant grade 2 fracture at T7 and a grade 1 fracture at T8. Dual-energy X-ray
      absorptiometry (DXA) revealed a lumbar spine areal bone mineral density (BMD) Z
      score of -0.5 and a total body areal BMD Z-score of -0.4. Quantitative transiliac
      bone histomorphometry revealed low trabecular bone volume and cortical width but
      no osteomalacia. Our findings show the potential for significant bone morbidity
      due to osteoporosis in steroid-sensitive NS treated with intermittent GC therapy
      and emphasize that vertebral fractures may be an underrecognized complication.
      Furthermore, our report highlights that vertebral fractures can be associated
      with normal spine areal BMD in this context, suggesting that DXA-based,
      anteroposterior areal BMD should not be relied upon exclusively for assessing
      bone health and disease in children with steroid-sensitive NS.

PMID- 20922435
TI  - Fungal root symbionts and their relationship with fine root proportion in native
      plants from the Bolivian Andean highlands above 3,700 m elevation.
AB  - Here, we examined the colonization by fungal root symbionts in the cultivated
      Andean grain Chenopodium quinoa and in 12 species that dominate plant communities
      in the Bolivian Altiplano above 3,700 m elevation and explore for the possible
      relationships between fungal colonization and fine root proportion. The 12 most
      abundant species in the study area were consistently colonized by AMF and DSE. In
      contrast, the annual Andean grain C. quinoa showed negligible or absence of
      mycorrhizal fungi colonizing roots. On the other hand, C. quinoa, Junelia
      seriphioides and Chersodoma jodopappa were infected to a varying degree by the
      root pathogen Olpidium sp. We observed no relationship between AMF and DSE
      colonization and proportion of fine roots in the root system, but instead, the
      ratio between DSE and AMF colonization (ratio DSE/AMF) negatively related with
      proportion of fine roots. Our findings support the hypothesis regarding the
      importance of DSE at high altitudes and suggest a functional relationship between
      the rate of DSE/AMF and proportion of fine roots. The colonization by the root
      pathogen Olpidium sp. in C. quinoa deserves further study since this Andean grain
      is increasingly important for the local economy in these marginal areas.

PMID- 20922436
TI  - Description of a new putative virus infecting the conifer pathogenic fungus
      Heterobasidion parviporum with resemblance to Heterobasidion annosum P-type
      partitivirus.
AB  - The complete sequences of two double-stranded RNA segments from the fungus
      Heterobasidion parviporum were characterized. The larger segment (2,290 bp)
      contained an open reading frame encoding a putative RNA-dependent RNA polymerase
      (RdRp, 722 aa), while the smaller one (2,238 bp) encoded a putative coat protein
      of 659 aa. Based on phylogenetic analysis, the dsRNA segments constitute the
      genome of a new virus assigned to the family Partitiviridae and named
      Heterobasidion RNA virus 2 (HetRV2). The RdRp segment was clearly related to H.
      annosum P-type partitivirus (aa similarity of 59%) but was only distantly related
      to previously described viruses of H. parviporum (aa similarity 26-35%). The
      dsRNA could be experimentally transmitted to all five species of the
      Heterobasidion annosum sensu lato complex and two species of the H. insulare
      complex, indicating that horizontal transfer between these intersterile fungal
      species is possible.

PMID- 20922437
TI  - Characterization of an isolate of Sowbane mosaic virus.

PMID- 20922438
TI  - The effects of intravenous zoledronic acid in Chinese women with postmenopausal
      osteoporosis.
AB  - The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy and safety of a once-yearly
      zoledronic acid treatment for Chinese women with postmenopausal osteoporosis in
      Taiwan and Hong Kong. This post hoc subpopulation analysis, from the Health
      Outcome and Reduced Incidence with Zoledronic Acid One Yearly Pivotal Fracture
      Trial, enrolled 323 Chinese women with osteoporosis who were randomly given
      either annual infusions of zoledronic acid or placebo for 3 consecutive years.
      The incidence of fractures and changes in bone mineral density (BMD) were
      measured; adverse events (AEs) and tolerability were recorded and assessed. The
      results of this study at 36 months demonstrate that there was a significantly
      reduced risk of morphometric vertebral fracture and clinical vertebral fracture
      in subjects treated with zoledronic acid (P < 0.05). In addition, there were
      significant increases of BMD by 4.9%, 4.3%, and 7.0% in the total hip, femoral
      neck, and trochanter, respectively, in the zoledronic acid group compared with
      the placebo group (P < 0.001 for all comparisons). The incidences of AEs were
      comparable between the two groups. Thus, once-yearly zoledronic acid treatment
      showed bone protection effects by reducing the risk of vertebral fracture and
      increasing BMD in Chinese women with postmenopausal osteoporosis.

PMID- 20922439
TI  - Influence of the fabrication process on the in vitro performance of fixed dental
      prostheses with zirconia substructures.
AB  - Chipping of the applied veneering ceramic is reported to be a main clinical
      failure type of computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing- or manually
      copy-milled zirconia restorations. The aim of this in vitro study was to
      investigate whether different substructure designs and veneering processes done
      by different dental technicians do significantly influence chipping in zirconia
      based all-ceramic fixed dental prostheses during simulated oral service. Five
      groups (n = 8 per group) of three-unit zirconia substructures were fabricated in
      three different laboratories using copy-milling technique. Three series were
      veneered with identical porcelain (groups 1-3) and one with a second different
      porcelain (group 4). The fifth group was milled to final contour design without
      veneering. Dimensions of the connector areas were determined. All fixed partial
      dentures (FPDs) were adhesively boned on human teeth and thermally cycled and
      mechanically loaded (1.2 * 10(6) * 50 N; 6,000 * 5 degrees C/55 degrees C) using
      human antagonists. Restorations were monitored during thermal cycling and
      mechanical loading (TCML). FPDs which survived were loaded to fracture. FPDs
      which failed during TCML were investigated with fractographic means. During TCML,
      chipping took place in groups 1 (two times), 2 (four times) and 3 (five times)
      (Table 1). Chipping areas varied between 2.3 mm(2) (group 3) and 58.7 mm(2)
      (group 2). Groups 4 and 5 provided no failures during TCML. Failure in all cases
      started from contact points, where superficial wear and disruption of the
      porcelain were found. No significant correlation could be determined between
      connector thickness and number of failures. Median fracture results varied
      between 1,011 N (group 3) and 2,126 N (group 2). The results show the necessity
      of considering individual design and manufacturing of restorations as well as
      contact situation. Advanced technical training on zirconia-based restorations is
      recommended.

PMID- 20922440
TI  - Abatacept: a potential therapy in refractory cases of juvenile idiopathic
      arthritis-associated uveitis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is the most common of all
      systemic conditions associated with childhood uveitis. Visual impairment has been
      shown to be as high as 40% of which 10% being blind (6/60 or worse). Due to the
      lack of well-designed randomized control trials for paediatric uveitis and
      arthritis there are limited comparative data regarding the efficacy of single or
      combination treatments. Recently, abatacept was shown to control ocular
      inflammation in a case of psoriatic arthritis- associated uveitis, seven cases of
      JIA- associated uveitis and in JIA. We present two cases with JIA-associated
      uveitis who have responded dramatically to abatacept therapy following
      unsuccessful therapy with other immunosuppressants. Control of arthritis still
      represents a challenge with this treatment. METHODS: Prospective review of two
      patients with refractory JIA- associated uveitis not responding to maximum
      conventional treatment. Patients were regularly reviewed in the ophthalmology and
      rheumatology clinics. Assessment of their ocular condition was characterized
      according to the Standardization of Uveitis Nomenclature (SUN) group. RESULTS: In
      case 1, ocular inflammation was brought under control after repeated abatacept
      infusions. Case 2 showed complete resolution of cystoids macular edema CME and
      improvement of 5 Snellen's lines in best corrected visual acuity. After 9 months,
      the ocular condition of both patients remains in remission with steroid sparing.
      Joint disease was brought to clinical remission in case 2, but not in case 1.
      CONCLUSIONS: Abatacept is a promising alternative treatment in refractory cases
      of JIA uveitis but may not be as successful in controlling joint disease. Larger
      series with long term follow up of biological therapies in paediatric uveitis are
      essential to assess the efficacy and cost effectiveness.

PMID- 20922441
TI  - Green tea extract given before regional myocardial ischemia-reperfusion in rats
      improves myocardial contractility by attenuating calcium overload.
AB  - There is evidence for a negative correlation between green tea consumption and
      cardiovascular diseases. The aim of the present study was to examine whether
      green tea extract (GTE) given before regional myocardial ischemia could improve
      depression of myocardial contractility by preventing cytosolic Ca(2+) overload.
      Regional ischemia-reperfusion (IR) was induced in rats by ligating the left
      anterior descending branch for 20 min, then releasing the ligature. Ligation
      induced ventricular arrhythmias in rats without GTE pretreatment, but decreased
      arrhythmogenesis was seen in rats pretreated 30 min earlier with GTE (400 mg/kg).
      During reperfusion, arrhythmias only occurred during the initial 5 min, and GTE
      pretreatment had no effect. After overnight recovery, serum cTnI levels were
      greatly increased in control post-IR rats but only slightly elevated in GTE
      pretreated post-IR rats. Myocardial contractility measured by echocardiography
      was still depressed after 3 days in control post-IR rats, but not in GTE
      pretreated post-IR rats. No myocardial ischemic injury was seen in post-IR rats
      with or without GTE pretreatment. Using freshly isolated single heart myocytes,
      GTE was found to attenuate the post-IR injury-associated cytosolic Ca(2+)
      overload and modulate changes in the levels and distribution of myofibril,
      adherens junction, and gap junction proteins. In summary, GTE pretreatment
      protects cardiomyocytes from IR injury by preventing cytosolic Ca(2+) overload,
      myofibril disruption, and alterations in adherens and gap junction protein
      expression and distribution.

PMID- 20922442
TI  - CCK mediated the inhibitory effect of oxytocin on the contraction of longitudinal
      muscle strips of duodenum in male rats.
AB  - The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of oxytocin (OT) on
      duodenum motility in rats and the possibility that cholecystokinin (CCK) was
      involved in this process. The isometric contraction of longitudinal muscle strips
      of duodenum was monitored by polygraph. ELISA was used to measure the
      concentration of CCK and OT in duodenum. CCK mRNA was assayed by RT-PCR. Oxytocin
      receptor (OTR) and CCK in duodenum were located by immunohistochemistry and
      immunofluorescence staining. OT (10-5 and 10-6 M) inhibited the spontaneous
      contraction of the muscle strips. On the contrary, atosiban (OT receptor
      antagonist), lorglumide (CCK1 receptor antagonist), and tetrodotoxin (TTX,
      blocker of voltage-dependent Na(+) channel on nerve fiber) excited the
      contraction. The inhibitory effect of OT on duodenal motility was reversed by
      pretreatment of atosiban, lorglumide, or TTX. Exogenous OT did not influence the
      expression of OT mRNA in duodenum but increased the concentration of CCK in the
      culture medium of the cells isolated from longitudinal muscle myenteric plexus.
      The OTR and CCK were co-expressed in the neurons of the myenteric plexus in
      duodenum. We concluded that OT inhibited the contraction of the LD spontaneous
      contraction of rats in vitro. This effect was mediated by the CCK released from
      the neurons of the myenteric plexus in duodenum.

PMID- 20922443
TI  - 3,4,5-Trisubstituted-1,2,4-4H-triazoles as WT and Y188L mutant HIV-1 non
      nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors: docking-based CoMFA and CoMSIA
      analyses.
AB  - 3,4,5-Trisubstituted-1,2,4-4H-triazoles (TTs) have recently been identified as a
      new class of potent non-nucleoside HIV-1 reverse transcriptase (RT) inhibitors.
      Two series of triazoles have been studied, one of which was also screened against
      the Y188L mutant. A computational strategy based on molecular docking studies
      followed by comparative molecular fields analysis (CoMFA) and comparative
      molecular similarity indices analysis (CoMSIA) has been used to elucidate the
      atomic details of the RT/TT interactions and to identify the most important
      features impacting the TT antiretroviral activity. Two 3D-QSAR CoMFA and CoMSIA
      models were derived, using the TT pEC50 values measured against wild-type (WT)
      HIV-1 (model A) and the Y188L mutant form (model B), respectively, as the
      dependent variable. The final model A CoMSIA (r(ncv)2  = 0.97, r(cv)2  = 0.89,
      SEE = 0.314, and r(pred)2  = 0.82) and model B CoMSIA (r(ncv)2  = 0.91, r(cv)2  =
      0.61, SEE = 0.236, and r(pred)2  = 0.73) analyses were more predictive. The
      results allowed us to obtain useful information for the design of new compounds
      with improved potency towards WT HIV-1 or that are potentially active against the
      Y188L mutant.

PMID- 20922444
TI  - Third-order nonlinear optical materials: practical issues and theoretical
      challenges.
AB  - The renewed interest in all-optical switching has led to more detailed
      experimental investigations of nonlinear optical properties of materials within
      wide wavelength ranges. The objectives of these studies are discussed here in the
      context of the availability of suitable computational data that might be compared
      with the results of the experimental research. It is concluded that the currently
      available data are insufficient and should be augmented to provide better
      guidance for experimental work.

PMID- 20922445
TI  - Computational investigation of the histidine ammonia-lyase reaction: a modified
      loop conformation and the role of the zinc(II) ion.
AB  - Possible reaction intermediates of the histidine ammonia-lyase (HAL) reaction
      were investigated within the tightly closed active site of HAL from Pseudomonas
      putida (PpHAL). The closed structure of PpHAL was derived from the crystal
      structure of PpHAL inhibited with L-cysteine, in which the 39-80 loop including
      the catalytically essential Tyr53 was replaced. This modified loop with closed
      conformation was modeled using the structure of phenylalanine ammonia-lyase from
      Anabaena variabilis (AvPAL) with a tightly closed active site as a template.
      Three hypothetical structures of the covalently bound intermediate in the PpHAL
      active site were investigated by conformational analysis. The distances between
      the acidic pro-S beta-hydrogen of the ligand and the appropriate oxygen atoms of
      Tyr53, Ty280 and Glu414--which may act as enzymic bases--in the conformations of
      the three hypothetical intermediate structures were analyzed together with the
      substrate and product arrangements. The calculations indicated that the most
      plausible HAL reaction pathway involves the N-MIO intermediate structure in which
      the L-histidine substrate is covalently bound to the N-3,5-dihydro-5-methylidene
      4H-imidazol-4-one (MIO) prosthetic group of the apoenzyme via the amino group.
      Density functional theory (DFT) calculations--on a truncated model of the N-MIO
      intermediate containing a Zn2+ ion coordinated to the imidazole ring of the
      ligand and to His83, Met382 and a water molecule--indicated that Zn-complex
      formation plays a role in the reactivity and substrate specificity of HAL.

PMID- 20922446
TI  - Gas gangrene of the abdominal wall due to late-onset enteric fistula after
      polyester mesh repair of an incisional hernia.
AB  - The occurrence of enteric fistulae after wall repair using a prosthetic mesh is a
      serious but, fortunately, rare complication. We report the case of a 66-year-old
      diabetic man who presented with gas gangrene of the abdominal wall due to an
      intra-abdominal abscess caused by intestinal erosion six years after an
      incisional hernia repair using a polyester mesh. The aim of this case report is
      to illustrate the seriousness of enteric fistula after parietal repair using a
      synthetic material.

PMID- 20922449
TI  - Impact of double-balloon rectal catheter use in external-beam radiotherapy for
      prostate cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUNDS: Prostate motion and rectal sparing are important treatment strategy
      issues in external-beam radiotherapy for localized prostate cancer. To address
      these issues, we prospectively investigated the feasibility of using a double
      balloon rectal catheter. METHODS: The rectal catheter has inner and outer
      balloons that wedge the anus between them. Computed tomography (CT) examinations
      with and without the catheter were conducted in seven patients with localized
      prostate cancer treated by external-beam radiotherapy. The rectal wall sparing
      effect was evaluated using virtual three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy plans
      in each arm. To evaluate interfractional prostate motion, each patient underwent
      a series of four CT examinations consisting of a planning CT followed by three
      additional series of CT with and without a catheter during the course of
      radiotherapy. RESULTS: Virtual plans demonstrated the reduction of the dose to
      the rectum by expanding the posterior wall to lie outside the high- to
      intermediate-dose area when a catheter was applied. Interfractional prostate
      motion in the anteroposterior direction was effectively reduced by catheter
      usage; the mean +/- standard deviation (SD) of the displacement was 1.3 +/- 0.9
      mm with a catheter as compared to 2.8 +/- 1.8 mm without a catheter (P = 0.014),
      and the maximum displacement was successfully suppressed to 3 mm with a catheter
      compared to 6 mm without a catheter. Systematic and random components were also
      reduced with the catheter. CONCLUSION: These results suggest the feasibility and
      clinical applicability of the double-balloon rectal catheter.

PMID- 20922448
TI  - Pathologic complete response with neoadjuvant imatinib for locally advanced
      pelvic GIST.
AB  - There are few data that show pathologic complete response (pCR) to imatinib
      treatment in gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs). We describe a case of a
      patient with pCR of a pelvic, locally advanced, high-risk GIST who was treated
      with neoadjuvant imatinib and ultimately underwent a conservative procedure. A 48
      year-old male presented with a pelvic mass 10 cm in diameter. Biopsy revealed a
      gastrointestinal stromal tumor of rectal origin. Although it was considered
      initially resectable, an extensive procedure would have been necessary for
      complete resection. Treatment with imatinib was initiated, resulting in partial
      response. The patient remained on imatinib for over 15 months, maintaining stable
      disease. Radical prostatectomy with anal sphincter preservation was performed.
      Pathological report revealed no viable neoplastic cells. The use of imatinib was
      held for 6 months after the surgery. At a follow-up 15 months after surgery, the
      patient had no evidence of disease. Our report may help to guide future studies
      of neoadjuvant imatinib for large pelvic or rectum GISTs that are initially
      considered unresectable.

PMID- 20922447
TI  - Upregulation of transcription factor NRF2-mediated oxidative stress response
      pathway in rat brain under short-term chronic hypobaric hypoxia.
AB  - Exposure to high altitude (and thus hypobaric hypoxia) induces
      electrophysiological, metabolic, and morphological modifications in the brain
      leading to several neurological clinical syndromes. Despite the known fact that
      hypoxia episodes in brain are a common factor for many neuropathologies, limited
      information is available on the underlying cellular and molecular mechanisms. In
      this study, we investigated the temporal effect of short-term (0-12 h) chronic
      hypobaric hypoxia on global gene expression of rat brain followed by detailed
      canonical pathway analysis and regulatory network identification. Our analysis
      revealed significant alteration of 33, 17, 53, 81, and 296 genes (p < 0.05, <1.5
      fold) after 0.5, 1, 3, 6, and 12 h of hypoxia, respectively. Biological processes
      like regulation, metabolic, and transport pathways are temporally activated along
      with anti- and proinflammatory signaling networks like PI3K/AKT, NF-kappaB,
      ERK/MAPK, IL-6 and IL-8 signaling. Irrespective of exposure durations, nuclear
      factor (erythroid-derived 2)-like 2 (NRF2)-mediated oxidative stress response
      pathway and genes were detected at all time points suggesting activation of NRF2
      ARE antioxidant defense system. The results were further validated by assessing
      the expression levels of selected genes in temporal as well as brain regions with
      quantitative RT-PCR and western blot. In conclusion, our whole brain approach
      with temporal monitoring of gene expression patterns during hypobaric hypoxia has
      resulted in (1) deciphering sequence of pathways and signaling networks activated
      during onset of hypoxia, and (2) elucidation of NRF2-orchestrated antioxidant
      response as a major intrinsic defense mechanism. The results of this study will
      aid in better understanding and management of hypoxia-induced brain pathologies.

PMID- 20922450
TI  - The importance of pharmacokinetic consultation of cefepime treatment for
      Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteremia: a case report of severe thermal burn injury.
AB  - The patient is a 54-year-old man with severe thermal burn injury involving 45.5%
      of the total body-surface area, complicated with bacteremia caused by Pseudomonas
      aeruginosa with a cefepime MIC of 8 ug/ml. The plasma concentrations of cefepime
      1 g every 6 h measured by validated high performance liquid chromatography were
      25.8 ug/ml at 1 h and 6.28 ug/ml at 5 h after infusion, and 3.9 ug/ml before the
      infusion, when creatinine clearance was increased to 136 ml/min by vigorous fluid
      replacement. The pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic analyses in the one-compartment
      model with use of the Sawchuk-Zaske method revealed marked increase in the volume
      of distribution (28.9 l), total clearance (10.7 l/h), and shortening of plasma
      half- life (1.79 h) of cefepime, with time >MIC and 24-h area under the
      concentration-time-curve being 58% and 358, respectively. These pharmacokinetic
      parameters of cefepime quantified in the patient estimated a time >MIC of 87% if
      administered every 4 h. P. aeruginosa, however, was successfully eradicated
      without revision of the dosing regimen of cefepime. Decrease in creatinine
      clearance by correction of the fluid imbalance and wound closure by skin graft
      surgery likely contributed to the restoration of fluid shift, resulting in normal
      disposition of cefepime and favorable clinical outcome of the patient.

PMID- 20922451
TI  - Different cellular and genetic basis of noise-related endocochlear potential
      reduction in CBA/J and BALB/cJ mice.
AB  - The acute and permanent effects of noise exposure on the endocochlear potential
      (EP) and cochlear lateral wall were evaluated in BALB/cJ (BALB) inbred mice, and
      compared with CBA/J (CBA) and C57BL/6 (B6) mice. Two-hour exposure to broadband
      noise (4-45 kHz) at 110 dB SPL leads to a approximately 50 mV reduction in the EP
      in BALB and CBA, but not B6. EP reduction in BALB and CBA is reliably associated
      with characteristic acute cellular pathology in stria vascularis and spiral
      ligament. By 8 weeks after exposure, the EP in CBA mice has returned to normal.
      In BALBs, however, the EP remains depressed by an average approximately 10 mV, so
      that permanent EP reduction contributes to permanent threshold shifts in these
      mice. We recently showed that the CBA noise phenotype in part reflects the
      influence of a large effect quantitative trait locus on Chr. 18, termed Nirep
      (Ohlemiller et al., Hear Res 260:47-53, 2010b). While CBA "EP susceptibility"
      alleles are dominant to those in B6, examination of (B6 * BALB) F1 hybrid mice
      and (F1 * BALB) N2 backcross mice revealed that noise-related EP reduction and
      associated cell pathology in BALBs are inherited in an autosomal recessive
      manner, and are dependent on multiple genes. Moreover, while N2 mice formed from
      B6 and CBA retain strong correspondence between acute EP reduction, ligament
      pathology, and strial pathology, N2s formed from B6 and BALB include subsets that
      dissociate pathology of ligament and stria. We conclude that the genes and
      cascades that govern the very similar EP susceptibility phenotypes in BALB and
      CBA mice need not be the same. BALBs appear to carry alleles that promote more
      pronounced long term effects of noise on the lateral wall. Separate loci in BALBs
      may preferentially impact stria versus ligament.

PMID- 20922452
TI  - Weber-Christian disease associated with granulomatous mastitis: a variant type of
      Weber-Christian disease?

PMID- 20922453
TI  - Incidence and predictive factors for malignancies in 136 Japanese patients with
      dermatomyositis, polymyositis and clinically amyopathic dermatomyositis.
AB  - The aim of this study was to define the standardized incidence ratio (SIR) of
      malignancy and the potential risk factors of concomitant malignancies in patients
      with inflammatory myopathies, including clinically amyopathic dermatomyositis
      (CADM). A total of 145 patients diagnosed with either
      dermatomyositis/polymyositis (DM/PM) or CADM at our institute between 1984 and
      2002 were enrolled in the study. The demographic, clinical and laboratory
      features of the patients at the time of DM/PM or CADM diagnosis were compared
      between patients with and without malignancies, respectively. Multivariate
      analysis by logistic regression was used to determine the independent risk
      factors for the development of malignancies in DM/PM patients. Malignancy was
      found in 17 of 70 patients with DM (24%), three of 15 patients with CADM (20%),
      and three of 51 patients with PM (6%). Gastric cancer (8/23) was the most common
      malignancy. Compared with general population, the SIR of malignancies was 13.8
      (range 9.0-21.1). The patients who developed malignancies were older (61.5 vs.
      51.1 years; P < 0.005), presented more often with dysphagia (61 vs. 15%; P <
      0.0001) and were less likely to have the complication of interstitial lung
      disease (30 vs. 60%; P < 0.05). These features were independent predictive
      factors for developing malignancies in multiple logistic regression analysis. The
      results of our study confirm that CADM in addition to DM was associated with high
      rates of malignancy among our patient cohort.

PMID- 20922454
TI  - Posterior interosseous nerve palsy caused by synovial chondromatosis arising in
      the annular periradial recesses of the elbow.
AB  - We present a rare case report of a patient who presented with posterior
      interosseous nerve palsy caused by synovial chondromatosis. Synovial
      chondromatosis arising in the annular periradial recesses of the elbow joint was
      detected, and the mass developed two major portions constricted with the annular
      ligament. After surgical resection, posterior interosseous nerve palsy fully
      recovered and there was no recurrence of the lesion of synovial chondromatosis.

PMID- 20922455
TI  - Molecular mechanisms of centrosome and cytoskeleton anchorage at the nuclear
      envelope.
AB  - Cell polarization is a fundamental process underpinning organismal development,
      and tissue homeostasis, which requires an orchestrated interplay of nuclear,
      cytoskeletal, and centrosomal structures. The underlying molecular mechanisms,
      however, still remain elusive. Here we report that kinesin-1/nesprin-2/SUN-domain
      macromolecular assemblies, spanning the entire nuclear envelope (NE), function in
      cell polarization by anchoring cytoskeletal structures to the nuclear lamina.
      Nesprin-2 forms complexes with the kinesin-1 motor protein apparatus by
      associating with and recruiting kinesin light chain 1 (KLC1) to the outer nuclear
      membrane. Similar to nesprin-2, KLC1 requires lamin A/C for proper NE
      localization. The depletion of nesprin-2 or KLC1, or the uncoupling of nesprin
      2/SUN-domain protein associations impairs cell polarization during wounding and
      dislodges the centrosome from the NE. In addition nesprin-2 loss has profound
      effects on KLC1 levels, the cytoskeleton, and Golgi apparatus organization.
      Collectively these data show that NE-associated proteins are pivotal determinants
      of cell architecture and polarization.

PMID- 20922456
TI  - Interleukin-10 repletion suppresses pro-inflammatory cytokines and decreases
      liver pathology without altering viral replication in murine cytomegalovirus
      (MCMV)-infected IL-10 knockout mice.
AB  - OBJECTIVE AND DESIGN: To determine the role of interleukin-10 (IL-10) in
      protecting against the deleterious pro-inflammatory cytokine response to murine
      cytomegalovirus (MCMV), we studied the impact of IL-10 repletion in MCMV-infected
      IL-10 knockout (KO) mice. MATERIALS AND METHODS: IL-10 KO mice were infected with
      a sub-lethal dose of MCMV and treated daily with 5 MUg of mouse recombinant IL-10
      (mrIL-10). Cytokine transcription, viral load, cytokine expression and liver
      histopathology were assessed in IL-10 treated and untreated mice. RESULTS: mrIL
      10 repletion suppressed the exaggerated pro-inflammatory cytokine response
      observed in IL-10 KO mice (vs. control) both systemically and at the organ level,
      without affecting viral load. Levels of IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha mRNA in livers of
      treated mice were ~50-70-fold lower than in untreated mice at day 5 post
      infection (p <= 0.05). In spleens and sera, levels of IFN-gamma and IL-6 were
      significantly lower in treated mice than in untreated mice at day 5-7 post
      infection (p <= 0.05). IL-10 blunting of cytokine responses was accompanied by
      attenuation of inflammation in livers of treated mice. CONCLUSIONS: Repletion of
      IL-10 modulates the exaggerated pro-inflammatory cytokine responses that
      characterize IL-10 KO mice and protects against liver damage without altering
      viral load. IL-10 may be useful to control dysregulated pro-inflammatory
      cytokines responses during CMV infection.

PMID- 20922457
TI  - Multipoint covalent immobilization of lipase on chitosan hybrid hydrogels:
      influence of the polyelectrolyte complex type and chemical modification on the
      catalytic properties of the biocatalysts.
AB  - This work aimed at the production of stabilized derivatives of Thermomyces
      lanuginosus lipase (TLL) by multipoint covalent immobilization of the enzyme on
      chitosan-based matrices. The resulting biocatalysts were tested for synthesis of
      biodiesel by ethanolysis of palm oil. Different hydrogels were prepared: chitosan
      alone and in polyelectrolyte complexes (PEC) with kappa-carrageenan, gelatin,
      alginate, and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA). The obtained supports were chemically
      modified with 2,4,6-trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS) to increase support
      hydrophobicity, followed by activation with different agents such as glycidol
      (GLY), epichlorohydrin (EPI), and glutaraldehyde (GLU). The chitosan-alginate
      hydrogel, chemically modified with TNBS, provided derivatives with higher
      apparent hydrolytic activity (HA(app)) and thermal stability, being up to 45-fold
      more stable than soluble lipase. The maximum load of immobilized enzyme was 17.5
      mg g(-1) of gel for GLU, 7.76 mg g(-1) of gel for GLY, and 7.65 mg g(-1) of gel
      for EPI derivatives, the latter presenting the maximum apparent hydrolytic
      activity (364.8 IU g(-1) of gel). The three derivatives catalyzed conversion of
      palm oil to biodiesel, but chitosan-alginate-TNBS activated via GLY and EPI led
      to higher recovered activities of the enzyme. Thus, this is a more attractive
      option for both hydrolysis and transesterification of vegetable oils using
      immobilized TLL, although industrial application of this biocatalyst still
      demands further improvements in its half-life to make the enzymatic process
      economically attractive.

PMID- 20922458
TI  - On the reliability of fungal materials used in studies on Ophiocordyceps
      sinensis.
AB  - Ophiocordyceps sinensis (=Cordyceps sinensis) is one of the best known
      traditional Chinese medicines, with great benefits to human health and huge
      economic value. The reliability of fungal materials used in studies of the
      species is particularly important because contradictory results have been found
      in various studies in the past decades. Examination of fungal materials specified
      in reports on O. sinensis showed great variation in both sources and culture
      conditions of living strains. To test the reliability of the materials used,
      experiments were carried out to study the effect of culture conditions on the
      growth of living strains of O. sinensis by using six reliable strains
      representing the major production regions of the fungus on the Tibetan Plateau.
      The results showed that O. sinensis is a slow-growing fungus at comparatively low
      temperature, and that temperature and growth period are crucial factors which can
      be verified by experiment. Analyses of fungal materials used in 152 papers on O.
      sinensis from PubMed since 1998 showed that 41 papers lacked detailed information
      on the fungal materials; 26 used natural products, 11 used artificially
      cultivated fruit bodies, and 80 used fermentation products from living strains.
      Of the latter category (using fermentation products), 64 of the papers were found
      to use unreliable (45) or uncertain (19) strains for fermentation products based
      on the temperature and growth period for O. sinensis strains verified in this
      study. Apart from the natural products of O. sinensis, which require scientific
      identification, a total of at least 116 papers (over three-quarters) used
      unreliable, uncertain or unspecified materials, including so-called cultivated
      fruit bodies which were apparently from other species. The reliability of
      materials or living strains used in studies on O. sinensis is discussed in this
      paper, and suggestions are made for use of reliable fungal materials in further
      studies of this fungus.

PMID- 20922459
TI  - Favorable outcome in the elderly cohort treated by concomitant temozolomide
      radiochemotherapy in a multicentric phase II safety study of 5-ALA.
AB  - The primary objective of this augmental, prospective, uncontrolled phase II
      multicentre trial was to assess adverse events (AE) associated with malignant
      glioma resection using 5-aminolevulinic (5-ALA). During accrual, the standard of
      adjuvant therapy changed to concomitant radiochemotherapy with adjuvant
      temozolomide (RT/TMZ). Thus, this study also provided a platform for
      investigating the influence of RT/TMZ on survival in patients with fluorescence
      guided resections. Malignant glioma patients, aged 18-75 years and with a
      Karnofsky performance score (KPS) >=70%, were eligible. Data were collected on
      adverse events, KPS, survival and adjuvant therapies. In 243 patients evaluable
      for safety, 6-week AE incidence was 51.9% (nervous system disorders: 30.0%).
      Three patients experienced four possibly drug-related AEs. Grade III/IV incidence
      was 18.9% (nervous system disorders: 10.7%). About 48 h after surgery, AE
      incidence was 26.3% (9.9% grade III/IV), which was related to overall survival. A
      total of 219 patients (glioblastoma 206; anaplastic astrocytoma: 13) qualified
      for efficacy analysis. Median overall survival was 14.1 months (95% CI: 12.0
      16.6), but 16.3 (13-19.2) months in 122 glioblastoma patients receiving RT/TMZ
      compared to 11.9 (9.6-14.1) months in the remaining 84 patients (P = 0.0194).
      Older patients (>=60 years) had less adjuvant therapies than younger patients.
      Median survival of older glioblastoma patients with RT/TMZ was also significantly
      prolonged (16.3; 12.0-17.2 months vs. 11.2; 7.4-14.1, hazard ratio = 0.55; 0.32
      0.92). Risks of surgery were similar to past experiences with 5-ALA. Ancillary
      analyses demonstrated surgical glioblastoma patients, including the elderly, to
      have derived benefit from RT/TMZ. Thus, older patients should not generally be
      excluded from accepted therapies (fluorescence-guided resection plus RT/TMZ).

PMID- 20922460
TI  - Congenital retinal macrovessel: atypical presentation using optical coherence
      tomography.
AB  - To describe a congenital retinal macrovessel with macular thickening. This case
      was investigated using fundus photography, fluorescein angiography, Spectralis
      optical coherence tomography and a 10-2 visual field test. A 23-year-old man was
      referred to our clinic with decreased vision in the right eye. Fundus examination
      of the right eye revealed a congenital retinal macrovessel that originated
      inferior to the superotemporal branch of the central retinal vein. Using
      fluorescein angiography, early filling and delayed emptying of the aberrant vein
      were observed. Spectralis optical coherence tomography demonstrated macular
      thickening and was supported by a 10-2 visual field test that revealed a relative
      scotoma corresponding to the same location. At the 18-month follow-up, visual
      acuity remained stable. Although rare, this case demonstrated that macular
      thickening can cause decreased visual acuity in the presence of a congenital
      retinal macrovessel.

PMID- 20922461
TI  - The phosphatidyl inositol 3-kinase/AKT signaling pathway in breast cancer.
AB  - The phosphatidyl inositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt pathway mediates the effects of a
      variety of extracellular signals in a number of cellular processes including cell
      growth, proliferation, and survival. The alteration of integrants of this pathway
      through mutation of its coding genes increases the activation status of the
      signaling and can thus lead to cellular transformation. The frequent
      dysregulation of the PI3K/Akt pathway in breast cancer (BC) and the mediation of
      this pathway in different processes characteristically implicated in
      tumorigenesis have attracted the interest of this pathway in BC; however, a more
      comprehensive understanding of the signaling intricacies is necessary to develop
      clinical applications of the modulation of this pathway in this pathology. We
      review a series of experiments examining the contribution of alteration of
      integrants of this signaling network to human BC and we make an update of the
      information about the effect of the modulation of this pathway in this cancer.

PMID- 20922462
TI  - The guardians of the genome (p53, TA-p73, and TA-p63) are regulators of tumor
      suppressor miRNAs network.
AB  - The tumor suppressor p53 homologues, TA-p73, and p63 have been shown to function
      as tumor suppressors. However, how they function as tumor suppressors remains
      elusive. Here, I propose a number of tumor suppressor pathways that illustrate
      how the TA-p73 and p63 could function as negative regulators of invasion,
      metastasis, and cancer stem cells (CSCs) proliferation. Furthermore, I provide
      molecular insights into how TA-p73 and p63 could function as tumor suppressors.
      Remarkably, the guardians--p53, p73, and p63--of the genome are in control of
      most of the known tumor suppressor miRNAs, tumor suppressor genes, and metastasis
      suppressors by suppressing c-myc through miR-145/let-7/miR-34/TRIM32/PTEN/FBXW7.
      In particular, p53 and TA-p73/p63 appear to upregulate the expression of (1)
      tumor suppressor miRNAs, such as let-7, miR-34, miR-15/16a, miR-145, miR-29, miR
      26, miR-30, and miR-146a; (2) tumor suppressor genes, such as PTEN, RBs,
      CDKN1a/b/c, and CDKN2a/b/c/d; (3) metastasis suppressors, such as Raf kinase
      inhibitory protein, CycG2, and DEC2, and thereby they enlarge their tumor
      suppressor network to inhibit tumorigenesis, invasion, angiogenesis, migration,
      metastasis, and CSCs proliferation.

PMID- 20922463
TI  - Chemical and microbiological changes during vermicomposting of coffee pulp using
      exotic (Eudrilus eugeniae) and native earthworm (Perionyx ceylanesis) species.
AB  - Coffee pulp is the main solid residue from the wet processing of coffee berries.
      Due to presence of anti-physiological and anti-nutritional factors, coffee pulp
      is not considered as adequate substrate for bioconversion process by coffee
      farmers. Recent stringent measures by Pollution Control authorities, made it
      mandatory to treat all the solid and liquid waste emanating from the coffee
      farms. A study was conducted to evaluate the efficiency of an exotic (Eudrilus
      eugeniae) and a native earthworm (Perionyx ceylanesis) from coffee farm for
      decomposition of coffee pulp into valuable vermicompost. Exotic earthworms were
      found to degrade the coffee pulp faster (112 days) as compared to the native
      worms (165 days) and the vermicomposting efficiency (77.9%) and vermicompost
      yield (389 kg) were found to significantly higher with native worms. The
      multiplication rate of earthworms (280%) and worm yield (3.78 kg) recorded
      significantly higher with the exotic earthworms. The percentage of nitrogen,
      phosphorous, potassium, calcium and magnesium in vermicompost was found to
      increase while C:N ratio, pH and total organic carbon declined as a function of
      the vermicomposting. The plant nutrients, nitrogen (80.6%), phosphorus (292%) and
      potassium (550%) content found to increase significantly in the vermicompost
      produced using native earthworms as compared to the initial values, while the
      calcium (85.7%) and magnesium (210%) content found to increase significantly in
      compost produced utilizing exotic worms. Vermicompost and vermicasts from native
      earthworms recorded significantly higher functional microbial group's population
      as compared to the exotic worms. The study reveals that coffee pulp can be very
      well used as substrate for vermicomposting using exotic (Eudrilus eugeniae) and
      native earthworm (Perionyx ceylanesis).

PMID- 20922464
TI  - Reprogrammed fibrocytes induce a mixed Th1/Th2 cytokine response of naive CD4(+)
      T cells.
AB  - Naive CD4(+) T cells develop different effector T cells and cytokine profiles
      after antigenic stimulation. It has been previously documented that fibrocytes
      function as antigen presenting cells inducing proliferation as well as Th2
      cytokine response in naive CD4(+) T cells. Our group has reported that several
      circulating cell types recruited to the wound site can be transformed into anti
      fibrotic profile cells, which subsequently induce MMP-1 stimulation in dermal
      fibroblasts. Here, we report how similar reprogramming pathway of fibrocytes
      could modify the CD4(+) T cell response. Our findings confirmed that reprogrammed
      fibrocytes induce CD4(+) T cell activation with a mixed Th1/Th2 cytokine
      response. Since a reciprocal positive feedback between Th2 cells and fibrocytes
      exist to amplify and perpetuate the pro-fibrotic stimulation in dermal
      fibroblasts, the novel transdifferentiation of regular mature fibrocytes into
      reprogrammed fibrocytes appears to be a promising strategy to reverse the Th2
      cytokine overproduction, and subsequently control the local fibrogenesis.

PMID- 20922466
TI  - Population pharmacokinetic analysis of blood and joint synovial fluid
      concentrations of robenacoxib from healthy dogs and dogs with osteoarthritis.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this population analysis was to characterize the
      pharmacokinetic properties of robenacoxib in blood and stifle joint synovial
      fluid of dogs. METHODS: Data were obtained from two studies: 1) 8 healthy Beagle
      dogs in which an acute inflammation was induced by injection of urate crystals
      into one joint; 2) 95 dogs from various breeds diagnosed with osteoarthritis
      (OA). Robenacoxib concentrations in blood and synovial fluid were measured using
      a validated HPLC-UV and LC-MS method. Non-linear mixed effects modeling was
      performed using NONMEM6. RESULTS: A two-compartment pharmacokinetic model with
      linear elimination was developed to describe blood concentrations of robenacoxib.
      Blood clearance in healthy animals was found to be 75% higher than in OA dogs.
      Synovial fluid concentrations were modeled using an effect-compartment-type model
      predicting longer residence times in OA dogs compared to healthy Beagles (e.g.
      concentrations above the IC(50) for COX-2, respectively, 16 h vs. 10 h at 1.5
      mg/kg). CONCLUSIONS: Robenacoxib was found to reside longer at the effect site
      (inflamed joint) compared to blood in both healthy and OA dogs. These results may
      explain the good efficacy observed with once-daily dosing in clinical trials and
      the high safety index of robenacoxib in dogs.

PMID- 20922465
TI  - Reciprocal regulation of 11beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase 1 and glucocorticoid
      receptor expression by dexamethasone inhibits human coronary artery smooth muscle
      cell proliferation in vitro.
AB  - The actions of glucocorticoids are mediated, in part, by 11beta-hydroxysteroid
      dehydrogenase 1 (11beta-HSD1), which amplifies their effects at the pre-receptor
      level by converting cortisone to cortisol. Glucocorticoids, such as
      dexamethasone, inhibit vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation; however, the
      role of 11beta-HSD1 in this response remains unknown. Accordingly, we treated
      human coronary artery smooth muscle cells (HCSMC) with dexamethasone (10(-9)-10(
      6) mol/l) and found that after 72 h dexamethasone increased 11beta-HSD1
      expression (14.16 +/- 1.6-fold, P < 0.001) and activity (6.21 +/- 1.2-fold, P <
      0.001) in a dose- and time-dependent manner, which was dependent upon
      glucocorticoid receptor (GR) activation and C/EBPbeta and C/EBPdelta signaling.
      As glucocorticoids are known to negatively regulate GR expression, we examined
      the effect of decreasing 11beta-HSD1 expression on GR expression. In HCSMC
      transfected with 11beta-HSD1 siRNA, GR expression was increased; this effect was
      associated with protein kinase A activation and CREB phosphorylation. To examine
      the role of 11beta-HSD1 in HCSMC proliferation, we decreased 11beta-HSD1
      expression and stimulated cells with platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) (10
      ng/ml). Decreased 11beta-HSD1 expression was associated with increased cell
      proliferation in the absence of PDGF compared to scrambled control-transfected
      cells (236.10 +/- 13.11%, n = 4, P < 0.001) and this effect was augmented by
      PDGF. Furthermore, the inhibitory effect of dexamethasone on cellular
      proliferation was abrogated in 11beta-HSD1 siRNA-transfected HCSMC.
      Downregulation of 11beta-HSD1 was associated with decreased p27(kip1) expression
      and increased phosphorylated retinoblastoma protein, consistent with a
      proliferative response. These findings suggest that 11beta-HSD1 plays a role in
      the effects of glucocorticoids on vascular smooth muscle cell phenotype.

PMID- 20922467
TI  - Design and evaluation of a service oriented architecture for paperless ICU
      tarification.
AB  - The computerization of Intensive Care Units provides an overwhelming amount of
      electronic data for both medical and financial analysis. However, the current
      tarification, which is the process to tick and count patients' procedures, is
      still a repetitive, time-consuming process on paper. Nurses and secretaries keep
      track manually of the patients' medical procedures. This paper describes the
      design methodology and implementation of automated tarification services. In this
      study we investigate if the tarification can be modeled in service oriented
      architecture as a composition of interacting services. Services are responsible
      for data collection, automatic assignment of records to physicians and
      application of rules. Performance is evaluated in terms of execution time, cost
      evaluation and return on investment based on tracking of real procedures. The
      services provide high flexibility in terms of maintenance, integration and rules
      support. It is shown that services offer a more accurate, less time-consuming and
      cost-effective tarification.

PMID- 20922468
TI  - Fluorescent probing of protein bovine serum albumin stability and denaturation
      using polarity sensitive spectral response of a charge transfer probe.
AB  - The polarity sensitive photo-induced intra-molecular charge transfer (ICT)
      fluorescence probe (E)-3-(4-methylamino-phenyl)-acrylic acid ethyl ester (MAPAEE)
      has been used to study the model protein Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA) in its native
      and thermal and urea induced denatured states. The interaction between BSA and
      the regular surfactant Sodium Dodecyl Sulphate (SDS) as well as the biologically
      relevant steroid-based amphiphile Sodium Deoxycholate (NaDC) has also been very
      keenly followed using this ICT probe. The variation of micellar properties of
      both SDS and NaDC with increasing ionic strengths and in presence of the
      chaotrope urea has also been well documemted by the same probe. Steady-state
      spectroscopy, FRET, and fluorescence anisotropy measurements have been used to
      gain better insight into these processes and the molecule MAPAEE to be a full
      bodied fluorescent probe for studying such intricate biological systems, their
      properties and interactions.

PMID- 20922469
TI  - Simultaneous pH and temperature measurements using pyranine as a molecular probe.
AB  - Steep variations in concentration and temperature frequently occur in small fluid
      compartments such as those found in cells or microfluidic devices. A quantitative
      characterization of concentration and temperature gradients is therefore required
      before these systems can be fully understood. Although different spatially
      resolved fluorescence methods have been developed to measure either the
      temperature or the concentration of ions such as proton or calcium, often
      concentration measurements depend on temperature and vice versa. Here, we
      describe a method allowing simultaneous measurement of pH and temperature. This
      method is based on the detection of the blinking of the fluorescent pH indicator
      pyranine, a process due to its alternating between a basic form and an acidic
      form. Fluorescence correlation spectroscopy allows measuring both the protonation
      and deprotonation rates of pyranine, and each pair of rates can be uniquely
      related to a pair of pH and temperature values. We show, however, that the
      relationship between rates, pH and temperature, is very sensitive to the presence
      of other acid-base molecules in solution. We also show that it is influenced by
      the overall ionic strength of the solution, in a manner that depends on buffer
      composition.

PMID- 20922470
TI  - Synthesis, characterization and photoluminescence study of novel sulfobetaine
      polyelectrolytes.
AB  - A novel sulfobetaine copolymer is developed via polycondensation approach. The
      comonomers, melamine, condenses with a diketone, 5,5-dimethyl-1,3-cyclohexane
      (dimedone) to produce polyimine chain based on Schiff base chemistry. Dimedone
      [N,N' melaminium] propane sulfonate copolymer crystals were obtained on treatment
      of the polyimine with sulfopropylating agent, 1,3-propane sultone with a
      crosslinker, di(ethylene glycol diacrylate) (DEGDA). This crosslinked
      sulfobetaine polymer yielded fine needle like single crystals and shows strong
      blue fluorescence and a week green phosphorescence. Multi-exponential
      fluorescence decay function indicates the presence of different conformers both
      in solution and crystalline phase. This easy straightforward protocol for
      synthesis of crystalline, soluble, and luminescent polymer could prove to be a
      landmark in development of next generation smart functional materials.

PMID- 20922471
TI  - Essential role of copper in the activity and regular periodicity of a
      recombinant, tumor-associated, cell surface, growth-related and time-keeping
      hydroquinone (NADH) oxidase with protein disulfide-thiol interchange activity
      (ENOX2).
AB  - ECTO-NOX proteins are growth-related cell surface proteins that catalyze both
      hydroquinone or NADH oxidation and protein disulfide interchange and exhibit time
      keeping and prion-like properties. A bacterially expressed truncated recombinant
      46 kDa ENOX2 with full ENOX2 activity bound ca 2 moles copper and 2 moles of zinc
      per mole of protein. Unfolding of the protein in trifluoroacetic acid in the
      presence of the copper chelator bathocuproine resulted in reversible loss of both
      enzymatic activities and of a characteristic pattern in the Amide I to Amide II
      ratios determined by FTIR with restoration by added copper. The H546-V-H together
      with His 562 form one copper binding site and H582 represents a second copper
      site as determined from site-directed mutagenesis. Bound copper emerges as having
      an essential role in ENOX2 both for enzymatic activity and for the structural
      changes that underly the periodic alternations in activity that define the time
      keeping cycle of the protein.

PMID- 20922472
TI  - Pulmonary vein isolation with Mesh Ablator versus cryoballoon catheters: 6-month
      outcomes.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: We sought to compare the results of pulmonary vein (PV) ablation
      using the high-density Mesh Ablator catheter (MESH) versus the cryoballoon
      (CRYO). METHODS AND RESULTS: From August 2007 to November 2009, all patients with
      paroxysmal atrial fibrillation scheduled for a first procedure of PV isolation
      were screened by cardiac computed tomography for anatomical suitability to
      undergo ablation with a circumferential ostial ablation catheter. The procedure
      was finally performed in 79 out of 120 patients matching the criteria of four
      clearly separated PVs with an ostial diameter of 15-25 mm. The first consecutive
      43 patients were treated with the MESH; the following 36 consecutive patients
      were treated with the CRYO. The procedures were performed with up to 900 s of
      either pulsed radiofrequency energy delivered by the MESH or cryoenergy applied
      with the CRYO. The clinical success rate was evaluated 6 months after a single
      procedure. Isolation of all PVs could be achieved in 40 patients (93%) in the
      MESH group compared to 31 patients (89%) in the CRYO group (p = ns). Major
      complications consisted of one tamponade in the MESH group and one reversible
      phrenic nerve palsy in the CRYO group. After 6 months, the clinical success rate
      was 44% (19/43 P) in the MESH versus 69% (25/36 P) in the CRYO group (p < 0.05).
      CONCLUSION: Both methods of simplified circumferential PV ablation reveal a high
      acute success rate. The clinical 6-month results of the MESH are statistically
      significant inferior compared to the CRYO.

PMID- 20922473
TI  - The role of prenatal, obstetric and neonatal factors in the development of
      autism.
AB  - We conducted a linked database cohort study of infants born between 1990 and 2002
      in Nova Scotia, Canada. Diagnoses of autism were identified from administrative
      databases with relevant diagnostic information to 2005. A factor representing
      genetic susceptibility was defined as having an affected sibling or a mother with
      a history of a psychiatric or neurologic condition. Among 129,733 children, there
      were 924 children with an autism diagnosis. The results suggest that among those
      with low genetic susceptibility, some maternal and obstetric factors may have an
      independent role in autism etiology whereas among genetically susceptible
      children, these factors appear to play a lesser role. The role of pre-pregnancy
      obesity and excessive weight gain during pregnancy on autism risk require further
      investigation.

PMID- 20922474
TI  - Association between genetic polymorphisms in androgen receptor gene and the risk
      of preeclampsia in Korean women.
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate associations between the androgen receptor (AR)
      polymorphisms as CAG repeats, GGC repeats and c.211G>A polymorphism and the risk
      of preeclampsia. METHODS: The AR polymorphisms were experienced in 184
      preeclamptic patients and 190 normal pregnancies and analyzed by multiple
      logistic regression. RESULTS: Women with GGC repeats>16 were more frequently
      observed in preeclampsia, compared to those with GGC repeats<=16 [adjOR (95% CI):
      3.64 (1.71-6.23)]. However, no significant differences were observed between the
      two groups with respect to CAG repeats. The genotypic and allelic frequencies of
      c.211G>A variant were significantly higher in cases than in controls (P < 0.05
      for both). In the combined distribution of these polymorphisms, the highest risk
      of preeclampsia was found among women with the haplotype as CAG > 20/GA/GGC >16
      [adjOR (95% CI): 4.26 (1.92-12.23)]. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that
      longer GGC repeats and c.211G>A variant in the AR gene are associated with
      increased susceptibility to the risk of preeclampsia.

PMID- 20922475
TI  - Social withdrawal subtypes during early adolescence in India.
AB  - The overarching goal of this study was to examine the associations between three
      social withdrawal subtypes (shyness, unsociability, avoidance), peer isolation,
      peer difficulties (victimization, rejection, exclusion, low acceptance), and
      loneliness in India during early adolescence. Participants were 194 adolescents
      in Surat, India (M age = 13.35 years). Peer nominations of peer relations and
      socioemotional behaviors were gathered, along with self-reports of reasons for
      being alone and loneliness. Preliminary evidence of validity for the self-report
      measure of withdrawal subtypes and isolation was found, and factor analyses
      indicated that shyness, unsociability, and avoidance represent related, but
      distinct forms of withdrawal that are distinct from isolation. Shyness and
      avoidance were uniquely associated with loneliness and exclusion, but
      unsociability was not. The association between avoidance and loneliness was
      mediated by exclusion. Findings suggest that social withdrawal may be best
      conceptualized as a multifaceted construct during childhood and adolescence, in
      Western and non-Western societies.

PMID- 20922477
TI  - Evidence-based practice: a review of theoretical assumptions and effectiveness of
      teaching and assessment interventions in health professions.
AB  - Health care professionals are expected to use a systematic approach based on
      evidence, professional reasoning and client preferences in order to improve
      client outcomes. In other words, they are expected to work within an evidence
      based practice (EBP) context. This expectation has had an impact on occupational
      therapy academic programs' mandates to prepare entry-level clinicians who
      demonstrate competence in the knowledge, skills and behaviors for the practice of
      evidence-based occupational therapy. If the EBP approach is to be entrenched in
      the day to day practice of future clinicians, a pedagogically sound approach
      would be to incorporate EBP in every aspect of the curriculum. This, however,
      would require a comprehensive understanding of EBP: its basis, the principles
      that underpin it and its effectiveness in promoting core professional
      competencies. The existing literature does not elucidate these details nor does
      it shed light on how requisite competencies for EBP are acquired in professional
      education in general and in occupational therapy education in particular. Drawing
      from educational psychology and EBP in the health professions, this paper
      provides a critical review of the evidence that supports EBP and the
      effectiveness of EBP teaching and assessment interventions in professional heath
      sciences programs and offers suggestions for the design of EBP instruction,
      grounding recommendations in educational theory for the health professions.

PMID- 20922476
TI  - Investigating the candidacy of LPS-based glycoconjugates to prevent invasive
      meningococcal disease: immunology of glycoconjugates with high carbohydrate
      loading.
AB  - We investigated the immune responses of rabbits that were immunised with
      lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-based glycoconjugates by measuring the reactivity of the
      derived sera to a panel of selected wild-type and mutant strains of Neisseria
      meningitidis. In all cases, high titers of antibodies capable of recognising LPS
      elaborating the identical structure as presented on the immunising glycoconjugate
      were obtained, and in most cases the derived sera also recognised heterologous
      strains including wild-type, but at lower titers. However, although serum
      bactericidal antibodies were consistently obtained against strains elaborating
      the same LPS structure as the immunising antigen, this functional response was
      not observed against wild-type strains. We identified several potentially
      competing neo-epitopes that had been introduced via our conjugation strategies,
      which might compete with the conserved inner core oligosaccharide target region,
      thus reducing the antibody titers to epitopes which could facilitate bactericidal
      killing. This study has therefore identified key factors that are crucial to
      control in order to increase the likelihood of obtaining bactericidal antibodies
      to wild-type meningococcal cells with LPS-derived glycoconjugates.
      Glycoconjugates utilised in this study, have been found to contain epitopes that
      do not contribute to the derivation of antibodies that may facilitate
      bactericidal killing of wild-type strains and must be avoided in future LPS-based
      glycoconjugate preparations.

PMID- 20922478
TI  - Antifungal effects of Ellagitannin isolated from leaves of Ocotea odorifera
      (Lauraceae).
AB  - Ocotea odorifera is a medicinal plant that is popularly known in Brazil as
      "canela-sassafras" and is used to treat dermatosis. This study investigated the
      antifungal properties of O. odorifera. The methanol extract of O. odorifera was
      submitted to successive chromatographic separation and yielded Tellimagrandin II
      (TEL). Candida parapsilosis strain ATCC 22019 was used to determine the minimum
      inhibitory (MIC) and fungicidal concentrations, and to study the synergistic
      action with nystatin (NYS), amphotericin (AMP), and fluconazole (FLU). After
      treatment, the morphology of the yeast was analysed by scanning electron
      microscopy. Cytotoxicity was assessed in Vero cells, and genotoxicity by the
      micronucleus test. The TEL structure was proposed based on NMR and comparison
      with literature data and ESI-MSMS analysis. The compound showed potent inhibitory
      activity against C. parapsilosis, with a MIC of 1.6 MUM. TEL acted
      synergistically with NYS, AMP, and FLU, and caused morphological alterations in
      the yeast cells. The methanolic extract showed low cytotoxicity in vitro and in
      vivo, and was not mutagenic in mice (P < 0.05). The use of O. odorifera in
      traditional medicine seems to have a valid basis, in view of the antifungal
      activity of TEL demonstrated in this study, and may contribute to potential drug
      development.

PMID- 20922479
TI  - The incidence of potential drug-drug interactions in elderly patients with
      arterial hypertension.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the incidence and type of potential, clinically significant
      drug-drug interactions in elderly outpatients with arterial hypertension.
      SETTING: Three community pharmacies in Croatia. METHOD: Eligible patients were
      aged 65 or older, treated for arterial hypertension and received 2 or more drugs.
      Potential interactions were identified by Lexi-Interact software. The software
      categorized each potential interaction according to clinical significance in five
      groups: (A) No known interaction; (B) Specified agents may interact, but there is
      little to no evidence of clinical concern; (C) Specified agents may interact in a
      clinically significant manner. Monitoring therapy is suggested; (D) The two
      medications may interact in a clinically significant manner. Modification of
      therapy is suggested; (X) Contraindicated combination. Interactions of level C, D
      and X were considered clinically significant. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: The incidence
      and type of potential drug-drug interactions. RESULTS: There were 265 patients
      included in the study. Potential, clinically significant drug interactions were
      identified in 240 (90.6%) patients, out of which 97.9% had interactions with
      clinical significance C, 20.4% D, and 0.8% X. The median number of drug
      interactions per patient was 4. We identified 215 drug combinations with the
      potential to cause clinically significant interaction, out of which 83.3% had
      clinical significance C, 16.3% clinical significance D, and 0.4% clinical
      significance X. CONCLUSION: Drug-drug interactions are common in elderly
      hypertensive patients. Computer-based screening could help pharmacists and
      physicians to recognize potential, clinically significant interactions.

PMID- 20922480
TI  - Which factors predict the time spent answering queries to a drug information
      centre?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To develop a model based upon factors able to predict the time spent
      answering drug-related queries to Norwegian drug information centres (DICs).
      SETTING AND METHOD: Drug-related queries received at 5 DICs in Norway from March
      to May 2007 were randomly assigned to 20 employees until each of them had
      answered a minimum of five queries. The employees reported the number of drugs
      involved, the type of literature search performed, and whether the queries were
      considered judgmental or not, using a specifically developed scoring system. MAIN
      OUTCOME MEASURES: The scores of these three factors were added together to define
      a workload score for each query. Workload and its individual factors were
      subsequently related to the measured time spent answering the queries by simple
      or multiple linear regression analyses. RESULTS: Ninety-six query/answer pairs
      were analyzed. Workload significantly predicted the time spent answering the
      queries (adjusted R (2) = 0.22, P < 0.001). Literature search was the individual
      factor best predicting the time spent answering the queries (adjusted R(2) =
      0.17, P < 0.001), and this variable also contributed the most in the multiple
      regression analyses. CONCLUSION: The most important workload factor predicting
      the time spent handling the queries in this study was the type of literature
      search that had to be performed. The categorisation of queries as judgmental or
      not, also affected the time spent answering the queries. The number of drugs
      involved did not significantly influence the time spent answering drug
      information queries.

PMID- 20922481
TI  - Oral health attitudes and practices among a German Mexican Mennonite farmworker
      community.
AB  - The oral health needs of migrant farm laborers are greater and more immediate
      than those of comparable populations. However, little is known about the
      conditions of oral health care among German-speaking Mexican Mennonites, a
      distinctive cultural subgroup of migrant farm laborers. The purpose of this study
      was to examine the oral health practices, perceived oral health status, and
      barriers to obtaining dental care among a community of Low German-speaking
      Mexican Mennonites residing in Southwest Kansas. Interviews were conducted with a
      sample of 25 individuals, with questions addressing access/barriers to care, oral
      health practices, and perceived oral health status. The most frequently
      identified barriers to dental care were limited finances, lack of adequate
      health/dental insurance, and limited awareness of available dental services.
      Although the majority of participants reported experiencing no problems related
      to language or scheduling dental appointments, the results also indicated low
      utilization levels of oral care services. Findings suggest that: (1) this
      population is at-risk for periodontal disease, (2) culturally appropriate
      programs are needed for preventive oral care education, (3) community and
      statewide support may help improve access to affordable oral health care.

PMID- 20922482
TI  - The complete mitochondrial genomes of three cestode species of Taenia infecting
      animals and humans.
AB  - Mitochondrial (mt) genome sequences provide useful markers for investigating
      population genetic structures, systematics and phylogenetics of organisms.
      Although Taenia multiceps, T. hydatigena, and T. taeniaeformis are common taeniid
      tapeworms of ruminants, pigs, dogs, or cats, causing significant economic losses,
      no published study on their mt genomes is available. The complete mt genomes of
      T. multiceps, T. hydatigena, and T. taeniaeformis were amplified in two
      overlapping fragments and then sequenced. The sizes of the entire mt genome were
      13700 bp for T. multiceps, 13489 bp for T. hydatigena, and 13647 bp for T.
      taeniaeformis. Each of the three genomes contains 36 genes, consisting of 12
      genes for proteins, 2 genes for rRNA, and 22 genes for tRNA, which are the same
      as the mt genomes of all other cestode species studied to date. All genes are
      transcribed in the same direction and have a nucleotide composition high in A and
      T. The contents of A+T of the complete genomes are 71.3% for T. multiceps, 70.8%
      for T. hydatigena, and 73.0% for T. taeniaeformis. The AT bias had a significant
      effect on both the codon usage pattern and amino acid composition of proteins. T.
      multiceps and T. hydatigena had two noncoding regions, but T. taeniaeformis had
      only one. Phylogenetic analyses based on concatenated amino acid sequences of 12
      protein-coding genes revealed that T. multiceps, T. hydatigena, and T.
      taeniaeformis were more closely related to the other members of the Taenia genus,
      consistent with results of previous morphological and molecular studies. The
      present study determined the complete mt genome sequences for three Taenia
      species of animal and human health significance, providing useful markers for
      studying the systematics, population genetics, and molecular epidemiology of
      these cestode parasites of animals and humans.

PMID- 20922483
TI  - Efficiency and quality of care in nursing homes: an Italian case study.
AB  - This study investigates efficiency and quality of care in nursing homes. By means
      of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), the efficiency of 40 nursing homes that
      deliver their services in the north-western area of the Lombardy Region was
      assessed over a 3-year period (2005-2007). Lombardy is a very peculiar setting,
      since it is the only Region in Italy where the healthcare industry is organised
      as a quasi-market, in which the public authority buys health and nursing services
      from independent providers-establishing a reimbursement system for this purpose.
      The analysis is conducted by generating bootstrapped DEA efficiency scores for
      each nursing home (stage one), then regressing those scores on explanatory
      variables (stage two). Our DEA model employed two input (i.e. costs for health
      and nursing services and costs for residential services) and three output
      variables (case mix, extra nursing hours and residential charges). In the second
      stage analysis, Tobit regressions and the Kruskall-Wallis tests of hypothesis to
      the efficiency scores were applied to define what are the factors that affect
      efficiency: (a) the ownership (private nursing houses outperform their public
      counterparts); and (b) the capability to implement strategies for labour cost and
      nursing costs containment, since the efficiency heavily depends upon the
      alignment of the costs to the public reimbursement system. Lastly, even though
      the public institutions are less efficient than the private ones, the results
      suggest that public nursing homes are moving towards their private counterparts,
      and thus competition is benefiting efficiency.

PMID- 20922484
TI  - Probability model for estimating colorectal polyp progression rates.
AB  - According to the American Cancer Society, colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third
      most common cause of cancer related deaths in the United States. Experts estimate
      that about 85% of CRCs begin as precancerous polyps, early detection and
      treatment of which can significantly reduce the risk of CRC. Hence, it is
      imperative to develop population-wide intervention strategies for early detection
      of polyps. Development of such strategies requires precise values of population
      specific rates of incidence of polyp and its progression to cancerous stage.
      There has been a considerable amount of research in recent years on developing
      screening based CRC intervention strategies. However, these are not supported by
      population-specific mathematical estimates of progression rates. This paper
      addresses this need by developing a probability model that estimates polyp
      progression rates considering race and family history of CRC; note that, it is
      ethically infeasible to obtain polyp progression rates through clinical trials.
      We use the estimated rates to simulate the progression of polyps in the
      population of the State of Indiana, and also the population of a clinical trial
      conducted in the State of Minnesota, which was obtained from literature. The
      results from the simulations are used to validate the probability model.

PMID- 20922485
TI  - The RSM-scale: a pilot study on a new specific scale for self- and observer-rated
      quality of life in patients with schizophrenia.
AB  - PURPOSE: To develop and evaluate a self- and observer-rating scale on quality of
      life in patients suffering from schizophrenia with regard to the efficacy of
      atypical antipsychotics based on different dimensions and to apply within a pilot
      study. METHODS: Following review of existing scales and a prevalidation phase,
      the Riedel-Spellmann-Musil (RSM) scale was developed comprising 36 items assigned
      to different subscales. As reference scales, the Quality of Life Scale (QLS) and
      the Subjective Well-being Under Neuroleptic Treatment Scale-short version (SWN-K)
      were performed, psychopathology and adverse events were measured at all visits.
      Reliability was assessed using Cronbach's alpha, Pearson's correlation
      coefficients were used to assess construct validity, and Intraclass Correlation
      Coefficients (ICCs) were used for test-retest reliability. T tests were performed
      in normal distributed samples; otherwise Wilcoxon tests were used. RESULTS: One
      hundred and thirty-six patients were included in the study. Cronbach's alpha was
      0.917 for the self-rating and 0.915 for the interviewer-rating part. ICCs were
      >0.70 for all subscales. The self-rating part correlated strongly with the SWN-K
      and the observer part with the QLS. Changes in psychopathology over the study
      period and different levels of functioning were detected. CONCLUSION: The RSM
      scale is a new scale to assess the quality of life in different dimensions of
      patients with schizophrenia treated with antipsychotics and shows good internal
      consistency, test-retest reliability, construct and discriminant validity.

PMID- 20922486
TI  - NMR and X-ray structures of the putative sterol carrier protein 2 from Thermus
      thermophilus HB8 show conformational changes.
AB  - Sterol carrier protein 2 (SCP-2), also known as nonspecific lipid transfer
      protein, is a ubiquitous intracellular ~13 kDa protein found in mammals, insects,
      plants, archaea, and bacteria. Vertebrate SCP-2 has been implicated in a wide
      range of lipid-related functions in vitro, although its actual physiological role
      is still unknown. Tunnels in the protein serve as fatty acid binding vehicles.
      Here we report the first putative SCP-2 structure from a bacterium: specifically,
      the NMR and X-ray structures of the TTHA0401 protein (also designated as TT1886)
      from the extremely thermophilic bacterium Thermus thermophilus. The NMR structure
      and the two chain structures (chain A and chain B) of the asymmetric
      crystallographic unit (space group (P2(1)2(1)2(1))) revealed an internal cavity.
      However, this cavity is open to the outside, forming a tunnel, in only one of
      those structures (chain A, X-ray). The location of this tunnel is different from
      the one found in other SCP-2 proteins, and inaccessible cavities have not been
      seen before in SCP structures. We present evidence that at physiological
      concentrations, TTHA0401 likely exists as a monomer in equilibrium between open
      and closed conformations. This equilibrium is influenced by temperature-dependent
      dynamics, and is likely to be very different at the high temperatures preferred
      by this hyperthermophilic bacterium. Alternatively, another protein binding to
      TTHA0401 may induce a conformational change, which would constitute an intriguing
      metabolic regulation method in bacteria.

PMID- 20922487
TI  - Caloric restriction does not alter effects of aging in cardiac side population
      cells.
AB  - The aged heart displays a loss of cardiomyocyte number and function, possibly due
      to the senescence and decreased regenerative potential that has been observed in
      some cardiac progenitor cells. An important cardiac progenitor that has not been
      studied in the context of aging is the cardiac side population (CSP) cell. To
      address this, flow cytometry-assisted cell sorting was used to isolate CSP cells
      from adult (6-10 months old) and aged (24-32 months old) C57Bl/6 mice that were
      fed either a control diet or an anti-aging diet (caloric restriction, CR). Aging
      caused a 2.3-fold increase in the total number of CSP cells and a 3.2-fold
      increase in the cardiomyogenic sca1(+)/CD31(-) subpopulation. Aging did not
      affect markers of proliferation or senescence, including telomerase activity and
      expression of cell cycle genes, in sca1(+)/CD31(-) CSP cells. In contrast, the
      aged cells had reduced expression of genes associated with differentiation,
      including smooth muscle actin and cardiac muscle actin (5.1- and 3.2-fold,
      respectively). None of these age effects were altered by CR diet. Therefore, it
      appears that the manner in which CSP cells age is distinct from the aging of post
      mitotic tissue (and perhaps other progenitor cells) that can often be attenuated
      by CR.

PMID- 20922488
TI  - Carotid body function in aged rats: responses to hypoxia, ischemia, dopamine, and
      adenosine.
AB  - The carotid body (CB) is the main arterial chemoreceptor with a low threshold to
      hypoxia. CB activity is augmented by A(2)-adenosine receptors stimulation and
      attenuated by D(2)-dopamine receptors. The effect of aging on ventilatory
      responses mediated by the CB to hypoxia, ischemia, and to adenosine and dopamine
      administration is almost unknown. This study aims to investigate the ventilatory
      response to ischemia and to adenosine, dopamine, and their antagonists in old
      rats, as well as the effect of hypoxia on adenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate
      (cAMP) accumulation in the aged CB. In vivo experiments were performed on young
      and aged rats anesthetized with pentobarbitone and breathing spontaneously. CB
      ischemia was induced by bilateral common carotid occlusions. cAMP content was
      measured in CB incubated with different oxygen concentrations. Hyperoxia caused a
      decrease in cAMP in the CB at all ages, but no differences were found between
      normoxia and hypoxia or between young and old animals. The endogenous
      dopaminergic inhibitory tonus is slightly reduced. However, both the ventilation
      decrease caused by exogenous dopamine and the increase mediated by A(2A)
      adenosine receptors are not impaired in aged animals. The bradycardia induced by
      adenosine is attenuated in old rats. The CB's peripheral control of ventilation
      is preserved during aging. Concerns have also arisen regarding the clinical usage
      of adenosine to revert supraventricular tachycardia and the use of dopamine in
      critical care situations involving elderly people.

PMID- 20922489
TI  - Polychlorinated biphenyls and organochlorinated pesticides in birds from a
      contaminated region in South China: association with trophic level, tissue
      distribution and risk assessment.
AB  - PURPOSE: Birds have been used successfully for biomonitoring of the levels and
      effects of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in the environments; however,
      there is exceedingly little data on organochlorinated pesticide (OCPs) and
      polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) residues in bird inhabiting in China. In the
      present study, we detected the concentrations of PCBs,
      dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane and its metabolites (DDTs) and
      hexachlorocyclohexanes (HCHs) in muscle, liver and kidney of birds that inhabit
      in an e-waste recycling site. Associated with the stable isotope ratio (delta
      (15)N), we investigated the effect of trophic level on the body burdens of
      persistent contaminants in birds. The tissue distributions of contaminants in
      these birds were examined, and a preliminary risk assessment was also conducted.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Specimens from eight bird species were collected from
      Qingyuan County, Guangdong Province, South China. Pectoral muscle, liver and
      kidney tissues were Soxhlet-extracted and finally dissolved in isooctane. Both
      PCBs and OCPs were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The
      subsamples for nitrogen stable isotope analysis were lyophilized, ground and
      analyzed by a flash EA 112 series elemental analyzer interfaced with an isotope
      ration mass spectrometer. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: PCBs exhibited the highest
      concentrations among all target compounds, and a preliminary risk assessment
      suggested that adverse effects might occur in some birds for its high level.
      Generally, the concentrations of pollutants in liver and kidney were higher than
      those in muscle, which was mainly driven by passive diffusion to the 'lipid
      compartment'. Significant differences in level of contaminants were obtained
      among species due to the varieties in dietary composition and habitat. An
      increasing trend was obtained between concentrations of PCBs and DDTs with
      trophic levels; however, HCHs exhibited the same level among species.
      RECOMMENDATIONS AND PERSPECTIVES: Because of the e-waste recycling activities,
      the study area has been heavily polluted by PCBs. Studies on the species-specific
      hazard assessment associated with exposure to PCBs are urgently needed in the
      study of birds in the area.

PMID- 20922490
TI  - The role of 64-slice multi-detector computed tomography in the detection of
      subclinical atherosclerosis of the coronary artery.
AB  - Multi-detector computed tomography (MDCT) has been used for detecting or
      excluding coronary atherosclerotic stenosis in symptomatic patients. However, the
      role of MDCT for routine medical examination in asymptomatic, high-risk patients
      has not been established. We therefore conducted the present study to test the
      hypothesis that MDCT could be a valuable method for detecting subclinical
      coronary artery stenosis in asymptomatic patients. An observational,
      retrospective, single-centre study was conducted with a cohort of 1,529 patients
      (mean age, 56.4 +/- 8.3 years; 1,353 males) who had undergone MDCT as part of
      their general medical checkups from November 2005 to April 2008. The patients who
      had a past history of coronary artery disease, typical chest pain, or evidence of
      myocardial ischemia were excluded. During clinical follow up of these patients,
      the incidence of subclinical coronary stenosis and the usefulness of MDCT for
      routine medical examination in asymptomatic patients were investigated. Of the
      1,529 enrolled patients, 42.3% had hypertension, 13.5% had diabetes mellitus,
      7.7% had hyperlipidemia, and 40.4% were current smokers. Abnormal MDCT findings
      were noted in 560 (36.6%) patients, who were classified into two groups. One
      group had the presence coronary calcium with a luminal diameter stenosis of the
      coronary artery of <50% (n = 508, 33.2%). These patients were treated with
      medication or clinical follow-up. The other group had a luminal diameter stenosis
      of the coronary artery of >=50% with the presence or absence of coronary calcium
      (n = 52, 3.4%). These patients underwent a conventional coronary angiogram and
      intravascular ultrasound. A total of 29 of the 1,529 patients (1.9%) presented
      with insignificant stenosis or myocardial bridge, and 23 patients (1.5%)
      presented with significant stenosis. The patients with significant stenosis
      underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with stent implantation. Major
      adverse cardiac events occurred in only 2 patients who had been treated with PCI
      during a mean follow-up period of 387 +/- 253 days. The incidence of significant
      subclinical coronary stenosis as detected by MDCT in a general medical check-up
      was 3.4%, and the false-positive rate of MDCT for detecting significant coronary
      artery stenosis was 55.8% (29/52). 64-Slice MDCT can be a useful tool for
      noninvasive evaluation of coronary arteries in asymptomatic patients. Further
      study is needed to clarify the clinical implications of MDCT in general medical
      check-ups.

PMID- 20922491
TI  - Complex coronary artery fistulas in adults: evaluation with multidetector
      computed tomography.
AB  - Coronary artery fistulas (CAFs) are rare congenital or acquired abnormalities
      that have anomalous terminations of the coronary arteries. Although many patients
      with CAFs are asymptomatic, they can display various clinical features associated
      with ischemic heart disease or heart failure. Making an early diagnosis is
      important for the proper management and prevention of late symptoms and
      complications. Conventional coronary angiography and cardiac CT have been
      commonly performed to diagnose CAFs, but multi-detector computed tomography
      (MDCT) is now being widely applied for diagnosing cardiovascular anomalies, and
      the number of incidentally detected CAFs on MDCT has been increasing. Therefore,
      we have to be familiar with the image findings of CAFs, and especially the image
      findings of MDCT for making the correct diagnosis of CAFs. In this article, we
      illustrate the MDCT findings of various types of CAFs in adults and we review the
      pathophysiology and clinical features of CAFs.

PMID- 20922492
TI  - Physical therapy and chiropractic use among childhood cancer survivors with
      chronic disease: impact on health-related quality of life.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The use of rehabilitation services to address musculoskeletal,
      neurological and cardiovascular late effects among childhood cancer survivors
      could improve physical function and health-related quality-of-life (HRQL). We
      describe physical therapy (PT) and chiropractic utilization among childhood
      cancer survivors and their association with HRQL. METHODS: The sample included 5+
      year survivors from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study (N = 9,289). Questions
      addressing use of PT or chiropractic services and HRQL (Medical Outcomes Survey
      Short Form (SF-36)) were evaluated. Multivariable regression models compared PT
      and/or chiropractic utilization between survivors and siblings, and by diagnosis,
      treatment and demographic characteristics; associations between chronic disease,
      PT/chiropractic use, and HRQL were similarly evaluated. RESULTS: Survivors were
      not more likely to use PT (OR 1.0; 95% CI 0.8-1.2) or chiropractic (OR 0.8; 95%
      CI 0.7-1.0) services than siblings. More survivors reported using chiropractic
      (12.4%) than PT (9.2%) services. Older age and having health insurance were
      associated with utilization of either PT or chiropractic services. Grade 3-4
      chronic conditions and a CNS tumor or sarcoma history were associated with PT but
      not with chiropractic service utilization. Survivors with musculoskeletal (OR
      1.8; 95% CI 1.1-2.9), neurological (OR 3.4; 95% CI 1.6-6.9), or cardiovascular
      (OR 3.3; 95% CI 1.6-6.9) chronic conditions who used PT/chiropractic services
      were more likely to report poor physical health than survivors who did not use
      services. CONCLUSIONS: The reported prevalence of PT/chiropractic among survivors
      is consistent with that reported by siblings. Severity of late effects is
      associated with service use and with reporting poor physical health. IMPLICATIONS
      FOR CANCER SURVIVORS: Long-term childhood cancer survivors do not appear to
      utilize rehabilitation services to optimize physical function and support
      increased HRQL.

PMID- 20922493
TI  - Adolescent cancer survivors' smoking intentions are associated with aggression,
      attention, and smoking history.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The present study examines behavioral and psychosocial factors
      associated with smoking intentions and experimentation among adolescent survivors
      of pediatric cancer. METHODS: Adolescent survivors of brain tumor and acute
      lymphoblastic leukemia (n  =  99) provided information about their smoking
      histories and their intentions to smoke in the future. Behavior rating scales
      were completed by survivors, parents, and teachers. RESULTS: Past experimentation
      with smoking and higher levels of self-reported aggression were associated with
      intentions to smoke in the future (OR  =  4.18, 95% CI 1.02-17.04, and OR  = 
      1.08, 95% CI 1.01-1.15, respectively), while teacher-ratings of inattention in
      the classroom were negatively associated with intentions to smoke (OR  =  0.94,
      95% CI.88-.99), all p  < .05. Experimentation with smoking was more likely among
      older survivors (OR  =  1.76, 95% CI 1.16-2.66, p  < .01) and those whose parents
      had divorced (OR  =  4.40, 95% CI 1.21-16.06, p  < .05). DISCUSSION: A concerning
      minority of adolescent survivors have clear intentions to smoke, a behavior that
      adds to their overall health risk. Smoking intentions and experimentation are
      important precursors to regular smoking. Prevention efforts are needed to
      interrupt the progression from intentions and experimentation to established
      smoking and nicotine dependence in this medically vulnerable population.
      IMPLICATIONS FOR CANCER SURVIVORS: Assessment of an adolescent's history of
      parental divorce, past experimentation with smoking, and aggressive behavior will
      identify those survivors who are likely to consider smoking in the future.
      Screening for these characteristics will allow clinicians to be more vigilant in
      health promotion.

PMID- 20922495
TI  - Control of health care-associated infections (HAI): winning both the battles and
      the war.
AB  - At present, the United States (US) experiences its greatest life expectancy due
      mainly to improvements in mortality from cardiovascular diseases, which include
      coronary heart disease and stroke. These, in turn, are due largely to decreases
      in cigarette smoking as well as earlier and more aggressive diagnoses and
      treatments. These advances in health care delivery are, not surprisingly,
      accompanied by increasing numbers of complicating health care-associated
      infections (HAI). HAIs are a major and increasing cause of morbidity and
      mortality in the US as well as around the world. To win both the battles and the
      war against HAI requires a multidisciplinary approach to the vigorous
      implementation and maintenance of proper infection control procedures. This
      should include continuous surveillance and reinforcement of guidelines to enhance
      evidence-based practices to prevent and control HAI. It will also be necessary to
      implement a new paradigm of early and formal education of future health care
      providers into the biology of infection as well as the principles of infection
      control in the classroom and subsequently, with translation into their clinical
      training. Finally, there must also be the incorporation and expansion of
      continuing medical education for established health care providers about
      prevention and control of HAI.

PMID- 20922494
TI  - Primary care management of chronic kidney disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) causes substantial morbidity and
      mortality; however, there are limited data to comprehensively assess quality of
      care in this area. OBJECTIVE: To assess quality of care for CKD according to
      patient risk and identify correlates of improved care delivery. DESIGN:
      Retrospective cohort. SETTING: Fifteen health centers within a multi-site group
      practice in eastern Massachusetts. PARTICIPANTS: 166 primary care physicians
      caring for 11,774 patients with stages 3 or 4 CKD defined as two estimated
      glomerular filtration rates (eGFR) between 15 and 60. MAIN MEASURES: Two measures
      of kidney disease monitoring, five measures of cardiovascular disease management,
      four measures of metabolic bone disease and anemia management, and one measure of
      drug safety were extracted from the electronic health record. Primary care
      recognition of CKD was assessed as a problem list diagnosis, and nephrology co
      management was assessed as at least one visit with a nephrologist in the prior 12
      months. KEY RESULTS: Overall, 46% of patients were high risk for death based on
      the presence of diabetes, proteinuria, or an eGFR <45. Seventy percent of
      patients lacked annual urine protein testing, 46% had a blood pressure >=130/80
      mmHg and 25% were not receiving appropriate angiotensin blockade. Appropriate
      screening for anemia was common (76%), while screening rates for metabolic bone
      disease were low. Use of potentially harmful drugs was common (26%). Primary care
      physician recognition and nephrology co-management were both associated with
      improved quality of care, though rates of both were low (24% and 10%,
      respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Significant deficiencies in the quality of CKD care
      exist. Opportunities for improvement include increasing physician recognition of
      CKD and improving collaborative care with nephrology.

PMID- 20922497
TI  - Junior tutor programme--benefits and risks.

PMID- 20922496
TI  - Alterations in medical interpretation during routine primary care.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Increasing numbers of patients require medical interpretation, yet
      few studies have examined its accuracy or effect on health outcomes. OBJECTIVE:
      To understand how alterations in medical interpretation affect health care
      delivery to patients with limited English proficiency (LEP), we aimed to
      determine the frequency, type, and clinical significance of alterations. We
      focused on best-case encounters that involved trained, experienced interpreters
      interacting with established patients. DESIGN: We audio-recorded routine
      outpatient clinic visits in which a medical interpreter participated. Audiotapes
      were transcribed and translated into English. We identified and characterized
      alterations in interpretation and calculated their prevalence. PARTICIPANTS: In
      total, 38 patients, 16 interpreters, and 5 providers took part. Patients spoke
      Cantonese, Mandarin, Somali, Spanish, and Vietnamese, and received care for
      common chronic health conditions. MEASURES: Unlike previous methods that report
      numbers of alterations per interpreted encounter, we focused on alterations per
      utterance, which we defined as the unit of spoken content given to the
      interpreter to interpret. All alteration rates were calculated by dividing the
      number of alterations made during the encounter by the number of utterances for
      that encounter. We defined clinically significant changes as those with potential
      consequences for evaluation and treatment. KEY RESULTS: We found that 31% of all
      utterances during a routine clinical encounter contained an alteration. Only 5%
      of alterations were clinically significant, with 1% having a positive effect and
      4% having a negative effect on the clinical encounter. CONCLUSION: Even in a best
      case scenario, the rate of alteration remains substantial. Training interpreters
      and clinicians to address common patterns of alteration will markedly improve the
      quality of communication between providers and LEP patients.

PMID- 20922499
TI  - Whole blood thallium determination by GFAAS with high-frequency modulation
      polarization Zeeman effect background correction.
AB  - A new technique of blood thallium direct determination based on graphite furnace
      atomic absorption spectrometry with Zeeman background absorption correction
      system was designed. The developed technique does not require sample digestion.
      Sample treatment includes only a fivefold per volume dilution of blood sample
      with 0.1% (m/v) Triton X-100. L'vov integrated platform was modified with 400 MUg
      of Rh. Matrix modifier (200 MUg NH(4)NO(3) and 160 MUg Pd(NO(3))(2)) was
      suggested for coping chloride and blood organic matter interferences. Standard
      reference material (Clincheck(r) Plasma Control for trace elements) analysis was
      used for validation. Additional validation was performed by analyzing spiked
      blood samples in the whole dynamic range. The dynamic range was 2-50 MUg/L.
      Precision (RSD) was found <12%. Blood thallium limit of detection was 0.2 MUg/L.

PMID- 20922498
TI  - NAFLD and insulin resistance do not increase the risk of postoperative
      complications among patients undergoing bariatric surgery--a prospective
      analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and insulin resistance are
      common consequences of obesity and are highly prevalent among patients undergoing
      bariatric surgery. Insulin resistance and NAFLD have been reported to be
      associated with postoperative complications following major surgery. METHODS: We
      prospectively evaluated complications in a cohort of 437 consecutive patients
      undergoing bariatric surgery. Detailed metabolic profile was obtained prior to
      surgery, and liver biopsies were taken routinely during surgery. RESULTS: Mean
      age was 47.8 years (20-77), and mean body mass index (BMI) was 48.5 kg/m(2) (32
      94). Common co-morbid conditions were metabolic syndrome (79%), obstructive sleep
      apnea (73%), and hypertension (60%). Seventy-seven percent underwent Roux-en-Y
      gastric bypass, 15% biliopancreatic diversion with duodenal switch, and 8%
      adjustable gastric banding. The operative approach was laparoscopic in 81% of
      patients. Liver histology was normal in 22% of patients. Seventy-eight percent of
      patients had NAFLD. Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) was present in 18%.
      Advanced fibrosis (stage 3-4) was present in 5%. Complications were observed in
      25% of the cohort, the most frequent being infection, occurring in 14%. The wound
      was the most frequent site of infection (9%). There were no cases of
      postoperative hepatic decompensation. Reoperation was necessary in 7%. In
      univariate analysis, the factors associated with complications were male gender
      (p = 0.009), type and approach of surgery (p = 0.023 and p = 0.0001,
      respectively), BMI (p = 0.000), serum creatinine (p = 0.023), and serum albumin
      (p = 0.0001). In multivariate analysis, the independent factors associated with
      complications in bariatric surgery were BMI (OR 1.039, 95% CI 1.010-1.068; p =
      0.008), surgical approach (OR 2.696, 95% CI 1.547-4.698; p = 0.000), and serum
      albumin (OR 0.416, 95% CI 0.176-0.978; p = 0.044). NASH was not predictive of
      complications. CONCLUSIONS: Bariatric surgery is a safe and efficient treatment
      for obesity. The occurrence of NAFLD or NASH without portal hypertension should
      not preclude the procedure.

PMID- 20922500
TI  - Ensemble modeling coupled with six element concentrations in human blood for
      cancer diagnosis.
AB  - Six important metal contents (i.e., zinc, barium, magnesium, calcium, copper, and
      selenium) in blood samples coupled with an ensemble classification algorithm have
      been used for the classification of normal people and cancer patients. A dataset
      containing 42 healthy samples and 32 cancer samples was used for experiment. The
      prediction results from this method outperformed those from the newly developed
      support vector machine, i.e., a sensitivity of 100%, a specificity of 95.2%, and
      an overall accuracy of 98.6%. It seems that ELDA coupled with blood element
      analysis can serve as a valuable tool for diagnosing cancer in clinical practice.

PMID- 20922501
TI  - VIP-PACAP 2010: my own perspective on modulation of cognitive and emotional
      behavior.

PMID- 20922502
TI  - Depletion of intranuclear rodlets in mouse models of diabetes.
AB  - Intranuclear rodlets (INRs) are structures present within the nuclei of human
      insulin-secreting beta cells of the endocrine pancreas. Their physiological
      significance, and whether they are altered in disease, is unknown. In the present
      study, the proportion of pancreatic beta cells containing INRs was examined in
      mouse models of type II diabetes and in a model with improved beta cell function.
      To gain insights into the molecular regulators of INR formation, mice with a
      conditional adult beta cell-specific knockout of the serine/threonine protein
      kinase Lkb1 (Lkb1 adult beta cell knockout (LABKO) mice) were studied. To
      investigate INR changes in a pathophysiological context, beta cell INRs were
      examined in two models of human metabolic syndrome: (1) mice maintained on a high
      fat diet and (2) leptin-deficient ob/ob mice. The proportion of beta cells
      containing INRs was significantly reduced in LABKO mice. This reduction was not
      mediated by two key downstream effectors of Lkb1, mTor and Mark2. High-fat diet
      regimen reduced beta cell INR frequency by more than 40%, and leptin-deficient
      ob/ob mice exhibited a dramatically (19-fold) reduced INR frequency relative to
      wild-type mice. Taken together, our results support the view that INR formation
      in pancreatic beta cells is a dynamic and regulated process. The substantial
      depletion of beta cell INRs in LABKO and diabetic mice suggests their
      relationship to beta cell function and potential involvement in diabetes
      pathogenesis.

PMID- 20922503
TI  - The increase in the expression and hypomethylation of MUC4 gene with the
      progression of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.
AB  - The MUC4 gene could have a key role in the progression of pancreatic cancer, but
      the quantitative measurement of its expression in clinical tissue samples remains
      a challenge. The correlations between MUC4 promoter methylation status in vivo
      and either pancreatic cancer progression or MUC4 mRNA expression need to be
      demonstrated. We used the techniques of quantitative real-time PCR and DNA
      methylation-specific PCR combined microdissection to precisely detect MUC4
      expression and promoter methylation status in 116 microdissected foci from 57
      patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. Both mRNA expression and
      hypomethylation frequency increased from normal to precancerous lesions to
      pancreatic cancer. Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that high-level
      MUC4 expression (P = 0.008) and tumor-node-metastasis staging (P = 0.038) were
      significant independent risk factors for predicting the prognosis of 57 patients.
      The MUC4 mRNA expression was not significantly correlated with promoter
      methylation status in 30 foci of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. These results
      suggest that high mRNA expression and hypomethylation of the MUC4 gene could be
      involved in carcinogenesis and in the malignant development of pancreatic ductal
      adenocarcinoma. The MUC4 mRNA expression may become a new prognostic marker for
      pancreatic cancer. Microdissection-based quantitative real-time PCR and
      methylation-specific PCR contribute to the quantitative detection of MUC4
      expression in clinical samples and reflect the epigenetic regulatory mechanisms
      of MUC4 in vivo.

PMID- 20922504
TI  - Update on surgical management for asymptomatic carotid stenosis.
AB  - The management of asymptomatic carotid stenosis has been a topic of considerable
      debate. In this article, we aim to critically review the recent literature as it
      pertains to surgical management of asymptomatic carotid stenosis. We will explore
      the most recent trials looking at advancements in best medical therapy, as well
      as trials that compare traditional carotid endarterectomy to carotid stenting. In
      addition, we will review the current literature on surgical technique and
      perioperative risk management. Overall, our current recommendation is for
      surgical management of asymptomatic carotid disease for stenoses >= 80% in
      patients who are of reasonable perioperative risk.

PMID- 20922505
TI  - Telemedicine or telephone consultation in patients with acute stroke.
AB  - The advantages of telephone consultations for patients with acute stroke
      syndromes are history of use, simplicity, availability, portability, short
      consultation time, and facile implementation. The favorable aspects of
      telemedicine consultations are high accuracy, reliability, efficacy, and
      effectiveness, the growing technological sophistication of the offerings and
      features, and the high grade of recommendation. Between the two modalities,
      telemedicine is optimal for assessing patients with acute stroke and superior to
      telephone-only evaluations. Telephone consultations can serve as an adequate
      ancillary, adjunctive, supplemental, or back-up modality for a telestroke
      network. With recent advances in one-way/two-way video and teleradiology features
      adapted to Smartphones, the dividing line between "telephone" and "telemedicine"
      consultations for acute stroke is indistinct. Telestroke providers prefer a
      figurative "tool belt" of technologies available to adapt to individual
      consultation requirements.

PMID- 20922506
TI  - Effects of early intervention on the course of bipolar disorder: theories and
      realities.
AB  - Given the severity and early onset of pediatric bipolar disorder, early
      intervention is important to bring about recovery and alter the course of the
      illness. There is a new and burgeoning body of literature on the biological basis
      of early signs of the illness and the mechanistic understanding of treatment
      interventions. Biological findings based on multimodal imaging, genomic studies
      of cellular proteins, and performance-based findings of neurocognitive studies
      are beginning to assemble a cohesive and interlinked model of systems
      neuroscience. This offers the promise of identifying biomarkers, predictors of
      illness, and treatment outcomes. In complement, at the tier of clinical
      application is a multitude of efficacy trials, yet neither a single medication
      nor a combination of choices seems to suffice in reality. The current review
      develops a point of view bridging scientific developments to where comprehensive,
      multipronged treatment strategies find their clinical application-a model that is
      similarly applicable in adult bipolar disorder.

PMID- 20922507
TI  - The role of vitamin D in asthmatic children.

PMID- 20922508
TI  - Exercise-induced anaphylaxis: an update on diagnosis and treatment.
AB  - Exercise-induced anaphylaxis (EIA) and food-dependent, exercise-induced
      anaphylaxis (FDEIA) are rare but potentially life-threatening clinical syndromes
      in which association with exercise is crucial. The range of triggering physical
      activities is broad, including as mild an effort as a stroll. EIA is not fully
      repeatable (ie, the same exercise may not always result in anaphylaxis in a given
      patient). In FDEIA, the combined ingestion of sensitizing food and exercise is
      necessary to precipitate symptoms. Clinical features and management do not differ
      significantly from other types of anaphylaxis. The pathophysiology of EIA and
      FDEIA is not fully understood. Different hypotheses concerning the possible
      influence of exercise on the development of anaphylactic symptoms are taken into
      consideration. These include increased gastrointestinal permeability, blood flow
      redistribution, and most likely increased osmolality. This article also describes
      current diagnostic and therapeutic possibilities, including changes in lifestyle
      and preventive properties of antiallergic drugs as well as acute treatment of
      these dangerous syndromes.

PMID- 20922509
TI  - Diagnosis of food allergy: epicutaneous skin tests, in vitro tests, and oral food
      challenge.
AB  - Food allergy is becoming an increasingly common diagnosis. Because of this
      increase in prevalence, it is imperative that physicians evaluating patients with
      possible adverse reactions to foods understand the currently available assays and
      how they should best be used to accurately diagnose the disease. Simple tests
      such as skin prick testing (SPT) and serum food-specific IgE testing are the most
      commonly used diagnostic tests to evaluate for IgE-mediated food reactions.
      However, these tests, which measure sensitization and not clinical allergy, are
      not without pitfalls, and their utility must be appreciated to avoid over- and
      underdiagnosis. Although the physician-supervised oral food challenge remains the
      gold standard for food allergy diagnosis, a careful medical history paired with
      SPT and serum food-specific IgE testing often can provide a reliable diagnosis.
      In this review, we examine the usefulness and pitfalls of SPT and serum food
      specific IgE levels, as well as examine atopy patch testing and other emerging
      tests, such as component-resolved diagnostics and the basophil activation test.
      Finally, we describe the use of the double-blind, placebo-controlled oral food
      challenge as the current gold standard for food allergy diagnosis.

PMID- 20922510
TI  - Improving coping skills for self-management of treatment side effects can reduce
      antiretroviral medication nonadherence among people living with HIV.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) treatment side effects have a
      deleterious impact on treatment adherence, which is necessary to optimize
      treatment outcomes including morbidity and mortality. PURPOSE: To examine the
      effect of the Balance Project intervention, a five-session, individually
      delivered HIV treatment side effects coping skills intervention on antiretroviral
      medication adherence. METHODS: HIV+ men and women (N = 249) on antiretroviral
      therapy (ART) with self-reported high levels of ART side effect distress were
      randomized to intervention or treatment as usual. The primary outcome was self
      reported ART adherence as measured by a combined 3-day and 30-day adherence
      assessment. RESULTS: Intent-to-treat analyses revealed a significant difference
      in rates of nonadherence between intervention and control participants across the
      follow-up time points such that those in the intervention condition were less
      likely to report nonadherence. Secondary analyses revealed that intervention
      participants were more likely to seek information about side effects and social
      support in efforts to cope with side effects. CONCLUSIONS: Interventions focusing
      on skills related to ART side-effects management show promise for improving ART
      adherence among persons experiencing high levels of perceived ART side effects.

PMID- 20922511
TI  - Impact of seropositivity to Chlamydia pneumoniae and anti-hHSP60 on
      cardiovascular events in hemodialysis patients.
AB  - Autoimmunity to heat shock protein 60 (HSP60) has been related to
      atherosclerosis. Chlamydia pneumoniae (CP), the most studied infectious agent
      implicated in promoting atherosclerosis, produces a form of HSP60, which can
      induce an autoimmune response, due to high antigenic homology with human HSP60
      (hHSP60). In this study, we evaluated the correlations among anti-hHSP60
      antibodies, CP infection, and cardiovascular disease (CVD) in a high-risk
      population, such as patients undergoing hemodialysis (HD). Thirty-two patients
      (67.9 +/- 13.9 years; male/female, 23:9) on regular HD were enrolled. Global
      absolute cardiovascular risk (GCR) was assessed using the Italian CUORE Project's
      risk charts, which evaluate age, gender, smoking habits, diabetes, systolic blood
      pressure, and serum cholesterol. The occurrence of cardiovascular events during a
      24-month follow-up was recorded. Seropositivity to CP and the presence of anti
      hHSP60 antibodies were tested by specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays.
      Inflammation was assessed by measurement of C-reactive protein (CRP) serum
      levels. Fifteen healthy sex and age-matched (61.9 +/- 9.5 years; male/female,
      11:4) subjects were the control group. Fifteen of 32 patients resulted
      seropositive for CP. CP + patients were older than CP-, while they did not differ
      for GCR, CRP, and dialytic parameters. CVD incidence was significantly higher in
      CP+ (9 CP+ vs 2 CP-, p < 0.05). Cox analysis recognized that the incidence of CVD
      was independently correlated with seropositivity to CP (HR, 7.59; p = 0.01; 95%
      CI = 1.63-35.4). On the other hand, there were no significant differences in anti
      hHSP60 levels among CP+, CP- and healthy subjects: 18.11 MUg/mL (14.8-47.8), 31.4
      MUg/mL (23.2-75.3), and 24.72 MUg/mL (17.7-41.1), respectively. Anti-hHSP60 did
      not correlate to GCR, CRP, and incidence of CVD. In conclusion, our data suggest
      that anti-hHSP60 autoimmune response is not related to CP infection and CP
      related CVD risk in HD patients.

PMID- 20922513
TI  - The impact of a medical toxicology fellowship on the training of future emergency
      medicine residents.

PMID- 20922514
TI  - Knowledge and health care-seeking behavior in relation to gynecological
      malignancies in India: a study of the patients with gynecological malignancies in
      a tertiary care hospital of Kolkata.
AB  - This cross-sectional observational study was undertaken to find out the knowledge
      about gynecological malignancies and health care-seeking behavior of patients
      with gynecological malignancies. In a gynecology out-patient clinic in Kolkata,
      India, the patients with the suggestive symptoms of gynecological malignancies
      were screened out. Their diagnoses were confirmed by histopathology. One hundred
      thirteen patients with histopathologically confirmed gynecological malignancies
      were interviewed. Eleven patients (9.7%) knew that white discharge or bleeding
      per vagina was the early symptom and 38 (33.6%) patients knew that gynecological
      malignancies were treatable. Fifty-six patients (49.5%) had discussed about their
      symptoms first with their husbands. Most of the patients (91 patients or 80.5%)
      had visited a private health facility first for their symptoms. Educational level
      of the patients was found to be inversely associated with the time of
      presentation at this hospital. This study highlights the need to increase the
      awareness about gynecological malignancies among women and the community.

PMID- 20922515
TI  - [Patients with bladder cancer in clinical stage T2 : survival benefit of
      downstaging in comparison to patients with confirmed muscle invasion in
      cystectomy specimens].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Few and partially contradictory data are available regarding the
      prognostic signature of downstaging of muscle-invasive clinical tumour stages in
      patients treated with radical cystectomy. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      Clinicopathological parameters of 1,643 patients (study group, SG) treated with
      radical cystectomy due to muscle-invasive urothelial bladder cancer were
      summarized in a multi-institutional database. Patients of the SG fulfilled the
      following conditions: clinical tumour stage T2 N0 M0 and no administration of
      neoadjuvant radiation or chemotherapy. Cancer-specific survival (CSS) rates were
      calculated referring to pathological tumour stages in cystectomy specimens (<pT2,
      pT2, >pT2) (mean follow-up: 51 months). Furthermore, a multivariable model
      integrating clinical information was developed in order to predict the
      probability of downstaging. RESULTS: A total of 173 patients (10.5%) of the SG
      presented with downstaging in pathological tumour stages (pT0: 4.8%, pTa: 0.4%,
      pTis: 1.3%, pT1: 4.1%); 12 of these patients had positive lymph nodes (7%, in
      comparison with 21% pN+ of pT2 tumours and 43% of >pT2 tumours). Patients with
      tumour stages <pT2, pT2 and >pT2 had CSS rates after 5 years of 89, 69 and 46%,
      respectively (p<0.001). In a multivariable Cox model the presence of pathological
      downstaging resulted in a significant reduction of cancer-specific mortality (HR
      0.30; 95% CI 0.18-0.50). By logistic regression analysis the date of TURB
      (benefit for more recent operations) was identified as the only independent
      predictor for downstaging of muscle-invasive clinical tumour stages. Age, gender,
      grading and associated Tis in the TURB did not reveal any significant influence.
      CONCLUSION: Patients with muscle-invasive clinical tumour stages and downstaging
      in cystectomy specimens represent a subgroup with significantly enhanced CSS
      rates. Further trials that integrate the parameters tumour size, stages cT2a vs
      cT2b and focality are required in order to define the independent prognostic
      signature of downstaging of tumour stages more precisely.

PMID- 20922516
TI  - Analysis and aging of unsaturated polyester resins in contemporary art
      installations by NMR spectroscopy.
AB  - Two original art installations constructed from unsaturated polyester resins
      (UPR) and four different reference UPR products (before and after UVB aging) were
      analyzed by high-resolution 1D and 2D nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)
      spectroscopy. Breaking strain studies were also conducted for the four UPR model
      products before and after different aging procedures (moisture, UVB exposure,
      melt/freeze). NMR analysis of the chemical composition of the UPR resin extracts
      showed they contain several low MW organic compounds and oligomers rich in polar 
      OH groups that play a significant role in the degradation behavior of the
      composite UPR materials. Statistical analysis of the NMR compositional data
      showed that styrene and benzaldehyde contents can be used to differentiate
      between fresh and aged UPR samples. The phthalate and propylene glycol unit
      speciation (esterified, primary or secondary -OH) of the extracts provided
      evidence that UPR resin C was used in the construction of the two art
      installations, and direct comparison of (1)H and (13)C NMR spectra verified this
      compositional similarity. UPR resin C was shown by both NMR and breaking strain
      studies to be the reference UPR most susceptible to degradation by different
      aging procedures, a characteristic attributed to the lower styrene content of
      resin C.

PMID- 20922517
TI  - Comparison of different chemometric and analytical methods for the prediction of
      particle size distribution in pharmaceutical powders.
AB  - This work compares the estimation of the particle size distribution of a
      pharmaceutical powder using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS), powder flowability
      properties, and components concentration. The estimations were made by
      considering the former data blocks separately and together using a multi-block
      approach. The powders were based on a formulation of paracetamol as the
      pharmaceutical active ingredient. The reference method used to determine particle
      size distribution was sieving. Partial least squares methods were used to
      estimate the multivariate regression models, and the results were compared in
      terms of figures of merit. It was shown that the partial least squares methods
      gave similar prediction errors. Regarding the data blocks used, the NIRS block
      was proven the most advantageous to estimate the particle size distribution. The
      prediction error of the NIRS block was similar to the other data blocks with
      additional advantages such as less generalization problems and the possibility of
      its use to predict additional physical and chemical properties with an
      improvement to analysis time. The multi-block approach produced the worst results
      but nevertheless allowed a deeper understanding of the individual contributions
      of the data blocks in the prediction of the particle size distribution.

PMID- 20922512
TI  - Models of calcium dynamics in cerebellar granule cells.
AB  - Intracellular calcium dynamics is critical for many functions of cerebellar
      granule cells (GrCs) including membrane excitability, synaptic plasticity,
      apoptosis, and regulation of gene transcription. Recent measurements of calcium
      responses in GrCs to depolarization and synaptic stimulation reveal spatial
      compartmentalization and heterogeneity within dendrites of these cells. However,
      the main determinants of local calcium dynamics in GrCs are still poorly
      understood. One reason is that there have been few published studies of calcium
      dynamics in intact GrCs in their native environment. In the absence of complete
      information, biophysically realistic models are useful for testing whether
      specific Ca(2+) handling mechanisms may account for existing experimental
      observations. Simulation results can be used to identify critical measurements
      that would discriminate between different models. In this review, we briefly
      describe experimental studies and phenomenological models of Ca(2+) signaling in
      GrC, and then discuss a particular biophysical model, with a special emphasis on
      an approach for obtaining information regarding the distribution of Ca(2+)
      handling systems under conditions of incomplete experimental data. Use of this
      approach suggests that Ca(2+) channels and fixed endogenous Ca(2+) buffers are
      highly heterogeneously distributed in GrCs. Research avenues for investigating
      calcium dynamics in GrCs by a combination of experimental and modeling studies
      are proposed.

PMID- 20922518
TI  - Protamine neutralisation of low molecular weight heparins and their
      oligosaccharide components.
AB  - Protamine sulphate is an effective inhibitor of heparin and is used clinically to
      neutralise both low molecular weight heparins (LMWH) and unfractionated heparin
      (UFH). However, protamine sulphate does not fully counter the anti-Xa effect of
      LMWH, even in excess (>40 MUg to 1 IU/ml). To investigate the molecular basis for
      this observation, the residual potencies in the presence and absence of plasma as
      well as the molecular weight profiles of commercial LMWH neutralised with
      increasing amounts of protamine were measured. Materials over 5000 Da are
      preferentially neutralised by protamine. To further investigate this molecular
      weight dependence, monodisperse oligosaccharides were prepared from three
      commercial LMWHs. The specific anti-Xa activity for the fractions increased with
      molecular weight, and was found to vary between the three preparations for
      oligosaccharides of the same molecular weight. Our results indicate that
      protamine sulphate neutralisation is largely dependent on molecular weight,
      leading to the implication that LMWHs containing a larger proportion of small
      oligosaccharides will not be as effectively neutralised. Protamine sulphate
      neutralisation of any given LMWH is also affected by the specific anticoagulant
      activities of its low molecular weight components, which varies between LMWH
      products, presumably with the method of manufacture.

PMID- 20922519
TI  - Analytical methods in DNA and protein adduct analysis.
AB  - DNA or protein adducts are reaction products of endogenous or exogenous chemicals
      and cellular macromolecules. Adducts are useful in toxicological studies and/or
      human biomonitoring exercises. In particular, DNA damage provides invaluable
      information for risk analysis. Second, metabolites or conjugates can be regarded
      as markers of phase II reactions though they may not give accurate information
      about the levels of reactive and damage-provoking reactive compounds or
      intermediates. Electrophiles are often short-lived molecules and therefore
      difficult to monitor. In contrast, adducts are often chemically stable, though
      their levels in biological samples are low, which makes their detection
      challenging. The assay of adducts is similar to the analysis of any other trace
      organic molecule, i.e. problems with the matrix and small amounts of analytes in
      samples. The (32)P-postlabelling assay is a specific method for DNA adducts but
      immunochemical and fluorescence-based methods have been developed which can
      detect adducts linked to both DNA and protein. Tandem mass spectrometry,
      particularly if combined with ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography, is
      currently the recommended detection technique; however investigators are striving
      to develop novel ways to achieve greater sensitivity. Standards are a
      prerequisite in adduct analysis, but unfortunately they are seldom commercially
      available.

PMID- 20922521
TI  - Methods for conducting bioassays using embryos and larvae of Pacific herring,
      Clupea pallasi.
AB  - The rapid decrease of several stocks of Pacific herring, Clupea pallasi, in Puget
      Sound, Washington, has led to concerns about the effects of industrial and
      nonpoint source contamination on the embryo and larval stages of this and related
      forage fish species. To address these concerns, the state of Washington and
      several industries have funded efforts to develop embryo and larval bioassay
      protocols that can be used by commercial laboratories for routine effluent
      testing. This article presents the results of research to develop herring embryo
      and larval bioassay protocols. Factors evaluated during protocol development
      included temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen (DO), light intensity,
      photoperiod, larval feeding regimes, use of brine and artificial sea salts, gonad
      sources, collection methods, and egg quality.

PMID- 20922523
TI  - Autoimmune hemolytic anemia and autoimmune neutropenia in a child with
      erythroblastopenia of childhood (TEC) caused by human herpesvirus-6 (HHV-6).

PMID- 20922522
TI  - Automatic, three-segment, MR-based attenuation correction for whole-body PET/MR
      data.
AB  - PURPOSE: The combination of positron emission tomography (PET) and magnetic
      resonance (MR) tomography in a single device is anticipated to be the next step
      following PET/CT for future molecular imaging application. Compared to CT, the
      main advantages of MR are versatile soft tissue contrast and its capability to
      acquire functional information without ionizing radiation. However, MR is not
      capable of measuring a physical quantity that would allow a direct derivation of
      the attenuation values for high-energy photons. METHODS: To overcome this
      problem, we propose a fully automated approach that uses a dedicated T1-weighted
      MR sequence in combination with a customized image processing technique to derive
      attenuation maps for whole-body PET. The algorithm automatically identifies the
      outer contour of the body and the lungs using region-growing techniques in
      combination with an intensity analysis for automatic threshold estimation. No
      user interaction is required to generate the attenuation map. RESULTS: The
      accuracy of the proposed MR-based attenuation correction (AC) approach was
      evaluated in a clinical study using whole-body PET/CT and MR images of the same
      patients (n = 15). The segmentation of the body and lung contour (L-R directions)
      was evaluated via a four-point scale in comparison to the original MR image (mean
      values >3.8). PET images were reconstructed using elastically registered MR-based
      and CT-based (segmented and non-segmented) attenuation maps. The MR-based AC
      showed similar behaviour as CT-based AC and similar accuracy as offered by
      segmented CT-based AC. Standardized uptake value (SUV) comparisons with reference
      to CT-based AC using predefined attenuation coefficients showed the largest
      difference for bone lesions (mean value +/- standard variation of SUV(max): -3.0%
      +/- 3.9% for MR; -6.5% +/- 4.1% for segmented CT). A blind comparison of PET
      images corrected with segmented MR-based, CT-based and segmented CT-based AC
      afforded identical lesion detectability, but slight differences in image quality
      were found. CONCLUSION: Our MR-based attenuation correction method offers similar
      correction accuracy as offered by segmented CT. According to the specialists
      involved in the blind study, these differences do not affect the diagnostic value
      of the PET images.

PMID- 20922524
TI  - Long-term follow-up of patients with chronic myeloid leukemia having received
      autologous stem cell transplantation.
AB  - Prior to introduction of imatinib mesylate, the median survival of chronic
      myeloid leukemia (CML) patients was approximately 60 months and the standard
      treatment with interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) resulted in major cytogenetic
      responses of 20-25%. As an alternative treatment approach besides allogeneic
      transplantation, intensive chemotherapy followed by autologous hematopoietic stem
      cell transplantation (autoHSCT) was investigated at that time with the rationale
      of debulking disease burden and mobilization and transplantation of Philadelphia
      chromosome-negative (Ph-) stem cells. In the era of tyrosine kinase inhibitors as
      state-of-the-art therapy for CML, the concept of autoHSCT has attracted only
      little interest and long-term follow-up and outcome data after autoHSCT in CML
      patients is scarce. In this long-term analysis, we report on 21 CML patients,
      mobilized in early chronic phase and transplanted with largely Ph- grafts, who
      received IFNalpha as maintenance therapy. Imatinib mesylate was administered upon
      cytogenetic relapse or disease progression while on IFN-alpha. The 10-year
      survival was 61% and 11 patients (52%) were alive at a median follow-up of 12.5
      years (range 0.3-13.8) with eight patients in complete hematologic remission
      (CHR) and three of eight in major molecular remission (MMR). While all patients
      in MMR and two of five patients in CHR received imatinib, it is noteworthy that
      three patients remaining in CHR only received IFN-alpha maintenance after
      autoHSCT. With the limitations of a small patient population, this is the longest
      follow-up analysis demonstrating that autoHSCT in CML is very efficient to debulk
      the disease, restore Ph-negative hematopoiesis, and is able to induce major and
      sustained molecular responses in the majority of patients with substantial long
      term survival rates.

PMID- 20922525
TI  - Hydralazine and magnesium valproate as epigenetic treatment for myelodysplastic
      syndrome. Preliminary results of a phase-II trial.
AB  - Decitabine and azacitidine, two DNA methyltransferase (DNMT) inhibitors, are the
      current standard of treatment for myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). Histone
      deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors are also being tested against MDS. Both drug
      classes synergize in their gene reactivating and anticancer activities. The
      combination of hydralazine and valproate (Transkrip(r)), a DNMT and HDAC
      inhibitor, respectively), has been developed as epigenetic therapy under the drug
      repositioning concept. To evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of
      hydralazine and valproate against MDS, an open phase-II study for previously
      treated patients with MDS was conducted. The hydralazine dose was given according
      with the acetylator phenotype, and valproate was dosed at 30 mg/kg/day. Response
      was graded with International Working Group criteria. Toxicity was evaluated by
      the Common Toxemia Criteria-National Cancer Institute version 3 scale. From
      November 2007 to January 2010, 12 patients were included. Median age+/-SD was
      53+/-19.78 years (range, 23-79 years); median time from diagnosis to inclusion in
      the study was 7.9 months (range 2.6-36.1 months). Median of previous treatment
      was 2 (range, 1-6). Refractory cytopenia with multilineage dysplasia was
      diagnosed in ten cases, and refractory anemia with excess of blasts in two.
      Overall response was documented in six (50%) of 12 cases, including one CR, one
      PR, and four hematological improvements of the erythroid series. Two patients
      (16.6%) progressed to acute myeloid leukemia. Hemoglobin increased from 7.4 to
      10.3 g/dL (in 13 weeks), neutrophils, from 1.1 to 2.0 (in 3 weeks), and
      platelets, from 66*10(9) to 72*10(9)/L (in 2 weeks). Transfusional requirements
      decreased from 2.3 to 0 U bi-monthly for red blood cells and from 0.5 to 0 U bi
      monthly for platelets in responding patients. Main toxicities were mild,
      including somnolence and nausea. Preliminary results of this phase-II study
      suggest that the combination of hydralazine and valproate is a promising non
      toxic and effective therapy for MDS.

PMID- 20922526
TI  - The role of zinc protoporphyrin measurement in the differentiation between
      primary myelofibrosis and essential thrombocythaemia.
AB  - The differentiation between primary myelofibrosis (PMF) and essential
      thrombocythaemia (ET) may be difficult especially in early-stage disease. In PMF,
      increased levels of inflammatory cytokines induce impaired iron utilisation and
      disturbed erythropoiesis. In conditions with impaired iron support to
      erythropoiesis, zinc protoporphyrin (ZPP) is produced instead of heme. Here, we
      investigate whether ZPP concentration can be useful in the differentiation
      between PMF and ET. Seventy newly diagnosed patients (PMF, n=24; ET, n=46) were
      analysed. Intraerythrocytic ZPP concentration (normal<=40 MUmol/mol heme) was
      measured by an Aviv front-face haematofluorometer. In PMF, ZPP concentrations
      were significantly increased when compared to ET (99+/-37 MUmol/mol heme vs. 36+/
      13 MUmol/mol heme, p<0.0001). There was also a significant difference between
      early-stage PMF and advanced disease (77+/-30 MUmol/mol heme vs. 122+/-31
      MUmol/mol heme, p=0.003). ZPP>76 MUmol/mol heme as observed in 71% of PMF
      patients were not seen in ET. In PMF patients responding to immunosuppressive
      treatment (n=4), the increase in haemoglobin was accompanied by declining ZPP. In
      summary, by detecting the disturbed iron metabolism common in PMF, ZPP may assist
      in the differentiation between PMF and ET. Concentrations>60 MUmol/mol heme are
      unlikely in ET if iron deficiency is excluded. ZPP determination is also useful
      for monitoring the effect of therapy in PMF.

PMID- 20922527
TI  - Long-term outcome of hemizygous and heterozygous carriers of a germline GATA1
      (G208R) mutation.
AB  - The transcriptional regulator GATA1 is crucially involved in megakaryocytopoiesis
      and erythropoiesis. Mutations of the gene which is located on the X chromosome
      have been associated with platelet and red blood cell abnormalities. We
      identified a family with a GATA1 (G208R) mutation in whom a low male birth rate
      and frequent miscarriages among heterozygous females suggested increased fetal
      death in male hemizygotes. Female mutation carriers had normal or near normal
      hemoglobin levels and platelet counts ranging from normal to severely reduced,
      probably reflecting skewed X chromosome inactivation. Platelets were dimorphous,
      and thrombocytopenia was associated with erythroblastosis. The only living male
      mutation carrier had severe macrothrombocytopenia with life-threatening bleeding
      episodes, moderate to severe anemia, eosinopenia, skeletal abnormalities, and
      abundant extramedullary hematopoiesis. Long-term sequelae in the 50-year-old
      patient included unilateral nephrectomy following misinterpretation of paraspinal
      hematopoiesis as renal cancer, spinal stenosis which was possibly favored by
      progressive bone marrow expansion, and severe secondary gout.

PMID- 20922528
TI  - Costs of managing severe immune thrombocytopenia in adults: a retrospective
      analysis.
AB  - This study aims to report resource utilisation and annual cost for chronic immune
      thrombocytopenia (ITP) patients enrolled consecutively and followed for 1 year. A
      single-centre, single-arm, retrospective 1-year observational cohort study of
      adult patients with chronic ITP from a French hospital was conducted. Healthcare
      resource utilisation and mean cost per patient (with 95% confidence intervals)
      were estimated for the whole group. Patients requiring at least one
      hospitalisation formed subgroup 1. Patients with the most severe category of
      disease formed subgroup 2 [defined as hospitalised patients with >=1
      immunoglobulin (IVIg) infusion (usually reserved for those with bleeding
      score>8)]. Fifty-seven patients (42F/15M) with a mean age of 48 years (SD=19) at
      ITP diagnosis were studied. Mean platelet count at diagnosis was 28+/-26*109/L.
      Mean duration of ITP was 3.1 years (SD=2); eight patients had undergone
      splenectomy at baseline. Subgroup 1 included 27 patients who were hospitalised
      (full hospitalisation, n=23; and/or day hospitalisation, n=8). Of those, 12
      patients received at least one IVIg infusion during hospitalisation (subgroup 2).
      Total mean cost per patient for the 1-year study period was ?7,293 (95% CI=3,369
      13,584) for the whole group, ?15,334 (95% CI=7,876-27,459) for subgroup 1 and
      ?26,581 (95% CI=12,241-50,578) for subgroup 2. IVIg accounted for 33% of costs
      for subgroup 1 and up to 43% of costs for patients with more severe disease
      (subgroup 2). Management of adults with chronic ITP is costly in France,
      especially for patients with severe disease. IVIg use was a major cost driver.

PMID- 20922529
TI  - [Effect of applanation tonometry on precision of biometry measurements].
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of applanation
      tonometry on the accuracy of biometric measurements and the reproducibility of
      keratometric measurements. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In this clinical prospective
      study a total of 16 patients were enrolled who presented for cataract surgery on
      30 eyes. Biometry measurements were made using an IOLMaster optical biometer
      before and 10 min after standard Goldmann applanation tonometry. Local anesthesia
      was achieved by administering one drop of fluorescein-stained oxybuprocaine 0.4%.
      RESULTS: The mean absolute difference of intraocular lens power for emmetropia
      was 0.31 +/- 0.33 D (range -1.56 to +1.12 D) and the mean standard deviation for
      R1 and R2 (n=28 eyes) was 0.014 +/- 0.013 mm before and 0.024 +/- 0.021 mm after
      tonometry. This difference was statistically significant (t-test, p<0.01).
      Moderate to severe irregular corneal surfaces were noted in some cases after
      tonometry. CONCLUSIONS: Local anesthesia and applanation tonometry reduced the
      accuracy of IOL power calculations with differences exceeding +/- 1 D and the
      reliability of consecutive keratometry measurements decreased significantly.
      Therefore, it is advisable to perform biometry measurements at the very beginning
      of the preoperative examination.

PMID- 20922530
TI  - [Astigmatic keratotomy with the femtosecond laser: correction of high
      astigmatisms after keratoplasty].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate a novel technique for the
      correction of postoperative astigmatism after penetrating keratoplasty with the
      use of the femtosecond laser creating astigmatic keratotomies (femto-AK) in the
      scope of a retrospective case series. METHODS: Clinical data of ten eyes of nine
      patients with high residual astigmatism after penetrating keratoplasty undergoing
      paired femto-AK using a 60-kHz femtosecond laser (IntraLaseTM, AMO) were
      analyzed. A new software algorithm was used to create paired arcuate cuts deep
      into the donor corneal button with different cut angles. Target values were
      refraction, uncorrected visual acuity, best corrected visual acuity, topographic
      data (Orbscan(r), Bausch & Lomb, Rochester, NY, USA), and corneal wavefront
      analysis using Visual Optics Lab (VOL)-Pro 7.14 Software (Sarver and Associates).
      Vector analysis was performed using the Holladay, Cravy and Koch formula.
      Statistical analysis was performed to detect significances between visits using
      Student's t test. RESULTS: All procedures were performed without any major
      complications. The mean follow-up was 13 months. The mean patient age was 48.7
      years. The preoperative mean uncorrected visual acuity (logMAR) was 1.27, best
      corrected visual acuity 0.55, mean subjective cylinder -7.4 D, and mean
      topometric astigmatism 9.3 D. The postoperative mean uncorrected visual acuity
      (logMAR) was 1.12, best corrected visual acuity 0.47, mean subjective cylinder 
      4.1 D, and mean topometric astigmatism 6.5 D. Differences between corneal higher
      order aberrations showed a high standard deviation and were therefore not
      statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: Astigmatic keratotomy using the
      femtosecond laser seems to be a safe and effective tool for the correction of
      higher corneal astigmatisms. Due to the biomechanical properties of the cornea
      and missing empirical data for the novel femto-AK technology, higher numbers of
      patients are necessary to develop optimal treatment nomograms.

PMID- 20922531
TI  - [A topodiagnostically characteristic visual field defect].
AB  - A 69-year-old female patient presented with unilateral optic nerve atrophy and
      visual loss. The visual field examination showed not only a subtotal visual field
      loss in the affected eye but also a visual field defect in the other eye which
      was classified as an anterior junction syndrome. Cranial MRI revealed a
      tuberculum sellae meningioma which was treated surgically.

PMID- 20922532
TI  - The N-type and L-type calcium channel blocker cilnidipine suppresses renal injury
      in Dahl rats fed a high-salt diet.
AB  - The aims of the present study were to compare the effects of cilnidipine [L
      type/N-type calcium channel blocker (CCB)] and amlodipine (L-type CCB) alone or
      in combination with the angiotensin II receptor blocker (ARB), valsartan, on
      blood pressure (BP), kidney function in Dahl salt-sensitive (DS) rats. DS rats
      fed a high-salt diet were divided into six groups; control (n = 13), two CCB
      (cilnidipine or amlodipine) groups at 1 mg/kg/day (n = 10), ARB (valsartan) at 10
      mg/kg/day (n = 12), cilnidipine + valsartan (CV, n = 12), and amlodipine +
      valsartan (AV, n = 12). BPs were lower in the combination therapy groups than in
      those given either drug alone, but only CV inhibited the increase in urinary
      albumin excretion (UAE) and lowered the glomerular sclerosis score. In addition,
      AV elevated plasma renin activity and the angiotensin II concentration, and thus
      failed to inhibit increases in UAE and to lower glomerular sclerosis score. In
      conclusion, combination therapy with CCB and ARB decreases BP more effectively
      than either drug alone. When used in combination with valsartan, cilnidipine is
      more effective than amlodipine for preventing kidney injury.

PMID- 20922533
TI  - Association between clinical characteristics and AL amyloid deposition in the
      kidney.
AB  - Renal involvement is very common in AL amyloidosis. Our aim was to investigate
      associations between the clinical characteristics and renal pathology of patients
      with AL amyloidosis. The data of 11 adult Japanese patients with AL amyloidosis
      and renal involvement were analyzed retrospectively. To assess the difference
      based on the pattern of distribution of amyloid deposition, we divided the
      patients into a group with the capillary form and a group with the small vessel
      form, and compared the clinical characteristics of the two groups. Concerning AL
      amyloidosis, the small vessel form group was associated with cardiac involvement
      and left ventricular thickening compared with the capillary form group (p =
      0.03). There were no significant differences between the groups in the rates of
      patient survival and renal survival. There was a negative correlation between
      grade of amyloid deposition and renal survival duration (p = 0.04, r2 = 0.66).
      The degree of amyloid deposition was not correlated with the extent of
      proteinuria or renal function. These findings suggest that the vascular
      deposition pattern of amyloid in the kidney is important for determining patient
      survival and renal outcome.

PMID- 20922534
TI  - A novel phenylpyridazinone, T-3999, reduces the progression of autoimmune
      myocarditis to dilated cardiomyopathy.
AB  - Regardless of the origin, injury to the heart can result in cardiomyocyte
      hypertrophy, fibrosis, and cell death. Myocarditis often progresses to dilated
      cardiomyopathy (DCM), a major cause of heart failure. In our study, we used a rat
      model of myosin-induced experimental autoimmune myocarditis (EAM), in which the
      heart transits from an acute phase (inflammatory myocarditis) to a chronic phase
      (remodeling and DCM). Our objective was to investigate whether T-3999, a novel
      phenylpyridazinone, can reduce this progression. Four weeks after myosin
      injection, T-3999 was administered daily to male Lewis rats in two doses (3 and
      10 mg/kg, orally). Four weeks later, treatment was terminated; hemodynamic and
      echocardiographic measurements were performed; hearts were excised for
      histopathology and estimation of histamine, mRNA, and protein levels. Mortality
      rate was reduced by drug treatment. T-3999 reduced % fibrosis and tissue collagen
      III. Profibrotic markers-transforming growth factor-beta(1), tumor necrosis
      factor-alpha, and galectin-3--were attenuated by treatment. Mast cell density and
      degranulation, and tissue histamine concentration were also reduced. This
      indicates an anti-inflammatory effect of the drug in reducing fibrosis.
      Hypertrophy was reduced as reflected by reduced myocyte diameter and natriuretic
      peptide expression. T-3999 treatment increased the sarcoendoplasmic reticulum
      Ca(2+) ATPase 2 protein level and improved several cardiac function parameters.
      The reduction of the remodeling process and improvement in myocardial function
      suggest an effect of T-3999 in attenuating ventricular remodeling in post
      myocarditis DCM.

PMID- 20922535
TI  - Effect of diet-induced weight loss on endothelial dysfunction: early improvement
      after the first week of dieting.
AB  - Obesity is associated with impaired endothelial function, and this may lead to
      increased cardiovascular risk. To gain insight into the beneficial effects of
      diet-induced weight loss on endothelial function, endothelium-dependent, flow
      mediated dilation (FMD) of the brachial artery and several metabolic and
      inflammatory markers were assessed in 40 obese women (BMI 34.9 +/- 4.88 kg/m(2))
      at baseline, after the 1st week and after 5 months on a low-calorie diet of 5.0
      MJ/day. Twenty lean women served as controls. At entry, the obese women had a
      lower FMD than the lean women (7.7 +/- 1.8 vs. 11.5 +/- 4.2%, p < 0.001). After 1
      week of the intervention and 4% reduction of BMI, FMD improved by 22% (p =
      0.005), and a decrease in circulating triglycerides, insulin, leptin, tissue type
      plasminogen activator and its inhibitor, von Willebrand factor, C-reactive
      protein and tumor necrosis factor receptor 1 was observed. Improvement of FMD was
      associated only with a decrease in BMI (r = 0.39, p = 0.03). Twenty-two women
      completed the weight reduction program and reduced their BMI by 16%. FMD was
      further improved by 64% (to 12.4 +/- 5.3%, p = 0.001) and became comparable to
      that of lean women. None of the significant changes in the observed parameters
      was associated with improvement of FMD at the end of the program. Improvements in
      obesity-related endothelial dysfunction began in the 1st week of dieting and
      continued during the following months of this simple non-pharmacological
      lifestyle modification to reach normalisation of endothelial function. The
      favourable effect of dieting on endothelial function is independent of the
      accompanying improvement of classical risk factors.

PMID- 20922536
TI  - Effect of graft adaptation of the internal mammary artery on longitudinal phasic
      blood flow velocity characteristics after surgery.
AB  - Left internal mammary artery (LIMA) bypass conduits undergo gradual longitudinal
      flow transition from the proximal to distal segments, and the diastolic/systolic
      (D/S) ratios of the flow indices can diagnose graft patency. However, the
      influence of graft adaptation on this has not been studied. We examined 46
      patients with LIMA graft to the left anterior descending artery using a Doppler
      tipped guidewire in the proximal, middle, and distal segments; 34 had patent
      LIMAs (group A: new LIMAs; <1 month postoperatively; n = 22 and group B: old
      LIMAs; >=1 month postoperatively; n = 12), and 12 had new LIMAs with distal
      stenosis (group C). In diastole, the time-averaged peak velocities, maximum peak
      velocities, and velocity-time integrals in each segment were significantly
      greater in group A than in groups B or C; however, in systole, they did not
      differ significantly among the three groups. The D/S ratios of the indices in all
      segments in group A were significantly greater than those in groups B or C;
      however, they did not differ between groups B and C in any of the segments. Graft
      adaptation of a patent LIMA, itself, affects the longitudinal flow transition
      pattern. The D/S ratio of the three indices in the patent old LIMAs did not
      differ from those in the LIMAs with distal stenosis early after surgery. The
      timing of LIMA flow assessment must be considered during assessment of the graft
      patency from the flow velocity patterns.

PMID- 20922538
TI  - Treatment effects of renin-angiotensin system inhibitor and calcium channel
      blocker in patients with coronary artery narrowing (from the Japanese Coronary
      Artery Disease Study).
AB  - Low-dose antihypertensive drugs in combination are prescribed frequently in
      clinical practice. Combination treatment is superior to monotherapy with higher
      doses of each drug in terms of blood pressure reduction and side effects.
      However, it is unclear whether combination treatment provides additional
      prognostic benefit beyond the blood pressure lowering effects. We assessed the
      usefulness of the combined treatment of a renin-angiotensin system inhibitor
      (RASI) and a calcium channel blocker (CCB) for all cardiovascular events in the
      Japanese Coronary Artery Disease (JCAD) Study population. In the JCAD Study,
      which is an observational and non-randomized trial, 13,812 patients with
      angiographically shown narrowing >50% in >=1 of 3 major coronary arteries were
      followed up for a mean of 2.7 years. The primary endpoint of the study was all
      cardiovascular events. In the present study, baseline covariates possibly
      influencing the event rate were adjusted between the different treatment groups.
      There was no statistically significant difference in the event rate between the
      RASI monotherapy and combined treatment groups, although Kaplan-Meier analysis
      showed a 23% (p = 0.0003) relative risk reduction with an RASI monotherapy
      compared with the control group. In conclusion, there may be no additional
      benefit beyond blood pressure lowering effects in the combination of an RASI and
      a CCB in patients with angiographically documented CAD.

PMID- 20922537
TI  - Effects of telmisartan on markers of ventricular remodeling in patients with
      acute myocardial infarction: comparison with enalapril.
AB  - Enalapril is effective in the suppression of left ventricular remodeling after
      acute myocardial infarction (AMI), but the effect of telmisartan is unclear. The
      consecutive 163 AMI patients underwent primary percutaneous coronary intervention
      and were randomized to telmisartan (n = 82) or enalapril (n = 81). Left
      ventriculography was performed in the acute and chronic (6 months) phases. Matrix
      metalloproteinase (MMP)-2 and MMP-9 activities were measured by zymography in the
      acute (days 1, 7, and 14) and chronic (6 months) phases. Plasma pentraxin3
      (PTX3), a marker of vascular inflammation, was also measured. There were no
      adverse effects in the telmisartan group. The analysis of the left
      ventriculograms in the acute and chronic phases revealed no difference between
      the two groups. MMP-9 activities at days 7 and 14 and in the chronic phase were
      decreased compared to that at day 1 in both groups. MMP-2 activity was also
      decreased in the acute phase, but increased in the chronic phase in both groups.
      There was no difference in the plasma PTX3 level in the acute phase, but in the
      chronic phase, PTX3 was significantly lower in telmisartan than in enalapril
      group (2.6 +/- 1.4 vs. 3.2 +/- 1.6 ng/ml, p = 0.04). Telmisartan is well
      tolerated, shows similar effects on the markers of left ventricular remodeling to
      those of enalapril, and suppresses vascular inflammation more effectively than
      enalapril in AMI patients. Telmisartan can be an alternative to angiotensin
      converting enzyme inhibitor in patients with AMI.

PMID- 20922539
TI  - Predictive value of the relative lymphocyte count in coronary heart disease.
AB  - The physiological stress suffered by patients with coronary heart disease (CHD)
      may result in a shift in leukocyte differential toward a decreased percentage of
      lymphocytes (L%). The purpose of this study was to determine the prognostic value
      of a low L% in CHD. One hundred forty patients evaluated in our department
      between 2007 and 2008 were retrospectively reviewed. Thirty-eight patients had
      primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), and 102 patients had elective
      PCI. Various statistical analyses were used to examine the association between a
      low L% or other clinical characteristics and CHD. Univariate analysis showed that
      low L% was significantly related to ACS compared with stable CHD or control.
      White blood cell (WBC) count, C-reactive protein (CRP) and left ventricular
      systolic dysfunction (LVSD) were also correlated with CHD. Multivariate analysis
      and logistic regression analysis revealed that L%, CRP, WBC count and LVSD were
      all independently significant risk factors to have predictive value for CHD and 1
      year major adverse cardiac events (MACE). A low L% could be used as an
      independent predictor for ACS on admission and is associated with MACE during
      clinical follow-up in CHD patients.

PMID- 20922540
TI  - Laparoscopic adult colorectal surgeon and adolescents with inflammatory bowel
      disease: a safe combination?
AB  - INTRODUCTION: A multidisciplinary tertiary service for adolescents with
      inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) was commenced in April 2008, aiming to provide
      specialist treatment for adolescent patients and bridge the gap between existing
      paediatric and adult surgical services. A single laparoscopic colorectal surgeon
      who normally treats adult patients has been part of the multidisciplinary team
      since its inception. AIM: To analyse outcomes for those patients requiring
      surgical resection during the first 2 years of service. METHODS: In this service
      evaluation study, all data for patients undergoing surgery from 1 April 2008 to
      31 March 2010 were prospectively collected on a dedicated electronic database.
      RESULTS: Nineteen patients underwent surgical resection (15 laparoscopic and four
      open) over the 2-year period. Median patient age was 15 years (range 11-16), and
      14 patients were female. Of the 15 laparoscopic resections, eight were subtotal
      colectomy and ileostomy and seven ileocaecal resection/right hemicolectomy. There
      was one (6.7%) conversion due to a pericolic abscess. There were four planned
      open cases, including two subtotal colectomy and ileostomy and two small bowel
      resections. Median operating time was 150 and 172.5 min in the open and
      laparoscopic groups respectively. Median length of stay was 6 days (range 3-16)
      in the laparoscopic group, and 8 days (range 5-13) in the open group. There were
      three (15.8%) post-operative complications, one (5.3%) readmission within 30 days
      and no mortality. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that an adult colorectal
      surgeon can provide a safe and effective service for adolescents with IBD,
      including the provision of laparoscopic resection in this challenging patient
      group.

PMID- 20922541
TI  - Right colon, left colon, and rectal surgeries are not similar for surgical site
      infection development. Analysis of 277 elective and urgent colorectal resections.
AB  - PURPOSE: Surgical site infections (SSIs) are the most common infections in
      colorectal surgery. Although some studies suggest that rectal surgery differs
      from colon surgery for SSI incidence and risk factors, the National Nosocomial
      Infection Surveillance system categorizes all colorectal surgeries into only one
      group. The aim of this study was to determine incidence, characteristics, and
      risk factors of SSIs according to the subclassification of colorectal surgery
      into right colon surgery (RCS), left colon surgery (LCS), and rectum surgery
      (RS). METHODS: From November 2005 to July 2009, all patients requiring colorectal
      resectioning were enrolled into our program. The outcome of interest was an SSI
      diagnosis. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to determine SSI
      predictors in each group. RESULTS: Two hundred seventy-seven consecutive
      colorectal resections were analyzed. SSI rates were 8% in RCS, 18.4% in LCS, and
      17.6% in RS. LCS and RS showed significantly higher SSI incidences (p = 0.022)
      and greater rates of organ/space infections compared to RCS (p = 0.029).
      Predictors of SSI were steroid use among RCS, age greater than 70 years, multiple
      comorbidities, steroid use, non-neoplastic colonic disease, urgent operation,
      ostomy creation, postoperative intensive care among LCS, preoperative
      chemoradiation, heart disease, and prolonged operation among RS patients. On
      multivariate analysis, the coupled LCS and RS groups showed an increased risk for
      SSI compared to RCS (OR, 2.57). CONCLUSIONS: SSI incidences, characteristics, and
      risk factors seem to be different among RCS, LCS, and RS. A tailored SSI
      surveillance program should be applied for each of the three groups, leading to a
      more competent SSI recognition and reduction of SSI incidence and related costs.

PMID- 20922542
TI  - The surgical stress response and postoperative immune function after laparoscopic
      or conventional total mesorectal excision in rectal cancer: a randomized trial.
AB  - PURPOSE: This study evaluated differences in stress response and immunological
      function following laparoscopic and conventional total mesorectal excision (TME)
      for rectal cancer. METHODS: Patients with non-metastasized rectal cancer were
      prospectively randomized to open (n = 18) or laparoscopic (n = 22) TME. Blood
      samples were taken preoperatively (baseline), 2, 24, and 72 h following surgery.
      Systemic white blood cell and monocyte count, C-reactive protein, interleukin-6
      (IL-6), interleukin-8 (IL-8), HLA-DR expression on monocytes, growth hormone,
      prolactin, and cortisol were measured. RESULTS: Forty patients with a median age
      of 66 years (interquartile range, 60-74 years) were included. Eighteen patients
      (45%) were randomized to open surgery and 22 patients (55%) to laparoscopic
      surgery. Patient demographics in terms of gender, age, BMI, ASA classification,
      localization of the tumor, and type of neoadjuvant therapy were comparable for
      both groups. Laparoscopic surgery resulted in a significantly better short-term
      preservation of postoperative immune function. HLA-DR expression on monocytes was
      significantly higher (64% vs 50%, P = 0.014) and IL-6 level increase was
      significantly lower (4.6 vs 10.8, P = 0.003) 2 h after laparoscopic surgery. No
      differences between the open and laparoscopic technique were observed in
      postoperative white blood cell count, monocyte count, C-reactive protein, IL-8,
      growth hormone, prolactin, and cortisol levels. CONCLUSION: Short-term
      postoperative immune and inflammatory functions tended to be better after
      laparoscopic rectal surgery. However, the differences were not consistent at all
      time intervals, making a definitive conclusion difficult. Better preserved
      inflammatory function 2 h after surgery may reflect a reduction in operative
      trauma when the laparoscopic technique is compared with open rectal procedures.

PMID- 20922543
TI  - Biomarkers, population-based studies and a proof of principle investigation in
      pharmacotherapy.

PMID- 20922544
TI  - Chlamydomonas reinhardtii: duration of its cell cycle and phases at growth rates
      affected by light intensity.
AB  - In the cultures of the alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, division rhythms of any
      length from 12 to 75 h were found at a range of different growth rates that were
      set by the intensity of light as the sole source of energy. The responses to
      light intensity differed in terms of altered duration of the phase from the
      beginning of the cell cycle to the commitment to divide, and of the phase after
      commitment to cell division. The duration of the pre-commitment phase was
      determined by the time required to attain critical cell size and sufficient
      energy reserves (starch), and thus was inversely proportional to growth rate. If
      growth was stopped by interposing a period of darkness, the pre-commitment phase
      was prolonged corresponding to the duration of the dark interval. The duration of
      the post-commitment phase, during which the processes leading to cell division
      occurred, was constant and independent of growth rate (light intensity) in the
      cells of the same division number, or prolonged with increasing division number.
      It appeared that different regulatory mechanisms operated through these two
      phases, both of which were inconsistent with gating of cell division at any
      constant time interval. No evidence was found to support any hypothetical timer,
      suggested to be triggered at the time of daughter cell release.

PMID- 20922545
TI  - Distinct roles for Arabidopsis SUMO protease ESD4 and its closest homolog ELS1.
AB  - SUMO conjugation affects a broad range of processes in Arabidopsis thaliana,
      including flower initiation, pathogen defense, and responses to cold, drought and
      salt stress. We investigated two sequence-related SUMO-specific proteases that
      are both widely expressed and show that they differ significantly in their
      properties. The closest homolog of SUMO protease ESD4, ESD4-LIKE SUMO PROTEASE 1
      (ELS1, alternatively called AtULP1a) has SUMO-specific proteolytic activity, but
      is functionally distinct from ESD4, as shown by intracellular localization,
      mutant phenotype and heterologous expression in yeast mutants. Furthermore, we
      show that the growth defects caused by loss of ESD4 function are not due to
      increased synthesis of the stress signal salicylic acid, as was previously shown
      for a SUMO ligase, indicating that impairment of the SUMO system affects plant
      growth in different ways. Our results demonstrate that two A. thaliana SUMO
      proteases showing close sequence similarity have distinct in vivo functions.

PMID- 20922547
TI  - [Pain and fear of movement in the elderly : the need for an interdisciplinary
      approach].
AB  - According to evidence-based guidelines a physically activating therapy approach
      in older chronic pain patients is necessary for the preservation of autonomy.
      Often the elderly are not easy to motivate for this because of inappropriate
      attitudes, low self-efficacy, fear of pain and fear of falling. The latter might
      be more important for self-induced restriction of activity in older pain patients
      than fear avoidance beliefs known from pain research. The fear of caregivers
      concerning pain and falls can also lead to physical restrictions in the elderly.
      The underlying diseases and drug effects have to be borne in mind in exercise
      oriented therapy. It seems necessary to design special therapy elements for all
      national care sectors using age-specific motivation strategies and to assure an
      interdisciplinary cooperation.

PMID- 20922546
TI  - Identification, phylogeny, and transcript profiling of ERF family genes during
      development and abiotic stress treatments in tomato.
AB  - Ethylene responsive transcription factors have been shown to be intimately
      connected to plant development, defense responses and stress signaling pathways
      and in order to use them for plant improvement, we need to have better
      understanding of these proteins. In this study, 85 ERF genes have been identified
      from tomato using raw EST data in various public repositories. Phylogenetic
      analysis with tomato ERF domains revealed their distribution in all the groups,
      previously identified in model systems. MEME motif analysis resulted in
      identification of conserved domains, characteristic to member of each clade, in
      addition to ERF domain. Expression analysis during vegetative and reproductive
      stages of development using QPCR and tomato GeneChip arrays, revealed their
      tissue-specific/preferential accumulation. In total, 57 genes were found to be
      differentially expressed during temporal stages of tomato fruit development. The
      expression analysis of 23 ERF family genes representing each clade in response to
      seven abiotic stress treatments revealed their differential expression in
      response to more than one abiotic stress treatments. Results suggest that ERF
      genes play diverse roles in plant's life and comprehensive data generated will be
      helpful in conducting functional genomics studies to understand their precise
      role during plant development and stress response.

PMID- 20922548
TI  - Microtubule motors and pollen tube growth--still an open question.
AB  - The growth of pollen tubes is supported by the continuous supply of secretory
      vesicles in the tip area. Movement and accumulation of vesicles is driven by the
      dynamic interplay between the actin cytoskeleton and motor proteins of the myosin
      family. A combination of the two protein systems is also responsible for the
      bidirectional movement of larger organelle classes. In contrast, the role of
      microtubules and microtubule-based motors is less clear and often ambiguous.
      Nevertheless, there is evidence which shows that the pollen tube contains a
      number of microtubule-based motors of the kinesin family. These motor proteins
      are likely to be associated with pollen tube organelles and, consequently, they
      have been hypothesized to participate in the distribution of organelles during
      pollen tube growth. Whether microtubule motor proteins take part in either the
      transport or positioning of organelles is not known for sure, but there is
      evidence for this second possibility. This review will discuss the current
      knowledge of microtubule-based motor proteins (including kinesins and
      hypothetical dyneins) and will make some hypothesis about their role in the
      pollen tube.

PMID- 20922549
TI  - Opportunities and successes in the search for plasmodesmal proteins.
AB  - The proteinaceous composition of plasmodesmata (PDs) is a puzzle for which pieces
      have proven particularly difficult to find. This review describes the numerous
      approaches that have been undertaken in the search for PD-associated proteins and
      what each has contributed to our understanding of PD structure and function.
      These approaches include immunolocalisation of known proteins, proteomic
      characterisation of PD-enriched tissue fractions, high-throughput screens of
      random cDNAs and mutant screens. In addition to components of the cytoskeleton,
      novel proteins with predicted or unknown functions have been identified. Many of
      these have properties that relate to the symplastic and/or apoplastic faces of
      the plasma membrane. Mutant screens have identified proteins involved in
      previously unconnected cell pathways such as ROS signalling, implicating ROS in
      PD formation and regulation. Proteins associated with callose synthesis and
      degradation have also been identified and characterised, providing considerable
      weight to the hypothesis that callose deposition around the neck of the PD pore
      is one mechanism by which the PD aperture is regulated. The techniques described
      in this review have been developed such that it is to be expected that a
      considerable number of new PD proteins will be identified in coming years to fill
      in further detail of the structure and functional mechanisms of these dynamic
      pores.

PMID- 20922550
TI  - Familial risk factors in social anxiety disorder: calling for a family-oriented
      approach for targeted prevention and early intervention.
AB  - Within the last decade, social anxiety disorder (SAD) has been identified as a
      highly prevalent and burdensome disorder. Both the characterization of its
      symptomatology and effective treatment options are widely documented. Studies
      particularly indicate that SAD aggregates in families and has its onset in early
      adolescence. Given the family as an important context for children's cognitive,
      emotional and behavioural development, familial risk factors could be expected to
      significantly contribute to the reliable detection of populations at risk for
      SAD. Reviewing studies on familial risk factors for SAD argues for the importance
      of parental psychopathology and unfavourable family environment, but also denotes
      to several shortcomings such as cross-sectional designs, short follow-up periods,
      diverging methodologies and the focus on isolated factors. Using a prospective
      longitudinal study that covers the high-risk period for SAD, including a broader
      spectrum of putative risk factors may help to overcome many of the methodological
      limitations. This review sets out to develop a more family-oriented approach for
      predicting the onset and maintenance of SAD that may be fruitful to derive
      targeted prevention and early intervention in SAD.

PMID- 20922551
TI  - Isolation of a CK2alpha subunit and the holoenzyme from the mussel Mytilus
      galloprovincialis and construction of the CK2alpha and CK2beta cDNAs.
AB  - Protein kinase CK2 is a ubiquitous, highly pleiotropic, and constitutively active
      phosphotransferase that phosphorylates mainly serine and threonine residues. CK2
      has been studied and characterized in many organisms, from yeast to mammals. The
      holoenzyme is generally composed of two catalytic (alpha and/or alpha') and two
      regulatory (beta) subunits, forming a differently assembled tetramer. The free
      and catalytically active alpha/alpha' subunits can be present in cells under some
      circumstances. We present here the isolation of a putative catalytic CK2alpha
      subunit and holoenzyme from gills of the mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis capable
      of phosphorylating the purified recombinant ribosomal protein rMgP1. For further
      analysis of M. galloprovincialis protein kinase CK2, the cDNA molecules of
      CK2alpha and CK2beta subunits were constructed and cloned into expression
      vectors, and the recombinant proteins were purified after expression in
      Escherichia coli. The recombinant MgCK2beta subunit and MgP1 were phosphorylated
      by the purified recombinant MgCK2alpha subunit. The mussel enzyme presented
      features typical for CK2: affinity for GTP, inhibition by both heparin and ATP
      competitive inhibitors (TBBt, TBBz), and sensitivity towards NaCl. Predicted
      amino acid sequence comparison showed that the M. galloprovincialis MgCK2alpha
      and MgCK2beta subunits have similar features to their mammalian orthologs.

PMID- 20922552
TI  - The protective effect of ENA Actimineral resource A on CCl4-induced liver injury
      in rats.
AB  - ENA Actimineral Resource A (ENA-A) is alkaline water that is composed of refined
      edible cuttlefish bone and two different species of seaweed, Phymatolithon
      calcareum and Lithothamnion corallioides. In the present study, ENA-A was
      investigated as an antioxidant to protect against CCl(4)-induced oxidative stress
      and hepatotoxicity in rats. Liver injury was induced by either subacute or
      chronic CCl(4) administration, and the rats had free access to tap water mixed
      with 0% (control group) or 10% (v/v) ENA-A for 5 or 8 weeks. The results of
      histological examination and measurement of antioxidant activity showed that the
      reactive oxygen species production, lipid peroxidation, induction of CYP2E1 were
      decreased and the antioxidant activity, including glutathione and catalase
      production, was increased in the ENA-A groups as compared with the control group.
      On 2-DE gel analysis of the proteomes, 13 differentially expressed proteins were
      obtained in the ENA-A groups as compared with the control group. Antioxidant
      proteins, including glutathione S-transferase, kelch-like ECH-associated protein
      1, and peroxiredoxin 1, were increased with hepatocyte nuclear factor 3-beta and
      serum albumin precursor, and kininogen precursor decreased more in the ENA-A
      groups than compared to the control group. In conclusion, our results suggest
      that ENA-A does indeed have some protective capabilities against CCl(4)-induced
      liver injury through its antioxidant function.

PMID- 20922553
TI  - Isolation and identification of a novel antioxidant with antitumour activity from
      Serratia ureilytica using squid pen as fermentation substrate.
AB  - The antioxidant activity of the culture supernatant of Serratia ureilytica TKU013
      with squid pen as the sole carbon/nitrogen source was assessed by three methods,
      and the phenolic contents were assayed. The supernatant with the highest
      antioxidant activity was further purified by liquid-liquid partition, revealing
      the ethyl acetate extract exhibited the strongest antioxidant activity and the
      highest total phenolic content. Eight fractions were retrieved from silica gel
      column chromatography of this extract, designated F1-F8. F4 was found to possess
      the strong antioxidative activity and the highest total phenolic content and also
      exhibited strong cytotoxic activities against two different tumoural cell lines.
      A new compound (Serranticin) with antioxidant and antitumor activity was obtained
      from F4. The structure of Serranticin is analogous to that of siderophores
      (hexacoordinated catecholamine), which are iron chelators. As such, Serranticin
      has the potential for use as a deferration agent in various iron overload
      diseases.

PMID- 20922555
TI  - Aggravation of diabetic nephropathy in OLETF rats by Thy-1.1 nephritis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To clarify whether the induction of Thy-1.1 nephritis aggravates
      diabetic nephropathy in the Otsuka Long-Evans Tokushima Fatty (OLETF) rat, which
      is a model of diabetes mellitus. METHOD: Forty-week-old OLETF rats were divided
      into 2 groups according to treatment: (1) 1 mg/kg body weight of OX7, an anti
      Thy1.1 antibody (administered intravenously) (Group T, n = 14); (2) 0.9% saline
      (Group C, n = 14). The histological findings for the kidneys and the index of
      glomerulosclerosis (IGS) were determined 20 weeks after administration, and urine
      and serum chemistry were also assessed. The same procedure was performed as a
      control in 2 groups of Long-Evans Tokushima Otsuka (LETO) rats (i.e., nondiabetic
      OLETF rats). RESULTS: The urinary protein excretion values and the levels of
      serum albumin in the OX7-treated OLETF rats were significantly higher and lower
      than those in the untreated OLETF rats, respectively. Total cholesterol was
      significantly increased in the OX7-treated OLETF rats compared with the untreated
      OLETF rats. In the histological analysis, IGS was significantly higher in the OX7
      treated OLETF rats than in the untreated OLETF rats. Neither deteriorations in
      the laboratory assessment values nor histological alterations were seen in the
      LETO rats. CONCLUSION: These findings indicate that an anti-Thy-1.1 antibody
      irreversibly aggravates diabetic nephropathy in the OLETF rat.

PMID- 20922556
TI  - Growth of the chorioallantoic membrane into a rapid-prototyped model pore system:
      experiments and mathematical model.
AB  - This paper presents a mathematical model to describe the growth of tissue into a
      rapid-prototyped porous scaffold when it is implanted onto the chorioallantoic
      membrane (CAM). The scaffold was designed to study the effects of the size and
      shape of pores on tissue growth into conventional tissue engineering scaffolds,
      and consists of an array of pores each having a pre-specified shape. The
      experimental observations revealed that the CAM grows through each pore as an
      intact layer of tissue, provided the width of the pore exceeds a threshold value.
      Based on these results a mathematical model is described to simulate the growth
      of the membrane, assuming that the growth is a function of the local isotropic
      membrane tension. The model predictions are compared against measurements of the
      extent of membrane growth through the pores as a function of time for pores with
      different dimensions.

PMID- 20922558
TI  - Collaboration, competition, validation and plans for the future : an interview
      with Gerard Kleywegt, Head of the Protein Data Bank in Europe. Interviewed by
      Wendy A Warr.

PMID- 20922557
TI  - Predictive factors of pathologic complete response and clinical tumor progression
      after preoperative chemotherapy in patients with stage II and III breast cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This study aimed to define predictive factors of pathologic complete
      response (pCR) and disease progression in stage II and III breast cancer
      patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Three hundred thirty-eight patients were included
      in the study. Patients had received preoperative chemotherapy as follows: 101 had
      doxorubicin plus cyclophosphamide (AC); 91 had doxorubicin plus docetaxel; 103
      had docetaxel plus capecitabine; and 43 had paclitaxel plus gemcitabine. A pCR
      was defined as the absence of residual invasive carcinoma in the breast. RESULTS:
      The majority of patients (73%) were premenopausal with a median age of 44 (range,
      21-76) years. Fifty-four patients (16%) achieved pCR and were distributed among
      the 4 breast cancer subtypes as follows: 10% of patients with -ER or PR+/HER2-,
      13% with ER or PR+/HER2+, 33% with ER-/PR-/HER2+, and 19% with ER-/PR-/HER2-(p =
      0.001). Taxane-containing regimen (p = 0.042) and Breast cancer subtype (p =
      0.005) were significant predictive variables for pCR. On the other hand,
      significantly more patients who received non-taxane-containing regimen (AC)
      experienced no response (p = 0.001) or progression (p = 0.006). CONCLUSIONS:
      Patients with ER-/PR-/HER2+ tumors and those who received taxane-containing
      regimen achieved a higher pCR rate, while significantly more patients developed
      tumor progression by preoperative non-taxane-containing regimen (AC) compared to
      those who received taxane-containing chemotherapy.

PMID- 20922559
TI  - Magnesium-based composites with improved in vitro surface biocompatibility.
AB  - In this study, bioactive glass (BG, 45S5) particles were added to a biodegradable
      magnesium alloy (ZK30) through a semi-solid high-pressure casting process in
      order to improve the surface biocompatibility of the biomaterial and potentially
      its bioactivity. The observation of the as-cast microstructures of ZK30-BG
      composites indicated homogeneous dispersion of BG particles in the matrix. SEM,
      EDX and EPMA showed the retention of the morphological characteristics and
      composition of BG particles in the as-cast composite materials. In vitro tests in
      a cell culture medium confirmed that the composites indeed possessed an enhanced
      ability to induce the deposition of a bone-like apatite layer on the surface,
      indicating an improved surface biocompatibility as compared with the matrix
      alloy.

PMID- 20922560
TI  - Image processing and fractal box counting: user-assisted method for multi-scale
      porous scaffold characterization.
AB  - Image analysis has gained new effort in the scientific community due to the
      chance of investigating morphological properties of three dimensional structures
      starting from their bi-dimensional gray-scale representation. Such ability makes
      it particularly interesting for tissue engineering (TE) purposes. Indeed, the
      capability of obtaining and interpreting images of tissue scaffolds, extracting
      morphological and structural information, is essential to the characterization
      and design of engineered porous systems. In this work, the traditional image
      analysis approach has been coupled with a probabilistic based percolation method
      to outline a general procedure for analysing tissue scaffold SEM micrographs. To
      this aim a case study constituted by PCL multi-scaled porous scaffolds was
      adopted. Moreover, the resulting data were compared with the outputs of
      conventionally used techniques, such as mercury intrusion porosimetry. Results
      indicate that image processing methods well fit the porosity features of PCL
      scaffolds, overcoming the limits of the more invasive porosimetry techniques.
      Also the cut off resolution of such IP methods was discussed. Moreover, the
      fractal dimension of percolating clusters, within the pore populations, was
      addressed as a good indication of the interconnection degree of PCL bi-modal
      scaffolds. Such findings represent (i) the bases for a novel approach
      complementary to the conventional experimental procedure used for the
      morphological analysis of TE scaffolds, in particular offering a valid method for
      the analysis of soft materials (i.e., gels); also (ii) providing a new
      perspective for further studies integrating to the structural and morphological
      data, fluid-dynamics and transport properties modelling.

PMID- 20922561
TI  - IVIg attenuates TLR-9 activation in B cells from SLE patients.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Toll-like receptor-9 (TLR-9) plays an important role in the
      pathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). The aim of this study was to
      evaluate the influence of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) on CpG
      oligodeoxynucleotides (ODN-CpG) activated B cells from SLE patients. METHODS:
      Peripheral blood B cells were isolated from 16 SLE patients and 21 healthy age
      matched controls. B cells were cultured with ODN-CpG 1MUM alone or IVIg (10mg/ml)
      together with ODN-CpG. After 24-h incubation, B cells and supernatants were
      collected and analyzed for interleukin (IL)-10, IL-6 secretion, and TLR-9
      expression. RESULTS: IVIg decreased the secretion of IL-10 from ODN-CpG-activated
      B cells isolated from both SLE patients and healthy controls (194 +/- 46.2 to
      103.2 +/- 27.13 pg/ml, p < 0.016, 153.2 +/- 19 vs 84.6 +/- 7.5, p < 0.0001,
      respectively). Similarly, IVIg decreased the secretion of IL-6 from ODN-CpG
      activated B cell isolated from both SLE patients and healthy controls (431.2 +/-
      83 to 307.6 +/- 94.3 pg/ml, p < 0.0008, 319.5 +/- 31 vs 193.3 +/- 22.8, p <
      0.0001, respectively). The decrement of IL-10 and IL-6 secretion was associated
      with a significant decrease in TLR-9 expression in memory B cells from SLE
      patients and healthy controls (11.47 +/- 1.2 vs 13.29 +/- 1.2, p = 0.005, 11 +/-
      0.8 vs 12.8 +/- 0.98, p = 0.0016, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: IVIg attenuates the
      activation of TLR-9 in B cells from SLE patients, suggesting a novel additional
      mechanism of IVIg mode of action in these patients.

PMID- 20922562
TI  - KIF3A, a cilia structural gene on chromosome 5q31, and its polymorphisms show an
      association with aspirin hypersensitivity in asthma.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The kinesin family number 3A (KIF3A) gene on the human chromosomal
      5q31-33 region, which is known as a susceptibility locus for immune diseases
      including asthma, plays a crucial role in generation of cilia. RESULTS: A
      treatment with aspirin in the human bronchial epithelial cells increased the mRNA
      expression level of KIF3A compared to that of the untreated control (P <= 0.01),
      and nasal polyp epithelia from aspirin-intolerant asthma (AIA) patients also
      showed a higher expression of KIF3A protein than aspirin-tolerant asthma
      controls. Further logistic analyses revealed that most polymorphisms of KIF3A
      were significantly associated with AIA (P = 0.0004-0.02; P(corr) = 0.004-0.04)
      and the decline of forced expiratory volume at 1 s (FEV(1))% by aspirin
      provocation (P = 0.004-0.04; P(corr) = 0.03). DISCUSSION: Our findings suggest
      that the KIF3A gene and/or its polymorphisms might have a susceptibility effect
      on AIA, providing a new step toward controlling aspirin intolerance in
      asthmatics.

PMID- 20922563
TI  - Heterogeneous postprandial lipoprotein responses in the metabolic syndrome, and
      response to fenofibrate therapy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hypertriglyceridemia subjects with metabolic syndrome exhibit
      variable postprandial triglyceride responses. We investigate the effects of
      fenofibrate therapy on postprandial triglyceride-containing lipoproteins in
      subjects with early (3.5 h) versus late (8 h) postprandial triglyceride
      responses. METHODS: Fifty-five subjects with fasting hypertriglyceridemia (>=1.7
      mmol/L (150 mg/ dL) and <5.8 mmol/L (500 mg/dL)) and >=2 Adult Treatment Panel
      III criteria of the metabolic syndrome were randomized to daily fenofibrate (160
      mg/d) or placebo for 12 weeks in a double-blind controlled clinical trial. A
      standardized fat load (50 g/m(2)) was given orally after a 12 h fast. Blood
      specimens were obtained at 0 h (fasting), 3.5 h, and 8 h after the test meal.
      Analysis is confined to the 53 subjects with clearly identifiable early or late
      triglyceride peaks prior to therapy. RESULTS: Fenofibrate was more effective in
      late peakers (n = 8) when compared to early peakers (n = 15) with respect to
      reducing postprandial triglyceride concentrations (-67% vs. -34%, p = 0.0024) and
      large VLDL (-76% vs. -31%, p = 0.0016), and increasing total HDL particles (20%
      vs. 11%, p = 0.008) and large HDL particles (185% vs. 88%, p = 0.003). On
      fenofibrate therapy, 100% of those initially designated as late peakers were
      reclassified as early peakers; 47% of late peakers assigned to placebo were
      reclassified as early peakers. CONCLUSIONS: Late postprandial triglyceride
      responders have attenuated clearance of large VLDL particles, but they were more
      responsive to fenofibrate.

PMID- 20922564
TI  - Zoledronic acid prevents bone loss in premenopausal women with early breast
      cancer undergoing adjuvant chemotherapy: a phase III trial of the Korean Cancer
      Study Group (KCSG-BR06-01).
AB  - To determine whether zoledronic acid (ZA) can prevent bone loss in premenopausal
      women undergoing adjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer. In this randomized,
      open-label, phase III multicenter trial, premenopausal women >40 years were
      randomly assigned to ZA treatment (4 mg IV, every 6 months) or observation after
      surgery. All patients were treated with four cycles of AC followed by four cycles
      of taxane. Between March 2007 and May 2008, we assessed a total of 112
      premenopausal women, all of whom developed amenorrhea at 1 year after
      chemotherapy. The mean percent change of BMD in the lumbar spine (LS) was -1.1%
      in the ZA group versus -7.5% in observation group at 12 months. Differences in
      percent change of BMD from baseline between the two groups were 6.4% for the LS,
      and 3.6% for the femoral neck. The mean levels of bone turnover at 12 months were
      significantly lower in the ZA group. ZA was generally well tolerated. Infusion of
      ZA 4 mg every 6 months effectively prevented bone loss within the first year in
      premenopausal women receiving adjuvant chemotherapy for early breast cancer.
      Regular BMD measurements and early bisphosphonate therapy should be considered in
      these patients.

PMID- 20922565
TI  - Cloning and expression pattern of alkaline phosphatase during the development of
      Paralichthys olivaceus.
AB  - Alkaline phosphatases are ubiquitous enzymes involved in many important
      biological processes. Mammalian tissue-nonspecific alkaline phosphatase has long
      been thought to feature in embryonic development and bone formation. In this
      study, an alkaline phosphatase (ALP) gene from Paralichthys olivaceus was
      identified by rapid amplification of cDNA ends and genome-walking PCR. The ALP
      gene extends 10,141 bp and contains 11 exons and 10 introns. The open reading
      frame of the ALP transcript consists of 1,431 bp, which encodes 476 amino acids
      products named as POALP. An analysis of its secondary and tertiary structure
      revealed that the POALP was conserved in different species, but one disulfide
      linkage made it possible to adapt to low-temperature environment. The ALP
      activity was found to be first detectable in the embryo before hatching. The
      POALP was distributed ubiquitously in the body of P. olivaceus and was
      particularly high in the digestive tract. These findings suggest the potential
      role of POALP in nutrient absorption and transportation. During the pre
      metamorphosis (F stage), ALP gene expression is 2.5-folds of that in the pro
      metamorphosis (E stage); but in the post-metamorphosis (I stage), it was 1.8
      folds of that of pro-metamorphosis. Exogenetic thyroxine (T4) and thiourea (TU)
      influenced the ALP gene expression significantly during the metamorphosis.
      Bioinformatics analysis showed that Japanese flounder ALP promoter region
      contained promoter sequence and putative recognition site for several
      transcriptional factors, including SREBP-1, SYR, and CdxA. In vitro promoter
      assays employing EGFP reporter system demonstrated that the promoter of ALP was
      active.

PMID- 20922566
TI  - The physiological tolerance of the grey carpet shark (Chiloscyllium punctatum)
      and the epaulette shark (Hemiscyllium ocellatum) to anoxic exposure at three
      seasonal temperatures.
AB  - The epaulette shark (Hemiscyllium ocellatum) and the grey carpet shark
      (Chiloscyllium punctatum) are commonly found in periodically hypoxic
      environments. The ecophysiological time available for these animals to safely
      exploit these niches during different seasonal temperatures was examined. The
      time to loss of righting reflex (T (LRR)) was examined in response to an open
      ended anoxic challenge at three seasonal temperatures (23, 25 and 27 degrees C).
      Ventilation rates were measured in an open ended anoxic challenge at 23 degrees C
      and during 1.5 h of anoxia followed by 2 h of re-oxygenation at 23 and 25 degrees
      C. The mean T (LRR) of epaulette and grey carpet sharks was inversely
      proportional to temperature. The T (LRR) was similar between species at 23
      degrees C; however, grey carpet sharks had significantly reduced T (LRR) at
      higher temperatures. During the standardised anoxic challenge, epaulette sharks
      entered into ventilatory depression significantly earlier at 25 degrees C. During
      re-oxygenation, epaulette sharks exposed to anoxia at 23 degrees C had no
      significant increase in ventilation rates. However, after anoxic challenge and re
      oxygenation at 25 degrees C, epaulette sharks showed a significant increase in
      ventilation rates during re-oxygenation. Grey carpet sharks displayed no evidence
      of ventilatory depression during anoxia. However, during re-oxygenation, grey
      carpet sharks had significantly elevated ventilation rates above pre-experimental
      levels and control animals. These data demonstrate that the anoxia tolerance
      times of both species were temperature dependent, with a significant reduction in
      the T (LRR) occurring at higher temperatures. Epaulette sharks had a
      significantly greater T (LRR) at higher temperatures than grey carpet sharks,
      which did not enter into a ventilatory depression.

PMID- 20922567
TI  - Galleria mellonella are resistant to Pneumocystis murina infection.
AB  - Studying Pneumocystis has proven to be a challenge from the perspective of
      propagating a significant amount of the pathogen in a facile manner. The study of
      several fungal pathogens has been aided by the use of invertebrate model hosts.
      Our efforts to infect the invertebrate larvae Galleria mellonella with
      Pneumocystis proved futile since P. murina neither caused disease nor was able to
      proliferate within G. mellonella. It did, however, show that the pathogen could
      be rapidly cleared from the host.

PMID- 20922568
TI  - Filial obligations to elderly parents: a duty to care?
AB  - A continuing need for care for elderly, combined with looser family structures
      prompt the question what filial obligations are. Do adult children of elderly
      have a duty to care? Several theories of filial obligation are reviewed. The
      reciprocity argument is not sensitive to the parent-child relationship after
      childhood. A theory of friendship does not offer a correct parallel for the
      relationship between adult child and elderly parent. Arguments based on need or
      vulnerability run the risk of being unjust to those on whom a needs-based claim
      is laid. To compare filial obligations with promises makes too much of parents'
      expectations, however reasonable they may be. The good of being in an unchosen
      relationship seems the best basis for filial obligations, with an according duty
      to maintain the relationship when possible. We suggest this relationship should
      be maintained even if one of the parties is no longer capable of consciously
      contributing to it. We argue that this entails a duty to care about one's
      parents, not for one's parents. This implies that care for the elderly is not in
      the first place a task for adult children.

PMID- 20922569
TI  - 6q24 transient neonatal diabetes.
AB  - Transient Neonatal Diabetes (type 1) is the commonest cause of diabetes
      presenting in the first week of life. The majority of infants recover by 3 months
      of age but are predisposed to developing type 2 diabetes in later life. It is
      associated with low birth weight but rapid catch up by 1 year of life. The
      condition is usually due to genetic or epigenetic aberrations at an imprinted
      locus on chromosome 6q24 and can be sporadic or inherited. Early diagnosis alters
      medical treatment strategies and differentiates it from other types of early
      onset diabetes. In some individuals, diabetes may be the initial presentation of
      a more complex imprinting disorder due to recessive mutations in the gene ZFP57
      and may be associated with other developmental problems.

PMID- 20922570
TI  - Permanent neonatal diabetes due to activating mutations in ABCC8 and KCNJ11.
AB  - The ATP-sensitive potassium (K(ATP)) channel is composed of two subunits SUR1 and
      Kir6.2. The channel is key for glucose stimulated insulin release from the
      pancreatic beta cell. Activating mutations have been identified in the genes
      encoding these subunits, ABCC8 and KCNJ11, and account for approximately 40% of
      permanent neonatal diabetes cases. The majority of patients with a K(ATP)
      mutation present with isolated diabetes however some have presented with the
      Developmental delay, Epilepsy and Neonatal Diabetes syndrome. This review focuses
      on mutations in the K(ATP) channel which result in permanent neonatal diabetes,
      we review the clinical and functional effects as well as the implications for
      treatment.

PMID- 20922571
TI  - In vivo monitoring of stem cells in Drosophila pupae using the radiative transfer
      equation-based fluorescence molecular tomography.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of this study is to realize in vivo monitoring of DSRed
      expressing cell distribution in Drosophila pupae using fluorescence molecular
      tomography (FMT). PROCEDURES: The radiative transfer equation (RTE)-based FMT
      reconstruction algorithm is implemented using finite element method for
      mesoscopic- or millimeter-scale imaging. The RTE algorithm is validated using
      both simulated and phantom experimental data. For the in vivo experiments, DsRed
      fluorescent reporter was inserted into the middle of irradiation-responsive
      enhancer region (IRER) of Drosophila pupae and expressed only in IRER-open cells.
      RESULTS: Quantitatively accurate fluorescence images can be reconstructed from
      both simulated and phantom data. The in vivo images obtained agree well with the
      in vitro images obtained from confocal microscopy both qualitatively and semi
      quantitatively. CONCLUSION: DsRed-bearing stem cells in Drosophila pupae can be
      markedly imaged using our FMT approach. This study suggests that the technique
      described can be used for dynamic in vivo monitoring of biological events in
      mesoscopic-scale animals and facilitates basic biologic research such as
      genetics, epigenetics, and stem cells.

PMID- 20922572
TI  - How do tumors actively escape from host immunosurveillance?
AB  - The immunological background for the process of tumor growth is still obscure.
      However, our understanding of what happens could have important consequences,
      namely in the context of cancer immunotherapy. A tumor is able to grow in the
      host environment either because it is recognizable as normal tissue and tolerated
      by host immune cells, or because it can "escape" from host immunosurveillance.
      According to the second option the mechanisms of tumor recognition and consequent
      destruction are actively disturbed by such processes as: change of tumor
      immunogenicity, production of tumor-derived regulatory molecules, and interaction
      of cancer cells with tumor-infiltrating immune cells. The results of studies
      devoted to the problem of immunoregulation in the tumor environment seem to
      support the "escape" hypothesis.

PMID- 20922573
TI  - Functional polymorphisms associated with disease-free survival in resected
      carcinoma of the esophagus.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to determine whether clinical outcome after
      surgical resection of esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) or esophageal squamous cell
      carcinoma (ESCC) could be predicted by functional polymorphisms in different
      proto-oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: Six single
      nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the AURKA (rs2273535), ERBB2 (rs1136201), MDM2
      (rs2279744), CDH1 (rs5030625), CDKN2A (rs11515), and TP73 (rs2273953) genes were
      genotyped in a consecutive cohort of 346 esophageal cancer patients, who had
      underwent surgical resection with curative intent. Associations with disease-free
      survival (DFS) were analyzed with Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox regression,
      adjusting for potential confounders. RESULTS: Univariate analysis showed no
      significant associations between the tested polymorphisms and DFS in patients
      with EAC or ESCC. However, in a multivariate analysis, patients with EAC carrying
      the heterozygous MDM2 (rs2279744) T/G genotype had significantly improved DFS
      compared with patients carrying the wild-type genotype (adjusted hazard ratio
      (AHR), 0.63; 95% confidence interval (CI) [0.45-0.88]). Patients with EAC
      harboring the homozygous CDH1 (rs5030625) GA/GA genotype had a significantly
      reduced survival as compared with patients carrying the wild-type genotype AHR
      4.0, 95% CI [1.4-11]. CONCLUSIONS: In a large cohort of esophageal cancer
      patients, the MDM2 T/G and CDH1 GA/GA genotype confer risk of death in patients
      with EAC. These data suggest that inter-individual differences in germ-line DNA
      have an impact on DFS in patients with EAC.

PMID- 20922574
TI  - Treatment of colorectal cancer with unresectable synchronous liver-only
      metastases with combined therapeutic modalities.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Resection + radiofrequency ablation (RFA) + hepatic artery infusion
      (HAI) + systemic chemotherapy for patients with unresectable synchronous liver
      only metastases from colorectal cancer was rarely used previously. METHODS: We
      compared the outcomes of 42 patients underwent resection + RFA + HAI + systemic
      chemotherapy (RRHS) with that of 43 patients underwent resection + RFA + systemic
      chemotherapy (RRS). RESULTS: The overall survival, the survival free of hepatic
      recurrence and the median survival in the RRHS group were all significantly
      higher than those in RRS group at 4 years. While the rates of adverse effects
      were similar in the two groups. CONCLUSION: For patients with unresectable
      synchronous liver-only metastases from colorectal cancer, RRHS not only decreases
      but also postpones hepatic recurrence and therefore improves overall survival at
      4 years, as compared with RRS.

PMID- 20922575
TI  - Minimally invasive total gastrectomy for gastric cancer: a pilot series.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Minimally invasive surgery for select gastrointestinal disease has
      gained worldwide acceptance. However, laparoscopic total gastrectomy for cancer
      remains controversial. The purpose of this study was to examine an initial
      experience with laparoscopic total gastrectomy. METHODS: Medical records of 16
      consecutive patients who underwent laparoscopic total gastrectomy between
      September 2007 and December 2009 were reviewed in a retrospective manner.
      Esophagojejunostomy was completed using a transorally delivered anvil, with
      double-stapled esophageal anastomosis. RESULTS: There were no conversions to open
      procedures. Two patients (12.5%) required extended resections with en bloc distal
      pancreatectomy and splenectomy, one of whom also underwent transverse colectomy.
      The median lymph node count for patients who underwent D2 lymphadenectomy (n =
      12) for gastric adenocarcinoma was 31. There were no perioperative deaths and the
      median length of stay was 8 days. There were no anastomotic leaks, but three
      patients developed anastomotic strictures amenable to dilatation. CONCLUSIONS:
      Minimally invasive total gastrectomy can be performed safely and with adequate
      lymphadenectomy. The procedure provides an excellent short-term outcome with
      potential for improved patient outcome.

PMID- 20922576
TI  - Single-incision versus hand-assisted laparoscopic colectomy: a case-matched
      series.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Single-incision laparoscopic colorectal surgery is an emerging
      modality. We incorporated this technique as an alternative to hand-assisted
      laparoscopic surgery. We investigated intraoperative and short-term outcomes
      following single-incision laparoscopic colectomy compared with hand-assisted
      laparoscopic colectomy. METHODS: Between July and November 2009, single-incision
      colorectal procedures were performed and matched to hand-assisted procedures
      based on five criteria: gender, age, body mass index, pathology, and type of
      procedure. Demographic, intraoperative, and postoperative data were assessed.
      RESULTS: Twenty-four pairs of patients with a mean age of 55.1 years and mean
      body mass index of 28.5 kg/m(2) were matched. The majority of cases (79.2%) were
      right hemicolectomies. The ranges of incision length were 2-6 cm (single
      incision) and 5-11 cm (hand-assisted). Mean operating time was significantly
      longer for single-incision procedures (143.2 min) compared with hand-assisted
      procedures (112.8 min), p < 0.0004. There was no significant difference in the
      groups regarding conversions or intraoperative complications (p < 0.083 and p <
      1.0, respectively). Mean length of stay for the single-incision approach (2.7
      days) was significantly shorter compared with the hand-assisted approach (3.3
      days), p < 0.02. CONCLUSION: Single-incision laparoscopic colectomy is a safe and
      feasible alternative to hand-assisted laparoscopic surgery. Although the
      technique required longer operative time, it resulted in smaller incision size
      and significantly shorter length of hospitalization.

PMID- 20922577
TI  - Depth of tumor invasion independently predicts lymph node metastasis in T2 rectal
      cancer.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to identify risk factors of lymph node
      metastasis (LNM) for T2 rectal cancer. METHODS: From a prospectively maintained
      single-institution database, we identified 346 consecutive pT2 rectal cancers
      treated with total mesorectal excision from 1998 to 2009. Univariate and
      multivariate analyses were performed to identify risk factors associated with
      overall and intermediate/apical LNM. The incidence of overall and
      intermediate/apical LNM was analyzed by tree analysis. RESULTS: Age, tumor
      location, pathological features, and depth of invasion were independent
      predictors for overall LNM. Tumor location, pathological features, and depth of
      invasion were independent predictors for intermediate/apical LNM. Tree analysis
      showed that the incidence of LNM was 7.7% for upper rectal cancer with favorable
      pathological features, and 3.4% for mid/lower rectal cancer without other
      identified risk factors. The incidence of intermediate/apical LNM was 5.7% for
      superficial T2 rectal cancer with favorable pathological features, and 3.1% for
      deep T2 rectal cancer locating in upper rectum with favorable pathological
      features. CONCLUSIONS: Depth of invasion is an independent predictor for LNM in
      T2 rectal cancer. Using tree analysis, we identified a subset of patients with
      low risk of LNM who may be candidates of local excision.

PMID- 20922578
TI  - A robust model to describe the differentiation of T-helper cells.
AB  - There is a wealth of information regarding the differentiation of T-helper cells.
      Nevertheless, there is no general agreement on the topology and dynamical
      properties of the molecular network controlling the differentiation of these
      cells. This paper presents a continuous dynamical system to model the signaling
      network that controls the differentiation process of T-helper cells. The model is
      able to represent the differentiation from the precursor Th0 cell to any of the
      four effectors types (Th1, Th2, Th17, and Treg), as well as the phenotype of
      single null mutants. We present the first sensitivity analysis of the equations
      defining the Th model, showing that the qualitative dynamical behavior of the
      model is very robust against changes in three out of four tested parameters. The
      robustness of the model is in agreement with our claim that the qualitative
      behavior of the system is to a large extent independent of the methodological
      framework used for modeling.

PMID- 20922579
TI  - Colonic perforation following polypectomy of a gastrointestinal follicular
      lymphoma masquerading as a colon polyp.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The gastrointestinal (GI) tract is the predominant site for primary
      extranodal non-Hodgkin lymphomas (NHL), accounting for 5-10% of all extranodal
      disease. CASE: A 74-year-old man underwent colonoscopy for a positive fecal
      occult blood test. Colonoscopy revealed a 3.5-cm polyp in the descending colon
      and was removed by snare cautery polypectomy. Post-polypectomy site showed a 0.3
      0.5-cm mucosal defect. Five endoclips were applied to close the mucosal defect.
      The patient remained stable during subsequent intensive monitoring and never
      required surgical intervention. Pathology of the polyp revealed follicular
      lymphoma (FL) involving the lamina propria of the mucosa with extension into the
      submucosa. The patient had no systemic symptoms, and staging for NHL with
      contrast computerized tomography of the chest, abdomen, and pelvis revealed no
      evidence suggestive of lymphoma. DISCUSSION: Approximately 6-20% of all primary
      GI-NHL are in the colon. The frequency of GI-FL accounts for 1-3.6% of all GI
      NHL. After a search of the current literature, there have been no cases of a
      follicular lymphoma presenting solely as an isolated colon polyp. Likewise, bowel
      perforation due to polypectomy of such polyps has never been cited.
      Retrospectively, the diagnosis and extent of the polyp could have been
      established using endoscopic end-to-end forceps biopsy and/or endoscopic
      ultrasound with a radial scanning catheter probe and fine-needle aspiration of
      the lesion. Such a diagnosis could have changed the strategy for endoscopic
      removal of the polyp. Our case is interesting because it is the first report of a
      follicular lymphoma presenting as a single isolated colon polyp involving all
      layers of the colonic mucosa.

PMID- 20922580
TI  - Clinicopathological significance of macrophage migration inhibitory factor and
      its relation with p53 in gastric cancer.
AB  - AIM: Based on previous investigations, the progress of gastritis may lead to
      gastric carcinomas. In some epithelial tumors, macrophage migration inhibitory
      factor (MIF), which is an inflammatory cytokine may inactivate p53 and play a
      role in tumorigenesis process. We decided to evaluate clinicopathological
      significance of MIF expression and the relation between p53 and MIF expressions
      in gastric adenocarcinomas. METHODS: Seventy-three consecutive cases of gastric
      adenocarcinomas, the tissue samples of which were available, were included in
      this study. Tissue sections were stained for MIF and p53 expression by
      immunohistochemistry and the expression was defined as positive (for more than
      10%) and negative (for less than 10%) groups. Location of the tumor, histological
      subtypes, and grade of the tumor were determined by using routine H&E staining.
      Distant metastasis, lymph node involvement, and consequently the stage of tumor
      were specified. The patients' age and gender were obtained from their medical
      records. The relationship between expression of MIF and these variables was
      determined. RESULTS: Overexpression of MIF was observed in the cytoplasm of
      cancer cells in 46.6% (34/73) of cases and nuclear immunostaining of p53 was
      observed in 37% (27/73) of cases. Expression of MIF was significantly correlated
      with the location of tumor, but this expression has no statistically significant
      correlation with variables including: age, gender histological subtypes, distant
      metastasis, and lymph node involvement, stage and grade of the tumor, and p53
      tumor suppressor gene expression. CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggests that MIF in
      gastric adenocarcinomas versus many other epithelial tumors cannot have a
      prominent role in tumor progress and inactivation of p53 tumor suppressor gene.

PMID- 20922581
TI  - Response to nilotinib as a first-line treatment for metastatic gastrointestinal
      stromal tumors.
AB  - PURPOSE: Effective and safe treatment options are needed for patients with
      advanced gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) who are initially unresponsive to
      the tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) imatinib, or develop acquired secondary
      imatinib resistance. CASE REPORT: We report a 39-year-old woman with primary
      rectal GIST who underwent abdominoperineal resection in December 2004, achieving
      R0 margins. In August 2009, the patient was referred to our clinic, and we
      detected metastatic GIST of the liver, as well as peritoneal and gluteal lesions.
      The patient was treated with imatinib 400 mg/day for 3 weeks and subsequently
      switched to nilotinib (400 mg bid) after enrolling in a clinical trial. After 8
      weeks of nilotinib treatment, a response was observed in the liver metastasis,
      and metabolic activity was no longer detected. Also, the gluteal and peritoneal
      lesions were no longer detected. After 16 weeks of nilotinib treatment, a cystic
      mass was identified in the liver metastasis. Tumor rupture was considered a
      strong possibility, prompting resection of the liver metastasis. Greater than 80%
      of the resected tumor mass was necrotic, consistent with the lack of metabolism
      observed 8 weeks prior. The patient resumed nilotinib treatment (400 mg bid)
      shortly after surgery and continues treatment while remaining disease-free for
      more than 9 months with normal liver function. CONCLUSION: This is the first
      report demonstrating the feasibility of nilotinib (400 mg bid) for the first-line
      treatment of metastatic GIST. Furthermore, these results underscore that
      responses to TKIs may be underestimated by Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid
      Tumors.

PMID- 20922582
TI  - Measures of glycemic variability and links with psychological functioning.
AB  - The goal of this article is to review the recent literature on measures of
      glycemic variability, links between glycemic variability and psychological
      functioning, and methods for examining these links. A number of commonly used
      measures of glycemic variability are reviewed and compared, including recently
      proposed methods. Frequently used measures of glycemic variability are also
      discussed in the context of research that uses continuous glucose monitoring for
      the collection of blood glucose data. The results of previous studies that have
      examined the link between psychological functioning and glycemic variability
      within relatively short-term time frames are reviewed. Methods for examining
      glycemic variability and its link with psychological functioning are discussed so
      that important research questions can be addressed to aid in understanding the
      effect of changes in psychological functioning on glycemic variability and vice
      versa in future research.

PMID- 20922583
TI  - 100 most cited articles in orthopaedic surgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Citation analysis reflects the recognition a work has received in the
      scientific community by its peers, and is a common method to determine 'classic'
      works in medical specialties. QUESTIONS/PURPOSES: We determined which published
      articles in orthopaedic journals have been most cited by other authors by ranking
      the 100 top-cited works. By analyzing characteristics of these articles, we
      intended to determine what qualities make an orthopaedic article important to the
      specialty. Finally, we determined if there was a change in level of evidence of
      studies on this list with time. METHODS: Science Citation Index Expanded was
      searched for citations to articles published in any of the 49 journals in the
      subject category "ORTHOPEDICS." Each of the 49 journals was searched separately
      using the "cited reference search" to determine the 100 most often cited
      articles. Each article was reviewed for basic information including year of
      publication, country of origin, source journal of the article, article type, and
      level of evidence. We categorized the journal article by field of research where
      possible. RESULTS: The number of citations ranged from 1748 to 353. The 100 most
      often cited articles in orthopaedic surgery were published in 11 of the 49
      journals, spanning from general to more specific subspecialty journals. The
      majority of the papers (76) were clinical, with the remaining representing some
      type of basic science research. The most common level of evidence was IV (42 of
      the 76 studies). Of the 76 clinical articles, 27 introduced or tested
      classification systems or outcome measurement tools. CONCLUSIONS: Authors aiming
      to write a highly cited article in an orthopaedic surgery journal will be favored
      by language of publication, source journal, country of origin, and introduction
      of a classification scheme or outcome tool.

PMID- 20922584
TI  - Is intraoperative CT of posterior cervical spine instrumentation cost-effective
      and does it reduce complications?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Symptomatic multilevel cervical myelopathy is often addressed using
      posterior decompression using two-dimensional fluoroscopy. Intraoperative three
      dimensional fluoroscopy provides more accurate information on the position of
      instrumentation to prevent screw-related complications. QUESTIONS/PURPOSES: We
      documented the incidence of hardware-related complications and evaluate cost
      effectiveness when using intraoperative three-dimensional fluoroscopy (ISO-C CT)
      in posterior cervical spine surgery. METHODS: Records from 87 patients who
      underwent posterior cervical decompression and instrumented fusion for multilevel
      cervical spondylosis with myelopathy were retrospectively reviewed. Patients in
      whom a lateral mass, pars, or pedicle screw was removed or revised based on
      intraoperative ISO-C CT was recorded. Cost analysis was performed using 2008
      Medicare reimbursements and was compared against cost estimates for ISO-C CT.
      RESULTS: Seven patients (8%) had screws changed based on the results of the three
      dimensional fluoroscopy: 0.5% of lateral mass screws, 3.1% of thoracic pedicle
      screws, and 15% of C2 pars screws. No patients who had evaluation of hardware
      with the ISO-C CT required a return to surgery for complications secondary to
      hardware failure, malposition, or cutout. CONCLUSIONS: Cost savings are achieved
      if use of intraoperative ISO-C CT prevents eight patients from requiring a return
      to the operating room. If every malpositioned screw has the potential to be
      symptomatic, then 240 patients must have screws placed to be cost-effective. ISO
      C CT can safely replace postoperative CT as the standard of care in patients
      undergoing posterior cervical spinal fusion. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level III,
      economic and decision analyses. See Guidelines for Authors for a complete
      description of levels of evidence.

PMID- 20922585
TI  - Large acetabular defects can be managed with cementless revision components.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Optimal techniques for acetabular revision in the setting of major
      pelvic osteolysis have not been established. Bilobed components, structural
      grafts, and reinforcement cages have demonstrated 10-24% midterm failure rates.
      While cementless hemispherical components have been utilized to treat large
      acetabular defects, most reports have not focused specifically on patients with
      extensive deficiencies. QUESTIONS/PURPOSES: We report midterm clinical scores,
      component revisions, and complications following focal bone grafting and
      cementless acetabular revision in cases with major periacetabular osteolysis.
      METHODS: We identified 30 patients (32 hips) who underwent cementless acetabular
      revision to treat massive acetabular bone loss at an average followup of 53
      months. We excluded three patients lost to followup and two patients who died
      prior to minimum 24 month followup. Harris Hip Scores were assessed before and
      after surgery. Postoperative radiographs were evaluated for graft incorporation
      and component migration. Component revision and component migration are reported
      as failures. RESULTS: Mean Harris Hip Score improved from 52.5 (range, 17.7-90.7)
      to 87.3 (range, 25.3-100) points. Three hips (9%) were revised for aseptic
      loosening. Three components (10.7%) demonstrated radiographic migration, but were
      not revised. Complete graft incorporation was seen in 17 cases (68%). There were
      five major complications (14%). CONCLUSIONS: Cementless acetabular fixation and
      bone grafting result in clinical scores and survivorship comparable to other
      options at midterm followup, with potential for biological fixation. LEVEL OF
      EVIDENCE: Level IV, clinical research study. See the Guidelines for Authors for a
      complete description of levels of evidence.

PMID- 20922586
TI  - Ringer's lactate is compatible with saline-adenine-glucose-mannitol preserved
      packed red blood cells for rapid transfusion.
AB  - PURPOSE: Guidelines state that Ringer's lactate (RL) should not be co
      administered with packed red blood cells (PRBC) due to a potential risk of
      clotting. The purpose of this study was to determine whether RL causes clotting
      in PRBC with the currently used preservative, saline-adenine-glucose-mannitol
      (SAGM). METHODS: Phase 1: Samples from 12 units of SAGM-PRBC were diluted from 0
      97.5% with RL and normal saline (NS), incubated for 30 min, and passed through 40
      MUm filters. Additional samples were frozen and batch analyzed using an enzyme
      linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to measure prothrombin activation fragment 1 +
      2 (F1 + 2), indicative of thrombin generation. Packed red blood cells were also
      diluted, flushed with crystalloid using a rapid transfusion model, and filtered.
      Phase 2: Eight further units were serially diluted with RL and incubated for 30,
      60, 120, 180, and 240 min. Fresh samples were analyzed by filtration and ELISA.
      RESULTS: Phase 1: No clotting was seen during filtration or using the transfusion
      model with NS or RL. The F1 + 2 ranged from 2.28 to 154.37 pmol.L-1 in NS
      dilutions and from 2.80 to 1675.93 pmol.L-1 in RL dilutions, indicating
      coagulation in some samples. Phase 2: No clotting was observed within 60 min by
      filtration or ELISA. However, 4 of the 8 units showed clots in the filters of
      some dilutions between 120 and 240 min. CONCLUSIONS: No clotting was detected at
      any dilution of RL with SAGM- preserved PRBC within 60 min, but clotting was
      detected with extended incubation. The results indicate RL can be safely co
      administered with PRBC during rapid transfusion (< 60 min).

PMID- 20922587
TI  - The prevalence of undiagnosed diabetes in non-cardiac surgery patients, an
      observational study.
AB  - PURPOSE: Given that preoperative hyperglycemia is associated with poor outcomes
      and many non-diabetic patients have high plasma glucose (PG) levels, the purpose
      of our study was to estimate the prevalence of undiagnosed diabetes among non
      cardiac surgery patients and to identify predictors of hyperglycemia in non
      diabetics. METHODS: We included all non-cardiac surgery patients with complete
      records in the Clinical Database of the Anesthesiology Institute at the Cleveland
      Clinic during January 2007 to April 2009, and we estimated the prevalence of
      undiagnosed diabetes and impaired fasting glucose (IFG) among the non-diabetic
      patients. The mean glucose levels for known diabetics and undiagnosed diabetics
      were compared using two-tailed Student's t tests, and we assessed the association
      between PG levels and demographic variables within the non-diabetics. RESULTS: Of
      the 39,434 patients analyzed, 5,511 (14%) were known diabetics. Of the 33,923
      known non-diabetics, 3,426 (10 %) were undiagnosed diabetics and another 3,549
      (11%) had IFG. Thus, 6,975 patients (21%) of the non-diabetic patients presented
      with abnormally high glucose. Previously undiagnosed diabetics had higher
      preoperative glucose levels compared with known diabetics, with a mean +/-
      standard deviation (SD) of 161 +/- 48 vs 146 +/- 67 mg.dL-1 (8.9 +/- 2.7 vs 8.1
      +/- 3.7 mmoL.L-1), respectively. The difference remained highly significant after
      adjusting for body mass index, age, sex, and American Society of
      Anesthesiologists (ASA) physical status (P < 0.001). Among non-diabetics, older
      age, obesity, male sex, and a higher ASA physical status were collectively
      significant predictors of hyperglycemia, with a c-statistic (95% confidence
      interval) of 0.67 (0.66-0.68). CONCLUSION: A significant proportion of non
      cardiac surgery patients have previously undiagnosed diabetes and pre-diabetes.
      Previously undiagnosed patients have higher fasting glucose levels compared with
      diabetic patients. Further studies should be conducted to identify the
      implications of these findings on patient outcomes.

PMID- 20922597
TI  - [Retirement of Professor Dr. med. Ulrich Modder].

PMID- 20922598
TI  - [On the 100th birthday of Lothar Diethelms].

PMID- 20922599
TI  - [In memory of Prof. Dr. Helga Schmidt].

PMID- 20922603
TI  - [Minimum equipment of a medical university professor in the health care field].

PMID- 20922604
TI  - Targeted depiction of the fetal corpus callosum with 3D-ultrasound.

PMID- 20922605
TI  - The genetic diagnostics law--help or confusion in prenatal diagnostics?

PMID- 20922606
TI  - Sonographic diagnosis of cerebral malformations in infancy. Part 1: Chiari and
      Dandy-Walker malformations.

PMID- 20922607
TI  - New trends in elasticity imaging.

PMID- 20922611
TI  - [Certification guideline of the Austrian Physician Chamber in the home stretch].

PMID- 20922616
TI  - [Combined diagnosis and therapy].

PMID- 20922617
TI  - [Ultrasonography].

PMID- 20922619
TI  - Cardiac surgery in Germany during 2009. A report on behalf of the German Society
      for Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery.
AB  - All cardiac surgical procedures performed in 80 German cardiac surgical units
      throughout the year 2009 are presented in this report, based on a voluntary
      registry which is organized by the German Society for Thoracic and Cardiovascular
      Surgery. In 2009 a total of 96 129 cardiac surgical procedures (excluding ICD and
      pacemaker procedures) were collected in this registry. More than 11.8 % of the
      patients were older than 80 years compared to 10.3 % in 2008. Hospital mortality
      in 45 171 isolated CABG procedures (13.1 % off-pump) was 2.8 %. In 23 556
      isolated valve procedures (including 2216 catheter-based procedures) a mortality
      of 4.7 % was observed. This voluntary registry of the German Society for Thoracic
      and Cardiovascular Surgery continues to be an important tool for quality control
      and illustrates the development of cardiac surgery in Germany.

PMID- 20922620
TI  - Mild-to-moderate COPD as a risk factor for increased 30-day mortality in cardiac
      surgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is still a serious
      comorbidity in surgical procedures. We assessed the impact of mild to moderate
      COPD in a modern cardiac surgery unit. METHODS: An age-, gender- and operation
      matched cohort analysis of 242 patients treated between 01/2006 and 12/2008 was
      performed. COPD was defined as a FEV1 < 80 % and a FEV1/FVC ratio < 0.7 in
      preoperative spirometry. Primary end point was 30-day mortality. RESULTS:
      Preoperative beta-agonist treatment of COPD patients was noted for 43 % of
      patients and not in the control group. After comparable surgery, postoperative
      respiratory failure was more frequent in COPD patients (10.4 % vs. 2.5 %, P =
      0.02), whereas median ventilation time (12 h) and rate of reintubation (2.5 % vs.
      3.5 %) did not significantly differ between both groups. Intensive care and
      hospital stay were significantly longer in the COPD group ( P = 0.02 and P =
      0.04), and 30-day mortality was significantly higher in COPD patients (0.8 % vs.
      6.1 %, P = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS: COPD increases 30-day mortality, postoperative
      pulmonary complications, ICU stay and hospital stay. Proper identification and
      therapy may help to improve outcome in this high-risk population.

PMID- 20922621
TI  - Prognostic value of daily cardiac surgery score (CASUS) and its derivatives in
      cardiac surgery patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We aimed to validate the usefulness of CASUS derivatives for cardiac
      surgery patients and their reliability for daily decision making. METHODS: We
      included, prospectively, the data of all adult cardiac surgery patients who had
      an ICU stay of at least 12 hours between 20 January 2003 and 14 October 2005 in
      the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery of the University of Cologne, Germany.
      Data were collected until ICU discharge and included initial, maximum, mean, and
      total CASUS values. delta CASUS (difference from initial value) was calculated at
      48 and 96 hours postoperatively. The predictive efficacy of the derivatives was
      tested with calibration and discrimination statistics. RESULTS: 2372 patients
      were included with a mean age of 66.2 +/- 11.2 years. ICU mortality was 3.6 % (n
      =85). Mean ICU stay was 3.0 +/- 6.1 days. The discrimination was very good for
      all derivatives (area under the curve ranged between 0.988 and 0.926). The
      calibration was also good except for the total CASUS, which showed a significant
      difference between the expected and observed mortality. Increased delta CASUS at
      48 hours (1038 patients) and 96 hours (435 patients) correlated with an increase
      in mortality (23.1 % and 42.9 %, respectively), and conversely a decreased
      mortality rate was observed with decreasing values (1.9 % and 3.8 %,
      respectively). CONCLUSION: CASUS derivatives including delta CASUS have a good
      prognostic value for cardiac surgery patients with regard to the prediction of
      mortality and survival during ICU stay, with the exception of total CASUS which
      was not informative.

PMID- 20922622
TI  - Early reintubation after cardiac operations: impact of nasal continuous positive
      airway pressure (nCPAP) and noninvasive positive pressure ventilation (NPPV).
AB  - BACKGROUND: Due to an increasing number of comorbidities there is still a
      significant incidence of respiratory failure after primary postoperative
      extubation in patients who undergo cardiosurgery. We wanted to study whether
      nCPAP could improve pulmonary oxygen transfer and avoid the necessity for
      reintubation after cardiac surgery. Additionally, we compared this protocol to
      noninvasive positive pressure ventilation (NPPV). PATIENTS AND METHODS: Over a
      period of 3 years we analyzed all patients who were extubated within 12 hours
      after cardiac surgery, and in whom pulmonary oxygen transfer (PaO2/FIO2)
      deteriorated without hypercapnia so that all these patients met predefined
      criteria for reintubation. There were three groups of patients: A = patients
      required immediate reintubation (n = 125); B = patients had nCPAP with
      intermittent mask CPAP (n = 264); and C = patients had NPPV (n = 36). RESULTS:
      25.8 % of patients in Group B and 22.2 % of patients in Group C were also
      intubated after a period of CPAP or NPPV. All other patients of Groups B and C
      could be weaned from these devices (B: 33.4 +/- 5.8 hours, C: 26.2 +/- 4.2 h; P <
      0.05) and were well oxygenated using a face mask at ambient pressures (PaO2/FIO2:
      B: 136 +/- 12, C: 141 +/- 12). In Group A, we found a higher mortality (8.8 %)
      than in Group B (4.2 %) and Group C (5.6 %). The ICU stay and in-hospital stay
      were significantly prolonged in Group A. The incidence of pulmonary infections
      (A: 24 %, B: 10.6 %, C: 13.8 %; P < 0.05) and the need for catecholamines were
      significantly increased in Group A, whereas nCPAP patients suffered significantly
      more often from impaired sternal wound healing (A: 4.8 %, B: 8.3 %; P < 0.05).
      CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that reintubation after cardiac operations should be
      avoided since nCPAP and NPPV are safe and effectively improve arterial
      oxygenation in the majority of patients with nonhypercapnic oxygenation failure.
      However, it is of great importance to pay special care to sternal wound
      complications in these patients.

PMID- 20922623
TI  - Female gender does not increase perioperative risk in coronary bypass surgery.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Female gender has been identified as an independent risk factor for
      perioperative mortality in several risk scores for cardiac surgery. Since no
      explanation has been given for this, this study aimed to evaluate potential
      differences in the distribution of other risk factors between the genders.
      PATIENTS AND METHODS: 10 714 consecutive coronary bypass patients were analyzed
      retrospectively. The distribution of the risk factors as used in the EuroSCORE
      was evaluated. Diabetes mellitus was added to the analysis as an additional risk
      factor. Patients aged between 60 and 70 years without any additional risk factors
      were directly compared in a subgroup analysis. Statistical analysis was done
      using the T-test or chi-square test where appropriate. RESULTS: Female patients
      were significantly older compared to male ones (69.1 +/- 8.5 vs. 65.4 +/- 4
      years, P < 0.05). The distribution of the analyzed risk factors did not differ
      except for diabetes mellitus: female patients were more likely to present with
      diabetes (42 % vs. 29 %, P < 0.05) and in diabetic patients, the incidence of
      insulin dependency was higher in female patients (50 % vs. 33 %, P < 0.05).
      Overall perioperative mortality was higher in female patients (2.7 % vs. 1.8 %, P
      < 0.05). This difference increased when diabetes was present (3.9 % vs. 1.8 %, P
      < 0.05) and was even higher in insulin-dependent patients (4.9 % vs. 1.9 %, P <
      0.05). However, when adjusting for age and diabetes, the differences were
      reduced. This was most evident when subgroups of age-adjusted patients without
      any additional risk factors were analyzed: no gender-specific difference in
      perioperative mortality was observed. CONCLUSIONS: Female gender itself did not
      present as an independent risk factor. The presence of diabetes mellitus
      increased the risk in female patients significantly more than in male patients.
      The higher prevalence of diabetes in female patients in combination with the
      older age at presentation might result in the higher overall mortality observed
      in female patients compared to men.

PMID- 20922624
TI  - "Anaortic" off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting significantly reduces
      neurological complications compared to off-pump and conventional on-pump surgery
      with aortic manipulation.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Most studies comparing off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting
      (OPCAB) with conventional on-pump coronary artery bypass grafting (ONCAB) include
      patients with aortic manipulation in the OPCAB group. Performing OPCAB without
      aortic manipulation, i.e., "anaortic" OPCAB (anOPCAB), may improve neurological
      outcome. METHODS: We reviewed the perioperative data of all isolated CABG
      patients at two metropolitan hospitals for the period from January 2002 to
      December 2007. Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to determine
      whether the type of procedure was an independent predictor of adverse
      neurological outcome. RESULTS: Out of a total of 3699 consecutive patients, 1346
      were anOPCAB, 600 OPCAB and 1753 ONCAB cases. Neurological complications occurred
      in 0.9 % of all patients. Compared to the anOPCAB group, there was a
      statistically significant higher odds for neurological complications in the OPCAB
      group [odds ratio (OR) 7.01, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 1.4-35.0, P = 0.0175]
      and in the ONCAB group (OR 12.33, 95 % CI 2.9-52.2, P = 0.0007). CONCLUSIONS: In
      this series "anaortic" OPCAB surgery significantly decreases the risk of
      neurological complications compared to both ONCAB and OPCAB with aortic
      manipulation. If possible, we advocate avoiding aortic manipulation in OPCAB
      surgery.

PMID- 20922625
TI  - Long-term outcomes following repair or replacement in degenerative mitral valve
      disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We studied whether mitral valvuloplasty (MVP) was superior to mitral
      valve replacement (MVR) in patients with degenerative mitral regurgitation (MR),
      and analyzed the independent risk factors for survival and reoperation. METHODS:
      326 patients with degenerative MR underwent MVP (n = 241), mitral valve
      replacement (MVR) (n = 78) or emergent MVR due to failure of repair (EMVR).
      Clinical data were analyzed retrospectively. RESULTS: Thirty-day mortality was
      lower after MVP (2.5 %) compared to MVR (9.0 %) ( P < 0.05). Late survival at 1
      and 5 years in the MVP group was 94.4 % and 84.3 % versus 80.4 % and 64.6 % in
      the MVR group ( P < 0.05), respectively. After adjusting the baseline
      characteristics by the propensity score method, a significant survival benefit
      was found for patients who underwent MVP. Multivariable analysis showed that MVR
      was an independent predictor of thirty-day mortality and survival. There was no
      significant difference in thirty-day mortality and survival between the EMVR and
      MVR groups. The need for reoperation was not significantly different between the
      MVP and MVR groups. In the MVP group, the risk factors for survival and
      reoperation were identified. CONCLUSIONS: MVP is superior to MVR for the
      treatment of degenerative MR despite the impact of repair failure. Age less than
      60 years, ring size to body surface area greater than 19.0, absence of a
      prosthetic ring and residual MR at the end of surgery (>= 1/4) reduce the
      durability of MVP.

PMID- 20922626
TI  - 18-fluorine fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography with computerized
      tomography versus computerized tomography alone for the management of solitary
      lung nodules with diameters inferior to 1.5 cm.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Aim of the study was to establish a noninvasive method for the
      preoperative characterisation of a pulmonary nodule when biopsy of the small mass
      is impossible. METHODS: From 1 January 2006 to 31 December 2008, we observed 124
      asymptomatic patients with a noncalcified single lung nodule highlighted by
      computerised tomography (CT) of the thorax. Patients were divided into 2 groups:
      Group A consisted of 57 patients with lesion diameters between 0.5 cm and 0.99
      cm; Group B consisted of 67 patients with lesion diameters between 1.0 cm and 1.5
      cm. Fibreoptic bronchoscopy was negative for endobronchial neoformation in all
      patients. The topographic distribution of the lesions advised against CT-guided
      transthoracic needle biopsy or video-assisted thoracoscopy. All patients had
      preoperative 18-fluorine fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) positron emission
      tomography (PET) associated with CT of the thorax, which was compared with CT for
      evaluation of the mass. RESULTS: Postoperative histological diagnosis revealed 54
      primary lung cancers, 47 lung metastases and 23 benign lesions. In Group A the
      sensitivity of 18F-FDG PET/CT and CT was 95 % and 73 % and the specificity was 72
      % and 64 %, respectively ( P = 0.000001 for 18F-FDG PET/CT; P = 0.000177 for CT).
      In Group B the sensitivity of 18F-FDG PET/CT and CT was 95 % and 97 %, and the
      specificity was 80 % and 87 %, respectively ( P = 0.000001). CONCLUSIONS: Our
      study shows that 18F-FDG PET/CT improves the identification and characterisation
      of potentially malignant pulmonary nodules with a diameter < 1 cm. This technique
      could be a valid alternative to a surgical approach, currently the main method to
      investigate indeterminate lung nodules.

PMID- 20922627
TI  - A novel technique of tracheal reconstruction with autologous bronchial pedicle
      flap.
AB  - We describe a technique used in 2 patients for resection of a bronchogenic
      carcinoma arising from the right main bronchus and extending along the lateral
      wall of the lower trachea without carinal invasion. A right pneumonectomy was
      performed in the first case, and lower and middle lobes were preserved in the
      second case after extended upper lobe resection. A flap was mobilized from the
      non-involved left lateral wall of the right main bronchus, which was left
      attached to the carina. This was used to close the defect in the lower trachea.
      An autologous bronchial pedicle flap provides reliable material to repair and
      reconstruct a massive central airway defect.

PMID- 20922628
TI  - Thoracoscopic treatment of recurrent pneumothorax in a pregnant woman: a case of
      ectopic deciduosis.
AB  - We report here on a case of recurrent pneumothorax during pregnancy, which was
      successfully treated with thoracoscopic surgery. This report describes the
      intraoperative and histopathological findings of diaphragmatic and pulmonary
      ectopic deciduosis. Our case highlights the need for all surgeons to explore the
      diaphragm when performing surgery to treat pneumothorax in a woman, even if she
      is pregnant.

PMID- 20922629
TI  - Pacemaker-associated thrombotic occlusion of the inferior vena cava causing liver
      failure.
AB  - Pacemaker implantation using endocardial leads can give rise to thrombotic venous
      occlusion. We report the case of a 23-year-old male with transposition of the
      great arteries, who had previously undergone a Senning repair at the age of one
      year. A sick sinus syndrome required pacemaker implantation with subsequent
      multiple lead revisions. Following the implantation of the last lead, the patient
      developed complete occlusion of the inferior vena cava (IVC) with stenosis of the
      superior vena cava (SVC) with pacemaker leads in both lesions. Liver failure,
      ascites and esophageal varices developed. Thrombolytic treatment was ineffective;
      finally the patient was listed for liver transplantation. We explanted the lead
      embedding the thrombosis, together with some lead remnants. The stenosis of the
      SVC and the occlusion of the IVC were dilatated and stabilized with four stents.
      Over a follow-up period of 4 months, NYHA class improved from NYHA III to NYHA I
      II, the hepatic function showed complete remission, and a liver transplantation
      was not necessary.

PMID- 20922630
TI  - Successful treatment of acute fulminant myocarditis with double sets of
      extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: report of a case and review of the
      literature.
AB  - We report a case of acute fulminant myocarditis (AFM) with cardiogenic shock and
      hemodynamic collapse. We performed emergency extracorporeal life support (ECLS)
      with right femoral venoarterial cannulation by Seldinger procedure. Because of
      poor systemic perfusion over the upper trunk with low O2 saturation due to
      inadequate venous return, a second ECLS was applied 16 hours after the first ECLS
      with right subclavian venoarterial cannulation by cut-down procedure. Total flow
      of both ECLS sets can achieve a flow of up to 6-8  l/min without massive
      destruction of blood cells. Combined with supportive intravenous immunoglobulin
      (IVIG) treatment, cardiac function recovered well and the ECLS sets were removed
      one-by-one. Follow-up studies one year after admission showed good cardiac
      systolic function and no sequelae of AFM.

PMID- 20922631
TI  - Cavitating lymph node metastasis demonstrated by endobronchial ultrasound.
AB  - Cavitation of primary non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) occurs in a small
      number of patients. We report a case of cavitation of lymph node metastases in
      NSCLC. CT chest showed central low attenuation of the subcarinal lymph node,
      suggestive of necrosis, and endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS) imaging demonstrated
      two cystic spaces within the lymph node. Transbronchial needle aspiration of the
      cystic space confirmed the presence of metastatic NSCLC. Cystic necrosis was only
      demonstrable by EBUS. The incidence of such findings is unknown, however with the
      increasing use of EBUS for evaluation of the mediastinum such images may be more
      commonly encountered in the future.

PMID- 20922633
TI  - Cardiac defect with diaphragmatic hernia and left lung agenesis--heart disease
      and other anomalies.
AB  - This report describes a rare case of left pulmonary agenesis associated with
      congenital diaphragmatic hernia and congenital heart disease in a 2-year-old
      child with pulmonary hypertension. We performed direct radical correction of the
      congenital heart defect. The postoperative course was challenging but without
      major complications.

PMID- 20922632
TI  - Pulmonary Palacos embolism: a case report.
AB  - Instrumentation with cement-augmented pedicle screws has expanded the therapeutic
      spectrum. This technique is useful for the palliation of bone metastases and in
      generalized osteoporosis. Serious complications such as pulmonary embolism have
      been described following percutaneous vertebroplasty, a frequently used
      technique. We report the case of a 55-year-old patient with a large central
      Palacos embolism of the right pulmonary artery after corporectomy of the lumbar
      vertebrae 3 and 4 and reconstruction using autologous pelvic bone. The large
      Palacos embolism was removed successfully from the right pulmonary artery with
      extracorporeal circulation.

PMID- 20922635
TI  - [Lung transplantation for pulmonary emphysema--who, when, how?].
AB  - End stage pulmonary emphysema is the most common indication for lung
      transplantation worldwide. The shortness of donor organs and the better natural
      prognosis compared to other diseases leading to transplantation such as pulmonary
      fibrosis and cystic fibrosis demands careful patient selection.Lung
      transplantation is considered in patients with declining lung function after
      receiving all conservative treatment options including smoking cessation and
      rehabilitation programmes. Preoperative evaluation using consensus criteria needs
      to be performed by a multidisciplinary team in specialized centres. Assessment of
      co-morbidities is crucial, as they may significantly increase transplant-related
      mortality. The largest survival advantage from lung transplantation has been
      shown for the subgroup of patients below 60 years of age presenting with end
      stage obstructive lung disease (FEV1 < 20% predicted) and respiratory failure.
      Similarly, high risk patients with secondary pulmonary hypertension or cachexia
      (BMI < 20) will likely benefit from transplantation.The 5-year-survival rate
      averages 60 percent, with superior outcome following double versus single lung
      transplantation. A clear survival benefit can only be achieved in a subgroup of
      patients, whereas the impact on quality of life seems to be even more important
      in patients suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

PMID- 20922636
TI  - [Epidemiology of severe Clostridium difficile infections in Hesse, Germany in
      2008-2009].
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Clostridium difficile is a major cause of health care
      associated infections in industrialized countries. During the past decade, the
      incidence and clinical severity of C. difficile infections (CDI) have increased
      markedly. This increase has been associated with the emergence of a possibly
      highly virulent strain, the C. difficile PCR ribotype 027. We investigated the
      emergence of severe CDI and the associated PCR ribotypes in Hesse, Germany.
      PATIENTS AND METHODS: We conducted a retrospective analysis of clinical
      information and ribotyping results of all cases of severe CDI that were reported
      to the Hesse State Health Office or sent to our microbiologic diagnostic
      laboratory for detection and molecular typing of C. difficile in severe cases of
      CDI from 01/2008 to 12/2009. The data of a of 88 patients and 50 isolates were
      analysed. RESULTS: 89% of patients were at least 65 years old; the mean age was
      77 years. The clinical outcome was known in 85 patients. 27% had died within 30
      days of the diagnosis of CDI. Ribotyping results were available in 39 and 11
      patients from 2008 and 2009, respectively. The isolates were assigned to nine
      different ribotypes. RT 027 and RT 001 were the most frequent ribotypes with 31
      and 10 isolates, respectively. All other ribotypes were isolated once or twice.
      CONCLUSION: Our data indicate that C. difficile RT 027 and RT 001 are prevalent
      in Hesse and are often associated with severe or notifiable CDI. The high
      prevalence of RT 027 among the reported CDI cases does not indicate a generally
      high prevalence of the latter strain in Hesse, because detection of RT 027 was a
      case definition criterion, a fact that may cause a bias in the reported data.
      Further investigation would help to improve our understanding of the molecular
      epidemiology of severe CDI and to improve the prevention strategies.

PMID- 20922637
TI  - [Urinary bladder tuberculosis and Bacillus Calmette-Guerin instillation: reduced
      efficacy of bisoprolol in hypertension].
AB  - HISTORY AND ADMISSION FINDINGS: A 71-year-old patient with a superficial
      carcinoma of the urinary bladder and high risk of recurrence was treated with
      intravesical instillation of Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) after transurethral
      resection. As a complication of the catheterization during BCG-instillation
      therapy the patient suffered from tuberculosis. The patient received a
      tuberculosis triple-therapy including rifampicin 600 mg once daily, isoniazid 300
      mg once daily and ethambutol 400 mg thrice daily. The existing arterial
      hypertension had successfully been controlled by 3.75 mg bisoprolol medication
      once daily for the last 15 years. An increase of blood pressure and cardiac
      arrhythmia were seen after combining the beta1-receptor blocker treatment with
      the triple-therapy. INVESTIGATIONS AND DIAGNOSIS: The blood pressure was 160/90
      mm Hg. The heart rate reflected a value of 98 beats per minute. In the resting
      ECG monotopic ventricular extrasystoles could be diagnosed. TREATMENT AND COURSE:
      The dosage of bisoprolol was changed to 3.75 mg in the morning and additional
      1.875 mg in the evening. Due to this increase of dosage the blood pressure could
      be controlled sufficiently. CONCLUSION: Rifampicin is one of the best known
      potent enzyme inducing drugs. It strongly induces the expression of cytochrome
      P450 3A4 in the liver. The enzyme induction enhance the hepatic bisoprolol
      metabolism, hence the metabolic clearance of the drug increased. The maximal
      plasma level of bisoprolol decrease and in our use the arterial hypertension
      could not be treated sufficiently. It is well known that half the dose of
      bisoprolol undergoes oxidative metabolism in the liver and the rest eliminated
      unchanged in the kidney. A dosage adjustment of bisoprolol is necessary if the
      clinical status of the patient requires treatment with the antituberculosis drug
      rifampicin.

PMID- 20922638
TI  - [74-year-old patient with shortness of breath: a bullet in the heart? V. a.
      thrombus in early myocardial infarct].

PMID- 20922640
TI  - [Nutrition in acute pancreatitis].
AB  - Nutritional concepts in acute pancreatitis have changed. Early enteral nutrition
      widely replaced parenteral nutrition alone in severe acute pancreatitis. First
      trials suggest early oral refeeding as nutritional treatment of choice in
      patients with mild acute pancreatitis. In this review, we summarise the current
      knowledge on nutrition in acute pancreatitis and discuss future developments.

PMID- 20922639
TI  - [Combined liver-kidney and kidney after liver transplantation: indications and
      experiences from a nephrological perspective at a single center].
AB  - Combined liver-kidney transplantations (CLKT) and kidney after liver
      transplantations (KALT) are established treatments for patients with end-stage
      hepatic and renal disease and the number of transplantations has continuously
      increased over the past few years. The most frequent indications for CLKT in
      adults are polycystic kidney disease with severe liver involvement and liver
      cirrhosis of different origins with concomitant chronic kidney failure due to
      chronic glomerulonephritis or diabetic nephropathy. In children, CLKT is most
      frequently required due to primary oxalosis type I. At present the main
      indication for KALT still is calcineurin inhibitor-induced chronic
      nephrotoxicity, emphasizing the need for a nephron-sparing long-term
      immunosuppression in liver transplant recipients. Compared to KALT, the
      indications for CLKT are not as well defined and the decision must therefore be
      made on a case-by-case basis by a multidisciplinary team of experienced
      clinicians to avoid unnecessary transplantations of both organs in patients with
      reversible kidney failure, given the scarcity of organs for transplantation
      worldwide. In hepatorenal syndrome CLKT should only be considered if the GFR is
      lower than 20 ml/min for more than three months or if the patient has been on
      renal replacement treatment for more than one month. In CLKT, there appears to be
      a certain immunological protection for the kidney transplant by the liver
      transplant.

PMID- 20922642
TI  - [Thrombolysis during cardio-pulmonary resuscitation].
AB  - Sudden cardiac death is a leading cause of death in Europe. In the vast majority,
      myocardial infarction or pulmonary embolism is the underlying cause. Lethality is
      still high, especially if the arrest occurs out of hospital. For these two severe
      conditions, thrombolysis has proven to be an established therapy. Coronary
      perfusion is restored or the occlusion in the pulmonary arteries is removed,
      restoring normal circulation and normalising right-ventricular afterload.
      Nevertheless, thrombolysis was contraindicated during cardio-pulmonary
      resuscitation (CPR) for many years due to the fear of severe bleeding
      complications. Case reports and series using thrombolysis as successful ultima
      ratio therapy during prolonged CPR were soon followed by retrospective and
      interventional studies. These trials showed significantly improved survival for
      patients after thrombolysis during CPR. Nevertheless, none of these trials was
      randomised. Other trials showed that bleeding complications do not occur more
      frequently after thrombolysis during CPR. Experimental investigations
      demonstrated that thrombolysis during CPR improves cerebral microcirculation. The
      results of the randomised, multicenter trial TROICA show that tenecteplase alone,
      does not significantly improve survival. Further studies on thrombolysis during
      CPR with additional administration of heparin and acetylsalicylic acid must
      follow to ascertain the role of thrombolysis during CPR. Although thrombolysis
      during CPR is not a standard therapy, it should not be withheld from patients in
      whom pulmonary embolism is the suspected cause of cardiac arrest, as well as in
      selected other patients on the physician's individual decision according to
      recent guidelines.

PMID- 20922641
TI  - [79-year-old patient with pulmorenal syndrome].
AB  - HISTORY AND ADMISSION FINDINGS: A 79-year-old female patient was referred with
      acute renal failure requiring haemodialysis and haemoptysis. INVESTIGATIONS:
      Kidney biopsy showed extracapillary proliferative glomerulonephritis with
      crescents in 7 from 15 glomeruli and sclerosis in the remaining. A computed
      tomography scan of the chest showed evidence of alveolar haemorrhage. Serologic
      testing revealed autoantibodies against the glomerular basement membrane (anti
      GBM antibodies) and myeloperoxidase antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (MPO
      ANCA). DIAGNOSIS, TREATMENT AND COURSE: The patient was diagnosed with
      goodpasture's disease and underwent immunosuppressive therapy including
      prednisolone, cyclophosphamide pulses and plasmapheresis, resulting in clearance
      of anti-GBM antibodies and discontinuation of haemoptysis. Renal function,
      however, did not recover and the patient remained on dialysis. CONCLUSIONS:
      Aggressive treatment including cyclophosphamide and plasma separation often
      ensures patient survival in goodpasture's disease, in most cases, however, renal
      function does not recover.

PMID- 20922643
TI  - [Physicians' responsibility to remind patients after failure to keep their follow
      up appointments].

PMID- 20922644
TI  - Continuously moving table MRI in oncology.
AB  - Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with a continuously moving table (CMT)
      represents a novel method allowing for the seamless acquisition of an extended
      field-of-view in the z-direction. One option to realize CMT MRI from a technical
      point of view is based on very fast sequences like echo planar imaging (EPI).
      Consequently, table translation for signal sampling and image reconstruction can
      be neglected. The acquisition of different contrasts, however, necessitates table
      motion correction, either during acquisition or via post-processing. First
      clinical studies applying fast steady-state imaging already yielded promising
      results with respect to metastasis detection. Nevertheless, additional equipment
      has to be installed for table motion and position tracking. In contrast, the
      subsequently developed sliding multislice (SMS) technique can be implemented
      without any additional hardware. In clinical studies, the achievable image
      quality corresponds to stationary sequences. Additionally, the use of SMS for the
      detection of pulmonary and abdominal metastases appears to be comparable to
      computed tomography (CT). Due to the relatively short examination times, CMT MRI
      can be integrated into highly specialized stationary imaging protocols, thus
      increasing the possibility to combine local staging with thoracoabdominal
      metastasis screening within one examination. New contrasts like diffusion
      weighted imaging (DWI) or Dixon techniques as well as improved workflow including
      breathing motion compensation and intuitive scout acquisition have already been
      proposed and will further expand the clinical applications of this technique.

PMID- 20922645
TI  - [Digital volume tomography (DVT) and multislice spiral CT (MSCT): an objective
      examination of dose and image quality].
AB  - PURPOSE: In the last five years digital volume tomographs (DVT) have found their
      way into the diagnostic imaging of the facial skull. In this study both the image
      quality and dose of DVT and multislice spiral CT (MSCT) in this field of
      application were investigated using established physical methods for CT.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Measurements on DVT scanners of various manufacturers and
      on a modern MSCT scanner were performed. The investigation was based on
      equivalent dose levels for both modalities (CT dose index, CTDI). For this
      purpose, the dose was measured with an ionization chamber in a cylindrical PMMA
      phantom. For the evaluation of image quality, the spatial resolution, contrast
      and noise were investigated with phantoms established for CT. RESULTS: MSCT
      exhibited spatial resolution values of 1.0 to 1.6 lp/mm, while DVT provided
      resolution between 0.6 and 1.0 lp/mm only. Thus, MSCT offered similar or better
      resolution at an equivalent dose. For soft tissue resolution, DVT showed
      significant image artifacts. MSCT yielded higher homogeneity and no significant
      artifacts, and the contrast steps of the phantom were more verifiable. The
      different DVT devices, from image intensifiers to modern flat-detector (FD)
      devices, showed significant differences in favor of the FD devices. CONCLUSION:
      For medium and high contrast applications (teeth/bones), DVT scanners can be an
      alternative to MSCT at comparable radiation exposure. However, MSCT offers
      advantages in terms of constantly good and controlled image quality with
      significantly more flexible scan parameters at a constant or lower dose and
      should therefore be given preference.

PMID- 20922646
TI  - Gadofosveset-enhanced MR imaging for the preoperative evaluation of potential
      living kidney donors: correlation with intraoperative findings.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the blood pool contrast agent
      gadofosveset for MR angiography (MRA) of the renal vasculature in living kidney
      donors (LKD). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Of the 28 consecutive potential LKDs (13
      men, 15 women; mean age 55.14 years +/- 11.97) initially included in this
      prospective study, 20 patients underwent surgery and were considered for further
      evaluation. 7 acquisitions of a 3D T 1-weighted FLASH sequence were performed
      following administration of gadofosveset for the assessment of the vascular
      anatomy and collecting system at predefined time points at 1.5 T. All MR exams
      were prospectively analyzed by 2 radiologists in consensus mode prior to surgery.
      In addition, ROI-based relative SNR measurements were performed in the vena cava
      inferior and abdominal aorta. RESULTS: MR image acquisition was completed in all
      20 potential living donors. In 8 donors an additional CT scan was available for
      further comparison with the collateral anatomy, resulting in a total of 28
      analyzed kidneys. MRA disclosed 36 renal arteries, since 8 accessory arteries
      were found in 8 subjects. One accessory artery and one case of fibromuscular
      dysplasia were missed by MRA. The venous anatomy and the collecting system were
      assessed correctly with MRI. In addition, MRI diagnosed two renal cell
      carcinomas. The overall sensitivity and positive predictive value of gadofosveset
      enhanced MRI on a per kidney basis were 92.9 % and 100 %, respectively.
      CONCLUSION: Gadofosveset enables accurate evaluation of potential LKDs.

PMID- 20922647
TI  - [Quality of diagnostic accuracy studies: QUADAS (Quality Assessment of Diagnostic
      Accuracy Studies Included in Systematic Reviews)].

PMID- 20922648
TI  - Treatment of biliary leakage by an adjoined antegrade and retrograde percutaneous
      transhepatic cholangio drainage approach: a case report.

PMID- 20922649
TI  - [A patient with an event recorder in MRI].

PMID- 20922650
TI  - [Inferior nasal transposition of the lateral rectus muscle for third nerve
      palsy].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The choice and extent of extraocular muscle surgery in N.III palsy are
      based on the specific pattern and degree of the palsy. In severe paralysis the
      eye has to be shifted from an exotropic to a straight ahead position.
      Additionally, a change in vertical position may be desirable. To reach this aim,
      transposition of the integral lateral rectus muscle to the nasal hemisphere of
      the eye was performed in 3 patients. PATIENTS AND METHOD: Patient #1 (50 y, m)
      had vertical gaze palsy and N.III palsy RE with 35 degrees  exo-, 25 degrees 
      hyper- and 9 degrees  incyclotropia. Patient #2 (41 y, m) had vertical gaze palsy
      and asymmetric bilateral N.III palsy. The RE was 35 degrees exo-, 8 degrees 
      hyper- and 8 degrees  incyclotropic. Adduction was limited to the sagittal plane
      in both patients. Patient #3 (61 y, f) had vertical gaze palsy together with
      bilateral N.III paralysis. The eyes were immobile. The RE was 40 degrees 
      abducted and blind. The LE was in 40 degrees  abduction. The patient could hardly
      use this eye for everyday demands. In all 3 patients, the lateral rectus muscle
      was transposed between the inferior rectus muscle and the globe to the lower
      margin of the medial rectus muscle, passing behind the inferior oblique muscle.
      During general anaesthesia, the location of the attachment site from the corneal
      limbus was determined such that the eye was moved into the desired position.
      RESULTS: In all patients, the resulting eye position was slightly below primary
      position. As expected, incyclotropia had increased. Patient #1 had a residual
      deviation of 2 degrees  exo-, 9 degrees  hypo-, and 17 degrees  incyclotropia.
      Horizontal motility of the RE ranged from 5 degrees  adduction to 5 degrees 
      abduction. As a second side effect, depression occurred on attempted abduction.
      Patient #2 had no horizontal deviation, but 10 degrees  hypo- and 25 degrees 
      incyclotropia. Horizontal motility of the RE ranged from 0 degrees  to 5 degrees 
      adduction. Patient #3 could use her eye in a nearly straight ahead position in
      slight down gaze. Her RE was still 15 degrees  exotropic. These results remained
      stable after 18, 12 and 10 months, respectively. None of the patients was
      disturbed any more by either confusion or diplopia or image tilt. CONCLUSIONS:
      Transposition of the entire lateral rectus muscle to the nasal hemisphere is an
      efficient method to correct for exotropia associated with vertical deviation in
      specific cases of N.III palsy. The cyclotorsional effect of the procedure has to
      be considered. The vertical effect is useful to correct for hypertropia and
      induce a durable, slightly depressed eye position which is profitable for
      monocular visual demands and aesthetically appealing.

PMID- 20922651
TI  - Protective, antioxidative and antiapoptotic effects of 2-methoxy-6-acetyl-7
      methyljuglone from Polygonum cuspidatum in PC12 cells.
AB  - Much correlative evidence indicates that the oxidative modification of protein by
      reactive oxygen species (ROS) is involved in normal aging as well as the
      pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease. In this
      study, we explored the antioxidative and neuroprotective effects of a
      naphthoquinone, 2-methoxy-6-acetyl-7-methyljuglone (MAM), purified from the dried
      rhizome of POLYGONUM CUSPIDATUM (Chinese name Hu-Zhang). Pretreatments with MAM
      (24 h) were investigated for their protective effects against apoptosis induced
      by the oxidizing agent TERT-butyl hydroperoxide ( T-BHP) in PC12 cells. The
      results indicated that MAM pretreatments could effectively protect PC12 cells
      against cytotoxicity induced by T-BHP in a dose-dependent manner. Cell viability
      was determined by both MTT and LDH assays. Increasing concentrations of MAM
      enhanced cell viability significantly and completely prevented cell death induced
      by T-BHP at 2.5 uM. The corresponding extracellular lactate dehydrogenase (LDH)
      levels were also attenuated significantly by various concentrations of MAM. In
      addition, it was found that the antioxidative effect of MAM was stronger than
      those of resveratrol and lipoic acid. The antiapoptotic property of MAM was
      further investigated with Hoechst 33342 nuclear staining and TUNEL assay.
      Pretreatments of MAM were able to prevent the T-BHP-induced nucleus fragmentation
      and accumulation of apoptotic bodies (commonly accepted as markers of apoptosis)
      inside the cells in a dose-dependent manner. T-BHP induced the phosphorylation of
      ERK 1/2, JNK and p38 MAPK, which were all impeded by pretreatments with MAM,
      indicating that MAM may act as a potent antioxidant which significantly
      interferes with the MAPK apoptotic cascades, probably rescuing cells by
      inhibiting the death pathways.

PMID- 20922652
TI  - Constituents from Cistus salvifolius (Cistaceae) activate peroxisome proliferator
      activated receptor-gamma but not -delta and stimulate glucose uptake by
      adipocytes.
AB  - A number of medicinal/culinary herbs have been reported to improve glucose
      metabolism and to yield hypoglycemic effects in patients with diabetes. Since
      stimulation of insulin sensitivity appears to be a potential mechanism,
      peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) gamma is a likely target
      molecule for small lipophilic compounds derived from endogenous metabolism and
      nutrition. Functionally, PPAR gamma integrates the control of energy, lipid, and
      glucose homeostasis. In addition, PPAR delta activity is involved in energy
      expenditure. Therefore the aim of this study was to investigate whether PPAR
      gamma and PPAR delta as well as the stimulation of glucose uptake is activated by
      botanical products. CISTUS SALVIFOLIUS (Cistaceae) has been identified as a
      candidate botanical in a preliminary screening of extracts from medicinal plants
      of Greek flora. In a bioguided approach, crude extracts, fractions and in the end
      purified compounds have been evaluated for PPAR gamma and PPAR delta specific
      activities using cell-based transactivation assays. Glucose uptake was measured
      by nonradioactive 2-[ N-(7-nitrobenz-2-oxa-1,3-diazol-4-yl)amino]-2-deoxyglucose
      (2-NBDG) uptake. Concerning PPAR gamma several extracts induced reporter gene
      activity, and clear dose-response patterns (0.1-100 ug/mL) could be established
      in the case of the cyclohexane and dichloromethane extracts. Isolation of
      individual compounds from the cyclohexane extract revealed that at least 6 out of
      7 compounds isolated were active with TRANS-cinnamic acid showing a clear dose
      response pattern. In contrast, they were found to be inactive on PPAR delta. The
      same compounds, however, were also active in stimulating glucose uptake into 3T3
      L1 adipocytes. In summary, the bioguided fractionation of CISTUS SALVIFOLIUS
      yields PPAR gamma stimulating metabolites with differing chemical natures. In
      conclusion, PPAR gamma represents a candidate molecule for the mediation of
      improvement of glucose metabolism by botanical/nutritional products.

PMID- 20922653
TI  - Cytotoxic aporphine alkaloids from Ocotea acutifolia.
AB  - Two new aporphinoid alkaloids, (+)-6 S-ocoteine N-oxide and (+)-norocoxylonine,
      were isolated from the leaves and trunk bark of OCOTEA ACUTIFOLIA (Lauraceae)
      along with thirteen aporphine analogues, one morphinan alkaloid, and one
      flavonoid. The aporphine alkaloids (+)-thalicsimidine and (+)-neolitsine are
      reported for the first time for the genus OCOTEA. The structures of all compounds
      were established on the basis of 1D- and 2D-NMR spectroscopic techniques, optical
      rotation and/or mass spectrometry data. The cytotoxic potential of eight of the
      aporphine alkaloids against four human cancer cell lines (Hep-2, MCF-7, B16-F10
      and 786-0) was also evaluated.

PMID- 20922654
TI  - Free transverse rectus abdominis myocutaneous flap for breast reconstruction in
      patients with prior abdominal contouring procedures.
AB  - With an increasing number of women undergoing abdominal liposuction and
      abdominoplasties, patients who have a history of an abdominal-contouring
      procedure are now presenting to plastic surgeons with breast cancer and are
      interested in autologous breast reconstruction. Based on the principle of
      vascular ingrowth and experience of seeing intact perforators arise from the
      rectus abdominis muscle in repeat abdominoplasty patients, it was hypothesized
      that these new perforators could adequately and safely supply the abdominal skin
      island as a flap in this patient population. A retrospective chart review was
      performed searching for cases of free transverse rectus abdominis myocutaneous
      (TRAM) or deep inferior epigastric perforator (DIEP) flap breast reconstruction
      in patients with a prior history of either abdominal liposuction, abdominoplasty,
      or both. Three successful cases of free TRAM flap breast reconstruction were
      performed in patients who had undergone previous full abdominoplasties.
      Additionally, three successful cases of free TRAM or DIEP flaps were performed in
      patients after abdominal liposuction. Major complications included one anterial
      thrombosis in which the flap was salvaged. This study demonstrates the
      feasibility and viability of free TRAM flaps after previous abdominoplasty and
      DIEP flaps following prior abdominal liposuction. This is an important advance in
      the potential uses of the free TRAM flap.

PMID- 20922655
TI  - Replantation of above-knee amputation: a surviving but dysfunctional case needing
      secondary amputation.
AB  - Above-knee amputations are rare injuries that need emergent replantation or
      primary amputation. Although survival could be achieved in selective cases,
      postoperative function of the affected limb is usually unsatisfactory and a late
      amputation has to be performed for poor prognosis or severe complications.
      Experience of the surgical team may play an important role in primary decision
      making, which leads us to report one case of above-knee replantation with poor
      postoperative function and needing a late amputation. Scoring systems, expected
      results based on our case, and a brief review of literature concerning above-knee
      replantations are discussed.

PMID- 20922656
TI  - The use of the vacuum-assisted closure in microsurgical reconstruction revisited:
      application in the reconstruction of the posttraumatic lower extremity.
AB  - Introduction of vacuum-assisted closure (VAC) system into clinical practice has
      revolutionized wound care. Despite its multiple advantages, however, the VAC is
      only rarely used in the setting of microsurgical reconstruction. Concerns have
      been the inability to clinically monitor the flap as well the possibility of flap
      compression by the device. The authors put their postoperative treatment concept
      of applying the VAC to free flaps to the test by reviewing their experience with
      this concept in patients undergoing microsurgical reconstruction of posttraumatic
      lower-extremity soft tissue defects. Twenty-six patients (22 male, 4 female) were
      included in this study. Use of the implantable Doppler probe allowed for
      postoperative flap monitoring. Two flap failures were observed, both in patients
      with peripheral vascular disease. In conclusion, using the VAC device in the
      setting of microsurgical reconstruction is safe and allows for increased patient
      comfort.

PMID- 20922657
TI  - [Medication prices in Germany--how are they determined?].

PMID- 20922666
TI  - NEMO: Extraction and normalization of organization names from PubMed
      affiliations.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Today, there are more than 18 million articles related to biomedical
      research indexed in MEDLINE, and information derived from them could be used
      effectively to save the great amount of time and resources spent by government
      agencies in understanding the scientific landscape, including key opinion leaders
      and centers of excellence. Associating biomedical articles with organization
      names could significantly benefit the pharmaceutical marketing industry, health
      care funding agencies and public health officials and be useful for other
      scientists in normalizing author names, automatically creating citations,
      indexing articles and identifying potential resources or collaborators. Large
      amount of extracted information helps in disambiguating organization names using
      machine-learning algorithms. RESULTS: We propose NEMO, a system for extracting
      organization names in the affiliation and normalizing them to a canonical
      organization name. Our parsing process involves multi-layered rule matching with
      multiple dictionaries. The system achieves more than 98% f-score in extracting
      organization names. Our process of normalization that involves clustering based
      on local sequence alignment metrics and local learning based on finding connected
      components. A high precision was also observed in normalization. CONCLUSION: NEMO
      is the missing link in associating each biomedical paper and its authors to an
      organization name in its canonical form and the Geopolitical location of the
      organization. This research could potentially help in analyzing large social
      networks of organizations for landscaping a particular topic, improving
      performance of author disambiguation, adding weak links in the co-author network
      of authors, augmenting NLM's MARS system for correcting errors in OCR output of
      affiliation field, and automatically indexing the PubMed citations with the
      normalized organization name and country. Our system is available as a graphical
      user interface available for download along with this paper.

PMID- 20922667
TI  - Addition of hydroxyapatite improves stiffness, interconnectivity and osteogenic
      potential of a highly porous collagen-based scaffold for bone tissue
      regeneration.
AB  - There is an enduring and unmet need for a bioactive, load-bearing tissue
      engineering scaffold, which is biocompatible, biodegradable and capable of
      facilitating and promoting osteogenesis when implanted in vivo. This study set
      out to develop a biomimetic scaffold by incorporating osteoinductive
      hydroxyapatite (HA) particles into a highly porous and extremely biocompatible
      collagen-based scaffold developed within our laboratory over the last number of
      years to improve osteogenic performance. Specifically we investigated how the
      addition of discrete quantities of HA affected scaffold porosity,
      interconnectivity, mechanical properties, in vitro mineralisation and in vivo
      bone healing potential. The results show that the addition of HA up to a 200
      weight percentage (wt%) relative to collagen content led to significantly
      increased scaffold stiffness and pore interconnectivity (approximately 10 fold)
      while achieving a scaffold porosity of 99%. In addition, this biomimetic collagen
      HA scaffold exhibited significantly improved bioactivity, in vitro mineralisation
      after 28 days in culture, and in vivo healing of a critical-sized bone defect.
      These findings demonstrate the regenerative potential of these biodegradable
      scaffolds as viable bone graft substitute materials, comprised only of bone's
      natural constituent materials, and capable of promoting osteogenesis in vitro and
      in vivo repair of critical-sized bone defects.

PMID- 20922669
TI  - [Stem cells and endothelial repair in kidney patients: hope or illusion?].

PMID- 20922670
TI  - [Dialysis, transplant and donation: three contraindications to pregnancy?].

PMID- 20922671
TI  - [Fibrogenesis and epigenetics: a ''dangerous liaison''].

PMID- 20922672
TI  - [Pregnancy in women with renal disease: consolidated evidence and open issues].

PMID- 20922673
TI  - [Are we ready to screen for albuminuria in the general population?].

PMID- 20922674
TI  - [PPAR-gamma agonists: a role in the prevention of chronic allograft
      nephropathy?].

PMID- 20922675
TI  - [Peritoneal dialysis: a time-limited therapy because of encapsulating peritoneal
      sclerosis? No, but due attention is warranted].
AB  - Encapsulating peritoneal sclerosis (EPS) is a rare complication that occurs
      mainly in patients on long-term peritoneal dialysis (PD). It is characterized by
      marked thickening of the peritoneal membrane with signs of inflammation. Vascular
      occlusions and microscopic and macroscopic calcifications are frequent. Signs of
      acute and chronic inflammation are always present with leukocyte infiltration,
      microabscesses and giant cells of macrophage origin. The triggering factor in
      patients on PD may be an acute inflammatory process such as an episode of severe
      peritonitis. After discontinuation of PD for kidney transplant, immunosuppressive
      therapy with calcineurin inhibitors, which have profibrotic properties, may lead
      to EPS. After a switch from PD to hemodialysis, EPS may be induced by the
      inability to remove proinflammatory factors, cytokines, coagulation factors and
      fibrin from the peritoneal cavity. These considerations are not meant to imply a
      PD ''expiry date'' but should prompt nephrologists to be more careful in treating
      PD patients, using more biocompatible solutions and monitoring (through clinical
      observation and diagnostic evaluation) patients on long-term PD to avoid the
      appearance of this rare but dreaded complication.

PMID- 20922676
TI  - [Peritoneal dialysis: a time-limited therapy because of encapsulating peritoneal
      sclerosis? No, but better approaches are available].
AB  - In recent years the fear of encapsulating peritoneal sclerosis (EPS) prompted
      some nephrologists to consider peritoneal dialysis a time-limited therapy. Such
      an expiry date is devoid of a rational basis because peritoneal dialysis is a
      mere risk factor for EPS, not an etiological cause. This disease is in fact
      triggered by a second stimulus different from peritoneal dialysis and often even
      consisting of its withdrawal. Epidemiological studies have confirmed that
      interrupting peritoneal dialysis at a fixed time not only is useless in
      preventing EPS but might be counterproductive. Moreover, the quality of life of
      the patient should also be taken into account. Evidence obtained in recent years
      strongly suggests the effectiveness of other approaches in the prevention of EPS:
      1) routine use of biocompatible peritoneal dialysis solutions; 2) inhibition of
      the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone axis as an elective therapy for hypertension in
      peritoneal dialysis; 3) prophylaxis with low-dose tamoxifen (10 mg per day) in
      high-risk patients (peritoneal dialysis >5 years, development of ultrafiltration
      failure and/or transport alterations); 4) a specific immunosuppressive protocol
      for former peritoneal dialysis patients undergoing transplantation: a sirolimus-
      or everolimus-based regimen with mycophenolate, avoidance or at least
      minimization of cyclosporine and tacrolimus, and use of steroids in the first 6
      12 months. All of us should seriously consider the efficacy of these approaches
      in controlled clinical trials.

PMID- 20922677
TI  - [Peritoneal dialysis: a time-limited therapy because of encapsulating peritoneal
      sclerosis?].
AB  - Encapsulating peritoneal sclerosis (EPS) is a rare but severe disease with a
      mortality rate of 24%-54%, whose main risk factor is peritoneal dialysis (PD)
      (cumulative incidence 0.5%-7.3%). Although the role of the time spent on
      peritoneal dialysis is not completely clear, the available evidence suggests that
      peritoneal dialysis should not be discontinued early for the sake of reducing the
      EPS risk. We proposed a ''pro-con'' debate which confirmed that PD is not a time
      limited technique. Nevertheless, in patients on long-term PD, surveillance of the
      peritoneal membrane is crucial. The development of EPS requires two ''hits'':
      first a chronic, inflammatory stimulus, which is typical of peritoneal dialysis,
      then a second event like PD interruption or kidney transplant. The main
      pharmacological and dialysis strategies that have been used as primary prevention
      did not show any significant results, and benefits are more likely to be achieved
      by reducing the peritoneal inflammation and better preservation of the membrane
      integrity, for example by means of more biocompatible PD solutions. Among the
      main surveillance and early diagnosis procedures other than the peritoneal
      equilibration test, the Ca-125 appearance rate and new tests that evaluate the
      peritoneal water transport seem to be promising.

PMID- 20922678
TI  - [The role of terlipressin in hepatorenal syndrome].
AB  - Hepatorenal syndrome (HRS) is a severe complication in patients with endstage
      liver disease. It consists of functional renal vasoconstriction leading to severe
      reduction of the glomerular filtration rate. In some patients the renal failure
      shows a rapidly progressive course, a clinical pattern known as type 1 HRS. In
      other cases the renal failure is less severe and remains stable for months, a
      condition known as type 2 HRS. HRS is pathogenically related to disturbances in
      circulatory function, mainly characterized by marked arterial vasodilation of the
      splanchnic circulation, triggered by portal hypertension. This vasodilation may
      result in effective arterial underfilling, with subsequent activation of
      vasoconstrictor systems including the renin-angiotensin system and the
      sympathetic nervous system, as well as hypersecretion of arginine vasopressin.
      These compensatory mechanisms may lead to renal failure due to the increase in
      intrarenal resistance and hypoperfusion. Although the available data are derived
      from studies including a limited number of patients mainly affected by type 1
      HRS, vasoconstrictor drugs, in particular the vasopressin analog terlipressin,
      seem to be the most effective approach for the management of HRS. Associated with
      albumin infusion, these drugs have been shown to lead to reduced mortality and
      improved renal function in type 1 HRS. This is particularly true in HRS patients
      awaiting liver transplantation in whom the vasoconstrictor drugs appear to be the
      ''bridging'' therapy of choice. Finally, their use has been shown to be safe, and
      side effects usually disappear after dose reduction.

PMID- 20922679
TI  - [Lights and shadows on single and dual RAAS blockade].
AB  - Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACE-i) and angiotensin II receptor
      blockers (ARBs) are of paramount importance in everyday clinical practice.
      Developed as antihypertensive drugs, they soon acquired another important
      indication as a result of their antiproteinuric activity and capacity to delay
      the progression of chronic kidney disease. ACE-i and ARBs started out being used
      as single drugs and were subsequently combined to obtain more complete blocking
      of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS). The most evident advantages
      derived from the administration of these drugs - alone or in combination - have
      been obtained in proteinuric nephropathies, such as chronic glomerulonephritis
      and diabetic nephropathy, where they have become the treatment choice. Dual RAAS
      blockade has been recently evaluated in a large trial of high-risk cardiovascular
      patients, in whom no related benefits were shown. To the contrary, a higher risk
      of worsening renal function emerged. It is now quite clear that patients with
      high proteinuria levels are the ones that benefit most from RAAS inhibition, also
      with combined ACE-i and ARB. It is very important to pay the utmost attention
      when these drugs are used in patients in whom no benefit is obtained by RAAS
      inhibition, such as patients with chronic kidney disease and atherosclerosis,
      elderly patients, and those without any significant proteinuria.

PMID- 20922680
TI  - [Use of oral anticoagulants to prevent central venous catheter-related thrombosis
      in hemodialysis].
AB  - Central venous catheters (CVCs) are fundamental in the management of
      hemodialysis. Despite major efforts to provide arteriovenous access, their use is
      increasing in dialysis units worldwide. The presence of a catheter inside a vein
      increases the risk of thrombosis, both within the catheter and in the vein.
      Thrombosis is a serious complication because it can lead to inefficient dialysis,
      alter the venous circulation, and facilitate infections. In this article,
      questions regarding anticoagulant treatment in dialysis patients with CVCs are
      explored and specific suggestions offered for clinical practice, based on the
      evidence available and the personal experience of the authors. Should CVC-induced
      thrombosis be treated? The duration, site and extension of the thrombotic
      complication should be assessed. If thrombosis is recent and symptomatic, heparin
      treatment followed by oral anticoagulant therapy is suggested. Is oral
      anticoagulant therapy useful for primary prevention of thrombosis, both within
      the CVC and the vein where the catheter is inserted? The available evidence
      favoring the use of oral anticoagulant therapy is not entirely convincing. At any
      rate, before such treatment is started the balance between the antithrombotic
      efficacy and the possible side effects should be carefully weighed. Is oral
      anticoagulant therapy useful for secondary prevention of CVC thrombosis? If a
      permanent CVC is in place and its position is correct and the blood flow < 250
      mL/min, we recommend - before replacing the CVC - thrombolytic treatment followed
      by oral anticoagulants, aiming at an INR target between 2 and 3. Are the side
      effects of oral anticoagulant therapy an issue? The use of anticoagulants in
      renal failure carries an increased risk of complications, in particular bleeding
      and vascular calcifications, which could annul the advantages derived from
      reduced thrombotic events. Before starting oral anticoagulant therapy we suggest
      to carefully evaluate if there are potential overall benefits and to pay
      attention to concomitant antiplatelet therapy.

PMID- 20922681
TI  - [Uremic toxins: the case of protein-bound compounds].
AB  - Uremic retention solutes, if biologically or biochemically active, are called
      ''uremic toxins''. The retention of these solutes has a negative impact on many
      functions of the organism, particularly the cardiovascular system. The
      classification which is applied today is based on the kinetic behavior of the
      uremic retention solutes during dialysis: 1) small water-soluble molecules (< 500
      Daltons); 2) middle molecules (> 500 Daltons); 3) protein-bound compounds. The
      latter are the object of the present review. The most important among them are p
      cresol, p-cresyl sulfate, homocysteine, phenols, and indoles. No interventional
      studies are currently available that show the effect of an improvement in the
      removal of protein-bound compounds on patient outcomes, simply because most of
      the alternative dialysis strategies proposed so far are not superior to standard
      dialysis in removing protein-bound compounds. The question as to how to improve
      the removal of these solutes therefore remains unanswered. Alternative strategies
      might include adsorption therapies, either administered orally or during the
      extracorporeal treatment. In conclusion, the uremic syndrome is a complex
      clinical entity which involves a large number of retention solutes, many more
      than the small water-soluble molecules. Dialysis strategies should therefore aim
      to remove not only urea but also retention solutes, mainly because middle and
      protein-bound molecules appear to be correlated more frequently with deleterious
      biological, biochemical and clinical effects.

PMID- 20922682
TI  - [Vascular access for hemodialysis: recommendations of the Vascular Access Study
      Group of the Italian Society of Nephrology].
AB  - The Vascular Access Study Group of the Italian Society of Nephrology has
      scheduled four national studies regarding the choice, implantation and use of
      vascular access. Study topics will include 1) utilization of vascular grafts for
      hemodialysis; 2) indications and use of venous catheters; 3) tunneled central
      venous catheter infection; 4) organization of the implantation and repair of
      vascular access. After examining the difficulties in implementing international
      guidelines on vascular access in Italy and the differences in practice patterns
      between our and other countries (where the most important studies were
      published), the Study Group set out to prepare four position papers based on
      discussion of controversial aspects of the international guidelines by
      nephrologists and surgeons experienced in the Italian practice. An innovative
      operative method for verifying the consensus on vascular access practice patterns
      was used. The final aim was to write a document addressed to vascular access
      operators (surgeons and nephrologists) based on the consensus of experts on
      controversial vascular-access- related issues. The project will include yearly
      updates of the documents.

PMID- 20922684
TI  - [Native vascular access for hemodialysis in patients with diabetes: a single
      center experience].
AB  - With 135 million cases the prevalence of diabetes mellitus (DM) is very high
      worldwide. Diabetic nephropathy is a major complication of DM. In many countries
      diabetic nephropathy has become the most frequent cause of endstage renal
      disease. It is believed that in diabetic patients the creation of a native
      vascular access (NVA) might be difficult. We evaluated 274 occurrences of NVA
      creation during the period January 2003 to December 2008: 68 in diabetic patients
      (group 1) and 206 in nondiabetics (group 2). We compared the type of NVA, primary
      failure, and primary patency in these groups. Age was significantly higher in
      diabetic patients (68 vs 64 years; p < 0.05). No statistical differences in
      primary failure between groups were found for any NAV. Wrist vascular access
      survival rates were higher in diabetic versus nondiabetic patients (56.9% vs
      20.7% at 72 months). No statistical differences were observed between groups in
      primary patency rates for middle- and upper-arm vascular access. According to our
      experience diabetes does not lead to additional difficulties in the creation of
      permanent vascular access, provided proper physical and instrumental examination
      is performed. Despite the advanced age of the diabetic patients in our study,
      wrist vascular access showed better results in this group than in nondiabetic
      patients on long-term follow-up.

PMID- 20922683
TI  - [Indications for vascular grafts as dialysis access; consensus from the Italian
      experience].
AB  - In Italy, the use of arteriovenous grafts (AVGs) is limited (1-4%) due to
      different approaches to vascular access management compared to other countries,
      where guidelines that may not apply to the Italian setting have been produced.
      Therefore, the Vascular Access Study Group of the Italian Society of Nephrology
      produced this position paper, providing a list of 8 recommendations built upon
      current guidelines. The most controversial and innovative issues of the existing
      guidelines have been summed up in 12 different topics. We selected 60 Italian
      dialysis graft experts, nephrologists and vascular surgeons (PP1SIN Study
      Investigators). They were asked to express their approval or disapproval on each
      issue, thus creating a new method to share and exchange information. Almost all
      agreed on specific criteria for the choice of AVG over native arteriovenous
      fistulas (AVF) and tunneled venous catheters (tVC) and on the necessary
      conditions to implant them. They did not fully agree on the use of AVG in obese
      patients and patients at risk of developing ischemia, as an alternative to
      brachiobasilic fistula with vein transposition, and in case of a poorly organized
      setting. When AVF is feasible, it should be preferred. AVGs are indicated when
      superficial veins are unavailable or to repair an AVF (bridge graft). An AVG is
      an alternative to tVC if the expected patient survival is long enough to allow
      clinical benefits. The ultimate choice of the graft type is made by the physician
      in charge of the surgical intervention. Antithrombotic prophylaxis may be
      justified in some cases.

PMID- 20922685
TI  - [Ultrasound parameter-based response to treatment with new drugs for secondary
      hyperparathyroidism: a retrospective analysis in a single dialysis center].
AB  - In hemodialysis patients with secondary hyperparathyroidism (SHPT)
      ultrasonography of the parathyroid glands allows to assess the glandular growth
      and to define the limits of medical treatment. The present retrospective study
      evaluated the relationship between parathyroid gland hyperplasia and the
      effectiveness of new drugs. Fifty-three patients with SHPT (iPTH > 400 pg/mL)
      after treatment with oral calcitriol were included in the study. These patients
      underwent parathyroid ultrasonography and sequential therapy with intravenous
      calcitriol (first step), paracalcitol (second step), and paracalcitol +
      cinacalcet (third step). Patients with median PTH < 300 pg/mL during the period
      of therapy and follow-up were considered responders. The therapeutic response was
      correlated with ultrasound parameters (number of parathyroid glands, maximum
      longitudinal diameter, structural score, and vascular score). Four (10%) of 41
      patients treated with IV calcitriol, 7 (27%) of 26 patients treated with
      paracalcitol, 7 (41%) of 17 patients treated with cinacalcet and paracalcitol,
      and 1 (20%) of 5 patients treated with cinacalcet alone were responders. ROC
      curve analysis showed that maximum longitudinal diameter (< 9 mm), number of
      parathyroid glands (< -1), structural score (< 2), and vascular score (< 2)
      predicted response to any treatment. New drugs (paracalcitol, cinacalcet) are
      more effective in SHPT than conventional ones. However, the traditional
      ultrasonographic cutoff for the efficacy of medical therapy remained unchanged.
      Thus parathyroid gland ultrasonography predicts the therapeutic response also to
      the new drugs.

PMID- 20922686
TI  - [Clinical trials (Part II)].

PMID- 20922687
TI  - [Erythrocytosis, renal artery stenosis and arterial hypertension in a kidney
      transplant recipient].
AB  - A 53-year-old man with end-stage renal disease received a cadaver kidney after 15
      months of peritoneal dialysis. Within one year of transplantation he developed
      hypertension and erythrocytosis. Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty was
      performed but 13 months later magnetic resonance angiography showed an
      anastomotic stenosis of the renal artery in the graft. In the meantime, he was
      submitted to venesections while the hypertension proved resistant to a multiple
      drug combination. After two years, color Doppler sonography performed at our unit
      showed a noncritical stenosis, so we decided to start the patient on ACE
      inhibitors followed by angiotensin receptor blockers. A reduction of hematocrit
      to < 50% and partial control of blood pressure with stable renal function was
      obtained. Later we added minoxidil at low dosage, which resulted in excellent
      blood pressure control. The diagnosis of hemodynamically significant stenosis is
      not always easy to make; in this case a correct diagnosis was helpful for the
      treatment of erythrocytosis.

PMID- 20922688
TI  - [Caroli's syndrome in a patient on hemodialysis: diagnostic and therapeutic
      difficulties].
AB  - We present the case of a 65-year-old male patient without any family history of
      renal or hepatic disease. He had been on maintenance hemodialysis for 4 months
      because of autosomal recessive polycystic kidney disease. At the start of the
      hemodialysis session he reported general malaise, abdominal pain, fever and
      diarrhea occurring in the last two days. Laboratory workup showed neutrophilic
      leukocytosis and increased serum amylase and C-reactive protein. Abdominal
      contrast-enhanced CT scan and MRI cholangiography showed hepatic cysts with
      marked dilatation of the intra- and extrahepatic bile ducts. The patient
      underwent cholecystectomy with hepaticojejunal Rouxen- Y anastomosis and was
      discharged with oral ciprofloxacin. Histology confirmed marked cystic dilatation
      of the bile ducts. Because of persistent episodes of septic fever, administration
      of ciprofloxacin was continued. After 4 months retrograde endoscopic
      pancreatography was performed which led to a diagnosis of Caroli's syndrome
      associated with polycystic kidneys. Given the rarity of the disease and its
      difficult diagnosis, when patients with polycystic kidneys and liver cysts
      experience recurrent episodes of septic fever of unknown origin, Caroli's disease
      should be taken into account and the appropriate tests should be carried out to
      confirm the diagnosis.

PMID- 20922690
TI  - [Genetics and oncogenesis of renal cancer].
AB  - The development and progression of cancer requires several genetic modifications.
      Multiple transformation and progression events such as point mutations,
      deletions/insertions, chromosomal abnormalities, and epigenetic deregulation
      contribute to renal oncogenesis. Three types of genes are involved in this
      multistep process: oncogenes, tumor suppressor genes, and DNA repair genes. About
      4% of renal tumors are hereditary, i.e., the first mutation is present at the
      constitutive level in all cells of an individual, leading to an increased
      lifetime risk of cancer. Sporadic tumors are mainly single and of late onset,
      while hereditary tumors are usually multiple and of early onset in the presence
      of a positive family history for kidney cancer. Moreover, hereditary tumors are
      often associated with specific syndromic signs. The main hereditary syndromes
      that include renal tumors are Von Hippel- Lindau disease, hereditary papillary
      renal clear cell carcinoma, hereditary leiomyomatosis renal cell carcinoma, and
      the Birt-Hogg-Dube' syndrome. Other rarer conditions are chromosome 3
      translocation, tuberous sclerosis, and the Lynch syndrome. Study of these
      diseases and identification of the responsible genes have been extremely useful
      in understanding several molecular issues of renal oncogenesis. Genetic testing
      makes it possible to diagnose hereditary cancer and confirm a clinical suspicion,
      as well as to identify at-risk individuals within a family. It is extremely
      important for nephrologists to be aware of these hereditary conditions, as this
      will allow early recognition and improved clinical management.

PMID- 20922691
TI  - [Immunogical surveillance and oncogenesis: role of proliferation signal
      inhibitors].
AB  - The authors review the antineoplastic effect of mTOR inhibitors and their
      biological basis. In normal cells mTOR is an intracellular serine/threonine
      kinase that is a central controller of cell growth and proliferation. mTOR
      integrates signals from a variety of sources as nutrients and growth factors.
      mTOR regulation can affect angiogenesis, cell growth, nutrient uptake and
      utilization, and metabolism. Growth factors such as insulin growth factor (IGF),
      epidermal growth factor (EGF), platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), and
      vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) bind to and activate receptors located
      on the cell surface. Receptors activate intracellular signaling cascades through
      PI3K-AKT-mTOR (phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/serine-threonine kinase-mTOR),
      leading to protein synthesis. As a consequence, activation of the mTOR pathway is
      linked to increased protein synthesis by modulating elements that are important
      in a number of cellular processes, including growth, proliferation, angiogenesis,
      and nutrient uptake. Deregulation of mTOR-linked pathways increases the risk of
      developing cancer and has been identified in many human cancer types. Such
      deregulation includes overexpression of growth factors, overexpression or
      mutations of growth factor receptors, loss of tumor suppressor genes, and gain-of
      function mutations in mTOR-linked pathways. These changes permit the survival,
      growth, proliferation, and migration of cancer cells and promote tumor
      angiogenesis. Targeting them has been a successful anticancer strategy. Targeting
      mTOR as well as these deregulated pathways could provide enhanced anticancer
      activity. The efficacy of mTOR inhibitors in preventing several types of cancer
      in transplanted patients, or making them regress once developed, has been
      documented in clinical trials and case reports.

PMID- 20922692
TI  - [Renal involvement in monoclonal gammopathy and multiple myeloma].
AB  - Lymphoproliferative disorders often involve the kidney either by direct cell
      infiltration (lymphoma) or by deposition of paraproteins (monoclonal gammopathy,
      multiple myeloma, LCDD, amyloidosis). Nowadays the latter phenomenon seems to be
      the most common as a result of the growing number of elderly people affected by
      monoclonal gammopathies. The nephrotoxic potential of monoclonal immunoglobulins
      and amyloidogenic proteins make monoclonal gammopathies clinical entities of
      considerable interest in nephrology. Renal involvement presents different
      clinicomorphological patterns depending on the qualitative and quantitative
      characteristics of the paraproteins. Tubulointerstitial toxicity is frequent,
      while vascular and glomerular lesions resulting from non-inflammatory reactions
      due to immunoglobulin deposition are less common. Acute kidney failure may
      complicate the clinical course; this could be due to tubular obstruction by
      paraproteins or to hypovolemia induced by chemotherapy in association with
      diuretics. Early diagnosis of renal involvement will allow prophylactic
      interventions to prevent renal complications. At the same time, the increased
      number of therapeutic tools has enabled better management of kidney complications
      in lymphoproliferative disorders.

PMID- 20922693
TI  - [Lymphomatous renal involvement].
AB  - The incidence of lymphomas, especially non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL), has shown a
      steady increase over the last decades. At the same time, the prognosis has
      improved. Given the longer survival of lymphoma patients, pathological
      manifestations related to malignancy might become more frequent. In this setting,
      the kidney is one of the most important solid organs affected by direct or
      indirect lymphomatous involvement. Kidney involvement can be related to
      obstruction or treatment-induced toxicity, but more intriguing are 1) direct
      infiltration (NHL); 2) renal malignancies in patients affected by Hodgkin's
      disease or NHL; 3) associated glomerular diseases. Primary infiltration is rarely
      seen, while secondary infiltration is described most frequently in autopsy
      series, even in the absence of renal failure. These alterations may mimic
      glomerular and/or interstitial disease. The association with kidney malignancies,
      mostly renal cell carcinoma but also urothelial tumors in Hodgkin''s disease, is
      higher in lymphoma patients than in the general population: the relative risk at
      10 years is about 1.5. Glomerulonephritis is described in patients with Hodgkin's
      disease or NHL; in the former minimal change disease is most frequent, in the
      latter the glomerular pattern varies widely. Glomerulonephritis can precede, be
      concurrent with, or follow lymphoma manifestations. Renal biopsy is often needed
      in this setting.

PMID- 20922694
TI  - [Kidney damage caused by treatment for hematological malignancies: from tumor
      lysis syndrome to post-transplant kidney failure].
AB  - In the wide spectrum of therapies for hematological malignancies, hematopoietic
      stem cell transplantation, whether autologous or allogeneic, is a common
      procedure. In addition to other transplant-related organ toxicities, renal
      failure is a common complication following transplantation. This paper discusses
      the incidence, timing, etiologies, risk factors and prognosis of renal failure
      associated with three commonly used transplantation procedures: myeloablative
      autologous, myeloablative allogeneic, and non-myeloablative allogeneic
      transplantation. The epidemiology and prognosis of renal failure are different
      after these three procedures. Severe renal failure occurs with all three
      varieties, but the frequency increases from myeloablative autologous to non
      myeloablative allogeneic to myeloablative allogeneic. In all three types of
      transplantation, the mortality is clearly associated with the severity of renal
      injury, and it is greater than 80% when dialysis is required. Strategies to
      improve renal failure following transplantation may have a beneficial impact on
      these patients. Reduction of acute renal failure will likely reduce the severity
      of non-renal organ dysfunction, the incidence and severity of chronic kidney
      disease, and the mortality.

PMID- 20922695
TI  - [Kidney transplantation and lymphomas].
AB  - Post-transplant lymphoproliferative disease (PTLD) accounts for 30% of nonskin
      cancers after kidney transplants. Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma is the most
      frequent form of PTLD. The incidence of PTLD increases over time: from 1.2% at 5
      years to 6.8% at 20 years. Its late occurrence is therefore not unusual.
      Moreover, not only is it more frequent but also more serious than the early type
      because of the lower responsiveness to therapy. Epstein-Barr virus (EVB)
      infection is one of the most important risk factors for this disease, along with
      the use of antilymphocyte agents, which should be avoided in EVB-negative
      patients. During the first year after transplant, EBV-PCR monitoring can be
      helpful for the early diagnosis of EBV-associated PTLD, especially in children.
      No effective strategy has yet been reported for the prevention of late PTLD.
      Interruption of immunosuppression is the first step of therapy, but it is rarely
      effective by itself. Rituximab (4-8 doses) is widely used and is successful in
      about 50% of cases. Chemotherapy becomes essential in relapsed or refractory
      disease, but it significantly increases the risk of life-threatening infections.
      The mortality rate is around 50% 12 months after diagnosis, often due to the side
      effects of chemotherapy.

PMID- 20922696
TI  - [Solid tumors and paraneoplastic glomerulonephritis].
AB  - Neoplastic diseases can cause renal damage directly or indirectly. Also their
      treatment can provoke renal damage. The incidence and prevalence of
      paraneoplastic glomerulonephritis, especially associated with solid tumors, are a
      matter of debate and the causal link between cancer and glomerular diseases
      remains unclear. Paraneoplastic glomerulonephritis is a rare occurrence, with a
      slightly higher prevalence in the elderly. The most common cancer types
      associated with paraneoplastic glomerular disease are carcinoma of the lung and
      the gastrointestinal tract. Membranous nephropathy is the most frequent but not
      the only presentation of paraneoplastic glomerulonephritis. Patients with
      unexplained nephrotic syndrome, especially if older than 60 years, with
      membranous nephropathy and/or with their own risk factors for malignancies should
      be screened for occult cancer at diagnosis and be followed up carefully after the
      diagnosis. The primary treatment of paraneoplastic glomerulopathy must be aimed
      at the cancer and immunosuppressive treatment must obviously be avoided.

PMID- 20922697
TI  - [Renal and upper urinary tract tumors: what the nephrologist should know].
AB  - Urinary tract carcinomas are among the most common malignancies and are derived
      from neoplastic transformation of the urothelium. They can be located in the
      lower (bladder, urethra) or upper (pyelocaliceal cavities, ureter) urinary tract.
      Urothelial carcinomas are the fourth most common cancer type after prostate or
      breast cancer, lung cancer, and colorectal cancer. Bladder cancer accounts for 90
      95% of urothelial carcinomas and it is the most common malignancy of the urinary
      tract. Renal cancer also belongs to the urothelial carcinomas and is a relatively
      uncommon solid tumor, accounting for about 3% of all adult malignancies, although
      its incidence is on the rise. The most common histological subtype, renal cell
      carcinoma (RCC), is a clear cell carcinoma that makes up approximately 70-80% of
      all renal neoplasms and appears to be the only histological subtype that is
      partially responsive to immunotherapeutic approaches. The current review gives an
      overview of upper urinary tract tumors and renal cancer, in particular RCC,
      highlighting issues related to its molecular pathogenesis and the new
      immunotherapeutic approaches.

PMID- 20922698
TI  - [Genetics and nosological classification of renal cystic diseases].
AB  - Renal cystic diseases are the major group of inherited renal disorders in humans
      and a leading cause of end-stage renal disease. Dominant and recessive polycystic
      kidney disease (ADPKD and ARPKD, respectively) account for most of the clinical
      conditions. However, nephronophthisis (NPHP), medullary cystic kidney disease
      (MCKD), and dominant glomerulocystic kidney disease (GCKD) still have a relevant
      clinical impact, particularly in children. The discovery that the proteins that
      are defective in ADPKD and ARPKD localize to the primary cilium and the
      recognition of the role of this organelle in cystogenesis have led to the term
      ''ciliopathies''. In the last decade, the list of ciliopathies has continued to
      grow. Analysis of the protein products of the nine NPHP genes (NPHP 1-9) evinced
      a strong relation between ciliary function and pathogenesis of NPHP. The oral
      facial-digital syndrome (OFD) type I, characterized by congenital malformations
      and cystic kidney disease, was found to result from mutations in the OFD1 gene,
      which encodes a protein located to the primary cilium. Parallel to these
      advances, mutations in UMOD, the gene encoding uromodulin, were identified in
      pedigrees with MCKD2, familial juvenile hyperuricemic nephropathy, and autosomal
      dominant GCKD. In all these disorders, uromodulin was found to be accumulating in
      intracellular aggregates, suggesting a common pathogenesis. Taken together, these
      findings suggest the need for the separation of renal cystic diseases due to UMOD
      mutations (uromodulin-associated diseases) from renal cystic diseases related to
      mutation of genes encoding for proteins expressed in the primary cilium
      (ciliopathies).

PMID- 20922700
TI  - [Skin cancer in renal transplant recipients].
AB  - Kidney transplant is the best treatment option for renal failure. Over the years
      the 1-year patient survival has gradually increased, along with a reduction in
      acute rejection. The main causes of death in the late post-transplant period are
      cardiovascular disease, infections and malignancies. It is known that the
      incidence of cancer increases with the duration of post-transplant follow-up.
      Twenty years after transplantation, approximately 70% of patients on continuous
      immunosuppressive therapy present one or more tumor types. Some of the tumors
      that occur with a significantly higher frequency in transplant recipients
      compared with the general population are often associated with the reactivation
      of oncogenic viruses. Examples are herpes virus 8 (HHV8), implicated in Kaposi's
      sarcoma (KS), human papillomavirus (HPV), involved in squamous cell cancer of the
      skin, vulva, vagina and cervix, and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), responsible for
      post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder (PTLD). The type of drug used for
      the induction and maintenance of immunosuppression and the duration of treatment
      influence both the incidence and the type of cancer. For this reason, post
      transplant malignancies often show a more aggressive behavior than tumors in the
      normal population. It is estimated that sarcomas occur 40 to 250 times more
      frequently in transplant recipients and are the leading cause of death from skin
      cancer after transplantation. The classic form of KS occurs in males and
      homosexuals. In the population of the Mediterranean area, KS is often associated
      with HHV8 infection that is reactivated by immunosuppression. The reduction or
      suspension of immunosuppressive therapy is the first step in the treatment of
      post-transplant KS. The second approach is chemotherapy. Since m-TOR, the target
      of sirolimus, is altered in many tumors, sirolimus may be an effective tool.
      Sirolimus inhibits not only cell proliferation but also tumor neovascularization
      by reducing VEGF production and inhibiting VEGF receptor signaling in endothelial
      cells. In conclusion, new strategies must be developed to reduce cancer mortality
      in transplant recipients while ensuring adequate immunosuppression to preserve
      the transplanted organ. One such strategy is the adoption of immunosuppressive
      regimens tailored to individual patients' medical history.

PMID- 20922699
TI  - [Cancer treatment-induced nephrotoxicity: BCR-Abl and VEGF inhibitors].
AB  - The nephrotoxicity of some cancer drugs is well known. Given the rapid
      development of cancer research, careful assessment of patients treated with new
      drugs, which may have new toxicity profiles, is mandatory. The nephrotoxicity of
      cisplatin is likely due to inhibition of autophagy priming, while that of
      methotrexate is related to direct tubular toxicity and intratubular
      precipitation. Both can be prevented by adequate hydration. The mechanism of
      radiation nephropathy development is unclear, but chronic oxidative stress and
      inflammation seem to play a key role. Mesangiolysis is a characteristic feature,
      followed by vascular alterations, atrophy, fibrosis, and necrosis. Inhibitors of
      vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), such as bevacizumab, sunitinib, and
      sorafenib, interfere with angiogenesis. Bevacizumab is a humanized monoclonal
      antibody which binds to circulating VEGF. Sunitinib and sorafenib are small
      molecules inhibiting tyrosine kinase of the intracellular domain of the VEGF
      receptor. Treatment with anti-VEGF drugs is frequently complicated by
      proteinuria, acute renal failure, and hypertension. The most frequent
      histological lesion is thrombotic microangiopathy. Inhibitors of the BCR-Abl
      tyrosine kinase domain on the Philadelphia chromosome (imatinib, nilotinib and
      dasatinib) may cause acute renal failure.

PMID- 20922701
TI  - [Minimizing the risk of cancer in transplant patients].
AB  - Recent improvements in immunosuppressive therapies have reduced the incidence of
      acute rejection and increased patient survival. These agents may however
      contribute to higher rates of mortality due to an increased risk of
      cardiovascular disease or malignancy. Transplant patients are in an
      immunocompromised state, and have a reduced ability to combat the development of
      malignancy. The higher risk for the activity of oncoviruses may also contribute
      to the higher incidence and the specific tumor types seen. Some
      immunosuppressants may have a direct oncogenic effect. In vitro data have
      demonstrated that calcineurin inhibitors (CNIs) may have a direct effect on tumor
      growth and the development of metastases. In contrast, mTOR inhibitors have
      demonstrated in vitro antitumoral properties, perhaps via a potent antiangiogenic
      effect. Recent studies and registry analyses have confirmed that mTOR inhibitors
      are associated with a reduced incidence of malignancies. UNOS data demonstrated
      that an mTOR inhibitor, with or without a CNI, is associated with a reduced
      incidence of cancer compared to regimens without mTOR inhibitors. The Rapamune
      Maintenance Regimen study demonstrated that patients receiving sirolimus-based,
      CNI-free therapy after CsA withdrawal at 3 months had a reduced incidence of
      malignancy at 5 years post-transplant compared with those who continued a regimen
      including CsA. In the CONVERT study, patients converted to sirolimus had
      significantly lower malignancy rates (3.1%) at 24 months compared with those who
      continued CNI-based therapy (9.8%, p<0.001). The elimination of CNIs and the
      introduction of sirolimus may therefore have a role in reducing the risk of
      cancer in post-transplant patients.

PMID- 20922702
TI  - [Adrenal tumors as a cause of hypertension].
AB  - Hypertension is one of the main risk factors for cardiovascular diseases, which
      today are the primary cause of mortality in developed countries. To decrease the
      mortality and morbidity due to cardiovascular disease, it is necessary to treat
      hypertension correctly on the basis of an accurate diagnosis. A secondary cause
      of hypertension must be suspected if it is severe or resistant to treatment, if
      there is a sudden increase in blood pressure in a patient hitherto well
      controlled, or if it develops in childhood or in a person under 30 years of age,
      especially if not obese and without a family history of hypertension. In these
      instances the frequency of hypertension varies from 1-5% for mild to moderate to
      10-20% for severe or refractory hypertension. One of the principal causes of
      secondary hypertension is related to adrenal gland tumors or dysfunctions such as
      Cushing's syndrome, primary aldosteronism (Conn's syndrome) and pheochromocytoma.
      This paper will discuss the clinical presentation and diagnostic tests pertinent
      to these neoplasms, organ damage assessment, utilization of imaging techniques,
      and the medical and surgical options.

PMID- 20922703
TI  - [Renal function in primary hyperparathyroidism].
AB  - The kidney is one of the classical target organs of PTH action. Symptomatic
      primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) is nowadays less frequent but mostly occurs
      with renal symptoms, in particular kidney stones. Nephrocalcinosis and polyuria,
      the latter closely related to the severity of hypercalcemia, are uncommon.
      Parathyroidectomy leads to a marked and long-lasting improvement of
      nephrolithiasis, whereas it has a limited effect on nephrocalcinosis. Kidney
      failure is one of the long-term complications of PHPT and is associated with a
      more severe clinical expression of the disease and a higher risk of morbidity and
      mortality. Current guidelines on the management of asymptomatic PHPT, the most
      common presentation of PHPT today, recommend surgical treatment if renal function
      is decreased. However, in this particular clinical setting it is unclear whether
      PHPT is really associated with a more rapid decline of renal function or whether
      successful parathyroidectomy could protect renal function.

PMID- 20922704
TI  - [Neoplastic polyendocrine syndromes and the kidney].
AB  - Some neoplastic polyendocrine syndromes may affect the kidney. These include
      multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 and 2 (MEN 1, MEN 2) as well as mixed
      syndromes characterized by endocrine and non-endocrine diseases. Kidney
      involvement may be related to secondary systemic hypertension or diabetes
      mellitus, direct hormonal effects, and benign or malignant kidney tumors or
      kidney malformations (very rare). Neoplastic polyendocrine syndromes are rare and
      it is important that the endocrinologist knows the possible renal complications
      or associated diseases for correct screening, and that the nephrologist is aware
      of the need for endocrinological assessment in young hypertensive patients who
      are resistant to therapy, hypertensive patients with adrenal lesions, and
      patients with hypercalciuria or renal calculi, especially at a young age.

PMID- 20922705
TI  - Ultrasound-guided tandem placement for low-dose-rate brachytherapy in advanced
      cervical cancer minimizes risk of intraoperative uterine perforation.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Tandem placement as part of low-dose-rate (LDR) brachytherapy boost
      for cervical cancer may be complicated by uterine perforation. The objective of
      this study was to describe a 10-year experience of using intraoperative
      ultrasound guidance in an attempt to minimize the risk of uterine perforation.
      METHODS: Operative and inpatient records were reviewed to identify cases in which
      intraoperative ultrasound guidance was employed in order to assist tandem
      placement, and to determine whether clinical or radiographic findings
      subsequently suggested uterine perforation. Demographic factors were collected in
      order to determine the baseline risk of perforation within this population.
      RESULTS: Between 1998 and 2008, 71 patients underwent 110 ultrasound-guided
      placements of tandem applicators. The median age was 48 (range, 26-88) years, and
      20% were older than 60 years. Disease stage was FIGO IB1 (n = 10), IB2 (n = 13),
      IIA (n = 4), IIB (n = 19), IIIA (n = 2), IIIB (n = 16), IVA (n = 5) and IVB (n =
      2). The median gravidity was 3 (range 1-10) and median parity was 3 (range 0-10).
      Seven patients had a preimplant history of pelvic infection, four had a history
      of intrauterine contraceptive device use, and 10 had a prior history of Cesarean
      section delivery. Only one patient experienced infection that may have been
      attributable to tandem placement-associated uterine perforation. At median
      survivor follow-up of 34 months, 19 patients had died. The estimated 3-year
      disease-free and overall survival rates for the entire population were 60% and
      66%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Within the present population, intraoperative
      ultrasound guidance of tandem placement was associated with no confirmed cases of
      uterine perforation.

PMID- 20922706
TI  - Effects of the use of phytosterol/-stanol-enriched margarines on adherence to
      statin therapy.
AB  - PURPOSE: The use of margarines enriched with phytosterols or phytostanols is
      recommended as an appropriate adjunctive therapy for patients with certain lipid
      profiles, but may result in a behavioral modification leading to a change in
      person's adherence to lipid-lowering drug treatment. This study aimed to examine
      the influence of the use of margarines enriched with phytosterols/-stanols on
      adherence to statin therapy. METHODS: Retrospective data from food frequency
      questionnaires were used to assess phytosterol/-stanol-enriched margarine intake
      from a population based, longitudinal cohort between 1998 and 2007. Intake data
      were linked to pharmacy-dispensing records. Multivariate Cox proportional-hazards
      models were used to calculate hazard ratios for discontinuation of statin
      therapy. Drug-taking compliance was compared between users and non-users of
      enriched margarine using the Mann-Whitney U-test. Pre-defined subgroup analyses
      were performed to evaluate differences in adherence between prevalent statin
      users and starters of statins. RESULTS: Among 4848 subjects, 522 used statins
      only and 60 combined these drugs with phytosterol/-stanol-enriched margarine.
      Overall statin discontinuation rates were not significantly different between the
      users and non-users of enriched margarine, but more combination users
      discontinued statin therapy within 12 months in the subgroup of starters (HR(adj)
      : 2.52 [95%CI: 1.06-6.00]). Drug-taking compliance was high in both users and non
      users of enriched margarine and was slightly lower in combination users (P<0.10).
      CONCLUSIONS: These results imply that persons who combine enriched margarines
      with statins may neglect taking their drug according to the prescription. Further
      investigations in larger populations are important, especially among patients
      susceptible to a low adherence to drug therapy.

PMID- 20922707
TI  - Use of multiple international healthcare databases for the detection of rare drug
      associated outcomes: a pharmacoepidemiological programme comparing rosuvastatin
      with other marketed statins.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Statins (inhibitors of 3-hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl-CoA reductase) are
      associated with rare but serious adverse events involving the muscle, kidney and
      liver. To compare the safety profile of rosuvastatin with other marketed statins,
      four pharmacoepidemiological studies were conducted using different national
      healthcare databases. These studies used a coordinated methodology to facilitate
      future meta-analysis. OBJECTIVE: To achieve enhanced estimates of rosuvastatin
      safety relative to other statins, by performing a meta-analysis of four
      rosuvastatin safety studies. METHODS: Outcomes were identified using computerised
      codes, and validated using hospital records or questionnaires. Incidence
      estimates were based on current statin exposure. Incidence estimates for
      hospitalised myopathy, rhabdomyolysis, acute renal failure and acute liver injury
      among users of rosuvastatin and users of other statins were pooled across studies
      using a weighted average corresponding to the Mantel-Haenszel estimate of the
      common relative risk. RESULTS: More than 29,900 person-years were accrued for
      rosuvastatin use and more than 166,900 person-years were accrued for other statin
      use. Relative to other statins, rosuvastatin was not associated with significant
      differences in the incidence of hospitalised myopathy (+0.5 cases per 10,000
      person-years; 95%CI: -0.6 to 1.6), rhabdomyolysis (+0.7 cases per 10,000 person
      years; 95%CI: -0.3 to 1.6), acute renal failure (-0.2 cases per 10,000 person
      years; 95%CI: -2.9 to 2.5) or acute liver injury (-0.8 cases per 10,000 person
      years; 95%CI: -1.8 to 0.2). CONCLUSION: In this large sample (~ 200,000 person
      years), no significant difference in the risk of myopathy, rhabdomyolysis, acute
      liver injury or acute renal failure was seen between rosuvastatin and other
      statins.

PMID- 20922708
TI  - Gabapentin and suicide attempts.
AB  - PURPOSE: On 16 December 2008, FDA issued a class warning for antiepileptic drugs
      and suicidal thoughts and behavior. The purpose of this study was to determine if
      the antiepileptic drug gabapentin increases risk of suicide attempt in patients
      to which it was prescribed for various indications. METHODS: We conducted a
      pharmacoepidemiologic study in which suicide attempt rates were compared before
      and after gabapentin was prescribed. We used the PharMetrics medical claims
      database to study the relationship between gabapentin and suicide attempts in a
      cohort of 131,178 patients with a 1-year window of information before and after
      initial prescription. Patients had diagnoses of epilepsy, pain disorders, bipolar
      illness, major depressive disorder, schizophrenia, and other psychiatric
      disorders. RESULTS: Overall, there was no significant difference in suicide
      attempt rates before (3.48/1000 patient years--PY) versus after (3.45/1000 PY)
      gabapentin prescription. Pre-prescription suicide attempt rates were five times
      higher in psychiatric populations compared with non-psychiatric populations
      leading us to analyze the two groups separately. No drug effect was detected in
      the non-psychiatric populations. Significant reductions in suicide attempt rates
      were seen for bipolar disorder (47.85/1000 PY versus 31.46/1000 PY), major
      depressive disorder (17.30/1000 PY versus 12.66/1000 PY), and other psychiatric
      disorders (12.84/1000 PY versus 10.14/1000 PY). Person-time analysis revealed an
      overall significant reduction in suicide attempt rates (2.01/1000 PY on drug
      versus 2.30/1000 PY off drug). CONCLUSIONS: This study finds that gabapentin does
      not increase risk of suicide attempts in non-psychiatric populations and is
      associated with a reduction in suicide attempt risk in patients with psychiatric
      disorders.

PMID- 20922709
TI  - Identification of hospitalizations for intentional self-harm when E-codes are
      incompletely recorded.
AB  - CONTEXT: Suicidal behavior has gained attention as an adverse outcome of
      prescription drug use. Hospitalizations for intentional self-harm, including
      suicide, can be identified in administrative claims databases using external
      cause of injury codes (E-codes). However, rates of E-code completeness in US
      government and commercial claims databases are low due to issues with hospital
      billing software. OBJECTIVE: To develop an algorithm to identify intentional self
      harm hospitalizations using recorded injury and psychiatric diagnosis codes in
      the absence of E-code reporting. METHODS: We sampled hospitalizations with an
      injury diagnosis (ICD-9 800-995) from two databases with high rates of E-coding
      completeness: 1999-2001 British Columbia, Canada data and the 2004 US Nationwide
      Inpatient Sample. Our gold standard for intentional self-harm was a diagnosis of
      E950-E958. We constructed algorithms to identify these hospitalizations using
      information on type of injury and presence of specific psychiatric diagnoses.
      RESULTS: The algorithm that identified intentional self-harm hospitalizations
      with high sensitivity and specificity was a diagnosis of poisoning, toxic
      effects, open wound to elbow, wrist, or forearm, or asphyxiation; plus a
      diagnosis of depression, mania, personality disorder, psychotic disorder, or
      adjustment reaction. This had a sensitivity of 63%, specificity of 99% and
      positive predictive value (PPV) of 86% in the Canadian database. Values in the US
      data were 74, 98, and 73%. PPV was highest (80%) in patients under 25 and lowest
      those over 65 (44%). CONCLUSIONS: The proposed algorithm may be useful for
      researchers attempting to study intentional self-harm in claims databases with
      incomplete E-code reporting, especially among younger populations.

PMID- 20922710
TI  - Current trends in robot assisted surgery: a survey of gynecologic oncologists.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To evaluate the perceptions of the importance and utility of robot
      assisted surgery in gynecologic oncology. METHODS: A 39 question web-based survey
      was sent to members of the Society of Gynecologic Oncologists. RESULTS: The
      survey response rate was 28%, with 277 surveys completed. Nearly 40% of
      respondents felt robotic surgical training was required as a part of their career
      goals, and 73% of respondents have performed a robotic hysterectomy. Among
      respondents, 39% felt that robotic surgery was as good as laparoscopic surgery
      but 23% thought robot assisted surgery should be the gold standard for the
      treatment of endometrial cancer. CONCLUSIONS: Robot assisted surgery is gaining
      widespread acceptance and is perceived to be as good as laparoscopic surgery for
      the treatment of early stage endometrial and cervical cancers. Among respondents
      the greatest benefit of robot assisted surgery was its ease of use and perceived
      improvement in a patient's quality of life.

PMID- 20922711
TI  - Lack of KISS1R expression is associated with rapid progression of conventional
      renal cell carcinomas.
AB  - The mortality of patients with conventional renal cell carcinomas (RCC)
      correlates directly with the development of metastasis, which cannot be reliably
      predicted simply by TNM classification. The aim of this study was to identify
      genes associated with the tumour progression. We have analysed the global gene
      expression in conventional RCCs, including those with and without progression by
      Affymetrix GeneChip and selected the genes by gene set enrichment analysis. The
      expression and function of KISS1R was validated by RT-PCR, western blotting and
      immunohistochemistry and by in vitro experiments. An immunohistochemical and
      clinical follow-up study showed that lack of KISS1R expression is associated with
      rapid progression of tumours. In vitro studies showed that activation of
      KISS1/KISS1R signalling by kisspeptin treatment decreases the motility and
      invasive capacity of tumour cells. The kisspeptin treatment also induces the
      expression of KISS1R in tumour cells in vitro and activates signalling in cases
      without constitutional expression of the receptor. Expression of the KISS1R
      protein can be used for estimating the prognosis of conventional RCCs. Confirming
      the activation of KISS1R signalling in vivo may open a way for kisspeptin
      treatment of patients with conventional RCCs.

PMID- 20922712
TI  - Pin1 acts as a modulator of cell proliferation through alteration in NF-kappaB
      but not beta-catenin/TCF4 signalling in a subset of endometrial carcinoma cells.
AB  - Prolyl isomerase Pin1 is frequently up-regulated in a variety of human
      malignancies, modulating signalling in several oncogenic pathways, including
      those involving NF-kappaB and beta-catenin. Our previous study provided evidence
      that alterations in these signal pathways are essential events during trans
      differentiation of endometrial carcinoma (Em Ca) cells. Here we focused on the
      functional roles of Pin1. In normal endometrium, Pin1 expression showed a
      stepwise decrease from proliferative to secretory phases during the menstrual
      cycle, correlating positively with cell proliferation and expression of several
      cell cycle-related molecules including E2F1 and pRb. Transfection of E2F1 caused
      transactivation of Pin1, indicating control by E2F1/Rb pathways. In Em Cas with
      morules, Pin1 expression was found to be significantly increased in glandular but
      not in morular components, correlating inversely with nuclear accumulation of
      beta-catenin. Overexpression also caused an increase in the stability of nuclear
      p65, leading to enhancement of NF-kappaB-mediated transactivation of the cyclin
      D1 gene, in contrast to minimal inhibition of beta-catenin/TCF4 transcription
      activity. These findings indicate that Pin1 may play an important role in
      preserving cell proliferative activity in glandular carcinoma components through
      enhancement of NF-kappaB signalling, but its down-regulation may be a key signal
      for induction of trans-differentiation of Em Ca cells, contributing to a shift
      from NF-kappaB to beta-catenin/TCF signalling pathways.

PMID- 20922713
TI  - Proposal for a modified grading system based on mitotic index and Bcl2 provides
      objective determination of clinical outcome for patients with breast cancer.
AB  - We hypothesized that the interaction between mitotic index (M) and Bcl2 could
      accurately discriminate between low- and high-grade breast cancer (BC) and
      provide a more objective measure of clinical outcome than histological grade,
      especially for patients with intermediate histological grade (G2), small size or
      oestrogen receptor (ER)-negative cancers. A well-characterized series of 1650 BCs
      with long-term follow-up was subjected to immunohistochemical analysis for Bcl2.
      Mitotic index (M) was assessed according to Nottingham Grading System (NGS)
      guidelines: M1: < 10 mitoses; M2: 10-18 mitoses; M3: > 18 mitoses. Results were
      validated in an independent series of patients (n = 245) uniformly treated with
      adjuvant anthracycline-based chemotherapy. Subsequently, BCs were classified
      according to the combined M/Bcl2 profile and compared with NGS. Multivariate Cox
      regression models using validated prognostic factors demonstrated that the
      subgroups defined by M/Bcl2 profile remained significantly associated with
      patients' outcome but also performed better than lymph node status and tumour
      size. Incorporation of the M/Bcl2 profile into the Nottingham Prognostic Index
      (NPI) reclassified twice as many patients into the excellent prognosis group,
      potentially improving decision-making and sparing patients unneeded systemic
      adjuvant therapy. Patients with M2-3/Bcl2- and M3/Bcl2+ (high risk) had a two- to
      three-fold increased risk of recurrence when treated with either adjuvant hormone
      therapy or anthracycline-based chemotherapy compared with those with M1/Bcl2 +/-
      and M2/Bcl2+ (low risk) [HR = 3.4 (2.8-5.6); p < 0.0001 and HR = 2.3 (1.2-4.3); p
      = 0.0009]. In conclusion, a grading system defined by mitotic counting and Bcl2
      expression accurately reclassified patients with NGS-G2, small tumour size or ER
      negative cancers into two groups: low risk (NGS-G1-like) versus high risk (NGS-G3
      like) of BC mortality and recurrence, improving prognosis and therapeutic
      planning.

PMID- 20922714
TI  - AMP-activated protein kinase: 'a cup of tea' against cholesterol-induced
      neurotoxicity.
AB  - Disturbances in brain cholesterol metabolism have been linked to Alzheimer's
      disease (AD) pathology. A high-cholesterol diet increases fibrillar amyloid beta
      peptide (Abeta) deposition, inflammation, and apoptosis that eventually results
      in neurodegeneration and learning and memory impairments. In the October 2010
      issue of The Journal of Pathology, Lu and colleagues provided a novel and
      interesting mechanism that explains how quercetin, a flavonoid found at high
      concentrations in green and black teas, may help to protect against cholesterol
      induced neurotoxicity through activation of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK),
      a metabolic energy gauge. Further work will be necessary to address whether AMPK
      may be a potential target to combat neurodegenerative diseases.

PMID- 20922716
TI  - Tuning the HOMO energy levels of organic dyes for dye-sensitized solar cells
      based on Br-/Br3- electrolytes.
AB  - A series of novel metal-free organic dyes TC301-TC310 with relatively high HOMO
      levels were synthesized and applied in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) based on
      electrolytes that contain Br(-)/Br(3)(-) and I(-)/I(3)(-). The effects of
      additive Li(+) ions and the HOMO levels of the dyes have an important influence
      on properties of the dyes and performance of DSCs. The addition of Li(+) ions in
      electrolytes can broaden the absorption spectra of the dyes on TiO(2) films and
      shift both the LUMO levels of the dyes and the conduction band of TiO(2), thus
      leading to the increase of J(sc) and the decrease of V(oc). Upon using Br(
      )/Br(3)(-) instead of I(-)/I(3)(-), a large increase of V(oc) is attributed to
      the enlarged energy difference between the redox potentials of electrolyte and
      the Fermi level of TiO(2), as well as the suppressed electron recombination.
      Incident photon to current efficiency (IPCE) action spectra, electrochemical
      impedance spectra, and nanosecond laser transient absorption reveal that both the
      electron collection yields and the dye regeneration yields (Phi(r)) depend on the
      potential difference (the driving forces) between the oxidized dyes and the Br(
      )/Br(3)(-) redox couple. For the dyes for which the HOMO levels are more positive
      than the redox potential of Br(-)/Br(3)(-) sufficient driving forces lead to the
      longer effective electron-diffusion lengths and almost the same efficient dye
      regenerations, whereas for the dyes for which the HOMO levels are similar to the
      redox potential of Br(-)/Br(3)(-), insufficient driving forces lead to shorter
      effective electron-diffusion lengths and inefficient dye regenerations.

PMID- 20922717
TI  - Fluorescence spectroscopic evidence for hydrogen bonding and deprotonation
      equilibrium between fluoride and a thiourea derivative.
AB  - Interaction of anions with thiourea-linked acridinedione fluorophore was studied
      by absorption, (1)H NMR, steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence techniques.
      Addition of AcO(-) and H(2)PO(4)(-) shows a genuine H-bonded complex with
      thiourea receptor; whereas, F(-) shows stepwise H-bonding and deprotonation of
      thiourea NH as confirmed by (1)H NMR titration. Free receptor 1 shows emission
      maximum at 418 nm; whereas, H-bonded complex of 1.F(-) shows a new redshifted
      emission maximum at 473 nm and the deprotonated 1 exhibits an emission peak at
      502 nm. Presence of these three different emitting species was probed by 3D
      emission spectroscopic studies. Equilibrium between the free receptor 1, 1.F(-) H
      bonded complex and deprotonated 1 was confirmed by time-resolved fluorescence
      studies. Time-resolved area normalised emission spectra (TRANES) of 1 in the
      presence of F(-) shows two isoemissive points at 456 and 479 nm between time
      delays of 0-0.5 ns and 1-20 ns, respectively, due to the existence of three
      emitting species in equilibrium. Observation of such an equilibrium based on
      fluorescence spectroscopic studies further proves the earlier reported absorption
      and (1)H NMR spectroscopic studies of H-bonding and deprotonation processes and
      also illustrates the dynamics of anion-receptor interactions.

PMID- 20922715
TI  - Diabetes as a disease of endoplasmic reticulum stress.
AB  - Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress is an integral part of life for all
      professional secretory cells, but it has been studied to greatest depth in the
      pancreatic beta-cell. This reflects both the crucial role played by ER stress in
      the pathogenesis of diabetes and also the exquisite vulnerability of these cells
      to ER dysfunction. The adaptive cellular response to ER stress, the unfolded
      protein response, comprises mechanisms to both regulate new protein translation
      and a transcriptional program to allow adaptation to the stress. The core of this
      response is a triad of stress-sensing proteins: protein kinase R-like endoplasmic
      reticulum kinase (PERK), inositol-requiring enzyme 1 (IRE1) and activating
      transcription factor 6. All three regulate portions of the transcriptional
      unfolded protein response, while PERK also attenuates protein synthesis during ER
      stress and IRE1 interacts directly with the c-Jun amino-terminal kinase stress
      kinase pathway. In this review we shall discuss these processes in detail, with
      emphasis given to their impact on diabetes and how recent findings indicate that
      ER stress may be responsible for the loss of beta-cell mass in the disease.

PMID- 20922718
TI  - Electron attachment to a hydrated DNA duplex: the dinucleoside phosphate
      deoxyguanylyl-3',5'-deoxycytidine.
AB  - The minimal essential section of DNA helices, the dinucleoside phosphate
      deoxyguanylyl-3',5'-deoxycytidine dimer octahydrate, [dGpdC](2), has been
      constructed, fully optimized, and analyzed by using quantum chemical methods at
      the B3LYP/6-31+G(d,p) level of theory. Study of the electrons attached to
      [dGpdC](2) reveals that DNA double strands are capable of capturing low-energy
      electrons and forming electronically stable radical anions. The relatively large
      vertical electron affinity (VEA) predicted for [dGpdC](2) (0.38 eV) indicates
      that the cytosine bases are good electron captors in DNA double strands. The
      structure, charge distribution, and molecular orbital analysis for the fully
      optimized radical anion [dGpdC](2)(.-) suggest that the extra electron tends to
      be redistributed to one of the cytosine base moieties, in an electronically
      stable structure (with adiabatic electron affinity (AEA) 1.14 eV and vertical
      detachment energy (VDE) 2.20 eV). The structural features of the optimized
      radical anion [dGpdC](2)(.-) also suggest the probability of interstrand proton
      transfer. The interstrand proton transfer leads to a distonic radical anion [d(G
      H)pdC:d(C+H)pdG](.-), which contains one deprotonated guanine anion and one
      protonated cytosine radical. This distonic radical anion is predicted to be more
      stable than [dGpdC](2)(.-). Therefore, experimental evidence for electron
      attachment to the DNA double helices should be related to [d(G-H)pdC:d(C+H)pdG](.
      ) complexes, for which the VDE might be as high as 2.7 eV (in dry conditions) to
      3.3 eV (in fully hydrated conditions). Effects of the polarizable medium have
      been found to be important for increasing the electron capture ability of the
      dGpdC dimer. The ultimate AEA value for cytosine in DNA duplexes is predicted to
      be 2.03 eV in aqueous solution.

PMID- 20922719
TI  - Syntheses and photochromic studies of dithienylethene-containing imidazolium
      derivatives and their reactivity towards nucleophiles.
AB  - A series of dithienylethene-containing imidazolium salts with various
      substituents on the 2-position of the imidazolium ring has been synthesized. The
      photochromic properties of these compounds have been studied, and the closed
      forms are found to be solvatochromic due to the donor-acceptor interaction with
      the solvent molecules. The closed form of the imidazolium salt shows a much
      higher affinity towards nucleophiles over the open form of the salt. A reaction
      pathway has been proposed to account for this reactivity difference based on the
      structure-property relationship, and the possible structure of the reaction
      product is discussed.

PMID- 20922720
TI  - A series of vanadogermanates from 1D chain to 3D framework built by Ge-V-O
      clusters and transition-metal-complex bridges.
AB  - Three novel extended vanadogermanates,
      {[(en)(2)Cd(2)Ge(8)V(12)O(40)(OH)(8)(H(2)O)][Cd(en)(2)](2)}.6H(2)O (1),
      {[Zn(2)(dap)(3)][Zn(dap)](2)Ge(6)V(15)O(48)(H(2)O)}[Zn(dap)(2)(H(2)O)](2).3H(2)O
      (2), and {[Cd(3)(MU
      dien)(2)(Hdien)(2)(H(2)O)(2)]Ge(4)V(16)O(42)(OH)(4)(H(2)O)}.2H(2)O (3;
      en=ethylenediamine, dap=1,2-diaminopropane, dien=diethylenetriamine), have been
      hydrothermally synthesized and structurally characterized by elemental analysis,
      IR spectroscopy, powder XRD, thermogravimetric analysis, and single-crystal XRD.
      Their Ge-V-O cluster anions are derived from the V(18)O(42) cluster shell by
      replacing VO(5) square pyramids with Ge(2)O(7) groups. Compound 1 exhibits a 1D
      sinusoidal chain built up from rare inorganic-organic hybrid dicadmium
      substituted vanadogermanate {[Cd(en)](2)V(12)O(40)(GeOH)(8)(H(2)O)} clusters and
      [Cd(en)(2)] complexes. Compound 2 is the first example of a 2D network based on
      linkage of the unusual {Ge(6)V(15)O(48)(H(2)O)} clusters and two types of Zn
      complex fragments. Compound 3 is an unprecedented 3D framework built by
      {Ge(4)V(16)O(42)(OH)(4)(H(2)O)} clusters and rare trinuclear bridging complex
      cations [Cd(3)(MU-dien)(2)(Hdien)(2)(H(2)O)(2)](8+). Magnetic measurements
      illustrate that both 1 and 2 have antiferromagnetic exchange interactions between
      metal centers, whereas 3 exhibits ferrimagnetic behavior, which is rare in
      polyoxovanadate complexes.

PMID- 20922721
TI  - Synthesis and structural aspects of N-triflylphosphoramides and their calcium
      salts--highly acidic and effective Bronsted acids.
AB  - Recently, 1,1'-bi-2-naphthol (BINOL)-based N-triflylphosphoramides emerged as a
      new class of potent Bronsted acid catalysts. In this paper we describe the
      efficient synthesis of various BINOL-based N-triflylphosphoramides and their
      calcium salts. Furthermore, X-ray crystal structure analysis combined with energy
      dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) measurements confirmed that the synthesised
      chiral N-triflylphosphoramides are highly acidic metal-free catalysts.

PMID- 20922722
TI  - Metal-complex/DNA conjugates: a versatile building block for DNA nanoarrays.
AB  - The use of DNA networks as templates for forming nanoarrays of metallic centres
      shows an exciting potential to generate addressable nanostructures. Inorganic
      units can be photoactive, electroactive and/or can possess magnetic and catalytic
      properties and can adopt different spatial arrangements due to their varied
      coordination nature. All these properties influence both the structure and
      function of passive DNA scaffolds and provide DNA nanostructures as a new
      platform for new materials in emerging technologies, such as nanotechnology,
      biosensing or biocomputing.

PMID- 20922723
TI  - Switchable selectivity during oxidation of anilines in a ball mill.
AB  - A solvent-free method for the direct oxidation of anilines to the corresponding
      azo and azoxy homocoupling products by using a planetary ball mill was developed.
      Various oxidants and grinding auxiliaries were tested and a variety of
      substituted anilines were investigated. It was possible to form chemoselectively
      either azo, azoxy, or the nitro compounds from reaction of aromatic anilines. The
      selectivity of the solvent-free reaction is switchable by applying a combination
      of oxidant and grinding auxiliary. Furthermore, a comparison with other methods
      of energy input (microwave, classical heating, and ultrasound) highlighted the
      advantages of the ball mill approach and its high energy efficiency.

PMID- 20922724
TI  - Complexation and extraction of PAHs to the aqueous phase with a dinuclear Pt(II)
      diazapyrenium-based metallacycle.
AB  - New palladium and platinum metallacycles have been synthesized by reaction
      between a 2,7-diazapyrenium-based ligand and Pd(II) and Pt(II) complexes. The
      inclusion complexes between the metallacycles and polycyclic aromatic
      hydrocarbons (PAHs) in CD(3)NO(2) and D(2)O were studied by NMR spectroscopy. The
      structures of the inclusion complexes of the Pt metallacycle as host with pyrene,
      phenanthrene, and triphenylene were confirmed by single crystal X-ray
      crystallography. The association constants between the Pt metallacycle and the
      selected PAHs were determined in CH(3)CN following the characteristic charge
      transfer band displayed in their UV/Vis absorption spectrum. Although in aqueous
      solution all the complexes showed a 1:1 stoichiometry, in CH(3)CN the Job plot
      indicated a 2:1 stoichiometry for complexes with triphenylene and benzo[a]pyrene.
      The estimated association constants in water correlate with the hydrophobicity of
      the PAH, indicating that hydrophobic forces play an important role in the
      complexation process.

PMID- 20922725
TI  - Enzyme mimics based upon supramolecular coordination chemistry.
AB  - Recent advances in supramolecular coordination chemistry have allowed chemists to
      synthesize macromolecular complexes that exhibit various properties intrinsic to
      enzymes. This Review focuses on structures inspired by properties and functions
      observed in enzymes rather than precise models of enzyme active sites. These
      structures are synthesized using convergent, modular, and high-yielding
      coordination-chemistry-based methods, which allow one to tailor the size, shape,
      and properties of the resulting complexes. Many of the structures discussed
      exhibit reactivity and specificity reminiscent of natural systems, and some of
      them have functions that exceed the natural systems which provided the
      inspiration for initially making them.

PMID- 20922726
TI  - Reductive dehydroxylation of allyl alcohols by IspH protein.
AB  - The biosynthesis of natural products is a treasure trove of unusual reaction
      mechanisms. This Minireview summarizes recent work on the structure and mechanism
      of IspH protein, which catalyzes the reductive dehydroxylation of an allyl
      alcohol in a biosynthetic pathway leading to isoprenoid precursors.

PMID- 20922727
TI  - Climate change and atmospheric chemistry: how will the stratospheric ozone layer
      develop?
AB  - The discovery of the ozone hole over Antarctica in 1985 was a surprise for
      science. For a few years the reasons of the ozone hole was speculated about. Soon
      it was obvious that predominant meteorological conditions led to a specific
      situation developing in this part of the atmosphere: Very low temperatures
      initiate chemical processes that at the end cause extreme ozone depletion at
      altitudes of between about 15 and 30 km. So-called polar stratospheric clouds
      play a key role. Such clouds develop at temperatures below about 195 K.
      Heterogeneous chemical reactions on cloud particles initiate the destruction of
      ozone molecules. The future evolution of the ozone layer will not only depend on
      the further development of concentrations of ozone-depleting substances, but also
      significantly on climate change.

PMID- 20922728
TI  - Facile two-step synthesis of porous antigen-loaded degradable polyelectrolyte
      microspheres.

PMID- 20922729
TI  - Introducing quadrupole interactions into the peptide design toolkit.

PMID- 20922730
TI  - Water-switching of spin transitions induced by metal-to-metal charge transfer in
      a microporous framework.

PMID- 20922731
TI  - Catalytic solvolysis of ammonia borane.

PMID- 20922732
TI  - Controlled colloidal growth of ultrathin single-crystal ZnS nanowires with a
      magic-size diameter.

PMID- 20922733
TI  - Copper-catalyzed direct carboxylation of C-H bonds with carbon dioxide.

PMID- 20922734
TI  - Fabrication of a structure-specific RNA binder for array detection of label-free
      microRNA.

PMID- 20922735
TI  - Combining independent drug classes into superior, synergistically acting hybrid
      molecules.

PMID- 20922736
TI  - Unusual E-selective ring-closing metathesis to form eight-membered rings.

PMID- 20922737
TI  - Design of a highly sensitive fluorescent probe for interfacial electron transfer
      on a TiO2 surface.

PMID- 20922738
TI  - FtsK DNA translocase: the fast motor that knows where it's going.
AB  - FtsK is a double-stranded DNA translocase, a motor that converts the chemical
      energy of binding and hydrolysing ATP into movement of a DNA substrate. It moves
      DNA at an amazing rate->5000 bp per second-and is powerful enough to remove other
      proteins from the DNA. In bacteria it is localised to the site of cell division,
      the septum, where it functions as a DNA pump at the late stages of the cell
      cycle, to expedite cytokinesis and chromosome segregation. The N terminus of the
      protein is involved in the cell-cycle-specific localisation and assembly of the
      cell-division machinery, whereas the C terminus forms the motor. The motor
      portion of FtsK has been studied by a combination of biochemistry, genetics, X
      ray crystallography and single-molecule mechanical assays, and these will be the
      focus here. The motor can be divided into three subdomains: alpha, beta and
      gamma. The alpha and beta domains multimerise to produce a hexameric ring with a
      central channel for dsDNA, and contain a RecA-like nucleotide-binding/hydrolysis
      fold. The motor is given directionality by the regulatory gamma domain, which
      binds to polarised chromosomal sequences-5'-GGGNAGGG-3', known as KOPS-to ensure
      that the motor is loaded onto DNA in a specific orientation such that subsequent
      translocation is always towards the region of the chromosome where replication
      usually terminates (the terminus), and specifically to the 28 bp dif site,
      located in this region. Once the FtsK translocase has located the dif site it
      then interacts with the XerCD site-specific recombinases to activate
      recombination.

PMID- 20922739
TI  - G protein-coupled receptor activation: amino acid movements caught infra-red
      handed.

PMID- 20922740
TI  - Synthesis and crystal structure of a phosphorylated estrogen receptor ligand
      binding domain.

PMID- 20922741
TI  - An autocatalytic cycle model of asymmetric amplification and mirror-symmetry
      breaking in the Soai reaction.

PMID- 20922743
TI  - Entangled photons from a light-emitting diode.

PMID- 20922742
TI  - Single-molecule fluorescence coincidence spectroscopy and its application to
      resonance energy transfer.
AB  - The use of Forster resonance energy transfer (FRET) as a tool to study
      biomolecules has been greatly enhanced by new advances in single-molecule
      fluorescence (SMF) techniques. This has allowed new insights into the structure
      and dynamics of complex biomolecular machinery. However, there are still
      technical drawbacks in the application of conventional SMF-FRET. Herein, we
      review the use of single-molecule coincidence spectroscopy to study FRET systems,
      an analytical variation of the conventional scheme, using one or two confocal
      lasers of different colours. We highlight the advantages of the coincidence
      spectroscopy and illustrate this with examples of its application to some
      biological systems of interest.

PMID- 20922744
TI  - Towards the discovery of new hypnotic agents: synthesis and preliminary
      pharmacological evaluation of a novel class of dibenzo[a,d]cycloheptene
      derivatives.

PMID- 20922745
TI  - Fusion intermediates of HIV-1 gp41 as targets for antibody production: design,
      synthesis, and HR1-HR2 complex purification and characterization of generated
      antibodies.
AB  - The objective of this project was to study the interaction between HR1 and HR2,
      the stability of the complex formed, and to characterize the antibodies produced
      against monomeric HR1 and HR2 peptides as well as the HR1-HR2 complex. In this
      work, HR1 was mimicked by peptide N36, and HR2 was mimicked by peptide C34L and
      its analogues C34M2, C34M3, and C34D. Whereas C34M2 and C34M3 are partially
      composed of D-amino acids, C34D has same sequence as C34L, but is assembled
      entirely of D-amino acids. Using CD analysis, SPR assays, and gel filtration
      chromatography, we demonstrate the physical interaction between N36 and C34L and
      its analogues C34M2 and C34M3, but not C34D. We show that the HR1-HR2 complex is
      formed rapidly (<1 min) and remains stable, as demonstrated by its inability, in
      contrast to each free peptide, to inhibit the formation of syncytia. To generate
      antibodies with predetermined specificity against the transiently exposed
      intermediate that corresponds to the six-helix bundle structure, purified
      preformed HR1-HR2 complex was used, in parallel with monomeric HR1 and HR2
      peptides, as immunogens in mice. Although the produced antibodies recognize total
      HIV-1 envelope glycoproteins in ELISA, they are unable to neutralize HIV-1
      mediated fusion at 37  degrees C. However, if the incubation with these
      antibodies is carried out at 27  degrees C, a temperature that allows
      stabilization of the transient intermediate complex, anti-peptide antibodies are
      able to bind their corresponding domains in HeLa cells expressing HIV-1 gp41 in
      co-culture with HeLa CD4-CCR5/CXCR4 during the dynamic mechanism of membrane
      fusion. In agreement with the latter results, these antibodies, if previously
      incubated for 2 h at 27  degrees C, are able to strongly neutralize HIV-1 entry
      by membrane fusion, as shown by their ability to block the formation of syncytia.

PMID- 20922746
TI  - Feeding the antimalarial pipeline.

PMID- 20922747
TI  - Molecular assembly of multifunctional 99(m)Tc radiopharmaceuticals using
      "clickable" amino acid derivatives.
AB  - Synthetic strategies that enable the efficient and selective combination of
      different biologically active entities hold great promise for the development of
      multifunctional hybrid conjugates useful for biochemical and medical
      applications. Starting from side-chain-functionalized N(alpha)-propargyl lysine
      derivatives, conjugates containing a 99(m)Tc-based imaging probe for SPECT and
      two different moieties (e.g., tumor-targeting vectors, pharmacological modifiers,
      affinity tags, or second imaging probes) can be assembled using the Cu(I)
      catalyzed alkyne-azide cycloaddition in efficient one-pot protocols. This
      strategy was successfully applied to the preparation of a 99(m)Tc-labeled
      conjugate comprising a tumor-targeting peptide sequence (bombesin(7-14)) and a
      low-molecular-weight albumin binder, a pharmacological modifier that prolongs the
      blood circulation time of the conjugate. Evaluation of the conjugate in vitro and
      in vivo provided promising results for its use as an imaging agent for the
      visualization of tumors positive for the gastrin-releasing peptide receptor. The
      methodology presented herein provides an attractive synthetic tool for the
      preparation of multifunctional 99(m)Tc-based radiopharmaceuticals with
      significant potential for a multitude of applications.

PMID- 20922748
TI  - Multicomponent reactions for the synthesis of heterocycles.
AB  - Multicomponent domino reactions (MDRs) serve as a rapid and efficient tool for
      the synthesis of versatile heterocycles, particularly those containing structural
      diversity and complexity, by a one-pot operation. These reactions can
      dramatically reduce the generation of chemical wastes, costs of starting
      materials, and the use of energy and manpower. Moreover, the reaction period can
      be substantially shortened. This Review covers recent advances on multicomponent
      domino reactions for the construction of five-, six-, and seven-membered
      heterocyclic skeletons and their multicyclic derivatives.

PMID- 20922749
TI  - Hydrosilylation of ketones: from metal-organic frameworks to simple base
      catalysts.

PMID- 20922750
TI  - The design of alpha/beta-peptides: study on three-residue turn motifs and the
      influence of achiral glycine on helix and turn.
AB  - Novel three-residue helix-turn secondary structures, nucleated by a helix at the
      N terminus, were generated in peptides that have 'beta-Caa-L-Ala-L-Ala,' 'beta
      Caa-L-Ala-gamma-Caa,' and 'beta-Caa-L-Ala-delta-Caa' (in which beta-Caa is C
      linked carbo-beta-amino acid, gamma-Caa is C-linked carbo-gamma-amino acid, and
      delta-Caa is C-linked carbo-delta-amino acid) at the C terminus. These turn
      structures are stabilized by 12-, 14-, and 15-membered (mr) hydrogen bonding
      between NH(i)/CO(i+2) (i+2 is the last residue in the peptide) along with a 7-mr
      hydrogen bond between CO(i)/NH(i+2). In addition, a series of alpha/beta-peptides
      were designed and synthesized with alternating glycine (Gly) and (S)-beta-Caa to
      study the influence of an achiral alpha-residue on the helix and helix-turn
      structures. In contrast to previous results, the three 'beta-alpha-beta' residues
      at the C terminus (alpha-residue being Gly) are stabilized by only a 13-mr
      forward hydrogen bond, which resembles an alpha-turn. Extensive NMR spectroscopic
      and molecular dynamics (MD) studies were performed to support these observations.
      The influence of chirality and side chain is also discussed.

PMID- 20922751
TI  - Supramolecular porphyrin-DABCO array in single- and double-stranded
      polynorbornenes.
AB  - Zinc-porphyrin-appended norbornene derivative 6, the corresponding dimer 7,
      coherently aligned single-stranded polynorbornene 5, and zinc-porphyrin-linked
      double-stranded polymeric ladderphane 3 have been used for complexation with 1,4
      diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octane (DABCO) to generate an array of porphyrin-DABCO
      supramolecular scaffolds. The stoichiometries of the complex formation are
      analyzed in detail by (1)H NMR spectroscopy as well as absorption and emission
      spectroscopic methods. Bidentate ligand DABCO is found to form with 7, 5, and 3
      to give 2-to-1 porphyrin-DABCO sandwich structures. Monomer 6, on the other hand,
      forms a 2-to-1 porphyrin-DABCO sandwich structure at high concentration (20 mM),
      but a 1-to-1 porphyrin-DABCO complex at low concentration (10(-6) M). Time
      resolved fluorescence decays revealed a similar behavior for the 2-to-1 porphyrin
      DABCO sandwich structures that are formed from 3, 5, and 7.

PMID- 20922752
TI  - Aryl azide based, photochemical patterning of cyclic olefin copolymer surfaces
      with non-biofouling poly[(3-(methacryloylamino)propyl)dimethyl(3
      sulfopropyl)ammonium hydroxide].

PMID- 20922753
TI  - Highly effective Pd-catalyzed ortho olefination of acetanilides: broad substrate
      scope and high tolerability.

PMID- 20922754
TI  - Next-generation biofuels: Survey of emerging technologies and sustainability
      issues.
AB  - Next-generation biofuels, such as cellulosic bioethanol, biomethane from waste,
      synthetic biofuels obtained via gasification of biomass, biohydrogen, and others,
      are currently at the center of the attention of technologists and policy makers
      in search of the more sustainable biofuel of tomorrow. To set realistic targets
      for future biofuel options, it is important to assess their sustainability
      according to technical, economical, and environmental measures. With this aim,
      the review presents a comprehensive overview of the chemistry basis and of the
      technology related aspects of next generation biofuel production, as well as it
      addresses related economic issues and environmental implications. Opportunities
      and limits are discussed in terms of technical applicability of existing and
      emerging technology options to bio-waste feedstock, and further development
      forecasts are made based on the existing social-economic and market situation,
      feedstock potentials, and other global aspects. As the latter ones are concerned,
      the emphasis is placed on the opportunities and challenges of developing
      countries in adoption of this new industry.

PMID- 20922755
TI  - Use of medaka in toxicity testing.
AB  - Small aquarium fishes are increasingly used as animal models, and one of these,
      the Japanese Medaka (Oryzias latipes), is frequently utilized for toxicity
      testing. While these vertebrates have many similarities with their terrestrial
      counterparts, there are differences that must be considered if these organisms
      are to be used to their highest potential. Commonly, testing may employ either
      the developing embryo or adults; both are easy to use and work with. To
      illustrate the utility and breadth of toxicity testing possible using medaka
      fish, we present protocols for assessing neurotoxicity in developing embryos,
      evaluating toxicant effects on sexual phenotype after treatment with endocrine
      disrupting chemicals by sexual genotyping, and measuring hepatotoxicity in adult
      fish after treatment with a model hepatotoxicant. The methods run the gamut from
      immunohistology through PCR to basic histological techniques.

PMID- 20922756
TI  - The nematode C. elegans as an animal model to explore toxicology in vivo: solid
      and axenic growth culture conditions and compound exposure parameters.
AB  - Significant limitations in vertebrate animal model systems include the time
      involved, the expense, the fact that in vitro results may not reflect live animal
      pathology, difficulties in transporting the toxin past the blood brain barrier,
      and the inability to identify the mechanism of action without some a priori
      knowledge of the toxin's target. The availability of the complete genome sequence
      of the nematode C. elegans, coupled with the worm's size, growth rate, ease of
      culturing, and the realization that basic biological mechanisms and disease
      processes between worms and humans are highly conserved, makes this genetically
      tractable model a remarkable opportunity to dissect and identify in vivo the
      cellular processes involved in toxin-induced cell dysregulation and death. This
      unit includes protocols for culturing worms on solid and axenic media and acute
      and chronic exposure parameters for Parkinson's disease-associated toxins and
      hemin chloride. These methods provide the groundwork for using this powerful
      model system to further elucidate and understand the molecular mechanisms
      involved in nutrition as well as toxicological responses relevant to human
      diseases.

PMID- 20922757
TI  - Optimization of cyclical electrical field flow fractionation.
AB  - Cyclical electrical field flow fractionation (CyElFFF) is a variation on
      electrical field flow fractionation (ElFFF) where cyclical electrical fields are
      used instead of steady DC fields to increase the effective field experienced by
      particles in the flow channel. Even though the effective field increases more
      than 20-fold compared to normal ElFFF, the retention and resolution in CyElFFF
      has not been shown to be better than in ElFFF. In this paper we report how one
      can optimize operational parameters in CyElFFF to obtain good retention and
      resolution in CyElFFF. The effects of offset voltage, frequency, flowrate,
      concentration of particles and sample size on retention, resolution and retained
      peak/void peak ratio have been observed. The results obtained from these
      experiments were analyzed and suggestions have been made to improve both
      retention and resolution. A 4-fold improvement in retention without a significant
      increase in band broadening is reported.

PMID- 20922758
TI  - Online immunoaffinity assay-CE using magnetic nanobeads for the determination of
      anti-Helicobacter pylori IgG in human serum.
AB  - About two-thirds of the world's population is infected with Helicobacter pylori
      (H. pylori). This Gram-negative bacterium is the most important etiological agent
      of chronic active type B gastritis and peptic ulcer diseases. Conventional
      methods such as gastric biopsy, ELISA and culture, require a long time for the
      determination of H. pylori infections. Moreover, the antibodies in human serum
      sample are capable to react immunologically with the purified H. pylori antigens
      immobilized on different kinds of support like magnetic nanobeads. In this study,
      we have developed an online immunoaffinity assay-CE to determine the
      concentration of anti-H. pylori IgG using magnetic nanobeads as a support of the
      immunological affinity ligands and an LIF as a detector. The separation was
      performed in 0.1 M glycine-HCl, pH 2, as the background electrolyte. The linear
      calibration curve to predict the concentration of H. pylori-specific
      immunoglobulin G antibodies in serum was produced within the range of 0.12-100
      U/mL. The linear regression equation was i = 492.86+96.03 * C(anti-H. pylori),
      with the linear regression coefficient r(2) = 0.999. The LOD calculated by
      fluorescence detection procedure was of 0.06 U/mL. The whole assay was done in no
      more than 35 min and it was entirely automatized. The development of
      immunoaffinity assay-CE in this study demonstrates that there is a large
      possibility to introduce nanotechnology in several fields with significant
      advantages over the classic methodologies. Our proposition comprises the
      diagnosis and screening field.

PMID- 20922759
TI  - The use of novel ionic liquid-in-water microemulsion without the addition of
      organic solvents in a capillary electrophoretic system.
AB  - In this work, a new ionic liquid-in-water (IL/W) microemulsion without requiring
      toxic organic solvents was investigated as a pseudostationary phase (PSP) in CE.
      As observed during the IL/W microemulsion system, a fast and an efficient
      separation of eight phenolic acids was achieved using 1-butyl-3
      methylimidazolivmhexa fluorophosphate (bmimPF(6)) as oil drops, Tween 20 as the
      surfactant, and borate as the BGE. The effects of oil phase, surfactant, buffer
      and pH on the separation were explored in detail to evaluate the novel PSP. In
      contrast, the detection efficiency of these same analytes was markedly decreased
      using oil-in-water (O/W) MEEKC. We have also validated the practicality of the
      IL/W microemulsion method by quantitative determination of acidic compounds in
      pharmaceutical injection. The results obtained indicated that an additional
      association between the IL cations and analytes tested seemed to play a prominent
      role in the separation mechanism exhibited by this novel PSP compared with the
      conventional O/W MEEKC.

PMID- 20922760
TI  - Determination of inorganic ions in mineral water by gradient elution moving
      boundary electrophoresis.
AB  - A sensitive method was developed for the determination of the major inorganic
      ions in commercial mineral waters using gradient elution moving boundary
      electrophoresis with capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detection.
      This application was the first to demonstrate the separation of cations and
      anions simultaneously using gradient elution moving boundary electrophoresis.
      Seven ionic analytes (calcium, chloride, magnesium, nitrate, potassium, sodium,
      and sulfate) were separated in less than 7 min with detection values in the low
      MUmol/L to sub-MUmol/L range. Calculated values of the major ions in three
      commercial mineral waters were compared to reported values with good correlation.
      In another application, phosphate and arsenate were separated in less than 2 min
      with limits of detection of 300 and 140 nmol/L, respectively. For all standard
      analyses, the RSD for migration times and peak areas were under 3%.

PMID- 20922761
TI  - Physical interpretation of the L(r) parameter in the theory for the gel
      electrophoresis of partially denatured DNA.
AB  - Partial strand melting of dsDNA during gel electrophoresis typically results in
      an abrupt reduction of mobility. Several DNA analysis technologies are based on
      this phenomenon. Inspired by the de Gennes' theory for the reptation of branched
      polymers in gels, Lerman et al. (Ann. Rev. Biophys. Bioeng. 1984, 13, 399-423)
      proposed a mathematical expression to predict this reduced mobility. The latter
      contains only two parameters: the average number of denatured bases p (which can
      be obtained using a theory for DNA melting) and a constant L(r). However, there
      is confusion in the literature regarding the physical interpretation of L(r) and
      little is known about its dependence upon experimental parameters. The purpose of
      this short communication is to derive an explicit equation for the parameter L(r)
      from the de Gennes theory of reptation. Our derivation shines light on the
      meaning of L(r), clarifies the scope of the underlying approximations, and makes
      predictions about the dependence of L(r) upon the gel pore size and the
      persistence length of ssDNA.

PMID- 20922762
TI  - Interaction of uranyl with Se(IV) and Se(VI) in aqueous acid solutions by means
      of capillary electrophoresis.
AB  - The uranyl-selenium(IV) and uranyl-selenium(VI) interactions were studied by CE
      in aqueous acid solutions, containing U(VI) and Se(IV) or Se(VI) at different
      concentrations, at pH 1.5, 2.0 and 2.5. The method proposed in this paper allows
      one with the use of CE data on metal ion mobilities at different pHs to establish
      the ligand species interacting with metal ion and complex species formed. In the
      case of Se(VI) a selenate, as demonstrated, interacts with uranyl ions, in the
      case of Se(IV) this is a hydroselenite. It was also shown that the equilibria for
      the U(VI)-Se(VI) and U(VI)-Se(IV) systems can be established from CE data. The
      formation of UO(2)SeO(4), UO(2)(SeO(4))(2) (2-), UO(2)HSeO(3) (+) and
      UO(2)(HSeO(3))(2) species is demonstrated. The stability constant values were
      measured at different ionic strengths (from 0.02 to 0.2 mol/L). The logarithms of
      the stability constant values (beta degrees ) extrapolated to ionic strength 0 by
      the specific ion interaction theory (SIT) are found to be log beta degrees (1) =
      2.93 +/- 0.06 for UO(2)SeO(4) formation, log beta degrees (2) = 4.030.18 for
      UO(2)(SeO(4))(2) (2-) formation, log beta degrees (1) = 3.270.15 for UO(2)HSeO(3)
      (+) formation and log beta degrees (2) = 5.510.11 for UO(2)(HSeO(3))(2) at 25
      degrees C. The results for the first constant values for each of systems are
      consistent with the published values. For UO(2)(SeO(4))(2) (2-) formation, a new
      constant stability value is given. The existence of UO(2)(HSeO(3))(2) complex
      species is demonstrated and its constant stability value is given for the first
      time.

PMID- 20922764
TI  - Assessing the impact of paediatric oncology publications using three citation
      databases.
AB  - Despite some reported limitations, Web of Science has been the standard source to
      assess the impact of individual articles, and consequently journals. By analysing
      the citations to articles published in the field of paediatric oncology, we
      demonstrate that Scopus and Google Scholar, the two new citation databases,
      retrieve more citations than Web of Science. The strength of Scopus lies in
      identifying non-English literature from Western and Eastern Europe, while Google
      Scholar is proficient at identifying English and non-English literature from
      Africa, Asia and Central and South America. These findings have implications for
      researchers, journals and health libraries.

PMID- 20922763
TI  - National Cancer Institute pediatric preclinical testing program: model
      description for in vitro cytotoxicity testing.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The National Cancer Institute (NCI) has established the Pediatric
      Preclinical Testing Program (PPTP) for testing drugs against in vitro and in vivo
      childhood cancer models to aid in the prioritization of drugs considered for
      early phase pediatric clinical trials. PROCEDURES: In vitro cytotoxicity testing
      employs a semi-automated fluorescence-based digital imaging cytotoxicity assay
      (DIMSCAN) that has a 4-log dynamic range of detection. Curve fitting of the
      fractional survival data of the cell lines in response to various concentrations
      of the agents was used to calculate relative IC(50) , absolute IC(50) , and
      Y(min) values. The panel of 23 pediatric cancer cell lines included leukemia (n =
      6), lymphoma (n = 2), rhabdomyosarcoma (n = 4), brain tumors (n = 3), Ewing
      family of tumors (EFT, n = 4), and neuroblastoma (n = 4). The doubling times
      obtained using DIMSCAN were incorporated into data analyses to estimate the
      relationship between input cell numbers and final cell number. RESULTS: We report
      in vitro activity data for three drugs (vincristine, melphalan, and etoposide)
      that are commonly used for pediatric cancer and for the mTOR inhibitor rapamycin,
      an agent that is currently under preclinical investigation for cancer. To date,
      the PPTP has completed in vitro testing of 39 investigational and approved agents
      for single drug activity and two investigational agents in combination with
      various "standard" chemotherapy drugs. CONCLUSIONS: This robust in vitro
      cytotoxicity testing system for pediatric cancers will enable comparisons to
      response data for novel agents obtained from xenograft studies and from clinical
      trials.

PMID- 20922765
TI  - Clinical complications in severe pediatric sickle cell disease and the impact of
      hydroxyurea.
AB  - BACKGROUND: More evidence of the safety and effectiveness of hydroxyurea (HU) in
      community-based cohorts of pediatric patients with sickle cell disease (SCD) are
      needed. The association of HU with organ-specific clinical complications and
      adverse events is examined herein. METHODS: Medicaid medical and pharmacy claims
      for the calendar years January 1996 through December 2006 were used to identify a
      cohort of children and adolescent patients (ages 17 and under) with a diagnosis
      of SCD (homozygous) who were treated with HU and developed disparate
      complications or adverse side effects. Of the 2,194 pediatric SCD patients
      identified, 175 (8%) were treated with HU. Incidence density matching (1 case: 2
      controls) was used to select the control group on age, gender, ethnicity, time in
      the Medicaid data set, and baseline severity resulting in a total study cohort of
      523 cases. RESULTS: Organ-specific complications were more likely in the HU
      treated group compared to non-HU-treated group: cardiovascular complications
      (odds ratio [OR] = 3.15; confidence interval [CI] = 1.97-5.03); hepatic
      complications (OR 5.41; CI = 3.54-8.27); renal complications (OR 5.09; CI 3.37
      7.67); and pulmonary complications (OR 4.07; CI 1.88-8.79). Many of these
      conditions began developing before HU was prescribed. Developing three or more
      complications was also more likely in the HU group (27.4% vs. 7.0%, P < 0.0001).
      CONCLUSIONS: Extending previous findings to routine practice settings, HU is
      being administered to the most severely ill children with SCD, many of whom had
      already started to develop organ-specific complications, but it is not associated
      with development of serious adverse events.

PMID- 20922766
TI  - Do symptoms of anxiety in the terminally ill child affect long-term psychological
      well-being in bereaved parents?

PMID- 20922767
TI  - Large-scale immunohistochemical examination for lymphoreticular prion protein in
      tonsil specimens collected in Britain.
AB  - There have been 173 cases of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) in the UK,
      as of 5 July 2010, as a result of the bovine spongiform encephalopathy epidemic.
      The number of individuals subclinically infected with vCJD, and thus the eventual
      number of cases, remains, however, uncertain. In an attempt to address this
      problem, 63,007 tonsil tissue specimens were previously tested by enzyme
      immunoassay (EIA) for the presence of disease-related prion protein (PrP(res))
      and found to be negative. To confirm the reliability of this result, all those in
      the birth cohort most at risk (1961-1985) and a few others, including controls,
      have now been tested by immunohistochemistry (IHC). Histological slides were
      prepared from 10,075 anonymized formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues and
      examined for PrP(res) with two anti-prion protein antibodies, ICMS35 and KG9. One
      specimen showed a single strongly positive follicle with both antibodies, on two
      slides from adjacent sections. As this specimen was negative when it was further
      investigated by EIA, IHC, and immunoblotting, it is unclear whether the patient
      from whom the tonsil came will go on to develop vCJD. If, however, this is the
      case, then a finding of 1 out of 9160 gives a prevalence of disease-related prion
      protein in the British population of 109 per million, with a 95% confidence
      interval (CI) of 3-608 per million, which is not statistically different (exact p
      = 0.63) from population prevalence estimates based on finding three positives out
      of 10 278 in a previous IHC study of appendix tissue. If this is not the case, a
      finding of 0 out of 9160 gives a prevalence of 0-403 per million (95% CI) for the
      1961-1985 cohort, which is also not different (exact p = 0.25) from previous
      population prevalence estimates. Therefore, the results of this work could be
      summarized as finding, by IHC, no or one vCJD-positive individual.

PMID- 20922768
TI  - High frequency of cognitive dysfunction before stroke among older people.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: We examined cognitive functions before and in acute phase of stroke
      studying frequency and profile of cognitive impairment and relationships between
      cognitive status. METHODS: Seventy-four patients with early phase after stroke
      and 49 healthy controls were included and examined using the Mini-Mental State
      Examination (MMSE) and a battery of neuropsychological tests. Cognitive status
      before stroke-onset was investigated using Cognitive Impairment Questionnaire.
      RESULTS: Cognitive impairments were present in 96% of patients after stroke onset
      using the battery of neuropsychological tests and in 39% of patients using the
      MMSE, but in only 9% of controls. Seventy-six percent exhibited reduced executive
      function and 75% reduced psychomotor tempo. Cognitive dysfunction was present in
      52% before stroke onset without any impact on the frequency of impairment in the
      various cognitive areas in early phase after stroke. CONCLUSIONS: Cognitive
      impairment is frequent before the onset of stroke among older people and may
      partially explain the very high frequency of cognitive impairment observed after
      stroke onset.

PMID- 20922769
TI  - The three latent classes of adolescent delinquency and the risk factors for
      membership in each class.
AB  - This study used latent class analysis to examine subpopulation membership based
      on self-reports of delinquent behaviors obtained from Australian youth. Three
      discrete identifiable classes were derived based on 51 indicators of physical
      violence, property damage, minor infractions, drug use, and social delinquency.
      One class of youth engaged in primarily rule breaking and norm violations
      including underage alcohol use, typical of this age period. A second class was
      more actively delinquent emphasizing drug use, trespassing, and various forms of
      disobedience. A third class of highly delinquent youth differed from their
      counterparts by endorsing drug use, thievery that involved stealing money, goods,
      and cars, property damage, gambling, precocious sexual experiences, involvement
      with pornographic materials, and fighting. Multinomial logistic regression
      predicting class membership indicated highly delinquent youth were more likely to
      be older males, use venting coping strategies, and be fun or novelty seeking
      compared with rule breakers. Findings are discussed in terms of refining current
      taxonomic arguments regarding the structure of delinquency and implications for
      prevention of early-stage antisocial behavior.

PMID- 20922771
TI  - Can epigenetics solve the case of the midwife toad?--a comment on Vargas.
AB  - In a recent article in this journal, A. O. Vargas (2009. J Exp Zool B (Mol Dev
      Evol) 312:667-678) suggests to interpret the controversial midwife toad
      experiments of the early 20th century zoologist Paul Kammerer in the context of
      epigenetic inheritance. For information on Kammerer's work he resorts to a
      popular science book (Kammerer, '24. The Inheritance of Acquired
      Characteristics). However, the study of Kammerer's original publications reveals
      that there are substantial misunderstandings in Vargas' treatment of the subject.
      While Vargas' general idea-invoking epigenetic effects as an explanation of
      Kammerer's findings-remains attractive, at least two key aspects of his model
      need to be revised. Clarification of these issues is an important prerequisite
      for any experimental design with the aim to (dis)prove Kammerer and to establish
      a (potential) epigenetic basis of his observations about the mating behavior in
      midwife toads.

PMID- 20922770
TI  - Identifying early signs of aggression: psychometric properties of the Cardiff
      infant contentiousness scale.
AB  - Our aim was to develop an age-appropriate measure of early manifestations of
      aggression. We constructed a questionnaire about normative developmental
      milestones into which a set of items measuring infants' use of physical force
      against people and expressed anger were included. These items comprise the
      Cardiff Infant Contentiousness Scale (CICS). Evidence for the reliability and
      validity of the CICS is provided from analyses of a sample of N=310 British
      infants, assessed at a mean age of 6 months as part of a larger longitudinal
      study of the development of aggression. The informants' CICS ratings demonstrated
      reasonable levels of internal consistency and interrater agreement. Informants'
      ratings were validated by observations of infants' distress in response to
      restraint in a car seat. Longitudinal analyses revealed that contentiousness was
      stable over time and that contentiousness at 6 months predicted infants' later
      use of force with peers. When used in the company of other methods, the simple
      four-item CICS scale could serve as a useful screen for early manifestations of
      aggressiveness in human infants.

PMID- 20922772
TI  - Do patients diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease benefit from a psycho-educational
      programme for family caregivers? A randomised controlled study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The Aide dans la Maladie d'Alzheimer (AIDMA) study was conducted to
      determine whether a psycho-educational programme (PEP) for primary caregivers in
      addition to standard anti-dementia drugs for patients improves caregivers'
      psychological condition and patients' activities of daily life. METHOD:
      Multicentre randomised controlled intervention trial. One hundred and sixty-seven
      dyads 'patient-caregiver' were recruited from 15 French memory clinics and
      randomised in two parallel groups. The intervention group was offered the PEP in
      12 group sessions for 3 months. The control group had usual care. Patients in
      both groups with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease (AD) were diagnosed and
      treated with pharmacotherapy. Patients' primary efficacy variable was functional
      status assessed with the Disability Assessment Scale for Dementia (DAD) scale.
      Alzheimer Disease Assessment Scale (ADAS-Cog) and Neuropsychiatric Inventory
      (NPI) were secondary criteria. Caregivers' first outcome measure was depressive
      symptoms assessed with the Montgomery and Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS)
      scale. Zarit scale, Sense of Competence Questionnaire (SCQ) and Visual Analogue
      Scales (VAS) were secondary criteria. Assessment was done at baseline, 3 months
      (M3, end of intervention) and 6 months (M6). RESULTS: Patients' stabilisation was
      observed in both groups. In caregivers, significant improvement in disease
      understanding at M3 (p = 0.007) and M6 (p = 0.0001) and in ability to cope with
      care-recipients' disease at M6 (0.02) was evidenced. CONCLUSION: The PEP had no
      additional impact on patients but carers developed more effective disease
      understanding and ability of coping. Results support the idea that the PEP
      although improving caregivers' condition is not sufficient to improve patients'
      activities in daily life which requires additional individually tailored
      interventions provided by professionals.

PMID- 20922773
TI  - Birth of the first ESS: George Price, John Maynard Smith, and the discovery of
      the lost "Antlers" paper.
AB  - The application of game theory to evolutionary problems is so commonplace today,
      that few stop to consider how it all began. John Maynard Smith and George R.
      Price's 1973 Nature article, "The Logic of Animal Conflict," is often referred to
      as the first description in the literature of the concept of an evolutionary
      stable strategy (ESS), but what was the "behind the scenes" of the writing of
      that seminal paper? This article tracks the little known story of the curious
      American polymath, George Price. As will be shown, it was an earlier paper, the
      lost "Antlers, Intraspecific Combat, and Altruism," sent by Price to Nature in
      August 1968 (Unpublished), and refereed by Maynard Smith, which instigated the
      birth of the first ESS. Recently, the "Antlers" paper has been re-discovered by
      the author, shedding new light, together with letters and journals from the
      personal papers of George Price and John Maynard Smith, on their historical
      paper.

PMID- 20922774
TI  - Same but different: ontogeny and evolution of the Musculus adductor mandibulae in
      the Tetraodontiformes.
AB  - The morphological diversity of fishes provides a rich source to address questions
      regarding the evolution of complex and novel forms. The Tetraodontiformes
      represent an order of highly derived teleosts including fishes, such as the
      pelagic ocean sunfishes, triggerfishes, and pufferfishes. This makes the order
      attractive for comparative analyses to understand the role of development in
      generating new forms during evolution. The adductor mandibulae complex, the main
      muscle associated with jaw closure, represents an ideal model system within the
      Tetraodontiformes. The adductor mandibulae differs in terms of partitions and
      their attachment sites between members of the different tetraodontiform families.
      In order to understand the evolution of the jaws among the Tetraodontiformes, we
      investigate the development of the adductor mandibulae in pufferfishes and
      triggerfishes as representatives of two different suborders (Balistoidei and
      Tetraodontoidei) that follows two different adaptations to a durophagous feeding
      mode. We show that the varied patterns of the adductor mandibulae derive from
      similar developmental sequence of subdivision of the partitions. We propose a
      conserved developmental program for partitioning of the adductor mandibulae as a
      foundation for the evolution of different patterns of subdivisions in
      Tetraodontiformes. Furthermore, we argue that derived conditions in the higher
      taxa are realized by supplementary subdivisions and altered attachment sites.
      These findings support a reinterpretation of homology of different muscle
      partitions among the Tetraodontiformes, as muscle partitions previously thought
      to be disparate, are now clearly related.

PMID- 20922776
TI  - Uterine myomas during pregnancy: a longitudinal sonographic study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate volumetric changes of uterine myomas (fibroids) during
      pregnancy. METHODS: This was an observational, longitudinal and prospective study
      of 38 consecutive Caucasian women with singleton pregnancies and a total of 42
      uterine myomas, enrolled from a cohort of 1492 women who took part in our first
      trimester Down syndrome screening program. Myoma volume was evaluated by
      ultrasound at 11-14, 20-22 and 32-34 weeks of gestation. RESULTS: Mean myoma
      volume increased significantly throughout pregnancy. Taking a volumetric change
      of > 10% between gestational periods to be an increase in size, 71.4% of uterine
      myomas increased in size between the first and second gestational periods, while
      this percentage was slightly lower (66.6%) between the second and third periods.
      Logistic regression analysis revealed that greater maternal age was correlated
      with a reduction/no change in overall myoma size and multiparity was correlated
      with a decrease/no change between the first and second trimesters, while a higher
      prepregnancy maternal body mass index (BMI) was correlated with a volumetric
      increase between the first and second trimesters and a decrease/no change between
      the second and third trimesters. CONCLUSIONS: Fibroids enlarge during pregnancy
      regardless of their initial size or local factors, and maternal age, prepregnancy
      BMI and parity are apparently correlated with these changes.

PMID- 20922775
TI  - Modularity in the mammalian dentition: mice and monkeys share a common dental
      genetic architecture.
AB  - The concept of modularity provides a useful tool for exploring the relationship
      between genotype and phenotype. Here, we use quantitative genetics to identify
      modularity within the mammalian dentition, connecting the genetics of
      organogenesis to the genetics of population-level variation for a phenotype well
      represented in the fossil record. We estimated the correlations between dental
      traits owing to the shared additive effects of genes (pleiotropy) and compared
      the pleiotropic relationships among homologous traits in two evolutionary distant
      taxa-mice and baboons. We find that in both mice and baboons, who shared a common
      ancestor >65 Ma, incisor size variation is genetically independent of molar size
      variation. Furthermore, baboon premolars show independent genetic variation from
      incisors, suggesting that a modular genetic architecture separates incisors from
      these posterior teeth as well. Such genetic independence between modules provides
      an explanation for the extensive diversity of incisor size variation seen
      throughout mammalian evolution-variation uncorrelated with equivalent levels of
      postcanine tooth size variation. The modularity identified here is supported by
      the odontogenic homeobox code proposed for the patterning of the rodent
      dentition. The baboon postcanine pattern of incomplete pleiotropy is also
      consistent with predictions from the morphogenetic field model.

PMID- 20922777
TI  - Maxilla-nasion-mandible angle: a new method to assess profile anomalies in
      pregnancy.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To collect normative data and test the feasibility and
      reproducibility of measurement of the maxilla-nasion-mandible (MNM) angle between
      16 and 36 weeks' gestation and its diagnostic ability in a group of pathological
      cases. METHODS: The MNM angle is defined as the angle between the intersection of
      the maxilla-nasion and mandible-nasion lines in the exact mid-sagittal plane.
      After assessing reproducibility, the MNM angle was measured in 3D volumes in 241
      fetuses cross-sectionally and in 11 fetuses longitudinally. The MNM angle was
      then tested in 18 pathological cases with facial malformations or syndromes with
      specific facial features. RESULTS: The MNM angle could be measured in 92.3% of
      normal fetuses. Intra- and interobserver intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC)
      variability was 0.92 and 0.81, respectively. The difference between paired
      measurements performed by one or two observers was less than 2.5 degrees  and 3.6
      degrees , respectively in 95% of the cases. The mean MNM angle was 13.5 degrees 
      and did not change significantly during pregnancy (r = - 0.08, P = 0.25). The MNM
      angle was above the 95(th) centile in all cases of retrognathia and maxillary
      alveolar ridge interruption. The MNM angle was below the 5(th) centile in Apert
      syndrome, thanatophoric dysplasia and in two of the three Down syndrome cases.
      CONCLUSIONS: The feasibility and reproducibility of measurement of the MNM angle
      is good. The MNM angle can be used to evaluate the convexity of the fetal profile
      by enabling an objective assessment of the anteroposterior relationship of the
      jaws and it may therefore be of help in the diagnosis of retrognathia, maxillary
      alveolar ridge interruption and flat profile.

PMID- 20922778
TI  - Fetal umbilical artery Doppler to predict compromise of fetal/neonatal wellbeing
      in a high-risk population: systematic review and bivariate meta-analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We investigated the accuracy of fetal umbilical artery Doppler to
      predict the risk of compromise of fetal/neonatal wellbeing in a high-risk
      population. METHODS: Searches in MEDLINE, Embase, The Cochrane Library and Medion
      (from inception to March 2009) were carried out, together with hand searching of
      relevant journals, reference list checking of included articles and contact with
      experts. Criteria for selection were observational studies with umbilical artery
      Doppler used in a high-risk pregnant population with an outcome measure for
      compromise of fetal/neonatal wellbeing. Data on study design, quality and results
      were extracted to construct 2 * 2 tables. Bivariate meta-analysis was performed.
      Likelihood ratios (LRs) were used as the summary measure of accuracy. RESULTS:
      One-hundred and four studies met the selection criteria (19 191 fetuses). In a
      high-risk population, umbilical artery Doppler predicted small-for-gestational
      age with a pooled LR+ of 3.76 (2.96, 4.76) and pooled LR- of 0.52 (0.45, 0.61),
      and compromise of fetal/neonatal wellbeing with a pooled LR+ of 3.41 (2.68, 4.34)
      and pooled LR- of 0.55 (0.48, 0.62). In this group it was also possible to
      predict, with accuracy, intrauterine death (pooled LR+ = 4.37 (0.88, 21.8);
      pooled LR- = 0.25 (0.07, 0.91)) and acidosis (pooled LR+ = 2.75 (1.48, 5.11);
      pooled LR- = 0.58 (0.36, 0.94)). CONCLUSIONS: In a high-risk population, fetal
      umbilical artery Doppler is a moderately useful test with which to predict
      mortality and risk of compromise.

PMID- 20922779
TI  - Low-resistance hepatic artery flow in first-trimester fetuses: an ominous sign.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Low-resistance hepatic artery (HA) flow has been reported in severely
      growth-restricted fetuses. The same finding has been incidentally observed in
      first-trimester fetuses with enlarged nuchal translucency (NT). The aim of this
      study was to investigate HA flow in first-trimester fetuses. METHODS: Crown-rump
      length (CRL), NT, ductus venosus (DV) pulsatility index for veins (PIV) and HA
      pulsatility index (PI) were measured prospectively in fetuses at increased risk
      on first-trimester assessment for aneuploidy and in a control group of low-risk
      fetuses. Outcome of pregnancy was known in all cases. Independent sample t-test
      was used for intergroup comparison. RESULTS: NT, DV-PIV and HA-PI were measured
      prospectively in 59 fetuses. Thirty-four had an enlarged NT and underwent
      karyotyping, which was abnormal in 16 cases (trisomy 21, n = 12; trisomy 18, n =
      3; 47,XXY, n = 1). Two pregnancies were terminated in view of fetal anomalies. In
      three other infants an abnormality was confirmed after birth (Noonan syndrome,
      unspecified genetic syndrome and cardiac defect). The remaining 13 fetuses with
      enlarged NT and the 25 with normal NT had an uneventful pregnancy outcome. HA-PI
      was significantly and inversely correlated with NT and DV-PIV. Mean HA-PI was
      significantly lower in fetuses with adverse outcome (chromosomal anomalies 1.60;
      chromosomally normal fetuses with adverse outcome 1.66) than in controls (2.03).
      CONCLUSIONS: Low-resistance HA flow can be observed in first-trimester fetuses
      and, based on its association with adverse outcome, it can be regarded as an
      ominous sign.

PMID- 20922780
TI  - Learning curve for Doppler measurement of fetal modified myocardial performance
      index.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the learning curve for measurement of the fetal modified
      myocardial performance index (MPI). METHODS: Three trainees with the theoretical
      knowledge of but without prior experience in performing MPI measurement were
      selected. Each trainee and one experienced examiner measured MPI in a cohort of
      90 consecutive fetuses. The average difference between the three trainees and the
      expert in the MPI measurements was calculated; a difference below 10% was
      considered to indicate an accurate measurement. Individual and averaged learning
      curves were delineated using cumulative sum analysis (CUSUM). RESULTS: The
      gestational age at evaluation ranged from 20 + 4 to 41 + 4 (mean, 33 + 3) weeks.
      The CUSUM plots demonstrated that, on average, competence in performing fetal MPI
      measurement was achieved by 65 cases. The average number of attempts to achieve
      competence were 42, 77 and 83 for the ejection time, isovolumetric contraction
      time and isovolumetric relaxation time, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Evaluation of
      fetal MPI by an inexperienced trainee requires on average 65 measurements to
      achieve competence.

PMID- 20922781
TI  - Persistent right umbilical vein: a prenatal condition worth mentioning?
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate the incidence and clinical impact of prenatally
      diagnosed persistent right umbilical vein (PRUV) in a referral population and to
      evaluate the findings together with those from previous publications. METHODS:
      This was a retrospective analysis of 39 cases with PRUV diagnosed in three
      tertiary referral centers for prenatal medicine between 1996 and 2009. Fetuses
      with situs inversus, situs ambiguous and heterotaxy (left and right isomerism)
      were excluded. During the study period 46 653 consecutive high- and low-risk
      pregnancies were examined. The prenatal sonograms and neonatal outcome data of
      affected individuals were reviewed. Our findings were analyzed together with
      findings retrieved from the scientific literature. RESULTS: Twenty-nine fetuses
      had an isolated PRUV as a single anomaly, whereas 10/39 (25.6%) were found to
      have PRUV accompanied by additional minor and major abnormalities. These
      anomalies comprised mainly cardiovascular, genitourinary and gastrointestinal
      malformations. In common with our series, previously published cases of isolated
      PRUV (n = 197) displayed an uneventful course of pregnancy and a favorable
      postnatal outcome. Sixty-six previously reported cases of PRUV with additional
      anomalies were identified in the literature. Intrahepatic umbilical drainage is
      the most frequent type of PRUV. Including our cases, there were 16 cases (5.3%)
      with extrahepatic drainage of PRUV, all of which had additional anomalies.
      CONCLUSIONS: Consistent with previous reports, in the majority of cases (74.8%)
      PRUV is an isolated finding. While these cases carry an excellent prognosis, PRUV
      can be associated with severe congenital anomalies, so this finding should prompt
      detailed prenatal assessment of the fetus.

PMID- 20922782
TI  - Review of open and minimal access approaches to oesophagectomy for cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Minimally invasive approaches to oesophagectomy are being used
      increasingly, but there remain concerns regarding safety and oncological
      acceptability. This study reviewed the outcomes of totally minimally invasive
      oesophagectomy (MIO; 41 patients), hybrid procedures (partially minimally
      invasive; 34) and open oesophagectomy (46) for oesophageal cancer from a single
      unit. METHODS: Demographic and clinical data were entered into a prospective
      database. MIO was thoracoscopic-laparoscopic-cervical anastomosis, hybrid surgery
      was thoracoscopic-laparotomy or laparoscopic gastric mobilization-thoracotomy,
      and open resections were left thoracoabdominal (LTA), Ivor Lewis (IL) or
      transhiatal oesophagectomy (THO). RESULTS: There were 118 resections for
      carcinoma (23 squamous cell carcinoma, 95 adenocarcinoma) and three for high
      grade dysplasia. MIO took longer than open surgery (median 6.5 h versus 4.8 h for
      THO, 4.7 h for IL and LTA). MIO required less epidural time (P < 0.001 versus IL
      and LTA, P = 0.009 versus thorascopic hybrid, P = 0.014 versus laparoscopic IL).
      Despite a shorter duration of single-lung ventilation with MIO compared with IL
      and LTA (median 90 versus 150 min; P = 0.013), respiratory complication rates and
      duration of hospital stay were similar. There were seven anastomotic leaks after
      MIO, four after hybrid procedures and one following open surgery. Mortality rates
      were 2, 6 and 2 per cent respectively. Lymph node harvests were similar between
      all groups, as were rates of complete (R0) resection in patients with locally
      advanced tumours. CONCLUSION: MIO is technically feasible. It does not reduce
      pulmonary complications or length of stay. Oncological outcomes appear
      equivalent.

PMID- 20922783
TI  - Cost-effectiveness of traditional and endovenous treatments for varicose veins.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of
      traditional and endovenous treatments for patients with primary great saphenous
      varicose veins. METHODS: A Markov model was constructed to compare costs and
      quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) for great saphenous vein (GSV) reflux. Eight
      popular treatment strategies were compared up to 5 years. Estimates for the
      effectiveness of treatments were obtained from published randomized studies and
      cost values were obtained from published National Health Service (NHS) healthcare
      resource group tariffs and device manufacturers. Parameter uncertainty was tested
      using sensitivity analysis and Monte Carlo simulation. RESULTS: Ultrasound-guided
      foam sclerotherapy (UGFS) had the lowest initial cost, but a higher requirement
      for further interventions. Day-case surgery (with concomitant treatment of
      varicosities), endovenous laser ablation (EVLA) and radiofrequency ablation (RFA)
      performed in an outpatient or office setting (with staged treatment of
      varicosities) were likely to be cost-effective treatment strategies. The
      incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) for UGFS (versus conservative care),
      EVLA (versus UGFS) and RFA (versus EVLA) were L1366, L5799 and L17 350 per QALY
      respectively. The ICER for traditional surgery (performed on a day-case basis)
      was L19 012 compared with RFA. Other strategies were not cost-effective using the
      NHS threshold of L20 000 per QALY. CONCLUSION: Day-case surgery or endovenous
      ablation using EVLA or RFA performed as an outpatient are likely to be cost
      effective treatment strategies for patients with primary unilateral GSV reflux
      requiring treatment.

PMID- 20922784
TI  - Phase 1 dose-escalation trial of tremelimumab plus sunitinib in patients with
      metastatic renal cell carcinoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: On the basis of potential additive or synergistic immunostimulatory
      antitumor effects, in this phase 1 study, the authors evaluated the combination
      of sunitinib and tremelimumab (CP-675206; an antibody against cytotoxic T
      lymphocyte-associated antigen 4 [CTLA4]) in patients with metastatic renal cell
      carcinoma (mRCC) was evaluated. METHODS: Adult patients with mRCC who had
      received <= 1 previous systemic treatment received tremelimumab (6 mg/kg, 10
      mg/kg, or 15 mg/kg) intravenously once every 12 weeks and oral sunitinib (50 mg
      daily for 4 weeks then 2 weeks off or 37.5 mg daily as a continuous dose). The
      primary objective was to determine the maximum tolerated dose (MTD). Secondary
      objectives were to assess antitumor activity, safety, and pharmacokinetics.
      RESULTS: Twenty-eight patients were enrolled. Two of 5 patients who received 50
      mg sunitinib plus tremelimumab 6 mg/kg experienced dose-limiting toxicities
      (DLTs), and no further enrollment to the combination with sunitinib 50 mg dosing
      was pursued. Among patients who received continuous sunitinib 37.5 mg daily, 1 of
      7 patients who received tremelimumab 10 mg/kg plus sunitinib suffered a sudden
      death, and 3 of 6 patients who received tremelimumab 15 mg/kg plus sunitinib
      experienced DLTs. An expansion cohort (n = 7) was enrolled at tremelimumab 10
      mg/kg plus sunitinib 37.5 mg daily; 3 of those patients experienced DLTs.
      Overall, rapid-onset renal failure was the most common DLT. Nine of 21 patients
      who were evaluable for response achieved partial responses (43%; 95% confidence
      interval, 22%-66%), and 4 of those responses were ongoing at the time of the
      current report. CONCLUSIONS: In this study of tremelimumab plus sunitinib, rapid
      onset acute renal failure was observed unexpectedly, and further investigation of
      tremelimumab doses > 6 mg/kg plus sunitinib 37.5 mg daily is not recommended.
      Preclinical investigation may be warranted to understand the mechanism of renal
      toxicity.

PMID- 20922785
TI  - A phase 2 study of pemetrexed plus gemcitabine every 2 weeks for patients with
      recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Preclinical studies suggest that additive or synergistic effects are
      achieved with the combination of pemetrexed plus gemcitabine. A phase 1 study of
      pemetrexed plus gemcitabine given every 2 weeks demonstrated encouraging
      preliminary efficacy against head and neck squamous cell cancer (HNSCC). METHODS:
      This was an open-label, single-institution, single-arm, phase 2 study for
      patients who had received no more than 2 cytotoxic regimens for recurrent and/or
      metastatic HNSCC. All patients received pemetrexed 500 mg/m2 intravenously plus
      gemcitabine 1250 mg/m2 intravenously every 2 weeks with vitamin B12 and folate
      support. The primary endpoint was the objective response rate according to
      Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST); secondary endpoints were
      to estimate overall survival and to evaluate safety and tolerability. RESULTS:
      Twenty-five patients received therapy. All patients had received prior
      radiotherapy, and half had received prior cytotoxic chemotherapy for recurrent
      and/or metastatic disease. Neutropenia (grade >= 3) occurred in 24% of patients.
      Four patients (16%) had a partial response (PR) according to RECIST, and 5
      additional patients (20%) had objective tumor reductions of > 20 but < 30% did
      not meet RECIST criteria for a PR. The median overall survival for all treated
      patients was 8.8 months. CONCLUSIONS: Treatment with pemetrexed plus gemcitabine
      every 2 weeks with vitamin support generally was well tolerated. The results of
      this study provided further evidence that pemetrexed may have significant
      palliative activity against advanced HNSCC.

PMID- 20922786
TI  - Intolerance to tyrosine kinase inhibitors in chronic myeloid leukemia:
      Definitions and clinical implications.
AB  - Tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) treatment targeting breakpoint cluster region
      Abelson murine leukemia virus, the cause of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), has
      revolutionized therapy for patients with this disease. The majority of patients
      with CML maintain favorable responses with long-term imatinib therapy; however,
      the availability of the second-generation TKIs nilotinib and dasatinib limits the
      need for patients intolerant to imatinib to continue with therapy. Unfortunately,
      there is currently no standard definition of intolerance to imatinib. Common
      Toxicity Criteria for grading adverse events, designed to identify acute
      toxicities, are often used to determine intolerance. However, because CML
      therapies are long-term, patient quality of life may provide a better measure of
      true intolerance. Several general methods of quantifying patient quality of life
      are in use for patients with CML, and a CML-specific variant of the M. D.
      Anderson Symptom Inventory is in development. An appropriate and consistent
      definition of intolerance will provide clinicians with an algorithm for managing
      their patients with severe or chronic adverse events during treatment with
      imatinib. As more long-term data become available for newer TKIs, the definition
      of intolerance in the context of CML treatment will continue to evolve to
      maximize the likelihood of durable responses and superior quality of life for
      patients.

PMID- 20922787
TI  - Twenty years of follow-up of survivors of childhood osteosarcoma: a report from
      the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Osteosarcoma survivors have received significant chemotherapy and
      have undergone substantial surgeries. Their very long-term outcomes (20 year) are
      reported here. METHODS: The authors assessed the long-term outcomes of 733 5-year
      survivors of childhood osteosarcoma diagnosed from 1970 to 1986 to provide a
      comprehensive evaluation of medical and psychosocial outcomes for survivors
      enrolled in the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study (CCSS). Outcomes evaluated
      included overall survival, second malignant neoplasms (SMNs), recurrent
      osteosarcoma, chronic health conditions, health status (general and mental health
      and functional limitations), and psychosocial factors. Outcomes of osteosarcoma
      survivors were compared with general-population statistics, other CCSS survivors,
      and CCSS siblings. RESULTS: Survivors had a mean follow-up of 21.6 years. The
      overall survival of children diagnosed with osteosarcoma who survived 5 years at
      20 years from original diagnosis was 88.6% (95% confidence interval [CI], 86.6%
      90.5%). The cumulative incidence of SMNs at 25 years was 5.4%, with a
      standardized incidence ratio of 4.79 (95% CI, 3.54-6.33; P<.01). Overall, 86.9%
      of osteosarcoma survivors experienced at least 1 chronic medical condition, and
      >50% experienced >=2 conditions. Compared with survivors of other cancers,
      osteosarcoma survivors did not differ in their reported general health status
      (odds ratio [OR], 0.9; 95% CI, 0.7-1.2), but were more likely to report an
      adverse health status in at least 1 domain (OR, 1.9; 95% CI, 1.6-2.2), with
      activity limitations (29.1%) being the most common. CONCLUSIONS: Childhood
      osteosarcoma survivors in this cohort did relatively well, considering their
      extensive treatment, but are at risk of experiencing chronic medical conditions
      and adverse health status. Survivors warrant life-long follow-up.

PMID- 20922788
TI  - Primary cardiac lymphoma: an analysis of presentation, treatment, and outcome
      patterns.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Primary cardiac lymphoma (PCL) represents a rare subset of non
      Hodgkin lymphoma, characterized by poor outcomes. The authors aimed to construct
      a framework of known clinical presentations, diagnostic features, disease
      complications, treatment, and outcomes to improve prognostication. METHODS:
      Individual patient data were obtained from defined cases of PCL (1949-2009) and
      systematically analyzed. RESULTS: The authors report results of a review of 197
      cases of PCL, with half of all cases reported since 1995. Survival was affected
      by 4 factors: immune status, left ventricular involvement, presence of extra
      cardiac disease, and arrhythmia. Median overall survival (OS) for
      immunocompromised and immunocompetent was 3.5 months (m) and not reached,
      respectively (HR 0.29, 95% CI, 0.13-0.68; P = .004). LV involvement was uncommon
      (26%) and associated with an OS of only 1 m, whereas patients free of LV
      involvement had a median OS of 22 m (HR 0.28, 95% CI, 0.12-0.64; P = .002).
      Patients with extracardiac disease had shorter median OS compared with those
      without (6 m vs 22 m, HR 0.49, 95% CI, 0.26-0.91; P = .02). Those patients with
      an arrhythmia of any type had a median OS that was not reached (n = 55), whereas
      those without rhythm disturbances (n = 41) had median OS of 6 m (HR 0.51, 95% CI,
      0.29-0.91; P = .024). Overall response rate to therapy was 84%, with long-term OS
      over 40%. CONCLUSIONS: The current study presents the largest analysis of PCL to
      date. The data demonstrate that PCL is now more frequently diagnosed premortem
      and appears to have reasonable response rates. Lack of LV involvement and the
      presence of arrhythmias are associated with improved survival.

PMID- 20922790
TI  - Intra-arterial chemotherapy for head and neck cancer: is there a verdict?

PMID- 20922793
TI  - Impact of postoperative prostate-specific antigen disease recurrence and the use
      of salvage therapy on the risk of death.

PMID- 20922792
TI  - Genetic inactivation of ERK1 and ERK2 in chondrocytes promotes bone growth and
      enlarges the spinal canal.
AB  - Activating mutations in FGFR3 cause the most common forms of human dwarfism:
      achondroplasia and thanatophoric dysplasia. In mouse models of achondroplasia,
      recent studies have implicated the ERK MAPK pathway, a pathway activated by
      FGFR3, in creating reduced bone growth. Our recent studies have indicated that
      increased Fgfr3 and ERK MAPK signaling in chondrocytes also causes premature
      synchondrosis closure in the cranial base and vertebrae, accounting for the
      sometimes fatal stenosis of the foramen magnum and spinal canal in
      achondroplasia. Conversely, whether the decrease--or inactivation--of ERK1 and
      ERK2 promotes bone growth and delays synchondrosis closure remains to be
      investigated. In this study, we inactivated ERK2 in the chondrocytes of ERK1-null
      mice using the Col2a1-Cre and Col2a1-CreER transgenes. We found that the genetic
      inactivation of ERK1 and ERK2 in chondrocytes enhances the growth of
      cartilaginous skeletal elements. We also found that the postnatal inactivation of
      ERK1 and ERK2 in chondrocytes delays synchondrosis closure and enlarges the
      spinal canal. These observations make ERK1 and ERK2 an attractive target for the
      treatment of achondroplasia and other FGFR3-related skeletal syndromes.

PMID- 20922795
TI  - Experimental therapeutics for patients with myeloproliferative neoplasias.
AB  - Philadelphia chromosome (Ph)-negative myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs) are
      characterized by stem cell-derived, unrestrained clonal myeloproliferation. The
      World Health Organization classification system, proposed in 2008, identifies 7
      distinct categories of Ph-negative MPNs including essential thrombocythemia (ET);
      polycythemia vera (PV); primary myelofibrosis (PMF); mastocytosis; chronic
      eosinophilic leukemia; chronic neutrophilic leukemia; and MPN, unclassifiable.
      For many years, the treatment of ET, PV, and PMF, the most frequently diagnosed
      Ph-negative MPNs, has been largely supportive. In recent years, that paradigm has
      been challenged because of the discovery of a recurrent point mutation in the
      Janus kinase 2 (JAK2) gene (JAK2(V617F)). This mutation can be detected in the
      vast majority of patients with PV and approximately half of patients with ET or
      PMF and serves as both a diagnostic marker as well as representing a putative
      molecular target for drug development. Several putative targeted agents with
      significant in vitro JAK2 inhibitory activity and various degrees of JAK2
      specificity are currently undergoing clinical evaluation. Furthermore, other
      investigational non-tyrosine kinase inhibitor approaches such as immunomodulatory
      agents and pegylated interferon- have also shown promising results in MPNs.

PMID- 20922797
TI  - Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) impairs the craniofacial bone repair associated with
      its elevated TGF-beta levels and modulates the co-expression between collagen III
      and alpha-smooth muscle actin.
AB  - Transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) is considered the main inducer of both
      the alpha-smooth muscle actin (alpha-SMA) phenotype and collagen synthesis and
      deposition and plays a significant role in the tissue repair and the development
      of fibrosis. Since the PRP constitutes an important source of TGF-beta and its
      efficacy on the craniofacial bone repair remains controversy, the aim of this
      study was to evaluate the effect of PRP in the presence of levels of TGF-beta on
      PRP samples, as well as in the presence of collagen III and alpha-SMA+ cells,
      while comparing these results by means of a histomorphometric analysis of the
      bone matrix and fibrous deposition on the bone repair. Four bone defects of 16
      mm(2) were created on the calvarium of 21 rabbits. The surgical defects were
      treated with either particulate autograft, particulate autograft mixed with PRP
      and PRP alone. Animals were euthanized at 15, 30, and 45 days postoperative.
      Histomorphometric and immunohistochemical analyses were performed to assess
      repair time, as well as the expression of collagen III, and alpha-SMA. The
      histomorphometric results demonstrated intensive deposition of fibrous tissue
      while hinder bone deposition occurred in PRP groups. These results coincided with
      higher values of the TGF-beta on the PRP sample, also larger occurrence of
      diffuse collagen III deposition and higher presence of alpha-SMA+ cells spread
      among the fibrous tissue. Thus, the higher levels of TGF-beta associated with the
      both expression of collagen III and alpha-SMA on defect treated with PRP suggest
      that its biomaterial induce an effect that can be considered similarly to a
      fibroproliferative disorder.

PMID- 20922798
TI  - Bladder cancer and BCG response prediction: what we must know?

PMID- 20922799
TI  - Association of multi-drug resistance gene polymorphisms with pancreatic cancer
      outcome.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to identify single nucleotide
      polymorphisms (SNPs) of multidrug resistance genes that are associated with
      clinical outcome in patients with potentially resectable pancreatic
      adenocarcinoma who were treated with preoperative gemcitabine-based
      chemoradiotherapy at M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. METHODS: We selected 8 SNPs of
      7 drug resistance genes, including MDR1 (ABCB1), MRP1-5 (ABCC1-5), and BCRP
      (ABCG2), reported to be important in mediating drug resistance. Genotype was
      determined by the Taqman method. The associations of genotype with tumor response
      to therapy and overall survival (OS) were evaluated using log-rank test, Cox
      regression, and logistic regression models. RESULTS: MRP5 A-2G AA genotype showed
      significant association with OS (log-rank P = .010). The hazard ratio (95%
      confidence interval) was 1.65 (1.11-2.45) after adjusting for clinical
      predictors. The MRP2 G40A GG genotype had a weak association with reduced OS (log
      rank P = .097). A combined effect of the two genotypes on OS was observed.
      Patients with none of the adverse genotypes had a median survival time (MST) of
      34.0 months, and those with 1-2 deleterious alleles had a significantly lower MST
      of 20.7 months (log-rank P = .006). MRP2 G40A GG genotype was also significantly
      associated with poor histological response to chemoradiotherapy (P = .028).
      CONCLUSIONS: These observations suggest a potential role of polymorphic variants
      of drug resistance genes in predicting therapeutic efficacy and survival of
      patients with potentially resectable pancreatic cancer.

PMID- 20922800
TI  - Biomarker-based phase I dose-escalation, pharmacokinetic, and pharmacodynamic
      study of oral apricoxib in combination with erlotinib in advanced nonsmall cell
      lung cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Apricoxib, a novel once-daily selective cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitor,
      was investigated in combination with erlotinib for recurrent stage IIIB/IV
      nonsmall cell lung cancer to determine the maximum tolerated dose, dose-limiting
      toxicity, and recommended phase II dose (RP2D) based on changes in urinary
      prostaglandin E2 metabolite (PGE-M). METHODS: Patients received escalating doses
      of apricoxib (100, 200, and 400 mg/day) in combination with erlotinib 150 mg/day
      until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Urinary PGE-M was used to
      assess biologic activity and inform the optimal biologic dose. RESULTS: Twenty
      patients were treated (3 at 100 mg; 3 at 200 mg; 14 at 400 mg apricoxib) with a
      median of 4 cycles (range, 2-14 cycles); 8 patients (40%) received prior EGFR
      directed therapies. No dose-limiting toxicity was observed. Study drug-related
      adverse events (AEs) included diarrhea, rash, dry skin, anemia, fatigue, and
      increased serum creatinine; 4 patients had grade >= 3 drug-related AEs (diarrhea,
      perforated duodenal ulcer, hypophosphatemia, and deep vein thrombosis). The RP2D
      was 400 mg/day based on safety, biologic activity based on decreases in urinary
      PGE-M, and pharmacokinetics. One patient had a partial response, and 11 had
      stable disease. Stable disease was observed in patients who had received prior
      EGFR inhibitor therapy but was greater in patients not previously treated with an
      EGFR inhibitor. Seventeen patients had elevated urinary PGE-M at baseline, and 14
      (70%) had a decrease from baseline, which was associated with disease control.
      CONCLUSIONS: Apricoxib plus erlotinib was well tolerated and yielded a 60%
      disease control rate. A phase II trial is currently investigating 400 mg/day
      apricoxib plus 150 mg/day erlotinib in patients selected based on change in
      urinary PGE-M.

PMID- 20922801
TI  - Prognostic model for survival in patients with early stage cervical cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In the management of early stage cervical cancer, knowledge about the
      prognosis is critical. Although many factors have an impact on survival, their
      relative importance remains controversial. This study aims to develop a
      prognostic model for survival in early stage cervical cancer patients and to
      reconsider grounds for adjuvant treatment. METHODS: A multivariate Cox regression
      model was used to identify the prognostic weight of clinical and histological
      factors for disease-specific survival (DSS) in 710 consecutive patients who had
      surgery for early stage cervical cancer (FIGO [International Federation of
      Gynecology and Obstetrics] stage IA2-IIA). Prognostic scores were derived by
      converting the regression coefficients for each prognostic marker and used in a
      score chart. The discriminative capacity was expressed as the area under the
      curve (AUC) of the receiver operating characteristic. RESULTS: The 5-year DSS was
      92%. Tumor diameter, histological type, lymph node metastasis, depth of stromal
      invasion, lymph vascular space invasion, and parametrial extension were
      independently associated with DSS and were included in a Cox regression model.
      This prognostic model, corrected for the 9% overfit shown by internal validation,
      showed a fair discriminative capacity (AUC, 0.73). The derived score chart
      predicting 5-year DSS showed a good discriminative capacity (AUC, 0.85).
      CONCLUSIONS: In patients with early stage cervical cancer, DSS can be predicted
      with a statistical model. Models, such as that presented here, should be used in
      clinical trials on the effects of adjuvant treatments in high-risk early cervical
      cancer patients, both to stratify and to include patients.

PMID- 20922802
TI  - Structural and reliability analysis of a patient satisfaction with cancer-related
      care measure: a multisite patient navigation research program study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Patient satisfaction is an important outcome measure of quality of
      cancer care and 1 of the 4 core study outcomes of the National Cancer Institute
      (NCI)-sponsored Patient Navigation Research Program to reduce race/ethnicity
      based disparities in cancer care. There is no existing patient satisfaction
      measure that spans the spectrum of cancer-related care. The objective of this
      study was to develop a Patient Satisfaction With Cancer Care measure that is
      relevant to patients receiving diagnostic/therapeutic cancer-related care.
      METHODS: The authors developed a conceptual framework, an operational definition
      of Patient Satisfaction With Cancer Care, and an item pool based on literature
      review, expert feedback, group discussion, and consensus. The 35-item Patient
      Satisfaction With Cancer Care measure was administered to 891 participants from
      the multisite NCI-sponsored Patient Navigation Research Program. Principal
      components analysis (PCA) was conducted for latent structure analysis. Internal
      consistency was assessed using Cronbach coefficient alpha (alpha). Divergent
      analysis was performed using correlation analyses between the Patient
      Satisfaction With Cancer Care, the Communication and Attitudinal Self-Efficacy
      Cancer, and demographic variables. RESULTS: The PCA revealed a 1-dimensional
      measure with items forming a coherent set explaining 62% of the variance in
      patient satisfaction. Reliability assessment revealed high internal consistency
      (alpha ranging from 0.95 to 0.96). The Patient Satisfaction With Cancer Care
      demonstrated good face validity, convergent validity, and divergent validity, as
      indicated by moderate correlations with subscales of the Communication and
      Attitudinal Self-Efficacy-Cancer (all P < .01) and nonsignificant correlations
      with age, primary language, marital status, and scores on the Rapid Estimate of
      Adult Literacy in Medicine Long Form (all P > .05). CONCLUSIONS: The Patient
      Satisfaction With Cancer Care is a valid tool for assessing satisfaction with
      cancer-related care for this sample.

PMID- 20922803
TI  - Gemcitabine and docetaxel in metastatic, castrate-resistant prostate cancer:
      results from a phase 2 trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Docetaxel is the standard of care for patients with metastatic,
      castrate-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). Gemcitabine is a nucleoside analogue
      with broad antitumor activity. In a phase 2 study of combined docetaxel and
      gemcitabine, the authors assessed its safety and activity in patients with
      chemotherapy-naive, metastatic CRPC. METHODS: Eligible patients had untreated,
      metastatic CRPC with radiologic and/or biochemical evidence of progression after
      antiandrogen withdrawal with castrate testosterone levels, an Eastern Cooperative
      Oncology performance status (ECOG PS) of 0 to 2, and adequate organ function; no
      previous chemotherapy was permitted. Patients received gemcitabine (800 mg/m2)
      Days 1 and 8 and docetaxel (75 mg/m2) on Day 8 every 21 days for a maximum of 6
      cycles. Response was evaluated using Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors
      (RECIST) for measurable disease. A prostate-specific antigen (PSA) response was
      defined as a decline >= 50% in baseline PSA level. RESULTS: Thirty-five patients
      with chemotherapy-naive, metastatic CRPC were enrolled. The median age was 67
      years, and 60% of patients had an ECOG PS of 0. PSA responses were observed in
      49% of patients. Among the patients who had measurable disease (n = 25), 3
      patients (12%) had a confirmed, RECIST-defined partial response (PR); 4 patients
      (16%) had an unconfirmed PR; and 15 patients (60%) achieved stable disease. The
      most common adverse events included grade 1 and 2 fatigue (69%), alopecia (80%),
      and nausea/vomiting (54%). No treatment-related deaths were noted, but an
      unusually high incidence of grade 3 and 4 neutropenia was observed. CONCLUSIONS:
      The efficacy of combined gemcitabine and docetaxel in metastatic CRPC was similar
      to that observed with single-agent docetaxel. In contrast to single-agent
      docetaxel, the combination was moderately toxic and had an impact primarily on
      bone marrow reserve.

PMID- 20922804
TI  - Ovarian cancer care for the underserved: are surgical patterns of care different
      in a public hospital setting?
AB  - BACKGROUND: The New York City (NYC) public hospital system includes subspecialty
      care for gynecologic cancers, providing care to patients regardless of insurance
      status. The authors sought to determine the surgical patterns of care for ovarian
      cancer patients in the NYC public hospital system. METHODS: Ovarian cancer cases
      were identified in the New York State Department of Health Statewide Planning and
      Research Cooperative System database for years 2001 to 2006. Cases from NYC
      hospitals were separated into 2 cohorts: public and other NYC hospitals. Surgeons
      associated with each case were identified using the database and were stratified
      by volume of cases and presence of subspecialty training. RESULTS: A total of
      12,202 admissions for ovarian cancer were identified. Of these, 3639 involved
      major surgery, and 187 were performed at public hospitals. There were more
      African American and Asian patients in the public cohort (P < .001). The primary
      insurer was more likely to be Medicaid or a self-payer in the public cohort (P <
      0.001). Urgent or emergent admissions comprised 55% of all admissions in public
      hospitals, compared with 29% of admissions in other NYC hospitals (P < .001).
      Patients in public hospitals were less likely to have their surgery performed by
      a gynecologic oncologist (57% vs 74%, P < .001) and less likely to have their
      surgery performed by a high-volume surgeon (21% vs 47%; P < .001) compared with
      patients in other NYC hospitals. CONCLUSIONS: Ovarian cancer patients treated in
      public hospitals are less likely to have gynecologic oncologists and high-volume
      surgeons involved in their care. This is a preliminary finding that warrants
      further investigation.

PMID- 20922805
TI  - Bulk metallic glass: the smaller the better.
AB  - Bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) are strong, highly elastic, and resistant to wear
      but still find limited utility due to their macroscopic brittle nature, high
      costs, and difficulty of processing, particularly when complex shapes are
      desired. These drawbacks can be mitigated when BMGs are used in miniature parts
      (< 1 cm), an application which takes advantage of BMGs' enhanced plasticity at
      small length scales as well the insignificant material cost associated with such
      parts. As an alternative to traditional metal processing techniques,
      thermoplastic forming (TPF)-based microfabrication methods have been developed
      which can process some BMGs like plastics. In this article, we discuss the
      properties and fabrication of BMGs on minuscule length scales to explore their
      prospective application in small-scale devices.

PMID- 20922807
TI  - What are the most important nonmotor symptoms in patients with Parkinson's
      disease and are we missing them?
AB  - Nonmotor symptoms (NMS) are increasingly recognized as important and neglected
      aspects of Parkinson's disease (PD). We evaluated their relative frequency and
      comparative impact on health-related quality of life (Hr-QoL) using validated
      questionnaires. In addition, we assessed the rate of reporting of NMS in
      neurology clinics compared with their subjective impact on patients. We used a
      range of validated clinimetric scales of motor and nonmotor symptoms and Hr-QoL
      to assess consecutive patients with PD. Reporting of NMS was assessed by
      comparison with case note documentation. A mean of 11 of 30 NMS per patient were
      elicited on the NMS questionnaire of which on average 4.8 were reported in the
      clinical notes (44%). The most common NMS were autonomic (particularly urinary).
      The Hr-QoL scores correlated most strongly with autonomic dysfunction (r = 0.84;
      particularly urinary and gastrointestinal symptoms), mood (r = 0.74), fatigue (r
      = 0.74), sleep problems (nocturnal r = 0.55; daytime somnolence r = 0.65), pain
      (r = 0.56), and psychosis (r = 0.55, all p < 0.0001) followed by UPDRS motor
      score (r = 0.48, p < 0.0001). Greater motor fluctuations (r = 0.57) and
      dyskinesia (r = 0.43, both p < 0.0001) were also associated with worse Hr-QoL. In
      multivariate analysis, depression had the strongest association with Hr-QoL
      (adjusted R(2) = 0.53, p = 0.005) followed by fatigue, thermoregulatory,
      gastrointestinal, and cardiovascular autonomic function (especially orthostatic
      hypotension), daytime somnolence, and urinary problems. This study demonstrates
      that a autonomic dysfunction, psychiatric complications, pain, fatigue, and sleep
      problems are major correlates of poor Hr-QoL. However, whilst psychiatric
      problems are increasingly documented, many symptoms (particularly those possibly
      perceived as embarrassing or unrelated) remain under-reported.

PMID- 20922806
TI  - Overexpression of receptor tyrosine kinase Axl promotes tumor cell invasion and
      survival in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The receptor tyrosine kinase Axl has been reported to be
      overexpressed in a variety of human cancers. Although previous studies have
      identified the role of Axl in the transformation, proliferation, survival, and
      invasion in cancers, the expression and functions of Axl in pancreatic cancer
      have not been studied in detail. METHODS: The expression of Axl protein in 12
      pancreatic cancer cell lines and 54 patient samples of stage II pancreatic ductal
      adenocarcinoma (PDA) and their paired non-neoplastic pancreatic tissue samples
      were examined. Using univariate and multivariate analysis, Axl expression was
      correlated with survival and other clinicopathologic features. To examine Axl
      functions in PDA, the effects of Axl knockdown on the invasion ability and
      radiation-induced apoptosis in PDA cell lines were measured. RESULTS: Axl was
      overexpressed in 38 of 54 (70%) stage II PDA samples and 9 of 12 (75%) PDA cell
      lines. Axl overexpression was associated with higher frequencies of distant
      metastasis and poor overall and recurrence-free survivals (P = .03 and P = .04,
      respectively) independent of tumor size and stage or lymph node status in
      patients with stage II PDA. Knockdown of Axl expression in PDA cells abolished
      Gas6-mediated Akt activation, decreased invasion, and increased radiation-induced
      PARP cleavage and the percentage of apoptosis. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed
      that Gas6 and Axl are frequently overexpressed in PDA cells and are associated
      with a poor prognosis in patients with stage II PDA. Axl promotes the invasion
      and survival of PDA cells. Therefore, targeting the Axl signaling pathway may
      represent a new approach to the treatment of PDA.

PMID- 20922809
TI  - Regional cortical grey matter loss in Parkinson's disease without dementia is
      independent from visual hallucinations.
AB  - In our previous functional magnetic resonance imaging study, Parkinson's disease
      (PD) patients with visual hallucinations (VH) showed reduced activations in
      ventral/lateral visual association cortices preceding image recognition, compared
      with both PD patients without VH and healthy controls. The primary aim of the
      current study was to investigate whether functional deficits are associated with
      grey matter volume changes. In addition, possible grey matter differences between
      all PD patients and healthy controls were assessed. By using 3-Tesla magnetic
      resonance imaging (MRI) and voxel-based morphometry (VBM), we found no
      differences between PD patients with (n = 11) and without VH (n = 13). However,
      grey matter decreases of the bilateral prefrontal and parietal cortex, left
      anterior superior temporal, and left middle occipital gyrus were found in the
      total group of PD patients, compared with controls (n = 14). This indicates that
      previously demonstrated functional deficits in PD patients with VH are not
      associated with grey matter loss. The strong left parietal reduction in both
      nondemented patient groups was hemisphere specific and independent of the side of
      PD symptoms.

PMID- 20922808
TI  - Amyloid imaging of Lewy body-associated disorders.
AB  - Clinicopathologic studies of Parkinson disease dementia (PDD) and dementia with
      Lewy bodies (DLB) commonly reveal abnormal beta-amyloid deposition in addition to
      diffuse Lewy bodies (alpha-synuclein aggregates), but the relationship among
      these neuropathologic features and the development of dementia in these disorders
      remains uncertain. The purpose of this study was to determine whether amyloid
      beta deposition detected by PET imaging with Pittsburgh Compound B (PIB)
      distinguishes clinical subtypes of Lewy body-associated disorders. Nine healthy
      controls, 8 PD with no cognitive impairment, 9 PD with mild cognitive impairment,
      6 DLB, and 15 PDD patients underwent [(11)C]-PIB positron emission tomography
      imaging, clinical examination, and cognitive testing. The binding potential (BP)
      of PIB for predefined regions and the mean cortical BP (MCBP) were calculated for
      each participant. Annual longitudinal follow-up and postmortem examinations were
      performed on a subset of participants. Regional PIB BPs and the proportion of
      individuals with abnormally elevated MCBP were not significantly different across
      participant groups. Elevated PIB binding was associated with worse global
      cognitive impairment in participants with Lewy body disorders but was not
      associated with any other clinical or neuropsychological features, including
      earlier onset or faster rate of progression of cognitive impairment. These
      results suggest that the presence of fibrillar amyloid-beta does not distinguish
      between clinical subtypes of Lewy body-associated disorders, although larger
      numbers are needed to more definitively rule out this association. Amyloid-beta
      may modify the severity of global cognitive impairment in individuals with Lewy
      body-associated dementia.

PMID- 20922810
TI  - Presentation, diagnosis, and management of multiple system atrophy in Europe:
      final analysis of the European multiple system atrophy registry.
AB  - Multiple system atrophy (MSA) is a Parkinson's Disease (PD)-like alpha
      synucleinopathy clinically characterized by dysautonomia, parkinsonism,
      cerebellar ataxia, and pyramidal signs in any combination. We aimed to determine
      whether the clinical presentation of MSA as well as diagnostic and therapeutic
      strategies differ across Europe and Israel. In 19 European MSA Study Group
      centres all consecutive patients with a clinical diagnosis of MSA were recruited
      from 2001 to 2005. A standardized minimal data set was obtained from all
      patients. Four-hundred thirty-seven MSA patients from 19 centres in 10 countries
      were included. Mean age at onset was 57.8 years; mean disease duration at
      inclusion was 5.8 years. According to the consensus criteria 68% were classified
      as parkinsonian type (MSA-P) and 32% as cerebellar type (MSA-C) (probable MSA:
      72%, possible MSA: 28%). Symptomatic dysautonomia was present in almost all
      patients, and urinary dysfunction (83%) more common than symptomatic orthostatic
      hypotension (75%). Cerebellar ataxia was present in 64%, and parkinsonism in 87%,
      of all cases. No significant differences in the clinical presentation were
      observed between the participating countries. In contrast, diagnostic work up and
      therapeutic strategies were heterogeneous. Less than a third of patients with
      documented orthostatic hypotension or neurogenic bladder disturbance were
      receiving treatment. This largest clinical series of MSA patients reported so far
      shows that the disease presents uniformly across Europe. The observed differences
      in diagnostic and therapeutic management including lack of therapy for
      dysautonomia emphasize the need for future guidelines in these areas.

PMID- 20922811
TI  - Toxic effect of gestational exposure to nonylphenol on F1 male rats.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to examine whether gestational exposure
      to major environmental endocrine-disrupting chemicals, nonylphenol (NP), would
      lead to nerve behavioral and learning and memory capacity alterations in the male
      offspring of rats, and reproductive development alterations in the male offspring
      of rats. METHODS: Dams were gavaged with NP at a dose level of 50 mg/kg/day, 100
      mg/kg/day or 200 mg/kg/day daily from gestational day 9 to 15, and at a dose
      level of 40 mg/kg/day, 80 mg/kg/day or 200 mg/kg/day daily from gestational day
      14 to 19 (transplacental exposures). RESULTS: Exposure to 200 mg/kg/day NP
      produced a significant decrease in learning and memory functions in offspring
      rats (P<0.05) in Morris water maze task, as demonstrated by the increased escape
      latency and number of error. In Step-down Avoidance Test, offspring rats exposed
      to NP spent more reaction time (RT) and presented lower latency to first step
      down than the control offspring (P<0.01). In utero exposure to 80 and 200
      mg/kg/day NP produced a significant decrease in the number of live pups per
      litter and ratio of anogenital distance to body length on PND 0 (P<0.05), and
      also testes and prostate weight, activities of ALP, plasma testosterone
      concentration, cauda epididymis sperm counts, daily sperm production et al.
      respectively on PND 90 (P<0.05). Histopathological examination of the brain
      biopsy illustrates that exposure to NP at high dose induces the presence of
      abnormal distribution of spermatozoa showed in lumina of the seminiferous
      tubules, and absence of spermatogenesis and spermiogenesis. CONCLUSION:
      Gestational exposure to nonylphenol might induce neurotoxic and reproductive
      toxic effects on F1 male rats.

PMID- 20922813
TI  - Controlling ligand surface density optimizes nanoparticle binding to ICAM-1.
AB  - During infection, pathogens utilize surface receptors to gain entry into
      intracellular compartments. Multiple receptor-ligand interactions that lead to
      pathogen internalization have been identified and the importance of multivalent
      ligand binding as a means to facilitate internalization has emerged. The effect
      of ligand density, however, is less well known. In this study, ligand density was
      examined using poly(DL-lactic-co-glycolic acid) nanoparticles (PLGA NPs). A
      cyclic peptide, cLABL, was used as a targeting moiety, as it is a known ligand
      for intercellular cell adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1). To modulate the number of
      reactive sites on the surface of PLGA NPs, modified Pluronic with carboxyl groups
      and Pluronic with hydroxyl groups were combined in different ratios and the
      particle properties were examined. Utilizing a surfactant mixture directly
      affected the particle charge and the number of reactive sites for cLABL
      conjugation. The surface density of cLABL peptide increased as the relative
      amount of reactive Pluronic was increased. Studies using carcinomic human
      alveolar basal epithelial cells (A549) showed that cLABL density might be
      optimized to improve cellular uptake. These results complement other studies,
      suggesting that surface density of the targeting moiety on the NP surface should
      be considered to enhance the effect of ligands used for cell targeting.

PMID- 20922814
TI  - Hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin copolymers and their nanoparticles as doxorubicin
      delivery system.
AB  - A novel biodegradable amphiphilic copolymer composed of hydroxypropyl-beta
      cyclodextrin, polylactide, and 1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine,
      was successfully synthesized. The chemical structures of copolymers were
      determined by FT-IR, (1)H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, (13)C
      NMR, (31)P NMR, thermogravimetric analysis ,and differential scanning
      calorimetry. Doxorubicin (DOX)-loaded copolymer nanoparticles (NPs) were prepared
      by double emulsion and nanoprecipitation methods. The factors of copolymer
      composition and fabrication methods, which influence size and encapsulation
      efficiency (EE) were investigated. Their EE to DOX could reach 90.6% at an
      available condition. In vitro release behavior of NPs showed a continuous release
      after a burst release. The antitumor activity of the DOX-loaded NPs against
      cancer HepG2 and A549 cells was evaluated by 3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5
      diphenyl tetrazolium bromide method. The DOX-loaded copolymer NPs showed
      comparable anticancer efficacy with the free drug.

PMID- 20922815
TI  - Retraction: spatial and temporal distribution of laminins in permanent focal
      ischemic brain damage of the adult rat.

PMID- 20922818
TI  - Bile acid-binding ability of kaki-tannin from young fruits of persimmon
      (Diospyros kaki) in vitro and in vivo.
AB  - The bile acid-binding ability of a highly polymerized tannin (kaki-tannin)
      extracted from dried-young fruits of persimmon (Diospyros kaki) was examined. The
      kaki-tannin was composed mainly of epicatechin, epigallocatechin, epicatechin-3-O
      gallate and epigallocatechin-3-O-gallate. Bile acid-binding ability of kaki
      tannin was examined against cholic acid, glycocholic acid, taurocholic acid and
      deoxycholic acid in vitro, and its effect on fecal bile acid excretion in mice
      was also examined. Although the bile acid-binding ability of kaki-tannin was
      weaker than that of cholestyramine, kaki-tannin adsorbed all the bile acids
      tested and significantly promoted fecal bile acid excretion in mice when supplied
      at 1% (w/w) in the diet.

PMID- 20922817
TI  - Planning a Bayesian early-phase phase I/II study for human vaccines in HER2
      carcinomas.
AB  - Recent innovative statistical approaches for phase I/II clinical trials allow one
      to jointly model the toxicity and efficacy of a new treatment, taking into
      account the information gathered during the trial. Prior probabilities are then
      updated with interim data and thus predictive probabilities become more accurate
      as the trial progresses. In this study, prior distribution elicited from a
      physician's opinion on the available dose levels planned for a vaccination dose
      finding trial, with human DNA in patients with HER2-positive tumours in terms of
      toxicity and therapeutic response is presented and discussed. A simulation study
      was conducted in order to quantify the impact of the choice of prior on study
      results, i.e. the recommended dose level at the end of the trial.

PMID- 20922819
TI  - Evolution and predictors of morphological and functional arterial changes in the
      course of type 1 diabetes mellitus.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Diabetes mellitus results in accelerated atherosclerosis. We
      evaluated preclinical, morphological and functional vascular changes in type 1
      diabetes mellitus. METHODS: Diameter, intima-media thickness, intima-media cross
      section area, and elasticity features (compliance, distensibility coefficient,
      circumferential strain, stiffness index, incremental elastic modulus) of the
      common carotid arteries and carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity were studied in
      42 patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus without macroangiopathy, and 41 control
      subjects matched for sex, age and body mass index using an ultrasonographic
      vessel wall-movement tracking system and applanation tonometry. RESULTS:
      Significantly larger intima-media thickness (523 +/- 55 versus 567 +/- 89 um, p <
      0.01), intima-media cross-section area (11.60 +/- 1.81 versus 13.08 +/- 3.02
      mm(2) , p < 0.01), SI (5.58 +/- 1.24 versus 7.08 +/- 2.69, p < 0.01) and pulse
      wave velocity (6.00 +/- 0.82 versus 6.61 +/- 1.56 m/s, p < 0.05) were found in
      type 1 diabetes mellitus patients compared to controls. When type 1 diabetes
      mellitus patients with short and long disease duration (<= or > 10 years) were
      compared, diameter (6450 +/- 433 versus 6847 +/- 750 um, p < 0.05), intima-media
      cross-section area (11.97 +/- 1.98 versus 14.01 +/- 3.43 mm, p < 0.05) and pulse
      wave velocity (5.90 +/- 0.92 versus 7.20 +/- 1.74 m/s, p < 0.01) differed
      significantly. When multivariate analyses were restricted to type 1 diabetes
      mellitus patients, age was an independent predictor of stiffness index and pulse
      wave velocity, the duration of diabetes mellitus of intima-media cross-section
      area and pulse wave velocity, systolic blood pressure of diameter and pulse wave
      velocity, and low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol of intima-media thickness,
      intima-media cross-section area and stiffness index. CONCLUSIONS: There are
      differences in the time course of evolution and in predictors of morphological
      and functional changes in arteries in type 1 diabetes mellitus.

PMID- 20922820
TI  - Issues for stratified randomization based on a factor derived from a continuous
      baseline variable.
AB  - Stratified randomization based on the baseline value of the primary analysis
      variable is common in clinical trial design. We illustrate from a theoretical
      viewpoint the advantage of such a stratified randomization to achieve balance of
      the baseline covariate. We also conclude that the estimator for the treatment
      effect is consistent when including both the continuous baseline covariate and
      the stratification factor derived from the baseline covariate. In addition, the
      analysis of covariance model including both the continuous covariate and the
      stratification factor is asymptotically no less efficient than including either
      only the continuous baseline value or only the stratification factor. We
      recommend that the continuous baseline covariate should generally be included in
      the analysis model. The corresponding stratification factor may also be included
      in the analysis model if one is not confident that the relationship between the
      baseline covariate and the response variable is linear. In spite of the above
      recommendation, one should always carefully examine relevant historical data to
      pre-specify the most appropriate analysis model for a perspective study.

PMID- 20922821
TI  - [Surgical treatment of the complicated echinococcosis of the thyroid gland].

PMID- 20922822
TI  - [Diffusion weighted whole-body MRI].

PMID- 20922823
TI  - Cancer linked to Alzheimer disease but not vascular dementia.

PMID- 20922824
TI  - Measles in the unvaccinated.

PMID- 20922825
TI  - Nanofilm developed to rejuvenate dental tissue could advance root canal
      treatment.

PMID- 20922826
TI  - Study suggests nanoparticles may assist early detection of melanoma.

PMID- 20922827
TI  - Targeted therapies: PARP inhibitor olaparib is safe and effective in patients
      with BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations.

PMID- 20922828
TI  - Surgery: Laparoscopy versus laparotomy in early-stage endometrial cancer.

PMID- 20922829
TI  - Prostate cancer from basal cells.

PMID- 20922830
TI  - Tumor genotyping to predict response.

PMID- 20922831
TI  - Genetics: A new method for predicting metastasis in sarcomas.

PMID- 20922832
TI  - Imaging: PET is prognostic of survival in pancreatic cancer patients.

PMID- 20922833
TI  - Pediatric oncology: Pulsed treatment in continuation therapy improves disease
      free survival in children with hematologic malignancies.

PMID- 20922834
TI  - Health services, economics and outcomes research: Questionnaire developed
      specifically for older people with cancer.

PMID- 20922835
TI  - Germany: victory of democracy over tobacco.

PMID- 20922836
TI  - USA: AMA backs commemorative stamp.

PMID- 20922837
TI  - Drug crime and criminalisation threaten progress on MDGs.

PMID- 20922838
TI  - Taking on malaria in the Amazon.

PMID- 20922839
TI  - It's the eyes that are important"--stories about artificial eyes.

PMID- 20922840
TI  - History and philosophy. Current world literature.

PMID- 20922841
TI  - Clinical therapeutics. Current world literature.

PMID- 20922842
TI  - [Autoimmunity and autoimmune syndrome: norm and pathology].
AB  - Multicomponent analysis of variations of serum marker antibodies is an
      efficacious tool for preventive (pre-clinical) diagnosis of immune disorders
      causing serious diseases. Successful development of this method may lead to
      revision of the approaches accepted in modern medicine and facilitate practical
      transition to the prognosis-prevention paradigm. The study of antibody spectra
      reflecting individual genetic and epigenetic features provides a basis for
      prognostication of health and pathological conditions. We believe that in most
      cases early diagnosis of reversible pathologic processes their further
      development can be arrested which provides a real opportunity to preserve health.

PMID- 20922843
TI  - [Endemic and biogeochemical characteristics of the territory of Chuvash
      Republic].
AB  - The study of endemic and biogeochemical features of the territory of Chuvash
      Republic showed that dietary patterns of the local population reflect specific
      environmental factors including selenium, manganese, and iron deficiency. Calcium
      deficit is mainly due to poorly balanced nutrition.

PMID- 20922844
TI  - [Intracranial pressure. Intracranial pressure monitoring].
AB  - Based on the data on the current literature, the authors present the basic
      physiological and pathophysiological aspects of measurement of intracranial
      pressure and discuss indications for its monitoring and clinical value.

PMID- 20922845
TI  - [Comparative evaluation of preventive analgesia with xefocam, ropivacaine, and
      transdermal drug delivery system of durogesic in patients after craniotomy].
AB  - The goal of this study was to comparatively evaluate the efficacy of pre-emptive
      analgesia in patients after supra- and infratentorial craniotomy. Three hundred
      and sixty-two postcraniotomy patients aged 16 to 72 years were recruited in the
      study. The patients were divided into 5 groups. The first two groups received
      traditional analgesia on demand with metamizole sodium and ketoprofen (Group 1)
      or xefocam (Group 2). Groups 3-5 had different preemptive analgesia modes.
      Scheduled dosing of xefocam (8 mg i.v. 30 min prior to surgery and then 8 mg
      every 8 hours within 48 hours) was used in Group 3. Group 4 underwent scalp nerve
      block and skin infiltration with ropivacaine. Group 5 had a scheduled dosing of
      fentanyl (12-18 hours before surgery, Durogesic was applied to the patient's skin
      in a dose 25 microg per hour for 3 days). Postoperative pain was assessed using
      the visual analogue scale (VAS) at 6, 18, 30, 42, and 54 hours after surgery. The
      patients who received pre-emptive analgesia showed significantly lower VAS scores
      than those who had traditional analgesia (p < 0.05).

PMID- 20922846
TI  - [Prognostic evaluation of sleep in patients in a vegetative state].
AB  - Coma in the genuine sense is a dreamlike state that lasts not more than 3 weeks,
      thereafter it progresses to a vegetative stage of consciousness recovery, except
      when a patient has died or regained conscious wakefulness. Among those who have
      achieved the vegetative state progress to the following stage of recovery: mal
      consciousness or completely return to the initial cognitive level. Others remain
      in a persistent vegetative state. The registered cases of the vegetative state is
      as high as 100 per million population (S. Ashwal et al., 1996). This patient
      category remains terra incognita even for interdisciplinary analysis by
      neurologists and reanimatologists. Nonetheless, the emotional and financial
      support to manage this patient category is high. In searching for prognostic
      criteria for the outcome of a vegetative state, the authors attempted to analyze
      sleep, one of the earliest phylogenetic autonomic functions. Based on the
      hypothesis that the cognitive status cannot be regained if sleep is not
      recovered, the authors conducted a polysomnographic study in 64 patients.
      Preserved sleep patterns were observed in 27 (96%) of 28 patients with a good
      outcome versus 11 (31%) of 36 patients with a poor outcome. It is concluded that
      it is expedient to incorporate polysomnographic monitoring into the examination
      protocol for patients in a vegetative state.

PMID- 20922847
TI  - [A respiratory failure rating scale in neurosurgical patients].
AB  - A respiratory failure (RF) rating scale has been developed to objectify
      indications for artificial ventilation (AV). The scale consists of three blocks
      gauging the level of consciousness, the degree of swallowing problems, cough,
      airway patency, and lung parenchymatous injury. The scale was tested in the
      period December 2009 to March 2010. Selection of patients in accordance with the
      chosen study inclusion and exclusion criteria allowed 15 patients to be enrolled
      in the study. Of them there were 8 (53%) women and 7 (47%) men. The patients' age
      was 25 to 68 years; median age was 42 years. There were cerebrovascular aneurysms
      and brain tumors of various locations and histology in 7 and 8 cases,
      respectively. Three groups of patients were identified. The first two groups
      included patients with successful extubation, but Group 2 patients were further
      reintubated because of neurological deterioration. In Group 3 patients,
      extubation was unsuccessful, i.e. these required reintubation within 48 hours
      after extubation. Groups 2 and 3 patients developed inflammatory complications,
      such as nosocomial pneumonia and sepsis; there were worse outcomes. If the
      tactics of AV initiation were determined from scale scores, it should not differ
      in Groups 1 and 2. Based on the scale scores, AV should be regained much more
      early than was practised. The developed scale allows one to optimize the time of
      AV initiation. Single patient assessment can ascertain a direct cause of
      respiratory failure (RF) while dynamic assessment can determine the sequence of
      changes in the magnitude of individual determinants of RF. In patients with
      unsuccessful tracheal intubation, the scale will optimize the time of
      reintubation, thereby reducing the incidence of nosocomial and aspiration
      pneumonia.

PMID- 20922848
TI  - [Hemostatic disorders caused by chronic use of valproic acid in neurosurgical
      patients. Thromboelastographic monitoring].
AB  - The paper gives the results of analyzing the hemostatic system in 26 patients
      with various neurosurgical diseases on the basis of routine laboratory
      biochemical tests and thromboelastographic indicators. In all the patients, the
      pattern of the disease contained an epilepsy syndrome that required mono- or
      combination therapy with valproic acid. Laboratory indicators of clinical
      hypocoagulation were found to develop during the use of valproic acid, and its
      monotherapy in particular. Hemorrhagic complications were also analyzed in not
      only the immediate, but also late postoperative period (for as long as 6 months
      after surgery). Two cases of severe late complications, such as formation of
      chronic subdural hematomas requiring surgical intervention, were diagnosed in the
      valproate monotherapy group. A tactic using a thromboelastographic technique is
      proposed to prepare these patients for further neurosurgical intervention.

PMID- 20922849
TI  - The effective management of out of hours treatment in primary care using
      telephone clinical assessment software (TeleAssess).

PMID- 20922850
TI  - Cancer linked to Alzheimer disease but not vascular dementia.

PMID- 20922851
TI  - Is there a link between cancer and Alzheimer disease?

PMID- 20922852
TI  - Modeling relationships in clinical research using path analysis part I: an
      overview of the process.
AB  - Scientific Inquiry provides a forum to facilitate the ongoing process of
      questioning and evaluating practice, presents informed practice based on
      available data, and innovates new practices through research and experimental
      learning.

PMID- 20922853
TI  - The seven lamps of bioengineering.

PMID- 20922854
TI  - Two historic events-a first in Washington [conference report].

PMID- 20922856
TI  - Radiation oncology.

PMID- 20922855
TI  - Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plans created by the Affordable Care Act of
      2010.
AB  - The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act includes a provision for the
      establishment of a temporary high-risk pool, also called the Pre-Existing
      Condition Insurance Plan (PCIP), to quickly make health insurance available to
      uninsured individuals with preexisting conditions, many of whom previously had
      been denied coverage. Twenty-seven states elected to administer the PCIPs for
      their citizens, while the remaining states and the District of Columbia chose to
      let their PCIPs be federally administered. This issue brief examines eligibility,
      benefits, premiums, cost-sharing, and oversight of the PCIP programs, as well as
      variation of the plans from state to state. The PCIPs will run through December
      31, 2013, at which time participants will be transitioned to exchange coverage.

PMID- 20922857
TI  - Dermatology.

PMID- 20922858
TI  - [On the 80th birthday of Dr. Jaroslav Blahos, President of the J.E. Purkinje
      Czech Medical Society].

PMID- 20922859
TI  - [Compression therapy for lymphedema: our experience].
AB  - The term lymphedema refers to a chronic, progressive edema, usually of a limb,
      due to insufficient lymphatic flow. It may appear as a primary disturbance or
      secondary to other causes, e.g., after infections or surgery. The most common
      cause of lymphedema in the Western world is cancer surgery and/or radiotherapy.
      The authors summarize the etiology, pathophysiology and clinical staging of
      lymphedema. The diagnosis of lymphedema is usually based on history and clinical
      appearance. However, lymphoscintigraphy is the gold standard of imaging in
      doubtful cases. Adequate and early compression therapy and good patient
      compliance are the cornerstones of management of lymphedema. The authors present
      their experience with compression therapy for lymphedema. While no differences
      were found in the efficiency of compression therapy between oncologic and non
      oncologic patients, compression stockings of class III seemed to be efficient in
      the majority of secondary lower limb lymphedemas but not as maintenance therapy
      for primary lower limb lymphedema.

PMID- 20922860
TI  - [Hypertension and age of the donor in living-related kidney transplantation].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Post-transplantation hypertension is one of the most important
      factors with negative influence on survival of a graft and a patient. The
      objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of donor's age on
      hypertension and the outcome in living-related transplantation of the kidney.
      METHODS: The research included 52 recipients of the graft, 30 women and 22 men
      who received living-related kidney graft in the time period of 1999 to 2004. In
      the while control group consisted of recipients of graft who's donors were
      younger than 55. Age and sex of the donor, glomerular filtration rate of the
      donated kidney, dialysis treatment, kidney disease and number of months after
      transplantation were monitored. Blood pressure was measured once a day and
      average monthly value was assessed. Creatinine clearance was evaluated once in
      six months period. Functional kidney graft after 60 months was considered the one
      with serum creatinine < or = micromol/l. Statistical analysis included t test,
      Fisher's exact test, chi-square test, Kaplan - Meier curve and multivariate
      logistic regression. RESULTS: Experimental group included 23 examinees who
      received grafts from donors 55 years old and above (18 men and 5 women, average
      age 34.86 +/- 6.54, who have been treated for 35.33 +/- 37.59 months) while
      control group included 29 examinees (16 men and 13 women, average age 31.69 +/-
      10.5, who have been treated for 21.03 +/- 25.59 months). Average age of the
      donors in the experimental group was 62.43 +/- 4.10 and 45.31 +/- 5.24 in control
      group. Mean creatinine clearance of the donated kidneys was 47.87 +/- 10.5 ml/min
      in experimental group and 51.19 +/- 10.1 ml/min in the control (p = 0.005). Sixty
      months after transplantation graft was functional in 32.69% recipients of the
      experimental group and in 82.75% recipients of the control group. The average
      systolic blood pressure in test group was 146 +/- 20 mm Hg, and in the control
      129 +/- 16 mm Hg (p < 0.001). Average diastolic blood pressure was 90 +/- 11 mm
      Hg in experimental group, and 83 +/- 10 mm Hg in the control (p < 0.03).
      CONCLUSIONS: Age of the donor has significant influence on long-term survival of
      the kidney graft in the living-related transplantation. Survival of the graft in
      examinees without hypertension is significantly longer. Treatment of post
      transplantation hypertension is one of the most important tasks in the treatment
      of patients with transplanted kidney.

PMID- 20922861
TI  - [Diagnostic and therapeutic algorithm for the treatment of premenstrual dysphoric
      disorder].
AB  - Many women experience psychological and physical symptoms associated with
      menstrual cycle. In 3% to 5% of women that meet the criteria for premenstrual
      dysphoric disorder, the symptoms are severe and impair their social and
      occupational functioning. Although the etiology of premenstrual dysphoric
      disorder is unknown, the symptoms of dysphoria, including depression and anxiety,
      have been associated with serotonergic dysregulation. Selective serotonin
      reuptake inhibitors, taken only during the symptomatic luteal phase, are
      considered as first-line therapy for premenstrual dysphoric disorder.

PMID- 20922862
TI  - [Osteogenesis imperfecta and achievements in cell and gene therapy].
AB  - Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) or "brittle bone" disease is characterized by
      fragile bones, skeletal deformity, and growth retardation. Depending on the
      mutation and related phenotype, O1 is classified into types I-IV, which are
      caused by different mutations in collagen genes, and types V-VIII, which are
      indirectly but not directly collagen related. The most common cause of this
      inheritable disorder of connective tissue are mutations affecting the COL1A1 and
      COL1A2 genes of type I collagen. There is no cure for OI and current treatments
      include surgical intervention, use of prostheses and physical therapy.
      Pharmacological agents have also been tried with limited success, with the
      exception of recent use of bisphosphonates, which have been shown to have some
      effect in bone mass acquisition. Since OI is a genetic disease, these agents are
      not expected to alter the course of collagen mutations. Recent technology in
      molecular biology has led to the development of transgenic models of OI, which
      are necessary for development of cell and gene therapies as potential treatments
      for OI and are currently being actively investigated. However, the design of gene
      therapies for OI is complicated by genetic heterogeneity of the disease and by
      the fact that most of OI mutations are dominant negative where the mutant allele
      product interferes with the function of the normal allele. Therefore, therapy
      needs to include suppression of the mutant allele and introduction of the wild
      type allele. The present review will discuss the classification of OI and
      molecular changes seen in different types of OI and transgenic murine models that
      mimic different types of OI. Cell therapy, gene therapy, and a combination of
      both represent new approaches in OI therapy development that are being
      investigated as potential future treatments for OI. Modest success of cell
      therapy, encouraging results of gene therapy in vitro and in animal models as
      well as their problems and limitations for use in humans will be presented.

PMID- 20922863
TI  - [Lumbosacral spine herniation--computed tomography diagnostics].
AB  - The aim of this retrospective study was to establish the incidence of particular
      types of disk radicular conflicts of the lumbar region. The study showed no
      patient sex or age differences. Disk radicular conflicts were most commonly
      diagnosed at L5-S1 and L4-L5 levels. Study results pointed to dorsomedial
      protrusion of the intervertebral disk to be most common in the study region,
      followed by dorsolateral one, whereas foraminal protrusion of the intervertebral
      disk was the rarest one. Study results suggested that there was no significant
      age or sex difference in the incidence of disk radicular conflicts of the lumbar
      region.

PMID- 20922864
TI  - [Endoscopically assisted lipectomy].
AB  - The aim of the study was to compare lipectomy and endoscopically assisted
      lipectomy. In a group of 32 patients with cytologically verified lipoma, 16
      patients underwent classic lipectomy and endoscopically assisted lipectomy each.
      At 12-month follow up, there was no difference in the number of lipoma
      recurrences between the two techniques. Endoscopically assisted lipectomy proved
      to be a safe method with excellent cosmetic result and shorter recovery period
      for patients at the same risk of recurrent lipomas.

PMID- 20922865
TI  - [Factors affecting blood loss in total knee arthroplasty patients].
AB  - The aim of the study was to identify the factors affecting major blood loss in
      patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty (TKA), in order to reduce blood loss
      and requirements for blood transfusion. This prospective randomized study
      included 80/184 patients treated by TKA at University Hospital of Traumatology,
      Zagreb, Croatia, from January 2005 till December 2007. The following parameters
      were analyzed: patient age, sex, body mass index (BMI), arterial blood pressure,
      preoperative hemoglobin level and hemoglobin level preceding blood transfusion,
      length of surgery, blood loss and volume of blood transfused. According to
      patient age, there were no differences in the length of surgery, blood loss
      volume, hemoglobin level before blood transfusion and use of blood transfusion.
      Older patients had lower hemoglobin level before blood transfusion and received
      greater volumes of blood transfusion, but the difference was not statistically
      significant. Male patients had a significantly higher preoperative hemoglobin
      level as compared to female patients (P = 0.012). The mean volume of blood loss
      and of transfused blood was larger in male than female patients, however, the
      difference did not reach statistical significance. According to BMI, there were
      no differences in the length of surgery, blood loss, volume of transfused blood
      and hemoglobin level before transfusion. Patients with a lower preoperative
      hemoglobin level did not lose more blood during and after surgery, but the
      requirement for blood transfusion was significantly higher (P = 0.014).
      Hypertensive patients had a statistically greater perioperative blood loss (P =
      0.038), but did not receive more transfused blood (P = 0.494). Preoperative
      hemoglobin level was higher in patients with elevated arterial blood pressure
      than in those with normal blood pressure, but the difference was not
      statistically significant (P = 0.595). Hemoglobin level before blood transfusion
      was also higher in hypertensive patients than in those with normal blood
      pressure, but it was not statistically significant (P = 0.288). In patients with
      longer duration of surgery, blood loss and volume of blood transfused blood were
      statistically significantly greater (P = 0.003 and P = 0.015, respectively).
      Study results yielded a significant positive correlation between the length of
      surgery and the volume of blood loss (r = 0.282; P = 0.011) as well as between
      the length of surgery and the volume of blood transfused (r = 0.362; P = 0.001).
      A significant negative correlation was established between the preoperative
      hemoglobin level and application of blood transfusion (r = -0.250; P = 0.025).
      Patients with hypertension had a significantly larger blood loss volume as
      compared to patients with normal arterial pressure (P = 0.038) and received more
      blood transfusions than patients with normal blood pressure, but the difference
      was not statistically significant (P = 0.494). Age, sex and BMI had no
      statistically significant effect on blood loss volume and application of blood
      transfusion. Male patients had a significantly higher preoperative hemoglobin
      level (P=0.012), larger mean blood loss volume (P = 0.057) and received more
      blood transfusions than female patients, however, the difference did not reach
      statistical significance (P = 0.562). Based on study results, it is concluded
      that requirements for blood transfusion will be greater in patients with
      hypertension and lower preoperative hemoglobin level as well as in all cases with
      longer duration of surgery. To reduce the use of allogeneic blood transfusion, it
      is necessary to correct arterial blood pressure before surgery in hypertensive
      patients and also to magnify preoperative hemoglobin level if it is lower.

PMID- 20922866
TI  - [Pregnancies and deliveries in patients with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease].
AB  - Hereditary motor sensory neuropathy (HMSN), also known as Charcot-Marie-Tooth
      (CMT) disease, is a spectrum of disorders caused by a specific mutation in one of
      several myelin genes, which results in defects in myelin structure, maintenance
      and formation. Affected individuals show progressive distal limb atrophy and
      weakness, often with gait disturbance and deformity of feet and hands. There have
      been few studies on how CMT disease can affect pregnancy, birth and the newborn.
      CMT is an independent risk factor for complications during pregnancy and
      delivery. Patients with CMT have more operative deliveries, malpresentations and
      postpartum bleeding than the general obstetric population. It is not clear
      whether the increased prevalence of malpresentation is related to fetal disease,
      although the disorder typically does not present until later in childhood.
      Postpartum bleeding from atony may be related to the disease effect on uterine
      adrenergic nerves. Exacerbation of CMT disease can occur in pregnancy, an effect
      that may be mediated by increased plasma progesterone level. Observations in an
      animal model were consistent with these findings as the administration of
      progesterone resulted in a more progressive neuropathy, while a progesterone
      antagonist slowed the disease progression. We treated two patients with CMT (type
      5 and type X1) at our Department. Both of them had normal course of pregnancy
      until delivery. Emergency cesarean section was performed in both cases; in one
      because of malpresentation, contracted pelvis and signs of impending fetal
      asphyxiation during the second stage of delivery, and in the other one based on
      neurologist indication. In the latter, uterine atony with profuse postpartum
      bleeding occurred immediately after cesarean section and emergency hysterectomy
      was performed according to clinical status.

PMID- 20922867
TI  - [Bilateral choroidal metastases of kidney carcinoma].
AB  - Metastatic tumors are among the most common intraocular malignancies, and are
      exclusively localized in the uvea, 88% in the choroids. A 54-year-old male
      patient was admitted to Urology Department for macrohematuria. A tumor of the
      left kidney was found. Upon nephrectomy, histopathology indicated papillary
      carcinoma of the kidney with some focal sarcomatous differentiation. The left
      suprarenal gland was normal, but one of the regional lymph nodes was invaded.
      Three years later, the patient was hospitalized again for tumor of the right
      suprarenal gland and para-aortic tumor. At the same time, the patient complained
      of visual acuity worsening on the left eye. Fundus examination and fundus
      photography revealed yellowish subretinal lesions with serous retinal detachment.
      Metastatic eye lesions may anticipate or follow the diagnosis of kidney
      carcinoma. All tumors with a tendency of hematogenous metastasizing have a high
      affinity of metastasizing into the uvea because of its abundant blood flow.
      Posterior pole is the most common localization; over 40% of lesions are found in
      macular region, which is attributed to the higher posterior choroidal blood flow
      and easy macular symptom detection. That is why kidney carcinoma has to be ruled
      out in all patients with such yellowish subretinal lesions.

PMID- 20922868
TI  - [Relationship between phacoemulsification and extracapsular cataract extraction
      at University Department of Ophthalmology, Split University Hospital Center,
      during the 1997-2009 period].
AB  - The aim of the study was to show the relationship between phacoemulsification and
      extracapsular cataract extraction at University Department of Ophthalmology,
      Split University Hospital Center (assessing the length of postoperative hospital
      stay and postoperative visual acuity), during the 1997-2009 period. We also
      wanted to explore the tendency of using different types of intraocular lenses.
      The study was designed as a retrospective analysis of operative records. Data
      were collected on all patients operated for cataract at our Department during the
      study period. We compared the mean duration of postoperative hospital stay and
      mean postoperative visual acuity between 1997/1998 (more than 90% were treated
      with ECCE technique) and 2007/2008 (more than 90% were treated with PHACO
      technique). Information was also collected on the type of lenses implanted. The
      rate of cataract extraction by phacoemulsification was less than 10% in
      1997/1998, then progressively rising to reach 99.2% in 2009. The mean hospital
      stay was 5.73 (range 2-19) days in 1997/1998 as compared with 1.99 (range 0.02-1)
      days in 2007/2008. The mean uncorrected postoperative visual acuity was 0.71
      (range 0.01-1.0) in 2007/2008. In conclusion, the number of cataract patients
      operated on by the phacoemulsification technique progressively and significantly
      increased during the 1997-2009 period, confirming the method as the most
      acceptable and less traumatic technique that is applicable in most of cataract
      patients.

PMID- 20922869
TI  - [The AURORA study].

PMID- 20922870
TI  - [Pathophysiological links between obstructive sleep apnea syndrome and metabolic
      syndrome].
AB  - Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a chronic disease characterized by repetitive
      partial or complete closure of the upper airway during sleep. OSA tends to be
      associated with components of metabolic syndrome sharing a common ground of
      metabolic changes with metabolic syndrome itself. Recent studies showed that
      subjects with OSA were 6-9 times more likely to have metabolic syndrome than
      subjects without OSA. Intermittent hypoxia and sleep fragmentation in OSA can
      initiate intermediary mechanisms (oxidative stress, neurohumoral changes,
      inflammation) leading to the components of metabolic syndrome. OSA has been
      suggested to be a novel risk factor, inside the metabolic syndrome, contributing
      to increased cardiovascular risk. Several studies report that continuous positive
      airway pressure (CPAP) treatment can reverse pathophysiological changes in OSA,
      increasing insulin sensitivity and reducing blood pressure. Recent evidences show
      that CPAP treatment reduces the risk of cardiovascular events and mortality in
      subjects with OSA. Some subjects with metabolic syndrome can be affected by
      undiagnosed OSA: CPAP treatment could significantly reduce cardiovascular risk in
      this subgroup of patients.

PMID- 20922871
TI  - [Hypoglycemic therapy in heart disease patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus].
AB  - In type 1 diabetes, insulin treatment reduces complications related to
      microvascular disease and atherosclerosis. The same holds true in patients with
      short duration of type 2 diabetes, treated either with oral antidiabetic drugs or
      with insulin. Conversely, in patients with long-standing type 2 diabetes,
      advanced age or history of cardiovascular disease, treatment with oral diabetic
      drugs or insulin must be given with caution because of the unfavorable risk
      benefit profile when these drugs are used with too aggressive aims. In the last
      year, several studies have clearly demonstrated that an excessive reduction of
      glycated hemoglobin exposes the patient at risk of hypoglycemia and fattening,
      with neutral results about clinical events or even with a paradoxical increase of
      cardiovascular events (hospitalization and mortality). The glycemic goal in heart
      disease and diabetic patients should be settled on higher values (probably 7-8%).
      There are no significant differences among drugs that reduce insulin resistance
      and drugs that stimulate its secretion. The only drug that proved to be effective
      in reducing cardiovascular events is metformin, which increases AMP-activated
      protein kinase activity and has a potent cardioprotective effect against ischemia
      reperfusion injury. These findings should be confirmed in larger longitudinal
      studies in heart disease patients. Patients in intensive care units should be
      treated with intravenous insulin with a glycemic target <180 mg/dl (mean 142
      mg/dl) because more aggressive goals may lead to increased mortality. These
      results demand important considerations about the management of heart disease
      patients with type 2 diabetes, also because self-monitoring of blood glucose
      concentration seems to induce an increase in depression. Conversely, an
      aggressive multifactorial intervention (improvement of lifestyle, blood pressure
      and dyslipidemia control, platelet aggregation inhibitors in secondary
      prevention) reduces effectively cardiovascular events and mortality.

PMID- 20922873
TI  - [The Valsalva maneuver in the diagnosis of patent foramen ovale].

PMID- 20922872
TI  - [Atherothrombosis in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: an overview of
      pathophysiology].
AB  - Type 2 diabetes mellitus is a well known condition characterized by a functional
      and metabolic milieu that promotes the development of the atherosclerotic process
      and its macrovascular complications (e.g., acute myocardial infarction, stroke,
      peripheral arterial disease). In diabetic patients, several negative alterations
      lead to the progression of the atherosclerotic disease. These alterations involve
      the coagulation cascade, the endothelial function, platelet and monocyte
      adhesiveness, macrophage function, and fibrinolysis: all these processes are
      adversely affected by hyperglycemia and insulin resistance. In diabetic patients,
      the fluid and the cellular phases are modified to generate a prothrombotic
      phenotype. In this review we will discuss about the main pathophysiological
      mechanisms involved in diabetic atherotrombosis in order to look beyond the usual
      "hydraulic-rheologic" picture of macrovascular diabetic disease, and to better
      understand the importance of the adverse interactions that occur between the
      endothelial wall and the circulating cells.

PMID- 20922874
TI  - [Does dual antiplatelet therapy always require gastroprotection? Tailored medical
      therapy should prevail over the generalized prescription of proton pump
      inhibitors in patients on dual antiplatelet therapy].

PMID- 20922875
TI  - [Does dual antiplatelet therapy always require gastroprotection? Gastroprotection
      with proton pump inhibitors is advisable for all patients who need dual
      antiplatelet therapy].

PMID- 20922876
TI  - [Pericardial cyst with intracystic hemorrhage. A case report and review of the
      literature].
AB  - Pericardial cysts are rare benign intrathoracic lesions, more often located in
      the right rather than in the left cardiophrenic angle. At echocardiography, they
      appear as echolucent unilocular structures, which are in contact with the
      pericardium. They contain a clear water-like fluid and, thus, are referred to as
      "spring water cysts". They are usually discovered incidentally in asymptomatic
      patients. Sometimes they can cause symptoms (dyspnea, chest pain, dysphagia,
      cough), depending on their dimensions and location, or severe complications such
      as cardiac tamponade. Asymptomatic cases are managed conservatively with a close
      follow-up, being surgical excision recommended only in symptomatic patients.
      Actually, the treatment options include excision via thoracotomy, video-assisted
      thoracoscopic surgery, and percutaneous echo-guided aspiration. We describe the
      case of a patient for whom the echocardiographic follow-up allowed to disclose
      intracystic hemorrhage, leading to surgical treatment before the patient became
      symptomatic.

PMID- 20922877
TI  - [Atrial myxoma presenting during pregnancy].
AB  - We report a case of left atrial myxoma presenting as acute respiratory failure
      following surgical intervention for voluntary interruption of pregnancy. After
      cardiac surgery T-wave changes were observed on the ECG, most likely due to
      coronary embolism.

PMID- 20922878
TI  - [Persistent left-sided superior vena cava associated with prominent Chiari
      network prolapsing into the right ventricle in an asymptomatic young subject].

PMID- 20922879
TI  - [Appropriateness in echocardiography and clinical priority classification
      criteria: a proposal from the Italian Society of Cardiovascular Echography].
AB  - One of the main tasks of a scientific society is to define the theoretical bases
      and appropriate management strategies with the aim to maintain a high-quality
      diagnostic and therapeutic standard. As far as echocardiography is concerned, the
      task of the Italian Society of Cardiovascular Echography is to provide
      appropriate, complete, and useful echocardiographic tests for clinical
      application, as well as procedural, technological, organizational and economic
      indications to be adopted in clinical practice. In addition, there is an
      increasing need for regulating access to echocardiographic assessment according
      to clinical priority, because of the huge proportion of patients who should
      undergo a first or follow-up echocardiographic evaluation. The aim of this
      document is to implement appropriateness in echocardiography for the study and
      follow-up of cardiovascular diseases, and to optimize demand on the basis of
      clinical priority classification criteria outlined by the scientific societies
      and used by the National Health Service. Besides cardiovascular diseases, this
      document also addresses other diseases that often require echocardiographic
      investigation, such as liver diseases, connective tissue diseases, endocrine
      diseases, peripheral vascular and oncological diseases. Although not included in
      the previous guidelines, clinical priority and followup criteria are defined also
      for these groups of diseases according to the available literature. In
      conclusion, this document aims at guaranteeing access to the diagnostic
      echocardiographic procedures provided by the National Health Service to the
      general population, with practical indications on how to solve the problem of
      waiting lists.

PMID- 20922880
TI  - [Sustainability of cardiological imaging].

PMID- 20922881
TI  - Probability of spacesuit-induced fingernail trauma is associated with hand
      circumference.
AB  - A significant number of astronauts sustain hand injuries during extravehicular
      activity training and operations. These hand injuries have been known to cause
      fingernail delamination (onycholysis) that requires medical intervention. This
      study investigated correlations between the anthropometrics of the hand and
      susceptibility to injury. METHODS: The analysis explored the hypothesis that
      crewmembers with a high finger-to-hand size ratio are more likely to experience
      injuries. A database of 232 crewmembers' injury records and anthropometrics was
      sourced from NASA Johnson Space Center. RESULTS: No significant effect of finger
      to-hand size was found on the probability of injury, but circumference and width
      of the metacarpophalangeal (MCP) joint were found to be significantly associated
      with injuries by the Kruskal-Wallis test. A multivariate logistic regression
      showed that hand circumference is the dominant effect on the likelihood of
      onycholysis. DISCUSSION: Male crewmembers with a hand circumference > 22.86 cm
      (9") have a 19.6% probability of finger injury, but those with hand
      circumferences < or = 22.86 cm (9") only have a 5.6% chance of injury. Findings
      were similar for female crewmembers. This increased probability may be due to
      constriction at large MCP joints by the current NASA Phase VI glove. Constriction
      may lead to occlusion of vascular flow to the fingers that may increase the
      chances of onycholysis. Injury rates are lower on gloves such as the superseded
      series 4000 and the Russian Orlan that provide more volume for the MCP joint.
      This suggests that we can reduce onycholysis by modifying the design of the
      current gloves at the MCP joint.

PMID- 20922882
TI  - Laser acupuncture and prevention of bone loss in tail-suspended rats.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Skeletal unloading during spaceflight results in bone loss. This
      study investigated whether laser acupuncture could be an effective countermeasure
      to prevent unloading-induced bone loss in rats. METHODS: There were 18 rats that
      were randomly assigned into three groups: a control group, a tail-suspended group
      (TS), and a tail-suspended with laser acupuncture treatment group (TSA). The rats
      in the TSA group were treated with laser acupuncture at the KI1 (Yong Quan) and
      ST36 (Zu San Li) acupoints of the left leg for 3 min per day. Bone mineral
      density (BMD), biomechanical properties, and histomorphometry of both tibiae were
      determined after the animals were euthanized at the end of week 4. RESULTS:
      Compared with the control group, BMD in the TS group significantly decreased by
      12.3% in cortical bone and 15.1% in cancellous bone, whereas BMD in the TSA group
      decreased by only 3.1% in cortical bone and 9.0% in cancellous bone. The hardness
      of cortical bone dropped 44.1% in the TS group and 22.3% in the TSA group
      compared with the control group. The histomorphometry data were in accordance
      with BMD measurements. Although acupuncture treatment was applied only to the
      left side, we observed similar changes between the measurements of both the left
      and right tibiae. CONCLUSION: Laser acupuncture on KI1 and ST36 can inhibit bone
      loss in rats subjected to unloading. The fact that similar changes between the
      right and left sides when only the left limbs were treated suggests that the
      preventive effect of laser acupuncture occurs via a systemic regulation.

PMID- 20922883
TI  - Changes in toe clearance during treadmill walking after long-duration
      spaceflight.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Astronauts exhibit sensorimotor changes upon return from long
      duration spaceflight that can result in altered gait kinematics and possibly an
      increased risk of tripping. Toe trajectory during locomotion is a precise motor
      control task involving both legs, thus providing a composite metric of locomotor
      control. The purpose of this study was to determine whether astronauts are at an
      increased risk of tripping after their return from long-duration spaceflight.
      This was accomplished by assessing the pre- to postflight changes in toe
      clearance during treadmill walking. METHODS: Ten crewmembers walked on a
      treadmill while performing a visual-acuity task pre- and postflight. RESULTS: In
      the three subjects on whom landing day data were available, each exhibited a
      characteristic of increased tripping risk on landing day: either a decreased
      median toe clearance or an increased interquartile range (a measure of variance).
      For all crewmembers, toe clearance median and interquartile range were not
      significantly different from preflight for the other postflight sessions (the
      earliest being 1 d after landing). A follow-up analysis showed that changes in
      foot pitch, ankle dorsiflexion, and pelvis roll angles were significant
      predictors of changes in toe clearance. DISCUSSION: The landing-day observations
      indicated an increased risk of tripping, which may pose a hazard during
      locomotion immediately upon return to Earth, especially in an emergency scenario.
      However, tripping risk on subsequent days was not different than preflight. The
      joint angle analysis suggested that the crewmembers tried to reestablish their
      normal walking pattern postflight, instead of developing a new motor control
      strategy.

PMID- 20922884
TI  - Head movements and simulator sickness generated by a virtual environment.
AB  - BACKGROUND: For virtual environments (VEs) to be useful in training it is
      important to understand the negative effects of VE exposure. The purpose of this
      study was to observe head movements in virtual and real environments and the
      relation between those movements and simulator sickness. METHOD: There were 48
      men who were trained in 4-person teams in either a head-mounted display (HMD)
      based VE or in a real world environment. Head position data were collected in
      both systems and simulator sickness scores were collected in the VE. The
      relationship of head movements and sickness scores in theVE was examined and the
      degree of head movements in the real world and VE compared. RESULTS: Differences
      were found in the length of time subjects spent moving their heads; subjects with
      the highest sickness scores moved their heads less often than other subjects in
      the VE. Also, subjects moved their heads significantly less and less often in the
      VE (means: 3 degrees x 50 ms(-1), 71% of trial time not moving head), compared to
      the real world (means: 10 degrees 50 ms(-1), 59% of trial time not moving head).
      CONCLUSIONS: This study observed that when head movements are quantified, past
      assumptions of the link between increased sickness scores and decreased head
      movements may not hold. Though not linked to simulator sickness, head movements
      were reduced in the VE compared to the real world. Though observational in
      nature, this study is one of the first to quantify head movements and how they
      may relate to simulator sickness.

PMID- 20922885
TI  - Individual and team susceptibility to change blindness.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Individual operators in command and control environments are
      susceptible to change blindness. Change blindness by teams of operators, which is
      typical in military command and control, has not been extensively studied. This
      experiment investigated change blindness in individuals and teams in a simulated
      military command and control situation display. METHODS: Subjects completed a
      change-detection task individually or in three-person teams. In one team
      condition team members could actively communicate with each other, but in another
      condition they could not. The change-detection task involved monitoring flicker
      sequences of displays containing 6, 12, 24, or 48 icons for changes in icon
      position. RESULTS: Results revealed a team advantage that was more pronounced
      when teams communicated. Communicating teams had higher overall correct detection
      rates (mean = 95%) than both non-communicating triads (mean = 80%) and
      individuals (mean = 79%). Teams were susceptible to change blindness just as
      individuals were, but teamwork and communication were beneficial in reducing
      change blindness susceptibility. Communicating teams also experienced lower
      global workload (mean = 24.08) than non-communicating triads (mean = 38.44) and
      individuals (mean = 47.18). DISCUSSION: This research highlights the importance
      of teamwork and communication in reducing change blindness and workload in a
      command and control environment. The findings can be used to facilitate
      development of methods and tools for reducing individual and team change
      blindness susceptibility.

PMID- 20922886
TI  - Air break during preoxygenation and risk of altitude decompression sickness.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: To reduce the risk of decompression sickness (DCS), current USAF U
      2 operations require a 1-h preoxygenation (PreOx). An interruption of oxygen
      breathing with air breathing currently requires significant extension of the
      PreOx time. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between
      air breaks during PreOx and subsequent DCS and venous gas emboli (VGE) incidence,
      and to determine safe air break limits for operational activities. METHODS:
      Volunteers performed 30 min of PreOx, followed by either a 10-min, 20-min, or 60
      min air break, then completed another 30 min of PreOx, and began a 4-h altitude
      chamber exposure to 9144 m (30,000 ft). Subjects were monitored for VGE using
      echocardiography. Altitude exposure was terminated if DCS symptoms developed.
      Control data (uninterrupted 60-min PreOx) to compare against air break data were
      taken from the AFRL DCS database. RESULTS: At 1 h of altitude exposure, DCS rates
      were significantly higher in all three break in prebreathe (BiP) profiles
      compared to control (40%, 45%, and 47% vs. 24%). At 2 h, the 20-min and 60-min
      BiP DCS rates remained higher than control (70% and 69% vs. 52%), but no
      differences were found at 4 h. No differences in VGE rates were found between the
      BiP profiles and control. DISCUSSION: Increased DCS risk in the BiP profiles is
      likely due to tissue renitrogenation during air breaks not totally compensated
      for by the remaining PreOx following the air breaks. Air breaks of 10 min or more
      occurring in the middle of 1 h of PreOx may significantly increase DCS risk
      during the first 2 h of exposure to 9144 m when compared to uninterrupted PreOx
      exposures.

PMID- 20922887
TI  - A software-based solution for research in space ethology.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: In this paper we present details of new applications of a software
      based system for human ethological investigations in space missions and analogous
      settings. The studies address astronauts' motor adaptation to microgravity during
      short-term stays and the crews' social behavior in isolation and confinement over
      extended time periods. The current working hypotheses are based on differences
      observed in multicultural and mixed-gender crews for future interplanetary
      missions. METHODS: In our approach, we use The Observer XT computer application
      to facilitate the observation, description, and quantification of behavioral data
      collected in parabolic flights, isolation and confinement campaigns, and polar
      missions. We implemented video recording protocols based on a goal-directed
      orientation task and daily life activities. RESULTS: The software integrates
      several steps: project management, definition of a coding scheme, annotation of
      videos linked to external data, data selection, and analysis. Numerical outcomes
      are presented. We show differences in motor skills between male (resting: 22%)
      and female (flexing/stretching: 22%) subjects in parabolic flights. We did not
      observe significant differences in social behavior by nationality during the
      isolation and confinement campaign. Notable findings include cultural grouping
      (20% of place preferences) and gender-based individuality (15%) during wintering
      at the polar base. DISCUSSION: The Observer XT may be a valuable tool to
      synchronize behavioral events with video files and bring forth visual
      representations and statistical analysis. It will be used for the next
      interdisciplinary project on the Mars 500 experiment to study physical ability,
      psychological capabilities, and behavioral performance over a 520-d stay in a
      simulated ground-based environment.

PMID- 20922888
TI  - Evaluation of a human factors analysis and classification system used by trained
      raters.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) has used the DoD Human Factors
      Analysis and Classification System (DoD-HFACS) to help identify and classify
      human factors that may have caused or contributed to aircraft mishaps since 2005.
      METHOD: In this study 22 military officers used DoD-HFACS to classify information
      obtained from an interview with an individual who had been involved in an
      aviation incident in which the potential for serious injury had been high.
      RESULTS: It was found that although the overall interrater reliability was
      generally acceptable (as reflected by a mean Fleiss' kappa of 0.75) and there
      were high levels of agreement regarding the factors that did not contribute to
      the incident (there was agreement of 50% or greater between raters for 84.4% of
      unselected nanocodes); the level of agreement on the factors that did cause the
      incident as classified using DoD-HFACS were lower than desirable (agreement of
      50% or greater between raters that a particular nanocode was causal was found
      only for a mean of 22.5% of selected nanocodes). DISCUSSION: The findings from
      this study are consistent with the small number of other studies reporting an
      evaluation of the reliability of DoD-HFACS. It is recommended that organizations
      must evaluate the reliability and validity of mishap coding systems, as applied
      by the proposed end-users, prior to the widespread adoption of a system. It is
      only through the accurate identification of mishap causal factors that informed
      decisions can be made to prevent future mishaps.

PMID- 20922889
TI  - Vestibular schwannoma and fitness to fly.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: When a pilot is referred for vestibular schwannoma (VS), his or her
      fitness to fly may be questioned. The objective of this retrospective study was
      to describe a series of VS cases in a pilot population and to discuss their
      fitness to fly options. METHODS: Between September 2002 and March 2010, the
      ENT/Head and Neck Surgery Department of the National Pilot Expertise Center
      conducted nearly 120,000 expert consultations for 40,000 pilots. We examined the
      files of 10 pilots who were referred to our 2 national experts for VS. RESULTS:
      At the time of the expert consultation, hypoacusis was present in nine cases
      (four with total deafness), tinnitus in one case, and vertigo in nine cases. In
      our series, only 2 of the 10 pilots experienced a negative impact on their
      fitness to fly. DISCUSSION: Decisions on fitness to fly were based on several
      factors: minimally disturbed audition, i.e., less than a 35-dB hearing loss with
      a good speech discrimination score; good balance, i.e., no reported difficulties;
      no spontaneous nystagmus recorded on videonystagmography (VNG); no postural
      deviation; and a normal head-shaking test. The delay and the VS's evolution
      between diagnosis and expert consultation are important because the selection of
      a treatment to control VS is critical in minimizing the possible associated
      complications. When a pilot is referred for VS, his or her fitness to fly is
      determined by the size of the tumor, balance, auditory status, and the follow-up
      results of these findings. The complications that may arise from VS treatments
      must also be considered.

PMID- 20922890
TI  - Abdominal sonography in the medical evaluation of aviation aspirants.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Ultrasonography is increasingly used in elderly individuals for
      screening of occult malignancy and abdominal aortic aneurysm. Its utility as a
      screening tool in healthy asymptomatic individuals is not yet established. The
      current study was undertaken to evaluate the utility of abdominal and pelvic
      ultrasonographic screening as an adjunct to routine physical examination among
      young adults undergoing initial medical examination for aviation duties. METHODS:
      Abdominal ultrasound findings of 2598 candidates (2339 men, 259 women, mean age
      20.3 +/- 1.8 yr) reporting for initial aircrew medical examination between
      January 2004 and December 2006 at two established medical evaluation centers were
      analyzed. RESULTS: Of the candidates, 90% (N=2339) screened were for cockpit
      aircrew duties. Sonographic abnormalities were noted in 6.0% of candidates. These
      included fatty infiltration of the liver in 2.9%, renal abnormalities in 1.57%,
      gallstones in 0.34%, and splenomegaly in 0.30%. Of the 259 female candidates, 7
      were noted to have pelvic abnormalities which included ovarian cyst in 5, and
      uterine agenesis and fibroid uterus in 1 each. Of the aircrew who had abnormal
      findings on the initial ultrasonography, 71% required further testing. Based on
      the ultrasound findings 10 candidates were declared permanently unfit, 39
      candidates were declared temporarily unfit, and the remaining were found fit for
      aviation duties. DISCUSSION: Abdominal sonographic screening in young healthy
      asymptomatic aircrew may be a valuable extension of the initial medical
      evaluation. It is particularly important in the high-risk subgroup of military
      aviators for determining long-term career prospects.

PMID- 20922891
TI  - An artificial pancreas.

PMID- 20922892
TI  - You're the flight surgeon. H. pylori positive peptic ulcer disease.

PMID- 20922893
TI  - Classics in space medicine. An account of experiments in which two monkeys were
      recovered unharmed after ballistic space flight.

PMID- 20922894
TI  - Right subclavian artery aneurysm: report of a case.
AB  - A subclavian artery aneurysm is relatively rare in comparison with other
      peripheral aneurysms. Surgical repair should be considered regardless of size and
      location, because thromboembolism or rupture can occur when a small aneurysm is
      untreated. We describe the management and surgical treatment in a patient with a
      right subclavian artery aneurysm. Surgical repair included the ligation of the
      right vertebral artery and reconstruction of the subclavian artery through an
      upper partial median sternotomy with right supraclavicular extension. Successful
      repair of the aneurysm was accomplished and the patient's postoperative course
      was uneventful with no medication.

PMID- 20922895
TI  - Sentinel lymph node biopsy in conjunctival malignant melanoma at the lacrimal
      caruncle: a case report.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Conjunctival malignant melanoma (CMM) is so rare that there are no
      certain guidelines for its treatment. Factors influencing its prognosis include
      region of onset, tumor thickness, lymph node metastasis, and distant metastasis.
      Whether regional lymph node metastasis is present or not is one of the most
      powerful factors for predicting recurrence in and survival of patients with CMM.
      METHODS: A 72-year-old man with conjunctival malignant melanoma at the lacrimal
      caruncle was underwent sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy by preoperative
      lymphoscintigraphy and intraoperative vital blue mapping. RESULTS: A blue-dyed
      node could be identified in the superficial lobe of the parotid gland. A split
      half of the cropped SLN was immediately submitted to rapid pathological
      examination. After confirming no metastasis, it was decided not to perform lymph
      node dissection. The final diagnosis was pT3N0M0. Neither recurrence nor distant
      metastasis has been observed for 7 years after the operation. CONCLUSIONS: We
      were able to evaluate N (lymph node metastasis) in the TNM classification
      accurately. SLN may facilitate N classification and decisions regarding
      employment of appropriate lymph node dissection as well as combined therapy after
      operation.

PMID- 20922896
TI  - Baylor's Frederick Savelsbergh on capital financing strategy.

PMID- 20922897
TI  - Payment reform, accountable care, and risk: early lessons for providers.
AB  - Several organizations have begun to design and even implement accountable care
      organization (ACO), payment reform, and risk sharing pilots. Here are some early
      lessons: Providers should not design and implement ACOs, payment pilots, and risk
      models in a vacuum. Providers should tackle five core decision areas that
      underlie all ACOs, payment pilots, and risk arrangements. Providers should invest
      in analytics to inform tactical and strategic decisions simultaneously.
      Successful organizations implement pilot programs before going into full
      production mode.

PMID- 20922898
TI  - The cost of confusion: healthcare reform and value-based purchasing.
AB  - Title III of the Affordable Care Act presents two types of opportunities: those
      whose outcomes pose some uncertainties and those whose outcomes are well known.
      Accountable care organizations (ACOs) represent an uncertain opportunity, and
      although they may prove to be a worthwhile pursuit, focus on ACOs should
      generally not take precedence over more pressing concerns, such as impending loss
      of Medicare revenue. Value-based purchasing represents an opportunity that, if
      missed, would likely result in a revenue loss.

PMID- 20922899
TI  - The intended-and unintended-consequences of healthcare reform.
AB  - Healthcare reform will affect providers by: Changing employer-sponsored health
      plans. Cutting Medicare payment. Expanding Medicaid coverage. Penalizing
      excessive avoidable readmissions. Increasing Medicaid payment to primary care
      physicians. Increasing payment to community health centers. Changing patient
      provider relationships.

PMID- 20922900
TI  - HFMA's reform resources.

PMID- 20922901
TI  - Understanding variation in Medicare inpatient payment.
AB  - Average Medicare payments vary widely from state to state. Average Medicare costs
      vary widely too but often not in concert with payment variation. As a result,
      many states have negative Medicare margins, and some are surprising.

PMID- 20922903
TI  - Hospitals join forces to transform the revenue cycle.
AB  - Standardization across hospitals fosters accountability and productivity,
      facilitates the dissemination of best practices, and provides for comparable
      measurement. Managin by metrics allows leaders to drive targeted projects,
      achieve desired results, and sustain the projects, achieve desired results, and
      sustain the improvements made. Strong sponsorship is key to successfully
      deploying Six Sigma black belts to partner with process owners and drive process
      improvement.

PMID- 20922902
TI  - Using the medicare cost report to improve financial performance.
AB  - The Medicare cost report can help you understand your organization's financial
      performance by providing a means to: Analyze costs. Assess departmental and payer
      margins. Compare performance with the competition.

PMID- 20922904
TI  - From acquisition to integration: transforming a hospital into an ACO.
AB  - Five steps are essential to the process of hospitals acquiring physician groups
      to develop truly integrated delivery systems: Securing internal and external
      approvals. Integrating physicians into leadership and governance. Developing
      physician employment terms and compensation. Exploiting reimbursement improvement
      opportunities. Streamlining operations

PMID- 20922905
TI  - Automating the OR supply chain at Memorial Hermann Healthcare System.
AB  - Implementing point-of-use automation for the operating room supply chain involved
      automating and standardizing supply chain processes. Each supply item was
      identified and assigned a unique code as part of the automated chargemaster
      catalog. The pilot generated additional net revenue and yielded operational
      efficiencies.

PMID- 20922906
TI  - Reducing clinical costs with an EHR.
AB  - Steps that hospitals should take to ensure they are gaining optimal value from
      their electronic health record (EHR) systems include: Creating a value framework
      for EHR implementation a value framework or EHR implementation. Creating and
      build executive understanding of the framework. Quantifying each of the expected
      benefits of EHR implementation. Creating a cross-functional executive team to
      lead investments in performance management related to the EHR system. Aligning
      incentives through a formal physician engagement strategy.

PMID- 20922907
TI  - Road trip to organizational success.

PMID- 20922908
TI  - Major capital projects and hospital cost position.

PMID- 20922909
TI  - Inhibitory effect of arsenic on aerobic gut flora in rat.
AB  - An in vivo study was carried on rats to see the influence of arsenic on aerobic
      gut flora. A significant inhibition of gut flora was observed after 2 weeks of
      administration of arsenic (1 mg/L) ad libitum with a decrease in stool arsenic
      level and increase in liver arsenic level. However, this inhibitory effect of
      arsenic on gut flora was not observed in presence of vitamin E (1 mg/day) or
      selenium (0.4 microg/day). Pretreatment with streptomycin (500 mg twice daily)
      showed similar results. Rats that received folic acid (200 microg/day) showed
      inhibition of gut floral count but there were decreased liver arsenic level.

PMID- 20922910
TI  - Ethnobotanical, phytochemical and toxicological studies of Xanthium strumarium L.
AB  - The present study describes the ethnobotanical, phytochemical, and toxicological
      evaluations of Xanthium strumarium L. growing in Bangladesh. In toxicity
      evaluation on rats, the methanol extract of seedlings showed mortality, while
      both seedling and mature plant extracts raised the serum alanine transaminase and
      aspartate transaminase values and produced significant abnormalities in the
      histopathology of liver and kidney of rats. On the other hand, the aqueous
      soluble fraction of methanol extract of mature plant (LC50 = 0.352 microg/mL) and
      methanol crude extract of seedlings (LC50 = 0.656 microg/mL) demonstrated
      significant toxicity in the brine shrimp lethality bioassay. A total of four
      compounds were purified and characterized as stigmasterol (1), 11-hydroxy-11
      carboxy-4-oxo-1(5),2(Z)-xanthadien-12,8-olide (2), daucosterol (3) and lasidiol
      10-anisate (4). The present study suggests that X. strumarium is toxic to animal.

PMID- 20922911
TI  - Levofloxacin prophylaxis to prevent bacterial infection in chemotherapy-induced
      neutropenia in acute leukemia.
AB  - Infection in chemotherapy-induced neutropenia (neutrophils < 500/mm3) is the main
      cause of death during the treatment of acute leukemia. Antibiotic prophylaxis is
      a controversial issue to prevent or delay this infection. This study assessed the
      efficacy of prophylaxis with oral levofloxacin in chemotherapy-induced febrile
      neutropenic patients. Eighty patients of acute leukemia was randomly assigned to
      had levofoxacin (500 mg/daily) or placebo from the starting of chemotherapy. Out
      of 80 patients 53 developed neutropenia and fever. The number of patients with
      fever (78% vs. 68%), isolation of the pathogenic bacteria (30.43% vs. 16%) was
      higher and mean starting day of the fever (11.1 vs. 13.2) was shorter in the
      placebo group than the levofloxacin group. Levofloxacin reduced the bacterial
      infections and delays the onset of fever in chemotherapy-induced neutropenia
      especially in short duration (< 7 days).

PMID- 20922912
TI  - Free radicals and antioxidant status in acute myocardial infarction patients with
      and without diabetes mellitus.
AB  - In this study we investigated the oxidative stress, antioxidants and inflammatory
      molecules in patients of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) with diabetes (n = 50)
      and non-diabetes (n = 50). Fifty healthy subjects were taken as control. The
      levels of plasma TBARS and ceruloplasmin levels were significantly high in
      diabetic and non-diabetic AMI patients as compared with control. On the other
      hand, the activities of both enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants were
      significantly decreased in diabetic and non-diabetic AMI patients as compared
      with control. Inflammatory markers showed significant rise in diabetic patients
      as compared with controls. Our results show increased inflammation and oxidative
      stress in patients with AMI, and magnitude of imbalance is greater in diabetic
      AMI patients, possibly because of greater inflammation in diabetic patients.

PMID- 20922913
TI  - Determining infants' age for measles vaccination based on persistence of
      protective level of maternal measles antibody.
AB  - The present study was conducted over a period of one year to find the right time
      for measles vaccination when maternal antibody titer in infants was decayed
      rendering them susceptible to wild virus infection. Blood samples were collected
      from the cord of new born (147), 2-5 months (47) and 5 to 7.5 months (24) of age.
      The mean measles IgG antibody titer detected in cord blood at birth (0 months)
      was 348.8 mlU/mL which steeply decreased to 155.6 mlU/mL by the age of 2-3
      months. After that the fall in antibody becomes relatively slower and decreased
      to 101.6 mIU/mL by the age of 3-5 months and 38.8 mlU/mL by the age of 5-6 months
      and to 19.2 mIU/mL between the age of 6 to 7.5 months. The fall in antibody level
      with the advance of age was statistically significant (p < 0.001 ). Majority of
      the subjects (97.6%) exhibited protective level of antibody at birth. But only a
      little above one-quarter (25.5%) of them persisted the protective level between
      the age of 2-5 months and none had protective level from 5 months onwards.

PMID- 20922914
TI  - Effect of carvedilol on adrenaline-induced changes in serum electrolytes in rat.
AB  - Circulating catecholamine that is increased in early phase of myocardial
      infarction alters serum electrolyte levels which might predispose to serious
      ventricular arrhythmias. In this study the effect of pretreatment of carvedilol
      on adrenaline-induced changes in the serum electrolytes (Mg2+, K+, Ca2+, Na+) was
      evaluated in rats. Adrenaline was administered at a dose of 2 mg/kg body weight
      subcutaneously 2 injections 24 hours apart and serum electrolytes were estimated
      at 12 hours, 24 hours and 7 days after the 2nd injection of adrenaline.
      Adrenaline administration initially caused hypomagnesemia, hypokalemia,
      hypocalcemia and hyponatremia, which were restored to normal spontaneously within
      7 days. Pretreatment of carvedilol orally at a dose of 1 mg/kg body weight for 2
      weeks significantly prevented initial reduction in serum electrolyte levels
      induced by adrenaline. It was concluded that prophylactic use of carvedilol might
      prevent the serious consequences of myocardial infarction as sudden cardiac death
      due to arrhythmia caused by electrolyte changes.

PMID- 20922915
TI  - Seroprevalence of cytomegalovirus antibody in antenatal population in Bangladesh.

PMID- 20922916
TI  - [Current population-based public health workforces in Bangladesh].

PMID- 20922917
TI  - Safety and efficacy of atrial septal defect closure on normothermic on-pump
      beating heart.

PMID- 20922918
TI  - Evaluation of a new cultural competency training program: CARE Columbus.
AB  - PURPOSE: This article reports the educational outcomes of the newly developed
      CARE (Cultural Awareness and Respect Through Education) Columbus cultural
      competency training program. METHODS: Questionnaires were administered to course
      participants, who completed the 3-hour CARE Columbus cultural competency training
      program from March 17, 2006, to April 18, 2008. A pilot work site implementation
      questionnaire was also sent to a smaller sample of participants who completed the
      course. RESULTS: The CARE Columbus cultural competency training received an
      overall program rating of 4.5 on a 5-point scale. Sixty-three percent (379 of
      601) of the participants completed the program questionnaires. In addition, 55%
      (33 of 60) of the pilot work site implementation questionnaires were completed.
      CONCLUSION: Initial evaluation of the CARE Columbus cultural competency training
      program appears to demonstrate its effectiveness in improving attitudes,
      knowledge, and skills. Expanded evaluation to include determination of how best
      to overcome work site implementation barriers is warranted. Future challenges
      include development of an optimal business plan to maintain sustainability and
      improve outreach of CARE Columbus and similar classroom style training programs.

PMID- 20922919
TI  - First-year medical students' perceptions of physicians' responsibilities toward
      the underserved: an analysis of reflective essays.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To explore medical students' perceptions of their future role as
      physicians as it relates to personal and professional responsibilities toward the
      underserved. METHODS: The authors conducted a qualitative content analysis of 53
      first-year medical students' reflective essays focusing on the question: "Access
      to health care is a societal problem. Do physicians have a professional
      obligation to help by participating in free clinics, or otherwise doing some
      service-type activity? What are your personal feelings about how you might
      balance service to other people with personal issues like income, family, and
      career choice?" RESULTS: The student essays revealed students' awareness of the
      distinct expertise that enables physicians to offset limited access to health
      care. Although the majority of respondents supported physicians' responsibility
      to provide uncompensated care, a minority believed that there was no such
      responsibility attached to being a physician. Students also recognized the
      competing demands physicians often encounter that conflict with personal desires
      for service. CONCLUSION: The use of reflective essays in medical school curricula
      seems promising, in that they elicited students' beliefs on a complex topic with
      direct implications for professional identity and career decisions.

PMID- 20922920
TI  - Barriers to collecting patient race, ethnicity, and primary language data in
      physician practices: an exploratory study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Experts recommend that physician practices collect and use patient
      race, ethnicity, and primary language data to document and address health care
      disparities and improve health care quality for diverse populations. Little is
      known about demographic data collection in small practice settings. OBJECTIVE: To
      conduct an exploratory study to examine demographic data collection in physician
      practices to reduce disparities and provide qualitative descriptions of
      facilitators and barriers to data collection. DESIGN: Semistructured telephone
      interviews. SETTING: Medical practices with 5 or fewer physicians. PARTICIPANTS:
      Practice managers, nurse managers, and physicians from 20 practices nationwide.
      RESULTS: Of the 20 practices interviewed, 9 reported collecting demographic data.
      Only 1 practice feature facilitated demographic data collection: use of an
      electronic medical record (EMR) system (7 of 10 practices with an EMR collected
      data). Participation in pay-for-performance programs, cultural competency
      training, and measuring clinical quality did not facilitate data collection. One
      practice linked demographic and quality data. A few used the data to track
      language service needs. The main perceived barriers to demographic data
      collection included concerns about privacy, the legality of collecting the
      information, possible resistance from patients and staff, difficulty recording
      the data, and uncertainty about whether the data would be useful. CONCLUSIONS:
      Few small practices use data to track or address disparities in health care. Most
      perceived barriers to data collection can be surmounted. There is hope for
      improved collection and use of data through the spread of information technology
      with comprehensive national health reform.

PMID- 20922921
TI  - Utilization of health care services and willingness to participate in future
      medical research: the role of race and social support.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Utilization of health care services and participation in medical
      research are 2 distinct yet closely related areas. The goal of this study was to
      investigate the similarities and differences in factors that are associated with
      health care service utilization and future participation in medical research, and
      the influence of race and social support. METHOD: We used data from the Greater
      Pittsburgh Randomized Household Health Survey, which consisted of a weighted
      sample of 741 white and 277 black respondents from Allegheny County,
      Pennsylvania. RESULTS: Logistic regression analyses revealed that utilization of
      health care services was associated with being younger (OR, 0.98; p < .001),
      being female (OR, 1.55; p < .05), high self-rated health (OR poor health, 2.29;
      OR average health, 2.18; p < .001; both in comparison to high self-rated health
      group) and high perceived quality of health care (OR poor quality, 3.63; OR
      average quality, 1.79; p < .001; both in Comparison to high perceived quality
      group), while future participation in medical research was associated with
      greater awareness of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study (none OR, 0.07; p < .01; only a
      little OR, 0.13; p < .01), more favorable opinions toward medical research
      (unfavorable OR; p < .001; neutral OR, 0.35; p < .05), and increased research
      incentives (free medical care OR, 1.27; p < .05; free transportation OR, 1.29; p
      < .05; money OR, 1.25; p < .05; free medication OR, 1.50; p < .001). CONCLUSIONS:
      While utilization of health care services and willingness to participate in
      future research are related, the factors associated with each vary greatly.
      Implications for health research and policy are discussed.

PMID- 20922922
TI  - Factors affecting whites' and blacks' attitudes toward race concordance with
      doctors.
AB  - This paper assesses whether 2 dimensions of whites' and blacks' attitudes toward
      race concordance with doctors are associated with past unfair treatment in health
      care and general racial attitudes, and whether the association varies by race.
      Using telephone survey data, we find that among blacks, but not whites, more
      positive attitudes toward race-concordant doctors are associated with past unfair
      treatment in health care related to doctor race. In addition, we find that among
      whites, but not blacks, more positive attitudes toward race concordance are
      associated with negative attitudes toward interracial contact in general. We
      conclude that these dimensions of blacks' and whites' attitudes toward health
      care are associated with distinct factors. The findings encourage research on how
      attitudes formed outside health care, as well as how health care experiences
      influence attitudes toward health care and how these factors may vary by location
      in the system of racial inequality.

PMID- 20922923
TI  - Addressing obesity and diabetes among African American men: examination of a
      community-based model of prevention.
AB  - The Save Our Sons study is a community-based, culturally responsive, and gender
      specific intervention aimed at reducing obesity and diabetes among a small sample
      (n = 42) of African American men. The goals of the study were to: (1) test the
      feasibility of implementing a group health education and intervention model to
      reduce the incidence of diabetes and obesity among African American men; (2)
      improve regular access to and utilization of health care services and community
      supportive resources to promote healthy lifestyles among African American men;
      and (3) build community networks and capacity for advocacy and addressing some of
      the health needs of African American men residing in Lorain County, Ohio. Trained
      community health workers facilitated activities to achieve program aims.
      Following the 6-week intervention, results indicated that participant's had
      greater knowledge about strategies for prevention and management of obesity and
      diabetes; increased engagement in exercise and fitness activities; decreased
      blood pressure, weight, and body mass index levels; and visited a primary care
      doctor more frequently. Also, local residents elevated African American men's
      health and identified it as a priority in their community. This model of
      prevention appears to be a substantial, robust, and replicable approach for
      improving the health and wellbeing of African American men.

PMID- 20922924
TI  - Racial/ethnic disparities in the utilization of high-technology hospitals.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Hospitals with high-technology services may have better outcomes.
      However, access to high-technology hospitals might not be uniform across
      racial/ethnic groups. This study examined if racial/ethnic minorities, compared
      to whites, are less likely to utilize hospitals that have the availability of
      technology services and infrastructure items such as computed tomography,
      positron emission tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, diagnostics radiation
      facility, and a level 1 trauma unit. METHODS: Data were obtained from the 2003
      Healthcare Cost & Utilization Project's Nationwide Inpatient Sample and the 2003
      American Hospital Association's annual survey data. The sample consisted of 3381
      324 patients admitted to and discharged from 368 hospitals in 18 states in the
      United States. RESULTS: Logistic regression results suggest that Hispanic
      patients are less likely than whites to utilize high-technology hospitals when
      controlling for other factors (odds ratio[OR], 0.47; 95% confidence interval
      [CI], 0.28-0.79). CONCLUSIONS: Our study adds empirical evidence that significant
      gaps persist in access to care between minorities and whites. Particularly,
      access to high-technology hospitals for Hispanics appears to be a major problem.

PMID- 20922925
TI  - Head and neck cancer screening in homeless communities: HEAL (Health Education,
      Assessment, and Leadership).
AB  - Homeless persons are at high risk for medical illness, particularly for head and
      neck cancers, but they face several barriers to receiving adequate health care.
      We conducted cancer screening and education about head and neck cancer risk
      factors in one such population (n = 325). Although 41.4% of the participants
      reported at least 1 otolaryngologic sign or symptom, and 8.6% reported having 2
      or more symptoms, most of them (72.3%) had received no medical care. The symptom
      reported most often was a change in voice (17.2%). In all, 11% of the
      participants were referred for head or neck cancer evaluation, and 9% of those
      undergoing biopsy had a malignancy that was later treated. Nearly 75% of
      participants had at least a ninth-grade education. However, although 71.2% knew
      that the use of tobacco can lead to lung cancer, 78.9% did not recognize that it
      can also lead to head or neck cancer. In this population, cigarette smoking was
      associated with more than doubled odds of follow-up medical care (odds ratio,
      2.31). Head and neck cancers cause substantial morbidity and mortality. Community
      outreach programs can be an excellent starting point to improving early detection
      and health education for underserved communities.

PMID- 20922926
TI  - Racial/ethnic disparities in poststroke outpatient rehabilitation among veterans.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To examine racial/ethnic differences in the use of poststroke
      outpatient rehabilitation in veterans. METHODS: We examined data from 4115
      veterans with a diagnosis of stroke who were seen at a VA Medical Center in the
      southeastern United States. We compared the receipt of physical therapy (PT) and
      occupational therapy (OT) evaluations, visits, and procedures among 3
      racial/ethnic groups. Multiple logistic regression was used to assess the
      independent effect of race/ethnicity on the receipt of a PT or OT evaluation and
      Poisson regression to estimate the effect of race/ethnicity on treatment visits
      and procedures received. RESULTS: In univariate comparisons, a higher proportion
      of blacks received PT and OT evaluations than whites and others. Similarly,
      blacks received a higher mean number of PT/ OT treatments than whites and others.
      In multivariate logistic models with whites as reference, blacks were more likely
      to receive PT evaluations (odds ratio [OR], 1.47; 95% confidence interval [CI],
      1.24-1.74) and OT evaluations (OR, 1.23; 95% CI, 1.01-1.51). In multivariate
      Poisson models with whites as reference, blacks received more PT/OT visits (OR,
      7.22; 95% CI, 5.95-8.76) than non-Hispanic whites (OR, 5.28; 95% CI, 4.41-6.33),
      while others received fewer visits (OR, 4.39; 95% CI, 3.58-5.39) than the
      reference group. No significant differences were observed across groups in the
      number of procedures completed during each treatment visit. CONCLUSIONS: In an
      equal-access system, blacks were more likely to receive outpatient PT/OT
      evaluations and higher mean number of PT/OT treatments. Future studies need to
      examine sociodemographic and disease-specific factors that account for these
      differences.

PMID- 20922928
TI  - Unusual case of dysphagia in a male.
AB  - Plummer Vinson Syndrome, a triad of dysphagia, esophageal web, and iron
      deficiency anemia, is a rarely reported diagnosis in current literature. The
      exact etiology of the syndrome remains controversial, but it has been linked to
      complicated nutritional deficiencies, autoimmune disorders, and hereditary
      factors, and has a remarkably high female to male ratio. This paper describes an
      atypical case presentation in a 53-year-old male with a remote history of peptic
      ulcer disease surgery.

PMID- 20922927
TI  - Partnerships in health disparities research and the roles of pastors of black
      churches: potential conflict, synergy, and expectations.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The black church is a promising site to engage in health disparities
      research; however, little is understood about the pastors' perspectives. We used
      role theory to explore their expectations, potential conflicts, and synergy with
      research. METHODS: Four focus groups (n = 30) were conducted with pastors and
      analyzed using principles of grounded theory and content analysis. RESULTS:
      Pastors identified a variety of potential roles in research. They noted potential
      conflicts due to perceptions of research, the process, and pace of research.
      Areas of synergy included perceptions of health disparities research as
      consistent with the healthy mind, body, and spirit ideology, and clear benefits
      to congregations and communities. Pastors' research expectations included long
      term commitments, honest and clear communication, investigator visibility,
      respect for church traditions/practices, and support in forming collaborations.
      CONCLUSIONS: Understanding pastors' roles, potential areas of synergy and
      conflict, and collaboration expectations offers insight in support of successful
      church-academic partnerships.

PMID- 20922929
TI  - Who owns your genes.

PMID- 20922930
TI  - In the Journal of the National Medical Association 100 years ago: the JNMA fights
      back.

PMID- 20922931
TI  - A successful combination.
AB  - In 1967, the American Board of Pediatrics and the American Board of Internal
      Medicine uniformly recognized the 4-year combined medicine and pediatrics
      training program. Since that time, the number of combined internal medicine and
      pediatrics programs has increased. Today, there are more than 78 combined
      residency programs with more than 354 first-year residency positions throughout
      the United States. Medicine/pediatrics residency programs give the resident the
      opportunity to rotate 24 months in each specialty. Graduates of combined
      medicine/pediatrics residency programs have several career options available to
      them. In 2007, a total of 55% of medicine/pediatrics residents went into primary
      care practice, 18% went into subspecialty training, 17% went into hospital
      medicine, and 10% chose other careers.

PMID- 20922932
TI  - Danny O. Jacobs, MD, MPH.

PMID- 20922933
TI  - New instruments for electron, fluorescence, and helium ion microscopy.

PMID- 20922934
TI  - New and improved HPLC methods for drug formulations and clinical analysis.

PMID- 20922935
TI  - Determination of carbamazepine and its impurities iminostilbene and iminodibenzyl
      in solid dosage form by column high-performance liquid chromatography.
AB  - An accurate and precise RP-HPLC method was developed and validated for the
      determination of carbamazepine and its impurities iminostilbene and iminodibenzyl
      in a tablet formulation with fluphenazine as an internal standard. Buffer
      methanol (50 + 50, v/v) was used as the mobile phase. During validation,
      specificity, linearity, precision, accuracy, LOD, LOQ, and robustness of the
      method were tested. The method was proven to be specific against placebo
      interference. Linearity was evaluated over the concentration range of 100-500,
      0.05-0.25, and 0.1-0.5 microg/mL, and the r values were 0.9994, 0.9997, and
      0.9979 for carbamazepine, iminostilbene, and iminodibenzyl, respectively.
      Intraday precision of the method was good, and RSD was below 2% for all analytes.
      The accuracy of the method ranged from 100.69 to 102.10, 99.76 to 102.66, and
      99.26 to 100.08% for carbamazepine, iminostilbene, and iminodibenzyl,
      respectively. LOD was 0.0125, 0.025, and 0.05 microg/mL and LOQ was 0.05, 0.05,
      and 0.1 microg/mL for carbamazepine, iminostilbene, and iminodibenzyl,
      respectiviely. Robustness of the method was proven by using a chemometric
      approach. The method was successfully applied to the analysis of commercially
      available carbamazepine tablets and showed good repeatability, with RSD below 2%.

PMID- 20922936
TI  - Rapid high-performance liquid chromatography method for determination of
      pregabalin in a pharmaceutical dosage form following derivatization with
      fluorescamine.
AB  - A simple, fast, and sensitive HPLC method was developed and validated for the
      evaluation of pregabalin in a pharmaceutical dosage form using fluorescamine as a
      derivatization agent for the first time. After a precolumn derivatization (5 min,
      room temperature), the reaction mixture was chromatographed on a C18 column with
      isocratic elution using 0.2% of triethylamine in a mixture of methanol and water
      (10 + 90, v/v). 3-Aminopentanoic acid was used as the internal standard. Using
      fluorescent detection (lamdaex 395 nm, lamdaem 476 nm), a low detection limit of
      0.02 microg/mL was reached. The method was linear (r > 0.999) over the lower
      (0.125-25 microg/mL) and higher (1.25-250 microg/mL) concentration range. The
      intraday and interday precision of the QC samples was < 4.3%, and the accuracy
      was 94.2-102.5%. The samples were stable for 24 h at 4 degrees C. The robustness
      study showed that the derivatization is more robust than the chromatography
      method. The method was applied for the analysis of pregabalin content in 25, 75,
      and 300 mg capsules, and a good agreement was found with the declared amount of
      pregabalin (the relative error did not exceed 3.2%). Finally, the method was
      successfully used for dissolution studies of pregabalin capsules.

PMID- 20922937
TI  - Reversed-phase HPLC analysis of levetiracetam in tablets using monolithic and
      conventional C18 silica columns.
AB  - Development and validation of an RP-HPLC method for determination of
      levetiracetam in pharmaceutical tablets is described. The separation and
      quantification of levetiracetam and caffeine (internal standard) were performed
      using a single analytical procedure with two different types of stationary
      phases, conventional Phenomenex Gemini C18 (100 x 4.6 mm, 5 microm) and Merck
      Chromolith Performance RP18e (100 x 4.6 mm, macropore size 2 mm, micropore size
      13 nm) monolithic silica. Five-microliter aliquots of samples were injected into
      the system and eluted using water-acetonitrile (90 + 10, v/v) mobile phase pumped
      at the rate of 1 mL/min. The analyte peaks were detected at 200 nm using a diode
      array detector with adequate resolution. Validation studies were performed using
      the method recommended by the International Conference on Harmonization, the U.S.
      Pharmacopeia, and AOAC INTERNATIONAL, which includes accuracy, precision, range,
      limits, robustness, and system suitability parameters. Levetiracetam and caffeine
      were detected in about 7 min using the conventional column, whereas less than 5
      min was required when the monolithic column was used. Calibration plots had r
      values close to unity in the range of 0.8-8.0 microg/mL. Assay of levetiracetam
      in a tablet formulation was demonstrated as an application to real samples.

PMID- 20922938
TI  - Stability-indicating validated HPLC method for simultaneous determination of oral
      antidiabetic drugs from thiazolidinedione and sulfonylurea groups in combined
      dosage forms.
AB  - For type 2 diabetes treatment, combinations of drugs from the thiazolidinedione
      and sulfonylurea groups are now available in the same tablet or capsule.
      Therefore, a stability-indicating and validated HPLC method was developed for
      simultaneous determination of pioglitazone, rosiglitazone, and glipizide in
      combined dosage forms. The examined drugs were subjected to different conditions
      such as acid and base, temperature, and UV light, and degradation of pioglitazone
      and glipizide was observed under thermal and acidic stress. However, selectivity
      of the presented method for pioglitazone, rosiglitazone, and glipizide assay
      against their degradation products was confirmed. It was also demonstrated to be
      robust, resisting small deliberate changes in pH of the buffer, flow rate, and
      percentage of acetonitrile in the mobile phase. The presented method utilizes a
      LiChrospher RP18 column (125 x 4.0 mm), acetonitrile in phosphate buffer at pH
      4.3 (40 + 60, v/v) as the mobile phase, and UV detection at 225 nm for
      pioglitazonel glipizide or 245 nm for rosiglitazone/glipizide. The method was
      validated with respect to linearity, precision, and accuracy. Finally, the
      elaborated procedure was applied for the QC of pioglitazone/glipizide and
      rosiglitazone/glipizide mixtures.

PMID- 20922939
TI  - A porous graphitized carbon column HPLC method for the quantification of
      paracetamol, pseudoephedrine, and chlorpheniramine in a pharmaceutical
      formulation.
AB  - A simple, rapid, and stability-indicating HPLC method has been developed, fully
      validated, and applied to the quantification of paracetamol, pseudoephedrine
      hydrochloride, and chlorpheniramine maleate in a pharmaceutical formulation,
      using hydrochlorothiazide as an internal standard. Chromatographic separation was
      achieved isocratically on an RP porous graphitized carbon analytical column (125
      x 2.1 mm id, particle size 5 microm) using 5.0 mM ammonium acetate-acetonitrile
      (35 + 65, v/v) mobile phase at a flow rate of 0.50 mL/min. UV spectrophotometric
      detection at 220 nm was used. The method had linear calibration curves over the
      range of 30-70 microg/mL for paracetamol, 1.8-4.2 microg/mL for pseudoephedrine
      hydrochloride, and 120-280 ng/mL for chlorpheniramine maleate. The intraday and
      interday RSD values were less than 3.2% for all compounds, while the relative
      error was less than 2.9%. Accelerated stability studies performed under various
      stress conditions proved the selectivity of the method. The developed method was
      applied successfully to QC and content uniformity tests of commercial tablets.

PMID- 20922940
TI  - Validation of a column liquid chromatographic method for the analysis of
      pramipexole and its five impurities.
AB  - In this paper, a previously optimized method for HPLC analysis of pramipexole and
      its impurities was subjected to method validation in accordance with official
      regulations. The optimized chromatographic conditions were as follows: mobile
      phase acetonitrile-water phase [15 + 85, v/v, water phase contained 1%
      triethylamine (TEA), pH adjusted to 7.0 with orthophosphoric acid]; detection at
      262 nm for pramipexole, BI-II 751 xx, BI-I 786 BS, BI-II 820 BS, and 2
      aminobenzothiazole and at 326 nm for BI-II 546 CL; column temperature, 25 degrees
      C; and flow rate, 1 ml/min. Acetonitrile and TEA content, pH of the water phase,
      flow rate, column temperature, and column type were factors studied in robustness
      testing. According to the experimental plan defined by a Plackett-Burman design,
      five dummy variables were added in order to have 12 factors. As output,
      resolution factor was chosen. Robustness was assessed by graphical (half-normal
      probability plots and Pareto charts) and statistical (t-test) methods. Also,
      nonsignificance intervals for significant factors were estimated, and limits for
      the system suitability test were determined. Finally, linearity, accuracy, and
      precision of the proposed HPLC method were defined. LOD and LOQ values for
      analyzed impurities were determined. The method was completely defined by these
      experiments.

PMID- 20922941
TI  - Development of an ion-pair reversed-phase HPLC method with indirect UV detection
      for determination of phosphates and phosphites as impurities in sodium
      risedronate.
AB  - A method based on RP-HPLC with indirect UV detection was developed for the
      determination of phosphates and phosphites as impurities in sodium risedronate.
      RP separation of the phosphates and phosphites was achieved by adding
      tetrabutylammonium hydroxide as an ion-pairing agent in the mobile phase.
      Potassium hydrogen phthalate was added to the mobile phase as an ionic
      chromophore in order to obtain high background absorption of the mobile phase.
      Separation was performed on a C18 column using a mixture of pH 8.2 buffer
      (containing 0.5 mM tetrabutylammonium hydroxide and 1 mM phthalate) and
      acetonitrile (95 + 5, v/v) as the mobile phase, with indirect UV detection at 248
      nm. The validation of the method included determination of
      specificity/selectivity, linearity, LOD, LOQ, accuracy, precision, and
      robustness. The LOD was 0.86 microg/mL for phosphates and 0.76 microg/mL for
      phosphites. The LOQ was 2.60 microg/mL for phosphates and 2.29 microg/mL for
      phosphites. The developed method is suitable for quantitative determination of
      phosphates and phosphites as impurities in QC of sodium risedronate.

PMID- 20922942
TI  - High-performance liquid chromatographic determination of pantoprazole and its
      main impurities in pharmaceuticals.
AB  - An RP-HPLC method for simultaneous separation and quantification of pantoprazole
      and its five main impurities in pharmaceutical formulations was developed and
      validated. The separation was accomplished on a Zorbax Eclipse XDB C18 column (5
      microm particle size, 150 x 4.6 mm id) using a gradient with mobile phase A
      [buffer-acetonitrile (70 + 30, v/v)], and mobile phase B [buffer-acetonitrile (30
      + 70, v/v)]. The buffer was 0.01 M ammonium acetate solution with addition of 1
      mL triethylamine/L of the solution, adjusted to pH 4.5 with orthophosphoric acid.
      The eluent flow rate was 1 mL/min, the temperature of the column was 30 degrees
      C, and the eluate was monitored at 290 nm. Linearity (r = 0.999), recovery (97.6
      105.8%), RSD (0.55-1.90%), and LOQ (0.099-1.48 microg/mL) were evaluated and
      found to be satisfactory. The proposed method can be used for simultaneous
      identification and quantification of the analyzed compounds in pharmaceutical
      formulations.

PMID- 20922943
TI  - Validation of a novel, fully automated high throughput high-performance liquid
      chromatographic/tandem mass Spectrometric method for quantification of
      pantoprazole in human plasma.
AB  - An automated high-throughput HPLC/MS/MS method was developed for the quantitative
      determination of pantoprazole in human plasma. Only 100 microL plasma was placed
      in 2.2 mL 96 deep-well plates, and both pantoprazole and omeprazole (IS) were
      extracted from human plasma by liquid-liquid extraction, using diethyl ether
      dichloromethane (70:30, v/v) as the organic solvent. Robotic liquid-handling
      workstations were used for all liquid transfer and solution preparation steps and
      resulted in a short sample preparation time. After vortexing, centrifugation, and
      freezing, the supernatant organic solvent was evaporated and reconstituted in a
      small volume of reconstitution solution. Sample analysis was performed by
      utilizing the combination of RP-HPLC/MS/MS, with positive-ion electrospray
      ionization and multiple reaction monitoring detection. The chromatographic run
      time was set at 1.8 min with a flow rate of 0.6 mL/min on a Nucleosil octylsilyl
      (C8) analytical column. The method was proven to be sensitive, specific,
      accurate, and precise for the determination of pantoprazole in human plasma. The
      method was applied to a bioequivalence study after per os administration of a 40
      mg pantoprazole gastric retentive tablet.

PMID- 20922944
TI  - Analysis of salazinic, norstictic, and usnic acids in Xanthoparmelia chlorochroa
      by ultra-performance liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry.
AB  - The lichen species Xanthoparmelia chlorochroa is toxic when consumed by domestic
      sheep, cattle, and Rocky Mountain elk. Clinical signs exhibited by poisoned
      animals include red urine, ataxia, and muscular weakness that rapidly progresses
      to recumbency. Elk are unable to recover once becoming recumbent; however, most
      affected cattle can recover if offered suitable feed shortly following the onset
      of signs. At present, the pathogenesis and specific toxin(s) are unknown. As part
      of an effort to elucidate the proximate toxin, a method using ultra-performance
      LC coupled to MS/MS with negative-ion electrospray ionization has been developed
      to compare salazinic, norstictic, and usnic acid concentrations in X. chlorochroa
      collected from locales associated with lichen poisonings. Compounds were
      extracted from lichen samples with acetone and sonication. The stationary phase
      was a Waters Acquity UPLCTM BEH Ca18 (50 x 2.1 mm; 1.7 microm particle size)
      column. The mobile phase consisted of an acetonitrile-water gradient. The
      precision of the method was confirmed by an SD below 0.4% (n=9) for triplicate
      samples. LOD values were 200, 100, and 50 ng/mL for salazinic, norstictic, and
      usnic acids, respectively.

PMID- 20922945
TI  - Determination of molecular weight of silk fibroin by non-gel sieving capillary
      electrophoresis.
AB  - A simple non-gel sieving capillary electrophoresis (NGSCE) method was established
      to determine the MW of silk fibroin using CE. The background electrolyte with a
      pH of 8.8 was based on three components: polyethylene glycol,
      tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane, and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). NGSCE showed a
      good linear relationship with satisfactory reproducibility between the migration
      time and the MW of standard proteins. It was found that the regenerated silk
      fibroin had an MW around 83 kDa with a wide MW distribution (MWD). This absolute
      value is lower than the result obtained from SDS-polyacrylamide gel
      electrophoresis due to the different principles of the methods, but their similar
      MWD shapes indicated that NGSCE could be a feasible, highly sensitive, rapid
      method for determination of the MW of silk fibroin.

PMID- 20922946
TI  - Mass spectroscopic fingerprinting method for differentiation between Scutellaria
      lateriflora and the germander (Teucrium canadense and T. chamaedrys) species.
AB  - Scutellaria lateriflora, commonly known as skullcap, is used as an ingredient in
      numerous herbal products. However, it has been occasionally
      adulterated/contaminated with Teucrium canadense and T. chamaedrys, commonly
      known as germander, which contain hepatotoxic diterpenes. Due to the
      morphological similarities between the two genera, analytical methodologies to
      distinguish authentic S. lateriflora from the Teucrium species are needed to
      ensure public safety. In this study, a direct-injection electrospray
      ionization/MS method was used to generate spectral fingerprints of extracts from
      21 skullcap and germander samples at a rate of 90 s/sample. MS fingerprints were
      analyzed by principal component analysis. The newly developed method offers a
      rapid and easy way to differentiate between skullcap and germander samples.

PMID- 20922947
TI  - Determination of fumonisin B1 in botanical roots by liquid chromatography with
      fluorescence detection: single-laboratory validation.
AB  - The accuracy, repeatability, and reproducibility characteristics of a published
      method for measuring levels of fumonisin B1 (FB1) in botanical root products were
      determined by an AOAC single-laboratory validation procedure. Replicates of 10
      test portions of each powdered root product (black cohosh, echinacea, ginger,
      ginseng, valerian, dong quai, and turmeric) at each spiking level (FB1 at 0, 50,
      100, and 200 ng/g) were analyzed on 3 separate days. Test samples were extracted
      with methanol-acetonitrile-water (25 + 25 + 100, v/v/v). The extracts were
      centrifuged, the supernatants diluted with phosphate-buffered saline (PBS)
      containing 1% Tween 20 and filtered, and the filtrates applied to an
      immunoaffinity column containing antibodies specific for fumonisins. After the
      column was washed sequentially with PBS and water, the toxin was eluted from the
      column with 80% methanol, and the eluate dried by lyophilization. The residue was
      reconstituted with 50% acetonitrile. FB1 was derivatized with a mixture of o
      phthaldialdehyde and mercaptoethanol by using an LC autoinjector. Separations
      were performed with an RP-LC column, and the FB1 derivative was quantified by
      fluorescence detection. All root products were found to contain FB1 at <10 ng/g.
      Average within- and between-day recoveries of FB1 from the botanical roots ranged
      from 67 to 95% and from 68 to 100%, respectively. Total RSD values for within-
      and between-day repeatability ranged from 5.5 to 26.4%. HorRat values were <1.3
      for all of the matrixes examined. The method meets the AOAC method performance
      criteria at levels of >50 ng/g for the seven botanical roots tested.

PMID- 20922948
TI  - Development and validation of an HPLC-DAD analytical procedure for quality
      control of damiana (Turnera diffusa), using an antioxidant marker isolated from
      the plant.
AB  - Damiana is a shrub used as a dietary supplement and as an additive in several
      foods. This report presents the first validated analytical method for QC of
      products made from damiana. Through bioassay-guided fractionation, the compound
      showing the best antioxidant activity, determined using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl
      hydrazyl assay in TLC, was purified and identified as 8-C-beta-[6-deoxy-2-O
      (alpha-1-rhamnopyranosyl)-xylo- hexopyranos-3-uloside] (Cl50 5.56 g/mL). This is
      the only natural source from which this compound has been reported, and has been
      found in all native damiana samples analyzed. Therefore, it was used as a
      biomarker to develop an HPLC-diode-array detection analytical procedure using the
      first-order derivative of the chromatograms. Separation was achieved using an
      AccQ Tag C18 150 x 3.9 mm (4 microm) column, with a gradient of methanol and 0.1%
      trifluoroacetic acid in water. The method was shown to be accurate, sensitive,
      and reproducible, providing a useful quantitative means to apply QC to damiana
      products.

PMID- 20922949
TI  - Determination of multiresidue pesticides in green tea by using a modified
      QuEChERS extraction and ion-trap gas chromatography/mass spectrometry.
AB  - The pesticide residues in exported and imported tea products must not exceed the
      maximum residue limits (MRLs) regulated by the import countries. Tea is a complex
      matrix that obfuscates the determination of pesticide residues. Many available
      methods for multiresidue pesticide analysis of tea are time-consuming and require
      many cleanup steps. The objective of this study was to develop a simple
      multiresidue method by using a modified quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged,
      and safe (QuEChERS) extraction and ion-trap GC/MS/MS, which can identify,
      confirm, and quantify pesticides in complex matrixes. A tea product was
      homogenized with water, and the pesticides were extracted with acetonitrile
      containing 1% acetic acid. The extract was subjected to centrifugation, initial
      cleanup with dispersive SPE (dSPE), solvent exchange, and final cleanup with
      dSPE. Diethyl-d10-parathion and triphenyl phosphate were used as the internal
      standard and surrogate, respectively. The final extract was injected into an ITQ
      700 gas chromatograph/mass spectrometer. Quantitation of individual pesticides
      was based on matrix-matched calibration curves with a correlation coefficient of
      > 0.9930 for the 22 pesticides selected for the study. The recoveries of the 22
      pesticides ranged from 78 to 115%, except those for diazinon (130%) and malathion
      (122%), with an average RSD of 8.7%. The LOD values of all of the pesticides,
      except for terbufos, were below the MRLs set by the European Union and Japan.

PMID- 20922950
TI  - HPLC, TLC, and first-derivative spectrophotometry stability-indicating methods
      for the determination of tropisetron in the presence of its acid degradates.
AB  - Three stability-indicating assay methods were developed for the determination of
      tropisetron in a pharmaceutical dosage form in the presence of its degradation
      products. The proposed techniques are HPLC, TLC, and first-derivative
      spectrophotometry (1D). Acid degradation was carried out, and the degradation
      products were separated by TLC and identified by IR, NMR, and MS techniques. The
      HPLC method was based on determination of tropisetron in the presence of its acid
      induced degradation product on an RP Nucleosil C18 column using methanol-water
      acetonitrile-trimethylamine (65 + 20 + 15 + 0.2, v/v/v/v) mobile phase and UV
      detection at 285 nm. The TLC method was based on the separation of tropisetron
      and its acid-induced degradation products, followed by densitometric measurement
      of the intact spot at 285 nm. The separation was carried out on silica gel 60
      F254 aluminum sheets using methanol-glacial acetic acid (22 + 3, v/v) mobile
      phase. The 1D method was based on the measurement of first-derivative amplitudes
      of tropisetron in H2O at the zero-crossing point of its acid-induced degradation
      product at 271.9 nm. Linearity, accuracy, and precision were found to be
      acceptable over concentration ranges of 40-240 microg/mL, 1-10 microg/spot, and 6
      36 micro/mL for the HPLC, TLC, and 1D methods, respectively. The suggested
      methods were successfully applied for the determination of the drug in bulk
      powder, laboratory-prepared mixtures, and a commercial sample.

PMID- 20922951
TI  - Validated HPLC determination of the two fixed dose combinations (chlordiazepoxide
      hydrochloride and mebeverine hydrochloride; carvedilol and hydrochlorothiazide)
      in their tablets.
AB  - Simple, rapid, and selective RP-HPLC methods with UV detection were developed for
      simultaneous determination of chlordiazepoxide hydrochloride and mebeverine
      hydrochloride (Mixture I) and carvedilol and hydrochlorothiazide (Mixture II).
      The chromatographic separation in both mixtures was achieved by using an RP-C8
      (octylsilyl) analytical column. For Mixture I, a mobile phase composed of
      acetonitrile-0.05 M disodium hydrogen phosphate-triethylamine (50 + 50 + 0.2,
      v/v/v), pH 2.5, was used; the detector wavelength was 247 nm. For Mixture II, the
      mobile phase consisted of acetonitrile-0.05 M disodium hydrogen phosphate (50 +
      50, v/v), pH 4.0, and the detector was set at 220 nm. Quantification of the
      analytes was based on measuring their peak areas. Both mixtures were resolved in
      less than 6 min. The reliability and analytical performance of the proposed HPLC
      procedures were statistically validated with respect to linearity, range,
      precision, accuracy, selectivity, robustness, LOD, and LOQ. The linear dynamic
      ranges were 2.5-150 and 2.5-500 microg/mL for chlordiazepoxide HCI and mebeverine
      HCI, respectively, and 0.25-200 and 0.25-150 microg/mL for carvedilol and
      hydrochlorothiazide, respectively. The validated HPLC methods were successfully
      applied to the analysis of their commercial tablet dosage forms, for which no
      interfering peaks were encountered from common pharmaceutical adjuvants.

PMID- 20922952
TI  - Analysis of quinapril by two solvent-saving methods: application of capillary
      column high-performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet absorbance
      detection and LDI-TOF-MS.
AB  - A capillary column high-performance liquid chromatography (CapLC) method and a
      laser desorption ionization-time of flight (LDI-TOF)-MS method are described for
      the determination of quinapril, an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor.
      Effective separation was achieved by using a C18 capillary column at a flow rate
      of 10 microL/min. For CapLC, quinapril and 7-hydroxycoumarin (internal standard)
      were detected at 210 and 320 nm, respectively. Phenformin replaced 7
      hydroxycoumarin as the internal standard for the LDI-TOF-MS method successfully
      developed to detect quinapril. The calibration curves showed good linearity in
      the range of 1-100 micro/mL in these two methods. For high throughput purposes,
      the LDI-TOF-MS method was simpler and faster than the CapLC method. Both green
      methods were suitably validated and successfully applied to determine quinapril
      in commercial tablets.

PMID- 20922953
TI  - Development and validation of a stability-indicating RP-HPLC method for
      determination of atomoxetine hydrochloride in tablets.
AB  - This paper describes the development of a stability-indicating RP-HPLC method for
      the determination of atomoxetine hydrochloride (ATX) in the presence of its
      degradation products generated from forced decomposition studies. The drug
      substance was subjected to stress conditions of acid, base, oxidation, wet heat,
      dry heat, and photodegradation. In stability tests, the drug was susceptible to
      acid, base, oxidation, and dry and wet heat degradation. It was found to be
      stable under the photolytic conditions tested. The drug was successfully
      separated from the degradation products formed under stress conditions on a
      Phenomenex C18 column (250 x 4.6 mm id, 5 microm particle size) by using
      acetonitrile-methanol-0.032 M ammonium acetate (55 + 05 + 40, v/v/v) as the
      mobile phase at 1.0 mL/min and 40 degrees C. Photodiode array detection at 275 nm
      was used for quantitation after RP-HPLC over the concentration range of 0.5-5
      microg/mL with a mean recovery of 100.8 +/- 0.4% for ATX. Statistical analysis
      demonstrated that the method is repeatable, specific, and accurate for the
      estimation of ATX. Because the method effectively separates the drug from its
      degradation products, it can be used as a stability-indicating method.

PMID- 20922954
TI  - Development and validation of an HPLC/MS/MS method for determining the
      thiazolidinone PG15 in rat plasma.
AB  - A rapid, sensitive, and simple HPLC/MS/MS method was developed and validated for
      the determination of (5Z,E)-3-[2-(4-chlorophenyl)-2-oxoethyl]-5-(1H-indol-3
      ylmethylene)-thiazolidine-2, 4-dione (PG15) in rat plasma using chlortalidone as
      an internal standard (IS). Analyses were performed using a C18 column and
      isocratic elution with acetonitrile-water (90 + 10, v/v) containing 10 mM
      ammonium hydroxide (pH 8.0) as the mobile phase pumped at 0.3 mL/min. Detection
      was performed by MS with negative ion mode electrospray ionization. Rat plasma
      samples were prepared by deproteinizing with acetonitrile. Detected fragments
      were 395.1 > 171.9 for PG15 and 337.3 > 189.9 for the IS. Calibration curves were
      linear from 10 to 1000 ng/mL, with the determination coefficient > 0.99. The
      intraday and interday precisions were less than 12.2 and 11.3%, respectively. The
      applicability of the HPLC/MS/MS method for pharmacokinetic studies was tested
      using plasma samples obtained after oral administration of PG15 to rats, and it
      provided the necessary sensitivity, linearity, precision, accuracy, and
      specificity.

PMID- 20922955
TI  - Determination of rosuvastatin and ezetimibe in a combined tablet dosage form
      using high-performance column liquid chromatography and high-performance thin
      layer chromatography.
AB  - This paper describes validated HPLC and HPTLC methods for the simultaneous
      determination of rosuvastatin (ROS) and ezetimibe (EZE) in a combined tablet
      dosage form. The isocratic RP-HPLC analysis was performed on a Chromolith C18
      column (100 x 6 mm id) using 0.1% (v/v) orthophosphoric acid solution (pH 3.5)
      acetonitrile (63 + 37, v/v) mobile phase at a flow rate of 1 mL/min at ambient
      temperature. Quantification was carried out using a photodiode array UV detector
      at 245 nm over the concentration range of 0.5-10 microg/mL for ROS and EZE. The
      HPTLC separation was carried out on an aluminum-backed sheet of silica gel
      60F(254) layers using n-butyl acetate-chloroform-glacial acetic acid (1 + 8 + 1,
      v/v/v) mobile phase. Quantification was achieved with UV densitometry at 245 nm
      over a concentration range of 0.1-0.9 micro/spot for ROS and EZE. The analytical
      methods were validated according to International Conference on Harmonization
      guidelines. Low RSD values indicated good precision. Both methods were
      successfully applied for the analysis of the drugs in laboratory-prepared
      mixtures and commercial tablets. No chromatographic interference from the tablet
      excipients was found. These methods are simple, precise, and sensitive, and are
      applicable for simultaneous determination of ROS and EZE in pure powder and
      tablets.

PMID- 20922956
TI  - Development and validation of a micellar high-performance liquid chromatographic
      method for determination of risedronate in raw material and in a pharmaceutical
      formulation: application to stability studies.
AB  - A micellar HPLC method was developed for analysis of the antiosteoporosis drug
      risedronate. The analysis was carried out using a 250 x 4.6 mm id, 5 microm
      particle size C18 Waters Symmetry column. The mobile phase consisted of 0.02 M
      sodium dodecyl sulfate + 0.3% triethylamine + 10% n-propanol, prepared in 0.02 M
      orthophosphoric acid. The pH of the mobile phase was adjusted to pH 6.0, and it
      was pumped at a flow rate of 0.7 mL/min with UV detection at 262 nm. The method
      showed good linearity in the range of 2-80 microg/mL, with an LOD of 0.40
      microg/mL (1.31 x 10(-6) M) and an LOQ of 1.21 microg/mL. The suggested method
      was successfully applied for the analysis of risedronate in raw material and a
      tablet formulation, with average recoveries of 99.91 +/- 1.30 and 101.52 +/-
      0.30%, respectively. The stability-indicating capability of the proposed method
      was proved using forced degradation. By changing the pH of the mobile phase to
      4.0, the oxidative degradation product could be separated from risedronate.

PMID- 20922957
TI  - Determination of deoxynivalenol in processed foods.
AB  - Deoxynivalenol (DON), commonly referred to as vomitoxin, belongs to a class of
      naturally occurring mycotoxins produced by Fusarium fungi. The presence of DON in
      foods is a human health concern. The frequency of occurrence of DON in wheat is
      high, although cleaning prior to milling can reduce DON concentration in final
      products, and food processing can partially degrade the toxin. This paper
      describes a method for the determination of DON in some major wheat food
      products, including bread, breakfast cereals, pasta, pretzels, and crackers. Test
      samples containing 5% polyethylene glycol were extracted with water. After
      blending and centrifuging, the supernatant was diluted with water and filtered
      through glass microfiber filter paper. The filtrate was then passed through an
      immunoaffinity column and the toxins eluted with methanol. The toxins were then
      subjected to RPLC separation and UV detection. The accuracy and repeatability
      characteristics of the method were determined. Recoveries of DON spiked at levels
      from 0.5 to 1.5 microg/g in the five processed foods were >70%. SD and RSD values
      ranged from 2.0 to 23.5% and from 2.0 to 23.2%, respectively. HorRat values were
      <2 for all of the matrixes examined. The method was found to be acceptable for
      the matrixes examined. LC/MS/MS with multiple-reaction monitoring was used to
      confirm the identity of DON in naturally contaminated test samples.

PMID- 20922958
TI  - Evaluation of different machines used to quantify genetic modification by real
      time PCR.
AB  - Quantification of genetic modification (GM) is often undertaken to test for
      compliance with the European Union GM labeling threshold in food. Different
      control laboratories will often use common validated methods, but with different
      models of real-time PCR machines. We performed two separate ring trials to
      evaluate the relative precision and accuracy of different types of real-time PCR
      machines used to quantify the concentration of GM maize. Both trials used dual
      labeled fluorogenic probes for quantification. The first ring trial used separate
      GM and reference assays (a single fluorescence channel), and the second used a
      combined duplex assay (two simultaneous fluorescence channels). Five
      manufacturers and seven models--including a 96-well microtiter-plate, rotary, and
      portable machines--were examined. In one trial, the machine used had a
      significant effect on precision, but in the other it did not. Overall, the degree
      of variation due to the machine model was lower than other factors. No
      significant repeatable difference in accuracy was observed between machine
      models. It was not possible to use sufficient replication of machine type in each
      laboratory to examine all sources of variation in this study, but the results
      strongly indicate that factors other than machine type or manufacturer (e.g.,
      method or laboratory) contribute more to variation in a GM quantification result.

PMID- 20922959
TI  - Simple gas chromatographic method for the quantification of total cholesterol in
      fish meats.
AB  - Six fish species-Cirrhinus mrigala (Morakhi), Labeo rohita (Danbhro), Catla catla
      (Thalli), Wallago attu (Jarko), Ctenopharyngodon idella (Grass), and Cyprimus
      carpio (Gulfam)--commonly found in the Pakistani Indus river, were selected for
      fat and cholesterol evaluation. Fat content was quantified by the Folch method
      and cholesterol content was determined by a simple GC method. The application of
      the proposed method to quantify cholesterol content revealed variations among the
      six breeds evaluated. The breeds studied contained 0.80-1.95% fat, indicating
      that all investigated fishes were lean; significant variation was found in
      cholesterol content, and ranged between 72 and 392 mg/100 g. Standard addition
      analyses showed that the method was accurate, as the recovery of cholesterol
      varied from 95 to 103%, with a coefficient of variance not more than 5.6%. The
      results showed that, after the development of suitable calibration, within 11
      min, the cholesterol could be accurately determined by GC.

PMID- 20922960
TI  - Determination of walnut protein in processed foods by enzyme-linked immunosorbent
      assay: interlaboratory study.
AB  - Because food allergens from tree nuts, including walnuts, are a frequent cause of
      adverse food reactions for allergic patients, the labeling of foods containing
      ingredients derived from tree nuts is required in numerous countries. According
      to Japanese regulations, the labeling of food products containing walnuts is
      recommended. To ensure proper labeling, a novel sandwich ELISA kit for the
      determination of walnut protein in processed foods (Walnut Protein [2S-Albumin]
      Kit; Morinaga Institute of Biological Science, Inc.; "walnut kit") has been
      developed. We prepared seven types of incurred samples (model processed foods:
      biscuits, bread, sponge cake, orange juice, jelly, chicken meatballs, and rice
      gruel) containing 10 microg walnut soluble protein/g of food for use in
      interlaboratory evaluations of the walnut kit. The walnut kit displayed
      sufficient reproducibility relative standard deviations (interlaboratory
      precision: 5.8-9.9% RSDR) and a high level of recovery (81-119%) for all the
      incurred samples. All the repeatability relative standard deviation (RSDr) values
      for the incurred samples that were examined were less than 6.0%. The results of
      this interlaboratory evaluation suggested that the walnut kit could be used as a
      precise and reliable tool for determination of walnut protein in processed foods.

PMID- 20922961
TI  - Preparation and characterization of standard reference material 1849 infant/adult
      nutritional formula.
AB  - Standard Reference Material (SRM) 1849 Infant/Adult Nutritional Formula has been
      issued by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) as a
      replacement for SRM 1846 Infant Formula, issued in 1996. Extraction
      characteristics of SRM 1846 have changed over time, as have NIST's analytical
      capabilities. While certified mass fraction values were provided for five
      constituents in SRM 1846 (four vitamins plus iodine), certified mass fraction
      values for 43 constituents are provided in SRM 1849 (fatty acids, elements, and
      vitamins) and reference mass fraction values are provided for an additional 43
      constituents including amino acids and nucleotides, making it the most
      extensively characterized food-matrix SRM available from NIST.

PMID- 20922962
TI  - Listeria monocytogenes: knowledge gained through DNA sequence-based subtyping,
      implications, and future considerations.
AB  - The purpose of subtyping is to differentiate bacterial isolates beyond the
      classification of species or subspecies. Subtyping methods can be grouped into
      two broad categories based on the cellular components targeted: (1) phenotypic
      subtyping methods that differentiate isolates by the enzymes, proteins, or other
      metabolites expressed by the cell, and (2) molecular subtyping methods that
      discriminate isolates based on interrogation of nucleic acid sequences. The two
      major types of molecular subtyping methods include band-based methods based on
      fragment pattern data or DNA fingerprints, and methods that generate DNA sequence
      data. Molecular subtyping methods have shown that Listeria monocytogenes isolates
      can be classified into four genetic lineages or divisions. Although band-based
      molecular subtyping methods continue to serve as the gold standard for routine
      molecular subtyping of most clinically important foodborne pathogens, including
      L. monocytogenes, the explosion of recently completed and ongoing DNA sequencing
      projects, and thus available DNA sequence data, have stimulated efforts to
      develop highly discriminatory and high-throughput DNA sequence-based subtyping
      methods for L. monocytogenes. L. monocytogenes represents one of the most highly
      sequenced human pathogens; more than 20 genome sequences are currently available
      for this organism. This review provides an overview of the concepts behind
      subtyping and discusses the application of molecular subtyping methods, with an
      emphasis on DNA sequence-based subtyping methods to characterize L.
      monocytogenes.

PMID- 20922963
TI  - Separation and preconcentration of trace amounts of gold(III) ions using modified
      multiwalled carbon nanotube sorbent prior to flame atomic absorption spectrometry
      determination.
AB  - Multiwalled carbon nanotubes are attractive as sorbents for SPE because they can
      be used for enrichment of organic compounds and metal ions at trace levels. In
      this study, multiwalled carbon nanotubes were oxidized with concentrated HNO3,
      and then the oxidized multiwalled carbon nanotubes were modified with 5-(4'
      dimethylamino-benzyliden)-rhodanine. The modified multiwalled carbon nanotubes
      were used as a solid sorbent for separation and preconcentration of trace amounts
      of Au(III) ions. The sorption of Au(III) ions was quantitative in the pH range of
      2.0-5.0, whereas quantitative desorption occurred instantaneously with 5.0 mL 2.0
      M Na2S2O3. The eluted solution was aspirated directly into the flame for atomic
      absorption spectrometry. The proposed method resulted in an enrichment factor of
      94. The RSD of the method was +/- 1.11% (n=10, 2.0 microg/mL) and the LOD was
      0.15 ng/mL. The calibration curve for Au(III) was linear between 0.53 ng/mL and
      36.0 microg/mL in the initial solution, with an R2 value of 0.9999. The sorbent
      capacity of the modified multiwalled carbon nanotubes was 7.3 mg Au(III)/g
      sorbent. The influences of the experimental parameters, including sample pH,
      sample flow rate, eluent volume and flow rate, sample volume, and interference of
      some ions on the recoveries of the Au ions, were investigated. The proposed
      method was applied for preconcentration and determination of Au in different
      samples.

PMID- 20922964
TI  - Determination of chlorantraniliprole residues in crops by liquid chromatography
      coupled with atmospheric pressure chemical ionization mass spectrometry/mass
      spectrometry.
AB  - An analytical method is presented for the determination of chlorantraniliprole
      residues in crops. Chlorantraniliprole residues were extracted from crop matrixes
      with acetonitrile after a water soak. The extracts were passed through a strong
      anion-exchange (SAX) SPE cartridge stacked on top of a reversed-phase (RP)
      polymer cartridge. After both cartridges were rinsed and vacuum-dried, the SAX
      cartridge was removed, and chlorantraniliprole was eluted from the RP polymer
      cartridge with acetonitrile. The acetonitrile eluate was evaporated to dryness,
      reconstituted, and analyzed using an LC/MS/MS instrument equipped with an
      atmospheric pressure chemical ionization source. The method was successfully
      validated at 0.010, 0.10, and 10 mg/kg for the following crop matrixes: potatoes,
      sugar beets (tops), lettuce, broccoli, soybeans, soybean forage, tomatoes,
      cucumbers, oranges, apples, pears, peaches, almonds (nutmeat), rice grain, wheat
      grain, wheat hay, corn stover, alfalfa forage, cottonseed, grapes, and corn
      grain. The average recoveries from all crop samples fortified at the method LOQ
      ranged from 91 to 108%, with an overall average recovery of 97%. The average
      recoveries from all crop samples fortified at 10 times the method LOQ ranged from
      89 to 115%, with an overall average recovery of 101%. For all of the fortified
      control samples analyzed in this study, the overall average recovery was 99%.

PMID- 20922965
TI  - Solid-phase extraction of antimony using chemically modified SiO2-PAN
      nanoparticles.
AB  - A new analytical method using 1-(2-pyridylazo)-2-naphthol (PAN)-modified SiO2
      nanoparticles as solid-phase extractant has been developed for the
      preconcentration of trace amounts of Sb(III) in different water samples.
      Conditions of the analysis such as preconcentration factor, effect of pH, sample
      volume, shaking time, elution conditions, and effects of interfering ions for the
      recovery of the analyte were investigated. The adsorption capacity of nanometer
      SiO2-PAN was found to be 186.25 micromol/g at optimum pH and the LOD (3sigma) was
      0.60 microg/L. The extractant showed rapid kinetic sorption. The adsorption
      equilibrium of Sb(III) on nanometer SiO2-PAN was achieved in 10 min. Adsorbed
      Sb(III) was easily eluted with 4 mL 2 M hydrochloric acid. The maximum
      preconcentration factor was 62.20. The method was applied for the determination
      of trace amounts of Sb(III) in various water samples (tap, mineral water, and
      industrial effluents).

PMID- 20922966
TI  - Fast analysis of polybrominated diphenyl ethers in eggs using selective
      pressurized liquid extraction coupled with online GPC-GC/MS.
AB  - This article reports the applicability of online gel permeation chromatography
      (GPC)-GC/MS for the determination of seven predominant polybrominated diphenyl
      ethers (PBDEs) in eggs to effectively eliminate matrix interference. Selective
      pressurized liquid extraction using acidic alumina as a fat retainer was used for
      cleanup of the PBDEs in eggs. It was selected because of its advantages: simpler
      operation, minimum time spent on sample handing to get fat-free extracts, and low
      volume of solvent consumption. After concentration, the extract was directly
      injected for online GC/MS operated in the negative ion chemical ionization mode
      with a 15 m capillary column. Recoveries of spiked samples were between 75.1 and
      102.0%, with RSDs (n=3) ranging from 3.69-11.47% when spiked at levels of 2 and
      20 ng/g, dry mass. The LOD varied from 0.25-34 ng/g, dry mass. The proposed
      method was proven to be rapid, efficient, and reliable for the trace
      determination of PBDEs in eggs.

PMID- 20922967
TI  - Analysis of triclosan and triclocarban in soil and biosolids using molecularly
      imprinted solid phase extraction coupled with HPLC-UV.
AB  - A molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) able to selectively bind triclosan (TCS)
      and triclocarban (TCC), commonly used antibacterial agents in many consumer
      products, was prepared using noncovalent molecular imprinting methods. The
      prepared MIP was evaluated as a selective sorbent in SPE for sample cleanup
      before HPLC-UV analysis of TCS and TCC in soil and biosolid samples. The MIP was
      also compared with commercially available C18 SPE sorbent. The molecularly
      imprinted SPE (MISPE) developed in this study was more efficient than C18 SPE for
      the cleanup of extracts of soil and biosolid samples prior to the analysis of TCC
      and TCS using HPLC-UV. The LOQ values for both TCC and TCS in the soil samples
      were determined to be 40 microg/kg; in the biosolid samples, the LOQ values were
      100 and 300 microg/kg for TCC and TCS, respectively. Compared to C18 SPE, using
      MISPE for sample cleanup may result in a significant reduction of analytical
      cost, because one MIP can be reused up to 35 times and HPLC-UV instead of HPLC/MS
      can be used for instrumental analysis following sample cleanup by MISPE.

PMID- 20922968
TI  - A practical approach for linearity assessment of calibration curves under the
      International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) guidelines for an in
      house validation of method of analysis.
AB  - Linearity assessment as required in method validation has always been subject to
      different interpretations and definitions by various guidelines and protocols.
      However, there are very limited applicable implementation procedures that can be
      followed by a laboratory chemist in assessing linearity. Thus, this work proposes
      a simple method for linearity assessment in method validation by a regression
      analysis that covers experimental design, estimation of the parameters, outlier
      treatment, and evaluation of the assumptions according to the International Union
      of Pure and Applied Chemistry guidelines. The suitability of this procedure was
      demonstrated by its application to an in-house validation for the determination
      of plasticizers in plastic food packaging by GC.

PMID- 20922969
TI  - Rapid determination of fluoroquinolone residues in honey by a microbiological
      screening method and liquid chromatography.
AB  - A rapid and efficient method was developed for the simultaneous determination of
      seven fluoroquinolone (FQ) residues: norfloxacin, ciprofloxacin, danofloxacin,
      enrofloxacin, orbifloxacin, sarafloxacin, and difloxacin in honey. The samples
      were first screened with a microbiological method by using test plates made from
      metal-free purified agar seeded with Bacillus subtilis BGA. When a sample was
      found to contain FQ residues by using the microbiological method, it was analyzed
      by LC with fluorescence detection (LC/FL). FQs were extracted with Na2EDTA
      McIlvaine buffer and purified by a dual SPE method in which a cation-exchange
      cartridge was connected to an anion-exchange cartridge. The overall recoveries of
      the seven FQs ranged from 70.0 to 92.1%. The intra-assay and interassay CVs were
      < or = 7.8 and < or = 5.1%, respectively. For the microbiological method, the LOD
      values ranged from 2 to 9 microg/kg. For LC/FL, the LOQ values ranged from 2 to 7
      microg/kg. The developed method was used to analyze 70 honey samples. In 14
      samples in which the microbiological method detected the presence of FQ residues,
      norfloxacin, ciprofloxacin, and enrofloxacin were identified by LC/FL.

PMID- 20922970
TI  - Determination of bithionol, bromophen, nitroxynil, oxyclozanide, and tribromsalan
      in milk with liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry.
AB  - LC/MS/MS was developed to determine the residues of bithionol (BTN), bromofen
      (BMF), nitroxynil (NTX), oxyclozanide (OCZ), and tribromsalan (TBS) in milk.
      Samples were extracted with ethyl acetate and cleaned up by liquid-liquid
      separation with acetonitrile and n-hexane. The compounds were determined by RP-LC
      using a C18 column with 0.1% formic acid-methanol. Mass spectral acquisition was
      performed in the negative mode by applying selected-reaction monitoring. The
      method was validated in milk spiked with these compounds at 5-600 microg/kg;
      average recoveries were in the range 83.8-97.1%, with RSD values of 1.4-8.0%. The
      interassay RSDs were less than 11%. The LODs of these compounds in milk were 0.1
      microg/kg. The method was applied to 24 raw milk samples. The concentration of
      these compounds in all samples was lower than the Japanese maximum residue
      limits. The method is rapid, sensitive, and specific for monitoring residues of
      BTN, BMF, NTX, OCZ, and TBS in milk.

PMID- 20922971
TI  - [A time for changes].

PMID- 20922972
TI  - [Voluntary social year: orientation for adolescents and young adults: creating
      positive experiences with openness and trust ].

PMID- 20922973
TI  - [Nursing in the USA--experiences from a study excursion: "I'm proud to be a
      nurse"].

PMID- 20922974
TI  - [Creating relationships in geriatric nursing: cannot be documented but are
      nonetheless important].

PMID- 20922975
TI  - [Personal challenges for the near future: inpatient geriatric nursing in
      transition].

PMID- 20922976
TI  - [Conflict laden communication in the team: mobbing--violence toward colleagues].

PMID- 20922977
TI  - [Methods of conflict resolution and role finding in the team: psychodrama - a
      useful method in geriatric nursing].

PMID- 20922978
TI  - [Moderating techniques and coaching competences: how are station meetings
      conducted?].

PMID- 20922979
TI  - [Flow of information in shift and part time team: who is informed?].

PMID- 20922980
TI  - [Networking nursing in the national and international context: requirements under
      economic factors].

PMID- 20922981
TI  - [Defining the internship from employment status: when does the internship become
      employment?].

PMID- 20922982
TI  - [Survey in hospitals. Nursing errors, error culture and error management].
AB  - Knowledge on errors is important to design safe nursing practice and its
      framework. This article presents results of a survey on this topic, including
      data of a representative sample of 724 nurses from 30 German hospitals.
      Participants predominantly remembered medication errors. Structural and
      organizational factors were rated as most important causes of errors. Reporting
      rates were considered low; this was explained by organizational barriers. Nurses
      in large part expressed having suffered from mental problems after error events.
      Nurses' perception focussing on medication errors seems to be influenced by
      current discussions which are mainly medication-related. This priority should be
      revised. Hospitals' risk management should concentrate on organizational deficits
      and positive error cultures. Decision makers are requested to tackle structural
      problems such as staff shortage.

PMID- 20922983
TI  - [Planning a practical instruction situation - 10: Activation in day nursing].

PMID- 20922984
TI  - [Coding specialists ensure reimbursement in the inpatient and ambulatory domain:
      not giving money away].

PMID- 20922985
TI  - [From case to case: team work means being prepared for further learning].

PMID- 20922986
TI  - [Recognizing and understanding illnesses: oliguria as the primary complaint].

PMID- 20922987
TI  - Microbial transformation of (-)-nopol benzyl ether: direct dihydroxylation of
      benzene ring.
AB  - The biotransformation of (-)-nopol benzyl ether (5) by Aspergillus niger TBUYN-2
      and A. niger Tiegh CBSYN was investigated. A. niger biotransformed 5 to afford (
      )-4-oxonopol-2',4'-dihydroxybenzyl ether (6), and (-)-4-oxonopol (7) as main
      products. Compound 6 showed strong antioxidant activity (IC50 30.2 microM), which
      was very similar to that of butyl hydroxyl anisol (BHA).

PMID- 20922988
TI  - Structure-activity relationships of sandalwood odorants: synthesis of a new
      campholene derivative.
AB  - Structural modifications of natural (-)-(Z)-beta-santalol have shown that the
      sandalwood odor impression is highly sensitive, even to small structural changes.
      Particularly, the substitution of the quaternary carbon is of great influence on
      the scent. Epi-compounds with side chains in the endo-position possess sandalwood
      odor in only a few derivatives, whereas modifications at this side chain, as well
      as modification at the bicyclic ring systems mostly lead to a complete loss of
      sandalwood fragrance.

PMID- 20922989
TI  - Chemical composition, olfactory evaluation and antimicrobial activity of selected
      essential oils and absolutes from Morocco.
AB  - The chemical compositions of selected essential oils from North Africa,
      especially Morocco, of geranium, wild Moroccan chamomile and rosemary as well as
      absolutes of rose and geranium were determined using GC/FID and GC/MS. These oils
      and absolutes were tested concerning their antimicrobial activity against some
      food spoilage strains obtained from fresh milk and minced meat products, like
      sausages and pork fillet, in accordance with ISO testing procedures. Gram
      positive (Bacillus cereus and Staphylococcus aureus) and Gram-negative
      (Escherichia coli, Salmonella abony and Pseudomonas aeruginosa) strains were
      used, as well as the yeast Candida albicans. Using a serial broth dilution
      method, all samples demonstrated weak antimicrobial activity against the Gram
      negative bacteria and the yeast, compared with the activity towards the Gram
      positive bacteria.

PMID- 20922990
TI  - Chemical composition and antimicrobial activity of cumin oil (Cuminum cyminum,
      Apiaceae).
AB  - Cumin oil samples (Cuminum cyminum L.) from four different geographical origins
      were analyzed using GC-MS and GC-FID for their qualitative and quantitative
      composition. The major compounds in all cumin oils were the monoterpenes beta
      pinene, p-cymene and gamma-terpinene and the terpenoid aldehydes cuminic aldehyde
      and the isomeric menthadien carboxaldehydes. All essential oils, and cuminic
      aldehyde, were tested, using agar diffusion and serial dilution methods, against
      different Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria isolated from different
      sources of food (pork fillet, minced meat and sausages) and clinical isolates, as
      well as three different Candida albicans isolates. All cumin oils and cuminic
      aldehyde exhibited a considerable inhibitory effect against all the organisms
      tested, except Pseudomonas spp.

PMID- 20922991
TI  - Chemical composition and antibacterial activity of selected essential oils and
      some of their main compounds.
AB  - The chemical composition of essential oils of cabreuva (Myrocarpus fastigiatus
      Allemao, Fabaceae) from Brazil, cedarwood (Juniperus ashei, Cupressaceae) from
      Texas, Juniper berries (Juniperus communis L., Cupressaceae) and myrrh
      (Commiphora myrrha (Nees) Engl., Burseraceae) were analyzed using GC/FID and
      GC/MS. The antimicrobial activity of these essential oils and some of their main
      compounds were tested against eleven different strains of Gram-positive and Gram
      negative bacteria by using agar diffusion and agar serial dilution methods.
      Animal and plant pathogens, food poisoning and spoilage bacteria were selected.
      The volatile oils exhibited considerable inhibitory effects against all tested
      organisms, except Pseudomonas, using both test methods. Higher activity was
      observed against Gram-positive strains in comparison with Gram-negative bacteria.
      Cabreuva oil from Brazil showed similar results, but in comparison with the other
      oils tested, only when higher concentrations of oil were used.

PMID- 20922992
TI  - Antimicrobial activities of single aroma compounds.
AB  - Commercially available aroma samples were evaluated for their olfactory quality
      by professional perfumers and tested for their antimicrobial activity. Agar
      diffusion and agar-dilution were used as test methods and a set of two Gram
      positive (Staphylococcus aureus and Enterococcus faecalis) and four Gram-negative
      bacterial strains (Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Proteus vulgaris G,
      Klebsiella pneumoniae and Salmonella abony) and a yeast, Candida albicans, were
      the test microorganisms. All the investigated compounds were active against Gram
      positive bacteria, especially beta-caryophyllene against Enterococcus faecalis
      (MIC 6 ppm), but only few substances showed activity towards Gram-negative
      bacteria, except for cinnamic acid, which was active against all (MIC 60 ppm) and
      Candida albicans, against which cinnamic acid and caryophyllene oxide showed high
      activity (MIC < 60 ppm).

PMID- 20922993
TI  - Essential oil composition, antimicrobial and cytotoxic activities of two endemic
      Stachys cretica subspecies (Lamiaceae) from Turkey.
AB  - The chemical compositions of the water-distilled essential oil of Stachys cretica
      ssp. lesbiaca Rech. fil. and S. cretica ssp. trapezuntica Rech. fil. were
      determined by GC and GC-MS. Altogether 63 compounds were identified. The
      sesquiterpene hydrocarbon, germacrene D (20.3% and 12.9% respectively) was the
      main component identified in both oils. Furthermore, ethanol, light petroleum,
      dichloromethane, ethyl acetate and n-butanol extracts prepared from the aerial
      parts of the plants were tested for their antimicrobial activities against six
      bacterial strains and the yeast Candida albicans. The extracts exhibited no
      antibacterial activity, but the light petroleum and n-butanolic fractions showed
      low antifungal activities. Crude ethanolic extracts of the two subspecies were
      tested for their ability to inhibit the growth of HL-60 and Ishikawa human tumor
      cell lines. The IC50 values were 100 microg/mL for the HL-60 cell line and 200
      microg/mL for the Ishikawa cell line.

PMID- 20922994
TI  - Volatile components of selected liverworts, and cytotoxic, radical scavenging and
      antimicrobial activities of their crude extracts.
AB  - Crude extracts of the Tahitian liverworts Mastigophora diclados and Frullania
      sp., the Indonesian Frullania sp., Dumortiera hirsuta and Marchantia sp., and the
      Japanese Porella perrottetiana were investigated chemically by using gas
      chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). All extracts contained various volatile
      sesqui- and diterpenoids and a few aromatic compounds. The Tahitian M. diclados
      and Frullania sp., and the Indonesian Frullania sp. exhibited cytotoxic activity
      against HL-60 and KB cell lines. The extracts of the Tahitian M. diclados and the
      Indonesian Marchantia sp. showed radical scavenging activity, whereas the crude
      extracts of the Tahitian M. diclados and Frullania sp., and the Indonesian
      Frullania and Marchantia sp. showed antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus
      aureus and Bacillus subtilis.

PMID- 20922995
TI  - Pharmacological interactions of essential oil constituents on the viability of
      micro-organisms.
AB  - Complex interactions between numerous components of essential oils often
      contribute to the pharmacological effect and therapeutic outcome. To further
      elucidate these interactions, several essential oil constituents (EOCs) were
      combined in different ratios and their inhibitory effects on the growth of
      bacteria and yeast determined using the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC)
      microplate assay. When combined and tested against Candida albicans, (+)-beta
      pinene interacted antagonistically with (-)-menthone (sigmaFIC(T) = 9.80), but
      synergistically with 1,8-cineole (sigmaFIC(T) = 0.35). Against Escherichia coli,
      the combination of E- and Z-(+/-)-nerolidol and geranyl acetate displayed an
      additive interaction (sigmaFIC(T) = 1.04); while a variable interaction was
      observed between E- and Z-(+/-)-nerolidol and eugenol with antagonism and synergy
      being observed at different ratios of each EOC. The combination of either
      carvacrol or eugenol with an antimicrobial agent (ciprofloxacin or amphotericin
      B) resulted in synergistic interactions against all microorganisms tested. These
      favourable results further support the use of essential oil constituents as
      adjuvants in the development of a new generation of phytopharmaceuticals that can
      be used in combination with synthetic drugs against drug-resistant
      microorganisms.

PMID- 20922996
TI  - Antimicrobial properties of volatile phenylpropanes.
AB  - The examination of antimicrobial structure-activity relationships of 93 volatile
      phenylpropanes (VPs) and 21 related aromatic compounds revealed a dependence of
      antimicrobial activity from the kind and number of substituents on the aromatic
      ring, their substitution pattern and microbial characteristics, such as Gram
      coloring and strain specific factors. Eugenol isomers were predominantly
      inhibitory in a concentration range from 25 to 2000 mg/L against all
      microorganisms tested, which were three strains of Escherichia coli and
      Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus
      subtilis, Listeria monocytogenes, and Candida albicans. Etherified VPs were
      either less active or inactive depending on the type of side chain and/or
      substitution pattern. Differences in the antimicrobial activity of cis- and trans
      isomers were observed. Species specific structure-activity relationships exist as
      was demonstrated with the Gram-negative bacteria (inactivity of E-ortho-eugenol)
      C. albicans (activity of di- and threefold methoxylated 1-propenylbenzenes), S.
      aureus and B. subtilis (activity of di-ortho methoxylated phenolic allylbenzenes
      and hydroquinone derivatives). With regard to the variety of observed specific
      effects and natural variation of susceptibility towards VPs according to
      literature reference data, the chances for successful prediction by computational
      analysis (QSAR) appear to be limited.

PMID- 20922997
TI  - Potential interaction between the volatile and non-volatile fractions on the in
      vitro antimicrobial activity of three South African Pelargonium (Geraniaceae)
      species.
AB  - Previous studies have reported promising antimicrobial efficacy for the essential
      oils and solvent extracts of several indigenous Pelargonium species. This study
      aimed to determine if any pharmacological interaction (e.g. synergism or
      antagonism) exists between the volatile and non-volatile components when the
      different fractions were investigated. The antimicrobial activity of the
      following fractions were tested; the essential oil prepared by hydrodistillation
      (EO), non-volatile fraction (NV), prepared by extraction of plant material
      remaining in the distilling apparatus (having no or negligible volatile
      constituents) and solvent extracts prepared from fresh (FC) and dried (DC) plant
      material containing both volatile and non-volatile constituents. Pelargonium
      quercifolium oil was dominated by p-cymene (42.1%) and viridiflorol (16.9%),
      while P. graveolens and P. tomentosum oil had high levels of isomenthone (84.0
      and 58.8%, respectively). Menthone was noted as a major constituent in the P.
      tomentosum EO sample. It was evident from the results that the presence of
      volatile constituents in the three species; P. graveolens, P. quercifolium and P.
      tomentosum is generally not a pre-requisite for antimicrobial activity. The most
      significant variations of antimicrobial activity were noted for P. tomentosum
      where poorer activity was noted for the FC and EO fractions against Bacillus
      cereus and Candida albicans. Studies on Staphylococcus aureus, however, showed
      the converse, where best activity was noted for the FC fraction (3.0 mg/mL). For
      P. quercifolium, the DC fraction indicated a notable increase in anti
      staphylococcal activity (2.0 mg/mL) when compared with the FC (8.0 mg/mL) and EO
      (16.0 mg/mL) fractions. For P. tomentosum, the FC fraction indicated much lower
      antimicrobial activity (against both B. cereus and C. albicans) when compared
      with all other fractions, suggesting that the essential oils may impact
      negatively on the antimicrobial activity when tested against these two pathogens.

PMID- 20922998
TI  - Encapsulation of essential oils within a polymeric liposomal formulation for
      enhancement of antimicrobial efficacy.
AB  - Essential oils and their constituents are known to possess antimicrobial
      activity; however, their inherent volatility is a limiting factor. In order to
      exploit the antimicrobial efficacy of essential oils, encapsulation within
      polymeric liposomal systems was undertaken. The liposomes were subsequently
      polymer-coated in order to further enhance the stability of the formulations.
      Essential oils distilled from Artemisia afra, Eucalyptus globulus and Melaleuca
      alternifolia were encapsulated into diastearoyl phosphatidylcholine and
      diastearoyl phosphatidylethanolamine liposomes employing a reverse phase
      evaporation methodology. A polyelectrolyte coating was then applied via the layer
      by-layer self-deposition technique. A batch of the liposomes was polymer-coated
      with a 0.15%w/v chitosan solution. Using the minimum inhibitory concentration
      assay, the liposome-encapsulated, unencapsulated and polymer-coated liposome
      encapsulated essential oils were compared in order to observe whether the
      antimicrobial efficacy was improved with encapsulation and polymer coating.
      Fractional inhibitory concentrations (FICs) were calculated in order to determine
      the antimicrobial interactions amongst the lipoid components, polymer coating and
      essential oils (synergistic, additive, indifferent and antagonistic
      interactions). With the exception of A. afra, microbial growth was inhibited at
      lower concentrations for the encapsulated formulations in comparison with the
      nonencapsulated oils. Synergistic to additive interactions were noted for
      encapsulated E. globulus (sigmaFIC values 0.25-0.45) and M alternifolia (sigmaFIC
      values 0.26-0.52) formulations. The addition of the polymer coating did not
      enhance antimicrobial activity, but owing to their positive effects on membrane
      stability, its presence is important as a means of extending the shelf life of
      these formulations. Additionally, the presence of the polymeric coating availed
      the essential oil at a slower rate. This investigation is a stepping stone
      towards the promotion of the antimicrobial use of essential oils. The added
      benefits are that essential oils not only provide effective antimicrobial
      efficacy, but also promote a "greener" consumerism. Within liposomes, they will
      enhance dermato-cosmetic properties and increase the marketing image of the final
      product.

PMID- 20922999
TI  - Eupatorium capillifolium essential oil: chemical composition, antifungal
      activity, and insecticidal activity.
AB  - Natural plant extracts often contain compounds that are useful in pest management
      applications. The essential oil of Eupatorium capillifolium (dog-fennel) was
      investigated for antifungal and insecticidal activities. Essential oil obtained
      by hydrodistillation of aerial parts was analyzed by gas chromatography (GC) and
      gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The major components were
      determined to be thymol methyl ether (=methyl thymol) (36.3%), 2,5-dimethoxy-p
      cymene (20.8%) and myrcene (15.7%). Antifungal activity of the essential oil was
      weak against the plant pathogens Colletotrichum acutatum, C. fragariae, and C.
      gloeosporioides in direct bioautography assay. The E. capillifolium oil showed
      promising repellent activity against the yellow fever mosquito Aedes aegypti,
      whereas the oil exhibited moderate activity against the mosquito's first instar
      larvae in a high throughput bioassay. Topical applications of the oil showed no
      activity against the blood-feeding female adults of A. aegypti. Eupatorium
      capillifolium essential oil showed a linear dose response between adult lace bug
      (Stephanitis pyrioides) mortality and increasing oil concentration in an
      adulticidal activity bioassay. The dog-fennel oil was more potent than the
      conventional insecticide malathion. In conclusion, these combined results showed
      Eupatorium capillifolium oil is a promising novel source of a biological
      insecticide with multiple modes of action.

PMID- 20923000
TI  - Raman optical activity: a powerful technique to investigate essential oil
      components.
AB  - The theory and some applications of Raman Optical Activity (ROA) towards terpene
      analysis are presented. With this technique, vibrational optical activity from
      chiral molecules can be measured providing their absolute configuration. This
      short review provides data obtained for pinene, verbenone, menthol, camphor,
      carenes and related molecules. The ROA technique seems to be a powerful tool
      which permits correlation between the properties of biocompounds and their
      structure.

PMID- 20923001
TI  - Microdistillation and analysis of volatiles from eight ornamental Salvia taxa.
AB  - Volatile compounds from seven Salvia species and one interspecific hybrid growing
      at the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden, Texas, US. Salvia coccinea, S.
      farinacea, S. greggii, S. leucantha, S. longispicata x farinacea, S. madrensis,
      S. roemeriana and S. splendens were investigated for their chemical compositions
      using a microdistillation technique. Volatiles were analyzed by gas
      chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS). One hundred
      and twenty seven compounds were identified representing 94.3-99.7% of the oils.
      The major components in each of the seven species were as follows: S. coccinea
      (Z)-3-hexenal (31%), viridiflorol (19%); S. farinacea 1-octen-3-ol (30%) and (Z)
      3-hexenal (23%); S. greggii 1,8-cineole (22%), borneol (17%), camphene (11%) and
      alpha-pinene (10%); S. leucantha limonene (35%) and alpha-pinene (17%); S.
      longispicata x farinacea 1-octen-3-ol (50%) and (Z)-3-hexenal (24%); S. madrensis
      (Z)-3-hexenal (53%); S. roemeriana limonene (49%) and alpha-pinene (20%); and S.
      splendens (Z)-3-hexenal (36%), 2,5-dimethoxy-p-cymene (19%) and linalool (11%).
      The microdistillation method was fast, practical and a useful technique that
      enabled the isolation of the volatiles in samples when only limited quantities
      were available.

PMID- 20923002
TI  - Comparison of hydrodistillation and headspace solid-phase microextraction
      techniques for antibacterial volatile compounds from the fruits of Seseli
      libanotis.
AB  - The volatile compounds from the fruits of Seseli libanotis, wild-growing in
      Poland, were obtained by hydrodistillation (HD) and headspace solid-phase
      microextraction techniques (HS-SPME) and analyzed using GC-MS. A total of 58
      components were identified. The most abundant compounds were sabinen and beta
      phellandrene. MIC (minimal inhibitory concentration) and MBC (minimal
      bactericidal concentration) values for the essential oil against reference
      bacterial strains and clinical S. aureus isolates were determined. The essential
      oil showed better antibacterial activity against the Gram-positive bacteria (MICs
      between 0.15 to 1.25 mg/mL) when compared with Gram-negative bacteria (MICs
      between 1.25 to 2.5 mg/mL). The low values of the MBC/MIC ratio suggest that the
      examined oil behaved as a bactericidal agent.

PMID- 20923003
TI  - Volatile fraction of lavender and bitter fennel infusion extracts.
AB  - The relative proportions of chemical classes (hydrocarbons, oxides,
      alcohols/ethers, aldehydes/ketones, acids/esters/lactones) in the essential oil
      of lavender (Lavendula angustifolia Mill., family Lamiaceae) and bitter fennel
      (Foeniculum vulgare Mill. subsp. vulgare var. vulgare (Mill.) Thellung, family
      Apiaceae) and in the volatile fraction of infusion extracts were examined and
      showed remarkable differences. The volatile compounds of infusions were isolated
      by hydrodistillation and solid phase extraction (SPE). Their qualitative and
      semiquantitative compositions were compared with the essential oil isolated by
      hydrodistillation directly from the plant material and analyzed by GC-MS.
      Furthermore, quantification of the major constituents of lavender oil and of the
      volatile fraction obtained by hydrodistillation of the infusion was performed.
      Comparison of the total essential oil yield quantified by hydrodistillation of
      the lavender infusion (0.7% v/w, corresponding to plant material) with the
      essential oil yield of the blossoms (5.1% v/w) revealed that only 13.9% of the
      initial oil could be extracted by infusion. The main constituents of the volatile
      fraction of the lavender infusion were (hydrodistillation/SPE): linalool
      (39.3%/28.2%), 1,8 cineole (24.8%/18.9%), cis-linalool oxide (furanoid)
      (5.8%/8.0%), trans-linalool oxide (furanoid) (4.1%/7.1%), camphor (5.3%/4.0%) and
      alpha-terpineol (4.0%/3.0%). The major constituents of lavender essential oil
      were linalool (28.8%), 1,8-cineole (18.05%), linalyl acetate (13.9%) and alpha
      terpineol (4.0%). Most intriguing, in the volatile fraction of lavender infusion
      a significant proportional decrease of linalyl acetate and an increase of
      linalool oxides was recognized. The essential oil yield of fennel fruits was
      12.5% v/w, whereas 1.8% v/w volatile fraction (corresponding to plant material)
      was obtained by hydrodistillation of the fennel infusion, which is equivalent to
      14.5% of the initial fennel essential oil. The main constituents of the volatile
      fraction of the fennel infusion were (hydrodistillation/SPE): trans-anethole
      (56.4%/54.8%), fenchone (36.2%/39.5%) and estragole (2.5%/2.2%), which were also
      the major compounds of the genuine bitter fennel essential oil. In infusions, the
      proportion of ethers vs. ketones was shifted significantly towards a higher
      proportion of the latter compared with the essential oil obtained from the
      fruits.

PMID- 20923004
TI  - Can glandular hair density be a breeding marker for Origanum vulgare subsp.
      hirtum with high essential oil content?
AB  - Origanum vulgare subsp. hirtum (Link) Ietswaart is an essential oil rich plant
      traditionally used as oregano. Based on the interest of the essential oil
      producing sector, in 2000 we have started a breeding program of O. vulgare subsp.
      hirtum. Plant material for our breeding work consists of 6 progeny. Individual
      evaluation of the plant material was carried out in 2008-2009 with the primary
      aim of finding mother plants with appropriate morphological features, high
      essential oil content (> 7%) and with carvacrol as the main essential oil
      component. Among the survey of morphological characteristics special attention
      was given to glandular hair density in order to test the usability of it as a
      morphological marker for screening progeny for high essential oil content. The
      characteristics of the progeny can be described with high variability ensuring
      the possibility of a good selection base. Evaluating the morphology, essential
      oil content and constitution of the individuals, 20 plants were selected on the
      grounds of their high (7-8.6%) essential oil content, high ratio (70-93%) of
      carvacrol in the essential oil and typical morphological features of O. vulgare
      subsp. hirtum. From the results of glandular hair density it can be stated that
      the correlation between glandular hair density of the upper, middle and lower
      leaves either on vegetative or generative shoots and essential oil content was
      never strong enough (correlation coefficient < or = 0.5) to use it exclusively as
      a morphological marker for individual selection.

PMID- 20923005
TI  - The influence of essential oils on human vigilance.
AB  - Olfactory stimuli are used in aromatherapy to enhance mood, well-being and work
      efficiency. Nevertheless, the impact of fragrances on cognitive performance in
      humans is not well understood. The present investigation aimed to evaluate the
      effects of 1,8-cineol, jasmine absolute ether, linalyl acetate and peppermint
      essential oil on human vigilance performance. The odorants were administered by
      means of inhalation and, except for peppermint essential oil, were tested at 2
      different dosages. Performance in a standard visual vigilance task was measured
      in terms of speed and accuracy and subjective ratings of the odorants were
      assessed in terms of pleasantness, intensity, arousal and stress. We hypothesized
      that 1,8-cineol, jasmine absolute ether and peppermint essential oil would
      improve vigilance performance, whereas linalyl acetate would impair such
      performance. Comparison of the performances of the seven independent experimental
      groups with that of a control group did not show any of the expected effects. In
      contrast, inhalation of linalyl acetate decreased reaction times. Within-group
      analyses, however, revealed significant interactions between subjective ratings
      of the odorants and task performance. The results of the present investigation
      emphasize the high impact of subjective factors on the modulation of attentional
      functions by olfactory stimuli in humans.

PMID- 20923006
TI  - Comparison of liquid-liquid partition, HS-SPME and static HS GC/MS analysis for
      the quantification of (-)-linalool in human whole blood samples.
AB  - The aim of this investigation was to develop a fast and convenient method for the
      determination of (-)-linalool in human whole blood to facilitate pharmacokinetic
      studies. Analytical protocols were elaborated for three different GC/MS sampling
      techniques, i.e., static headspace (s-HS), headspace solid phase micro extraction
      (HS-SPME), and liquid-liquid partition. In principle, all tested methods were
      feasible, but s-HS had the greatest benefit because of the easy handling of the
      blood samples and its short analysis time. For s-HS two different incubation
      temperatures were tested (40 degrees C and 60 degrees C). The limit of detection
      was slightly lower when samples were incubated at 60 degrees C, but the same
      quantitative results were achieved using alpha-terpineol as internal standard. An
      accurate and sensitive method for the quantification of (-)-linalool in blood
      samples after either inhalation or percutaneous application, as well as
      pharmacokinetic data are presented.

PMID- 20923007
TI  - Salvia officinalis L.: composition and antioxidant-related activities of a crude
      extract and selected sub-fractions.
AB  - The composition and antioxidant properties of a methanol: acetic acid (99:1, v/v)
      soluble crude extract isolated from S. officinalis L. leaves through maceration
      and selected fractions isolated thereof are presented in this study. The total
      phenol content was estimated as gallic acid equivalents, whilst qualitative
      quantitative phenolic content was determined using high performance liquid
      chromatography with photodiode array detection. Antioxidant evaluation consisted
      of ferric reductive capacity and 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl and hydroxyl free
      radical scavenging determinations. The crude extract contained hydroxybenzoic
      acids, hydroxycinnamic acids, flavonoids and diterpenoids, whilst caffeic acid,
      carnosic acid, luteolin, luteolin-7-O-glucoside and rosmarinic acid were
      identified from their chromatographic and spectral characteristics and quantified
      from their respective calibration curves. The crude extract and sub-fractions
      demonstrated varying degrees of efficacy in the antioxidant-related assays used,
      except the n-hexane fraction, which was unable to reduce iron(III) at reasonable
      concentrations. Although the positive controls, ascorbic acid, BHA and BHT, were
      more potent than the S. officinalis samples, two fractions were significantly (p
      < 0.05) more potent iron(III) reducing agents than pycnogenol, a proanthocyanidin
      rich commercial preparation.

PMID- 20923008
TI  - Developing and characterizing a mouse model of hepatotoxicity using oral
      pyrrolizidine alkaloid (monocrotaline) administration, with potentiation of the
      liver injury by co-administration of LPS.
AB  - Oral administration of xenobiotics is preferable for research in in vivo models
      because it mimics the real life situation of human subjects. Therefore, oral (po)
      monocrotaline (MCT) (a common contaminant of dietary supplements)/intraperitoneal
      (ip) lipopolysaccharides (LPS)-induced liver injury possibly imitates
      idiosyncratic hepatotoxicity in humans. Cytokines, for example interleukin-1beta
      (IL-1beta) and transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta) are known to play a
      role in the development of toxicity and repair processes, respectively. The
      purpose of this study was to develop and characterize a model of po MCT/ip LPS
      hepatotoxicity which may elucidate the mechanisms of injury. ND4 male mice were
      given MCT (200 mg/kg) followed 4 h later by LPS (6 mg/kg). Blood samples were
      drawn for plasma chemistry and IL-1beta. Animals were euthanized and livers were
      harvested at different time points. We have shown that MCT/LPS cotreatment
      results in significant elevation of plasma alanine aminotransferase (ALT), CRP,
      IL-1beta and TGF-1beta. Histopathological evaluation revealed diffuse
      degenerative injury. In summary, we have established a reproducible in vivo model
      of hepatotoxicity by po MCT/ip LPS cotreatment that may closely mimic real life
      idiosyncratic hepatotoxicity.

PMID- 20923009
TI  - Xenobiotic biotransformation of 4-methoxy-N-methyl-2-quinolone, isolated from
      Zanthoxylum monophyllum.
AB  - Phytochemical evaluation of Zanthoxylum monophyllum has led to the isolation of
      the alkaloid 4-methoxy-N-methyl-2-quinolone (1) with a significant activity
      against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), with an IC50 value of
      1.5 microg/mL. Xenobiotic biotransformation of 1 has been conducted with the
      general goal of increasing the bioactivity of the compound and contributing new
      leads for further pharmacological research. Twenty-nine microorganisms were used
      for screening and two (Aspergillus flavus and Cunninghamella echinulata var.
      echinulata) were able to transform compound 1 to 4-methoxy-2-quinolone (2).
      Structural identification of the compounds was based on NMR, IR, and MS data.

PMID- 20923010
TI  - Volatiles from Thymbra and Thymus species of the western Mediterranean basin,
      Portugal and Macaronesia.
AB  - Thyme is the common name of many taxa belonging to the Thymbra and Thymus genera.
      Given the economic importance of thyme oils, many thyme species have been studied
      and their essential oils and other volatile-containing extracts chemically
      characterized. Thymbra and Thymus species are frequent in the west Mediterranean
      region, considered to be the centre of origin of the genus Thymus, and extend
      further westwards in the Iberian Peninsula and northwest Africa, to the
      Macaronesian region in the Atlantic Ocean. The present work gives an overview of
      the chemical composition of the volatiles from the taxa of these two genera
      occurring in the above geographic area.

PMID- 20923011
TI  - Essential oil composition of wild growing Apiaceae from Europe and the
      Mediterranean.
AB  - In this overview, the essential oil composition of more than 150 species from
      about 50 genera of the Apiaceae is reviewed. Essential oil components encountered
      in Apiaceae proved to be very diverse; they include monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes,
      rarely diterpenes, phenylpropanoids, phthalides, octanol and octyl esters,
      trimethylbenzaldehydes and aliphatic aldehydes. In assessing the data one has to
      keep in mind that the essential oil amount and composition is influenced by many
      factors, including geographic and genetic variation, physiological aspects and
      environmental conditions. In some species the occurrence of chemotypes could be
      demonstrated, but in many cases the data available do not allow the evaluation of
      infraspecific variability.

PMID- 20923013
TI  - Terpene bioconversion--how does its future look?
AB  - The usage of essential oils as such or of volatile fractions thereof is
      widespread in the flavor and fragrance industry to aromatize perfumery and
      cosmetic products, foodstuffs, and many household and pharmaceutical products.
      The increased market share of convenience food together with consumers' request
      for constant high quality and natural products have established a lasting
      increase in the demand for natural flavorings that cannot be satisfied by the
      traditional plant materials. This review summarizes selected work on terpene
      bioconversion/transformation and focuses on recently published papers dealing
      with novel strains and products, high product yields, intriguing genetic
      engineering approaches, and integrated bioprocesses. The future perspectives of
      an industrial realization of a biotechnological production of terpene-derived
      natural flavors are critically evaluated.

PMID- 20923012
TI  - Essential oil and volatile components of the genus Hypericum (Hypericaceae).
AB  - The flowering plant genus Hypericum (Hypericaceae) contains the well-known
      medicinally valuable species Hypericum perforatum (common St. John's wort).
      Species of Hypericum contain many bioactive constituents, including
      proanthocyanins, flavonoids, biflavonoids, xanthones, phenylpropanes and
      naphthodianthrones that are characterized by their relative hydrophilicity, as
      well as acylphloroglucinols and essential oil components that are more
      hydrophobic in nature. A concise review of the scientific literature pertaining
      to constituents of Hypericum essential oils and volatile fractions is presented.

PMID- 20923014
TI  - [Dyspnea. A reliable symptom].

PMID- 20923015
TI  - [Astellas Pharma backs on innovations."Our claim is to compete with the best
      products on the market"].

PMID- 20923016
TI  - [When women complain about lacking libido. The problem with the desire].

PMID- 20923017
TI  - [Depression during and after pregnancy' "Will I be a good mother?"].

PMID- 20923018
TI  - [Testosterone deficiency syndrome. Imaginary disease or true complaint picture?].

PMID- 20923019
TI  - [Www.SpringerMedizin.de. The Internet of physicians].

PMID- 20923020
TI  - [Chronic urinary tract infection].

PMID- 20923021
TI  - [Iron deficiency. To be treated before anemia comes!].

PMID- 20923022
TI  - [Alternative therapy methods in chronic inflammatory bowel diseases. Possibly
      acupuncture helps a little].

PMID- 20923023
TI  - [Injuries, blood alcohol level and state of health. The GP as witness and
      expert].

PMID- 20923024
TI  - [Documentation requirements and descriptions of injuries].

PMID- 20923025
TI  - [Taking medical samples under forensic aspects].

PMID- 20923026
TI  - [Medical certificate].

PMID- 20923027
TI  - [Palmar hyperhidrosis].

PMID- 20923028
TI  - [Stress and primary headache in children and adolescents].

PMID- 20923029
TI  - [Management of chronic wounds].

PMID- 20923030
TI  - [Isolated systolic hypertension threatens the heart and the brain. Fixed
      combination optimizes blood pressure control and offers clear prognostic
      advantage].

PMID- 20923031
TI  - Androgen deprivation therapy: a survival benefit or detriment in men with high
      risk prostate cancer?
AB  - Androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) has been used in the management of prostate
      cancer for more than four decades. Initially, hormone therapy was given largely
      for palliation of symptomatic metastases. Following several randomized trials of
      patients with intermediate- to high-risk prostate cancer that demonstrated
      improvements in biochemical control and survival with the addition of ADT to
      external beam radiotherapy, there was a dramatic increase in the use of hormone
      therapy in the definitive setting. More recently, the safety of ADT has been
      questioned, as some studies have suggested an association of hormone therapy with
      increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. This is particularly worrisome
      in light of practice patterns that show ADT use extrapolated to situations for
      which there has been no proven benefit. In the setting of dose escalation with
      modern radiotherapy, in conjunction with the latest concerns about cardiovascular
      morbidity with ADT, the magnitude of expected benefit along with potential risks
      of ADT use must be carefully considered for each patient.

PMID- 20923032
TI  - Cardiovascular risk associated with androgen deprivation therapy.

PMID- 20923033
TI  - Androgen deprivation therapy in high-risk prostate cancer.

PMID- 20923034
TI  - The role, timing, and clinical use of ADT in prostate cancer.

PMID- 20923035
TI  - Intensity-modulated radiation therapy for anal cancer: toxicity versus outcomes.
AB  - The treatment of cancer of the anal canal has changed significantly over the past
      several decades. Although the abdominoperineal resection (APR) was the historical
      standard of care, a therapeutic paradigm shift occurred with the seminal work of
      Nigro, who reported that anal canal cancer could be treated with definitive
      chemoradiation, with APR reserved for salvage therapy only. This remains an
      attractive approach for patients and physicians alike and the standard of care in
      this disease. Now, nearly four decades later, a similar approach continues to be
      utilized, albeit with higher radiation doses; however, this strategy remains
      fraught with considerable treatment-related morbidities. With the advent of
      intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), many oncologists are beginning to
      utilize this technology in the treatment of anal cancer in order to decrease
      these toxicities while maintaining similar treatment efficacy. This article
      reviews the relevant literature leading up to the modern treatment of anal canal
      cancer, and discusses IMRT-related toxicity and disease-related outcomes in the
      context of outcomes of conventionally treated anal cancer.

PMID- 20923036
TI  - Intensity-modulated radiation therapy for anal cancer: an obvious yet complicated
      transition.

PMID- 20923037
TI  - Solitary extramedullary plasmacytoma of the bladder: a case report and
      literature.
AB  - Plasmacytoma is a rare B-lymphocyte neoplastic disorder that usually presents as
      the generalized disease multiple myeloma. Less than 5% of the cases present as a
      solitary mass of monoclonal plasma cells in the bone or soft tissue. Although
      solitary extramedullary plasmacytoma (SEP) may arise in any organ, it rarely
      involves the urinary bladder. A 67-year-old male without a history of multiple
      myeloma presented with urinary frequency and nocturia; he was later diagnosed
      with SEP of the bladder. The patient was initially treated with a course of
      radiation therapy without symptomatic improvement; therefore a chemotherapy
      regimen consisting of lenalidomide and dexamethasone was subsequently given for
      six cycles. SEP usually carries a better prognosis and higher cure rate than
      solitary plasmacytoma of bone, as SEP is radiation sensitive. The role of
      adjuvant chemotherapy in the treatment of SEP that is resistant to radiation
      therapy is not clear, since most of the recommendations have been derived from
      the experience of head and neck SEP. The literature also lacks recommendations
      for choice of a chemotherapy regimen and surveillance of isolated bladder
      plasmacytoma. Here we present the first case of a radiation-resistant solitary
      plasmacytoma of the bladder that was successfully treated with lenalidomide and
      dexamethasone with successful clinical remission.

PMID- 20923038
TI  - Solitary extramedullary and bone plasmacytomas versus multiple myeloma with
      extramedullary manifestation.

PMID- 20923039
TI  - Rare bladder tumors: caveat emptor.

PMID- 20923040
TI  - Metabolic syndrome after hormone-modifying therapy: risks associated with
      antineoplastic therapy.
AB  - The incidence of metabolic syndrome is rapidly increasing. Metabolic syndrome is
      associated with elevated morbidity and mortality secondary to cardiovascular
      disease, insulin resistance, and hepatic dysfunction. A body of evidence has
      already implicated metabolic syndrome as a cancer risk factor; emerging evidence
      now suggests that cancer survivors themselves may be at risk for developing
      metabolic syndrome as a result of their anti-cancer therapy. Treatment of both
      breast cancer and prostate cancer often involves hormone-modifying agents that
      have been linked to features of metabolic syndrome. Androgen suppression in men
      with prostate cancer is associated with dyslipidemia, increasing risk of
      cardiovascular disease, and insulin resistance. Anti-estrogen therapy in women
      with breast cancer can affect lipid profiles, cardiovascular risk, and liver
      function. Similar findings have been noted in men with testicular cancer treated
      with chemotherapy. In addition, several emerging therapies, including mammalian
      target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitors and targeted kinase inhibitors, are
      increasingly associated with some features of metabolic syndrome. As the number
      of cancer survivors continues to grow, consideration of these factors and of the
      risk of metabolic syndrome will become increasingly important when choosing
      between therapy options and managing long-term follow-up.

PMID- 20923041
TI  - Considering metabolic effects when making breast cancer treatment decisions.

PMID- 20923042
TI  - Metabolic effects of hormone deprivation therapy: weighing the evidence.

PMID- 20923043
TI  - Complementary therapies, herbs, and other OTC agents.

PMID- 20923044
TI  - Health, supervisory support, and workplace culture in relation to work-family
      conflict and synergy.
AB  - This research examined health, supervisory support, and workplace culture as
      predictors of work interfering with family, family interfering with work, and
      work-family synergy. The analysis of data from 2,796 respondents from the 2002
      National Study of the Changing Workforce yielded significant relations among
      measures of mental health, self-rated health, supervisory support, and work
      family culture with a focus on career concerns. Support was found for a measure
      of work-family synergy. Implications and directions for research are discussed.

PMID- 20923045
TI  - Cognitive biases and decision making in gambling.
AB  - Heuristics and cognitive biases can occur in reasoning and decision making. Some
      of them are very common in gamblers (illusion of control, representativeness,
      availability, etc.). Structural characteristics and functioning of games of
      chance favor the appearance of these biases. Two experiments were conducted with
      nonpathological gamblers. The first experiment was a game of dice with wagers. In
      the second experiment, the participants played two bingo games. Specific rules of
      the games favored the appearance of cognitive bias (illusion of control) and
      heuristics (representativeness and availability) and influence on the bets.
      Results and implications for gambling are discussed.

PMID- 20923046
TI  - Body height and occupational success for actors and actresses.
AB  - The association of body height with occupational success has been frequently
      studied, with previous research mainly finding a positive effect among men and
      positive or null effects among women. Occupational success has almost exclusively
      been measured so far by short-term success variables (e.g., annual income). In
      the present study, the relationship of success and height was examined in a group
      of actors and actresses using a large online database about movies (Internet
      Movie Database) where heights of actors and actresses are stated. The number of
      roles played in movies and television series during each actor's lifetime was
      used as a measure of long-term occupational success. No height effect was found
      for male actors but a significant negative effect was found for actresses, even
      after controlling for possible confounding influences (age and birth year).
      Compared to the general population, actors and actresses were significantly
      taller; however, actresses who were shorter than average were more likely to
      achieve greater occupational success, in terms of being featured in more movies.

PMID- 20923047
TI  - Hurlbert Index of Sexual Assertiveness: a study of psychometric properties in a
      Spanish sample.
AB  - The study analyzed psychometric properties of a Spanish version of the Hurlbert
      Index of Sexual Assertiveness in a Spanish sample of 400 men and 453 women who
      had had a partner for the last 6 mo. or longer at the time of the study.
      Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses suggested a two-factor solution with
      the factors Initiation and No shyness/Refusal. Internal consistency values for
      total scores were .87 and .83 for the factors, respectively. Convergent validity
      tests were also satisfactory. It is therefore reasonable to conclude that the
      Spanish version of the scale has appropriate psychometric properties.

PMID- 20923048
TI  - Effects of anchoring and adjustment in the evaluation of product pricing.
AB  - Anchoring and adjustment comprise a heuristic that creates expectations. Two
      types of anchors were applied on participants' evaluation of products: the price
      reference of the product (maximum, minimum, or no price reference) and the
      context in which the products were evaluated (the prestige of the shopping
      center). Results showed that both factors anchored evaluations of products'
      value. Context effects were explained by the different expectations of visitors
      in prestigious (looking for quality) and less prestigious (seeking a bargain)
      centers.

PMID- 20923049
TI  - Psychometric properties of the Purdue Pharmacist Directive Guidance (PPDG) Scale
      in a sample of diabetes patients in the Southwestern United States.
AB  - Despite the fairly widespread adoption of the 10-item Purdue Pharmacist Directive
      Guidance Scale (PPDG) over the last decade, only one study has assessed its
      psychometric properties. The present study examined the validity and reliability
      of the scale in a sample of 99 diabetic patients in the Southwestern United
      States. Principal axis factor analysis with Varimax rotation yielded two factors,
      "Instruction" and "Feedback and Goal Setting," similar to those found when the
      scale was originally developed. Cronbach's alphas for the total scale and the two
      factors were 0.95, 0.95, and 0.92, respectively. The scale and the two factors
      correlated significantly and positively with number of visits by patients to the
      pharmacist in the past 3 mo. These results provide further evidence for the
      internal consistency, and construct and criterion-related validities of the
      scale.

PMID- 20923050
TI  - Language and cognitive shifting: evidence from young monolingual and bilingual
      children.
AB  - The relationship between language and cognitive shifting in young children was
      examined. Specifically, second language experiences from infancy as well as
      individual differences in monolingual language experience may affect performances
      on the Dimensional Change Card Sort Task. 54 Japanese-French bilingual children
      and two groups of Japanese monolingual children participated (ns = 18). One
      monolingual group was matched to the bilingual group on verbal ability and
      chronological age (VC monolingual group) and the other group was matched by
      chronological age but had higher verbal ability (C monolingual group). The
      results showed that the groups of children who were bilingual and monolingual
      with higher verbal ability performed the task significantly better than matched
      monolingual children. Language experiences may affect cognitive set shifting in
      young children.

PMID- 20923051
TI  - Psychosexual fixation and defense mechanisms in a sample of young Japanese women:
      a preliminary study.
AB  - The present pilot study examined psychosexual fixations and defense mechanisms in
      a sample of young Japanese women. The Lexical Rorschach count and the Defense
      Mechanisms Inventory were administered to 24 female college students. Sadism on
      the Lexical Rorschach count was positively correlated with Reversal of Affect.
      Phallic fixation on the Lexical Rorschach count was positively correlated with
      Projection. Psychoanalytic hypotheses about the associations between psychosexual
      fixations and defense mechanisms were partially confirmed.

PMID- 20923052
TI  - Depression-related distress in Mauritian and South African adolescent girls: an
      exploratory investigation.
AB  - Self-reports of depression-related distress were obtained from girls of 14 to 17
      years of age living in communities of low socioeconomic status in Mauritius (n =
      198) and South Africa (n = 275). Of the girls in the two samples, 26.3 and 21.5%,
      respectively, had thought about self-harm during the past 5 yr., while between
      14.6 and 16.7% had made self-harm attempts. Also, 39.9% of the Mauritian girls
      and 31.0% of the South Africans reported being sad and tearful every day for more
      than 2 wk. over the past year. Of the girls, Mauritians (54.0%) and South
      Africans (32.1%) felt their problems were too much to cope with, while 20.4% of
      the South African girls and 44.4% of the Mauritians knew of no place to go for
      help when feeling sad or depressed. The findings highlight the extent of
      depression-related symptoms and issues related to access to mental health
      services. Increasing mental health services and awareness programmes are
      indicated.

PMID- 20923053
TI  - A reliability generalization study of the Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism
      Scale (F-MPS).
AB  - Perfectionism has been identified as a common concern among clients who seek
      counseling services. For more than 20 years, the Frost Multidimensional
      Perfectionism Scale (F-MPS) has been used extensively to measure the construct of
      individuals' perfectionism. The current study used reliability generalization to
      identify the average score reliability as well as variables explaining the
      variability of score reliability. Typical reliability across subscale scores
      ranged from .71 to.86 with the Doubt about Action subscale showing the least
      variability and the Organization subscale showing the most. In addition, sex,
      language, and standard deviation of the scale had statistically significant
      relations to reliability estimates.

PMID- 20923054
TI  - Differential effect of lesion side on intra-individual variability in children
      with focal lateralized epilepsy.
AB  - A differential impact of hemispheric side (left vs right) on cognitive measures,
      specifically Verbal and Performance IQ, has been described previously for both
      focal onset seizures and lateralized brain lesions. This study revealed a
      differential effect on intra-individual variability, measured as subtest scaled
      score range, on the Dutch WISC-R and WISC-III, in children with epilepsy. The
      presence of documented brain lesion was associated with elevated variability on
      the Verbal Scale for the left hemisphere seizure group and with decreased
      variability on the Verbal and Full Scales for the right hemisphere seizure group.

PMID- 20923055
TI  - Exploratory factor analysis and psychometric properties of the General Health
      Questionnaire in Spanish adolescents.
AB  - The aim of this study was to assess the homogeneity of items, reliability as a
      metric indicator of global quality (internal consistency and temporal stability),
      and the exploratory factor structure of the General Health Questionnaire-28 (GHQ
      28) in a sample of 2,010 Spanish adolescents. Mean age was 15.9 yr. (range 14-19,
      SD = 2.1). The test was administered twice with 20 days between responses,
      Answers were scored on a Likert-type scale. The internal consistency and test
      retest reliabilities obtained were .93 and .94. In exploratory factor analysis,
      four factors explained 52.7% of the variance. These results indicated that the
      GHQ-28 is a psychometrically sound mental health measure in Spanish adolescents.

PMID- 20923056
TI  - Testing rival measurement models of the Personal Report of Communication
      Apprehension in two Taiwanese samples.
AB  - Some previous research has questioned the appropriateness of using McCroskey's
      Personal Report of Communication Apprehension with participants of non-Western
      countries. Rival measurement models of the scale were examined on two samples of
      216 and 177 college students in Taiwan. Confirmatory factor analysis of the data
      showed that although a four-factor model was more representative of the data than
      the models with one, two, or three factors, this model did not generate an
      acceptable fit to the data. Further testing of discriminant validity suggested
      that Taiwanese college students do not differentiate a meeting setting from
      group, dyadic, and public speaking settings. Findings of this study suggest a re
      examination of the conceptualization of communication apprehension before
      evaluating the relative importance of biological and environmental causes.

PMID- 20923057
TI  - Gender label and perceived infant emotionality: a partial replication of a
      classic study.
AB  - In a study often referred to as "classic," Condry and Condry (1976) showed a
      videotaped infant to participants, telling half of them the infant was a boy and
      half it was a girl. Participants who thought they were viewing a boy rated the
      infant's reaction to a jack-in-the-box as anger; those who thought they were
      viewing a girl rated the reaction as fear. Participants in the present partial
      replication of the Condrys' study did not rate the infant differently based on
      the infant's gender label, although there was evidence that participants' own sex
      affects their perception of an infant's emotionality. Results were discussed in
      light of inconsistent results among other gender-labeling studies and relevant
      methodological, historical, and theoretical issues.

PMID- 20923058
TI  - Men's sense of humor and women's responses to courtship solicitations: an
      experimental field study.
AB  - Producing humor might function as a fitness indicator associated with greater
      desirability during dating selection. A male confederate in a bar was instructed
      to tell (or not tell) funny jokes to two other male confederates. A few minutes
      later, when the second of two male confederates left, the first male confederate
      asked a female who was near his table and who had heard the funny jokes for her
      phone number. The previous expression of humor was associated with greater
      compliance with the male confederate's request and with a higher positive
      evaluation. The possible effects of humor are discussed from an evolutionary
      perspective.

PMID- 20923059
TI  - Sweden: income and suicide.
AB  - Previous publications have reported two conflicting patterns describing the
      relationship between income and suicide in Sweden; positive and negative.
      Methodologically the studies have differed, and the analysis has been limited to
      a few areas. To better understand the relationship, a nationwide, cross
      sectional, ecological study of the 290 municipalities in Sweden was planned. OLS
      regression analyses showed the overall and female suicide rates were negatively
      related to income, while the effect on male suicide rates was not statistically
      significant. The results confirm earlier findings of a negative relationship
      between income and suicide.

PMID- 20923060
TI  - The personality correlates of adults who had imaginary companions in childhood.
AB  - Two studies showed that adults who reported having an imaginary companion as a
      child differed from adults who did not on certain personality dimensions. The
      first yielded a higher mean on the Gough Creative Personality Scale for the group
      who had imaginary companions. Study 2 showed that such adults scored higher on
      the Achievement and Absorption subscales of Tellegen's Multidimensional
      Personality Questionnaire. The results suggest that some differences reported in
      the developmental literature may be observed in adults.

PMID- 20923061
TI  - Financial stress, attitudes toward money, and scores on a Dream Inventory.
AB  - During stock market losses in 2009 and high unemployment, ratings on the KJP
      Dream Inventory were correlated with factors of the Money Attitude Scale and
      items on the Contemporary Financial Stress Inventory for 71 graduate students in
      Counseling Psychology and Education. Correlations were significant for Retention
      on the Money Attitude Scale with Dissociative Avoidance (-.31), Dreams of falling
      (.26), Risk-taking in dreams (.24), and Dreaming of being chased (.28). Also,
      ratings for the Money Attitude Scale of Distrust correlated with Discontentedness
      in dreams (.33) and Dreams of being chased (.26), Repetitive trauma (.33),
      Nightmares (.30), and Recurring nightmares (.35). Concern about retention in
      graduate school due to finances correlated with recalled frequencies of
      nightmares (.27) and dreams of flying (.25).

PMID- 20923062
TI  - Relation of success and nontraditional career choice to selection for dating and
      friendship.
AB  - Women who succeed in traditionally male-dominated fields have previously been
      found to experience lower social acceptance, both from men in romantic contexts
      and from women in platonic contexts. The present study examined whether such
      preferences continue to exist. Participants were 256 university students (110
      men, 146 women) with an average age of 21.4 yr. (SD = 3.6). They answered the Bem
      Sex Role Inventory and the Modern Sexism Scale and also responded to four
      descriptions of stimulus persons which represented the variables of traditional
      versus nontraditional field and successful versus nondescribed academic
      performance. Results indicated that men preferred to date women in traditional
      careers (independent of their success). This finding was unrelated to men's
      scores on sex role orientation or egalitarianism and sexism. However, in platonic
      relationships, women favored women in nontraditional careers as friends.

PMID- 20923063
TI  - Association between alexithymia, neuroticism, and social desirability scores
      among Italian graduate students.
AB  - An inverse correlation between social desirability and alexithymia has been
      observed in undergraduate students in Japan and Australia. It is not clear how
      this association is influenced by the personality dimension of neuroticism. This
      study examined the association of scores on social desirability with those on
      alexithymia controlled for neuroticism, in a sample of 111 Italian graduate
      students, with age range of 24 to 58 years. Students completed the Eysenck
      Personality Questionnaire (short form) and the Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 (TAS
      20). Social desirability scores inversely correlated with TAS-20 total scores,
      neuroticism scores, and the TAS-20 subscale, Difficulty identifying feelings.
      Neuroticism directly correlated with TAS-20 total score, Difficulty identifying
      feelings, and Difficulty describing feelings. Students with higher alexithymia
      and neuroticism scores seem to present themselves in less socially desirable
      ways. The correlation of social desirability with alexithymia was moderated by
      higher neuroticism scores.

PMID- 20923064
TI  - Job burnout: toward an integration of two dominant resource-based models.
AB  - The goal of this study was to integrate the job demands-resources model and the
      conservation of resources model of job burnout into a unified theoretical
      framework. The data were collected through a mail questionnaire survey among
      nurses holding managerial positions in the Hospital Authority of Hong Kong. From
      a computer-generated random sample of nurses, 543 (84.3% women) returned usable
      surveys, amounting to a response rate of 24.2%. Structural equation modeling was
      used to test the proposed paths originating from job demands and job resources to
      the core job burnout dimensions, namely, emotional exhaustion and
      depersonalization. Results supported the integrated model, indicating that job
      demands and job resources had differing effects on the burnout dimensions. The
      effect of job demands was stronger and partially mediated the effect of job
      resources. Implications of the results from this study on management practices
      were discussed.

PMID- 20923065
TI  - Survey return rates for multiple-authored versus single-authored covering
      letters.
AB  - Differences in response rates to a three-wave mail survey were assessed when the
      covering letters were signed by three versus one researcher. 375 surveys
      including covering letters signed by three researchers and 375 surveys including
      covering letters signed by one researcher were sent. A follow-up mailing was used
      to increase the response rate. 199 surveys were returned (53.5%) in which the
      covering letter had three researchers, and 218 when the covering letter had one
      researcher (58.7%), not a significantly different distribution.

PMID- 20923066
TI  - Perceived psychosocial benefits associated with perceived restorative potential
      of wilderness river-rafting trips.
AB  - Analysis of the restorative experiences and psychosocial benefits of wilderness
      river rafting trips of varying difficulty with 186 Canadian participants of
      different ages supported the restorative potential of natural settings for all
      age groups as measured by the Perceived Restorativeness Scale. The two-factor
      structure (General Restorativeness and Coherence) was confirmed. Significant
      associations were found between scores on the General Restorative subscale and
      perceived psychosocial benefits (relaxation, nature appreciation or kinship, and
      physical fitness or achievement) and positive affect. However, the findings
      associated with the Coherence subscale were not conclusive.

PMID- 20923067
TI  - Educational level signals unobserved abilities of people with high functioning
      autism spectrum disorders.
AB  - The effect of educational level on employment of people with high functioning
      autism spectrum disorders (HFASD) was examined. If education augments natural
      abilities to accomplish tasks in people with HFASD, then those with more
      education would have comparative advantages in both obtaining and retaining jobs.
      In contrast, if education did not augment natural abilities and only signaled
      unobservable abilities, one would expect an advantage only in obtaining a job,
      but not in retention. 22 people with HFASD replied to questionnaires regarding
      their history of education and employment. Those with job experience had higher
      educational levels than those with no job experience, but educational level was
      not significantly different between groups with and without more than one year of
      job experience. Educational level seems to be associated with abilities, but
      probably the unobserved abilities underlie both educational attainment and
      employment history.

PMID- 20923068
TI  - A hierarchical linear modeling assessment of dual-addiction status and change in
      sexual compulsivity over time.
AB  - This study examined the association between dual-addiction status and sexual
      compulsivity over time in a sample of self-identified sexually compulsive males.
      Hierarchical linear modeling was utilized to address the study's research
      questions. Dually addicted sexually compulsive males exhibited lower rates of
      sexual compulsivity than their singularly addicted counterparts initially but
      displayed less precipitous declines in sexual compulsiveness over time.
      Implications for treatment providers are discussed.

PMID- 20923069
TI  - Asymmetrical clustering by sex in free-forming groups: an observational field
      study.
AB  - 464 observations were carried out in public places of 3- or 4-person, mixed sex,
      free-forming groups who spontaneously divided into subgroups. An analysis of sex
      composition of the subgroups showed that significantly more single-sex subgroups
      were formed than expected by chance. This was significantly more pronounced among
      women than among men. Several explanations were considered.

PMID- 20923070
TI  - Associations between climate and IQ in the United States of America.
AB  - Relations between average temperature of each of the 48 contiguous states and
      estimates of state IQ were inspected. Additional state variables were controlled
      in the correlational analyses, namely gross state product, percent Hispanic,
      Black, and Asian in the state population, and the pupil-to-teacher ratio for each
      state. A significant correlation between average temperature and state IQ was
      found (r = -.70, p < .001). Possible explanations are discussed.

PMID- 20923071
TI  - Workers' personal initiative as a moderator of the relations between job
      characteristics and well-being.
AB  - Having personal initiative means that workers are self-starting, pro-active, and
      persistent in pursuing their goals. This study examined whether personal
      initiative contributed to the prediction of two aspects of well-being (emotional
      exhaustion and learning motivation). Personal initiative was expected to have
      direct effects on well-being as well as moderate the effects of relevant work
      characteristics such as job demands and control. As expected, stepwise
      hierarchical regression using data from 834 Dutch telecommunications workers
      yielded positive main effects of personal initiative on both aspects of well
      being. Moreover, personal initiative moderated the relationship between control
      and learning motivation: the positive effect of control on learning motivation
      was stronger for workers with high initiative. These findings support the
      hypothesis that personal initiative is a predictor of well-being.

PMID- 20923072
TI  - Measuring well-being among Spanish older adults: development of a simplified
      version of Ryff's Scales of Psychological Well-being.
AB  - Two studies were designed to develop and obtain information about the
      psychometric properties of a shortened 54-item, Spanish version of Ryff's Scales
      of Psychological Well-being adapted to older people. In Study 1, 267 older people
      completed the scales, and data were submitted to a principal components analysis.
      Then, 22 items were selected and grouped into four components (Self-confidence,
      Orientation to present, Stress, and Social tension) to form the Simplified Ryff's
      Well-being Scales. In Study 2, the new scales were administered to 107 older
      people. While internal consistency estimates were similar to those generally
      obtained for the 54-item scale, results extracted from a confirmatory factor
      analysis did not support any factorial model. Although the simplified scales can
      distinguish between conceptually different approaches to well-being, further
      studies are needed to obtain estimates of reliability and validity.

PMID- 20923073
TI  - Influence of the interests of children with autism on everyday learning
      opportunities.
AB  - Findings from a pilot study investigating the influence of the interests of young
      children with autism on parents' provision of everyday informal child learning
      opportunities are described. 17 children (13 boys, 4 girls) were divided into two
      groups that received everyday learning opportunities of Low interest and High
      interest, based on parents' bi-weekly ratings of the interestingness of the
      opportunities to the children, using an investigator-developed measure. A brief
      intervention of 12 to 14 weeks showed that the children in the High interest
      based group were provided more learning opportunities than were the Low interest
      based group, and that the parents indicated that their children benefited more
      from the learning opportunities. Implications for future research are described.

PMID- 20923074
TI  - Metamemory beliefs and episodic memory in obstructive sleep apnea syndrome.
AB  - This study assessed metamemory and its role in actual episodic memory performance
      in 26 patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome and 27 healthy controls.
      Metamemory knowledge and memory beliefs were assessed using the Metamemory
      Inventory in Adulthood. Episodic memory performance was investigated with the
      Remember/Know paradigm. Subjective sleepiness was evaluated. Patients underwent a
      polysomnographic assessment. In contrast to the control group's more stable
      memory beliefs, patients self-assessed their memory as declining across time, and
      felt more anxious about their memory. There was only a modest difference between
      patients' self-perceptions of their memory capacities and those of the control
      group, but patients' actual memory performance was strongly disturbed. While the
      latter was significantly correlated with severity of obstructive sleep apnea,
      scores on the Metamemory Inventory in Adulthood scales were not correlated with
      physiological measures, subjective sleepiness, or episodic memory performance.
      Obstructive sleep apnea may affect prefrontal cortex functioning and hence the
      ability to assess one's own memory impairment.

PMID- 20923075
TI  - Self-regulated learning: the role of environmental perceptions and motivational
      beliefs.
AB  - To examine the correlations among environmental perceptions, motivational
      beliefs, and self-regulated learning of Tehran third-year high school boys based
      on a proposed model, multistage cluster-sampling method gave a sample of 685
      students. The Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (Pintrich & De
      Groot, 1990), Students' Achievement Goal Orientations (Midgley, Kaplan,
      Middleton, Maehr, Urdan, Anderman, et al., 1998), Students' Perceptions of
      Classroom Activities (Gentry, Gable, & Rizza, 2002), and Perceptions of Parents
      Scales (Grolnick, Deci, & Ryan, 1997) were administered. Analysis showed
      relations among components of self-regulated learning, family environmental
      perceptions, perceptions of classroom activities, and motivational beliefs.
      Structural equation modeling indicated the proposed model had an acceptable fit
      to the data. All paths or structural coefficients of the proposed model were
      statistically significant.

PMID- 20923076
TI  - Self-awareness training associated with personality traits and sex: a pilot
      study.
AB  - 107 volunteers learning Reiki-Do self-awareness techniques participated in this
      study. Results indicate that personality traits in healthy participants might be
      affected by specific self-awareness training, such as Reiki-Do, with
      participants' sex playing an independent role.

PMID- 20923077
TI  - Poet interrupted: differences in the emotionality and imagery of Byron's poetry
      associated with his turbulent mid-career years in England.
AB  - The Dictionary of Affect in Language was employed to compare two parts of Byron's
      Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, written before and after an interruption of several
      turbulent years in England. The post-interruption part of the poem employed fewer
      extreme emotional words and more abstract words than the pre-interruption part.
      In a second analysis, poems written during the interruption and poems written
      before and after Childe Harold were examined, along with it, in terms of emotion,
      imagery, and linguistic richness. Two variables--year and an interruption dummy
      coded as 1 for publications between 1812.5 and 1816.17--predicted observed
      differences accurately. Byron's poetry became linguistically richer, more
      abstract, and less passionate across time, and it was emotionally more negative
      and linguistically simpler during the turbulent years. Differences between the
      two parts of Childe Harold were best explained on the basis of time-dependent
      growth curves rather than the interruption.

PMID- 20923078
TI  - Cultural differences in drawing movements between right-handed Japanese and
      German participants.
AB  - Differences in drawing movements with the dominant and nondominant hands by 41
      right-handed students from Japan (9 men, 12 women; M age = 20.3 yr., SD = 1.4)
      and Germany (13 men, 7 women; M age = 23.4 yr., SD = 3.0) were investigated.
      Participants were asked to use each hand to draw a circle, a pentagon, and a
      rhombus in one stroke. Analysis showed that Japanese participants drew a circle
      clockwise with the dominant right hand, starting from 6 or 7 o'clock on the face
      of a clock, while the German participants drew the circle counterclockwise,
      starting from 11 or 12 o'clock. Moreover, when drawing a pentagon and a rhombus
      with the right hand, Japanese participants drew counterclockwise from the top
      center vertex, whereas almost half of German participants drew clockwise from the
      left side and others drew counterclockwise from the top-center vertex. Using the
      left hand, no significant difference was found in starting positions or
      directionality. Cultural differences in the starting positions and directionality
      when using the dominant right hand probably reflect the influence of writing
      habits on the drawing movement of the dominant hand.

PMID- 20923079
TI  - Human left-sided cradling preferences for dogs.
AB  - Photographs of men and women holding dogs were analyzed for side-holding
      preferences. A significant majority of women in dog-themed magazines held dogs on
      their left sides, similar to reports of women holding infants. Men did not show
      the same left-sided preference, which is also consistent with other studies. The
      implications of these results for various hypotheses about infant cradling
      behavior were discussed.

PMID- 20923080
TI  - Characterizing perceptual learning using regression statistics: development of a
      perceptual calibration index.
AB  - Perceptual learning, improvement in perceptual skill with practice, can improve
      both accuracy and consistency of perceptual reports. Regression statistics can
      quantify ongoing calibration of perceptible scalar properties (i.e., improvements
      in accuracy and consistency) because, ideally, actual and perceived values are
      linearly related. Changes in variance accounted for (r2) track changes in
      consistency, and changes in both slope and intercept track changes in accuracy.
      Conjoint changes in all three regression statistics, obscured in separate plots,
      can be seen simultaneously in a perceptual calibration state space diagram, with
      the regression statistics as axes, in which an attractor (r2 = 1.00, slope =
      1.00, intercept = 0.00) represents optimal performance. Decreases in the distance
      between the attractor and successive points in the state space, each representing
      perceptual performance, quantify perceptual learning; that distance is a
      perceptual calibration index. To show the utility of the perceptual calibration
      index, we illustrate its use in an experiment on wielding hand-held objects.

PMID- 20923081
TI  - Does exposure to ambient odors influence the emotional content of memories?
AB  - This study examined the effects of implicitly presented odors on the emotional
      content of memory narratives. Participants were exposed to low levels of perfumes
      or no odors while they reconstructed a memory from childhood and a recurrent
      dream. Narratives were analyzed for emotional content using the Linguistic and
      Inquiry Word Count program. Exposure to perfumes increased the percentage of
      positive emotion words used by participants in recalling both dreams and
      childhood memories. In addition, exposure to odors decreased the percentage of
      negative emotion words that men used in their narratives, whereas the opposite
      effect was found for women. Discussion focuses on gender differences in written
      emotional expression, possible ways by which perfumes may exert their effects,
      and the usefulness of using ambient odors and objective content analysis when
      studying emotions in memories.

PMID- 20923082
TI  - Recognizing odors associated with meaningful places.
AB  - Thirty-two undergraduates inhaled odors while outlining episodes, set in 8 living
      rooms, involving either themselves or the actual inhabitants. They rated odors,
      rooms, and episodes on 7-point scales and were tested for odor recognition.
      Episodes were content analyzed, and the frequency of categories was assessed.
      Separate factor analyses determined relationships between rating scales and
      content analysis categories. Regression analysis showed greater odor recognition
      when participants judged the odor to fit the imagined episode but less
      recognition when an unpleasant odor was incongruously paired with a warm episode.
      Odor recognition also was greater when the narrative outlines described familiar
      characters figuring out the scenes. Results supported the congruity hypothesis,
      whereby odors become markers for meaningful scenes with which they fit.

PMID- 20923083
TI  - The impact of domain and subject specialization on knowledge organization.
AB  - Thematic organization is the association of information that is observed within a
      given time frame or event, and taxonomic organization is characterized by class
      membership based on featural overlap. Research in cognitive psychology has
      suggested a developmental progression in preference from thematic organization to
      taxonomic organization, with a preference for taxonomic organization seen as
      cognitively more advanced. However, recent research has found thematic
      preferences in adults and shown that organizational preference can be influenced
      by context and experience. This study expanded on previous findings of individual
      differences and explored preferences across different domains. Specifically,
      preferences for knowledge organization were measured between student type
      (history and psychology) and across content type (general and history). The
      results indicated that history material was more likely to be organized
      thematically than general material.

PMID- 20923084
TI  - Memes and their themata.
AB  - When it is instantiated as a neuronal state, a meme is characterized as a
      phenotype in a novel neuronal sense. A thema is an instantiation of a meme as a
      conscious experience (a thought-meme). It is a primitive to which no location may
      be attributed, and it serves as a canonical representative of a class of memes.
      Memes in such a class may have physical or ideal (Platonic) instantiations.
      Pairing of this memetic phenotype characterization with the ideal thematic
      primitive is an example of other pairings in nature that are identified, and in
      particular it informs a description of the pairing of the unconscious mind and
      manifestations of consciousness. Interrelationship of these pairings is what
      illuminates aspects of each of them. These constructs support introduction of a
      consciousness thesis and then a notion of a dynamic self-referential grammar that
      generates a growing repertoire of consciousness manifestations. A method showing
      how a neuronal state generates a specific concept (thema) is introduced, and a
      sample of a class of examples is given. Pointers to experiments relevant to
      development of the thesis are given.

PMID- 20923085
TI  - Credibility judgments of narratives: language, plausibility, and absorption.
AB  - Two experiments were conducted in order to find out whether textual features of
      narratives differentially affect credibility judgments made by judges having
      different levels of absorption (a disposition associated with rich visual
      imagination). Participants in both experiments were exposed to a textual
      narrative and requested to judge whether the narrator actually experienced the
      event he described in his story. In Experiment 1, the narrative varied in terms
      of language (literal, figurative) and plausibility (ordinary, anomalous). In
      Experiment 2, the narrative varied in terms of language only. The participants'
      perceptions of the plausibility of the story described and the extent to which
      they were absorbed in reading were measured. The data from both experiments
      together suggest that the groups applied entirely different criteria in
      credibility judgments. For high-absorption individuals, their credibility
      judgment depends on the degree to which the text can be assimilated into their
      own vivid imagination, whereas for low-absorption individuals it depends mainly
      on plausibility. That is, high-absorption individuals applied an experiential
      mental set while judging the credibility of the narrator, whereas low-absorption
      individuals applied an instrumental mental set. Possible cognitive mechanisms and
      implications for credibility judgments are discussed.

PMID- 20923086
TI  - Testing the attention shift hypothesis as an account for the flanker sequence
      based congruency modulation in spatial flanker tasks.
AB  - Smaller Simon effects when stimulus locations are repeated on successive trials
      rather than alternated have been explained by the attention shift hypothesis,
      suggesting that shifts of attention result in interfering response codes. We
      investigated whether the attention shift hypothesis can also explain smaller
      flanker effects for repeated flankers than for alternated flankers, which occur
      only with directional information. In 3 peripheral letter identification tasks,
      target locations were cued by partial or complete flanker stimuli. Experiments 1
      and 2 showed that directional flankers elicit shifts of attention. However,
      Experiment 3 revealed that directional flankers induced inverted cuing effects
      when reacting to the central target arrow was additionally required. These
      results are difficult to reconcile with the attention shift hypothesis as an
      explanation for the congruency reduction with repetitions of directional
      flankers.

PMID- 20923087
TI  - How the behavioral approach system predicts everyday life outcomes.
AB  - This study tested crucial components of Gray's reinforcement sensitivity theory
      that have generally been overlooked in the literature. We tested whether the
      perceived amount of reward moderates the behavioral approach system (BAS) and the
      importance of reward mediates BAS in the prediction of job satisfaction and
      organizational commitment. Results from 514 participants employed in part-time
      and full-time jobs provided support for our model, such that the indirect effect
      of BAS through the importance of reward was strongest when reward was provided.
      This model advances our understanding of reinforcement sensitivity theory and
      offers a solid foundation for predicting outcomes in everyday life.

PMID- 20923088
TI  - Monitoring of non-point source pollutants load from a mixed forest land use.
AB  - The aim of this study was to determine the unit load of NPS (non-point source)
      pollutants including organic variables such as BOD (biochemical oxygen demand),
      COD (chemical oxygen demand) and DOC (dissolved organic carbon), nitrogen and
      phosphorus constituents, and suspended solids (SS) and their event mean
      concentration (EMC) of runoff flows from a water-shed of mixed forest land use by
      intensive field experiments. Field monitoring for continuous measurements of
      rainfall, flow, and water quality was conducted over 12 storm events during 2008
      2009 using automated and manual sampling methods. The EMCs of individual runoff
      event were estimated for each water quality constituent based on the flow rate
      and concentration data of runoff discharge. The average EMCs of BOD, COD, DOC,
      SS, TN (total nitrogen), NH4(+)-N, NO3(-)-N, TP (total phosphorus), PO4(3-)-P
      from the mixed forest land were 1.794, 3.498, 1.462, 10.269, 0.862, 0.044, 0.634,
      0.034, and 0.005 mg/L, respectively. The annual unit loads of BOD, COD, DOC, SS,
      TN, NH4(+)-N, NO3(-)-N, TP and PO4(3-)-P were estimated as 66.9, 133.2, 55.5,
      429.8, 36.5, 1.6, 26.9, 1.3 and 0.1 kg/(ha x yr), respectively. In addition,
      affecting parameters on the EMCs were investigated by statistic analysis of the
      field data. As a result, significant correlations with precipitation, rainfall
      intensity, and total runoff flows were found in most constituents.

PMID- 20923089
TI  - Understanding nutrient build-up on urban road surfaces.
AB  - This article discusses the outcomes of a research project on nutrients build-up
      on urban road surfaces. Nutrient build-up was investigated on road sites
      belonging to residential, industrial and commercial land use. Collected build-up
      samples were separated into five particle size ranges and were tested for total
      nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP) and sub species of nutrients, namely, NO2-,
      NO3-, TKN and PO4(3-). Multivariate analytical techniques were used to analyse
      the data and to develop detailed understanding on buildup. Data analysis revealed
      that the solids loads on urban road surfaces are highly influenced by factors
      such as land use, antecedent dry period and traffic volume. However, the nutrient
      build-up process was found to be independent of the type of land use. It was
      solely dependent on the particle size of solids build-up. Most of the nutrients
      were associated with the particle size range < 150 microm. Therefore, the removal
      of particles below 150 microm from road surfaces is of importance for the removal
      of nitrogen and phosphorus from road surface solids build-up. It is also
      important to consider the difference in the composition of nitrogen and
      phosphorus build-up in the context of designing effective stormwater quality
      mitigation strategies.

PMID- 20923090
TI  - Restoration of Koggala lagoon: modelling approach in evaluating lagoon water
      budget and flow characteristics.
AB  - Groyne system modification is described related to restoration efforts to Koggala
      lagoon, Sri Lanka.The large-scale unplanned sand removal at the lagoon mouth
      shifted the formation of sand bar towards the lagoon and made adverse effects on
      its ecosystem. After the removal of the natural sand bar, groyne system was
      constructed to avoid sand deposition in the lagoon and to protect the highway
      bridge (across the lagoon outlet channel) from the wave attack. The existing
      groyne system resulted the lagoon mouth being permanently open to sea which in
      turn led to many environmental problems. Groyne system modification is proposed
      in this study to reduce the sea water intrusion. Water budget and two-dimensional
      depth averaged hydrodynamic model were developed for understanding the hydrologic
      and flow characteristics of the lagoon. Numerical experiments was performed at
      lagoon mouth area for two cases: (1) existing condition and (2) proposed rubble
      mound groyne system condition. Comparison of results was obtained for both cases
      to describe flow pattern at lagoon mouth. Results further showed, the width
      should be reduced to a maximum of 40 m. Proposed mouth width (40 m) pushed the
      salting factor towards 0.5 from 0.68. Salting factor reduction with the groyne
      modification may result a predominant influence of fresh water which may in turn
      lead lagoon to a fresh water ecosystem.

PMID- 20923091
TI  - Evaluation of the effectiveness of horizontal subsurface flow constructed
      wetlands for different media.
AB  - Two media bed (gravel and Filtralite NR) were tested in a mesocosm to evaluate
      the removal of organic matter (as chemical oxygen demand (COD)), ammonia (NH4-N),
      nitrite, nitrate and solid matter (as total suspended solids (TSS)) for a
      synthetic wastewater (acetate-based) and a domestic wastewater. The use of
      Filtralite allowed average removal rates (6-16.8 g COD/(m2 x day), 0.8-1.1 g NH4
      N/(m2 x day) and 3.1 g TSS/(m2 x day)) and removal efficiencies (65%-93%, 57%-85%
      and 78% for COD, NH4-N and TSS, respectively), higher than that observed in the
      experiments with gravel. The applied loads of COD, ammonia, nitrate and TSS seem
      to influence the respective removal rates but only for the treatment of domestic
      wastewater with higher correlation coefficients for Filtralite. Regardless the
      type of media bed and the type of wastewater, nitrate was completely removed for
      nitrogen loading rates up to 1.3 g NO3-N/(m2 x day). There was no evidence of the
      influence of nitrate loads on the removal of organic matter.

PMID- 20923092
TI  - Evaluation of non-point source pollution reduction by applying best management
      practices using a SWAT model and QuickBird high resolution satellite imagery.
AB  - This study evaluated the reduction effect of non-point source pollution by
      applying best management practices (BMPs) to a 1.21 km2 small agricultural
      watershed using a SWAT (Soil and Water Assessment Tool) model. Two meter
      QuickBird land use data were prepared for the watershed. The SWAT was calibrated
      and validated using daily streamflow and monthly water quality (total phosphorus
      (TP), total nitrogen (TN), and suspended solids (SS)) records from 1999 to 2000
      and from 2001 to 2002. The average Nash and Sutcliffe model efficiency was 0.63
      for the streamflow and the coefficients of determination were 0.88, 0.72, and
      0.68 for SS, TN, and TP, respectively. Four BMP scenarios viz. the application of
      vegetation filter strip and riparian buffer system, the regulation of Universal
      Soil Loss Equation P factor, and the fertilizing control amount for crops were
      applied and analyzed.

PMID- 20923093
TI  - Modeling the effects of constructed wetland on nonpoint source pollution control
      and reservoir water quality improvement.
AB  - This article describes the integrated modeling approach for planning the size and
      the operation of constructed wetlands for maximizing retention of nonpoint source
      pollutant loads and reservoir water-quality improvement at a catchment scale. The
      experimental field-scale wetland systems (four sets, 0.88 ha each) have been in
      operation since 2002, where water depth was maintained at 30-50 cm and hydraulic
      loading rate was at 6.3-18.8 cm/day. The wetland system was found to be adequate
      for treating polluted stream water with stable removal efficiency even during the
      winter. The integrated modeling system (modified-BASINS) was applied to the
      Seokmoon estuarine reservoir watershed and calibrated with monitoring data from
      constructed wetland, stream, and reservoir. The calibrated integrated modeling
      system estimated that constructing wetlands on 0.5% (about 114 ha) of the
      watershed area at the mouth of reservoir could reduce 11.61% and 13.49% of total
      external nitrogen and phosphorus loads, respectively. It also might improve the
      nitrogen and phosphorus concentration of the reservoir by 9.69% and 16.48%,
      respectively. The study suggested that about 0.1%-1.0% of the watershed area
      should be allocated for constructed wetland to meet specified water-quality
      standards for the estuarine reservoir at the polder area where land use planning
      is relatively less complicated.

PMID- 20923094
TI  - Predicting the impacts of climate change on nonpoint source pollutant loads from
      agricultural small watershed using artificial neural network.
AB  - This study described the development and validation of an artificial neural
      network (ANN) for the purpose of analyzing the effects of climate change on
      nonpoint source (NPS) pollutant loads from agricultural small watershed. The
      runoff discharge was estimated using ANN algorithm. The performance of ANN
      modelwas examined using observed data from s tudy watershed. The
      simulationresults agreed well with observed values during calibration and
      validation periods. NPS pollutant loads were calculated from load-discharge
      relationship driven by long-term monitoring data. LARS-WG (Long Ashton Research
      Station-Weather Generator) model was used to generate rainfall data. The
      calibrated ANN model and load-discharge relationship with the generated data from
      LARS-WGwere applied to analyze the effects of climate change on NPS pollutant
      loads from the agricultural small watershed. The results showed that the ANN
      model provided valuable approach i n estimating future runof f discharge, and the
      NPS pollutantloads.

PMID- 20923095
TI  - Evaluation of the relationship between two different methods for enumeration
      fecal indicator bacteria: colony-forming unit and most probable number.
AB  - Most probable number (MPN) and colony-forming unit (CFU) estimates of fecal
      indicator bacteria (FIB) concentration are common measures of water quality in
      aquatic environments. Thus, FIB intensively monitored in Yeongsan Watershed in an
      attempt to compare two different methods and to develop a statistical model to
      convert from CFU to MPN estimates or vice versa. As a result, the significant
      difference was found in the MPN and CFU estimates. The enumerated Escherichia
      coli concentrations in MPN are greater than those in CFU, except for the
      measurement in winter. Especially in fall, E. coli concentrations in MPN are one
      order of magnitude greater than that in CFU. Contrarily, enterococci bacteria in
      MPN are lower than those in CFU. However, in general, a strongly positive
      relationship are found between MPN and CFU estimates. Therefore, the statistical
      models were developed, and showed the reasonable converting FIB concentrations
      from CFU estimates to MPN estimates. We expect this study will provide
      preliminary information towards future research on whether different analysis
      methods may result in different water quality standard violation frequencies for
      the same water sample.

PMID- 20923096
TI  - Assessment of physically-based and data-driven models to predict microbial water
      quality in open channels.
AB  - In the present study, a physically-based hydraulic modeling tool and a data
      driven approach using artificial neural networks (ANNs) were evaluated for their
      ability to simulate the fate and transport of microorganisms in a water system.
      To produce reliable data, a pipe network was constructed and a series of
      experiments using a fecal coliform indicator (Escherichia coli 15597) was
      conducted. For the physically-based model, morphological (pipe size, link length,
      slope, etc.) and hydraulic (flow rate) conditions were used as input variables,
      and for ANNs, water quality parameters (conductivity, pH, and turbidity) were
      used. Both approaches accurately described the fate and transport of
      microorganisms (physically-based model: correlation coefficient (R) in the range
      of 0.914-0.977 and ANNs: R in the range of 0.949 - 0.980), with the exception of
      one case at a low flow rate (q = 31.56 cm3/sec). This study also indicated that
      these approaches could be complementarily utilized to assess the vulnerability of
      water facilities and to establish emergency plans based on hypothetical
      scenarios.

PMID- 20923097
TI  - Ecotoxicological assessment of diffuse pollution using biomonitoring tool for
      sustainable land use in Thailand.
AB  - As a developing country, Thailand has a significant issue with diffuse pollution
      of the soil ecosystem due to an indiscriminate use of agrichemicals and poorly
      regulated disposal of a wide variety of hazardous wastes. Practical risk
      assessment tools based on locally-occurring species are needed to assess the
      effects of diffuse pollutants on the soil ecosystem in Thailand because reliance
      on soil criteria developed for overseas conditions may provide inadequate
      protection. Native soil organisms in Thailand may be more or less sensitive to
      contaminants compared to overseas test species. This article described a
      biological indicator approach for ecological risk assessment of diffuse pollution
      in the soil ecosystem of Thailand from pesticide application with the aim of
      developing standardized protocols using native species and locally generated data
      to better evaluate the ecological risks of non-point source soil pollution. It
      was found that ecotoxicological assessment provided a better understanding of the
      ecological impacts that diffuse pollution induced on Thai environmental
      conditions. Thai soil biota species were more sensitive to soil contaminants than
      similar species overseas. Soil series also had an influence on the ecotoxicology
      of contaminants to soil biota. Collembolan, Cyphoderus sp., was demonstrated as a
      useful alternative test species to Folsomia candida (international test species)
      for terrestrial ecotoxicological testing of Thai soils. In addition, the soil
      biota activities such as soil respiration and earthworm avoidance including soil
      biodiversity and the litter bag decomposition technique are also good tools to
      assess the effects of diffuse pollution by pesticides on the soil ecosystem of
      Thailand.

PMID- 20923098
TI  - Control of petroleum-hydrocarbon contaminated groundwater by intrinsic and
      enhanced bioremediation.
AB  - In the first phase of this study, the effectiveness of intrinsic bioremediation
      on the containment of petroleum hydrocarbons was evaluated at a gasoline spill
      site. Evidences of the occurrence of intrinsic bioremediation within the BTEX
      (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes) plume included (1) decreased BTEX
      concentrations; (2) depletion of dissolved oxygen (DO), nitrate, and sulfate; (3)
      production of dissolved ferrous iron, methane, and CO2; (4) deceased pH and redox
      potential; and (5) increased methanogens, total heterotrophs, and total
      anaerobes, especially within the highly contaminated areas. In the second phase
      of this study, enhanced aerobic bioremediation process was applied at site to
      enhance the BTEX decay rates. Air was injected into the subsurface near the mid
      plume area to biostimulate the naturally occurring microorganisms for BTEX
      biodegradation. Field results showed that enhanced bioremediation process caused
      the change of BTEX removal mechanisms from anaerobic biodegradation inside the
      plume to aerobic biodegradation. This variation could be confirmed by the
      following field observations inside the plume due to the enhanced aerobic
      bioremediation process: (1) increased in DO, CO2, redox potential, nitrate, and
      sulfate, (2) decreased in dissolved ferrous iron, sulfide, and methane, (3)
      increased total heterotrophs and decreased total anaerobes. Field results also
      showed that the percentage of total BTEX removal increased from 92% to 99%, and
      the calculated total BTEX first-order natural attenuation rates increased from
      0.0092% to 0.0188% per day, respectively, after the application of enhanced
      bioremediation system from the spill area to the downgradient area (located
      approximately 300 m from the source area).

PMID- 20923099
TI  - Forecasting the effects of EU policy measures on the nitrate pollution of
      groundwater and surface waters.
AB  - We used the interdisciplinary model network AGRUM [corrected] to predict the
      actual mean nitrate concentration in percolation water at the scale of the Weser
      river basin (Germany) using an area differentiated (100 m x 100 m) approach.
      AGRUM [corrected] combines the agro-economic model RAUMIS for estimating nitrogen
      surpluses and the hydrological models GROWA/DENUZ for assessing the nitrate
      leaching from the soil. For areas showing predicted nitrate concentrations in
      percolation water above the European Union (EU) groundwater quality standard of
      50 mg NO3-N/L, effective agri-environmental reduction measures need to be derived
      and implemented to improve groundwater and surface water quality by 2015. The
      effects of already implemented agricultural policy are quantified by a baseline
      scenario projecting the N-surpluses from agricultural sector to 2015. The AGRUM
      [corrected] model is used to estimate the effects of this scenario concerning
      groundwater and surface water pollution by nitrate. From the results of the model
      analysis the needs for additional measures can be derived in terms of required
      additional N-surplus reduction and in terms of regional prioritization of
      measures. Research work will therefore directly support the implementation of the
      Water Framework Directive of the European Union in the Weser basin.

PMID- 20923100
TI  - Scenario analysis for reduction of pollutant load discharged from a watershed by
      recycling of treated water for irrigation.
AB  - A model in which a river model was layered on a distributed model (double-layered
      model) was developed to analyse the transport of water and pollutants (nitrogen,
      phosphorus, and BOD as organic matter) in watersheds and rivers. The model was
      applied to the watershed of Abragafuchi Lake, Japan, where serious water
      pollution has occurred over three decades, and the applicability of the model was
      demonstrated. Scenarios of recycling of sewage treated-water into agriculture to
      reduce pollutant load discharged into the lake were analysed. The results showed
      that irrigating paddy fields with the sewage-treated water could contribute to
      conserving water and reducing pollutant load, with reduction rate in BOD,
      nitrogen, and phosphorus ranging from 6%-36%, 16%-46%, and 18%-51%, respectively.
      Particularly, the results indicated that, irrigating paddy fields with the
      treated water during non-cropping periods and the accompanying reduction in
      withdrawn water from the river were more effective in reducing pollutant loads
      discharged into the lake. Further study is required on the effect of recycled
      water on crop cultivation and soil conditions for safe implementation.

PMID- 20923101
TI  - Water-saving irrigation of paddy field to reduce nutrient runoff.
AB  - The purpose of this work is to study the effect of a type of water-saving
      irrigation (WSI) on nutrient runoff of paddy field. The volume of surface
      drainage was maintained low by WSI. In particular, WSI effectively reduced
      surface drainage in rain events. Model simulation indicated that net runoff load
      of total nitrogen (TN) from the paddy field was increased by WSI. Meanwhile, net
      runoff loads of total phosphorus (TP) and total organic carbon (TOC) from the
      paddy field was decreased by WSI. Because ponding waters of the study fields were
      enriched with TP and TOC, WSI reduced runoff of these nutrients by controlling
      the volume of surface drainage. WSI could be considered an efficient method for
      reducing runoff loads and could conserve water quality in an agricultural
      watershed.

PMID- 20923102
TI  - Natural purification effects in the river in consideration with domestic
      wastewater pollutant discharge reduction effects.
AB  - The first social experiment program in Japan to reduce domestic wastewater
      pollutant discharge by "soft interventions" in households has been conducted in
      the Yamato-gawa River drainage area since 2005. The Yamato-gawa River has been
      listed as one of the worst water quality rivers in Japan because of the larger
      annual average BOD. "Hard interventions" including deployment of wastewater
      treatment facilities and artificial installation of natural purification
      facilities in the river has been conducted in these years to improve river water
      quality. At the first Yamato-gawa River social experiment program (YR-SEP) in
      March 2005, BOD at the monitoring point near the river mouth decreased about 6%
      during the Program. Natural purification effect along the river was evaluated in
      this article with one-dimensional water quality model for the six river sections.
      Larger biological oxygen consumption rate, kb, was estimated in the sections with
      artificially installed natural purification facilities. The effect of "soft
      interventions" in households in the YR-SEP was estimated as 25% BOD decrease in
      the nearest monitoring point to the river mouth, when all the households
      participate in the Program and BOD discharge reduction rate with "soft
      interventions" in households was 40%.

PMID- 20923103
TI  - Classification of different sustainable flood retention basin types.
AB  - Using a revised version of a previously published expert classification system, a
      database of potential Sustainable Flood Retention Basins has been developed for
      Scotland. The research shows that the majority of small and former (often old)
      drinking water reservoirs are kept full and their spillways are continuously in
      operation. Utilising some of the available capacity to contribute to flood
      control could significantly reduce the costs of complying with the European Union
      Flood Directive. Furthermore, the application of a previously developed
      classification model for Baden in Germany for the Scottish data set showed a
      lower diversity for basins in Scotland due to less developed infrastructure. The
      classification system appears to be robust and has the potential, with minor
      modifications, to be applied across Europe. The principle value of this approach
      is a clear and unambiguous categorisation, based on standard variables, which can
      help to promote communication and understanding between stakeholders.

PMID- 20923104
TI  - Parameter determination to calculate water environmental capacity in Zhangweinan
      canal sub-basin in China.
AB  - Zhangweinan canal sub-basin (ZWN) has the most serious water resource shortage
      and water pollution problems in north of China. To calculate the water
      environmental capacity in ZWN, determination methods for design flow rates and
      degradation coefficients were discussed in this study. Results showed that 90%
      and 50% hydrological guarantee flow rates were suitable to be the design flow
      rates for rainy and dry seasons, respectively. Degradation coefficients of
      COD(Mn) and NH3-N were 0.25 day(-1) and 0.15 day(-1) for branch streams and 0.5
      day(-1) and 0.25 day(-1) for mainstreams, respectively in ZWN. With one
      dimensional water quality simulation model, water environmental capacities were
      calculated to be 82,139 tons/yr for COD(Mn) and 2394 tons/yr for NH3-N in ZWN.

PMID- 20923105
TI  - Effect of a seasonal diffuse pollution migration on natural organic matter
      behavior in a stratified dam reservoir.
AB  - This article aims to describe the influence of diffuse pollution on the temporal
      and spatial characteristics of natural organic matter (NOM) in a stratified dam
      reservoir, the Daecheong Dam, on the basis of intensive observation results and
      the dynamic water quality simulation using CE-QUAL-W2. Turbidity is regarded as a
      comprehensive representation of allochothonous organic matter from diffuse
      sources in storm season because the turbidity concentration showed reasonable
      significance in a statistical correlation with the UV absorbance at 254 nm and
      total phosphorus. CE-QUAL-W2 simulation results showed good consistency with the
      observed data in terms of dissolved organic matter (DOM) including refractory
      dissolved organic carbon (RDOC) and labile DOC and also well explained the
      internal movement of constituents and stratification phenomenon in the reservoir.
      Instead turbidity and NOM were related well in the upper region of the reservoir
      according to flow distance, gradually as changing to dissolved form of organic
      matter, RDOM affected organic matter concentration of reservoir water quality
      compared to turbidity. To control the increase of soluble organic matters in the
      dam reservoir, appropriate dam water discharge gate operation provided effective
      measurement. Because of the gate operation let avoid the accumulation of organic
      matter within a dam reservoir by shorten of turbid regime retention time.

PMID- 20923106
TI  - Probability mass first flush evaluation for combined sewer discharges.
AB  - The Korea government has put in a lot of effort to construct sanitation
      facilities for controlling non-point source pollution. The first flush phenomenon
      is a prime example of such pollution. However, to date, several serious problems
      have arisen in the operation and treatment effectiveness of these facilities due
      to unsuitable design flow volumes and pollution loads. It is difficult to assess
      the optimal flow volume and pollution mass when considering both monetary and
      temporal limitations. The objective of this article was to characterize the
      discharge of storm runoff pollution from urban catchments in Korea and to
      estimate the probability of mass first flush (MFFn) using the storm water
      management model and probability density functions. As a result of the review of
      gauged storms for the representative using probability density function with
      rainfall volumes during the last two years, all the gauged storms were found to
      be valid representative precipitation. Both the observed MFFn and probability
      MFFn in BE-1 denoted similarly large magnitudes of first flush with roughly 40%
      of the total pollution mass contained in the first 20% of the runoff. In the case
      of BE-2, however, there were significant difference between the observed MFFn and
      probability MFFn.

PMID- 20923107
TI  - Effects of land use change and water reuse options on urban water cycle.
AB  - The aim of this article was to study the effects of land use change and water
      reuse options on an urban water cycle. A water cycle analysis was performed on
      the Goonja drainage basin, located in metropolitan Seoul, using the Aquacycle
      model. The chronological effects of urbanization were first assessed for the land
      uses of the Goonja drainage basin from 1975 to 2005, where the ratio of
      impervious areas ranged from 43% to 84%. Progressive urbanization was identified
      as leading to a decrease in evapotranspiration (29%), an increase in surface
      runoff (41%) and a decrease in groundwater recharge (74%), indicating a serious
      distortion of the water cycle. From a subsequent analysis of the water reuse
      options, such as rainwater use and wastewater reuse, it is concluded that
      wastewater reuse seemed to have an advantage over rainwater use for providing a
      consistent water supply throughout the year for a country like Korea, where the
      rainy season is concentrated during the summer monsoon.

PMID- 20923108
TI  - Mortality rates of pathogen indicator microorganisms discharged from point and
      non-point sources in an urban area.
AB  - This research measured the mortality rates of pathogen indicator microorganisms
      discharged from various point and non-point sources in an urban area. Water
      samples were collected from a domestic sewer, a combined sewer overflow, the
      effluent of a wastewater treatment plant, and an urban river. Mortality rates of
      indicator microorganisms in sediment of an urban river were also measured.
      Mortality rates of indicator microorganisms in domestic sewage, estimated by
      assuming first order kinetics at 20 degrees C were 0.197 day(-1), 0.234 day(-1),
      0.258 day(-1) and 0.276 day(-1) for total coliform, fecal coliform, Escherichia
      coli, and fecal streptococci, respectively. Effects of temperature, sunlight
      irradiation and settlement on the mortality rate were measured. Results of this
      research can be used as input data for water quality modeling or can be used as
      design factors for treatment facilities.

PMID- 20923109
TI  - Salinity intrusion characteristics analysis using EFDC model in the downstream of
      Geum River.
AB  - As social interest in the environmental conservation and ecological restoration
      has recently increased, more research works have been done to resolve problems
      concerning environmental management of estuaries. In this study, a three
      dimensional numerical model, Environmental Fluid Dynamics Code (EFDC) was used in
      the analysis of the salinity intrusion characteristics in the downstream of Geum
      River. The numerical simulation was performed to investigate the influence range
      for salinity intrusion when the gates were fully opened. The conditions used for
      simulation were the four flow regimes in Geum River Basin, Korea. Results
      indicated that the ranges of salinity intrusion from the barrage were 50.72 km
      (drought flow), 48.87 km (low flow), 46.56 km (normal flow) and 42.10 km (flood
      flow). These results indicated that the EFDC model used for numerical simulation
      has high accuracy. The result concluded in this study can be used as a basis in
      understanding the extent of salinity intrusion effects at different flow rates.

PMID- 20923110
TI  - Characteristics of contaminants in water and sediment of a constructed wetland
      treating piggery wastewater effluent.
AB  - Constructed wetland (CW) is the preferred means of controlling water quality
      because of its natural treatment mechanisms and function as a secondary or
      tertiary treatment unit. CW is increasingly applied in Korea for secondary
      effluent of livestock wastewater treatment. This study was conducted to recognize
      the characteristics of contaminants in the accumulated sediment at the bottom
      soil layer and to reduce the phosphorus release from sediments of the free water
      surface CW for the treatment of secondary piggery wastewater effluent from a
      livestock wastewater treatment facility. The results revealed that the dominant
      phosphorus existence types at near the inlet of the CW were non-apatite
      phosphorus (59%) and residual phosphorus (32%) suggesting that most of the
      particles of the influent are made up of inorganic materials and dead cells.
      Sediment accumulation is important when determining the long-term maintenance
      requirements over the lifetime of CW. Continuous monitoring will be performed for
      a further assessment of the CW system and design.

PMID- 20923111
TI  - Multiple linear regression models of urban runoff pollutant load and event mean
      concentration considering rainfall variables.
AB  - Rainfall is an important factor in estimating the event mean concentration (EMC)
      which is used to quantify the washed-off pollutant concentrations from non-point
      sources (NPSs). Pollutant loads could also be calculated using rainfall,
      catchment area and runoff coefficient. In this study, runoff quantity and quality
      data gathered from a 28-month monitoring conducted on the road and parking lot
      sites in Korea were evaluated using multiple linear regression (MLR) to develop
      equations for estimating pollutant loads and EMCs as a function of rainfall
      variables. The results revealed that total event rainfall and average rainfall
      intensity are possible predictors of pollutant loads. Overall, the models are
      indicators of the high uncertainties of NPSs; perhaps estimation of EMCs and
      loads could be accurately obtained by means of water quality sampling or a long
      term monitoring is needed to gather more data that can be used for the
      development of estimation models.

PMID- 20923112
TI  - A review of probabilistic analysis in orthopaedic biomechanics.
AB  - Probabilistic analysis methods are being increasingly applied in the orthopaedics
      and biomechanics literature to account for uncertainty and variability in subject
      geometries, properties of various structures, kinematics and joint loading, as
      well as uncertainty in implant alignment. As a complement to experiments, finite
      element modelling, and statistical analysis, probabilistic analysis provides a
      method of characterizing the potential impact of variability in parameters on
      performance. This paper presents an overview of probabilistic analysis and a
      review of biomechanics literature utilizing probabilistic methods in structural
      reliability, kinematics, joint mechanics, musculoskeletal modelling, and patient
      specific representations. The aim of this review paper is to demonstrate the wide
      range of applications of probabilistic methods and to aid researchers and
      clinicians in better understanding probabilistic analyses.

PMID- 20923113
TI  - An in vitro investigation of image-guided steerable catheter navigation.
AB  - The objective of this study is to provide catheterization with a three
      dimensional (3D) guiding image and reduce the collision probability between the
      catheter tip and vascular wall. A bidirectional steerable catheter was integrated
      with two magnetic position-tracking sensors on both sides of its bending segment.
      The tracking information was displayed on the guiding image, which helped the
      surgeons to determine the relative position between the catheter tip and
      surrounding vessels. The navigation path was generated on the basis of the
      vascular skeleton. Moreover, along the path, a series of guiding circular planes
      were set as the guidance for the catheter. Three operations (bending, advancing,
      and twisting) were jointly conducted to get the catheter through these guiding
      planes in turn and eventually into the target vessel. The effectiveness of the
      proposed navigation method was verified by experiments implemented in an aorta
      vascular phantom. The navigation system has a mean error of 0.19 mm, a root mean
      square of 0.49 mm, and a standard deviation of 0.46 mm.

PMID- 20923114
TI  - A two-system, single-analysis, fluid-structure interaction technique for
      modelling abdominal aortic aneurysms.
AB  - This work reports on the implementation and validation of a two-system, single
      analysis, fluid-structure interaction (FSI) technique that uses the finite volume
      (FV) method for performing simulations on abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA)
      geometries. This FSI technique, which was implemented in OpenFOAM, included fluid
      and solid mesh motion and incorporated a non-linear material model to represent
      AAA tissue. Fully implicit coupling was implemented, ensuring that both the fluid
      and solid domains reached convergence within each time step. The fluid and solid
      parts of the FSI code were validated independently through comparison with
      experimental data, before performing a complete FSI simulation on an idealized
      AAA geometry. Results from the FSI simulation showed that a vortex formed at the
      proximal end of the aneurysm during systolic acceleration, and moved towards the
      distal end of the aneurysm during diastole. Wall shear stress (WSS) values were
      found to peak at both the proximal and distal ends of the aneurysm and remain low
      along the centre of the aneurysm. The maximum von Mises stress in the aneurysm
      wall was found to be 408kPa, and this occurred at the proximal end of the
      aneurysm, while the maximum displacement of 2.31 mm occurred in the centre of the
      aneurysm. These results were found to be consistent with results from other FSI
      studies in the literature.

PMID- 20923115
TI  - An investigation of the flow field within patient-specific models of an abdominal
      aortic aneurysm under steady inflow conditions.
AB  - The flow fields within three patient-specific models of an abdominal aortic
      aneurysm (AAA) were investigated under steady laminar inflow conditions over a
      range of Reynolds numbers. Each model extended from the renal arteries to
      downstream of the iliac bifurcation. The aneurysms (referred to as models A, B,
      and C) are mature, with D/d ratios of 1.83, 1.57, and 1.95 respectively. The mass
      flowrates in each of the iliac arteries were equal. Using flow visualization it
      was observed that the flow proximally in the aneurysm was characterized by a
      primary jet that separated from either the posterior wall or the lateral wall or
      both, producing large recirculating zones. The primary jet impinged either
      normally or obliquely upon the anterior or right lateral wall in the distal half
      of the aneurysm, the flow distally in the aneurysm having been greatly disturbed.
      Measurements of the turbulence intensity along the median lumen centre-line
      showed that in each model the onset of transition and full turbulence occurred at
      Reynolds numbers much lower than those previously measured in idealized models.
      Computational fluid dynamics showed substantial differences in the velocity and
      stress fields when using the shear stress transport turbulence model as opposed
      to a laminar viscous model. It was also observed that turbulence was largely
      produced along the shear layers surrounding the primary jet and, in particular,
      at interfaces between the jet and the recirculating zones. In conclusion,
      turbulence may be expected to exist at Reynolds numbers typically encountered
      within an AAA, and it must be taken account of in an analysis of the flow field.

PMID- 20923116
TI  - Coupling of dynamics and contact mechanics of artificial hip joints in a pendulum
      model.
AB  - To date, fully coupled dynamics and contact mechanics analysis is still limited
      by expensive computational cost and long computing time and has not been
      addressed comprehensively, particularly in the hip joint. To understand the
      influence of different parameters on the biomechanics of the total hip
      replacement (THR) and improve its design, two numerical approaches were developed
      and implemented in finite element models to investigate the coupling between the
      dynamics response and the contact mechanics for three different THR
      configurations, metal-on-polyethylene (MOP), metal-on-metal (MOM), and ceramic-on
      ceramic (COC). The dynamic force and the contact pressure distribution at the
      bearing surfaces from the two methods were predicted and compared. The influences
      of various parameters (motion angle, load applied in the pendulum, friction
      coefficient, geometry, and material properties) were subsequently investigated.
      From the comparisons, the decoupled method, based on the rigid-body dynamics and
      the quasi-static elastic contact mechanics, was adequate to predict the
      performance of the THRs efficiently. The load had the greatest influence on the
      dynamics/contact mechanics among other factors.

PMID- 20923117
TI  - A Galerkin-type finite element solution for simulation of mass diffusion in the
      application of tissue engineering: heterogeneous and non-porous media.
AB  - This study is an effort to produce a generic and comprehensive solution to the
      simulation of mass diffusion through a multiphasic and heterogeneous material
      model. A Galerkin-type finite element formulation is developed to solve Fick's
      equation for steady-state and time-dependent analysis. The effect of the
      interface in modelling of a liquid-solid medium is presented in this work. To
      show the robustness of the proposed approach, the gas exchange (oxygen and carbon
      dioxide) process through the capillary network between the alveolar membrane and
      red blood cells has been analysed and then validated with experimental data. The
      current work is a significant asset to modelling the diffusion of oxygen between
      cells and scaffolds in tissue engineering or tissue regeneration/repair studies.
      It is one step towards the development of high-order elements for application of
      the simulation of mass transfer through a multiphasic and porous model with
      varying degrees of interconnectivity and pore size for tissue engineering
      applications.

PMID- 20923118
TI  - [Pathogenesis of Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections].

PMID- 20923119
TI  - [Implication of quorum sensing phenomenon in the expression of genes that code
      for bacteriocines in lactic bacteria].
AB  - Bacterial Quorum sensing and response or simply quorum sensing (QS) is an
      ubiquitous regulatory mechanism that allows a continuous monitoring of the cell
      density in bacterial communities and adequate responses/behaviour to the cellular
      density. Each cell in these communities produces and responds to a signalling
      molecule that belongs to some different compounds family: acyl-homoserine
      lactones (Gram negative bacteria), oligopeptides (Gram positive bacteria), A12
      family (present in both Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria). For an
      efficient colonization and adaptation to different environmental conditions,
      lactic acid bacteria require complex sensor systems for the specific detection of
      the external signals. This function is mediated by the two component regulatory
      system composed of a histidine protein kinase (HK) with cell-membrane
      localisation that senses external signals, and a cytoplasmic response regulator
      (RR), that directly modulates the genome expression. Lactic acid bacteria
      synthesize bacteriocins depending on the cell density and thus implicating a QS
      regulatory mechanism. Bacteriocin production is an inducible mechanism that
      require an extracellular accumulation of some peptides, called peptide inductors,
      that function as an chemical messenger that activate the bacteriocin synthesis
      following the QS regulatory pathway.

PMID- 20923120
TI  - [Origin and evolution of human immunodeficiency viruses].
AB  - After the diagnosis of the AIDS symptoms, in 1981, and after the discovery of the
      virus that causes AIDS, in 1983, the virologists have formulated different
      theories about its origin. Some of them involved natural causes, e.g., HIV origin
      from SIV strains. Other theories go further to the possibility of a deadly man
      made virus escaped from laboratories or voluntary spread by some conspirative
      organisations. At this moment, the scientists limits themselves to search proofs
      to sustain the zoonotic origin of HIV from SIV and its accomodation to human body
      conditions.

PMID- 20923121
TI  - [Rickettsia conorii infection in Romania, 2000-2008].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: presenting the epidemiological aspects of Rickettsia conorii
      infection in Romania between 2000-2008. METHODS: A descriptive epidemiology study
      of Rickettsia conorii infection cases noticed in Romania between 2000-2008, which
      provide data regarding: time, place a4d person. The study also presents some risk
      factors. RESULTS: All cases were sporadic and were noticed in southern Romania.
      The highest incidence was registered in 2001 in Constanta district (44.2% per ten
      thousand inhabitants). The majority of cases were registred between April
      November with a maximum of cases in August (38%) The patients were mainly from
      urban areas (80%); The more affected age group was 45-54 year (25%). The most
      predominant clinical expression was the medium one (58% of cases). In 99% of the
      cases, the release status from the hospital was cured and the evolution of the
      illness was favorable. In this period were just 2 deceased In 96% of the
      confirmed cases the tick exposure has appeared within the contact with parasited
      animals and took place in 60% of cases at home. 4% of the cases recognaised a
      professional contact with parasitated animals. In 93% of the cases the reservoir
      was represented by the parasitated dog. CONCLUSION: The sporadic evolution of the
      cases demonstrated that the natural focality of the disease in Romania persists,
      the distribution of cases matches with that of Rickettsia conorii and its tick
      vectors and also with the period of greatest activity of the vector
      (Rhipicephalus sanguineous, specific for dogs). The disease clearly represents a
      public health problem whose magnitude is not known.

PMID- 20923122
TI  - Competition and the internet.

PMID- 20923123
TI  - Power hackers.

PMID- 20923124
TI  - The biggest bang theory.

PMID- 20923125
TI  - Closing the health gap.

PMID- 20923126
TI  - Question time.

PMID- 20923127
TI  - How we are evolving.

PMID- 20923128
TI  - Origami observatory.

PMID- 20923129
TI  - In science we trust.

PMID- 20923130
TI  - Revolution postponed.

PMID- 20923131
TI  - The (elusive) theory of everything.

PMID- 20923132
TI  - Robot be good.

PMID- 20923133
TI  - Sensational sucker.

PMID- 20923134
TI  - Desperate for an autism cure.

PMID- 20923135
TI  - Reinventing the leaf.

PMID- 20923136
TI  - Digitizer in chief. Interview by Michael Moyer.

PMID- 20923137
TI  - Can you hear me now?

PMID- 20923138
TI  - Dying to eat.

PMID- 20923140
TI  - Paper disk on screen printed electrode for one-step sensing with an internal
      standard.
AB  - A point-of-care device, an ideal application is to provide a direct answer for an
      analysis with only a simple sample introduction. In order to meet the
      requirements, reagents storage, and self-calibration must be integrated on the
      portable device. This study describes a device with a paper disk impregnated with
      reagents including an internal standard and buffer on a screen printed electrode
      leading to accurate result in a single-step assay. We demonstrated on the
      applicability of this device by detection of trace lead (ppb level) in 10 MUL
      solution based on the simultaneous (in situ) plating of bismuth and heavy metals
      onto electrode, which formed alloys followed by anodic stripping, Zn(II) was
      employed as an internal standard. We believe this approach is attractive for use
      in field based portable devices. 

PMID- 20923139
TI  - The aging-associated enzyme CLK-1 is a member of the carboxylate-bridged diiron
      family of proteins.
AB  - The aging-associated enzyme CLK-1 is proposed to be a member of the carboxylate
      bridged diiron family of proteins. To evaluate this hypothesis and characterize
      the protein, we expressed soluble mouse CLK-1 (MCLK1) in Escherichia coli as a
      heterologous host. Using Mossbauer and EPR spectroscopy, we established that
      MCLK1 indeed belongs to this protein family. Biochemical analyses of the in vitro
      activity of MCLK1 with quinone substrates revealed that NADH can serve directly
      as a reductant for catalytic activation of dioxygen and substrate oxidation by
      the enzyme, with no requirement for an additional reductase protein component.
      The direct reaction of NADH with a diiron-containing oxidase enzyme has not
      previously been encountered for any member of the protein superfamily.

PMID- 20923141
TI  - Determination of intermediates and mechanism for soot combustion with NOx/O2 on
      potassium-supported Mg-Al hydrotalcite mixed oxides by in situ FTIR.
AB  - The soot combustion with NO(x) and/or O(2) on potassium-supported Mg-Al
      hydrotalcite mixed oxides under tight contact condition was studied using
      temperature-programmed oxidation (TPO), isothermal reaction and in situ FTIR
      techniques. The presence of NO(x) in O(2) favors the soot combustion at lower
      temperatures (<300  degrees C). However, a little suppression was observed at
      higher temperatures (>300  degrees C), which was accompanied by a substantial
      NO(x) reduction. The ketene (C?C?O) and isocyanate (NCO(-)) species were
      determined as the reaction intermediates. In NO(x) + O(2), NO(2) directly
      interacts with the free carbon sites (C?C*) through two parallel reactions: (1)
      NO(2) + C?C* -> C?C?O + NO; (2) NO(2) + C?C* -> NCO(-) + CO(2). The two reactions
      can proceed easily, which accounts for the promotion effect of NO(x) on soot
      combustion at lower temperatures. The further oxidation of NCO(-) by NO(2) or
      O(2) is responsible for the simultaneous reduction of NO(x). However, the
      reactions between NO(2) and C?C* are limited by the amount of free carbon sites,
      which can be provided by the oxidation of soot by O(2) at higher temperatures.
      The interaction of NO(x) and catalyst results in the formation of nitrates and
      nitrites, which poisoned the active K sites.

PMID- 20923143
TI  - Comment on "Submicrometer plate heights for capillaries packed with silica
      colloidal crystals".

PMID- 20923142
TI  - Investigation of sialylation aberration in N-linked glycopeptides by lectin and
      tandem labeling (LTL) quantitative proteomics.
AB  - The accuracy in quantitative analysis of N-linked glycopeptides and glycosylation
      site mapping in cancer is critical to the fundamental question of whether the
      aberration is due to changes in the total concentration of glycoproteins or
      variations in the type of glycosylation of proteins. Toward this goal, we
      developed a lectin-directed tandem labeling (LTL) quantitative proteomics
      strategy in which we enriched sialylated glycopeptides by SNA, labeled them at
      the N-terminus by acetic anhydride ((1)H(6)/(2)D(6)) reagents, enzymatically
      deglycosylated the differentially labeled peptides in the presence of heavy water
      (H(2)(18)O), and performed LC/MS/MS analysis to identify glycopeptides. We
      successfully used fetuin as a model protein to test the feasibility of this LTL
      strategy not only to find true positive glycosylation sites but also to obtain
      accurate quantitative results on the glycosylation changes. Further, we
      implemented this method to investigate the sialylation changes in prostate cancer
      serum samples as compared to healthy controls. Herein, we report a total of 45
      sialylated glycopeptides and an increase of sialylation in most of the
      glycoproteins identified in prostate cancer serum samples. Further quantitation
      of nonglycosylated peptides revealed that sialylation is increased in most of the
      glycoproteins, whereas the protein concentrations remain unchanged. Thus, LTL
      quantitative technique is potentially an useful method for obtaining simultaneous
      unambiguous identification and reliable quantification of N-linked glycopeptides.

PMID- 20923144
TI  - Selective etching of graphene edges by hydrogen plasma.
AB  - We devised a controlled hydrogen plasma reaction at 300  degrees C to etch
      graphene and graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) selectively at the edges over the basal
      plane. Atomic force microscope imaging showed that the etching rates for single
      layer and few-layer (>=2 layers) graphene are 0.27 +/- 0.05 nm/min and 0.10 +/-
      0.03 nm/min, respectively. Meanwhile, Raman spectroscopic mapping revealed no D
      band in the planes of single-layer or few-layer graphene after the plasma
      reaction, suggesting selective etching at the graphene edges without introducing
      defects in the basal plane. We found that hydrogen plasma at lower temperature
      (room temperature) or a higher temperature (500  degrees C) could hydrogenate the
      basal plane or introduce defects in the basal plane. Using the hydrogen plasma
      reaction at the intermediate temperature (300  degrees C), we obtained narrow,
      presumably hydrogen terminated GNRs (sub-5 nm) by etching of wide GNRs derived
      from unzipping of multiwalled carbon nanotubes. Such GNRs exhibited
      semiconducting characteristics with high on/off ratios (~1000) in GNR field
      effect transistor devices at room temperature.

PMID- 20923145
TI  - Fisetin inhibits lipopolysaccharide-induced macrophage activation and dendritic
      cell maturation.
AB  - Macrophages and dendritic cells are required for initiating innate immunity and
      adaptive immunity. Aberrant activation of macrophages and dendritic cells can
      cause detrimental immune responses; thus, agents effectively modulating their
      functions are of great clinical value. We herein investigated whether fisetin, a
      flavonoid prevalently present in fruits and vegetables, could inhibit macrophage
      activation and dendritic cell maturation. Fisetin suppressed LPS-induced NF
      kappaB activation, expression of pro-inflammatory proteins (TNF-alpha and iNOS),
      MMP-9 activity, and phagocytic activity in macrophages. Furthermore, upon LPS
      induced dendritic cell maturation, fisetin at nontoxic concentrations suppressed
      the expression of costimulatory molecules (CD80 and CD86), the production of
      cytokines (IL-12, IL-6, and TNF-alpha), and the endocytic activity of dendritic
      cells. Fisetin treatment significantly attenuated migration of dendritic cells
      into spleens and dendritic cell-mediated T cell activation in LPS-treated mice.
      Collectively, our data reveal that fisetin inhibits macrophage activation and
      impairs functional maturation of dendritic cells. 

PMID- 20923146
TI  - Automated protein hydrolysis delivering sample to a solid acid catalyst for amino
      acid analysis.
AB  - In this study, we developed an automatic protein hydrolysis system using strong
      cation-exchange resins as solid acid catalysts. Examining several kinds of
      inorganic solid acids and cation-exchange resins, we found that a few cation
      exchange resins worked as acid catalysts for protein hydrolysis when heated in
      the presence of water. The most efficient resin yielded amounts of amino acids
      that were over 70% of those recovered after conventional hydrolysis with
      hydrochloric acid and resulted in amino acid compositions matching the
      theoretical values. The solid-acid hydrolysis was automated by packing the resin
      into columns, combining the columns with a high-performance liquid chromatography
      system, and heating them. The amino acids that constitute a protein can thereby
      be determined, minimizing contamination from the environment. 

PMID- 20923147
TI  - Amyloid fibril polymorphism is under kinetic control.
AB  - Self-assembly of proteins into amyloid aggregates displays a broad diversity of
      morphologies, both at the protofibrillar and final fibrillar species. These
      polymorphic species can coexist at fixed experimental conditions, and their
      relative abundance can be controlled by changing the solvent composition, or
      stirring the solution. However, the extent to which external conditions regulate
      the equilibrium of morphologically distinct species is still unknown. Here we
      investigate the nucleation of distinct fibril morphologies using computer
      simulations of a simplified model of an amyloid polypeptide. Counterintuitively,
      the energetically less favorable fibril morphologies nucleate more frequently
      than the morphologies of higher stability for models with low aggregation
      propensity. The free-energy profiles of the aggregation process indicate that the
      nucleation barrier determines the population fractions of different fibril
      morphologies, i.e., amyloid polymorphism is under kinetic control.

PMID- 20923148
TI  - Effects of nitrate supply site on selenite uptake by rice roots.
AB  - Selenite uptake by rice roots is regulated by many factors. The goal of this
      paper was to study the effects of the nitrate supply site on selenite uptake by
      rice roots. Using the excised-root experiment system, we found that, due to anion
      anion interactions, nitrate can partly block the selenite uptake by rice roots by
      local action (a corporate supply of nitrate and selenite in the same portion).
      Using a split-root experiment system (whole-plant level), we found that (1)
      nitrate can also partly block selenite uptake by rice (roots and shoots) by local
      action; and that (2) under long-distance action (separate supply of nitrate and
      selenite in two different portions of the root), nitrate can partly facilitate
      selenite uptake by rice (roots and shoots), probably by regulating root
      glutathione content. Thus, our results suggest that nitrate can inhibit or
      facilitate selenite uptake by rice roots depending on the nitrate supply site. 

PMID- 20923149
TI  - Synthesis, radical scavenging activity, protection during storage, and frying by
      novel antioxidants.
AB  - Novel antioxidants, derivatives of trolox, and selected phenolic acids have been
      prepared in good yields and fully characterized by (1)H NMR, (13)C NMR, and MS.
      Their antioxidant activities have been assessed by DPPH and ORAC assays, and
      during frying and accelerated storage tests. Novel phenolic compounds exhibited
      higher radical scavenging activities than both trolox and alpha-tocopherol.
      Trolox hydroxybenzoate showed a significantly higher protection than alpha
      tocopherol under storage conditions. All new antioxidants performed better than
      alpha-tocopherol under frying conditions. Moreover, their outstanding thermal
      stability makes them more valuable than alpha-tocopherol for frying applications.

PMID- 20923150
TI  - Identification of (E,E)-2,4-undecadienal from coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.)
      as a highly effective deodorant compound against the offensive odor of porcine
      large intestine.
AB  - The leaves of coriander ( Coriandrum sativum L.) exhibited a strong deodorizing
      effect against porcine internal organs (large intestine). The effective
      deodorizing compounds of coriander were identified by separating the volatile
      component of coriander, testing the effectiveness of each fraction against the
      offensive odor of porcine large intestine, and then identifying the compounds by
      GC-MS. The volatile component of coriander was first separated into six fractions
      (A-F) by preparative gas chromatography, and the deodorizing activity of each of
      these fractions against the offensive odor was measured. Fraction D, which showed
      the strongest deodorizing effect, was then separated into 12 subfractions by
      preparative GC. The deodorant activity of each subfraction was evaluated, and the
      deodorant compounds were identified by GC-MS. It was discovered that (E,E)-2,4
      undecadienal was the most effective deodorizing compound. The deodorizing
      activity of (E,E)-2,4-undecadienal on the porcine large intestine increased as
      with concentration, reaching almost complete deodorizing ability at 10 ppb. 

PMID- 20923151
TI  - Glycosylation of smoke-derived volatile phenols in grapes as a consequence of
      grapevine exposure to bushfire smoke.
AB  - The presence of glycosides of smoke-derived volatile phenols in smoke-affected
      grapes and the resulting wines of Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon was
      investigated with the aid of high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass
      spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS). All volatile phenols studied (phenol, p-, m-, and o
      cresols, methylguaiacol, syringol, and methylsyringol) could be detected as
      glycosylated metabolites in smoke-affected grapes in a similar fashion to that
      previously reported for guaiacol. These phenolic glycosides were found in smoke
      affected grapes and wines at significantly elevated levels compared to those in
      non-smoked control grapes and wines. The extraction of these glycosides from
      grapes into wine was estimated to be 78% for Chardonnay and 67% for Cabernet
      Sauvignon. After acid hydrolysis, a large proportion of these phenolic glycosides
      in grapes (50%) and wine (92%) disappeared but the concentrations of volatile
      phenols determined by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) were lower
      than expected. In the case of wine, the majority of the glycosides of phenol,
      cresols, guaiacol, and methylguaiacol were decomposed upon acid hydrolysis
      without releasing their respective aglycones, while syringol and methylsyringol
      were more effectively released. 

PMID- 20923152
TI  - Measurement of protein-ligand binding constants from reaction-diffusion
      concentration profiles.
AB  - Protein-ligand dissociation constants, K(d), are determined precisely and down to
      the picomolar range from reaction-diffusion (RD) concentration profiles created
      by proteins diffusing through hydrogels functionalized with protein ligands. The
      RD process effectively amplifies the molecular-scale binding events into
      macroscopic patterns visible to the naked eye. The method is applicable to
      various protein-ligand pairs and does not require any prior knowledge about the
      protein structure.

PMID- 20923153
TI  - Orthogonality of SFC versus HPLC for small molecule library separation.
AB  - Preparative HPLC and HPLC-MS are well established as the methods of choice for
      purification of pharmaceutical library compounds. Recent advances in
      supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) have now made SFC a viable alternative
      to HPLC for this application. One of the potential arguments for using SFC in
      place of, or in addition to, HPLC is that it may offer different selectivity and
      thus has the potential for improved separation success rates. In this paper, we
      examine relative success rates for SFC and HPLC in obtaining adequate selectivity
      for successful separation. Our results suggest that use of SFC in addition to
      HPLC may result in a slight (1-2%) improvement in success rate compared to use of
      HPLC alone.

PMID- 20923154
TI  - Debromination of polybrominated diphenyl ethers by nanoscale zerovalent iron:
      pathways, kinetics, and reactivity.
AB  - The debromination of selected polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) by nanoscale
      zerovalent iron particles (nZVI) was studied to investigate the degradation
      pathways and the reaction kinetics of the PBDEs. The primary PBDE investigated
      was 2,3,4-tribromodiphenyl ether (BDE 21) to assess degradation pathways. nZVI
      could effectively debrominate the selected PBDEs into lower brominated compounds
      and diphenyl ether, a completely debrominated form of PBDEs. The susceptibility
      of the meta-bromine by nZVI was observed from the debromination tests for PBDEs
      with single-flanked (2,3-diBDE and 3,4-diBDE) and unflanked (three mono-BDEs)
      bromines. The stepwise debromination from n-bromo- to (n-1)-bromodiphenyl ether
      was observed as the dominant reaction process, although simultaneous multistep
      debromination seemed to be plausible for di-BDEs having two bromines adjacent on
      the same phenyl ring. The reaction rate constants were estimated by assuming the
      reaction between PBDEs and nZVI was a pseudo-first-order reaction and the rates
      decreased with fewer bromine substituents. The reaction rate constants were
      correlated with the heat of formation and the energy of the lowest unoccupied
      molecular orbital of the corresponding compounds, and these appear to be useful
      descriptors of relative reaction rates among PBDE homologue groups.

PMID- 20923155
TI  - Long-lasting hydrophilicity on nanostructured Si-incorporated diamond-like carbon
      films.
AB  - We investigated the long-lasting hydrophilic behavior of a Si-incorporated
      diamond-like carbon (Si-DLC) film by varying the Si fraction in DLC matrix
      through oxygen and nitrogen plasma surface treatments. The wetting behavior of
      the water droplets on the pure DLC and Si-DLC with the nitrogen or oxygen plasma
      treatment revealed that the Si element in the oxygen-plasma-treated Si-DLC films
      played a major role in maintaining a hydrophilic wetting angle of <10 degrees 
      for 20 days in ambient air. The nanostructured patterns with a roughness of ~10
      nm evolved because of the selective etching of the carbon matrix by the oxygen
      plasma in the Si-DLC film, where the chemical component of the Si-Ox bond was
      enriched on the top of the nanopatterns and remained for over 20 days.

PMID- 20923156
TI  - Oxygen precursor to the reactive intermediate in methanol synthesis by Cu-ZSM-5.
AB  - The reactive oxidizing species in the selective oxidation of methane to methanol
      in oxygen activated Cu-ZSM-5 was recently defined to be a bent mono(MU
      oxo)dicopper(II) species, [Cu(2)O](2+). In this communication we report the
      formation of an O(2)-precursor of this reactive site with an associated
      absorption band at 29,000 cm(-1). Laser excitation into this absorption feature
      yields a resonance Raman (rR) spectrum characterized by (18)O(2) isotope
      sensitive and insensitive vibrations, nuO-O and nuCu-Cu, at 736 (Delta(18)O(2) =
      41 cm(-1)) and 269 cm(-1), respectively. These define the precursor to be a MU
      (eta(2):eta(2)) peroxo dicopper(II) species, [Cu(2)(O(2))](2+). rR experiments in
      combination with UV-vis absorption data show that this [Cu(2)(O(2))](2+) species
      transforms directly into the [Cu(2)O](2+) reactive site. Spectator Cu(+) sites in
      the zeolite ion-exchange sites provide the two electrons required to break the
      peroxo bond in the precursor. O(2)-TPD experiments with (18)O(2) show the
      incorporation of the second (18)O atom into the zeolite lattice in the
      transformation of [Cu(2)(O(2))](2+) into [Cu(2)O](2+). This study defines the
      mechanism of oxo-active site formation in Cu-ZSM-5.

PMID- 20923158
TI  - Ketene functionalized polyethylene: control of cross-link density and material
      properties.
AB  - The functionalization and cross-linking of polyethylene is synthetically
      challenging, commonly relying on highly optimized radical based
      postpolymerization strategies. To address these difficulties, a norbornene
      monomer containing Meldrum's acid is shown to be effectively copolymerized with
      polyethylene using a nickel alpha-iminocarbaxamidato complex, providing high
      melting, semicrystalline polymers with a tunable incorporation of the functional
      comonomer. Upon heating the copolymer to common polyethylene processing
      temperatures, the thermolysis of Meldrum's acid to ketene provides the desired
      reactive group. This simple and versatile methodology does not require small
      molecule radical sources or catalysts, and the dimerization of the in situ
      generated ketenes is shown to provide tunable cross-linking densities in
      polyethylene. Subsequent rheological and tensile experiments illustrate the
      ability to tune cross-linked polyethylene properties by comonomer incorporation
      and elucidate valuable structure/property relationships in these materials. This
      study illustrates the power of well-defined and synthetically accessible
      functional groups in polyolefin synthesis and functionalization.

PMID- 20923159
TI  - Glycopolypeptides via living polymerization of glycosylated-L-lysine N
      carboxyanhydrides.
AB  - The preparation of new glycosylated-L-lysine-N-carboxyanhydride (glyco-K NCA)
      monomers is described. These monomers employ C-linked sugars and amide linkages
      to lysine for improved stability without sacrificing biochemical properties.
      Three glyco-K NCAs were synthesized, purified, and found to undergo living
      polymerization using transition metal initiation. These are the first living
      polymerizations of glycosylated NCAs and were used to prepare well-defined, high
      molecular weight glycopolypeptides and block and statistical glycocopolypeptides.
      This methodology solves many long-standing problems in the direct synthesis of
      glycopolypeptides from N-carboxyanhydrides relating to monomer synthesis,
      purification, and polymerization and gives polypeptides with 100% glycosylation.
      These long chain glycopolypeptides have potential to be good mimics of natural
      high molecular weight glycoproteins.

PMID- 20923160
TI  - Self-patterned mixed phospholipid monolayers for the spatially selective
      deposition of metals.
AB  - Metal-reactive organosulfur groups were patterned onto mica and silicon surfaces
      by dewetting instabilities during the Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) deposition of phase
      separated mixed phospholipid monolayers. Monolayers were formed from binary
      mixtures of dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC), dilauroylphosphatidylcholine
      (DLPC), and their omega-methyldisulfide-dialkylphosphatidylcholine analogues,
      DSDPPC and DSDLPC. Patterns of highly parallel stripes of condensed DPPC or
      DSDPPC, protruding by 0.7-0.9 nm from a fluid matrix of DLPC or DSDLPC, were
      observed over areas extending at least 30 * 30 MUm(2) in the LB films. The
      average stripe width varied from ca. 150 to 500 nm, depending on the lipid
      composition and deposition pressure. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy confirmed
      that the phospholipid-monolayer-bound methydisulfides react with Au vapor to form
      a gold-thiolate species. The adsorption of thermally evaporated Au, Ag, and Cu
      onto DSDPPC/DLPC and DPPC/DSDLPC patterns was investigated by field emission gun
      scanning electron microscopy (FEGSEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). A change
      in phase contrast is observed in FEGSEM and AFM over the methyldisulfide
      functionalized areas following metal deposition due to metal-thiolate bond
      formation. An increase in step height between the DSDPPC stripes and
      nonfunctionalized DLPC background following metal deposition, as well as the
      resistance of the metal-coated DSDPPC or DSDLPC regions to detergent extraction
      from the surface, attest to a selective metallization of the pattern. Our results
      indicate that the preferential adsorption of vapor-deposited metal onto the omega
      methyldisulfide-terminated phase occurs at submonolayer coverages. The chemical
      reactivity exhibited by the organosulfur-modified phospholipid LB films make
      these templates potentially interesting for the fabrication of solid-supported
      patterns of metal nanostructures.

PMID- 20923161
TI  - Autogenic synthesis of green- and red-emitting single-phase Pr(2)O(2)CO(3) and
      PrO(1.833) luminescent nanopowders.
AB  - This Article reveals a rare synthesis of pure Pr(2)O(2)CO(3) (POC) nanopowder by
      thermolysis (700  degrees C) of a single chemical precursor in an autogenic
      reaction. The autogenic thermolysis of praseodymium acetate is a solvent-free,
      efficient, and straightforward approach yielding luminescent POC nanoparticles.
      The as-prepared POC nanopowder converted to PrO(1.833) (PO) powder via
      combustion. Methodical morphological, structural, and compositional
      characterizations of POC and PO powders are carried out, supported by mechanistic
      elucidation and the photoluminescent properties.

PMID- 20923162
TI  - Electrically defined ferromagnetic nanodots.
AB  - While ferromagnetic nanodots are being widely studied from fundamental as well as
      application points of views, so far all the dots have been physically defined;
      once made, one cannot change their dimension or size. We show that ferromagnetic
      nanodots can be electrically defined. To realize this, we utilize an electric
      field to modulate the in-plane distribution of carriers in a ferromagnetic
      semiconductor (Ga,Mn)As film with a meshed gate structure having a large number
      of nanoscaled windows.

PMID- 20923163
TI  - Effect of different anchoring groups on the adsorption of photoactive compounds
      on the anatase (101) surface.
AB  - The effect of replacing the anchoring carboxylate groups in the
      Ru(H(2)dcbpy)(2)(NCS)(2) (H(2)dcbpy = 4,4'-dicarboxylic acid-2,2'- bipyridine)
      photoactive dye was studied by computational density functional theory (DFT) and
      time-dependent DFT (TD-DFT) methods. The main emphasis in the study was to
      compare a series of attaching groups, including COOH, B(OH)(2), PO(OH)(2),
      SO(2)(OH), OH, NO(2), and SiCl(3), by the relative adsorption strength and
      geometry of the sensitizer molecules on the anatase (101) surface. Additionally,
      the substituent effect on the absorption signals in simulated UV-vis spectra was
      calculated with isolated dye molecules. Most of the selected substituents
      produced only small changes in the absorption characteristics of the dyes.
      However, OH groups were found to show a quite large blue-shift compared to
      traditional COOH anchor groups in the simulated UV-vis spectra, while NO(2)
      groups had an opposite effect of red-shifting the signals. On the other hand,
      although the NO(2) substituents on the bipyridine ligands led to favorable
      absorption characteristics, the calculated adsorption strength of the NO(2)
      substituted bipyridine models on the surface of anatase (101) was much smaller
      than that of the COOH-substituted one, indicating that larger modifications are
      necessary for both attaching the dye molecules on the surface and for tuning the
      absorption properties of photoactive compounds in the DSSC applications. The
      computational methods utilized here proved to be an efficient tool to study the
      effect of subtle structural changes on the properties of the dye molecules.

PMID- 20923164
TI  - Evidence of solvent-gelator interaction in sugar-based organogel studied by field
      cycling NMR relaxometry.
AB  - The dynamics of bulk toluene and toluene confined in the 1,2-O-(1
      ethylpropylidene)-alpha-D-glucofuranose gel was studied using (1)H field-cycling
      nuclear magnetic resonance relaxometry. The proton spin-lattice relaxation time
      T(1) was measured as a function of the magnetic field strength and temperature.
      The observed dispersion in the frequency range 10(4)-10(6) Hz for the relaxation
      rate of toluene in the gel system give evidence of the interaction between the
      toluene and the gelator aggregates. The data were interpreted in terms of the two
      fraction fast-exchange model. Additionally it was also shown that a cooling rate
      during gel preparation process influences the gel microstructure and leads to
      different gelator-solvent interactions as reflected in a different behavior of
      the proton spin-lattice relaxation rate of toluene within the gel observed at the
      low frequency range.

PMID- 20923165
TI  - Asymmetric Brownian motor driven by bubble formation in a hydrophobic channel.
AB  - The "asymmetric brownian ratchet model" is a variation of Feynman's ratchet and
      pawl system proposed. In this model, a system consisting of a motor and a rail
      has two binding states. One is the random brownian state, and the other is the
      asymmetric potential state. When the system is alternatively switched between
      these states, the motor can be driven in one direction. This model is believed to
      explain nanomotor behavior in biological systems. The feasibility of the model
      has been demonstrated using electrical and magnetic forces; however, switching of
      these forces is unlikely to be found in biological systems. In this paper, we
      propose an original mechanism of transition between states by bubble formation in
      a nanosized channel surrounded by hydrophobic atoms. This amounts to a nanoscale
      motor system using bubble propulsion. The motor system consists of a hydrophobic
      motor and a rail on which hydrophobic patterns are printed. Potential asymmetry
      can be produced by using a left-right asymmetric pattern shape. Hydrophobic
      interactions are believed to play an important role in the binding of
      biomolecules and molecular recognition. The bubble formation is controlled by
      changing the width of the channel by an atomic distance (~0.1 nm). Therefore, the
      motor is potentially more efficient than systems controlled by other forces, in
      which a much larger change in the motor position is necessary. We have simulated
      the bubble-powered motor using dissipative particle dynamics and found behavior
      in good agreement with that of motor proteins. Energy efficiency is as high as
      60%.

PMID- 20923166
TI  - New synthesis of 3-trifluoromethylpyrroles by condensation of mesoionic 4
      trifluoroacetyl-1,3-oxazolium-5-olates with phosphorus ylides.
AB  - Mesoionic 4-trifluoroacetyl-1,3-oxazolium-5-olates (1), obtained from the
      reaction of N-acyl-N-alkylglycines with trifluoroacetic anhydride, react with
      phosphorus ylides to give beta-trifluoromethylpyrroles (2) in good yields. The
      novel ring transformations of 1 into 2 occur via an initial attack of the ylide
      anions on the C-2 position of the ring.

PMID- 20923167
TI  - Acetyl radical production by the methylglyoxal-peroxynitrite system: a possible
      route for L-lysine acetylation.
AB  - Methylglyoxal is an alpha-oxoaldehyde putatively produced in excess from triose
      phosphates, aminoacetone, and acetone in some disorders, particularly in
      diabetes. Here, we investigate the nucleophilic addition of ONOO(-), known as a
      potent oxidant and nucleophile, to methylglyoxal, yielding an acetyl radical
      intermediate and ultimately formate and acetate ions. The rate of ONOO(-) decay
      in the presence of methylglyoxal [k(2,app) = (1.0 +/- 0.1) * 10(3) M(-1) s(-1);
      k(2) ~ 1.0 * 10(5) M(-1) s(-1)] at pH 7.2 and 25  degrees C was found to be
      faster than that reported with monocarbonyl substrates (k(2) < 10(3) M(-1) s(
      1)), diacetyl (k(2) = 1.0 * 10(4) M(-1) s(-1)), or CO(2) (k(2) = 3-6 * 10(4) M(
      1) s(-1)). The pH profile of the methylglyoxal-peroxynitrite reaction describes
      an ascendant curve with an inflection around pH 7.2, which roughly coincides with
      the pK(a) values of both ONOOH and H(2)PO(4)(-) ion. Electron paramagnetic
      resonance spin trapping experiments with 2-methyl-2-nitrosopropane revealed
      concentration-dependent formation of an adduct that can be attributed to 2-methyl
      2-nitrosopropane-CH(3)CO(*) (a(N) = 0.83 mT). Spin trapping with 3,5-dibromo-4
      nitrosobenzene sulfonate gave a signal that could be assigned to a methyl radical
      adduct [a(N) = 1.41 mT; a(H) = 1.35 mT; a(H(m)) = 0.08 mT]. The 2-methyl-2
      nitrosopropane-CH(3)CO(*) adduct could also be observed by replacement of ONOO(-)
      with H(2)O(2), although at much lower yields. Acetyl radicals could be also
      trapped by added L-lysine as indicated by the presence of (epsilon)N-acetyl-L
      lysine in the spent reaction mixture. This raises the hypothesis that ONOO(
      )/H(2)O(2) in the presence of methylglyoxal is endowed with the potential to
      acetylate proteins in post-translational processes.

PMID- 20923168
TI  - Inflicting controlled nonthermal damage to subcellular structures by laser
      activated gold nanoparticles.
AB  - We show that low-intensity laser irradiation of cancer cells containing endosomal
      gold nanoparticles leads to endosome rupture and escape of the nanoparticles into
      the cytosol without affecting the cells' viability. The low light intensity of
      our experiments allows us to rule out photothermal effects as the underlying
      mechanism, and we present results that suggest photoinduced radicals as the
      photogenerated active species. This nonthermal mechanism may also be important in
      the context of cell death at higher laser intensities, which had been reported
      previously.

PMID- 20923169
TI  - High-throughput aided synthesis of the porous metal-organic framework-type
      aluminum pyromellitate, MIL-121, with extra carboxylic acid functionalization.
AB  - A new porous metal-organic framework (MOF)-type aluminum pyromellitate (MIL-121
      or Al(OH)[H(2)btec].(guest), (guest = H(2)O, H(4)btec = pyromellitic acid) has
      been isolated by using a high-throughput synthesis method under hydrothermal
      conditions. Its structure was determined from powder X-ray diffraction analysis
      using synchrotron radiation (Soleil, France) and exhibits a network closely
      related to that of the MIL-53 series. It is a three-dimensional (3D) framework
      containing one-dimensional (1D) channels delimited by infinite trans-connected
      aluminum-centered octahedra AlO(4)(OH)(2) linked through the pyromellitate
      ligand. Here the organic ligand acts as tetradendate linker via two of the
      carboxylate groups. The two others remain non-bonded in their protonated form,
      and this constitutes a rare case of the occurrence of both bonding and non
      bonding organic functionalities of the MOF family. The non-coordinated -COOH
      groups points toward the channels to get them an open form configuration. Within
      the tunnels are located unreacted pyromellitic acid and water species, which are
      evacuated upon heating, and a porous MIL-121 phase is obtained with a Brunauer
      Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area of 162 m(2) g(-1). MIL-121 has been
      characterized by IR, thermogravimetry (TG) analyses, and solid state NMR
      spectroscopy employing a couple of two-dimensional (2D) techniques such as (1)H
      (1)H SQ-DQ BABA, (1)H-(1)H SQ-SQ RFDR, (27)Al{(1)H} CPHETCOR and (27)Al MQMAS.

PMID- 20923157
TI  - Comprehensive survey of chemical libraries for drug discovery and chemical
      biology: 2009.

PMID- 20923170
TI  - Trimethylsilyldiazomethane as a versatile stitching agent for the introduction of
      aziridines into functionalized organic molecules.
AB  - A highly enantioselective route for the introduction of aziridines into
      functionalized organic molecules was developed via a tandem acylation and
      aziridination of TMSCHN(2).

PMID- 20923171
TI  - Asymmetric synthesis of 2,3-dihydro-4-pyranones by reaction of chiral 3
      alkoxycyclobutanone and aldehydes.
AB  - Chiral cyclobutanone which had ethyl l-lactate as a chiral auxiliary at the 3
      position reacted with aldehydes to give 2,3-dihydro-4-pyranones in up to 93% ee
      by combined use of titanium(IV) chloride and tin(II) chloride.

PMID- 20923172
TI  - Dual sensing of hairpin and quadruplex DNA structures using multicolored peptide
      nucleic acid fluorescent probes.
AB  - Synthesis of water-soluble 5-mer peptide nucleic acids (PNAs) functionalized at
      their 5'- and 3'-ends with two original precursors of pentamethine cyanine dye
      synthesis is reported. The successful use of these PNA probes for sensing DNA
      hairpin structures in vitro was also demonstrated where specific hairpin
      formation was associated with the appearance of a characteristic fluorescence
      signal at 660 nm. A comparative study between three different strategies where
      PNAs were targeting either the stem or the loop of the hairpin was carried out.
      Best sensitivity was obtained using PNA sequences complementary to the loop
      sequence and directing both functional moieties toward the base of loop.
      Unprecedented proof-of-concept for the simultaneous sensing of hairpin and
      quadruplex DNAs with a nonoverlapping two-color system (C3 and C5) is also
      demonstrated.

PMID- 20923174
TI  - The quest for tetracoordinated halonium ions: a theoretical investigation.
AB  - Di-, tri-, and tetravalent halonium ions have been investigated by theoretical
      means with respect to their geometries and their electronic structure using DFT
      as well as MP2 calculations. Even tricationic species where halides (F, Cl, Br,
      and I) are surrounded by an appropriate tetracationic hydrocarbon cage are
      calculated to be stable species. All halides show bonding interactions with all
      four cationic carbon centers.

PMID- 20923173
TI  - Finding a needle in the haystack: computational modeling of Mg2+ binding in the
      active site of protein farnesyltransferase.
AB  - Studies aimed at elucidating the unknown Mg2+ binding site in protein
      farnesyltransferase (FTase) are reported. FTase catalyzes the transfer of a
      farnesyl group to a conserved cysteine residue (Cys1p) on a target protein, an
      important step for proteins in the signal transduction pathways (e.g., Ras). Mg2+
      ions accelerate the protein farnesylation reaction by up to 700-fold. The exact
      function of Mg2+ in catalysis and the structural characteristics of its binding
      remain unresolved to date. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations addressing the
      role of magnesium ions in FTase are presented, and relevant octahedral binding
      motifs for Mg2+ in wild-type (WT) FTase and the Dbeta352A mutant are explored.
      Our simulations suggest that the addition of Mg2+ ions causes a conformational
      change to occur in the FTase active site, breaking interactions known to keep FPP
      in its inactive conformation. Two relevant Mg2+ ion binding motifs were
      determined in WT FTase. In the first binding motif, WT1, the Mg2+ ion is
      coordinated to D352beta, zinc-bound D297beta, two water molecules, and one oxygen
      atom from the alpha- and beta-phosphates of farnesyl diphosphate (FPP). The
      second binding motif, WT2, is identical with the exception of the zinc-bound
      D297beta being replaced by a water molecule in the Mg2+ coordination complex. In
      the Dbeta352A mutant Mg2+ binding motif, D297beta, three water molecules, and one
      oxygen atom from the alpha- and beta-phosphates of FPP complete the octahedral
      coordination sphere of Mg2+. Simulations of WT FTase, in which Mg2+ was replaced
      by water in the active site, recreated the salt bridges and hydrogen-bonding
      patterns around FPP, validating these simulations. In all Mg2+ binding motifs, a
      key hydrogen bond was identified between a magnesium-bound water and Cys1p,
      bridging the two metallic binding sites and, thereby, reducing the equilibrium
      distance between the reacting atoms of FPP Cys1p. The free energy profiles
      calculated for these systems provide a qualitative understanding of experimental
      results. They demonstrate that the two reactive atoms approach each other more
      readily in the presence of Mg2+ in WT FTase and mutant. The flexible WT2 model
      was found to possess the lowest barrier toward the conformational change,
      suggesting it is the preferred Mg2+ binding motif in WT FTase. In the mutant, the
      absence of D352beta makes the transition toward a conformational change harder.
      Our calculations find support for the proposal that D352beta performs a critical
      role in Mg2+ binding and Mg2+ plays an important role in the conformational
      transition step.

PMID- 20923175
TI  - Improved description of the structure of molecular and layered crystals: ab
      initio DFT calculations with van der Waals corrections.
AB  - The implementation of technique for full structural optimizations of complex
      periodic systems in the DFT-PAW package VASP, including the volume and shape of
      the unit cell and the internal coordinates of the atoms, together with a
      correction that allows an appropriate modeling of London dispersion forces, as
      given by the DFT-D2 approach of Grimme [Grimme, S. J. Comp. Chem. 2006, 27,
      1787], is reported. Dispersion corrections are calculated not only for the forces
      acting on the atoms, but also for the stresses on the unit cell. This permits a
      simultaneous optimization of all degrees of freedom. Benchmark results on a
      series of prototype systems are presented and compared to results obtained by
      other methods and experimental data. It is demonstrated that the computationally
      inexpensive DFT-D2 scheme yields reasonable predictions for the structure, bulk
      moduli, and cohesive energies of weakly bonded materials.

PMID- 20923176
TI  - Decorating poly(alkyl aryl-ether) dendrimers with metallacarboranes.
AB  - A new family of polyanionic poly(alkyl aryl-ether) metallodendrimers decorated
      with four and eight cobaltabisdicarbollide units have been obtained in high yield
      by the ring-opening reaction of cyclic oxonium [3,3'-Co(8-(C(2)H(4)O)(2)-1,2
      C(2)B(9)H(10))(1',2'-C(2)B(9)H(11))] with alkoxides formed by deprotonation of
      terminal alcohols in the alpha,alpha'-bis[3,5-bis(hydroxymehyl)phenoxy]-p-xylene,
      alpha,alpha'-bis[3,5-bis(hydroxymehyl)phenoxy]-m-xylene, alpha,alpha'-bis[3,5-bis
      [3,5-bis(hydroxymethyl)phenoxy]methylen]phenoxy]-p-xylene, and alpha,alpha,'
      bis[3,5-bis-[3,5-bis(hydroxymethyl)phenoxy]methylen]phenoxy]-m-xylene dendrimers.
      The crystal structure of the precursor alpha,alpha'-bis[3,5
      bis(chloromethyl)phenoxy]-p-xylene is also described. Final products are fully
      characterized by FTIR, NMR, UV-vis spectroscopies and elemental analysis. For
      metallodendrimers, the UV-vis absorptions have been a good tool for estimating
      the experimental number of cobaltabisdicarbollide units peripherally attached to
      the dendrimeric structure and consequently to corroborate the complete
      functionalization of the dendrimers.

PMID- 20923178
TI  - Water-processable polymer-nanocrystal hybrids for thermoelectrics.
AB  - We report the synthesis and thermoelectric characterization of composite
      nanocrystals composed of a tellurium core functionalized with the conducting
      polymer poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS).
      Solution processed nanocrystal films electronically out perform both PEDOT:PSS
      and unfunctionalized Te nanorods while retaining a polymeric thermal
      conductivity, resulting in a room temperature ZT ~ 0.1. This combination of
      electronic and thermal transport indicates the potential for tailored transport
      in nanoscale organic/inorganic heterostructures.

PMID- 20923179
TI  - Fano-like interference in self-assembled plasmonic quadrumer clusters.
AB  - Assemblies of strongly interacting metallic nanoparticles are the basis for
      plasmonic nanostructure engineering. We demonstrate that clusters of four
      identical spherical particles self-assembled into a close-packed asymmetric
      quadrumer support strong Fano-like interference. This feature is highly sensitive
      to the polarization of the incident electric field due to orientation-dependent
      coupling between particles in the cluster. This structure demonstrates how
      careful design of self-assembled colloidal systems can lead to the creation of
      new plasmonic modes and the enabling of interference effects in plasmonic
      systems.

PMID- 20923180
TI  - Bioactive Cycloperoxides Isolated from the Puerto Rican Sponge Plakortis
      halichondrioides.
AB  - Two new five-membered-ring polyketide endoperoxides, epiplakinic acid F methyl
      ester (1) and epiplakinidioic acid (3), and a peroxide-lactone, plakortolide J
      (2), were isolated from the Puerto Rican sponge Plakortis halichondrioides, along
      with two previously reported cyclic peroxides, 4 and 5. The structures of the new
      metabolites were determined by spectroscopic and chemical analyses. The absolute
      stereostructures of 1, 2, and 5 were determined by degradation reactions followed
      by application of Kishi's method for the assignment of absolute configuration of
      alcohols. Biological screening of cycloperoxides 1-5 and semisynthetic analogues
      7-12 for cytotoxic activity against various human tumor cell lines revealed that
      compounds 3, 4, and 11 are very active. Upon assaying for antimalarial and
      antitubercular activity, some of the compounds tested showed strong activity
      against the pathogenic microbes Plasmodium falciparum and Mycobacterium
      tuberculosis. 

PMID- 20923182
TI  - Dissociating excitons photogenerated in semiconducting carbon nanotubes at
      polymeric photovoltaic heterojunction interfaces.
AB  - Semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes (s-SWCNTs) have strong near
      infrared and visible absorptivity and exceptional charge transport
      characteristics, rendering them highly attractive semiconductor absorbers for
      photovoltaic and photodetector technologies. However, these applications are
      limited by a poor understanding of how photogenerated charges, which are bound as
      excitons in s-SWCNTs, can be dissociated in large-area solid-state devices. Here,
      we measure the dissociation of excitons in s-SWCNT thin films that form planar
      heterojunction interfaces with polymeric photovoltaic materials using an exciton
      dissociation-sensitive photocapacitor measurement technique that is
      advantageously insensitive to optically induced thermal photoconductive effects.
      We find that fullerene and polythiophene derivatives induce exciton dissociation,
      resulting in electron and hole transfer, respectively, away from optically
      excited s-SWCNTs. Significantly weaker or no charge transfer is observed using
      wider gap polymers due to insufficient energy offsets. These results are expected
      to critically guide the development of thin film s-SWCNT-based photosensitive
      devices.

PMID- 20923181
TI  - Sizing nanomatter in biological fluids by fluorescence single particle tracking.
AB  - Accurate sizing of nanoparticles in biological media is important for drug
      delivery and biomedical imaging applications since size directly influences the
      nanoparticle processing and nanotoxicity in vivo. Using fluorescence single
      particle tracking we have succeeded for the first time in following the
      aggregation of drug delivery nanoparticles in real time in undiluted whole blood.
      We demonstrate that, by using a suitable surface functionalization, nanoparticle
      aggregation in the blood circulation is prevented to a large extent.

PMID- 20923184
TI  - Role of Marangoni instability in fabrication of axially and internally grooved
      hollow fiber membranes.
AB  - Hollow fiber membranes (HFMs) are extensively used in different industrial
      applications. Under some controlled fabrication conditions, axially aligned
      grooves can be formed on the HFM inner surface during typical immersion
      precipitation-based phase inversion fabrication processes. Such grooved HFMs are
      found to be promising for nerve repair and regeneration. The axially aligned
      grooves appearing on the inner surface of the membrane are considered as
      hydrodynamic instability patterns. During the immersion precipitation process, a
      transfer of solvent takes place across the interface between a polymer solution
      and a nonsolvent. This solvent transfer induces gradients of interfacial tension
      that are considered to be the driving mechanism for Marangoni instability. The
      onset of the stationary instability is studied by means of a linear instability
      theory, and the critical and maximum wavenumbers are determined and discussed in
      terms of the dimensionless groups characterizing the system: viscosity ratio,
      diffusivity ratio, Schmidt number, crispation number, adsorption number,
      Marangoni number, and the polymer bulk concentration. A good agreement is found
      between the predicted wavelength of the most dangerous wave and the experimental
      groove width. Consequently, solutal Marangoni instability can explain the groove
      formation mechanism in HFM fabrication.

PMID- 20923183
TI  - Peptide nucleic acids as tools for single-molecule sequence detection and
      manipulation.
AB  - The ability to strongly and sequence-specifically attach modifications such as
      fluorophores and haptens to individual double-stranded (ds) DNA molecules is
      critical to a variety of single-molecule experiments. We propose using modified
      peptide nucleic acids (PNAs) for this purpose and implement them in two model
      single-molecule experiments where individual DNA molecules are manipulated via
      microfluidic flow and optical tweezers, respectively. We demonstrate that PNAs
      are versatile and robust sequence-specific tethers.

PMID- 20923185
TI  - The effect of Alzheimer's Abeta aggregation state on the permeation of biomimetic
      lipid vesicles.
AB  - Alzheimer's disease is characterized by the aggregation and deposition of the
      Abeta peptide. This 40 or 42 residue peptide is the product of the proteolysis of
      the amyloid precursor protein membrane protein and is able to assemble to form
      ordered, stable amyloid fibrils as well as small, soluble, and potentially
      cytotoxic oligomers. The toxicity of the oligomers may be associated with the
      ability to bind to and affect the integrity of lipid membranes. In this novel
      work, we have monitored and compared the ability of the potent Abeta42 peptide,
      the less amyloidogenic Abeta40 peptide, and a variant with reduced
      amyloidogenicity to bind to and affect the integrity of membranes using dye
      filled synthetic vesicles. We reveal that the potency of the assemblies reduces
      with incubation time of the peptide and that maximal effect occurs when a
      particular species is apparent by electron microscopy. We have investigated the
      effect of lipid vesicle composition, and our results suggest that charge on the
      vesicles is important and that binding may partly be mediated by the GM1
      ganglioside receptors expressed in the outer leaflet of vertebrate membranes.

PMID- 20923186
TI  - Persistent metal bis(hexafluoroacetylacetonato) complexes featuring a 2,2'
      bipyridine substituted triarylamminium radical cation.
AB  - Herein, we describe the preparation of a 2,2'-bipyridine derivative containing a
      redox-active N,N'-(4,4'-dimethoxydiphenylamino) substituent (1), which readily
      coordinates M(hfac)(2) salts [M = Mn (2), Ni (3), Cu (4)] to generate stable,
      neutral, and pseudo-octahedral coordination complexes, which have been fully
      characterized. Cyclic voltammetry and spectroelectrochemical measurements on
      complexes 2-4 indicate stable one-electron oxidation processes, and the formation
      of persistent radical cation complexes. The neutral complexes (M = Mn or Ni) were
      subject to one-electron oxidation with NOPF(6) in acetonitrile, and magnetic
      moments of the resulting solutions were obtained using the Evans method at
      different temperatures. Our experimental results suggest that the first reported
      ferromagnetically coupled metal-triarylamminum radical cation complex is obtained
      when M = Mn(2+), and antiferromagnetic coupling results when M = Ni(2+). These
      results are supported by results from density functional theory calculations,
      which indicate that a pi spin polarization mechanism for magnetic exchange
      coupling is operative in singly oxidized complexes, 2-4.

PMID- 20923187
TI  - Effect of morphology on ultrafast free carrier generation in
      polythiophene:fullerene organic solar cells.
AB  - Despite significant study, the precise mechanisms that dictate the efficiency of
      organic photovoltaic cells, such as charge separation and recombination, are
      still debated. Here, we directly observe efficient ultrafast free charge
      generation in the absence of field in annealed poly(3
      hexylthiophene):methanofullerene (P3HT:PCBM). However, we find this process is
      much less efficient in unannealed and amorphous regiorandom blends, explaining
      the superior short-circuit current and fill-factor of annealed RR-P3HT:PCBM solar
      cells. We use transient optical spectroscopy in the visible and near-infrared
      spectral region covering, but not limited to, the previously unobserved and
      highly relevant time scale spanning 1 to 100 ns, to directly observe both
      geminate and nongeminate charge recombination. We find that exciton quenching
      leads directly (time scale less than 100 fs) to two populations: bound charges
      and free charges. The former do not lead to photocurrent in a photovoltaic cell;
      they recombine geminately within 2 ns and are a loss channel. However, the latter
      can be efficiently extracted in photovoltaic cells. Therefore, we find that the
      probability of ultrafast free charge formation after exciton quenching directly
      limits solar cell efficiency. This probability is low in disordered P3HT:PCBM
      blends but approaches unity in annealed blends.

PMID- 20923188
TI  - Soyasaponin I attenuates TNBS-Induced colitis in mice by inhibiting NF-kappaB
      pathway.
AB  - Soybean, which contains soyasaponins and isoflavones as representative
      constituents, exhibits anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects. To understand
      the anti-inflammatory effects of soyasaponins, we isolated soyasaponin I, a major
      constituent of soybean, and investigated the inhibitory effects on inflammatory
      markers in LPS-stimulated mouse peritoneal macrophages and 3,4,5
      trinitrobenzenosulfonic acid (TNBS)-induced colitic mice. Soyasaponin I, which
      exhibited lipid peroxidation-inhibitory effects in vitro, inhibited the
      production of proinflammatory cytokines (TNF-alpha and IL-1beta), inflammatory
      mediators (NO and PGE2), and inflammatory enzymes (COX-2 and iNOS) in LPS
      stimulated peritoneal macrophages. Soyasaponin I also suppressed the
      phosphorylation of IkappaB-alpha and the nuclear translocation of NF-kappaB.
      However, these soyasaponins barely inhibited mitogen-activated protein kinases.
      Oral administration of soyasaponin I (10 and 20 mg/kg) to TNBS-treated colitic
      mice significantly reduced inflammatory markers, colon length, myeloperoxidase,
      lipid peroxide (malondialdehyde and 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal), proinflammatory
      cytokines and NF-kappaB activation in the colon, as well as increased glutathione
      content, superoxide dismutase, and catalase activity. Based on these findings,
      soyasaponin I may attenuate colitis by inhibiting the NF-kappaB pathway. 

PMID- 20923190
TI  - Embedded high density metal nanoparticles with extraordinary thermal stability
      derived from guest-host mediated layered double hydroxides.
AB  - A chemical precursor mediated process was used to form catalyst nanoparticles
      (NPs) with an extremely high density (10(14) to 10(16) m(-2)), controllable size
      distribution (3-20 nm), and good thermal stability at high temperature (900 
      degrees C). This used metal cations deposited in layered double hydroxides (LDHs)
      to give metal catalyst NPs by reduction. The key was that the LDHs had their
      intercalated anions selected and exchanged by guest-host chemistry to prevent
      sintering of the metal NPs, and there was minimal sintering even at 900  degrees
      C. Metal NPs on MoO(4)(2-) intercalated Fe/Mg/Al LDH flakes were successfully
      used as the catalyst for the double helix growth of single-walled carbon nanotube
      arrays. The process provides a general method to fabricate thermally stable metal
      NPs catalysts with the desired size and density for catalysis and materials
      science.

PMID- 20923189
TI  - The flavonol isorhamnetin exhibits cytotoxic effects on human colon cancer cells.
AB  - The aim of this study was to determine whether isorhamnetin, an immediate 3'-O
      methylated metabolite of quercetin, affects proliferation, cell death, and the
      cell cycle of human colon carcinoma (HCT-116) cells. Isorhamnetin was found to be
      a potent antiproliferative agent in a dose- and time-dependent manner, with an
      IC50 of 72 MUM after 48 h of incubation as estimated by MTT assay. Flow cytometry
      and fluorescence microscopy analysis showed that isorhamnetin exerted a
      stimulatory effect on apoptosis and necrosis. Isorhamnetin also increased the
      number of cells in G2/M phase. Serum deprivation appeared to potentiate the
      effects of isorhamnetin on cell death and facilitated cell cycle progression to
      G0/G1 phase. These results suggest that isorhamnetin might mediate inhibition of
      HCT-116 cell growth through the perturbation of cell cycle progression and are
      consistent with the notion that G2/M checkpoints could be a conserved target for
      flavonoids in human colon cancer cells, leading to apoptotic and necrotic death.
      These antiproliferative, apoptotic, necrotic, and cell cycle effects suggest that
      isorhamnetin may have clinically significant therapeutic and chemopreventive
      capabilities. To our knowledge, this is the first report of the effect of
      isorhamnetin on human colon cancer cells. 

PMID- 20923191
TI  - Cubic polyoxometalate-organic molecular cage.
AB  - Tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane (Tris) was successfully grafted onto the surface
      of a Ni(6)-substituted polyoxotungstate formed in situ to further generate a
      three-connected polyoxometalate building block. The cooperative assembly of Tris
      functionalized three-connected building blocks and rigid 1,3,5
      benzenetricarboxylate gave rise to an unprecedented cubic polyoxometalate-organic
      molecular cage with high thermal and hydrothermal stability.

PMID- 20923192
TI  - Influence of harvest method and period on olive oil composition: an NMR and
      statistical study.
AB  - The influence of harvest period and harvest method on olive oil composition was
      investigated by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and by some quality
      parameters such as free acidity, peroxide value, and UV spectrophotometric
      indices. This work focuses on two secondary factors (harvest period and harvest
      method) and investigated their interactions with primary (genetic and
      pedoclimatic) and secondary (agronomic practices and technological procedures)
      factors. To avoid misinterpretation, the general linear model analysis (GLM) was
      used to adjust the result obtained from the analysis of variance (ANOVA). In this
      way, the effect of the factor of interest was corrected for the effects of the
      other factors that might influence the variable under investigation. The weight
      of each factor was evaluated by the variance component analysis (VCA). Finally,
      multivariate statistical analyses, namely, principal component analysis (PCA) and
      linear discriminant analysis (LDA), were applied. Samples were grouped according
      to the harvest period and harvest method. Volatile compounds, that is, hexanal
      and trans-2-hexenal, as well as the sn-1,3-diglycerides and squalene,
      significantly decreased during the ripening. The relative value of the DeltaK
      parameter and the hexanal amount were higher in the olive oils obtained from
      olives harvested by one type of hand-held machine (shaker), whereas the
      unsaturated fatty chains in the olive oils were higher when another type (comb)
      was used. 

PMID- 20923193
TI  - Use of green rooibos (Aspalathus linearis) extract and water-soluble nanomicelles
      of green rooibos extract encapsulated with ascorbic acid for enhanced aspalathin
      content in ready-to-drink iced teas.
AB  - Heat-induced changes in aspalathin, iso-orientin, and orientin content of ready
      to-drink (RTD) green rooibos iced tea formulations were investigated. An organic
      solvent-based aspalathin-enriched extract prepared from green rooibos was used
      "as-is" or encapsulated with ascorbic acid in a water-soluble nanomicelle-based
      carrier system. The common iced tea ingredients, ascorbic acid, and/or citric
      acid were added to the iced tea containing green rooibos extract. Only citric
      acid was added to the iced tea containing the nanomicelles. Heat treatments
      consisted of pasteurization (93  degrees C/5 min and 93  degrees C/30 min),
      normal-temperature sterilization (NTS; 121  degrees C/15 min), and high
      temperature sterilization (HTS; 135  degrees C/4 min). Pasteurization had little
      or no effect on the flavonoid content. NTS and HTS induced significant losses in
      the flavonoids. The addition of citric and ascorbic acids improved the stability
      of the flavonoids, but encapsulation of green rooibos extract with ascorbic acid
      in nanomicelles did not offer additional stability. The only benefit of using the
      water-soluble nanomicelles was the improved clarity of the RTD product. Iso
      orientin and orientin contents were substantially less affected than aspalathin
      by the heat treatments, partially because of conversion of aspalathin to these
      flavones, which countered losses. 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), a known
      dehydration product of hexoses under mild acidic conditions and also a
      degradation product of ascorbic acid, was observed in formulations containing
      citric and/or ascorbic acids. 

PMID- 20923194
TI  - Enhancing the open-circuit voltage of molecular photovoltaics using oxidized Au
      nanocrystals.
AB  - For organic photovoltaics (OPV) to realize applications effective strategies to
      maximize the open-circuit voltage must be developed. Herein we show that solution
      processed surface-oxidized Au nanocrystals (o-AuNC) dramatically increase the
      open-circuit voltage (V(oc)) of OPV cells based on boron-subphthalocyanine
      chloride (SubPc)/C(60) and chloro-aluminum phthalocyanine (ClAlPc)/C(60)
      heterojunctions when incorporated at the interface between the hole-extracting
      electrode and the phthalocyanine donor layer. In addition, the cell-to-cell
      variation in V(oc) is reduced by up to 10-fold combined with a large reduction in
      the light intensity dependence of V(oc), both of which are important advantages
      for practical application. The largest increase in V(oc) is achieved for
      SubPc/C(60)-based cells which exhibit a 45% increase to 1.09 +/- 0.01 V--an
      exceptionally high value for a single junction small molecule OPV. Remarkably
      these improvements are achieved using submonolayers of o-AuNC, which can be
      rationalized in terms of the exceptionally high work function of o-AuNC (~5.9 eV)
      and geometric electric field enhancement effects.

PMID- 20923195
TI  - Guest recognition in a partially bridged deep cavitand.
AB  - The synthesis of a new deep cavitand partially bridged via disulfide bonds is
      described. Its thermodynamic and kinetic complexation parameters are compared
      with those of an unbridged analogue. The disulfide bridges cause deviations in
      DeltaH and DeltaS but result in only small differences in DeltaG of complexation.
      The bridges increase the activation barrier for guest dissociation and lead to
      complexes with enhanced kinetic stability.

PMID- 20923196
TI  - Copper-mediated oxidative trifluoromethylation of boronic acids.
AB  - A copper-mediated oxidative cross-coupling of aryl- and alkenylboronic acids with
      (trifluoromethyl)trimethylsilane (Me(3)SiCF(3)) under mild conditions has been
      developed. This method allows a wide range of functional group tolerant
      trifluoromethylated arenes and alkenes to be easily prepared. This oxidative
      trifluoromethylation has the potential to introduce trifluoromethyl groups into
      advanced, highly functionalized organic molecules.

PMID- 20923197
TI  - Desiccation tolerance mechanism in resurrection fern-ally Selaginella tamariscina
      revealed by physiological and proteomic analysis.
AB  - Drought is one of the most severe limitations to plant growth and productivity.
      Resurrection plants have evolved a unique capability to tolerate desiccation in
      vegetative tissues. Fern-ally Selaginella tamariscina (Beauv.) is one of the most
      primitive vascular resurrection plants, which can survive a desiccated state and
      recover when water becomes available. To better understand the mechanism of
      desiccation tolerance, we have applied physiological and proteomic analysis.
      Samples of S. tamariscina were water-deprived for up to seven days followed by 12
      h of rewatering. Our results showed that endogenous abscisic acid (ABA) increased
      to regulate dehydration-responsive genes/proteins and physiological processes. In
      the course of dehydration, the contents of osmolytes represented by soluble
      sugars and proline were increased to maintain cell structure integrity. The
      activities of four antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase
      (POD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione reductase (GR)) also increased. In
      contrast, both the rate of photosynthesis and the chlorophyll content decreased,
      and plasma membrane integrity was lost. We identified 138 desiccation-responsive
      two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) spots, representing 103 unique proteins.
      Hierarchical clustering analysis revealed that 83% of the proteins were down
      regulated upon dehydration. They were mainly involved in photosynthesis,
      carbohydrate and energy metabolism, stress and defense, protein metabolism,
      signaling, membrane/transport, cell structure, and cell division. The dynamic
      expression changes of the desiccation-responsive proteins provide strong evidence
      that cell structure modification, photosynthesis reduction, antioxidant system
      activation, and protein post-transcriptional/translational modifications are
      essential to the poikilochlorophyllous fern-ally S. tamariscina in response to
      dehydration. In addition, our comparative analysis of dehydration-responsive
      proteins in vegetative tissues from 19 desiccation tolerant and nontolerant plant
      species suggests that resurrection S. tamariscina has developed a specific
      desiccation tolerant mechanism. To our knowledge, this study constitutes the
      first detailed investigation of the protein complement in fern/fern-allies.

PMID- 20923198
TI  - Synthesis of statistical copolymers containing multiple functional peptides for
      nucleic Acid delivery.
AB  - Our report describes RAFT copolymerization of multiple species of active peptide
      monomers with N-(2-hydroxypropyl(methacrylamide) (HPMA) under aqueous conditions.
      Resulting statistical copolymers are narrowly disperse with highly controlled
      molecular weight and composition. Side-chain peptide copolymers were synthesized
      using a DNA condensing peptide (K12), and an endosomal escape peptide (K6H5) that
      had been modified with an aminohexanoic linker and capped with methacrylamide
      vinyl on the NH2-terminus. Copolymers of HMPA-co-K12 and HPMA-co-K12-co-K6H5
      efficiently condensed DNA into small particles that maintain size stability even
      in 150 mM salt solutions. With increasing peptide content, the peptide-based
      polymers demonstrated gene delivery efficiencies to HeLa cells that were
      comparable to branched polyethylenimine. 

PMID- 20923199
TI  - Cell proliferation on stereoregular isotactic-poly(propylene oxide) as a bulk
      substrate.
AB  - Stereoregular isotactic-poly(propylene oxide) (it-PPO) was investigated for use
      as a biomaterial surface. The conventional characteristic of nonstereoregular
      atactic PPO was altered to a hydrophobic solid nature (contact angle: 95.6 +/-
      3.8 degrees ), which resulted in the potential solid surface applications. The
      high crystallinity of it-PPO created both smooth and microsized, random crater
      shaped surfaces using the spin coating and dip coating approaches, respectively.
      The results of protein adsorption with bovine serum albumin (BSA), bovine gamma
      globulin (BgammaG), and bovine plasma fibrinogen (BPF) showed multilayered
      adsorption onto it-PPO. Mouse fibroblast L929 cells adhered onto the it-PPO
      surfaces, and cultured well as compared with commercially available Cell Desk LF1
      as a control surface. These unique physical characteristics of it-PPO were due to
      the configuration of the polymer chain backbone structure, which maintained the
      polyether chemical structure. 

PMID- 20923201
TI  - Unusual molecular conformations in fluorinated, contorted hexabenzocoronenes.
AB  - Fluorinated, contorted hexabenzocoronenes (HBCs) have been synthesized in a
      facile manner via Suzuki-Miyaura coupling of fluorinated phenyl boronic acids
      followed by photocyclization and Scholl cyclization. In addition to the molecular
      conformation observed in previous HBC derivatives, close-contact fluorine
      fluorine intramolecular interactions result in a metastable conformation not
      previously observed. Heating the metastable HBCs above 100  degrees C
      irreversibly converts them to the stable conformation, suggesting that the
      metastable conformation arises from a kinetically arrested state during
      cyclization.

PMID- 20923200
TI  - A biosynthetic strategy for re-engineering the Staphylococcus aureus cell wall
      with non-native small molecules.
AB  - Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is a Gram-positive bacterial pathogen that has
      emerged as a major public health threat. Here we report that the cell wall of S.
      aureus can be covalently re-engineered to contain non-native small molecules.
      This process makes use of endogenous levels of the bacterial enzyme sortase A
      (SrtA), which ordinarily functions to incorporate proteins into the bacterial
      cell wall. Thus, incubation of wild-type bacteria with rationally designed SrtA
      substrates results in covalent incorporation of functional molecular handles
      (fluorescein, biotin, and azide) into cell wall peptidoglycan. These conclusions
      are supported by data obtained through a variety of experimental techniques
      (epifluorescence and electron microscopy, biochemical extraction, and mass
      spectrometry), and cell-wall-incorporated azide was exploited as a chemical
      handle to perform an azide-alkyne cycloaddition reaction on the bacterial cell
      surface. This report represents the first example of cell wall engineering of S.
      aureus or any other pathogenic Gram-positive bacteria and has the potential for
      widespread utility.

PMID- 20923202
TI  - Influence of cellulose on ion diffusivity in 1-ethyl-3-methyl-imidazolium acetate
      cellulose solutions.
AB  - Solutions of microcrystalline cellulose in 1-ethyl-3-methyl-imidazolium acetate
      have been investigated using pulsed-field gradient (1)H NMR. In all cases the
      geometrically larger cation was found to diffuse faster than the smaller anion.
      Arrhenius temperature analysis has been applied to the ion diffusivities giving
      activation energies. The diffusion and published viscosity data for these
      solutions were shown to follow the Stokes-Einstein relationship, giving
      hydrodynamic radii of 1.6 A (cation) and 1.8 A (anion). Theories for obstruction,
      free-volume and hydrodynamic effects on solvent diffusion have been applied. The
      Mackie-Meares and Maxwell-Fricke obstruction models provided a correct trend only
      when assuming a certain fraction of ions are bound to the polymer. From this
      fraction it was shown that the maximum dissolvable cellulose concentration is
      ~27% w/w, which is consistent with the highest known prepared concentration of
      cellulose in this ionic liquid. The Phillies' hydrodynamic model is found to give
      the best description for the cellulose concentration dependence of the ion
      diffusivities. 

PMID- 20923203
TI  - Using the rotaxane mechanical bond to enhance chemical reactivity.
AB  - Rates of cycloreversion for squaraine rotaxane mono(endoperoxides) were enhanced
      by structural modifications that increased cross-component steric destabilization
      of the inward directed 9,10-anthracene endoperoxide group. The largest rate
      enhancements were obtained when the surrounding macrocycle contained two 2,6
      pyridine dicarboxamide bridging units, which induced a cavity contraction effect.
      The precursor fluorescent, near-IR, squaraine rotaxanes are effectively
      photostable because the mono(endoperoxide) products, formed by reaction with
      photogenerated singlet oxygen, rapidly cyclorevert back to the original squaraine
      rotaxane.

PMID- 20923204
TI  - High-efficiency dye-sensitized solar cells: the influence of lithium ions on
      exciton dissociation, charge recombination, and surface states.
AB  - We present a time-saving staining protocol based upon the low-toxicity and
      nonvolatile solvent dimethyl sulfoxide for a high-efficiency dye-sensitized solar
      cell, which is very critical for the roll-to-roll flexible cell production. Power
      conversion efficiencies of 11.7-12.1% were achieved under AM1.5G simulated
      sunlights. The intrinsic roles of lithium cations on efficiency enhancement were
      scrutinized by measuring transient absorption and electrical impedance
      spectroscopies. Our studies have revealed that lithium ions can enhance exciton
      dissociation at the energy-offset dye/titania interface effectively. Charge
      collection is not found to be a crucial current loss channel in our high
      efficiency dye-sensitized solar cell.

PMID- 20923205
TI  - Ab initio chemical kinetic study on Cl + ClO and related reverse processes.
AB  - The reaction of ClO with Cl and its related reverse processes have been studied
      theoretically by ab initio quantum chemical and statistical mechanical
      calculations. The geometric parameters of the reactants, products, and transition
      states are optimized by both UMPW1PW91 and unrestricted coupled-cluster single
      and double excitation (UCCSD) methods with the 6-311+G(3df) basis set. The
      potential energy surface has been further refined (with triple excitations, T) at
      the UCCSD(T)/6-311+G(3df) level of theory. The results show that Cl(2) and O
      ((3)P) can be produced by chlorine atom abstraction via a tight transition state,
      while ClOCl ((1)A(1)) and ClClO ((1)A') can be formed by barrierless association
      processes with exothermicities of 31.8 and 16.0 kcal/mol, respectively. In
      principle the O ((1)D) atom can be generated with a large endothermicity of 56.9
      kcal/mol; on the other hand, its barrierless reaction with Cl(2) can readily form
      ClClO ((1)A'), which fragments rapidly to give ClO + Cl. The rate constants of
      both forward and reverse processes have been predicted at 150-2000 K by the
      microcanonical variational transition state theory (VTST)/Rice-Ramsperger-Kassel
      Marcus (RRKM) theory. The predicted rate constants are in good agreement with
      available experimental data within reported errors.

PMID- 20923206
TI  - A fused donor-acceptor system based on an extended tetrathiafulvalene and a
      ruthenium complex of dipyridoquinoxaline.
AB  - An application of the Horner-Wadsworth-Emmons reaction carried out on a ruthenium
      compound as the electrophilic precursor is described for the synthesis of fused
      donor-acceptor system 1 based on an extended tetrathiafulvalene and a ruthenium
      complex of dipyridoquinoxaline units.

PMID- 20923207
TI  - Reactivity of 2,6-lutidine/BR3 and pyridine/BR3 Lewis pairs (R = F, Me, C6F5): a
      density functional study.
AB  - The reactivity of 2,6-lutidine/BR3 and pyridine/BR3 Lewis pairs (R = F, Me, C6F5)
      is investigated in detail by quantum chemical calculations. The observed
      reactivity difference of these pairs is interpreted in terms of the existence of
      a "frustrated complex" on the potential energy curve for coordination of Lewis
      acid and base, the profiles of local reactivity descriptors with respect to the
      bond distance between acid and base centers, and the thermodynamic/kinetic
      properties of the heterolytic dihydrogen cleavage reaction. The calculated
      results are shown to account well for the observed reactivity of these Lewis
      pairs.

PMID- 20923208
TI  - Shock tube/laser absorption measurements of the reaction rates of OH with
      ethylene and propene.
AB  - Reaction rates of hydroxyl (OH) radicals with ethylene (C2H4) and propene (C3H6)
      were studied behind reflected shock waves. OH + ethylene -> products (rxn 1) rate
      measurements were conducted in the temperature range 973-1438 K, for pressures
      from 2 to 10 atm, and for initial concentrations of ethylene of 500, 751, and
      1000 ppm. OH + propene -> products (rxn 2) rate measurements spanned temperatures
      of 890-1366 K, pressures near 2.3 atm, and initial propene concentrations near
      300 ppm. OH radicals were produced by shock-heating tert-butyl hydroperoxide,
      (CH3)3-CO-OH, and monitored by laser absorption near 306.7 nm. Rate constants for
      the reactions of OH with ethylene and propene were extracted by matching modeled
      and measured OH concentration time-histories in the reflected shock region.
      Current data are in excellent agreement with previous studies and extend the
      temperature range of OH + propene data. Transition state theory calculations
      using recent ab initio results give excellent agreement with our measurements and
      other data outside our temperature range. Fits (in units of cm3/mol/s) to the
      abstraction channels of OH + ethylene and OH + propene are k1 = 2.23 * 104
      (T)(2.745) exp(-1115 K/T) for 600-2000 K and k2 = 1.94 * 106 (T)(2.229) exp(-540
      K/T) for 700-1500 K, respectively. A rate constant determination for the reaction
      TBHP -> products (rxn 3) was also obtained in the range 745-1014 K using OH data
      from behind both incident and reflected shock waves. These high-temperature
      measurements were fit with previous low-temperature data, and the following rate
      expression (0.6-2.6 atm), applicable over the temperature range 400-1050 K, was
      obtained: k3 (1/s) = 8.13 * 10-12 (T)(7.83) exp(-14598 K/T).

PMID- 20923209
TI  - First-principles thermochemistry for gas phase species in an industrial rutile
      chlorinator.
AB  - This work presents thermochemical data for possible gas phase intermediate
      species in an industrial rutile chlorinator. An algorithm developed for previous
      work is employed to ensure that all possible species are considered, reducing the
      number of important species neglected. Thermochemical data and enthalpies of
      formation are calculated for 22 new species using density functional theory, post
      Hartree-Fock coupled cluster calculations, and statistical mechanics. Equilibrium
      calculations are performed to identify whether any Ti/C intermediates are likely
      to be important to the high temperature industrial process. These new species are
      not present at high concentration in the exit stream. It is therefore likely that
      the two chemical processes do not interact. Rather, the Cl2 rapidly reacts with
      the solid TiO2 to form TiCl4 and O2. The latter then reacts with the solid C to
      form CO and CO2 and provide the heat. Data for all the new species is provided as
      Supporting Information. Finally, a new methodology for data collaboration is
      investigated in which the data is made openly accessible using the resource
      description framework. Example scripts are provided to demonstrate how to query
      and retrieve the data automatically.

PMID- 20923210
TI  - Theoretical studies on Myers-Saito and Schmittel cyclization mechanisms of hepta
      1,2,4-triene-6-yne.
AB  - The mechanisms of the Myers-Saito cyclization and the Schmittel cyclization of
      hepta-1,2,4-triene-6-yne are studied by ab initio multireference MO methods
      (CASSCF and MRMP2 methods). For the Myers-Saito cyclization, two transition
      states with C(s) and C1 symmetries are located. The transition state with C1
      symmetry is only 1.5 kcal/mol lower in energy than that with C(s) symmetry at the
      MRMP2 calculation level. The obtained activation energy at the transition state
      with C1 symmetry and the reaction energy are 16.6 and 16.2 kcal/mol exothermic,
      respectively. For the Schmittel cyclization, two transition states with C(s) and
      C1 symmetry are also obtained. The transition state with C1 symmetry is 7.9
      kcal/mol lower in energy than that with C(s) symmetry. The transition state with
      C1 symmetry for Schmittel cyclization is 6.7 kcal/mol higher in energy than that
      for the Myers-Saito cyclization. The reaction mechanisms are analyzed by a CiLC
      IRC method. The interactions of orbitals for the Myers-Saito and Schmittel
      cyclizations can be distinguished.

PMID- 20923211
TI  - Noncovalent binding between fullerenes and protonated porphyrins in the gas
      phase.
AB  - Noncovalent interactions between protonated porphyrin and fullerenes (C60 and
      C70) were studied with five different meso-substituted porphyrins in the gas
      phase. The protonated porphyrin-fullerene complexes were generated by
      electrospray ionization of the porphyrin-fullerene mixture in 3:1
      dichloromethane/methanol containing formic acid. All singly protonated porphyrins
      formed the 1:1 complexes, whereas porphyrins doubly protonated on the porphine
      center yielded no complexes. The complex ion was mass-selected and then
      characterized by collision-induced dissociation with Xe. Collisional activation
      exclusively led to a loss of neutral fullerene, indicating noncovalent binding of
      fullerene to protonated porphyrin. In addition, the dissociation yield was
      measured as a function of collision energy, and the energy inducing 50%
      dissociation was determined as a measure of binding energy. Experimental results
      show that C70 binds to the protonated porphyrins more strongly than C60, and
      electron-donating substituents at the meso positions increase the fullerene
      binding energy, whereas electron-withdrawing substituents decrease it. To gain
      insight into pi-pi interactions between protonated porphyrin and fullerene, we
      calculated the proton affinity and HOMO and LUMO energies of porphyrin using
      Hartree-Fock and configuration interaction singles theory and obtained the
      binding energy of the protonated porphyrin-fullerene complex using density
      functional theory. Theory suggests that the protonated porphyrin-fullerene
      complex is stabilized by pi-pi interactions where the protonated porphyrin
      accepts pi-electrons from fullerene, and porphyrins carrying bulky substituents
      prefer the end-on binding of C70 due to the steric hindrance, whereas those
      carrying less-bulky substituents favor the side-on binding of C70.

PMID- 20923212
TI  - A DFT study on the magnetostructural property of ferromagnetic heteroverdazyl
      diradicals with phenylene coupler.
AB  - We have theoretically designed five different m-phenylene coupled high-spin bis
      heteroverdazyl diradicals and their analogous p-phenylene coupled low-spin
      positional isomers. The geometry-based aromaticity index, harmonic oscillator
      model of aromaticity (HOMA) values for both the couplers (local HOMA), and the
      whole diradicals (global HOMA) have been calculated for all the diradicals. We
      also qualitatively relate these HOMA values with the intramolecular magnetic
      exchange coupling constants (J), calculated using a broken symmetry approach
      within unrestricted density functional theory framework. Structural aromaticity
      index HOMA of linkage specific benzene rings in our designed diradical systems
      shows that the aromatic character depends on the planarity of the molecule and it
      controls the sign and magnitude of J. The predicted J values are explained on the
      basis of spin polarization maps, average dihedral angles, and magnetic orbitals.
      The effect of the spin leakage phenomenon on magnetic exchange coupling constant
      and that on HOMA values of certain phosphaverdazyl systems has been explicitly
      discussed. In addition, a similar comparison is made between the calculated
      exchange coupling constants and corresponding HOMA values. The main novelty of
      this work stands on the consideration of the aromatic behavior by means of the
      geometrical index HOMA. We also estimate another aromaticity index, nucleus
      independent chemical shift (NICS) values for the phenylene coupler in each
      diradical to measure aromaticity and compare its value with that of HOMA. The
      ground state stabilities of these diradicals have also been compared.

PMID- 20923213
TI  - Effect of multiple ionic species on the electrophoretic behavior of a charge
      regulated particle.
AB  - It is often assumed in the conventional electrophoresis analysis that the liquid
      phase contains only one kind of each cation and anion. That analysis is extended
      to the case where the liquid phase contains multiple ionic species in this study
      so that the conditions considered are closer to reality. Using a dispersion of
      SiO(2) particles, which is of a charge-regulated nature, as an example, where the
      dispersion pH is adjusted by HCl and NaOH, numerical simulation is conducted to
      examine the electrophoretic behaviors of the particle under various conditions.
      We show that the presence of multiple ionic species is capable of yielding
      profound and interesting electrophoretic behaviors, which are justified by the
      experimental data in the literature. In addition, we show that two types of
      double-layer polarization (DLP) are present that have not been reported
      previously in the electrophoresis analyses. Type I DLP, which reduces the
      mobility of a particle, occurs inside the double layer, and type II DLP, which
      raises that mobility, occurs immediately outside the double layer.

PMID- 20923214
TI  - Effect of an encapsulated bubble in inhibiting droplet sliding.
AB  - The transport of liquid droplets on surfaces carrying reactants offers advantages
      in the creation of fluidic devices crucial for life science applications. In a
      majority of situations, a selection of these droplets on a surface, rather than
      all of them, will need to be moved at any one time. It is a formidable challenge
      to deliver the motive energy source only to specific droplets while leaving the
      others unmoved. Here, we describe an alternative novel solution of momentarily
      pinning specific droplets to the surface while allowing the rest to be moved. We
      demonstrate this concept via the injection of a sizable bubble that is attached
      to a PTFE surface within a droplet. This then affects the contact line of the
      droplet, pinning it despite the introduction of an incline that will normally
      result in sliding. The use of bubbles offers easy release of pinning at will by
      simple rupture using mechanical means.

PMID- 20923215
TI  - Thiol reactivity and its impact on the ciliate toxicity of alpha,beta-unsaturated
      aldehydes, ketones, and esters.
AB  - A recently introduced chemoassay has been used to determine second-order rate
      constants of the electrophile-nucleophile reaction of 15 alpha,beta-unsaturated
      aldehydes with glutathione. The respective kGSH values vary for more than 3
      orders of magnitude, and are within the range determined previously for 31
      alpha,beta-unsaturated ketones and esters. Structure-reactivity analyses yield
      distinct relationships between kGSH and structural features of the compounds.
      Moreover, increasing kGSH increases the aldehyde toxicity toward ciliates in
      terms of 48 h-EC50 values (effective concentration yielding 50% growth inhibition
      of Tetrahymena pyriformis within 48 h). A respective log-log regression equation
      including both kGSH and the octanol/water partition coefficient, Kow, yields a
      squared correlation coefficient of 0.96. Comparative analysis with corresponding
      data for 15 ketones and 16 esters reveals systematic differences between the
      three compound classes with regard to the individual contributions of
      hydrophobicity and electrophilic reactivity to aquatic toxicity. The former is
      particularly pronounced for aldehydes, while the ester toxicity is largely
      governed by reactivity, with ketones showing an intermediate pattern that is more
      similar to the one of esters than of aldehydes. It follows that within the
      Michael acceptor domain of alpha,beta-unsaturated carbonyls, a distinction
      between aldehydes and nonaldehydic derivatives appears necessary when employing
      electrophilic reactivity as a component for the quantitative prediction of their
      reactive toxicity toward aquatic organisms.

PMID- 20923216
TI  - Water stability of microporous coordination polymers and the adsorption of
      pharmaceuticals from water.
AB  - The stability of a variety of microporous coordination polymers (MCPs) to water
      containing solutions was studied using powder X-ray diffraction. It was
      determined that the stability of the MCP is related to the metal cluster present
      in the structure with trinuclear chromium clusters more stable than copper
      paddlewheel clusters which are more stable than basic zinc acetate clusters. Zn(2
      methylimidizolate)(2) was found to be more water stable than zinc MCPs with
      carboxylate linkers; however, extended exposure to water led to decomposition of
      all zinc-based MCPs. Materiaux de l'Institut Lavoisier (MIL)-100 was also found
      to be completely water stable and was used to adsorb the pharmaceuticals
      furosemide and sulfasalazine from water with large uptakes achievable at low
      concentrations, indicating that the adsorption of wastewater contaminants may be
      a feasible application for these materials.

PMID- 20923217
TI  - Gelation behavior by the lanthanoid adsorption of the cyanobacterial
      extracellular polysaccharide.
AB  - The self-organization behavior of an extracellular polysaccharide (sacran)
      extracted from the cyanobacterium Aphanothece sacrum in response to lanthanoid
      ion adsorption was investigated. Consequently, cryogenic TEM images revealed that
      sacran could be cross-linked by Nd(3+) trivalent ions and formed a fibrous
      nanostructural network containing water. Furthermore, sacran adsorbed trivalent
      metal ions at a 3:1 ratio, which was the theoretical ionic adsorption and showed
      more efficient adsorption than alginate based on electric conductivity titration.
      The critical gelation concentrations, Cg, where sacran formed tough gels upon
      metal ion binding were estimated. The Cg for trivalent metal ions was lower than
      that for divalent ions, and the Cg for lanthanoid ions was particularly low at
      10(-3) to 10(-4) M, changing every four elemental numbers. The extracellular
      matrix of Aphanothece sacrum, sacran, may adsorb metal ions to create fibrous
      nanostructures that reinforce the jelly matrix. 

PMID- 20923218
TI  - Unified theory of the exciplex formation/dissipation.
AB  - The natural extension and reformulation of the unified theory (UT) proposed here
      makes it integro-differential and capable of describing the distant quenching of
      excitation by electron transfer, accompanied with contact but reversible exciplex
      formation. The numerical solution of the new UT equations allows specifying the
      kinetics of the fluorescence quenching and exciplex association/dissociation as
      well as those reactions' quantum yields. It was demonstrated that the distant
      electron transfer in either the normal or inverted Marcus regions screens the
      contact reaction of exciplex formation, especially at slow diffusion.

PMID- 20923219
TI  - Rh-catalyzed oxidative coupling between primary and secondary benzamides and
      alkynes: synthesis of polycyclic amides.
AB  - A methodology for the high yield and facile synthesis of isoquinolones from
      benzamides and alkynes via the oxidative ortho C-H activation of benzamides has
      been developed. Ag(2)CO(3) proved to be an optimal oxidant when MeCN was used as
      a solvent, and [RhCp*Cl(2)](2) was utilized as an efficient catalyst. Both N
      alkyl and N-aryl secondary benzamides can be applied as effective substrates.
      Furthermore, primary benzamides react with two alkyne units, leading to tricyclic
      products via double C-H activation and oxidative coupling. The reactivity of the
      structurally related 1-hydroxyisoquinoline was also demonstrated, where both N-
      and O-containing rhodacyclic intermediates can be generated, leading to the
      construction of different O- or N-containing heterocycles.

PMID- 20923220
TI  - Quantifying the perturbations of persistent organic pollutants induced by climate
      change.
AB  - A perturbed air-surface coupled model has been developed to simulate and predict
      perturbations of POPs concentrations in various environmental media under given
      climate change scenarios. By introducing the perturbations in air temperature and
      precipitation induced by climate change in the model, we have examined the
      corresponding perturbations in the concentration of POPs in the closed air-soil
      and air-water systems. Numerical experiments for several POPs have been conducted
      based on the possible future climate change scenarios. It was found that
      hexachlorobenzene (HCB), hexachlorocyclohexanes (HCHs), and a polychlorinated
      biphenyl (PCBs) congener, PCB-153, exhibit strong response to specified climate
      change scenarios as shown by their high concentrations perturbations in air. In
      the air-soil system the coupled model predicts 4-50% increases in the air
      concentrations of these chemicals corresponding to an increase of 0.05-0.1 K yr(
      1) in the air temperature. Based on our simulations, a 20% increase/decrease in
      precipitation can result in a 53% and 4% decrease/increase in perturbed air
      concentration of gamma-HCH and alpha-HCH, respectively. Also, the model can be
      used to determine the direction of air-surface exchange of POP perturbations
      induced by climate change.

PMID- 20923221
TI  - Further insight into the latex metabolite profile of Ficus carica.
AB  - Latex is a sticky emulsion that exudes upon damage from specialized canals from
      several plants. It contains several biologically active compounds, such as
      phytosterols, fatty acids, and amino acids. In plants, these compounds are
      involved in the interaction between plants, insects, and the environment. Despite
      its chemical, biological, and ecological importance, Ficus carica latex is still
      poorly studied. To improve the knowledge on the metabolite profile of this
      matrix, a targeted metabolite analysis was performed in a representative sample
      from F. carica latex. Seven phytosterols were determined by gas chromatography
      ion trap mass spectrometry (GC-ITMS) and high-performance liquid chromatography
      coupled to diode array detection (HPLC-DAD), with beta-sitosterol and lupeol
      being the compounds present in higher concentrations (ca. 54 and 14%,
      respectively). A total of 18 fatty acids were characterized by GC-ITMS, being
      essentially represented by saturated fatty acids (ca. 86.4% of total fatty
      acids). A total of 13 free amino acids were also identified by high-performance
      liquid chromatography coupled to ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (HPLC/UV-vis),
      and cysteine and tyrosine were the major ones (ca. 38.7 and 31.4%, respectively).
      In humans, phytosterols and some polyunsaturated fatty acids, such as linoleic
      acid, are known for their anticarcinogenic properties. With regard to amino
      acids, some of them, such as glycine, are neurotransmitters. Our results reveal
      the presence of a wide diversity of compounds, from distinct classes, in F.
      carica latex, possessing various potential pharmacological activities; thus, its
      biological potential appears to be worth further exploring. 

PMID- 20923222
TI  - Effects of the design of environmental disclosure regulation on information
      provision: the case of Israeli securities regulation.
AB  - Focusing on the potential of information regulations, this article aims to
      contribute to ongoing efforts of policymakers to improve policy tools, in light
      of the increasing complexity of assessing the environmental impacts of new
      technologies and industrial corporations. Using the annual reports of
      corporations and performance data from the Ministry of Environmental Protection,
      the study analyzed the quality of responses to the amendments of Israel's
      Securities Regulations by major, publicly traded, polluting industrial
      corporations in Israel. The main theoretical claim of this paper is that within
      mandatory regulations there may be a large variability in the degree of
      specification of requirements. When considerable discretion is left to
      corporations, the result is a mixed mandatory-voluntary regulation regime. Our
      findings suggest that such variability impacts the implementation outcomes, as
      responses to environmental requirements depend on the level of discretion.
      Facilities increased their reported information, including the negative aspects,
      when specific mandatory prescriptions were stipulated. However, voluntary
      motivations did not result in the provision of information when corporations were
      allowed a high level of discretion. The authors recommend the delineation of
      exact stipulations of prescriptive requirements for the provision of comparative
      environmental information in order to obtain the environmental information deemed
      necessary.

PMID- 20923223
TI  - Molecular dynamics study of secretory phospholipase A2 of Russell's viper and
      bovine pancreatic sources.
AB  - A comparative molecular dynamics simulation of free and inhibitor-bound form of
      secretory phospholipase A(2) (sPLA(2)) of Russell's viper discloses the sort of
      restrictions in active site for inhibitor binding and implies suitable sites for
      further design of inhibitors based on active site scaffold. This enzyme belongs
      to group II PLA(2)s and dimerize asymmetrically with difference in orientation of
      W31 at the gateway of the active site of both the subunits. Hence, the active
      site of subunit A is open and that of subunit B is inaccessible to monodispersed
      inhibitors. PLA(2) enzymes are active at solvent-lipid interface and their action
      could be inhibited at the solvent environment before it reacts with aggregated
      substrates. Some sPLA(2)s, especially of different venom sources, undergo
      aggregation in a concentration-dependent manner, associate symmetrically into
      dimeric or trimeric form, and attain functional monomeric form during their
      interaction with the aggregated substrate. All sPLA(2)s exhibit catalysis with
      similar mechanism and show considerable differences in its way of inhibition.
      This necessitates conformational analysis on asymmetric dimer viper PLA(2) and
      its comparison with bovine pancreatic sPLA(2) (BPsPLA(2)) which belongs to group
      IB. BPsPLA(2) exists in monomeric form and does not have W31 at the gateway of
      hydrophobic pocket. In general, both monomeric and dimeric forms possess
      conserved active site with six subsites including the residues H48 and D49, and
      calcium-binding and surface loops. In the PLA(2) inhibitor complexes, the
      presence of calcium in monomer and W31 in dimer form is the unique feature and it
      makes the difference only in inhibitory mechanism without altering the catalytic
      mechanism. With this context, molecular dynamics simulation is performed for
      monomer and dimer form of sPLA(2)s in both native and complex forms. Comparison
      of trajectories with respect to fluctuation and deviation discloses the dynamics
      of surface and calcium-binding loops as well as the difference in dynamics of
      active site residues of group IB and II sPLA(2). Further, principal component and
      conformational cluster analyses are performed to substantiate the results.

PMID- 20923224
TI  - Novel pyridinium dyes that enable investigations of peptoids at the single
      molecule level.
AB  - Single-molecule microscopy is a powerful tool for investigating various uptake
      mechanisms of cell-penetrating biomolecules. A particularly interesting class of
      potential transporter molecules are peptoids. Fluorescence labels for such
      experiments need to comply with several physical, chemical, and biological
      requirements. Herein, we report the synthesis and photophysical investigation of
      new fluorescent pyridinium derived dyes. These fluorescent labels have
      advantageous structural variations and spacer units in order to avoid undesirable
      interactions with the labeled molecule and are able to easily functionalize
      biomolecules. In our case, cell-penetrating peptoids are successfully labeled on
      solid supports, and in ensemble measurements the photophysical properties of the
      dyes and the fluorescently labeled peptoids are investigated. Both fluorophores
      and peptoids are imaged at the single-molecule level in thin polymer gels. With
      respect to bleaching times and fluorescence lifetimes the dye molecules and the
      peptoids show only slightly perturbed optical behaviors. These investigations
      indicate that the new fluorophores fulfill well single-molecule microscopy and
      solid-phase synthesis requirements.

PMID- 20923225
TI  - Optimization of transversal relaxation of nitroxides for pulsed electron-electron
      double resonance spectroscopy in phospholipid membranes.
AB  - Pulsed electron-electron double resonance (PELDOR) spectroscopy is increasingly
      applied to spin-labeled membrane proteins. However, after reconstitution into
      liposomes, spin labels often exhibit a much faster transversal relaxation (T(m))
      than in detergent micelles, thus limiting application of the method in lipid
      bilayers. In this study, the main reasons for enhanced transversal relaxation in
      phospholipid membranes were investigated systematically by use of spin-labeled
      derivatives of stearic acid and phosphatidylcholine as well as spin-labeled
      derivatives of the channel-forming peptide gramicidin A under the conditions
      typically employed for PELDOR distance measurements. Our results clearly show
      that dephasing due to instantaneous diffusion that depends on dipolar interaction
      among electron spins is an important contributor to the fast echo decay in cases
      of high local concentrations of spin labels in membranes. The main difference
      between spin labels in detergent micelles and membranes is their local
      concentration. Consequently, avoiding spin clustering and suppressing
      instantaneous diffusion is the key step for maximizing PELDOR sensitivity in
      lipid membranes. Even though proton spin diffusion is an important relaxation
      mechanism, only in samples of low local concentrations does deuteration of acyl
      chains and buffer significantly prolong T(m). In these cases, values of up to 7
      MUs have been achieved. Furthermore, our study revealed that membrane composition
      and labeling position in the membrane can also affect T(m), either by promoting
      the segregation of spin-labeled species or by altering their exposure to matrix
      protons. Effects of other experimental parameters including temperature (<50 K),
      presence of oxygen, and cryoprotectant type are negligible under our experimental
      conditions.

PMID- 20923226
TI  - Exploring the changes in the structure of alpha-helical peptides adsorbed onto a
      single walled carbon nanotube using classical molecular dynamics simulation.
AB  - Classical molecular dynamics (MD) simulation has been carried out in an explicit
      solvent environment to understand the interaction between the single walled
      carbon nanotube (SWCNT) and alpha-helix. A polyalanine peptide consisting of 40
      alanine residues has been chosen as the model for the alpha-helix (PA(40)).
      Results reveal that the SWCNT induces conformational changes in PA(40).
      Furthermore, breakage of hydrogen bonds in the chosen model peptides has been
      observed, which leads to conformational transitions (alpha -> turns) in different
      parts of the PA(40). Owing to these transitions, regions of different structural
      and energetic stability are generated in PA(40) which enable the PA(40) to curl
      around the surface of the SWCNT. The overall observations obtained from the MD
      simulations are not significantly influenced by the starting geometry and the
      choice of the force field. Although the qualities of structural information
      obtained from the MD simulation using ff03 and OPLS are different, the overall
      observation derived from the ff03 is similar to that of OPLS. Results from the MD
      simulation on the interaction of the alpha-helical fragment of the SNARES protein
      with the SWCNT elicit that the amino acid composition influences the interaction
      pattern. The wrapping of the alpha-helical fragment of the SNARES onto the SWCNT
      is similar to that of PA(40). Overall, there is a considerable decrease in the
      helical content of peptides upon interaction with SWCNTs, in agreement with the
      experimental findings.

PMID- 20923227
TI  - Cholesterol flip-flop: insights from free energy simulation studies.
AB  - The mechanism of lipid flip-flop motion is important for maintaining the
      asymmetric distribution of lipids in a biological membrane. To explore the
      energetics and mechanism of passive cholesterol flip-flop and its dependence on
      chain saturation, we performed two-dimensional umbrella sampling simulations in
      DPPC, POPC, and DAPC (dipalmitoyl-, palmitoyloleoyl-, and
      diarachidonylphosphatidylcholine) and used the string method to identify the most
      probable flip-flop paths based on the two-dimensional free energy maps. The
      resulting paths indicate that cholesterol prefers to tilt first and then move to
      the bilayer center where the free energy barrier exists. The barrier is lower in
      DAPC than in DPPC or POPC, and the calculated flip-flop rates show that
      cholesterol flip-flop in a poly-unsaturated bilayer is faster than in more
      saturated bilayers. The free energy barrier results from the unfavorable
      enthalpic contribution arising from cholesterol-water/lipid interactions and the
      favorable entropic contribution due to increased lipid dynamics. While the
      cholesterol-water interaction has similar contributions to the barrier due to
      desolvation of the cholesterol hydroxyl group in all lipids, the cholesterol
      lipid interaction has a much lower barrier in DAPC than in DPPC or POPC,
      resulting in the lower free energy barrier in DAPC.

PMID- 20923228
TI  - Optimization of the electrodeposition process of high-performance bismuth
      antimony telluride compounds for thermoelectric applications.
AB  - High-quality films of bismuth antimony telluride were synthesized by
      electrodeposition from nitric acid electroplating baths. The influence of a
      surfactant, sodium ligninsulfonate, on the structure, morphology, stoichiometry,
      and homogeneity of the deposited films has been investigated. It was found that
      addition of this particular surfactant significantly improved the microstructural
      properties as well as homogeneity of the films with a significant improvement in
      the thermoelectric properties over those deposited in the absence of surfactant.
      A detailed microprobe analysis of the deposited films yielded a stoichiometric
      composition of Bi(0.35)Sb(1.33)Te(3) for the films electrodeposited in the
      absence of surfactant and a stoichiometry of Bi(0.32)Sb(1.33)Te(3) for films
      deposited in the presence of surfactant.

PMID- 20923229
TI  - Sustainability: the art of the possible.

PMID- 20923230
TI  - One-step sample concentration, purification, and albumin depletion method for
      urinary proteomics.
AB  - Workflows in urinary proteomics studies are often complex and require many steps
      to enrich, purify, deplete, and separate the complex mixture. Many of these
      methods are laborious, are time-consuming, and have the potential for error.
      Although individual steps of these methods have been previously studied, their
      downstream compatibilities with fractionation technologies such as off-gel
      electrophoresis have not been investigated. We developed a one-step sample
      preparation workflow that simultaneously (i) concentrates proteins, (ii) purifies
      by removing salts and other low molecular weight compounds, and (iii) depletes
      (albumin) from urine samples. This simple and robust workflow can be multiplexed
      and is compatible with a diverse range of downstream multidimensional separation
      technologies. Additionally, because of its high reproducibility and flexibility
      in processing samples with different volumes and concentrations, it has the
      potential to be used for standardization of urinary proteomics studies, as well
      as for studying other body fluids of similar complexity.

PMID- 20923232
TI  - Tunable SERS in gold nanorod dimers through strain control on an elastomeric
      substrate.
AB  - In this Letter we provide experimental verification of the interparticle distance
      dependence of the SERS enhancement factor in 1 MUm gold gapped nanorods. Au
      dimers are fabricated from electrochemically grown heterogeneous Au-Ag-Au
      nanorods and deposited on a stretchable elastomer film which allows active and
      reversible tuning of the interparticle gap on the sub-5-nm level. Significantly,
      this technique allows the distance dependence to be tracked using a single dimer,
      thereby avoiding enhancement factor reproducibility issues arising from
      morphological differences in disparate nanoparticle pairs.

PMID- 20923231
TI  - The association-dissociation behavior of the ApoE proteins: kinetic and
      equilibrium studies.
AB  - The apolipoprotein E family consists of three major protein isoforms:
      apolipoprotein E4 (ApoE4), ApoE3, and ApoE2. The isoforms, which contain 299
      residues, differ only by single-amino acid changes, but of the three, only ApoE4
      is a risk factor for Alzheimer's disease. At micromolar concentrations, lipid
      free ApoE exists predominantly as tetramers. In more dilute solutions, lower
      molecular mass species predominate. Using fluorescence correlation spectroscopy
      (FCS), intermolecular fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET), and
      sedimentation methods, we found that the association-dissociation reaction of
      ApoE can be modeled with a monomer-dimer-tetramer process. Equilibrium constants
      have been determined from the sedimentation data, while the individual rate
      constants for association and dissociation were determined by measurement of the
      kinetics of dissociation of ApoE and are in agreement with the equilibrium
      constants. Dissociation kinetics as measured by intermolecular FRET show two
      phases reflecting the dissociation of tetramer to dimer and of dimer to monomer,
      with dissociation from tetramer to dimer being more rapid than the dissociation
      from dimer to monomer. The rate constants differ for the different ApoE isoforms,
      showing that the association-dissociation process is isoform specific.
      Strikingly, the association rate constants are almost 2 orders of magnitude
      slower than expected for a diffusion-controlled process. Dissociation kinetics
      were also monitored by tryptophan fluorescence in the presence of acrylamide and
      the data found to be consistent with the monomer-dimer-tetramer model. The
      approach combining multiple methods establishes the reaction scheme of ApoE self
      association.

PMID- 20923233
TI  - Synthesis, characterization, and in vitro evaluation of long-chain hyperbranched
      poly(ethylene glycol) as drug carrier.
AB  - A series of novel long-chain hyperbranched poly(ethylene glycol)s (LHPEGs) with
      biodegradable connections were designed and synthesized in one pot through proton
      transfer polymerization using PEG and commercial glycidyl methacrylate as
      monomers and potassium hydride as catalyst. The LHPEGs were hydrolyzed at neutral
      pH resulting in the decrease of molecular weights. In vitro evaluation
      demonstrated that LHPEGs were biocompatible and displayed negligible hemolytic
      activity. The efficient cellular uptake of LHPEGs was confirmed by flow cytometry
      and confocal laser scanning microscopy. Moreover, conjugation of a model
      hydrophobic anticancer drug methotrexate to LHPEGs inhibited the proliferation of
      a human cervical carcinoma Hela cell line. MTT assay indicated that the
      conjugated methotrexate dose required for 50% cellular growth inhibition against
      Hela cells was 20 MUg/mL. By combining the advantages of long-chain hyperbranched
      structure and PEG, LHPEG provides a promising drug carrier for therapeutic
      fields.

PMID- 20923234
TI  - Heat conduction across monolayer and few-layer graphenes.
AB  - We report the thermal conductance G of Au/Ti/graphene/SiO(2) interfaces (graphene
      layers 1 <= n <= 10) typical of graphene transistor contacts. We find G ~ 25 MW
      m(-2) K(-1) at room temperature, four times smaller than the thermal conductance
      of a Au/Ti/SiO(2) interface, even when n = 1. We attribute this reduction to the
      thermal resistance of Au/Ti/graphene and graphene/SiO(2) interfaces acting in
      series. The temperature dependence of G from 50 <= T <= 500 K also indicates that
      heat is predominantly carried by phonons through these interfaces. Our findings
      suggest that metal contacts can limit not only electrical transport but also
      thermal dissipation from submicrometer graphene devices.

PMID- 20923235
TI  - Differential immunogenicity and clinical relevance of kidney compartment specific
      antigens after renal transplantation.
AB  - To evaluate the pathogenic role of non-HLA antibodies after organ
      transplantation, 81 unique serum samples from renal transplant patients were
      analyzed by protein array technology on integrative genomics approach (Li, L.; et
      al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 2009, 106 (11), 4148-53; Higgins, J. P.; et al.
      Mol. Biol. Cell 2004, 15 (2), 649-56), validated by ELISA, and the results
      correlated with clinical relevance with time post-transplantation or post
      transplant graft function. There was a significant association of de novo non-HLA
      antibodies with time post-transplantation (n = 1,785) and decline in graft
      function over the subsequent year (n = 105). There was an enrichment of
      immunogenic antigens in the renal cortex (p = 0.01) with post-transplant time,
      and for glomerular specific targets (p = 0.02) with decline in graft function.
      Two targets with very strong correlation in each category (AGT and SPDYA) were
      validated by customized ELISA assays in independent patient sera and their
      localization confirmed by immunohistochemistry. In conclusion, defined profiles
      of these non-HLA antibodies to renal cortical proteins develop with increasing
      length of engraftment, and may reflect the increasing recognition of altered
      localization or exposure of renal tubular and interstitial proteins, affected by
      advancing chronic nonimmune graft injury. The panel of non-HLA antibodies to
      glomerular targets is most interesting, as these corresponding antigenic targets
      may be important pathways in functional graft injury and could provide novel
      targets for drug design.

PMID- 20923236
TI  - Alternative sigma factors in the free state are equilibrium mixtures of open and
      compact conformations.
AB  - Conformational switching upon core RNA polymerase binding is an integral part of
      functioning of bacterial sigma factors. Here, we have studied dynamical features
      of two alternative sigma factors. A study of fluorescence resonance energy
      transfer and hydrodynamic measurements in Escherichia coli sigma(32) suggest a
      compact shape like those found in complex with anti-sigma factors. On the other
      hand, the fluorescence anisotropy of probes attached to different regions of the
      protein and previous hydrogen exchange measurements suggest significant internal
      flexibility, particularly in the C-terminal half and region 1. In a homologous
      sigma factor, sigma(F) of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, emission spectra and
      fluorescence resonance energy transfer between the single tryptophan (W112) and
      probes placed in different regions suggest a compact conformation for a major
      part of the N-terminal half encompassing region 2 and the flexible C-terminal
      half. Fluorescence anisotropy measurements suggest significant flexibility in the
      C-terminal half and region 1, as well. Thus, free alternative sigma factors may
      be in equilibrium between two conformations: a compact one in which the promoter
      interacting motifs are trapped in the wrong conformation and another less
      abundant one with a more open and flexible conformation. Such flexibility may be
      important for promoter recognition and interaction with many partner proteins.

PMID- 20923237
TI  - Glycoproteomic profile in wine: a 'sweet' molecular renaissance.
AB  - Glycoproteins are believed to be important in several technological, oenological
      and allergological processes due to their physicochemical properties. The
      knowledge of the protein glycosylation status in wine will aid in the
      understanding of these processes. A multiplexed glycopeptide enrichment strategy
      in combination with tandem mass spectrometry was performed in order to analyze
      the glycoproteome of white wine. A total of 28 glycoproteins and 44 glycosylation
      sites were identified. The identified glycoproteins were from grape and yeast
      origin. In particular, several glycoproteins derived from grape, like invertase
      and pathogenesis-related (PR) proteins, and from the yeast, were found after the
      vinification process. Bioinformatic analysis revealed sequence similarity between
      the identified grape glycoproteins and known plant allergens. This study is an
      important step forward in order to investigate the implication of glycoproteins
      in several processes, like protein stabilization and potential allergenic cross
      reactivity in wine.

PMID- 20923238
TI  - The interface of inorganic chemistry and biology.

PMID- 20923239
TI  - Functional compromises among pH tolerance, site specificity, and sequence
      tolerance for a DNA-hydrolyzing deoxyribozyme.
AB  - We recently reported the identification by in vitro selection of 10MD5, a
      deoxyribozyme that requires both Mn2+ and Zn2+ to hydrolyze a single-stranded DNA
      substrate with formation of 5'-phosphate and 3'-hydroxyl termini. DNA cleavage by
      10MD5 proceeds with kobs=2.7 h(-1) and rate enhancement of 10(12) over the
      uncatalyzed P-O hydrolysis reaction. 10MD5 has a very sharp pH optimum near 7.5,
      with greatly reduced DNA cleavage rate and yield when the pH is changed by only
      0.1 unit in either direction. Here we have optimized 10MD5 by reselection (in
      vitro evolution), leading to variants with broader pH tolerance, which is
      important for practical DNA cleavage applications. Because of the extensive
      Watson-Crick complementarity between deoxyribozyme and substrate, the parent
      10MD5 is inherently sequence-specific; i.e., it is able to cleave one DNA
      substrate sequence in preference to other sequences. 10MD5 is also site-specific
      because only one phosphodiester bond within the DNA substrate is cleaved,
      although here we show that intentionally creating Watson-Crick mismatches near
      the cleavage site relaxes the site specificity. Newly evolved 10MD5 variants such
      as 9NL27 are also sequence-specific. However, the 9NL27 site specificity is
      relaxed for some substrate sequences even when full Watson-Crick complementarity
      is maintained, corresponding to a functional compromise between pH tolerance and
      site specificity. The site specificity of 9NL27 may be restored by expanding its
      "recognition site" from ATGT (as for 10MD5) to ATGTT or larger, i.e., by
      considering 9NL27 to have reduced substrate sequence tolerance relative to 10MD5.
      These findings provide fundamental insights into the interplay among key
      deoxyribozyme characteristics of tolerance and selectivity, with implications for
      ongoing development of practical DNA-catalyzed DNA hydrolysis.

PMID- 20923241
TI  - Targeted oral therapies in the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension.
AB  - Recent advances in our understanding of the pathophysiology of pulmonary arterial
      hypertension (PAH) have led to the US FDA's approval of eight drugs for its
      treatment. Although guidelines for the use of PAH therapies are available and
      regularly updated, there is a lack of information on how these agents differ and
      what characteristics may enable one agent to be of greater relative clinical
      utility than another. Oral agents may be compared across a variety of measures,
      including clinical efficacy, safety and tolerability, dosing and pharmacology,
      potential for drug interactions, treatment adherence and suitability for use in
      combination regimens. Although no large, prospective, head-to-head trial has been
      conducted with oral agents for PAH, data from placebo-controlled studies indicate
      that the enrolled patient populations were remarkably homogeneous with respect to
      demographic and disease severity parameters. In general, data suggest that these
      agents improve functional capacity, delay disease progression and improve
      haemodynamics. Additionally, long-term sustainability of response has been
      demonstrated. However, there was no consistently superior agent across the
      primary and secondary endpoints assessed in these trials, and the magnitudes of
      improvements were in a fairly defined range across agents. Consequently,
      treatment choice may shift to other aspects such as drug safety and tolerability,
      potential for drug interactions, dosing convenience, treatment adherence, effect
      on quality of life and access to medication. In this review, the four targeted
      oral agents approved for the treatment of PAH in the US are reviewed, and
      clinical results are placed into context.

PMID- 20923242
TI  - Aripiprazole in acute mania and long-term treatment of bipolar disorder: a
      critical review by an Italian working group.
AB  - Bipolar disorder (BD) is a chronic illness that is characterized by recurrent
      episodes of mania, depression or mixed symptoms. BD has a prevalence of
      approximately 2-4% in the general population and is associated with a substantial
      burden in terms of morbidity and mortality. Mania is one of the most difficult to
      treat manifestations of BD and antipsychotic drugs play a major therapeutic role
      in this respect. Acting mainly at dopamine receptors, first-generation
      antipsychotics are effective in controlling symptoms of BD; however, these drugs
      cause troublesome extrapyramidal symptoms (EPS) and hyperprolactinaemia. The more
      recently developed second-generation antipsychotics, which act at other
      receptors, provide a broader spectrum of clinical efficacy and have a more
      favourable tolerability profile than first-generation antipsychotics. Some second
      generation antipsychotics are, however, associated with adverse effects such as
      weight gain and metabolic disorders, which may be cause for concern.
      Aripiprazole, a recently introduced second-generation antipsychotic, has a unique
      receptor-binding profile and mechanism of action, which are thought to account
      for its low propensity for weight gain, metabolic disturbances and sedation.
      Aripiprazole is approved in the US and in Europe for the acute management and
      maintenance of manic and mixed episodes associated with bipolar I disorder. In
      both the acute and long-term maintenance settings, clinical trials have shown
      aripiprazole to be clinically effective in terms of response rates, remission
      rates and prevention of relapse. The lack of a sedative effect does not affect
      the efficacy of aripiprazole in controlling mania and agitation. With both short-
      and long-term aripiprazole treatment, adverse event rates were similar to placebo
      and significantly lower than seen with comparators; one exception to this is the
      occurrence of EPS, which was observed more frequently in aripiprazole recipients
      than in patients receiving placebo, but less frequently than in patients treated
      with haloperidol. Aripiprazole is likely to promote treatment adherence because
      of its favourable tolerability profile, but more specifically focused studies are
      required to confirm this hypothesis. The efficacy and favourable metabolic
      profile of aripiprazole make it a good option in the management of acute mania
      and maintenance treatment, especially in an outpatient setting. Thus,
      aripiprazole provides clinicians with a valuable additional therapeutic option
      for BD. Cognizant of the lack of standardized strategies for aripiprazole dosing,
      switching, and prevention and management of adverse effects, an expert consensus
      meeting was held in Italy with the aim of producing guidelines for the use of
      aripiprazole in acute and long-term management of BD mania. The resulting dosage,
      administration and switching recommendations outlined in this report are based on
      empirical results from well designed aripiprazole clinical trials and clinical
      experience, and are in accord with the manufacturer's prescribing information.
      However, careful evaluation of the individual patient and a thorough risk/benefit
      assessment should be made prior to initiating any treatment plan.

PMID- 20923244
TI  - Bioequivalence of sitagliptin/metformin fixed-dose combination tablets and
      concomitant administration of sitagliptin and metformin in healthy adult
      subjects: a randomized, open-label, crossover study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Treatment with an oral antihyperglycaemic agent administered as
      monotherapy is often unsuccessful at achieving or maintaining glycaemic control
      in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. The combined use of sitagliptin and
      metformin is an effective treatment for type 2 diabetes mellitus, consistent with
      the complementary mechanisms of action by which these two agents improve glucose
      control. OBJECTIVES: To establish bioequivalence between sitagliptin/metformin
      fixed-dose combination (FDC) tablets (Janumet(r)) and co-administration of
      corresponding doses of sitagliptin and metformin as individual tablets. METHODS:
      This was an randomized, open-label, two-part, two-period crossover study, which
      included a total of 48 healthy subjects, 24 subjects per part (parts I and II).
      Within each part, subjects were assigned to receive treatments in random order;
      treatment periods were separated by a washout interval of at least 7 days.
      Eligible study participants included healthy, non-smoking (within previous 6
      months), male and female subjects aged between 18 and 45 years with a body mass
      index <=32 kg/m2. Part I consisted of treatments A (co-administration of
      sitagliptin 50 mg and metformin 500 mg) and B (sitagliptin/metformin 50 mg/500 mg
      FDC tablet); part II consisted of treatments C (co-administration of sitagliptin
      50 mg and metformin 1000 mg) and D (sitagliptin 50 mg/metformin 1000 mg FDC
      tablet). Blood samples were collected pre-dose and up to 72 hours post-dose in
      each treatment period for determination of plasma sitagliptin and metformin
      concentrations and calculation of the respective pharmacokinetic parameters. The
      area under the plasma concentration-time curve from time zero to infinity
      (AUC(infinity)) and the maximum plasma concentration (C(max)) for both
      sitagliptin and metformin were designated as the primary and secondary study
      endpoints, respectively, and analysed using an ANOVA model after logarithmic
      transformation of the data. Bioequivalence was established if the 90% confidence
      intervals (CIs) for the geometric mean ratios (GMRs; FDC tablet/co
      administration) of the AUC(infinity) and C(max) for both sitagliptin and
      metformin fell within pre-specified bounds of (0.80, 1.25). RESULTS: The GMRs
      (90% CI) for the AUC(infinity) of sitagliptin 50 mg and metformin 500 mg were
      0.98 (0.96, 1.00) and 1.0 (0.95, 1.04), respectively, and for C(max) of
      sitagliptin and metformin were 1.00 (0.94, 1.06) and 1.00 (0.94, 1.06),
      respectively. The GMRs (90% CI) for the AUC(infinity) of sitagliptin 50 mg and
      metformin 1000 mg (part II) were 0.97 (0.95, 0.99) and 1.00 (0.94, 1.07),
      respectively, and for the C(max) of sitagliptin and metformin were 0.94 (0.88,
      1.01) and 1.01 (0.93, 1.10), respectively. In both part I and part II, the 90%
      CIs of the GMRs of the AUC(infinity) and C(max) for both sitagliptin and
      metformin all fell within the pre-specified bioequivalence bounds of (0.80,
      1.25). Administration of single doses of sitagliptin/metformin 50 mg/500 mg (part
      I) and 50 mg/1000 mg FDC tablets (part II) and co-administration of corresponding
      doses of sitagliptin and metformin as individual tablets were generally well
      tolerated. CONCLUSION: The sitagliptin/metformin 50 mg/500 mg and 50 mg/1000 mg
      FDC tablets are bioequivalent to co-administration of corresponding doses of
      sitagliptin and metformin as individual tablets and support bioequivalence to the
      sitagliptin/metformin 50 mg/850 mg tablet strength. These results indicate that
      the safety and efficacy profile of co-administration of sitagliptin and metformin
      can be extended to the sitagliptin/metformin FDC tablets.

PMID- 20923243
TI  - Rationale for the use of a fixed-dose combination in the management of
      hypertension: efficacy and tolerability of lercanidipine/enalapril.
AB  - Hypertension, a significant factor in the development of cerebrovascular
      disorders, heart disease and renal failure, is a common disorder worldwide.
      Despite the availability of a wide range of antihypertensive agents, almost two
      thirds of hypertensive patients have poorly controlled blood pressure (BP).
      Numerous clinical trials have shown that most patients require at least two
      antihypertensive agents to achieve adequate BP control and associated significant
      reductions in cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Combination therapy using
      two drugs with different, complementary mechanisms of action achieves better
      efficacy and tolerability outcomes than treatment with either component drug
      alone. When such a combination is administered as a fixed-dose formulation, other
      benefits, such as improved compliance and potentially lower costs, are also
      likely. The good efficacy and tolerability of the combination of a calcium
      channel antagonist and an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor is well
      established, and this combination is recommended by European Society of
      Hypertension/European Society of Cardiology guidelines as a first choice in high
      risk hypertensive patients, including those with type 2 diabetes mellitus.
      Lercanidipine/enalapril is a promising example of a fixed-dose combination of
      these drug classes. In clinical trials in hypertensive patients, including those
      with type 2 diabetes, lercanidipine/enalapril improved BP to a greater extent
      than either drug as monotherapy (in patients who were previous non-responders to
      lercanidipine or enalapril) or the combination of
      lercanidipine/hydrochlorothiazide, and was equally well tolerated. Further
      studies are required to evaluate the cardiovascular protective effects of
      lercanidipine/enalapril.

PMID- 20923245
TI  - Effects of rifampicin (rifampin) on the pharmacokinetics and safety of
      ambrisentan in healthy subjects: a single-sequence, open-label study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Ambrisentan is a once-daily, endothelin (ET) type A receptor
      selective antagonist approved for the treatment of pulmonary arterial
      hypertension. Ambrisentan is primarily metabolized by glucuronidation and
      undergoes cytochrome P450 (CYP)-mediated oxidation to a lesser extent. OBJECTIVE:
      To assess the effects of rifampicin (rifampin), a potent inducer of CYP3A4 and
      inhibitor of organic anion transporter polypeptides (OATPs), on the steady-state
      pharmacokinetics, safety and tolerability of ambrisentan. METHODS: This was a 14
      day, single-sequence, open-label study that was conducted in 24 healthy adults.
      Subjects were administered oral doses of ambrisentan (10 mg) once daily on days 1
      through 5 and were then co-administered ambrisentan (10 mg) plus rifampicin (600
      mg) once daily on days 6 through 13. The steady-state pharmacokinetics of
      ambrisentan and its oxidative metabolite 4-hydroxymethyl ambrisentan were
      determined in the absence and presence of repeated administration of rifampicin.
      The main outcome measure was the analysis of ambrisentan pharmacokinetics (area
      under the plasma concentration-time curve during a dosage interval [AUC(tau)],
      maximum plasma drug concentration [C(max)] and minimum plasma drug concentration
      [C(min)]) for steady-state ambrisentan alone (day 5) as compared with steady
      state ambrisentan plus steady-state rifampicin (day 13). Adverse events (AEs),
      ECG recordings, vital signs and clinical laboratory parameters were monitored
      throughout the study and at follow-up. RESULTS: A transient increase (+87% [95%
      CI 79, 95]) in ambrisentan steady-state systemic exposure (AUC(tau)) was observed
      during the first 2 days of rifampicin co-administration. However, in the presence
      of steady-state rifampicin, ambrisentan C(max) and AUC(tau) values were similar
      (+2% [95% CI -7, 12] and -4% [-9, 2], respectively) to those observed for
      ambrisentan alone. Relative systemic exposure of 4-hydroxymethyl ambrisentan was
      unaffected by either acute or steady-state rifampicin. No serious AEs or AEs
      leading to withdrawal were reported and there were no clinically significant
      changes in vital signs, ECG recordings or clinical laboratory parameters with co
      administration of ambrisentan and rifampicin. CONCLUSION: Steady-state rifampicin
      had no clinically relevant effects on the steady-state pharmacokinetics of
      ambrisentan. The overall safety profile of ambrisentan was similar in the
      presence and absence of rifampicin. No dose adjustment of ambrisentan should be
      required when it is co-administered with rifampicin, a strong inducer of CYP3A4
      activity and inhibitor of OATPs.

PMID- 20923246
TI  - A quantitative framework and strategies for management and evaluation of
      metabolic drug-drug interactions in oncology drug development: new molecular
      entities as object drugs.
AB  - This article outlines general strategies for the management and evaluation of
      pharmacokinetic drug-drug interactions (DDIs) resulting from perturbation of
      clearance of investigational anticancer drug candidates by concomitantly
      administered agents in a drug development setting, with a focus on drug
      candidates that cannot be evaluated in first-in-human studies in healthy
      subjects. A risk level classification is proposed, based on quantitative
      integration of knowledge derived from preclinical drug-metabolism studies
      evaluating the projected percentage contribution [f(i)(%)] of individual
      molecular determinants (e.g. cytochrome P450 isoenzymes) to the overall human
      clearance of the investigational agent. The following classification is proposed
      with respect to susceptibility to DDIs with metabolic inhibitors: a projected
      maximum DDI expected to result in a <=1.33-fold increase in exposure,
      representing a low level of risk; a projected maximum DDI expected to result in a
      >1.33-fold but <2-fold increase in exposure, representing a moderate level of
      risk; and a projected maximum DDI expected to result in a >=2-fold increase in
      exposure, representing a potentially high level of risk. For DDIs with metabolic
      inducers, the following operational classification is proposed, based on the sum
      of the percentage contributions of enzymes that are inducible via a common
      mechanism to the overall clearance of the investigational drug: <<25%,
      representing a low level of risk; <50%, representing a moderate level of risk;
      and >=50%, representing a potentially high level of risk. To ensure patient
      safety and to minimize bias in determination of the recommended phase II dose
      (RP2D), it is recommended that strong and moderate inhibitors and inducers of the
      major contributing enzyme are excluded in phase I dose-escalation studies of high
      risk compounds, whereas exclusion of strong inhibitors and inducers of the
      contributing enzyme(s) is recommended as being sufficient for moderate-risk
      compounds. For drugs that will be investigated in diseases such as glioblastoma,
      where there may be relatively frequent use of enzyme-inducing antiepileptic
      agents (EIAEDs), a separate dose-escalation study in this subpopulation is
      recommended to define the RP2D. For compounds in the high-risk category, if
      genetic deficiencies in the activity of the major drug-metabolizing enzyme are
      known, it is recommended that poor metabolizers be studied separately to define
      the RP2D for this subpopulation. Whereas concomitant medication exclusion
      criteria that are utilized in the phase I dose-escalation studies will probably
      also need to be maintained for high-risk compounds in phase II studies unless the
      results of a clinical DDI study indicate the absence of a clinically relevant
      interaction, these exclusion criteria can potentially be relaxed beyond phase I
      for moderate-risk compounds, if supported by the nature of clinical toxicities
      and the understanding of the therapeutic index in phase I. Adequately designed
      clinical DDI studies will not only inform potential relaxation of concomitant
      medication exclusion criteria in later-phase studies but, importantly, will also
      inform the development of pharmacokinetically derived dose-modification
      guidelines for use in clinical practice when coupled with adequate safety
      monitoring, as illustrated in the prescribing guidance for many recently approved
      oncology therapeutics.

PMID- 20923247
TI  - Pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic perspectives on the clinical drug development
      of panitumumab.
AB  - Panitumumab is a recombinant, fully human IgG2 monoclonal antibody directed
      against the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). It is indicated for use as
      monotherapy in the treatment of patients with EGFR-expressing metastatic
      colorectal cancer after disease progression with standard chemotherapy. The
      currently indicated dose is 6 mg/kg given every 2 weeks. Panitumumab is mainly
      distributed into the vascular space and exhibits nonlinear pharmacokinetics that
      are consistent with target-mediated drug disposition, involving saturable binding
      to EGFR and subsequent internalization and degradation inside the cells.
      Panitumumab is also cleared in a linear fashion by the reticuloendothelial
      system, similarly to other endogenous immunoglobulins. After single-dose
      administration of panitumumab as a 1-hour intravenous infusion, the area under
      the serum concentration-time curve increases in a greater-than-dose-proportional
      manner as the dose increases from 0.75 to 5 mg/kg; however, at doses above 2
      mg/kg, the exposure to panitumumab increases in a dose-proportional manner.
      Panitumumab pharmacokinetics are not meaningfully affected by the tumour type,
      EGFR membrane expression, tumour KRAS mutation, sex, age, race or renal or
      hepatic dysfunction. In addition, irinotecan-containing and
      paclitaxel/carboplatin-containing chemotherapeutic regimens do not appear to
      affect panitumumab pharmacokinetics. The results of population pharmacokinetic
      analyses have shown that bodyweight is the most influential covariate on
      panitumumab exposure, supporting the current use of bodyweight-adjusted doses
      (mg/kg). The relationship between the weekly dose of panitumumab and skin rash,
      an on-target pharmacodynamic effect of EGFR inhibition, reaches a plateau at 2.5
      mg/kg, indicating that this is the optimal weekly dose. Two less-frequent dosing
      regimens (6 mg/kg given every 2 weeks and 9 mg/kg given every 3 weeks) achieve
      steady-state serum trough concentrations similar to those achieved by 2.5 mg/kg
      given every week, ensuring maximal EGFR coverage. Anti-panitumumab antibody
      production is uncommon and does not appear to have an impact on the
      pharmacokinetics of panitumumab.

PMID- 20923249
TI  - Fluoxetine disposition in patients with chronic hepatitis C treated with
      interferon-alpha.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Combination therapy with interferon-alpha and
      ribavirin is considered the treatment of choice for chronic hepatitis C. However,
      interferon-alpha may induce severe depression. It has been suggested that
      interferon-alpha is able to modify cytochrome P450 (CYP) 1A2 and 2D6 activity. We
      therefore decided to study the effects of the interferon-alpha-2b pegylated
      derivative on fluoxetine disposition in patients receiving combination
      chemotherapy for chronic hepatitis C. METHODS: After approval by the
      institutional ethics committee, 20 adult patients with chronic hepatitis C, but
      with no history of other liver diseases, were prospectively admitted to the
      study, which included phenotyping by means of a dextromethorphan test and
      evaluation of fluoxetine and norfluoxetine pharmacokinetic parameters (the area
      under the serum concentration-time curve, maximum serum concentration, time to
      reach the maximum serum concentration and terminal elimination half-life) before
      and after 2 months of continuous peginterferon-alpha-2b therapy. RESULTS: The
      only statistically significant difference we observed was a significant reduction
      in the terminal elimination half-life of fluoxetine (from 47.30 to 33.23 hours; p
      = 0.014) after peginterferon-alpha-2b treatment. CONCLUSION: These data suggest
      that interferon-alpha may induce, rather than inhibit, the biotransformation of
      fluoxetine.

PMID- 20923250
TI  - Plasma anti-Xa monitoring for low-molecular-weight heparins in patients with
      chronic kidney disease.

PMID- 20923248
TI  - Oseltamivir in seasonal, avian H5N1 and pandemic 2009 A/H1N1 influenza:
      pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic characteristics.
AB  - Oseltamivir is the ester-type prodrug of the neuraminidase inhibitor oseltamivir
      carboxylate. It has been shown to be an effective treatment for both seasonal
      influenza and the recent pandemic 2009 A/H1N1 influenza, reducing both the
      duration and severity of the illness. It is also effective when used
      preventively. This review aims to describe the current knowledge of the
      pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic characteristics of this agent, and to address
      the issue of possible therapeutic drug monitoring. According to the currently
      available literature, the pharmacokinetics of oseltamivir carboxylate after oral
      administration of oseltamivir are characterized by mean +/- SD bioavailability of
      79 +/- 12%, apparent clearance of 25.3 +/- 7.0 L/h, an elimination half-life of
      7.4 +/- 2.5 hours and an apparent terminal volume of distribution of 267 +/- 122
      L. A maximum plasma concentration of 342 +/- 83 MUg/L, a time to reach the
      maximum plasma concentration of 4.2 +/- 1.1 hours, a trough plasma concentration
      of 168 +/- 32 MUg/L and an area under the plasma concentration-time curve from 0
      to 24 hours of 6110 +/- 1330 MUg . h/L for a 75 mg twice-daily regimen were
      derived from literature data. The apparent clearance is highly correlated with
      renal function, hence the dosage needs to be adjusted in proportion to the
      glomerular filtration rate. Interpatient variability is moderate (28% in apparent
      clearance and 46% in the apparent central volume of distribution); there is no
      indication of significant erratic or limited absorption in given patient
      subgroups. The in vitro pharmacodynamics of oseltamivir carboxylate reveal wide
      variation in the concentration producing 50% inhibition of influenza A and B
      strains (range 0.17-44 MUg/L). A formal correlation between systemic exposure to
      oseltamivir carboxylate and clinical antiviral activity or tolerance in influenza
      patients has not yet been demonstrated; thus no formal therapeutic or toxic range
      can be proposed. The pharmacokinetic parameters of oseltamivir carboxylate after
      oseltamivir administration (bioavailability, apparent clearance and the volume of
      distribution) are fairly predictable in healthy subjects, with little
      interpatient variability outside the effect of renal function in all patients and
      bodyweight in children. Thus oseltamivir carboxylate exposure can probably be
      controlled with sufficient accuracy by thorough dosage adjustment according to
      patient characteristics. However, there is a lack of clinical study data on
      naturally infected patients. In addition, the therapeutic margin of oseltamivir
      carboxylate is poorly defined. The usefulness of systematic therapeutic drug
      monitoring in patients therefore appears to be questionable; however, studies are
      still needed to extend the knowledge to particular subgroups of patients or
      dosage regimens.

PMID- 20923251
TI  - Diclofenac epolamine plus heparin plaster versus diclofenac epolamine plaster in
      mild to moderate ankle sprain: a randomized, double-blind, parallel-group,
      placebo-controlled, multicentre, phase III trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In general sports, ankle sprain is the most frequently reported ankle
      injury and can cause chronic lateral ankle pain and tenderness. Treatment with
      NSAIDs is preferred, and several topical NSAID formulations are now available,
      helping to avoid the systemic adverse events typically associated with oral
      preparations. OBJECTIVE: To compare the efficacy and tolerability of a newly
      developed fixed-dose diclofenac epolamine (diclofenac hydroxyethylpyrrolidine,
      DHEP)/heparin plaster (Flectoparin(r) Tissugel) with that of a DHEP (Flector EP
      Tissugel(r)) or placebo plaster in the treatment of mild to moderate ankle sprain
      in adults. METHODS: This was a randomized, double-blind, parallel-group, placebo
      controlled, multicentre, phase III study conducted in the emergency medical
      centres of hospitals or private clinics in Europe. Outpatients aged 18-65 years
      who had suffered an acute ankle sprain (O'Donoghue grade I or II in severity,
      with external lateral ligament involvement) within the previous 48 hours and had
      peri-malleolar oedema were eligible for inclusion. A total of 430 patients were
      randomized to receive a DHEP/heparin 1.3%/5600 IU (n = 142), DHEP 1.3% (n = 146)
      or placebo (n = 142) plaster, applied once daily to the injured ankle for a total
      of 7 days. The primary endpoint was the mean change from baseline in pain on
      movement on day 3, as measured by a visual analogue scale (VAS). RESULTS: The
      DHEP/heparin plaster was associated with a significantly (p = 0.002) greater mean
      reduction from baseline in pain on movement after 3 days of treatment than the
      DHEP plaster (-24.2 vs -18.8 mm VAS), with each active treatment providing
      significantly (p <= 0.005) greater pain relief than placebo (-13.7 mm VAS). Both
      DHEP/heparin and DHEP were also effective in relieving other measures of pain,
      with DHEP/heparin recipients experiencing significantly less daily pain while
      leaning on the injured limb than DHEP recipients (p < 0.001). In addition, oedema
      was reduced to a significantly greater extent with DHEP/heparin than with placebo
      (day 7 only; p = 0.012). The DHEP/heparin plaster and DHEP plaster were both well
      tolerated, with adverse event profiles similar to that of placebo. Local adverse
      events were infrequent and generally mild in severity and there were no systemic
      adverse effects. CONCLUSION: The fixed-dose DHEP/heparin plaster is effective and
      has advantages over the DHEP plaster in relieving pain, and possibly also
      swelling, associated with mild to moderate acute ankle sprains with oedema in
      adults.

PMID- 20923252
TI  - Thermodynamic descriptors, profiles and driving forces in membrane receptor
      ligand interactions.
AB  - Extension of the (isothermal) Gibbs-Helmholtz equation for the heat capacity
      terms (DeltaC(p)) allows formulating a temperature function of the free (Gibbs)
      energy change (DeltaG). An approximation of the virtually unknown DeltaC(p)
      temperature function enables then to determine and numerically solve temperature
      functions of thermodynamic parameters DeltaH and DeltaS (enthalpy and entropy
      change, respectively). Analytical solutions and respective numeric procedures for
      several such approximation formulas are suggested in the presented paper.
      Agreement between results obtained by this analysis with direct microcalorimetric
      measurements of DeltaH (and DeltaC(p) derived from them) was approved on selected
      cases of biochemical interactions presented in the literature. Analysis of
      several ligand-membrane receptor systems indicates that temperature profiles of
      DeltaH and DeltaS are parallel, largely not monotonic, and frequently attain both
      positive and negative values within the current temperature range of biochemical
      reactions. Their course is determined by the reaction change of heat capacity:
      temperature extremes (maximum or minimum) of both DeltaH and DeltaS occur at
      DeltaC(p)=0, for most of these systems at roughly 285-305 K. Thus, the driving
      forces of these interactions may change from enthalpy-, entropy-, or enthalpy
      entropy-driven in a narrow temperature interval. In contrast, thermodynamic
      parameters of ligand-macromolecule interactions in solutions (not bound to a
      membrane) mostly display a monotonic course. In the case of membrane receptors,
      thermodynamic discrimination between pharmacologically defined groups-agonists,
      partial agonists, antagonists-is in general not specified and can be achieved, in
      the best, solely within single receptor groups.

PMID- 20923253
TI  - Pitrakinra for asthma.
AB  - IMPORTANCE OF THE FIELD: In asthma IL-4 and IL-13 have been demonstrated to play
      major pathogenic roles and therefore their blockade would potentially represent a
      plausible therapeutic approach. AREAS COVERED IN THIS REVIEW: Pitrakinra is a
      dual IL-4/IL-13 inhibitor currently under development for asthma and the existing
      preclinical and clinical data are discussed. WHAT THE READER WILL GAIN: Inhaled
      pitrakinra demonstrated a good anti-inflammatory potential and a good safety
      profile on a short-term basis but its place in asthma therapy is still to be
      found. TAKE HOME MESSAGE: Specific anticytokine therapies might in the near
      future reshape asthma therapy.

PMID- 20923254
TI  - Novel mesalamine-loaded beads in tablets for delayed release of drug to the
      colon.
AB  - Novel 'beads-in-a-tablet' formulations (total weight ~740-780 mg) have been
      prepared that meet USP 31 requirements for Delayed Release of mesalamine. Several
      methods are presented that overcome breakage of beads during tablet compaction
      were explored. Bead formulations comprise a combination of extrusion and
      spheronization to produce a relatively high drug load (80%), followed by coating
      (25%) with a colonic-targeted drug release polymer (polymethacrylates,
      Eudragit((r)) S100), overcoated (3%) with hydroxypropyl methylcellulose
      (Opadry((r))) to improve bead binding and compactability, and using 20% coat of
      lactose/sodium starch glycolate (Explotab((r))) as binder/disintegrant/cushioning
      agent, thus allowing a sufficiently thick coating to be uniform and without being
      broken during tablet compaction. Then, the aforementioned beads were compressed
      into tablets at 1500 pounds of pressure containing 400 mg of mesalamine, and
      finally coating the compressed tablets with Surelease((r))
      (ethylcellulose):Opadry((r)) = 1:0.5 ranging from 1.5-2.5% weight gain; the
      resulting tablets met USP 31 dissolution requirements for delayed release
      tablets.

PMID- 20923255
TI  - Potential value of repeat stool testing for Clostridium difficile stool toxin
      using enzyme immunoassay?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this brief review is to summarize the literature as it
      relates to the potential value of repeat stool testing for Clostridium difficile
      (C. difficile) toxin using an enzyme immunoassay (EIA) for toxin A&B and also
      propose a potential newer algorithm for diagnosing C. difficile. RESEARCH DESIGN
      AND METHODS: Two investigators conducted independent literature searches using
      PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus until May 1st, 2010. All databases were
      searched using the terms Clostridium difficile, CDAD, antibiotic associated
      diarrhea, C. difficile in combination with enzyme immunoassay, enzyme linked
      immunosorbent assay, Clostridium difficile toxin A, Clostridium difficile toxin
      B, Clostridium difficile toxin and repeat stool testing. Articles which discussed
      EIA in C. difficile infection (CDI) patients were reviewed and relevant cross
      references also read and evaluated for inclusion. Selection bias could be a
      possible limitation of the approach used in selecting or finding articles for
      this article. FINDINGS: The evidence for repeat stool testing for C. difficile
      toxin detection using toxin EIA is becoming weaker. Most recent published
      practice guidelines recommend a two- or three-step testing algorithm for the
      detection of C. difficile. CONCLUSIONS: EIA for C. difficile stool toxin has a
      limited sensitivity, but, it does not warrant repeat stool testing. The data for
      this are suggestive but not conclusive. More studies and better tests are needed
      to have clear guidelines which can specify the number of tests needed in a
      diagnostic workup of suspected C. difficile infection. A two-step or three-step
      method in the diagnosis of C. difficile-associated diarrhea offered a marked
      increase in sensitivity compared to that of toxin A&B EIA alone.

PMID- 20923256
TI  - Treatment of postmenopausal women with osteoporosis with PTH(1-84) for 36 months:
      treatment extension study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the safety and efficacy of full-length parathyroid
      hormone, PTH(1-84), treatment for up to 36 months by evaluating bone mineral
      density (BMD) changes, bone histomorphometric indices, and clinical fracture
      incidence in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis. BACKGROUND: The TOP trial
      demonstrated increased lumbar spine BMD (6.9%) versus placebo after 18 months of
      PTH(1-84) treatment and reduced the incidence of new vertebral fractures (61%; p
      = 0.001). The therapeutic benefits of long-term treatment of postmenopausal women
      with PTH(1-84) are unknown. METHODS: The safety and efficacy of 36 months of once
      daily dosing with 100 ug PTH(1-84) in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis were
      assessed. Women receiving placebo during the TOP trial were eligible for PTH(1
      84) in the extension study. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT00172120. RESULTS:
      Lumbar spine BMD increased by 8.5% above baseline (p < 0.001) at 36 months of
      PTH(1-84) treatment, remaining stable during the last 12 months of treatment.
      Increases in total hip and femoral neck BMD occurred more slowly, reaching 3.2%
      and 3.4%, respectively above baseline at 36 months (p < 0.001). The total hip BMD
      showed no signs of reaching a limiting value although the femoral neck plateaued
      from months 24 to 36. Seven patients had vertebral fractures during the placebo
      phase of the TOP trial and before entering the extension study, but this rate
      decreased with the introduction of PTH(1-84) therapy, resulting in a single
      worsened vertebral fracture in the first 6 months and no further vertebral
      fractures from months 6 to 36. Treatment over 36 months with PTH(1-84) was well
      tolerated and iliac crest biopsies showed no adverse effects on bone.
      LIMITATIONS: There was no placebo group for BMD comparisons. The number of
      patients assessed for fracture incidence was small. CONCLUSIONS: PTH(1-84)
      treatment for 36 months resulted in significant increases in BMD at the lumbar
      spine and hip, was associated with a lower incidence of vertebral fracture when
      compared to before therapy initiation, and was well-tolerated. The continuous
      increases in total hip BMD suggest that prolonged PTH(1-84) treatment may be
      beneficial for postmenopausal osteoporosis. Increased BMD at the femoral neck and
      lumbar spine also showed favourable changes but plateaued between 24 and 36
      months. Long-term treatment was not associated with abnormalities in bone
      biopsies.

PMID- 20923257
TI  - Incidence and characteristics of sexually transmitted acute hepatitis C virus
      infection among HIV-positive men who have sex with men in Copenhagen, Denmark
      during four years (2006-2009): a retrospective cohort study.
AB  - We determined the incidence of hepatitis C virus among Danish human
      immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive men who have sex with men (MSM) and
      described their characteristics. We included 871 HIV-positive MSM seen from 1
      January 2006 to 31 December 2009 at Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen; drug users were
      excluded. We found 13 incident infections, i.e. a yearly incidence of 0.4%.

PMID- 20923258
TI  - Association between orthodontic treatment need and caries experience.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association between orthodontic treatment need
      (OTN) and caries experience (CE). SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Using a stratified
      sampling method, 748 subjects (355 females, 393 males; mean +/- standard
      deviation age 15.11 +/- 2.23 years) were examined. The Dental Aesthetic Index
      (DAI), DMFT, simple (DMFT > 0) and severe CE (DMFT > 8) were recorded. Socio
      economic status (SES) was assessed by recording parental education, mother's
      employment status, and household size. RESULTS: Higher (but not statistically
      significant) CE was observed in subjects with OTN (DAI > 30). The association
      between DAI and DMFT scores was not significant (rho = 0.05). Mean DMFT score did
      not vary significantly between the SES and OTN subgroups. In children with a
      household size >6 persons (n = 85), OTN was associated with higher CE and a
      higher prevalence of severe CE compared with those without OTN. In this group,
      when DAI treatment need grade increased, severe CE prevalence also increased from
      10.8% to 50%. Similarly, in those with OTN and household size >6 persons, the
      odds of observing subjects with severe CE was 4.6 times higher (95% confidence
      interval 1.45-14.55) compared to those without OTN. CONCLUSIONS: Associations
      were observed between OTN and CE and also between the prevalence of severe CE and
      the severity of malocclusion in children with a household size >6 persons. The
      current findings suggest that the relationship between caries experience and
      malocclusion should be assessed in a wider context of SES and background factors.

PMID- 20923259
TI  - Anastrozole.
AB  - IMPORTANCE OF THE FIELD: Anastrozole is a third-generation aromatase inhibitor
      used in the adjuvant setting for the treatment of hormone receptor-positive
      breast cancer. Several adjuvant randomized trials have reported greater efficacy
      for anastrozole when compared to tamoxifen. AREAS COVERED IN THIS REVIEW: This
      review discusses the mechanism of action of anastrozole; pharmacokinetic and
      pharmacodynamic characteristics; results of randomized controlled trials of
      anastrozole compared to tamoxifen in the adjuvant treatment of postmenopausal
      women with hormone receptor-positive breast cancer and the safety profile of
      anastrozole compared to tamoxifen. WHAT THE READER WILL GAIN: The reader will
      gain an understanding of the basic pharmacology of anastrozole, efficacy data
      from clinical trials comparing anastrozole to tamoxifen, safety profile of
      anastrozole and ongoing areas of research. TAKE HOME MESSAGE: The adverse effects
      of anastrozole.

PMID- 20923260
TI  - Novel therapeutic strategies targeting vascular endothelium in essential
      hypertension.
AB  - IMPORTANCE OF THE FIELD: Several studies have demonstrated the high prevalence of
      hypertension and the crucial role of the association between endothelial function
      and hypertension. Thus, in depth investigation of the pathophysiological
      mechanisms linking endothelial dysfunction and hypertension, as well as
      evaluation of the efficacy of therapeutic approaches targeting vascular
      endothelium in states of essential hypertension seems to be of great interest.
      AREAS COVERED IN THIS REVIEW: The association of essential hypertension and
      endothelial function are discussed in depth. In addition to the classical anti
      hypertensive agents, agents such as statins, tetrahydrobiopterin, l-arginine,
      antioxidants, sildenafil, third generation beta blockers and NO-release related
      agents have been found to be beneficial by improving endothelial dysfunction in
      essential hypertension. WHAT THE READER WILL GAIN: Important aspects regarding
      the association of hypertension and endothelial dysfunction will be highlighted.
      In addition, classical and novel agents especially, will be reported thoroughly
      according to their effects on endothelial function in hypertension. TAKE HOME
      MESSAGE: There is a strong bidirectional association between essential
      hypertension and endothelial dysfunction. Moreover, novel agents appear to be
      beneficial and promising in improving endothelial function in states of
      hypertension. However, more studies are required to evaluate their role, as the
      literature lacks large scale studies.

PMID- 20923261
TI  - Vaccination against Toxoplasma gondii: an increasing priority for collaborative
      research?

PMID- 20923262
TI  - Tuberculosis vaccines for cattle: the way forward.

PMID- 20923264
TI  - Advances in the vaccination of the elderly against influenza: role of a high-dose
      vaccine.
AB  - On 23 December 2009, the US FDA approved Fluzone&#x00AE; High Dose, a high-dose
      formulation of the trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine, for prevention of
      influenza in people 65 years of age and older. As it was approved via an
      accelerated process designed to allow expeditious availability of safe and
      effective products with promise to treat or prevent serious or life-threatening
      diseases, the manufacturer is required to conduct further studies to demonstrate
      effectiveness. Although these studies are underway, a recently completed
      randomized, controlled trial demonstrated that this vaccine, containing four
      times more hemagglutinin than standard-dose inactivated influenza vaccines, can
      produce an enhanced immunologic response in subjects of 65 years of age and
      older, while maintaining a favorable safety profile. This article introduces the
      vaccine, presents currently available safety and immunogenicity data, discusses
      current recommendations for use, and proposes what we can expect in the coming
      years.

PMID- 20923265
TI  - MF59&#x2122; as a vaccine adjuvant: a review of safety and immunogenicity.
AB  - Approximately 70 years passed between the licensing of alum salts as vaccine
      adjuvants and that of MF59TM MF59, an oil-in-water emulsion, is currently
      licensed for use in the elderly as an adjuvant in seasonal influenza vaccines.
      Its mechanism of action is not fully understood, but enhancement of the
      interaction between the antigen and the dendritic cell seems to be involved. When
      used with seasonal influenza vaccines, an increase occurs in the hemagglutination
      inhibition antibody titers against some, but not all, seasonal vaccine influenza
      strains. The adjuvant effect is more pronounced when MF59 is combined with novel
      influenza antigens such as H9 and H5. The use of the adjuvant is associated with
      an increase in the frequency of local and systemic early post-vaccine adverse
      events (3-7 days), but no increase in adverse events was observed thereafter.
      Currently, MF59 is under evaluation as an adjuvant with other antigens such as
      pandemic influenza antigens and cytomegalovirus antigens.

PMID- 20923266
TI  - Effective control of viral infections by the adaptive immune system requires
      assistance from innate immunity.
AB  - Evaluation of: Nakayama Y, Plisch EH, Sullivan JM et al. Role of PKR and type I
      IFNs in viral control during primary and secondary infection. PLoS Pathog. 6(6),
      e1000966 (2010). During acute viral infections, innate antiviral immunity has
      been extensively studied for its ability to inhibit and/or control viral
      replication while priming the adaptive immune system. Recently, these processes
      have been studied for their role in assisting adaptive immunity to effectively
      clear or control viral rechallenge. The paper under evaluation introduces the
      concept that functional innate immune mechanisms such as dsRNA-activated protein
      kinase (PKR) and type I interferons are critical in controlling viral replication
      during secondary lymphocyte choriomeningitis virus infection. Elegant adoptive
      transfer studies revealed that during lymphocyte choriomeningitis virus secondary
      infections, dependence of viral control relied on expression of these innate
      factors in virally infected cells and not in adaptive immune T cells. Such
      findings illustrate that functional adaptive responses are less effective in
      providing protection against reinfections in the absence of innate mechanisms.
      This demonstrates the importance of intact innate mechanisms when considering
      effective vaccine strategies.

PMID- 20923267
TI  - Virus-like particles in vaccine development.
AB  - Virus-like particles (VLPs) are multiprotein structures that mimic the
      organization and conformation of authentic native viruses but lack the viral
      genome, potentially yielding safer and cheaper vaccine candidates. A handful of
      prophylactic VLP-based vaccines is currently commercialized worldwide:
      GlaxoSmithKline's Engerix (hepatitis B virus) and Cervarix (human
      papillomavirus), and Merck and Co., Inc.'s Recombivax HB (hepatitis B virus) and
      Gardasil (human papillomavirus) are some examples. Other VLP-based vaccine
      candidates are in clinical trials or undergoing preclinical evaluation, such as,
      influenza virus, parvovirus, Norwalk and various chimeric VLPs. Many others are
      still restricted to small-scale fundamental research, despite their success in
      preclinical tests. This article focuses on the essential role of VLP technology
      in new-generation vaccines against prevalent and emergent diseases. The
      implications of large-scale VLP production are discussed in the context of
      process control, monitorization and optimization. The main up- and down-stream
      technical challenges are identified and discussed accordingly. Successful VLP
      based vaccine blockbusters are briefly presented concomitantly with the latest
      results from clinical trials and the recent developments in chimeric VLP-based
      technology for either therapeutic or prophylactic vaccination.

PMID- 20923269
TI  - Cost&#x2013;effectiveness of catch-up programs in human papillomavirus
      vaccination.
AB  - We reviewed cost&#x2013;effectiveness models that combine routine vaccination
      with the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine with temporary catch-up programs.
      Cost&#x2013;effectiveness results of catch-up programs are variable, and we
      reviewed methods and underlying assumptions to get more insight into any factor
      with a potential impact on cost-effectiveness. Results were dependent on
      differences between models used, their design and input data. Modeling aspects
      and assumptions were not always sufficiently described, making comparison
      difficult. Despite this, several differences between models likely to impact
      results were identified. All models used dynamic transmission modeling techniques
      except for one, which did not incorporate the effect of herd immunity. Catch-up
      strategies varied between models and comparator strategies were not necessarily
      the same. Cervical diseases outcomes were considered in all base cases, but the
      impact of genital warts was not always considered. Our article suggests that a
      conclusion on cost&#x2013;effectiveness should be based on a fully transparent
      model including all possible benefits of vaccination.

PMID- 20923268
TI  - Experimental rabies vaccines for humans.
AB  - Rabies remains a global public health threat that kills more than 55,000 people
      per year. Rabies disproportionately affects children and, therefore, is ranked
      the seventh most important infectious disease due to years lost. Prevention of
      human rabies is accomplished by controlling rabies in domestic and wild animals,
      including the use of vaccination programs. The usefulness of human rabies
      vaccines is hampered by high cost, complicated vaccination regimens and lack of
      compliance, especially in areas of Africa and Asia where human rabies infections
      are endemic. A single-dose vaccine would greatly benefit efforts to combat this
      global health threat. However, a single-dose vaccine based on current inactivated
      vaccines does not appear feasible and other approaches are needed. Technology has
      advanced since modern human rabies vaccines were developed over 40 years ago. In
      addition, our understanding of immunological principles that influence the
      outcome of vaccination has increased. This article describes the current status
      of inactivated rabies virus vaccines and recent developments arising from the use
      of reverse genetics technologies designed to develop replication-deficient or
      single-cycle live rabies virus-based vectors for use as a single-dose rabies
      vaccine for humans.

PMID- 20923270
TI  - Genetic shifts of Neisseria meningitidis serogroup B antigens and the quest for a
      broadly cross-protective vaccine.
AB  - Serogroup B Neisseria meningitidis is the leading cause of meningococcal disease
      in developed countries. There is currently no vaccine offering wide-ranging
      protection. Development of a serogroup B polysaccharide-based vaccine has been
      hindered by potential risks of autoantibodies that cross-react with glycosylated
      host antigens. A number of subcapsular vaccine candidates, including outer
      membrane proteins (OMPs), are therefore being investigated. The availability of
      several meningococcal genome sequences has allowed for a comprehensive analysis
      of genetic differences occurring within the species. Novel vaccine candidates
      have been identified by means of reverse vaccinology utilizing the serogroup B
      meningococcal genome and show promising results for safe and effective vaccines
      against serogroup B N. meningitidis. The design of protein-based meningococcal
      vaccines is, however, complicated by the high level of genetic and antigenic
      diversity exhibited by the meningococcus. N. meningitidis has the capability to
      change its genome and adapt surface structures to changing environments by a
      variety of genetic mechanisms. Knowledge of the extent and structuring of this
      diversity has implications for the use of particular proteins as potential
      vaccine candidates. In this article, we describe the high degree of genomic
      variability in N. meningitidis and several of the mechanisms involved. An
      overview of the implications of antigenic variation of several surface-exposed
      proteins on their potential vaccine candidacy is provided. The outlook for the
      quest for broadly cross-protective meningococcal serogroup B vaccine components
      in the postgenomic era will be discussed.

PMID- 20923271
TI  - Potency testing for the experimental Na-GST-1 hookworm vaccine.
AB  - Over the next decade, a new generation of vaccines will target the neglected
      tropical diseases (NTDs). The goal of most NTD vaccines will be to reduce the
      morbidity and decrease the chronic debilitating nature of these often-forgotten
      infections &#x2013; outcomes that are hard to measure in the traditional potency
      testing paradigm. The absence of measurable correlates of protection, a lack of
      permissive animal models for lethal infection, and a lack of clinical indications
      that do not include the induction of sterilizing immunity required us to
      reconsider the traditional bioassay methods for determining vaccine potency.
      Owing to these limitations, potency assay design for NTD vaccines will
      increasingly rely on a paradigm where potency testing is one among many tools to
      ensure that a manufacturing process yields a product of consistent quality.
      Herein, we discuss the evolution of our thinking regarding the design of a
      potency assay along these newly defined lines and its application to the release
      of the experimental Necator americanus-glutathione-S- transferase-1 (Na-GST-1)
      vaccine to prevent human hookworm infection. We discuss the necessary steps to
      accomplish the design and implementation of such a new potency assay as a
      resource for the burgeoning NTD vaccine community. Our experience is that much of
      the existing information is proprietary and needs to be pulled together in a
      single source to aid in our overall understanding of potency testing.

PMID- 20923272
TI  - Multiplex cytokine analysis technologies.
AB  - Multiplex technologies at both the mRNA and protein level have given researchers
      the ability to determine the co-ordinated cellular response to any given stimuli,
      in both biological and laboratory-derived fluids. This article examines some of
      the different mRNA and protein multiplex platforms available and how they may be
      used in assessing vaccine immunity.

PMID- 20923274
TI  - Proteomic biomarkers for diagnosis in acute myocardial infarction.
AB  - Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is considered the leading cause of morbidity
      and mortality in many industrialized nations. AMI is defined currently by
      detection of a rise and/or fall of cardiac biomarkers at least above the 99th
      percentile of the upper limit. Early detection of AMI could conceivably provide
      important information for understanding the molecular functions of heart disease,
      and would enable more effective diagnosis and treatment of patients. However,
      diagnostic approaches currently in use for the evaluation of patients, associated
      with chest pain or other symptoms suggestive of AMI are acceptable, but they are
      time-consuming, high-cost and labour-intensive in most cases. Thus, much work is
      needed in the development of biomarkers for accurate and cost-effective diagnosis
      of AMI and for effective management of patients. In this article, we give an
      overview of proteomic biomarkers for rapid and reliable diagnosis of AMI,
      focusing on biochemical characteristics and their clinical applications for point
      of-care of AMI. We also postulate the future directions in the pursuit of
      integrated multiplex assay systems for multifunctional diagnosis in AMI.

PMID- 20923275
TI  - Turner's syndrome and pregnancy: has the 45,X/47,XXX mosaicism a different
      prognosis? Own clinical experience and literature review.
AB  - Turner's syndrome is characterized by an ovarian failure which occurs in most
      cases before puberty and leads to infertility. In less than 10% of women with
      Turner syndrome, puberty may occur and spontaneous pregnancies is possible but
      with a high risk of fetal loss, chromosomal and congenital abnormalities. We
      present the case of a 33-year-old woman with a mosaic Turner's syndrome karyotype
      45,X/47,XXX who conceived spontaneously and had two successful pregnancies. Short
      stature was the only manifestation of Turner's syndrome. In the present report,
      we reviewed the available literature on the fertility of women with Turner's
      syndrome and the phenotypic effects of mosaicism for a 47,XXX cell line in
      Turner's syndrome.

PMID- 20923276
TI  - Is there any association between periodontitis and preterm low birth weight?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To estimate the association between periodontitis (PD) and preterm low
      birth weight (LBW). STUDY DESIGN: Observational study in a University clinical
      setting on a population of 120 pregnant women. RESULTS: One specialist in
      periodontics examined all the patients. Two thresholds for definition of PD were
      used, which detected respectively 29 women (24%) and 4 (3%) as affected by the
      pathology. Six patients were lost to follow-up. Out of the remaining 114, 1 had
      an abortion, while 20 (17%) delivered pre-term. Eleven per cent of all women
      delivered low-weight babies. Ten women (9%) delivered preterm LBW babies. No
      association was detected between any of the two definitions of PD and any of the
      adverse pregnancy outcomes. CONCLUSION: This study was unable to provide evidence
      of association between PD and preterm LBW.

PMID- 20923277
TI  - A rapid, simple, and reproducible method for the isolation of mesenchymal stromal
      cells from Wharton's jelly without enzymatic treatment.
AB  - The co-infusion of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) with hematopoietic stem cells
      could improve the hematopoietic engraftment after cord blood transplant. Adult
      bone marrow is the major source of MSCs for cell therapy. However, bone marrow
      aspiration involves an invasive procedure and, in the case of a cord blood
      transplant, requires the use of a third party. The umbilical cord matrix, called
      Wharton's jelly (WJ), was previously shown to be a valuable source of MSCs.
      However, the process of cell separation is not standardized and needs to be
      optimized. In this study, we focused on the efficiency of the isolation procedure
      and expansion of cells from WJ MSCs isolated from human full-term umbilical
      cords. MSCs were isolated from the WJ without enzyme digestion or dissection. The
      procedure was based only on the plastic adhesion capacities of MSCs. Briefly,
      umbilical cord segments of 5-10 cm were cut longitudinally and plated with the WJ
      onto a plastic surface for 5 days in an appropriate culture medium. After
      removing the cord segment, the culture was pursued until subconfluency. The
      number of cells and their phenotypes, clonogenic capacities, differentiation
      capacities, immunomodulation, and hematopoietic supportive functions were
      evaluated. Using this method, we were able to isolate MSCs from all human
      umbilical cords analyzed (n = 50). We obtained a mean of 1.4 * 10(8) cells at the
      second passage and >7 * 10(9) cells at the third. The expanded cells expressed
      characteristic markers and presented typical functional properties of MSCs such
      as differentiation capacities, immunologic properties, and hematopoietic
      supportive functions. In conclusion, we have established a simple, rapid, and
      reproducible protocol to isolate abundant MSCs from short segments of umbilical
      cords.

PMID- 20923278
TI  - Metabolic and reproductive characteristics of first-degree relatives of women
      with self-reported oligo-amenorrhoea and hirsutism.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the occurrence of oligo-amenorrhoea and hirsutism,
      infertility and metabolic morbidity among first-degree relatives of women with
      and without self-reported oligo-amenorrhoea and hirsutism. DESIGN: Nested case
      control study. SETTING, POPULATION AND METHODS: A postal questionnaire about
      symptoms of oligo-amenorrhoea and hirsutism was sent to all women of the Northern
      Finland Birth Cohort 1966 (n = 5889). From this population were randomly selected
      98 women with both symptoms and 163 without symptoms. A further questionnaire on
      the occurrence of oligo-amenorrhoea, hirsutism, infertility, early balding and
      metabolic morbidity in their relatives was sent to this subpopulation. MAIN
      FINDINGS: We obtained data on 183 relatives of 43 women with symptoms and 412
      relatives of 86 symptomless women. Compared with relatives of symptomless women,
      mothers of women with symptoms suffered significantly more often from hirsutism
      and menstrual disorders, and sisters more often from hirsutism and infertility,
      and had fewer children and were more often childless. There was an increased
      prevalence of diabetes in the sisters and of hypertension in the fathers of women
      with symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: These results strengthen earlier findings of
      significantly increased metabolic and reproductive morbidity in the relatives of
      women with symptoms of PCOS.

PMID- 20923279
TI  - Dynamic endocrine test of inhibin B and anti-Mullerian hormone in men with non
      obstructive azoospermia.
AB  - Although both serum inhibin B (Inh-B) and anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH)
      concentrations have been proposed as markers of spermatogenesis in men with
      subfertility, there are wide overlaps with fertile controls. The main aim of this
      study was to evaluate stimulated serum Inh-B and AMH concentrations in men with
      non-obstructive azoospermia (NOA). Thirty-seven men with NOA confirmed by
      testicular fine-needle aspiration and 17 fertile controls participated at this
      prospective, case-control study. All subjects underwent the Exogenous FSH SErtoli
      Reserve Test (EFSERT): estimation of serum Inh-B and AMH concentrations before,
      24 and 48 hours after administration of 300 IU human recombinant FSH (hrFSH).
      Basal serum Inh-B and AMH concentrations, as well as Inh-B concentrations at 24
      and 48 h were lower in men with NOA as compared to controls. No changes in Inh-B
      or AMH concentrations were recorded throughout the EFSERT in either men with NOA
      or controls nor when men with NOA were classified according to their clinical,
      hormonal and cytological diagnosis. Thus, stimulated serum concentrations of Inh
      B and AMH, as obtained by an EFSERT, do not contribute to the diagnostic
      evaluation of the men with NOA, as the same information can be acquired by the
      basal serum concentrations of these hormones.

PMID- 20923280
TI  - Successful outcome of pregnancy in a patient with Cushing's disease under
      treatment with ketoconazole during the first trimester of gestation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Ketoconazole is the most widely used medical treatment for Cushing's
      syndrome, but, because of its potential to cause birth defects, it is not
      recommended during pregnancy. Specifically, due to its antiandrogenic effects,
      ketoconazole entails theoretical risks of interfering with the development of
      external genitalia in male fetuses. CASE: A pregnancy was diagnosed at 13 weeks
      of gestation in a 26-year-old woman with Cushing's disease under treatment with
      ketoconazole. The drug was withdrawn and the patient underwent transsphenoidal
      surgery at 16 weeks of pregnancy. She did not develop postsurgical adrenal
      insufficiency and was treated with metyrapone during the second and third
      trimesters of gestation. Partum was induced at 34 weeks of pregnancy. The patient
      delivered a healthy male infant with normal external genitalia. CONCLUSION:
      Treatment with ketoconazole during the critical period of organogenesis did not
      cause congenital birth defects to the male fetus of a woman with Cushing's
      disease. This report should be taken into account for future cases of unplanned
      pregnancies in women with Cushing's syndrome treated with ketoconazole, as well
      in those cases in which other therapeutic options are not feasible.

PMID- 20923282
TI  - Microbiologic and clinical epidemiologic characteristics of the Chicago subset of
      a multistate outbreak of Serratia marcescens bacteremia.
AB  - We describe 22 patients from a multistate outbreak of Serratia marcescens
      bacteremia that was linked to contaminated prefilled syringes of heparin and
      saline supplied by 1 manufacturer. Contents of unused syringes were cultured in
      pools; samples from 25 (5.3%) of 472 syringes grew S. marcescens. Despite good
      clinical outcomes overall, patients had substantial morbidity.

PMID- 20923281
TI  - Patient-associated risk factors for acquisition of methicillin-resistant
      Staphylococcus aureus in a tertiary care hospital.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Determining risk factors for acquisition of methicillin-resistant
      Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in hospitals is important for defining infection
      control measures that may lead to fewer hospital-acquired infections. OBJECTIVE:
      To determine patient-associated risk factors for acquisition of MRSA in a
      tertiary care hospital with the goal of identifying modifiable risk factors.
      METHODS: A retrospective matched case-control study was performed. Case patients
      who acquired MRSA during hospitalization and 2 matched control patients were
      selected among inpatients admitted to target units during the period from 2001
      through 2008. The odds of exposure to potential risk factors were compared
      between case patients and control patients, using matched univariate conditional
      logistic regression. A single multivariate conditional logistic regression model
      identifying independent patient-specific risk factors was generated. RESULTS: A
      total of 451 case patients and 866 control patients were analyzed. Factors
      positively associated with MRSA acquisition were as follows: target unit stay
      before index culture; primary diagnosis of respiratory disease, digestive tract
      disease, injury or trauma, or other diagnosis compared with cardiocirculatory
      disease; peripheral vascular disease; mechanical ventilation with pneumonia;
      ventricular shunting or ventriculostomy; and ciprofloxacin use. Factors
      associated with decreased risk were receipt of a solid-organ transplant and use
      of penicillins, cephalosporins, rifamycins, daptomycin or linezolid, and proton
      pump inhibitors. CONCLUSION: Among the factors associated with increased risk,
      few are modifiable. Patients with at-risk conditions could be targeted for
      intensive surveillance to detect acquisition sooner. The association of MRSA
      acquisition with target unit exposure argues for rigorous application of hand
      hygiene, appropriate barriers, environmental control, and strict aseptic
      technique for all procedures performed on such patients. Our findings support
      focusing efforts to prevent MRSA transmission and restriction of ciprofloxacin
      use.

PMID- 20923283
TI  - Estimating excess length of stay due to central line-associated bloodstream
      infection: separating the wheat from the chaff.

PMID- 20923284
TI  - The use of antimicrobial agents after diagnosis of viral respiratory tract
      infections in hospitalized adults: antibiotics or anxiolytics?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Because extensive antibiotic use by inpatients has been associated
      with the development of multidrug-resistant organisms, we aimed to determine
      which variables were associated with the use of antibiotics after viral
      respiratory tract infection diagnosis among adult patients admitted to the
      hospital with respiratory symptoms. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was
      conducted at 2 affiliated urban hospitals in Pennsylvania. We identified all
      adult patients admitted to the hospital during the period from November 1, 2005,
      through August 1, 2007, with a viral assay positive for influenza A or B,
      parainfluenza, adenovirus, or respiratory syncytial virus. Among these patients,
      we identified those who received antibiotics after the diagnosis of viral RTI.
      Data on demographics; comorbidities; and physical examination, laboratory, and
      radiographic findings were ascertained to identify risk factors for antimicrobial
      use among these patients. RESULTS: A total of 196 hospitalized patients with
      positive viral assay results were included; 125 of 131 patients administered
      antibiotics continued to receive them after viral RTI diagnosis. Among 52
      patients with an abnormal chest radiograph, 46 continued antibiotic therapy. An
      abnormal chest radiograph was independently associated with continued antibiotic
      use (adjusted odds ratio, 4.28 [95% confidence interval, 1.71-10.77]; P = .002).
      However, the majority of patients (79 of 125 [63%]) who continued antibiotic
      therapy had normal chest imaging findings. Eight patients (6%) who continued
      antibiotic therapy and no patients who stopped developed C. difficile infection
      (95% CI, 1.5-infinity; P = .05), but there was no significant difference in
      length of stay or mortality. CONCLUSIONS: Antibiotics are commonly used to treat
      hospitalized patients with known acute viral RTIs. Continued use is strongly
      associated with abnormal radiograph findings at admission. However, the reasons
      for continuation of antibiotics in the treatment of the majority of patients with
      normal radiographs are unclear and may represent inappropriate use.

PMID- 20923286
TI  - Acquisition of multidrug-resistant gram-negative bacteria: incidence and risk
      factors within a long-term care population.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: An improved understanding of the transmission dynamics
      of multidrug-resistant (MDR) gram-negative bacteria and the mechanism of
      acquisition in long-term care facilities (LTCFs) could aid in the development of
      prevention strategies specific to LTCFs. We thus investigated the incidence of
      acquisition of these pathogens among an LTCF population. DESIGN: Prospective
      cohort study. SETTING: Three separate wards at a 600-bed LTCF in metropolitan
      Boston, Massachusetts, during the period October 31, 2006, through October 22,
      2007. PARTICIPANTS: One hundred seventy-two LTCF residents. METHODS: A series of
      rectal samples were cultured to determine acquisition of MDR gram-negative
      bacteria, defined as absence of MDR gram-negative bacterial colonization at
      baseline and de novo recovery of MDR gram-negative bacteria from a follow-up
      culture. Molecular typing was performed to identify genetically linked strains. A
      nested matched case-control study was performed to identify risk factors
      associated with acquisition. RESULTS: Among 135 residents for whom at least 1
      follow-up culture was performed, 52 (39%) acquired at least 1 MDR gram-negative
      organism during the study period. Thirty-two residents (62%) had not been
      colonized at baseline and had acquired at least 1 MDR gram-negative species at
      follow-up culture, and 20 residents (38%) were colonized at baseline and had
      acquired at least 1 MDR gram-negative species at follow-up culture. The most
      common coresistance pattern was resistance to extended-spectrum penicillins,
      ciprofloxacin, and gentamicin (57 isolates [42.5%]). Genetically related strains
      of MDR gram-negative bacteria were identified among multiple residents and
      between roommates. On conditional logistic regression analysis, antibiotic
      exposure during the study period was significantly associated with acquisition of
      MDR gram-negative bacteria (odds ratio, 5.6 [95% confidence interval, 1.1-28.7];
      P = .04). CONCLUSIONS: Acquisition of MDR gram-negative bacteria occurred
      frequently through resident-to-resident transmission. Existing infection control
      interventions need to be reevaluated.

PMID- 20923287
TI  - Excess length of stay due to central line-associated bloodstream infection in
      intensive care units in Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To estimate the excess length of stay in an intensive care unit (ICU)
      due to a central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI), using a
      multistate model that accounts for the timing of infection. DESIGN: A cohort of
      3,560 patients followed up for 36,806 days in ICUs. SETTING: Eleven ICUs in 3
      Latin American countries: Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico. PATIENTS: All patients
      admitted to the ICU during a defined time period with a central line in place for
      more than 24 hours. RESULTS: The average excess length of stay due to a CLABSI
      increased in 10 of 11 ICUs and varied from -1.23 days to 4.69 days. A reduction
      in length of stay in Mexico was probably caused by an increased risk of death due
      to CLABSI, leading to shorter times to death. Adjusting for patient age and
      Average Severity of Illness Score tended to increase the estimated excess length
      of stays due to CLABSI. CONCLUSIONS: CLABSIs are associated with an excess length
      of ICU stay. The average excess length of stay varies between ICUs, most likely
      because of the case-mix of admissions and differences in the ways that hospitals
      deal with infections.

PMID- 20923285
TI  - The economic effect of screening orthopedic surgery patients preoperatively for
      methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Patients undergoing orthopedic surgery are susceptible
      to methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections, which can
      result in increased morbidity, hospital lengths of stay, and medical costs. We
      sought to estimate the economic value of routine preoperative MRSA screening and
      decolonization of orthopedic surgery patients. METHODS: A stochastic decision
      analytic computer simulation model was used to evaluate the economic value of
      implementing this strategy (compared with no preoperative screening or
      decolonization) among orthopedic surgery patients from both the third-party payer
      and hospital perspectives. Sensitivity analyses explored the effects of varying
      MRSA colonization prevalence, the cost of screening and decolonization, and the
      probability of decolonization success. RESULTS: Preoperative MRSA screening and
      decolonization was strongly cost-effective (incremental cost-effectiveness ratio
      less than $6,000 per quality-adjusted life year) from the third-party payer
      perspective even when MRSA prevalence was as low as 1%, decolonization success
      was as low as 25%, and decolonization costs were as high as $300 per patient. In
      most scenarios this strategy was economically dominant (ie, less costly and more
      effective than no screening). From the hospital perspective, preoperative MRSA
      screening and decolonization was the economically dominant strategy for all
      scenarios explored. CONCLUSIONS: Routine preoperative screening and
      decolonization of orthopedic surgery patients may under many circumstances save
      hospitals and third-party payers money while providing health benefits.

PMID- 20923288
TI  - Effect of a multifaceted intervention on adherence to hand hygiene among
      healthcare workers: a cluster-randomized trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Adherence to hand hygiene among healthcare workers (HCWs) is widely
      believed to be a key factor in reducing the spread of healthcare-associated
      infection. The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of a
      multifaceted intervention to increase rates of adherence to hand hygiene among
      HCWs and to assess the effect on the incidence of hospital-acquired methicillin
      resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) colonization. DESIGN: Cluster-randomized
      controlled trial. SETTING: Thirty hospital units in 3 tertiary care hospitals in
      Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. INTERVENTION: After a 3-month baseline period of data
      collection, 15 units were randomly assigned to the intervention arm (with
      performance feedback, small-group teaching seminars, and posters) and 15 units to
      usual practice. Hand hygiene was observed during randomly selected 15-minute
      periods on each unit, and the incidence of MRSA colonization was measured using
      weekly surveillance specimens from June 2007 through May 2008. RESULTS: We found
      that 3,812 (48.2%) of 7,901 opportunities for hand hygiene in the intervention
      group resulted in adherence, compared with 3,205 (42.6%) of 7,526 opportunities
      in the control group (P < .001; independent t test). There was no reduction in
      the incidence of hospital-acquired MRSA colonization in the intervention group.
      CONCLUSION: Among HCWs in Ontario tertiary care hospitals, the rate of adherence
      to hand hygiene had a statistically significant increase of 6% with a
      multifaceted intervention, but the incidence of MRSA colonization was not
      reduced.

PMID- 20923289
TI  - Testosterone levels and psychological health status in men from a general
      population: the Tromso study.
AB  - AIMS: To investigate the association between endogenous testosterone levels and
      psychological health symptoms in men from a general population. METHODS: Total
      testosterone and sex hormone-binding globulin levels were analysed and free
      testosterone levels was calculated in 3413 men participating in the fifth Tromso
      study in 2001. Self-administered questionnaires including information about
      education, marital status, smoking habits and the Hopkins Symptom Checklist-10
      (SCL-10, a 10-item psychological health questionnaire) were completed. The cross
      sectional data were analysed with partial association and analysis of variance
      and covariance. RESULTS: The complete SCL-10 was not associated with total or
      free testosterone, but symptoms of anxiety were negatively associated with both
      total and free testosterone (p<0.05). Men presumed to be testosterone deficient,
      with testosterone levels in the lowest 10th percentile, had increased SCL-10
      score compared to men with higher testosterone levels (p=0.021), before and after
      adjusting for age, waist circumference, marital status, education and smoking.
      There was an even stronger association between men presumed to be testosterone
      deficient and symptoms of anxiety (p<0.001). However, men with more pronounced
      symptoms indicating mental disorder did not have lower testosterone levels.
      CONCLUSIONS: Men presumed being testosterone deficient had a higher symptom
      score, in particularly regarding anxiety, but they did not have pathological
      symptoms. Thus, lower testosterone levels was only associated with subthreshold
      symptoms of anxiety and depression.

PMID- 20923292
TI  - Demonstration of Charcot-Leyden crystals in eosinophilic cystitis.

PMID- 20923293
TI  - The rise of the social pathologist: the importance of social media to pathology.

PMID- 20923294
TI  - What are we anyway? The role of pathologists in the 21st century.

PMID- 20923295
TI  - Acute myeloid leukemia diagnosis in the 21st century.
AB  - CONTEXT: Rapid advances in understanding the molecular biology of acute myeloid
      leukemia are transforming the approach to diagnosis, prognostication, and
      treatment of these cases. OBJECTIVE: To briefly review the current state of AML
      classification with a particular emphasis on the role of molecular studies and
      their impact on the management of acute myeloid leukemia and other malignancies.
      DATA SOURCES: Current literature and experience of the authors. CONCLUSIONS:
      While morphology, immunophenotyping, cytogenetics, and clinical history continue
      to play an important role, an increasing number of molecular tests are now
      required to properly classify these cases.

PMID- 20923296
TI  - Nodular lymphocyte predominant Hodgkin lymphoma: diagnostic pearls and pitfalls.
AB  - CONTEXT: The diagnosis of nodular lymphocyte predominant Hodgkin lymphoma
      involves key histopathologic and immunophenotypic findings. Appropriate
      classification is essential owing to the unique therapeutic and prognostic
      implications of this diagnosis. OBJECTIVE: To define the histologic and
      immunophenotypic features useful in diagnosing nodular lymphocyte predominant
      Hodgkin lymphoma and to identify the important differential diagnostic
      considerations. Diagnostic difficulty can arise in differentiating nodular
      lymphocyte predominant Hodgkin lymphoma from classical Hodgkin lymphoma, T
      cell/histiocyte-rich large B-cell lymphoma, follicular lymphoma (floral variant),
      and follicular hyperplasia with progressive transformation of germinal centers.
      DESIGN: Discussion of illustrative cases including morphologic and
      immunophenotypic findings. RESULTS: With the morphologic and immunophenotypic
      methods described, a diagnosis of nodular lymphocyte predominant Hodgkin lymphoma
      can be made on excisional biopsies. CONCLUSION: Clinical, histologic, and
      immunophenotypic features are invaluable in reaching an accurate diagnosis.

PMID- 20923297
TI  - Adrenocortical tumors: an integrated clinical, pathologic, and molecular approach
      at the University of Michigan.
AB  - CONTEXT: The University of Michigan Health System has a rich tradition in the
      study and treatment of endocrine neoplasia. Recently, an integrated clinical and
      research program focused on primary cancer of the adrenal gland has been
      developed. OBJECTIVE: To discuss the foundation of the University of Michigan
      Adrenal Cancer Program that consists of 3 components: (1) advancement of
      excellent clinical care, (2) dissemination of resources and knowledge, and (3)
      scientific discovery. DATA SOURCES: Recent programmatic activity includes genome
      wide transcriptomic evaluation of human adrenocortical tumors for diagnostic and
      prognostic evaluation; interrogation of the Wnt signaling pathway in
      adrenocortical carcinoma, using mouse models and transcriptome profiling; and
      clinical trials with targeted therapy focused on inhibition of insulin-like
      growth factor signaling pathway. CONCLUSIONS: This review article presents an
      overview of this program and its recent activity.

PMID- 20923298
TI  - Sinonasal glomangiopericytoma: case report with emphasis on the differential
      diagnosis.
AB  - Glomangiopericytoma (sinonasal-type hemangiopericytoma) is an uncommon sinonasal
      neoplasm with a perivascular myoid phenotype. This tumor differs from
      conventional soft tissue hemangiopericytoma in location, biologic behavior, and
      histologic features. The proposed cell of origin is a modified perivascular
      glomuslike myoid cell. Glomangiopericytoma is an indolent tumor that tends to
      arise in the sinonasal tract of older adults and has a low malignant potential
      with excellent prognosis after surgical resection. Histologically, this lesion is
      composed of a diffuse, subepithelial proliferation of bland, uniform, closely
      packed spindled cells growing in a variety of patterns. A distinctive vascular
      network composed of variably sized vascular channels, the smaller of which
      demonstrate perivascular hyalinization, is often present. We report the case of a
      48-year-old woman with epistaxis and nasal obstruction who was diagnosed with
      glomangiopericytoma and discuss the histologic differential diagnosis.

PMID- 20923299
TI  - Bronchioloalveolar carcinoma and the significance of invasion: predicting
      biologic behavior.
AB  - A resected adenocarcinoma illustrates challenges in diagnosing bronchioloalveolar
      carcinoma (BAC). Bronchioloalveolar carcinoma is defined by lack of invasion,
      something that may be difficult to assess in scars. Small (<=0.5 cm) invasive
      foci have little impact on the good prognosis associated with low-stage tumors.
      The term microinvasive adenocarcinoma or minimally invasive adenocarcinoma has
      been proposed for otherwise typical BACs and small invasive foci measuring 0.5 cm
      or less. Larger areas of invasion are associated with a more aggressive course
      and more reliably distinguish BAC from other variants of adenocarcinoma.
      Separating BAC from other forms of adenocarcinoma is important owing to
      differences in prognosis and emerging therapeutic strategies.

PMID- 20923300
TI  - Nephrogenic adenoma: report of a case and review of morphologic mimics.
AB  - Nephrogenic adenoma, also referred to as nephrogenic metaplasia, is an uncommon
      benign lesion of the urothelial tract, characterized by a circumscribed
      proliferation of tubules, cysts, and papillae lined by cells with low cuboidal to
      columnar epithelium. The diagnostic features that are useful in the recognition
      of this benign entity are the characteristic mixture of various architectural
      patterns, associated stromal edema and inflammation, hyaline sheath around
      tubules, eosinophilic colloidlike secretion within tubules, and lack of mitotic
      activity. Nephrogenic adenoma can be a significant diagnostic pitfall as certain
      histologic features, such as the presence of enlarged nuclei with prominent
      nucleoli, degenerative nuclear atypia, tiny tubules with blue mucin simulating
      signet ring cells, and focal invasion into superficial muscle, when taken out of
      context, can mimic malignancy. Herein, I report a case of nephrogenic adenoma
      with some worrisome histologic features and review the diagnostic criteria as
      well as pertinent morphologic malignant mimics of nephrogenic adenoma.

PMID- 20923301
TI  - Osteoblastoma.
AB  - Osteoblastoma is a rare benign bone tumor. Although the histologic features in
      most cases are distinctive, there are various permutations that make the
      diagnosis challenging. It can mimic a variety of other benign bone tumors, but
      more importantly, distinguishing it from osteoblastoma-like osteosarcoma can be
      difficult. In this case report, I describe the clinicopathologic findings for a
      13-year-old adolescent boy with T7 spinal osteoblastoma and review salient
      clinical, radiographic, and pathologic features of osteoblastoma, as well as the
      differential diagnoses.

PMID- 20923302
TI  - Total colonic aganglionosis: case report, practical diagnostic approach and
      pitfalls.
AB  - Hirschsprung disease remains a challenging diagnosis for many pathologists. The
      disease is characterized by a lack of ganglion cells in the myenteric and
      submucosal plexus, associated with increased numbers of acetylcholinesterase
      positive nerve fibers. Hypertrophic nerve fibers are present in most but not all
      patients. Total colonic aganglionosis (TCA) is an uncommon form of Hirschsprung
      disease with clinical, histologic, and genetic differences and is even more
      difficult to diagnose and manage. This case illustrates some of the difficulties
      frequently faced by the pathologists dealing with total colonic aganglionosis.
      Suction rectal biopsy specimens often lack significant nerve hypertrophy and
      positive acetylcholinesterase staining, which aid in the diagnosis. Pathologists
      have to depend mainly on the lack of ganglion cells in adequate submucosa to
      establish the diagnosis. Transition zone is often long in total colonic
      aganglionosis and interpretation of frozen sections can be difficult. The
      presence of several uniformly distributed clusters of mature ganglion cells and
      lack of nerve hypertrophy are required to avoid connections at the transition
      zone.

PMID- 20923303
TI  - Fine-needle aspiration of intrapancreatic accessory spleen, mimic of pancreatic
      neoplasms.
AB  - Intrapancreatic accessory spleen (IPAS) is a congenital abnormality, which mimics
      neoplasm. Distinguishing IPAS from pancreatic neoplasm/malignancy is extremely
      important from a treatment perspective. We report the case of a 67-year-old
      asymptomatic man who had a 1.3-cm, incidentally detected, pancreatic tail mass.
      The mass was round, well-circumscribed, and hypervascular with uniform
      enhancement. The image findings were highly suggestive of a pancreatic endocrine
      neoplasm. An endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration was performed.
      Conventional smears revealed a polymorphous population of lymphocytes admixed
      with a subset of other inflammatory cells. Hematoxylin-eosin-stained cell block
      sections showed conspicuous thin-walled blood vessels in addition to inflammatory
      cells. Immunostaining for CD8 demonstrated strong positivity in endothelial cells
      of the thin-walled vessels. By correlating the cytologic findings with the result
      of immunostaining, we rendered the diagnosis of IPAS. Our experience supports the
      view that endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration may enable a
      reliable, preoperative diagnosis of IPAS and thus prevent unnecessary surgery.

PMID- 20923304
TI  - Controversies in the diagnosis of Barrett esophagus and Barrett-related
      dysplasia: one pathologist's perspective.
AB  - CONTEXT: athologists frequently assess esophageal biopsy specimens to "rule out
      Barrett esophagus," as well as to assess for the presence or absence of
      dysplasia. OBJECTIVE: To review some of the recent controversies in the diagnosis
      of Barrett esophagus and Barrett-related dysplasia. DATA SOURCES: Sources were
      the author's experience and review of the English literature from 1978 to 2009.
      CONCLUSIONS: Although goblet cells are required by the American College of
      Gastroenterology to confirm a diagnosis of Barrett esophagus, this definition
      might expand to include columnar-lined esophagus without goblet cells. The
      recognition of dysplasia in Barrett esophagus remains a difficult task for the
      surgical pathologist, with difficulties in distinguishing reactive epithelium
      from dysplasia, low-grade dysplasia from high-grade dysplasia, and even high
      grade dysplasia from intramucosal adenocarcinoma.

PMID- 20923305
TI  - The collagenous gastroenteritides: similarities and differences.
AB  - Collagenous gastritis, collagenous sprue, and collagenous colitis share striking
      histologic similarities and occur together in some patients. They also share some
      drug and disease associations. Pediatric cases of collagenous gastritis, however,
      lack most of these associations. The etiologies of the collagenous
      gastroenteritides are not known, so it is not clear whether they are similar
      because they share pathogeneses, or because they indicate a common histologic
      response to varying injuries. The features, disease and drug associations, and
      the inquiries into the pathogenesis of these disorders are reviewed.

PMID- 20923306
TI  - A review of sentinel laboratory performance: identification and notification of
      bioterrorism agents.
AB  - CONTEXT: The anthrax incident of 2001 in the United States prompted the College
      of American Pathologists (CAP), the Association of Public Health Laboratories,
      and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to develop exercises for
      Laboratory Response Network (LRN) sentinel laboratories. OBJECTIVE: To provide an
      overview of the results of the CAP bioterrorism Laboratory Preparedness Survey
      (LPS, 2007) and Laboratory Preparedness Exercise (LPX, 2008) and assist LRN
      sentinel laboratories and public health agencies in planning for bioterrorism
      events. DESIGN: Bioterrorism agents and nonbiothreat mimic organisms were
      provided in 2 mailings per year (2007 and 2008, 20 total challenges). Within each
      mailing, 2 to 3 agents were category A or category B bioterrorism agents (total
      of 10 categoric challenges). Some category A/B isolates were modified/vaccine
      strains. The total number of laboratories participating in these exercises ranged
      from 1316 to 1381. Isolate characteristics used to identify the organisms were
      compiled along with the participants' reporting actions. Educational commentary
      was provided with each exercise. RESULTS: Acceptable identification responses
      were as follows: Bacillus anthracis, 90% (2007) and 99.9% (2008); Yersinia
      pestis, 83.8% (2007) and 87.6% (2008); and Francisella tularensis subsp
      Holarctica, 86.6% (2007) and 91.6% (2008). The time interval between specimen
      receipt and notification of results to an LRN reference laboratory decreased from
      more than 10 days in 2007 to 3 or 4 days in 2008 for some challenges.
      CONCLUSIONS: The bioterrorism challenge program (LPS, LPX) provides important
      comparative data from more than 1300 sentinel laboratories that can be used by
      individual laboratories to evaluate their identification and LRN reporting
      performance.

PMID- 20923307
TI  - Diagnostic concordance of histologic lung cancer type between bronchial biopsy
      and cytology specimens taken during the same bronchoscopic procedure.
AB  - CONTEXT: The diagnosis of lung cancer is often confirmed by cytology and biopsy
      specimens obtained during a bronchoscopic procedure. At our institution, these
      specimens are read by different pathologists, and the rate of concordance was not
      known. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the concordance rate in the diagnosis of lung
      cancer types between cytology and biopsy specimens and to correlate discordance
      with patient outcome. DESIGN: Specimens obtained during the same procedure,
      between January 1, 2000, and December 31, 2005, were identified. Cases with
      cytology and biopsy specimens positive for cancer were evaluated for concordance
      of histologic type, small cell versus non-small cell lung carcinoma. Cases with
      different types were considered discordant, and slides were reviewed. RESULTS: Of
      231 cases, 225 (97.4%) had concordant diagnoses. Discordance was the result of
      misinterpretation of undifferentiated carcinoma, overinterpretation of squamous
      dysplasia, interpretation of suboptimal specimens with necrosis and crush
      artifact, and sampling error. CONCLUSIONS: Even though the cytology and biopsy
      specimens were reviewed by different pathologists, the concordance rate for
      histologic type at our institution was high, emphasizing that this is a safe
      practice. The few discordant cases did not affect the patient's outcome.

PMID- 20923308
TI  - Modified Alcian blue enhances the intraoperative diagnosis of sentinel lymph node
      metastasis in invasive lobular carcinoma: a prospective study.
AB  - CONTEXT: The sensitivity of an intraoperative diagnosis of sentinel lymph node
      metastasis of invasive lobular carcinoma using conventional staining is low.
      OBJECTIVE: To develop a fast, modified, Alcian blue stain to decrease the
      intraoperative false-negative results in testing for metastatic invasive lobular
      carcinoma. DESIGN: Modified Alcian blue was optimized. Patients who had invasive
      lobular carcinoma on needle biopsy were candidates for this study. Touch
      preparations from every sentinel lymph node were prospectively prepared in the
      same manner, one stained with modified Alcian blue and one with conventional
      staining. These slides were independently interpreted. RESULTS: A total of 121
      sentinel lymph nodes from 31 patients with invasive lobular carcinoma were
      studied. There were 11 patients (35.5%) who had at least one positive lymph node
      test result. There were a total of 18 positive lymph node results (14.9%).
      Although 10 sentinel lymph nodes with abnormalities were detected in 7 patients
      with conventional staining, modified Alcian blue detected 15 sentinel lymph node
      abnormalities in 10 patients. Modified Alcian blue increased the sensitivity
      compared with conventional staining from 63.6% to 90.9% (calculated based on the
      number of patients) and from 55.6% to 83.3% (calculated based on number of
      sentinel lymph nodes). The staining process takes approximately 11 minutes.
      CONCLUSIONS: Modified Alcian blue stain is a relatively rapid, cheap, highly
      sensitive, and specific method of detecting metastatic invasive lobular
      carcinoma. This method can be used in conjunction with conventional staining
      methods used intraoperatively.

PMID- 20923309
TI  - Podoplanin expression in cancerous stroma induces lymphangiogenesis and predicts
      lymphatic spread and patient survival.
AB  - CONTEXT: Podoplanin is a mucin-type glycoprotein and a lymphatic endothelial
      marker. Immunohistochemical staining for podoplanin is currently used as a
      routine pathologic diagnosis tool in Japan to identify lymphatic invasion of
      cancer cells. Recent reports suggest that podoplanin and other proangiogenic
      molecules are expressed in stromal fibroblasts and myofibroblasts. OBJECTIVE: To
      analyze the distribution of podoplanin expression in tumor stroma and its
      clinical and biologic significance. DESIGN: We performed immunohistochemistry for
      podoplanin on tissue microarrays from 1350 cases of 14 common cancer types.
      RESULTS: Two hundred eighty-seven of 662 cases (43%) showed podoplanin expression
      in the stromal cells within cancer nests. Stromal podoplanin expression in 14
      common cancer types was significantly associated with tumor stage (P < .001),
      lymph node metastases (P < .001), lymphatic invasion (P  =  .02), and venous
      invasion (P < .001). The stromal cells positive for podoplanin were also positive
      for alpha-smooth muscle actin but negative for desmin, confirming a
      myofibroblasts phenotype. In contrast, myofibroblasts in inflammatory fibrotic
      lung diseases were podoplanin negative. Lymphatic vessel density was greater in
      the stromas with podoplanin expression than in the stroma lacking podoplanin
      expressing stromal cells (P  =  .01). Survival data were available for non-small
      cell lung cancer. Stromal podoplanin expression was associated with poorer
      prognosis in adenocarcinoma (P < .001) and remains statistically significant
      after adjustment for sex, age, and stage (P  =  .01). CONCLUSION: Our data
      indicate that podoplanin expression in stromal myofibroblasts may function as a
      proangiogenic biomarker and may serve as a predictive marker of
      lymphatic/vascular spread of cancer cells and a prognostic marker of patient
      survival.

PMID- 20923310
TI  - A method for optimizing and validating institution-specific flagging criteria for
      automated cell counters.
AB  - CONTEXT: Automated cell counters use alerts (flags) to indicate which
      differential white blood cell counts can be released directly from the instrument
      and which samples require labor-intensive slide reviews. The thresholds at which
      many of these flags are triggered can be adjusted by individual laboratories.
      Many users, however, use factory-default settings or adjust the thresholds
      through a process of trial and error. OBJECTIVE: To develop a systematic method,
      combining statistical analysis and clinical judgment, to optimize the flagging
      thresholds on automated cell counters. DESIGN: Data from 502 samples flagged by
      Sysmex XE-2100/5000 (Sysmex, Kobe, Japan) instruments, with at least 1 of 5 user
      adjustable, white blood cell count flags, were used to change the flagging
      thresholds for maximal diagnostic effectiveness by optimizing the Youden index
      for each flag (the optimization set). The optimized thresholds were then
      validated with a second set of 378 samples (the validation set). RESULTS: Use of
      the new thresholds reduced the review rate caused by the 5 flags from 6.5% to
      2.9% and improved the positive predictive value of the flagging system for any
      abnormality from 27% to 37%. CONCLUSIONS: This method can be used to optimize
      thresholds for flag alerts on automated cell counters of any type and to improve
      the overall positive predictive value of the flagging system at the expense of a
      reduction in the negative predictive value. A reduced manual review rate helps to
      focus resources on differential white blood cell counts that are of clinical
      significance and may improve turnaround time.

PMID- 20923311
TI  - Antihuman leukocyte antigen-specific antibody strength determined by complement
      dependent or solid-phase assays can predict positive donor-specific crossmatches.
AB  - CONTEXT: The association of circulating donor-specific antibody (DSA) strength
      with crossmatch results is of potential interest to predict allograft outcome.
      OBJECTIVES: To systematically investigate the aforementioned association and to
      attempt to define a cutoff value for DSA strength that can predict a positive
      crossmatch result. DESIGN: We analyzed DSA strength and crossmatch results from
      the 2006 to 2008 proficiency testing samples of the American Society of
      Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics (n  =  50). We further validated our
      findings in candidates for potential kidney transplant (n  =  19). RESULTS:
      Proficiency test samples with positive antihuman globulin T-cell crossmatch
      results had significantly higher DSA strength, as assessed by Luminex (Austin,
      Texas) mean fluorescent intensity (MFI; MFI [SD], 7860 [4770]), compared with
      samples with negative crossmatch results (MFI [SD], 2900 [1820]; P  =  .001).
      Similarly, higher Luminex values were observed in samples from candidates for
      transplant with positive antihuman globulin T-cell crossmatch results (MFI [SD],
      7910 [2370] versus 2840 [1960]; P < .001). The MFI value of 6540 had 61% and 75%
      sensitivity and 92% and 94% specificity for predicting positive antihuman
      globulin T-cell crossmatches in proficiency test samples and in candidates for
      transplant, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The DSA strength correlates well with
      crossmatch results. An MFI of 6540 predicted a positive antihuman globulin T-cell
      crossmatch.

PMID- 20923312
TI  - Ultrasound physics and instrumentation for pathologists.
AB  - CONTEXT: Interest in pathologist-performed ultrasound-guided fine-needle
      aspiration is increasing. Educational courses discuss clinical ultrasound and
      biopsy techniques but not ultrasound physics and instrumentation. OBJECTIVE: To
      review modern ultrasound physics and instrumentation to help pathologists
      understand the basis of modern ultrasound. DATA SOURCES: A review of recent
      literature and textbooks was performed. CONCLUSIONS: Ultrasound physics and
      instrumentation are the foundations of clinical ultrasound. The key physical
      principle is the piezoelectric effect. When stimulated by an electric current,
      certain crystals vibrate and produce ultrasound. A hand-held transducer converts
      electricity into ultrasound, transmits it into tissue, and listens for reflected
      ultrasound to return. The returning echoes are converted into electrical signals
      and used to create a 2-dimensional gray-scale image. Scanning at a high frequency
      improves axial resolution but has low tissue penetration. Electronic focusing
      moves the long-axis focus to depth of the object of interest and improves lateral
      resolution. The short-axis focus in 1-dimensional transducers is fixed, which
      results in poor elevational resolution away from the focal zone. Using multiple
      foci improves lateral resolution but degrades temporal resolution. The
      sonographer can adjust the dynamic range to change contrast and bring out subtle
      masses. Contrast resolution is limited by processing speed, monitor resolution,
      and gray-scale perception of the human eye. Ultrasound is an evolving field. New
      technologies include miniaturization, spatial compound imaging, tissue harmonics,
      and multidimensional transducers. Clinical cytopathologists who understand
      ultrasound physics, instrumentation, and clinical ultrasound are ready for the
      challenges of cytopathologist-performed ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration
      and core-needle biopsy in the 21st century.

PMID- 20923313
TI  - A cribriform urothelial neoplasm of the renal pelvis: an adenoid cysticlike
      variant of inverted urothelial papilloma or florid ureteritis cystica?
AB  - Tumors with cribriform appearance, similar to that of salivary gland adenoid
      cystic carcinoma, have been described at various anatomic sites. We present an
      unusual polypoid tumor, discovered incidentally, in the renal pelvis of an
      elderly man. The mass displayed a prominent cribriform architecture, akin to
      adenoid cystic carcinoma with an immunophenotype that supported a urothelial
      origin. Because of its lack of significant invasive growth and other adverse
      morphologic features, this lesion will likely behave in a banal fashion. This
      cribriform urothelial neoplasm of the renal pelvis may, in fact, represent a
      variant of an inverted urothelial neoplasm with a prominent cystic component or
      florid ureteritis cystica. It is important for pathologists to recognize this
      growth pattern as a possible variant of urothelial tumors.

PMID- 20923314
TI  - Neurocysticercosis.
AB  - Neurocysticercosis is a significant public health issue within the United States.
      Although cysticercosis was once thought to have been eradicated in the United
      States, the number of documented cases is rising and immigrants from endemic
      areas are at the highest risk for acquiring and developing this disease. The
      clinical presentation of neurocysticercosis is variable and vague neurologic
      symptoms or sudden unexplained death in individuals with risk factors may be the
      only available information warranting a consideration of neurocysticercosis.
      Radiologic and laboratory findings can help guide medical and surgical
      interventions, while histologic confirmation establishes a more definitive
      diagnosis. Encysted larvae can be found throughout the central nervous system and
      undergo progressive stages of decay. Degenerating vesicles elicit an inflammatory
      response, involving surrounding structures, and cause the major clinical
      symptomatology.

PMID- 20923316
TI  - Understanding physical factors associated with participation in community
      ambulation following stroke.
AB  - PURPOSE: This study examined the association between impaired physical function
      and participation in community ambulation following stroke. We hypothesised that
      participation would be significantly less following stroke, and that physical
      impairments would be associated with participation. METHOD: Using a case-control
      design 30 survivors of stroke aged 45 and older and 30 controls provided health
      status information and a self-report of participation in community ambulation
      (number of trips and walking-related activities (WRA) reported prospectively over
      a 12-day period). The association of physical impairments (strength, range of
      motion, sensation, muscle tone, vision, and activity limitations (gait speed and
      performance on complex walking tasks)) with level of participation was analysed
      using negative binomial regression and goodness of fit. RESULTS: Participants
      included 30 individuals with and 30 without stroke, average age 68 years,
      majority were Caucasian women. Average time since stroke was 40 months.
      Participation in survivors of stroke was characterised by fewer trips and WRA and
      lower satisfaction (p < 0.001). Usual gait speed, balance, muscle strength and
      muscle length were impaired (p < 0.001) in stroke vs. controls, and associated
      with number of trips and WRA (p < 0.05). However, these factors explained less
      than very little of the variance in participation. CONCLUSIONS: While individual
      factors were associated with level of participation, results failed to accurately
      predict participation in community ambulation following stroke. Other factors,
      such as depression, cognition and self-efficacy may be stronger determinants of
      participation.

PMID- 20923317
TI  - The impact of storage effects in biobanks on biomarker discovery in systems
      biology studies.
AB  - Sample handling and storage conditions in specimens frozen over long periods of
      time can severely impact marker levels. If laboratory technologies, practices and
      related protocols change over time, biomarker studies are potentially biased and
      report erroneous results. These issues and pitfalls are often overlooked in
      system biology studies using previously collected and stored materials, and are
      likely to be one notable cause for biomarker candidates failing to be validated.
      We present results from simulation studies quantifying the loss in statistical
      power to detect true biomarkers, due to diminishing concentration of analytes in
      samples subject to poor handling and storage conditions.

PMID- 20923319
TI  - Evaluation of sit-to-stand motion using a pressure distribution measurement
      system--effect of differences in seat hardness on sit-to-stand motion.
AB  - PURPOSE: This study examined differences between standing from an ordinary seat
      and standing from a low-repulsion mat using a pressure distribution measurement
      system (BIG-MAT) and identified parameters to determine sit-to-stand (STS) motion
      difficulty. METHOD: Ten healthy male volunteers (aged 30-38 years) participated.
      During STS motion from an ordinary seat and from a low-repulsion urethane mat,
      plantar surface pressure changes of both feet and the centre of pressure (COP)
      trajectory were recorded for 7  s. This series of tests was performed four times
      in each subject. Left and right pressure changes and COP changes were evaluated.
      Differences in the measurements between the low-repulsion mat and the ordinary
      seat were compared using the paired t-test. RESULTS: COP changes were similar to
      those previously reported. Time from hindfoot peak to forefoot peak was
      significantly shorter with the ordinary chair than with the mat (p < 0.05).
      Percent change in forefoot pressure at forefoot peak and hindfoot peak (p < 0.01)
      and percent change in forefoot pressure at forefoot peak and stabilisation (p <
      0.05) were significantly different. CONCLUSIONS: Time from hindfoot peak to
      forefoot peak and percent change in forefoot pressure at forefoot peak and
      hindfoot peak were the best indicators of STS motion difficulty.

PMID- 20923321
TI  - Film coated tablets (ColoPulse technology) for targeted delivery in the lower
      intestinal tract: influence of the core composition on release characteristics.
AB  - The design of a film coating technology which allows a tablet to deliver the drug
      in the ileocolonic segment would offer new treatment possibilities. The objective
      is to develop a platform technology that is suitable for a broad range of drug
      compounds. We developed a coated tablet with a delayed, pulsatile release profile
      based on a pH-sensitive coating technology (ColoPulse). The production process
      was validated, and the effect of core composition on the in vitro release and
      water uptake investigated. The release profile of the standard tablet core
      composition, based on the use of cellulose as a filler, was independent of the
      coat thickness in a range of 9.0-13.2 mg/cm(2). The release profile of a coated
      tablet was strongly influenced when cellulose was partly replaced by the model
      substance glucose (loss of sigmoidal release), citric acid (stabilization),
      sodium bicarbonate (destabilization) or sodium benzoate (destabilization). The
      film coating takes up water when below the pH-threshold. However, this did not
      cause early disintegration of the coating. The ColoPulse technology is
      successfully applied on tablets. The in vitro release characteristics of the
      coated tablets are influenced by the composition of the core.

PMID- 20923322
TI  - The use and application of assistive technology to promote literacy in early
      childhood: a systematic review.
AB  - The Individuals with Disabilities Act was implemented in 1975 to assure that all
      children aged 0-21 years old have access and the right to an equal education.
      However, young children with disabilities continue to need additional support to
      meet the reading readiness standards as outlined in The No Child Left Behind
      legislation (2004). Although all children benefit from readiness skills, it is
      essential for children with special needs. With the technology boom of the past
      decade, assistive technology (AT) has been used increasingly to enhance emerging
      literacy skills. In order to identify current trends in the use of AT as a means
      to enhance emergent literacy skills in young children with disabilities, a
      systematic review of the literature was undertaken. The findings from this review
      support the scarcity of empirical research demonstrating the benefit of AT to
      promote emergent literacy with young children with disabilities. We also found a
      need for evidence supporting education approaches for the proper use of AT in
      early childhood literacy as well as little family knowledge regarding the
      implementation and instructional use of AT.

PMID- 20923323
TI  - Effects of extremely low-frequency magnetic field on growth and differentiation
      of human mesenchymal stem cells.
AB  - Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells (hMSCs) were exposed to a developed extremely low
      frequency (ELF) magnetic fields (50 Hz ,20 mT ELF) system to evaluate whether
      exposure to (ELF) magnetic fields affects growth, metabolism, and differentiation
      of hMSCs. MTT method was used to determine the growth and metabolism of hMSCs
      following exposure to ELF magnetic fields. Na(+)/K(+) concentration and
      osmolality of extracellular were measured after exposured culture. Alkaline
      phosphatase (ALP) assay and Calcium assay, ALP staining, and Alizarin red
      staining were performed to evaluate the osteogenic differentiation of hMSCs under
      the ELF magnetic field exposure. In these experiments, the cells were exposed to
      ELF for up to 23 days. The results showed that exposure to ELF magnetic field
      could inhibit the growth and metabolism of hMSC, but have no significant effect
      on differentiation of hMSCs. These results suggested that ELF magnetic field may
      influence the early development of hMSCs related adult cells.

PMID- 20923325
TI  - Evaluation of non ionizing radiation around the dielectric heaters and sealers: a
      case report.
AB  - Dielectric heaters and sealers present the most common source of occupational
      exposure to excessive radio frequency (RF) fields. These systems are used
      industrially to heat or melt dielectric materials. Nowadays, the effects of high
      frequency electromagnetic (EM) fields on the health have been discussed
      frequently but there are few health studies done for workers around dielectric
      heaters and sealers. In this study, the leakage fields around dielectric heaters
      and sealers (27.12 MHz) were measured in MKE--Mechanical and Chemical Industry
      Corporation, Gazi Rocket Factory and evaluated in terms of standards. It has been
      observed that operators exposed to same RF fields with occupational exposure
      limits. Many workers have health complaints, such as elevated body temperatures
      in the factory. Safe distances or areas for workers should be recommended in
      these systems. Protective measures could be implemented to minimize these
      exposures. Further measurements and occupational exposure studies of RF exposed
      women and men are needed to demonstrate the levels of exposed Radio Frequency
      Radiation (RFR). Precautions should therefore be taken either to reduce the
      leakage fields or minimise the exposed fields.

PMID- 20923326
TI  - HLA-class II genes in Mexican Amerindian Mayas: relatedness with Guatemalan
      Mayans and other populations.
AB  - We analyzed the HLA class II allele frequencies in 50 healthy unrelated Mayan
      individuals. The relationship with other worldwide populations was studied by
      using HLA data from 71 different populations. The most frequent alleles were HLA
      DRB1*04, HLA-DRB1*01, HLA-DQB1*0302 and HLA-DQB1*0501. When comparisons with
      other Mexican Amerindian groups were made, some differences were observed. Mayans
      showed an increased frequency of HLA-DRB1*01 when compared to Nahuas, Mayos,
      Teenek and Mazatecans (p < 0.05), whereas the HLA-DRB1*04 was increased in Mayans
      when compared to Nahuas (p < 0.05). The analysis of HLA-DQB1 alleles showed an
      increased frequency of DQB1*0302 in Mayans when compared to Nahuas and Mazatecans
      (p < 0.05), whereas the frequency of HLA-DQB1*0301 was decreased in Mayans when
      compared to Nahuas, Mayos, Teenek and Mazatecans (p < 0.05). Decreased frequency
      of HLA-DQB1*0501 in Mayans when compared to Nahuas was found. Neighbour Joining
      dendrogram shows that Mexican Mayans are genetically close to some of the most
      ancient groups living in Mexico and some South American Amerindians. However,
      Guatemalan Mayans do not cluster together with Mexican Mayas showing that
      languages do not correlate with genes, particularly in Amerindians. The data
      corroborate the restricted polymorphism of HLA-DRB1 and DQB1 alleles and the high
      frequency of HLA-DRB1*04 and HLA-DQB1*0302 in Mayans from Mexico.

PMID- 20923324
TI  - Matrix metalloproteinase-9 and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 are associated
      with right ventricular structure and function: the MESA-RV Study.
AB  - Elevated resistance and reduced compliance of the pulmonary vasculature increase
      right ventricular (RV) afterload. Local and systemic inflammation and haemostatic
      abnormalities are prominent in pulmonary vascular diseases. We hypothesized that
      plasma biomarker levels indicating greater inflammation and coagulability
      associated with pulmonary vascular disease would be associated with RV structure
      and function measured by cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The Multi
      Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) performed cardiac MRI among participants
      aged 45-84 years without clinical cardiovascular disease. We assessed the
      associations of RV mass, RV end-diastolic volume (RVEDV), RV stroke volume (RVSV)
      and RV ejection fraction (RVEF) with plasma measures of inflammation (matrix
      metalloproteinase (MMP)-3 and -9, intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM)-1,
      tumour necrosis factor receptor (TNF-R1), and E-selectin) and thrombosis
      (plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI)-1, tissue factor, tissue factor pathway
      inhibitor and CD40 ligand).The study sample included 731 subjects. Higher MMP-9
      levels were associated with lower RV mass before and after adjustment for left
      ventricular (LV) mass (p=0.008 and p=0.044, respectively). Higher levels of MMP-9
      and PAI-1 were also associated with smaller RVEDV (p<0.05). Higher PAI-1 levels
      were associated with lower RVEF even after adjustment for LV ejection fraction
      (p=0.017). In conclusion, MMP-9 and PAI-1 are associated with changes in RV
      structure and function which could be potentially related to a subclinical
      increase in pulmonary vascular resistance.

PMID- 20923327
TI  - HLA genes in Wayu Amerindians from Colombia.
AB  - Amerindians origins and prehistory are still debated. HLA profile is different to
      all other World populations, although they have particular alleles in common with
      Asians, Australians and Pacific Islanders. In the present work, HLA-A, -B, -DRB1,
      -DQB1 alleles have been studied in Wayu Amerindians from Colombia. HLA alleles
      haplotypes, genetic distances and NJ dendrograms were calculated by Arlequin and
      DISPAN software. Only a few both class I and class II alleles have been observed.
      Most common extended haplotypes include: A*24-B*51-DRB1*0403-DQB1*0302, A*2-B*15
      DRB1*1602-DQB1*0301, A*2-B*35-DRB1*0407-DQB1*0302, but also A*68-B*15-DRB1*0403
      DQB1*0302. No trace of Caucasoid or Negroid admixture is detected. The Wayu HLA
      profile is typical from Amerindians and shows how languages and genes do not
      correlated particularly in this case (i.e., Wayu closest HLA genetic group is
      North Argentinian Guarani group). Results obtained in this work may be useful for
      future transplant programs and also for HLA linked diseases and individualized
      pharmacogenetics.

PMID- 20923328
TI  - Anti-inflammatory effect of glycoprotein isolated from Cudrania tricuspidata
      Bureau: involvement of MAPK/NF-kappaB signaling.
AB  - The aim of this study was to evaluate inhibitory effect of glycoprotein isolated
      from Cudrania tricuspidata Bureau (CTB glycoprotein) on allergic responses. We
      evaluated the activities of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK),
      transcriptional factor, and production of immunoglobulin (Ig)E and interleukin
      (IL)-4 in RBL-2H3 cells and BALB/c mice. Our results showed that CTB glycoprotein
      inhibited the production of IgE and IL-4 in serum from ovalbumin (OVA)-treated
      BALB/c mice. We also found that CTB glycoprotein inhibited the phosphorylation of
      p38 MAPK, and transcriptional activation of nuclear factor (NF)-kappaB in RBL-2H3
      cells. The activation of NF-kappaB was effectively blocked by treatment with p38
      MAPK inhibitor (SKF86002). The results from these experiments indicate that the
      CTB glycoprotein inhibits release of beta-hexosaminidase, and production of IgE
      and IL-4 via down regulation of MAPK/ NF-kappaB on the stage of mast cell
      degranulation. In conclusion, we suggest that the CTB glycoprotein might be a
      potent preventive agent in allergic responses.

PMID- 20923329
TI  - No evidence of cellular alterations by MilliTesla-level static and 50 Hz magnetic
      fields on S. cerevisiae.
AB  - In an attempt to determine whether magnetic field (MF) exposures might induce
      cellular alterations, S. cerevisiae yeast cells were exposed to static or
      sinusoidal 50 Hz homogeneous MF (0.35 mT, 1.4 mT, and 2.45 mT) for 1 h and 72 h.
      Unsynchronized cells grown exponentially while exposed to MF, containing cells in
      all stages of the mitotic cell cycle. MF was generated by a pair of Helmholtz
      coils (40 cm in diameter, coaxial, separated by 20 cm). Survival, cell cycle
      distribution, colony forming ability, and mutation frequency were assayed. No
      differences in the above-mentioned parameters were observed in MF exposed samples
      in relation to unexposed controls, suggesting that homogeneous MF at these
      intensities do not produce appreciable cellular alterations in this organism
      under typical in vitro growth conditions.

PMID- 20923330
TI  - Extremely-low frequency magnetic field effects on sulfate reducing bacteria
      viability.
AB  - 50 Hz magnetic fields effects on Sulfate Reducing Bacteria (SRB) viability were
      studied by colony forming units (CFU) counting. We found a 15% decrease of CFU
      number after magnetic field exposure (B=7.1 mT, f=50 Hz, t=24 min) compared to
      the control samples. These results are in good agreement with our previous work
      on other bacterial strains. The magnetic field effects on SRB are relatively
      large for small magnetic fields. The data correlations have been subjected to a
      simple physical chemical analysis, yielding surprisingly large estimates for the
      characteristic magnetic reaction susceptibility, even when the entire bacterium
      is assumed to be the direct target of interaction of the magnetic ac fields for
      the exposures in the time range from 3-24  min.

PMID- 20923332
TI  - Influenza virus RNA structure: unique and common features.
AB  - The influenza A virus genome consists of eight negative-sense RNA segments. Here
      we review the currently available data on structure-function relationships in
      influenza virus RNAs. Various ideas and hypotheses about the roles of influenza
      virus RNA folding in the virus replication are also discussed in relation to
      other viruses.

PMID- 20923331
TI  - Antitumor activity of glycosylated molluscan hemocyanins via Guerin ascites
      tumor.
AB  - As observed in most molluscan hemocyanins, high-mannose type glycans were
      identified in hemocyanins from Rapana venosa (RvH), Helix lucorum (HlH) and
      keyhole limpet (Megatura crenulata). In addition, a glycan with a branching
      structure containing xylose, fucose and terminal methyl hexose was identified in
      beta-HlH. We have examined the immuno-adjuvant properties of hemocyanins, their
      derivatives and conjugates associated with the cell mediated immunity in
      experimental tumor-bearing animals with ascites tumor of Guerin. After
      immunization of the animals with the experimental vaccine preparations, the
      highest values of splenic lymphocytes were observed in groups immunized with the
      conjugates RvH-TAg, beta-HlH-TAg and KLH-TAg (42.3%; 40.8% and 40.58%,
      respectively) than with the native hemocyanins (36.5%; 35.1% and 32.4%,
      respectively). The immunization of rats with the hemocyanins beta-HlH, RvH and
      KLH and their conjugates, prolonged the median survival time of tumor-bearing
      animals compared with non-immunized animals (39, 33, 31 and 7 days,
      respectively). Both hemocyanins beta-HlH and RvH activate the immune system of
      the experimental animals and therefore could be a good alternative for KLH. For
      this reason they could be included into the composition of non-specific anti
      tumor vaccines to enhance their effectiveness.

PMID- 20923333
TI  - Should lung ultrasonography be more widely used in the assessment of acute
      respiratory disease?

PMID- 20923336
TI  - Probiotics for the prevention of ventilator-associated pneumonia.

PMID- 20923335
TI  - Budesonide/formoterol in the treatment of asthma.
AB  - Budesonide and formoterol are available in a combined inhaler that offers
      therapeutic advantages in the treatment of asthma. The rapid onset of
      bronchodilation seen with formoterol means that budesonide/formoterol can be used
      as both maintenance and relief therapy. This approach has been shown to reduce
      exacerbations and overcome the problem of patients who overuse short-acting
      &#x03B2;-agonists at the expense of inhaled corticosteroids. Concerns regarding
      safety of long-acting &#x03B2;-agonists have not been confirmed in studies of the
      budesonide/formoterol combination inhaler, and we believe the benefits of this
      medication clearly outweigh any possible small increased risk.

PMID- 20923338
TI  - Should atopy be assessed in elderly patients with respiratory symptoms suggestive
      of asthma?
AB  - Aging is associated with modifications of the immune system and this could
      contribute to a reduced prevalence of allergic disease in the elderly. Atopy has
      rarely been considered in the clinical assessment of the geriatric respiratory
      patient. This article is a review of the available literature assessing the
      impact of age on atopy in the asthmatic patient. In the majority of papers, we
      found a lower prevalence of atopy in the most advanced ages, both in healthy
      subjects and in individuals affected by allergic respiratory diseases. No large,
      longitudinal studies performed in the general population have been conducted to
      confirm this observation. Although available data seem to favor the decline of
      allergen sensitization with age, the prevalence of allergic sensitizations in the
      elderly population with respiratory symptoms is substantial enough to warrant
      evaluation of the atopic condition. For this reason, the evaluation of the atopic
      condition in the geriatric patient is recommended. The role of atopy as regards
      diagnosis, therapy and prognosis of asthma in the elderly is addressed.

PMID- 20923339
TI  - Preterm birth and respiratory disease in later life.
AB  - Chronic respiratory diseases are a common complication of preterm birth,
      particularly among very immature infants or those suffering from bronchopulmonary
      dysplasia. Major progress in the treatment of preterm newborns has changed the
      pattern of late respiratory complications. The major respiratory problem in
      infancy and early childhood is respiratory exacerbations caused by infections
      (particularly viral ones), which need hospitalization. The symptoms become mild
      in school-age children; however, a group of children still present with chronic
      airway obstruction defined by recurrent episodes of wheezing and decreased lung
      function tests (decreased forced expiratory volume). For some preterm infants,
      particularly those with bronchopulmonary dysplasia, obstructive lung disease
      persists into adulthood. They are very likely to develop chronic obstructive
      pulmonary disease or similar disease later in life. In these patients, a program
      of lung function monitoring and pulmonary prophylaxis by means of elimination of
      specific risk factors in adulthood is advisable.

PMID- 20923337
TI  - Autophagy in cigarette smoke-induced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
AB  - The molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of chronic
      obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) remain incompletely understood. We have
      investigated the potential role of macro-autophagy, a cellular homeostatic
      mechanism, in COPD and cigarette smoke-induced lung-cell injury. Autophagy is a
      dynamic process for the turnover of organelles and proteins, which regenerates
      metabolic precursors through the lysosomal-dependent catabolism of cellular
      macromolecules. It is typically associated with survival pathways, especially in
      nutrient deficiency states. The role of autophagy in human diseases is less
      clear, and has been associated with both protective and detrimental consequences,
      depending on the disease model. While autophagy is considered cytoprotective,
      this process is often found in association with cell death, and the relationships
      between autophagy and cell death remain ambiguous. We have found elevated
      autophagy in COPD lung specimens, as well as in response to cigarette smoke
      exposure in vitro and in vivo. In our studies, the activation of autophagic
      proteins was associated with epithelial cell apoptosis in response to cigarette
      smoke, with pathogenic implications in COPD. Further studies are needed to
      determine the functional significance of autophagy in COPD and other diseases of
      the lung.

PMID- 20923340
TI  - What's new in asthma pathophysiology and immunopathology?
AB  - Research on asthma pathophysiology over the past decade has expanded the complex
      repertoire involved in the pathophysiology of asthma to include inflammatory,
      immune and structural cells, as well as a wide range of mediators. Studies have
      identified a role for connective and other mesenchymal tissues involved in airway
      remodeling. Recent findings have implicated the innate immune response in asthma
      and have revealed interesting patterns of interaction between the innate and
      adaptive immune response and the associated complex chronic inflammatory
      reaction. New immune cell populations have also been added to this repertoire,
      including Tregs, natural killer T cells and Th17 cells. The role of the
      eosinophil, a prominent pathological feature in most asthma phenotypes, has also
      been expanding to include roles such as tissue modifiers and immune regulators
      via a number of fascinating and hitherto unexplored mechanistic pathways. In
      addition, new and significant roles have been proposed for airway smooth muscle
      cells, fibroblasts, epithelial and endothelial cells. Tissue remodeling is now
      considered an integral element of asthma pathophysiology. Finally, an intricate
      network of mediators, released from both immune and inflammatory cells, including
      thymus stromal lymphopoietin and matrix metalloproteinases, have added to the
      complex milieu of asthma immunity and inflammation. These findings have
      implications for therapy and the search for novel strategies towards better
      disease management. Sadly, and perhaps due to the complex nature of asthma,
      advances in therapeutic discoveries and developments have been limited. Thus,
      understanding the precise roles played by the numerous dramatis personae in this
      odyssey, both individually and collectively within the context of asthma
      pathophysiology, continues to pose new challenges. It is clear that the next
      stage in this saga is to embark on studies that transcend reductionist approaches
      to involve system analysis of the complex and multiple variables involved in
      asthma, including the need to narrow down the phenotypes of this condition based
      on careful analysis of the organs (lung and airways), cells, mediators and other
      factors involved in bronchial asthma.

PMID- 20923342
TI  - Lung epithelial wound healing in health and disease.
AB  - Physiological lung epithelial wound repair is a complex, highly orchestrated
      process presenting numerous points where dysregulation may occur, leading to the
      development of several pulmonary disorders. Current studies are limited by a lack
      of relevant lung injury models, with much work relying on other organ models such
      as the skin or in vitro cultures. However, much promising investigative work is
      being undertaken, some of which is described in this article. This article
      attempts to describe the processes required to heal a severe wound to the airway
      epithelium, characteristic of several chronic pulmonary disorders, highlighting
      areas where dysregulation may occur, which in turn leads to the development or
      continuation of a disease state.

PMID- 20923343
TI  - Short-course fluoroquinolones in acute exacerbations of chronic bronchitis.
AB  - It is estimated that 50-70% of acute exacerbations of chronic bronchitis (AECB)
      are caused by bacterial infections. Appropriate selection of antimicrobials may
      lead to better outcomes and reduced healthcare costs. Respiratory
      fluoroquinolones (moxifloxacin, levofloxacin and gemifloxacin) have a broad
      spectrum of activity against most AECB-causing pathogens and are used as first
      line treatment in patients with comorbidity, severe airway obstruction or
      recurrent exacerbations. We review studies, identified through a MEDLINE search,
      that compared clinical efficacy and speed of recovery for short-course (<= 5
      days) fluoroquinolone therapy with commonly prescribed standard therapy (>= 7
      days). Among 177 studies reporting the use of fluoroquinolones for AECB
      treatment, 23 used a short-course regimen, shown to be at least as effective as
      standard therapy of 7 or more days duration. Furthermore, evidence suggests that
      short-course therapy offers faster resolution of symptoms, faster rate of
      recovery, fewer relapses, fewer and shorter hospitalizations, and longer time
      between recurrences.

PMID- 20923344
TI  - Monitoring chronic cough: current and future techniques.
AB  - Coughing produces a characteristic sound that is readily recognized by the human
      ear and provides the opportunity to objectively quantify coughing through
      acoustic recordings. The development of digital recording technologies has
      facilitated such recordings over the extended time periods needed to capture
      symptom episodes. However, the manual counting of coughs by listening to long
      recordings is time-consuming, laborious and restricts usage to research studies.
      This article outlines the challenges in recording, analyzing and quantifying
      cough sounds and describes the systems under development. Progress is being made
      towards automated algorithms to identify and count cough sounds; however, current
      systems have only been tested over short time periods and in limited patient
      groups. Further work is required to achieve broadly applicable accurate cough
      monitoring systems.

PMID- 20923341
TI  - Lung cancer therapeutics that target signaling pathways: an update.
AB  - Claiming more than 150,000 lives each year, lung cancer is the deadliest cancer
      in the USA. First-line treatments in lung cancer include surgical resection and
      chemotherapy, the latter of which offers only modest survival benefits at the
      expense of often severe and debilitating side effects. Recent advances in
      elucidating the molecular biology of lung carcinogenesis have elucidated novel
      drug targets, and treatments are rapidly evolving into specialized agents that
      hone in on specific aspects of the disease. Of particular interest is blocking
      tumor growth by targeting the physiological processes surrounding angiogenesis,
      pro-tumorigenic growth factor activation, anti-apoptotic cascades and other
      cancer-promoting signal transduction events. This article looks at several areas
      of interest to lung cancer therapeutics and considers the current state of
      affairs surrounding the development of these therapies.

PMID- 20923345
TI  - The difficult-to-wean patient.
AB  - Up to 20% of patients requiring mechanical ventilation will suffer from difficult
      weaning (the need of more than 7 days of weaning after the first spontaneous
      breathing trial), which may depend on several reversible causes: respiratory
      and/or cardiac load, neuromuscular and neuropsychological factors, and metabolic
      and endocrine disorders. Clinical consequences (and/or often causes) of prolonged
      mechanical ventilation comprise features such as myopathy, neuropathy, and body
      composition alterations and depression, which increase the costs, morbidity and
      mortality of this. These difficult-to-wean patients may be managed in two type of
      units: respiratory intermediate-care units and specialized regional weaning
      centers. Two weaning protocols are normally used: progressive reduction of
      ventilator support (which we usually use), or progressively longer periods of
      spontaneous breathing trials. Physiotherapy is an important component of weaning
      protocols. Weaning success depends strongly on patients&#x2019; complexity and
      comorbidities, hospital organization and personnel expertise, availability of
      early physiotherapy, use of weaning protocols, patients&#x2019; autonomy and
      families&#x2019; preparation for home discharge with mechanical ventilation.

PMID- 20923348
TI  - All hands on deck-the role of chloroplasts, endoplasmic reticulum, and the
      nucleus in driving plant innate immunity.
AB  - Plant innate immunity is mediated by cell membrane and intracellular immune
      receptors that function in distinct and overlapping cell-signaling pathways to
      activate defense responses. It is becoming increasingly evident that immune
      receptors rely on components from multiple organelles for the generation of
      appropriate defense responses. This review analyzes the defense-related functions
      of the chloroplast, nucleus, and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) during plant innate
      immunity. It details the role of the chloroplasts in synthesizing defense
      specific second messengers and discusses the retrograde signal transduction
      pathways that exist between the chloroplast and nucleus. Because the activities
      of immune modulators are regulated, in part, by their subcellular localization,
      the review places special emphasis on the dynamics and nuclear&#x2013;cytoplasmic
      transport of immune receptors and regulators and highlights the importance of
      this process in generating orderly events during an innate immune response. The
      review also covers the recently discovered contributions of the ER quality
      control pathways in ensuring the signaling competency of cell surface immune
      receptors or immune regulators.

PMID- 20923349
TI  - A four-partner plant-virus interaction: enemies can also come from within.
AB  - Plant viruses are disseminated by either vertical (vegetative multiplication or
      sexual reproduction) or horizontal (vector-mediated) propagation. Plant
      pararetroviruses&#x2014;members of the Caulimoviridae family&#x2014;have
      developed an alternative strategy for vertical propagation via integration within
      the host plant genome, although integration is not required for viral
      replication. Integrated endogenous pararetrovirus (EPRV) sequences have undergone
      extensive viral genome rearrangements and contain more than one copy of the viral
      genome. Furthermore, EPRV can become infectious upon spontaneous escape of active
      virus following stresses such as wounding, tissue culture, or interspecific
      crosses. Such infectious EPRV are of great importance, not only in terms of their
      ability to precipitate epidemic outbreaks but also because of their effect on
      breeding of numerous plant genomes in temperate and tropical crops. This is
      especially true for banana, a crop susceptible to banana streak viruses, the
      causative agents of banana streak disease. Thus, the classical three-component
      banana&#x2013;Banana streak virus (BSV)&#x2013;mealybug pathosystem can be
      expanded to include endogenous BSV as an alternative source of active virions.
      The BSV-banana pathosystem is one of only three pathosystems known to date to
      harbor this remarkable feature, and the present review focuses exclusively on it
      to illustrate this four-partner interaction.

PMID- 20923350
TI  - A host-factor interaction and localization map for a plant-adapted rhabdovirus
      implicates cytoplasm-tethered transcription activators in cell-to-cell movement.
AB  - To identify host factors that play critical roles in processes, including cell-to
      cell movement of plant-adapted rhabdoviruses, we constructed and validated a high
      resolution Nicotiana benthamiana yeast two-hybrid library. The library was
      screened with the putative movement protein (sc4), nucleocapsid (N), and matrix
      (M) proteins of Sonchus yellow net virus (SYNV). This resulted in identification
      of 31 potential host factors. Steady-state localization studies using
      autofluorescent protein fusions to full-length clones of interactors were
      conducted in transgenic N. benthamiana marker lines. Bimolecular fluorescence
      complementation assays were used to validate two-hybrid interactions. The sc4
      interactor, sc4i21, localized to microtubules. The N interactor, Ni67, localized
      to punctuate loci on the endoplasmic reticulum. These two proteins are 84%
      identical homologues of the Arabidopsis phloem-associated transcription activator
      AtVOZ1, and contain functional nuclear localization signals. Sc4i17 is a
      microtubule-associated motor protein. The M interactor, Mi7, is a nuclear
      localized transcription factor. Combined with a binary interaction map for SYNV
      proteins, our data support a model in which the SYNV nucleocapsids are exported
      from the nucleus and moved cell-to-cell by transcription activators tethered in
      the cytoplasm.

PMID- 20923351
TI  - Effects of amino-acid substitutions in the Brome mosaic virus capsid protein on
      RNA encapsidation.
AB  - Brome mosaic virus (BMV) packages its genomic RNAs (RNA1, RNA2, and RNA3) and
      subgenomic RNA4 into three different particles. However, since the RNAs in the
      virions have distinct lengths and electrostatic charges, we hypothesize that
      subsets of the virions should have distinct properties. A glutamine to cysteine
      substitution at position 120 of the capsid protein (CP) was found to result in a
      mutant virus named QC that exhibited a dramatically altered ratio of the RNAs in
      virions. RNA2 was far more abundant than the other RNAs, although the ratios
      could be affected by the host plant species. RNAs with the QC mutation were
      competent for replication early in the infection, suggesting that they were
      either selectively packaged or degraded after packaging. In support of the latter
      idea, low concentrations of truncated RNA1 that co-migrated with RNA2 were found
      in the QC virions. Spectroscopic analysis and peptide fingerprinting experiments
      showed that the QC virus capsid interacted with the encapsidated RNAs differently
      than did the wild type. Furthermore, wild-type BMV RNA1 was found to be more
      susceptible to nuclease digestion relative to RNA2 as a function of the buffer
      pH. Other BMV capsid mutants also had altered ratios of packaged RNAs.

PMID- 20923352
TI  - Enhanced glutathione metabolism is correlated with sulfur-induced resistance in
      Tobacco mosaic virus-infected genetically susceptible Nicotiana tabacum plants.
AB  - Sulfur-induced resistance, also known as sulfur-enhanced defense (SIR/SED) was
      investigated in Nicotiana tabacum cv. Samsun nn during compatible interaction
      with Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) in correlation with glutathione metabolism. To
      evaluate the influence of sulfur nutritional status on virus infection, tobacco
      plants were treated with nutrient solutions containing either sufficient sulfate
      (+S) or no sulfate (-S). Sufficient sulfate supply resulted in a suppressed and
      delayed symptom development and diminished virus accumulation over a period of 14
      days after inoculation as compared with -S conditions. Expression of the defense
      marker gene PR-1a was markedly upregulated in sulfate-treated plants during the
      first day after TMV inoculation. The occurrence of SIR/SED correlated with a
      higher level of activity of sulfate assimilation, cysteine, and glutathione
      metabolism in plants treated with sulfate. Additionally, two key genes involved
      in cysteine and glutathione biosynthesis (encoding adenosine 5'-phosphosulfate
      reductase and gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase, respectively) were upregulated
      within the first day after TMV inoculation under +S conditions. Sulfate
      withdrawal from the soil was accelerated at the beginning of the infection,
      whereas it declined in the long term, leading to an accumulation of sulfur in the
      soil of plants grown with sulfate. This observation could be correlated with a
      decrease in sulfur contents in TMV-infected leaves in the long term. In summary,
      this is the first study that demonstrates a link between the activation of
      cysteine and glutathione metabolism and the induction of SIR/SED during a
      compatible plant-virus interaction in tobacco plants, indicating a general
      mechanism behind SIR/SED.

PMID- 20923353
TI  - An h-type thioredoxin functions in tobacco defense responses to two species of
      viruses and an abiotic oxidative stress.
AB  - Various thioredoxin (Trx) proteins have been identified in plants. However, many
      of the physiological roles played by these proteins remain to be elucidated. We
      cloned a TRXh-like gene predicted to encode an h-type Trx in tobacco (Nicotiana
      tabacum) and designated it NtTRXh3, based on the biochemical activity of the
      NtTRXh3 protein. Overexpression of NtTRXh3 conferred resistance to Tobacco mosaic
      virus and Cucumber mosaic virus, both of which showed reduced multiplication and
      pathogenicity in NtTRXh3-overexpressing plants compared with controls. NtTRXh3
      overexpression also enhanced tobacco resistance to oxidative stress induced by
      paraquat, an herbicide that inhibits the production of reducing equivalents by
      chloroplasts. The NtTRXh3 protein localized exclusively to chloroplasts in
      coordination with the maintenance of cellular reducing conditions, which
      accompanied an elevation in the glutathione/glutathione disulfide couple ratio.
      NtTRXh3 gene expression and NtTRXh3 protein production were necessary for these
      defensive responses, because they were all arrested when NtTRXh3 was silenced and
      the production of NtTRXh3 protein was abrogated. These results suggest that
      NtTRXh3 is involved in the resistance of tobacco to virus infection and abiotic
      oxidative stress.

PMID- 20923354
TI  - The N-terminal domain of PMTV TGB1 movement protein is required for nucleolar
      localization, microtubule association, and long-distance movement.
AB  - The triple-gene-block (TGB)1 protein of Potato mop-top virus (PMTV) was fused to
      fluorescent proteins and expressed in epidermal cells of Nicotiana benthamiana
      under the control of the 35S promoter. TGB1 fluorescence was observed in the
      cytoplasm, nucleus, and nucleolus and occasionally associated with microtubules.
      When expressed from a modified virus (PMTV.YFP-TGB1) which formed local lesions
      but was not competent for systemic movement, yellow fluorescent protein (YFP)
      TGB1 labeled plasmodesmata in cells at the leading edge of the lesion and
      plasmodesmata, microtubules, nuclei, and nucleoli in cells immediately behind the
      leading edge. Deletion of 84 amino acids from the N-terminus of unlabeled TGB1
      within the PMTV genome abolished movement of viral RNA to noninoculated leaves.
      When the same deletion was introduced into PMTV.YFP-TGB1, labeling of
      microtubules and nucleoli was abolished. The N-terminal 84 amino acids of TGB1
      were fused to green fluorescent protein (GFP) and expressed in epidermal cells
      where GFP localized strongly to the nucleolus (not seen with unfused GFP),
      indicating that these amino acids contain a nucleolar localization signal; the
      fusion protein did not label microtubules. This is the first report of nucleolar
      and microtubule association of a TGB movement protein. The results suggest that
      PMTV TGB1 requires interaction with nuclear components and, possibly,
      microtubules for long-distance movement of viral RNA.

PMID- 20923355
TI  - Characterization of the interactions between Cucumber mosaic virus and Potato
      virus Y in mixed infections in tomato.
AB  - Mixed infection with the SON41 strain of Potato virus Y (PVY-SON41) in tomato
      increased accumulation of RNAs of strains Fny and LS of Cucumber mosaic virus
      (CMV-Fny and CMV-LS, respectively) and enhanced disease symptoms. By contrast,
      replication of PVY-SON41 was downregulated by CMV-Fny and this was due to the CMV
      Fny 2b protein. The CMV-FnyDelta2b mutant was unable to systemically invade the
      tomato plant because its movement was blocked at the bundle sheath of the phloem.
      The function needed for invading the phloem was complemented by PVY-SON41 in
      plants grown at 22 degrees C whereas this complementation was not necessary in
      plants grown at 15 degrees C. Mutations in the 2b protein coding sequence of CMV
      Fny as well as inhibition of translation of the 2a/2b overlapping region of the
      2a protein lessened both the accumulation of viral RNAs and the severity of
      symptoms. Both of these functions were complemented by PVY-SON41. Infection of
      CMV-Fny supporting replication of the Tfn-satellite RNA reduced the accumulation
      of CMV RNA and suppressed symptom expression also in plants mixed-infected with
      PVY-SON41. The interaction between CMV and PVY-SON41 in tomato exhibited
      different features from that documented in other hosts. The results of this work
      are relevant from an ecological and epidemiological perspective due to the
      frequency of natural mixed infection of CMV and PVY in tomato.

PMID- 20923364
TI  - BAK1 is not a target of the Pseudomonas syringae effector AvrPto.
AB  - Plant cell surface-localized receptor kinases such as FLS2, EFR, and CERK1 play a
      crucial role in detecting invading pathogenic bacteria. Upon stimulation by
      bacterium-derived ligands, FLS2 and EFR interact with BAK1, a receptor-like
      kinase, to activate immune responses. A number of Pseudomonas syringae effector
      proteins are known to block immune responses mediated by these receptors.
      Previous reports suggested that both FLS2 and BAK1 could be targeted by the P.
      syringae effector AvrPto to inhibit plant defenses. Here, we provide new evidence
      further supporting that FLS2 but not BAK1 is targeted by AvrPto in plants. The
      AvrPto-FLS2 interaction prevented the phosphorylation of BIK1, a downstream
      component of the FLS2 pathway.

PMID- 20923365
TI  - Characterization of Geminivirus resistance in an accession of Capsicum chinense
      Jacq.
AB  - Pepper golden mosaic virus (PepGMV) and Pepper huasteco yellow vein virus
      (PHYVV), members of the Geminiviridae family, are important pathogens of pepper
      (Capsicum annuum L.) and other solanaceous crops. Accession BG-3821 of C.
      chinense Jacq. was reported earlier as resistant to mixed infection with PepGMV
      and PHYVV. In this work, we characterized the Geminivirus resistance trait
      present in BG-3821. Segregation analysis suggested that resistance depends on two
      genes. Our data showed that PepGMV replication in protoplast of resistant plants
      is approximately 70% lower when compared with the levels observed in protoplasts
      from susceptible plants. Additionally, viral movement is less efficient in
      resistant plants. We also evaluated several characteristics commonly associated
      with systemic acquired resistance (SAR), which is a conserved defensive
      mechanism. The concentration of salicylic acid was higher in resistant plants
      inoculated with PepGMV than in susceptible plants. Marker genes for SAR were
      induced after inoculation with PepGMV in resistant leaves. Similarly, we found a
      higher accumulation of reactive oxygen species on resistant leaves compared with
      susceptible ones. A model for the mechanism acting in the Geminivirus resistance
      detected in BG-3821 is proposed. Finally, the importance of BG-3821 in
      Geminivirus resistance breeding programs is discussed.

PMID- 20923366
TI  - Phenotypic characterization of potato late blight resistance mediated by the
      broad-spectrum resistance gene RB.
AB  - The potato gene RB, cloned from the wild potato species Solanum bulbocastanum,
      confers partial resistance to late blight, caused by the oomycete pathogen
      Phytophthora infestans. In order to better characterize this partial resistance
      phenotype, we have compared host resistance responses mediated by RB with those
      mediated by the S. demissum-derived R gene R9, which confers immunity to P.
      infestans carrying the corresponding avirulence gene avrR9. We found that both RB
      and R9 genes were capable of eliciting a hypersensitive cell death response (HR).
      However, in RB plants, the pathogen escaped HR lesions and continued to grow
      beyond the inoculation sites. We also found that callose deposition was
      negatively correlated with resistance levels in tested plants. Transcription
      patterns of pathogenesis-related (PR) genes PR-1 basic, PR-2 acidic, and PR-5
      indicated that P. infestans inoculation induced transcription of these defense
      related genes regardless of the host genotype; however, transcription was reduced
      in both the susceptible and partially resistant plants later in the infection
      process but remained elevated in the immune host. Most interestingly,
      transcription of the HR-associated gene Hin1 was suppressed in both Katahdin and
      RB-transgenic Katahdin but not in R9 4 days after inoculation. Together, this
      suggests that suppression of certain defense-related genes may allow P. infestans
      to spread beyond the site of infection in the partially resistant host despite
      elicitation of hypersensitive cell death.

PMID- 20923368
TI  - Impact of Swiss needle-cast on growth of Douglas-fir.
AB  - Phaeocryptopus gaeumannii, the cause of Swiss needle-cast, is widely distributed
      in plantations of Douglas-fir in many parts of the world. Nevertheless,
      information remains limited on its precise effect on stand growth, particularly
      in relation to regional climate, and on its consequent economic cost. In New
      Zealand, the spread of P. gaeumannii over a period of ~30 years following its
      discovery in 1959 was closely monitored, and the timing of its arrival in
      different forests is known. This information was coupled with data from permanent
      sample plots in order to quantify the associated historical growth increment
      loss. Analyses revealed a steady decline in growth rate over the period from the
      first appearance of P. gaeumannii to a point when it stabilized at a lower
      increment level 14 to 20 years later. The cumulative mean reduction was 25% for
      mean top height, 27% for basal area, and 32% for stem volume. Volume growth rate
      decline was greater in the North Island (35%) than the South Island (23%) of New
      Zealand. These reductions in volume growth are estimated to equate to a loss in
      net present value of $NZ2,620 ha(-1) and $NZ1,470 ha(-1) for the North and South
      Islands, respectively, using a discount rate of 6%. Mortality did not increase as
      a result of infection by P. gaeumannii. The disease had less effect on cooler
      sites, especially those with low spring minimum temperatures (P < 0.001).
      Negligible growth decline occurred on sites with daily minimum October
      temperatures averaging <3.2 degrees C.

PMID- 20923367
TI  - Genetic analysis of streptomycin-resistant (Sm(R)) strains of Erwinia amylovora
      suggests that dissemination of two genotypes is responsible for the current
      distribution of Sm(R) E. amylovora in Michigan.
AB  - Streptomycin-resistant (Sm(R)) strains of the fire blight pathogen Erwinia
      amylovora were first isolated in southwest Michigan in 1991. Since that time,
      resistant strains have progressed northward to other apple-producing regions in
      the state. A total of 98.7% of Sm(R) strains isolated between 2003 and 2009 in
      Michigan harbored the strA-strB genes on transposon Tn5393. strA and strB encode
      phosphotransferase enzymes that modify streptomycin to a nonbactericidal form.
      Mutational resistance to streptomycin, caused by a point mutation-mediated target
      site alteration of the ribosomal S12 protein, occurred in 1.3% of E. amylovora
      strains from Michigan. Tn5393 was originally introduced to E. amylovora on the
      plasmid pEa34; thus, the first Sm(R) strains isolated contained both pEa34 and
      the ubiquitous nonconjugative plasmid pEA29. More recently, we have observed
      Sm(R) strains in which Tn5393 is present on pEA29, suggesting that the transposon
      has moved via transposition from pEa34 to pEA29. Almost all of the strains
      containing Tn5393 on pEA29 had lost pEa34. Of 210 pEA29::Tn5393 plasmids
      examined, the transposon was inserted at either nucleotide position 1,515 or
      17,527. Both of these positions were in noncoding regions of pEA29. Comparative
      sequencing of the housekeeping genes groEL and potentially variable sequences on
      pEA29 was done in an attempt to genetically distinguish Sm(R) strains from
      streptomycin-sensitive (Sm(S)) strains isolated in Michigan. Only 1 nucleotide
      difference within the total 2,660 bp sequenced from each strain was observed in 2
      of 29 strains; multiple sequence differences were observed between the Michigan
      strains and E. amylovora control strains isolated in the western United States or
      from Rubus spp. Alterations in virulence observable using an immature pear fruit
      assay were detected in three of eight Sm(R) strains examined. Our current genetic
      data indicate that only two Sm(R) strain genotypes (strains containing
      pEA29::Tn5393 with Tn5393 inserted at either nucleotide position 1,515 or 17,527
      on the plasmid) are responsible for the dissemination of Tn5393-encoded
      streptomycin resistance in Michigan, and that the Sm(R) and Sm(S) strains in
      Michigan compose a homogenous group.

PMID- 20923369
TI  - Evaluation of kasugamycin for fire blight management, effect on nontarget
      bacteria, and assessment of kasugamycin resistance potential in Erwinia
      amylovora.
AB  - The emergence and spread of streptomycin-resistant strains of Erwinia amylovora
      in Michigan has necessitated the evaluation of new compounds effective for fire
      blight control. The aminoglycoside antibiotic kasugamycin (Ks) targets the
      bacterial ribosome and is particularly active against E. amylovora. The efficacy
      of Ks formulated as Kasumin 2L for control of fire blight was evaluated in six
      experiments conducted over four field seasons in our experimental orchards in
      East Lansing, MI. Blossom blight control was statistically equivalent to the
      industry standard streptomycin in all experiments. E. amylovora populations
      remained constant on apple flower stigmas pretreated with Kasumin and were ~100
      fold lower than on stigmas treated with water. Kasumin applied to apple trees in
      the field also resulted in a 100-fold reduced total culturable bacterial
      population compared with trees treated with water. We performed a prospective
      analysis of the potential for kasugamycin resistance (Ks(R)) development in E.
      amylovora which focused on spontaneous resistance development and acquisition of
      a transferrable Ks(R) gene. In replicated lab experiments, the development of
      spontaneous resistance in E. amylovora to Ks at 250 or 500 ppm was not observed
      when cells were directly plated on medium containing high concentrations of the
      antibiotic. However, exposure to increasing concentrations of Ks in media
      (initial concentration 25 MUg ml(-1)) resulted in the selection of Ks resistance
      (at 150 MUg ml(-1)) in the E. amylovora strains Ea110, Ea273, and Ea1189.
      Analysis of mutants indicated that they harbored mutations in the kasugamycin
      target ksgA gene and that all mutants were impacted in relative fitness
      observable through a reduced growth rate in vitro and decreased virulence in
      immature pear fruit. The possible occurrence of a reservoir of Ks(R) genes in
      orchard environments was also examined. Culturable gram-negative bacteria were
      surveyed from six experimental apple orchards that had received at least one
      Kasumin application. In total, 401 Ks(R) isolates (42 different species) were
      recovered from apple flowers and leaves and orchard soil samples. Although we
      have not established the presence of a transferrable Ks(R) gene in orchard
      bacteria, the frequency, number of species, and presence of Ks(R) enterobacterial
      species in orchard samples suggests the possible role of nontarget bacteria in
      the future transfer of a Ks(R) gene to E. amylovora. Our data confirm the
      importance of kasugamycin as an alternate antibiotic for fire blight management
      and lay the groundwork for the development and incorporation of resistance
      management strategies.

PMID- 20923370
TI  - Ustekinumab, a human interleukin-12/23 monoclonal antibody, in patients with
      psoriasis: a meta-analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the efficacy and safety of ustekinumab for psoriasis.
      METHODS: In this meta-analysis study, we searched The Cochrane Library (2009, 1
      issue), MEDLINE (1966 to March 2009), EMBASE (1974 to March 2009), and China
      Academic Journal Full-text Database (CNKI, 1994-2009/3), China Biomedical
      Literature Database (CBM, 1978-2009/3), Chinese Scientific Journals Database
      (VIP, 1989-2008/3), and Wan fang Database (1999-2009). The quality of included
      studies was critically evaluated. Data analyses were performed with the Cochrane
      Collaboration's RevMan 5.0 software. RESULTS: Three randomized controlled trials
      (RCTs) with a total of 2316 patients were included in the inclusion criteria. The
      meta-analysis showed significant improvement of the psoriasis area and severity
      index (PASI), dermatology life quality index (DLQI) score or physician's global
      assessment when receiving ustekinumab compared with patients receiving placebo,
      while significant differences were noted between the ustekinumab 45 mg group and
      the ustekinumab 90 mg group in these indexes. There was no statistical
      significance with regard to adverse effects. CONCLUSIONS: The present study
      showed ustekinumab to be safe and effective for patients with psoriasis. Future
      high-quality, long-treatment, placebo-controlled, double-blind trials are needed.

PMID- 20923371
TI  - Placental perivascular cells for human muscle regeneration.
AB  - Perivascular multipotent mesenchymal progenitors exist in a variety of tissues,
      including the placenta. Here, we suggest that the abundant vasculature present in
      the human placenta can serve as a source of myogenic cells to regenerate skeletal
      muscle. Chorionic villi dissected from the mid-gestation human placenta were
      first transplanted intact into the gastrocnemius muscles of SCID/mdx mice, where
      they participated in muscle regeneration by producing myofibers expressing human
      dystrophin and spectrin. In vitro-cultured placental villi released rapidly
      adhering and migratory CD146+CD34-CD45-CD56- cells of putative perivascular
      origin that expressed mesenchymal stem cell markers. CD146+CD34-CD45-CD56-
      perivascular cells isolated and purified from the placental villi by flow
      cytometry were indeed highly myogenic in culture, and generated dystrophin
      positive myofibers, and they promoted angiogenesis after transplantation into
      SCID/mdx mouse muscles. These observations confirm the existence of mesenchymal
      progenitor cells within the walls of human blood vessels, and suggest that the
      richly vascularized human placenta is an abundant source of perivascular myogenic
      cells able to migrate within dystrophic muscle and regenerate myofibers.

PMID- 20923372
TI  - Class I HLA-A*7401 is associated with protection from HIV-1 acquisition and
      disease progression in Mbeya, Tanzania.
AB  - Here we explore associations between HLA variation and human immunodeficiency
      virus type 1 (HIV-1) acquisition and disease progression in a community cohort in
      Mbeya, Tanzania, a region that, despite harboring high rates of HIV-1 infection,
      remains understudied. African-specific allele HLA-A*74:01 was associated with
      decreased risk of infection (odds ratio [OR], 0.37; 95% confidence interval [CI],
      0.14-0.80; P = .011) and with protection from CD4(+) cell counts <200 cells/uL in
      women (OR, 0.31; 95% CI, 0.07-0.91; P = .032) and men (OR, 0.15; 95% CI, 0.01
      0.78; P = .020). These associations remained significant after adjustment for
      linkage disequilibrium with HLA-B and HLA-C alleles. This observation calls for
      additional investigation of mechanisms by which HLA-A*74:01 may influence HIV-1
      acquisition and control of the infection.

PMID- 20923373
TI  - Antiretroviral adherence and development of drug resistance are the strongest
      predictors of genital HIV-1 shedding among women initiating treatment.
AB  - Persistent genital human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) shedding among
      women receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART) may present a transmission risk. We
      investigated the associations between genital HIV-1 suppression after ART
      initiation and adherence, resistance, pretreatment CD4 cell count, and hormonal
      contraceptive use. First-line ART was initiated in 102 women. Plasma and genital
      HIV-1 RNA levels were measured at months 0, 3, and 6. Adherence was a strong and
      consistent predictor of genital HIV-1 suppression (P < .001), whereas genotypic
      resistance was associated with higher vaginal HIV-1 RNA level at month 6 (P =
      .04). These results emphasize the importance of adherence to optimize the
      potential benefits of ART for reducing HIV-1 transmission risk.

PMID- 20923374
TI  - Efficacy of CMX001 against herpes simplex virus infections in mice and
      correlations with drug distribution studies.
AB  - CMX001, an orally active lipid conjugate of cidofovir, is 50 times more active in
      vitro against herpes simplex virus (HSV) replication than acyclovir or cidofovir.
      These studies compared the efficacy of CMX001 to acyclovir in BALB/c mice
      inoculated intranasally with HSV types 1 or 2. CMX001 was effective in reducing
      mortality using doses of 5 to 1.25 mg/kg administered orally once daily, even
      when treatments were delayed 48-72 h post viral inoculation. Organ samples
      obtained from mice treated with CMX001 had titers 3-5 log(10) plaque-forming
      units per gram of tissue lower than samples obtained from mice treated with
      acyclovir, including 5 different regions of the brain. Detectable concentrations
      of drug-related radioactivity were documented in the central nervous system of
      mice after oral administration of (14)C-CMX001. These studies indicate that
      CMX001 penetrates the blood-brain barrier, is a potent inhibitor of HSV
      replication in disseminated infections and central nervous system infections, and
      is superior to acyclovir.

PMID- 20923375
TI  - Interrater reliability of the Physical Ability Scale for patients after stroke: a
      pilot study.
AB  - This study aimed to evaluate the interrater reliability of the Physical Ability
      Scale (PAS) and secondly to test the statistical methods to analyse the scoring.
      Williamson ( 1993a ) stated that the PAS measures the degree of compatibility of
      the trunk with gravity and the supporting surface through investigation of limb,
      head, and posture in five different positions, each with six levels of ability.
      Four experienced physiotherapists observed a video of 10 inpatients from a
      general hospital stroke unit being assessed with the PAS up to 5 months after a
      stroke. The intraclass coefficient (ICC) for the total scores was 0.7 (95% CI
      0.35-0.91) with the highest individual position scores in standing 0.86 (95% CI
      0.68-0.96) and long sitting 0.74 (95% CI 0.46-0.92). The ICC for the levels of
      ability indicated good agreement in standing 0.79 (95% CI 0.55-0.93) and long
      sitting 0.77 (95% CI 0.52-0.93). Kappa values for each body part yielded the
      highest values in long sitting (0.62) and standing (0.56). Interrater reliability
      is variable, with the greatest level of agreement in long sitting and standing
      but with poor to fair agreement in sitting, prone, and supine. The study has also
      shown that the scoring can be analysed to yield meaningful repeatable results.
      Further investigation is needed to examine validity and reliability with a larger
      sample of diverse ability, therapists with varying clinical experience, and with
      direct observation of the assessment.

PMID- 20923377
TI  - Wire-guided selective cannulation of the bile duct with a sphincterotome: a
      prospective randomized comparative study with the standard method.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Wire-guided cannulation (WGC) is expected to reduce the incidence of
      post-ERCP pancreatitis (PEP). Our aim was to compare the incidence of PEP and the
      success rate of deep biliary cannulation using WGC or the standard cannulation
      method with contrast injection (STD). MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total of 172 cases
      with an intact papilla were randomized into the STD group (n = 86) and the WGC
      group (n = 86). First a trainee endoscopist attempted the cannulation and if it
      was not successful, an expert endoscopist tried. When the cannulation was not
      successful within 10 min, the other method was conducted as a second attempt. The
      primary endpoint was the incidence of PEP and the secondary endpoint was the
      success rate of selective cannulation. RESULTS: In successful cases, PEP occurred
      in 6.5% in the STD group and 3.0% in the WGC group in the first attempt. Overall
      rate of PEP was 6.0% (3, mild; 1, moderate and 1, severe) in the STD group and
      2.3% (2, mild) in the WGC group, which were not significantly different.
      Selective cannulation rate in the first attempt was 73.8% in the STD group and
      77.9% in the WGC group. After a crossover, the cannulation was successful in the
      second attempt in 36.4% and 42.1% and finally in 95.2% and 100% by the STD and
      WGC method, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of PEP tended to be lower in
      the WGC method compared to the STD method. In addition, all cases of pancreatitis
      in the WGC group were mild. The success rate of cannulation was comparable
      between two groups.

PMID- 20923378
TI  - Colonoscope with a sub-distal hyper-flaccid segment for improved insertion at
      colonoscopy: a randomized study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In sharp bends, particularly in the colonic flexures, the axial
      pushing force conveyed to the distal actively bending tip of the endoscope may
      cause impaction rather than progression. It is hypothesized that colonoscopes
      with a very flaccid segment immediately proximal to the distal bending tip might
      reduce this problem. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Two prototype colonoscopes with a
      flaccid passively bending segment (either progressively graded or ungraded
      flaccidity) positioned immediately proximal to the distal actively bending tip
      was evaluated in a single-blinded randomized study. The primary end-point was
      patients' evaluation of pain. RESULTS: Altogether, 400 patients were randomized
      1:1 to examination with a prototype (60 patients to endoscope with graded
      flaccidity; 141 to the endoscope with ungraded flaccidity) or a standard
      colonoscope. The groups were similar regarding age, sex and previous abdominal
      surgery. Severe pain was reported by 7% of patients in the prototype and 18% in
      the standard group (p = 0.001). There was a trend toward shorter cecal intubation
      time in the prototype group (mean 14.1 min, 95% CI 12.8-15.3) compared to the
      standard group (mean 15.5 min, 95% CI 14.3-16.7) (p = 0.12) and similar
      intubation rates (89% and 85%, respectively). Results for first (ungraded
      flaccidity) and second (graded flaccidity) generation prototypes collectively
      were similar to the second generation separately. CONCLUSIONS: The concept of an
      endoscope with a hyper-flaccid segment may facilitate negotiation of sharp bends
      and reduce pain without compromising cecal intubation rate or intubation time.

PMID- 20923379
TI  - Retrograde double balloon enteroscopy: comparing performance of solely retrograde
      versus combined same-day anterograde and retrograde procedure.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Retrograde double balloon enteroscopy (DBE) is important for
      evaluating the distal small bowel, but it is more challenging compared to the
      oral route. Optimizing small bowel insertion may enhance the diagnostic utility
      of the examination. We sought to determine if insertion depths achieved with
      retrograde DBE when performed as an isolated procedure differed significantly
      from when performed immediately following anterograde DBE. MATERIAL AND METHODS:
      A retrospective analysis was conducted of all retrograde DBE procedures performed
      at our center with comparisons made between "distal-only" DBE without preceding
      anterograde DBE and "combined" DBE after a prior same-day anterograde DBE.
      RESULTS: Two hundred ninety retrograde DBE procedures were performed in 264
      patients over 5 years. Success of terminal ileal intubation exceeded 95%. The
      mean insertion depth into the distal small bowel differed significantly with 112
      cm (95% CI 95-129) in the "distal-only" group and 92 cm (95% CI 85-98) in the
      "combined" group (p = 0.01), with a trend toward a corresponding increased
      diagnostic yield of 48% versus 37%, respectively (p = 0.15). Multivariate
      regression analysis identified both insertion route strategy (distal-only >
      combined; p = 0.01) and type of DBE endoscope (diagnostic > therapeutic; p =
      0.02) as significant predictors of retrograde insertion depth. CONCLUSIONS: The
      insertion depth of retrograde DBE is significantly greater when carried out as a
      separate distal procedure and not in combination with a preceding anterograde
      DBE, and when performed using a diagnostic as opposed to the therapeutic DBE
      endoscope. This increased retrograde depth of insertion may be associated with an
      increased diagnostic yield.

PMID- 20923380
TI  - The relationship between p27(kip1) expression and the change of radiosensitivity
      of esophageal carcinoma cells.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Radioresistance is considered the main reason for therapeutic failure
      in radiotherapy of esophageal carcinoma. However, the underlying mechanisms of
      radioresistance remain elusive. The purpose of this study was to investigate the
      relationship between p27(kip1) expression and the change of radiosensitivity of
      esophageal carcinoma cells. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Radioresistant cells were
      gradually isolated by means of repeated gamma-ray irradiation upon esophageal
      carcinoma cells. The radiosensitivity of established radioresistant cells and
      parental cells was measured by standard colony-forming assay. Cell cycle was
      detected by flow cytometry. Western blot method was performed to identify the
      expression of p27(kip1). RESULTS: Colony-forming assay showed that the
      radioresistant cells had obvious radioresistance. Percentage of the
      radioresistant cells at G(0)/G(1) and G(2)/M phase was significantly decreased,
      and the percentage of S phase cells was significantly increased compared with the
      parent cells (p < 0.05). Western blotting revealed that p27(kip1) expression of
      the radioresistant cells was lower than that of parent cells. CONCLUSIONS: Our
      results suggest that cell phase change due to the decrease of p27(kip1)
      expression is one of the mechanisms of radioresistance in esophageal carcinoma
      cells.

PMID- 20923381
TI  - Phlebotomy in the treatment of primary biliary cirrhosis.

PMID- 20923382
TI  - Long-term outcome of infliximab therapy is highly comparable in a Danish and in a
      Hungarian tertiary center.

PMID- 20923383
TI  - Comparison of radical and partial nephrectomy in terms of renal function: a
      retrospective cohort study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate kidney function following radical or
      partial nephrectomy and to evaluate the role of two common chronic diseases,
      hypertension (HT) and diabetes mellitus (DM), on glomerular filtration rate (GFR)
      in the long term. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Data on 488 patients who underwent
      surgery for renal tumours between 1994 and 2008 were investigated. Patient
      characteristics and estimated GFR, history of DM or HT, tumour size and new-onset
      decrease in GFR were recorded. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression
      was used to investigate whether the two types of operation were associated with
      chronic kidney failure after surgery, and the outcome was adjusted for age,
      gender, HT, DM and tumour size. p Values less than 0.05 was regarded as
      significant. RESULTS: Seventeen patients (18.9%) in group 1 and 176 (68%) in
      group 2 developed new onset of GFR < 60 ml/min/1.73 m(2). Three patients (2.9%)
      in group 1 and 137 (37.2%) in group 2 developed new onset of GFR < 45 ml/min/1.73
      m(2) (p < 0.05). HT was associated with new-onset chronic renal failure in the
      radical nephrectomy group (hazard ratio 1.39, 95% confidence interval 1.028
      1.890). CONCLUSION: After surgical treatment of renal masses, patients are at
      risk for development of chronic renal failure. A decrease in GFR was detected in
      both partial and radical nephrectomy, the latter associated with increased risk,
      especially in hypertensive patients. Routine praxis of radical nephrectomy should
      be overviewed.

PMID- 20923384
TI  - Impaired nerve growth factor homeostasis in patients with bipolar disorder.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Neuro-trophins are critically involved in neuro-plasticity, the
      impairment of which is a major role-player in bipolar disorder (BD), and their
      altered levels have been recently advocated in the patho-physiology of this
      affective malady. The aim of this study, therefore, was to evaluate the plasma
      levels of nerve growth factor (NGF) in BD patients in comparison with control
      subjects. METHODS: Forty-nine BD type-I individuals (30 in mania and 19 in
      euthymia) and 36 healthy controls were assessed by Mini-plus, Young mania and
      Hamilton depression rating scales. NGF levels were detected by ELISA. RESULTS:
      Plasma NGF concentrations were decreased in BD patients when compared to that
      seen with controls. BD individuals in mania had lower NGF levels than euthymic
      patients or controls. NGF levels were negatively correlated with the severity of
      mania. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study to evaluate NGF levels in BD
      patients, providing further support to the hypothesis of impaired neuro
      plasticity in BD. These data also suggest that NGF measurement could be used for
      the biological marker for manic state.

PMID- 20923385
TI  - Levalbuterol versuss levalbuterol plus ipratropium in the treatment of severe
      acute asthma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The National Asthma Education and Prevention Program (NAEPP) Expert
      Panel Report 3 guidelines advise the addition of ipratropium bromide to short
      acting beta-agonist therapy for the treatment of patients with severe acute
      asthma exacerbation. METHODS: This was a prospective, double-blind, randomized,
      controlled study involving 141 adults, presenting to two EDs with acute severe
      asthma exacerbation. Patients were treated using a standardized pathway with
      levalbuterol plus ipratropium or levalbuterol alone. Primary outcomes were
      changes from baseline in the percentage of predicted forced expiratory volume in
      1 second (FEV1) at 30 minutes and 60 minutes after completion of treatment.
      Secondary outcomes included hospitalization and relapse rates. Occurrence of
      adverse events was recorded. RESULTS: Sixty-seven patients in the levalbuterol
      plus ipratropium group and 74 patients in the levalbuterol group completed the
      study. Overall, there was no significant difference in the improvement in percent
      predicted FEV1 between the two groups at 30 minutes [difference in change between
      study groups at 30 minutes: 1% (95% CI: ?3 to 2%) or at 60 minutes: 3% (95% CI: 1
      6%)] No difference was noted in hospitalization rates between the treatment
      groups [combination therapy group, 33%; single therapy group, 47%, difference: 
      14% (95% CI: -30 to 20%)]. Post-hoc analysis revealed that patients receiving
      ipratropium in addition to levalbuterol were 1.5 times more likely to experience
      side effects (palpitations) than patients treated with levalbuterol alone (RR
      1.5; 95% CI: 1.2-1.9) No differences in relapse rates were noted between the
      groups. Post-hoc analysis revealed more side effects in patients receiving
      levalbuterol plus ipratropium. CONCLUSION: We were unable to demonstrate
      superiority of adding ipratropium to levalbuterol in alleviating obstruction as
      measured by FEV1 or in decreasing the need for hospitalization among adult
      patients presenting to the ED with acute severe asthma exacerbation.

PMID- 20923387
TI  - Synthesis and in vitro characterization of a novel PAA-ATP conjugate.
AB  - The objective of this study was to improve the multifunctional properties of
      poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) by covalent attachment of 4-aminothiophenol (ATP) to its
      backbone. The permeation enhancing effect of PAA-ATP together with glutathione
      was evaluated in Ussing-type chambers using fluorescein isothiocyanate dextran as
      model compound. The mucoadhesive properties were evaluated in vitro on freshly
      excised porcine intestinal mucosa through the rotating cylinder method. The
      resulting conjugates PAA-ATP1 and PAA-ATP2 displayed 168 +/- 35 and 426 +/- 55
      MUmol immobilized free thiol groups per gram polymer, respectively. In addition,
      279 +/- 28 and 139 +/- 22 MUmol disulfide bonds per gram polymer, respectively,
      were identified on PAA-ATP1 and PAA-ATP2. Within disintegration studies in
      aqueous buffer solution, the modified polymers showed improved cohesive
      properties. Because of the immobilization of ATP, the swelling of PAA-ATP1 and
      PAA-ATP2 improved 12.0- and 17.8-fold, respectively. The adhesion times of the
      conjugates PAA-ATP1 and PAA-ATP2 were more than 20- and 30-fold increased in
      comparison to unmodified PAA. Furthermore, conjugates PAA-ATP1 and PAA-ATP2
      exhibited a 1.86- and 2.07-fold higher permeation enhancing effect, respectively,
      over unmodified PAA. According to these results, PAA-ATP conjugates represent a
      very promising novel type of thiomer for the development of various mucoadhesive
      drug delivery systems.

PMID- 20923388
TI  - Formulation development and in vitro evaluation of didanosine-loaded
      nanostructured lipid carriers for the potential treatment of AIDS dementia
      complex.
AB  - The purpose of this article was to investigate the feasibility of incorporating
      didanosine (DDI) into nanostructured lipid carriers (NLC) for potential treatment
      of AIDS dementia complex. Aqueous DDI-free and DDI-loaded NLC were manufactured
      using hot high-pressure homogenization. The lipid matrix contained a mixture of
      Precirol(r) ATO 5 and Transcutol(r) HP. Photon correlation spectroscopy revealed
      that the mean particle size for all formulations was below 250 nm with narrow
      polydispersity indices. In addition, the d99% values for all formulations
      determined using laser diffractometry were below 400 nm with the span values
      ranging from 0.84 to 1.0. The zeta potential values ranged from -18.4 to -11.4 mV
      and the encapsulation efficiency of NLC for DDI ranged from 33.02% to 78.34%.
      These parameters remained relatively constant for all formulations tested
      following storage for 2 months at 25 degrees C indicating that all the
      formulations were relatively stable. Differential scanning calorimetry revealed a
      decrease in the degree of crystallinity of NLC in all formulations developed
      relative to the bulk lipid material. In addition, wide-angle X-ray scattering
      showed that NLC in all formulations tested existed in a single beta-modification
      form and that DDI that had been incorporated into the NLC appeared to be
      molecularly dispersed in the lipid matrices. Images of the NLC formulations
      obtained using transmission electron microscopy revealed that all formulations
      contained a mixture of spherical and nonspherical particles irrespective of the
      amount of DDI that was added during the manufacture of the formulations.

PMID- 20923389
TI  - In vitro and in vivo evaluation of hydrophilic and hydrophobic polymers-based
      nicorandil-loaded peroral tablet compared with its once-daily commercial
      sustained-release tablet.
AB  - CONTEXT: Hydrophilic and hydrophobic polymer-based nicorandil (10 mg)-loaded
      peroral tablets were prepared using the wet granulation technique. The influence
      of varying amounts of hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) (30-50 mg),
      ethylcellulose (2-4 mg), microcrystalline cellulose (5-20 mg) and Aerosil(r) (5
      12 mg) in conjunction with the constant amounts (3 mg) of glidant and lubricant
      (magnesium stearate and talc) on the in vitro performances of the tablets
      (hardness, friability, weight variation, thickness uniformity, drug content, and
      drug release behavior) were investigated. OBJECTIVE: The objectives of this study
      were (i) to select a nicorandil-loaded peroral tablet that matched the in vitro
      dissolution profile of once-daily commercial sustained-release tablet, and (ii)
      to compare the in vivo sustaining/controlling efficacy of the selected peroral
      tablet with that of its commercial counterparts. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Because
      the nicorandil (10 mg)-loaded tablet prepared based on F-IX composition (50 mg
      HPMC, 4 mg ethylcellulose, 10 mg MCC and 3 mg glidant and lubricant) showed a
      release profile comparable to that of the Nikoran(r) OD SR tablet release
      profile, the tablet with this composition was considered to be the
      optimized/selected formulation and, therefore, was subjected to stability study
      and in vivo study in rabbits. Despite of the higher C(max) and AUC values
      obtained with the optimized tablet, there was no sign of difference between the
      optimized- and Nikoran(r) OD SR- tablets following a single-dose crossover oral
      administration into rabbit. CONCLUSION: The optimized tablet could be used as an
      alternative to the commercial once-daily tablet.

PMID- 20923390
TI  - The application of atomic absorption spectrometry for the determination of
      residual active pharmaceutical ingredients in cleaning validation samples.
AB  - The objective of this work was the development and validation of atomic
      absorption spectrometric (AAS) methods for the determination of residual active
      pharmaceutical ingredients (API) in rinse samples for cleaning validation. AAS as
      an indirect method for the determination of API in rinse samples can be applied
      when it is in the form of salt with metal ions or when the metal ion is a part of
      the API's structure. The electrothermal AAS methods (aqueous and ethanol medium)
      for the determination of magnesium in esomeprazole magnesium and the flame AAS
      method for the determination of lithium in lithium carbonate in rinse samples
      were developed. Various combinations of solvents were tested and a combination of
      1% aqueous or ethanol solution of nitric acid for esomeprazole magnesium and 0.1%
      aqueous solution of nitric acid for lithium carbonate were found to be the most
      suitable. The atomization conditions in the graphite furnace and in the flame
      were carefully studied to avoid losses of analyte and to achieve suitable
      sensitivity. The cleaning verification methods were validated with respect to
      accuracy, precision, linearity, limit of detection, and quantification. In all
      the cases, the limits of detection were at the microgram level. The methods were
      successfully applied for the determination of esomeprazole magnesium and lithium
      carbonate in rinse samples from cleaning procedures.

PMID- 20923391
TI  - Automated actuation of nasal spray products: determination and comparison of
      adult and pediatric settings.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine and compare patient-relevant settings for automated nasal
      spray actuation stations from adult and pediatric hand data. METHODS: Twenty
      adults and 20 pediatric participants were asked to spray Flonase((r)) Nasal Spray
      six times in a Hand Actuation Monitor, which records force and displacement data
      in 5-ms increments. Settings for force- and velocity-controlled actuation
      stations were determined from the data using a predefined set of calculations.
      RESULTS: For force-controlled settings, hand spraying by children resulted in
      lower actuation forces, and longer force rise, hold and fall times. Pediatric
      velocity-controlled actuator settings were lower for travel, compression
      velocity, and release velocity compared with adults. The pediatric spray weight
      recorded during hand spraying was significantly lower than the spray weight
      generated by adult participants. Adult participants were able to generate full
      sprays with each attempt, whereas 11 out of 120 actuations performed by pediatric
      participants resulted in partial and 'no spray' events. No differences in spray
      weight were detected in participants who chose to actuate the nasal spray using
      both hands. CONCLUSIONS: A predefined set of calculations was used to determine
      patient-relevant settings from force and displacement hand data for force- and
      velocity-controlled automated actuation stations. This study determined and
      quantified, for the first time, the differences in hand spraying between adults
      and children.

PMID- 20923392
TI  - Bioscavenger therapy for organophosphate poisoning - an open-labeled pilot
      randomized trial comparing fresh frozen plasma or albumin with saline in acute
      organophosphate poisoning in humans.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Traditional treatment of organophosphate poisoning (OP) with oximes
      has had limited success. Fresh frozen plasma (FFP) or albumin, acting as
      bioscavengers to mop up free organophosphate, has been recently proposed as a
      treatment modality. In this pilot open-label, three-arm, randomized controlled
      study exploring proof of concept, we evaluated if bioscavenger therapy had a role
      in OP. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Sixty patients with significant poisoning presenting
      within 12 hours, with suppression of pseudocholinesterase activity to < 1,000
      U/L, were randomized to receive FFP (8 bags, 250 mL each over 3 days), 20% human
      albumin (4 * 100 mL over 3 days), or saline (2,000 mL over 3 days) in addition to
      atropine and supportive care. Pseudocholinesterase and organophosphate levels
      were measured pretreatment, post-infusion (Day 2, Day 3), and predischarge and
      expressed as mean +/- standard error. The incidence of intermediate syndrome,
      need for mechanical ventilation, atropine requirement, and mortality were
      assessed. RESULTS: Twenty patients received albumin and 19 patients each FFP or
      saline. FFP increased pseudocholinesterase levels (250 +/- 44-1,241 +/- 364 U/L)
      significantly (p = 0.007). Small, nonsignificant increases were observed with
      saline (160 +/- 30-259 +/- 78) and albumin (146 +/- 18-220 +/- 61).
      Organophosphate levels reduced in all 3 arms; no clear-cut trends were observed.
      We observed more cases of intermediate syndrome with FFP [10/19 (53%) vs. 5/20
      (25%) vs. 5/19 (26%), FFP, albumin, and saline arms (p = 0.15)]. The
      interventions did not affect ventilatory requirements (14/19 vs. 15/20 vs. 14/19)
      or prevent delayed intubation. There were no differences in mean (+/-standard
      error) atropine requirement (in milligrams) in the first 3 days (536 +/- 132 vs.
      361 +/- 125 vs. 789 +/- 334) and duration (in days) of ventilation (10.0 +/- 2.1
      vs. 7.1 +/- 1.5 vs. 7.5 +/- 1.5) or hospital stay (12.4 +/- 2.2 vs. 9.8 +/- 1.4
      vs. 9.8 +/- 1.6). Two patients developed adverse effects with FFP. Mortality was
      similar (4/19 vs. 5/20 vs. 2/19, p = 0.6). CONCLUSIONS: Despite significant
      increase in pseudocholinesterase levels with FFP, this pilot study did not
      demonstrate favorable trends in clinical outcomes with FFP or albumin.

PMID- 20923393
TI  - Should phenytoin or barbiturates be used as second-line anticonvulsant therapy
      for toxicological seizures?
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Seizures are a common sequela of self-poisoning. However, their
      mechanism differs from seizures of other etiologies. Toxicological seizures
      result from alterations in the excitatory and inhibitory balance of otherwise
      normal neurons. In contrast, idiopathic or trauma related seizures usually start
      with a focus of abnormal neurons. For both forms of seizures, benzodiazepines are
      recommended as first-line therapy; however, there is debate about the use of
      phenytoin or barbiturates for second-line therapy. METHODS AND RESULTS: In this
      article, we systematically review the evidence for the use of these drugs as
      second-line therapy for toxicological seizures. Barbiturates complement the
      anticonvulsant effect of benzodiazepines at the GABAA receptor by increasing the
      duration of chloride channel opening; phenytoin blocks voltage-dependent sodium
      channels to inhibit propagation from active electrical foci, an effect more
      useful for nontoxicological seizures. We found no randomized controlled trial
      comparing phenytoin and barbiturates in toxicological seizures refractory to
      benzodiazepines; similarly no trial was found comparing the use of these drugs in
      nonpoisoned patients. Animal studies indicate that phenobarbital has greater
      effectiveness than phenytoin for many poisons; a few case reports suggest a
      better response in patients. CONCLUSION: Despite the lack of high-quality
      clinical trial data, pharmacological knowledge and animal studies suggest that
      phenobarbital or thiopentone should be second-line agents for controlling
      toxicological seizures. The role of newer agents such as propofol and
      levetiracetam in toxicological seizures is currently unclear because of a lack of
      clinical or animal studies.

PMID- 20923394
TI  - Methomyl-alphamethrin poisoning presented with cholinergic crisis, cortical
      blindness, and delayed peripheral neuropathy.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Methomyl-alphamethrin is a mixture of carbamate and pyrethroid
      insecticides. Carbamate insecticides function as reversible cholinesterase
      inhibitors, which may produce life-threatening cholinergic syndrome. Cortical
      blindness and delayed neuropathy were rarely reported complications of carbamate
      insecticide exposures. Here we reported a case of intentional methomyl
      alphamethrin ingestion. CASE REPORT: A 41-year-old woman attempted suicide by
      drinking 200 mL of methomyl-alphamethrin insecticide and soon presented with
      unconsciousness, hypothermia, and shock. She developed pulseless electrical
      activity and regained spontaneous circulation after resuscitation. Diagnosis of
      carbamate poisoning was made by her clinical features, decreased levels of
      cholinesterases and the presence of methomyl in her urine. She complained of
      blurred vision and blindness 4 days post-exposure. Visual evoked potential and
      brain magnetic resonance imaging study confirmed the diagnosis of cortical
      blindness. On day 21, she had low limbs numbness, progressive weakness, and right
      foot drop. Electophysiological tests performed on day 27 revealed neuropathy of
      bilateral peroneal nerves. CONCLUSION: We reported a patient who manifested
      severe carbamate insecticide poisoning and developed cortical blindness and
      delayed neuropathy. Physicians should be aware of these rare toxicities among
      patients with severe carbamate insecticide poisoning.

PMID- 20923395
TI  - Health impact of unicellular algae of the Ostreopsis genus blooms in the
      Mediterranean Sea: experience of the French Mediterranean coast surveillance
      network from 2006 to 2009.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Ostreopsis ovata and Ostreopsis siamensis are tropical unicellular
      algae that have been found recently in the Mediterranean. Both of these
      dinoflagellates produce palytoxin (PTX)-like toxins that are powerful
      vasoconstrictors in mammals. Since 2003, Ostreopsis blooms in Italy and Spain
      have been accompanied by reports of respiratory problems and skin/mucosa
      irritation in persons in contact with toxic microalgal cells (epiphytes,
      plankton, or sea spray) or associated toxins. METHODS: In France, a surveillance
      network has been set up to monitor water conditions and to protect swimmers from
      contamination due to Ostreopsis. RESULTS: Between 2006 and 2009, a total of nine
      blooms were observed on the French Mediterranean coast including five that led to
      manifestations in divers, swimmers, and shoreline inhabitants. A total of 47
      patients presented symptoms of involving benign or mild skin, mucosal, and/or
      respiratory irritation that regressed spontaneously without treatment within 12
      72 h (4-12 h with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs). During the study period,
      five beaches were temporarily closed. DISCUSSION: In the Mediterranean,
      Ostreopsis blooms induce skin and respiratory disorders when human beings are
      exposed to saltwater with a high concentration of algal cells. However, palytoxin
      dosages carried out on the food chain (urchins, mussels) indicate that this risk
      of toxins accumulation in seafood must be taken into account and that the
      surveillance network should be upgraded accordingly.

PMID- 20923396
TI  - A case of black urine and dark skin - cresol poisoning.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Cresol is a phenol derivative used as a disinfectant worldwide.
      Acute cresol poisoning is potentially fatal as it may cause multiple organ
      failure. We present a case of acute cresol intoxication in a male patient to
      illustrate the effects of cresol poisoning. CASE: A 42-year-old male presented
      with black urine, painless brownish dermal burns, and a strong carbolic acid
      odor. The patient was immediately resuscitated with adequate oxygenation and
      aggressive fluid resuscitation. He was subsequently admitted to the intensive
      care unit, where his treatment course was complicated by pneumonia,
      gastrointestinal bleeding, hepatic dysfunction, and acute renal failure. After
      receiving supportive intensive care, the patient recovered and was discharged
      with no sequelae. CONCLUSION: The distinctive clinical features of this case may
      be useful in diagnosis, because laboratory analytical methods for cresols are not
      routinely available at most hospitals.

PMID- 20923398
TI  - Solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs) derived from para-acyl-calix[9]-arene:
      preparation and stability.
AB  - A study of the parameters relating to the preparation of para-acyl-calix[9]arene
      based solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs) has been undertaken. Dynamic light
      scattering and electron microscopy have shown that the particle size varies
      between 85 and 215 nm depending on the acyl chain length. Parameters, including
      the organic solvent, amphiphile concentration and the presence of a co-surfactant
      affect the size of the SLNs obtained significantly. In contrast, stirring speed
      and solution viscosity have no effect. The ionic strength of the suspension has
      been shown to affect SLN stability in a salt-dependent manner. Ultrasonic and
      ultraviolet and 80&#x00B0;C treatment of the SLN suspensions have no effect on
      the SLN stability. The SLNs are unstable with respect to
      freezing&#x2013;defreezing cycles, but can be reconstituted using mono- or
      disaccharides as cryoprotectants. Importantly, the temporal stability of these
      suspensions in water has been shown to be superior to 6 months. With regard to
      protein interactions, no SLN aggregation was observed in the presence of human
      serum albumin, with formation of a monolayer of albumin on the surface of the
      SLNs. Encapsulation was shown using acridine as a fluorescent probe.

PMID- 20923399
TI  - Incorporation of obidoxime into human serum albumin nanoparticles: optimisation
      of preparation parameters for the development of a stable formulation.
AB  - Intoxication with organophosphorous nerve agents such as paraoxon requires
      immediate administration of antidotes such as oximes. However, the oximes lack
      sufficient activity in the central nervous system as they are unable to rapidly
      penetrate the blood-brain barrier (BBB) in therapeutically relevant
      concentrations. Human serum albumin (HSA) nanoparticles represent a promising
      drug carrier system for the transport of drugs across the BBB. This study
      focussed on the development of an obidoxime-loaded nanoparticles prepared by
      desolvation using an incorporation technique. The nanoparticle preparation
      parameters, i.e. drug amount, pH value, ethanol volume and crosslinking degree,
      were optimised. The in vitro release study showed a sustained release profile,
      indicating the suitability of the developed formulation for the transport of
      oximes across the BBB.

PMID- 20923397
TI  - Keeping it in the family: diverse histone recognition by conserved structural
      folds.
AB  - Epigenetic regulation of gene transcription relies on an array of recurring
      structural domains that have evolved to recognize post-translational
      modifications on histones. The roles of bromodomains, PHD fingers, and the Royal
      family domains in the recognition of histone modifications to direct
      transcription have been well characterized. However, only through recent
      structural studies has it been realized that these basic folds are capable of
      interacting with increasingly more complex histone modification landscapes,
      illuminating how nature has concocted a way to accomplish more with less. Here we
      review the recent biochemical and structural studies of several conserved folds
      that recognize modified as well as unmodified histone sequences, and discuss
      their implications on gene expression.

PMID- 20923400
TI  - Liposomes and lipopolymeric carriers for gene delivery.
AB  - In this work we have examined the ability of various lipopolyplexes to deliver
      genes into liver cancer cells. We evaluated different parameters such as the
      protocol of preparation, the lipid/DNA molar ratio, and the molecular weight and
      type of PEI, to optimize the formulation to achieve high transfection activity.
      Our hypothesis was that the association of PEI with cationic liposomes
      (lipopolyplexes) would increase luciferase expression compared to lipoplexes
      (cationic lipid and DNA) and polyplexes (cationic polymer and DNA) alone.

PMID- 20923403
TI  - The leptin system: a potential target for sepsis induced immune suppression.
AB  - Sepsis, which is defined as a systemic inflammatory response syndrome that occurs
      during infection, is associated with several clinical conditions and high
      mortality rates. As sepsis progresses immune paralysis can become severe, leaving
      an already vulnerable patient ill equipped to eradicate primary or secondary
      infections. At present the predominant treatments for sepsis have not
      demonstrated convincing efficacy of decreased mortality. During sepsis, it has
      been observed that leptin levels initially increase but subsequently decline. A
      body of evidence has demonstrated that central or systemic leptin can
      beneficially regulate immune function. In this report expression of leptin and
      its receptor, signaling, and function on leukocytes will be reviewed.
      Furthermore, the effects mediated by central and systemic leptin during sepsis
      will be reviewed. Altogether, the ability of leptin to beneficially enhance
      inflammation and the host response during sepsis supports its use as a
      therapeutic agent, particularly during the latter phases of the syndrome.

PMID- 20923402
TI  - PKC-theta is a drug target for prevention of T cell-mediated autoimmunity and
      allograft rejection.
AB  - Protein kinase C theta (PKC-theta) is a key kinase in mediating T cell receptor
      (TCR) signals. PKC-theta activated by T cell receptor (TCR) engagement
      translocates to immunological synapses and regulates the activation of
      transcriptional factors NFkappaB, AP-1, and NFAT. These transcription factors
      then activate target genes such as IL-2. T cells deficient in PKC-theta display
      defects in T cell activation, survival, activation-induced cell death, and the
      differentiation into inflammatory T cells, such as Th2 and Th17 cells both in
      vitro and in vivo. Since these effector T helper cells are responsible for
      mediating autoimmunity, selective inhibition of PKC-theta is considered a
      treatment for prevention of autoimmune diseases and allograft rejection.

PMID- 20923401
TI  - Isoforms of vitamin E differentially regulate inflammation.
AB  - Vitamin E regulation of disease has been extensively studied in humans, animal
      models and cell systems. Most of these studies focus on the alpha-tocopherol
      isoform of vitamin E. These reports indicate contradictory outcomes for anti
      inflammatory functions of the alpha-tocopherol isoform of vitamin E, especially
      with regards to clinical studies of asthma and atherosclerosis. These seemingly
      disparate clinical results are consistent with recently reported unrecognized
      properties of isoforms of vitamin E. Recently, it has been reported that
      physiological levels of purified natural forms of vitamin E have opposing
      regulatory functions during inflammation. These opposing regulatory functions by
      physiological levels of vitamin E isoforms impact interpretations of previous
      studies on vitamin E. Moreover, additional recent studies also indicate that the
      effects of vitamin E isoforms on inflammation are only partially reversible using
      physiological levels of a vitamin E isoform with opposing immunoregulatory
      function. Thus, this further influences interpretations of previous studies with
      vitamin E in which there was inflammation and substantial vitamin E isoforms
      present before the initiation of the study. In summary, this review will discuss
      regulation of inflammation by vitamin E, including alternative interpretations of
      previous studies in the literature with regards to vitamin E isoforms.

PMID- 20923404
TI  - Wound-associated skin fibrosis: mechanisms and treatments based on modulating the
      inflammatory response.
AB  - Skin fibrosis, in its mildest form, may present only a minor aesthetic problem,
      but in the most severe cases it can lead to debilitating pathologies of the skin,
      for example keloid and hypertrophic scars, and systemic sclerosis. In recent
      years, extensive basic research aimed at understanding the molecular mechanisms
      underlying fibrosis has revealed an impressive but baffling number of genes,
      molecules, and cell types that may contribute to this problem. However, one
      recurring and consistent theme in these studies is that inflammatory cells and
      their secreted mediators appear to be leading culprits in activating dermal
      fibroblasts to become fibrotic. This review will first describe the histology of
      normal versus fibrotic skin, and will also describe the process of wound repair,
      a primary cause of skin fibrosis. We will then focus on what is currently known
      about the molecular mechanisms underlying skin fibrosis, with particular
      attention paid to how inflammation contributes. Finally, current treatment
      strategies and emerging therapeutic targets will be discussed.

PMID- 20923407
TI  - Sensorial strabismus due to congenital toxoplasmosis. Is it an eso- or exotropia?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To examine sensorial strabismus due to congenital toxoplasmosis to
      elucidate differences and similarities between cases with esotropia (ET) and with
      exotropia (XT). METHODS: Restrospective analysis of 49 patients treated between
      2002 and 2007. Visual acuity, cycloplegic refraction, strabismus patterns,
      presence of nystagmus, site of scar, surgery performed and strabismus surgical
      outcome obtained were evaluated. RESULTS: Mean age: 5 years old. 25 patients had
      bilateral involvement: 10 had ET, 10 XT and 4 were aligned. 15/24 unilateral
      cases presented with XT, 7 ET and other 2 orthotropia. 6/8 patients with the
      right eye affected, manifest ET and 14/16 patients with their OS affected had XT.
      (P=0.01) CONCLUSION: In bilateral cases of ocular toxoplasmosis ET and XT are
      found in similar proportions; in unilateral cases, XT is more frequent and the
      left eye is affected in most cases by both the toxoplasmosis and the strabismus.
      Esotropia appears more frequently in cases where the right eye is so affected,
      whereas XT predominates in cases where the left eye is affected.

PMID- 20923408
TI  - Lateral rectus resection strabismus surgery in unilateral duane syndrome with
      esotropia and limited abduction.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Resection of the lateral rectus in Duane retraction syndrome (DRS)
      with esotropia (ET) and limited abduction can be a useful component of surgical
      planning in specific circumstances, when combined with medial rectus (MR)
      recession. This article reports the results of a prospective series of patients
      for whom this approach was used successfully. METHODS: Seven patients were
      treated, aged 3 to 52 years, with uniltaeral DRS with the following features: 1)
      ET at least 25 PD; 2) "mild" retraction on adduction; 3) clinically normal
      adduction; 4) significantly limited abduction; 5) no or mild upshoots/downshoots;
      and 6) positive forced duction to abduction at surgery. surgery involved MR
      recession up to 5.0 mm and LR resection of maximum 3.5 mm. Postoperative followup
      was at least 6 months in all cases. RESULTS: ET angles ranged from 25 to 32 PD;
      abduction limitations ranged from -3.5 to -4. All patients had face turn postures
      preoperatively. Postoperatively, the binoclar alignment in primary position was
      orthotropia and head postures wre eliminated in all patients. Abduction
      postoperatively ranged from -1 to -2.5; adduction ranged from -0.5 to -1. Two
      patients had minimal worsening of upshoots and downshoots after surgery.
      CONCLUSION: In treating DRS with ET and limited abduction, a small LR resection
      can be a safe and effective component of surgery. It has a low risk of worsening
      retraction or "crippling" adduction when done in appropriate cases.

PMID- 20923409
TI  - Case report: Duane Retraction Syndrome associated with hand anomaly.
AB  - Duane Retraction Syndrome is a congenital eye movement disorder characterized by
      a failure of cranial nerve VI to develop normally, resulting in restriction or
      absence of abduction, restricted adduction and narrowing of the palpebral fissure
      and retraction of the globe on attempted adduction. Patients with Duane
      Retraction Syndrome appear to have a significant increase in the number of
      associated congenital malformations. In the present paper, the authors report a
      case of Duane Retraction Syndrome with a unique hand abnormality not reported
      previously.

PMID- 20923405
TI  - Molecular and vascular targets in the pathogenesis and management of the
      hypertension associated with preeclampsia.
AB  - Normal pregnancy is associated with significant hemodynamic changes and
      vasodilation of the uterine and systemic circulation in order to meet the
      metabolic demands of the mother and developing fetus. Preeclampsia (PE) is one of
      the foremost complications of pregnancy and a major cause of maternal and fetal
      mortality. The pathophysiological mechanisms of PE have been elusive, but some
      parts of the puzzle have begun to unravel. Genetic factors such as leptin gene
      polymorphism, environmental and dietary factors such as Ca(2+) and vitamin D
      deficiency, and co-morbidities such as obesity and diabetes may increase the
      susceptibility of pregnant women to develop PE. An altered maternal immune
      response may also play a role in the development of PE. Although the
      pathophysiology of PE is unclear, most studies have implicated inadequate
      invasion of cytotrophoblasts into the uterine artery, leading to reduced
      uteroplacental perfusion pressure (RUPP) and placental ischemia/hypoxia.
      Placental ischemia induces the release of biologically active factors such as
      growth factor inhibitors, anti-angiogenic factors, inflammatory cytokines,
      reactive oxygen species, hypoxia-inducible factors, and antibodies to vascular
      angiotensin II (AngII) receptor. These bioactive factors could cause vascular
      endotheliosis and consequent increase in vascular resistance and blood pressure,
      as well as glomerular endotheliosis with consequent proteinuria. The PE
      associated vascular endotheliosis could be manifested as decreased vasodilator
      mediators such as nitric oxide, prostacyclin and hyperpolarizing factor and
      increased vasoconstrictor mediators such as endothelin-1, AngII and thromboxane
      A2. PE could also involve enhanced mechanisms of vascular smooth muscle
      contraction including intracellular Ca(2+), and Ca(2+) sensitization pathways
      such as protein kinase C and Rho-kinase. PE-associated changes in the
      extracellular matrix composition and matrix metalloproteinases activity also
      promote vascular remodeling and further vasoconstriction in the uterine and
      systemic circulation. Some of these biologically active factors and vascular
      mediators have been proposed as biomarkers for early prediction or diagnosis of
      PE, and as potential targets for prevention or treatment of the disease.

PMID- 20923411
TI  - Erythro-9-(2-hydroxy-3-nonyl)adenine (EHNA) blocks differentiation and maintains
      the expression of pluripotency markers in human embryonic stem cells.
AB  - hESCs (human embryonic stem cells) have enormous potential for use in
      pharmaceutical development and therapeutics; however, to realize this potential,
      there is a requirement for simple and reproducible cell culture methods that
      provide adequate numbers of cells of suitable quality. We have discovered a novel
      way of blocking the spontaneous differentiation of hESCs in the absence of
      exogenous cytokines by supplementing feeder-free conditions with EHNA [erythro-9
      (2-hydroxy-3-nonyl)adenine], an established inhibitor of ADA (adenosine
      deaminase) and cyclic nucleotide PDE2 (phosphodiesterase 2). hESCs maintained in
      feeder-free conditions with EHNA for more than ten passages showed no reduction
      in hESC-associated markers including NANOG, POU5F1 (POU domain class 5
      transcription factor 1, also known as Oct-4) and SSEA4 (stage-specific embryonic
      antigen 4) compared with cells maintained in feeder-free conditions containing
      bFGF (basic fibroblast growth factor). Spontaneous differentiation was reversibly
      suppressed by the addition of EHNA, but, upon removing EHNA, hESC populations
      underwent efficient spontaneous, multi-lineage and directed differentiation. EHNA
      also acts as a strong blocker of directed neuronal differentiation. Chemically
      distinct inhibitors of ADA and PDE2 lacked the capacity of EHNA to suppress hESC
      differentiation, suggesting that the effect is not driven by inhibition of either
      ADA or PDE2. Preliminary structure-activity relationship analysis found the
      differentiation-blocking properties of EHNA to reside in a pharmacophore
      comprising a close adenine mimetic with an extended hydrophobic substituent in
      the 8- or 9-position. We conclude that EHNA and simple 9-alkyladenines can block
      directed neuronal and spontaneous differentiation in the absence of exogenous
      cytokine addition, and may provide a useful replacement for bFGF in large-scale
      or cGMP-compliant processes.

PMID- 20923412
TI  - Green synthesis of gold nanoparticles by the marine microalga Tetraselmis
      suecica.
AB  - The application of green-synthesis principles is one of the most impressive
      research fields for the production of nanoparticles. Different kinds of
      biological systems have been used for this purpose. In the present study, AuNPs
      (gold nanoparticles) were prepared within a short time period using a fresh cell
      extract of the marine microalga Tetraselmis suecica as a reducing agent of HAuCl4
      (chloroauric acid) solution. The UV-visible spectrum of the aqueous medium
      containing AuNPs indicated a peak at 530 nm, corresponding to the surface plasmon
      absorbance of AuNPs. The X-ray diffraction pattern also showed a Bragg reflection
      related to AuNPs. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy was performed for
      analysis of surface functional groups of AuNPs. Transmission electron microscopy
      and particle-size-distribution patterns determined by the laser-light-scattering
      method confirmed the formation of well-dispersed AuNPs. The most frequent size of
      particles was 79 nm.

PMID- 20923413
TI  - Osteoblast mineralization with composite nanofibrous substrate for bone tissue
      regeneration.
AB  - Several studies are currently ongoing to construct synthetic bone-like materials
      with composites of natural and polymeric materials with HA (hydroxyapatite). The
      present study aims to fabricate composite nanofibrous substrate of Chit/HA
      (chitosan/HA - 80:25) prepared by dissolving in TFA/DCM (trifluoroacetic
      acid/dichloromethane) (70:30, w/w) for 5 days and electrospun to fabricate a
      scaffold for bone tissue engineering. HA (25 wt %) was sonicated for 30 min to
      obtain a homogenous dispersion of nanoparticles within the Chit (80 wt %) matrix
      for fabricating composite nanofibrous scaffold (Chit/HA). The nanofibres of Chit
      and Chit/HA were obtained with fibre diameters of 274 +/- 75 and 510 +/- 198 nm,
      respectively, and characterized by FESEM (field emission scanning electron
      microscopy) and FTIR (Fourier transform infrared). The interaction of hFOBs
      (human fetal osteoblasts) and nanofibrous substrates were analysed for cell
      morphology (FESEM), mineralization [ARS (Alizarin Red-S) staining],
      quantification of minerals and finally identified the elements present in
      Chit/HA/osteoblasts by EDX (energy-dispersive X-ray) analysis. EDX analysis
      confirmed that the spherulites contain calcium and phosphorus, the major
      constituents in calcium phosphate apatite, the mineral phase of the bone.
      Mineralization was increased significantly (P<0.001) up to 108% in Chit/HA
      compared with Chit nanofibres. These results confirmed that the electrospun
      composite Chit/HA nanofibrous substrate is a potential biocomposite material for
      the proliferation and mineralization of hFOBs required for enhanced bone tissue
      regeneration.

PMID- 20923414
TI  - Production of scFv-displaying BmNPV in silkworm larvae and its efficient
      purification.
AB  - Baculovirus-display technology utilizing the gp64 envelope protein has been
      developed. A simple and efficient process to separate the virus from the majority
      of the protein contaminants may be needed for the future demand of pure and
      functional baculovirus vectors ideal for vaccine- and gene-delivery applications.
      In the present study, using Bombyx mori (silkworm) larvae as a host, scFv (single
      chain variable fragment)-surface displaying recombinant baculovirus production
      and its purification from silkworm larval haemolymph by SEC (size-exclusion
      chromatography) were demonstrated. The amounts of scFv were 4-8 MUg/ml in the
      haemolymph. The scFv-gp64 fusion protein was confirmed to be incorporated into
      the cell membrane and the BmNPV (B. mori nucleopolyhedrovirus) surface by
      immunofluorescence microscopy and Western blotting. rBmNPV (recombinant BmNPV)
      was purified to higher purity by SEC using Sephacryl S-1000 column chromatography
      than by sucrose-density-gradient centrifugation. The recovery of purified rBmNPV
      was 22.2%, and the virus purity in the SEC fraction was increased 269-fold
      compared with its purity in haemolymph. Judging from the results of ELISA,
      approx. 0.9% of the total baculovirus-particle proteins were occupied by scFv on
      their surface. A BmNPV-based silkworm-larval system is suitable for large-scale
      production of baculovirus-surface-displayed proteins or peptides in comparison
      with a cell-culture system. The present study will be useful for future BmNPV
      application studies for gene delivery and vaccine trials.

PMID- 20923415
TI  - A simple method for large-scale purification of plasma-derived apo-transferrin.
AB  - We investigated and optimized a purification process, suitable for industrial
      scale, to obtain pharmaceutical grade apo-Tf (apo-transferrin), preserving its
      physiological properties and functions. Apo-Tf was obtained from fraction IV
      subfraction 1 and IV subfraction 4 (fraction IV-1,4), a waste product of the Cohn
      fractionation process, performing a single chromatographic run and two viral
      inactivation/removal steps. The structural integrity and the biological activity
      of the final product were extensively tested. The yield of apo-Tf produced was
      80% on laboratory scale and 90% in scale-up lots, and the purity was higher than
      95%. The purified protein preserves iron- and receptor-binding activities and
      shows a normal glycosylation pattern. The single chromatographic step process
      presented here provides an efficient means to prepare commercial quantities of
      the protein. The final product is sterile and two viral inactivation/removal
      steps were introduced into the process.

PMID- 20923416
TI  - The BCCT family of carriers: from physiology to crystal structure.
AB  - Increases in the environmental osmolarity are key determinants for the growth of
      microorganisms. To ensure a physiologically acceptable level of cellular
      hydration and turgor at high osmolarity, many bacteria accumulate compatible
      solutes. Osmotically controlled uptake systems allow the scavenging of these
      compounds from scarce environmental sources as effective osmoprotectants. A
      number of these systems belong to the BCCT family (betaine-choline-carnitine
      transporter), sodium- or proton-coupled transporters (e.g. BetP and BetT
      respectively) that are ubiquitous in microorganisms. The BCCT family also
      contains CaiT, an L-carnitine/gamma-butyrobetaine antiporter that is not involved
      in osmotic stress responses. The glycine betaine transporter BetP from
      Corynebacterium glutamicum is a representative for osmoregulated symporters of
      the BCCT family and functions both as an osmosensor and osmoregulator. The
      crystal structure of BetP in an occluded conformation in complex with its
      substrate glycine betaine and two crystal structures of CaiT in an inward-facing
      open conformation in complex with L-carnitine and gamma-butyrobetaine were
      reported recently. These structures and the wealth of biochemical data on the
      activity control of BetP in response to osmotic stress enable a correlation
      between the sensing of osmotic stress by a transporter protein with the ensuing
      regulation of transport activity. Molecular determinants governing the high
      affinity binding of the compatible solutes by BetP and CaiT, the coupling in
      symporters and antiporters, and the osmoregulatory properties are discussed in
      detail for BetP and various BCCT carriers.

PMID- 20923417
TI  - Adaptive responses to purine starvation in Leishmania donovani.
AB  - Starvation of Leishmania donovani parasites for purines leads to a rapid
      amplification in purine nucleobase and nucleoside transport. Studies with
      nucleoside transport-deficient L. donovani indicate that this phenomenon is
      mediated by the nucleoside transporters LdNT1 and LdNT2, as well as by the purine
      nucleobase transporter LdNT3. The escalation in nucleoside transport cannot be
      ascribed to an increase in either LdNT1 or LdNT2 mRNA. However, Western analyses
      on parasites expressing epitope-tagged LdNT2 revealed a marked upregulation in
      transporter protein at the cell surface. Kinetic investigations of LdNT1 and
      LdNT2 activities from purine-replete and purine-starved cells indicated that both
      transporters exhibited significant increases in V(max) for their ligands under
      conditions of purine-depletion, although neither transporter displayed an altered
      affinity for its respective ligands. Concomitant with the increase in purine
      nucleoside and nucleobase transport, the purine salvage enzymes HGPRT, XPRT and
      APRT were also upregulated, suggesting that under conditions where purines are
      limiting, Leishmania parasites remodel their purine metabolic pathway to maximize
      salvage. Moreover, qRT-PCR analyses coupled with cycloheximide inhibition studies
      suggest that the underlying molecular mechanism for this augmentation in purine
      salvage occurs post-transcriptionally and is reliant on de novo protein
      synthesis.

PMID- 20923418
TI  - Proteobactin and a yersiniabactin-related siderophore mediate iron acquisition in
      Proteus mirabilis.
AB  - Proteus mirabilis causes complicated urinary tract infections (UTIs). While the
      urinary tract is an iron-limiting environment, iron acquisition remains poorly
      characterized for this uropathogen. Microarray analysis of P. mirabilis HI4320
      cultured under iron limitation identified 45 significantly upregulated genes (P
      <= 0.05) that represent 21 putative iron-regulated systems. Two gene clusters,
      PMI0229-0239 and PMI2596-2605, encode putative siderophore systems. PMI0229-0239
      encodes a non-ribosomal peptide synthetase-independent siderophore system for
      producing a novel siderophore, proteobactin. PMI2596-2605 are contained within
      the high-pathogenicity island, originally described in Yersinia pestis, and
      encodes proteins with apparent homology and organization to those involved in
      yersiniabactin production and uptake. Cross-feeding and biochemical analysis
      shows that P. mirabilis is unable to utilize or produce yersiniabactin,
      suggesting that this yersiniabactin-related locus is functionally distinct. Only
      disruption of both systems resulted in an in vitro iron-chelating defect;
      demonstrating production and iron-chelating activity for both siderophores. These
      findings clearly show that proteobactin and the yersiniabactin-related
      siderophore function as iron acquisition systems. Despite the activity of both
      siderophores, only mutants lacking the yersiniabactin-related siderophore have
      reduced fitness in vivo. The fitness requirement for the yersiniabactin-related
      siderophore during UTI shows, for the first time, the importance of siderophore
      production in vivo for P. mirabilis.

PMID- 20923419
TI  - Biochemical analysis of PIFTC3, the Trypanosoma brucei orthologue of nematode DYF
      13, reveals interactions with established and putative intraflagellar transport
      components.
AB  - DYF-13, originally identified in Caenorhabditis elegans within a collection of
      dye-filling chemosensory mutants, is one of several proteins that have been
      classified as putatively involved in intraflagellar transport (IFT), the
      bidirectional movement of protein complexes along cilia and flagella and
      specifically in anterograde IFT. Although genetic studies have highlighted a
      fundamental role of DYF-13 in nematode sensory cilium and trypanosome flagellum
      biogenesis, biochemical studies on DYF-13 have lagged behind. Here, we show that
      in Trypanosoma brucei the orthologue to DYF-13, PIFTC3, participates in a
      macromolecular complex of approximately 660 kDa. Mass spectroscopy of affinity
      purified PIFTC3 revealed several components of IFT complex B as well as
      orthologues of putative IFT factors DYF-1, DYF-3, DYF-11/Elipsa and IFTA-2. DYF
      11 was further analysed and shown to be concentrated near the basal bodies and in
      the flagellum, and to be required for flagellum elongation. In addition, by
      coimmunoprecipitation we detected an interaction between DYF-13 and IFT122, a
      component of IFT complex A, which is required for retrograde transport. Thus, our
      biochemical analysis supports the model, proposed by genetic analysis in C.
      elegans, that the trypanosome orthologue of DYF-13 plays a central role in the
      IFT mechanism.

PMID- 20923420
TI  - Reversal of an epigenetic switch governing cell chaining in Bacillus subtilis by
      protein instability.
AB  - Bacillus subtilis forms long chains of cells during growth and biofilm formation.
      Cell separation is mediated by autolysins, whose genes are under the negative
      control of a heteromeric complex composed of the proteins SinR and SlrR.
      Formation of the SinR-SlrR complex is governed by a self-reinforcing, double
      negative feedback loop in which SinR represses the gene for SlrR and SlrR, by
      forming the SinR-SlrR complex, titrates SinR and prevents it from repressing
      slrR. The loop is a bistable switch and exists in a SlrR(LOW) state in which
      autolysin genes are on, and a SlrR(HIGH) state in which autolysin genes are
      repressed by SinR-SlrR. Cells in the SlrR(LOW) state are driven into the
      SlrR(HIGH) state by SinI, an antirepressor that binds to and inhibits SinR.
      However, the mechanism by which cells in the SlrR(HIGH) state revert back to the
      SlrR(LOW) state is unknown. We report that SlrR is proteolytically unstable and
      present evidence that self-cleavage via a LexA-like autopeptidase and ClpC
      contribute to its degradation. Cells producing a self-cleavage-resistant mutant
      of SlrR exhibited more persistent chaining during growth and yielded biofilms
      with enhanced structural complexity. We propose that degradation of SlrR allows
      cells to switch from the SlrR(HIGH) to the SlrR(LOW) state.

PMID- 20923421
TI  - Ether cleaving methyltransferases of the strict anaerobe Acetobacterium
      dehalogenans: controlling the substrate spectrum by genetic engineering of the N
      terminus.
AB  - The anaerobic cleavage of ether bonds of methoxylated substrates such as
      vanillate or veratrol in acetogenic bacteria is mediated by multi-component
      enzyme systems, the O-demethylases. Acetobacterium dehalogenans harbours
      different inducible O-demethylases with various substrate spectra. Two of these
      enzyme systems, the vanillate- and the veratrol-O-demethylases, have been
      characterized so far. One component of this enzyme system, the methyltransferase
      I (MT I), catalyses the cleavage of the substrate ether bond and the subsequent
      transfer of the methyl group to a corrinoid protein. For the C-termini of the
      methyltransferases I of the vanillate- and the veratrol-O-demethylases, a TIM
      barrel structure of the enzymes was predicted, whereas the N-termini are not part
      of this conserved structure. The deletion of the N-terminal regions led to a
      significant increase of activity (up to 20-fold) and an extended substrate
      spectrum of the mutants, which also comprised non-aromatic compounds such as the
      thioether methionine and diethylether. The exchange of the N-termini of the two
      methyltransferases I resulted in chimeric enzymes whose substrate specificities
      were those of the enzymes from which the N-termini were derived. This
      demonstrated the crucial role of the N-termini for the substrate specificity of
      the methyltransferases.

PMID- 20923423
TI  - The TetR-type transcriptional regulator FasR of Corynebacterium glutamicum
      controls genes of lipid synthesis during growth on acetate.
AB  - The addition of fatty acids to either Escherichia coli or Bacillus subtilis
      elicits an elaborate cellular response of the lipid metabolism. We found that in
      Corynebacterium glutamicum the expression of accD1 encoding the beta-subunit of
      the essential acetyl-CoA carboxylase is repressed in acetate-grown cells without
      the addition of fatty acids. The TetR-type transcriptional regulator NCgl2404,
      termed FasR, was identified and deleted. During growth on acetate, but not on
      glucose, 17 genes are differentially expressed in the deletion mutant, among them
      accD1, and fasA and fasB both encoding fatty acid synthases, which were
      upregulated. Determination of the 5' ends of accD1, fasA, fasB and accBC together
      with the use of isolated FasR protein identified the FasR binding site, fasO,
      which is located within the accD1 and fasA transcript initiation site thus
      blocking transcription by RNA polymerase binding directly. The identified fasO
      motif is present in C. efficiens or C. diphtheriae, too, and it is actually
      similarly positioned in these bacteria within the 5' ends of the accD1 and fasA
      transcripts, and a fasR orthologue is also present. The identification of the
      FasR-fasO system in Corynebacteriaceae might indicate a conserved transcriptional
      control of the unique lipid synthesis in these mycolic acid-containing bacteria.

PMID- 20923422
TI  - ABI domain-containing proteins contribute to surface protein display and cell
      division in Staphylococcus aureus.
AB  - The human pathogen Staphylococcus aureus requires cell wall anchored surface
      proteins to cause disease. During cell division, surface proteins with YSIRK
      signal peptides are secreted into the cross-wall, a layer of newly synthesized
      peptidoglycan between separating daughter cells. The molecular determinants for
      the trafficking of surface proteins are, however, still unknown. We screened
      mutants with non-redundant transposon insertions by fluorescence-activated cell
      sorting for reduced deposition of protein A (SpA) into the staphylococcal
      envelope. Three mutants, each of which harboured transposon insertions in genes
      for transmembrane proteins, displayed greatly reduced envelope abundance of SpA
      and surface proteins with YSIRK signal peptides. Characterization of the
      corresponding mutations identified three transmembrane proteins with abortive
      infectivity (ABI) domains, elements first described in lactococci for their role
      in phage exclusion. Mutations in genes for ABI domain proteins, designated spdA,
      spdB and spdC (surface protein display), diminish the expression of surface
      proteins with YSIRK signal peptides, but not of precursor proteins with
      conventional signal peptides. spdA, spdB and spdC mutants display an increase in
      the thickness of cross-walls and in the relative abundance of staphylococci with
      cross-walls, suggesting that spd mutations may represent a possible link between
      staphylococcal cell division and protein secretion.

PMID- 20923424
TI  - Interface between hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and brain-derived
      neurotrophic factor in depression.
AB  - Although the pathophysiology of depressive disorder remains elusive, two
      hypothetical frameworks seem to be promising: the involvement of hypothalamic
      pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis abnormalities and brain-derived neurotrophic factor
      (BDNF) in the pathogenesis and in the mechanism of action of antidepressant
      treatments. In this review, we focused on research based on these two frameworks
      in relation to depression and related conditions and tried to formulate an
      integrated theory of the disorder. Hormonal challenge tests, such as the
      dexamethasone/corticotropin-releasing hormone test, have revealed elevated HPA
      activity (hypercortisolism) in at least a portion of patients with depression,
      although growing evidence has suggested that abnormally low HPA axis
      (hypocortisolism) has also been implicated in a variety of stress-related
      conditions. Several lines of evidence from postmortem studies, animal studies,
      blood levels, and genetic studies have suggested that BDNF is involved in the
      pathogenesis of depression and in the mechanism of action of biological
      treatments for depression. Considerable evidence has suggested that stress
      reduces the expression of BDNF and that antidepressant treatments increase it.
      Moreover, the glucocorticoid receptor interacts with the specific receptor of
      BDNF, TrkB, and excessive glucocorticoid interferes with BDNF signaling. Altered
      BDNF function is involved in the structural changes and possibly impaired
      neurogenesis in the brain of depressed patients. Based on these findings, an
      integrated schema of the pathological and recovery processes of depression is
      illustrated.

PMID- 20923425
TI  - Is breast-feeding of infants advisable for epileptic mothers taking antiepileptic
      drugs?
AB  - Epilepsy is a relatively common maternal complication affecting 0.3-0.5% of
      pregnant women. For most mothers with epilepsy, the use of antiepileptic drugs
      (AED) is unavoidable, even during pregnancy and lactation. Therefore, the fetus
      is indirectly exposed to AED via the placenta and breast milk. AED are also
      prescribed for female patients with other diseases, such as bipolar disorders. In
      clinical settings, physicians are frequently questioned whether or not women
      patients taking AED should breast-feed their offspring. Thus, it is necessary to
      establish an optimum AED regimen for women taking AED, in particular for those
      with epilepsy during pregnancy and lactation. In this article, we critically
      review the effects of AED on infants via breast milk and attempt to provide
      suggestions for clinicians regarding these effects during breast-feeding, based
      on the data of transplacental passage of AED, breast milk concentration/maternal
      serum concentration ratios, AED metabolism in infants and the effects of AED in
      breast milk on infants.

PMID- 20923426
TI  - Lipid peroxidation in patients with schizophrenia.
AB  - AIMS: There is evidence that dysregulation of free radicals metabolism associated
      with abnormal activities of antioxidative enzymes in schizophrenia can lead to
      lipid peroxidation in plasma, erythrocytes, blood platelets and cerebrospinal
      fluid. Injury to neurons in schizophrenia may affect their function, i.e.
      membrane transport, impairment of energy production in mitochondria, changes in
      membrane phospholipid composition, alteration of receptors and transporters as
      well as neurotransmission. The purpose of the present study was to assess the
      total antioxidant capacity (TAC) and lipid peroxidation (expressed as the level
      of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances [TBARS]) in plasma from schizophrenic
      patients taking olanzapine or risperidone. The level of TBARS estimated according
      to the Rice-Evans method and TAC ([ABTS; 2,2'-azinobis-(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6
      sulfonic acid) radical cation decolorization assay]) in plasma from schizophrenic
      patients (DSM-IV criteria for schizophrenia, n = 30, age 18-36) taking olanzapine
      or risperidone and from healthy volunteers (n = 30) were measured. METHODS: The
      level of TBARS in plasma from healthy volunteers after incubation with olanzapine
      or risperidone was also estimated. RESULTS: Significantly lower plasma TAC (P <
      0.05) and significantly increased level of TBARS (P < 0.001) in schizophrenic
      patients were observed. The in vitro study showed that after olanzapine or
      risperidone (at final concentrations corresponding to doses used in acute
      episodes of schizophrenia treatment) no changes of plasma lipid peroxidation were
      found (P > 0.05). The obtained results indicate that the pro-oxidant disturbances
      occur in schizophrenic patients (acute episode) taking stable doses of olanzapine
      or risperidone. CONCLUSION: It seems that second-generation antipsychotics
      (olanzapine and risperidone) are not responsible for increase of plasma lipid
      peroxidation.

PMID- 20923427
TI  - Increased N-Acetylaspartate/creatine ratio in the medial prefrontal cortex among
      unmedicated obsessive-compulsive disorder patients.
AB  - AIMS: Changes in the fronto-striato-thalamo-cortical-circuit loop have been
      suggested in the pathogenesis of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and have
      been studied using (1)H magnetic resonance spectroscopy ((1)H MRS) with
      interesting findings. However, whether neural metabolites are abnormal in the
      medial prefrontal cortex in patients with OCD is unknown. The purpose of the
      present study was to investigate neural metabolites in this brain region in a
      sample of patients with OCD. METHODS: Subjects were 21 unmedicated OCD patients,
      including 10 who were drug-naive, and 19 healthy controls. Single-voxel (1)H MRS
      was used to study the medial prefrontal cortex for each subject. Levels of N
      acetylaspartate (NAA), choline-containing compounds and myoinositol were measured
      in terms of their ratios with creatine (Cr). RESULTS: The NAA/Cr ratio was
      significantly higher among OCD patients than among healthy controls (F = 4.76, P
      = 0.037). However, it did not correlate with patients' symptoms or with their
      illness durations. The NAA/Cr ratio also did not differ between drug-naive and
      previously medicated patients. No significant group differences were found
      between OCD patients and normal controls for the choline-containing compounds/Cr
      or myoinositol/Cr ratios. In addition, a significant correlation between the
      NAA/Cr ratio and trait anxiety scores on the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory was
      found among the controls (r = 0.639, P = 0.010). CONCLUSIONS: The N
      Acetylaspartate level relative to creatine in the medial prefrontal cortex was
      increased among unmedicated OCD patients. This cannot be attributed to the effect
      of medications. The possible significance of this finding in the pathophysiology
      of OCD is discussed.

PMID- 20923428
TI  - Effects of osmotic-release methylphenidate in attention-deficit/hyperactivity
      disorder as measured by event-related potentials.
AB  - AIM: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a relatively common
      central nervous system disorder in school-age children, which may involve a
      specific disorder in cognition and/or information processing. Event-related
      potentials (ERP) are commonly used as physiological measures of cognitive
      function as they are easily measured and non-invasive. Thus, in the present
      study, we examined the effects of osmotic-release methylphenidate (MPH)
      (Concerta), a common treatment for childhood attention-deficit/hyperactivity
      disorder (ADHD), in ADHD children as measured by ERP. METHODS: Ten ADHD children
      participated after giving consent. Based on the guidelines for evoked potential
      measurement, mismatch negativity (MMN) and P300 were obtained by auditory odd
      ball tasks. We measured both MMN and P300 in the drug-naive condition and after
      intake of osmotic-release MPH. RESULTS:   The MMN amplitudes after intake of
      osmotic-release MPH were significantly greater than those in the drug-naive
      situation at Pz and C4. The P300 amplitudes after intake of osmotic-release MPH
      were significantly greater than those in the drug-naive situation at Cz and Pz.
      CONCLUSION: MMN and P300 are sensitive tools for measuring the pharmacological
      effects of osmotic-release MPH in ADHD children.

PMID- 20923429
TI  - Psychometric properties of the 10-item Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale in
      Chinese earthquake victims.
AB  - AIM: Resilience refers to positive adaption in the face of stress or trauma.
      Assessing resilience is crucial in trauma-related research and practice. The 10
      item Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) has been demonstrated to be a
      valid and reliable tool to achieve this goal. This study was designed to examine
      the psychometric properties of the 10-item CD-RISC in a sample of Chinese
      earthquake victims. METHODS: A total of 341 participants (185 women, 156 men)
      aged 20-63 years were recruited from a psychological relief program supported by
      the Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences following the 'Wenchuan'
      earthquake. The participants were given the 10-item CD-RISC and the 17-item post
      traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) subscale of the Los Angeles Symptom Checklist
      (LASC) 4 months after the earthquake. RESULTS: The results of exploratory factor
      analysis indicated that a single-factor model consistent with the original design
      of the 10-item CD-RISC was support. The scale was also demonstrated to have good
      internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.91) and test-retest reliability (r =
      0.90 for a two-week interval). Scores on the scale could reflect different levels
      of resilience in populations that are thought to be differentiated (probable PTSD
      vs healthy controls, t(339) = -7.60, P < 0.01, Cohen's d = 0.84). Moreover, the
      total resilience scores were significantly negatively correlated with scores on
      total PTSD scale and its three subscales for all participants. CONCLUSION: The
      Chinese version of the 10-item CD-RISC has excellent psychometric properties, and
      is applicable for Chinese people.

PMID- 20923430
TI  - Quality of life and related factors among cancer caregivers in China.
AB  - AIMS: The present study was designed to investigate quality of life (QOL) among
      caregivers of cancer inpatients, and to explore the related factors with the long
      term goal to improve QOL of cancer caregivers in China. METHODS: A cross
      sectional study was performed during the period January-March 2008. Subjects
      comprised 358 caregivers of cancer inpatients. The questionnaires pertaining to
      QOL, sociodemographic characteristics, caregiving demands, available social
      resources, caregiving situation, and caregiver's health status were used. Data
      were collected by nurses through interviews. RESULTS: The average QOL score of
      these subjects was 5.26. General linear model analysis showed that caregiver's
      QOL was significantly associated with, in standardized estimate sequence, spousal
      relationship, patient's activities of daily living, and chronic disease (no).
      Overall spousal relationship to patient had the strongest association with
      caregiver's QOL. CONCLUSIONS: Psychological well-being and social concerns of
      cancer caregivers were disrupted more seriously than spiritual well-being and
      physical well-being. In addition, spousal relationship, patient's disability, and
      caregiver's health status could affect the caregiver's QOL.

PMID- 20923431
TI  - Impact of biopsychosocial factors on psychiatric training in Japan and overseas:
      are psychiatrists oriented to mind, brain, or sociocultural issues?
AB  - AIM: To clarify the impact of biopsychosocial factors on psychiatric training
      under the new and traditional postgraduate medical education system in Japan and
      to compare them with young psychiatrists from other countries. METHODS:
      Psychiatric residents and early-career psychiatrists were recruited in Japan and
      other countries. Using mail-based and web-based self-administered questionnaires,
      we evaluated participants' demographic information, motivation to become
      psychiatrists, interest and commitment to various aspects of psychiatry, and
      reactions to a case vignette, focusing on biopsychosocial factors. RESULTS: A
      total of 137 responses, 81 from Japan and 56 from other countries, were
      collected. Before starting psychiatric training, Japanese participants showed a
      strong interest in 'mind' and less interest in 'brain' and 'environmental
      factors', while the interest in 'brain' and 'environmental factors' is presently
      as high as that in 'mind.' Japanese participants reported less commitment to
      their training toward ICD/DSM-based diagnosis, interview, pharmacotherapy,
      psychosocial treatment and epidemiology, compared with participants from other
      countries. In particular, Japanese participants showed less commitment to their
      training in suicide prevention, despite their perception of its high importance
      due to a high suicide rate in Japan. Suicide risk of a case vignette proved to be
      differently assessed according to participants' commitment levels to each aspect
      of psychiatry. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that young psychiatrists'
      attitudes concerning the biopsychosocial model generally become well-balanced
      with psychiatric training, however sociocultural factors do not seem to be well
      represented in the Japanese psychiatric training system. Additional training on
      sociocultural issues, such as suicide in Japan, should be considered.

PMID- 20923432
TI  - Reduced gray matter volume of dorsal cingulate cortex in patients with obsessive
      compulsive disorder: a voxel-based morphometric study.
AB  - AIMS: Previous morphometric studies using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) have
      revealed structural brain abnormalities in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
      The aim of the present study was to investigate the alterations in brain
      structure of patients with OCD using a voxel-based morphometry (VBM) method.
      METHODS: Sixteen patients with OCD free of comorbid major depression, and 32 sex-
      and age-matched healthy subjects underwent MRI using a 1.5-T MR scanner. OCD
      severity was assessed with the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (mean +/-
      SD: 22 +/- 7.6; range: 7-32). MR images were spatially normalized and segmented
      using the VBM5 package (http://dbm.neuro.uni-jena.de/vbm/). Statistical analysis
      was performed using statistical parametric mapping software. RESULTS: Significant
      reductions in regional gray matter volume were detected in the left caudal
      anterior cingulate cortex and right dorsal posterior cingulate cortex in the
      patients with OCD as compared to healthy controls (uncorrected, P < 0.001). No
      significant differences in white matter volumes were observed in any brain
      regions of the patients. No significant correlation between Yale-Brown Obsessive
      Compulsive Scale score and regional gray matter or white matter volume was
      observed. CONCLUSIONS: Regional gray matter alteration in the dorsal cingulate
      cortex, which is suggested to play a role in non-emotional cognitive processes,
      may be related to the pathophysiology in OCD.

PMID- 20923433
TI  - Diurnal cortisol patterns of young male patients with schizophrenia.
AB  - AIMS: It has been suggested that schizophrenic patients are more vulnerable to
      stress than healthy persons, and that stressors can trigger a psychotic episode
      or worsen symptoms. The biological system often studied in relation to stress is
      the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, which controls the release of
      cortisol. We investigated whether the diurnal basal activity of the HPA axis
      differed between young male patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls.
      METHODS: Twenty-seven male patients (mean age 22 +/- 5 years) and 38 healthy male
      control subjects (mean age 22 +/- 3 years) were included in the present study.
      Saliva was sampled at five time points during the day: directly after awakening,
      30 min thereafter, and at 12.00 hours, 16.00 hours and 22.00 hours. RESULTS: The
      cortisol concentration decreased significantly more during the day in the patient
      group thanin the control group. Patients also showed a significantly decreased
      area under the curve with respect to the increase, again indicating that the
      cortisol concentrations decreased more during the day in patients than in
      controls. Both the morning increase and the area under the curve with respect to
      the increase were significantly negatively correlated with negative symptom
      severity. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with schizophrenia showed a different daytime
      sensitivity of the HPA axis. Our findings further suggest that an increase in
      negative symptom severity is related to a decreased HPA axis sensitivity.

PMID- 20923434
TI  - Association between FOXP2 gene and speech sound disorder in Chinese population.
AB  - AIM: FOXP2 was described as the first gene relevant to human speech and language
      disorders. The main objective of this study was to compare the distribution of
      FOXP2 gene polymorphisms between patients with speech sound disorder and healthy
      controls. METHODS: Five FOXP2 polymorphisms, rs923875, rs2396722, rs1852469,
      rs17137124 and rs1456031, were analyzed in 150 patients with speech sound
      disorder according to DSM-IV, as well as in 140 healthy controls. Coding exons
      for key domains of FOXP2 were also sequenced in all the patients. RESULTS:
      Significant differences in the genotype (P = 0.001) and allele (P = 0.0025)
      frequencies of rs1852469 (located 5' upstream of the ATG initiator codon) were
      found between patients and controls. The excess of the T allele in the patients
      group remained significant after Bonferroni correction (P = 0.0126). Further
      investigations revealed a risk haplotype: rs2396722T/+rs1852469T. Our screening
      of key domains did not detect any point mutations in this sample. But we detected
      heterozygous triplet deletion of the glutamine-encoding region of exon 5 that
      alter FOXP2 protein sequence in five probands. These changes are predicted to
      yield a polyglutamine tract reduction from 40 to 39 consecutive glutamines.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our data support a possible role of FOXP2 in the vulnerability to
      speech sound disorder, which adds further evidence to implicate this gene in
      speech and language functions.

PMID- 20923435
TI  - Case of organic mania associated with stroke and open heart surgery.

PMID- 20923436
TI  - Lack of association between chemokine (C-C motif) receptor 3 (CCR3) gene and
      schizophrenia in the Korean population.

PMID- 20923437
TI  - Case of delirium complicated with pneumonia that improved with blonanserin
      administration.

PMID- 20923438
TI  - DNA paternity test resolving refractory Capgras syndrome.

PMID- 20923439
TI  - Bacterial growth response to photoactive quinones.
AB  - Quinones are known producers of reactive oxygen species (ROS) that may be toxic
      in natural aquatic environments. In this study, the effects of parent quinones
      and their photodegradation products on bacterial growth were determined, and
      photochemical ROS formation rates were measured. Using (3)H-leucine incorporation
      to measure growth of the bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa and natural seawater
      bacterioplankton, growth inhibition was observed when samples were exposed to
      dichlone, chloranil and sodium anthraquinone-2-sulfonate (AQ2S). For seawater,
      compared with other quinones tested, dichlone showed the greatest toxicity in the
      dark, and AQ2S toxicity was greatest during simultaneous exposure to sunlight.
      Photodegraded chloranil and dichlone showed decreased toxicity compared with
      nonirradiated samples. For P. aeruginosa, AQ2S and its photodegradation products
      showed the greatest toxicity during simultaneous exposure to sunlight. Chloranil
      photodegradation products showed reduced toxicity compared with the parent
      compound during simultaneous exposure to sunlight. Dichlone was the only compound
      to show any toxicity to P. aeruginosa in the dark, and its photodegradation
      products were more toxic than the parent compound. Based on the results of dark
      and light controlled experiments measuring bacterial growth and estimated ROS
      production rates, ROS alone does not account for relative differences in toxicity
      between these quinones.

PMID- 20923440
TI  - Epidemiology of oral yeast colonization and infection in patients with
      hematological malignancies, head neck and solid tumors.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to investigate the epidemiology of oral
      yeast colonization and infection amongst cancer patients. METHODS: Patients with
      solid tumor, head-neck cancer or hematological malignancy were recruited into the
      study. Demographic data on age, gender, type of cancer, preceding treatment with
      antibiotics, anti-fungal agents, chemotherapy, radiation or surgery and presence
      of dentures were recorded on admission. Oral examination and microbial swabs were
      obtained and yeast culture, identification and antifungal susceptibility
      performed. RESULTS: Oral yeast colonization was prevalent in 56.8% (227/400) of
      all cancer patients and 18.9% (43/227) of those had clinical and microbiological
      evidence of infection. The incidence of oral candidiasis in yeast colonized
      patients was highest in head neck cancer (29.2%) followed by hematological
      malignancies (20.5%) and solid tumor (17%) patients. Age and dentures were
      identified as independent risk factors associated with yeast carriage. Candida
      albicans was the dominant (74%) species (497.5 per 1000 cancer admissions)
      followed by C. glabrata (11.5%), C. tropicalis (2.6%), C. krusei (2.6%) and C.
      parapsilosis (1.9%). The overall resistance to azoles was 28.2% (75/266).
      Resistance to specific drugs was seen for fluconazole (4.5%), itraconazole
      (11.7%), ketoconazole (11.3%), voriconazole (0.75%) and caspofungin (41.1%) but
      none to amphotericin B or nystatin. CONCLUSIONS: The highest incidence of oral
      candidiasis amongst cancer patients was seen in head neck cancers. The majority
      of infections were caused by C. albicans but almost one third of patients
      harbored non-C. albicans strains such as C. glabrata which were often more
      resistant to anti-fungal agents.

PMID- 20923442
TI  - Effects of ethanol and extract of cigarette smoke on the rabbit buccal mucosa.
AB  - AIM: The combination of smoking and drinking alcohol has a high association with
      diseases of squamous epithelium within the human oral cavity. Therefore, a study
      was done to assess the impact of these agents alone or in combination on the
      squamous epithelium using as model the buccal epithelium from rabbit oral cavity.
      METHODS: Buccal epithelium was mounted in Ussing chambers to monitor electrical
      parameters during exposure to ethanol (5-40%) or to Ringer extract of cigarette
      smoke (EOCS) from one to six cigarettes dissolved in 10 ml Ringer either alone or
      with combination. RESULTS: Exposure to EOCS reduced in a dose dependent manner
      above 2 cigarettes/10 ml transmural electrical potential difference (PD), short
      circuit current (I(sc)), increased transmural electrical resistance (R).
      Morphology showed from generalize tissue edema to patchy necrosis with the
      increasing concentrations. Ethanol alone raised PD, I(sc) and R at lower
      concentrations (5%) and lowered PD, I(sc) and R at higher concentrations (40%).
      The combination of 5% ethanol, EOCS-1cigarette/10 ml reduced PD, I(sc) by 58% and
      increased R by 29%. Unlike exposure to 5% EtOH and EOCS-1, 10% EtOH combined with
      EOCS-1 produces a harmful effect by dropping PD and I(sc). CONCLUSION: Both,
      simultaneous, and sequential, use of these agents enhanced their negative impact
      on these parameters. The enhancement of these effects are not due to
      solubulization of additional tobacco products by EtOH or by or by EtOH enhancing
      smoking noxious effect. Histopathologic damage needs higher concentrations of
      ethanol and EOCS combination and changes were more profound compared to the sum
      of the isolated effects of both agents.

PMID- 20923441
TI  - An amelogenin mutation leads to disruption of the odontogenic apparatus and
      aberrant expression of Notch1.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Amelogenins are highly conserved proteins secreted by ameloblasts in
      the dental organ of developing teeth. These proteins regulate dental enamel
      thickness and structure in humans and mice. Mice that express an amelogenin
      transgene with a P70T mutation (TgP70T) develop abnormal epithelial proliferation
      in an amelogenin null (KO) background. Some of these cellular masses have the
      appearance of proliferating stratum intermedium, which is the layer adjacent to
      the ameloblasts in unerupted teeth. As Notch proteins are thought to constitute
      the developmental switch that separates ameloblasts from stratum intermedium,
      these signaling proteins were evaluated in normal and proliferating tissues.
      METHODS: Mandibles were dissected for histology and immunohistochemistry using
      Notch1 antibodies. Molar teeth were dissected for western blotting and RT-PCR for
      evaluation of Notch levels through imaging and statistical analyses. RESULTS:
      Notch1 was immunolocalized to ameloblasts of TgP70TKO mice, KO ameloblasts
      stained, but less strongly, and wild-type teeth had minimal staining. Cells
      within the proliferating epithelial cell masses were positive for Notch1 and had
      an appearance reminiscent of calcifying epithelial odontogenic tumor with amyloid
      like deposits. Notch1 protein and mRNA were elevated in molar teeth from TgP70TKO
      mice. CONCLUSION: Expression of TgP70T leads to abnormal structures in mandibles
      and maxillae of mice with the KO genetic background and these mice have elevated
      levels of Notch 1 in developing molars. As cells within the masses also express
      transgenic amelogenins, development of the abnormal proliferations suggests
      communication between amelogenin producing cells and the proliferating cells,
      dependent on the presence of the mutated amelogenin protein.

PMID- 20923443
TI  - Angiogenin expression in head and neck basaloid and conventional squamous cell
      carcinoma: a site- and stage-matched comparison.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Basaloid squamous cell carcinoma is an uncommon variant of squamous
      cell carcinoma (SCC). Angiogenin (ANG), a member of the ribonuclease super
      family, is essential to tumor angiogenesis, but has also been implicated in tumor
      consolidation and proliferation. METHODS: ANG expression was first investigated
      in 12 head and neck basaloid squamous cell carcinomas (HNBSCCs) and compared with
      a control group of 24 site- and stage-matched conventional SCCs to establish
      whether the supposedly more aggressive biological behavior of HNBSCCs might be
      ANG-related. RESULTS: No significant differences were found between HNBSCCs, and
      SCCs in terms of recurrence, disease-free survival (DFS), or overall survival
      rates. In HNBSCC, we identified a trend toward a significant inverse correlation
      between endothelial ANG expression and DFS (statistical trend, P = 0.08).
      Endothelial ANG expression did not differ significantly in HNBSCCs and SCCs. A
      high ANG expression in carcinoma cells was directly associated with pT in both
      the HNBSCC (P = 0.04) and the SCC (statistical trend, P = 0.07) groups. ANG
      expression in carcinoma cells was significantly lower in HNBSCCs than in SCCs (P
      = 0.005). CONCLUSIONS: All the biological mechanisms investigated to date,
      including ANG-mediated angiogenesis or cell proliferation, have failed to confirm
      that HNBSCCs have a more aggressive behavior than matched SCC.

PMID- 20923444
TI  - Influence of methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase polymorphisms in oral cancer
      patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) is a key enzyme in folate
      metabolism. Two common polymorphisms associated with MTHFR gene - C677T and
      A1298C - influence the thermolabile nature and activity of the enzyme. This study
      aimed to investigate the role of MTHFR polymorphisms on oral cancer
      susceptibility and its potential impact on the prognostic outcome. METHODS: Oral
      cancer cases and controls were genotyped using PCR-RFLP technique for MTHFR C677T
      and A1298C polymorphisms. Disease susceptibility analysed using regression
      analysis. The association between clinical outcomes and the polymorphisms were
      analysed using univariate and multivariate model. RESULTS: The 677CT+TT genotype
      showed a significant three-fold reduction in oral cancer risk (RR-0.35, p-0.009).
      1298CC genotype showed decreased cancer risk when compared to AA+AC genotype (RR
      0.55, p-0.062). When prognostic significance of MTHFR polymorphism was evaluated,
      677CT+TT patients showed improved survival than the CC individuals (RR = 0.56, P
      = 0.378). The 1298 CC and AC+CC showed an increased risk for treatment failure
      and poor survival when compared with the wild AA genotype (HR = 4.27, P = 0.001).
      CONCLUSION: Here we observed MTHFR C677T to influence oral cancer susceptibility,
      while A1298C polymorphism associated with patient prognosis. Our data support
      MTHFR polymorphism to be an independent prognostic marker in oral carcinoma.

PMID- 20923445
TI  - Pathogenesis of oral lichen planus--a review.
AB  - Oral lichen planus (OLP) is a T-cell-mediated chronic inflammatory oral mucosal
      disease of unknown etiology. OLP presents as white striations, white papules,
      white plaques, erythema, erosions, or blisters affecting predominantly the buccal
      mucosa, tongue and gingiva. Both antigen-specific and non-specific mechanisms are
      hypothesized to be involved in the pathogenesis of oral lichen planus (OLP).
      Antigen-specific mechanisms in OLP include antigen presentation by basal
      keratinocytes and antigen-specific keratinocyte killing by CD8(+) cytotoxic T
      cells. Non-specific mechanisms include mast cell degranulation and matrix
      metalloproteinase activation in OLP lesions. These mechanisms may combine to
      cause T cell accumulation in the superficial lamina propria, basement membrane
      disruption, intra-epithelial T cell migration and keratinocyte apoptosis in OLP.
      The various hypotheses proposed for pathogenesis of oral lichen planus are
      discussed in this review.

PMID- 20923446
TI  - Efficacy of topical Aloe vera in patients with oral lichen planus: a randomized
      double-blind study.
AB  - BACKGROUND:   Different treatments have been used in application to symptomatic
      oral lichen planus (OLP), with variable results, perhaps caused by the refractory
      nature of the disease. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy
      of the topical application of aloe vera (AV) in OLP compared with placebo.
      METHODS: A total of 64 patients with OLP were randomized in a double-blind study
      to either AV (32 patients) or placebo (32 patients), at a dose of 0.4 ml (70%
      concentration) three times a day. A Visual Analog Scale was used for rating pain,
      with the application of a clinical scale for scoring the lesions, the Oral Health
      Impact Profile 49 (OHIP-49), and the Hospital Anxiety-Depression (HAD) scale. The
      patients were evaluated after 6 and 12 weeks. RESULTS: No statistically
      significant differences were recorded between both groups in relation to pain
      after 6 and 12 weeks. In the AV group, complete pain remission was achieved in
      31.2% of the cases after 6 weeks, and in 61% after 12 weeks. In the placebo
      group, these percentages were 17.2% and 41.6%, respectively. There were no
      adverse effects in any of the groups. In relation to quality of life, significant
      differences were observed between the two groups in the psychological disability
      domain and total OHIP-49 score. CONCLUSION: The topical application of AV
      improves the total quality of life score in patients with OLP.

PMID- 20923447
TI  - Psychiatric morbidity among patients with oral sub-mucous fibrosis: a preliminary
      study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Oral submucous fibrosis (OSF) is a chronic oral mucosal condition
      with pre-malignant potential. The association between psychiatric morbidity and
      OSF has been sparsely studied. METHODS: This cross-sectional study included 33
      consecutive subjects clinically diagnosed with OSF who attended an academic
      tertiary care dental centre. General Health Questionnaire-28 was administered to
      assess the psychological morbidity. Dependence to areca products was assessed
      using the ICD-10 criteria. Patient group was compared with an age and gender
      matched control group (n=33) from the same hospital that comprised patients who
      had dental diseases other than OSF and had no areca/tobacco habit. RESULTS: Total
      mean scores (SD) of GHQ-28 for study group and control group respectively were
      48.2 (18.1) vs. 24.2 (6.5) (P<0.001). Among the patient group, the mean total GHQ
      scores were significantly higher in those with functional stage C (those with
      worst functional staging) of OSF 63.4 (15.2) when compared with those with stage
      B 54 (14.2) and stage A 38.7 (17) (d.f.=2; P=0.005). 22 (66.7%) of patients met
      ICD-10 criteria for dependence to areca products. CONCLUSIONS: OSF may be
      associated with considerable psychological morbidity. This morbidity may be
      significantly more in patients with worst functional staging. It is difficult to
      determine whether this is the cause or effect of the disease. Further systematic
      studies are urgently needed to address this issue.

PMID- 20923448
TI  - Nicotine modulates gelatinase B (MMP-9) and epilysin (MMP-28) expression in
      reconstituted human oral epithelium.
AB  - Oral epithelial keratinocytes express nicotinic cholinergic receptors which
      activation modulates keratinocytes differentiation and migration through
      different metabolic pathways. Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are Zn-dependent
      enzyme involved in cell migration. Among them, gelatinase B (MMP-9) and epilysin
      (MMP-28) are two MMPs expressed by human keratinocytes during both wound healing
      and proliferation. Their expression has been investigated in a reconstituted
      human oral epithelium (HOE) exposed to nicotine (Nic, 1-50 MUM) for 72 h both in
      the absence and presence of the nicotinic antagonist mecamylamine (Mec), H7, a
      PKC inhibitor and PD98059, a MAPK inhibitor (PD). At the end of treatment, MMP-28
      expression has been analyzed in epithelium sections using an anti-MMP-28
      antibody, whereas MMP-9 presence and activity has been measured in cell
      conditioned medium analyzed by gelatine zymography. The expression of MMP-9 was
      reduced by Nic in a dose-dependent fashion and this effect was antagonized by
      Mec, H7 and PD. On the other hand, Nic increased the expression of MMP-28, and
      this effect was blocked both by H7 and PD, whereas Mec even enforced it. Nic
      effects on MMP-9 and MMP-28 expression by oral keratinocytes were not previously
      reported and these data suggest MMPs expression mediated by PKC and MAPK as a
      possible target for Nic toxicity in oral epithelium.

PMID- 20923449
TI  - Establishment of human dental epithelial cell lines expressing ameloblastin and
      enamelin by transfection of hTERT and cdk4 cDNAs.
AB  - BACKGROUND: An in vitro cell culture system of dental epithelium is useful for
      the investigations of cellular differentiation and function of ameloblast in
      amelogenesis and of regenerative therapy in human tooth. However, there have been
      no immortalized human dental epithelial ameloblastic-lineage cell lines, which
      proliferate indefinitely and additionally produce enamel matrix proteins.
      METHODS: We transfected two retroviral constructs of human telomerase reverse
      transcriptase (hTERT) cDNA and mouse cyclin-dependent kinase 4 (cdk4) cDNA into
      the primary ameloblastoma cells and isolated immortalized human dental epithelial
      cell lines of HAM1, HAM2 and HAM3. The three cell lines were examined by electron
      microscopy, assay of senescence-associated beta-galactosidase activity, mRNA
      expression and immuno-reactivity of dental epithelial marker cell molecules and
      enamel matrix proteins. RESULTS: They showed undifferentiated phenotypes in
      monolayer culture and did not have any beta-galactosidase activity. The
      transcripts of dental epithelial cell markers of Msx2, Jagged1, Notch1, Sp3, Sp6,
      keratin 14 and keratin 18 were confirmed. In addition, mRNA and protein
      expression of ameloblastin and enamelin were also detected in three cell lines.
      All cells in the three cell lines were keratin 14- and 18-positive and some
      elongated cells were Jagged1-positive. Msx2-positive nuclei were noted in only
      HAM2 cells. CONCLUSION: We established three cell lines by transfection of hTERT
      and cdk4 cDNAs, which were characterized as dental epithelial progenitor cells
      containing ameloblast-lineage cell phenotype.

PMID- 20923450
TI  - Classic neurothekeoma (nerve sheath myxoma) and cellular neurothekeoma of the
      oral mucosa: immunohistochemical profiles.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Classic neurothekeoma (nerve sheath myxoma) is regarded as being a
      true benign cutaneous tumor of nerve sheath origin. Cellular neurothekeoma was
      separated from the classic type by histogenesis, morphology and immunophenotype.
      Whether cellular neurothekeoma represents a continuum within the spectrum of
      classic neurothekeoma or is an independent entity is controversial. Only a small
      number of classic neurothekeomas of the oral mucosa have been reported and there
      are even fewer publications on cellular neurothekeoma. We analyzed a series of
      oral neurothekeomas (classic and cellular) with a panel of neural and other
      mesenchymal markers to enhance their diagnosis and classification. METHODS: One
      cellular and three classic neurothekeomas were submitted to a panel of
      immunohistochemical stains with antibodies against S100, S100A6, NSE, NKI/C3,
      PGP9.5, alpha-SMA, HHF-35, CD68 and vimentin. Two cases of neurofibroma
      (plexiform type), representing a true lesion of neural origin, served as control.
      RESULTS: The cellular neurothekeoma yielded a positive immunoreaction for S100A6
      and NKI/C3 and a negative immunoreaction for S-100. The classic neurothekeomas
      demonstrated a positive reaction for S-100 and S100A6, but a negative one for
      NKI/C3. Other markers were non-contributory to distinguishing between these types
      of lesions. CONCLUSIONS: The small number of reported oral neurothekeomas
      (classic and cellular) could be due, in part, to the lack of recognition of their
      particular morphologic and immunohistochemical features. Our results indicate
      that testing for NKI/C3 immunoreactivity may be of value in distinguishing
      between cellular and classic neurothekeoma.

PMID- 20923451
TI  - A molecular study of desmosomes identifies a desmoglein isoform switch in head
      and neck squamous cell carcinoma.
AB  - Desmosomes, the intercellular junctions that confer strong adhesion between
      epithelial cells, are frequently altered in malignancy. However, a comprehensive
      analysis of these structures has not been carried out in oral neoplasia. Oral
      squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) and pre-malignant dysplasia can be sub-classified
      according to their in vitro replicative lifespan, where the immortal dysplasia
      (ID) and carcinoma (IC) subsets have p16(ink4a) and p53 dysfunction, telomerase
      deregulation and genetic instability and the mortal subset (MD and MC) do not. We
      found that the desmosomal proteins exhibit a distinct expression pattern in oral
      mucosa when compared with epidermis in vivo. Microarray data from a large panel
      of lines revealed that the transcript levels of DSG3, DSC2/3, DP, PG and PKP1
      were reduced in ID and IC. Interestingly, DSG2 was up-regulated in MC. Reduction
      of DSG3 and up-regulation of DSG2 were found in two independent microarray
      datasets. Significantly, we demonstrated that reduction of DSG3 and up-regulation
      of DSG2 was reversible in vitro by using RNAi-mediated knockdown of DSG2 in IC
      cells. The remaining desmosomal proteins were largely disrupted or internalized
      and associated with retraction of keratin intermediate filaments in oral SCC
      lines. These findings suggest dysfunction and loss of desmosomal components are
      common events in the immortal class of oral SCC and that these events may precede
      overt malignancy.

PMID- 20923452
TI  - Strain-specific spleen remodelling in Plasmodium yoelii infections in Balb/c mice
      facilitates adherence and spleen macrophage-clearance escape.
AB  - Knowledge of the dynamic features of the processes driven by malaria parasites in
      the spleen is lacking. To gain insight into the function and structure of the
      spleen in malaria, we have implemented intravital microscopy and magnetic
      resonance imaging of the mouse spleen in experimental infections with non-lethal
      (17X) and lethal (17XL) Plasmodium yoelii strains. Noticeably, there was higher
      parasite accumulation, reduced motility, loss of directionality, increased
      residence time and altered magnetic resonance only in the spleens of mice
      infected with 17X. Moreover, these differences were associated with the formation
      of a strain-specific induced spleen tissue barrier of fibroblastic origin, with
      red pulp macrophage-clearance evasion and with adherence of infected red blood
      cells to this barrier. Our data suggest that in this reticulocyte-prone non
      lethal rodent malaria model, passage through the spleen is different from what is
      known in other Plasmodium species and open new avenues for functional/structural
      studies of this lymphoid organ in malaria.

PMID- 20923453
TI  - Electrodermal activity by DC potential and AC conductance measured simultaneously
      at the same skin site.
AB  - BACKGROUND: For a long time, DC conductance has been the most important parameter
      in electrodermal routine measurements. However, DC current flow polarizes the
      electrodes, electrolyzes the skin, disturbs the measurement of conductance by
      possible varying electromotive forces (EMFs) in the circuit, and impedes the
      registration of the skin endosomatic DC potential. METHODS: We therefore present
      a measuring system where DC current was replaced by a small AC current in a
      monopolar system, enabling the DC potential and AC conductance to be measured
      simultaneously at the same skin site. RESULTS: We have also found examples of
      skin potential (SP) response waveforms with diphasic sharp edges not appearing in
      the conductance waveforms. The potential responses were found to be more robust
      with respect to movement artifacts, and the instrumentation could discern whether
      the indifferent electrode actually was on an inactive skin site. CONCLUSION: In
      order to study the generating mechanisms of EDA in detail, the SP must be
      measured without DC current flow and compared with AC conductance results.

PMID- 20923454
TI  - Weighted performance index for objective evaluation of border detection methods
      in dermoscopy images.
AB  - PURPOSE: This paper presents a novel approach for objective evaluation of border
      detection in dermoscopy images of melanoma. BACKGROUND: In melanoma studies,
      border detection is a fundamental step toward the development of a computer-aided
      diagnosis system. Therefore, its accuracy is essential for accurate
      implementation of the subsequent parts of the diagnostic system. METHOD: An
      objective evaluation procedure of border detection methods is presented. The
      evaluation procedure uses the weighted performance index, which is composed of
      weighted metrics of sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, precision, border error
      and similarity. This index can also be used to optimize the parameters of a
      border detection method. RESULT AND CONCLUSION: Experiments are performed on 55
      high-resolution dermoscopy images. Using the union of four sets of dermatologist
      drawn borders as the ground truth, weighted metrics of sensitivity, specificity,
      accuracy, precision, border error and similarity are evaluated. Then, the
      weighted performance index is constructed and used to optimize the parameters of
      the hybrid border detection method. The outcome of the optimization process,
      verified through statistical analysis, yields a higher degree of agreement
      between automatic borders and the ground truth, compared with using standard
      metrics only. Finally, the weighted performance index is used to evaluate five
      recently reported border detection methods.

PMID- 20923455
TI  - Spatial variations in forearm skin tissue dielectric constant.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Tissue dielectric constant (TDC) values measured at 300MHz via the
      open-ended coaxial line reflection method depend on the effective measurement
      depth and the anatomical site being evaluated. Measurements on the forearm have
      shown that the TDC values decrease with increasing measurement depth but the
      spatial variability of the TDC values among forearm anatomical positions is
      unknown. Our goal was to characterize the extent of such spatial variations.
      METHODS: In 30 healthy seated women (27.4+/-6.5 years), TDC was measured on the
      forearm midline and 1.2cm medial and lateral to the midline at sites 4, 8 and
      12cm distal to the antecubital crease. RESULTS: The midline and medial TDC values
      increased progressively from 4 to 8 to 12cm sites (P<0.001), with the largest
      spatial gradient along the midline. At a depth of 2.5mm, the TDC values increased
      from 26.3+/-2.8 to 27.4+/-3.4 to 28.4+/-3.7, with a maximum difference of 8.2+/
      10.6%. For all sites, the TDC values were significantly (P<0.001) less for
      increasing depths. CONCLUSION: The findings reveal increased TDC values along the
      forearm from proximal to distal, most prominent at the midline and medial
      positions. Because many skin-related dermatological and biophysical studies
      utilize the forearm as a test target, such differences may be important to
      consider because TDC values in part are reflective of local tissue water (LTW).
      Although the variation in the TDC values among sites was less than 10%, such
      differences are of importance when evaluating LTW changes using the TDC method in
      patients with arm lymphedema that is present in variable arm anatomical
      locations.

PMID- 20923456
TI  - Unsupervised segmentation for digital dermoscopic images.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Skin cancer is among the most common types of cancer. Melanoma is the
      most fatal of all skin cancer types. The only effective treatment is early
      excision. Recognising melanoma is challenging both for general physicians and for
      expert dermatologists. A computer-aided diagnostic system improving diagnostic
      accuracy would be of great importance. Segmenting the lesion from the skin is the
      first step in this process. METHODS: The present segmentation algorithm uses a
      multiscale approach for density analysis. Only the skin mode is found by density
      analysis and then the location of the lesion mode is estimated. The density
      estimates are attained by Gaussian kernel smoothing with several bandwidths. A
      new algorithm for hair recognition based on morphological operations on binary
      images is incorporated into the segmentation algorithm. RESULTS: The algorithm
      provides correct segmentation for both unimodal and multimodal densities. The
      segmentation is totally unsupervised, with a digital image as the only input. The
      algorithm has been tested on an independent set of images collected in
      dermatological practice, and the segmentation is verified by three
      dermatologists. CONCLUSION: The present segmentation algorithm is fast and
      intuitive. It gives correct segmentation for most types of skin lesions, but
      fails when the lesion is brighter than the surrounding skin.

PMID- 20923457
TI  - Colour change in the human histamine wheal made visible by LYYN: a technique to
      enhance colour differences.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Colour differences in photographs can be enhanced using a digital
      image-processing technique called LYYN. OBJECTIVE: To investigate colour changes
      in the histamine wheal after skin prick tests (SPTs). METHODS: Histamine SPTs
      were performed on the forearm of six medical students, and the reactions of the
      skin were photographed every 2min for 30min. Colour differences in the
      photographs were then enhanced using the LYYN technique. These images were
      processed using ImageJ to yield numerical values. RESULTS: In the LYYN-processed
      images, there was a rapid colour change in the histamine wheals between the 18th
      and the 20th minute (P<0.01). Histamine perfusion in isolated rabbit ears
      indicated vasodilatation in post-capillary vessels and desensitized histamine 1
      (H1) receptors after a mean of 17min. It is possible that a similar
      desensitization takes place in the human histamine wheal, and a study of two
      histamine SPTs 90 min apart at the same site supports this hypothesis.
      CONCLUSION: The LYYN technique was sensitive enough to discover a rapid colour
      change in the histamine wheal, a change that has not been described before.

PMID- 20923458
TI  - Efficacy of anti-wrinkle products in skin surface appearance: a comparative study
      using non-invasive methods.
AB  - BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: Age has a huge influence on skin roughness; with increasing
      age, the number of collagen and elastine fibers is reduced and elasticity
      decreases significantly. Pharmaceutical and cosmetics, environmental factors and
      lifestyle have an important effect on skin. In this study, the efficacy of 12
      commercial anti-wrinkle products was evaluated using a direct non-invasive method
      to measure the skin surface morphology. Four clinical parameters surface
      evaluation of the living skin (SELS) (Ser, Sesc, Sesm, and Sew) were evaluate
      using Visioscan((r)) VC98. METHODS: Two hundred and forty-eight healthy female
      volunteers, aged between 30 and 70 years, were chosen for this study. The
      duration of treatment was 28 days. Skin microrelief parameters were evaluated
      using the Visioscan((r)) VC98 - SELS 2000 from Courage+Khazaka. Measurements were
      made in the crow's feet area and the differences were evaluated for statistical
      significance. RESULTS: Significant differences were found for some of the SELS
      parameters. According to the results obtained for SELS Sew, products that showed
      to be more effective against aging were V, M, N, T, P, R and L. We think this
      methodology may be considered very useful for the direct study of the skin
      surface and may be suitable as a routine method in wrinkle evaluation.

PMID- 20923459
TI  - Improved quantitative evaluation of atopic dermatitis by camera calibration and
      rectification of a stereo image.
AB  - BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to establish a scientific
      assessment method to evaluate the severity of atopic dermatitis (AD) by
      calibrating part of a previously described stereo-image optical topometer (SOT).
      METHODS: The old SOT was created using a non-convergence model. However, this
      study utilizes a convergence model. Camera calibration and rectification were
      performed using images obtained from stereo cameras. We attempted to verify the
      efficacy of AD treatment by objectively measuring the improvement in a group of
      subjects. Twenty AD patients with a variety of disease types were divided into a
      control group and a treatment group. RESULTS: The scoring of the AD (SCORAD)
      index did not show any improvements in the treated patients. However, when
      comparing the advanced SOT and the old SOT, we observed a decreased variation for
      five parameters, indicating that the treated patients experienced improved
      outcomes compared with controls. Most notably, we found that the coefficient of
      variation of the advanced SOT was lower than that of the old SOT. CONCLUSION: We
      conclude that the advanced SOT may be useful for evaluating AD. The use of an
      advanced stereo image system may yield more reliable results than the old SOT
      system.

PMID- 20923460
TI  - Appearance benefits of skin moisturization.
AB  - BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: Skin hydration is essential for skin health. Moisturized skin
      is generally regarded as healthy and healthy looking. It is thus speculated that
      there may be appearance benefits of skin moisturization. This means that there
      are corresponding changes in the optical properties when skin is moisturized.
      METHODS: The appearance of the skin is the result of light reflection, scattering
      and absorption at various skin layers of the stratum corneum, epidermis, dermis
      and beyond. The appearance benefits of skin moisturization are likely primarily
      due to the changes in the optical properties of the stratum corneum. We
      hypothesize that the major optical effect of skin moisturization is the decrease
      of light scattering at the skin surface, i.e., the stratum corneum. This decrease
      of surface scattering corresponds to an increase of light penetration into the
      deeper layers of the skin. An experiment was conducted to measure the
      corresponding change in skin spectral reflectance, the skin scattering
      coefficient and skin translucency with a change in skin hydration. In the
      experiment, skin hydration was decreased with the topical application of acetone
      and alcohol and increased with the topical application of known moisturizers and
      occlusives such as PJ. RESULT AND CONCLUSION: It was found that both the skin
      spectral reflectance and the skin scattering coefficient increased when the skin
      was dehydrated and decreased when the skin was hydrated. Skin translucency
      increased as the skin became moisturized. The results agree with the hypothesis
      that there is less light scattering at the skin surface and more light
      penetration into the deeper skin layers when the skin is moisturized. As a
      result, the skin appears darker, more pinkish and more translucent.

PMID- 20923461
TI  - Use of Raman spectroscopy for the early detection of filaggrin-related atopic
      dermatitis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Filaggrin (FLG) gene mutations, which result in complete or
      incomplete loss of proFLG/FLG peptides, have been reported as an important
      predisposing factor for atopic dermatitis (AD) and secondary atopic phenotypes
      such as atopic asthma. METHOD: The presence of the protein FLG in the skin was
      evaluated at birth on 12 infants using Raman spectroscopy; these 12 infants were
      monitored for 1 year to see whether they developed AD. Three different
      statistical analysis procedures, two of which involved principal component
      analysis (PCA), were performed on the Raman spectra in order to determine the FLG
      content. RESULTS: The infants who had a lower FLG content, determined using any
      of the three statistical analysis procedures proposed, were also the ones that
      clinically developed AD. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that Raman spectroscopy
      and statistical analysis such as PCA could be used as an early detection
      procedure for FLG -related AD and as a possible quantitative marker for FLG gene
      mutations.

PMID- 20923463
TI  - Applicability of an exaggerated forearm wash test for efficacy testing of two
      corticosteroids, tacrolimus and glycerol, in topical formulations against skin
      irritation induced by two different irritants.
AB  - BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: Alternatives to corticosteroids in the treatment of irritant
      contact dermatitis (ICD) are needed and may include glycerol and topical
      immunomodulators like tacrolimus. Because the efficacy of different treatments in
      experimentally induced ICD may vary depending on the irritant applied, we tested
      the efficacy of four anti-irritant compounds using the two different irritants
      sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) and nonanoic acid (NON). METHODS: In a randomized,
      double-blind, controlled trial, healthy volunteers were exposed to 5% SLS and 50%
      NON (the right and the left forearm, respectively) in a cumulative wash test.
      Induction of ICD was obtained by three daily washings for 7 days, followed by a
      maintenance phase with two daily washings for 12 days. Treatment (triamcinolone
      acetonide, clobetasol propionate, tacrolimus and glycerol ointment) was started
      at day 7 and applied immediately after washing. Vehicle and no treatment served
      as the control. Reactions were evaluated clinically and instrumentally. RESULTS:
      No treatments were significantly better than the other treatments and controls.
      There was a tendency toward a dose-dependent response to corticoid treatment, and
      a trend toward worsened irritancy by tacrolimus on SLS-irritated skin. Explained
      variance in the experiment by anova revealed a very small effect of treatments
      compared with an immense and significant subject effect. CONCLUSION: No claims of
      effective anti-irritant properties for any of the ointments can be maintained.
      Application of the present wash test as a tool for anti-irritant efficacy testing
      may be complicated by the small observed variance explained by treatment.

PMID- 20923462
TI  - Dermatological feasibility of multimodal facial color imaging modality for cross
      evaluation of facial actinic keratosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: Digital color image analysis is currently considered as a
      routine procedure in dermatology. In our previous study, a multimodal facial
      color imaging modality (MFCIM), which provides a conventional, parallel- and
      cross-polarization, and a fluorescent color image, was introduced for objective
      evaluation of various facial skin lesions. This study introduces a commercial
      version of MFCIM, DermaVision-PRO, for routine clinical use in dermatology and
      demonstrates its dermatological feasibility for cross-evaluation of skin lesions.
      METHODS/RESULTS: Sample images of subjects with actinic keratosis or non-melanoma
      skin cancers were obtained at four different imaging modes. Various image
      analysis methods were applied to cross-evaluate the skin lesion and, finally, to
      extract valuable diagnostic information. DermaVision-PRO is potentially a useful
      tool as an objective macroscopic imaging modality for quick prescreening and
      cross-evaluation of facial skin lesions. CONCLUSION: DermaVision-PRO may be
      utilized as a useful tool for the cross-evaluation of widely distributed facial
      skin lesions and as an efficient database management of patient information.

PMID- 20923464
TI  - Investigation of aging effects in human hair using atomic force microscopy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A thorough characterization of the morphological structure and
      physical properties is essential for an understanding of human hair. A number of
      techniques such as scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy
      and confocal microscopy have been used to study hair surfaces. Recently, atomic
      force microscopy (AFM) has emerged as an ideal method for the non-invasive
      examination of hair surfaces. PURPOSE: To investigate the effects of aging on
      normal Korean hair diameter and surface features using AFM. METHODS: We enrolled
      60 Korean volunteers of various ages who had no hair diseases. We analyzed hair
      diameter, AFM images of the hair surface, cuticular descriptors and micro-scale
      mechanical properties for their associations with aging. RESULTS: Hair diameter
      was found to increase for the first 20-30 years of life, after which it began to
      decrease. AFM images of most of the younger subjects showed typical step-like
      topographic properties with clear scale edges. The AFM images of most of the
      older subjects revealed dilapidated structures, poorly demarcated scale edges and
      undulated surfaces. Among the cuticular descriptors, surface roughness increased
      significantly with age. Force to distance analysis demonstrated a dependence on
      age. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that aging causes changes in hair diameter
      and surface structure.

PMID- 20923465
TI  - Skin application of urea-containing cream affected cutaneous arterial sympathetic
      nerve activity, blood flow, and water evaporation.
AB  - BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: We observed that olfactory stimulation with scent of
      grapefruit oil elevated the activities of sympathetic nerves, and increased the
      plasma glycerol concentration and blood pressure. In contrast, olfactory
      stimulation with scent of lavender oil had opposite effects in rats. These
      suggest that changes in autonomic activities cause physiological functions via
      histaminergic H1 and H3 receptor. Moreover, it has been reported that somatic
      sensory stimulation affected autonomic neurotransmission. To examine effects of
      skin application of urea-containing cream on cutaneous arterial sympathetic nerve
      activity (CASNA), blood flow, and transepidermal water loss (TEWL). METHOD: The
      activity of CASNA was determined by electrophysiological method, and cutaneous
      blood flow was determined using laser flowmeter in urethane-anesthetized rats,
      TEWL was measured using VapoMeter in the back skin of HWY hairless rats. RESULTS:
      CASNA was markedly and significantly inhibited by skin application of 10% urea
      containing cream, whereas cutaneous blood flow was significantly elevated via
      histaminergic H3-receptor. In conscious hairless rats, TEWL was significantly
      decreased 24 h after application of 10% urea-containing cream to the back skin.
      CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that skin application of 10% urea-containing
      cream increases the cutaneous blood flow and water retaining ability, and that
      histaminergic H3-receptors may mediate these effects.

PMID- 20923466
TI  - Capsaicin-induced neurogenic inflammation in the skin in patients with symptoms
      induced by odorous chemicals.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Intradermal injection of capsaicin induces the axonal release of
      neuropeptides, vasodilatation and flare, e.g. neurogenic inflammation. The
      spatial profile of neurogenic inflammation in the skin has been studied in
      various experimental models. Polarization spectroscopy imaging introduced
      recently may be used for the quantitative assessment of the temporal profile of
      neurogenic inflammation expressed as erythema intensity. PURPOSE: In the present
      study, we aimed to compare capsaicin-induced erythema intensity with the flare
      area in patients with symptoms induced by odorous chemicals, thereby comparing
      the temporal and spatial profiles of neurogenic inflammation. METHODS: Sixteen
      patients fulfilling Cullen's criteria for multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) and
      15 eczema (EC) patients with airway symptoms elicited by odorous chemicals were
      compared with 29 age-matched, healthy controls. Participants were administered
      two intradermal injections of capsaicin 3.3 and 33MUM. Erythema intensity was
      measured by polarization spectroscopy imaging and flare response was quantified
      by visual inspection. RESULTS: Erythema intensity and flare area did not differ
      between patients and controls, and they were not correlated. Erythema intensity
      and flare area showed a dose-dependent increase (P<0.05). Erythema intensity
      increased with age at 3.3MUM but not at 33MUM capsaicin, whereas the flare area
      increased with age at both concentrations (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Capsaicin-induced
      erythema intensity and visual flare were normal in patients with MCS and EC
      patients with airway symptoms from odorous chemicals. Polarized light
      spectroscopy was a useful method for the measurement of the rapid temporal
      changes in erythema of experimental reactions.

PMID- 20923467
TI  - Better understanding of digital photography for skin color measurement: With a
      special emphasis on light characteristics.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIM: Digital photography can be used to measure skin color
      colorimetrically when combined with proper techniques. To better understand the
      settings of digital photography for the evaluation and measurement of skin
      colors, we used a tungsten lamp with filters and the custom white balance (WB)
      function of a digital camera. MATERIALS AND METHODS: All colored squares on a
      color chart were photographed with each original and filtered light, analyzed
      into CIELAB coordinates to produce the calibration method for each given light
      setting, and compared statistically with reference coordinates obtained using a
      reflectance spectrophotometer. They were summarized as to the typical color
      groups, such as skin colors. We compared these results according to the fixed vs.
      custom WB of a digital camera. RESULTS: The accuracy of color measurement was
      improved when using light with a proper color temperature conversion filter. The
      skin colors from color charts could be measured more accurately using a fixed WB.
      In vivo measurement of skin color was easy and possible with our method and
      settings. CONCLUSION: The color temperature conversion filter that produced
      daylight-like light from the tungsten lamp was the best choice when combined with
      fixed WB for the measurement of colors and acceptable photographs.

PMID- 20923468
TI  - Objective melanoma progression.
AB  - BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: Many aspects of the natural history of malignant melanoma
      (MM) are still unclear, specifically its appearance at onset and particularly how
      it changes in time. The purpose of our study was to retrospectively determine
      objective changes in melanoma over a 3-24-month observation period. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: Our study was carried out in two Italian dermatology centers. Digital
      dermoscopy analyzers (DB-Mips System) were used to retrospectively evaluate
      dermoscopic images of 59 MM (with no initial clinical aspects suggesting
      melanoma) under observation for 3-24 months. The analyzer evaluates 49 parameters
      grouped into four categories: geometries, colors, textures and islands of color.
      Multivariate analysis of variance for repeated measures was used to evaluate the
      statistical significance of the changes in the digital dermoscopy variables of
      melanomas. RESULTS: Within-lesion analysis indicated that melanomas increased in
      dimension (Area, Minimum, and Maximum Diameter), manifested greater
      disorganization of the internal components (Red, Green and Blue Multicomponent,
      Contrast, and Entropy) and increased in clusters of milky pink color (Light Red
      Area). CONCLUSION: Analysis of the parameters of our model and statistical
      analysis enabled us to interpret/identify the most significant factors of
      melanoma modification, providing quantitative insights into the natural history
      of this cutaneous malignancy.

PMID- 20923469
TI  - Troubling ethical questions from gestational diabetes trial.

PMID- 20923470
TI  - Islet cell transplantation for Type 1 diabetes.
AB  - Islet transplantation is an attractive concept for the treatment of Type 1
      diabetes because of its potential high efficacy and minimal invasion to patients.
      The treatment may effectively control blood glucose for brittle Type 1 diabetes,
      resulting in a marked reduction in hypoglycemic episodes and improvements in
      HbA1c. In addition, approximately 70% of transplanted Type 1 diabetic patients
      have achieved insulin independence. However, there are still important issues to
      be addressed before this treatment is widely applicable, including difficulty in
      maintaining insulin independence, low islet isolation success rate, multiple
      donor requirements, and side effects associated with the use of
      immunosuppressants. Donor shortage is another dilemma. To address the issue of
      donor shortage, living donor islet transplantation and bioartificial islet
      transplantation using pig islets are being evaluated. Bioartificial islet
      transplantation could be the ultimate solution of the donor shortage. Currently,
      overcoming immunological hurdles, establishing reliable islet isolation methods,
      and controlling porcine endogenous retrovirus are the primary obstacles to the
      implementation of this treatment. If bioartificial islet transplant becomes a
      clinical reality, it may even be applicable in the treatment of select Type 2
      diabetic patients. beta-Cell regeneration from naive pancreas and beta-cell
      generation from embryonic stem cells or induced pluripotent stem cells are the
      next-generation treatments for Type 1 diabetes.

PMID- 20923471
TI  - Television watching and incident diabetes: Findings from the European Prospective
      Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition-Potsdam Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of the present study was to examine whether the amount of
      time spent watching television is a potential risk factor for incident diabetes
      and to what extent this association may be explained by obesity. METHODS: We used
      data for 23,855 men and women from the European Prospective Investigation into
      Cancer and Nutrition-Potsdam Study. During an average of 7.8 years of follow-up,
      927 participants developed diabetes. Incident diabetes was identified on the
      basis of self-report and was verified by contacting the patient's attending
      physician. The amount of time spent watching television was self-reported.
      RESULTS: The mean time that the participants who developed diabetes watched
      television was 2.4 h/week, compared with 2.0 h/week for those who did not develop
      diabetes (P<0.001). After adjusting for age, sex, educational status, smoking
      status, alcohol use, occupational activity, physical activity, the intake of
      various foods, and systolic blood pressure, the adjusted hazard ratio for
      diabetes among participants who watched >=4 h/day of television compared with
      those who watched <1 h/day was 1.63 [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.17-2.27].
      After additional adjustment for waist circumference and body mass index, the
      hazard ratio was reduced to 1.14 (95% CI: 0.81-1.61). CONCLUSIONS: In the present
      study, the amount of time spent watching television was an independent predictor
      of incident diabetes only in models that adjusted for sociodemographic
      characteristics, lifestyle behaviors, and systolic blood pressure. The
      attenuation of the association after adjusting for anthropometric measures may
      represent an explanatory mechanism for our findings.

PMID- 20923472
TI  - Facile fingerstick insulin analysis: Application to monitoring postprandial
      insulin responses to snack foods.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Energy intake from snacks has been increasing in the American diet,
      but insulin and glucose responses to foods are generally reported for meal-sized
      portions (800-1200 kJ). Established methods for insulin determination routinely
      use indwelling catheters and radioimmunoassay (RIA). The aim of the present study
      was to develop a more facile method, collecting fingerstick blood samples and
      measuring insulin with precise ELISA, and then applying this method to determine
      responses to snack-sized food portions. METHODS: Six healthy, fasting adult
      volunteers consumed seven different snack foods on separate days, containing
      approximately 400 kJ/portion. Insulin was measured by ELISA and glucose was
      measured with the hexokinase procedure in samples collected by fingerstick at 0,
      30, and 60 min after consumption of the snack food. RESULTS: A portion of
      doughnut (half a glazed doughnut) led to marked changes in insulin and glucose;
      skim milk, an apple, and oatmeal changed insulin significantly; wrinkled peas
      resulted in a lower glucose response than smooth peas; and walnuts led to non
      significant changes in both insulin and glucose over a 60-min period.
      CONCLUSIONS: The fingerstick sampling and insulin measurement procedure is
      simple, economical, and more precise than established RIA. The method can be
      applied to children and adults to monitor insulin responses following food
      consumption, as well as during therapeutic assessments or intervention trials.
      Public health advisories regarding snacks that minimize increases in insulin are
      desirable for individuals trying to reduce or maintain their weight, because
      elevated insulin stimulates carbohydrate conversion to fat and suppresses the
      mobilization of stored triglycerides for energy generation.

PMID- 20923473
TI  - Lack of effect of subtherapeutic vitamin D treatment on glycemic and lipid
      parameters in Type 2 diabetes: A pilot prospective randomized trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Epidemiological studies suggest a higher prevalence of metabolic
      syndrome and its components among individuals with vitamin D deficiency. The aim
      of the present study was to determine whether vitamin D treatment improves
      glucose control and insulin sensitivity in Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).
      METHODS: Subjects with T2DM and serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D)
      concentrations <25 ng/mL were randomized to receive 400 IU (Group 1) or 1200 IU
      (Group 2) cholecalciferol for 4 months. Fasting plasma glucose, glycosylated
      hemoglobin (HbA1c), Quantitative Insulin Sensitivity Check Index (QUICKI), serum
      lipid levels and serum adiponectin were measured at baseline and at 4 months.
      RESULTS: Mean 25(OH)D levels increased in both groups (from 17.6+/-1.5 to 25.5+/
      1.8 ng/mL in Group 1 and from 15.6+/-1.4 to 27.4+/-2.4 ng/mL in Group 2; P<=0.001
      vs baseline for each group). No significant differences were noted in fasting
      plasma glucose, HbA1c, QUICKI, serum adiponectin, and lipid levels compared with
      baseline within groups or between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS:   In the present
      pilot study, conventional vitamin D treatment at a level improving, but not
      optimizing, serum 25(OH)D did not improve glycemia, insulin sensitivity, or lipid
      profile. However, diabetes and lipids were relatively well controlled at
      baseline. Future studies should be designed to achieve optimal concentrations of
      serum 25(OH)D (at least >32 ng/mL) and should include subjects showing more
      abnormal parameters of glycemia, lipid, and insulin sensitivity at baseline.

PMID- 20923474
TI  - Enhanced healing of diabetic foot ulcers using local heat and electrical
      stimulation for 30 min three times per week.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Electrical stimulation (ES) with heating is effective in healing
      chronic wounds. However, it this effect due to ES alone or both heating and ES?
      The aim of the present study was to deduce the individual roles of heat and ES in
      the healing of chronic wounds. METHODS: The study was performed on 20 patients
      (mean age 48.4 +/- 14.6 years) with non-healing diabetic foot ulcers (mean
      duration 38.9 +/- 23.7 months) who received local dry heat (37 degrees C; n = 10)
      or local dry heat + ES (n = 10) three times a week for 4 weeks. Patients were
      given ES using biphasic sine wave stimulation (30 Hz, pulse width 250 MUs,
      current approximately 20 mA). RESULTS:   Skin blood flow in and around the wound
      was measured with a laser Doppler flow imager. In the ES + heat group, the
      average wound area and volume decreased significantly by 68.4 +/- 28.6% and 69.3
      +/- 27.1%, respectively (both P < 0.05), over the 1-month period. During the
      average session, blood flow increased to 102.3 +/- 25.3% with local heat and to
      152.3 +/- 23.4% with ES + heat. In the group receiving treatment with local heat
      only, wounds that had not healed for at least 2 months showed 30.1 +/- 22.6%
      healing (i.e. a decrease in wound area) after 1 month. Although this level of
      healing was significant, it was less than that observed in the ES + heat group
      (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS:   Local dry heat and ES work well together to heal chronic
      diabetic foot wounds; however, local heat would appear to be a relevant part of
      this therapy because ES alone has produced little healing in previous studies.

PMID- 20923475
TI  - Prehypertension is associated with atherosclerosis in Type 2 diabetes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Prehypertension is a risk factor for hypertension, diabetes, and
      cardiovascular diseases. However, the association between prehypertension and
      atherosclerosis in Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) has not been evaluated. In the
      present study, we investigated the impact of prehypertension on atherosclerosis
      in T2DM. METHODS: Patients (n=930) with T2DM were recruited for the present study
      from the outpatient clinic of Shanghai Ruijin Hospital. The intima-media
      thickness (IMT) of the common carotid artery (CCA) was determined using
      ultrasound and brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) was determined by
      volume plethysmography to assess atherosclerosis. RESULTS: Of the 930 patients
      with T2DM (mean age of 59 years), 167 were categorized as normotensive, 213 were
      prehypertensive, and 550 were hypertensive. Diabetic subjects with
      prehypertension had significantly higher CCA-IMT and baPWV than those with normal
      blood pressure after adjustment for age and gender. Multiple logistic regression
      analysis revealed that, compared with normotension, prehypertension was a
      significant independent determinant of atherosclerosis (for maximum IMT >=1.1 mm,
      odds ratio (OR) 2.10 and 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.28-3.44; for baPWV >=1400
      cm/s, OR 3.09 and 95% CI 1.78-5.36). CONCLUSION: Prehypertension is associated
      with atherosclerosis independent of conventional cardiovascular risk factors in
      T2DM patients. We speculate that maintenance of systolic blood pressure <120 mmHg
      and diastolic blood pressure <80 mmHg may reduce the risk of atherosclerosis in
      T2DM.

PMID- 20923476
TI  - Good news!

PMID- 20923477
TI  - Hypertension in patients with diabetes: questions.

PMID- 20923478
TI  - Response to Bloomgarden et al. Insulin treatment of type 2 diabetes: a clinical
      perspective.

PMID- 20923479
TI  - Gut hormones and the brain.
AB  - The dialogue between gut hormone, bile acids, and the brain plays an important
      role in energy homeostasis and the onset of Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). The
      present review focuses on: (i) bile acid metabolism and the role of bile acids in
      the regulation of both glucose homeostasis and the control of
      hypercholesterolemia; (ii) the role of gut hormones in energy homeostasis; and
      (iii) translation of the pathophysiology of bile acids and gut hormones into
      clinical practice. Although definitive mechanisms of action of gut hormones and
      bile acids have not been elucidated completely, these concepts allow us to
      understand several pharmacological interventions in the treatment of T2DM.
      Results from further clinical studies with related therapies will help us
      determine the role of these treatments in the management of energy homeostasis.

PMID- 20923480
TI  - Effects of testosterone on Type 2 diabetes and components of the metabolic
      syndrome.
AB  - Observations from clinical studies suggest that low serum levels of testosterone
      in men are often associated with obesity, insulin resistance, and metabolic
      compromise. Indeed, the clinical symptoms of late-onset hypogonadism are markedly
      similar to those of Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and metabolic syndrome, and
      may share a similar pathophysiology. Observational and experimental data suggest
      that testosterone treatment improves a number of hallmark features of T2DM and
      metabolic syndrome, namely insulin resistance, obesity, dyslipidemia, and sexual
      dysfunction. Consequently, clinical studies have been undertaken to assess the
      impact of testosterone-replacement therapy in this patient group. The present
      article reviews the observational clinical data suggesting an association between
      low serum testosterone and metabolic impairment, the clinical data relating to
      the effects of testosterone treatment on components of the metabolic syndrome,
      and the randomized clinical trails that have formally investigated whether
      testosterone-replacement therapy provides clinical benefit to hypogonadal men
      with T2DM and/or metabolic syndrome.

PMID- 20923481
TI  - Short-chain 3-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase is a negative regulator of insulin
      secretion in response to fuel and non-fuel stimuli in INS832/13 beta-cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hyperinsulinemia associated with non-ketotic hypoglycemia is observed
      in patients with mutated beta-oxidation enzyme short-chain 3-hydroxyacyl-CoA
      dehydrogenase (HADHSC). In the present study, we investigated the mechanism
      underlying HADHSC-mediated regulation of insulin secretion. METHODS: Knockdown of
      HADHSC expression by RNA interference in INS832/13 beta-cells was achieved using
      short hairpin RNA and short interference RNA. RESULTS: Knockdown of HADHSC
      increased both fuel- (glucose or leucine plus glutamine) and non-fuel (high KCl)
      induced insulin secretion. Enhanced glucose-stimulated insulin secretion (GSIS)
      induced by HADHSC knockdown was independent of changes in cytosolic Ca(2+) and
      also occurred in the presence of fatty acids. L-Carnitine, used in the formation
      of acyl-carnitine compounds, increased GSIS in control cells, but was unable to
      further increase the augmented GSIS in HADHSC-knockdown cells. The pan
      transaminase inhibitor amino-oxyacetate reversed HADHSC knockdown-mediated
      increases in GSIS. Oxidation of [1-(14) C]-palmitate and -octanoate was not
      reduced in HADHSC-knockdown cells. L-3-Hydroxybutyryl-carnitine (tested using its
      precursor L-3-hydroxybutyrate) and L-3-hydroxyglutarate, which accumulate in
      blood and urine, respectively, of HADHSC-deficient patients, did not change
      insulin secretion. CONCLUSIONS: Insulin secretion promoted by both fuel and non
      fuel stimuli is negatively regulated by HADHSC. Enhanced secretion after HADHSC
      knockdown is not due to inhibition of fatty acid oxidation causing an
      accumulation of long-chain fatty acids or their CoA derivatives. L-3
      Hydroxybutyrate and L-3-hydroxyglutarate do not mediate enhanced secretion caused
      by reduced HADHSC activity. Transamination reaction(s) and the formation of short
      chain acylcarnitines and CoAs may be implicated in the mechanism whereby HADHSC
      deficiency results in enhanced insulin secretion and hyperinsulinemia.

PMID- 20923482
TI  - Results and analysis of the 2008-2009 Insulin Injection Technique Questionnaire
      survey.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The efficacy of injection therapy in diabetes depends on correct
      injection technique and, to provide patients with guidance in this area, we must
      understand how they currently inject. METHODS: From September 2008 to June 2009,
      4352 insulin-injecting Type 1 and Type 2 diabetic patients from 171 centers in 16
      countries were surveyed regarding their injection practices. RESULTS: Overall,
      3.6% of patients use the 12.7-mm needle, 1.8% use the 12-mm needle, 1.6% use the
      10-mm needle, 48.6% use the 8-mm needle, 15.8% use the 6-mm needle, and 21.6% use
      the 5-mm needle; 7% of patients do not know what length of needle they use.
      Twenty-one percent of patients admitted injecting into the same site for an
      entire day, or even a few days, a practice associated with lipohypertrophy.
      Approximately 50% of patients have or have had symptoms suggestive of
      lipohypertrophy. Abdominal lipohypertrophy seems to be more frequent in those
      using the two smaller injection size areas, and less frequent in those using
      larger areas. Nearly 3% of patients reported always injecting into
      lipohypertrophic lesions and 26% inject into them sometimes. Of the 65% of
      patients using cloudy insulins (e.g. NPH), 35% do not remix it before use.
      CONCLUSIONS: It is clear from the latest survey that we have improved in certain
      areas, but that, in others, we have either not moved at all or our efforts have
      not yielded the results we expected. The results of the present survey are
      available online on a country-by-country and question-by-question basis at
      http://www.titan-workshop.org.

PMID- 20923483
TI  - Prevalence and correlates of metabolic syndrome based on a harmonious definition
      among adults in the US.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Recently, a Joint Scientific Statement bridged differences between
      previous definitions of metabolic syndrome. Our objective was to estimate the
      prevalence of metabolic syndrome in a representative sample of US adults and to
      examine its correlates. METHODS: We analyzed data for up to 3461 participants
      aged >= 20 years of the 2003-2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination
      Survey. RESULTS: Using waist circumference thresholds of >= 102 cm for men and >=
      88 cm for women, the age-adjusted prevalence of metabolic syndrome was 34.3%
      among all adults, 36.1% among men, and 32.4% among women. Using racial- or ethnic
      specific International Diabetes Federation criteria for waist circumference, the
      age-adjusted prevalence of metabolic syndrome was 38.5% for all participants,
      41.9% for men, and 35.0% for women. Prevalence increased with age, peaking among
      those aged 60-69 years. Prevalence was lower among African American men than
      White or Mexican American men, and lower among White women than among African
      American or Mexican American women. In a multivariate regression model,
      significant independent associations were noted for age (positive), gender (men
      higher than women), race or ethnicity (African Americans and participants of
      another race lower than Whites), educational status (inverse),
      hypercholesterolemia (positive), concentrations of C-reactive protein (positive),
      leisure time physical activity (inverse), microalbuminuria (positive), and
      hyperinsulinemia (positive). Additional adjustment for body mass index weakened
      many of the associations, with educational status and microalbuminuria no longer
      significant contributors to the model. CONCLUSION: Metabolic syndrome continues
      to be highly prevalent among adults in the US.

PMID- 20923484
TI  - Many patients with Type 1 diabetes estimate their prandial insulin need
      inappropriately.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Many factors contribute to the need for prandial insulin in Type 1
      diabetes. However, patients' success in achieving normal postprandial glucose
      concentration is understudied. The aim of the present study was to determine how
      often patients with Type 1 diabetes achieve normal postprandial glucose
      concentrations and to evaluate factors associated with postprandial hypo- and
      hyperglycemia. METHODS: Data on food intake, physical activity, insulin
      administration, and blood glucose concentration were collected using a self
      administered questionnaire from 331 patients with Type 1 diabetes (43% men; mean
      age 49 +/- 12 years; mean diabetes duration 32 +/- 13 years). Of these, 179
      provided data on blood glucose concentrations measured 110-150 min
      postprandially. One such meal per patient was randomized for analyses. RESULTS:
      Hypoglycemia (< 4.0 mmol/L), normoglycemia (4.0-7.9 mmol/L), and hyperglycemia
      (>= 8.0 mmol/L) were observed after 23%, 36%, and 41% of meals, respectively. The
      three postprandial glycemia groups did not differ with respect to the meal
      composition or the timing of the postprandial blood glucose measurement. In
      women, postprandial hyperglycemia was associated with shorter diabetes duration
      and higher preprandial blood glucose concentration, whereas postprandial
      hypoglycemia was associated with higher physical activity. No single factor
      explained the postprandial glycemic state in men. CONCLUSIONS: A total of 64% of
      patients estimated their prandial insulin need inappropriately, suggesting that
      estimation of the optimal prandial insulin dose is not easy, even after a long
      duration of diabetes.

PMID- 20923485
TI  - Benefits of self-monitoring blood glucose in the management of new-onset Type 2
      diabetes mellitus: the St Carlos Study, a prospective randomized clinic-based
      interventional study with parallel groups.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Intensive treatment of patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM)
      from the moment of diagnosis facilitates beta-cell recovery. Self-monitoring of
      blood glucose (SMBG)-based educational and pharmacological intervention may be
      better than conventional HbA1c algorithms in the treatment of newly diagnosed
      T2DM. METHODS: Newly diagnosed T2DM patients were randomized to either an SMBG
      based intervention or an HbA1c-based control group (n = 99 and 62, respectively)
      and were followed for 1 year. RESULTS: Higher rates of diabetes regression (HbA1c
      < 6% on metformin alone) and remission (HbA1c between 6.0% and 6.4%) were
      achieved in the intervention compared with the control group (39% vs 5% (P <
      0.001) and 37% vs 30% (P < 0.01), respectively). Furthermore, significantly
      greater reductions in median HbA1c (6.6% to 6.1%; P < 0.05) and body mass index
      (29.6-27.9 kg/m(2) ; P < 0.001) were seen in the intervention over the 1 year of
      therapy. The percentage of patients achieving a lifestyle score >12 was
      significantly greater in the SMBG compared with the control group (38.4% vs 9.7%
      respectively; P < 0.001). An inverse correlation was observed between SMBG and
      HbA1c levels (P < 0.04). CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate that SMBG-based
      structured educational and pharmacological programs empower patients to achieve
      nutritional and physical activity goals, and encourage physicians and patients to
      use SMBG to optimize therapy. We believe that the concept of intensive treatment
      of T2DM patients should be modified; instead of referring to the type of
      treatment (insulin use), the term should reflect the intensity with which we work
      to reach glucose objectives.

PMID- 20923486
TI  - Pioglitazone and the risk of cardiovascular events in patients with Type 2
      diabetes receiving concomitant treatment with nitrates, renin-angiotensin system
      blockers, or insulin: results from the PROactive study (PROactive 20).
AB  - BACKGROUND: Patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) are often treated with
      multiple glucose-lowering and cardiovascular agents. The concomitant use of
      nitrates, renin-angiotensin system (RAS) blockers, or insulin has been linked to
      a potential increase in myocardial ischemic risk with rosiglitazone. The
      PROactive database provides an opportunity to investigate the effects of these
      medications on the potential macrovascular benefits reported with pioglitazone.
      METHODS: The PROactive study was a randomized double-blind prospective trial that
      evaluated mortality and cardiovascular morbidity in 5238 patients with T2DM and
      macrovascular disease. Patients received pioglitazone or placebo in addition to
      their baseline glucose-lowering and cardiovascular medications. The effect of
      pioglitazone on composite endpoints was evaluated, including all-cause death,
      myocardial infarction (MI), and stroke, as well as safety events of edema and
      serious heart failure, in subgroups using nitrates, RAS blockers, or insulin at
      baseline. RESULTS: The risk of all-cause death, MI, and stroke for pioglitazone
      versus placebo was similar regardless of the baseline use of nitrates, RAS
      blockers, or insulin, with hazard ratios ranging from 0.81 to 0.87. Similar
      results were obtained for the other composite endpoints analyzed. There were no
      significant interactions between baseline medication subgroups and treatment. The
      increased risk of edema and serious heart failure was consistent across the
      baseline medication subgroups. CONCLUSIONS: This post hoc analysis did not reveal
      an increased risk of macrovascular events with pioglitazone in patients receiving
      nitrates, RAS blockers, or insulin. Rather, all patients realized the same trend
      towards benefit with pioglitazone, and adverse events of edema and heart failure
      were predictable.

PMID- 20923487
TI  - Insulin treatment of Type 2 diabetes: a clinical perspective.

PMID- 20923488
TI  - Distinctions between islet neogenesis and beta-cell replication: implications for
      reversal of Type 1 and 2 diabetes.
AB  - The terms "islet" and "beta-cell" are often used interchangeably, yet islets are
      highly complex multicellular organelles that contain the insulin-producing beta
      cells and four other cells types, all of which play a role in maintaining glucose
      homeostasis within a very narrow range. Although the formation of new islets in
      adults is rare, occurring primarily in response to pancreatic injury and major
      stress to the pancreas, beta-cell replication from existing cells occurs
      throughout adulthood. An understanding of the regulatory factors controlling
      pancreatic development has more clearly defined the differences between new islet
      formation from progenitor cells located throughout the adult pancreas and beta
      cell replication occurring within existing islets. The present review sets forth
      to more clearly distinguish the differences between the postnatal pathways of
      islet neogenesis and beta-cell replication with a discussion of the potential
      implications for reversal of Type 1 and 2 diabetic patients using islet
      neogenesis agents that are now in development. For Type 1 diabetic patients, an
      immune tolerance agent in conjunction with an islet neogenesis agent may allow
      achievement of adequate islet mass, perhaps with subsequent potential to withdraw
      medications. For Type 2 diabetic patients, lifestyle changes and/or medications
      may sustain the production of new islets and limit the accelerated beta-cell
      apoptosis characteristic of the condition.

PMID- 20923489
TI  - Epidemiology of Type 2 diabetes mellitus in Aleppo, Syria.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is considerable public health
      problem, but data on the prevalence and correlates of T2DM in Syria are scarce.
      The aim of the present study was to establish reliable estimates of the
      prevalence of T2DM in Syria. METHODS: A cross-sectional, population-based survey
      was conducted in Aleppo, Syria (population 2.5 million), in 2006. The study was
      conducted on a random sample of 1168 subjects >=25 years of age (47.7% men; mean
      age 44.7 +/- 12.7 years). Information regarding a personal history of diabetes
      and other risk factors was collected, followed by measurement of weight, height,
      and the waist:hip ratio (WHR). Of the 1168 participants, 806 provided fasting
      blood samples that were analyzed for fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and HbA1c.
      RESULTS: The prevalence of T2DM based on FPG >=126 mg/dL and HbA1c >=6.5% was
      15.6% (11.2% self-reported; 5.0% diagnosed) and 14.8%, respectively. The
      prevalence of impaired fasting glucose (FPG >=110 and <126 mg/dL) was 8.6%. There
      was a significant positive association between T2DM and age, WHR, a family
      history of T2DM, and body mass index (BMI) and an inverse association between
      T2DM and physical activity (P < 0.01 for all). Multivariate analysis showed that
      age, BMI, WHR, and a family history of T2DM were the most important factors
      associated with T2DM. Only 16.7% of treated cases of T2DM were under control
      (i.e. HbA1c <7%). CONCLUSIONS: Based on the results obtained in our sample, T2DM
      is widespread in Syria. Many of those with T2DM are unaware of their disease and
      most have unsatisfactory control of their disease.

PMID- 20923490
TI  - Does A1c consistently reflect mean plasma glucose?
AB  - BACKGROUND: A1c, a surrogate measure of glycemic control, is known to have a
      strong linear correlation with mean plasma glucose (MPG) when analyzed in
      populations of patients. However, clinically significant intersubject variability
      in this relationship exists, which suggests that A1c measurements may not reflect
      actual glycemic control in some patients. In the present study we explored the
      extent to which A1c accurately represents glycemic control, as measured by MPG,
      for individual patients. METHODS: Data were pooled from randomized clinical
      trials in which A1c and self-monitored plasma glucose (SMPG) profiles were
      collected by patients with Type 2 diabetes treated with insulin analog regimens.
      MPG levels were calculated from SMPG profiles. Distributions of MPG were analyzed
      for patients within similar ranges of A1c (<6.5%, 6.5%-<7.5%, 7.5%-<8.5%, 8.5%
      <9.5%, and >=9.5%) and distributions of A1c were analyzed in patients within
      similar ranges of MPG (<6.1, 6.1-<7.8, 7.8-<9.4, 9.4-<11.1, and >=11.1 mmol/L).
      RESULTS: Substantial proportions of patients had clinically significant
      differences between A1c and MPG. For example, among 260 patients with A1c between
      6.5% and 7.5%, 10% had MPG levels <6.4 mmol/L, whereas 10% had MPG >9.5 mmol/L.
      Among the 224 patients with MPG levels >=6.1 mmol/L and <7.8 mmol/L, 10% had A1c
      <6% and 10% had A1c >8.1%. CONCLUSIONS: In the absence of SMPG, A1c may
      inadequately represent glycemic control for many diabetic patients.

PMID- 20923491
TI  - Antidiabetic activity of the mangrove species Ceriops decandra in alloxan-induced
      diabetic rats.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Diabetes is a series of disorders characterized by increased fasting
      and postprandial glucose concentration and insulin deficiency and/or decreased
      insulin action. Although there are a number of commercially available drugs for
      the treatment of diabetes, their long-term use may cause unwanted side effects.
      Consequently, many studies are underway to find natural remedies that can
      effectively reduce the intensity of diabetes. The aim of the present study was to
      evaluate the antidiabetic activity of the mangrove species Ceriops decandra.
      METHODS: The effects of daily oral administration of an ethanolic extract from
      the leaves of C. decandra (30, 60, 120 mg/kg) for 30 days on blood glucose,
      hemoglobin (Hb), HbA1c, liver glycogen and some carbohydrate metabolic enzymes
      were evaluated in normal and alloxan-induced diabetic rats. The effects of these
      extracts were compared with the effect of 30-days treatment with 0.1 mg/kg, p.o.,
      glibenclamide, a commercially available drug commonly used in the treatment of
      diabetes. RESULTS: Oral administration of 120 mg/kg extract modulated all the
      parameters evaluated to levels seen in control rats. The effects of 120 mg/kg
      extract were comparable to those of glibenclamide. CONCLUSION: The extract of the
      mangrove plant C. decandra exhibited promising antidiabetic activity and could be
      considered for further evaluation in clinical studies and drug development.

PMID- 20923492
TI  - Assessment of self-reported self-esteem in healthy and diabetic children and
      adolescents in Greece.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of the present study was to evaluate any possible negative
      effect of diabetes on the self-esteem of children and adolescents with diabetes.
      METHODS: Self-esteem was evaluated using the Culture-Free Self-Esteem Inventory
      (CFSEI-2) in 144 patients with Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM; 7-18 years of age)
      treated in a diabetes center and compared against that of 136 healthy children
      and adolescents. RESULTS: Self-esteem was correlated with age (P = 0.017), but
      not with diabetes (P = 0.886). The median CFSEI-2 score for both healthy and
      diabetic children was 22. There was no significant correlation between self
      esteem and sex, body mass index (BMI), physical exercise, HbA1c or parental
      educational level. According to Spearman's rank correlation coefficient (r(s)),
      there was a significant association between age and self-esteem (r(s) = -0.15).
      Conversely, although BMI (r(s) = -0.09) and treatment duration (r(s) = -0.107)
      had a slight negative effect on self-esteem and the duration of physical exercise
      (r(s) = 0.11) and parental education (r(s) = 0.07) seemed to have a positive
      effect, the associations did not reach statistical significance. CONCLUSIONS:
      Self-esteem in diabetic children is mainly affected by their age, level of
      physical activity and level of family support. These findings emphasize the need
      to discriminate between glycemic control and diabetic adjustment.

PMID- 20923493
TI  - Lifestyle factors and mortality among adults with diabetes: findings from the
      European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition-Potsdam study*.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Healthy lifestyle behaviors are among the cornerstones of diabetes
      self-management, but the extent to which healthy lifestyle factors could
      potentially prevent premature mortality among people with diabetes remains
      unknown. The aim of the present study was to estimate the reduction in mortality
      that could be achieved if people with diabetes did not smoke, had a body mass
      index <30 kg/m(2) , performed physical activity for >=3.5 h/week, reported better
      dietary habits, and consumed alcohol moderately. METHODS: A prospective cohort
      study of 1263 German men and women with diabetes aged 35-65 years who were
      followed for an average of 7.8 years was used and multivariate Cox regression
      models for all-cause and cause-specific mortality were calculated. RESULTS:
      Approximately 7% of study participants had no favorable factors, 24% had one, 35%
      had two, and 34% had three or more. Compared with participants who had no
      favorable factors, the reduction in risk was 34% [95% confidence interval (CI)
      19%, 63%] for those with one favorable factor, 49% (95% CI 9%, 71%) for those
      with two, and 63% (95% CI 31%, 80%) for those with three or more. Furthermore, a
      competing risk analysis did not show any difference in the inverse associations
      with mortality due to cardiovascular disease, cancer, or other causes.
      CONCLUSIONS: Favorable lifestyle factors can potentially achieve substantial
      reductions in premature mortality among people with diabetes. Our results
      emphasize the importance of helping people with diabetes optimize their lifestyle
      behaviors.

PMID- 20923495
TI  - Asymmetric diabetic retinopathy.

PMID- 20923494
TI  - Measurement of HbA1c from stored whole blood samples in the Atherosclerosis Risk
      in Communities study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aims of the present study were to demonstrate the reliability of
      HbA1c measurements during two time periods and to compare these measurements with
      HbA1c distribution in the general US population. METHODS: HbA1c was measured in
      14,069 whole blood samples in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC)
      study using different HPLC instruments across two time periods, namely 2003-2004
      and 2007-2008. At the time of measurement, samples had been in storage at -70
      degrees C for up to 18 years. To assess differences in values, HbA1c measurements
      were repeated in 383 samples at both periods. Indirect comparisons were made by
      comparing our measurements against those from a nationally representative study.
      RESULTS: The coefficients of variation for quality control samples were 1.8% (n =
      89) in 2003-2004 and 1.4% (n = 259) in 2007-2008. The correlation between
      measurements at the two time points was high (r = 0.99), but with a slight bias:
      0.29% points higher in 2007-2008 vs 2003-2004 (n = 383; P < 0.0001). The
      comparison yielded the following Deming regression equation: y((2007-2008)) =
      0.073 + 1.034x((2003-2004)) . After alignment using this equation, the
      distribution of HbA1c in the ARIC study was similar to that in the national study
      using fresh samples. CONCLUSIONS: Measurements of HbA1c from samples stored for
      up to 18 years are highly reliable when using state-of-the-art HPLC instruments,
      but with some bias introduced over time. The HbA1c data now available in the ARIC
      study should be invaluable for investigations into the clinical utility of HbA1c
      as a diagnostic test for diabetes.

PMID- 20923496
TI  - Effect of diabetes on enzymes involved in rat hepatic corticosterone production.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Numerous studies have explored the etiologic or permissive role of
      11beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (11beta-HSD1) in obesity and Type 2 diabetes,
      biochemical conditions often with concurrent hyperinsulinism. In contrast, there
      are limited data on the effect of insulin deficiency (i.e. Type 1 diabetes) on
      11beta-HSD1 or endoplasmic reticulum enzymes that generate the reduced pyridine
      cofactor NADPH. Thus, the aim of the present study was to examine the effect of
      insulin-deficient, streptozotozin diabetes on key microsomal enzymes involved in
      rat hepatic corticosterone production. METHODS: After rats had been rendered
      diabetic with streptozotocin and some had been treated with insulin (2-6 units,
      s.c., long-acting insulin once daily) for 7 days, hepatic microsomes were
      isolated. Serum corticosterone and fructosamine were obtained premortem. Intact
      microsomes were incubated in vitro and 11beta-HSD1, hexose-6-phosphate
      dehydrogenase (H6PDH), and isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) measured. RESULTS:
      Although diabetes markedly altered body weight gain and serum protein
      glycosylation (assessed by fructosamine), there was no significant change in
      hepatic 11beta-HSD1 reductase activity, with or without insulin treatment.
      However, serum corticosterone levels were significantly correlated with 11beta
      HSD1 reductase activity when all groups were analyzed together (P < 0.05).
      Untreated diabetes modified (P < 0.01) two hepatic microsomal NADPH-generating
      enzymes, namely H6PDH and IDH, resulting in a 37% decrease and 14% increase in
      enzyme levels, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Consistent with most in vivo studies,
      chronic insulin deficiency with attendant hyperglycemia does not significantly
      modify hepatic 11beta-HSD1 reductase activity, but does alter the activity of two
      microsomal enzymes coupled with pyridine cofactors.

PMID- 20923497
TI  - Macrophage migration inhibitory factor deficiency augments cardiac dysfunction in
      Type 1 diabetic murine cardiomyocytes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: It has become evident that macrophage migration inhibitory factor
      (MIF) is associated with the development of Type 1 diabetes mellitus. The aim of
      the present study was to determine whether MIF plays a role in cardiac
      contractile dysfunction in T1DM mice. METHODS: Mechanical and intracellular
      Ca(2+) properties were measured in cardiomyocytes isolated from wild-type (WT)
      and MIF-knockout (MIF-KO) mice administrated or not streptozotocin (200 mg/kg,
      i.p.). Relative stress signaling was evaluated using western blot analysis.
      RESULTS: Peak shortening (PS) and maximal velocity of shortening/relengthening
      (+/-dL/dt) were reduced and the duration of relengthening (TR90) was prolonged in
      both WT and MIF-KO cardiomyocytes treated with STZ (P < 0.01 vs control), which
      may be associated with reduced intracellular Ca(2+) decay in both groups.
      However, STZ-treated WT cardiomyocytes demonstrated significantly better
      contractile function and intracellular Ca(2+) properties compared with STZ
      treated MIF-KO cardiomyocytes (all P < 0.05). Interestingly, the physiological
      data clearly showed that blood glucose levels were significantly higher in STZ
      treated MIF-KO mice than STZ-treated WT mice (P < 0.01). Moreover,
      phosphorylation of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and its direct downstream
      target acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) was markedly lower in hearts from STZ-treated
      MIF-KO mice than STZ-treated WT mice (P < 0.05). There were no significant
      differences between untreated WT and MIF-KO control groups. CONCLUSIONS: There is
      a beneficial action of MIF in the management of cardiac dysfunction in T1DM. The
      cardioprotective effect of MIF may be associated with AMPK signaling.

PMID- 20923498
TI  - Evaluation of the weight-increasing effects of biphasic analog and regular NPH
      insulin mixtures in patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Weight gain is a significant problem in diabetic patients in terms of
      worsening glycemic control, increasing diabetic and cardiovascular morbidity and
      mortality, and contributing to social and psychological problems. In the present
      study, we evaluated the effects of a biphasic analog and regular NPH insulin
      mixtures on weight gain in patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) over 1
      year. METHODS: Group I consisted of 71 patients (29 men and 42 women) being
      treated with analog mixtures (insulin lispro 75/25 mix and biphasic insulin
      aspart 70/30 mix) twice daily; Group II consisted of 69 patients (23 men and 46
      women) being treated with a regular insulin mixture (70/30) twice daily. Starting
      weight, body mass index, HbA1c, and hypoglycemic episodes were evaluated after 6
      and 12 months. RESULTS: Weight gain in Group I at 6 and 12 months was 1.41 +/-
      2.70 and 2.08 +/- 3.74 kg, respectively. In Group II, weight gain at 6 and 12
      months was 1.5 +/- 3.0 and 2.29 +/- 3.85 kg, respectively. Intragroup comparisons
      indicated that, for both groups, weight gain at 6 and 12 months differed
      significantly from the starting weight. However, no significant differences in
      weight gain were found between the two groups (P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The weight
      increasing effects of an analog mixture of insulin and the NPH regular mixture of
      insulin appear to be similar. This should be taken into account when determining
      the type of insulin to use in treating T2DM patients.

PMID- 20923499
TI  - Transforming growth factor-beta regulation of proteoglycan synthesis in vascular
      smooth muscle: contribution to lipid binding and accelerated atherosclerosis in
      diabetes.
AB  - Atherosclerosis is accelerated in the setting of diabetes, but the factors
      driving this phenomenon remain elusive. Hyperglycemia leads to elevated levels of
      transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta and TGF-beta has been implicated as a
      factor in atherosclerosis. Given the established association between
      hyperglycemia and elevated TGF-beta, it is plausible that elevated TGF-beta
      levels in diabetes play a pathogenic role in the development of accelerated
      atherosclerosis. TGF-beta is a potent regulator of extracellular matrix
      synthesis, including many actions on proteoglycan synthesis that lead to
      increased binding to low-density lipoprotein and therefore potentially increased
      lipid retention in the vessel wall and accelerated atherosclerosis. TGF-beta
      signals through the canonical TGF-beta receptor I-mediated phosphorylation of
      Smad transcription factors and TGF-beta signaling is also known to involve,
      positively and negatively, interactions with the mitogen-activated protein kinase
      pathways. The focus of the present review is on the effects of TGF-beta on
      proteoglycan synthesis in vascular smooth muscle and particularly the signaling
      pathways through which TGF-beta exerts its effects, because those pathways may be
      therapeutic targets for the prevention of pathological modifications in the
      proteoglycan component of the vessel wall in the vascular diseases of diabetes.

PMID- 20923500
TI  - Targeting metabolic syndrome: candidate natural agents.
AB  - Following on from impressive economic development and urbanization, China is
      currently experiencing a high prevalence of metabolic syndrome. Patients with
      metabolic syndrome suffer from the "The Deadly Quartet" of hyperglycemia,
      hypertriglyceridemia, hypertension, and central (or upper body) obesity. Current
      treatment strategies directed towards metabolic syndrome tend to be limited to
      just one of these four conditions, so developing novel drugs to target multiple
      metabolic abnormalities could be preferable to current approaches. New insights
      suggest benefits of natural agents as treatments for metabolic syndrome. Herein,
      we review the evidence for using nine such agents developed on the basis of
      traditional medicine or herbal preparations.

PMID- 20923501
TI  - Effects of Nigella sativa and thymoquinone on biochemical and subcellular changes
      in pancreatic beta-cells of streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The present study investigated the effects of Nigella sativa aqueous
      extract and oil, as well as thymoquinone, on serum insulin and glucose
      concentrations in streptozotocin (STZ) diabetic rats. METHODS: Rats were divided
      into five experimental groups (control, untreated STZ-diabetic, and aqueous
      extract-, oil-, or thymoquinone-treated diabetic rats). Treated rats received 2
      mL/kg, i.p., 5%N. sativa extract, 0.2 mL/kg, i.p., N. sativa oil, or 3 mg/mL,
      i.p., thymoquinone 6 days/week for 30 days. Serum insulin and glucose
      concentrations, superoxide dismutase (SOD) levels, and pancreatic tissue
      malondialdehyde (MDA) were determined. Electron microscopy was used to identify
      any subcellular changes. RESULTS: Diabetes increased tissue MDA and serum glucose
      levels and decreased insulin and SOD levels. Treatment of rats with N. sativa
      extract and oil, as well as thymoquinone, significantly decreased the diabetes
      induced increases in tissue MDA and serum glucose and significantly increased
      serum insulin and tissue SOD. Ultrastructurally, thymoquinone ameliorated most of
      the toxic effects of STZ, including segregated nucleoli, heterochromatin
      aggregates (indicating DNA damage), and mitochondrial vacuolization and
      fragmentation. The aqueous extract of N. sativa also reversed these effects of
      STZ, but to a lesser extent. The N. sativa oil restored normal insulin levels,
      but failed to decrease serum glucose concentrations to normal. CONCLUSIONS: The
      biochemical and ultrastructural findings suggest that N. sativa extract and
      thymoquinone have therapeutic and protect against STZ-diabetes by decreasing
      oxidative stress, thus preserving pancreatic beta-cell integrity. The
      hypoglycemic effect observed could be due to amelioration of beta-cell
      ultrastructure, thus leading to increased insulin levels. Consequently, N. sativa
      and thymoquinone may prove clinically useful in the treatment of diabetics and in
      the protection of beta-cells against oxidative stress.

PMID- 20923502
TI  - Novel biphenyl compound, VMNS2e, ameliorates streptozotocin-induced diabetic
      nephropathy in rats.
AB  - AIM: To study the effect of a new biphenyl synthetic compound showing
      interactions with the active site of protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B by docking
      and molecular dynamics, VMNS2e in streptozotocin-induced diabetic nephropathy in
      rats with various renal function parameters and renal ultrastructure. METHODS:
      Streptozotocin (55 mg/kg)-induced diabetic rats were orally treated once daily
      with VMNS2e (30, 60, and 120 mg/kg) for 8 weeks. The body weight and blood
      glucose levels of the rats were recorded during the study period. After 8 weeks
      of treatment creatinine clearance, urinary protein, blood urea nitrogen, urinary
      albumin excretion rate, and insulin levels were measured. An ultrastructure study
      of the kidney tissue was performed and the glomerular basement membrane thickness
      was measured. RESULTS: Eight weeks of VMNS2e treatment significantly reduced the
      fasting blood glucose level, attenuated elevating blood urea nitrogen levels, and
      reduced glomerular basement membrane thickness. CONCLUSION: It is concluded that
      VMNS2e treatment at 30 and 60 mg/kg, when given for 8 weeks, partly ameliorated
      early diabetic nephropathy in diabetic rats.

PMID- 20923503
TI  - Periodontitis and risk of diabetes mellitus.
AB  - Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a complex disease with varying degrees of systemic and
      oral complications. The periodontium is also a target for diabetic damage.
      Diabetes is a pandemic in both developed and developing countries. In recent
      years, a link between periodontitis and diabetes mellitus has been postulated.
      The oral cavity serves as a continuous source of infectious agents that could
      further worsen the diabetic status of the patient and serve as an important risk
      factor deterioration of diabetes mellitus. The present review highlights the
      relationship between diabetes mellitus and periodontitis. The potential
      mechanisms involved in the deterioration of diabetic status and periodontal
      disease are also discussed.

PMID- 20923504
TI  - Diabetes News.

PMID- 20923505
TI  - The Avandia debate: an unhappy conclusion.

PMID- 20923506
TI  - Knowing is not enough!

PMID- 20923507
TI  - Cognitive leisure activities and their role in preventing dementia: a systematic
      review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Dementia inflicts a tremendous burden on the healthcare system.
      Identifying protective factors or effective prevention strategies may lead to
      considerable benefits. One possible strategy mentioned in the literature relates
      to participation in cognitive leisure activities. AIM: To determine the
      effectiveness of cognitive leisure activities in preventing Alzheimer's and other
      dementias among older adults. INCLUSION CRITERIA: Types of participants. Adults
      aged at least 60 years of age with or without a clinical diagnosis of dementia
      that resided in the community or care setting. Types of interventions. Cognitive
      leisure activities, defined as activities that required a mental response from
      the individual taking part in the activity (e.g. reading). Types of outcomes. The
      presence or absence of dementia was the outcome of interest. Types of studies.
      Any randomised controlled trials, other experimental studies, as well as cohort,
      case-control and cross-sectional studies were considered for inclusion. Search
      strategy. A search for published and unpublished studies in the English language
      was undertaken with no publication date restriction. METHODOLOGICAL QUALITY: Each
      study was appraised independently by two reviewers using the standard Joanna
      Briggs Institute instruments. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Information was
      extracted from studies meeting quality criteria using the standard Joanna Briggs
      Institute tools. Because of the heterogeneity of populations and interventions,
      meta-analyses were not possible and results are presented in narrative form.
      RESULTS: There were no randomised controlled trials located that met inclusion
      criteria. Thirteen observational studies were included in the review; the
      majority were cohort design. Because of the heterogeneity of interventions, the
      study design, the way in which they were grouped and the different stages of life
      they were measured at, statistical pooling was not appropriate. Studies were
      grouped by stage of adult life participation when interventions were undertaken,
      that is, early adulthood, middle adulthood and late life. Five out of six studies
      showed a positive association between participating in activities and a reduced
      risk of developing Alzheimer's disease and other dementias when interventions
      were undertaken in middle adulthood and six out of seven studies produced a
      positive association for late life participation. Results indicated that some
      activities might be more beneficial than others; however, results should be
      interpreted with caution because of the subjective nature of activity inclusion.
      CONCLUSION: * Actively participating in cognitive leisure activities during mid-
      or late life may be beneficial in preventing the risk of Alzheimer's disease and
      other dementias in the elderly; however, the evidence is currently not strong
      enough to infer a direct causal relationship. * Participating in selected
      cognitive leisure activities may be more favourable than others but currently
      there is no strong evidence to recommend one over the other.

PMID- 20923508
TI  - Ethical conduct of research in developing countries.

PMID- 20923509
TI  - Recent evidence on the development and maintenance of constructive staff-family
      relationships in the care of older people--a report on a systematic review
      update.
AB  - AIM: This paper is an update to a systematic review that presents the best
      available evidence on the factors that are most effective in promoting
      constructive staff-family relationships in the care of older people in the
      institutional healthcare setting. METHODS: Systematic review. RESULTS: The
      updated review supports findings from the earlier review. Additional evidence
      points to the importance of monitoring care, family involvement in decision
      making, staff upholding the uniqueness of the older person, trust, the
      involvement of the multidisciplinary care team and family dynamics as factors
      underpinning effective staff-family relationships. CONCLUSION: A number of
      factors critical to the development and maintenance of positive staff-family
      relationships in the institutional setting have been identified. The delivery of
      quality care is predicated on staff having an understanding of these factors.

PMID- 20923510
TI  - Review of studies and guidelines on fasting and procedural sedation at the
      emergency department.
AB  - AIM: Procedural sedation and analgesia allows urgent procedures to be performed
      safely by preserving patients' airway reflexes. Fasting, which is required before
      deeper levels of sedation, and where the airway reflexes are not preserved, is
      difficult to impose in emergencies. This paper aims to synthesise evidence on the
      need for pre-procedure fasting to minimise aspiration among adults undergoing
      procedural sedation and analgesia for emergency procedures. METHODS: Overviews,
      guidelines with graded recommendations and primary studies on aspiration and pre
      procedure fasting in procedural sedation and analgesia were retrieved from
      Medline, Cochrane, and Center for Reviews and Dissemination Databases. Terms
      searched were procedural sedation, fasting, emergency and sedation. RESULTS: One
      primary study and one guideline were included. The American College of Emergency
      Physicians Clinical Policies Subcommittee on Procedural Sedation and Analgesia
      issued a recommendation based on 'preliminary, inconclusive or conflicting
      evidence, or on panel consensus'. The recommendation states: 'recent food intake
      is not a contraindication for administering procedural sedation and
      analgesia...'. The primary study conducted by Bell in an emergency department in
      Australia compared patients who last ate or drank more than 6 and 2 h from
      induction, respectively, with those who last ate or drank within 6 and 2 h. There
      were no cases of aspiration in both groups. Out of 118 patients who fasted, 1
      (0.8%) vomited, as did one of 282 patients (0.4%) who did not fast. CONCLUSIONS:
      Aspiration risk is expected to be lower in procedural sedation and analgesia than
      in general anaesthesia. Current guidelines rely on expert consensus due to the
      lack of primary studies. Contextualisation of existing guidelines are quick and
      efficient strategies for developing locally relevant tools.

PMID- 20923511
TI  - Systematic review of practice guideline dissemination and implementation
      strategies for healthcare teams and team-based practice.
AB  - AIM: To synthesis the literature relevant to guideline dissemination and
      implementation strategies for healthcare teams and team-based practice. METHODS:
      Systematic approach utilising Joanna Briggs Institute methods. Two reviewers
      screened all articles and where there was disagreement, a third reviewer
      determined inclusion. RESULTS: Initial search revealed 12,083 of which 88 met the
      inclusion criteria. Ten dissemination and implementation strategies identified
      with distribution of educational materials the most common. Studies were assessed
      for patient or practitioner outcomes and changes in practice, knowledge and
      economic outcomes. A descriptive analysis revealed multiple approaches using
      teams of healthcare providers were reported to have statistically significant
      results in knowledge, practice and/or outcomes for 72.7% of the studies.
      CONCLUSION: Team-based care using practice guidelines locally adapted can affect
      positively patient and provider outcomes.

PMID- 20923512
TI  - General pain assessment among patients with cancer in an acute care setting: a
      best practice implementation project.
AB  - AIMS: This project sought to determine improve local practice in managing
      patients with cancer. It involved by: educating Registered Nurses on the
      importance of pain assessment, and ensuring this practice is done according to
      the current best available evidence and monitoring compliance with the audit
      criteria. METHODS: This project utilised a pre- and post-implementation audit
      strategy using the Joanna Briggs Institute Practical Application of Clinical
      Evidence System and Getting Research Into Practice programs. It was implemented
      in three phases over a 6-month period, from September 2009 to February 2010. The
      audits utilised three out of 10 criteria recommended by The National Health
      Service Quality Improvement Scotland. The audits took place in a 24-bed oncology
      ward in a large acute care setting in Singapore involving a sample size of 24
      patients and Registered Nurses. It involved going through the clinical charts and
      medical records of the cases, and educating Registered Nurses on pain assessment
      for patients with cancer. RESULTS: The post-implementation audit findings
      indicated a modest to significant improvement in all the three criteria: first,
      an improvement of 33% through using a pain assessment tool to assess pain in
      patients with cancer; second, a 75% increase in the number of Registered Nurses
      who received education on pain assessment; and third, a 46% increase in accuracy
      in the assessment and documentation of pain. CONCLUSION: The project had shown
      that pre- and post-implementation audits represent a useful method for
      translating evidence into practice. The conduct of this project showed that
      achieving change in clinical practice was challenging. It also showed that
      positive audit results were achieved through the enthusiasm, commitment and
      dedication of every member of the project team, the use of champions who were
      involved in direct patient care and performance feedback.

PMID- 20923513
TI  - The Journal of Diabetes.

PMID- 20923515
TI  - Review of hemoglobin A(1c) in the management of diabetes.
AB  - Hemoglobin HbA(1c) (A(1c)) has been used clinically since the 1980s as a test of
      glycemic control in individuals with diabetes. The Diabetes Control and
      Complications Trial (DCCT) demonstrated that tight glycemic control, quantified
      by lower blood glucose and A(1c) levels, reduced the risk of the development of
      complications from diabetes. Subsequently, standardization of A(1c) measurement
      was introduced in different countries to ensure accuracy in A(1c) results.
      Recently, the International Federation of Clinical Chemists (IFCC) introduced a
      more precise measurement of A(1c) , which has gained international acceptance.
      However, if the IFCC A(1c) result is expressed as a percentage, it is lower than
      the current DCCT-aligned A(1c) result, which may lead to confusion and
      deterioration in diabetic control. Alternative methods of reporting have been
      proposed, including A(1c) -derived average glucose (ADAG), which derives an
      average glucose from the A(1c) result. Herein, we review A(1c) , the components
      involved in A(1c) formation, and the interindividual and assay variations that
      can lead to differences in A(1c) results, despite comparable glycemic control. We
      discuss the proposed introduction of ADAG as a surrogate for A(1c) reporting,
      review imprecisions that may result, and suggest alternative clinical approaches.

PMID- 20923516
TI  - Current scenario of diabetes in India.
AB  - India, a country experiencing rapid socioeconomic progress and urbanization,
      carries a considerable share of the global diabetes burden. Studies in different
      parts of India have demonstrated an escalating prevalence of diabetes not only in
      urban populations, but also in rural populations as a result of the urbanization
      of lifestyle parameters. The prevalence of prediabetes is also high. Recent
      studies have shown a rapid conversion of impaired glucose tolerance to diabetes
      in the southern states of India, where the prevalence of diabetes among adults
      has reached approximately 20% in urban populations and approximately 10% in rural
      populations. Because of the considerable disparity in the availability and
      affordability of diabetes care, as well as low awareness of the disease, the
      glycemic outcome in treated patients is far from ideal. Lower age at onset and a
      lack of good glycemic control are likely to increase the occurrence of vascular
      complications. The economic burden of treating diabetes and its complications is
      considerable. It is appropriate that the Indian Government has initiated a
      national program for the management and prevention of diabetes and related
      metabolic disorders. Lifestyle modification is an effective tool for the primary
      prevention of diabetes in Asian Indians. The primary prevention of diabetes is
      urgently needed in India to curb the rising burden of diabetes.

PMID- 20923517
TI  - Repaglinide-loaded long-circulating biodegradable nanoparticles: rational
      approach for the management of type 2 diabetes mellitus.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Repaglinide (RPG) is an oral hypoglycemic agent with excellent
      bioavailability (90-98%) and a short plasma half-life (2-6 h). A full dose of RPG
      is required before each meal; hence, therapy may become inconvenient. Thus, the
      aim of the present study was to design a novel delivery system to maintain peak
      plasma levels of RPG for the long-term management of diabetes mellitus. METHODS:
      Two nanoparticle formulations were prepared by combining RPG with poly (lactic-co
      glycolic) acid alone or as a copolymer with methoxypolyethylene glycol (RPGNP1
      and RPGNP2, respectively); both formulations were subjected to in vitro and in
      vivo characterization. In vivo characterization was performed in a streptozotocin
      (STZ)-induced diabetic male albino rats. RESULTS: The mean particle size of the
      RPGNP1 and RPGNP2 formulations was 387.8 +/- 11.9 and 310.2 +/- 12.4 nm,
      respectively, with a zeta potential of -27.4 +/- 0.7 and -15.7 +/- 0.5 mV,
      respectively. The entrapment efficiency and drug content of RPGNP1 (58.7 +/- 1.3%
      and 27.4 +/- 2.3%, respectively) was better than that of RPGNP2 (45.8 +/- 1.2%
      and 24.3 +/- 1.1%, respectively). Blood glucose levels of RPGNP1- and RPGNP2
      treated STZ-diabetic rats were reduced significantly (to normal levels) compared
      with untreated STZ-diabetic rats (P < 0.05), but there was no difference between
      the two treatment groups (P > 0.05). However, whereas RPGNP1 was effective for a
      period of only 24 h, RPGNP2 was effective for up to 1 week. CONCLUSIONS: The
      results of the present study show that RPGNP2 effectively manages type 2 diabetes
      mellitus for up to 1 week. Surface-modified NPs could be used to improve patient
      compliance with drug treatment as a result of decreased dosing frequency.

PMID- 20923518
TI  - A preliminary case-control study on nutritional status, body composition, and
      glycemic control of Greek children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Because scientific data on the diet of diabetic Greek youngsters are
      scarce, diabetic experts use findings from international studies. However,
      because of diet variations between countries, this may result in problems in
      diabetes control. The aim of the present pilot study was to assess body
      composition, nutritional status, and diabetes control in Greek youngsters with
      type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). METHODS: Twenty-four children and adolescents
      with diabetes, aged 4-16 years, and the same number of age- and sex-matched
      controls participated in the study. Anthropometry included stature, weight, and
      body fat determined by bioelectrical impedance analysis. Body mass index (BMI),
      fat mass index (FMI), fat-free mass index (FFMI), and z-scores were calculated.
      Diabetes control was evaluated through glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) and
      dietary intake was recorded for 3 days. RESULTS: The FFMI, BMI z-score and weight
      for-age z-score were lower in controls compared with diabetic youngsters (P <=
      0.001, P <= 0.02, and P <= 0.01, respectively). Three diabetic participants were
      overweight (12.5%) and two controls were underweight (8.3%). The energy and
      nutrient intake was similar between the two groups, and all participants consumed
      a diet high in fats and proteins at the expense of carbohydrates. Dietary fat was
      highly correlated with BMI in both groups. The consumption of vitamin D was
      inadequate in the diabetic participants, but they had a higher intake of
      antioxidant vitamins, vitamin B(6) , and folate compared with the control group.
      CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, youngsters with T1DM failed to adhere to the
      macronutrient recommendations for diabetes, but dietary patterns were similar in
      both the diabetic and control groups. The control of diabetes was not associated
      with any nutrient or anthropometric variable.

PMID- 20923519
TI  - Rate of peripheral glucose change during cognitive testing predicts performance
      in diabetes mellitus.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The reason for cognitive deterioration in diabetes mellitus (DM)
      remains unknown. One suggestion is that despite elevated glucose levels, patients
      with DM generally have difficulty utilizing glucose during cognitive tasks. This
      assumption was tested in the present study. METHODS: Male outpatients with DM (n
      = 46; age 52-85 years) were administered a series of standard neuropsychological
      and cognitive tests. In addition to assessing the time to complete the series of
      tests, peripheral blood glucose levels were measured prior to and following
      testing. RESULTS: The rate at which peripheral blood glucose levels changed was
      examined in relation to cognitive performance. Multiple linear regression
      analyses revealed significant relationships between the rate of glucose change
      and performance on tests measuring psychomotor skills, attention, visuoperceptual
      abilities, sequencing skills, mental flexibility, and planning. Higher rates of
      decline in peripheral blood glucose levels were associated with better
      performance on all cognitive measures, except verbal fluency. CONCLUSIONS: During
      cognitive testing, higher rates of decline in peripheral blood glucose levels may
      reflect stronger glucose utilization by the brain, thereby facilitating higher
      levels of cognitive performance. This non-invasive measure may be useful in
      primary care settings to provide a link between blood glucose changes and
      cognitive status.

PMID- 20923520
TI  - Index of myocardial performance in patients with type 2 diabetes without
      hypertension and its relationship with clinical and echocardiographic parameters.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Diabetes mellitus affects the systolic and diastolic function of the
      left ventricle (LV). The aim of the present study was to evaluate the index of
      myocardial performance (IMP), a new Doppler index, in asymptomatic, normotensive
      patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). METHODS: The study population
      consisted of 40 asymptomatic normotensive patients with T2DM (22 women, 18 men;
      mean [+/-SD] age 49 +/- 7 years) and 20 healthy controls (13 women, seven men;
      mean age 45 +/- 4 years). M-Mode and two-dimensional Doppler echocardiography was
      performed in all subjects to calculate IMP. Venous blood samples were collected
      for analysis and body mass index (BMI) was calculated. RESULTS: In normotensive
      T2DM patients, the mitral E wave was decreased, whereas mitral A wave, mitral E/A
      ratio, and septal wall thickening were increased compared with values obtained
      for the control group. The IMP was higher in normotensive T2DM patients than in
      the control group (P = 0.004). There was a significant correlation between IMP
      and triglyceride (TG) levels (P < 0.001), mitral E wave (P < 0.001), mitral E/A
      ratio (P < 0.001), ejection fraction (P = 0.001), fasting blood glucose (P
      =0.007), LV systolic dimension (P < 0.001), duration of diabetes (P = 0.017), and
      BMI (P = 0.029). Stepwise multiple regression analysis demonstrated that only TG
      levels (beta = 0.355, t = 2.487, P = 0.017) and the mitral E/A ratio (beta = 
      0.384, t = -2.690, P = 0.011) had an independent effect on IMP. CONCLUSION: The
      results of the present study indicate that IMP is increased in normotensive T2DM
      patients. The findings suggest that increased IMP may be an early sign of
      diabetic cardiomyopathy in normotensive diabetic patients with preserved LV
      function.

PMID- 20923521
TI  - Prevalence of metabolic syndrome and its association with obesity indices in a
      Chinese population.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To investigate the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in an urbanizing
      community in Qingpu, a suburb of Shanghai, and to determine which obesity
      indices, including body mass index, waist circumference (WC), and waist:hip
      (WHpR), and waist:height (WHtR) ratios, are most closely associated with
      metabolic syndrome. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional health survey of 1634
      individuals (age 15-87 years) in the Jinhulu community located in Qingpu. The
      National Cholesterol Education Program Expert Panel on Detection, Evaluation, and
      Treatment of High Blood Cholesterol in Adults (NCEP ATP III) criteria were used
      to define metabolic syndrome, with central obesity defined according to Asia
      Pacific (APC) region criteria. RESULTS: The age-standardized prevalence of
      metabolic syndrome was 3.6% in men and 7.2% in women. Using the criterion of
      central obesity in the APC, the age-standardized prevalence of metabolic syndrome
      increased to 8.3% in men and 10.9% in women. Regardless of age, WHtR consistently
      showed a higher odd ratios (OR) after adjustment for confounding factors of 2.17
      (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.12-4.20; P = 0.022) in subjects<52 years of age
      and 1.92 (95% CI 1.18-3.11; P = 0.008) in those >=52 years of age. In men, the
      WHtR was the only significant predictor (OR 2.42; 95% CI 1.15-5.08; P = 0.02) of
      metabolic syndrome after adjustment, whereas in women WHtR (OR 1.87; 95% CI 1.37
      2.85; P =0.0088) was slightly inferior to WHpR and WC. CONCLUSION: Metabolic
      syndrome is prevalent in an urbanizing rural area in Qingpu. Of the
      anthropometric parameters commonly used to identify metabolic syndrome, WHtR may
      be the best.

PMID- 20923522
TI  - Exercise test and glucose homeostasis in rats treated with alloxan during the
      neonatal period or fed a high calorie diet.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Animal models appear well-suited for studies into the role of
      exercise in the prevention of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM).
      The aim of the present study was to analyze glucose homeostasis and blood lactate
      during an exercise swimming test in rats treated with alloxan during the neonatal
      period and/or fed a high calorie diet from weaning onwards. METHODS: Rats were
      injected with alloxan (200 mg/kg, i.p.) or vehicle (citrate buffer) at 6 days of
      age. After weaning, rats were divided into four groups and fed either a balanced
      diet or a high-caloric diet as follows: C, control group (vehicle + normal diet);
      A, alloxan-treated rats fed the normal diet; H, vehicle-treated rats fed the high
      caloric diet; and HA, alloxan-treated rats fed the high-caloric diet. RESULTS:
      Fasting serum glucose levels were higher in groups A and AH compared with the
      control group. The Homeostatic Model Assessment index varied in the groups as
      follows: H>A>HA = C. There were no differences in free fatty acids or blood
      lactate concentrations during the swim test. CONCLUSIONS: Alloxan-treated rats
      fed a normal or high-caloric diet have the potential to be used in studies
      analyzing the role physical exercise plays in the prevention of NIDDM.

PMID- 20923523
TI  - Recent cardiovascular trials: what are the drivers of benefit and adverse effect?

PMID- 20923524
TI  - Metabolic syndrome and chronic kidney disease.
AB  - The prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) is increasing worldwide in both
      developing and developed countries. Experimental and clinical studies have
      revealed that MetS plays an important role in the development of chronic kidney
      disease (CKD), which leads to end-stage renal disease. Emerging evidence also
      suggests that CKD may actually cause MetS since the kidney is an important organ
      of glucose and lipid homeostasis. Although multiple mechanisms have been shown to
      be involved in the pathogenesis of MetS, insulin resistance appears to be a
      central pathophysiological factor contributing to MetS. In this review we will
      discuss the association of MetS with insulin resistance and CKD, and the renal
      pathophysiological changes associated with MetS.

PMID- 20923525
TI  - Diabetes and skeletal health.
AB  - Osteoporosis and diabetes affect a large proportion of the elderly population.
      The prevalence of diabetes and osteoporosis is increasing. Compared with
      individuals without diabetes, both men and women with diabetes have a higher risk
      of fractures, particularly at the hip, with consequent significant morbidity and
      mortality. Type 1 diabetes is associated with decreased bone mass and although
      bone mass data for Type 2 diabetes may or may not be decreased, there is evidence
      of altered bone quality in diabetes. The mechanisms involved include effects of
      insulin, insulin-like growth factor 1, cytokines, advanced glycation end
      products, and altered calcium homeostasis. In addition, a drug-induced increase
      in the incidence of fractures has been noted with the use of thiazolidinediones
      (TZDs). TZDs improve insulin sensitivity and have multitude other beneficial
      effects. Osteoblasts and adipocytes are derived from a common multipotential
      mesenchymal stem cell progenitor, with activation of peroxisome proliferator
      activated receptor gamma2 by both currently available TZDs (i.e. rosiglitazone
      and pioglitazone) stimulating adipogenesis and inhibiting osteoblastogenesis. The
      use of both rosiglitazone and pioglitazone is associated with an increased
      fracture risk, with changes in bone turnover markers and decreased bone mineral
      density.

PMID- 20923526
TI  - Ethnic difference in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus in inter-East Asian
      populations: a systematic review and meta-analysis focusing on gene polymorphism.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We previously reported that the fasting serum insulin level was
      significantly lower in Japanese patients than in Korean and Chinese patients, and
      showed evidence that a difference in the dietary component would be one of the
      most influential factors for the ethnic difference. However, it is well known
      that type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) results from the interaction between genetic
      predispositions and environmental risk factors. Therefore, we investigated ethnic
      differences by focusing on gene polymorphism, possibly related to T2DM in
      Japanese, Korean, and Chinese subjects. METHODS: Data sources included MEDLINE
      and EMBASE between January 2001 and October 2008. We conducted a search for
      articles containing minor allele frequency (MAF) in the gene polymorphisms of
      peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma (PPARG), inward-rectifying
      potassium channel Kir6.2 (KCNJ11), Calpain 10 (CAPN10), and transcription factor
      7-like 2 (TCF7L2). The pooled odds ratio was calculated by using a fixed-effects
      model with the Mantel-Haenszel method after confirming statistical evidence of
      homogeneity across the ethnicities using the Breslow-Day test. RESULTS: The
      Breslow-Day test revealed that there were no statistically significant
      differences between ethnicities in pooled odds ratios for the gene polymorphisms
      in PPARG (P = 0.828), KCNJ11 (P = 0.194), CAPN10 (P = 0.090), and TCF7L2 (P =
      0.376). Also, pooled odds ratios of each gene polymorphism in East Asians were
      0.645 for PPARG (P = 0.000), 1.168 for KCNJ11 (P = 0.000), 0.967 for CAPN10 (P =
      0.759), and 1.386 for TCF7L2 (P = 0.000). CONCLUSION: The results of this study
      and our previous studies suggest that behavioral and environmental risk factors
      have a more significant impact on ethnic difference in East Asian patients with
      T2DM compared with genetic predispositions.

PMID- 20923527
TI  - Glucose represses PPARalpha gene expression via AMP-activated protein kinase but
      not via p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase in the pancreatic beta-cell.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPARalpha)
      regulates the expression of fatty acid metabolism genes and is thought to play a
      role in the regulation of insulin secretion and lipid detoxification. We have
      examined the mechanism whereby glucose decreases PPARalpha gene expression in the
      pancreatic beta-cell. METHODS: INS832/13 beta-cell and isolated rat islets were
      incubated at 3 and 20 mM glucose for 18 h in the absence or presence of adenosine
      monophosphate (AMP)-activated protein kinase (AMPK) activators and inhibitors, as
      well as p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38 MAPK) inhibitors. In another
      set of experiments, INS832/13 were infected with an adenovirus expressing a
      dominant-negative form of AMPK. PPARalpha expression levels were measured by
      reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and Western blot. RESULTS:
      Elevated glucose reduced the abundance of the PPARalpha transcript and protein,
      and its target genes acyl-coenzyme A (CoA) oxidase (ACO) and uncoupling protein 2
      (UCP-2) in INS832/13 beta-cell and isolated rat islets. Glucose reduced AMPK
      activity, while the AMPK activators 5-amino-4-imidazolecarboxamide riboside and
      metformin increased PPARalpha expression and suppressed the action of glucose. By
      contrast, the AMPK inhibitor compound C mimicked the glucose effect. A dominant
      negative form of AMPKalpha reduced the PPARalpha, ACO and UCP-2 transcripts to
      the same extent as elevated glucose. Pharmacological evidence indicated that
      glucose-regulated PPARalpha expression does not involve p38 MAPK, a target of
      AMPK in several cell types. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate that glucose
      represses PPARalpha gene expression via AMPK, but not via p38 MAPK in the beta
      cell.

PMID- 20923528
TI  - Genistein improves liver function and attenuates non-alcoholic fatty liver
      disease in a rat model of insulin resistance.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The high fructose-fed rat is widely used as a model of insulin
      resistance. Genistein, a soy isoflavone, has been shown to improve insulin
      sensitivity in this model. The present study investigated whether genistein could
      prevent fatty liver disease in this model. METHODS: Male Wistar rats were fed a
      diet containing starch (control) or 60% fructose (insulin-resistant model).
      Fifteen days later, rats in each dietary group were divided into two groups and
      were treated with either genistein (1 mg/kg per day) in dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO)
      or 30% DMSO alone. After 60 days, markers of liver injury, oxidative stress,
      interleukin (IL)-6, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha, lipids, lipoprotein
      profile, nitrite, and nitrosothiol in the plasma and liver were quantified. Liver
      sections were examined for 3-nitrotyrosine (3-NT) expression and pathological
      lesions. RESULTS: Fructose-fed rats displayed hyperlipidemia, significant changes
      in plasma lipoprotein profile, and increases in IL-6 and TNF-alpha levels
      compared with control. In addition, the accumulation of lipids, liver injury, a
      decline in liver function, inactivation of the glyoxalase system, depletion of
      antioxidants, and increased 3-NT expression were observed in the fructose-fed
      group. Administration of genistein to fructose-fed rats significantly reduced
      these biochemical and histological abnormalities. CONCLUSIONS: Genistein
      activates the antioxidant profile, decreases IL-6 and TNF-alpha concentrations,
      prevents oxidative damage, and ameliorates fatty liver in insulin-resistant rats.

PMID- 20923529
TI  - Long-term effects of a carbohydrate-rich diet on fasting blood sugar, lipid
      profile, and serum insulin values in rural Bengalis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The prevalence of Type 2 diabetes is increasing in rural areas of
      India, where there is also often a lack of health infrastructure. Thus, a proper
      dietary study with the view of combating diabetes is essential. The aim of the
      present study was to determine the long-term effect of a carbohydrate-rich diet
      in rural Bengal. METHODS: Volunteers (n = 320) were selected from three villages
      in Kharagpur and were randomly divided into a control and experimental group (n =
      160 in each). The design of the study was such that non-significant differences
      in any of the dependent variables were maintainted prior to the application of
      control or treatment modes. In the control group, volunteers consumed <70%
      carbohydrate as part of their diet, whereas in the experimental group
      carbohydrate consumption was >70%. Blood samples from both groups were collected
      on yearly basis for 5 years and fasting blood sugar (FBS), lipid profile and
      serum insulin values were analyzed. RESULTS: The blood biochemistry profiles were
      monitored before the start and at the end of the study. The results indicate that
      increased intake of carbohydrate causes significant increases in FBS (P < 0.05)
      and serum insulin (P < 0.05), as well as changes in the lipid profile,
      particularly triglycerides (P < 0.05) and very low-density lipoprotein
      cholesterol (VLDL-C; P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The effects of increased
      carbohydrate on FBS, serum insulin, triglycerides and VLDL-C indicate that a
      proper nutritional policy needs to be implemented for this population of rural,
      low-income Bengalis.

PMID- 20923530
TI  - Serum concentrations of vitamin D and parathyroid hormone and prevalent metabolic
      syndrome among adults in the United States.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Some reports suggest that concentrations of vitamin D are inversely,
      whereas concentrations of parathyroid hormone (PTH) are directly, associated with
      prevalent metabolic syndrome. Because of lingering uncertainty about these
      associations, we examined the cross-sectional associations between serum
      concentrations of 25-hydroxyvitamin D(3) and PTH with metabolic syndrome in a
      representative sample of adults in the US. METHODS: We used data from 1705
      participants in the 2005-2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.
      Vitamin D was measured by radioimmunoassay, whereas PTH was measured using an
      electrochemiluminescent process. RESULTS: The mean concentration of vitamin D for
      participants with and without metabolic syndrome was 20.3 and 22.9 ng/mL,
      respectively (P = 0.001). The mean concentration of PTH for participants with and
      without metabolic syndrome was 44.5 and 41.0 pg/mL, respectively (P = 0.002). The
      age-adjusted mean concentrations of vitamin D (P for linear trend <0.001)
      decreased linearly, whereas PTH (P for linear trend = 0.002) increased linearly,
      as the number of components of metabolic syndrome increased. After adjusting for
      age, gender, physical activity, urinary albumin creatinine ratio, and
      concentrations of C-reactive protein and calcium, concentrations in the highest
      quintile of vitamin D [prevalence ratio (PR) = 0.59; 95% confidence interval (CI)
      0.44-0.79], but not PTH (PR = 1.18; 95% CI 0.97-1.43), was significantly
      associated with prevalent metabolic syndrome. CONCLUSION: Concentrations of
      vitamin D, but not PTH, were significantly associated with prevalent metabolic
      syndrome among US adults.

PMID- 20923531
TI  - Cancer mortality and insulin glargine.

PMID- 20923532
TI  - Indian diabetes risk score according to menopausal status in Asian Indian women:
      The Santiniketan Women study.

PMID- 20923533
TI  - Insulin secretory function in type 2 diabetes: Does it matter how you measure it?
AB  - The following estimates of insulin secretory function have been used widely to
      evaluate the role of pancreatic beta-cells in the pathogenesis and treatment of
      patients with type 2 diabetes (2DM): (i) Homeostatic Model Assessment (HOMA)
      beta, a calculation based on fasting plasma glucose and insulin concentrations;
      (ii) post-glucose acute insulin response (AIRg), the increment in insulin
      concentration measured in the 5 min after intravenous glucose; and (iii)
      DeltaI/DeltaG, the ratio of the increment in plasma insulin concentration
      (I)/increment in plasma glucose concentration (G) 30 min after the oral
      administration of 75 g glucose. Experiments based on these approaches have led to
      a widely held point of view that that the natural history of 2DM is characterized
      by a progressive increase in the magnitude of hyperglycemia, secondary to an
      inexorable decline in pancreatic beta-cell function: the greater the increase in
      plasma glucose concentration, the greater the impairment of the ability of the
      pancreas to secrete insulin. In the present review, theoretical questions are
      raised as to the physiological validity of these estimates of insulin secretory
      function and experimental data are presented demonstrating that hourly
      measurements of plasma insulin and glucose concentrations in response to mixed
      meals throughout an 8-h day lead to a very different point of view. Studies are
      also reviewed that question the 'inexorability' of the changes in insulin
      secretory function that have been reported. It is concluded that it may be time
      to challenge current conventional wisdom as to the role of the beta-cell in the
      natural history of 2DM.

PMID- 20923534
TI  - Reactive oxygen-derived free radicals are key to the endothelial dysfunction of
      diabetes.
AB  - Vascular complications are an important pathological issue in diabetes that lead
      to the further functional deterioration of several organs. The balance between
      endothelium-dependent relaxing factors and endothelium-dependent contracting
      factors (EDCFs) is crucial in controlling local vascular tone and function under
      normal conditions. Diabetic endothelial dysfunction is characterized by reduced
      endothelium-dependent relaxations and/or enhanced endothelium-dependent
      contractions. Elevated levels of oxygen-derived free radicals are the initial
      source of endothelial dysfunction in diabetes. Oxygen-derived free radicals not
      only reduce nitric oxide bioavailability, but also facilitate the production
      and/or action of EDCFs. Thus, the endothelial balance tips towards
      vasoconstrictor responses over the course of diabetes.

PMID- 20923535
TI  - Progress in diabetes research in China.
AB  - The prevalence of diabetes, especially Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), is
      increasing markedly throughout the world, including in China. Because T2DM and
      its complications are associated with considerable socioeconomic burden and
      mortality, there is increasing interest in developing strategies to prevent or
      delay progression of the disease. In recent decades, many researchers have
      focused on the mechanism of onset of diabetes, as well as examining the benefits
      of various interventions in subjects with different glucose tolerance status to
      prevent or delay development of the disease. In the present article, we focus on
      five areas (epidemiology, early intervention, insulin sensitivity and beta-cell
      function, adipocytokines, and traditional Chinese medicine) to review the
      progress of research into diabetes in China today. The prevalence of diabetes in
      China is one of the highest in the world. However, with lifestyle interventions
      and appropriate pharmacological therapies (including traditional Chinese
      medicine), T2DM may be prevented, well controlled, or even put into remission.
      Accurate estimation of insulin secretion and insulin sensitivity, as well as
      better characterization of the physiological function of adipocytokines, could
      give us a better understanding of the basic mechanisms underlying the onset of
      diabetes and could lead to better interventions in people with impaired glucose
      tolerance and T2DM.

PMID- 20923537
TI  - Diabetic foot ulcer burden may be modified by high-dose atorvastatin: A 6-month
      randomized controlled pilot trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) are common complications of diabetes
      mellitus (DM), with a complex pathogenesis. Treatment is difficult and no single
      treatment with measurable clinical impact is available. In the present clinical
      pilot trial, we investigated whether statins could be of use against some of the
      pathogenic factors in DFUs. METHODS: Thirteen diabetic patients (10 men; 11 with
      Type 2 DM; mean age 64 years; mean duration of DM 18 years) with neuropathic DFUs
      <4 months were randomized to treatment with either 10 mg (six patients; six
      ulcers) or 80 mg (seven patients; nine ulcers) atorvastatin for 6 months in
      addition to conventional DFU care (i.e. prompt debridement, DFU pressure relief,
      and management of any underlying infection). RESULTS: There were no significant
      differences in background factors (i.e. HbA1c 8.9%, micro- and macrovascular
      complications, concomitant medications) or DFU characteristics (duration, surface
      area, grading) between the two groups. All ulcers in the group receiving 10 mg
      atorvastatin healed, compared with six of nine ulcers in the group receiving 80
      mg atorvastatin (NS). However, two previously healed DFUs recurred and six new
      DFUs developed in the low-dose group compared with none and one, respectively, in
      the high-dose group (P = 0.048). There was a significant decrease in C-reactive
      protein (-1.5 mg/L; P = 0.044) and a non-significant trend towards beneficial
      effects on lipids and the ankle-arm blood pressure index in the high-dose
      compared with the low-dose group. CONCLUSIONS:   We observed a possible
      beneficial effect of 6-months high-dose atorvastatin on DFUs, which should be
      tested in appropriately sized prospective studies.

PMID- 20923536
TI  - Smoking, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases in men in the Asia Pacific region.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To assess whether there is a statistical interaction between smoking
      and diabetes that is related to the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in men
      in the Asia Pacific region. METHODS: An individual participant data meta-analysis
      was conducted on 34 cohort studies, involving 16 492 participants with diabetes
      (47.4% smokers) and 188 897 without (47.6% smokers). Hazard ratios (HR) and 95%
      confidence intervals (CI) were calculated for smoking (stratified by study and
      adjusted for age) for those with and without diabetes. RESULTS: In men with
      diabetes, the HR (95% CI) comparing current smokers with non-smokers was 1.42
      (1.10-1.83) for coronary heart disease, 1.10 (0.88-1.37) for total stroke and
      1.15 (0.98-1.35) for total CVD. The corresponding figures for men without
      diabetes were 1.47 (1.33-1.61), 1.27 (1.16-1.39) and 1.35 (1.27-1.44),
      respectively. There was no evidence of a statistical interaction between diabetes
      and current smoking, the number of cigarettes smoked per day or quitting smoking.
      Smoking cessation was associated with a 19% reduction in CVD risk, irrespective
      of diabetes status. CONCLUSIONS: The effects of cigarette smoking and smoking
      cessation are broadly similar in men with and without diabetes. In Asia, where
      there are high rates of smoking and a rapidly increasing prevalence of diabetes,
      strategies that encourage smokers to quit are likely to have huge benefits in
      terms of reducing the burden of CVD in men with diabetes.

PMID- 20923538
TI  - Additional value of carotid artery intima-media thickness in cardiovascular risk
      assessment by Framingham risk-score in Type 2 diabetes: a retrospective cohort
      study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The intima-media thickness (IMT) of the carotid artery is highly
      correlated with cardiovascular events in Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). The aim
      of the present study was to undertake a cardiovascular risk assessment in a group
      of patients (n = 102) who had been followed-up for 10 years. METHODS: Framingham
      risk score (FRS), IMT, and various other clinical parameters were evaluated
      retrospectively using Student's t-test, regression analysis, and chi2 tests.
      Primary endpoints were defined as cardiovascular death, non-fatal myocardial
      infarction, angina, and ischemic stroke. RESULTS: The IMT (1.09 +/- 0.32 vs 0.89
      +/- 0.25; P < 0.001) and percentage coronary risk as determined by the FRS (24.33
      +/- 11.07 vs 16.54 +/- 8.35; P = 0.001) were significantly higher in patients
      presenting with any of the primary endpoints compared with patients in whom no
      cardiovascular morbidity or mortality was recorded. Other factors that
      significantly predicted cardiovascular mortality and morbidity included diastolic
      blood pressure and urinary albumin excretion (UAE; P < 0.001). The likelihood of
      primary endpoints could be predicted by UAE >30 mg/day, carotid artery IMT >=0.9
      mm, and FRS >=20 (odds ratios 8.800, 3.377, and 2.807, respectively). CONCLUSION:
      Although FRS predicts 10-year risk for cardiovascular mortality and morbidity in
      T2DM, we suggest that UAE and carotid artery IMT should also be considered in
      risk assessments.

PMID- 20923539
TI  - Dietary fiber improves lipid homeostasis and modulates adipocytokines in
      hamsters.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The hypocholesterolemic and hypoglycemic effects of various natural
      and semisynthetic dietary fibers have been studied for their potential use in the
      prevention and improvement of metabolic syndrome. Of these dietary fibers,
      hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) has been shown to lower plasma cholesterol
      and reduce weight gain. However, the underlying mechanisms are not known. In the
      present study, we examined associations between plasma adipocytokine levels and
      both lipid metabolism and insulin sensitivity after HPMC intake in golden Syrian
      hamsters. In addition, endogenous adiponectin from hamster plasma was purified
      and characterized. METHODS: Hamsters were treated with HPMC (2% and 4% in a high
      fat diet) or 2% or 4% microcrystalline cellulose (MCC; control diet) for 8 weeks.
      Plasma glucose, insulin, lipids, adiponectin, leptin, and hepatic lipid levels
      were assessed using standard techniques. RESULTS: After 8 weeks of feeding,
      plasma total cholesterol and triglyceride levels in hamsters fed the 4% HPMC
      supplemented diet were significantly lower than in hamsters fed the control diet.
      Moreover, a significant increase in adiponectin levels and a decrease in leptin
      levels were observed in hamsters fed the 4% HPMC-supplemented diet. Hamster
      adiponectin was found to be comprised of 244 amino acid residues with an apparent
      molecular weight of 30 kDa, consistent with the adiponectin reported in other
      species. CONCLUSIONS: Reductions in plasma cholesterol and triglyceride levels
      were correlated with a decrease in plasma leptin and an increase in adiponectin.
      These results suggest that adipocytokines are regulated by HPMC and may play a
      pivotal role in the hypocholesterolemic effect.

PMID- 20923540
TI  - Randomized clinical trial of standard dietary treatment versus a low
      carbohydrate/high-protein diet or the LighterLife Programme in the management of
      obesity*.
AB  - BACKGROUND: With the current obesity epidemic, the search for effective weight
      loss approaches is required. In the present study, changes in weight, body
      composition and cardiovascular (CV) risk in response to a low-fat, reduced-energy
      diet (LFRE), a low-carbohydrate/high-protein diet (LCHP), or a commercially
      available very low-calorie diet (LighterLife; LL) were assessed. METHODS: One
      hundred and twenty obese patients (body mass index >=35 kg/m2 ) underwent a
      screening period of 3 months on the LFRE. Those who lost >5% of their body weight
      were maintained on this approach for an additional 3 months, whereas those who
      lost >10% at this time were maintained for 1 year. Patients failing to achieve
      these targets were randomly allocated to either the LCHP (n = 38) or LL (n = 34)
      for a period of 9 months. RESULTS: Significantly greater weight loss was seen for
      patients on the LL than the LCHP at 3 (mean (+/- SD) -11.6 +/- 12.9 vs -2.8 +/-
      4.5 kg, respectively; P < 0.0001) and 9 months (-15.1 +/- 21.1 vs -1.9 +/- 5.0
      kg, respectively; P < 0.0001) after screening. Significantly greater improvement
      in total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol, fasting glucose, and
      diastolic blood pressure was seen at 3 months in patients on the LL compared with
      the LCHP (P < 0.05). These differences were no longer significant at 9 months,
      with the exception of fasting glucose. The attrition rate was elevated in the
      LCHP group, but did not differ significantly from the LL group. CONCLUSION:
      Greater weight loss and improved CV risk were achieved with the LL, which mostly
      reflects the patient support provided for each dietary treatment.

PMID- 20923541
TI  - Early life factors and type 2 diabetes in south India: Do the associations change
      with age?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Studies since the early 1990s have shown that birth size can be a
      predictor of the development of Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). In the present
      study, we evaluated changes in the strength of associations between T2DM and
      birth size and maternal weight with age. METHODS: In 1993-1994 (t0), 509 men and
      women (mean age 46 years) who had been born in Holdsworth Memorial Hospital were
      screened for diabetes, with increased diabetes risk identified in those who were
      shorter at birth and those born to heavier mothers. Ten years later (t10), the
      screening was repeated in 266 subjects who were non-diabetic at t0 (70% of
      survivors). RESULTS:   At t10, 56 new cases of diabetes were found. The incidence
      of diabetes decreased with increasing birth length (odds ratio (OR) = 0.90, 95%
      confidence interval (CI) 0.84-0.97/cm birth length; P = 0.006) after adjustment
      for sex, age, socioeconomic status, family history, and current body mass index.
      Overall, there were no significant differences in OR for the association between
      birth length and diabetes at t0 compared with t10, but limiting analysis to
      subjects with normal glucose tolerance at t0 resulted in a stronger association
      at t10 (OR = 0.71, 95% CI 0.58-0.87) than at t0 (OR = 0.95, 95% CI 0.86-1.05; P =
      0.015 for the difference). There was a positive correlation between maternal
      weight and incident disease at t0 (OR = 1.08, 95% CI 1.03-1.14; P = 0.001), but
      not at t10 (OR = 0.98/kg, 95% CI 0.92-1.05; P = 0.6; P = 0.02 for the
      difference). CONCLUSIONS:   Short birth length remains a risk factor for
      diabetes. Changes in the effects of birth length and maternal weight on diabetes
      risk with age may indicate different causal pathways. These findings require
      replication in studies with more accurate dating of the onset of diabetes.

PMID- 20923542
TI  - Metabolic syndrome in menopausal transition: Isfahan Healthy Heart Program, a
      population based study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: There is a remarkable increase in cardiovascular disease after
      menopause. On the other hand, metabolic syndrome as a collection of risk factors
      has a known effect on cardiovascular diseases. Hormone changes are considered as
      one of the main relevant factor regarding cardiovascular disease as well as some
      recognized relationship with metabolic syndrome's components. This study was
      carried out in order to search for prevalence of metabolic syndrome during
      menopausal transition. METHOD: In a cross sectional study in urban and rural
      areas of Isfahan, Najafabad and Arak cities, 1596 women aged more than 45 years
      were investigated using Isfahan Healthy Heart Program's (IHHP) samples.
      Participants were categorized into three groups of pre-menopause, menopause and
      post-menopause. Leisure time physical activity and global dietary index were
      included as life style factors. The association of metabolic syndrome and its
      components with menopausal transition considering other factors such as age and
      life style was analyzed. RESULTS: there were 303, 233 and 987 women in
      premenopausal, early menopausal and postmenopausal groups respectively. Metabolic
      syndrome was found in 136(44.9%) premenopausal participants and significantly
      increased to 135(57.9%) and 634(64.3%) in early menopausal and postmenopausal
      participants respectively, when age was considered (P = 0.010). Except for
      hypertension and hypertriglyceridemia, there was no significant difference
      between three groups of menopausal transition when metabolic syndrome's
      components were considered. CONCLUSION: In contrary to the claims regarding the
      role of waist circumference and blood glucose in increasing of metabolic syndrome
      during the menopausal transition, this study showed this phenomenon could be
      independence of them.

PMID- 20923543
TI  - The frequency of CD25+CD4+ and FOXP3+ regulatory T cells in ectopic endometrium
      and ectopic decidua.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The presence of regulatory T (Treg) cells in human endometrium is
      crucial for maintaining immunological homeostasis within the uterus. For this
      study we decided to evaluate the subpopulations of Treg cells in conditions where
      a disturbance in the immunological equilibrium in ectopic endometrium and decidua
      has been observed, such as in cases of ovarian endometriosis (involving local
      immune cell suppression) and ectopic pregnancy (involving an increase in local
      immune system activity). We then compared these findings to what we observed in
      the normal eutopic endometrium of women during the secretory phase of the
      menstrual cycle (with immune cells under individual control). METHODS: The
      endometrium tissue samples evaluated in our study were obtained from 47 women
      during one of two kinds of laparoscopic procedures. 16 of the women underwent
      laparoscopies due to Fallopian tube pregnancies (EP), and 16 due to ovarian
      endometrioma, while 15 women made up a control group. The presence of regulatory
      T cells in these tissue samples was evaluated by FACS. RESULTS: In our study, the
      percentages of FOXP3+ cells within the subpopulation of CD4+ T lymphocytes found
      in the decidua of the patients treated for Fallopian tube pregnancies were
      statistically significantly lower than both those observed in the ovarian
      endometriosis tissue samples and those found in the secretory eutopic endometrium
      samples of the control group. CONCLUSION: The disturbance in the immunological
      equilibrium observed in ectopic endometrium and decidua would seem to be related
      to the alteration in the Treg cell population that occurs in these ectopic
      tissues.

PMID- 20923544
TI  - Safety and pharmacokinetics of novel selective vascular endothelial growth factor
      receptor-2 inhibitor YN968D1 in patients with advanced malignancies.
AB  - BACKGROUND: YN968D1 (Apatinib) selectively inhibits phosphorylation of VEGFR-2
      and tumor angiogenesis in mice model. The study was conducted to determine the
      maximum tolerated dose (MTD), safety profile, pharmacokinetic variables, and
      antitumor activity in advanced solid malignancies. METHODS: This dose-escalation
      study was conducted according to the Chinese State Food and Drug Administration
      (SFDA) recommendations in patients with advanced solid tumors to determine the
      MTD for orally administered apatinib. Doses of continuously administered apatinib
      were escalated from 250 mg. Treatment continued after dose-escalation phase until
      withdrawal of consent, intolerable toxicities, disease progression or death.
      RESULTS: Forty-six patients were enrolled. Hypertension and hand-foot syndrome
      were the two dose-limiting toxicities noted at dose level of 1000 mg. MTD was
      determined to be 850 mg once daily. Pharmacokinetic analysis showed early
      absorption with a half-life of 9 hours. The mean half-life was constant over all
      dose groups. Steady-state conditions analysis suggested no accumulation during 56
      days of once-daily administration. The most frequently observed drug-related
      adverse events were hypertension (69.5%, 29 grade 1-2 and 3 grade 3-4),
      proteinuria (47.8%, 16 grade 1-2 and 6 grade 3-4), and hand-foot syndrome (45.6%,
      15 grade 1-2 and 6 grade 3-4). Among the thirty-seven evaluable patients, PR was
      noted in seven patients (18.9%), SD 24 (64.9%), with a disease control rate of
      83.8% at 8 weeks. CONCLUSIONS: The recommended dose of 750 mg once daily was well
      tolerated. Encouraging antitumor activity across a broad range of malignancies
      warrants further evaluation in selected populations. TRIAL REGISTRATION:
      ClinicalTrials.gov unique identifier: NCT00633490.

PMID- 20923545
TI  - Sudeck's disease stage 1, or diabetic Charcot's foot stage 0? Case report and
      assessment of the diagnostic value of MRI.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The diagnosis of Sudeck's syndrome stage 1 (nowadays termed complex
      regional pain syndrome I, abbreviated CRPS I) is based on clinical features,
      namely swelling and pain in a limb. Plain X-ray may be normal. In the absence of
      pain sensitivity, e.g. in diabetic neuropathy, CRPS I of the foot can be mistaken
      for Charcot's foot stage 0 (so-called neuro-osteoarthropathy). CASE PRESENTATION:
      The case of a type-1 diabetic woman is reported, in whom CRPS I following a
      calcaneal fracture was mistaken for Charcot's osteoarthropathy (because of bone
      marrow edema displayed by conventional MR imaging). In addition, a review is
      presented on 6 consecutive cases with CRPS I of the foot, and on 20 cases with
      Charcot's foot stage 0, with particular emphasis on MR imaging findings. The
      number of bones per foot affected with marrow edema was similar in either
      condition, with a tendency towards a more patchy, diffuse distribution of bone
      marrow edema in CRPS I. Bone marrow edema apparently regressed more promptly in
      response to treatment in Charcot's foot stage 0. CONCLUSION: Differentiation of
      CRPS I from Charcot's foot stage 0 remains a diagnostic dilemma in patients with
      pain insensitivity. Conventional MRI may be helpful, when repeated for monitoring
      the treatment response.

PMID- 20923546
TI  - Intravenous lipid emulsion in clinical toxicology.
AB  - Intravenous lipid emulsion is an established, effective treatment for local
      anesthetic-induced cardiovascular collapse. The predominant theory for its
      mechanism of action is that by creating an expanded, intravascular lipid phase,
      equilibria are established that drive the offending drug from target tissues into
      the newly formed 'lipid sink'. Based on this hypothesis, lipid emulsion has been
      considered a candidate for generic reversal of toxicity caused by overdose of any
      lipophilic drug. Recent case reports of successful resuscitation suggest the
      efficacy of lipid emulsion infusion for treating non-local anesthetic overdoses
      across a wide spectrum of drugs: beta blockers, calcium channel blockers,
      parasiticides, herbicides and several varieties of psychotropic agents. Lipid
      emulsion therapy is gaining acceptance in emergency rooms and other critical care
      settings as a possible treatment for lipophilic drug toxicity. While protocols
      exist for administration of lipid emulsion in the setting of local anesthetic
      toxicity, no optimal regimen has been established for treatment of acute non
      local anesthetic poisonings. Future studies will shape the evolving
      recommendations for lipid emulsion in the setting of non-local anesthetic drug
      overdose.

PMID- 20923547
TI  - Head and neck cancer in the elderly: a retrospective study over 10 years (1999 -
      2008).
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Treatment of elderly patients is in many ways different from that
      for younger ones. The aim of the present study was to identify the particular
      characteristics and needs of elderly patients suffering from head and neck
      cancer. From these patterns, considerations for this special group can be
      deduced. PATIENTS AND MATERIAL: The subjects for this study consisted of 376
      patients suffering from head and neck cancer that were treated between 1999 and
      2008, 99 (26.3.%) of whom were older than 70 years and were evaluated
      retrospectively concerning smoking/alcohol abuse, ASA status, kind of malignant
      neoplasm, localization and treatment. RESULTS: The male-female ratio was 53:46,
      and mean age, 79 years (71 - 98). Out of 95 patients with a squamous cell
      carcinoma, 4 patients had a verrucous form. Out of 99 patients, 26 had a
      maxillary carcinoma and 12 patients had experienced previous non-head-and-neck
      cancer. An ASA score of 2 or 3 was found in 86 of the patients. CONCLUSION: The
      group of patients with head and neck cancer who were older than 70 years was
      characterized by a higher portion of female patients, a higher number of
      maxillary carcinomas, and a higher prevalence of previous second cancer. Making
      decisions in cancer therapy for elderly patients is challenging. Patients
      suffering from operable head and neck cancer should be treated with curative
      intent and with regard to quality of life if a careful assessment of
      comorbidities is performed preoperatively.

PMID- 20923548
TI  - The humoral response to Plasmodium falciparum VarO rosetting variant and its
      association with protection against malaria in Beninese children.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The capacity of Plasmodium falciparum-infected erythrocytes to bind
      uninfected erythrocytes (rosetting) is associated with severe malaria in African
      children. Rosetting is mediated by a subset of the variant surface antigens
      PfEMP1 targeted by protective antibody responses. Analysis of the response to
      rosette-forming parasites and their PfEMP1 adhesive domains is essential for
      understanding the acquisition of protection against severe malaria. To this end,
      the antibody response to a rosetting variant was analysed in children recruited
      with severe or uncomplicated malaria or asymptomatic P. falciparum infection.
      METHODS: Serum was collected from Beninese children with severe malaria,
      uncomplicated malaria or P. falciparum asymptomatic infection (N = 65, 37 and 52,
      respectively) and from immune adults (N = 30) living in the area. Infected
      erythrocyte surface-reactive IgG, rosette disrupting antibodies and IgG to the
      parasite crude extract were analysed using the single variant Palo Alto VarO
      infected line. IgG, IgG1 and IgG3 to PfEMP1-varO-derived NTS-DBL1alpha1,
      CIDRgamma and DBL2betaC2 recombinant domains were analysed by ELISA. Antibody
      responses were compared in the clinical groups. Stability of the response was
      studied using a blood sampling collected 14 months later from asymptomatic
      children. RESULTS: Seroprevalence of erythrocyte surface-reactive IgG was high in
      adults (100%) and asymptomatic children (92.3%) but low in children with severe
      or uncomplicated malaria (26.1% and 37.8%, respectively). The IgG, IgG1 and IgG3
      antibody responses to the varO-derived PfEMP1 domains were significantly higher
      in asymptomatic children than in children with clinical malaria in a multivariate
      analysis correcting for age and parasite density at enrolment. They were
      essentially stable, although levels tended to decrease with time. VarO-surface
      reactivity correlated positively with IgG reactivity to the rosetting domain varO
      NTS-DBL1alpha1. None of the children sera, including those with surface-reactive
      antibodies possessed anti-VarO-rosetting activity, and few adults had rosette
      disrupting antibodies. CONCLUSIONS: Children with severe and uncomplicated
      malaria had similar responses. The higher prevalence and level of VarO-reactive
      antibodies in asymptomatic children compared to children with malaria is
      consistent with a protective role for anti-VarO antibodies against clinical
      falciparum malaria. The mechanism of such protection seems independent of rosette
      disruption, suggesting that the cytophilic properties of antibodies come into
      play.

PMID- 20923549
TI  - Identification of the Rage-dependent gene regulatory network in a mouse model of
      skin inflammation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In the past, molecular mechanisms that drive the initiation of an
      inflammatory response have been studied intensively. However, corresponding
      mechanisms that sustain the expression of inflammatory response genes and hence
      contribute to the establishment of chronic disorders remain poorly understood.
      Recently, we provided genetic evidence that signaling via the receptor for
      advanced glycation end products (Rage) drives the strength and maintenance of an
      inflammatory reaction. In order to decipher the mode of Rage function on gene
      transcription levels during inflammation, we applied global gene expression
      profiling on time-resolved samples of mouse back skin, which had been treated
      with the phorbol ester TPA, a potent inducer of skin inflammation. RESULTS:
      Ranking of TPA-regulated genes according to their time average mean and peak
      expression and superimposition of data sets from wild-type (wt) and Rage
      deficient mice revealed that Rage signaling is not essential for initial changes
      in TPA-induced transcription, but absolutely required for sustained alterations
      in transcript levels. Next, we used a data set of differentially expressed genes
      between TPA-treated wt and Rage-deficient skin and performed computational
      analysis of their proximal promoter regions. We found a highly significant
      enrichment for several transcription factor binding sites (TFBS) leading to the
      prediction that corresponding transcription factors, such as Sp1, Tcfap2, E2f,
      Myc and Egr, are regulated by Rage signaling. Accordingly, we could confirm
      aberrant expression and regulation of members of the E2f protein family in
      epidermal keratinocytes of Rage-deficient mice. CONCLUSIONS: In summary, our data
      support the model that engagement of Rage converts a transient cellular
      stimulation into sustained cellular dysfunction and highlight a novel role of the
      Rb-E2f pathway in Rage-dependent inflammation during pathological conditions.

PMID- 20923550
TI  - Sensitive detection of Abeta protofibrils by proximity ligation--relevance for
      Alzheimer's disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Protein aggregation plays important roles in several
      neurodegenerative disorders. For instance, insoluble aggregates of phosphorylated
      tau and of Abeta peptides are cornerstones in the pathology of Alzheimer's
      disease. Soluble protein aggregates are therefore potential diagnostic and
      prognostic biomarkers for their cognate disorders. Detection of the aggregated
      species requires sensitive tools that efficiently discriminate them from monomers
      of the same proteins. Here we have established a proximity ligation assay (PLA)
      for specific and sensitive detection of Abeta protofibrils via simultaneous
      recognition of three identical determinants present in the aggregates. PLA is a
      versatile technology in which the requirement for multiple target recognitions is
      combined with the ability to translate signals from detected target molecules to
      amplifiable DNA strands, providing very high specificity and sensitivity.
      RESULTS: For specific detection of Abeta protofibrils we have used a monoclonal
      antibody, mAb158, selective for Abeta protofibrils in a modified PLA, where the
      same monoclonal antibody was used for the three classes of affinity reagents
      required in the assay. These reagents were used for detection of soluble Abeta
      aggregates in solid-phase reactions, allowing detection of just 0.1 pg/ml Abeta
      protofibrils, and with a dynamic range greater than six orders of magnitude.
      Compared to a sandwich ELISA setup of the same antibody the PLA increases the
      sensitivity of the Abeta protofibril detection by up to 25-fold. The assay was
      used to measure soluble Abeta aggregates in brain homogenates from mice
      transgenic for a human allele predisposing to Abeta aggregation. CONCLUSIONS: The
      proximity ligation assay is a versatile analytical technology for proteins, which
      can provide highly sensitive and specific detection of Abeta aggregates - and by
      implication other protein aggregates of relevance in Alzheimer's disease and
      other neurodegenerative disorders.

PMID- 20923551
TI  - AnnoTrack--a tracking system for genome annotation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: As genome sequences are determined for increasing numbers of model
      organisms, demand has grown for better tools to facilitate unified genome
      annotation efforts by communities of biologists. Typically this process involves
      numerous experts from the field and the use of data from dispersed sources as
      evidence. This kind of collaborative annotation project requires specialized
      software solutions for efficient data tracking and processing. RESULTS: As part
      of the scale-up phase of the ENCODE project (Encyclopedia of DNA Elements), the
      aim of the GENCODE project is to produce a highly accurate evidence-based
      reference gene annotation for the human genome. The AnnoTrack software system was
      developed to aid this effort. It integrates data from multiple distributed
      sources, highlights conflicts and facilitates the quick identification,
      prioritisation and resolution of problems during the process of genome
      annotation. CONCLUSIONS: AnnoTrack has been in use for the last year and has
      proven a very valuable tool for large-scale genome annotation. Designed to
      interface with standard bioinformatics components, such as DAS servers and
      Ensembl databases, it is easy to setup and configure for different genome
      projects. The source code is available at http://annotrack.sanger.ac.uk.

PMID- 20923552
TI  - Variation and inheritance of iron reductase activity in the roots of common bean
      (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) and association with seed iron accumulation QTL.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Iron deficiency anemia is a global problem which often affects women
      and children of developing countries. Strategy I plants, such as common bean
      (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) take up iron through a process that involves an iron
      reduction mechanism in their roots; this reduction is required to convert ferric
      iron to ferrous iron. Root absorbed iron is critical for the iron nutrition of
      the plant, and for the delivery of iron to the shoot and ultimately the seeds.
      The objectives of this study were to determine the variability and inheritance
      for iron reductase activity in a range of genotypes and in a low * high seed iron
      cross (DOR364 x G19833), to identify quantitative trait loci (QTL) for this
      trait, and to assess possible associations with seed iron levels. RESULTS: The
      experiments were carried out with hydroponically grown plants provided different
      amounts of iron varying between 0 and 20 MUM Fe(III)-EDDHA. The parents, DOR364
      and G19833, plus 13 other cultivated or wild beans, were found to differ in iron
      reductase activity. Based on these initial experiments, two growth conditions
      (iron limited and iron sufficient) were selected as treatments for evaluating the
      DOR364 * G19833 recombinant inbred lines. A single major QTL was found for iron
      reductase activity under iron-limited conditions (1 MUM Fe) on linkage group b02
      and another major QTL was found under iron sufficient conditions (15 MUM Fe) on
      linkage group b11. Associations between the b11 QTL were found with several QTL
      for seed iron. CONCLUSIONS: Genes conditioning iron reductase activity in iron
      sufficient bean plants appear to be associated with genes contributing to seed
      iron accumulation. Markers for bean iron reductase (FRO) homologues were found
      with in silico mapping based on common bean synteny with soybean and Medicago
      truncatula on b06 and b07; however, neither locus aligned with the QTL for iron
      reductase activity. In summary, the QTL for iron reductase activity under iron
      limited conditions may be useful in environments where beans are grown in
      alkaline soils, while the QTL for iron reductase under sufficiency conditions may
      be useful for selecting for enhanced seed nutritional quality.

PMID- 20923553
TI  - Relating the shape of protein binding sites to binding affinity profiles: is
      there an association?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Various pattern-based methods exist that use in vitro or in silico
      affinity profiles for classification and functional examination of proteins.
      Nevertheless, the connection between the protein affinity profiles and the
      structural characteristics of the binding sites is still unclear. Our aim was to
      investigate the association between virtual drug screening results (calculated
      binding free energy values) and the geometry of protein binding sites. Molecular
      Affinity Fingerprints (MAFs) were determined for 154 proteins based on their
      molecular docking energy results for 1,255 FDA-approved drugs. Protein binding
      site geometries were characterized by 420 PocketPicker descriptors. The basic
      underlying component structure of MAFs and binding site geometries, respectively,
      were examined by principal component analysis; association between principal
      components extracted from these two sets of variables was then investigated by
      canonical correlation and redundancy analyses. RESULTS: PCA analysis of the MAF
      variables provided 30 factors which explained 71.4% of the total variance of the
      energy values while 13 factors were obtained from the PocketPicker descriptors
      which cumulatively explained 94.1% of the total variance. Canonical correlation
      analysis resulted in 3 statistically significant canonical factor pairs with
      correlation values of 0.87, 0.84 and 0.77, respectively. Redundancy analysis
      indicated that PocketPicker descriptor factors explain 6.9% of the variance of
      the MAF factor set while MAF factors explain 15.9% of the total variance of
      PocketPicker descriptor factors. Based on the salient structures of the factor
      pairs, we identified a clear-cut association between the shape and bulkiness of
      the drug molecules and the protein binding site descriptors. CONCLUSIONS: This is
      the first study to investigate complex multivariate associations between affinity
      profiles and the geometric properties of protein binding sites. We found that,
      except for few specific cases, the shapes of the binding pockets have relatively
      low weights in the determination of the affinity profiles of proteins. Since the
      MAF profile is closely related to the target specificity of ligand binding sites
      we can conclude that the shape of the binding site is not a pivotal factor in
      selecting drug targets. Nonetheless, based on strong specific associations
      between certain MAF profiles and specific geometric descriptors we identified,
      the shapes of the binding sites do have a crucial role in virtual drug design for
      certain drug categories, including morphine derivatives, benzodiazepines,
      barbiturates and antihistamines.

PMID- 20923555
TI  - Basic primitives for molecular diagram sketching.
AB  - A collection of primitive operations for molecular diagram sketching has been
      developed. These primitives compose a concise set of operations which can be used
      to construct publication-quality 2 D coordinates for molecular structures using a
      bare minimum of input bandwidth. The input requirements for each primitive
      consist of a small number of discrete choices, which means that these primitives
      can be used to form the basis of a user interface which does not require an
      accurate pointing device. This is particularly relevant to software designed for
      contemporary mobile platforms. The reduction of input bandwidth is accomplished
      by using algorithmic methods for anticipating probable geometries during the
      sketching process, and by intelligent use of template grafting. The algorithms
      and their uses are described in detail.

PMID- 20923554
TI  - RARalpha1 control of mammary gland ductal morphogenesis and wnt1-tumorigenesis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Retinoic acid signaling pathways are disabled in human breast
      cancer suggesting a controlling role in normal mammary growth that might be lost
      in tumorigenesis. We tested a single receptor isotype, RARalpha1, for its role in
      mouse mammary gland morphogenesis and MMTV-wnt1-induced oncogenesis. METHODS: The
      role of RARalpha1 in mammary morphogenesis was tested in RARalpha1-knockout (KO)
      mice and in mammary tumorigenesis in bi-genic (RARalpha1/KO crossed with MMTV
      wnt1) mice. We used whole mounts analysis, stem cells/progenitor quantification,
      mammary gland repopulation, Q-PCR, test of tumor-free survival, tumor fragments
      and cell transplantation. RESULTS: In 2 genetic backgrounds (129/Bl-6 and FVB)
      the neo-natal RARalpha1/KO-mammary epithelial tree was 2-fold larger and the
      pubertal tree had 2-fold more branch points and 5-fold more mature end buds, a
      phenotype that was predominantly epithelial cell autonomous. The stem/progenitor
      compartment of the RARalpha1/KO mammary, defined as CD24(low)/ALDH(high activity)
      was increased by a median 1.7 fold, but the mammary stem cell (MaSC)-containing
      compartment, (CD24(low)/CD29(high)), was larger (~1.5 fold) in the wt-glands, and
      the mammary repopulating ability of the wt-gland epithelium was ~2-fold greater.
      In MMTV-wnt1 transgenic glands the progenitor (CD24(low)/ALDH(high activity))
      content was 2.6-fold greater than in the wt and was further increased in the
      RARalpha1/KO-wnt1 glands. The tumor-free survival of RARalpha1/KO-wnt1 mice was
      significantly (p=0.0002, Kaplan Meier) longer, the in vivo growth of RARalpha1/KO
      wnt1 transplanted tumor fragments was significantly (p=0.01) slower and
      RARalpha1/KO-wnt1 tumors cell suspension produced tumors after much longer
      latency. CONCLUSIONS: In vitamin A-replete mice, RARalpha1 is required to
      maintain normal mammary morphogenesis, but paradoxically, also efficient
      tumorigenesis. While its loss increases the density of the mammary epithelial
      tree and the content of luminal mammary progenitors, it appears to reduce the
      size of the MaSC-containing compartment, the mammary repopulating activity, and
      to delay significantly the MMTV-wnt1-mammary tumorigenesis. Whether the delay in
      tumorigenesis is solely due to a reduction in wnt1 target cells or due to
      additional mechanisms remains to be determined. These results reveal the
      intricate nature of the retinoid signaling pathways in mammary development and
      carcinogenesis and suggest that a better understanding will be needed before
      retinoids can join the armament of effective anti- breast cancer therapies.

PMID- 20923556
TI  - A novel mutation of the ACADM gene (c.145C>G) associated with the common c.985A>G
      mutation on the other ACADM allele causes mild MCAD deficiency: a case report.
AB  - A female patient, with normal familial history, developed at the age of 30 months
      an episode of diarrhoea, vomiting and lethargy which resolved spontaneously. At
      the age of 3 years, the patient re-iterated vomiting, was sub-febrile and
      hypoglycemic, fell into coma, developed seizures and sequels involving right hemi
      body. Urinary excretion of hexanoylglycine and suberylglycine was low during this
      metabolic decompensation. A study of pre- and post-prandial blood glucose and
      ketones over a period of 24 hours showed a normal glycaemic cycle but a failure
      to form ketones after 12 hours fasting, suggesting a mitochondrial beta-oxidation
      defect. Total blood carnitine was lowered with unesterified carnitine being half
      of the lowest control value. A diagnosis of mild MCAD deficiency (MCADD) was
      based on rates of 1-14C-octanoate and 9, 10-3H-myristate oxidation and of
      octanoyl-CoA dehydrogenase being reduced to 25% of control values. Other
      mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation proteins were functionally normal. De novo
      acylcarnitine synthesis in whole blood samples incubated with deuterated
      palmitate was also typical of MCADD. Genetic studies showed that the patient was
      compound heterozygous with a sequence variation in both of the two ACADM alleles;
      one had the common c.985A>G mutation and the other had a novel c.145C>G mutation.
      This is the first report for the ACADM gene c.145C>G mutation: it is located in
      exon 3 and causes a replacement of glutamine to glutamate at position 24 of the
      mature protein (Q24E). Associated with heterozygosity for c.985A>G mutation, this
      mutation is responsible for a mild MCADD phenotype along with a clinical story
      corroborating the emerging literature view that patients with genotypes
      representing mild MCADD (high residual enzyme activity and low urinary levels of
      glycine conjugates), similar to some of the mild MCADDs detected by MS/MS newborn
      screening, may be at risk for disease presentation.

PMID- 20923557
TI  - Design of the Prevention of Adult Caries Study (PACS): a randomized clinical
      trial assessing the effect of a chlorhexidine dental coating for the prevention
      of adult caries.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Dental caries is one of the primary causes of tooth loss among
      adults. It is estimated to affect a majority of Americans aged 55 and older, with
      a disproportionately higher burden in disadvantaged populations. Although a
      number of treatments are currently in use for caries prevention in adults,
      evidence for their efficacy and effectiveness is limited. METHODS/DESIGN: The
      Prevention of Adult Caries Study (PACS) is a multicenter, placebo-controlled,
      double-blind, randomized clinical trial of the efficacy of a chlorhexidine (10%
      w/v) dental coating in preventing adult caries. Participants (n = 983) were
      recruited from four different dental delivery systems serving four diverse
      communities, including one American Indian population, and were randomized to
      receive either chlorhexidine or a placebo treatment. The primary outcome is the
      net caries increment (including non-cavitated lesions) from baseline to 13 months
      of follow-up. A cost-effectiveness analysis also will be considered. DISCUSSION:
      This new dental treatment, if efficacious and approved for use by the Food and
      Drug Administration (FDA), would become a new in-office, anti-microbial agent for
      the prevention of adult caries in the United States. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER:
      NCT00357877.

PMID- 20923559
TI  - Characterization of chaotic dynamics in the human menstrual cycle.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The human menstrual cycle is known to exhibit a significant amount of
      unexplained variability. This variation is typically dismissed as random
      fluctuations in an otherwise periodic and predictable system. Given the many
      delayed nonlinear feedbacks in the multiple levels of the reproductive endocrine
      system, however, the menstrual cycle can properly be construed as the output of a
      nonlinear dynamical system, and such a system has the possibility of being in a
      chaotic trajectory. We hypothesize that this is in fact the case and that it
      accounts for the observed variability. RESULTS: Here, we test this hypothesis by
      performing time series analyses on data for 7749 menstrual cycles from 40 women
      in the 20-40 year age range, using the database maintained by the Tremin Research
      Program on Women's Health. Both raw menstrual cycle length data and a formal time
      series constructed from this data are utilized in these analyses. Employing phase
      space reconstruction techniques with a maximum embedding dimension of 12, we find
      appropriate scaling behavior in the correlation sums for these data, indicating
      low dimensional deterministic dynamics. A correlation dimension of Dc ~ 5.2 is
      measured in the scaling regime. This result is confirmed by recalculation using
      the Takens estimator and by surrogate data tests. We interpret this result as an
      approximation to the fractal dimension of a strange attractor governing chaotic
      dynamics in the menstrual cycle. We also use the time series to calculate the
      correlation entropy (K2 ~ 0.008/tau) and the maximal Lyapunov exponent (lambda ~
      0.005/tau) for the system, where tau is the sampling time of the series.
      CONCLUSIONS: Taken collectively, these results constitute significant evidence
      that the menstrual cycle is the result of chaos in a nonlinear dynamical system.
      This view of the menstrual cycle has potential implications for clinical
      practice, modelling of the endocrine system, and the interpretation of the
      perimenopausal transition.

PMID- 20923558
TI  - Genomic organization and evolution of the Atlantic salmon hemoglobin repertoire.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The genomes of salmonids are considered pseudo-tetraploid undergoing
      reversion to a stable diploid state. Given the genome duplication and extensive
      biological data available for salmonids, they are excellent model organisms for
      studying comparative genomics, evolutionary processes, fates of duplicated genes
      and the genetic and physiological processes associated with complex behavioral
      phenotypes. The evolution of the tetrapod hemoglobin genes is well studied;
      however, little is known about the genomic organization and evolution of teleost
      hemoglobin genes, particularly those of salmonids. The Atlantic salmon serves as
      a representative salmonid species for genomics studies. Given the well documented
      role of hemoglobin in adaptation to varied environmental conditions as well as
      its use as a model protein for evolutionary analyses, an understanding of the
      genomic structure and organization of the Atlantic salmon alpha and beta
      hemoglobin genes is of great interest. RESULTS: We identified four bacterial
      artificial chromosomes (BACs) comprising two hemoglobin gene clusters spanning
      the entire alpha and beta hemoglobin gene repertoire of the Atlantic salmon
      genome. Their chromosomal locations were established using fluorescence in situ
      hybridization (FISH) analysis and linkage mapping, demonstrating that the two
      clusters are located on separate chromosomes. The BACs were sequenced and
      assembled into scaffolds, which were annotated for putatively functional and
      pseudogenized hemoglobin-like genes. This revealed that the tail-to-tail
      organization and alternating pattern of the alpha and beta hemoglobin genes are
      well conserved in both clusters, as well as that the Atlantic salmon genome
      houses substantially more hemoglobin genes, including non-Bohr beta globin genes,
      than the genomes of other teleosts that have been sequenced. CONCLUSIONS: We
      suggest that the most parsimonious evolutionary path leading to the present
      organization of the Atlantic salmon hemoglobin genes involves the loss of a
      single hemoglobin gene cluster after the whole genome duplication (WGD) at the
      base of the teleost radiation but prior to the salmonid-specific WGD, which then
      produced the duplicated copies seen today. We also propose that the relatively
      high number of hemoglobin genes as well as the presence of non-Bohr beta
      hemoglobin genes may be due to the dynamic life history of salmon and the diverse
      environmental conditions that the species encounters.Data deposition: BACs
      S0155C07 and S0079J05 (fps135): GenBank GQ898924; BACs S0055H05 and S0014B03
      (fps1046): GenBank GQ898925.

PMID- 20923560
TI  - Intraperitoneal injection of thalidomide attenuates bone cancer pain and
      decreases spinal tumor necrosis factor-alpha expression in a mouse model.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) may have a pivotal role in
      the genesis of mechanical allodynia and thermal hyperalgesia during inflammatory
      and neuropathic pain. Thalidomide has been shown to selectively inhibit TNF-alpha
      production. Previous studies have suggested that thalidomide exerts anti
      nociceptive effects in various pain models, but its effects on bone cancer pain
      have not previously been studied. Therefore, in the present study, we
      investigated the effect of thalidomide on bone cancer-induced hyperalgesia and up
      regulated expression of spinal TNF-alpha in a mouse model. RESULTS: Osteosarcoma
      NCTC 2472 cells were implanted into the intramedullary space of the right femurs
      of C3H/HeJ mice to induce ongoing bone cancer related pain behaviors. At day 5,
      7, 10 and 14 after operation, the expression of TNF-alpha in the spinal cord was
      higher in tumor-bearing mice compared to the sham mice. Intraperitoneal injection
      of thalidomide (50 mg/kg), started at day 1 after surgery and once daily
      thereafter until day 7, attenuated bone cancer-evoked mechanical allodynia and
      thermal hyperalgesia as well as the up-regulation of TNF-alpha in the spinal
      cord. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that thalidomide can efficiently
      alleviate bone cancer pain and it may be a useful alternative or adjunct therapy
      for bone cancer pain. Our data also suggest a role of spinal TNF-alpha in the
      development of bone cancer pain.

PMID- 20923561
TI  - Abnormal function of the vasopressin-cyclic-AMP-aquaporin2 axis during urine
      concentrating and diluting in patients with reduced renal function. A case
      control study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The kidneys ability to concentrate and dilute urine is deteriorated
      during progressive renal insufficiency. We wanted to test the hypothesis that
      these phenomena could be attributed to an abnormal function of the principal
      cells in the distal part of the nephron. METHODS: Healthy control subjects and
      patients with chronic kidney diseases were studied. Group 1 comprised healthy
      subjects, n = 10. Groups 2-4 comprised patients with chronic kidney disease
      (Group 2, n = 14, e-GFR <= 90 m1/min; Group 3, n = 11, 60 m1/min <= e-GFR < 90
      ml/min; and Group 4, n = 16, 15 ml/min <= e-GFR < 60 ml/min). The subjects
      collected urine during 24 hours. A urine concentrating test was done by thirsting
      during the following 12 hours. Thereafter, a urine diluting test was performed
      with a water load of 20 ml/kg body weight. The effect variables were urinary
      excretions of aquaporin2 (u-AQP2), cyclic-AMP (u-c-AMP), urine volume (UV), free
      water clearance (CH2O), urine osmolarity (u-Osm), and plasma arginine vasopressin
      (p-AVP). RESULTS: After fluid deprivation, u-Osm increased. In all groups, UV and
      CH2O decreased and u-AQP2 and u-c-AMP increased in Groups 1 and 2, but were
      unchanged in Group 3 and 4. P-AVP was significantly higher in Group 4 than in the
      other groups. During urine diluting, UV and CH2O reached significantly higher
      levels in Groups 1-3 than Group 4. Both before and after water loading, u-AQP2
      and p-AVP were significantly higher and u-c-AMP was significantly lower in Group
      4 than the other groups. Estimated-GFR was correlated negatively to p-AVP and
      positively to u-c-AMP. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with moderately severe chronic
      kidney disease have a reduced renal concentrating and diluting capacity compared
      to both patients with milder chronic kidney disease and healthy control subjects.
      These phenomena can be attributed, at least partly, to an abnormally decreased
      response in the AVP-c-AMP-AQP2 axis.ClinicalTrials.Gov Identifier: NCT00313430.

PMID- 20923562
TI  - Lipid and lipoprotein profiles among middle aged male smokers: a study from
      southern India.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The objectives were to investigate into the relationship between
      lipid profile including Apolipoprotein-A1 (Apo-A1) and Apolipoprotein-B (Apo-B)
      and smokers and to relate them with smoking pack years. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A
      total of 274 active male smokers without any other illnesses and age matched male
      healthy control subjects (78) with similar socio-cultural background were
      assessed for clinical details, dietary habits, physical activities, smoking and
      alcohol consumption. Standard methods were adopted to check the lipid levels. The
      data were analyzed statistically. RESULTS: Their ages ranged from 40 to 59 years,
      systolic BP from 110 to 130 mmHg, and diastolic BP from 76 to 88 mmHg. All of
      them had similar pattern of diet (vegetarianism with occasional meat). None was
      on any medication influences lipid level. Their physical activity was moderate.
      Number of pack years varied from 10 to 14 (mild), 15 to 19 (moderate) and 20 and
      above (heavy) among 69, 90 and 115 cases, whose mean ages were 43, 44 and 49
      respectively. The mean (+SD) values in mg/dl of total cholesterol (TC),
      Triglyceride (TGL), Apo-B, low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, high
      density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and Apo-A1 in mg/dl among mild/ moderate/
      heavy smokers and control subjects were 198 (30.6)/ 224 (27.2)/ 240 (24.3) and
      160 (20.4); 164(42.6)/ 199 (39.5)/ 223(41.7) and 124 (31.6); 119 (24.9)/ 121
      (27)/ 127 (28.3) and 116 (21.4); 94 (19.7)/ 104 (21.8)/ 120 (20.5) and 82 (17.6);
      42 (5.9)/ 39 (3.1)/ 35(4.4) and 48 (5.3); and 120 (17)/ 119 (21)/ 115 (25) and
      126 (19), respectively. In smokers, there was a rise in TC, TGL, LDL, Apo-B and
      fall in HDL and Apo-A; these changes were significant (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION:
      Number of pack years was directly proportional to abnormal lipid profile. It is
      also concluded that changes in Apo-A1 and Apo-B were more significant when
      compared to HDL and LDL cholesterol among smokers. In the view of double risk for
      smokers (smoking and altered lipid profile) efforts may be made to introduce
      smoking cessation program.

PMID- 20923563
TI  - Interethnic diversity of NAT2 polymorphisms in Brazilian admixed populations.
AB  - BACKGROUND: N-acetyltransferase type 2 (Nat2) is a phase II drug- metabolizing
      enzyme that plays a key role in the bioactivation of aromatic and heterocyclic
      amines. Its relevance in drug metabolism and disease susceptibility remains a
      central theme for pharmacogenetic research, mainly because of its genetic
      variability among human populations. In fact, the evolutionary and ethnic
      specific SNPs on the NAT2 gene remain a focus for the potential discoveries in
      personalized drug therapy and genetic markers of diseases. Despite the wide
      characterization of NAT2 SNPs frequency in established ethnic groups, little data
      are available for highly admixed populations. In this context, five common NAT2
      SNPs (G191A, C481T, G590A, A803G and G857A) were investigated in a highly admixed
      population comprised of Afro-Brazilians, Whites, and Amerindians in northeastern
      Brazil. Thus, we sought to determine whether the distribution of NAT2
      polymorphism is different among these three ethnic groups. RESULTS: Overall,
      there were no statistically significant differences in the distribution of NAT2
      polymorphism when Afro-Brazilian and White groups were compared. Even the allele
      frequency of 191A, relatively common in African descendents, was not different
      between the Afro-Brazilian and White groups. However, allele and genotype
      frequencies of G590A were significantly higher in the Amerindian group than
      either in the Afro-Brazilian or White groups. Interestingly, a haplotype block
      between G590A and A803G was verified exclusively among Amerindians. CONCLUSIONS:
      Our results indicate that ethnic admixture might contribute to a particular
      pattern of genetic diversity in the NAT2 gene and also offer new insights for the
      investigation of possible new NAT2 gene-environment effects in admixed
      populations.

PMID- 20923564
TI  - Accurate and efficient gp120 V3 loop structure based models for the determination
      of HIV-1 co-receptor usage.
AB  - BACKGROUND: HIV-1 targets human cells expressing both the CD4 receptor, which
      binds the viral envelope glycoprotein gp120, as well as either the CCR5 (R5) or
      CXCR4 (X4) co-receptors, which interact primarily with the third hypervariable
      loop (V3 loop) of gp120. Determination of HIV-1 affinity for either the R5 or X4
      co-receptor on host cells facilitates the inclusion of co-receptor antagonists as
      a part of patient treatment strategies. A dataset of 1193 distinct gp120 V3 loop
      peptide sequences (989 R5-utilizing, 204 X4-capable) is utilized to train
      predictive classifiers based on implementations of random forest, support vector
      machine, boosted decision tree, and neural network machine learning algorithms.
      An in silico mutagenesis procedure employing multibody statistical potentials,
      computational geometry, and threading of variant V3 sequences onto an
      experimental structure, is used to generate a feature vector representation for
      each variant whose components measure environmental perturbations at
      corresponding structural positions. RESULTS: Classifier performance is evaluated
      based on stratified 10-fold cross-validation, stratified dataset splits (2/3
      training, 1/3 validation), and leave-one-out cross-validation. Best reported
      values of sensitivity (85%), specificity (100%), and precision (98%) for
      predicting X4-capable HIV-1 virus, overall accuracy (97%), Matthew's correlation
      coefficient (89%), balanced error rate (0.08), and ROC area (0.97) all reach
      critical thresholds, suggesting that the models outperform six other state-of-the
      art methods and come closer to competing with phenotype assays. CONCLUSIONS: The
      trained classifiers provide instantaneous and reliable predictions regarding HIV
      1 co-receptor usage, requiring only translated V3 loop genotypes as input.
      Furthermore, the novelty of these computational mutagenesis based predictor
      attributes distinguishes the models as orthogonal and complementary to previous
      methods that utilize sequence, structure, and/or evolutionary information. The
      classifiers are available online at http://proteins.gmu.edu/automute.

PMID- 20923565
TI  - Deaths of infants subject to forensic autopsy in Estonia from 2001 to 2005: what
      can we learn from additional information?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Deaths from childhood injury are a public health problem worldwide. A
      relatively high proportion of child deaths of undetermined manner in Estonia
      raises concerns about potential underestimation of intentional deaths, especially
      in infants. This suggests that more information on the circumstances surrounding
      death is needed to establish the manner of death correctly and, more importantly,
      to prevent these deaths. The objective of this study was to detect, describe, and
      analyze the circumstances around deaths of infants subject to forensic autopsy in
      Estonia to reveal hidden cases of child abuse and more accurately determine
      causes of death. METHODS: Study cases included all infant deaths in Estonia from
      2001 to 2005 subject to forensic autopsy at the Estonian Bureau of Forensic
      Medicine. Additional information was obtained from a series of visits to general
      practitioners, including characteristics of infant health, family composition,
      parents' education and employment, living conditions, and circumstances around
      death as perceived by medical staff in charge of outpatient services for these
      families. RESULTS: The total number of infant deaths in Estonia between 2001 and
      2005 subject to forensic autopsy was 98, with 40 (40.8%) deaths attributed to a
      disease and 58 deaths (59.2%) resulting from injury. Elements of child abuse were
      involved in as many as 57.7% (95% CI 46.9-68.1) of the deaths for which medical
      records were available (n = 90). At death, the majority of these cases were
      registered as diseases or deaths from unintentional injury. Average annual
      mortality from external causes in Estonian infants, 2001-2005, previously
      reported by us as 88.1 per 100,000 (95% CI 68.1-113.6) would decrease to 41.0
      (95% CI 26.9-57.8).Many infants in the studied group had faced multiple threats
      and were living in poor hygienic conditions. In a number of cases, they were left
      alone or looked after by older siblings. Parents' alcohol abuse played an
      important role in a considerable number of cases. CONCLUSIONS: Using additional
      sources of information revealed new information about child abuse not reflected
      in the cause of death diagnosis. Effective interventions aimed at parent
      education and improved follow-up of children by medical staff may reduce
      mortality from external causes among Estonian infants by more than half.

PMID- 20923566
TI  - Oestrogen is important for maintenance of cartilage and subchondral bone in a
      murine model of knee osteoarthritis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Oestrogen depletion may influence onset and/or progression of
      osteoarthritis. We investigated in an ovariectomized mouse model the impact of
      oestrogen loss and oestrogen supplementation on articular cartilage and
      subchondral bone in tibia and patella, and assessed bone changes in
      osteoarthritis development. METHODS: C3H/HeJ mice were divided into four groups:
      sham-operated, oestrogen depletion by ovariectomy (OVX), OVX with estradiol
      supplementation (OVX+E) and OVX with bisphosphonate (OVX+BP). Each mouse had one
      knee injected with low-dose iodoacetate (IA), and the contralateral knee was
      injected with saline. Cartilage was analysed histologically 12 weeks postsurgery;
      bone changes were monitored over time using in vivo micro-computed tomography.
      RESULTS: In tibiae, OVX alone failed to induce cartilage damage, but OVX and IA
      combination significantly induced cartilage damage. In patellae, OVX alone
      induced significant cartilage damage, which was enhanced by IA. In both tibiae
      and patellae, OVX in combination with IA significantly decreased subchondral
      cortical thickness in an additive manner. OVX+E and OVX+BP inhibited tibial and
      patellar subchondral cortical thinning, inhibited patellar and tended to diminish
      tibial cartilage damage. In patellae, IA interacted with BP, leading to increased
      subchondral cortical and trabecular bone. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates
      the significance of oestrogen for articular cartilage and subchondral bone and
      maintenance of healthy joints, supporting an etiological role for altered
      oestrogen signaling in osteoarthritis either by directly affecting cartilage or
      increasing susceptibility for an osteoarthritis trigger. The data strongly
      support the concept of involvement of subchondral bone plate in osteoarthritis.

PMID- 20923567
TI  - Raman spectroscopy in head and neck cancer.
AB  - In recent years there has been much interest in the use of optical diagnostics in
      cancer detection. Early diagnosis of cancer affords early intervention and
      greatest chance of cure. Raman spectroscopy is based on the interaction of
      photons with the target material producing a highly detailed biochemical
      'fingerprint' of the sample. It can be appreciated that such a sensitive
      biochemical detection system could confer diagnostic benefit in a clinical
      setting. Raman has been used successfully in key health areas such as
      cardiovascular diseases, and dental care but there is a paucity of literature on
      Raman spectroscopy in Head and Neck cancer. Following the introduction of health
      care targets for cancer, and with an ever-aging population the need for rapid
      cancer detection has never been greater. Raman spectroscopy could confer great
      patient benefit with early, rapid and accurate diagnosis. This technique is
      almost labour free without the need for sample preparation. It could reduce the
      need for whole pathological specimen examination, in theatre it could help to
      determine margin status, and finally peripheral blood diagnosis may be an
      achievable target.

PMID- 20923568
TI  - Neuroprotective effect of peroxiredoxin 6 against hypoxia-induced retinal
      ganglion cell damage.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The ability to respond to changes in the extra-intracellular
      environment is prerequisite for cell survival. Cellular responses to the
      environment include elevating defense systems, such as the antioxidant defense
      system. Hypoxia-evoked reactive oxygen species (ROS)-driven oxidative stress is
      an underlying mechanism of retinal ganglion cell (RGC) death that leads to
      blinding disorders. The protein peroxiredoxin 6 (PRDX6) plays a pleiotropic role
      in negatively regulating death signaling in response to stressors, and thereby
      stabilizes cellular homeostasis. RESULTS: We have shown that RGCs exposed to
      hypoxia (1%) or hypoxia mimetic cobalt chloride display reduced expression of
      PRDX6 with higher ROS expression and activation of NF-kappaB. These cells undergo
      apoptosis, while cells with over-expression of PRDX6 demonstrate resistance
      against hypoxia-driven RGC death. The RGCs exposed to hypoxia either with 1%
      oxygen or cobalt chloride (0-400 MUM), revealed ~30%-70% apoptotic cell death
      after 48 and 72 h of exposure. Western analysis and real-time PCR showed elevated
      expression of PRDX6 during hypoxia at 24 h, while PRDX6 protein and mRNA
      expression declined from 48 h onwards following hypoxia exposure. Concomitant
      with this, RGCs showed increased ROS expression and activation of NF-kappaB with
      IkB phosphorylation/degradation, as examined with H2DCF-DA and transactivation
      assays. These hypoxia-induced adverse reactions could be reversed by over
      expression of PRDX6. CONCLUSION: Because an abundance of PRDX6 in cells was able
      to attenuate hypoxia-induced RGC death, the protein could possibly be developed
      as a novel therapeutic agent acting to postpone RGC injury and delay the
      progression of glaucoma and other disorders caused by the increased-ROS-generated
      death signaling related to hypoxia.

PMID- 20923569
TI  - Associations between SNPs in candidate immune-relevant genes and rubella antibody
      levels: a multigenic assessment.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The mechanisms of immune response are structured within a highly
      complex regulatory system. Genetic associations with variation in the immune
      response to rubella vaccine have typically been assessed one locus at a time. We
      simultaneously assessed the associations between 726 SNPs tagging 84 candidate
      immune response genes and rubella-specific antibody levels. Blood samples were
      obtained from 714 school-aged children who had received two doses of MMR vaccine.
      Associations between rubella-specific antibody levels and 726 candidate tagSNPs
      were assessed both one SNP at a time and in a variety of multigenic analyses.
      RESULTS: Single-SNP assessments identified 4 SNPs that appeared to be
      univariately associated with rubella antibody levels: rs2844482 (p = 0.0002) and
      rs2857708 (p = 0.001) in the 5'UTR of the LTA gene, rs7801617 in the 5'UTR of the
      IL6 gene (p = 0.0005), and rs4787947 in the 5'UTR of the IL4R gene (p = 0.002).
      While there was not significant evidence in favor of epistatic genetic
      associations among the candidate SNPs, multigenic analyses identified 29 SNPs
      significantly associated with rubella antibody levels when selected as a group (p
      = 0.017). This collection of SNPs included not only those that were significant
      univariately, but others that would not have been identified if only considered
      in isolation from the other SNPs. CONCLUSIONS: For the first time, multigenic
      assessment of associations between candidate SNPs and rubella antibody levels
      identified a broad number of genetic associations that would not have been deemed
      important univariately. It is important to consider approaches like those applied
      here in order to better understand the full genetic complexity of response to
      vaccination.

PMID- 20923570
TI  - Expression of inwardly rectifying potassium channels by an inducible adenoviral
      vector reduced the neuronal hyperexcitability and hyperalgesia produced by
      chronic compression of the spinal ganglion.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A chronic compressed dorsal root ganglion (CCD) in rat produces pain
      behavior and an enhanced excitability of neurons within the compressed ganglion.
      Kir2.1 is an inwardly rectifying potassium channel that acts to stabilize the
      resting potential of certain cell types. We hypothesized that an inducible
      expression of Kir2.1 channels in CCD neurons might suppress neuronal excitability
      in the dorsal root ganglion (DRG) and reduce the associated pain behavior.
      RESULTS: We delivered, by microinjection into the fourth lumbar (L4) DRG, an
      adenoviral vector containing a reporter gene encoding the enhanced green
      fluorescent protein (GFP) and a Kir2.1 channel (AdKir). At the same time the
      ganglion was compressed by implantation of a rod through the intervertebral
      foramen (CCD). The in vivo expression of the transferred gene was controlled by
      an ecdysone analog via an ecdysone-inducible promoter in the viral vector. In
      comparison with the effects of vehicle or a control vector containing only the
      GFP gene, AdKir significantly reduced the neuronal hyperexcitability after CCD.
      Electrophysiological recordings, in vivo, from nociceptive and non-nociceptive
      DRG neurons expressing the virally produced Kir2.1 channels revealed a
      hyperpolarized resting membrane potential, an increased rheobase, and lack of
      spontaneous activity. Inducing the Kir2.1 gene at the beginning of CCD surgery
      partially prevented the development of mechanical hyperalgesia. However, a
      delayed induction of the Kir2.1 gene (3 days after CCD surgery) produced no
      significant effect on the pain behavior. CONCLUSIONS: We found that an inducible
      expression of Kir2.1 channels in chronically compressed DRG neurons can
      effectively suppress the neuronal excitability and, if induced at the beginning
      of CCD injury, prevent the development of hyperalgesia. We hypothesize that a
      higher level of neuronal hyperexcitability in the DRG is required to initiate
      than to maintain the hyperalgesia and that the hyperexcitability contributing to
      neuropathic pain is best inhibited as soon as possible after injury.

PMID- 20923571
TI  - Evaluation of endogenous references for gene expression profiling in different
      tissues of the oriental fruit fly Bactrocera dorsalis (Diptera: Tephritidae).
AB  - BACKGROUND: quantitative real-time reverse transcriptase PCR (RT-qPCR) has been
      widely used for quantification of mRNA as a way to determine key genes involved
      in different biological processes. For accurate gene quantification analysis,
      normalization of RT-qPCR data is absolutely essential. To date, normalization is
      most frequently achieved by the use of internal controls, often referred to as
      reference genes. However, several studies have shown that the reference genes
      used for the quantification of mRNA expression can be affected by the
      experimental set-up or cell type resulting in variation of the expression level
      of these key genes. Therefore, the evaluation of reference genes is critical for
      gene expression profiling, which is often neglected in gene expression studies of
      insects. For this purpose, ten candidate reference genes were investigated in
      three different tissues (midgut, Malpighian tubules, and fat body) of the
      oriental fruit fly, Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel). RESULTS: two different
      programs, geNorm and Normfinder, were used to analyze the data. According to
      geNorm, alpha-TUB + ACT5 are the most appropriate reference genes for gene
      expression profiling across the three different tissues in the female flies,
      while ACT3 + alpha-TUB are considered as the best for males. Furthermore, we
      evaluated the stability of the candidate reference genes to determine the sexual
      differences in the same tissue. In the midgut and Malpighian tubules, ACT2 +
      alpha-TUB are the best choice for both males and females. However, alpha-TUB +
      ACT1 are the best pair for fat body. Meanwhile, the results calculated by
      Normfinder are quite the same as the results with geNorm; alpha-TUB is always one
      of the most stable genes in each sample validated by the two programs.
      CONCLUSIONS: in this study, we validated the suitable reference genes for gene
      expression profiling in different tissues of B. dorsalis. Moreover, appropriate
      reference genes were selected out for gene expression profiling of the same
      tissues taking the sexual differences into consideration. This work not only
      formed a solid basis for future gene expression study in B. dorsalis, but also
      will serve as a resource to screen reference genes for gene expression studies in
      any other insects.

PMID- 20923572
TI  - Novel concept microarray enabling PCR and multistep reactions through pipette
      free aperture-to-aperture parallel transfer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The microarray has contributed to developing the omic analysis.
      However, as it depends basically on the surface reaction, it is hard to perform
      bulk reactions and sequential multistep reactions. On the other hand, the popular
      microplate technology, which has a great merit of being able to perform parallel
      multistep reactions, has come to its limit in increasing the number of wells
      (currently, up to 9600) and reducing the volume to deal with due to the
      difficulty in operations. RESULTS: Here, we report a novel microarray technology
      which enables us to explore advanced applications, termed microarray-with
      manageable volumes (MMV). The technical essence is in the pipette-free direct
      parallel transfer from well to well performed by centrifugation, evading the
      evaporation and adsorption-losses during handling. By developing the MMV plate,
      accompanying devices and techniques, generation of multiple conditions (256
      kinds) and performance of parallel multistep reactions, including PCR and in
      vitro translation reactions, have been made possible. These were demonstrated by
      applying the MMV technology to searching lysozyme-crystallizing conditions and
      selecting peptides aimed for Abeta-binding or cathepsin E-inhibition.
      CONCLUSIONS: With the introduction of a novel concept microarray (MMV)
      technology, parallel and multistep reactions in sub-MUL scale have become
      possible.

PMID- 20923573
TI  - Genetic and epigenetic characteristics of human multiple hepatocellular
      carcinoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Multiple carcinogenesis is one of the major characteristics of human
      hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The history of multiple tumors, that is, whether
      they derive from a common precancerous or cancerous ancestor or individually from
      hepatocytes, is a major clinical issue. Multiple HCC is clinically classified as
      either intratumor metastasis (IM) or multicentric carcinogenesis (MC). Molecular
      markers that differentiate IM and MC are of interest to clinical practitioners
      because the clinical diagnoses of IM and MC often lead to different therapies.
      METHODS: We analyzed 30 multiple tumors from 15 patients for somatic mutations of
      cancer-related genes, chromosomal aberrations, and promoter methylation of tumor
      suppressor genes using techniques such as high-resolution melting, array
      comparative genomic hybridization (CGH), and quantitative methylation-specific
      PCR. RESULTS: Somatic mutations were found in TP53 and CTNNB1 but not in CDKN2A
      or KRAS. Tumors from the same patient did not share the same mutations. Array-CGH
      analysis revealed variations in the number of chromosomal aberrations, and the
      detection of common aberrations in tumors from the same patient was found to
      depend on the total number of chromosomal aberrations. A promoter methylation
      analysis of genes revealed dense methylation in HCC but not in the adjacent non
      tumor tissue. The correlation coefficients (r) of methylation patterns between
      tumors from the same patient were more similar than those between tumors from
      different patients. In total, 47% of tumor samples from the same patients had an
      r >= 0.8, whereas, in contrast, only 18% of tumor samples from different patients
      had an r >= 0.8 (p = 0.01). All IM cases were highly similar; that is, r >= 0.8
      (p = 0.025). CONCLUSIONS: The overall scarcity of common somatic mutations and
      chromosomal aberrations suggests that biological IM is likely to be rare. Tumors
      from the same patient had a methylation pattern that was more similar than those
      from different patients. As all clinical IM cases exhibited high similarity, the
      methylation pattern may be applicable to support the clinical diagnosis of IM and
      MC.

PMID- 20923575
TI  - Levels of (1->3)-beta-D-glucan, Candida mannan and Candida DNA in serum samples
      of pediatric cancer patients colonized with Candida species.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Surveillance cultures may be helpful in identifying patients at
      increased risk of developing invasive candidiasis. However, only scant
      information exists on the effect of Candida colonization on serum levels of
      diagnostic biomarkers. This prospective surveillance study determined the extent
      of Candida colonization among pediatric cancer patients and its possible impact
      on serum levels of (1-3)-beta-D-glucan (BDG), Candida mannan and Candida DNA.
      METHODS: A total of 1075 swabs originating from oropharynx (n = 294), nostrils (n
      = 600), rectum (n = 28), groin (n = 50), ear (n = 54), and axilla (n = 49) of 63
      pediatric cancer patients were cultured for the isolation of Candida spp.
      Patients yielding Candida spp. from any sites were considered as colonized. Serum
      samples were collected from patients at the time of first surveillance culture
      for detection of BDG by Fungitell kit and Candida mannan by Platelia Candida Ag.
      Candida DNA was detected by using panfungal primers and identification was
      carried out by using species-specific primers and DNA sequencing. RESULTS:
      Seventy-five (7.6%) swab cultures from 35 (55.5%) patients yielded Candida spp.
      These isolates included C. albicans (n = 62), C. dubliniensis (n = 8), C.
      glabrata and C. tropicalis (n = 2 each) and C. krusei (n = 1). Eleven patients
      were colonized at three or more sites. Eight of 36 serum samples from 6 colonized
      patients yielded BDG values higher than the currently recommended cut-off value
      of >=80 pg/ml. However, none of the serum samples yielded Candida mannan levels
      >=0.5 ng/ml and PCR test for Candida DNA was also negative in all the serum
      samples of colonized patients. During the study period, only two colonized
      patients subsequently developed candidemia due to C. tropicalis. Besides positive
      blood cultures, C. tropicalis DNA, BDG and Candida mannan were also detected in
      serum samples of both the patients. CONCLUSIONS: The present study demonstrates
      that while mucosal colonization with Candida species in pediatric cancer patients
      is common, it does not give rise to diagnostically significant levels of Candida
      mannan or Candida DNA in serum specimens. However, BDG values may be higher than
      the cut-off value in some pediatric patients without clinical evidence of
      invasive Candida infection. The study suggests the utility of Candida mannan or
      Candida DNA in the diagnosis of invasive candidiasis, however, the BDG levels in
      pediatric cancer subjects should be interpreted with caution.

PMID- 20923574
TI  - GPI-anchored single chain Fv--an effective way to capture transiently-exposed
      neutralization epitopes on HIV-1 envelope spike.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Identification of broad neutralization epitopes in HIV-1 envelope
      spikes is paramount for HIV-1 vaccine development. A few broad neutralization
      epitopes identified so far are present on the surface of native HIV-1 envelope
      spikes whose recognition by antibodies does not depend on conformational changes
      of the envelope spikes. However, HIV-1 envelope spikes also contain transiently
      exposed neutralization epitopes, which are more difficult to identify. RESULTS:
      In this study, we constructed single chain Fvs (scFvs) derived from seven human
      monoclonal antibodies and genetically linked them with or without a glycosyl
      phosphatidylinositol (GPI) attachment signal. We show that with a GPI attachment
      signal the scFvs are targeted to lipid rafts of plasma membranes. In addition, we
      demonstrate that four of the GPI-anchored scFvs, but not their secreted
      counterparts, neutralize HIV-1 with various degrees of breadth and potency. Among
      them, GPI-anchored scFv (X5) exhibits extremely potent and broad neutralization
      activity against multiple clades of HIV-1 strains tested. Moreover, we show that
      GPI-anchored scFv (4E10) also exhibited more potent neutralization activity than
      its secretory counterpart. Finally, we demonstrate that expression of GPI
      anchored scFv (X5) in the lipid raft of plasma membrane of human CD4+ T cells
      confers long-term resistance to HIV-1 infection, HIV-1 envelope-mediated cell
      cell fusion, and the infection of HIV-1 captured and transferred by human DCs.
      CONCLUSIONS: Thus GPI-anchored scFv could be used as a general and effective way
      to identify antibodies that react with transiently-exposed neutralization
      epitopes in envelope proteins of HIV-1 and other enveloped viruses. The GPI
      anchored scFv (X5), because of its breadth and potency, should have a great
      potential to be developed into anti-viral agent for HIV-1 prevention and therapy.

PMID- 20923576
TI  - Association of the LIPG 584C > T polymorphism and serum lipid levels in the
      Guangxi Bai Ku Yao and Han populations.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Endothelial lipase (EL) is a major determinant of high-density
      lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C) metabolism, but the association of endothelial
      lipase gene (LIPG) polymorphism and serum HDL-C levels is scarce and conflicting
      in diverse populations. Bai Ku Yao is an isolated subgroup of the Yao minority in
      China. This study was designed to detect the association of LIPG 584C > T
      (rs2000813) polymorphism and several environmental factors with serum lipid
      levels in the Guangxi Bai Ku Yao and Han populations. METHODS: A total of 645
      subjects of Bai Ku Yao and 638 participants of Han Chinese were randomly selected
      from our previous stratified randomized cluster samples. Genotyping of the LIPG
      584C > T was performed by polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment
      length polymorphism combined with gel electrophoresis, and then confirmed by
      direct sequencing. RESULTS: The levels of serum total cholesterol (TC), HDL-C,
      low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and apolipoprotein (Apo) AI and ApoB
      were lower in Bai Ku Yao than in Han (P < 0.05 - 0.001). The frequency of C and T
      alleles was 73.5% and 26.5% in Bai Ku Yao, and 67.9% and 32.1% in Han (P < 0.01);
      respectively. The frequency of CC, CT and TT genotypes was 50.4%, 46.2% and 3.4%
      in Bai Ku Yao, and 41.4%, 53.1% and 5.5% in Han (P < 0.01); respectively. Serum
      HDL-C levels in both ethnic groups were different among the three genotypes (P <
      0.05 for each). Serum TC levels in both ethnic groups were also different between
      the CC and CT/TT genotypes (P < 0.05 for each). The T allele carriers had higher
      serum HDL-C and TC levels than the T allele noncarriers. Multivariate logistic
      regression analysis showed that the levels of HDL-C and ApoB were correlated with
      genotypes in Bai Ku Yao (P < 0.05 for each), whereas the levels of TC and HDL-C
      were associated with genotypes in Han Chinese (P < 0.05 and P < 0.01). Serum
      lipid parameters were also correlated with several environmental factors in the
      both ethnic groups. CONCLUSIONS: The frequency of LIPG 584T allele is lower in
      Bai Ku Yao than in Han Chinese. The LIPG 584T allele is associated with increased
      serum HDL-C, TC and ApoB levels. The differences in serum HDL-C, TC and ApoB
      levels between the two ethnic groups might partly result from different genotypic
      and allelic frequencies of LIPG 584C > T or different LIPG-enviromental
      interactions.

PMID- 20923577
TI  - Phase II trial of isotonic fluid resuscitation in Kenyan children with severe
      malnutrition and hypovolaemia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Children with severe malnutrition who develop shock have a high
      mortality. Contrary to contemporaneous paediatric practice, current guidelines
      recommend use of low dose hypotonic fluid resuscitation (half-strength Darrows/5%
      dextrose (HSD/5D). We evaluated the safety and efficacy of this guideline
      compared to resuscitation with a standard isotonic solution. METHODS: A Phase II
      randomised controlled, safety and efficacy trial in Kenyan children aged over 6
      months with severe malnutrition and shock including children with severe
      dehydration/shock and presumptive septic shock (non-diarrhoeal shock). Eligible
      children were randomised to HSD/5D or Ringer's Lactate (RL). A maximum of two
      boluses of 15 ml/kg of HSD/5D were given over two hours (as recommended by
      guidelines) while those randomised to RL received 10 ml/kg aliquots half hourly
      (maximum 40 ml/kg). Primary endpoint was resolution of shock at 8 and 24 hours.
      Secondary outcomes included resolution of acidosis, adverse events and mortality.
      RESULTS: 61 children were enrolled: 41 had shock and severe dehydrating
      diarrhoea, 20 had presumptive septic shock; 69% had decompensated shock. By 8
      hours response to volume resuscitation was poor with shock persisting in most
      children:-HSD/5D 15/22 (68%) and RL14/25 (52%), p = 0.39. Oliguria was more
      prevalent at 8 hours in the HSD/5D group, 9/22 (41%), compared to RL-3/25 (12%),
      p = 0.02. Mortality was high, HSD/5D-15/26(58%) and RL 13/29(45%); p = 0.42. Most
      deaths occurred within 48 hours of admission. Neither pulmonary oedema nor
      cardiogenic failure was detected. CONCLUSIONS: Outcome was universally poor
      characterised by persistence of shock, oliguria and high case fatality. Isotonic
      fluid was associated with modest improvement in shock and survival when compared
      to HSD/5D but inconclusive due to the limitations of design and effectiveness of
      either resuscitation strategy. Although isotonic fluid resuscitation did not
      result in cardiogenic heart failure, as previously feared, we conclude that the
      modest volumes used and rate of infusion were insufficient to promptly correct
      shock. The adverse performance of the recommended fluid resuscitation guideline
      for severe malnutrition should prompt clinical investigation of isotonic fluids
      for resuscitation of compensated shock, defining rate and volumes required to
      inform future guidelines. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The trial is registered as ISCRTN:
      61146418.

PMID- 20923579
TI  - Current standards for the storage of human samples in biobanks.
AB  - Biobanks are diverse in their design and purpose; the idea of fully harmonizing
      historical and future biobanks is unaffordable and unfeasible. Biobanks should
      focus their efforts instead on developing and maintaining high-quality
      collections of samples capable of providing a wide range of biological
      information using processes that minimize introduced variability. A full data
      audit trail on sample processing, archiving, and quality control procedures
      should also be provided. This should enable the data derived from biobanks to
      contribute as part of wider collaborative efforts with other similar resources.

PMID- 20923578
TI  - Genetically complex epilepsies, copy number variants and syndrome constellations.
AB  - Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological disorders, with a prevalence of
      1% and lifetime incidence of 3%. There are numerous epilepsy syndromes, most of
      which are considered to be genetic epilepsies. Despite the discovery of more than
      20 genes for epilepsy to date, much of the genetic contribution to epilepsy is
      not yet known. Copy number variants have been established as an important source
      of mutation in other complex brain disorders, including intellectual disability,
      autism and schizophrenia. Recent advances in technology now facilitate genome
      wide searches for copy number variants and are beginning to be applied to
      epilepsy. Here, we discuss what is currently known about the contribution of copy
      number variants to epilepsy, and how that knowledge is redefining classification
      of clinical and genetic syndromes.

PMID- 20923580
TI  - Stem cell banking: between traceability and identifiability.
AB  - Stem cell banks are increasingly seen as an essential resource of biological
      materials for both basic and translational research. Stem cell banks support
      transnational access to quality-controlled and ethically sourced stem cell lines
      from different origins and of varying grades. According to the Organisation for
      Economic Co-operation and Development, advances in regenerative medicine are
      leading to the development of a bioeconomy, 'a world where biotechnology
      contributes to a significant share of economic output'. Consequently, stem cell
      banks are destined to constitute a pillar of the bioeconomy in many countries.
      While certain ethical and legal concerns are specific to the nature of stem
      cells, stem cell banking could do well to examine the approaches fostered by
      tissue banking generally. Indeed, the past decade has seen a move to simplify and
      harmonize biological tissue and data banking so as to foster international
      interoperability. In particular, the issues of consent and of traceability
      illustrate not only commonalities but the opportunity for stem cell banking to
      appreciate the lessons learned in biobanking generally. This paper analyzes
      convergence and divergence in issues surrounding policy harmonization,
      transnational sharing, informed consent, traceability and return of results in
      the context of stem cell banks.

PMID- 20923581
TI  - Products deriving from microbial fermentation are linked to insulinaemic response
      in pigs fed breads prepared from whole-wheat grain and wheat and rye ingredients.
AB  - The effects of wheat and rye breads made from whole-wheat grain (WWG), wheat
      aleurone flour (WAF) or rye aleurone flour (RAF) on net portal absorption of
      carbohydrate-derived nutrients (glucose, SCFA and lactate) and apparent insulin
      secretion were studied in a model experiment with catheterised pigs. The breads
      were similar in dietary fibre (DF, 120-125 g/kg DM) but differed in arabinoxylans
      (50-62 g/kg), beta-glucans (4-9 g/kg) and content of soluble DF (13-29 g/kg). Six
      pigs in a repeated 3 * 3 crossover design were fitted with catheters in the
      portal vein and the mesenteric artery and a portal flow probe. Pigs were fed
      three meals daily (at 09.00, 14.00 and 19.00 hours), and blood profiles were
      collected repeatedly from 08.30 until 19.00 hours once weekly. Net portal
      absorption of glucose was similar among breads and between meals. In contrast,
      insulin secretion was lowest (P < 0.05) in pigs fed RAF bread (3.9 nmol/h),
      intermediate in pigs fed WAF bread (5.4 nmol/h) and highest in pigs fed WWG bread
      (5.9 nmol/h), indicating that RAF bread improved insulin economy. Portal
      concentrations of propionate, butyrate and valerate were high, intermediate and
      low (P < 0.05) when pigs were fed RAF, WAF and WWG breads, respectively. Insulin
      secretion was higher (P < 0.001), and portal absorption of SCFA was lower (P <
      0.05) after the first daily meal than after the second daily meal (8.8 v. 4.4
      nmol/h). A low insulin response was associated with high portal absorption of
      SCFA. In conclusion, RAF bread was able to improve insulin economy compared to
      WWG bread.

PMID- 20923582
TI  - Hypocholesterolaemic effect of dietary inclusion of two putative probiotic bile
      salt hydrolase-producing Lactobacillus plantarum strains in Sprague-Dawley rats.
AB  - The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the anti-hypercholesterolaemic
      effects of two putative probiotic bile salt hydrolase (Bsh)-producing
      Lactobacillus plantarum strains, i.e. Lp91 and Lp21, in rats. L. plantarum Lp91
      exhibited excellent tolerance to low pH and high bile salt concentrations as well
      as showed potential Bsh activity, cholesterol assimilation and cholesterol co
      precipitation ability along with L. plantarum Lp21 and NCDO82 strains.
      Furthermore, the potential effect of L. plantarum Lp91 on plasma cholesterol
      level was evaluated in Sprague-Dawley rats. Five treatment groups of rats (n 6)
      were fed experimental diets: normal diet, hypercholesterolaemic diet (HD), HD
      plus L. plantarum Lp91 (HD91) at >= 1.0 * 108 colony-forming units (cfu)/g, HD
      plus microencapsulated L. plantarum Lp91 (HDCap91) at >= 1.0 * 108 cfu/g and HD
      plus L. plantarum Lp21 (HD21) at >= 1.0 * 108 cfu/g for 3 weeks. Feed intake and
      feed efficiency differed significantly among the five groups. After 21 d of
      dietary treatment, comparative analysis revealed 23.26, 15.71 and 15.01 %
      reduction in total cholesterol, 21.09, 18.77 and 18.17 % reduction in TAG, 38.13,
      23.22 and 21.42 % reduction in LDL-cholesterol, and the corresponding HDL
      cholesterol values increased at the rate of 18.94, 10.30 and 7.78 % in treated
      groups HD91, HDCap91 and HD21, respectively. Faecal excretion of cholic acid and
      faecal lactobacilli counts were significantly higher in the probiotic treatment
      groups than in the control groups. In conclusion, these results suggest that the
      indigenous L. plantarum Lp91 strain has the potential to be explored as a
      probiotic in the management of hypercholesterolaemia.

PMID- 20923583
TI  - Elaphostrongylus cervi in a population of red deer (Cervus elaphus) and evidence
      of cerebrospinal nematodiasis in small ruminants in the province of Varese,
      Italy.
AB  - Thirty-one faecal samples were collected from red deer in the northern area of
      Varese, in the Italian region of Lombardy, between August and October 2008. The
      animals had either been hunted or accidently killed. Examination for internal
      parasites showed a prevalence of 45.2% for Elaphostrongylus cervi larvae and
      species identification was confirmed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Ninety
      seven faecal samples were also collected from two goat flocks grazing in the same
      area between December 2007 and May 2008. These showed a prevalence of 74.7% for
      lungworms. Furthermore, the central nervous systems from five goats and one sheep
      from this area with a history of neurologically related lameness were examined.
      Histopathology confirmed E. cervi cerebro-spinal nematodiasis in five cases out
      of six. This study demonstrates E. cervi transmission from wild to domestic
      ruminants when the animals graze in the same area, and the possible occurrence of
      clinical disease in infected goats and sheep associated with high prevalence in
      deer.

PMID- 20923584
TI  - Information needs of health technology assessment units and agencies in Spain.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to analyze the information needs of Spanish
      health technology assessment (HTA) agencies and units to facilitate access to the
      resources they require to substantiate their reports. METHODS: A questionnaire
      was designed and distributed among HTA bodies to ascertain the actual situation
      of subscriptions to information resources and what information specialists from
      these bodies considered would be the ideal subscription situation. Their
      information needs were then studied, and the resources that best met these needs
      were put forward. Following this definition, a subscriptions policy was adopted
      with suppliers and publishers. RESULTS: The survey showed that HTA bodies share a
      minimum of core subscriptions that includes open sources (MEDLINE, DARE) and
      sources that the government subscribes to for the health community (ISI Web of
      Science, Cochrane Library Plus). There was no common approach to determining
      which databases to subscribe to (UpToDate, EMBASE, Ovid EBMR, CINAHL, or ECRI).
      After identifying the information needs, a list of resources was proposed that
      would best cover these needs and, of these, subscription to the following was
      proposed: Scopus, Ovid EBMR, Clinical Evidence, DynaMed, ECRI, and Hayes.
      CONCLUSIONS: There are differences in the way that HTA agencies and units access
      the different resources of biomedical information. Combined subscription to
      several resources for documentation services was suggested as a way of resolving
      these differences.

PMID- 20923585
TI  - Information on ethical issues in health technology assessment: how and where to
      find them.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Comprehensive health technology assessments (HTAs) include thorough
      reflections on ethical issues associated with health technologies, their use, and
      value-based decisions in the assessment process. As methods of information
      retrieval for effectiveness assessments are not applicable to information
      retrieval on ethical issues, a specific methodological approach is necessary.
      OBJECTIVES: In the absence of existing adapted methods, our objective was to
      develop a methodological approach for the systematic retrieval of information on
      ethical issues related to health technologies. METHOD AND RESULTS: A literature
      search was conducted to verify the non-existence of published comprehensive
      methodological approaches for the information retrieval on ethical issues for
      HTAs, and resulted in no hits. We, therefore, developed a step-by-step workflow
      following the workflow of information retrieval for effectiveness assessments:
      Step 1: Translation of the search question using the PICO scheme and additional
      components. Step 2: Concept building by modeling and linking search components.
      Step 3: Identification of synonyms in all relevant languages. Step 4: Selection
      of relevant information sources. Step 5: Design of search strategies for
      bibliographic databases. Step 6: Execution of search strategies and information
      seeking, including hand-searching. Step 7: Saving of retrieval results and
      standardized reporting of the process and results. Step 8: Final quality check
      and calculation of precision and recall. CONCLUSIONS: Systematic searching for
      information on ethical issues related to health technologies can be performed
      following the common retrieval workflow for effectiveness assessments, but should
      be performed separately applying adapted procedures and search terms on ethical
      issues relevant to the research question.

PMID- 20923586
TI  - How much searching is enough? Comprehensive versus optimal retrieval for
      technology assessments.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study is to review briefly different methods for
      determining the optimal retrieval of studies for inclusion in a health technology
      assessment (HTA) report. METHODS: This study reviews the methodology literature
      related to specific methods for evaluating yield from literature searching
      strategies and for deciding whether to continue or desist in the searching
      process. RESULTS: Eight different methods were identified. These include using
      the Capture-recapture technique; obtaining Feedback from the commissioner of the
      HTA report; seeking the Disconfirming case; undertaking comparison against a
      known Gold standard; evaluating retrieval of Known items; recognizing the Law of
      diminishing returns, specifying a priori Stopping rules, and identifying a point
      of Theoretical saturation. CONCLUSIONS: While this study identified a variety of
      possible methods, there has been very little formal evaluation of the specific
      strengths and weaknesses of the different techniques. The author proposes an
      evaluation agenda drawing on an examination of existing data together with
      exploration of the specific impact of missing relevant studies.

PMID- 20923587
TI  - Centre for Reviews and Dissemination databases: value, content, and developments.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Centre for Reviews and Dissemination (CRD) funded through the
      United Kingdom National Institute for Health Research undertakes systematic
      reviews evaluating the research evidence on health and public health questions of
      national and international importance. CRD is involved in methods research and
      produces internationally accepted guidelines for undertaking systematic reviews.
      A core product of the Centre are the CRD databases; a key resource for health
      professionals, policy makers, and researchers around the world. Research evidence
      evaluating the effects and cost-effectiveness of healthcare interventions is
      growing year on year, and can be difficult and time consuming to identify and
      appraise. The databases assist decision makers by systematically identifying and
      critically describing systematic reviews and economic evaluations, appraising
      their quality and highlighting their relative strengths and weaknesses; and
      providing a comprehensive listing of ongoing and published health technology
      assessments. METHODS AND RESULTS: This article briefly outlines the processes
      behind each of the three databases, gives details of the records, the information
      they contain and the value added by CRD. An overview of the new public interface
      for the CRD databases to be launched later this year is given. Improvements and
      innovations to supplement existing functions are listed, including enhanced and
      new search options, the addition of quick links to relevant material from within
      individual records, an integrated PubMed search and the ability to select
      personal preferences. CONCLUSIONS: CRD's databases provide free access to an
      important knowledge base and are used widely to underpin evidence informed
      healthcare decisions in the United Kingdom and internationally.

PMID- 20923588
TI  - Classification of evidence in decision-analytic models of cost-effectiveness: a
      content analysis of published reports.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to assess systematically the scope of
      evidence and purposes for which evidence is used in decision-analytic models of
      cost-effectiveness and to assess the implications for search methods. METHODS: A
      content analysis of published reports of models was undertaken. Details of cited
      sources were extracted and categorized according to three dimensions; type of
      information provided by the evidence, type of source from which the evidence was
      drawn and type of modeling activity supported by the evidence. The analysis was
      used to generate a classification of evidence. Relationships within and between
      the categories within the classification were sought and the implications for
      searching considered. RESULTS: The classification generated fourteen types of
      information, seven types of sources of evidence and five modeling activities
      supported by evidence. A broad range of evidence was identified drawn from a
      diverse range of sources including both research-based and non-research-based
      sources. The use of evidence was not restricted to the population of model
      parameters but was used to inform the development of the modeling framework and
      to justify the analytical and methodological approach. CONCLUSIONS: Decision
      analytic models use evidence to support all aspects of model development. The
      classification of evidence defines in depth the role of evidence in modeling. It
      can be used to inform the systematic identification of evidence.

PMID- 20923589
TI  - Information retrieval for health technology assessment: standardization of search
      methods.

PMID- 20923590
TI  - Percutaneous radiofrequency ablation for the treatment of early stage
      hepatocellular carcinoma: a health technology assessment.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to compare the clinical effectiveness and
      cost of percutaneous radiofrequency ablation (PRFA) and surgical resection (SRS)
      for the management of early stage Hepatocellular Carcinoma. METHODS: A systematic
      literature search of articles in English, French, and Chinese was performed using
      online databases. Only articles with patients classified as Child-Pugh Class A or
      B, with tumor size <5 cm were included. A meta-analysis was carried out to
      estimate the survival rate and disease-free survival rate following PRFA or SRS
      treatments. The cost of each treatment was estimated from the third party
      perspective. Univariate sensitivity analyses were used to study the relative
      importance of each component cost. RESULTS: We identified six studies (one
      randomized controlled trial (RCT) and five comparative cohort studies) meeting
      our inclusion criteria. There is good evidence that among Child-Pugh A patients
      for whom both SRS and PRFA are available options, survival rates following either
      procedure are comparable, while complications are more frequent and
      hospitalization longer following SRS. The evidence concerning recurrence rates
      and disease-free survival is less clear. Whereas the RCT indicates comparable
      outcomes with either procedure up to 3 years, the results of five cohort studies
      (with possible selection bias), particularly those with a mix of Child-Pugh A and
      B patients, favor the surgical option. SRS, costs approximately Canadian $8,275
      more per case than PRFA. CONCLUSIONS: Continuing doubts on this issue can only be
      resolved by a substantial RCT. Meanwhile, for early stage HCC patients classified
      as Child-Pugh A, who despite a possibly higher recurrence rate, prefer the less
      invasive PRFA to open surgery with its attendant risks, there is sufficient
      evidence to justify such a choice. For those classified as Child-Pugh (B) it is
      possible that overall survival is equally good with PRFA, but the evidence is
      less certain.

PMID- 20923591
TI  - Perceptions and attitudes of hospital staff toward paging system and the use of
      mobile phones.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Our objective was to document the pattern of mobile phone usage by
      medical staff in a hospital setting, and to explore any perceived benefits (such
      as improved communications) associated with mobile phones. METHODS: This cross
      sectional survey was conducted in Waterford Regional Hospital, Ireland, where
      bleep is the official system of communication. All non-consultant hospital
      doctors, of medical disciplines only, were asked to participate. The
      questionnaire was designed to explore the pattern and different aspects of mobile
      phone usage. RESULTS: At the time of study, there were sixty medical junior
      doctors, and the response rate was 100 percent. All participants used mobile
      phones while at work, and also for hospital-related work. For 98.3 percent the
      mobile phone was their main mode of communication while in the hospital. Sixty
      two percent (n = 37) made 6-10 calls daily purely for work-related business, and
      this comprised of >= 80 percent of their daily usage of mobile phones. For 98
      percent of participants, most phone calls were work-related. Regarding reasons
      for using mobile phones, all reported that using mobile phone is quicker for
      communication. CONCLUSIONS: Mobile phone usage is very common among the medical
      personnel, and this is regarded as a more efficient means of communication for
      mobile staff than the hospital paging system.

PMID- 20923592
TI  - Supporting the use of health technology assessments in policy making about health
      systems.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study is to profile the health technology
      assessments (HTAs) produced in Canada and other selected countries and assess
      their potential to inform policy making about health systems in jurisdictions
      other than the ones for which they were produced, and to develop and pilot test
      prototypes for packaging and assessing the relevance of HTAs for health system
      managers and policy makers. METHODS: We compiled an inventory of all HTAs that
      were produced by nine HTA agencies between September 2003 and August 2006; coded
      the title and abstract of each HTA according to the technologies assessed,
      methods used, and whether or not context-specific actionable messages were
      provided; developed a prototype for a structured, decision-relevant HTA summary
      and for a relevance-assessment form; and pilot-tested the prototypes using
      semistructured telephone interviews with a purposive sample of Canadian
      healthcare managers and policy makers. RESULTS: Our review of the 223 HTAs
      identified that: (i) 44 HTAs addressed health system arrangements (20 percent);
      (ii) 205 incorporated a systematic review (92 percent), whereas only 12
      incorporated a sociopolitical assessment using explicit methods (5 percent); and
      (iii) 50 contained context-specific actionable messages (22 percent). Our
      interviews identified significant support for both the general idea of an HTA
      summary and the prototype's specific elements, but mixed views about using peer
      assessments of relevance. CONCLUSIONS: Those involved in supporting the use of
      HTAs in policy making about health systems may wish to produce structured
      decision-relevant summaries for their systematic review-containing HTAs to
      increase the prospects for their HTAs being used outside the jurisdiction for
      which they were produced.

PMID- 20923593
TI  - Implanting inequality: empirical evidence of social and ethical risks of
      implantable radio-frequency identification (RFID) devices.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to assess empirically the social and
      ethical risks associated with implantable radio-frequency identification (RFID)
      devices. METHODS: Qualitative research included observational studies in twenty
      three U.S. hospitals that have implemented new patient identification systems and
      eighty semi-structured interviews about the social and ethical implications of
      new patient identification systems, including RFID implants. RESULTS: The study
      identified three primary social and ethical risks associated with RFID implants:
      (i) unfair prioritization of patients based on their participation in the system,
      (ii) diminished trust of patients by care providers, and (iii) endangerment of
      patients who misunderstand the capabilities of the systems. CONCLUSIONS: RFID
      implants may aggravate inequalities in access to care without any clear health
      benefits. This research underscores the importance of critically evaluating new
      healthcare technologies from the perspective of both normative ethics and
      empirical ethics.

PMID- 20923594
TI  - Longitudinal strain and strain rate by tissue Doppler are more sensitive indices
      than fractional shortening for assessing the reduced myocardial function in
      asphyxiated neonates.
AB  - The function of the heart was studied in 20 asphyxiated term neonates by
      measuring the longitudinal peak systolic strain and peak systolic strain rate by
      tissue Doppler in 18 segments of the heart on days 1, 2, and 3 of life. The
      fractional shortening was assessed at each examination as well. Measurements were
      compared against measurements in 48 healthy term neonates examined by the same
      protocol. The function of the heart was lower in the asphyxiated neonates - peak
      systolic strain (mean (95% confidence interval) -19.4% (-20.4, -18.5), peak
      systolic strain rate -1.65 (-1.74, -1.56) per second) than in the healthy term
      neonates (peak systolic strain -21.7% (-22.3, -21.0), peak systolic strain rate 
      1.78 (-1.84, -1.74) per second; p < 0.001). Fractional shortening was similar in
      the asphyxiated (29.2% (26.8, 31.5)) and healthy term neonates (29.0% (27.9,
      30.1); p = 0.874). The peak systolic strain differed significantly between the
      asphyxiated and healthy term neonates for the left basal and right basal groups
      of segments (p < 0.05) but not for the left apical, right apical, septum apical,
      or septum basal groups of segments. The peak systolic strain rate differed
      significantly only for the septum apical group of segments. The differences were
      largest on the second day of life. Measurements were similar in asphyxiated
      neonates with elevated and normal cardiac troponin T levels. The peak systolic
      strain and strain rate were in this study more sensitive indices than fractional
      shortening for assessing the reduced myocardial function in asphyxiated term
      neonates.

PMID- 20923595
TI  - Ten-year experience with surgical treatment of adults with congenital cardiac
      disease.
AB  - The number of adults with congenital cardiac disease continues to increase, and
      adult patients are now more numerous than paediatric patients. We sought to
      identify risk factors for perioperative death and report our results with
      surgical management of adult patients with congenital cardiac disease. We
      retrospectively analysed in-hospital data for 244 consecutive adult patients who
      underwent surgical treatment of congenital cardiac disease in our centre between
      January, 1998 and December, 2007. The mean patient age was 27.2 plus or minus
      11.9 years, 29% were in functional class III or IV, and 25% were cyanosed. Of the
      patients, half were operated on for the first time. A total of 61% of patients
      underwent curative operations, 36% a reoperation after curative treatment, and 3%
      a palliative operation. Overall mortality was 4.9%. Predictive factors for
      hospital death were functional class, cyanosis, non-sinus rhythm, a history of
      only palliative previous operation(s), and an indication for palliative
      treatment. Functional class, cyanosis, type of initial congenital cardiac disease
      (single ventricle and double-outlet right ventricle), and only palliative
      previous operation were risk factors for prolonged intensive care stay (more than
      48 hours). The surgical management of adult patients with congenital cardiac
      disease has improved during recent decades. These generally young patients, with
      a complex pathology, today present a low post-operative morbidity and mortality.
      Patients having undergone palliative surgery and reaching adulthood without
      curative treatment present with an increased risk of morbidity and mortality.
      Univentricular hearts and double-outlet right ventricles were associated with the
      highest morbidity.

PMID- 20923596
TI  - Pepsi and Coca Cola in Delhi, India: availability, price and sales.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: India is experiencing increased consumption of sugar-sweetened
      carbonated drinks, consumption that may be associated with increased risk of type
      2 diabetes and obesity. The aim of the study was to determine the availability,
      price and quantity sold of 'Pepsi' and 'Coca Cola' in their 'regular' and 'diet'
      forms in Delhi and London. DESIGN: A questionnaire about the availability, price
      and quantity sold per day of both regular and diet Pepsi and Coca Cola was
      devised and piloted. Using this, a survey of food and drink outlets within a 100
      m radius of randomly selected Metro stations was conducted in both cities.
      SUBJECTS: Store vendors, owners and staff of food and drink outlets. SETTING:
      Delhi, India; London, United Kingdom. RESULTS: In Delhi, of the outlets stocking
      regular Pepsi and Coca Cola, only 34% sold diet versions and these were more
      readily available in the most affluent areas than in the poorest areas (34% v.
      6%, Z=3.67, P<0.001). This social patterning was not observed in London. Little
      price differential between regular and diet versions of Pepsi and Coca Cola was
      observed in Delhi; however, profit margins were better for regular, relative to
      diet, Coca Cola. Sales of regular products were significantly greater than those
      of diet products (P<0.002). CONCLUSIONS: Low availability of diet versions of
      Pepsi and Coca Cola in less affluent areas of Delhi is likely to exacerbate the
      obesity and diabetes trends. Price differentials to promote diet versions and
      other healthier or traditional low-energy drinks may be beneficial.

PMID- 20923597
TI  - Consumption of whole grains is associated with improved diet quality and nutrient
      intake in children and adolescents: the National Health and Nutrition Examination
      Survey 1999-2004.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To examine the association of consumption of whole grains (WG) with
      diet quality and nutrient intake in children and adolescents. DESIGN: Secondary
      analysis of cross-sectional data. SETTING: The 1999-2004 National Health and
      Nutrition Examination Survey. SUBJECTS: Children aged 2-5 years (n 2278) and 6-12
      years (n 3868) and adolescents aged 13-18 years (n 4931). The participants were
      divided into four WG consumption groups: >= 0 to < 0.6, >= 0.6 to < 1.5, >= 1.5
      to < 3.0 and >= 3.0 servings/d. Nutrient intake and diet quality, using the
      Healthy Eating Index (HEI)-2005, were determined for each group from a single 24
      h dietary recall. RESULTS: The mean number of servings of WG consumed was 0.45,
      0.59 and 0.63 for children/adolescents at the age of 2-5, 6-12 and 13-18 years,
      respectively. In all groups, HEI and intakes of energy, fibre, vitamin B6,
      folate, magnesium, phosphorus and iron were significantly higher in those
      consuming >= 3.0 servings of WG/d; intakes of protein, total fat, SFA and MUFA
      and cholesterol levels were lower. Intakes of PUFA (6-12 years), vitamins B1 (2-5
      and 13-18 years), B2 (13-18 years), A (2-5 and 13-18 years) and E (13-18 years)
      were higher in those groups consuming >= 3.0 servings of WG/d; intakes of added
      sugars (2-5 years), vitamin C (2-5 and 6-12 years), potassium and sodium (6-12
      years) were lower. CONCLUSIONS: Overall consumption of WG was low. Children and
      adolescents who consumed the most servings of WG had better diet quality and
      nutrient intake.

PMID- 20923598
TI  - Ready-meal consumption: associations with weight status and cooking skills.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The ready-meal market has grown considerably in recent years. At the
      same time, a degradation of traditional cooking skills has been observed. Ready
      meals are often rich in energy, fat and sugar and lack vegetables; however,
      studies investigating associations between ready-meal consumption, overweight and
      cooking skills are lacking. The present study examines whether demographic
      factors, overweight, beliefs about the nutritional value and taste of ready meals
      and cooking skills are associated with ready-meal consumption. DESIGN: Cross
      sectional survey. SETTING: Ready-meal consumption, weight status, cooking skills,
      beliefs about the taste and nutritional value of ready meals and demographic
      variables were assessed with self-administered questionnaires. Data were analysed
      with one-way ANOVA and multiple regression analysis. SUBJECTS: A total of 1017
      adults from the German-speaking part of Switzerland. RESULTS: Men reported being
      more positive about ready meals and having fewer cooking skills compared with
      women. Overweight adults (BMI > 25 kg/m2) were more positive about nutrients and
      vitamins in ready meals compared with normal-weight adults. Ready-meal
      consumption was associated with cooking skills (beta = -0.192), age (beta =-
      0.228), overweight (beta = 0.129), nutritional value (beta = -0.131), taste (beta
      = -0.126), working status (beta = 0.096) and gender (beta = 0.084). CONCLUSIONS:
      Cooking skills were identified as a strong predictor of ready-meal consumption.
      The importance of cooking skills as a barrier to healthy eating should be
      explored, as it is plausible that cooking skills will further decrease in the
      future. Next, the study provided evidence for an association between ready-meal
      consumption and overweight. Further research should examine the importance of
      ready meals for the overweight epidemic.

PMID- 20923599
TI  - Long-lasting recovery of psychotic-like symptoms in isolation-reared rats after
      chronic but not acute treatment with the cannabinoid antagonist AM251.
AB  - In this work we investigated the ability of AM251 to reverse schizophrenia-like
      symptoms produced by a neurodevelopmental animal model based on a social
      isolation procedure. First, we assessed the validity of our isolation-rearing
      protocol and, as expected, isolation-reared rats showed hyperlocomotion in a
      novel environment, cognitive impairment in the novel object recognition (NOR)
      test and a significant increase in the number of aggressive behaviours in the
      social interaction test compared to group-housed controls. This behavioural
      picture was associated with a reduction in CB1 receptor/G protein coupling in
      specific brain areas as well as reduced c-Fos immunoreactivity in the prefrontal
      cortex and caudate putamen. In this model, chronic but not acute treatment with
      the CB1 receptor antagonist AM251 counteracted isolation-induced cognitive
      impairment in the NOR test and aggressive behaviours in the social interaction
      test. This behavioural recovery was accompanied by the rescue of CB1 receptor
      functionality and c-Fos levels in all brain regions altered in isolation-reared
      rats. Moreover, chronic AM251 also increased c-Fos immunoreactivity in the
      nucleus accumbens, as previously demonstrated for antipsychotic drugs.
      Interestingly, the behavioural recovery due to chronic AM251 administration
      persisted until 10 d after discontinuing the treatment, indicating a long-lasting
      effect of the cannabinoid antagonist on psychotic-like symptoms.

PMID- 20923600
TI  - Avoiding skin burns with transcranial direct current stimulation: preliminary
      considerations.

PMID- 20923602
TI  - Imaging not imagination: towards a revision of the role of neuroimaging in the
      diagnosis of dementia.

PMID- 20923603
TI  - An update on the potential role of excitotoxicity in the pathogenesis of
      Parkinson's disease.
AB  - The primary cause of the neurodegenerative process that underlies Parkinson's
      disease (PD) is still unknown. Different mechanisms probably contribute to
      triggering neuronal death in the nigrostriatal pathway, including mitochondrial
      defects, oxidative stress and proteolytic stress. Glutamate-mediated
      excitotoxicity may be a further contributor. Glutamate is the predominant fast
      excitatory neurotransmitter in the central nervous system and, in the presence of
      specific conditions, a potential neurotoxin. Although excitotoxicity per se is
      unlikely to act as a major causative agent in PD pathogenesis, glutamate-mediated
      intracellular changes may contribute, in a more subtle way, to the mechanisms
      that trigger the neurodegenerative process in the substantia nigra pars compacta
      (SNc). It is, therefore, likely that synergistic interactions between
      mitochondrial defects, oxidative stress and glutamatergic stimulation take place
      at the SNc level. These interactions may create the conditions for the
      development of the nigrostriatal damage that characterizes PD.

PMID- 20923604
TI  - Spinal muscular atrophy: from animal model to clinical trial.
AB  - Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is an autosomal recessive disease characterized by
      degeneration and loss of lower motor neurons in the spinal cord and brainstem.
      Clinically, SMA has been classified into four types, according to the maximum
      function attained. The disease is caused by deletion or mutation of the telomeric
      copy of the SMN gene (SMN1), and the clinical severity is in part determined by
      the copy number of the centromeric SMN gene (SMN2). The SMN2 mRNA lacks exon 7,
      resulting in reduced production of the full-length SMN protein. Treatment of SMA
      consists of supportive care, although many drugs have been demonstrated to
      improve muscle strength and motor function of patients. The development of animal
      models of SMA has led to better interpretation of the physiopathology of the
      disease and testing of potential drug targets. Several mechanisms have been
      targeted in SMA drug trials, including neuroprotection, neurogenesis, energy
      metabolism improvement, anabolic stimulation and increment of SMN2 transcripts.
      Gene therapy and cell transplantation have also been tested in murine SMA.

PMID- 20923605
TI  - Evaluation of neuropsychological functions in patients with Friedreich ataxia
      before and after cognitive therapy.
AB  - Friedreich ataxia (FA) is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by
      progressive nervous system damage resulting in severe disability. Cognitive
      functions and mood disorders in FA have been studied little and with conflicting
      results. The aim of this study was to investigate cognitive functions and mood
      disorders in FA subjects and the role of cognitive rehabilitation therapy
      (sequential treatments) performed during a scheduled study period. The executive
      functions of 24 subjects with FA were evaluated over one year during three
      separate periods of in-hospital rehabilitation. The neuropsychological
      evaluations performed before and after cognitive therapy did not reveal
      differences in the mean test scores of the MMSE, the Rey 15-item Memorization
      Test for long-term memory, Raven's Colored Progressive Matrices, the Phonemic
      Verbal Fluency Test, the Symbol Digit Modalities Test, or the Zung scale. The
      mean scores of the Stroop color-word interference task and of the Rey 15-item
      Memorization Test for short-term memory were increased at the final evaluation.
      This finding of long-lasting stability of neuropsychological test scores is
      noteworthy, as it suggests that one-year cognitive rehabilitation therapy
      (sequential treatments) may at least contribute to reducing cognitive decline. A
      cognitive rehabilitation therapy in addition to the conventional neuromotor
      rehabilitation treatment may improve the management of subjects with FA.

PMID- 20923606
TI  - Event-related potentials study in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
AB  - Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a childhood disorder
      characterized by lack of sustained attention, hyperactivity and impulsivity.
      Children with ADHD have functional impairment occurring at multiple levels. In
      the present study, cognitive status was assessed using auditory event-related
      potentials (ERPs). Twenty ADHD children and 20 controls were recruited for the
      study and ERPs were recorded on a computerized evoked potential recorder, using
      the international 10-20 system of electrode placement. The ADHD children showed a
      statistically significant N200 latency prolongation and amplitude decrease
      compared with the controls; the latencies of the other waves, i.e. N100, P200,
      P300, were prolonged in the ADHD children but the difference versus the controls
      was statistically insignificant. Reaction time was significantly longer in the
      ADHD subjects as compared with the controls. The above findings are suggestive of
      dysfunctions in the discrimination of task-relevant stimuli and a slower motor
      response in ADHD children.

PMID- 20923607
TI  - Characterisation of the sympathetic skin response evoked by own-face recognition
      in healthy subjects.
AB  - The ability to recognise one's own face is crucial for self-identity formation
      and it plays a key role in the development of social interactions. Our starting
      hypothesis was that own-face recognition may be a psychophysiological phenomenon
      capable of activating the vegetative system in a peculiar manner, via sympathetic
      pathways. To test this hypothesis we studied the sympathetic skin responses
      (SSRs) evoked in 18 healthy subjects by the image of their own faces and by six
      other different visual stimuli. The SSRs were enhanced when participants were
      shown their own faces. Both SSR area and SSR amplitude contributed to this
      phenomenon. This work may offer new insights into the psycho- physiological
      processes involved in own-face recognition; moreover, the SSR could be a useful
      tool for future studies of patients affected by neuropsychiatric disorders
      presenting impairment of own-face recognition or representation of self-identity.

PMID- 20923608
TI  - Use of surface EMG for evaluation of upper limb spasticity during botulinum toxin
      therapy in stroke patients.
AB  - The clinical assessment of spasticity in stroke patients generally includes
      descriptive scales, such as the Modified Ashworth Scale (MAS) and the Global Pain
      Scale (GPS), however these may not be sufficiently sensitive to accurately detect
      improvements, especially at upper limb level; electromyography (EMG) may be the
      answer to this clinical requirement. The aim of this study was to quantify the
      effects of botulinum toxin type A (BTX) in treating upper extremity spasticity in
      stroke patients, using clinical evaluation (MAS and GPS) and EMG. Ten patients
      were assessed before, 30 days and 180 days after BTX injection using clinical
      evaluations and EMG. At 30 days all clinical measures improved significantly.
      Whereas MAS scores, after recording an improvement at the first evaluation
      session, were worse at the second assessment, GPS scores improved over time, both
      at the first and at the second evaluation session. A reduction of EMG activity
      was found 30 days after injections, in particular at baseline and during passive
      flexion movement. Our results demonstrated that measurement of EMG activity may
      be an effective means of detecting functional improvements and of monitoring the
      effects of treatment in post-stroke patients.

PMID- 20923609
TI  - 3 Tesla is twice as sensitive as 1.5 Tesla magnetic resonance imaging in the
      assessment of diffuse axonal injury in traumatic brain injury patients.
AB  - Diffuse axonal injury (DAI), associated with deafferentation and functional
      rearrangement, probably plays a role in the chronic phase of traumatic brain
      injury (TBI). DAI with a haemorrhagic component can be quantified using magnetic
      resonance imaging (MRI) thanks to the iron-based susceptibility effect of
      haemosiderin, which increases with magnetic field strength. The aim of this work
      was to compare conventional 1.5 Tesla and 3 Tesla MRI in the assessment of DAI in
      TBI patients. Eighteen TBI patients were submitted, in random order, to a 1.5T
      and a 3T MRI examination using standard gradient echo sequences. Both scans were
      always performed on the same day. DAI lesions with a haemorrhagic component were
      manually segmented and classified by anatomical location. The Wilcoxon and ANOVA
      tests were used for statistical analysis, significance being set at p<0.05. The
      results of this study showed that 3T MRI is almost twice as sensitive as 1.5T MRI
      in assessing DAI in terms of lesion number and volume. Differences between the
      two scanners were not significant in the posterior cranial fossa. High-field MRI
      enhances the assessment of DAI and may help to increase understanding of the
      mechanisms underlying subacute and chronic clinical, cognitive and behavioural
      changes in TBI patients.

PMID- 20923610
TI  - Open-label, randomised, parallel-group, multicentre study to evaluate the safety,
      tolerability and immunogenicity of an AS03(B)/oil-in-water emulsion-adjuvanted
      (AS03(B)) split-virion versus non-adjuvanted whole-virion H1N1 influenza vaccine
      in UK children 6 months to 12 years of age.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the safety, tolerability and immunogenicity of an
      AS03(B)/oil-in-water emulsion-adjuvanted (AS03(B)) split-virion versus non
      adjuvanted whole-virion H1N1 influenza vaccine in UK children aged 6 months to 12
      years. DESIGN: Multicentre, randomised, head-to-head, open-label trial. SETTING:
      Five UK sites (Oxford, Bristol, Southampton, Exeter and London). PARTICIPANTS:
      Children aged 6 months to < 13 years, for whom a parent or guardian had provided
      written informed consent and who were able to comply with study procedures, were
      eligible for inclusion. INTERVENTIONS: A tocopherol/oil-in-water emulsion
      adjuvanted (AS03(B)) egg culture-derived split-virion H1N1 vaccine and a non
      adjuvanted cell culture-derived whole-virion vaccine, given as a two-dose
      schedule, 21 days apart, were compared. Participants were grouped into those aged
      6 months to < 3 years (younger group) and 3 years to < 13 years of age (older
      group) and were randomised by study investigators (1 : 1 ratio) to receive one of
      the two vaccines. Vaccines were administered by intramuscular injection (deltoid
      or anterior-lateral thigh, depending on age and muscle bulk). Local reactions and
      systemic symptoms were collected for 1 week post immunisation, and serum was
      collected at baseline and after the second dose. To assess safety and
      tolerability, parents or guardians recorded the following information in diary
      cards from days 0-7 post vaccination: axillary temperature, injection site
      reactions, solicited and unsolicited systemic symptoms, and medications. MAIN
      OUTCOME MEASURE: Comparison between vaccines of the percentage of participants
      demonstrating seroconversion by microneutralisation assay. RESULTS: Among 937
      children receiving vaccine, per-protocol seroconversion rates were higher after
      the AS03(B)-adjuvanted vaccine than after the whole-virion vaccine (98.2% vs
      80.1% in children < 3 years, 99.1% vs 95.9% among those aged 3-12 years), as were
      severe local reactions (3.6% vs 0.0% in those under 5 years, 7.8% vs 1.1% in
      those aged 5-12 years), irritability in children < 5 years (46.7% vs 32.0%), and
      muscle pain in older children (28.9% vs 13.2%). The second dose of the adjuvanted
      vaccine was more reactogenic than the first, especially for fever > 38.0 degrees
      C in those under 5 years of age (8.9% vs 22.4%). CONCLUSION: The adjuvanted
      vaccine, although reactogenic, was more immunogenic, especially in younger
      children, indicating the potential for improved immunogenicity of influenza
      vaccines in this age group. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ISRCTN89141709.

PMID- 20923611
TI  - Evaluation of droplet dispersion during non-invasive ventilation, oxygen therapy,
      nebuliser treatment and chest physiotherapy in clinical practice: implications
      for management of pandemic influenza and other airborne infections.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Influenza viruses are thought to be spread by droplets, but the role
      of aerosol dissemination is unclear and has not been assessed by previous
      studies. Oxygen therapy, nebulised medication and ventilatory support are
      treatments used in clinical practice to treat influenzal infection are thought to
      generate droplets or aerosols. OBJECTIVES: Evaluation of the characteristics of
      droplet/aerosol dispersion around delivery systems during non-invasive
      ventilation (NIV), oxygen therapy, nebuliser treatment and chest physiotherapy by
      measuring droplet size, geographical distribution of droplets, decay in droplets
      over time after the interventions were discontinued. METHODS: Three groups were
      studied: (1) normal controls, (2) subjects with coryzal symptoms and (3) adult
      patients with chronic lung disease who were admitted to hospital with an
      infective exacerbation. Each group received oxygen therapy, NIV using a vented
      mask system and a modified circuit with non-vented mask and exhalation filter,
      and nebulised saline. The patient group had a period of standardised chest
      physiotherapy treatment. Droplet counts in mean diameter size ranges from 0.3 to
      > 10 um were measured with an counter placed adjacent to the face and at a 1-m
      distance from the subject/patient, at the height of the nose/mouth of an average
      health-care worker. RESULTS: NIV using a vented mask produced droplets in the
      large size range (> 10 um) in patients (p = 0.042) and coryzal subjects (p =
      0.044) compared with baseline values, but not in normal controls (p = 0.379), but
      this increase in large droplets was not seen using the NIV circuit modification.
      Chest physiotherapy produced droplets predominantly of > 10 um (p = 0.003),
      which, as with NIV droplet count in the patients, had fallen significantly by 1
      m. Oxygen therapy did not increase droplet count in any size range. Nebulised
      saline delivered droplets in the small- and medium-size aerosol/droplet range,
      but did not increase large-size droplet count. CONCLUSIONS: NIV and chest
      physiotherapy are droplet (not aerosol)-generating procedures, producing droplets
      of > 10 um in size. Due to their large mass, most fall out on to local surfaces
      within 1 m. The only device producing an aerosol was the nebuliser and the output
      profile is consistent with nebuliser characteristics rather than dissemination of
      large droplets from patients. These findings suggest that health-care workers
      providing NIV and chest physiotherapy, working within 1 m of an infected patient
      should have a higher level of respiratory protection, but that infection control
      measures designed to limit aerosol spread may have less relevance for these
      procedures. These results may have infection control implications for other
      airborne infections, such as severe acute respiratory syndrome and tuberculosis,
      as well as for pandemic influenza infection.

PMID- 20923612
TI  - Evaluation of triage methods used to select patients with suspected pandemic
      influenza for hospital admission: cohort study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Triage methods are necessary in emergency departments to provide
      clinicians with a reliable method for determining each patient's risk of adverse
      outcome. Prior to the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic the CURB-65 (a risk prediction
      score for pneumonia, based on confusion, urea level, respiratory rate, blood
      pressure and age over 65 years) pneumonia score and the Pandemic Modified Early
      Warning Score (PMEWS) were used to assess adults. In response to the emergence of
      the pandemic, national guidance produced a new swine flu hospital pathway for use
      adults and children. However, none of these methods had been widely validated or
      tested in the setting of pandemic influenza. OBJECTIVES: To use the initial waves
      of the 2009 H1N1 pandemic to evaluate existing triage methods in patients
      presenting with suspected pandemic influenza, and to determine whether an
      improved triage method could be developed. METHODS: A prospective cohort study
      was undertaken of patients with suspected swine flu presenting to four hospitals
      during the second wave of the 2009 H1N1 pandemic. Staff completed a standardised
      assessment form that included the CURB-65 score, PMEWS and the swine flu hospital
      pathway. Patients who died or required respiratory, cardiovascular or renal
      support during the 30-day follow-up were defined as having a poor outcome.
      Patients who survived to 30 days without requiring respiratory, cardiovascular or
      renal support were defined as having a good outcome. RESULTS: Data were collected
      and analysed from 481 cases across three hospitals. Most of the cases were
      children, with 347 out of 481 (72%) aged 16 years or less. There were five poor
      outcomes: two deaths and three survivors who required respiratory support. The
      five patients with poor outcomes had CURB-65 scores of zero, one (three cases)
      and two, and PMEWS scores of one, five, six, seven and eight. The swine flu
      hospital pathway was positive in three out of five cases. The C-statistic for
      each method was CURB-65 0.78 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.58 to 0.99], PMEWS
      0.77 (95% CI 0.55 to 0.99) and the swine flu hospital pathway 0.70 (95% CI 0.45
      to 0.96). Patients with a higher CURB-65 score were more likely to be admitted (p
      < 0.001): 25 out of 101 (25%) with a score of zero, 11 out of 24 (46%) with a
      score of one, 7 out of 8 (88%) with a score of two, and the patient with a score
      of three were admitted. Admitted patients had a higher mean PMEWS score (4.6 vs
      2.0, p < 0.001). The C-statistics for CURB-65, PMEWS and the swine flu hospital
      pathway in adults in terms of discriminating between those admitted and
      discharged were 0.65 (95% CI 0.54 to 0.76), 0.76 (95% CI 0.66 to 0.86) and 0.62
      (95% CI 0.51 to 0.72) respectively. LIMITATIONS: The 2009 H1N1 pandemic was much
      smaller and less severe than predicted and resulted in a lack of sufficient data.
      CONCLUSIONS: Potential concerns were raised about the use of existing triage
      methods for patients with suspected pandemic influenza, as these methods may fail
      to discriminate between patients who will have an adverse outcome and those with
      a benign course. Clinicians in the study did not generally appear to admit or
      discharge on the basis of these methods, despite their recommended use. Further
      research is required to evaluate existing triage methods and develop new triage
      tools for suspected pandemic influenza.

PMID- 20923613
TI  - Virus shedding and environmental deposition of novel A (H1N1) pandemic influenza
      virus: interim findings.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The relative importance of different routes of influenza
      transmission, including the role of bioaerosols, and ability of masks and/or hand
      hygiene to prevent transmission, remains poorly understood. Current evidence
      suggests that infectious virus is not typically released from adults after 5 days
      of illness, however, little is known about the extent to which virus is deposited
      by infected individuals into the environment and whether deposited virus has the
      ability to infect new hosts. Further information about the deposition of viable
      influenza virus in the immediate vicinity of patients with pandemic influenza is
      fundamental to our understanding of the routes and mechanisms of transmission.
      OBJECTIVES: To collect data on patients infected with pandemic H1N1 2009 (swine
      flu). Primary objectives were to correlate the amount of virus detected in a
      patient's nose with that recovered from his/her immediate environment, and with
      symptom duration and severity. Secondary objectives were to describe virus
      shedding and duration according to major patient characteristics: adults versus
      children, and those with mild illness (community patients) versus those with more
      severe disease (hospitalised patients). METHODS: Adults and children, both in
      hospital and from the community, who had symptoms of pandemic H1N1 infection,
      were enrolled and visited every day during follow-up for a maximum of 12 days.
      Symptom data was collected and samples were taken, including nose swabs and swabs
      from surfaces and objects around patients. Samples of air were obtained using
      validated sampling equipment. The samples were tested for the presence of
      pandemic H1N1 virus, using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to detect virus genome
      and an immunofluorescence technique to detect viable virus. RESULTS: Forty-three
      subjects were followed up, and 19 of them were subsequently proven to be infected
      with pandemic H1N1 virus. The median duration of virus shedding from the 19
      infected cases was 6 days when detection was performed by PCR, and 3 days when
      detection was performed by a culture technique. Over 30% of cases remained
      potentially infectious for at least 5 days. Only 0.5% of all community and none
      of the hospital swabs taken revealed virus on surfaces. Five subjects had samples
      of the air around them collected and virus was detected by PCR from four; some of
      the air particles in which virus was detected were small enough to be inhaled and
      deposited deep in the lungs. LIMITATION: Small number of subjects recruited.
      CONCLUSIONS: The finding that over 30% of infected individuals have infectious
      virus in their noses for 5 days or more has infection control implications. The
      data suggest that contact transmission of pandemic influenza via fomites may be
      less important than previously thought, but transmission via bioaerosols at short
      range may be possible, meaning that high-level personal protective equipment may
      be needed by health-care workers when attending patients with pandemic influenza.
      Further work is being undertaken to consolidate these findings, as they have
      important potential implications for the protection of health-care workers and
      the formulation of advice to households, nationally and internationally.

PMID- 20923614
TI  - Role of antidepressants in bipolar depression.
AB  - A gap exists between the standard of care for bipolar depression and actual
      clinical practice. Although practice guidelines advise against treating bipolar
      depression with antidepressant monotherapy, this is the most frequently
      prescribed initial treatment. To provide quality care and improve patient
      outcomes, clinicians must be aware of the benefits and dangers of antidepressant
      use in bipolar disorder. Further, they must be informed about alternative, more
      efficacious treatment options for patients with depressive symptoms.

PMID- 20923615
TI  - Optimizing depression treatment to increase the likelihood of remission.
AB  - Depression is one of the highest ranking causes of disease burden worldwide but
      remains underrecognized and undertreated in clinical settings. Measurement-based
      care is the standard of care strived for by leading psychiatric researchers and
      is considered treatment as usual in other areas of medicine. However, routine
      measurement has yet to be implemented in all clinical practices for the detection
      and treatment of mental disorders such as depression. Physicians may help to
      improve illness outcomes and reduce illness burdens of patients with depression
      by using measurement-based care, including standardized measurement instruments
      and treatment algorithms in all phases of the treatment process.

PMID- 20923616
TI  - Long-term treatment of bipolar disorder in children.
AB  - Bipolar disorder has been shown to have a chronic course of illness, and children
      with this disorder are likely to need long-term treatment. Although limited data
      exist on the efficacy of long-term pharmacotherapy for pediatric bipolar
      disorder, 5 medications are approved as monotherapy for mixed or manic episodes
      and 2 are approved as adjunctive treatment. Clinicians should be vigilant in
      monitoring adverse events in children and adolescents taking psychotropic
      medications and should consider implementing psychotherapeutic interventions,
      which can improve youths' symptomatic and functional outcomes.

PMID- 20923617
TI  - Using complementary and alternative medicines for depression.
AB  - The use of complementary and alternative medicines (CAM) has increased among
      patients with psychiatric disorders over recent decades. Therefore, clinicians
      must inquire and be knowledgeable about the use of CAM therapies, not only to
      give their patients accurate and up-to-date information but also to know when to
      appropriately prescribe CAM therapies to patients. Of the available CAMs, omega-3
      fatty acids, folate, SAM-e, and St John's wort are reviewed.

PMID- 20923618
TI  - Evaluating the patient with fibromyalgia.
AB  - Once the physician has identified fibromyalgia as a potential diagnosis, further
      evaluation is warranted, both to understand the full dimensions of fibromyalgia
      and to evaluate other potential causes of the patient's symptoms. For example,
      mood disorders, sleep disorders, and daytime fatigue are often present in
      patients with fibromyalgia and often are closely related to pain. In addition, a
      number of physical conditions can mimic fibromyalgia and must be considered in
      the patient's evaluation. These include endocrine conditions, neurologic
      disorders, musculoskeletal diseases, and medication-related side effects. Taking
      a complete medical history and performing a thorough physical examination,
      including a complete laboratory assessment, can be very helpful in confirming the
      diagnosis or establishing an alternate diagnosis.

PMID- 20923619
TI  - Illustrating the circuits of sexual desire.

PMID- 20923621
TI  - A clinician's guide to monitoring kidney function in lithium-treated patients.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Bipolar disorder treatment guidelines recommend kidney-function
      monitoring at regular intervals for patients taking lithium, but they tend not to
      provide specifics with regard to what to measure and how to ensure that the
      results most accurately reflect true kidney function. This overview clarifies
      those practical aspects of monitoring that are often overlooked or misunderstood.
      DATA SOURCES: Utilized English language materials were obtained by PubMed
      searches (1970-2009), from the Lithium Information Center database, and from
      books. Search terms included lithium, kidney function, creatinine, creatinine
      clearance, GFR, GFR prediction equations, albuminuria, and urine concentration.
      DATA SYNTHESIS: Urine osmolality most accurately reflects urine concentrating
      ability, although specific gravity is usually adequate for clinical purposes.
      Serum creatinine concentration can be influenced by extrarenal factors, but even
      when these are controlled, it remains a less than ideal measure of glomerular
      filtration rate (GFR). Prediction equations are used commonly to estimate GFR and
      are an advance over serum creatinine alone, but even they are not as useful when
      GFR is only mildly impaired. Urine albumin measurement is important, but it
      requires greater standardization and sensitivity to maximize its potential.
      CONCLUSIONS: The safe and effective use of lithium requires regular monitoring of
      kidney function. Doing so effectively requires knowledge of what to measure, how
      to ensure accurate results, and how to properly interpret them.

PMID- 20923620
TI  - Past and present progress in the pharmacologic treatment of schizophrenia.
AB  - Despite treatment advances over the past decades, schizophrenia remains one of
      the most severe psychiatric disorders that is associated with a chronic relapsing
      course and marked functional impairment in a substantial proportion of patients.
      In this article, a historical overview of the pharmacologic advances in the
      treatment of schizophrenia over the past 50 years is presented. This is followed
      by a review of the current developments in optimizing the treatment and outcomes
      in patients with schizophrenia. Methodological challenges, potential solutions,
      and areas of particular need for further research are highlighted. Although
      treatment goals of response, remission, and recovery have been defined more
      uniformly, a good "effectiveness" measure mapping onto functional outcomes is
      still lacking. Moreover, the field must advance in transferring measurement-based
      approaches from research to clinical practice. There is an ongoing debate
      regarding whether and which first- or second-generation antipsychotics should be
      used. However, especially when considering individual adverse effect profiles,
      the differentiation into first- and second-generation antipsychotics as unified
      classes cannot be upheld, and a more differentiated view and treatment selection
      are required. The desired, individualized treatment approach needs to consider
      current symptoms, comorbid conditions, past therapeutic response, and adverse
      effects, as well as patient choice and expectations. Acute and long-term goals
      and effects of medication treatment should be balanced. To date, clozapine is the
      only evidence-based treatment for refractory patients, and the role of
      antipsychotic polypharmacy and other augmentation strategies remains unclear, at
      best. To discover novel treatments with enhanced/broader efficacy and improved
      tolerability, and to enable personalized treatment, the mechanisms underlying
      illness development and progression, symptomatic improvement, and side effect
      development need to be elucidated.

PMID- 20923622
TI  - Complexity of pharmacologic treatment required for sustained improvement in
      outpatients with bipolar disorder.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the clinical correlates of and types of naturalistic
      treatments associated with sustained improvement/remission for at least 6 months
      in outpatients with bipolar disorder. METHOD: Five hundred twenty-five
      outpatients with bipolar disorder (77.7% bipolar I) gave informed consent, had
      their mood rated daily on the National Institute of Mental Health Life Chart
      Method for a minimum of at least 1 year, and recorded all medications.
      Demographics and clinical characteristics of patients with a "sustained response"
      (ratings of "improved" or "very much improved" on the Clinical Global Impressions
      Bipolar Version for a period of at least 6 months) versus nonresponders were
      compared. The study was conducted from 1996 to 2002. RESULTS: Of the 429 patients
      who were ill at study entry, 195 (45.5%) showed a sustained response; 54.5%
      showed no or insufficient response. A mean of 2.98 medications was given at time
      of improvement, which occurred after a mean of 18 months of participation in the
      study. Lithium and valproate were the medications most frequently prescribed at
      the time of improvement and had among the highest overall success rates. Equally
      complex regimens were employed in the nonresponders who, however, had a more
      adverse clinical course prior to network entry. Nonresponders were ultimately
      exposed to more antidepressants and antipsychotics than the sustained responders.
      CONCLUSIONS: A mean of 1.5 years and at times highly complex medication regimens
      were required to achieve a sustained response for 6 months during naturalistic
      outpatient treatment of bipolar disorder. Delineating the clinical and biologic
      correlates of individual response to combination treatment is a very high
      clinical research priority, as is developing new treatment strategies for the
      large proportion of patients who fail to respond in a sustained fashion.

PMID- 20923624
TI  - What's next after 50 years of psychiatric drug development: an FDA perspective.
AB  - This article discusses changes in psychiatric drug development from a US Food and
      Drug Administration (FDA) standpoint. It first looks back at changes that have
      been influenced by regulatory process and then looks forward at FDA initiatives
      that are likely to affect psychiatric drug development in the future. FDA
      protects the public health by ensuring the safety and efficacy of drug products
      introduced into the US market. FDA works with drug sponsors during development,
      and, when applications are submitted, reviews the safety and efficacy data and
      the proposed labeling. Drug advertising and promotion and postmarketing
      surveillance also fall within FDA's responsibility. Among the many changes in
      psychiatric drug development over the past 50 years, several have been
      particularly influenced by FDA. Populations studied have expanded diagnostically
      and demographically, and approved psychiatric indications have become more
      focused on the clinical entities actually studied, including in some cases
      specific symptom domains of recognized syndromes. Trial designs have become
      increasingly complex and informative, and approaches to data analysis have
      evolved to better model the reality of clinical trials. This article addresses 2
      general areas of innovation at FDA that will affect psychiatric drug development
      in years to come. Several programs falling under the general heading of the
      Critical Path Initiative, ie, biomarkers, adaptive design, end-of-phase 2A
      meetings, and data standards, are described. In addition, a number of important
      safety initiatives, including Safety First, the Sentinel Initiative, the Safe Use
      Initiative, and meta-analysis for safety, are discussed.

PMID- 20923623
TI  - Comorbidity of generalized anxiety disorder and substance use disorders: results
      from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Prior research has consistently documented a strong association
      between generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and substance use disorder (SUD).
      Comorbidity of GAD and SUD (GAD-SUD) represents clinical challenges, as the
      patients' symptoms are often more severe and are frequently prolonged, making
      their management more complex when compared with individuals with GAD only. The
      purpose of this study was to examine whether individuals with GAD-SUD differ
      meaningfully from individuals with GAD and no SUD comorbidity (GAD-NSUD) in terms
      of demographic characteristics, risk factors, psychiatric comorbidity, and
      clinical correlates. METHOD: Data were derived from the 2001-2002 National
      Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (N = 43,093). Diagnoses
      were made using the Alcohol Use Disorder and Associated Disabilities Interview
      Schedule-DSM-IV Version. RESULTS: We found that the lifetime prevalence rate of
      GAD-SUD is about 2.04%, while that of GAD-NSUD is 2.10%. Individuals with GAD-SUD
      showed higher psychiatric comorbidity rates than those with GAD-NSUD. Treatment
      seeking rates for GAD are equally low in individuals with GAD-SUD and GAD-NSUD.
      Both groups were as likely to receive pharmacologic treatment for anxiety.
      CONCLUSIONS: The findings of our study indicate that individuals with GAD-SUD
      constitute half of the lifetime prevalence of GAD and that GAD-SUD is associated
      with high overall vulnerability for additional psychopathology, particularly in
      the externalizing spectrum; higher disability; and higher use of alcohol and
      drugs to relieve anxiety symptoms.

PMID- 20923625
TI  - New antipsychotic drugs: how do their receptor-binding profiles compare?

PMID- 20923626
TI  - Gambling on acamprosate: a case report.

PMID- 20923627
TI  - What do internet users seek to know about depression from web searches? A
      descriptive study of 21 million web queries.

PMID- 20923628
TI  - Comparing psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy for adult depression: adjusting for
      differential dropout rates.

PMID- 20923629
TI  - Minocycline augmentation of pharmacotherapy in obsessive-compulsive disorder: an
      open-label trial.

PMID- 20923630
TI  - Experimental evidence for membrane-mediated protein-protein interaction.
AB  - Membrane proteins diffuse within the membrane, form oligomers and supramolecular
      assemblies. Using high-speed atomic force microscopy, we present direct
      experimental measure of an in-membrane-plane interaction potential between
      membrane proteins. In purple membranes, ATP-synthase c-rings formed dimers that
      temporarily dissociated. C-ring dimers revealed subdiffusive motion, while
      dissociated monomers diffused freely. C-rings center-to-center distance
      probability distribution allowed the calculation and modeling of an in-membrane
      plane energy landscape that presented repulsion at 80 A, most stable dimer
      association at 103 A (-3.5 k(B)T strength), and dissociation at 125 A (-1 k(B)T
      strength). This first experimental data of nonlabeled membrane protein diffusion
      and the corresponding in-membrane-plane interaction energy landscape
      characterized membrane protein interaction with an attractive range of several
      k(B)T that reaches to a radius of ~50 A within the membrane plane.

PMID- 20923631
TI  - Real-time nanoscopy by using blinking enhanced quantum dots.
AB  - Superresolution optical microscopy (nanoscopy) is of current interest in many
      biological fields. Superresolution optical fluctuation imaging, which utilizes
      higher-order cumulant of fluorescence temporal fluctuations, is an excellent
      method for nanoscopy, as it requires neither complicated optics nor
      illuminations. However, it does need an impractical number of images for real
      time observation. Here, we achieved real-time nanoscopy by modifying
      superresolution optical fluctuation imaging and enhancing the fluctuation of
      quantum dots. Our developed quantum dots have higher blinking than commercially
      available ones. The fluctuation of the blinking improved the resolution when
      using a variance calculation for each pixel instead of a cumulant calculation.
      This enabled us to obtain microscopic images with 90-nm and 80-ms spatial
      temporal resolution by using a conventional fluorescence microscope without any
      optics or devices.

PMID- 20923632
TI  - On the question of hydronium binding to ATP-synthase membrane rotors.
AB  - A recently determined atomic structure of an H(+)-coupled ATP-synthase membrane
      rotor has revived the long-standing question of whether protons may be bound to
      these structures in the form of a hydronium ion. Using both classical and quantum
      mechanical simulations, we show that this notion is implausible. Ab initio
      molecular dynamics simulations of the binding site demonstrate that the putative
      H(3)O(+) deprotonates within femtoseconds. The bound proton is thus transferred
      irreversibly to the carboxylate side chain found in the ion-binding sites of all
      ATP-synthase rotors. This result is consistent with classical simulations of the
      rotor in a phospholipid membrane, on the 100-nanosecond timescale. These
      simulations show that the hydrogen-bond network seen in the crystal structure is
      incompatible with a bound hydronium. The observed coordination geometry is shown
      to correspond instead to a protonated carboxylate and a bound water molecule. In
      conclusion, this study underscores the notion that binding and transient storage
      of protons in the membrane rotors of ATP synthases occur through a common
      chemical mechanism, namely carboxylate protonation.

PMID- 20923633
TI  - Water permeation through the sodium-dependent galactose cotransporter vSGLT.
AB  - It is well accepted that cotransporters facilitate water movement by two
      independent mechanisms: osmotic flow through a water channel in the protein and
      flow driven by ion/substrate cotransport. However, the molecular mechanism of
      transport-linked water flow is controversial. Some researchers believe that it
      occurs via cotransport, in which water is pumped along with the transported
      cargo, while others believe that flow is osmotic in response to an increase in
      intracellular osmolarity. In this letter, we report the results of a 200-ns
      molecular dynamics simulation of the sodium-dependent galactose cotransporter
      vSGLT. Our simulation shows that a significant number of water molecules cross
      the protein through the sugar-binding site in the presence as well as the absence
      of galactose, and 70-80 water molecules accompany galactose as it moves from the
      binding site into the intracellular space. During this event, the majority of
      water molecules in the pathway are unable to diffuse around the galactose,
      resulting in water in the inner half of the transporter being pushed into the
      intracellular space and replaced by extracellular water. Thus, our simulation
      supports the notion that cotransporters act as both passive water channels and
      active water pumps with the transported substrate acting as a piston to rectify
      the motion of water.

PMID- 20923634
TI  - High speed bio-AFM reveals motion of membrane proteins driven by hydrophobic
      mismatch with nm precision in label-free fashion.

PMID- 20923635
TI  - Nanostructure of the fibrin clot.
AB  - The nanostructure of the fibrin fibers in fibrin clots is investigated by using
      spectrometry and small angle x-ray scattering measurements. First, an
      autocoherent analysis of the visible light spectra transmitted through formed
      clots is demonstrated to provide robust measurements of both the radius and
      density of the fibrin fibers. This method is validated via comparison with
      existing small-angle and dynamic light-scattering data. The complementary use of
      small angle x-ray scattering spectra and light spectrometry unambiguously shows
      the disjointed nature of the fibrin fibers. Indeed, under quasiphysiological
      conditions, the fibers are approximately one-half as dense as their crystalline
      fiber counterparts. Further, although the fibers are locally crystalline, they
      appear to possess a lateral fractal structure.

PMID- 20923636
TI  - Activation or tolerance of natural killer cells is modulated by ligand quality in
      a nonmonotonic manner.
AB  - Natural killer (NK) cells extend important immune resistance in vertebrates by
      lysing infected and tumor cells. A fine balance between opposing signals
      generated by a diverse set of stimulatory and inhibitory NK-cell receptors
      determines the fate of target cells interacting with the NK cells. We have
      developed a mathematical model involving membrane proximal initial signaling
      events that provides novel mechanistic insights into how activation of NK cells
      is modulated by the half-life of receptor-ligand interaction and ligand
      concentrations. We show that strong stimulatory ligands produce digital
      activation, whereas weaker stimulatory ligands can mediate inhibition by
      strengthening the signals generated by inhibitory ligands, as indicated in
      experiments in knockout mice. We find under certain conditions,
      counterintuitively, inhibitory receptors can help mediate activation instead of
      inhibition. Mechanistic insights gained from NK-cell signaling can facilitate
      understanding of complex signaling responses that occur due to cross talk between
      dueling signaling pathways in other cell types.

PMID- 20923638
TI  - Cancer cell stiffness: integrated roles of three-dimensional matrix stiffness and
      transforming potential.
AB  - While significant advances have been made toward revealing the molecular
      mechanisms that influence breast cancer progression, much less is known about the
      associated cellular mechanical properties. To this end, we use particle-tracking
      microrheology to investigate the interplay among intracellular mechanics, three
      dimensional matrix stiffness, and transforming potential in a mammary epithelial
      cell (MEC) cancer progression series. We use a well-characterized model system
      where human-derived MCF10A MECs overexpress either ErbB2, 14-3-3zeta, or both
      ErbB2 and 14-3-3zeta, with empty vector as a control. Our results show that MECs
      possessing ErbB2 transforming potential stiffen in response to elevated matrix
      stiffness, whereas non-transformed MECs or those overexpressing only 14-3-3zeta
      do no exhibit this response. We further observe that overexpression of ErbB2
      alone is associated with the highest degree of intracellular sensitivity to
      matrix stiffness, and that the effect of transforming potential on intracellular
      stiffness is matrix-stiffness-dependent. Moreover, our intracellular stiffness
      measurements parallel cell migration behavior that has been previously reported
      for these MEC sublines. Given the current knowledge base of breast cancer
      mechanobiology, these findings suggest that there may be a positive relationship
      among intracellular stiffness sensitivity, cell motility, and perturbed
      mechanotransduction in breast cancer.

PMID- 20923637
TI  - Synergy between CaMKII substrates and beta-adrenergic signaling in regulation of
      cardiac myocyte Ca(2+) handling.
AB  - Cardiac excitation-contraction coupling is a highly coordinated process that is
      controlled by protein kinase signaling pathways, including Ca(2+)/calmodulin
      dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) and protein kinase A (PKA). Increased CaMKII
      expression and activity (as occurs during heart failure) destabilizes EC coupling
      and may lead to sudden cardiac death. To better understand mechanisms of cardiac
      CaMKII function, we integrated dynamic CaMKII-dependent regulation of key Ca(2+)
      handling targets with previously validated models of cardiac EC coupling,
      Ca(2+)/calmodulin-dependent activation of CaMKII, and beta-adrenergic activation
      of PKA. Model predictions are validated against CaMKII-overexpression data from
      rabbit ventricular myocytes. The model demonstrates how overall changes to Ca(2+)
      handling during CaMKII overexpression are explained by interactions between
      individual CaMKII substrates. CaMKII and PKA activities during beta-adrenergic
      stimulation may synergistically facilitate inotropic responses and contribute to
      a CaMKII-Ca(2+)-CaMKII feedback loop. CaMKII regulated early frequency-dependent
      acceleration of relaxation and EC coupling gain (which was highly sarcoplasmic
      reticulum Ca(2+) load-dependent). Additionally, the model identifies CaMKII
      dependent ryanodine receptor hyperphosphorylation as a proarrhythmogenic trigger.
      In summary, we developed a detailed computational model of CaMKII and PKA
      signaling in cardiac myocytes that provides unique insights into their regulation
      of normal and pathological Ca(2+) handling.

PMID- 20923639
TI  - Probing field-induced tissue polarization using transillumination fluorescent
      imaging.
AB  - Despite major successes of biophysical theories in predicting the effects of
      electrical shocks within the heart, recent optical mapping studies have revealed
      two major discrepancies between theory and experiment: 1), the presence of
      negative bulk polarization recorded during strong shocks; and 2), the
      unexpectedly small surface polarization under shock electrodes. There is little
      consensus as to whether these differences result from deficiencies of
      experimental techniques, artifacts of tissue damage, or deficiencies of existing
      theories. Here, we take advantage of recently developed near-infrared voltage
      sensitive dyes and transillumination optical imaging to perform, for the first
      time that we know of, noninvasive probing of field effects deep inside the intact
      ventricular wall. This technique removes some of the limitations encountered in
      previous experimental studies. We explicitly demonstrate that deep inside intact
      myocardial tissue preparations, strong electrical shocks do produce considerable
      negative bulk polarization previously inferred from surface recordings. We also
      demonstrate that near-threshold diastolic field stimulation produces activation
      of deep myocardial layers 2-6 mm away from the cathodal surface, contrary to
      theory. Using bidomain simulations we explore factors that may improve the
      agreement between theory and experiment. We show that the inclusion of negative
      asymmetric current can qualitatively explain negative bulk polarization in a
      discontinuous bidomain model.

PMID- 20923640
TI  - Pivotal role of actin depolymerization in the regulation of cochlear outer hair
      cell motility.
AB  - Cochlear outer hair cells undergo reversible changes in shape when externally
      stimulated. This response, known as OHC motility, is a central component of the
      cochlear amplifier, the mechanism responsible for the high sensitivity of
      mammalian hearing. We report that actin depolymerization, as regulated by
      activation/inhibition of LIMK/cofilin-mediated pathways, has a pivotal role in
      OHC motility. LIMK-mediated cofilin phosphorylation, which inhibits the actin
      depolymerizing activity of this protein, increases both electromotile amplitude
      and total length of guinea pig OHCs. In contrast, a decrease in cofilin
      phosphorylation reduces both OHC electromotile amplitude and OHC length.
      Experiments with acetylcholine and lysophosphatidic acid indicate that the
      effects of these agents on OHC motility are associated with regulation of cofilin
      phosphorylation via different signaling cascades. On the other hand, nonlinear
      capacitance measurements confirmed that all observed changes in OHC motile
      response were independent of the performance of the motor protein prestin.
      Altogether, these results strongly support the hypothesis that the cytoskeleton
      has a major role in the regulation of OHC motility, and identify actin
      depolymerization as a key process for modulating cochlear amplification.

PMID- 20923641
TI  - The role of amino terminus of mouse Cx50 in determining transjunctional voltage
      dependent gating and unitary conductance.
AB  - Amino-terminus and carboxyl-terminus of connexins have been proposed to be
      responsible for the transjunctional voltage-dependent gating (V(j)-gating) and
      the unitary gap junction channel conductance (gamma(j)). To better understand the
      molecular structure(s) determining the V(j)-gating properties and the gamma(j) of
      Cx50, we have replaced part of the amino-terminus of mCx50 by the corresponding
      domain of mCx36 to engineer a chimera Cx50-Cx36N, and attached GFP at the
      carboxyl-terminus of mCx50 to construct Cx50-GFP. The dual whole-cell patch-clamp
      technique was used to test the resulting gap junction channel properties in N2A
      cells. The Cx50-Cx36N gap junction channel lowered the sensitivity of steady
      state junctional conductance to V(j) (G(j)/V(j) relationship), slowed V(j)-gating
      kinetics, and reduced gamma(j) as compared to Cx50 channel. Cx50-GFP gap junction
      channel showed similar V(j)-gating properties and gamma(j) to Cx50 channel. We
      further characterized a mutation, Cx50N9R, where the Asn (N) at the ninth
      position of Cx50 was replaced by the corresponding Arg (R) at Cx36. The G(j)/V(j)
      relationship of Cx50N9R channel was significantly changed; most strikingly, the
      macroscopic residual conductance (G(min)) was near zero. Moreover, the single
      Cx50N9R channel only displayed one open state (gamma(j) = 132 +/- 4 pS), and no
      substate could be detected. Our data suggest that the NT of Cx50 is critical for
      both the V(j)-gating and the gamma(j), and the introduction of a positively
      charged Arg at the ninth position reduced the G(min) with a correlated
      disappearance of the substate at the single channel level.

PMID- 20923642
TI  - Confining the sodium pump in a phosphoenzyme form: the effect of lead(II) ions.
AB  - The effect of Pb(2+) ions on the Na(+),K(+)-ATPase was investigated in detail by
      means of steady-state fluorescence spectroscopy. Experiments were performed by
      using the electrochromic styryl dye RH421. It is shown that Pb(2+) ions can bind
      reversibly to the protein and do not affect the Na(+) and K(+) binding affinities
      in the E(1) and P-E(2) conformations of the enzyme. The pH titrations indicate
      that lead(II) favors binding of one H(+) to the P-E(2) conformation in the
      absence of K(+). A model scheme is proposed that accounts for the experimental
      results obtained for backdoor phosphorylation of the enzyme in the presence of
      Pb(2+) ions. Taken together, our results clearly indicate that Pb(2+) bound to
      the enzyme stabilizes an E(2)-type conformation. In particular, under conditions
      that promote enzyme phosphorylation, Pb(2+) ions are able to confine the
      Na(+),K(+)-ATPase into a phosphorylated E(2) state.

PMID- 20923643
TI  - Modulation of plant mitochondrial VDAC by phytosterols.
AB  - We have investigated the effect of cholesterol and two abundant phytosterols
      (sitosterol and stigmasterol) on the voltage-dependent anion-selective channel
      (VDAC) purified from mitochondria of bean seeds (Phaseolus coccineus). These
      sterols differ by the degree of freedom of their lateral chain. We show that VDAC
      displays sensitivity to the lipid-sterol ratio and to the type of sterol found in
      the membrane. The main findings of this study are: 1), cholesterol and
      phytosterols modulate the selectivity but only stigmasterol alters the voltage
      dependence of the plant VDAC in the range of sterol fraction found in the plant
      mitochondrial membrane; 2), VDAC unitary conductance is not affected by the
      addition of sterols; 3), the effect of sterols on the VDAC is reversible upon
      sterol depletion with 10 MUM methyl-beta-cyclodextrins; and 4), phytosterols are
      essential for the channel gating at salt concentration prevailing in vivo. A
      quantitative analysis of the voltage-dependence indicates that stigmasterol
      inhibits the transition of the VDAC in the lowest subconductance states.

PMID- 20923644
TI  - Ionic partition and transport in multi-ionic channels: a molecular dynamics
      simulation study of the OmpF bacterial porin.
AB  - We performed all-atom molecular dynamics simulations studying the partition of
      ions and the ionic current through the bacterial porin OmpF and two selected
      mutants. The study is motivated by new, interesting experimental findings
      concerning their selectivity and conductance behavior at neutral pH. The
      mutations considered here are designed to study the effect of removal of negative
      charges present in the constriction zone of the wild-type OmpF channel (which
      contains, on one side, a cluster with three positive residues, and on the other
      side, two negatively charged residues). Our results show that these mutations
      induce an exclusion of cations from the constriction zone of the channel,
      substantially reducing the flow of cations. In fact, the partition of ions inside
      the mutant channels is strongly inhomogeneous, with regions containing an excess
      of cations and regions containing an excess of anions. Interestingly, the overall
      number of cations inside the channel is larger than the number of anions, this
      excess being different for each protein channel. We found that the differences in
      ionic charge inside these channels are justified by the differences in electric
      charge between the wild-type OmpF and the mutants, following an electroneutral
      balance.

PMID- 20923645
TI  - The N-terminus of the intrinsically disordered protein alpha-synuclein triggers
      membrane binding and helix folding.
AB  - Alpha-synuclein (alphaS) is a 140-amino-acid protein that is involved in a number
      of neurodegenerative diseases. In Parkinson's disease, the protein is typically
      encountered in intracellular, high-molecular-weight aggregates. Although alphaS
      is abundant in the presynaptic terminals of the central nervous system, its
      physiological function is still unknown. There is strong evidence for the
      membrane affinity of the protein. One hypothesis is that lipid-induced binding
      and helix folding may modulate the fusion of synaptic vesicles with the
      presynaptic membrane and the ensuing transmitter release. Here we show that
      membrane recognition of the N-terminus is essential for the cooperative formation
      of helical domains in the protein. We used circular dichroism spectroscopy and
      isothermal titration calorimetry to investigate synthetic peptide fragments from
      different domains of the full-length alphaS protein. Site-specific truncation and
      partial cleavage of the full-length protein were employed to further characterize
      the structural motifs responsible for helix formation and lipid-protein
      interaction. Unilamellar vesicles of varying net charge and lipid compositions
      undergoing lateral phase separation or chain melting phase transitions in the
      vicinity of physiological temperatures served as model membranes. The results
      suggest that the membrane-induced helical folding of the first 25 residues may be
      driven simultaneously by electrostatic attraction and by a change in lipid
      ordering. Our findings highlight the significance of the alphaS N-terminus for
      folding nucleation, and provide a framework for elucidating the role of lipid
      induced conformational transitions of the protein within its intracellular
      milieu.

PMID- 20923646
TI  - Quantitative experimental assessment of macromolecular crowding effects at
      membrane surfaces.
AB  - We examined how crowding of the surfaces of lipid vesicles with either grafted
      polyethyleneglycol (PEG) chains or bilayer-anchored protein molecules affects the
      binding of soluble proteins to the vesicle surface. Escherichia coli
      dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR, 18 kDa) or a larger fusion protein, NusA-DHFR (72
      kDa), binds reversibly but with high affinity to a methotrexate-modified lipid
      (MTX-PE) incorporated into large unilamellar vesicles. Incorporation of
      phosphatidylethanolamine-PEG5000 into the vesicles strongly decreases the
      affinity of binding of both proteins, to a degree that varies roughly
      exponentially with the lateral density of the PEG chains. Covalently coupling
      maltose-binding protein (MBP) to the vesicle surfaces also strongly decreases the
      affinity of binding of NusDHFR or DHFR, to a degree that likewise varies roughly
      exponentially with the surface density of anchored MBP. Surface-coupled MBP
      strongly decreases the rate of binding of NusDHFR to MTX-PE-incorporating
      vesicles but does not affect the rate of NusDHFR dissociation. The large
      magnitudes of these effects (easily exceeding an order of magnitude for moderate
      degrees of surface crowding) support previous theoretical analyses and suggest
      that surface-crowding effects can markedly influence a variety of important
      aspects of protein behavior in membranes.

PMID- 20923647
TI  - Direct simulation of protein-mediated vesicle fusion: lung surfactant protein B.
AB  - We simulated spontaneous fusion of small unilamellar vesicles mediated by lung
      surfactant protein B (SP-B) using the MARTINI force field. An SP-B monomer
      triggers fusion events by anchoring two vesicles and facilitating the formation
      of a lipid bridge between the proximal leaflets. Once a lipid bridge is formed,
      fusion proceeds via a previously described stalk - hemifusion diaphragm - pore
      opening pathway. In the absence of protein, fusion of vesicles was not observed
      in either unbiased simulations or upon application of a restraining potential to
      maintain the vesicles in close proximity. The shape of SP-B appears to enable it
      to bind to two vesicles at once, forcing their proximity, and to facilitate the
      initial transfer of lipids to form a high-energy hemifusion intermediate. Our
      results may provide insight into more general mechanisms of protein-mediated
      membrane fusion, and a possible role of SP-B in the secretory pathway and
      transfer of lung surfactant to the gas exchange interface.

PMID- 20923648
TI  - Probing intracellular motor protein activity using an inducible cargo trafficking
      assay.
AB  - Although purified cytoskeletal motor proteins have been studied extensively with
      the use of in vitro approaches, a generic approach to selectively probe actin and
      microtubule-based motor protein activity inside living cells is lacking. To
      examine specific motor activity inside living cells, we utilized the FKBP-rapalog
      FRB heterodimerization system to develop an in vivo peroxisomal trafficking assay
      that allows inducible recruitment of exogenous and endogenous kinesin, dynein,
      and myosin motors to drive specific cargo transport. We demonstrate that cargo
      rapidly redistributes with distinct dynamics for each respective motor, and that
      combined (antagonistic) actions of more complex motor combinations can also be
      probed. Of importance, robust cargo redistribution is readily achieved by one
      type of motor protein and does not require the presence of opposite-polarity
      motors. Simultaneous live-cell imaging of microtubules and kinesin or dynein
      propelled peroxisomes, combined with high-resolution particle tracking, revealed
      that peroxisomes frequently pause at microtubule intersections. Titration and
      washout experiments furthermore revealed that motor recruitment by rapalog
      induced heterodimerization is dose-dependent but irreversible. Our assay directly
      demonstrates that robust cargo motility does not require the presence of opposite
      polarity motors, and can therefore be used to characterize the motile properties
      of specific types of motor proteins.

PMID- 20923649
TI  - Quantitative analysis of actin turnover in Listeria comet tails: evidence for
      catastrophic filament turnover.
AB  - Rapid assembly and disassembly (turnover) of actin filaments in cytoplasm drives
      cell motility and shape remodeling. While many biochemical processes that
      facilitate filament turnover are understood in isolation, it remains unclear how
      they work together to promote filament turnover in cells. Here, we studied
      cellular mechanisms of actin filament turnover by combining quantitative
      microscopy with mathematical modeling. Using live cell imaging, we found that
      actin polymer mass decay in Listeria comet tails is very well fit by a simple
      exponential. By analyzing candidate filament turnover pathways using stochastic
      modeling, we found that exponential polymer mass decay is consistent with either
      slow treadmilling, slow Arp2/3-dissociation, or catastrophic bursts of
      disassembly, but is inconsistent with acceleration of filament turnover by
      severing. Imaging of single filaments in Xenopus egg extract provided evidence
      that disassembly by bursting dominates isolated filament turnover in a
      cytoplasmic context. Taken together, our results point to a pathway where
      filaments grow transiently from barbed ends, rapidly terminate growth to enter a
      long-lived stable state, and then undergo a catastrophic burst of disassembly. By
      keeping filament lengths largely constant over time, such catastrophic filament
      turnover may enable cellular actin assemblies to maintain their mechanical
      integrity as they are turning over.

PMID- 20923650
TI  - Fluorescence lifetime imaging reveals that the environment of the ATP binding
      site of myosin in muscle senses force.
AB  - Fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy is used to demonstrate that different
      loads applied to a muscle fiber change the microenvironment of the nucleotide
      binding pocket of myosin. Permeabilized skeletal muscle fibers in rigor were
      labeled with a fluorescent ATP analog, 3'-DEAC-propylenediamine (pda)-ATP (3'-O
      {N-[3-(7-diethylaminocoumarin-3-carboxamido)propyl]carbamoyl}ATP), which was
      hydrolyzed to the diphosphate. Cycles of small-amplitude stretches and releases
      (<1% of muscle segment length) were synchronized with fluorescence lifetime
      imaging and force measurements to correlate the effect of force on the lifetime
      of the ATP analog bound to the actomyosin complex. Analysis of the fluorescence
      decay resolved two lifetimes, corresponding to the free nucleotide DEAC-pda-ATP
      (tau(1) = 0.47 +/- 0.03 ns; mean +/- SD) and nucleotide bound to the actomyosin
      complex (tau(2) = 2.21 +/- 0.06 ns at low strain). Whereas tau(1) did not change
      with force, tau(2) showed a linear dependence with the force applied to the
      muscle of 0.43 +/- 0.05 ps/kPa. Hence, the molecular environment of the
      nucleotide binding pocket of myosin is directly affected by a change of length
      applied at the ends of the fiber segments. These changes may help explain how
      force modulates the actomyosin ATPase cycle and thus the physiology and
      energetics of contraction.

PMID- 20923651
TI  - DnaB helicase activity is modulated by DNA geometry and force.
AB  - The replicative helicase for Escherichia coli is DnaB, a hexameric, ring-shaped
      motor protein that encircles and translocates along ssDNA, unwinding dsDNA in
      advance of its motion. The microscopic mechanisms of DnaB are unknown; further,
      prior work has found that DnaB's activity is modified by other replication
      proteins, indicating some mechanistic flexibility. To investigate these issues,
      we quantified translocation and unwinding by single DnaB molecules in three
      tethered DNA geometries held under tension. Our data support the following
      conclusions: 1), Unwinding by DnaB is enhanced by force-induced destabilization
      of dsDNA. 2), The magnitude of this stimulation varies with the geometry of the
      tension applied to the DNA substrate, possibly due to interactions between the
      helicase and the occluded ssDNA strand. 3), DnaB unwinding and (to a lesser
      extent) translocation are interrupted by pauses, which are also dependent on
      force and DNA geometry. 4), DnaB moves slower when a large tension is applied to
      the helicase-bound strand, indicating that it must perform mechanical work to
      compact the strand against the applied force. Our results have implications for
      the molecular mechanisms of translocation and unwinding by DnaB and for the means
      of modulating DnaB activity.

PMID- 20923652
TI  - A nucleotide-independent nitroxide probe reports on site-specific stereomeric
      environment in DNA.
AB  - In this report, stereospecific structural and dynamic features in DNA are studied
      using the site-directed spin labeling technique. A stable nitroxide radical, 1
      oxyl-4-bromo-2,2,5,5-tetramethylpyrroline (R5a), was attached postsynthetically
      to phosphorothioates that were chemically introduced, one at a time, at five
      sites of a DNA duplex. The two phosphorothioate diastereomers (R(p) or S(p)) were
      separated, and nitroxide rotational motions were monitored using electron
      paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy. The resulting spectra vary according to
      diastereomer identity and location of the labeling site, with R(p)-R5a spectra
      effectively reporting on local DNA structural features and S(p)-R5a spectra
      sensing variations in local DNA motions. This establishes R(p)- and S(p)-R5a as
      unique probes for investigating nucleic acids in a site- and stereospecific
      manner, which may aid studies of stereospecific DNA/protein interactions. In
      addition, weighted averages of individual R(p) and S(p) spectra match those of
      R5a attached to mixed diastereomers. This suggests that R5a linked to mixed
      diastereomers reports on the composite behaviors of R(p)- and S(p)-R5a and is
      useful in initial probing of the DNA local environment. This work advances
      understanding of R5a/DNA coupling, and is a key step forward in developing a
      nucleotide-independent spectroscopic probe for studying nucleic acids.

PMID- 20923653
TI  - Anisotropic elastic network modeling of entire microtubules.
AB  - Microtubules are supramolecular structures that make up the cytoskeleton and
      strongly affect the mechanical properties of the cell. Within the cytoskeleton
      filaments, the microtubule (MT) exhibits by far the highest bending stiffness.
      Bending stiffness depends on the mechanical properties and intermolecular
      interactions of the tubulin dimers (the MT building blocks). Computational
      molecular modeling has the potential for obtaining quantitative insights into
      this area. However, to our knowledge, standard molecular modeling techniques,
      such as molecular dynamics (MD) and normal mode analysis (NMA), are not yet able
      to simulate large molecular structures like the MTs; in fact, their possibilities
      are normally limited to much smaller protein complexes. In this work, we
      developed a multiscale approach by merging the modeling contribution from MD and
      NMA. In particular, MD simulations were used to refine the molecular conformation
      and arrangement of the tubulin dimers inside the MT lattice. Subsequently, NMA
      was used to investigate the vibrational properties of MTs modeled as an elastic
      network. The coarse-grain model here developed can describe systems of hundreds
      of interacting tubulin monomers (corresponding to up to 1,000,000 atoms). In
      particular, we were able to simulate coarse-grain models of entire MTs, with
      lengths up to 350 nm. A quantitative mechanical investigation was performed; from
      the bending and stretching modes, we estimated MT macroscopic properties such as
      bending stiffness, Young modulus, and persistence length, thus allowing a direct
      comparison with experimental data.

PMID- 20923654
TI  - Coupling of retinal, protein, and water dynamics in squid rhodopsin.
AB  - The light-induced isomerization of the retinal from 11-cis to all-trans triggers
      changes in the conformation of visual rhodopsins that lead to the formation of
      the activated state, which is ready to interact with the G protein. To begin to
      understand how changes in the structure and dynamics of the retinal are
      transmitted to the protein, we performed molecular dynamics simulations of squid
      rhodopsin with 11-cis and all-trans retinal, and with two different force fields
      for describing the retinal molecule. The results indicate that structural
      rearrangements in the binding pocket, albeit small, propagate toward the
      cytoplasmic side of the protein, and affect the dynamics of internal water
      molecules. The sensitivity of the active-site interactions on the retinal force
      field parameters highlights the coupling between the retinal molecule and its
      immediate protein environment.

PMID- 20923655
TI  - Stable and metastable states of human amylin in solution.
AB  - Patients with type II diabetes exhibit fibrillar deposits of human amylin protein
      in the pancreas. It has been proposed that amylin oligomers arising along the
      aggregation or fibril-formation pathways are important in the genesis of the
      disease. In a step toward understanding these aggregation pathways, in this work
      we report the conformational preferences of human amylin monomer in solution
      using molecular simulations and infrared experiments. In particular, we identify
      a stable conformer that could play a key role in aggregation. We find that amylin
      adopts three stable conformations: one with an alpha-helical segment comprising
      residues 9-17 and a short antiparallel beta-sheet comprising residues 24-28 and
      31-35; one with an extended antiparallel beta-hairpin with the turn region
      comprising residues 20-23; and one with no particular structure. Using detailed
      calculations, we determine the relative stability of these various conformations,
      finding that the beta-hairpin conformation is the most stable, followed by the
      alpha-helical conformation, and then the unstructured coil. To test our predicted
      structure, we calculate its infrared spectrum in the amide I stretch regime,
      which is sensitive to secondary structure through vibrational couplings and
      linewidths, and compare it to experiment. We find that theoretically predicted
      spectra are in good agreement with the experimental line shapes presented herein.
      The implications of the monomer secondary structures on its aggregation pathway
      and on its interaction with cell membranes are discussed.

PMID- 20923656
TI  - Statistical mechanics of integral membrane protein assembly.
AB  - During the synthesis of integral membrane proteins (IMPs), the hydrophobic amino
      acids of the polypeptide sequence are partitioned mostly into the membrane
      interior and hydrophilic amino acids mostly into the aqueous exterior. Using a
      many-body statistical mechanics model, we analyze the minimum free energy state
      of polypeptide sequences partitioned into alpha-helical transmembrane (TM)
      segments and the role of thermal fluctuations. Results suggest that IMP TM
      segment partitioning shares important features with general theories of protein
      folding. For random polypeptide sequences, the minimum free energy state at room
      temperature is characterized by fluctuations in the number of TM segments with
      very long relaxation times. Moreover, simple assembly scenarios do not produce a
      unique number of TM segments due to jamming phenomena. On the other hand, for
      polypeptide sequences corresponding to actual IMPs, the minimum free energy
      structure with the wild-type number of segments is free of number fluctuations
      due to an anomalously large gap in the energy spectrum. Now, simple assembly
      scenarios do reproduce the minimum free energy state without jamming. Finally, we
      find a threshold number of random point mutations where the size of the anomalous
      gap is reduced to the point that the wild-type ground state is destabilized and
      number fluctuations reappear.

PMID- 20923657
TI  - Exploring the conformational states and rearrangements of Yarrowia lipolytica
      Lipase.
AB  - We report the 1.7 A resolution crystal structure of the Lip2 lipase from Yarrowia
      lipolytica in its closed conformation. The Lip2 structure is highly homologous to
      known structures of the fungal lipase family (Thermomyces lanuginosa, Rhizopus
      niveus, and Rhizomucor miehei lipases). However, it also presents some unique
      features that are described and discussed here in detail. Structural differences,
      in particular in the conformation adopted by the so-called lid subdomain, suggest
      that the opening mechanism of Lip2 may differ from that of other fungal lipases.
      Because the catalytic activity of lipases is strongly dependent on structural
      rearrangement of this mobile subdomain, we focused on elucidating the molecular
      mechanism of lid motion. Using the x-ray structure of Lip2, we carried out
      extensive molecular-dynamics simulations in explicit solvent environments (water
      and water/octane interface) to characterize the major structural rearrangements
      that the lid undergoes under the influence of solvent or upon substrate binding.
      Overall, our results suggest a two-step opening mechanism that gives rise first
      to a semi-open conformation upon adsorption of the protein at the water/organic
      solvent interface, followed by a further opening of the lid upon substrate
      binding.

PMID- 20923658
TI  - Dimerization and its role in GMP formation by human guanylate binding proteins.
AB  - The mechanism of oligomerization and its role in the regulation of activity in
      large GTPases are not clearly understood. Human guanylate binding proteins (hGBP
      1 and 2) belonging to large GTPases have the unique feature of hydrolyzing GTP to
      a mixture of GDP and GMP with unequal ratios. Using a series of truncated and
      mutant proteins of hGBP-1, we identified a hydrophobic helix in the connecting
      region between the two domains that plays a critical role in dimerization and
      regulation of the GTPase activity. The fluorescence with 1-8-anilinonaphthalene
      sulfonate and circular dichroism measurements together suggest that in the
      absence of the substrate analog, the helix is masked inside the protein but
      becomes exposed through a substrate-induced conformational switch, and thus
      mediates dimerization. This is further supported by the intrinsic fluorescence
      experiment, where Leu(298) of this helix is replaced by a tryptophan. Remarkably,
      the enzyme exhibits differential GTPase activities depending on dimerization; a
      monomer produces only GDP, but a dimer gives both GDP and GMP with stimulation of
      the activity. An absolute dependence of GMP formation with dimerization
      demonstrates a cross talk between the monomers during the second hydrolysis.
      Similar to hGBP-1, hGBP-2 showed dimerization-related GTPase activity for GMP
      formation, indicating that this family of proteins follows a broadly similar
      mechanism for GTP hydrolysis.

PMID- 20923659
TI  - Allosteric response is both conserved and variable across three CheY orthologs.
AB  - A computational method to identify residues likely to initiate allosteric signals
      has been developed. The method is based on differences within stability and
      flexibility profiles between wild-type and perturbed structures as computed by a
      distance constraint model. Application of the approach to three bacterial
      chemotaxis protein Y (CheY) orthologs provides a comparison of allosteric
      response across protein family divergence. Interestingly, we observe a rich
      mixture of both conservation and variability within the identified allosteric
      sites. While similarity within the overall response parallels the evolutionary
      relationships, >50% of the best scoring putative sites are only identified in a
      single ortholog. These results suggest that detailed descriptions of intraprotein
      communication are substantially more variable than structure and function, yet do
      maintain some evolutionary relationships. Finally, structural clusters of large
      response identify four allosteric hotspots, including the beta4/alpha4 loop known
      to be critical to relaying the CheY phosphorylation signal.

PMID- 20923660
TI  - Consistent picture of the reversible thermal unfolding of hen egg-white lysozyme
      from experiment and molecular dynamics.
AB  - Synchrotron radiation circular dichroism, Fourier transform infrared, and nuclear
      magnetic resonance spectroscopies, and small-angle x-ray scattering were used to
      monitor the reversible thermal unfolding of hen egg white lysozyme. The results
      were compared with crystal structures and high- and low-temperature structures
      derived from molecular-dynamics calculations. The results of both experimental
      and computational methods indicate that the unfolding process starts with the
      loss of beta-structures followed by the reversible loss of helix content from
      ~40% at 20 degrees C to 27% at 70 degrees C and ~20% at 77 degrees C, beyond
      which unfolding becomes irreversible. Concomitantly there is a reversible
      increase in the radius of gyration of the protein from 15 A to 18 A. The
      reversible decrease in forward x-ray scattering demonstrates a lack of
      aggregation upon unfolding, suggesting the change is due to a larger dilation of
      hydration water than of bulk water. Molecular-dynamics simulations suggest a
      similar sequence of events and are in good agreement with the (1)H(N) chemical
      shift differences in nuclear magnetic resonance. This study demonstrates the
      power of complementary methods for elucidating unfolding/refolding processes and
      the nature of both the unfolded structure, for which there is no crystallographic
      data, and the partially unfolded forms of the protein that can lead to fibril
      formation and disease.

PMID- 20923661
TI  - Activation of the edema factor of Bacillus anthracis by calmodulin: evidence of
      an interplay between the EF-calmodulin interaction and calcium binding.
AB  - Calmodulin (CaM) is a remarkably flexible protein which can bind multiple targets
      in response to changes in intracellular calcium concentration. It contains four
      calcium-binding sites, arranged in two globular domains. The calcium affinity of
      CaM N-terminal domain (N-CaM) is dramatically reduced when the complex with the
      edema factor (EF) of Bacillus anthracis is formed. Here, an atomic explanation
      for this reduced affinity is proposed through molecular dynamics simulations and
      free energy perturbation calculations of the EF-CaM complex starting from
      different crystallographic models. The simulations show that electrostatic
      interactions between CaM and EF disfavor the opening of N-CaM domains usually
      induced by calcium binding. Relative calcium affinities of the N-CaM binding
      sites are probed by free energy perturbation, and dissociation probabilities are
      evaluated with locally enhanced sampling simulations. We show that EF impairs
      calcium binding on N-CaM through a direct conformational restraint on Site 1, by
      an indirect destabilization of Site 2, and by reducing the cooperativity between
      the two sites.

PMID- 20923662
TI  - Role of the conformational versatility of the neurotrophin N-terminal regions in
      their recognition by Trk receptors.
AB  - Neurotrophins (NTs) represent a family of proteins that play an important role in
      the survival, development, and function of neurons. Extensive efforts are
      currently being made to develop small molecules endowed with agonist or
      antagonist NT activity. The structurally versatile N-termini of these proteins
      are considered regions of interest for the design of new molecules. By combining
      experimental and computational approaches, we analyzed the intrinsic
      conformational preferences of the N-termini of two of the most important NTs: NGF
      (NGF-Nter) and NT4 (NT4-Nter). Circular dichroism spectra clearly indicate that
      both peptides show a preference for random coil states. Because this finding does
      not preclude the possibility that structured forms may occur in solution as minor
      conformational states, we performed molecular-dynamics simulations to gain
      insights into the structural features of populated species. In line with the
      circular dichroism analysis, the simulations show a preference for unstructured
      states for both peptides. However, the simulations also show that for NT4-Nter,
      and to a lesser extent for NGF-Nter, helical conformations, which are required
      for binding to the Trk receptor, are present in the repertoire of structures that
      are intrinsically accessible to these peptides. Accordingly, molecular
      recognition of NTs by the Trk receptor is accomplished by the general mechanism
      known as population shift. These findings provide a structural rationale for the
      observed activity of synthetic peptides based on these NT regions. They also
      suggest strategies for the development of biologically active peptide-based
      compounds.

PMID- 20923663
TI  - Effects of curvature and composition on alpha-synuclein binding to lipid
      vesicles.
AB  - Parkinson's disease is characterized by the presence of intracellular aggregates
      composed primarily of the neuronal protein alpha-synuclein (alphaS). Interactions
      between alphaS and various cellular membranes are thought to be important to its
      native function as well as relevant to its role in disease. We use fluorescence
      correlation spectroscopy to investigate binding of alphaS to lipid vesicles as a
      function of the lipid composition and membrane curvature. We determine how these
      parameters affect the molar partition coefficient of alphaS, providing a
      quantitative measure of the binding energy, and calculate the number of lipids
      required to bind a single protein. Specific anionic lipids have a large effect on
      the free energy of binding. Lipid chain saturation influences the binding
      interaction to a lesser extent, with larger partition coefficients measured for
      gel-phase vesicles than for fluid-phase vesicles, even in the absence of anionic
      lipid components. Although we observe variability in the binding of the mutant
      proteins, differences in the free energies of partitioning are less dramatic than
      with varied lipid compositions. Vesicle curvature has a strong effect on the
      binding affinity, with a >15-fold increase in affinity for small unilamellar
      vesicles over large unilamellar vesicles, suggesting that alphaS may be a
      curvature-sensing protein. Our findings provide insight into how physical
      properties of the membrane may modulate interactions of alphaS with cellular
      membranes.

PMID- 20923664
TI  - Influence of pH on the human prion protein: insights into the early steps of
      misfolding.
AB  - Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, or prion diseases, are caused by
      misfolding and aggregation of the prion protein PrP. Conversion from the normal
      cellular form (PrP(C)) or recombinant PrP (recPrP) to a misfolded form is pH
      sensitive, in that misfolding and aggregation occur more readily at lower pH. To
      gain more insight into the influence of pH on the dynamics of PrP and its
      potential to misfold, we performed extensive molecular-dynamics simulations of
      the recombinant PrP protein (residues 90-230) in water at three different pH
      regimes: neutral (or cytoplasmic) pH (~7.4), middle (or endosomal) pH (~5), and
      low pH (<4). We present five different simulations of 50 ns each for each pH
      regime, amounting to a total of 750 ns of simulation time. A detailed analysis
      and comparison with experiment validate the simulations and lead to new insights
      into the mechanism of pH-induced misfolding. The mobility of the globular domain
      increases with decreasing pH, through displacement of the first helix and
      instability of the hydrophobic core. At middle pH, conversion to a misfolded
      (PrP(Sc)-like) conformation is observed. The observed changes in conformation and
      stability are consistent with experimental data and thus provide a molecular
      basis for the initial steps in the misfolding process.

PMID- 20923665
TI  - The effects of pK(a) tuning on the thermodynamics and kinetics of folding: design
      of a solvent-shielded carboxylate pair at the a-position of a coiled-coil.
AB  - The tuning of the pK(a) of ionizable residues plays a critical role in various
      protein functions, such as ligand-binding, catalysis, and allostery. Proteins
      harness the free energy of folding to position ionizable groups in highly
      specific environments that strongly affect their pK(a) values. To investigate the
      interplay among protein folding kinetics, thermodynamics, and pK(a) modulation,
      we introduced a pair of Asp residues at neighboring interior positions of a
      coiled-coil. A single Asp residue was replaced for an Asn side chain at the a
      position of the coiled-coil from GCN4, which was also crosslinked at the C
      terminus via a flexible disulfide bond. The thermodynamic and kinetic stability
      of the system was measured by circular dichroism and stopped-flow fluorescence as
      a function of pH and concentration of guanidine HCl. Both sets of data are
      consistent with a two-state equilibrium between fully folded and unfolded forms.
      Distinct pK(a) values of 6.3 and 5.35 are assigned to the first and second
      protonation of the Asp pair; together they represent an energetic difference of 5
      kcal/mol relative to the protonation of two Asp residues with unperturbed pK(a)
      values. Analysis of the rate data as a function of pH and denaturant
      concentration allowed calculation of the kinetic constants for the conformational
      transitions of the peptide with the Asp residues in the doubly protonated, singly
      protonated, and unprotonated forms. The doubly and singly protonated forms fold
      rapidly, and a phi-value analysis shows that their contribution to folding occurs
      subsequent to the transition state ensemble for folding. By contrast, the doubly
      charged state shows a reduced rate of folding and a phi-value near 0.5 indicative
      of a repulsive interaction, and possibly also heterogeneity in the transition
      state ensemble.

PMID- 20923666
TI  - Large domain fluctuations on 50-ns timescale enable catalytic activity in
      phosphoglycerate kinase.
AB  - Large-scale domain motions of enzymes are often essential for their biological
      function. Phosphoglycerate kinase has a wide open domain structure with a hinge
      near the active center between the two domains. Applying neutron spin echo
      spectroscopy and small-angle neutron scattering we have investigated the internal
      domain dynamics. Structural analysis reveals that the holoprotein in solution
      seems to be more compact compared to the crystal structure but would not allow
      the functionally important phosphoryl transfer between the substrates if the
      protein were static. Brownian large-scale domain fluctuation dynamics on a
      timescale of 50 ns was revealed by neutron spin echo spectroscopy. The dynamics
      observed was compared to the displacement patterns of low-frequency normal modes.
      The displacements along the normal-mode coordinates describe our experimental
      results reasonably well. In particular, the domain movements facilitate a close
      encounter of the key residues in the active center to build the active
      configuration. The observed dynamics shows that the protein has the flexibility
      to allow fluctuations and displacements that seem to enable the function of the
      protein. Moreover, the presence of the substrates increases the rigidity, which
      is deduced from a faster dynamics with smaller amplitude.

PMID- 20923667
TI  - Time-resolved NMR: extracting the topology of complex enzyme networks.
AB  - The use of nondestructive NMR spectroscopy for enzymatic studies offers unique
      opportunities to identify nearly all enzymatic byproducts and detect unstable
      short-lived products or intermediates at the molecular level; however, numerous
      challenges must be overcome before it can become a widely used tool. The
      biosynthesis of acetyl-coenzyme A (acetyl-CoA) by acetyl-CoA synthetase is used
      here as a case study for the development of an analytical NMR-based time-course
      assay platform. We describe an algorithm to deconvolve superimposed spectra into
      spectra for individual molecules, and further develop a model to simulate the
      acetyl-CoA synthetase enzyme reaction network using the data derived from time
      course NMR. Simulation shows indirectly that synthesis of acetyl-CoA is mediated
      via an enzyme-bound intermediate (possibly acetyl-AMP) and is accompanied by a
      nonproductive loss from an intermediate. The ability to predict enzyme function
      based on partial knowledge of the enzymatic pathway topology is also discussed.

PMID- 20923669
TI  - NMR separation of intra- and extracellular compounds based on intermolecular
      coherences.
AB  - NMR spectroscopy is a powerful tool for detection and characterization of
      chemical compounds in biological systems. Its application in pharmaceutical
      studies in cell cultures, however, has been hampered by the enormous technical
      challenges in separating intra- from extracellular amounts of one substance. We
      introduce a novel approach to separate intra- from extracellular NMR signal based
      on the detection of intermolecular zero-quantum coherences in presence of a
      chemical shift agent. In a sample of large cells in culture, the investigation of
      cellular uptake of pharmacological substances becomes feasible. The addition of
      10 mM Tm-DOTP to a suspension of 100 Xenopus laevis oocytes resulted in
      sufficient separation of resonance frequencies between intra- and extracellular
      water. Upon selective excitation of either intra- or extracellular water signal,
      only intra- or extracellular components were observed, respectively. The
      presented localization technique provides intrinsic averaging over a large number
      of cells, resulting in a significant signal gain. The method works on standard
      NMR spectrometers, which are available at most scientific research institutions
      today. On a high-resolution NMR system with a cryoprobe, a 20-fold sensitivity
      gain was observed as compared to conventionally localized NMR spectroscopy of a
      single X. laevis oocyte on dedicated NMR microscopes.

PMID- 20923668
TI  - SEIRA spectroscopy on a membrane receptor monolayer using lipoprotein particles
      as carriers.
AB  - Surface-enhanced infrared absorption (SEIRA) difference spectroscopy can probe
      reactions in a protein monolayer tethered to a nanostructured gold surface. SEIRA
      studies of membrane proteins, however, remain challenging due to sample
      stability, effects of the metal surface on function, and the need for a membrane
      mimicking environment. Here we demonstrate and characterize a model system for
      membrane receptor investigations using SEIRA spectroscopy. The system employs
      nanoscale apolipoprotein bound bilayer (NABB) particles, similar to discoidal
      high-density lipoprotein particles, as soluble carriers for the G-protein-coupled
      receptor rhodopsin. The His-tag of the engineered apolipoprotein allows for
      selective binding of the NABBs to a Ni-NTA modified surface, while the lipid
      environment of the particle ensures stability and protection of the embedded
      receptor. Using SEIRA spectroscopy, we followed specific binding of rhodopsin
      loaded NABB particles to the surface and formation of a membrane protein
      monolayer. Functionality of the photoreceptor in the immobilized NABBs was probed
      by SEIRA difference spectroscopy confirming protein conformational changes
      associated with photoactivation. Orientation of the immobilized NABB particles
      was assessed by comparing SEIRA data with polarized attenuated total reflection
      Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. Thus, SEIRA difference spectroscopy
      supported by the NABB technology provides a promising approach for further
      functional studies of transmembrane receptors.

PMID- 20923670
TI  - Signal/noise analysis of FRET-based sensors.
AB  - Molecular sensors based on intramolecular Forster resonance energy transfer
      (FRET) have become versatile tools to monitor regulatory molecules in living
      tissue. However, their use is often compromised by low signal strength and
      excessive noise. We analyzed signal/noise (SNR) aspects of spectral FRET analysis
      methods, with the following conclusions: The most commonly used method
      (measurement of the emission ratio after a single short wavelength excitation) is
      optimal in terms of signal/noise, if only relative changes of this uncalibrated
      ratio are of interest. In the case that quantitative data on FRET efficiencies
      are required, these can be calculated from the emission ratio and some
      calibration parameters, but at reduced SNR. Lux-FRET, a recently described method
      for spectral analysis of FRET data, allows one to do so in three different ways,
      each based on a ratio of two out of three measured fluorescence signals (the
      donor and acceptor signal during a short-wavelength excitation and the acceptor
      signal during long wavelength excitation). Lux-FRET also allows for calculation
      of the total abundance of donor and acceptor fluorophores. The SNR for all these
      quantities is lower than that of the plain emission ratio due to unfavorable
      error propagation. However, if ligand concentration is calculated either from lux
      FRET values or else, after its calibration, from the emission ratio, SNR for both
      analysis modes is very similar. Likewise, SNR values are similar, if the noise of
      these quantities is related to the expected dynamic range. We demonstrate these
      relationships based on data from an Epac-based cAMP sensor and discuss how the
      SNR changes with the FRET efficiency and the number of photons collected.

PMID- 20923671
TI  - Improved probes for hybrid voltage sensor imaging.
AB  - Hybrid voltage sensors (hVoS) probe membrane potential by coupling the
      fluorescence of membrane-anchored proteins to the movement of a membrane-embedded
      hydrophobic anion dipicrylamine. Fluorescence resonance energy transfer between
      these two components transduces voltage changes into fluorescence changes,
      providing a signal for imaging electrical activity in genetically targeted cells.
      To improve hVoS signals, we systematically varied the optical properties,
      membrane targeting motifs, and linkages of fluorescent proteins to optimize the
      normalized fluorescence change (DeltaF/F) and signal/noise ratio. The best
      results were obtained with cerulean fluorescent protein tagged N-terminally with
      a GAP43 motif and C-terminally with a truncated h-ras motif. With 100 mV steps in
      PC12 cells, this probe produced DeltaF/F = 26% (4 MUM dipicrylamine), which was
      threefold greater than that obtained with the original farnesylated EGFP
      construct. We also obtained a fivefold greater signal/noise ratio, which was 70%
      of a theoretical optimum. We designate this GAP43-CerFP-t-h-ras construct as hVoS
      2.0. With the aid of a theoretical analysis, we estimated that hVoS 2.0 places
      its fluorophore ~40 A from the bilayer midplane. hVoS 2.0 performed well in
      cultured hippocampal neurons, where single action potentials produced clear
      fluorescence changes in a single trial. This improved probe should help
      investigators image voltage in genetically targeted neurons.

PMID- 20923672
TI  - Binding of more than one retinoid to visual opsins.
AB  - Visual opsins bind 11-cis retinal at an orthosteric site to form rhodopsins but
      increasing evidence suggests that at least some are capable of binding an
      additional retinoid(s) at a separate, allosteric site(s). Microspectrophotometric
      measurements on isolated, dark-adapted, salamander photoreceptors indicated that
      the truncated retinal analog, beta-ionone, partitioned into the membranes of
      green-sensitive rods; however, in blue-sensitive rod outer segments, there was an
      enhanced uptake of four or more beta-ionones per rhodopsin. X-ray crystallography
      revealed binding of one beta-ionone to bovine green-sensitive rod rhodopsin.
      Cocrystallization only succeeded with extremely high concentrations of beta
      ionone and binding did not alter the structure of rhodopsin from the inactive
      state. Salamander green-sensitive rod rhodopsin is also expected to bind beta
      ionone at sufficiently high concentrations because the binding site is present on
      its surface. Therefore, both blue- and green-sensitive rod rhodopsins have at
      least one allosteric binding site for retinoid, but beta-ionone binds to the
      latter type of rhodopsin with low affinity and low efficacy.

PMID- 20923674
TI  - Mass spectrometry in laboratory medicine: When "high-tech" meets routine needs.

PMID- 20923673
TI  - Magnetic and contrast properties of labeled platelets for magnetomotive optical
      coherence tomography.
AB  - This article introduces a new functional imaging paradigm that uses optical
      coherence tomography (OCT) to detect rehydrated, lyophilized platelets (RL
      platelets) that are in the preclinical trial stage and contain superparamagnetic
      iron oxides (SPIOs) approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Platelets
      are highly functional blood cells that detect and adhere to sites of vascular
      endothelial damage by forming primary hemostatic plugs. By applying magnetic
      gradient forces, induced nanoscale displacements (magnetomotion) of the SPIO-RL
      platelets are detected as optical phase shifts in OCT. In this article, we
      characterize the iron content and magnetic properties of SPIO-RL platelets,
      construct a model to predict their magnetomotion in a tissue medium, and
      demonstrate OCT imaging in tissue phantoms and ex vivo pig arteries. Tissue
      phantoms containing SPIO-RL platelets exhibited >3 dB contrast/noise ratio at
      >=1.5 * 10(9) platelets/cm(3). OCT imaging was performed on ex vivo porcine
      arteries after infusion of SPIO-RL platelets, and specific contrast was obtained
      on an artery that was surface-damaged (P < 10(-6)). This may enable new
      technologies for in vivo monitoring of the adherence of SPIO-RL platelets to
      sites of bleeding and vascular damage, which is broadly applicable for assessing
      trauma and cardiovascular diseases.

PMID- 20923675
TI  - Modification of the EMIT immunoassay for the measurement of unbound mycophenolic
      acid in plasma.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Evaluation of the performance of a modified Enzyme Multiplied
      Immunoassay Technique for therapeutic drug monitoring of plasma free mycophenolic
      acid (fMPA) concentrations. DESIGN AND METHODS: A fMPA assay was developed on a
      Viva-E analyzer. A study of prior ultrafiltration conditions and analytical
      validation of the EMIT assay were performed. RESULTS: The method was reliable and
      reproducible. CONCLUSIONS: fMPA levels can be monitored using this EMIT assay
      with the advantage of being an automated method.

PMID- 20923676
TI  - Validation of an automated intact N-terminal propeptide of type I procollagen
      (PINP) assay.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: N-terminal propeptide of type I procollagen assay (PINP) reflects the
      rate of type I collagen synthesis DESIGN AND METHODS: Different sera were
      fractioned by gel filtration and analyzed with intact and total PINP assays. The
      sizes of the antigens were determined by western blotting. The thermal stability
      was tested at +37 degrees C, +4 degrees C and room temperature (RT). RESULTS:
      Automated intact PINP assay hardly measured monomeric form. In haemodialysis
      patients intact and total PINP assays gave significantly different results. The
      monomeric PINP antigen in serum was larger than the trimeric PINP antigen. PINP
      were thermally stable at least 7 days at +4 degrees C and at RT but the results
      of both assays were decreased similarly at +37 degrees C. CONCLUSIONS: The IDS
      iSYS intact PINP assay is precise and sensitive. It seems that monomeric form is
      not derived from the thermal instability of the trimers but acts as a confounding
      factor.

PMID- 20923677
TI  - Multicenter evaluation of a new automated electrochemiluminescence immunoassay
      for the quantification of testosterone compared to liquid chromatography tandem
      mass spectrometry.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: A new electrochemiluminescence testosterone immunoassay (Elecsys(r)
      Testo II) was evaluated. DESIGN AND METHODS: Within-run precision, total
      precision, and method comparisons to the former immunoassay and LC-MS/MS were
      investigated. Reference intervals were established for adults and children.
      RESULTS: Imprecision ranged from 0.9% to 8.5%. Method comparisons revealed slopes
      from 0.68 to 1.32 and coefficients of correlation from 0.893 to 0.991.
      CONCLUSIONS: Improved agreement with LC-MS/MS was demonstrated, especially for
      female patients. The assay may be a suitable alternative for laboratories with no
      access to MS techniques.

PMID- 20923678
TI  - Type of CFTR mutation determines risk of pancreatitis in patients with cystic
      fibrosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND & AIMS: Different mutations in the cystic fibrosis gene (CFTR) are
      associated with different functional status of the exocrine pancreas. We
      investigated whether CFTR genotypes determine the risk of pancreatitis in
      patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). METHODS: Patients with pancreatic-sufficient
      CF were identified from 2 CF population-based databases (N = 277; 62 with
      pancreatitis and 215 without pancreatitis); patients' genotypes and clinical
      characteristics were analyzed. The loss of pancreatic function associated with
      each CFTR genotype was determined based on the pancreatic insufficiency
      prevalence (PIP) score. RESULTS: Patients with pancreatitis were more likely to
      have genotypes associated with mild (70%) than moderate-severe (30%) PIP scores
      (P = .004). The cumulative proportion of patients who developed pancreatitis
      through to the age of 50 years was significantly greater for genotypes associated
      with mild (50%) than moderate-severe (27%) PIP scores (P = .006). The genotype
      associated with mild PIP scores had a hazard ratio of 2.4 for pancreatitis (95%
      confidence interval, 1.3-4.5; P = .006). Patients with pancreatitis were
      diagnosed with CF at an older median age than those without pancreatitis (14.9
      years [interquartile range, 9.5-27.7] vs 9.3 years [interquartile range, 1.5
      21.4]; P = .003) and had lower mean levels of sweat chloride than patients
      without pancreatitis (74.5 +/- 26.2 mmol/L vs 82.8 +/- 25.2 mmol/L; P = .03).
      CONCLUSIONS: Specific CFTR genotypes are significantly associated with
      pancreatitis. Patients with genotypes associated with mild phenotypic effects
      have a greater risk of developing pancreatitis than patients with genotypes
      associated with moderate-severe phenotypes. This observation provides further
      insight into the complex pathogenesis of pancreatitis.

PMID- 20923679
TI  - Acute venous occlusion enhances matrix metalloprotease activity: Implications on
      endothelial dysfunction.
AB  - Venous hypertension is associated with microvascular inflammation, restructuring,
      and apoptosis, but the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying these events
      remain uncertain. In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that elevated
      venous pressure and reduction of shear stress induce elevated enzymatic activity.
      This activity in turn may affect endothelial surface receptors and promote their
      dysfunction. Using a rodent model for venous hypertension using acute venular
      occlusion, microzymographic techniques for enzyme detection, and
      immunohistochemistry for receptor labeling, we found increased activity of the
      matrix metalloproteases (MMPs) -1, -8, and -9 and tissue inhibitors of
      metalloproteases (TIMPs) -1 and -2 in both high- and low-pressure regions. In
      this short time frame, we also observed that elevated venule pressure led to two
      different fates for the vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-2 (VEGFR2);
      in higher-pressure upstream regions, some animals exhibited higher VEGFR2
      expression, while others displayed lower levels upstream compared to their
      downstream counterparts with lower pressure. VEGFR2 expression was, on average,
      more pronounced upon application of MMP inhibitor, suggesting possible cleavage
      of the receptor by activated enzymes in this model. We conclude that venous
      pressure elevation increases enzymatic activity which may contribute to
      inflammation and endothelial dysfunction associated with this disease by
      influencing critical surface receptors.

PMID- 20923680
TI  - Comparison of the binding affinity of chlorogenic acid with two serum albumins.
AB  - Chlorogenic acid (CA) is a well-known ester of caffeic acid present in some food.
      It is also an active component in traditional Chinese medicines which are used to
      treat various diseases, but the molecular basis of CA is not clear. In the
      present work, the proton selective relaxation rate and the affinity index were
      used to investigate the interaction of CA with human serum albumin and bovine
      serum albumin under the same buffer conditions. The results indicated that the
      binding affinity of chlorogenic acid to BSA was stronger than that to HSA. The
      binding site of the ligand-protein complex was elucidated by molecular docking,
      and the specific interaction was observed from those hydrogen bonds formed by the
      ligand and active residues. Using a combination of TR-NOE detection, the optimal
      ligand conformation was illustrated. Further conformational analysis of the
      complex revealed that the ability of hydrogen bond formation by polar side chain
      residues in the binding site of BSA might contribute to the greater binding
      affinity. The results provide a better understanding of CA binding and should
      contribute towards the design of modifications of CA for therapeutic purposes.

PMID- 20923681
TI  - Generation of the oxidized form protects human brain type creatine kinase against
      cystine-induced inactivation.
AB  - Cystine accumulation in cystinotic patients has been reported to inhibit brain
      type creatine kinase (BBCK), an important thiol-containing enzyme in energy
      homeostasis. In this research, we found that the oxidized form of BBCK (O-BBCK)
      was induced by cystine, and the intramolecular disulfide bond of O-BBCK was
      formed between Cys74 and Cys254. The wild type BBCK was found to be more
      resistant to the inactivation induced by cystine when compared to the single
      point mutant C74S or C254S. Meanwhile, the existence of GSH could protect the
      wild type BBCK more efficiently than the mutants. These observations suggested
      that the ability to generate the oxidized form could protect BBCK against the
      intracellular oxidative stress.

PMID- 20923683
TI  - Comparison of the protective efficacy of recombinant adenoviruses against
      classical swine fever.
AB  - Classical swine fever (CSF), which is caused by classical swine fever virus
      (CSFV), is a highly contagious and often fatal swine disease that is responsible
      for significant losses to the swine industry worldwide. Previously, we
      demonstrated that pigs immunized with a recombinant adenovirus (rAdV-E2)
      expressing the E2 glycoprotein of CSFV were protected against virulent CSFV;
      however, a few pigs showed a short-term fever and occasional pathological
      changes. To enhance the efficacy of the vaccine, we constructed two recombinant
      adenoviruses, namely, rAdV-E2UL49, which encodes the CSFV E2 gene fused with the
      UL49 gene from pseudorabies virus (PRV), and rAdV-optiE2, which expresses the
      codon-optimized CSFV E2 gene. With these viruses, we performed a comparative
      immunogenicity trial in rabbits and pigs and compared these recombinant
      adenovirus vaccines (rAdV-E2UL49 and rAdV-optiE2) with the one containing the
      wild-type E2 gene (rAdV-E2). In terms of antibody titers, IFN-gamma production,
      lymphocyte proliferation, viral loads and clinical protection from the disease,
      rAdV-E2UL49 was more immunogenic and protective against C-strain CSFV in rabbits
      and Shimen strain CSFV in pigs than rAdV-optiE2 and rAdV-E2. Data from this study
      could assist in making decisions for further development of recombinant
      adenoviruses as vaccine candidates against CSF.

PMID- 20923684
TI  - Differential expression of SLAMS and other modulatory molecules by human plasma
      cells during normal maturation.
AB  - Plasma cells (PCs) are specialized in antibody (Ab) production and they are,
      therefore, responsible for maintaining humoral immune responses. The human PC
      compartment is heterogeneous. PCs from inductive secondary lymphoid organs and
      from peripheral blood (PB) show less capability for prolonged survival and Ab
      production than bone marrow (BM) PCs, a pool consisting of fully mature cells.
      The HLDA9 workshop has allowed the use of labeled-monoclonal Abs (moAbs)
      recognizing a variety of recently identified lymphocyte modulatory surface
      receptors. In this study, flow cytometry analysis has been used to define the
      presence of these receptors on human PCs obtained from human tonsil (as an
      example of inductive organ), from PB and from BM. It was found that human PCs
      commonly expressed SLAMF1 (CD150), SLAMF2 (CD48), SLAMF3 (CD229), SLAMF6 (CD352)
      and SLAMF7 (CD319), but not SLAMF4 (CD244). In addition, PCs distinctively showed
      a low level of SLAMF5 (CD84) and a very high level of SLAMF7 expression in
      comparison with earlier stages of B cell maturation. All PC subsets exhibited a
      similar pattern of expression of SLAMF receptors suggesting a stage-dependent
      role for these proteins. In addition, most circulating PCs clearly expressed
      TNFRSF14 (CD270), BTLA (CD272), B7-1 (CD80) and B7-2 (CD86), and a substantial
      fraction of them were also positive for TNFRSF18 (CD357), FCRL1 (CD307a) and LAIR
      1 (CD305). In contrast, tonsil and BM PCs only exhibited partial expression of
      TNFRSF14 and B7-2, a pattern of molecular expression similar to that detected on
      germinal center (GC) B cells. Present results indicate that human PCs exhibit a
      common pattern of SLAMF proteins, but differ in the rest of the receptors
      examined; this difference might be associated with their distinctive homing and
      functional requirements.

PMID- 20923685
TI  - Cluster analysis of immunophenotypic data: the example of chronic lymphocytic
      leukemia.
AB  - Studies of gene expression profiling have been successfully used for the
      identification of molecules to be employed as potential prognosticators. In
      analogy with gene expression profiling, we have previously proposed an original
      method to identify the immunophenotypic signature of chronic lymphocytic leukemia
      (CLL) subsets with different prognosis, named surface-antigen expression
      profiling. According to this method, expression data for surface markers can be
      successfully analyzed by data mining tools identical to those employed in gene
      expression profiling studies, including unsupervised and supervised algorithms,
      with the aim to identify the immunophenotypic signature of CLL subsets with
      different prognosis. By employing an identical approach for investigating the
      reactivity of a wide panel of monoclonal antibodies provided by the "Ninth
      International Workshop on Leukocyte Differentiation Antigens", we were able to
      identify some of them (i.e. TCL1, CCR7, FCRL2, FCRL3, and CD150) as additional
      potential markers with prognostic relevance in CLL. These suggestions need to be
      confirmed: (i) in a new set of clinically characterized CLL cases; (ii) in
      combination with other prognostic markers in the context of comprehensive scoring
      systems for clinical outcome prediction.

PMID- 20923682
TI  - Serotonin 5-HT7 receptor agents: Structure-activity relationships and potential
      therapeutic applications in central nervous system disorders.
AB  - Since its discovery in the 1940s in serum, the mammalian intestinal mucosa, and
      in the central nervous system, serotonin (5-HT) has been shown to be involved in
      virtually all cognitive and behavioral human functions, and alterations in its
      neurochemistry have been implicated in the etiology of a plethora of
      neuropsychiatric disorders. The cloning of 5-HT receptor subtypes has been of
      importance in enabling them to be classified as specific protein molecules
      encoded by specific genes. The 5-HT(7) receptor is the most recently classified
      member of the serotonin receptor family. Since its identification, it has been
      the subject of intense research efforts driven by its presence in functionally
      relevant regions of the brain. The availability of some selective antagonists and
      agonists, in combination with genetically modified mice lacking the 5-HT(7)
      receptor, has allowed for a better understanding of the pathophysiological role
      of this receptor. This paper reviews data on localization and pharmacological
      properties of the 5-HT(7) receptor, and summarizes the results of structure
      activity relationship studies aimed at the discovery of selective 5-HT(7)
      receptor ligands. Additionally, an overview of the potential therapeutic
      applications of 5-HT(7) receptor agonists and antagonists in central nervous
      system disorders is presented.

PMID- 20923686
TI  - Serologic cross-reactivity among humans and birds infected with highly pathogenic
      avian influenza A subtype H5N1 viruses in China.
AB  - To study immunogenicity and serologic cross-reactivity of hemagglutinins (HAs)
      among humans and birds infected with highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI)
      H5N1, four representative H5N1 HA genes from humans and birds infected with
      distinct genetic clusters of H5N1 viruses in China were cloned, and several H5N1
      infected human serum and H5N1 positive bird serum samples were used. Recombinant
      HA proteins were generated for ELISA assays and pseudotype viruses containing HAs
      were produced for neutralization assays and hemagglutination inhibition (HI)
      tests. We found significant differences among clades compared to species in
      binding, neutralization and HI activity of H5N1 strains isolated from birds.
      While significant differences were observed among species in H5N1 isolated from
      humans, investigation of H5N1 infected human and avian sera provided evidence
      that the pressure from nAb may be a driving force for positive selection.
      Therefore, improved anti-viral nAb therapies could block avian influenza
      transmission in humans.

PMID- 20923687
TI  - Invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cell deficiency in chronic mucocutaneous
      candidiasis--a consequence or a cause?
AB  - Chronic mucocutaneous candidiasis (CMC) is a group of heterogeneous disorders
      characterised by primary selective susceptibility to chronic, recurrent Candida
      infections. The genetic defect of one subgroup of CMC patients have been
      identified as mutations of the autoimmune regulator (AIRE) gene. Recent data
      implicated the AIRE gene in iNKT cell development, raising the possibility that
      iNKT cells may be important in defending against Candida infections. In this
      study, we enumerated the circulating iNKT frequency in 22 CMC patients (9 with
      AIRE gene mutations) and 25 healthy controls. We also examined the effect of
      Candida stimulation on iNKT cells in vitro. Our data demonstrated that peripheral
      iNKT cell frequency is significantly reduced in CMC patients compared to healthy
      controls, regardless of their AIRE gene mutation status. Direct stimulation with
      heat-inactivated whole Candida did not induce iNKT cell proliferation.
      Furthermore, circulating iNKT cell frequencies in some healthy controls were
      comparable to CMC patients. These observations suggest that iNKT cell deficiency
      is part of the CMC disease phenotype irrespective of the presence of AIRE gene
      mutations but does not appear to confer susceptibility to chronic Candida
      infections. We postulate that the reduced circulating iNKT cell frequency in CMC
      is a consequence rather than a cause of chronic Candida infections.

PMID- 20923688
TI  - Universal primers for rapid detection of hytrosaviruses.
AB  - Hytrosaviridae is a proposed virus family encompassing viruses that cause
      salivary gland hypertrophy (SGH) syndrome in infected insects and reduce the
      fertility in their dipteran insect hosts. They contain a large, double stranded
      DNA genome of 120-190 kbp. To date, these viruses have been detected only in
      adult Diptera. These include hytrosaviruses detected in various tsetse fly
      species (Glossina spp.), the narcissus bulb fly Merodon equestris and the house
      fly Musca domestica. The limited number of hytrosaviruses reported to date may be
      a reflection of the frequent absence of external symptoms in infected adult flies
      and the fact that the virus does not cause rapid mortality. Based on the complete
      genome sequence of Glossinia pallidipes (GpSGHV) and Musca domestica (MdSGHV)
      salivary gland hypertrophy viruses, a PCR based methodology was developed to
      detect the viruses in these species. To be able to detect hytrosaviruses in other
      Diptera, five degenerate primer pairs were designed and tested on GpSGHV and
      MdSGHV DNA using gradient PCR with annealing temperatures from 37 to 61 degrees
      C. Two pairs of primers were selected from p74, two pairs from PIF-1 and one pair
      from ODV-e66 homologous proteins. Four primer pairs generated a virus specific
      PCR product on both MdSGHV and GpSGHV at all tested annealing temperatures, while
      the ODV-e66 based primers did not generate a virus specific product with
      annealing temperatures higher that 47 degrees C. No non-specific PCR product was
      found when using genomic DNA of infected flies as template DNA. These results
      offer new sets of primers that could be used to detect hytrosaviruses in other
      insects.

PMID- 20923689
TI  - Simultaneous virus-specific detection of the two cassava brown streak-associated
      viruses by RT-PCR reveals wide distribution in East Africa, mixed infections, and
      infections in Manihot glaziovii.
AB  - The expanding cassava brown streak disease (CBSD) epidemic in East Africa is
      caused by two ipomoviruses (genus Ipomovirus; Potyviridae), namely, Cassava brown
      streak virus (CBSV), and Ugandan cassava brown streak virus (UCBSV) that was
      described recently. A reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR)
      based diagnostic method was developed in this study for simultaneous virus
      specific detection of the two viruses. Results showed that CBSV and UCBSV are
      distributed widely in the highlands (> 1000 m above the sea level) of the Lake
      Victoria zone in Uganda and Tanzania and also in the Indian Ocean costal lowlands
      of Tanzania. Isolates of UCBSV from the Lake Victoria zone were placed to two
      phylogenetic clusters in accordance with their origin in Uganda or Tanzania,
      respectively. Mixed infections with CBSV and UCBSV were detected in many cassava
      plants in the areas surveyed. CBSV was also detected in the perennial species
      Manihot glaziovii (DNA-barcoded in this study) in Tanzania, which revealed the
      first virus reservoir other than cassava. The method for detection of CBSV and
      UCBSV described in this study has important applications for plant quarantine,
      resistance breeding of cassava, and studies on epidemiology and control of CBSD
      in East Africa.

PMID- 20923690
TI  - Development of a blocking ELISA for detection of serum neutralizing antibodies
      against porcine circovirus type 2.
AB  - A monoclonal antibody (Mab)-based blocking ELISA was developed for the detection
      of serum neutralizing antibodies to porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2). The Mab
      with neutralizing activity, which was produced by immunizing a recombinant capsid
      protein of PCV2 expressed in insect cells, was used as the detector antibody. The
      assay was evaluated in comparison with a serum neutralization assay, and its
      sensitivity and specificity were determined to be 98.8% and 88.5%, respectively.
      A significant positive correlation was found between results of the blocking
      ELISA and the serum neutralization assay (r=0.9381). The assay was verified by
      testing experimental and commercial pig sera. A longitudinal antibody profile
      showed that serum neutralizing antibodies were detected 2 weeks after vaccination
      and that the detection rate reached 100% at 4 weeks. The serum neutralizing
      antibody profile showed a decrease from the age of 4 to 13 weeks, and
      seroconversion after 13 weeks in pigs from a commercial pig farm. Additionally,
      the positive detection rate in 703 sera collected from nine commercial pig farms
      was 73%. This report demonstrates that the assay is a simple, specific, sensitive
      and convenient method for epidemiological surveys and evaluations of serum
      neutralizing antibodies against PCV2.

PMID- 20923691
TI  - A fish bradykinin (Arg0, Trp5, Leu8-bradykinin) from the defensive skin secretion
      of the European edible frog, Pelophylax kl. esculentus: structural
      characterization; molecular cloning of skin kininogen cDNA and pharmacological
      effects on mammalian smooth muscle.
AB  - Extensive studies on bradykinin-related peptides (BRPs) generated from plasma
      kininogens in representative species of various vertebrate taxa, have confirmed
      that many amphibian skin BRPs reflect those present in putative vertebrate
      predators. For example, the (Val(1), Thr(6))-bradykinin, present in the defensive
      skin secretions of many ranids and phyllomedusines, can be generated from plasma
      kininogens in colubrid snakes-common predators of these frogs. Here, we report
      the presence of (Arg(0), Trp(5), Leu(8))-bradykinin in the skin secretion of the
      European edible frog, Pelophylax kl. esculentus, and have found it to be encoded
      in single copy by a kininogen with an open-reading frame of 68 amino acid
      residues. This peptide is the archetypal bony fish bradykinin that has been
      generated from plasma kininogens of the bowfin (Amia calva), the long-nosed gar
      (Lepisosteus oseus) and the rainbow trout (Onchorhynchus mykiss). More recently,
      this peptide has been shown to be encoded within cloned kininogens of the
      Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) spotted wolf-fish (Anarichas minor), zebrafish (Danio
      rerio), pufferfish (Tetraodon nigroviridis) and Northern pike (Esox lucius). The
      latter species is regarded as a major predator of P. kl. esculentus. Synthetic
      (Arg(0), Trp(5), Leu(8))-bradykinin was previously reported as having multiphasic
      effects on arterial blood pressure in conscious trout and here we have
      demonstrated that it can antagonize the relaxation in rat arterial smooth muscle
      induced by canonical mammalian bradykinin. The discovery of (Arg(0), Trp(5),
      Leu(8))-bradykinin in the defensive skin secretion of this amphibian completes
      the spectrum of vertebrate taxon-specific BRPs identified from this source.

PMID- 20923692
TI  - The absence of VPAC2 leads to aberrant antibody production in Aspergillus
      fumigatus sensitized and challenged mice.
AB  - Vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) facilitates a "pro-allergy" phenotype when
      signaling through its G protein-coupled receptor, VPAC(2). We have shown that
      VPAC(2) knock-out (KO) mice developed an allergic phenotype marked by
      eosinophilia and elevated serum IgE. Therefore, we hypothesized that the humoral
      response to allergen challenge in these mice was T(H)2 dominant similar to wild
      type (WT) C57BL/6 mice. Antibody responses in WT and KO mice were measured after
      Aspergillus fumigatus conidia inhalation. In contrast to previous reports, basal
      levels of serum IgG(2a) and IgA were significantly higher in naive VPAC(2) KO
      animals. Antibody availability in the serum as well as the bronchoalveolar lavage
      fluid after fungal challenge was dominated by the pro-inflammatory isotype
      IgG(2a) and the mucosal isotype, IgA. IgA localizing cells dominated in the
      peribronchovascular areas of allergic KO mice while IgE immune complexes were
      found in WT allergic lungs. This research shows for the first time that VPAC(2)
      has a significant effect on antibody regulation, in the context of allergy.

PMID- 20923693
TI  - Perillyl alcohol protects against ethanol induced acute liver injury in Wistar
      rats by inhibiting oxidative stress, NFkappa-B activation and proinflammatory
      cytokine production.
AB  - Oxidative stress and inflammation are two major etiological factors that are
      suggested to play key roles in the development of ethanol induced liver injury.
      Release of proinflammatory cytokine like tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha)
      and activation of nuclear factor kappa-B (NFkappa-B) may strongly intensify
      inflammation and cell damage. Additionally, reactive oxygen species (ROS) also
      exerts significant effect in this whole cell signaling machinery. The present
      study was designed to investigate the protective effects of perillyl alcohol
      (POH) on ethanol-induced acute liver injury in Wistar rats and its probable
      mechanism. We have successfully demonstrated that pre-treatment with POH, besides
      exerting antioxidant activity might be able to modulate TNF-alpha release and
      NFkappa-B activation. Rats were divided into five groups and treated with ethanol
      or POH via an intragastric tube for one week. Control group was treated with
      vehicle, and ethanol treated group was given ethanol (5 g/kg body wt). Animal of
      treatment groups were pretreated with POH (50 & 100 mg/kg body wt) and have been
      given ethanol. Serum aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase and
      lactate dehydrogenase and hepatic malondialdehyde were increased significantly by
      ethanol treatment. Ethanol administration decreased hepatic reduced glutathione
      content and various antioxidant enzymes activity. TNF-alpha production and
      NFkappa-B activation was also found to be increased after ethanol administration.
      POH pre-treatment significantly ameliorates ethanol induced acute liver injury
      possibly by inhibition of lipid peroxidation, replenishment of endogenous
      enzymatic and non-enzymatic defense system, downregulation of TNF-alpha as well
      as NFkappa-B.

PMID- 20923694
TI  - Neurocognitive effects of HF-rTMS over the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex on the
      attentional processing of emotional information in healthy women: an event
      related fMRI study.
AB  - Current evidence concerning the neurocircuitry underlying the interplay between
      attention and emotion is mainly correlational. We used high-frequency repetitive
      Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (HF-rTMS) to experimentally manipulate activity
      within the right or left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) of healthy women
      and examined changes in attentional processing of emotional information using an
      emotional modification of the exogenous cueing task during event-related fMRI.
      Right prefrontal HF-rTMS resulted in impaired disengagement from angry faces,
      associated with decreased activation within the right DLPFC, dorsal anterior
      cingulate cortex (dACC) and left superior parietal gyrus, combined with increased
      activity within the right amygdala. Left prefrontal HF-rTMS resulted in
      diminished attentional engagement by angry faces and was associated with
      increased activity within the right DLPFC, dACC, right superior parietal gyrus
      and left orbitofrontal cortex. The present observations are in line with reports
      of a functionally interactive network of cortical-limbic pathways that play a
      central role in emotion regulation.

PMID- 20923695
TI  - Aggressive behavior during social interaction in mice is controlled by the
      modulation of tyrosine hydroxylase expression in the prefrontal cortex.
AB  - The Balb/c strain and the C57BL/6 strain show constitutive differences for
      tyrosine hydroxylase expression, and noradrenaline (NA) prefrontal transmission.
      Male mice of these strains also show striking differences in social interaction
      behaviors, with an increased aggressiveness for the Balb/c strain. To test a
      potential link between these neurobiological and behavioral parameters, we
      evaluated the behavioral effects of chronic treatment of mice with BC19, a
      noreburnamine compound previously known as RU24722, found to modify cell
      organisation, tyrosine hydoxylase (TH) expression, and its activity into the
      locus coeruleus (LC). We compared the pharmacological effects between the two
      strains in social behaviors. Our results show that the emergence of additional TH
      expressing (TH+) neurons in the rostral part of the LC of Balb/c mice was
      associated with an increase in the density of TH+ and noradrenergic (NA+) fibers
      in the molecular layer in the cingular (Cg1) and prelimbic (PrL) parts of the
      prefrontal cortex (PFC). BC19 treatment resulted in the near-equalization of the
      LC number of TH+ neurons and of the density of TH+ and NA+ fibers between both
      strains. The aggressiveness in Balb/c mice was considerably diminished by BC19
      treatment, while the originally non aggressive behavior of C57Bl/6 mice was much
      less affected by BC19 treatment, despite a moderate increase in some offensive
      behaviors. In additional control experiments, we checked the effect of BC19 on a
      separate test for anxiety and assessed the effect of noradrenergic N-(2
      chloroethyl)-N-ethyl-2-bromobenzylamine hydrochloride (DSP-4) mediated lesions in
      C57BL/6 mice on social behaviors. In the present study we show that the BC19
      effect in Balb/c mice was independent of anxiety as measured in the light/dark
      test and that DSP-4 lesions in C57BL/6 mice produced a robust increase in
      aggressive social interaction. Altogether, these results show that the
      noradrenergic system, and particularly its projections to the PFC, strongly
      modulates aggressive behaviors.

PMID- 20923696
TI  - Enhanced anorexigenic signaling in lean obesity resistant syndecan-3 null mice.
AB  - Obesity is associated with increased risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease and
      several types of cancers. The hypothalamus is a region of the brain critical in
      the regulation of body weight. One of the critical and best studied hypothalamic
      circuits is comprised of the melanocortinergic orexigenic agouti-related protein
      (AgRP) and anorexigenic alpha-melanocyte stimulating hormone (alpha-MSH) neurons.
      These neurons project axons to the same hypothalamic target neurons and balance
      each other's activity leading to body weight regulation. We previously showed
      that the brain proteoglycan syndecan-3 regulates feeding behavior and body
      weight, and syndecan-3 null (SDC-3(-/-)) mice are lean and obesity resistant.
      Here we show that the melanocortin agonist Melanotan II (MTII) potently
      suppresses food intake and activates the hypothalamic paraventricular nuclei
      (PVN) in SDC-3(-/-) mice based on c-fos immunoreactivity. Interestingly, we
      determined that the AgRP neuropeptide is reduced in the PVN of SDC-3(-/-) mice
      compared to wild type mice. In contrast, neuropeptide Y, coexpressed in the AgRP
      neuron, is not differentially expressed nor is the counteracting neuropeptide
      alpha-MSH. These findings are unprecedented and indicate that AgRP protein
      localization can be selectively regulated within the hypothalamus resulting in
      altered neuropeptide response and tone.

PMID- 20923697
TI  - Role of the NR2A/2B subunits of the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor in glutamate
      induced glutamic acid decarboxylase alteration in cortical GABAergic neurons in
      vitro.
AB  - The vulnerability of brain neuronal cell subpopulations to neurologic insults
      varies greatly. Among cells that survive a pathological insult, for example
      ischemia or brain trauma, some may undergo morphological and/or biochemical
      changes that may compromise brain function. The present study is a follow-up of
      our previous studies that investigated the effect of glutamate-induced
      excitotoxicity on the GABA synthesizing enzyme glutamic acid decarboxylase
      (GAD65/67)'s expression in surviving DIV 11 cortical GABAergic neurons in vitro
      [Monnerie and Le Roux, (2007) Exp Neurol 205:367-382, (2008) Exp Neurol 213:145
      153]. An N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR)-mediated decrease in GAD
      expression was found following glutamate exposure. Here we examined which NMDAR
      subtype(s) mediated the glutamate-induced change in GAD protein levels. Western
      blotting techniques on cortical neuron cultures showed that glutamate's effect on
      GAD proteins was not altered by NR2B-containing diheteromeric (NR1/NR2B) receptor
      blockade. By contrast, blockade of triheteromeric (NR1/NR2A/NR2B) receptors fully
      protected against a decrease in GAD protein levels following glutamate exposure.
      When receptor location on the postsynaptic membrane was examined, extrasynaptic
      NMDAR stimulation was observed to be sufficient to decrease GAD protein levels
      similar to that observed after glutamate bath application. Blocking diheteromeric
      receptors prevented glutamate's effect on GAD proteins after extrasynaptic NMDAR
      stimulation. Finally, NR2B subunit examination with site-specific antibodies
      demonstrated a glutamate-induced, calpain-mediated alteration in NR2B expression.
      These results suggest that glutamate-induced excitotoxic NMDAR stimulation in
      cultured GABAergic cortical neurons depends upon subunit composition and receptor
      location (synaptic vs. extrasynaptic) on the neuronal membrane. Biochemical
      alterations in surviving cortical GABAergic neurons in various disease states may
      contribute to the altered balance between excitation and inhibition that is often
      observed after injury.

PMID- 20923698
TI  - Isolation of a novel catechin from Bergenia rhizomes that has pronounced lipase
      inhibiting and antioxidative properties.
AB  - An aqueous ethanol extract of Bergenia crassifolia rhizomes strongly inhibited
      human pancreatic lipase activity and increased scavenging of DPPH free radicals
      in vitro. Chromatographic separation of this extract led to isolation of the
      hydrolysable tannins (+)-catechin 3,5-di-O-gallate (1) and (+)-catechin 3-O
      gallate (2). This is the first report of the isolation of compound 1 from plant
      material. This compound strongly inhibited human pancreatic lipase (with an
      IC(50) value of 0.42 MUg/ml) and exhibited a remarkable free radical-scavenging
      ability (with an SC(50) value of 1.04 MUg/ml). The chemical structures of 1 and 2
      were elucidated using MS, NMR and chemical approaches.

PMID- 20923700
TI  - A nonsense mutation in the optic atrophy 3 gene (OPA3) causes dilated
      cardiomyopathy in Red Holstein cattle.
AB  - Cardiomyopathies are severe degenerative disorders of the myocardium that lead to
      heart failure. During the last three decades bovine dilated cardiomyopathy
      (BDCMP) was observed worldwide in cattle of Holstein-Friesian origin. In the
      Swiss cattle population BDCMP affects Fleckvieh and Red Holstein breeds. The
      heart of affected animals is enlarged due to dilation of both ventricles.
      Clinical signs are caused by systolic dysfunction and affected individuals die as
      a result of severe heart insufficiency. BDCMP follows an autosomal recessive
      pattern of inheritance and the disease-causing locus was mapped to bovine
      chromosome 18 (BTA18). In the present study we describe the successful
      identification of the causative mutation in the OPA3 gene located on BTA18 that
      was previously reported to cause 3-methylglutaconic aciduria type III in Iraqi
      Jewish patients. We demonstrated conclusive genetic and functional evidence that
      the nonsense mutation c.343C>T in the bovine OPA3 gene causes the late-onset
      dilated cardiomyopathy in Red Holstein cattle.

PMID- 20923699
TI  - Obesity-mediated inflammatory microenvironment stimulates osteoclastogenesis and
      bone loss in mice.
AB  - Clinical evidence indicates that fat is inversely proportional to bone mass in
      elderly obese women. However, it remains unclear whether obesity accelerates bone
      loss. In this report we present evidence that increased visceral fat leads to
      inflammation and subsequent bone loss in 12-month-old C57BL/6J mice that were fed
      10% corn oil (CO)-based diet and a control lab chow (LC) for 6 months. As
      expected from our previous work, CO-fed mice demonstrated increased visceral fat
      and enhanced total body fat mass compared to LC. The adipocyte-specific PPARgamma
      and bone marrow (BM) adiposity were increased in CO-fed mice. In correlation with
      those modifications, inflammatory cytokines (IL-1beta, IL-6, TNF-alpha) were
      significantly elevated in CO-fed mice compared to LC-fed mice. This inflammatory
      BM microenvironment resulted in increased superoxide production in osteoclasts
      and undifferentiated BM cells. In CO-fed mice, the increased number of
      osteoclasts per trabecular bone length and the increased osteoclastogenesis
      assessed ex-vivo suggest that CO diet induces bone resorption. Additionally, the
      up-regulation of osteoclast-specific cathepsin k and RANKL expression and down
      regulation of osteoblast-specific RUNX2/Cbfa1 supports this bone resorption in CO
      fed mice. Also, CO-fed mice exhibited lower trabecular bone volume in the distal
      femoral metaphysis and had reduced OPG expression. Collectively, our results
      suggest that increased bone resorption in mice fed a CO-enriched diet is possibly
      due to increased inflammation mediated by the accumulation of adipocytes in the
      BM microenvironment. This inflammation may consequently increase
      osteoclastogenesis, while reducing osteoblast development in CO-fed mice.

PMID- 20923701
TI  - The hydroxyl functional group of N-(4-hydroxyphenyl)retinamide mediates cellular
      uptake and cytotoxicity in premalignant and malignant human epithelial cells.
AB  - In a previous study, we demonstrated that the anticancer synthetic retinoid N-(4
      hydroxyphenyl)retinamide (4HPR) redox cycles at the mitochondrial enzyme
      dihydroorotate dehydrogenase to trigger anomalous reactive oxygen species (ROS)
      production and attendant apoptosis in transformed human epithelial cells.
      Furthermore, we speculated that the hydroxyl functional group of 4HPR was
      required for this pro-oxidant property. In this study, we investigated the role
      of the hydroxyl functional group in the in vitro cytotoxicity of 4HPR. Using
      4HPR, its primary in vivo metabolite N-(4-methoxyphenyl)retinamide (4MPR), and
      the synthetic derivative N-(4-trifluoromethylphenyl)retinamide (4TPR), we
      examined the pro-oxidant and apoptotic effects, as well as the cellular uptake,
      of these three N-(4-substituted-phenyl)retinamides in premalignant and malignant
      human skin, prostate, and breast epithelial cells. Compared to 4HPR, both 4MPR
      and 4TPR were ineffective in promoting conspicuous cellular ROS production,
      mitochondrial disruption, or DNA fragmentation in these transformed cells.
      Interestingly, both 4MPR and 4TPR were not particularly cell permeative relative
      to 4HPR in skin or breast epithelial cells, which implied an additional role for
      the hydroxyl functional group in the cellular uptake of 4HPR. Moreover, the short
      term uptake of 4HPR was directly proportional to cell size, but this
      characteristic, in obvious contrast to cellular bioenergetic status and/or
      dihydroorotate dehydrogenase expression, was not fundamentally influential in the
      overall sensitivity to the promotion of cellular ROS production and apoptosis
      induction by this agent. Together, these results strongly implicate the hydroxyl
      functional group in the cytotoxic effects of 4HPR.

PMID- 20923702
TI  - Proinflammatory effect of cholesterol and its oxidation products on CaCo-2 human
      enterocyte-like cells: effective protection by epigallocatechin-3-gallate.
AB  - Cholesterol and its oxidation products, namely oxysterols, have very recently
      been shown to potentially interfere with homeostasis of the human digestive
      tract, by promoting and sustaining irreversible damage of the colonic epithelial
      layer. This report concerns the strong proinflammatory action that a dietary
      oxysterol mixture and, to a lesser extent, an identical concentration of
      unoxidized cholesterol exert on CaCo-2 colonic epithelial cells by up-regulating
      both expression and synthesis of interleukin 8. The oxysterol mixture and its
      most effective component, 7beta-hydroxycholesterol, are also shown to markedly
      enhance the expression of key inflammatory and chemotactic cytokines in colonic
      epithelial cells, more efficiently than unoxidized cholesterol. The sterols'
      proinflammatory effect seems to be mediated by enhanced activation of NOX1,
      because it is prevented by pretreatment of the cells with DPI, a selective
      inhibitor of this oxidase. Importantly, NOX1 hyperactivation by the oxysterol
      mixture or cholesterol was fully prevented by CaCo-2 cell preincubation with
      epigallocatechin-3-gallate. Consistently, supplementation with this compound
      fully protected colonic epithelial cells against overexpression of inflammatory
      and chemotactic genes induced by the sterols investigated.

PMID- 20923703
TI  - The effects of nitric oxide-oxidase and putative glutathione-peroxidase
      activities of ceruloplasmin on the viability of cardiomyocytes exposed to
      hydrogen peroxide.
AB  - Ceruloplasmin (CP), a ferroxidase (EC 1.16.3.1) and a scavenger of reactive
      oxygen species, is an important extracellular antioxidant. Bovine CP indeed
      protects the isolated heart under ischemia-reperfusion conditions. Human CP has
      been shown to also exhibit, in vitro, glutathione (GSH)-peroxidase and nitric
      oxide (NO)-oxidase/S-nitrosating activities. This work tested, using bovine CP,
      the hypothesis that both activities could provide cytoprotection during oxidative
      stress induced by hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)), the former activity by consuming
      H(2)O(2) and the latter by shielding thiols from irreversible oxidation. In
      acellular assays, bovine CP stimulated the generation of the nitrosating NO(+)
      species from the NO donors propylaminepropylamine-NONOate (PAPA/NO), S-nitroso-N
      acetylpenicillamine, and S-nitrosoglutathione. This NO-oxidase activity S
      nitrosated GSH as well as CP itself and was not affected by H(2)O(2). In contrast
      to human CP, bovine CP consumed H(2)O(2) in an additive rather than synergistic
      manner in the presence of GSH. A nonenzymatic scavenging of H(2)O(2) could have
      masked the GSH-peroxidase activity. Cytoprotection was evaluated using neonatal
      rat cardiomyocytes. CP and PAPA/NO were not protective against the H(2)O(2)
      induced loss of viability. In contrast, GSH provided a slight protection that
      increased more than additively in the presence of CP. This increase was canceled
      by PAPA/NO. CP's putative GSH-peroxidase activity can thus provide cytoprotection
      but is possibly affected by the S-nitrosation of a catalytically important
      cysteine residue.

PMID- 20923704
TI  - Modulation of gene expression by alpha-tocopherol and alpha-tocopheryl phosphate
      in THP-1 monocytes.
AB  - The natural vitamin E analog alpha-tocopheryl phosphate (alphaTP) modulates
      atherosclerotic and inflammatory events more efficiently than the
      unphosphorylated alpha-tocopherol (alphaT). To investigate the molecular
      mechanisms involved, we have measured plasma levels of alphaTP and compared the
      cellular effects of alphaT and alphaTP in THP-1 monocytes. THP-1 cell
      proliferation is slightly increased by alphaT, whereas it is inhibited by
      alphaTP. CD36 surface expression is inhibited by alphaTP within hours without
      requiring transport of alphaTP into cells, suggesting that alphaTP may bind to
      CD36 and/or trigger its internalization. As assessed by gene expression
      microarrays, more genes are regulated by alphaTP than by alphaT. Among a set of
      confirmed genes, the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor is induced
      by alphaTP as a result of activating protein kinase B (PKB/Akt) and is associated
      with increased levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Increased Akt(Ser473)
      phosphorylation and induction of ROS by alphaTP occur in a wortmannin-sensitive
      manner, indicating the involvement of phosphatidylinositol kinases. The induction
      of Akt(Ser473) phosphorylation and ROS production by alphaTP can be attenuated by
      alphaT. It is concluded that alphaTP and alphaT influence cell proliferation, ROS
      production, and Akt(Ser473) phosphorylation in an antagonistic manner, most
      probably by modulating phosphatidylinositol kinases.

PMID- 20923705
TI  - Expression of multiple copies of mitochondrially targeted catalase or genomic Mn
      superoxide dismutase transgenes does not extend the life span of Drosophila
      melanogaster.
AB  - The simultaneous overexpression of multiple copies of Mn superoxide dismutase
      (SOD) and ectopic catalase (mtCat) transgenes in the mitochondria of the fruit
      fly, Drosophila melanogaster, was shown previously to diminish the life span. The
      hypothesis tested in this study was that this effect was due primarily to the
      presence of one or the other transgene. An alternative hypothesis was that both
      transgenes have additive, negative effects. Crosses were performed between five
      pairs of transgenic lines containing single-copy insertions of mtCat, Mn SOD, or
      P element vector control transgenes at unique loci, and the life spans of progeny
      containing two mtCat, Mn SOD, or vector insertions were determined. Increasing
      amounts of mitochondrial catalase activity tended to be associated with decreases
      in mean life span. Overexpression of two copies of the genomic Mn SOD transgene
      had no effect on life span. The results do not support the hypothesis that
      enhanced mitochondrial SOD or catalase activity promotes longevity in flies.

PMID- 20923706
TI  - A web-based brain atlas of the vervet monkey, Chlorocebus aethiops.
AB  - Vervet monkeys are a frequently studied animal model in neuroscience research.
      Although equally distantly related to humans, the ancestors of vervets diverged
      from those of macaques and baboons more than 11 million years ago, antedating the
      divergence of the ancestors of humans, chimpanzees and gorillas. To facilitate
      anatomic localization in the vervet brain, two linked on-line electronic atlases
      are described, one based on registered MRI scans from hundreds of vervets
      (http://www.loni.ucla.edu/Research/Atlases/Data/vervet/vervetmratlas/vervetmratla
      .html) and the other based on a high-resolution cryomacrotome study of a single
      vervet
      (http://www.loni.ucla.edu/Research/Atlases/Data/vervet/vervetatlas/vervetatlas.ht
      l). The averaged MRI atlas is also available as a volume in Neuroimaging
      Informatics Technology Initiative format. In the cryomacrotome atlas, various
      sulcal and subcortical structures have been anatomically labeled and surface
      rendered views are provided along the primary planes of section. Both atlases
      simultaneously provide views in all three primary planes of section, rapid
      navigation by clicking on the displayed images, and stereotaxic coordinates in
      the averaged MRI atlas space. Despite the extended time period since their
      divergence, the major sulcal and subcortical landmarks in vervets are highly
      conserved relative to those described in macaques.

PMID- 20923708
TI  - Developmental influences on the neural bases of responses to social rejection:
      implications of social neuroscience for education.
AB  - Relational aggression such as social rejection is common within school peer
      groups. Converging evidence suggests that adolescent females are particularly
      sensitive to social rejection. We used a novel fMRI adaptation of the Cyberball
      social rejection paradigm to investigate the neural response to social rejection
      in 19 mid-adolescent (aged 14-16) and 16 adult female participants. Across all
      participants, social exclusion (relative to inclusion) elicited a response in
      bilateral medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) extending into ventral and subgenual
      anterior cingulate cortex and medial orbitofrontal cortex; and the left
      ventrolateral PFC (vlPFC); regions that have been associated in previous studies
      with social evaluation, negative affective processing, and affect regulation
      respectively. However, the exclusion-related response in right vlPFC, a region
      associated in previous studies with the regulation of rejection-related distress,
      was attenuated in adolescents. Within mPFC, greater activation during exclusion
      vs. inclusion was associated with greater self-reported susceptibility to peer
      influence in adolescents but not in adults. This suggests that the brain's
      response to experimentally-induced social rejection relates to adolescent
      behaviour in real-world social interactions. We speculate about the potential
      implications of these findings for educational settings. In particular,
      functional development of affective circuitry during adolescence may influence
      social interaction within the school peer group.

PMID- 20923707
TI  - Differential effects of age and history of hypertension on regional brain volumes
      and iron.
AB  - Aging affects various structural and metabolic properties of the brain. However,
      associations among various aspects of brain aging are unclear. Moreover, those
      properties and associations among them may be modified by age-associated increase
      in vascular risk. In this study, we measured volume of brain regions that vary in
      their vulnerability to aging and estimated local iron content via T2*
      relaxometry. In 113 healthy adults (19-83 years old), we examined prefrontal
      cortex (PFC), primary visual cortex (VC), hippocampus (HC), entorhinal cortex
      (EC), caudate nucleus (Cd), and putamen (Pt). In some regions (PFC, VC, Cd, and
      Pt) age-related differences in iron and volume followed similar patterns.
      However, in the medial-temporal structures, volume and iron content exhibited
      different age trajectories. Whereas age-related volume reduction was mild in HC
      and absent in EC, iron content evidenced significant age-related declines. In
      hypertensive participants significantly greater iron content was noted in all
      examined regions. Thus, iron content as measured by T2* may be a sensitive index
      of regional brain aging and may reveal declines that are more prominent than
      gross anatomical shrinkage.

PMID- 20923709
TI  - Toxicity equivalence range design (TEQR): a practical Phase I design.
AB  - PURPOSE: This paper introduces the target equivalence range (TEQR) design, a
      frequentist implementation of the modified toxicity probability interval (mTPI)
      design, as a competitor to the standard 3+3 design (3+3). The 3+3 is the work
      horse design in Phase I. It is good at determining if a safe dose exits, but
      provides poor accuracy and precision in estimating the level of toxicity at the
      maximum tolerated dose (MTD). Its main competitor, the continual reassessment
      method (CRM) has not found a true niche in the Phase I armamentarium resulting
      from statistical and implementation complexities. METHODS: We describe the four
      competing designs (3+3, mTPI, CRM, and TEQR), comparing them based on i)
      operating characteristics from simulated trials, and ii) ease of implementation.
      RESULTS: The TEQR is better than the 3+3 when compared on; 1) number of times the
      dose at or nearest the target toxicity level was selected as the MTD, 2) number
      of patients assigned to dose levels at or nearest the MTD, 3) overall trial dose
      limiting toxicity rate and 4) accuracy and precision of estimates for the rate of
      toxicity at the MTD. Further it is reasonably comparable to the CRM and mTPI on 1
      3. CONCLUSION: The TEQR offers trial designers a competitor to the 3+3 for ease
      of implementation with better operating characteristics and the added attraction
      of a glimpse of activity at the MTD. The R package TEQR, freely available from
      the comprehensive R archive network, includes functions to calculate dose
      escalation guidelines and operating characteristics.

PMID- 20923710
TI  - Mechanotransduction and epigenetic control in autoimmune diseases.
AB  - Differentiation of epithelial cells is required to define tissue architecture and
      appropriate function of these cells is associated with a specific pattern of gene
      expression. DNA methylation, post-translational modification of histones and
      chromatin remodeling are nuclear mechanisms implicated in epigenetic control of
      gene expression. All factors relevant to tissue differentiation, including cell
      adhesion and shape, extracellular stimuli and transcriptional control, modulate
      gene expression and, thus, some of them are likely to impact on nuclear
      mechanisms of epigenetic control. The epithelial cells of salivary glands from
      Sjogren's syndrome patients display alterations in cell adhesion and shape. In
      this review, we summarize how these alterations are thought to lead to chromatin
      remodeling and, in doing so, bring about changes in transcriptional patterns.
      Additionally, we discuss how mechanotransduction in cells with impaired
      structural organization is implicated in modifying gene expression in these
      patients.

PMID- 20923711
TI  - Forecasting the economic value of an Enterovirus 71 (EV71) vaccine.
AB  - Enterovirus 71 (EV71) is a growing public health concern, especially in Asia. A
      surge of EV71 cases in 2008 prompted authorities in China to go on national
      alert. While there is currently no treatment for EV71 infections, vaccines are
      under development. We developed a computer simulation model to determine the
      potential economic value of an EV71 vaccine for children (<5 years old) in China.
      Our results suggest that routine vaccination in China (EV71 infection incidence
      ~0.04%) may be cost-effective when vaccine cost is $25 and efficacy >=70% or cost
      is $10 and efficacy >=50%. For populations with higher infection risk (>=0.4%), a
      $50 or $75 vaccine would be highly cost-effective even when vaccine efficacy is
      as low as 50%.

PMID- 20923712
TI  - Persistence of the effects of Cerebrolysin on cognition and qEEG slowing in
      vascular dementia patients: results of a 3-month extension study.
AB  - The maintenance of the effects of Cerebrolysin, a peptidergic compound with
      neurotrophic activity, on cognitive performance and qEEG activity was
      investigated through a 12-week, open-label extension of a 4-week, randomised,
      placebo-controlled pilot study. Thirty-three out of 41 patients with mild-to
      moderate severe probable vascular dementia (VaD) according to NINDS-AIREN
      participating in the double-blind phase of the study were also assessed at the
      follow-up visit at week 16. Patients received i.v. infusions of Cerebrolysin (10
      or 30 mL) or placebo (saline) 5 days/week for 4 weeks. Neuropsychological
      evaluations and qEEG recordings were done at baseline, week 4 and week 16. The
      mean change in score from baseline in the ADAS-cog+ and the slow-to-fast qEEG
      power ratio (PR), used as an index of qEEG slowing, were the two primary
      endpoints. Correlations between changes in cognition and qEEG induced by the
      treatment were also assessed. At the week 16 follow-up visit, Cerebrolysin
      improved (p<0.05) cognitive performance at the 10-mL and 30-mL doses and reduced
      qEEG slowing significantly (p<0.05) at the 30-mL dose with respect to the
      placebo. In addition, a significant (p<0.05) positive correlation between the
      change from the baseline qEEG PR and ADAS-cog+ variables was observed at week 16.
      These results indicate a persistence of the beneficial effects of Cerebrolysin on
      cognition and qEEG activity in VaD patients for at least 12 weeks after treatment
      cessation, and they suggest the potential utility of qEEG parameters as
      biomarkers for VaD clinical trials.

PMID- 20923713
TI  - Pre-operative heparin reduces pulmonary microvascular fibrin deposition following
      cardiac surgery.

PMID- 20923714
TI  - Active case-finding for TB in the community: time to act.

PMID- 20923716
TI  - The persistence of low expectations in special education law viewed through the
      lens of therapeutic jurisprudence.
AB  - For more than thirty-five years a paradigm of low expectations has infected
      efforts to educate children with disabilities and has been a persistent and
      stubborn obstacle to the successful implementation of the Individuals with
      Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), and its predecessor, the Education of All
      Handicapped Children Act (EAHCA). This dilemma raises questions addressed in this
      paper: What is meant by low expectations in the context of Special Education Law?
      What are the root causes of this phenomenon, and what makes it so resistant to
      change? How does it impede implementation of the IDEA? And lastly, in what ways
      does the paradigm of low expectations impact children with disabilities socially,
      emotionally, and psychologically? The primary purpose of this paper is to
      consider these questions, particularly the last, utilizing therapeutic
      jurisprudence (TJ), a theoretical lens through which the emotional and
      psychological impact of the law and its processes upon those who interact in its
      context may be viewed and analyzed.

PMID- 20923715
TI  - Comparison of two active case-finding strategies for community-based diagnosis of
      symptomatic smear-positive tuberculosis and control of infectious tuberculosis in
      Harare, Zimbabwe (DETECTB): a cluster-randomised trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Control of tuberculosis in settings with high HIV prevalence is a
      pressing public health priority. We tested two active case-finding strategies to
      target long periods of infectiousness before diagnosis, which is typical of HIV
      negative tuberculosis and is a key driver of transmission. METHODS: Clusters of
      neighbourhoods in the high-density residential suburbs of Harare, Zimbabwe, were
      randomised to receive six rounds of active case finding at 6-monthly intervals by
      either mobile van or door-to-door visits. Randomisation was done by selection of
      discs of two colours from an opaque bag, with one disc to represent every
      cluster, and one colour allocated to each intervention group before selection
      began. In both groups, adult (>=16 years) residents volunteering chronic cough
      (>=2 weeks) had two sputum specimens collected for fluorescence microscopy.
      Community health workers and cluster residents were not masked to intervention
      allocation, but investigators and laboratory staff were masked to allocation
      until final analysis. The primary outcome was the cumulative yield of smear
      positive tuberculosis per 1000 adult residents, compared between intervention
      groups; analysis was by intention to treat. The secondary outcome was change in
      prevalence of culture-positive tuberculosis from before intervention to before
      round six of intervention in 12% of randomly selected households from the two
      intervention groups combined; analysis was based on participants who provided
      sputum in the two prevalence surveys. This trial is registered, number
      ISRCTN84352452. FINDINGS: 46 study clusters were identified and randomly
      allocated equally between intervention groups, with 55 741 adults in the mobile
      van group and 54,691 in the door-to-door group at baseline. HIV prevalence was
      21% (1916/9060) and in the 6 months before intervention the smear-positive case
      notification rate was 2.8 per 1000 adults per year. The trial was completed as
      planned with no adverse events. The mobile van detected 255 smear-positive
      patients from 5466 participants submitting sputum compared with 137 of 4711
      participants identified through door-to-door visits (adjusted risk ratio 1.48,
      95% CI 1.11-1.96, p=0.0087). The overall prevalence of culture-positive
      tuberculosis declined from 6.5 per 1000 adults (95% CI 5.1-8.3) to 3.7 per 1000
      adults (2.6-5.0; adjusted risk ratio 0.59, 95% CI 0.40-0.89, p=0.0112).
      INTERPRETATION: Wide implementation of active case finding, particularly with a
      mobile van approach, could have rapid effects on tuberculosis transmission and
      disease. FUNDING: Wellcome Trust.

PMID- 20923717
TI  - Establishing a compulsory drug treatment prison: Therapeutic policy, principles,
      and practices in addressing offender rights and rehabilitation.
AB  - A Compulsory Drug Treatment Correctional Center (CDTCC) was established in
      Australia in 2006 for repeat drug-related male offenders. Compulsory treatment
      law is inconsistent with a therapeutic jurisprudence approach. Despite the
      compulsory law, a normative offender rehabilitation framework has been
      established based on offender moral rights. Within moral rights, the offender
      rehabilitation framework addresses the core values of freedom (supporting
      autonomous decision-making) and well-being (supporting support physical, social,
      and psychological needs). Moral rights are underpinned by a theory or principle
      which, in this instance, is a humane approach to offender rehabilitation. While a
      law that permits offenders to choose drug treatment and rehabilitation is
      preferable, the article discusses the establishment of a prison based on
      therapeutic policy, principles, and practices that respond to participants as
      both rights-violators and rights-holders. The opportunity for accelerated
      community access and a therapeutic alliance with staff has resulted in offenders
      actively seeking to be ordered into compulsory drug treatment and rehabilitation.

PMID- 20923718
TI  - Neonatal neuroblastoma.

PMID- 20923719
TI  - Preventing parenteral nutrition liver disease.
AB  - Parenteral nutrition liver disease (PNLD) develops in 40-60% of infants who
      require long-term PN for intestinal failure. The clinical spectrum includes
      hepatic steatosis, cholestasis, cholelithiasis, and hepatic fibrosis. Progression
      to biliary cirrhosis and the development of portal hypertension and liver failure
      occurs in a minority who require combined liver and intestinal transplantation.
      The pathogenesis is multifactorial and is related to prematurity, low birth
      weight, duration of PN, short bowel syndrome requiring multiple laparotomies and
      recurrent sepsis. Other important mechanisms include lack of enteral feeding
      which leads to reduced gut hormone secretion, reduction of bile flow and biliary
      stasis which leads to the development of cholestasis, biliary sludge and
      gallstones, which exacerbate hepatic dysfunction, especially in premature
      neonates with immature hepatic function. The use of lipid emulsions, particularly
      soy bean emulsions have been associated with hepatic cholestasis in children,
      although there are little data now to support toxicity from other PN components.
      Management strategies for the prevention of parenteral nutrition liver disease
      include consideration of early enteral feeding, a multidisciplinary approach to
      the management of parenteral nutrition with a specialized nutritional care team
      and aseptic catheter techniques to reduce sepsis. The use of specialized lipid
      emulsions such as fish oil emulsions and or SMOF (Soy bean/Medium Chain
      Triglyceride/Olive Oil/Fish oil) improves established cholestasis and may prevent
      the onset. Oral administration of ursodeoxycholic acid may improve bile flow and
      reduce gall bladder stasis, although there is little data to suggest that
      prophylactic use prevents the onset of PNLD. Survival following either isolated
      small bowel or combined liver and small bowel transplantation is approximately
      50% at 5 years making this an acceptable therapeutic option in children with
      irreversible liver and intestinal failure.

PMID- 20923720
TI  - Personality disorders improved after arachnoid cyst neurosurgery, then
      rediagnosed as 'minor' organic personality disorders.
AB  - The prevalence of arachnoid cysts (AC) is considerably increased in psychiatric
      patients, suggesting a possible causal relationship between AC and certain
      psychiatric disorders. Neurosurgery of AC in psychiatric disorders is, however,
      not recommended if no accompanying neurological symptoms or signs of increased
      intracranial pressure are present. In two cases of slow onset personality
      disorder in persons suffering from so-called asymptomatic AC, we performed AC
      neurosurgery beyond established rules. Both comparisons before and after
      neurosurgery of psychopathology and the following long-term course support in
      retrospect that both cases might be re-diagnosed as having suffered from 'minor'
      organic personality disorders before AC neurosurgery, which improved thereafter.
      The two cases did not initially appear to fulfill the established criteria for
      organic personality disorders either according to ICD-10 or DSM-IV, but in
      retrospect satisfied most criteria. In themselves, the personality disorders
      appeared not very severe, but had considerable relevance for the patients' lives.
      The established rules for AC neurosurgery should be reconsidered at least when
      therapy-resistant psychiatric disorders are observed in AC sufferers.

PMID- 20923721
TI  - Electrically induced quantitative sudomotor axon reflex test in human volunteers.
AB  - Chemically-induced quantitative sudomotor axon reflex test (QSART) and
      quantitative sensory testing (QST) are established clinical tools to assess thin
      fiber function in humans. We investigated stimulus-response functions to
      transcutaneous electrical stimuli of different current intensity (3.75 to 10mA)
      and pulse frequency (5 to 100Hz) comparing sweat output (ml/h/m(2)) and pain
      intensity (numeric rating scale [NRS], 0-10). Efferent sudomotor and afferent
      nociceptive responses were recorded after a 30s electrical stimulation period of
      distal (hand and foot) and proximal (forearm and thorax) body sites with 3
      repetitive measures per body site. Sweat responses increased intensity
      dependently and peaked (~100ml/h/m(2)) at highest currents (10mA) that had been
      administered. Similarly, pain ratings increased with an escalating current
      intensity. At a constant stimulus intensity of 7.5mA, sudomotor activity was
      highest (~75ml/h/m(2)) at a stimulus frequency of 20Hz without further increase
      at 50 or 100Hz. In contrast, pain ratings increased frequency dependently and
      reached NRS 7 at 100Hz. Sudomotor activity, but not pain ratings, was
      significantly different between the body sites (p<0.05, ANOVA) with maximum sweat
      responses obtained at the ventral forearm. Varying response patterns for higher
      stimulation frequencies between sweating (peak maximum at 20Hz) and pain (maximum
      at 100Hz) might indicate differential axonal properties of sympathetic efferent
      and nociceptive afferent fibers. Electrically induced QSART could be a useful
      explorative and clinical method to indirectly study characteristics of frequency
      dependent axonal excitability changes of sudomotor fibers.

PMID- 20923722
TI  - Effect of formation of biofilms and chemical scale on the cathode electrode on
      the performance of a continuous two-chamber microbial fuel cell.
AB  - A two-chamber MFC system was operated continuously for more than 500 days to
      evaluate effects of biofilm and chemical scale formation on the cathode electrode
      on power generation. A stable power density of 0.57 W/m(2) was attained after 200
      days operation. However, the power density decreased drastically to 0.2 W/m(2)
      after the cathodic biofilm and chemical scale were removed. As the cathodic
      biofilm and chemical scale partially accumulated on the cathode, the power
      density gradually recovered with time. Microbial community structure of the
      cathodic biofilm was analyzed based on 16S rRNA clone libraries. The clones
      closely related to Xanthomonadaceae bacterium and Xanthomonas sp. in the
      Gammaproteobacteria subdivision were most frequently retrieved from the cathodic
      biofilm. Results of the SEM-EDX analysis revealed that the cation species (Na(+)
      and Ca(2+)) were main constituents of chemical scale, indicating that these
      cations diffused from the anode chamber through the Nafion membrane. However, an
      excess accumulation of the biofilm and chemical scale on the cathode exhibited
      adverse effects on the power generation due to a decrease in the active cathode
      surface area and an increase in diffusion resistance for oxygen. Thus, it is
      important to properly control the formation of chemical scale and biofilm on the
      cathode during long-term operation.

PMID- 20923724
TI  - Measuring social desirability amongst men with intellectual disabilities: the
      psychometric properties of the Self- and Other-Deception Questionnaire
      Intellectual Disabilities.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Social desirability has been construed as either inaccurately
      attributing positive characteristics to oneself (self-deception), or inaccurately
      denying that one possesses undesirable characteristics to others (other-deception
      or impression management). These conceptualisations of social desirability have
      not been considered in relation to people with intellectual disabilities (IDs),
      but they are important constructs to consider when undertaking a psychological
      assessment of an individual, especially within forensic contexts. Therefore, we
      revised two existing measures of self- and other-deception and considered their
      psychometric properties. METHODS: Thirty-two men with mild IDs and 28 men without
      IDs completed the Self- and Other-Deception Questionnaires-Intellectual
      Disabilities (SDQ-ID and ODQ-ID) on two occasions, two weeks apart. RESULTS: Men
      with IDs scored significantly higher on the SDQ-ID and the ODQ-ID than men
      without IDs. However, these differences disappeared when Full Scale IQ, Verbal IQ
      and Performance IQ were controlled in relation to the SDQ-ID, and partially
      disappeared in relation to the ODQ-ID. The SDQ-ID and the ODQ-ID had substantial
      internal consistency in relation to men with IDs (k=0.82 and 0.84 respectively).
      The test-retest reliability of the SDQ-ID was good (r(i)=0.68), while the test
      retest reliability of the ODQ-ID was moderate (r(i)=0.56), for men with IDs. The
      SDQ-ID had moderate (k=0.60) and the ODQ-ID had substantial (k=0.70) internal
      consistency in relation to men without IDs, while the test-retest reliability of
      the SDQ-ID was excellent (r(i)=0.87) as was the case for the ODQ-ID (r(i)=0.85).
      CONCLUSIONS: The SDQ-ID and the ODQ-ID have satisfactory psychometric properties
      in relation to men with and without IDs. Future research using these instruments
      is proposed.

PMID- 20923725
TI  - Psychometric evaluation of the Dutch version of the Mood, Interest and Pleasure
      Questionnaire (MIPQ).
AB  - Recently, several instruments have been developed to measure the subjective
      component of the quality of life (QOL) of people with profound intellectual and
      multiple disabilities (PIMD). A next step, however, must be the further
      validation of these instruments. The present study aimed at evaluating the
      psychometric properties of one of these instruments, the Dutch version of the
      Mood, Interest and Pleasure Questionnaire (MIPQ). The MIPQ is a 25-item Likert
      scale questionnaire with two subscales (Mood and Interest and Pleasure). The MIPQ
      and the Aberrant Behavior Checklist were completed on 360 participants with
      severe or profound intellectual disabilities. About 27% of these participants
      were included in an examination of test-retest of and the inter-rater reliability
      of the MIPQ. The results suggest that the proposed two-factor structure did not
      show an adequate fit to our data. An exploratory factor analysis revealed a three
      factor structure with positive mood, negative mood and interest as three
      correlated but distinct subscales. These results are in concurrence with the
      literature on positive emotions. High internal consistency (alpha >= .80), high
      inter-rater (r >= .69) and high test-retest reliability (r >= .86) were found,
      which indicates the reliable use of the MIPQ in the population of people with
      PIMD. Strong negative correlations between the MIPQ total score and the Aberant
      Behavior Checklist's 'lethargy, social withdrawal' subscale provides some
      evidence of the construct validity of the MIPQ. However, further validation of
      the MIPQ including other measures of subjective well-being is warranted.

PMID- 20923726
TI  - Arterial stiffness using radial arterial waveforms measured at the wrist as an
      indicator of diabetic control in the elderly.
AB  - Although current technique of photoplethysmography (PPG) is a popular noninvasive
      method of waveform contour analysis in assessing arterial stiffness, data
      obtained are frequently affected by various environmental and physiological
      factors. We proposed an easily operable air pressure sensing system (APSS) for
      radial arterial signal capturing. Totally, 108 subjects (young, the aged with or
      without diabetes) were recruited from July 2009 to May 2010. Arterial waveform
      signals from the wrist were obtained and analyzed using Hilbert-Huang
      transformation (HHT). Through ensemble empirical mode decomposition (EEMD), the
      signals were decomposed into eight intrinsic mode functions (IMF1-8) of which
      IMF5 was found to be the desired signal with a discernible diastolic peak. The
      results showed significant differences in reflection index (RI) and stiffness
      index (SI) from the young subjects and those from the aged participants with or
      without diabetes. Significant differences in RI and SI were also noted between
      subjects with well-controlled diabetes and those without. Good reproducibility
      and correlation were demonstrated. In conclusion, the present study proposed the
      application of radial arterial signal capturing subsystem and HHT in acquiring
      more reliable data on RI and SI compared with the conventional PPG method.

PMID- 20923727
TI  - Temporal sequence parameters in isodistributional surrogate data: model and exact
      expressions.
AB  - In this paper, a set of formulae for the temporal spontaneous baroreceptor reflex
      (sBRR) sequence parameters in isodistributional (ID) surrogate data is derived.
      This is facilitated by representing successive positive or negative amplitude
      changes as a Markov chain model. The obtained analytical tool measures the effect
      of random fluctuations on the overall number of sequences, estimated from the
      original biomedical time series. The formulae are tested using ID surrogates of
      systolic blood pressure and pulse-interval signals recorded from 13 healthy male
      Wistar rats at baseline conditions.

PMID- 20923728
TI  - A new spatiotemporal filtering method for single-trial estimation of correlated
      ERP subcomponents.
AB  - A novel spatiotemporal filtering method for single trial estimation of event
      related potential (ERP) subcomponents is proposed here. Unlike some previous
      works in ERP estimation [1], , the proposed method is able to estimate temporally
      correlated ERP subcomponents such as P3a and P3b. A new cost function is,
      therefore, defined which can deflate one of the correlated subcomponents. The
      method is applied to both simulated and real data and has shown to perform very
      well even in low signal-to-noise ratio situations. In addition, the method is
      compared to spatial principal component analysis and its superiority has been
      confirmed by using simulated signals. The approach can be especially useful in
      mental fatigue analysis where the relative variability of P300 subcomponents is
      the key factor in detecting the level of fatigue.

PMID- 20923729
TI  - Quantitative falls risk assessment using the timed up and go test.
AB  - Falls are a major problem in older adults worldwide with an estimated 30% of
      elderly adults over 65 years of age falling each year. The direct and indirect
      societal costs associated with falls are enormous. A system that could provide an
      accurate automated assessment of falls risk prior to falling would allow timely
      intervention and ease the burden on overstretched healthcare systems worldwide.
      An objective method for assessing falls risk using body-worn kinematic sensors is
      reported. The gait and balance of 349 community-dwelling elderly adults was
      assessed using body-worn sensors while each patient performed the "timed up and
      go" (TUG) test. Patients were also evaluated using the Berg balance scale (BBS).
      Of the 44 reported parameters derived from body-worn kinematic sensors, 29
      provided significant discrimination between patients with a history of falls and
      those without. Cross-validated estimates of retrospective falls prediction
      performance using logistic regression models yielded a mean sensitivity of 77.3%
      and a mean specificity of 75.9%. This compares favorably to the cross-validated
      performance of logistic regression models based on the time taken to complete the
      TUG test (manually timed TUG) and the Berg balance score. These models yielded
      mean sensitivities of 58.0% and 57.8%, respectively, and mean specificities of
      64.8% and 64.2%, respectively. Results suggest that this method offers an
      improvement over two standard falls risk assessments (TUG and BBS) and may have
      potential for use in supervised assessment of falls risk as part of a
      longitudinal monitoring protocol.

PMID- 20923730
TI  - Computing and analyzing the sensitivity of MLP due to the errors of the i.i.d.
      inputs and weights based on CLT.
AB  - In this paper, we propose an algorithm based on the central limit theorem to
      compute the sensitivity of the multilayer perceptron (MLP) due to the errors of
      the inputs and weights. For simplicity and practicality, all inputs and weights
      studied here are independently identically distributed (i.i.d.). The theoretical
      results derived from the proposed algorithm show that the sensitivity of the MLP
      is affected by the number of layers and the number of neurons adopted in each
      layer. To prove the reliability of the proposed algorithm, some experimental
      results of the sensitivity are also presented, and they match the theoretical
      ones. The good agreement between the theoretical results and the experimental
      results verifies the reliability and feasibility of the proposed algorithm.
      Furthermore, the proposed algorithm can also be applied to compute precisely the
      sensitivity of the MLP with any available activation functions and any types of
      i.i.d. inputs and weights.

PMID- 20923731
TI  - Stability analysis of multiplicative update algorithms and application to
      nonnegative matrix factorization.
AB  - Multiplicative update algorithms have proved to be a great success in solving
      optimization problems with nonnegativity constraints, such as the famous
      nonnegative matrix factorization (NMF) and its many variants. However, despite
      several years of research on the topic, the understanding of their convergence
      properties is still to be improved. In this paper, we show that Lyapunov's
      stability theory provides a very enlightening viewpoint on the problem. We prove
      the exponential or asymptotic stability of the solutions to general optimization
      problems with nonnegative constraints, including the particular case of
      supervised NMF, and finally study the more difficult case of unsupervised NMF.
      The theoretical results presented in this paper are confirmed by numerical
      simulations involving both supervised and unsupervised NMF, and the convergence
      speed of NMF multiplicative updates is investigated.

PMID- 20923732
TI  - Neuro-adaptive force/position control with prescribed performance and guaranteed
      contact maintenance.
AB  - In this paper, we address unresolved issues in robot force/position tracking
      including the concurrent satisfaction of contact maintenance, lack of overshoot,
      desired speed of response, as well as accuracy level. The control objective is
      satisfied under uncertainties in the force deformation model and disturbances
      acting at the joints. The unknown nonlinearities that arise owing to the
      uncertainties in the force deformation model are approximated by a neural network
      linear in the weights and it is proven that the neural network approximation
      holds for all time irrespective of the magnitude of the modeling error, the
      disturbances, and the controller gains. Thus, the controller gains are easily
      selected, and potentially large neural network approximation errors as well as
      disturbances can be tolerated. Simulation results on a 6-DOF robot confirm the
      theoretical findings.

PMID- 20923733
TI  - Semisupervised kernel matrix learning by kernel propagation.
AB  - The goal of semisupervised kernel matrix learning (SS-KML) is to learn a kernel
      matrix on all the given samples on which just a little supervised information,
      such as class label or pairwise constraint, is provided. Despite extensive
      research, the performance of SS-KML still leaves some space for improvement in
      terms of effectiveness and efficiency. For example, a recent pairwise constraints
      propagation (PCP) algorithm has formulated SS-KML into a semidefinite programming
      (SDP) problem, but its computation is very expensive, which undoubtedly restricts
      PCPs scalability in practice. In this paper, a novel algorithm, called kernel
      propagation (KP), is proposed to improve the comprehensive performance in SS-KML.
      The main idea of KP is first to learn a small-sized sub-kernel matrix (named seed
      kernel matrix) and then propagate it into a larger-sized full-kernel matrix.
      Specifically, the implementation of KP consists of three stages: 1) separate the
      supervised sample (sub)set X(l) from the full sample set X; 2) learn a seed
      kernel matrix on X(l) through solving a small-scale SDP problem; and 3) propagate
      the learnt seed-kernel matrix into a full-kernel matrix on X . Furthermore,
      following the idea in KP, we naturally develop two conveniently realizable out-of
      sample extensions for KML: one is batch-style extension, and the other is online
      style extension. The experiments demonstrate that KP is encouraging in both
      effectiveness and efficiency compared with three state-of-the-art algorithms and
      its related out-of-sample extensions are promising too.

PMID- 20923734
TI  - New passivity analysis for neural networks with discrete and distributed delays.
AB  - In this brief, the problem of passivity analysis is investigated for a class of
      uncertain neural networks (NNs) with both discrete and distributed time-varying
      delays. By constructing a novel Lyapunov functional and utilizing some advanced
      techniques, new delay-dependent passivity criteria are established to guarantee
      the passivity performance of NNs. Essentially different from the available
      results, when estimating the upper bound of the derivative of Lyapunov
      functionals, we consider and best utilize the additional useful terms about the
      distributed delays, which leads to less conservative results. These criteria are
      expressed in the form of convex optimization problems, which can be efficiently
      solved via standard numerical software. Numerical examples are provided to
      illustrate the effectiveness and less conservatism of the proposed results.

PMID- 20923735
TI  - Discretization error analysis and adaptive meshing algorithms for fluorescence
      diffuse optical tomography in the presence of measurement noise.
AB  - Quantitatively accurate fluorescence diffuse optical tomographic (FDOT) image
      reconstruction is a computationally demanding problem that requires repeated
      numerical solutions of two coupled partial differential equations and an
      associated inverse problem. Recently, adaptive finite element methods have been
      explored to reduce the computation requirements of the FDOT image reconstruction.
      However, existing approaches ignore the ubiquitous presence of noise in boundary
      measurements. In this paper, we analyze the effect of finite element
      discretization on the FDOT forward and inverse problems in the presence of
      measurement noise and develop novel adaptive meshing algorithms for FDOT that
      take into account noise statistics. We formulate the FDOT inverse problem as an
      optimization problem in the maximum a posteriori framework to estimate the
      fluorophore concentration in a bounded domain. We use the mean-square-error (MSE)
      between the exact solution and the discretized solution as a figure of merit to
      evaluate the image reconstruction accuracy, and derive an upper bound on the MSE
      which depends upon the forward and inverse problem discretization parameters,
      noise statistics, a priori information of fluorophore concentration, source and
      detector geometry, as well as background optical properties. Next, we use this
      error bound to develop adaptive meshing algorithms for the FDOT forward and
      inverse problems to reduce the MSE due to discretization in the reconstructed
      images. Finally, we present a set of numerical simulations to illustrate the
      practical advantages of our adaptive meshing algorithms for FDOT image
      reconstruction.

PMID- 20923736
TI  - Automatic exact histogram specification for contrast enhancement and visual
      system based quantitative evaluation.
AB  - Histogram equalization, which aims at information maximization, is widely used in
      different ways to perform contrast enhancement in images. In this paper, an
      automatic exact histogram specification technique is proposed and used for global
      and local contrast enhancement of images. The desired histogram is obtained by
      first subjecting the image histogram to a modification process and then by
      maximizing a measure that represents increase in information and decrease in
      ambiguity. A new method of measuring image contrast based upon local band-limited
      approach and center-surround retinal receptive field model is also devised in
      this paper. This method works at multiple scales (frequency bands) and combines
      the contrast measures obtained at different scales using L(p)-norm. In comparison
      to a few existing methods, the effectiveness of the proposed automatic exact
      histogram specification technique in enhancing contrasts of images is
      demonstrated through qualitative analysis and the proposed image contrast measure
      based quantitative analysis.

PMID- 20923737
TI  - 1-D transforms for the motion compensation residual.
AB  - Transforms used in image coding are also commonly used to compress prediction
      residuals in video coding. Prediction residuals have different spatial
      characteristics from images, and it is useful to develop transforms that are
      adapted to prediction residuals. In this paper, we explore the differences
      between the characteristics of images and motion compensated prediction residuals
      by analyzing their local anisotropic characteristics and develop transforms
      adapted to the local anisotropic characteristics of these residuals. The analysis
      indicates that many regions of motion compensated prediction residuals have 1-D
      anisotropic characteristics and we propose to use 1-D directional transforms for
      these regions. We present experimental results with one example set of such
      transforms within the H.264/AVC codec and the results indicate that the proposed
      transforms can improve the compression efficiency of motion compensated
      prediction residuals over conventional transforms.

PMID- 20923739
TI  - Spatial sparsity-induced prediction (SIP) for images and video: a simple way to
      reject structured interference.
AB  - We propose a prediction technique that is geared toward forming successful
      estimates of a signal based on a correlated anchor signal that is contaminated
      with complex interference. The corruption in the anchor signal involves intensity
      modulations, linear distortions, structured interference, clutter, and noise just
      to name a few. The proposed setup reflects nontrivial prediction scenarios
      involving images and video frames where statistically related data is rendered
      ineffective for traditional methods due to cross-fades, blends, clutter,
      brightness variations, focus changes, and other complex transitions. Rather than
      trying to solve a difficult estimation problem involving nonstationary signal
      statistics, we obtain simple predictors in linear transform domain where the
      underlying signals are assumed to be sparse. We show that these simple predictors
      achieve surprisingly good performance and seamlessly allow successful predictions
      even under complicated cases. None of the interference parameters are estimated
      as our algorithm provides completely blind and automated operation. We provide a
      general formulation that allows for nonlinearities in the prediction loop and we
      consider prediction optimal decompositions. Beyond an extensive set of results on
      prediction and registration, the proposed method is also implemented to operate
      inside a state-of-the-art compression codec and results show significant
      improvements on scenes that are difficult to encode using traditional prediction
      techniques.

PMID- 20923738
TI  - Face recognition system using multiple face model of hybrid Fourier feature under
      uncontrolled illumination variation.
AB  - The authors present a robust face recognition system for large-scale data sets
      taken under uncontrolled illumination variations. The proposed face recognition
      system consists of a novel illumination-insensitive preprocessing method, a
      hybrid Fourier-based facial feature extraction, and a score fusion scheme. First,
      in the preprocessing stage, a face image is transformed into an illumination
      insensitive image, called an "integral normalized gradient image," by normalizing
      and integrating the smoothed gradients of a facial image. Then, for feature
      extraction of complementary classifiers, multiple face models based upon hybrid
      Fourier features are applied. The hybrid Fourier features are extracted from
      different Fourier domains in different frequency bandwidths, and then each
      feature is individually classified by linear discriminant analysis. In addition,
      multiple face models are generated by plural normalized face images that have
      different eye distances. Finally, to combine scores from multiple complementary
      classifiers, a log likelihood ratio-based score fusion scheme is applied. The
      proposed system using the face recognition grand challenge (FRGC) experimental
      protocols is evaluated; FRGC is a large available data set. Experimental results
      on the FRGC version 2.0 data sets have shown that the proposed method shows an
      average of 81.49% verification rate on 2-D face images under various
      environmental variations such as illumination changes, expression changes, and
      time elapses.

PMID- 20923740
TI  - Methods to window data to differentiate between Markov models.
AB  - In this paper, we consider how we can detect patterns in data streams that are
      serial Markovian, where target behaviors are Markovian, but targets may switch
      from one Markovian behavior to another. We want to reliably and promptly detect
      behavior changes. Traditional Markov-model-based pattern detection approaches,
      such as hidden Markov models, use maximum likelihood techniques over the entire
      data stream to detect behaviors. To detect changes between behaviors, we use
      statistical pattern matching calculations performed on a sliding window of data
      samples. If the window size is very small, the system will suffer from excessive
      false-positive rates. If the window is very large, change-point detection is
      delayed. This paper finds both necessary and sufficient bounds on the window
      size. We present two methods of calculating window sizes based on the state and
      transition structures of the Markov models. Two application examples are
      presented to verify our results. Our first example problem uses simulations to
      illustrate the utility of the proposed approaches. The second example uses models
      extracted from a database of consumer purchases to illustrate their use in a real
      application.

PMID- 20923741
TI  - Comprehensive joint feedback control for standing by functional neuromuscular
      stimulation-a simulation study.
AB  - Previous investigations of feedback control of standing after spinal cord injury
      (SCI) using functional neuromuscular stimulation (FNS) have primarily targeted
      individual joints. This study assesses the potential efficacy of comprehensive
      (trunk, hips, knees, and ankles) joint feedback control against postural
      disturbances using a bipedal, 3-D computer model of SCI stance. Proportional
      derivative feedback drove an artificial neural network trained to produce muscle
      excitation patterns consistent with maximal joint stiffness values achievable
      about neutral stance given typical SCI muscle properties. Feedback gains were
      optimized to minimize upper extremity (UE) loading required to stabilize against
      disturbances. Compared to the baseline case of maximum constant muscle
      excitations used clinically, the controller reduced UE loading by 55% in
      resisting external force perturbations and by 84% during simulated one-arm
      functional tasks. Performance was most sensitive to inaccurate measurements of
      ankle plantar/dorsiflexion position and hip ab/adduction velocity feedback. In
      conclusion, comprehensive joint feedback demonstrates potential to markedly
      improve FNS standing function. However, alternative control structures capable of
      effective performance with fewer sensor-based feedback parameters may better
      facilitate clinical usage.

PMID- 20923742
TI  - Maternal exposure to ambient levels of benzene and neural tube defects among
      offspring: Texas, 1999-2004.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Previous studies have reported positive associations between maternal
      exposure to air pollutants and several adverse birth outcomes. However, there
      have been no studies assessing the association between environmental levels of
      hazardous air pollutants, such as benzene, and neural tube defects (NTDs), a
      common and serious group of congenital malformations. OBJECTIVE: Our goal was to
      conduct a case-control study assessing the association between ambient air levels
      of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene (BTEX) and the prevalence of NTDs
      among offspring. METHODS: The Texas Birth Defects Registry provided data on NTD
      cases (spina bifida and anencephaly) delivered between 1999 and 2004. The control
      group was a random sample of unaffected live births, frequency matched to cases
      on year of birth. Census tract-level estimates of annual BTEX levels were
      obtained from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 1999 Assessment System for
      Population Exposure Nationwide. Restricted cubic splines were used in mixed
      effects logistic regression models to determine associations between each
      pollutant and NTD phenotype. RESULTS: Mothers living in census tracts with the
      highest benzene levels were more likely to have offspring with spina bifida than
      were women living in census tracts with the lowest levels (odds ratio = 2.30; 95%
      confidence interval, 1.22-4.33). No significant associations were observed
      between anencephaly and benzene or between any of the NTD phenotypes and toluene,
      ethylbenzene, or xylene. CONCLUSION: In the first study to assess the
      relationship between environmental levels of BTEX and NTDs, we found an
      association between benzene and spina bifida. Our results contribute to the
      growing body of evidence regarding air pollutant exposure and adverse birth
      outcomes.

PMID- 20923743
TI  - Population-based inorganic mercury biomonitoring and the identification of skin
      care products as a source of exposure in New York City.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mercury is a toxic metal that has been used for centuries as a
      constituent of medicines and other items. OBJECTIVE: We assessed exposure to
      inorganic mercury in the adult population of New York City (NYC). METHODS: We
      measured mercury concentrations in spot urine specimens from a representative
      sample of 1,840 adult New Yorkers in the 2004 NYC Health and Nutrition
      Examination Survey. Cases with urine concentrations >= 20 ug/L were followed up
      with a telephone or in-person interview that asked about potential sources of
      exposure, including ritualistic/cultural practices, skin care products, mercury
      spills, herbal medicine products, and fish. RESULTS: Geometric mean urine mercury
      concentration in NYC was higher for Caribbean-born blacks [1.39 ug/L; 95%
      confidence interval (CI), 1.14-1.70] and Dominicans (1.04 ug/L; 95% CI, 0.82
      1.33) than for non-Hispanic whites (0.67 ug/L; 95% CI, 0.60-0.75) or other
      racial/ethnic groups. It was also higher among those who reported at least 20
      fish meals in the past 30 days (1.02 ug/L; 95% CI, 0.83-1.25) than among those
      who reported no fish meals (0.50 ug/L; 95% CI, 0.41-0.61). We observed the
      highest 95th percentile of exposure (21.18 ug/L; 95% CI, 7.25-51.29) among
      Dominican women. Mercury-containing skin-lightening creams were a source of
      exposure among those most highly exposed, and we subsequently identified 12
      imported products containing illegal levels of mercury in NYC stores. CONCLUSION:
      Population-based biomonitoring identified a previously unrecognized source of
      exposure to inorganic mercury among NYC residents. In response, the NYC Health
      Department embargoed products and notified store owners and the public that skin
      lightening creams and other skin care products that contain mercury are dangerous
      and illegal. Although exposure to inorganic mercury is not a widespread problem
      in NYC, users of these products may be at risk of health effects from exposure.

PMID- 20923744
TI  - Genetic, biochemical, and environmental factors associated with pregnancy
      outcomes in newborns from the Czech Republic.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Oxidative damage to placental DNA can result in negative pregnancy
      outcomes, including intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) and low birth weight
      (LBW). OBJECTIVE: We investigated associations between the levels of 8-oxo-7,8
      dihydro-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-oxodG), a marker of oxidative DNA damage, in
      placental DNA, exposure to air pollutants during pregnancy, genetic polymorphisms
      in 94 selected genes, and pregnancy outcomes. METHODS: We studied 891 newborns
      who were IUGR- or LBW-affected or normal weight and were born between 1994 and
      1999 in the Czech Republic in two districts with different levels of air
      pollution. RESULTS: We found nonsignificantly elevated 8-oxodG levels in the IUGR
      affected group compared with the non-IUGR group (p = 0.055). Similarly, slightly
      elevated 8-oxodG levels were found in the LBW-affected group compared with the
      non-LBW group (p < 0.050). In univariate analyses, we identified single
      nucleotide polymorphisms associated with 8-oxodG levels, IUGR, and LBW. Exposure
      to particulate matter < 2.5 um was associated with increased 8-oxodG levels in
      placental DNA and LBW. However, multivariate-adjusted logistic regression
      revealed that above-median 8-oxodG levels were the only factor significantly
      associated with IUGR [OR = 1.56; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.07-2.37; p =
      0.022]. Above-median levels of 8-oxodG were associated with LBW (OR = 1.88; 95%
      CI, 1.15-3.06; p = 0.011). Other variables associated with LBW included sex and
      gestational age of the newborn, maternal smoking, and haplotypes in the promoter
      region of the gene encoding mannose-binding lectin 2 (MBL2). The role of air
      pollutants in the risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes seemed to be less important.
      CONCLUSIONS: Levels of 8-oxodG in placental DNA were associated with the risk of
      IUGR as well as LBW. Newborn's sex, gestational age, maternal smoking, and
      genetic polymorphisms in the promoter region of the MBL2 gene were associated
      with LBW incidence.

PMID- 20923745
TI  - Prenatal organochlorine compound exposure, rapid weight gain, and overweight in
      infancy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although it has been hypothesized that fetal exposure to endocrine
      disrupting chemicals may increase obesity risk, empirical data are limited, and
      it is uncertain how early in life any effects may begin. OBJECTIVES: We explored
      whether prenatal exposure to several organochlorine compounds (OCs) is associated
      with rapid growth in the first 6 months of life and body mass index (BMI) later
      in infancy. METHODS: Data come from the INMA (Infancia y Medio-Ambiente) Child
      and Environment birth cohort in Spain, which recruited 657 women in early
      pregnancy. Rapid growth during the first 6 months was defined as a change in
      weight-for-age z-scores > 0.67, and elevated BMI at 14 months, as a z-score >=
      the 85th percentile. Generalized linear models were used to estimate the risk of
      rapid growth or elevated BMI associated with 2,2-bis(p-chlorophenyl)-1,1
      dichloroethylene (DDE), hexachlorobenzene, beta-hexachlorohexane, and
      polychlorinated biphenyls in first-trimester maternal serum. RESULTS: After
      multivariable adjustment including other OCs, DDE exposure above the first
      quartile was associated with doubling of the risk of rapid growth among children
      of normal-weight (BMI < 25 kg/m2), but not overweight, mothers. DDE was also
      associated with elevated BMI at 14 months (relative risk per unit increase in log
      DDE = 1.50; 95% confidence interval, 1.11-2.03). Other OCs were not associated
      with rapid growth or elevated BMI after adjustment. CONCLUSIONS: In this study we
      found prenatal DDE exposure to be associated with rapid weight gain in the first
      6 months and elevated BMI later in infancy, among infants of normal-weight
      mothers. More research exploring the potential role of chemical exposures in
      early-onset obesity is needed.

PMID- 20923746
TI  - Postmenopausal breast cancer is associated with exposure to traffic-related air
      pollution in Montreal, Canada: a case-control study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Only about 30% of cases of breast cancer can be explained by accepted
      risk factors. Occupational studies have shown associations between the incidence
      of breast cancer and exposure to contaminants that are found in ambient air.
      OBJECTIVES: We sought to determine whether the incidence of postmenopausal breast
      cancer is associated with exposure to urban air pollution. METHODS: We used data
      from a case-control study conducted in Montreal, Quebec, in 1996-1997. Cases were
      383 women with incident invasive breast cancer, and controls were 416 women with
      other incident, malignant cancers, excluding those potentially associated with
      selected occupational exposures. Concentrations of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) were
      measured across Montreal in 2005-2006. We developed a land-use regression model
      to predict concentrations of NO2 across Montreal for 2006, and developed two
      methods to extrapolate the estimates to 1985 and 1996. We linked these estimates
      to addresses of residences of subjects at time of interview. We used
      unconditional logistic regression to adjust for accepted and suspected risk
      factors and occupational exposures. RESULTS: For each increase of 5 ppb NO2
      estimated in 1996, the adjusted odds ratio was 1.31 (95% confidence interval,
      1.00-1.71). Although the size of effect varied somewhat across periods, we found
      an increased risk of approximately 25% for every increase of 5 ppb in exposure.
      CONCLUSIONS: We found evidence of an association between the incidence of
      postmenopausal breast cancer and exposure to ambient concentrations of NO2.
      Further studies are needed to confirm whether NO2 or other components of traffic
      related pollution are indeed associated with increased risks.

PMID- 20923747
TI  - Transient paresis of the right recurrent laryngeal nerve after treatment with
      etanercept for plaque-type psoriasis.

PMID- 20923748
TI  - Primary mucinous carcinoma of the skin.

PMID- 20923749
TI  - Efficacy and safety of etanercept in patients with psoriasis and hepatitis C.

PMID- 20923750
TI  - Epidermolysis bullosa simplex with mottled pigmentation - mutation analysis
      proved the diagnosis in a four-generation pedigree.
AB  - Epidermolysis bullosa simplex with mottled pigmentation (EBS-MP) is a rare
      variant of the basal form of EBS, characterized by mild intraepidermal blistering
      due to lysis of basal keratinocytes and with a progressive reticular
      hyperpigmentation on the trunk and extremities. A limited number of cases - to
      date twenty unrelated families - have been published from all over the world,
      including thirteen reports from Europe. We here report the first Hungarian case
      in a four generation pedigree with EBS-MP symptoms and prove the diagnosis by
      mutation analysis. A heterozygous p.Pro25Leu mutation in the first exon of KRT5,
      together with the heterozygous polymorphism p.Gly138Glu, was identified in all
      the five affected family members studied. Our report extends the limited number
      of EBS-MP cases and gives further evidence that KRT5 mutations are responsible
      for this rare phenotype.

PMID- 20923751
TI  - Bullous systemic lupus erythematosus responding to mycophenolate mofetil.

PMID- 20923752
TI  - Ultrasound detection of a PET/CT negative lymph node metastasis in cutaneous
      melanoma.

PMID- 20923753
TI  - Expression of estrogen-related receptor beta (ERRbeta) in human skin.
AB  - Skin is a non classical target tissue for estrogens, whose biological and
      mechanical properties are affected by the hormonal deprivation occurring at the
      menopause. Estrogen-related receptors (ERR), closely related to the estrogen
      receptors (ER), constitute a subfamily of orphan receptors, interfering with ER
      mediated signalling pathways. The expression of ERRbeta has been detected in only
      a few adult tissues so far, such as the prostate and the inner ear. Here, we
      demonstrate the expression of ERRbeta in normal human skin. ERRbeta was detected
      in human epidermis, in both keratinocytes and Langerhans cells, by
      immunohistochemistry. These results were validated on freshly extracted epidermal
      cells and on monolayer-cultured keratinocytes by RT-PCR and western blotting
      (WB), suggesting the implication of ERRbeta in skin immunity and endocrine
      effects.

PMID- 20923754
TI  - Primary cutaneous cribriform apocrine carcinoma on a typical location.

PMID- 20923755
TI  - Biomedical informatics techniques for processing and analyzing web blogs of
      military service members.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Web logs ("blogs") have become a popular mechanism for people to
      express their daily thoughts, feelings, and emotions. Many of these expressions
      contain health care-related themes, both physical and mental, similar to
      information discussed during a clinical interview or medical consultation. Thus,
      some of the information contained in blogs might be important for health care
      research, especially in mental health where stress-related conditions may be
      difficult and expensive to diagnose and where early recognition is often key to
      successful treatment. In the field of biomedical informatics, techniques such as
      information retrieval (IR) and natural language processing (NLP) are often used
      to unlock information contained in free-text notes. These methods might assist
      the clinical research community to better understand feelings and emotions post
      deployment and the burden of symptoms of stress among US military service
      members. METHODS: In total, 90 military blog posts describing deployment
      situations and 60 control posts of Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi
      Freedom (OEF/OIF) were collected. After "stop" word exclusion and stemming, a
      "bag-of-words" representation and term weighting was performed, and the most
      relevant words were manually selected out of the high-weight words. A pilot
      ontology was created using Collaborative Protege, a knowledge management
      application. The word lists and the ontology were then used within General
      Architecture for Text Engineering (GATE), an NLP framework, to create an
      automated pipeline for recognition and analysis of blogs related to combat
      exposure. An independent expert opinion was used to create a reference standard
      and evaluate the results of the GATE pipeline. RESULTS: The 2 dimensions of
      combat exposure descriptors identified were: words dealing with physical exposure
      and the soldiers' emotional reactions to it. GATE pipeline was able to retrieve
      blog texts describing combat exposure with precision 0.9, recall 0.75, and F
      score 0.82. DISCUSSION: Natural language processing and automated information
      retrieval might potentially provide valuable tools for retrieving and analyzing
      military blog posts and uncovering military service members' emotions and
      experiences of combat exposure.

PMID- 20923756
TI  - Updates on the genetics of neurodegenerative disorders.
AB  - Since the publication in 1998 of the last special issue of JGPN on the genetics
      of dementia, we have witnessed the completion of the Human Genome Project and an
      exponential increase in the identification of causative genes in human diseases.
      This special issue revisits the 6 neurodegenerative disorders described in that
      issue, offering important updates to the genetic findings for these disorders
      that together comprise the most common causes of dementia among elderly people.
      It is critical for practicing neurologists, psychiatrists, and geriatricians to
      keep abreast of these advances as they will impact the clinical diagnosis and
      management of these disorders. The reviews in this issue have been written by an
      outstanding group of international experts who provide a clear and insightful
      update on the molecular genetic advances and genetic counseling principles for
      each disorder.

PMID- 20923757
TI  - The clinical and genetic features of Huntington disease.
AB  - Huntington disease (HD) is a dominantly inherited neurodegenerative disorder that
      usually presents in adulthood with characteristic motor and cognitive features
      and with variable and diverse psychiatric disturbances. Following the discovery
      of the causative defect in the HTT gene in 1993, great advances in understanding
      the pathogenesis of HD have been made, yet no effective disease-modifying therapy
      has been identified. In this new era of HD research, we have seen the emergence
      of a number of large clinical trials, the systematic search for novel biomarkers
      and the recent initiation of the first pre-manifest HD clinical studies. In this
      review, we seek to provide an overview of the clinical and genetic features of HD
      together with a summary of clinical research at this time.

PMID- 20923758
TI  - Identification of residue-to-residue contact between a peptide ligand and its G
      protein-coupled receptor using periodate-mediated dihydroxyphenylalanine cross
      linking and mass spectrometry.
AB  - Fundamental knowledge about how G protein-coupled receptors and their ligands
      interact is important for understanding receptor-ligand binding and the
      development of new drug discovery strategies. We have used cross-linking and
      tandem mass spectrometry analyses to investigate the interaction of the N
      terminus of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae tridecapeptide pheromone, alpha-factor
      (WHWLQLKPGQPMY), and Ste2p, its cognate G protein-coupled receptor. The Trp(1)
      residue of alpha-factor was replaced by 3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (DOPA) for
      periodate-mediated chemical cross-linking, and biotin was conjugated to Lys(7)
      for detection purposes to create the peptide
      [DOPA(1),Lys(7)(BioACA),Nle(12)]alpha-factor, called Bio-DOPA(1)-alpha-factor.
      This ligand analog was a potent agonist and bound to Ste2p with ~65 nanomolar
      affinity. Immunoblot analysis of purified Ste2p samples that were treated with
      Bio-DOPA(1)-alpha-factor showed that the peptide analog cross-linked efficiently
      to Ste2p. The cross-linking was inhibited by the presence of either native alpha
      factor or an alpha-factor antagonist. MALDI-TOF and immunoblot analyses revealed
      that Bio-DOPA(1)-alpha-factor cross-linked to a fragment of Ste2p encompassing
      residues Ser(251)-Met(294). Fragmentation of the cross-linked fragment and Ste2p
      using tandem mass spectrometry pinpointed the cross-link point of the DOPA(1) of
      the alpha-factor analog to the Ste2p Lys(269) side chain near the extracellular
      surface of the TM6-TM7 bundle. This conclusion was confirmed by a greatly
      diminished cross-linking of Bio-DOPA(1)-alpha-factor into a Ste2p(K269A) mutant.
      Based on these and previously obtained binding contact data, a mechanism of alpha
      factor binding to Ste2p is proposed. The model for bound alpha-factor shows how
      ligand binding leads to conformational changes resulting in receptor activation
      of the signal transduction pathway.

PMID- 20923759
TI  - Channel domain of colicin A modifies the dimeric organization of its immunity
      protein.
AB  - Proteins conferring immunity against pore-forming colicins are localized in the
      Escherichia coli inner membrane. Their protective effects are mediated by direct
      interaction with the C-terminal domain of their cognate colicins. Cai, the
      immunity protein protecting E. coli against colicin A, contains four cysteine
      residues. We report cysteine cross-linking experiments showing that Cai forms
      homodimers. Cai contains four transmembrane segments (TMSs), and dimerization
      occurs via the third TMS. Furthermore, we observe the formation of intramolecular
      disulfide bonds that connect TMS2 with either TMS1 or TMS3. Co-expression of Cai
      with its target, the colicin A pore-forming domain (pfColA), in the inner
      membrane prevents the formation of intermolecular and intramolecular disulfide
      bonds, indicating that pfColA interacts with the dimer of Cai and modifies its
      conformation. Finally, we show that when Cai is locked by disulfide bonds, it is
      no longer able to protect cells against exogenous added colicin A.

PMID- 20923760
TI  - MicroRNA (miRNA)-mediated interaction between leukemia/lymphoma-related factor
      (LRF) and alternative splicing factor/splicing factor 2 (ASF/SF2) affects mouse
      embryonic fibroblast senescence and apoptosis.
AB  - Leukemia/lymphoma-related factor (LRF) is a transcriptional repressor, which by
      recruiting histone deacetylases specifically represses p19/ARF expression, thus
      behaving as an oncogene. Conversely, in mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEF), LRF
      inhibition causes aberrant p19ARF up-regulation resulting in proliferative
      defects and premature senescence. We have recently shown that LRF is controlled
      by microRNAs. Here we show that LRF acts on MEF proliferation and
      senescence/apoptosis by repressing miR-28 and miR-505, revealing a regulatory
      circuit where microRNAs (miRNAs) work both upstream and downstream of LRF. By
      analyzing miRNA expression profiles of MEF transfected with LRF-specific short
      interfering RNAs, we found that miR-28 and miR-505 are modulated by LRF. Both
      miRNAs are predicted to target alternative splicing factor/splicing factor 2
      (ASF/SF2), a serine/arginine protein essential for cell viability. In
      vertebrates, loss or inactivation of ASF/SF2 may result in genomic instability
      and induce G(2) cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. We showed that miR-28 and miR
      505 modulate ASF/SF2 by directly binding ASF/SF2 3'-UTR. Decrease in LRF causes a
      decrease in ASF/SF2, which depends on up-regulation of miR-28 and miR-505.
      Alteration of each of the members of the LRF/miR-28/miR-505/ASF/SF2 axis affects
      MEF proliferation and the number of senescent and apoptotic cells. Consistently,
      the axis is coordinately modulated as cell senescence increases with passages in
      MEF culture. In conclusion, we show that LRF-dependent miRNAs miR-28 and miR-505
      control MEF proliferation and survival by targeting ASF/SF2 and suggest a central
      role of LRF-related miRNAs, in addition to the role of LRF-dependent p53 control,
      in cellular homeostasis.

PMID- 20923761
TI  - Classical NF-kappaB activation negatively regulates noncanonical NF-kappaB
      dependent CXCL12 expression.
AB  - Ligation of the lymphotoxin-beta receptor (LTbetaR) by LIGHT (lymphotoxin-related
      inducible ligand that competes for glycoprotein D binding to herpes virus entry
      mediator on T cells (TNFSF14)) activates the noncanonical (NC) NF-kappaB (nuclear
      factor-kappaB) pathway and up-regulates CXCL12 gene expression by human umbilical
      vein endothelial cells (HUVEC). In contrast, TNF only activates classical NF
      kappaB signaling and does not up-regulate CXCL12. To determine whether cross-talk
      between the classical and NC pathways affects CXCL12 expression, we investigated
      the effects of TNF on LIGHT signaling in HUVEC. We show here that TNF inhibits
      both basal and LIGHT-induced CXCL12 expression. Negative regulation by TNF
      requires the classical NF-kappaB pathway as inhibition of basal and induced
      CXCL12 was reversed in HUVEC-expressing dominant negative IkappaB (inhibitor of
      NF-kappaB) kinase (IKK)beta (IKKbeta(K44M)). TNF did not inhibit the NC NF-kappaB
      pathway activation as LIGHT-induced p100 processing to p52 was intact; however,
      TNF either alone or together with LIGHT up-regulated p100 and RelB expression and
      induced the nuclear localization of p100-RelB complexes. Enhanced p100 and RelB
      expression was inhibited by IKKbeta(K44M), which led us to question whether the
      IkappaB function of elevated p100 mediates the inhibition of CXCL12 expression by
      TNF. We retrovirally transduced HUVEC to express p100 at a level similar to that
      up-regulated by TNF; however, basal and LIGHT-induced CXCL12 expression was
      normal in the transduced cells. In contrast, ectopic RelB expression
      recapitulated the effects of TNF on NC signaling and inhibited basal and LIGHT
      induced CXCL12 expression by HUVEC. Our findings therefore demonstrate that TNF
      induced classical NF-kappaB signaling up-regulates RelB expression that inhibits
      both basal and NC NF-kappaB-dependent CXCL12 expression.

PMID- 20923762
TI  - The first type III repeat in fibronectin activates an inflammatory pathway in
      dermal fibroblasts.
AB  - Remodeling of the fibronectin matrix occurs during a variety of pathological and
      regenerative processes. Cellular generated tensional forces can alter the
      secondary and tertiary structure of the fibronectin matrix and regulate the
      exposure of cryptic activities that directly impact cell behavior. In the present
      study, we evaluated the effect of the partially unfolded Type III fibronectin
      module, FnIII-1c, on gene expression in dermal fibroblasts. Microarray and PCR
      analysis indicated that the addition of FnIII-1c to human dermal fibroblasts
      induced the expression of several inflammatory genes including the cytokines, IL
      8 and TNF-alpha. ELISA analysis indicated that the increased gene expression was
      accompanied by the secretion of IL-8 and TNF-alpha protein. FnIII-1c-induced gene
      expression was preceded by increased phosphorylation of IkappaB kinase (IKK) and
      IkappaBalpha as well as the nuclear translocation of NFkappaB. PCR and ELISA
      analysis showed that inhibition of the NFkappaB signaling pathway completely
      blocked the induction of IL-8 and TNF-alpha. Blocking antibodies to Toll-like
      receptor 4 inhibited both the activation of the NFkappaB signaling pathway as
      well as cytokine expression in response to FnIII-1c. These data suggest that
      fibronectin matrix remodeling can induce the expression of cytokines by stromal
      cells present in the tissue microenvironment.

PMID- 20923763
TI  - Hemin binds to human cytoplasmic arginyl-tRNA synthetase and inhibits its
      catalytic activity.
AB  - The free form of human cytoplasmic arginyl-tRNA synthetase (hcArgRS) is
      hypothesized to participate in ubiquitin-dependent protein degradation by
      offering arginyl-tRNA(Arg) to arginyl-tRNA transferase (ATE1). We investigated
      the effect of hemin on hcArgRS based on the fact that hemin regulates several
      critical proteins in the "N-end rule" protein degradation pathway. Extensive
      biochemical evidence has established that hemin could bind to both forms of
      hcArgRS in vitro. Based on the spectral changes of the Soret band on site
      directed protein mutants, we identified Cys-115 as a specific axial ligand of
      hemin binding that is located in the Add1 domain. Hemin inhibited the catalytic
      activity of full-length and N-terminal 72-amino acid-truncated hcArgRSs by
      blocking amino acid activation. Kinetic analysis demonstrated that the K(m)
      values for tRNA(Arg), arginine, and ATP in the presence of hemin were not
      altered, but k(cat) values dramatically decreased compared with those in the
      absence of hemin. By comparison, the activity of prokaryotic ArgRS was not
      affected obviously by hemin. Gel filtration chromatography suggested that hemin
      induced oligomerization of both the isolated Add1 domain and the wild type
      enzyme, which could account for the inhibition of catalytic activity. However,
      the catalytic activity of an hcArgRS mutant with Cys-115 replaced by alanine
      (hcArgRS-C115A) was also inhibited by hemin, suggesting that hemin binding to Cys
      115 is not responsible for the inhibition of enzymatic activity and that the
      specific binding may participate in other biological functions.

PMID- 20923764
TI  - Timing of gene transcription in the galactose utilization system of Escherichia
      coli.
AB  - In the natural environment, bacterial cells have to adjust their metabolism to
      alterations in the availability of food sources. The order and timing of gene
      expression are crucial in these situations to produce an appropriate response. We
      used the galactose regulation in Escherichia coli as a model system for
      understanding how cells integrate information about food availability and cAMP
      levels to adjust the timing and intensity of gene expression. We simulated the
      feast-famine cycle of bacterial growth by diluting stationary phase cells in
      fresh medium containing galactose as the sole carbon source. We followed the
      activities of six promoters of the galactose system as cells grew on and ran out
      of galactose. We found that the cell responds to a decreasing external galactose
      level by increasing the internal galactose level, which is achieved by limiting
      galactose metabolism and increasing the expression of transporters. We show that
      the cell alters gene expression based primarily on the current state of the cell
      and not on monitoring the level of extracellular galactose in real time. Some
      decisions have longer term effects; therefore, the current state does subtly
      encode the history of food availability. In summary, our measurements of timing
      of gene expression in the galactose system suggest that the system has evolved to
      respond to environments where future galactose levels are unpredictable rather
      than regular feast and famine cycles.

PMID- 20923765
TI  - PTPD1 supports receptor stability and mitogenic signaling in bladder cancer
      cells.
AB  - PTPD1, a cytosolic non-receptor protein-tyrosine phosphatase, stimulates the Src
      EGF transduction pathway. Localization of PTPD1 at actin cytoskeleton and
      adhesion sites is required for cell scattering and migration. Here, we show that
      during EGF stimulation, PTPD1 is rapidly recruited to endocytic vesicles
      containing the EGF receptor. Endosomal localization of PTPD1 is mediated by
      interaction with KIF16B, an endosomal kinesin that modulates receptor recycling
      at the plasma membrane. Silencing of PTPD1 promotes degradation of EGF receptor
      and inhibits downstream ERK signaling. We also found that PTPD1 is markedly
      increased in bladder cancer tissue samples. PTPD1 levels positively correlated
      with the grading and invasiveness potential of these tumors. Transgenic
      expression of an inactive PTPD1 mutant or genetic knockdown of the endogenous
      PTPD1 severely inhibited both growth and motility of human bladder cancer cells.
      These findings identify PTPD1 as a novel component of the endocytic machinery
      that impacts on EGF receptor stability and on growth and motility of bladder
      cancer cells.

PMID- 20923766
TI  - Functional hypervariability and gene diversity of cardioactive neuropeptides.
AB  - Crustacean cardioactive peptide (CCAP) and related peptides are multifunctional
      regulatory neurohormones found in invertebrates. We isolated a CCAP-related
      peptide (conoCAP-a, for cone snail CardioActive Peptide) and cloned the cDNA of
      its precursor from venom of Conus villepinii. The precursor of conoCAP-a encodes
      for two additional CCAP-like peptides: conoCAP-b and conoCAP-c. This multi
      peptide precursor organization is analogous to recently predicted molluscan CCAP
      like preprohormones, and suggests a mechanism for the generation of biological
      diversification without gene amplification. While arthropod CCAP is a cardio
      accelerator, we found that conoCAP-a decreases the heart frequency in Drosophila
      larvae, demonstrating that conoCAP-a and CCAP have opposite effects. Intravenous
      injection of conoCAP-a in rats caused decreased heart frequency and blood
      pressure in contrast to the injection of CCAP, which did not elicit any cardiac
      effect. Perfusion of rat ventricular cardiac myocytes with conoCAP-a decreased
      systolic calcium, indicating that conoCAP-a cardiac negative inotropic effects
      might be mediated via impairment of intracellular calcium trafficking. The
      contrasting cardiac effects of conoCAP-a and CCAP indicate that molluscan CCAP
      like peptides have functions that differ from those of their arthropod
      counterparts. Molluscan CCAP-like peptides sequences, while homologous, differ
      between taxa and have unique sequences within a species. This relates to the
      functional hypervariability of these peptides as structure activity relationship
      studies demonstrate that single amino acids variations strongly affect cardiac
      activity. The discovery of conoCAPs in cone snail venom emphasizes the
      significance of their gene plasticity to have mutations as an adaptive evolution
      in terms of structure, cellular site of expression, and physiological functions.

PMID- 20923767
TI  - On the role of molecular oxygen in lipoxygenase activation: comparison and
      contrast of epidermal lipoxygenase-3 with soybean lipoxygenase-1.
AB  - The oxygenation of polyunsaturated fatty acids by lipoxygenases (LOX) is
      associated with a lag phase during which the resting ferrous enzyme is converted
      to the active ferric form by reaction with fatty acid hydroperoxide. Epidermal
      lipoxygenase-3 (eLOX3) is atypical in displaying hydroperoxide isomerase activity
      with fatty acid hydroperoxides through cycling of the ferrous enzyme. Yet eLOX3
      is capable of dioxygenase activity, albeit with a long lag phase and need for
      high concentrations of hydroperoxide activator. Here, we show that higher O(2)
      concentration shortens the lag phase in eLOX3, although it reduces the rate of
      hydroperoxide consumption, effects also associated with an A451G mutation known
      to affect the disposition of molecular oxygen in the LOX active site. These
      observations are consistent with a role of O(2) in interrupting hydroperoxide
      isomerase cycling. Activation of eLOX3, A451G eLOX3, and soybean LOX-1 with 13
      hydroperoxy-linoleic acid forms oxygenated end products, which we identified as
      9R- and 9S-hydroperoxy-12S,13S-trans-epoxyoctadec-10E-enoic acids. We deduce that
      activation partly depends on reaction of O(2) with the intermediate of
      hydroperoxide cleavage, the epoxyallylic radical, giving an epoxyallylic peroxyl
      radical that does not further react with Fe(III)-OH; instead, it dissociates and
      leaves the enzyme in the activated free ferric state. eLOX3 differs from soybean
      LOX-1 in more tightly binding the epoxyallylic radical and having limited access
      to O(2) within the active site, leading to a deficiency in activation and a
      dominant hydroperoxide isomerase activity.

PMID- 20923768
TI  - Endocannabinoids prevent beta-amyloid-mediated lysosomal destabilization in
      cultured neurons.
AB  - Neuronal cell loss underlies the pathological decline in cognition and memory
      associated with Alzheimer disease (AD). Recently, targeting the endocannabinoid
      system in AD has emerged as a promising new approach to treatment. Studies have
      identified neuroprotective roles for endocannabinoids against key pathological
      events in the AD brain, including cell death by apoptosis. Elucidation of the
      apoptotic pathway evoked by beta-amyloid (Abeta) is thus important for the
      development of therapeutic strategies that can thwart Abeta toxicity and preserve
      cell viability. We have previously reported that lysosomal membrane
      permeabilization plays a distinct role in the apoptotic pathway initiated by
      Abeta. In the present study, we provide evidence that the endocannabinoid system
      can stabilize lysosomes against Abeta-induced permeabilization and in turn
      sustain cell survival. We report that endocannabinoids stabilize lysosomes by
      preventing the Abeta-induced up-regulation of the tumor suppressor protein, p53,
      and its interaction with the lysosomal membrane. We also provide evidence that
      intracellular cannabinoid type 1 receptors play a role in stabilizing lysosomes
      against Abeta toxicity and thus highlight the functionality of these receptors.
      Given the deleterious effect of lysosomal membrane permeabilization on cell
      viability, stabilization of lysosomes with endocannabinoids may represent a novel
      mechanism by which these lipid modulators confer neuroprotection.

PMID- 20923769
TI  - A conserved aromatic residue in the autochaperone domain of the autotransporter
      Hbp is critical for initiation of outer membrane translocation.
AB  - Autotransporters are bacterial virulence factors that share a common mechanism by
      which they are transported to the cell surface. They consist of an N-terminal
      passenger domain and a C-terminal beta-barrel, which has been implicated in
      translocation of the passenger across the outer membrane (OM). The mechanism of
      passenger translocation and folding is still unclear but involves a conserved
      region at the C terminus of the passenger domain, the so-called autochaperone
      domain. This domain functions in the stepwise translocation process and in the
      folding of the passenger domain after translocation. In the autotransporter
      hemoglobin protease (Hbp), the autochaperone domain consists of the last rung of
      the beta-helix and a capping domain. To examine the role of this region, we have
      mutated several conserved aromatic residues that are oriented toward the core of
      the beta-helix. We found that non-conservative mutations affected secretion with
      Trp(1015) in the cap region as the most critical residue. Substitution at this
      position yielded a DegP-sensitive intermediate that is located at the periplasmic
      side of the OM. Further analysis revealed that Trp(1015) is most likely required
      for initiation of processive folding of the beta-helix at the cell surface, which
      drives sequential translocation of the Hbp passenger across the OM.

PMID- 20923770
TI  - Phosphatidylserine is involved in the ferrichrome-induced plasma membrane
      trafficking of Arn1 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
AB  - Arn1 is an integral membrane protein that mediates the uptake of ferrichrome, an
      important nutritional source of iron, in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In the absence
      of ferrichrome, Arn1p is sorted directly from the trans-Golgi network to the
      vacuolar lumen for degradation. In the presence of low levels of ferrichrome, the
      siderophore binds to a receptor domain on Arn1, triggering the redistribution of
      Arn1 to the plasma membrane. When extracellular ferrichrome levels are high, Arn1
      cycles between the plasma membrane and intracellular vesicles. To further
      understand the mechanisms of trafficking of Arn1p, we screened 4580 viable yeast
      deletion mutants for mislocalization of Arn1-GFP using synthetic genetic array
      technology. We identified over 100 genes required for trans-Golgi network-to
      vacuole trafficking of Arn1-GFP and only two genes, SER1 and SER2, required for
      the ferrichrome-induced plasma membrane trafficking of Arn1-GFP. SER1 and SER2
      encode two enzymes of the major serine biosynthetic pathway, and the Arn1
      trafficking defect in the ser1Delta strain was corrected with supplemental serine
      or glycine. Plasma membrane trafficking of Hxt3, a structurally related glucose
      transporter, was unaffected by SER1 deletion. Serine is required for the
      synthesis of multiple cellular components, including purines, sphingolipids, and
      phospholipids, but of these only phosphatidylserine corrected the Arn1
      trafficking defects of the ser1Delta strain. Strains with defects in phospholipid
      synthesis also exhibited alterations in Arn1p trafficking, indicating that the
      intracellular trafficking of some transporters is dependent on the phospholipid
      composition of the cellular membranes.

PMID- 20923771
TI  - A mouse macrophage lipidome.
AB  - We report the lipidomic response of the murine macrophage RAW cell line to Kdo(2)
      lipid A, the active component of an inflammatory lipopolysaccharide functioning
      as a selective TLR4 agonist and compactin, a statin inhibitor of cholesterol
      biosynthesis. Analyses of lipid molecular species by dynamic quantitative mass
      spectrometry and concomitant transcriptomic measurements define the lipidome and
      demonstrate immediate responses in fatty acid metabolism represented by increases
      in eicosanoid synthesis and delayed responses characterized by sphingolipid and
      sterol biosynthesis. Lipid remodeling of glycerolipids, glycerophospholipids, and
      prenols also take place, indicating that activation of the innate immune system
      by inflammatory mediators leads to alterations in a majority of mammalian lipid
      categories, including unanticipated effects of a statin drug. Our studies provide
      a systems-level view of lipid metabolism and reveal significant connections
      between lipid and cell signaling and biochemical pathways that contribute to
      innate immune responses and to pharmacological perturbations.

PMID- 20923772
TI  - Consequences of depletion of the signal recognition particle in Escherichia coli.
AB  - Thus far, the role of the Escherichia coli signal recognition particle (SRP) has
      only been studied using targeted approaches. It has been shown for a handful of
      cytoplasmic membrane proteins that their insertion into the cytoplasmic membrane
      is at least partially SRP-dependent. Furthermore, it has been proposed that the
      SRP plays a role in preventing toxic accumulation of mistargeted cytoplasmic
      membrane proteins in the cytoplasm. To complement the targeted studies on SRP, we
      have studied the consequences of the depletion of the SRP component Fifty-four
      homologue (Ffh) in E. coli using a global approach. The steady-state proteomes
      and the proteome dynamics were evaluated using one- and two-dimensional gel
      analysis, followed by mass spectrometry-based protein identification and
      immunoblotting. Our analysis showed that depletion of Ffh led to the following:
      (i) impaired kinetics of the biogenesis of the cytoplasmic membrane proteome;
      (ii) lowered steady-state levels of the respiratory complexes NADH dehydrogenase,
      succinate dehydrogenase, and cytochrome bo(3) oxidase and lowered oxygen
      consumption rates; (iii) increased levels of the chaperones DnaK and GroEL at the
      cytoplasmic membrane; (iv) a sigma(32) stress response and protein aggregation in
      the cytoplasm; and (v) impaired protein synthesis. Our study shows that in E.
      coli SRP-mediated protein targeting is directly linked to maintaining protein
      homeostasis and the general fitness of the cell.

PMID- 20923773
TI  - Regulation of lung cancer cell migration and invasion by reactive oxygen species
      and caveolin-1.
AB  - The acquired capability of tumor cells to migrate and invade neighboring tissues
      is associated with high metastatic potential and advanced stage of cancers.
      Recently, signaling molecules such as reactive oxygen species (ROS) and caveolin
      1 (Cav-1) have been implicated in the aggressive behavior of cancer cells.
      However, the roles of specific ROS in cancer cell migration and Cav-1 regulation
      are unclear. We demonstrate here that Cav-1 plays an important role in the
      migration and invasion of human lung carcinoma H460 cells and that these effects
      are differentially regulated by cellular ROS. Using various known inhibitors and
      donors of ROS, we found that different ROS have different effects on Cav-1
      expression and cell migration and invasion. Superoxide anion and hydrogen
      peroxide down-regulated Cav-1 expression and inhibited cell migration and
      invasion, whereas hydroxyl radical up-regulated the Cav-1 expression and promoted
      cell migration and invasion. The down-regulating effect of superoxide anion and
      hydrogen peroxide on Cav-1 is mediated through a transcription-independent
      mechanism that involves protein degradation via the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway.
      These results indicate the essential role of different ROS in cancer cell
      motility and through Cav-1 expression, which may provide a key mechanism
      controlling tumor progression and metastasis. The up-regulation of Cav-1 and cell
      motility by hydroxyl free radical suggests an important role of this ROS as a
      positive regulator of tumor progression.

PMID- 20923774
TI  - Tay1 protein, a novel telomere binding factor from Yarrowia lipolytica.
AB  - Inspection of the complete genome of the yeast Yarrowia lipolytica for the
      presence of genes encoding homologues of known telomere-binding proteins
      surprisingly revealed no counterparts of typical yeast Myb domain-containing
      telomeric factors including Rap1 or Taz1. Instead, we identified a gene,
      YALIOD10923g, encoding a protein containing two Myb domains, exhibiting a high
      degree of similarity to the Myb domain of human telomeric proteins TRF1 and TRF2
      and homologous to an essential fission yeast protein Mug152 whose expression is
      elevated during meiosis. The protein, which we named Tay1p (telomere-associated
      in Yarrowia lipolytica 1), was purified for biochemical studies. Using a model Y.
      lipolytica telomere, we demonstrate that the protein preferentially binds to Y.
      lipolytica telomeric tracts. Tay1p binds along the telomeric tract as dimers and
      larger oligomers, and it is able to remodel the telomeric DNA into both looped
      structures and synaptic complexes of two model telomere DNAs. The ability of
      Tay1p to induce dimerization of telomeres in vitro goes in line with its
      oligomeric nature, where each oligomer can employ several Myb domains to form
      intermolecular telomere clusters. We also provide experimental evidence that
      Tay1p may be associated with Y. lipolytica telomeres in vivo. Together with its
      homologues from Schizosaccharomyces pombe and several basidiomycetous fungi
      (Sanchez-Alonso, P., and Guzman, P. (2008) Fungal Genet. Biol. 45, S54-S62),
      Tay1p constitutes a novel family of putative telomeric factors whose analysis may
      be instrumental in understanding the function and evolution of double-stranded
      DNA telomeric proteins.

PMID- 20923775
TI  - Rsf-1, a chromatin remodeling protein, induces DNA damage and promotes genomic
      instability.
AB  - Rsf-1 (HBXAP) has been reported as an amplified gene in human cancer, including
      the highly aggressive ovarian serous carcinoma. Rsf-1 protein interacts with
      SNF2H to form an ISWI chromatin remodeling complex, RSF. In this study, we
      investigated the functional role of Rsf-1 by observing phenotypes after
      expressing it in nontransformed cells. Acute expression of Rsf-1 resulted in DNA
      damage as evidenced by DNA strand breaks, nuclear gammaH2AX foci, and activation
      of the ATM-CHK2-p53-p21 pathway, leading to growth arrest and apoptosis. Deletion
      mutation and gene knockdown assays revealed that formation of a functional RSF
      complex with SNF2H was required for Rsf-1 to trigger DNA damage response (DDR).
      Gene knock-out of TP53 alleles, TP53 mutation, or treatment with an ATM inhibitor
      abolished up-regulation of p53 and p21 and prevented Rsf-1-induced growth arrest.
      Chronic induction of Rsf-1 expression resulted in chromosomal aberration and
      clonal selection for cells with c-myc amplification and CDKN2A/B deletion. Co
      culture assays indicated Rsf-1-induced DDR as a selecting barrier that favored
      outgrowth of cell clones with a TP53 mutation. The above findings suggest that
      increased Rsf-1 expression and thus excessive RSF activity, which occurs in
      tumors harboring Rsf-1 amplification, can induce chromosomal instability likely
      through DDR.

PMID- 20923776
TI  - Metabolome analysis revealed increase in S-methylcysteine and
      phosphatidylisopropanolamine synthesis upon L-cysteine deprivation in the
      anaerobic protozoan parasite Entamoeba histolytica.
AB  - L-cysteine is ubiquitous in all living organisms and is involved in a variety of
      functions, including the synthesis of iron-sulfur clusters and glutathione and
      the regulation of the structure, stability, and catalysis of proteins. In the
      protozoan parasite Entamoeba histolytica, the causative agent of amebiasis, L
      cysteine plays an essential role in proliferation, adherence, and defense against
      oxidative stress; however, the essentiality of this amino acid in the pathways it
      regulates is not well understood. In the present study, we applied capillary
      electrophoresis time-of-flight mass spectrometry to quantitate charged
      metabolites modulated in response to L-cysteine deprivation in E. histolytica,
      which was selected as a model for examining the biological roles of L-cysteine. L
      cysteine deprivation had profound effects on glycolysis, amino acid, and
      phospholipid metabolism, with sharp decreases in the levels of L-cysteine, L
      cystine, and S-adenosylmethionine and a dramatic accumulation of O-acetylserine
      and S-methylcysteine. We further demonstrated that S-methylcysteine is
      synthesized from methanethiol and O-acetylserine by cysteine synthase, which was
      previously considered to be involved in sulfur-assimilatory L-cysteine
      biosynthesis. In addition, L-cysteine depletion repressed glycolysis and energy
      generation, as it reduced acetyl-CoA, ethanol, and the major nucleotide di- and
      triphosphates, and led to the accumulation of glycolytic intermediates.
      Interestingly, L-cysteine depletion increased the synthesis of isopropanolamine
      and phosphatidylisopropanolamine, and it was confirmed that their increment was
      not a result of oxidative stress but was a specific response to L-cysteine
      depletion. We also identified a pathway in which isopropanolamine is synthesized
      from methylglyoxal via aminoacetone. To date, this study represents the first
      case where L-cysteine deprivation leads to drastic changes in core metabolic
      pathways, including energy, amino acid, and phospholipid metabolism.

PMID- 20923777
TI  - Microglial Toll-like receptor 2 contributes to kainic acid-induced glial
      activation and hippocampal neuronal cell death.
AB  - Recent studies indicate that Toll-like receptors (TLRs), originally identified as
      infectious agent receptors, also mediate sterile inflammatory responses during
      tissue damage. In this study, we investigated the role of TLR2 in excitotoxic
      hippocampal cell death using TLR2 knock-out (KO) mice. TLR2 expression was up
      regulated in microglia in the ipsilateral hippocampus of kainic acid (KA)
      injected mice. KA-mediated hippocampal cell death was significantly reduced in
      TLR2 KO mice compared with wild-type (WT) mice. Similarly, KA-induced glial
      activation and proinflammatory gene expression in the hippocampus were
      compromised in TLR2 KO mice. In addition, neurons in organotypic hippocampal
      slice cultures (OHSCs) from TLR2 KO mouse brains were less susceptible to KA
      excitotoxicity than WT OHSCs. This protection is partly attributed to decreased
      expression of proinflammatory genes, such as TNF-alpha and IL-1beta in TLR2 KO
      mice OHSCs. These data demonstrate conclusively that TLR2 signaling in microglia
      contributes to KA-mediated innate immune responses and hippocampal
      excitotoxicity.

PMID- 20923778
TI  - Inhibitors of catalase-amyloid interactions protect cells from beta-amyloid
      induced oxidative stress and toxicity.
AB  - Compelling evidence shows a strong correlation between accumulation of neurotoxic
      beta-amyloid (Abeta) peptides and oxidative stress in the brains of patients
      afflicted with Alzheimer disease (AD). One hypothesis for this correlation
      involves the direct and harmful interaction of aggregated Abeta peptides with
      enzymes responsible for maintaining normal, cellular levels of reactive oxygen
      species (ROS). Identification of specific, destructive interactions of Abeta
      peptides with cellular anti-oxidant enzymes would represent an important step
      toward understanding the pathogenicity of Abeta peptides in AD. This report
      demonstrates that exposure of human neuroblastoma cells to cytotoxic preparations
      of aggregated Abeta peptides results in significant intracellular co-localization
      of Abeta with catalase, an anti-oxidant enzyme responsible for catalyzing the
      degradation of the ROS intermediate hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)). These catalase
      Abeta interactions deactivate catalase, resulting in increased cellular levels of
      H(2)O(2). Furthermore, small molecule inhibitors of catalase-amyloid interactions
      protect the hydrogen peroxide-degrading activity of catalase in Abeta-rich
      environments, leading to reduction of the co-localization of catalase and Abeta
      in cells, inhibition of Abeta-induced increases in cellular levels of H(2)O(2),
      and reduction of the toxicity of Abeta peptides. These studies, thus, provide
      evidence for the important role of intracellular catalase-amyloid interactions in
      Abeta-induced oxidative stress and propose a novel molecular strategy to inhibit
      such harmful interactions in AD.

PMID- 20923779
TI  - MAP/ERK kinase kinase 1 (MEKK1) mediates transcriptional repression by
      interacting with polycystic kidney disease-1 (PKD1) promoter-bound p53 tumor
      suppressor protein.
AB  - Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascades regulate a wide variety of
      cellular processes that ultimately depend on changes in gene expression. We have
      found a novel mechanism whereby one of the key MAP3 kinases, Mekk1, regulates
      transcriptional activity through an interaction with p53. The tumor suppressor
      protein p53 down-regulates a number of genes, including the gene most frequently
      mutated in autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (PKD1). We have
      discovered that Mekk1 translocates to the nucleus and acts as a co-repressor with
      p53 to down-regulate PKD1 transcriptional activity. This repression does not
      require Mekk1 kinase activity, excluding the need for an Mekk1 phosphorylation
      cascade. However, this PKD1 repression can also be induced by the stress-pathway
      stimuli, including TNFalpha, suggesting that Mekk1 activation induces both JNK
      dependent and JNK-independent pathways that target the PKD1 gene. An Mekk1-p53
      interaction at the PKD1 promoter suggests a new mechanism by which abnormally
      elevated stress-pathway stimuli might directly down-regulate the PKD1 gene,
      possibly causing haploinsufficiency and cyst formation.

PMID- 20923780
TI  - Thrombospondin-1 inhibits VEGF receptor-2 signaling by disrupting its association
      with CD47.
AB  - Thrombospondin-1 (TSP1) can inhibit angiogenic responses directly by interacting
      with VEGF and indirectly by engaging several endothelial cell TSP1 receptors. We
      now describe a more potent mechanism by which TSP1 inhibits VEGF receptor-2
      (VEGFR2) activation through engaging its receptor CD47. CD47 ligation is known to
      inhibit downstream signaling targets of VEGFR2, including endothelial nitric
      oxide synthase and soluble guanylate cyclase, but direct effects on VEGFR2 have
      not been examined. Based on FRET and co-immunoprecipitation, CD47 constitutively
      associated with VEGFR2. Ligation of CD47 by TSP1 abolished resonance energy
      transfer with VEGFR2 and inhibited phosphorylation of VEGFR2 and its downstream
      target Akt without inhibiting VEGF binding to VEGFR2. The inhibitory activity of
      TSP1 in large vessel and microvascular endothelial cells was replicated by a
      recombinant domain of the protein containing its CD47-binding site and by a CD47
      binding peptide derived from this domain but not by the CD36-binding domain of
      TSP1. Inhibition of VEGFR2 phosphorylation was lost when CD47 expression was
      suppressed in human endothelial cells and in murine CD47-null cells. These
      results reveal that anti-angiogenic signaling through CD47 is highly redundant
      and extends beyond inhibition of nitric oxide signaling to global inhibition of
      VEGFR2 signaling.

PMID- 20923781
TI  - Identification of species by multiplex analysis of variable-length sequences.
AB  - The quest for a universal and efficient method of identifying species has been a
      longstanding challenge in biology. Here, we show that accurate identification of
      species in all domains of life can be accomplished by multiplex analysis of
      variable-length sequences containing multiple insertion/deletion variants. The
      new method, called SPInDel, is able to discriminate 93.3% of eukaryotic species
      from 18 taxonomic groups. We also demonstrate that the identification of
      prokaryotic and viral species with numeric profiles of fragment lengths is
      generally straightforward. A computational platform is presented to facilitate
      the planning of projects and includes a large data set with nearly 1800 numeric
      profiles for species in all domains of life (1556 for eukaryotes, 105 for
      prokaryotes and 130 for viruses). Finally, a SPInDel profiling kit for
      discrimination of 10 mammalian species was successfully validated on highly
      processed food products with species mixtures and proved to be easily adaptable
      to multiple screening procedures routinely used in molecular biology
      laboratories. These results suggest that SPInDel is a reliable and cost-effective
      method for broad-spectrum species identification that is appropriate for use in
      suboptimal samples and is amenable to different high-throughput genotyping
      platforms without the need for DNA sequencing.

PMID- 20923782
TI  - Conserved small RNAs govern replication and incompatibility of a diverse new
      plasmid family from marine bacteria.
AB  - Plasmids are autonomously replicating extrachromosomal DNA molecules that often
      impart key phenotypes to their bacterial hosts. Plasmids are abundant in marine
      bacteria, but there is scant knowledge of the mechanisms that control their
      replication in these hosts. Here, we identified and characterized the factors
      governing replication of a new family of plasmids from marine bacteria, typified
      by the virulence-linked plasmid pB1067 of Vibrio nigripulchritudo. Members of
      this family are prevalent among, yet restricted to, the Vibrionaceae. Unlike
      almost all plasmid families characterized to date, the ori regions of these
      plasmids do not encode a Rep protein to initiate DNA replication; instead, the
      ori regions encode two partially complementary RNAs. The smaller, termed RNA I,
      is ~68-nt long and functions as a negative regulator and the key determinant of
      plasmid incompatibility. This Marine RNA-based (MRB) plasmid family is the first
      characterized family of replicons derived from marine bacteria. Only one other
      plasmid family (the ColE1 family) has previously been reported to rely on RNA
      mediated replication initiation. However, since the sequences and structures of
      MRB RNA I transcripts are not related to those of ColE1 replicons, these two
      families of RNA-dependent replicons likely arose by convergent evolution.

PMID- 20923783
TI  - Theoretical and empirical quality assessment of transcription factor-binding
      motifs.
AB  - Position-specific scoring matrices (PSSMs) are routinely used to predict
      transcription factor (TF)-binding sites in genome sequences. However, their
      reliability to predict novel binding sites can be far from optimum, due to the
      use of a small number of training sites or the inappropriate choice of parameters
      when building the matrix or when scanning sequences with it. Measures of matrix
      quality such as E-value and information content rely on theoretical models, and
      may fail in the context of full genome sequences. We propose a method,
      implemented in the program 'matrix-quality', that combines theoretical and
      empirical score distributions to assess reliability of PSSMs for predicting TF
      binding sites. We applied 'matrix-quality' to estimate the predictive capacity of
      matrices for bacterial, yeast and mouse TFs. The evaluation of matrices from
      RegulonDB revealed some poorly predictive motifs, and allowed us to quantify the
      improvements obtained by applying multi-genome motif discovery. Interestingly,
      the method reveals differences between global and specific regulators. It also
      highlights the enrichment of binding sites in sequence sets obtained from high
      throughput ChIP-chip (bacterial and yeast TFs), and ChIP-seq and experiments
      (mouse TFs). The method presented here has many applications, including:
      selecting reliable motifs before scanning sequences; improving motif collections
      in TFs databases; evaluating motifs discovered using high-throughput data sets.

PMID- 20923784
TI  - DNA methyltransferase 3b preferentially associates with condensed chromatin.
AB  - In mammals, DNA methylation is catalyzed by DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs)
      encoded by Dnmt1, Dnmt3a and Dnmt3b. Since, the mechanisms of regulation of Dnmts
      are still largely unknown, the physical interaction between Dnmt3b and chromatin
      was investigated in vivo and in vitro. In embryonic stem cell nuclei, Dnmt3b
      preferentially associated with histone H1-containing heterochromatin without any
      significant enrichment of silent-specific histone methylation. Recombinant Dnmt3b
      preferentially associated with nucleosomal DNA rather than naked DNA.
      Incorporation of histone H1 into nucleosomal arrays promoted the association of
      Dnmt3b with chromatin, whereas histone acetylation reduced Dnmt3b binding in
      vitro. In addition, Dnmt3b associated with histone deacetylase SirT1 in the
      nuclease resistant chromatin. These findings suggest that Dnmt3b is
      preferentially recruited into hypoacetylated and condensed chromatin. We propose
      that Dnmt3b is a 'reader' of higher-order chromatin structure leading to gene
      silencing through DNA methylation.

PMID- 20923785
TI  - Analysis of DNA double-strand break response and chromatin structure in mitosis
      using laser microirradiation.
AB  - In this study the femtosecond near-IR and nanosecond green lasers are used to
      induce alterations in mitotic chromosomes. The subsequent double-strand break
      responses are studied. We show that both lasers are capable of creating
      comparable chromosomal alterations and that a phase paling observed within 1-2 s
      of laser exposure is associated with an alteration of chromatin as confirmed by
      serial section electron microscopy, DAPI, gammaH2AX and phospho-H3 staining.
      Additionally, the accumulation of dark material observed using phase contrast
      light microscopy (indicative of a change in refractive index of the chromatin) ~
      34 s post-laser exposure corresponds spatially to the accumulation of Nbs1, Ku
      and ubiquitin. This study demonstrates that chromosomes selectively altered in
      mitosis initiate the DNA damage response within 30 s and that the accumulation of
      proteins are visually represented by phase-dark material at the irradiation site,
      allowing us to determine the fate of the damage as cells enter G1. These results
      occur with two widely different laser systems, making this approach to study DNA
      damage responses in the mitotic phase generally available to many different labs.
      Additionally, we present a summary of most of the published laser studies on
      chromosomes in order to provide a general guide of the lasers and operating
      parameters used by other laboratories.

PMID- 20923786
TI  - Localization of an accessory helicase at the replisome is critical in sustaining
      efficient genome duplication.
AB  - Genome duplication requires accessory helicases to displace proteins ahead of
      advancing replication forks. Escherichia coli contains three helicases, Rep, UvrD
      and DinG, that might promote replication of protein-bound DNA. One of these
      helicases, Rep, also interacts with the replicative helicase DnaB. We demonstrate
      that Rep is the only putative accessory helicase whose absence results in an
      increased chromosome duplication time. We show also that the interaction between
      Rep and DnaB is required for Rep to maintain rapid genome duplication.
      Furthermore, this Rep-DnaB interaction is critical in minimizing the need for
      both recombinational processing of blocked replication forks and replisome
      reassembly, indicating that colocalization of Rep and DnaB minimizes stalling and
      subsequent inactivation of replication forks. These data indicate that E. coli
      contains only one helicase that acts as an accessory motor at the fork in wild
      type cells, that such an activity is critical for the maintenance of rapid genome
      duplication and that colocalization with the replisome is crucial for this
      function. Given that the only other characterized accessory motor, Saccharomyces
      cerevisiae Rrm3p, associates physically with the replisome, our demonstration of
      the functional importance of such an association indicates that colocalization
      may be a conserved feature of accessory replicative motors.

PMID- 20923787
TI  - Therapeutic modulation of cerebral L-lysine metabolism in a mouse model for
      glutaric aciduria type I.
AB  - Glutaric aciduria type I, an inherited deficiency of glutaryl-coenzyme A
      dehydrogenase localized in the final common catabolic pathway of L-lysine, L
      hydroxylysine and L-tryptophan, leads to accumulation of neurotoxic glutaric and
      3-hydroxyglutaric acid, as well as non-toxic glutarylcarnitine. Most untreated
      patients develop irreversible brain damage during infancy that can be prevented
      in the majority of cases if metabolic treatment with a low L-lysine diet and L
      carnitine supplementation is started in the newborn period. The biochemical
      effect of this treatment remains uncertain, since cerebral concentrations of
      neurotoxic metabolites can only be determined by invasive techniques. Therefore,
      we studied the biochemical effect and mechanism of metabolic treatment in
      glutaryl-coenzyme A dehydrogenase-deficient mice, an animal model with complete
      loss of glutaryl-coenzyme A dehydrogenase activity, focusing on the tissue
      specific changes of neurotoxic metabolites and key enzymes of L-lysine
      metabolism. Here, we demonstrate that low L-lysine diet, but not L-carnitine
      supplementation, lowered the concentration of glutaric acid in brain, liver,
      kidney and serum. L-carnitine supplementation restored the free L-carnitine pool
      and enhanced the formation of glutarylcarnitine. The effect of low L-lysine diet
      was amplified by add-on therapy with L-arginine, which we propose to result from
      competition with L-lysine at system y(+) of the blood-brain barrier and the
      mitochondrial L-ornithine carriers. L-lysine can be catabolized in the
      mitochondrial saccharopine or the peroxisomal pipecolate pathway. We detected
      high activity of mitochondrial 2-aminoadipate semialdehyde synthase, the rate
      limiting enzyme of the saccharopine pathway, in the liver, whereas it was absent
      in the brain. Since we found activity of the subsequent enzymes of L-lysine
      oxidation, 2-aminoadipate semialdehyde dehydrogenase, 2-aminoadipate
      aminotransferase and 2-oxoglutarate dehydrogenase complex as well as peroxisomal
      pipecolic acid oxidase in brain tissue, we postulate that the pipecolate pathway
      is the major route of L-lysine degradation in the brain and the saccharopine
      pathway is the major route in the liver. Interestingly, treatment with clofibrate
      decreased cerebral and hepatic concentrations of glutaric acid in glutaryl
      coenzyme A dehydrogenase-deficient mice. This finding opens new therapeutic
      perspectives such as pharmacological stimulation of alternative L-lysine
      oxidation in peroxisomes. In conclusion, this study gives insight into the
      discrepancies between cerebral and hepatic L-lysine metabolism, provides for the
      first time a biochemical proof of principle for metabolic treatment in glutaric
      aciduria type I and suggests that further optimization of treatment could be
      achieved by exploitation of competition between L-lysine and L-arginine at
      physiological barriers and enhancement of peroxisomal L-lysine oxidation and
      glutaric acid breakdown.

PMID- 20923789
TI  - Too many platelets to cause compartment syndrome.

PMID- 20923788
TI  - Smaller intracranial volume in prodromal Huntington's disease: evidence for
      abnormal neurodevelopment.
AB  - Huntington's disease is an autosomal dominant brain disease. Although
      conceptualized as a neurodegenerative disease of the striatum, a growing number
      of studies challenge this classic concept of Huntington's disease aetiology.
      Intracranial volume is the tissue and fluid within the calvarium and is a
      representation of the maximal brain growth obtained during development. The
      current study reports intracranial volume obtained from an magnetic resonance
      imaging brain scan in a sample of subjects (n = 707) who have undergone
      presymptomatic gene testing. Participants who are gene-expanded but not yet
      manifesting the disease (prodromal Huntington's disease) are compared with
      subjects who are non-gene expanded. The prodromal males had significantly smaller
      intracranial volume measures with a mean volume that was 4% lower compared with
      controls. Although the prodromal females had smaller intracranial volume measures
      compared with their controls, this was not significant. The current findings
      suggest that mutant huntingtin can cause abnormal development, which may
      contribute to the pathogenesis of Huntington's disease.

PMID- 20923790
TI  - A comparison of magnesium sulphate and sildenafil in the treatment of the
      newborns with persistent pulmonary hypertension: a randomized controlled trial.
AB  - The aim of this prospective, randomized and controlled study was to compare the
      clinical efficacy of intravenous magnesium sulfate (MgSO4) and oral sildenafil
      therapies with persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn. A total of 34
      infants in the MgSO4 group and 31 infants in the sildenafil group completed the
      study. The time to reach the adequate clinical response [defined as oxygen index
      (OI) level of <15, a pulmonary artery pressure of < 20 mmHg) was significantly
      shorter in the sildenafil group (p = 0.002). Duration of mechanical ventilation
      was longer and the number of the patients requiring inotropic support was higher
      in the MgSO4 group (p = 0.001 and p = 0.002, respectively). Although among two
      groups the difference in OI > 5 as speculated in our hypothesis could only be
      found at 36 h of the treatment, sildenafil was more effective than MgSO4 in the
      treatment of persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborns with regard to
      time to adequate clinical response, duration of mechanical ventilation and
      support requirement with inotropic agents.

PMID- 20923791
TI  - Omphalocele management using goal-oriented classification in African centre with
      limited resources.
AB  - In 2000-09, 96 children comprising 57 males and 39 females who were presented
      between 2 h and 1 week of birth with omphalocele were prospectively managed using
      goal-oriented classification at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital,
      Nigeria. All were born through spontaneous vaginal delivery, out of which 9
      (9.4%) were preterm. Eighty-two (85.4%) mothers in villages with no supervised
      antenatal care/delivery and/or prenatal diagnosis presented their babies late.
      Thirty-three (34.4%) babies in group A, with defect size <= 4.5 cm and intact
      sac, were managed conservatively and had fascial closure after neonatal period,
      resulting in 32 (97%) survivors. Forty-two (43.8%) babies in group B, with defect
      size > 4.5 cm and intact sac, were managed conservatively and had fascial
      closures for 9 months to 5 years, resulting in 40 (95.2%) survivors. Group C
      comprised of 21 (21.9%) babies with defect of any size/ruptured sac and who had
      immediate repair, resulting in two (9.5%) survivors owing to lack of facilities
      (p < 0.0001). Hospital delivery and provision of facilities are advocated.

PMID- 20923792
TI  - Endosonography for lung cancer staging: one scope fits all?

PMID- 20923793
TI  - Viral community-acquired pneumonia: if we do not diagnose it and do not treat it,
      can it still hurt us?

PMID- 20923794
TI  - Role of contrast echocardiography in screening for pulmonary arteriovenous
      malformation in patients with hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia.

PMID- 20923795
TI  - Percutaneous coronary intervention in anticoagulated patients and balancing the
      risk of stroke and bleeding: to interrupt or not to interrupt?

PMID- 20923796
TI  - Point: Efficacy of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in 2009 influenza A(H1N1):
      sufficient evidence?

PMID- 20923797
TI  - Counterpoint: Efficacy of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in 2009 influenza
      A(H1N1): sufficient evidence?

PMID- 20923798
TI  - Use it or lose it: Medicare's new paradigm for durable medical equipment
      coverage?
AB  - The 2008 National Coverage Determination by the US Centers for Medicare and
      Medicaid Services (CMS) authorizing coverage of positive airway pressure (PAP)
      treatment of obstructive sleep apnea on the basis of diagnosis by portable
      monitoring was seen by some as a major advance in reimbursement policy for sleep
      medicine services. However, along with the national coverage decision came
      additional rules (local coverage determinations) setting forth the conditions
      that would apply in order for reimbursement to continue beyond 90 days. These
      rules specified the means by which adherence must be measured, a rigid threshold
      for the acceptable degree of adherence, and a requirement for face-to-face
      evaluation by the clinician to document clinical response, all of which must take
      place within a specific timeframe. Whether CMS or the local carriers anticipated
      the difficulties that would be experienced by clinicians, durable medical
      equipment (DME) companies, and patients in complying with these rules is unknown.
      What has become abundantly clear to many is the burden that these rules impose on
      clinicians and DME providers and, more importantly, that indiscriminate
      enforcement may well result in adverse consequences for some patients. The latter
      include not only the inconvenience and added expense for patients of complying
      with the rules, but those resulting from failure by CMS to recognize that a dose
      response relationship exists with respect to the degree of PAP adherence and
      clinical outcome. Moreover, there is reason to believe that patients of low
      socioeconomic class, or who are unmarried, or who have psychiatric disease will
      have more difficulty achieving the required adherence and therefore will, in
      effect, be victims of government-mandated discrimination in the provision of a
      vital healthcare service.

PMID- 20923799
TI  - Risk of symptomatic DVT associated with peripherally inserted central catheters.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Previous studies undertaken to identify risk factors for peripherally
      inserted central catheter (PICC)-associated DVT have yielded conflicting results.
      PICC insertion teams and other health-care providers need to understand the risk
      factors so that they can develop methods to prevent DVT. METHODS: A 1-year
      prospective observational study of PICC insertions was conducted at a 456-bed,
      level I trauma center and tertiary referral hospital affiliated with a medical
      school. All patients with one or more PICC insertions were included to identify
      the incidence and risk factors for symptomatic DVT associated with catheters
      inserted by a facility-certified PICC team using a consistent and replicated
      approach for vein selection and insertion. RESULTS: A total of 2,014 PICCs were
      inserted during 1,879 distinct hospitalizations in 1,728 distinct patients for a
      total of 15,115 days of PICC placement. Most PICCs were placed in the right arm
      (76.9%) and basilic vein (74%) and were double-lumen 5F (75.3%). Of the 2,014
      PICC insertions, 60 (3.0%) in 57 distinct patients developed DVT in the
      cannulated or adjacent veins. The best-performing predictive model for DVT (area
      under the curve, 0.83) was prior DVT (odds ratio [OR], 9.92; P < .001), use of
      double-lumen 5F (OR, 7.54; P < .05) or triple-lumen 6F (OR, 19.50; P < .01)
      PICCs, and prior surgery duration of > 1 h (OR, 1.66; P = .10). CONCLUSIONS:
      Prior DVT and surgery lasting > 1 h identify patients at increased risk for PICC
      associated DVT. More importantly, increasing catheter size also is significantly
      associated with increased risk. Rates of PICC-associated DVT may be reduced by
      improved selection of patients and catheter size.

PMID- 20923801
TI  - Pulmonary complications of hemoglobinopathies.
AB  - Hemoglobinopathies are diseases caused by genetic mutations that result in
      abnormal, dysfunctional hemoglobin molecules or lower levels of normal hemoglobin
      molecules. The most common hemoglobinopathies are sickle cell disease (SCD) and
      the thalassemias. In SCD, an abnormal hemoglobin alters the erythrocyte, causing
      a chronic hemolytic anemia, which can lead to pulmonary parenchymal damage and
      impaired vascular function. Pulmonary complications of SCD include the acute
      chest syndrome (ACS), reactive airways disease, pulmonary hypertension (PH), and
      pulmonary fibrosis. Episodes of ACS and the development of PH both increase the
      risk of death in patients with SCD. Both alpha and beta thalassemia are
      characterized by impaired production of hemoglobin subunits, and severity of
      disease varies widely. Although screening studies suggest that PH is a common
      complication for patients with thalassemia, its impact on survival is unknown.
      Understanding the pathogenesis, diagnostic options, and prevention and treatment
      strategies for such complications is critical for clinicians who care for these
      patients. In this review, we discuss the mechanisms and clinical presentation of
      pulmonary complications associated with hemoglobinopathies, with a focus on
      recent advances in pathogenesis and treatment.

PMID- 20923800
TI  - Therapeutic potential of mesenchymal stem cells for severe acute lung injury.
AB  - Preclinical studies indicate that allogeneic human mesenchymal stem cells (MSC)
      may be useful for the treatment of several clinical disorders, including sepsis,
      acute renal failure, acute myocardial infarction, and more recently, acute lung
      injury (ALI). This article provides a brief review of the biologic qualities of
      MSC that make them suitable for the treatment of human diseases, as well as the
      experimental data that provide support for their potential efficacy for
      critically ill patients with acute respiratory failure from ALI. The article then
      discusses which patients with ALI might be the best candidates for cell-based
      therapy and provides a template for the regulatory and practical steps that will
      be required to test allogeneic human MSC in patients with severe ALI. There is a
      dual focus on how to design trials for testing both safety and efficacy.

PMID- 20923802
TI  - Legionnaires disease in cannabis smokers.
AB  - Tobacco smoking is a well-recognized risk factor for Legionnaires disease.
      However, it may be potentiated by cannabis use, as there is strong evidence that
      Delta(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol impairs immune functions in vitro and in vivo. We
      report herein two out of three cases of severe Legionnaires disease in three men
      with no overt comorbid illnesses, aged 38, 28, and 48 years, respectively. All of
      them were heavy cigarette and cannabis smokers.

PMID- 20923803
TI  - Dramatic improvement in pulmonary hypertension with rapamycin.
AB  - This is a report of a 61-year-old woman with improved pulmonary arterial
      hypertension following treatment with rapamycin for an islet cell tumor of the
      pancreas with liver metastases.

PMID- 20923805
TI  - A 53-year-old woman with recurrent transient ischemic attacks.

PMID- 20923804
TI  - Alcohol-use disorders in the critically ill patient.
AB  - Alcohol abuse and dependence, referred to as alcohol-use disorders (AUDs), affect
      76.3 million people worldwide and account for 1.8 million deaths per year. AUDs
      affect 18.3 million Americans (7.3% of the population), and up to 40% of
      hospitalized patients have AUDs. This review discusses the development and
      progression of critical illness in patients with AUDs. In contrast to acute
      intoxication, AUDs have been linked to increased severity of illness in a number
      of studies. In particular, surgical patients with AUDs experience higher rates of
      postoperative hemorrhage, cardiac complications, sepsis, and need for repeat
      surgery. Outcomes from trauma are worse for patients with chronic alcohol abuse,
      whereas burn patients who are acutely intoxicated may not have worse outcomes.
      AUDs are linked to not only a higher likelihood of community-acquired pneumonia
      and sepsis but also a higher severity of illness and higher rates of nosocomial
      pneumonia and sepsis. The management of sedation in patients with AUDs may be
      particularly challenging because of the increased need for sedatives and opioids
      and the difficulty in diagnosing withdrawal syndrome. The health-care provider
      also must be watchful for the development of dangerous agitation and violence, as
      these problems are not uncommonly seen in hospital ICUs. Despite studies showing
      that up to 40% of hospitalized patients have AUDs, relatively few guidelines
      exist on the specific management of the critically ill patient with AUDs. AUDs
      are underdiagnosed, and a first step to improving patient outcomes may lie in
      systematically and accurately identifying AUDs.

PMID- 20923806
TI  - A 41-year-old man with fluorodeoxyglucose-avid thickening on PET scan.

PMID- 20923807
TI  - A 19-year-old woman with intracranial hemorrhage and diffuse pulmonary
      infiltrates.

PMID- 20923808
TI  - CHA2DS2-VASc risk scheme: not ready for clinical use.

PMID- 20923809
TI  - Patients'-best-interests standard trumps autonomous health-care decisions:
      paternalism vs self-determination.

PMID- 20923810
TI  - Could decortication become necessary in cases of pseudochylothorax?

PMID- 20923811
TI  - Less-obvious predictors of post-ICU informal caregiver burden.

PMID- 20923813
TI  - The potential impact of comparative effectiveness research on the health of
      minority populations.
AB  - Minorities suffer more frequently and more severely from many diseases than do
      non-Hispanic whites, and they often receive lower-quality care, which leads to
      poorer health outcomes. Given the diversity of the US population, comparative
      effectiveness research should capture the health outcomes of racial and ethnic
      minority groups and investigate whether disparities reflect variations in care or
      different responses to treatment. We recommend a number of measures to ensure
      that this research addresses the needs of minorities, including greater attention
      to subgroup analysis. We also recommend the increased recruitment of minorities
      for clinical trials, and such measures as using community health workers to
      translate research results in ways that will increase their relevance to minority
      patients.

PMID- 20923812
TI  - Extubation of patients with neuromuscular weakness: a routine step or a
      challenging procedure?

PMID- 20923814
TI  - How the Recovery Act's Federal Coordinating Council paved the way for the Patient
      Centered Outcomes Research Institute.
AB  - The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 provided $1.1 billion for
      comparative effectiveness research and established the Federal Coordinating
      Council for Comparative Effectiveness Research to direct that investment. The
      council laid a critical foundation for comparative effectiveness research in the
      steps it took to gather information, invite public input, set priorities,
      coordinate project solicitations, and stress the importance of evaluating
      research investments. Although the council has been superseded by a successor-
      the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute--the experiences of the council
      can and should inform the work of the new institute as it begins its operations.

PMID- 20923815
TI  - The day of the triffids?
AB  - This is a case report of two children who presented with a widespread bullous
      erythematous rash secondary to exposure to the hogweed plant.

PMID- 20923816
TI  - Emergency department presentation following falls: development of a routine falls
      surveillance system.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Falls are recognised as a major public health issue, particularly
      among older people, and have been targeted for attention by national service
      frameworks and National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence guidelines
      in the UK. However, reliable epidemiological data are not easily available, and
      it remains difficult to monitor the effect of interventions that seek to reduce
      the public health impact of falls. METHOD: In a 1-year study based in the
      emergency department (ED) of the University Hospital of Wales all Cardiff
      residents who described their presentation as following a fall were identified.
      From a catchment population of 305,353 people a total of 86,031 such ED
      presentations were recorded, 20,154 (23.4%) of which followed a fall. RESULTS:
      This gives an overall falls incidence of 66/1000 population per year, meaning
      that in just a year one resident in 15 attended the ED following a fall. The
      impact of falls was greatest in the oldest age groups, and in women aged over 75
      years the falls incidence of 139/1000 per year was significantly higher than the
      figure of 99/1000 per year observed in men of the same age. CONCLUSIONS: This
      study describes a simple way for ED to establish routine falls surveillance. It
      offers the first estimate of the impact of falls on ED in the UK, suggesting that
      such services are dealing with 4 million falls-related attendances every year.

PMID- 20923817
TI  - 'To treat or not to treat'. Kerrie Wooltorton, lessons to learn.
AB  - One of the main reasons for contact of psychiatric patients with Accident and
      Emergency (A&E) departments is deliberate self-harm. The situation is often
      complicated by the patient's ambivalence about treatment. Kerrie Wooltorton was
      one such patient who presented to an A&E department after having self-harmed by
      taking a fatal dose of antifreeze. She had an Advance Decision forbidding any
      treatment for her overdose, and continued to refuse the treatment. Her wishes
      were honoured and she died 3&emsp14;days later. The case raises many ethical and
      practice issues, and this review aims to clarify the medico legal position in
      such a situation. It draws on the Mental Capacity Act and case law, which clearly
      favour preservation of life, to argue that there are many lessons to learn from
      this case. There are enough safeguards for treating clinicians if they are not
      satisfied of the validity and applicability of the Advance Decision and decide to
      override it. Alternatively, any decision to follow the Advance Decision has to be
      objectively supported by evidence. The Mental Capacity Act itself allows for
      overriding the patient's wishes if certain criteria under the Mental Health Act
      are met. This route was not explored in the Wooltorton case and this is the main
      lesson to learn.

PMID- 20923818
TI  - Analysis of amitriptyline overdose in emergency medicine.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Amitriptyline is a tricyclic antidepressant. In general, toxicity
      effects develop within 30 min of overdose and peak from 2 h to 6 h.
      Anticholinergic effects predominate in cases of low dose ingestion. In cases of
      high dose ingestion, marked depression of the central nervous system is coupled
      with cardiotoxicity, seizures and hypotension. PATIENTS AND METHODS:
      Amitriptyline-intoxicated patients admitted to the emergency department (ED) of
      Dicle University Hospital were evaluated between January 2005 and April 2007.
      Social and demographic status, clinical and laboratory findings, treatments and
      outcomes were recorded. Age, sex, marital status, time of hospital admission,
      consciousness levels, ECG findings, requirement for respiratory support, follow
      up periods and antidepressant overdose risk assessment (ADORA) criteria were
      analysed using SPSS software. RESULTS: A total of 110 cases of overdose by
      amitriptyline was evaluated. Suicide attempts by amitriptyline overdose in adult
      single women were the commonest finding. The commonest symptoms seen during
      initial examinations were sinus tachycardia (66.3%), altered mental state (78.1%)
      and hypotension (7.3%). Mechanical ventilatory support was required in 9.1% of
      cases. Most patients (n=76, 69.1%) were treated in the ED (p=0.001). 60 (54.5%)
      patients were discharged from the ED within 24 h after admission (p<0.0001).
      CONCLUSION: Most of the patients were young single women. Altered mental state
      and tachycardia were the commonest symptoms. The initial symptoms of
      amytriptyline overdose patients may be life threatening, but effective supportive
      treatments were helpful. There was high correlation between ADORA criteria and
      the dose ingested.

PMID- 20923819
TI  - Effect of nail polish and henna on oxygen saturation determined by pulse oximetry
      in healthy young adult females.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of different
      colour nail polishes and henna on the measurement of oxygen saturation and the
      differences among the measurements of three pulse oximetry devices. MATERIAL AND
      METHODS: 33 healthy females with a mean age of 19+/-1.0 years and no complaints
      or known disease were included into the study. All the participants applied henna
      to one of their fingers a day before the study. Just before the study, one finger
      was left empty as control and the other fingers were dyed using various colours
      of nail polish (red, blue, beige, purple, brown, white, pink, green, colourless
      polish, light blue, light green and yellow). There were more than eight colour
      nail polishes and some fingers were used for the other colours after being
      completely cleaned. The same brand nail polishes were used for the study. Oxygen
      saturation measurements were done using three different pulse oximetry devices
      (device I, II, III) from the control, different colour nail polished and henna
      applied fingers. The measurements of different devices, different colour nail
      polishes, henna and control were statistically compared. RESULTS: The mean
      saturations obtained from blue, beige, purple and white nail polished fingers
      were significantly lower than those of control and the other coloured fingers. In
      addition, the mean measurement of device II was significantly lower than those of
      other devices. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that blue, beige, purple and white
      nail polished fingers might cause pulse oximetry devices to make incorrect
      measurements.

PMID- 20923820
TI  - An iatrogenic burn from the use of a topical haemostatic agent.

PMID- 20923821
TI  - Rare procedures.

PMID- 20923823
TI  - Hexosamines stimulate apoptosis by altering SIRT1 action and levels in rodent
      pancreatic beta-cells.
AB  - The activity and levels of SIRT1, which promotes cell survival in several models,
      are linked to glucose concentrations and cellular energy metabolism. The present
      study aimed to determine whether impaired Sirt1 activity is involved in the
      induction of apoptosis by the nutrient-sensing hexosamine biosynthesis pathway
      (HBP). Pancreatic Nit-1, Rin-m5F, and Min6 beta-cells were acutely treated at
      different doses and times with glucosamine, which enters and stimulates the HBP.
      Sirt1 levels were genetically modulated by retroviral infection. Expression
      levels, cellular localization, and activity of apoptosis-related markers were
      determined by qPCR, immunoblotting, and co-immunoprecipitation. Glucosamine
      treatment dose- and time dependently induced cell apoptosis in all cell lines
      studied. HBP stimulation time dependently modified SIRT1 protein levels, notably
      in the cytoplasm. This was concomitant with increased E2F1 binding to the c-myc
      promoter. In both NIT-1 and min6 beta-cells, genetic knockdown of Sirt1
      expression resulted in higher susceptibility to HBP-stimulated apoptosis, whereas
      overexpression of Sirt1 had the opposite impact. These findings indicate that
      reduction of SIRT1 levels by hexosamines contributes to beta-cell apoptosis.
      Methods to increase SIRT1 levels or activity could thus prevent the decrease in
      beta-cell mass, notably that observed in type 2 diabetes.

PMID- 20923822
TI  - Radiation pharmacogenomics: a genome-wide association approach to identify
      radiation response biomarkers using human lymphoblastoid cell lines.
AB  - Radiation therapy is used to treat half of all cancer patients. Response to
      radiation therapy varies widely among patients. Therefore, we performed a genome
      wide association study (GWAS) to identify biomarkers to help predict radiation
      response using 277 ethnically defined human lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCLs).
      Basal gene expression levels and 1.3 million genome-wide single nucleotide
      polymorphism (SNP) markers from both Affymetrix and Illumina platforms were
      assayed for all 277 human LCLs. MTS [3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-5-(3
      carboxymethoxyphenyl)-2-(4-sulfophenyl)-2H-tetrazolium] assays for radiation
      cytotoxicity were also performed to obtain area under the curve (AUC) as a
      radiation response phenotype for use in the association studies. Functional
      validation of candidate genes, selected from an integrated analysis that used
      SNP, expression, and AUC data, was performed with multiple cancer cell lines
      using specific siRNA knockdown, followed by MTS and colony-forming assays. A
      total of 27 loci, each containing at least two SNPs within 50 kb with P-values
      less than 10(-4) were associated with radiation AUC. A total of 270 expression
      probe sets were associated with radiation AUC with P < 10(-3). The integrated
      analysis identified 50 SNPs in 14 of the 27 loci that were associated with both
      AUC and the expression of 39 genes, which were also associated with radiation AUC
      (P < 10(-3)). Functional validation using siRNA knockdown in multiple tumor cell
      lines showed that C13orf34, MAD2L1, PLK4, TPD52, and DEPDC1B each significantly
      altered radiation sensitivity in at least two cancer cell lines. Studies
      performed with LCLs can help to identify novel biomarkers that might contribute
      to variation in response to radiation therapy and enhance our understanding of
      mechanisms underlying that variation.

PMID- 20923824
TI  - Six-month survival benefits and clinical guideline recommendations in ACS.

PMID- 20923825
TI  - Diagnosis and prevention of iron deficiency and iron-deficiency anemia in infants
      and young children (0-3 years of age).
AB  - This clinical report covers diagnosis and prevention of iron deficiency and iron
      deficiency anemia in infants (both breastfed and formula fed) and toddlers from
      birth through 3 years of age. Results of recent basic research support the
      concerns that iron-deficiency anemia and iron deficiency without anemia during
      infancy and childhood can have long-lasting detrimental effects on
      neurodevelopment. Therefore, pediatricians and other health care providers should
      strive to eliminate iron deficiency and iron-deficiency anemia. Appropriate iron
      intakes for infants and toddlers as well as methods for screening for iron
      deficiency and iron-deficiency anemia are presented.

PMID- 20923826
TI  - Changes in the patterns, presentation and management of penetrating chest trauma
      patients at a level II trauma centre in southern Pakistan over the last two
      decades.
AB  - Penetrating chest trauma can be used as an indicator of violence in the country.
      We aimed to look at the changes in its incidence and management at a major trauma
      centre in the country. We also wanted to look at any effect of prehospital time
      on surgical intervention and outcome of the victim. In this retrospective
      descriptive study, we observed the presentation and management of 191 penetrating
      chest injury patients at a level II trauma hospital in Pakistan in the last 20
      years. The study sample was divided into two groups: Group 1, 1988-1998 and Group
      2, 1999-2009. No significant change in incidence of trauma was observed between
      the two groups. The delay in the time between event and arrival showed an
      increase in the number of surgical procedures performed. Also the number of
      thoracotomies performed went up significantly in the second decade from 5.7 to
      16.5% with a P<0.05. Six (3.1%) mortality cases were observed in 20 years. It was
      seen that the greater the prehospital time, the greater the chances of surgery.
      Also seen was the increase in mortality as critical cases could make it to the
      hospital alive in recent times due to improved transportation services.

PMID- 20923827
TI  - Cardiac resynchronization therapy for management of congestive heart failure
      after repair of tetralogy of Fallot in an elderly patient.
AB  - A 65-year-old woman underwent total correction of tetralogy of Fallot with
      closure of ventricular septal defect, right ventricular outflow patch, pulmonary
      valve replacement and tricuspid valve repair. Pacemaker implantation using
      epicardial electrodes was simultaneously needed because she had complete
      atrioventricular block. The postoperative course was excellent. Eighteen months
      postoperatively, she was admitted with severe congestive heart failure and
      frequent ventricular arrhythmia. Echocardiography and cardiac catheterization
      revealed depressed left ventricular function caused by conduction delay. Cardiac
      resynchronization therapy with a defibrillation system was effective for
      improvement of left ventricular function. Ventricular contractility rapidly
      recovered to normal, and the patient has been asymptomatic for two years since
      implantation.

PMID- 20923828
TI  - A remnant left aortic arch and a right aortic arch as well as Kommerell's
      diverticulum with an aberrant left subclavian artery.
AB  - We report the case of a 63-year-old woman who had dysphagia and dyspnea for one
      year. Enhanced computed tomography revealed that she had an ascending aortic
      dorsal projection and a right aortic arch as well as Kommerell's diverticulum
      (KD) with an aberrant left subclavian artery (LSA). Her KD compressed her trachea
      and esophagus. We cut her aorta just distal to the KD and performed an ascending
      and total arch replacement through a midsternotomy. The LSA was reconstructed in
      front of her trachea. Her dysphagia and dyspnea disappeared following the
      operation and her postoperative course was uneventful.

PMID- 20923829
TI  - Remote muscle salvage by regional substrate enhancement during on-bypass beating
      heart treatment of cardiogenic shock.
AB  - Surgical revascularization for postinfarction cardiogenic shock carries 20-50%
      mortality. Beating-heart techniques have been favoured, but their impact on the
      avoidance of additional myocardial injury is unknown. Ten consecutive patients
      with postinfarction cardiogenic shock, unsuitable anatomy for percutaneous
      coronary intervention (Syntax score 34.0+/-7.5; triple-vessel disease, 10/10;
      left main stenosis, 5/10), and no associated cardiac procedure, were selected for
      salvage/emergent on-pump beating-heart coronary bypass surgery. Remote muscle was
      sequentially substrate-enhanced reperfused through the grafts after construction
      of distal anastomoses. Early/late mortality, preoperative/peak postoperative
      enzyme release, and baseline/pre-discharge ventricular function were analysed.
      One early death occurred. Patients received 2.9+/-0.6 grafts, always employing
      the left internal mammary artery. Cardiopulmonary bypass duration was 140+/-62
      min. Left ventricular ejection fraction (29.4+/-5.8 vs. 37.5+/-8.3%), wall motion
      score index (2.10+/-0.29 vs. 1.86+/-0.28), and end-systolic volume index (42.1+/
      11.5 vs. 33.1+/-14.0 ml/m(2)) acutely improved (P<=0.001), whereas functional
      mitral regurgitation decreased from 1.4+/-0.8 to 0.8+/-0.4 (P=0.051). Total
      creatine kinase levels significantly increased (P=0.017), but myocardial band
      isoenzyme did not (P=0.18). After 3.1+/-1.4 years, eight patients are alive and
      seven are free of recurrent heart failure. Satisfactory functional outcome can be
      achieved with beating-heart on-pump revascularization for postinfarction
      cardiogenic shock. Perioperative enzyme releases and ventricular functional
      variables may suggest reduced perioperative myocardial injury.

PMID- 20923833
TI  - First antiretroviral patent in global drug pool puts pressure on companies to
      follow suit.

PMID- 20923834
TI  - Do drugs have a role in turning indifference into passion?

PMID- 20923835
TI  - IVF pioneer Robert Edwards wins Nobel prize.

PMID- 20923836
TI  - Regulation of Hip1r by epsin controls the temporal and spatial coupling of actin
      filaments to clathrin-coated pits.
AB  - Recently, it has become clear that the actin cytoskeleton is involved in clathrin
      mediated endocytosis. During clathrin-mediated endocytosis, clathrin triskelions
      and adaptor proteins assemble into lattices, forming clathrin-coated pits. These
      coated pits invaginate and detach from the membrane, a process that requires
      dynamic actin polymerization. We found an unexpected role for the clathrin
      adaptor epsin in regulating actin dynamics during this late stage of coated
      vesicle formation. In Dictyostelium cells, epsin is required for both the
      membrane recruitment and phosphorylation of the actin- and clathrin-binding
      protein Hip1r. Epsin-null and Hip1r-null cells exhibit deficiencies in the timing
      and organization of actin filaments at clathrin-coated pits. Consequently,
      clathrin structures persist on the membranes of epsin and Hip1r mutants and the
      internalization of clathrin structures is delayed. We conclude that epsin works
      with Hip1r to regulate actin dynamics by controlling the spatial and temporal
      coupling of actin filaments to clathrin-coated pits. Specific residues in the
      ENTH domain of epsin that are required for the membrane recruitment and
      phosphorylation of Hip1r are also required for normal actin and clathrin dynamics
      at the plasma membrane. We propose that epsin promotes the membrane recruitment
      and phosphorylation of Hip1r, which in turn regulates actin polymerization at
      clathrin-coated pits.

PMID- 20923837
TI  - The cargo-selective retromer complex is a recruiting hub for protein complexes
      that regulate endosomal tubule dynamics.
AB  - The retromer complex is required for the efficient endosome-to-Golgi retrieval of
      the CIMPR, sortilin, SORL1, wntless and other physiologically important membrane
      proteins. Retromer comprises two protein complexes that act together in endosome
      to-Golgi retrieval; the cargo-selective complex is a trimer of VPS35, VPS29 and
      VPS26 that sorts cargo into tubules for retrieval to the Golgi. Tubules are
      produced by the oligomerization of sorting nexin dimers. Here, we report the
      identification of five endosomally-localised proteins that modulate tubule
      formation and are recruited to the membrane via interactions with the cargo
      selective retromer complex. One of the retromer-interacting proteins,
      strumpellin, is mutated in hereditary spastic paraplegia, a progressive length
      dependent axonopathy. Here, we show that strumpellin regulates endosomal tubules
      as part of a protein complex with three other proteins that include WASH1, an
      actin-nucleating promoting factor. Therefore, in addition to a direct role in
      endosome-to-Golgi retrieval, the cargo-selective retromer complex also acts as a
      platform for recruiting physiologically important proteins to endosomal membranes
      that regulate membrane tubule dynamics.

PMID- 20923838
TI  - Clathrin recruits phosphorylated TACC3 to spindle poles for bipolar spindle
      assembly and chromosome alignment.
AB  - Transforming acidic coiled-coil-containing protein 3 (TACC3) has been implicated
      in mitotic spindle assembly, although the mechanisms involved are largely
      unknown. Here we identify that clathrin heavy chain (CHC) binds specifically to
      phosphorylated TACC3 and recruits it to spindle poles for proper spindle assembly
      and chromosome alignment. Phosphorylation of Xenopus TACC3 at serine 620 (S620)
      and S626, but not S33, is required for its binding with CHC. Knockdown of CHC by
      RNA interference (RNAi) abolishes the targeting of TACC3 to spindle poles and
      results in abnormal spindle assembly and chromosome misalignment, similar to the
      defects caused by TACC3 knockdown. Furthermore, the binding of CHC with
      phosphorylated TACC3 is inhibited by importin beta and this inhibition is
      reversed by the presence of the GTP-binding nuclear protein Ran in the GTP-bound
      state. Together, these results indicate that the recruitment of phosphorylated
      TACC3 to spindle poles by CHC ensures proper spindle assembly and chromosome
      alignment, and is regulated by Ran.

PMID- 20923839
TI  - Facilitative glucose transporter Glut1 is actively excluded from rod outer
      segments.
AB  - Photoreceptors are among the most metabolically active cells in the body, relying
      on both oxidative phosphorylation and glycolysis to satisfy their high energy
      needs. Local glycolysis is thought to be particularly crucial in supporting the
      function of the photoreceptor's light-sensitive outer segment compartment, which
      is devoid of mitochondria. Accordingly, it has been commonly accepted that the
      facilitative glucose transporter Glut1 responsible for glucose entry into
      photoreceptors is localized in part to the outer segment plasma membrane.
      However, we now demonstrate that Glut1 is entirely absent from the rod outer
      segment and is actively excluded from this compartment by targeting information
      present in its cytosolic C-terminal tail. Our data indicate that glucose
      metabolized in the outer segment must first enter through other parts of the
      photoreceptor cell. Consequently, the entire energy supply of the outer segment
      is dependent on diffusion of energy-rich substrates through the thin connecting
      cilium that links this compartment to the rest of the cell.

PMID- 20923840
TI  - Chronic pelvic pain in women.

PMID- 20923841
TI  - Effectiveness of earlier antenatal screening for sickle cell disease and
      thalassaemia in primary care: cluster randomised trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effectiveness of offering antenatal screening for
      sickle cell disease and thalassaemia in primary care as a way of facilitating
      earlier uptake of screening. DESIGN: Partial factorial cluster randomised
      controlled trial. SETTING: 25 UK general practices from deprived inner city
      areas. PARTICIPANTS: Anonymised data on all pregnant women attending
      participating practices during a six month period before randomisation and a
      seven month period after randomisation. This included 1708 eligible women.
      INTERVENTION: Practices were randomised to three groups for seven months:
      parallel testing in general practice (tests for sickle cell disease and
      thalassaemia offered to both parents when pregnancy was first reported);
      sequential testing in general practice (tests offered to mothers when pregnancy
      was first reported, and subsequently to the partners of women who were found to
      be carriers); and midwife care (tests offered to mothers at first consultation
      with a midwife). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcome (available for all
      women) was the proportion of eligible women screened before 10 weeks' (70 days')
      gestation. Secondary outcomes were an offer of screening to women before 10
      weeks' gestation, gestational age at testing, mean interval from first visit to
      the general practice visit to screening, and women's knowledge of the carrier
      status of their baby's father before 77 days' (11 weeks') gestation. The study
      was designed to detect a 20% absolute increase in screening uptake. Cluster level
      analyses were adjusted for age group, parity, ethnic group, primary care
      organisation, and number of general practitioners per practice. RESULTS: Data
      were analysed for 1708 eligible women. In the midwife care arm, 2% (9/441) of
      women were screened before 10 weeks' gestation compared with 24% (161/677) in the
      GP parallel testing arm and 28% (167/590) in the GP sequential testing arm. The
      estimated adjusted difference between the midwife care and GP parallel testing
      arms was 16.5% (95% confidence interval 7.1% to 25.8%; P=0.002) and between the
      midwife care and GP sequential testing arms was 27.8% (14.8% to 40.7%; P<0.001).
      By 26 weeks' gestation the proportion of women screened across the three trial
      arms was similar (81%). The proportion of women who knew the carrier status of
      the baby's father by 11 weeks' gestation was 0% (0/441) in the midwife care arm,
      2% (13/677) in the GP parallel testing arm (P=0.003), and 1% (3/590) in the GP
      sequential testing arm (P=0.374). CONCLUSION: Offering antenatal screening for
      sickle cell disease and thalassaemia as part of consultations for pregnancy
      confirmation in primary care increases the proportion of women screened before 10
      weeks' gestation. Even with intervention, however, only a minority of women were
      screened before 10 weeks. Additional interventions should be considered to
      achieve testing early in pregnancy for most women wanting such tests so that
      couples with affected pregnancies have less time pressure to choose options,
      which may include termination of the pregnancy. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Current
      Controlled Trials ISRCTN00677850.

PMID- 20923842
TI  - Reporting of euthanasia in medical practice in Flanders, Belgium: cross sectional
      analysis of reported and unreported cases.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To estimate the rate of reporting of euthanasia cases to the Federal
      Control and Evaluation Committee and to compare the characteristics of reported
      and unreported cases of euthanasia. Design Cross sectional analysis. Setting
      Flanders, Belgium. PARTICIPANTS: A stratified at random sample was drawn of
      people who died between 1 June 2007 and 30 November 2007. The certifying
      physician of each death was sent a questionnaire on end of life decision making
      in the death concerned. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The rate of euthanasia cases
      reported to the Federal Control and Evaluation Committee; physicians' reasons for
      not reporting cases of euthanasia; the relation between reporting and non
      reporting and the characteristics of the physician and patient; the time by which
      life was shortened according to the physician; the labelling of the end of life
      decision by the physician involved; and differences in characteristics of due
      care between reported and unreported euthanasia cases. RESULTS: The survey
      response rate was 58.4% (3623/6202 eligible cases). The estimated total number of
      cases of euthanasia in Flanders in 2007 was 1040 (95% CI 970 to 1109), thus the
      incidence of euthanasia was estimated as 1.9% of all deaths (95% CI 1.6% to
      2.3%). Approximately half (549/1040 (52.8%, 95% CI 43.9% to 60.5%)) of all
      estimated cases of euthanasia were reported to the Federal Control and Evaluation
      Committee. Physicians who perceived their case as euthanasia reported it in 93.1%
      (67/72) of cases. Cases of euthanasia were reported less often when the time by
      which life was shortened was less than one week compared with when the perceived
      life shortening was greater (37.3% v 74.1%; P<0.001). Unreported cases were
      generally dealt with less carefully than reported cases: a written request for
      euthanasia was more often absent (87.7% v 17.6% verbal request only; P<0.001),
      other physicians and caregivers specialised in palliative care were consulted
      less often (54.6% v 97.5%; 33.0% v 63.9%; P<0.001 for both), the life ending act
      was more often performed with opioids or sedatives (92.1% v 4.4%; P<0.001), and
      the drugs were more often administered by a nurse (41.3% v 0.0%; P<0.001).
      CONCLUSIONS: One out of two euthanasia cases is reported to the Federal Control
      and Evaluation Committee. Most non-reporting physicians do not perceive their act
      as euthanasia. Countries debating legalisation of euthanasia should
      simultaneously consider developing a policy facilitating the due care and
      reporting obligations of physicians.

PMID- 20923843
TI  - FDA on PROMs. Two important points.

PMID- 20923844
TI  - Government readmission proposals. Improved data collection is needed to support
      these proposals.

PMID- 20923845
TI  - Millennium development goals. Listen to the needs of existing healthcare workers.

PMID- 20923846
TI  - Millennium development goals. Focus on the needs of the existing health
      workforce.

PMID- 20923847
TI  - Advanced directives and suicidal behaviour. What to do about treatment refusal at
      3 am?

PMID- 20923848
TI  - Advanced directives and suicidal behaviour. "If in doubt treat" is not as easy as
      it sounds.

PMID- 20923849
TI  - New doctors' group challenges medical bodies' opposition to assisted dying.

PMID- 20923851
TI  - CGP-37157 inhibits the sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ ATPase and activates ryanodine
      receptor channels in striated muscle.
AB  - 7-Chloro-5-(2-chlorophenyl)-1,5-dihydro-4,1-benzothiazepin-2(3H)-one [CGP-37157
      (CGP)], a benzothiazepine derivative of clonazepam, is commonly used as a blocker
      of the mitochondrial Na+/Ca2+ exchanger. However, evidence suggests that CGP
      could also affect other targets, such as L-type Ca2+ channels and plasmalemma
      Na+/Ca2+ exchanger. Here, we tested the possibility of a direct modulation of
      ryanodine receptor channels (RyRs) and/or sarco/endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+
      stimulated ATPase (SERCA) by CGP. In the presence of ruthenium red (inhibitor of
      RyRs), CGP decreased SERCA-mediated Ca2+ uptake of cardiac and skeletal
      sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) microsomes (IC50 values of 6.6 and 9.9 MUM,
      respectively). The CGP effects on SERCA activity correlated with a decreased
      V(max) of ATPase activity of SERCA-enriched skeletal SR fractions. CGP (>= 5 MUM)
      also increased RyR-mediated Ca2+ leak from skeletal SR microsomes. Planar bilayer
      studies confirmed that both cardiac and skeletal RyRs are directly activated by
      CGP (EC(50) values of 9.4 and 12.0 MUM, respectively). In summary, we found that
      CGP inhibits SERCA and activates RyR channels. Hence, the action of CGP on
      cellular Ca2+ homeostasis reported in the literature of cardiac, skeletal muscle,
      and other nonmuscle systems requires further analysis to take into account the
      contribution of all CGP-sensitive Ca2+ transporters.

PMID- 20923852
TI  - Expression of functional human alpha6beta2beta3* acetylcholine receptors in
      Xenopus laevis oocytes achieved through subunit chimeras and concatamers.
AB  - alpha6beta2beta3* acetylcholine receptors (AChRs) on dopaminergic neurons are
      important targets for drugs to treat nicotine addiction and Parkinson's disease.
      However, it has not been possible to efficiently express functional
      alpha6beta2beta3* AChRs in oocytes or transfected cells. alpha6/alpha3 subunit
      chimeras permit expression of functional AChRs and reveal that parts of the
      alpha6 M1 transmembrane domain and large cytoplasmic domain impair assembly.
      Concatameric subunits permit assembly of functional alpha6beta2beta3* AChRs with
      defined subunit compositions and subunit orders. Assembly of accessory subunits
      is limiting in formation of mature AChRs. A single linker between the beta3
      accessory subunit and an alpha4 or alpha6 subunit is sufficient to permit
      assembly of complex beta3-(alpha4beta2)(alpha6beta2) or beta3
      (alpha6beta2)(alpha4beta2) AChRs. Concatameric pentamers such as beta3-alpha6
      beta2-alpha4-beta2 have been functionally characterized. alpha6beta2beta3* AChRs
      are sensitive to activation by drugs used for smoking cessation therapy
      (nicotine, varenicline, and cytisine) and by sazetidine. All these are partial
      agonists. (alpha6beta2)(alpha4beta2)beta3 AChRs are most sensitive to agonists.
      (alpha6beta2)2beta3 AChRs have the greatest Ca2+ permeability.
      (alpha4beta2)(alpha6beta2)beta3 AChRs are most efficiently transported to the
      cell surface, whereas (alpha6beta2)2beta3 AChRs are the least efficiently
      transported. Dopaminergic neurons may have special chaperones for assembling
      accessory subunits with alpha6 subunits and for transporting (alpha6beta2)2beta3
      AChRs to the cell surface. Concatameric pentamers and pentamers formed from
      combinations of trimers, dimers, and monomers exhibit similar properties,
      indicating that the linkers between subunits do not alter their functional
      properties. For the first time, these concatamers allow analysis of functional
      properties of alpha6beta2beta3* AChRs. These concatamers should enable selection
      of drugs specific for alpha6beta2beta3* AChRs.

PMID- 20923854
TI  - The role of asymmetric dimethylarginine and arginine in the failing heart and its
      vasculature.
AB  - Nitric oxide (NO) is formed from arginine by the enzyme nitric oxide synthase
      (NOS). Asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) can inhibit NO production by competing
      with arginine for NOS binding. Therefore, the net amount of NO might be indicated
      by the arginine/ADMA ratio. In turn, arginine can be metabolized by the enzyme
      arginase, and ADMA by the enzyme dimethylarginine dimethylaminohydrolase (DDAH).
      While ADMA has been implicated as a cardiovascular risk factor, arginine
      supplementation has been indicated as a treatment in cardiac diseases. This
      review discusses the roles of ADMA and arginine in the failing heart and its
      vasculature. Furthermore, it proposes nutritional therapies to improve NO
      availability.

PMID- 20923853
TI  - Discovery of novel allosteric modulators of metabotropic glutamate receptor
      subtype 5 reveals chemical and functional diversity and in vivo activity in rat
      behavioral models of anxiolytic and antipsychotic activity.
AB  - Modulators of metabotropic glutamate receptor subtype 5 (mGluR5) may provide
      novel treatments for multiple central nervous system (CNS) disorders, including
      anxiety and schizophrenia. Although compounds have been developed to better
      understand the physiological roles of mGluR5 and potential usefulness for the
      treatment of these disorders, there are limitations in the tools available,
      including poor selectivity, low potency, and limited solubility. To address these
      issues, we developed an innovative assay that allows simultaneous screening for
      mGluR5 agonists, antagonists, and potentiators. We identified multiple scaffolds
      that possess diverse modes of activity at mGluR5, including both positive and
      negative allosteric modulators (PAMs and NAMs, respectively). 3-Fluoro-5-(3
      (pyridine-2-yl)-1,2,4-oxadiazol-5-yl)benzonitrile (VU0285683) was developed as a
      novel selective mGluR5 NAM with high affinity for the 2-methyl-6-(phenylethynyl)
      pyridine (MPEP) binding site. VU0285683 had anxiolytic-like activity in two
      rodent models for anxiety but did not potentiate phencyclidine-induced
      hyperlocomotor activity. (4-Hydroxypiperidin-1-yl)(4
      phenylethynyl)phenyl)methanone (VU0092273) was identified as a novel mGluR5 PAM
      that also binds to the MPEP site. VU0092273 was chemically optimized to an orally
      active analog, N-cyclobutyl-6-((3-fluorophenyl)ethynyl)nicotinamide hydrochloride
      (VU0360172), which is selective for mGluR5. This novel mGluR5 PAM produced a dose
      dependent reversal of amphetamine-induced hyperlocomotion, a rodent model
      predictive of antipsychotic activity. Discovery of structurally and functionally
      diverse allosteric modulators of mGluR5 that demonstrate in vivo efficacy in
      rodent models of anxiety and antipsychotic activity provide further support for
      the tremendous diversity of chemical scaffolds and modes of efficacy of mGluR5
      ligands. In addition, these studies provide strong support for the hypothesis
      that multiple structurally distinct mGluR5 modulators have robust activity in
      animal models that predict efficacy in the treatment of CNS disorders.

PMID- 20923855
TI  - The growth hormone/insulin-like growth factor-I system in chronic heart failure
      and its interaction with adiponectin.

PMID- 20923856
TI  - Close connection between improvement in left ventricular function by cardiac
      resynchronization therapy and the incidence of arrhythmias in cardiac
      resynchronization therapy-defibrillator patients.
AB  - AIMS: The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between improved
      ejection fraction (EF) and occurrence of arrhythmias in patients with cardiac
      resynchronization therapy devices with defibrillator function (CRT-D). The
      hypothesis was that patients who experienced a marked improvement in EF also had
      fewer appropriate defibrillator interventions. METHODS AND RESULTS: We analysed
      data of 270 patients from 2 prospective registries with follow-up of >=12 months
      and echocardiography performed >=8 months after CRT-D implantation. The
      discriminator was whether left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) improved to
      >35% [cut-off for primary prevention implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD)
      implantation]. Mean age was 61+/-11 years, LVEF 22+/-5%, and follow-up 40+/-22
      months. Ischaemic cardiomyopathy was present in 48%, and secondary prevention
      indication was present in 25%. Implantable cardioverter-defibrillator
      interventions were delivered to 35% of patients. Echocardiography (20+/-15 months
      after implantation) showed an improvement in LVEF from 22% (SD 5.4%) to 30% (SD
      9.8%). Improvement to >35% was seen in 21% of patients. Those who improved to
      >35% had fewer ICD interventions than those who did not (23 vs.38%; P-value
      0.03). Analysing only patients with a primary prevention indication and
      stratifying again in patients with and without improvement of LVEF to >35%, the
      latter had highly significant more ICD-therapies (6 vs. 31%; P-value 0.0008).
      CONCLUSION: Patients with CRT-D for primary prevention, whose LVEF improved to
      >35% during mid-term follow-up, are at low risk of first ICD therapies beyond
      year 1. If similar findings are reported in other patient cohorts, this might
      impact on decision-making at the time of battery depletion.

PMID- 20923857
TI  - Identification of predictive markers of response to the MEK1/2 inhibitor
      selumetinib (AZD6244) in K-ras-mutated colorectal cancer.
AB  - Mutant K-ras activity leads to the activation of the RAS/RAF/MEK/ERK pathway in
      approximately 44% of colorectal cancer (CRC) tumors. Accordingly, several
      inhibitors of the MEK pathway are under clinical evaluation in several
      malignancies including CRC. The aim of this study was to develop and characterize
      predictive biomarkers of response to the MEK1/2 inhibitor AZD6244 in CRC in order
      to maximize the clinical utility of this agent. Twenty-seven human CRC cell lines
      were exposed to AZD6244 and classified according to the IC(50) value as sensitive
      (<= 0.1 MUmol/L) or resistant (>1 MUmol/L). All cell lines were subjected to
      immunoblotting for effector proteins, K-ras/BRAF mutation status, and baseline
      gene array analysis. Further testing was done in cell line xenografts and K-ras
      mutant CRC human explants models to develop a predictive genomic classifier for
      AZD6244. The most sensitive and resistant cell lines were subjected to
      differential gene array and pathway analyses. Members of the Wnt signaling
      pathway were highly overexpressed in cell lines resistant to AZD6244 and seem to
      be functionally involved in mediating resistance by shRNA knockdown studies.
      Baseline gene array data from CRC cell lines and xenografts were used to develop
      a k-top scoring pair (k-TSP) classifier, which predicted with 71% accuracy which
      of a test set of patient-derived K-ras mutant CRC explants would respond to
      AZD6244, providing the basis for a patient-selective clinical trial. These
      results also indicate that resistance to AZD6244 may be mediated, in part, by the
      upregulation of the Wnt pathway, suggesting potential rational combination
      partners for AZD6244 in CRC.

PMID- 20923858
TI  - cDNA cloning and expression pattern of two enolase genes from the Chinese oak
      silkworm, Antheraea pernyi.
AB  - In this study, two enolase genes were isolated and characterized from the Chinese
      oak silkworm, Antheraea perny, which were designated as enolase I and II,
      respectively. The enolase I cDNA sequence was 1712 bp with an open reading frame
      (ORF) of 1302 bp encoding 433 amino acids. The enolase II cDNA sequence was 1549
      bp with an ORF of 1296 bp encoding 431 amino acids. The amino acid sequences of
      the two genes share several conserved features/sites of enolase. Antheraea pernyi
      enolase I shows 93%-97% sequence identity to enolases of lepidopterans available
      to date, 75%-82% identity to enolases of other invertebrates, 60%-72% identity to
      enolases of other organisms including vertebrates, plants, and fungi. Antheraea
      pernyi enolase II shows 84% identity to Bombyx mori enolase II, but 60% identity
      to A. pernyi enolase I. In the phylogenetic tree, enolase II sequences from A.
      pernyi and B. mori were clearly separated from the majority of enolase sequences
      of higher organisms including A. pernyi and B. mori enolase I sequences. By
      sequence comparisons and phylogenetic analysis, we suggest that enolase II from
      A. pernyi and B. mori may be a new member of the enolase superfamily. Antheraea
      pernyi enolase I mRNA was found in all tested tissues whereas enolase II mRNA was
      expressed specifically in the spermaries and ovaries, suggesting that the product
      of enolase II gene may be related to reproduction. The transcript abundance of A.
      pernyi enolase I gene was significantly down-regulated after cold shock and
      significantly up-regulated after heat shock, suggesting that A. pernyi enolase I
      gene may be inducible by temperature stress.

PMID- 20923859
TI  - Identification of immunodominant linear B-cell epitopes within the major outer
      membrane protein of Chlamydia trachomatis.
AB  - Chlamydia trachomatis is one of the most prevalent sexually transmitted
      pathogens. Chlamydial major outer membrane protein (MOMP) can induce strong
      cellular and humoral immune responses in murine models and has been regarded as a
      potential vaccine candidate. In this report, the amino acid sequence of MOMP was
      analyzed using computer-assisted techniques to scan B-cell epitopes, and three
      possible linear B-cell epitopes peptides (VLKTDVNKE, TKDASIDYHE, TRLIDERAAH) with
      high predicted antigenicity and high conservation were investigated. The DNA
      coding region for each potential epitope was cloned into pET32a(+) and expressed
      as Trx-His-tag fusion proteins in Escherichia coli. The fusion proteins were
      purified by Ni-NTA agarose beads and followed by SDS-PAGE and western blot
      analysis. We immunized mice with these three fusion proteins. The sera containing
      anti-epitope antibodies from the immunized mice could recognize C. trachomatis
      serovars D and E in ELISA. Antisera of these fusion proteins displayed an
      inhibitory effect on invasion of serovar E by in vitro neutralization assays. In
      addition, serum samples from convalescent C. trachomatis-infected patients were
      reactive with the epitope fusion proteins by western blot assay. Our results
      showed that the epitope sequences selected by bioinformatic analysis are highly
      conserved C. trachomatis MOMP B-cell epitopes, and could be good candidates for
      the development of subunit vaccines, which can be used in clinical diagnosis.

PMID- 20923860
TI  - Evaluation context impacts neuropsychological performance of OEF/OIF veterans
      with reported combat-related concussion.
AB  - Although soldiers of Operations Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Enduring Freedom (OEF)
      encounter combat-related concussion at an unprecedented rate, relatively few
      studies have examined how evaluation context, insufficient effort, and concussion
      history impact neuropsychological performances in the years following injury. The
      current study explores these issues in a sample of 119 U.S. veterans (OEF/OIF
      forensic concussion, n = 24; non-OEF/OIF forensic concussion, n = 20; OEF/OIF
      research concussion, n = 38; OEF/OIF research without concussion, n = 37). The
      OEF/OIF forensic concussion group exhibited significantly higher rates of
      insufficient effort relative to the OEF/OIF research concussion group, but a
      comparable rate of insufficient effort relative to the non-OEF/OIF forensic
      concussion group. After controlling for effort, the research concussion and the
      research non-concussion groups demonstrated comparable neuropsychological
      performance. Results highlight the importance of effort assessment among OEF/OIF
      and other veterans with concussion history, particularly in forensic contexts.

PMID- 20923861
TI  - AVR/NAVR deficiency lowers blood pressure and differentially affects urinary
      concentrating ability, cognition, and anxiety-like behavior in male and female
      mice.
AB  - Arginine vasopressin (AVP) and angiotensin II (ANG II) are distinct peptide
      hormones involved in multiple organs modulating renal, cardiovascular, and brain
      functions. They achieve these functions via specific G protein-coupled receptors,
      respectively. The AVR/NAVR locus encodes two overlapping V2-type vasopressin
      isoreceptors: angiotensin-vasopressin receptor (AVR) responding to ANG II and AVP
      equivalently, and nonangiotensin vasopressin receptor (NAVR), which binds
      vasopressin exclusively. AVR and NAVR are expressed from a single gene by
      alternative promoter usage that is synergistically upregulated by testosterone
      and estrogen. This study tested the hypothesis that AVR/NAVR modulates urinary
      concentrating ability, blood pressure, and cognitive performance in vivo in a sex
      specific manner. We developed a C57BL/6 inbred AVR/NAVR(-/-) knockout mouse that
      showed lower blood pressure in both male and female subjects and a urinary
      concentrating defect restricted to male mice. We also detected sex-specific
      effects on cognitive and anxiety-like behaviors. AVR/NAVR(-/-) male mice
      exhibited impaired visuospatial and associative learning, while female mice
      showed improved performance in both type of cognition. AVR/NAVR deficiency
      produced an anxiolytic-like effect in female mice, while males were unaffected.
      Analysis of AVR- and NAVR-mediated phosphorylation/dephosphorylation of signaling
      proteins revealed activation/deactivation of known modulators of cognitive
      function. Our studies identify AVR/NAVR as key receptors involved in blood
      pressure regulation and sex-specific modulation of renal water homeostasis,
      cognitive function, and anxiety-like behavior. As such, the AVR/NAVR receptor
      system provides a molecular mechanism for sexually diergic traits and a putative
      common pathway for the emerging association of hypertension and cognitive decline
      and dementia.

PMID- 20923862
TI  - Temporal genomewide expression profiling of DSS colitis reveals novel
      inflammatory and angiogenesis genes similar to ulcerative colitis.
AB  - Dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced colitis is widely used to study pathological
      mechanisms and potential treatments of inflammatory bowel disease. Because
      temporal changes in genome expression profiles remain unknown in this model, we
      performed whole genome expression profile analysis during the development of DSS
      colitis in comparison with ulcerative colitis (UC) specimens to identify novel
      and common responses during disease. Colon tissue from DSS-treated mice was
      collected at days 0, 2, 4, and 6. Half of each specimen was used for
      histopathological analysis and half for Affymetrix whole genome expression
      profiling and qRT-PCR validation. Genesifter and Ingenuity software analysis was
      used to identify differentially expressed genes and perform interactive network
      analysis. Identified DSS-associated genes in mice were also compared with UC
      patient data. We identified 1,609 genes that were significantly altered during
      DSS colitis; the majority were functionally related to inflammation,
      angiogenesis, metabolism, biological adhesion, cellular growth and proliferation,
      and cell-to-cell signaling responses. Five hundred and one genes were
      progressively upregulated, while one hundred seventy-three genes were
      progressively downregulated. Changes in gene expression were validated in a
      subset of 33 genes by qRT-PCR, with r(2) = 0.925. Ingenuity gene interaction
      network analysis revealed novel relationships among antigen presentation, cell
      morphology, and other biological functions in the DSS mouse. Finally, DSS colitis
      gene array data were compared with UC patient array data: 152 genes were
      similarly upregulated, and 22 genes were downregulated. Temporal genomewide
      expression profile analysis of DSS-induced colitis revealed novel associations
      with various immune responses and tissue remodeling events such as angiogenesis
      similar to those in UC patients. This study provides a comprehensive view of DSS
      colitis changes in colon gene expression and identifies common molecules with
      clinical specimens that are interesting targets for further investigation.

PMID- 20923863
TI  - mRNA expression of genes regulating oxidative phosphorylation in the muscle of
      beef cattle divergently ranked on residual feed intake.
AB  - Our objective was to evaluate the effects of phenotypic ranking on residual feed
      intake (RFI) on the transcription of genes 1) involved in the respiratory chain
      complex and 2) coding for transcriptional factors regulating mitochondrial
      biogenesis, across two contrasting diet types. Beef heifers (n = 86) fed a diet
      comprising 70:30 concentrate-corn silage [low forage (LF)] over a 82-day period
      were ranked on RFI. The 10 highest (feed inefficient, high-RFI) and 10 lowest
      (feed efficient, low-RFI) ranking animals were selected for the current study.
      Biopsies of the M. longissimus dorsi were harvested following initial selection
      (LF diet) and again following a 6 wk period while the animals were offered a high
      forage (HF) grass silage-only diet. Real-time PCR was used to quantify mRNA
      transcripts of 17 genes associated with cellular energetic efficiency. The mRNA
      expression of UCP3 tended to be upregulated (2.2-fold, P = 0.06) for the high-RFI
      compared with the low-RFI animals. mRNA transcripts coding for the transcription
      factor PGC-1alpha was 1.7-fold higher (P = 0.01) in low compared with high-RFI
      animals. A phenotype * diet interaction was evident for the abundance of ANT1
      mRNA transcript, with greater (P = 0.04) expression levels detected in the low
      RFI phenotype during the HF period, but no difference (P = 0.50) between
      phenotypes during the LF period. A phenotype * diet interaction was also evident
      for COX II with greater expression levels detected (P = 0.04) in the low compared
      with the high RFI phenotype while on LF but not the HF diet (P = 0.22). These
      data suggest an association between cellular energetic efficiency and RFI in
      cattle.

PMID- 20923864
TI  - A novel TMEM127 mutation in a patient with familial bilateral pheochromocytoma.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: In this report, we describe a new patient with unexplained familial
      bilateral pheochromocytoma. Following the recent description of TMEM127 as a new
      pheochromocytoma susceptibility gene, the aim of this study was to test the
      hypothesis of a causative TMEM127 gene mutation in this patient. DESIGN:
      Pheochromocytoma susceptibility genes were analyzed in germline DNA and losses of
      heterozygosity (LOH) assessed by BAC array comparative genomic hybridization in
      tumor DNA. SDHB expression and S6 kinase (S6K) phosphorylation were analyzed by
      immunohistochemistry. Genome-wide expression microarray studies were performed,
      and vascular density was quantified after CD34 immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: A
      first germline variant was identified in the SDHB gene (c.158G>A; p.Gly53Glu).
      However, a positive SDHB immunostaining in the tumor indicated that this SDHB
      variant was a non-functional polymorphism. A novel TMEM127 germline mutation
      (c.140C>A, p.Ala47Asp) associated with a 2q11 LOH was found. Transcriptome and
      immunohistochemical analyses showed that TMEM127-related pheochromocytoma
      clusterized with NF1-related and RET-related tumors in a large series of
      pheochromocytomas and paragangliomas, exhibited a reduced TMEM127 mRNA expression
      and displayed a low vascularization. The phosphorylation of S6K observed in this
      tumor was suggestive of an activation of the MTOR pathway. CONCLUSIONS:
      Pathological and genomic data demonstrated that a TMEM127 gene mutation not
      previously described was causative of a new case of familial bilateral
      pheochromocytoma. This report highlights the importance of supplementary analyses
      on tumor tissue to provide an accurate pheochromocytoma/paraganglioma genetic
      testing result to affected patients.

PMID- 20923865
TI  - Measures of learning, memory and processing speed accurately predict smoking
      status in short-term abstinent treatment-seeking alcohol-dependent individuals.
AB  - AIM: Chronic cigarette smoking appears to adversely affect several domains of
      neurocognition in those with alcohol use disorders (AUDs). The primary goal of
      this study was to identify which measures commonly used to assess neurocognition
      in AUDs accurately predict smoking status of individuals seeking treatment of
      alcohol dependence. METHODS: Treatment-seeking alcohol-dependent participants
      (ALC; n = 92) completed a comprehensive neuropsychological battery after 33 +/- 9
      days of abstinence. Measures significantly different between smoking and non
      smoking ALC were entered as predictors in binary logistic regression and
      discriminant analysis models, with smoking status as the dependent variable.
      RESULTS: Smoking ALC performed significantly worse than non-smoking ALC on
      measures assessing processing speed, auditory-verbal and visuospatial learning
      and memory. Using these measures as predictors, a logistic regression model
      accurately classified 91% of smokers and non-smokers into their respective groups
      overall and accounted for 68% of the variance in smoking status. The discriminant
      analysis confirmed the findings from the logistic regression. In smoking ALC,
      smoking chronicity was inversely related to performance on multiple measures
      after controlling for lifetime alcohol consumption. CONCLUSIONS: Measures of
      processing speed, learning and memory robustly predicted the smoking status of
      ALC with high sensitivity and specificity during early abstinence. The results
      identified specific measures within a comprehensive neurocognitive battery that
      discriminated smoking and non-smoking alcohol-dependent individuals with a high
      sensitivity and specificity. The association of greater smoking chronicity and
      poorer performance on multiple measures after control for alcohol consumption
      suggests that chronic smoking adds an additional burden to neurocognitive
      function in those with alcohol dependence.

PMID- 20923866
TI  - Among-individual variation in pollen limitation and inbreeding depression in a
      mixed-mating shrub.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Variation in inbreeding depression (delta) among individual
      plants is considered to play a central role in mating system evolution and
      population genetics. Moreover, such variation could be linked to individual
      susceptibility to pollen limitation (PL) because those individuals strongly
      affected by delta for seed production will require more outcross pollen for
      setting a given number of fruits or seeds. However, no study has tested
      explicitly for associations between PL and delta at the individual plant level.
      This study assesses the extent of among-individual variation in PL and delta, the
      consistency of delta across life stages, and the relationships between individual
      PL and delta in the mixed-mating shrub Myrtus communis. METHODS: Controlled hand
      pollinations were performed in a natural M. communis population. Marked flowers
      were monitored until fruit production and a greenhouse experiment was conducted
      with the seeds produced. KEY RESULTS: Compared with selfing, outcross-pollination
      enhanced seed number per fruit, germination rate and seedling growth, but did not
      enhance fruit-set. Only seed number per fruit was pollen limited and, thus,
      cumulative pollen limitation depended more on pollen quality (outcross pollen)
      than on quantity. The effects of delta varied considerably across life stages and
      individual plants. Cumulative delta was high across individuals (mean delta =
      0.65), although there were no positive correlations between delta values at
      different life stages. Interestingly, maternal plants showing stronger delta for
      seed production were more pollen limited, but they were also less affected by
      delta for seedling growth because of a seed size/number trade-off. CONCLUSIONS:
      Results show a general inconsistency in delta across life stages and individuals,
      suggesting that different deleterious loci are acting at different stages. The
      association between delta and PL at the individual level corroborates the idea
      that pollen limitation may be 'genotype-dependent' regardless of other factors.

PMID- 20923867
TI  - Chronic suppression of phosphodiesterase 10A alters striatal expression of genes
      responsible for neurotransmitter synthesis, neurotransmission, and signaling
      pathways implicated in Huntington's disease.
AB  - Inhibition of phosphodiesterase 10A (PDE10A) promotes cyclic nucleotide
      signaling, increases striatal activation, and decreases behavioral activity.
      Enhanced cyclic nucleotide signaling is a well established route to producing
      changes in gene expression. We hypothesized that chronic suppression of PDE10A
      activity would have significant effects on gene expression in the striatum. A
      comparison of the expression profile of PDE10A knockout (KO) mice and wild-type
      mice after chronic PDE10A inhibition revealed altered expression of 19
      overlapping genes with few significant changes outside the striatum or after
      administration of a PDE10A inhibitor to KO animals. Chronic inhibition of PDE10A
      produced up-regulation of mRNAs encoding genes that included prodynorphin,
      synaptotagmin10, phosphodiesterase 1C, glutamate decarboxylase 1, and
      diacylglycerol O-acyltransferase and a down-regulation of mRNAs encoding choline
      acetyltransferase and Kv1.6, suggesting long-term suppression of the PDE10A
      enzyme is consistent with altered striatal excitability and potential utility as
      a antipsychotic therapy. In addition, up-regulation of mRNAs encoding histone 3
      (H3) and down-regulation of histone deacetylase 4, follistatin, and claspin mRNAs
      suggests activation of molecular cascades capable of neuroprotection. We used
      lentiviral delivery of cAMP response element (CRE)-luciferase reporter constructs
      into the striatum and live animal imaging of 2-{4-[-pyridin-4-yl-1-(2,2,2
      trifluoro-ethyl)-1H-pyrazol-3-yl]-phenoxymethyl}-quinoline succinic acid (TP-10)
      induced luciferase activity to further demonstrate PDE10 inhibition results in
      CRE-mediated transcription. Consistent with potential neuroprotective cascades,
      we also demonstrate phosphorylation of mitogen- and stress-activated kinase 1 and
      H3 in vivo after TP-10 treatment. The observed changes in signaling and gene
      expression are predicted to provide neuroprotective effects in models of
      Huntington's disease.

PMID- 20923869
TI  - Altered cardiovascular responses to tracheal intubation in patients with complete
      spinal cord injury: relation to time course and affected level.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We determined cardiovascular responses to tracheal intubation in
      relation to the time since injury in patients with different levels of spinal
      cord injury. METHODS: Two hundred and fourteen patients with complete cord injury
      were studied. They were either quadriplegics (>C7, n=71) or paraplegics (<T5,
      n=143), and were subdivided into six groups each according to the time since
      injury: <4 week (acute), 4 week-1 yr, 1-5, 5-10, 10-20, and >20 yr. Twenty
      patients with no cord injury served as controls. Systolic arterial pressure
      (SAP), heart rate (HR), and plasma catecholamine concentrations were determined.
      RESULTS: Intubation did not affect SAP in the quadriplegics regardless of the
      time post-injury, but it significantly increased SAP in all paraplegics.
      Moreover, the pressor response was enhanced in the paraplegics who were 10 yr or
      more since injury (P<0.05). HR increased significantly in all groups; the
      magnitude of the increase was less only in acute quadriplegics compared with
      controls. Plasma concentrations of norepinephrine increased in every group except
      for the quadriplegics within 4 weeks of injury. The maximum increases in SAP, HR,
      and norepinephrine from awake baseline values were smaller in the quadriplegics
      than in the paraplegics (P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: The cardiovascular and
      catecholamine responses to intubation change as a function of the time elapsed
      and the level of the cord injury. In this study, the pressor response to tracheal
      intubation was abolished in the quadriplegics but not in paraplegics; indeed, it
      was enhanced at 10 yr or more since injury in this group.

PMID- 20923868
TI  - Functional plasticity of group II metabotropic glutamate receptors in regulating
      spinal excitatory and inhibitory synaptic input in neuropathic pain.
AB  - Metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs) are involved in the modulation of
      synaptic transmission and plasticity. Group II mGluRs in the spinal cord regulate
      glutamatergic input, but their functional changes in neuropathic pain are not
      clear. In this study, we determined the plasticity of spinal group II mGluRs in
      controlling excitatory and inhibitory synaptic transmission and nociception in
      neuropathic pain. Neuropathic pain was induced by spinal nerve ligation in rats,
      and whole-cell voltage-clamp recordings of glutamatergic excitatory postsynaptic
      currents (EPSCs) and spontaneous and miniature GABAergic and glycinergic
      inhibitory postsynaptic currents (sIPSCs and mIPSCs, respectively) were performed
      in spinal cord slices. The specific group II mGluR agonist (2S,2'R,3'R)-2-(2',3'
      dicarboxycyclopropyl)glycine (DCG-IV) had a similar inhibitory effect on
      monosynaptic EPSCs evoked from the dorsal root in sham and nerve-injured rats.
      However, DCG-IV produced a greater inhibitory effect on evoked polysynaptic EPSCs
      and the frequency of spontaneous EPSCs in nerve-injured rats than in control
      rats. Although DCG-IV similarly reduced the frequency of GABAergic sIPSCs and
      mIPSCs in both groups, it distinctly inhibited the frequency of glycinergic
      sIPSCs and mIPSCs only in nerve-injured rats. The DCG-IV effect was blocked by
      the group II mGluR antagonist but not by the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor
      antagonist. Strikingly, intrathecal injection of DCG-IV dose-dependently
      attenuated allodynia and hyperalgesia in nerve-injured rats but produced
      hyperalgesia in control rats. Our study provides new information that nerve
      injury up-regulates group II mGluRs present on glutamatergic and glycinergic
      interneurons in the spinal cord. Activation of group II mGluRs reduces
      neuropathic pain probably by attenuating glutamatergic and glycinergic input to
      spinal dorsal horn neurons.

PMID- 20923870
TI  - Cerebral microhemorrhage and iron deposition in mild cognitive impairment:
      susceptibility-weighted MR imaging assessment.
AB  - PURPOSE: To test whether susceptibility-weighted magnetic resonance imaging at
      baseline may help predict cognitive decline. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This
      prospective study was approved by the institutional review board, and written
      informed consent was obtained from all participants. Thirty-five healthy control
      subjects and 69 patients with mild cognitive impairment were included. Patients
      with mild cognitive impairment underwent neuropsychologic follow-up after 1 year
      (40 patients with stable mild cognitive impairment, 27 with progressive mild
      cognitive impairment, and two lost to follow-up). Cerebral microhemorrhages were
      visually analyzed by two experienced neuroradiologists in consensus. Iron
      deposition in deep gray matter was assessed with voxel-wise and region-of
      interest analysis after nonlinear spatial registration. In addition, individual
      classification of mild cognitive impairment was analyzed by using a support
      vector machine (SVM). RESULTS: At baseline, the number of cerebral
      microhemorrhages was significantly higher in the mild cognitive impairment group
      than in the control group (P < .01) but did not differ between the patients with
      stable and those with progressive mild cognitive impairment. Compared with the
      control group, patients with mild cognitive impairment had increased iron
      concentration in the right pallidum (P < .01) and right substantia nigra (P <
      .01) but decreased concentration in the right red nucleus (P < .05). The
      classification based on the SVM successfully helped discriminate patients with
      mild cognitive impairment from the healthy control subjects (accuracy, 84%;
      sensitivity, 89%; specificity, 85%) and those with stable from those with
      progressive mild cognitive impairment (accuracy, 85%; sensitivity, 84%;
      specificity, 83%). CONCLUSION: The findings reveal an accumulation of cerebral
      microhemorrhage in patients with mild cognitive impairment that is present at
      baseline, independent of subsequent cognitive decline, as well as an altered iron
      distribution in subcortical nuclei between the healthy control subjects and
      patients with mild cognitive impairment. Analysis of iron deposition at baseline
      performed with an SVM might help identify individual patients with mild cognitive
      impairment at risk for cognitive decline. SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL:
      http://radiology.rsna.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10.1148/radiol.10100612/-/DC1.

PMID- 20923871
TI  - Specimen preparation of porous Au for transmission electron microscopy using cryo
      ion-milling.
AB  - Porous Au specimens suitable for transmission electron microscopic investigations
      were prepared by the Ar ion-milling equipped with a cryo-system. The cryo
      technique enabled the preparation of an artifact-free specimen, avoiding the
      deposition of Au particles induced by ion-milling. This result demonstrates that
      cooling is necessary for defect-free preparation of the specimens.

PMID- 20923872
TI  - Development of an active targeting liposome encapsulated with high-density
      colloidal gold for transmission electron microscopy.
AB  - Active targeting of the liposome is an attractive strategy for drug delivery and
      in vivo bio-imaging. We previously reported the specific accumulation of Sialyl
      Lewis X (SLX) liposome to inflamed tissue in arthritic model mice or tumor
      bearing mice. SLX-liposome encapsulation with fluorescent substances allows for
      the visualization of these liposomes by the time-dependent transvascular
      accumulation of fluorescent signals in the histological sections. In the present
      study, we developed a new SLX-liposome encapsulated with colloidal gold for
      transmission electron microscopic observation. We herein describe the
      characterization of the colloidal gold-loaded SLX-liposomes and demonstrate its
      specific targeting to the endothelial cells of tumor blood vessels in tumor
      bearing mice.

PMID- 20923873
TI  - Types of ovarian activity in women and their significance: the continuum (a
      reinterpretation of early findings).
AB  - BACKGROUND: There are many types of ovarian activity that occur in women. This
      review provides information on the relationship between the hormone values and
      the degree of biological response to the hormones including the frequency and
      degree of uterine bleeding. The continuous process is termed the 'Continuum' and
      is thus similar to other processes in the body. METHODS: This review draws on
      information already published from monitoring ovarian activity by urinary
      oestrogen and pregnanediol measurements using timed 24-h specimens of urine. Much
      of the rationalization was derived from 5 to 6 year studies of girls progressing
      from childhood to adulthood, women progressing through menopause, and the return
      of fertility post-partum. During these times, all the reported types of ovarian
      activity were encountered. RESULTS: All cycle types can be understood in terms of
      steps in the normal maturation of fertility at the beginning of reproductive
      life, its return post-partum and its demise at menopause. Each step merges into
      the next and therefore the sequence is termed the 'Continuum'. Unpredictable
      movement from fertile to infertile types and back can occur at any time during
      reproductive life. Stress is a major causative factor. Hormonal definitions for
      each step, the relevance of the various cycle types in determining fertility and
      in the initiation of uterine bleeding and the roles of the pituitary hormones in
      causing them, are presented. CONCLUSIONS: The findings explain the erratic
      fertility of women and why ovulation is not always associated with fertility.
      They provide an understanding of the various types of ovarian activity and their
      relation to pituitary function, fertility and uterine bleeding.

PMID- 20923875
TI  - James Boyer Brown, 1919-2009.

PMID- 20923876
TI  - Local statistics in natural scenes predict the saliency of synthetic textures.
AB  - The visual system is challenged with extracting and representing behaviorally
      relevant information contained in natural inputs of great complexity and detail.
      This task begins in the sensory periphery: retinal receptive fields and circuits
      are matched to the first and second-order statistical structure of natural
      inputs. This matching enables the retina to remove stimulus components that are
      predictable (and therefore uninformative), and primarily transmit what is
      unpredictable (and therefore informative). Here we show that this design
      principle applies to more complex aspects of natural scenes, and to central
      visual processing. We do this by classifying high-order statistics of natural
      scenes according to whether they are uninformative vs. informative. We find that
      the uninformative ones are perceptually nonsalient, while the informative ones
      are highly salient, and correspond to previously identified perceptual mechanisms
      whose neural basis is likely central. Our results suggest that the principle of
      efficient coding not only accounts for filtering operations in the sensory
      periphery, but also shapes subsequent stages of sensory processing that are
      sensitive to high-order image statistics.

PMID- 20923874
TI  - Cell-free fetal nucleic acids in amniotic fluid.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Research into cell-free fetal (cff) nucleic acids has primarily
      focused on maternal plasma; however, cff DNA and RNA are also detectable in other
      body fluids such as amniotic fluid (AF). In AF, cff DNA is present in much
      greater concentrations than in maternal plasma and represents a pure fetal sample
      uncontaminated by maternal- and trophoblast-derived nucleic acids. The aim of
      this review was to summarize the current knowledge on cff nucleic acids in AF and
      to outline future research directions. METHODS: MEDLINE and PREMEDLINE were
      searched up to August 2010 for original investigations of cell-free RNA or DNA in
      AF. Sixteen studies were included in the review. RESULTS: AF cff DNA represents a
      physiologically separate pool from cff DNA in maternal plasma. The placenta is
      not a major source of nucleic acids in AF. It is feasible to isolate cff nucleic
      acids from small volumes of discarded AF supernatant in sufficient quality and
      quantity to perform microarray studies and downstream applications such as
      pathway analysis. This 'discovery-driven approach' has resulted in new
      information on the pathogenesis of Down syndrome and polyhydramnios. There is
      otherwise a paucity of information relating to the basic biology and clinical
      applications of cff nucleic acids in AF. CONCLUSIONS: AF supernatant is a
      valuable and widely available but under-utilized biological resource. Further
      studies of cff nucleic acids in AF may lead to new insights into human fetal
      development and ultimately new approaches to antenatal treatment of human
      disease.

PMID- 20923877
TI  - Epstein-Barr latent membrane protein 1 transformation site 2 activates NF-kappaB
      in the absence of NF-kappaB essential modifier residues 133-224 or 373-419.
AB  - Epstein Barr virus latent membrane protein 1 (LMP1) induces NF-kappaB activation
      through transformation effector sites (TES) 1 and 2, both of which are critical
      for B-lymphocyte transformation. TES2 principally activates canonical NF-kappaB,
      which we confirm is NF-kappaB essential modifier (NEMO)-dependent and requires an
      intact ubiquitin binding in A20 binding inhibitor of NF-kappaB and NEMO (UBAN)
      domain. LMP1 TES2 activated NF-kappaB in Jurkat cell lines harboring NEMO
      truncated at 372 (A45) or NEMO with an in-frame deletion of 133-224 (2C), whereas
      TNFalpha, 12-O-Tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate, human T-cell leukemia virus 1
      Tax, and CD40 did not. In both A45 and 2C Jurkat cell lines, LMP1 TES2-mediated
      NF-kappaB activation was blocked by siRNAs to TNFalpha receptor-associated factor
      6 and NEMO, by IkappaB kinase inhibitors, and by the IkappaBalpha superrepressor,
      indicating that the NEMO mutants function to support canonical NF-kappaB
      activation. Expression of A45 or 2C mutants in NEMO-deficient murine embryonic
      fibroblasts reproduced the Jurkat phenotypes: LMP1 TES2 activated NF-kappaB in
      fibroblasts lacking NEMO amino acids 133-224 or 373-419, but TNFalpha and Tax did
      not. Further analysis indicated that TES2 did not activate NF-kappaB in cells
      expressing the double deletion mutant Delta133-224/Delta372-419. These data
      provide further evidence of the essential role for NEMO in LMP1 TES2 NF-kappaB
      activation and highlight the importance of unique domains within NEMO for sensing
      distinct NF-kappaB stimuli.

PMID- 20923878
TI  - Memory T cells persisting within the brain after local infection show functional
      adaptations to their tissue of residence.
AB  - The brain is not routinely surveyed by lymphocytes and is defined as an immuno
      privileged site. However, viral infection of the brain results in the
      infiltration and long-term persistence of pathogen-specific CD8(+) T cells. These
      cells survive without replenishment from the circulation and are referred to as
      resident memory T cells (Trm). Brain Trm selectively express the integrin CD103,
      the expression of which is dependent on antigen recognition within the tissue.
      After clearance of virus, CD8(+) T cells persist in tight clusters, presumably at
      prior infection hot spots. Antigen persistence is not a prerequisite for T-cell
      retention, as suggested by the failure to detect viral genomes in the T-cell
      clusters. Furthermore, we show that an intracranial dendritic cell immunization
      regimen, which allows the transient introduction of antigen, also results in the
      generation of memory T cells that persist long term in the brain. Brain Trm die
      rapidly on isolation from the tissue and fail to undergo recall expansion after
      adoptive transfer into the bloodstream of antigen-challenged recipients. These ex
      vivo defects imply a dependency on the local milieu for function and survival.
      Cumulatively, this work shows that Trm are a specialized population of memory T
      cells that can be deposited in tissues previously thought to be beyond routine
      immune surveillance.

PMID- 20923879
TI  - Heterogeneous myocyte enhancer factor-2 (Mef2) activation in myocytes predicts
      focal scarring in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
AB  - Unknown molecular responses to sarcomere protein gene mutations account for
      pathologic remodeling in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), producing myocyte
      growth and increased cardiac fibrosis. To determine if hypertrophic signals
      activated myocyte enhancer factor-2 (Mef2), we studied mice carrying the HCM
      mutation, myosin heavy-chain Arg403Gln, (MHC(403/+)) and an Mef2-dependent beta
      galactosidase reporter transgene. In young, prehypertrophic MHC(403/+) mice the
      reporter was not activated. In hypertrophic hearts, activation of the Mef2
      dependent reporter was remarkably heterogeneous and was observed consistently in
      myocytes that bordered fibrotic foci with necrotic cells, MHC(403/+) myocytes
      with Mef2-dependent reporter activation reexpressed the fetal myosin isoform
      (betaMHC), a molecular marker of hypertrophy, although MHC(403/+) myocytes with
      or without betaMHC expression were comparably enlarged over WT myocytes. To
      consider Mef2 roles in severe HCM, we studied homozygous MHC(403/403) mice, which
      have accelerated remodeling, widespread myocyte necrosis, and neonatal lethality.
      Levels of phosphorylated class II histone deacetylases that activate Mef2 were
      substantially increased in MHC(403/403) hearts, but Mef2-dependent reporter
      activation was patchy. Sequential analyses showed myocytes increased Mef2
      dependent reporter activity before death. Our data dissociate myocyte
      hypertrophy, a consistent response in HCM, from heterogeneous Mef2 activation and
      reexpression of a fetal gene program. The temporal and spatial relationship of
      Mef2-dependent gene activation with myocyte necrosis and fibrosis in MHC(403/+)
      and MHC(403/403) hearts defines Mef2 activation as a molecular signature of
      stressed HCM myocytes that are poised to die.

PMID- 20923881
TI  - Virus engineering: functionalization and stabilization.
AB  - Chemically and/or genetically engineered viruses, viral capsids and viral-like
      particles carry the promise of important and diverse applications in biomedicine,
      biotechnology and nanotechnology. Potential uses include new vaccines, vectors
      for gene therapy and targeted drug delivery, contrast agents for molecular
      imaging and building blocks for the construction of nanostructured materials and
      electronic nanodevices. For many of the contemplated applications, the
      improvement of the physical stability of viral particles may be critical to
      adequately meet the demanding physicochemical conditions they may encounter
      during production, storage and/or medical or industrial use. The first part of
      this review attempts to provide an updated general overview of the fast-moving,
      interdisciplinary virus engineering field; the second part focuses specifically
      on the modification of the physical stability of viral particles by protein
      engineering, an emerging subject that has not been reviewed before.

PMID- 20923880
TI  - In vivo two-photon imaging reveals monocyte-dependent neutrophil extravasation
      during pulmonary inflammation.
AB  - Immune-mediated pulmonary diseases are a significant public health concern.
      Analysis of leukocyte behavior in the lung is essential for understanding
      cellular mechanisms that contribute to normal and diseased states. Here, we used
      two-photon imaging to study neutrophil extravasation from pulmonary vessels and
      subsequent interstitial migration. We found that the lungs contained a
      significant pool of tissue-resident neutrophils in the steady state. In response
      to inflammation produced by bacterial challenge or transplant-mediated, ischemia
      reperfusion injury, neutrophils were rapidly recruited from the circulation and
      patrolled the interstitium and airspaces of the lung. Motile neutrophils often
      aggregated in dynamic clusters that formed and dispersed over tens of minutes.
      These clusters were associated with CD115(+) F4/80(+) Ly6C(+) cells that had
      recently entered the lung. The depletion of blood monocytes with clodronate
      liposomes reduced neutrophil clustering in the lung, but acted by inhibiting
      neutrophil transendothelial migration upstream of interstitial migration. Our
      results suggest that a subset of monocytes serve as key regulators of neutrophil
      extravasation in the lung and may be an attractive target for the treatment of
      inflammatory pulmonary diseases.

PMID- 20923885
TI  - The prospect of using cyanobacterial bicarbonate transporters to improve leaf
      photosynthesis in C3 crop plants.

PMID- 20923887
TI  - Risk factors for autism and Asperger syndrome. Perinatal factors and migration.
AB  - Using the Swedish Medical Birth Registry (MBR), obstetrical and demographic
      information was retrieved for 250 children with autism or Asperger syndrome who
      were born in Malmoe, Sweden, and enrolled at the local Child and Youth
      Habilitation Center. The reference group consisted of all children born in Malmoe
      during 1980-2005. Obstetric sub-optimality (prematurity, low Apgar scores, growth
      restriction, or macrosomia) was positively associated with autism but not with
      Asperger syndrome. Maternal birth outside the Nordic countries was positively
      associated with autism (adjusted OR: 2.2; 95%CI: 1.6-3.1) and negatively
      associated with Asperger syndrome (OR: 0.6; 95%CI: 0.3-0.97). The highest risk
      estimate for autism was found among children to women who were born in sub
      Saharan Africa (OR: 7.3), or in East Asia (OR: 3.4).

PMID- 20923886
TI  - Increased phloem transport of S-methylmethionine positively affects sulfur and
      nitrogen metabolism and seed development in pea plants.
AB  - Seeds of grain legumes are important energy and food sources for humans and
      animals. However, the yield and quality of legume seeds are limited by the amount
      of sulfur (S) partitioned to the seeds. The amino acid S-methylmethionine (SMM),
      a methionine derivative, has been proposed to be an important long-distance
      transport form of reduced S, and we analyzed whether SMM phloem loading and
      source-sink translocation are important for the metabolism and growth of pea
      (Pisum sativum) plants. Transgenic plants were produced in which the expression
      of a yeast SMM transporter, S-Methylmethionine Permease1 (MMP1, YLL061W), was
      targeted to the phloem and seeds. Phloem exudate analysis showed that
      concentrations of SMM are elevated in MMP1 plants, suggesting increased phloem
      loading. Furthermore, expression studies of genes involved in S transport and
      metabolism in source organs, as well as xylem sap analyses, support that S uptake
      and assimilation are positively affected in MMP1 roots. Concomitantly, nitrogen
      (N) assimilation in root and leaf and xylem amino acid profiles were changed,
      resulting in increased phloem loading of amino acids. When investigating the
      effects of increased S and N phloem transport on seed metabolism, we found that
      protein levels were improved in MMP1 seeds. In addition, changes in SMM phloem
      loading affected plant growth and seed number, leading to an overall increase in
      seed S, N, and protein content in MMP1 plants. Together, these results suggest
      that phloem loading and source-sink partitioning of SMM are important for plant S
      and N metabolism and transport as well as seed set.

PMID- 20923888
TI  - Aspects of quality of life in adults diagnosed with autism in childhood: a
      population-based study.
AB  - The present study is a long-term prospective follow-up study of a population
      based cohort of 120 individuals diagnosed with autism in childhood, followed into
      late adolescence/early adulthood. Specific aims of the study were to attempt to
      measure and study social aspects/quality of life in those 108 individuals with
      autism alive and available for study at the time of follow-up (13-22 years after
      original diagnosis). A newly constructed scale for rating 'autism-friendly
      environment'/quality of life was used alongside a structured parent/carer
      interview assessing current occupation, educational history, services provided,
      accommodation type, and recreational activities. The majority of the group with
      autism remained dependent on parents/caregivers for support in education,
      accommodation and occupational situations. In spite of this, the estimation of
      the study group's general quality of life was encouragingly positive.
      Nevertheless, there was an obvious need for improvements in the areas of
      occupation and recreational activities. Future studies need to look in more depth
      at the concept of an autism-friendly environment and develop more detailed
      quality of life assessment tools relevant for people in the autism spectrum.

PMID- 20923889
TI  - The social interactive behaviour of young children with autism spectrum disorder
      and their mothers: is there an effect of familiarity of the interaction partner?
AB  - In this study the social behaviour of young children with autism spectrum
      disorder (ASD) and their mothers is compared within two different dyads: a dyad
      consisting of a mother and her own child and a dyad consisting of a mother and an
      unfamiliar child. Mothers did not change the frequency of their social
      initiatives and responsiveness with an unfamiliar child, but they became less
      directive than with their own child. Children with ASD did not show significantly
      better social behaviour with their own mother than with an unfamiliar mother. The
      results suggest that the social behaviour of a child with autism is not
      significantly enhanced by the familiarity of the social partner, but rather by
      the partner's autism-adapted interaction style. Clinical implications of these
      findings have been discussed.

PMID- 20923890
TI  - Socio-dramatic affective-relational intervention for adolescents with asperger
      syndrome & high functioning autism: pilot study.
AB  - This study examined the effectiveness of a novel intervention called 'socio
      dramatic affective-relational intervention' (SDARI), intended to improve social
      skills among adolescents with Asperger syndrome and high functioning autism
      diagnoses. SDARI adapts dramatic training activities to focus on in vivo practice
      of areas of social skill deficit among this population. SDARI was administered as
      a six-week summer program in a community human service agency. Nine SDARI
      participants and eight age- and diagnosis-group matched adolescents not receiving
      SDARI were compared on child- and parent-report of social functioning at three
      week intervals beginning six weeks prior to intervention and ending six weeks
      post-intervention. Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) was used to estimate growth
      trends between groups to assess treatment outcomes and post-treatment
      maintenance. Results indicated significant improvement and post-treatment
      maintenance among SDARI participants on several measures of child social
      functioning. Implications for practice and research are discussed.

PMID- 20923892
TI  - Recognizing faces based on inferred traits in autism spectrum disorders.
AB  - Recent findings indicate that individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD)
      could, surprisingly, infer traits from behavioural descriptions. Now we need to
      know whether or not individuals with ASD are able to use trait information to
      identify people by their faces. In this study participants with and without ASD
      were presented with pairs of faces each accompanied by a sentence. One sentence
      allowed a trait to be inferred (e.g. 'This is Ross who smiled and said hello to
      everyone at the party.') and one allowed a fact to be inferred (e.g. 'This is Ben
      who has to bend down to enter most doors.'). Subsequently, the same face stimuli
      were presented with a single descriptive trait, fact or name cue (e.g. friendly
      or tall and Ross or Ben respectively in the above examples). Participants had to
      choose which of the faces best related to the cue word. Participants with ASD
      performed surprisingly well in associating traits, facts, and names to the
      appropriate person significantly above what would be expected by chance. Indeed,
      they performed as well as participants without ASD.

PMID- 20923891
TI  - Narrowing the broader autism phenotype: a study using the Communication Checklist
      Adult Version (CC-A).
AB  - This study investigated whether the Communication Checklist - Adult (CC-A) could
      identify subtypes of social and communication dysfunction in autism probands and
      their parents. The CC-A is divided into subscales measuring linguistic ability as
      well as two aspects of social communication: the Pragmatic Skills subscale
      assesses the level of pragmatic oddities (e.g. excessive talking), while the
      Social Engagement subscale picks up on those behaviours that reflect a more
      passive communication style (e.g. failure to engage in social interactions). CC-A
      data were collected for 69 autism probands, 238 parents of autism probands and
      187 typical participants. The CC-A proved sensitive to the communication
      difficulties of autism probands and a proportion of their parents. The majority
      of parents who demonstrated the broader phenotype scored poorly on either the
      Pragmatic Skills or Social Engagement scale only. The Social Engagement scale was
      particularly sensitive to the difficulties of the parents, indicating that social
      communicative passivity may be an important part of the broader autism phenotype.
      The findings provide evidence for the existence of more constrained pragmatic
      phenotypes in autism. Molecular genetic studies in this area may benefit from
      stratifying samples according to these phenotypes.

PMID- 20923893
TI  - A comparison of a specialist autism spectrum disorder assessment team with local
      assessment teams.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Early diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is of crucial
      importance, but lengthy delays are common. We examined whether this issue could
      be reliably addressed by local teams trained by a specialist ASD assessment team.
      METHOD: Four local teams were trained in diagnostic assessment. Their assessments
      of 38 children and young people using the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule
      Generic (ADOS-G) were video recorded and independently assessed by the specialist
      team. RESULTS: There was a high level of correspondence between the diagnoses of
      the local teams and of the specialist team. The number of assessments carried out
      increased and there was a considerable reduction in waiting times. CONCLUSION:
      This study has demonstrated the potential feasibility of creating local, multi
      agency ASD assessment teams, which will serve to reduce waiting times, improve
      clinical skills at a lower level of specialism and thereby improve the overall
      quality of ASD services.

PMID- 20923894
TI  - Early symptoms and recognition of pervasive developmental disorders in Germany.
AB  - Pervasive developmental disorders are characterised by the presence of
      abnormalities in social interaction and communication as well as repetitive
      patterns of behaviours. Although early symptoms of the disorder often appear
      during the first two years of life, its diagnosis is often delayed. The purpose
      of this study is to analyse the delay between age at first symptoms and age at
      diagnosis as well as the characteristics of the first symptoms for the different
      subcategories of pervasive developmental disorders. The sample consists of 601
      children with a diagnosis of a pervasive developmental disorder. Age at first
      symptoms, age at diagnosis and the type of the first problems are registered. The
      results show that children with autism show first symptoms at a mean age of 15
      months whereas diagnosis is made at a mean age of 76 months. Children with
      Asperger's syndrome show first symptoms at a mean age of 26 months, while
      diagnosis is made at the mean age of 110 months. There is still a large delay
      between the age at which parents first report first symptoms and age at
      diagnosis. To improve early detection, systematic screening and training of
      primary care paediatricians should be implemented.

PMID- 20923895
TI  - Understanding emotional transfer in children with autism spectrum disorders.
AB  - The present study examined the understanding of emotional transfer in 11 children
      with autism, 20 children with PDD-NOS and 31 typically developing children, aged
      6 to 12 years. Children were asked about their emotional responses to successive,
      conflicting emotional situations. All children reported that preceding emotional
      situations would influence their emotional response towards a successive
      situation. Children from the typically developing group reported a stronger
      influence of preceding negative versus positive emotions. However, children with
      autism reported equal effects of preceding positive and negative emotions, and
      children with PDD-NOS were relatively unaffected by the preceding emotions. These
      findings may indicate a scripted understanding of emotions in children with
      autism in contrast to a more personalized understanding of typically developing
      children.

PMID- 20923896
TI  - Social Stories TM to improve social skills in children with autism spectrum
      disorder: a systematic review.
AB  - Over the past 20 years a variety of treatments have been developed to remediate
      deficits associated with autism. Since the early 1990 s, Social Stories TM have
      been suggested to positively affect the social development of children with
      autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Despite much research, there remains uncertainty
      regarding the effectiveness of this modality. We conducted a systematic review of
      the literature using pre-defined, rigorous methods. Studies were considered
      eligible if they were controlled trials evaluating Social Stories TM among
      persons with ASD. Two reviewers independently screened articles for inclusion,
      applied eligibility criteria, extracted data, and assessed methodological
      quality. A qualitative analysis was conducted on six eligible controlled trials.
      Five of the six trials showed statistically significant benefits for a variety of
      outcomes related to social interaction. This review underscores the need for
      further rigorous research and highlights some outstanding questions regarding
      maintenance and generalization of the benefits of Social Stories TM.

PMID- 20923898
TI  - Concordance of mental health impairment and service utilization among children in
      care.
AB  - This paper describes caregiver-reported patterns of mental health service use for
      347 pre-adolescent children in foster and kinship care in New South Wales (NSW),
      Australia. Children's mean time in care and mean time with their present
      caregivers were 4.3 and 3.3 years respectively. Forty-four percent of children
      received individual therapy or counselling, 45% received interventions in the
      form of clinical guidance for their caregivers, and 31% received both forms of
      service. Among children scoring in the clinical range on any CBCL sub-scale (N =
      191), equivalent rates of mental health service use were 60%, 55% and 41%
      respectively. Although not directly comparable, these findings describe a higher
      rate of service use than that reported for children in care elsewhere. While
      children with more complex and severe difficulties had higher rates of service
      use, there was no evidence of variable access for treatment of different types of
      disorder. Predictors of service use are reported and contrasted with previous
      findings. The paper considers several features of the NSW child welfare, health
      and education systems that may account for the relatively high rate of service
      use.

PMID- 20923897
TI  - A national study of the impact of outpatient mental health services for children
      in long-term foster care.
AB  - Despite the tremendous mental health need evidenced by children in foster care
      and high rates of use of mental health services among children in foster care,
      little is known about the impact of outpatient mental health services on the
      behavioral health of this population. This study utilizes data from the National
      Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-being (NSCAW), the first nationally
      representative study of child welfare in the United States. A subsample of 439
      children who have experienced long-term foster care were included in this study.
      These data were used to estimate the impact of outpatient mental health services
      on the externalizing and internalizing behavior problems of children in long-term
      foster care. A propensity score matching model was employed to produce a robust
      estimate of the treatment effect. Results indicate that children who have
      experienced long-term foster care do not benefit from the receipt of outpatient
      mental health services. Study results are discussed in the context of earlier
      research on the quality of mental health services for children in foster care.

PMID- 20923899
TI  - The "Spirit of New Orleans": translating a model of intervention with maltreated
      children and their families for the Glasgow context.
AB  - Children in care have higher rates of mental health problems than the general
      population and placement instability contributes to this. Children are both most
      vulnerable to the effects of poor quality care and most responsive to treatment
      in the early weeks and months of life yet, in the UK, permanency decisions are
      generally not in place until around the age of four. We aimed to understand the
      components of an innovative system for assessing and intervening with maltreated
      children and their families developed in New Orleans and to consider how it might
      be implemented in Glasgow, UK. During and after a visit to New Orleans by a team
      of Glasgow practitioners, eight key interviews and meetings with New Orleans and
      Glasgow staff were audio-recorded. Qualitative analysis of verbatim transcripts
      identified key themes. Themes highlighted shared aspects of the context and
      attitudes of the two teams, identified gaps in the Glasgow service and steps that
      would be needed to implement a version of the New Orleans model in Glasgow. Our
      discussions with the New Orleans team have highlighted concrete steps we can
      take, in Glasgow, to make better decision-making for vulnerable children a
      reality.

PMID- 20923900
TI  - Assessment of children coming into care: processes, pitfalls and partnerships.
AB  - Children in out-of-home care (OOHC) present with high levels of physical,
      developmental and emotional and behavioural difficulties, yet often fail to
      receive appropriate services. This article describes a joint health and welfare
      service specifically developed to provide comprehensive physical, developmental
      and mental health assessments to a cohort of children entering long-term care in
      one region of Sydney, New South Wales (NSW), Australia. Paediatric, allied
      health, dental and psychosocial assessments were co-ordinated from a single
      referral from the child's welfare case manager. Follow-up appointments were held
      6-12 months later to assess the outcomes of recommendations. Physical, mental
      health and developmental difficulties in the children are reported, the
      implications for service requirements are presented and process blocks described.
      There is a need for a specific co-ordinating service to overcome the inherent
      fragmentation of this group (related both to transience and change in the welfare
      sector, and levels of comorbidity and chronicity in health presentations). Health
      and Welfare services must operate together, with an awareness of the processes
      and resource constraints in each sector, if they are to deliver sustainable and
      reliable health care to this vulnerable group.

PMID- 20923901
TI  - Enhancing adoptive parenting: a randomized controlled trial.
AB  - The aim was to conduct a pragmatic randomized controlled trial (RCT) to evaluate
      two parenting programmes designed for adopters of children late placed from care.
      Adoptive parents, with children between 3 and 8 years who were screened to have
      serious behavioural problems early in the placement, participated in home-based,
      manualized, parenting programmes delivered by trained and supervised family
      social workers. The adopters who agreed to join the study were randomly allocated
      to one of two parenting interventions or to a "services as usual" group.
      Baseline, immediate post-intervention and six-month follow-ups were assessed
      using questionnaires and adopter interviews. No cases were lost to follow-up at
      any point and satisfaction was high with both parenting interventions. At the six
      month follow-up, a significant difference (p < 0.007) was found for "satisfaction
      with parenting" in favour of the intervention group (Effect Size d = 0.7).
      Negative parenting approaches were reduced in the intervention group. However, no
      significant differences in child problems were found between the intervention
      groups and control group, adjusting for baseline scores. Costs analysis showed
      that a relatively modest investment in post-adoption support would be well spent
      in improving adopters' satisfaction with parenting in the intervention group
      compared to the routine service group.

PMID- 20923902
TI  - A "real-world" evaluation of an adoptive parenting programme: reflections after
      conducting a randomized trial.

PMID- 20923903
TI  - Mental health services for children in public care and other vulnerable groups:
      implications for international collaboration.
AB  - Children in public care and other vulnerable young groups (homeless, adopted,
      refugees) are increasingly becoming the focus of policy and service planning.
      There is strong evidence that all these client populations have high rates of
      mental health problems which are closely associated with other needs. We also
      have good knowledge on the factors that predispose individuals to and maintain
      mental health problems, as well as on the reasons for their not easily accessing
      and engaging with services. There is less evidence on the effectiveness of
      interventions or service models, although some interesting patterns are beginning
      to emerge. These include the need for inter-agency commissioning, clear care
      pathways, designated provision, applied therapeutic interventions, training for
      carers and frontline practitioners, and multi modal programmes. This paper
      discusses these issues, as well as ways forward, both for systems with relatively
      well developed child mental health services and for low-income countries. Service
      quality can be greatly strengthened by international collaboration on policy,
      practice and research networks, training and research.

PMID- 20923904
TI  - Multi-agency and specialist working to meet the mental health needs of children
      in care and adopted.
AB  - Many of the children and young people who are looked after in foster and
      residential care or are adopted have complex mental health needs that are not
      well met by traditional mental health services. These vulnerabilities stem from
      an interaction between pre- and post-care experience, and often include trauma,
      attachment and developmental difficulties. It is now widely recognized that these
      children are best served by dedicated services provided by professionals with
      expertise in meeting the needs of looked after and adopted children. This
      involves effective joint working between health, education and social care
      services and requires supportive policies and structures at all levels of the
      organizations. This paper will explore the strengths, challenges and barriers of
      multi-agency and specialist working to meet the needs of these vulnerable
      children and young people.This will be illustrated with case examples drawn from
      a multi-agency service in Worcestershire, UK.

PMID- 20923905
TI  - Some reflections on the use of psychiatric diagnosis in the looked after or "in
      care" child population.
AB  - The current classification system, DSM-IV, inadequately captures the range and
      type of psychopathology seen in the "in care" population of children. A
      combination of pre-natal influences, early interpersonal trauma involving the
      primary caregiving relationship, disturbed and disrupted attachment relationships
      and other significant losses and adverse environmental effects produce a complex
      constellation of symptoms and a pervasive impact on development that is difficult
      to categorize. The challenges facing DSM-V are illustrated, highlighting
      unresolved topics such as quasi-autism, reactive attachment disorder and complex
      trauma.

PMID- 20923906
TI  - The making and breaking of relationships: organizational and clinical questions
      in providing services for looked after children?
AB  - The mental health of children in public care has received considerable attention
      in recent years. There are significant differences in the prevalence rates
      compared to children living at home and not in public care and these are added to
      by other adverse lifestyle issues. Considerable attention has been focused on the
      importance of stable and secure placements supported by access to a range of
      services including education, health and mental health. Identifying and
      classifying mental health needs proves to be challenging as the child's genetic
      inheritance, pre- and post-birth experiences, including maltreatment, interact
      with the uncertainty and delays commonly associated with child protection
      processes, action in the legal system and the difficulty in establishing secure
      and permanent placements. Clinical need is also related to the age of the child
      and the reasons they came into care and the length of time they remain. A case
      illustrating many of these issues, publicly reported in the court's judgement, is
      used as the basis for exploring the complexity for the identified child in
      understanding and making sense of their experiences as placement plans are made
      for them. These are used to explore the difficulties in establishing clinical
      protocols such as those recently published in the USA. Particular emphasis is
      given to the issues faced by children and their carers in establishing new family
      relationships which address the child's inheritance from their family of origin
      especially where these are traumatic and conflicted in origin.

PMID- 20923907
TI  - It's time to re-think mental health services for children in care, and those
      adopted from care.
AB  - Much of what is written in this special issue points to the need for a clinical
      workforce that has much greater knowledge and skills for working with children
      with a history of alternate care, including those who are subsequently adopted.
      Standard child clinical conceptualization, assessment methods, and formulations
      miss the mark for these vulnerable populations in a number of critical ways. The
      present paper proposes 10 principles to guide the design of mental health
      services for children in care, and those adopted from care. Effective
      specialization in child welfare work by clinical child psychologists,
      psychotherapists and psychiatrists, requires: (i) specialized knowledge and
      skills; (ii) a shift from traditional clinical practice to a clinical
      psychosocial-developmental scope of practice; and (iii) a strong advocacy role.
      To support such specialized practice, service design should be guided by: (iv) a
      primary-specialist care nexus, that includes universal, comprehensive
      assessments; (v) a shift from acute care to preventative, long-term engagement
      and monitoring; (vi) integration within the social care milieu; (vii) a shift
      from exclusion to active ownership of these client groups; (viii) normalization
      strategies; and (ix) alignment of services for these client groups. Finally, it
      is argued that mental health service provision for these children is strengthened
      by policy that promotes (x) "whole of government" accountability for their mental
      health needs.

PMID- 20923908
TI  - Test of time: children who wait (1973) by Jane Rowe and Lydia Lambert.

PMID- 20923910
TI  - Validation of a measure of smoothness of walking.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Altered biomechanics and/or neural control disrupt the timing of
      postures and muscle patterns necessary for smooth and regular stepping. Harmonic
      ratio of trunk accelerations has been proposed as a measure of smoothness of
      walking. We sought to validate this measure of smoothness by examining the
      measure in groups expected to differ in smoothness (ie, young and old) and across
      walking conditions expected to affect smoothness (ie, straight path, curved path,
      and dual task). METHODS: Thirty young (mean age = 24.4 +/- 4.3 years) and 30
      older adults (mean age = 77.5 +/- 5.1 years) who could ambulate independently
      participated. We measured linear acceleration of the body along vertical,
      anterior-posterior, and medial-lateral axes using a triaxial accelerometer firmly
      attached to the skin over the L3 segment of the lumbar spine during straight
      path, curved path, and dual task (reciting every other letter of the alphabet)
      walking. RESULTS: Older adults had lower harmonic ratio anterior-posterior
      (HR(AP)), that is, were less smooth in the direction of motion and walked more
      slowly than young adults for all walking conditions. Once the analyses were
      adjusted for walking speed, only HR(AP) differed between young and old
      participants for all walking conditions. For the most part, both young and old
      participants were less smooth for slow pace walking, curved path walking, and
      dual task walking compared with usual pace straight path walking. CONCLUSIONS:
      The harmonic ratio, calculated from trunk acceleration, is a valid measure of
      smoothness of walking, which may be thought of as a measure of the motor control
      of walking.

PMID- 20923911
TI  - Impact of the high-definition multileaf collimator on linear accelerator-based
      intracranial stereotactic radiosurgery.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The impact of two multileaf collimator (MLC) systems for linear
      accelerator-based intracranial stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) was assessed.
      METHODS: 68 lesions formed the basis of this study. 2.5 mm leaf width plans
      served as reference. Comparative plans, with identical planning parameters, were
      based on a 5 mm leaf width MLC system. Two collimation strategies, with
      collimation fixed at 0 degrees  or 90 degrees  and optimised per arc or beam,
      were also assessed. Dose computation was based on the pencil beam algorithm with
      allowance for tissue heterogeneity. Plan normalisation was such that 100% of the
      prescription dose covered 95% of the planning target volume. Plan evaluation was
      based on target coverage and normal tissue avoidance criteria. RESULTS: The
      median conformity index difference between the MLC systems ranged between 0.8%
      and 14.2%; the 2.5 mm MLC exhibited better dose conformation. The median
      reduction of normal tissue exposed to >=100%, >=50% and >=25% of the prescription
      dose ranged from 13.4% to 29.7%, favouring the 2.5 mm MLC system. Dose fall-off
      was steeper for the 2.5 mm MLC system with an overall median absolute difference
      ranging from 0.4 to 1.2 mm. The use of collimation optimisation resulted in a
      decrease in differences between the MLC systems. The results demonstrated the
      dosimetric merit of the 2.5 mm leaf width MLC system over the 5 mm leaf width
      system, albeit small, for the investigated range of intracranial SRS targets.
      CONCLUSION: The clinical significance of these results warrants further
      investigation to determine whether the observed dosimetric advantages translate
      into outcome improvements.

PMID- 20923913
TI  - Content analysis of antismoking videos on YouTube: message sensation value,
      message appeals, and their relationships with viewer responses.
AB  - Focusing on several message features that are prominent in antismoking campaign
      literature, this content-analytic study examines 934 antismoking video clips on
      YouTube for the following characteristics: message sensation value (MSV) and
      three types of message appeal (threat, social and humor). These four
      characteristics are then linked to YouTube's interactive audience response
      mechanisms (number of viewers, viewer ratings and number of comments) to capture
      message reach, viewer preference and viewer engagement. The findings suggest the
      following: (i) antismoking messages are prevalent on YouTube, (ii) MSV levels of
      online antismoking videos are relatively low compared with MSV levels of
      televised antismoking messages, (iii) threat appeals are the videos' predominant
      message strategy and (iv) message characteristics are related to viewer reach and
      viewer preference.

PMID- 20923912
TI  - MRI findings of uncommon non-hepatocyte origin primary liver tumours with
      pathological correlation.
AB  - The objective of this article was to illustrate the MRI findings of uncommon non
      hepatocyte origin primary liver tumours, correlate them with the pathological
      features and discuss differential diagnoses. In conclusion, the MRI findings of
      uncommon benign and malignant non-hepatocyte-origin primary liver tumours vary.
      Awareness of characteristic MRI features can aid differential diagnosis and
      prevent unnecessary surgery.

PMID- 20923909
TI  - Design and conduct of the CALERIE study: comprehensive assessment of the long
      term effects of reducing intake of energy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In a robust and consistent manner, sustained caloric restriction (CR)
      has been shown to retard the aging process in a variety of animal species.
      Nonhuman primate studies suggest that CR may have similar effects in longer-lived
      species. The CALERIE (Comprehensive Assessment of the Long-term Effects of
      Reducing Intake of Energy) research program is the first systematic investigation
      of CR in nonobese human beings. In the phase 2 study, it is hypothesized that 2
      years of sustained CR, involving a 25% reduction of ad libitum energy intake,
      results in beneficial effects similar to those observed in animal studies. This
      article presents the design and implementation of this study. METHODS: The study
      is a multicenter, parallel-group, randomized controlled trial. A sample of 225
      participants (22.0 <= body mass index [BMI] < 28.0 kg/m(2)) is being enrolled
      with 2:1 allocation to CR. RESULTS: An intensive dietary and behavioral
      intervention was developed to achieve 25% CR and sustain it over the 2 years.
      Adherence is monitored using a doubly labeled water technique. Primary outcomes
      are resting metabolic rate and core temperature, and are assessed at baseline and
      at 6-month intervals. Secondary outcomes address oxyradical formation,
      cardiovascular risk markers, insulin sensitivity and secretion, immune function,
      neuroendocrine function, quality of life and cognitive function. Biologic
      materials are stored in a central repository. CONCLUSIONS: An intricate protocol
      has been developed to conduct this study. Procedures have been implemented to
      safeguard the integrity of the data and the conclusions drawn. The results will
      provide insight into the detrimental changes associated with the human aging
      process and how CR mitigates these effects.

PMID- 20923915
TI  - Schizophrenia: a multisystem disease?

PMID- 20923916
TI  - The paradox of premature mortality in schizophrenia: new research questions.
AB  - The life expectancy of patients with schizophrenia is reduced by between 15 and
      25 years. Those patients dying of natural causes die of the same diseases as in
      the general population. In 2009 the World Health Organization (WHO) identified
      underlying global risk factors for mortality in the general population. However,
      there is little evidence in the literature assessing their validity in those with
      schizophrenia. The WHO report on global health risks (2009) identifies
      hypertension, smoking, raised glucose, physical inactivity, overweight and
      obesity, and high cholesterol as the six leading global mortality risk factors.
      Currently, there are minimal data on the contribution to mortality that these
      risk factors make in schizophrenia, and their optimum management. Both short and
      long-term studies are needed to address these gaps. New research has raised
      important questions about risk balance with regards to ideal body mass, with some
      studies showing that being overweight is associated with lower all-cause
      mortality and lower suicide rates. Cardiorespiratory fitness is being recognized
      as a more powerful predictor of mortality than smoking, hypertension or diabetes
      in men. However, there are virtually no published data on assessment of fitness
      levels in schizophrenia. New studies have raised concerns about the quality of
      physical care for patients with schizophrenia, which is another important avenue
      of future research. A greater biological understanding of the relationship
      between these disorders and schizophrenia would inform clinical practice. Low
      birth weight has been associated with increased risk for schizophrenia, and it
      will be important to explore this risk factor for both physical and mental health
      outcomes.

PMID- 20923917
TI  - Mortality in schizophrenia: a measurable clinical endpoint.
AB  - Over the last five years, large data sets on mortality in schizophrenia have been
      published which have established mortality as a measurable clinical endpoint.
      Four issues need clarification: whether mortality rates are declining, what the
      causes of death are, the effects antipsychotic treatments have on mortality and
      whether these data inform as to how mortality may be reduced in the future. A
      PubMed search was carried out to identify relevant publications. The search
      strategy was conducted as a review focusing predominantly on data since 2006. A
      large number of retrospective epidemiological and prospective studies have been
      published on mortality rates and causation in schizophrenia, predominantly from
      2006-2009. Data suggest that the mortality gap with the general population
      increased from the 1970s but may have peaked in the mid-1990s. The main causes of
      mortality are suicide, cancer and cardiovascular disease, with evidence that
      cancer mortality rates are similar to cardiovascular mortality rates. Mortality
      causation is dependent upon age of the cohort, length of follow up and type of
      study. Antipsychotic treatments reduce mortality when compared with no treatment
      and atypical antipsychotics do not appear to increase cardiovascular mortality
      and morbidity compared with conventionals; further research is required for any
      definitive conclusion.

PMID- 20923918
TI  - Mortality trends in the general population: the importance of cardiorespiratory
      fitness.
AB  - Cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) is not only an objective measure of habitual
      physical activity, but also a useful diagnostic and prognostic health indicator
      for patients in clinical settings. Although compelling evidence has shown that
      CRF is a strong and independent predictor of all-cause and cardiovascular disease
      mortality, the importance of CRF is often overlooked from a clinical perspective
      compared with other risk factors such as hypertension, diabetes, smoking, or
      obesity. Several prospective studies indicate that CRF is at least as important
      as the traditional risk factors, and is often more strongly associated with
      mortality. In addition, previous studies report that CRF appears to attenuate the
      increased risk of death associated with obesity. Most individuals can improve
      their CRF through regular physical activity. Several biological mechanisms
      suggest that CRF improves insulin sensitivity, blood lipid profile, body
      composition, inflammation, and blood pressure. Based on the evidence, health
      professionals should encourage their patients to improve CRF through regular
      physical activity.

PMID- 20923919
TI  - Are there modifiable risk factors which will reduce the excess mortality in
      schizophrenia?
AB  - The 2009 World Health Organization report on global health risks identifies
      hypertension, smoking, raised glucose, physical inactivity, obesity and
      dyslipidaemia, in that order, as being the top six modifiable global mortality
      risk factors. Patients with schizophrenia have high levels of all these risk
      factors. There are a small number of studies showing that interventions can
      improve these, but prospective long-term studies are not available to show their
      impact on mortality. A number of studies are now supporting the view that
      patients with schizophrenia may be dying prematurely as they are not gaining
      access to or receiving the same medical care as the general population. The
      literature now suggests that low cardiorespiratory fitness and muscle strength
      are among the strongest predictors of all-cause mortality in the general
      population. Smoking is still one of the largest risk factors for premature all
      cause mortality. The literature supports the thesis that lifestyle intervention
      programmes addressing exercise, smoking cessation and compliance with medication
      are likely to have significant impact on mortality in schizophrenia. It will be
      important to ensure that all patients with schizophrenia have advocates to ensure
      appropriate treatment and avoid prejudice, and to establish fitness standards in
      schizophrenia.

PMID- 20923920
TI  - Cancer and schizophrenia: is there a paradox?
AB  - People with schizophrenia are more likely to die prematurely than the general
      population from both suicide and physical ill health. Published studies examining
      the incidence of cancer in schizophrenia patients report increased, reduced or
      similar incidence compared with the general population. Older studies tended to
      report lower incidence rates which fuelled speculation as to the biological and
      other mechanisms for this protective effect. Furthermore, mortality rates in
      patients with schizophrenia appear higher than expected. We undertook a non
      systematic review of published data to give an overview for these variable
      findings and illustrate methodological confounders by highlighting a systematic
      review of breast cancer studies.

PMID- 20923921
TI  - Inequalities in healthcare provision for people with severe mental illness.
AB  - There are many factors that contribute to the poor physical health of people with
      severe mental illness (SMI), including lifestyle factors and medication side
      effects. However, there is increasing evidence that disparities in healthcare
      provision contribute to poor physical health outcomes. These inequalities have
      been attributed to a combination of factors including systemic issues, such as
      the separation of mental health services from other medical services, healthcare
      provider issues including the pervasive stigma associated with mental illness,
      and consequences of mental illness and side effects of its treatment. A number of
      solutions have been proposed. To tackle systemic barriers to healthcare provision
      integrated care models could be employed including co-location of physical and
      mental health services or the use of case managers or other staff to undertake a
      co-ordination or liaison role between services. The health care sector could be
      targeted for programmes aimed at reducing the stigma of mental illness. The
      cognitive deficits and other consequences of SMI could be addressed through the
      provision of healthcare skills training to people with SMI or by the use of peer
      supporters. Population health and health promotion approaches could be developed
      and targeted at this population, by integrating health promotion activities
      across domains of interest. To date there have only been small-scale trials to
      evaluate these ideas suggesting that a range of models may have benefit. More
      work is needed to build the evidence base in this area.

PMID- 20923922
TI  - Do deficits in cardiac care influence high mortality rates in schizophrenia? A
      systematic review and pooled analysis.
AB  - We have previously documented inequalities in the quality of medical care
      provided to those with mental ill health but the implications for mortality are
      unclear. We aimed to test whether disparities in medical treatment of
      cardiovascular conditions, specifically receipt of medical procedures and receipt
      of prescribed medication, are linked with elevated rates of mortality in people
      with schizophrenia and severe mental illness. We undertook a systematic review of
      studies that examined medical procedures and a pooled analysis of prescribed
      medication in those with and without comorbid mental illness, focusing on those
      which recruited individuals with schizophrenia and measured mortality as an
      outcome. From 17 studies of treatment adequacy in cardiovascular conditions,
      eight examined cardiac procedures and nine examined adequacy of prescribed
      cardiac medication. Six of eight studies examining the adequacy of cardiac
      procedures found lower than average provision of medical care and two studies
      found no difference. Meta-analytic pooling of nine medication studies showed
      lower than average rates of prescribing evident for the following individual
      classes of medication; angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (n = 6, aOR =
      0.779, 95% CI = 0.638-0.950, p = 0.0137), beta-blockers (n = 9, aOR = 0.844, 95%
      CI = 0.690-1.03, p = 0.1036) and statins (n = 5, aOR = 0.604, 95% CI = 0.408
      0.89, p = 0.0117). No inequality was evident for aspirin (n = 7, aOR = 0.986, 95%
      CI = 0.7955-1.02, p = 0.382). Interestingly higher than expected prescribing was
      found for older non-statin cholesterol-lowering agents (n = 4, aOR = 1.55, 95% CI
      = 1.04-2.32, p = 0.0312). A search for outcomes in this sample revealed ten
      studies linking poor quality of care and possible effects on mortality in
      specialist settings. In half of the studies there was significantly higher
      mortality in those with mental ill health compared with controls but there was
      inadequate data to confirm a causative link. Nevertheless, indirect evidence
      supports the observation that deficits in quality of care are contributing to
      higher than expected mortality in those with severe mental illness (SMI) and
      schizophrenia. The quality of medical treatment provided to those with cardiac
      conditions and comorbid schizophrenia is often suboptimal and may be linked with
      avoidable excess mortality. Every effort should be made to deliver high-quality
      medical care to people with severe mental illness.

PMID- 20923924
TI  - A systematic review of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis function in
      schizophrenia: implications for mortality.
AB  - There is convincing evidence that environmental stress plays a significant role
      in modifying both mental and physical health. The biological mechanisms linking
      stress to ill health are not fully understood, but significant evidence points to
      a central role of the stress axes; the hypothalamic- pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis
      and the sympathetic nervous system. Together these two systems link the brain and
      the body and are crucial in maintaining homeostasis as well as improving an
      organism's survival chances in the face of environmental challenge. There is
      evidence of altered HPA axis function in people with a range of mental disorders,
      and this may in part explain the poor physical health of people with psychotic,
      mood and anxiety disorders. This paper systematically reviews HPA axis function
      in people with schizophrenia and relates this to the pattern of physical health
      seen in this disease. In summary, the evidence suggests people with schizophrenia
      can experience both hyper- and hypo-function of the HPA axis. It is likely that
      this contributes to the pattern of poor physical health and premature mortality
      suffered by people with schizophrenia, in particular the high rates of
      cardiovascular and metabolic disturbance.

PMID- 20923923
TI  - Suicide and schizophrenia: a systematic review of rates and risk factors.
AB  - Risk assessment is a core skill in psychiatry. Risk prediction for suicide in
      schizophrenia is known to be complex. We undertook a systematic review of all
      original studies concerning suicide in schizophrenia published since 2004. We
      found 51 data-containing studies (from 1281 studies screened) that met our
      inclusion criteria, and ranked these by standardized quality criteria. Estimates
      of rates of suicide and risk factors associated with later suicide were
      identified, and the risk factors were grouped according to type and strength of
      association with suicide. Consensus on the lifetime risk of suicide was a rate of
      approximately 5%. Risk factors with a strong association with later suicide
      included being young, male, and with a high level of education. Illness-related
      risk factors were important predictors, with number of prior suicide attempts,
      depressive symptoms, active hallucinations and delusions, and the presence of
      insight all having a strong evidential basis. A family history of suicide, and
      comorbid substance misuse were also positively associated with later suicide. The
      only consistent protective factor for suicide was delivery of and adherence to
      effective treatment. Prevention of suicide in schizophrenia will rely on
      identifying those individuals at risk, and treating comorbid depression and
      substance misuse, as well as providing best available treatment for psychotic
      symptoms.

PMID- 20923925
TI  - Conventional, but not high-purity, dialysate-induced monocyte apoptosis is
      mediated by activation of PKC-delta and inflammatory factors release.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Use of conventional dialysate (CD) (powdered sodium bicarbonate
      dissolved manually with reverse osmosis water before dialysis) is common in
      Chinese haemodialysis (HD) centres. However, this preparation carries the risk of
      degradation and contamination, potentially negatively impacting host defense.
      Commercially available high-purity dialysate (HPD) may decrease inflammation and
      improve nutritional status in HD patients. However, whether HPD affects immune
      cells is unclear. The purpose of this study was to investigate the in vitro
      effect of these dialysates on apoptosis in U937 monocytes and its possible
      mechanism. METHODS: Following incubation with two different types of dialysate,
      U937 cell apoptosis was measured by flow cytometry. Cell morphological changes
      were observed by Hoechst 33258 fluorescence staining. The expression of protein
      kinase C-delta (PKC-delta) was assayed by RT-polymerase chain reaction and
      western blot. Cytokine levels in U937 cells after exposure to CD or HPD for an
      indicated time were assayed by commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
      RESULTS: CD contained more bacteria (66 +/- 6 CFU/mL) than HPD (7 +/- 3 CFU/mL)
      while there was no difference in endotoxin levels. Compared with cells exposed to
      HPD and phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), U937 monocytes experienced more
      apoptosis when exposed to CD for 24 and 48 h, while there was no significant
      difference between HPD and PBS. Expressions of PKC-delta mRNA and protein in U937
      cells were enhanced following exposure to CD for 24 and 48 h, with increased
      proteolytic cleavage of PKC-delta which could be inhibited by rottlerin, a
      specific inhibitor of PKC-delta. Moreover, the cultured supernatant in CD-exposed
      cells contained significantly higher levels of interleukin-6 (4.09 +/- 0.36 vs
      2.73 +/- 0.38 pg/mL, P < 0.01, 24 h; 4.28 +/- 0.32 vs 2.83 +/- 0.32 pg/mL, P <
      0.01, 48 h) and tumour necrosis factor alpha (3.45 +/- 0.79 vs 2.44 +/- 0.39
      pg/mL, P < 0.05, 24 h; 4.60 +/- 0.57 vs 2.50 +/- 0.37 pg/mL, P < 0.01, 48 h) than
      those of HPD. CONCLUSION: CD, but not HPD, contained more bacterial
      contamination, increased monocyte apoptosis in a PKC-delta-dependent manner and
      induced more cell inflammation. These findings suggest that impurity of dialysis
      fluid may be an important determinant of the elevated inflammation seen in CD
      treated patients.

PMID- 20923926
TI  - ADAMTS13--marker of contractile phenotype of arterial smooth muscle cells lost in
      benign nephrosclerosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hypertensive nephrosclerosis alone and in combination with other
      renal diseases is a leading cause of terminal renal insufficiency. Histologic
      lesions manifest as benign nephrosclerosis (bN) with arteriolar hyalinosis and
      later fibrosis. Procoagulant micromilieus have been implicated in fibrosis.
      Hyalinosis is considered to consist of plasma insudation possibly containing
      procoagulant factors like von Willebrand factor (VWF). Therefore, it is
      hypothesized that VWF cleaving protease ADAMTS13 (a disintegrin-like and
      metalloprotease with thrombospondin type-1 motif, 13) is normally expressed by
      arteriolar vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) and diminished in bN and that
      this reduction contributes to fibrosis in bN. METHODS: ADAMTS13 expression was
      examined by immunohistochemistry and quantitative real-time polymerase chain
      reaction in VSMCs of various human organs. Fifty-four specimens with and seven
      without bN were immunostained for ADAMTS13, VWF, CD61 and VSMC differentiation
      markers in arteriolar walls. RESULTS: Expression of ADAMTS13 is confirmed in
      VSMCs. In bN, ADAMTS13 immunostaining of arterial VSMCs correlated inversely with
      fibrotic but not hyalinotic lesions. Smooth muscle myosin heavy chain showed an
      inverse correlation with hyalinotic, as opposed to fibrotic lesions of bN.
      Smoothelin showed an inverse correlation with both hyalinotic and fibrotic
      lesions of bN. VWF was absent in normal controls and hyalinotic lesions, but
      present exclusively in fibrotic lesions in 7/54 (13%) bN cases. CD61 was absent
      in all arteriolar walls. CONCLUSIONS: The present results establish ADAMTS13 as a
      novel marker of contractile VSMCs that is retained in early hyalinotic bN but
      partially lost later in fibrotic bN. Loss of ADAMTS13 and accumulation of VWF in
      fibrotic but not hyalinotic arteriolar walls could further propagate fibrosis in
      bN.

PMID- 20923927
TI  - Proto-dialytic cardiac function relates to intra-dialytic morbid events.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Intra-dialytic morbid events (IDME) such as intra-dialytic
      hypotension (IDH) and muscle cramps frequently complicate haemodialysis (HD).
      Cardiac dysfunction is highly prevalent in HD patients. We investigated the
      relationship between proto-dialytic (i.e. early intra-dialytic) cardiac function
      and IDME in HD patients. METHODS: Heart rate, beat-to-beat blood pressure (BP)
      and cardiac output were continuously measured during the first 30 min of dialysis
      treatment using the Task ForceTM Monitor. Total peripheral resistance index
      (TPRI) was calculated from cardiac index (CI) and BP. Univariate, multivariate
      and logistic regression analyses were employed to relate IDME to haemodynamic
      predictors; Kaplan-Meier method was employed for time-to-event analysis. RESULTS:
      Fourteen HD patients (age 67 +/- 15 years; 7 females) were studied. Dialysis
      treatment was complicated by IDH and muscle cramps in 4 and 8 out of 30 sessions,
      respectively. CI was higher in patients without IDME (2.6 +/- 0.5 L/min/m(2)) as
      compared to those with muscle cramps (2.0 +/- 0.3 L/min/m(2)) or IDH (1.8 +/- 0.2
      L/min/m(2); all P < 0.05). CI and TPRI at baseline independently predicted IDME
      in a multivariate regression analysis (odds ratio: 0.043 per unit of CI, 95%
      confidence interval: 0.003-0.611; odds ratio: 1.124 per unit of TPRI, 95%
      confidence interval: 1.25-1.01). Patients were stratified by tertiles of CI. IDME
      occurred in the two lower tertiles, whereas patients in the upper tertile were
      event free (log-rank test, P < 0.002). CONCLUSIONS: Low CI and high TPRI in the
      first 30 min of HD are associated with an increased risk of IDME.

PMID- 20923928
TI  - Infants get five stars on iconic memory tests: a partial-report test of 6-month
      old infants' iconic memory capacity.

PMID- 20923929
TI  - Beyond the best interests of children: four views of the family and of
      foundational disagreements regarding pediatric decision making.
AB  - This paper presents four different understandings of the family and their
      concomitant views of the authority of the family in pediatric medical decision
      making. These different views are grounded in robustly developed, and
      conflicting, worldviews supported by disparate basic premises about the nature of
      morality. The traditional worldviews are often found within religious communities
      that embrace foundational metaphysical premises at odds with the commitments of
      the liberal account of the family dominant in the secular culture of the West.
      These disputes are substantial and ultimately irresolvable by sound rational
      argument because of the failure to share common foundational premises and rules
      of evidence. It is in light of these fundamental disagreements that there is a
      need to evaluate critically the claims and agenda advanced by the Convention on
      the Rights of the Child.

PMID- 20923930
TI  - Should the Confucian family-determination model be rejected? A case study.
AB  - This essay explores a tragic event that happened in China, which garnered much
      attention, the Li case: a young woman who was nine months pregnant and her baby
      died as a result of the failure to receive a medically necessary c-section due to
      the hospital having failed to secure her family's consent for the c-section.
      Differing from some critiques, this essay argues that the Li case should not be
      used to blame the Confucian family-determination model that has been applied in
      Chinese society for thousands of years. Based on summarizing the reasons
      supporting the model, this essay indicates that it is an integral part of the
      model that, in emergency or special cases, the physician must take medical action
      to save the patient, without the need to secure the consent of a family member.
      In order to prevent tragic cases like the Li case from happening, we recommend
      that relevant Chinese laws be further developed and specified and that, most
      importantly, Chinese physicians must cultivate the Confucian virtue of
      benevolence in their practice of taking care of patients in a virtuous way, along
      with patients' families.

PMID- 20923931
TI  - Odor identification and mortality in old age.
AB  - The association of olfactory dysfunction with mortality was examined in 1162
      older persons without dementia or Parkinson's disease. They completed a standard
      12-item test of odor identification and then were followed for a mean of 4.2
      years (standard deviation [SD] = 2.6, range: 0-9) during which 321 individuals
      died (27.6%). The relation of olfactory score to risk of death was assessed in a
      series of proportional hazards models adjusted for age, sex, education, and other
      covariates. Olfactory scores ranged from 0 to 12 correct (mean = 9.0, SD = 2.2).
      In an initial analysis, risk of death decreased by about 6% for each additional
      odor correctly identified (hazard ratio = 0.94; 95% confidence interval: 0.90,
      0.98). Thus, mortality risk was about 36% higher with a low score (6, 10th
      percentile) compared with a high score (11, 90th percentile). The association
      persisted in subsequent analyses that controlled for naming ability, disability,
      cerebrovascular disease, characteristic patterns of leisure activity, depressive
      symptoms, and apolipoprotein E genotype. The results indicate that difficulty
      identifying familiar odors in old age is associated with increased risk of death.

PMID- 20923932
TI  - Mechanisms of sperm-egg interactions: between sugars and broken bonds.
AB  - A model of the early events of mammalian fertilization has emerged during the
      past 30 years. However, studies during the past decade have used newly available
      mouse models to readdress these processes. Here, we will consider these new data
      in light of the existing model and point to areas of reconciliation and of
      controversy.

PMID- 20923933
TI  - Apolipoprotein E controls ATP-binding cassette transporters in the ischemic
      brain.
AB  - The adenosine triphosphate-binding cassette transporters ABCB1 and ABCC1 show
      coordinated changes in abundance at the luminal and abluminal membranes of
      ischemic cerebral capillaries that impede the brain access of pharmacological
      compounds. We found that apolipoprotein E (ApoE) was present on ischemic
      microvessels but not contralateral controls. ApoE signaled through ApoE receptor
      2 (ApoER2), which was constitutively expressed on brain microvessels, to decrease
      c-Jun amino-terminal kinase 1 and 2 and c-Jun activities. ApoE regulated the
      postischemic abundance of ABCB1 and ABCC1, thereby controlling drug accumulation
      in the ischemic brain. Our data suggest that inhibition of ApoE signaling may
      enable improved delivery of drugs to the brain.

PMID- 20923935
TI  - A comparison of cephalometric measurements: a picture archiving and communication
      system versus the hand-tracing method--a preliminary study.
AB  - Traditionally, cephalometric analysis has been carried out using a hand-tracing
      manual method. In imaging, picture archiving and communication systems (PACS) are
      information management systems used for the capture and measurement of medical
      and dental radiographs. Although not customized for lateral cephalometry, this
      study aimed to evaluate the cephalometric measurements made on screen using PACS
      compared with the conventional hand-tracing method. Six angular and four liner
      parameters were measured on five radiographs of four females and one male with an
      age range of 14-20 years. Analysis was completed using the Wilcoxon rank-sum
      test. For the electronic method, SNB (P=0.04) and lower incisor angle (P=0.05)
      were the only parameters found to be significantly different between the two
      operators. There was no significant difference between operators 1 and 2 for the
      hand-tracing method for any measurement. All measurements were comparable between
      the two methods. This preliminary study would suggest that using PACS may be an
      acceptable method for obtaining cephalometric measurements for treatment
      planning; however, further evaluation is necessary with a larger sample size.

PMID- 20923934
TI  - Nonsynaptic communication through ATP release from volume-activated anion
      channels in axons.
AB  - The release of neuronal messengers outside synapses has broad biological
      implications, particularly with regard to communication between axons and glia.
      We identify a mechanism for nonsynaptic, nonvesicular release of adenosine
      triphosphate (ATP) from axons through volume-activated anion channels (VAACs)
      activated by microscopic axon swelling during action potential firing. We used a
      combination of single-photon imaging of ATP release, together with imaging for
      intrinsic optical signals, intracellular calcium ions (Ca(2+)), time-lapse video,
      and confocal microscopy, to investigate action potential-induced nonsynaptic
      release of this neurotransmitter. ATP release from cultured embryonic dorsal root
      ganglion axons persisted when bafilomycin or botulinum toxin was used to block
      vesicular release, whereas pharmacological inhibition of VAACs or prevention of
      action potential-induced axon swelling inhibited ATP release and disrupted
      activity-dependent signaling between axons and astrocytes. This nonvesicular,
      nonsynaptic communication could mediate various activity-dependent interactions
      between axons and nervous system cells in normal conditions, development, and
      disease.

PMID- 20923936
TI  - The masticatory system under varying functional load. Part 2: Effect of reduced
      masticatory load on the degree and distribution of mineralization in the rabbit
      mandible.
AB  - A reduction in mechanical loading of the mandible brought about by mastication of
      soft food is assumed to decrease the remodelling rate of bone, which, in turn,
      might increase the degree of bone mineralization. The effect of a reduction in
      masticatory functional load on the degree and distribution of mineralization of
      mandibular bone was investigated in male juvenile New Zealand White rabbits. The
      experimental animals (n=8) had been raised on a diet of soft pellets from 8 to 20
      weeks of age, while the controls (n=8) had been fed pellets of normal hardness.
      The degree of mineralization of bone (DMB) was assessed at the attachment sites
      of various jaw muscles, the condylar head, and the alveolar process. Differences
      between groups and among sites were tested for statistical significance using a
      Student's t-test and one-way analysis of variance, respectively. The DMB did not
      differ significantly between the experimental and control animals at any of the
      sites assessed. However, in the rabbits that had been fed soft pellets, both
      cortical bone at the attachment sites of the temporalis and digastric muscles and
      cortical bone in the alveolar process had a significantly higher DMB than
      cortical bone at the attachment site of the masseter muscle, while there were no
      significant differences among these sites in the control animals. The results
      suggest that a moderate reduction in masticatory functional load does not
      significantly affect the remodelling rate and the DMB in areas of the mandible
      that are loaded during mastication but might induce a more heterogeneous mineral
      distribution.

PMID- 20923937
TI  - The masticatory system under varying functional load. Part 1: Structural
      adaptation of rabbit jaw muscles to reduced masticatory load.
AB  - Skeletal muscle fibres can change their myosin heavy-chain (MyHC) isoform and
      cross-sectional area, which determine their contraction velocity and maximum
      force generation, respectively, to adapt to varying functional loads. In general,
      reduced muscle activity induces transition towards faster fibres and a decrease
      in fibre cross-sectional area. In order to investigate the effect of a reduction
      in masticatory load on three functionally different jaw muscles, the MyHC
      composition and the corresponding cross-sectional area of fibres were determined
      in the superficial masseter, superficial temporalis, and digastric muscles of
      male juvenile New Zealand White rabbits that had been raised on a soft diet (n=8)
      from 8 to 20 weeks of age and in those of normal diet controls (n=8). Differences
      between groups were tested for statistical significance using a Mann-Whitney rank
      sum test. The proportion and cross-sectional area of fibres co-expressing MyHC-I
      and MyHC-cardiac alpha were significantly smaller in the masseter muscles of the
      animals that had been fed soft food than in those of the controls. In contrast,
      the proportions and cross-sectional areas of the various fibre types in the
      temporalis and digastric muscles did not differ significantly between the groups.
      The results suggest that reducing the masticatory load during development affects
      the contraction velocity and maximum force generation of the jaw-closing muscles
      that are primarily responsible for force generation during chewing. These muscles
      adapt structurally to the reduced functional load with changes in the MyHC
      composition and cross-sectional area mainly within their slow fibre compartment.

PMID- 20923939
TI  - Acupuncture for a patient with whiplash-type injury.
AB  - A 69 year-old woman presented in the surgery because of a whiplash-type injury.
      Because of progressive headache and dizziness since the accident, and because she
      had developed rhinitis and intermittent flashes of the left visual field, she was
      admitted to the neurological department on suspicion of subdural haematoma and
      possible fracture of the skull. Neurological examination and a CT scan were
      normal and she was discharged. Because of persisting headaches, and dizziness,
      her own general practitioner decided to use acupuncture treatment. Acupuncture
      was given at points GB20 GB21 and SI16 bilaterally and directly over the site in
      the forehead, where she fell. After 6 weeks treatment, the dizziness disappeared,
      and after two additional treatments the rhinitis and headache disappeared. At
      follow-up 6 months after cessation of treatment, the patient had only
      intermittent dizziness, with no headaches, visual disturbances or rhinitis.

PMID- 20923938
TI  - The Arabidopsis thylakoid protein PAM68 is required for efficient D1 biogenesis
      and photosystem II assembly.
AB  - Photosystem II (PSII) is a multiprotein complex that functions as a light-driven
      water:plastoquinone oxidoreductase in photosynthesis. Assembly of PSII proceeds
      through a number of distinct intermediate states and requires auxiliary proteins.
      The photosynthesis affected mutant 68 (pam68) of Arabidopsis thaliana displays
      drastically altered chlorophyll fluorescence and abnormally low levels of the
      PSII core subunits D1, D2, CP43, and CP47. We show that these phenotypes result
      from a specific decrease in the stability and maturation of D1. This is
      associated with a marked increase in the synthesis of RC (the PSII reaction
      center-like assembly complex) at the expense of PSII dimers and supercomplexes.
      PAM68 is a conserved integral membrane protein found in cyanobacterial and
      eukaryotic thylakoids and interacts in split-ubiquitin assays with several PSII
      core proteins and known PSII assembly factors. Biochemical analyses of thylakoids
      from Arabidopsis and Synechocystis sp PCC 6803 suggest that, during PSII
      assembly, PAM68 proteins associate with an early intermediate complex that might
      contain D1 and the assembly factor LPA1. Inactivation of cyanobacterial PAM68
      destabilizes RC but does not affect larger PSII assembly complexes. Our data
      imply that PAM68 proteins promote early steps in PSII biogenesis in cyanobacteria
      and plants, but their inactivation is differently compensated for in the two
      classes of organisms.

PMID- 20923940
TI  - Ear acupoint detection before and after hysteroscopy: is it possible to clarify
      the representation of the uterus on the outer ear?
AB  - BACKGROUND: In the auricular maps introduced over the past 50 years by the French
      and Chinese schools, most organs and systems overlap consistently. One exception
      is the reproductive system, which shows a markedly different somatotopic
      representation-for example, for the uterus and the ovary. OBJECTIVE: To identify
      the distribution of points with increased tenderness to pressure or with reduced
      electrical resistance, on the outer ear of a group of women undergoing
      hysteroscopy. METHODS: For diagnostic purposes the auricles of 78 women were
      examined before and after hysteroscopy using a pain-pressure test and electrical
      skin resistance test. The points identified were transcribed onto a graphic
      system called Sectogram. Spatial cluster analysis was used to identify the
      statistically significant clusters of sectors with a higher concentration of
      points appearing after hysteroscopy. RESULTS: The points identified after
      hysteroscopy tend to be concentrated in specific areas not previously recognised
      and which only partially overlap with the French and Chinese representation of
      the uterus. CONCLUSION: When auricular acupuncture is applied to reduce
      discomfort during hysteroscopy, particular attention must be paid when choosing
      the points/areas to be stimulated, which are not only those indicated in the
      Chinese or French maps.

PMID- 20923941
TI  - Cortical activation by Yamamoto new scalp acupuncture in the treatment of
      patients with a stroke: a sham-controlled study using functional MRI.

PMID- 20923942
TI  - Association between cancer and immunosuppressive therapy--analysis of selected
      studies in pemphigus and pemphigoid.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine whether there is an association between the use of
      immunosuppressive agents (ISAs) and cancer in patients with pemphigus and
      pemphigoid-rare, potentially fatal diseases of the skin and mucous membranes,
      often requiring long-term use of ISAs. DATA SOURCE: Literature was accessed
      through PubMed (all years available), using the search terms cancer,
      immunosuppressive agents, pemphigoid, and pemphigus. STUDY SELECTION AND DATA
      EXTRACTION: A retrospective review of the literature was conducted. Inclusion
      criteria for studies were: (1) English language, (2) diagnosis of pemphigus
      and/or pemphigoid based on histology and immunopathology, (3) more than 10
      patients evaluated, (4) investigators had a high index of suspicion of cancer and
      patients were monitored for it, (5) follow-up information was provided for at
      least 1 year after initiation of therapy, and (6) absence of diagnosis of cancer
      before initiation of an ISA. Case reports were not included in the analysis. DATA
      SYNTHESIS: A total of 929 patients diagnosed with either pemphigus or pemphigoid
      in 17 studies were identified. Patients were divided into 2 groups. Group A
      comprised patients treated with azathioprine, cyclophosphamide, cyclosporine, or
      mycophenolate mofetil in combination with prednisone. In Group A, 22 cases of
      cancer were reported in 21 of the 218 patients (9.6%). Group B comprised patients
      treated with systemic corticosteroids only. In this group, cancer was reported in
      11 of the 711 patients (1.5%). In this study there was no control group
      (untreated patients) and the sample sizes were small. CONCLUSIONS: Preliminary
      data suggest a possible association between the use of azathioprine,
      cyclophosphamide, and cyclosporine and increased susceptibility to cancer in
      patients with pemphigus and pemphigoid.

PMID- 20923943
TI  - The mandatory residency dilemma: parallels to historical transitions in pharmacy
      education.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To review recent literature regarding mandatory residencies in the
      perspective of the historical entry-level degree debate. DATA SOURCES: Articles
      were identified through searches of MEDLINE/PubMed, national pharmacy association
      Web sites, and a review of the references of related literature. STUDY SELECTION
      AND DATA EXTRACTION: Several studies, commentaries, and reviews are examined to
      discuss viewpoints from both the entry-level degree and mandatory residency
      debates. Similarities were observed between the 2 debates in regard to objectives
      and rationale for change, educational issues, pharmaceutical care issues, and
      economic issues. DATA SYNTHESIS: Fewer than 10 years ago, after many years of
      debate, colleges of pharmacy made the transition to offering the PharmD degree as
      the sole entry-level degree for licensure as a pharmacist. Similar debates have
      taken place over the past several years and continue to take place regarding the
      necessity for residency training. One key 2006 document by the American College
      of Clinical Pharmacy calls for mandatory residency training for entry into
      pharmacy practice by 2020. CONCLUSIONS: In parallel with the entry-level degree
      debate, consensus has yet to be reached among pharmacists and pharmacy
      organizations, but several have shown support for mandatory residency training
      for all pharmacists involved in direct patient care. Many questions have yet to
      be answered regarding the timeline, economics, and feasibility of such a mandate.

PMID- 20923944
TI  - Education...A must in all levels of pharmacy practice.
AB  - Public perception of a profession is extremely important, but even more vital is
      the actual worth the profession provides to those who partake of its services. As
      pharmacy recreates itself as a consultative profession, many changes are
      occurring in the college of pharmacy students' education. The onset of the
      Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experience (IPPE), the continued rotations in the
      Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience (APPE), and the proposal to have mandatory
      residencies occurring by 2020 show the steps that pharmacy will take to move
      forward. But pharmacy continues to miss the first rung of the ladder as the
      profession climbs to its future success by not addressing the mandatory education
      of the primary workforce in day-to-day activities: that of standardized education
      and training of pharmacy technicians. While IPPE, APPE, and residencies will
      strengthen the pharmacy "dwelling," its foundation does not have solid ground. A
      deadline needs to be established for mandatory education, training, and
      certification for all technicians entering the profession today and, only after
      achieving these goals, should the pharmacy technicians be licensed to practice.
      With even more forethought, pharmacy might require that potential college of
      pharmacy students, as well as those not fortunate enough to be admitted to a
      college of pharmacy, become pharmacy technicians first. Only then can the
      pharmacy profession conquer the top rung of the ladder in a strong, upright
      fashion.

PMID- 20923945
TI  - Low-molecular-weight heparin overdose: management by observation.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To describe 3 episodes of low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH) overdose
      in 2 patients and discuss the clinical presentations, outcomes, and therapeutic
      options. CASE SUMMARIES: The first patient, a 35-year-old female, presented after
      an intentional overdose of 72,000 units of dalteparin. The peak measured anti-Xa
      activity was 6.2 U/mL at 7.5 hours postinjection. No interventions were performed
      and there were no bleeding complications. The patient presented 20 days later
      following another overdose of 72,000 units. Anti-Xa activity was 4.5 U/mL 2 hours
      postinjection. No treatment was given and the patient was discharged with plans
      for follow-up the next day. There was no evidence of bleeding complications on
      follow-up. The second patient, a 29-year-old male, presented after an intentional
      overdose of 480 mg of enoxaparin. The anti-Xa activity was 1.9 U/mL measured 2
      hours postinjection. The patient was observed without intervention. There were no
      bleeding complications. DISCUSSION: To our knowledge, there is only one previous
      report of an LMWH overdose in the literature, an iatrogenic overdose in an infant
      treated with protamine. In our 3 presented episodes of LMWH overdose, no
      therapeutic interventions were performed and there were no bleeding
      complications. Review of the literature regarding the efficacy of protamine and
      recombinant factor VIIa for reversal of LMWH coagulopathy revealed that protamine
      is only partially effective and recombinant factor VIIa is effective in in vitro
      studies and case reports. CONCLUSIONS: In cases of LMWH overdose, observation
      seems to be appropriate in the absence of clinically significant bleeding.
      Prolonged monitoring may be necessary for patients with renal failure. Use of
      protamine or recombinant factor VIIa is not supported by this case series in
      patients without significant bleeding. There is a lack of data regarding how to
      treat patients with significant bleeding.

PMID- 20923946
TI  - Potential risk of medication discrepancies and reconciliation errors at admission
      and discharge from an inpatient medical service.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Medication discrepancies, defined as unexplained variations among
      drug regimens at care transitions, are common. Some are unintended and cause
      reconciliation errors that are potentially detrimental for patients. OBJECTIVE:
      To determine the prevalence of medication discrepancies and reconciliation errors
      at admission and discharge in hospitalized patients and explore risk factors for
      reconciliation errors and their potential clinical impact. METHODS: An
      observational prospective study was conducted at a general teaching hospital.
      Patients who were admitted to the internal medicine service and were receiving
      chronic preadmission treatment were included in the study. Preadmission treatment
      was compared with the treatment prescribed on admission (first 48 hours) and at
      hospital discharge, and discrepancies and reconciliation errors were identified.
      The primary endpoint was the presence of reconciliation errors at admission
      and/or discharge. Potential risk factors (patient-, medication-, and system
      related) for reconciliation errors were analyzed using a multivariate logistic
      regression model. RESULTS: Of the 120 patients enrolled in the study between
      April and August 2009, 109 (90.8%) showed 513 discrepancies. The prevalence of
      patients with reconciliation errors was 20.8% (95% CI 13.6 to 28.1). Intended
      medication discrepancies were more frequent at admission (96.6%) than at
      discharge (75.5%), while reconciliation errors were more frequent at discharge
      (24.5%) than at admission (3.4%). The prevalence ratio (admission vs discharge)
      was 2.4 (95% CI 1.9 to 3.0) for discrepancies and 0.65 (95% CI 0.32 to 1.32) for
      reconciliation errors. The logistic regression analysis revealed an association
      between the number of discrepancies at admission (OR 1.21; 95% CI 1.01 to 1.44)
      and age (OR 1.05; 95% CI 0.99 to 1.10) and an increased risk of reconciliation
      errors. CONCLUSIONS: Medication reconciliation strategies should focus primarily
      on avoiding errors at discharge. Since medication discrepancies at admission may
      predispose patients to reconciliation errors, early detection of such
      discrepancies would logically reduce the risk of reconciliation errors.
      Medication reconciliation programs must implement a process for gathering
      accurate preadmission drug histories and must submit this information to a
      critical assessment of patients' needs.

PMID- 20923947
TI  - Treatment of civilian and combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder with
      topiramate.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the use of topiramate for the treatment of posttraumatic
      stress disorder (PTSD). DATA SOURCES: Ovid MEDLINE (1950 to June week 4, 2010),
      International Pharmaceutical Abstracts (1970 to May 2010), ISI Web of Science
      (1945 to July 3, 2010), and Iowa Drug Information Service (searched July 6, 2010)
      were searched using the terms posttraumatic stress disorder and topiramate.
      Guidelines and other sources were identified from bibliography searches. STUDY
      SELECTION AND DATA EXTRACTION: All English-language human studies and case
      reports that evaluated the use of topiramate for treatment of PTSD were
      evaluated. DATA SYNTHESIS: One case report, 1 case series, 2 open-label trials,
      and 1 placebo-controlled trial that used topiramate (monotherapy or adjunct) to
      treat civilian PTSD were identified and evaluated. The case report and case
      series reported subjective reduction of symptoms, and the open-label trials
      reported a significant reduction in PTSD Checklist-Civilian score. The placebo
      controlled trial found no significant difference in Clinician-Administered PTSD
      Scale (CAPS) score. One open-label trial and 2 placebo-controlled trials that
      used topiramate in combat-related PTSD were identified and evaluated. The open
      label trial reported a significant reduction in CAPS score, and 1 placebo
      controlled trial reported a statistically significant difference in CAPS score.
      However, the other placebo-controlled trial found no significant differences. In
      some of the trials evaluated, the clinical significance of outcomes reported is
      difficult to determine. Adverse effects were reported throughout the trials but
      generally were not considered serious. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the limited evidence
      available, topiramate is a possible alternative or adjunct option for patients
      with PTSD that is refractory to standard treatments.

PMID- 20923948
TI  - Residency requirement for pharmacists providing direct patient care.
AB  - A residency requirement has been proposed as a prerequisite for all pharmacists
      providing direct patient care. This editorial explores the basis for requiring a
      residency, direct patient care offered by pharmacists with or without a
      residency, needs to increase interprofessional team-based health care, importance
      of distinguishing levels of pharmacy practice, role of pharmacy technicians,
      availability of residency positions, and future of pharmacy residencies. All
      PharmD graduates should be able to provide a certain level of direct patient
      care, including medication therapy management services, without completing a
      residency, and residency programs should be offered for complex levels of direct
      patient care in all practice settings.

PMID- 20923949
TI  - Exposure to in utero lipopolysaccharide induces inflammation in the fetal ovine
      skin.
AB  - Inflammation is a defensive process by which the body responds to both localized
      and systemic tissue damage by the induction of innate and adaptive immunity.
      Literature from human and animal studies links inappropriate in utero
      inflammation to preterm parturition and fetal injury. The pathways by which such
      inflammation may cause labor, however, are not fully understood. Any
      proinflammatory agonist in the amniotic fluid will contact the fetal skin, in its
      entirety, but a potential role of the fetal skin in the pathways to labor have
      not previously been explored. We hypothesized that the fetal skin would respond
      robustly to the presence of intra-amniotic lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in our ovine
      model of in utero inflammation. In vitro and in utero exposure of fetal ovine
      keratinocytes or fetal skin to Escherichia coli LPS reliably induced significant
      increases in interleukin 1beta (IL-1beta), IL-6, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF
      alpha), and IL-8 expression. We demonstrate that, in utero, this expression
      requires direct exposure with LPS suggesting that the inflammation is triggered
      directly in the skin itself, rather than as a secondary response to a systemic
      stimuli and that inflammation involves Toll-like receptor (TLR) regulation and
      neutrophil chemotaxis in concordance with an acute inflammatory reaction. We show
      that this response involves multiple inflammatory mediators, TLR regulation, and
      localized inflammatory cell influx characteristic of an acute inflammatory
      reaction. These novel data strongly suggests that the fetal skin acts as an
      important mediator of the fetal inflammatory response and as such may contribute
      to preterm birth.

PMID- 20923950
TI  - Generalized hyperalgesia in women with endometriosis and its resolution following
      a successful surgery.
AB  - Although pains of various kinds top the list of complaints from women with
      endometriosis and are the most debilitating of the disease, little is known about
      the mechanism/mechanisms of endometriosis-associated pains. To test the
      hypothesis that women with endometriosis have generalized hyperalgesia which may
      be alleviated by a successful surgery, we recruited 100 patients with surgically
      and histologically confirmed endometriosis and 70 women without, and tested their
      responses to pain stimulations. Before the surgery, all patients rated their
      dysmenorrhea severity by Visual Analog scale (VAS) and went through an ischemic
      pain test (IPT) and an electrical pain test (EPT). The controls were also
      administrated with IPT/EPT. Three and 6 months after surgery, all patients were
      administrated with IPT/EPT and rated their severity of dysmenorrhea. We found
      that patients with endometriosis had significantly higher IPT VAS scores and
      lower EPT pain threshold than controls, but after surgery their IPT scores and
      EPT pain threshold were significantly and progressively improved, along with
      their dysmenorrhea severity. Thus, we conclude that women with endometriosis have
      generalized hyperalgesia, which was alleviated by surgery. Consequently, central
      sensitization may be a possible mechanism underlying various forms of pain
      associated with endometriosis, and its recognition should have important
      implications for the development of novel therapeutics and better clinical
      management of endometriosis.

PMID- 20923951
TI  - Is Kawasaki disease incidence rising in Chandigarh, North India?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To estimate incidence of Kawasaki disease (KD) over time among
      children in the city of Chandigarh, North India. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We
      analysed records of all children with KD below 15 years of age at the Pediatric
      Allergy Immunology Unit, Advanced Pediatrics Centre, Post Graduate Institute of
      Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, from January 1994 to December 2008.
      Diagnosis and treatment of KD were based on American Heart Association criteria.
      Among these cases, children residing in Chandigarh were identified. Yearly
      incidence was calculated and compared from 1994 to 2008. RESULTS: During this
      period, 196 children were diagnosed as KD. Of these, 80 (40.8%; 48 boys, 32
      girls) resided in Chandigarh. Four among these had coronary artery abnormalities
      (CAA) on echocardiography, while two had mitral regurgitation. Comparison of
      yearly data revealed increasing incidence of disease from 0.51 cases in 1994 to
      4.54 cases per 100,000 children below 15 years of age in 2007. Majority (93.7%)
      of cases occurred in children <=10 years of age with the highest incidence
      reported in the seventh year of life. Monthly distribution of disease showed two
      peaks with a maximum number of cases presenting in October followed by a second
      peak in May with a nadir in the month of February. CONCLUSION: Increasing
      incidence of KD in Chandigarh could be due to increasing clinical recognition as
      a result of greater awareness among paediatricians in the city, or may represent
      an actual increase in numbers. Striking differences from KD series reported from
      other countries include the older median age of our patients, low rate of CAA and
      a different bimodal seasonality, which may be epidemiologic clues to the nature
      of this vasculitis.

PMID- 20923952
TI  - Simultaneous quantification of apolipoprotein A-I and apolipoprotein B by liquid
      chromatography-multiple- reaction-monitoring mass spectrometry.
AB  - BACKGROUND: If liquid-chromatography-multiple-reaction-monitoring mass
      spectrometry (LC-MRM/MS) could be used in the large-scale preclinical
      verification of putative biomarkers, it would obviate the need for the
      development of expensive immunoassays. In addition, the translation of novel
      biomarkers to clinical use would be accelerated if the assays used in preclinical
      studies were the same as those used in the clinical laboratory. To validate this
      approach, we developed a multiplexed assay for the quantification of 2 clinically
      well-known biomarkers in human plasma, apolipoprotein A-I and apolipoprotein B
      (apoA-I and apoB). METHODS: We used PeptideAtlas to identify candidate peptides.
      Human samples were denatured with urea or trifluoroethanol, reduced and
      alkylated, and digested with trypsin. We compared reversed-phase chromatographic
      separation of peptides with normal flow and microflow, and we normalized
      endogenous peptide peak areas to internal standard peptides. We evaluated
      different methods of calibration and compared the final method with a
      nephelometric immunoassay. RESULTS: We developed a final method using
      trifluoroethanol denaturation, 21-h digestion, normal flow chromatography
      electrospray ionization, and calibration with a single normal human plasma
      sample. For samples injected in duplicate, the method had intraassay CVs <6% and
      interassay CVs <12% for both proteins, and compared well with immunoassay (n =
      47; Deming regression, LC-MRM/MS = 1.17 * immunoassay - 36.6; S(x|y) = 10.3 for
      apoA-I and LC-MRM/MS = 1.21 * immunoassay + 7.0; S(x|y) = 7.9 for apoB).
      CONCLUSIONS: Multiplexed quantification of proteins in human plasma/serum by LC
      MRM/MS is possible and compares well with clinically useful immunoassays. The
      potential application of single-point calibration to large clinical studies could
      simplify efforts to reduce day-to-day digestion variability.

PMID- 20923953
TI  - Characterization of the new serum protein reference material ERM-DA470k/IFCC:
      value assignment by immunoassay.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The availability of a suitable matrix reference material is essential
      for standardization of the immunoassays used to measure serum proteins. The
      earlier serum protein reference material ERM-DA470 (previously called CRM470),
      certified in 1993, has led to a high degree of harmonization of the measurement
      results. A new serum protein material has now been prepared and its suitability
      in term of homogeneity and stability has been verified; after characterization,
      the material has been certified as ERM-DA470k/IFCC. METHODS: We characterized the
      candidate reference material for 14 proteins by applying a protocol that is
      considered to be a reference measurement procedure, by use of optimized
      immunoassays. ERM-DA470 was used as a calibrant. RESULTS: For 12 proteins
      [alpha(2) macroglobulin (A2M), alpha(1) acid glycoprotein (orosomucoid, AAG),
      alpha(1) antitrypsin (alpha(1)-protease inhibitor, AAT), albumin (ALB),
      complement 3c (C3c), complement 4 (C4), haptoglobin (HPT), IgA, IgG, IgM,
      transferrin (TRF), and transthyretin (TTR)], the results allowed assignment of
      certified values in ERM-DA470k/IFCC. For CRP, we observed a bias between the
      lyophilized and liquid frozen materials, and for CER, the distribution of values
      was too broad. Therefore, these 2 proteins were not certified in the ERM
      DA470k/IFCC. Different value transfer procedures were tested (open and closed
      procedures) and found to provide equivalent results. CONCLUSIONS: A new serum
      protein reference material has been produced, and values have been successfully
      assigned for 12 proteins.

PMID- 20923954
TI  - Use of total lymphocyte count to predict absolute CD4 count in HIV-seropositive
      cases.
AB  - We conducted an observational study to assess the use of total lymphocyte counts
      (TLC) alone and along with hemoglobin (Hb) as a predictor of CD4 count. A total
      of 103 antiretroviral therapy (ART)-naive HIV-1-infected patients were enrolled
      and divided in 2 groups (with CD4 count <200 cells/mm(3) and CD4 count >=200
      cells/mm(3)). The TLC and Hb were performed by automatic full digital cell
      counter. CD4 count was determined by flow cytometry. Among the World Health
      Organization (WHO) clinical stages 2 and 3, in the cases with CD4 count <200
      cells/mm(3), 70.4% cases had TLC <=1200 cells/mm( 3), whereas 63% cases had TLC
      <=1200 cells/mm(3) + Hb <=12 g/dL. In the cases with CD4 count >200 cells/mm(3),
      2% cases had TLC <=1200 cells/mm(3), whereas adding Hb <=12 g/dL with TLC <=1200
      cells/mm(3), none of the cases would require initiation of ART. TLC + Hb can be
      used to treat all HIV-infected patients with WHO stages 2 and 3 who have a TLC
      <1200 cells/mm(3) + Hb <=12 g/dL and to limit CD4 counts to patients who are
      symptomatic but have TLC + Hb values other than TLC <1200 cells/mm(3) + Hb <=12
      g/dL.

PMID- 20923955
TI  - Nevirapine-associated toxicity in clinical practice in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: to determine the incidence and risk factors for nevirapine (NVP)
      associated toxicity in a cohort of HIV-infected people in Buenos Aires,
      Argentina. DESIGN: retrospective study. METHODS: HIV-infected adults who received
      NVP-based highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) at least for 2 weeks
      between May 1997 and March 2008 were included in this study. We analyzed
      patients' age, gender, HIV transmission route, HIV disease stage, pregnancy,
      alcohol intake, adverse events, coinfection with hepatitis B or C virus, time
      until toxicity, and withdrawal rates. RESULTS: a total of 1110 patients (631 men)
      were included. Rash was the most frequently observed adverse event; it was more
      frequent in women. The incidence of severe rash and hepatotoxicity was similar in
      women and men. Female sex was the only variable significantly associated with
      mild-to-moderate rash. High CD4 count, pregnancy, and chronic hepatitis were not
      associated with NVP-related toxicity. An undetectable viral load at the time of
      starting NVP treatment resulted in a lower risk of NVP-related rash.

PMID- 20923956
TI  - Outcomes of antiretroviral treatment: a comparison between hospitals and health
      centers in Ethiopia.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: the objective of this study was to compare the outcomes of
      antiretroviral therapy (ART) between hospital and health center levels in
      Ethiopia. METHODS: medical records of 1709 ART patients followed for 24 months at
      2 hospitals and 3 health centers in the Oromia region of Ethiopia were reviewed.
      Noted outcomes of ART were currently alive and on treatment; lost to follow-up
      (LTFU); transferred out (TO); and died (D). RESULTS: of 1709 HIV-positive
      patients started on ART between September 2006 and February 2007, 1044 (61%)
      remained alive and were on treatment after 24-month follow-up. In all, 835 (57%)
      of ART patients at hospitals and 209 (83%) at health centers were retained in the
      program. Of those who were alive and receiving ART, 79% of patients at health
      centers and 72% at hospitals were clinically or immunologically improving. In
      addition, 331 (23%) patients at hospitals were LFTU as compared to 24 (10%) of
      patients at health centers (relative risk [RR] at 95% confidence interval [CI]:
      .358 [.231-.555]). While 11% was the mortality rate at hospitals, 5% of patients
      at health centers also died (RR at 95% CI: .360 [.192-.673]). CONCLUSION:
      antiretroviral therapy at health centers was associated with more favorable
      outcomes than at hospitals.

PMID- 20923957
TI  - Tenofovir-associated severe bone pain: I cannot walk!
AB  - Two adult patients living with AIDS presented with severe bone pain associated
      with tenofovir (TDF) use. Both were unable to walk without assistance and were
      severely restricted in their movement due to the bone pain. Both had mild renal
      impairment, Fanconi syndrome, and bone mineral density (BMD) loss. Bone pain and
      inability to walk were reversible with the cessation of TDF and supplementation
      with Vitamin D(3), calcium, and phosphate. These cases appear to be examples of
      the severity of BMD loss associated with TDF use and suggest not only attention
      to renal function with TDF use, but also monitoring of alkaline phosphatase (bone
      fraction) and plasma phosphorus as indicators of BMD loss.

PMID- 20923958
TI  - Exenatide does not evoke pancreatitis and attenuates chemically induced
      pancreatitis in normal and diabetic rodents.
AB  - The risk of developing pancreatitis is elevated in type 2 diabetes and obesity.
      Cases of pancreatitis have been reported in type 2 diabetes patients treated with
      GLP-1 (GLP-1R) receptor agonists. To examine whether the GLP-1R agonist exenatide
      potentially induces or modulates pancreatitis, the effect of exenatide was
      evaluated in normal or diabetic rodents. Normal and diabetic rats received a
      single exenatide dose (0.072, 0.24, and 0.72 nmol/kg) or vehicle. Diabetic ob/ob
      or HF-STZ mice were infused with exenatide (1.2 and 7.2 nmol.kg(-1).day(-1)) or
      vehicle for 4 wk. Post-exenatide treatment, pancreatitis was induced with
      caerulein (CRN) or sodium taurocholate (ST), and changes in plasma amylase and
      lipase were measured. In ob/ob mice, plasma cytokines (IL-1beta, IL-2, IL-6, MCP
      1, IFNgamma, and TNFalpha) and pancreatitis-associated genes were assessed.
      Pancreata were weighed and examined histologically. Exenatide treatment alone did
      not modify plasma amylase or lipase in any models tested. Exenatide attenuated
      CRN-induced release of amylase and lipase in normal rats and ob/ob mice but did
      not modify the response to ST infusion. Plasma cytokines and pancreatic weight
      were unaffected by exenatide. Exenatide upregulated Reg3b but not Il6, Ccl2,
      Nfkb1, or Vamp8 expression. Histological analysis revealed that the highest doses
      of exenatide decreased CRN- or ST-induced acute inflammation, vacuolation, and
      acinar single cell necrosis in mice and rats, respectively. Ductal cell
      proliferation rates were low and similar across all groups of ob/ob mice. In
      conclusion, exenatide did not modify plasma amylase and lipase concentrations in
      rodents without pancreatitis and improved chemically induced pancreatitis in
      normal and diabetic rodents.

PMID- 20923959
TI  - GLUT4 in murine bone growth: from uptake and translocation to proliferation and
      differentiation.
AB  - Skeletal growth, taking place in the cartilaginous growth plates of long bones,
      consumes high levels of glucose for both metabolic and anabolic purposes. We
      previously showed that Glut4 is present in growing bone and is decreased in
      diabetes. In the present study, we examined the hypothesis that in bone, GLUT4
      gene expression and function are regulated via the IGF-I receptor (IGF-IR) and
      that Glut4 plays an important role in bone growth. Insulin and IGF-I actions on
      skeletal growth and glucose uptake were determined using mandibular condyle (MC)
      organ cultures and MC-derived primary cell cultures (MCDC). Chondrogenesis was
      determined by following proliferation and differentiation activities using
      immunohistochemical (IHC) analysis of proliferating cell nuclear antigen and type
      II collagen expression, respectively. Overall condylar growth was assessed
      morphometrically. GLUT4 mRNA and protein levels were determined using in situ
      hybridization and IHC, respectively. Glut4 translocation to the cell membrane was
      assessed using confocal microscopy analysis of GFP-Glut4 fusion-transfected cells
      and immunogold and electron microscopy on MC sections; glucose uptake was assayed
      by 2-deoxyglucose (2-DOG) uptake. Both IGF-I and insulin-stimulated glucose
      uptake in MCDC, with IGF-I being tenfold more potent than insulin. Blockage of
      IGF-IR abrogated both IGF-I- and insulin-induced chondrogenesis and glucose
      metabolism. IGF-I, but not insulin, induced Glut4 translocation to the plasma
      membrane. Additionally, insulin induced both GLUT4 and IGF-IR gene expression and
      improved condylar growth in insulin receptor knockout mice-derived MC. Moreover,
      silencing of GLUT4 gene in MCDC culture abolished both IGF-I-induced glucose
      uptake and chondrocytic proliferation and differentiation. In growing bone, the
      IGF-IR pathway stimulates Glut4 translocation and enhances glucose uptake.
      Moreover, intact Glut4 cellular levels and translocation machinery are essential
      for early skeletal growth.

PMID- 20923961
TI  - Generalized impairment of vasodilator reactivity during hyperinsulinemia in
      patients with obesity-related metabolic syndrome.
AB  - Defective insulin-dependent vasodilation might contribute importantly to
      metabolic and vascular abnormalities of the metabolic syndrome (MetS). However,
      despite extensive investigation, the precise mechanisms involved in insulin's
      vasoactive effects have not been fully elucidated. Therefore, this study sought
      to better characterize insulin's physiological actions on vascular reactivity and
      their potential derangement in the MetS. Forearm blood flow responses to graded
      doses of acetylcholine, sodium nitroprusside, and verapamil were assessed by
      strain-gauge plethysmography in patients with obesity-related MetS (n = 20) and
      in matched controls (n = 18) before and after intra-arterial infusion of insulin
      (0.2 mU.kg(-1).min(-1)). Possible involvement of increased oxidative stress in
      the impaired insulin-stimulated vasodilator responsiveness of patients with MetS
      (n = 12) was also investigated using vitamin C (25 mg/min). In control subjects,
      significant potentiation of the vasodilator responses to acetylcholine,
      nitroprusside, and verapamil was observed after insulin infusion (all P < 0.05).
      However, no significant change in vasodilator reactivity to either of these drugs
      was observed following hyperinsulinemia in patients with MetS (all P > 0.05).
      Interestingly, administration of vitamin C to patients with MetS during
      hyperinsulinemia significantly enhanced the vasodilator responsiveness to
      acetylcholine, nitroprusside, and verapamil (all P < 0.05 vs. hyperinsulinemia
      alone). In conclusion, insulin exerts a generalized facilitatory action on
      vasodilator reactivity, and this effect is impaired in patients with MetS likely
      because of increased oxidative stress. Given the importance of vasodilator
      reactivity in affecting glucose disposal and vascular homeostasis, this defect
      may then contribute to the development of metabolic and vascular complications in
      insulin-resistant states.

PMID- 20923960
TI  - Effects of oral and intravenous fat load on blood pressure, endothelial function,
      sympathetic activity, and oxidative stress in obese healthy subjects.
AB  - We compared the effects of high and low oral and intravenous (iv) fat load on
      blood pressure (BP), endothelial function, autonomic nervous system, and
      oxidative stress in obese healthy subjects. Thirteen obese subjects randomly
      received five 8-h infusions of iv saline, 20 (32 g, low iv fat) or 40 ml/h
      intralipid (64 g, high iv fat), and oral fat load at 32 (low oral) or 64 g (high
      oral). Systolic BP increased by 14 +/- 10 (P = 0.007) and 12 +/- 9 mmHg (P =
      0.007) after low and high iv lipid infusions and by 13 +/- 17 (P = 0.045) and 11
      +/- 11 mmHg (P = 0.040) after low and high oral fat loads, respectively. The
      baseline flow-mediated dilation was 9.4%, and it decreased by 3.8 +/- 2.1 (P =
      0.002) and 4.1 +/- 3.1% (P < 0.001) after low and high iv lipid infusion and by
      3.8 +/- 1.8 (P = 0.002) and 5.0 +/- 2.5% (P < 0.001) after low and high oral fat
      load, respectively. Oral and iv fat load stimulated oxidative stress, increased
      heart rate, and decreased R-R interval variability. Acute iv fat load decreased
      blood glucose by 6-10 mg/dl (P < 0.05) without changes in insulin concentration,
      whereas oral fat increased plasma insulin by 3.7-4.0 MUU/ml (P < 0.01) without
      glycemic variations. Intravenous saline and both oral and iv fat load reduced
      leptin concentration from baseline (P < 0.01). In conclusion, acute fat load
      administered orally or intravenously significantly increased blood pressure,
      altered endothelial function, and activated sympathetic nervous system by
      mechanisms not likely depending on changes in leptin, glucose, and insulin levels
      in obese healthy subjects. Thus, fat load, independent of its source, has
      deleterious hemodynamic effects in obese subjects.

PMID- 20923962
TI  - Loss of stearoyl-CoA desaturase activity leads to free cholesterol synthesis
      through increased Xbp-1 splicing.
AB  - Stearoyl-CoA desaturase-1 (SCD-1) is the rate-limiting enzyme in the biosynthesis
      of monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA), which are required for efficient neutral
      lipid esterification. In the present investigation, we demonstrate that loss of
      SCD-1 activity increases free cholesterol (FC) content and induces Xbp-1
      splicing. We assessed the small molecule SCD-1 inhibitor A939572 on
      [(14)C]stearate incorporation into neutral lipids and found its incorporation
      into triglyceride was unaffected, whereas labeled cholesteryl ester (CE) content
      was notably diminished. Using either A939572 or liver knockout mice (LKO), we
      show that loss of SCD-1 activity increases FC levels and activates the liver X
      receptor (LXR) pathway. Using adenoviral delivery of an active form of X-box
      binding protein-1 (Xbp-1; Xbp-1s), we show increased sterol synthesis only when
      cells lack the ability to generate MUFA. The results of the cell-based model were
      confirmed in LKO mice where fasting-refeeding decreased CE, increased FC, and
      increased Xbp-1s. On the basis of the present data, we conclude that SCD-1
      activity is required for efficient cholesterol esterification to MUFA and that
      loss of its activity increases Xbp-1s-mediated FC synthesis. It is likely that
      the accumulation of FC enhances Xbp-1 splicing, induces LXR transcriptional
      activity, and increases ABCA1 (ATP-binding cassette transporter A1) expression to
      maintain cholesterol homeostasis.

PMID- 20923963
TI  - Dissociating inhibition, attention, and response control in the frontoparietal
      network using functional magnetic resonance imaging.
AB  - Evidence suggests that the right inferior frontal cortex (IFC) plays a
      specialized role in response inhibition. However, more recent findings indicate a
      broader role for this region in attentional control. Here, we used functional
      magnetic resonance imaging to examine the functional role of the right IFC in
      attention, inhibition, and response control in 2 experiments that employed novel
      variations of the go/no-go task. Across the 2 experiments, we observed a graded
      response in the right insula/IFC, whereby increasing response control demands led
      to an increase in activation. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that
      this region plays a key role in the integration of bottom-up, sensory information
      with top-down, response-related information to facilitate flexible, goal-directed
      behavior.

PMID- 20923964
TI  - Prenatal hypoxia independent of undernutrition promotes molecular markers of
      insulin resistance in adult offspring.
AB  - Molecular mechanisms predisposing people to insulin resistance are starting to
      emerge. Altered insulin signaling for hepatic gluconeogenesis and muscle glucose
      uptake is thought to play a central role. Development under suboptimal conditions
      is also known to increase the risk of insulin resistance in adulthood. However,
      the partial contributions of reduced oxygen vs. nutrient delivery to the fetus,
      two common adverse conditions in utero, to developmental programming of insulin
      resistance remain unknown. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of
      developmental hypoxia or undernutrition on the expression of insulin-signaling
      proteins in liver and skeletal muscle in adult rat offspring. We show that the
      expression of hepatic phospho-Akt and muscle Akt2 were significantly reduced in
      offspring of hypoxic, relative to offspring from normoxic or undernourished,
      pregnancies. Hepatic Akt-1, Akt-2, and PKCzeta protein expression was reduced in
      offspring from both hypoxic and undernourished pregnancies. Muscle GLUT4
      expression was decreased in undernourished, and further decreased in hypoxic,
      offspring. These findings link prenatal hypoxia to down-regulation of components
      of hepatic and muscle Akt expression in adult offspring. Akt may represent a
      pharmaceutical target for clinical intervention against the developmental
      programming of metabolic disease resulting from prenatal hypoxia.

PMID- 20923965
TI  - Conversion of D-ribulose 5-phosphate to D-xylulose 5-phosphate: new insights from
      structural and biochemical studies on human RPE.
AB  - The pentose phosphate pathway (PPP) confers protection against oxidative stress
      by supplying NADPH necessary for the regeneration of glutathione, which
      detoxifies H(2)O(2) into H(2)O and O(2). RPE functions in the PPP, catalyzing the
      reversible conversion of D-ribulose 5-phosphate to D-xylulose 5-phosphate and is
      an important enzyme for cellular response against oxidative stress. Here, using
      structural, biochemical, and functional studies, we show that human D-ribulose 5
      phosphate 3-epimerase (hRPE) uses Fe(2+) for catalysis. Structures of the binary
      complexes of hRPE with D-ribulose 5-phosphate and D-xylulose 5-phosphate provide
      the first detailed molecular insights into the binding mode of physiological
      ligands and reveal an octahedrally coordinated Fe(2+) ion buried deep inside the
      active site. Human RPE folds into a typical (beta/alpha)(8) triosephosphate
      isomerase (TIM) barrel with a loop regulating access to the active site. Two
      aspartic acids are well positioned to carry out the proton transfers in an acid
      base type of reaction mechanism. Interestingly, mutating Ser-10 to alanine almost
      abolished the enzymatic activity, while L12A and M72A mutations resulted in an
      almost 50% decrease in the activity. The binary complexes of hRPE reported here
      will aid in the design of small molecules for modulating the activity of the
      enzyme and altering flux through the PPP.

PMID- 20923966
TI  - Simulation tests to assess occupational exposure to airborne asbestos from
      artificially weathered asphalt-based roofing products.
AB  - Historically, asbestos-containing roof cements and coatings were widely used for
      patching and repairing leaks. Although fiber releases from these materials when
      newly applied have been studied, there are virtually no useful data on airborne
      asbestos fiber concentrations associated with the repair or removal of weathered
      roof coatings and cements, as most studies involve complete tear-out of old
      roofs, rather than only limited removal of the roof coating or cement during a
      repair job. This study was undertaken to estimate potential chrysotile asbestos
      fiber exposures specific to these types of roofing products following
      artificially enhanced weathering. Roof panels coated with plastic roof cement and
      fibered roof coating were subjected to intense solar radiation and daily
      simulated precipitation events for 1 year and then scraped to remove the
      weathered materials to assess chrysotile fiber release and potential worker
      exposures. Analysis of measured fiber concentrations for hand scraping of the
      weathered products showed 8-h time-weighted average concentrations that were well
      below the current Occupational Safety and Health Administration permissible
      exposure limit for asbestos. There was, however, visibly more dust and a few more
      fibers collected during the hand scraping of weathered products compared to the
      cured products previously tested. There was a notable difference between fibers
      released from weathered and cured roofing products. In weathered samples, a large
      fraction of chrysotile fibers contained low concentrations of or essentially no
      magnesium and did not meet the spectral, mineralogical, or morphological
      definitions of chrysotile asbestos. The extent of magnesium leaching from
      chrysotile fibers is of interest because several researchers have reported that
      magnesium-depleted chrysotile fibers are less toxic and produce fewer mesothelial
      tumors in animal studies than normal chrysotile fibers.

PMID- 20923967
TI  - Sports-related injuries in primary health care.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Sports activities play an important role in today's society.
      However, as more people become involved in these activities, the number of sports
      related injuries also increases. In the Netherlands, 3.5 million sports injuries
      occur annually. Twenty per cent of these injuries are first seen by a GP. Little
      is known about the epidemiology of these injuries in general practice. This study
      has been conducted to determine the incidence and prevalence of sports-related
      injuries in general practice and to provide information about the nature and
      treatment of these injuries. METHODS: Survey study conducted in 612 patients with
      sports-related injuries by 21 GP trainees in as many GP practices. Inclusion of
      study subjects took place between September 2007 and April 2009. RESULTS: In
      total, 694 sports-related injuries were registered. The incidence of sports
      related injuries was 23.7 in 1000 patients and prevalence 27.8 in 1000 patients.
      Soccer-related injuries are most prominent in this population, lower extremities
      being three times more often involved than upper extremities. GPs often (60.9%)
      used a symptom-based diagnosis. In 80% of the cases, no additional diagnostic
      testing took place, while in 36.5% of the cases, only explanation and advice
      sufficed. Few patients were referred to the hospital (6.6%). DISCUSSION: Patients
      with sports-related injuries regularly consult GPs (on average one to two times
      per week). GPs tend to use non-specific diagnoses in sports-related injuries. In
      part, this may be due to the lack of specific diagnoses available in the current
      registration system (International Classification of Primary Care). Most often
      these injuries require only explanation and medical advice from the GP. Usually,
      additional tests or hospital referrals are not necessary. Presumably, mostly
      patients with mild sports-related injuries consult the GP.

PMID- 20923968
TI  - Characteristics and outcome of patients with acute myeloid leukemia refractory to
      1 cycle of high-dose cytarabine-based induction chemotherapy.
AB  - Pretreatment characteristics and outcome of patients treated with induction
      regimens containing high-dose ara-C (HiDAC) at M. D. Anderson Cancer Center
      refractory to 1 cycle of induction were compared with similar patients achieving
      a complete response (CR). Among 1597 patients treated with HiDAC-based induction
      from 1995 to 2009, 285 were refractory to 1 cycle. Median age was 59 years
      (range, 18-85 years). Induction regimens included HiDAC with anthracyclines (n =
      181; 64%) or HiDAC with nonanthracycline chemotherapy (n = 104; 36%). Refractory
      patients were older (median age, 59 vs 56 years; P < .001), more likely with
      unfavorable cytogenetics (P < .001) and antecedent hematologic disorder (P <
      .001), and had a higher presentation white blood cell count (P = .04), but not a
      higher incidence of FLT3 mutations (P = .85), than those achieving CR. Forty
      three patients (22%) responded to salvage (35 CR and 8 CR without platelet
      recovery). With a median follow-up of 72 months (range, 27-118 months) in
      responders, 11 are alive. Nineteen patients (7%) were alive and in CR for at
      least 6 months, including 9 who underwent allogeneic stem cell transplantation.
      On multivariate analysis, severe thrombocytopenia, leukocytosis, increasing
      marrow blast percentage, unfavorable cytogenetics, and salvage not including
      allogeneic stem cell transplantation were associated with a worse survival.
      Alternative strategies are needed for these patients.

PMID- 20923969
TI  - Talin1 is required for integrin-dependent B lymphocyte homing to lymph nodes and
      the bone marrow but not for follicular B-cell maturation in the spleen.
AB  - Talin1 is a key integrin coactivator. We investigated the roles of this
      cytoskeletal adaptor and its target integrins in B-cell lymphogenesis,
      differentiation, migration, and function. Using CD19 Cre-mediated depletion of
      talin1 selectively in B cells, we found that talin1 was not required for B-cell
      generation in the bone marrow or for the entry of immature B cells to the white
      pulp of the spleen. Loss of talin1 also did not affect B-cell maturation into
      follicular B cells but compromised differentiation of marginal zone B cells.
      Nevertheless, serum IgM and IgG levels remained normal. Ex vivo analysis of
      talin1-deficient spleen B cells indicated a necessary role for talin1 in LFA-1
      and VLA-4 activation stimulated by canonical agonists, but not in B-cell
      chemotaxis. Consequently, talin1 null B splenocytes could not enter lymph nodes
      nor return to the bone marrow. Talin1 deficiency in B cells was also impaired in
      the humoral response to a T cell-dependent antigen. Collectively, these results
      indicate that talin1 is not required for follicular B-cell maturation in the
      spleen or homeostatic humoral immunity but is critical for integrin-dependent B
      lymphocyte emigration to lymph nodes and optimal immunity against T-dependent
      antigens.

PMID- 20923970
TI  - Bayesian epistasis association mapping via SNP imputation.
AB  - Genetic mutations may interact to increase the risk of human complex diseases.
      Mapping of multiple interacting disease loci in the human genome has recently
      shown promise in detecting genes with little main effects. The power of
      interaction association mapping, however, can be greatly influenced by the set of
      single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyped in a case-control study. Previous
      imputation methods only focus on imputation of individual SNPs without
      considering their joint distribution of possible interactions. We present a new
      method that simultaneously detects multilocus interaction associations and
      imputes missing SNPs from a full Bayesian model. Our method treats both the case
      control sample and the reference data as random observations. The output of our
      method is the posterior probabilities of SNPs for their marginal and interacting
      associations with the disease. Using simulations, we show that the method
      produces accurate and robust imputation with little overfitting problems. We
      further show that, with the type I error rate maintained at a common level, SNP
      imputation can consistently and sometimes substantially improve the power of
      detecting disease interaction associations. We use a data set of inflammatory
      bowel disease to demonstrate the application of our method.

PMID- 20923971
TI  - eEF1A phosphorylation in the nucleus of insulin-stimulated C2C12 myoblasts: Ser53
      is a novel substrate for protein kinase C betaI.
AB  - Recent data indicate that some PKC isoforms are translocated to the nucleus, in
      response to certain stimuli, where they play an important role in nuclear
      signaling events. To identify novel interacting proteins of conventional PKC
      (cPKC) at the nuclear level during myogenesis and to find new PKC isozyme
      specific phosphosubstrates, we performed a proteomics analysis of
      immunoprecipitated nuclear samples from mouse myoblast C2C12 cells following
      insulin administration. Using a phospho(Ser)-PKC substrate antibody, specific
      interacting proteins were identified by LC-MS/MS spectrometry. A total of 16
      proteins with the exact and complete motif recognized by the phospho-cPKC
      substrate antibody were identified; among these, particular interest was given to
      eukaryotic elongation factor 1alpha (eEF1A). Nuclear eEF1A was focalized in the
      nucleoli, and its expression was observed to increase following insulin
      treatment. Of the cPKC isoforms, only PKCbetaI was demonstrated to be expressed
      in the nucleus of C2C12 myocytes and to co-immunoprecipitate with eEF1A. In-depth
      analysis using site-directed mutagenesis revealed that PKCbetaI could
      phosphorylate Ser53 of the eEF1A2 isoform and that the association between eEF1A2
      and PKCbetaI was dependent on the phosphorylation status of eEF1A2.

PMID- 20923973
TI  - Maintenance of neuronal laterality in Caenorhabditis elegans through MYST histone
      acetyltransferase complex components LSY-12, LSY-13 and LIN-49.
AB  - Left/right asymmetrically expressed genes permit an animal to perform distinct
      tasks with the right vs. left side of its brain. Once established during
      development, lateralized gene expression patterns need to be maintained during
      the life of the animal. We show here that a histone modifying complex, composed
      of the LSY-12 MYST-type histone acetyltransferase, the ING-family PHD domain
      protein LSY-13, and PHD/bromodomain protein LIN-49, is required to first initiate
      and then actively maintain lateralized gene expression in the gustatory system of
      the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Similar defects are observed upon
      postembryonic removal of two C2H2 zinc finger transcription factors, die-1 and
      che-1, demonstrating that a combination of transcription factors, which recognize
      DNA in a sequence-specific manner, and a histone modifying enzyme complex are
      responsible for inducing and maintaining neuronal laterality.

PMID- 20923972
TI  - Phosphodiesterases catalyze hydrolysis of cAMP-bound to regulatory subunit of
      protein kinase A and mediate signal termination.
AB  - Although extensive structural and biochemical studies have provided molecular
      insights into the mechanism of cAMP-dependent activation of protein kinase A
      (PKA), little is known about signal termination and the role of
      phosphodiesterases (PDEs) in regulatory feedback. In this study we describe a
      novel mode of protein kinase A-anchoring protein (AKAP)-independent feedback
      regulation between a specific PDE, RegA and the PKA regulatory (RIalpha) subunit,
      where RIalpha functions as an activator of PDE catalysis. Our results indicate
      that RegA, in addition to its well-known role as a PDE for bulk cAMP in solution,
      is also capable of hydrolyzing cAMP-bound to RIalpha. Furthermore our results
      indicate that binding of RIalpha activates PDE catalysis several fold
      demonstrating a dual function of RIalpha, both as an inhibitor of the PKA
      catalytic (C) subunit and as an activator for PDEs. Deletion mutagenesis has
      localized the sites of interaction to one of the cAMP-binding domains of RIalpha
      and the catalytic PDE domain of RegA whereas amide hydrogen/deuterium exchange
      mass spectrometry has revealed that the cAMP-binding site (phosphate binding
      cassette) along with proximal regions important for relaying allosteric changes
      mediated by cAMP, are important for interactions with the PDE catalytic domain of
      RegA. These sites of interactions together with measurements of cAMP dissociation
      rates demonstrate that binding of RegA facilitates dissociation of cAMP followed
      by hydrolysis of the released cAMP to 5'AMP. cAMP-free RIalpha generated as an
      end product remains bound to RegA. The PKA C-subunit then displaces RegA and
      reassociates with cAMP-free RIalpha to regenerate the inactive PKA holoenzyme
      thereby completing the termination step of cAMP signaling. These results reveal a
      novel mode of regulatory feedback between PDEs and RIalpha that has important
      consequences for PKA regulation and cAMP signal termination.

PMID- 20923974
TI  - Cdc14-dependent dephosphorylation of a kinetochore protein prior to anaphase in
      Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
AB  - The budding yeast Cdc14 phosphatase reverses Cdk1 phosphorylation to promote
      mitotic exit. Although Cdc14 activity is thought to be restricted to anaphase, we
      found that dephosphorylation of the Dsn1 kinetochore protein in metaphase
      requires Cdc14. These data suggest that there is a nonnucleolar pool of active
      Cdc14 prior to anaphase.

PMID- 20923976
TI  - The rate of fitness-valley crossing in sexual populations.
AB  - Biological traits result in part from interactions between different genetic
      loci. This can lead to sign epistasis, in which a beneficial adaptation involves
      a combination of individually deleterious or neutral mutations; in this case, a
      population must cross a "fitness valley" to adapt. Recombination can assist this
      process by combining mutations from different individuals or retard it by
      breaking up the adaptive combination. Here, we analyze the simplest fitness
      valley, in which an adaptation requires one mutation at each of two loci to
      provide a fitness benefit. We present a theoretical analysis of the effect of
      recombination on the valley-crossing process across the full spectrum of possible
      parameter regimes. We find that low recombination rates can speed up valley
      crossing relative to the asexual case, while higher recombination rates slow down
      valley crossing, with the transition between the two regimes occurring when the
      recombination rate between the loci is approximately equal to the selective
      advantage provided by the adaptation. In large populations, if the recombination
      rate is high and selection against single mutants is substantial, the time to
      cross the valley grows exponentially with population size, effectively meaning
      that the population cannot acquire the adaptation. Recombination at the optimal
      (low) rate can reduce the valley-crossing time by up to several orders of
      magnitude relative to that in an asexual population.

PMID- 20923975
TI  - Slk19p of Saccharomyces cerevisiae regulates anaphase spindle dynamics through
      two independent mechanisms.
AB  - Slk19p is a member of the Cdc-14 early anaphase release (FEAR) pathway, a
      signaling network that is responsible for activation of the cell-cycle regulator
      Cdc14p in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Disruption of the FEAR pathway results in
      defects in anaphase, including alterations in the assembly and behavior of the
      anaphase spindle. Many phenotypes of slk19Delta mutants are consistent with a
      loss of FEAR signaling, but other phenotypes suggest that Slk19p may have FEAR
      independent roles in modulating the behavior of microtubules in anaphase. Here, a
      series of SLK19 in-frame deletion mutations were used to test whether Slk19p has
      distinct roles in anaphase that can be ascribed to specific regions of the
      protein. Separation-of-function alleles were identified that are defective for
      either FEAR signaling or aspects of anaphase spindle function. The data suggest
      that in early anaphase one region of Slk19p is essential for FEAR signaling,
      while later in anaphase another region is critical for maintaining the
      coordination between spindle elongation and the growth of interpolar
      microtubules.

PMID- 20923977
TI  - Discovery of mutations in Saccharomyces cerevisiae by pooled linkage analysis and
      whole-genome sequencing.
AB  - Many novel and important mutations arise in model organisms and human patients
      that can be difficult or impossible to identify using standard genetic
      approaches, especially for complex traits. Working with a previously
      uncharacterized dominant Saccharomyces cerevisiae mutant with impaired vacuole
      inheritance, we developed a pooled linkage strategy based on next-generation DNA
      sequencing to specifically identify functional mutations from among a large
      excess of polymorphisms, incidental mutations, and sequencing errors. The VAC6-1
      mutation was verified to correspond to PHO81-R701S, the highest priority
      candidate reported by VAMP, the new software platform developed for these
      studies. Sequence data further revealed the large extent of strain background
      polymorphisms and structural alterations present in the host strain, which
      occurred by several mechanisms including a novel Ty insertion. The results
      provide a snapshot of the ongoing genomic changes that ultimately result in
      strain divergence and evolution, as well as a general model for the discovery of
      functional mutations in many organisms.

PMID- 20923978
TI  - Comparative genetic mapping points to different sex chromosomes in sibling
      species of wild strawberry (Fragaria).
AB  - Separate sexes have evolved repeatedly from hermaphroditic ancestors in flowering
      plants, and thus select taxa can provide unparalleled insight into the
      evolutionary dynamics of sex chromosomes that are thought to be shared by plants
      and animals alike. Here we ask whether two octoploid sibling species of wild
      strawberry--one almost exclusively dioecious (males and females), Fragaria
      chiloensis, and one subdioecious (males, females, and hermaphrodites), F.
      virginiana--share the same sex-determining chromosome. We created a genetic map
      of the sex chromosome and its homeologs in F. chiloensis and assessed
      macrosynteny between it and published maps of the proto-sex chromosome of F.
      virginiana and the homeologous autosome of hermaphroditic diploid species.
      Segregation of male and female function in our F. chiloensis mapping population
      confirmed that linkage and dominance relations are similar to those in F.
      virginiana. However, identification of the molecular markers most tightly linked
      to the sex-determining locus in the two octoploid species shows that, in both,
      this region maps to homeologues of chromosome 6 in diploid congeners, but is
      located at opposite ends of their respective chromosomes.

PMID- 20923979
TI  - Functional specialization of sensory cilia by an RFX transcription factor
      isoform.
AB  - In animals, RFX transcription factors govern ciliogenesis by binding to an X-box
      motif in the promoters of ciliogenic genes. In Caenorhabditis elegans, the sole
      RFX transcription factor (TF) daf-19 null mutant lacks all sensory cilia, fails
      to express many ciliogenic genes, and is defective in many sensory behaviors,
      including male mating. The daf-19c isoform is expressed in all ciliated sensory
      neurons and is necessary and sufficient for activating X-box containing
      ciliogenesis genes. Here, we describe the daf-19(n4132) mutant that is defective
      in expression of the sensory polycystic kidney disease (PKD) gene battery and
      male mating behavior, without affecting expression of ciliogenic genes or
      ciliogenesis. daf-19(n4132) disrupts expression of a new isoform, daf-19m (for
      function in male mating). daf-19m is expressed in male-specific PKD and core IL2
      neurons via internal promoters and remote enhancer elements located in introns of
      the daf-19 genomic locus. daf-19m genetically programs the sensory functions of a
      subset of ciliated neurons, independent of daf-19c. In the male-specific HOB
      neuron, DAF-19(M) acts downstream of the zinc finger TF EGL-46, indicating that a
      TF cascade controls the PKD gene battery in this cell-type specific context. We
      conclude that the RFX TF DAF-19 regulates ciliogenesis via X-box containing
      ciliogenic genes and controls ciliary specialization by regulating non-X-box
      containing sensory genes. This study reveals a more extensive role for RFX TFs in
      generating fully functional cilia.

PMID- 20923980
TI  - The effects of demography and linkage on the estimation of selection and mutation
      parameters.
AB  - We explore the effects of demography and linkage on a maximum-likelihood (ML)
      method for estimating selection and mutation parameters in a reversible mutation
      model. This method assumes free recombination between sites and a randomly mating
      population of constant size and uses information from both polymorphic and
      monomorphic sites in the sample. Two likelihood-ratio test statistics were
      constructed under this ML framework: LRTgamma for detecting selection and
      LRTkappa for detecting mutational bias. By carrying out extensive simulations, we
      obtain the following results. When mutations are neutral and population size is
      constant, LRTgamma and LRTkappa follow a chi-square distribution with 1 d.f.
      regardless of the level of linkage, as long as the mutation rate is not very
      high. In addition, LRTgamma and LRTkappa are relatively insensitive to
      demographic effects and selection at linked sites. We find that the ML estimators
      of the selection and mutation parameters are usually approximately unbiased and
      that LRTkappa usually has good power to detect mutational bias. Finally, with a
      recombination rate that is typical for Drosophila, LRTgamma has good power to
      detect weak selection acting on synonymous sites. These results suggest that the
      method should be useful under many different circumstances.

PMID- 20923981
TI  - Unbiased estimation of gene diversity in samples containing related individuals:
      exact variance and arbitrary ploidy.
AB  - Gene diversity, a commonly used measure of genetic variation, evaluates the
      proportion of heterozygous individuals expected at a locus in a population, under
      the assumption of Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. When using the standard estimator
      of gene diversity, the inclusion of related or inbred individuals in a sample
      produces a downward bias. Here, we extend a recently developed estimator shown to
      be unbiased in a diploid autosomal sample that includes known related or inbred
      individuals to the general case of arbitrary ploidy. We derive an exact formula
      for the variance of the new estimator, H, and present an approximation to
      facilitate evaluation of the variance when each individual is related to at most
      one other individual in a sample. When examining samples from the human X
      chromosome, which represent a mixture of haploid and diploid individuals, we find
      that H performs favorably compared to the standard estimator, both in theoretical
      computations of mean squared error and in data analysis. We thus propose that H
      is a useful tool in characterizing gene diversity in samples of arbitrary ploidy
      that contain related or inbred individuals.

PMID- 20923982
TI  - Bulk segregation mapping of mutations in closely related strains of mice.
AB  - Phenovariance may be obscured when genetic mapping is performed using highly
      divergent strains, and closely similar strains are preferred if adequate marker
      density can be established. We sequenced the C57BL/10J mouse genome using the
      Applied Biosystems SOLiD platform and here describe a genome-wide panel of
      informative markers that permits the mapping of mutations induced on the closely
      related C57BL/6J background by outcrossing to C57BL/10J, and backcrossing or
      intercrossing. The panel consists of 127 single nucleotide polymorphisms
      validated by capillary sequencing: 124 spaced at ~20-Mb intervals across the 19
      autosomes, and three markers on the X chromosome. We determined the genetic
      relationship between four C57BL-derived substrains and used the panel to map two
      N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea (ENU)-induced mutations responsible for visible phenotypes
      in C57BL/6J mice through bulk segregation analysis. Capillary sequencing, with
      computation of relative chromatogram peak heights, was used to determine the
      proportion of alleles from each strain at each marker.

PMID- 20923984
TI  - Accounting for vehicle, crash, and occupant characteristics in traffic crash
      studies.

PMID- 20923983
TI  - Inference of homologous recombination in bacteria using whole-genome sequences.
AB  - Bacteria and archaea reproduce clonally, but sporadically import DNA into their
      chromosomes from other organisms. In many of these events, the imported DNA
      replaces an homologous segment in the recipient genome. Here we present a new
      method to reconstruct the history of recombination events that affected a given
      sample of bacterial genomes. We introduce a mathematical model that represents
      both the donor and the recipient of each DNA import as an ancestor of the genomes
      in the sample. The model represents a simplification of the previously described
      coalescent with gene conversion. We implement a Monte Carlo Markov chain
      algorithm to perform inference under this model from sequence data alignments and
      show that inference is feasible for whole-genome alignments through
      parallelization. Using simulated data, we demonstrate accurate and reliable
      identification of individual recombination events and global recombination rate
      parameters. We applied our approach to an alignment of 13 whole genomes from the
      Bacillus cereus group. We find, as expected from laboratory experiments, that the
      recombination rate is higher between closely related organisms and also that the
      genome contains several broad regions of elevated levels of recombination.
      Application of the method to the genomic data sets that are becoming available
      should reveal the evolutionary history and private lives of populations of
      bacteria and archaea. The methods described in this article have been implemented
      in a computer software package, ClonalOrigin, which is freely available from
      http://code.google.com/p/clonalorigin/.

PMID- 20923985
TI  - Predictors of unintentional poisoning among children under 5 years of age in
      Karachi: a matched case-control study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Poisoning is the fourth leading cause of unintentional injury and a
      common paediatric emergency in children under 5 years of age. The objective of
      this study was to determine the factors associated with unintentional poisoning
      among children under 5 years of age presenting to emergency rooms at tertiary
      care hospitals in Karachi, Pakistan. SETTING: Children were recruited from the
      emergency rooms of the three biggest tertiary care hospitals in Karachi. DESIGN:
      A matched case-control study was conducted on 120 cases and 360 controls, with
      matching done on gender and age. Parents were interviewed using a structured
      questionnaire containing information on sociodemographic factors, the child's
      behaviour, and the storage practices of hazardous substances of caregivers in the
      homes. Conditional logistic regression was performed to analyse the data.
      RESULTS: Accessibility to hazardous chemicals and medicines due to unsafe storage
      (adj mOR=5.6, 95% CI 1.9 to 16.7), child's behaviour reported as usually
      aggressive (adj mOR=8.2, 95% CI 4.6 to 16.1), storage of kerosene oil and petrol
      in soft drink bottles (adj mOR=3.8, 95% CI 2.0 to 7.3), low socioeconomic status
      (adj mOR=9.2, 95% CI 2.8 to 30.1), low level of mother's education (adj mOR=4.2,
      95% CI 1.8 to 9.6), and history of previous poisoning (adj mOR=8.6, 95% CI 1.7 to
      43.5) were independently related to unintentional poisoning. CONCLUSION: The
      practice of storing kerosene and petroleum in soft drink bottles and the easy
      accessibility of chemicals and medicines are potentially modifiable. Health
      messages focusing on the safe storage of chemicals and medicines and the use of
      child resistant containers may play a key role in decreasing the burden of
      childhood poisoning in Karachi, Pakistan.

PMID- 20923986
TI  - Mehran contrast-induced nephropathy risk score predicts short- and long-term
      clinical outcomes in patients with ST-elevation-myocardial infarction.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Mehran Risk Score (MRS) has been demonstrated to be clinically
      useful for prediction of contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN) after nonurgent
      percutaneous coronary intervention. We aim to validate the MRS in the setting of
      Primary percutaneous coronary intervention for prediction of both CIN and short-
      and long-term clinical outcomes. METHODS AND RESULTS: We assigned 891 consecutive
      patients with ST-elevation-myocardial infarction undergoing primary percutaneous
      coronary intervention to 4 groups of risk of CIN (RC) according to MRS (low,
      medium, high, and very high risk). We evaluated CIN, death, and major
      cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events after 25 months' mean follow-up. At
      multivariable analysis, mortality in very high-risk group was more than 10-fold
      higher (hazard ratio [HR], 10.11; 95% confidence interval [CI], 4.83 to 21.1;
      P<0.001) when compared with the low-risk group and was also increased in the high
      risk group (HR, 6.31; 95% CI, 3.28 to 12.14; P<0.001) and medium-risk group (HR,
      3.18; 95% CI, 1.83 to 5.51; P<0.001). Similarly, an increasing effect was seen
      across MRS strata for major cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events both in the
      very high-risk group (HR, 3.79; 95% CI, 2.27 to 6.6.32; P<0.001), high-risk group
      (HR, 1.90; 95% CI, 1.31 to 2.75; P=0.001), and medium-risk group (HR, 1.42; 95%
      CI, 1.10 to 1.85; P=0.007). In addition, the HR for rehospitalization increased
      with the increasing RC groups (HR, 3.32; 95%CI, 1.96 to 5.63; P<0.001; HR, 3.11;
      95% CI, 1.35 to 7.20; P=0.008; HR, 7.73; 95% CI, 2.97 to 20.10; P<0.001,
      respectively). The odds ratio for CIN was 2.84 (95% CI, 1.16 to 6.92; P=0.021) in
      the very high RC group, 1.33 (95% CI, 0.68 to 2.61; P=0.398) in the high RC
      group, and 1.10 (95% CI, 0.67 to 1.79; P=0.699) in the medium RC group, as
      compared with the lower one. CONCLUSIONS: The MRS may be applied in the primary
      angioplasty setting population and is able to predict CIN and to stratify
      patients for poor clinical outcomes both in the short- and long-term follow-up.

PMID- 20923987
TI  - Prognostic value of isolated troponin I elevation after percutaneous coronary
      intervention.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mild elevations of cardiac troponin are frequent after percutaneous
      coronary intervention (PCI). Their prognostic value is uncertain in the absence
      of changes in creatine kinase-MB (CK-MB). METHODS AND RESULTS: We evaluated the
      relation between isolated elevations of cardiac troponin I (cTnI) and all-cause
      mortality. We studied 3494 consecutive patients who underwent PCI in 16 Italian
      tertiary cardiology centers. CK-MB and cTnI were analyzed in a central
      laboratory. Duration of follow-up was 2 years. The present analysis was
      restricted to 2362 patients with normal CK-MB and cTnI values at baseline and no
      CK-MB elevation after PCI. A rise in cTnI after PCI >0.15 ng/mL, the upper
      reference limit, was found in 932 patients (39.4%). A rise >0.45 ng/mL (>3*upper
      reference limit) was found in 467 patients (19.7%). Compared with patients with
      normal cTnI, those with cTnI elevation >0.15 ng/mL showed a slightly increased
      mortality (3.8% versus 2.6%; hazard ratio, 1.53; 95% confidence interval, 0.97 to
      2.42; P=0.069). A cTnI elevation >0.45 ng/mL was associated with a higher risk of
      mortality (4.5% versus 2.7%; hazard ratio, 1.68; 95% confidence interval, 1.01 to
      2.80; P=0.044), which, however, did not remain significant after adjustment for
      concomitant risk factors (hazard ratio, 1.45; 95% confidence interval, 0.86 to
      2.46; P=0.162). Postprocedural cTnI elevation was associated with coronary and
      clinical features consistent with a worse risk profile. CONCLUSIONS: In the
      absence of a rise in CK-MB, elevated cTnI levels after PCI are associated with a
      modest increased risk of death. However, this is not independent of the
      concomitant adverse baseline clinical characteristics of these patients.

PMID- 20923988
TI  - Development and validation of risk adjustment models for long-term mortality and
      myocardial infarction following percutaneous coronary interventions.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Existing models for outcome after percutaneous coronary interventions
      (PCIs) lack assessment of long-term prognosis. Our goal was to derive 1- and 5
      year mortality and mortality/myocardial infarction (MI) risk models for PCI
      outcomes from simple, easily obtainable clinical and laboratory variables.
      METHODS AND RESULTS: Using the Mayo Clinic registry, we analyzed long-term
      mortality and mortality/MI following PCIs on 9165 unique patients from January 1,
      2001, through December 31, 2007. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to
      model the calculated risk score and major procedural complications. A total of
      1243 patients died, and 696 had MI. Separate risk models derived from clinical,
      procedural, and laboratory characteristics were made for mortality and
      mortality/MI. Older age, comorbid conditions, low ejection fraction, acute MI,
      history of smoking, heart failure, hyperlipidemia, 3-vessel disease, procedural
      failure, ventricular arrhythmia during PCI, and low medication score were
      predictors of long-term mortality and mortality/MI. Simple integer scores
      stratified patients into low, moderate, high, and very high risk for subsequent
      events. Models had adequate goodness of fit, and areas under the receiver
      operating characteristic curve were 0.786 and 0.728 for mortality and
      mortality/MI, respectively, indicating good overall discrimination. Bootstrap
      analysis indicated that the model was not overfit to the available data set.
      CONCLUSIONS: Easily obtainable variables can be combined into a convenient risk
      scoring system at the time of patient dismissal following PCI to accurately
      predict long-term mortality and mortality/MI. This model may be useful for
      providing patients with individualized, evidence-based estimates of long-term
      risk.

PMID- 20923990
TI  - Population impact of heart failure and the most common forms of cancer: a study
      of 1 162 309 hospital cases in Sweden (1988 to 2004).
AB  - BACKGROUND: The contemporary impact of heart failure (HF) versus the most common
      forms of cancer as reflected by related first-ever hospitalizations and
      subsequent case-fatality rates is unknown. METHODS AND RESULTS: Using a national
      registry in Sweden, we compared the rate of first-ever hospitalization and
      associated short- and long-term survival for HF, acute myocardial infarction
      (AMI), and the most common forms of cancer on an age and sex-specific basis
      during 1988 to 2004 in 949 733 Swedish patients (1 162 309 hospital admissions in
      total). Annual incidence of first-ever hospitalization for HF, AMI, and cancer in
      Sweden were 484, 424, and 373 (lung, colorectal, prostate, and bladder cancer
      combined) per 100 000 men and 470, 280, and 350 (lung, colorectal, bladder,
      breast, and ovarian cancer combined) per 100 000 women age >20 years. The ratio
      of individual cases of HF to cancer was 1.37:1 (465 998 versus 340 738). Despite
      improvements in 30-day and 5-year survival (adjusted 7% and 6% increase per
      calendar year for men and women, respectively), HF was associated with unadjusted
      case-fatality rate of 59% within 5 years and 196 400 deaths versus 58% and 131
      000 deaths in patients with cancer. During 10-year follow-up, HF was associated
      with 66 318 versus 55 364 premature life-years lost than all common forms of
      cancer in men. In women, the equivalent figures were 59 535 versus 64 533
      premature life-years lost. CONCLUSIONS: These data confirm that, like most common
      forms of cancer combined, HF exerts a major health burden in respect to age
      adjusted rates of first hospitalization, poor overall survival, and premature
      life-years lost.

PMID- 20923989
TI  - Design of the Coronary ARtery DIsease Genome-Wide Replication And Meta-Analysis
      (CARDIoGRAM) Study: A Genome-wide association meta-analysis involving more than
      22 000 cases and 60 000 controls.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Recent genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of myocardial
      infarction (MI) and other forms of coronary artery disease (CAD) have led to the
      discovery of at least 13 genetic loci. In addition to the effect size, power to
      detect associations is largely driven by sample size. Therefore, to maximize the
      chance of finding novel susceptibility loci for CAD and MI, the Coronary ARtery
      DIsease Genome-wide Replication And Meta-analysis (CARDIoGRAM) consortium was
      formed. METHODS AND RESULTS: CARDIoGRAM combines data from all published and
      several unpublished GWAS in individuals with European ancestry; includes >22 000
      cases with CAD, MI, or both and >60 000 controls; and unifies samples from the
      Atherosclerotic Disease VAscular functioN and genetiC Epidemiology study,
      CADomics, Cohorts for Heart and Aging Research in Genomic Epidemiology, deCODE,
      the German Myocardial Infarction Family Studies I, II, and III, Ludwigshafen Risk
      and Cardiovascular Heath Study/AtheroRemo, MedStar, Myocardial Infarction
      Genetics Consortium, Ottawa Heart Genomics Study, PennCath, and the Wellcome
      Trust Case Control Consortium. Genotyping was carried out on Affymetrix or
      Illumina platforms followed by imputation of genotypes in most studies. On
      average, 2.2 million single nucleotide polymorphisms were generated per study.
      The results from each study are combined using meta-analysis. As proof of
      principle, we meta-analyzed risk variants at 9p21 and found that rs1333049
      confers a 29% increase in risk for MI per copy (P=2*10-20). CONCLUSION:
      CARDIoGRAM is poised to contribute to our understanding of the role of common
      genetic variation on risk for CAD and MI.

PMID- 20923991
TI  - Low hemoglobin A1c and risk of all-cause mortality among US adults without
      diabetes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Among individuals without diabetes, elevated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c)
      has been associated with increased morbidity and mortality, but the literature is
      sparse regarding the prognostic importance of low HbA1c. METHODS AND RESULTS:
      National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III (NHANES III) participants,
      20 years and older, were followed up to 12 years (median follow-up, 8.8 years)
      for all-cause mortality. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to
      calculate hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for the
      association between HbA1c levels and all-cause mortality for 14 099 participants
      without diabetes. There were 1825 deaths during the follow-up period.
      Participants with a low HbA1c (<4.0%) had the highest levels of mean red blood
      cell volume, ferritin, and liver enzymes and the lowest levels of mean total
      cholesterol and diastolic blood pressure compared with their counterparts with
      HbA1c levels between 4.0% and 6.4%. An HbA1c <4.0% versus 5.0% to 5.4% was
      associated with an increased risk of all-cause mortality (HR, 3.73; 95% CI, 1.45
      to 9.63) after adjustment for age, race-ethnicity, and sex. This association was
      attenuated but remained statistically significant after further multivariable
      adjustment for lifestyle, cardiovascular factors, metabolic factors, red blood
      cell indices, iron storage indices, and liver function indices (HR, 2.90; 95% CI,
      1.25 to 6.76). CONCLUSIONS: In this nationally representative cohort, low HbA1c
      was associated with increased all-cause mortality among US adults without
      diabetes. Additional research is needed to confirm these results and identify
      potential mechanisms that may be underlying this association.

PMID- 20923992
TI  - Patients' perspectives of a multifaceted intervention with a focus on technology:
      a qualitative analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Few studies have investigated the effectiveness of multifaceted
      interventions from the study participants' perspective. We conducted qualitative
      interviews to understand patients' experiences with a multifaceted blood pressure
      (BP) control intervention involving interactive voice response technology, home
      BP monitoring, and pharmacist-led BP management. In the randomized study, the
      intervention resulted in clinically significant decreases in BP. METHODS AND
      RESULTS: We used insights generated from in-depth interviews from all study
      participants randomly assigned to the multifaceted intervention or usual care
      (n=146) to create a model explaining the observed improvements in health behavior
      and clinical outcomes. The data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis
      methods and consultative and reflexive team analysis. Six explanatory factors
      emerged from the patients' interviews: (1) improved relationships with medical
      personnel; (2) increased knowledge of hypertension; (3) increased participation
      in their health care and personal empowerment; (4) greater understanding of the
      impact of health behavior on BP; (5) high satisfaction with technology used in
      the intervention; and, for some patients, (6) increased health care utilization.
      Eighty-six percent of the intervention patients and 62% of the usual care
      patients stated that study participation had a positive effect on them. Of those
      expressing a positive effect, 68% (intervention) and 55% (usual care) reached
      their systolic BP goal. CONCLUSIONS: Establishing bidirectional conversations
      between patients and providers is a key element of successful hypertension
      management. Home BP monitoring coupled with interactive voice response technology
      reporting facilitates such conversations.

PMID- 20923993
TI  - The impact of hospital cardiac specialization on outcomes after coronary artery
      bypass graft surgery: analysis of medicare claims data.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hospital volume has been widely embraced as a proxy measure for
      hospital quality; little attention has been focused on an alternative quality
      measure-hospital specialization. Even though specialization occurs on a
      continuum, previous studies have only focused on a small number of highly
      specialized hospitals (single-specialty hospitals). Studies on the broad
      relationship between hospital specialization and outcomes after coronary artery
      bypass grafting (CABG) are limited. METHODS AND RESULTS: We conducted a
      retrospective cohort study of 705 084 Medicare patients (1130 hospitals) who
      underwent CABG during 2001 to 2005. We stratified hospitals into quintiles, based
      on their degree of cardiac specialization (proportion of a hospital's Medicare
      discharges classified as Major Diagnostic Category 5-cardiovascular diseases). We
      compared patient and hospital characteristics and outcomes across quintiles of
      cardiac specialization. Patient characteristics were generally similar across
      quintiles, but mean annual CABG volume increased progressively from quintile 1
      (least specialized) to quintile 5 (most specialized). Unadjusted 30-day mortality
      was similar at hospitals in quintiles 1 to 4 (4.8%), except quintile 5, where
      mortality was lower (4.3%). A strong inverse association was seen between
      hospital cardiac specialization and 30-day mortality after adjustment for patient
      characteristics (P(trend)=0.001). However, this was no longer significant after
      additional adjustment for CABG volume (P(trend)=0.65). Results were similar for
      other mortality outcomes and length of stay. CONCLUSIONS: After accounting for
      patient characteristics and CABG volume, greater cardiac specialization was not
      associated with clinically significant improvement in patient outcomes. This
      study calls into question the benefit of cardiac specialization for the vast
      majority of CABG-performing US hospitals.

PMID- 20923994
TI  - Impact of elevated cystatin C level on cardiovascular disease risk in
      predominantly high cardiovascular risk populations: a meta-analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chronic kidney disease is a growing public health problem that
      carries substantial risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD). Single studies have
      differentially examined the role of cystatin C, a novel renal index, with varying
      cut-point use. We undertook a meta-analysis of prospective studies to properly
      assess the link between cystatin C (dichotomized and continuous) versus CVD.
      METHODS AND RESULTS: Systematic literature search for studies reporting a
      multivariate-adjusted estimate, represented as relative risk (RR) with 95%
      confidence interval (CI), of the association between cystatin C and subsequent
      risk of (1) any CVD event and (2) specific CVD events. Data were collated from 14
      studies, with 13 high cardiovascular risk population cohorts and 1 general
      population cohort, involving 22 509 subjects with 2321 CVD events, 741 coronary
      heart disease events, and 828 stroke events. Highest cystatin C category versus
      lowest was associated with greater risk of CVD (RR, 2.62; 95% CI, 2.05 to 3.37,
      P<0.001), coronary heart disease (RR, 1.72; 95% CI, 1.27 to 2.34; P<0.001), and
      stroke (RR, 1.83; 95% CI, 1.12 to 3.00; P=0.02) after adjustment for established
      cardiovascular risk factors. Each standard deviation rise in cystatin C
      concentration boosted CVD risk (RR, 1.34; 95% CI, 1.18 to 1.51; P<0.001). Highest
      cystatin C category was also independently linked to greater risk of all-cause
      mortality and heart failure. CONCLUSIONS: The meta-analysis, mostly derived from
      high cardiovascular populations, showed that cystatin C is strongly and
      independently associated with subsequent CVD risk. Further investigation is
      warranted to clarify whether measurement of cystatin C can usefully enhance CVD
      stratification beyond established predictors already in clinical use.

PMID- 20923995
TI  - Trends in mortality of acute myocardial infarction after discharge from the
      hospital.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We assessed trends in the prognosis of patients with acute myocardial
      infarction hospitalized in New Jersey hospitals. In recent decades, in-hospital
      mortality has declined markedly but the decline in longer-term mortality is less
      pronounced, implying that mortality after discharge has worsened. METHODS AND
      RESULTS: Using the Myocardial Infarction Data Acquisition System (MIDAS), we
      examined the outcomes of 285 397 patients hospitalized for a first acute
      myocardial infarction between 1986 and 2007. Mortality at discharge decreased by
      9.4% from 16.9% to 7.5% (annual change, -0.44; 95% confidence interval, -0.49 to 
      0.40), but the decrease at 1 year was less pronounced (6.4%) because of an
      increase in mortality from discharge to 1 year after discharge (from 12.1% to
      13.9%; annual change, +0.15; 95% confidence interval, +0.10 to +0.20). Mortality
      from 30 days after discharge to 1 year, a measure not affected by length of stay,
      increased by 1.2% (annual change, +0.10; 95% confidence interval, +0.06 to
      +0.23). The effect was more evident in the older age groups and was due to
      noncardiovascular mortality, especially from respiratory and renal diseases,
      septicemia, and cancer. All effects remained statistically significant (P<0.0001)
      after adjustment for demographics, comorbidities, infarction type, complications,
      and interventions. Piecewise linear regressions confirmed these trends.
      CONCLUSIONS: Postdischarge mortality of patients with acute myocardial infarction
      is increasing, primarily because of higher noncardiovascular mortality in the
      older age groups.

PMID- 20923996
TI  - Enoxaparin versus dabigatran or rivaroxaban for thromboprophylaxis after hip or
      knee arthroplasty: Results of separate pooled analyses of phase III multicenter
      randomized trials.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Dabigatran and rivaroxaban are novel oral anticoagulants approved for
      prevention of venous thromboembolism after hip or knee arthroplasty. However,
      information assessing clinically important efficacy and bleeding outcomes of
      these 2 new agents versus low-molecular-weight heparin (enoxaparin) is lacking.
      METHODS AND RESULTS: We separately pooled efficacy and safety data from 6 phase
      III randomized trials (18 405 participants) comparing equivalent durations of
      treatment with enoxaparin (40 mg once daily [od] or 30 mg twice daily) versus
      dabigatran (220 mg od) or versus rivaroxaban (10 mg od) after hip or knee
      arthroplasty. Odds ratios (OR) for individual outcomes were calculated for each
      trial and were pooled using the Mantel-Haenszel method. Compared with dabigatran,
      enoxaparin had a similar risk of symptomatic venous thromboembolism plus all
      cause mortality (0.9% versus 1.1%; OR, 0.76; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.44
      to 1.31; I2=76%) and bleeding (5.0% versus 5.6%; OR, 0.90; 95% CI, 0.71 to 1.15;
      I2=0%). Compared with rivaroxaban, enoxaparin had a 2-fold higher risk of
      symptomatic venous thromboembolism plus all-cause mortality (1.2% versus 0.6%;
      OR, 2.04; 95% CI, 1.32 to 3.17; P<0.001; number needed to treat, 167; I2=0%) but
      demonstrated a significant lower risk of bleeding (2.5% versus 3.1%; OR, 0.79;
      95% CI, 0.62 to 0.99; P=0.049; number needed to harm, 167; I2=0%). CONCLUSIONS:
      In patients undergoing hip or knee arthroplasty, enoxaparin and dabigatran showed
      similar rates of efficacy and bleeding. Enoxaparin was less effective than
      rivaroxaban but had a lower risk of bleeding. These results may have important
      implications for the choice of prophylactic agent in major joint arthroplasty.

PMID- 20923997
TI  - Utilization of secondary prevention therapies in patients with nonobstructive
      coronary artery disease identified during cardiac catheterization: insights from
      the National Cardiovascular Data Registry Cath-PCI Registry.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Secondary prevention therapies are indicated for patients with
      coronary artery disease (CAD). However, patients with nonobstructive CAD may be
      less likely to receive these therapies compared with patients with obstructive
      CAD. Therefore, we compared rates of secondary prevention medication prescription
      between patients with nonobstructive and obstructive CAD. METHODS AND RESULTS: We
      conducted a retrospective cohort study of 1 489 745 CAD patients undergoing
      cardiac catheterization in 786 US centers between 2004 and 2007. We measured
      rates of aspirin, statin, beta-blocker, and angiotensin-converting enzyme
      inhibitor (ACEI)/angiotensin II receptor blocker (ARB) prescription at hospital
      discharge among eligible patients; 237 167 (15.9%) patients had nonobstructive
      CAD and 1 252 578 (84.1%) had obstructive CAD. Compared with obstructive CAD
      patients, nonobstructive CAD patients had significantly lower rates of rates of
      aspirin (72.7% versus 90.9%), statin (60.0% versus 80.3%), beta-blocker (57.9%
      versus 79.4%), and ACEI/ARB (45.9% versus 58.6%; all probability values <0.0001)
      prescription at hospital discharge. After multivariable adjustment,
      nonobstructive CAD patients remained significantly less likely to receive
      prescriptions for aspirin (odds ratio, 0.37; 95% confidence interval, 0.35 to
      0.39), statins (odds ratio, 0.45; 95% confidence interval, 0.43 to 0.48), beta
      blockers (odds ratio, 0.46; 95% CI, 0.44 to 0.47), or ACEI/ARBs (odds ratio,
      0.83; 95% confidence interval, 0.8 to 0.86) compared with obstructive CAD
      patients. Secondary analyses of selected subgroups supported the primary
      findings. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with nonobstructive CAD were significantly less
      likely to receive secondary prevention medication prescription at hospital
      discharge, as compared with patients with obstructive CAD. These findings
      highlight an opportunity to improve the quality of care for CAD patients with
      nonobstructive disease.

PMID- 20923998
TI  - Azathioprine-induced carcinogenesis in mice according to Msh2 genotype.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The thiopurine prodrug azathioprine is used extensively in cancer
      therapy. Exposure to this drug results in the selection of DNA mismatch repair
      deficient cell clones in vitro. It has also been suggested that thiopurine drugs
      might constitute a risk factor for the emergence of human neoplasms displaying
      microsatellite instability (MSI) because of deficient DNA mismatch repair.
      METHODS: Azathioprine was administered via drinking water (6-20 mg/kg body weight
      per day) to mice that were null (Msh2-(/)-; n = 27), heterozygous (Msh2(+/)-; n =
      22), or wild type (Msh2(WT); n = 18) for the DNA mismatch repair gene Msh2.
      Control mice (45 Msh2-(/)-, 38 Msh2(+/)-, and 12 Msh2(WT)) received drinking
      water lacking azathioprine. The effect of azathioprine on tumorigenesis and
      survival of the mice was evaluated by Kaplan-Meier curves using log-rank and
      Gehan-Breslow-Wilcoxon tests. Mouse tumor samples were characterized by histology
      and immunophenotyping, and their MSI status was determined by polymerase chain
      reaction analysis of three noncoding microsatellite markers and by
      immunohistochemistry. Msh2 status of tumor samples was assessed by loss of
      heterozygosity analyses and sequencing after reverse transcription-polymerase
      chain reaction of the entire Msh2 coding sequence. All statistical tests were two
      sided. RESULTS: Most untreated Msh2(WT) and Msh2(+/)- mice remained asymptomatic
      and alive at 250 days of age, whereas azathioprine-treated Msh2(WT) and Msh2(+/)-
      mice developed lymphomas and died prematurely (median survival of 71 and 165 days
      of age, respectively). Azathioprine-treated Msh2(+/)- mice developed diffuse
      lymphomas lacking Msh2 expression and displaying MSI due to somatic inactivation
      of the functional Msh2 allele by loss of heterozygosity or mutation. By contrast,
      azathioprine-treated Msh2(WT) mice displayed no obvious tumor phenotype, but
      histological examination showed microscopic splenic foci of neoplastic lymphoid
      cells that retained Msh2 expression and did not display MSI. Both untreated and
      azathioprine-treated Msh2-(/)- mice had a reduced lifespan compared with
      untreated Msh2(WT) mice (median survival of 127 and 107 days of age,
      respectively) and developed lymphomas with MSI. CONCLUSION: Azathioprine-induced
      carcinogenesis in mice depends on the number of functional copies of the Msh2
      gene.

PMID- 20923999
TI  - The cover. Vuillard's room at the Chateau des Clayes.

PMID- 20924000
TI  - A piece of my mind. Anticipatory guidance.

PMID- 20924001
TI  - Military probes epidemic of suicide: mental health issues remain prevalent.

PMID- 20924002
TI  - Race is on for effective dengue vaccine.

PMID- 20924003
TI  - New plaque-boosting protein a possible Alzheimer target.

PMID- 20924004
TI  - Arterial hyperoxia and in-hospital mortality after resuscitation from cardiac
      arrest.

PMID- 20924005
TI  - Arterial hyperoxia and in-hospital mortality after resuscitation from cardiac
      arrest.

PMID- 20924006
TI  - Critically ill patients and long-term acute care hospitals.

PMID- 20924007
TI  - Critically ill patients and long-term acute care hospitals.

PMID- 20924008
TI  - Changes in Idaho primary care physician clinical work hours, 1996-2009.

PMID- 20924010
TI  - Chest compression-only CPR by lay rescuers and survival from out-of-hospital
      cardiac arrest.
AB  - CONTEXT: Chest compression-only bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) may
      be as effective as conventional CPR with rescue breathing for out-of-hospital
      cardiac arrest. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the survival of patients with out-of
      hospital cardiac arrest using compression-only CPR (COCPR) compared with
      conventional CPR. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PATIENTS: A 5-year prospective
      observational cohort study of survival in patients at least 18 years old with out
      of-hospital cardiac arrest between January 1, 2005, and December 31, 2009, in
      Arizona. The relationship between layperson bystander CPR and survival to
      hospital discharge was evaluated using multivariable logistic regression. MAIN
      OUTCOME MEASURE: Survival to hospital discharge. RESULTS: Among 5272 adults with
      out-of-hospital cardiac arrest of cardiac etiology not observed by responding
      emergency medical personnel, 779 were excluded because bystander CPR was provided
      by a health care professional or the arrest occurred in a medical facility. A
      total of 4415 met all inclusion criteria for analysis, including 2900 who
      received no bystander CPR, 666 who received conventional CPR, and 849 who
      received COCPR. Rates of survival to hospital discharge were 5.2% (95% confidence
      interval [CI], 4.4%-6.0%) for the no bystander CPR group, 7.8% (95% CI, 5.8%
      9.8%) for conventional CPR, and 13.3% (95% CI, 11.0%-15.6%) for COCPR. The
      adjusted odds ratio (AOR) for survival for conventional CPR vs no CPR was 0.99
      (95% CI, 0.69-1.43), for COCPR vs no CPR, 1.59 (95% CI, 1.18-2.13), and for COCPR
      vs conventional CPR, 1.60 (95% CI, 1.08-2.35). From 2005 to 2009, lay rescuer CPR
      increased from 28.2% (95% CI, 24.6%-31.8%) to 39.9% (95% CI, 36.8%-42.9%; P <
      .001); the proportion of CPR that was COCPR increased from 19.6% (95% CI, 13.6%
      25.7%) to 75.9% (95% CI, 71.7%-80.1%; P < .001). Overall survival increased from
      3.7% (95% CI, 2.2%-5.2%) to 9.8% (95% CI, 8.0%-11.6%; P < .001). CONCLUSION:
      Among patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, layperson compression-only
      CPR was associated with increased survival compared with conventional CPR and no
      bystander CPR in this setting with public endorsement of chest compression-only
      CPR.

PMID- 20924012
TI  - Use of advanced radiology during visits to US emergency departments for injury
      related conditions, 1998-2007.
AB  - CONTEXT: Excessive use of medical imaging increases health care costs and
      exposure to ionizing radiation (a potential carcinogen) without yielding
      significant benefits to all patients. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether there has
      been a change in the prevalence of emergency department visits for injury-related
      conditions for which computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
      was obtained and whether there has been a change in the diagnosis of life
      threatening conditions and patient disposition. DESIGN, SETTING, AND
      PARTICIPANTS: Retrospective cross-sectional analysis of emergency department
      visits using data from the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (1998
      2007). Sampled visits were weighted to produce estimates for the United States.
      MAIN OUTCOMES MEASURES: Proportion of visits for injury-related conditions during
      which a CT or MRI was obtained, a life-threatening condition was diagnosed (eg,
      cervical spine fracture, skull fracture, intracranial bleeding, liver and spleen
      laceration), and which resulted in hospital and intensive care unit admission.
      RESULTS: The prevalence of CT or MRI use during emergency department visits for
      injury-related conditions increased from 6% (95% confidence interval [CI], 5%-7%)
      (257 of 5237 visits) in 1998 to 15% (95% CI, 14%-17%) (981 of 6567 visits) in
      2007 (P < .001 for trend). There was a small increase in the prevalence of life
      threatening conditions (1.7% [95% CI, 1.2%-2.2%; 89 of 5237 visits] in 1998 and
      2.0% [95% CI, 1.6%-2.5%; 142 of 6567 visits] in 2007; P=.04 for trend)
      [corrected].There was no change in prevalence of visits during which patients
      were either admitted to the hospital (5.9% [95% CI, 4.9%-6.9%] in 1998 and 5.5%
      [95% CI, 4.7%-6.5%] in 2007; P = .50 for trend) or to an intensive care unit
      (0.62% [95% CI, 0.40%-1.00%] in 1998 and 0.80% [95% CI, 0.53%-1.21%] in 2007; P =
      .14 for trend). Visits during which CT or MRI was obtained lasted 126 minutes
      (95% CI, 123-131 minutes) longer than those for which CT or MRI was not obtained.
      CONCLUSION: From 1998 to 2007, the prevalence of CT or MRI use during emergency
      department visits for injury-related conditions increased significantly, without
      an equal increase in the prevalence of life-threatening conditions.

PMID- 20924013
TI  - Evaluating the risks of clinical research.
AB  - The ethical appropriateness of clinical research depends on protecting
      participants from excessive risks. Yet no systematic framework has been developed
      to assess research risks, and as a result, investigators, funders, and review
      boards rely only on their intuitive judgments. Because intuitive judgments of
      risk are subject to well-documented cognitive biases, this approach raises
      concern that research participants are not being adequately protected. To address
      this situation, we delineate a method called the systematic evaluation of
      research risks (SERR), which evaluates the risks of research interventions by
      comparing these interventions with the risks of comparator activities that have
      been deemed acceptable. This method involves a 4-step process: (1) identify the
      potential harms posed by the proposed research intervention; (2) categorize the
      magnitude of the potential harms into 1 of 7 harm levels on a harm scale; (3)
      quantify or estimate the likelihood of each potential harm; and (4) compare the
      likelihood of each potential harm from the research intervention with the
      likelihood of harms of the same magnitude occurring as a result of an appropriate
      comparator activity. By explicitly delineating, quantifying, and comparing the
      risks of research interventions with the risks posed by appropriate comparator
      activities, SERR offers a way to minimize the influence of cognitive biases on
      the evaluation of research risks and thereby better protect research participants
      from excessive risks.

PMID- 20924014
TI  - Atypical fractures as a potential complication of long-term bisphosphonate
      therapy.
AB  - The development of bisphosphonate therapy represented an important advance in the
      treatment of low bone mass and osteoporosis, conditions that affect more than
      half of individuals older than 50 years. Currently available bisphosphonates have
      been shown to reduce spine, nonspine, and hip fractures in individuals at
      increased risk of fracture. Case reports and limited clinical series over the
      past 5 years have raised concern that prolonged bisphosphonate therapy may
      suppress bone remodeling to the extent that normal bone repair is impaired,
      resulting in increased fracture risk. Fractures potentially resulting from
      suppressed bone turnover have been described as "atypical," affecting sites such
      as the subtrochanteric femur that are infrequently affected by osteoporotic
      fractures. A prodrome of thigh pain, lack of trauma prior to the fracture, and
      specific radiological characteristics have also been reported. Data are limited
      on the prevalence of, risk factors for, and treatment of this potential problem.
      Current strategies include fracture risk assessment, targeting bisphosphonate
      therapy appropriately to individuals at increased risk of fracture, considering a
      12-month interruption in therapy after 5 years in patients who are clinically
      stable, and considering teriparatide treatment in individuals who experience an
      atypical fracture while receiving bisphosphonate therapy.

PMID- 20924015
TI  - The right to bear arms: a uniquely American entitlement.

PMID- 20924016
TI  - Response of the food and beverage industry to the obesity threat.

PMID- 20924017
TI  - What if physicians actually had to control medical costs?

PMID- 20924018
TI  - What physician-investigators owe patients who participate in research.

PMID- 20924019
TI  - Compression-only CPR: pushing the science forward.

PMID- 20924020
TI  - Implementation of the ICMJE form for reporting potential conflicts of interest.

PMID- 20924011
TI  - Out-of-hospital hypertonic resuscitation following severe traumatic brain injury:
      a randomized controlled trial.
AB  - CONTEXT: Hypertonic fluids restore cerebral perfusion with reduced cerebral edema
      and modulate inflammatory response to reduce subsequent neuronal injury and thus
      have potential benefit in resuscitation of patients with traumatic brain injury
      (TBI). OBJECTIVE: To determine whether out-of-hospital administration of
      hypertonic fluids improves neurologic outcome following severe TBI. DESIGN,
      SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Multicenter, double-blind, randomized, placebo
      controlled clinical trial involving 114 North American emergency medical services
      agencies within the Resuscitation Outcomes Consortium, conducted between May 2006
      and May 2009 among patients 15 years or older with blunt trauma and a prehospital
      Glasgow Coma Scale score of 8 or less who did not meet criteria for hypovolemic
      shock. Planned enrollment was 2122 patients. INTERVENTION: A single 250-mL bolus
      of 7.5% saline/6% dextran 70 (hypertonic saline/dextran), 7.5% saline (hypertonic
      saline), or 0.9% saline (normal saline) initiated in the out-of-hospital setting.
      MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Six-month neurologic outcome based on the Extended Glasgow
      Outcome Scale (GOSE) (dichotomized as >4 or <=4). RESULTS: The study was
      terminated by the data and safety monitoring board after randomization of 1331
      patients, having met prespecified futility criteria. Among the 1282 patients
      enrolled, 6-month outcomes data were available for 1087 (85%). Baseline
      characteristics of the groups were equivalent. There was no difference in 6-month
      neurologic outcome among groups with regard to proportions of patients with
      severe TBI (GOSE <=4) (hypertonic saline/dextran vs normal saline: 53.7% vs
      51.5%; difference, 2.2% [95% CI, -4.5% to 9.0%]; hypertonic saline vs normal
      saline: 54.3% vs 51.5%; difference, 2.9% [95% CI, -4.0% to 9.7%]; P = .67). There
      were no statistically significant differences in distribution of GOSE category or
      Disability Rating Score by treatment group. Survival at 28 days was 74.3% with
      hypertonic saline/dextran, 75.7% with hypertonic saline, and 75.1% with normal
      saline (P = .88). CONCLUSION: Among patients with severe TBI not in hypovolemic
      shock, initial resuscitation with either hypertonic saline or hypertonic
      saline/dextran, compared with normal saline, did not result in superior 6-month
      neurologic outcome or survival. TRIAL REGISTRATION: clinicaltrials.gov
      Identifier: NCT00316004.

PMID- 20924022
TI  - JAMA patient page . Cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

PMID- 20924021
TI  - Calling Dr Kildare: the literary lives of Frederick Schiller Faust, aka Max
      Brand.

PMID- 20924024
TI  - Prevention of long-term sickness absence and major depression in high-risk
      employees: a randomised controlled trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To examine the efficacy of early intervention on the prevention of
      long-term sickness absence and major depression among employees at high risk of
      future sickness absence and with mild to severe depressive complaints. METHODS:
      Randomised controlled trial conducted among employees working in an office
      environment. 139 employees were identified both at high risk of future sickness
      absence and with mild to severe depressive complaints through screening.
      Subsequently, they were randomly assigned to the intervention group (n = 69) or
      the control group (n = 70). Objective sickness absence was analysed at 12 and 18
      months of follow-up. Depressive complaints were assessed by the Beck Depression
      Inventory (BDI-II) at baseline, and at 6 and 12 months of follow-up. RESULTS:
      Intention-to-treat analyses showed a significant difference in total sickness
      absence duration between the intervention (27.5 calendar days (SD 44.7)) and
      control group (50.8 days (SD 75.8)) over 12 months of follow-up, a reduction of
      46% (p = 0.017). The intervention group showed a non-significantly lower
      proportion of long-term sickness absence spells compared with the control group
      (p = 0.127). Statistically significant and clinically relevant differences in
      depressive complaints were found after both 6 months (p = 0.001) and 12 months (p
      = 0.005) of follow-up, in favour of the intervention group. Relative risk
      reductions (RRR) were 19.2% and 19.8% respectively. Sickness absence data were
      available for all participants over 18 months of follow-up. Questionnaire data
      were available for 99 (at 6 months) and 90 participants (at 12 months). No
      adverse events or side effects occurred. CONCLUSIONS: Early intervention in
      employees with mild to severe depressive complaints and high risk of future long
      term sickness absence proved to be effective in preventing/reducing both sickness
      absence and depressive complaints.

PMID- 20924023
TI  - Exposure to occupational noise and cardiovascular disease in the United States:
      the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999-2004.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chronic exposure to occupational noise may be associated with
      increased risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) and hypertension. However,
      findings are inconsistent and many previous studies are limited by small sample
      size and inappropriate control for potential confounders. We used a nationally
      representative US sample to examine associations of self-reported exposure to
      occupational noise with CHD and hypertension. METHODS: This cross-sectional study
      included 6307 participants of the National Health and Nutrition Examination
      Survey 1999-2004, aged >= 20 years and employed at the time of interview. Noise
      exposure assessment was based on self-reported exposure to loud noise in the
      workplace. RESULTS: Compared with never exposed participants, subjects
      chronically exposed to occupational noise had a 2-3-fold increased prevalence of
      angina pectoris, myocardial infarction, CHD and isolated diastolic hypertension.
      After adjustment for various covariates, the odds ratios (95% CIs) for angina
      pectoris, CHD and isolated diastolic hypertension were 2.91 (1.35 to 6.26), 2.04
      (1.16 to 3.58) and 2.23 (1.21 to 4.12), respectively. There were clear exposure
      response relationships for the observed associations. Associations of noise
      exposure with angina pectoris, myocardial infarction and CHD were particularly
      strong for participants aged < 50 years, men and current smokers. There was no
      significant increase in levels of cardiovascular biomarkers including blood
      lipids and circulating inflammatory mediators associated with noise exposure.
      CONCLUSIONS: Chronic exposure to occupational noise is strongly associated with
      prevalence of CHD, especially for young male current smokers. This study suggests
      that excess noise exposure in the workplace is an important occupational health
      issue and deserves special attention.

PMID- 20924025
TI  - Prenatal and concurrent exposure to halogenated organic compounds and gene
      expression of CYP17A1, CYP19A1, and oestrogen receptor alpha and beta genes.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine whether prenatal exposure to dichlorodiphenyl ethylene
      (DDE) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and concurrent exposure to DDE, PCBs
      and polybrominated diphenylethers (PBDEs) affect gene expression of aromatase
      (CYP19A1), 17-alpha-hydroxylase (CYP17A1), and oestrogen receptors alpha and beta
      (ESR 1 and ESR2). METHODS: Based on maternal PCB and DDE levels in the parent
      generation of the Michigan Fisheater Cohort determined between 1973 and 1991,
      individual prenatal exposures were estimated and have been published. In 2007,
      female adult offspring of this cohort were examined. Gene expression and
      concurrent lipid-adjusted exposures to DDE, PCBs and PBDEs were measured in blood
      and serum, respectively. Using mixed models and path analyses, gene-expression
      data were regressed on prenatal and concurrent exposures controlling for
      confounders. RESULTS: 139 daughters of Michigan fisheaters (65.3%) participated
      in the investigation. While prenatal PCB levels were statistically significantly
      associated with decreased expression of the aromatase and 17-alpha-hydroxylase
      genes, prenatal DDE levels were significantly related to increased gene
      expression of aromatase but not of 17-alpha-hydroxylase. The DDE association
      seems to be mediated by concurrent lipid-adjusted p,p'-DDE serum levels. Prenatal
      and concurrent exposure of both PCBs and DDE had comparable effects. No
      association was found for PBDEs or for the gene expression of ESR 1 and ESR2.
      CONCLUSIONS: A 40-year antecedent prenatal exposure and concurrent levels of PCBs
      and DDE are associated with the expression of aromatase and 17-alpha-hydroxylase
      genes. Prenatal exposures to organochlorines may instigate long-term alterations
      of gene expression. Mechanisms of prenatal induction of persistent gene
      expression alterations are speculated to be epigenetic in nature.

PMID- 20924026
TI  - Sugar-hormone cross-talk in seed development: two redundant pathways of IAA
      biosynthesis are regulated differentially in the invertase-deficient miniature1
      (mn1) seed mutant in maize.
AB  - The miniature1 (mn1) seed phenotype is a loss-of-function mutation at the Mn1
      locus that encodes a cell wall invertase; its deficiency leads to pleiotropic
      changes including altered sugar levels and decreased levels of IAA throughout
      seed development. To understand the molecular details of such a sugar-hormone
      relationship, we have initiated studies on IAA biosynthesis genes in developing
      seeds of maize. Two tryptophan-dependent pathways of IAA biosynthesis, tryptamine
      (TAM) and indole-3-pyruvic acid (IPA), are of particular interest. We report on
      molecular isolation and characterization of an endosperm-specific ZmTARelated1
      (ZmTar1) gene of the IPA branch; we have also reported recently on ZmYuc1 gene in
      the TAM branch. Comparative gene expression analyses here have shown that (1) the
      ZmTar1 transcripts were approximately 10-fold higher levels than the ZmYuc1; (2)
      although both genes showed the highest level of expression at 8-12 d after
      pollination (DAP) coincident with an early peak in IAA levels, the two showed
      highly divergent (antagonistic) response at 12 and 16 DAP but similar patterns at
      20 and 28 DAP in the Mn1 and mn1 endosperm. The Western blot analyses for the
      ZmTAR1 protein, however, displayed disconcordant protein/transcript expression
      patterns. Overall, these data report novel observations on redundant trp
      dependent pathways of auxin biosynthesis in developing seeds of maize, and
      suggest that homeostatic control of IAA in this important sink is highly complex
      and may be regulated by both sucrose metabolism and developmental signals.

PMID- 20924027
TI  - Transcriptome analysis of high-temperature stress in developing barley caryopses:
      early stress responses and effects on storage compound biosynthesis.
AB  - High-temperature stress, like any abiotic stress, impairs the physiology and
      development of plants, including the stages of seed setting and ripening. We used
      the Affymetrix 22K Barley1 GeneChip microarray to investigate the response of
      developing barley (Hordeum vulgare) seeds, termed caryopses, after 0.5, 3, and 6
      h of heat stress exposure; 958 induced and 1122 repressed genes exhibited spatial
      and temporal expression patterns that provide a detailed insight into the
      caryopses' early heat stress responses. Down-regulation of genes related to
      storage compound biosynthesis and cell growth provides evidence for a rapid
      impairment of the caryopsis' development. Increased levels of sugars and amino
      acids were indicative for both production of compatible solutes and feedback
      induced accumulation of substrates for storage compound biosynthesis. Metadata
      analysis identified embryo and endosperm as primary locations of heat stress
      responses, indicating a strong impact of short-term heat stress on central
      developmental functions of the caryopsis. A comparison with heat stress responses
      in Arabidopsis shoots and drought stress responses in barley caryopses identified
      both conserved and presumably heat- and caryopsis-specific stress-responsive
      genes. Summarized, our data provide an important basis for further investigation
      of gene functions in order to aid an improved heat tolerance and reduced losses
      of yield in barley as a model for cereal crops.

PMID- 20924028
TI  - Root-specific transcript profiling of contrasting rice genotypes in response to
      salinity stress.
AB  - Elevated salinity imposes osmotic and ion toxicity stresses on living cells and
      requires a multitude of responses in order to enable plant survival. Building on
      earlier work profiling transcript levels in rice (Oryza sativa) shoots of FL478,
      a salt-tolerant indica recombinant inbred line, and IR29, a salt-sensitive
      cultivar, transcript levels were compared in roots of these two accessions as
      well as in the roots of two additional salt-tolerant indica genotypes, the
      landrace Pokkali and the recombinant inbred line IR63731. The aim of this study
      was to compare transcripts in the sensitive and the tolerant lines in order to
      identify genes likely to be involved in plant salinity tolerance, rather than in
      responses to salinity per se. Transcript profiles of several gene families with
      known links to salinity tolerance are described (e.g. HKTs, NHXs). The putative
      function of a set of genes identified through their salt responsiveness,
      transcript levels, and/or chromosomal location (i.e. underneath QTLs for salinity
      tolerance) is also discussed. Finally, the parental origin of the Saltol region
      in FL478 is further investigated. Overall, the dataset presented appears to be
      robust and it seems likely that this system could provide a reliable strategy for
      the discovery of novel genes involved in salinity tolerance.

PMID- 20924029
TI  - Recycling of Solanum sucrose transporters expressed in yeast, tobacco, and in
      mature phloem sieve elements.
AB  - The plant sucrose transporter SUT1 (from Solanum tuberosum, S. lycopersicum, or
      Zea mays) exhibits redox-dependent dimerization and targeting if heterologously
      expressed in S. cerevisiae (Krugel et al., 2008). It was also shown that SUT1 is
      present in motile vesicles when expressed in tobacco cells and that its targeting
      to the plasma membrane is reversible. StSUT1 is internalized in the presence of
      brefeldin A (BFA) in yeast, plant cells, and in mature sieve elements as
      confirmed by immunolocalization. These results were confirmed here and the
      dynamics of intracellular SUT1 localization were further elucidated. Inhibitor
      studies revealed that vesicle movement of SUT1 is actin-dependent. BFA-mediated
      effects might indicate that anterograde vesicle movement is possible even in
      mature sieve elements, and could involve components of the cytoskeleton that were
      previously thought to be absent in SEs. Our results are in contradiction to this
      old dogma of plant physiology and the potential of mature sieve elements should
      therefore be re-evaluated. In addition, SUT1 internalization was found to be
      dependent on the plasma membrane lipid composition. SUT1 belongs to the detergent
      resistant membrane (DRM) fraction in planta and is targeted to membrane raft-like
      microdomains when expressed in yeast (Krugel et al., 2008). Here, SUT1-GFP
      expression in different yeast mutants, which were unable to perform endocytosis
      and/or raft formation, revealed a strong link between SUT1 raft localization, the
      sterol composition and membrane potential of the yeast plasma membrane, and the
      capacity of the SUT1 protein to be internalized by endocytosis. The results
      provide new insight into the regulation of sucrose transport and the mechanism of
      endocytosis in plant cells.

PMID- 20924030
TI  - Update on chloroplast research: new tools, new topics, and new trends.
AB  - Chloroplasts, the green differentiation form of plastids, are the sites of
      photosynthesis and other important plant functions. Genetic and genomic
      technologies have greatly boosted the rate of discovery and functional
      characterization of chloroplast proteins during the past decade. Indeed, data
      obtained using high-throughput methodologies, in particular proteomics and
      transcriptomics, are now routinely used to assign functions to chloroplast
      proteins. Our knowledge of many chloroplast processes, notably photosynthesis and
      photorespiration, has reached such an advanced state that biotechnological
      approaches to crop improvement now seem feasible. Meanwhile, efforts to identify
      the entire complement of chloroplast proteins and their interactions are
      progressing rapidly, making the organelle a prime target for systems biology
      research in plants.

PMID- 20924031
TI  - Significant increase in IgG4+ plasma cells in gastric biopsy specimens from
      patients with pernicious anaemia.
AB  - AIM: To investigate the presence of IgG4+ plasma cells in gastric mucosal biopsy
      samples from patients with atrophic gastritis (AG) and a history of pernicious
      anaemia (PA) (AG+PA+). METHODS: Gastric mucosal biopsy specimens from 46 patients
      with AG+PA+ were investigated. As controls, we evaluated specimens from patients
      with AG but no history of PA (AG+ PA-) (n=25), normal histology (n=25), mild
      chronic inactive gastritis (MCIG) (n=25) or Helicobacter pylori gastritis (HP)
      (n=25). IgG4+ plasma cells were detected by two immunohistochemical methods: (1)
      using a monoclonal antibody, the average of the three most cellular high-power
      fields was counted in areas with the highest density of IgG4+ plasma cells; (2)
      using a dual-chromagen stain for both IgG4 and CD138 (plasma cell marker), the
      number of IgG4+ cells per 200 CD138+ plasma cells was counted. The latter was
      used to ensure that the number of IgG4+ cells was not simply related to the
      degree of inflammation (density of plasma cells). RESULTS: Identical results were
      obtained with the two staining methods. Increased numbers of IgG4+ plasma cells
      were present in 37% of patients with AG+PA+, but in none with AG+PA-, MCIG, HP or
      normal gastric biopsy results (100% specific, p=0.0001). CONCLUSION: IgG4+ plasma
      cells may play a role in the pathogenesis of PA and may be a useful marker for
      its diagnosis.

PMID- 20924032
TI  - Expression of class I histone deacetylases (HDAC1 and HDAC2) in oesophageal
      adenocarcinomas: an immunohistochemical study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Histone deacetylases (HDACs) are enzymes which play a central role in
      post-translational histone and non-histone protein modification. Deregulation of
      HDACs has been detected in various human malignancies and may also influence
      response to chemotherapy. AIMS: To investigate the expression of class I histone
      deacetylase (HDAC) isoforms 1 and 2 in oesophageal adenocarcinomas. METHODS: 132
      primary resected tumours and 48 tumours treated by chemotherapy were analysed.
      Expression of HDAC1 and HDAC2 was determined by immunohistochemistry, applied on
      a tissue microarray and on pretherapeutic biopsies, and correlated with
      pathological features and prognosis. RESULTS: There was negative or low
      expression of HDAC1 in 54% of tumours, moderate expression in 41% and high
      expression in 5%. HDAC2 expression was negative or low in 30% of tumours,
      moderate in 47% and high in 21%. In primary resected tumours, high HDAC2 levels
      were associated with lymphatic tumour spread and lower tumour differentiation
      grade. HDAC1 levels were not associated with pT, pN category or tumour
      differentiation grade. For neoadjuvant treated tumours, there was only a trend
      for an association with high pretherapeutic HDAC2 expression and tumour
      regression after chemotherapy. Pretherapeutic HDAC1 levels were not associated
      with regression after chemotherapy. Survival analysis failed to show any
      prognostic impact of HDAC1 or HDAC2 expression. CONCLUSIONS: High HDAC2
      expression is associated with aggressive tumour behaviour in oesophageal
      adenocarcinomas. No significant prognostic value could be found with respect to
      overall survival or an association with response to conventional chemotherapy for
      HDAC expression. Immunohistochemical determination of HDACs may be useful for
      prediction of response to specific HDAC inhibitors.

PMID- 20924033
TI  - Exploring the feasibility of establishing a disease-specific post-mortem tissue
      bank in the UK: a case study in ME/CFS.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a
      condition, the aetiology of which remains controversial, and there is still no
      consensus on its nature and determination. It has rarely been studied in post
      mortem examinations, despite increasing evidence of abnormalities from
      neuroimaging studies. AIM: To ascertain the feasibility of developing a national
      post-mortem ME/CFS tissue bank in the UK, to enhance studies on aetiology and
      pathogenesis, including cell and tissue abnormalities associated with the
      condition. METHODS: The case study was carried out combining qualitative methods,
      ie, key informant interviews, focus group discussions with people with ME/CFS,
      and a workshop with experts in ME/CFS or in tissue banking. RESULTS AND
      CONCLUSIONS: The study results suggest that the establishment of the post-mortem
      ME/CFS tissue bank is both desirable and feasible, and would be acceptable to the
      possible tissue donors, provided that some issues were explicitly addressed.

PMID- 20924034
TI  - Hepatitis C virus and lymphoma: which is useful--serum or tissue?

PMID- 20924035
TI  - p16(INK4a) immunostaining as an alternative to histology review for reliable
      grading of cervical intraepithelial lesions.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Histomorphological grading of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia
      (CIN) is crucial for clinical management. CIN grading is however subjective and
      affected by substantial rates of discordance among pathologists, which may lead
      to overtreatment. To minimise this problem, a histology review of CIN lesions by
      a consensus panel of pathologists is often used. Diffuse strong p16(INK4a)
      immunostaining has been proposed to aid the identification of true high-grade
      cervical lesions (ie, CIN2/3). AIM: To assess the value of additional
      interpretation of p16(INK4a) immunostains for making a more reproducible
      diagnosis of CIN2/3 lesions. METHODS: The authors used a series of 406 biopsies
      of cervical lesions, with known HPV status, stained for both H&E- and p16(INK4a).
      First, in a randomly selected set of 49 biopsies, we examined the effect of
      additional interpretation of p16(INK4a) immunostained slides, on the agreement of
      CIN diagnosis among three pathologists. Second, the full series of samples was
      used to assess the accuracy of p16(INK4a)-supported lesion grading by a single
      pathologist, by evaluating the degree of diagnostic agreement with the consensus
      diagnosis of expert pathologists based on H&E-stained sections only. RESULTS: The
      study shows that the interobserver agreement between three pathologists for the
      routine H&E-based diagnosis ranged from fair (weighted kappa 0.44 (95% CI 0.19 to
      0.64)) to moderate (weighted kappa 0.66 (95% CI 0.47 to 0.79)). The concordance
      increased substantially for p16(INK4a)-supported grading (mean weighted kappa
      0.80 (95% CI 0.66 to 0.89)). Furthermore, an almost perfect agreement was found
      between the p16(INK4a)-supported diagnosis of a single pathologist and the
      consensus diagnosis of an expert pathology panel (kappa 0.88 (95% CI 0.85 to
      0.89)). CONCLUSIONS: These data demonstrate that additive use of p16(INK4a)
      immunohistochemistry significantly improves the accuracy of grading CIN lesions
      by a single pathologist, equalling an expert consensus diagnosis. Hence, the
      authors advocate the combined use of p16(INK4a)-stained slides and conventional
      H&E sections in routine histopathology to improve accuracy of diagnosis.

PMID- 20924036
TI  - Absence of NPM1 promoter hypermethylation in human myelodysplastic syndrome.
AB  - Npm1(+/-) heterozygous mice develop a haematological disorder with features
      resembling human myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). Promoter hypermethylation of the
      NPM1 gene may lead to suppressed gene transcription and hence functional
      haploinsufficiency, which contributes to the development of MDS. Thirty-one
      patients with MDS and eight normal individuals were studied for promoter
      methylation and mRNA expression of NPM1. Methylation-specific PCR (MSP), COBRA
      and bisulfite sequencing were used to examine the NPM1 methylation status.
      Quantitative PCR was used to assess the expression of NPM1. NPM1 DNA methylation
      was rare, occurring in one of 31 cases as determined by MSP. There was no
      significant difference in NPM1 mRNA expression between MDS and normal blood
      samples. In conclusion, the finding suggests that NPM1 methylation is rare in MDS
      and does not play a major role in its pathogenesis.

PMID- 20924037
TI  - Strong cytoplasmic expression of COX2 at the invasive fronts of gallbladder
      cancer is associated with a poor prognosis.
AB  - AIM: The significance of cell cycle proteins, p21 and p53, and cyclo-oxygenase-2
      (COX2) is still controversial in gallbladder adenocarcinoma. Conflicting results
      exist with regard to the prognostic significance of p21 and p53 expression, and
      the strong association of gallbladder cancer with chronic inflammation makes it
      only natural that COX2 negativity is rarely encountered, even in non-neoplastic
      biliary epithelia. METHODS: The authors explored whether the p21 and p53
      labelling indices (LI) and strong cytoplasmic COX2 expression differ in the
      central parts (TC) and invasive fronts (IF) of gallbladder cancer. Paraffin
      embedded whole tissue sections of 67 gallbladder cancers were
      immunohistochemically analysed for p21, p53 and COX2-LI at the IF and TC, and
      results were correlated with the clinicopathological features. RESULTS:
      Significantly higher LI was seen in IF compared with TC for p21, p53 and COX2.
      COX2-LI-IF showed significant positive correlations with perineural and lymphatic
      invasion, higher T and N stages, and non-papillary gross morphology. Gall-bladder
      cancers with COX2-LI-IF>=30% showed decreased overall and disease-free survival,
      and COX2-LI-IF>=30% was an independent poor prognostic factor on multivariable
      analysis. Gall-bladder cancers with high COX2 and p21-LI-IF showed decreased
      overall and disease-free survival. CONCLUSIONS: The IF of gallbladder cancer is
      characterised by significantly increased expression of p21, p53 and strong COX2
      expression, and strong cytoplasmic COX2 expression at IF is associated with a
      poorer prognosis. Heterogeneity between TC and IF should be considered in in situ
      molecular studies, especially during interpretation of immunohistochemical stain
      results and tissue microarray construction.

PMID- 20924038
TI  - Selective testing of beta-galactosidase activity in the laboratory identification
      of Salmonella and Shigella species.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Salmonella and Shigella species are pathogens of great medical and
      public health importance. However, laboratory identification of these organisms
      is time consuming. Using current standard laboratory algorithms, the vast
      majority of organisms submitted for serological typing with Salmonella-specific
      and Shigella-specific antisera are not clinically significant. AIMS: To assess
      the addition of the O-nitrophenyl-beta-d-galactopyranoside (ONPG) test to the
      standard screening protocol for identification of Salmonella and Shigella
      species, and to describe a revised algorithm for the identification of these
      pathogens. METHODS: 71 non-lactose-fermenting isolates that were urease negative,
      indole negative, and produced acid and gas in triple sugar iron agar, with no
      H(2)S production in the agar, were tested for beta-galactosidase activity using
      the ONPG test. The test results were read at half-hourly intervals over a 4 h
      incubation period in O(2) at 37 degrees C. RESULTS: 42 isolates (59.2%) were
      found to be Hafnia alvei, of which 36 strains (85.7%) were ONPG positive. All 18
      of the Enterobacter species (25.4%) were ONPG positive. Overall, about 79% of the
      ONPG-positive isolates were positive at the end of the first half-hour of
      incubation. The two pathogenic isolates obtained during this study were both
      identified as Salmonella enterica serovar Paratyphi A, and they were ONPG
      negative. CONCLUSIONS: Incorporation of a 30 min ONPG test for non-lactose
      fermenting organisms that are indole negative, urease negative, producers of acid
      and gas from glucose, oxidase negative and non-H(2)S gas producers eliminates the
      need for further serological testing of 79% of isolates, substantially improving
      the efficiency of the identification protocol.

PMID- 20924039
TI  - DNA methylation and genome evolution in honeybee: gene length, expression,
      functional enrichment covary with the evolutionary signature of DNA methylation.
AB  - A growing body of evidence suggests that DNA methylation is functionally
      divergent among different taxa. The recently discovered functional methylation
      system in the honeybee Apis mellifera presents an attractive invertebrate model
      system to study evolution and function of DNA methylation. In the honeybee, DNA
      methylation is mostly targeted toward transcription units (gene bodies) of a
      subset of genes. Here, we report an intriguing covariation of length and
      epigenetic status of honeybee genes. Hypermethylated and hypomethylated genes in
      honeybee are dramatically different in their lengths for both exons and introns.
      By analyzing orthologs in Drosophila melanogaster, Acyrthosiphon pisum, and Ciona
      intestinalis, we show genes that were short and long in the past are now
      preferentially situated in hyper- and hypomethylated classes respectively, in the
      honeybee. Moreover, we demonstrate that a subset of high-CpG genes are
      conspicuously longer than expected under the evolutionary relationship alone and
      that they are enriched in specific functional categories. We suggest that gene
      length evolution in the honeybee is partially driven by evolutionary forces
      related to regulation of gene expression, which in turn is associated with DNA
      methylation. However, lineage-specific patterns of gene length evolution suggest
      that there may exist additional forces underlying the observed interaction
      between DNA methylation and gene lengths in the honeybee.

PMID- 20924040
TI  - Applying toxicological risk assessment principles to constituents of smokeless
      tobacco products: implications for product regulation.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine how information on chemical constituents of different
      smokeless tobacco products (STPs) may be used in cancer risk assessment for
      regulatory purposes. METHODS: This study investigated select STP constituents
      potentially associated with significant cancer risk by applying a known
      toxicological risk assessment framework. Cancer risk estimates were obtained for
      selected constituents of STPs and a medicinal nicotine gum formulation with
      comparable toxicity information and also median concentration data on the
      GothiaTek analytes. The calculated cancer risk was considered 'unacceptable' if
      it exceeded the US Environmental Protection Agency's (USEPA's) benchmark of an
      'acceptable' cancer risk of 10E-6. RESULTS: The cancer risk estimates derived
      from daily use of 10 g of STPs meeting the industry-set GothiaTek limits exceed
      the levels generally considered 'acceptable' by the USEPA at least 8000 times.
      Except for the medicinal nicotine tested, all the STP types, including the
      relatively lower tobacco specific nitrosamine (TSNA)-containing snus, were found
      to carry an 'unacceptable' cancer risk. The calculated cancer risks associated
      with the snus and the US moist snuff products were, respectively, at least 1000
      times and 6000 times greater than the minimum acceptable. TSNA and cadmium are
      associated with the largest estimated cancer risks for all the STPs evaluated.
      CONCLUSIONS: This study's findings provide an empirical risk assessment that
      could guide STP regulation using an existing toxicological assessment framework.
      The study findings question the scientific rationale of the industry-set
      standards and highlight the need for regulatory actions to reduce specific
      toxicants in all STPs.

PMID- 20924041
TI  - Definition of a quit attempt: a replication test.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The incidence of quit attempts is often used to measure the effects
      of tobacco control interventions. Many surveys of quit attempts require that the
      attempt last >=24 hr, presumably to provide a more objective definition and to
      eliminate less serious attempts; however, this criterion may bias outcomes by
      excluding the more dependent quitters who cannot stop for 1 day despite a serious
      quit attempt. METHODS: We examined the 2003 and the 2006-2007 Tobacco Use
      Supplements to the Current Population Survey to determine the prevalence of quit
      attempts that did and did not last 24 hr, both in the last 12 months and in one's
      lifetime among current daily smokers. We also tested the hypothesis that those
      unable to quit for 24 hr were the more dependent smokers. RESULTS: Requiring quit
      attempts to last 24 hr excluded 6%-17% of smokers who stated they made a quit
      attempt. Whether smokers who could not quit for more than 24 hr were more
      dependent varied across survey, recall duration, and measure. CONCLUSIONS: We
      conclude restricting quit attempts to those who have quit for 24 hr
      underestimates the prevalence of attempts. Whether those unable to quit for 24 hr
      are the more dependent smokers is unclear. Empirical tests of whether the
      addition of a 24-hr criterion increases reliability or validity are needed.

PMID- 20924042
TI  - Smoking on both sides of the pacific: home smoking restrictions and secondhand
      smoke exposure among Korean adults and children in Seoul and California.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: This study, informed by ecological frameworks, compared the
      prevalence, predictors, and association of home smoking restrictions with
      secondhand smoke exposure (SHSe) between Koreans in Seoul, South Korea, and
      Korean Americans in California, United States. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey
      was drawn from telephone interviews with Korean adults in Seoul (N = 500) and
      California (N = 2,830) during 2001-02. Multivariable regressions were used for
      analyses. RESULTS: Koreans, compared with Korean Americans, had significantly
      fewer complete home smoking bans, 19% (95% CI: 16-23) versus 66% (95% CI: 64-68),
      and were more likely to not have a home smoking restriction, 64% (95% CI: 60-69)
      versus 5% (95% CI: 4-6). Home smoking restrictions were associated with lower
      home SHSe; however, the impact was consistently larger among Korean Americans.
      Households with more SHSe sources were less likely to have the strongest home
      smoking restrictions, where the difference in complete bans among Korean
      Americans versus Koreans was largely among those at low risk of SHSe, 82% (95%
      CI: 76-86) versus 36% (95% CI: 17-57), while high-risk Korean American and
      Koreans had similar low probabilities, 10% (95% CI: 7-13) versus 7% (95% CI: 3
      13). CONCLUSIONS: Consistent with ecological frameworks, exposure to California's
      antismoking policy and culture was associated with stronger home smoking
      restrictions and improved effectiveness. Interventions tailored to Korean and
      Korean American SHSe profiles are needed. Behavioral interventions specifically
      for high-risk Korean Americans and stronger policy controls for Koreans may be
      effective at rapidly expanding home smoking restrictions.

PMID- 20924043
TI  - Stimulatory effects of propylthiouracil on pregnenolone production through
      upregulation of steroidogenic acute regulatory protein expression in rat
      granulosa cells.
AB  - Propylthiouracil (PTU) is a common and effective clinical medicine for the
      treatment of hyperthyroidism. Our previous study demonstrated that short-term
      treatment with PTU inhibits progesterone production in rat granulosa cells.
      However, our present results indicate that a 16-h treatment with PTU was able to
      stimulate pregnenolone production in rat granulosa cells, although progesterone
      production was diminished by PTU through inhibition of 3beta-hydroxysteroid
      dehydrogenase. Notably, we found that PTU treatment enhanced the conversion of
      cholesterol into pregnenolone, whereas the protein level of the cytochrome P450
      side-chain cleavage enzyme (P450scc, which is the enzyme responding to this
      conversion) was not affected. Interestingly, the levels of steroidogenic acute
      regulatory protein (StAR) in both total cell lysate and the mitochondrial
      fraction were significantly increased by PTU treatment. Furthermore, the binding
      of steroidogenic factor-1 (SF-1) to the StAR promoter region was also enhanced by
      PTU treatment, which suggests that PTU could upregulate StAR gene expression. In
      addition to SF-1 regulation, we found that mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase
      kinase activation is an important regulator of PTU-stimulated StAR protein
      expression, based on the effects of the MEK inhibitor PD98059. In conclusion,
      these results indicate that PTU plays opposite roles in the production of
      progesterone and its precursor, pregnenolone. The regulation of negative feedback
      on speeding the cholesterol transportation and pregnenolone conversion after a 16
      h PTU treatment may be the mechanism explaining PTU's inhibition of progesterone
      production in rat granulosa cells.

PMID- 20924044
TI  - Estimation of a preference-based carer experience scale.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is growing interest in incorporating the effects of
      interventions on unpaid carers in economic evaluation. Current methods focus on
      using health measures (which neglect important aspects of care-related quality of
      life) or using carer-specific sum score measures (which are not preference
      based). OBJECTIVE: To estimate preference-based index values for a profile
      measure of the caring experience (the Carer Experience Scale). METHODS: Eighteen
      profiles from the Carer Experience Scale were included in a best-worst scaling
      experiment. In each profile, respondents were asked to pick the best and worst
      attribute level from the profiles. The choice task was completed in a postal
      questionnaire by 162 unpaid carers of older people from 5 geographical locations
      in the United Kingdom. Logistic regression was used to estimate utility weights
      for the attribute levels of the Carer Experience Scale. Alternative modeling
      assumptions were employed to determine the stability of the parameter estimates.
      These parameter estimates were rescaled so that the profile index values for the
      Carer Experience Scale lay on a 0-to-100 scale. RESULTS: The results indicate
      that low levels of "activities" and "getting on" result in larger decrements to
      utility than other attributes of the caring experience. In general, greater value
      is placed on differences between the bottom and middle levels of attributes than
      between the middle and top levels. Alternative modeling approaches had a
      negligible effect on the index values. CONCLUSION: The index values reported in
      this study offer a new preference-based approach to incorporating the effects on
      carers in economic evaluation, focusing on care (rather than health)-related
      quality of life.

PMID- 20924045
TI  - Estimating a preference-based index for a 5-dimensional health state
      classification for asthma derived from the asthma quality of life questionnaire.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This article presents a valuation study to estimate a preference
      based index for a 5-dimensional health state classification for asthma (AQL-5D)
      derived from the Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire (AQLQ). METHODS: A sample
      of 307 members of the UK general population valued 99 asthma health states
      selected from the AQL-5D using the time tradeoff technique. Models were estimated
      to predict all possible 3125 health states defined by the AQL-5D, and the models
      were compared in terms of their ability to predict mean values for the 99 states.
      RESULTS: Mean health state values ranged from 0.39 to 0.94 based on an average of
      22 valuations per state. A main effects model estimated on mean health state
      values and adjusted for consistency had the best predictive ability (mean
      absolute error of 0.047 and only 9/98 states with errors >0.1) and the most
      logical consistency with levels of the AQL-5D. The low number of valuations per
      state may have resulted in unreliable estimates for the models. Preference-based
      condition specific measures are limited in their ability to make cross-disease
      comparisons. CONCLUSION: This is the first study to derive a condition-specific
      preference-based measure from an existing measure of health-related quality of
      life in asthma for use in economic evaluation.

PMID- 20924046
TI  - Frequency of VDRL seropositivity among clinically healthy adult men from
      districts of Punjab province in Pakistan.

PMID- 20924047
TI  - Non-monogamy: risk factor for STI transmission and acquisition and determinant of
      STI spread in populations.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The concept of concurrent partnerships, while theoretically
      appealing, has been challenged at many levels. However, non-monogamy may be an
      important risk factor for the acquisition and transmission of sexually
      transmitted infections (STI). One's own non-monogamy is a risk factor for
      transmitting STI to others, partners' non-monogamy is a risk factor for acquiring
      STI and, most importantly, mutual non-monogamy is a population level determinant
      of increased STI spread. This study describes the levels, distribution and
      correlates of non-monogamy, partners' non-monogamy and mutual non-monogamy among
      adult men and women in the USA. METHODS: Data from the National Survey of Family
      Growth (NSFG) Cycle 6 were used. NSFG is a national household survey of subjects
      aged 15-44 years in the USA. Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel tests and chi(2) tests were
      used in the analysis. RESULTS: Among sexually active adults, 17.6% of women and
      23.0% of men (an estimated 19 million) reported non-monogamy over the past
      12&emsp14;months in 2002. An estimated 11 million Americans (1 in 10) reported
      partners' non-monogamy and an estimated 8.4 million (7% of women and 10.5% of
      men) reported mutual non-monogamy. All three types of non-monogamy were reported
      more frequently by men than women. Younger age, lower education, formerly or
      never married status, living below the poverty level and having spent time in
      jail were associated with all three types of non-monogamy in general.
      CONCLUSIONS: The three types of non-monogamy may be helpful in tailoring
      prevention messages and targeting prevention efforts to subgroups most likely to
      spread infection.

PMID- 20924048
TI  - Treatment of syphilis in HIV-infected subjects: a systematic review of the
      literature.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The optimal antimicrobial regimen to treat syphilis in HIV-infected
      subjects remains controversial. OBJECTIVE: To systematically assess the
      literature for studies evaluating syphilis treatment regimens in this population.
      METHODS: Two reviewers independently assessed studies published between 1980 and
      June 2008 in electronic databases, trial registries and bibliographies (with no
      language restrictions) for content and quality. Studies that included 10 or more
      people, with documented HIV status, type and duration of syphilis treatment and
      at least 6 months of follow-up were included. The primary outcome was syphilis
      serological or clinical failure stratified by syphilis stage. RESULTS: Of 1380
      unique citations, 23 studies (22 published papers and 1 conference abstract) were
      included in the systematic review. Owing to the significant heterogeneity among
      studies, pooled summary statistics could not be generated. The range of
      probabilities for serological failure with 2.4 million units (MU) of
      intramuscular benzathine penicillin G (BPG) was 6.9% (95% CI 2.6% to 14.4%) to
      22.4% (11.7% to 36.6%); that of 7.2 MU of BPG in late latent syphilis was 19.4%
      (11.9% to 28.9%) to 31.1% (22.3% to 40.9%) and failure estimates with 18-24 MU of
      aqueous penicillin for the treatment of neurosyphilis were 27.3% (6.0% to 61.0%)
      to 27.8% (14.2% to 45.2%). CONCLUSIONS: The optimal antimicrobial regimen to
      treat syphilis in HIV-infected subjects is unknown; guideline recommendations in
      this population are based on little objective data.

PMID- 20924049
TI  - Different population-level vaccination effectiveness for HPV types 16, 18, 6 and
      11.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Given that the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine types have
      different durations of infectiousness and infectivity, the population-level
      vaccine effectiveness of these types may differ even if vaccine efficacy is
      identical. OBJECTIVE: To compare the type-specific effectiveness of vaccination
      against HPV types 16, 18, 6 and 11. METHODS: An individual-based stochastic model
      of HPV transmission (18 HPV-types) in a population stratified by age, gender and
      sexual activity was developed. Multiple parameter sets were identified by fitting
      the model to sexual behaviour data and age- and type-specific HPV prevalence.
      RESULTS: Under base case assumptions (70% coverage, 99% vaccine efficacy per act
      and 20&emsp14;years' duration of protection), vaccinating 12-year-old girls is
      predicted to reduce HPV-16, HPV-18 and HPV-6/11 prevalence by 61% (80%
      uncertainty interval (UI) 53-77), 92% (80% UI 65-100) and 100% (80% UI 97-100),
      respectively, 50&emsp14;years after the start of the vaccination programme.
      Differences in type-specific vaccine effectiveness increased over time, and
      decreased with improved vaccine efficacy characteristics. CONCLUSIONS: For the
      same vaccine efficacy, the population-level impact of HPV vaccination will most
      likely be different, with HPV-16, the most oncogenic type, having the lowest
      effectiveness. These results should be taken into account when designing and
      interpreting post-vaccination surveillance studies.

PMID- 20924050
TI  - The concentration of sexual behaviours in the USA: a closer examination of
      subpopulations.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To examine the frequency of three sexual behaviours from the most
      active to the least active members of the population in various subpopulations
      using measures of inequality. METHODS: Data from a US national probability sample
      of the population aged 15-44 years (National Survey of Family Growth) were used.
      Gini coefficients and Lorenz curves were calculated in order to examine the
      concentration of three sexual behaviours: vaginal sex acts (past 4 weeks) and
      number of opposite-sex partners (past 12 months; lifetime). Analyses were
      conducted separately for men and women and subpopulations of interest (by age,
      race/ethnicity, educational level and poverty level). RESULTS: The sexual
      behaviours examined were concentrated within the most active members of the
      population. This concentration was most pronounced for vaginal sex acts in the
      past 4 weeks and lifetime opposite-sex partners, with the top 5% of each
      population accounting for more of the sexual behaviour than the bottom 50% of the
      population. Sexual behaviours were most concentrated among adolescents, the least
      educated and the most impoverished. Some subpopulations had similar mean or
      median numbers of sex acts (or sex partners), but had different degrees of
      concentration of these behaviours. Finally, the most impoverished men and women
      had the highest concentration levels for two of the three sexual behaviours
      (vaginal sex acts, opposite-sex partners in past 12 months). CONCLUSION: Given
      that sexual behaviours tended to be highly concentrated in subpopulations that
      are often at the highest risk of sexually transmitted infections, targeted
      interventions may be the most efficient method to reduce risk in these groups
      while minimising potential unintended consequences.

PMID- 20924051
TI  - Light drinking during pregnancy: still no increased risk for socioemotional
      difficulties or cognitive deficits at 5 years of age?
AB  - BACKGROUND: This study examines the relationship between light drinking during
      pregnancy and the risk of socioemotional problems and cognitive deficits at age 5
      years. METHODS: Data from the nationally representative prospective UK Millennium
      Cohort Study (N=11,513) were used. Participants were grouped according to
      mothers' reported alcohol consumption during pregnancy: never drinker; not in
      pregnancy; light; moderate; heavy/binge. At age 5 years the strengths and
      difficulties questionnaire (SDQ) and British ability scales (BAS) tests were
      administered during home interviews. Defined clinically relevant cut-offs on the
      SDQ and standardised scores for the BAS subscales were used. RESULTS: Boys and
      girls born to light drinkers were less likely to have high total difficulties
      (for boys 6.6% vs 9.6%, OR=0.67, for girls 4.3% vs 6.2%, OR=0.69) and
      hyperactivity (for boys 10.1% vs 13.4%, OR=0.73, for girls 5.5% vs 7.6%, OR=0.71)
      scores compared with those born to mothers in the not-in-pregnancy group. These
      differences were attenuated on adjustment for confounding and mediating factors.
      Boys and girls born to light drinkers had higher mean cognitive test scores
      compared with those born to mothers in the not-in-pregnancy group: for boys,
      naming vocabulary (58 vs 55), picture similarities (56 vs 55) and pattern
      construction (52 vs 50), for girls naming vocabulary (58 vs 56) and pattern
      construction (53 vs 52). Differences remained statistically significant for boys
      in naming vocabulary and picture similarities. CONCLUSIONS: At age 5 years cohort
      members born to mothers who drank up to 1-2 drinks per week or per occasion
      during pregnancy were not at increased risk of clinically relevant behavioural
      difficulties or cognitive deficits compared with children of mothers in the not
      in-pregnancy group.

PMID- 20924052
TI  - Marital history 1971-91 and mortality 1991-2004 in England & Wales and Finland.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Little is known about the effects of long-term marital history on
      mortality, and the relative importance of using marital history instead of
      baseline marital status in mortality analyses. No previous comparative studies on
      the associations of marital history and mortality exist. METHODS: Longitudinal
      data from England & Wales and from Finland were used to assess the effects of
      marital history, constructed from census records from years 1971, 1981 and 1991,
      on all-cause mortality in 1991-2004 among men and women aged >= 50 years. Data
      from England & Wales include 57,492 deaths; data from Finland include 424,602
      deaths. Poisson regression analysis was applied. RESULTS: Adding marital history
      into models including baseline marital status was statistically significant when
      explaining male mortality, while it was generally not important for female
      mortality. Adjusted for socio-demographic covariates, those consistently married
      with no record of marital break-up had the lowest mortality rates among both men
      and women aged 50-74 in both countries. Those never married, those divorced with
      a history of divorce and those widowed with a history of widowhood showed the
      highest mortality risks. Associations between marital history and mortality were
      weaker among those aged 75+. CONCLUSIONS: Consistent evidence in favour of both
      protective effects of long-lasting marriage and detrimental effects of marital
      dissolution were found. Studies would benefit from including marital history in
      the models instead of baseline marital status whenever possible, especially when
      studying male mortality.

PMID- 20924053
TI  - A comparative study of educational inequality in the risk of stillbirth in
      Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden 1981-2000.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The stillbirth rates in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden are among
      the lowest in the world, but socioeconomic disparities in stillbirth still exist.
      This study examined the educational patterns in the risk of stillbirth in
      Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden from 1981 to 2000. METHODS: From the national
      birth registries, all singleton live births and stillbirths with a gestational
      age of at least 28 weeks were selected in Denmark (n=1 182 888), Finland (n=419
      729), Norway (n=1 006 767) and Sweden (n=1 974 101). The births were linked with
      individual data on parental socioeconomic factors from various national
      registers. Linear and logistic regression were used to calculate RR and risk
      differences for stillbirth according to maternal educational attainment. RESULTS:
      The risk of stillbirth was lowest in Finland and highest in Denmark. The risk
      decreased over time in Denmark, Norway and Finland, but remained stable in
      Sweden. Educational gradients were found in all countries in all time periods
      under study. In Denmark, the gradient remained stable over time. In Norway the
      gradient decreased slightly during the 1990s, whereas the gradient increased in
      Sweden. The gradient in Finland was relatively stable. CONCLUSIONS: There were
      persisting educational inequalities in stillbirth in Denmark, Finland, Norway and
      Sweden in the 1980s and 1990s. Inequalities were stable or decreasing except in
      Sweden, where an increase in inequality was observed. This increase was not
      solely attributable to a decreasing absolute risk of stillbirth as both the
      relative and absolute measures of inequality increased.

PMID- 20924054
TI  - Exposure to parental mortality and markers of morbidity, and the risks of
      attempted and completed suicide in offspring: an analysis of sensitive life
      periods.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is evidence of parental risk factors for suicidal behaviour in
      offspring, but research on variations in their effects with offspring's age at
      first exposure is sparse. AIMS: To explore the effects of age at exposure to
      parental mortality and markers of morbidity on the risks of suicide and attempted
      suicide in offspring. METHODS: This was a case-control study effected through
      record linkage between Swedish registers. Individuals born 1973-83 who committed
      suicide (n=1407) or were hospitalised due to an attempted suicide (n=17 159) were
      matched to <=10 controls by sex, month and county of birth. ORs were measured in
      time windows representing age at first exposure. RESULTS: A general pattern of
      increasing risks of suicide and attempted suicide in offspring with decreasing
      age at exposure to parental risk factors emerged. Adjusted suicide risk (OR (95%
      CI)) was most pronounced in the youngest exposure window for parental psychiatric
      disability pension (3.1 (1.6 to 5.8)), somatic disability pension (1.9 (1.0 to
      3.4)), psychiatric inpatient care (2.5 (2.0 to 3.1)), parental attempted suicide
      (2.9 (2.0 to 4.1)) and suicide (2.9 (1.7 to 5.2)). For parental non-suicidal
      deaths, the general pattern was the opposite. Patterns in offspring attempted
      suicide were similar to completed suicide for parental disability pension,
      psychiatric inpatient care and non-suicidal death. Attempted suicide risk after
      parental suicide showed an increasing trend with increasing age at exposure.
      CONCLUSION: Parental morbidity and parental suicidal behaviour show the most
      detrimental effects on completed suicide among offspring when they appear early
      in life. Early interventions in families at risk are necessary to prevent suicide
      in offspring.

PMID- 20924055
TI  - Changes of occupational class differences in physical functioning: a panel study
      among employees (2000-2007).
AB  - BACKGROUND: Panel studies on changes of occupational class differences in health
      have given varying results. The aim of this study was to examine changes of
      occupational class differences in physical functioning and the factors that
      explain these changes. METHODS: A cohort of middle-aged employees of the City of
      Helsinki was followed up for an average of 6 years in two surveys from 2000-2002
      and 2007. Hierarchical linear random effects models were fitted to analyse the
      changes of occupational class differences in SF-36 physical functioning, as well
      as the contribution of physical and psychosocial working conditions, material
      conditions, health behaviours and employment status to these changes. RESULTS:
      Lower occupational classes had worse physical functioning at baseline: among
      women, the SF-36 scores ranged from 50.5 in the highest class to 47.1 in the
      lowest one, and among men from 52.2 to 48.9, with higher scores indicating better
      health. Occupational class differences widened during the follow-up due to
      stronger decline of physical functioning in the lower occupational classes than
      in the higher occupational classes. The largest difference in the decline of
      functioning between classes was 1.2 scores among women and 1.5 scores among men.
      Among women the widening of the class differences could be explained partly by
      health behaviours and employment status and among men by material conditions.
      CONCLUSION: Occupational class differences in physical functioning widened due to
      a faster decline of physical functioning in the lower occupational classes.
      Health behaviours, employment status and material conditions explained the
      widening class differences in physical functioning.

PMID- 20924056
TI  - 'No admittance to obese persons'.

PMID- 20924057
TI  - Propensity score matching approach to test the association of income inequality
      and mortality in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Support for the adverse effect of high income inequality on
      population health has come from studies that focus on larger areas, such as the
      US states, while studies at smaller geographical areas (eg, neighbourhoods) have
      found mixed results. METHODS: We used propensity score matching to examine the
      relationship between income inequality and mortality rates across 96
      neighbourhoods (distritos) of the municipality of Sao Paulo, Brazil. RESULTS:
      Prior to matching, higher income inequality distritos (Gini >= 0.25) had slightly
      lower overall mortality rates (2.23 per 10,000, 95% CI -23.92 to 19.46) compared
      to lower income inequality areas (Gini <0.25). After propensity score matching,
      higher inequality was associated with a statistically significant higher
      mortality rate (41.58 per 10,000, 95% CI 8.85 to 73.3). CONCLUSION: In Sao Paulo,
      the more egalitarian communities are among some of the poorest, with the worst
      health profiles. Propensity score matching was used to avoid inappropriate
      comparisons between the health status of unequal (but wealthy) neighbourhoods
      versus equal (but poor) neighbourhoods. Our methods suggest that, with proper
      accounting of heterogeneity between areas, income inequality is associated with
      worse population health in Sao Paulo.

PMID- 20924058
TI  - Data and safety monitoring plans and boards.

PMID- 20924059
TI  - Kenji Soda--researching enzymes with the spirit of an alpinist.
AB  - Like an alpinist continuously seeking virgin peaks to climb, Kenji Soda has
      investigated a variety of unique enzymes for which there was little or no
      information available; and by doing so he opened up a variety of new fields in
      enzyme science and technology. In particular, he has promoted the study of
      enzymes requiring vitamin B-derived cofactors such as FAD, NAD(P) and pyridoxal
      5'-phosphate, shedding light on their reaction mechanisms, enzymological
      properties, crystal structures and potential practical applications. Highlighted
      in this review are the studies of enzymes acting on d-amino acids and
      sulphur/selenium-containing amino acids and those from thermophilic and
      psychrophilic bacteria.

PMID- 20924060
TI  - Transfer function analysis of cerebral autoregulation dynamics during jaw
      movements.
AB  - Mastication as a mild but life-long exercise has been examined as a possibility
      for maintaining brain function in the elderly. Little is known, however, about
      the cerebral circulatory response during masticatory movement. The aim of this
      study was to develop a monitoring system for circulation dynamics during
      masticatory movement and to apply this system to the study of cerebral
      autoregulation. Cerebral blood flow, heart rate, and arterial blood pressure were
      simultaneously recorded, and changes in these circulatory systems were
      quantitatively evaluated in 38 young healthy volunteers. Transfer function
      analysis was also performed on blood pressure and cerebral blood flow for
      investigation of cerebral autoregulation during gum chewing. Although increases
      in cerebral blood flow, mean blood pressure, and heart rate suggested the
      activation of cerebral and systemic circulation during gum chewing, increased
      cerebral circulation was independent of systemic circulation. Our results suggest
      that cerebral autoregulation is well maintained during jaw movements.

PMID- 20924061
TI  - The role of bacteria in the caries process: ecological perspectives.
AB  - Dental biofilms produce acids from carbohydrates that result in caries. According
      to the extended caries ecological hypothesis, the caries process consists of 3
      reversible stages. The microflora on clinically sound enamel surfaces contains
      mainly non-mutans streptococci and Actinomyces, in which acidification is mild
      and infrequent. This is compatible with equilibrium of the
      demineralization/remineralization balance or shifts the mineral balance toward
      net mineral gain (dynamic stability stage). When sugar is supplied frequently,
      acidification becomes moderate and frequent. This may enhance the acidogenicity
      and acidurance of the non-mutans bacteria adaptively. In addition, more aciduric
      strains, such as 'low-pH' non-mutans streptococci, may increase selectively.
      These microbial acid-induced adaptation and selection processes may, over time,
      shift the demineralization/remineralization balance toward net mineral loss,
      leading to initiation/progression of dental caries (acidogenic stage). Under
      severe and prolonged acidic conditions, more aciduric bacteria become dominant
      through acid-induced selection by temporary acid-impairment and acid-inhibition
      of growth (aciduric stage). At this stage, mutans streptococci and lactobacilli
      as well as aciduric strains of non-mutans streptococci, Actinomyces,
      bifidobacteria, and yeasts may become dominant. Many acidogenic and aciduric
      bacteria are involved in caries. Environmental acidification is the main
      determinant of the phenotypic and genotypic changes that occur in the microflora
      during caries.

PMID- 20924062
TI  - Loaded microplasma-sprayed CaP-coated implants in vivo.
AB  - Microplasma spray equipment to deposit calcium phosphate ceramic (CaP) coatings
      has been developed. Fifty-six titanium implants were inserted into the mandibles
      of 7 adult beagle dogs. The implants were either acid-etched (NC), conventionally
      plasma-sprayed (PS), micro-plasma-sprayed (MPS), or micro-plasma-sprayed (aMPS)
      only at the apical part. After 6 weeks, implants in one half of the mandible were
      subjected to load. Fifty-two weeks thereafter, the animals were killed.
      Regardless of load, bone healing was comparable for all surfaces tested. It was
      concluded that loading of MPS CaP-coated implants evokes a favorable bone
      response, and that the bone response does not differ from that of PS CaP-coated
      implants. However, functional loading of PS as well as MPS CaP-coated implants
      might be associated with increased crestal bone maintenance as compared with non
      coated implants.

PMID- 20924064
TI  - Genetic etiology and dental pulp cell deficiency of hypophosphatasia.
AB  - Hypophosphatasia is caused by mutations of the tissue-non-specific alkaline
      phosphatase (TNSALP) gene with deficiency of dentin structure. The aim of this
      study was to examine whether TNSALP mutation in dental pulp cells contributes to
      dentin dysplasia in hypophosphatasia. Mutation analysis showed that compound
      heterozygous mutations of TNSALP were identified in three hypophosphatasia
      patients, including 3 novel mutation sites. Exfoliated teeth from the patients
      showed abnormal dentin mineralization and loss of cementum, as assessed by ground
      sections and scanning electron microscope analysis. Dental pulp cells isolated
      from one of the patients showed a significantly reduced TNSALP activity and
      mineralization capacity when compared with those in dental pulp cells from the
      unaffected individuals. Our results suggested that dentin dysplasia in
      hypophosphatasia may be associated with the decreased mineralization ability of
      dental pulp cells.

PMID- 20924065
TI  - Crystallization of high-strength fine-sized leucite glass-ceramics.
AB  - Manufacturing of leucite glass-ceramics often leads to materials with
      inhomogeneous microstructures. Crystal-glass thermal mismatches which produce
      microcracking around larger crystals-agglomerates are associated with reduced
      mechanical properties. The hypotheses were that fine (< 1 um) crystal size and
      uniform microstructure in a thermally matched glass would increase the biaxial
      flexural strength (BFS). Glass was synthesized, attritor-milled, and heat
      treated. Glasses and glass-ceramics were characterized by XRD, SEM, and
      Dilatometry. Experimental (A, M1A and M2A) and commercial glass-ceramics were
      tested by the BFS test. Experimental glass-ceramics showed an increased leucite
      crystal number and decreased crystal size with glass particle size reduction.
      Leucite glass-ceramics (< 1 um) showed minimal matrix microcracking and BFS
      values of [mean (SD) MPa]: M1A = 253.8 (53.3); and M2A = 219.5 (54.1). Glass
      ceramics M1A and M2A had higher mean BFS and characteristic strength than the IPS
      Empress Esthetic glass-ceramic (p < 0.05). Fine-grained, translucent leucite
      glass-ceramics were synthesized and produced high mean BFS.

PMID- 20924063
TI  - Recent advances and developments in composite dental restorative materials.
AB  - Composite dental restorations represent a unique class of biomaterials with
      severe restrictions on biocompatibility, curing behavior, esthetics, and ultimate
      material properties. These materials are presently limited by shrinkage and
      polymerization-induced shrinkage stress, limited toughness, the presence of
      unreacted monomer that remains following the polymerization, and several other
      factors. Fortunately, these materials have been the focus of a great deal of
      research in recent years with the goal of improving restoration performance by
      changing the initiation system, monomers, and fillers and their coupling agents,
      and by developing novel polymerization strategies. Here, we review the general
      characteristics of the polymerization reaction and recent approaches that have
      been taken to improve composite restorative performance.

PMID- 20924066
TI  - ALK5 inhibition blocks TGFbeta-induced CCN2 expression in gingival fibroblasts.
AB  - Connective tissue growth factor (CCN2/CTGF) is not normally expressed in gingival
      fibroblasts, but is induced by the potent profibrotic cytokine TGFbeta and is
      overexpressed in gingival fibrosis. Since CCN2 is a marker and mediator of
      fibrosis, targeting CCN2 expression in gingival fibroblasts may provide new
      insights into the future development of novel therapeutic opportunities to treat
      oral fibrosis. Herein we used real-time polymerase chain-reaction, Western blot,
      and indirect immunofluorescence analysis to evaluate whether SB-431542, a
      specific pharmacological inhibitor of TGFbeta type I receptor (ALK5), blocks the
      ability of TGFbeta to induce CCN2 mRNA and protein expression in human gingival
      fibroblasts. Our results indicate that CCN2 mRNA and protein are induced by
      TGFbeta in gingival fibroblasts in a SB-431542-sensitive fashion. These results
      suggest that blocking ALK5 may be useful in blocking the profibrotic effects of
      TGFbeta in gingival fibroblasts.

PMID- 20924067
TI  - Oral health literacy among female caregivers: impact on oral health outcomes in
      early childhood.
AB  - The aim of this study was to investigate the association of female caregivers'
      oral health literacy with their knowledge, behaviors, and the reported oral
      health status of their young children. Data on caregivers' literacy, knowledge,
      behaviors, and children's oral health status were used from structured interviews
      with 1158 caregiver/child dyads from a low-income population. Literacy was
      measured with REALD-30. Caregivers' and children's median ages were 25 yrs (range
      = 17-65) and 15 mos (range = 1-59), respectively. The mean literacy score was
      15.8 (SD = 5.3; range = 1-30). Adjusted for age, education, and number of
      children, low literacy scores (< 13 REALD-30) were associated with decreased
      knowledge (OR = 1.86; 95% CI = 1.41, 2.45) and poorer reported oral health status
      (OR = 1.44; 95% CI = 1.02, 2.05). Lower caregiver literacy was associated with
      deleterious oral health behaviors, including nighttime bottle use and no daily
      brushing/cleaning. Caregiver oral health literacy has a multidimensional impact
      on reported oral health outcomes in infants and young children.

PMID- 20924068
TI  - Biofilms inducing ultra-low friction on titanium.
AB  - Biofilm formation is widely reported in the literature as a problem in the
      healthcare, environmental, and industrial sectors. However, the role of biofilms
      in sliding contacts remains unclear. Friction during sliding was analyzed for
      titanium covered with mixed biofilms consisting of Streptococcus mutans and
      Candida albicans. The morphology of biofilms on titanium surfaces was evaluated
      before, during, and after sliding tests. Very low friction was recorded on
      titanium immersed in artificial saliva and sliding against alumina in the
      presence of biofilms. The complex structure of biofilms, which consist of
      microbial cells and their hydrated exopolymeric matrix, acts like a lubricant. A
      low friction in sliding contacts may have major significance in the medical
      field. The composition and structure of biofilms are shown to be key factors for
      an understanding of friction behavior of dental implant connections and
      prosthetic joints. For instance, a loss of mechanical integrity of dental implant
      internal connections may occur as a consequence of the decrease in friction
      caused by biofilm formation. Consequently, the study of the exopolymeric matrix
      can be important for the development of high-performance novel joint-based
      systems for medical and other engineering applications.

PMID- 20924070
TI  - Metabolomics of supragingival plaque and oral bacteria.
AB  - Dental caries is initiated by demineralization of the tooth surface through acid
      production by sugar metabolism of supragingival plaque microflora. To elucidate
      the sugar metabolic system, we used CE-MS to perform metabolomics of the central
      carbon metabolism, the EMP pathway, the pentose-phosphate pathway, and the TCA
      cycle in supra- gingival plaque and representative oral bacteria, Streptococcus
      and Actinomyces. Supragingival plaque contained all the targeted metabolites in
      the central carbon metabolism, except erythrose 4-phosphate in the pentose
      phosphate pathway. After glucose rinse, glucose 6-phosphate, fructose 6
      phosphate, fructose 1,6-bisphosphate, dihydroxyacetone phosphate, and pyruvate in
      the EMP pathway and 6-phosphogluconate, ribulose 5-phosphate, and sedoheptulose 7
      phosphate in the pentose-phosphate pathway, and acetyl CoA were increased.
      Meanwhile, 3-phosphoglycerate and phosphoenolpyruvate in the EMP pathway and
      succinate, fumarate, and malate in the TCA cycle were decreased. These pathways
      and changes in metabolites observed in supragingival plaque were similar to the
      integration of metabolite profiles in Streptococcus and Actinomyces.

PMID- 20924071
TI  - FAK pathway regulates PGE2 production in compressed periodontal ligament cells.
AB  - This study examined the role of focal adhesion kinase (FAK) as a mechanoreceptor
      in human periodontal ligament (hPDL) cells. hPDL cells were obtained from
      premolars extracted for orthodontic purposes. Mechanical stress was applied in a
      compressive manner (2 g/cm(2)) for various time durations (0.5, 2, 6, 24, 48 hrs)
      with or without a knockdown treatment for FAK. Compressive stimulation increased
      the level of phosphorylated FAK and prostaglandin E(2) production. The FAK
      knockdown cells showed significantly lower prostaglandin E(2) levels than the
      control cells. Furthermore, compressive stress up-regulated cyclo-oxygenase-2
      mRNA, whereas there were no changes observed in the FAK-knockdown cells. These
      results suggest that FAK regulates the production of prostaglandin E(2) via the
      transcriptional regulation of COX-2 mRNA in compressive stimulated PDL cells. The
      FAK-integrin complex plays a role in mechanoreception and mechanotransduction in
      hPDL cells.

PMID- 20924069
TI  - Aging and bone.
AB  - Bones provide mechanical and protective function, while also serving as housing
      for marrow and a site for regulation of calcium ion homeostasis. The properties
      of bones do not remain constant with age; rather, they change throughout life, in
      some cases improving in function, but in others, function deteriorates. Here we
      review the modifications in the mechanical function and shape of bones, the bone
      cells, the matrix they produce, and the mineral that is deposited on this matrix,
      while presenting recent theories about the factors leading to these changes.

PMID- 20924072
TI  - Clinical and genetic characterization of classical forms of familial adenomatous
      polyposis: a Spanish population study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Classical familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) is characterized by
      the appearance of >100 colorectal adenomas. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We screened the
      APC and MUTYH genes for mutations and evaluated the genotype-phenotype
      correlation in 136 Spanish classical FAP families. RESULTS: APC/MUTYH mutations
      were detected in 107 families. Sixty-four distinct APC point mutations were
      detected in 95 families of which all were truncating mutations. A significant
      proportion (39.6%) had not been previously reported. Mutations were spread over
      the entire coding region and great rearrangements were identified in six
      families. Another six families exhibited biallelic MUTYH mutations. No APC or
      MUTYH mutations were detected in 29 families. These APC/MUTYH-negative families
      showed clinical differences with the APC-positive families. A poor correlation
      between phenotype and mutation site was observed. CONCLUSIONS: Our results
      highlight that a broad approach in the genetic study must be considered for
      classical FAP due to involvement of both APC and MUTYH and the heterogeneous
      spectrum of APC mutations observed in this Spanish population. The scarcely
      consistent genotype-phenotype correlation does not allow making specific
      recommendations regarding screening and management. Differences observed in
      APC/MUTYH-negative families may reflect a genetic basis other than mutations in
      APC and MUTYH genes for FAP predisposition.

PMID- 20924073
TI  - Breast cancer screening case-control study design: impact on breast cancer
      mortality.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Recent case-control studies on the effectiveness of population-based
      breast cancer screening show differences in the magnitude of breast cancer
      mortality reduction. We investigated the role played by aspects of the case
      control study design on these differences, e.g. the definition of cases and
      exposure to screening. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We investigated six case-control
      studies conducted in East Anglia (UK), Wales, Iceland, central and northern
      Italy, South Australia and The Netherlands. RESULTS: The breast cancer mortality
      reduction in the different case-control studies ranged from 38% to 70% in the
      screened versus the nonscreened women. We identified differences in design, e.g.
      the inclusion or exclusion of the first years of screening, and the correction
      factor for self-selection bias. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, the design of the case
      control studies was similar. The differences in the magnitude of breast cancer
      mortality reductions are therefore unlikely to be caused by variations in the
      design of the case-control studies. These differences must be due to other
      factors, like the organisation of the service screening programme and the
      attendance rate. The reduction in breast cancer mortality estimated in these case
      control studies indicates that the impact of current mammographic screening is at
      least consistent with the effect reported by the former randomised screening
      trials.

PMID- 20924074
TI  - Serum levels of selenium in patients with breast cancer before and after
      treatment of external beam radiotherapy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To evaluate the influence of radiotherapy on the selenium serum
      levels of breast cancer patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This prospective study
      includes 209 breast cancer patients treated by external beam radiotherapy from
      December 2007 until August 2008. Plasma selenium concentrations were determined
      before and at the end of the radiotherapeutic treatment. Age, clinical stage,
      prior chemotherapy, body mass index (BMI) and personal habits (smoking and
      alcoholism) were recorded for each patient. RESULTS: The mean age was 61 years;
      the mean BMI was 28.7. One hundred and seventy-four patients (83.3%) were
      nonsmokers. One hundred and eighty-nine patients (90.4%) showed no drinking
      habits and 110 (52.6%) have no prior chemotherapy. Sixty patients (28.7%) were in
      clinical stage I, 141 (67.5%) in clinical stage II and 8 (3.8%) in clinical stage
      III. At the beginning of radiotherapy, the mean selenium value for all patients
      was 86.4 MUg/l and after radiation this value dropped to 47.8 MUg/l. Multivariate
      analysis showed statistically significant difference in the plasma selenium
      concentration before and after radiotherapy for age (P > 0.001), BMI (P > 0.001),
      smoking (P > 0.001), alcoholism (P > 0.001), chemotherapy (P > 0.001) and
      clinical stage (P > 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Significant reduction in plasma levels
      of selenium is recorded in patients undergoing radiotherapy, suggesting attention
      to the nutritional status of this micronutrient and other antioxidant agents.

PMID- 20924075
TI  - Double heterozygosity in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes in the Jewish population.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The frequency and characteristics of disease in individuals who
      concomitantly harbor pathogenic mutations in both BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes are not
      established. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data were collected from the database of
      Clalit Health Services National Familial Cancer Consultation Service. Probands
      referred to this clinical service and their family members are routinely tested
      for the three Jewish founder mutations (BRCA1: 185delAG, 5382insC, BRCA2:
      6174delT). In addition, carriers identified in a population-based cohort of all
      cases diagnosed with breast cancer in Israel in 1987-1988 allowed the estimation
      of the population frequency of this phenomenon. RESULTS: In the clinic-based
      series of 1191 carriers of mutations in BRCA1 or BRCA2 belonging to 567 families,
      22 males and females (1.85%) from 17 different families (3.0%) were found to
      harbor two different mutations. These included 18 individuals (1.51%) who
      concomitantly carried the 185delAG BRCA1 and the 6174delT BRCA2 mutations and
      four individuals (0.34%) who carried the 5382insC BRCA1 and the 6174delT
      mutations. All individuals were heterozygote carriers and none had a double
      mutation of both founder mutations in the BRCA1 gene itself. Seven of the 16
      double carrier women (46.7%) had a personal history of breast carcinoma,
      diagnosed at a mean age of 44.6, compared with 372/926 (40.2%) carriers of a
      single mutation diagnosed with a mean age at diagnosis of 48.1 [odds ratio
      (OR)=1.3, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.4-4.0]. One case (6.7%) had a personal
      history of ovarian carcinoma diagnosed at the age of 53 compared with 55/926
      (5.9%) of the women with single mutation (OR=1.1, CI=0.2-7.6). The frequency of
      double mutations in the population-based national breast cancer cohort was 2.2%
      of all carriers, and 0.3% of all breast cancer cases in the Ashkenazi population
      in the cohort. The mean age at diagnosis of breast cancer was younger in the
      carriers of two mutations. CONCLUSION: Double carriers of mutations in the BRCA
      genes are rare and seem to be carrying a similar probability of developing breast
      and ovarian cancers as carriers of single mutations.

PMID- 20924076
TI  - Platinum-based chemotherapy in metastatic triple-negative breast cancer: the
      Institut Curie experience.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although recent experimental data strongly suggest that platinum
      based chemotherapy (PBCT) could improve the outcome of triple-negative breast
      cancer (TNBC), clinical data are lacking. Here, the authors reviewed clinical
      outcome in patients with metastatic TNBC treated with PBCT. PATIENTS AND METHODS:
      We conducted a retrospective analysis of all patients (N=143) treated for
      metastatic breast cancer with PBCT between 2000 and 2008, at Institut Curie,
      Paris, France. Ninety-three of them (63.7%) had TNBC. One-hundred twenty patients
      received cisplatin (CDDP). The main combination used was CDDP-ifosfamide, in 101
      patients (70.2%). RESULTS: Median follow-up was 44 months. For the overall
      population (N=143), median overall survival (OS) and median progression-free
      survival (PFS) were 11 and 5 months, respectively. Objective response rate was
      33.3% in the TNBC group versus 22% in non-TNBC, P=0.1. We observed no difference
      of OS, PFS and response duration. Other prognostic factors for poor OS were
      visceral metastasis sites (P<0.001). One patient died from sepsis during aplasia,
      15 had to switch from CDDP to carboplatin because of CDDP-related toxicity.
      CONCLUSIONS: Metastatic TNBC patients treated with PBCT tended to have a higher
      response rate, without a significant improvement of PFS or OS, compared with
      other subtypes. Toxicity was acceptable. Longer observation and further analysis
      are warranted.

PMID- 20924077
TI  - Impact of expression differences of kallikrein-related peptidases and of uPA and
      PAI-1 between primary tumor and omentum metastasis in advanced ovarian cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Primary tumor levels of serine proteases of the kallikrein-related
      peptidases (KLK) family as well as urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) and
      its inhibitor PAI-1 impact disease course in ovarian cancer. The changes in
      levels of these factors from primary tumor to omentum metastasis ('level
      differentials') could thus be associated with metastastic processes. PATIENTS AND
      METHODS: Protein levels of seven tissue KLK (KLK5-8, 10, 11, 13), uPA, and PAI-1
      were determined in extracts of primary tumor tissue and corresponding omentum
      metastasis of 54 ovarian cancer patients. RESULTS: Higher level differentials of
      KLK5-8, 10-11, and uPA were associated with residual tumor >10 mm. Residual tumor
      and larger level differentials of KLK5-7, 10, and uPA were associated with
      disease progression in the whole cohort. Remarkably, level differentials of KLK5
      8 and 10-11 strongly impacted disease progression even in patients with residual
      tumor mass <=10 mm; hence, the observed impact of level differentials in KLK5-7
      and 10 on disease progression was not simply attributable to their association
      with surgical success. CONCLUSION: Since they impact both surgical outcome and
      survival in advanced ovarian cancer, measurement of level differentials could
      support clinical decisions on surgical and systemic therapy or help in patient
      selection for novel targeted therapies.

PMID- 20924078
TI  - Clinical evaluation of AZD1152, an i.v. inhibitor of Aurora B kinase, in patients
      with solid malignant tumors.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To determine, for each of two dosing schedules, the dose-limiting
      toxicity (DLT) and maximum-tolerated dose (MTD) of AZD1152, an Aurora B kinase
      inhibitor, and to evaluate its safety, biologic activity and pharmacokinetics
      (PK). PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients with advanced solid malignancies were
      treated with escalating doses (100-650 mg) of AZD1152, administered as a 2-h
      infusion every 7 days (A) or 14 days (B). Adverse events (AEs), PK variables and
      tumor response were assessed. RESULTS: Fifty-nine patients were treated; 19 in
      schedule A and 40 in schedule B. The MTDs were 200 and 450 mg, respectively.
      Neutropenia (with/without fever) was the most frequent AE and DLT in each
      schedule. Common Terminology Criteria of Adverse Events version 3.0 grade >=3
      neutropenia and leukopenia occurred in 58% and 11% of patients, respectively, in
      schedule A and 43% and 20%, respectively, in schedule B. No objective tumor
      responses were observed at any dose or schedule, although stable disease, as
      defined by RECIST, was achieved in 15 patients (25%) overall. Systemic exposure
      to AZD1152-hQPA (active drug) was observed by 1 h into the infusion and exhibited
      linear PK. CONCLUSIONS: AZD1152 was generally well tolerated with neutropenia
      being the most frequently reported AE and DLT. Exposure to AZD1152-hQPA, the
      active drug of AZD1152, was linear.

PMID- 20924079
TI  - Quality of life during the course of cancer treatment in older newly diagnosed
      patients. Results of a prospective pilot study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of this prospective study was to report the quality of life
      (QoL) of older cancer patients during the first year after diagnosis and factors
      influencing QoL. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Newly diagnosed patients aged >=65 years
      were recruited for a pilot prospective cohort study at the Jewish General
      Hospital, Montreal, Canada. Participants were interviewed at baseline, and at
      1.5, 3, 4.5, 6, and 12 months. QoL was assessed at each interview using the
      European Organization for the Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life
      Core Questionnaire with 30 items. Logistic regression was conducted to determine
      which sociodemographic, health, and functional status characteristics were
      associated with decline in global health status/QoL between baseline and 12-month
      follow-up. RESULTS: There were 112 participants at baseline (response rate 72%),
      median age of 74.1, and 70% were women. Between baseline and 12-month follow-up
      (n=78), 18 participants (23.1%) declined >=10 points in global health status/QoL,
      while 34 participants (43.6%) remained stable and 23 participants (33.3%)
      improved >=10 points. None of the sociodemographic, health, and functional status
      variables were associated with decline in logistic regression analyses.
      CONCLUSION: Almost 25% of older adults experienced clinically relevant decline in
      their QoL. Further research is needed on which factors influence decline in QoL
      in older adults.

PMID- 20924080
TI  - Indoor air pollution from biomass burning activates Akt in airway cells and
      peripheral blood lymphocytes: a study among premenopausal women in rural India.
AB  - Biomass burning is a major source of indoor air pollution in rural India. The
      authors investigated in this study whether cumulative exposures to biomass smoke
      cause activation of the serine/threonine kinase Akt in airway cells and
      peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL). For this, the authors enrolled 87
      premenopausal (median age 34 years), nonsmoking women who used to cook with
      biomass (wood, dung, crop wastes) and 85 age-matched control women who cooked
      with cleaner fuel liquefied petroleum gas. Immunocytochemical and immunoblotting
      assays revealed significantly higher levels of phosphorylated forms of Akt
      protein (p-Akt(ser473) and p-Akt(thr308)) in PBL, airway epithelial cells,
      alveolar macrophages, and neutrophils in sputum of biomass-using women than
      control. Akt activation in biomass users was associated with marked rise in
      generation of reactive oxygen species and concomitant depletion of superoxide
      dismutase. Measurement of particulate matter having a diameter of less than 10
      and 2.5 um in indoor air by real-time aerosol monitor showed 2 to 4 times more
      particulate pollution in biomass-using households, and Akt activation was
      positively associated with particulate pollution after controlling potential
      confounders. The findings suggest that chronic exposure to biomass smoke
      activates Akt, possibly via generation of oxidative stress.

PMID- 20924081
TI  - Thyroid follicular lesions induced by oral treatment for 2 years with 2,3,7,8
      tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin and dioxin-like compounds in female Harlan Sprague
      Dawley rats.
AB  - 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) and structurally-similar dioxin-like
      compounds affect thyroid function and morphology and thyroid hormone metabolism
      in animals and humans. The National Toxicology Program conducted eight 2-year
      gavage studies in female Harlan Sprague-Dawley rats to determine the relative
      potency of chronic toxicity and carcinogenicity of TCDD, 3,3',4,4',5
      pentachlorobiphenyl (PCB126), 2,3,4,7,8-pentachlorodibenzofuran (PeCDF),
      2,3',4,4',5-pentachlorobiphenyl (PCB118), 2,2',4,4',5,5'-hexachloro-biphenyl
      (PCB153), a tertiary mixture of TCDD/PCB126/PeCDF, and two binary mixtures
      (PCB126/PCB153 and PCB126/PCB118). Administration of these compounds was
      associated with increased incidences of thyroid follicular cell hypertrophy,
      variably observed in the 14-, 31-, and 53-week interim and 2-year sacrifice
      groups. In all studies, the incidences of follicular cell adenoma and carcinoma
      were not increased. Decreased levels of serum thyroxine were primarily noted in
      the 14-or-later -week interim groups of all chemicals. Serum triiodothyronine
      (T3) levels were increased in the TCDD, PCB126, PeCDF, TCDD/PCB126/PeCDF, and
      PCB126/PCB153 studies, while decreased levels were noted in the PCB153 and
      PCB126/PCB118 studies. TCDD, PCB126, PCB126/PCB153, and PCB126/PCB118 increased
      levels of serum thyroid-stimulating hormone almost in a dose-dependent manner in
      the 14-week groups. These data suggest that although dioxin-like compounds alter
      thyroid hormones and increase follicular cell hyperplasia, there is not an
      increase in thyroid adenoma or carcinoma in female Sprague-Dawley rats.

PMID- 20924082
TI  - Recommendations for pathology peer review.
AB  - Pathology peer review verifies and improves the accuracy and quality of pathology
      diagnoses and interpretations. Pathology peer review is recommended when
      important risk assessment or business decisions are based on nonclinical studies.
      For pathology peer review conducted before study completion, the peer-review
      pathologist reviews sufficient slides and pathology data to assist the study
      pathologist in refining pathology diagnoses and interpretations. Materials to be
      reviewed are selected by the peer-review pathologist. Consultations with
      additional experts or a formal (documented) pathology working group may be used
      to resolve discrepancies. The study pathologist is solely responsible for the
      content of the final pathology data and report, makes changes resulting from peer
      review discussions, initiates the audit trail for microscopic observations after
      all changes resulting from peer-review have been made, and signs the final
      pathologist's report. The peer-review pathologist creates a signed peer-review
      memo describing the peer-review process and confirming that the study
      pathologist's report accurately and appropriately reflects the pathology data.
      The study pathologist also may sign a statement of consensus. It is not necessary
      to archive working notes created during the peer-review process.

PMID- 20924083
TI  - Evaluating the roles of energetic functional constraints on teleost mitochondrial
      encoded protein evolution.
AB  - Mitochondria are the power plant of cells, which play critical roles not only in
      energy metabolism but also in thermoregulation. These two roles have been
      individually suggested to influence mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) evolution, however
      their relative importance is still rarely considered. Here, we conduct a
      comparative genomic analysis of 401 teleost complete mitochondrial genomes and
      test the roles of these dual functional constraints on mitochondria to provide a
      more complete view of mtDNA evolution. We found that mitochondrial protein-coding
      genes of migratory fishes have significantly smaller Ka/Ks than nonmigratory
      fishes. The same data set showed that the genes of fishes living in cold climates
      have significantly smaller Ka/Ks than tropical fishes. In contrast, these trends
      were not observed for two nuclear genes that are not involved in energy
      metabolism. The differences in selection patterns observed between mitochondrial
      and nuclear genes suggest that the functional constraints acting on mitochondria,
      due to energy metabolism and/or thermoregulation, influence the evolution of
      mitochondrial-encoded proteins in teleosts.

PMID- 20924084
TI  - Differential evolution of voltage-gated sodium channels in tetrapods and teleost
      fishes.
AB  - The voltage-gated sodium channel (SCN) alpha subunits are large proteins with
      central roles in the generation of action potentials. They consist of
      approximately 2,000 amino acids encoded by 24-27 exons. Previous evolutionary
      studies have been unable to reconcile the proposed gene duplication schemes with
      the species distribution and molecular phylogeny of the genes. We have carefully
      annotated the complete SCN gene sequences, correcting numerous database errors,
      for a broad range of vertebrate species and analyzed their phylogenetic
      relationships. We have also compared the chromosomal positions of the SCN genes
      relative to adjacent gene families. Our studies show that the ancestor of the
      vertebrates probably had a single sodium channel gene with two characteristic AT
      AC introns, the second of which is unique to vertebrate SCN genes. This ancestral
      gene, located close to a HOX gene cluster, was quadrupled along with HOX in the
      two rounds of basal vertebrate tetraploidizations to generate the ancestors of
      the four channels SCN1A, SCN4A, SCN5A, and SCN8A. The third tetraploidization in
      the teleost fish ancestor doubled this set of genes and all eight are still
      present in at least three of four investigated teleost fish genomes. In
      tetrapods, the gene family expanded by local duplications before the radiation of
      amniotes, generating the cluster SCN5A, SCN10A, and SCN11A on one chromosome and
      the cluster SCN1A, SCN2A, SCN3A, and SCN9A on a different chromosome. In
      eutherian mammals, a tenth gene, SCN7A, arose in a local duplication in the SCN1A
      gene cluster. The SCN7A gene has undergone rapid evolution and has lost the
      ability to cause action potentials-instead, it functions as a sodium sensor. The
      three genes in the SCN5A cluster were translocated from the HOX-bearing
      chromosome in a mammalian ancestor along with several adjacent genes. This
      evolutionary scenario is supported by the adjacent TGF-beta receptor superfamily
      (comprised of five distinct families) and the cysteine-serine-rich nuclear
      protein gene family as well as the HOX clusters. The independent expansions of
      the SCN repertoires in tetrapods and teleosts suggest that the functional
      diversification may differ between the two lineages.

PMID- 20924085
TI  - Molecular evolution and network-level analysis of the N-glycosylation metabolic
      pathway across primates.
AB  - N-glycosylation is one of the most important forms of protein modification,
      serving key biological functions in multicellular organisms. N-glycans at the
      cell surface mediate the interaction between cells and the surrounding matrix and
      may act as pathogen receptors, making the genes responsible for their synthesis
      good candidates to show signatures of adaptation to different pathogen
      environments. Here, we study the forces that shaped the evolution of the genes
      involved in the synthesis of the N-glycans during the divergence of primates
      within the framework of their functional network. We have found that, despite
      their function of producing glycan repertoires capable of evading rapidly
      evolving pathogens, genes involved in the synthesis of the glycans are highly
      conserved, and no signals of positive selection have been detected within the
      time of divergence of primates. This suggests strong functional constraints as
      the main force driving their evolution. We studied the strength of the purifying
      selection acting on the genes in relation to the network structure considering
      the position of each gene along the pathway, its connectivity, and the rates of
      evolution in neighboring genes. We found a strong and highly significant negative
      correlation between the strength of purifying selection and the connectivity of
      each gene, indicating that genes encoding for highly connected enzymes evolve
      slower and thus are subject to stronger selective constraints. This result
      confirms that network topology does shape the evolution of the genes and that the
      connectivity within metabolic pathways and networks plays a major role in
      constraining evolutionary rates.

PMID- 20924086
TI  - Methylation-associated silencing of microRNA-34b/c in gastric cancer and its
      involvement in an epigenetic field defect.
AB  - Altered expression of microRNA (miRNA) is strongly implicated in cancer, and
      recent studies have shown that the silencing of some miRNAs is associated with
      CpG island hypermethylation. To identify epigenetically silenced miRNAs in
      gastric cancer (GC), we screened for miRNAs induced by treatment with 5-aza-2'
      deoxycytidine and 4-phenylbutyrate. We found that miR-34b and miR-34c are
      epigenetically silenced in GC and that their downregulation is associated with
      hypermethylation of the neighboring CpG island. Methylation of the miR-34b/c CpG
      island was frequently observed in GC cell lines (13/13, 100%) but not in normal
      gastric mucosa from Helicobacter pylori-negative healthy individuals.
      Transfection of a precursor of miR-34b and miR-34c into GC cells induced growth
      suppression and dramatically changed the gene expression profile. Methylation of
      miR-34b/c was found in a majority of primary GC specimens (83/118, 70%). Notably,
      analysis of non-cancerous gastric mucosae from GC patients (n = 109) and healthy
      individuals (n = 85) revealed that methylation levels are higher in gastric
      mucosae from patients with multiple GC than in mucosae from patients with single
      GC (27.3 versus 20.8%; P < 0.001) or mucosae from H. pylori-positive healthy
      individuals (27.3 versus 20.7%; P < 0.001). These results suggest that miR-34b
      and miR-34c are novel tumor suppressors frequently silenced by DNA methylation in
      GC, that methylation of miR-34b/c is involved in an epigenetic field defect and
      that the methylation might be a predictive marker of GC risk.

PMID- 20924087
TI  - Putative role of TNF-alpha, interleukin-8 and ICAM-1 as indicators of an early
      inflammatory reaction after burn: a morphological and immunohistochemical study
      of lung tissue of fire victims.
AB  - AIMS: To investigate incipient inflammatory changes as first steps in the
      development of a systematic inflammatory response syndrome in the lungs of burn
      victims. METHODS: At the Institute of Legal Medicine of the University Hospital
      of Freiburg a collection of 40 forensic autopsy cases of burn victims was
      established that had died within 1 h after fire exposure. This group was compared
      with a total of 48 autopsy cases in three control groups (postmortem burns vs
      deaths from haemorrhagic shock vs railway suicide deaths). In all cases,
      immunohistochemical studies of lung tissue probes were performed to detect the
      presence of pro-inflammatory mediators using antibodies against tumour necrosis
      factor alpha (TNF-alpha), interleukin-8 (IL-8) and inter-cellular adhesion
      molecule 1 (ICAM-1). RESULTS: The lungs of burn victims showed a significantly
      higher extent of intra-alveolar oedema than the other groups.
      Immunohistochemically, macrophages in all groups mostly showed a distinct
      expression of TNF-alpha, but not of IL-8 or ICAM-1. Interestingly, intravascular
      erythrocytes often showed a positivity of TNF-alpha that was strongest in the
      group of burn victims and differed significantly from all the control groups.
      CONCLUSIONS: In burn victims with short survival times of <=1 h after fire
      exposure, the immunohistochemical expression profiles of TNF-alpha, IL-8 and ICAM
      1 in the lungs were not altered enough to prove an instant inflammatory reaction
      in these cases. Nevertheless, the positive reaction of TNF-alpha in erythrocytes
      of burn victims may indicate the beginning of a non-specific immune response to
      fire-induced inhalation trauma.

PMID- 20924088
TI  - Chromosomal integration of the HHV-6 genome as a possible cause of HHV-6
      detection in cardiac tissues.

PMID- 20924089
TI  - Xerostomia, hyposalivation and sialadenitis in patients with chronic hepatitis C
      are not associated with the detection of HCV RNA in saliva or salivary glands.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Salivary gland disorders in patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC)
      have been considered oral extrahepatic manifestations, reinforcing the hepatitis
      C virus (HCV) as a sialotropic virus. Hence, the authors investigated the
      prevalence of HCV RNA in saliva and salivary glands and its possible association
      with xerostomia, hyposalivation and sialadenitis in patients with CHC. PATIENTS
      AND METHODS: In 65 patients with confirmed CHC, the HCV RNA was investigated by
      nested RT-PCR in saliva samples and minor salivary glands. Xerostomia,
      hyposalivation, clinical and histopathological evidence of sialadenitis were also
      evaluated. Univariate and multivariate analyses were employed to verify
      associations. RESULTS: HCV RNA was detected in the saliva of 26/65 (40.0%)
      patients and in 12/65 (18.5%) salivary glands. Xerostomia was reported by 23/65
      (35.4%) patients, and hyposalivation was diagnosed in 13/65 (20.0%) patients.
      Sialadenitis was confirmed by histopathological features in 31/65 (47.7%)
      patients. Twelve (38.7%) of the 31 patients with sialadenitis presented HCV RNA
      in saliva and 2/31 (6.5%) in salivary glands. No associations were found between
      xerostomia, hyposalivation or sialadenitis and the detection of HCV RNA in saliva
      or in salivary glands. CONCLUSIONS: Although xerostomia, hyposalivation and
      sialadenitis are frequent findings in CHC patients, our study did not confirm the
      association between the detection of HCV RNA in saliva or salivary glands with
      these salivary gland disorders. However, an indirect role of HCV by immune
      mediated virus mechanisms in the pathogenesis of salivary gland disorders in this
      group of patients cannot be ruled out.

PMID- 20924090
TI  - MTOC-MT is a major target antigen of autoantibody detected by autoimmune target
      tests in patients with hepatitis A virus infection.

PMID- 20924091
TI  - When is the practice of pathology malpractice?
AB  - Because of its complex nature, surgical pathology diagnosis has an appreciable
      degree of fallibility and is increasingly subject to legal scrutiny. In
      litigation, the first practical step is to explain why and how this adversity
      could happen, and the second is the question of apportionment of responsibility
      and its legal consequences. As pathologists, we have to provide a methodology of
      investigation allowing a clear distinction between reasonable and unacceptable
      pathology practice without the twist of hindsight. For that we need to examine
      the different steps from test ordering to the final report. The most critical
      aspect of the enquiry is the act of diagnosis itself. What can reasonably be
      expected and what precautions have normally to be taken? Experts are often
      requested to re-examine the slides. For that we need a well-devised protocol
      enabling blinded review. Tort law has two important interconnected goals:
      compensation for damages and prevention of the same slip ever being made again.
      We can only properly learn from our mistakes if we carry out an unbiased
      investigation. Poor normative judgement of diagnostic failures will backfire on
      the profession.

PMID- 20924092
TI  - Haemogenic endothelium in infantile haemangioma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Proliferating infantile haemangioma (IH) is a tumour of the
      microvasculature composed predominantly of immature endothelial cells. The origin
      of IH is unclear, but it has been shown to express markers of both endothelial
      and haematopoietic lineages, and a role for endothelial progenitor cells in the
      aetiology of IH has been suggested. Haemangioblasts are precursors of both
      endothelial and haematopoietic cells, and their characterisation has identified
      the expression of cell surface and intracellular proteins that collectively can
      be used for assigning a haemangioblast phenotype. METHODS: The authors used
      immunohistochemical staining to characterise the expression of primitive
      haematopoietic-associated proteins in proliferating IHs. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION:
      The authors show that the cells forming the capillary endothelium express markers
      associated with primitive haematopoietic cells. Additionally, many of these cells
      express the transcription factors brachyury and GATA-2, indicating a primitive
      mesodermal origin. They hypothesise that the immature capillaries in IH are
      derived from primitive mesodermal cells with haemangioblastic differentiation
      capabilities. The expression of primitive mesodermal, endothelial and
      haematopoietic markers by the cells forming the endothelium suggests that the
      immature capillaries that predominate in proliferating IH are a haemogenic
      endothelium phenotype, derived from haemangioblasts.

PMID- 20924093
TI  - Colorectal duplication in adults: report of seven cases and review of the
      literature.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Gastrointestinal duplications are uncommon congenital abnormalities,
      usually recognised before the age of 2 (80%). Colorectal duplications (CDDs)
      occur in only 6.8% of cases, rarely in adults, and are revealed by abdominal pain
      and intestinal obstruction. Malignant changes are uncommon, but are most often
      found in the colon. METHODS AND RESULTS: During the last 7 years, the authors
      have observed seven cases of CDD (three men) with mean age 50.7 years (range 32
      73). Four cases were revealed by abdominal pain, and three by intestinal
      obstruction. Five duplications were located in the caecum, one in the transverse
      colon, and one in the sigmoid colon. All CDDs were of the cystic type (4.42 cm,
      range 2-7.5), and three had a communication with the intestinal lumen. All
      patients except one underwent 'en bloc' resection of the cyst with the adjacent
      colon. On microscopic examination, CDDs contained multiple layers of the bowel
      wall, including colonic or small intestinal mucosa. Heterotopic gastric mucosa
      was observed in only one case, high-grade dysplasia in one case, and low-grade
      dysplasia in another. No invasive carcinoma was found. CONCLUSION: Although
      uncommon, CDDs should be included in the differential diagnosis of all abdominal
      masses. The treatment approach is excision, in order to avoid any complication.
      En bloc resection of the colon with CDD may be necessary, because of the intimate
      attachments of the common wall. Thorough sampling of the specimen is mandatory in
      order to detect any malignant changes.

PMID- 20924094
TI  - The molecular basis of the chemosensitivity of metastatic cutaneous melanoma to
      chemotherapy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chemotherapy benefits relatively few patients with cutaneous
      melanoma. The assessment of tumour chemosensitivity by the ATP-based tumour
      chemosensitivity assay (ATP-TCA) has shown strong correlation with outcome in
      cutaneous melanoma, but requires fresh tissue and dedicated laboratory
      facilities. AIM: To examine whether the results of the ATP-TCA correlate with the
      expression of genes known to be involved in resistance to chemotherapy, based on
      the hypothesis that the molecular basis of chemosensitivity lies within known
      drug resistance mechanisms. METHOD: The chemosensitivity of 47 cutaneous
      melanomas was assessed using the ATP-TCA and correlated with quantitative
      expression of 93 resistance genes measured by quantitative reverse transcriptase
      PCR (qRT-PCR) in a Taqman Array after extraction of total RNA from formalin-fixed
      paraffin-embedded tissue. RESULTS: Drugs susceptible to particular resistance
      mechanisms showed good correlation with genes linked to these mechanisms using
      signatures of up to 17 genes. Comparison of these signatures for DTIC, treosulfan
      and cisplatin showed several genes in common. HSP70, at least one human epidermal
      growth factor receptor, genes involved in apoptosis (IAP2, PTEN) and DNA repair
      (ERCC1, XPA, XRCC1, XRCC6) were present for these agents, as well as genes
      involved in the regulation of proliferation (Ki67, p21, p27). The combinations
      tested included genes represented in the single agent signatures. CONCLUSIONS:
      These data suggest that melanoma chemosensitivity is influenced by known
      resistance mechanisms, including susceptibility to apoptosis. Use of a candidate
      gene approach may increase understanding of the mechanisms underlying
      chemosensitivity to drugs active against melanoma and provide signatures with
      predictive value.

PMID- 20924096
TI  - Effects of zofenopril and ramipril on cough reflex responses in anesthetized and
      awake rabbits.
AB  - Cough is the most common symptom reported by patients in a primary care setting
      and is one of the most frequent secondary effects recorded during treatment with
      angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors. The aim of the current study was
      to analyze potential differences in cough induction between 2 structurally
      different ACE inhibitors, namely zofenopril, which has a sulphydryl moiety, and
      ramipril, which has a carboxyl moiety. The cough reflex was induced by chemical
      (citric acid) and/or mechanical stimulation of the tracheobronchial tree in awake
      and anesthetized rabbits. Intravenous injection of the active compounds of the 2
      ACE inhibitors, zofenoprilat (288 nmol/kg) and ramiprilat (129 nmol/kg), caused
      similar hypotensive effects in anesthetized rabbits. None of the studied cough
      related variables changed in response to ACE inhibitor administration, with the
      exception of the number of coughs. Ramiprilat, but not zofenoprilat, increased
      the cough response induced by both mechanical and chemical stimulation (1 mol/L
      citric acid aerosol) of the tracheobronchial tree. In awake animals, zofenoprilat
      or vehicle-treated rabbits did not show any significant changes in the number of
      coughs induced by 1 mol/L citric acid aerosol compared to their respective basal
      values (from 15.2 +/- 2.3 to 13.1 +/- 1.3 and from 16.1 +/- 4.9 to 15.8 +/- 4.3,
      respectively). Conversely, ramiprilat resulted in a significant increase in the
      number of coughs (from 21.1 +/- 2.6 to 34.9 +/- 3.5; P < .01). These findings
      confirm that there are differences in the cough potentiation effect induced by
      different ACE inhibitors. The low rate of cough seen with zofenoprilat may be
      related to its ability to induce a lower accumulation of bradykinin and
      prostaglandins at the lung level.

PMID- 20924095
TI  - Clinical and economic impact of clinical pharmacy service on hyperlipidemic
      management in Hong Kong.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the clinical and economic outcomes of a clinical pharmacy
      service (CPS) in dyslipidemic management. METHOD: This was a 24-month prospective
      controlled trial conducted at the lipid clinic of a public hospital in Hong Kong.
      In the intervention group, a clinical pharmacist assessed low-density lipoprotein
      cholesterol (LDL-C) levels and provided recommendations in accordance to the
      Adult Treatment Panel III (ATP III) guidelines. Medication compliance and the
      proper use of drugs were assessed. Education on healthy lifestyles was
      reinforced. Monthly telephone follow-ups were made to check on the progress of
      patients. In the control group, patients received usual medical care with no
      pharmacist intervention. Primary outcome was the percentage of patients achieving
      the ATP III LDL-C goal at the end of study. The estimated cost of such service
      was also evaluated. RESULTS: A total of 300 patients were recruited into the
      study (150 in intervention group and 150 in control group). In the intervention
      group, 58.7% patients achieved LDL-C goals compared with 45.3% in the control
      group (P < .05). The intervention group achieved 26.4%, 17.4%, and 30.0% mean
      reduction in LDL-C, total cholesterol (TC), and triglycerides (TG) levels,
      respectively, compared with 12.6%, 6.6%, and 11.5% in the control group (P <
      .05). The estimated cost for this clinical service was US$385/month for a total
      of 600 dyslipidemic patients seen per year. CONCLUSION: The results of this study
      demonstrate the positive impact CPS can have on achieving treatment goals in
      lipid management. Similar services for other problematic conditions such as
      hypertension and diabetes mellitus may also be benefited by similar CPSs.

PMID- 20924097
TI  - Improvement in left ventricular systolic and diastolic performance during
      ranolazine treatment in patients with stable angina.
AB  - PURPOSE: Ranolazine is a novel antianginal medication that acts by ameliorating
      disturbed sodium and calcium homeostasis. By preventing myocyte sodium and
      calcium overload, ranolazine also have potential beneficial effects on myocardial
      function. Experimental models support this concept, as do 2 small studies in
      human participants receiving ranolazine intravenously. We evaluated changes in
      parameters of left ventricular function in stable angina patients treated with
      oral ranolazine. METHODS: Twenty-two participants were enrolled with Doppler
      echocardiography performed at baseline and a mean of 2 months after initiation of
      treatment. RESULTS: Global left ventricular function, as assessed by the
      myocardial performance index, was significantly improved on drug therapy (P <
      .0001). This was due to improvement in both diastolic and systolic parameters. Of
      21 patients, 17 reported less angina and 8 patients reported an increase in
      activity level. CONCLUSIONS: We report improved parameters of left ventricular
      function in response to ranolazine as used in the clinical setting.

PMID- 20924098
TI  - Antiplatelet therapy in acute coronary syndromes.
AB  - Antiplatelet therapy is integral to the acute and long-term management of acute
      coronary syndromes (ACSs) and for minimizing the thrombotic complications of
      percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). This article reviews the most commonly
      used antiplatelet agents in ACS therapy--aspirin, adenosine diphosphate (ADP)
      receptor blockers, and glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitors. More recent data are
      also reviewed on novel ADP-receptor blockers and thrombin inhibitors before
      addressing issues of adherence to antiplatelet regimens.

PMID- 20924099
TI  - Dietary insulin load, dietary insulin index, and colorectal cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Circulating insulin levels have been positively associated with risk
      of colorectal cancer; however, it remains unclear whether a diet inducing an
      elevated insulin response influences colorectal cancer risk. On the basis of a
      novel insulin index for individual foods, we estimated insulin demand for overall
      diets and assessed its association with colorectal cancer in the Nurses' Health
      Study and Health Professionals Follow-up Study. METHODS: We followed 86,740 women
      and 46,146 men who were free of cancer and diabetes at baseline and identified a
      total of 2,481 colorectal cancer cases during up to 26 years of follow-up.
      Dietary insulin load was calculated as a function of food insulin index and the
      energy content of individual foods was reported on food frequency questionnaires.
      Average dietary insulin index was calculated by dividing the dietary insulin load
      by the total energy intake. RESULTS: Dietary insulin load and dietary insulin
      index were not associated with risk of colorectal cancer. Comparing the highest
      with the lowest quintiles, the pooled multivariate relative risks of colorectal
      cancer were 0.91 (95% CI = 0.79-1.05) for dietary insulin load and 0.93 (95% CI =
      0.81-1.08) for dietary insulin index. Body mass index and physical activity did
      not modify the association of dietary insulin load or index with colorectal
      cancer. CONCLUSION: A diet high in foods that increase postprandial insulin
      levels did not increase the risk of colorectal cancer in this large prospective
      study. IMPACT: This study is the first to investigate insulin index and load in
      relation to colorectal cancer.

PMID- 20924100
TI  - In silico modeling and in vivo efficacy of cancer-preventive vaccinations.
AB  - Cancer vaccine feasibility would benefit from reducing the number and duration of
      vaccinations without diminishing efficacy. However, the duration of in vivo
      studies and the huge number of possible variations in vaccination protocols have
      discouraged their optimization. In this study, we employed an established mouse
      model of preventive vaccination using HER-2/neu transgenic mice (BALB-neuT) to
      validate in silico-designed protocols that reduce the number of vaccinations and
      optimize efficacy. With biological training, the in silico model captured the
      overall in vivo behavior and highlighted certain critical issues. First, although
      vaccinations could be reduced in number without sacrificing efficacy, the
      intensity of early vaccinations was a key determinant of long-term tumor
      prevention needed for predictive utility in the model. Second, after vaccinations
      ended, older mice exhibited more rapid tumor onset and sharper decline in
      antibody levels than young mice, emphasizing immune aging as a key variable in
      models of vaccine protocols for elderly individuals. Long-term studies confirmed
      predictions of in silico modeling in which an immune plateau phase, once reached,
      could be maintained with a reduced number of vaccinations. Furthermore, that
      rapid priming in young mice is required for long-term antitumor protection, and
      that the accuracy of mathematical modeling of early immune responses is critical.
      Finally, that the design and modeling of cancer vaccines and vaccination
      protocols must take into account the progressive aging of the immune system, by
      striving to boost immune responses in elderly hosts. Our results show that an
      integrated in vivo-in silico approach could improve both mathematical and
      biological models of cancer immunoprevention.

PMID- 20924101
TI  - Mesenchymal stromal cells expressing ErbB-2/neu elicit protective antibreast
      tumor immunity in vivo, which is paradoxically suppressed by IFN-gamma and tumor
      necrosis factor-alpha priming.
AB  - It is unknown whether mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) can regulate immune
      responses targeting tumor autoantigens of low immunogenicity. We tested here
      whether immunization with MSC could break immune tolerance towards the ErbB-2/HER
      2/neu tumor antigen and the effects of priming with IFN-gamma and tumor necrosis
      factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) on this process. BALB/c- and C57BL/6-derived MSC were
      lentivirally transduced to express a kinase-inactive rat neu mutant (MSC/Neu).
      Immunization of BALB/c mice with nontreated or IFN-gamma-primed allogeneic or
      syngeneic MSC/Neu induced similar levels of anti-neu antibody titers; however,
      only syngeneic MSC/Neu induced protective neu-specific CD8(+) T cell responses.
      Compared to immunization with nontreated or IFN-gamma-primed syngeneic MSC/Neu,
      the number of circulating neu-specific CD8(+) T cells and titers of anti-neu
      antibodies were observed to be decreased after immunizations with IFN-gamma- plus
      TNF-alpha-primed MSC/Neu. In addition, syngeneic MSC/Neu seemed more efficient
      than IFN-gamma-primed MSC/Neu at inducing a protective therapeutic antitumor
      immune response resulting in the regression of transplanted neu-expressing
      mammary tumor cells. In vitro antigen-presenting cell assays performed with
      paraformaldehyde-fixed or live MSC showed that priming with IFN-gamma plus TNF
      alpha, compared to priming with IFN-gamma alone, increased antigen presentation
      as well as the production of immunosuppressive factors. These data suggest that
      whereas MSC could effectively serve as antigen-presenting cells to induce immune
      responses aimed at tumor autoantigens, these functions are critically regulated
      by IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha.

PMID- 20924102
TI  - Selective depletion of Foxp3+ regulatory T cells improves effective therapeutic
      vaccination against established melanoma.
AB  - Tumor-bearing individuals have been reported to harbor increased numbers of
      Foxp3(+) regulatory T cells (Treg), which prevent the development of efficient
      antitumor immune responses. Thus, Treg depletion has already been tested as a
      promising therapeutic approach in various animal models and entered clinical
      trials. However, the use of nonspecific Treg targeting agents such as CD25
      depleting antibodies, which in addition to CD25(+) Tregs also deplete recently
      activated CD25(+) effector T cells, potentially masked the tremendous potential
      of this therapeutic strategy. To avoid such nonspecific effects, we used
      transgenic DEREG (depletion of regulatory T cells) mice, which express a
      diphtheria toxin receptor under control of the Foxp3 locus, allowing selective
      depletion of Foxp3(+) Tregs even during ongoing immune responses. We showed that
      Foxp3(+) Treg depletion induced partial regression of established ovalbumin (OVA)
      expressing B16 melanoma, which was associated with an increased intratumoral
      accumulation of activated CD8(+) cytotoxic T cells. The antitumor effect could be
      significantly enhanced when Treg depletion was combined with vaccination against
      OVA. To further assess whether this therapeutic approach would break self
      tolerance, we crossed DEREG mice with RipOVA(low) mice, expressing OVA as neo
      self-antigen under control of the rat insulin promoter. In these mice, combined
      Treg depletion and vaccination also induced tumor regression without the onset of
      diabetes. Together, our data suggest that selective Treg targeting strategies
      combined with vaccinations against tumor-associated (self) antigens have the
      potential to evoke efficient antitumor responses without inducing overt
      autoimmunity. These findings might have implications for future therapeutic
      interventions in cancer patients.

PMID- 20924103
TI  - Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition promotes tubulin detyrosination and
      microtentacles that enhance endothelial engagement.
AB  - Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is associated with increased breast
      tumor metastasis; however, the specific mechanisms by which EMT promotes
      metastasis remain somewhat unclear. Despite the importance of cytoskeletal
      dynamics during both EMT and metastasis, very few current studies examine the
      cytoskeleton of detached and circulating tumor cells. Specific posttranslational
      alpha-tubulin modifications are critical for adherent cell motility and
      implicated in numerous pathologies, but also remain understudied in detached
      cells. We report here that EMT induced through ectopic expression of Twist or
      Snail promotes alpha-tubulin detyrosination and the formation of tubulin-based
      microtentacles in detached HMLEs. Mechanistically, EMT downregulates the tubulin
      tyrosine ligase enzyme, resulting in an accumulation of detyrosinated alpha
      tubulin (Glu-tubulin), and increases microtentacles that penetrate endothelial
      layers to facilitate tumor cell reattachment. Confocal microscopy shows that
      microtentacles are capable of penetrating the junctions between endothelial
      cells. Suppression of endogenous Twist in metastatic human breast tumor cells is
      capable of reducing both tubulin detyrosination and microtentacles. Clinical
      breast tumor samples display high concordance between Glu-tubulin and Twist
      expression levels, emphasizing the coupling between EMT and tubulin
      detyrosination in vivo. Coordinated elevation of Twist and Glu-tubulin at
      invasive tumor fronts, particularly within ductal carcinoma in situ samples,
      establishes that EMT-induced tubulin detyrosination occurs at the earliest stages
      of tumor invasion. These data support a novel model where the EMT that occurs
      during tumor invasion downregulates tubulin tyrosine ligase, increasing alpha
      tubulin detyrosination and promoting microtentacles that could enhance the
      reattachment of circulating tumor cells to the vascular endothelium during
      metastasis.

PMID- 20924104
TI  - Receptor tyrosine kinase signaling favors a protumorigenic state in breast cancer
      cells by inhibiting the adaptive immune response.
AB  - Using transgenic mouse models of breast cancer that ablate Src homology and
      collagen A (ShcA) expression or oncogene-coupled ShcA signaling, we previously
      showed that this adaptor is critical for mammary tumor onset and progression. We
      now provide the first evidence that ShcA regulates mammary tumorigenesis, in
      part, through its ability to regulate the adaptive immune response. Inactivation
      of ShcA signaling within tumor cells results in extensive CD4(+) T-cell
      infiltration and induction of a humoral immune response in mammary tumors. This
      is associated with a robust CTL response in preneoplastic lesions that are
      deficient in ShcA signaling. Moreover, mammary tumor progression of ShcA
      deficient hyperplasias is accelerated in a T cell-deficient background. We also
      uncover a clinically relevant correlation between high ShcA expression and low
      CTL infiltration in human breast cancers. Finally, we define a novel ShcA
      regulated immune signature that functions as an independent prognostic marker of
      survival in human epidermal growth factor receptor 2(+) and basal breast cancers.
      We reveal a novel role for tumor cell-derived ShcA in the establishment and
      maintenance of an immunosuppressive state.

PMID- 20924106
TI  - Vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-1 signaling promotes mobilization of
      macrophage lineage cells from bone marrow and stimulates solid tumor growth.
AB  - Vascular endothelial growth factor and its receptors, including Flt-1 and Flk-1,
      are involved in angiogenesis under physiologic and pathologic conditions.
      Recently, Flt-1-expressing cells were reported to contribute to the intracranial
      growth of glioma cells. However, the role of Flt-1 signaling in solid tumor
      growth in s.c. tissue has not been elucidated. To investigate how Flt-1 signaling
      is involved in the proliferation of solid tumors, we implanted tumor cells into
      wild-type (Wt) and Flt-1 tyrosine kinase (TK)-deficient (Flt-1 TK(-/-)) mice.
      Growth of HSML and B16 but not Lewis lung carcinoma cell in s.c. tissue was
      significantly decreased in Flt-1 TK(-/-) mice. Angiogenesis in HSML and B16
      tumors was remarkably reduced in Flt-1 TK(-/-) mice. Moreover, the infiltration
      of macrophage lineage cells into HSML and B16 tumors was clearly suppressed in
      Flt-1 TK(-/-) mice. Pericyte marker(+) cells were also reduced in Flt-1 TK(-/-)
      mice. However, in the border area of tumor, angiogenesis and the infiltration of
      macrophage lineage cell were basically similar between Wt and Flt-1 TK(-/-) mice.
      In bone marrow (BM) transplantation experiments, tumor angiogenesis, infiltration
      of macrophage lineage cells, and tumor growth were significantly suppressed in
      Wt/Flt-1 TK(-/-) mice implanted with Flt-1 TK(-/-) BM cells compared with those
      implanted with Wt BM cells. We conclude that Flt-1 signaling is involved in the
      function of BM-derived cell, such as the migration of macrophages into cancerous
      tissues, and significantly contributes to angiogenesis and tumor progression.

PMID- 20924105
TI  - Impact of stromal sensitivity on radiation response of tumors implanted in SCID
      hosts revisited.
AB  - Severe combined immunodeficient (SCID) mice carry a germ-line mutation in DNA-PK,
      associated with deficiency in recognition and repair DNA double-strand breaks.
      Thus, SCID cells and tissues display increased sensitivity to radiation-induced
      postmitotic (clonogenic) cell death. Nonetheless, the single-radiation doses
      required for 50% permanent local control (TCD(50)) of tumors implanted in SCID
      mice are not significantly different from the TCD(50) values of the same tumors
      in wild-type hosts. Whereas the tumor stroma is derived from the host, the
      observation that tumors implanted in SCID mice do not exhibit hypersensitivity to
      radiation might imply that stromal endothelial elements do not contribute
      substantially to tumor cure by ionizing radiation. Here, we challenge this
      notion, testing the hypothesis that ASMase-mediated endothelial apoptosis, which
      results from plasma membrane alterations, not DNA damage, is a crucial element in
      the cure of tumors in SCID mice by single-dose radiotherapy (SDRT). We show that
      the endothelium in MCA/129 fibrosarcomas and B16 melanomas exhibits a wild-type
      apoptotic phenotype in SCID hosts, abrogated in tumors in SCID(asmase-/-)
      littermates, which also acquire resistance to SDRT. Conversion into a
      radioresistant tumor phenotype when implanted in SCID(asmase-/-) hosts provides
      compelling evidence that cell membrane ASMase-mediated microvascular dysfunction,
      rather than DNA damage-mediated endothelial clonogenic lethality, plays a
      mandatory role in the complex pathophysiologic mechanism of tumor cure by SDRT,
      and provides an explanation for the wild-type SDRT responses reported in tumors
      implanted in SCID mice.

PMID- 20924107
TI  - Expression of the transcriptional repressor Gfi-1 is regulated by C/EBP{alpha}
      and is involved in its proliferation and colony formation-inhibitory effects in
      p210BCR/ABL-expressing cells.
AB  - Ectopic expression of CAAT/enhancer binding protein alpha (C/EBPalpha) in
      p210BCR/ABL-expressing cells induces granulocytic differentiation, inhibits
      proliferation, and suppresses leukemogenesis. To dissect the molecular mechanisms
      underlying these biological effects, C/EBPalpha-regulated genes were identified
      by microarray analysis in 32D-p210BCR/ABL cells. One of the genes whose
      expression was activated by C/EBPalpha in a DNA binding-dependent manner in
      BCR/ABL-expressing cells is the transcriptional repressor Gfi-1. We show here
      that C/EBPalpha interacts with a functional C/EBP binding site in the Gfi-1 5'
      flanking region and enhances the promoter activity of Gfi-1. Moreover, in K562
      cells, RNA interference-mediated downregulation of Gfi-1 expression partially
      rescued the proliferation-inhibitory but not the differentiation-inducing effect
      of C/EBPalpha. Ectopic expression of wild-type Gfi-1, but not of a
      transcriptional repressor mutant (Gfi-1P2A), inhibited proliferation and markedly
      suppressed colony formation but did not induce granulocytic differentiation of
      BCR/ABL-expressing cells. By contrast, Gfi-1 short hairpin RNA-tranduced CD34(+)
      chronic myeloid leukemia cells were markedly more clonogenic than the scramble
      transduced counterpart. Together, these studies indicate that Gfi-1 is a direct
      target of C/EBPalpha required for its proliferation and survival-inhibitory
      effects in BCR/ABL-expressing cells.

PMID- 20924108
TI  - hsa-miR-191 is a candidate oncogene target for hepatocellular carcinoma therapy.
AB  - Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is generally a fatal disease due to a paucity of
      effective treatment options. The identification of oncogenic microRNAs that exert
      pleiotropic effects in HCC cells may offer new therapeutic targets. In this
      study, we have identified the human microRNA miR-191 as a potential target for
      HCC therapy. Inhibition of miR-191 decreased cell proliferation and induced
      apoptosis in vitro and significantly reduced tumor masses in vivo in an
      orthotopic xenograft mouse model of HCC. Additionally, miR-191 was found to be
      upregulated by a dioxin, a known liver carcinogen, and was found to be a
      regulator of a variety of cancer-related pathways. Our findings offer a
      preclinical proof of concept for miR-191 targeting as a rational strategy to
      pursue for improving HCC treatment.

PMID- 20924109
TI  - Microtentacles tip the balance of cytoskeletal forces in circulating tumor cells.
AB  - Detection of circulating tumor cells (CTC) is advancing as an effective predictor
      of patient outcome and therapeutic response. Unfortunately, our knowledge of CTC
      biology remains limited, and the impact of drug treatments on CTC metastatic
      potential is currently unclear. Improved CTC imaging in vivo and analysis of free
      floating tumor cells now show that cytoskeletal regulation in CTCs contrasts
      starkly with tumor cells attached to extracellular matrix. In this review, we
      examine how persistent microtubule stabilization promotes the formation of
      microtentacles on the surface of detached breast tumor cells and enhances
      metastatic potential.

PMID- 20924110
TI  - Role of LIM and SH3 protein 1 (LASP1) in the metastatic dissemination of
      medulloblastoma.
AB  - Medulloblastoma is the most common malignant pediatric brain tumor and is one of
      the leading causes of cancer-related mortality in children. Treatment failure
      mainly occurs in children harboring metastatic tumors, which typically carry an
      isochromosome 17 or gain of 17q, a common hallmark of intermediate and high-risk
      medulloblastoma. Through mRNA expression profiling, we identified LIM and SH3
      protein 1 (LASP1) as one of the most upregulated genes on chromosome 17q in
      tumors with 17q gain. In an independent validation cohort of 101 medulloblastoma
      samples, the abundance of LASP1 mRNA was significantly associated with 17q gain,
      metastatic dissemination, and unfavorable outcome. LASP1 protein expression was
      analyzed by immunohistochemistry in a large cohort of patients (n = 207), and
      high protein expression levels were found to be strongly correlated with 17q
      gain, metastatic dissemination, and inferior overall and progression-free
      survival. In vitro experiments in medulloblastoma cell lines showed a strong
      reduction of cell migration, increased adhesion, and decreased proliferation upon
      LASP1 knockdown by small interfering RNA-mediated silencing, further indicating a
      functional role for LASP1 in the progression and metastatic dissemination of
      medulloblastoma.

PMID- 20924111
TI  - Conditional regulatory T-cell depletion releases adaptive immunity preventing
      carcinogenesis and suppressing established tumor growth.
AB  - Foxp3 is a central control element in the development and function of regulatory
      T cells (Treg), and mice expressing a diphtheria toxin (DT) receptor-enhanced
      green fluorescent protein fusion protein under the control of the foxp3 gene
      locus (DEREG mice) allow conditional and efficient depletion of Foxp3(+) Treg by
      DT injection. Herein, we use DEREG mice and a mouse model of carcinogenesis to
      show that conditional and effective Treg depletion can both protect mice from
      carcinogenesis by innate control, yet permanently eradicate a proportion of de
      novo-established tumors in mice in a largely CD8(+) T-cell- and IFN-gamma
      dependent manner. Tumors displayed a heterogeneous response to Treg depletion,
      and suppression of established tumors was accompanied by an increase in the tumor
      infiltrating CD8(+) T-cell/B-cell ratio. Tumor rejection occurred in the absence
      of overt autoimmunity, suggesting that effective transient Treg depletion
      strategies may be therapeutic in at least a proportion of spontaneous tumors
      developing in the host.

PMID- 20924112
TI  - Contextual synthetic lethality of cancer cell kill based on the tumor
      microenvironment.
AB  - Acute and chronic hypoxia exists within the three-dimensional microenvironment of
      solid tumors and drives therapy resistance, genetic instability, and metastasis.
      Replicating cells exposed to either severe acute hypoxia (16 hours with 0.02%
      O(2)) followed by reoxygenation or moderate chronic hypoxia (72 hours with 0.2%
      O(2)) treatments have decreased homologous recombination (HR) protein expression
      and function. As HR defects are synthetically lethal with poly(ADP-ribose)
      polymerase 1 (PARP1) inhibition, we evaluated the sensitivity of repair-defective
      hypoxic cells to PARP inhibition. Although PARP inhibition itself did not affect
      HR expression or function, we observed increased clonogenic killing in HR
      deficient hypoxic cells following chemical inhibition of PARP1. This effect was
      partially reversible by RAD51 overexpression. PARP1(-/-) murine embryonic
      fibroblasts (MEF) showed a proliferative disadvantage under hypoxic gassing when
      compared with PARP1(+/+) MEFs. PARP-inhibited hypoxic cells accumulated gammaH2AX
      and 53BP1 foci as a consequence of altered DNA replication firing during S phase
      specific cell killing. In support of this proposed mode of action, PARP inhibitor
      treated xenografts displayed increased gammaH2AX and cleaved caspase-3 expression
      in RAD51-deficient hypoxic subregions in vivo, which was associated with
      decreased ex vivo clonogenic survival following experimental radiotherapy. This
      is the first report of selective cell killing of HR-defective hypoxic cells in
      vivo as a consequence of microenvironment-mediated "contextual synthetic
      lethality." As all solid tumors contain aggressive hypoxic cells, this may
      broaden the clinical utility of PARP and DNA repair inhibition, either alone or
      in combination with radiotherapy and chemotherapy, even in tumor cells lacking
      synthetically lethal, genetic mutations.

PMID- 20924113
TI  - eIF2{alpha} Kinase PKR modulates the hypoxic response by Stat3-dependent
      transcriptional suppression of HIF-1{alpha}.
AB  - Hypoxia within the tumor microenvironment promotes angiogenesis, metabolic
      reprogramming, and tumor progression. In addition to activating hypoxia-inducible
      factor-1alpha (HIF-1alpha), cells also respond to hypoxia by globally inhibiting
      protein synthesis via serine 51 phosphorylation of translation eukaryotic
      initiation factor 2alpha (eIF2alpha). In this study, we investigated potential
      roles for stress-activated eIF2alpha kinases in regulation of HIF-1alpha. Our
      investigations revealed that the double-stranded RNA-dependent protein kinase R
      (PKR) plays a significant role in suppressing HIF-1alpha expression, acting
      specifically at the level of transcription. HIF-1alpha transcriptional repression
      by PKR was sufficient to impair the hypoxia-induced accumulation of HIF-1alpha
      and transcriptional induction of HIF-1alpha-dependent target genes. Inhibition of
      HIF-1A transcription by PKR was independent of eIF2alpha phosphorylation but
      dependent on inhibition of the signal transducer and activator of transcription 3
      (Stat3). Furthermore, HIF-1A repression required the T-cell protein tyrosine
      phosphatase, which acts downstream of PKR, to suppress Stat3. Our findings reveal
      a novel tumor suppressor function for PKR, which inhibits HIF-1alpha expression
      through Stat3 but is independent of eIF2alpha phosphorylation.

PMID- 20924114
TI  - Optical detection of buccal epithelial nanoarchitectural alterations in patients
      harboring lung cancer: implications for screening.
AB  - We have recently developed a novel optical technology, partial wave spectroscopic
      (PWS) microscopy, which is exquisitely sensitive to the nanoarchitectural
      manifestation of the genetic/epigenetic alterations of field carcinogenesis. Our
      approach was to screen for lung cancer by assessing the cheek cells based on
      emerging genetic/epigenetic data which suggests that the buccal epithelium is
      altered in lung field carcinogenesis. We performed PWS analysis from
      microscopically normal buccal epithelial brushings from smokers with and without
      lung cancer (n = 135). The PWS parameter, disorder strength of cell
      nanoarchitecture (L(d)), was markedly (>50%) elevated in patients harboring lung
      cancer compared with neoplasia-free smokers. The performance characteristic was
      excellent with an area under the receiver operator characteristic curve of >0.80
      and was equivalent for both disease stage (early versus late) and histologies
      (small cell versus non-small cell lung cancers). An independent data set
      validated the findings with only a minimal degradation of performance
      characteristics. Our results offer proof of concept that buccal PWS may
      potentially herald a minimally intrusive prescreening test that could be integral
      to the success of lung cancer population screening programs.

PMID- 20924115
TI  - Oncogene-driven intrinsic inflammation induces leukocyte production of tumor
      necrosis factor that critically contributes to mammary carcinogenesis.
AB  - Oncogene activation promotes an intrinsic inflammatory pathway that is crucial
      for cancer development. Here, we have investigated the actual effect of the
      inflammatory cytokine tumor necrosis factor (TNF) on the natural history of
      spontaneous mammary cancer in the HER2/neuT (NeuT) transgenic mouse model. Bone
      marrow transplantation from TNF knockout mice into NeuT recipients significantly
      impaired tumor growth, indicating that the source of TNF fostering tumor
      development was of bone marrow origin. We show that the absence of leukocyte
      derived TNF disarranged the tumor vasculature, which lacked pericyte coverage and
      structural integrity, leading to diffuse vascular hemorrhage and stromal
      necrosis. In addition, tumor-associated Tie2-expressing monocytes were reduced
      and cytokine expression skewed from Th2 to Th1 type. Treatment of NeuT mice with
      anti-TNF antibody partially phenocopied the antitumor effect of TNF-deficient
      bone marrow cell transplantation, providing a strong preclinical background and
      rationale for the introduction of TNF antagonists in the treatment of human
      breast cancer, including basal-like samples for which consolidated targeted
      therapies do not exist.

PMID- 20924116
TI  - Fission yeast Swi1-Swi3 complex facilitates DNA binding of Mrc1.
AB  - Replication fork protection complex Swi1-Swi3 and replication checkpoint mediator
      Mrc1 are required for maintenance of replication fork integrity during the course
      of DNA replication in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe. These proteins
      play crucial roles in stabilizing stalled forks and activating replication
      checkpoint signaling pathways. Although they are conserved replication fork
      components, precise biochemical roles of these proteins are not known. Here we
      purified Mrc1 and Swi1-Swi3 proteins and show that these proteins bind to DNA
      independently but synergistically in vitro. Mrc1 binds preferentially to arrested
      fork or D-loop-like structures, although the affinity is relatively low, whereas
      the Swi1-Swi3 complex binds to double-stranded DNA with higher affinity. In the
      presence of a low concentration of Swi1-Swi3, Mrc1 generates a novel ternary
      complex and binds to various types of DNA with higher affinity. Moreover,
      purified Mrc1 and Swi1-Swi3 physically interact with each other, and this
      interaction is lost by mutations in the known DNA binding domain of Mrc1
      (K235E,K236E). The interaction is also lost in a mutant form of Swi1 (E662K) that
      is specifically defective in polar fork arrest at a site called RTS1 and causes
      sensitivity to genotoxic agents, although the DNA binding affinity of Swi1-Swi3
      is not affected by this mutation. As expected, the synergistic effect of the Swi1
      Swi3 on DNA binding of Mrc1 is also lost by these mutations affecting the
      interaction between Mrc1 and Swi1-Swi3. Our results reveal an aspect of molecular
      interactions that may play an important role in replication pausing and fork
      stabilization.

PMID- 20924118
TI  - Health-related quality of life and classroom participation of deaf and hard-of
      hearing students in general schools.
AB  - A group of deaf and hard-of-hearing (D/HH) students at mainstream schools (N =
      212) was investigated in a questionnaire-based survey using the Inventory of Life
      Quality of Children and Youth (ILC) and the Classroom Participation
      Questionnaire. The ILC data for the D/HH sample are for the most part comparable
      with the data from a normative hearing sample. Item-total correlations showed
      that the domains of school and social activities with peers were more important
      for the Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) of the D/HH students than for that
      of the hearing students. The results also reveal differences in the HRQoL levels
      of the two samples, with the D/HH sample having higher scores for school
      experiences, physical and mental health, and overall HRQoL, though the effect
      sizes for the differences are small to moderate. Specific characteristics of the
      D/HH sample may be responsible for this result. There are also relationships
      between quality of life and perceived classroom participation in certain domains:
      Students who perceive classroom participation as satisfying have higher scores
      for quality of life in school, social contact with peers, and mental health. This
      also applied to the scores for global assessment and a summarized quality of life
      indicator.

PMID- 20924117
TI  - Ribonucleoside triphosphates as substrate of human immunodeficiency virus type 1
      reverse transcriptase in human macrophages.
AB  - We biochemically simulated HIV-1 DNA polymerization in physiological nucleotide
      pools found in two HIV-1 target cell types: terminally differentiated/non
      dividing macrophages and activated/dividing CD4(+) T cells. Quantitative tandem
      mass spectrometry shows that macrophages harbor 22-320-fold lower dNTP
      concentrations and a greater disparity between ribonucleoside triphosphate (rNTP)
      and dNTP concentrations than dividing target cells. A biochemical simulation of
      HIV-1 reverse transcription revealed that rNTPs are efficiently incorporated into
      DNA in the macrophage but not in the T cell environment. This implies that HIV-1
      incorporates rNTPs during viral replication in macrophages and also predicts that
      rNTP chain terminators lacking a 3'-OH should inhibit HIV-1 reverse transcription
      in macrophages. Indeed, 3'-deoxyadenosine inhibits HIV-1 proviral DNA synthesis
      in human macrophages more efficiently than in CD4(+) T cells. This study reveals
      that the biochemical landscape of HIV-1 replication in macrophages is unique and
      that ribonucleoside chain terminators may be a new class of anti-HIV-1 agents
      specifically targeting viral macrophage infection.

PMID- 20924119
TI  - Combined hardware--software considerations for triage of internally contaminated
      personnel.
AB  - Medical response to a radiological emergency involves first assessing, triaging
      and treating trauma, followed by determining potential hazard from radiological
      intake. A combined hardware-software strategy is required for this mission. The
      hardware strategy should consist of a dedicated detector suite capable of alpha,
      beta and gamma radiation detection, identification and quantification suitable
      for order of magnitude dose assessment. The hardware platform should provide a
      simple user interface suitable for field deployment. The software should provide
      first-on-the-scene responders with the ability to perform radiological triage in
      a mass casualty type event, physicians with the ability to assign treatment
      regimes, and long-term care medical personnel with information to provide
      continual risk reassessment of the patient taking into account toxicology of the
      decorporation therapy and dose aversion. The software should be rich in data, yet
      accessible through a simple user interface. Practicing in a radiological
      emergency exercise environment with the equipment is crucial to its efficacy in a
      real emergency.

PMID- 20924120
TI  - Spot measurements of intermediate frequency electric fields in the vicinity of
      compact fluorescent lamps.
AB  - Starting in 2009, certain types of incandescent light bulbs will be withdrawn
      from the market in the European Union and elsewhere. However, compact fluorescent
      lamps that are among the candidates to replace them produce intermediate
      frequency electric fields (EFs) much higher than any other device or appliance
      previously available to the general public. Measurement results of these EFs
      showed that the maximum recorded EF strength in the 1.2-100 kHz frequency range
      in close proximity to the lamps was > 42 V m(-1) for all tested lamps. In nine
      cases, the field strength exceeded 87 V m(-1) and the highest measured value was
      216 V m(-1).

PMID- 20924121
TI  - Children as vulnerable populations in radiological/nuclear events: discussion
      scenarios.
AB  - A workshop to discuss Canada's preparedness to properly manage and treat children
      during radiological/nuclear (R/N) events was held in Ottawa, Canada, on 1-2 June
      2010. This workshop provided a platform for participants of varied backgrounds
      including medicine, radiological and nuclear physics as well as child care, to
      discuss the strength and shortcoming of the currently implemented practices and
      procedures in Canada for the treatment and management of contaminated and/or
      exposed children during R/N events. To aid this discussion, scenarios (vignettes)
      involving the malicious use of radiological material were presented and discussed
      from the perspective of the emergency response focusing specifically on children.
      From these discussions, it was concluded that the management of children during
      R/N events is vastly different from the management of adults, and requires a
      specific set of protocols and procedures, not yet outlined in Canadian
      documentation. This paper is not meant to discuss existing response protocols
      during R/N events, but rather to discuss the deficiencies in planning and
      suggested improvements/revisions raised through discussion at the workshop on how
      to better manage children during an R/N event.

PMID- 20924122
TI  - Psychosocial considerations for mass decontamination.
AB  - Mass exposure to explosions, infectious agents, foodborne illnesses, chemicals or
      radiological materials may require mass decontamination that have critical
      psychosocial implications for the public and for both traditional and non
      traditional responders in terms of impact and of response. Five main issues are
      common to mass decontamination events: (i) perception, (ii) somatisation, (iii)
      media role and communication, (iv) information sharing, (v) behavioural guidance
      and (vi) organisational issues. Empirical evidence is drawn from a number of
      cases, including Chernobyl; Goiania, Brazil; the sarin gas attack in Tokyo; the
      anthrax attacks in the USA; Three Mile Island; and by features of the 2003 severe
      acute respiratory syndrome pandemic. In this paper, a common platform for mass
      casualty management is explored and suggestions for mass interventions are
      proposed across the complete event timeline, from pre-event threat and warning
      stages through to the impact and reconstruction phases. Implication for
      responders, healthcare and emergency infrastructure, public behaviour, screening
      processes, risk communication and media management are described.

PMID- 20924123
TI  - Monte Carlo simulations of the photon calibration fields at the underground
      laboratory of PTB.
AB  - A unique photon calibration facility operated by Physikalisch-Technische
      Bundesanstalt (PTB) provides photon fields with area dose rates in the order of
      the natural environmental radiation and even below. This facility is located in
      an underground laboratory in the Asse salt mine at a depth of 490 m below ground,
      where the ambient dose equivalent rate is only 2 nSv h(-1). Radioactive sources
      of the nuclides (241)Am, (57)Co, (137)Cs, (60)Co and (226)Ra are used to generate
      photon fields with different characteristics. In the past, the basic properties
      of the photon field, especially the area dose rate at the reference point and the
      mean energy of the photon spectra, were calculated by using analytic methods.
      However, information about scattered photons is only accessible through an
      investigation of spectra by performing Monte Carlos simulations. Therefore, the
      photon spectra at the reference point of the calibration facility were calculated
      using the Monte Carlo transport code MCNP. The results obtained by using this
      method are of relevance for the traceability of the reference dose rate values to
      PTB's primary standards, as well as for the determination of the mean photon
      energy of the spectra. The latter was calculated with respect to the different
      quantities 'photon fluence', 'air kerma' and 'ambient dose equivalent'. The
      origin of the scattered component in the photon spectrum is investigated in
      detail by studying the photon field produced by the quasi-monoenergetic gamma
      emitter (137)Cs (E(gamma) = 662 keV) under various geometrical conditions.
      Implications of the Monte Carlo simulations on the traceability of the dose rate
      reference values as well as on the assessment of uncertainties will be described.

PMID- 20924124
TI  - Aflibercept exerts antivascular effects and enhances levels of anthracycline
      chemotherapy in vivo in human acute myeloid leukemia models.
AB  - We examined whether potent vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) blockade
      mediated by aflibercept, a decoy VEGF receptor (VEGFR) 1/2 moiety with stronger
      affinity for VEGF than bevacizumab, resulted in antileukemia effects and enhanced
      the efficacy of systemic chemotherapy. The efficacy of aflibercept alone and in
      combination with doxorubicin was evaluated in human VEGF-expressing acute myeloid
      leukemia (AML) cell lines and primary cells xenotransplanted into immunodeficient
      mice. Aflibercept reduced primary VEGF/VEGFR-positive AML colony formation growth
      in vitro and inhibited AML xenograft growth up to 93% in association with
      antiangiogenic and antiproliferative effects, hypoxia, and VEGF sequestration in
      multiple models. High VEGF-A expression by AML cells promoted in vivo xenograft
      growth and aflibercept sensitivity. Aflibercept therapy slowed disease
      progression in two systemic human AML xenograft models and reduced peripheral
      leukemia disease in a primary relapsed AML model in NOD/SCID/IL2Rgammanull mice.
      Combination aflibercept and doxorubicin enhanced antitumor effects in local
      xenograft models. Sequential aflibercept followed by doxorubicin resulted in
      progressive anthracycline accumulation in marrow and extramedullary AML sites and
      resulted in 2-fold higher drug levels 24 hours after administration. In contrast,
      tissues (tumor, plasma, marrow) treated with chemotherapy only showed progressive
      drug clearance over time. Combination aflibercept and doxorubicin also resulted
      in vascular narrowing, decreased vessel number, and perivascular apoptosis. These
      data suggest that inefficient drug delivery by leukemia-associated vasculature
      may mediate chemoresistance and support further clinical evaluation of
      combination aflibercept and anthracycline therapy in refractory/relapsed AML
      patients.

PMID- 20924126
TI  - Small interfering RNA targeting 14-3-3zeta increases efficacy of chemotherapeutic
      agents in head and neck cancer cells.
AB  - Patients diagnosed in advanced stages of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma
      often show limited response to chemotherapeutic agents. Recently, we reported the
      overexpression of 14-3-3zeta protein in head and neck premalignant and cancer
      tissues using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry with isotopic
      labeling and revealed its significance as a prognostic marker using
      immunohistochemical analysis. In this study, we determined the potential of 14-3
      3zeta as a therapeutic target for head and neck cancer. Small interfering RNA
      (siRNA) targeting 14-3-3zeta was used to downregulate its expression in head and
      neck cancer cells in culture. Cell cycle analysis showed that head and neck
      cancer cells transfected with siRNA targeting 14-3-3zeta showed G(2)-M arrest.
      These siRNA transfectants also showed increased cell death on treatment with any
      one of the following chemotherapeutic agents: cisplatin, 5-fluorouracil,
      paclitaxel, or doxorubicin in comparison with the no transfection controls. Flow
      cytometric analysis using propidium iodide staining showed increased sub-G(0)
      fraction in siRNA-transfected cells treated with any of these chemotherapeutic
      agents, suggesting cell death; in addition, Annexin V staining and terminal
      deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling assay revealed
      increased apoptosis. Taken together, our results strongly showed that
      downregulation of 14-3-3zeta expression may serve to improve the sensitivity of
      head and neck cancer cells to chemotherapeutic agents.

PMID- 20924127
TI  - A better TRAIL variant for tumor cell-specific targeting? - letter.

PMID- 20924128
TI  - Compensatory insulin receptor (IR) activation on inhibition of insulin-like
      growth factor-1 receptor (IGF-1R): rationale for cotargeting IGF-1R and IR in
      cancer.
AB  - Insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor (IGF-1R) is a receptor tyrosine kinase
      (RTK) and critical activator of the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase-AKT pathway.
      IGF-1R is required for oncogenic transformation and tumorigenesis. These
      observations have spurred anticancer drug discovery and development efforts for
      both biological and small-molecule IGF-1R inhibitors. The ability for one RTK to
      compensate for another to maintain tumor cell viability is emerging as a common
      resistance mechanism to antitumor agents targeting individual RTKs. As IGF-1R is
      structurally and functionally related to the insulin receptor (IR), we asked
      whether IR is tumorigenic and whether IR-AKT signaling contributes to resistance
      to IGF-1R inhibition. Both IGF-1R and IR(A) are tumorigenic in a mouse mammary
      tumor model. In human tumor cells coexpressing IGF-1R and IR, bidirectional cross
      talk was observed following either knockdown of IR expression or treatment with a
      selective anti-IGF-1R antibody, MAB391. MAB391 treatment resulted in a
      compensatory increase in phospho-IR, which was associated with resistance to
      inhibition of IRS1 and AKT. In contrast, treatment with OSI-906, a small-molecule
      dual inhibitor of IGF-1R/IR, resulted in enhanced reduction in phospho
      IRS1/phospho-AKT relative to MAB391. Insulin or IGF-2 activated the IR-AKT
      pathway and decreased sensitivity to MAB391 but not to OSI-906. In tumor cells
      with an autocrine IGF-2 loop, both OSI-906 and an anti-IGF-2 antibody reduced
      phospho-IR/phospho-AKT, whereas MAB391 was ineffective. Finally, OSI-906 showed
      superior efficacy compared with MAB391 in human tumor xenograft models in which
      both IGF-1R and IR were phosphorylated. Collectively, these data indicate that
      cotargeting IGF-1R and IR may provide superior antitumor efficacy compared with
      targeting IGF-1R alone.

PMID- 20924129
TI  - MSH6 and MUTYH deficiency is a frequent event in early-onset colorectal cancer.
AB  - PURPOSE: Early-onset colorectal cancer (CRC) is suggestive of a hereditary
      predisposition. Lynch syndrome is the most frequent CRC hereditary cause. The
      MUTYH gene has also been related to hereditary CRC. A systematic characterization
      of these two diseases has not been reported previously in this population.
      EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: We studied a retrospectively collected series of 140
      patients <=50 years old diagnosed with nonpolyposis CRC. Demographic, clinical,
      and familial features were obtained. Mismatch repair (MMR) deficiency was
      determined by microsatellite instability (MSI) analysis, and immunostaining for
      MLH1, MSH2, MSH6, and PMS2 proteins. Germline MMR mutations were evaluated in all
      MMR-deficient cases. Tumor samples with loss of MLH1 or MSH2 protein expression
      were analyzed for somatic methylation. Germline MUTYH mutations were evaluated in
      all cases. BRAF V600E and KRAS somatic mutational status was also determined.
      RESULTS: Fifteen tumors (11.4%) were MSI, and 20 (14.3%) showed loss of protein
      expression (7 for MLH1/PMS2, 2 for isolated MLH1, 3 for MSH2/MSH6, 7 for isolated
      MSH6, and 1 for MSH6/PMS2). We identified 11 (7.8%) germline MMR mutations, 4 in
      MLH1, 1 in MSH2, and 6 in MSH6. Methylation analysis revealed one case with
      somatic MLH1 methylation. Biallelic MUTYH mutations were detected in four (2.8%)
      cases. KRAS and BRAF V600E mutations were present in 39 (27.9%) and 5 (3.6%)
      cases, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Loss of MSH6 expression is the predominant
      cause of MMR deficiency in early-onset CRC. Our findings prompt the inclusion of
      MSH6 and MUTYH screening as part of the genetic counseling of these patients and
      their relatives.

PMID- 20924130
TI  - Simultaneous blockade of multiple immune system inhibitory checkpoints enhances
      antitumor activity mediated by interleukin-15 in a murine metastatic colon
      carcinoma model.
AB  - PURPOSE: Interleukin 15 (IL-15) is a promising cytokine for immunotherapy of
      cancer due to its ability to stimulate the immunity of natural killer, B, and T
      cells. Its effectiveness, however, may be limited by inhibitory checkpoints and
      pathways that can attenuate immune responses. Finding strategies to abrogate
      these negative regulators and enhance the efficacy of IL-15 is a critical
      challenge. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: In a preclinical study, we evaluated IL-15
      combined with antibodies to block the negative immune regulators cytotoxic T
      lymphocyte antigen 4 (CTLA-4) and programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) in a
      metastatic murine CT26 colon carcinoma model. RESULTS: IL-15 treatment resulted
      in a significant prolongation of survival in mice with metastatic tumor.
      Administration of IL-15, however, also increased expression of PD-1 on the
      surface of CD8(+) T cells including CD8(+)CD44(high) memory phenotype T cells.
      Moreover, IL-15 also increased the secretion of the immunosuppressive cytokine,
      IL-10. Combining IL-15 with anti-PD-L1 and anti-CTLA-4 (multiple immune
      checkpoint blockade) exhibited greater CTL killing and IFNgamma secretion.
      Moreover, this combination resulted in a significant reduction in surface
      expression of PD-1 on CD8(+) T cells, a decrease in IL-10 secretion, and led to
      significantly longer survival of tumor-bearing animals compared with mice treated
      with IL-15 alone or combined singularly with anti-PD-L1 or anti-CTLA-4.
      CONCLUSIONS: Combining the immune stimulatory properties of IL-15 with the
      simultaneous removal of 2 critical immune system inhibitory checkpoints, we
      showed enhancement of immune responses leading to increased antitumor activity.

PMID- 20924132
TI  - Using an external gating signal to estimate noise in PET with an emphasis on
      tracer avid tumors.
AB  - The purpose of this study is to establish and validate a methodology for
      estimating the standard deviation of voxels with large activity concentrations
      within a PET image using replicate imaging that is immediately available for use
      in the clinic. To do this, ensembles of voxels in the averaged replicate images
      were compared to the corresponding ensembles in images derived from summed
      sinograms. In addition, the replicate imaging noise estimate was compared to a
      noise estimate based on an ensemble of voxels within a region. To make this
      comparison two phantoms were used. The first phantom was a seven-chamber phantom
      constructed of 1 liter plastic bottles. Each chamber of this phantom was filled
      with a different activity concentration relative to the lowest activity
      concentration with ratios of 1:1, 1:1, 2:1, 2:1, 4:1, 8:1 and 16:1. The second
      phantom was a GE Well-Counter phantom. These phantoms were imaged and
      reconstructed on a GE DSTE PET/CT scanner with 2D and 3D reprojection filtered
      backprojection (FBP), and with 2D- and 3D-ordered subset expectation maximization
      (OSEM). A series of tests were applied to the resulting images that showed that
      the region and replicate imaging methods for estimating standard deviation were
      equivalent for backprojection reconstructions. Furthermore, the noise properties
      of the FBP algorithms allowed scaling the replicate estimates of the standard
      deviation by a factor of 1/square root N, where N is the number of replicate
      images, to obtain the standard deviation of the full data image. This was not the
      case for OSEM image reconstruction. Due to nonlinearity of the OSEM algorithm,
      the noise is shown to be both position and activity concentration dependent in
      such a way that no simple scaling factor can be used to extrapolate noise as a
      function of counts. The use of the Well-Counter phantom contributed to the
      development of a heuristic extrapolation of the noise as a function of radius in
      FBP. In addition, the signal-to-noise ratio for high uptake objects was confirmed
      to be higher with backprojection image reconstruction methods. These techniques
      were applied to several patient data sets acquired in either 2D or 3D mode, with
      (18)F (FLT and FDG). Images of the standard deviation and signal-to-noise ratios
      were constructed and the standard deviations of the tumors' uptake were
      determined. Finally, a radial noise extrapolation relationship deduced in this
      paper was applied to patient data.

PMID- 20924131
TI  - Development of a validated immunofluorescence assay for gammaH2AX as a
      pharmacodynamic marker of topoisomerase I inhibitor activity.
AB  - PURPOSE: Phosphorylated histone H2AX (gammaH2AX) serves as a biomarker for
      formation of DNA double-strand break repair complexes. A quantitative
      pharmacodynamic immunofluorescence assay for gammaH2AX was developed, validated,
      and tested in human tumor xenograft models with the use of clinically relevant
      procedures. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: The gammaH2AX immunofluorescence assay uses a
      novel data quantitation and image processing algorithm to determine the extent of
      nuclear-specific gammaH2AX staining in tumor needle biopsies and hair follicles
      collected from mice bearing topotecan-responsive A375 xenografts. After method
      validation with the topoisomerase I (Top1) inhibitor topotecan, the assay was
      used to compare pharmacodynamic properties of three structurally related
      indenoisoquinoline Top1 inhibitors. RESULTS: gammaH2AX response to topotecan was
      quantified over a 60-fold dose range (0.016-1.0 times the murine single-dose
      maximum tolerated dose), and significant pharmacodynamic response was measured at
      the mouse equivalent of the 1.5 mg/m(2) clinical dose as well as the lowest dose
      tested. Responses were within a time window amenable for biopsy collection in
      clinical trials. These studies enabled characterization of dose and time
      responses for three indenoisoquinolines, resulting in selection of two for
      clinical evaluation. gammaH2AX response to Top1 inhibitors in hair follicles was
      also observable above a minimal dose threshold. CONCLUSIONS: Our gammaH2AX assay
      is sufficiently accurate and sensitive to quantify gammaH2AX in tumor samples and
      will be used in correlative studies of two indenoisoquinolines in a phase I
      clinical trial at the National Cancer Institute. Data suggest that hair follicles
      may potentially serve as a surrogate tissue to evaluate tumor gammaH2AX response
      to Top1 inhibitors.

PMID- 20924133
TI  - Generating arbitrary one-dimensional dose profiles using rotational therapy.
AB  - Conformal radiation therapy can be delivered using several methods: intensity
      modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) at fixed gantry angles, through the continuous
      gantry rotation of linac (rotational arc therapy), or by a dedicated treatment
      unit such as tomotherapy. The recently developed volumetric modulated arc therapy
      (VMAT), a form of rotational arc therapy, has attracted lots of attention from
      investigators to explore its capability of generating highly conformal dose to
      the target. The main advanced features of VMAT are the variable dose rate and
      gantry rotation speed. In this paper, we present a theoretical framework of
      generating arbitrary one-dimensional dose profiles using rotational arc therapy
      to further explore the new degree of freedom of the VMAT technique. This
      framework was applied to design a novel technique for total body irradiation
      (TBI) treatment, where the desired dose distribution can be simplified by a one
      dimensional profile. The technique was validated using simulations and
      experimental measurements. The preliminary results demonstrated that the new TBI
      technique using either dynamic MLC only, variable dose rate only, or a
      combination of dynamic MLC and variable dose rate can achieve arbitrary dose
      distribution in one dimension, such as uniform dose to target and lower dose to
      critical organ. This technique does not require the use of customized
      compensators, nor large treatment rooms as in the conventional extended SSD
      technique.

PMID- 20924134
TI  - Multifractal analysis of heart rate variability and laser Doppler flowmetry
      fluctuations:comparison of results from different numerical methods.
AB  - To contribute to the understanding of the complex dynamics in the cardiovascular
      system (CVS), the central CVS has previously been analyzed through multifractal
      analyses of heart rate variability (HRV) signals that were shown to bring useful
      contributions. Similar approaches for the peripheral CVS through the analysis of
      laser Doppler flowmetry (LDF) signals are comparatively very recent. In this
      direction, we propose here a study of the peripheral CVS through a multifractal
      analysis of LDF fluctuations, together with a comparison of the results with
      those obtained on HRV fluctuations simultaneously recorded. To perform these
      investigations concerning the biophysics of the CVS, first we have to address the
      problem of selecting a suitable methodology for multifractal analysis, allowing
      us to extract meaningful interpretations on biophysical signals. For this
      purpose, we test four existing methodologies of multifractal analysis. We also
      present a comparison of their applicability and interpretability when implemented
      on both simulated multifractal signals of reference and on experimental signals
      from the CVS. One essential outcome of the study is that the multifractal
      properties observed from both the LDF fluctuations (peripheral CVS) and the HRV
      fluctuations (central CVS) appear very close and similar over the studied range
      of scales relevant to physiology.

PMID- 20924135
TI  - Improving bone marrow stromal cell attachment on chitosan/hydroxyapatite
      scaffolds by an immobilized RGD peptide.
AB  - Ample cell adhesion to scaffolds is essential for effective bone tissue
      engineering. Chitosan/hydroxyapatite (CS/HA) scaffolds with channel-shaped and
      spherically shaped pore morphologies were prepared via in situ compositing
      hybridization in combination with lyophilization. The sizes of channel-shaped and
      spherically shaped pores of the CS/HA scaffolds were 150-650 um and 3-15 um,
      respectively. The RGD peptide (Arg-Gly-Asp) was bound to the surface of CS/HA
      scaffolds via physical adsorption. More than 63% of RGD present in a PBS solution
      spontaneously adsorbed onto CS/HA scaffolds. High numbers of viable bone marrow
      stromal cells (BMSCs) were observed by confocal and fluorescence microscopy for
      cells cultured on CS/HA scaffolds with and without RGD for 3 days. BMSCs on CS/HA
      scaffolds with RGD (RGD-CS/HA) were incubated for 4 h under standard culture
      conditions, and the degree of cell adhesion was calculated. Cell adhesion to RGD
      CS/HA scaffolds with different RGD concentrations was 71.6% and 80.7%,
      respectively. This was 30.9% and 47.5% higher than adhesion to the CS/HA scaffold
      without RGD, respectively. BMSCs cultured on the scaffolds for 14 days with
      osteogenic supplements expressed 103% higher alkaline phosphatase on the RGD
      CS/HA scaffold (0.001 97 +/- 0.000 31 U/L/ng), than on the unmodified scaffold
      (0.000 97 +/- 0.000 25 U/L/ng) (p < 0.01), indicating that a RGD peptide
      significantly promotes osteogenic differentiation of BMSCs on CS/HA scaffolds.
      The results of this study indicate that RGD-CS/HA scaffolds promote initial cell
      adhesion, spread and differentiation toward an osteogenic phenotype.

PMID- 20924136
TI  - Comparative analysis of adherence, viability, proliferation and morphology of
      umbilical cord tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells seeded on different titanium
      coated expanded polytetrafluoroethylene scaffolds.
AB  - Umbilical cord tissue comprises an attractive new source for mesenchymal stem
      cells. Umbilical cord tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells (UCMSC) exhibit self
      renewal, multipotency and immunological naivity, and they can be obtained without
      medical intervention. The transfer of UCMSC to the ischemic region of the heart
      may have a favorable impact on tissue regeneration. Benefit from typical cell
      delivery by injection to the infarcted area is often limited due to poor cell
      retention and survival. Another route of administration is to use populated
      scaffolds implanted into the infarcted zone. In this paper, the seeding
      efficiency of UCMSC on uncoated and titanium-coated expanded
      polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) scaffolds with different surface structures was
      determined. Dualmesh (DM) offers a corduroy-like surface in contrast to the
      comparatively planar surface of cardiovascular patch (CVP). The investigation of
      adherence, viability and proliferation of UCMSC demonstrates that titanium-coated
      scaffolds are superior to uncoated scaffolds, independent of the surface
      structure. Microscopic images reveal spherical UCMSC seeded on uncoated
      scaffolds. In contrast, UCMSC on titanium-coated scaffolds display their
      characteristic spindle-shaped morphology and a homogeneous coverage of CVP. In
      summary, titanium coating of clinically approved CVP enhances the retention of
      UCMSC and thus offers a potential cell delivery system for the repair of the
      damaged myocardium.

PMID- 20924137
TI  - Effect of a porous tantalum rod on early and intermediate stages of necrosis of
      the femoral head.
AB  - The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of a porous tantalum rod implant
      for the treatment of early femoral head necrosis. From April 2007 to June 2009, a
      total of 35 femoral head necrosis patients (with 49 hips) were treated with core
      decompression in combination with the insertion of a porous tantalum rod. The
      mean age was 38.2 years (22-50 years) and the mean follow-up period was 15.2
      months (12-36 months). The surgical time and blood loss were recorded. The Harris
      hip scores and radiological results were adopted for evaluation. The mean
      surgical time was 35 min, and the mean blood loss was 50 ml. The mean Harris
      score improved from 48.3 +/- 3.2 preoperative to 83.7 +/- 4.1 at the last follow
      up (p < 0.05). Eight affected hips exhibited progressive pain including three
      hips that progressed to femoral collapse, and one revision followed by total hip
      arthroplasty (THA). For the patient who underwent revision and THA, the articular
      cartilage surface was seen to be damaged and fragmented. High-density metal
      particle residuals were observed on radiograph in the bone channel and femoral
      marrow cavity. We conclude that the selection criteria for porous tantalum
      implants should be early and intermediate stages of femoral head necrosis.
      Further study is warranted to reveal whether the metal particles released play a
      role in the progression of pain and failure.

PMID- 20924138
TI  - A modified double-emulsion method for the preparation of daunorubicin-loaded
      polymeric nanoparticle with enhanced in vitro anti-tumor activity.
AB  - The encapsulation of hydrophilic drug in polymeric nanoparticles with high
      loading remains a challenge due to the rapid penetration of the drug to the
      external aqueous phase. In order to improve the encapsulation efficiency of
      daunorubicin (DNR) in poly(D,L-lactic-co-glycolic acid (PLGA) and poly(D,L-lactic
      acid) (PDLLA) nanoparticles, we fabricated a series of DNR-loaded nanoparticles
      using a modified double-emulsion solvent evaporation/diffusion method, which
      introduced a partially water-soluble organic solvent into the particle formation.
      The influence of various preparation parameters was investigated systematically,
      such as the ratio of organic solvent, the type of surfactant, the type of
      polymers and the molecular weight. Results showed that regular spherical PLGA
      nanoparticles with diameters of 200-300 nm could be produced with a remarkably
      high DNR encapsulation efficiency (>80%) and loading (6.5% (w/w)). Upon
      encapsulation, the sustained release of DNR could be controlled over 2 weeks. The
      results of FT-IR and DSC analysis indicated that the encapsulated DNR in
      polymeric nanoparticles was inclusion, not absorption. Furthermore, optimized
      DNR/PLGA nanoparticles showed a significant enhancement of cellular uptake,
      higher cytotoxicity against HL-60 cells compared with free DNR. These results
      were potentially useful for the nanoparticle formulation of hydrophilic
      chemotherapeutic drugs that require efficient delivery to cancer cells as well as
      sustained release at the specific site.

PMID- 20924139
TI  - Stem cells in bone tissue engineering.
AB  - Bone tissue engineering has been one of the most promising areas of research,
      providing a potential clinical application to cure bone defects. Recently,
      various stem cells including embryonic stem cells (ESCs), bone marrow-derived
      mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs), umbilical cord blood-derived mesenchymal stem
      cells (UCB-MSCs), adipose tissue-derived stem cells (ADSCs), muscle-derived stem
      cells (MDSCs) and dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) have received extensive
      attention in the field of bone tissue engineering due to their distinct
      biological capability to differentiate into osteogenic lineages. The application
      of these stem cells to bone tissue engineering requires inducing in vitro
      differentiation of these cells into bone forming cells, osteoblasts. For this
      purpose, efficient in vitro differentiation towards osteogenic lineage requires
      the development of well-defined and proficient protocols. This would reduce the
      likelihood of spontaneous differentiation into divergent lineages and increase
      the available cell source for application to bone tissue engineering therapies.
      This review provides a critical examination of the various experimental
      strategies that could be used to direct the differentiation of ESC, BM-MSC, UCB
      MSC, ADSC, MDSC and DPSC towards osteogenic lineages and their potential
      applications in tissue engineering, particularly in the regeneration of bone.

PMID- 20924140
TI  - Lack of a primary physicochemical determinant in the direct transport of drugs to
      the brain after nasal administration in rats: potential involvement of
      transporters in the pathway.
AB  - The objectives of this study were to evaluate the relative contribution of the
      direct pathway in overall brain transport for 17 model drugs with different
      physicochemical properties after nasal administrations and to identify factors
      that govern the fraction of the dose transported to the brain via the direct
      pathway (F(a, direct)). When the model drugs were nasally administered to rats, 5
      of the 17 model drugs were delivered to a significant extent to the brain via the
      direct pathway. Multiple linear regression analyses showed that the correlation
      between various physicochemical properties and F(a, direct) was not statistically
      significant, indicative of a lack of primary physicochemical determinants in the
      direct transport pathway. Transporters such as rOAT3 and rOCT2 were expressed at
      significant levels in rat olfactory epithelia, and uptakes of standard substrates
      were significantly decreased in HEK293 cells expressing rOAT3 and rOCT2 in the
      presence of the five model drugs that were delivered to appreciable extents to
      the brain via the direct pathway. Therefore, these observations indicate that
      carrier-mediated transport may play a role in the brain delivery of drugs from
      the nose via the direct transport pathway.

PMID- 20924141
TI  - Pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic modeling of glucose clamp effects of inhaled and
      subcutaneous insulin in healthy volunteers and diabetic patients.
AB  - The pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics (PK/PD) of inhaled insulin in humans
      have not been modeled previously. We rationalized a model for the effects of
      inhaled insulin on glucose infusion rate during a euglycemic clamp study based on
      the mechanism of insulin action and compared parameter estimates between
      subcutaneous and inhaled insulin in healthy and diabetic subjects. Published data
      from two studies in 11 healthy volunteers and 18 type 1 diabetes patients were
      digitized. The subjects received four different doses of inhaled insulin and one
      or three different doses subcutaneously at the start of a 10 h glucose clamp. All
      data were modeled simultaneously using NONMEM VI. Insulin pharmacokinetics were
      described by a one-compartment model with one (inhaled) or two (subcutaneous
      insulin) first-order absorption processes and first-order elimination. Insulin
      effects on glucose were described by an indirect response model. A biophase
      direct effect equation for the glucose infusion rate was implemented.
      Pharmacodynamic parameter estimates were 15.1 mg/min/kg for maximal glucose
      infusion rate (GIR(max)) and 88.0 mIU/L for SC(50) for diabetic patients and 62.9
      mIU/L for healthy subjects. A PK/PD model based on fundamental principles of
      insulin action and glucose turnover suggests comparable potencies of inhaled and
      subcutaneous insulin.

PMID- 20924142
TI  - Vitamin C nutriture in newly diagnosed diabetes.
AB  - This study was performed to investigate the relationship between serum L-ascorbic
      acid, vitamin C intake, and diabetes in a nested case-control study. A cross
      sectional survey of diet and health was conducted in 2,048 adults with an age of
      30 y or older in Yonchon County, Korea. An oral glucose tolerance test was
      administered to all participants. One hundred cases of newly diagnosed diabetes
      were identified. Two healthy controls for each case matched with age, gender,
      drinking status, and smoking status were selected among the survey participants.
      L-Ascorbic acid levels were analyzed in fasting serum samples and one 24-h
      dietary recall was performed. Dietary vitamin C intake of persons with diabetes
      was 50.1+/-47.6 mg/d and that of controls was 55.1+/-41.1 mg/d. People with
      diabetes (22.3+/-16.8 umol/L) have lower serum ascorbic acid levels than their
      controls (26.3+/-17.0 umol/L) and the difference was significant by paired t-test
      (p<0.01). The association between diabetes and serum ascorbic acid level was
      still significant in non-smokers (24.2+/-17.8 umol/L for the diabetes group and
      29.5+/-16.7 umol/L for the control group, p<0.01) but not in smokers (19.4+/-15.7
      umol/L for the diabetes group and 21.2+/-16.0 umol/L for the control group). Our
      results suggest that diabetes and smoking interactively affect serum ascorbic
      acid levels. Since this population had poor nutritional status of vitamin C,
      further investigation of association between serum ascorbic acid level and
      diabetes and smoking by the level of vitamin C consumption is warranted.

PMID- 20924143
TI  - Serum retinol, alpha-tocopherol and systemic inflammatory response in metastatic
      colorectal carcinoma patients treated with combination chemotherapy and
      cetuximab.
AB  - Cetuximab is a chimeric antibody registered for the therapy of advanced
      colorectal carcinoma. Cancer and anticancer therapy are associated with oxidative
      stress, and disorders of antioxidant balance may be involved in the toxicity
      associated with anticancer treatment. The aim of the present study was to
      investigate the changes of serum retinol, alpha-tocopherol and C-reactive protein
      during the first month of treatment with cetuximab and chemotherapy. Twenty-five
      consecutive patients with metastatic colorectal carcinoma treated with a
      combination of chemotherapy and cetuximab were included in the present study.
      Serum retinol and alpha-tocopherol were determined by high-performance liquid
      chromatography and serum C-reactive protein was determined using commercial kits.
      Significant correlation was observed between baseline concentrations of retinol
      and C-reactive protein (r(s)=-0.54, p<0.01). Median survival of patients who had
      baseline serum retinol below 1.25 umol/L was 10 mo compared to 18 mo for patients
      who had serum retinol equal or above 1.25 umol/L (p<0.05); median survival of
      patients who had serum C-reactive protein below 24 mg/L was significantly longer
      compared to patients with C-reactive protein levels equal or above 24 mg/L (18
      vs. 7 mo, p<0.05), but no difference in survival was observed based on alpha
      tocopherol levels. Twenty-two patients had evaluation of retinol, alpha
      tocopherol and C-reactive protein at least once during the follow up. Serum
      concentration of alpha-tocopherol decreased significantly during the therapy, but
      retinol and C-reactive protein concentrations remained unchanged. In conclusion,
      a significant correlation was observed between serum retinol and C-reactive
      protein. Serum alpha-tocopherol decreased significantly during the first month of
      combination therapy with cetuximab. Low retinol and high C-reactive protein
      concentrations were predictive of poor prognosis in this patient population.

PMID- 20924144
TI  - Impact of ethnic conflict on the nutritional status and quality of life of
      suburban villagers in the Solomon Islands.
AB  - This paper describes the health and nutritional status and quality of life (QOL)
      of suburban villagers in the Solomon Islands 3 y after the 1998-2003 ethnic
      conflict. Cross-sectional data were obtained from a small community located 50 km
      east of the capital city (n=206, 87 adults and 119 children). A health survey
      involving urine analysis, anthropometry, and blood pressure measurements was
      conducted to assess health and nutritional status and child growth.
      Simultaneously, 57 non-randomly selected adults participated in the QOL
      questionnaire survey. Results of anthropometry show that participants had good
      health and nutritional status (mean BMIs: 22.8 and 21.7 for men and women,
      respectively) and 73% of boys and 83% of girls were judged 'normal body size'
      based on their BMI values. Urinalysis revealed that 88% of the participants were
      healthy and indicated that they consumed considerable amounts of purchased food
      such as rice and tinned meat. These findings suggest that the population's
      lifestyle had essentially recovered from the ethnic conflict. However, possible
      consequences of the ethnic conflict on the QOL scores were observed in the
      environmental domain. This study found a positive association between body fat
      and QOL. This could be interpreted in terms of the traditionally positive view of
      large bodies in the South Pacific and as resulting from unstable social
      conditions prevailing after the ethnic conflict.

PMID- 20924145
TI  - Effects of dietary protein levels on body composition of zinc-deficient rats.
AB  - This study examined why decreased protein intake retards zinc deficiency in zinc
      deficient rats. Rats were freely provided zinc-deficient diets with either 10 or
      20% protein. Experimental groups consisted of five rats that were fed
      experimental diets for 0, 3, 4, 12 and 25 d in Experiment 1. The body protein
      content in rats fed the 10% protein diet was similar to those fed the 20% protein
      diet for the duration of the experiment. The body zinc content in both dietary
      groups slowly decreased in a similar manner. Eventually, the body zinc/protein
      ratio in the 10% protein diet group decreased more slowly than that in the 20%
      protein diet group. Ingestion of the 10% protein diet also reduced the
      zinc/protein ratio in bone more slowly compared with that of the 20% protein
      diet, under zinc-deficient conditions, at 12 d in Experiment 2. However, there
      was no difference in the zinc/protein ratio of carcass total soft tissue between
      the two zinc-deficient groups. Decreased protein intake eventually slowed the
      reduction in both the body and bone zinc/protein ratios in zinc-deficient rats,
      resulting in retardation of zinc deficiency.

PMID- 20924146
TI  - Studies on the mechanism of antihypertensive action by nicotianamine.
AB  - Nicotianamine (NA), which is obtained from vegetables, lowers blood pressure
      through the renin-angiotensin system, and we clarified that NA preferentially
      inhibits the activity of angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE)-a zinc-containing
      enzyme. In this study, we elucidated the mechanism of antihypertensive action of
      NA through the Magnus method by using rat aortic blood vessels. Angiotensin I
      induced contractions were inhibited by NA in a concentration-dependant manner.
      Because NA did not inhibit angiotensin II-induced contractions, it was believed
      that NA inhibited ACE activity in vascular smooth muscles. NA did not affect KCl
      induced contractions, but it affected norepinephrine-induced contractions to a
      small extent. NA exerted similar effects on endothelium-denuded and endothelium
      intact blood vessels. Therefore, the antihypertensive action of NA did not play a
      role in the opening of voltage-dependent calcium channels, but this effect
      influenced vasoconstriction by the activation of alpha-adrenergic receptors.
      These results suggest that after absorption from the intestinal tract, NA may
      exert antihypertensive effects via 2 mechanisms: direct inhibition of ACE in
      vascular smooth muscle and activation of alpha-adrenergic receptors.

PMID- 20924147
TI  - Effects of simultaneous dietary fish oil ingestion and sulfur amino acid
      supplementation on the lipid metabolism in hepatoma-bearing rats with
      hyperlipidemia.
AB  - The effects of simultaneous dietary fish oil ingestion and sulfur amino acid (L
      methionine and L-cystine) supplementation on serum lipid concentrations and
      various parameters related to the lipid metabolism were studied in Donryu rats
      subcutaneously implanted with an ascites hepatoma cell line, AH109A. A diet
      containing 10% fish oil was found to reduce serum triglyceride, total
      cholesterol, (very-low-density lipoprotein plus low-density lipoprotein)
      cholesterol, phospholipid and nonesterified fatty acid (NEFA) concentrations in
      these animals, and dietary supplementation of 1.2% L-methionine and L-cystine
      also suppressed these serum lipid concentrations. Hepatic fatty acid synthesis
      and the availability of serum NEFA were decreased, and epididymal adipose tissue
      lipoprotein lipase (LPL) activity was elevated by dietary fish oil, while LPL
      activity in various tissues and hepatic fatty acid oxidation were increased by
      dietary sulfur amino acids, resulting in a reduction in the serum triglyceride
      concentration by dietary fish oil and sulfur amino acids, respectively. Dietary
      fish oil suppressed the hepatoma-induced increase in cholesterogenesis in the
      host liver, and dietary methionine and cystine enhanced bile acid excretion into
      feces, which were the causes of the hypocholesterolemic effect. In these serum
      lipid concentrations, there were significant effects of fish oil ingestion and
      sulfur amino acid supplementation, but no significant interaction between these
      two factors was seen. These results indicate that dietary fish oil and sulfur
      amino acid, L-methionine and L-cystine, have hypolipidemic effects in cancer
      related hyperlipidemia, and that the effects of these two factors on the decrease
      in these serum lipid concentrations are additive; these two factors may affect
      the lipid metabolism via different pathways and mechanisms.

PMID- 20924148
TI  - Effect of intermittent blood volume fluctuation of light resistance exercise
      after ingestion of the high-protein snacks on plasma branched-chain amino acid
      concentrations in young adults.
AB  - The study investigated exercise patterns resulting in the more efficient
      promotion of amino acid utilization. High-protein snacks (HPS; 15 g protein, 18 g
      sugar) were ingested by 8 young adult subjects 3 h after the basal meal
      ingestion. Sixty minutes after the HPS ingestion, the subjects performed arm
      flex/extend exercises for 15 min. The difference between 2 exercise patterns was
      compared. Pattern 1: High-number long-interval (HL) arm flex/extend (3+3 s)
      exercise; the HL group performed 9 sets of 15 exercises with a 10 s interval
      between sets. Pattern 2: Low-number short-interval (LS) arm flex/extend (3+3 s)
      exercise; the LS group performed 27 sets of 5 exercises with a 3-4 s interval
      between sets (135 exercises during 15 min, respectively). The plasma branched
      chain amino acid (BCAA) concentrations were measured before the HPS ingestion,
      before the exercise, and 60 and 90 min after the HPS ingestion. The plasma BCAA
      concentrations increased significantly after the HPS ingestion. In the HL group,
      BCAA concentration increased consistently during the period and 60 to 90 min
      after the HPS ingestion. During the same period in the LS group the BCAA
      concentration stopped increasing. After HPS ingestion, a significantly greater
      suppressive effect on plasma BCAA concentration was seen in the LS group compared
      to the HL group. Results confirmed that the intermittent blood volume fluctuation
      in muscle tissue during the exercise pattern performed by the LS group had an
      effect on the utilization of nutritional components (BCAA, glucose) from the
      blood, and showed the possibility that the group where the blood volume in the
      muscle tissue increased/lowered with higher frequency was a more effective
      exercise pattern for nutrient utilization.

PMID- 20924149
TI  - 2,4-Dinitrofluorobenzene-induced contact hypersensitivity response in NC/Nga mice
      fed fructo-oligosaccharide.
AB  - Strategies to manipulate gut microbiota in infancy have been considered to
      prevent the development of allergic diseases later in life. We previously
      demonstrated that maternal dietary supplementation with fructo-oligosaccharide
      (FOS) during pregnancy and lactation modulated the composition of gut microbiota
      and diminished the severity of spontaneously developing atopic dermatitis-like
      skin lesions in the offspring of NC/Nga mice. The present study tested whether
      dietary FOS affects contact hypersensitivity (CHS), another model for allergic
      skin disease, in NC/Nga mice. In experiment 1, 5-wk-old female NC/Nga mice were
      fed diets either with or without FOS supplementation for 3 wk and then received
      2,4-dinitrofluorobenzene (DNFB) on the ear auricle 5 times at 7-d intervals. FOS
      supplementation reduced CHS response as demonstrated by ear swelling.
      Quantitative RT-PCR analysis showed that mRNA levels for interleukin (IL)-10, IL
      12p40, and IL-17 in the lesional ear skin were significantly lower in mice fed
      FOS. In experiment 2, female NC/Nga mice were fed diets either with or without
      FOS during pregnancy and lactation. After weaning, offspring were fed the diets
      supplemented with or without FOS. Three weeks after weaning, offspring received
      DNFB on the ear auricle 4 times at 7-d intervals. Although FOS supplementation
      after weaning reduced ear swelling, maternal FOS consumption was ineffective in
      offspring. The present data suggest that dietary FOS reduces CHS while maternal
      FOS consumption is ineffective in offspring of DNFB-treated NC/Nga mice.

PMID- 20924150
TI  - Bioavailability of acetate from two vinegar supplements: capsule and drink.
AB  - The bioavailability of acetate in various vinegar supplements, e.g. as capsules
      and drinks, remains unclear. Thus, we conducted a cross-over clinical study in 30
      healthy subjects. After an overnight fast, subjects received each test sample in
      a randomised sequence: 9 vinegar capsules (containing 750 mg acetic acid in
      total) with 150 mL of water, 100 mL of vinegar drink (containing 750 mg acetic
      acid), and 150 mL of water as reference. Blood samples were collected before
      (defined as 0 min), at 15, 30, 45, 60, 90, 120 and 180 min after each test sample
      intake. In the vinegar drink group, serum acetate concentration increased
      immediately after intake, peaked at 15 min and returned to baseline at 90 min.
      That in the vinegar capsule group rose slowly, peaked at 30 min and returned to
      baseline at 120 min. The peak values in both groups exceeded 200 umol/L, the
      physiologically active concentration confirmed by in vitro experiment. In the
      reference group, levels remained constant throughout the 180-min period. The
      amount of absorbed acetate from the vinegar capsule group and the drink group was
      evaluated by the difference value of the area under the serum acetate
      concentration-time curve (AUC) between in each vinegar group and in the reference
      group (expressed as AUC(capsule-ref) and AUC(drink-ref ), respectively).
      AUC(capsule-ref) was about 80% of AUC(drink-ref ), but there was no significant
      difference between them.

PMID- 20924151
TI  - Work-family spillover among Japanese dual-earner couples: a large community-based
      study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To examine the effects of multiple types of work-family spillover
      (work-to-family negative spillover, WFNS; family-to-work negative spillover,
      FWNS; and work-family positive spillover, WFPS) on psychological distress among
      Japanese dual-earner couples with preschool children. METHODS: 2,346 parents
      completed questionnaires measuring work-family spillover, work- and family
      specific variables (i.e., job demands and resources, family demands and
      resources), and psychological distress. A hierarchical multiple regression
      analysis was conducted by entering demographic characteristics (gender, age, age
      of the youngest child, and job contract) in step 1, job demands and resources in
      step 2, family demands and resources in step 3, work-family spillover in step 4,
      and three two-way interactions between types of work-family spillover and gender
      in the final step. RESULTS: Both WFNS and FWNS were positively related to
      psychological distress after controlling for demographic characteristics and
      domain specific variables (i.e. job and family demands/resources), and FWNS
      (beta=0.26) had a stronger relation with psychological distress than WFNS
      (beta=0.16). Although WFPS was significantly and negatively related to
      psychological distress, the relationship was weak (beta=-0.05). In addition, two
      way interactions of WFNS and FWNS with gender were found; the impact of both WFNS
      and FWNS on psychological distress is stronger for females than for males. No
      significant interaction effect was observed between WFPS and gender. CONCLUSIONS:
      In this study of Japanese dual-earner couples with preschool children, work
      family negative spillover had a stronger relationship with psychological distress
      than positive spillover. Gender had a moderating effect on the relationship
      between negative spillover and psychological distress.

PMID- 20924152
TI  - A cross-sectional survey of voice disorders among primary school teachers in Hong
      Kong.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the study was to investigate the prevalence of voice
      disorders and associated risk factors among primary school teachers in Hong Kong.
      METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted based on a random sample of 20
      primary schools in Hong Kong. A total of 714 full-time primary school teachers
      were invited to participate in the survey. Data were collected through a self
      administered questionnaire addressing the prevalence of voice disorders and
      potential risk factors. Stepwise logistic regression was used to assess the
      associations between voice disorders and the different risk factors. RESULTS: The
      response rate for the questionnaire was 69.7% (498/714). Among the teachers who
      responded, 348 (69.9%) had suffered from a voice disorder in the past 12 mo.
      Thirty-one teachers (8.9%) rated their voice disorders as minimal, 124 (35.6%) as
      mild, 151 (43.4%) as moderate, and 42 (12.1%) as severe. Of the 348 teachers
      reporting voice disorders, 215 (61.8%) had sought professional help for their
      voice problems. The univariate analyses showed that the factors significantly
      associated with voice disorders included talking quietly (p=0.018), using a
      microphone (p=0.002), speaking against background noise (p<0.001), consuming
      alcohol (p=0.027), and having a history of asthma (p=0.001), colds (p=0.012),
      sinusitis (p=0.039), or laryngitis (p<0.001). After adjusting for potential
      confounds, the significant risk factors included speaking against background
      noise (adjusted OR=1.8), alcohol consumption (adjusted OR=0.40), history of
      asthma (adjusted OR=3.3), or laryngitis (adjusted OR=4.2). CONCLUSIONS:
      Approximately 70% of the sampled primary school teachers were affected by voice
      disorders. A substantial proportion of the effected teachers suffered both
      functional and psychological adverse effects. The findings indicate an urgent
      need for further investigation to identify the risk factors for voice disorders
      and to develop preventive strategies for primary school teachers.

PMID- 20924153
TI  - Effects of pesticide use on semen quality among farmers in rural areas of Sabah,
      Malaysia.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine the relationship between semen quality and exposure to
      pesticide residues. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among male
      farmers from 3 different communities in Sabah, Malaysia. A total of 152 farmers
      participated in this study of whom 62 farmers had been exposed to either paraquat
      or malathion or both to varying extents. Questionnaires were designed to record a
      history of pesticides exposure and other potential risk factors among farmers.
      All semen samples were collected, processed and analyzed by qualified personnel
      based on WHO guidelines. Volume, pH, sperm concentration, motility, morphology
      and WBC count were examined and recorded. The association between pesticide
      exposure and semen parameters was highly significant. RESULTS: The mean values of
      volume, pH, sperm concentration, motility, and WBC count were significantly less
      in the exposed group than in compared with the non-exposed group, with p<0.005.
      Those who were exposed to pesticides had greater risk of having abnormal semen
      parameters than those in with the non exposed group, with p values of less than
      0.05. The comparison between semen qualities such as lower sperm count, motility
      and higher percentage of sperm abnormality of those exposed to different types of
      pesticides (paraquat and malathion) showed no significant differences.
      CONCLUSION: The results showed a significant decline in semen quality with a
      decline in sperm count, motility and higher percent of teratospermia among
      subjects with pesticide exposure, and those who were exposed to pesticides had
      significantly 3 to 9 times greater risk of having abnormal semen parameters.

PMID- 20924154
TI  - Effects of growth hormone therapy on cardiac dimensions in children and
      adolescents with Prader-Willi syndrome.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Growth hormone (GH) secretory status and GH therapy influence cardiac
      muscle mass and function. Most patients with Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) are GH
      deficient (GHD), and are at risk to develop obesity-related cardiac problems. Few
      data exist on the development of cardiac dimensions under GH treatment in PWS.
      STUDY DESIGN: in a retrospective study, cardiac dimensions measured
      echocardiographically in 26 children with PWS before and after 22.9 +/- 11.0
      months of GH therapy (0.035 mg/kg/day) were compared to those of 13 GHD children
      treated with GH (0.025-0.035 mg/kg/day) over 13.5 +/- 4.2 months. RESULTS: low
      normal left ventricular end-systolic [diastolic] diameter SDS increased in PWS
      patients (1.41, p < 0.0001 [1.23, p < 0.0001]) and in controls (0.61, p = 0.04
      [0.78, p = 0.013]), becoming elevated above normal in 2/26 PWS patients. There
      was a trend for a higher GH effect on left ventricular end-systolic diameter in
      PWS (p = 0.071). Mean values of all echocardiographic dimensions remained in the
      normal range in both PWS patients and controls, before and under GH therapy.
      CONCLUSION: the response of cardiac dimensions to GH treatment is similar in PWS
      patients and GHD controls, with a trend towards more elevated left ventricular
      parameters in PWS. Therefore, regular echocardiographic assessment may be
      considered in PWS children with longer treatment duration.

PMID- 20924156
TI  - Lipschutz genital ulceration associated with mumps.
AB  - Lipschutz ulcers are characterised by a first flare of non-sexually related acute
      genital ulcers (AGU) occurring in adolescent girls. Epstein-Barr primary
      infection is the most frequently reported aetiology but other infectious agents
      are probably implicated. We report the first case of mumps associated with an AGU
      in a 21-year-old girl. She presented a bilateral parotitis with genital ulcers,
      and serology confirmed she had mumps. As in our case, most Lipschutz ulcers heal
      spontaneously within a couple of weeks and the diagnosis should be reconsidered
      in case of recurrence.

PMID- 20924157
TI  - Prevalence of chronic pruritus in Germany: results of a cross-sectional study in
      a sample working population of 11,730.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pruritus is a frequent symptom in many diseases; its prevalence in
      German adults is unknown. OBJECTIVE: Our purpose was to assess the prevalence,
      severity and health care of chronic pruritus in the German working population.
      METHODS: A cross-sectional observational study was conducted in employees of 144
      German companies. Pruritus-specific data were obtained by standardized questions.
      RESULTS: 11,730 people (53.2% male, 16-70 years, mean = 43.7 years) were suitable
      for analysis. The point prevalence of chronic pruritus (at least 6 weeks prior to
      data collection) was 16.8%. The prevalence increased with age from 12.3% (16-30
      years) to 20.3% (61-70 years). A quarter of the affected persons had suffered
      from pruritus for >5 years, 47% had never sought medical advice, and 94% had not
      undergone any treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Chronic pruritus is a prevalent symptom in
      the working age population. A high proportion of people affected are not
      medically treated.

PMID- 20924158
TI  - Pediatric Graves' disease: controversies in management.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: Graves' disease (GD) is the most common cause of thyrotoxicosis
      in children and adolescents. Caused by immunologic stimulation of the thyroid
      stimulating hormone receptor, lasting remission occurs in only a minority of
      pediatric patients with GD, including children treated with antithyroid drugs
      (ATDs) for many years. Thus the majority of pediatric patients with GD will need
      thyroidectomy or treatment with radioactive iodine (RAI; (131)I). RESULTS: When
      ATDs are used in children, only methimazole should be used. Propylthiouracil is
      associated with an unacceptable risk of severe liver injury in children and
      should never be used as first-line therapy. If remission (defined as normal
      thyroid function off ATDs) is not achieved after 1 or 2 years of ATD therapy,
      (131)I or surgery may be considered, with the choice influenced by the age of the
      individual. When (131)I is used, administered doses should be >150 MUCi/g of
      thyroid tissue. When surgery is performed, near total or total thyroidectomy is
      recommended. CONCLUSION: Choosing a treatment approach for childhood GD is often
      a difficult and highly personal decision. Discussion of the advantages and risks
      of each therapeutic option is essential to help the patient and family select a
      treatment option.

PMID- 20924155
TI  - Maternal immune activation and autism spectrum disorder: interleukin-6 signaling
      as a key mechanistic pathway.
AB  - An emerging area of research in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is the role of
      prenatal exposure to inflammatory mediators during critical developmental
      periods. Epidemiological data has highlighted this relationship showing
      significant correlations between prenatal exposure to pathogens, including
      influenza, and the occurrence of ASD. Although there has not been a definitive
      molecular mechanism established, researchers have begun to investigate this
      relationship as animal models of maternal infection have support- ed
      epidemiological findings. Several groups utilizing these animal models have found
      that activation of the maternal immune system, termed maternal immune activation
      (MIA), and more specifically the exposure of the developing fetus to maternal
      cytokines precipitate the neurological, immunological and behavioral
      abnormalities observed in the offspring of these animals. These abnormalities
      have correlated with clinical findings of immune dysregulation, neurological and
      behavioral abnormalities in some autistic individuals. Additionally, researchers
      have observed genetic variations in these models in genes which regulate
      neurological and immunological development, similar to what is observed
      clinically in ASD. Altogether, the role of MIA and cytokine dysregulation, as a
      key mediator in the neuropathological, behavioral and possibly genetic
      irregularities observed clinically in autism are important factors that warrant
      further investigation.

PMID- 20924159
TI  - Cost-effectiveness of biological therapy in remission induction of moderate to
      severe plaque psoriasis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The introduction of biological agents has considerably changed the
      treatment of moderate to severe psoriasis. So far only limited data on their cost
      effectiveness exist. OBJECTIVE: Determination of the cost-effectiveness of
      biologicals from a German third payer's perspective, assessed over a 12-week
      period. METHODS: Efficacies of the biologicals were determined by a literature
      review. Treatment modalities were taken from the European S3 psoriasis guideline.
      Costs were calculated on the basis of the German physicians' fee schedule. Cost
      effectiveness was determined and a sensitivity analysis performed. RESULTS:
      Infliximab at a dose of 3 mg/kg was the most cost-effective agent, directly
      followed by adalimumab, infliximab 5 mg/kg and ustekinumab. The least cost
      effective agent was etanercept 2 * 50 mg/week. Sensitivity analysis showed
      considerable overlap of the cost-effectiveness ratios. CONCLUSION: Under the
      conditions of the German health care system, biological agents for psoriasis
      differ in their cost-effectiveness ratios. Differences are small, however. A
      major limitation of the study is the short time horizon of 12 weeks.

PMID- 20924160
TI  - Recurrence of basosquamous carcinoma after Mohs micrographic surgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The recurrence rate of basal cell carcinoma (BCC) after Mohs
      micrographic surgery (MMS) is well documented. Only little is published
      concerning the recurrence rate in relation to the different histologic subgroups.
      OBJECTIVE: To analyze the recurrence rate of the different histologic groups and
      subgroups after MMS. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: We investigated 1,000 cases of
      epidermal tumors in a private center of MMS including BCC, squamous cell
      carcinoma and basosquamous carcinoma (BSC) treated by MMS from 1998 to 2007 in a
      retrospective study. The cases where analyzed regarding the histologic groups and
      subgroups. The mean follow-up time was 59.55 months. RESULTS: The recurrence rate
      of epidermal tumors in this study was about 2.5% and comparable to that in the
      literature. Interestingly we observed a relatively high incidence and recurrence
      rate of BSC compared to other studies. CONCLUSION: BSC seems to be highly
      aggressive and subject to recurrence even after MMS. The classical approach to
      stop further excision once the excision is total should be reevaluated.

PMID- 20924161
TI  - Neocortical-like organization of avian auditory 'cortex'. Commentary on Wang Y,
      Brzozowska-Prechtl A, Karten HJ (2010): Laminar and columnar auditory cortex in
      avian brain. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 107:12676-12681.

PMID- 20924162
TI  - Cutaneous Malassezia microbiota in atopic dermatitis patients differ by gender
      and body part.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Malassezia is a particularly important factor in the occurrence of
      atopic dermatitis (AD). AIM: The aim of this study was to quantitatively clarify
      the Malassezia species isolated from AD patients by gender, body part and
      analytical method in detail. METHODS: The subjects were 20 AD males and 47 AD
      females. Samples were collected from lesion and nonlesion areas on the face and
      upper trunk of AD patients. Malassezia DNA was analyzed using a real-time PCR
      system. RESULTS: The cutaneous Malassezia microbiota in AD patients differed by
      gender, body part and analytical method. CONCLUSIONS: The present results
      indicate the possibility that the influence of Malassezia antigens is different
      according to gender and body part.

PMID- 20924163
TI  - Meiotic studies in infertile domestic pig-babirusa hybrids.
AB  - Mating of a babirusa (Babyrousa babyrussa) boar and a domestic sow (Sus scrofa)
      resulted in the birth of 5 live domestic pig-babirusa hybrid piglets. Chromosome
      analysis of one of the surviving males confirmed that they were domestic pig
      babirusa hybrids by revealing the presence of a complete haploid set of 19
      porcine chromosomes as well as a complete haploid set of 19 babirusa chromosomes
      in the karyotype. None of the surviving piglets, two males and one female, had
      shown signs of sexual maturity at age 27 months. Histological examination of
      gonadal biopsies from the 2 males revealed that both were azoospermatic.
      Immunostaining revealed SCP3-positive axial elements in the nuclei of primary
      spermatocytes, indicating that they were progressing through leptotene and
      zygotene of meiotic prophase. However, the presence of multiple short stretches
      of axial elements in pachytene nuclei indicated that this phase was blocked,
      probably due to aberrant chromosome pairing. Histological examination of the
      ovaries revealed follicular structures, but oocytes within them were generally
      degenerated. We conclude that both male and female pig-babirusa hybrids were
      infertile, most likely due to germ cell death resulting from abnormalities of
      chromosome pairing during meiotic prophase.

PMID- 20924164
TI  - B chromosomes in Nierembergia aristata (Solanaceae): nucleolar activity and
      competition with the A chromosomes.
AB  - B chromosomes are additional dispensable chromosomes that may be present in some
      individuals, populations, or species, which have probably arisen from the A
      chromosomes but follow their own evolutionary pathway. Supposedly, B chromosomes
      do not contain major genes except for ribosomal DNA (rDNA) sequences that have
      been mapped on the supernumerary chromosomes of many plants and animals. This
      paper is a new report of B chromosome occurrence in plants. B chromosomes with
      nucleolar organizing regions (NORs) were found in a diploid sample of
      Nierembergiaaristata D. Don (sub nom. N. stricta Miers) (2n = 2x = 16). This is
      an extreme case in which B chromosomes possess not only strong nucleolar
      activity, as revealed by conventional staining methods, AgNOR and fluorescence
      banding, and fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH), but also show nucleolar
      competition with the A chromosomes. The observed phenomenon could be analogous to
      the nucleolar dominance or 'differential amphiplasty' phenomenon that occurs in
      interspecific hybrids.

PMID- 20924165
TI  - Comparative cytogenetics of giant trahiras Hoplias aimara and H. intermedius
      (Characiformes, Erythrinidae): chromosomal characteristics of minor and major
      ribosomal DNA and cross-species repetitive centromeric sequences mapping differ
      among morphologically identical karyotypes.
AB  - Karyotype and cytogenetic characteristics of 2 species of giant trahiras,
      Hopliasintermedius, Sao Francisco river basin, and Hopliasaimara, Arinos river
      (Amazon basin), were examined by conventional (C-banding, Ag-NOR, DAPI/CMA(3)
      double-staining) and fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) with 5S, 18S rDNA
      probes and cross-species Cot-1 DNA probing. Both species invariably had diploid
      chromosome number 2n = 50 and identical karyotypes composed of 10 pairs of
      metacentric and 15 pairs of submetacentric chromosomes. On the other hand,
      staining with base-specific fluorochromes (CMA(3), DAPI) and FISH mapping of
      repetitive DNA sequences showed extensive interspecific differences: while the
      genome of H. aimara had one submetacentric pair bearing CMA(3)-positive (DAPI
      negative) sites, that of H. intermedius had 4 such pairs; while FISH with a 5S
      rDNA probe showed one (likely homologous) signal-bearing pair, that with 18S rDNA
      displayed one signal-bearing pair in H. intermedius and 2 such pairs in H.
      aimara. Cross-species FISH probing with Cot-1 DNA prepared from total DNA of both
      species showed no signals of Cot-1 DNA from H. aimara on chromosomes of H.
      intermedius but reciprocally (Cot-1 DNA from H. intermedius on chromosomes of H.
      aimara) displayed signals on at least 4 chromosome pairs. Present findings
      indicate (i) different composition of repetitive sequences around centromeres,
      (ii) different NOR phenotypes and (iii) distinct taxonomic status of both giant
      trahira species.

PMID- 20924166
TI  - Primary hyperparathyroidism in patients with gastric carcinoid tumors type 1: an
      unusual coexistence.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Although a number of familiar syndromes are associated with primary
      hyperparathyroidism (PHP), there is no information regarding the prevalence of
      PHP in other sporadic neuroendocrine diseases. The aim of this study is to
      investigate the prevalence of PHP in our group of patients with gastric carcinoid
      (GC) type 1 tumors. METHODS: Twenty-six patients with biopsy-proven GC type 1
      tumors were retrospectively studied. The diagnosis of PHP was suspected following
      elevated or high-normal serum calcium levels and elevated or inappropriate normal
      parathyroid hormone levels. Further tests for the localization of the
      hyperfunctioning parathyroid glands included neck ultrasound, (99m)Tc-SESTAMIBI
      scanning, and cervical or upper mediastinal MR imaging studies. Four control
      groups were also studied: two age- and sex-matched groups of individuals with (n
      = 49) and without (n = 34) thyroid autoimmunity and normal endoscopy of the
      stomach, a third group with nongastric neuroendocrine tumors (n = 68), and a
      fourth group with atrophic gastritis and hypergastrinemia, without gastric
      endocrine tumors (n = 30). RESULTS: PHP was diagnosed in 4 (15.38%) patients with
      GC type 1 tumors compared to none of the 4 control groups. Three of the 4
      patients with PHP were operated and proved to have a parathyroid adenoma. No
      statistically significant differences were observed between patients with or
      without PHP in mean gastrin and chromogranin A levels, number of lesions, ki-67
      labeling index expression, and maximum GC type 1 tumor diameter. CONCLUSION: PHP
      seems to be relatively common, approximately 15% in the present cohort, in
      patients with GC type 1 tumors. PHP should be actively looked for in such
      patients and treated accordingly.

PMID- 20924167
TI  - A novel target of mizoribine inhibiting mesangial cell proliferation: S phase
      kinase-associated protein 2.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: Mizoribine (MZR) can inhibit mesangial cell (MC) proliferation,
      but the mechanism remains unknown. In this study, we investigated the inhibitory
      effect of MZR on MC proliferation via a cell cycle regulatory protein-dependent
      mechanism. METHODS: We investigated the effect of MZR on MC proliferation and
      expression of cell cycle regulatory proteins such as cyclin D1, cyclin-dependent
      kinase 2 and p27(kip1) in primary cultured rat MCs. We further focused on
      analyzing the effects of MZR on S phase kinase-associated protein 2 (Skp2), which
      played a crucial role in p27(kip1) degradation. RESULTS: MZR effectively
      inhibited MC proliferation in primary cultured rat MCs, reduced the expression of
      cyclin D1 and cyclin-dependent kinase 2, while it dramatically increased the
      protein level of p27(kip1), maintained the nucleus location of p27(kip1) and
      induced G1/S arrest. In contrast to the protein level, MZR produced no changes in
      p27(kip1) mRNA abundance. MZR impaired p27(kip1) degradation through
      downregulating the expression of Skp2 and this effect was not dependent on its
      inhibition on DNA synthesis. Skp2 overexpression abolished MZR-induced p27(kip1)
      accumulation. CONCLUSION: These results suggested that MZR-induced p27(kip1)
      accumulation was at least partly mediated by Skp2, and that Skp2 might be a novel
      target of MZR inhibiting MC proliferation.

PMID- 20924168
TI  - Effect of kidney disease stage on pregnancy and delivery outcomes among patients
      with immunoglobulin A nephropathy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Immunoglobulin A nephropathy (IgAN) has a peak onset that coincides
      with the reproductive age. Therefore, many young women who are affected become
      pregnant. The effects and outcome of pregnancy in women with renal diseases
      remain controversial, and the characteristics and outcome of pregnancy in IgAN
      patients must be further evaluated. METHODS: A prospective follow-up study of 29
      pregnant women with IgAN was performed by analyzing laboratory data, histology
      and prognosis. To clarify the influence of renal insufficiency, we compared these
      patients according to the chronic kidney disease (CKD) stage. RESULTS: We found
      that pregnancy and delivery did not produce any significant changes of the renal
      function in any of the patients at 3 years after delivery, although the
      proteinuria was elevated at 30 weeks of pregnancy and at 3 months after delivery.
      Finally, the data of pregnant women with IgAN were compared with those of 45
      nonpregnant women who had similar clinical and demographic characteristics.
      CONCLUSION: The pregnant patients with IgAN did not exhibit any significant
      reduction of renal function at 3 years after delivery as compared with the
      baseline, which is similar to the findings in nonpregnant patients. Furthermore,
      pregnancy with stage 2 or 3 CKD was not a risk factor for renal dysfunction or
      delivery.

PMID- 20924169
TI  - Trans-10,cis-12-CLA-caused lipodystrophy is associated with profound changes of
      fatty acid profiles of liver, white adipose tissue and erythrocytes in mice:
      possible link to tissue-specific alterations of fatty acid desaturation.
AB  - Dietary supplementation with conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) has been shown to
      reduce body fat mass. To investigate the effects of individual CLA isomers on the
      fatty acid profiles of lipogenic (liver and white adipose) and lipid sensitive
      (erythrocyte) tissues, BALB/c mice were fed with 1 of 2 diets supplemented with
      either a c9,t11-CLA-enriched and t10,c12-CLA-free or a CLA-mixture containing
      both isomers in equal amounts (1% w/w of the diet) for 5 weeks. A control group
      was fed with a diet enriched in sunflower oil to energy balance the CLA. Compared
      to the t10,c12-CLA-free and the control diets, we observed a significant
      reduction of adipose tissue accompanied by fatty livers in the CLA-mix-fed group.
      These alterations in body fat distribution entailed a conspicuous shift of the
      fatty acid profiles of adipose tissue and livers. Liver enlargement was mainly
      caused by accumulation of C18 monoenes that accounted for 67 +/- 1% of total
      fatty acid methyl esters. The significant reduction of the 18:0/18:1 desaturation
      index in the liver upon CLA-mix diet indicated high stearoyl-CoA desaturase
      activity. In contrast, reduction in white adipose tissue was largely driven by
      percental reduction of monounsaturated fatty acids (p <= 0.001). 16:0/ 16:1 and
      18:0/18:1 desaturation indices for white adipose tissue significantly increased,
      suggesting an inhibition of stearoyl-CoA desaturase upon CLA-mix diet. The fatty
      acid profile of the erythrocytes widely reflected that of livers, depending on
      the supplemented diet. These profound changes in fatty acid composition of
      lipogenic organs due to t10,c12-CLA intake may be the consequence of functional
      alterations of lipid metabolism.

PMID- 20924170
TI  - Intradialytic changes of plasma amino acid levels: effect of hemodiafiltration
      with endogenous reinfusion versus acetate-free biofiltration.
AB  - During hemodialysis, amino acids (AA) are lost in the ultrafiltrate with
      consequent modification of their plasma profile. The aim of this cross-sectional
      study was to evaluate intradialytic changes of plasma AA levels during a single
      session of hemodiafiltration with endogenous reinfusion (HFR) versus acetate-free
      biofiltration (AFB). 48 patients chronically treated with HFR or AFB were matched
      1:1 for age, gender, Kt/V and diabetes. Blood samples were collected at the
      beginning and the end of dialysis. Baseline plasma levels (MUmol/l) of total AA
      (3,176 +/- 722), essential AA (889 +/- 221), and branched chain AA (459 +/- 140)
      levels in HFR were similar to those in AFB (3,399 +/- 621, 938 +/- 277, and 463
      +/- 71, respectively). Plasma intradialytic AA levels did not change in HFR,
      while in AFB there was a reduction by about 25%. In conclusion, as compared with
      AFB, HFR has a sparing effect on AA loss due to the lack of adsorption by
      cartridge and to their complete reinfusion in blood.

PMID- 20924171
TI  - Clinical features of 2009 pandemic influenza A (H1N1) virus infection in chronic
      hemodialysis patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: Infection is one of the most common complications and is
      considered the second leading cause of death in dialysis patients with end-stage
      renal disease. After the first cases of 2009 pandemic influenza A (H1N1) virus in
      China became public, persons with suspected infection and those who were in
      contact with persons with suspected infection were tested. Whether the
      presentation and clinical course of H1N1 influenza is similar in the dialysis
      population to the general population is currently unknown. Hemodialysis patients
      in whom an infection was confirmed were hospitalized and quarantined, and
      patients on chronic hemodialysis were closely observed for the purpose of
      investigating the nature and duration of the disease. METHODS: From May 2009 to
      February 2010, we observed 15 hemodialysis patients infected with the 2009
      pandemic influenza A (H1N1) virus who were quarantined in Beijing Chao-Yang
      Hospital, Capital Medical University. Real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase
      chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing was used to confirm infection, the clinical
      features of the disease were closely monitored. RESULTS: The mean age of the 15
      patients was 47.6 years, and 9 of the 15 patients were male. The diagnoses were
      all made in the hospital. All of the 15 patients had fluid overload. The median
      incubation period of the virus in hemodialysis patients was 4 days (range: 1-7
      days). The most common symptoms were dyspnea (in all of the 15 patients) and
      productive cough (in all of the 15 patients). One of the 15 patients had low
      grade fever, and the other 14 patients were afebrile. Lymphopenia, which was
      common in 12 of the patients, typically occurred on day 2 (range: days 1-3) and
      resolved by day 9 (range: days 7-11). Hypoxemia was observed in all of the
      patients. Six of the 15 patients developed respiratory failure requiring
      mechanical ventilation on days 7-9 because they were complicated by Escherichia
      coli nosocomial pneumonia. All the patients were placed in respiratory isolation
      and were treated with oseltamivir. The median length of time during which
      patients had positive real-time RT-PCR test results was 12 days (range: 7-19
      days), which was longer than that in general population. CONCLUSIONS: The
      presentation and clinical course of H1N1 influenza A in the hemodialysis patients
      was atypical and relatively serious, which differed from the general population
      in China. Furthermore, these patients may have an extended period of viral
      shedding.

PMID- 20924172
TI  - Recurrent transient loss of consciousness induced by acute massive
      gastrointestinal hemorrhage during hemodialysis: a case report.
AB  - A 67-year-old man with chronic hemodialysis (HD), who had end-stage renal disease
      secondary to diabetic nephropathy and had been on HD for 9 years with ultrapure
      dialysis solution, is presented with recurrent transient loss of consciousness
      during HD.

PMID- 20924173
TI  - Water conservation: an emerging but vital issue in hemodialysis therapy.
AB  - Water conservation refers to reducing the usage of water and recycling of
      wastewater for different purposes such as irrigation, laundry and sanitation. As
      water scarcity increases worldwide, dialysis facilities should be focused on
      salvaging water. However, most of them still ignorantly discard to the sewer huge
      volumes of this reusable resource. This article reviews the current water
      conservation techniques in hemodialysis and the potential benefits drawn when
      using this technology.

PMID- 20924174
TI  - Conversion of darbepoetin to low doses of CERA maintains hemoglobin levels in non
      dialysis chronic kidney disease patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: Finding the lowest effective dose of erythropoietin-stimulating
      agents is critical in the management of renal anemia. We evaluated the efficacy
      of converting darbepoetin to CERA at doses lower than those usually recommended.
      METHODS: We selected consecutive non-dialysis chronic kidney disease patients
      treated with darbepoetin doses <=40 MUg/week in absence of iron deficiency,
      recent blood transfusion, bleeding, neoplasia, myocardial infarction/stroke in
      the last 3 months. Darbepoetin <=20 MUg/week was shifted to CERA 75 MUg/month,
      while darbepoetin 21-40 MUg/week to CERA 100 MUg/month. Primary endpoint was the
      change in hemoglobin (Hb goal, 11-13 g/dl) at month 3, 6, 9 and 12. RESULTS:
      Studied patients (n = 37) were aged 70 +/- 13 years and GFR was 30 +/- 12
      ml/min/1.73 m(2); prevalence of males, diabetes and prior cardiovascular disease
      was 43, 45 and 40%, respectively. Before switching, efficacy population received
      darbepoetin 18 +/- 10 MUg/week with 28 patients receiving <=20 MUg/week.
      Prevalence of Hb goal at baseline was 75.7% and did not change at months 3
      (70.3%), 6 (70.3%), 9 (72.2%), and 12 (80.0%). CERA dose remained unchanged
      during the study (81 +/- 11, 82 +/- 16, 91 +/- 30, 90 +/- 54 and 88 +/- 61
      MUg/month). Out of the 438 visits performed, CERA dose was increased in 52
      (11.9%) and reduced in 36 (8.2%) visits. Blood pressure, Hb, GFR, transferrin
      saturation and ferritin did not change. CONCLUSIONS: In chronic kidney disease
      patients treated with darbepoetin doses <=40 MUg/week, CERA can be efficaciously
      used at doses lower than those recommended.

PMID- 20924176
TI  - An unusual case of encapsulating peritoneal sclerosis.

PMID- 20924175
TI  - Principles of antibacterial dosing in continuous renal replacement therapy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Appropriate antibacterial therapy is important to maximize patient
      survival in sepsis. Acute renal failure complicates optimal antibiotic
      administration. METHODS: MEDLINE search from 1986 to 2010 using the terms 'acute
      renal failure', 'pharmacokinetics', 'clearance', 'dosage', 'h(a)emofiltration',
      'h(a)emodialysis', 'h(a)emodiafiltration', 'continuous renal replacement
      therapy', 'antibiotics', 'intensive care' and 'critically ill'. RESULTS: Maximal
      bacterial killing and minimization of side effects depend on achieving
      pharmacokinetic targets appropriate to the selected antibacterial agent. Volume
      of distribution and clearance may be altered by critical illness and/or acute
      kidney injury. Clearance is determined by nonrenal clearance, residual renal
      clearance and continuous renal replacement therapy dose. Sieving and saturation
      coefficients are membrane specific, but may be altered by changes in protein
      binding induced by critical illness. A significant proportion of studies failed
      to report the essential dataset required for adequate antibacterial dosage
      calculation. CONCLUSIONS: Individualized dosing based on first principles may be
      the most appropriate method of dosing, particularly when enhanced by therapeutic
      drug monitoring.

PMID- 20924177
TI  - Systemic evaluation of platelet and leukocyte activation and interaction in a rat
      model of pulmonary arterial hypertension.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Thrombosis and inflammation are associated with the pathogenesis of
      pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). However, there are no solid data
      supporting the involvement of platelet and leukocyte activation and interaction
      in PAH. The present study thus investigated the activation and interaction of
      circulating platelets and leukocytes in a rat model of monocrotaline (MCT)
      induced pulmonary hypertension. METHODS: Mean pulmonary arterial pressure (mPAP)
      was monitored in rats (n = 24) before and 2, 3 and 7 weeks after MCT (60
      mg/kg)injection. In parallel, activation of circulating platelets and leukocytes
      and platelet-leukocyte aggregates were measured by whole-blood flow cytometry.
      RESULTS: Two weeks after MCT injection, mPAP had increased significantly, i.e.
      from 11.25 +/- 0.92 mm Hg at baseline to 15.71 +/- 1.66 mm Hg (p < 0.05), and it
      had increased even further at week 7 (26.83 +/- 3.29 mm Hg; p < 0.01). Fibrinogen
      binding of circulating platelets had increased from the basal level of 1.45 +/-
      0.61 to 4.08 +/- 1.59% 3 weeks after MCT injection (p < 0.01). Platelet
      responsiveness to ADP was also significantly enhanced. CD11b expression of
      circulating neutrophils was elevated; i.e. mean fluorescence intensity increased
      from 1.67 +/- 0.38 before MCT injection to 2.37 +/- 0.31 3 weeks after MCT
      injection (p < 0.01), and N-formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine (1 * 10-7M)
      stimulation induced more marked elevation of neutrophil CD11b expression in MCT
      treated animals. Circulating platelet-neutrophil aggregates were already
      increased 2 weeks after MCT treatment (14.93 +/- 4.22%; p < 0.01) compared to
      baseline (6.01 +/- 2.91%) and remained elevated at 3 weeks (15.19 +/- 4.78%; p <
      0.01). CONCLUSIONS: MCT-induced PAH in rats is associated with increased platelet
      and leukocyte activation and platelet-leukocyte interaction in vivo, which may
      play an important role in the pathogenesis of PAH.

PMID- 20924178
TI  - Angiogenesis, magnetic fields and 'window effects'.

PMID- 20924180
TI  - Risk-factor medicine: an industry out of control?

PMID- 20924179
TI  - Pulsed magnetic field induces angiogenesis and improves cardiac function of
      surgically induced infarcted myocardium in Sprague-Dawley rats.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: It was the aim of this study to investigate the impact of pulsed
      magnetic field (PMF) on ischemic myocardium, though it has been reported that PMF
      treatment is a safe and effective method to facilitate bone and cutaneous wound
      healing. METHODS: In this report, we describe a study in which 10 Hz 4 mT PMF and
      15 Hz 6 mT PMF was used to treat rats with myocardial infarction (MI). RESULTS:
      After 28 days of treatment, the rats treated with 15 Hz 6 mT PMF exhibited
      decreased left ventricular end-diastolic pressure and accelerated maximum dp/dt
      of left ventricular pressure when compared with the untreated MI and the MI + 10
      Hz 4 mT groups. Additionally, capillary density was increased and infarction area
      size was decreased in the MI + 15 Hz 6 mT group. Furthermore, the plasma vascular
      endothelial growth factor concentration and the protein expression of vascular
      endothelial growth factor receptor 2 in myocardial tissue were increased in rats
      of the MI + 15 Hz 6 mT group. CONCLUSION: This study shows that 15 Hz 6 mT PMF
      promotes myocardial angiogenesis and improves cardiac function after MI in rats.
      This suggests that there is a potential use for some PMF signal strengths in
      ischemic myocardial disease.

PMID- 20924181
TI  - Coronary microcirculation changes during myocardial stunning in dogs.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate changes in the coronary microcirculation during
      myocardial stunning in dogs. METHODS: Male mongrel dogs underwent a 15- or 60-min
      occlusion of the left anterior descending coronary artery, followed by a 120-min
      reperfusion. Myocardial contrast echocardiography was performed before and after
      treatment with acetylcholine (ACH) or nitroglycerin (NG). Peak videointensity
      (PVI) in the myocardial zone was measured, and myocardial samples were examined
      using transmission electron microscopy. RESULTS: In the 15-min group, the ratio
      of the PVI between the stunned and intact myocardial zone (PVIR) before and after
      treatment with NG (NG-PVIR) or ACH (ACH-PVIR) declined markedly in the early
      period of reperfusion and then returned to preligation levels. In the 60-min
      group, NG-PVIR was reduced in the early period of reperfusion and then returned
      to its preligation level. A low level of ACH-PVIR lasted during the entire 120
      min reperfusion. Similar changes in the ratio of the PVIR before and after
      treatment with NG or ACH were observed. In the 60-min group, capillary
      endothelial edema and widening of intercellular linking gaps were observed.
      CONCLUSIONS: We observed microvascular endothelial damage and endothelium
      dependent dilatation impairments in stunned myocardium, and their severity and
      recovery rate are affected by the duration of ischemia.

PMID- 20924182
TI  - Intra-aortic balloon pump improves clinical prognosis and attenuates C-reactive
      protein level in acute STEMI complicated by cardiogenic shock.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP) plays a pivotal role in the
      treatment of cardiogenic shock (CS) complicating acute ST-segment elevation
      myocardial infarction (STEMI). However, the influence of IABP on the inflammatory
      response has not been well evaluated. We sought to assess the effects of IABP
      support upon C-reactive protein (CRP) levels in patients with STEMI complicated
      by CS undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). METHODS: This was a
      prospective study and a total of 91 patients with STEMI complicated by CS
      receiving emergency PCI were enrolled, 43 cases of which received IABP support,
      and the remaining cases without IABP therapy were the control group. CRP levels
      were determined at admission, and on days 3 and 7. Troponin I peak, left
      ventricular function and major adverse cardiovascular events were compared
      following PCI. RESULTS: The IABP group had lower CRP levels at days 3 and 7,
      greater improvement in left ventricular function and lower troponin peak
      following PCI. Significant differences were also observed in the incidence of
      mortality at 6-month follow-up, both in hospital and after 30 days. CONCLUSIONS:
      IABP support improves clinical prognosis and attenuates the CRP level in patients
      with CS complicating STEMI after PCI.

PMID- 20924183
TI  - Cytochrome P450 2C19 polymorphism, suboptimal reperfusion and all-cause mortality
      in patients with acute myocardial infarction.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine whether the 681 G>A (*2) polymorphism of cytochrome P450
      (CYP2C19) is related to suboptimal reperfusion and mortality in patients with
      acute myocardial infarction (AMI) pretreated with clopidogrel. METHODS: The study
      included 276 consecutive patients with AMI in whom percutaneous coronary
      intervention (PCI) with stenting was attempted. Four-year follow-up for all-cause
      mortality was obtained. RESULTS: There were 15 failed procedures (5.4%). In the
      remaining 261 patients, suboptimal reperfusion (post-PCI TIMI flow <3) was
      observed in 12.6% of the cases. There were 56 carriers (50 heterozygous and 6
      homozygous) of CYP2C19*2. The prevalence of carriers in patients with suboptimal
      flow was 39.4% in comparison to 18.9% in the other patients (p = 0.01).
      Independent predictors of suboptimal reperfusion were initial TIMI flow <=1 (OR =
      5.9, 95% CI 2.2-16.2, p = 0.001) and CYP2C19*2 (OR = 2.9, 95% CI 1.3-6.6, p =
      0.01). Thirty patients died during follow-up (11.5%). Four-year mortality tended
      to be higher in carriers of CYP2C19*2 (17.9%) versus non-carriers (9.8%; p =
      0.09), but the only independent predictors of death were age (HR = 2.0, 95% CI =
      1.4-2.8, p = 0.0001) and suboptimal reperfusion (HR = 3.6, 95% CI 1.5-8.8, p =
      0.004). CONCLUSIONS: The CYP2C19*2 allele is an independent predictor of
      suboptimal reperfusion in patients with AMI undergoing PCI with stenting after
      pretreatment with clopidogrel and may increase the risk of all-cause mortality.

PMID- 20924184
TI  - Behavior of Ebstein's anomaly.

PMID- 20924185
TI  - Behavior of Ebstein's anomaly: single-center experience and midterm follow-up.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Ebstein's anomaly, characterized by an apical displacement of the
      tricuspid valve into the right ventricle, occurs in approximately 1/200,000 live
      births. Because long-term follow-up data of adults with Ebstein's anomaly are
      scarce, we evaluated the outcome of our Ebstein's anomaly patients. METHODS: All
      patients >16 years and registered in the congenital heart disease database of our
      hospital with isolated Ebstein's anomaly were selected for the study. Records
      were reviewed for outcome. RESULTS: Forty-nine patients (21 males, mean age at
      diagnosis 29.1 +/- 20.7 years) were followed for a mean time of 11.4 years (range
      1.1-32.4). Twenty-five patients (51%) underwent tricuspid valve surgery (16
      valvuloplasty and 9 valve replacement). Eight patients (32%) required redo
      tricuspid valve surgery. Twenty-six patients (52.1%) exhibited supraventricular
      arrhythmia, and the typical Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome occurred in 15
      patients (31.2%). Seventeen patients (34.7%) underwent ablation therapy and 5
      patients (10.4%) required pacemaker implantation. CONCLUSIONS: Half of the
      patients with Ebstein's anomaly needed tricuspid valve surgery and redo surgery
      was not uncommon. Supraventricular arrhythmia occurred frequently and ablation
      therapy was often indicated. Careful follow-up is obligate, as some complications
      occur for the first time in adulthood.

PMID- 20924186
TI  - Generic and disease-specific measures of quality of life in patients with mild
      Alzheimer's disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIM: The aim of the study was to investigate the pattern of
      association of generic and disease-specific quality of life (QoL) scales with
      standard clinical outcome variables in Alzheimer's disease (AD). METHODS: The
      participants were 321 home-living patients with mild AD and their primary
      caregivers from the Danish Alzheimer Intervention Study. QoL was assessed using
      the generic EuroQol-5D with visual analogue scale (VAS) and the disease-specific
      Quality of Life in Alzheimer's Disease (QOL-AD) scales (both caregiver and
      patient rated). Depression, activities of daily living, cognitive performance and
      neuropsychiatric symptom severity were also assessed. RESULTS: All 3 caregiver
      rated QoL scales correlated significantly with each other (p < 0.001) and with
      clinical measures. Patient-rated QoL versions correlated inversely with
      depression (p < 0.001) but not significantly with any other clinical variables.
      CONCLUSION: The caregiver-rated QoL scales showed stronger interscale correlation
      as well as a similar correlation pattern with standard clinical outcome variables
      compared to the patient-rated versions. There is some indication that the EQ-5D +
      VAS could be a suitable alternative to the QOL-AD scale in specific research
      designs.

PMID- 20924187
TI  - Ventilator-associated lung injury superposed to oleic acid infusion or surfactant
      depletion: histopathological characteristics of two porcine models of acute lung
      injury.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The pathophysiological concept of acute lung injury (ALI) in
      combination with ventilator-associated lung injury (VALI) is still unclear. We
      characterized the histopathological features of intravenous injection of oleic
      acid (OAI) and lung lavage (LAV) combined with VALI. METHODS: Pigs were
      randomized to the control, LAV or OAI group and ventilated by pressure-controlled
      ventilation. MEASUREMENTS INCLUDED: haemodynamics, spirometry, blood gas
      analysis, lung wet-to-dry weight ratio (W/D), total protein content in broncho
      alveolar lavage fluid (BALF), and lung pathological description and scoring.
      RESULTS: Five hours after lung injury induction, gas exchange was significantly
      impaired in both the OAI and the LAV groups. Compared to controls, we found an
      increase in W/D and histopathological total injury scores in both the LAV and OAI
      groups and an increase in BALF total protein content in the OAI group. In
      contrast to the LAV group, the OAI group showed septal necrosis and alveolar
      oedema. Both groups exhibited dorsal and caudal atelectasis and interstitial
      oedema. In addition, the OAI group demonstrated a propensity to dorsal necrosis
      and congestion whereas the LAV group tended to develop ventral overdistension and
      barotrauma. CONCLUSIONS: This study presents a comparison of porcine OAI and LAV
      models combined with VALI, providing information for study design in research on
      ALI.

PMID- 20924188
TI  - Pancreatic cancer cells expressing hypoxia-inducible factor-1alpha tend to be
      adjacent to intratumoral blood vessels.
AB  - We investigated whether cells expressing hypoxia-inducible factor-1alpha (HIF
      1alpha) are specially related to blood vessels in human pancreatic tumors. HIF
      1alpha and blood vessels were stained in 7 pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas
      (PDAC) and 3 nonmalignant tumors. HIF-1alpha(+) cells accounted for 37 +/- 5% of
      the total PDAC cells and increased to 52 +/- 4% in perivascular PDAC cells and to
      67 +/- 4% in PDAC cells found in intratumoral blood vessels. In nonmalignant
      tumors, 12 +/- 3% of the total tumoral cells examined were HIF-1alpha(+), and HIF
      1alpha(+) cells decreased to 2 +/- 0.3% in perivascular cells examined in the
      tumors. In conclusion, HIF-1alpha(+) cells in PDAC and nonmalignant pancreatic
      tumors differ not only in their amounts but also in their relation to
      intratumoral blood vessels. HIF-1alpha(+) cells usually are adjacent to
      intratumoral blood vessels in PDAC tumors, but are farther away from the vessels
      in nonmalignant pancreatic tumors.

PMID- 20924189
TI  - Functional and radiological evaluations of unstable displaced proximal humeral
      fractures treated with closed reduction and percutaneous pinning fixation.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the functional and
      radiological outcomes of patients with unstable displaced proximal humeral
      fractures treated with closed reduction and percutaneous pinning (CRPP) fixation.
      METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed 87 cases of displaced (2-, 3- or 4-part
      fractures according to Neer classification) proximal humeral fractures treated
      with CRPP fixation in our center from September 2003 to September 2008. Sixty
      four patients were followed up for a period ranging from 12 to 48 months
      (averaging 16.2 months) and evaluated for the functional and radiological
      outcomes by a series of standard questionnaire and measurement. RESULTS: The
      fractures in all 64 patients were healed with an average time of 15.4 weeks
      (ranging from 12 to 43 weeks), and the mean interval between the operation and
      full functional exercise was 17.3 weeks (ranging from 14 to 38 weeks). At the
      final follow-up visit, no patients showed shoulder instability; the mean range of
      abduction motion was 157.1 degrees  (ranging from 70 to 180 degrees ). For all
      patients, no statistically significant difference in the functional outcomes was
      observed between their 6-month and final follow-up visits, nor in the
      radiological findings between their immediately postoperative and fi- nal follow
      up examinations. CONCLUSION: CRPP fixation is a feasible treatment option for
      unstable displaced proximal humeral fractures, especially for 2- and 3-part
      fractures in elderly patients. Although technically demanding, it offers reliable
      stability without extensive soft tissue dissection, allowing the early painless
      range of motion. This technique could also promote bone healing, prevent ischemic
      osteonecrosis of the head of humerus and lead to few complications.

PMID- 20924190
TI  - Effect of mycophenolate mofetil on cerulein-induced acute pancreatitis.
AB  - AIM: The aim of this study was to determine the effects of mycophenolate mofetil
      (MMF) on acute pancreatitis with evaluation of biochemical and histopathological
      findings. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Cerulein was administered to induce acute
      pancreatitis in rats. Three groups of 10 rats each were formed. Animals in group
      1 received physiologic saline solution. In group 2 animals received MMF at a dose
      of 14 mg/kg and group 3 had double doses of MMF. Alanine aminostransferase,
      aspartate aminotransferase (AST), amylase and bilirubin levels were assessed.
      Pancreatic tissues were evaluated under light microscopy for the presence of
      edema, acinar necrosis, hemorrhage, inflammation and perivascular infiltration.
      RESULTS: Amylase, serum AST, edema and inflammatory infiltration levels differed
      between groups (amylase: p = 0.0001, serum AST: p = 0.001, edema: p = 0.0001 and
      inflammatory infiltration: p = 0.002), group 1 showing the highest amylase, serum
      AST and edema levels. The lowest levels of edema were found in group 3.
      CONCLUSION: In an experimental pancreatitis model in rats, MMF proved to exert a
      beneficial effect on biochemical and histopathological parameters.

PMID- 20924191
TI  - Annexin-1 downregulation is associated with clinical outcome in Chinese patients
      with hilar cholangiocarcinoma.
AB  - AIMS: Annexin A1 (ANXA1) is a calcium- and phospholipid-binding protein and has
      been implicated in regulating inflammatory responses, cell proliferation and
      apoptosis. The evidence of its importance in carcinogenesis increased rapidly.
      However, the status of ANXA1 in hilar cholangiocarcinoma remains unclear. Here,
      we detected ANXA1 expression and determined its clinical significance in Chinese
      patients with hilar cholangiocarcinoma. METHODS: Tissue microarray blocks
      containing tumor specimens obtained from 61 patients were constructed. Expression
      of ANXA1 in these specimens was analyzed using immunohistochemical studies.
      RESULTS: ANXA1 expression was observed in 27 cases (44.3%). Loss of ANXA1
      expression was significantly associated with lymph node metastases and
      histopathologic grade. ANXA1 expression has a significant inverse correlation
      with recurrence and poor survival in univariate analyses.Multivariate analyses
      revealed that loss of ANXA1 expression was an independent predictor for future
      recurrence and overall survival in patients with cholangiocarcinoma. CONCLUSIONS:
      Decreased expression of ANXA1 is a common event in human hilar cholangiocarcinoma
      and is significantly correlated with the poor outcome of patients with
      cholangiocarcinoma, suggesting a potential role of ANXA1 in cancer development
      and progression.

PMID- 20924192
TI  - Voice activity and participation profile presenting coordinates for readjustment
      of preventive action of educators.
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate the perception of voice impairment in professional and
      social contexts, to correlate these data with existing data in the literature,
      and to explore the perception of voice problems and the adherence to vocal health
      programs. METHOD: 502 Brazilian educators working in municipal public schools
      responded to the Voice Activity and Participation Profile (VAPP) questionnaire.
      Then a correlation was made with previous results in the literature dealing with
      a dysphonic and a nondysphonic group. RESULTS: The VAPP data showed that self
      perception of voice problems had a higher vocal impact on daily communication and
      lower scores for activity limitation and participation restriction. The
      educators' scores were closer to those of the nondysphonic group with regard to
      daily and social communication, and emotional and activity limitation, but
      perception of the voice problem was closest to that of the dysphonic group.
      Nevertheless, the opposite was the case for participation restriction.
      CONCLUSIONS: The educators perceive vocal problems but do not perceive
      participation restriction to the same extent. This may explain the decreasing
      participation in the Vocal Health Program. It probably occurs because adults
      voluntarily apply for training when they feel that their work performance needs
      to improve so that they can carry out their job properly.

PMID- 20924193
TI  - A simple and computationally efficient sampling approach to covariate adjustment
      for multifactor dimensionality reduction analysis of epistasis.
AB  - Epistasis or gene-gene interaction is a fundamental component of the genetic
      architecture of complex traits such as disease susceptibility. Multifactor
      dimensionality reduction (MDR) was developed as a nonparametric and model-free
      method to detect epistasis when there are no significant marginal genetic
      effects. However, in many studies of complex disease, other covariates like age
      of onset and smoking status could have a strong main effect and may potentially
      interfere with MDR's ability to achieve its goal. In this paper, we present a
      simple and computationally efficient sampling method to adjust for covariate
      effects in MDR. We use simulation to show that after adjustment, MDR has
      sufficient power to detect true gene-gene interactions. We also compare our
      method with the state-of-art technique in covariate adjustment. The results
      suggest that our proposed method performs similarly, but is more computationally
      efficient. We then apply this new method to an analysis of a population-based
      bladder cancer study in New Hampshire.

PMID- 20924194
TI  - Systematic removal of outliers to reduce heterogeneity in case-control
      association studies.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: In human case-control association studies, population
      heterogeneity is often present and can lead to increased false-positive results.
      Various methods have been proposed and are in current use to remedy this
      situation. METHODS: We assume that heterogeneity is due to a relatively small
      number of individuals whose allele frequencies differ from those of the remainder
      of the sample. For this situation, we propose a new method of handling
      heterogeneity by removing outliers in a controlled manner. In a coordinate system
      of the c largest principal components in multidimensional scaling (MDS), we
      systematically remove one after another of the most extreme outlying individuals
      and each time recompute the largest association test statistic. The smallest p
      value obtained within M removals serves as our test statistic whose significance
      level is assessed in randomization samples. RESULTS: In power simulations of our
      method and three methods in current use, averaged over several different
      scenarios, the best method turned out to be logistic regression analysis (based
      on all individuals) with MDS components as covariates. CONCLUSION: Our proposed
      method ranked closely behind logistic regression analysis with MDS components but
      ahead of other commonly used approaches. In analyses of real datasets our method
      performed best.

PMID- 20924195
TI  - Biomarkers of acute kidney injury in different clinical settings: a time to
      change the paradigm?
AB  - Acute kidney injury (AKI) is diagnosed in 5% of all hospitalized patients and in
      up to 50% of all ICU patients. In the last years a dramatic rise in the
      prevalence of AKI has been observed with virtually no change in mortality,
      reaching up to 50-80% in all dialyzed ICU patients. AKI may progress to end-stage
      renal disease, and even subclinical episodes of AKI, which are common, may also
      progress to end-stage renal disease. The early detection of AKI may enable timely
      intervention and prevention of progression; however, in animal models and in
      human studies the 'window of therapeutic intervention' is narrow. Different
      urinary and serum proteins have been intensively investigated as possible
      biomarkers for the early diagnosis of AKI. There are promising candidate
      biomarkers with the ability to detect an early and graded increase in tubular
      epithelial cell injury and distinguish pre-renal disease from acute tubular
      necrosis. In this review, new emerging biomarkers of AKI are presented and
      described in some clinical settings, such as cardiac surgery, contrast-induced
      nephropathy, delayed graft function and ICU/emergency departments, where
      biomarkers are urgently needed to diagnose, make prognoses and differentiate.

PMID- 20924196
TI  - Characterization of methyltransferase properties of Escherichia coli YabC protein
      with an enzyme-coupled colorimetric assay.
AB  - An enzyme-coupled colorimetric assay for S-adenosylmethionine-dependent
      methyltransferase (MT) was established to characterize the enzymatic identity of
      YabC protein from Escherichia coli. Results showed that the MT activity of YabC
      is able to be effectively detected with this coupling assay system when
      filamentous cell lysates from an S-adenosylmethionine synthetase mutant,
      MEW402metK84, were employed as the source of methylation target, whereas no
      activity exhibited under same conditions from lysates from E. coli normal shape
      cells. Moreover, YabB, whose gene always clustered together with yabC, was
      demonstrated to be an inhibitor, but not a substrate of YabC protein. Analysis of
      each component's effect on methylation process further confirms that increase of
      MT's common product - S-adenosylhomocysteine - shows a methylation pattern
      depending on the protein concentration of cell lysates, which indicates that
      methylation target of YabC is the rate-limiting factor under current coupling
      assay conditions. Characterization of YabC's MT properties with the coupling
      assay system is consistent with the similar results identified with LC/MS and
      knockout strains by Kimura and Suzuki [Nucleic Acids Res 2010;38:1341-1352].

PMID- 20924197
TI  - High efficiency of a sequential recombinase-mediated cassette exchange reaction
      in Escherichia coli.
AB  - A comparison between the efficiency of recombinase-mediated cassette exchange
      (RMCE) reactions catalyzed in Escherichia coli by the site-specific recombinases
      Flp of yeast and Int of coliphage HK022 has revealed that an Flp-catalyzed RMCE
      reaction is more efficient than an Int-HK022 catalyzed reaction. In contrast, an
      RMCE reaction with 1 pair of frt sites and 1 pair of att sites catalyzed in the
      presence of both recombinases is very inefficient. However, the same reaction
      catalyzed by each recombinase individually supplied in a sequential order is very
      efficient, regardless of the order. Atomic force microscopy images of Flp with
      its DNA substrates show that only 1 pair of recombination sites forms a synaptic
      complex with the recombinase. The results suggest that the RMCE reaction is
      sequential.

PMID- 20924198
TI  - Identification and overexpression of a bifunctional aldehyde/alcohol
      dehydrogenase responsible for ethanol production in Thermoanaerobacter mathranii.
AB  - Thermoanaerobacter mathranii contains four genes, adhA, adhB, bdhA and adhE,
      predicted to code for alcohol dehydrogenases involved in ethanol metabolism.
      These alcohol dehydrogenases were characterized as NADP(H)-dependent primary
      alcohol dehydrogenase (AdhA), secondary alcohol dehydrogenase (AdhB), butanol
      dehydrogenase (BdhA) and NAD(H)-dependent bifunctional aldehyde/alcohol
      dehydrogenase (AdhE), respectively. Here we observed that AdhE is an important
      enzyme responsible for ethanol production in T. mathranii based on the
      constructed adh knockout strains. An adhE knockout strain fails to produce
      ethanol as a fermentation product, while other adh knockout strains showed no
      significant difference from the wild type. Further analysis revealed that the
      DeltaadhE strain was defective in aldehyde dehydrogenase activity, but still
      maintained alcohol dehydrogenase activity. This showed that AdhE is the major
      aldehyde dehydrogenase in the cell and functions predominantly in the acetyl-CoA
      reduction to acetaldehyde in the ethanol formation pathway. Finally, AdhE was
      conditionally expressed from a xylose-induced promoter in a recombinant strain
      (BG1E1) with a concomitant deletion of a lactate dehydrogenase. Overexpressions
      of AdhE in strain BG1E1 with xylose as a substrate facilitate the production of
      ethanol at an increased yield.

PMID- 20924199
TI  - Interactions between glycolytic enzymes of Mycoplasma pneumoniae.
AB  - With only 688 protein-coding genes, Mycoplasma pneumoniae is one of the smallest
      self-replicating organisms. These bacteria use glycolysis as the major pathway
      for ATP production by substrate-level phosphorylation, suggesting that this
      pathway must be optimized to high efficiency. In this study, we have investigated
      the interactions between glycolytic enzymes using the bacterial adenylate cyclase
      based two-hybrid system. We demonstrate that most of the glycolytic enzymes
      perform self-interactions, suggesting that they form dimers or other oligomeric
      forms. In addition, enolase was identified as the central glycolytic enzyme of M.
      pneumoniae due to its ability to directly interact with all other glycolytic
      enzymes. Our results support the idea of the formation of a glycolytic complex in
      M. pneumoniae and we suggest that the formation of this complex might ensure
      higher fluxes through the glycolytic pathway than would be possible with isolated
      non-interacting enzymes.

PMID- 20924200
TI  - Stress tolerance of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae adenylate cyclase fil1 (CYR1)
      mutant depends on Hsp26.
AB  - Fermentation-induced loss of stress resistance in yeast is an important phenotype
      from an industrial point of view. It hampers optimal use of frozen dough
      applications as well as high gravity brewing fermentations because these
      applications require stress-tolerant yeast strains during active fermentation.
      Different mutants (e.g. fil1, an adenylate cyclase mutant CYR1(lys1682)) that are
      affected in this loss of stress resistance have been isolated, but so far the
      identification of the target genes important for the increased tolerance has
      failed. Previously we have shown that neither trehalose nor Hsp104 nor STRE
      controlled genes are involved in the higher stress tolerance of the fil1 mutant.
      The contribution of other putative downstream factors of the PKA pathway was
      investigated and here we show that the small heat-shock protein Hsp26 is required
      for the high heat stress tolerance of the fil1 mutant, both in stationary phase
      cells as well as during active fermentation.

PMID- 20924201
TI  - Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2) produces a new yellow pigment associated with the
      polyketide synthase Cpk.
AB  - Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2) is an extensively studied model organism for the
      genetic studies of Streptomycetes - a genus known for the production of a vast
      number of bioactive compounds and complex regulatory networks controlling
      morphological differentiation and secondary metabolites production. We present
      the discovery of a presumptive product of the Cpk polyketide synthase. We have
      found that on the rich medium without glucose S. coelicolor A3(2) produces a
      yellow compound secreted into the medium. We have proved by complementation that
      production of the observed yellow pigment is dependent on cpk gene cluster
      previously described as cryptic type I polyketide synthase cluster. The pigment
      production depends on the medium composition, does not occur in the presence of
      glucose, and requires high density of spore suspension used for inoculation.

PMID- 20924202
TI  - Multicopy proC in Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2) elicits a transient production of
      prodiginines, while proC deletion does not yield a proline auxotroph.
AB  - The last step of proline biosynthesis is typically catalysed by the enzyme
      Delta(1)-pyrroline-5-carboxylate reductase, encoded by the proC gene. Complete
      genome sequencing of Streptomyces coelicolor, a soil-dwelling Gram-positive
      bacterium that uses proline as a precursor for synthesis of prodiginine, revealed
      a single copy of this gene. Unexpectedly, disruption of this proC homologue
      (Sco3337) in S. coelicolor M145 yielded a prototrophic strain, yet the reductase
      activity of Sco3337 was confirmed by complementation of an Escherichia coli proC
      mutant. Multicopy proC within different genetic contexts elicited a transient
      production of prodiginines, which showed differential production kinetics of the
      two most common forms of this natural product produced by S. coelicolor, i.e.
      streptorubin B (cyclic) and undecylprodigiosin (linear). The metabolic and
      evolutionary implications of these observations are discussed.

PMID- 20924203
TI  - Early cyst growth is associated with the increased nuclear expression of cyclin
      D1/Rb protein in an autosomal-recessive polycystic kidney disease rat model.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In this study we hypothesised that proliferation, and the increased
      expression of G(1)-phase cyclins (D1, E) and phosphorylated retinoblastoma
      protein (p-Rb) is restricted to the early period of synchronized cyst growth in
      autosomal-recessive polycystic kidney disease (ARPKD). METHODS: Lewis polycystic
      kidney disease (lpk) rats (model of ARPKD; postnatal weeks 1, 3, 6, 12 and 24; n
      = 6 each) as well as human juvenile cystic renal disease tissue (n = 2) were
      examined. RESULTS: Between weeks 1 and 3, the percentage cyst area increased 6
      fold in lpk rats, followed by a more progressive rise (1.5-fold increase) until
      week 24. The number of Ki-67-, cyclin D1- and p-Rb-positive cells increased in
      lpk rats and peaked at week 3, declining thereafter. By serial sections, cysts co
      expressed Ki-67, cyclin D1 and p-Rb. The expression of cyclin E was variable, and
      peaked at week 24. In human tissue, small cysts had a higher expression of p-Rb.
      CONCLUSION: Proliferation and the increased nuclear expression of cyclin D1 and p
      Rb coincide with the early phase of cyst growth in rats and humans, suggesting
      that there might be a therapeutic window in which cyclin-dependent kinase
      inhibitors are most effective in preventing kidney enlargement in ARPKD.

PMID- 20924204
TI  - Expression of SM22alpha (transgelin) in glomerular and interstitial renal injury.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: SM22alpha, transgelin, is abundantly expressed in smooth muscle
      tissues and our previous work demonstrated that it is a novel marker of injured
      glomerular epithelial cells in rat antiglomerular basement membrane nephritis. In
      this study, we investigated SM22alpha expression in models of glomerular and
      interstitial renal injury. METHODS: The 5/6 nephrectomy (Nx) model, ischemia
      reperfusion (I/R) model and puromycin aminonucleoside (PAN) nephrosis of rats
      were studied. Immunohistochemical analyses and immunoelectron microscopic studies
      of SM22alpha expression were performed. RESULTS: In the 5/6 Nx model, SM22alpha
      was first expressed in peritubular interstitial cells and was also expressed in
      injured glomerular epithelial cells at 8 weeks. In the I/R model, SM22alpha
      expression was induced in peritubular interstitial cells as early as 12 h after
      I/R with expression sustained at 7 days. However, SM22alpha was not detected in
      any glomerular cells or tubular epithelial cells. In PAN nephrosis, SM22alpha was
      only expressed in glomerular epithelial cells after 1 week, but expression was
      transient. CONCLUSION: SM22alpha was expressed in glomerular epithelial cells and
      interstitial cells in renal injury. SM22alpha is differentially upregulated in
      various models of renal injury and merits further study.

PMID- 20924205
TI  - Proinflammatory/profibrotic effects of interleukin-17A on human proximal tubule
      epithelium.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: Interleukin-17A (IL-17A) is a T cell-derived inflammatory
      cytokine that is upregulated during renal allograft rejection. The present study
      sought to further describe the IL-17A-mediated proinflammatory/profibrotic
      activity of proximal tubule epithelium that may contribute to allograft
      rejection. METHODS: Immortalized (HK-2) and primary (HRPTEpiC) human proximal
      tubule epithelial cells were utilized for this study. Profibrotic gene
      alterations were examined by real-time quantitative PCR. Inflammatory mediator
      secretion was examined by multiplex bead-based detection of secreted proteins.
      Immunofluorescence microscopy and immunoblotting were utilized to examine
      alterations in junctional protein expression and cell morphology. RESULTS: In HK
      2 cells IL-17A significantly downregulated the expression of the proepithelial
      gene CDH1 (E-cadherin) while the proinflammatory/profibrotic genes CTGF, CD44 and
      TGFBR1 were significantly increased. IL-17A also increased the secretion of
      fractalkine, G-CSF, GM-CSF, VEGF, IL-6 and IL-8. In HRPTEpiC 100 ng/ml IL-17A
      upregulated the proinflammatory/profibrotic genes ACTA2, CCL2, CHMP1A, CTGF, FN1,
      IL6, FSP1, SMAD1, SMAD5, TGFB1 and TGFBR2 while treatment with a reduced
      concentration of IL-17A (0.1 ng/ml) decreased SMAD5, TGFB1 and PDGFRB expression.
      Changes in ZO-1 and E-cadherin protein expression and cell morphology were
      examined following IL-17A treatment as indicators of epithelial-to-mesenchymal
      transition. IL-17A decreased ZO-1 expression in HK-2 and HRPTEpiC; however, E
      cadherin was only reduced in HK-2 cells. Neither HK-2 nor HRPTEpiC assumed an
      elongated, fibroblast-like morphology following IL-17A treatment. CONCLUSIONS: IL
      17A directly mediates proximal tubule epithelial cell proinflammatory/profibrotic
      activity as demonstrated by the alteration in genes associated with extracellular
      matrix remodeling and cell-cell interaction, and stimulation of inflammatory
      mediator and immune cell chemoattractant secretion. Additionally, IL-17A may have
      a negative impact on barrier integrity as indicated by ZO-1 downregulation.

PMID- 20924206
TI  - Transoral robotic surgery for parapharyngeal space tumors.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the outcomes of patients with parapharyngeal space (PPS)
      tumors treated with a transoral robotic surgery (TORS) approach. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: We prospectively enrolled well-defined benign PPS tumors accessible from
      the oropharynx with no carotid encasement or bone erosion. We designated outcome
      measures that included technical feasibility of the approach, local tumor control
      and complication rates. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the outcome
      data. RESULTS: With a mean follow-up of 29.9 months (range 12-40 months), a total
      of 10 patients have been enrolled. TORS was completed in 9 of 10 patients with
      acceptable operative time and blood loss and no significant complications
      including hemorrhage, infection, trismus or tumor spillage. Local control has
      been 100% for 7 patients with pleomorphic adenomas. CONCLUSIONS: We confirm the
      safety and feasibility of the TORS approach for PPS tumors that achieves a high
      local control and low surgical complication rate. TORS is a viable approach for
      removing benign tumors and lesions of the PPS.

PMID- 20924207
TI  - EIF2C is overexpressed and amplified in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.
AB  - AIM: To discover putative oncogenes in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma
      (HNSCC) by integrating data from whole-genome comparison of array-based
      comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) and expression microarray analysis of
      HNSCC. METHODS: We integrated published data defining regions of loss/gain
      identified from the profiling of 21 HNSCC using high-resolution (<1 Mb) CGH
      arrays and data from an mRNA expression microarray (approx. 12,000 genes)
      comparing 6 normal tissues and 8 HNSCC tumor tissues. Eukaryotic translation
      initiation factor 2C subunit 2 (EIF2C2) was found to be the most significantly
      overexpressed gene by mRNA expression array, and corresponded to the most common
      region of amplification found by the CGH array described by Sparano et al. We
      validated EIF2C2 overexpression in primary tissue, overexpression and
      amplification in HNSCC lines (JHU-011, JHU-012, FADU) relative to a minimally
      transformed oral keratinocyte cell line (OKF6) and performed knockdown
      experiments. RESULTS: The tumor tissues had an average mRNA expression level of
      123 (SD = 49) compared to the normal tissues (18.6, SD = 10) (p = 0.0005) by
      expression array. Quantitative RT-PCR validation of our expression arrays found
      that normal tissues had an average expression of 0.76 (SE = 0.08) and tumor
      tissues of 2.1 (SE = 0.35) (p = 0.0008). EIF2C2 was found to be amplified and
      overexpressed in 3 HNSCC cell lines. Knockdown of EIF2C2 in cell lines (JHU-012
      and JHU-011) inhibited proliferation. CONCLUSION: EIF2C2 is amplified and
      overexpressed in HNSCC cell lines and primary tumors and functionally significant
      in cell lines.

PMID- 20924208
TI  - New treatments for chronic hepatitis C.
AB  - Treatments for chronic hepatitis C has evolved significantly in the past 15
      years. The standard of care (SOC) is peginterferon alfa-2a/-2b with ribavirin for
      48 weeks or 24 weeks in patients infected with HCV genotype 1 or 2/3,
      respectively. The treatment duration can be individualized based on the baseline
      viral load and the speed of the virologic response during treatment. However,
      current therapies are associated with side effects, complications, and poor
      patient tolerability. Therefore, there is an urgent need to identify better
      strategies for treating this disease. An improved sustained virologic response
      (SVR) can be achieved with new HCV-specific inhibitors against NS3/4A and NS5B
      polymerases. Recent trials have found SVR rates in patients with HCV genotype 1
      infection of 61~68% and 67~75% for combining the SOC with the protease inhibitors
      telaprevir and boceprevir, respectively. Several new HCV-specific inhibitors such
      as protease inhibitors and nucleoside and non-nucleoside polymerase inhibitors as
      well as non-HCV-specific compounds with anti-HCV activity are currently in
      clinical evaluation. In this review we discuss these new treatments for chronic
      hepatitis C.

PMID- 20924209
TI  - Hypoxia-inducible factor 1, hepatocellular carcinoma and angiogenesis.

PMID- 20924210
TI  - Effects of the knockdown of hypoxia inducible factor-1alpha expression by
      adenovirus-mediated shRNA on angiogenesis and tumor growth in hepatocellular
      carcinoma cell lines.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: Hypoxia-inducible factor-1alpha (HIF-1alpha) is a central
      transcriptional factor involved in the cellular responses related to various
      aspects of cancer biology, including proliferation, survival, and angiogenesis,
      and the metabolism of the extracellular matrix in hypoxia. This study evaluated
      whether adenovirus-mediated small hairpin RNA (shRNA) against HIF-1alpha (shHIF
      1alpha) inhibits cell proliferation and angiogenesis in hepatocellular carcinoma
      (HCC) cell lines. METHODS: Knockdown of HIF-1alpha expression was constructed by
      adenovirus-mediated RNA interference tools, and HCC cell lines infected with
      shHIF-1alpha coding virus were cultured under a hypoxia condition (1% O2) for 24
      hours. Following infection, the expression levels of HIF-1alpha, angiogenesis
      factors, and matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) were examined using Western blotting.
      Cell proliferation and angiogenesis were measured by a cell proliferation assay
      (MTT assay) and an angiogenesis-related assay (invasion and tube-formation
      assay), respectively. RESULTS: Adenovirus mediated inhibition of HIF-1alpha
      induced suppression of tumor growth in HCC cell lines. It also down-regulated the
      expression of angiogenesis factor and MMP proteins. Angiogenesis as well as
      mobility of vascular cells to tumor was suppressed by adenovirus-mediated shHIF
      1alpha-infected groups in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs).
      CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that adenovirus-mediated inhibition of HIF-1alpha
      inhibits the invasion, tube formation, and cell growth in HUVECs and HCC cells.

PMID- 20924211
TI  - Serum prohepcidin levels in chronic hepatitis C, alcoholic liver disease, and
      nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: Patients with various chronic liver diseases frequently have
      increased body iron stores. Prohepcidin is an easily measurable precursor of
      hepcidin, which is a key regulator of iron homeostasis. This study investigated
      the serum prohepcidin levels in patients with various chronic liver diseases with
      various etiologies. METHODS: Serum prohepcidin levels were measured in patients
      with chronic hepatitis C (CH-C) (n=28), nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD)
      (n=24), and alcoholic liver disease (ALD) (n=22), and in healthy controls (n=25)
      using commercial ELISA. Serum interleukin 6 (IL-6) levels and blood iron indices
      were also measured. RESULTS: The serum levels of both prohepcidin and IL-6 were
      significantly higher in CH-C patients than in healthy controls, and there was a
      positive correlation between the IL-6 and prohepcidin levels (r=0.505, p=0.020).
      The prohepcidin levels in ALD patients did not differ from those in controls,
      despite their significantly elevated IL-6 levels. There was a tendency for a
      negative correlation between serum prohepcidin levels and transferrin saturation
      in ALD patients (r=-0.420, p=0.051). Neither prohepcidin nor IL-6 was
      significantly elevated in the NAFLD group, despite the presence of elevated serum
      iron and ferritin levels. CONCLUSIONS: The role of prohepcidin may differ in
      different human liver diseases. In the setting of CH-C, both the serum
      prohepcidin and IL-6 levels were significantly elevated and were positively
      correlated with each other.

PMID- 20924212
TI  - Factors influencing the severity of acute viral hepatitis A.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: Most patients with acute viral hepatitis A have a favorable
      course, but a few of them suffer from severe forms of hepatitis such as fulminant
      hepatitis. This study was carried out to identify the factors influencing the
      severity of acute viral hepatitis A. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the
      medical records of 713 patients with acute hepatitis A, who were divided into two
      groups: severe hepatitis A (N=87) and non-severe hepatitis A (N=626). Severe
      hepatitis was defined as fulminant hepatitis or prolongation of prothrombin time
      (INR>=1.5). Clinical variables were compared between the two groups. RESULTS: The
      incidence of fulminant hepatitis was 1.4 % (10/713) in patients with acute
      hepatitis A. Thirty-three (4.6 %) cases exhibited HBsAg positivity. In
      multivariate analyses, significant alcohol intake and the presence of HBsAg were
      significant predictive factors of fulminant hepatitis A, and significant alcohol
      intake and age were significant predictive factors of severe hepatitis A. HBeAg
      and HBV-DNA status did not affect the clinical course of hepatitis A in chronic
      hepatitis B carriers. CONCLUSIONS: While most patients with acute hepatitis A
      have an uncomplicated clinical course, our data suggest that a more-severe
      clinical course is correlated with being older, significant alcohol intake, and
      chronic hepatitis-B-virus infection.

PMID- 20924213
TI  - Diagnostic value of cystatin C for predicting acute kidney injury in patients
      with liver cirrhosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: The present study aimed to determine the role of cystatin C as a
      prognostic factor for acute kidney injury and survival in cirrhotic patients.
      METHODS: The study investigated 53 liver cirrhosis patients. The renal function
      was evaluated by serum creatinine, serum and urine cystatin C, and 24-hour
      creatinine clearance on admission. Acute kidney injury was defined as a serum
      creatinine level exceeding the normal range (>1.2 mg/dl) and an increase of at
      least 50% from the baseline value. Multivariate analysis, receiver operating
      characteristic curve, and survival analysis were used to investigate prognostic
      factors for acute kidney injury and survival. RESULTS: Nine of the 53 cirrhotic
      patients (17.0%) developed acute kidney injury within 3 months. Both serum
      creatinine and cystatin C were predictive factors for acute kidney injury in
      univariate analysis, with a diagnostic accuracy of 0.735 (95% confidence interval
      (CI), 0.525-0.945; p=0.028) for serum cystatin C and 0.698 (95% CI, 0.495-0.901,
      p=0.063) for creatinine. In multivariate analysis, only serum cystatin C was an
      independent risk factor for acute kidney injury. The sensitivity and specificity
      of a serum cystatin C level of >1.23 mg/L to acute kidney injury were 66% and
      86%, respectively. Serum cystatin C was positively correlated with the Model for
      End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) and MELD-Na scores (r=0.346 and p=0.011, and
      r=0.427 and p=0.001, respectively). Comparison of the survival rates over the
      observation period revealed that a serum cystatin C level of >1.23 mg/L was a
      useful marker for short-term mortality (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The accuracy in
      predicting acute kidney injury and short-term mortality was higher for a serum
      cystatin C level of >1.23 mg/L than for the serum creatinine concentration in
      patients with cirrhosis.

PMID- 20924214
TI  - Effect of alcohol on the development of hepatocellular carcinoma in patients with
      hepatitis B virus-related cirrhosis: a cross-sectional case-control study.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: Whether alcohol intake increases the risk of hepatocellular
      carcinoma (HCC) in patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection
      remains controversial. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of
      alcohol intake on the development of HCC. METHODS: Between January 2006 and
      August 2008, 146 patients with an initial diagnosis of HCC who were hospitalized
      in 3 major hospitals in the Incheon area were enrolled as cases. Another 146
      cirrhotic patients, who matched the cases by age and sex, were enrolled as
      controls. All cases and controls were HBsAg positive, and had a history of
      lifetime alcohol intake. RESULTS: The cases and controls were aged 53+/-8 and
      53+/-9 years (mean+/-SD), respectively, with each group comprising 118 males and
      28 females. The basal laboratory data, distribution of Child-Pugh class, HBeAg
      positivity (31.5% vs. 37.7%), HBV DNA level (5.74+/-2.35 vs. 5.98+/-2.29 log10
      copies/mL), and proportion with a lifetime alcohol intake of more than 292 kg
      (30.8% vs. 34.9%) did not differ between cases and controls. The cumulative
      alcohol intake and the proportion of heavy drinkers did not differ between the
      two groups in male patients. CONCLUSIONS: Alcohol intake might not increase the
      risk of HCC in patients with HBV infection.

PMID- 20924215
TI  - Forty-eight weeks treatment with clevudine 30 mg qd versus lamivudine 100 mg qd
      for chronic hepatitis B infection: a double-blind randomized study.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: Clevudine is a pyrimidine analogue with potent activity against
      hepatitis B virus (HBV) replication in vitro. In a previous pivotal phase III
      clinical study, 24 weeks treatment with clevudine 30 mg has been shown to
      profoundly suppress HBV replication and normalize serum alanine aminotransferase
      level. METHODS: In this study, we compare the efficacy and safety of clevudine
      (30 mg daily) versus lamivudine (100 mg daily) for 48 weeks in treatment-naive
      chronic hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) positive patients. RESULTS: Ninety-two
      chronic HBeAg positive patients were randomized to receive clevudine 30 mg daily
      or lamivudine 100 mg daily in a 1:1 ratio. The clevudine group demonstrated
      greater viral suppression at week 48 when compared with the lamivudine group
      (median reduction: 4.27 vs. 3.17 log(10) copies/ml at week 48, p<0.0001). At week
      48, serum HBV DNA level was below 300 copies/mL in 73% and 40% in the clevudine
      and lamivudine groups, respectively (p=0.001). HBeAg seroconversion occurred in
      18% of patients in the clevudine group versus 12% in the lamivudine group at week
      48. Lamivudine-resistant mutations were detected in 11 (24%) patients in the
      lamivudine group, who showed viral rebound during lamivudine therapy but no
      resistance was found in the clevudine group during 48-week treatment period.
      CONCLUSIONS: A 48-week dosing with clevudine 30 mg daily was superior to
      lamivudine 100 mg daily in suppressing HBV replication, with no emergence of
      viral breakthrough in patients with HBeAg positive chronic hepatits B.

PMID- 20924216
TI  - A case of concomitant Gilbert's syndrome and hereditary spherocytosis.
AB  - We describe moderate hyperbilirubinemia in a 28-year-old man who suffered from
      gallstones and splenomegaly, with combined disorders of hereditary spherocytosis
      (HS) and Gilbert's syndrome (GS). Since it is difficult to diagnose HS in the
      absence of signs of anemia, we evaluated both the genetic mutation in the UGT1A1
      gene and abnormalities in the erythrocyte membrane protein; the former was
      heterozygous for a UGT1A1 allele with three mutations and the latter was
      partially deficient in ankyrin expression. This is the first report of the
      concomitance of HS and GS with three heterozygous mutations [T-3279G, A (TA)7TAA,
      and G211A] in the UGT1A1 gene.

PMID- 20924217
TI  - Detection of distant metastasis to skeletal muscle by 18F-FDG-PET in a case of
      intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma.
AB  - Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma is a rare malignancy that originates from the
      epithelial cells of the intrahepatic bile ducts. Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma
      can metastasize in lymphatic chains, including the hepatoduodenal ligament, and
      it often invades adjacent organs or metastasizes to other visceral organs such as
      the lungs, bones, adrenal glands, and brain. However, distant skeletal muscle
      metastasis is very rare. Moreover, a metastatic skeletal muscle tumor rarely
      shows specific symptoms, making it difficult to identify in a routine
      examination. A 45-year-old man with a chief complaint of right upper quadrant
      abdominal pain was admitted to our hospital. Abdominal ultrasound and computed
      tomography with contrast enhancement showed a malignant mass in the right hepatic
      lobe, and 2-[18F] fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose positron-emission tomography revealed
      distant skeletal muscle metastases in the thorax and buttock. The patient
      underwent an ultrasound-guided percutaneous needle biopsy for the metastatic low
      echo masses in the skeletal muscle.

PMID- 20924219
TI  - Massive hepatic necrosis with large regenerative nodules.

PMID- 20924218
TI  - Clinical courses after administration of oral corticosteroids in patients with
      severely cholestatic acute hepatitis A; three cases.
AB  - Acute hepatitis A is currently outbreaking in Korea. Although prognosis of acute
      hepatitis A is generally favorable, a minority of patients are accompanied by
      fatal complications. Severe cholestasis is one of the important causes of
      prolonged hospitalization in patients with acute hepatitis A. In such cases,
      higher chances of additional complications and increased medical costs are
      inevitable. We report three cases of severely cholestatic hepatitis A, who showed
      favorable responses to oral corticosteroids. Thirty milligram of prednisolone was
      initiated and tapered according to the responses. Rapid improvement was observed
      in all cases without side effects. We suggest that corticosteroid administration
      can be useful in hepatitis A patients with severe cholestasis who do not show
      improvement by conservative managements. Clinical trial will be needed to
      evaluate effectiveness of corticosteroids in these patients.

PMID- 20924220
TI  - Hepatic adrenal rest tumor mimicking hepatocellular carcinoma.

PMID- 20924222
TI  - Bisphenol A effect on glutathione synthesis and recycling in testicular Sertoli
      cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Controversial effects of bisphenol A (BPA) have been
      reported on testicular function. These differences might reflect dissimilar
      exposure conditions. Dose responses to toxicants may be non-linear, e.g. U
      shaped, with effects at low and at high levels of exposure and lower or
      inexistent effects at intermediate levels. Sertoli cells produce high levels of
      glutathione (GSH) as a cell defense mechanism. In this study, we addressed the
      question whether the exposure to different doses of BPA could influence Sertoli
      cell GSH synthesis and recycling. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Primary Sertoli cell
      cultures were exposed to various doses of BPA (0.5 nM-100 MUM). Cell viability
      was measured as an outcome of toxic effect. GSH cell content was determined to
      evaluate cell response to toxicant exposure. Glutamate-cysteine ligase catalytic
      (GCLC) and modulatory (GCLM) subunit expression were assessed to estimate GSH
      synthesis, and GSH reductase (GR) expression to estimate GSH recycling. RESULTS:
      BPA 100 MUM, but not lower doses, decreased cell viability. BPA 10 and 50 MUM,
      but not lower doses, induced an increment in Sertoli cell GSH levels, due to a
      rapid upregulation of GCLC and GR and a slower upregulation of GCLM. CONCLUSIONS:
      High doses of BPA are deleterious for Sertoli cells. Intermediate doses do not
      affect Sertoli cell viability and increase cell content of GSH owing to increased
      GSH synthesis and recycling enzyme expression. Lower doses of BPA are not capable
      of eliciting a cell defense response. These observations may explain a non-linear
      dose response of Sertoli cells to BPA.

PMID- 20924225
TI  - Breast conservation therapy in patients with stage T1-T2 breast cancer: current
      challenges and opportunities.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Despite the fact that breast conservation therapy has been
      established as an effective treatment, a number of issues and controversies
      currently surround the application of this treatment for patients with stage T1
      and T2 breast cancer. METHODS: Records of patients with histologically confirmed
      stage T1 (n = 1172) and stage T2 (n = 349) breast cancer, treated with wide local
      tumor excision and whole breast irradiation between January 1970 and December
      2000, were prospectively registered on our database. Median follow-up was 6.6
      years. Numerous publications addressing issues to be reviewed were collected, and
      data and prevailing controversies are discussed. RESULTS: The 10-year actuarial
      incidence of ipsilateral breast relapse was 7% for T1 and 11% for T2 tumors.
      Results with breast conservation therapy were equivalent in white or black women
      with T1 or T2 tumors. In patients younger than 40 years, incidence of failures
      was 10% for T1 (in contrast to 4% for other age groups) and 15% for T2 lesions
      (in contrast to 6% in other groups). The incidence of ipsilateral recurrences in
      women younger than 40 years was, for T1 tumors, 9% with negative surgical margins
      and 12% with close or positive margins and for T2 tumors 12% and 22%,
      respectively (difference not statistically significant). CONCLUSIONS: Use of
      breast-conserving surgical therapy should be optimized to enhance therapeutic
      outcome. Many developments in the oncological field and refinements in treatment
      planning and delivery of radiation therapy provide unique opportunities for the
      radiation oncologist to continue to play an integral role in the management of
      patients with breast cancer.

PMID- 20924223
TI  - Zona fasciculata 21-hydroxysteroids and precursor-to-product ratios in 21
      hydroxylase deficiency: further characterization of classic and non-classic
      patients and heterozygote carriers.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Although much is known about the increased levels of the 21
      hydroxylase substrates 17-hydroxyprogesterone (17OHP) and 21-deoxycortisol (21DF)
      - the biochemical markers of all forms of 21-hydroxylase deficiency (21OHD), only
      limited information is available on the zona fasciculata (ZF) products distal to
      the enzymatic block: 11-deoxycortisol (S), 11-deoxycorticosterone (DOC), and
      corticosterone (B). OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether basal and post-ACTH levels
      of S, DOC, and B and the 21-hydroxylase precursor-to-product ratios determined by
      tandem mass spectrometry preceded by high-performance liquid chromatography
      separation (liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry) could disclose
      distinct profiles in genotypically confirmed classic (no.=14) and non-classic
      (NC) (no.=18) patients, heterozygote carriers (no.=61) and wildtypes (WT)
      (no.=27) for 21OHD. RESULTS: Salt wasting (SW) and simple virilizing (SV) had
      higher basal levels of DOC with no further increase in response to ACTH.
      Stimulated DOC was similar in 21OHD patients and carriers but was reduced as
      compared to WT. ACTH-stimulated B increased gradually from SW and SV through WT.
      The post-ACTH 21DF/B ratio was able to detect 92% of the carriers among WT. All
      NC patients could be detected by post-ACTH 17OHP/DOC and 21DF/B, with no overlap
      with 21OHD carriers. CONCLUSION: Although 21-hydroxylase is a key enzymatic step
      in both 17-hydroxy and 17-deoxy pathways of ZF, the reaction is mostly affected
      in the latter pathway, leading to a significant impairment of B production, which
      may further characterize the 21OHD subtypes. Also, the precursor-to-product
      ratios, particularly 21DF/B, can demonstrate the distinctive outline of 21OHD
      subtypes, including carriers and normal subjects.

PMID- 20924224
TI  - Differential action of two prolactin isoforms on ischemia and re-perfusion
      induced arrhythmias in rats in vivo.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The different influences of one of the PRL isoforms (PRL I) on the
      cardiovascular system have been described in the past. AIM: Our goal was to
      establish an appropriate iv dose of 2 PRL isoforms (PRL I and PRL II) in intact
      rats. After establishing this dose, PRL I (0.01 mg/kg) or PRL II (0.001 mg/kg)
      was administered in bolus 10 min before left anterior descending coronary artery
      occlusion (7 min) followed by re-perfusion (15 min). We then aimed to study and
      compare the effects of these isoforms on ischemia- and re-perfusion-induced
      arrhythmias in the ischemia and re-perfusion-induced arrhythmias model in rats.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Mortality index, ventricular fibrillation and tachycardia
      (VF, VT) incidence and duration, systolic, diastolic, and mean arterial blood
      pressure, heart rate and myocardial index of oxygen consumption [pressure rate
      product (PRP)] were measured and calculated. RESULTS: Both PRL isoforms reduced
      animal mortality (from 50 to 18.75 and 25%, respectively). PRL II significantly
      reduced VF incidence (to 25%) as well as VT duration (18.21 +/- 3.09) and these
      effects were markedly different from PRL I and from the control group (p<0.05).
      Both PRL reduced PRP in the recovery phase (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: We proved that
      supraphysiological doses of PRL isoforms administered in bolus could protect
      against sudden cardiac death as well as severe arrhythmias episodes during re
      perfusion. Because of PRL's positive influence on the cardiovascular system and
      as an endogenous, well-tolerated substance, it might be of potential clinical
      use.

PMID- 20924226
TI  - The end of chemotherapy in renal cell carcinoma: for much but not for all.

PMID- 20924227
TI  - Bibliography-Editors' selection of current world literature.

PMID- 20924228
TI  - Why the human microbiome project should motivate epidemiologists to learn
      ecology.

PMID- 20924229
TI  - Epidemiologic research and Web 2.0--the user-driven Web.

PMID- 20924230
TI  - At the intersection of public-health informatics and bioinformatics: using
      advanced Web technologies for phylogeography.

PMID- 20924231
TI  - Tracking the Global Express: new tools addressing disease threats across the
      world.

PMID- 20924232
TI  - The color of smoke.

PMID- 20924234
TI  - Accounting for center effects in multicenter trials.

PMID- 20924235
TI  - Parental celiac disease and offspring sex ratio.

PMID- 20924236
TI  - Cyclical variation in type 1 childhood diabetes.

PMID- 20924237
TI  - Oseltamivir and abnormal behavior.

PMID- 20924238
TI  - US National Children's Study.

PMID- 20924241
TI  - Smoking and miscarriage risk.

PMID- 20924243
TI  - Patient adherence and efficacy of quetiapine treatment in schizophrenia: results
      of a multicentre, naturalistic 6-month follow-up study.
AB  - The aim of the study was to evaluate the adherence and efficacy of quetiapine
      treatment in a 6-month, multicentre, noninterventional naturalistic design.
      Overall, 710 schizophrenia patients using quetiapine or who had switched to
      quetiapine were included. The continuation rate for quetiapine treatment during 6
      month follow-up period was 69%. Adherence improved with each subsequent visit for
      continued patients, 92.9% at the second visit to 96.1% at the last. Treatment
      adherence was correlated to improvement of symptoms, though not significantly.
      Patients having lower clinical global impression severity scores at the beginning
      were twice as likely to improve compared with patients with higher clinical
      global impression scores. Schizophrenia patients with antisocial behaviour
      problems had two and a half times higher drop-out rates. In conclusion, this
      naturalistic study showed that adherence to quetiapine treatment was high, and
      treatment was effective in schizophrenia patients during long-term treatment.
      Remission of symptoms in schizophrenia is much related to severity of symptoms at
      baseline, treatment adherence and characteristics of patients such as antisocial
      behavioural patterns.

PMID- 20924244
TI  - "He is just a little shy like me": screening for autism in a young child.
AB  - CASE: Jacob is a 22-month-old wonderful boy, who is being seen a few months late
      for his 18-month-old visit because of scheduling snafus, as both parents work
      outside the home. At this visit, it is routine in our practice to administer the
      Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers (MCHAT) and the Parents' Evaluation of
      Developmental Status (PEDS). On the PEDS, in response to the question, "Do you
      have any concerns about how your child talks or makes speech sounds?" the parents
      respond "He only says 2 words in Hebrew and none in English." On the MCHAT, they
      reply "no" to 3 items: (1) "Does your child ever pretend, for example, to talk on
      the phone or take care of a doll or pretend other things?" (2) "Does your child
      respond to his/her name when you call?" and (3) "Does your child sometimes stare
      at nothing or wander with no purpose?" This results in failing 1 critical and 3
      total items. Our practice protocol recommends a referral for a diagnostic
      evaluation. Jacob has been a healthy child, and this is the first time that his
      parents have fallen behind in routine health care maintenance visits. His medical
      history is unremarkable. He was born at term, weighing 3.2 kg, without any
      perinatal complications. His parents had emigrated from the Poland in their
      teenage years and have been married for 8 years. They also have a 5-year-old
      daughter. They both report that, in Poland, there are some relatives who were
      "very late talkers," but they do not know about any definitive family history of
      autism. At the 15-month visit, the parents reported that Jacob had expressive
      jargoning but no recognizable words. They stated then that he was not interested
      in toys but liked to play with the television remote control. He is in full-time
      child care--initially with a nanny in their home, but at 15 months started 3 days
      a week in a center-based childcare with many families from their community, where
      children speak Polish, English, and Hebrew at home. His mother works full time as
      an accountant and father as a physicist in a commercial laboratory. Both have
      graduate degrees and are trilingual. The parents are conflicted in their
      interpretation of Jacob's behavior. His father is concerned that he is autistic
      and his mother feels that "he is just a little shy like me." His physical
      examination is normal. He is somewhat inhibited and anxious but will sit still on
      the examination table and alone during the examination. You update his
      immunizations and then struggle with where to head next.

PMID- 20924246
TI  - Autism spectrum disorder in Down syndrome: definition of the cutoff point for the
      autism screening questionnaire screening instrument.

PMID- 20924247
TI  - From the editor. Patient safety and protection as components of the quality of
      care.

PMID- 20924248
TI  - Culture counts--sustainable inpatient computerized surveillance across Duke
      University Health System.
AB  - PURPOSE: The authors report on the managerial and logistical details of deploying
      a computerized adverse drug event surveillance system that was at first a grant
      funded research project and ultimately was changed to a sustained safety
      monitoring application serving 3 different hospitals. METHODS: Surveillance was
      deployed in 3 phases to 2 community-based hospitals and an academic medical
      center. A logic-based rules engine surveyed electronic records for laboratory,
      medication, and demographic information indicative of safety concerns. Potential
      adverse events triggered manual chart review by pharmacists to verify patient
      harm. RESULTS: During Phase 1, the research team created trigger rules for each
      hospital. In Phase 2, the trigger review was transitioned to hospital personnel
      and rule sets were reshaped for specific hospital needs. In Phase 3, surveillance
      was integrated into daily work flows and organizational balanced scorecards where
      it was accepted as a quantitative measure of medication safety performance.
      DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Computerized surveillance helps detect potentially
      harmful events regardless of hospital size. Active leadership, change-tolerant
      culture, and hospital pharmacy practice models significantly impact successful
      adoption. Entrenched cultural issues impeded sustainability at the academic
      center but not at the 2 community hospitals. Tailoring surveillance to the needs
      of different inpatient settings is crucial to developing a sustainable model.

PMID- 20924249
TI  - Attributes of an independently self-sustaining implementation: nurse-administered
      HIV rapid testing in VA primary care.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) oral rapid testing (RT) has the
      potential to facilitate the expansion of such diagnostics to front line
      providers, specifically clinical nursing staff. Training, policy requirements,
      and implementation methods used to launch such services have not been widely
      explored. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the sustainability of a nurse-initiated HIV-RT
      intervention at 1 veterans affairs primary care clinic for 1 year. METHODS:
      Policies were implemented, enabling nurses to carry out HIV RTs. Willing RNs
      voluntarily enrolled in a 2-part in-service designed to teach pre- and posttest
      counseling techniques, administering, interpreting, and entering results in the
      patient's medical records. RESULTS: RNs administered a steady rate of HIV RTs
      (monthly mean = 25, SD = 3) along with an unexpected increase in HIV blood
      testing among other clinical staff, leading to a 70% (P < .0001) site-wide
      increase in HIV testing, with RNs accounting for one-third of these tests.
      CONCLUSION: In light of the researchers' 1-shot launch efforts, the steady rate
      of HIV RTs among RNs over the course of a year, combined with the concurrent
      progressive increase in HIV (blood) testing administered by MDs, PAs, and NPs
      stands as an anomaly in light of existing implementation science literature.

PMID- 20924250
TI  - A new approach to tracking the harmfulness of medical errors in health care
      systems.
AB  - A variety of approaches are available to monitor and quantify the frequency of
      medical errors and the harm associated with them. The University HealthSystem
      Consortium Patient Safety Net provides a categorical, rank-ordered approach for
      designating harm associated with medical errors but does not lend itself to
      routine monitoring of change over time. A brief questionnaire was developed and
      given to hospital administrators to collect ratings about the harmfulness of
      events occurring in each of the 10 University HealthSystem Consortium harm-score
      categories. Results revealed a high degree of agreement among raters for
      harmfulness ratings for each category. A cubic model fit the data best and
      provided weights for each of the harm-score categories. This preliminary study
      proposes a methodology for quantifying harm scores.

PMID- 20924251
TI  - Risks in the application of medical devices: human factors in the medical
      environment.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The more complex a medical device is, the more difficult it is to
      control the hazards associated with its use. A substantial percentage of harm or
      injuries to patients resulting from treatment can be attributed to errors. No one
      knows exactly how many victims have been claimed by medical errors. Studies from
      the United States and other countries show that 3% to 4% of all hospital patients
      suffer harm or injuries. This text is intended to provide a practice-oriented
      approach to the discussion of targeted improvement opportunities in connection
      with a superficial consideration of the sociotechnical system comprising the
      manufacturers, the medical devices, and the users in the health facilities.
      METHOD: Analysis of the risk reports received by the Federal Institute for Drugs
      and Medical Devices (Bundesinstitut fur Arzneimittel und Medizinprodukte) in
      connection with undesirable events involving the use of medical devices.
      Supplementary consideration of additional data from previous human factors
      research in the field of medicine. The evaluation period for the primary data
      focuses on the years 2005 to 2008. A differentiation is made between the error
      causal factors, man, and device. RESULTS: A substantial percentage of the
      incidents that occurred can be attributed to human blunders. Within the scope of
      an evaluation of more than 16 000 risk reports in connection with medical
      devices, 5000 risk reports could not be directly attributed to the failure of a
      medical device. The lack of an error culture seems to be a considerable problem.
      CONCLUSION: The safe and reliable development and use of medical devices requires
      efficient and consistent risk management. Until now, human factors are not
      sufficiently considered when identifying sources of errors in sociotechnical
      systems. The useful data required for an extensive risk assessment are missing.
      An interface-overlapping method of solution is required which permits system
      analytical and unbiased error handling and integrates all stakeholders.

PMID- 20924252
TI  - Lean Six Sigma in health care and the challenge of implementation of Six Sigma
      methodologies at a Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
AB  - Six Sigma and Lean Thinking are quality initiatives initially deployed in
      industry to improve operational efficiency leading to better quality and
      subsequent cost savings. The financial rationale for embarking on this quality
      journey is clear; applying it to today's health care remains challenging. The
      cost of medical care is increasing at an alarming rate; most of these cost
      increases are attributed to an aging population and technological advances;
      therefore, largely beyond control. Furthermore, health care cost increases are
      caused by unnecessary operational inefficiency associated with the direct medical
      service delivery process. This article describes the challenging journey of
      implementing Six Sigma methodology at a tertiary care medical center. Many
      lessons were learned; however, of utmost importance were team approach, "buy in"
      of the stakeholders, and the willingness of team members to change daily practice
      and to adapt new and innovative ways how health care can be delivered. Six Sigma
      incorporated as part of the "company's or hospital's culture" would be most
      desirable but the learning curve will be steep.

PMID- 20924253
TI  - The current state of Lean implementation in health care: literature review.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this article is to discuss the current state of
      implementation of Lean production in health care. The study focuses on the
      definition of Lean in health care and implementation process, barriers,
      challenges, enablers, and outcomes of implementing Lean production methods in
      health care. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: A comprehensive search of the
      literature concerning the implementation of Lean production in health care was
      used to generate a synthesis of the literature around the chosen research
      questions. FINDINGS: Lean production in health care is mostly used as a process
      improvement approach and focuses on 3 main areas: (1) defining value from the
      patient point of view, (2) mapping value streams, and (3) eliminating waste in an
      attempt to create continuous flow. Value stream mapping is the most frequently
      applied Lean tool in health care. The usual implementation steps include
      conducting Lean training, initiating pilot projects, and implementing
      improvements using interdisciplinary teams. One of the barriers is lack of
      educators and consultants who have their roots in the health care sector and can
      provide support by sharing experience and giving examples from real-life
      applications of Lean in health care. The enablers of Lean in health care seem not
      to be different from the enablers of any other change initiative. The outcomes
      can be divided into 2 broad areas: the performance of the health care system and
      the development of employees and work environment.

PMID- 20924254
TI  - A baseline study of communication networks related to evidence-based infection
      prevention practices in an intensive care unit.
AB  - This study seeks to gain a baseline understanding of the communication network
      structure, content of communication, and outcomes in a medical intensive care
      unit experiencing higher-than-expected central line blood stream infection
      (CLBSI) rates. The communication network structure refers to the direction and
      frequency of communication on evidence-based CLBSI prevention practices across
      various professional subgroups and hierarchical levels in the unit, including
      medical faculty, nurses, residents, students, unit managers, and hospital
      administrators. The content of communication refers to the type of knowledge (ie,
      tacit vs explicit knowledge) exchanged on CLBSI prevention practices. Outcomes
      include (1) compliance with CLBSI prevention practices and (2) hospital-acquired
      CLBSI rates in the unit. Data on communication network structure and content of
      communication are collected using communication logs completed weekly for 4
      weeks, by individual participants in each professional subgroup and hierarchical
      level. Outcomes are collected weekly through chart (medical record) review. Study
      results indicate a sparse communication network structure with minimal
      interaction across professional subgroups and hierarchical levels. They also
      indicate that primarily explicit knowledge on general infection topics is being
      exchanged as against tacit knowledge on specific infection prevention practices.
      Unit outcomes are poor, with the central line bundle score at zero during all 4
      weeks. The study represents an original attempt at developing methods for
      measuring the communication network structure related to evidence-based infection
      prevention practices at the unit level. It lays a foundation for testing
      hypotheses related to effective communication network structures for hospital
      infection prevention in a larger study. More significantly, the study lays a
      foundation for generating concrete and context-sensitive strategies for
      organizational learning and improvement in the context of evidence-based
      practices. Such insight is critical from the perspective of evidence-based health
      care management.

PMID- 20924255
TI  - Survey-assessed quality and organizational factors related to quality in Pursuing
      Perfection hospitals.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The goal of the Pursuing Perfection (P2) program was to encourage
      organizations to push quality improvement to new levels of excellence. As part of
      an evaluation of P2, we surveyed employees at the 7 participating P2
      organizations to (1) assess their perceptions of patient care quality and
      improvement progress and (2) examine perceived performance on organizational and
      workgroup characteristics associated with quality. METHODS: Many survey questions
      were drawn from existing conceptual models and survey instruments. We used factor
      analysis to create new scales from questions that were not part of established
      scales. We used correlation coefficients and multivariable models to examine
      relationships among variables. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Variables most strongly
      associated with perceived quality included standardized and simplified care
      processes resulting in coordinated care and smooth handoffs, a clear sense of
      organizational direction and clear action plans, and communication with staff
      about reasons for change and improvement progress made. Of those variables with a
      strong relationship to quality, ones with relatively low mean ratings included
      workgroup coordination; sufficient resources and support for improvement;
      training; and efficient use of people, time, and energy. These are important
      areas on which management should focus to improve employee ratings of quality.

PMID- 20924258
TI  - Do we need a new classification for choroidal neovascularization in age-related
      macular degeneration?

PMID- 20924259
TI  - Pathway-based therapies for age-related macular degeneration: an integrated
      survey of emerging treatment alternatives.
AB  - PURPOSE: To review treatments under development for age-related macular
      degeneration (AMD) in the context of current knowledge of AMD pathogenesis.
      METHODS: Review of the scientific literature published in English. RESULTS: Steps
      in AMD pathogenesis that appear to be good targets for drug development include
      1) oxidative damage; 2) lipofuscin accumulation; 3) chronic inflammation; 4)
      mutations in the complement pathway; and 5) noncomplement mutations that
      influence chronic inflammation and/or oxidative damage (e.g., mitochondria and
      extracellular matrix structure). Steps in neovascularization that can be targeted
      for drug development and combination therapy include 1) angiogenic factor
      production; 2) factor release; 3) binding of factors to extracellular receptors
      (and activation of intracellular signaling after receptor binding); 4)
      endothelial cell activation (and basement membrane degradation); 5) endothelial
      cell proliferation; 6) directed endothelial cell migration; 7) extracellular
      matrix remodeling; 8) tube formation; and 9) vascular stabilization. CONCLUSION:
      The era of pathway-based therapy for the early and late stages of AMD has begun.
      At each step in the pathway, a new treatment could be developed, but complete
      inhibition of disease progression will likely require a combination of the
      various treatments. Combination therapy will likely supplant monotherapy as the
      treatment of choice because the clinical benefits (visual acuity and frequency of
      treatment) will likely be superior to monotherapy in preventing the late-stage
      complications of AMD.

PMID- 20924260
TI  - Incidence of hemorrhagic complications after intravitreal bevacizumab (avastin)
      or ranibizumab (lucentis) injections on systemically anticoagulated patients.
AB  - PURPOSE: To assess the risk of hemorrhagic complications when performing
      intravitreal injections on systemically anticoagulated patients. METHODS: A
      single-center retrospective case series of 520 consecutive patients (675 eyes)
      receiving 3,106 antivascular endothelial growth factor injections. Patients on
      the systemic anticoagulants Coumadin (warfarin sodium) or Plavix (clopidogrel
      bisulfate) were identified, as well as patients on aspirin. Demographic
      parameters were recorded, as well as relevant anticoagulant medications,
      preoperative/postoperative best-corrected visual acuities and intraocular
      pressures, previous ocular surgery, relative ocular diagnoses, and injection
      complications. RESULTS: Of all patients, 104 were on Coumadin (134 eyes; 548
      injections), 90 were on Plavix (123 eyes; 523 injections), 7 were on both
      Coumadin and Plavix (8 eyes; 33 injections), and 319 were not anticoagulated (400
      eyes; 2002 injections). Also, 1,254 injections were on patients taking aspirin.
      There were no hemorrhagic complications (choroidal hemorrhage, vitreous
      hemorrhage, or increased submacular hemorrhage) noted in the Plavix (P = 1.0000;
      95% confidence interval = 0.0000-0.0088), Coumadin (P = 1.0000; 95% confidence
      interval = 0.0000-0.0084), or aspirin (P = 1.0000; 95% confidence interval =
      0.0000-0.0037) groups. CONCLUSION: The risk of hemorrhagic complications in
      systemically anticoagulated patients receiving intravitreal injections is
      extremely low. Because of the demonstrated thromboembolic risk of stopping
      anticoagulant therapy, we recommend that patients continue their current regiment
      without cessation.

PMID- 20924261
TI  - Anatomical benefit from ranibizumab treatment of predominantly classic
      neovascular age-related macular degeneration in the 2-year anchor study.
AB  - PURPOSE: To compare lesion anatomical responses to ranibizumab versus verteporfin
      photodynamic therapy (PDT) in the ANCHOR (Anti-VEGF Antibody for the Treatment of
      Predominantly Classic Choroidal Neovascularization [CNV] in Age-Related Macular
      Degeneration) study. METHODS: In this 2-year, Phase III, randomized, multicenter,
      double-masked trial, 423 patients received ranibizumab (0.3 or 0.5 mg) monthly +
      sham PDT or PDT + monthly sham injection. Photodynamic therapy (or sham PDT) was
      administered at Day 0 and then quarterly as needed. A central reading center
      assessed fundus photography and fluorescein angiography images. A subset (n = 61)
      had optical coherence tomography assessments. Main outcome measures included mean
      change from baseline at Months 12 and 24 for area of classic CNV and total area
      of leakage from CNV. RESULTS: At Months 12 and 24, ranibizumab was superior to
      PDT (P < 0.0001) for mean changes from baseline in total area of lesion, CNV
      area, and total area CNV leakage. Month 12 optical coherence tomographies showed
      greater center point thickness decrease from baseline with ranibizumab than with
      PDT (P = 0.0003). Ranibizumab benefits over PDT were evident by 3 months
      (fluorescein angiography) and 7 days (optical coherence tomography). CONCLUSION:
      Differences between the PDT and the ranibizumab groups in lesion anatomical
      outcomes were early, sustained, and favored ranibizumab.

PMID- 20924262
TI  - Intravitreal bevacizumab during pregnancy.
AB  - PURPOSE: To report the clinical course of four women treated with intravitreal
      bevacizumab during pregnancy. METHODS: Observational case series. RESULTS: Four
      pregnant women were treated with intravitreal bevacizumab for choroidal
      neovascularization (CNV) because of presumed ocular histoplasmosis syndrome
      punctate inner choroidopathy, or sarcoid uveitis. Patients received a mean of 2.6
      +/- 2.3 injections (range, 1-6 injections) while pregnant. One patient was
      treated with five additional injections while breastfeeding. The mean follow-up
      duration after the most recent injection was 14 +/- 2.9 months (range, 11-18
      months). Snellen visual acuity improved in all 4 patients with a mean of 5.75 +/-
      2.2 lines (range, 3-8 lines). At the most recent follow-up, all patients had
      involuted CNV that did not require additional treatment. All patients had an
      uneventful prenatal course and delivered healthy full-term infants. All children
      have remained healthy, exhibiting normal development and growth during infancy.
      CONCLUSION: Offering pregnant patients intravitreal bevacizumab therapy during
      pregnancy for off-label ocular indications can result in significant visual
      improvement. No adverse events related to treatment occurred in any patient
      included in this study. Additional studies with more patients and longer follow
      up duration are required to identify any risks associated with treatment.

PMID- 20924264
TI  - Factors associated with visual acuity outcomes after vitrectomy for diabetic
      macular edema: diabetic retinopathy clinical research network.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate factors  associated with favorable outcomes after vitrectomy
      for diabetic macular edema. METHODS: Data were collected prospectively on 241
      eyes undergoing vitrectomy for diabetic macular edema. Multivariate models were
      used to evaluate associations of 20 preoperative and intraoperative factors with
      6-month outcomes of visual acuity and retinal thickness. RESULTS: Median central
      subfield thickness decreased from 412 MUm to 278 MUm at 6 months, but median
      visual acuity remained unchanged (20/80, Snellen equivalent). Greater visual
      acuity improvement occurred in eyes with worse baseline acuity (P < 0.001) and in
      eyes in which an epiretinal membrane was removed (P = 0.006). Greater reduction
      in central subfield thickness occurred with worse baseline visual acuity (P <
      0.001), greater preoperative retinal thickness (P = 0.001), removal of internal
      limiting membrane (P = 0.003), and optical coherence tomography evidence of
      vitreoretinal abnormalities (P = 0.006). No associations with clinician's
      preoperative assessments of the posterior vitreous were identified. CONCLUSION:
      These results suggest that the removal of epiretinal membranes may favorably
      affect visual outcome after vitrectomy. Preoperative presence of vitreoretinal
      abnormalities appeared to be associated with somewhat greater reductions in
      retinal thickness but not with visual acuity outcome. These results may be useful
      for future studies evaluating vitrectomy for diabetic macular edema.

PMID- 20924263
TI  - Drusen characterization with multimodal imaging.
AB  - PURPOSE: To characterize the known appearance of cuticular drusen, subretinal
      drusenoid deposits (reticular pseudodrusen), and soft drusen as revealed by
      multimodal fundus imaging and to create an explanatory model that accounts for
      these observations. METHODS: Reported color, fluorescein angiographic,
      autofluorescence, and spectral domain optical coherence tomography images of
      patients with cuticular drusen, soft drusen, and subretinal drusenoid deposits
      were reviewed, as were actual images from affected eyes. Representative
      histological sections were examined. The geometry, location, and imaging
      characteristics of these lesions were evaluated. A hypothesis based on the Beer
      Lambert law of light absorption was generated to fit these observations. RESULTS:
      Cuticular drusen appear as numerous, uniform, round, yellow-white punctate
      accumulations under the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). Soft drusen are larger,
      yellow-white dome-shaped mounds of deposit under the RPE. Subretinal drusenoid
      deposits are polymorphous light-gray interconnected accumulations above the RPE.
      Based on the model, both cuticular and soft drusen appear yellow because of the
      removal of shorter wavelength light by a double pass through the RPE. Subretinal
      drusenoid deposits, which are located on the RPE, are not subjected to short
      wavelength attenuation and therefore are more prominent when viewed with blue
      light. The location and morphology of extracellular material in relationship to
      the RPE, and associated changes to RPE morphology and pigmentation, appeared to
      be the primary determinants of druse appearance in different imaging modalities.
      CONCLUSION: Although cuticular drusen, subretinal drusenoid deposits, and soft
      drusen are composed of common components, they are distinguishable by multimodal
      imaging because of differences in location, morphology, and optical filtering
      effects by drusenoid material and the RPE.

PMID- 20924265
TI  - A new dual port cutter system for vitrectomy surgery.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate and compare the performance of several designs of 20-gauge
      dual port (DP) vitreous cutter tips with a standard 20-gauge single port tip.
      METHODS: Custom 20-gauge pneumatic vitreous DP cutter tips with different sizes
      and port positions were evaluated through porcine vitreous and water flow rates.
      Five designed and fabricated DP cutter tips were compared with a normal single
      port control tip and evaluated by the measurement of water and porcine vitreous
      flow rates, and surgical examination in enucleated porcine eyes. RESULTS: Some DP
      tips approached a maximum vitreous and water flow rates, removing water and
      vitreous faster than the normal control tip. With reference to surgical
      evaluation, some DP tips performed better than the single port tip for bulk
      vitrectomy, but none shaved the vitreous base more effectively. CONCLUSION: The
      DP cutter system has the potential to increase the flow rates depending on the
      size and position of the extra port. In the future, the DP cutter may allow the
      surgeon to perform bulk vitrectomy more efficiently.

PMID- 20924266
TI  - Young patients with branch retinal vein occlusion: a review of 60 cases.
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate the risk factors for branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO)
      in young patients. METHODS: Observational case series with retrospective
      comparative controls. The medical records of 60 consecutive patients (aged <= 49
      years) with BRVO were reviewed to note patients' age, sex, body mass index,
      history of smoking, diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and hormonal
      replacement therapy in women. Results were compared with those of a control group
      of 123 individuals. RESULTS: An increased risk of BRVO was found in patients with
      a history of systemic hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and increased body mass index
      but not with diabetes, smoking, or hormone replacement therapy. CONCLUSION:
      Systemic hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and increased body mass index are
      important risk factors for BRVO in young patients, just as in the older
      population. We recommend obtaining a complete blood count, reviewing the medical
      history, and evaluating the patient for systemic hypertension, obesity, and
      hyperlipidemia as part of the initial workup of young patients with BRVO. If no
      clear risk factors are found, a more extensive workup should be considered.

PMID- 20924267
TI  - Intravitreal infliximab for the treatment of sight-threatening chronic
      noninfectious uveitis.
AB  - PURPOSE: Tumor necrosis factor-alpha is known to play an important role in
      various immune-mediated ocular diseases. Infliximab, a chimeric monoclonal
      antibody against tumor necrosis factor-alpha, has been used for the treatment of
      various chronic systemic and ocular inflammatory diseases. The purpose of this
      study was to evaluate the effect of intravitreal injection of infliximab on the
      visual acuity and central macular thickness in patients with chronic
      noninfectious uveitis. METHODS: Ten eyes of 7 patients with chronic persistent
      noninfectious uveitis who were nonresponsive to conventional previous medications
      during the previous 3 months were included in this study. The patients received
      intravitreal injection of 1.5 mg/0.15 mL infliximab. Mean best-corrected visual
      acuity and mean central macular thickness 1 day before and 4 weeks after the
      injection were evaluated and compared. RESULTS: Mean logarithm of the minimum
      angle of resolution before and after injection was 1.37 +/- 0.43 and 0.67 +/-
      0.56, respectively, with statistically significant improvement after injection (P
      = 0.005). The mean central macular thickness before and after injection was
      673.20 +/- 338.39 MUm and 456.40 +/- 317.46 MUm, respectively, with a significant
      decrease in the central macular thickness after the injection (P = 0.005).
      CONCLUSION: Intravitreal injection of infliximab may improve the visual acuity
      and decrease the central macular thickness in patients with chronic noninfectious
      uveitis and significant visual loss and central macular edema.

PMID- 20924268
TI  - New eye speculum for pars plana vitrectomy.

PMID- 20924269
TI  - Evaluation of ultra wide angle "ora-ora" high refractive index self-stabilizing
      contact lens for vitreous surgery.

PMID- 20924271
TI  - Vitreoretinal surgery in pediatric cases.

PMID- 20924272
TI  - Use processed human retina samples to assay for RNA.

PMID- 20924273
TI  - Novel method used for assessing the size of the neovascularization.

PMID- 20924276
TI  - Clear cell tubulopapillary renal cell carcinoma: a study of 36 distinctive low
      grade epithelial tumors of the kidney.
AB  - Recently several low-grade renal cell tumors, distinct from those recognized by
      the 2004 World Health Organization classification of renal tumors, have been
      described. These tumors had similar clinicopathologic features, being low-stage
      tumors with cystic, tubuloacinar, and/or papillary architecture. The tumor cells
      were low grade with variable amounts of clear cytoplasm that was positive for
      cytokeratin 7 (CK7), but negative for CD10. Genetic changes characteristic of
      clear cell or papillary renal cell carcinoma were not seen in these tumors. We
      investigated the morphologic, immunohistochemical, and genetic features of 36
      additional tumors. Immunohistochemistry was carried out for CK7, carbonic
      anhydrase 9, alpha-methylacyl-CoA racemase, CD10, TFE-3, and desmin. Interphase
      fluorescence in situ hybridization was carried out with centromeric probes for
      chromosomes 3, 7, 17, and a subtelomeric probe for 3p25. Sequencing of von Hippel
      Lindau gene and analysis of the methylation status of the promoter region was
      also carried out in 2 tumors. Thirty-six tumors from 33 patients (mean age: 60.4
      , range: 26 to 88; 17 men and 16 women) were studied. Three patients had
      bilateral tumors and 1 patient had von Hippel-Lindau disease. Follow-up was
      available in 60% (20/33) of the patients for a mean of 27.4 (range 1 to 85)
      months. No patient had evidence of the disease after surgery except for the
      patient with von Hippel-Lindau disease, who was alive with stable disease in the
      contralateral kidney. All 36 tumors were small (mean size 2.4 cm; range 0.9 to
      4.5 cm) and low stage (pT1). The majority was cystic and had prominent fibrous
      capsule and stroma. The tumors were composed of variable amount of cysts,
      papillae, tubules, acini, and solid nests. The most characteristic histologic
      features were branching tubules and acini and anastomosing clear cell ribbons
      with low-grade nuclei. All tumors were strongly positive for CK7 and variably
      positive for CA9, but largely negative for CD10, and negative for alpha
      methylacyl-CoA racemase and TFE-3. All but 1 tumor had no gains of chromosomes 7
      and 17 and deletion of 3p. Only 1 tumor had low copy number gains of chromosomes
      7 and 17. VHL gene mutation and promoter methylation were negative in 2 tumors
      analyzed. We show that these tumors, which we term as "clear cell tubulopapillary
      renal cell carcinoma," constitute a unique subtype in the spectrum of renal
      epithelial neoplasia based on their characteristic morphologic and
      immunohistochemical features.

PMID- 20924279
TI  - The FAQ initiative.

PMID- 20924277
TI  - Sporadic hemangioblastoma of the kidney: an underrecognized pseudomalignant
      tumor?
AB  - Hemangioblastoma is a benign tumor that can occur sporadically, or in association
      with von Hippel-Lindau disease in approximately one-quarter of the cases. Only
      exceptionally does it occur outside the central nervous system. This report
      describes 2 cases of sporadic renal hemangioblastoma, with 1 patient presenting
      with hematuria and polycythemia, and the other low back pain. Histologically, the
      tumors were circumscribed, and composed of sheets of large polygonal cells
      traversed by arborizing thin-walled blood vessels. Many of the tumor cells showed
      pleomorphic nuclei, but the mitotic figures were rare. The cytoplasm was
      eosinophilic, and occasionally finely vacuolated indicating the presence of
      lipid. The diagnosis of hemangioblastoma was confirmed by negative immunostaining
      for cytokeratin, and positive staining for alpha-inhibin, S100, and neuron
      specific enolase. This benign neoplasm which can be mistaken for various
      malignancies such as renal cell carcinoma, epithelioid angiomyolipoma, adrenal
      cortical carcinoma, and paraganglioma, deserves wider recognition for its
      occurrence as a primary renal tumor.

PMID- 20924280
TI  - Encapsulated papillary oncocytic neoplasms of the thyroid: morphologic,
      immunohistochemical, and molecular analysis of 18 cases.
AB  - Encapsulated papillary oncocytic neoplasms (EPONs) of the thyroid are rare
      tumors, whose relationship to other thyroid tumors has not been thoroughly
      elucidated. Earlier, they have been regarded as variants of papillary thyroid
      carcinoma (PTC), hyperplastic lesions, and follicular neoplasms. Eighteen EPONs
      were retrieved from our surgical pathology files and reviewed for defining
      morphologic features. Cases having the typical nuclear features of PTC were
      excluded. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) for CK19, HBME1, and CD56 was carried out.
      Microdissection, polymerase chain reaction, and sequencing of exon 15 of the BRAF
      gene were completed. Cases were evaluated for rearranged in
      transformation/papillary thyroid carcinoma RET/PTC rearrangement by fluorescent
      in situ hybridization (FISH). The majority of the tumors exhibited a distinctive
      histologic appearance. They were composed of true papillae lined by a single
      layer of predominantly cuboidal cells with oncocytic cytoplasm; hobnailing was
      typically prominent. Three tumors showed taller cells with uniformly apical
      nuclei and no hobnailing. Ten of 18 cases showed vascular and/or capsular
      invasion; hence, if the diagnostic criteria used to evaluate follicular neoplasms
      are applied, more than half of the tumors would be considered minimally invasive
      carcinomas. No cases were immunoreactive with antibodies to HBME1, whereas only 1
      of 13 was immunoreactive for CK19. Six of 7 interpretable cases were
      immunoreactive for CD56. No BRAF point mutations or RET/PTC rearrangements were
      identified in the examined cases. All patients were alive at the time of last
      follow-up and no locally recurrent disease had been reported; however, 1 case was
      remarkable for a lymph node metastasis. Our results confirm that EPONs are
      histologically, immunohistochemically, and molecularly distinct from papillary
      thyroid carcinoma and seem to be most related to follicular neoplasms.

PMID- 20924281
TI  - Morphologic characterization of syndromic gastric polyps.
AB  - The morphology of gastric hamartomatous polyps from patients with juvenile
      polyposis syndrome (JuvPS) and Peutz-Jeghers' Syndrome (PJS) is poorly
      characterized. We investigated the histologic features of gastric polyps in
      patients with established JuvPS or PJS to develop improved histologic criteria to
      distinguish these from gastric hyperplastic (HP) polyps. The patients with
      clinically confirmed hamartomatous polyposis syndromes were identified, including
      26 patients with JuvPS (both familial and sporadic) and 17 patients with PJS. All
      gastric polyps (n=30) from these patients were intermixed with gastric HP polyps
      from nonsyndromic patients (n=26) and subsequently blindly reviewed by a panel of
      gastrointestinal pathologists. A consensus diagnosis was rendered. The panel then
      reviewed the slides in the context of clinical data and identified histologic
      features for distinguishing JuvPS, PJS, and HP gastric polyps based on epithelial
      changes, pit architecture, lamina propria features, and smooth muscle qualities.
      A sleeping period of 6 months lapsed before the same cases were renumbered and
      blindly rereviewed independently. Diagnoses were then rendered while adhering to
      the suggested criteria. Cases that the reviewers recalled were discarded from the
      study (n=8). On initial review, accuracy in diagnosis of gastric polyps in JuvPS
      was 50% and was 18% in PJS compared with 92% for HP gastric polyps. Adherence to
      the recommended histologic criteria resulted in diagnostic accuracy of 41% for
      JuvPS and 54% for PJS, compared with 73% for HP gastric polyps. Accuracy in
      diagnosis in antral mucosa was 66%, oxyntic mucosa 71%, and transitional-type
      mucosa (mixed antral and oxyntic) 32%. The diagnostic accuracy based on polyp
      size was 59% for polyps which were less than equal to 3 mm, 56% for those 4 to 9
      mm, and 81% for polyps which were more than equal to 10 mm. The identification of
      gastric polyps from JuvPS and PJS patients without the context of clinical
      history of these syndromes remains poor, even with adherence to a set of
      morphologic criteria. Abiding by such criteria improved recognition of PJS polyps
      by more than double (P<0.19), but yielded an accuracy of only 54%. The accuracy
      did not improve when results were stratified for polyp location but did with
      biopsy size which were more than equal to10 mm. Whereas these syndromic polyps
      are readily diagnosed in the small bowel and colon, histologic features to
      distinguish gastric JuvPS and PJS from gastric HP polyps are unreliable.

PMID- 20924282
TI  - Environmental tobacco smoke furthers progression of diabetic nephropathy.
AB  - Clinical studies suggest that smoking is a risk factor in the progression of
      chronic kidney disease, including diabetic nephropathy. The mechanisms involved
      are not completely understood. We have previously demonstrated that nicotine, one
      of the compounds present in large amounts in tobacco, promotes mesangial cell
      proliferation and fibronectin production. In this study, we hypothesized that
      exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) promotes the progression of
      diabetic nephropathy by increasing the expression of profibrotic cytokines such
      as transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) and the extracellular matrix
      proteins fibronectin and collagen IV. Six-week-old diabetic (db/db) mice were
      divided into 2 groups. The experimental group (n = 12) was exposed to ETS at a
      concentration of 30 mg/m for 6 hr/d, 5 d/wk for 8 weeks. The control group (n =
      8) was exposed to room air. Urine was collected before euthanasia for albumin
      (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) and creatinine measurements (mass
      spectrometry). After euthanasia, the kidneys were harvested for morphometric
      analysis and Western blot analysis. Serum was saved for cotinine measurements by
      enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. ETS exposure resulted in serum levels of
      cotinine similar to those found in human smokers. ETS exposure for 8 weeks
      induced significant mesangial expansion (approximately 50% increase) that was
      accompanied by concomitant increases in TGF-beta and fibronectin expression
      (approximately 20%). However, ETS did not modify results in significant changes
      in urinary albumin excretion. These studies demonstrate that ETS exposure worsens
      the progression of diabetic nephropathy by increasing the amount of mesangial
      expansion and that these effects are likely mediated by increased expression of
      profibrotic cytokines such as TGF-beta.

PMID- 20924283
TI  - Significance of authorship position: an open-ended international assessment.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) does
      not recommend guidelines on authorship position, despite its important role in
      academic promotion. To identify perceptions of authorship position, the authors
      performed the first study of authorship position using only open-ended
      questioning. METHODS: Articles with at least 3 authors were selected from the top
      10 cited and 20 other medical journals. The first, last, and 1 author in-between
      were selected and asked to identify contributions of first and last authors
      listed in medical journal articles. The responses were analyzed for differences
      between perceptions of first versus last authorship. RESULTS: Respondents were
      more likely to report ICMJE criteria being fulfilled by first authors; however,
      only 1.1% identified all 3 ICMJE conditions of authorship for either author.
      ICMJE criteria were no more likely identified by authors of high-impact versus
      low-impact journals. Significant differences existed between the understandings
      of appropriate roles for first- versus last-listed authors. First-listed authors
      were viewed at least 7 times more likely to be involved in study conduct,
      manuscript writing, have a major study contribution and perform the majority of
      the work involved. Last-listed authors were at least 7 times more likely to be
      viewed as having a minor or no contribution to the study, provide funding, be a
      laboratory head/mentor, hold a senior position and supervise/oversee the study.
      CONCLUSIONS: ICMJE authorship criteria were poorly identified by respondents in
      this open-ended, international sampling of medical journal authors. Although
      ICMJE criteria are ideally met by all authors, this does not seem to be well
      understood or accepted.

PMID- 20924285
TI  - Diversity of hepatitis C virus genotypes among intravenous heroin users in
      Taiwan.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Limited information is available about genotypes of hepatitis C
      virus (HCV) in intravenous heroin users in Taiwan. The purpose of this study was
      to examine the concordance of the detection of antibody to HCV and HCV-RNA and to
      determine the distribution of HCV genotypes in male intravenous heroin users.
      METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study. The study population included 274
      intravenous heroin drug users newly sentenced in a male prison in central Taiwan
      from November 2004 to February 2005, whose antibodies to HCV were positive, and
      antibodies to human immunodeficiency virus were negative. The mean age was 33.9
      years (standard deviation, 7.8). The molecular diagnosis used to identify HCV-RNA
      was PCR. RESULTS: Among 274 subjects, 214 subjects were found to contain HCV-RNA.
      Positive predictive value of HCV infection using antibody to HCV as an indicator
      was 78.1%. Among 214 subjects, HCV genotype 2a was the most predominant (58.9%, n
      = 126), followed by 1a (17.3%, n = 37), 1b (14.5%, n = 31), 2b (8.9%, n = 19) and
      1a + 2b (0.4%, n = 1). Age-specific analysis also showed genotype 2a was the most
      prominent genotype among the 4 age groups, with the highest prevalence in groups
      aged 20 to 29 years and 30 to 39 years (53.3% and 67.6%, respectively).
      CONCLUSIONS: The concordance of antibody to HCV and HCV-RNA is remarkable in
      selected high-risk groups. HCV genotype 2a is the most prevalent in male
      intravenous heroin users in central Taiwan, especially in aged 20 to 29 years and
      aged 30 to 39 years.

PMID- 20924284
TI  - Selective cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitor suppresses renal thromboxane production but
      not proliferative lesions in the MRL/lpr murine model of lupus nephritis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Proliferative lupus nephritis (LN) is marked by increased renal
      thromboxane (TX) A2 production. Targeting the TXA2 receptor or TXA2 synthase
      effectively improves renal function in humans with LN and improves glomerular
      pathology in murine LN. This study was designed to address the following
      hypotheses: (1) TXA2 production in the MRL/MpJ-Tnfrsf6(lpr)/J (MRL/lpr) model of
      proliferative LN is cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 dependent and (2) COX2 inhibitor
      therapy improves glomerular filtration rate (GFR), proteinuria, markers of innate
      immune response and glomerular pathology. METHODS: Twenty female MRL/lpr and 20
      BALB/cJ mice were divided into 2 equal treatment groups: (1) SC-236, a moderately
      selective COX2 inhibitor or (2) vehicle. After treatment from the age of 10 to 20
      weeks, the effectiveness of inhibition of TXA2 was determined by measuring urine
      TXB2. Response endpoints measured at the age of 20 weeks were renal function
      (GFR), proteinuria, urine nitrate + nitrite (NO(x)) and glomerular
      histopathology. RESULTS: SC-236 therapy reduced surrogate markers of renal TXA2
      production during early, active glomerulonephritis. When this pharmacodynamic
      endpoint was reached, therapy improved GFR. Parallel reductions in markers of the
      innate immune response (urine NO(x)) during therapy were observed. However, the
      beneficial effect of SC-236 therapy on GFR was only transient, and renal
      histopathology was not improved in late disease. CONCLUSIONS: These data
      demonstrate that renal TXA2 production is COX2 dependent in murine LN and suggest
      that NO production is directly or indirectly COX2 dependent. However, COX2
      inhibitor therapy in this model failed to improve renal pathology, making COX2
      inhibition a less attractive approach for treating LN.

PMID- 20924286
TI  - A patient with diabetes and breast cancer in whom virilization was caused by a
      testosterone-producing mature cystic teratoma containing a Brenner tumor.
AB  - A 74-year-old woman with impaired glucose tolerance exhibited virilization. An
      examination of various hormone levels showed normal pituitary hormone and adrenal
      hormone levels. However, the patient's blood testosterone level was remarkably
      high and was suspected of having caused the virilization. An abdominal computed
      tomography revealed a multilocular cystoma in the left ovary with the features of
      a mature cystic teratoma. In addition, a chest computed tomography revealed the
      presence of a mass in the left breast that was subsequently diagnosed as breast
      cancer based on the results of a biopsy. After the simultaneous surgical
      resection of the ovarian and breast tumors, her blood testosterone level
      decreased. The mature cystic teratoma containing a Brenner tumor was considered
      to be responsible for the high testosterone level because of the presence of
      androgenic enzymes. This case is extremely rare, but the case was accurately
      diagnosed through a comprehensive analysis.

PMID- 20924287
TI  - Role of thymic stromal lymphopoietin in the pathogenesis of nasal polyposis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Polyposis is an end form of chronic mucosal inflammation in a
      number of disorders and has an important impact on patient's life quality. Thymic
      stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) is involved in many inflammatory processes such as
      asthma and allergic rhinitis (AR). The aim of this study is to elucidate the role
      of TSLP in the pathogenesis of polyposis. METHODS: Ninety-four patients with
      nasal polyposis (NP) and/or allergic rhinitis (AR) were treated with inferior
      turbinectomy and polyp resection. Levels of TSLP in the nasal epithelial layer
      were measured; expression of TSLP receptor and OX40 ligand (OX40L) was assessed
      in isolated nasal mucosal dendritic cells (DC); tumor necrosis factor (TNF),
      interleukin (IL)-4 and interferon (IFN)-gamma expressions were determined in
      isolated nasal mucosal CD4(+) T cells. RESULTS: The levels of TSLP in nasal
      epithelial layer were higher in the NP group than in the non-NP group. Higher
      expression of TSLP receptor and OX40L were detected in DCs of NP nasal mucosa.
      TNF-alpha(+) IL-4(+)CD4(+) T cells were detected in NP/AR nasal mucosa; TNF(+)
      IFN-gamma(+) CD4(+) T cells were identified in NP/non-AR nasal mucosa. TSLP
      primed DCs drove naive CD4(+) T cells to become TNF(+) IL-4(+) CD4(+) T cells,
      whereas TSLP/lipopolysaccharide-primed DCs induced naive CD4(+) T cells to become
      TNF(+) IFN-gamma(+) T cells. CONCLUSIONS: The data indicate that TSLP is involved
      in the pathogenesis of polyposis.

PMID- 20924288
TI  - Adaptation status and related factors at 2 time points after surgery in patients
      with gastrointestinal tract cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The diagnosis of cancer and subsequent surgery represent a life
      threatening and stressful experience with several factors relating to the
      patient's process of adaptation. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this longitudinal
      study was to examine adaptation status and related factors in patients who have
      been diagnosed with and undergone surgery for gastrointestinal tract cancer.
      METHODS: The survey was administered twice (2 weeks after discharge from the
      hospital and 6 months after surgery). Twenty-five patients responded to both
      questionnaires about quality of life (QOL), which was regarded as an index of
      adaptation status, and illness-related demands, the "why me?" question, sense of
      coherence (SOC), perceived social support, and disease data. RESULTS: On the
      second survey, scores about illness-related demands, the "why me?" question, SOC,
      and QOL, other than the QOL social relationships domain, improved, but scores
      about perceived social support decreased. A correlation between the "why me?"
      question and the SOC and the difference in the overall QOL by cancer site were
      found only on the second survey. Low demands of illness and high SOC predicted
      high QOL on both surveys. CONCLUSIONS: Except for social relationships,
      adaptation status 6 months after surgery improved compared with after discharge.
      The relationships between some variables took on a significant meaning at 6
      months after surgery. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Comparisons between 2 time
      points suggested that most cancer patients had dispositional resilience.
      Meanwhile, the findings related to social relationships and the relationships
      between some variables suggested the necessity for professional interventions
      targeting these factors.

PMID- 20924290
TI  - Abducens neuromyotonia as the presenting sign of an intracranial tumor.
AB  - In this case series and review of the literature, we describe 2 cases of abducens
      neuromyotonia (ANM) as the presenting sign of an intracranial tumor (meningioma).
      Review of the literature suggests that the pathophysiology of ocular
      neuromyotonia is incompletely understood. Most patients with ANM have a history
      of radiation therapy. The diagnosis of ANM is made on the basis of clinical
      findings and can be supported by electrophysiological studies. A complete
      neurologic examination is mandatory for patients with ANM. Treatment consists of
      eliminating the underlying cause; carbamazepine is effective in alleviating the
      symptoms of ANM. Neuroimaging should be performed if patients with ANM lack the
      typical history of radiation therapy, as ANM may be the presenting sign of an
      intracranial mass.

PMID- 20924289
TI  - CD4 intragenic SNPs associate with HIV-2 plasma viral load and CD4 count in a
      community-based study from Guinea-Bissau, West Africa.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The human genetics of HIV-2 infection and disease progression is
      understudied. Therefore, we studied the effect of variation in 2 genes that
      encode products critical to HIV pathogenesis and disease progression: CD4 and
      CD209. DESIGN: This cross-sectional study consisted of 143 HIV-2, 30 HIV-1 + HIV
      2 and 29 HIV-1-infected subjects and 194 uninfected controls recruited from rural
      Guinea-Bissau. METHODS: We genotyped 14 CD4 and 4 CD209 single nucleotide
      polymorphisms (SNPs) that were tested for association with HIV infection, HIV-2
      plasma viral load (high vs. low), and CD4 T-cell count (high vs. low). RESULTS:
      The most significant association was between a CD4 haplotype rs11575097
      rs10849523 and high viral load [odds ratio (OR): = 2.37, 95% confidence interval
      (CI): 1.35 to 4.19, P = 0.001, corrected for multiple testing], suggesting
      increased genetic susceptibility to HIV-2 disease progression for individuals
      carrying the high-risk haplotype. Significant associations were also observed at
      a CD4 SNP (rs2255301) with HIV-2 infection (OR: = 2.36, 95% CI: 1.19 to 4.65, P =
      0.01) and any HIV infection (OR: = 2.50, 95% CI: 1.34 to 4.69, P = 0.004).
      CONCLUSIONS: Our results support a role of CD4 polymorphisms in HIV-2 infection,
      in agreement with recent data showing that CD4 gene variants increase risk to HIV
      1 in Kenyan female sex workers. These findings indicate at least some commonality
      in HIV-1 and HIV-2 susceptibility.

PMID- 20924292
TI  - Exploring the role of 3-dimensional simulation in surgical training: feedback
      from a pilot study.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: Randomized control study assessing the efficacy of a pedicle screw
      insertion simulator. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the efficacy of an in-house
      developed 3-dimensional software simulation tool for teaching pedicle screw
      insertion, to gather feedback about the utility of the simulator, and to help
      identify the context and role such simulation has in surgical education. SUMMARY
      OF BACKGROUND DATA: Traditional instruction for pedicle screw insertion technique
      consists of didactic teaching and limited hands-on training on artificial or
      cadaveric models before guided supervision within the operating room. Three
      dimensional computer simulation can provide a valuable tool for practicing
      challenging surgical procedures; however, its potential lies in its effective
      integration into student learning. METHODS: Surgical residents were recruited
      from 2 sequential years of a spine surgery course. Patient and control groups
      both received standard training on pedicle screw insertion. The patient group
      received an additional 1-hour session of training on the simulator using a CT
      based 3-dimensional model of their assigned cadaver's spine. Qualitative feedback
      about the simulator was gathered from the trainees, fellows, and staff surgeons,
      and all pedicles screws physically inserted into the cadavers during the courses
      were evaluated through CT. RESULTS: A total of 185 thoracic and lumbar pedicle
      screws were inserted by 37 trainees. Eighty-two percent of the 28 trainees who
      responded to the questionnaire and all fellows and staff surgeons felt the
      simulator to be a beneficial educational tool. However, the 1-hour training
      session did not yield improved performance in screw placement. CONCLUSIONS: A 3
      dimensional computer-based simulation for pedicle screw insertion was integrated
      into a cadaveric spine surgery instructional course. Overall, the tool was
      positively regarded by the trainees, fellows, and staff surgeons. However, the
      limited training with the simulator did not translate into widespread comfort
      with its operation or into improvement in physical screw placement.

PMID- 20924291
TI  - Moyamoya disease: a review of the disease and anesthetic management.
AB  - Moyamoya disease is a rare chronic cerebrovascular disease seen both in children
      and adults. It has a progressive course, but may have a variable clinical
      presentation. The disease causes ischemic stroke, intracranial hemorrhage,
      headache, seizures, and transient ischemia attack in children and in adults.
      Although the pathogenesis of the disease remains unknown, research suggests a
      genetic predisposition. There are also undefined systemic processes involved in
      this vasculopathy. Better noninvasive diagnostic techniques for diagnosis of the
      Moyamoya disease have been developed, but medical treatment can still be
      challenging. However, various surgical revascularization procedures have shown to
      provide symptomatic benefit in a majority of these patients. In addition, the
      anesthetic management of these patients has evolved over the years with an
      increased understanding of the disease. These have specifically resulted from the
      identification of risk factors for perioperative complications and outcomes
      related to the use of anesthetic agents. Finally, research in the last 3 decades
      has led to the recognition of the importance of pain control, the increased use
      of regional anesthesia, and better monitoring techniques in providing high
      quality and safe patient care to patients with Moyamoya disease. This article
      will provide a comprehensive review of the disease and its anesthetic management.

PMID- 20924293
TI  - A new 3-dimensional computed tomography imaging method to diagnose extraforaminal
      stenosis at the lumbosacral junction.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: A prospective study using a newly developed imaging diagnosis
      method to examine the patients with L5 radiculopathy. OBJECTIVE: To confirm the
      efficacy of a new 3-dimensional computed tomography (3D CT) imaging method to
      diagnose extraforaminal stenosis at the lumbosacral junction. SUMMARY OF
      BACKGROUND DATA: The lack of recognition of extraforaminal stenosis at the
      lumbosacral junction is a cause of failed back surgery syndrome. A clear method
      to diagnose this condition is essential. METHODS: The participants were 75
      consecutive patients (mean age 69.5 y) with or without cauda equina symptoms who
      were treated by microendoscopic spinal surgery for L5 radiculopathy. The lesion
      responsible for the symptoms was identified by a combination of neurologic
      findings, selective radiculography, (3D MRI), and intraoperative
      neurophysiological findings. Multislice CT scanning was carried out
      preoperatively from the L1 vertebral body to the sacrum in all patients. The CT
      scan images were transferred to a remote computer workstation, and the
      reconstructed images were examined after surgery by an investigator blinded to
      the clinical diagnoses. In the reconstructed plane, we measured the minimum cross
      sectional area of the de novo bony tunnel formed by the L5 transverse process,
      sacral ala, and L5 vertebral body, that is, lumbosacral bony tunnel (LSBT) and
      determined a cutoff value to diagnose extraforaminal stenosis. The shape of the
      LSBT was also evaluated in relation to the diagnosis. RESULTS: In 3D CT analysis,
      the LSBT was found on the ipsilateral side in 51 of the 75 patients. The bony
      tunnel was outside the foramen in all patients diagnosed clinically with
      extraforaminal stenosis, but in only 60% of the patients without extraforaminal
      stenosis. The minimum cross-sectional area of the bony tunnel was significantly
      smaller in patients with an extraforaminal stenosis than in those without
      extraforaminal stenosis. The cutoff value was set at 0.8 cm2. The cross-sectional
      area was <0.8 cm2 in all patients with extraforaminal stenosis. The specificity
      of this diagnostic procedure was 89.6%, and the sensitivity was 100%. All true
      positive cases had the spur-type shape of the bony tunnel, and all false-positive
      cases had the round-type shape. CONCLUSIONS: All patients with extraforaminal
      stenosis had an LSBT. The minimum cross-sectional area of the bony tunnel was
      significantly smaller in patients with an extraforaminal lesion than in those
      without an extraforaminal lesion. 3D CT is a useful tool for diagnosing
      extraforaminal stenosis at the lumbosacral junction.

PMID- 20924294
TI  - A prospective randomized trial comparing epidural morphine through
      intraoperatively placed epidural catheter and intravenous morphine in major
      lumbar spinal surgery.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: A randomized, controlled trial. OBJECTIVE: To compare the efficacy
      of pain control and complications between patients utilizing continuous infusion
      epidural morphine versus intravenous morphine in posterior spinal surgery.
      SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Recently, there has been increased interest in the
      use of epidural infusion analgesia for spinal surgery. By simply placing the tip
      of catheter at the level of operation before the wound closure, a continuous
      infusion of local anesthetics is directly delivered into the epidural space.
      Techniques used in the literature vary as per analgesic agents, number of
      catheters, and the infusion method. Few are the randomized control studies.
      METHODS: A total of 120 patients, who had posterior spinal operations, were
      randomly assigned to receive either continuous epidural infusion morphine,
      continuous epidural infusion morphine with Bupivacaine, or intravenous morphine
      as a postoperative analgesia. Visual analogue Pain scale (Pain VAS) was evaluated
      every 4 hours the first day, and at 36 and 48 hours postoperatively. Additional
      doses of intravenous Nalbuphine hydrochloride, complications, and the
      satisfaction score were recorded. RESULTS: Baseline characteristics of the 3
      groups were similar. The mean Pain VAS in the epidural morphine group (groups 1
      and 2) were less than that of group 3 at all times up to 48 hours postoperatively
      (P<0.05). Pain VAS for group 1 was more than that of group 2 at the 16- and 24
      hour marks (P<0.05). Pruritus was a common complication in the epidural morphine
      group. There was no respiratory depression in this study. Patients in groups 1
      and 2 had a high proportion of excellent and very good satisfaction (70% to 80%).
      CONCLUSION: Epidural infusion analgesia is safe and effective for posterior
      spinal surgery.

PMID- 20924295
TI  - Surgical strategy for multilevel severe ossification of posterior longitudinal
      ligament in the cervical spine.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: A retrospective clinical study was conducted. OBJECTIVE: To compare
      surgical outcome of anterior approach (corpectomy and fusion) with that of
      posterior approach (laminoplasty or laminectomy and instrumented fusion) for the
      treatment of multilevel severe ossification of the posterior longitudinal
      ligament (OPLL) in the cervical spine, and simultaneously to investigate the
      potential benefits of instrumented fusion after laminectomy by comparing it with
      laminoplasty. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Surgical strategy for multilevel severe
      OPLL in the cervical spine still remains controversial. Although the advantages
      of anterior decompression and fusion have been reported earlier, it becomes more
      technically demanding and risky with the increasing narrowing rate and extent of
      ossification. Laminoplasty has been used to relieve cord decompression
      posteriorly, but results are not always good. It also has potential risks of
      ossification progression and kyphotic deformity after operation. METHODS: A total
      of 75 cervical patients with multilevel severe OPLL were included in this study.
      Twenty-two patients underwent anterior corpectomy and fusion. Among the patients
      undergoing posterior approach, laminectomy and instrumented fusion was performed
      on 28 patients and laminoplasty on 25 patients. The radiologic findings including
      plain radiographs, computed tomography scan, and magnetic resonance images were
      reviewed, and surgical outcome was assessed using the Japanese Orthopedic
      Association scoring system. The radiologic and clinical data were compared
      between 3 groups of different surgical processes. RESULTS: Radiologic studies
      showed preoperative cervical lordosis, occupying rate and extent of OPLL were
      comparable between 3 groups in this study, but the postoperative cervical
      lordosis after anterior corpectomy or laminectomy and instrumented fusion was
      significantly larger than that of after laminoplasty. Postoperative Japanese
      Orthopedic Association score and improvement rate of neurologic function after
      anterior corpectomy were significantly higher than those after laminoplasty, and
      the results after laminectomy and instrumented fusion were in the middle of
      results of above 2 processes. The main complication after anterior decompression
      was cerebrospinal fluid leakage, whereas posterior approach was complicated with
      a high incidence of C5 palsy and axial pain. CONCLUSIONS: Anterior corpectomy and
      fusion was significantly more effective for multilevel severe OPLL when compared
      with posterior laminoplasty in the cervical spine. If having technical
      difficulties and posterior decompression was alternatively performed,
      instrumented fusion was recommended to help to restore cervical lordosis and
      produce better results according to this study.

PMID- 20924296
TI  - Risk factor analysis for motor deficit and delayed recovery associated with L4/5
      lumbar disc herniation.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective study of multivariable analysis for the risk factors
      of motor deficit associated with lumbar disc herniation (LDH). OBJECTIVES: To
      identify the risk factors for motor deficit and delayed recovery after surgery in
      patients with LDH. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: LDH can cause motor deficit as
      well as pain and sensory disturbance. Even though motor deficit can lead to
      disabilities and affect treatment plans, few studies have described motor deficit
      and its risk factors in LDH patients. METHODS: Seventy-six consecutive patients
      who underwent microsurgical or microendoscopic discectomy for LDH at the L4/5
      level were retrospectively reviewed. Motor deficit was defined as tibialis
      anterior muscle strength of lower than grade 4 by the manual muscle test, and
      delayed recovery was defined as cases requiring longer than 3 months to achieve
      complete recovery. The possible risk factors including sex, age, symptom
      duration, preoperative radiographic parameters, and type of herniation were
      evaluated by multivariate logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: Forty-three
      patients (56.6%) suffered from motor deficit before surgery. Forty cases (93%)
      completely recovered within a mean duration of 4 months. Multivariate logistic
      regression analysis revealed that noncontained-type (P=0.012, odds ratio=13.7)
      and migrated herniated nucleus pulposus (P=0.033, odds ratio=9.8) were important
      risk factors for motor deficit. Furthermore, severe motor deficit (preoperative
      manual muscle test<=3; P=0.019, odds ratio=19.6) and noncontained type (P=0.049,
      odds ratio=5.17) were identified as important risk factors for delayed recovery.
      CONCLUSIONS: Noncontained-type or migrated herniated nucleus pulposus seem to be
      the most important risk factors for motor deficit in LDH, whereas severe motor
      deficit and noncontained type seem to be associated with delayed recovery. The
      treatment options for patients with these factors at first visit should be
      carefully chosen during the follow-up period.

PMID- 20924297
TI  - Isolated pedicle screw instrumented correction for the treatment of thoracic
      congenital scoliosis.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective study. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the radiologic results
      of fusion with segmental pedicle screw fixation in neglected thoracic congenital
      curves with a mean follow-up of 51.3 months (range: 24 to 108 mo). SUMMARY OF
      BACKGROUND DATA: Segmental pedicle screw fixation has been shown to be effective
      both in correcting and controlling the idiopathic spinal deformities. However,
      the choice of treatment modality is more controversial in neglected thoracic
      congenital curves of the aged. METHODS: Fourteen patients with thoracic
      congenital curves treated by segmental pedicle screw fixation and fusion were
      analyzed. The average age of the patients was 14.9 years (range: 10 to 25 y) at
      surgery. Deformity correction was achieved by compression of the convex deformity
      side with resection of apical 3 ribs. Radiologic analyses of coronal and sagittal
      plane included Cobb angles of the major compensatory curves, apical vertebrae
      translation, and sagittal Cobb angles, respectively. RESULTS: In the coronal
      plane, the preoperative mean major curve Cobb angle of 52.3 degree (range: 32.6
      to 66.7 degrees) was corrected to 25.3 degree (range: 7.2 to 44.8 degree) and the
      mean compensatory curve Cobb angle of 23.6 degree (range: 10.3 to 34.8 degrees)
      was corrected to 15.9 degree (range: 5.7 to 30.6 degrees). The mean translation
      of apical vertebrae was 28.8 mm (range: 4.7 to 53.6 mm) before surgery and 15.5
      mm (range: 2.4 to 41.3 mm) after surgery. In the sagittal plane, the mean
      preoperative and postoperative sagittal T5 to T12 angles were 34.8 degree (range:
      16.5 to 44.7 degrees) and 27.3 degree (range: 10.4 to 43.5 degrees),
      respectively. The mean preoperative and postoperative sagittal T12 to S1 angles
      were 47.2 degree (range: 23.4 to 65.1 degrees) and 41.3 degree (range: 23.8 to
      62.7 degrees), respectively. CONCLUSION: In the neglected thoracic congenital
      deformities of the aged, with posterior pedicle instrumented fusion, an
      acceptable correction can be achieved with relatively low morbidity.

PMID- 20924298
TI  - Bone invasion by adenoid cystic carcinoma of the lacrimal gland: preoperative
      imaging assessment and surgical considerations.
AB  - PURPOSE: To identify the incidence of radiologically and histologically
      documented bony invasion of the lacrimal gland fossa by adenoid cystic carcinoma.
      PATIENTS AND METHODS: The authors reviewed the records of all 18 patients with
      lacrimal gland adenoid cystic carcinoma surgically treated at their institution
      from 1997 to 2009 for imaging findings (blinded review) and histologic findings
      on evaluation of the lacrimal gland fossa. Preoperative CT and/or MRI findings
      were available for 17 patients. RESULTS: The 8 men and 10 women ranged in age
      from 9 to 69 years. American Joint Committee on Cancer tumor stages after
      preoperative imaging were as follows: T1N0M0, 2 patients; T2N0M0, 5 patients;
      T3aN0M0, 2 patients; T3bN0M0, 5 patients; T3bN0M1, 2 patients; T4bN0M0, one
      patient; and TxN0M0, one patient. Preoperative imaging suggested bony involvement
      of the lacrimal gland fossa in 13 patients (76.5%); this was histologically
      confirmed in 11 of the 13. Preoperative imaging suggested no bone involvement in
      4 patients, 3 of whom had bone involvement by histology. Overall, 14 of 17
      histologically evaluable cases (82.3%) had invasion of the lacrimal gland fossa.
      Histologic findings of bone/periosteal involvement led to upstaging of 3 tumors.
      Metastases developed in 8 of 18 patients and trended with basaloid histology (p =
      0.066). CONCLUSIONS: Adenoid cystic carcinoma of the lacrimal gland is associated
      with bone invasion in essentially all but the smallest of tumors (T1). This high
      rate of bone involvement may warrant addressing the bony walls during surgery for
      adenoid cystic carcinoma of the lacrimal gland.

PMID- 20924299
TI  - Barbed suture suspension technique for prevention of lower eyelid ectropion after
      Mohs micrographic surgery.
AB  - Mohs micrographic surgery of the lower eyelid poses a risk of ectropion. Even
      though the lower eyelid is a very frequent location for basal cell carcinoma,
      prevention techniques for ectropion after Mohs micrographic surgery have rarely
      been introduced. After Mohs micrographic surgery of the lower eyelid, the authors
      applied a barbed suture suspension technique for the prevention of lower eyelid
      ectropion. Following primary wound closure, barbed sutures were prepared by
      cutting one side of a 4-0 Prolene suture and applied around the lower eyelid.
      Sutures were maintained for 7 days and then removed. Evaluation 10 weeks after
      surgery found that ectropion had been minimized or prevented entirely.

PMID- 20924300
TI  - Mucoepidermoid carcinoma of the lacrimal sac after dacryocystectomy for squamous
      papilloma.
AB  - A mass that recurred after dacryocystectomy for benign squamous papilloma of the
      lacrimal sac was diagnosed as a high-grade mucoepidermoid carcinoma in a 53-year
      old man on histopathology. Local excision to the orbital periosteum was performed
      and gave a margin free of invasion. Neither local recurrence nor systemic
      metastasis was found 3 years after local excision. Mucoepidermoid carcinoma of
      the lacrimal sac is extremely rare and spreads locally in an aggressive manner; a
      cure typically requires exenteration, radical resection, or adjuvant
      radiotherapy. In this rare case, despite the high malignancy, the patient
      underwent successful local excision, achieved an aesthetically satisfying result,
      and has had a long-term cancer-free period.

PMID- 20924301
TI  - Aneurysmal bone cyst secondary to ossifying fibroma in the orbit.
AB  - A 28-year-old man presented with proptosis and medial displacement of the right
      eye, intermittent pain, and diplopia of 1 month's duration. Radiologic
      examination demonstrated a mass in the right lateral orbit resembling an
      aneurysmal bone cyst (ABC). Histopathologic evaluation of the surgically excised
      lesion via orbitotomy confirmed the radiologic diagnosis. Two months later, the
      patient presented again with a mass at the same location as the previous one,
      with a major component that was solid. The recurrent lesion was excised via
      frontal craniotomy. Histopathologic examination of the surgical specimen led to a
      diagnosis of ABC secondary to trabecular ossifying fibroma. During the follow up
      of 13 months, the lesion did not recur. To the best of the authors' knowledge,
      this is the first case of ABC secondary to ossifying fibroma in the orbit. ABC
      can dominate the radiologic appearance of the lesion and veil the primary
      neoplasm.

PMID- 20924302
TI  - Osseous metaplasia with formation of hematopoietic bone marrow in a blind,
      painful eye.
AB  - A 31-year-old woman underwent an evisceration of her blind, painful right eye
      with placement of an aluminum oxide orbital implant. Histopathologic assessment
      revealed functional hematopoietic bone marrow, confirmed by immunohistochemistry,
      within osseous metaplasia of the retinal pigment epithelium. This finding is
      exceedingly rare, with few cases reported in the English literature. This report
      raises numerous questions, including the association between pain and
      hematopoietic bone marrow formation, the potential benefits of hematopoietic bone
      marrow in the eye, and the molecular biologic basis for this rare phenomenon.

PMID- 20924303
TI  - Muller's muscle tendon: microscopic anatomy in Asians.
AB  - PURPOSE: To describe the anatomic characteristics of Muller's muscle tendon.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twelve postmortem, buffered formalin (10%)-fixed eyelids
      (6 right, 6 left) of 10 Asians (aged 62 to 92 years at death; mean age: 77.1
      years) were used. Full-thickness sagittal sections of the upper eyelid specimens
      were dehydrated and embedded in paraffin and cut in 7-MUm-thickness sagittal
      sections. Sliced sections were stained with elastica van Gieson. The
      concentration of the elastic fibers in Muller's muscle tendon was analyzed and
      compared with the concentration in the levator aponeurosis. Fat deposition and
      the dimensions of Muller's muscle tendon were also analyzed. RESULTS: Both
      Muller's muscle tendon and the levator aponeurosis contained elastic fibers,
      which were more abundant in Muller's muscle tendon. Fat deposition in Muller's
      muscle tendon was demonstrated only in one specimen from an 84-year-old male. The
      average length of Muller's muscle tendon was 2.56 mm (range: 1.40-5.64 mm), and
      the average thickness of the tendon was 0.27 mm (range: 0.08-0.88 mm). There was
      no correlation between cadaver age and muscle length or thickness. CONCLUSIONS:
      Muller's muscle tendon is rich in elastic fibers with minimal age-related fat
      deposition.

PMID- 20924304
TI  - Patient experience with blepharoplasty.
AB  - PURPOSE: To prospectively study patients' postoperative experience with
      blepharoplasty and to determine how closely patients' expectations compare with
      their actual experience. METHODS: A prospective observational study of 51
      consecutive patients undergoing bilateral upper eyelid blepharoplasty by a single
      surgeon (J.A.L.) between October 2008 and May 2009 was performed. Prior to
      surgery, patients were asked to rate, on a scale of 1 to 10, their expectations
      of pain, swelling, bruising, blurred vision, impairment of ability to function in
      daily activities, and itching. Patients were then asked to rate these 6 elements
      at 7 time points: 30 minutes, 4 hours, 24 hours, 2 days, 3 days, 1 week, and 2
      months. The number of pain pills utilized was also assessed. An analysis of the
      data was performed to determine our patients' experience with blepharoplasty
      surgery. The paired t test was used to determine the statistical significance of
      patients' expectations compared with their actual reported experience. RESULTS:
      In this cohort of patients, the authors found the following: blurred vision and
      impairment in ability to function peaked in the immediate postoperative period,
      pain peaked at 4 hours, swelling and bruising peaked at 24 hours, and itching
      peaked at 3 days. The mean number of narcotic pain pills used by patients in the
      postoperative period was 2.45. Patients underestimated the degree of swelling,
      blurred vision, and impairment in ability to function experienced following
      surgery. CONCLUSIONS: Postoperative patient experience with blepharoplasty is
      based largely on anecdotal evidence; the data from this study will facilitate
      more objectively based preoperative counseling.

PMID- 20924305
TI  - Reply re: "Sinus opacification associated with exacerbation of thyroid eye
      disease".

PMID- 20924306
TI  - Atypical presentation of a periocular neurofibroma.
AB  - Neurofibromas of the eyelid are a well-recognized manifestation of
      neurofibromatosis. Several different presentations have been described. The
      authors present a case of a 52-year-old man with an unusual eyelid neurofibroma
      that presented as sudden vision loss from obstruction secondary to prolapse of
      the palpebral conjunctiva.

PMID- 20924308
TI  - Simultaneous upper and lower eyelid reconstruction using a first web space free
      flap.
AB  - The authors present a case of near-total upper and lower eyelid defects treated
      with a first web space free flap after a chemical burn injury. A first web space
      free flap was raised from the ipsilateral foot and transferred to the defect with
      its base turned toward the medial canthal area. The first dorsal metatarsal
      artery and veins were anastomosed to the superficial temporal artery and veins,
      respectively. The inner layer of the flap was sutured to the advanced upper and
      lower palpebral conjunctival flap from conjunctival cul-de-sacs, and the outer
      layer of the flap was sutured to the defected skin. Flap-debulking procedures
      were carried out 3 times after the microsurgical procedure. Postoperative
      aesthetic results were good, except for minor problems that included focal
      symblepharon and sebum formation. The described method could be used as an
      alternative for total eyelid reconstruction, especially in patients without
      available local facial tissue because of burns or trauma.

PMID- 20924309
TI  - Clinicopathological features and prognosis of mucinous cystic neoplasm with
      ovarian-type stroma: a multi-institutional study of the Japan pancreas society.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to elucidate the clinicopathological
      features and prognosis of mucinous cystic neoplasms (MCNs). MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: We performed a multi-institutional, retrospective study on a collected
      series of patients with MCN pathologically defined by ovarian-type stroma.
      Clinicopathological features and prognosis were investigated. RESULT: Mucinous
      cystic neoplasm was confirmed in 156 cases, including 129 adenomas (82.7%) and 21
      noninvasive (13.4%) and 6 invasive carcinomas (3.9%). Patients with MCN were
      exclusively women (98.1%) with the mean age of 48.1 years. All but 1 MCN were in
      the pancreatic body/tail region with a mean size of 65.3 mm. Communication
      between the cyst and the pancreatic duct was found in 18.1%. The 3-, 5-, and 10
      year survival rates were 97.6%, 96.6%, and 96.6%, respectively. A significant
      difference in the survival rates was observed between adenomas and carcinomas and
      between minimally invasive carcinomas and invasive carcinomas. Cyst diameter and
      presence of mural nodule were predictive of malignant MCN. CONCLUSIONS: Mucinous
      cystic neoplasm is a rare but distinctive pancreatic cystic neoplasm with a
      favorable overall prognosis. All MCNs should be resected to prevent malignant
      changes but can be observed for an appropriate time when the lesion is small
      without the presence of mural nodules.

PMID- 20924310
TI  - Standardized peptidome profiling of human serum for the detection of pancreatic
      cancer.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To establish new biomarkers for accurate diagnosis of pancreatic
      cancer (PC) using a standardized serum peptidome profiling and compare the
      results with those from the tumor marker, CA 19-9. METHODS: Serum samples from
      102 patients (55 with chronic pancreatitis and 47 with PC) and 56 healthy
      controls were collected and analyzed following a protocol that was rigorously
      designed to prevent preanalytical variation. Serum peptides were extracted using
      immobilized copper ion chromatography on a robotic platform. Mass spectra were
      acquired by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time-of-flight mass
      spectrometry on an Autoflex II spectrometer (Bruker Daltonics, Bremen, Germany).
      Statistical analysis was performed using the Clinprotools 2.2 software (Bruker
      Daltonics) and the SPSS 15.0 software (SPSS Inc, Chicago, Ill). RESULTS:
      Standardized peptidome profiling showed a median coefficient of variation of
      11.6% calculated using all the extracted peptides and negligible influence of sex
      and age on peptidome profiles. The diagnostic sensitivity was 89.9%, and the
      diagnostic specificity was 92.7%, using 2 serum features and CA 19-9 serum
      concentration. Healthy controls were differentiated from patients with PC and
      chronic pancreatitis, with the use of 3 features of the peptidome (diagnostic
      sensitivity, 98.2%; diagnostic specificity, 97.1%). CONCLUSIONS: Standardized
      serum peptidome profiling could be a useful tool to improve biochemical diagnosis
      of PC in combination with the classic tumor marker, CA 19-9.

PMID- 20924311
TI  - Lessons learned from a measles outbreak in Antwerp, Belgium 2007-2008.
AB  - A 2007 to 2008 measles outbreak in Antwerp, Belgium, identified the orthodox
      Jewish communities as a new risk group. This study analyzes vaccination data of
      949 school children of 4 belief systems to assess the completeness and timeliness
      of their measles-mumps-rubella vaccination. Orthodox Jewish children show a 4
      fold lower chance of complete vaccination, a delayed start, and increased
      temporal spacing of childhood vaccinations. Not only belief issues but
      difficulties to access the regular vaccination program also seem to be the main
      reason.

PMID- 20924312
TI  - Nijmegen breakage syndrome complicated with primary cutaneous tuberculosis.
AB  - Nijmegen breakage syndrome (NBS) is a rare autosomal recessive chromosomal
      instability syndrome characterized by severe immunodeficiency, growth
      retardation, microcephaly, a distinct facial appearance, and a high
      predisposition to lymphoid malignancy. We report a 7-year-old white girl with NBS
      associated with cutaneous tuberculosis. The patient presented with multiple red
      brown, centrally scaring plaques on the leg and had neither pulmonary nor
      systemic manifestation of tuberculosis. Polymerase chain reaction testing using
      Mycobacterium genus- and Mycobacterium tuberculosis species-specific primers
      confirmed the clinical diagnosis of cutaneous tuberculosis. This is the first
      report describing the simultaneous presentation of NBS and cutaneous
      tuberculosis.

PMID- 20924313
TI  - Effects of synchronization during nasal ventilation in clinically stable preterm
      infants.
AB  - Nasal ventilation is increasingly used to reduce invasive ventilation in preterm
      infants. The effects of nasal ventilation and the advantages of synchronized
      nasal ventilation have not been fully evaluated. The objective was to compare the
      short-term effects of nasal intermittent mandatory ventilation (NIMV) and
      synchronized NIMV (S-NIMV) with nasal continuous positive airway pressure (NCPAP)
      on ventilation, gas exchange, and infant-ventilator interaction. Sixteen
      clinically stable preterm infants requiring NCPAP (GA, 27.6 +/- 2.3 wk;
      birthweight (BW), 993 +/- 248 g; and age, 15 +/- 14 d) were exposed to NCPAP,
      NIMV at 20/min, NIMV at 40/min, S-NIMV at 20/min, and S-NIMV at 40/min for 1 h
      each (Infant-Star ventilator), in random order. Tidal volume, minute ventilation,
      and gas exchange did not differ significantly between NCPAP, NIMV, and S-NIMV.
      Inspiratory effort decreased during S-NIMV compared with NCPAP and NIMV, whereas
      inspiratory effort during NIMV did not differ from NCPAP. Active expiratory
      effort and expiratory duration increased during NIMV. Chest wall distortion,
      apnea and hypoxemia spells, abdominal girth, and comfort did not differ. In
      conclusion, there were no short-term benefits on ventilation and gas exchange of
      nasal ventilation compared with NCPAP in clinically stable preterm infants.
      However, synchronized nasal ventilation reduced breathing effort and resulted in
      better infant-ventilator interaction than nonsynchronized nasal ventilation.

PMID- 20924314
TI  - Polar Effects on Ion Transport and Cell Proliferation Induced by GC-C Ligands in
      Intestinal Epithelial Cells.
AB  - Guanylin receptor guanylate cyclase (GC-C) peaks in neonatal intestine and is
      involved in either enterocyte proliferation or chloride secretion. The latter is
      more potent when GC-C activator guanylin, or its analog Escherichia coli heat
      stable enterotoxin (ST), is added to the mucosal rather than serosal side of
      intestinal monolayers. By using Ussing chambers, we investigated transepithelial
      ion transport and enterocyte proliferation and their mechanisms in response to
      the addition of guanylin or ST to the mucosal or serosal side of Caco-2
      monolayers and in ileal specimens from neonates. GC-C activation showed a polar
      pattern of the effects. GC-C mucosal activation resulted in a potent cGMP
      chloride secretion activation and in a marginal enterocyte proliferation.
      Conversely, serosal GC-C activation induced a potent enterocyte proliferation,
      through MAP kinase ERK 1/2. Finally, the inhibition of ERK1/2 enhanced the Isc
      increase in response to serosal but not to mucosal ST stimulation, indicating
      that ERK1/2 also acts as a brake of chloride secretion. These data suggest that
      the guanylin/GC-C system plays a key role in early postnatal intestinal
      adaptation exploiting the polar structure of enterocyte.

PMID- 20924316
TI  - The cerebellar development in chinese children-a study by voxel-based volume
      measurement of reconstructed 3D MRI scan.
AB  - Cerebellar disorder was frequently reported to have relation with structural
      brain volume alteration and/or morphology change. In dealing with such clinical
      situations, we need a convenient and noninvasive imaging tool to provide
      clinicians with a means of tracing developmental changes in the cerebellum.
      Herein, we present a new daily practice method for cerebellum imaging that uses a
      work station and a software program to process reconstructed 3D neuroimages after
      MRI scanning. In a 3-y period, 3D neuroimages reconstructed from MRI scans of 50
      children aged 0.2-12.7 y were taken. The resulting images were then statistically
      analyzed against a growth curve. We observed a remarkable increase in the size of
      the cerebellum in the first 2 y of life. Furthermore, the unmyelinated cerebellum
      grew mainly between birth and 2 y of age in the postnatal stage. In contrast, the
      postnatal development of the brain mainly depended on the growth of myelinated
      cerebellum from birth through adolescence. This study presents basic data from a
      study of ethnic Chinese children's cerebellums using reconstructed 3D brain
      images. Based on the technique we introduce here, clinicians can evaluate the
      growth of the brain.

PMID- 20924315
TI  - Potential neuronal repair in cerebral white matter injury in the human neonate.
AB  - Periventricular leukomalacia (PVL) in the premature infant represents the major
      substrate underlying cognitive deficits and cerebral palsy and is characterized
      as focal periventricular necrosis and diffuse gliosis in the immature cerebral
      white matter. We have recently shown a significant decrease in the density of
      neurons in PVL relative to controls throughout the white matter, including the
      subventricular, periventricular, and subcortical regions. These neurons are
      likely to be remnants of the subplate and/or GABAergic neurons in late migration
      to the cerebral cortex, both of which are important for proper cortical circuitry
      in development and throughout adulthood. Here, we tested the hypothesis that
      intrinsic repair occurs in PVL to attempt to compensate for the deficits in white
      matter neurons. By using doublecortin (DCX) immunopositivity as a marker of
      postmitotic migrating neurons, we found significantly increased densities (p <
      0.05) of DCX-immunopositive cells in PVL cases (n = 9) compared with controls (n
      = 7) in the subventricular zone (their presumed site of origin), necrotic foci,
      and subcortical white matter in the perinatal time-window, i.e. 35-42
      postconceptional weeks. These data provide the first evidence suggestive of an
      attempt at neuronal repair or regeneration in human neonatal white matter injury.

PMID- 20924317
TI  - Preterm birth and necrotizing enterocolitis alter gut colonization in pigs.
AB  - Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) in preterm neonates is dependent on bacterial
      colonization, but it remains unclear whether a particular microbiota or specific
      pathogens are involved. We hypothesized that gut colonization differs between
      preterm and term neonates and that overgrowth of Clostridium perfringens
      predisposes to NEC. By using terminal-RFLP and FISH, we characterized the gut
      microbiota of preterm, caesarean-delivered, formula-fed pigs (n = 44) with or
      without NEC and of formula- or colostrum-fed term, and vaginally born pigs (n =
      13). A different microbiota with high C. perfringens abundance was observed in
      preterm pigs with NEC compared with healthy individuals. However, immunization
      against C. perfringens toxins did not prevent NEC, and C. perfringens inoculation
      (3.6 * 10 cfu/d) failed to induce NEC (n = 16), whereas prophylactic broad
      spectrum antibiotics treatment prevented NEC (n = 24). Colonization in both
      groups of term pigs differed from preterm pigs and was dominated by Lactobacilli
      spp. In conclusion, gestational age (GA) and NEC influence neonatal gut
      colonization, whereas diet has minor effects. C. perfringens is more abundant in
      pigs with NEC but rather as a consequence than a cause of disease. The general
      bacterial load and underdeveloped gut immune responses in preterm neonates seem
      more important for NEC development than specific pathogens.

PMID- 20924318
TI  - Biomarkers of neutrophil-mediated glutathione and protein oxidation in tracheal
      aspirates from preterm infants: association with bacterial infection.
AB  - Bronchopulmonary dysplasia is associated with neutrophil infiltration into the
      lungs and oxidative injury. However, the pathological importance of neutrophil
      oxidants is still not clear. Nosocomial pneumonia is also implicated, but the
      evidence is limited, in part because of the difficulty of distinguishing genuine
      infection from bacterial colonization. Good biomarkers of neutrophil oxidant
      activity and lung infection are needed. We tested whether glutathione
      sulfonamide, a product of glutathione oxidation by myeloperoxidase-derived
      hypochlorous acid (HOCl) and a potential new neutrophil oxidant biomarker, is
      detectable in endotracheal aspirates from ventilated preterm infants. As
      infectious organisms stimulate neutrophils to generate HOCl, we determined
      whether levels of HOCl-specific biomarkers were increased in samples that were
      bacterial culture positive. Glutathione sulfonamide was detected in 66 of 87
      endotracheal aspirate samples. Levels correlated with myeloperoxidase activity
      and another HOCl-specific marker, chlorotyrosine. Median levels of glutathione
      sulfonamide (4-fold) and other biomarkers (2-fold) were significantly higher in
      culture positive aspirates. Staphylococcus epidermidis, a frequent colonizer, was
      associated with glutathione sulfonamide levels no different from those in
      negative samples. Glutathione sulfonamide showed good sensitivity and specificity
      for detecting bacterial growth and has promise for detecting lung infection.

PMID- 20924319
TI  - Trauma mechanisms, patterns of injury, and outcomes in a retrospective study of
      71 burns from civil gas explosions.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although explosion injuries caused by terror attacks or in war are
      evaluated in many studies, limited information about civil explosion injuries can
      be found in the literature. METHODS: In a retrospective study of 71 civil gas
      explosion injuries treated in a single burn center during a 16-year period, we
      evaluated trauma mechanisms, patterns of injury, and clinical outcome. RESULTS:
      More than 50% of all gas explosions injuries occurred in private households. The
      mortality correlated significantly with higher burned total body surface area
      (TBSA), higher abbreviated burn severity index (ABSI) score, accompanying
      inhalation injuries, and lung contusions. Although mean ABSI score and burned
      TBSA were similar in men and women (6 vs. 7 and 22% vs. 21%), the female
      mortality from gas explosions was noticeably higher, albeit not statistically
      significant due to small patient numbers (32% vs. 17%). Although mean burned
      TBSA, ABSI scores, and intensive care unit lengths of stay in patients with burns
      from gas explosions were comparable and not significantly different compared with
      all burn patients treated in our burn center (TBSA: 22% vs. 17%; ABSI: 6 vs. 6;
      and intensive care unit lengths of stay: 12 vs. 11 days), the mortality from gas
      explosions was significantly higher (21% vs. 12%, p = 0.04). CONCLUSIONS: The
      mortality from gas explosion-related burns correlated significantly with burned
      TBSA, ABSI score, accompanying inhalation injuries, and lung contusions. Despite
      comparable ABSI scores, the mortality from gas explosion-related burns was
      significantly higher than the mortality for all burn victims.

PMID- 20924321
TI  - The mystery of aortic dissection: a 250-year evolution.

PMID- 20924322
TI  - Recent advances in the management of thoracic dissection.

PMID- 20924320
TI  - The roles of phytochemicals in bronchial asthma.
AB  - Despite gaps in our knowledge of how phytochemicals interfere with cellular
      functions, several natural plant products are utilized to prevent or treat a wide
      range of diseases. Identification of an agent with therapeutic potential requires
      multiple steps involving in vitro studies, efficacy and toxicity studies in
      animal models, and then human clinical trials. This review provides a brief
      introduction on natural products that may help to treat and/or prevent bronchial
      asthma and describes our current understanding of their molecular mechanisms
      based on various in vitro, in vivo, and clinical studies. We focus on the anti
      inflammatory and anti-vascular actions of the plant products and other roles
      beyond the anti-oxidative effects.

PMID- 20924323
TI  - Outcome of patients with open and endovascular repair in acute complicated type B
      aortic dissection: a systematic review and meta-analysis of case series and
      comparative studies.
AB  - AIM: Acute complicated type B aortic dissection is a life-threatening condition.
      We summarized all published studies for TEVAR among patients with acute
      complicated typ B aortic dissection (TBAD) with respect to clinical success,
      complications, and outcomes. Furthermore, we determined whether TEVAR reduces
      death and morbidity compared with open repair for TBAD. METHODS: Studies were
      identified from a literature search using various databases, and included studies
      when three or more patients were reported and at least in-hospital mortality was
      reported. Data from comparative studies of TEVAR versus open repair of the
      descending aorta in TBAD were combined through meta-analysis. RESULTS: Seventy
      six observational studies involving 1951 patients were included in the present
      meta-analysis. In-hospital mortality was 11.5% and other major complications
      (i.e., stroke (6.3%), paraplegia (4.9%), retrograde type A aortic dissection
      (7%), renal impairment including dialysis (6.9%), bowel infarction (4.1%),
      vascular problems including major amputation (2.5%)) occurred less frequently.
      Long-term follow-up was limited to a mean of 24 months. During this time,
      endovascular reintervention was required in 11.3%, surgical reintervention in
      7.7%, and late aortic rupture was calculated for 3.2% of cases. A complete false
      lumen thrombosis was estimated to occur in 76.1% of cases. In comparative
      studies, 30-day/in-hospital mortality (OR=0.256, P=0.001) and
      paraplegia/paraparesis (OR=0.256, P=0.001) were significantly reduced for TEVAR
      versus open repair. In addition to that, the rate of vascular complications was
      reduced for TEVAR (OR=0.373, P=0.036). There was no significant difference
      between TEVAR and open repair in patients with acute complicated TBAD for the
      following outcomes: late mortality, reintervention rate, renal dysfunction
      (including dialysis), and stroke rate. CONCLUSION: This summary analysis suggests
      that endovascular treatment of complicated acute type B aortic dissection
      produces favourable initial outcomes and would seem to be a great addition to the
      treatment options for this condition. Further study of long-term outcomes is
      required.

PMID- 20924324
TI  - DeBakey type I dissection: when hybrid stent-grafting is indicated?
AB  - AIM: For avoidance of late downstream complications after classic DeBakey type I
      aortic dissection repair, replacement of the arch with simultaneous antegrade
      descending stent-grafting using a hybrid prosthesis was applied in acute and
      chronic aortic dissection. Indication and results were studied. METHODS: Between
      January 2001 and January 2010, 168 patients were operated for acute and chronic
      aortic dissection (AD). Forty-five patients received an E-vita open stent-graft
      prosthesis, 29 for acute aortic dissection (AAD) (28 for DeBakey type I, 1 for
      type III) and 16 for chronic aortic dissection (CAD) (13 type I, 3 type III).
      Indication was full circular arch dissection, an entry or re-entry tear distal to
      the left subclavian artery in AAD, and new abdominal malperfusion, rapid growth
      of the false lumen (FL), impending or contained rupture in CAD. RESULTS: Hospital
      mortality was 10% in AAD and 0 in CAD. Complications like new stroke occurred in
      7% versus 6%, temporary dialysis in 55% versus 19%, and false lumen obliteration
      was observed in 93% versus 63% in AAD versus CAD, respectively. Follow-up was
      100% at a mean of 19 months. Overall survival at four years was 72% in AAD versus
      94% in CAD. FL thrombosis was stable in AAD (92%) and increased to 93% in CAD
      over time. Freedom from secondary aortic intervention was 90% in AAD and 75% in
      CAD. CONCLUSION: This hybrid approach in patients with AAD and CAD type I is safe
      when indicated and renders stable results over time down to the stent-graft end.
      Secondary TEVAR can be easily performed downstream when necessary. The
      international E-vita open registry data supports this single center results.

PMID- 20924325
TI  - Acute aortic dissection: natural history and classification.
AB  - Acute aortic dissection is an uncommon but potentially catastrophic pathology
      with high mortality and morbidity. Significant advances in the understanding,
      diagnosis and management of aortic dissection have been made since the first case
      was reported 3 centuries ago. This article aims to review our current
      understanding of the natural history and classification of acute aortic
      dissection.

PMID- 20924326
TI  - Arterial elastic fiber structure. Function and potential roles in acute aortic
      dissection.
AB  - The lethality of acute aortic dissection is well recognized. Successful treatment
      and prevention of aortic dissection is going to be dependent upon an improved
      understanding of the molecular and physiologic events which predispose to
      dissection development and propagation. In this review, we will focus on the
      elastic fiber, one of the critical elements of the aortic wall matrix. Mechanical
      or functional failure of the elastin in the wall of the aorta likely predisposes
      to dissection as well as the post-dissection aortic degeneration with aneurysm
      formation. Insight into the role of the elastin and the elastic fiber in aortic
      dissection has recently been accelerated by research into the molecular
      mechanisms associated with hereditary propensity for aortic dissection, such as
      Marfan syndrome. These studies have implicated both structural and metabolic
      contributions of alterations in the scaffolding proteins in matrix elastic
      fibers. In particular, increased transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta)
      activity may play a prominent role in predisposing the aortic wall to dissection.
      The events which predispose to post-dissection aortic degeneration are somewhat
      less well defined. However, the loss of the structural integrity of the remaining
      elastic fibers leaves the wall weaker and prone to dilatation and rupture. It
      appears likely that the upregulation of several potent proteases, particularly
      those of the matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) family such as MMP-9, are
      participating in the subsequent matrix damage. Novel medical treatments based on
      this pathologic data have been proposed and in some cases have made it to
      clinical trials. The ongoing study evaluating whether therapeutic inhibition of
      TGF-beta may be useful in reducing the risk of aortic dissection in patients at
      high risk represents one promising new strategy in the treatment of this deadly
      disease.

PMID- 20924327
TI  - Decision-making in type-B dissection: current evidence and future perspectives.
AB  - Aortic dissection is a devastating cardiovascular condition with an incidence of
      3,5:100 000. It is classified according to anatomic extent, mechanism of lesion,
      duration from index event and course (uncomplicated vs. complicated). Intramural
      hematoma and penetrating aortic ulcers share many of the features of classic
      dissections, but tend to occur in older patients with advanced atherosclerosis.
      In uncomplicated type-B dissection, conservative treatment with tight blood
      pressure and heart rate control is safe and effective. Early stent-graft
      implantation may, however, result in more favorable aortic remodeling and reduced
      late complications. For acute complicated cases intervention is usually required.
      Stent-graft coverage of the entry tear frequently resolves malperfusion, but the
      role of the false lumen in organ perfusion must be assessed and endovascular
      revascularization performed if necessary. In chronic type-B dissections, coverage
      of the entry tear likely results in continued pressurization of the false lumen
      due to rigidity of the dissecting membrane and distal fenestrations. Better
      understanding of the different disease mechanisms involved, imaging advances and
      introduction of dedicated stent-grafts are expected to further improve patient
      outcomes in the future. Primary and secondary pharmacological prevention,
      stricter follow-up protocols and screening of family members may also prove
      valuable. Better patient selection will allow preventive treatment with low
      morbidity for those at higher risk of complications.

PMID- 20924328
TI  - Aortic dissection and sport: physiologic and clinical understanding provide an
      opportunity to save young lives.
AB  - Understanding the relationship between acute type A aortic dissection and sport
      is crucial to prevent sudden cardiac death in seemingly healthy young
      individuals. Aerobic exercise produces only a modest rise in arterial blood
      pressure (140-160 mmHg) except at the highest levels of exertion, at which
      pressures between 180-220 mmHg are reached. Weight training, on the other hand,
      routinely produces acute rises in blood pressure to over 300 mmHg. This presents
      a danger for individuals with an unknown aortic aneurysm; the deteriorated
      mechanical properties of the aortic wall resulting from aneurysmal enlargement
      increase the susceptibility to aortic rupture when the high wall coincident with
      exertion exceeds the tensile strength of the aortic wall. Investigations by our
      group into the inciting events leading up to dissection have demonstrated a
      causal link between extreme exertion, severe emotional stress, and acute type A
      aortic dissection. Since aortic enlargement is often unknown to persons
      participating in weight training, especially in the youth population, a iSnapShot
      Echocardiogrami screening program is been proposed; such a pilot program will
      raise awareness of the importance of pre-participation cardiac screening and
      allow for early detection of aneurysms as a means of preventing this isilent
      killeri from striking. As strong supporters of the numerous benefits of weight
      training, we encourage this activity in individuals without aneurysm; without
      aneurysm, wall tension does not reach dangerous levels, even at extremes of
      exertion. For individuals with known aortic dilatation, we recommend a program
      that limits their lifting to 50% of body weight in the bench press or equivalent
      level of perceived exertion for other specific strength exercises.

PMID- 20924329
TI  - Stent-graft in dissected aorta: aspects on seal and risk for disrupture of the
      dissection membrane.

PMID- 20924330
TI  - Marfan Syndrome: when to operate TAA(A)s?
AB  - Marfan Syndrome is a heritable disorder of connective tissue leading to aortic
      aneurysms and other cardiovascular complications associated with reduced life
      expectancy. Marfan patients with thoracic aortic aneurysms (TAAs) or with
      thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysms (TAAAs) should be treated by means of open
      surgery, requiring an extensive protocol, including extracorporeal circulation,
      neuromonitoring and adjunctive modalities to provide organ protection. Then, open
      surgical repair of TAA(A)s are associated with excellent results. However, in the
      last time a gradual change to endovascular treatment in Marfan patients is
      observable. Particularly in patients with an increased surgical risk due to redo
      sternotomy or thoracotomy, endovascular treatment might be an alternative due to
      its less invasive approach. Consequently, thoracic endovascular aortic repair
      comprises a therapeutic alternative in individual situations even in Marfan
      patients, when the landing zones are safe and appropriate. In cases of failed
      endovascular therapy, however, conversion to open surgery remains still an option
      with acceptable results, although the distal and proximal clamping positions
      change inappropriate with larger extensions due to the aortic stent.

PMID- 20924331
TI  - Renal angioplasty and stenting: is it still indicated after ASTRAL and STAR
      studies?
AB  - A renal artery stenosis (RAS) is common among patients with atherosclerosis, up
      to a third of patients undergoing cardiac catheterization. Fibromuscular
      dysplasia is the next cause of RAS, commonly found in young women.
      Atherosclerosis RAS generally progresses overtime and is often associated with
      loss of renal mass and worsening renal function (RF). Percutaneous renal artery
      stent placement is the preferred method of revascularization for hemodynamically
      significant RAS according to ACC and AHA guidelines. Several randomized trials
      have shown the superiority of endovascular procedures to medical therapy alone.
      However, two studies ASTRAL and STAR studies were recently published and did not
      find any difference between renal stenting and medical therapy. But these studies
      have a lot of limitations and flaws as we will discuss (poor indications, poor
      results, numerous complications, failures, poor technique, inexperienced
      operators, ecc.). Despite these questionable studies, renal stenting keeps
      indications in patients with: uncontrolled hypertension; ischemic nephropathy;
      cardiac disturbance syndrome (e.g. "flash" pulmonary edema, uncontrolled heart
      failure or uncontrolled angina pectoris); solitary kidney. To improve the
      clinical response rates, a better selection of the patients and lesions is
      mandatory with: good non-invasive or invasive imaging; physiologic lesion
      assessment using transluminal pressure gradients; measurements of biomarkers
      (e.g., BNP); fractional flow reserve study. A problem remains after renal
      angioplasty stenting, the deterioration of the RF in 20-30% of the patients.
      Atheroembolism seems to play an important role and is probably the main cause of
      this R.F deterioration. The use of protection devices alone or in combination
      with IIb IIa inhibitors has been proposed and seems promising as shown in
      different recent reports. Renal angioplasty and stenting is still indicated but
      we need: a better patient and lesion selection; improvements in techniques and
      maybe the use of protection devices to reduce the risk of RF deterioration after
      renal stenting.

PMID- 20924332
TI  - Catheter-based renal sympathectomy.
AB  - The sympathetic nervous system via its effect on the kidney maintains a key role
      in blood pressure regulation and in the pathogenesis of hypertension. In turn,
      the kidney receives a dense innervation of afferent sympathetic fibers allowing
      it to effectively modulate the sympathetic tone. Hence, the kidney can be both
      culprit and victim of increased sympathetic activity. In addition, conditions
      such as congestive heart failure, chronic renal failure or the metabolic syndrome
      are associated with an increased sympathetic activity whether or not hypertension
      is present. On this account, both the sympathetic nervous system and the kidney
      were identified as potential therapeutic targets in the treatment of hypertension
      and other conditions associated with a high sympathetic tone. Initial
      investigations focused on surgical removal of the sympathetic trunk,
      unfortunately accompanied by operative mortality and major side effects. More
      specific methods of disrupting interactions between the sympathetic nervous
      system and the kidneys were subsequently explored including the removal of
      diseased kidneys and, more recently, minimally invasive severance of the renal
      sympathetic nerves. Currently, most hypertensive patients can be treated by
      effective antihypertensive drugs. Notwithstanding, a small group of hypertensive
      patients remains suboptimally controlled despite identification of potential
      causes and appropriate treatment. In this group an elevated sympathetic tone may
      be a significant contributor to treatment resistance and selective renal
      sympathectomy may be beneficial. The role of the sympathetic nervous system in
      blood pressure control and the effect of selective sympathectomy are discussed in
      this review.

PMID- 20924333
TI  - Upper extremity access for renal artery stenting: radial, brachial and axillary
      access: how to do them safely and pitfalls to avoid.
AB  - This manuscript traces the history of changes in preferred upper extremity
      puncture sites for renal artery stenting as our understanding of anatomy,
      techniques, technology and pharmacology, each separately and their confluence,
      has improved. A very detailed description of each technique is beyond the scope
      of this review; the references should allow the reader to readily access this
      information.

PMID- 20924334
TI  - Efficacy of embolic protection devices in renal artery stenting.
AB  - The efficacy of embolic protection devices (EPDs) have been studied extensively
      in coronary saphenous vein grafts and extra cranial cerebrovascular disease.
      Recent ex-vivo and in-vivo renal artery stenting studies suggest atheroembolism
      is not unique to the coronary and cerebrovascular domain and it seems intuitive,
      renal EPDs may be beneficial. In an attempt to better understand the current
      objective evidence regarding renal protection efficacy we systematically reviewed
      the contemporary literature and summarize the findings herein. There is
      increasing observational data suggesting the use of embolic protection devices
      decrease the risk of continued decline in renal function after renal artery
      stenting. There is also prospective randomized data to suggest that the use of
      adjuvant IIb/IIIa glycoprotein inhibitor and embolic protection has synergistic
      benefit, but this is a very small series. However, there are currently no well
      controlled prospective trials to conclude the added risk and expense of renal
      protection is countered by proven clinical benefit. Based on the literature
      compiled in this manuscript we do believe EPDs should be considered in some high
      risk patients.

PMID- 20924335
TI  - Evidence-based medicine in renal artery stenting.
AB  - Atherosclerotic renovascular disease is an increasingly recognized cause of
      severe hypertension and declining kidney function. Patients with atherosclerotic
      renovascular disease have been demonstrated to have an increased risk of adverse
      cardiovascular events. Over the course of the last two decades renal artery
      revascularization for treatment of atherosclerotic renal artery stenosis (RAS)
      has gained great increase via percutaneous techniques. However the efficacy of
      contemporary revascularization therapies in the treatment of renal artery
      stenosis is unproven and controversial. The indication for renal artery stenting
      is widely questioned due to a not yet proven benefit of renal revascularization
      compared to best medical therapy. Many authors question the efficacy of
      percutaneous renal revascularization on clinical outcome parameters, such as
      preservation of renal function and blood pressure control. None of the so far
      published randomized controlled trials could prove a beneficial outcome of RAS
      revascularization compared with medical management. Currently accepted
      indications for revascularization are significant RAS with progressive or acute
      deterioration of renal function and/or severe uncontrollable hypertension, renal
      function decline with the use of agents blocking the renin-angiotensin system and
      recurrent flash pulmonary edema. The key point for success is the correct
      selection of the patient. This article summarizes the background and the
      limitations of the so far published and still ongoing controlled trials.

PMID- 20924336
TI  - Postoperative mediastinitis in open heart surgery patients. Treatment with
      unilateral or bilateral pectoralis major muscle flap?
AB  - AIM: the treatment of mediastinitis, after median sternotomy, in open heart
      surgery operated patients, remains an important and challenging problem in
      cardiac surgery. The management of this severe complication by means of surgical
      debridement of the sternum followed by mediastinal closure with pectoralis major
      muscle flaps, represents one of the best effective and most common modalities of
      treatment. The aim of the present publication is to demonstrate the good and
      comparable result in the mediastinal closure by using a single pectoralis muscle
      flap instead of two pectoralis muscle flaps. METHODS: in our hospital, between
      July 1998 and December 2004, 32 patients with mediastinitis were treated after
      adult open heart surgery with sternal debridement and pectoralis major muscle
      flaps. In 19 cases the sternal closure was performed with a single pectoralis
      muscle (group U) and in 13 cases with both pectoralis muscles (Group B). RESULTS:
      comparing the group U and group B, we did not found statistical differences in
      the variables of age, sex, associated diseases, previous myocardial infarction,
      kind of cardiac surgery undertaken, quality of the sternum, type of germen,
      number of previous sternal debridement performed and time of hospitalization.
      Patients in group U showed a statistically significant (P=0.001) shorted plastic
      reconstructive surgery time, an earlier extubation time (non statistically
      significant) and less need of blood transfusion (non statistically significant).
      The morbidity and hospital mortality in group U and B did not show any
      statistical differences. There were three cases of flap related complications in
      group B and two in group U. One death was recorded in group U (7.69%) and another
      in group B (5.26%). CONCLUSION: mediastinal infection after cardiac surgery can
      be effectively managed by surgical debridement followed by plastic coverage with
      a single pectoralis muscle flap. In our experience, this unilateral pectoralis
      muscle flap technique showed similar results to the classic closure with both
      pectoralis muscle flaps. The unilateral technique represents a relative low
      aggressive operation and preserves intact the contralateral pectoralis muscle.
      Comparing the single pectoralis muscle flap technique with the bilateral
      pectoralis musle technique, the former is faster, the extubation is earlier and
      there is less need of postoperative blood transfusions.

PMID- 20924338
TI  - Compression therapy.

PMID- 20924337
TI  - Patient's home care management in persistent air leaks and chronic pneumothorax
      using a new drainage system.
AB  - The management of persistent air leaks (PALs) is one of the most common problems
      in general thoracic surgery, especially after elective pulmonary resections. The
      statistically most frequent air leak is caused by alveolar-pleural fistula (APF),
      which is defined as a link between the pulmonary parenchyma distal to a segmental
      bronchus, and the pleural space. Prolonged air leaks result in an increase in
      patient's hospital length of stay with possible infectious complications, aside
      from an overall hospitalization cost increase. The ability to discharge a patient
      who would otherwise depend on continuous aspiration, because chronic PALs
      represent a very important clinical and technological improvement. We describe
      the case of a patient with chronic PALs and pneumothorax due to pulmonary
      fibrosis secondary to rheumatoid arthritis, with diffuse pulmonary nodules, in
      which surgical attempts to manage air leaks were ineffective. He was successfully
      home-assisted with a new chest drainage system with automatic constant negative
      suction pressure.

PMID- 20924339
TI  - Limb volume measurement: from the past methods to optoelectronic technologies,
      bioimpedance analysis and laser based devices.
AB  - Accurate measurement of limb volume is considered crucial to lymphedema
      management. Various non-invasive methods may be used and have been validated in
      recent years, though suboptimal standardisation has been highlighted in different
      publications.

PMID- 20924340
TI  - Optoelectric volume measurements to demonstrate volume changes in the lower
      extremities during orthostasis.
AB  - AIM: Although an increase in volume of the legs during prolonged standing is a
      well-known phenomenon, there is little information on the initial phase in
      orthostasis. The aim of this study is to measure the increase in volume and its
      distribution in the lower extremities during orthostatic stress in healthy and
      varicose patients. METHODS: In this prospective study volume changes of the legs
      in 16 healthy individuals and 24 patients with varicose veins were investigated
      using an optoelectric volume measurement system (Perometer(r)) during 10 minutes
      in a standing position. RESULTS: We could show that during a 10 minute standing
      experiment, a significant increase in volume of the entire leg, in both the
      healthy vein group (2.48%) and the varicose group (2.1%) occurred. Significant
      volume increase appeared in the upper and lower leg respectively. No significant
      differences could be demonstrated between right and left leg or between healthy
      and varicose legs. CONCLUSION: These results in accordance with other published
      data indicate that changing position from lying or sitting to standing initially
      leads to a rapid increase in volume of the leg. These changes take place very
      quickly and with respect to their volume changes, are significant. The volume
      increase is following a bi-exponential function fitting to a fast filling
      compartment (venous pooling) and a slow filling compartment reflecting
      extravasation. Over the course of the day additional edema formation may occur.

PMID- 20924341
TI  - A new device to measure upper limb circumferences: validity and reliability.
AB  - AIM: The aim of this paper was to examine the reliability and validity of a new
      measurement device that counters the disadvantages of the traditional method of
      arm circumference measurements. METHODS: We measured the arm on the non-operated
      side of breast cancer patients. Sixty-four patients were measured twice by the
      same assessor and 48 patients were measured twice by two different assessors. The
      arm circumferences were measured at the olecranon and each 4 cm proximal and
      distal of the olecranon. The measurements were performed with a self-developed
      device consisting of a stainless steel bar on which a tapeline was fixed at every
      4 cm distance. The arm volume was calculated from the circumference measurements
      with the frustrum formula and was also measured directly with the water
      displacement method. RESULTS: For the circumference measurements, intrarater and
      interrater ICCs ranged between 0.942 and 0.998. ICCs for the calculated arm
      volume were also very high. No systematic changes between the first to the second
      assessment could be found. The standard error of measurement for the
      circumference measurements as well as for the calculated arm volume was low
      (between 0.8% and 2.0%). An increase of 1.0 cm or more of the arm circumference
      at any measurement side and of 55 ml or more of the calculated arm volume was
      clinically significant. CONCLUSION: Arm circumferences and also the calculated
      arm volume can be measured quickly and accurately with a simple and inexpensive
      device.

PMID- 20924342
TI  - Narrowing of leg veins under compression demonstrated by magnetic resonance
      imaging (MRI).
AB  - AIM: The aim of this paper was to demonstrate the usefulness of magnetic
      resonance imaging (MRI) for detecting the ability of compression material in
      narrowing superficial and deep veins in the lower extremity. METHODS: MRI of the
      legs was performed in one healthy volunteer and in 11 patients with CEAP C2-C4
      without and with different kinds of compression devices. The cross section area
      of superficial and deep veins was measured by planimetry in mid-calf and mid
      thigh slices. The interface pressure of compression was measured at the same
      level. RESULTS: Examples are presented showing that the narrowing of veins does
      not only depend on the exerted pressure but also on the body position and the
      resulting distortion of the tissue. In the prone and the standing position deep
      veins may show a greater reduction of the cross section area than in superficial
      veins. CONCLUSION: MRI is a powerful method to assess venous narrowing by
      external compression. Especially in the standing position new insights regarding
      the effects of different compression devices may be expected.

PMID- 20924343
TI  - 3D multislice CT to demonstrate the effects of compression therapy.
AB  - The aim of this paper was to show the value of the 3D modelling of the leg by
      multislice computed tomography (MSCT) in demonstrating the effects of compression
      therapy on both the superficial veins and on the limb's volume. The spiral CT
      with 3D reconstruction of the lower limbs (with or without injection of contrast)
      is an accurate method to assess the 3D shape of the leg and the diameter of the
      superficial/deep veins. It is possible to obtain a realistic 3D model of the leg
      and its anatomical structures. This makes the evaluation of the interface
      pressure and effects due to the compression stocking possible. The real interface
      pressure in vivo between the skin and compression material is verified during the
      CT and recorded by a probe. It is measured by using the Kikuhime device at the B1
      and B points of the calf. Technical limits: are exposure to X rays, a venous
      injection is usually not advisable, and this exam is strictly limited to the
      lying position. To assess the limb's volume by MSCT, we use metallic landmarks
      and dedicated modeling software. According to the Laplace's law, the variations
      of the shape of the leg i.e. cross sections at different levels, give a radius
      for each location, and so different interface pressures all around the limb, can
      be measured. The results of these theoretical values of the interface pressure
      are close to the real values measured at the same location by a probe: the
      compression of the saphenous veins in the lying position is observed below the
      knee providing the pressure at the ankle (B point) is at least 25 mmHg. It is not
      possible to make a compression of the veins at the thigh level without a pad.
      Regarding the assessment of the limb's volume, it it possible to localize a
      limb's edema and to quantify it with a precision of less than 1%. The multislice
      CT is a great research tool to provide a 3D model of the limb, making the
      assessment of the interface pressure of stockings and the evaluation of the
      effects on the superficial veins possible, but its main possible limitations are
      the lying position, and the use of X-rays. It is also possible to make an
      accurate measurement of the limb's volume, and to assess the specific location of
      edema int he soft tissues (fat, sub-cutaneous, muscle).

PMID- 20924344
TI  - Duplex scanning to evaluate the effect of compression on venous reflux.
AB  - AIM: The aim of this study was to demonstrate the usefulness of Duplex in
      measuring venous reflux and changes in reflux caused by leg compression. METHODS:
      Twelve patients with severe incompetence of the great saphenous vein (GSV) were
      investigated. A special Duplex probe was fixed by tapes on the mid-thigh portion
      of the incompetent GSV and reflux elicited by tip toeing was measured. Elastic
      and inelastic compression material with an interface supine pressure around 20,
      40 and 60 mmHg was applied on the lower leg and the reflux measurement was
      repeated. RESULTS: Increasing compression of the leg led to a progressive
      reduction of the reflux in the GSV. Ultimately reflux was completely abolished by
      inelastic compression with a median pressure of 86 mm Hg in the standing
      position. Elastic material exerting this pressure can achieve similar results but
      is not tolerated by patients. CONCLUSION: Duplex is able to demonstrate a
      reduction of GSV reflux caused by compression of the lower leg, which explains
      one major beneficial effect of compression on the disturbed haemodynamics in
      venous incompetence.

PMID- 20924345
TI  - Measuring venous pumping function by strain-gauge plethysmography.
AB  - AIM: Hemodynamic effects of compression devices in patients with venous
      insufficiency are still under dispute. The aim of this paper was to describe a
      method which is able to give quantitative results concerning an improvement of
      the venous pumping function by using compression devices in patients with venous
      insufficiency. METHODS: The ejection fraction (EF) of the calf pump can be
      measured using strain gauge plethysmography proximal to a compression device on
      the leg and the degree of improvement depending on the exerted pressure and the
      elastic property of the material can be assessed. Experiments were carried out in
      15 normal volunteers and in a total of 68 patients with severe superficial venous
      incompetence and who were investigated without compression and with various
      compression devices measuring interface pressure in different body positions.
      RESULTS: Examples demonstrating the usefulness of the plethysmographic method are
      given. The median values of EF were 64.6 (IQR 63.4-68.6) in normal subjects and
      about half in the venous patients. Statistically significant improvement was
      achieved using inelastic bandages, resulting in further improvements with
      increasing pressures between 20 and 60 mmHg. Elastic stockings led only to a
      moderate improvement of the deficient venous pumping function. Significant
      correlations were found between EF and standing and walking pressure. CONCLUSION:
      The described plethysmographic method is very useful to assess haemodynamic
      effects of different compression devices in patients with venous insufficiency.

PMID- 20924346
TI  - Comparison of three portable instruments to measure compression pressure.
AB  - AIM: Measurement of interface pressure between the skin and a compression device
      has gained practical importance not only for characterizing the efficacy of
      different compression products in physiological and clinical studies but also for
      the training of medical staff. METHODS: A newly developed portable pneumatic
      pressure transducer (Picopress(r)) was compared with two established systems
      (Kikuhime(r) and SIGaT tester(r)) measuring linearity, variability and accuracy
      on a cylindrical model using a stepwise inflated sphygmomanometer as the
      reference. In addition the variation coefficients were measured by applying the
      transducers repeatedly under a blood pressure cuff on the distal lower leg of a
      healthy human subject with stepwise inflation. RESULTS: In the pressure range
      between 10 and 80 mmHg all three devices showed a linear association compared
      with the sphygmomanometer values (Pearson r>0.99). The best reproducibility
      (variation coefficients between 1.05-7.4%) and the highest degree of accuracy
      demonstrated by Bland-Altman plots was achieved with the Picopress(r) transducer.
      Repeated measurements of pressure in a human leg revealed average variation
      coefficients for the three devices of 4.17% (Kikuhime(r)), 8.52% (SIGaT(r)) and
      2.79% (Picopress(r)). CONCLUSION: The results suggest that the Picopress(r)
      transducer, which also allows dynamic pressure tracing in connection with a
      software program and which may be left under a bandage for several days, is a
      reliable instrument for measuring the pressure under a compression device.

PMID- 20924347
TI  - Pascal's law and the dynamics of compression therapy: a study on healthy
      volunteers.
AB  - AIM: The aim of this paper was to determine whether Pascal's law can be used to
      explain the dynamics of compression therapy. METHODS: Sub-bandage pressures were
      recorded at three different levels to investigate the transmission of applied
      pressure on the legs of 12 healthy volunteers and 216 applications. RESULTS: The
      experimental model revealed that when pressure is increased at a certain area in
      a compressed leg, the pressure is transmitted within the compressed area.
      CONCLUSION: The dynamics of effective compression therapy are explained by
      Pascal's Law, which states that when pressure is applied on a fluid (a muscle or
      muscle group) in a closed container (fascia muscularis and compression bandage),
      there is an equal increase at every other point in the container.

PMID- 20924348
TI  - Medical compression: effects on pulsatile leg blood flow.
AB  - AIM: Leg compression bandaging is the mainstay of venous ulcer treatment, yet
      little is known about the impact of therapeutic compression levels on arterial
      haemodynamics. In this study, the effect of foot-to-knee, four-layer compression
      bandaging on below-knee arterial pulsatile blood flow was assessed by nuclear
      magnetic resonance flowmetry. METHODS: In 14 healthy supine subjects, bilateral
      pulsatile blood flow measured at five below-knee sites without compression; and
      during compression of one leg to an average malleolar sub-bandage pressure of
      40.7+/-4.0 mmHg. RESULTS: The forefoot-to-knee compression bandaging caused a
      highly significant (P<0.001) increase in the bandaged leg pulsatile blood flow
      due to increases in both peak flow and pulse width. CONCLUSION: It is
      hypothesized that arteriolar vasodilatation, induced either myogenically by
      reduced transmural pressure or by vasodilatory substance release triggered by
      increased venous shear stress and veno-arterial interactions, possibly combined
      with altered vascular compliance, produce the observed compression-related
      phenomenon. Whatever the mechanism(s), the finding of a compression-associated
      pulsatile flow increase suggests an arterial linkage, which may play a role in
      the well-documented beneficial effects of compression bandaging in venous ulcer
      and lymphedema treatment. Possible beneficial effects of the arterial flow-pulse
      increase on venous ulcer outcome may be related to a decrease in leukocyte
      effects in the distal microvasculature.

PMID- 20924349
TI  - Clinical trials needed to evaluate compression therapy in breast cancer related
      lymphedema (BCRL). Proposals from an expert group.
AB  - AIM: A mainstay of lymphedema management involves the use of compression therapy.
      Compression therapy application is variable at different levels of disease
      severity. Evidence is scant to direct clinicians in best practice regarding
      compression therapy use. Further, compression clinical trials are fragmented and
      poorly extrapolable to the greater population. An ideal construct for conducting
      clinical trials in regards to compression therapy will promote parallel global
      initiatives based on a standard research agenda. The purpose of this article is
      to review current evidence in practice regarding compression therapy for BCRL
      management and based on this evidence, offer an expert consensus recommendation
      for a research agenda and prescriptive trials. Recommendations herein focus
      solely on compression interventions. METHODS: This document represents the
      proceedings of a session organized by the International Compression Club (ICC) in
      June 2009 in Ponzano (Veneto, Italy). The purpose of the meeting was to enable a
      group of experts to discuss the existing evidence for compression treatment in
      breast cancer related lymphedema (BCRL) concentrating on areas where randomized
      controlled trials (RCTs) are lacking. RESULTS: The current body of research
      suggests efficacy of compression interventions in the treatment and management of
      lymphedema. However, studies to date have failed to adequately address various
      forms of compression therapy and their optimal application in BCRL. We offer
      recommendations for standardized compression research trials for prophylaxis of
      arm lymphedema and for the management of chronic BCRL. Suggestions are also made
      regarding; inclusion and exclusion criteria, measurement methodology and
      additional variables of interest for researchers to capture. CONCLUSION: This
      document should inform future research trials in compression therapy and serve as
      a guide to clinical researchers, industry researchers and lymphologists regarding
      the strengths, weaknesses and shortcomings of the current literature. By
      providing this construct for research trials, the authors aim to support evidence
      based therapy interventions, promote a cohesive, standardized and informative
      body of literature to enhance clinical outcomes, improve the quality of future
      research trials, inform industry innovation and guide policy related to BCRL.

PMID- 20924350
TI  - Diagnosis and treatment of primary lymphedema. Consensus document of the
      International Union of Phlebology (IUP)-2009.
AB  - Primary lymphedema can be managed safely as one of the chronic lymphedemas by a
      proper combination of DLT with compression therapy. Treatment in the maintenance
      phase should include compression garments, self management including the
      compression therapy, self massage and meticulous personal hygiene and skin care
      in addition to lymph-transport promoting excercises. The management of primary
      lymphedema can be further improved with proper addition of surgical therapy
      either reconstructive or ablative. These two surgical therapies can be effective
      only when fully integrated with MLD-based DLT postoperatively. Compliance with a
      long-term commitment of DLT postoperatively is the most critical factor
      determining the success of any new treatment strategy with either reconstructive
      or palliative surgery. The future of management of primary lymphedema caused by
      truncular lymphatic malformation has never been brighter with the new prospect of
      gene-oriented management.

PMID- 20924351
TI  - Internal jugular vein morphology and hemodynamics in patients with multiple
      sclerosis.

PMID- 20924352
TI  - Dynamic interaction networks in a hierarchically organized tissue.
AB  - Intercellular (between cell) communication networks maintain homeostasis and
      coordinate regenerative and developmental cues in multicellular organisms.
      Despite the importance of intercellular networks in stem cell biology, their
      rules, structure and molecular components are poorly understood. Herein, we
      describe the structure and dynamics of intercellular and intracellular networks
      in a stem cell derived, hierarchically organized tissue using experimental and
      theoretical analyses of cultured human umbilical cord blood progenitors. By
      integrating high-throughput molecular profiling, database and literature mining,
      mechanistic modeling, and cell culture experiments, we show that secreted factor
      mediated intercellular communication networks regulate blood stem cell fate
      decisions. In particular, self-renewal is modulated by a coupled positive
      negative intercellular feedback circuit composed of megakaryocyte-derived
      stimulatory growth factors (VEGF, PDGF, EGF, and serotonin) versus monocyte
      derived inhibitory factors (CCL3, CCL4, CXCL10, TGFB2, and TNFSF9). We
      reconstruct a stem cell intracellular network, and identify PI3K, Raf, Akt, and
      PLC as functionally distinct signal integration nodes, linking extracellular, and
      intracellular signaling. This represents the first systematic characterization of
      how stem cell fate decisions are regulated non-autonomously through lineage
      specific interactions with differentiated progeny.

PMID- 20924353
TI  - Connecting cell fate decision networks in hematopoeisis from the outside in.

PMID- 20924354
TI  - Cell-type specific analysis of translating RNAs in developing flowers reveals new
      levels of control.
AB  - Determining both the expression levels of mRNA and the regulation of its
      translation is important in understanding specialized cell functions. In this
      study, we describe both the expression profiles of cells within spatiotemporal
      domains of the Arabidopsis thaliana flower and the post-transcriptional
      regulation of these mRNAs, at nucleotide resolution. We express a tagged
      ribosomal protein under the promoters of three master regulators of flower
      development. By precipitating tagged polysomes, we isolated cell type-specific
      mRNAs that are probably translating, and quantified those mRNAs through deep
      sequencing. Cell type comparisons identified known cell-specific transcripts and
      uncovered many new ones, from which we inferred cell type-specific hormone
      responses, promoter motifs and coexpressed cognate binding factor candidates, and
      splicing isoforms. By comparing translating mRNAs with steady-state overall
      transcripts, we found evidence for widespread post-transcriptional regulation at
      both the intron splicing and translational stages. Sequence analyses identified
      structural features associated with each step. Finally, we identified a new class
      of noncoding RNAs associated with polysomes. Findings from our profiling lead to
      new hypotheses in the understanding of flower development.

PMID- 20924355
TI  - Intra-arterial brachytherapy of hepatic malignancies: watch the flow.
AB  - Although the liver possesses a dual blood supply, arterial vessels deliver only a
      small proportion of blood to normal parenchyma, but they deliver the vast
      majority of blood to primary and secondary cancers of the liver. This anatomical
      discrepancy is the basis for intra-arterial brachytherapy of liver cancers using
      radioactive microspheres, termed radio-embolization (RE). Radioactive
      microspheres implant preferentially in the terminal arterioles of tumors.
      Although biological models of the flow dynamics and distribution of microspheres
      are currently in development, there is a need to improve the imaging biomarkers
      of flow dynamics used to plan RE. Since a direct consequence of RE is vascular
      disruption and necrosis, we suggest that imaging protocols sensitive to changes
      in vasculature are highly likely to represent useful early biomarkers for
      treatment efficacy. We propose dynamic contrast-enhanced CT as the most
      appropriate imaging modality for studying vascular parameters in clinical trials
      of RE treatment.

PMID- 20924356
TI  - The APC/C subunit Cdc16/Cut9 is a contiguous tetratricopeptide repeat superhelix
      with a homo-dimer interface similar to Cdc27.
AB  - The anaphase-promoting complex/cyclosome (APC/C), an E3 ubiquitin ligase
      responsible for controlling cell cycle transitions, is a multisubunit complex
      assembled from 13 different proteins. Numerous APC/C subunits incorporate
      multiple copies of the tetratricopeptide repeat (TPR). Here, we report the
      crystal structure of Schizosaccharomyces pombe Cut9 (Cdc16/Apc6) in complex with
      Hcn1 (Cdc26), showing that Cdc16/Cut9 is a contiguous TPR superhelix of 14 TPR
      units. A C-terminal block of TPR motifs interacts with Hcn1, whereas an N
      terminal TPR block mediates Cdc16/Cut9 self-association through a homotypic
      interface. This dimer interface is structurally related to the N-terminal
      dimerization domain of Cdc27, demonstrating that both Cdc16/Cut9 and Cdc27 form
      homo-dimers through a conserved mechanism. The acetylated N-terminal Met residue
      of Hcn1 is enclosed within a chamber created from the Cut9 TPR superhelix. Thus,
      in complex with Cdc16/Cut9, the N-acetyl-Met residue of Hcn1, a putative degron
      for the Doa10 E3 ubiquitin ligase, is inaccessible for Doa10 recognition,
      protecting Hcn1/Cdc26 from ubiquitin-dependent degradation. This finding may
      provide a structural explanation for a mechanism to control the stoichiometry of
      proteins participating in multisubunit complexes.

PMID- 20924358
TI  - Redox regulation of the stability of the SUMO protease SENP3 via interactions
      with CHIP and Hsp90.
AB  - The molecular chaperone heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) and the co
      chaperone/ubiquitin ligase carboxyl terminus of Hsc70-interacting protein (CHIP)
      control the turnover of client proteins. How this system decides to stabilize or
      degrade the client proteins under particular physiological or pathological
      conditions is unclear. We report here a novel client protein, the SUMO2/3
      protease SENP3, that is sophisticatedly regulated by CHIP and Hsp90. SENP3 is
      maintained at a low basal level under non-stress condition due to Hsp90
      independent CHIP-mediated ubiquitination. Upon mild oxidative stress, SENP3
      undergoes thiol modification, which recruits Hsp90. Hsp90/SENP3 association
      protects SENP3 from CHIP-mediated ubiquitination and subsequent degradation, but
      this effect of Hsp90 requires the presence of CHIP. Our data demonstrate for the
      first time that CHIP and Hsp90 interplay with a client alternately under non
      stress and stress conditions, and the choice between stabilization and
      degradation is made by the redox state of the client. In addition, enhanced
      SENP3/Hsp90 association is found in cancer. These findings provide new
      mechanistic insight into how cells regulate the SUMO protease in response to
      oxidative stress.

PMID- 20924357
TI  - Spatial and temporal organization of the E. coli PTS components.
AB  - The phosphotransferase system (PTS) controls preferential use of sugars in
      bacteria. It comprises of two general proteins, enzyme I (EI) and HPr, and
      various sugar-specific permeases. Using fluorescence microscopy, we show here
      that EI and HPr localize near the Escherichia coli cell poles. Polar localization
      of each protein occurs independently, but HPr is released from the poles in an EI
      and sugar-dependent manner. Conversely, the beta-glucoside-specific permease,
      BglF, localizes to the cell membrane. EI, HPr and BglF control the beta-glucoside
      utilization (bgl) operon by modulating the activity of the BglG transcription
      factor; BglF inactivates BglG by membrane sequestration and phosphorylation,
      whereas EI and HPr activate it by an unknown mechanism in response to beta
      glucosides availability. Using biochemical, genetic and imaging methodologies, we
      show that EI and HPr interact with BglG and affect its subcellular localization
      in a phosphorylation-independent manner. Upon sugar stimulation, BglG migrates
      from the cell periphery to the cytoplasm through the poles. Hence, the PTS
      components appear to control bgl operon expression by ushering BglG between the
      cellular compartments. Our results reinforce the notion that signal transduction
      in bacteria involves dynamic localization of proteins.

PMID- 20924359
TI  - Ubiquitination and deubiquitination of NP protein regulates influenza A virus RNA
      replication.
AB  - Influenza A virus RNA replication requires an intricate regulatory network
      involving viral and cellular proteins. In this study, we examined the roles of
      cellular ubiquitinating/deubiquitinating enzymes (DUBs). We observed that
      downregulation of a cellular deubiquitinating enzyme USP11 resulted in enhanced
      virus production, suggesting that USP11 could inhibit influenza virus
      replication. Conversely, overexpression of USP11 specifically inhibited viral
      genomic RNA replication, and this inhibition required the deubiquitinase
      activity. Furthermore, we showed that USP11 interacted with PB2, PA, and NP of
      viral RNA replication complex, and that NP is a monoubiquitinated protein and can
      be deubiquitinated by USP11 in vivo. Finally, we identified K184 as the
      ubiquitination site on NP and this residue is crucial for virus RNA replication.
      We propose that ubiquitination/deubiquitination of NP can be manipulated for
      antiviral therapeutic purposes.

PMID- 20924360
TI  - Pulmonary hypertension with left-sided heart disease.
AB  - Pulmonary hypertension (PH) with left-sided heart disease is defined, according
      to the latest Venice classification, as a Group 2 PH, which includes left-sided
      ventricular or atrial disease, and left-sided valvular diseases. These conditions
      are all associated with increased left ventricular filling pressure. Although PH
      with left-sided heart disease is a common entity, and long-term follow-up trials
      have provided firm recognition that development of left-sided PH carries a poor
      outcome, available data on incidence, pathophysiology, and therapy are sparse.
      Mitral stenosis was reported as the most frequent cause of PH several decades
      ago, but PH with left-sided heart disease is now usually caused by systemic
      hypertension and ischemic heart disease. In patients with these conditions, PH
      develops as a consequence of impaired left ventricular relaxation and
      distensibility. Chronic sustained elevation of cardiogenic blood pressure in
      pulmonary capillaries leads to a cascade of untoward retrograde anatomical and
      functional effects that represent specific targets for therapeutic intervention.
      The pathophysiological and clinical importance of the hemodynamic consequences of
      left-sided heart disease, starting with lung capillary injury and leading to
      right ventricular overload and failure, are discussed in this Review, focusing on
      PH as an evolving contributor to heart failure that may be amenable to novel
      interventions.

PMID- 20924361
TI  - Prevention of diabetic neuropathy by regulatable expression of HSV-mediated
      erythropoietin.
AB  - Previous studies have demonstrated that gene transfer of genes coding for
      neurotrophic factors to the dorsal root ganglion (DRG) using nonreplicating
      herpes simplex virus (HSV)-based vectors injected subcutaneously can prevent the
      progression of diabetic neuropathy. Because prolonged expression of neurotrophic
      factors could potentially have unwanted adverse effects, we constructed a
      nonreplicating HSV vector, vHrtEPO, to express erythropoietin (EPO) under the
      control of a tetracycline response element (TRE)-minimal cytomegalovirus (CMV)
      fusion promoter. Primary DRG neurons in culture infected with vHrtEPO express and
      release EPO in response to exposure to doxycycline (DOX). Animals infected with
      vHrtEPO by footpad inoculation demonstrated regulated expression of EPO in DRG
      under the control of DOX administered by gavage. Mice rendered diabetic by
      injection of streptozotocin (STZ), inoculated with vHrtEPO, and treated with DOX
      4 days out of 7 each week for 4 weeks were protected against the development of
      diabetic neuropathy as assessed by electrophysiologic and behavioral measures.
      These studies indicate that intermittent expression of EPO in DRG achieved from a
      regulatable vector is sufficient to protect against the progression of neuropathy
      in diabetic animals, and provides proof-of-principle preclinical evidence for the
      development of such vectors for clinical trial.

PMID- 20924362
TI  - Bispecific adapter-mediated retargeting of a receptor-restricted HSV-1 vector to
      CEA-bearing tumor cells.
AB  - The safety and efficacy of viral therapies for solid tumors can be enhanced by
      redirecting the virus infection to tumor-specific cell-surface markers.
      Successful retargeting of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) has been achieved
      using vectors that carry a modified envelope glycoprotein D (gD) engineered to
      interact directly with novel receptors. In addition, soluble bridging molecules
      (adapters) have been used to link gD indirectly to cell-specific receptors. Here,
      we describe the development of an adapter connecting gD to the common tumor
      antigen carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA). The adapter consisted of a CEA-specific
      single-chain antibody fused to the gD-binding region of the gD receptor, herpes
      virus entry mediator (HVEM). We used this adapter in combination with a vector
      that is detargeted for recognition of the widely expressed gD receptor nectin-1,
      but retains an intact binding region for the less common HVEM. We show that the
      adapter enabled infection of HSV-resistant Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells
      expressing ectopic CEA and nectin-1/CEA-bearing human gastric carcinoma cells
      that are resistant to the vector alone. We observed cell-to-cell spread following
      adapter-mediated infection in vitro and reduced tumor growth in vivo, indicating
      that this method of vector retargeting may provide a novel strategy for tumor
      specific delivery of tumoricidal HSV.

PMID- 20924363
TI  - Physiological characterization of muscle strength with variable levels of
      dystrophin restoration in mdx mice following local antisense therapy.
AB  - Antisense-induced exon skipping can restore the open reading frame, and thus
      correct the dystrophin deficiency that causes Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD),
      a lethal muscle wasting condition. Successful proof-of-principle in preclinical
      models has led to human clinical trials. However, it is still not known what
      percentage of dystrophin-positive fibers and what level of expression is
      necessary for functional improvement. This study directly address these key
      questions in the mdx mouse model of DMD. To achieve a significant variation in
      dystrophin expression, we locally administered into tibialis anterior muscles
      various doses of a phosphorodiamidate morpholino oligomer (PMO) designed to skip
      the mutated exon 23 from the mRNA of murine dystrophin. We found a highly
      significant correlation between the number of dystrophin-positive fibers and
      resistance to contraction-induced injury, with a minimum of 20% of dystrophin
      positive fibers required for meaningful improvement. Furthermore, our results
      also indicate that a relatively low level of dystrophin expression in muscle
      fibers may have significant clinical benefits. In contrast, improvements in
      muscle force were not correlated with either the number of positive fibers or
      total dystrophin levels, which highlight the need to conduct appropriate
      functional assessments in preclinical testing using the mdx mouse.

PMID- 20924364
TI  - The FGF-2-derived peptide FREG inhibits melanoma growth in vitro and in vivo.
AB  - Previous data report that fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF-2)-derived peptide FREG
      potently inhibits FGF-2-dependent angiogenesis in vitro and in vivo. Here, we
      show that FREG inhibits up to 70% in vitro growth and invasion/migration of
      smooth muscle and melanoma cells. Such inhibition is mediated by platelet-derived
      growth factor-receptor-alpha (PDGF-Ralpha); in fact, proliferation and migration
      were restored upon PDGF-Ralpha neutralization. Further experiments demonstrated
      that FREG interacts with PDGF-Ralpha both in vitro and in vivo and stimulates its
      phosphorylation. We have previously shown that overexpressing PDGF-Ralpha
      strongly inhibits melanoma growth in vivo; we, therefore, hypothesized that PDGF
      Ralpha agonists may represent a novel tool to inhibit melanoma growth in vivo. To
      support this hypothesis, FREG was inoculated intravenously (i.v.) in a mouse
      melanoma model and markedly inhibited pulmonary metastases formation.
      Immunohistochemical analyses showed less proliferation, less angiogenesis, and
      more apoptosis in metastasized lungs upon FREG treatment, as compared to
      untreated controls. Finally, in preliminary acute toxicity studies, FREG showed
      no toxicity signs in healthy animals, and neither microscopic nor macroscopic
      toxicity at the liver, kidney, and lungs level. Altogether, these data indicate
      that FREG systemic treatment strongly inhibits melanoma metastases development
      and indicate for the first time that agonists of PDGF-Ralpha may control melanoma
      both in vitro and in vivo.

PMID- 20924365
TI  - Antisense-induced myostatin exon skipping leads to muscle hypertrophy in mice
      following octa-guanidine morpholino oligomer treatment.
AB  - Myostatin is a negative regulator of muscle mass, and several strategies are
      being developed to knockdown its expression to improve muscle-wasting conditions.
      Strategies using antimyostatin-blocking antibodies, inhibitory-binding partners,
      signal transduction blockers, and RNA interference system (RNAi)-based knockdown
      have yielded promising results and increased muscle mass in experimental animals.
      These approaches have, however, a number of disadvantages such as transient
      effects or adverse immune complications. We report here the use of antisense
      oligonucleotides (AOs) to manipulate myostatin pre-mRNA splicing and knockdown
      myostatin expression. Both 2'O-methyl phosphorothioate RNA (2'OMePS) and
      phosphorodiamidate morpholino oligomers (PMO) led to efficient exon skipping in
      vitro and in vivo and knockdown of myostatin at the transcript level. The
      substantial myostatin exon skipping observed after systemic injection of Vivo-PMO
      into normal mice led to a significant increase in soleus muscle mass as compared
      to the controls injected with normal saline suggesting that this approach could
      be feasible to ameliorate muscle-wasting pathologies.

PMID- 20924366
TI  - Biomarkers and molecular diagnosis of gastrointestinal and pancreatic neoplasms.
AB  - Standard protocols for the diagnosis of neoplasms in the gastrointestinal tract
      are based on histopathologic analysis in combination with clinical information.
      With the completion of the Human Genome Project in 2003, our understanding of the
      contribution of genetics to human disease has increased exponentially. This
      knowledge is gradually being incorporated into clinical decision-making. However,
      the rate at which molecular biomarkers are validated for use in mainstream
      clinical applications has lagged far behind that of biomarker discovery.
      Nevertheless, a number of molecular biomarkers are available for use in the
      diagnosis and management of gastrointestinal tract neoplasms. This article
      reviews the most common molecular biomarkers currently available for neoplasms of
      the luminal gastrointestinal tract and pancreas. In neoplasms of the esophagus,
      for which no biomarkers are currently used in routine clinical practice, those
      that have shown the most promise in early clinical validation studies are
      discussed.

PMID- 20924367
TI  - Diagnosis and management of iron deficiency anemia in patients with IBD.
AB  - Anemia is the most prevalent extraintestinal complication of IBD. It can affect
      quality of life and ability to work, and can also increase the hospitalization
      rate in patients with IBD. Although the causes of anemia in IBD are
      multifactorial, iron deficiency anemia (IDA) is the most common. Assessment of
      the iron status of patients who have a condition associated with inflammation,
      such as IBD, by using common biochemical values is insufficient. However, new
      indices of iron metabolism (for instance ferritin:transferrin receptor ratio,
      reticulocyte hemoglobin content or percentage of hypochromic red blood cells) may
      help to improve the assessment of iron status in patients with IBD. The treatment
      of IDA traditionally involves oral iron supplementation. However, because of
      extensive gastrointestinal adverse effects, and data showing that the use of oral
      iron in IBD may be associated with disease exacerbation, current guidelines
      suggest that iron supplementation in IBD should be administered intravenously.
      This Review provides an overview of iron homeostasis in health before discussing
      diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for IDA in patients with IBD.

PMID- 20924368
TI  - Weak peristalsis in esophageal pressure topography: classification and
      association with Dysphagia.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Esophageal manometry is frequently used to assess for weak
      peristalsis. Although commonly used clinically, there are currently no validated
      metrics of weak peristalsis in high-resolution esophageal pressure topography
      (EPT). This study aimed to develop a classification of weak peristalsis in EPT
      based on a comparative analysis of control subjects and patients with unexplained
      non-obstructive dysphagia. METHODS: High-resolution esophageal pressure
      topography (high-resolution impedance manometry) studies were carried out in 16
      control subjects to verify EPT features associated with incomplete bolus transit
      (IBT). The technique of superimposing EPT plots in a computer simulation was used
      to derive normal limits of peristaltic integrity in EPT in another 75 control
      subjects. The occurrence of critical EPT defects was then compared between
      control subjects and 113 patients with non-obstructive dysphagia identified from
      a large clinical series. RESULTS: IBT occurred with failed peristalsis or with
      breaks in the 20 mm Hg isobaric contour occurring at the proximal or distal
      pressure troughs in EPT plots. The normal range for isobaric contour breaks was 0
      20% for large (>5 cm) and 0-30% for small (2-5 cm) breaks, with both occurring
      significantly more frequently in dysphagic patients. Failed peristalsis was not
      more frequent in dysphagic patients. CONCLUSIONS: A classification of weak
      peristalsis adapted to EPT is proposed based on the occurrence of breaks in the
      20 mm Hg isobaric contour wherein weak peristalsis with large breaks is defined
      by those occurring with >20% of swallows and weak peristalsis with small breaks
      defined by those occurring with >30% of swallows.

PMID- 20924369
TI  - IL28B genomic-based treatment paradigms for patients with chronic hepatitis C
      infection: the future of personalized HCV therapies.
AB  - Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have recently identified host genetic
      variation to be critical for predicting treatment response and spontaneous
      clearance in patients infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV). These important new
      studies are reviewed and their future clinical implications discussed. Single
      nucleotide polymorphisms in the region of the IL28B gene on chromosome 19, coding
      for the interferon (IFN)-lambda-3 or IL28B gene, are strongly associated with
      treatment response to pegylated IFN and ribavirin in patients infected with
      genotype 1 HCV. The good response variant is associated with a twofold increase
      in the rate of cure. Allele frequencies differ between ethnic groups, largely
      explaining the observed differences in response rates between Caucasians, African
      Americans and Asians. IL28B polymorphism is also strongly associated with
      spontaneous clearance of HCV. The biological mechanisms responsible for these
      genetic associations remain unknown and are the focus of ongoing research.
      Knowledge of a patient's IL28B genotype is likely to aid in clinical decision
      making with standard of care regimens. Future studies will investigate the
      possibility of individualizing treatment duration and novel regimens according to
      IL28B type.

PMID- 20924370
TI  - Coupling of receptor conformation and ligand orientation determine graded
      activity.
AB  - Small molecules stabilize specific protein conformations from a larger ensemble,
      enabling molecular switches that control diverse cellular functions. We show here
      that the converse also holds true: the conformational state of the estrogen
      receptor can direct distinct orientations of the bound ligand. 'Gain-of
      allostery' mutations that mimic the effects of ligand in driving protein
      conformation allowed crystallization of the partial agonist ligand WAY-169916
      with both the canonical active and inactive conformations of the estrogen
      receptor. The intermediate transcriptional activity induced by WAY-169916 is
      associated with the ligand binding differently to the active and inactive
      conformations of the receptor. Analyses of a series of chemical derivatives
      demonstrated that altering the ensemble of ligand binding orientations changes
      signaling output. The coupling of different ligand binding orientations to
      distinct active and inactive protein conformations defines a new mechanism for
      titrating allosteric signaling activity.

PMID- 20924371
TI  - Fit-for-purpose biomarker method validation for application in clinical trials of
      anticancer drugs.
AB  - Clinical development of new anticancer drugs can be compromised by a lack of
      qualified biomarkers. An indispensable component to successful biomarker
      qualification is assay validation, which is also a regulatory requirement. In
      order to foster flexible yet rigorous biomarker method validation, the fit-for
      purpose approach has recently been developed. This minireview focuses on many of
      the basic issues surrounding validation of biomarker assays utilised in clinical
      trials. It also provides an overview on strategies to validate each of the five
      categories that define the majority of biomarker assays.

PMID- 20924373
TI  - A pilot study on the immunogenicity of dendritic cell vaccination during adjuvant
      oxaliplatin/capecitabine chemotherapy in colon cancer patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Dendritic cell (DC) vaccination has been shown to induce anti-tumour
      immune responses in cancer patients, but so far its clinical efficacy is limited.
      Recent evidence supports an immunogenic effect of cytotoxic chemotherapy. Pre
      clinical data indicate that the combination of chemotherapy and immunotherapy may
      result in an enhanced anti-cancer activity. Most studies have focused on the
      immunogenic aspect of chemotherapy-induced cell death, but only few studies have
      investigated the effect of chemotherapeutic agents on the effector lymphocytes of
      the immune system. METHODS: Here we investigated the effect of treatment with
      oxaliplatin and capecitabine on non-specific and specific DC vaccine-induced
      adaptive immune responses. Stage III colon cancer patients receiving standard
      adjuvant oxaliplatin/capecitabine chemotherapy were vaccinated at the same time
      with keyhole limpet haemocyanin (KLH) and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA)-peptide
      pulsed DCs. RESULTS: In 4 out of 7 patients, functional CEA-specific T-cell
      responses were found at delayed type hypersensitivity (DTH) skin testing. In
      addition, we observed an enhanced non-specific T-cell reactivity upon oxaliplatin
      administration. KLH-specific T-cell responses remained unaffected by the
      chemotherapy, whereas B-cell responses were diminished. CONCLUSION: The results
      strongly support further testing of the combined use of specific anti-tumour
      vaccination with oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy.

PMID- 20924372
TI  - Identification of serum angiopoietin-2 as a biomarker for clinical outcome of
      colorectal cancer patients treated with bevacizumab-containing therapy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The combination of chemotherapy with the vascular endothelial growth
      factor (VEGF) antibody bevacizumab is a standard of care in advanced colorectal
      cancer (CRC). However, biomarkers predicting outcome of bevacizumab-containing
      treatment are lacking. As angiopoietin-2 (Ang-2) is a key regulator of vascular
      remodelling in concert with VEGF, we investigated its role as a biomarker in
      metastatic CRC. METHODS: Serum Ang-2 levels were measured in 33 healthy
      volunteers and 90 patients with CRC. Of these, 34 had metastatic disease and
      received bevacizumab-containing therapy. To determine the tissue of origin of Ang
      2, quantitative real-time PCR was performed on microdissected cryosections of
      human CRC and in a murine xenograft model of CRC using species-specific
      amplification. RESULTS: Ang-2 originated from the stromal compartment of CRC
      tissues. Serum Ang-2 levels were significantly elevated in patients with
      metastatic CRC compared with healthy controls. Amongst patients receiving
      bevacizumab-containing treatment, low pre-therapeutic serum Ang-2 levels were
      associated with a significant better response rate (82 vs 31%; P<0.01), a
      prolonged median progression-free survival (14.1 vs 8.5 months; P<0.01) and a
      reduction of 91% in the hazard of death (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Serum Ang-2 is a
      candidate biomarker for outcome of patients with metastatic CRC treated with
      bevacizumab-containing therapy, and it should be further validated to customise
      combined chemotherapeutic and anti-angiogenic treatment.

PMID- 20924374
TI  - Serum cytokine concentrations, flavonol intake and colorectal adenoma recurrence
      in the Polyp Prevention Trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Serum cytokine concentrations may reflect inflammatory processes
      occurring during the development of colorectal neoplasms. Flavonols, bioactive
      compounds found in plant-based foods and beverages, may inhibit colorectal
      neoplasms partly by attenuating inflammation. METHODS: Using logistic regression,
      we estimated odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) to investigate
      the association between serum concentrations of interleukin (IL) beta, 2, 8, 10,
      12p70, granulocyte macrophage colony stimulating factor, interferon-gamma, and
      tumour necrosis factor-alpha, measured over time, flavonol intake, estimated from
      a flavonol database used in conjunction with a food frequency questionnaire, and
      adenoma recurrence in 872 participants from the intervention arm of the Polyp
      Prevention Trial. RESULTS: Decreased IL-2 concentration during the trial
      increased the risk of any adenoma recurrence (4th vs 1st quartile, OR=1.68, 95%
      CI=1.13-2.49), whereas decreased IL-1beta or IL-10 reduced the risk of advanced
      adenoma recurrence (OR=0.37, 95% CI=0.15-0.94; OR=0.39, 95% CI=0.15-0.98,
      respectively). Individuals with flavonol intake above the median (29.7 mg per
      day) and decreased cytokine concentrations had the lowest risk of advanced
      adenoma recurrence. CONCLUSION: Overall, no consistent associations were observed
      between serum cytokine profile and colorectal adenoma recurrence; however,
      decreased cytokine concentrations during high flavonol consumption may indicate
      prevention of colorectal neoplasms.

PMID- 20924375
TI  - Activity of irinotecan and temozolomide in the presence of O6-methylguanine-DNA
      methyltransferase inhibition in neuroblastoma pre-clinical models.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The combination of temozolomide (TMZ) and irinotecan is a regimen
      used in neuroblastoma patients with recurrent disease. O(6)-methylguanine-DNA
      methyltransferase (MGMT) may have a function in resistance to TMZ. Using
      neuroblastoma pre-clinical models, we determined whether the inhibition of MGMT
      by O(6)-benzylguanine (O6-BG) could enhance the anti-tumour activity of TMZ and
      irinotecan. METHODS: The cytotoxicity of TMZ and irinotecan, either alone or in
      combination, was measured in five neuroblastoma cell lines in the presence or
      absence of O6-BG with a fluorescence-based cell viability assay (DIMSCAN). Anti
      tumour activity was measured in three neuroblastoma xenograft models. RESULTS:
      MGMT mRNA and protein were expressed in 9 out of 10 examined cell lines.
      Pretreatment of cells with 25 MUM O6-BG decreased MGMT protein expression and
      enhanced The TMZ cytotoxicity by up to 0.3-1.4 logs in four out of five tested
      cell lines. TMZ (25 mg kg(-1) per day for 5 days every 3 weeks for four cycles)
      did not significantly improve mice survival, whereas the same schedule of
      irinotecan (7.5 mg kg(-1) per day) significantly improved survival (P<0.0001) in
      all three xenograft models. Combining O6-BG and/or TMZ with irinotecan further
      enhanced survival. CONCLUSION: Our in vitro and in vivo findings suggest that
      irinotecan drives the activity of irinotecan and TMZ in recurrent neuroblastoma.
      Inhibitors of MGMT warrant further investigation for enhancing the activity of
      regimens that include TMZ.

PMID- 20924376
TI  - Phase II trial of sagopilone, a novel epothilone analog in metastatic melanoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sagopilone is a novel fully synthetic epothilone with promising
      preclinical activity and a favourable toxicity profile in phase I testing.
      METHODS: A phase II pharmacokinetic and efficacy trial was conducted in patients
      with metastatic melanoma. Patients had measurable disease, Eastern Cooperative
      Oncology Group performance status 0-2, adequate haematological, and organ
      function, with up to 2 previous chemotherapy and any previous immunotherapy
      regimens. Sagopilone, 16 mg m-2, was administered intravenously over 3 h every 21
      days until progression or unacceptable toxicity. RESULTS: Thirty-five patients
      were treated. Sagopilone showed multi-exponential kinetics with a mean terminal
      half-life of 64 h and a volume of distribution of 4361 l m-2 indicating extensive
      tissue/tubulin binding. Only grade 2 or lower toxicity was observed: these
      included sensory neuropathy (66%), leukopenia (46%), fatigue (34%), and
      neutropenia (31%). The objective response rate was 11.4% (one confirmed complete
      response, two confirmed partial responses, and one unconfirmed partial response).
      Stable disease for at least 12 weeks was seen in an additional eight patients
      (clinical benefit rate 36.4%). CONCLUSION: Sagopilone was well tolerated with
      mild haematological toxicity and sensory neuropathy. Unlike other epothilones, it
      shows activity against melanoma even in pretreated patients. Further clinical
      testing is warranted.

PMID- 20924377
TI  - Insulin-like growth factors and insulin control a multifunctional signalling
      network of significant importance in cancer.
AB  - Insulin-like growth factor (IGF) and insulin (INS) proteins regulate key cellular
      functions through a complex interacting multi-component molecular network, known
      as the IGF/INS axis. We describe how dynamic and multilayer interactions give
      rise to the multifunctional role of the IGF/INS axis. Furthermore, we summarise
      the importance of the regulatory IGF/INS network in cancer, and discuss the
      possibilities and limitations of therapies targeting the IGF/INS axis with
      reference to ongoing clinical trials concerning the blockage of IGF1R in several
      types of cancer.

PMID- 20924378
TI  - A phase II study of weekly docetaxel and cisplatin plus oral tegafur/uracil and
      leucovorin as first-line chemotherapy in patients with locally advanced or
      metastatic gastric cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Docetaxel plus cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil has become a new standard
      for treating advanced gastric cancer. However, high rates of severe neutropenia
      limit its application. Modification of the regimen could be the solution to get
      similar activity but less myelosuppression. METHODS: Patients with histologically
      confirmed, locally advanced, or recurrent/metastatic gastric adenocarcinoma
      without previous chemotherapy were enrolled. This regimen consisted of docetaxel
      (Tyxan, TTY, Taipei, Taiwan) 30-min infusion at a dose of 36 mg m(-2), followed
      by cisplatin 30 mg m(-2) infusion over 1 h on days 1 and 8, and oral
      tegafur/uracil 300 mg m(-2) per day plus leucovorin 90 mg per day on days 1-14,
      every 3 weeks. Tumour response was evaluated after every 2 cycles of treatment.
      RESULTS: From August 2007 to March 2009, 45 patients were enrolled. The median
      age was 56 years (range: 22-75). Among the 40 patients evaluable for tumour
      response, one achieved a complete response, 22 had partial responses and 11 had
      stable disease. The overall response rates of the evaluable and intent-to-treat
      (ITT) populations were 58% (95% CI: 41-74%) and 53% (95% CI: 38-68%),
      respectively. The disease control rates in these populations were 85% (95% CI: 70
      94%) and 82% (95% CI: 68-92%), respectively. In the ITT analysis, the median time
      to progression and overall survival were 6.8 and 13.9 months, respectively. Major
      grade 3-4 toxicities were neutropenia (51%), anaemia (22%), diarrhoea (16%), and
      infections (20%). No patient died of treatment-related toxicities. CONCLUSION:
      Concurrent weekly docetaxel and cisplatin plus oral tegafur/uracil and leucovorin
      are effective and well tolerated in the treatment of advanced gastric cancer.

PMID- 20924379
TI  - Detecting treatment response in a model of human breast adenocarcinoma using
      hyperpolarised [1-13C]pyruvate and [1,4-13C2]fumarate.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The recent introduction of a dynamic nuclear polarisation technique
      has permitted noninvasive imaging of tumour cell metabolism in vivo following
      intravenous administration of (13)C-labelled cell substrates. METHODS: Changes in
      hyperpolarised [1-(13)C]pyruvate and [1,4-(13)C(2)]fumarate metabolism were
      evaluated in both MDA-MB-231 cells and in implanted MDA-MB-231 tumours following
      doxorubicin treatment. RESULTS: Treatment of MDA-MB-231 cells resulted in the
      induction of apoptosis, which was accompanied by a decrease in hyperpolarised
      (13)C label flux between [1-(13)C]pyruvate and lactate, which was correlated with
      a decrease in the cellular NAD(H) coenzyme pool. There was also an increase in
      the rate of fumarate conversion to malate, which accompanied the onset of
      cellular necrosis. In vivo, the decrease in (13)C label exchange between pyruvate
      and lactate and the increased flux between fumarate and malate, following drug
      treatment, were shown to occur in the absence of any detectable change in tumour
      size. CONCLUSION: We show here that the early responses of a human breast
      adenocarcinoma tumour model to drug treatment can be followed by administration
      of both hyperpolarised [1-(13)C]pyruvate and [1,4-(13)C(2)]fumarate. These
      techniques could be used, therefore, in the clinic to detect the early responses
      of breast tumours to treatment.

PMID- 20924380
TI  - Combination of sapacitabine and HDAC inhibitors stimulates cell death in AML and
      other tumour types.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Alternative treatments are needed for elderly patients with acute
      myeloid leukaemia, as the disease prognosis is poor and the current treatment is
      unsuitable for many patients. METHODS: In this study, we investigated whether
      combining the nucleoside analogue sapacitabine with histone deacetylase (HDAC)
      inhibitors could be an effective treatment. Synergy and mode-of-action analysis
      were studied in cultured cell lines and the efficacy of the combination was
      confirmed in a xenograft model. RESULTS: CNDAC (1-(2-C-cyano-2-deoxy-beta-D
      arabino-pentofuranosyl)-cytosine), the active component of sapacitabine,
      synergised with vorinostat in cell lines derived from a range of tumour types.
      Synergy was not dependent on a specific sequence of drug administration and was
      also observed when CNDAC was combined with an alternative HDAC inhibitor,
      valproate. Flow cytometry and western blot analysis confirmed that the
      combination induced a significant increase in apoptosis. Mode-of-action analysis
      detected changes in Bcl-xl, Mcl-1, Noxa, Bid and Bim, which are all regulators of
      the apoptotic process. The sapacitabine/vorinostat combination demonstrated
      significant benefit compared with the single-agent treatments in an MV4-11
      xenograft, in the absence of any observed toxicity. CONCLUSION: Sapacitabine and
      HDAC inhibitors are an effective drug combination that is worthy of clinical
      exploration.

PMID- 20924381
TI  - Antibacterial to antifungal conversion of neamine aminoglycosides through alkyl
      modification. Strategy for reviving old drugs into agrofungicides.
AB  - Many Actinomycetes aminoglycosides are widely used antibiotics. Although mainly
      antibacterials, a few known aminoglycosides also inhibit yeasts, protozoans and
      important crop pathogenic fungal oomycetes. Here we show that attachment of a C8
      alkyl chain to ring III of a neamine-based aminoglycoside specifically at the 4"
      o position yields a broad-spectrum fungicide (FG08) without the antibacterial
      properties typical for aminoglycosides. Leaf infection assays and greenhouse
      studies show that FG08 is capable of suppressing wheat fungal infections by
      Fusarium graminearum-the causative agent of Fusarium head blight-at
      concentrations that are minimally phytotoxic. Unlike typical aminoglycoside
      action of ribosomal protein translation miscoding, FG08's antifungal action
      involves perturbation of the plasma membrane. This antibacterial to antifungal
      transformation could pave the way for the development of a new class of
      aminoglycoside-based fungicides suitable for use in crop disease applications. In
      addition, this strategy is an example of reviving a clinically obsolete drug by
      simple chemical modification to yield a new application.

PMID- 20924382
TI  - Cytotoxic aromatic compounds from Hericium erinaceum.

PMID- 20924383
TI  - The psychotrimine natural products have antibacterial activity against Gram
      positive bacteria and act via membrane disruption.

PMID- 20924384
TI  - Bioconversion of AS1387392: bioconversion studies involving Amycolatopsis azurea
      JCM 3275.
AB  - We screened actinomycetes capable of converting AS1387392 to AS1429716 and
      identified those strains capable of hydroxylation. Amycolatopsis azurea JCM 3275
      was found to be a particularly efficient strain, capable of converting AS1387392
      to AS1429716, with a yield of 44% after 9 h. This strain can metabolize not only
      the hydroxylation of phenylalanine at the meta and para positions but also the
      reduction of hydroxyketones, as shown by the isolation of bioconversion products.
      Examination of more suitable conversion conditions showed that pH 7.8 and 25 
      degrees C were the optimum pH and temperature for bioconversion, respectively. We
      also demonstrated the effect of carbon and nitrogen sources in the culture media
      on hydroxylation. Using this strain, we were able to efficiently produce
      AS1429716 as a chemical template. Further derivatization studies may provide more
      effective, safer immunosuppressants than those that are currently on-market.

PMID- 20924385
TI  - Cloning and heterologous expression of P450Um-1, a novel bacterial P450 gene, for
      hydroxylation of immunosuppressive agent AS1387392.
AB  - Biotransformation technology involving enzymatic modification of original
      substrates by organisms such as microbes is a valuable tool in improving
      pharmacokinetics or physicochemical properties of the base compounds. The fungal
      metabolite AS1387392 is a histone deacetylase inhibitor with potential as a
      therapeutic immunosuppressant. However, its paucity of functional groups,
      essential to synthesizing derivatives, is a drawback. Amycolatopsis azurea JCM
      3275 catalyzed hydroxylation of AS1387392 to AS1429716, which may facilitate the
      synthesis of more derivatives by the additional hydroxyl moiety present in
      AS1429716. This reaction was inhibited by cytochrome P450 inhibitor metyrapone,
      indicating that cytochrome P450 may be responsible for the transformation.
      Degenerate PCR primers were subsequently constructed and used to clone genes
      encoding cytochrome P450 from the genomic DNA of A. azurea JCM-3275. We cloned an
      entire novel P450 gene (1209 bp) and named it P450Um-1. Its deduced amino acid
      sequence was homologous with that of the CYP105 subfamily. Further cloning of the
      upstream region, which may contain the native promoter site, was followed by
      insertion of the open reading frame with the upstream area into Streptomycetes
      high copy vector pIJ702, giving the expression plasmid pNUm-1. P450Um-1 was
      specifically expressed in Streptomyces lividans TK24, and this recombinant strain
      converted AS1387392 to AS1429716 without any redox partners. These results show
      that P450Um-1, a novel bacterial P450, catalyzed hydroxylation of AS1387392 to
      AS1429716. This resultant recombinant strain is expected to be an efficient
      biocatalyst with application to more suitable redox systems than those tested
      here.

PMID- 20924386
TI  - 25 years of C60.
AB  - The discovery of buckminsterfullerene has had a widespread impact throughout
      science.

PMID- 20924388
TI  - Nanopores: Graphene opens up to DNA.

PMID- 20924389
TI  - Nanoelectronics: Nanoribbons on the edge.

PMID- 20924390
TI  - Nanomaterials: Graphene rests easy.

PMID- 20924391
TI  - Thermoelectric materials: Silicon stops heat in its tracks.

PMID- 20924392
TI  - beta-glucan from barley and its lipid-lowering capacity: a meta-analysis of
      randomized, controlled trials.
AB  - BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: To more precisely quantify the effect of barley beta
      glucan on blood lipid concentrations in humans and to examine the factors that
      could affect its efficacy. SUBJECTS/METHODS: Eleven eligible randomized clinical
      trials published from 1989 to 2008 were identified from nine databases. Weighted
      mean effect sizes were calculated for net differences in lipid profile using a
      random effect model (RevMan 4.2). RESULTS: Overall, barley and beta-glucan
      isolated from barley lowered total and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol
      concentrations by 0.30 mmol/l (95% confidence interval (CI): -0.39 to -0.21,
      P<0.00001) and 0.27 mmol/l (95% CI: -0.34 to -0.20, P<0.00001), respectively,
      compared with control. The pattern of cholesterol-lowering action of barley in
      this analysis could not be viewed as a dose-dependent response. There were no
      significant subgroup differences by type of intervention and food matrix.
      CONCLUSIONS: Increased consumption of barely products should be considered as a
      dietary approach to reduce LDL cholesterol concentrations.

PMID- 20924393
TI  - Effects of PGX, a novel functional fibre, on acute and delayed postprandial
      glycaemia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Viscous fibre in food has established health benefits, but few
      functional fibre preparations are both effective and palatable. Our objective was
      to determine the most effective dose, formulation and timing of consumption of a
      novel fibre supplement (PolyGlycopleX (PGX)) in reducing postprandial glycaemia.
      SUBJECTS/METHODS: Three trials were undertaken, each with 10 subjects (8M and 8F;
      age 24.4 +/- 2.6 years). Granular supplement was tested at four doses (0, 2.5,
      5.0 and 7.5 g) with breakfast (study 1). Granular and capsule forms of the
      supplement were given in a single dose (5 g for granules and 4.5 g in capsules)
      at -60, -45, -30, -15 and 0 before, and +15 min after a bread meal (study 2).
      Capsules at increasing doses (1.5, 3, 4.5 and 6 g) were consumed with the evening
      meal to determine effects on glucose tolerance at breakfast (study 3).
      Incremental area under the blood glucose curve was determined. RESULTS: Granular
      PGX at breakfast time at doses of 2.5, 5 and 7.5 g reduced the incremental area
      under the curve by up to 50% in a linear dose-response fashion (P<0.001). The
      granular form of PGX (5 g), but not the capsules, reduced glycaemia by up to 28%
      when consumed from -45 to +15 min (P<0.001). Capsules containing 3, 4.5 and 6 g
      PGX consumed with the evening meal reduced glycaemia at breakfast by up to 28%
      (P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: PGX has biologically important, dose-related effects on
      acute and delayed (second meal) postprandial glycaemia.

PMID- 20924394
TI  - Soy consumption is not protective against diabetes in Hawaii: the Multiethnic
      Cohort.
AB  - Based on the hypothesis that soy consumption may improve glucose tolerance, we
      examined the association of soy intake with diabetes risk in the Hawaii component
      of the Multiethnic Cohort. Among 29 719 Caucasian, 35 141 Japanese American and
      10 484 Native Hawaiian men and women, 8564 incident diabetes cases were
      identified during 14 years of follow-up. Cox regression was used to calculate
      hazard ratios while adjusting for known confounders with stratifications by sex,
      ethnicity and weight status. We observed no protective effect of soy food
      consumption on diabetes risk in this population, which has a wide range of soy
      intakes though lower than in Asian populations. Indeed, higher soy food intake
      was associated with a weakly elevated diabetes risk across ethnic groups; the
      higher risk was limited to overweight and obese individuals. The current findings
      do not support a protective effect of modest levels of soy food consumption
      against diabetes.

PMID- 20924395
TI  - A splicing mastermind for EMT.

PMID- 20924396
TI  - Somatic piRNA biogenesis.

PMID- 20924397
TI  - Autophagy: in the hands of HMGB1.

PMID- 20924398
TI  - Crossing the great divide: telomeres and ecology.

PMID- 20924399
TI  - Fusion-fission experiments in Aphidius: evolutionary split without isolation in
      response to environmental bimodality.
AB  - Studying host-based divergence naturally maintained by a balance between
      selection and gene flow can provide valuable insights into genetic underpinnings
      of host adaptation and ecological speciation in parasites. Selection-gene flow
      balance is often postulated in sympatric host races, but direct experimental
      evidence is scarce. In this study, we present such evidence obtained in host
      races of Aphidius ervi, an important hymenopteran agent of biological control of
      aphids in agriculture, using a novel fusion-fission method of gene flow
      perturbation. In our study, between-race genetic divergence was obliterated by
      means of advanced hybridisation, followed by a multi-generation exposure of the
      resulting genetically uniform hybrid swarm to a two-host environment. This fusion
      fission procedure was implemented under two contrasting regimes of between-host
      gene flow in two replicated experiments involving different racial pairs. Host
      based genetic fission in response to environmental bimodality occurred in both
      experiments in as little as six generations of divergent adaptation despite
      continuous gene flow. We demonstrate that fission recovery of host-based
      divergence evolved faster and hybridisation-induced linkage disequilibrium
      decayed slower under restricted (6.7%) compared with unrestricted gene flow,
      directly pointing at a balance between gene flow and divergent selection. We also
      show, in four separate tests, that random drift had no or little role in the
      observed genetic split. Rates and patterns of fission divergence differed between
      racial pairs. Comparative linkage analysis of these differences is currently
      under way to test for the role of genomic architecture of adaptation in ecology
      driven divergent evolution.

PMID- 20924401
TI  - Go figure.
AB  - A picture may be worth a thousand words, but ensuring that those words make sense
      is important, especially in the context of a scientific figure. Here are some
      tips for making your figures count.

PMID- 20924402
TI  - The molecular principles of N-end rule recognition.
AB  - The N-end rule pathway is a proteolytic system in which recognition components (N
      recognins) recognize a set of N-terminal residues as part of degradation signals
      (N-degrons). Two studies in this issue report the structures of Ubr boxes, a
      substrate recognition domain of eukaryotic N-recognins. We discuss how eukaryotic
      and prokaryotic N-recognins use a similar molecular principle to recognize a
      different set of N-degrons.

PMID- 20924400
TI  - Hereditary disorders of renal phosphate wasting.
AB  - Inherited diseases of renal phosphate handling lead to urinary phosphate wasting
      and depletion of total body phosphorus stores. Clinical sequelae of inherited
      disorders that are associated with increased urinary phosphate excretion are
      deleterious and can lead to abnormal skeletal growth and deformities. This Review
      describes hereditary disorders of renal phosphate wasting taking into account
      developments in our understanding of renal phosphate handling from the last
      decade. The cloning of genes involved in these disorders and further studies on
      their pathophysiological mechanisms have given important insights in to how
      phosphatonins, such as FGF-23, regulate renal phosphate reabsorption in health
      and disease. X-linked dominant hypophosphatemic rickets results from mutation of
      a metalloprotease (PHEX) that has an unidentified role in FGF-23 degradation.
      Mutation of an RXXR proteolytic cleavage site in FGF-23 prevents degradation and
      increases circulating levels of FGF-23 in autosomal dominant hypophosphatemic
      rickets. FGF-23 acts to remove sodium phosphate co-transporters from the luminal
      membrane of proximal tubular cells with resultant renal phosphate wasting. Loss
      of function mutations in genes encoding the transporters NaPi-IIc and NaPi-IIa
      also result in renal phosphate wasting and rickets.

PMID- 20924403
TI  - One motor driving two translocases.
AB  - In this issue, Wu et al. show that the RecBC helicase, which is involved in
      repairing double-strand DNA breaks,uses one ATPase motor to drive two
      translocases along opposite strands of DNA-much as an all-wheel drive engine
      controls movement of both front and back wheels. This mechanism may allow RecBC
      to load onto blunt-end DNA more efficiently and to move through obstacles such as
      gaps and DNA damage.

PMID- 20924406
TI  - Gene-based interaction analysis by incorporating external linkage disequilibrium
      information.
AB  - Gene-gene interactions have an important role in complex human diseases.
      Detection of gene-gene interactions has long been a challenge due to their
      complexity. The standard method aiming at detecting SNP-SNP interactions may be
      inadequate as it does not model linkage disequilibrium (LD) among SNPs in each
      gene and may lose power due to a large number of comparisons. To improve power,
      we propose a principal component (PC)-based framework for gene-based interaction
      analysis. We analytically derive the optimal weight for both quantitative and
      binary traits based on pairwise LD information. We then use PCs to summarize the
      information in each gene and test for interactions between the PCs. We further
      extend this gene-based interaction analysis procedure to allow the use of
      imputation dosage scores obtained from a popular imputation software package,
      MACH, which incorporates multilocus LD information. To evaluate the performance
      of the gene-based interaction tests, we conducted extensive simulations under
      various settings. We demonstrate that gene-based interaction tests are more
      powerful than SNP-based tests when more than two variants interact with each
      other; moreover, tests that incorporate external LD information are generally
      more powerful than those that use genotyped markers only. We also apply the
      proposed gene-based interaction tests to a candidate gene study on high-density
      lipoprotein. As our method operates at the gene level, it can be applied to a
      genome-wide association setting and used as a screening tool to detect gene-gene
      interactions.

PMID- 20924405
TI  - Desperately seeking microRNA targets.
AB  - MicroRNAs (miRNAs) suppress gene expression by inhibiting translation, promoting
      mRNA decay or both. Each miRNA may regulate hundreds of genes to control the
      cell's response to developmental and other environmental cues. The best way to
      understand the function of a miRNA is to identify the genes that it regulates.
      Target gene identification is challenging because miRNAs bind to their target
      mRNAs by partial complementarity over a short sequence, suppression of an
      individual target gene is often small, and the rules of targeting are not
      completely understood. Here we review computational and experimental approaches
      to the identification of miRNA-regulated genes. The examination of changes in
      gene expression that occur when miRNA expression is altered and biochemical
      isolation of miRNA-associated transcripts complement target prediction
      algorithms. Bioinformatic analysis of over-represented pathways and nodes in
      protein-DNA interactomes formed from experimental candidate miRNA gene target
      lists can focus attention on biologically significant target genes.

PMID- 20924407
TI  - Empowerment: qualitative underpinning of a new clinical genetics-specific patient
      reported outcome.
AB  - Recent qualitative research developed a new construct labelled Empowerment
      describing a new patient outcome from using clinical genetics services that
      included four dimensions: Knowledge and Understanding, Decision-Making,
      Instrumentality and Future-Orientation. The aim of this study was to explore the
      validity, relevance and importance of the Empowerment construct for use as a
      patient-reported outcome (PRO) for clinical genetics services, and to refine the
      construct if necessary. Qualitative research (interviews and focus groups) was
      conducted in the UK with 12 patients, 15 representatives from patient support
      groups, 10 genetics clinicians and 4 service commissioners. Participants were
      asked to (1) describe what they think are the patient benefits from using
      clinical genetics services and (2) critique the Empowerment construct as a PRO.
      Interviews and focus groups were transcribed in full and analyzed using grounded
      theory. Findings confirmed the relevance and importance of the Empowerment
      construct, and identified Emotional Regulation as a further dimension of
      Empowerment. Data analysis also resulted in refinement of the construct, by
      renaming the other four dimensions to be Cognitive Control, Decisional Control,
      Behavioural Control and Hope. Empowerment has the potential to be a useful PRO to
      evaluate interventions in clinical genetics, and for use in clinical practice to
      generate data for continuous quality improvement. A study is underway to
      operationalise Empowerment by developing a psychometrically sound PRO measure
      that will take the form of a short questionnaire.

PMID- 20924408
TI  - Does heritability hide in epistasis between linked SNPs?

PMID- 20924409
TI  - Estimating penetrance from multiple case families with predisposing mutations:
      extension of the 'genotype-restricted likelihood' (GRL) method.
AB  - Some diseases are due to germline mutations in predisposing genes, such as cancer
      family syndromes. Precise estimation of the age-specific cumulative risk
      (penetrance) for mutation carriers is essential for defining prevention
      strategies. The genotype-restricted likelihood (GRL) method is aimed at
      estimating penetrance from multiple case families with such a mutation. In this
      paper, we proposed an extension of the GRL to account for multiple trait disease
      and to allow for a parent-of-origin effect. Using simulations of pedigrees, we
      studied the properties of this method and the effect of departures from
      underlying hypotheses, misspecification of disease incidence in the general
      population or misspecification of the index case, and penetrance heterogeneity.
      In contrast with the previous version of the GRL, accounting for multiple trait
      disease allowed unbiased estimation of penetrance. We also showed that accounting
      for a parent-of-origin effect allowed a powerful test for detecting this effect.
      We found that the GRL method was robust to misspecification of disease incidence
      in the population, but that misspecification of the index case induced a bias in
      some situations for which we proposed efficient corrections. When ignoring
      heterogeneity, the penetrance estimate was biased toward that of the highest risk
      individuals. A homogeneity test performed by stratifying the families according
      to the number of affected members was shown to have low power and seems useless
      for detecting such heterogeneity. These extensions are essential to better
      estimate the risk of diseases and to provide valid recommendations for the
      management of patients.

PMID- 20924411
TI  - Justification for including MRI as a tool in the diagnosis of axial SpA.
AB  - New classification criteria for axial spondyloarthritis (SpA) have been developed
      and validated. MRI of the sacroiliac joints is an important feature in these
      criteria. This is rightfully so, as MRI can identify active lesions in the
      subchondral bone marrow that are thought to be related to the underlying
      pathophysiological process at the cartilage-bone junction. Follow-up studies
      using various imaging techniques, including MRI, in unselected patients with
      undiagnosed back pain of short symptom duration will provide more information on
      the differential diagnostic capacity of MRI and its predictive value for long
      term outcomes. Even longer-term follow-up (>10 years) is necessary to provide
      reliable data; however, the validity of MRI in the diagnostic process can only be
      approximated, as it will never cover the entire gestalt of SpA.

PMID- 20924410
TI  - The role of synovitis in pathophysiology and clinical symptoms of osteoarthritis.
AB  - Osteoarthritis (OA), one of the most common rheumatic disorders, is characterized
      by cartilage breakdown and by synovial inflammation that is directly linked to
      clinical symptoms such as joint swelling, synovitis and inflammatory pain. The
      gold-standard method for detecting synovitis is histological analysis of samples
      obtained by biopsy, but the noninvasive imaging techniques MRI and
      ultrasonography might also perform well. The inflammation of the synovial
      membrane that occurs in both the early and late phases of OA is associated with
      alterations in the adjacent cartilage that are similar to those seen in
      rheumatoid arthritis. Catabolic and proinflammatory mediators such as cytokines,
      nitric oxide, prostaglandin E(2) and neuropeptides are produced by the inflamed
      synovium and alter the balance of cartilage matrix degradation and repair,
      leading to excess production of the proteolytic enzymes responsible for cartilage
      breakdown. Cartilage alteration in turn amplifies synovial inflammation, creating
      a vicious circle. As synovitis is associated with clinical symptoms and also
      reflects joint degradation in OA, synovium-targeted therapy could help alleviate
      the symptoms of the disease and perhaps also prevent structural progression.

PMID- 20924412
TI  - 'MRI-tis' in the early diagnosis of axial SpA: issues and limitations.
AB  - Sacroiliitis on conventional radiography, a key diagnostic feature of axial
      spondyloarthritis (SpA), often appears only late in the disease course. With the
      introduction of potent biologic agents that may also be effective in early
      disease, diagnostic techniques that can identify SpA early in the disease course
      would be highly beneficial to patients. MRI has been proposed as a novel
      diagnostic tool for early axial SpA based on the visualization of active
      inflammatory lesions in established axial SpA, as well as in pre-radiographic
      axial SpA. Accordingly, MRI is already widely used in clinical practice and has
      been included in new classification criteria. However, the specificity and
      predictive value of MRI lesions for the development of axial SpA remain to be
      fully defined and validated. Most data come from cross-sectional analyses and
      have not been validated in prospective studies, and the few available prospective
      studies were performed in highly selected patient populations and have assessed
      the value of MRI for the prediction of sacroiliitis rather than axial SpA. Also,
      some studies have indicated considerable diversity in the pattern and extent of
      MRI lesions, and suggest that many lesions are not specific for SpA. Prospective,
      longitudinal studies are needed to validate the utility of this new imaging
      modality for the diagnosis of axial SpA.

PMID- 20924414
TI  - Coptotermes gestroi (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) in Brazil: possible origins
      inferred by mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase II gene sequences.
AB  - The Asian subterranean termite, Coptotermes gestroi, originally from northeast
      India through Burma, Thailand, Malaysia, and the Indonesian archipelago, is a
      major termite pest introduced in several countries around the world, including
      Brazil. We sequenced the mitochondrial COII gene from individuals representing 23
      populations. Phylogenetic analysis of COII gene sequences from this and other
      studies resulted in two main groups: (1) populations of Cleveland (USA) and four
      populations of Malaysia and (2) populations of Brazil, four populations of
      Malaysia, and one population from each of Thailand, Puerto Rico, and Key West
      (USA). Three new localities are reported here, considerably enlarging the
      distribution of C. gestroi in Brazil: Campo Grande (state of Mato Grosso do Sul),
      Itajai (state of Santa Catarina), and Porto Alegre (state of Rio Grande do Sul).

PMID- 20924413
TI  - ANCA-associated vasculitides--advances in pathogenesis and treatment.
AB  - Antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitides (AAV) include
      Wegener granulomatosis, microscopic polyangiitis, Churg-Strauss syndrome and
      renal-limited vasculitis. This Review highlights the progress that has been made
      in our understanding of AAV pathogenesis and discusses new developments in the
      treatment of these diseases. Evidence from clinical studies, and both in vitro
      and in vivo experiments, supports a pathogenic role for ANCAs in the development
      of AAV; evidence is stronger for myeloperoxidase-ANCAs than for proteinase-3
      ANCAs. Neutrophils, complement and effector T cells are also involved in AAV
      pathogenesis. With respect to treatment of AAV, glucocorticoids, cyclophosphamide
      and other conventional therapies are commonly used to induce remission in
      generalized disease. Pulse intravenous cyclophosphamide is equivalent in efficacy
      to oral cyclophosphamide but seems to be associated with less adverse effects.
      Nevertheless, alternatives to cyclophosphamide therapy have been investigated,
      such as the use of methotrexate as a less-toxic alternative to cyclophosphamide
      to induce remission in non-organ-threatening or non-life-threatening AAV.
      Furthermore, rituximab is equally as effective as cyclophosphamide for induction
      of remission in AAV and might become the standard of therapy in the near future.
      Controlled trials in which specific immune effector cells and molecules are being
      therapeutically targeted have been initiated or are currently being planned.

PMID- 20924415
TI  - Comparative genomic analysis of the false killer whale (Pseudorca crassidens)
      LMBR1 locus.
AB  - The sequencing and comparative genomic analysis of LMBR1 loci in mammals or other
      species, including human, would be very important in understanding evolutionary
      genetic changes underlying the evolution of limb development. In this regard,
      comparative genomic annotation of the false killer whale LMBR1 locus could shed
      new light on the evolution of limb development. We sequenced two false killer
      whale BAC clones, corresponding to 156 kb and 144 kb, respectively, harboring the
      tightly linked RNF32, LMBR1, and NOM1 genes. Our annotation of the false killer
      whale LMBR1 gene showed that it consists of 17 exons (1473 bp), in contrast to 18
      exons (1596 bp) in human, and it displays 93.1% and 95.6% nucleotide and amino
      acid sequence similarity, respectively, compared with the human gene. In
      particular, we discovered that exon 10, deleted in the false killer whale LMBR1
      gene, is present only in primates, and this fact strongly implies that exon 10
      might be crucial in determining primate-specific limb development. ZRS and TFBS
      sequences have been well conserved across 11 species, suggesting that these
      regions could be involved in an important function of limb development and limb
      patterning. The neighboring gene RNF32 showed several lineage-conserved exons,
      such as exons 2 through 9 conserved in eutherian mammals, exons 3 through 9
      conserved in mammals, and exons 5 through 9 conserved in vertebrates. The other
      neighboring gene, NOM1, had undergone a substitution (ATG&rarr;GTA) at the start
      codon, giving rise to a 36 bp shorter N-terminal sequence compared with the human
      sequence. Our comparative analysis of the false killer whale LMBR1 genomic locus
      provides important clues regarding the genetic regions that may play crucial
      roles in limb development and patterning.

PMID- 20924416
TI  - Construction of a Coix BAC library and isolation of the 22 kDa &alpha;-coixin
      gene cluster.
AB  - Coix lacryma-jobi L. (Coix) is a close relative of maize and is considered a
      valuable genetic resource for crop improvement. Here we report the construction
      of the first Coix bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) library using accession
      PI 324059. This BAC library contains about 230 400 clones with an average insert
      size of 113 kb, has low organellar DNA contamination, and provides 16.3-fold
      coverage of the genome. The library was stored in 12 * 96 pools that could be
      screened with a PCR protocol. Library screening was performed for the 22 kDa
      &alpha;-coixin gene family. A total of 57 positive pools were identified, and
      single clones were isolated from 19 of these pools. Based on DNA fingerprinting
      and Southern blot analysis, these 19 BAC clones form a single contig of about 340
      kb in length, indicating that the 22 kDa &alpha;-coixin genes occur in a cluster.
      These results demonstrated the suitability of this BAC library for gene isolation
      and comparative genomics studies of the Coix genome.

PMID- 20924417
TI  - Complex prokaryotic genome structure: rapid evolution of chromosome II.
AB  - Although many bacteria with two chromosomes have been sequenced, the roles of
      such complex genome structuring are still unclear. To uncover levels of
      chromosome I (CI) and chromosome II (CII) sequence divergence, Mauve 2.2.0 was
      used to align the CI- and CII-specific sequences of bacteria with complex genome
      structuring in two sets of comparisons: the first set was conducted among the CI
      and CII of bacterial strains of the same species, while the second set was
      conducted among the CI and CII of species in Alphaproteobacteria that possess two
      chromosomes. The analyses revealed a rapid evolution of CII-specific DNA
      sequences compared with CI-specific sequences in a majority of organisms. In
      addition, levels of protein divergence between CI-specific and CII-specific genes
      were determined using phylogenetic analyses and confirmed the DNA alignment
      findings. Analysis of synonymous and nonsynonymous substitutions revealed that
      the structural and functional constraints on CI and CII genes are not
      significantly different. Also, horizontal gene transfer estimates in selected
      organisms demonstrated that CII in many species has acquired higher levels of
      horizontally transferred segments than CI. In summary, rapid evolution of CII may
      perform particular roles for organisms such as aiding in adapting to specialized
      niches.

PMID- 20924418
TI  - The ionotropic &gamma;-aminobutyric acid receptor gene family of the silkworm,
      Bombyx mori.
AB  - &gamma;-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) is a very important inhibitory neurotransmitter
      in both vertebrate and invertebrate nervous systems. GABA receptors (GABARs) are
      known to be the molecular targets of a class of insecticides. Members of the
      GABAR gene family of the silkworm, Bombyx mori, a model insect of Lepidoptera,
      have been identified and characterized in this study. All putative silkworm GABAR
      cDNAs were cloned using the reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT
      PCR) and rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE). Bombyx mori appears to have the
      largest insect GABAR gene family known to date, including three RDL, one LCCH3,
      and one GRD subunit. The silkworm RDL1 gene has RNA-editing sites, and the RDL1
      and RDL3 genes possess alternative splicing. These mRNA modifications enhance the
      diversity of the silkworm's GABAR gene family. In addition, truncated transcripts
      were found for the RDL1 and LCCH3 genes. In particular, the three RDL subunits
      may have arisen from two duplication events.

PMID- 20924419
TI  - Genetic diversity and population structure analysis of the tropical pasture grass
      Brachiaria humidicola based on microsatellites, cytogenetics, morphological
      traits, and geographical origin.
AB  - Brachiaria humidicola (Rendle) Schweick. is a warm-season grass commonly used as
      forage in the tropics. Accessions of this species were collected in eastern
      Africa and massively introduced into South America in the 1980s. Several of these
      accessions form a germplasm collection at the Brazilian Agricultural Research
      Corporation. However, apomixis, ploidy, and limited knowledge of the genetic
      basis of this germplasm collection have constrained breeding activities. The
      objectives of this work were to identify genetic variability in the Brazilian B.
      humidicola germplasm collection using microsatellite markers and to compare the
      results with information on the following: (1) collection sites of the
      accessions; (2) reproductive mode and ploidy levels; and (3) genetic diversity
      revealed by morphological traits. The evaluated germplasm population is highly
      structured into four major groups. The sole sexual accession did not group with
      any of the clusters. Genetic dissimilarities did not correlate with either
      geographic distances or genetic distances inferred from morphological
      descriptors. Additionally, the genetic structure identified in this collection
      did not correspond to differences in ploidy level. Alleles exclusive to either
      sexual or apomictic accessions were identified, suggesting that further
      evaluation of the association of these loci with apospory should be carried out.

PMID- 20924420
TI  - Mapping of quantitative trait loci for fire blight resistance in the apple
      cultivars 'Florina' and 'Nova Easygro'.
AB  - Fire blight is a devastating bacterial disease of rosaceous plants. Its damage to
      apple production is a major concern, since no existing control option has proven
      to be completely effective. Some commercial apple varieties, such as 'Florina'
      and 'Nova Easygro', exhibit a consistent level of resistance to fire blight. In
      this study, we used an F1 progeny of 'Florina' * 'Nova Easygro' to build parental
      genetic maps and identify quantitative trait loci (QTLs) related to fire blight
      resistance. Linkage maps were constructed using a set of microsatellites and
      enriched with amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers. In parallel,
      progeny plants were artificially inoculated with Erwinia amylovora strain CFBP
      1430 in a quarantine glasshouse. Shoot length measured 7 days after inoculation
      (DAI) and lesion length measured 7 and 14 DAI were used to calculate the lesion
      length as a percentage of the shoot length (PLL1 and PLL2, respectively). Percent
      lesion length data were log10-transformed (log10(PLL)) and used to perform the
      Kruskal-Wallis test, interval mapping (IM), and multiple QTL mapping (MQM). Two
      significant fire blight resistance QTLs were detected in 'Florina'. One QTL was
      mapped on linkage group 10 by IM and MQM; it explained 17.9% and 15.3% of the
      phenotypic variation by MQM with log10(PLL1) and log10(PLL2) data, respectively.
      A second QTL was identified on linkage group 5 by MQM with log10(PLL2) data; it
      explained 10.1% of the phenotypic variation. Genotyping the plants of 'Florina'
      pedigree with the microsatellites flanking the QTLs showed that the QTLs on
      linkage groups 5 and 10 were inherited from 'Jonathan' and 'Starking' (a 'Red
      Delicious' sport mutation), respectively. Other putative QTLs (defined as QTLs
      with LOD scores above the chromosomal threshold and below the genome-wide
      threshold) were detected by IM on linkage groups 5 and 9 of 'Nova Easygro'.

PMID- 20924421
TI  - Sequence characterization and phylogenetic analysis of the 5S ribosomal DNA in
      species of the family Batrachoididae.
AB  - 5S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) sequences were analyzed in four species belonging to
      different genera of the fish family Batrachoididae. Several 5S rDNA variants
      differing in their non-transcribed spacers (NTSs) were found and were grouped
      into two main types. Two species showed both types of 5S rDNA, whereas the other
      two species showed only one type. One type of NTS of Amphichthys cryptocentrus
      showed a high polymorphism due to several deletions and insertions, and
      phylogenetic analysis showed a between-species clustering of this type of NTS in
      Amphichthys cryptocentrus. These results suggest a clear differentiation in the
      model of 5S rDNA evolution of these four species of Batrachoididae, which appear
      to have been subject to processes of concerted evolution and birth-and-death
      evolution with purifying selection.

PMID- 20924422
TI  - The evolution of chloroplast genome structure in ferns.
AB  - The plastid genome (plastome) is a rich source of phylogenetic and other
      comparative data in plants. Most land plants possess a plastome of similar
      structure. However, in a major group of plants, the ferns, a unique plastome
      structure has evolved. The gene order in ferns has been explained by a series of
      genomic inversions relative to the plastome organization of seed plants. Here, we
      examine for the first time the structure of the plastome across fern phylogeny.
      We used a PCR-based strategy to map and partially sequence plastomes. We found
      that a pair of partially overlapping inversions in the region of the inverted
      repeat occurred in the common ancestor of most ferns. However, the ancestral
      (seed plant) structure is still found in early diverging branches leading to the
      osmundoid and filmy fern lineages. We found that a second pair of overlapping
      inversions occurred on a branch leading to the core leptosporangiates. We also
      found that the unique placement of the gene matK in ferns (lacking a flanking
      intron) is not a result of a large-scale inversion, as previously thought. This
      is because the intron loss maps to an earlier point on the phylogeny than the
      nearby inversion. We speculate on why inversions may occur in pairs and what this
      may mean for the dynamics of plastome evolution.

PMID- 20924423
TI  - Improved detection of motifs with preferential location in promoters.
AB  - Many transcription factor binding sites (TFBSs) involved in gene expression
      regulation are preferentially located relative to the transcription start site.
      This property is exploited in in silico prediction approaches, one of which
      involves studying the local overrepresentation of motifs using a sliding window
      to scan promoters with considerable accuracy. Nevertheless, the consequences of
      the choice of the sliding window size have never before been analysed. We propose
      an automatic adaptation of this size to each motif distribution profile. This
      approach allows a better characterization of the topological constraints of the
      motifs and the lists of genes containing them. Moreover, our approach allowed us
      to highlight a nonconstant frequency of occurrence of spurious motifs that could
      be counter-selected close to their functional area. Therefore, to improve the
      accuracy of in silico prediction of TFBSs and the sensitivity of the promoter
      cartography, we propose, in addition to automatic adaptation of window size,
      consideration of the nonconstant frequency of motifs in promoters.

PMID- 20924424
TI  - [XXX anniversary of the "Revista Gastroenterologia del Peru"].

PMID- 20924425
TI  - [Acute pancreatitis: a non silent epidemic].

PMID- 20924426
TI  - [Necrotic acute pancreatitis in the intensive care unit: a comparison between
      conservative and surgical medical treatment].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the prognosis of patients with necrotic acute
      pancreatitis receiving medical and surgical treatments. SUMMARY: The severe acute
      pancreatitis treatment is multidisciplinary and requires a daily evaluation of
      the patient that will allow to observe changes and apply therapy in due time. The
      treatment includes: Admission in the ICU, fluids, nutrition and antibiotics, as
      well as other life supports for high-risk patients. Thus, patients undergo
      conservative treatment or, if it is necessary, surgery. METHODS: A retrospective
      study of patients with necrotic acute pancreatitis admitted to the ICU between
      January 2004 and August 2006. The patients with necrotic acute pancreatitis
      without signs of sepsis underwent a conservative medical treatment, while fine
      needle punction-aspiration was performed in all patients who were suffering from
      necrotic acute pancreatitis and persistent sepsis four weeks after their
      admission and after discarding and eradicating every non-pancreatic focus of
      infection. All Gram stain or culture positive patients underwent surgery
      immediately. RESULTS: Seventy patients with necrotic acute pancreatitis were
      included in the study. Thirty-six patients (51%) suffered acute pancreatitis with
      sterile necrosis and underwent a conservative treatment, while 34 patients (49%)
      developed acute pancreatic with infected necrosis and underwent surgery. The
      average age was 55.19 vs. 57.65 (p=0.57). The average amylase was 1421.74 vs.
      1402.45. (p=0.96). The tomography severity index was 8.47 vs. 8.79 (p=0.36). The
      Apache II was 8.22 vs. 9 (p=0.46). The average number of failed organs was 0.39
      vs. 0.68. (p=0.19). The ICU stay was 10.75 vs. 26.5 days (p<0.05) while the total
      hospital stay was 46.47 vs. 57.26 days (p<0.05). The mortality rate was (3/36)
      8.3% vs. (9/34) 26.5% (p<0.05) for conservative medical treatment vs. surgical
      treatment, respectively. Between the first and the twelfth month the evaluated
      patients who attended consultation, after discharge, showed: pancreatic
      pseudocyst 9/36 (25%) vs. 8/34(23.5%); recurring abdominal pain 3/36 (8.3%) vs.
      4/34 (11.8%); and relapsing acute pancreatitis 3/36 (8.3%) vs. 2/34 (5.8%); while
      4/36 (11.1%) vs. 3/34 (8.8%) did not show any problem. There were not significant
      differences between the conservative and the surgical medical treatment,
      respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Patients suffering acute pancreatitis with sterile
      necrosis can undergo conservative medical treatment which will result in a lower
      mortality rate, while the hospital stay, in comparison with acute pancreatitis
      with infected necrosis, will not be affected.

PMID- 20924428
TI  - [Predictive mortality value of the peritonitis index of Mannheim].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the predictive value of the index of peritonitis of
      Mannheim in patients with peritonitis in the Hospital Nacional Cayetano Heredia.
      PATIENTS AND METHODS: A prospective study appears, of 103 patients, greater of 14
      years, with I diagnose of peritonitis, between November 2004 to April 2005. For
      its analysis I am used the square test of chi with coefficient of Pearson, and
      the test of T of student. For the analysis of the data two modalities were used,
      the first patients were divided in 3 groups, according to the value of the index
      of Mannheim, < 21, of 21 to 29, and > 29, and in 2 groups, d 26 and > 26 points.
      I am made considered of survival of Kaplan the Meier, using statistical program
      STATA 8.0 RESULTS: a mortality of 50% in patients with greater index of 26 points
      was obtained. One was a sensitivity 95.9%, a specificity of 80%, with positive a
      predictive value 98.9% and a negative predictive value of 50%. When considering 3
      groups, < 21, 21-29 and > 29 points, was a mortality of 60% in patients with
      greater index of 29. I am made a survival curve obtaining itself a significant
      difference with a p=0, 0098. Figure 2. CONCLUSIONS: We found that the
      classification in 3 groups presents statistically significant difference, reason
      why recommended its use for the evaluation and beginning of aggressive measures.

PMID- 20924427
TI  - [Clinical, endoscopic and histologic profile of the Gastrointestinal Stromal
      Tumours in the Rebagliati Hospital].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors (GIST) are lesions which origin
      from Intersticial Cells of Cajal that may be asymptomatic or cause complications
      like digestive bleeding or malignant transformation. AIM: To determine the
      clinical, endoscopic and histological profile, as well as the main demographic
      features of patients with GIST in Hospital Edgardo Rebagliati (Lima-Peru) from
      January 2002 to December 2004. METHODS: Descriptive, transversal and
      retrospective study in which we reviewed clinical and anatomopathological
      archives from 34 patients with GIST during the above mentioned period. The
      collected data were placed on a sheet of recollection. RESULTS: There was male
      predominance (58.82%).The most affected age group was 71-80 years old (26.47%).
      The average age was 64.7 years old. The most frequent clinical presentation was
      abdominal pain (47.06%) followed by melena (44.12%). Diagnosis was made by
      endoscopic method in 58.82%. The main histological type was spindle (47.06%).
      There was high risk of malignancy in 50% and the most often involved site was
      stomach (61.77%). Endoscopicall the characteristic image was a submucosal tumor
      with ulceration, the average size was 6.44 cm. There was significant statistical
      relation (p<0.05) between endoscopic method and melena. CONCLUSION: Patients with
      GIST in HNERM are mostly men, older than 60 years that come with abdominal pain
      and melena, being endoscopy the best method to diagnose if patients present
      melena. Predominating histology was fusiform.

PMID- 20924429
TI  - [Acute necrotizing pancreatitis by a foreign body. First worldwide report
      secondary to a match impactation].
AB  - Pancreatitis caused by foreign bodies is exceptionally rare. It has been
      described: needles, surgical clips, sutures, belt buckles, toothpicks, spines of
      fish, chicken feathers and bezoars. This is the first case reported in world
      literature caused by a match ("cerillo"). A 73-year-old women, admitted with the
      diagnostic of severe necrotizing pancreatitis, APACHE score 12, during 36 hours
      following the admission she developed refractory hypotension, acute renal failure
      and finally died. The necropsy showed: extensive necrosis that compromise the
      whole pancreas and a match impacted in the duct of Wirsung. Microscopic
      evaluation revealed coagulative parenchymal necrosis, micro abscesses and a dense
      accumulation of acute inflammatory cells surrounding the match.

PMID- 20924430
TI  - [Duodenal involvement in Henoch-Schonlein purpura. Report of a case].
AB  - Henoch-Schonlein purpura (HSP) is a systemic vasculitis of the small vessels of
      the skin, joints, gastrointestinal tract and kidneys. It is the most common cause
      of nonthrombocytopenic purpura in children, but may also occur in adults.
      Gastrointestinal symptoms and disease occurs in up to 85% of patients and can be
      of varying intensity. We report a 12 year old boy with gastrointestinal bleeding
      due to duodenal involvement associated with this condition evidenced by
      endoscopy.

PMID- 20924431
TI  - [Primary hydatid cyst of the spleen].
AB  - We present the case of a 63 year male patient, natural from Lima. He has been in
      a cattle zone seven years ago. His illness had an insidious start and a
      progressive course; from a month ago he had malaise associated with nausea,
      abdominal distention and occasional vomiting; denies weight loss. In the clinical
      examination was lucid and stable, and without jaundice. The abdomen was soft
      without signs of peritoneal irritation; in the left flank there was a large mass
      with defined limits, painless, attached to deeper layers. Auxiliary tests: CBC:
      eosinophils 5.74%; the levels coagulation, biochemistry and electrolytes were
      normal. Total protein, albumin, bilirubin levels, aminotransferasas (ALT an AST)
      and alkaline phosphatase were normals. Arco V: 248 (N<22) and positive Inmunoblot
      to Echinococcus granulosus. Abdominal ultrasound showed two cystic formations of
      161 x 95 mm and 146 x 130 mm, that moving the left kidney and spleen. Axial
      tomography was interpreted as a large ovoid formation (12 x 18 x 27 cm) dependent
      on spleen, lobed, hypodense, with rounded focal areas with less attenuation in
      the peripheral area; without contrast enhancement, compatible with hydatid cyst
      Gharbi III. The surgical intervention was a partial cystectomy plus external
      drainage; the surgeon found a giant splenic hydatid cyst, occupied the left
      hypochondrium and the left flank; had thick walls, daughter vesicles and clear
      liquid inside. The cystic lesion was attached to the descending colon, stomach,
      and left diaphargm. We present this case because the splenic hydatid cyst is
      rare, even less as a single site, and their prevalence does not exceed 1 %.

PMID- 20924432
TI  - [Appendiceal orifice inflammation in distal ulcerative colitis. Report of a case
      and review of the literature].
AB  - We report the case of a 45-year-old female patient with an 18 month diagnosis of
      distal ulcerative colitis (proctosigmoiditis) of 18 months, who presented
      initially with allergy to salicylates, for which the disease was managed with
      corticosteroids and azathioprine and subsequently with Infliximab infusions,
      entering in remission. When she was about to receive her fifth Infliximab
      infusion she presented an exacerbation of her underlying disease with frequent
      stools with mucus, blood and tenesmus. Given that her initial diagnosis was made
      with a sigmoidoscopy we scheduled a total colonoscopy showing marked
      inflammation, erythema and friability limited to the recto-sigmoid mucosa, like
      at the disease onset, and when we reached the cecum an erythematous area
      circumscribed to the appendiceal orifice was observed, with a mucosal aspect
      identical to the described for the recto-sigmoid mucosa. The biopsies taken from
      that area were compatible with ulcerative colitis. We herein describe the details
      of the case and review the literature.

PMID- 20924433
TI  - [Spontaneous rupture of choriocarcinoma hepatic metastases: Report of a Case].
AB  - Choriocarcinoma is a highly vascularized gestational trophoblastic neoplasia, and
      has a propensity to metastasize hematogenously. Hepatic metastases are less
      common and spontaneous rupture of them results in a hemoperitoneum. We present a
      case of a young female with liver metastases from choriocarcinoma, who had severe
      haemorrhage and died after the second laparotomy. The possibility of
      choriocarcinoma should be suspected in women of child bearing age who present
      liver metastases. Because of the high risk oh haemorrhage, liver biopsy should be
      deferred until HCG has been measured.

PMID- 20924434
TI  - [Lumbar abscess secundary to retained gallstones].
AB  - Lost gallstones after accidental opening of the gallbladder during
      cholecystectomy usually under laparoscopy, can cause late complications. Intra
      abdominal abscess is the most frequent and the diagnosis is based on imaging
      techniques (abdominal ultrasound or computed tomography scan). Surgical drainage
      with gallstones removal seems to be the best approach, due to the fact that a
      simple percutaneous drainage has a high failure rate. However, a posterior
      abdominal wall abscess as the initial manifestation of intra-abdominal abscess
      due to retained gallstones is uncommon, and this prompted us to report this case.

PMID- 20924435
TI  - [Gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) of Duodenum: Case report].
AB  - Female of 64 years old, who two years ago was hospitalized in another institution
      for treatment of an abscess in the right liver lobe. During that hospitalization,
      it was found a duodenal tumor by tomography; however, no further studies or
      follow up on this finding was done. Prior to actual hospitalization, she was seen
      in a private clinic and treated with antibiotics for a suggestive"organized
      abscess" in the pancreatic head diagnosed by tomography. She presented with
      fever, abdominal pain and a palpable abdominal tumor in the right upper quadrant
      for a month. We realized a three-phase multislice spiral tomography with
      pancreatic curved reconstruction, which allowed to identified an ovoid tumor of
      80 x 60 mm, with an area of central necrosis and intense contrast enhancement
      (arterial phase), located between the second and third duodenal portion, near the
      head of the pancreas. An upper endoscopy showed an extrinsic compression of the
      third duodenal portion. The patient underwent tumor resection without
      complication and the histologic diagnosis of the surgical specimen revealed a
      duodenal stromal tumor (GIST) with extraluminal transmural growth. We presented
      this case because of its unusual presentation of this tumor.

PMID- 20924436
TI  - Assessment of cumulative exposure to UVA through the study of asymmetrical facial
      skin aging.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Published studies assessing whether asymmetrical facial ultraviolet
      light exposure leads to underlying differences in skin physiology and morphology
      report only clinical observations. The aim of this study was to assess the visual
      impact on the skin of repeated ultraviolet-A (UVA) exposure through a window.
      METHODS: Eight women and two men presenting with asymmetrical signs of photoaging
      due to overexposure of one side of their face to the sun through a window over a
      long period of time were enrolled in the study. Split-face biometrologic
      assessments were performed (clinical scoring, hydration with Corneometer,
      mechanical properties with Cutometer, transepidermal water loss with AquaFlux,
      skin relief with fringe projection, photography, stripping, and then lipid
      peroxidation analysis). RESULTS: Significant differences were observed in
      clinical scores for wrinkles, skin roughness assessed by fringe projection on the
      cheek, and skin heterogeneity assessed with spectrocolorimetry on the cheekbone.
      Other differences were observed for skin hydration, as well as skin laxity, which
      tended towards significance. DISCUSSION: This study suggests the potential
      benefit of daily UVA protection during nondeliberate exposure indoors as well as
      outside.

PMID- 20924437
TI  - Aging, human immunodeficiency virus, and bone health.
AB  - Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) has had a profound impact on
      improving the long-term prognosis for individuals infected with human
      immunodeficiency virus (HIV). HAART has been available for close to two decades,
      and now a significant number of patients with access to HAART are over the age of
      50 years. Many clinical studies have indicated that HIV infection, as well as
      components of HAART, can increase the risk in these individuals to a variety of
      noninfectious complications, including a risk to bone health. There is a
      significant need for detailed mechanistic analysis of the aging, HIV-infected
      population regarding the risk of HIV infection and therapy in order to maintain
      bone health. Insights from basic mechanistic studies will help to shed light on
      the role of HIV infection and the components of HAART that impact bone health,
      and will help in identifying preventative countermeasures, particularly for
      individuals 50 years of age and older.

PMID- 20924440
TI  - The question of authorship: Whose research is it anyway?

PMID- 20924438
TI  - Facial rejuvenation for middle-aged women: a combined approach with minimally
      invasive procedures.
AB  - Facial rejuvenation is a significant process involved in restoring youthfulness.
      The introduction of less invasive procedures has increased acceptance of such
      procedures. Often a combination of different techniques allows individualized
      treatment with optimal outcomes. Furthermore, this leads to a natural look
      without a significant downtime. We report herein the use of such a combined
      approach in middle-aged women with particular emphasis on botulinum toxin type A,
      dermal fillers, and chemical peels.

PMID- 20924439
TI  - What is the job of the editor of a plastic surgery journal?

PMID- 20924441
TI  - Prof. M. M. Mukherjee.

PMID- 20924442
TI  - Tensor Facia Lata-iliac crest osteocutaneous flap for orbitomaxillary
      reconstruction: A preliminary report.
AB  - Tensor Fascia Lata muscle and musculocutaneous flap has been used in the past for
      reconstruction of trunk defects and also as a free flap for soft tissue
      reconstruction elsewhere in the body. Transferring the iliac crest along with the
      muscle as a free flap has been described earlier, reported for bridging calcaneal
      defect and small mandibular defects. The use of this flap as a source of free
      vascularised bone has not been widely practised since these initial few reports.
      Anatomical studies were carried out to assess the feasibility of using this flap
      for reconstructing maxillary and other head and neck defects, following which it
      was successfully used for these indications. The preliminary report describes the
      flap anatomy, method of harvest and its potential uses in head and neck
      reconstruction.

PMID- 20924443
TI  - Two-stage reconstruction for flexor tendon injuries in zone II using a silicone
      rod and pedicled sublimis tendon graft.
AB  - We report the results of staged flexor tendon reconstruction in 12 patients (12
      fingers) with neglected or failed primary repair of flexor tendon injuries in
      zone II. Injuries involved both flexor digitorum profundus (FDP) and flexor
      digitorum sublimis (FDS), with poor prognosis (Boyes grades II-IV). The procedure
      included placing a silicone rod and creating a loop between the FDP and FDS in
      the first stage and reflecting the latter as a pedicled graft through the
      pseudosheath created around the silicone rod in the second stage. At a mean
      follow-up of 18 months (range 12-30 months), results were assessed by clinical
      examination and questionnaire. The mean total active motion of these fingers was
      188 degrees . The mean power grip was 80.0% and pinch grip was 76% of the
      contralateral hand. The rate of excellent and good results was 75% according to
      the Buck-Gramcko scale. These results were better than the subjective scores
      given by the patients. Complications included postoperative hematoma in two,
      infection in one, silicone synovitis in one (after stage I) and three flexion
      contractures after stage II. This study confirmed the usefulness of two-stage
      flexor tendon reconstruction using the combined technique as a salvage procedure
      to restore flexor tendon function with a few complications.

PMID- 20924444
TI  - A modified tubularised incised plate urethroplasty technique and a revised
      hypospadias algorithm.
AB  - To simplify and standardize surgical management of hypospadias, a modified
      tubularised incised plate (TIP) urethroplasty (Snodgrass) technique has been
      described and a revised hypospadias management algorithm has been formulated. The
      study aims to evaluate the viability of the described procedure in different
      types of hypospadias and tests the validity of the algorithm. The modification
      described is recruitment of penile and glandular skin lateral to the urethral
      plate to facilitate tubularisation. The algorithm starts with penile degloving
      with preservation of urethral plate. Snodgrass repair was done in cases with no
      chordee and where skin chordee resolved by skin take down. Modified Snodgrass
      repair was done in cases where urethral plate was narrow. Another modification
      proposed by us is single layer penile skin closure instead of an added dartos
      flap, which was done in both classical and modified Snodgrass repair. Cases of
      severe chordee not resolved by skin take down were repaired by transverse
      preputial island flap (TPIF) and Bracka's technique. Dorsal plication was not
      used as an orthoplasty modality. It was possible to repair 68.89% of the cases by
      Snodgrass repair. These patients either had no chordee or had superficial skin
      tethering (skin chordee) which resolved on degolving. All these cases were
      coronal, distal and mid penile hypospadias. Remaining cases were mid, proximal
      and penoscrotal with true fibrous chordee and were repaired by TPIF or Bracka's
      technique. The Snodgrass technique had a fistula rate of 9.67%. Acceptably, low
      fistula rate and simple execution make the proposed modification of classical
      Snodgrass repair a viable option. The proposed algorithm proves to be a useful
      tool for standardised and logical preoperative decision making. It also defines
      indications of the three techniques vis-a-vis the type of hypospadias.

PMID- 20924445
TI  - Hypospadias algorithm: The way to propose.

PMID- 20924446
TI  - The acute management of acid assault burns: A pragmatic approach.
AB  - This case series comprises 31 patients who were victims of acid assault burns.
      They were admitted for acute or reconstructive care to a regional burns unit. Ten
      patients were admitted late with suboptimal acute care and needed a total of 50
      reconstructive procedures. Of 13 patients admitted acutely, 7 had surgery
      performed after 48 hours of constant lavage while seven had urgent surgical
      debridement within 48 hours, followed by lavage. Although the number of
      reconstructive procedures performed in these two groups was similar, i.e., 20 and
      19, respectively, the magnitude of the deformity in the urgent surgery group was
      significantly less than in the conventional surgery group. As in many cases of
      acute burns care, determining the evidence for best practice using a prospective,
      randomised, controlled comparison of conventional versus urgent surgery is
      difficult in view of the small number of cases involved. However, basing surgical
      practice on ethical principles, and in particular 'primum non nocere,' we propose
      that the urgent reduction of the chemical load on the skin by surgical
      debridement is appropriate in selected cases and should be considered in the
      acute management of these devastating injuries.

PMID- 20924447
TI  - Long-term results of high-density porous polyethylene implants in facial skeletal
      augmentation: An Indian perspective.
AB  - CONTEXT: With the increasing emphasis on well-sculpted facial features, today
      there is a growing need for tools to augment the facial skeleton; either for
      cosmetic reasons or to re-contour deformities-congenital, post-traumatic and post
      ablative. The limitations of autogenous materials has lead to evolution of
      numerous 'alloplasts', of which, high-density porous polyethylene (HDPE) seems to
      be a promising alternative. AIMS: To evaluate the long term results of HDPE in
      facial skeletal augmentation in terms of achieving desired facial contour,
      patient satisfaction and complications. SETTINGS: A tertiary care referral centre
      in a metropolitan set-up. DESIGN: Case Series MATERIALS AND METHODS: All patients
      undergoing HDPE implant insertion for facial skeletal augmentation between July
      2001 and November 2009 were included in the study. A total of 70 HDPE implants
      were inserted in 44 patients. All procedures were performed by a single surgeon
      following standardized pre, intra and post-operative protocols. The results were
      evaluated with respect to improvement in facial contour desired and achieved,
      overall patient satisfaction and complications encountered. RESULTS: The study
      included 44 patients with a male:female ratio of 1:1, a mean age of 25.09 years
      (14 to 58 years) and a mean follow-up of 45.34 months (0.5 to 100 months). HDPE
      implants were used to augment the nasal dorsum, maxilla, malar eminence, chin,
      mandibular body and angle, orbital rim and frontal region. The overall
      recontouring afforded by the HDPE implants was good, with most patients reporting
      satisfactory results. There were seven complications (10%), including three cases
      of deviation (4.29%), three cases of exposure (4.29%) and one case of sub
      clinical infection (1.43%). None however necessitated implant removal. Nasal
      dorsal HDPE implants, especially those involving secondary surgery, suffered a
      much higher complication rate compared to other implants. CONCLUSIONS: HDPE is an
      alternative to autogenous grafts for facial skeletal augmentation with good long
      term results and a low incidence of complications, provided there is adequate
      vascular soft tissue cover.

PMID- 20924448
TI  - Use of HDPE implants in facial skeletal augmentation: Should we rush for it?

PMID- 20924449
TI  - Analysis of facial bone fractures: An 11-year study of 2,094 patients.
AB  - PURPOSE: The medical records of these patients were reviewed and analysed to
      determine the clinical characteristics and treatment of facial bone fractures.
      PATIENTS AND METHODS: This is a retrospective study of 2,094 patients with facial
      bone fractures from various accidents that were treated at the Inha University
      Hospital from 1996 to 2007. RESULTS: The most common age group was the third
      decade of life (29%). Males were more common than females (3.98:1). The most
      common aetiology was violent assault or nonviolent traumatic injury (49.4%). The
      most common isolated fracture site was the nasal bone (37.7%), followed by the
      mandible (30%), orbital bones (7.6%), zygoma (5.7%), maxilla (1.3%) and the
      frontal bone (0.3%). The largest group with complex fractures included the
      inferior region of the orbital floor and zygomaticomaxilla (14%). Closed
      reduction was performed in 46.3% of the cases while 39.7% of the cases required
      open reduction. For open reductions, the most commonly used soft-tissue approach
      was the intraoral approach (32.3%). The complication rate was 6.4% and the most
      common complication was hypoesthesia (68.4%) followed by diplopia (25.6%).
      CONCLUSION: Long-term collection of epidemiological data regarding facial
      fractures and concomitant injuries is important for the evaluation of existing
      preventive measures and useful in the development of new methods of injury
      prevention and treatment.

PMID- 20924450
TI  - Determination of hand and palm area as a ratio of body surface area in Indian
      population.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Accurate estimation of body surface area (BSA) burn is important. In
      small and patchy burns, the patient's hand is used to estimate percentage of burn
      which is traditionally considered as 1%. There is discrepancy about what
      percentage of TBSA is constituted by the palm and hand. Therefore, this study was
      designed to determine correctly the TBSA represented by the palmar surface of the
      entire hand and palm in the Indian population. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 300 healthy
      adult (male and female) and 300 healthy children (male and female) were included
      in the study. TBSA was calculated using DuBois formula and hand and palm surface
      area was calculated using hand tracing on plain paper. The hand/palm percentage
      of BSA (ratio) was determined by dividing hand/palm surface area by total BSA.
      RESULTS: The mean hand and palm ratio for adults was 0.92% and 0.50%,
      respectively. The mean hand and palm ratio in children was 1.06% and 0.632%,
      respectively. CONCLUSION: The hand area (palm plus digits) is more closely
      represented to 1% of TBSA in Indian population.

PMID- 20924451
TI  - Frequency of homologous blood transfusion in patients undergoing cleft lip and
      palate surgery.
AB  - AIM: The study aims to determine the frequency of homologous blood transfusion in
      patientsundergoing cleft lip and palate surgery at the Lagos University Teaching
      Hospital, Nigeria. SETTING AND DESIGN: A prospective study of transfusion rate in
      cleft surgery conducted at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Nigeria.
      MATERIAL AND METHODS: One hundred consecutive patients who required cleft lip and
      palate surgery were recruited into the study. Data collected included age, sex
      and weight of patients, type of cleft defects, type of surgery done, preoperative
      haematocrit, duration of surgery, amount of blood loss during surgery, the number
      of units of blood cross-matched and those used. Each patient was made to donate a
      unit of homologous blood prior to surgery. RESULTS: There were 52 females and 48
      males with a mean age of 64.4 +/- 101.1 months (range, 3-420 months). The most
      common cleft defect was isolated cleft palate (45%) followed by unilateral cleft
      lip (28%). Cleft palate repair was the most common procedure (45%) followed by
      unilateral cleft lip repair (41%). The mean estimated blood loss was 95.8 +/-
      144.9 ml (range, 2-800ml). Ten (10%) patients (CL=2; CP=5, BCL=1; CLP=2) were
      transfused but only two of these were deemed appropriate based on percentage
      blood volume loss. The mean blood transfused was 131.5 +/- 135.4ml (range, 35
      500ml). Six (60%) of those transfused had a preoperative PCV of < 30%. Only 4.9%
      of patients who had unilateral cleft lip surgery were transfused as compared with
      50% for CLP surgery, 11% for CP surgery, and 10% for bilateral cleft lip surgery.
      CONCLUSIONS: The frequency of blood transfusion in cleft lip and palate surgery
      was 10% with a cross-match: transfusion ratio of 10 and transfusion index of 0.1.
      A "type and screen" policy is advocated for cleft lip and palate surgery.

PMID- 20924452
TI  - Marginal mandibular branch of the facial nerve: An anatomical study.
AB  - Smile is one of the most natural and important expressions of human emotion. Man
      uses his lips mainly to register his emotions. Thus, the slightest asymmetry or
      weakness around the lips and mouth may transform this pleasant expression into
      embarrassment and distortion. The circumoral musculature, the major part of which
      is supplied by the marginal mandibular branch of the facial nerve, is the main
      factor in this expression. Therefore, an injury to this nerve during a surgical
      procedure can distort the expression of the smile as well as other facial
      expressions. This nerve often gets injured by surgeons in operative procedures in
      the submandibular region, like excision of the submandibular gland due to lack of
      accurate knowledge of variations in the course, branches and relations. In the
      present study, 50 facial halves were dissected to study the origin, entire
      course, termination, branches, muscles supplied by it, its anastomoses with other
      branches of facial nerve on the same as well as on the opposite side and its
      relations with the surrounding structures. The marginal mandibular branch of the
      facial nerve was found superficial to the facial artery and (anterior) facial
      vein in all the cases (100%). Thus the facial artery can be used as an important
      landmark in locating the marginal mandibular nerve during surgical procedures.
      Such a study can help in planning precise and accurate incisions and in
      preventing the unrecognized severance of this nerve during surgical procedures.

PMID- 20924453
TI  - Marginal mandibular nerve - Interpolation from anatomy: A flaw?

PMID- 20924454
TI  - A status report on management of cleft lip and palate in India.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: This national survey on the management of cleft lip and palate
      (CLP) in India is the first of its kind. OBJECTIVE: To collect basic data on the
      management of patients with CLP in India for further evaluation. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: A proforma was designed and sent to all the surgeons treating CLP in
      India. It was publicized through internet, emails, post and through personal
      communication. SUBJECTS: 293 cleft surgeons representing 112 centers responded to
      the questionnaire. Most of the forms were filled up by personal interview.
      RESULTS: The cleft workload of the participating centers is between 10 and 2000
      surgeries annually. These centers collectively perform 32,500-34,700 primary and
      secondary cleft surgeries every year. The responses were analyzed using Microsoft
      excel and 112 as the sample size. Most surgeons are repairing cleft lip between 3
      6 months and cleft palate between 6 months to 1 year. Millard and Tennison
      repairs form the mainstay of lip repair. Multiple techniques are used for palate
      repair. Presurgical orthopedics, lip adhesion, nasendoscopy, speech therapy,
      video-fluoroscopy and orthognathic surgery were not always available and in some
      cases not availed of even when available. CONCLUSION: Management of CLP differs
      in India. Primary surgical practices are almost similar to other studies. There
      is a lack of interdisciplinary approach in majority of the centers, and hence,
      there is a need for better interaction amongst the specialists. A more
      comprehensive study with an improved questionnaire would be desirable.

PMID- 20924455
TI  - A new and simplified functional tendon transfer for a dropped hallux.
AB  - A case of fracture of the right tibia proximal 1/3rd extending up to diaphysis
      after a road traffic accident along with a dropped hallux is being reported. The
      extensor digitorum longus (EDL) was intact. Patient was taken up for surgery for
      the fracture tibia with conservative management for his dropped hallux for
      initial six weeks. After six weeks when no improvement was seen surgical
      intervention was planned for the dropped hallux. The subsequent management of
      this patient is being described.

PMID- 20924456
TI  - Pedicle transfer in oral cavity reconstruction.
AB  - In head and neck reconstructions when a free flap is used intra orally to provide
      the lining its vascular pedicle has to be transferred to the neck for
      anastomosis. This has to be performed in such a way that the pedicle does not get
      kinked or twisted. The pedicle is enrolled in a split open glove from its point
      of entry into the flap till its proximal most part. In order to prevent twisting
      of the vessels and to maintain orientation, the glove is wrapped in such a way
      that the imprint on the glove is on the visualized surface. The glove wrapped
      pedicle is passed from inside the oral cavity while an artery clamp passed from
      the neck wound through the submandibular or subcutaneous tunnel holds the tip of
      the glove component and guides it safely to the neck without exerting any
      traction on the flap or the pedicle vessels.

PMID- 20924457
TI  - Mammoth orbitofrontal neurofibromatosis with herniating meningo-encephalocele.
AB  - We are presenting a mammoth orbito-frontal neurofibroma with a herniating meningo
      encephalocele in a 23 year old African male. The tumour measured 87cm x 54cm and
      occupied the right orbito-temporo-facial region and had destroyed the right
      orbit. A pre operative embolization of the feeding vessels was followed by a one
      stage near total excision of the tumour and repair of the meningo-encephalocele
      in hypotensive anaesthesia. The excised tumour weighed 8 Kg and, to the best of
      our knowledge, is the largest orbito-facial neurofibroma reported in literature.

PMID- 20924458
TI  - Parotid lipoblastoma in a child: Rare presentation as huge infratemporal mass
      with cervical extension.
AB  - Lipoblastomas arising within the parotid gland and extending into the
      infratemporal fossa are very rare. They are common in children <3 years of age.
      Access to the tumour requires careful planning and interpretation of imaging
      studies. Lipoblastomas tend to recur. Meticulous dissection of the tumour is
      needed to prevent recurrence. By adopting the appropriate approach, complete
      removal is possible with minimal morbidity.

PMID- 20924459
TI  - Chest wall reconstruction using a combined musculocutaneous anterolateral
      anteromedial thigh flap.
AB  - We present a massive 25 cm * 20 cm chest wall defect resulting from resection of
      recurrent cystosarcoma phyllodes of the breast along with six ribs exposing
      pleura. The chest wall was reconstructed with a Prolene mesh-methylmethacrylate
      cement sandwich while soft tissue reconstruction was carried out using a combined
      free anterolateral-anteromedial thigh musculocutaneous flap with two separate
      pedicles, anastomosed to the thoracodorsal and thoracoacromial vessels
      respectively. We explain our rationale for and the advantages of combining the
      musculocutaneous anterolateral thigh flap with the anteromedial-rectus femoris
      thigh flap.

PMID- 20924460
TI  - Ectodermal dysplasia - Maxillary and mandibular alveolar reconstruction with
      dental rehabilitation: A case report and review of the literature.
AB  - Ectodermal dysplasia is a rare group of inherited disorders characterized by
      aplasia or dysplasia of tissues of ectodermal origin, such as hair, nails, teeth
      and skin. Dental manifestations include hypodontia, complete anodontia or
      malformed teeth. Oral rehabilitation is the major surgical challenge in such
      patients. It frequently requires alveolar reconstruction followed by dental
      implants. We report a case of hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia, which was
      managed with reconstruction of both the upper and the lower alveolus using free
      fibula flaps with dental rehabilitation using osseointegrated implants.

PMID- 20924462
TI  - Causation and complications.

PMID- 20924461
TI  - Hazards of steroid injection: Suppurative extensor tendon rupture.
AB  - Local steroid injections are often administered in the office setting for
      treatment of trigger finger, carpal tunnel syndrome, de Quervain's tenosynovitis,
      and basal joint arthritis. If attention is paid to sterile technique, infectious
      complications are rare. We present a case of suppurative extensor tenosynovitis
      arising after local steroid injection for vague symptoms of dorsal hand and wrist
      pain. The progression of signs and symptoms following injection suggests a
      natural history involving bacterial superinfection leading to tendon rupture. We
      discuss the pitfalls of local steroid injection and the appropriate management of
      infectious extensor tenosynovitis arising in such situations.

PMID- 20924463
TI  - Pedicled anterolateral thigh flap for contralateral groin composite defect.
AB  - Pedicled anterolateral thigh flap has been well described for ipsilateral groin
      defects. Its versatility depends on the intact femoral vessels. When the external
      iliac and the femoral vessels are absent, especially secondary to wide surgical
      tumour ablations in the groin region, ipsilateral ALT flap is not an option. Free
      flaps also are difficult because of lack of recipient vessels. We report a case
      of composite groin defect following wide resection of recurrent liposarcoma along
      with encased vessels which was covered with a pedicled anterolateral thigh flap
      from the opposite thigh. The technique of lengthening the vascular pedicle and
      medializing the pedicle, to effectively increase its reach to the contralateral
      anterior superior iliac spine without vascular compromise, is described.

PMID- 20924464
TI  - A foregoing thenar muscular branch of the median nerve.
AB  - We present a 62-year-old female patient who had an anatomic variation in the
      median nerve of the left hand. During surgery for releasing the left carpal
      tunnel, an abnormally high level of origin of the thenar muscular branch of the
      median nerve was detected, at 2.5 cm above the proximal border of transverse
      carpal ligament. It traveled between the medial side of the flexor carpi radialis
      tendon and median nerve and entered the carpal tunnel. After exiting the carpal
      tunnel distally, the nerve, was noted to course towards the thenar area. Such
      variations in the median nerve should be kept in mind while performing carpal
      tunnel release.

PMID- 20924465
TI  - Secondary reconstruction of below knee amputation stump with free anterolateral
      thigh flap.
AB  - Below knee stump preservation reduces ambulatory energy expenditure and improves
      the quality of life. Reconstruction of soft tissue loss around the stump is a
      challenging task. Below knee stump reconstruction demands stable skin with
      sufficient soft tissue to allow weigh bearing. Microsurgical tissue transfer is
      increasingly being used as a salvage option. Anterolateral thigh flap with
      additional vastus lateralis muscle provides extra cushioning effect. We report
      two cases of amputation below knee successfully salvaged. The anterolteral flap
      with abundant tissue and stable skin offers a reliable option for cover. Two
      patients with below knee amputation were reconstructed secondarily. After 6 to 20
      months of follow -up, stumps showed no signs of pressure effects. Patients are
      able to bear 50-70 hours of weight per week.

PMID- 20924466
TI  - Median cleft lip: A new method of surgical repair.
AB  - The aim is to discuss a new method of muscle repair in midline cleft lip. Three
      patients with midline cleft lip were repaired with our technique of muscle repair
      and the results evaluated. Our new method of muscle repair in the form of 'Z'
      helps in forming the philtral dimple.

PMID- 20924467
TI  - Considerations in the choice of side in a free Latissimus Dorsi flap to determine
      expendability in extensive lower extremity defects.

PMID- 20924468
TI  - Variant formation and distribution of the superficial palmar arch.

PMID- 20924469
TI  - Managing the cut end of a K wire.

PMID- 20924470
TI  - Splinting of penis after micro vascular reconstruction: A simple inexpensive
      method.

PMID- 20924471
TI  - Remember S.E.P.A. flap?

PMID- 20924472
TI  - Honey vs. silver sulphadiazine.

PMID- 20924473
TI  - Better patient care: Need of the hour.

PMID- 20924474
TI  - Oncogenic osteomalacia: A reversible metabolic bone disorder.

PMID- 20924475
TI  - Pathology of Ewing's sarcoma/PNET: Current opinion and emerging concepts.
AB  - Ewing's sarcoma/PNET are small round cell tumors showing a varying degree of
      neuroectodermal differentiation. They are one of the commonest tumors of
      childhood and occur in bone and within soft tissues. Traditionally, light
      microscopy with the aid of immunohistochemical stains was suitable for diagnosis.
      But now translocation analyses are being used not only for the diagnosis and
      classification of small round cell tumors, but to ascertain their prognostic
      significance, detect micrometastasis, and monitor minimal residual disease, with
      potential for targeted therapy. This article analyzes the pathology, biology, and
      molecular aspects of Ewing's sarcoma/PNET and discusses their clinical and
      therapeutic implications.

PMID- 20924476
TI  - Chemotherapy in Ewing's sarcoma.
AB  - Ewing's sarcoma constitutes three per cent of all pediatric malignancies. Ewing's
      sarcoma has generally been more responsive to chemotherapy than adult-type
      sarcomas, and chemotherapy is now recommended for all patients with this disease.
      It is essential to integrate local control measures in the form of surgery and/or
      radiotherapy at the appropriate time, along with chemotherapy to eradicate the
      disease. This approach has improved the survival substantially to the tune of 70%
      in localized disease, although outcome for metastatic disease remains dismal.
      Newer therapeutic approaches are required to improve outcome for metastatic and
      recurrent or refractory Ewing's sarcoma in organized co-operative group trials.

PMID- 20924477
TI  - Outcome of multimodality treatment of Ewing's sarcoma of the extremities.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The management of Ewing's sarcoma family of tumors (ESFT, Ewing's
      sarcoma/primitive neuroectodermal tumor) has been established as a multimodality
      treatment. Advances in imaging and diagnostics, chemotherapy, surgical
      techniques, radiotherapy and prosthetic technology have resulted in drastic
      changes in the outcome of this disease, with most of the recent studies having 5
      year survival rates of more than 60%. The Indian patients present at a more
      advanced stage and the compliance of treatment is suboptimal. While there is
      plenty of data in the world literature on the outcome of Ewing's sarcoma, there
      is paucity of data in Indian patients. Therefore, we conducted the present study
      to analyze the outcome of multimodality treatment of ESFT of the extremities at a
      tertiary nonprofit institute over a decade. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 34 patients
      who had histopathologically proven diagnosis of Ewing's sarcoma of the
      extremities and had received treatment at our institute from 1997 through 2007
      were included for analysis. The majority of patients had involvement of the femur
      (35%), followed by tibia (17%), fibula and foot (15% each), humerus (12%) and
      soft tissue of thigh (6%). Twenty-nine patients presented with localized disease
      (Enneking stage II B) while five patients presented with metastases (Enneking
      stage III). All patients received Vincristine, Actinomycin D, Cyclofosfamide +
      Ifosfamide and Etoposide (VAC+IE)-based chemotherapy and local treatment was
      offered to all but three patients having multicentric disease. The local
      treatment offered were, radiation (n= 15), surgery (n= 12) both surgery and
      radiation (n=4). All patients were analyzed for oncological outcome (event-free
      and overall survival, local and systemic relapses) by clinical and imaging
      evaluation and functional outcome by using the musculoskeletal tumor society
      (MSTS) score. These outcomes were correlated with age, sex, size of tumor, stage
      at presentation, modality of local treatment and site of relapse. RESULTS: At the
      final follow-up (mean, 26 months; median, 17 months; range, 3-97 months), the
      overall and event-free survivals were 47 +/- 12% and 34 +/- 9%, respectively.
      Sixty-two percent of the patients presented with a tumor size more than 8 cm. On
      correlation with age, sex, size of tumor, stage at presentation, modality of
      local treatment and site of relapse, no correlation of survival was seen with any
      of the variables except event-free survival with size of the tumor. The
      functional outcome of all the patients was satisfactory (MSTS score >16 out of
      30). No patient underwent amputation. CONCLUSION: Although the demographic
      profile, stage at presentation and the local and systemic treatment regimen
      followed in our study was similar to the world literature, the outcome of Ewing's
      sarcoma in Indian patients were found to be inferior to that reported in the
      western literature. Larger multicentric studies with longer follow-up are
      required to exactly determine the key areas crucial in improving this outcome.

PMID- 20924478
TI  - Short-term followup after surgical treatment of Ewing's sarcoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Results of surgical treatment in Indian patients of Ewing's sarcoma
      managed with multimodality treatment with chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy are
      insufficient. We report a retrospective evaluation of a series of cases of
      Ewing's sarcoma managed with chemotherapy, surgery with or without radiotherapy.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: 54 patients of biopsy-proven Ewing's sarcoma of the bone,
      except craniofacial and vertebral bones were included. The patients having
      recurrence or having previous treatment were excluded from the study. Local and
      systemic extent of the sarcoma was defined, staged, and patients were subjected
      to the chemotherapy, surgery, and in some cases radiotherapy. Patients were
      evaluated for results of surgery with respect to complications, recurrence, and
      metastases at 3, 6, 9, 12, 18 and 24 months of follow-up RESULTS: Average age of
      patients was 15.6 years (range 7-26 years); average delay in treatment was 4.1
      months (1-7 months); follow-up ranged from 2 to 5 years (median 3.1 years); 14
      patients (25.9%) had pulmonary metastases at their initial presentation. Twenty
      one patients (38.9%) underwent resection and intercalary reconstruction with bone
      grafting, fixed with locking plates. Allograft was also used in 11 of these.
      Sixteen patients underwent resection and reconstruction with endoprosthesis,
      while seven patients (13.0%) underwent resection and arthrodesis. An above-knee
      amputation was required in 7.4% (four patients). Mesh was used for containing the
      graft longitudinally in five patients (femoral and tibial intercalary
      reconstructions) and for soft tissue attachment in two patients (hip and shoulder
      endoprostheses). Two patients had deep wound infection. One patient presented 1
      year later with implant failure. The disease-free survival at 2 years from the
      time of diagnosis was 57.5% (23 out of 40) for patients without preoperative
      metastases and 42.9% (6 out of 14) for those with preoperative metastases.
      Overall, the disease-free survival at 2 years was 53.7% (29 out of 54 patients).
      Overall survival rate at 2 years was 61.1% (33 out of 54 patients). CONCLUSION:
      Results of surgical treatment in this study are comparable with the current
      literature in spite of involvement of long bony segment and large soft tissue
      component. Intramedullary fibular autograft with morcellized cancellous autograft
      and allograft contained longitudinally in a mesh appears to be a good alternative
      with such large bone tumors.

PMID- 20924479
TI  - Extracorporeal irradiated tumor bone: A reconstruction option in diaphyseal
      Ewing's sarcomas.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Limb salvage in extremity tumors is now established as an
      oncologically safe option without compromising long-term survival. En bloc
      resection followed by extracorporeal radiation and reimplantation is a biological
      reconstruction option in diaphyseal Ewing's sarcomas. We analyzed the results of
      12 cases of diaphyseal Ewing's sarcomas treated using this modality. MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: Between March 2006 and March 2008, 12 patients with Ewing's sarcoma
      underwent enbloc resection and reconstruction, with reimplantation of the
      sterilized tumor bone, after extracorporeal irradiation. There were eight males
      and four females, with a mean age of 14 years (range 2 to 22 years). The femur
      was the most common bone involved (n=8) followed by the tibia and the humerus
      (two cases each). All these patients were non-metastatic at presentation and
      received chemotherapy as per the existing hospital protocol. The mean length of
      the bone resected was 20 cm (range 11 to 25 cm). The specimen was irradiated with
      50 Gy prior to reimplantation and stabilized with the host bone, using suitable
      internal fixation. Standard biplanar radiographs were assessed for evidence of
      union on the follow-up visits. The functional status was assessed using the
      Musculoskeletal Tumor Society Scoring system at the time of the last follow up.
      The mean follow up duration was 29 months (range 12 to 57 months). RESULTS: Two
      patients (17%) had early infection with graft removal, hence are excluded from
      any analysis of union, however they are included when analysing complications
      such as infection. Rest 10 cases were analyzed for bony union at the osteotomy
      sites. Sixteen (84%) of the 19 osteotomy sites united primarily, without any
      intervention. Implant failure and non-union was seen at three diaphyseal
      osteotomy sites. The average time for union of all osteotomy sites was 7.2 months
      (range 3 to 13 months).The average time for union of the metaphyseal osteotomy
      sites was 5.9 months (range 3 to 12 months) and of diaphyseal osteotomy sites was
      8.3 months (range 4 to 13 months). The mean Musculoskeletal Tumor Society Score
      was 27 (range 19 to 30) with a mean of 27. Nine of the ten patients with lower
      limb involvement were independent ambulators without additional aids. At the time
      of the last review, six patients were free of disease and six patients had died
      from the disease. There were two recurrences around the operative site. Both were
      associated with disseminated disease and in both the recurrences were in the soft
      tissue, away from the irradiated graft. CONCLUSION: Extracorporeal irradiation is
      a useful, convenient technique for limb salvage in diaphyseal Ewing's sarcomas
      when there is reasonable residual bone stock. It is oncologically safe and has
      good functional results. A radiation dose of 50 Gy for sterilizing the bone
      ensures adequate tumor kill, while minimizing the deleterious effects on the
      biomechanical and biological properties of the bone. The use of appropriate
      implants for adequate internal fixation and supplementary bone grafting at the
      index surgery may help reduce the need for subsequent additional interventions to
      achieve union. The limitations of this procedure are that it is not applicable in
      tumor bones that are structurally weak and in bones with pathological fractures.

PMID- 20924480
TI  - Surgical management of pelvic Ewing's sarcoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Despite advances in adjuvant therapy, Ewing's sarcoma of the pelvis
      remains an anatomic site with a poor prognosis due to its relative
      inaccessibility, complex anatomy, and limited reconstructive options available.
      This study evaluates the role of surgery in the management of patients with
      pelvic Ewing's sarcoma who also have received conventional radiation therapy and
      chemotherapy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From July 1990 to July 2006, we received 10
      patients with Ewing's sarcoma of pelvis at our center. Nine patients were in
      stage II B and one in Stage III at the time of presentation to us. All patients
      underwent surgical resection after preoperative chemotherapy with or without
      radiotherapy, which was given at the discretion of the referral center.
      Reconstruction was attempted using plate osteosynthesis in four patients, SS
      wires and screws in three patients, free fibular strut graft in one patient, and
      none was done in two patients. RESULTS: Functional outcome assessed by Enneking's
      criteria revealed excellent outcome in two patients, good outcome in five
      patients, and poor outcome in two patients. At a mean followup of 10.3 years,
      seven patients remained free from the disease, and three patients died. The 5-
      and 10-year cumulative survival (Kaplan Meier method) was 63% and 34%,
      respectively. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates that surgery plus chemotherapy
      and radiation therapy is helpful for treating patients with pelvic Ewing's
      sarcoma, particularly in achieving local control.

PMID- 20924481
TI  - Experimental posterolateral spinal fusion with beta tricalcium phosphate ceramic
      and bone marrow aspirate composite graft.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Beta tricalcium phosphate is commonly used in metaphyseal defects but
      its use in posterolateral spinal fusion remains controversial. There are very few
      published animal studies in which use of beta tricalcium phosphate has been
      evaluated in the posterolateral lumbar arthrodesis model. Hence we conducted a
      study to evaluate the potential of composite graft of beta tricalcium phosphate
      and bone marrow aspirate in comparison to autologous bone graft, when used for
      posterolateral spinal fusion. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Single level posterolateral
      lumbar fusion was performed in 40 adult male Indian rabbits, which were assigned
      randomly into one of the four groups based on graft materials implanted; a) 3 gm
      beta tricalcium phosphate plus 3 ml bone marrow aspirate (Group I); b) 3 ml bone
      marrow aspirate alone (Group II); c) 3 gm beta tricalcium phosphate (Group III)
      and d) 3 gm autologous bone graft (Group IV). Each group had 10 rabbits. Half of
      the rabbits were sacrificed by injecting Phenobarbitone intraperitoneally after
      eight weeks and the remaining after 24 weeks, and were evaluated for fusion by X
      rays, computed tomography (CT) scans, manual palpation test and histology.
      RESULTS: Beta tricalcium phosphate used with bone marrow aspirate produced best
      results when compared to other groups (P =.0001). When beta tricalcium phosphate
      was used alone, fusion rates were better as compared to fusion achieved with
      autologous iliac crest bone graft though statistically not significant (P =0.07).
      Autologous bone graft showed signs of new bone formation. However, the rate of
      new bone formation was comparatively slow. CONCLUSION: Composite graft of beta
      tricalcium phosphate and bone marrow aspirate can be used as an alternative to
      autologous iliac crest bone graft.

PMID- 20924482
TI  - Simultaneously anterior decompression and posterior instrumentation by
      extrapleural retroperitoneal approach in thoracolumbar lesions.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Anterior decompression with posterior instrumentation when indicated
      in thoracolumbar spinal lesions if performed simultaneously in single-stage
      expedites rehabilitation and recovery. Transthoracic, transdiaphragmatic approach
      to access the thoracolumbar junction is associated with significant morbidity, as
      it violates thoracic cavity; requires cutting of diaphragm and a separate
      approach, for posterior instrumentation. We evaluated the clinical outcome
      morbidity and feasibility of extrapleural retroperitoneal approach to perform
      anterior decompression and posterior instrumentation simultaneously by single "T"
      incision outcome in thoracolumbar spinal trauma and tuberculosis. PATIENTS AND
      METHODS: Forty-eight cases of tubercular spine (n = 25) and fracture of the spine
      (n = 23) were included in the study of which 29 were male and 19 female. The mean
      age of patients was 29.1 years. All patients underwent single-stage anterior
      decompression, fusion, and posterior instrumentation (except two old traumatic
      cases) via extrapleural retroperitoneal approach by single "T" incision.
      Tuberculosis cases were operated in lateral position as they were stabilized with
      Hartshill instrumentation. For traumatic spine initially posterior pedicle screw
      fixation was performed in prone position and then turned to right lateral
      position for anterior decompression by same incision and approach. They were
      evaluated for blood loss, duration of surgery, superficial and deep infection of
      incision site, flap necrosis, correction of the kyphotic deformity, and
      restoration of anterior and posterior vertebral body height. RESULTS: In
      traumatic spine group the mean duration of surgery was 269 minutes (range 215-315
      minutes) including the change over time from prone to lateral position. The mean
      intraoperative blood loss was 918 ml (range 550-1100 ml). The preoperative mean
      ASIA motor, pin prick and light touch score improved from 63.3 to 74.4, 86 to
      94.4 and 86 to 96 at 6 month of follow-up respectively. The mean preoperative
      loss of the anterior vertebral height improved from 44.7% to 18.4% immediate
      postoperatively and was 17.5% at final follow-up at 1 year. The means
      preoperative kyphus angle also improved from 23.3 degrees  to 9.3 degrees 
      immediately after surgery, which deteriorated to 11.5 degrees  at final follow
      up. One patient developed deep wound infection at the operative site as well as
      flap necrosis, which needed debridement and removal of hardware. Five patients
      had bed sore in the sacral region, which healed uneventfully. In tubercular spine
      (n=25) group, mean operating time was approximately 45 minutes less than
      traumatic group. The mean intraoperative blood loss was 1100 ml (750-2200 ml).
      The mean preoperative kyphosis was corrected from 55 degrees  to 23 degrees .
      Wound healing occurred uneventful in 23 cases and wound dehiscence occurred in
      only 2 cases. Nine out of 11 cases with paraplegia showed excellent neural
      recovery while 2 with panvertebral disease showed partial neural recovery. None
      of the patients in both groups required intensive unit care. CONCLUSIONS:
      Simultaneous exposure of both posterior and anterior column of the spine for
      posterior instrumentation and anterior decompression and fusion in single stage
      by extra pleural retroperitoneal approach by "T" incision in thoracolumbar spinal
      lesions is safe, an easy alternative with reduced morbidity as chest and
      abdominal cavities are not violated, ICU care is not required and diaphragm is
      not cut.

PMID- 20924483
TI  - Os odontoideum with "free-floating" atlantal arch causing C1-2 anterolisthesis
      and retrolisthesis with cervicomedullary compression.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Os odontoideum (OO) with C1-2 anterolisthesis and retrolisthesis may
      cause cervicomedullary injury both from anterior and posterior aspects. We
      analyzed fourteen such patients for biomechanical issues, radiological features
      and management of OO with free-floating atlantal arch and review pertinent
      literature. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fourteen patients having nonsyndromic,
      reducible atlantoaxial dislocation (AAD) with orthotopic OO were analyzed. During
      neck flexion, their C1 anterior arch-os complex displaced anteriorly relative to
      remnant odontoid-C2 body. The posteriorly directed hypoplastic remnant odontoid
      sliding below the atlas and forward translation of the C1 posterior arch caused
      concomitant cervicomedullary compression. During neck extension, there was
      retrolisthesis of the "free-floating" C1 arch-os complex into spinal canal.
      Spinal stenosis and lateral C1-2 facet dislocation; Klippel-Feil anomaly; and
      posterior circulation infarcts were also present in one patient each,
      respectively. Posterior C1-2 (n=10) or occipitocervical fusion (n=3) was
      performed in neutral position to stabilize atlantoaxial movements. RESULTS:
      Follow-up (mean, 3.9 years) assessment revealed improvement in spasticity and
      weakness in 13 patients. One patient had neurological deterioration following C1
      2 posterior sublaminar fusion, requiring its conversion to occipitocervical
      contoured rod fusion. One patient with posterior circulation stroke died prior to
      any operative intervention. Follow-up lateral view radiographs showed a bony
      union or a stable construct in these 13 patients. CONCLUSIONS: OO with free
      floating atlantal arch may precipitate cord injury both during neck flexion and
      extension. This condition may be overlooked unless lateral radiographs of
      craniovertebral junction are undertaken in neck extension, along with the usual
      ones in neutral and flexed positions. Etiological factors include C1 ring-OO
      unrestrained movements above the hypoplastic odontoid; upward pull on OO by alar
      and apical ligaments; lax C1-2 facet joint ligaments; and congenital presence of
      horizontal facet joint surfaces that facilitates C1-2 translation.

PMID- 20924484
TI  - The impact of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and obesity on length of stay
      and cost of spine surgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and obesity may be more
      common among spine surgery patients than in the general population and may affect
      hospital cost. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively studied the prevalence
      of COPD and obesity among 605 randomly selected spine surgery inpatients operated
      between 2005 and 2008, including lumbar microdiskectomy, anterior cervical
      decompression and fusion and lumbar decompression and fusion patients. The length
      of hospital stay and hospital charges for patients with and without COPD and
      obesity (body mass index [BMI]>=30 kg/m(2)) were compared. RESULTS: Among 605
      spine surgery patients, 9.6% had a history of COPD. There were no statistical
      difference in the prevalence of COPD between the three spine surgery groups.
      Obesity was common, with 47.4% of the patients having a BMI>=30 kg/m(2). There
      were no significant differences in obesity rates or BMI values between the three
      types of spine surgery patients. Obesity rates between patients with and without
      COPD were 62.1% vs. 45.9%, and were statistically different (P<0.05). Similarly,
      significant difference (P<0.01) in BMI values between COPD and non-COPD groups,
      32.66+/-7.19 vs. 29.57+/-6.048 (mean +/- std. deviation), was noted. There was
      significant difference (P<0.01) in cost between nonobese female patients without
      COPD and those with obesity and COPD in the anterior cervical decompression and
      fusion (ACDF) group. No association with increased hospital length of stay or
      cost was found in the other two types of spine surgery or in male ACDF patients.
      CONCLUSION: COPD and obesity seem to additively increase the length of hospital
      stay and hospital charges in ACDF female patients, an important finding that
      requires further investigation.

PMID- 20924486
TI  - Clinical signs and anatomical correlation of patellar tendinitis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Patellar tendinitis is one of the several differential diagnosis of
      anterior knee pain. The clinical diagnosis of patellar tendinitis is based on
      tenderness to palpation at the inferior pole of the patella. The tenderness has
      been noted to be maximal when the knee is extended and the quadriceps relaxed,
      but a definite clinical sign for diagnosis is lacking. The accuracy of two
      clinical signs was assesed by a two-stage study which included physical
      examination, MRI and a cadaveric study. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two clinical
      signs, the "passive flexion-extension sign" and the "standing active quadriceps
      sign" were assessed in 10 consecutive patients with presumed patellar tendinitis.
      Five patients had an MRI, showed focal abnormality in the tendon. The location of
      the MRI finding corresponded, to the region of maximal tenderness. A cadaveric
      dissection was undertaken to describe the anatomy of the patella and the patellar
      tendon during these tests. RESULTS: Both tests showed a significant decrease in
      tenderness at the area of inflammation when the patellar tendon was under
      tension. The cadaveric dissection showed that when the knee is flexed to 90
      degrees  or when the quadriceps is tensioned the deep fibers of the tendon do not
      deform to anteriorly applied pressure. CONCLUSION: We suggest using these studies
      routinely in the evaluation of patients with anterior knee pain.

PMID- 20924485
TI  - Primary hemiarthroplasty for unstable osteoporotic intertrochanteric fractures in
      the elderly: A retrospective case series.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The management of unstable osteoporotic intertrochantric fractures in
      elderly is challenging because of difficult anatomical reduction, poor bone
      quality, and sometimes a need to protect the fracture from stresses of weight
      bearing. Internal fixation in these cases usually involves prolonged bed rest or
      limited ambulation, to prevent implant failure secondary to osteoporosis. This
      might result in higher chances of complications like pulmonary embolism, deep
      vein thrombosis, pneumonia, and decubitus ulcer. The purpose of this study is to
      analyze the role of primary hemiarthroplasty in cases of unstable osteoporotic
      intertrochanteric femur fractures. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively
      analyzed 37 cases of primary hemiarthroplasty performed for osteoporotic unstable
      intertrochanteric fractures (AO/OTA type 31-A2.2 and 31-A2.3 and Evans type III
      or IV fractures). There were 27 females and 10 males with a mean age of 77.1
      years (range, 62-89 years). RESULTS: Two patients died due to unrelated cause
      (myocardial infarction) within 6 months of surgery and remaining 35 patients were
      followed up to an average of 24.5 months (range,18-39 months). The average
      surgery time was 71 min (range, 55-88 min) with an average intraoperative blood
      loss of 350 ml (range, 175-500 ml). Six patients needed blood transfusion
      postoperatively. The patients walked on an average 3.2 days after surgery (range,
      2-8 days). One patient had superficial skin infection and one had bed sore with
      no other significant postoperative complications. One patient of Alzheimer's
      disease refused to walk and had a poor result. A total of 32 out of 35 patients
      (91%) had excellent to fair functional results and 2 had poor result with respect
      to the Harris hip score (mean 84.8+/-9.72, range 58-97). One patient who had
      neurological comorbidity refused to walk post operatively and was labeled as
      failed result. CONCLUSION: Hemiarthroplasty for unstable osteoporotic
      intertrochanteric fractures in elderly results in early ambulation and good
      functional results although further prospective randomized trials are required
      before reaching to conclusion.

PMID- 20924487
TI  - Dislocation following total knee arthroplasty: A report of six cases.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Dislocation following total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is the worst form
      of instability. The incidence is from 0.15 to 0.5%. We report six cases of TKA
      dislocation and analyze the patterns of dislocation and the factors related to
      each of them. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Six patients with dislocation of knee
      following TKA are reported. The causes for the dislocations were an imbalance of
      the flexion gap (n=4), an inadequate selection of implants (n=1), malrotation of
      components (n=1) leading to incompetence of the extensor mechanism, or rupture of
      the medial collateral ligament (MCC). The patients presented complained of pain,
      giving way episodes, joint effusion and difficulty in climbing stairs. Five
      patients suffered posterior dislocation while one anterior dislocation. An urgent
      closed reduction of dislocation was performed under general anaesthesia in all
      patients. All patients were operated for residual instability by revision
      arthroplasty after a period of conservative treatment. RESULTS: One patient had
      deep infection and knee was arthrodesed. Two patients have a minimal residual lag
      for active extension, including a patient with a previous patellectomy. Result
      was considered excellent or good in four cases and fair in one, without residual
      instability. Five out of six patients in our series had a cruciate retaining (CR)
      TKA designs: four were revised to a posterior stabilized (PS) TKA and one to a
      rotating hinge design because of the presence of a ruptured MCL. CONCLUSION:
      Further episodes of dislocation or instability will be prevented by identifying
      and treating major causes of instability. The increase in the level of constraint
      and correction of previous technical mistakes is mandatory.

PMID- 20924488
TI  - Ilizarov's method for treatment of nonunion of diaphyseal fractures of the
      humerus.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Nonunion in diaphyseal fractures of the humerus can be treated by
      various modalities like plating and bone grafting, exchange nailing, fibular
      strut grafting and Ilizarov's method of ring fixation. To achieve union in
      infected nonunion in which multiple surgeries have already been done is further
      challenging. We conducted a prospective study wherein the outcome of the
      treatment of nonunion of diaphyseal fractures of the humerus by Ilizarov's method
      was analyzed. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Nineteen patients with diaphyseal nonunion
      of the humerus were treated by Ilizarov's external fixator. These included
      nonunion after plating (n=11), intramedullary nailing (n=1) or conservative
      methods (n=7). In post-surgical infected nonunion (n=6), the implants were
      removed, debridement done, bone fragments were docked followed by application of
      ring fixator and compression. In aseptic nonunion (n=13), distraction for three
      weeks followed by compression was the protocol. Early shoulder and elbow
      physiotherapy was instituted. The apparatus was removed after clinical and
      radiological union and the results were assessed for bone healing and functional
      status. RESULTS: Fracture union was achieved in all the 19 cases. Pin site
      infection was seen in 2 cases (10.52%). The bone healing results were excellent
      in eighteen cases (94.73%) and good in one case (5.26%).The functional results
      were found to be excellent in fourteen cases (73.68%), good in four (21.05%) and
      fair in one case (5.26%). CONCLUSION: Ilizarov's method is an excellent option
      for treatment of septic and aseptic non union of diaphyseal fractures of the
      humerus as it addresses all the problems associated with non union of the humerus
      like infection, deformity and joint stiffness.

PMID- 20924489
TI  - Percutaneous osteosynthesis of Galeazzi fracture-dislocation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A Galeazzi fracture is defined as a fracture of the radius associated
      with dislocation of the distal radio-ulnar joint (DRUJ). The conventional
      surgical technique of nailing does not give enough stability and open reduction,
      internal fixation with the plate is associated with numerous complications. The
      stacked nailing for the management of these injuries provides adequate stability,
      maintains the relationship of the DRUJ and promotes uneventful union by closed
      technique. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the results of simple, user
      friendly, low cost elastic stacked nailing for the management of Galeazzi
      fracture dislocation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We treated 22 young adults with
      fresh Galeazzi fracture-dislocation of the forearm, from January 2004 to January
      2008, by percutaneous fixation of fracture by stacked elastic nailing at our
      institute. There were 19 males and three females and the age group ranged from 20
      56 years (average 35 years). Surgery was performed within 48 to 72 hours under
      the guidance of image intensifier. Medullary cavity was filled with two elastic
      titanium nails having unequal lengths and diameter. One nail acts as a reduction
      nail and the other acts as a stabilizing nail. The results were evaluated using
      Mikic criteria based on union, alignment, relationship of the DRUJ, and movements
      at the inferior radio ulnar joint, elbow and wrist. RESULTS: In six cases,
      following radiological union, nails in the radius were extracted between six to
      nine months after operation because of discomfort complained by the patient at
      site of insertion. After one year follow-up, 18 patients had excellent, four had
      fair results. CONCLUSION: Closed reduction and internal fixation of Galeazzi
      fracture by two elastic rods re-establishes the normal relationship of the
      fractured fragments and the DRUJ without repair of the ligaments. The stability
      is achieved by the flexibility and elasticity of the nails, crowding of the
      medullary canal and anchorage they gain in the radial diaphysis. Elastic nailing
      can produce excellent clinical results for Galeazzi fracture-dislocation. It has
      the advantages of technical simplicity, minimal cost, user-friendly
      instrumentation, and a short learning curve.

PMID- 20924490
TI  - Oncogenic osteomalacia: Problems in diagnosis and long-term management.
AB  - Oncogenic osteomalacia is a rare association between mesenchymal tumors and
      hypophosphatemic rickets. It is more of a biochemical entity than a clinical one.
      The pathophysiology of the tumor is not clear. However, it has been seen that the
      clinical and biochemical parameters become normal if the lesion responsible for
      producing the osteomalacia is excised. For a clinical diagnosis a high index of
      suspicion is necessary. We present three such cases where in one the oncogenic
      osteomalacia reversed while in rest it did not. We present this case report to
      sensitize about the entity.

PMID- 20924491
TI  - Subchondral stress fracture of femoral head in a healthy adult.
AB  - Subchondral fracture of the femoral head is an uncommon entity and usually occurs
      as an insufficiency fracture associated with poor bone quality or as a fatigue
      fracture in young military recruits. This condition should be considered in the
      differential diagnosis of acute hip pain in young patients along with transient
      osteoporosis and avascular necrosis of the hip. We report a case of acute onset
      hip pain in an asymptomatic healthy adult in which the diagnosis was made by
      magnetic resonance imaging and the patient responded well to conservative
      treatment.

PMID- 20924492
TI  - Early lateral migration of head after bipolar hemiarthoplasty in a cerebral palsy
      patient.
AB  - Migration of the outer head after bipolar hemiarthroplasty within several years
      after surgery is not a rare complication. We present a patient with cerebral
      palsy who showed lateral migration of the outer head seven months after bipolar
      hemiarthroplasty for femoral neck fracture. The patient had no acetabular
      pathology prior to the fracture, and lacked ambulatory ability in a community
      setting. She underwent conversion to a total hip arthroplasty and returned to her
      previous lifestyle.

PMID- 20924493
TI  - A new mode of clinical failure of porous tantalum rod.
AB  - The area of osteonecrosis of the head of femur affected by the disease process
      varies from a small localized lesion to a global lesion. Without specific
      treatment 80% of the clinically diagnosed cases will progress, and most will
      eventually require arthroplasty. Therefore the goal is to diagnose and treat the
      condition in the earliest stage. A number of surgical procedures have been
      described to retard or prevent progression of the disease and to preserve the
      femoral head. An implant made of porous tantalum has been developed to function
      as a structural graft to provide mechanical support to the subchondral plate of
      the necrotic femoral head, and possibly allow bone growth into the avascular
      region. Porous tantalum implant failure with associated radiological progression
      of the disease is reported in the literature; however, there is no report of
      clinical failure of the implant without radiological progression of the disease.
      We report a case of clinical failure of porous tantalum implant, seven months
      after surgery without any radiological progression of the disease, and with
      histopathological evidence of new bone formation around the porous tantalum
      implant. The patient was succesfully treated by total hip arthroplasty.

PMID- 20924494
TI  - Neglected irreducible posterolateral knee dislocation.
AB  - Knee dislocations are rare injuries. Posterolateral knee dislocations are only a
      small subset of them. There is a paucity of literature regarding the management
      of such neglected cases. We report here, a case of neglected irreducible
      posterolateral knee dislocation treated with open reduction and isolated
      posterior cruciate ligament reconstruction followed by gradual rehabilitation
      with good outcome at 3 years followup.

PMID- 20924495
TI  - Internal jugular phlebectasia as an incidental finding in cervical spine surgery.
AB  - Idiopathic internal jugular phlebectasia, occurs either unilaterally or
      bilaterally affecting the internal jugular vein is a rare congenital variation
      often diagnosed during childhood. It usually presents with a benign swelling over
      the lateral side of neck on the affected side, seen on exertion. A-30-year old
      male was operated for anterior cervical dissectomy from right lateral approach
      and was diagnosed per-operatively as internal jugular phlebectasia. The surgery
      was abandoned at this stage on the advice of cardiothoracic surgeon to
      investigate the patient for the secondary etiological factors for internal
      jugular vein dilatation. The patient was reassured without any active
      intervention for the phlebectasia and cervical dissectomy was performed in the
      second surgery through the lateral approach from left side. This case is
      presented in view of rarity and suggested that during preoperative workup the
      nearby structures like carotid sheath should be evaluated by magnetic resonance
      imaging to avoid such per-operative surprises.

PMID- 20924496
TI  - Protective Mechanism of KIOM-4 in Streptozotocin-Induced Pancreatic beta-Cells
      Damage Is Involved in the Inhibition of Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress.
AB  - Endoplasmic reticulum stress-mediated apoptosis plays an important role in the
      destruction of pancreatic beta-cells and contributes to the development of type 1
      diabetes. The present study examined the effect of KIOM-4, a mixture of four
      plant extracts, on streptozotocin- (STZ-) induced endoplasmic reticulum (ER)
      stress in rat pancreatic beta-cells (RINm5F). KIOM-4 was found to inhibit STZ
      induced apoptotic cell death, confirmed by formation of apoptotic bodies and DNA
      fragmentation. STZ was found to induce the characteristics of ER stress;
      mitochondrial Ca(2+) overloading, enhanced ER staining, release of glucose
      regulated protein 78 (GRP78), phosphorylation of RNA-dependent protein kinase
      (PKR) like ER kinase (PERK) and eukaryotic initiation factor-2alpha (eIF-2alpha),
      cleavage of activating transcription factor 6 (ATF6) and caspase 12, and
      upregulation of CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein-homologous protein (CHOP).
      However, KIOM-4 attenuated these changes induced by STZ. Furthermore, KIOM-4
      suppressed apoptosis induced by STZ in CHOP downregulated cells using CHOP siRNA.
      These results suggest that KIOM-4 exhibits protective effects in STZ-induced
      pancreatic beta-cell damage, by interrupting the ER stress-mediated pathway.

PMID- 20924497
TI  - Red ginseng extract facilitates the early differentiation of human embryonic stem
      cells into mesendoderm lineage.
AB  - Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) have capacities to self-renew and
      differentiate into all cell types in vitro. Red ginseng (RG) is known to have a
      wide range of pharmacological effects in vivo; however, the reports on its
      effects on hESCs are few. In this paper, we tried to demonstrate the effects of
      RG on the proliferation and differentiation of hESCs. Undifferentiated hESCs,
      embryoid bodies (EBs), and hESC-derived cardiac progenitors (CPs) were treated
      with RG extract at 0.125, 0.25, and 0.5 mg/mL. After treatment of
      undifferentiated hESCs from day 2 to day 6 of culture, BrdU labeling showed that
      RG treatment increased the proliferation of hESCs, and the expression of Oct4 and
      Nanog was increased in RG-treated group. To find out the effects of RG on early
      differentiation stage cells, EBs were treated with RG extract for 10 days and
      attached for further differentiation. Immunostaining for three germ layer markers
      showed that RG treatment increased the expressions of Brachyury and HNF3beta on
      EBs. Also, RG treatment increased the expression of Brachyury in early-stage and
      of Nkx2.5 in late-stage hESC-derived CPs. These results demonstrate facilitating
      effects of RG extract on the proliferation and early differentiation of hESC.

PMID- 20924498
TI  - Semecarpus anacardium (Bhallataka) Alters the Glucose Metabolism and Energy
      Production in Diabetic Rats.
AB  - Glucose produced by gluconeogenesis and glycogenolysis plays an important role in
      aggravating hyperglycemia in diabetes, and altered mitochondrial function is
      associated with impaired energy production. The present study focuses on the
      effect of Semecarpus anacardium on carbohydrate metabolism and energy production
      in diabetic rats. Diabetes was induced by the administration of Streptozotocin at
      a dose of 50 mg/kg.b.wt. Three days after the induction, Semecarpus anacardium at
      a dose of 300 mg/kg.b.wt was administered for 21 days. After the experimental
      duration, the activities of the enzymes involved in Glycolysis, TCA cycle,
      gluconeogenesis, and glycogen were assayed in the liver and kidney of the
      experimental animals. In addition, to the complexes the protein expression of AKT
      and PI3K were assayed. The levels of the enzymes involved in Glycolysis and TCA
      cycle increased, while that of gluconeogensis decreased. The activities of the
      mitochondrial complexes were also favorably modulated. The expressions of PI3K
      and AKT also increased in the skeletal muscle. These effects may be attributed to
      the hypoglycemic and the antioxidative activity of Semecarpus anacardium. The
      results of the study revealed that Semecarpus anacardium was able to restore the
      altered activities of the enzymes involved in carbohydrate metabolism and energy
      production.

PMID- 20924499
TI  - Relaxation acupressure reduces persistent cancer-related fatigue.
AB  - Persistent cancer-related fatigue (PCRF) is a symptom experienced by many cancer
      survivors. Acupressure offers a potential treatment for PCRF. We investigated if
      acupressure treatments with opposing actions would result in differential effects
      on fatigue and examined the effect of different "doses" of acupressure on
      fatigue. We performed a trial of acupressure in cancer survivors experiencing
      moderate to severe PCRF. Participants were randomized to one of three treatment
      groups: relaxation acupressure (RA), high-dose stimulatory acupressure (HIS), and
      low-dose stimulatory acupressure (LIS). Participants performed acupressure for 12
      weeks. Change in fatigue as measured by the Brief Fatigue Inventory (BFI) was our
      primary outcome. Secondary outcomes were assessment of blinding and compliance to
      treatment. Fatigue was significantly reduced across all treatment groups (mean +/
      SD reduction in BFI: RA 4.0 +/- 1.5, HIS 2.2 +/- 1.6, LIS 2.7 +/- 2.2), with
      significantly greater reductions in the RA group. In an adjusted analysis, RA
      resulted in significantly less fatigue after controlling for age, cancer type,
      cancer stage, and cancer treatments. Self-administered RA caused greater
      reductions in fatigue compared to either HIS or LIS. The magnitude of the
      reduction in fatigue was clinically relevant and could represent a viable
      alternative for cancer survivors with PCRF.

PMID- 20924500
TI  - Anti-Hyperglycemic Properties of Crude Extract and Triterpenes from Poria cocos.
AB  - Poria cocos, Bai Fu Ling in Chinese, is used in traditional Chinese medicine to
      treat diabetes. However, its claimed benefits and mechanism are not fully
      understood. This study aimed to investigate the effect and action of P. cocos on
      type 2 diabetes. We first performed phytochemical analysis on the crude extract
      and factions of P. cocos. P. cocos crude extract at 50 mg/kg body weight or more
      significantly decreased blood glucose levels in db/db mice. Based on a
      bioactivity-directed fractionation and isolation (BDFI) strategy, chloroform
      fraction and subfractions 4 and 6 of the P. cocos crude extract possessed a blood
      glucose-lowering effect. Dehydrotumulosic acid, dehydrotrametenolic acid, and
      pachymic acid were identified from the chloroform sub-fractions 4, 3, and 2,
      respectively. Dehydrotumulosic acid had anti-hyperglycemic effect to a greater
      extent than dehydrotrametenolic acid and pachymic acid. Mechanistic study on
      streptozocin- (STZ-) treated mice showed that the crude extract, dehydrotumulosic
      acid, dehydrotrametenolic acid, and pachymic acid of P. cocos exhibited different
      levels of insulin sensitizer activity. However, the P. cocos crude extract and
      triterpenes appeared not to activate PPAR-gamma pathway. Overall, the data
      suggest that the P. cocos extract and its triterpenes reduce postprandial blood
      glucose levels in db/db mice via enhanced insulin sensitivity irrespective of
      PPAR-gamma.

PMID- 20924501
TI  - Photocatalytic hydrogen production from water in self-assembled supramolecular
      iridium-cobalt systems.
AB  - Supramolecular photosynthetic systems made up of the [Ir(ppy)(2)(bpy)](+) and
      [Co(bpy)(3)](2+) cores (ppy = 2-phenylpyridinate, bpy = 2,2'-bipyridine) are in
      situ self-assembled in aqueous media to generate H(2) upon visible light
      irradiation, where one of them recorded a relatively high turnover number of 20.

PMID- 20924502
TI  - Highly stable 7-N,N-dibutylamino-2-azaphenanthrene and 8-N,N-dibutylamino-2
      azachrysene as a new class of second order NLO-active chromophores.
AB  - 7-N,N-Dibutylamino-2-azaphenanthrene (L(3)), 8-N,N-dibutylamino-2-azachrysene
      (L(4)) and related Ir(i) complexes or alkylated salts show high second-order NLO
      responses, as determined by the EFISH technique and DFT calculations. L(4) is
      appealing as building block for NLO active materials due to its unexpected large
      MUbeta(1.907)value and its very high thermal stability.

PMID- 20924507
TI  - Selective control of surface properties using hydrodynamic interactions.
AB  - Using computational modeling, we design nano-structured surfaces able to
      selectively regulate interactions between microchannel walls and flowing colloid
      polymer suspensions. Depending on the geometry of nanoscopic posts lining
      internal channel surfaces, suspended nanoparticles and polymeric chains can be
      either hydrodynamically attracted to channel walls or repelled to the bulk fluid.

PMID- 20924506
TI  - Synthesis and thermolytic behavior of tin(IV) formates: in search of recyclable
      metal-hydride systems.
AB  - The synthesis and characterization of the series of organotin formates together
      with their thermolytic behavior are described. The diformate
      Bu(n)(2)Sn{OC(O)H}(2) (1) was synthesized by the reaction of Bu(n)(2)SnH(2) with
      formic acid. The triorganotin monoformate compounds R(3)SnOC(O)H (R = Cy
      (cyclohexyl)) 3, Mes, (mesityl, 2,4,6-trimethylphenyl) 4, and Dmp (2,6
      dimethylphenyl 5) were obtained by the reaction of R(3)SnOH with formic acid.
      Their X-ray crystal structures along with that of the previously reported formate
      (PhCH(2))(3)SnOC(O)H (2) were determined. The diformate 1 exhibits an extended
      two-dimensional polymeric structure in which six-coordinate tin centers are
      linked by formate bridges. The tribenzyltin formate (2) possesses a chain
      structure in which the five-coordinate Sn(CH(2)Ph)(3) units are bridged by
      formate ions. The cyclohexyl derivative 3 was observed to have a similar
      structure. In contrast, the Mes and Dmp derivatives 4 and 5 support monomeric
      structures in which the four-coordinate tin atom is bound to an oxygen of the
      formate ligand. Heating the compounds in various high boiling solvents produced
      no decomposition up to 120  degrees C in the case of 1 and refluxing a solution
      of 2 or 3 in mesitylene or diglyme left the starting material mostly unchanged,
      although 3 decomposed to an insoluble orange solid in refluxing decalin. In
      contrast, the heating of 4 and 5 in refluxing mesitylene led to elimination of CO
      to give the tin hydroxides. The results are in contrast to the known thermolytic
      behavior of R(3)SnOC(O)H (R = Pr(n) or Bu(n)) complexes, which eliminate CO(2) to
      generate R(3)SnH. Compounds 3-5 are rare examples of structurally characterized
      tin formates.

PMID- 20924508
TI  - Engineering of an enantioselective tyrosine aminomutase by mutation of a single
      active site residue in phenylalanine aminomutase.
AB  - By replacing a single active-site residue Cys107 with Ser in phenylalanine
      aminomutase (PAM), the enzyme gained tyrosine aminomutase (TAM) activity while
      retaining PAM activity and high enantioselectivity. This engineered
      enantioselective TAM also catalyzed formation of beta-tyrosine from p-coumaric
      acid and may prove to be useful for the synthesis of enantiopure beta-tyrosine
      and its derivatives.

PMID- 20924514
TI  - Amperometric proton selective sensors utilizing ion transfer reactions across a
      microhole liquid/gel interface.
AB  - A new cost-effective amperometric proton selective sensor utilizing a single
      microhole interface between two immiscible electrolyte solutions (ITIES) is
      developed. The sensing methodology is based on measuring currents associated with
      proton transfer across the interface assisted by a proton selective ionophore.
      The ellipse shaped micro-interface was first fabricated by simple mechanical
      punching with a sharp needle on a thin PVC film (12 MUm thick) commercially
      available as a food wrapping material. The microhole was then filled up with a
      gellified polyvinylchloride (PVC)-2-nitrophenyloctylether (NPOE) to create a
      single microhole liquid/liquid interface. Direct ion transfer reactions across
      the polarized interface serving as ion sensing platforms were studied using
      cyclic voltammetry. In order to enhance the selectivity of proton sensing, a
      proton selective ionophore, octadecyl isonicotinate (ETH1778), was incorporated
      into the organic gel layer and their electrochemical sensing characteristics were
      investigated using cyclic voltammetry and differential pulse stripping
      voltammetry. As an example, we employed the proton selective sensor for the
      determination of glucose concentrations. The detection scheme involves two steps:
      (i) protons are first generated by the oxidation of glucose with glucose oxidase
      in the aqueous phase; and (ii) the current associated with the proton transfer
      across the interface is then measured for correlating the concentration of
      glucose.

PMID- 20924519
TI  - Patterning osteogenesis by inducible gene expression in microfluidic culture
      systems.
AB  - The development of transitional interfacial zones between adjacent tissues
      remains a significant challenge for developing tissue engineering and
      regenerative medicine strategies. Using osteogenic differentiation as a model, we
      describe a novel approach to spatially regulate expression and secretion of the
      bone morphogenetic protein (BMP-2) in a two-dimensional field of cultured cells,
      by flow patterning the modulators of inducible BMP-2 gene expression. We first
      demonstrate control of gene expression, and of osteogenic differentiation of the
      cell line with inducible expression of BMP-2. Then we design laminar flow
      systems, with patterned delivery of Doxycycline (Dox), the expression modulator
      of BMP-2. The patterned concentration profiles were verified by computational
      simulation and dye separation experiments. Patterned differentiation experiments
      conducted in the flow systems for a period of three weeks showed the Dox
      concentration dependent osteogenic differentiation, as evidenced by mineral
      deposition. In summary, by combining inducible gene expression with laminar flow
      technologies, this study provided an innovative way to engineer tissue
      interfaces.

PMID- 20924520
TI  - Development of non-invasive Raman spectroscopy for in vivo evaluation of bone
      graft osseointegration in a rat model.
AB  - The use of bone structural allografts for reconstruction following tumor
      resection is widespread, although successful incorporation and regeneration
      remain uncertain. There are few non-invasive methods to fully assess the progress
      of graft incorporation. Computed tomography and MRI provide information on the
      morphology of the graft/host interface. Limited information is also available
      from DXA and ultrasound. Only few techniques can provide information on the
      metabolic status of the graft, such as the mineral and matrix composition of the
      regenerated tissue that may provide early indications of graft success or
      failure. To address this challenge, we discuss here the implementation of Raman
      spectroscopy for in vivo assessment of allograft implantation in a rat model. An
      array of optical fibers was developed to allow excitation and collection of Raman
      spectra through the skin of rat at various positions around the rat's tibia. The
      system is calibrated against locally constructed phantoms that mimic the
      morphology, optics and spectroscopy of the rat. The system was evaluated by
      carrying out transcutaneous Raman measurement on rat. Bone mineral and matrix
      Raman bands are successfully recovered. This new technology provides a non
      invasive method for in vivo monitoring of bone graft osseointegration.

PMID- 20924521
TI  - Experimental and theoretical study of rotationally inelastic diffraction of D2
      from NiAl(110).
AB  - We present a detailed experimental and theoretical study of elastic and
      rotationally inelastic diffraction of D(2) from NiAl(110) in the energy range 85
      150 meV. The experiments were performed using a high-resolution, fixed angle
      geometry apparatus. Quantum and classical dynamical calculations were performed
      by using a six-dimensional potential energy surface constructed upon
      interpolation of a set of DFT (density functional theory) data. We show that,
      although elastic diffraction peak intensities are accurately described by theory
      in the whole range of incidence energies and angles explored, significant
      discrepancies are obtained for RID peaks, especially for those involving
      rotational initial states with j(i) > 0. Possible reasons for this discrepancy
      are discussed.

PMID- 20924522
TI  - Correlation between polarity parameters and dielectric properties of [Na][TOTO]-
      a sodium ionic liquid.
AB  - The ionic liquid (IL) [Na][TOTO], with sodium as the cation and an
      oligoethercarboxylate as the anion, shows properties that differ significantly
      from conventional ionic liquids, like imidazolium salts. Its polarity, determined
      in the temperature range of (293-333) K from measurements of Reichardt's E value
      and the Kamlet-Taft parameters is extraordinarily low and matches the dielectric
      constant extrapolated from frequency dependent complex permittivity measurements.
      The dielectric spectra also reveal split dynamics with the dominating slow mode
      probably associated with the reorientation of -COO(-)...Na(+) ion pairs and the
      fast mode arising from the flexibility of the oligoethylene moieties of the
      anion. This assignment, supported by the derived effective dipole moments, argues
      against our previous hypothesis [O. Zech et al., Chem.-Eur. J., 2009, 15, 1341
      1345] that salts, such as [Na][TOTO], have low melting points because of cation
      complexation in a pseudo crown ether-like fashion and resulting "intra-molecular"
      charge neutralization. The present data rule out a rigid chelate-like complex as
      the dominating species. Considering the present findings together with the
      viscosities of [TOTO](-) salts, a crosslinked structure of the ionic liquid with
      strong -COO(-)...Na(+) interactions and relatively weaker forces between cations
      and ether oxygen groups of the anions appears to be plausible.

PMID- 20924523
TI  - Direct assay of electropermeabilization in a 2D pseudo tissue.
AB  - An experimental validation of electropermeabilization inducing field distribution
      in tissue predicted by simulation for needle electrodes is described giving a
      direct visualization of the permeabilization of a 2D tissue.

PMID- 20924524
TI  - Internal mobilities and diffusion in an ionic liquid mixture.
AB  - The internal mobility gives the rate at which one ionic species moves relative to
      the other species present in an ionic mixture, it mirrors the differential
      strength of the interactions between different ionic species. In this work we
      examine the dependence of the internal mobilities of the Li(+) and K(+) ions on
      the composition in molten mixtures of LiF and KF. We compare them to the
      behaviour of the individual diffusion coefficients and the self-exchange
      velocities, which measure the rate at which an ion separates from its nearest
      neighbour coordination shell. The examination is made using molecular dynamics
      simulations with polarizable, first-principles parameterised interaction
      potentials which are shown to reproduce the limited available experimental data
      on the transport properties of these mixtures extremely well. The results confirm
      that the composition-dependence of the internal mobilities in LiF/KF follows the
      unusual type-II behaviour, which is not reflected in that of the diffusion
      coefficients or the self-exchange velocities.

PMID- 20924525
TI  - Synthesis, structure, and reductive elimination in the series Tp'Rh(PR3)(Ar(F))H;
      determination of rhodium-carbon bond energies of fluoroaryl substituents.
AB  - A series of complexes of the type Tp'Rh(PR(3))(Ar(F))H, where PR(3) = PMe(3) (3)
      and PMe(2)Ph (9), Ar(F) = C(6)F(5) (a), 2,3,4,5-C(6)F(4)H (b), 2,3,5,6-C(6)F(4)H
      (c), 2,4,6-C(6)F(3)H(2) (d), 2,3-C(6)F(2)H(3) (e), 2,5-C(6)F(2)H(3) (g), and 2
      C(6)FH(4) (h) and Tp' = tris(3,5-dimethylpyrazolyl)borate, has been synthesized
      as stable crystalline compounds by the reactions of the [Tp'Rh(PR(3))] fragment
      with the corresponding fluorinated aromatic hydrocarbons, and their structures
      were characterized by NMR spectroscopy and elemental analysis together with X-ray
      crystallography. The kinetics of the reductive eliminations of fluoroarenes from
      complexes 3a-h in benzene-d(6) solutions at 140  degrees C were investigated, but
      were complicated by the formation of the rhodium(I) bisphosphine complex,
      Tp'Rh(PMe(3))(2) (4). On the other hand, thermal reactions of (9) in THF-d(8)
      solutions at 120  degrees C resulted in the formation of an intramolecular C-H
      bond activated complex of the phenyl group on the phosphorus atom, Tp'Rh(kappa(2)
      C(6)H(4)-2-PMe(2))H (7), which prevents the formation of the corresponding
      bisphosphine complex. The experimentally determined rates of the reductive
      eliminations of fluoroarenes from the complexes 9a-h and their kinetic
      selectivities for formation in competition with the metallacycle have been used
      to determine relative Rh-CAr(F) bond energies. The Rh-CAr(F) bond energy is found
      to be dependent on the number of ortho fluorines. A plot of Rh-CAr(F) vs. C-H
      bond strengths resulted in a line with a slope R(M-C/C-H) of 2.15 that closely
      matches the DFT calculated value (slope = 2.05).

PMID- 20924526
TI  - Effect of protonation on the electronic structure of aromatic molecules:
      naphthaleneH+.
AB  - Protonated naphthalene, the smallest protonated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon
      cation, absorbs in the visible, around 500 nm, which corresponds to an unusually
      large red shift with respect to the neutral naphthalene counterpart.

PMID- 20924527
TI  - A self-powered, one-step chip for rapid, quantitative and multiplexed detection
      of proteins from pinpricks of whole blood.
AB  - We describe an automated, self-powered chip based on lateral flow immunoassay for
      rapid, quantitative, and multiplex protein detection from pinpricks of whole
      blood. The device incorporates on-chip purification of blood plasma by employing
      inertial forces to focus blood cells away from the assay surface, where plasma
      proteins are captured and detected on antibody "barcode" arrays. Power is
      supplied from the capillary action of a piece of adsorbent paper, and
      sequentially drives, over a 40 minute period, the four steps required to capture
      serum proteins and then develop a multiplex immunoassay. An 11 protein panel is
      assayed from whole blood, with high sensitivity and high reproducibility. This
      inexpensive, self-contained, and easy to operate chip provides a useful platform
      for point-of-care diagnoses, particularly in resource-limited settings.

PMID- 20924528
TI  - Large-scale performance evaluation of e-homecare architectures using the WS-NS
      simulator.
AB  - BACKGROUND: E-homecare creates opportunities to provide care faster, at lower
      cost and higher levels of convenience for patients. As e-homecare services are
      time-critical, stringent requirements are imposed in terms of total response time
      and reliability, this way requiring a characterization of their network load and
      usage behavior. However, it is usually hard to build testbeds on a realistic
      scale in order to evaluate large-scale e-homecare applications. OBJECTIVE: This
      paper describes the design and evaluation of the Network Simulator for Web
      Services (WS-NS), an NS2-based simulator capable of accurately modeling service
      oriented architectures that can be used to evaluate the performance of e-homecare
      architectures. METHODS: WS-NS is applied to the Coplintho e-homecare use case,
      based on the results of the field trial prototype which targeted diabetes and
      multiple sclerosis patients. Network-unaware and network-aware service selection
      algorithms are presented and their performance is tested. RESULTS: The results
      show that when selecting a service to execute the request, suboptimal decisions
      can be made when selection is solely based on the service's properties and
      status. Taking into account the network links interconnecting the services leads
      to better selection strategies. Based on the results, the e-homecare broker
      design is optimized from a centralized design to a hierarchical region-based
      design, resulting in an important decrease of average response times.
      CONCLUSIONS: The WS-NS simulator can be used to analyze the load and response
      times of large-scale e-homecare architectures. An optimization of the e-homecare
      architecture of the Coplintho project resulted in optimized network overhead and
      more than 45% lower response times.

PMID- 20924529
TI  - Errata.

PMID- 20924530
TI  - Editorial.

PMID- 20924531
TI  - Characterizing ceramics and the interfacial adhesion to resin: II- the
      relationship of surface treatment, bond strength, interfacial toughness and
      fractography.
AB  - The clinical success of resin bonding procedures for indirect ceramic
      restorations and ceramic repairs depends on the quality and durability of the
      bond between the ceramic and the resin. The quality of this bond will depend upon
      the bonding mechanisms that are controlled in part by the surface treatment that
      promote micromechanical and/or chemical bonding to the substrate. The objective
      of this review is to correlate interfacial toughness (K A) with fracture surface
      morphological parameters of the dental ceramic-resin systems as a function of
      ceramic surface treatment. This analysis is designed to identify mechanisms that
      promote adhesion of these ceramic-resin systems and an appropriate bond test
      method to yield relevant adhesion performance data.

PMID- 20924532
TI  - Marginal leakage of polyacid-modified composite resin restorations in primary
      molars: an in vitro study.
AB  - The purpose of this in vitro study was to compare the marginal leakage in primary
      molars restored with 2 polyacid-modified composite resins (Dyract AP - Dentsply
      and F2000 - 3M) and a composite resin (Filtek Z250 - 3M) as control. First and
      second primary molars were used for preparation of cavities on the proximal
      surfaces, with extension of the gingival margin to the cementoenamel junction.
      Restorations were accomplished after total etching and application of the
      respective adhesive system, and were divided into groups according to the
      restorative system and the number of adhesive layers used. The teeth were stored
      in distilled water for 7 days, followed by thermocycling with 500 cycles at 5oC -
      55oC, with one minute in each bath. Thereafter, teeth were prepared for immersion
      in 0.5% methylene blue solution for four hours. The teeth were sectioned in
      mesiodistal direction for assessment of dye penetration. According to the results
      of the Kruskal-Wallis test, the three restorative materials employed did not
      completely avoid marginal leakage at the gingival margin of primary molars. The
      marginal leakage of PMCR F2000 (4.06 and 3.95) displayed to be higher than the
      marginal leakage observed for the materials Dyract AP (2.7 and 2.55) and Filtek
      Z250 (2.25 and 2.43). The number of adhesive layers did not influence the degree
      of leakage of the three materials.

PMID- 20924533
TI  - Comparative study of rules employed for calculation of pediatric drug dosage.
AB  - The present study was conducted to evaluate the utilization of Clark's, Salisbury
      and Penna's rules and the Body Surface Area (BSA) formula for calculation of
      pediatric drug dosage, as well as their reliability and viability in the clinical
      use. These rules are frequently cited in the literature, but much controversy
      still exists with regards to their use. The pediatric drug dosage was calculated
      by utilization of the aforementioned rules and using the drugs Paracetamol,
      Dipyrone, Diclofenac Potassium, Nimesulide, Amoxicillin and Erythromycin, widely
      employed in Pediatric Dentistry. Weight and body surface areas were considered of
      children with ages between 1 and 12 years old as well as the dosage for the
      adult. The pediatric dosages achieved were compared to the predetermined dosages
      in mg kg-1 herein-named standard dosages. The results were submitted to the
      parametric test ANOVA and to the Tukey test (p<0,05). The antibiotics and
      Diclofenac provides acceptable utilization of the rules in pediatric dentistry,
      however for the Dipyrone, the dosages obtained by the rules suggest their
      clinical ineffectiveness. For the Paracetamol, the Penna's rule and the BSA
      formula should not be clinically employed, especially for children between 1 and
      5 years old, once such dosages were much close to the hepatotoxic dosage of the
      drug. It can be concluded that the use of the rules for safe calculation of the
      pediatric drug dosage is possible and it depends on the used drug and age group.

PMID- 20924534
TI  - The influence of different screw tightening forces on the vertical misfit of
      implant-supported frameworks.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The present in vitro study was designed to compare the differences in
      the vertical misfit of implant-supported frameworks using three different forces
      for tightening the bridge locking screws: fastening by hand until first
      resistance, and using torque drivers with 10 and 20Ncm. METHODS: The
      investigation was conducted based on the results given by 9 six-unit nickel
      chromium (2 abutments/ 4 pontics) screw-retained implant-supported frameworks.
      The structures were exposed to simulated porcelain firings. The marginal misfit
      measurements were made using a traveling measuring microscope at selected screw
      tightening forces: fastening by hand until first resistance, and using torque
      drivers with 10 and 20Ncm. The results were submitted to one-way ANOVA with
      repeated measures on one factor, and post hoc pairwise comparisons using Tukey
      test (5%). RESULTS: The mean marginal misfit of the frameworks, fastening the
      screws by hand until first resistance, was 41.56um (SD+/-12.45um). The use of
      torque driver devices caused a significant reduction in marginal opening
      (p<0.05). With the lowest torque available (10Ncm), the mean marginal discrepancy
      at the abutment-framework interface was reduced an average of 52% to a mean
      marginal opening of 19.71um (SD+/-2.97um). After the use of the 20Ncm torque
      driver, the mean marginal discrepancy of the frameworks was reduced an average of
      69% to a mean marginal opening of 12.82um (SD+/-4.0um). Comparing the use of
      torque drivers with 10 and 20 Ncm torque, the means are not significantly
      different from one another. CONCLUSION: The seating force has an important effect
      on the vertical misfit measurements, once it may considerably narrow the vertical
      misfit gaps at the abutment-framework interface, thus leading to a misjudgment of
      the real marginal situation.

PMID- 20924535
TI  - MTA and calcium hydroxide for pulp capping.
AB  - This study evaluated the biocompatibility of mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA)
      after direct capping of exposed pulp tissue in dog's teeth. Class I cavities were
      prepared in 26 teeth from 3 adult dogs. MTA was applied over the exposed pulp in
      13 teeth and paste of calcium hydroxide plus distilled water (control) was
      applied in the remaining 13 teeth. After 90 days, the animals were killed; the
      maxilla and mandible were dissected and sectioned to obtain individual roots. The
      samples were processed histologically. The pulp and periapical response observed
      with the use of MTA was similar to that of calcium hydroxide paste. In all
      specimens, there was a dentin bridge obliterating the exposure, an intact
      odontoblastic layer, no inflammatory cells, normal connective pulp tissue, normal
      apical and periapical regions and no bone tissue changes. Similar to calcium
      hydroxide, MTA presented excellent response when used for direct pulp capping.

PMID- 20924536
TI  - Evaluation of weight loss and surface roughness of compomers after simulated
      toothbrushing abrasion test.
AB  - This study aimed at analyzing the compomers wear by an "in vitro" toothbrushing
      abrasion test. The null hypotheses tested were that there would be no differences
      in weight loss and no significant changes in surface roughness of the compomers
      after this test. The utilized commercial brands were Dyract (Dentsply), Dyract AP
      (Dentsply), Compoglass F (Vivadent), Freedom (SDI), F2000 (3M ESPE), which were
      compared to the two resin composites Z100 (3M ESPE) and Silux Plus (3M ESPE). Ten
      cylindrical specimens for each commercial brand were prepared with 5mm diameter
      and 3mm thickness. An appropriate machine with soft bristle tips containing
      dentifrice solution and deionized water was used. A total of 100,000 brushing
      cycles were performed. The amount of weight loss was measured by the percentage
      alteration between the initial (before toothbrushing) and final weight (after
      toothbrushing), measured by a Sartorius analytical balance. The surface roughness
      change was determined by the percentage difference between initial and final
      means after 5 tracings by a T 1000 Hommel Tester roughness meter on the
      specimen's surfaces before and after toothbrushing abrasion test. The statistical
      analysis (Students paired t-test, ANOVA and Tukey, a=0.05) showed that all
      materials presented statistically significant weight loss and roughness increase
      after abrasion test. All compomers presented higher weight loss than resin
      composites. Freedom and Dyract AP presented the lowest weight loss among
      compomers. F2000 presented the worst abrasion resistance, without statistical
      differences with Dyract. For roughness changes, Dyract, Dyract AP, Z100,
      Compoglass F and Silux Plus showed the lowest surface roughness alteration, in
      increasing order, without statistical differences between them. Freedom was the
      statistically roughest material of the study.

PMID- 20924537
TI  - Physicochemical characterization of six commercial hydroxyapatites for medical
      dental applicatons as bone graft.
AB  - The aim of this work was to characterize six hydroxyapatites in granular form for
      applications in medicine and dentistry as bone graft and to compare with
      manufacturers' specification. These samples were produced by four different
      manufacturers, and all of them are easily available in the Brazilian market.
      Physicochemical characterization was carried out by using electron microscopy
      (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and surface area
      (BET) measurements. The results show that just one hydroxyapatite sample
      exhibited characterisitics in perfect agreement with the manufacturers'
      specifications. The studied parameters, namely crystallinity, surface area and
      composition may be used to estimate hydroxyapatite's biodegradability and as a
      criterion for quality control.

PMID- 20924538
TI  - Evaluation of fracture resistance of endodontically treated teeth restored with
      prefabricated posts and composites with varying quantities of remaining coronal
      tooth structure.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of remaining
      coronal tooth structure on endodontically treated teeth restored with
      prefabricated posts and two different composites for core build-up: dual-cured
      resin (Enforce Core) and light-cured resin (Z-250). METHODS: Fourty freshly
      extracted canines were endodontically treated and divided into four groups: Group
      I - teeth with 3mm remaining coronal structure, restored with Enforce Core; Group
      II - teeth with 3mm remaining coronal structure, restored with Z-250; Group III -
      teeth with no remaining coronal structure, restored with Enforce; Group IV -
      teeth with no remaining coronal structure, restored with Z-250. After
      restoration, the teeth were embedded in acrylic resin and the fracture resistance
      was measured on a universal testing machine at 45 degrees to the long axis of the
      tooth until failure. RESULTS: Data were analyzed by two-way analysis of variance,
      which showed significant differences between groups (p=0.00). The Tukey test did
      not show significant differences between specimens with and without remaining
      coronal structure. Conversely, significant difference was observed between groups
      with different core build-up. The highest values of fracture resistance were
      found in the group restored with light-cured resin. SIGNIFICANCE: The remaining
      coronal tooth structure did not influence the resistance of endodontically
      treated teeth; however, the change of core build-up was able to modify this
      resistence.

PMID- 20924539
TI  - Influence of different auxiliary agents of biomechanical preparation in the
      filling of "artificially prepared" lateral canals.
AB  - The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the influence of some auxiliary
      agents of biomechanical preparation of the root canal on the filling of
      artificial lateral canals in extracted human teeth. A total of eighty single
      rooted teeth were employed, which were submitted to preparation of three
      artificial lateral canals in one of the proximal aspects at the cervical, middle
      and apical thirds, besides one in the buccal aspect. The main canals were
      prepared by Profile 0.4 rotary instruments through the crown-down technique and
      irrigated with the irrigants investigated, as follows: Group A - 1% sodium
      hypochlorite and final irrigation with trisodium EDTA for 5 minutes; Group B -
      Endogel (2% chlorhexidine gel); Group C - Endo PTC and Dakin's solution and final
      irrigation with Tergentol- Furacin; and Group D - File Eze. The root canals were
      obturated by the Tagger's hybrid technique and then radiographed for assessment
      of the penetration rate of the filling materials in the lateral canals. Analysis
      of the results demonstrated no statistically significant difference (p<0.05)
      between the irrigants both to each other and as regards the location (thirds and
      aspects) of the artificial lateral canals.

PMID- 20924540
TI  - Surface tension of calcium hydroxide associated with different substances.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to evaluate the surface tension of calcium
      hydroxide (CH) associated with different substances (deionized distilled water,
      camphorated paramonochlorophenol, 2% chlorhexidine digluconate, Otosporin, 3%
      sodium lauryl ether sulphate; Furacin, PMC Furacin) using tensiometer. The action
      of the substances studied on the dentinal structure enhances the property of
      surface tension. This method consists in the application of force to separate a
      platinum ring immersed in the substances. Thus, torsion was applied to the screw
      until the platinum ring separated during substances testing. Considering the
      methodology applied, the following can be concluded: distilled water alone or
      associated with CH presented a high surface tension (70.00 and 68.40 dynes/cm);
      calcium hydroxide in association with anionic detergent showed low surface
      tension (31.60 dynes/cm); camphorated paramonochlorophenol plus CH presented low
      surface tension (37.50 dynes/cm); 2% chlorhexidine associated with calcium
      hydroxide showed high surface tension values (58.00 dynes/cm); Otosporin plus
      calcium hydroxide showed low surface tension (35.40 dynes/cm);
      paramonochlorophenol Furacin mixed with calcium hydroxide presented surface
      tension equal to 45.50 dynes/cm; sodium hypochlorite presented high surface
      tension (75.00 dynes/cm). Antimicrobial agents more indicated in endodontics,
      i.e. CH, chlorhexidine and hypochlorite, presented the highest surface tension.

PMID- 20924541
TI  - Microscopic and radiographic analysis of the effect of particle size of
      demineralized bovine cancellous bone matrix on the repair of bone defects in
      femurs of rabbits.
AB  - The bone tissue has a great regenerative potential, with ability to completely
      restore its structure and original functions. In some situations, though, bone
      defects cannot be self-repaired, thus requiring the use of grafts for a correct
      treatment and good prognosis. This work aimed at microscopically analyzing the
      effect of the particle size of demineralized bovine cancellous bone matrix in
      micro and macrogranular forms on the repair of bone defects in femurs of rabbits,
      with blood clot used as control. At 1, 3 and 6 months after implantation of the
      materials, the animals were killed and the anatomic specimens were removed. A
      foreign body-type granulomatous reaction containing macrophages and
      multinucleated giant cells in contact with the implanted particles was observed.
      These results suggest a failure in demineralization and/or interruption of the
      antigenic potential during production of the biomaterial. It is concluded that
      the size of the particles did not influence the evolution of the repair process
      of bone defects, acting only as bone-filler substances, and that the material
      implanted should be improved by quality control during production, since it may
      represent a good alternative for bone graft.

PMID- 20924542
TI  - Biosecurity in public and private office.
AB  - Biosecurity is currently a concern for all health-related services, including
      dentistry, since infection control has a relevant importance. In dental practice,
      health-related occupations have contact with a great number of individuals who
      are potentially capable to transmit pathogens. This study comprised a descriptive
      evaluation of the universal precaution measures for infection control adopted by
      dental practitioners working at public and private offices in the city of
      Aracatuba, SP. Data collection was performed by a quiz with questions about
      individual and collective protection equipments. The results showed that the use
      of caps was reported by 55% of the professionals working at the public sector and
      90% for the private sector. The use of masks and gloves was reported by all
      professionals surveyed; nevertheless, glove change between patients was not
      reported by 40% of professionals working at the public sector. There were more
      flaws in public offices as to the use of protective barriers, since except for
      the use of gloves, gowns and masks, the frequency of use of those barriers was
      smaller than at private offices.

PMID- 20924543
TI  - Surgical anatomy of the maxillary nerve in the zygomatic region.
AB  - Anatomic knowledge on the zygomatic fossa is of primary importance to improve the
      regional anesthetic technique of the maxillary nerve. Few reports in the
      literature have addressed the trajectory of the maxillary nerve and its branches
      in this region; thus, this study aimed at presenting information about the
      trajectory of these nerves. Thirty human half-heads of both genders were fixed in
      10% formalin and demineralized in 5% nitric acid, and the maxillary nerve was
      dissected since its origin on the pterygopalatine fossa until penetration into
      the inferior orbital fissure. It was observed that the maxillary nerve sends one
      to three posterior superior alveolar branches and tuberal descendent branches,
      which supply the soft tissue structures of the region. The posterior superior
      alveolar nerves are inferiorly oriented near the maxillary tuberosity, where they
      penetrate the alveolar canals with the posterior superior alveolar artery and
      send small nerve branches that continue in an extraosseous trajectory. This study
      found that nearly 2/3 of the trajectory of the maxillary nerve is located in the
      zygomatic region, with a short segment (1/3) in the pterygopalatine fossa.

PMID- 20924544
TI  - Comparative analisys of three different diagnostic methods to evaluate carious
      activity in a community basis.
AB  - The present research has made a comparison between three distinct methods to
      evaluate carious activity in a community basis. The studied method was based in a
      modified DMFS/dmfs index including non-cavitated lesions. Two factors were
      analyzed: the possible reproduction of the inclusion of carious activity criteria
      and the presence of bacterial plaque. Thus, the three study groups presented with
      plaque, after supervised self-performed plaque removal with dental toothbrush and
      without plaque after professional prophylaxis, which corresponded to three
      diagnostic methods. The three exams took place one week apart from each other.
      For this analysis, a modified DMFS/dmfs index was proposed with alterations in
      diagnostic criteria due to the inclusion of carious activity parameters. The
      study was performed in a group of 30 children aged 11 years old. According to the
      results, the diagnostic method for carious activity in the three situations was
      reproducible and can be considered a proper approach to perform caries diagnosis
      in a community basis.

PMID- 20924545
TI  - Influence of gutta-percha points on the filling of simulated lateral canals.
AB  - The aim of this study was to investigate, in vitro, the percentage of filling of
      simulated lateral canals in teeth obturated with TP medium and standardized gutta
      percha points. Twenty human mandibular canines were prepared with LA Axxess
      (SybronEndo) and K3 Endo rotary system (SybronEndo) up to a #50 file, according
      to the Free Tip Preparation Technique. During instrumentation, the root canals
      were alternately irrigated with 1% sodium hypochlorite and 17% EDTA. Six
      artificial lateral canals were prepared at the apical third of each tooth. Then,
      the teeth were assigned to two groups (n=10): Group 1 - filled with TP medium
      master gutta-percha points (Dentsply, Mailleffer); Group 2 - filled with
      standardized master gutta-percha points (Dentsply, Mailleffer). Root canal
      filling was complemented with AH Plus sealer (Dentsply, Mailleffer) and accessory
      gutta-percha points (Dentsply, Mailleffer), according to the classic technique.
      The teeth were radiographed and the images obtained were digitized. Linear
      measurements of the percentage of filling of the artificial lateral canals in
      each group were accomplished on the Image Tool 2.02 software. Statistical
      analysis of the data using Mann-Whitney U non-parametric test evidenced
      significant difference (p<0.01) between the experimental groups. The group
      obturated with TP medium points yielded higher percentage of filling of the
      lateral canals. It may be concluded that the use of master gutta-percha points
      with larger taper resulted in better filling of the simulated lateral canals, as
      compared to the use of standardized master gutta-percha points.

PMID- 20924546
TI  - Six-month evaluation of ART one-surface restorations in a community with high
      caries experience in Brazil.
AB  - The aim of this study to evaluate the success rate in one-surface ART
      restorations placed in permanent molars using a glass ionomer cement especially
      developed for ART in a community with high caries experience; to evaluate the
      operator influence on its success, post-operative sensitivity and technique
      acceptance by patients. Prior to placement of the restorations, the Gingival
      Bleeding Index, Visible Plaque Index, DMFT, dmft indices and treatment needed
      were assessed. One hundred and fifty five one-surface restorations were placed in
      permanent molars of school children, according to the WHO ART manual, 1997. After
      6 months, the success rate was verified clinically and by slides. At baseline,
      the mean DMFT was 2.56 (+/-1.08) and the mean dmft, 2.53 (+/-2.33). Operators A
      and B have placed 102 and 53 ART restorations respectively. The mean time of
      placement was 16 minutes and 25 seconds to operator A and 14 minutes and 43
      seconds to operator B. At 6-month follow up, 152 ART restorations were evaluated
      and 97.3% were assessed to be successful. Two restorations were excluded from the
      sample because the ART restorations were replaced by amalgam fillings. Only 4
      restorations have failed, in which 2 due to caries, 1 due to fistula presence and
      the other because the restoration was lost. Four patients reported postoperative
      sensitivity. At this study period, ART treatment seems to be suitable for its
      purpose. Further evaluations are necessary to the new glass ionomer cements
      especially developed for ART technique provided good results at 6-month follow up
      in a community with high DMFT and dmft indices. The success rate for one-surface
      cavities in permanent molars was 97.3%, and the studied indices seemed to have no
      influence in this early evolution period.

PMID- 20924547
TI  - Hydroxyl and calcium ions diffusion from endodontic materials through roots of
      primary teeth - in vitro study.
AB  - The purpose of this research was to evaluate the diffusion of calcium (Ca+2) and
      hydroxyl (OH-) ions from materials with a calcium hydroxide base - Ca(OH)2
      through the intact roots of deciduous teeth. This diffusion of ions is important
      for periapical healing. Forty-six deciduous teeth were selected and instrumented
      to their working length with #40 files. The teeth were washed during cleaning and
      shaping with a 1% sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) solution. The canals were dried
      with paper points. The teeth were divided into 4 groups based on the sealer type,
      with 10 specimens in each group. A fifth group of 6 teeth without sealer
      constituted the control group. The materials used as sealers were: Ca(OH)2 paste
      associated to propylene glycol (CaPE) thickened at the proportion of 2:1 w/v;
      UFSC (Federal University of Santa Catarina) paste - a mixture of 0.3g of zinc
      oxide with 0.3g of Ca(OH)2 with 0.2ml of olive oil 1:1 w/w; Vitapex(r) and
      Sealapex(r). The coronal access was sealed with a glass ionomer after the root
      had been filled with each sealer. A one-third apical surface and foramen was hard
      pressed with Araldite(r). The teeth were stored individually in flasks containing
      saline solution at 37oC and 100% humidity. The OH- and Ca+2 ions diffusion levels
      were determined using a pH meter and an atomic absorption spectrometer. Data were
      collected at 48 hours and at intervals of 7, 30, 45 and 60 days. Statistical
      analysis was performed using ANOVA to compare groups. In the pH evaluation, the
      CaPE group presented the largest OH- ions diffusion, which peaked at sixty days
      (p=0.0309), when compared to the other groups (p<0.0001). In relation to amount
      of Ca+2 ions released, the CaPE paste showed the best results, followed by the
      UFSC's paste. These results suggest that the CaPE paste was the material that
      allowed the highest diffusion of OH- and Ca+2 ions.

PMID- 20924548
TI  - Influence of light intensity and curing cycle on microleakage of Class V
      composite resin restorations.
AB  - The aim of this study was to determine the effect of a softstart polymerization
      method from Quartz-Tungsten-Halogen (QTH) and Plasma Arc (PAC) curing units on
      microleakage of Class V composite resin restorations with dentin cavosurface
      margins. Seventy-five bovine incisors received standardized class V cavities in
      all dentin margins. Teeth were divided into 5 equal groups according to the
      curing cycle. The cavities were incrementally restored with a composite resin
      (Single Bond/Z-100, 3M). Light curing was applied as follows: Group I: PAC light
      continuous-cycle curing at 1600 mW/cm2 for 3s; Group II: PAC light step-cycle
      curing (2s at 800 mW/cm2 then 4s at 1600 mW/cm2); Group III: QTH light continuous
      cycle curing at 400 mW/cm2 for 40s; Group IV: QTH light ramp-cycle curing (from
      100 to 600 mW/cm2 in 15s followed by 25s at 600 mW/cm2); Group V: QTH light pulse
      delay curing (200 mW/cm2 for 3s followed by 3 min delay then 600 mW/cm2 for 30s).
      Teeth were stored in distilled water at 37oC for 30 days and then subjected to
      thermocycling for 500 cycles at 5 and 55oC. Root apices were sealed and teeth
      coated with nail varnish before they were immersed in 0.5% fuchsine red dye
      solution. Teeth were then sectioned and slices were scanned with a computer
      scanner to determine the area of dye leakage using a computer program (Image
      Tools). Images of tooth slices were also visually examined under magnification
      and dye penetration along the tooth/restoration interface was scored. Significant
      differences in the degree of dye penetration and leakage were detected between
      groups (p<.05). Groups I and II had significantly higher values of dye
      penetration and leakage than groups III, IV and V. In conclusion, the use of PAC
      light curing in a continuous or step cycle modes resulted in increased
      microleakage of Class V resin composite restorations compared with medium
      intensity QTH light curing. Pulse, ramp and continuous-cycle curing modes with
      QTH light resulted in similar degrees of microleakage.

PMID- 20924549
TI  - Cephalometric characterization of skeletal Class II, division 1 malocclusion in
      white Brazilian subjects.
AB  - One of the main points in Orthodontic studies is the growth and development of
      the craniofacial structures. In this study, skeletal cephalometric
      characteristics of Class II, division 1 malocclusion were assessed in lateral
      cephalograms. The experimental sample comprised 55 white Brazilian individuals of
      both genders, with an ANB angle of 4.5 degrees or higher. The mean age of the
      subjects was 13.5 years. Steiner and McNamara Jr cephalometric analyses were used
      in order to evaluate the relation between angular and linear positions of the
      apical bases, the dental and cranial structures, comparing with the values
      obtained in the control group (available at Bauru Dental School-USP). The results
      showed that, for the experimental group, the maxilla was well positioned in
      relation to the cranial base. The maxillomandibular relation showed an increased
      overjet, which was predictable based on criteria for sample selection. The
      geometrical proportion of the apical bases presented a small mandible and a
      normal sized maxilla. The craniofacial growth pattern presented a vertical
      tendency. The maxillary incisors were buccally inclined and well positioned by
      the linear evaluation. The mandibular incisors showed marked buccal inclination
      and protrusion. No statistically significant difference between genders was
      found.

PMID- 20924550
TI  - Evaluation of the bleached human enamel by Scanning Electron Microscopy.
AB  - Since bleaching has become a popular procedure, the effect of peroxides on dental
      hard tissues is of great interest in research. PURPOSE: The aim of this in vitro
      study was to perform a qualitative analysis of the human enamel after the
      application of in-office bleaching agents, using Scanning Electron Microscopy
      (SEM). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty intact human third molars extracted for
      orthodontic reasons were randomly divided into four groups (n=5) treated as
      follows: G1- storage in artificial saliva (control group); G2- four 30-minute
      applications of 35% carbamide peroxide (total exposure: 2h); G3- four 2-hour
      exposures to 35% carbamide peroxide (total exposure: 8h); G4- two applications of
      35% hydrogen peroxide, which was light-activated with halogen lamp at 700mW/cm2
      during 7min and remained in contact with enamel for 20min (total exposure:
      40min). All bleaching treatments adopted in this study followed the application
      protocols advised by manufacturers. Evaluation of groups submitted to 35%
      carbamide peroxide was carried out after two time intervals (30 minutes and 2
      hours per session), following the extreme situations recommended by the
      manufacturer. Specimens were prepared for SEM analysis performing gold sputter
      coating under vacuum and were examined using 15kV at 500x and 2000x
      magnification. RESULTS: Morphological alterations on the enamel surface were
      similarly detected after bleaching with either 35% carbamide peroxide or 35%
      hydrogen peroxide. Surface porosities were characteristic of an erosive process
      that took place on human enamel. Depression areas, including the formation of
      craters, and exposure of enamel rods could also be detected. CONCLUSION:
      Bleaching effects on enamel morphology were randomly distributed throughout
      enamel surface and various degrees of enamel damage could be noticed. CLINICAL
      SIGNIFICANCE: In-office bleaching materials may adversely affect enamel
      morphology and therefore should be used with caution.

PMID- 20924551
TI  - [Kapandji-Sauve procedure with distal radioulnar fusion and segmental resection
      of the ulna].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The Kapandji-Sauve procedure aims at improvement of rotation in the
      distal radioulnar joint and reduction of pain. Cases of ulnar impaction syndrome
      can also be corrected during the same procedure. INDICATIONS: The most important
      indication is painful und restricted forearm rotation after fracture of the
      distal radius combined with obsolete dislocation or destruction of the distal
      radioulnar joint. CONTRAINDICATIONS: It is a salvage procedure and is
      contraindicated when reconstruction of the radioulnar joint or shortening of the
      ulna is possible. Further contraindications are rheumatic arthritis and
      osteoporosis. SURGICAL TECHNIQUE: The Kapandji-Sauve procedure creates a new
      distal rotatory joint due to distal radioulnar fusion and segmental resection of
      the distal ulna. POSTOPERATIVE MANAGEMENT: Forearm cast including the wrist for 3
      4 weeks. Phyisiotherapy and intensive exercises of the fingers on postoperative
      day 1. After removing the cast, careful rotation exercises are possible. RESULTS:
      In 75 patients, the Kapandji-Sauve procedure was performed between 1990 and 2003.
      Failure was observed in one patient with a bony regeneration between the resected
      ulnar segment. In 3 cases, a nonunion of the radioulnar joint was found. After
      revision with bone grafting, bony consolidation of the joint was identified in
      all cases. In 2 cases, there were problems with the proximal ulnar stump, whereby
      this was corrected in one case by resection of a ball-type callus. In the other
      case, painful ulna-snapping was reduced by shortening of the ulna. In earlier
      follow-up with 45 patients and later long-turn follow-up, ranging from 3-12
      years, not only were significant improvement of forearm rotation and reduction of
      pain observed, but also good patient satisfaction was found.

PMID- 20924552
TI  - [Tumor of the esophoagocardiac junction].
AB  - The presence of heterotopic pancreatic tissue in the gastroesophageal junction is
      a very rare entity. An exact preoperative diagnosis is only rarely possible
      despite all available diagnostic procedures. We report on the case of a submucous
      tumor of the gastroesophageal junction which became symptomatic due to reflux
      problems and was successfully removed by endoscope-assisted laparoscopic
      resection.

PMID- 20924553
TI  - [Imaging of molecular structures of breasts with new sonography techniques].
AB  - Sonography has become one of the most important imaging methods in breast
      diagnostics. Through the development of high-frequency transducers and the use of
      ultrasound contrast agents, the number of indications for sonography of the
      breast has continued to increase in recent years. Visualization of very small
      vessels under 100 um enables sensitive detection and quantification of tissue
      perfusion. Thus, breast ultrasound can play an essential role in answering
      questions about certain pathologies. Further technical advances, such as
      automated breast ultrasound systems, provide an essential step for
      standardization of investigations. Targeted ultrasound is a new important
      development of this technique. Specific markers which are conjugated with the
      surface of contrast medium microspheres allow targeted molecular endothelial
      structures to be selectively visualized and quantified. These developments will
      strengthen the role of sonography in the future as a non-invasive and easy to use
      method.

PMID- 20924554
TI  - Neighborhood characteristics and mental health: the relevance for mothers of
      infants in deprived English neighborhoods.
AB  - PURPOSE: Neighborhood features have been linked with adult mental-health
      problems, particularly depression. A recent comprehensive review indicated
      structural neighborhood features derived from data sources such as the census may
      be less important predictors of mental health problems than social processes but
      that most studies lack multiple neighborhood measures. The aim of the study is to
      investigate relations between multiple neighborhood factors (observations,
      interviewer ratings, UK Census data) and maternal mental-health problems.
      METHODS: 14,700 mothers with 9-month-old infants living in 195 deprived
      neighborhoods in England were interviewed, neighborhoods were observed and census
      data on employment, ethnic background and housing tenancy utilized. RESULTS:
      Lower (interviewer-rated) neighborhood quality and lower neighborhood prosperity
      predicted more mother-reported mental-health problems net of family-level
      predictors. Contrary to expectations detailed observations did not contribute
      additionally. CONCLUSIONS: Neighborhood conditions, though not as important as
      family factors and maternal characteristics, are sufficiently important to
      consider when planning mental health services; they can be assessed at relatively
      low cost by census data or professionals' ratings.

PMID- 20924556
TI  - Obesity and urinary incontinence in women: is the black box becoming grayer?

PMID- 20924555
TI  - Impact of albumin compared to saline on organ function and mortality of patients
      with severe sepsis.
AB  - PURPOSE: To determine the effect of random assignment to fluid resuscitation with
      albumin or saline on organ function and mortality in patients with severe sepsis.
      METHODS: Pre-defined subgroup analysis of a randomized controlled trial conducted
      in the intensive care units of 16 hospitals in Australia and New Zealand.
      RESULTS: Of 1,218 patients with severe sepsis at baseline, 603 and 615 were
      assigned to receive albumin and saline, respectively. The two groups had similar
      baseline characteristics. During the first 7 days mean arterial pressure was
      similar in the two groups, but patients assigned albumin had a lower heart rate
      on days 1 and 3 (p = 0.002 and p = 0.03, respectively) and a higher central
      venous pressure on days 1-3 (p < 0.005 each day). There was no difference in the
      renal or total Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score of the two groups;
      113/603 (18.7%) of patients assigned albumin were treated with renal replacement
      therapy compared to 112/615 (18.2%) assigned saline (p = 0.98). The unadjusted
      relative risk of death for albumin versus saline was 0.87 [95% confidence
      interval (CI) 0.74-1.02] for patients with severe sepsis and 1.05 (0.94-1.17) for
      patients without severe sepsis (p = 0.06 for heterogeneity). From multivariate
      logistic regression analysis adjusting for baseline factors in patients with
      complete baseline data (919/1,218, 75.5%), the adjusted odds ratio for death for
      albumin versus saline was 0.71 (95% CI: 0.52-0.97; p = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS:
      Administration of albumin compared to saline did not impair renal or other organ
      function and may have decreased the risk of death.

PMID- 20924557
TI  - Lead migration after sacral neuromodulation: surgical revision in fascial versus
      tined anchoring systems.
AB  - INTRODUCTION AND HYPOTHESIS: Our objective was to compare risk of surgical
      revision after sacral neuromodulator lead migration based on the type of
      anchoring system. METHODS: We performed a retrospective cohort study of patients
      receiving sacral neuromodulation over 7 years. We compared surgical revision due
      to loss of efficacy accompanied by radiographic lead migration in fascial
      anchored versus tined leads. RESULTS: Of 112 patients, 28 (25%) underwent fascial
      anchoring, and 84 (75%) received tined leads. Within 2 years of implantation,
      lead migration occurred in 26% of fascial and 10% of tined anchoring systems (RR,
      2.25 (95% confidence interval, 0.85-5.93)). Patients with fascial anchors were
      followed for a longer period of time. Therefore, Kaplan-Meier curves were
      compared showing no difference in risk of lead migration (p = 0.09). Four of
      eight (50%) lead migrations in tined leads occurred within the first 3 months
      after implantation. CONCLUSIONS: Two years after sacral neuromodulator
      implantation, lead migration is similar between fascial-anchored and tined leads.

PMID- 20924558
TI  - Diphenyl diselenide induces apoptotic cell death and modulates ERK1/2
      phosphorylation in human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells.
AB  - Diphenyl diselenide (PhSe)(2) is a synthetic organoselenium compound displaying
      glutathione peroxidase-like activity. Protective and antioxidant potential of
      (PhSe)(2) have been extensively investigated in in vivo and in vitro studies. In
      spite of this, there is a lack of studies addressed to the investigation of
      potential cytotoxic effect and signaling pathways modulated by this compound.
      Herein, we aimed to analyze the effects of 24-h treatment with (PhSe)(2) on cell
      viability and a possible modulation of signaling pathways in human neuroblastoma
      cell line SH-SY5Y. For this purpose, cells were incubated with (PhSe)(2) (0.3-30
      MUM) for 24 h and cell viability, apoptotic cell death and modulation of MAPKs
      (ERK1/2 and p38(MAPK)), and PKC substrates phosphorylation was determined.
      (PhSe)(2) treatment significantly decreased cell viability and increased the
      number of apoptotic cells with induction of PARP cleavage. An increase in ERK1/2
      phosphorylation was observed at (PhSe)(2) 3 MUM. In contrast, higher
      concentrations of the chalcogenide inhibited ERK1/2, p38(MAPK) and PKC substrate
      phosphorylation. Pre-treatment with ERK1/2 inhibitor, U0126, increased cell
      susceptibility to (PhSe)(2). Together, these data indicate a cytotoxic potential
      of (PhSe)(2) in a neuronal cell line, which appears to be mediated by the ERK1/2
      pathway.

PMID- 20924559
TI  - Persistence of deposited metals in the lungs after stainless steel and mild steel
      welding fume inhalation in rats.
AB  - Welding generates complex metal fumes that vary in composition. The objectives of
      this study were to compare the persistence of deposited metals and the
      inflammatory potential of stainless and mild steel welding fumes, the two most
      common fumes used in US industry. Sprague-Dawley rats were exposed to 40 mg/m(3)
      of stainless or mild steel welding fumes for 3 h/day for 3 days. Controls were
      exposed to filtered air. Generated fume was collected, and particle size and
      elemental composition were determined. Bronchoalveolar lavage was done on days 0,
      8, 21, and 42 after the last exposure to assess lung injury/inflammation and to
      recover lung phagocytes. Non-lavaged lung samples were analyzed for total and
      specific metal content as a measure of metal persistence. Both welding fumes were
      similar in particle morphology and size. Following was the chemical composition
      of the fumes-stainless steel: 57% Fe, 20% Cr, 14% Mn, and 9% Ni; mild steel: 83%
      Fe and 15% Mn. There was no effect of the mild steel fume on lung
      injury/inflammation at any time point compared to air control. Lung injury and
      inflammation were significantly elevated at 8 and 21 days after exposure to the
      stainless steel fume compared to control. Stainless steel fume exposure was
      associated with greater recovery of welding fume-laden macrophages from the lungs
      at all time points compared with the mild steel fume. A higher concentration of
      total metal was observed in the lungs of the stainless steel welding fume at all
      time points compared with the mild steel fume. The specific metals present in the
      two fumes were cleared from the lungs at different rates. The potentially more
      toxic metals (e.g., Mn, Cr) present in the stainless steel fume were cleared from
      the lungs more quickly than Fe, likely increasing their translocation from the
      respiratory system to other organs.

PMID- 20924560
TI  - Long-term detection of methyltestosterone (ab-) use by a yeast transactivation
      system.
AB  - The routinely used analytical method for detecting the abuse of anabolic steroids
      only allows the detection of molecules with known analytical properties. In our
      supplementary approach to structure-independent detection, substances are
      identified by their biological activity. In the present study, urines excreted
      after oral methyltestosterone (MT) administration were analyzed by a yeast
      androgen screen (YAS). The aim was to trace the excretion of MT or its
      metabolites in human urine samples and to compare the results with those from the
      established analytical method. MT and its two major metabolites were tested as
      pure compounds in the YAS. In a second step, the ability of the YAS to detect MT
      and its metabolites in urine samples was analyzed. For this purpose, a human
      volunteer ingested of a single dose of 5 mg methyltestosterone. Urine samples
      were collected after different time intervals (0-307 h) and were analyzed in the
      YAS and in parallel by GC/MS. Whereas the YAS was able to trace MT in urine
      samples at least for 14 days, the detection limits of the GC/MS method allowed
      follow-up until day six. In conclusion, our results demonstrate that the yeast
      reporter gene system could detect the activity of anabolic steroids like
      methyltestosterone with high sensitivity even in urine. Furthermore, the YAS was
      able to detect MT abuse for a longer period of time than classical GC/MS.
      Obviously, the system responds to long-lasting metabolites yet unidentified.
      Therefore, the YAS can be a powerful (pre-) screening tool with the potential
      that to be used to identify persistent or late screening metabolites of anabolic
      steroids, which could be used for an enhancement of the sensitivity of GC/MS
      detection techniques.

PMID- 20924561
TI  - Enhanced tyrosine hydroxylase phosphorylation in the nucleus accumbens and
      nucleus tractus solitarius-A2 cell group after morphine-conditioned place
      preference.
AB  - Although dopamine (DA) has been extensively implicated in the morphine-induced
      conditioned place preference (CPP; a measure of reward), noradrenaline (NA) and
      other systems may play a larger role than previously suspected. The mesolimbic DA
      system, comprised of projections from the ventral tegmental area (VTA) to the
      nucleus accumbens (NAc), receives noradrenergic innervations from the nucleus
      tractus solitaries (NTS)-A2 cell group and is modulated by NA. The purpose of the
      present study was to evaluate the turnover of DA and NA in the NAc and the site
      specific phosphorylation of TH in the NAc, VTA, and NTS on the CPP mice
      conditioned by morphine. A dose-effect curve for morphine-induced CPP (0.5-8
      mg/kg, s.c.) was obtained using 6-day conditioning sessions followed by a CPP
      test. TH phosphorylation was determined by quantitative blot immunolabeling and
      immunohistochemistry using phosphorylation state-specific antibodies; NA and DA
      turnover was evaluated by high-performance liquid chromatography. Morphine
      induced CPP phosphorylates TH at serine (Ser)40 but not Ser31 in NAc, which is
      associated with an enhanced of DA and NA turnover. We also found that morphine
      induced CPP increased levels of TH phosphorylated at Ser31 and Ser40 in the NTS.
      The present study demonstrates that morphine-induced CPP might stimulate TH
      activity and accelerate DA and NA turnover in the NAc via a mechanism involving
      phosphorylation of TH.

PMID- 20924562
TI  - Characterization of proliferative effects of insulin, insulin analogues and
      insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) in human lung fibroblasts.
AB  - Insulin has been approved for inhaled application, but safety concerns remain,
      because of un-physiologically high insulin concentrations in the lung. Since
      insulin may act as growth factor, possible proliferative effects of insulin,
      insulin analogues and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) on human lung
      fibroblasts were studied. As measure of proliferation [(3)H]-thymidine
      incorporation was studied in HEL-299, MRC-5, IMR-90 and primary human lung
      fibroblasts. In all cells, mRNA encoding IGF-1 receptors and two variants of
      insulin receptors was detected. Insulin and IGF-1 stimulated [(3)H]-thymidine
      incorporation in all cells. Comparison of the concentration-dependent effects in
      HEL-299 cells showed that IGF-1 and insulin glargine were more potent (EC(50), 3
      and 6 nM) and more effective (maximum increase, by 135-150%) than insulin and
      insulin detemir (EC(50), 22 and 110 nM; maximum increase: by 80%). Proliferative
      effects of IGF-1 and insulin were inhibited to the same extent by an antibody
      (1H7) directed against the IGF-1 receptor alpha-subunit. Insulin-induced
      stimulation of [(3)H]-thymidine incorporation was reduced by 83% after siRNA
      mediated down-regulation of IGF-1 receptor by about 75%, but not affected by a
      similar down-regulation of the insulin receptor. Insulin and IGF-1 caused rapid
      up-regulation of the early genes FOS, EGR-1 and EGR-2 as well as of the gene
      coding for IGF-1. In conclusion, in human lung fibroblasts insulin exerts marked
      proliferative effects and the pharmacological profile of this response as well as
      specific receptor knock-down experiments suggest mediation via IGF-1 receptors.
      The risk of unwanted structural lung alterations by long-term inhalative
      application of insulin should be considered.

PMID- 20924563
TI  - The design and synthesis of alanine-based indolicidin derivatives with identical
      physicochemical properties and their separation using capillary electrophoresis.
AB  - Four novel alanine-based indolicidin peptide derivatives were designed containing
      one WPW motif and two alanine residues, resulting in peptides of similar
      sequence. The separation of these peptides with identical physicochemical
      properties including molar mass, charge, and secondary structure as characterized
      by circular dichroism spectroscopy is very difficult; and the separation of
      peptides with differing physicochemical properties has only previously been
      reported. Capillary electrophoresis parameters such as separation buffer
      concentration, separation buffer pH, capillary length, and separation voltage
      were investigated to optimize the analysis. Using optimized conditions of a
      background electrolyte containing 5 mM formic acid of pH 2.0, total capillary
      length of 51 cm and a voltage of 10 kV enabled a baseline separation of the four
      peptides. The relative standard deviation of the peak areas and migration times
      for method repeatability (n = 3) were found to be lower than 8% and 3%,
      respectively. In addition, reasoning for the separation of these peptides is
      proposed based on the acidity of the formic acid buffer and the hydrophobic
      grouping of the tryptophan residues in the peptide primary sequence.

PMID- 20924564
TI  - Microscreening toxicity system based on living magnetic yeast and gradient chips.
AB  - There is an increasing demand for easy and cost-effective methods to screen the
      toxicological impact of the growing number of chemical mixtures being generated
      by industry. Such a screening method has been developed using viable, genetically
      modified green fluorescent protein (GFP) reporter yeast that was magnetically
      functionalised and held within a microfluidic device. The GFP reporter yeast was
      used to detect genotoxicity by monitoring the exposure of the cells to a well
      known genotoxic chemical (methyl methane sulfonate, MMS). The cells were
      magnetised using biocompatible positively charged PAH-stabilised magnetic
      nanoparticles with diameters around 15 nm. Gradient mixing was utilised to
      simultaneously expose yeast to a range of concentrations of toxins, and the
      effective fluorescence emitted from the produced GFP was measured. The
      magnetically enhanced retention of the yeast cells, with their facile subsequent
      removal and reloading, allowed for very convenient and rapid toxicity screening
      of a wide range of chemicals. This is the first report showing magnetic yeast
      within microfluidic devices in a simple bioassay, with potential applications to
      other types of fluorescent reporter yeast in toxicological and biomedical
      research. The microfluidic chip offers a simple and low-cost screening test that
      can be automated to allow multiple uses (adapted to different cell types) of the
      device on a wide range of chemicals and concentrations.

PMID- 20924565
TI  - Nondestructive analysis of single crystals of selenide spinels by X-ray
      spectrometry techniques.
AB  - The paper presents possibilities and difficulties in nondestructive analysis of
      small multielement single crystals performed by means of X-ray spectrometry
      techniques: micro-X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (MU-XRF), energy-dispersive
      electron probe microanalysis (ED-EPMA), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy
      (XPS). The capability of the X-ray spectroscopy techniques in elemental analysis
      is demonstrated with the single crystals of selenide spinels of the general
      formula M(x)N(y)Cr(z)Se(4) (M(+2) and N(+3) are, for example, Zn(+2), V(+3),
      Ga(+3), Cd(+2), In(+3), and Sb(+3)). The results of the nondestructive analyses
      (MU-XRF, ED-EPMA, and XPS) are compared with those obtained by inductively
      coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) and wavelength-dispersive
      X-ray spectrometry (WDXRF) following sample digestion. The present study shows
      satisfactory agreement between the results of MU-XRF analysis performed using the
      standardless fundamental parameter method and the results obtained with the WDXRF
      and ICP-OES analyses. If the measured single crystal is precisely positioned, the
      difference between MU-XRF and wet analysis (WDXRF and ICP-OES) does not exceed 5%
      rel. The reliable results of ED-EPMA can be obtained only if the measured area is
      sufficiently large, i.e., of 200 * 300 MUm. Even if this condition is fulfilled,
      the relative difference between the ED-EPMA and the wet analysis may reach 10%
      rel. In case of the XPS analysis, the accuracy of results depends on the proper
      preparation of the sample surface. It should be free of contamination that can be
      obtained by scraping in situ in ultrahigh vacuum. The ion etching, commonly used
      for cleaning the surface, leads to preferential sputtering; therefore, the
      reliable results cannot be obtained.

PMID- 20924566
TI  - Chemical characterization of exhaled breath to differentiate between patients
      with malignant plueral mesothelioma from subjects with similar professional
      asbestos exposure.
AB  - Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is an aggressive tumour whose main aetiology
      is the long-term exposure to asbestos fibres. The diagnostic procedure of MPM is
      difficult and often requires invasive approaches; therefore, it is clinically
      important to find accurate markers for MPM by new noninvasive methods that may
      facilitate the diagnostic process and identify patients at an earlier stage. In
      the present study, the exhaled breath of 13 patients with histology-established
      diagnosis of MPM, 13 subjects with long-term certified professional exposure to
      asbestos (EXP) and 13 healthy subjects without exposure to asbestos (healthy
      controls, HC) were analysed. An analytical procedure to determine volatile
      organic compounds by sampling of air on a bed of solid sorbent and thermal
      desorption GC-MS analysis was developed in order to identify the compounds
      capable of discriminating among the three groups. The application of univariate
      (ANOVA) and multivariate statistical treatments (PCA, DFA and CP-ANN) showed that
      cyclopentane and cyclohexane were the dominant variables able to discriminate
      among the three groups. In particular, it was found that cyclohexane is the only
      compound able to differentiate the MPM group from the other two; therefore, it
      can be a possible marker of MPM. Cyclopentane is the dominant compound in the
      discrimination between EXP and the other groups (MPM and HC); then, it can be
      considered a good indicator for long-term asbestos exposure. This result suggests
      the need to perform frequent and thorough investigations on people exposed to
      asbestos in order to constantly monitor their state of health or possibly to
      study the evolution of disease over time.

PMID- 20924567
TI  - Ultrasensitive detection of malondialdehyde with surface-enhanced Raman
      spectroscopy.
AB  - Malondialdehyde (MDA) is a biomarker of lipid peroxidation that has been widely
      associated with food rancidity as well as many human diseases. Most current MDA
      detection methods involve MDA reaction with thiobarbituric acid (TBA), followed
      by UV-visible and/or fluorescence detection of high-performance liquid
      chromatography (HPLC)-separated TBA-MDA. Herein, we report the first proof-of
      concept study of surface-enhanced Raman detection of a TBA-MDA adduct using
      silver nanoparticles as the SERS substrate and the 632.8 nm HeNe laser as a Raman
      excitation source. Current SERS detection limit of TBA-MDA is 0.45 nM, ~100 times
      higher than the 36 nM fluorescence sensitivity recently reported with the HPLC
      purified TBA-MDA. Molecular specificity of the SERS technique was studied by
      comparing the SERS spectrum of TBA-MDA with those acquired with TBA adducts of
      other TBA-reactive compounds (TBARCs) that includes formaldehyde, acetaldehyde,
      butyraldehyde, trans-2-hexenal, and pyrimidine. Compared to TBA and TBA adducts
      with those TBARCs, the SERS activity of TBA-MDA adduct is significantly higher.
      The possibility of direct SERS detection of TBA-MDA in a reaction mixture
      (without HPLC separation) has also been investigated.

PMID- 20924568
TI  - Nanoparticles as contrast agents for in-vivo bioimaging: current status and
      future perspectives.
AB  - Nanoparticle-based contrast agents are quickly becoming valuable and potentially
      transformative tools for enhancing medical diagnostics for a wide range of in
      vivo imaging modalities. Compared with conventional molecular-scale contrast
      agents, nanoparticles (NPs) promise improved abilities for in-vivo detection and
      potentially enhanced targeting efficiencies through longer engineered circulation
      times, designed clearance pathways, and multimeric binding capacities. However,
      NP contrast agents are not without issues. Difficulties in minimizing batch-to
      batch variations and problems with identifying and characterizing key
      physicochemical properties that define the in-vivo fate and transport of NPs are
      significant barriers to the introduction of new NP materials as clinical contrast
      agents. This manuscript reviews the development and application of nanoparticles
      and their future potential to advance current and emerging clinical bioimaging
      techniques. A focus is placed on the application of solid, phase-separated
      materials, for example metals and metal oxides, and their specific application as
      contrast agents for in-vivo near-infrared fluorescence (NIRF) imaging, magnetic
      resonance imaging (MRI), positron emission tomography (PET), computed tomography
      (CT), ultrasound (US), and photoacoustic imaging (PAI). Clinical and preclinical
      applications of NPs are identified for a broad spectrum of imaging applications,
      with commentaries on the future promise of these materials. Emerging
      technologies, for example multifunctional and theranostic NPs, and their
      potential for clinical advances are also discussed.

PMID- 20924569
TI  - Word and position interference in stroop tasks: a behavioral and fMRI study.
AB  - One of the main features of the attentional system is the capability to select
      between relevant and irrelevant information. However, irrelevant information
      interferes with the processing of the relevant one. Using high-field magnetic
      resonance imaging, we examined the interference effect of a verbal (color-word)
      and a spatial (arrow-position) Stroop task on the activation of cortical areas
      known to be dedicated to the attentional control. Behaviorally, we found costs
      from the irrelevant information in both tasks; in the brain, we found a common
      neural network of activation that mainly involved the dorsolateral prefrontal
      cortex and the anterior cingulate cortex. However, the neural circuits involved
      in the two tasks overlapped only partially, since processing of words in the
      color-word Stroop task showed a wider and more right-lateralized activation,
      while spatial processing in the arrow-position Stroop task resulted in a more
      restricted and left-lateralized activation.

PMID- 20924570
TI  - Systemic uptake of miconazole during vaginal suppository use and effect on CYP1A2
      and CYP3A4 associated enzyme activities in women.
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate if the ordinary use of a vaginal suppository containing
      miconazole results in systemic absorption that is sufficient to affect the
      activities of CYP1A2 and CYP3A4, which are major drug- and steroid-metabolising
      enzymes. METHODS: In 20 healthy non-pregnant women aged 18-45 years, the serum
      concentration of miconazole was determined following the use of a vaginal
      suppository containing 1,200 mg miconazole. Enzyme activities of CYP1A2 and
      CYP3A4 were determined as metabolic ratios of caffeine (CMR = (AFMU + 1MU +
      1MX)/17DMU) and quinidine (QMR = 3-hydroxy-quinidine/quinidine) respectively
      before and 34 h after insertion of the suppository. Miconazole was analysed by LC
      MS/MS, while caffeine and metabolites were analysed by HPLC-UV and quinidine and
      hydroxy-quinidine were analysed by HPLC fluorescence. RESULTS: All 20 women had
      measurable concentrations of miconazole in serum (mean +/- SD: 12.9 +/- 5.6
      MUg/L; range: 3.5-24.6 MUg/L). Although not statistically significant, an
      association between the serum concentrations of miconazole and the inhibition of
      CYP1A2 activity was indicated. No relation was observed between the CYP3A4
      activity and the miconazole serum concentration. CONCLUSIONS: Miconazole is
      absorbed via the vaginal mucosa to the systemic circulation in measurable
      concentrations. Our data indicate a concentration-dependent inhibition of CYP1A2,
      but the effect is negligible compared with the variation in the activity of
      CYP1A2 and is regarded to be of no clinical significance to the women. However,
      further studies on the ability of miconazole to be transferred across the
      placenta or to interfere with the placental function are warranted to secure safe
      use during pregnancy.

PMID- 20924571
TI  - Longitudinal evaluation of the SF-36 quality of life questionnaire in patients
      with kidney stones.
AB  - Although the 36-Item Short-Form General Health Survey (SF-36) has been utilized
      to assess quality of life (QoL) in cross-sectional studies, no longitudinal
      studies have evaluated this instrument in stone formers. Hence, we evaluated the
      performance of the SF-36 over time in a group of stone formers. From January to
      May 2007, the SF-36 was administered by independent interviewers to 155 patients
      with a history of stones, and 96 individuals subsequently completed a second
      questionnaire at a median interval of 18 months (10.3-28.5 months). Subjects were
      asked to report changes in stone status, interval procedures, and significant non
      stone related changes. Changes in individual and composite scores of SF-36 were
      compared. Among the 96 patients who completed two SF-36 surveys, 75 patients
      denied experiencing a stone episode within the month preceding their initial or
      follow-up SF-36 form. No statistically significant differences in any of the SF
      36 domains or the aggregate physical or mental health composite scores over time
      were noted in these patients. A total of 18 patients reported a stone event
      within the month preceding completion of the initial questionnaire but no stone
      event prior to the follow-up survey. No clinically or statistically significant
      changes in any of the SF-36 domains between the first and follow-up questionnaire
      were seen among these 18 patients. The results show the stability of the SF-36
      over time in patients with no change in their stone status. However, the absence
      of significant changes in the SF-36 despite a change in stone status suggests
      that the SF-36 may not be an adequate tool to monitor quality of life over time
      in stone patients. Validated, disease-specific questionnaires are needed to
      facilitate comparison of treatment strategies for stone disease.

PMID- 20924572
TI  - Impact of shock wave lithotripsy on heart rate variability in patients with
      urolithiasis.
AB  - The physiological response of the cardiac autonomic nervous system during shock
      wave lithotripsy (SWL) remains unclear. Heart rate variability (HRV) is an index
      of cardiac autonomic balance. This study aimed to analyze HRV during SWL in
      patients with urolithiasis. Electrocardiograms of patients who underwent SWL were
      obtained. Recordings were obtained before and after SWL. For each time point, the
      recordings were obtained continuously for 6 min, after which R wave-to-R wave
      (RR) intervals were extracted. The time digital sequence derived from RR
      intervals was the HRV signal. Time-domain analysis revealed that the mean of RR
      intervals (MRR) and standard deviation of normal beat-to-normal beat (NN)
      intervals (SDNN), but not the square root of the mean squared difference of
      successive NNs (RMSSD) or triangular interpolation of NN intervals (TINN),
      significantly increased during SWL. The increase in SDNN persisted after SWL but
      MRR returned to the initial level. Frequency-domain analysis revealed that very
      low frequency (VLF), low frequency (LF), and LF/high frequency (HF) ratio
      significantly increased after SWL, while there was no statistically significant
      difference in HF. Thus, the patients had significantly high MRR and SDNN during
      SWL and significantly high SDNN, VLF, LF, and LF/HF ratio after SWL. SWL could
      alter the functioning of the cardiac autonomic nervous system, resulting in
      reduction in sympathetic activity and increase in parasympathetic activity.
      Further studies with larger samples are required to confirm these findings and
      understand the underlying mechanisms.

PMID- 20924573
TI  - MRI of congenital urethroperineal fistula.
AB  - We present the MRI features of a congenital urethroperineal fistula diagnosed in
      a 12-year-old boy being evaluated after a single urinary tract infection. This
      diagnosis was initially suggested by voiding cystourethrogram and confirmed by
      MRI. Imaging revealed an abnormal fluid-filled tract arising from the posterior
      urethra and tracking to the perineal skin surface that increased in size during
      micturition. Surgical resection and histopathological evaluation of the abnormal
      tract confirmed the diagnosis of congenital urethroperineal fistula. MRI played
      important roles in confirming the diagnosis and assisting surgical planning.

PMID- 20924574
TI  - First and second branchial arch syndromes: multimodality approach.
AB  - First and second branchial arch syndromes (BAS) manifest as combined tissue
      deficiencies and hypoplasias of the face, external ear, middle ear and maxillary
      and mandibular arches. They represent the second most common craniofacial
      malformation after cleft lip and palate. Extended knowledge of the embryology and
      anatomy of each branchial arch derivative is mandatory for the diagnosis and
      grading of different BAS lesions and in the follow-up of postoperative patients.
      In recent years, many new complex surgical approaches and procedures have been
      designed by maxillofacial surgeons to treat extensive maxillary, mandibular and
      external and internal ear deformations. The purpose of this review is to evaluate
      the role of different imaging modalities (orthopantomogram (OPG), lateral and
      posteroanterior cephalometric radiographs, CT and MRI) in the diagnosis of a wide
      spectrum of first and second BAS, including hemifacial microsomia,
      mandibulofacial dysostosis, branchio-oto-renal syndrome, Pierre Robin sequence
      and Nager acrofacial dysostosis. Additionally, we aim to emphasize the importance
      of the systematic use of a multimodality imaging approach to facilitate the
      precise grading of these syndromes, as well as the preoperative planning of
      different reconstructive surgical procedures and their follow-up during
      treatment.

PMID- 20924575
TI  - MHC class II DRB diversity in raccoons (Procyon lotor) reveals associations with
      raccoon rabies virus (Lyssavirus).
AB  - In North America, the raccoon rabies virus (RRV) is an endemic wildlife disease
      which causes acute encephalopathies and is a strong selective force on raccoons
      (Procyon lotor), with estimates of ~85% of the population succumbing to the
      disease when epizootic. RRV is regarded as a lethal disease if untreated;
      therefore, no evolutionary response would be expected of raccoon populations.
      However, variable immune responses to RRV have been observed in raccoons
      indicating a potential for evolutionary adaptation. Studies of variation within
      the immunologically important major histocompatibility complex (MHC) have
      revealed relationships between MHC alleles and diseases in humans and other
      wildlife species. This enhances our understanding of how hosts and pathogens
      adapt and co-evolve. In this study, we used RRV as a model system to study host
      pathogen interaction in raccoons from a challenge study and from four wild
      populations that differ in exposure times and viral lineages. We investigated the
      potential role of Prlo-DRB polymorphism in relation to susceptibility/resistance
      to RRV in 113 RRV positive and 143 RRV negative raccoons. Six alleles were found
      to be associated with RRV negative status and five alleles with RRV positive
      animals. We found variable patterns of MHC associations given the relative number
      of selective RRV sweeps in the studied regions and correlations between MHC
      diversity and RRV lineages. The allelic associations established provide insight
      into how the genetic variation of raccoons may affect the disease outcome and
      this can be used to examine similar associations between other rabies variants
      and their hosts.

PMID- 20924577
TI  - YqhD: a broad-substrate range aldehyde reductase with various applications in
      production of biorenewable fuels and chemicals.
AB  - The Escherichia coli NADPH-dependent aldehyde reductase YqhD has contributed to a
      variety of metabolic engineering projects for production of biorenewable fuels
      and chemicals. As a scavenger of toxic aldehydes produced by lipid peroxidation,
      YqhD has reductase activity for a broad range of short-chain aldehydes, including
      butyraldehyde, glyceraldehyde, malondialdehyde, isobutyraldehyde, methylglyoxal,
      propanealdehyde, acrolein, furfural, glyoxal, 3-hydroxypropionaldehyde,
      glycolaldehyde, acetaldehyde, and acetol. This reductase activity has proven
      useful for the production of biorenewable fuels and chemicals, such as isobutanol
      and 1,3- and 1,2-propanediol; additional capability exists for production of 1
      butanol, 1-propanol, and allyl alcohol. A drawback of this reductase activity is
      the diversion of valuable NADPH away from biosynthesis. This YqhD-mediated NADPH
      depletion provides sufficient burden to contribute to growth inhibition by
      furfural and 5-hydroxymethyl furfural, inhibitory contaminants of biomass
      hydrolysate. The structure of YqhD has been characterized, with identification of
      a Zn atom in the active site. Directed engineering efforts have improved
      utilization of 3-hydroxypropionaldehyde and NADPH. Most recently, two independent
      projects have demonstrated regulation of yqhD by YqhC, where YqhC appears to
      function as an aldehyde sensor.

PMID- 20924578
TI  - Decolourization of synthetic wastewater containing azo dyes by immobilized
      Phanerochaete chrysosporium in a continuously operated RBC reactor.
AB  - A laboratory-scale rotating biological contactor (RBC) reactor with immobilized
      fungal biomass of Phanerochaete chrysosporium was investigated for its
      performance in decolourizing synthetic wastewater containing single or mixture of
      azo dyes, Direct Red-80 (DR-80) and Mordant Blue-9 (MB-9). Decolourization
      efficiency in the continuously operated bioreactor was studied by varying dye
      inlet concentration and disc rotation speed at two different wastewater hydraulic
      retention times (HRTs), i.e. 24 and 48 h. Results from the single dye-containing
      experiments showed that the system could completely decolourize the wastewater
      for a maximum inlet dye concentration within the range 25-200 mg L(-1) and 48 h
      HRT in the reactor; for an inlet dye concentration above 200 mg L(-1), the
      decolourization efficiency slightly reduced up to 85% for the same HRT. However,
      wastewater containing DR-80 was found to be decolourized more efficiently
      compared to that containing MB-9. Further, the effect of increase in the disc
      rotation speed from 2 to 6 rpm in the study revealed no large differences in the
      decolourization efficiencies of the wastewaters. Similar results were obtained
      with wastewater containing the dyes together at various concentration
      combinations as per the two-level factorial design of experiments. Enzyme
      activities of lignin peroxidase and manganese peroxidase by the fungus were also
      analysed in the study, and the results indicated that while DR-80 showed a large
      negative effect on both the enzymes, MB-9 affected mainly the MnP activity by the
      fungus.

PMID- 20924576
TI  - Investigations on the microbial catabolism of the organic sulfur compounds TDP
      and DTDP in Ralstonia eutropha H16 employing DNA microarrays.
AB  - In this study, we have investigated the transcriptome of Ralstonia eutropha H16
      during cultivation with gluconate in presence of 3,3'-thiodipropionic acid (TDP)
      or 3,3'-dithiodipropionic acid (DTDP) during biosynthesis of poly(3
      hydroxybutyrate-co-3-mercaptopropionate). Genome-wide transcriptome analyses
      revealed several genes which were upregulated during cultivation in presence of
      the above-mentioned compounds. Obtained data strongly suggest that two ABC-type
      transport system and three probable extracytoplasmic solute receptors mediate the
      uptake of TDP and DTDP, respectively. In addition, genes encoding the hydrolase S
      adenosylhomocysteinase AhcY and the thiol-disulfide interchange proteins DsbA,
      DsbD, and FrnE were upregulated during cultivation on DTDP and, in case of AhcY
      and FrnE, on TDP as well. It is assumed that the corresponding enzymes are
      involved in the cleavage of TDP and DTDP. Several genes of the fatty acid
      metabolism exhibited increased expression levels: genes encoding two
      acetyltransferases, a predicted acyltransferase, the acetoacetyl-CoA reductase
      phaB3, an enoyl-CoA hydratase as well as an acyl dehydratase, an acetyl-CoA
      synthetase, two acyl-CoA dehydrogenases, the methylmalonyl-CoA mutase encoded by
      sbm1 and sbm2 and phaY1 were detected. Furthermore, ORF H16_A0217 encoding a
      hypothetical protein and exhibiting 54% amino acids identical to an acyl-CoA
      thioesterase from Saccharomonospora viridis was found to be highly upregulated.
      As the 2-methylcitrate synthase PrpC exhibited a three- to fourfold increased
      activity in cells grown in presence of TDP or DTDP as compared to gluconate,
      metabolization of the cleavage products 3MP and 3-hydroxypropionate to propionyl
      CoA is proposed.

PMID- 20924579
TI  - Pimp your landscape: a tool for qualitative evaluation of the effects of regional
      planning measures on ecosystem services.
AB  - The article presents the platform "Pimp your landscape" (PYL), which aims firstly
      at the support of planners by simulating alternative land-use scenarios and by an
      evaluation of benefits or risks for regionally important ecosystem services.
      Second, PYL supports an integration of information on environmental and landscape
      conditions into impact assessment. Third, PYL supports the integration of impacts
      of planning measures on ecosystem services. PYL is a modified 2-D cellular
      automaton with GIS features. The cells have the major attribute "land-use type"
      and can be supplemented with additional information, such as specifics regarding
      geology, topography and climate. The GIS features support the delineation of non
      cellular infrastructural elements, such as roads or water bodies. An evaluation
      matrix represents the core element of the system. In this matrix, values in a
      relative scale from 0 (lowest value) to 100 (highest value) are assigned to the
      land-use types and infrastructural elements depending on their effect on
      ecosystem services. The option to configure rules for describing the impact of
      environmental attributes and proximity effects on cell values and land-use
      transition probabilities is of particular importance. User interface and usage of
      the platform are demonstrated by an application case. Constraints and limits of
      the recent version are discussed, including the need to consider in the
      evaluation, landscape-structure aspects such as patch size, fragmentation and
      spatial connectivity. Regarding the further development, it is planned to include
      the impact of land management practices to support climate change adaptation and
      mitigation strategies in regional planning.

PMID- 20924580
TI  - The Indus irrigation system, natural resources, and community occupational
      quality in the delta region of Pakistan.
AB  - This study examines the impact of an elaborated irrigation system on the natural
      resources and society in the deltaic part of the Indus River in Pakistan. Time
      series information was collected to analyze the ecological and natural resource
      dynamics, and their impacts on the structure and quality of the occupations of
      the people in the Indus delta during pre- and post-irrigation system development
      periods. The information was collected through literature review, reconnaissance,
      structured questionnaire survey, focus group discussions, and interviews. The
      findings revealed that the expansion of the irrigation system and the resulting
      reduction in the downstream flow had their differential impacts on the various
      segments of downstream ecology and society. Some of the resources, for example
      the agricultural mudflats have been adversely affected due to the accelerated
      seawater intrusion that severely impinged on the paddy farms. On the other
      natural resources like mangroves, the impacts had been both negative and
      positive. On one hand, the diversity of the mangroves species had deteriorated
      while on other hand, the mangroves have benefited from such development because
      of the alleviated pressure of camel grazing as a result of the occupational
      change on the part of the camel herders. Furthermore, changes in the hydrological
      regimes had forced the paddy farmers and camel herders to switch to fishing as an
      alternative source of employment and income. Considering that currently about 87%
      people are already engaged primarily in marine fishery, this scenario is
      threatening the sustainability of the fishery resources as well as the
      livelihoods of all, the traditional and converted fishermen. The findings of the
      study are therefore meant to advocate the different treatments which should be
      accorded to the various segments of the downstream ecology and society during the
      planning of any remedial irrigation projects in order to mitigate the adverse
      impacts of the previous irrigation development strategies and of any water
      resources development to be carried out in the future.

PMID- 20924581
TI  - Cranes, crops and conservation: understanding human perceptions of biodiversity
      conservation in South Korea's Civilian Control Zone.
AB  - South Korea's Civilian Control Zone (CCZ), a relatively untouched area due to
      tight military oversight since the end of Korean War, has received considerable
      attention nationally and internationally for its rich biodiversity. However, the
      exclusion of local communities from the process of defining problems and goals
      and of setting priorities for biodiversity conservation has halted a series of
      biodiversity conservation efforts. Through qualitative research, we explored CCZ
      farmers' views of key problems and issues and also the sources of their
      opposition to the government-initiated conservation approaches. Key findings
      include the farmers' concerns about the impact of conservation restrictions on
      their access to necessary resources needed to farm, wildlife impacts on the value
      of rice and other agricultural goods they produce, and farmers' strong distrust
      of government, the military, and planners, based on their experiences with past
      conservation processes. The findings regarding farmers' perceptions should prove
      useful for the design of future participatory planning processes for biodiversity
      conservation in the CCZ. This case highlights how conservative measures,
      perceived to be imposed from above--however scientifically valuable--can be
      undermined and suggests the value that must be placed on communication among
      planners and stakeholders.

PMID- 20924582
TI  - Potential effects of dams on migratory fish in the Mekong River: lessons from
      salmon in the Fraser and Columbia Rivers.
AB  - We compared the effects of water resource development on migratory fish in two
      North American rivers using a descriptive approach based on four high-level
      indicators: (1) trends in abundance of Pacific salmon, (2) reliance on artificial
      production to maintain fisheries, (3) proportion of adult salmon that are wild-
      versus hatchery-origin, and (4) number of salmon populations needing federal
      protection to avoid extinction. The two rivers had similar biological and
      physical features but radically different levels of water resource development:
      the Fraser River has few dams and all are located in tributaries, whereas the
      Columbia River has more than 130 large mainstem and tributary dams. Not
      surprisingly, we found substantial effects of development on salmon in the
      Columbia River. We related the results to potential effects on migratory fish in
      the Mekong River where nearly 200 mainstem and tributary dams are installed,
      under construction, or planned and could have profound effects on its 135
      migratory fish species. Impacts will vary with dam location due to differential
      fish production within the basin, with overall effects likely being greatest from
      11 proposed mainstem dams. Minimizing impacts will require decades to design
      specialized fish passage facilities, dam operations, and artificial production,
      and is complicated by the Mekong's high diversity and productivity. Prompt action
      is needed by governments and fisheries managers to plan Mekong water resource
      development wisely to prevent impacts to the world's most productive inland
      fisheries, and food security and employment opportunities for millions of people
      in the region.

PMID- 20924583
TI  - A novel point mutation within the juxtamembrane domain of the flt3 gene in acute
      myeloid leukemia.

PMID- 20924584
TI  - Construction and expression of food-grade beta-galactosidase gene in Lactococcus
      Lactis.
AB  - Recombinant Lactococcus lactis MG1363/pMG36e-lacZ exhibiting high beta
      galactosidase activities were constructed by us in the previous study. However,
      erythromycin resistance present in these recombinants restricted their practical
      application in food preparation. This study was conducted to delete the gene
      coding for erythromycin resistance present in recombinant L. lactis, as a result
      of which these bacteria express food-grade beta-galactosidase. In this study, the
      recombinant plasmid pMG36e-lacZ was digested with restriction enzymes BclI and
      HpaI and the food-grade plasmid FGZW was rebuilt. FGZW was transformed into
      Escherichia coli JM109 and L. lactis MG1363. Erythromycin resistance, enzyme
      activity determination, gene sequencing and SDS-PAGE analysis indicated that
      these new recombinant bacteria lost erythromycin resistance and its relevant gene
      but still expressed beta-galactosidase activities, although a decrease in the
      expression of beta-galactosidase of these new strains was observed. The beta
      galactosidase food-grade expression system was successfully constructed and it
      could provide a new solution for the management of lactose intolerance. These
      results might promote the usage of gene-modified microorganisms and related
      technology in the food sector, which has the highest priority for food safety.

PMID- 20924585
TI  - Utility of diffusion-weighted imaging in the diagnosis of acute appendicitis.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the value of diffusion-weighted MRI (DWI) in the
      diagnosis of acute appendicitis. METHODS: 119 patients with acute appendicitis
      and 50 controls were enrolled in this prospective study. DWI was obtained with b
      factors 0, 500 and 1000 s/mm2 and were assessed with a visual scoring system by
      two radiologists followed by quantitative evaluation of the DW images and ADC
      maps. RESULTS: Histopathology revealed appendicitis in 79/92 patients (78%) who
      had undergone surgery. On visual evaluation, except for one patient with
      histopathologically proven appendicitis all inflamed appendixes were hyperintense
      on DWI (98.7%). Quantitative evaluation with DW signal intensities and ADC values
      revealed a significant difference with normal and inflamed appendixes (p <
      0.001). The best discriminative parameter was signal intensity (b 500). With a
      cut-off value of 56 for the signal intensity the ratio had a sensitivity of 99%
      and a specificity of 97%. The cut-off ADC value at 1.66 mm2/s had a sensitivity
      of 97% and a specificity of 99%. CONCLUSION: DWI is a valuable technique for the
      diagnosis of acute appendicitis with both qualitative and quantitative
      evaluation. DWI increases the conspicuity of the inflamed appendix. We recommend
      using DWI to diagnose acute appendicitis.

PMID- 20924586
TI  - Modified Chrispin-Norman chest radiography score for cystic fibrosis: observer
      agreement and correlation with lung function.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To test observer agreement and two strategies for possible improvement
      (consensus meeting and reference images) for the modified Chrispin-Norman score
      for children with cystic fibrosis (CF). METHODS: Before and after a consensus
      meeting and after developing reference images three observers scored sets of 25
      chest radiographs from children with CF. Observer agreement was tested for line,
      ring, mottled and large soft shadows, for overinflation and for the composite
      modified Chrispin-Norman score. Correlation with lung function was assessed.
      RESULTS: Before the consensus meeting agreement between observers 1 and 2 was
      moderate-good, but with observer 3 agreement was poor-fair. Scores correlated
      significantly with spirometry for observers 1 and 2 (-0.72<R<-0.42, P < 0.05),
      but not for observer 3. Agreement with observer 3 improved after the consensus
      meeting. Reference images improved agreement for overinflation and mottled and
      large shadows and correlation with lung function, but agreement for the modified
      Chrispin-Norman score did not improve further. CONCLUSION: Consensus meetings and
      reference images improve among-observer agreement for the modified Chrispin
      Norman score, but good agreement was not achieved among all observers for the
      modified Chrispin-Norman score and for bronchial line and ring shadows.

PMID- 20924587
TI  - A novel approach for the surgical management of Peyronie's disease using an
      acellular, human dermis tissue graft: preliminary results.
AB  - PURPOSE: To present for the first time, the use of an acellular, dermis tissue
      graft from serologically screened human donors (Epsilonpiflex((r)), Deutshes
      Institut fur Zell- und Gewebeersatz) for covering cavernosal defects after plaque
      incision. METHODS: Five patients with a mean age of 57.4 +/- 2.1 years and an
      International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF-5) score >20, diagnosed with
      Peyronie's disease (PD) with disease duration and a stable penile deformity of at
      least 12 and 6 months, respectively, underwent reconstructive surgery. The
      curvature was dorsal in two, dorsal and left in two and dorsal and right in one
      patient. The patients were scheduled for follow-up at 1, 3 and 6 months. RESULTS:
      Placement of the Epiflex((r)) graft (size 20 * 40 mm) was performed after
      appropriate spatulation and fixation with 4-0 Monocryl sutures in all patients.
      Two of the patients also underwent a small plication of the convex side in order
      to achieve 100% straightening during artificial erection. All patients had an
      uneventful course and resumed successful sexual activity 1 month later. No penile
      deformity, infection, antigenicity or de novo erectile dysfunction was observed
      during the follow-up period. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study on the use of
      an acellular, human dermis tissue graft for the surgical management of PD.
      Despite our small number of patients, we now routinely use this type of graft,
      due to its superior biomechanical properties, excellent results and maximum
      safety. Larger patient series with longer follow-up periods are needed to verify
      our results.

PMID- 20924588
TI  - A central pacemaker that underlies the production of seasonal and sexually
      dimorphic social signals: anatomical and electrophysiological aspects.
AB  - Our long-term goal is to approach the understanding of the anatomical and
      physiological bases for communication signal diversity in gymnotiform fishes as a
      model for vertebrate motor pattern generation. Brachyhypopomus gauderio emits, in
      addition to its electric organ discharge (EOD) at basal rate, a rich repertoire
      of rate modulations. We examined the structure of the pacemaker nucleus,
      responsible for the EOD rate, to explore whether its high output signal diversity
      was correlated to complexity in its neural components or regional organization.
      We confirm the existence of only two neuron types and show that the previously
      reported dorsal-caudal segregation of these neurons is accompanied by rostral
      caudal regionalization. Pacemaker cells are grouped dorsally in the rostral half
      of the nucleus, and relay cells are mainly ventral and more abundant in the
      caudal half. Relay cells are loosely distributed from the center to the periphery
      of the nucleus in correlation to somata size. Our findings support the hypothesis
      that regional organization enables a higher diversity of rate modulations,
      possibly offering distinct target areas to modulatory inputs. Since no anatomical
      or electrophysiological seasonal or sexual differences were found, we explored
      these aspects from a functional point of view in a companion article.

PMID- 20924589
TI  - Dysfunctional pain modulation in somatoform pain disorder patients.
AB  - To date, pain perception is thought to be a creative process of modulation
      carried out by an interplay of pro- and anti-nociceptive mechanisms. Recent
      research demonstrates that pain experience constitutes the result of top-down
      processes represented in cortical descending pain modulation. Cortical, mainly
      medial and frontal areas, as well as subcortical structures such as the brain
      stem, medulla and thalamus seem to be key players in pain modulation. An
      imbalance of pro- and anti-nociceptive mechanisms are assumed to cause chronic
      pain disorders, which are associated with spontaneous pain perception without
      physiologic scaffolding or exaggerated cortical activation in response to pain
      exposure. In contrast to recent investigations, the aim of the present study was
      to elucidate cortical activation of somatoform pain disorder patients during
      baseline condition. Scalp EEG, quantitative Fourier-spectral analyses and LORETA
      were employed to compare patient group (N = 15) to age- and sex-matched controls
      (N = 15) at rest. SI, SII, ACC, SMA, PFC, PPC, insular, amygdale and hippocampus
      displayed significant spectral power reductions within the beta band range (12-30
      Hz). These results suggest decreased cortical baseline arousal in somatoform pain
      disorder patients. We finally conclude that obtained results may point to an
      altered baseline activity, maybe characteristic for chronic somatoform pain
      disorder.

PMID- 20924591
TI  - Acute hemorrhagic leukoencephalopathy associated with influenza A (H1N1) virus.

PMID- 20924590
TI  - Fcgamma receptor IIIb (CD16b) polymorphisms are associated with susceptibility to
      idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.
AB  - An excess of neutrophils in the alveoli and lung interstitium has been described
      in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Engagement of neutrophil Fcgamma
      receptors with IgG complexes may contribute to the pathogenesis of IPF. The
      neutrophil FcgammaRIIIb receptor occurs in two codominantly expressed allelic
      variants, NA1 and NA2, which exhibit different binding affinities for IgG1 and
      IgG3 subclasses. The aim of this study was to investigate whether FcgammaRIIIb
      genotype is associated with IPF susceptibility or disease progression. In a case
      control study we compared the distribution of FcgammaRIIIb NA1/2 polymorphisms in
      142 patients with IPF and in 218 controls using allele-specific PCR
      amplification. Significant skewing in the distribution of FcgammaRIIIb genotypes
      was observed between patients with IPF and control subjects. In the IPF cohort,
      there was higher frequency of the NA1/NA1 genotype (0.19 vs. 0.07), and lower
      NA2/NA2 frequency (0.31 vs. 0.50; chi(2) = 17.71, df = 2, P < 0.001). The overall
      frequency of the NA1 allele was increased in IPF patients compared to controls
      (0.44 vs. 0.29; P < 0.0001, odds ratio [OR] = 1.93, 95% confidence interval [CI]
      = 1.42-2.64). Heterozygotes and homozygotes of the NA1 allele were at higher risk
      of developing IPF (OR = 2.19, 95% CI = 1.40-3.41, P = 0.0005), whereas the NA2
      allele was protective against IPF (OR = 0.34, 95% CI = 0.17-0.65, P = 0.0014).
      There was no association of FcgammaRIIIb genotype with disease progression as
      assessed by serial lung function measurements. FcgammaRIIIb NA1/2 polymorphisms
      are associated with IPF disease susceptibility. These results support a role for
      immunological mechanisms contributing to IPF pathogenesis.

PMID- 20924592
TI  - Gliomatosis cerebri presenting as a recurrent cervical myelopathy.

PMID- 20924593
TI  - T1rho (T1rho) MR imaging in Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease with and
      without dementia.
AB  - In the current study, we aim to measure T1rho (T (1rho)) in the hippocampus in
      the brain of control, Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD), and PD
      patients with dementia (PDD), and to determine efficacy of T (1rho) in
      differentiating these cohorts. With informed consent, 53 AD patients, 62 PD
      patients, 11 PDD patients, and 46 age-matched controls underwent a standardized
      clinical assessment including mini-mental state examination (MMSE) and brain T
      (1rho) MRI on a 1.5-T clinical-scanner. T(1rho) maps were generated by fitting
      each pixel's intensity as a function of the spin-lock pulse duration. In control,
      AD, PD and PDD, mean +/- SE T (1rho) values in the right hippocampus (RH) were
      92.15 +/- 2.00, 99.65 +/- 1.98, 85.68 +/- 1.87, 102.47 +/- 4.66 ms while in the
      left hippocampus (LH) these values were 90.16 +/- 1.82, 99.53 +/- 1.91, 84.33 +/-
      2.03, 95.33 +/- 4.64 ms. Significant difference for both RH and LH T (1rho)
      across the groups (p < 0.001) was observed. Both RH and LH T (1rho) were
      significantly increased in AD compared to control (p = 0.034, p = 0.001) and PD
      (p < 0.001, p < 0.001). In control, both RH and LH T (1rho) values were
      significantly increased compared to PD (p = 0.031, p = 0.027) while compared to
      PDD only the RH T (1rho) value was significantly decreased (p = 0.043). Both RH
      and LH T (1rho) values in PD were significantly lower than PDD (p = 0.004, p =
      0.032). No significant correlation between the T (1rho) and age as well as
      between T (1rho) and MMSE scores was observed. The serial measurement of T(1rho)
      in both AD and PD may provide the nature of disease progression and may
      contribute to their early diagnosis.

PMID- 20924594
TI  - Validity of a computerized version of the symbol digit modalities test in
      multiple sclerosis.
AB  - The Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT) is a particularly sensitive measure of
      cognitive dysfunction in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). While
      computerized versions have been developed for use in functional magnetic
      resonance imaging (fMRI), none has been validated in MS patients. The aim of this
      study was to validate a new computerized version of the SDMT for use in MS
      patients. We developed a novel computerized version of the SDMT (c-SDMT) which
      was completed by 119 MS patients and 38 healthy controls. Our version consisted
      of eight timed trials of nine symbols. Both groups also underwent cognitive
      testing with the Brief Repeatable Battery of Neuropsychological Tests (BRB-N)
      which included the 90-s paper SDMT (p-SDMT) scored according to the number of
      correct responses per each 15-s interval. The sensitivity and specificity of the
      c-SDMT and p-SDMT to detect overall cognitive impairment on the BRB-N was
      determined. MS patients performed significantly worse than controls on both the c
      SDMT (t = -6.1, p < 0.001) and p-SDMT (t = 5.7, p < 0.001). More MS patients were
      impaired on the c-SDMT than the p-SDMT (37% vs. 29%). The sensitivity and
      specificity of the SDMT was as follows: 71% and 84%, respectively, for the c
      SDMT, and 67% and 95%, respectively, for the p-SDMT. Both versions detected a
      significant group * time effect over the course of the individual trials,
      although the pattern of responses differed between them. Good test-retest
      reliability for the c-SDMT was shown (ICC = 0.94). The results support the
      validity of this version of the c-SDMT as a sensitive measure of cognitive
      dysfunction in MS. The methodology is also fMRI compatible.

PMID- 20924595
TI  - No evidence for a thermic effect of the dietary flavonol quercetin: a pilot study
      in healthy normal-weight women.
AB  - Our objective was to investigate the effect of quercetin supplementation on
      fasting resting energy expenditure (REE) and respiratory quotient (RQ) in humans.
      Six healthy, normal-weight women (mean age 25.5 +/- 1.6 years, body mass index
      21.4 +/- 1.5 kg/m(2)) participated in a randomized, placebo-controlled, double
      blinded crossover study. Treatments were administered as capsules of 150 mg
      quercetin (aglycone) or placebo. The acute response was measured by indirect
      calorimetry for 3 h following ingestion. Blood pressure and pulse rate were
      assessed in 30-min intervals. On the following day, 24 h after capsule intake, a
      follow-up measurement was performed. Baseline (t (0)) REE adjusted for fat-free
      mass was 4.7 +/- 0.26 kJ/min (quercetin) and 4.8 +/- 0.35 kJ/min (placebo) and
      did not significantly change between baseline and end (t (180)) in either group
      (P = 0.992 for time effect in repeated measures analysis of variance; P = 0.581
      for time * treatment interaction). Mean RQ was 0.78 +/- 0.04 (quercetin) and 0.77
      +/- 0.04 (placebo). RQ values decreased slowly and to a similar extent during
      both treatments (P < 0.001 for time; quercetin, -0.09 +/- 0.05; placebo, -0.08 +/
      0.03; P = 0.877 for time * treatment interaction). Resting systolic and
      diastolic blood pressure, pulse pressure as well as resting pulse rate did not
      significantly change between baseline and end in either treatment group. No
      significant differences were found between the results of the baseline
      measurement and 24 h after treatment. In conclusion, the present pilot study
      provides no evidence for a thermic effect of quercetin in humans.

PMID- 20924596
TI  - The effect of recreational soccer training and running on postural balance in
      untrained men.
AB  - The aim of this study was to examine the effect of intense intermittent exercise
      performed as soccer training or interval running in comparison with continuous
      endurance running exercise on postural balance in young healthy untrained males.
      Young sedentary men were randomized to soccer training (SOC, n = 10), continuous
      running (RUN; n = 9), high-intensity interval running (INT; n = 7) or no training
      (CON; n = 9). Postural balance was evaluated pre and post 12 weeks of training
      using a 30-s single-leg stance test on a force plate (AMTI) to yield center of
      pressure (CoP) sway path and 1-min beam standing (Flamingo test). CoP sway length
      decreased by 18.2% (p < 0.01), 14.6% (p < 0.05) and 12.8% (p < 0.05) in SOC, INT
      and RUN, respectively. CoP sway area decreased in SOC (-30.2%; p < 0.01) and INT
      (-23.4%; p < 0.01) but remained unaffected in RUN. Acceleration parameters (Mean
      CoP acc, SD accX, SD accY) decreased in SOC only (17-19%, p < 0.05). All training
      groups demonstrated fewer falls (37-41%, p < 0.01) in the Flamingo test. No
      changes were observed in CON. Relationships (r > 0.40) were observed between pre
      training values in CoP sway area versus muscle fiber area, explosive muscle
      strength and countermovement jump velocity. Postural control was improved in
      response to 12 weeks of soccer training and high-intensity interval running,
      respectively, while less-marked changes were observed following continuous
      running. Notably, the reduced variability in CoP acceleration after soccer
      training indicates that this training regimen may produce superior improvements
      in postural sensory-motor function.

PMID- 20924597
TI  - Modulation of plasma adrenomedullin by epinephrine infusion during head up tilt.
AB  - We investigated whether head up tilt (HUT) with and without simultaneous
      epinephrine infusion modulate plasma adrenomedullin. We studied eight healthy
      male volunteers, using two 5 min 70 degrees  HUT trials: control (saline
      infusion) and intervention (epinephrine infusion, titrated to a dose which
      increased supine systolic pressure by 20% above resting values). Protocols were
      randomized and separated by 2 weeks. Cardiac function and systolic time
      intervals, recorded using a phonocardiograph microphone, included left
      ventricular ejection time (LVET), pre-ejection period (PEP), PEP/LVET and
      electromechanical systole (QS2). Compared to saline infusion, epinephrine
      increased supine adrenomedullin (3.2 +/- 0.8 pmol/l, i.e., mean +/- SEM,
      respectively), heart rate (HR) (+11.3 +/- 2.6 bpm), systolic pressure (+18.4 +/-
      2.6 mmHg) but decreased supine LVET, LVET corrected for HR (LVETi) and QS2-time
      (all p = 0.004). Despite similar HUT induced thoracic fluid shifts, reflected by
      similar thoracic impedance changes, HUT-induced adrenomedullin increases were
      minimal in epinephrine-supplemented men in comparison to controls (+8% vs. 42%).
      During HUT, epinephrine infusion decreased only the LVET (p = 0.039). Our
      findings confirm that short-term HUT increases plasma adrenomedullin. They
      further suggest that with increased supine epinephrine levels (epinephrine
      infusion clamping systolic arterial pressure at 120% control level), supine
      cardiac performance rises to a level similar to that during HUT, while
      adrenomedullin is still elevated with HUT. This might be in accordance with a
      'dampening' role of adrenomedullin during catecholaminergic cardiovascular
      stimulation. As epinephrine is used as a drug to treat cardiac arrest and
      ventricular arrhythmias, our results may have important clinical/emergency
      resuscitation applications.

PMID- 20924598
TI  - Physicochemical properties of pore residues predict activation gating of Ca V1.2:
      a correlation mutation analysis.
AB  - Single point mutations in pore-forming S6 segments of calcium channels may
      transform a high-voltage-activated into a low-voltage-activated channel, and
      resulting disturbances in calcium entry may cause channelopathies (Hemara-Wahanui
      et al., Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 102(21):7553-7558, 16). Here we ask the question
      how physicochemical properties of amino acid residues in gating-sensitive
      positions on S6 segments determine the threshold of channel activation of
      Ca(V)1.2. Leucine in segment IS6 (L434) and a newly identified activation
      determinant in segment IIIS6 (G1193) were mutated to a variety of amino acids.
      The induced leftward shifts of the activation curves and decelerated current
      activation and deactivation suggest a destabilization of the closed and a
      stabilisation of the open channel state by most mutations. A selection of 17
      physicochemical parameters (descriptors) was calculated for these residues and
      examined for correlation with the shifts of the midpoints of the activation curve
      (DeltaV (act)). DeltaV (act) correlated with local side-chain flexibility in
      position L434 (IS6), with the polar accessible surface area of the side chain in
      position G1193 (IIIS6) and with hydrophobicity in position I781 (IIS6). Combined
      descriptor analysis for positions I781 and G1193 revealed that additional amino
      acid properties may contribute to conformational changes during the gating
      process. The identified physicochemical properties in the analysed gating
      sensitive positions (accessible surface area, side-chain flexibility, and
      hydrophobicity) predict the shifts of the activation curves of Ca(V)1.2.

PMID- 20924599
TI  - Effect of a temperature increase in the non-noxious range on proton-evoked ASIC
      and TRPV1 activity.
AB  - Acid-sensing ion channels (ASICs) are neuronal H(+)-gated cation channels, and
      the transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 channel (TRPV1) is a multimodal
      cation channel activated by low pH, noxious heat, capsaicin, and voltage. ASICs
      and TRPV1 are present in sensory neurons. It has been shown that raising the
      temperature increases TRPV1 and decreases ASIC H(+)-gated current amplitudes. To
      understand the underlying mechanisms, we have analyzed ASIC and TRPV1 function in
      a recombinant expression system and in dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons at room
      and physiological temperature. We show that temperature in the range studied does
      not affect the pH dependence of ASIC and TRPV1 activation. A temperature increase
      induces, however, a small alkaline shift of the pH dependence of steady-state
      inactivation of ASIC1a, ASIC1b, and ASIC2a. The decrease in ASIC peak current
      amplitudes at higher temperatures is likely in part due to the observed
      accelerated open channel inactivation kinetics and for some ASIC types to the
      changed pH dependence of steady-state inactivation. The increase in H(+)
      activated TRPV1 current at the higher temperature is at least in part due to a
      hyperpolarizing shift in its voltage dependence. The contribution of TRPV1
      relative to ASICs to H(+)-gated currents in DRG neurons increases with higher
      temperature and acidity. Still, ASICs remain the principal pH sensors of DRG
      neurons at 35 degrees C in the pH range >=6.

PMID- 20924602
TI  - Congenital CMV: are we treating too many?

PMID- 20924600
TI  - Functional TRPV4 channels are expressed in mouse skeletal muscle and can modulate
      resting Ca2+ influx and muscle fatigue.
AB  - Skeletal muscle contraction is basically controlled by Ca(2+) release and its
      reuptake into the sarcoplasmic reticulum. However, the long-term maintenance of
      muscle function requires an additional Ca(2+) influx from extracellular. Several
      mechanisms seem to contribute to the latter process, such as store-operated
      Ca(2+) entry, stretch-activated Ca(2+) influx and resting Ca(2+) influx.
      Candidate channels that may control Ca(2+) influx into muscle fibers are the STIM
      proteins, Orai, and the members of the transient receptor potential (TRP) family
      of cation channels. Here we show that TRPV4, an osmo-sensitive cation channel of
      the vanilloid subfamily of TRP channels is functionally expressed in mouse
      skeletal muscle. Western blot analysis showed the presence of TRPV4-specific
      bands at about 85 and 100 kDa in all tested muscles. The bands were absent when
      muscle proteins from TRPV4 deficient mice were analyzed. Using the manganese
      quench technique, we studied the resting influx of divalent cations into isolated
      wild-type muscle fibers. The specific TRPV4-channel activator 4alpha-phorbol
      12,13-didecanoate (4alpha-PDD) stimulated resting influx by about 60% only in
      wild-type fibers. Electrical stimulation of soleus muscles did not reveal changes
      in isometric twitch contractions upon application of 4alpha-PDD, but tetanic
      contractions (at 120 Hz) were slightly increased by about 15%. When soleus
      muscles were stimulated with a fatigue protocol, muscle fatigue was significantly
      attenuated in the presence of 4alpha-PDD. The latter effect was not observed with
      muscles from TRPV4(-/-) mice. We conclude that TRPV4 is functionally expressed in
      mouse skeletal muscle and that TRPV4 activation modulates resting Ca(2+) influx
      and muscle fatigue.

PMID- 20924603
TI  - Household poisoning cases from mercury brought from school.
AB  - Mercury has a number of unique and fascinating properties. It is present in the
      environment in several forms, both organic and inorganic. Each of these forms has
      somewhat unique properties that differentiate them from the other forms, but all
      are toxic to humans in one way or the others. Mercury has been proven to be a
      potential source of poisoning in children as a result of the inappropriate
      handling of a liquid mercury. The cases of metallic mercury vapor intoxication
      not associated with occupational exposure may occur in school science
      laboratories, from mercury dust and powders, from latex paint containing a
      mercury-based fungicide, and from normal wear or installation of dental amalgam
      fillings. Another source of toxic mercury exposure can be broken thermometers,
      barometers, or sphygmomanometers that may occur in the home, and children are
      often victims of environmental exposure. In this paper, we present three members
      of a family who were exposed to mercury brought home from school by a family
      member. Since the mercury exposure was not known, the initial presentation and
      clinical picture suggested a misdiagnosis, a contagious infectious disease,
      because the onset of symptoms occurred at different times in the same family
      members. A subsequent change to a diagnosis of mercury intoxication and chelation
      therapy with meso-2,3-dimercaptosuccinic acid was started.

PMID- 20924604
TI  - Nephrotic syndrome occurring during tiopronin treatment for cystinuria.
AB  - Cystinuria is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized with abnormal tubular
      reabsorption of cystine and dibasic amino acids leading to cystine urolithiasis.
      The classical form is caused by mutations in the SLC3A1 gene (OMIM 220100). The
      cornerstone of the treatment is high hydration and alkalization of the urine to
      achieve urine pH between 7.0 and 7.5, at which point, cystine solubility in the
      urine is optimal. These measures very often fail, and thus addition of sulfhydryl
      agents like penicillamine and tiopronin (mercaptopropionyl glycine) is
      recommended. Herein, we report a 3-year-old boy with cystinuria resulting in
      recurrent nephrolithiasis requiring surgery and extracorporeal shock wave
      lithotripsy. Nine months after introduction of tiopronin, the boy manifested
      generalized edema, oliguria, and biochemical indices of nephrotic syndrome.
      Tiopronin was withdrawn, and the boy was given only supportive treatment. Within
      10 days, he entered into clinical and biochemical remission. Pediatricians should
      be aware of this adverse effect of tiopronin, and therefore, testing of the urine
      with strips or sulfosalicylic acid at least once weekly at home may be very
      helpful for early detection of proteinuria.

PMID- 20924605
TI  - Chronic pancreatitis in branched-chain organic acidurias--a case of methylmalonic
      aciduria and an overview of the literature.
AB  - A severe rare complication in patients with branched-chain organic acidurias
      (BCOA) is pancreatitis with a limited number of patients published so far. Here,
      we report on a patient with methylmalonic aciduria (MMA) who developed chronic
      pancreatitis after several episodes of acute pancreatitis. In addition, an
      overview is given about some previous published cases with BCOA who developed
      pancreatitis in the course of the disease. In half of the published MMA patients
      with pancreatitis, an acute pancreatitis was reported while the rest suffered
      from a chronic form of this disease. Acute pancreatitis in BCOA patients can
      clinically present in the context of recurrent vomiting and an impaired general
      physical condition even without typical signs of pancreatitis. Any form of
      pancreatitis should be ruled out in the assessment of acutely ill patients with
      BCOA.

PMID- 20924606
TI  - Remifentanil and propofol for weaning of mechanically ventilated pediatric
      intensive care patients.
AB  - Mechanically ventilated pediatric intensive care patients usually receive an
      analgesic and sedative to keep them comfortable and safe. However, common drugs
      like fentanyl and midazolam have a long context sensitive half time, resulting in
      prolonged sedation and an unpredictable extubation time. Children often awake
      slowly and struggle against the respirator, although their respiratory drive and
      their airway reflexes are not yet sufficient for extubation. In this pilot study,
      we replaced fentanyl and midazolam at the final phase of the weaning process with
      remifentanil and propofol. Twenty-three children aged 3 months-10 years were
      enrolled. Remifentanil and propofol revealed throughout excellent or good weaning
      conditions with rapid transition from hypnosis to the development of regular
      spontaneous breathing, airway protective reflexes, and an appropriate level of
      alertness. Extubation time following discontinuation of the remifentanil and
      propofol infusion was only 24 +/- 20 min (5-80 min). We conclude that the
      combination of remifentanil and propofol is a promising option to improve the
      weaning conditions of pediatric intensive care patients. Randomized controlled
      trials are needed to compare remifentanil and propofol with conventional weaning
      protocols.

PMID- 20924607
TI  - Early intravenous immunoglobin (two-dose regimen) in the management of severe Rh
      hemolytic disease of newborn--a prospective randomized controlled trial.
AB  - Phototherapy is the standard treatment in moderately severe hemolytic disease of
      newborn (HDN), whereas exchange transfusion (ET) is the second line in
      progressive cases. Intravenous immunoglobin (IVIG) has been suggested to decrease
      the need for ET. We aimed at assessing the efficacy of early two-dose regimens of
      IVIG to avoid unnecessary ET in severe Rh HDN. The study included 90 full-term
      neonates with Rh incompatibility unmodified by antenatal treatment and not
      eligible for early ET and which were randomly assigned into one of three groups:
      group (I), treated by conventional method; groups IIa and IIb received IVIG once
      at 12 h postnatal age if PT was indicated, in a dose of 0.5 and 1 g/kg,
      respectively. Analysis revealed 11 neonates (22%) in the conventional group and 2
      (5%) in the intervention group who administered low-dose IVIG at 12 h, while none
      in group IIb required exchange transfusion (p = 0.03). Mean bilirubin levels were
      significantly lower during the first 96 h in the intervention group compared to
      the conventional group (p < 0.0001). Shorter duration of phototherapy (52.8 +/-
      12.39 h) and hospital stay (3.25 +/- 0.71 days) in the IVIG group compared to
      conventional group (84 +/- 12.12 h and 4.72 +/- 0.78 days, p < 0.0001,
      respectively) were observed. We conclude that IVIG administration at 12 h was
      effective in the treatment of severe Rh HDN; the low-dose IVIG (0.5 g/kg) was as
      effective as high dose (1 g/kg) in reducing the duration of phototherapy and
      hospital stay, but less effective in avoiding exchange transfusion.

PMID- 20924608
TI  - Prevalence, associated determinants, and in vivo chemotherapeutic control of hard
      ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) infesting domestic goats (Capra hircus) of lower Punjab,
      Pakistan.
AB  - A total of 800 goats of various breeds, age, and sex were randomly selected from
      Muzaffargarh (M. garh) and Layyah districts of lower Punjab, Pakistan. The
      selected goats were visited twice a month to collect information about
      determinants influencing goat tick infestation prevalence. For acaricidal
      efficacy, 360 tick-infested adult goats were subjected to an acaricidal treatment
      and post-treatment quantitative assessment of tick burden. Quantification of
      adult tick detachment 24 h post-treatment and the duration of treatment efficacy
      were calculated. Overall prevalence of goat tick infestation in both study
      districts was 60.1% (481/800). The prevalence was higher in district M. garh than
      in district Layyah. Tehsil-wise prevalence in district Layyah was highest in
      tehsil Layyah followed in order by Chaubara and Karor. In district M. garh,
      highest prevalence was found in tehsil M. garh followed by Kot Addu, Alipur, and
      Jatoi. Hyalomma a. anatolicum (75.9%; 365/481) and Rhipicephalus sanguineus
      (24.1%; 116/481) were the predominant species in both the districts. The highest
      month-wise prevalence was 56.9% and 62.7% in Layyah and M. garh districts,
      respectively, during July 2008, and the minimum (0%) prevalence was reported in
      November and December, respectively. Regarding host determinants, female goats
      were more heavily infested (72.8%) than males (47.5%), and younger animals were
      (63.5%) more burdened than older ones (56.7%). Teddy goats were the most
      susceptible breeds followed in order by Beetal, cross-bred, Nachi, and Dera Din
      Pannah. The preferred sites of attachment were inside and outside of the ear.
      Both the ivermectin (IVM)- and cypermethrin (CYM)-treated groups resulted in
      significantly lower (P < 0.05) tick counts relative to controls on all post
      treatment counting days. The lowest tick burden in the IVM-treated group was
      significantly higher (P < 0.05) as compared to the CYM-treated group, the latter
      being close to zero. Hence, the in vivo efficacy trials of injectable IVM vs CYM
      pour-on revealed better results for the latter. These observations provided the
      first insights into what determinants impact goat tick infestation, and laid a
      foundation for planning of future control programs in the lower Punjab, Pakistan.

PMID- 20924609
TI  - Comparative genomic analysis of simple sequence repeats in three Plasmodium
      species.
AB  - Simple sequence repeats (SSRs) are known to be responsible for genetic
      complexities and play major roles in gene and genome evolution. To this respect,
      malaria parasites are known to have rapidly evolving and complex genomes with
      complicated and differential pathogenic behaviors. Hence, by studying the whole
      genome comparative SSRs patterns, one can understand genomic complexities and
      differential evolutionary patterns of these species. We herein utilized the whole
      genome sequence information of three Plasmodium species, Plasmodium falciparum,
      Plasmodium vivax, and Plasmodium knowlesi, to comparatively analyze genome-wide
      distribution of SSRs. The study revealed that despite having the smallest genome
      size, P. falciparum bears the highest SSR content among the three Plasmodium
      species. Furthermore, distribution patterns of different SSRs types (e.g., mono,
      di, tri, tetra, penta, and hexa) in term of relative abundance and relative
      density provide evidences for greater accumulation of di-repeats and marked
      decrease of mono-repeats in P. falciparum in comparison to other two species.
      Overall, the types and distribution of SSRs in P. falciparum genome was found to
      be different than that of P. vivax and P. knowlesi. The latter two species have
      quite similar SSR organizations in many aspects of the data. The results were
      discussed in terms of comparative SSR patterns among the three Plasmodium
      species, uniqueness of P. falciparum in SSR organization and general pattern of
      evolution of SSRs in Plasmodium.

PMID- 20924611
TI  - Imaging of the urinary tract: the role of CT and MRI.
AB  - Computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are increasingly
      valuable tools for assessing the urinary tract in adults and children. However,
      their imaging capabilities, while overlapping in some respects, should be
      considered as complementary, as each technique offers specific advantages and
      disadvantages both in actual inherent qualities of the technique and in specific
      patients and with a specific diagnostic question. The use of CT and MRI should
      therefore be tailored to the patient and the clinical question. For the scope of
      this article, the advantages and disadvantages of these techniques in children
      will be considered; different considerations will apply in adult practice.

PMID- 20924610
TI  - The hypnozoite concept, with particular reference to malaria.
AB  - In 1978, the nature of the hypnozoite was discussed in an article that appeared
      in a relatively obscure journal, which is also where the term was adopted for
      Plasmodium (a little-known fact). As a result, that commentary on the use of the
      word "hypnozoite" has been almost completely overlooked. Although the publication
      is now more than three decades old, the analysis remains valid today. It is
      explained in the present paper that like "merozoite" and "sporozoite", the name
      "hypnozoite" is applicable not only to a latent stage in the life cycle of
      Plasmodium but to some apparently dormant forms of other kinds of apicomplexan
      parasites as well. Merozoites of different genera of parasitic protozoa are not
      necessarily the same biologically and/or otherwise. Similarly, although the
      hypnozoite concept relates primarily to pre-merozoite stages, some atypical post
      divisional apicomplexan forms might also be hypnozoites. Examples are likewise
      given of latent organisms that, in contrast, are clearly not hypnozoites, such as
      dormant merozoites in malaria infections. Lastly, the plasmodial hypnozoite is
      placed in context in relation to the relatively unfamiliar (nomenclaturally)
      malarial bradysporozoite, chronozoite, dormozoite, merophore, merosome and x
      body. This paper is based on a presentation by the author, as a Life Member of
      the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, to its 59th Annual Meeting
      in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, 3-7 November 2010.

PMID- 20924612
TI  - Direct and indirect mortality in Florida during the 2004 hurricane season.
AB  - Previous studies have shown that natural disasters, and hurricanes in particular,
      have led to more deaths than those usually documented in short post-storm
      surveys. Such indirect deaths, thought to be related to dietary, stress or pre
      existing medical conditions, can exceed the number of direct deaths and may
      persist for weeks or even months beyond the event itself. In the present study,
      cumulative sum of deviations plots are used to quantify the number of direct and
      indirect deaths resulting from Hurricanes Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne that
      made landfall in Florida in 2004. Results suggest that there was an elevated
      mortality for up to 2 months following each storm, resulting in a total of 624
      direct and indirect deaths attributable to the storm. Trauma-related deaths that
      can be associated directly with the storm account for only ~4% of the total storm
      related mortality, while indirect mortality accounts for most storm-related
      deaths. Specifically, a large percentage of the elevated mortality was associated
      with heart (34%) and cancer-related deaths (19%), while diabetes (5%) and
      accident-related deaths (9%) account for a smaller but still significant
      percentage of the elevated mortality. The results further suggest that the
      elevated mortality was the result of additional deaths that would not have
      otherwise occurred within that 5 month period, and not simply a clustering of
      deaths that were inevitable between 1 August and 31 December 2004. The elevated
      mortality identified in this study is significantly greater than the official
      count of 31 direct and 113 indirect deaths resulting from the four hurricanes
      combined. This suggests a need for improved mortality counts and surveillance in
      order to better evaluate and identify effective prevention policies, and to
      identify preventable deaths.

PMID- 20924613
TI  - Elevational species shifts in a warmer climate are overestimated when based on
      weather station data.
AB  - Strong topographic variation interacting with low stature alpine vegetation
      creates a multitude of micro-habitats poorly represented by common 2 m above the
      ground meteorological measurements (weather station data). However, the extent to
      which the actual habitat temperatures in alpine landscapes deviate from
      meteorological data at different spatial scales has rarely been quantified. In
      this study, we assessed thermal surface and soil conditions across
      topographically rich alpine landscapes by thermal imagery and miniature data
      loggers from regional (2-km(2)) to plot (1-m(2)) scale. The data were used to
      quantify the effects of spatial sampling resolution on current micro-habitat
      distributions and habitat loss due to climate warming scenarios. Soil
      temperatures showed substantial variation among slopes (2-3 K) dependent on slope
      exposure, within slopes (3-4 K) due to micro-topography and within 1-m(2) plots
      (1 K) as a result of plant cover effects. A reduction of spatial sampling
      resolution from 1 * 1 m to 100 * 100 m leads to an underestimation of current
      habitat diversity by 25% and predicts a six-times higher habitat loss in a 2-K
      warming scenario. Our results demonstrate that weather station data are unable to
      reflect the complex thermal patterns of aerodynamically decoupled alpine
      vegetation at the investigated scales. Thus, the use of interpolated weather
      station data to describe alpine life conditions without considering the micro
      topographically induced thermal mosaic might lead to misinterpretation and
      inaccurate prediction.

PMID- 20924614
TI  - Explorative study on the aftercare of pediatric brain tumor survivors: a parents'
      perspective.
AB  - PURPOSE: Whilst the need for aftercare for long-term sequelae of brain tumor
      survivors is well known and evident, information from a parent's perspective is
      lacking on whether the need for aftercare is detected in time, and whether the
      aftercare is timely initiated and meets the needs for aftercare. METHODS: A
      survey regarding aftercare in five domains of long-term sequelae (neurocognitive,
      physical, emotional, social and parenting problems) was sent to 57 parents of
      survivors treated for a brain tumor in our center. RESULTS: Forty-two (74%)
      parents participated in this study. With a mean period of 8.1 years (SD = 3.9)
      since start of treatment, the majority of the survivors (mean age = 14.7 years,
      SD = 3.8) needed aftercare in several domains of functioning. This need was
      highest and most met for physical sequelae (N = 34), and lowest but still
      substantial and least met for parental difficulties (N = 11). Parents of
      survivors with surgery only as treatment reported a similar need for aftercare as
      those of survivors with adjuvant therapy. Most of the survivors received
      aftercare; however, substantial delay of aftercare and self-referral for
      aftercare were frequently reported. Furthermore, parents showed a lack of
      knowledge about and use of aftercare services. CONCLUSIONS: Increased awareness
      for the need for psychosocial aftercare is required. Coaching, psycho-educative
      programs about coping with the long-term sequelae and information about available
      specialized aftercare services are required to meet the needs of brain tumor
      survivors and their parents more adequately.

PMID- 20924615
TI  - Rebamipide has the potential to reduce the intensity of NSAID-induced small
      intestinal injury: a double-blind, randomized, controlled trial evaluated by
      capsule endoscopy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A study reported that rebamipide was effective at reducing short-term
      nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID)-induced enteropathy. The purpose of
      this study was to re-evaluate the effect of the co-administration of rebamipide
      on small intestinal injuries induced by short-term NSAID treatment. METHODS:
      Eighty healthy male volunteers were randomly assigned to two study groups: a
      control group (N = 40), which received NSAID (diclofenac sodium, 75 mg/day) and
      omeprazole (20 mg/day) treatment along with a placebo; and a rebamipide group,
      which received NSAID, omeprazole and rebamipide (300 mg/day). Small intestinal
      injuries (mucosal breaks plus denuded areas) were evaluated by capsule endoscopy
      before and after 14 days of treatment. RESULTS: A total of 38 control subjects
      and 34 rebamipide subjects completed the treatment and were evaluated by capsule
      endoscopy. NSAID therapy increased the mean number of mucosal injuries per
      subject from a basal level of 0.1 +/- 0.3 to 16 +/- 71 and 4.2 +/- 7.8 in the
      control and rebamipide groups, respectively, but the difference was not
      significant. The difference in the percentage of subjects with at least one
      mucosal injury post-treatment was also not significant (control 63%; rebamipide
      47%). Limiting our analysis to subjects with mucosal injuries, rebamipide co
      treatment had the tendency to reduce the mean number of mucosal injuries per
      subject from 25 in the control group to 8.9 in the rebamipide group (multiple
      comparisons test; p = 0.088, Mann-Whitney U test; p = 0.038). CONCLUSIONS:
      Rebamipide co-therapy had the potential to reduce the intensity of small
      intestinal injury induced by 2-week administration of diclofenac.

PMID- 20924616
TI  - Reactivation of hepatitis B virus following rituximab-plus-steroid combination
      chemotherapy.
AB  - Reactivation of hepatitis B virus (HBV) has been reported as a fatal complication
      following systemic chemotherapy or other immunosuppressive therapy. The risk of
      HBV reactivation differs according to both the patient's HBV infection status
      prior to systemic chemotherapy and the degree of immunosuppression due to
      chemotherapy. For establishing an optimal strategy for hepatitis prevention and
      treatment, it is necessary to understand the characteristics, the clinical course
      and the risk factors for HBV reactivation and to recognize the difference between
      hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)-positive and -negative patients with HBV
      reactivation. Among the important viral risk factors, HBV-DNA level and HBV
      related serum markers have been reported to be associated with HBV reactivation
      in addition to cccDNA, genotypes and gene mutations. Rituximab-plus-steroid
      combination chemotherapy has recently been identified as a host risk factor for
      HBV reactivation in hepatitis B core antibody (anti-HBc)-positive and/or
      hepatitis B surface antibody (anti-HBs) positive--but nonetheless HBsAg-negative-
      lymphoma patients. For these patients with resolved hepatitis B, preemptive
      therapy guided by serial HBV-DNA monitoring is a reasonable strategy to enable
      early diagnosis of HBV reactivation and initiation of antiviral therapy. In this
      review, we summarize the characteristics of HBV reactivation following rituximab
      plus-steroid combination chemotherapy, mainly in HBsAg-negative lymphoma
      patients, and propose a strategy for managing HBV reactivation.

PMID- 20924618
TI  - Injection therapy and denervation procedures for chronic low back pain: a
      systematic review--clinical value?

PMID- 20924619
TI  - Exercise increases neural stem cell proliferation surrounding the area of damage
      following rat traumatic brain injury.
AB  - Exercise enhances neuronal stem cell (NSC) proliferation and neurogenesis.
      However, the effect of exercise on NSC proliferation surrounding the area of
      damage after traumatic brain injury (TBI) is unknown. Here, we investigate the
      effect of running on NSC proliferation following TBI in the rat. Wistar rats
      received TBI and were randomly divided into two groups: (1) non-exercise group
      and (2) exercise group. The exercise group ran on a treadmill for 30 min/day at
      22 m/min for 7 consecutive days. Immunohistochemistry was used to monitor NSC
      proliferation around the damaged area, and ex vivo techniques were used to
      isolate NSCs from the damaged region in both groups. The number of nestin- and
      Ki67-positive cells observed at 3 and 7 days after TBI was significantly greater
      in the exercise group than in the non-exercise group (P < 0.01). Furthermore,
      most nestin-positive cells in the exercise group co-localized with Ki67-positive
      cells. In ex vivo studies, spheres could be isolated from injured brain tissue
      from the exercise group at 3 and 7 days following TBI, but at only 3 days in the
      non-exercise group. The number of spheres isolated from injured brain tissue was
      greater in the exercise group than in the non-exercise group. Spheres were
      immunopositive for nestin and comprised NSCs that could differentiate into
      neurons and glia. Exercise increases the proliferation of NSCs around the damaged
      area following TBI. Therefore, exercise therapy (rehabilitation) in the early
      phase following TBI is important for recuperation from cerebral dysfunction
      induced by TBI.

PMID- 20924617
TI  - Dexmedetomidine-ketamine and midazolam-ketamine combinations for sedation in
      pediatric patients undergoing extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy: a randomized
      prospective study.
AB  - PURPOSE: Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) requires sedation in
      pediatric patients. Dexmedetomidine is a relatively new agent used for sedation.
      The aim of this randomized prospective study was to compare the effects of
      dexmedetomidine-ketamine and midazolam-ketamine combinations on the recovery
      time, hemodynamic and respiratory variables, and side effects in pediatric
      patients undergoing ESWL. METHODS: Fifty pediatric patients aged between 2 and 15
      years who were scheduled for elective ESWL were randomized into two groups. In
      Group D we applied dexmedetomidine at1 MUg/kg, given over 10 min, and a bolus of
      1 mg/kg ketamine for sedation. In Group M we applied midazolam at a 0.05 mg/kg
      bolus dose 10 min before the procedure and a 1 mg/kg bolus of ketamine. We
      measured and monitored the hemodynamic variables, oxygen saturation, and recovery
      time, and we also monitored the side effects. RESULTS: Four patients in group D
      refused to complete the study; 21 patients in group D and 25 patients in group M
      completed the study. We found the recovery time [eye-opening time (9.3 +/- 4.5
      vs. 16.2 +/- 6.5 min; p < 0.001), verbal response time (12.8 +/- 4.9 vs. 19.2 +/-
      7.2 min; p < 0.001), and the cooperation time (17.1 +/- 5.0 vs. 23.3 +/- 7.7 min;
      p < 0.001)] to be shorter in the dexmedetomidine group. Also, the heart rate
      values were lower in the dexmedetomidine group at the 20th minute of the
      procedure (99.1 +/- 19.0 vs. 118.7 +/- 7.3 beats/min; p = 0.016). CONCLUSION: In
      this study we found the recovery time to be shorter, with hemodynamic stability,
      in the dexmedetomidine group, compared with the midazolam group. So we can
      conclude that dexmedetomidine may be a good and safe alternative agent for
      sedation, with a shorter recovery period than midazolam, in the pediatric
      population.

PMID- 20924621
TI  - Complete nucleotide sequences of a distinct bipartite begomovirus, bitter gourd
      yellow vein virus, infecting Momordica charantia.
AB  - Momordica charantia (Cucurbitaceae), a vegetable crop commonly cultivated
      throughout Pakistan, and begomoviruses, a serious threat to crop plants, are
      natives of tropical and subtropical regions of the world. Leaf samples of M.
      charantia with yellow vein symptoms typical of begomovirus infections and samples
      from apparently healthy plants were collected from areas around Lahore in 2004.
      Full-length clones of a bipartite begomovirus were isolated from symptomatic
      samples. The complete nucleotide sequences of the components of one isolate were
      determined, and these showed the arrangement of genes typical of Old World
      begomoviruses. The complete nucleotides sequence of DNA A showed the highest
      nucleotide sequence identity (86.9%) to an isolate of Tomato leaf curl New Delhi
      virus (ToLCNDV), confirming it to belong to a distinct species of begomovirus,
      for which the name Bitter gourd yellow vein virus (BGYVV) is proposed. Sequence
      comparisons showed that BGYVV likely emerged as a result of inter-specific
      recombination between ToLCNDV and tomato leaf curl Bangladesh virus (ToLCBDV).
      The complete nucleotide sequence of DNA B showed 97.2% nucleotide sequence
      identity to that of an Indian strain of Squash leaf curl China virus.

PMID- 20924620
TI  - Nuclear translocation of anamorsin during drug-induced dopaminergic
      neurodegeneration in culture and in rat brain.
AB  - Anamorsin, also called cytokine-induced apoptosis inhibitor 1 (CIAPIN1), was
      recently identified to confer resistance to apoptosis induced by growth factor
      deprivation and to be indispensible for hematopoiesis. Recently, it was
      demonstrated that anamorsin is also widely distributed in both fetal and adult
      tissues. In this study, we evaluated the tissue distribution of anamorsin in the
      central nervous system (CNS) during development. In situ hybridization and
      immunoblot analyses revealed that anamorsin mRNA and protein were both highly and
      widely expressed in various regions of the CNS, including the cerebral cortex,
      hippocampus, midbrain, cerebellum, medulla, and spinal cord. Based on these
      findings, we examined its cellular localization during drug-induced
      neurodegeneration in MN9D dopaminergic cells. Both immunocytochemical
      localization and immunoblot analyses indicated that cytosolic anamorsin was
      translocated into the nucleus in a time-dependent manner following treatment with
      a reactive oxygen species (ROS)-inducing drug, 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA).
      Treatment of cells with the apoptosis-inducing reagent, staurosporine, did not
      appear to cause translocation of anamorsin into the nucleus. When cells were
      treated with the nuclear export inhibitor, Leptomycin B, alone or with 6-OHDA,
      nuclear anamorsin levels increased, indicating that nuclear influx and efflux of
      anamorsin are regulated by 6-OHDA treatment. In rat brain injected with 6-OHDA,
      nuclear translocation of anamorsin was identified in certain tyrosine hydroxylase
      (TH)-positive neurons as well as TH-negative cells. Furthermore, treatment of
      MN9D cells with hydrogen peroxide or ROS-inducing trace metals caused nuclear
      translocation of anamorsin. Taken together, our data indicate that nuclear
      translocation of anamorsin is a ROS-dependent event and may participate in the
      regulation of transcription of critical molecules during dopaminergic
      neurodegeneration.

PMID- 20924622
TI  - New potent biphalin analogues containing p-fluoro-L-phenylalanine at the 4,4'
      positions and non-hydrazine linkers.
AB  - We report the synthesis and the biological evaluation of two new analogues of the
      potent dimeric opioid peptide biphalin. The performed modification is based on
      the replacement of two key structural elements of the native biphalin, namely:
      the hydrazine bridge which joins the two palindromic moieties and the
      phenylalanine residues at the 4,4' positions of the backbone. The new analogues 9
      and 10 contain 1,2-phenylenediamine and piperazine, respectively, in place of the
      hydrazidic linker and p-fluoro-L-phenylalanine residues at 4 and 4' positions.
      Binding values are: KMU(i)=0.51 nM and Kdelta(i)=12.8 nM for compound 9,
      KMU(i)=0.09 nM and Kdelta(i)=0.11 nM for analogue 10.

PMID- 20924623
TI  - Zinc induces disorder-to-order transitions in free and membrane-associated
      Thellungiella salsuginea dehydrins TsDHN-1 and TsDHN-2: a solution CD and solid
      state ATR-FTIR study.
AB  - Dehydrins are intrinsically unstructured proteins that are expressed in plants
      experiencing extreme environmental conditions such as drought or low temperature.
      Although their role is not completely understood, it has been suggested that they
      stabilize proteins and membrane structures during environmental stress and also
      sequester metals such as zinc. Here, we investigate two dehydrins (denoted as
      TsDHN-1 and TsDHN-2) from Thellungiella salsuginea. This plant is a crucifer that
      thrives in the Canadian sub-Arctic (Yukon Territory) where it grows on saline
      rich soils and experiences periods of both extreme cold and drought. We show
      using circular dichroism and attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform
      infrared spectroscopy that ordered secondary structure is induced and stabilized
      in these proteins, both in free and vesicle-bound form, by association with zinc.
      In membrane-associated form, both proteins have an increased proportion of beta
      strand conformation induced by the cation, in addition to the amphipathic alpha
      helices formed by their constituent K-segments. These results support the
      hypothesis that dehydrins stabilize plant plasma and organellar membranes in
      conditions of stress, and further that zinc may be an important co-factor in
      stabilization. Whereas dehydrins in the cytosol of a plant cell undergoing
      dehydration or temperature stress form bulk hydrogels and remain primarily
      disordered, dehydrins with specific membrane- or protein-associations will have
      induced ordered secondary structures.

PMID- 20924624
TI  - Synthesis and biological evaluation of new [Tc(N)(PS)]-based mixed-ligand
      compounds useful in the design of target-specific radiopharmaceuticals: the 2
      methoxyphenylpiperazine dithiocarbamate derivatives as an example.
AB  - This study presents the first application of a general procedure based on the use
      of the [Tc(N)Cl(PS)(PPh(3))] species (PS is an alkyl phosphinothiolate ligand)
      for the preparation of Tc(N) target-specific compounds. [Tc(N)Cl(PS)(PPh(3))]
      selectively reacts with an appropriate dithiocarbamate ligand (S(?)Y) to give
      [Tc(N)(PS)(S(?)Y)] compounds. 1-(2-Methoxyphenyl)piperazine, which displays a
      potent and specific affinity for 5HT(1A) receptors, was selected as a functional
      group and conjugated to the dithiocarbamate unit through different spacers (L( n
      )). [(99m)Tc(N)(PS)(L( n ))] complexes were prepared in high yield (more than
      90%). The chemical identity of (99m)Tc complexes was determined by high
      performance liquid chromatography comparison with the corresponding (99g)Tc
      complexes. All complexes were found to be inert toward transchelation with an
      excess of glutathione and cysteine. No notable biotransformation of the native
      compound into different species by the in vitro action of the serum and liver
      enzymes was shown. Nanomolar affinity for the 5HT(1A) receptor was obtained for
      [(99m)Tc(N)(PSiso)L(3)] (IC(50) = 1.5 nM); a reduction of the affinity was
      observed for the other complexes as a function of the shortening of the alkyl
      chain interposed between the dithiocarbamate and the pharmacophore. Negligible
      brain uptake was found from in vivo distribution data of [(99m)Tc(N)(PSiso)L(3)].
      The key finding of this study is that the complexes maintained good affinity and
      selectivity for 5HT(1A) receptors, and the IC(50) value for
      [(99g)Tc(N)(PSiso)L(3)] being comparable to the IC(50) value found for WAY
      100635. This result confirmed the possibility of preparing [(99m)Tc(N)(PS)]-based
      target-specific compounds without affecting the affinity and selectivity of the
      bioactive molecules for the corresponding receptors.

PMID- 20924625
TI  - Multiple templates-based homology modeling enhances structure quality of AT1
      receptor: validation by molecular dynamics and antagonist docking.
AB  - We present a comparative account on 3D-structures of human type-1 receptor (AT1)
      for angiotensin II (AngII), modeled using three different methodologies. AngII
      activates a wide spectrum of signaling responses via the AT1 receptor that
      mediates physiological control of blood pressure and diverse pathological actions
      in cardiovascular, renal, and other cell types. Availability of 3D-model of AT1
      receptor would significantly enhance the development of new drugs for
      cardiovascular diseases. However, templates of AT1 receptor with low sequence
      similarity increase the complexity in straightforward homology modeling, and
      hence there is a need to evaluate different modeling methodologies in order to
      use the models for sensitive applications such as rational drug design. Three
      models were generated for AT1 receptor by, (1) homology modeling with bovine
      rhodopsin as template, (2) homology modeling with multiple templates and (3)
      threading using I-TASSER web server. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulation (15 ns)
      of models in explicit membrane-water system, Ramachandran plot analysis and
      molecular docking with antagonists led to the conclusion that multiple template
      based homology modeling outweighs other methodologies for AT1 modeling.

PMID- 20924626
TI  - Coupling between the BLUF and EAL domains in the blue light-regulated
      phosphodiesterase BlrP1.
AB  - The first biochemical and structural characterization of the full-length active
      photoreceptor BlrP1 from Klebsiella pneumoniae was recently reported by Barends
      et al. [Nature 459:1015-1018, (2009)]. The light-regulated catalytic function of
      its C-terminal c-di-guanosine monophosphate phosphodiesterase, the EAL (Glu-Ala
      Leu) domain, is activated by the N-terminal sensor of blue light using the flavin
      adenine dinucleotide (BLUF) domain. We performed molecular dynamics simulations
      on the dimeric BlrP1 protein in order to examine the coupling regions that are
      presumably involved in transmitting light-induced structural changes which occur
      in the BLUF domain to the EAL domain. According to the results of simulations and
      an analysis of the hydrogen bonding between the respective polypeptide chains,
      the region containing the site on the alpha3alpha4 loop of BLUF is responsible
      for communication between the photosensing and catalytic domains in the dimeric
      BlrP1 protein.

PMID- 20924627
TI  - Serum cysteine proteases and their inhibitors in rheumatoid arthritis: relation
      to disease activity and radiographic progression.
AB  - This study aims to investigate the serum levels of cysteine proteases cathepsins
      B and H and their inhibitors stefin A, stefin B, and cystatin C, as well as
      traditional inflammatory markers such as C-reactive protein in patients with
      rheumatoid arthritis and to correlate these markers with scores of disease
      activity and radiographic progression. Seventy-two patients with rheumatoid
      arthritis were included from two previously described cohorts of patients with
      chronic polyarthritis. At inclusion, disease activity was assessed by a 28-joint
      count, patient global assessment, and serum C-reactive protein. Erosive status of
      hands and wrists was expressed by the Larsen score and recorded at inclusion and
      after 1 year. Serum levels of cathepsin B, cathepsin H, stefin A, stefin B, and
      cystatin C were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Neither
      cathepsin B nor cathepsin H serum levels were associated with disease activity,
      presence or progression of erosive disease. Number of swollen joints correlated
      with serum levels of stefin A and B and correlated negatively with cystatin C
      serum levels. Erosive disease was associated with high serum levels of C-reactive
      protein and stefin A and low serum levels of cystatin C. Progression of
      radiographic destruction was associated with high serum levels of C-reactive
      protein, stefin A and B, whereas serum levels of cystatin C were not associated
      with radiographic progression. The findings in this study support further
      investigation in the regulation of the activity of cathepsins and their
      inhibitors in erosive rheumatoid arthritis.

PMID- 20924628
TI  - A retrospective analysis of treatment outcomes in patients with hepatitis C
      related systemic vasculitis receiving intravenous methylprednisolone and
      cyclophosphamide.
AB  - The aim of this work is to describe the outcome of a series of patients with
      hepatitis C virus (HCV)-related vasculitis who were treated with corticosteroids
      and I.V. cyclophosphamide without receiving any antiviral therapy. The data of 16
      patients with HCV infection and vasculitis were retrospectively analyzed for the
      treatment outcome in the present study. Eleven patients were females (68.8%) with
      a mean age of 49.6 +/- 10.0 years. Nine patients (56.2%) had medium-sized vessel
      vasculitis (group A) and seven patients (43.8%) had small vessel vasculitis
      (group B). Disease activity was assessed using the Birmingham Vasculitis Activity
      Score (BVAS 2003) and organ damage was assessed by the Vasculitis Damage Index
      (VDI). HCV infection was confirmed in all patients by the detection of antibodies
      to HCV in serum by ELISA and HCV RNA using qualitative PCR. Quantitative PCR was
      done using the branched DNA technique. None of our study patients had received
      antiviral therapy, but they all received I.V.-pulsed cyclophosphamide monthly for
      6 months, then every 3 months for six times if needed, preceded by I.V.
      methylprednisolone. Twelve patients (75%) had undetectable viral load by the
      quantitative technique. The drop in mean BVAS recorded at different intervals was
      highly significant. Although there was a drop in the VDI mean between the first
      and second reading, it was not statistically significant. All patients responded
      to treatment. Seven patients (43.8%) had relapse. Two patients died (12.5%). One
      patient died from renal failure (group B) and another died from sepsis (group A).
      The treatment outcomes were not statistically significant between the two
      vasculitis groups. A subset of patients with HCV-related vasculitis and with low
      levels of viremia can be safely treated with corticosteroids and cyclophosphamide
      alone. Despite successful treatment, a significant proportion of patients relapse
      and some develop severe complications and death.

PMID- 20924629
TI  - Pretreatment with a novel aquaporin 4 inhibitor, TGN-020, significantly reduces
      ischemic cerebral edema.
AB  - We investigated the in vivo effects of a novel aquaporin 4 (AQP4) inhibitor 2
      (nicotinamide)-1,3,4-thiadiazole, TGN-020, in a mouse model of focal cerebral
      ischemia using 7.0-T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Pretreatment with TGN-020
      significantly reduced brain edema associated with brain ischemia, as reflected by
      percentage of brain swelling volume (%BSV), 12.1 +/- 6.3% in the treated group,
      compared to (20.8 +/- 5.9%) in the control group (p < 0.05), and in the size of
      cortical infarction as reflected by the percentage of hemispheric lesion volume
      (%HLV), 20.0 +/- 7.6% in the treated group, compared to 30.0 +/- 9.1% in the
      control group (p < 0.05). The study indicated the potential pharmacological use
      of AQP4 inhibition in reducing brain edema associated with focal ischemia.

PMID- 20924630
TI  - Gustatory dysfunction after mandibular zoster.
AB  - Varicella zoster, limited to the mandibular nerve, is rare. Classical symptoms
      are pain, hypesthesia and vesicular eruption restricted to the third trigeminal
      segment (V3). Little is known on taste affection after mandibular nerve zoster.
      We report two cases of patients suffering from mandibular zoster associated with
      subjective taste disorder. In both cases, gustatory measures confirmed
      ipsilateral hemiageusia of the anterior two-thirds of the tongue. After 2 months,
      the symptoms regressed and psychophysical measures came back to normal values,
      whereas post-zoster neuralgia lasted for more than 1 year. Gustatory dysfunction
      is a possible symptom after mandibular nerve zoster. In contrast to post-zoster
      neuralgia, taste function seems to recover quickly.

PMID- 20924631
TI  - A case of strictly unilateral migraine without aura transformed in an episodic
      hemicrania continua.
AB  - According to the diagnostic criteria of International Headache Society
      classification, hemicrania continua is a strictly unilateral continuous headache
      of moderate intensity with painful exacerbations associated with ipsilateral
      autonomic signs without pain-free periods. We report a case of a 42-year-old
      woman suffered of a remitting form of hemicrania continua evolved from a strictly
      unilateral migraine without aura.

PMID- 20924632
TI  - Myotonic dystrophies as a brain disorder.

PMID- 20924633
TI  - Usage of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor every 2 days is clinically useful
      and cost-effective for febrile neutropenia during early courses of chemotherapy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In order to analyze the clinical activity and cost-effectiveness of
      granulocyte colony-stimulating factors (G-CSF), the prophylactic usage of G-CSF
      in patients treated with a single chemotherapy regimen during early courses was
      prospectively evaluated. METHODS: Thirty patients with newly diagnosed non
      Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) treated with the first course of an R-CHOP regimen were
      enrolled randomly. After treatment with the first course of chemotherapy, a daily
      dose of G-CSF (lenograstim, 100 MUg) was administered to half (15 cases) of the
      patients, and a dose of G-CSF (100 MUg) was administered every other day to the
      other half of the patients when leukocytopenia (<1.5 * 10(9)/L) and/or
      neutropenia (<0.5 * 10(9)/L) occurred. Changes in leukocyte and neutrophil
      counts, prophylaxis, febrile neutropenia (FN) events, and cost performance
      between the two groups were analyzed. RESULTS: No significant difference between
      the two groups was observed in recoveries of leukocyte and neutrophil counts and
      evidence of FN. The only difference was the total cost of G-CSF. CONCLUSION: We
      concluded that every-other-day use of G-CSF was as clinically effective for the
      prophylaxis of FN as the daily use of G-CSF, and economically speaking, the
      administration of G-CSF every other day should be more beneficial for patients
      with NHL during early courses of R-CHOP chemotherapy.

PMID- 20924635
TI  - Electric-field-induced polarization and interactions of uncharged colloids in
      salt solutions.
AB  - The electric-field-induced charge distribution and potential around a colloidal
      sphere and rod in salt solutions are analyzed. The resulting field-induced
      colloid-colloid interactions are calculated for specific orientations. The
      colloids are assumed to be uncharged (or very weakly charged), such that the
      deflection of ion fluxes by the cores of the colloids is the dominant
      polarization mechanism (which is referred to as volume-polarization). Explicit
      expressions are derived for the frequency-dependent charge distribution and the
      potential in case of a symmetric electrolyte. It is shown that colloid-colloid
      interactions due to the induced charge distributions can be much larger than the
      thermal energy, and are therefore sufficiently strong to give rise to electric
      field-induced phase transitions. The present study is a first step towards a
      quantitative description of field-induced transitions for systems where volume
      polarization is the dominant polarization mechanism.

PMID- 20924636
TI  - Elasto- and electro-capillary instabilities of a nematic-isotropic interface:
      Experimental results.
AB  - Recently, we have shown the existence of an electro-capillary instability of a
      nematic-isotropic interface stabilized by a temperature gradient (P. Oswald, EPL
      90, 16005 (2010)). This instability results from a competition between the
      destabilizing action of the electric Maxwell stress and the stabilizing action of
      the thermal and capillary forces. The control parameters are the temperature
      gradient G , the applied voltage V and the thickness h of the nematic layer. In
      this paper, we present new experimental results on this instability in both the
      linear and nonlinear regimes. In particular, very rich phase diagrams are mapped
      out in the (h, V) plane for three different values of G . The divergence of the
      growth time close to the onset of instability is also studied in detail. In
      addition, we show the existence at low voltages of another instability of the de
      Gennes type, where the elastic Ericksen stress is responsible for the
      destabilization. In this case, a hill-and-valley structure or a square array of
      umbilics develop at the interface depending on the values of h , V and G .

PMID- 20924634
TI  - Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes and hepatocellular carcinoma: molecular biology.
AB  - Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) are one of the representative components of
      host antitumor immune responses. Both the quality and quantity of TIL determine
      the effect of the antitumor immune reaction. Previous studies have indicated that
      patients with cancers showing massive infiltration of CD8(+) T cells generally
      have a better clinical outcome. Conversely, patients with marked infiltration of
      immunosuppressive cells such as regulatory T cells tend to have a worse prognosis
      for several types of cancer. The density and distribution of TIL are also
      strongly affected by the trafficking route. Tumor-associated blood vessels in
      various cancers are structurally and functionally abnormal, and such abnormal
      vessels reportedly become an obstacle for infiltration of immune effector cells
      into tumors. Recently, understanding of the molecular mechanisms of lymphocyte
      trafficking has progressed rapidly. This review focuses on the mechanisms of
      lymphocyte trafficking to tumor cells and also discusses the importance of blood
      vessel for TIL trafficking, especially in relation to hepatocarcinogenesis.

PMID- 20924637
TI  - MicroRNA-128 downregulates Bax and induces apoptosis in human embryonic kidney
      cells.
AB  - MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short ~21-nt non-coding RNA molecules that have been shown
      to regulate a number of biological processes. Previous reports have shown that
      overexpression of miR-128 in glioma cells inhibited cell proliferation.
      Literature also suggests that miR-128 negatively regulates prostate cancer cell
      invasion. Here, we show that overexpression of hsa-miR-128, a brain-enriched
      microRNA, induces apoptosis in HEK293T cells as elucidated by apoptosis assay,
      cell cycle changes, loss of mitochondrial membrane potential and multicaspase
      assay. By in silico analysis, we identified a putative target site within the 3'
      untranslated region (UTR) of Bax, a proapoptotic member of the apoptosis pathway.
      We found that ectopic expression of hsa-miR-128 suppressed a luciferase reporter
      containing the Bax-3' UTR and reduced the levels of Bax in HEK293T cells. Taken
      together, our study demonstrates that overexpression of hsa-miR-128 not only
      induces apoptosis in HEK293T cells but also is an endogenous regulator of Bax
      protein.

PMID- 20924638
TI  - E. coli lipopolysaccharide attenuates adenosine A(1) receptor-mediated increase
      in plasma exudation from the hamster cheek pouch.
AB  - OBJECTIVE AND DESIGN: To determine whether exposure to E. coli lipopolysaccharide
      (LPS) modulates adenosine A(1) receptor-induced increase in plasma exudation from
      the intact hamster cheek pouch microcirculation. METHODS AND RESULTS: Using
      intravital microscopy, we found that suffusion of R(-)-N(6)-(2-phenylisopropyl)
      adenosine (R(-)-PIA) (1.0 and 10.0 nM), a selective adenosine A(1) receptor
      agonist, onto the intact cheek pouch elicited significant, concentration
      dependent leaky site formation and increase in clearance of fluorescein
      thioisocyanate-dextran (mol mass, 70 kDa) from post-capillary venules (p < 0.05).
      These responses were significantly attenuated by pre-treatment of hamsters with
      LPS (p < 0.05). By contrast, LPS had no significant effects on CGS-21680-, a
      selective adenosine A(2A) receptor agonist, bradykinin- and substance P-induced
      increases in plasma exudation from the cheek pouch. CONCLUSION: These data
      indicate that LPS attenuates adenosine A(1) receptor-induced increase in plasma
      exudation in vivo in a specific fashion. We suggest that this phenomenon
      represents an endogenous anti-inflammatory cue to avoid excessive inflammation
      during Gram-negative bacterial infections.

PMID- 20924639
TI  - Effects of HSP70 on the compression force-induced TNF-alpha and RANKL expression
      in human periodontal ligament cells.
AB  - OBJECTIVE AND DESIGN: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of heat
      shock protein 70 (HSP70) on the mRNA expression of tumor necrosis factor-alpha
      (TNF-alpha) and receptor activator of nuclear factor-kappa B ligand (RANKL)
      induced by compressive forces (CF) in human periodontal ligament (hPDL) cells.
      MATERIAL AND TREATMENT: hPDL cells were subjected to 1.0, 2.0, or 4.0 g/cm(2) of
      CF for 24 h, and were treated with recombinant human inducible HSP70 for 12 h.
      METHODS: The mRNA expression of HSP27, HSP70, HSP90, TNF-alpha, RANKL and OPG
      from hPDL cells subjected to CF was determined by real-time PCR. The protein
      production of HSP70 was determined by Western blot analysis and ELISA. RESULTS:
      The mRNA expression of HSP70, TNF-alpha and RANKL were found to be increased in a
      time- and magnitude-dependent manner, detectable at 12, 9, and 9 h, respectively.
      TNF-alpha and RANKL expression gradually decreased at 12 h with increasing HSP70
      levels, and further decreased thereafter. Furthermore, exogenous HSP70 partially
      inhibited the CF-induced TNF-alpha and RANKL expression in a dose-dependent
      manner at 6 and 12 h. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that HSP70 may modulate
      the mRNA expression of TNF-alpha and RANKL in hPDL cells in response to CF.

PMID- 20924641
TI  - Multicenter phase II study of S-1 monotherapy as second-line chemotherapy for
      advanced biliary tract cancer refractory to gemcitabine.
AB  - Gemcitabine is widely used for the treatment of advanced biliary tract cancer
      (BTC) as first-line chemotherapy. However, there is no standard chemotherapy for
      patient with advanced BTC refractory to gemcitabine. We conducted a multicenter
      phase II study of S-1 monotherapy as second-line chemotherapy for patients with
      advanced BTC that were refractory to gemcitabine. S-1 was administered orally at
      a dose of 80 mg/m(2) for 28 days, followed by 14 days of rest. This regimen was
      repeated every 6 weeks. Tumor response was assessed every two cycles using the
      Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors version 1.0. Twenty-two patients
      were enrolled between March 2007 and January 2010, with 14 patients (64%)
      representing cases of recurrence after surgery. The overall response rate was
      22.7%, and the overall disease control rate was 50.0%. The median overall
      survival time was 13.5 months (95% CI, 7.1-23.1 months) and the median time-to
      progression was 5.4 months (95% CI, 2.6-17.2 months). Grade 3/4 toxicities
      included neutropenia (5%) and anemia (5%). The most common non-hematological
      toxicities were nausea (27%), anorexia (55%), and pigmentation (32%). In
      conclusion, S-1 monotherapy is feasible and moderately efficacious second-line
      chemotherapy for advanced BTC.

PMID- 20924640
TI  - Riccardin D, a novel macrocyclic bisbibenzyl, induces apoptosis of human leukemia
      cells by targeting DNA topoisomerase II.
AB  - We studied the effect of riccardin D, a macrocyclic bisbibenzyl, which was
      isolated from the Chinese liverwort plant, on human leukemia cells and the
      underlying molecular mechanism. Riccardin D had a significant antiproliferative
      effect on human leukemia cell lines HL-60, K562 and its multidrug resistant (MDR)
      counterpart K562/A02 cells, but showed no effect on the topoisomerase-II
      deficient HL-60/MX2 cells, as measured by the 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5
      diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. The pBR322 DNA relaxation assay revealed
      that riccardin D selectively inhibited the activity of topoisomerase II (topo
      II). The suppression of topo II activity by riccardin D was stronger than that of
      etoposide, a known topo II inhibitor. After treatment with riccardin D, nuclear
      extracts of leukemia K562 and K562/A02 cells left the majority of pBR322 DNA in a
      supercoiled form. Further examination showed that riccardin D effectively induced
      HL-60, K562 and K562/A02 apoptosis as evidenced by externalization of
      phosphatidylserine and formation of DNA ladder fragments. The activation of
      cytochrome c, caspase-9, caspase-3 and cleaved poly ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP)
      was also enhanced, as estimated by Western blot analysis. By contrast, riccardin
      D was unable to induce apoptosis in the topoisomerase-II-deficient HL-60/MX2
      cells, indicating that the induction of apoptosis by riccardin D was due to the
      inhibition of topo II activity. In addition, riccardin D was able to
      significantly decrease P-glycoprotein (P-gp) expression in K562/A02 cells. Taken
      together, our data demonstrate that riccardin D is a novel DNA topo II inhibitor
      which can induce apoptosis of human leukemia cells and that it has therapeutic
      potential for both regular and MDR strains of leukemia cells.

PMID- 20924642
TI  - Antiangiogenic properties of an unusual benzo[k,l]xanthene lignan derived from
      CAPE (caffeic acid phenethyl ester).
AB  - Angiogenesis is normally a highly regulated process that occurs during
      development, reproduction, and wound repair. However, angiogenesis can also
      become a fundamental pathogenic process in cancer and several other diseases. To
      date, the synthesis of angiogenesis inhibitors has been researched in several
      ways also starting from bioactive plant compounds. In the present study, we
      tested both in an angiogenesis bioassay and in ovarian cell culture, the
      potential antiangiogenic effect of a natural-derived benzo[k,l]xanthene lignan
      (5). This unusual compound was synthesized through the biomimetic dimerization of
      CAPE (caffeic acid phenethyl ester), a bioactive component of honeybee propolis.
      The lignan showed a significant, dose-related inhibitory effect on new vessel
      growth in the angiogenesis bioassay and it inhibited Vascular Endothelial Growth
      Factor secretion in ovarian cell culture. Therefore, we indicate the natural
      derived benzo[k,l]xanthene lignan 5 as a potential new angiogenesis inhibitor.

PMID- 20924643
TI  - Frequency and management of troponin I elevation in patients treated with
      molecular targeted therapies in phase I trials.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cardiotoxicity of molecular targeted therapies (MTT) is poorly
      understood and is being investigated among patients with metastatic solid
      tumours. The frequency of cardiac events among patients receiving MTT has been
      evaluated in various ways, particularly troponin elevations. PATIENTS AND
      METHODS: We prospectively evaluated cardiotoxicity among patients included in
      Phase 1 trials receiving molecular targeted therapies (MTT) for a metastatic
      solid tumour. At baseline, all patients were examined before the first cycle and
      monitored including a clinical examination, ECG and troponin I measurement. A
      trans-thoracic echocardiography was performed at baseline and before each cycle.
      Patients were enrolled in different trials investigating : an anti-VEGF
      monoclonal antibody, anti-VEGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors, and a kinesin
      inhibitor. RESULTS: Among the 90 patients evaluated, 10 (11%) experienced chest
      pain and troponin I elevation (n = 2,20%) or asymptomatic troponin I elevation (n
      = 8, 80%) during follow-up. All patients were re-evaluated at the time of
      symptoms or troponin I elevation with trans-thoracic echocardiography, cardiac
      magnetic resonance and coronary angiography. All except one patient, had a normal
      LVEF during their re-evaluation. One patient exhibited ECG changes (T wave
      inversion). No QTc interval prolongation was found. On cardiac magnetic
      resonance, no late gadolinium myocardial enhancement was observed. All coronary
      angiographies were normal (no occlusion, or coronary stenosis >50%). All patients
      received beta blockers and aspirin. All Patients were re-challenged with the
      study drug and no cardiotoxicity was observed during follow up. CONCLUSION:
      Troponin elevations are frequent among patients receiving molecular targeted
      therapies. Re-challenging these patients after a careful evaluation and under
      medical treatment seems to be possible. The mechanism underlying troponin
      elevations does not seem to be associated with coronary occlusion nor with toxic
      myocarditis.

PMID- 20924645
TI  - Epidemiology and sociodemographic aspects of ocular traumatic injuries in Iran.
AB  - Although the incidence of ocular trauma has been clearly described in developed
      countries, few published data are available on the epidemiology and the effects
      of parameters that can influence the incidence and severity of ocular injuries in
      Iran. The present study tried to determine epidemiological aspects of ocular
      traumatic injuries and evaluate their effects on different types of ocular
      injury. The case series included 1950 consecutive patients with acute ophthalmic
      trauma presented to the emergency ward of Farabi Hospital in Tehran. Information
      was collected by interviewing patients and having them fill in a questionnaire.
      The final diagnosis was made by a medical resident. If there was a difficulty or
      doubt in diagnosis or classification, confirmation of diagnosis was made by
      senior faculty. Ocular injuries were classified into globe and non-globe injuries
      according to the site of injury. Mechanical globe injuries were classified
      according to Birmingham Eye Trauma Terminology (BETT) into closed and open
      injuries. The mean age of patients was 28.8 +/- 12.8 years; 87.6% were male. The
      most common causes of injury were work-related (49.0%) and chance events (42.0%).
      The most frequent ocular injury was globe injury (95.6%), including mechanical
      (77.6% closed and 5.9% open), chemical (7.6%), photic (2.3%) and thermal (2.2%)
      injuries. Non-globe injury also occurred in 10.8% of patients; both globe and non
      globe injuries occurred in 6.5% of patients. The hospitalization rate in all
      patients was 8.8%. Previous history of eye trauma was significantly more common
      in the group with isolated globe injuries (P < 0.001). History of eye trauma is a
      risk factor for globe injuries and female gender is a risk factor only for non
      globe injuries. These two factors may predict future eye injury and increase its
      risk by 5.2 and 1.6 times, respectively.

PMID- 20924644
TI  - Combining functional imaging and interstitial pressure measurements to evaluate
      two anti-angiogenic treatments.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Interstitial hypertension is responsible for poor capillary blood
      flow and hampered drug delivery. The efficacy of combined sorafenib/bevacizumab
      treatment given according to different administration schedules has been
      evaluated by measuring both interstitial pressure (IP) and quantitative dynamic
      contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (DCE-US) parameters in melanoma-bearing mice.
      MATERIAL AND METHODS: [corrected] Sixty mice were xenografted with B16F10
      melanoma. Animals received a daily administration over 4 days (D0 to D3) of
      either sorafenib at 30 mg/kg, bevacizumab at 2.5 mg/kg alone, or different
      schedules of combined treatments. Perfusion parameters determined using an
      Aplio(r) sonograph (Toshiba) with SonoVue(r) contrast agent (Bracco) were
      compared to IP measurements using fiberoptic probes (Samba(r)) at D0, D2, D4, D8.
      RESULTS: The mean baseline IP values ranged between 6.55 and 31.29 mmHg in all
      the groups. A transient IP decrease occurred at D2 in all treated groups, and
      especially in the concomitant group which exhibited a significant IP reduction
      compared to D0. A significant decrease in both the peak intensity and the area
      under the curve was observed at D4 in the group with concomitant administration
      of both molecules which yielded maximal inhibition of the tumor volume and the
      number of vessels. No correlation was found between IP values and volume or
      perfusion parameters, indicating complex relationships between IP and
      vascularization. No IP gradients were found between the center and the periphery
      but IP values in these two regions were significantly correlated (R = 0.93).
      CONCLUSION: The results suggest that IP variations could be predictive of
      vascular changes and that one single IP measurement is sufficient to fully
      characterize the whole tumor.

PMID- 20924646
TI  - The distribution of visual field defects per quadrant in standard automated
      perimetry as compared to frequency doubling technology perimetry.
AB  - To test the ability of frequency doubling technology (FDT) perimetry to reveal
      defects in the same field quadrants as detected by standard automated perimetry
      (SAP). Ninety-two eyes with open-angle glaucoma and documented visual field
      defects by threshold SAP (Octopus Dynamic strategy) also underwent threshold FDT
      testing after successfully passing the FDT screening test. All eyes revealed
      varying stages of SAP defects while only 80 revealed FDT damage: 31:21 eyes in
      the early field loss stage, 36:35 in the moderate field loss stage, and 25:24 in
      the severe field loss stage in SAP versus FDT, respectively. SAP was able to
      detect abnormalities in 74 and 79% of the superotemporal, and inferotemporal
      quadrants, respectively, while the corresponding FDT figures were 70 and 69% for
      the same quadrants (P < 0.05 each). With regards to the nasal hemifield, SAP
      detected defects in 73 and 81% of the superonasal and inferonasal quadrants,
      respectively, compared to 69 and 66% for FDT (P < 0.001 each). The test duration
      per individual eye was significantly shorter with FDT than with SAP (P < 0.05).
      As well as the already established lower sensitivity of FDT compared to SAP, this
      study also demonstrated the significantly poorer ability of FDT in detecting the
      same field quadrant defects, especially in the early stages of glaucomatous
      damage.

PMID- 20924647
TI  - Signal enhancement in protein NMR using the spin-noise tuning optimum.
AB  - We have assessed the potential of an alternative probe tuning strategy based on
      the spin-noise response for application in common high-resolution multi
      dimensional biomolecular NMR experiments with water signal suppression on aqueous
      and salty samples. The method requires the adjustment of the optimal tuning
      condition, which may be offset by several 100 kHz from the conventional tuning
      settings using the noise response of the water protons as an indicator. Although
      the radio frequency-pulse durations are typically longer under such conditions,
      signal-to-noise gains of up to 22% were achieved. At salt concentrations up to
      100 mM a substantial sensitivity gain was observed.

PMID- 20924648
TI  - Role of OsNPR1 in rice defense program as revealed by genome-wide expression
      analysis.
AB  - NPR1 is a central regulator of salicylic-acid (SA)-mediated defense signaling in
      Arabidopsis. Here, we report the characterization of OsNPR1, an Oryzae sativa
      (rice) ortholog of NPR1, focusing on its role in blast disease resistance and
      identification of OsNPR1-regulated genes. Blast resistance tests using OsNPR1
      knockdown and overexpressing rice lines demonstrated the essential role of OsNPR1
      in benzothiadiazole (BTH)-induced blast resistance. Genome-wide transcript
      profiling using OsNPR1-knockdown lines revealed that 358 genes out of 1,228 BTH
      upregulated genes and 724 genes out of 1,069 BTH-downregulated genes were OsNPR1
      dependent with respect to BTH responsiveness, thereby indicating that OsNPR1
      plays a more vital role in gene downregulation. The OsNPR1-dependently
      downregulated genes included many of those involved in photosynthesis and in
      chloroplast translation and transcription. Reduction of photosynthetic activity
      after BTH treatment and its negation by OsNPR1 knockdown were indeed reflected in
      the changes in Fv/Fm values in leaves. These results imply the role of OsNPR1 in
      the reallocation of energy and resources during defense responses. We also
      examined the OsNPR1-dependence of SA-mediated suppression of ABA-induced genes.

PMID- 20924649
TI  - Biodegradation of 4-chlorobenzoic acid by Pseudomonas aeruginosa PA01 NC.
AB  - A bacterial consortium capable of degrading chloroaromatic compounds was isolated
      from pulp and paper mill effluents by selective enrichment on 4-chlorobenzoic
      acid as sole source of carbon and energy. The four different bacterial isolates
      obtained from bacterial consortium were identified as Pseudomonas aeruginosa
      AY792969 (A), P. aeruginosa PA01 NC (B), Pseudomonas sp. ZZ5 DQ113452 (C) and
      Pseudomonas sp. AY762360 (D) based on their morphological and biochemical
      characteristics and by phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences.
      These bacterial isolates were found to be versatile in degrading a variety of
      chloroaromatic compounds including fluoro- and iodobenzoic acids. P. aeruginosa
      PA01 NC utilized 4-chlorobenzoic acid at 2 g/l as growth substrate.
      Biodegradation studies have revealed that this organism degraded 4-chlorobenzoic
      acid through 4-chlorocatechol which was further metabolized by ortho-cleavage
      pathway and the dechlorination occurred after the ring-cleavage.

PMID- 20924651
TI  - The alpha-isoform of class II phosphoinositide 3-kinase is necessary for the
      activation of ERK but not Akt/PKB.
AB  - Phosphoinositide 3-kinases (PI3Ks) are key enzymes that activate intracellular
      signaling molecules when a number of different growth factors bind to cell
      surface receptors. PI3Ks are divided into three classes (I, II, III), and enzymes
      of each class have different tissue specificities and physiological functions.
      The alpha-isoform (PI3K-C2alpha) of class II PI3Ks is considered ubiquitous and
      preferentially activated by insulin. Our previous study showed that suppression
      of PI3K-C2alpha leads to apoptotic cell death. The aim of this study is to
      determine whether depletion of PI3K-C2alpha affects ERK or PKB/Akt activity
      following stimulation with serum and insulin growth factors in Chinese hamster
      ovary cells expressing human insulin receptors (CHO-IR) and human HepG2 liver
      cells. Different antisense oligonucleotides (ODNs), which were designed based on
      the sequence of the C2 domain of the human PI3K-C2alpha gene, were transfected
      into cells to inhibit PI3K-C2alpha expression. Insulin- or serum-induced
      stimulation of ERK was significantly suppressed by depletion of PI3K-C2alpha,
      whereas phosphorylation of IRS-1 and the stimulation of PKB/Akt by insulin were
      not affected. The number of apoptotic cells was also increased by depletion of
      PI3K-C2alpha protein levels. Taken together, our data indicate that PI3K-C2alpha
      may be a crucial factor in the stimulation of ERK activity in response to serum
      or insulin, whereas it is less important for the stimulation of PKB/Akt activity
      in response to insulin.

PMID- 20924650
TI  - Functional genomics of tumor suppressor miR-196b in T-cell acute lymphoblastic
      leukemia.
AB  - Huge data accumulated in last few years have shown that differential expression
      of candidate miRNAs in normal versus transformed cell provides important insights
      into the pathogenesis of cancer including leukemias. In our previous report, we
      have revealed that miR-196b was significantly down-regulated in both EB-3 cells
      as well as B-cell ALL (acute lymphoblastic leukemia) patients as compared to
      their respective controls. We have unambiguously proven that miR-196b restoration
      in EB-3 cells leads to significant down-regulation of c-myc and its effector
      genes, i.e., human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT), B-cell
      lymphoma/leukemia-2 (Bcl-2), apoptosis antagonizing transcription factor (AATF),
      and qualifies for tumor suppressor function in B-cell ALL. Keeping in view these
      results, the present study was aimed at dissecting the role of miR-196b and other
      miRNAs present near/within the genomic regions involved in genetic translocations
      characteristic of ALL in T-cell ALL cell lines and patient samples. We have
      demonstrated significant down-regulation in the expression of miR-196b in MOLT-4
      and T-cell ALL patients with respect to the respective control cells.
      Transfection experiments revealed that none of the six identified miRNAs were
      able to knock down the expression of c-myc gene. Interestingly, it was found that
      miR-196b loses its ability to down-regulate c-myc gene expression in T-cell ALL
      as a consequence of mutations in target 3'-untranslated region (3'-UTR) of the c
      myc gene. Results of the present study revealed that miR-196b becomes non
      functional in T-cell ALL as a consequence of mutations in 3'-UTR of c-myc gene in
      T-cell ALL cellular models.

PMID- 20924652
TI  - Shotgun proteomic analysis of Emiliania huxleyi, a marine phytoplankton species
      of major biogeochemical importance.
AB  - Emiliania huxleyi is a unicellular marine phytoplankton species known to play a
      significant role in global biogeochemistry. Through the dual roles of
      photosynthesis and production of calcium carbonate (calcification), carbon is
      transferred from the atmosphere to ocean sediments. Almost nothing is known about
      the molecular mechanisms that control calcification, a process that is tightly
      regulated within the cell. To initiate proteomic studies on this important and
      phylogenetically remote organism, we have devised efficient protein extraction
      protocols and developed a bioinformatics pipeline that allows the statistically
      robust assignment of proteins from MS/MS data using preexisting EST sequences.
      The bioinformatics tool, termed BUDAPEST (Bioinformatics Utility for Data
      Analysis of Proteomics using ESTs), is fully automated and was used to search
      against data generated from three strains. BUDAPEST increased the number of
      identifications over standard protein database searches from 37 to 99 proteins
      when data were amalgamated. Proteins involved in diverse cellular processes were
      uncovered. For example, experimental evidence was obtained for a novel type I
      polyketide synthase and for various photosystem components. The proteomic and
      bioinformatic approaches developed in this study are of wider applicability,
      particularly to the oceanographic community where genomic sequence data for
      species of interest are currently scarce.

PMID- 20924654
TI  - A syrphid fly uses olfactory cues to find a non-yellow flower.
AB  - Syrphid flies are frequent flower visitors, but little is known about the cues
      they use to find flowers. We determined the importance of visual and olfactory
      cues in a flight cage bioassay using Cirsium arvense (Asteraceae) flower heads
      and experienced Episyrphus balteatus (Diptera, Syrphidae). We tested the response
      of antennae of the flies to headspace inflorescence scent samples by using gas
      chromatography coupled to electroantennography (GC-EAD). The bioassays revealed
      that both sexes of experienced flies rely on olfactory, not visual, cues to find
      C. arvense flower heads. The GC-EAD measurements demonstrated that male and
      female flies have olfactory receptors for several of the compounds emitted by the
      inflorescences. These electroantennographic-active compounds may be responsible
      for the attraction of flies to the C. arvense flower heads. Among the compounds
      eliciting an antennal response are methyl salicylate and 2-phenylethanol, which
      were previously described as syrphid attractants. Overall, our study demonstrates
      for the first time that a syrphid fly uses olfactory and not visual cues to find
      a pollen/nectar host-plant.

PMID- 20924653
TI  - In vivo methods to study uptake of nanoparticles into the brain.
AB  - Several in vivo techniques have been developed to study and measure the uptake of
      CNS compounds into the brain. With these techniques, various parameters can be
      determined after drug administration, including the blood-to-brain influx
      constant (K(in)), the permeability-surface area (PS) product, and the brain
      uptake index (BUI). These techniques have been mostly used for drugs that are
      expected to enter the brain via transmembrane diffusion or by carrier-mediated
      transcytosis. Drugs that have limitations in entering the brain via such pathways
      have been encapsulated in nanoparticles (based on lipids or synthetic polymers)
      to enhance brain uptake. Nanoparticles are different from CNS compounds in size,
      composition and uptake mechanisms. This has led to different methods and
      approaches to study brain uptake in vivo. Here we discuss the techniques
      generally used to measure nanoparticle uptake in addition to the techniques used
      for CNS compounds. Techniques include visualization methods, behavioral tests,
      and quantitative methods.

PMID- 20924655
TI  - Psychometric evaluation of the Problem Gambling Severity Index-Chinese version
      (PGSI-C).
AB  - The purpose of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the
      Chinese 9-item Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI) derived from the 31-item
      Canadian Problem Gambling Index (CPGI) originally developed by Ferris and Wynne
      (2001). Exploratory factor analysis (EFA; n = 386; Group A data) and confirmatory
      factor analysis (CFA; n = 387; Group B data) on the Chinese student and community
      data (Mean age = 25.36 years) showed that a unifactorial model fitted the data
      with good reliability score (Cronbach's alpha = 0.77). The concurrent validity of
      the PGSI-C was good in terms of the Chinese data matching the expected
      correlation between PGSI-C and other variables or scales such as SOGS, gambling
      frequency, gambling urge, gambling cognitions, depression, anxiety, and stress.
      The scale also reported good discriminant and predictive validity. In sum, the
      PGSI-C has good psychometric properties and can be used among Chinese communities
      to identify at-risk problem gamblers. Implications and suggestions for future
      research are discussed.

PMID- 20924656
TI  - A comprehensive investigation on the cooperative branch effect on the optical
      properties of novel conjugated compounds.
AB  - This paper presents a variety of conjugated derivatives with different number of
      arms (4-styryl-triphenylamine: C1, 4,4'-di-styryltriphenylamine: C2, 4,4',4"-tri
      styryltriphenylamine: C3). The linear absorption and fluorescence maxima and the
      molar extinction coefficients are in the order of C1<C2<C3 in various solvents.
      Two-photon absorption (TPA) up-converted emission of the derivatives were
      determined with Ti:sapphire femtosecond laser. The maximal TPA emission
      wavelength and the two-photon absorption cross section of the derivatives are
      also in the order of C1<C2<C3 in various solvents. The dipole moment changes of
      the derivatives between the excited state and the ground state were estimated
      from experiment, and they are in the order of C1<C2<C3, which is confirmed
      further by the molecular geometry optimization of the derivatives. The electron
      density distribution and the energy levels of the frontier orbital of the
      derivatives were analyzed. The cyclic voltammograms of the derivatives were
      performed and discussed.

PMID- 20924657
TI  - Binding of an anti-inflammatory drug lornoxicam with blood proteins: insights
      from spectroscopic investigations.
AB  - The interaction between an anti-inflammatory drug, lornoxicam (LXM) and protein
      (human serum albumin and bovine serum albumin) was studied by spectroscopic
      techniques (Fluorescence, synchronous, FT-IR, UV-vis absorption and circular
      dichroism). The quenching mechanism of fluorescence of the protein by the drug
      was discussed. Based on the interaction studies carried out at different
      temperatures by spectrofluorometry, the binding constant and the number of
      binding sites for drug on protein have been evaluated. The nature of binding
      force operating between the drug and protein was proposed to be electrostatic and
      hydrophobic based on thermodynamic parameters. The distance r between the donor
      (protein) and acceptor (drug) was determined based on the Forster's theory of non
      radiation energy transfer and found to be 2.38 nm and 2.56 nm for LXM-BSA and LXM
      HSA respectively. Displacement studies with different site probes revealed that
      the drug bound to the hydrophobic pocket located in sub domain IIA; that is to
      say, Trp-214 was near or within the binding site. Circular dichroism data of
      protein in the presence of drug revealed the decreased alpha-helicity and hence
      changes in secondary structure of protein. The effects of some common ions were
      also investigated.

PMID- 20924658
TI  - Optical characterization in annatto and commercial colorific.
AB  - Nowadays, the synthetic dyes (as erythrosine, ponceau and tartrazina) and natural
      colourants (as annatto, paprika, curcuma and anthocyanin) are indispensable in
      the food, pharmaceutical and cosmetics applications. However, the use of natural
      colourant has been considered safer for human consumption then synthetic dye. For
      practical applications of the coloring, optical properties are important for the
      understanding of the characteristics of them. In this work, we presented the
      absorption and fluorescence spectroscopic characterizations of annatto extracts
      obtained from the seeds of the tropical shrub Bixa orellana L. solutions and
      commercial colourant. The measurements were performed in annatto extracts with
      acetone and chloroform in different concentrations range (3.5-52.5) MUg/mL. The
      main carotenoids detected in annatto seeds is bixin. The numerical calculus of
      the absorbance spectra for cis- and trans-bixin conformation is presented. In
      addition, for commercial colourant, the measurements were performed for six
      different brands and five lots each one. Modifications in the shape of the
      colorific fluorescence spectra were observed and it can be an indicative of
      differences in the industrial methods applied for obtaining annatto pigments
      powders and/or the possibility of the presence of other impurities added in the
      commercial powders.

PMID- 20924659
TI  - Consanguinity rate and delay in diagnosis in Turkish patients with combined
      immunodeficiencies: a single-center study.
AB  - Combined immunodeficiency diseases comprise a group of disorders with different
      molecular basis. Clinical and immunological phenotypes for each group are
      extremely heterogenous. The frequency of combined immunodeficiencies may vary in
      different countries. The most frequent forms of combined immunodeficiency show
      inherited defects in development of T and/or B lymphocytes. These defects are
      classified according to immunologic phenotype and are categorized into T-B+ or T
      B- including forms with or without natural killer lymphocytes. We report here
      twenty-three patients (female/male: 12/11) with combined immunodeficiency showing
      different immunological and clinical phenotypes, majority of whom were admitted
      because of severe upper and lower respiratory tract infections. Mean age of the
      study group, mean age at onset of the symptoms, and diagnosis were 47.5 +/- 42.2,
      11.2 +/- 17.3, and 19.5 +/- 23.8 months, respectively. There was nearly 8 months
      time delay between beginning of symptoms and diagnosis. Within the combined
      immunodeficiency phenotypes, T-B-NK+ category was the most frequent phenotype.
      Consanguinity was positive in 73.9% (n = 17) of patients while it was about 80.0%
      (n = 8) in deceased ten children. Bone marrow or umblical cord stem cell
      transplantation was applied to 11 of them. Three patients deceased after
      transplantation and seven patients deceased without transplantation. Twelve
      patients are being followed by prophylactic treatment. In conclusion; combined
      immunodeficiencies are frequent in our country because of high rate of
      consanguinity. T-B- combined immunodeficiencies are more often observed, and
      infants presenting severe infections beginning in the first 3 months of life have
      to be examined for combined immunodeficiencies. Shortening of time delay in
      diagnosis will increase success of life-saving treatment.

PMID- 20924660
TI  - The experience of maternal and child health nurses responding to women with
      postpartum depression.
AB  - Previous studies have shown that maternal and child health nurses (MCH nurses)
      are in a unique position to help mothers with postpartum depression (PPD), but
      little has been done to understand the MCH nurses' day-to-day experience. This
      Australian study addresses that issue by analyzing the results of eight in-depth
      interviews with MCH nurses. The data obtained from these interviews was analyzed
      using the phenomenological method described by Creswell, adapted from Moustakas.
      From this analysis five themes emerge: how MCH nurses recognize symptoms of PPD;
      the importance of having treatment options available; the role of rapport; the
      limits of MCH nurses in responding to PPD; and how MCH nurses respond when
      recognizing new cases of PPD. The results of the study reveal several areas for
      policy review, most significantly the need for more MCH nurse training to
      recognize the symptoms of PPD and identify the appropriate treatment option. In
      addition, a review of staff retention and mobility policies is recommended to
      improve rapport with mothers and maintain and grow knowledge of local treatment
      options.

PMID- 20924661
TI  - Eosinophilic venulitis in the small intestines in a mouse model of late asthma.
AB  - The allergen-unchallenged enteric lesions in late allergic asthma are largely
      unknown. To clarify this point, BALB/c mice were sensitized by ovalbumin
      (OVA)/aluminum adjuvant intraperitoneally two times (on days 0 and 10) and then
      challenged with OVA intranasally on day 14 (asthma group). Four days after the
      challenge, small intestinal lesions were examined. By this treatment, diarrhea
      was not observed in the asthma group. Compared to the controls with or without
      OVA sensitization and/or OVA challenge, the asthma group developed eosinophilic
      venulitis without an increase in mucosal mast cells in small intestines, whereas
      intestinal epithelial cells were relatively intact. A few numbers of interleukin
      (IL)-4(+) and IL-5(+) lymphoid cells were recognized in intestines in the asthma
      group, but not in the controls. Expression of vascular cell adhesion molecule-1
      on venular endothelium and eotaxin-2(+) eosinophils, but not epithelial cells, in
      intestines were detected in the asthma group, but not in the controls. Total IgE,
      OVA-specific IgE and eotaxin, and IL-5, but not interferon-gamma, were produced
      systemically in the asthma group compared to the controls. The present study
      suggests that eosinophilic venulitis without mast cells in the intestine may be
      induced by the systemic, but not by local, helper T 2-type responses. In
      addition, eosinophilic venulitis in small intestines may be subclinical enteric
      lesions.

PMID- 20924662
TI  - Length of stay of general psychiatric inpatients in the United States: systematic
      review.
AB  - Psychiatric length of stay (LOS) has reduced but is still longer than for
      physical disorders. Inpatient costs are 16% of total mental health spending.
      Regression analyses of the determinants of LOS for US adult psychiatric
      inpatients were systematically reviewed. Most studies predated recent LOS
      reductions. Psychosis, female gender and larger hospital size were associated
      with longer LOS, while discharge against medical advice, prospective payment,
      being married, being detained and either younger or middle age were associated
      with shorter LOS. Associations appeared consistent, especially where sample size
      was above 3,000. Updated studies should be adequately powered and include the
      variables above.

PMID- 20924663
TI  - Urinary phytoestrogens and risk of prostate cancer in Jamaican men.
AB  - We evaluated the relationship of spot urinary concentrations of phytoestrogens
      with total prostate cancer and tumor grade in a hospital-based case-control study
      in Jamaica. Urine samples were analyzed for genistein, daidzein, equol
      (isoflavones), and enterolactone (lignan) among newly diagnosed cases (n = 175)
      and controls (n = 194). Urinary concentrations of enterolactone (lignan) were
      higher among cases. There were no significant differences in median
      concentrations of isoflavone excretion. Compared with non-producers of equol
      (reference tertile), men who produced equol were at decreased risk of total
      prostate cancer (tertile 2: OR, 0.42; CI, 0.23-0.75) (tertile 3: OR, 0.48; CI,
      0.26-0.87) (p (trend), 0.020) and high-grade disease (tertile 2: OR, 0.31; CI,
      0.15-0.61) (tertile 3: OR, 0.29; CI, 0.13-0.60) (p (trend), 0.001). Higher
      concentrations of enterolactone were positively related to total prostate cancer
      (OR, 1.85; CI, 1.01-3.44; p (trend), 0.027) as well as high-grade disease (OR,
      2.46; CI, 1.11-5.46; p (trend), 0.023). There were no associations between
      urinary excretion of genistein and daidzein with risk of prostate cancer.
      Producers of equol (isoflavone) may be at reduced risk of total- and high-grade
      prostate cancer whereas enterolactone may increase the likelihood of disease.

PMID- 20924664
TI  - Body size and the risk of ovarian cancer by hormone therapy use in the California
      Teachers Study cohort.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether obesity and hormone therapy (HT) are associated
      with ovarian cancer risk among women in the California Teachers Study cohort.
      METHODS: Of 56,091 women age >= 45 years, 277 developed epithelial ovarian cancer
      between 1995 and 2007. Multivariate Cox regression was performed. RESULTS: Among
      women who never used HT, greater adult weight gain, waist circumference and waist
      to-height ratio, but not adult BMI, increased risk of ovarian cancer. Compared to
      women who never used HT and had a stable adult weight, risk of ovarian cancer was
      increased in women who gained >= 40 lb (relative risk (RR) 1.8, 95% confidence
      interval (CI): 1.0-3.0) or used HT for >5 years (RR 2.3 95% CI: 1.3-4.1). Having
      both exposures (RR 1.9, 95% CI: 0.99-3.5), however, did not increase risk more
      than having either alone. Results were similar for waist circumference and weight
      to-height ratio; however, differences across HT groups were not statistically
      significant. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that abdominal adiposity and weight
      gain, but not overall obesity, increase ovarian cancer risk and that there may be
      a threshold level beyond which additional hormones, whether exogenous or
      endogenous, do not result in additional elevation in risk. However, large pooled
      analyses are needed to confirm these findings.

PMID- 20924665
TI  - Fertilization outcome, embryo development and birth after unstimulated IVM.
AB  - BACKGROUND/PURPOSES: A common observation in oocyte in vitro maturation (IVM)
      cycles is poor embryo quality. However, no study was dedicated to assess zygote
      and early cleavage embryo quality in IVM cycles. The objective of this study is
      to analyze fertilization outcome, embryo development and the resulting pregnancy
      and births in unstimulated IVM cycles. METHODS: IVM oocytes were collected 36 h
      post hCG and matured in vitro for 28-30 h. All oocytes were inseminated by ICSI.
      Resulting zygotes and embryos were assessed on day-1, 2 and 3, when transfers
      were made. RESULTS: The overall oocyte maturation and fertilization rates were
      63% and 62%, respectively. Abnormal fertilization rate was 27%. [corrected]
      Ninety five and 14.6% of the 2Pn zygotes reached the 2-cell and 8-cell stage at
      day-2 and day-3, respectively. Embryo quality assessment on day-3 at transfer
      revealed that only 9% of the embryos were of very good quality. Most embryos
      showed developmental delay. An average of 3.29 embryos were transferred per
      patient resulting in implantation and clinical gestation rates of 16% and 32%,
      respectively. Overall 14 healthy babies were born and there is one ongoing
      pregnancy. CONCLUSION: Results show a significant rate of abnormal fertilization
      and poor embryo quality after IVM, which is reflected in a higher than average
      number of embryos being transferred. However, pregnancy, implantation and birth
      rates are reasonably high and allow us to consider IVM a valuable approach for
      the treatment of infertility in PCO or PCOS patients.

PMID- 20924666
TI  - Life cycle assessment (LCA) of solid waste management strategies in Tehran:
      landfill and composting plus landfill.
AB  - As circumstances of operating and maintenance activities for landfilling and
      composting in Tehran metropolis differ from those of cities in developed
      countries, it was concluded to have an environmental impact comparison between
      the current solid waste management (MSW) strategies: (1) landfill, and (2)
      composting plus landfill. Life cycle assessment (LCA) was used to compare these
      scenarios for MSW in Tehran, Iran. The Eco-Indicator 99 is applied as an impact
      assessment method considering surplus energy, climate change, acidification,
      respiratory effect, carcinogenesis, ecotoxicity and ozone layer depletion points
      of aspects. One ton of municipal solid waste of Tehran was selected as the
      functional unit. According to the comparisons, the composting plus landfill
      scenario causes less damage to human health in comparison to landfill scenario.
      However, its damages to both mineral and fossil resources as well as ecosystem
      quality are higher than the landfill scenario. Thus, the composting plus landfill
      scenario had a higher environmental impact than landfill scenario. However, an
      integrated waste management will ultimately be the most efficient approach in
      terms of both environmental and economic benefits. In this paper, a cost
      evaluation shows that the unit cost per ton of waste for the scenarios is 15.28
      and 26.40 US$, respectively. Results show landfill scenario as the preferable
      option both in environmental and economic aspects for Tehran in the current
      situation.

PMID- 20924667
TI  - Pharmacologic modulation of parasympathetic activity in heart failure.
AB  - In the congestive heart failure state, autonomic dysregulation involves an
      increase in sympathetic tone and decrease in parasympathetic tone and is
      associated with increased mortality. It is possible that augmentation of the
      parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) with pharmacologic therapy may lead to
      improved symptoms and/or clinical outcomes. There are several new and established
      pharmacologic interventions that have been studied for their effect on the PNS,
      including antagonists of the renin-angiotensin system, beta-adrenergic
      antagonists, digoxin, and vasodilators. In this review, we discuss the current
      status of the published literature on pharmacologic influences on the PNS by both
      conventional and experimental drugs targeting heart failure as well as drugs that
      more directly influence vagal tone. While these analyses have been largely
      limited to putative surrogates for clinical outcomes like heart rate variability,
      and it is often difficult to differentiate between indirect and direct
      pharmacologic effects on the PNS, significant insight into potential mechanisms
      of action can be derived. The future evaluation of drugs in development for heart
      failure treatment should include a careful, scientifically sound exploration of
      the potential impact of the intervention on PNS activity.

PMID- 20924668
TI  - A comparative study on the composition and importance of free amino acids in
      semen of gilthead sea bream, Sparus aurata, and perch, Perca fluviatilis.
AB  - A comparative study was conducted on the free amino acid composition of gilthead
      sea bream, Sparus aurata, and perch, Perca fluviatilis. Also the effect of 21
      free amino acids on sperm motility was investigated. Spermatozoa were incubated
      in species-specific motility-inhibiting saline solution containing the different
      amino acids for 48 h. Thereafter, the motility was activated and investigated
      using computer-assisted cell motility analysis. Twelve free amino acids,
      respectively, were detected in S. aurata and P. fluviatilis semen. Arginine,
      cysteine, glutamic acid, leucine, and methionine occurred in semen of both
      species. In S. aurata, arginine, glycine, hydroxyproline, lysine, and
      phenylalanine in concentrations of 1.25 and 2.50 mmol/l, methionine in a
      concentration of 2.5 mmol/l, and serine in a concentration of 1.25 mmol/l had a
      positive effect on the motility of spermatozoa. In P. fluviatilis, alanine,
      asparagine, cysteine, glycine, isoleucine, lysine, methionine, serine, threonine,
      and valine in concentrations of 2.50 mmol/l positively affected motility. From
      these data, it can be concluded that the amino acid composition and the effect on
      motility are species specific. Possible consequences for spermatozoa
      functionality are discussed.

PMID- 20924669
TI  - Physiological stress and innate immune response in gilthead sea bream (Sparus
      aurata) and sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) exposed to combination of
      trimethoprim and sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX).
AB  - The purpose of this study was to determine whether gilthead sea bream and sea
      bass treated with combination of trimethoprim and sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX)
      differed in terms of physiological and innate immune biomarkers. Fish were
      exposed to TMP-SMX at 40 ppm concentration for 1 h as a prophylactic usage.
      Plasma cortisol, glucose, electrolytes (Ca, P, Na, K, Cl, and Mg) as well as
      plasma lysozyme activity, C-reactive protein (CRP), and ceruloplasmin (Cp) were
      measured soon after treatment and following 24 and 48 h in normal sea water for
      recovery. Treatment with TMP-SMX in both gilthead sea bream and sea bass led to
      an increase in plasma cortisol and glucose. Fluctuations in some electrolytes
      were found after treatment and during recovery period, however, the ratios of
      monovalent ions in treated sea bream were similar to control. Hematocrit values
      as well as plasma lysozyme activity in gilthead sea bream and sea bass were not
      affected by the treatment. CRP in gilthead sea bream and Cp in sea bass responded
      to the treatment with decreased levels. Both gilthead sea bream and sea bass
      displayed a rapid physiological stress response and sensitivity to TMP-SMX
      exposure, which requires more than 48-h period for regaining homeostasis.

PMID- 20924671
TI  - Systemic gene delivery protects the photoreceptors in the retinal degeneration
      slow mouse.
AB  - The retinal degeneration slow (rds/rds) mouse was used to test photoreceptor
      protection by systemic gene delivery of non-erythropoietic forms of
      erythropoietin (EPO). Two Epo mutants were generated and packaged into
      recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV) serotype 2/5, controls included
      rAAV2/5.Epo and rAAV2/5.enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP). Mice were
      injected in the quadriceps at postnatal day seven and analyses were performed at
      postnatal day 90. Hematocrit, serum EPO levels, and outer nuclear layer (ONL)
      thickness were quantified. Hematocrit and serum EPO levels in rAAV2/5.eGFP,
      rAAV2/5.Epo, and rAAV2/5.EpoR103E treated mice were: 46%, 8 mU/ml; 63%, 117
      mU/ml; and 52%, 332 mU/ml, respectively. The ONL from rds/rds mice treated with
      the Epo vectors were approximately twice as thick as the negative controls. This
      demonstrates that the photoreceptors can be protected without performing an
      intraocular injection and without increasing the hematocrit to unsafe levels.
      Intramuscular delivery of rAAV.EpoR103E is an attractive treatment for retinal
      degenerative diseases.

PMID- 20924670
TI  - The chronological characteristics of SOD1 activity and inflammatory response in
      the hippocampi of STZ-induced type 1 diabetic rats.
AB  - Because it appears that oxidative stress and inflammation are implicated with
      disease pathogenesis in the diabetic brain, many researchers have used
      streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic animals to study superoxide production and
      the effects of superoxide scavengers like Cu,Zn-superoxide dismutase (SOD1).
      However, many studies have been conducted without considering temporal changes
      after STZ injection. Interestingly, though SOD activities were not significantly
      different among the groups, SOD1 and 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal (4-HNE)
      immunoreactivities were significantly enhanced at 3 weeks after an STZ injection
      (STZ3w) versus only marginal levels in sham controls, whereas microglial activity
      was remarkably reduced in injected rats at this time. However, SOD1
      immunoreactivity and microglial activities were only at the sham level at STZ4w.
      The present study provides important information concerning cell damage by ROS
      generated by STZ. Microglial response was found to be inactivated at STZ3w and
      neuronal cells (NeuN) showed a non-significant tendency to be reduced in number
      at STZ4w except in the dentate gyrus. We speculated that the above oxidative
      stress-related events should be accomplished at STZ3w in the brains of STZ
      induced diabetes animal models. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to
      investigate chronological changes in SOD1 immunoreactivity associated with lipid
      peroxidation and inflammatory responses in the hippocampi of STZ-induced type I
      diabetic rats.

PMID- 20924672
TI  - Encapsulating peritoneal sclerosis: a single-center experience and review of the
      literature.
AB  - Encapsulating peritoneal sclerosis (EPS) is a serious and often fatal
      complication of long-term PD with severe malnutrition and poor prognosis. It
      causes progressive obstruction and encapsulation of the bowel. This retrospective
      study reviews our experience and that reviewed in the literature concerning EPS.
      It refers to a total of 1966 patients treated with chronic PD between 1974 and
      2008. Twenty one of them (1.1%) developed EPS, with the incidence increasing with
      the duration of PD. Mean age of our patients with EPS was 43, ranging from 18 to
      71 years, 8 were men and 13 women with a mean body mass index (BMI) of 21.6
      kg/m(2). Only one patient had Type II diabetes, 15 patients had glomerular
      disease, and six of these 15 had an autoimmune disease such as Wegener's
      granulomatosis and SLE. Thirteen patients developed EPS while on PD, 7 within 2
      years after transfer to HD, and only one after renal transplantation. However, 7
      patients had a previous renal transplant before returning to PD and subsequently
      developing EPS. Interestingly, we did not observe more episodes of EPS after
      transplantation. In the patients who developed EPS, the peritonitis rate over the
      period of observation was 1/15.6 pt-months and was due to Staphylococcus aureus,
      coagulase-negative staphylococcus, Pseudomonas and fungi. A history of
      peritonitis was not a prerequisite for developing EPS, since one patient had no
      episodes of peritonitis and 4 had just one previous episode. Fifteen patients
      presented with peritonitis within 4 months before the diagnosis of EPS with
      particularly virulent micro-organisms such as S. aureus, Candida, Pseudomonas,
      Corynebacterium, and Peptostreptococcus. Eleven patients were treated with
      hypertonic dextrose solutions (4.25 g/dl of dextrose) and seven with icodextrin,
      indirectly suggesting problems with ultrafiltration. Nine of 21 patients were on
      beta-blockers. The diagnosis of EPS was made either surgically or radiologically
      with signs of small bowel obstruction in combination with severe malnutrition.
      Eleven of our patients (52%) had evidence of small bowel obstruction and 14
      patients required total parenteral nutrition (TPN). Tamoxifen (10-20 mg daily)
      was started in 6 patients, 4 of whom are alive and 2 deceased 3 and 5 years after
      EPS was diagnosed. Of the 12 patients who were not given tamoxifen, 2 are alive
      and 10 died. No side effects of tamoxifen were reported. Only 7 of our patients
      (33%) died during the first year after the diagnosis of EPS. Currently, 4
      patients are on HD and 3 have had a renal transplant. Six patients of the
      fourteen who underwent surgery (42.8%) died within the first 6 months after
      operation and five died after an average of 6.6 years, mostly due to
      cardiovascular causes, three are still alive. As EPS becomes more prevalent with
      longer duration of PD, large multicenter prospective studies are needed to
      establish its incidence and identify risk factors, therapeutic approach, and
      prognosis.

PMID- 20924673
TI  - Presence of age-associated low-grade inflammation does not worsen the body
      response to bacterial infection in old male rats.
AB  - In the field of frailty, there is an underlying hypothesis that chronic low-grade
      inflammation contributes to bad outcomes in response to a stressor. The host
      response to an Escherichia coli infection was assessed in 24 month old male rats
      exhibiting a chronic low-grade inflammation and in non-inflamed control rats.
      Mortality, weight loss and sarcopenia were the main outcomes measured. The
      presence of chronic low-grade inflammation did not affect post-infection
      mortality, body weight loss and tissue mass decreases. Infection-induced
      modifications of plasma acute phase proteins concentrations were not higher in
      low-grade inflamed than non-inflamed rats. Absolute synthesis rates of tissue
      proteins were independent of the initial inflammatory status, except for liver 10
      days after infection. Altogether, age-associated chronic low-grade inflammation
      in male rats did not worsen the body response to bacterial infection. These
      results suggest that chronic low-grade inflammation is not an aggravating factor
      of the spiraling process leading to frailty.

PMID- 20924674
TI  - Past, present and future research directions with Pichia anomala.
AB  - The first International Pichia anomala Symposium provided a survey of past,
      recent and ongoing research on this yeast. The research community working with
      this yeast has focussed on several areas. Based on molecular data, a revision of
      the taxonomy is required: the name P. anomala is no longer applicable, as the
      genus Pichia is polyphyletic. The current debate centres on whether the yeast
      should be designated as Wickerhamomyces anomalus or if the previous name,
      Hansenula anomala, should be re-instated. The anti-microbial activities of this
      yeast received considerable attention during the symposium. H. anomala has been
      extensively studied as a biopreservation agent in many different post-harvest
      systems. Several mechanisms account for its anti-microbial activities, including
      the production of killer proteins and toxic volatile metabolites. Anti-idiotypic
      antibodies generating an "internal image" of a killer protein have been found to
      possess therapeutic activity against a broad range of microorganisms. A great
      diversity of H. anomala strains was reported at the symposium. Strains have been
      isolated from several food and feed systems and even from the intestine and
      reproductive organs of a malaria vector (Anopheles stephensi). Feed and food
      supplemented with certain H. anomala strains show an improved quality due, for
      example, to the addition of advantageous proteins and phytase activity. However,
      a number of apparent opportunistic pathogenic strains have also been isolated.
      Strain differentiation, especially the recognition of potentially pathogenic
      isolates, is an important challenge for the future commercialisation of this
      yeast. Future industrial and agricultural application of this yeast also raises
      questions of the economics of large-scale production, its survival during storage
      (formulation) and of safety regulations, all of which require further
      investigation.

PMID- 20924675
TI  - Intravenous immunoglobulin for the treatment of Clostridium difficile infection:
      a review.
AB  - Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) has increased sharply in incidence,
      mortality rate, and burden on the healthcare system over the past decade.
      Therefore, novel treatment modalities have been developed, including intravenous
      immunoglobulin (IVIG). The level of immune response to Clostridium difficile
      colonization is the major determinant of the magnitude and duration of clinical
      manifestations. This effect is mediated predominantly by serum IgG anti-toxin A
      antibodies. Based on this finding, anti-toxin A and B antibodies were
      successfully used in multiple in vitro and in vivo experimental settings to
      passively immunize hamsters in CDI models. In humans, IVIG was used as the source
      of those antibodies. Fifteen small, mostly retrospective and non-randomized
      reports documented IVIG's success in the treatment of protracted, recurrent, or
      severe CDI. Diarrhea resolution rates were higher in the former patient group,
      but the recurrence rates were similar. IVIG mechanism of action is neutralization
      of mainly toxin A through IgG anti-toxin A antibodies. Purified anti-toxin A and
      B antibodies were successfully used to decrease CDI recurrence rates among
      patients with no or one previous CDI episodes. In conclusion, the efficacy of
      IVIG for CDI treatment in animal models has been convincingly demonstrated.
      However, only few small non-randomized, mostly uncontrolled reports have been
      published on human subjects. A phase II trial results support the use of purified
      anti-toxin A and B antibodies to decrease CDI recurrence rates. Therefore, IVIG
      should currently only be used as adjunct therapy until results from large,
      randomized controlled trials are available.

PMID- 20924676
TI  - "Patients don't lie"; a view on adherence in asthma.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The primary objective of this article is to examine the extent of self
      reported non-adherence among patients participating in a controlled trial of an
      asthma compliance optimization intervention. The secondary objective is to
      introduce a two-question questionnaire that is, in wording and design, a neutral
      tool for disclosure of non-adherence behaviour. METHOD: Data in this study was
      obtained as part of a controlled trial on an SMS monitoring and compliance
      intervention developed for Danish asthma patients. The trial was conducted from
      November 2007 to May 2008. A total of 244 patients participated in the study. Two
      new designed nonadherence questions were asked in immediate succession. This
      practice, along with the wording of the questions and use of the Web as medium,
      constitute a new approach to self-reported adherence assessment. RESULTS: A total
      of 43.9% of the participants in the trial reported non-adherence to the medical
      dosage regime for which they had, only one question earlier, documented their
      awareness. CONCLUSION: This illustrates that at least 43.9% of the participants
      in the trial dared to report nonadherence to asthma medication.

PMID- 20924678
TI  - A three-state mathematical model of hyperthermic cell death.
AB  - Thermal treatments for tissue ablation rely upon the heating of cells past a
      threshold beyond which the cells are considered destroyed, denatured, or killed.
      In this article, a novel three-state model for cell death is proposed where there
      exists a vulnerable state positioned between the alive and dead states used in a
      number of existing cell death models. Proposed rate coefficients include
      temperature dependence and the model is fitted to experimental data of heated co
      cultures of hepatocytes and lung fibroblasts with very small RMS error. The
      experimental data utilized include further reductions in cell viabilities over 24
      and 48 h post-heating and these data are used to extend the three-state model to
      account for slow cell death. For the two cell lines employed in the experimental
      data, the three parameters for fast cell death appear to be linearly increasing
      with % content of lung fibroblast, while the sparse nature of the data did not
      indicate any co-culture make-up dependence for the parameters for slow cell
      death. A critical post-heating cell viability threshold is proposed beyond which
      cells progress to death; and these results are of practical importance with
      potential for more accurate prediction of cell death.

PMID- 20924677
TI  - Generic and therapeutic substitutions: are they always ethical in their own
      terms?
AB  - Cost containment-driven drug substitution, whether generic or therapeutic, is
      defined as switching to another drug because it is cheaper. So far, such
      substitutions have drawn their public legitimacy from the general belief that
      they would not compromise the clinical interests of patients and certainly not
      violate their right to decline them if they did. This article does not enter the
      debate on whether or not such substitutions must give exclusive priority to the
      patient's interests and choices in order to be ethical. Indeed, it acknowledges
      the plurality of views on this matter. It simply argues that when such
      substitutions involve a cheaper drug that is known to have different effects and
      side effects, or even a drug whose effects and side effects are unknown, they are
      potentially deleterious to the patient, and that no competent and well-informed
      patient would ever consent to them. Such substitutions are thus unethical in
      their very own terms.

PMID- 20924679
TI  - Acoustic microscopy analyses to determine good vs. failed tissue engineered oral
      mucosa under normal or thermally stressed culture conditions.
AB  - This study uses scanning acoustic microscopy (SAM) ultrasonic profilometry to
      determine acceptable vs. failed tissue engineered oral mucosa. Specifically, ex
      vivo-produced oral mucosal equivalents (EVPOMEs) under normal or thermally
      stressed culture conditions were scanned with the SAM operator blinded to the
      culture conditions. As seeded cells proliferate, they fill in and smooth out the
      surface irregularities; they then stratify and produce a keratinized protective
      upper layer. Some of these transformations could alter backscatter of ultrasonic
      signals and in the case of the thermally stressed cells, produce backscatter
      similar to an unseeded device. If non-invasive ultrasonic monitoring could be
      developed, then tissue cultivation could be adjusted to measure biological
      variations in the stratified surface. To create an EVPOME device, oral mucosa
      keratinocytes were seeded onto acellular cadaveric dermis. Two sets of EVPOMEs
      were cultured: one at physiological temperature 37  degrees C and the other at 43
      degrees C. The specimens were imaged with SAM consisting of a single-element
      transducer: 61 MHz center frequency, 32 MHz bandwidth, 1.52 f#. Profilometry for
      the stressed and unseeded specimens showed higher surface irregularities compared
      to unstressed specimens. Elevated thermal stress retards cellular
      differentiation, increasing root mean square values; these results show that SAM
      can potentially monitor cell/tissue development.

PMID- 20924680
TI  - Spirituality and religiosity in urban adolescents with asthma.
AB  - Predictors of multiple dimensions of spirituality/religiosity (S/R) and
      adolescents' preferences for having S/R (e.g., prayer) addressed in hypothetical
      medical settings were assessed in a sample of urban adolescents with asthma. Of
      the 151 adolescents (mean age = 15.8, 60% female, 85% African-American), 81% said
      that they were religious and spiritual, 58% attended religious services in the
      past month, and 49% prayed daily. In multivariable models, African-American
      race/ethnicity and having a religious preference were associated with higher
      levels of S/R (R (2) = 0.07-0.25, P < .05). Adolescents' preferences for
      including S/R in the medical setting increased with the severity of the clinical
      situation (P < .05).

PMID- 20924681
TI  - The mortal soul in ancient Israel and Pauline Christianity: ramifications for
      modern medicine.

PMID- 20924682
TI  - Centering prayer as an alternative to mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for
      depression relapse prevention.
AB  - In the last two decades, mindfulness has made a significant impact on Western
      secular psychology, as evidenced by several new treatment approaches that utilize
      mindfulness practices to ameliorate mental illness. Based on Buddhist teachings,
      mindfulness offers individuals the ability to, among other things, decenter from
      their thoughts and live in the present moment. As an example, mindfulness-based
      cognitive therapy (MBCT) teaches decentering and mindfulness techniques to adults
      in an eight-session group therapy format so as to reduce the likelihood of
      depression relapse. Yet, some Christian adults may prefer to turn to their own
      religious heritage, rather than the Buddhist tradition, in order to stave off
      depression relapse. Thus, the purpose of this article is to present centering
      prayer, a form of Christian meditation that is rooted in Catholic mysticism, as
      an alternative treatment for preventing depression relapse in adults. I argue
      that centering prayer overlaps considerably with MBCT, which makes it a suitable
      treatment alternative for many Christians in remission from depressive episodes.

PMID- 20924683
TI  - Religion and spirituality in coping with advanced breast cancer: perspectives
      from Malaysian Muslim women.
AB  - This article is part of a larger study on the role of spirituality in coping with
      breast cancer among Malaysian Muslim women. The study seeks to reveal the meaning
      of the experience through the stories of three Muslim women surviving advanced
      breast cancer, to better understand the deep meanings that inform their
      experiences with spirituality and transformation as they cope with the challenges
      of breast cancer. Data were gathered using in-depth interview. Qualitative
      methods were used in identifying two themes--illness as an awakening and hope and
      freedom comes from surrendering to God. The themes were discussed in the context
      of two broad areas: (1) what are the new meanings these women discovered in their
      experiences with cancer; and (2) how did the new meanings change their lives? The
      study suggests that cancer survivors' experiences with cancer and their learning
      processes must be understood within the appropriate cultural context. This is
      especially so for spirituality. The common emphasis of spirituality on
      relationship with God, self and others, may significantly influence how people
      learn to live with cancer.

PMID- 20924684
TI  - Clinical, biochemical, and molecular analysis of combined methylmalonic acidemia
      and hyperhomocysteinemia (cblC type) in China.
AB  - The most common inborn error of cobalamin (cbl) metabolism in China is the cblC
      type characterized by combined methylmalonic acidemia and hyperhomocysteinemia.
      The clinical presentation is relatively nonspecific, such as feeding difficulty,
      recurrent vomiting, hypotonia, lethargy, seizures, progressive developmental
      delay, and mental retardation, together with anemia and metabolic acidosis. More
      specific biochemical findings include high levels of propionylcarnitine (C3),
      free carnitine (C3/C0), and acetylcarnitine (C3/C2) measured by tandem mass
      spectrometry (MS/MS), elevation of methylmalonic acid (MMA) measured by gas
      chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), and increased total homocysteine with
      normal or decreased methionine. We report on 50 Chinese patients with combined
      methylmalonic acidemia and hyperhomocysteinemia. Forty-six belonged to the cblC
      complementation group. Mutation analysis of the MMACHC gene was performed to
      characterize the mutational spectrum of cblC deficiency, and 17 different
      mutations were found. Most were clustered in exons 3 and 4, accounting for 91.3%
      of all mutant alleles. Two mutations were novel, namely, c.315 C>G (p.Y105X) and
      c.470 G>C(p.W157S). In terms of genotype-phenotype correlation, the c.609 G>A
      mutation was associated with early-onset disease when homozygous. Unlike previous
      reports from other populations, c.609 G>A (p.W203X) was the most frequent cblC
      mutation detected in our study of Chinese patients, affecting 51 of 92 MMACHC
      alleles (55.4%). The high prevalence of this nonsense mutation could have
      potential therapeutic significance for Chinese cblC patients. Besides traditional
      approaches consisting of hydroxocobalamin injections, carnitine, betaine, and
      protein restriction, novel drugs that target premature termination codons may
      have a role in the future. 

PMID- 20924685
TI  - Enzyme replacement therapy for mucopolysaccharidosis VI--experience in Taiwan.
AB  - Information regarding the clinical outcome of enzyme replacement therapy (ERT)
      with recombinant human N-acetylgalactosamine 4-sulfatase (rhASB) for
      mucopolysaccharidosis (MPS) VI in Asian patients is limited. We reviewed nine
      Taiwanese patients with MPS VI (four males and five females; age range 1.4-21.1
      years) treated with weekly intravenous infusions of rhASB (1.0 mg/kg) for at
      least 2 years. We assessed the biochemical and clinical response every 3 months.
      After 2 years of treatment, seven patients experienced improvement over baseline
      in the 6-min walk by a mean of 69.3 m (27.3%), and seven also increased the 3-min
      stair climb by a mean of 47 steps (35.7%). Shoulder range of motion in all
      patients improved, and Joint Pain and Stiffness Questionnaire scores improved by
      0.597 points (30.5%). Four patients had improved pulmonary function [forced
      expiratory volume in 1 s increased by 0.130 L (26.3%) and forced vital capacity
      by 0.148 L (27.6%)]. The respiratory disturbance index decreased in the four
      patients who underwent polysomnography. A mean overall 51% decrease in urinary
      glycosaminoglycan excretion indicated a satisfactory biochemical response. ERT
      was well tolerated by all patients. This treatment is thus beneficial and appears
      to be safe for treatment of MPS VI in Taiwanese patients.

PMID- 20924686
TI  - Meningeal coccidioidomycosis diagnosed by real-time polymerase chain reaction
      analysis of cerebrospinal fluid.
AB  - We describe two cases of coccidioidal meningitis (CM) diagnosed using real-time
      polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis of cerebrospinal fluid. These cases
      highlight the promise of PCR as a diagnostic method to assist in the rapid
      diagnosis of CM.

PMID- 20924687
TI  - Children with Cushing's syndrome: Primary Pigmented Nodular Adrenocortical
      Disease should always be suspected.
AB  - Primary Pigmented Nodular Adrenocortical Disease (PPNAD) is a rare form of
      bilateral adrenocortical hyperplasia that is inherited in an autosomal dominant
      manner and leads to ACTH-independent Cushing's syndrome (CS). PPNAD may be
      isolated or associated with Carney Complex (CNC). For the diagnosis of PPNAD and
      CNC, in addition to the hormonal and imaging tests, searching for PRKAR1A
      mutations may be recommended. The aims of the present study are to discuss the
      clinical and molecular findings of two Brazilian patients with ACTH-independent
      CS due to PPNAD and to show the diagnostic challenge CS represents in childhood.
      Description of two patients with CS and the many sequential steps for the
      diagnosis of PPNAD is provided. Sequencing analysis of all coding exons of
      PRKAR1A in the blood, frozen adrenal nodules (patients 1 and 2) and testicular
      tumor (patient 1) is performed. After several clinical and laboratory drawbacks
      that misled the diagnostic investigation in both patients, the diagnosis of PPNAD
      was finally established and confirmed through pathology and molecular studies. In
      patient 1, sequencing of PRKAR1A gene revealed a novel heterozygous 10-bp
      deletion in exon 3, present in his blood, adrenal gland and testicular tumor. The
      etiologic diagnosis of endogenous CS in children is a challenge that requires
      expertise and a multidisciplinary collaboration for its prompt and correct
      management. Although rare, PPNAD should always be considered among the possible
      etiologies of CS, due to the high prevalence of this disease in this age group.

PMID- 20924689
TI  - [Beach promenade - beautiful beaches "the coast" considered with its tropical
      medical aspects].

PMID- 20924688
TI  - Towards PET imaging of intact pancreatic beta cell mass: a transgenic strategy.
AB  - PURPOSE: We have generated transgenic mouse lines expressing the positron
      emission tomography (PET) reporter gene, sr39tk, under the control of the mouse
      insulin I promoter (MIP-sr39tk) to image endogenous islets using PET. PROCEDURES:
      The MIP-sr39tk transgene was constructed using the 8.3 kb fragment of the mouse
      insulin I promoter and the sr39tk coding sequence from the mrfp-hrl-ttk trifusion
      construct. Expression of sr39TK in beta cells was confirmed by fluorescence
      immunohistochemistry of pancreatic sections. Histological sections were used to
      determine beta cell mass, islet area and islet number. Beta cell function was
      determined using intraperitoneal glucose tolerance tests. For ex vivo
      biodistrubution, mice were injected i.v. with 9.25 MBq [(18)F]fluorohydroxymethyl
      butyl-guanine (FHBG), euthanized 1 h later and pancreata and other organs were
      collected and counted. For PET scans, mice were injected i.v. with 9.25 MBq
      [(18)F]FHBG, and dynamic scans were conducted for 1 h, followed by a 30 min
      static acquisition. To induce type 1 diabetes-like symptoms, MIP-sr39tk mice were
      injected i.p. with 40 mg/kg streptozotocin (STZ) once per day for five
      consecutive days, and biodistribution and PET scans were conducted thereafter.
      RESULTS: Ex vivo quantification of [(18)F]FHBG uptake in the pancreas showed a
      4.5-fold difference in transgenic vs. non-transgenics, confirming that expression
      of sr39TK results in the retention of the PET tracer. In STZ-treated MIP-sr39tk
      mice, impairments in glucose tolerance and decreases in beta cell mass correlated
      significantly with a diminishment in [(18)F]FHBG uptake before fasting
      hyperglycemia became apparent. CONCLUSIONS: The MIP-sr39tk mouse demonstrates
      that PET imaging can detect changes in beta cell mass that precede the onset of
      diabetes.

PMID- 20924690
TI  - [Psychiatric manifestation of a dengue-encephalopathy].
AB  - Psychiatric manifestation of dengue virus infections is seldom reported. Here a
      case is presented of a 21-year-old man who developed mainly neuropsychiatric
      symptoms which he caught one week after a feverish infection during his stay in
      India: troubles with concentration and memory, confusion, as well as depressive
      delusions and agoraphobia. Liquor diagnosis as well as CCT and MRI was mainly
      inconspicuous. The FDG-PET showed a diffuse lack of activity. IgM and IgG
      antibodies of dengue virus were positive. We interpreted these psychiatric
      symptoms as a result of a dengue virus infection.

PMID- 20924691
TI  - Pharmacodynamic interaction between lumefantrine and desbutyl-benflumetol in
      Plasmodium falciparum in vitro.
AB  - The pharmacodynamic interaction between lumefantrine and monodesbutyl-benflumetol
      has been investigated in 44 fresh isolates of patients with a Plasmodium
      falciparum infection from the region of Mae Sot (Thailand). Both substances
      proved to be effective against parasite maturation within the test concentration
      range, with monodesbutyl-benflumetol being effective at a lower concentration
      than lumefantrine. Synergism between the two substances was evaluated with a
      combination of lumefantrine and monodesbutyl-benflumetol at a ratio of 4.25:1.
      The geometric mean values for complete inhibition of schizont maturation were
      1035.7 nM for lumefantrine, 655 nM for monodesbutyl-benflumetol and 222.5 nM for
      the combination of both. An analysis for interaction according to the method of
      Berenbaum indicates a moderate synergism at the IC(50), which gets stronger with
      increasing ICs and reaches the highest level at the IC(99). The geometric mean of
      the sums of the FIC(50) is 0.73, of the FIC(90) it is 0.37 and of the FIC(99) it
      is 0.25.

PMID- 20924692
TI  - Pulmonary ascariasis: two cases in Austria and review of the literature.
AB  - Ascariasis is the most common helminthic infection, with an estimated worldwide
      prevalence of 25%. The estimated mortality ranges from 0.8 to 1%. Second stage
      larvae pass through the intestinal wall and migrate via the portal vein system to
      the liver and then proceed to the lungs, where they may produce pneumonia and
      eosinophilia. Symptoms include wheezing, dyspnea, nonproductive cough,
      hemoptysis, and fever. Two cases of pulmonary ascariasis in Austrian males are
      reported. Both patients presented with dyspnea, nonproductive cough, fever, and
      eosinophilia (19 and 26%). One patient additionally had pulmonary infiltrates.
      Recent travel history was unremarkable in both individuals. Serology for Ascaris
      was positive twice in both patients, while microscopic examination of stool was
      negative for helminthic ova. Extensive diagnostic procedures were performed to
      rule out possible differentials for the patients symptoms. Both patients
      responded well to antiparasitic treatment with albendazole 400 mg and mebendazole
      100 mg q12h for 3 days, respectively. This report highlights the importance of
      considering parasitic infection in patients presenting with eosinophilia and
      pulmonary symptoms also in Austria.

PMID- 20924693
TI  - A case of a facultative life-cycle diversification in the fluke Pleurogenoides
      sp. (Lecithodendriidae, Plagiorchiida).
AB  - Numerous specimens of the native, intestinal digenean fluke Pleurogenoides sp.
      (Lecithodendriidae, Plagiorchiida), a genus known for the simultaneous co
      existence of genuine adults and progenetic, adult-like metacercaria, were found
      by chance parasitizing in the oesophagus of a recently imported, tropical Bristly
      Bush Viper (Atheris hispida). The snake had before been force-fed with native
      water frogs, the assumed definitive host of these flukes. Hence water frogs act
      as the second intermediate host or as a paratenic host for Pleurogenoides flukes,
      as they must house progenetic fluke larvae, which develop to genuine adults when
      transmitted to an appropriate consecutive host, the ancestral definitive host, a
      reptile. The European Pleurogenoides fluke species seem to display a facultative
      life-cycle diversification, they can adjust their life-history strategy according
      to their immediate transmission opportunities. This phenotypic plasticity allows
      the parasite to respond quickly to any changes in the abundance of a host;
      usually this biological oddity results in a life-cycle truncation by the
      elimination of the definitive host.

PMID- 20924694
TI  - Host preference of tsetse: an important tool to appraise the Nagana risk of
      cattle in the cotton zone of Mali.
AB  - Nagana, a vector-borne epizootic caused by trypanosomes, severely constrains the
      use of draught animals in the cotton zone of south-eastern Mali. The disease
      causes considerable economic losses for the local farmers due to high mortality
      and morbidity ensuing productivity losses. Nagana is routinely controlled by the
      use of trypanocides and an overreliance on their use throughout past decades
      resulted in multiple drug resistance of trypanosomes in most parts of West
      Africa's cotton belt. Designing alternative, effective vector control strategies
      requires an identification of the preferred hosts of tsetse flies through blood
      meal analysis as a prerequisite for estimating infection risk. A survey was,
      therefore, conducted between November 2008 and April 2009, catching 474 Glossina
      species which were dissected. Blood meals were smeared on filter paper
      (Whatman((r))-FTA-Cards) for laboratory analysis. DNA extractions and
      amplification using universal vertebrate cytochrome b primers of 120 assorted
      samples detected 74 DNA-containing specimens. The subsequent use of cattle
      specific primers yielded 52 visible amplicons in the gel electrophoresis.
      Sequencing and BLASTN((r)) analysis of the remaining samples revealed 19 blood
      meals matching with existing sequences of the human genome in Genbank((r)). Two
      samples originated from crocodiles whereas one was unidentifiable.

PMID- 20924695
TI  - [Field study on the treatment of the feline ear canker caused by Otodectes
      cynotis with selamectin (Stronghold(r))].
AB  - Otacariasis due to Otodectes cynotis (HERING, 1858) is a very frequent disease of
      the external ear canal in cats. Otodectes cynotis is the most common mange mite
      in carnivores. Several antiparasiticides are licensed for treatment. The purpose
      of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of a formulation containing selamectin
      (Stronghold((r)) Spot-on) for eradication of ear mites in cats under field
      conditions. Sixteen cats with otacariasis, presented in a small animal clinic,
      were treated with a single spot-on application of selamectin (Stronghold((r))
      Spot-on, 6-17.3 mg/kg bdw.). On clinical and parasitological assessment days 14
      and 28 clinical signs had subsided in ten cats. Furthermore all ear swabs were
      negative for mites and their developmental stages on D 14 and D 28. Selamectin
      was a practical and well-tolerated treatment of feline otacariasis for the cats
      included in this study. It was very well tolerated in all cats, local skin
      irritations on the neck did not occur.

PMID- 20924696
TI  - [The efficacy of anthelmintic drugs against horse strongyles in the area of
      Salzburg and preliminary results of selective anthelmintic treatment].
AB  - In recent years more and more cases of anthelmintic resistant equine strongyles
      were reported. The latest developments are cases of resistance against
      macrocyclic lactones. In order to delay this process less anthelmintics and only
      those which have been previously tested for their efficacy on each individual
      farm should be used. During the grazing season 2008 faecal samples of 281 horses
      and 5 donkeys from 26 farms were analysed in the area of Salzburg. To 164 of
      these horses selective anthelmintic treatment was implemented. Every four weeks
      faecal samples from the 164 horses were quantitatively analysed for strongyle
      eggs using a modified McMaster technique. When more than 250 eggs per gram (EpG)
      of faeces were detected in a sample the horse was treated with an oral pyrantel
      product. In case of a subsequent faecal sample of the same horse with EpG > 250,
      Ivermectin, and after the third sample with EpG > 250, Moxidectin was
      administered. In the fall 2008, all 164 horses together with 117 additional
      horses and 5 donkeys were treated with Moxidectin plus Praziquantel independent
      of the faecal egg count. After each anthelmintic treatment a faecal egg count
      reduction test was performed. In total 1521 faecal samples were analysed. In 1065
      samples (70%) no strongyle eggs were detected at all and only 109 samples (7%)
      had EpG > 250 values. After the treatment with Pyrantel a total of 49 faecal egg
      count reduction tests, after the treatment with Ivermectin 28 and after the
      administration of Moxidectin totally 109 faecal egg count reduction tests were
      performed. After the treatment with either Ivermectin or Moxidectin, all faecal
      egg count reductions were 100%. On one farm however, the mean reduction of
      strongyle eggs after the administration of pyrantel was 85.4% on day 14 and 74.9%
      on day 21. Therefore, faecal egg count reduction tests are strongly recommended
      whenever horses are treated with Pyrantel.

PMID- 20924697
TI  - Synergism between pyronaridine and retinol in Plasmodium vivax in vitro.
AB  - Estimates of the annual number of infections with Plasmodium vivax reach 391
      million. So far the blood-schizontocidal therapy with chloroquine remained
      effective in most parts of the world, but reports about emerging resistance are
      increasing. The study had the objective of determining the pharmacodynamic
      interaction between pyronaridine and retinol in Plasmodium vivax, since
      pyronaridine is a potential alternative for chloroquine and an earlier study had
      shown strong synergism between pyronaridine and retinol in Plasmodium falciparum.
      The study was conducted at the Malaria Clinic of Mae Sot, Tak Province, Thailand,
      near the border to Myanmar. The in vitro observations followed the method of
      Tasanor. Successful tests were performed with 44 isolates. The mean IC(50),
      IC(90) and IC(99) values for pyronaridine were 9.8, 2069.6 and 162446.5 nM. The
      mean IC(50), IC(90) and IC(99) values for the combinations with retinol
      (corresponding to the 50th, 65th and 80th percentile of the physiological retinol
      levels in healthy adults) were 1.7, 542.8 and 59379.5 nM for pyronaridine +
      retinol "low", for the combination with retinol "medium" they were 0.5, 313.7 and
      58891.4 nM and for the combination with retinol "high" they were 0.2, 96.7 and
      16754.3 nM. These results suggest strong synergism between the two substances.

PMID- 20924698
TI  - Synergism between mefloquine and artemisinin and its enhancement by retinol in
      Plasmodium falciparum in vitro.
AB  - Following the advent of mefloquine resistance in Plasmodium falciparum in
      Thailand in the 1990s, the combined treatment of falciparum malaria with
      artesunate and mefloquine was found to be highly effective in treating and curing
      the patients in the affected areas. Monitoring of the clinical-parasitological
      response and of the in vitro sensitivity of P. falciparum was systematically
      conducted in order to detect any signs of failure of this type of artemisinin
      based combination treatment (ACT). In earlier observations the in vitro activity
      of artemisinin was found to be significantly enhanced when combined with retinol.
      The same applies to mefloquine. In order to check whether the synergism between
      artemisinin and mefloquine was maintained in the presence of retinol, the
      pharmacodynamic interaction of the three compounds was investigated in the
      western border area of Thailand. Successful parallel tests with mefloquine,
      artemisinin, retinol, mefloquine-artemisinin 5:1 as well as mefloquine
      artemisinin (5:1) + retinol low, medium and high were obtained with 43 fresh
      parasite isolates. The retinol concentrations in the low, medium and high
      formulations corresponded to the 50th, 65th and 80th percentile of the
      physiological mean concentrations in the blood of healthy adults. The IC(50),
      IC(90) and IC(99) values for mefloquine alone showed a further increase over the
      data of 2008. In the combinations with artemisinin and retinol moderate synergism
      was observed at the IC(50), but synergism increased strongly at the IC(90) and
      the IC(99).

PMID- 20924699
TI  - Sensitivity to artemisinin, mefloquine and quinine of Plasmodium falciparum in
      northwestern Thailand.
AB  - The increasing drug resistance of Plasmodium falciparum is a worldwide problem.
      The objective of the study was the assessment of the in vitro activity of
      artemisinin, mefloquine and quinine, in an area where P. falciparum is multi-drug
      resistant. The sensitivity tests were based on measuring the drug-dependent
      inhibition of schizont maturation. For the 43 successfully tested isolates the
      mean effective concentrations (IC(50) and IC(90)) for artemisinin were 0.0081 and
      0.1372 MUM, respectively. For mefloquine the IC(50) was 0.1260 MUM and the IC(90)
      was 3.7345 MUM. Quinine showed an IC(50) of 0.2155 MUM and an IC(90) of 2.5040
      MUM. All tested drugs showed a significant reduction in the effectiveness,
      compared with the results of former years. This suggests a further rise of
      resistance of local P. falciparum, which is alarming especially for artemisinin
      and quinine.

PMID- 20924700
TI  - Prevalence and pattern of spinal pathologies in a consecutive series of CTs/MRIs
      in an urban and rural Tanzanian hospital--a retrospective neuroradiological
      comparative analysis.
AB  - The prevalence of spinal pathologies in sub-saharan Africa has received little
      attention so far. The aim of the survey was to investigate and compare the
      prevalence pattern of spinal lesions in two different populations of Tanzania,
      one coming from the urban and semi-urban catchment area of Aga Khan Hospital in
      Dar es Salaam and the other coming from the rural catchment area of Haydom
      Lutheran Hospital in Mbulu, northern Tanzania. At the Aga Khan Hospital a total
      number of 1163 patients were included in the survey. In 50 cases (4.3%) no
      radiological findings were available and 150 patients (12.9%) showed no
      pathological abnormality. 90.4% (n = 1051) of screened population were classified
      in the category of extradural-extramedullary pathologies. Intradural
      extramedullary lesions were observed in only three cases (0.3%). Intramedullary
      pathologies accounted for 2.1% (n = 24). Mean age of the screened population was
      46.6 years, male-female ratio 1.08:1. At the Haydom Lutheran Hospital 105 cases
      were included into the study. Twenty-six patients (24.8%) showed no pathological
      abnormalities. Extradural-extramedullary pathologies occurred in 72.4% (n = 76)
      of overall cases. However, intradural-extramedullary pathologies were not seen in
      Haydom. Intramedullary pathologies were diagnosed in two patients (1.9%). Mean
      age was with 39.8 years clearly younger compared to urban areas, male-female
      ratio being 1.21:1, only non-significantly higher than in the Aga Khan Hospital's
      population. Beside this, one of the main goals of this study was to assess the
      frequency of infections to the spinal cord and vertebral column in rural and
      urban Tanzania. Surprisingly there were only few radiological findings at the Aga
      Khan Hospital, which suggested diagnoses consistent with tropical diseases, a
      striking difference from rural Haydom Lutheran Hospital, where nearly 30% of all
      patients showed changes on radiograph consistent with infections/infestations.

PMID- 20924701
TI  - Imaging-based disease pattern in a consecutive series of cranial CTs and MRIs in
      a rural and an urban Tanzanian hospital: a comparative, retrospective,
      neuroradiological analysis.
AB  - The prevalence of neurological diseases and cranial pathologies in sub-Saharan
      Africa remains a very little investigated field. This study aims at providing an
      imaging-based overview of cranial pathologies in two Tanzanian hospitals and at
      identifying possible differences in the spectrum of diseases between rural and
      urban African populations. At rural Haydom Lutheran Hospital (Manyara region) the
      data of 726 patients were included in a retrospective survey. At urban Aga Khan
      Hospital (Dar es Salaam) the data of 1975 patients who had undergone Computed
      Tomography (CT) and of 537 Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) patients were
      obtained. All three surveys showed a clear male preponderance within the
      populations. The median age of the patients was higher in the city (urban CT 48
      years; range 0-95/MRI 39 years; 0.1-89; rural CT 32 years; 0-102). In the urban
      series stroke, extracranial infections, cerebral atrophy and tumours formed the
      main groups of diagnoses. Amongst rural patients traumatic pathologies, followed
      by stroke and cerebral infections/infestations were the most common diagnoses.
      The most striking differences were noticed with cases compatible with cerebral
      infections/infestations and hydrocephalus being reported more frequently in the
      rural population. On the other hand stroke and cerebral atrophy were more
      frequent amongst urban patients. In the rural catchment area the data of 51 HIV
      positive CT patients could be obtained, showing a clear female preponderance.
      Within the urban HIV-positive subgroup of CT patients (n = 57), the gender
      distribution was almost equal. Furthermore, in both HIV-positive populations the
      proportion "compatible with cerebral infections/infestations" was higher than
      amongst the overall study populations. In conclusion, cranial pathologies seem to
      differ widely in rural and urban areas of Tanzania in particular with respect to
      cerebral infections and vascular disease.

PMID- 20924702
TI  - Three years of bluetongue disease in central Europe with special reference to
      Germany: what lessons can be learned?
AB  - With few exceptions, vector-borne diseases have long been considered of minor
      importance in central and northern Europe. Since the advent of bluetongue disease
      (BTD) in 2006 and the 2007 chikungunya fever outbreak in Italy this attitude has
      changed. It is due to continuing globalization rather than to climate change that
      even central and northern Europe are at risk of new pathogens as well as vectors
      of disease entering and establishing. BTD was the first 'exotic' disease to
      arrive: it did not slowly spread northwards but jumped in through a still unknown
      entry point. Although indigenous Culicoides biting midge species had formerly
      been considered to be the vectors of the bluetongue virus (BTV) in the
      Mediterranean, nobody had expected BTD in more northern European areas free of C.
      imicola. When the disease broke out, the authorities were completely unprepared,
      particularly as neither data on the putative vectors nor biting midge specialists
      were available. Starting with about 2000 affected ruminant farming facilities in
      2006 in the central western part of Europe, the virus managed to overwinter and
      spread in all directions in 2007, producing almost 60,000 outbreaks (farms
      affected) in ten European countries up to early 2008. At that time, vaccine
      administration against BTV serotype 8 was initiated, significantly decreasing the
      total number of holdings affected in the third transmission season (May 2008 to
      April 2009). From May 2009 onwards, relatively few cases of BTV-8 infections were
      notified in a total of only six European countries. Unfortunately, while the
      further fate of BTV-8 in Europe remains to be awaited, BTV-1 appears to be
      approaching from the south, with some 4900 outbreaks in France in 2008.
      Meanwhile, the results from various entomological monitoring projects have
      suggested biting midges of the C. obsoletus and C. pulicaris complexes as well as
      some other ceratopogonid species as the most likely BTV vectors in central
      Europe. The lesson to be learned from the BTD epidemic is once again that in the
      long term pro-action is better than mere reaction as it can considerably support
      and facilitate reaction: to avoid and manage outbreaks of emerging vector-borne
      diseases, essential prerequisites are to monitor the indigenous hematophagous
      arthropod fauna, to identify potential vectors and acquire knowledge on their
      biology, to educate medical entomologists and vector biologists, and to implement
      better control of imported goods and animals for pathogens and arthropod vectors.

PMID- 20924703
TI  - [Bats and other reservoir hosts of Filoviridae. Danger of epidemic on the African
      continent?--a deductive literature analysis].
AB  - Ebola and Marburg virus, forming the Filoviridae family, cause hemorrhagic fever
      in countries of sub-Saharan Africa. These viral diseases are characterized by a
      sudden epidemic occurrence as well as a high lethality. Even though a reservoir
      host has not been approved yet, literature indicates the order of bats
      (Chiroptera) as a potential reservoir host. Significant references lead to a
      delineation of a hypothetical ecosystem of Filoviridae including Chiroptera. IgG
      specific Ebola-Zaire antibodies were detected in Hammer-headed Bats (Hypsignathus
      monstrosus), Epauletted Fruit Bats (Epomops franqueti), and Little Collared Fruit
      Bats (Myonycteris torquata) during Ebola outbreaks between 2001 and 2005 in Gabon
      and the Republic of the Congo. The discovery of IgG-specific-Marburg virus
      antibodies and virus-specific ribonucleic acid in Egyptian Fruit Bats (Rousettus
      aegyptiacus) provided further indication for the exploration of the reservoir
      host. In 2007, the Marburg virus isolation could for the first time be
      accomplished directly from apparently healthy and naturally infected Egyptian
      Fruit Bats (Rousettus aegyptiacus) in Kitaka Mine (Uganda). Risk groups can be
      defined through chronological reprocessing and interpretation of existing
      epidemic-outbreaks on the African continent and the search for infection reasons
      of the index cases. The following risk factors for an infection with Ebola or
      Marburg virus must be put into consideration: Contact with and consumption of
      wild animal carcasses, sightseeing in caves as well as work in mines. The focus
      of this review is the demonstration of risk profiles and their exposure to
      Chiroptera and other potential reservoir hosts.

PMID- 20924704
TI  - [Intestinal helminths in the works of Galen].
AB  - Galen was undoubtedly one of the most important physicians in antiquity. He left
      a voluminous work which was edited by numerous scholars. The most capacious
      edition was done by Karl Gottlob Kuhn between 1821 and 1833, which is, besides
      other more recent editions, the major source for this work. Galen deals in his
      works with all aspects of medicine and with philosophy. The texts on intestinal
      helminths are spread over the whole works of Galen and give a deep insight of the
      understanding of parasitic diseases due to intestinal helminths in Antiquity.
      Intestinal helminths "vermes intestinales" are also subsumed as "lumbrici" of
      which three species are distinguished: "lati", "teretes" and "ascarides". Galen
      inherits the descriptions of these worms from the Corpus Hippocraticum and even
      indicates this once. Well defined amongst the "teretes" or "lumbrici rotundi"
      appears to be the roundworm Ascaris lumbricoides of today. Less clear are the
      descriptions of the other "smaller worms", so-called "ascarides". Due to the
      described symptoms it is possible to identify the threadworm Enterobius
      vermicularis "that infests mainly children". If Galen distinguished other "small"
      worm species could not be clarified from this text. The third "species" "Lumbrici
      lati", today's tape worms, are described separately and also the hunger they
      cause is mentioned. With his model of explanation for the genesis of the worms
      Galen combines medicine, philosophy and the Doctrine of the Four Humours which
      was valid at his time: intestinal worms originate from "putridity and warmth" and
      therefore stand opposite the life forms that evolve from semen. In addition to
      the descriptions of the parasites Galen gives advice how and by which means
      parasites can be fought. Their successful expulsion can be achieved using
      substances that have the properties "cool" and/or "dry" following the Doctrine of
      the Four Humours. Some of the medicines described are still used as drugs in our
      society amongst others: mint, cardamom or myrrh.

PMID- 20924705
TI  - ["There were the yellow spot is..." Durer's malaria: no valid diagnosis].
AB  - There is a pen and water self portrait showing Albrecht Duerer, pointing to a
      spot below his ribs. In an inscription the artist declares that this area is
      painful. The drawing inspired authors in the past to diagnose a malaria infection
      which occurred presumably in the Netherlands during an excursion to the malarious
      area of Sealand in December 1520. Duerer mentions on his diary that the weather
      was cold and bad. This makes the presence of active, sporozoite-carrying
      mosquitoes and an infection very unlikely. Duerer reports fever attacks
      throughout his lifetime, not only after his return from the Netherlands.
      Considering the natural course of a Plasmodium vivax-infection it is not possible
      to accept the hypothesis that Duerer suffered from malaria and that this disease
      was the cause of his death at the age of 57.

PMID- 20924706
TI  - [Dreaded miasmas: Austrian scientists on board the frigate Novara pursue the
      secret of malaria].
AB  - The term miasma was coined by Hippocrates of Kos. He introduced it to describe
      dangerous fumes from the ground that are transported by winds and can cause
      serious illnesses. Up until the late 19th century, miasmas from swamps were
      blamed for giving rise to and spreading so-called intermittent fever, cold fever,
      swamp fever or malaria. It was not until 1898 that the mosquito genus Anopheles
      was identified as the agent responsible for transmitting malaria. On 30 April
      1857, the Austrian frigate Novara left Trieste to circumnavigate the globe. One
      of the medical officers on board, Dr. Eduard Schwarz, studied the composition of
      miasmas in detail and published his investigations in the medical section of the
      "Novara Chronicles" in 1861. Schwarz attributed the dreaded Nicobar fever to
      decomposition processes of organic material, which released dangerous miasmas
      that could only be eliminated by draining the swamps. Karl von Scherzer, the
      scientific director of the Novara expedition, collected exact information about
      the distribution range of the cinchona tree, which was said to be threatened with
      extinction, a rumor that later proved to be false. Quinine was gained from the
      bark of the tree and was used worldwide to treat malaria, pains, and fever.

PMID- 20924708
TI  - A hybrid approach for the control of axonal outgrowth: preliminary simulation
      results.
AB  - The possible control of axonal outgrowth during neural regeneration could be very
      useful not only from a neurobiological point of view, but also in the field of
      neural interfaces. In this manuscript, simulations are presented which
      investigate the possibility of guiding axons by using a hybrid approach based on
      the combined used of a chemical model and of a genetic algorithm. Microspheres
      embedding chemical cues on the basis of information provided by a genetic
      algorithm are placed to impose a desired trajectory on the axons. Two kinds of
      simulations were carried out: (i) tracking of linear trajectories; (ii) tracking
      of trajectories, which were reconstructed from real axonal extension. The results
      achieved during the simulations seem to confirm the possible use of this approach
      to guide axonal outgrowth, being the obtained trajectories congruent to possible
      actual situations. Moreover, the model can be easily extended to a three
      dimensional environment.

PMID- 20924709
TI  - Short chain saturated fatty acids decrease circulating cholesterol and increase
      tissue PUFA content in the rat.
AB  - This study investigates the effect of various dietary saturated fatty acid (SFA)
      profiles on plasma lipid parameters and tissue fatty acid composition in rats.
      The experiment was designed to monitor polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) levels,
      while examining different amounts and types of SFA. Four isocaloric diets were
      prepared, containing 10-11 mol% of fatty acids (FA) as linoleic acid (LNA) and
      2.5 mol% as alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), leading to an identical and well-balanced
      LNA/ALA ratio. The initial rapeseed oil/corn oil mixture providing ALA and LNA
      was enriched with olive oil to prepare the olive oil diet. The butterfat diet was
      supplemented with butterfat, containing short-chain SFA (C4:0-C10:0, 17 mol% of
      FA), lauric acid (C12:0, 3.2 mol%), myristic acid (C14:0, 10.5 mol%) and palmitic
      acid (C16:0, 14.5 mol%). The saturates diet was supplemented with trilaurin,
      trimyristin and tripalmitin to obtain the same level of lauric, myristic and
      palmitic acids as the butterfat diet, without the short-chain SFA. The
      trimyristin diet was enriched with trimyristin only. The results showed that the
      butterfat diet contributed to specific effects, compared to the olive oil diet
      and the saturates and trimyristin diets: a decrease in plasma total, LDL- and HDL
      cholesterol, higher tissue storage of ALA and LNA, and a higher level of (n-3)
      highly unsaturated fatty acids in some tissues. This study supports the
      hypothesis that in diets with identical well-balanced LNA/ALA ratios, short chain
      SFA may decrease circulating cholesterol and increase tissue polyunsaturated
      fatty acid content in the rat.

PMID- 20924710
TI  - Stratum corneum lipid structure investigated by EPR spin-probe method:
      application of terpenes.
AB  - Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) in conjunction with a slow-tumbling
      simulation was utilized for defining stratum corneum (SC) lipid structure. SC
      from the back of hairless mouse (HOS:HR-1) was stripped consecutively from one to
      three or four times using a glass plate coated with a cyanoacrylate resin.
      Aliphatic spin probes, 5-doxylstearic acid (5-DSA) and 3beta-doxyl-5alpha
      cholestane (CHL), were used to evaluate the SC ordering. EPR spectrum of 5-DSA
      incorporated in the SC demonstrated a characteristic peak for the first strip. A
      slow-tumbling simulation for 5-DSA showed clear differences in EPR intensities as
      well as ordering values (S(0)) of the SC for control and terpenes treated SC. The
      alpha-terpineol enhanced the permeation of the single chain 5-DSA about three
      times more than that of the control. However, EPR spectra of CHL in the SC did
      not show a clear difference for each strip, except for the signal intensity. The
      results imply that CHL permeates into SC lipid differently from 5-DSA. The
      enhancement of the 5-DSA is more significant than that of CHL. Therefore, the
      present results can be useful for various drug administrations via the skin.

PMID- 20924711
TI  - Complementary and alternative medicine use among cancer survivors: a population
      based study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) among
      cancer survivors is high, yet less is known about reasons behind such use or the
      communication of CAM with conventional medical providers. METHODS: Cross
      sectional, multivariate logistic regression models were developed to evaluate the
      similarities and differences between cancer survivors and non-cancer controls in
      the 2007 National Health Interview Survey with 23,393 participants, including
      1,471 cancer survivors. RESULTS: Among cancer survivors, 66.5% reported ever
      using CAM and 43.3% having used CAM in the past year. When compared with the
      general population, cancer survivors used CAM more often for general disease
      prevention, immune enhancement, and for pain (Adjusted Odds Ratio [AOR] 1.27, 95%
      Confidence Interval [CI] 1.10-1.48; AOR 1.32, 95% CI 1.05-1.62; AOR 1.42, 95% CI
      1.05-1.92, respectively). Cancer survivors were more likely to use CAM because of
      recommendations from their provider (AOR 1.54, 95% CI 1.26-1.88) and were more
      likely to disclose their CAM use to their provider (AOR 1.45, 95% CI 1.22-1.72).
      DISCUSSIONS/CONCLUSIONS: When compared to the general population, cancer
      survivors were more likely to use CAM and communicate this use with providers,
      indicating a growing integration of CAM in conventional medical care.
      IMPLICATIONS FOR CANCER SURVIVORS: Cancer survivors are more likely than the
      general population to communicate CAM use with providers, suggesting greater
      integration of CAM use in conventional care. However, the majority of CAM use is
      still not being communicated to providers, indicating an important area for
      improvement in patient-centered care.

PMID- 20924712
TI  - Small-diameter bands lead to high complication rates in patients after
      laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding.
AB  - BACKGROUND: While weight loss is the primary goal of bariatric procedures, the
      impact of quality of life (QoL), comorbidity, and surgery-related complications
      continue to grow. We report on our results of patients up to 12 years of follow
      up undergoing laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB). METHODS:
      Preoperative data of 153 patients treated with LAGB were collected
      retrospectively. Questionnaires were sent to patients to analyze weight loss,
      complications, and comorbidities. QoL was assessed using the Bariatric Qualit-of
      Life (BQL) questionnaire. RESULTS: Of the patients, 83.7% completed the
      questionnaire. Median follow-up was 8.7 years. Patients were divided into the
      following groups: Group A (band still in place), group B (band removed), and
      group C (revision surgery). A significant increase of excess BMI loss (EBL) was
      found in group A (p<0.0001): EBL was 36.1%, 42.8%, 41.8%, and 37.1% after 1, 3,
      5, and 8 years, respectively. Group B showed a significant weight regain after
      band removal (p=0.007). One hundred ten reoperations were necessary in 67
      patients (52.3%): slippage or pouch dilatation in 25.8%, band migration in 3.9%,
      band intolerance in 6.2%, and 62 revisions due to port complications. According
      to BQL, a higher EBL correlated with a significantly better assessment of QoL
      (p<0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: LAGB resulted in improvement of comorbidities and QoL in
      banded patients even though not all of them achieved the expected EBL. However,
      the high complication rate could influence patients' outcome.

PMID- 20924713
TI  - Re-sleeve gastrectomy for failed laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy: a feasibility
      study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) has been rapidly accepted as a
      valuable bariatric procedure before its effectiveness on weight loss in the long
      term is clearly demonstrated. We report a feasibility study including 13 patients
      undergoing a redo LSG for either progressive weight regain after initial weight
      loss of insufficient weight loss. METHODS: From October 2005 to April 2010, 13
      patients underwent a re-sleeve gastrectomy procedure for progressive weight
      regain or insufficient weight loss (<50% of excess weight (EW)) associated with
      the persistence of the gastric fundus on upper gastrointestinal series. RESULTS:
      Mean initial body mass index (BMI) and EW were 44.6 (37-52.9) kg/m(2) and 61.8
      (38.2-93.9) kg, respectively. There were ten comorbid conditions in five out of
      the 13 patients. The revision resulted in a mean BMI, percent of excess weight
      loss (%EWL), and percentage of excess BMI loss (%EBL) of 32.3 kg/m(2), 50.3%, and
      57% at 1 month; 32 kg/m(2), 47.9%, and 54.5 at 6 months; and 27.5 kg/m(2), 71.4%,
      and 82.8% at 12 months, respectively. There was no morbidity. CONCLUSIONS:
      Laparoscopic revision of LSG is safe and effective in the short term to obtain
      substantial loss of weight and improvement in comorbidities.

PMID- 20924714
TI  - Zinc and iron concentration and SOD activity in human semen and seminal plasma.
AB  - The aim of the present study was to measure zinc (Zn) and iron (Fe) concentration
      in human semen and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity in seminal plasma and
      correlate the results with sperm quality. Semen samples were obtained from men (N
      = 168) undergoing routine infertility evaluation. The study design included two
      groups based on the ejaculate parameters. Group I (n = 39) consisted of males
      with normal ejaculate (normozoospermia), and group II (n = 129) consisted of
      males with pathological spermiogram. Seminal Zn and Fe were measured in 162
      samples (group I, n = 38; group II, n = 124) and SOD activity in 149 samples
      (group I, n = 37; group II, n = 112). Correlations were found between SOD
      activity and Fe and Zn concentration, and between Fe and Zn concentration. SOD
      activity was negatively associated with volume of semen and positively associated
      with rapid progressive motility, nonprogressive motility, and concentration.
      Negative correlation was stated between Fe concentration and normal morphology.
      Mean SOD activity in seminal plasma of semen from men of group I was higher than
      in seminal plasma of semen from men of group II. Fe concentration was higher in
      teratozoospermic males than in males with normal morphology of spermatozoa in
      group II. Our results suggest that Fe may influence spermatozoa morphology.

PMID- 20924715
TI  - Preconditioning of axillary buds in thidiazuron-supplemented liquid media
      improves in vitro shoot multiplication in Nyctanthes arbor-tristis L.
AB  - An efficient tissue culture technology has been designed for mass multiplication
      of Nyctanthes arbor-tristis L. by preculturing nodal explants in thidiazuron
      (TDZ)-supplemented liquid Murashige and Skoog (MS) media. Direct inoculation of
      nodal segments on semi-solid MS medium augmented with various concentrations of
      TDZ (0.1 to 0.9 MUM) produced shoots but with low regeneration response and few
      shoots per explant. Hence, nodal explants were pretreated with greater
      concentrations of TDZ (5 to 100 MUM) in liquid MS media for different durations
      (4, 8, 12, and 16 days) with the aim of improving shoot regeneration response
      from cultured explants. After pretreatment, explants were transferred to agar
      solidified hormone-free MS medium. Best response in terms of percent regeneration
      (94%), number of shoots per explant (20.00 +/- 1.15), and greatest shoot length
      (7.23 +/- 0.83 cm) were obtained with nodal segments pretreated in 75 MUM TDZ for
      8 days. Similarly, root induction was obtained from pulse-treated microshoots for
      24 h with 200 MUM indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) followed by their transfer to 1/2
      MS medium which produced an average of 5.50 +/- 0.92 roots per microshoot. The
      rooted plantlets were transplanted to soil with 80% success rate.

PMID- 20924716
TI  - Duplication of Philadelphia chromosome and trisomy of chromosome 21 in a
      pediatric patient with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
AB  - The evaluation of molecular and cytogenetic characteristics using novel
      techniques has significantly contributed into the insight of leukemia. In this
      study, immunoglobulin heavy chain gene rearrangements (V(H)D(H)J(H) region) were
      analyzed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Point mutations of the D835/I836 in
      the activation loop (AL) domain of the second tyrosine kinase domain of the fms
      related tyrosine kinase 3 (FLT3) gene and NRAS (neuroblastoma cell line) point
      mutations were also analyzed by PCR. Furthermore, sequence analysis of the
      V(H)D(H)J(H) region was performed, as well as, chromosomal aberrations were
      identified by interphase fluorescence in situ hybridization (iFISH) in a 12.5
      year-old boy with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Positive MRD was found in bone
      marrow samples obtained at various time points during and after treatment
      completion prior to relapse. Molecular analysis of the FLT3 gene mutations
      revealed an acquired a G -> T mutation at codon 835, which resulted to
      substitution of aspartate 835 for tyrosine (D835Y). Cytogenetic analysis with
      iFISH showed t(9;22) (q34;q11.2), with minor-BCR/ABL1 fusion gene in the majority
      of nuclei, while a subclone with duplication of the Philadelphia chromosome was
      observed. Triple signals of AML1 were detected in 80% of nuclei, which were
      compatible with trisomy of chromosome 21. BCR/ABL1 fusion gene, duplication of
      Philadelphia chromosome and persistence of MRD constitute inferior prognostic
      factors, while hyperdiploidy, trisomy of chromosome 21 and FLT3-AL mutations are
      related to better prognosis. The study of cytogenetic and molecular
      characteristics is essential in order to decide on the optimal treatment protocol
      in childhood leukemia.

PMID- 20924717
TI  - Activity of trabectidin in desmoplastic small round cell tumor.
AB  - Desmoplastic small round cell tumor (DSRCT) is a rare and aggressive cancer that
      typically arises in teenage boys. As a result of its low prevalence, there have
      been few studies of its treatment and impact on survival. Here, we report the
      case of a patient who was refractory to multiple drugs but remains stable with
      trabectedin. To our knowledge, this is the first published report that supports
      antitumoral activity of trabectedin in DSRCT.

PMID- 20924718
TI  - Bacterial enteropathogens and risk factors associated with childhood diarrhea.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the etiology of bacterial enteropathogens causing
      diarrhea among children; to elucidate the risk factors, sign and symptoms
      involved in developing of infection; and to identify the antimicrobial
      susceptibility pattern. METHODS: Stool samples from diarrheal cases with clinical
      diagnosis of gastroenteritis compared to matched controls, were examined for
      detection of bacterial enteropathogens by conventional cultural method from
      February 2006 through January 2007. RESULTS: Ninety three of diarrheal cases
      comprising enteropathogen isolates. A recognized bacterial enteric pathogen was
      identified in 31% of the cases and 8% of the control group. The frequency of
      isolated enteropathogens from faeces of diarrheal cases was recorded in the
      following order, Enterohemorrhagic E. coli 8.3%, Shigella spp. 6.7%,
      Campylobacter jejuni 5%, Salmonella spp. 4%, Yersinia enterocolitica 2.7%,
      Aeromonas spp. 4.7%, and Plesiomonas spp. 1.3%. E.H.E coli, Shigella and
      Salmonella had shown a significant statistical association with diarrhea
      (p<0.05). Compared to matched uninfected control, multivariate analysis revealed
      that malnutrition status (OR adjusted 8.37; p<0.001) was the only independent
      factor associated with infection. Antibiotic susceptibility profile indicated
      that enteropathogens were generally susceptible to meropenem, ceftriaxone,
      followed by amikacin and ciprofloxacin. Almost all enteropathogens were resistant
      to ampicillin and amoxicillin. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study emphasize
      the importance of bacterial enteropathogens in causing severe diarrhea in
      children. E.H.E. coli was the most predominant pathogen. Malnutrition was
      identified as the main independent risk factor associated with developing of
      infection. Ampicillin and amoxicillin should not be used as empirical treatment
      in acute diarrhea.

PMID- 20924719
TI  - Perinatal lethal Gaucher disease.
AB  - Perinatal Lethal Gaucher Disease (PLGD) is a rare form of Gaucher disease and is
      often considered a distinct form of type 2 Gaucher disease. The authors report on
      an infant who presented with progressive hepatosplenomegaly, ichthyosis,
      generalized skin edema and neonatal encephalopathy and died at 6 h of age.
      Autopsy revealed massive hepatosplenomegaly, ichthyosis, a diffuse collodion
      picture and histological evidence of infiltration by Gaucher cells in the liver,
      spleen, lung, thymus, lymph node and bone marrow. Genetic testing of the parents
      revealed both to be carriers of Gaucher disease.

PMID- 20924720
TI  - Causes of child deaths in India, 1985-2008: a systematic review of literature.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To understand the causes of child deaths in order to implement
      appropriate child survival interventions in the country. We present a systematic
      review of studies reporting causes of child, infant, and neonatal deaths from
      India for 1985 to 2008. METHODS: PubMed, EMBASE, Google Scholar, and WHO regional
      databases were searched along with a hand search and personal communication with
      researchers in child health to obtain studies and reports for the database. Study
      data was summarized and analyzed using appropriate statistical tools. RESULTS: We
      identified 28 published/unpublished studies and reports (6 multi-centric and 22
      single sites). There was one nation wide study and rest were from 15 unique sites
      in 9 different states of India. There were differences in study design and cause
      of death assignment methods between the studies, which made comparisons and
      synthesis difficult. The median percentage of causes of deaths in neonatal period
      were sepsis/pneumonia: 24.9% (Q1: 19.6% and Q3: 33.4%); asphyxia: 18.5% (Q1:
      14.2% and Q3: 21.9%); and pre-maturity/LBW: 16.8% (Q1: 12.5% and Q3: 26.5%).
      Amongst the infants, sepsis/pneumonia, asphyxia, and prematurity/low birth weight
      (LBW) remain substantial causes of deaths. The median proportional contribution
      of neonatal deaths to total infant deaths was 48.5% (Q1: 36.5-Q3: 57.5%). The
      proportion of deaths due to infectious diseases like diarrhoea, pneumonia, and
      measles seem to be greater in infancy, in comparison to that in neonatal period.
      There was no statistically significant difference in the proportional
      contribution of neonatal deaths to total deaths occurring during infancy (<1
      year) between the two equal periods before and after 1996 (p = 0.141). There also
      was no difference in the proportional contribution by cause of death assignment
      method (Verbal autopsy vs. other methods; p = 0.715) or by study setting (urban
      vs. rural; p = 0.175). The median percentage of neonatal deaths by day 1 is 36.7%
      (Range: 20.0-58.0%). The median cumulative percentage of neonatal deaths by day 3
      was 49.7% (Range 35.0-64.6%), and 70.9% (Range: 46.5-92.3%) by day 7. In
      addition, the timing of deaths during neonatal period seems to be static during
      the last 2 decades, with majority of deaths occurring during first week of life.
      CONCLUSIONS: This review demonstrates the need for more studies with consistent
      methodological rigor investigating the causes of child death in India. We
      conclude that the structure of neonatal causes of death in India may be different
      from the rest of the world and that interventions to reduce neonatal deaths in
      first week of life may rapidly improve child survival in the country.

PMID- 20924721
TI  - p.R672C mutation of MYH3 gene in an Egyptian infant presented with Freeman
      Sheldon syndrome.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To define the mutation type in a clinically suspected Egyptian child
      with Freeman-Sheldon syndrome (FSS); it involves certain skeletal malformations
      with some facial characteristics; skeletal malformations include camptodactyly
      with ulnar deviation, talipes equinovarus, while the facial characteristics
      include deep-sunken eyes with hypertelorism, long philtrum, small pinched nose
      and pursed mouth. METHODS: Amplification of exon 17 of the embryonic myosin heavy
      chain (MYH3) gene was done using one forward and two different reverse primers,
      and then the cleaned PCR product was sequenced. RESULT: A de novo missense
      mutation (c.2014C>T with replacement C > Y) in MYH3 gene leading to change of
      arginine at position 672 by cytosine in protein sequence. CONCLUSION: Mutation
      analysis remains to be the standard way for definitive diagnosis in FSS. The
      authors currently report, for the first time in an Egyptian infant aged 16 months
      who presented with FSS, a c.2014C>T missense mutation of MYH3 gene, with no
      family history or consanguinity.

PMID- 20924722
TI  - Utility of ApoB/ApoA1 ratio for the prediction of cardiovascular risk in children
      with metabolic syndrome.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess whether apoB/apoA1 ratio is associated or not with metabolic
      syndrome in obese children. METHODS: A 198 obese children and 41 healthy control
      subjects were enrolled in a cross-sectional study. The apoB/apoA1 ratio and other
      metabolic syndrome components in obese children with/without metabolic syndrome
      were compared to healthy controls. RESULTS: The apoA1 level did not show
      significant difference (p = 0.664) but apoB level (p = 0.000) and apoB/apoA1
      ratio (p = 0.001) were significantly higher in obese group than in control group.
      Also, the apoB/apoA1 ratio was significantly higher in obese children with
      metabolic syndrome when compared to obese children without metabolic syndrome (p
      = 0.007) and showed positive correlation with triglyceride (r = 0.404, p = 0.000)
      and negative correlation with high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (r = -0.593, p
      = 0.000). CONCLUSIONS: The apoB/apoA1 ratio is associated with metabolic syndrome
      in obese children. An elevated apoB/apoA1 ratio may constitute an important
      feature of the metabolic syndrome. There is a need for long term follow-up
      studies concerning cardiovascular risk in obese children with metabolic syndrome
      and high apoB/apoA1 ratio.

PMID- 20924723
TI  - Approach to a patient with connective tissue disease.
AB  - Connective tissue disease (CTDs), though rare in childhood, are an important
      cause of morbidity. Most of them involve multiple organ systems and are
      associated with presence of autoantibodies. Systemic lupus eryethematosus (SLE)
      is the most common CTD, the others being Juvenile dermatomyositis, systemic
      sclerosis, mixed connective disease and Sjogren syndrome. The clinical
      presentation of CTD in childhood can range from an acute severe illness mimicking
      a serious infection, to an insidious onset of disease with gradual accumulation
      of symptoms and signs over wks to months. The presence of multi-system
      involvement, evidence of inflammation and lack of any obvious cause should alert
      a clinician to the possibility of CTD. Diagnosis is usually clinical and features
      like malar rash, Raynaud's phenomenon, Gottron's rash, photosensitivity, oral
      ulcers suggest a possibility of CTD. Presence of autoantibodies like anti-nuclear
      antibodies, anti-dsDNA etc. provide supportive evidence to a diagnosis of CTD.
      Most CTDs are treated with immunosuppressive drugs with good success. Early
      recognition and prompt treatment results in excellent outcome.

PMID- 20924724
TI  - Neuroinformatics in clinical and translational medicine--novel approaches.

PMID- 20924725
TI  - 1H, 13C, 15N backbone and side-chain resonance assignments of the human Raf-1
      kinase inhibitor protein.
AB  - Raf-1 kinase inhibitor protein (RKIP) plays a pivotal role in modulating multiple
      signaling networks. Here we report backbone and side chain resonance assignments
      of uniformly (15)N, (13)C labeled human RKIP.

PMID- 20924726
TI  - Advances in the evaluation and management of minimal hepatic encephalopathy.
AB  - Minimal hepatic encephalopathy (MHE) is a neurocognitive disorder that affects up
      to 80% of cirrhotic patients. Similar to overt hepatic encephalopathy, ammonia
      and oxidative stress play key roles in the pathogenesis of MHE. However, MHE is
      characterized by subtle deficits and psychomotor abnormalities that can only be
      elicited by specialized psychometric tests. Although no gold standard exists for
      the diagnosis, MHE remains an important entity for clinicians to recognize
      because of its negative impact on a patient's health-related quality of life and
      association with driving impairment and vehicle accidents. MHE has also been
      associated with an increased rate in the development of overt hepatic
      encephalopathy and increased mortality; therefore, identification and treatment
      should not be delayed. Treatment to date has been focused on reducing serum
      ammonia levels with agents such as lactulose, probiotics, and synbiotics. MHE is
      a real and growing problem that is epidemic in cirrhosis, and increasing
      awareness of this condition is necessary for adequate management of these
      patients.

PMID- 20924727
TI  - Novel approaches to inhibition of gastric acid secretion.
AB  - The gastric H,K-adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase) is the primary target for
      treatment of acid-related diseases. Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are weak bases
      composed of two moieties, a substituted pyridine with a primary pK(a) of about
      4.0 that allows selective accumulation in the secretory canaliculus of the
      parietal cell, and a benzimidazole with a second pK(a) of about 1.0. Protonation
      of this benzimidazole activates these prodrugs, converting them to sulfenic acids
      and/or sulfenamides that react covalently with one or more cysteines accessible
      from the luminal surface of the ATPase. The maximal pharmacodynamic effect of
      PPIs as a group relies on cyclic adenosine monophosphate-driven H,K-ATPase
      translocation from the cytoplasm to the canalicular membrane of the parietal
      cell. At present, this effect can only be achieved with protein meal stimulation.
      Because of covalent binding, inhibitory effects last much longer than their
      plasma half-life. However, the short dwell-time of the drug in the blood and the
      requirement for acid activation impair their efficacy in acid suppression,
      particularly at night. All PPIs give excellent healing of peptic ulcer and
      produce good, but less than satisfactory, results in reflux esophagitis. PPIs
      combined with antibiotics eradicate Helicobacter pylori, but success has fallen
      to less than 80%. Longer dwell-time PPIs promise to improve acid suppression and
      hence clinical outcome. Potassium-competitive acid blockers (P-CABs) are another
      class of ATPase inhibitors, and at least one is in development. The P-CAB under
      development has a long duration of action even though its binding is not
      covalent. PPIs with a longer dwell time or P-CABs with long duration promise to
      address unmet clinical needs arising from an inability to inhibit nighttime acid
      secretion, with continued symptoms, delayed healing, and growth suppression of H.
      pylori reducing susceptibility to clarithromycin and amoxicillin. Thus, novel and
      more effective suppression of acid secretion would benefit those who suffer from
      acid-related morbidity, continuing esophageal damage and pain, nonsteroidal anti
      inflammatory drug-induced ulcers, and nonresponders to H. pylori eradication.

PMID- 20924728
TI  - Angiosarcoma of the oral cavity.
AB  - Angiosarcoma of the oral cavity is extremely rare. A 54-year-old woman consulted
      to our hospital because of mass of the left cheek next to the mandible. MRI
      showed a 1 cm tumor. Enucleation of the tumor was performed. Grossly, the tumor
      was not encapsulated and had a central cavity. Histologically, the tumor
      consisted of spindle and polygonal cells with hyperchromatic nuclei with
      nucleoli. Intracytoplasmic vacuoles and mitotic figure were scattered.
      Vasoformative channels were present in some areas. Lymphoid follicles were
      scattered in the tumor. The tumor was invasive into the surrounding tissue, and
      lymphovascular permeation was noted. The surgical margins were positive.
      Immunohistochemically, the tumor cells were positive for factor VIII-related
      antigen, CD31, CD34, vimentin, p53 protein, but negative for pancytokeratins,
      cytokeratin (CK) 7, CK 18, CK19, EMA, S100 protein, alpha-smooth muscle antigen,
      desmin, p63, synaptophysin, chromogranin, neuron-specific enolase, CD56, CD10,
      CD20, CD30, CD45RO, melanosome, myoglobin, KIT, and PDGFRA. The Ki-67 labeling
      was 46%. The lymphoid tissue in the tumor was positive for CD20, CD45, CD45RO,
      and CD10. A pathological diagnosis of angiosarcoma was made. No metastatic
      lesions are found now. Radical operation is planned now.

PMID- 20924729
TI  - Histiocytic sarcoma with two immunohistopathologically distinct populations.
AB  - This report is a case of histiocytic sarcoma (HS), in which tumor cells consist
      of two immunohistopathologically distinct populations (A) oval
      CD68+lysozyme+CD163- cells and (B) abundant cytoplasm or spindle-shaped
      CD68+lysozyme-CD163+ cells. Cervical lymph node was infiltrated mainly by
      population (A), where chemotherapy was quite effective. On the other hand, vast
      majority of infiltrated tumor cells in the hilar lymph node belonged to
      population (B), in which the cells were resistant to chemo-radiotherapy.
      Considering the poor prognosis of HS, the expression of CD163 could be a marker
      for resistance to chemo-radiotherapy. It is also notable that CD163-negative
      stage of HS may exist and still be reactive for the treatment.

PMID- 20924730
TI  - Establishment of an HS23 stromal cell-dependent myeloma cell line: fibronectin
      and IL-6 are critical.
AB  - A multiple myeloma (MM) cell line, MSG1, which depends on HS23 stromal cells for
      its survival, was established from the pleural effusion of a patient with MM who
      expressed the M-protein of IgA-lambda in his serum. During the first 2 months of
      culture, the myeloma cells survived on adhesive cells from the pleural effusion
      and, subsequently, they continued to proliferate on HS23 stromal cells. The
      phenotype of the established MSG1 cell line was: CD138(+), CD38(++), CD19-, CD56
      , VLA-4(+), VEGFR1(+) and VEGFR2(+). Immunohistochemical staining also
      demonstrated expression of the IgA and lambda chain in MSG1 cytoplasm. Karyotype
      analysis indicated complex chromosomal abnormalities; hypertriploidy, including
      the deletion of chromosomes 13 and 17, and c-myc translocation. MSG1 cells
      continued to proliferate, not only when co-cultured with HS23 cells, but also
      when cultured only on fibronectin-coated plates with the supernatant of HS23
      cells or with control medium containing IL-6. Tocilizumab, an anti-IL-6 receptor
      antibody, inhibited MSG1 survival under these conditions. Therefore, MSG1 may be
      a unique myeloma cell line that is useful for the study of cell adhesion-mediated
      drug resistance induced by adhesion molecules and IL-6 stimulation of myeloma
      cells.

PMID- 20924731
TI  - Bortezomib plus dexamethasone for relapsed or treatment refractory multiple
      myeloma: the collaborative study at six institutes in Kyoto and Osaka.
AB  - We conducted a retrospective collaborative investigation of bortezomib (Bor) plus
      dexamethasone (Dex) therapy (BD Tx) for 88 relapsed or refractory (Rel/Ref) MM
      patients at six institutes. One cycle BD Tx comprised of Bor (1.3 mg/m2/day) on
      days 1, 4, 8 and 11, and Dex on days 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 9, 11 and 12, every 21 days,
      and the mean number of BD Tx cycles was 3. The overall response rate was 66.9%,
      the median overall survival (OS) was 510 days, and the median progression-free
      survival (PFS) was 113 days. Attainment of partial response (PR) with the first
      course of BD Tx associated with the longer OS and PFS and late good responder,
      while no patient who did not achieve PR with the first cycle attained better than
      very good PR (VGPR) with the subsequent BD Tx. Patient age of less than 64 years
      old also associated with the longer OS and PFS. In addition, both an earlier
      disease stage and Dex dosage had a significant impact on OS, while the attainment
      of VGPR within 2 cycles had a significantly longer PFS. Earlier BD Tx courses may
      be predictive for the subsequent therapeutic pathway of Rel/Ref MM.

PMID- 20924732
TI  - Acute renal failure associated with systemic polyoma BK virus activation in a
      patient with peripheral T-cell lymphoma.
AB  - Renal dysfunction associated with polyoma BK virus (BKV) reactivation usually
      occurs in the setting of profound immunosuppression related to renal
      transplantation and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. However, it has been
      rarely described as a complication during the course of conventional
      chemotherapy. Here, we report a case of BKV-associated acute renal failure
      developed in a patient suffering from refractory peripheral T-cell lymphoma, not
      otherwise specified. After repetitive cycles of salvage chemotherapy, the patient
      developed fever and urinary frequency, rapidly followed by anuria that
      necessitated the emergent institution of hemodialysis. Cytologic examination of
      the urine revealed the presence of decoy cells and positive immunostaining for
      polyomavirus simian virus 40 antigen. High levels of BKV were detected in urine
      and plasma with quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction, strongly
      suggesting that his renal failure was due to polyoma virus-associated
      nephropathy. This rare complication should be kept in mind in case of unexplained
      renal failure developed in immunodeficient patients undergoing cytotoxic
      chemotherapy.

PMID- 20924733
TI  - Educational program and testing using images for the standardization of breast
      cancer screening by ultrasonography.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To improve the quality of breast cancer screening by ultrasonography,
      both effective training and evaluation of the performance of the examiners of
      breast ultrasound are essential. METHODS: The Educational Committee of the Japan
      Association of Breast and Thyroid Sonology, an NPO, has established 2-day
      training programs on breast ultrasonography with tests at the end of the
      programs. The tests are performed using images to evaluate the ability of
      observers to detect and evaluate lesions on ultrasound. Ability to detect lesions
      was examined by using videos, and ability to evaluate lesions was examined by
      using still images. The results of tests taken by 422 physicians and 415
      technologists were analyzed. RESULTS: In a comparison between physicians and
      technologists, the video specificity, the still image sensitivity, and the
      percentage of category agreement did not show any significant differences. The
      video sensitivity, the still image specificity, and the percentage of disease
      name agreement were significantly higher in technologists. Observers who had
      experienced <100 cases showed significantly poorer results in all subjects except
      for the video specificity in physicians and the still image specificity in
      technologists. CONCLUSIONS: Ultrasound technologists perform as well as
      physicians in recognizing and interpreting cancers on breast ultrasound, which
      supports their role in performing the initial screening examination.

PMID- 20924734
TI  - Association between CT imaging at follow-up and clinical outcomes in heel
      fractures.
AB  - The reliability of CT data for calcaneal fractures was evaluated, quantifying
      five CT parameters and investigating their association with clinical outcomes.
      Fifty-four intra-articular calcaneal fractures surgically treated were
      considered. Vertical and longitudinal alignment, calcaneal body height, position
      of sustentaculum tali and subtalar joint congruity were evaluated at 49 months
      (27-94) follow-up. Each parameter was then quantified and its association with
      the clinical outcome assessed by the Maryland Foot Score was evaluated. Better
      clinical outcomes showed a significant association with vertical/longitudinal
      realignment and with restoration of the calcaneal height. No significant
      association emerged with reconstruction of the thalamic joint facet congruity.
      Three-dimensional reconstruction of the calcaneus, in terms of vertical and
      longitudinal alignment, restoration of the height of the heel body even
      irrespective of a perfect joint congruity, seems today to be the main goal of the
      treatment.

PMID- 20924735
TI  - Quantitative and qualitative analysis and interpretation of CT perfusion imaging.
AB  - Coronary artery disease (CAD) remains the leading cause of death in the United
      States. Rest and stress myocardial perfusion imaging has an important role in the
      non-invasive risk stratification of patients with CAD. However, diagnostic
      accuracies have been limited, which has led to the development of several
      myocardial perfusion imaging techniques. Among them, myocardial computed
      tomography perfusion imaging (CTP) is especially interesting as it has the unique
      capability of providing anatomic- as well as coronary stenosis-related functional
      data when combined with computed tomography angiography (CTA). The primary aim of
      this article is to review the qualitative, semi-quantitative, and quantitative
      analysis approaches to CTP imaging. In doing so, we will describe the image data
      required for each analysis and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each
      approach.

PMID- 20924737
TI  - Physician awareness and referral to national smoking cessation quitlines and web
      based resources.

PMID- 20924736
TI  - Oxidative stress in relation to telomere length maintenance in vascular smooth
      muscle cells following balloon angioplasty.
AB  - Telomeres are specialized DNA-protein complexes found at the tips of linear
      chromosomes. In this study, we investigated the effects of oxidative stress on
      telomeric length distribution of proliferating vascular smooth muscle cells
      following balloon injury in single or combined treatment of rabbits with either
      buthionine sulfoximine or taurine. Exposure to oxidative stress increased the
      balloon injury whereas taurine treatment significantly diminished L-buthionine
      sulfoximine-related intimal hyperplasia. Our results also showed that both
      variables had a significant influence on mean telomeric length distribution.

PMID- 20924739
TI  - [In citation process].

PMID- 20924740
TI  - [Magnetic resonance spectroscopy in the central nervous system].

PMID- 20924741
TI  - [Metabolic disorders with typical alterations in MRI].
AB  - The classification of metabolic disorders according to the etiology is not
      practical for neuroradiological purposes because the underlying defect does not
      uniformly transform into morphological characteristics. Therefore typical MR and
      clinical features of some easily identifiable metabolic disorders are presented.
      Canavan disease, Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease, Alexander disease, X-chromosomal
      adrenoleukodystrophy and adrenomyeloneuropathy, mitochondrial disorders, such as
      MELAS (mitochondrial encephalopathy, lactic acidosis, and stroke-like episodes)
      and Leigh syndrome as well as L-2-hydroxyglutaric aciduria are presented.

PMID- 20924742
TI  - [Value of MR spectroscopy in infectious and inflammatory brain diseases].
AB  - Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) is a non-invasive method for
      measuring cerebral metabolite concentrations in various pathologic conditions.
      This review discusses the MRS findings in the most common infectious and
      inflammatory brain diseases.

PMID- 20924743
TI  - [Radiation hygiene in medical X-ray imaging, part 1: physical and technical
      basics].
AB  - In this first part of a series of three articles on radiation hygiene in medical
      X-ray imaging the characteristics of X-rays, their interactions with matter and
      the components of X-ray equipment are described from a radiation protection point
      of view. The fundamental radiation protection measures like filtration and beam
      limitation are introduced as well as the various conventional and digital image
      receptor systems. Moreover the absorbed dose and other practical dose terms as
      well as metrological and theoretical methods for dose assessment are introduced.
      The aim of this paper is to explain the essential physical and technical basics
      of X-ray imaging and the assessment of the resulting radiation dose.

PMID- 20924745
TI  - Mapping genes Lr53 and Yr35 on the short arm of chromosome 6B of common wheat
      with microsatellite markers and studies of their association with Lr36.
AB  - The rust resistance genes Lr53 and Yr35, transferred to common wheat from
      Triticum dicoccoides, were reported previously to be completely linked on
      chromosome 6B. Four F (3) families were produced from a cross between a line
      carrying Lr53 and Yr35 (98M71) and the leaf rust and stripe rust susceptible
      genotype Avocet "S" and were rust tested using Puccinina triticina pathotype 53
      1,(6),(7),10,11 and Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici pathotype 110 E143 A+.
      The homozygous resistant lines produced infection types of ";1-" and ";N" to
      these pathotypes, respectively. The Chi-squared tests indicated goodness-of-fit
      of the data for one leaf rust gene and one stripe rust gene segregation. Linkage
      analysis using this population demonstrated recombination of 3% between the
      genes. Microsatellite markers located on the short arm of chromosome 6B were used
      to map the genes, with the markers cfd1 and gwm508 being mapped approximately 1.1
      and 4.5 cM, respectively, proximal to Lr53. Additional studies of the
      relationship between Lr36, also located on the short arm of chromosome 6B, and
      Lr53 indicated that the two genes were independent.

PMID- 20924746
TI  - Linkage analysis of a rare alkaloid present in a tetraploid potato with Solanum
      chacoense background.
AB  - The potato genotype ND4382-19 has Solanum chacoense Bitt. in its genetic
      background. Foliar alkaloid analysis of it and its progeny ND5873 (ND4382-19 *
      Chipeta) by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) showed that, in addition
      to the expected alkaloids (solanidine, leptinidine, and acetyl-leptinidine),
      there was an aglycone of another rare alkaloid. Its molecular mass and some of
      the m/z fragment ions were similar to leptinidine, but the major fragment ion was
      the m/z 150 peak of solanidine. This fragmentation pattern suggested that this
      alkaloid is a solanidine-based compound with mass equal to leptinidine.
      Leptinidine differs from solanidine by an extra -OH group, but the GC-MS
      fragmentation pattern of the rare compound indicated hydroxylation at a different
      position than the C-23 of leptinidine. The exact chemical structure is still
      unknown, and further analysis, such as NMR will be necessary to determine the
      structure. Segregation analysis of ND5873 (ND4382-19 * Chipeta) showed that
      presence of this rare compound segregated in a 1:1 ratio, indicating that a
      single gene controlled its synthesis and/or accumulation in foliar tissue.
      Analysis with AFLP and microsatellite markers indicated that the locus
      controlling presence of this alkaloid resided on potato chromosome I, with the
      nearest flanking AFLP markers 0.6 and 9.4 cM apart. This rare alkaloid was
      present in the foliage and not detected in potato tubers. Its presence in leaves
      did not affect resistance/susceptibility to Colorado potato beetle.

PMID- 20924747
TI  - Secondary prevention program for osteoporotic fractures and long-term adherence
      to bisphosphonates.
AB  - Our purpose was to assess the impact of a secondary prevention program for
      osteoporotic fractures in patients with fragility fracture and to determine its
      effect on long-term compliance with bisphosphonate treatment. Persistence with
      bisphosphonate use was 71%. Attending follow-up visits was the only variable
      significantly associated with adherence to bisphosphonates. INTRODUCTION: The aim
      of this study is to assess the impact a secondary prevention program for
      osteoporotic fractures in a prospective cohort of patients with at least one
      fragility fracture and to determine the effect of this intervention on long-term
      compliance with bisphosphonate treatment. METHODS: All patients older than 50
      years with a fragility fracture attended at the emergency department over a 2
      year period were appointed for a clinical visit through a telephone call. Two
      follow-up controls at 4 and 12 months were scheduled. After a mean of 4 years, a
      telephone survey was conducted to assess compliance with treatment. RESULTS: Of
      683 eligible patients, 380 (55.6%) were visited at the hospital. Previous
      treatment with bisphosphonates was recorded in 17.9% of patients. DXA scan was
      considered normal in 61 patients and revealed osteopenia in 184 and osteoporosis
      in 135. Pharmacological treatment was indicated in 90% of patients (alendronate
      in 76%). Among 241 patients who participated in the survey, eight patients had
      new fractures (four were on treatment with bisphosphonates and four had
      discontinued treatment). Of 187 patients in which bisphosphonates were prescribed
      at the initial visit, 133 (71.1%) continued using bisphosphonates. Attendance of
      scheduled visits was associated with adherence to bisphosphonates (odds ratio,
      3.33; 95% confidence interval, 2.99-3.67). CONCLUSIONS: The efficacy of the
      program to recruit patients was 55%. In patients visited at the hospital,
      treatment with bisphosphonates increased from 17.9% to 76%. Persistence with
      bisphosphonate use after a mean of 4 years was 71%. Attending follow-up visits
      was significantly associated with adherence to bisphosphonates.

PMID- 20924748
TI  - Effect of vitamin D supplementation on muscle strength: a systematic review and
      meta-analysis.
AB  - This systematic review demonstrates that vitamin D supplementation does not have
      a significant effect on muscle strength in vitamin D replete adults. However, a
      limited number of studies demonstrate an increase in proximal muscle strength in
      adults with vitamin D deficiency. INTRODUCTION: The purpose of this study is to
      systematically review the evidence on the effect of vitamin D supplementation on
      muscle strength in adults. METHODS: A comprehensive systematic database search
      was performed. Inclusion criteria included randomised controlled trials (RCTs)
      involving adult human participants. All forms and doses of vitamin D
      supplementation with or without calcium supplementation were included compared
      with placebo or standard care. Outcome measures included evaluation of strength.
      Outcomes were compared by calculating standardised mean difference (SMD) and 95%
      confidence intervals. RESULTS: Of 52 identified studies, 17 RCTs involving 5,072
      participants met the inclusion criteria. Meta-analysis showed no significant
      effect of vitamin D supplementation on grip strength (SMD -0.02, 95%CI 
      0.15,0.11) or proximal lower limb strength (SMD 0.1, 95%CI -0.01,0.22) in adults
      with 25(OH)D levels > 25 nmol/L. Pooled data from two studies in vitamin D
      deficient participants (25(OH)D <25 nmol/L) demonstrated a large effect of
      vitamin D supplementation on hip muscle strength (SMD 3.52, 95%CI 2.18, 4.85).
      CONCLUSION: Based on studies included in this systematic review, vitamin D
      supplementation does not have a significant effect on muscle strength in adults
      with baseline 25(OH)D >25 nmol/L. However, a limited number of studies
      demonstrate an increase in proximal muscle strength in adults with vitamin D
      deficiency.

PMID- 20924749
TI  - Parity and risk of hip fracture in postmenopausal women.
AB  - Hip fracture risk was assessed according to parity among postmenopausal women.
      Compared with nulliparous women, the fracture risk was lower in women with three
      or more births. INTRODUCTION: Parity was assessed for long-term prediction of hip
      fracture in postmenopausal women. METHODS: Postmenopausal women (n= 2,028) aged
      45 or over with no history of hip fracture were studied. From 1978 to 1980, all
      of them had participated in a comprehensive health survey based on a nationally
      representative population sample. Emerging cases of hip fracture were identified
      from the National Hospital Discharge Register during a follow-up period extending
      up to 17 years. RESULTS: The risk of hip fracture was lower among parous women
      compared with nulliparous women. The model adjusted for age showed a significant
      inverse association between parity as a continuous variable and the risk of hip
      fracture [RR = 0.74; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.61-0.90] per an increment of
      one standard deviation (2.4 births). Adjusted for age, menopausal age, level of
      education, body mass index, vitamin D status, alcohol consumption, smoking
      history, leisure time physical activity, and self-rated health, the relative risk
      was 0.50 (95% CI, 0.32-0.79) for women with three or more births and 0.85 (95%
      CI, 0.55-1.32) for women with one to two births as compared with nulliparous
      women. CONCLUSION: Parity, three or more births in particular, predicts a lowered
      risk of hip fracture in the long run.

PMID- 20924750
TI  - Profiling of hypothalamic and hippocampal gene expression in chronically stressed
      rats treated with St. John's wort extract (STW 3-VI) and fluoxetine.
AB  - RATIONALE: Hypericum perforatum L., known as St. John's wort (SJW), is used as a
      phytotherapeutic agent for the treatment of mild to moderate forms of depression.
      OBJECTIVES: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of SJW
      extract (STW 3-VI; 250 and 500 mg/kg; p.o.) and fluoxetine (10 mg/kg, p.o.) on
      genes involved in the pathogenesis of depression using a chronic restraint stress
      (CRS) model in rats. Of particular interest was the assessment of similarities
      and differences between SJW extract and fluoxetine on the gene expression level
      in two different brain regions. RESULTS: Hypothalamic and hippocampal tissues
      were analyzed using the Affymetrix gene chip Rat Genome 230 2.0 Array, which
      comprises more than 30,000 rat transcripts. Limma program and PANTHER database
      were used to evaluate the microarray data. Genes involved in the pathways of
      inflammatory processes (Mapk8), oxidative stress (Gpx3, Gstm3, Sod3) or
      Alzheimer's disease (Sncb, Apbb1ip) were altered by both fluoxetine and SJW
      extract. For all groups, several signaling pathways were identified which could
      provide a link between the various hypotheses of depression. CONCLUSION: In
      conclusion, microarray analysis proved to be a valuable tool to identify a large
      number of genes and resulting pathways that may serve as novel drug targets or
      predict drug responsiveness for SJW or fluoxetine. Based on our comprehensive
      analysis, it was possible to identify similarities and differences between SJW
      and fluoxetine which may help to better understand their molecular action and, in
      addition, help to find novel treatment strategies for stress-related depression.

PMID- 20924751
TI  - Acute effects of MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine) on EEG oscillations:
      alone and in combination with ethanol or THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol).
AB  - RATIONALE: Typical users of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA or "ecstasy")
      are polydrug users, combining MDMA with alcohol or cannabis [most active
      compound: delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)]. OBJECTIVES: The aim of the present
      study was to investigate whether co-administration of alcohol or THC with MDMA
      differentially affects ongoing electroencephalogram (EEG) oscillations compared
      to the administration of each drug alone. METHODS: In two separate experiments,
      16 volunteers received four different drug conditions: (1) MDMA (100 mg); (2)
      alcohol clamp (blood alcohol concentration = 0.60/00) or THC (inhalation of 4, 6
      and 6 mg, interval of 1.5 h); (3) MDMA in combination with alcohol or THC; and
      (4) placebo. Before and after drug administration, electroencephalography was
      recorded during an eyes closed resting state. RESULTS: Theta and alpha power
      increased after alcohol intake compared to placebo and reduced after MDMA intake.
      No interaction between alcohol and MDMA was found. Significant MDMA x THC effects
      for theta and lower-1-alpha power indicated that the power attenuation after the
      combined intake of MDMA and THC was less than the sum of each drug alone. For the
      lower-2-alpha band, the intake of MDMA or THC alone did not significantly affect
      power, but the intake of combined MDMA and THC significantly decreased lower-2
      alpha power. CONCLUSIONS: The present findings indicate that the combined intake
      of MDMA and THC, but not of MDMA and alcohol, affects ongoing EEG oscillations
      differently than the sum of either one drug alone. Changes in ongoing EEG
      oscillations may be related to the impaired task performance that has often been
      reported after drug intake.

PMID- 20924752
TI  - Response requirement and increases in accuracy produced by stimulant drugs in a 5
      choice serial reaction-time task in rats.
AB  - RATIONALE: Increased signal-detection accuracy on the 5-choice serial reaction
      time (5-CSRT) task has been shown with drugs that are useful clinically in
      treating attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), but these increases are
      often small and/or unreliable. By reducing the reinforcer frequency, it may be
      possible to increase the sensitivity of this task to pharmacologically induced
      improvements in accuracy. METHODS: Rats were trained to respond on the 5-CSRT
      task on a fixed ratio (FR) 1, FR 3, or FR 10 schedule of reinforcement. Drugs
      that were and were not expected to enhance performance were then administered
      before experimental sessions. RESULTS: Significant increases in accuracy of
      signal detection were not typically obtained under the FR 1 schedule with any
      drug. However, d-amphetamine, methylphenidate, and nicotine typically increased
      accuracy under the FR 3 and FR 10 schedules. CONCLUSIONS: Increasing the FR
      requirement in the 5-CSRT task increases the likelihood of a positive result with
      clinically effective drugs, and may more closely resemble conditions in children
      with attention deficits.

PMID- 20924753
TI  - Effects of trifluoromethylphenylpiperazine (TFMPP) on interhemispheric
      communication.
AB  - BACKGROUND: 'Party Pills' containing trifluoromethylphenylpiperazine (TFMPP) and
      benzylpiperazine are legally available in many countries and marketed as safe
      alternatives to other illicit substances such as methamphetamine and
      methylenedioxymethamphetamine (or Ecstasy). They have gained huge popularity
      around the world, especially amongst young adults. However, there is no
      information currently available describing the acute neurophysiological effects
      of these psychoactive drugs in humans. The purpose of this study is to
      investigate the effects of TFMPP on central information processing speed in
      humans. METHODS: A randomised, double blind, placebo-controlled study using
      electroencephalography (EEG) was carried out to investigate the effects of TFMPP
      on interhemispheric transfer time (IHTT). Healthy, right-handed males (age: 25 +/
      5.6 years) were given placebo (n = 15) or TFMPP (0.94 mg/kg, oral, n = 15) and
      tested both pre- and 2 h post-drug administration. High-density EEG recordings
      (128 channels which were re-referenced using an average reference to make 129
      electrodes) were used to record event-related potentials. The N160 component was
      defined as the biggest negative peak in the range between 140 and 220 ms after
      the event. The IHHTs were analysed by deducting the N160 latency obtained in the
      contralateral hemisphere from the N160 latency obtained in the hemisphere
      ipsilateral to stimulus signal. RESULTS: Statistical analysis using a split-plot
      design analysis of variance revealed that TFMPP significantly reduced the IHTT
      but did not affect reaction time. No statistically significant changes were
      observed in the placebo group. CONCLUSIONS: This study is the first to report the
      neurophysiological effects of TFMPP in humans and suggests that TFMPP may affect
      transmitter systems involved in speeding of interhemispheric communication in the
      male brain.

PMID- 20924754
TI  - Varenicline blocks nicotine intake in rats with extended access to nicotine self
      administration.
AB  - RATIONALE: Much evidence indicates that individuals use tobacco primarily to
      experience the psychopharmacological properties of nicotine. Varenicline, a
      partial alpha4beta2 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) agonist, is
      effective in reducing nicotine craving and relapse in smokers, suggesting that
      alpha4beta2 nAChRs may play a key role in nicotine dependence. In rats, the
      effect of varenicline on nicotine intake has only been studied with limited
      access to the drug, a model of the positive reinforcing effect of nicotine.
      Varenicline has not been tested on the increase in motivation to take nicotine in
      nicotine-dependent rats. OBJECTIVES: The present study evaluated the effects of
      varenicline on nicotine intake in rats with extended access to nicotine self
      administration (23 h/day), a condition leading to the development of nicotine
      dependence. We hypothesized that varenicline's effects on nicotine self
      administration would be greater in rats with extended than limited access to the
      drug and after forced abstinence rather than during baseline self-administration.
      RESULTS: Varenicline dose-dependently decreased nicotine self-administration in
      rats with limited (1 h/day) and extended (23 h/day) access. Despite an increased
      sensitivity to the motivational effects of abstinence on nicotine intake compared
      with limited-access rats, varenicline was equally effective in decreasing
      nicotine intake in dependent rats with extended access to nicotine. CONCLUSION:
      These results suggest that alpha4beta2 nAChRs are critical in mediating the
      positive reinforcing effects of nicotine but may not be a key element underlying
      the negative reinforcement process responsible for the increased nicotine intake
      after abstinence in dependent subjects.

PMID- 20924755
TI  - Frontiers of stent-assisted aneurysm coiling.

PMID- 20924756
TI  - Functional connectivity of the superior human temporal sulcus in the brain
      resting state at 3T.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The superior temporal sulcus (STS) constitutes a polymodal
      associative area providing higher-order visual representation of other's action
      and emotion, necessary for imitation, empathizing, and mentalizing. In monkeys,
      STS is connected with the cerebellum, which is also involved in motor, emotional,
      and cognitive functions. However, in humans, very few data are available
      concerning the functional connectivity of polymodal STS in general and its
      functional links with the cerebellum, in particular. This study was therefore
      designed to investigate the intrinsically connected network of STS during the
      brain resting state with possible involvement of the cerebellum. METHODS: Data
      from 14 right-handed healthy volunteers were acquired at rest and analyzed by
      region of interest (ROI)-based functional connectivity. Blood-oxygen-level
      dependent (BOLD) signal fluctuations of separate six ROIs located in the right
      and left posterior, medial, and anterior STS were successively used to identify
      significant temporal correlations with BOLD signal fluctuations of other brain
      regions. RESULTS: Low-frequency BOLD signals of the right and left posterior,
      medial, and lateral STS share a common bilateral circuit encompassing the
      ventrolateral prefrontal, premotor/motor, insular, parietal temporal, occipital,
      and cerebellar cortices (lobules VI/VIIA), thalamus, and striatum. CONCLUSION:
      The STS-centered network (1) is intrinsically connected during the brain resting,
      (2) encompasses the whole caudalmost two thirds of STS, (3) may partly represent
      the whole STS structural connectivity, and includes the motor and cognitive
      neocerebellum (lobules VI/VIIA).

PMID- 20924757
TI  - Microstructural brain injury in post-concussion syndrome after minor head injury.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: After minor head injury (MHI), post-concussive symptoms commonly
      occur. The purpose of this study was to correlate the severity of post-concussive
      symptoms in MHI patients with MRI measures of microstructural brain injury,
      namely mean diffusivity (MD) and fractional anisotropy (FA), as well as the
      presence of microhaemorrhages. METHODS: Twenty MHI patients and 12 healthy
      controls were scanned at 3 T using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and high
      resolution gradient recalled echo (HRGRE) T2*-weighted sequences. One patient was
      excluded from the analysis because of bilateral subdural haematomas. DTI data
      were preprocessed using Tract Based Spatial Statistics. The resulting MD and FA
      images were correlated with the severity of post-concussive symptoms evaluated
      with the Rivermead Postconcussion Symptoms Questionnaire. The number and location
      of microhaemorrhages were assessed on the HRGRE T2*-weighted images. RESULTS:
      Comparing patients with controls, there were no differences in MD. FA was
      decreased in the right temporal subcortical white matter. MD was increased in
      association with the severity of post-concussive symptoms in the inferior fronto
      occipital fasciculus (IFO), the inferior longitudinal fasciculus and the superior
      longitudinal fasciculus. FA was reduced in association with the severity of post
      concussive symptoms in the uncinate fasciculus, the IFO, the internal capsule and
      the corpus callosum, as well as in the parietal and frontal subcortical white
      matter. Microhaemorrhages were observed in one patient only. CONCLUSIONS: The
      severity of post-concussive symptoms after MHI was significantly correlated with
      a reduction of white matter integrity, providing evidence of microstructural
      brain injury as a neuropathological substrate of the post-concussion syndrome.

PMID- 20924760
TI  - Land use intensity controls actinobacterial community structure.
AB  - Actinobacteria are major producers of secondary metabolites; however, it is
      unclear how they are distributed in the environment. DNA was extracted from
      forest, pasture and cultivated soils, street sediments (dust and material in
      place), and sediments affected by animal activity (e.g. guano, vermicompost) and
      characterised with two actinobacterial and a bacterial-specific 16S rDNA primer
      set. Amplicons (140/156) generated with the two actinobacterial-specific and
      amplicons (471) generated with bacterial-specific primers were analysed.
      Amplicons from actinobacterial-specific primer were disproportionately
      actinomycetal from animal-affected (soil) samples and street sediments and either
      verrucomicrobial (i.e. non-actinobacterial) and from a novel non-actinomycetal
      actinobacterial group for soils. Actinobacterial amplified ribosomal DNA
      restriction analysis and terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism
      fingerprints clustered by land use, with cultivated soils clustering apart from
      uncultivated soils. Actinobacterial amplicons generated with eubacterial primers
      were overwhelmingly from (116/126) street sediments; acidobacterial amplicons
      from soils (74/75). In two street samples, >90% of clones were actinomycetal.
      Actinomycetes are selected in terrestrial soils and sediments by cultivation,
      urbanisation and animal activity.

PMID- 20924761
TI  - Isotope-guided surgery for nonpalpable breast cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The hook-wire technique is used to guide surgical excision of
      nonpalpable breast lesions. Recently, isotope has been used to guide the
      excision, and when sentinel node biopsy is performed during the same operation,
      the procedure is termed Sentinel Node and Occult Lesion Localization (SNOLL). We
      evaluated the use of this procedure for nonpalpable cancers in Chinese women.
      METHODS: Seventy-four patients underwent SNOLL before breast-conserving surgery.
      Intratumoral injection of sulfur colloid and lymphoscintigraphy (LSG) were
      performed. A gamma probe was used for resection planning and localization of the
      sentinel node (SN). Blue dye mapping was used in patients with negative LSG.
      Complete excision was defined as a tumor-free margin greater than 1 mm. RESULTS:
      The primary breast lesion was successfully removed in 73 patients (99%). Complete
      excision was achieved in 61 patients (82%). Drainage to axilla was detected by
      LSG in 53 patients (72%). The gamma probe was more sensitive than LSG and had an
      82% SN identification rate. Patients with a positive LSG had a higher chance of
      SN localization by gamma probe than patients with a negative LSG (100% vs. 38%, p
      < 0.001). In patients with a negative LSG, supplementary blue dye mapping
      increased the SN localization rate from 38 to 90%. The SN identification rate was
      97% in the whole series. CONCLUSION: Isotope-guided surgery was reliable, with a
      99% localization rate for nonpalpable breast lesions and an 82% SN localization
      rate. The success rate of SN identification could be improved to 97% with the
      addition of blue dye mapping for patients with negative drainage on
      lymphoscintigraphy.

PMID- 20924762
TI  - Detection of type II endoleak after endovascular aortic repair: comparison
      between magnetic resonance angiography and blood-pool contrast agent and dual
      phase computed tomography angiography.
AB  - PURPOSE: This prospective study was designed to assess the diagnostic value of
      magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) with blood-pool contrast agent
      (gadofosveset) in the detection of type-II endoleak after endovascular aortic
      repair (EVAR). METHODS: Thirty-two patients with aortic aneurysms who had
      undergone EVAR were included in this study. All patients were examined by dual
      phase computed tomography angiography (CTA) as well as MRA with gadofosveset in
      the first-pass and steady-state phases. Two independent readers evaluated the
      images of CTA and MRA in terms of endoleak type II, feeding vessel, and image
      quality. RESULTS: Median follow-up-time after EVAR was 22 months (range 4 to 59).
      Endoleak type II was detected by CTA in 12 of 32 patients (37.5%); MRA detected
      endoleak in all of these patients as well as in another 9 patients (n = 21,
      65.6%), of whom the endoleaks in 6 patients showed an increasing diameter. Most
      endoleaks were detected in the steady-state phase (n = 14). The decrease in
      diameter of the aneurysmal sac was significantly greater in the patients without
      a visible endoleak that was visible on MRA (P = 0.004). In the overall estimation
      of diagnostic accuracy, MRA was judged superior to CTA in 66% of all
      examinations. CONCLUSION: MRA with gadofosveset appeared superior to CTA, and has
      higher diagnostic accuracy, in the detection of endoleak after EVAR.

PMID- 20924763
TI  - [Histopathological diagnosis and differential diagnosis of colorectal serrated
      polys: findings of a consensus conference of the working group
      "gastroenterological pathology of the German Society of Pathology"].
AB  - Until recently, two major types of colorectal epithelial polyps were
      distinguished: the adenoma and the hyperplastic polyp. While adenomas - because
      of their cytological atypia - were recognized as precursor lesions for colorectal
      carcinoma, hyperplastic polyps were perceived as harmless lesions without any
      potential for malignant progression, mainly because hyperplastic polyps lack
      cytological atypia. Meanwhile, it is evident that the lesions formerly classified
      as hyperplastic represent a heterogeneous group of polyps, some of which exhibit
      a significant risk of neoplastic progression. These lesions show characteristic
      epigenetic alterations not commonly seen in colorectal adenomas and progress to
      colorectal carcinoma via the so-called serrated pathway (CIMP pathway). This
      group of polyps is comprised not only of hyperplastic polyps, but also of sessile
      serrated adenomas (SSA), traditional serrated adenomas (TSA) and mixed polyps,
      showing serrated and "classical" adenomatous features. In a consensus conference
      of the working group of gastroenterological pathology of the German Society of
      Pathology, standardization of nomenclature and diagnostic criteria as well as
      recommendations for clinical management of these serrated polyps were formulated
      and are presented herein.

PMID- 20924764
TI  - Prospective study of a cementless total hip arthroplasty with a collum femoris
      preserving stem and a trabeculae oriented pressfit cup: minimun 6-year follow-up.
AB  - AIM: Tissue sparing hip prostheses are becoming more and more popular especially
      for the treatment of younger patients. The objective of this study was to
      evaluate the clinical and radiological results after insertion of a tissue
      sparing hip prosthesis. METHOD: In 47 consecutive non-selected patients (50
      hips), the clinical and radiographic results of cementless total hip arthroplasty
      using a collum femoris preserving stem, a pressfit cup and an alumina
      polyethylene pairing were prospectively evaluated. The mean age at index-surgery
      was 58 (36-82) years, there were 38 women and 9 men. After a mean follow-up of
      6.8 years (minimum 6.1 years), two patients had died and one patient underwent
      revision surgery due to aseptic loosening of the stem. RESULTS: The overall
      survival rate of the acetabular component was 100% and of the femoral component
      98%. The mean Harris hip score at follow-up was 94 points. CONCLUSION: The mid
      term survival with this type of total hip arthroplasty is excellent and compares
      equal with uncemented straight stems in this age group.

PMID- 20924765
TI  - Involvement of root ABA and hydraulic conductivity in the control of water
      relations in wheat plants exposed to increased evaporative demand.
AB  - We studied the possible involvement of ABA in the control of water relations
      under conditions of increased evaporative demand. Warming the air by 3 degrees C
      increased stomatal conductance and raised transpiration rates of hydroponically
      grown Triticum durum plants while bringing about a temporary loss of relative
      water content (RWC) and immediate cessation of leaf extension. However, both RWC
      and extension growth recovered within 30 min although transpiration remained
      high. The restoration of leaf hydration and growth were enabled by increased root
      hydraulic conductivity after increasing the air temperature. The use of mercuric
      chloride (an inhibitor of water channels) to interfere with the rise on root
      hydraulic conductivity hindered the restoration of extension growth. Air warming
      increased ABA content in roots and decreased it in shoots. We propose this
      redistribution of ABA in favour of the roots which increased the root hydraulic
      conductivity sufficiently to permit rapid recovery of shoot hydration and leaf
      elongation rates without the involvement of stomatal closure. This proposal is
      based on known ability of ABA to increase hydraulic conductivity confirmed in
      these experiments by measuring the effect of exogenous ABA on osmotically driven
      flow of xylem sap from the roots. Accumulation of root ABA was mainly the outcome
      of increased export from the shoots. When phloem transport in air-warmed plants
      was inhibited by cooling the shoot base this prevented ABA enrichment of the
      roots and favoured an accumulation of ABA in the shoot. As a consequence, stomata
      closed.

PMID- 20924766
TI  - The spatial scale of density-dependent growth and implications for dispersal from
      nests in juvenile Atlantic salmon.
AB  - By dispersing from localized aggregations of recruits, individuals may obtain
      energetic benefits due to reduced experienced density. However, this will depend
      on the spatial scale over which individuals compete. Here, we quantify this scale
      for juvenile Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) following emergence and dispersal from
      nests. A single nest was placed in each of ten replicate streams during winter,
      and information on the individual positions (+/-1 m) and the body sizes of the
      resulting young-of-the-year (YOY) juveniles was obtained by sampling during the
      summer. In six of the ten streams, model comparisons suggested that individual
      body size was most closely related to the density within a mean distance of 11 m
      (range 2-26 m). A link between body size and density on such a restricted spatial
      scale suggests that dispersal from nests confers energetic benefits that can
      counterbalance any survival costs. For the four remaining streams, which had a
      high abundance of trout and older salmon cohorts, no single spatial scale could
      best describe the relation between YOY density and body size. Energetic benefits
      of dispersal associated with reduced local density therefore appear to depend on
      the abundance of competing cohorts or species, which have spatial distributions
      that are less predictable in terms of distance from nests. Thus, given a trade
      off between costs and benefits associated with dispersal, and variation in
      benefits among environments, we predict an evolving and/or phenotypically plastic
      growth rate threshold which determines when an individual decides to disperse
      from areas of high local density.

PMID- 20924767
TI  - Complications of the treatment of endoscopic biliary strictures developing after
      liver transplantation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Bile duct strictures remain a major source of morbidity after
      orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). Endoscopic management by the conventional
      methods of biliary dilatation and/or stent placement has been successful, but
      sometimes severe complications occur, necessitating prolonged therapy. The aim of
      this study is to clarify the complications of the endoscopic approach for
      endoscopic dilatation and/or stent placement. METHOD: Of 46 patients who
      underwent living-donor liver transplantation, 10 were diagnosed as having
      anatomic biliary strictures by endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography
      (ERCP). Two patients developing biliary strictures after deceased-donor liver
      transplantation were also enrolled in the study. For the purpose of comparison,
      302 patients with a total of 550 consecutive ERCP cases (including 115 patients
      with 250 malignant bile duct strictures) were recruited in this study. Success
      rate, number of endoscopy sessions, the median procedure time for ERCP, and
      incidence of complications including post-ERCP pancreatitis were compared in the
      OLT cases and other cases. RESULTS: The following results were obtained in the
      OLT cases, malignant stricture cases, and all cases, respectively: mean number of
      endoscopy sessions was 3.62, 2.17, and 1.94 (P = 0.0216, P < 0.0001); post-ERCP
      pancreatitis occurred in 5 (12.5%), 10 (4.0%), and 19 cases (3.5%) (P = 0.0327, P
      = 0.0093); and severe pancreatitis occurred in 2 cases of OLT. In a univariate
      analysis for post-ERCP pancreatitis, OLT was extracted as the only significant
      risk factor. CONCLUSIONS: Endoscopic maneuvering for biliary dilatation and/or
      stent placement following OLT was associated with a higher risk of post-ERCP
      pancreatitis than the use of the same technique for the treatment of malignant
      biliary stricture. Endoscopic treatment after OLT was a significant risk factor
      for post-ERCP pancreatitis.

PMID- 20924768
TI  - Influence of parent vessel dominancy on fluid dynamics of anterior communicating
      artery aneurysms.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Parent vessel plays an important role in aneurysm formation and
      rupture. The diameter of either the A1 arteries is the peculiar key controlling
      the flow of the anterior communicating artery (ACOMA) aneurysms (ANs). OBJECTIVE:
      The purpose is to study the effect of parent vessel dominancy, that is, the
      diameter of the A1 artery, on the flow characteristics of the ACOMA ANs. METHODS:
      Numerical simulations for the flow patterns in six artificial models have been
      studied. Three models are designed with aneurysms and three models without. The
      two A1s were equal in two models. In the other two models, the nondominant A1
      diameters were decreased by 50%. Again, the nondominant A1s were decreased by
      another 50% in the last two models. Each pair was designed with and without
      aneurysms in the ACOMA. FINDINGS: The ACOMA shows lower velocity magnitudes and
      wall shear stresses when the two A1s are equal. However, if one A1 is dominant
      with a 50% difference from the other A1, there is higher shear stress on the
      ACOMA itself and in the inflow zone of the aneurysm that increases more with
      further reduction of the nondominant A1 by another 50%. An area of high corner
      pressure at the bifurcation of the dominant A1 into the ACOMA and A2 exists and
      increases in value with the decrease of diameter of the other nondominant A1.
      CONCLUSION: Aneurysms located in the ACOMA with differences of 50% or more
      between the two A1s are subjected to more flow stresses.

PMID- 20924769
TI  - Comparison of stand-alone polyetheretherketone cages and iliac crest autografts
      for the treatment of cervical degenerative disc diseases.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Anterior cervical decompression and fusion (ACDF) is a widely
      accepted surgical procedure for the treatment of cervical degenerative disc
      diseases. This retrospective study was designed to analyze and compare the
      efficacy and outcomes of anterior cervical fusion using stand-alone
      polyetheretherketone (PEEK) cages and autogenous iliac crest grafts with the
      anterior cervical plating system. METHODS: A total of 72 consecutive patients
      suffering from cervical degenerative disc diseases treated with ACDF from June
      2005 to Dec 2008 were enrolled in the study. Patients in group A (40 patients, 64
      segments) had anterior interbody fusion with stand-alone PEEK cages and patients
      in group B (32 patients, 51 segments) with autogenous iliac crest graft combined
      with anterior plate fixation. The operative time and intraoperative blood loss
      were recorded. Clinical outcomes were evaluated using the Japanese Orthopaedic
      Association (JOA) scoring system; cervical lordosis, intervertebral height, and
      cervical fusion status were assessed on X-ray and computed tomography. FINDINGS:
      The mean follow-up period was 17.3 months in the stand-alone cage group and 23.2
      months in the autologous iliac crest graft group. The operative time and
      intraoperative blood loss in group A were much less than those in group B (p <
      0.05). All the patients in both groups got complete interbody fusion.
      Postoperative JOA scores in both group A and group B were more than the
      preoperative ones with significant differences, and the improvement rate of JOA
      scores had no statistical differences between group A and group B. Postoperative
      cervical physiological curvature and intervertebral height in both groups were
      better than the preoperative ones with statistical significances. CONCLUSIONS:
      The stand-alone PEEK cage is a good substitute for fusion in patients with
      cervical disc disease; it can effectively restore the cervical physiological
      curvature and the intervertebral height, facilitate radiological follow-up, cause
      few complications, and leads to satisfactory outcomes.

PMID- 20924770
TI  - Melon phloem-sap proteome: developmental control and response to viral infection.
AB  - In addition to small molecules such as sugars and amino acids, phloem sap
      contains macromolecules, including mRNA and proteins. It is generally assumed
      that all molecules in the phloem sap are on the move from source to sink, but
      recent evidence suggests that the macromolecules' direction of movement can be
      controlled by endogenous plant mechanisms. To test the hypothesis that the phloem
      sap protein profile is affected by local metabolic activities, we analyzed the
      phloem-sap proteome in young and mature tissues of melon plants. We also examined
      the effect of cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) infection and expression of CMV
      movement protein in transgenic melon plants on the phloem protein profile. Sap
      collected from cut sections of young stems or petioles contained specific
      proteins that were absent from sap collected from mature stems or petioles. Most
      of these proteins were involved in defense response and protection from oxidative
      stress, suggesting that they play a role in maintaining safe activity of the
      sieve tubes in young tissues. Phloem sap collected from CMV-infected plants and
      transgenic plants expressing the CMV movement protein contained only a few
      additional proteins with molecular masses of 18 to 75 kDa. Here again, most of
      the additional proteins were associated with stress responses. Our study
      indicated that the proteome of phloem sap is dynamic and under developmental
      control. Entry and exit of proteins from the sieve tube can be regulated at the
      tissue level. Moreover, the plant can maintain regulation of protein trafficking
      from companion cells to sieve elements under viral infection or other
      perturbations in plasmodesmal function.

PMID- 20924771
TI  - Influence of three mechanical bileaflet prosthetic valve designs on the three
      dimensional flow field inside a simulated aorta.
AB  - The current design of the bileaflet valve, the leaflets of which open outside
      first, differs significantly from the natural valve whose leaflets open center
      first. This difference generates a completely different flow field in the
      bileaflet valve compared to that in the natural heart valve. In a previous study,
      it was demonstrated that the valve design greatly affects the aortic flow field
      as well as the circulatory flow inside sinuses of Valsalva, using saline solution
      as a working fluid. A limited discussion on the turbulence flow field that could
      be generated by the valve was provided. In this continuation of that study,
      therefore, a dynamic PIV study was conducted to analyze the influence of the
      heart valve design on the aortic flow field, and particularly on the turbulent
      profile. This study also aimed to determine the influence of the viscosity of the
      testing fluid. Three bileaflet prostheses-the St. Jude Medical (SJM), the On-X,
      and the MIRA valves-were tested under pulsatile flow conditions. Flow through the
      central orifice of the SJM valve was slower than that through the newer designs.
      The newer designs tend to show strong flow through all orifices. The On-X valve
      generates simple jet-type flow while the MIRA valve with circumferentially curved
      leaflets generates a strong but three-dimensionally diffuse flow, resulting in a
      more complex flow field downstream of the aortic valve with higher turbulence. A
      180 degrees  orientation that is more popular clinically seems to provide a less
      diffuse flow than a 90 degrees  orientation. The effect of increasing the
      viscosity was found to be an increase in the flow velocity through the central
      orifice and a more organized flow field for all of the valves tested.

PMID- 20924772
TI  - Childhood pineal parenchymal tumors: clinical and therapeutic aspects.
AB  - The aim of our study was to investigate the correlation of the clinical
      characteristic of pineal parenchymal tumors in children and adolescent with
      histopathological diagnosis and patient survival. Records of 27 patients with
      histologically diagnosed pineocytomas (n=16) and pineoblastoma (n=11)
      consecutively treated between 1991 and 2001 were reviewed retrospectively to
      identify factors predictive of aggressiveness. Among analyzed epidemiological,
      clinical, and radiological factors, we found that independent prognostic
      indicator in patients with childhood pineal parenchymal tumor was the extent of
      surgical resection.

PMID- 20924773
TI  - Orthostatic tolerance is difficult to predict in recurrent syncope patients.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: We tested the hypothesis that detailed anthropometric and hemodynamic
      measurements predict orthostatic tolerance in neurally mediated syncope patients.
      In addition, we tested whether orthostatic tolerance is related to syncope
      frequency in real life. BACKGROUND: Earlier studies in patients with neurally
      mediated syncope suggested that orthostatic heart rate and blood pressure
      responses predict the tilt table responses with high sensitivity and specificity.
      METHODS: We analyzed data from 157 consecutive patients (n = 100 exploratory
      cohort, n = 57 confirmatory cohort) with recurrent syncope in whom orthostatic
      tolerance was quantified as the time to (pre)syncope during head-up tilt testing
      combined with lower body negative pressure. We measured heart rate, brachial
      blood pressure, cardiac stroke volume, heart rate and blood pressure variability,
      and spontaneous baroreflex sensitivity supine and early during head-up tilt.
      RESULTS: The orthostatic heart rate increase showed the strongest correlation
      with orthostatic tolerance. The best multivariate model including age, supine
      diastolic blood pressure, supine blood pressure variability, as well as tilt
      induced changes in diastolic blood pressure and heart rate explained no more that
      40% of the variability in orthostatic tolerance. The model failed to predict
      orthostatic tolerance in the confirmatory cohort. Frequency or number of free
      living syncopal episodes were only weakly related to orthostatic tolerance.
      CONCLUSIONS: In patients with neurally mediated syncope, orthostatic tolerance in
      the clinical laboratory is difficult to predict with a wide range of
      anthropometric and cardiovascular measurements and correlates poorly with syncope
      occurrence in real life.

PMID- 20924775
TI  - The world through a lens: a history of the Royal Society of London, and the
      discovery of the red blood cell.

PMID- 20924774
TI  - Tissue-type plasminogen activator gene targets thrombolysis in atriums.
AB  - Our previous investigations showed that retroviral gene transfer of tissue-type
      plasminogen activator (tPA) effectively targeted thrombolysis in vitro and in the
      model of inferior caval veins of rabbits. This study is to identify the target
      thrombolysis of retroviral vector recombinant pLEGFP-N1-tPA transferred into the
      tissue around the Dacron patch (the same materials making of the ring of
      mechanical valve) in left atriums of rabbits. 70 Dacron patches were transplanted
      into the left atriums of 70 New Zealand white rabbits. The rabbits were randomly
      divided into three groups according to the different handling methods, including
      local pLEGFP-N1-tPA transferred group (gene therapy group, 30 animals), pLEGFP-N1
      transferred group (control group, 20 animals), medium DMEM + 10% neonate calf
      serum (NCS) injected group (blank control group, 20 animals). Samples of blood,
      Dacron pieces and left atriums (auricles) wall from half of above in each group
      were harvested on second day and another half were harvested on 75th day after
      surgery. The EGFP expression of harvested left atriums (auricles) wall were
      observed under the confocal. The thrombi on the surface of Dacron patches were
      detected by stereoscope and electron microscope. The tPA expression in left
      atriums (auricles) wall and in blood from left atriums were detected by Western
      blot and their thrombolysis and activities were observed and calculated in plasma
      plates. ELISA were used to identify the contents of tPA. No thrombus was seen on
      the surface of Dacron patches that were transplanted in left atriums by tPA
      locally transferring around them. Activity and content of tPA were high in local
      tissue of left atrium and in blood of left atrium. It demonstrated effectively
      thrombolysis by tPA rapidly, efficiently and long expressing. This puts the
      foundation of mechanical valve replacement model for tPA gene valve, next.

PMID- 20924776
TI  - Simultaneous expansion and harvest of hematopoietic stem cells and mesenchymal
      stem cells derived from umbilical cord blood.
AB  - The simultaneous expansion and harvest of hematopoietic stem cells and
      mesenchymal stem cells derived from umbilical cord blood were carried out using
      bioreactors. The co-culture of umbilical cord blood (UCB)-derived hematopoietic
      stem cells (HSCs) and mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) was performed within spinner
      flasks and a rotating wall vessel (RWV) bioreactor using glass-coated styrene
      copolymer (GCSC) microcarriers. The medium used was composed of serum-free IMDM
      containing a cocktail of SCF 15 ng.mL(-1), FL 5 ng.mL(-1), TPO 6 ng.mL(-1), IL-3
      15 ng.mL(-1), G-CSF 1 ng.mL(-1) and GM-CSF 5 ng.mL(-1). Accessory stromal cells
      derived from normal allogeneic adipose tissue were encapsulated in alginate
      chitosan (AC) beads and used as feeding cells. The quality of the harvested UCB
      HSCs and MSCs was assessed by immunophenotype analysis, methylcellulose colony
      and multi-lineage differentiation assays. After 12 days of culture, the fold
      expansion of total cell numbers, colony-forming units (CFU-C),
      CD34(+)/CD45(+)/CD105(-) (HSCs) cells and CD34(-)/CD45(-)/CD105(+) (MSCs) cells
      using the RWV bioreactor were (3.7 +/- 0.3)- , (5.1 +/- 1.2)- , (5.2 +/- 0.4)- ,
      and (13.9 +/- 1.2)-fold respectively, significantly better than those obtained
      using spinner flasks. Moreover, UCB-HSCs and UCB-MSCs could be easily separated
      by gravity sedimentation after the co-culture period as only UCB-MSCs adhered on
      to the microcarriers. Simultaneously, we found that the fibroblast-like cells
      growing on the surface of the GCSC microcarriers could be induced and
      differentiated towards the osteoblastic, chondrocytic and adipocytic lineages.
      Phenotypically, these cells were very similarly to the MSCs derived from bone
      marrow positively expressing the MSCs-related markers CD13, CD44, CD73 and CD105,
      while negatively expressing the HSCs-related markers CD34, CD45 and HLA-DR. It
      was thus demonstrated that the simultaneous expansion and harvest of UCB-HSCs and
      UCB-MSCs is possible to be accomplished using a feasible bioreactor culture
      system such as the RWV bioreactor with the support of GCSC microcarriers.

PMID- 20924777
TI  - What types of jobs do people with disabilities want?
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Do non-employed people with disabilities want to work, and if so,
      what types of jobs do they want? Researchers seeking to explain the low
      employment rate among people with disabilities have focused primarily on skill
      gaps, employment disincentives from disability income, accommodation mandates,
      and (to a lesser extent) employer attitudes and unwelcoming corporate cultures.
      There has been little attention paid to the attitudes of non-employed people with
      disabilities. METHODS: This paper uses the 2006 General Social Survey, a
      representative national survey of US adults that has disability information and a
      special supplement on worker preferences, to examine the above question. RESULTS:
      We find that, relative to their non-disabled counterparts, non-employed people
      with disabilities are (a) as likely to want a job but less likely to be actively
      searching, (b) as likely to have prior job experience, and (c) similar in their
      views of the importance of income, job security, and other valued job
      characteristics. The results, which vary little by type of impairment, indicate
      that the low employment rate of people with disabilities is not due to their
      reluctance to work or different job preferences. CONCLUSION: Combined with
      evidence that a large share of new jobs can be performed by people with
      disabilities, the findings point toward the value of dismantling barriers to
      employment facing many people with disabilities.

PMID- 20924778
TI  - Internet use, recreational travel, and HIV risk behaviors in men who have sex
      with men.
AB  - Previous studies have documented higher rates of HIV risk behavior in gay and
      bisexual men traveling for leisure. Most of these studies collected data in high
      risk tourist areas known for promoting alcohol and other substance use. The
      present study sampled a broader range of men by collecting data at a Gay Pride
      celebration, and asking participants about vacation experiences over the past 12
      months. We also collected information about men's use of the Internet to find
      sexual partners before they traveled. Overall, two-thirds of participants
      reported recreational travel in the previous year. Of these men, 17% reported
      having sex with a new partner during their most recent vacation. Forty-three
      percent of the respondents were sexually active during their vacation. Sexually
      active participants reported a mean of 2.01 unprotected anal sex acts during
      their brief vacation stay (M = 6.2 days). Close to half of the sexually-active
      men reported having sex with a partner of unknown HIV status. Alcohol and drug
      use were associated with unprotected sex. Men who used the Internet to set up
      dates prior to travel reported significantly more sexual partners and were
      significantly more likely to report having sex with a new partner. Many gay and
      bisexual men on vacation report behaviors that may place their health at risk,
      including substance use and unprotected sexual activity. Interventions designed
      to reduce risk behaviors in this population are needed.

PMID- 20924779
TI  - Rural Latino youth park use: characteristics, park amenities, and physical
      activity.
AB  - Less than half of youth engage in sufficient physical activity to achieve health
      benefits. Key environmental factors of park and recreation spaces may influence
      youth physical activity. We sought to ascertain youth characteristics and
      behaviors that attract youth to parks with specific amenities and encourage
      physical activity while at the parks in a rural, predominantly Latino community.
      We examined the quality of amenities in the 13 parks and recreation spaces that
      middle school aged youth have access to in their community using the
      Environmental Assessment of Parks and Recreation Spaces (EAPRS) tool. Middle
      school students completed surveys in the school classroom (n = 1,102) regarding
      park use, physical activity, and intrapersonal characteristics (e.g.,
      motivators). We used logistic regression to identify correlates of any park use,
      use of higher quality field and court parks, and active and sedentary park use.
      Younger age, participation in an after school activity, and identification of a
      team as a motivator were positively associated with any park use. Use of higher
      quality court and field parks was associated with participation in an after
      school activity and being Latino. The odds of being active in the parks were
      greater for boys and Latinos. Older age and alcohol use are correlated with being
      sedentary at the park, while odds of being sedentary at the park were lower for
      boys and youth who met physical activity guidelines. Organized team activities
      may encourage active use of higher quality fields and courts parks by Latino
      youth; thereby, increasing their level of physical activity.

PMID- 20924780
TI  - To be healthy and to live long, we have to exercise: psychosocial factors related
      to physical activity among Cambodian Americans.
AB  - Regular physical activity produces various health benefits; however, relatively
      few adults in the United States (US) get enough physical activity. Little is
      known about physical activity behaviors, and barriers and facilitators to
      physical activity among Cambodian-Americans. Cambodian Americans were recruited
      from community venues to participate in one-on-one interviews and focus groups. A
      total of 20 adults (10 women and 10 men) participated in one-on-one interviews
      and 37 adults (23 women and 14 men) participated in one of four focus groups.
      Fifteen of the 20 interviews and all the focus groups were conducted in Khmer.
      Participants were generally born in Cambodia and over two-thirds had a high
      school education or less. About one-half of the participants met or exceeded the
      2008 US Department of Health and Human Services physical activity guidelines.
      Commonly reported types of physical activity were walking, running, and working
      out at the gym. Barriers to physical activity included lack of time, inconvenient
      work hours, and family responsibilities. Perceived benefits of physical activity
      included improved health, improved appearance, and reductions in stress. Sweating
      caused by physical activity was thought to produce a variety of health benefits.
      Data from this qualitative study could be used to inform the development of
      culturally-relevant physical activity survey measures and culturally-relevant
      physical activity interventions for Cambodian Americans.

PMID- 20924781
TI  - Impact of timing of sex education on teenage pregnancy in Nigeria: cross
      sectional survey of secondary school students.
AB  - The objective of this study was to explore whether the time at which sex
      education was provided had any impact on reported cases of unintended
      pregnancies. A cross-sectional survey of secondary school students and their
      teachers was conducted using self-administered questionnaires. The participants
      were 1,234 students aged 14-17 years and 46 teachers in 5 secondary schools in
      South Eastern Nigeria. The outcome measures were reported pregnancies within the
      last 3 years by type of school and class level; class level at the time of
      receiving sex education at school; and age at the time of receiving sex education
      at home. In all schools, sex education was provided at all the junior and senior
      secondary school levels (JSS and SSS, respectively). Overall, reported cases of
      unintended pregnancies were highest among the junior students. In the private
      schools, four in ten teachers reported pregnancies among JSS 3 students. Almost
      four in ten teachers in public schools reported pregnancies among JSS 2 students.
      Of all the students, about three in ten reported pregnancies among JSS 2 and 3
      students respectively. At home, sex education was provided at the mean age of 16
      years (SD +/- 2.2). All participants cited financial need and marital promise as
      major predisposing factors. About four in ten students did not use contraceptives
      during their first sexual experience. This study highlights the need to introduce
      sex education much earlier, possibly before the JSS levels. At home, sex
      education may have greater impact if provided before the age of 14 years. Efforts
      should be made to address the factors predisposing to teenage pregnancy.

PMID- 20924782
TI  - Dangerous subtlety: relationship-related determinants of consistency of condom
      use among female sex workers and their regular, non-commercial partners in Hai
      Phong, Viet Nam.
AB  - Research indicates female sex workers use condoms more consistently with their
      clients than with regular, non-commercial partners (partners). The purpose of
      this study was to better understand the relationship between couple communication
      and HIV risk behavior by examining (1) sex worker-partner divergence on
      communication measures and (2) the association between intra-couple communication
      divergence and consistent condom use. In this cross-sectional study, 50 sex
      workers and their partners in Hai Phong, Viet Nam were separately asked about
      their relationships and condom use. When asked about HIV risk communication in
      their relationship, sex workers reported significantly higher HIV communication
      content than their partners (p < 0.001). Higher communication divergence between
      partners was associated with a decreased likelihood of consistent condom use (OR
      0.54 95% CI 0.30, 0.97). Sex workers urgently need interventions that build their
      communication skills and address their risk behavior in non-commercial
      relationships.

PMID- 20924784
TI  - Sequence analysis of the lactoferrin gene and variation of g.7605C->T in 10
      Chinese indigenous goat breeds.
AB  - Much attention has been focused on the study of lactoferrin at the protein or
      nucleotide level in mice, humans, and cattle, but little is known about it in
      goats. The goat LF gene from 5' UTR to exon 17 was amplified, and the variation
      of g.7605C->T in 10 Chinese indigenous goat breeds was analyzed. Among the three
      ruminant species (cattle, sheep, and goats), the intron-exon distribution pattern
      was similar, and all the exons had the same length, but the length of introns
      varied greatly due to insertions or deletions. The frequency of allele T at
      g.7605C->T (50.12%) was a little higher than that of allele C (49.88%), and the
      genotype distribution differed greatly between goat populations. The g.7605C->T
      site showed higher genetic diversity in goat populations. The genetic
      differentiation was 0.0783, and gene flow was 2.9433 among the 10 Chinese
      indigenous goat populations.

PMID- 20924783
TI  - Scaling up circumcision programs in Southern Africa: the potential impact of
      gender disparities and changes in condom use behaviors on heterosexual HIV
      transmission.
AB  - Circumcision significantly reduces female-to-male transmission of HIV infection,
      but changes in behavior may influence the overall impact on transmission. We
      sought to explore these effects, particularly for societies where women have less
      power to negotiate safe sex. We developed a compartmental epidemic model to
      simulate the population-level impact of various circumcision programs on
      heterosexual HIV transmission in Soweto. We incorporated gender-specific
      negotiation of condom use in sexual partnerships and explored post-circumcision
      changes in condom use. A 5-year prevention program in which only an additional
      10% of uncircumcised males undergo circumcision each year, for example, would
      prevent 13% of the expected new HIV infections over 20 years. Outcomes were
      sensitive to potential changes in behavior and differed by gender. For Southern
      Africa, even modest programs offering circumcision would result in significant
      benefits. Because decreases in male condom use could diminish these benefits,
      particularly for women, circumcision programs should emphasize risk-reduction
      counseling.

PMID- 20924785
TI  - Molecular cloning and expression profile analysis of three sunflower (Helianthus
      annuus) diterpene synthase genes.
AB  - ent-Kaurene, a key precursor of gibberellins, is formed by the action of two
      diterpene synthases (diTPSs), ent-copalyl diphosphate synthase (CPS), and ent
      kaurene synthase (KS). The full-length cDNAs of CPS- (HaCPS1L) and KS-like
      (HaKS2L and HaKS3L) genes were isolated from sunflower. The amino acid sequences
      of HaCPS1L, HaKS2L, and HaKS3L exhibit structural features and homology to diTPSs
      of several plant species involved in gibberellin biosynthesis. RT-PCR analysis
      indicates that the expression of all genes (HaCPS1L, HaKS2L, and HaKS3L) is
      highly regulated during growth and development. All three diTPSs are
      preferentially expressed in rapidly growing tissues. HaKS2L is expressed at a
      much lower level than the other two diTPS genes. During seed development, the
      high level of both HaCPS1L and HaKS3L transcripts correlated with the period of
      rapid growth of the embryo. The three diTPS genes are not subjected to feedback
      regulation by gibberellin activity.

PMID- 20924786
TI  - New graduates' conceptions of and approaches to veterinary professional practice,
      and relationships to achievement during an undergraduate internship programme.
AB  - New graduate veterinarians report differing experiences of the transition to
      practice. Some make a rapid transition to professional autonomy while others
      require prolonged and extensive support from their colleagues. Factors
      contributing to this variation are unclear. This study used phenomenography to
      analyse the conceptions of and approaches to veterinary professional practice
      (VPP) reported by new graduates in semi-structured interviews (n = 22).
      Quantitative statistical analysis was used to investigate links between the
      quality of graduates' experiences and their achievement during a comprehensive
      final year internship programme. Strong associations were identified between the
      quality of graduates' conceptions of and approaches to VPP. Links were also
      established between the quality of graduates' conceptions of VPP and their
      performance in practice prior to graduation. The outcomes of this research can be
      used to improve teaching and assessment during final year internships and enhance
      graduate attribute statements for professional degree programmes. The results
      also indicate that student learning research methodologies can be used to
      evaluate the quality of graduates' experiences in the workplace. This has
      implications for career outcomes research in a range of healthcare professions.

PMID- 20924787
TI  - Silica-supported sulfonic acid-functionalized ionic liquid coated with
      [bmim][PF6] as a scavenger for the synthesis of amides.
AB  - The methodology of using a silica gel-supported functionalized ionic liquid as a
      scavenger in the purification of parallel synthesis products was demonstrated.
      Silica-supported sulfonic acid-functional ionic liquid was synthesized by
      etherification, aminate, and quaternary aminate from activated silica gel and 3
      chloropropyl trimethoxysilane, imidazole, and 1,4-butanesultone, which was
      followed by acidification using trifluoromethanesulfonic acid and anion exchange
      with potassium hexafluorophosphate. A conventional ionic liquid, 1-butyl-3
      methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate was then used to coat the surface of the
      silica gel. The silica-supported functionalized ionic liquid was used as a
      scavenger in the removal of excess amine in the parallel synthesis of amides.
      Desired products were obtained in excellent yields and purity with a
      sequestration time of less than 100 min at room temperature. After scavenging,
      the scavenger was easily filtered out and regenerated.

PMID- 20924788
TI  - Crisis visits and psychiatric hospitalizations among patients attending a
      community clinic in rural Southern California.
AB  - Ethnic minorities from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds report increased
      utilization of mental health emergency services; however findings have been
      inconsistent across ethnic/racial groups. In this study we describe patients who
      present to a rural crisis unit in Southern California, examine rates of
      psychiatric hospitalizations across ethnic/racial groups, and investigate factors
      that are associated with increased psychiatric hospitalizations in this sample.
      This is a retrospective study of 451 racially and ethnically diverse patients
      attending a crisis unit in Imperial County, California. Chart review and data
      abstraction methods were used to characterize the sample and identify factors
      associated with psychiatric crises and subsequent hospitalizations. The sample
      was predominantly Latino/Hispanic (58.5%). Based on chart review, common
      psychosocial stressors which prompted a crisis center visit were: (a) financial
      problems; (b) homelessness; (c) partner or family conflict; (d) physical and
      health problems; (e) problems at school/work; (f) medication compliance; (g)
      aggressive behavior; (h) delusional behavior; (i) addiction and (j)
      anxiety/depression. Bivariate analyses revealed that Hispanics had a
      disproportionately lower rate of psychiatric hospitalizations while African
      Americans had a higher rate. Multivariate analyses which included demographic,
      clinical and psychosocial stressor variables revealed that being African
      American, having a psychotic disorder, and presenting as gravely disabled were
      associated with a higher likelihood of hospitalization while partner/family
      conflict was associated with a lesser likelihood in this rural community. These
      data elucidate the need for longitudinal studies to understand the interactions
      between psychosocial stressors, ethnicity and social support as determinants of
      psychiatric hospitalizations.

PMID- 20924789
TI  - Intimate partner violence among Iraqi immigrant women in Metro Detroit: a pilot
      study.
AB  - Violence against women is an important public health problem. The objective of
      this study was to examine the prevalence of intimate partner violence (IPV) among
      immigrant Iraqi women, and to explore the association between IPV and self-rated
      health. A pilot study using a previously published, self-report questionnaire was
      carried out among a convenience sampling of 55 Iraqi women in greater Detroit.
      The overall prevalence of controlling behavior, threatening behavior, and
      physical violence was 93, 76, and 80%, respectively. Approximately 40% of the
      women reported having poor or fair health, and 90% reported experiencing one or
      more types of psychosomatic symptoms. Self-rated health was inversely related to
      exposure to threatening behavior and physical violence, and positively related to
      knowledge of one's legal rights. The prevalence of IPV in this sample was high.
      Results indicated a significant association between exposure to IPV and women's
      physical health and psychosomatic symptoms.

PMID- 20924790
TI  - Report from the 4th annual Society of Cardiac Computed Tomography Japan Forum.

PMID- 20924791
TI  - Assessment of left ventricular volumes; reliable by gated SPECT?

PMID- 20924792
TI  - The culprit lesion score on multi-detector computed tomography can detect
      vulnerable coronary artery plaque.
AB  - Vulnerable plaques are characterized by large lipid cores, positive remodeling
      and small coronary calcium deposits. Multi-detector computed tomography (MDCT)
      has recently been shown to be able to characterize coronary artery plaques. The
      aim of this study was to evaluate culprit coronary lesions for differentiating
      acute coronary syndrome (ACS) from stable angina pectoris (SAP) using MDCT. 64
      slice MDCT was conducted on 71 patients (ACS: 35, SAP: 36). The culprit coronary
      lesions were assessed according to the type and plaque attenuation (PA) of the
      plaque and the remodeling index (RI) as the ratio of the lesion and the reference
      area. The culprit lesion score (CLS) was defined as the sum of every score as 1.2
      for a PA <= 60 Hounsfield units (HU), 1.1 for a RI >= 1.05 and 1.2 for a non
      calcified or spotty calcification. More spotty calcification (95.0% vs. 23.1%, P
      < 0.001), a lower PA (40.17 +/- 20.08 HU vs. 96.96 +/- 58.19 HU, respectively, P
      < 0.001) and a higher RI (1.44 +/- 0.43 vs. 0.90 +/- 0.44, respectively, P <
      0.001) were observed in the ACS patients. Also, the CLS of the ACS patients was
      significantly higher than that of the SAP patients (3.07 +/- 0.63 vs. 1.18 +/-
      1.12, respectively, P < 0.001). A CLS more than 2.0 helped us to differentiate
      ACS from SAP with a sensitivity of 97.1% and a specificity of 67.6%. The CLS
      might be a useful tool for differentiating ACS from SAP.

PMID- 20924793
TI  - Reproducibility in the assessment of noncalcified coronary plaque with 256-slice
      multi-detector CT and automated plaque analysis software.
AB  - We aimed to assess intra- and inter-observer reproducibility in evaluating volume
      and characteristics of non-calcified coronary plaques (NCPs) using a 256-slice
      multi-detector computed tomography (MDCT) angiography and dedicated automated
      plaque analysis software in asymptomatic individuals. Forty-two NCPs from 39
      patients with a vessel diameter >2 mm were evaluated using a 256-slice MDCT with
      dedicated automated plaque analysis software. Two independent observers analyzed
      the characteristics of NCPs, including plaque volume (vol), mean CT number of the
      NCPs in Hounsfield units (HU(mean)), and remodeling index (RI). One of the
      observers repeated the evaluation of all datasets after an interval of at least 4
      weeks. Bland-Altman analysis and concordance correlation coefficients (CCCs) were
      used to determine intra- and inter-observer variability. For vol measurements,
      the 95% limits of agreement were -21.6 and 13.2 mm(3), and -24.6 and 20.3 mm(3)
      for intra- and inter-observer variability, respectively. For HU(mean)
      measurements, the 95% limits of agreement were -22.2 and 20.8 HU, and -21.1 and
      21.0 HU for intra- and inter-observer variability, respectively. For RI
      measurements, the 95% limits of agreement were -0.38 and 0.39, and -0.51 and 0.36
      for intra- and inter-observer variability, respectively. The CCCs was very high
      for all measurements, ranging from 0.90 to 0.98. Using 256-slice MDCT with
      dedicated automated plaque analysis software, intra- and inter-observer
      reproducibility were excellent in evaluating the volume and characteristics of
      NCP in asymptomatic individuals.

PMID- 20924794
TI  - ASCI 2010 standardized practice protocol for cardiac magnetic resonance imaging:
      a report of the Asian society of cardiovascular imaging cardiac computed
      tomography and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging guideline working group.
AB  - These practice guidelines are recommended by the Asian Society of Cardiovascular
      Imaging (ASCI), the sole society in Asia designated for cardiovascular imaging,
      to provide a framework to healthcare providers for suggested essential elements
      in cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) examinations of different disease spectra.
      The guideline is composed of recommendations on the general technique,
      acquisition of some basic modules, and protocols on stress tests. The protocols
      for specific diseases are provided in a table format for quick reference to be
      easily utilized for everyday clinical CMR.

PMID- 20924795
TI  - Induction of the mitochondria apoptosis pathway by phytohemagglutinin
      erythroagglutinating in human lung cancer cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Deregulation of apoptosis will influence the balance of cell
      proliferation and cell death, resulting in various fatal diseases that can
      include cancer. In prior research reports related to cancer therapy,
      phytohemagglutinin, a lectin extracted from red kidney beans, demonstrated the
      ability to inhibit the growth of human cancer cells. However, one of its
      isoforms, erythroagglutinating, has yet to be evaluated on its anticancer
      effects. METHODS: PHA-E was used to induce apoptosis of A-549 lung cancer cells
      and the possible signal transduction pathway was elucidated, as measured by the
      MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay, G6PD
      release assay, flow cytometry, and Western blot analysis. RESULTS: PHA-E
      treatment caused a dose-dependent increase of cell growth inhibition and
      cytotoxicity on A-549 cells. In annexin V/propidium iodide [i.e., PI] and TUNEL
      (terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick-end labeling)/PI assay, we found
      that the rate of apoptotic cells was raised as the concentration of PHA-E
      increased. Treatment of A-549 cells with PHA-E resulted in enhancing the release
      of cytochrome c, which thus activated an increase in caspase 9 and caspase 3, the
      upregulation of Bax and Bad, the downregulation of Bcl-2 and phosphorylated Bad,
      and finally the inhibition of the epidermal growth factor receptor and its
      downstream signal pathway PI3K/Akt and MEK/ERK. CONCLUSIONS: PHA-E can induce
      growth inhibition and cytotoxicity of lung cancer cells, which is mediated
      through an activation of the mitochondria apoptosis pathway. These results
      suggest that PHA-E can be developed into a new therapeutic treatment that can be
      applied as an effective anti-lung cancer drug in the near future.

PMID- 20924796
TI  - Analysis of prognostic factors and a proposed new classification for invasive
      papillary mucinous neoplasms.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The characteristics of invasive type-intraductal papillary mucinous
      neoplasm (invasive IPMN) have not been fully explored due to limited reports.
      Furthermore, a straightforward method is needed to describe its aggressiveness.
      The purpose of this study was to investigate prognostic factors and to examine
      the clinical significance of percentage pancreatic volume occupied by the
      invasive component in invasive IPMN. METHODS: Of 217 patients who underwent
      surgical resection with a diagnosis of IPMN between 2001 and 2008, 41 had
      invasive IPMC. We serially sectioned pancreatic parenchyma at 5-7-mm intervals.
      Whole slides were reviewed by a pancreas-biliary tract special pathologist, who
      determined the percentage pancreatic volumes occupied by the invasive components
      (IC%) in whole IPMN lesions. RESULTS: By multivariate analysis, perineural
      invasion, metastasis, AJCC stage, and invasive component percentage (IC%)
      significantly predicted prognosis. IC% was found to be significantly associated
      with survival. Patients with an IC% <10 had a 3-year survival rate (YSR) of 100%,
      whereas patients with an IC% >50% had a 3 YSR of 36.5% and those with an IC% of
      10-50% had a 3 YSR of 71.4% (p = 0.041). CONCLUSIONS: In addition to conventional
      prognostic factors, such as AJCC stage and perineural invasion, the percentage of
      pancreatic volume occupied by the invasive component (IC%) appears to be an
      important prognostic factor in invasive IPMN. The concept of IC% is
      straightforward, semiquantitative, and objective, and offers a means of
      determining tumor aggressiveness; hence, it could be a means of classifying
      invasive IPMN.

PMID- 20924797
TI  - Environmental fluctuations and level of density-compensation strongly affects the
      probability of fixation and fixation times.
AB  - The probability of, and time to, fixation of a mutation in a population has
      traditionally been studied by the classic Wright-Fisher model where population
      size is constant. Recent theoretical expansions have covered fluctuating
      populations in various ways but have not incorporated models of how the
      environment fluctuates in combination with different levels of density
      compensation affecting fecundity. We tested the hypothesis that the probability
      of, and time to, fixation of neutral, advantageous and deleterious mutations is
      dependent on how the environment fluctuates over time, and on the level of
      density-compensation. We found that fixation probabilities and times were
      dependent on the pattern of autocorrelation of carrying capacity over time and
      interacted with density-compensation. The pattern found was most pronounced at
      small population sizes. The patterns differed greatly depending on whether the
      mutation was neutral, advantageous, or disadvantageous. The results indicate that
      the degree of mismatch between carrying capacity and population size is a key
      factor, rather than population size per se, and that effective population sizes
      can be very low also when the census population size is far above the carrying
      capacity. This study highlights the need for explicit population dynamic models
      and models for environmental fluctuations for the understanding of the dynamics
      of genes in populations.

PMID- 20924798
TI  - Demographics, nature and treatment of orthopaedic trauma injuries occurring in an
      agricultural context in the West of Ireland.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Farming is a major industry in the West of Ireland. This prospective
      study examined the age profile, nature and treatment of orthopaedic injuries
      occurring in agricultural surroundings presenting at the Orthopaedic Unit of
      Merlin Park Hospital, Galway. METHODS: The cohort consisted of 70 direct or
      indirect farm employees presenting with orthopaedic injuries caused in an
      accident occurring on a farm. RESULTS: There were significantly (P < 0.01) more
      male than female farmers (73 vs. 27%) with a mean age of 63 years (ranging from
      13 to 87 years). Average number of out-patient visits related to the injury was
      3.6. Injuries involving livestock resulted in the majority of accidents (P <
      0.05) with a significant rise in the number of visits with increasing age (P <
      0.01) with older patients having more severe injuries. Soft tissue injuries and
      fractures were commonly encountered. Complex fractures were the slowest injury to
      heal requiring eight subsequent out-patient visits.

PMID- 20924799
TI  - Regulation of calpain-2 in neurons: implications for synaptic plasticity.
AB  - The family of calcium-dependent neutral proteases, calpains, was discovered more
      than 30 years ago, but their functional roles in the nervous system under
      physiological or pathological conditions still remain unclear. Although calpain
      was proposed to participate in synaptic plasticity and in learning and memory in
      the early 1980s, the precise mechanism regarding its activation, its target(s)
      and the functional consequences of its activation have remained controversial. A
      major issue has been the identification of roles of the two major calpain
      isoforms present in the brain, calpain-1 and calpain-2, and the calcium
      requirement for their activation, which exceeds levels that could be reached
      intracellularly under conditions leading to changes in synaptic efficacy. In this
      review, we discussed the features of calpains that make them ideally suited to
      link certain patterns of presynaptic activity to the structural modifications of
      dendritic spines that could underlie synaptic plasticity and learning and memory.
      We then summarize recent findings that provide critical answers to the various
      questions raised by the initial hypothesis, and that further support the idea
      that, in brain, calpain-2 plays critical roles in developmental and adult
      synaptic plasticity.

PMID- 20924801
TI  - Benefit of heart rate reduction in heart failure.

PMID- 20924800
TI  - Association cortex hypoperfusion in mild dementia with Lewy bodies: a potential
      indicator of cholinergic dysfunction?
AB  - Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) is often associated with occipital hypometabolism
      or hypoperfusion, as well as deficits in cholinergic neurotransmission. In this
      study, 11 mild DLB, 16 mild AD and 16 age-matched controls underwent arterial
      spin-labeled perfusion MRI (ASL-pMRI) and neuropsychological testing. Patterns of
      cerebral blood flow (CBF) and cognitive performance were compared. In addition,
      combined ASL-pMRI and ChEI drug challenge (pharmacologic MRI) was tested as a
      probe of cholinergic function in 4 of the DLB participants. Frontal and parieto
      occipital hypoperfusion was observed in both DLB and AD but was more pronounced
      in DLB. Following ChEI treatment, perfusion increased in temporal and parieto
      occipital cortex, and cognitive performance improved on a verbal fluency task. If
      confirmed in a larger study, these results provide further evidence for brain
      cholinergic dysfunction in DLB pathophysiology, and use of pharmacologic MRI as
      an in vivo measure of cholinergic function.

PMID- 20924803
TI  - Off-label drug use in pediatric anesthesia and intensive care according to
      official and pediatric reference formularies.
AB  - PURPOSE: In pediatric practice, the official drug label often does not accurately
      reflect the contemporary use of many drugs prescribed to children. Therefore,
      clinicians frequently use contemporary drug references as a source of prescribing
      information instead of national formularies. The objective of this study was to
      compare drug prescriptions between two national formularies and two commonly used
      contemporary pediatric reference guidelines in the operating room/postanesthetic
      care unit (OR/PACU), pediatric intensive care unit (PICU), and neonatal intensive
      care unit (NICU). METHODS: We performed a retrospective chart review of patients
      admitted over a one-month period to the NICU and PICU, and for one week during
      the same month, we reviewed charts of patients in the OR/PACU. The data collected
      included patients' demographic information, drugs prescribed, and dosage
      information. We assessed conformity with two national formularies, the Canadian
      Compendium of Pharmaceuticals and Specialties (CPS) and France's 2009
      Dictionnaire Vidal (Vidal), and two contemporary pediatric references, the
      Hospital for Sick Children Handbook and Formulary and the Lexi-Comp Pediatric
      Dosage Handbook. RESULTS: Across the three clinical units, 59.7% (95% confidence
      interval [CI] 57.1-62.1%) of prescriptions were identified as being off-label, as
      defined by the CPS formulary. The odds of having an off-label prescription would
      have been substantially lower if the contemporary pediatric references (odds
      ratio [OR] = 0.074; 95% CI 0.065-0.084) or Vidal (OR = 0.70; 95% CI 0.63-0.77)
      had been used to define the label (both P < 0.001 compared with the CPS).
      CONCLUSION: Drugs are less likely to be off-label if prescribed according to a
      contemporary pediatric reference rather than according to national formularies.
      Methodologies used to compile contemporary references might serve as templates to
      inform a drug's official label.

PMID- 20924804
TI  - Editorial: osteoimmunology.

PMID- 20924806
TI  - Comparison of MALDI TOF with conventional identification of clinically relevant
      bacteria.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A completely new approach to diagnose microbial agents at least one
      day earlier based on mass spectrometric analysis becomes possible in the
      microbiology laboratory: MALDI TOF: matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation
      time-of-flight. Comparison between results of the new procedure with those
      obtained by conventional testing is mandatory. METHODS: 204 clinical isolates
      grown on agar plates were analysed both, by the MALDI TOF Bruker microflex
      apparatus and by conventional identification using the VITEK II and API systems,
      both from bioMerieux. RESULTS: Of the identified isolates, 72 were gram-positive
      and 130 gram-negative; 2 were yeasts (candida). Concordance was seen with 61/72
      (85%) of the Gram-positive bacteria and with 115/130 (88%) of the Gram-negative
      bacteria. In 27 samples (13.2%), a discrepancy of the species and/or genus was
      obvious. The discrepancy appeared with 16 gram-negative (12.2%) and with 11 gram
      positive germs (15.3%, n.s.). In the latter group, 6 samples showed discordance
      with Streptococcus pneumoniae (MALDI) and Streptococcus mitis/oralis
      (conventional identification) constellation. Among gram-negative samples, most
      differences occurred on the species level only, e.g. Enterobacter cloacae versus
      Enterobacter kobei. In 5 cases, discordance was major and appeared on the genus
      level: Enterobacter/Raoultella, Streptococcus/Gemella, Pseumdomonas/Burkholderia,
      Microbacter/Sphingomonas and Candida/Cryptococcus. The most outstanding
      difference was Microbacterium arborescens (MALDI TOF) and Sphingomonas
      paucimobilis (conventional). Molecular biological identification of two
      Streptococcus mitis group bacteria confirmed the erroneous diagnosis by MALDI TOF
      of Streptococcus pneumoniae. CONCLUSION: Good comparability between MALDI TOF
      analysis and conventional identification procedures (86.8%) but special caution
      is needed when identifying streptococcal species.

PMID- 20924807
TI  - Credit and authorship practices: educational and environmental influences.
AB  - A survey on credit issues of academic chemists in U.S. Ph.D.-granting
      institutions was conducted. The respondents rated 15 criteria for authorship of
      scientific publications; core intellectual contributions received the highest
      ratings although making a single suggestion that was essential to the successful
      completion of the project was rated very low. Acquisition of data was also rated
      highly. The respondents rated eight potential influences on their own "policy"
      toward giving credit; doing what "seems to be the right thing" was the highest
      rated influence followed by graduate educational experiences; professional
      society or other responsible conduct of research (RCR) institutional policies
      were rated, by far, the lowest.

PMID- 20924808
TI  - Open review of science publications.
AB  - Publication of scientific research in print is traditionally peer reviewed
      anonymously prior to publication, which is a time-tested process but has serious
      limitations. The advent of the Internet permits postpublication open review
      online after minimal review by the editors or the author-selected reviewers,
      which can be quick, that permits the authors to revise the content. Most
      meritorious articles published online may be selected for publication in print as
      annual or biennial collections.

PMID- 20924809
TI  - Commentary: the public health consequences of an industry-influenced psychiatric
      taxonomy: "attenuated psychotic symptoms syndrome" as a case example.
AB  - Determining the distribution of psychiatric disorders and developing sound
      preventive and intervention practices are pressing public health issues. Since at
      present mental disorders lack biological markers, psychiatric taxonomies must
      grapple with how best to address issues of validity and reliability. With the
      increasing congruence between the International Classification of Diseases (ICD
      11) and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V)
      (American Psychiatric Association, 2010), it is imperative that decisions
      regarding the inclusion of new disorders be research-based and not unduly
      influenced by industry. The first draft of DSM-V, recently made public, has
      created a firestorm of controversy, for the DSM's nomenclature of disease or
      other pathology not only affects such disparate domains as jurisprudence and
      insurance claims but is also an instrument designed to facilitate research on
      psychopathology.

PMID- 20924810
TI  - Sigsearch: a new term for post hoc unplanned search for statistically significant
      relationships with the intent to create publishable findings.
AB  - Post-hoc secondary data analysis with no prespecified hypotheses has been
      discouraged by textbook authors and journal editors alike. Unfortunately no
      single term describes this phenomenon succinctly. I would like to coin the term
      "sigsearch" to define this practice and bring it within the teaching lexicon of
      statistics courses. Sigsearch would include any unplanned, post-hoc search for
      statistical significance using multiple comparisons of subgroups. It would also
      include data analysis with outcomes other than the prespecified primary outcome
      measure of a study as well as secondary data analyses of earlier research.

PMID- 20924811
TI  - The 10-word learning task in the differential diagnosis of early Alzheimer's
      disease and elderly depression: A cross-sectional pilot study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Identification of early Alzheimer's disease (AD) has become very
      important. Episodic memory tasks appear to have predictive power for indicating
      early AD. Deficits in encoding and storage processes that are characteristic of
      AD, however, must be distinguished from non-AD deficits that can also affect
      memory, including difficulties that may be present in depression. This pilot
      study was set up to ascertain whether a 10-word-list-learning task (delayed
      recognition and rate of forgetting) may be useful in making the differentiation
      between mild AD and depression. METHOD: A Dutch version of Rey's auditory verbal
      learning test was administered to 36 mild AD patients, 41 depressed patients, and
      47 healthy controls. Data were analyzed in a cross-sectional manner. RESULTS:
      Receiver operating characteristic analyses showed that for differentiating mild
      AD and depression, both delayed recognition and percentage of forgetting have
      sufficient diagnostic accuracy. CONCLUSION: Percentage of forgetting had the
      highest diagnostic accuracy for differentiating mild AD and depressed patients
      and may be useful in the early detection of AD.

PMID- 20924812
TI  - The effects of enhanced program review and staff training on the management of
      aggression among clients in a long-term neurobehavioral rehabilitation program.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This article examined the effects of staff training, staff support
      groups, and increased client behavior monitoring on the rate of physical
      aggression toward peers and objects in an older neurobehavioral population
      treated in a long-term neurorehabilitation program. METHODS: During the 15 months
      of data collection, programmatic enhancements were introduced including: Staff
      training and support groups, comprehensive assessment and individualized program
      development, and client-centered weekly and systemic monthly behavior management
      review. Incidents of physical aggression were assessed using staff report. Data
      were corroborated using multiple sources including, medical records, written
      incident reports, and Overt Aggression Scale-Modified for Neurorehabilitation -
      Extended (OAS-MNR-E). RESULTS: A total of 267 clients were present in the
      facility during the reporting period. The clients had neurobehavioral disability
      of various origins, 73% had a psychiatric diagnosis in addition to one or more
      medical diagnoses, and 58% had a dementia diagnosis. An already low rate of
      incidents of physical aggression per client month (0.02) was reduced by 77%
      following the implementation of programmatic enhancements. CONCLUSION: Enhanced
      systematic behavioral review of clients provided concurrently with staff training
      in non-aversive principles and ongoing staff support groups reduced the incidents
      of behavioral disregulation in older persons with psychiatric diagnoses, medical
      comorbidities, and neurobehavioral disabilities.

PMID- 20924813
TI  - Mediating effects of psychosocial factors on concerns about falling and daily
      activity in a multicomponent cognitive behavioral group intervention.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Concerns about falling, or fear of falling, is highly common in old
      age and has adverse consequences. The development and understanding of
      interventions to reduce concerns about falling are therefore relevant. This study
      explored the mediating effects of psychosocial factors on trajectories of
      concerns about falling and daily activity in a multicomponent cognitive
      behavioral group intervention. METHOD: The study sample comprised 540 community
      dwelling adults aged 70 years or older, with concerns about falling and
      associated activity avoidance, who participated in a randomized controlled trial
      evaluating this intervention. Control beliefs, self-efficacy beliefs, outcome
      expectations, and social interactions, as potential mediators, and concerns about
      falling and daily activity, as outcome variables, were assessed at baseline, and
      at two, eight, and 14 months. Data were analyzed with mixed-effects regression
      models. RESULTS: Small to moderate statistically significant effects of the
      intervention on the potential mediators were found at nearly all follow-up
      assessments. Separate psychosocial factors showed modest mediating effects on the
      outcomes. When all mediators were taken into account simultaneously, 44-76% of
      the association between the intervention and the outcomes was explained.
      CONCLUSION: This study showed that the multicomponent cognitive behavioral
      intervention improved control beliefs, self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and
      social interactions. These variables mediated the association between the
      intervention and concerns about falling or daily activity in community-dwelling
      older adults. This knowledge may facilitate further improvement and development
      of interventions to reduce concerns about falling and to increase daily activity.

PMID- 20924815
TI  - Resident-to-resident relational aggression and subjective well-being in assisted
      living facilities.
AB  - PURPOSE: Research in settings similar to assisted living facilities suggests that
      relational aggression, an indirect and mature form of aggression, might occur in
      assisted living facilities. This empirical study investigates the existence of
      relational aggression in a sample of residents and the relationship between
      relational aggression and resident's subjective well-being. DESIGN AND METHODS:
      121 residents from six assisted living facilities completed questionnaires
      assessing personal experiences as victims of relational aggression and subjective
      well-being. Also nurses reported on victimization of relational aggression for
      every participant. Linear regression models were used to examine the association
      between both reports of relational aggression and subjective well-being. RESULTS:
      Relational aggression was shown to exist in assisted living facilities according
      to both residents (prevalence: 19%) and nurses (prevalence: 41%). Chi-square
      testing revealed no association between ratings by nurses and residents. Self
      reports of victimization of relational aggression were related to depression,
      anxiety, satisfaction with life and social loneliness, but not to emotional
      loneliness. Nurse-reports of victimization of relational aggression were not
      related to subjective well-being. IMPLICATIONS: Self-reports of relational
      aggression seem to be better predictors of resident's well-being than nurse
      reports of relational aggression. Awareness of these findings and the discrepancy
      between nurse-reports and self-reports are important for practice and for future
      research regarding social dynamics and living arrangements in elderly care
      settings.

PMID- 20924814
TI  - Correlates of spirituality in older women.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The role of spirituality in the context of mental health and
      successful aging is not well understood. In a sample of community-dwelling older
      women enrolled at the San Diego site of the Women's Health Initiative study, we
      examined the association between spirituality and a range of variables associated
      with successful cognitive and emotional aging, including optimism, resilience,
      depression, and health-related quality of life (HRQoL). METHODS: A detailed cross
      sectional survey questionnaire on successful aging was completed by 1973 older
      women. It included multiple self-reported measures of positive psychological
      functioning (e.g., resilience and optimism), as well as depression and HRQoL.
      Spirituality was measured using a five-item self-report scale constructed using
      two items from the Brief Multidimensional Measure of Religiosity/Spirituality and
      three items from Hoge's Intrinsic Religious Motivation Scale. RESULTS: Overall,
      40% women reported regular attendance in organized religious practice, and 53%
      reported engaging in private spiritual practices. Several variables were
      significantly related to spirituality in bivariate associations; however, using
      model testing, spirituality was significantly associated only with higher
      resilience, lower income, lower education, and lower likelihood of being in a
      marital or committed relationship. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings point to a role for
      spirituality in promoting resilience to stressors, possibly to a greater degree
      in persons with lower income and education level. Future longitudinal studies are
      needed to confirm these associations.

PMID- 20924816
TI  - Silver Memories: implementation and evaluation of a unique radio program for
      older people.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: A unique radio program, Silver Memories, specifically designed to
      address social isolation and loneliness in older people by broadcasting music
      (primarily), serials and other programs relevant to the period when older people
      grew up--the 1920-1950s--first aired in Brisbane, Australia, in April 2008. The
      impact of the program upon older listeners' mood, quality of life (QOL) and self
      reported loneliness was independently evaluated. METHOD: One hundred and thirteen
      community-dwelling persons and residents of residential care facilities, aged 60
      years and older participated in a three month evaluation of Silver Memories. They
      were asked to listen to the program daily and baseline and follow-up measures of
      depression, QOL and loneliness were obtained. Participants were also asked for
      their opinions regarding the program's quality and appeal. RESULTS: The results
      showed a statistically significant improvement in measures of depression and QOL
      from baseline to follow-up but there was no change on the measure of loneliness.
      The results did not vary by living situation (community vs. residential care),
      whether the participant was lonely or not lonely, socially isolated or not
      isolated, or whether there had been any important changes in the participant's
      health or social circumstances throughout the evaluation. CONCLUSION: It was
      concluded that listening to Silver Memories appears to improve the QOL and mood
      of older people and is an inexpensive intervention that is flexible and readily
      implemented.

PMID- 20924817
TI  - Older adults and smoking: Characteristics, nicotine dependence and prevalence of
      DSM-IV 12-month disorders.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: There are few studies investigating the characteristics of older
      smokers. Research on younger adults has determined that (1) the diagnostic and
      statistical manual (DSM) diagnosis of nicotine dependence (ND) excludes a sizable
      portion of the smoking population, and (2) younger smokers have high rates of
      comorbid DSM disorders. In this study, we sought to replicate these results in an
      older population. METHOD: Based on a large representative sample, we examined the
      smoking patterns in adults aged 50 and over (N = 2139). We describe the
      characteristics of the current smokers (n = 410). We identified differences in
      smoking characteristics and prevalence rates of DSM-IV 12-month diagnoses by
      smoking severity. RESULTS: Most smokers did not meet the criteria for DSM 12
      month ND. Older smokers identified as having ND were first diagnosed at a
      relatively older age. Smokers with ND differed from smokers without a diagnosis
      in several ways: they smoked more; they had more symptoms of ND and had
      substantially higher rates of comorbid DSM 12-month disorders. Nonetheless, there
      were a number of older smokers with dependency symptoms who continue to smoke
      throughout their lifetimes, but never meet the criteria for ND. CONCLUSION:
      Smokers without ND are most likely to have a mood disorder whereas those smokers
      with ND are most likely to have an anxiety or substance use disorder. Smokers
      without ND still have relatively high rates of dependency symptoms. Given the
      late onset of ND, smoking dependence may be a progressive disorder. High rates of
      psychiatric disorders may interfere with smoking cessation.

PMID- 20924818
TI  - Prospective end-of-life treatment decisions and perceived vulnerability: Future
      time left to live and memory self-efficacy.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Public policy and opinion support autonomous medical decision-making;
      however, research on perceptions related to future functioning that may influence
      health-related decisions is limited. Additional research is needed to understand
      individual perceptions for engaging in future life-sustaining treatment
      decisions. METHODS: Perceived time left to live and memory self-efficacy were
      assessed among 77 adults (M = 74.5 +/- 7.18 years) indicating preferences for
      cardiopulmonary resuscitation, mechanical ventilation, and artificial feeding and
      fluids in hypothetical illness scenarios. RESULTS: Participants with a more
      expansive perspective of future time, less perceived change in memory, greater
      perceived memory capacity, and greater depressive symptomatology and
      Blacks/African Americans had greater overall desire for treatment. CONCLUSION:
      Differences in perceived time left to live and memory beliefs affect treatment
      desires in ways that may not be recognized by families and/or physicians.
      Identifying perceptions associated with end-of-life treatment preferences may
      improve interventions that facilitate quality care through patient autonomy.

PMID- 20924819
TI  - Analysis of the moderating effect of self-efficacy domains in different points of
      the dementia caregiving process.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Studies analyzing the moderator role of self-efficacy have centered
      their attention on the relationship between stressors and distress. However,
      drawing upon the stress and coping model, the moderator effects of self-efficacy
      may appear in the relationship between other key elements of the stress process.
      OBJECTIVES AND METHOD: The purpose of this study was to analyze, in a sample of
      167 dementia family caregivers, (1) the moderating effect of self-efficacy for
      managing behavioral problems on the relationship between frequency of behavioral
      problems and burden; and (2) the moderating effect of self-efficacy for
      controlling upsetting thoughts on the relationship between burden and caregivers'
      distress (depression and anxiety). RESULTS: While no support has been found for
      the hypothesis that self-efficacy for managing behavioral problems moderates the
      relationship between frequency of behavioral problems and burden, our findings
      support the moderator role of self-efficacy for controlling upsetting thoughts in
      the relationship between burden and distress. No differences in distress measures
      are found between caregivers with high and low scores on self-efficacy for
      controlling upsetting thoughts when they report low levels of burden. However,
      when the levels of burden are high, caregivers with high self-efficacy for
      controlling upsetting thoughts report significantly lower levels of distress than
      caregivers with low self-efficacy for controlling upsetting thoughts. CONCLUSION:
      Self-efficacy for controlling upsetting thoughts may be particularly effective
      for caregivers who report high burden scores, attenuating the impact of burden on
      caregivers' distress (depression and anxiety).

PMID- 20924820
TI  - Unemployment during working life and mental health of retirees: results of a
      representative survey.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to examine differences in mental health and
      satisfaction with life in retired men and women depending on experienced
      unemployment during working life. METHOD: Based on a representative survey, 1396
      retirees in the age range of 60-92 years were interviewed face-to-face, assessing
      two screening instruments for anxiety and depression as well as the Questions on
      Life Satisfaction questionnaire. Among others, analyses of variance were used to
      test the differences between groups with distinct experiences of unemployment
      periods. RESULTS: Retirees with the experience of repeated unemployment--but not
      with one-time unemployment--during working life reported worse mental health and
      satisfaction with life. Calculated effect sizes were 0.53 for anxiety, 0.42 for
      depression and between 0.21 and 0.51 for satisfaction with different domains of
      daily life. Differences between men and women emerged, but similarities
      dominated. Participants with higher current household incomes were found to be
      less affected. CONCLUSION: The experience of repeated unemployment periods during
      working life is associated with more psychosocial distress in retired men and
      women. Thus, unemployment may have serious negative implications even for persons
      retired already.

PMID- 20924821
TI  - An investigation into the validity of effort tests in a working age dementia
      population.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Performance on neuropsychological tests can be influenced by non
      cognitive factors, including deliberate underperformance, stress, the need to
      fulfil a sick role, depression, un-cooperativeness, fatigue and unhappiness with
      the evaluative situation. Tests to detect suboptimal effort are becoming widely
      used in clinical practice and are based on their reported insensitivity to
      cognitive dysfunction. A diagnosis of dementia has life-changing implications for
      an individual of working age. It is therefore crucial that clinicians can be
      confident they have obtained a valid estimate of current cognitive functioning.
      This study aimed to establish whether mood or cognitive functioning adversely
      influenced performance on symptom validity tests (SVTs) in individuals with
      working age dementia, who were judged to be using full effort. METHOD: Forty-two
      participants with dementia diagnosed before the age of 65 completed measures of
      emotional and cognitive functioning and six SVTs. RESULTS: There were no
      significant correlations between emotional functioning and measures of effort.
      However, cognitive functioning, in particular new learning, was significantly
      related to SVT performance. Participants with mild dementia performed
      significantly better on all six SVTs than those with moderate/severe dementia.
      The results also suggest that the SVTs are not equally sensitive to cognitive
      dysfunction. Rey's Dot Counting Test (DCT) (times criterion) achieved 100%
      specificity, and was the only test passed by every participant. CONCLUSION: Rey's
      DCT is the only SVT that can be recommended for use in those under 65 years with
      possible dementia at this time until further validation studies are undertaken.

PMID- 20924822
TI  - Coping in old age with extreme childhood trauma: aging Holocaust survivors and
      their offspring facing new challenges.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The Holocaust has become an iconic example of immense human-made
      catastrophes, and survivors are now coping with normal aging processes. Childhood
      trauma may leave the survivors more vulnerable when they are facing stress
      related to old age, whereas their offspring might have a challenging role of
      protecting their own parents from further pain. Here we examine the psychological
      adaptation of Holocaust survivors and their offspring in light of these new
      challenges, examining satisfaction with life, mental health, cognitive abilities,
      dissociative symptoms, and physical health. METHODS: Careful matching of female
      Holocaust survivors and comparison subjects living in Israel was employed to form
      a case-control study design with two generations, including four groups: 32
      elderly female Holocaust survivors and 47 daughters, and 33 elderly women in the
      comparison group, and 32 daughters (total N = 174). Participants completed
      several measures of mental and physical health, and their cognitive functioning
      was examined. The current study is a follow-up of a previous study conducted 11
      years ago with the same participants. RESULTS: Holocaust survivors showed more
      dissociative symptomatology (odds = 2.39) and less satisfaction with their life
      (odds = 2.79) as compared to a matched group. Nonetheless, adult offspring of
      Holocaust survivors showed no differences in their physical, psychological, and
      cognitive functioning as compared to matched controls. CONCLUSIONS: Holocaust
      survivors still display posttraumatic stress symptoms almost 70 years after the
      trauma, whereas no intergenerational transmission of trauma was found among the
      second generation.

PMID- 20924823
TI  - Who should make the decision on the use of GPS for people with dementia?
AB  - OBJECTIVES: In recent years advanced technologies, such as Global Positioning
      Systems (GPS), allow for tracking of human spatial activity and provide the
      ability to intervene to manage that activity. The purpose of this study is to
      examine the issue of who should decide about the use of electronic tracking using
      GPS for people with dementia. METHODS: Based on quantitative data collected from
      296 participants comprising cognitively intact elderly, family caregivers of
      people with dementia, social workers, other professionals, and social work
      students, study participants were asked to rate nine different potential decision
      makers to make this decision. RESULTS: The results show that figures inside the
      family, particularly the spouse or the most involved family caregiver, were
      perceived more important in the decision-making process than figures outside the
      family, whereas the person with dementia was ranked third in the order of the
      figures. Since the decision to use GPS for tracking raises the ethical dilemma of
      personal safety versus autonomy and privacy of people with dementia, the findings
      seem to indicate that the reluctance of professional caregivers to assist family
      caregivers to make this decision is experienced as frustrating. CONCLUSIONS: The
      findings imply that in order to reach a balance between the wishes and interests
      of both people with dementia and their family caregivers, there is a need for
      more active involvement of the professional caregivers to facilitate the family
      decision-making process.

PMID- 20924824
TI  - Subjective memory complaints in the elderly: Prevalence and influence of temporal
      orientation, depression and quality of life in a population-based study in the
      city of Madrid.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: It is still a matter of debate whether variables such as education,
      sex, age, personality and others underlie subjective memory complaints (SMC). Our
      objectives are to study: the prevalence of memory complaints in the city of
      Madrid, the distribution of complaints in the population according to socio
      demographic variables and the related variables like cognitive performance,
      quality of life, perceived health status and functional ability. To our
      knowledge, this is the first study about the prevalence of SMC in Spain. METHODS:
      We adopted a transversal descriptive epidemiological study. The survey sample
      size is 1637 persons above 64 years. SMC were obtained through questions
      regarding memory complaints. RESULTS: 524 (32.4%) subjects reported SMC. The
      prevalence of SMC depends on age, education, sex, mood and cognitive performance.
      SMC rises from 24% in the 65-69 age groups to 57% in the 90 and above group. The
      percentage of subjects with SMC was 52.8% among persons diagnosed with depression
      or anxiety, and 28.7% among subjects without. Performance on cognitive tests such
      as orientation showed that subjects without orientation failures (81%) have a
      22.2% SMC frequency and subjects who fail all the orientation items (4%) have a
      93% frequency. A logistic regression analysis showed that those variables
      indicating a better prediction of group membership (SMC vs. controls) were
      orientation in time, quality of life and depression-anxiety. CONCLUSION:
      Complaints reflect various processes and are the result of various elements;
      however, our study highlights the importance of factors such as cognitive
      performance, depression-anxiety and quality of life.

PMID- 20924825
TI  - Self-awareness of memory function in Parkinson's disease in relation to mood and
      symptom severity.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: In clinical practice, discrepancies are observed between self and
      proxy reports of various aspects of Parkinson's disease (PD). This study aimed at
      assessing self-awareness of memory function in PD both by comparing patients' and
      caregivers' questionnaire ratings of the patients' memory and by correlating
      subjective ratings with verbal learning results. METHOD: Forty-five patient-proxy
      pairs participated in the study. Self-Rating Scale of Memory Functions was used
      as a questionnaire subjective measure. Auditory Verbal Learning Test (AVLT) was
      applied to assess verbal memory, Stroop test to assess cognitive control and Mini
      Mental State Examination (MMSE) for global cognitive assessment. RESULTS: Patient
      self-reports did not diverge appreciably from proxy reports when global scores
      were considered, but patient-proxy consistency was low for individual items with
      the exception of those referring to verbal recall. Both patient and proxy ratings
      were moderately correlated with the objective measures. Patient-proxy
      discrepancies were associated with lower verbal learning, poor cognitive control
      and more severe PD symptomatology. Moreover, depression was associated with
      patients' overestimation of symptoms. CONCLUSION: Self-awareness of memory
      function is relatively well preserved in PD, but is negatively affected by
      depressive symptoms. Patient-proxy discrepancies increase also with disease
      severity, degree of memory problems and cognitive control deficits. Caregivers
      seem to be unaware of the specificity of memory problems in PD and report only
      some of them, mainly those related to verbal recall.

PMID- 20924826
TI  - The utility of the spatial span in a clinical geriatric population.
AB  - Spatial Span subtest of the Wechsler Memory Scale has been viewed as an indicator
      of working memory and visuospatial processing. The current study examined the
      impact of cognitive impairment and its severity on Spatial Span performance. A
      neuropsychological battery including Spatial Span was administered to 538
      individuals (65-89) who were grouped by consensus into Alzheimer's disease,
      Vascular Dementia, Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment, Non-Amnestic Mild
      Cognitive Impairment and cognitively normal. Increase in level of impairment
      resulted in a decrease in Spatial Span Total Score. A weak relationship between
      age and Spatial Span Total Score was found. Spatial Span Forward remains
      relatively stable regardless of level of impairment. Spatial Span Backward was
      more sensitive to severity. No significant differences were found between
      individuals diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and those with Vascular Dementia
      suggesting similar deficit patterns in the cognitive abilities measured by the
      Spatial Span. Mild Cognitive Impairment groups and normals did not differ
      suggesting visuospatial processes are not affected early in the dementing
      process.

PMID- 20924827
TI  - Adult age differences in the ability to mentally transform object and body
      stimuli.
AB  - Cognitive neuroscience literature suggests a strong dissociation between the
      ability to mentally transform object and body stimuli (Hegarty & Waller, 2004).
      However, little is known about how this ability changes with age. This
      dissociation was explored in 20 younger (19-24 years) and 20 older (65-87 years)
      adults. Mental rotation of object stimuli was demonstrated for both age groups,
      suggesting that the neuro-cognitive network involved with performing (object
      based) mental transformations is relatively preserved in older age. Compared to
      young adults, older adults displayed the greatest decline in performance
      efficiency for the whole-body task. The authors propose that an age-related
      decline in the integrity of body-schema information may account for this change.

PMID- 20924828
TI  - Executive function, intellectual decline and daily living skills.
AB  - Understanding the cognitive changes associated with compromised daily living
      skills in elderly individuals is important for making appropriate recommendations
      about the capacity for independent functioning. To this end, we retrospectively
      examined data from 92 elderly individuals presenting with cognitive decline who
      were administered measures of executive functioning, general intelligence, and
      daily living skills. Multiple regression analyses were used to examine the
      relationship between executive functioning and daily living skills, while
      controlling for age, depression, and either IQ decline or current IQ. Executive
      functioning accounted for additional variance in a broad range of daily living
      skills after controlling for IQ decline. When FSIQ was used in the regression
      model rather than IQ decline, executive functioning was no longer uniquely
      associated with daily living skills. Executive functions appear to be important
      for daily living skills until a critical threshold of low intellectual
      functioning is reached, reflecting the combined influence of premorbid ability
      and the extent of intellectual decline. Our results suggest that understanding
      the relative contribution of different cognitive domains to functional decline in
      elderly individuals should take into account general intellectual functioning and
      estimated decline, and that the initiation and/or persistence of self-directed
      cognitive processes may be important for adaptive daily functioning. These
      findings have implications for making more evidence-based recommendations about
      the capacity for independent living.

PMID- 20924829
TI  - Effect of changing antiretroviral treatment eligibility criteria on patient load
      in Kampala, Uganda.
AB  - In many resource-poor countries, CD4 count thresholds of eligibility for
      antiretroviral treatment (ART) were initially low (<200 cells/mm(3)) but are now
      being increased to improve patient survival and to reduce HIV transmission. There
      are few quantitative data on the effect of such increases on the demand for ART.
      The objective of this study was to measure HIV prevalence and the proportion of
      HIV-positives eligible for antiretroviral therapy at different CD4 cut-off levels
      among users of public health care services in Kampala, Uganda. We recruited 1200
      adults from three primary care clinics in Kampala, including equal numbers of
      family planning (FP) clients, pregnant women, adult patients with any complaint,
      and persons seeking HIV counseling and testing. All participants were screened
      for HIV and those positive had a CD4 count done. HIV prevalence in all patients
      was 16.9% (203/1200). ART eligibility based on CD4 counts significantly increased
      from 36% at a 200 cells/mm(3) cut-off to 44% at 250 cells and to 57% at 350 cells
      cut-off (p for chi(2) trend<0.001). We concluded that changing cut-off levels to
      higher CD4 counts will significantly increase patient load in Kampala's primary
      care clinics, but a phased implementation should minimize negative effects on
      quality of care.

PMID- 20924830
TI  - Intimate partner violence among HIV-positive persons in an urban clinic.
AB  - While the intersection of HIV/AIDS and intimate partner violence (IPV) has gained
      increased attention, little focus has been given to the relationship among
      minority men and men who have sex with men (MSM). This pilot study, conducted at
      an urban clinic, explores the IPV experiences of HIV-positive persons involved in
      both heterosexual and homosexual relationships. Fifty-six HIV-positive
      individuals were interviewed to assess for verbal, physical, and sexual IPV, and
      for HIV-related abuse and attitudes regarding routine IPV screening.
      Approximately three quarters (73%) of the sample reported lifetime IPV and 20%
      reported current abuse. Physical IPV (85%) was cited the most by abused
      participants. IPV rates were highest among African-Americans and MSM. More than
      one-fourth (29%) of those abused felt the abuse was related to their HIV status.
      A majority of participants favored IPV screening by providers, but felt it might
      increase risk of IPV. IPV and its association to HIV are significant issues among
      this sample. Findings support the need for developing new programs that address
      these epidemics simultaneously.

PMID- 20924831
TI  - Anxiety buffer disruption theory: a terror management account of posttraumatic
      stress disorder.
AB  - We present anxiety buffer disruption theory (ABDT) and provide a review of
      current evidence regarding the theory. ABDT is an application of terror
      management theory to explain diverse reactions to traumatic events and the onset
      and maintenance of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It posits that PTSD
      results from a disruption in one's anxiety-buffering mechanisms, which normally
      provide protection against anxiety in general and death anxiety in particular.
      The disruption of these mechanisms leaves the individual defenseless in the face
      of overwhelming anxiety, which leads to the major symptom clusters of PTSD: re
      experiencing, hyper-arousal, and avoidance. According to ABDT, because of the
      disruption in their anxiety-buffering mechanisms, individuals with PTSD symptoms
      do not respond to mortality reminders in the defensive ways that psychologically
      healthier individuals do. We review four sets of studies conducted in four
      different cultures and with people who have experienced different types of
      trauma, which reveal this atypical response pattern and lend support to ABDT.

PMID- 20924832
TI  - Sleep and ethnicity.

PMID- 20924833
TI  - Ethnicity moderates the influence of perceived social status on subjective sleep
      quality.
AB  - It has long been recognized that socioeconomic status (SES) influences health and
      health-related behaviors, and it has been suggested that the adverse impact of
      low SES on health may be partly mediated by poor sleep quality. The relation
      between sleep and objective and subjective measures of SES has only been explored
      in a preliminary manner, providing indirect evidence that associations between
      SES and health might be explained, in part, by disrupted sleep. However, it
      remains unclear whether low SES directly affects sleep quality or whether the SES
      sleep quality relation varies as a function of ethnicity given robust ethnic
      disparities across SES-related factors. This study examined the relation between
      perceived social status (i.e., individuals' perception of their socioeconomic
      standing) and subjective sleep quality among 149 college students, and examined
      the moderating effect of ethnicity to determine whether the magnitude or
      direction of association differed among Caucasian, Asian, and African Americans.
      Using hierarchical regressions and a dummy-coded ethnicity variable, results
      demonstrated significant moderation (DeltaR2 = 0.04, p = .02), such that both
      Asian (p = .04) and African Americans (p = .02) were significantly different from
      Caucasian Americans. Lower perceived social status was related to greater
      impairment in sleep quality for Asian Americans (beta = -.37, p < .01) and
      African Americans (beta = -.51, p < .01), but not Caucasian Americans (beta = 
      .02, p = .87). These findings provide initial support for the negative impact of
      low perceived social status on sleep quality for specific subgroups of ethnic
      minorities.

PMID- 20924834
TI  - Differences in parental attitudes towards sleep and associations with sleep-wake
      patterns in Caucasian and Southeast Asian school-aged children in Australia.
AB  - Caucasian (N = 47) and Southeast (SE) Asian (N = 36) families completed a
      questionnaire on their attitudes toward sleep, as well as a 7-day sleep diary for
      their children aged 5 to 11 years. Cultural differences were found in the
      perceived importance of sleep, particularly compared to homework and belief of
      how much sleep a child needs. Differences were also found in sleep-wake behaviors
      and amount of time spent on homework, with SE Asian children reporting a shift in
      sleep timing and increased homework load compared to Caucasian counterparts.
      Parental attitudes toward sleep, perception of sleep need, and homework load were
      not associated with the regulation of actual sleep behaviors in children,
      regardless of cultural heritage.

PMID- 20924835
TI  - Childhood socioeconomic status and race are associated with adult sleep.
AB  - Race and current socioeconomic status (SES) are associated with sleep. Parental
      education, a commonly studied component of childhood SES, is predictive of adult
      health outcomes; yet, its impact on adult sleep remains unclear. In this study,
      the sleep of 128 Black and White adults was investigated. Participants with lower
      childhood SES (assessed via parental education) spent more time in Stage 2 sleep
      and less time in slow-wave sleep (SWS) than those with higher childhood SES. In
      addition, women from low childhood SES backgrounds took longer to fall asleep
      than women from high SES backgrounds. Black participants spent less time in SWS
      than their White counterparts, and an Age * Race interaction was detected in the
      prediction of subjective sleep quality. Results were not mediated via current SES
      or health practices.

PMID- 20924836
TI  - Race and ethnic variation in excessive daytime sleepiness: the multi-ethnic study
      of atherosclerosis.
AB  - This cross-sectional study utilized data from the Multi-Ethnic Study of
      Atherosclerosis (MESA). The sample included 5,173 older adults (mean age = 66.4
      years) recruited from 6 field centers in the United States. Excessive daytime
      sleepiness (EDS) was evaluated using two measures: self-report of feeling
      excessively sleepy <= 5 days per month and the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) >
      12. White participants were more likely than other groups to report EDS <= 5 days
      per month. After controlling for covariates, African American and Hispanic
      participants remained less likely to report EDS <= 5 days per month. African
      Americans were more likely to score > 12 on the ESS than White participants. Odds
      ESS > 12 in African American participants were attenuated but remained
      significant after controlling for covariates. Results indicate measurement of
      race/ethnic differences in EDS may result in conflicting estimates of race/ethnic
      variation. Furthermore, attenuation of differences in ESS < 12 suggests this
      measure has a stronger association with current health.

PMID- 20924837
TI  - Sleep disorders in African Americans and Caucasian Americans: a meta-analysis.
AB  - Previous research suggests that ethnic groups differ in the prevalence and
      severity of disordered sleep symptoms. This study used meta-analysis to determine
      the magnitude of ethnic differences between African Americans (AAs) and Caucasian
      Americans (CAs) in insomnia symptoms and sleep-disordered breathing (SDB). It
      also used moderator analyses to explore the variability in these effect sizes.
      Thirteen studies measuring insomnia symptoms and 10 studies measuring SDB met
      inclusion criteria and represented thousands of adult AAs and CAs. Results
      indicate AAs have a higher prevalence and greater severity of SDB, but CAs report
      more insomnia symptoms. These results indicate a need for a multi-ethnic approach
      to the assessment and treatment of sleep disorders.

PMID- 20924838
TI  - Ethnic differences in continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) adherence in
      veterans with and without psychiatric disorders.
AB  - Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is a safe, effective treatment for
      sleep apnea, yet adherence is notoriously problematic. Vulnerable populations
      that may be at increased risk of sleep apnea include African Americans (AAs) and
      individuals with psychiatric disorders, yet little is known about whether such
      individuals are at increased risk of CPAP non-adherence. This study examined
      rates of CPAP adherence in a large sample of AA and Caucasian American (CA)
      military veterans with and without comorbid mental health disorders. AAs used
      CPAP less than CAs throughout the first 3 months of treatment. AAs with mental
      health diagnoses showed the lowest CPAP adherence; additional research is needed
      to identify factors that may be increasing the risk for CPAP non-adherence in
      these individuals.

PMID- 20924840
TI  - The byssus of the zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha): spatial variations in
      protein composition.
AB  - The notorious biofouling organism Dreissena polymorpha (the zebra mussel)
      attaches to a variety of surfaces using a byssus, a series of protein threads
      that connect the animal to adhesive plaques secreted onto hard substrata. Here,
      the use of matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass
      spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) to characterize the composition of different regions
      of the byssus is reported. All parts of the byssus show mass peaks corresponding
      to small proteins in the range of 3.7-7 kDa, with distinctive differences between
      different regions. Indeed, spectra from thread and plaques are almost completely
      non-overlapping. In addition, several peaks were identified that are unique to
      the interfacial region of the plaque, and therefore likely represent specialized
      adhesive proteins. These results indicate a high level of control over the
      distribution of proteins, presumably with different functions, in the byssus of
      this freshwater species.

PMID- 20924841
TI  - Dietary plant bioactives for poultry health and productivity.
AB  - 1. Plants and their biologically active chemical constituents, sometimes called
      secondary metabolites or bioactives, present numerous opportunities for the
      improvement of livestock production by inclusion in the diet. 2. Many such plant
      derived materials have well established therapeutic values in man; however, their
      potential as feed additives in animal production, particularly of poultry,
      remains largely unexploited. 3. There is increasing evidence indicating that they
      can be efficient in controlling diseases, and plant bioactives may also influence
      production parameters such as feed efficiency and product quality. 4. It has been
      reported that they may even replicate some of the effects of antibiotic growth
      promoters, which were banned from use in Europe from 2006. 5. This review
      assesses the status of plant bioactives in poultry production and their mode of
      action on avian physiology, particularly in the digestive tract.

PMID- 20924842
TI  - Comparison of the welfare of layer hens in 4 housing systems in the UK.
AB  - 1. The welfare of hens in 26 flocks (6 conventional cage, 6 furnished cage, 7
      barn, 7 free-range) was assessed throughout the laying period using a combination
      of data on physical health, physiology and injurious pecking, collected by
      researchers on farm and during post-mortem analysis, and information submitted by
      producers. 2. There was an effect of housing system on 5 of the indicators
      recorded by researchers: gentle feather pecks given, feather damage score,
      proportion of hens with feather damage, proportion of the flock using perches,
      and faecal corticosterone. 3. Post-mortem analysis revealed several differences
      between housing systems in skin damage, plumage damage to the vent and abdomen,
      keel protrusion, bodyweight, and the proportion of hens that were vent pecked and
      that had old and recent keel fractures. 4. There was an effect of housing system
      on 5 indicators recorded by producers: proportion of egg shells with
      calcification spots, proportion of egg shells with blood stains, weight of hens
      found dead, temporal change in the proportion of egg shells with stains, and
      temporal change in proportion of hens found dead. 5. Each housing system had
      positive and negative aspects but overall, hens in barn systems had the highest
      prevalence of poor plumage condition, old fractures, emaciation, abnormal egg
      calcification, and the highest corticosterone. Hens in conventional cages
      sustained more fractures at depopulation than birds in other systems. Vent
      pecking was most prevalent in free-range flocks. The lowest prevalence of
      problems occurred in hens in furnished cages. 6. Although housing system had an
      influence on the hens' physical condition and physiological state, the high
      prevalence of emaciation, loss of plumage, fractures and evidence of stress is of
      concern across all housing systems, and suggests that the welfare of modern
      genotypes is poor.

PMID- 20924843
TI  - Effect of maternal rearing on lipid metabolism-related gene expression in
      offspring broilers during embryonic development.
AB  - 1. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of maternal rearing on
      lipid metabolism and lipid metabolism-related gene expression in offspring
      broilers during embryonic development. 2. One hundred laying Sanhuang breeders
      were divided into two groups, and either floor-reared or cage-reared on the same
      diet. Liver and serum samples were extracted on days 14 and 19 of embryonic
      development and at hatching. The lipid metabolism related gene expressions of
      acetyl CoA carboxylase (ACC), fatty acid synthase (FAS), malic enzyme (ME),
      apolipoprotein B100(apoB100), sterol regulating element binding protein (SREBP
      1c), carnitine palmitoyltransferase (CPT-1) and peroxisome proliferators
      activated receptor (PPARalpha) genes were determined using real time RT-PCR. 3.
      The results showed that embryonic weight, liver weight, serum and hepatic total
      cholesterol (TC) concentration and serum triglyceride (TG) content were not
      significantly different between the cage-reared group and the floor-reared group
      during embryonic development. However, embryonic weight, liver weight, serum and
      hepatic TC concentration and serum TG content in the cage-reared group were
      significantly higher than in the floor-reared group at hatching. 4. Hepatic ACC,
      FAS, SREBP-1c, ME and apoB genes expression were not significantly different
      between the cage-reared and the floor-reared groups during E9 and E14
      development. Hepatic ME gene expression in the cage-reared group was higher than
      in the floor-reared group during E19 development. However, hepatic FAS, SREBP-1c,
      CPT-1 and PPARalpha gene expressions in the cage-reared group was higher than in
      the floor-reared group. 5. A change in the maternal regime could regulate lipid
      metabolism in offspring broilers during embryonic development, and especially at
      hatching.

PMID- 20924844
TI  - Localisation of the genomic sequence interval for the blue eggshell gene using an
      F2 resource population of Dongxiang chickens.
AB  - 1. In order to identify the molecular interval containing the blue shell gene (O
      locus), linkage analysis was conducted with three microsatellite markers,
      (TTA)(n), (TG)(n) and (tg)(n), and a SNP in intron 1 of SLCO1C1 (solute carrier
      organic anion transporter family, member 1C1; A locus) to map the O locus in an
      F2 resource population of Dongxiang chickens. 2. Linkage analysis based on 98 F2
      hens resulted in estimation of the best map order of the O locus with other
      linked markers as: (TTA)(n)-(TG)(n)-A-O-(tg)(n). 3. Based on these results, we
      inferred that the O locus was located between the A and (tg)(n) loci, that is,
      Chr1:67,296,991-69,140,571, which is the first genomic sequence interval to be
      established for the blue eggshell gene.

PMID- 20924845
TI  - Effect of slaughter age and sex on the production output of South African Black
      ostriches.
AB  - 1. The effects of different slaughter ages and sex on the yield and quality of
      economically important end-products of slaughtered ostriches was examined to
      determine the most economic slaughter age for growing/finishing ostriches. Two
      batches of 4- and 6-month-old ostriches were assigned to 10 treatment groups and
      fed ad libitum up to slaughter ages of 8.5, 10.5, 12.5, 14.5 and 16.5 months.
      Slaughter weight, cold carcase yield, skin surface area, dry skin grade, feather
      yield and feed intake of ostriches were measured for each age. 2. Cold carcase
      yields and total feather yields of males were higher than females but yields of
      other products were similar. 3. Slaughter weight, cold carcase yield, skin
      surface area, dry skin grade, feather yield and feed intake increased with age
      with significant differences between most age groups. Cold carcase weight
      increased by approximately 2.2 kg and skin surface area increased by 3.1 dm3 with
      each additional month of growth but the quality (grade) of skins and the
      proportion of first grade skins decreased with increasing age. This, together
      with an increase in feed intake associated with age to slaughtering should be
      taken into account when determining the optimal slaughter age. 4. The set of
      biological variables established in this study can be used to determine the most
      economical slaughter age under varying market conditions.

PMID- 20924846
TI  - The effect of breed and feed-type on the sensory profile of breast meat in male
      broilers reared in an organic free-range system.
AB  - 1. Studies on the sensory profiling of male broiler breast meat were carried out
      to evaluate the effect of two very different broiler breeds (JA757 and New
      Hampshire), two different feed types (broiler and grower feed) and age at
      slaughter (82 and 110 d). 2. The sensory profiling consisted of a pilot study, 4
      training sessions, and finally the assessment. During the training session a
      panel of 9 assessors defined 17 attributes, which were used to describe the
      smell, texture and flavour of the breast fillets. Each attribute was evaluated on
      a 15-cm unstructured line scale. 3. The breast meat became significantly less
      hard, and more juicy and tender in the New Hampshire at 110 d of age, whereas the
      opposite was found in JA757, which also acquired a more "sourish" flavour with
      age. The smell of "sweet/maize" and "bouillon" became weaker with age in JA757,
      but not in New Hampshire. 4. Several significant differences in relation to the
      main factors of breed and age were found. The traditional broiler hybrid JA757
      did best for most smell and flavour attributes, whereas New Hampshire did best
      for the texture attributes. Age had a negative effect on the flavours and smell
      attributes "fresh chicken", "neck of pork" and "sweet maize", but a positive
      effect on the texture attribute "crumbly". In addition meat was more "stringy" at
      110 d of age. 5. The flavours "neck of pork" and "umami" were significantly
      improved when JA757 was fed on the broiler feed and when New Hampshire was given
      the grower feed. The meat smelt more "sourish" at 82 d of age and less "sourish"
      at 110 d of age when the grower feed was consumed. Meat was significantly harder
      and stringier when JA757 was fed on the grower feed. This was not the case for
      New Hampshire. In general, the meat was significantly less crumbly and stringier
      with the grower feed. 6. Overall a very distinct difference in sensory profile
      was found between the two breeds. In addition different slaughter ages and
      feeding strategies should be taken into consideration in a niche production based
      on alternative genotypes.

PMID- 20924847
TI  - Sexing of newly-hatched chicks using DNA isolated from chorio-allantoic membrane
      samples by polymerase chain reaction in Denizli chicken.
AB  - 1. The aim of the present study was to determine the sex of newly-hatched chicks
      of Denizli chicken, a local Turkish breed, by polymerase chain reaction (PCR)
      using DNA extracted from the chorioallantoic membrane (CAM). 2. Fertilised eggs
      were incubated individually and a total of 20 CAM samples were collected
      following the hatching process. DNA was isolated from the CAM samples and PCR was
      performed using W-repeat (W) and 18 S ribosomal gene (R) primers. 3. Screening of
      the PCR products by agarose gel electrophoresis revealed that males have a single
      band (256 bp) and females have an extra second band (415 bp) as expected. 4. The
      present study describes a reliable, rapid, and simple multiplex PCR protocol that
      can be put into use to sex local breeds of chicken in which phenotypic sexing is
      impossible, using DNA isolated from the CAM that is discarded and remains
      attached to the egg shell following the hatching process.

PMID- 20924848
TI  - Marek's disease resistant/susceptible MHC haplotypes in Xiayan chickens
      identified on the basis of BLB2 PCR-RFLP and BLB2/BF2 sequence analyses.
AB  - 1. The aim was to analyse the variability of the BLB2/BF2 genes of Xiayan
      chickens to identify homozygous birds with resistance or susceptibility to
      Marek's disease (MD). 2. The experiment used two lines: birds from a common line
      were divided into Group A (unvaccinated) and Group B (vaccinated with herpesvirus
      of turkeys (HVT)); and birds from an MD-resistant line were divided into Group C
      (unvaccinated) and Group D (vaccinated with HVT). They were challenged intra
      abdominally with Marek's disease virus (MDV) and genomic DNA extracted from
      peripheral blood lymphocytes so that polymorphism of the BLB2/BF2 genes could be
      analysed using polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-restriction fragment length
      polymorphism (RFLP) and nucleotide sequence analysis. 3. A 374-bp fragment of the
      BLB2 gene was amplified from the samples and, after digesting with restriction
      enzymes Alu I, Cai I, Cfr I, Hin1 I, Hinf I and Rsa I for RFLP analysis, the 6
      electrophoretic patterns were analysed. Seven homozygous genotypes were found and
      used tentatively to identify alleles of the BLB2 gene. 4. A 765-bp fragment of
      the BF2 gene was amplified from the 7 samples for cloning and sequencing. 5. Six
      homozygous birds were confirmed from the sequenced BLB2/BF2 gene. Four birds were
      resistant to MD. Three birds had identical nucleotide sequences and were highly
      homologous with MHC haplotype B6, which is MD resistant. One bird had high
      homology with the highly MD-resistant B21 haplotype, and two birds were
      susceptible and highly homologous to the B19 haplotype, which is highly MD
      susceptible.

PMID- 20924849
TI  - Effect of taurine on intestinal morphology and utilisation of soy oil in
      chickens.
AB  - 1. The objective of the present study was to investigate the effect of taurine on
      intestinal morphology and utilisation of dietary fatty acids in chicken. One-day
      old broilers chickens were fed with a maize- and soybean-based diet containing
      soy oil, and supplemented with taurine at either 0 or 0.5 g/kg. 2. Result showed
      that the total bile acid in blood and lipase activity in the small intestine were
      elevated in 3-week-old broilers given the taurine-supplemented diet. No
      differences were observed for total serum bile acid and lipase activity between
      the groups of 6-week-old broilers. 3. The development of the jejunum villus and
      ileum villus was inhibited, and the weight of jejunum and the relative height of
      intestinal mucosa were decreased in the chickens fed the taurine-supplemented
      diet. 4. The rate of diet fatty acid utilisation was not different between the
      groups of 3- and 6-week-old chickens. 5. Our results showed that dietary
      supplementation with taurine had no beneficial effect on intestinal morphology or
      utilisation of a soy oil diet in chickens.

PMID- 20924850
TI  - Effect of beta -glucanase and xylanase supplementation of barley- and rye-based
      diets on caecal microbiota of broiler chickens.
AB  - 1. The aim was to investigate the effect of grain type (barley or rye) and
      exogenous enzymes (beta-glucanase or xylanase) on the composition of chicken
      caecal microbiota as examined by classical culturing and molecular techniques
      (fluorescent in-situ hybridisation (FISH) and terminal-restriction fragment
      length polymorphism (T-RFLP)). 2. Plate counting revealed higher total numbers of
      anaerobic bacteria, lactic acid bacteria and yeasts in caecal contents of birds
      fed with rye-based diets than in birds fed with barley-based diets. 3. As
      assessed by FISH analysis, the most abundant bacterial groups in the broiler
      caeca were Clostridium coccoides-Eubacterium rectale followed by Bacteroides sp.,
      Lactobacillus sp./Enterococcus sp., Bifidobacterium sp. and Enterobacteriaceae.
      For both cereal types, the enzyme supplementation significantly decreased the
      relative amount of Enterobacteriaceae. 4. The T-RFLP profiles indicated that the
      caecal microbiota of birds receiving rye-based diets was more diverse than that
      of birds fed on barley-based diets. 5. Irrespective of the method applied, the
      results indicate that the cereal type as well as the exogenous enzyme
      supplementation influence the microbiota in broiler chicken caeca, and may have
      the effect of reducing potentially pathogenic Enterobacteriaceae populations.

PMID- 20924851
TI  - Dietary limitation of isoleucine and valine in diets based on maize, soybean
      meal, and meat and bone meal for broiler chickens.
AB  - 1. The dietary limitation of isoleucine (Ile) and valine (Val) was evaluated in
      broilers. Common diets were given to all broilers from 0 to 28 d of age.
      Experimental diets were provided from 28 to 42 d of age. 2. The experimental test
      diet was based primarily on maize, soybean meal, and meat and bone meal, and
      formulated to satisfy all nutrient recommendations with the exception of Ile and
      Val. 3. Diets were supplemented with L-Ile and L-Val at either 0.5 or 1.0 g kg-1
      of diet, alone or in combination. A diet composed only of commercially available
      amino acids and formulated to satisfy all nutrient requirements served as a
      positive control. 4. Body weight gain was depressed by the test diet, but
      recovered to a weight similar to birds fed on the positive control when Val was
      added to the test diet either alone or in combination with Ile. Feed efficiency
      improved when Val and Ile were simultaneously supplemented. 5. Abdominal fat
      yield was reduced with the combined supplementation of Val and Ile. Breast meat
      yield appeared to be more sensitive to Ile supplementation than to Val. 6. The
      results suggest that live performance may be more sensitive to Val, while breast
      meat yield was maximised with Ile supplementation. However, their combination is
      required for optimised growth and meat yield.

PMID- 20924852
TI  - Effects of Enterococcus faecium supplementation and floor type on performance,
      morphology of erythrocytes and intestinal microbiota in broiler chickens.
AB  - 1. The experiment was to study the effects of floor type and probiotic
      supplementation (Enterococcus faecium) on performance, morphology of erythrocytes
      and intestinal microbiota of male Ross 308 broiler chickens. 2. The experimental
      design was a factorial 2 * 2 with 6 replicates. The factors were floor type (wire
      floor versus wood shaving litter) and the presence or absence of probiotic. 3.
      Birds housed on wood shavings exhibited significantly improved weight gain and
      food intake. 4. Addition of E. faecium led to significantly decreased food intake
      and gizzard weight. Supplementation with E. faecium positively influenced the
      ileal and caecal microbiota, with a significant decrease in the population of
      Escherichia coli. 5. Erythrocyte length decreased and erythrocyte width increased
      in the birds housed on wood shavings.

PMID- 20924853
TI  - Auditory pathways and processes: implications for neuropsychological assessment
      and diagnosis of children and adolescents.
AB  - Neuroscience research on auditory processing pathways and their behavioral and
      electrophysiological correlates has taken place largely outside the field of
      clinical neuropsychology. Deviations and disruptions in auditory pathways in
      children and adolescents result in a well-documented range of developmental and
      learning impairments frequently referred for neuropsychological evaluation. This
      review is an introduction to research from the last decade. It describes auditory
      cortical and subcortical pathways and processes and relates recent research to
      specific conditions and questions neuropsychologists commonly encounter. Auditory
      processing disorders' comorbidity with ADHD and language-based disorders and
      research addressing the challenges of assessment and differential diagnosis are
      discussed.

PMID- 20924854
TI  - Developmental aspects of temporal and spatial visual attention: insights from the
      attentional blink and visual search tasks.
AB  - Frontal regions of the human cortex are thought to reach full maturation last in
      the course of development. The present report examines such development in the
      context of attentional tasks in the temporal (e.g., the attentional blink, AB,
      paradigm) and spatial (e.g., the visual search, VS, paradigm) domains. Here we
      show that the recovery from AB is progressively longer with younger age by
      studying 7-, 12-, 15-year-olds, and adults participating on a modified AB task.
      By contrast, we found no difference between 7-year-olds and adults in a VS task
      using the same target stimuli as in the AB task. This differential pattern of
      development between temporal and spatial attention is discussed in relation to
      visual working memory development, clinical populations, and general mechanisms
      of cortical development.

PMID- 20924855
TI  - Childhood facial emotion recognition and psychosis-like symptoms in a nonclinical
      population at 12 years of age: results from the ALSPAC birth cohort.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Nonclinical psychotic symptoms (for example, low intensity or low
      frequency psychotic symptoms such as ideas of reference or single word auditory
      hallucinations) are common in adolescents and may be associated with an increased
      risk of developing a psychotic disorder in adulthood. Those at high risk of
      developing a psychotic disorder appear to perform poorly on facial emotion
      recognition tasks but the relationship between facial emotion recognition and
      nonclinical "psychosis like symptoms" (PLIKS) in children is unclear. We aimed to
      examine the association between childhood facial emotion recognition and PLIKS in
      adolescents. METHODS: Longitudinal study using a large birth cohort. 6455
      subjects completed a semistructured clinical assessment for psychotic symptoms
      (the PLIKSi) at the mean age of 12.9 (SD=0.23). Facial emotion recognition (using
      the DANVA) was previously assessed at the age of 8 in the cohort. RESULTS: There
      was no increase in odds of reporting any PLIKS either in relation to the total
      score on the measure of facial emotion recognition or for the individual emotion
      scores of fear, sadness, anger, and happiness. Similar results were also found
      when examining more intense and/or more frequently experienced psychotic
      symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Deficits in facial emotion recognition in 8-year-olds do
      not appear to predict later reporting of nonclinical psychotic symptoms in early
      adolescence. The results do not support the proposal that recognition of emotion
      is a trait phenomenon in those individuals at increased risk for psychosis.
      However, further research is warranted in older children/adolescents when more
      subtle emotion recognition deficits can be investigated.

PMID- 20924856
TI  - Generalized Fokker-Planck theory for electron and photon transport in biological
      tissues: application to radiotherapy.
AB  - In this paper, we study a deterministic method for particle transport in
      biological tissues. The method is specifically developed for dose calculations in
      cancer therapy and for radiological imaging. Generalized Fokker-Planck (GFP)
      theory [Leakeas and Larsen, Nucl. Sci. Eng. 137 (2001), pp. 236-250] has been
      developed to improve the Fokker-Planck (FP) equation in cases where scattering is
      forward-peaked and where there is a sufficient amount of large-angle scattering.
      We compare grid-based numerical solutions to FP and GFP in realistic medical
      applications. First, electron dose calculations in heterogeneous parts of the
      human body are performed. Therefore, accurate electron scattering cross sections
      are included and their incorporation into our model is extensively described.
      Second, we solve GFP approximations of the radiative transport equation to
      investigate reflectance and transmittance of light in biological tissues. All
      results are compared with either Monte Carlo or discrete-ordinates transport
      solutions.

PMID- 20924857
TI  - Modelling of peripheral fluid accumulation after a crystalloid bolus in female
      volunteers - a mathematical study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To simultaneously model plasma dilution and urinary output in female
      volunteers. METHODS: Ten healthy female non-pregnant volunteers, aged 21-39 years
      (mean 29), with a bodyweight of 58-67 kg (mean 62.5 kg) participated. No oral
      fluid or food was allowed between midnight and completion of the experiment. The
      protocol included an infusion of acetated Ringer's solution, 25 ml/kg over 30
      min. Blood samples (4 ml) were taken every 5 min during the first 120 min, and
      thereafter the sampling rate was every 10 min until the end of the experiment at
      240 min. A standard bladder catheter connected to a drip counter to monitor urine
      excretion continuously was used. The data were analysed by empirical calculations
      as well as by a mathematical model. RESULTS: Maximum urinary output rate was
      found to be 19 (13-31) ml/min. The subjects were likely to accumulate three times
      as much of the infused fluid peripherally as centrally; 1/MU = 2.7 (2.0-5.7).
      Elimination efficacy, E(eff), was 24 (5-35), and the basal elimination k(b) was
      1.11 (0.28-2.90). The total time delay T(tot) of urinary output was estimated as
      17 (11-31) min. CONCLUSION: The experimental results showed a large variability
      in spite of a homogenous volunteer group. It was possible to compute the infusion
      amount, plasma dilution and simultaneous urinary output for each consecutive time
      point and thereby the empirical peripheral fluid accumulation. The variability
      between individuals may be explained by differences in tissue and hormonal
      responses to fluid boluses, which needs to be further explored.

PMID- 20924858
TI  - A classification system for hospital-based infection outbreaks.
AB  - Outbreaks of infection within semi-closed environments such as hospitals, whether
      inherent in the environment (such as Clostridium difficile (C.Diff) or
      Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) or imported from the wider
      community (such as Norwalk-like viruses (NLVs)), are difficult to manage. As part
      of our work on modelling such outbreaks, we have developed a classification
      system to describe the impact of a particular outbreak upon an organization. This
      classification system may then be used in comparing appropriate computer models
      to real outbreaks, as well as in comparing different real outbreaks in, for
      example, the comparison of differing management and containment techniques and
      strategies. Data from NLV outbreaks in the Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS
      Trust (the Trust) over several previous years are analysed and classified, both
      for infection within staff (where the end of infection date may not be known) and
      within patients (where it generally is known). A classification system consisting
      of seven elements is described, along with a goodness-of-fit method for comparing
      a new classification to previously known ones, for use in evaluating a simulation
      against history and thereby determining how 'realistic' (or otherwise) it is.

PMID- 20924859
TI  - A computational method for reliable gait event detection and abnormality
      detection for feedback in rehabilitation.
AB  - In this paper, a gait event detection algorithm is presented that uses computer
      intelligence (fuzzy logic) to identify seven gait phases in walking gait. Two
      inertial measurement units and four force-sensitive resistors were used to obtain
      knee angle and foot pressure patterns, respectively. Fuzzy logic is used to
      address the complexity in distinguishing gait phases based on discrete events. A
      novel application of the seven-dimensional vector analysis method to estimate the
      amount of abnormalities detected was also investigated based on the two gait
      parameters. Experiments were carried out to validate the application of the two
      proposed algorithms to provide accurate feedback in rehabilitation. The algorithm
      responses were tested for two cases, normal and abnormal gait. The large amount
      of data required for reliable gait-phase detection necessitate the utilisation of
      computer methods to store and manage the data. Therefore, a database management
      system and an interactive graphical user interface were developed for the
      utilisation of the overall system in a clinical environment.

PMID- 20924860
TI  - Gaussian curvature analysis allows for automatic block placement in multi-block
      hexahedral meshing.
AB  - Musculoskeletal finite element analysis (FEA) has been essential to research in
      orthopaedic biomechanics. The generation of a volumetric mesh is often the most
      challenging step in a FEA. Hexahedral meshing tools that are based on a multi
      block approach rely on the manual placement of building blocks for their mesh
      generation scheme. We hypothesise that Gaussian curvature analysis could be used
      to automatically develop a building block structure for multi-block hexahedral
      mesh generation. The Automated Building Block Algorithm incorporates principles
      from differential geometry, combinatorics, statistical analysis and computer
      science to automatically generate a building block structure to represent a given
      surface without prior information. We have applied this algorithm to 29 bones of
      varying geometries and successfully generated a usable mesh in all cases. This
      work represents a significant advancement in automating the definition of
      building blocks.

PMID- 20924861
TI  - The influence of implant number and abutment design on the biomechanical
      behaviour of bone for an implant-supported fixed prosthesis: a finite element
      study in the upper anterior region.
AB  - It is always recommended to use more implants for supporting a prosthesis in the
      immediate loading condition than in the classical two-stage treatment procedure.
      By means of the finite element (FE) method, the influence of the number of
      implants used in immediately loaded fixed partial prosthesis (FPP) on the load
      distribution was investigated, considering the abutment geometry. Two 3D FE
      models were studied employing four implants to support a FPP in the premaxilla.
      One model was designed with straight abutments and the other with 20 degrees 
      angled abutments. The results concerning implant displacements, stresses and
      strains were compared with those of two implant-supported FPPs, obtained in a
      previous study. A noticeable reduction in the determined biomechanical bone
      loading was observed with the use of more implants in supporting an immediately
      loaded prosthesis. This study confirms that the use of additional numbers of
      implants in an immediately loaded prosthesis is highly recommended.

PMID- 20924862
TI  - Modelling skeletal muscle fibre orientation arrangement.
AB  - Skeletal muscle tissues have complex geometries. In addition, the complex fibre
      orientation arrangement makes it quite difficult to create an accurate finite
      element muscle model. There are many possible ways to specify the complex fibre
      orientations in a finite element model, for example defining a local element
      coordinate system. In this paper, an alternative method using ABAQUS, which is
      combination of the finite element method and the non-uniform rational B-spline
      solid representation, is proposed to calculate the initial fibre orientations.
      The initial direction of each muscle fibre is specified as the tangent direction
      of the NURBS curve which the fibre lies on, and the directions of the deformed
      fibres are calculated from the initial fibre directions, the deformation
      gradients and the fibre stretch ratios. Several examples are presented to
      demonstrate the ability of the proposed method. Results show that the proposed
      method is able to characterise both the muscle complex fibre orientation
      arrangement and its complex mechanical response.

PMID- 20924863
TI  - A computational/experimental platform for investigating three-dimensional puzzle
      solving of comminuted articular fractures.
AB  - Reconstructing highly comminuted articular fractures poses a difficult surgical
      challenge, akin to solving a complicated three-dimensional (3D) puzzle.
      Preoperative planning using computed tomography (CT) is critically important,
      given the desirability of less invasive surgical approaches. The goal of this
      work is to advance 3D puzzle-solving methods towards use as a preoperative tool
      for reconstructing these complex fractures. A methodology for generating typical
      fragmentation/dispersal patterns was developed. Five identical replicas of human
      distal tibia anatomy were machined from blocks of high-density polyetherurethane
      foam (bone fragmentation surrogate), and were fractured using an instrumented
      drop tower. Pre- and post-fracture geometries were obtained using laser scans and
      CT. A semi-automatic virtual reconstruction computer program aligned fragment
      native (non-fracture) surfaces to a pre-fracture template. The tibiae were
      precisely reconstructed with alignment accuracies ranging from 0.03 to 0.4 mm.
      This novel technology has the potential to significantly enhance surgical
      techniques for reconstructing comminuted intra-articular fractures, as
      illustrated for a representative clinical case.

PMID- 20924864
TI  - Active food packaging evolution: transformation from micro- to nanotechnology.
AB  - Predicting which attributes consumers are willing to pay extra for has become
      straightforward in recent years. The demands for the prime necessity of food of
      natural quality, elevated safety, minimally processed, ready-to-eat, and longer
      shelf-life have turned out to be matters of paramount importance. The increased
      awareness of environmental conservation and the escalating rate of foodborne
      illnesses have driven the food industry to implement a more innovative solution,
      i.e. bioactive packaging. Owing to nanotechnology application in eco-favorable
      coatings and encapsulation systems, the probabilities of enhancing food quality,
      safety, stability, and efficiency have been augmented. In this review article,
      the collective results highlight the food nanotechnology potentials with special
      focus on its application in active packaging, novel nano- and microencapsulation
      techniques, regulatory issues, and socio-ethical scepticism between nano
      technophiles and nano-technophobes. No one has yet indicated the comparison of
      data concerning food nano- versus micro-technology; therefore noteworthy results
      of recent investigations are interpreted in the context of bioactive packaging.
      The next technological revolution in the domain of food science and nutrition
      would be the 3-BIOS concept enabling a controlled release of active agents
      through bioactive, biodegradable, and bionanocomposite combined strategy.

PMID- 20924865
TI  - Cinnamon and health.
AB  - Cinnamon has been used as a spice and as traditional herbal medicine for
      centuries. The available in vitro and animal in vivo evidence suggests that
      cinnamon has anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antioxidant, antitumor,
      cardiovascular, cholesterol-lowering, and immunomodulatory effects. In vitro
      studies have demonstrated that cinnamon may act as an insulin mimetic, to
      potentiate insulin activity or to stimulate cellular glucose metabolism.
      Furthermore, animal studies have demonstrated strong hypoglycemic properties.
      However, there are only very few well-controlled clinical studies, a fact that
      limits the conclusions that can be made about the potential health benefits of
      cinnamon for free-living humans. The use of cinnamon as an adjunct to the
      treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus is the most promising area, but further
      research is needed before definitive recommendations can be made.

PMID- 20924866
TI  - The impact of heat-moisture treatment on molecular structures and properties of
      starches isolated from different botanical sources.
AB  - Heat-moisture treatment is a hydrothermal treatment that changes the
      physicochemical properties of starches by facilitating starch chain interactions
      within the amorphous and crystalline domains and/or by disrupting starch
      crystallites. The extent of these changes is influenced by starch composition,
      moisture content and temperature during treatment, and by the organization of
      amylose and amylopectin chains within native starch granules. During heat
      moisture treatment starch granules at low moisture levels [(<35% water (w/w)] are
      heated at a temperature above the glass transition temperature (T(g)) but below
      the gelatinization temperature for a fixed period of time. Significant progress
      in heat-moisture treatment has been made during the last 15 years, as reflected
      by numerous publications on this subject. Therefore, this review summarizes the
      current knowledge on the impact of heat-moisture treatment on the composition,
      granule morphology, crystallinity, X-ray pattern, granular swelling, amylose
      leaching, pasting properties, gelatinization and retrogradation parameters, and
      susceptibility towards alpha-amylase and acid hydrolysis. The application of heat
      moisture treatment in the food industry is also reviewed. Recommendations for
      future research are outlined.

PMID- 20924867
TI  - Snacking definitions: impact on interpretation of the literature and dietary
      recommendations.
AB  - Snacking is a ubiquitous practice that has increased in recent years. However,
      the impact of snacking on the diet is difficult to assess because a variety of
      approaches have been used to define snacking (and snack foods) in the literature.
      This lack of a universally accepted definition complicates interpretation of the
      literature and limits the development of science-based recommendations for
      consumers. The purpose of this review is to illustrate this problem by showing
      that the conclusions derived from the literature are heavily dependent on the
      definition used or implied by the authors. It is suggested that the a universally
      accepted definition for snacking be developed by a coalition of stakeholders to
      provide a template for future research, guidance for the food industry and to
      enable the development of well-substantiated dietary recommendations.

PMID- 20924868
TI  - Analyzing cranberry bioactive compounds.
AB  - There is a growing public interest for the North American cranberry (Vaccinium
      macrocarpon) as a functional food because of the potential health benefits linked
      to phytochemical compounds present in the fruit--the anthocyanin pigments,
      responsible for its brilliant red color, and other secondary plant metabolites
      (flavonols, flavan-3-ols, proanthocyanidins, and phenolic acid derivatives).
      Isolation of these phenolic compounds and flavonoids from a sample matrix is a
      prerequisite to any comprehensive analysis scheme. By far the most widely
      employed analytical technique for the characterization of these compounds has
      been high-performance liquid chromatography(HPLC) coupled with ultraviolet
      visible(UV/Vis) and mass spectrometer(MS) detection. This review covers the
      cranberry major bioactive compounds, the extraction and purification methods, and
      the analytical conditions for HPLC used to characterize them. Extraction,
      chromatographic separation and detection strategies, analyte determinations, and
      applications in HPLC are discussed and the information regarding methods of
      specific cranberry analyte analyses has been summarized in tabular form to
      provide a means of rapid access to information pertinent to the reader.

PMID- 20924870
TI  - Understanding change in global health policy: ideas, discourse and networks.
AB  - How is radical change in global health policy possible? Material factors such as
      economics or human resources are important, but ideational factors such as ideas
      and discourse play an important role as well. In this paper, I apply a
      theoretical framework to show how discourse made it possible for public and
      private actors to fundamentally change their way of working together--to shift
      from international public and private interactions to global health partnerships
      (GHPs)--and in the process create a new institutional mechanism for governing
      global health. Drawing on insights from constructivist analysis, I demonstrate
      how discourse justified, legitimised, communicated and coordinated ideas about
      the practice of GHPs through a concentrated network of partnership pioneers. As
      attention from health policy analysts turns increasingly to ideational
      explanations for answers to global health problems, this paper contributes to the
      debate by showing how, precisely, discourse makes change possible.

PMID- 20924871
TI  - Resilience in the context of culture: how women survive natural disasters.

PMID- 20924872
TI  - Understanding the disaster experience of older adults by gender: the experience
      of survivors of the 2007 earthquake in Peru.
AB  - We examine the experiences of older adult survivors of the August 2007 "Southern
      earthquake" in Peru within the cultural context of gender roles and family
      relationships. The data include 24 semistructured videotaped interviews conducted
      in Pisco in December 2007 with survivors of the earthquake aged 60-90. The
      responses, experiences, and adjustments of the older adult disaster survivors
      will be discussed in terms of their family and social support systems and gender
      roles. These older adults sustain their personal identities and deal with their
      health concerns in the aftermath of the earthquake in the context of these
      cultural systems of support.

PMID- 20924873
TI  - Challenges to older women's sense of self in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
AB  - We examined the personal challenges older women faced as they began to rebuild
      their sense of self after Hurricane Katrina. In-depth interviews with 74 older
      women approximately 6 months after the disaster revealed challenges in four
      domains: maintaining social connections, family connections but loss of
      independence, reestablishing a sense of place, and managing their own health or
      the health of a loved one. Follow-up data gathered several months after the
      initial interviews from 21 of the older women indicated that feelings of
      displacement persisted as they dealt with health concerns, found a place to live,
      and managed family roles.

PMID- 20924875
TI  - In the eye of the storm: resilience and vulnerability among African American
      women in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
AB  - We reviewed 17 studies of experiences of African Americans following Hurricane
      Katrina, with an emphasis on women. We conducted a literature search using major
      computerized databases, and we crossed-checked references in articles identified.
      All of the studies were published in peer-reviewed journals between 2006 and
      2010. African American women were more likely than others to report that the
      hurricane experience produced mental health disorders and stress, disrupted
      social relationships, and strengthened faith and appreciation of families.
      African American women emphasized the need to preserve cultural memories, and
      they advocated for support and recovery. We offer suggestions for practitioners,
      policymakers, and researchers.

PMID- 20924874
TI  - After Hurricanes Katrina and Rita: gender differences in health and religiosity
      in middle-aged and older adults.
AB  - We examined health-related quality of life in adults in the Louisiana Health
      Aging Study (LHAS) after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita (HK/R) that made landfall on
      the U.S. Gulf Coast region in 2005. Analyses of pre- and post-disaster SF-36
      scores yielded changes in physical function and bodily pain. Mental health scores
      were lower for women than men. Gender differences were observed in religious
      beliefs and religious coping, favoring women. Religious beliefs and religious
      coping were negatively correlated with physical function, implying that stronger
      reliance on religiosity as a coping mechanism may be more likely among those who
      are less physically capable.

PMID- 20924876
TI  - Emergency planning and long-term care: least paid, least powerful, most
      responsible.
AB  - As disasters can occur anywhere, planning to avoid emergencies is an
      international concern. Our research specifically addresses planning for the needs
      and safety of a vulnerable population, long-term care residents. Our initial
      purposes in this evaluation research were to assess the utility of a template to
      gather emergency management information for individual long-term care
      communities, to report on how prepared they are to cope with emergencies that
      have occurred elsewhere in areas like ours, and to assess the effectiveness of
      employing gerontology students in the planning process. As we began analyzing our
      data, we realized that it is imperative to consider whether it is possible for
      long-term care communities to respond effectively to disasters. In our findings
      we focus on the impact of gender in the planning process, the importance of size
      with regard to template utility, the positive and negative consequences of
      student aid, and the fact that gathering plans for individual long-term care
      communities may have detracted from collaborative community planning.

PMID- 20924877
TI  - Nonmedical prescription stimulant use among college students: why we need to do
      something and what we need to do.
AB  - This article summarizes recent research findings on nonmedical use of
      prescription stimulants and outlines a multi-pronged strategic approach for
      responding to this unique problem among college students. Students, health
      professionals, parents, the pharmaceutical industry, and institutions of higher
      education all play roles in this response. Moreover, the academic community
      should view the translation of research findings as an important responsibility
      that can help dispel the myths often perpetuated in the media. The nonmedical use
      of prescription stimulants is a complex behavior and should be viewed in the
      larger context of alcohol and drug involvement among young adults. Strategies to
      reduce nonmedical use of prescription stimulants might have direct application to
      the abuse of other prescription drugs, including opiates.

PMID- 20924878
TI  - Differences between adolescents who complete and fail to complete residential
      substance abuse treatment.
AB  - This study examined the admission characteristics associated with failure to
      complete residential substance abuse treatment among male adolescents. Of 160
      admissions, 48 (30%) completed treatment. Having commercial health insurance (P=
      .005), having a family history of a substance use disorder (P= .05), and living
      with only one biological parent (P= .015) were admission characteristics
      associated with non-completion. Those reporting a history of physical or sexual
      abuse also appeared to be at risk for non-completion (P= .014); none of these
      participants completed the treatment. Interventions that improve residential
      substance abuse treatment retention for adolescents are needed.

PMID- 20924879
TI  - Advanced urine toxicology testing.
AB  - Urine toxicology screening testing is an important standard of care in the
      addiction and pain treatment setting, offering a reproducible, unbiased, and
      accurate laboratory test to monitor patients and provide objective support for
      clinical observations. It has been shown that physicians do not have proficiency
      in the ordering or interpretation of these tests. This article is an attempt to
      respond to that need. Current antibody-based enzymatic immunoassays (EIAs) used
      for urine toxicology screening are useful to detect classes of drugs (ex.,
      opiate) but cannot determine which specific drug (ex., morphine) is present. Gas
      chromatography and mass spectroscopy can determine exactly which drugs are
      present, allowing prescribed (or illicit) opiates and benzodiazepines to be
      identified. This article will discuss principles and details of opiate and
      benzodiazepine EIA and gas chromatography and mass spectroscopy urine toxicology
      testing. The approach to detecting patients attributing positive opiate EIAs to
      prescription opiates who are using heroin or other opioids will be reviewed.
      Cases of controlled prescription drugs that do not produce the expected positive
      urine tests (ex., oxycodone producing negative opiate screening tests) will be
      discussed. How to differentiate codeine from heroin and the role of poppy seeds
      in toxicology will be examined. The case of an anti-depressant drug that produces
      false-positive benzodiazepine results and antibiotics that cause positive opiate
      urine toxicology results will be reviewed. Common benzodiazepines (ex.,
      clonazepam and lorazepam) that do not reliably produce positive benzodiazepine
      EIAs will be discussed. The approach to detection and management of all these
      types of toxicology cases will be reviewed, and it is hoped that the analyses
      presented will impart an adequate information base to medical providers and staff
      members of drug treatment and pain centers, enabling them to order and interpret
      these tests in the clinic more effectively as an integrated part of whole patient
      care.

PMID- 20924880
TI  - Effect of ultra-rapid opiate detoxification on withdrawal syndrome.
AB  - The aim of study was determine the effect of ultra-rapid opiate detoxification
      (UROD) on the presence or absence of withdrawal syndrome in a group of patients
      with opiate dependency. In this study, withdrawal syndrome of 173 patients with
      opiate addiction was evaluated before and after UROD using the Objective Opioid
      Withdrawal Scale. Hence, each patient was observed for 5 minutes before UROD and
      at different hours afterward to observe any withdrawal sign. The most prevalent
      withdrawal sign before UROD was anxiety. Restlessness was the most prevalent
      finding at 1, 3, and 6 hours. After 12 hours, yawning was reported as the most
      prevalent finding in 39 participants. Anxiety was reported as the most prevalent
      finding in 61 participants after 24 hours. Patients with opioid dependency who
      underwent UROD showed the highest rate of withdrawal symptoms at one hour after
      anesthesia. Most of these symptoms subsided after 24 hours. UROD can be applied
      for detoxification of patients with opioid dependency with safety.

PMID- 20924881
TI  - Erectile dysfunction in opioid users: lack of association with serum
      testosterone.
AB  - This study describes the prevalence of erectile dysfunction (ED) among 57 men
      using illicit opioids who presented to a primary care program for buprenorphine
      therapy. Participants' mean age was 40 years and 34% reported ED. Low total
      testosterone was detected in 17% of those reporting ED, but total testosterone
      was not significantly associated with ED. Examining multiple comorbidities and
      laboratory parameters, only older age was significantly associated with ED (r =
      .27, P< .05). ED is highly prevalent among men abusing opioids, but low total
      testosterone is rarely the cause.

PMID- 20924882
TI  - Low rates of hepatitis A and B vaccination in patients with chronic hepatitis C
      at an urban methadone maintenance program.
AB  - Patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) are at increased risk for
      complications of liver disease if they become infected with the hepatitis A (HAV)
      or hepatitis B (HBV) viruses. The authors examined the rates of testing for HAV,
      HBV, and HCV, as well as rates of vaccination against HAV and HBV in patients
      with chronic HCV in a random sample (N = 207) of medical records of patients
      enrolled in a methadone maintenance program. Almost all patients reviewed were
      tested for HAV, HBV, and HCV. Of the 111 patients with chronic HCV, 53 (48.6%)
      and 68 (63%) lacked immunity to HAV and HBV, respectively. Of those lacking
      immunity, 29 (54.7%) and 2 (2.9%) were vaccinated for HAV and HBV, respectively.
      Despite high rates of testing for HAV, HBV, and HCV at a methadone maintenance
      program, approximately half of those with chronic HCV eligible for the HAV
      vaccine received it, and few of those eligible for HBV vaccine received it.

PMID- 20924883
TI  - Socioeconomic risk factors and depressive symptoms in alcohol use disorders among
      male suicides in South Tirol, Italy.
AB  - The aim of the current study was to evaluate whether socioeconomics risk factors
      and depressive symptoms are associated with suicide in men with alcohol use
      disorders in South Tirol, Italy. The authors hypothesize that socioeconomics
      inequalities interact with greater psychopathology in men with alcohol use
      disorders who committed suicide. The authors found a positive association between
      unstable work positions and low educational attainment and alcohol use disorders
      in individuals who committed suicide. The results point to the need for careful
      assessment of subsyndromal depression in individuals with alcohol use disorders,
      especially when abuse is associated with socioeconomic risk factors such as lower
      educational attainment and unemployment or employment instability.

PMID- 20924884
TI  - Population-based case-control study of DRD2 gene polymorphisms and alcoholism.
AB  - Several independent lines of evidence for genetic contributions to vulnerability
      to alcoholism exist. Dopamine is thought to play a major role in the mechanism of
      reward and reinforcement in response to alcohol. D2 dopamine receptor (DRD2) gene
      has been among the stronger candidate genes implicated in alcoholism. In this
      study, alcohol use was assessed in 196 randomly selected Kota individuals of
      Nilgiri Hills, South India. Six DRD2 SNPs were assessed in 81 individuals with
      alcoholism and 151 controls to evaluate the association between single nucleotide
      polymorphisms (SNPs) and alcoholism. Of the three models (dominant, recessive,
      and additive) tested for association between alcoholism and DRD2 SNPs, only the
      additive model shows association for three loci (rs1116313, TaqID, and
      rs2734835). Of six studied polymorphisms, five are in strong linkage
      disequilibrium forming onesingle haplotype block. Though the global haplotype
      analysis with these five SNPs was not significant, haplotype analysis using all
      six SNPs yielded a global P value of .033, even after adjusting for age. These
      findings support the importance of dopamine receptor gene polymorphisms in
      alcoholism. Further studies to replicate these findings in different populations
      are needed to confirm these results.

PMID- 20924886
TI  - Does breath carbon monoxide measure nicotine dependence?
AB  - The aim of the current study was the examination of exhaled breath carbon
      monoxide levels as a predictor for heaviness of smoking. In this regard, nicotine
      dependence was assessed among a representative sample of 1,870 Austrian male
      military conscripts in a cross-sectional setting. Participants completed the
      Heaviness of Smoking Index (a brief questionnaire for assessment of nicotine
      dependence), and their expired breath carbon monoxide levels were measured. The
      performance of carbon monoxide as a predictor of dependence levels was examined
      by means of Receiver-Operating-Characteristic Curve Analysis. Area Under the
      Curve, as well as sensitivity and specificity, were reported for each carbon
      monoxide cut-off level. The authors demonstrate that exhaled carbon monoxide
      levels serve as a satisfactory means to discriminate between smokers and non
      smokers, yielding optimal discrimination at a cut-off level >= 5.5 parts per
      million (ppm), with a sensitivity of 95% and a specificity of 83%. However, the
      results indicate that carbon monoxide levels do not discriminate adequately
      between different levels of severity of nicotine dependence. The study
      demonstrates exhaled carbon monoxide as a useful marker of smoking status but not
      of nicotine dependence.

PMID- 20924885
TI  - Injection-related venous disease and walking mobility.
AB  - Injection users are at risk for vascular injuries resulting in chronic venous
      disease (CVD). The authors examined walking mobility in relation to CVD for 713
      individuals in methadone treatment. The authors used a cross-sectional,
      comparative design that was stratified on age, sex, ethnicity, and drug use. CVD
      was present in 92.3% of participants. The structural equation model supported the
      causal link between leg injection and CVD (.40, P<.001). The worse the mobility,
      the greater was the CVD classification (-.21, P<.001). CVD had an indirect effect
      on mobility through pain. CVD and pain need to be considered when assessing
      mobility in illicit drug users.

PMID- 20924888
TI  - The use and abuse of opioids. President's message.

PMID- 20924889
TI  - Reimagining nursing homes: the art of the possible.
AB  - Long-term care (LTC) needs to be reconceptualized. The current efforts to
      reinvent the nursing home perpetuate a flawed model of care. The heritage of the
      nursing home as the dominant model for LTC needs to be reexamined. The basic LTC
      building blocks--housing, services, and medical care--can be combined in various
      ways to meet consumers' needs and preferences. We need innovative solutions that
      can offer reasonable service while recognizing the value of acceptable risk
      taking. Modest personal care should not come at the price of surrendering one's
      autonomy.

PMID- 20924890
TI  - A further opinion on reimagining nursing homes.
AB  - A commentary of the article discussing the possible reimagining of long-term care
      (LTC) is provided. The reimagining article examines how to diminish the role of
      nursing homes in the LTC system. The text is provocative. It is also thought
      provoking. In this commentary I provide a further opinion that we could do better
      within the current system using the current resources.

PMID- 20924891
TI  - What the 2008 stock market crash means for retirement security.
AB  - The 2008 stock market crash raises concerns about retirement security, especially
      since the increased prevalence of 401(k) and similar retirement saving plans
      means that more Americans are now stakeholders in the equity market than in the
      past. Using a dynamic microsimulation model, this paper explores the ability of
      alternate future stock market scenarios to restore retirement assets. The authors
      find that those near retirement could fare the worst because they have no time to
      recoup their losses. Mid-career workers could fare better because they have more
      time to rebuild their wealth. They may even gain income if they buy stocks at low
      prices and get above-average rates of return. High-income groups will be the most
      affected because they are most likely to have financial assets and to be invested
      in the stock market.

PMID- 20924892
TI  - Access barriers to mental health services for older adults from diverse
      populations: perspectives of leaders in mental health and aging.
AB  - This project is based on the results of telephone surveys with 52 local, state,
      and national informed respondents including policymakers, county leaders,
      planners, and advocates in mental health and aging with a particular focus on the
      states of California and Florida. This article addresses challenges to access to
      mental health services for diverse older adults including barriers related to
      race and ethnicity, socioeconomic status, location, age, gender, immigrant
      status, language, sexual orientation, and diagnosis. The article also highlights
      broad themes that emerged including (1) the importance of outreach and
      transportation tailored to diverse elders, and (2) recruitment of diverse staff
      and training related to diversity. The article concludes with policy and practice
      recommendations to reduce these disparities in access to mental health services
      for diverse populations of older adults.

PMID- 20924893
TI  - The future of financing for long-term care: the Own Your Future campaign.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to examine the outreach effort and impact of a
      joint federal-state campaign, Own Your Future, promoting awareness and planning
      for long-term care (LTC) in the state of Washington. The study applied survey
      methodology to evaluate the extent of campaign dissemination, evidence of its
      impact on LTC planning behaviors, and barriers to purchasing private LTC
      insurance. A total of 3,198 survey responses from a randomly selected community
      sample and a Washington State employee sample (ages 51 to 71) were analyzed.
      Results indicated that the impact of the campaign was limited, both with respect
      to awareness of the campaign itself and to initiation of LTC planning behaviors.
      Quantitative data revealed a high prevalence of health-related problems (e.g.,
      obesity, diabetes), inadequate knowledge of basic LTC-related information (e.g.,
      cost, payers), and negative attitudes toward purchasing LTC insurance among
      respondents. Qualitative analyses suggested that respondents perceived
      significant problems related to affordability and accountability within the
      current LTC insurance industry. These possible barriers to the purchase of LTC
      insurance suggest targets to be addressed by policy makers seeking to find ways
      to offset the public costs of LTC.

PMID- 20924894
TI  - Aging in rural Japan--limitations in the current social care policy.
AB  - Owing to equal and increased opportunities for education and employment, today's
      trend in Japanese marriages is characterized by late and less frequent marriage.
      This paper discusses unavoidable diversity in rural families to point out the
      anticipated consequences of aging in rural areas and to discuss limitations in
      current public social care policies. Specifically, the averaged proportion of
      never-married and single persons at ages 45 to 49 and 50 to 54 in legally
      recognized depopulated cities, towns, and villages in Japan is calculated to
      illustrate the expected diversity in families in rural depopulated areas. It also
      illustrates the need for future studies to develop better social care policies
      for increasing numbers of single caregivers and single elders.

PMID- 20924895
TI  - Three new lignans from the seeds of Saussurea involucrata.
AB  - Three new lignans, arctigenin-4-O-(6''-O-acetyl-beta-d-glucoside) (1), arctigenin
      4-O-(2''-O-acetyl-beta-d-glucoside) (2), and arctigenin-4-O-(3''-O-acetyl-beta-d
      glucoside) (3), together with two known lignans, were isolated from the seeds of
      Saussurea involucrata. Their structures were established by spectroscopic
      methods, mainly 1D and 2D NMR, and mass spectral analysis.

PMID- 20924896
TI  - New triterpenes from Salacia hainanensis Chun et How with alpha-glucosidase
      inhibitory activity.
AB  - Fractionation of the methanol extract from the roots of Salacia hainanensis Chun
      et How showing the potent inhibitory activity on alpha-glucosidase afforded two
      new lupane derivatives, 3alpha,28-dihydroxy-lup-20(29)-en-2-one (1) and 3alpha
      hydroxy-lup-20(29)-en-2-one (2), a new friedelane derivative, D:A-friedo-oleanane
      7alpha,30-dihydroxy-3-one (3), and a novel natural product, 2,3-seco-lup-20(29)
      en-2,3-dioic acid (4), along with four known compounds (5-8). Their structures
      were established on the basis of spectral analysis, especially on the data
      afforded by 2D NMR and high-resolution mass spectra experiments. All of them
      showed a much stronger inhibiting activity on alpha-glucosidase than the positive
      control (acarbose, IC50 = 5.83 MUM). Constituents with alpha-glucosidase
      inhibitory activity from this plant are reported for the first time.

PMID- 20924897
TI  - The synthesis of puerarin derivatives and their protective effect on the
      myocardial ischemia and reperfusion injury.
AB  - Puerarin is a naturally occurring isoflavone and is frequently used for the
      treatment of cardiovascular symptoms in China. By the structural modification of
      the puerarin molecule at different positions, seven new puerarin derivatives were
      obtained, and their cardioprotective activities (in vitro and in vivo) were
      respectively evaluated. The finding that the activities of 3 and 8 markedly
      exceeded puerarin suggested that the acylated modification of phenolic hydroxyl
      at C-7 in the puerarin molecule may improve the cardioprotective activity, which
      will be an important reference for further structural optimization.

PMID- 20924898
TI  - Ethylenediamine: an effective reagent for deacetylation of natural products.
AB  - The use of ethylenediamine in methanol is described for the selective cleavage of
      the acetate group in nimbin (1) to 6-deacetyl nimbin (1a) under microwave
      irradiation. This method enables to deacetylate without affecting other
      functional groups such as alpha,beta-unsaturated ketone, ester, ether, etc. in
      certain tetranortriterpenoids and other acetate-containing natural compounds.

PMID- 20924899
TI  - Two new cytotoxic ent-clerodane diterpenoids from Scutellaria barbata.
AB  - Two new ent-clerodane diterpenoids have been isolated from Scutellaria barbata,
      and their structures were established by detailed spectroscopic analyses as (13R)
      6alpha,7beta-dihydroxy-8beta,13-epoxy-11beta-nicotinyloxy-ent-clerodan-3-en-15,16
      olide (scutelinquanine D, 1) and (11E)-6alpha-acetoxy-7beta,8beta-dihydroxy-ent
      clerodan-3,11,13-trien-15,16-olide (6-acetoxybarbatin C, 2). In vitro, the
      isolated two new compounds showed significant cytotoxic activities against three
      human cancer cell lines (HONE-1 nasopharyngeal, KB oral epidermoid carcinoma, and
      HT29 colorectal carcinoma cells), and gave IC(50) values in the range of 2.5-6.6
      MUM.

PMID- 20924900
TI  - Three new dammarane-type triterpene saponins from the leaves of Panax ginseng
      C.A. Meyer.
AB  - Three new dammarane-type triterpene ginsenosides, together with six known
      ginsenosides, were isolated from the leaves of Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer. The new
      saponins were named as ginsenoside Rh11, ginsenoside Rh12, and ginsenoside Rh13.
      Their structures were elucidated as (20S)-3beta,6alpha,12beta,20
      tetrahydroxydammara-25-ene-24-one 20-O-beta-d-glucopyranoside (1), (20S)
      3beta,12beta,20,24,25-pentahydroxydammarane 20-O-beta-d-glucopyranoside (2), and
      (20S,23E)-3beta,12beta,20,25-tetrahydroxydammara-23-ene 20-O-beta-d
      glucopyranoside (3) on the basis of 1D and 2D NMR experiments and mass spectra.
      The known ginsenosides were identified as ginsenoside M(7cd), ginsenoside Rg6,
      ginsenoside Rb3, gypenoside XVII, gypenoside IX, and 20-(E)-ginsenoside F4.

PMID- 20924901
TI  - Two new 8-O-4'-type lignans from the stem of Schima superba and their cell growth
      inhibitory activities against human cancer cell lines.
AB  - Two new lignans (1 and 2) were isolated from the EtOH extracts of the stem of
      Schima superba, and elucidated as (7R,8S)-1-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)-2-O-(2-methoxy
      4-omegahydroxypropylphenyl)propane-1,3-diol (1) and threo-1-(4-hydroxy-3
      methoxyphenyl)-1-methoxy-2-{4-[1-formyl-(E)-vinyl]-2-methoxyphenoxy}-3-propanol
      (2) by spectral analysis. Compounds 1 and 2 showed cell growth inhibitory
      activity against HeLa, CNE, HepG-2, and HEp-2 cell lines. Compound 1 exhibited
      significant cytotoxicities with IC50 values of less than 4 MUg/ml against all the
      tested cell lines.

PMID- 20924902
TI  - In vitro and in vivo pharmacokinetics of two novel 1,3-cyclic propanyl phosphate
      ester prodrugs of 18beta-glycyrrhetic acid in rats.
AB  - The in vitro metabolism of two novel phosphate prodrugs of glycyrrhetic acid (GA)
      was studied by the method of incubation in the rat liver microsome and the in
      vivo plasma pharmacokinetics after injecting intravenously (i.v.) into six rats
      was investigated, respectively. The prodrugs diminished gradually with time and
      most of the parent drugs were released in 30 min in vitro. In this paper, the in
      vivo plasma concentration data were analyzed by compartmental modeling. Both the
      prodrugs and the corresponding released parent drugs could be described by a two
      compartment model, which existed for 48 h in rats. The t(1/2) increases
      remarkably after i.v. administration to rats when compared with injecting the
      parent drugs directly.

PMID- 20924903
TI  - Two new aromatic acids from Clerodendrum formicarum Gurke (Lamiaceae) of
      Cameroon.
AB  - The ethanolic extract of the leaves of Clerodendrum formicarum, a Lameacious
      plant of Cameroon, afforded two new salicylic acid derivatives named formoic
      acids A and B along with four known constituents which have been obtained for the
      first time from this source. They include flemingipanic acid, martynoside,
      verbascoside, and seguinoside K. Structures of all the isolated constituents have
      been elucidated with the aid of 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopic techniques.

PMID- 20924904
TI  - Salvianolic acid A displays cardioprotective effects in in vitro models of heart
      hypoxia/reoxygenation injury.
AB  - Oxidative stress induced by overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS) plays
      an important role in hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R) injury. In the present study,
      effects of salvianolic acid A (1) on heart H/R injury through its antioxidant
      activity were examined, using a molecule-based ROS scavenging system and
      cardiomyocyte model of H/R injury, as well as isolated rat heart model. As a
      result, 1 showed a potent antioxidant activity, scavenging all of the tested ROS
      and DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl). The antioxidant effect of 1 was also
      observed in cardiomyocytes exposed to H/R. Compound 1 remarkably decreased
      dihydroethidium and dichlorofluorescein fluorescence and increased cell viability
      and mitochondrial membrane potential, DeltaPsi(m), when compared to the H/R
      group. In isolated rat hearts exposed to H/R, 1 markedly increased the coronary
      flow, the peak of pressure development and the valley of pressure development,
      and significantly reduced the left ventricular end diastolic pressure when
      compared to the H/R group. These results suggested that 1 had significant
      protective effects against H/R-induced myocardial injury through its antioxidant
      activity.

PMID- 20924905
TI  - A novel brominated cuparene-derived sesquiterpene ether from the red alga
      Laurencia sp.
AB  - A novel brominated cuparene-derived sesquiterpene ether, 8,10-dibromo-3,7-epoxy
      laur-13-ol (1), was isolated from Laurencia sp. collected in South China Sea.
      Besides this, two known sesquiterpenes, (9beta)-aristol-1(10)-en-9-ol (2) and
      aristolone (3), were also yielded, and aristolone (3) was obtained from Laurencia
      for the first time. Their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic methods.

PMID- 20924906
TI  - A new diarylheptanoid from the bark of Alnus japonica.
AB  - A new diarylheptanoid, epihirsutanonol (1), was isolated from the bark of Alnus
      japonica, along with two known ones (2 and 3). Their structures were elucidated
      on the basis of extensive spectroscopic evidence. The new compound 1 showed
      significant hepatoprotective activity on the basis of t-butylhydroperoxide
      induced hepatocyte injury in vitro assay.

PMID- 20924907
TI  - Forensic, cultural, and systems issues in child sexual abuse cases--part 1: an
      introduction.
AB  - This article introduces the first in a two-part special issue focusing on
      forensic, cultural, and systems issues in child sexual abuse cases. The five
      articles contained in this issue include a diversity of perspectives on
      approaches to extended interviews and evaluations of child sexual abuse
      suspicions, an exploration of the ways culture affects child sexual abuse
      disclosure and reporting, considerations relevant to the management of a child's
      mental health needs while forensic process are ongoing, and the use of anatomical
      dolls in forensic interviews. We call for attention to several practice areas,
      including (a) prioritizing a child's mental health needs while minimizing
      disruption of forensic processes, (b) developing best practices and models of
      child sexual abuse assessment and evaluation when a one-session forensic
      interview is insufficient, (c) appropriately evaluating child sexual abuse
      concerns when they occur without a disclosure and/or in children with
      communication limitations, and (d) the integration of cultural sensitivity into
      interviews and evaluations.

PMID- 20924908
TI  - Cultural issues in disclosures of child sexual abuse.
AB  - Cultural norms affect the likelihood that child sexual abuse will be discovered
      by an adult or disclosed by a child. Cultural norms also affect whether abused
      children's families will report child sexual abuse to authorities. This article
      explores the ways ethnic and religious culture affect child sexual abuse
      disclosure and reporting, both in the United States and internationally.
      Guidelines for culturally sensitive child abuse interviewing are provided to
      facilitate disclosures of abuse from culturally diverse children in formal
      settings.

PMID- 20924909
TI  - The use of anatomical dolls as a demonstration aid in child sexual abuse
      interviews: a study of forensic interviewers' perceptions.
AB  - Given that most cases of child sexual abuse lack external corroborating evidence,
      children's verbal accounts of their experiences are of paramount importance to
      investigators. Forensic interviewers are charged with interviewing child victims
      and oftentimes use anatomical dolls. Yet, research on dolls has not caught up to
      practice in the field. Using a multimethod approach, this study presents new
      evidence on the function and value of using anatomical dolls as a demonstration
      aid. With a standardized protocol, forensic interviewers from an urban Midwestern
      Children's Advocacy Center evaluated the purpose and value of anatomical dolls in
      a forensic setting. Relationships between child characteristics and interviewer
      perceived value were examined using descriptive, bivariate findings and case
      examples. Using a large and diverse sample of children, the study found that
      forensic interviewers perceived children as able and willing to use dolls for
      purposes of clarification, consistency, distancing, and communication. Results
      are discussed in the context of real-world applications and best practices and
      provide an evidence-based foundation for future research.

PMID- 20924910
TI  - Child sexual abuse suspicions: treatment considerations during investigation.
AB  - This article addresses what, if any, psychotherapeutic interventions should be
      provided to meet the emotional and clinical needs of alleged child victims of
      sexual abuse while they await judicial determinations from the family,
      dependency, or criminal courts. The discussion emphasizes that to minimize
      iatrogenic outcomes, professionals involved in sexual abuse allegation cases
      should carefully establish and maintain professional role boundaries and take on
      only one role in a case. Professional roles may include an investigative forensic
      interviewer, court appointed forensic evaluator, and therapist. Special attention
      is given to complex issues that arise in child custody cases with allegations of
      child sexual abuse in family court.

PMID- 20924911
TI  - Allegations of sexual abuse of a child: what to do when a single forensic
      interview isn't enough.
AB  - This article describes the state of knowledge about extended assessments/forensic
      evaluations in situations of possible sexual abuse. It provides a critical review
      of the modest body of relevant research, describes two models for extended
      assessments, and presents descriptive survey findings of 62 professionals
      conducting extended assessments, most of whom conduct extended assessments
      intermittently as part of their other work on sexual abuse cases. Agencies should
      consider conducting extended assessments with young or traumatized children whose
      sexual abuse allegations are not resolved with a single interview as well as in
      complex child sexual abuse cases.

PMID- 20924912
TI  - The clinical-forensic dichotomy in sexual abuse evaluations: moving toward an
      integrative model.
AB  - We propose the use of an approach to evaluation that can be undertaken in a
      clinical setting when concerns regarding child sexual abuse are unclear or
      ambiguous and other systems are not involved, thus providing an option for the
      nondisclosing child often discussed in the "delayed disclosure" literature. This
      approach can also be appropriate for a child with a questionable prior disclosure
      not being served by other intervention systems. We have labeled this an
      "integrative" model, incorporating forensically sound practices into evaluations
      conducted in a clinical setting. The goals of this manuscript are to (a) provide
      a rationale for conducting child sexual abuse extended evaluations in a clinical
      setting, (b) delineate the purposes of such evaluations, (c) differentiate this
      "integrative" model from the forensic-clinical dichotomy framework discussed by
      Kuehnle (1996), and (d) briefly describe the format, which can be refined by
      future practice and research.

PMID- 20924913
TI  - Enhancing memory performance after organic brain disease relies on retrieval
      processes rather than encoding or consolidation.
AB  - Neuropsychological rehabilitation of memory performance is still a controversial
      topic, and rehabilitation studies have not analyzed to which stage of memory
      processing (encoding, consolidation, or retrieval) enhancement may be attributed.
      We first examined the efficacy of a computer training program for stroke
      patients, based on a previous study (Hildebrandt, Clausing, Janssen, & Modden,
      2007a) for memory-impaired patients of a rehabilitation unit and compared it with
      the standard group treatment. In a second randomized controlled experiment, we
      trained two groups of 15 patients with mild to moderate memory disorders, caused
      by organic brain lesions, with the same two treatment approaches. We used several
      standard tests to analyze improvement of memory functions, focusing on separate
      parameters for encoding, consolidation, and retrieval. We developed for that
      purpose a new word-list learning test, which allowed assessment of response to
      novelty and a systematic comparison of free recall after learning of semantically
      structured and nonstructured word lists. The first treatment experiment showed
      significant improvement of verbal learning for patients treated with the computer
      software program. The second experiment showed that memory improvement was based
      exclusively on retrieval processes, whereas no specific change was found for
      encoding and consolidation. However, the two groups of the second experiment
      showed no significant differences for the treatment, although the absolute scores
      pointed in the same direction as in the first experiment.

PMID- 20924914
TI  - Comparison of Wechsler Memory Scale-Fourth Edition (WMS-IV) and Third Edition
      (WMS-III) dimensional structures: improved ability to evaluate auditory and
      visual constructs.
AB  - Dimensional structures underlying the Wechsler Memory Scale-Fourth Edition (WMS
      IV) and Wechsler Memory Scale-Third Edition (WMS-III) were compared to determine
      whether the revised measure has a more coherent and clinically relevant factor
      structure. Principal component analyses were conducted in normative samples
      reported in the respective technical manuals. Empirically supported procedures
      guided retention of dimensions. An invariant two-dimensional WMS-IV structure
      reflecting constructs of auditory learning/memory and visual attention/memory (C1
      = .97; C2 = .96) is more theoretically coherent than the replicable,
      heterogeneous WMS-III dimension (C1 = .97). This research suggests that the WMS
      IV may have greater utility in identifying lateralized memory dysfunction.

PMID- 20924915
TI  - The need for a revised version of the Benton judgment of line orientation test.
AB  - The Judgment of Line Orientation Test (JLOT) is considered a valid task for the
      assessment of visuospatial perception, and, for this reason, it is also
      considered to be a sensitive tool able to discriminate between right-hemisphere
      damaged (RHD) patients and left-hemisphere-damaged (LHD) patients. In contrast
      with this view, we report evidence that the greater impairment in JLOT usually
      shown by RHD patients is unrelated to the supposed JLOT effectiveness in
      measuring visuospatial judgment ability and to the putative dominant role of the
      right hemisphere in visuospatial processing. JLOT is characterized by a left
      right structural asymmetry (i.e., left-side lines are easier to judge) that
      seriously undermines the test validity: This asymmetry interacts with
      ipsilesional attentional biases of brain-damaged patients and affects their
      performance. Results obtained with a JLOT version composed of both the original
      items and their mirror-reversed versions clearly indicate that the cognitive
      functions tested by the JLOT are distributed across the two hemispheres: LHD and
      RHD patients did not differ from each other or from their matched controls when
      their performances were compared on this balanced JLOT version. Impaired
      performances of either RHD or LHD patients were found only when performances in
      original and mirror-reversed items were considered separately. This suggests that
      the original JLOT cannot assess visuospatial perception independently from
      attentional biases. The test can be a powerful clinical tool, as long as both
      original and mirror-reversed items are used, and the standard scoring method is
      replaced by the evaluation of the individual lines of stimulus pairs.

PMID- 20924916
TI  - Disinfection of a wastewater flow treated by advanced primary treatment using O3,
      UV and O3/UV combinations.
AB  - This study was conducted to evaluate the ozone, UV and O3/UV processes for the
      reuse of sewage treatment plant effluent (Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana
      Azcapotzalco wastewater treatment plant). The ozone/UV process was compared to
      individual ozone and the UV processes and control parameters were total and fecal
      coliforms. Different ozone concentrations (6-12 mg O3/min) and different UV
      fluencies (6.7-20.12 mJ/cm2) were tested. It is possible to conclude than none of
      the processes achieved the disinfection levels required to comply with the
      Mexican standard NOM-003-SEMARNAT-1997. The continuous ozone process offered the
      lower total and fecal coliforms reductions, while UV light resulted a
      disinfection agent with higher germicide power than ozone. The maximum
      logarithmic reduction achieved due to the combined ozone/UV process was of 2.04
      for fecal coliforms and of 2.17 for total coliforms. The next 8 combinations
      showed lower removal efficiencies, but always higher than those obtained with the
      single ozone or UV processes. The ozone/UV process was highly effective for the
      disinfection and a synergistic effect was observed.

PMID- 20924917
TI  - On-line measurement of oxidative degradation kinetics for trace gasoline
      contaminants in aqueous solutions and natural water by membrane introduction
      tandem mass spectrometry.
AB  - Membrane introduction mass spectrometry (MIMS) was used to directly monitor the
      loss of trace gasoline contaminants (benzene, toluene, 2-methylthiophene and
      methylcyclohexane) in nanomolar (ppb) aqueous solutions under a variety of UV
      induced advanced oxidation processes (AOP). The decay kinetics of these
      contaminants were followed simultaneously in "real-time" via tandem mass
      spectrometric techniques by re-circulating the reaction mixture in a closed loop
      over a semi-permeable membrane interface. The photocatalyzed degradations were
      observed to follow pseudo-first-order kinetics with rate constants ranging from
      0.006 to 0.2 min-1 depending on the reaction conditions. We report rate
      enhancements for several UV-based advanced oxidative processes using physiosorbed
      titanium dioxide (TiO2/UV, TiO2/UV/O2, TiO2/UV/H2O2) and compare these to the
      direct photolysis of H2O2 under otherwise identical conditions. The relative
      degradation rates of 4 trace contaminants are reported for reactions carried out
      in the same solution. The degradation kinetics were also monitored directly in a
      natural surface water spiked with the same contaminant suite. The observed decay
      kinetics in the presence of TiO2 in air-saturated natural water were similar to
      those carried out in deionized water. However, when the photo-oxidation was
      enhanced by the addition of H2O2, the degradation was markedly slower in natural
      water relative to deionized water due to competition for photons by dissolved
      organic matter. This work further demonstrates the use of MIMS as a sensitive on
      line measurement technique for "in-situ" reaction monitoring of organic
      contaminants at environmentally relevant concentrations in complex solutions and
      reactive media.

PMID- 20924918
TI  - Mn(II) removal from groundwater with manganese oxide-coated filter media.
AB  - Removing soluble manganese from groundwater requires a strong chemical oxidant,
      such as ozone or potassium permanganate, or raising the pH to alkaline value
      (over pH 9). Biological or adsorption processes can also be applied. Filter media
      naturally or industrially coated with manganese oxide are effective in adsorptive
      manganese removal. In this work, a layer of commercial manganese oxide coated
      medium was added to the top of an experimental sand/anthracite filter column to
      improve manganese removal. The coated layer was ca 28 cm thick (20% of the total
      filter depth) and the sand layer was 110 cm thick. The coated layer enhanced the
      manganese removal markedly. Manganese removal increased by over 91%, and < 0.02
      mg/L of manganese remained in the treated water. Also iron removal was enhanced.
      Filters with added coated layer recovered faster than reference filter from
      filter backwashes. Sodium hypochlorite feed, which was tested in regeneration of
      the filter medium, had a slight negative effect on the filter performance.

PMID- 20924919
TI  - Arsenic in drinking water wells on the Bolivian high plain: Field monitoring and
      effect of salinity on removal efficiency of iron-oxides-containing filters.
AB  - In the rural areas around Oruro (Bolivia), untreated groundwater is used directly
      as drinking water. This research aimed to evaluate the general drinking water
      quality, with focus on arsenic (As) concentrations, based on analysis of 67
      samples from about 16 communities of the Oruro district. Subsequently a filter
      using Iron Oxide Coated Sand (IOCS) and a filter using a Composite Iron Matrix
      (CIM) were tested for their arsenic removal capacity using synthetic water
      mimicking real groundwater. Heavy metal concentrations in the sampled drinking
      water barely exceeded WHO guidelines. Arsenic concentrations reached values up to
      964 MU g L-1 and exceeded the current WHO provisional guideline value of 10 MU g
      L-1 in more than 50% of the sampled wells. The WHO guideline of 250 mg L-1 for
      chloride and sulphate was also exceeded in more than a third of the samples,
      indicating high salinity in the drinking waters. Synthetic drinking water could
      be treated effectively by the IOCS- and CIM-based filters reducing As to
      concentrations lower than 10 MU g L-1. High levels of chloride and sulphate did
      not influence As removal efficiency. However, phosphate concentrations in the
      range from 4 to 24 mg L-1 drastically decreased removal efficiency of the IOCS
      based filter but had no effects on removal efficiency of the CIM-based filter.
      Results of this study can be used as a base for further testing and practical
      implementation of drinking water purification in the Oruro region.

PMID- 20924920
TI  - Removal of arsenic from drinking water by ferric hydroxide microcapsule-loaded
      alginate beads in packed adsorption column.
AB  - In this paper we have presented a unique low cost arsenic removal technique using
      ferric hydroxide microcapsule-loaded alginate beads (FHMCA) as an adsorbent in a
      continuous packed column. The microencapsulated particles of ferric hydroxide
      were produced in a spray dryer and subsequently coated with calcium alginate to
      form spherical beads of about 2 mm diameter. Batch experiments were conducted
      with these beads to generate isotherm data. The loading capacity was found to be
      3.8 mg arsenic/gm of adsorbent. The experimental data conformed to Freundlich
      adsorption isotherm. A generalized mathematical model was also developed and the
      visual basic codes run with the physical parameters of the adsorbent and isotherm
      data that were evaluated experimentally was achieved for a continuous 75 days'
      operation. The safe disposal of the spent adsorbent was confirmed by the toxicity
      characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP) results. With known set of physical
      parameters of the adsorbent, input water flow rate and its arsenic concentration,
      the model could predict the number of days the column would run with output below
      a specific arsenic concentration.

PMID- 20924921
TI  - PHAHs in large reservoir sediments from Hebei and Hubei provinces, China.
AB  - This study was undertaken to investigate the current contamination status of
      polyhalogenated aromatic hydrocarbons (PHAHs) in sediments from large reservoirs
      located in Hebei and Hubei provinces in China. The concentrations of 21
      polybrominated biphenyl (PBB) congeners, seven polybrominated diphenyl ether
      (PBDE) congeners, and 27 polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners in sediments
      were measured using the GC-MS/MS technique. Low-brominated PBBs (including 1, 3,
      4, 10, 30, 31 and 53) were the most abundant PBB congeners and PBDEs 28, 47 and
      99 were the most prevalent PBDE congeners in these samples. Among the three
      subfamilies of PHAHs, PCBs were the most predominant pollutants detected. The
      measured levels of PHAHs were compared with recent results reported in the
      literature and their respective sediment quality guidelines recommended by USEPA.
      The levels of PHAHs in the present study were generally lower than their
      respective threshold-effect levels, or were comparable to those reported in
      relatively uncontaminated freshwaters from other regions. This suggests that, in
      these reservoirs, toxic biological effects on aquatic biota--due to PHAH
      contamination of sediments--can be expected to be negligible. Thus, in terms of
      PHAHs, the sediments in the selected reservoirs are relatively uncontaminated.

PMID- 20924922
TI  - Sizes and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon composition distributions of nano,
      ultrafine, fine, and coarse particulates emitted from a four-stroke motorcycle.
AB  - Thus, this study was undertaken to determine the size distribution,
      concentration, species, and carcinogenic potency of particulate matter and
      particle-bound polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) emitted from 4-st/mc at
      various speeds (idle, 15 km/h, 30 km/h). Approximately 80% of the particles
      emitted from the that is, they are primary inhalable particulates. The particle
      total number concentrations (TNCs) emitted while idling and at 15 and 30 km/h
      were 2.07 x 104, 2.35 x 104, and 2.60 x 104 #/cm3, respectively; i.e., they
      increased at elevated speeds. Notably, most of the particles emitted at 30 km/h
      had diameters of less than 0.65 MUm and contained higher percentages of total
      PAHs. Excluding incomplete combustion, we suspected that some of the lower
      molecular-weight PAHs [phenanthrene (PA), anthracene (Ant), pyrene (Pyr)]
      obtained in the fine particles at idle originated from unburned 95-octane
      unleaded fuel. When operated at 15 km/h, pyrolysis of the PAHs dominated,
      resulting in increased amounts of medium-molecular-weight PAHs {fluorene (FL),
      Pyr, benz[a]anthracene (BaA), chrysene (CHR)} in the ultrafine particles.
      Furthermore, at 30 km/h, more pyrosynthesis products {benzo[a]pyrene (BaP),
      indeno[1,2,3,-cd]pyrene (IND), dibenz[a,h]anthracene (DBA)}, induced through
      combustion at the correspondingly higher temperature, were exhausted with the
      nanoparticles. Although the total concentrations of BaP-equivalent emissions were
      inconsistent with the total PAHs, the nanoscale-sized particulates emitted from
      the 4-st/mc at higher speeds had the strongest PAH-related carcinogenic
      potencies, which should be a great concern.

PMID- 20924923
TI  - Surface modified activated carbon with beta-cyclodextrin--Part I. Synthesis and
      characterization.
AB  - Surface functional groups produced from oxidation (carboxylic acid, lactone,
      quinine, phenol, and nitro groups), reduction (alcohol and amine groups), and
      grafting (imine and hemi-acetal) reactions were characterized (using surface
      analysis and chemical methods) and compared with unmodified activated carbon (AC)
      materials. The untreated, surface-modified, and grafted activated carbon
      materials were characterized by various surface sensitive methods: Diffuse
      Reflectance Infrared Fourier Transform Spectroscopy, Scanning Electron
      Microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, thermogravimetry analysis, and Matrix Assisted
      Laser Desorption Ionization Time of Flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry. A
      chemical method (Boehm titration) was used for estimating the amount of surface
      bound acidic and basic functional groups. Nitrogen porosimetry was used to
      analyze the surface area (95-1350 m2/g) and pore volume (0-0.31 cm3/g)
      characteristics of AC, surface modified AC, and AC materials grafted with beta
      cyclodextrin.

PMID- 20924924
TI  - Surface-modified activated carbon with beta-cyclodextrin--Part II. Adsorption
      properties.
AB  - Sorption properties of surface modified activated carbon (AC) with p-nitrophenol
      (PNP) and methylene blue (MB) in aqueous solution were investigated. The
      calculated surface areas for AC and surface modified AC were compared using
      nitrogen sorption and a dye-based method. The surface areas of AC and the surface
      modified AC with glutaraldehyde (AC-beta-CD) (1:10:109) and 1,4-phenylene
      diisocyanate (ACPDICD) measured by nitrogen sorption were 1,269 m2/g, 103 m2/g,
      and 95 m2/g, respectively (Langmuir model) and 956 m2/g, 74 m2/g, and 69 m2/g
      (BET model), respectively. However, the calculated surface areas for the dye
      based method (PNP; pH 6.00) for AC, AC-beta-CD(1:10:109), and ACPDICD was 1,035
      m2/g, 814 m2/g, and 76 m2/g (Langmuir model), respectively and 1,491 m2/g, 1,669
      m2/g, and 92 m2/g (BET model), respectively. The corresponding surface areas for
      the dye-based method (MB; pH 8.40) for AC-beta-CD(1:10:109) and ACPDICD was 263
      m2/g and 171 m2/g (Langmuir model), respectively and 1019 m2/g and 182 m2/g (BET
      model), respectively. The sorption capacity (Q(m)) and binding affinity
      characteristics [K(F)(L/g), K(L)(g/mol), and K(BET)(L/g)] were estimated at room
      temperature at equilibrium conditions using several sorption isotherm models.

PMID- 20924925
TI  - Anthropogenic sources and environmentally relevant concentrations of heavy metals
      in surface water of a mining district in Ghana: a multivariate statistical
      approach.
AB  - The levels of heavy metals in surface water and their potential origin (natural
      and anthropogenic) were respectively determined and analysed for the Obuasi
      mining area in Ghana. Using Hawth's tool an extension in ArcGIS 9.2 software, a
      total of 48 water sample points in Obuasi and its environs were randomly selected
      for study. The magnitude of As, Cu, Mn, Fe, Pb, Hg, Zn and Cd in surface water
      from the sampling sites were measured by flame Atomic Absorption
      Spectrophotometry (AAS). Water quality parameters including conductivity, pH,
      total dissolved solids and turbidity were also evaluated. Principal component
      analysis and cluster analysis, coupled with correlation coefficient analysis,
      were used to identify possible sources of these heavy metals. Pearson correlation
      coefficients among total metal concentrations and selected water properties
      showed a number of strong associations. The results indicate that apart from tap
      water, surface water in Obuasi has elevated heavy metal concentrations,
      especially Hg, Pb, As, Cu and Cd, which are above the Ghana Environmental
      Protection Agency (GEPA) and World Health Organisation (WHO) permissible levels;
      clearly demonstrating anthropogenic impact. The mean heavy metal concentrations
      in surface water divided by the corresponding background values of surface water
      in Obuasi decrease in the order of Cd > Cu > As > Pb > Hg > Zn > Mn > Fe. The
      results also showed that Cu, Mn, Cd and Fe are largely responsible for the
      variations in the data, explaining 72% of total variance; while Pb, As and Hg
      explain only 18.7% of total variance. Three main sources of these heavy metals
      were identified. As originates from nature (oxidation of sulphide minerals
      particularly arsenopyrite-FeAsS). Pb derives from water carrying drainage from
      towns and mine machinery maintenance yards. Cd, Zn, Fe and Mn mainly emanate from
      industry sources. Hg mainly originates from artisanal small-scale mining. It
      cannot be said that the difference in concentration of heavy metals might be
      attributed to difference in proximity to mining-related activities because this
      is inconsistent with the cluster analysis. Based on cluster analysis SN32, SN42
      and SN43 all belong to group one and are spatially similar. But the maximum Cu
      concentration was found in SN32 while the minimum Cu concentration was found in
      SN42 and SN43.

PMID- 20924926
TI  - Male sexuality and Alfred Kinsey's 0-6 scale: toward "a sound understanding of
      the realities of sex".
AB  - Using a 0-6 scale, Alfred Kinsey demonstrated that the complexity of human
      sexuality could best be represented on a continuum rather than as a binary.
      Kinsey developed the scale from models created by his predecessors in human sex
      research. A primary intention of the scale was to eradicate sexual identity
      categories altogether in order to eliminate sexual identity-based persecutions
      and to promote equal rights. As proponents and opponents of homosexual rights
      both depended on constructions of sexual identity to advance their agendas,
      Kinsey's ideal was never realized. The scale nonetheless continues to challenge
      postmodern associations of identity and sexuality.

PMID- 20924927
TI  - Was Abraham Lincoln gay?
AB  - Scholars and historians are blind to Lincoln's same-sex inclinations in part
      because of a personal aversion to male homosexuality, but more importantly
      because they fail to perceive the vast differences between the sexual culture of
      antebellum America and that of our own time, especially in regard to male-male
      physical and emotional intimacy. This article brings those differences to light
      and sets Lincoln's life in the context of the sexual culture of his own time.
      This enables one to see that Lincoln's same-sex sexuality was not only
      unproblematic, but commonplace, if not typical, in his day. Revising the Myth of
      Lincoln in regard to his same-sex inclinations will have a positive effect on
      contemporary culture, especially on the education and socialization of young
      boys.

PMID- 20924928
TI  - Liberated and inclusive? An analysis of self-representation in a popular lesbian
      magazine.
AB  - Comparisons of a popular lesbian lifestyle magazine to a popular heterosexual
      women's magazine show that lesbian-controlled media do indeed expand
      representation when it comes to weight, age, and degree of
      femininity/masculinity, but not in terms of racial representation. An examination
      of the textual material and visual images also shows that the lesbian publication
      gives women a more active role, while the heterosexual magazine depicts females
      as more passive. However, the evidence also shows that the lesbian and
      heterosexual magazines have similar rates of objectification, but substantively,
      the lesbian magazine is less severe in degree of objectification.

PMID- 20924929
TI  - "Coming out" stories of gay and lesbian young adults.
AB  - Gay and lesbian young adults (N = 53) were interviewed about coming out to their
      parents. Analyses of memory content were conducted. Hypotheses related to
      disclosure were largely supported. Participants typically first disclosed their
      sexual orientation to a friend. More participants came out to their mother than
      their father. When disclosure was made to both parents, mothers were told prior
      to fathers. Mothers were often told using direct methods, whereas fathers were
      typically informed using indirect methods. Mothers tended to inquire about their
      sons' sexuality; mothers inquired less with daughters. Findings are discussed in
      relation to autobiographical memory, sexuality, and clinical literatures.

PMID- 20924933
TI  - A simplified building airflow model for agent concentration prediction.
AB  - A simplified building airflow model is presented that can be used to predict the
      spread of a contaminant agent from a chemical or biological attack. If the
      dominant means of agent transport throughout the building is an air-handling
      system operating at steady-state, a linear time-invariant (LTI) model can be
      constructed to predict the concentration in any room of the building as a result
      of either an internal or external release. While the model does not capture
      weather-driven and other temperature-driven effects, it is suitable for
      concentration predictions under average daily conditions. The model is easily
      constructed using information that should be accessible to a building manager,
      supplemented with assumptions based on building codes and standard air-handling
      system design practices. The results of the model are compared with a popular
      multi-zone model for a simple building and are demonstrated for building examples
      containing one or more air-handling systems. The model can be used for rapid
      concentration prediction to support low-cost placement strategies for chemical
      and biological detection sensors.

PMID- 20924934
TI  - Flow characteristics and spillage mechanisms of wall-mounted and jet-isolated
      range hoods.
AB  - The flow characteristics and oil mist spillages of wall-mounted and jet-isolated
      range hoods were studied experimentally. Flow patterns were examined using a
      laser-light, sheet-assisted, smoke flow visualization technique. Spillages were
      diagnosed by the locally averaged tracer gas concentration test method. Tracer
      gas concentration test results correlated well with those of flow visualizations.
      For the wall-mounted hood, primary leakages occur around the region near the
      front edge of a countertop due to boundary layer separation, as well as the
      region just below the lower edge of the side panels of the hood due to the
      expansion effect of plumes. Increasing the suction flow rate above some critical
      values may help to reduce leakages out of the lateral planes but would increase
      spillages around the front edge of the countertop. For the jet-isolated range
      hood, oil mists spread widely and present unsteady motions with a high degree of
      turbulence because insufficient free air is allowed to enter the space enclosed
      by the jets and rear wall. Spillages across the jets into the environment due to
      turbulent dispersion become significant. Increasing the suction flow rate above
      some critical values may help to reduce spillages, while increasing the jet
      velocity would increase turbulent dispersion and thus lead to larger leakages.

PMID- 20924935
TI  - Vibrator use among heterosexual men varies by partnership status: results from a
      nationally representative study in the United States.
AB  - This nationally representative study documents that vibrator use among
      heterosexually identified men in the United States is common, with 43.8%
      reporting use of a vibrator at some point in their lives, with most vibrator use
      by heterosexual men occurring within the context of sexual interactions with a
      female partner. Approximately 94% of male vibrator users reported that they had
      used a vibrator during sexual play with a partner, and 82% reported that they had
      used a vibrator during sexual intercourse. These data support the work of
      therapists and educators who often make recommendations for the incorporation of
      vibrators into partnered relationships.

PMID- 20924936
TI  - Sexual positions and sexual satisfaction of pregnant women.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to investigate the sexual positions and sexual
      satisfaction of women during pregnancy. The authors sampled pregnant women (N =
      215) from outpatients registered at the antepartum clinic of a medical center in
      northern Taiwan. The authors gathered data on recent sexual satisfaction, general
      sexual satisfaction, and sexual position using a self-report, structured
      questionnaire. The results showed that coital frequency decreased from the first
      to third trimester (p < .05). The most common sexual position for pregnant women
      (67.6%) was man on top, face-to-face. Sexual position did not change
      significantly by trimester. More women with more sexual satisfaction than women
      with poor sexual satisfaction tended to adopt the woman-on-top, face-to-face, and
      abdominal-supportive sexual positions.

PMID- 20924937
TI  - Sexual dysfunction after radical prostatectomy: treatment failure or treatment
      delay?
AB  - This study defines characteristics of delayed help-seeking in men who fail
      phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors (PDE5I) treatment for their post radical
      retropubic prostatectomy (RRP) erectile dysfunction (ED). Medical charts were
      reviewed retrospectively. All men were offered second line treatment with vacuum
      devices or intracavernous injection (ICI) and sex therapy. This study included
      thirty one patients. Average age at surgery was 60 years (SD = 5.3, range 46-70).
      Average period for second line help-seeking was 25.9 months (SD = 12.9, range 3
      111). All subjects believed that surgery would not affect their sexual function.
      Twenty men (65%) used ICI as a second line treatment. Eleven men (35%) declined
      treatment, waiting for spontaneous recovery. In ICI sub-group, 5 men (25%)
      regained spontaneous erection within 7-10 months after initial treatment (16-19
      months post-surgery). Seven men (35%) responded positively to PDE5I 3-5 months
      after starting ICI. Three men (15%) used vacuum device. None regained spontaneous
      erection. All 7 men (23%) who met sex therapist with their partner reported
      improved sexual life, even if ED wasn't resolved. Patients should receive
      comprehensive information about sexual recovery, to encourage early ED treatment
      after RRP and to overcome unwanted misconceptions regarding spontaneous recovery.

PMID- 20924938
TI  - Partner traits that predict relationship satisfaction for neurotic individuals in
      premarital relationships.
AB  - The purpose of this study was (a) to examine the degree of consensus between self
      reports of neuroticism and partner reports of neuroticism, (b) to explore how
      neuroticism is related to relationship satisfaction for both partners, and (c) to
      identify partner traits and skills that predict relationship satisfaction in
      committed premarital relationships in which one partner has neurotic traits. The
      results from 198 single, young adult couples who completed the Relationship
      Evaluation indicated the length of the relationship and their perceptions of
      their partners' empathy, flexibility, and clear-speaking skills predicted
      relationship satisfaction for neurotic women. Predictors of relationship
      satisfaction for neurotic men included perceptions of their partners' lack of
      criticism and flooding as well as high levels of kindness and empathy.
      Implications for couple therapy are discussed.

PMID- 20924942
TI  - The effect of French television sexual program content on the recall of sexual
      and nonsexual advertisements.
AB  - This study examined the impact of television program sexual content and explicit
      sexual advertisement content on memory for advertisements. Eighty-two French
      participants, aged 18 to 48 years, watched either a sexual program (Sex and the
      City) or a nonsexual program (Friends), with three sexual and three nonsexual
      adverts embedded within it. They then completed free- and cued-recall
      questionnaires testing their memory of the advertisements, as well as a gender
      identity scale. Overall, sexual advertisements were recalled (in free recall)
      better than nonsexual advertisements. Participants were found to recall adverts
      significantly better within the nonsexual program than within the sexual program.
      No interaction was found between program type and advertisement type: Sexual
      adverts were recalled better than nonsexual adverts within both programs. Males
      and females recalled sexual adverts equally, with no mediating effect of gender
      identity. Implications and limitations of the study are discussed.

PMID- 20924943
TI  - Using Ecological Momentary Assessment to investigate associations between
      ejaculatory latency and control in partnered and non-partnered sexual activities.
AB  - Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) was used to investigate associations
      between, and variations in, ejaculatory control and ejaculation latency time
      (ELT) over repeated measurements of sexual activities. Differences between
      measures recorded in partnered or non-partnered settings were also investigated.
      The sample consisted of 21 male Finns aged 18 years or above, contributing a
      total of 158 reports of partnered and non-partnered sexual activities over a six
      week period. In the context of non-partnered sexual activities, after controlling
      for within-subjects dependence, ELTs between events were predictive of one
      another, but ELT did not predict ejaculatory control when measured
      simultaneously, nor at subsequent events. Also, ejaculatory control could not
      predict simultaneously measured ELT or ejaculatory control at subsequent events.
      During partnered sexual activities, both ejaculatory control and ELT could be
      accurately predicted by observing ejaculatory control at prior events. In this
      context, ejaculatory control could also reliably predict simultaneously measured
      ELT. ELT or ejaculatory control during partnered sexual activity could not be
      predicted by observing ELT at prior events. Between-event correlations were
      generally low, indicating considerable variation in ejaculatory functioning over
      time. EMA is a thrifty assessment method for studying variations in ejaculatory
      function, and is likely suitable for studying sexual dysfunctions in general.

PMID- 20924944
TI  - Does the self drive mental time travel?
AB  - Research on autobiographical remembering has shown the intertwined relationship
      between the self and memory. Very little is known about the role of the self in
      the anticipation of the future. To investigate the association, European American
      (N=61) and Chinese (N=60) college students each reported two past
      autobiographical events and anticipated two future events, and described
      themselves in the past, present, and future. The results from a content analysis
      found that, regardless of culture, the future self and events were more positive
      and socially oriented than the past self and events. In general, European
      Americans provided more positive events and self-descriptions than Chinese. Men
      showed more personal focus in both experiences and self-descriptions than women
      at all time epochs. Importantly, independent of culture and gender, the self
      rather than the past events predicted the valence and personal focus of future
      events. These findings offer new insights into the dynamic relations between the
      self and episodic thinking.

PMID- 20924945
TI  - The effect of articulatory suppression on implicit and explicit false memory in
      the DRM paradigm.
AB  - Several studies have shown that reliable implicit false memory can be obtained in
      the DRM paradigm. There has been considerable debate, however, about whether or
      not conscious activation of critical lures during study is a necessary condition
      for this. Recent findings have revealed that articulatory suppression prevents
      subsequent false priming in an anagram task (Lovden & Johansson, 2003). The
      present experiment sought to replicate and extend these findings to an implicit
      word stem completion task, and to additionally investigate the effect of
      articulatory suppression on explicit false memory. Results showed an inhibitory
      effect of articulatory suppression on veridical memory, as well as on implicit
      false memory, whereas the level of explicit false memory was heightened. This
      suggests that articulatory suppression did not merely eliminate conscious lure
      activation, but had a more general capacity-delimiting effect. The drop in
      veridical memory can be attributed to diminished encoding of item-specific
      information. Superficial encoding also limited the spreading of semantic
      activation during study, which inhibited later false priming. In addition, the
      lack of item-specific and phenomenological details caused impaired source
      monitoring at test, resulting in heightened explicit false memory.

PMID- 20924946
TI  - Involuntary memory chaining versus event cueing: Which is a better indicator of
      autobiographical memory organisation?
AB  - Involuntary memory chains are spontaneous recollections of the past that occur in
      a sequence. Much like semantic memory priming, this memory phenomenon has
      provided some insights into the nature of associations in autobiographical
      memory. The event-cueing procedure (a laboratory-based memory sequencing task)
      has also provided some insights into the nature of autobiographical memory
      organisation. However, while both of these memory-sequencing phenomena have
      exhibited the same types of memory associations (conceptual associations and
      general-event or temporal associations), both have also produced discrepant
      results with respect to the relative proportions of such associations. This study
      investigated the possibility that the results from event cueing are artefacts of
      various memory production responses. Using a number of different approaches we
      demonstrated that these memory production responses cause overestimates of
      general-event association. We conclude that for this reason, the data from
      involuntary memory chains provide a better picture of the organisation of
      autobiographical memory.

PMID- 20924947
TI  - Imagery encoding and false recognition errors: Examining the role of imagery
      process and imagery content on source misattributions.
AB  - Imagery encoding effects on source-monitoring errors were explored using the
      Deese-Roediger-McDermott paradigm in two experiments. While viewing thematically
      related lists embedded in mixed picture/word presentations, participants were
      asked to generate images of objects or words (Experiment 1) or to simply name the
      items (Experiment 2). An encoding task intended to induce spontaneous images
      served as a control for the explicit imagery instruction conditions (Experiment
      1). On the picture/word source-monitoring tests, participants were much more
      likely to report "seeing" a picture of an item presented as a word than the
      converse particularly when images were induced spontaneously. However, this
      picture misattribution error was reversed after generating images of words
      (Experiment 1) and was eliminated after simply labelling the items (Experiment
      2). Thus source misattributions were sensitive to the processes giving rise to
      imagery experiences (spontaneous vs deliberate), the kinds of images generated
      (object vs word images), and the ways in which materials were presented (as
      pictures vs words).

PMID- 20924948
TI  - Childhood amnesia: Empirical evidence for a two-stage phenomenon.
AB  - The term childhood amnesia refers to the inability of adults to remember events
      from their infancy and early childhood. If we plot the number of memories that
      adults can recall as a function of age during childhood, the number of memories
      reported increases gradually as a function of age. Typically, this finding has
      been used to argue that gradual changes in memory development contribute to a
      gradual decline in childhood amnesia during the preschool period. Alternatively,
      it is possible that pooling data across participants has obscured more abrupt,
      stage-like changes in the remission of childhood amnesia. In the present study we
      examined the number and distribution of childhood memories for individual
      participants. Six adults were repeatedly interviewed about their childhood
      memories. We found that the distribution of adults' early childhood memories may
      be less continuous than pooled data suggest. This finding has important
      implications for current explanations of childhood amnesia.

PMID- 20924949
TI  - Wiping out memories: New support for a mental context change account of directed
      forgetting.
AB  - Costs and benefits of directed forgetting are observed when a between-list
      instruction to forget List 1 impairs List 1 recall while enhancing List 2 recall.
      These effects are often ascribed to intentional inhibition of List 1. Contrary to
      this inhibition account, we found that a forget instruction did not produce costs
      unless an explicit instruction to concentrate on List 2 was used (Experiment 1).
      Alternatively, costs may be ascribed to a shift in mental context between
      encoding and retrieval. Consistent with this mental context-change account, an
      unexpected task (wiping the computer screen and one's hands) produced costs
      comparable to a forget instruction, as did as a brief chat between lists
      (Experiment 2). A number-search task between lists produced neither costs nor
      benefits (Experiment 3), suggesting that mere distraction is insufficient for
      inducing mental context change. Our findings support the claim that mental
      context change underlies both intentional and unintentional forgetting.

PMID- 20924950
TI  - Personality traits and autobiographical memory: Openness is positively related to
      the experience and usage of recollections.
AB  - We examined the relationship between the Five-Factor Model of personality and the
      experience and overall usage of autobiographical memory in two studies. In both
      studies we found that Openness was related to the directive and self functions of
      overall usage. In addition, Openness was related to the vividness, reliving,
      coherence, and centrality of event to the person's identity and life story of
      concrete memories in Study 2, whereas this was not found in Study 1. For the
      remaining "Big Five" personality traits the results were less consistent across
      studies. Neuroticism was related to the self function in Study 1, but also to the
      directive function as well as to negative affect of concrete memories in Study 1.
      Extraversion was positively related to the social function as well as to
      conversational rehearsal of memories in Study 1, but this was also not replicated
      in Study 2. Finally, in both studies there were no significant relationships with
      regard to Agreeableness and Conscientiousness. Overall, the findings replicate
      and extend previous work showing a positive relationship between Openness and the
      experience and overall usage of autobiographical memory, whereas the roles for
      the remaining "Big Five" are less clear.

PMID- 20924951
TI  - Conceptual and non-conceptual repetition priming in category exemplar generation:
      Evidence from bilinguals.
AB  - One measure of conceptual implicit memory is repetition priming in the generation
      of exemplars from a semantic category, but does such priming transfer across
      languages? That is, do the overlapping conceptual representations for translation
      equivalents provide a sufficient basis for such priming? In Experiment 1 (N=96)
      participants carried out a deep encoding task, and priming between languages was
      statistically reliable, but attenuated, relative to within-language priming.
      Experiment 2 (N=96) replicated the findings of Experiment 1 and assessed the
      contributions of conceptual and non-conceptual processes using a levels-of
      processing manipulation. Words that underwent shallow encoding exhibited within
      language, but not between-language, priming. Priming in shallow conditions cannot
      therefore be explained by incidental activation of the concept. Instead, part of
      the within-language priming effect, even under deep-encoding conditions, is due
      to increased availability of language-specific lemmas or phonological word forms.

PMID- 20924953
TI  - Constraint therapy versus intensive training: implications for motor control and
      brain plasticity after stroke.
AB  - Many studies have demonstrated that constraint induced movement therapy (CIMT)
      improves upper limb motor impairment following stroke. This rehabilitation method
      combines constraint of the less-affected upperlimb with intensive training of the
      paretic limb. The aim of the present study was to evaluate, in a single case
      study, the respective effects of each of these two therapeutic interventions. The
      patient selected was a 32-year-old right-handed woman. Three and a half years
      prior to inclusion, she suffered a left capsular infarct responsible for a right
      hemiparesis. Several assessments were carried out before and after constraint
      therapy and then after intensive training. Each assessment included measures of
      hand function as well as a three-dimensional (3D) analysis of prehension. Results
      showed a significant improvement of motor performance after the constraint period
      and an additional amelioration after the intensive training period. Kinematic
      analysis showed that the transport phase of movement (movement time and velocity
      peaks) was improved after the constraint period, whereas the grasping phase
      (maximum grip aperture) was modified after intensive training. These data could
      reflect a specific effect of treatment on each phase of the prehension task, or a
      more general proximal-to-distal gradient of recovery. Although firm conclusions
      are not warranted on the basis of this single case study, we confirm the utility
      of 3D motion analysis to evaluate objectively the effectiveness of a therapeutic
      intervention. We also discuss the implications of our findings for understanding
      processes of motor control reorganisation.

PMID- 20924954
TI  - Design and synthesis of dually branched 5'-norcarbocyclic adenosine
      phosphonodiester analogue as a new anti-HIV prodrug.
AB  - A novel 3',4'-dimethyl-5'-norcarbocyclic adenosine phosphonic acid was prepared
      using acyclic stereoselective route from 4-hydroxybutan-2-one (4). To improve the
      cellular permeability and enhance the anti-HIV activity of this phosphonic acid,
      a (bis)SATE phosphonodiester nucleoside prodrug (20) was prepared and its
      chemical stability was evaluated. The newly synthesized bis(SATE) analogue (20)
      and its parent nucleoside phosphonic acid (18) were assayed for anti-HIV activity
      using an in vitro assay system in a CEM cell line.

PMID- 20924955
TI  - Hydroxyl-functionalized DNAs with different linkers and their complementary
      duplex stability.
AB  - Tert-butyldiphenylsilyl (TBDPS) was testified to be an appropriate orthogonal
      protecting group for novel 7-hydroxyl-functionalized 8-aza-7-deaza-2'
      deoxyadenosine analogues. It was stable in partial and complete hydrogenation
      reactions used for the different linker preparation. The corresponding
      phosphoramidites and hydroxyl-functionalized oligodeoxynucleotides were
      synthesized and identified. The thermal effect of the hydroxyl group with
      different linkers on DNA duplexes was evaluated. It provided a feasible strategy
      for the preparation of hydroxyl-functionalized DNAs for the nucleic acid
      research.

PMID- 20924956
TI  - DNA staining in agarose gels with Zn2+-cyclen-pyrene.
AB  - A pyrene-labeled Zn2+-cyclen complex for the staining of DNA in agarose gels is
      reported. The metal chelate coordinates reversibly to the DNA phosphate backbone,
      which induces the formation of pyrene excimers. The typical pyrene excimer
      emission is used for the detection of the DNA. Staining is limited to agarose
      gels and is less sensitive than ethidium bromide, but DNA amounts as low as 10 ng
      and short DNA strands (~300 b.p.) are detectable. Gel extraction as a standard
      technique in molecular biology was successfully performed after staining with
      Zn2+-cyclen-pyrene. Cytotoxicity tests on HeLa and V-79 cells reveal that the
      zinc-cyclen pyrene probe is significant less toxic compared to ethidium bromide.

PMID- 20924957
TI  - Cinnamic esters of acyclovir-synthesis and biological activity.
AB  - In the present study we have synthesized esters of acyclovir with cinnamic acids
      (p-coumaric, ferulic, and sinapic acids) and evaluated them for their antiviral
      and antioxidant potential. The antiviral activity of the newly synthesized
      compounds has been tested against human herpes virus 1 (HSV-1) in vitro. The
      results indicate that none of the synthesized compounds inhibits the tested virus
      strain. The antioxidant properties have been studied using 2,2-diphenyl-1
      picrylhydrazyl (DPPH)* test.

PMID- 20924958
TI  - Studies on the synthesis of N'-acetyl aza-analogues of ganciclovir-unexpected
      liability of N'-(2-hydroxyethyl)-azanucleosides under basic conditions.
AB  - The O'-pivaloyl diesters of N'-acetyl-azanucleosides were obtained from N-[1,3
      di(pivaloyloxy)prop-2-yl]-N-(pivaloyloxymethyl)acetamide and a silylated
      nucleobase under Vorbruggen's conditions. Unexpectedly, de-pivaloylation of the
      diesters under basic conditions afforded the corresponding nucleobase and N
      acetylserinol. Mechanistic investigations showed that these products result from
      the following cascade of spontaneous transformations initiated by the mono de
      pivaloylation of the starting diesters. N'-Deacetylation of the resultant mono
      esters via the intramolecular N-O acetyl migration is the key step of the
      cascade; the corresponding NH-azanucleosides in the form of O-acetyl-O'-pivaloyl
      diesters are formed. Fragmentation of these diester intermediates gives the
      nucleobase and O-acetyl-O'-pivaloylserinol. Conversion of the latter to N
      acetylserinol involves the selective O-N acetyl migration followed by de
      pivaloylation of the resulting N-acetyl-O-pivaloylserinol.

PMID- 20924959
TI  - Antioxidative and radiation modulating properties of guanosine-5'-monophosphate.
AB  - Employing enhanced chemiluminescence in luminol-p-iodophenol peroxidase system
      and coumarine-3-carboxylic acid, it was shown that guanosine-5'-monophosphate
      (GMP) appreciably reduces formation of H2O2 and hydroxyl radicals induced by x
      ray irradiation. Using immunoenzyme assay, we revealed that GMP lowered 8-oxo-7,8
      dihydro-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-oxodGuo) formation in DNA in vitro after
      irradiation. The results of survival test have shown that mice being injected
      intraperitoneally with GMP after irradiation with a dose of 7 Gy had better
      survival rate than the control mice. GMP reduced leucopoenia and thrombocytopenia
      in irradiated mice. Obtained results give premises that GMP may be promising
      therapeutic agent for treatment of radiation injuries.

PMID- 20924960
TI  - Second international congress on nutrition and cancer.

PMID- 20924961
TI  - Association between the Mediterranean diet and cancer risk: a review of
      observational studies.
AB  - The aim of this article was to summarize the evidence concerning the association
      between Mediterranean dietary pattern and cancer risk in observational
      epidemiological studies. All the studies that met the following criteria were
      reviewed: human cohort and case-control studies that examined the effect of the
      Mediterranean diet as an entire food pattern (the combined effect of individual
      components of the Mediterranean diet) and whose results were published in
      English. Out of the 12 reviewed studies (7 cohort and 5 case-control), 10 studies
      (6 cohort and 4 case-control) provided some evidence that the Mediterranean diet
      was associated with a reduced risk of cancer incidence or mortality. Although the
      reviewed studies varied according to certain study characteristics, such as being
      set in different populations and studying different cancer outcomes, the existing
      evidence from observational studies collectively suggests that there is a
      "probable" protective role of the Mediterranean diet toward cancer in general.
      Specific results for several outcomes such as different cancer sites deserve
      additional evidence. This favorable effect of the Mediterranean diet on cancer
      reduction is of public health relevance, given the tendency of modern societies
      to shift toward a more U.S. and Northern European dietary pattern.

PMID- 20924962
TI  - Flavonoids, proanthocyanidins, and cancer risk: a network of case-control studies
      from Italy.
AB  - We considered flavonoids and proanthocyanidins in a network of multicentric
      Italian case-control studies including about 10,000 incident, histologically
      confirmed cases of selected cancers and over 16,000 controls. Odds ratios (ORs)
      for the highest vs. the lowest quintile of 6 classes of flavonoids and
      proanthocyanidins were estimated by multiple logistic regression models. Total
      flavonoids, flavanones, and flavonols were inversely related to oral and
      laryngeal cancers (ORs, respectively 0.56 and 0.60 for total flavonoids; 0.51 and
      0.60 for flavanones; and 0.62 and 0.32 for flavonols). Flavanols were also
      inversely related to laryngeal cancer (OR = 0.64), whereas flavanones were
      inversely related to esophageal cancer (OR = 0.38). A reduced risk of colorectal
      cancer was found for high intake of anthocyanidins (OR = 0.67), flavonols (OR =
      0.64), flavones (OR = 0.78), and isoflavones (OR = 0.76). Inverse relations with
      breast cancer were found for flavones (OR = 0.81) and flavonols (OR = 0.80).
      Flavonols (OR = 0.63) and isoflavones (OR = 0.51) were inversely associated to
      ovarian cancer, whereas flavonols (OR = 0.69) and flavones (OR = 0.68) were
      inversely associated to renal cancer. No association between flavonoids and
      prostate cancer emerged. We found inverse associations between proanthocyanidins
      and colorectal cancer. These associations appeared stronger for proanthocyanidins
      with a higher degree of polymerization (OR = 0.69 for >= 10 mers).

PMID- 20924963
TI  - Sun exposure, vitamin D, and risk of Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
AB  - Similarities in the epidemiology of melanoma, other skin cancers, and non-Hodgkin
      lymphoma (NHL) have led to the hypothesis that UV exposure, the major risk factor
      for cutaneous cancers, could play a role on NHL risk too. Epidemiologic studies,
      however, including a pooled analysis of 10 case-control studies performed by the
      Interlymph consortium, have failed to confirm this hypothesis. If anything, an
      inverse association between sun exposure and NHL risk was reported, which
      appeared confined to recreational sun exposure. Given that sun exposure is the
      major determinant of vitamin D status in several populations and that vitamin D
      has been suggested to protect against cancer at several sites, it has been
      postulated that vitamin D may protect against NHL. Studies that have investigated
      the association of nutritional sources of vitamin D or serum levels of 25 hydroxy
      vitamin D-an indicator of vitamin D status-with NHL are scanty and not totally
      consistent. Thus, the epidemiologic evidence to date suggests that sun exposure
      is not likely to increase NHL risk, whereas the vitamin D-NHL relation remains
      largely undefined. The paucity of information on the relation of sun exposure or
      vitamin D with adult Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) or childhood lymphomas prevents any
      definite conclusion.

PMID- 20924965
TI  - STAMPs at the crossroads of cancer and nutrition.
AB  - Prostate cancer is the most diagnosed noncutaneous cancer among men in Western
      developed countries. Nutrition and environmental factors play a major role in the
      onset of the disease, but the molecular details for the contribution of each
      factor is elusive. In an effort to better understand the basic biology of
      prostate cancer, we identified a new protein family that is named the 6 trans
      membrane protein of prostate (STAMP) that appear to have important functions in
      prostate cancer. At least one member of the STAMP family is also implicated in
      metabolic homeostasis and nutrition response. Here, we review the current biology
      of the STAMP proteins and how they may be implicated in disease states including
      cancer and metabolic syndrome.

PMID- 20924964
TI  - Nanochemoprevention: sustained release of bioactive food components for cancer
      prevention.
AB  - Chemoprevention, especially through the use of naturally occurring phytochemicals
      capable of impeding the process of carcinogenesis at one or more steps, is an
      ideal approach for cancer management. Despite accomplished outcomes in
      preclinical settings, its applicability to humans has met with limited success
      for many reasons including inefficient systemic delivery and bioavailability of
      promising chemopreventive agents. We have recently introduced a novel concept of
      "nanochemoprevention" that utilizes nanotechnology for enhancing the outcome of
      chemoprevention (Cancer Res 69, 1712-1716, 2009). To establish the usefulness of
      nanochemoprevention in cancer management, we studied the efficacy of a well
      identified chemopreventive agent epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) encapsulated
      in polylactic acid (PLA) and polyethylene glycol (PEG) nanoparticles (hereafter
      referred to as nano-EGCG) in preclinical settings. Nano-EGCG was found to retain
      its biological effectiveness, with over 10-fold dose advantage compared to
      nonencapsulated EGCG for exerting its cell growth inhibition, proapoptotic, and
      angiogenic inhibitory effects. Nano-EGCG was also observed to be effective in
      inhibiting tumor cell growth in athymic nude mice, with over 10-fold dose
      advantage compared to nonencapsulated EGCG. The rate of degradation of
      nonencapsulated EGCG was rapid, with a complete degradation within 4 h, whereas
      nano-EGCG had a significantly longer half-life. This study provides a foundation
      for the use of nanoparticle-mediated delivery of natural products to enhance the
      bioavailability of active agents for their enhanced effective and chemopreventive
      potential. In doing this, it is hoped that perceived toxicity concerns associated
      with prolonged use of agents could also be minimized. Oral consumption is the
      most desirable and acceptable form of delivery of chemopreventive agents. One
      disadvantage of using PLA-PEG nanoparticles is its unstable nature in acidic
      environment; and therefore, it is not recommended for oral consumption. To
      overcome this obstacle, it will be important to develop nanoparticles
      encapsulating phytochemicals that are suitable for oral consumption.

PMID- 20924966
TI  - A nutrient approach to prostate cancer prevention: The Selenium and Vitamin E
      Cancer Prevention Trial (SELECT).
AB  - The Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial (SELECT) randomized 35,533
      healthy men, >55 yr old (>50 yr if African American), with normal digital rectal
      exams and prostate specific antigens <4 ng/ml to 1) 200 MUg/day l
      selenomethionine, 2) 400 IU/day all-rac-alpha-tocopheryl acetate (vitamin E), 3)
      both supplements, or 4) placebo for 7 to 12 yr. The hypotheses underlying SELECT,
      that selenium and vitamin E individually and together decrease prostate cancer
      incidence, derived from epidemiologic and laboratory evidence and significant
      secondary endpoints in the Nutritional Prevention of Cancer (selenium) and Alpha
      Tocopherol Beta-Carotene (vitamin E) trials. In SELECT, prostate cancer incidence
      did not differ among the 4 arms: hazard ratios [99% confidence intervals (CIs)]
      for prostate cancer were 1.13 (99% CI = 0.95-1.35, P = 0.06; n = 473) for vitamin
      E, 1.04 (99% CI = 0.87-1.24, P = 0.62; n = 432) for selenium, and 1.05 (99% CI =
      0.88-1.25, P = 0.52; n = 437) for selenium + vitamin E vs. 1.00 (n = 416) for
      placebo. Statistically nonsignificant increased risks of prostate cancer with
      vitamin E alone [relative risk (RR) = 1.13, P = 0.06) and newly diagnosed Type 2
      diabetes mellitus with selenium alone (RR = 1.07, P = 0.16) were observed. SELECT
      data show that neither selenium nor vitamin E, alone or together, in the doses
      and formulations used, prevented prostate cancer in this heterogeneous population
      of healthy men.

PMID- 20924967
TI  - Curcumin, the golden spice from Indian saffron, is a chemosensitizer and
      radiosensitizer for tumors and chemoprotector and radioprotector for normal
      organs.
AB  - Curcumin (diferuloylmethane), the yellow pigment in Indian saffron (Curcuma
      longa; also called turmeric, haldi, or haridara in the East and curry powder in
      the West), has been consumed by people for centuries as a dietary component and
      for a variety of proinflammatory ailments. Extensive research within the last
      decade in cell culture and in rodents has revealed that curcumin can sensitize
      tumors to different chemotherapeutic agents including doxorubicin, 5-FU,
      paclitaxel, vincristine, melphalan, butyrate, cisplatin, celecoxib, vinorelbine,
      gemcitabine, oxaliplatin, etoposide, sulfinosine, thalidomide, and bortezomib.
      Chemosensitization has been observed in cancers of the breast, colon, pancreas,
      gastric, liver, blood, lung, prostate, bladder, cervix, ovary, head and neck, and
      brain and in multiple myeloma, leukemia, and lymphoma. Similar studies have also
      revealed that this agent can sensitize a variety of tumors to gamma radiation
      including glioma, neuroblastoma, cervical carcinoma, epidermal carcinoma,
      prostate cancer, and colon cancer. How curcumin acts as a chemosensitizer and
      radiosensitizer has also been studied extensively. For example, it downregulates
      various growth regulatory pathways and specific genetic targets including genes
      for NF-kappaB, STAT3, COX2, Akt, antiapoptotic proteins, growth factor receptors,
      and multidrug-resistance proteins. Although it acts as a chemosensitizer and
      radiosensitizer for tumors in some cases, curcumin has also been shown to protect
      normal organs such as liver, kidney, oral mucosa, and heart from chemotherapy and
      radiotherapy-induced toxicity. The protective effects of curcumin appear to be
      mediated through its ability to induce the activation of NRF2 and induce the
      expression of antioxidant enzymes (e.g., hemeoxygenase-1, glutathione peroxidase,
      modulatory subunit of gamma-glutamyl-cysteine ligase, and NAD(P)H:quinone
      oxidoreductase 1, increase glutathione (a product of the modulatory subunit of
      gamma-glutamyl-cysteine ligase), directly quench free radicals, and inhibit p300
      HAT activity. These preclinical studies are expected to lead to clinical trials
      to prove the potential of this age-old golden spice for treating cancer patients.

PMID- 20924968
TI  - Green tea and cancer prevention.
AB  - Extracts of green tea and green tea polyphenols have exhibited inhibitory effects
      against the formation and development of tumors at different organ sites in
      animals. These include animal models for skin, lung, oral cavity, esophagus,
      stomach, intestine, colon, liver, pancreas, bladder, mammary gland, and prostate
      cancers. In addition to suppressing cell proliferation, promoting apoptosis, and
      modulating signaling transduction, green tea polyphenols, especially (-)
      epigallocatechin-3-gallate, also inhibit cell invasion, angiogenesis, and
      metastasis. This article reviews data on the cancer preventive activities of
      green tea polyphenols, possible mechanisms involved, and the relationship between
      green tea consumption and human cancer risk.

PMID- 20924969
TI  - Review on molecular and therapeutic potential of thymoquinone in cancer.
AB  - Thymoquinone (TQ) is the predominant bioactive constituent present in black seed
      oil (Nigella sativa) and has been tested for its efficacy against cancer. Here,
      we summarize the literature about TQ's molecular mechanism of action and its
      ability to induce apoptosis and inhibit tumor growth in preclinical models. TQ
      has anti-inflammatory effects, and it inhibits tumor cell proliferation through
      modulation of apoptosis signaling, inhibition of angiogenesis, and cell cycle
      arrest. Chemosensitization by TQ is mostly limited to in vitro studies, and it
      has potential in therapeutic strategy for cancer. The results favor efficacy and
      enhancement of therapeutic benefit against tumor cells resistant to therapy based
      on cellular targets that are molecular determinants for cancer cell survival and
      progression. There have been attempts to synthesize novel analogs of TQ directed
      toward superior effects in killing tumor cells with more enhanced
      chemosensitizing potential than parent TQ compound. Based on published reports,
      we believe that further in-depth studies are warranted including investigation of
      its bioavailability and Phase I toxicity profiling in human subjects. The results
      from such studies will be instrumental in advancing this field in support of
      initiating clinical trials for testing the effects of this ancient agent in
      cancer therapy.

PMID- 20924970
TI  - Allicin purified from fresh garlic cloves induces apoptosis in colon cancer cells
      via Nrf2.
AB  - Allicin (diallyl thiosulfinate) is the best-known biologically active component
      in freshly crushed garlic extract. We developed a novel, simple method to isolate
      active allicin, which yielded a stable compound in aqueous solution amenable for
      use in in vitro and in vivo studies. We focused on the in vitro effects of
      allicin on cell proliferation of colon cancer cell lines HCT-116, LS174T, HT-29,
      and Caco-2 and assessed the underlying mechanisms. This allicin preparation
      exerted a time- and dose-dependent cytostatic effect on these cells at
      concentrations ranging from 6.2 to 310 MUM. Treatment with allicin resulted in
      HCT-116 apoptotic cell death as demonstrated by enhanced hypodiploid DNA content,
      decreased levels of B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2), increased levels of
      bax and increased capability of releasing cytochrome c from mitochondria to the
      cytosol. Allicin also induced translocation of NF-E2-related factor-2 (Nrf2) to
      the nuclei of HCT-116 cells. Luciferase reporter gene assay showed that allicin
      induces Nrf2-mediated luciferase transactivation activity. SiRNA knock down of
      Nrf2 significantly affected the capacity of allicin to inhibit HCT-116
      proliferation. These results suggest that Nrf2 mediates the allicin-induced
      apoptotic death of colon cancer cells.

PMID- 20924972
TI  - Chemoprevention of colorectal cancer by targeting Janus kinase 3 with a
      rationally designed small molecule inhibitor.
AB  - The effects of the rationally designed JAK3 inhibitor JANEX-1 on the development
      of intestinal tumors in the APC(min) mouse model of familial adenomatous
      polyposis were examined. At a non-toxic dose level, >4 times lower than its day
      30 LD(10), JANEX-1 was highly effective in preventing intestinal tumor
      development in Min mice, resulting in markedly improved survival outcomes. JAK3
      inhibitors may, therefore, be useful in the chemoprevention of colorectal cancer.
      Here, an overview regarding the potential of JANEX-1 as a chemopreventive agent
      is provided.

PMID- 20924971
TI  - Colorectal cancer: chemopreventive role of curcumin and resveratrol.
AB  - Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a second leading cause of cancer deaths in the Western
      world. Currently there is no effective treatment except resection at a very early
      stage with or without chemotherapy. Of various epithelial cancers, CRC in
      particular has a potential for prevention, since most cancers follow the adenoma
      carcinoma sequence, and the interval between detection of an adenoma and its
      progression to carcinoma is usually about a decade. However no effective
      chemopreventive agent except COX-2 inhibitors, limited in their scope due to
      cardiovascular side effects, have shown promise in reducing adenoma recurrence.
      To this end, natural agents that can target important carcinogenic pathways
      without demonstrating discernible adverse effects would serve as ideal
      chemoprevention agents. In this review, we discuss merits of two such naturally
      occurring dietary agents-curcumin and resveratrol-for chemoprevention of CRC.

PMID- 20924974
TI  - Lycopene and chemotherapy toxicity.
AB  - Antineoplastic agents induce the production of free radicals and other reactive
      oxygen species (ROS) in biological systems. Cytotoxic effects of antineoplastic
      drugs depend on rapid proliferation of cancer cells. Oxidative stress occurring
      during chemotherapy may potentially interfere with these effects through reducing
      the rate of cell proliferation. ROS may also contribute to side effects that
      occur with chemotherapeutic agents such as doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity,
      cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity, and bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis.
      Lycopene is a major carotenoid present in tomatoes, and it is a potent
      antioxidant that may provide protection against cellular damage caused by ROS.
      Lycopene may reduce or prevent the side effects of chemotherapy due to its
      antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. This review focuses on the
      protective effects of lycopene against antineoplastic agent induced toxicity.

PMID- 20924975
TI  - Soy isoflavones in conjunction with radiation therapy in patients with prostate
      cancer.
AB  - Soy isoflavones sensitize prostate cancer cells to radiation therapy by
      inhibiting cell survival pathways activated by radiation. At the same time, soy
      isoflavones have significant antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity, which
      may help prevent the side effects of radiation. Therefore, we hypothesized that
      soy isoflavones could be useful when given in conjunction with curative radiation
      therapy in patients with localized prostate cancer. In addition to enhancing the
      efficacy of radiation therapy, soy isoflavones could prevent the adverse effects
      of radiation. We conducted a pilot study to investigate the effects of soy
      isoflavone supplementation on acute and subacute toxicity (<=6 mo) of external
      beam radiation therapy in patients with localized prostate cancer. Forty-two
      patients with prostate cancer were randomly assigned to receive 200 mg soy
      isoflavone (Group 1) or placebo (Group 2) daily for 6 mo beginning with the first
      day of radiation therapy, which was administered in 1.8 to 2.5 Gy fractions for a
      total of 73.8 to 77.5 Gy. Adverse effects of radiation therapy on bladder, bowel,
      and sexual function were assessed by a self-administered quality of life
      questionnaire at 3 and 6 mo. Only 26 and 27 patients returned completed
      questionnaires at 3 and 6 mo, respectively. At each time point, urinary, bowel,
      and sexual adverse symptoms induced by radiation therapy were decreased in the
      soy isoflavone group compared to placebo group. At 3 mo, soy-treated patients had
      less urinary incontinence, less urgency, and better erectile function as compared
      to the placebo group. At 6 mo, the symptoms in soy-treated patients were further
      improved as compared to the placebo group. These patients had less
      dripping/leakage of urine (7.7% in Group 1 vs. 28.4% in Group 2), less rectal
      cramping/diarrhea (7.7% vs. 21.4%), and less pain with bowel movements (0% vs.
      14.8%) than placebo-treated patients. There was also a higher overall ability to
      have erections (77% vs. 57.1%). The results suggest that soy isoflavones taken in
      conjunction with radiation therapy could reduce the urinary, intestinal, and
      sexual adverse effects in patients with prostate cancer.

PMID- 20924976
TI  - Soy isoflavones ameliorate the adverse effects of chemotherapy in children.
AB  - Genistein sensitizes cancer cells to chemotherapy and radiation by modulating
      cell survival pathways. At the same time, genistein's antioxidant and anti
      inflammatory effects may protect normal tissues from adverse effects of
      chemotherapy and radiation, which are largely due to oxygen-free radicals and
      inflammation. We conducted a small pilot study with a soy isoflavone mixture
      containing 8 mg of genistein in children receiving chemotherapy and/or radiation
      to investigate genistein's potential toxicity preventive effect. We monitored
      clinical and laboratory parameters in children with cancer who received their
      first cycle of chemotherapy without genistein and the subsequent cycles with
      genistein. Patients served as their own controls, and the clinical-laboratory
      data from the first cycle were compared to the data from subsequent cycles. Nine
      cycles of chemotherapy were administered without genistein and 57 cycles with
      genistein. Patients experienced less myelosuppression, mucositis, and infection
      when they received genistein with chemotherapy. During supplementation, serum
      genistein levels were 2 to 6 times higher compared to presupplementation levels.
      Patients who received abdominal radiation reported less pain and diarrhea when
      they took the genistein supplement. Further clinical investigation of soy
      isoflavones in pediatric cancer patients receiving chemotherapy and/or radiation
      should be conducted.

PMID- 20924973
TI  - Chemopreventive potential of natural compounds in head and neck cancer.
AB  - Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is one of the most fatal cancers
      worldwide. Despite advances in the management of HNSCC, the overall survival for
      patients has not improved significantly due to advanced stages at diagnosis, high
      recurrence rate after surgical removal, and second primary tumor development,
      which underscore the importance of novel strategies for cancer prevention. Cancer
      chemoprevention, the use of natural or synthetic compounds to prevent, arrest, or
      reverse the process of carcinogenesis at its earliest stages, aims to reverse
      premalignancies and prevent second primary tumors. Genomics and proteomics
      information including initial mutation, cancer promotion, progression, and
      susceptibility has brought molecularly targeted therapies for drug development.
      The development of preventive approaches using specific natural or synthetic
      compounds, or both, requires a depth of understanding of the cross-talk between
      cancer signaling pathways and networks to retain or enhance chemopreventive
      activity while reducing known toxic effects. Many natural dietary compounds have
      been identified with multiple molecular targets, effective in the prevention and
      treatment of cancer. This review describes recent advances in the understanding
      of the complex signaling networks driving cancer progression and of molecularly
      targeted natural compounds under preclinical and clinical investigation.

PMID- 20924977
TI  - Causal effects in psychotherapy: counterfactuals counteract overgeneralization.
AB  - Causal inference of psychotherapy effects is usually based on the theory of
      internal and external validity. The authors argue that as an inductive strategy
      it often leads to overgeneralization because it promotes neglect of specific
      clinical boundary conditions (such as practically relevant combinations of
      treatments, settings, patients, and therapists). Adding the counterfactual
      conceptualization of causal effects counteracts overgeneralization by considering
      individuals at a fixed time under two possible treatment conditions as basic
      units of a causal effect. Consequently, causal effects are regarded as varying in
      nature as local pieces of a global theory. The authors outline the main
      deductions from the counterfactual conceptualization with regard to understanding
      causality, average effects, bias, and study design and address some controversies
      in psychotherapy research.

PMID- 20924978
TI  - Reorienting of spatial attention in gaze cuing is reflected in N2pc.
AB  - Research has shown that gaze cuing of attention is reflected in the modulation of
      P1 and N1 components of ERPs time-locked to target onset. Studies focusing on cue
      locked analyses have produced mixed results. The present study examined ERP
      reflections of gaze cuing in further detail by recording electric brain activity
      from the scalp of participants engaged in a spatial cuing paradigm with
      noninformative gaze cues embedded in fearful, disgusted, or neutral faces. Unlike
      previous work, we focused on N2pc, a recent ERP index of attention shifting over
      space. Behavioral data showed that gaze-driven orienting was not influenced by
      facial expression. Importantly, electrophysiological data showed a significant
      amplitude modulation of the N2pc time-locked to target onset as a function of cue
      -target spatial congruence. This pattern, however, was independent of facial
      expression. The results are interpreted as evidence that N2pc can be used as a
      marker of reorienting of attention in spatially incongruent trials due to gaze
      cuing. The overall findings support the idea that the effects of facial
      expression on gaze cuing are weak and likely context-dependent.

PMID- 20924980
TI  - Are cognitive outcome and recovery different in civilian penetrating versus non
      penetrating brain injuries?
AB  - The present study sought to determine whether cognitive outcome and course of
      recovery in civilian penetrating brain injury due to gunshot can be distinguished
      from that of non-penetrating brain injury due to motor vehicle accident. Matched
      survivors of penetrating and non-penetrating brain injury were assessed with a
      brief neuropsychological test battery at inpatient rehabilitation, 1 year post
      injury, and 2 years post-injury. The traumatic brain injury groups were found to
      have patterns of performance marked by reliably distinct differences in isolated
      areas, with different cognitive predictors of brain injury type present in early
      versus later recovery. The degree of recovery over the first 2 years appeared to
      be quite similar for penetrating and non-penetrating injuries.

PMID- 20924979
TI  - Examination of the construct validity of ImPACTTM computerized test, traditional,
      and experimental neuropsychological measures.
AB  - Although computerized neuropsychological screening is becoming a standard for
      sports concussion identification and management, convergent validity studies are
      limited. Such studies are important for several reasons: reference to established
      measures is needed to establish validity; examination of the computerized battery
      relative to a more traditional comprehensive battery will help understand the
      strengths and limitations of the computer battery; and such an examination will
      help inform the output of the computerized battery. We compared scores on the
      ImPACTTM battery to a comprehensive battery of traditional neuropsychological
      measures and several experimental measures used in the assessment of sports
      related concussion in 54 healthy male athletes. Convergent validity was
      demonstrated for four of the five ImPACTTM domain scores. Two cognitive domains
      often compromised as a result of mild TBI were not directly identified by the
      ImPACTTM battery: sustained attention and auditory working memory. Affective
      symptoms correlated with performance on measures of attention and working memory.
      In this healthy sample the correlations between the domains covered by ImPACTTM
      and the neuropsychological battery supports ImPACTTM as a useful screening tool
      for assessing many of the cognitive factors related to mTBI. However, the data
      suggest other sources of data need to be considered when identifying and managing
      concussions.

PMID- 20924981
TI  - Utility of the DRS for predicting problems in day-to-day functioning.
AB  - Predicting the consequences of cognitive impairment relative to day-to-day
      functioning is challenging, especially when impairment is mild. This study
      examined the ability of the Dementia Rating Scale (DRS) to predict Record of
      Independent Living (ROIL) performances in 2469 individuals with varying levels of
      cognitive ability, and describes specific activities of daily life that are
      likely impacted given specific DRS scores. Lower DRS scores were associated with
      greater difficulty in activities of daily living (ADLs), and effects of age,
      education, and gender were negligible. From a DRS total score, a corresponding
      ROIL score range and its specific associated impairments were determined.
      Functional impairments were noted even at mild levels of cognitive impairment.
      The DRS is helpful for determining the level of assistance that is likely needed
      in daily care and planning future care needs.

PMID- 20924982
TI  - Equations for prorating the symptom validity scale (FBS) for the 370-item MMPI-2.
AB  - The Symptom Validity Scale (FBS), based on the 567-item form of the Minnesota
      Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2), has been shown to be a valid
      measure of symptom over-reporting. To extend its usefulness to the 370-item form,
      complete FBS scores (FBS) and FBS scores based on the 370-item form (FBS-S) were
      extracted from 707 protocols from various testing contexts. Regression analyses
      using the FBS-S score were developed to predict FBS scores. Results indicate that
      the full FBS score can be accurately prorated from the FBS-S. Calculated
      coefficients based on FBS-S score were slightly, but not meaningfully, better
      than a rationally derived proration in estimating the full FBS score.

PMID- 20924983
TI  - Use of the WAIS-III picture completion subtest as an embedded measure of response
      bias.
AB  - In the present study a large sample of credible patients (n = 172) scored
      significantly higher than a large sample of noncredible participants (n = 195) on
      several WAIS-III Picture Completion variables: Age Adjusted Scaled Score, raw
      score, a "Rarely Missed" index (the nine items least often missed by credible
      participants), a "Rarely Correct" index (nine items correct <26% of the time in
      noncredible participants and with at least a 25 percentage-point lower
      endorsement rate as compared to credible participants), and a "Most Discrepant"
      index (the six items that were the most discrepant in correct endorsement between
      groups-at least a 40 percentage point difference). Comparison of the various
      scores showed that the "Most Discrepant" index outperformed all the others in
      identifying response bias (nearly 65% sensitivity at 92.8% specificity as
      compared to at most 59% sensitivity for the other scores). While no differences
      in Picture Completion scores were observed between less-educated (<12 years) and
      better-educated (>=12 years) credible participants, noncredible participants with
      <12 years of education scored significantly poorer than noncredible participants
      with 12 or more years of education. On the "Most Discrepant" index, 76.7% of less
      educated noncredible participants were detected as compared to 58.3% of better
      educated noncredible participants. Results of the current study suggest that the
      Picture Completion subtest of the WAIS-III is an effective measure of response
      bias, and that it may have a unique role in identifying suboptimal effort in less
      educated test takers.

PMID- 20924984
TI  - Dyslexic and typical-reading children use vowel digraphs as perceptual units in
      reading.
AB  - Digraphs are graphemes that are composed of two letters like the "ou" in "soup".
      We hypothesized that the serial-reading strategy of dyslexic readers might
      interfere with the processing of digraphs. We used a letter-detection task to
      compare the processing of vowel digraphs in dyslexic and typical-reading
      children. Both groups were found to be slower in detecting a letter within a
      vowel digraph than in detecting a letter of a single-letter grapheme. The slower
      response to target letters embedded in a digraph was position independent in both
      groups. We also found that dyslexic children did not differ from typical-reading
      children in the detection of letters in words. These results indicate that
      typical-reading and dyslexic children process vowel digraphs as perceptual units
      and that dyslexic children do not show impairments in this early visual process.

PMID- 20924985
TI  - Masked priming effects are modulated by expertise in the script.
AB  - In a recent study using a masked priming same-different matching task, Garci'a
      Orza, Perea, and Munoz (2010) found a transposition priming effect for letter
      strings, digit strings, and symbol strings, but not for strings of pseudoletters
      (i.e., EPRI-ERPI produced similar response times to the control pair EDBI-ERPI).
      They argued that the mechanism responsible for position coding in masked priming
      is not operative with those "objects" whose identity cannot be attained rapidly.
      To assess this hypothesis, Experiment 1 examined masked priming effects in Arabic
      for native speakers of Arabic, whereas participants in Experiments 2 and 3 were
      lower intermediate learners of Arabic and readers with no knowledge of Arabic,
      respectively. Results showed a masked priming effect only for readers who are
      familiar with the Arabic script. Furthermore, transposed-letter priming in native
      speakers of Arabic only occurred when the order of the root letters was kept
      intact. In Experiments 3-7, we examined why masked repetition priming is absent
      for readers who are unfamiliar with the Arabic script. We discuss the
      implications of these findings for models of visual-word recognition.

PMID- 20924986
TI  - The influence of goal-state access cost on planning during problem solving.
AB  - Two problem-solving experiments investigated the relationship between planning
      and the cost of accessing goal-state information using the theoretical framework
      of the soft constraints hypothesis (Gray & Fu, 2004; Gray, Simms, Fu, &
      Schoelles, 2006). In Experiment 1, 36 participants were allocated to low, medium,
      and high access cost conditions and completed a problem-solving version of the
      Blocks World Task. Both the nature of planning (memory based or display based)
      and its timing (before or during action) changed with high goal-state access cost
      (a mouse movement and a 2.5-s delay). In this condition more planning before
      action was observed, with less planning during action, evidenced by longer first
      move latencies, more moves per goal-state inspection, and more short (<= 0.8 s)
      and long (>8 s) "preplanned" intermove latencies. Experiment 2 used an eight
      puzzle-like transformation task and replicated the effect of goal-state access
      cost when more complex planning was required, also confirmed by sampled protocol
      data. Planning before an episode of move making increased with higher goal-state
      access cost, and planning whilst making moves increased with lower access cost.
      These novel results are discussed in the context of the soft constraints
      hypothesis.

PMID- 20924987
TI  - The influence of expertise and of physical complexity on visual short-term memory
      consolidation.
AB  - We investigated whether the expertise of a perceiver and the physical complexity
      of a stimulus influence consolidation of visual short-term memory (VSTM) in a S1
      S2 (Stimulus 1-Stimulus 2) change detection task. Consolidation is assumed to
      make transient perceptual representations in VSTM more durable, and it is
      investigated by postexposure of a mask shortly after offset of the perceived
      stimulus (S1; 17 to 483 ms). We presented colours, Chinese characters,
      pseudocharacters, and novel symbols to novices (Germans) or experts of Chinese
      language (Chinese readers). Physical complexity was manipulated by the number of
      strokes. Unfamiliar material was remembered worse than familiar material
      (Experiments 1, 2, and 3). For novices the absolute VSTM performance was better
      for physically simple than for complex material, whereas for experts the
      complexity did not matter-Chinese readers memorized Chinese characters
      (Experiment 3). Articulatory suppression did not change these effects (Experiment
      2). We always observed a strong effect of SOA, but this effect was influenced
      neither by physical complexity nor by expertise; only the length of the
      interstimulus interval between S1 and the mask was relevant. This was observed
      even with short stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) of 100 ms (Experiment 2) and in
      comparing colours and characters (Experiment 5). However, masks impaired memory
      if they were presented at the locations of the to-be-memorized items, but not
      beside them-that is, interference was location-based (Experiment 6). We explain
      the effect of SOA by the assumption that it takes time to stop encoding of
      information presented at item locations with the offset of S1. The increasing
      resistance against interference by irrelevant material appears as consolidation
      of S1.

PMID- 20924988
TI  - Increased Stroop interference with better second-language reading skill.
AB  - Skilled readers demonstrate remarkable efficiency in processing written words,
      unlike beginning readers for whom reading occurs more serially and places higher
      demands on visual attention. In the present study, we used the Stroop paradigm to
      investigate the relationship between reading skill and automaticity, in
      individuals learning a second language with a different orthographic system.
      Prior studies using this paradigm have presented a mixed picture, finding a
      positive, a negative, or no relationship between the size of Stroop interference
      and reading skills. Our results show that Stroop interference in the second
      language was positively related to reading skill (when controlled for
      interference in the first language). Furthermore, interference was positively
      related to objective but not subjective indices of the amount of exposure to the
      second language. We suggest that the lack of consistency in the results of
      earlier studies may be due, at least in part, to these studies looking at Stroop
      interference in isolation, rather than comparing interference between languages.

PMID- 20924989
TI  - Age distribution patterns of patients with conventional ductal adenocarcinoma of
      the pancreas. A single-institution study of 580 cases re-evaluated using current
      histopathological diagnostic criteria.
AB  - There are a few studies concerning epidemiology of pancreatic ductal
      adenocarcinoma (PDAC) in the Polish population. Analysis of age distribution
      patterns of patients with different types of cancer may be useful for studying
      their specific biology. In the present study we aimed to describe age
      distribution patterns of 580 patients with PDAC diagnosed in one centre during a
      25-year period. All the histopathological diagnoses were re-reviewed using
      current histopathological diagnostic criteria. Age distributions of selected
      subpopulations of patients (defined based on gender, potential tumour
      resectability and type of the surgery) were compared using mean values, medians,
      age frequency density plots and logarithmic plots of age-specific frequencies.
      The mean and median values of patients' age were 60.8 y and 61.0 y, respectively.
      Females were approximately 2 y older than males at the time of PDAC diagnosis.
      Females with non-resectable PDAC were approximately 2 y older than females with
      resectable tumours. Mean age values of males with non-resectable and resectable
      PDAC were similar. Patients treated with pancreaticoduodenectomy were
      approximately 2 y older than patients undergoing other types of resections. Age
      distribution density plots showed that some subgroups of patients studied were
      somewhat heterogeneous and might include several yet poorly recognized clinico
      pathological entities. Logarithmic plots of age-specific frequencies showed that
      PDAC epidemiology is in concordance with a multistage theory of carcinogenesis.
      PDAC is an age-dependent cancer. Single-institutional pathology-oriented cancer
      epidemiological databases may add some information to population-based cancer
      registries.

PMID- 20924990
TI  - Investigations into human tracheal cartilage osseocalcineus metaplasia III.
      ventro-dorsal measurement of the thickness of human tracheal cartilages.
AB  - The aim of the study was to verify the hypothesis that osseocalcineus metaplasia
      present in the tracheal cartilage is conditioned by its thickness. The study
      group comprised 78 male tracheas (age ranging between 19 and 84 years, mean =
      56.5 years +/-12.6 years), and 69 female tracheas (age ranging between 18 and 90
      years, mean = 65.3 +/-14 years). Tracheal transverse segments (every 4 cm) were
      collected for histopathological examinations from organs fixed in 10% formalin
      solution. Typical paraffin specimens, 5 MUm thick, were measured in the
      horizontal position using the ocular micrometer (10 : 100 Zeiss) and Semiplan
      3.2/0.10 objective. Differences between mean patient group and subgroup values
      were statistically verified. P = 0.05 was considered as statistically
      significant. Osseocalcineus metaplasia occurred 2.5-fold more often in male
      patients, in spite of the higher mean age of female patients (p < 0.001). The
      average male cartilage thickness was 50.32 +/-7.94 * 10-2 cm, while that of
      female patients was 38.44 +/-4.44 * 10-2 cm (p < 0.001). The average height of
      male patients (168.63 +/-27.14 cm) was significantly higher in comparison to
      female patients (157.2 +/-5.78 cm) (p < 0.001). The thickness of tracheal
      cartilages in men was significantly greater in metaplastic tracheas than in
      tracheas without metaplasia, as well as in changed cartilages as compared to
      unchanged ones in the same trachea. Considering both genders, the thickness of
      tracheal cartilages positively correlated with patient age (men: +0.44; p <
      0.001; women: +0.293; p < 0.014), whereas height did not correlate with cartilage
      thickness.

PMID- 20924991
TI  - Immunofluorescent evaluation of renal biopsy: current point of view.
AB  - Immunomorphologic assessment of percutaneous renal biopsy became a standard
      procedure for establishing diagnosis in kidney disease in parallel with routine
      haematoxylin and eosin stained paraffin sections. Among various immunomorphologic
      techniques, direct immunofluorescence of cryosections with a panel of
      fluorochrome labelled polyclonal or monoclonal antibodies to various serum
      proteins turned out to be the most reliable and rapid diagnostic procedure. The
      panel of antibodies may be expanded to include those to microbial or tumour
      antigens, when needed. The authors specify major advantages of immunofluorescence
      for such task and potential pitfalls in the case of nonspecific staining. In the
      next step, various types of fluorescence within renal structures are confronted
      with particular kidney disorders. Special attention is paid to various types of
      glomerulonephritis. Lesions in transplanted kidney are also discussed and the
      role of deposition of C4d complement component along peritubular capillaries is
      underlined as the evidence of humoral anti-graft reaction. The article is
      supplemented with a detailed technical procedure for performing of
      immunofluorescent reaction and evaluation of kidney biopsy, including several
      control steps.

PMID- 20924992
TI  - Veterinary pathology trends in the light of The European Society of Veterinary
      Pathology Congresses in 1997-2009.
AB  - This paper presents the main trends in the activity of veterinary pathologists in
      the context of their oral presentations, short speeches and posters during annual
      congresses of the European Society of Veterinary Pathology (ESVP) in the years
      1997-2009. During the thirteen analyzed congresses, 2668 presentations were
      prepared, including 72 plenary lectures, 946 short oral presentations and 1489
      posters. Based on the analysis, organ pathology (779 presentations) was the most
      popular branch of pathology. Infectious and parasitic diseases (714
      presentations) and oncology (563) were also quite popular. This paper analyzes
      also the role of congresses of the Society in disseminating knowledge on
      veterinary pathology and training pathologists in Europe as well as the trends in
      their scientific activity.

PMID- 20924993
TI  - Segmental congenital defect of the intestinal musculature.
AB  - Congenital defect of the small intestine muscular layer is rare cause of
      spontaneous bowel perforation or obstruction in premature infants. Etiology is
      still unknown. The authors report one case of segmental absence of small bowel
      muscular layer in preterm born infant. Some ideas concerning the pathogenesis of
      this entity and review of the literature is presented.

PMID- 20924994
TI  - Adenomatoid tumour of the adrenal gland: a case report and literature review.
AB  - Adenomatoid tumour (AT) is a rare, benign neoplasm of mesothelial origin, which
      usually occurs in the genital tract of both sexes. Occasionally these tumours are
      found in extra genital locations such as heart, pancreas, skin, pleura, omentum,
      lymph nodes, retroperitoneum, intestinal mesentery and adrenal gland.
      Histologically ATs show a mixture of solid and cystic patterns usually with focal
      presence of signet-ring like cells and scattered lymphoid infiltration. The most
      important thing about these tumours is not to mis-diagnose them as primary
      malignant or metastatic neoplasms. We present a case of an adrenal AT in a 29
      year-old asymptomatic male. The tumour was an incidental finding during abdominal
      CT-scan for an unrelated condition. We also present a review of the literature
      concerning adrenal gland AT and give possible differential diagnosis.

PMID- 20924995
TI  - Cavernous haemangioma of the oviduct.
AB  - Haemangiomas represent benign tumours of vascular origin. Cavernous haemangiomas
      are formed by cavernally widened irregular vascular spaces, lined with endothelia
      with no signs of atypia. In the fallopian tube haemangiomas are rare. In the
      available literature, only six cases were noted. We present a clinical and
      morphological case of a 69-year-old woman with cavernous haemangioma of the
      oviduct.

PMID- 20924996
TI  - Refractory anaemia with ringed sideroblasts associated with marked thrombocytosis
      (RARS-T) with superimposed 5q-syndrome.
AB  - Refractory anaemia with ringed sideroblasts associated with marked thrombocytosis
      (RARS-T) is a rare entity belonging to myeloproliferative/myelodysplastic
      syndromes. Myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) with isolated del(5q) is a category of
      MDS characterized by better prognosis and specific morphology. Herein we describe
      a 69-year-old male with anaemia and thrombocytosis presenting with coexisting
      features of both these rare diseases. After the description of the clinical data,
      we summarize the histopathologic, cytogenetic and molecular findings, as well as
      introduced treatment. Next, we discuss possible diagnostic options with reference
      to the relevant literature.

PMID- 20924998
TI  - Brain lesions in tuberous sclerosis complex. Review.
AB  - Tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) is an autosomal dominant, multisystem disease
      characterized by the development of multiple hamartomas and benign or rarely
      malignant neoplasms distributed at various sites throughout the body, especially
      in the brain, skin, retina, kidney, heart, and lungs. Brain lesions in TSC
      include: cortical/subcortical glioneuronal tubers, subependymal glial nodules
      (SENs), and subependymal giant cell astrocytomas (SEGAs). Cortical tubers are
      characterized by a markedly disorganized cortical lamination with dysplastic
      aggregates of abnormal glial and neuronal elements, including giant cells. SENs
      consist of large cells, somewhat similar to the giant cells seen in tubers,
      accompanied by elongated glial cells. SENs are typically covered by a layer of
      ependyma and can grow over time and develop into subependymal giant cell
      astrocytomas. SEGAs consist of a mixed cell population of large ganglioid-like
      cells, spindle and giant cells with nuclear pleomorphism. Mitotic activity and
      necrosis might be observed in SEGAs but they should not be considered as features
      of malignancy. The clinical presentations of TSC result from mutations in either
      of two tumour suppressor genes: TSC1 (located on 9q34) or TSC2 (located on
      16p13). The proteins encoded by TSC1 and TSC2 genes, hamartin and tuberin,
      respectively, form a heterodimer which suppresses the mammalian target of
      rapamycin (mTOR), a major cell growth and proliferation controller. Oral
      rapamycin therapy may induce regression of astrocytomas associated with TSC. In
      this review, the clinicopathological features of TCS and recent advantages in the
      diagnosis and genetics of TSC are presented.

PMID- 20924999
TI  - Dispersion of prion protein deposits around blood vessels in variant Creutzfeldt
      Jakob disease.
AB  - In variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD), a disease linked to bovine
      spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), florid-type prion protein (PrP(sc)) deposits are
      aggregated around the larger diameter (> 10 um) cerebral microvessels. Clustering
      of PrP(sc) deposits around blood vessels may result from blood-borne prions or be
      a consequence of the cerebral vasculature influencing the development of the
      florid deposits. To clarify the factors involved, the dispersion of the florid
      PrP(sc) deposits was studied around the larger diameter microvessels in the
      neocortex, hippocampus, and cerebellum of ten cases of vCJD. In the majority of
      brain regions, florid deposits were clustered around the larger diameter vessels
      with a mean cluster size of between 50 um and 628 um. With the exception of the
      molecular layer of the dentate gyrus, the density of the florid deposits declined
      as a negative exponential function of distance from a blood vessel profile
      suggesting that diffusion of molecules from blood vessels is a factor in the
      formation of the florid deposits. Diffusion of PrP(sc) directly into the brain
      via the microvasculature has been demonstrated in vCJD in a small number of
      cases. However, the distribution of the prion deposits in vCJD is more likely to
      reflect molecular 'chaperones' diffusing from vessels and promoting the
      aggregation of pre-existing PrP(sc) in the vicinity of the vessels to form florid
      deposits.

PMID- 20925000
TI  - Submicroscopic pathology of human and experimental hydrocephalic cerebral cortex.
AB  - The ultrastructural pathology of cerebral cortex in human hydrocephalus is
      reviewed and compared with experimental hydrocephalus. Nerve cells show moderate
      and severe swelling. The neighboring neuropil exhibits notable enlargement of
      extracellular space, synaptic plasticity and degeneration, damage of myelinated
      axons, and myelination delay. The astrocytes display edematous changes and
      phagocytic activity. Glycogen rich- and glycogen-depleted astrocytes are
      observed. Some oligodendroglial cells exhibit normal morphology, and other
      exhibit hydropic changes. The capillary wall shows signs of blood-brain barrier
      dysfunction. The role of ischemia, oxidative stress, increased calcium
      concentration, activation of NMDA receptors, and disturbance of ion homeostasis
      are discussed in relationship with the fine structural alterations of
      hydrocephalic brain parenchyma.

PMID- 20925001
TI  - Spindle cell oncocytoma of the adenohypophysis - a clinicopathological and
      ultrastructural study of two cases.
AB  - Spindle cell oncocytoma (SCO) of the pituitary gland is a relatively recently
      established, very rare subtype of adenohypophysis tumours that was introduced as
      a distinct clinicopathological entity in the fourth edition of WHO classification
      of the central nervous system tumours (2007). It is non-endocrine neoplasm of the
      anterior pituitary that occurs in adults and usually follows a benign clinical
      course, corresponding to WHO grade I. Up to now, pituitary SCO have been reported
      occasionally and only 14 cases of SCO have been documented in the literature.
      Because of their rarity, the pathogenesis and natural history of these tumours
      have not been fully characterized. We report two additional cases of SCO
      occurring in females aged 63 years (Case 1) and 65 years (Case 2), who presented
      with pan-hypopituitarism, headache and visual field defect. In both cases, the
      magnetic resonance imaging showed solid sellar mass of moderate size with
      suprasellar extension. The clinical and radiological features suggested non
      functioning pituitary macroadenomas without evidence of invasive growth. One
      patient presented with tumour recurrence 3 years after undergoing the previous
      surgical removal of tumour, which was initially misdiagnosed as schwannoma. The
      first tumour was removed by transsphenoidal surgery and the second one by frontal
      craniotomy. Histologically and immunohistochemically, both tumours displayed the
      features typical for SCO of the pituitary. They were composed of interwoven
      fascicles of spindle cells exhibiting abundant eosinophilic cytoplasm of
      oncocytic or granular appearance. Mitoses were rarely observed and necrosis was
      absent. In one case, the advanced lymphocytic infliltration was observed within
      neoplastic tissue. The tumour cells exhibited immunoreactivity for S-100 protein,
      galectin-3, vimentin and epithelial membrane antigen but they were negative for
      GFAP, anterior pituitary neuroendocrine markers (prolactin, growth hormone, TSH,
      ACTH, FSH, LH), chromogranin, synaptophysin, cytokeratin CK (AE1/AE3), smooth
      muscle actin, desmin, CD34 and CD68. MIB1 labeling index did not exceed 10%.
      Ultrastructurally, the tumour cells were rich in mitochondria with lamellar
      cristae. Moreover, in Case 2 some tumour cells showed a number of giant
      mitochondria with severely destructed internal matrix. Spindle cell oncocytoma of
      the anterior pituitary is often misdiagnosed entity of uncertain histogenesis. It
      should be considered in the differential diagnosis of various sellar-region
      lesions of oncocytic morphology.

PMID- 20925002
TI  - Activation of Akt/mTOR pathway in a patient with atypical teratoid/rhabdoid
      tumor.
AB  - A typical teratoid/rhabdoid tumor (AT/RT) is a highly malignant childhood brain
      tumor. Most AT/RTs are shown to contain chromosome 22 mutation in the region of
      hSNF5/INI1 gene, whose protein product participates in chromatin remodeling.
      Although the presence of this mutation is well described, molecular pathways
      underlying AT/RT development are poorly, if at all, understood. In the current
      paper we evaluate a case of AT/RT with special consideration of two pathways
      often implicated in tumor development: protein kinase B (PKB or Akt) and
      extracellular signal-regulated kinase (Erk). First, we confirmed expression of
      typical protein pattern being unique for AT/RT, including epithelial membrane
      antigen, S-100 and glial fibrillary acidic protein. In molecular analyses we
      tested the sample for activity of Akt and Erk kinase cascade. We found that Erk
      pathway signaling in the tumor was not upregulated. Neither c-Raf, MAPK nor Erk
      were hyperphosphorylated. On the other hand, we detected significant
      phosphorylation of Akt, phosphoinositide-dependent kinase-1 (PDK1) and glycogen
      synthase kinase 3? (GSK-3?). At the same time, inhibitor of Akt pathway,
      phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN), was not upregulated. These results
      strongly support the hypothesis that Akt pathway contributes to chromatin
      remodeling disruption, promoting malignant transformation of AT/RT.

PMID- 20925003
TI  - Measurement of glycine in a brain and brain tumors by means of 1H MRS.
AB  - AIM: Evaluation of a peak at 3.55 ppm in a long echo time (TE) recognized as
      glycine (Gly) in the WHO grade II gliomas and central neurocytomas by means of 1H
      MRS. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Retrospective analysis of 19 patients with
      histopathologically confirmed WHO grade II glioma and 2 patients with central
      neurocytoma was conducted. 1H MRS (TE = 135 ms and TE = 144 ms) was performed
      with 1.5 T and 3.0 T scanners. Gly/Cr, Gly/Cho and Gly/NAA ratios were compared
      between the analysed groups. Additional analysis of a brain of 61 healthy
      volunteers was conducted. RESULTS: Glycine was distinguished in 12 out of 19
      (63%) WHO grade II gliomas. Among those 12 WHO grade II gliomas only in 26% of a
      spectra Gly was recognized. In both central neurocytomas Gly was distinguished
      and in 43% of the spectra Gly was recognized. The ratio of Gly/Cr in central
      neurocytomas was higher than in WHO grade II gliomas (mean(CNC) 0.62 +/- 0.18 vs.
      mean(WHO II) 0.37 +/- 0.10; p < 0.001) but the ratio of Gly/Cho was lower
      (mean(CNC) 0.18 +/- 0.04 vs. mean(WHO II) 0.24 +/- 0.07; p < 0.001). There was no
      difference between analysed groups in terms of Gly/NAA ratio (mean(CNC) 0.36 +/-
      0.09 vs. mean(WHO II) 0.36 +/- 0.14; p = NS). Only in 0.3% of the spectra of
      normal brain Gly was distinguished. CONCLUSIONS: Glycine is found in WHO II grade
      gliomas as well as in central neurocytomas, but only in a part of a tumor volume.
      It is necessary to perform 1H MRS of the whole tumor volume to confirm/exclude
      the presence of glycine. Glycine in a normal brain can not be identified by means
      of conventional 1H MRS performed by means of 1.5 T or 3.0 T scanners.

PMID- 20925004
TI  - Motor endplate remodeling in some cases with congenital myasthenic syndrome.
AB  - The architecture of motor endplates in three cases with congenital myasthenic
      syndrome (CMS) was compared with ultrastructure of the normal control
      neuromuscular junction (NMJ). The remodeling of postsynaptic region was observed
      in all three individuals. The most conspicuous abnormalities seen in the slow
      channel syndrome was the vacuolization and disorganization of secondary synaptic
      clefts which extended for beyoned the border of NMJ. Degenerated postsynaptic
      nuclei and junctional sarcoplasm were an additional feature of presented
      syndromes. The quite different feature of NMJ was observed in the DOK-7 deficient
      syndrome. The appearance of small, pale terminal axons, poorly developed
      postsynaptic membrane with the sparse secondary synaptic clefts and degenerated
      postsynaptic nuclei suggested impairment of postsynaptic region maturation. The
      conjunction of postsynaptic membrane paucity and its degeneration was a specific
      structural feature observed in the third syndrome with no established genetic
      defects.

PMID- 20925005
TI  - Cerebral amyloid angiopathy as a cause of an extensive brain hemorrhage in adult
      patient with Down's syndrome - a case report.
AB  - A case of 54-year old woman who deceased due to consequence of extensive brain
      hemorrhage is presented. The patient was admitted to our Department of Neurology
      due to progressive quadriparesis as a complication of the cervical spinal cord
      compressive myelopathy. On the third day after neurosurgical decompression of the
      spinal cord sudden worsening of neurological and general condition was observed,
      finally caused death. An autopsy study revealed an extensive brain lobar
      hemorrhage and a dorsal-ventral compression of the cervical spinal cord.
      Alzheimer's disease-type degenerative changes with concomitant CAA were seen in
      light microscope examination. Extensive foci of demyelination were found
      especially in dorsal funiculi of the cervical spinal cord. Smaller foci of
      demyelination were present in anterior funiculi due to the stenosis of vertebral
      canal.

PMID- 20925006
TI  - Primary spinal cord melanoma - a case report.
AB  - Authors present a case of a 57-year-old woman with primary spinal cord malignant
      melanoma. Intramedullary localization of primary melanoma is extremely rare. The
      patient presented neurological deficits such as lower limbs paresis and sensory
      loss. MRI examination showed intramedullar tumor located on the Th10 vertebra
      level. Surgical treatment with total removal of tumor was performed.
      Histopathological study confirmed melanoma. Subsequent chemotherapy was given.
      Tumor was successfully treated by neurosurgery; radio- and chemotherapy with
      disease free follow up of 9 months. Surgical treatment of melanoma in this
      location is extremely important as it leads to regression of neurological
      symptoms and improvement of the quality of life.

PMID- 20925008
TI  - [Relationship between in-hospital and peri-hospital mortality: Analysis of
      quality reports covering insured from local sickness funds].
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: In-hospital mortality is a common criterion for
      evaluating the quality of medical care provided for inpatients. Besides general
      concerns, the call for a defined follow-up-period is the subject to be discussed.
      A project - abbreviated as QSR - covering insured from local health insurance
      funds now provides respective information. By this means, the relationship
      between in-hospital and peri-hospital mortality can be elaborated. PATIENTS AND
      METHODS: Data regarding in-hospital mortality, mortality 30 days, 90 days as well
      as one year after admission was gathered from QSR quality reports covering 31
      hospitals of the HELIOS hospital group. The relationship between the various
      periods was determined by the non-parametric correlation coefficient, whereas
      trends were analyzed based on linear regression. RESULTS: There is a relevant (r
      between 0.552 and 0.908) and significant (p <= 0.006) relation between the
      various periods with respect to heart failure, cardiac infarction, and stroke or
      intracerebral haemorrhage. As to surgical fields, comparable results can be
      recognized. Fifteen out of 85 courses show a statistically significant trend.
      Only four courses are tangent to the threshold 1 applicable for the standard
      mortality ratio. CONCLUSION: The study revealed no imperative need to analyze
      mortality for longer follow-up-periods in order to assess quality of inpatient
      health care. Therefore, future efforts should concentrate on the identification
      of an adequate operand that supports best the hospitals in their internal quality
      management.

PMID- 20925009
TI  - [Unexplained chronic hypokalaemia in a young woman].
AB  - HISTORY AND CLINICAL FINDINGS: The 27 year old female patient presented with
      chronic hypokalaemia known for 6 years and current potassium values of 1.8
      mmol/l. She reported having diarrhea for a few days, fever was denied.
      INVESTIGATIONS: Physical examination revealed dry skin and mucosa and a slim
      nutritional status, laboratory investigations showed a hypokalaemic,
      hypochloraemic alkalosis and hypomagnesaemia. Our first suspicion was an eating
      disorder or abuse of diuretics or laxatives. Urine analysis showed a high
      concentration of potassium and chloride, a screening for diuretics was negative.
      Due to the electrolyte constellation we assumed a Gitelman's Syndrome which was
      confirmed by genetic testing. TREATMENT AND COURSE: After intravenous
      substitution of potassium and cessation of diarrhea the potassium values
      stabilised at 2.5 - 3.0 mmol/l. After being discharged she continued oral
      substitution of potassium and no such period of severe hypokalaemia occurred
      again. CONCLUSION: Establishing a diagnosis for patients with chronic
      hypokalaemia may present difficulties. Urine analysis can help to find reasons
      for electrolyte disorders. Via measurement of urinary chloride concentration
      repetitious vomiting as stigmatising diagnosis could be excluded. Urine analysis
      also led to the diagnosis Gitelman syndrome, an inherited renal tubular disorder,
      which is suspected to count for 50 % of unexplained chronic hypokalemia.

PMID- 20925010
TI  - [Primary hyperparathyroidism].
AB  - Primary hyperparathyroidism is a common endocrine disease. Since introduction of
      automated routine measurement of serum calcium the detection of primary
      hyperparathyroidism has increased significantly. The classical symptoms such as
      kidney stones, gastrointestinal and bone manifestation are rarely seen nowadays.
      For this reason, an elevated parathyroid hormone level in a patient with
      hypercalcemia confirms primary hyperparathyroidism in 95 % of cases. Currently 80
      % of these patients are asymptomatic, and therefore criteria for diagnosis and
      treatment have been discussed on several consensus conferences. After biochemical
      confirmation has been obtained further diagnostic test aim at locating the tumor
      should be by ultrasound and 99m TC-sestamibi scintigraphy. The improved
      diagnostic work-up had led to a better surgical approach with minimally invasive
      and endoscopic techniques. In addition, quick intraoperative parathyroid hormone
      measurements confirm immediately the success of surgical treatment. Non-surgical
      treatment in asymptomatic and elderly patients may be justified. Bisphosphonates
      are the first choice for medical treatment in patients with bone manifestation
      and cinacalcet may be given to patients to lower calcium and parathyroid hormone
      levels.

PMID- 20925011
TI  - [62-year-old patient with linear ecchymosis after stem cell transplantation].

PMID- 20925012
TI  - [New aspects on "triple therapy" after coronary stent implantation].
AB  - Antithrombotic/antiplatelet therapy after coronary stent implantation is
      recommended with a high level of evidence in international guidelines. However,
      antithrombotic/antiplatelet treatment in patients after coronary stent
      implantation and in addition with an indication for oral anticoagulation is still
      an open issue. So called "tripletherapy", the combination of oral anticoagulation
      with vitamin K-antagonists, clopidogrel and aspirin, is commonly used. This
      combination significantly increases incidence of minor and major bleedings,
      especially during long term use. The goal of this manuscript is to discuss the
      risks and potential benefit of "tripletherapy" in patients with an indication for
      oral anticoagulation after coronary stent implantation.

PMID- 20925013
TI  - [Ranolazine--an additional anti-anginal drug].
AB  - Ranolazine is a new drug for use in patients with stable angina pectoris. Unlike
      other antianginal drugs ranolazine does not alter heart rate or systemic blood
      pressure. Inhibition of the persistent or late sodium current (I(Na,late)) by
      ranolazine reduces [Na(+) ](i)-dependent Ca(2+) overload and the effects of
      ischaemia. Moreover, ranolazine holds potential promise to be effective in
      treatment of atrial fibrillation and diastolic heart failure.

PMID- 20925014
TI  - [Evaluation of obesity in a 22-year-old female patient].

PMID- 20925015
TI  - Continuously increasing sensitivity over three generations of TSH receptor
      autoantibody assays.
AB  - Thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) receptor (TSHR) antibodies (TRAb) are the
      hallmarks in serological diagnosis of Graves' disease (GD, autoimmune
      hyperthyroidism). In the 1980s, the first generation liquid-phase TRAb assay with
      detergent solubilized porcine TSHR was introduced into routine thyroid serology
      and proved to be highly specific for GD, albeit with moderate sensitivity. In the
      1990 s, second generation solid-phase TRAb assays with immobilized porcine or
      recombinant human TSHR became available, and were clearly more sensitive for
      Graves' disease without loss of specificity. Recently, third generation TRAb
      assays have been developed, in which the human thyroid stimulating monoclonal
      antibody M22 replaces bovine TSH as the competing reagent for TRAb binding to
      TSHR. Again, an improvement in functional sensitivity was reported for this
      latest assay generation. To investigate the analytical (aas) and functional assay
      sensitivity (fas) over 3 generations of TRAb assays, pooled serum samples from
      patients with GD were measured 10-fold in different assay lots over a few months.
      The 20% inter-assay coefficients of variation (CV) were calculated and compared
      taking into account the different calibrations of the assay generations. The fas
      continuously increased from about 8 U/l of MRC B65/122 in liquid phase TRAb
      assays, to about 1.0 IU/l (NIBSC 90/672) in TSH based solid phase TRAb assays and
      to about 0.3 IU/l (NIBSC 90/672) in the M22 based TRAb assay finally. In
      conclusion, the fas of TRAb measurements has been improved continuously over the
      last 3 decades.

PMID- 20925016
TI  - Serum and saliva adrenocortical hormones in obese diabetic men during submaximal
      exercise.
AB  - The aim of this study was to evaluate serum and saliva adrenocortical hormones
      and their relationships at rest and during submaximal exercise and recovery in 9
      obese diabetic middle-aged men (BMI: 35.2 +/- 1.6 kg/m (2)). Blood and saliva
      samples were taken at rest, every 10 min of a 30-min cycling exercise at 70% of
      maximal heart rate, and after 10 min of recovery in order to analyze cortisol,
      dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA-S) and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA). Serum
      and saliva cortisol increased significantly during recovery (p<0.05), but no
      significant difference was observed between the rest, exercise, and recovery DHEA
      S and DHEA concentrations. A strong correlation was found at rest between both
      serum and saliva cortisol (r=0.72, p<0.001) and DHEA-S and DHEA (r=0.93,
      p<0.001). Serum DHEA-S and saliva DHEA remained strongly correlated during and
      after the submaximal exercise (r=0.81, p<0.001), whereas a weaker but still
      significant relationship was observed between serum and saliva cortisol during
      and after the exercise (r=0.52, p<0.001). In conclusion, these results suggest
      that saliva adrenocortical hormones, and especially saliva DHEA, may offer a
      practical surrogate for serum concentrations during both rest and exercise in
      obese diabetic men.

PMID- 20925017
TI  - Differential effects of resveratrol and SRT1720 on lifespan of adult
      Caenorhabditis elegans.
AB  - Resveratrol and SRT1720 have been shown to act as sirtuin activators that may
      ameliorate type 2 diabetes and metabolic diseases in mice. Moreover, resveratrol
      extends lifespan in model organisms like C. elegans, N. FURZERI, and possibly D.
      melanogaster. The aim of the study was to test whether pharmacological
      concentrations of resveratrol and SRT1720 are capable of extending lifespan in a
      nematodal model organism for aging processes, the roundworm Caenorhabditis
      elegans. Several hundreds of adult C. ELEGANS roundworms were maintained on agar
      plates and fed E. COLI strain OP50 bacteria. Resveratrol (5 micromolar, 500
      nanomolar) or SRT1720 (1 micromolar, 100 nanomolar) was applied to the agar to
      test whether they may promote longevity by quantifying survival in the presence
      and absence of the respective compounds. At a dose of 5 micromolar, which is
      pharmacologically relevant and 20 times lower than previously published
      concentrations, resveratrol significantly extends C. elegans lifespan by 3.6%
      (mean lifespan) and 3.4% (maximum lifespan). By unexpected contrast, SRT1720,
      which was previously proposed to be several hundred times more active than
      resveratrol, did not extend lifespan at none of the concentrations tested. Thus,
      in the model organisms C. elegans, resveratrol is capable of promoting longevity
      at a concentration that pharmacologically relevant and 20 times lower than
      previously published doses. The sirtuin activator SRT1720 did not extend
      lifespan, suggesting that in C. elegans, some relevant effects of resveratrol
      cannot be mimicked by SRT1720.

PMID- 20925018
TI  - Variable sensitivity to the glucocorticoid activity of cortisol in patients with
      primary adrenal insufficiency: assessment with ACTH profiles.
AB  - Our aim was to investigate the usefulness of circulating levels of
      adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and also salivary cortisol to monitor
      cortisone substitution in patients with Addison's disease. 13 patients with
      primary adrenal insufficiency (8 women and 5 men, age 44 +/- 11 years) received
      12.5 mg cortisone acetate orally at 16:00 h and 25 mg at 07:00 h. Blood samples
      for cortisol and ACTH analysis were drawn every hour for 24 h, and also every
      half hour between 07:00 and 12:00 h. Samples for salivary cortisol were collected
      in parallel. Total ACTH levels showed large inter-individual variations and a
      diurnal rhythm with a nadir in the early evening at 19:00 (median 19 ng/l, range
      2-434 ng/l) and high levels in the early morning, with a peak around 07:30
      (median 844 ng/l, range 45-2,249 ng/l). Plasma cortisol concentrations showed 2
      peaks distinct in time, but variable in height, 1-2 h after intake of cortisone.
      Plasma cortisol correlated significantly with ln(ACTH) at 17:00 h (r=-0.56), at
      10:00 h (r=-0.51), and at 10.30 h (r=-0.57). When tested at different time
      points, ln(ACTH) at 10:00 to 12:00 h was negatively correlated with plasma
      cortisol between 08:30 and 12:00 h. Plasma cortisol was highly correlated to
      ln(salivary cortisol) most of the time points measured, but 30-60 min after
      intake of cortisone acetate the correlation disappeared. In conclusion, the large
      interindividual variation in ACTH levels most likely indicates varying
      sensitivity to cortisol with a need for individualized dosing schemes.
      Furthermore ACTH-determinations may be useful for dose titration of cortisol.

PMID- 20925019
TI  - In vivo activity of 11beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 in man: effects of
      prednisolone and chenodesoxycholic acid.
AB  - The 11beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenases (11beta-HSDs) play a pivotal role in
      glucocorticoid (GC) action. 11beta-HSD1 is a predominant reductase, activating
      GCs from inert metabolites, whereas 11beta-HSD2 is a potent dehydrogenase
      inactivating GCs. Knowing the metabolic effects of GCs, a selective inhibition of
      11beta-HSD1 represents a potential target for therapy of impaired glucose
      tolerance, insulin insensitivity and central obesity. In vitro, 11beta-HSD1 is
      selectively inhibited by chenodesoxycholic acid (CDCA) and upregulated under GC
      exposure. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the effects of CDCA and prednisolone
      on hepatic 11beta-HSD1 activity in vivo by measuring 11-reduction of orally given
      cortisone (E) acetate to cortisol (F). CDCA or placebo was given to 5 male
      healthy volunteers within a randomised cross-over trial before and after oral
      administration of 12.5 mg E acetate at 8:00 h. For measurement of in vivo effects
      of GCs on 11beta-HSD1 activity, hepatic reduction of 25 mg E acetate before and
      after treatment with prednisolone (30 mg for 6 days) was determined in 7 healthy
      males. Serum GC levels were determined using a fully automated liquid
      chromatographic system. CDCA had no effect on the activity of 11beta-HSD1 in
      vivo. Prednisolone therapy leads to a marked rise in serum F concentrations and
      an elevated F/E serum ratio. This proves GC-induced activation of hepatic 11beta
      HSD1, which could not be extinguished by a parallel increase of IGF-1 under
      prednisolone. CDCA does not affect in vivo activity of 11beta-HSD1 when given in
      therapeutic dosages. During GC treatment, increased hepatic activation of E to F
      may aggravate metabolic side effects of GCs such as seen in the metabolic
      syndrome.

PMID- 20925020
TI  - [Paraganglioma--a rare cause of mediastinal lesions].
AB  - A 73-year-old female patient was admitted to our clinic for further clarification
      of a suspicious mediastinal lesion. Endosonographically, we performed a fine
      needle aspiration biopsy. Clinical and radiological findings as well as cytology
      hardened the suspicion of a paraganglioma as being the cause of the mediastinal
      lesion. Finally, this diagnosis was confirmed histologically after complete
      surgical resection of the lesion. This case report on a mediastinal paraganglioma
      includes a concise summary of diagnostic procedures and therapeutic options for
      this rare disease.

PMID- 20925021
TI  - [Late recurrence of renal cell carcinoma in a solitary enlarged paratracheal
      lymph node].
AB  - We report on a 67-year-old male patient who had undergone treatment for renal
      cell carcinoma 19 years previously. A CT scan showed a solitary enlarged lymph
      node in the right upper paratracheal region. A specimen was obtained by
      endobronchial ultrasound with transbronchial needle aspiration. Cytological
      analysis revealed lymph node metastasis of the late relapsing renal cell
      carcinoma.

PMID- 20925022
TI  - Micropatterned hydrogenated amorphous carbon guides mesenchymal stem cells
      towards neuronal differentiation.
AB  - This study investigated how the design of surface topography may stimulate stem
      cell differentiation towards a neural lineage. To this end, hydrogenated
      amorphous carbon (a-C:H) groove topographies with width/spacing ridges ranging
      from 80/40MUm, 40/30MUm and 30/20MUm and depth of 24 nm were used as a single
      mechanotransducer stimulus to generate neural cells from human bone marrow
      mesenchymal stem cells (hBM-MSCs) in vitro. As comparative experiments, soluble
      brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) was used as additional biochemical
      inducer agent. Despite simultaneous presence of a-C:H micropatterned nanoridges
      and soluble BDNF resulted in the highest percentage of neuronal-like
      differentiated cells our findings demonstrate that the surface topography with
      micropatterned nanoridge width/spacing of 40/30MUm (single stimulus) induced hBM
      MSCs to acquire neuronal characteristics in the absence of differentiating
      agents. On the other hand, the alternative a-C:H ridge dimensions tested failed
      to induce stem cell differentiation towards neuronal properties, thereby
      suggesting the occurrence of a mechanotransducer effect exerted by optimal
      nano/microstructure dimensions on the hBM-MSCs responses.

PMID- 20925023
TI  - Micromass co-culture of human articular chondrocytes and human bone marrow
      mesenchymal stem cells to investigate stable neocartilage tissue formation in
      vitro.
AB  - Cell therapies for articular cartilage defects rely on expanded chondrocytes.
      Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) represent an alternative cell source should their
      hypertrophic differentiation pathway be prevented. Possible cellular instruction
      between human articular chondrocytes (HAC) and human bone marrow MSC was
      investigated in micromass pellets. HAC and MSC were mixed in different
      percentages or incubated individually in pellets for 3 or 6 weeks with and
      without TGF-beta1 and dexamethasone (+/-T+/-D) as chondrogenic factors. Collagen
      II, collagen X and S100 protein expression were assessed using
      immunohistochemistry. Proteoglycan synthesis was evaluated applying the Bern
      score and quantified using dimethylmethylene blue dye binding assay. Alkaline
      phosphatase activity (ALP) was detected on cryosections and soluble ALP measured
      in pellet supernatants. HAC alone generated hyaline-like discs, while MSC formed
      spheroid pellets in +/-T+/-D. Co-cultured pellets changed from disc to spheroid
      shape with decreasing number of HAC, and displayed random cell distribution. In 
      T-D, HAC expressed S100, produced GAG and collagen II, and formed lacunae, while
      MSC did not produce any cartilage-specific proteins. Based on GAG, collagen type
      II and S100 expression chondrogenic differentiation occurred in -T-D MSC co
      cultures. However, quantitative experimental GAG and DNA values did not differ
      from predicted values, suggesting only HAC contribution to GAG production. MSC
      produced cartilage-specific matrix only in +T+D but underwent hypertrophy in all
      pellet cultures. In summary, influence of HAC on MSC was restricted to early
      signs of neochondrogenesis. However, MSC did not contribute to the proteoglycan
      deposition, and HAC could not prevent hypertrophy of MSC induced by chondrogenic
      stimuli.

PMID- 20925024
TI  - Biocompatibility of alendronate-loaded acrylic cement for vertebroplasty.
AB  - This paper reports a biological evaluation of a non-resorbable acrylic cement
      loaded with alendronate for the treatment of osteoporotic vertebral compression
      fractures. The cement formulation was based on polymethyl methacrylate and
      acrylic monomers; one of these had covalently linked vitamin E residues. The same
      cement in the absence of alendronate was used as a control. The setting of the
      charged cement presented a maximum polymerization temperature of 44 degrees C, a
      setting time of 24 min, a residual monomer content lower than 3 wt.%, a
      compressive strength of 99+/-10 MPa and an elastic modulus of 1.2+/-0.2 GPa.
      Cytotoxicity studies using human osteoblast cultures revealed that the leachable
      substances of the alendronate loaded cement collected between 1 and 7 days
      decreased cell viability to values lower than 80%. However, morphological changes
      and cellular damage in cells produced by the extracts decreased with the leak
      time. Cell adhesion and growth on charged cement was significantly lower than on
      the control. Implantation of the cement paste in the intra-femoral cavity of
      rabbits showed that initially the osteogenic activity was evident for the cement
      charged with alendronate, and the osteosynthesis process took place mainly in the
      trabeculae and was manifested by the presence of a non-mineralised osseous
      spicule. The interface between material and adjacent bone tissue was initially
      characterized by a variable fibrous response that in many cases it appeared
      reduced to thin connective tissue after a 24-week-period.

PMID- 20925025
TI  - [Anticipating the future: the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease in the predementia
      and prodromal phases].

PMID- 20925026
TI  - [Five years' experience in a paediatric epilepsy unit].
AB  - INTRODUCTION AND AIMS: The epilepsy monitoring unit is a space inside a hospital,
      which objective is to reproduce epileptic seizures in order to better study of an
      epileptic patient. We have analysed data from all the patients admitted to our
      pediatric epilepsy unit in the last 5 years. PATIENTS AND METHODS: 191 patients
      have been admitted in our unit, and we have obtained seizures in 186 admissions
      (monitoring efficacy, 85.9%). In this report we summarize characteristics of
      these children, type of seizures and treatment. RESULTS: The most frequent cause
      of epilepsy in our series is cortical development malformation. Patients are
      often late in their admission, with a median time of 3 to 4 years from epileptic
      onset to admission in the epilepsy unit. After the study, 22 patients underwent
      functional epilepsy surgery, all of them with excellent results, 9 patients
      underwent vagal nerve stimulator implantation and in 66 patients their previous
      pharmacological treatment was modified. CONCLUSIONS: The efficacy of our
      monitoring unit is similar to previously published, 85.9%. After the admission,
      we have changed diagnose in 57% of the patients and pharmacological treatment in
      29%. We recommend the study in a monitoring epilepsy unit of every patient with
      refractory epilepsy, meaning an epilepsy that does not respond to 2-3 different
      appropriate treatments.

PMID- 20925027
TI  - [Post-stroke hemichorea: observation-based study of 15 cases].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Chorea is an infrequent complication of acute cerebrovascular
      disease or stroke. The pathophysiology, the exact location of the lesions and the
      clinical course of this type of chorea are still not fully understood. AIM: To
      conduct a retrospective observation-based study of patients diagnosed with
      vascular hemichorea in our centre. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The study involved
      consecutive patients diagnosed with this condition who were attended between the
      years 2004 and 2009. A descriptive analysis of their clinico-radiological
      characteristics and clinical symptoms was performed. RESULTS: Fifteen patients
      were included in the study, which represented 0.2% of the cases of stroke
      attended during the period under analysis. The mean age was 73 years. Twelve
      patients (80%) presented an ischaemic stroke and three patients (20%) had a
      haemorrhagic stroke. The location of the lesions varied. The most frequent site
      was in the lentiform nucleus, followed by those with located in the cortical,
      thalamic and sub thalamic regions. Eight patients (53%) did not require
      pharmacological treatment owing to the scarce repercussion of their symptoms or
      their rapid resolution. The most commonly employed treatment was haloperidol. The
      mean follow-up time was 17 months. Over that period, the hemi-chorea disappeared
      in 11 patients (73%), most of them before the end of the second month of progress
      of the disease. CONCLUSIONS: The variable topography of the lesions related to
      hemichorea is proof of the complexity of the functioning of the cortico-basal
      network to control movement and confirms the association between hemichorea and
      cortical lesions.

PMID- 20925028
TI  - [A study of subtelomeric rearrangements in 300 patients with mental retardation
      and multiple congenital anomalies: their clinical and molecular
      characterisation].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The study of mental retardation is one of the most complex fields
      in human genetics due to its high degree of clinical and genetic heterogeneity.
      About 50% of cases of mental retardation remain undiagnosed. It is known that
      about 6-10% of cases are due to subtelomeric rearrangements. Some of these are
      responsible for a clinically recognized phenotype, i.e. 1p36 or 22q13.33
      microdeletion syndromes, but others affect few patients and are not well
      characterized. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We have analyzed 300 consecutive mentally
      retarded patients for subtelomeric rearrangements by MLPA. RESULTS: About 5.3% of
      patients presented subtelomeric rearrangements; from these, 75% contained de novo
      rearrangements and 18.7% included inherited aberrations from a healthy parent. In
      14 cases, aberrations were likely related to disease and in two cases were
      putative polymorphisms. CONCLUSIONS: This study confirms the high frequency of
      subtelomeric rearrangements in mental retardation and reinforces the idea of a
      routine subtelomeric screening in these patients in order to get a correct
      diagnosis, establish genotype-phenotype correlations and offer an accurate
      genetic counseling.

PMID- 20925029
TI  - [Early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease: the prodromal and preclinical phase].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Because Alzheimer's disease (AD) needs to be treated as soon as
      possible after onset, its early detection has become one of the core areas of
      research in the field of neurodegenerative diseases. DEVELOPMENT: Attempts to
      characterise the incipient phases of the disease have evolved from the appearance
      of the heterogeneous concept of mild cognitive impairment in the last twentieth
      century to the diagnostic criteria proposed for AD by current research. These
      criteria make it possible to perform an early diagnosis of AD (in the prodromal
      phase) that is at the same time aetiological, since it is backed up by objective
      biological markers which will be discussed in this work. Additionally, the
      article will also review the concept of preclinical AD, which is supported by
      evidence showing that the pathological process of AD begins years before the
      clinical manifestation of the disease. CONCLUSIONS: To date, this preclinical
      phase is the one that has received less attention from researchers, although the
      development of complex imaging techniques with new tracers appears to be a
      promising beginning to the coveted path towards the preclinical diagnosis of the
      disease.

PMID- 20925030
TI  - [Application of virtual reality in the motor aspects of neurorehabilitation].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Virtual reality allows the user to interact with elements within a
      simulated scene. In recent times we have been witness to the introduction of
      virtual reality-based devices as one of the most significant novelties in
      neurorehabilitation. AIM: To review the clinical applications of the developments
      based on virtual reality for the neurorehabilitation treatment of the motor
      aspects of the most frequent disabling processes with a neurological origin.
      DEVELOPMENT: A review was carried out of the Medline, Physiotherapy Evidence
      Database, Ovid and Cochrane Library databases up until April 2009. This was
      completed with a web search using Google. No clinical trial conducted on its
      effectiveness has been found to date. The information that was collected is based
      on the description of the various prototypes produced by the different groups
      involved in their development. In most cases they are clinical trials conducted
      with a small number of patients, which have focused more on testing the validity
      of the device and checking whether it works correctly than on attempting to prove
      its clinical effectiveness. Although most of the clinical applications refer to
      patients with stroke, there were also several applications for patients with
      spinal cord injuries, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease or balance
      disorders. CONCLUSIONS: Virtual reality is a novel tool with a promising future
      in neurorehabilitation. Further studies are needed to demonstrate its clinical
      effectiveness as compared to the traditional techniques.

PMID- 20925031
TI  - [Autosomal recessive limb-girdle muscular dystrophy].
AB  - Muscular dystrophies are a heterogeneous group of hereditary diseases
      characterized by loss of muscle and weakness of non neurogenic origin. They are
      caused by mutations in one or more genes involved in the formation of muscle
      cells. The discovery of several proteins in the muscle began with the discovery
      of dystrophin, 130 years after the clinical description of muscular dystrophy.
      Currently, due to a better understanding of the biology of normal and diseased
      muscle, has achieved a classification at the molecular level of different types
      of muscular dystrophies, according to the protein that is affected. This has been
      particularly important for limb girdle muscular dystrophies, which present
      clinical features that can lead to confusion with Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
      Moreover, in recent years has encouraged the development of therapies in the near
      future could provide a solution for restoring the function of the muscle fiber.

PMID- 20925033
TI  - [Juvenile stroke as the presenting symptom of a non-compaction cardiomyopathy].

PMID- 20925034
TI  - [Topiramate as an effective therapeutic option in the treatment of West
      syndrome].

PMID- 20925035
TI  - [Headache secondary to hyperthyroidism].

PMID- 20925036
TI  - [A review of Memory Impairment Screen].

PMID- 20925037
TI  - YhgC protects Bacillus anthracis from oxidative stress.
AB  - Bacillus anthracis can cause lethal inhalational anthrax and can be used as a
      bioweapon due to its ability to form spores and to survive under various
      environmental stress conditions. YhgC in bacilli are structural homologues of
      TRAP, a protein involved in stress response in staphylococci. To test the role of
      YhgC in B. anthracis, yhgC gene was deleted in B. anthracis strain Sterne and
      parent and mutant strains tested. Immunolocalization studies indicated that YhgC
      is clustered both on the cell surface and within the cytoplasm. Phenotypic
      analyses indicated that YhgC is an important factor for oxidative stress
      tolerance and for macrophage infection in vitro. Accordingly, transcriptomics
      studies indicated that yhgC has a profound effect on genes encoding for stress
      response regulatory proteins where it negatively regulates the expression of
      genes encoding for Class I and Class III stress response proteins belonging to
      the regulons hrcA (hrcA, grpE, dnaK, dnaJ, groEL and groES) and ctsR (ctsR, mcsA,
      mcsB, clpC/mecB, clpP1). Proteomics studies also indicated that YhgC positively
      regulates the expression of ClpP-2 and camelysin, which are proteins involved in
      adaptive responses and pathogenesis in various Gram-positive bacteria. Put
      together, these results suggest that YhgC is important for the survival of B.
      anthracis under oxidative stress conditions and thus inhibition of YhgC may
      compromise the ability of the bacteria to survive within the host.

PMID- 20925038
TI  - An intein-mediated site-specific click conjugation strategy for improved tumor
      targeting of nanoparticle systems.
AB  - The ability to modify and directly target nanoparticulate carriers has greatly
      increased their applicability in diagnostic and therapeutic studies. Generally
      essential to the targeting of nanoparticles is the bioconjugation of targeting
      ligands to the agent's surface. While bioconjugation techniques have steadily
      improved in recent years, the field is still plagued with inefficient
      conjugations reactions and/or the lack of site-specific coupling. To overcome
      these limitations, click chemistry and expressed protein ligation (EPL) are
      combined to produce a highly efficient, site-specific reaction. This new EPL
      click conjugation strategy is applied to create superparamagnetic iron oxide
      nanoparticles (SPIO) labeled with HER2/neu affibodies. These HER2-SPIO
      nanoparticles prove to be highly potent and receptor-specific in both in vitro
      cell studies and murine tumor models. Moreover, when EPL-click-derived HER2-SPIO
      are compared with SPIO that had been labeled with HER2 affibodies using other
      popular bioconjugation methods, they produce a statistically significant
      improvement in contrast enhancement upon cell binding. The EPL-click system is
      also successfully extended to other nanoparticle platforms (i.e., liposomes and
      dendrimers) highlighting the versatility of the approach.

PMID- 20925039
TI  - Liposome and lipid bilayer arrays towards biosensing applications.
AB  - Sensitive and selective biosensors for high-throughput screening are having an
      increasing impact in modern medical care. The establishment of robust protein
      biosensing platforms however remains challenging, especially when membrane
      proteins are involved. Although this type of proteins is of enormous relevance
      since they are considered in >60% of the pharmaceutical drug targets, their
      fragile nature (i.e., the requirement to preserve their natural lipid environment
      to avoid denaturation and loss of function) puts strong additional prerequisites
      onto a successful biochip. In this review, the leading approaches to create lipid
      membrane-based arrays towards the creation of membrane protein biosensing
      platforms are described. Liposomes assembled in micro- and nanoarrays and the
      successful set-ups containing functional membrane proteins, as well as the use of
      liposomes in networks, are discussed in the first part. Then, the complementary
      approaches to create cell-mimicking supported membrane patches on a substrate in
      an array format will be addressed. Finally, the progress in assembling free
      standing (functional) lipid bilayers over nanopore arrays for ion channel sensing
      will be reported. This review illustrates the rapid pace by which advances are
      being made towards the creation of a heterogeneous biochip for the high
      throughput screening of membrane proteins for diagnostics, drug screening, or
      drug discovery purposes.

PMID- 20925040
TI  - Tunable vancomycin releasing surfaces for biomedical applications.
AB  - Local drug delivery methods allow for the opportunity to supply potent
      multispectrum antibiotics such as vancomycin hydrochloride to sites of infection,
      while avoiding systemic toxicity. In this work, layer-by-layer assembly of
      polymer multilayer films is applied to create vancomycin delivery coatings. By
      taking advantage of the versatile layer-by-layer spray and dip coating
      techniques, thin films were generated based on electrostatic and other secondary
      interactions discovered to exist between the film components. The importance of
      film interdiffusion during growth in promoting interactions between film
      components is found to be critical in the direct incorporation of the weakly
      charged vancomycin drug in these multilayer films. The resulting coatings are
      engineered with unprecedented drug densities ranging from 17-220 MUg mm(-3)
      (approximately 20 wt%) for films that are micron to submicron scale in thickness,
      delivering vancomycin over timescales of 4 h to 2.5 days. The released drug is
      highly effective in inhibiting Staphylococcus aureus growth in vitro. Taking
      advantage of the difference in release characteristics between dip and spray
      assembled films, a composite film architecture was engineered to have both a
      bolus vancomycin release followed by a period of linear sustained drug release.
      The control over drug densities and release profiles displayed in this work is
      necessary to address the requirements of varying medical conditions, including
      those where immediate infection elimination is needed or long term infection
      prevention is required.

PMID- 20925041
TI  - Is ultrasound alone enough for prenatal screening of trisomy 18? A single centre
      experience in 69 cases over 10 years.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To evaluate ultrasound scan and other prenatal screening tests for
      trisomy 18 in a regional obstetric unit and to review the management approach for
      women with positive trisomy 18 screening results. METHODS: Prenatal diagnosis
      databases were accessed to identify fetuses that had confirmed trisomy 18
      karyotypes or were at high risk for trisomy 18 on second-trimester biochemical
      screening or first-trimester combined screening tests over a period of 10 years
      from 1 September 1997 to 30 September 2007. RESULTS: Sixty-nine women were
      confirmed to have trisomy 18 fetuses by karyotyping either prenatally (n = 61) or
      postnatally/post-miscarriage (n = 8) during the study period. The detection rate
      of ultrasound scan <= 14 weeks and 18 to 21 weeks to detect trisomy 18 was 92.7
      and 100%, respectively. A total of 80 and 87% of fetuses had two or more
      ultrasound abnormalities detected in the <= 14 weeks and 18 to 21 weeks anomaly
      scans, respectively. Forty-eight women screened positive for trisomy 18 by second
      trimester biochemical screening with human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) and
      alpha fetoprotein (AFP). Only one was true positive (positive predictive value =
      1/48 or 2%). Eleven women screened positive for trisomy 18 by first-trimester
      combined screening with nuchal translucency scan and maternal serum for pregnancy
      associated plasma protein A (PAPP-A) and hCG between 11 and 13 + 6 weeks. Three
      were true positive (positive predictive value = 3/11 or 27%). All four cases with
      positive screening had ultrasound abnormalities. CONCLUSIONS: Ultrasound scan for
      fetal anomalies is the most effective screening test for trisomy 18. A policy of
      conservative management for women with positive second-trimester biochemical
      screening or first-trimester combined screening for trisomy 18 is reasonable in
      the absence of ultrasound fetal abnormalities. Unnecessary invasive tests can be
      avoided.

PMID- 20925042
TI  - The relevant distinction between "progression" in ovarian cancer drug trials and
      the clinical decision to change therapy.

PMID- 20925043
TI  - Marijuana use and testicular germ cell tumors.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Since the early 1970s, the incidence of testicular germ cell tumors
      (TGCTs) in the United States has been increasing; however, potential
      environmental exposures accounting for this increase have not been identified. A
      previous study reported a significant association between frequent and long-term
      current marijuana users and TGCT risk. The purpose of this study was to evaluate
      the relation between marijuana use and TGCTs in a hospital-based case-control
      study. METHODS: TGCT patients diagnosed between January 1990 and October 1996 (n
      = 187) and male friend controls (n = 148) were enrolled in the study. All
      participants were between the ages of 18 and 50 at the time of diagnosis and
      resided in Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, or Oklahoma. Associations of marijuana use
      and TGCTs were estimated using unconditional logistic regression, adjusting for
      age, race, prior cryptorchidism, cigarette smoking, and alcohol intake. RESULTS:
      Overall, patients with TGCTs were more likely to be frequent marijuana users
      (daily or greater) compared with controls (odds ratio [OR], 2.2; 95% confidence
      interval [CI], 1.0-5.1). Histological-specific analyses revealed that patients
      with nonseminoma were significantly more likely than controls to be frequent
      users (OR, 3.1; 95% CI, 1.2-8.2) and long-term (>= 10 years) users (OR, 2.4; 95%
      CI, 1.0-6.1). CONCLUSIONS: The finding of an association between frequent
      marijuana use and TGCTs, particularly among men with nonseminoma, was consistent
      with the findings of a previous report. Additional studies of marijuana use and
      TGCTs are warranted, especially studies evaluating the role of endocannabinoid
      signaling and cannabinoid receptors in TGCTs.

PMID- 20925044
TI  - A phase 2 trial of imatinib mesylate in patients with recurrent nonresectable
      chondrosarcomas expressing platelet-derived growth factor receptor-alpha or 
      beta: An Italian Sarcoma Group study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chondrosarcoma (CS) is a rare and heterogeneous sarcoma in which,
      after failure of surgery and radiotherapy, chemotherapy plays only a marginal
      role. Different molecular pathways have been shown to be activated in CS; in
      particular, both isoforms of platelet-derived growth factor receptor (PDGFR) are
      expressed and phosphorylated. These observations prompted investigation of the
      activity of imatinib mesylate (IM) in patients with advanced CS in a phase 2
      trial. METHODS: Between January 2007 and June 2009, patients with metastatic,
      nonresectable CS were treated with 400 mg of IM administered twice daily until
      disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Two criteria determined patient
      trial eligibility: >= 1 prior line of chemotherapy and immunohistochemical
      expression of either PDGFR-alpha or PDGFR-beta. The primary objective of the
      trial was objective response. As secondary objectives, the authors selected
      progression-free survival (PFS) at 4 months, overall survival, and clinical
      benefit (EUDRACT number 2006-006446-33). RESULTS: Twenty-six patients were
      enrolled and all demonstrated PDGFR positivity and phosphorylation. No objective
      response was demonstrated. The 4-month PFS rate was 31% (95% confidence interval
      [95% CI], 16%-53%). The median overall survival was 11 months (95% CI, 6 months
      15 months). Neither long-lasting freedom from disease progression nor clinical
      benefit was observed. The IM dose was temporarily reduced in 60%15 of the
      patients because of toxicity. CONCLUSIONS: IM was found to be relatively well
      tolerated, but failed to demonstrate meaningful clinical activity in terms of
      both objective response and freedom from disease progression. Advanced CS remains
      an incurable disease, and effective targeted therapies are still awaited.

PMID- 20925045
TI  - Abdominal wall malformations in a 15-year fetopathological study: accuracy of
      prenatal ultrasonography diagnosis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the characteristics and
      diagnostic accuracy of prenatal ultrasonography in the diagnosis of abdominal
      wall malformations. METHOD: The characteristics of 113 pregnancies terminated due
      to abdominal wall malformations were analyzed. RESULTS: In cases of gastroschisis
      and omphalocele, similar female dominance was observed. Among the associated
      malformations, those affecting the cardiovascular system and the extremities were
      especially common. Regarding the diagnostic accuracy of prenatal sonography,
      autopsy confirmed sonographic diagnoses in 91% of omphalocele cases and 79% of
      gastroschisis. CONCLUSION: Prenatal sonographic diagnosis is more accurate in
      omphaloceles than in gastroschisis.

PMID- 20925047
TI  - Haemoglobin level, proportion of haemoglobin Bart's and haemoglobin Portland in
      fetuses affected by homozygous alpha0-thalassemia from 12 to 40 weeks' gestation.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine haematological parameters in fetuses affected by
      homozygous alpha(0)-thalassemia. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional
      retrospective study reviewing 546 blood samples (268 fetal and 278 neonatal cord)
      being collected between 1993 and 2006, from 12 weeks' gestation onwards for any
      indication, including the prenatal diagnosis of homozygous alpha(0)-thalassemia,
      other haematological disorders, hydrops or aneuploidy. The proportion of
      haemoglobin (Hb) fractions was determined by electrophoresis of haemolysate on
      cellulose acetate in all samples. RESULTS: There were significant differences in
      the haematological parameters between homozygous alpha(0)-thalassemia (n = 183)
      and control (n = 363) which were either heterozygous alpha(0)-thalassemia (alpha
      thalassemia trait) or normal. In homozygous alpha(0)-thalassemia, the median Hb
      level, proportion of Hb Bart's (gamma(4)) and Hb Portland 1(zeta(2)gamma(2)) were
      6.4 g/dL, 77.5% and 22.5%, respectively. While the Hb level and the proportion of
      Hb Bart's increased significantly with gestation, the proportion of Hb Portland 1
      decreased. The Hb level contributed by Hb Portland 1 remained around 1.4 g/dL
      throughout gestation. The proportion of mild, moderate and severe anaemia in the
      affected fetuses was 27.5, 32.7 and 39.8%, respectively. There was no significant
      difference in these proportions across different gestation (P = 0.231). There
      were no differences in the haematological parameters between hydropic and non
      hydropic fetuses. CONCLUSION: Although the degree of anaemia is mild in around
      one-quarter of the affected fetuses, the contribution by Hb Portland 1
      (zeta(2)gamma(2)) to the Hb level was very low throughout gestation, and the
      affected fetuses may therefore be at risk for hypoxia.

PMID- 20925048
TI  - Human anelloviruses and the central nervous system.
AB  - Torque teno virus and related anelloviruses are a recent addition to the list of
      agents that cause chronic productive infections and high levels of plasma
      viraemia in humans. Many aspects of the natural history and pathogenesis of these
      under many respects surprising viruses are still poorly understood. In this
      review, we briefly outline the general properties of anelloviruses, examine what
      is currently known about the interactions they establish with the central nervous
      system (CNS), and discuss the possible pathological consequences.

PMID- 20925046
TI  - Trichostatin A restores Apaf-1 function in chemoresistant ovarian cancer cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chemoresistance is the major factor limiting long-term treatment
      success in patients with epithelial ovarian cancers. Most cytotoxic drugs kill
      cells through apoptosis; therefore, defective execution of apoptotic pathways
      results in a drug-resistant phenotype in many tumor types. METHODS: A panel of
      ovarian cancer cell lines was screened for expression and function of the
      apoptosome components Apaf-1 and caspase-9. Expression levels were analyzed by
      immunohistochemistry and immunoblotting; Apaf-1 function was determined by
      assessing the ability of endogenous Apaf-1 to cleave caspase-9 in the presence or
      absence of cytochrome c. The effect of the histone deacetylase inhibitor
      trichostatin A on Apaf-1 expression and function was evaluated. RESULTS: The
      authors report here that the resistance of ovarian cancer cells to the
      proapoptotic effects of chemotherapy is due in part to deficient Apaf-1 activity.
      Although Apaf-1 is expressed in most ovarian cancers, the functional activity is
      impaired, as Apaf-1 has a diminished ability to recruit and activate caspase-9.
      Treatment of ovarian cancer cells with trichostatin A results in restoration of
      Apaf-1 function independent of alterations in Apaf-1 expression. Furthermore,
      treating chemoresistant cells with sublethal doses of trichostatin A restores
      Apaf-1 function and sensitizes cells to cisplatin-induced apoptosis. CONCLUSIONS:
      Targeting intrinsic pathway defects for therapeutic intervention may result in
      sensitizing tumors to standard chemotherapy or triggering apoptosis in the
      absence of other apoptotic signals. The identification of drugs that can use Apaf
      1 when it is present, yet can overcome its functional inactivation, may be an
      important clinical advance.

PMID- 20925049
TI  - A fluorescence-based sequence-specific primer PCR for the screening of HLA
      B(*)57:01.
AB  - Abacavir (ABC) is an antiretroviral drug highly effective in the treatment of
      HIV, but its intake can cause severe hypersensitivity reaction (HSR). A strong
      association between HLA-B(*)57:01 and ABC HSRs was reported by several studies,
      which demonstrated that HLA-B(*)57:01 screening had a 100% negative predictive
      value and that it could accurately identify patients at high risk of ABC HSRs. We
      propose a new sequence-specific primer PCR assay based on fluorescence detection
      through CE which is highly sensitive, allowing the use of non-infective sources
      of DNA such as saliva and buccal swabs, in addition to blood and reproducible,
      allowing automation of the analytical process. The results of our study were
      first compared with a standard sequence-specific primer PCR technique and
      reported a concordance of 100%, and then a blind external validation further
      confirmed the accuracy of our method.

PMID- 20925050
TI  - Analysis of trace degradation products (decarboxylated diastereoisomers) of S
      adenosylmethionine by electrophoresis in capillaries with cationic coatings (N
      methylpolyvinylpyridinium or divalent barium).
AB  - Commercial preparations of S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) when analyzed in uncoated
      capillaries show a minute impurity believed to be decarboxylated (dc) SAM. By
      using two types of cationic coatings, thus reducing the electro-endo-osmotic flow
      (EOF), it was possible to separate this impurity into two diastereoisomers of
      dcSAM. The coatings evaluated for this purpose were: (i) N
      methylpolyvinylpyridinium, used under reversed EOF at acidic conditions (pH 4.0)
      and (ii) deposition of divalent barium at alkaline pH values (pH 9.4), providing
      reduced EOF. Under these conditions, it was possible to separate this impurity
      into two diastereoisomers, which by chemical synthesis were indeed proven to be
      dcSAM. It was further demonstrated that, in the alkylation of 5'
      methylthioadenosine by 3-bromopropylamine in bromidric acid to dcSAM, another
      minute impurity was present, proven, via mass spectrometry, to consist of S-(5'
      adenosyl)-3-thiopropylamine (decarboxylated and demethylated (dc-SAH)). The LOD
      for the two dcSAM diastereoisomers was assessed as 17.5 MUg/mL and their LOQ as
      25.5 MUg/mL. By the barium-based protocol it was possible to quantify the dcSAM,
      present in a commercial sample of SAM, as a 0.1% impurity.

PMID- 20925051
TI  - Enantioseparation of DL-isocitric acid by a chiral ligand exchange CE with Ni(II)
      D-quinic acid system.
AB  - The ratio of citric acid to D-isocitric acid can be used to distinguish authentic
      and adulterated fruit juices. To separate DL-isocitric acid enantiomers, we used
      ligand exchange CE. D-Quinic acid was used as a chiral selector ligand and
      Mn(II), Fe(III), Co(II), Ni(II), Cu(II), and Zn(II) ions were used as the central
      ions of the chiral selector in the BGE. DL-Isocitric acid was found to be
      enantioseparated with the above metal ions except for Mn(II) ion. The optimum
      running conditions for the analysis of D- and L-isocitric acids along with citric
      acid, an isomer of isocitric acid, were found to be a BGE (pH 5.0) containing 30%
      ACN, 20 mM acetic acid, 20 mM NiSO(4), and 80 mM D-quinic acid. Under these
      conditions, DL-isocitric and citric acids in fruit juices were analyzed
      successfully.

PMID- 20925052
TI  - Identification of methylated regions with peak search based on Poisson model from
      massively parallel methylated DNA immunoprecipitation-sequencing data.
AB  - DNA methylation is one of the most important epigenetic modification types, which
      plays a critical role in gene expression. High efficient surveying of whole
      genome DNA methylation has been aims of many researchers for long. Recently, the
      rapidly developed massively parallel DNA-sequencing technologies open the
      floodgates to vast volumes of sequence data, enabling a paradigm shift in
      profiling the whole genome methylation. Here, we describe a strategy, combining
      methylated DNA immunoprecipitation sequencing with peak search to identify
      methylated regions on a whole-genome scale. Massively parallel methylated DNA
      immunoprecipitation sequencing combined with methylation DNA immunoprecipitation
      was adopted to obtain methylated DNA sequence data from human leukemia cell line
      K562, and the methylated regions were identified by peak search based on Poison
      model. From our result, 140 958 non-overlapping methylated regions have been
      identified in the whole genome. Also, the credibility of result has been proved
      by its strong correlation with bisulfite-sequencing data (Pearson R(2)=0.92). It
      suggests that this method provides a reliable and high-throughput strategy for
      whole genome methylation identification.

PMID- 20925053
TI  - Genomic N(6)-methyladenine determination by MEKC with LIF.
AB  - 2'-Deoxy-N(6)-methyladenosine (N(6)mdA) is frequently found in prokaryotic and
      unicellular eukaryotic genomes. Although methylated bases represent only a minor
      fraction of the genome, they, however, exhibit strong biological effects. Here,
      we report a fast and sensitive method for the quantification of global adenine
      methylation in DNA. The method is based on a recently developed procedure
      consisting of fluorescence labeling of deoxyribonucleotides with BODIPY FL EDA
      and analysis by CE with LIF. An oligodeoxyribonucleotide site specifically
      modified with N(6)mdA was used for peak assignment, to establish separation
      conditions and to determine the LOD. The method yielded a LOD for N(6)mdA of 280
      pM (1.4 amol), which is equivalent to ~1 N(6)mdA per 10(4) normal nucleotides
      (0.01%) using 1 MUg of DNA as the matrix. After calibration with completely dam
      methylated lambda DNA, the assay was applied to the analysis of various DNAs.

PMID- 20925054
TI  - Investigation of the pH gradient formation and cathodic drift in microchip
      isoelectric focusing with imaged UV detection.
AB  - This paper reports the protein analysis by using microchip IEF carried on an
      automated chip system. We herein focused on two important topics of microchip
      IEF, the pH gradient and cathodic drift. The computer simulation clarified that
      the EOF could delay the establishment of pH gradient and move the carrier
      ampholytes (CAs) to cathode, which probably caused a cathodic drift to happen.
      After focusing, the peak positions of components in a calibration kit with broad
      pI were plotted against their pI values to know the actual pH gradient in a
      microchannel varying time. It was found that the formed pH gradient was stable,
      not decayed after readily steady state, and migrated to cathode at a rate of 10.0
      MUm/s that determined by the experimental conditions such as chip material,
      internal surface coating and field strength. The theoretical pH gradient was
      parallel with the actual pH gradient, which was demonstrated in two types of
      microchip with different channel lengths. No compression of pH gradient was
      observed when 2% w/v hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose was added in sample and
      electrolytes. The effect of CAs concentration on current and cathodic drift was
      also explored. With the current automatic chip system, the calculated peak
      capacity was 23-48, and the minimal pI difference was 0.20-0.42 for the used
      single channel microchip with the effective length of 40.5 mm. The LOD for the
      analysis of CA-I and CA-II was around 0.32 MUg/mL by using normal imaged UV
      detection, the detected amount is ca. 0.07 ng.

PMID- 20925055
TI  - Metabolic alteration of HepG2 in scaffold-based 3-D culture: proteomic approach.
AB  - 3-D cell culture models are important in cancer biology since they provide
      improved understanding of tumor microenvironment. We have established a 3-D
      culture model using HepG2 in natural collagen-based scaffold to mimic the
      development of small avascular tumor in vivo. Morphological characterization
      showed that HepG2 colonies grew within the interior of the scaffold and showed
      enhanced extracellular matrix deposition. High levels of cell proliferation in
      the outermost regions of the scaffold created a hypoxic microenvironment in the 3
      D culture system, as indicated by hypoxia-inducible factor-1alpha stabilization,
      detectable by Western blotting and immunohistochemistry. Proteomic studies showed
      decreased expression of several mitochondrial proteins and increased expression
      of proteins in anaerobic glycolysis under 3-D culture compared to monolayer
      culture. Creatine kinase was also upregulated in 3-D culture, indicating its
      possible role as an important energy buffer system under hypoxic
      microenvironment. Increased levels of proteins in nucleotide metabolism may
      relate to cellular energy. Thus, our results suggest that HepG2 cells under 3-D
      culture adapt their energy metabolism in response to hypoxic conditions.
      Metabolic alterations in the 3-D culture model may relate to physiological
      changes relevant to development of small avascular tumor in vivo and their study
      may improve future therapeutic strategies.

PMID- 20925056
TI  - Analysis of early events in the interaction between Fusarium graminearum and the
      susceptible barley (Hordeum vulgare) cultivar Scarlett.
AB  - A proteomic analysis was conducted to map the events during the initial stages of
      the interaction between the fungal pathogen Fusarium graminearum and the
      susceptible barley cultivar Scarlett. Quantification of fungal DNA demonstrated a
      sharp increase in fungal biomass in barley spikelets at 3 days after inoculation.
      This coincided with the appearance of discrete F. graminearum-induced proteolytic
      fragments of beta-amylase. Based on these results, analysis of grain proteome
      changes prior to extensive proteolysis enabled identification of barley proteins
      responding early to infection by the fungus. In total, the intensity of 51
      protein spots was significantly changed in F. graminearum-infected spikelets and
      all but one were identified. These included pathogenesis-related proteins,
      proteins involved in energy metabolism, secondary metabolism and protein
      synthesis. A single fungal protein of unknown function was identified.
      Quantitative real-time RT-PCR analysis of selected genes showed a correlation
      between high gene expression and detection of the corresponding proteins. Fungal
      genes encoding alkaline protease and endothiapepsin were expressed during 1-3
      days after inoculation, making them candidates for generation of the observed
      beta-amylase fragments. These fragments have potential to be developed as
      proteome-level markers for fungal infection that are also informative about grain
      protein quality.

PMID- 20925057
TI  - Proteomic analysis of human gastric juice: a shotgun approach.
AB  - Gastric juice is the most proximal fluid surrounding the stomach tissue. The
      analysis of gastric juice protein contents will thus be able to accurately
      reflect the pathophysiology of the stomach. This biological fluid is also a
      potential reservoir of secreted biomarkers in higher concentration as compared to
      the serum. Unlike the rest of the gastrointestinal fluids, there were very few
      studies reported on gastric juice proteome. To date, the proteins that routinely
      populate this biofluid are largely unknown. This is partly due to the technical
      difficulties in processing a sample that contains a collection of other
      gastrointestinal fluids, especially saliva. In this study, we attempt to profile
      the protein components of the gastric fluids from chronic gastritis patients
      using a direct shotgun proteomics approach. These data represent the first report
      of the proteome of human gastric juice with gastritis background.

PMID- 20925058
TI  - Labeling elastase digests with TMT: informational gain by identification of
      poorly detectable peptides with MALDI-TOF/TOF mass spectrometry.
AB  - The applicability of the less specific protease elastase for the identification
      of membrane and cytosolic proteins has already been demonstrated. MALDI as
      ionization technique particularly favors the detection of basic and to a lesser
      extent of weakly acidic peptides, whereas neutral peptides often remain
      undetected. Moreover, peptides below 700  Da are routinely excluded. In the
      following study, the advantage of additional information gained from tandem mass
      tag zero labeled peptides and the resultant increase in sequence coverage was
      evaluated. Through derivatization with tandem mass tag reagents, peptide
      measurement within the standard mass range of the MALDI reflector mode is
      achievable due to the mass increase. Compared to the unlabeled sample, peptides
      exhibiting relatively low molecular masses, pI values or higher hydrophobicity
      could be identified.

PMID- 20925059
TI  - Pseudo-neutral-loss scan for selective detection of phosphopeptides and N
      glycopeptides using liquid chromatography coupled with a hybrid linear ion
      trap/orbitrap mass spectrometer.
AB  - We describe a novel method, termed "pseudo-neutral-loss scan" MS, for selectively
      probing phosphopeptides and glycopeptides on a LTQ-Orbitrap mass spectrometer.
      The instrument has been programmed such that an in-source CID energy is applied
      to all species that eluted from LC column and were subsequently ionised in the
      electrospray ion source. Ion pairs that differ in the mass of a neutral loss of
      phosphoric acid or monosaccharide residues are automatically selected for CID
      MS/MS and further for multi-stage-activation MS3. Our method should prove useful
      for a highly selective and sensitive approach to identify phosphopeptides and
      glycopeptides from purified protein digestion without any further enrichment, and
      could potentially be of use in more complex mixture.

PMID- 20925060
TI  - An improved method to unravel phosphoacceptors in Ser/Thr protein kinase
      phosphorylated substrates.
AB  - Identification of the phosphorylated residues of bacterial Ser/Thr protein kinase
      (STPK) substrates still represents a challenging task. Herein, we present a new
      strategy allowing the rapid determination of phosphoacceptors in kinase
      substrates, essentially based on the dual expression of the kinase with its
      substrate in the surrogate E. coli, followed by MS analysis in a single-step
      procedure. The performance of this strategy is illustrated using two distinct
      proteins from Mycobacterium tuberculosis as model substrates, the GroEL2 and HspX
      chaperones. A comparative analysis with a standard method that includes mass
      spectrometry analysis of in vitro phosphorylated substrates is also addressed.

PMID- 20925062
TI  - Magnetic treatment of irrigation water and snow pea and chickpea seeds enhances
      early growth and nutrient contents of seedlings.
AB  - The effects of magnetic treatment of irrigation water and snow pea (Pisum sativum
      L var. macrocarpon) and Kabuli chickpea (Cicer arietinum L) seeds on the
      emergence, early growth and nutrient contents of seedlings were investigated
      under glasshouse conditions. The treatments included (i) magnetic treatment of
      irrigation water (MTW), (ii) magnetic treatment of seeds (MTS), (iii) magnetic
      treatment of irrigation water and seeds (MTWS) and (iv) no magnetic treatment of
      irrigation water or seeds as control treatment. A magnetic treatment device with
      two permanent magnets (magnetic induction: 3.5-136 mT) was used for the above
      treatments. Seeds were sown in washed sand and seedlings were harvested at 20
      days. The results showed that MTW led to a significant (P < 0.05) increase in
      emergence rate index (ERI; 42% for snow pea and 51% for chickpea), shoot dry
      weight (25% for snow pea and 20% for chickpea) and contents of N, K, Ca, Mg, S,
      Na, Zn, Fe and Mn in both seedling varieties compared to control seedlings.
      Likewise, there were significant increases in ERI (33% for snow peas and 37% for
      chickpea), shoot dry weight (11% for snow pea and 4% for chickpea) and some
      nutrients of snow pea and chickpea seedlings with MTS in comparison with the
      controls. The results of this study suggest that both MTW and MTS have the
      potential to improve the early seedling growth and nutrient contents of
      seedlings.

PMID- 20925061
TI  - Molecular characterization of a trafficking organelle: dissecting the axonal
      paths of calsyntenin-1 transport vesicles.
AB  - Kinesin motors play crucial roles in the delivery of membranous cargo to its
      destination and thus for the establishment and maintenance of cellular
      polarization. Recently, calsyntenin-1 was identified as a cargo-docking protein
      for Kinesin-1-mediated axonal transport of tubulovesicular organelles along axons
      of central nervous system neurons. To further define the function of calsyntenin
      1, we immunoisolated calsyntenin-1 organelles from murine brain homogenates and
      determined their proteome by MS. We found that calsyntenin-1 organelles are
      endowed with components of the endosomal trafficking machinery and contained the
      beta-amyloid precursor protein (APP). Detailed biochemical analyses of
      calsyntenin-1 immunoisolates in conjunction with immunocytochemical
      colocalization studies with cultured hippocampal neurons, using endosomal marker
      proteins for distinct subcompartments of the endosomal pathways, indicated that
      neuronal axons contain at least two distinct, nonoverlapping calsyntenin-1
      containing transport packages: one characterized as early-endosomal, APP
      positive, the other as recycling-endosomal, APP negative. We postulate that
      calsyntenin-1 acts as a general mediator of anterograde axonal transportation of
      endosomal vesicles. In this role, calsyntenin-1 may actively contribute to axonal
      growth and pathfinding in the developing as well as to the maintenance of
      neuronal polarity in the adult nervous system; further, it may actively
      contribute to the stabilization of APP during its anterograde axonal trajectory.

PMID- 20925063
TI  - Orientation of paramecium swimming in a static magnetic field: Dependence on
      membrane lipid fluidity.
AB  - We studied the swimming orientation of the ciliated protozoan Paramecium aurelia
      in a static magnetic field (0.78 T). P. aurelia is a complex of species termed
      syngens, whose cell morphology appears similar on microscopic examination. In the
      magnetic field, the cells of some syngens gradually changed their swimming
      orientation so that they were swimming perpendicular or parallel to the magnetic
      field, although such sensitivity to magnetic fields differs between syngens. When
      the temperature of the cell suspension was raised, the magnetic sensitivity of
      the cells was decreased. On the other hand, when the cells were cultured
      beforehand at a high temperature, their magnetic sensitivity was increased. These
      results raise the possibility that membrane lipid fluidity, which is inversely
      proportional to the membrane lipid order, contributes to the magnetic orientation
      of syngens. In this study, measurements of membrane lipid fluidity obtained using
      fluorescence image analysis with the lipophilic dye, laurdan (6-lauroyl-2
      dimethylaminonaphtalene), showed that the degree of membrane lipid fluidity was
      correlated with the differences in magnetic orientation between syngens. That is,
      the syngens with decreased membrane fluidity showed an increased degree of
      magnetic orientation. Therefore, the membrane lipid order is a key factor in the
      magnetic orientation of Paramecium swimming.

PMID- 20925064
TI  - Occupational exposure to electric fields and induced currents associated with 400
      kV substation tasks from different service platforms.
AB  - The aim of the study was to investigate the occupational exposure to electric
      fields, average current densities, and average total contact currents at 400 kV
      substation tasks from different service platforms (main transformer inspection,
      maintenance of operating device of disconnector, maintenance of operating device
      of circuit breaker). The average values are calculated over measured periods
      (about 2.5 min). In many work tasks, the maximum electric field strengths
      exceeded the action values proposed in the EU Directive 2004/40/EC, but the
      average electric fields (0.2-24.5 kV/m) were at least 40% lower than the maximum
      values. The average current densities were 0.1-2.3 mA/m2 and the average total
      contact currents 2.0-143.2 uA, that is, clearly less than the limit values of the
      EU Directive. The average values of the currents in head and contact currents
      were 16-68% lower than the maximum values when we compared the average value from
      all cases in the same substation. In the future it is important to pay attention
      to the fact that the action and limit values of the EU Directive differ
      significantly. It is also important to take into account that generally, the
      workers' exposure to the electric fields, current densities, and total contact
      currents are obviously lower if we use the average values from a certain measured
      time period (e.g., 2.5 min) than in the case where exposure is defined with only
      the help of the maximum values.

PMID- 20925066
TI  - Distinguishing scan without evidence of dopaminergic depletion patients with
      asymmetric resting tremor from Parkinson's disease: a clinical diagnosis of
      dystonia is required.

PMID- 20925065
TI  - Parkinson's disease dementia can be easily detected in routine clinical practice.
AB  - Parkinson's disease (PD) is mainly characterized by its motor manifestations, but
      it is also frequently associated with dementia. Early diagnosis of PD dementia
      (PDD) is particularly important because effective cholinesterase inhibitor
      treatments are available. This study aimed at validating a short procedure for
      screening for PDD in routine clinical practice and which adopts recently
      published diagnostic criteria. One hundred eighty-eight patients with PD
      participated in the study. The examination procedure comprised three steps:
      standard clinical examination, a short cognitive function assessment fulfilling
      the requirements of the Movement Disorders Society (Mini Mental State
      Examination, five-word test, word generation task, and impact on daily life,
      including a questionnaire on compliance with medication) and an extensive
      evaluation of cognitive functions and behavior. After each step, the suspected
      presence or absence of dementia was recorded. After the short cognitive function
      assessment, PDD was suspected in 18.62% of the patients [95% confidence interval
      (CI): 13.32-24.93%]. After the extensive assessment, 21.81% (95% CI: 16.13
      28.40%) met the criteria for probable PDD. The short battery's sensitivity and
      specificity were 65.85% (95% CI = 49.41-79.92%) and 94.56% (95% CI = 89.56
      97.62%), respectively. A stepwise logistic regression analysis showed that use of
      a specific cut-off considerably enhanced the short battery's sensitivity (85.37%,
      95% CI = 70.83-94.43%) without decreasing its specificity (83.67%, 95% CI = 76.69
      89.25%). With an easy-to-use, short battery of tests that are commonly used in
      routine clinical practice, it is possible to diagnose PDD in accordance with
      reference criteria and with the same sensitivity and specificity as in a more
      extensive evaluation.

PMID- 20925067
TI  - Twice-daily, low-dose pramipexole in early Parkinson's disease: a randomized,
      placebo-controlled trial.
AB  - To compare the safety and efficacy of low dosages of pramipexole given twice
      daily (bid) in early Parkinson's disease (PD) with those of a standard 3 times
      daily (tid) regimen in a randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled trial
      involving 311 early PD patients not receiving dopaminergic treatment. Subjects
      were randomly assigned and followed on assigned treatment for 12 weeks with
      pramipexole at dosages of 0.5 mg bid, 0.75 mg bid, or 0.5 mg tid, or matching
      placebo. All subjects were dosed 3 times daily, with placebo if necessary, to
      maintain blinding. The primary outcome was the change from baseline to Week 12 in
      the Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) total score (Parts I-III). All
      active dosages had similar antiparkinson efficacy showing reductions of 4-5 UPDRS
      points relative to placebo (p < 0.0001) for each comparison. Somnolence, fatigue,
      nausea, constipation, and peripheral edema were more common in the active
      treatment groups than in the placebo group, but their frequency did not vary by
      dosage. In this fixed dosage, randomized study pramipexole administered twice
      daily at a total daily dosage of 1.0-1.5 mg daily was of comparable efficacy and
      tolerability to a dosage of 0.5 mg tid over a 12-week treatment period in early
      PD.

PMID- 20925068
TI  - Gender differences in Parkinson's disease: clinical characteristics and
      cognition.
AB  - More men than women are diagnosed with Parkinson's disease (PD), and a number of
      gender differences have been documented in this disorder. Examples of clinical
      characteristics that appear in men more often than women include rigidity and
      rapid eye movement behavior disorder, whereas more women than men exhibit
      dyskinesias and depression. Differences between men and women in cognition have
      not been extensively examined, though there are reports of deficits in men in
      aspects of cognition that contribute to activities of daily living, in verbal
      fluency, and in the recognition of facial emotion, and deficits in women in
      visuospatial cognition. Side of disease onset may interact with gender to affect
      cognitive abilities. One possible source of male-female differences in the
      clinical and cognitive characteristics of PD is the effect of estrogen on
      dopaminergic neurons and pathways in the brain. This effect is not yet
      understood, as insight into how the fluctuation of estrogen over the lifetime
      affects the brain is currently limited. Further attention to this area of
      research will be important for accurate assessment and better management of PD.
      Attention should also be directed to multiple covariates that may affect clinical
      characteristics and cognition. Knowledge about differences in the presentation of
      PD symptoms in men and women and about the pathophysiology underlying those
      differences may enhance the accuracy and effectiveness of clinical assessment and
      treatment of the disease.

PMID- 20925069
TI  - Factors influencing the cognitive function in patients with multiple system
      atrophy.

PMID- 20925071
TI  - A motor cortex excitability and gait analysis on Parkinsonian patients.
AB  - Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) parameters were recorded in a lower limb
      muscle and correlated with the gait parameters of 25 patients with Parkinson's
      disease (PD) with and without dopamine substitution treatment (DST) and 10
      control subjects. Single and paired-pulse TMS were recorded in the tibialis
      anterior muscle (TA). Gait analysis was performed using a 3D motion analysis
      system. Parkinsonian patients (PP) did not differ from the control subjects (CS)
      in terms of relaxed motor threshold, active motor threshold (AMT), cortical
      silent period (CSP), motor-evoked potential (MEP) amplitude and area, or paired
      pulse TMS with short interstimulus intervals (ISI). At longer ISIs, paired-pulse
      TMS showed that the amplitudes of the conditioned MEPs were lower in untreated PP
      than in CS. DST partially compensated for this difference. Gait analysis showed
      that the gait of PP undergoing no treatment was slower and the stride length
      shorter than normal. Both of these parameters improved under DST, however.
      Analysis of data obtained on all the subjects combined showed that both of the
      latter parameters were correlated with the paired-pulse MEP amplitude and area at
      longer ISIs. In PP, the cortical areas responsible for the lower limb movements
      seem to undergo intracortical facilitation (ICF) impairments, whereas the
      intracortical inhibition process is normal. The ICF level was found to be
      associated to the stride length and the velocity. The fact that only these two
      gait parameters were found to be dopa responsive indicates that dopaminergic
      treatment may improve gait disorders by restoring the ICF.

PMID- 20925070
TI  - Autonomic and sensory symptoms and signs in incident, untreated Parkinson's
      disease: frequent but mild.
AB  - Although nonmotor symptoms are increasingly recognized as key features in
      Parkinson's disease (PD), the occurrence and severity of autonomic and sensory
      symptoms in patients with very early and untreated PD are poorly documented. Two
      hundred seven patients with newly diagnosed, untreated PD and 175 controls from
      the population-based Norwegian ParkWest study were included. Postural blood
      pressure and olfactory function were measured and eight autonomic and sensory
      symptoms assessed using interview-based rating scales. Autonomic and sensory
      symptoms were more frequent in patients compared with controls (mean number of
      symptoms 2.9 vs. 1.1; P < 0.001) and in the postural instability and gait
      difficulty motor-subtype vs. tremor dominant subtype (mean 3.3 vs. 2.5; P =
      0.008). In the patient group, reduced olfaction (59%), urinary problems (47%),
      increased saliva or drooling (42%), constipation (39%), and sensory complaints
      (34%) were the most frequent symptoms. Daily activities were not affected by
      these symptoms in 58% of the patients, and the influence on daily activities was
      rated as "mild" or less for all of these symptoms in 90%. A higher Hoehn and Yahr
      stage was associated with a higher number of autonomic and sensory symptoms and
      with the occurrence of gastrointestinal symptoms. Autonomic and sensory symptoms
      are common in patients with untreated, early PD although the severity of these
      symptoms is mild, with little or no influence on daily activities. The high
      prevalence of increased saliva or drooling close to the time of diagnosis is
      noteworthy and not described earlier.

PMID- 20925072
TI  - Lacosamide, another therapeutic failure in essential tremor: an open-label trial.

PMID- 20925073
TI  - An magnetic resonance imaging T2*-weighted sequence at short echo time to detect
      putaminal hypointensity in Parkinsonisms.
AB  - At 1.5 T, T2*-weighted gradient echo (GE) sequences are more sensitive in
      revealing mineral deposition in the basal ganglia than standard T2 weighted
      sequences. T2*-weighted GE sequences, however, may detect putaminal
      hypointensities either in patients affected by parkinsonian syndromes or in
      healthy subjects. The aim of this study was to identify the magnetic resonance
      imaging (MRI) T2*-weighted sequence which more specifically detected putaminal
      hypointensities differentiating atypical parkinsonian syndromes from Parkinson's
      disease (PD) and control subjects. In a sample of 38 healthy subjects, we
      performed three T2*-weighted GE sequences at increasing time echo (TE; TE = 15
      millisecond, TE = 25 millisecond, and echoplanar at TE = 40 millisecond; T2*
      sequences study). The sequence not showing any putaminal abnormality in the
      healthy subjects was then used to assess putaminal signal intensity in 189
      patients with PD, 20 patients with multiple system atrophy (MSA), 41 patients
      with progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), and in 150 age and sex-matched control
      subjects. In the T2* sequences study, the T2*-weighted TE = 15 (T2*/15) did not
      show any putaminal abnormalities in the healthy subjects. This sequence detected
      putaminal hypointensities in a significantly higher proportion of patients with
      MSA (35%, P < 0.05) and PSP (24.4%, P < 0.05) than in patients with PD (5.3%),
      but in none of the controls. The sensitivity of putaminal hypointensity in T2*/15
      sequence was 25.4% for PD, 43.9% for PSP, and 55% for MSA versus controls whereas
      the specificity was 93.2% for all groups. Despite the suboptimal sensitivity, the
      high specificity of the T2*/15 sequence performed on routine MRI suggests its
      usefulness in clinical practice for identifying putaminal hypointensities
      associated with parkinsonian disorders.

PMID- 20925074
TI  - Comparison of orally dissolving carbidopa/levodopa (Parcopa) to conventional oral
      carbidopa/levodopa: A single-dose, double-blind, double-dummy, placebo
      controlled, crossover trial.
AB  - Levodopa use in fluctuating Parkinson's disease (PD) is complicated by an
      inconsistent and prolonged onset to clinical improvement. An orally dissolved
      carbidopa/levodopa (OD C/L) preparation (Parcopa UCB Pharma) is available in the
      United States. This offers potential advantages to shorten the duration from
      ingestion to clinical improvement. Surprisingly, this has never been clinically
      assessed. We tested 20 patients with fluctuating PD and a Unified Parkinson's
      Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) "off" motor score of >= 25 in a 2-day, single-dose,
      double-blind, double-dummy, crossover study. Patients arrived in the morning in
      the practically defined "off" state and were randomly assigned to receive
      identical doses of either oral C/L and OD placebo or OD C/L and oral C/L placebo
      on 1st day and the reverse combination on a 2nd day. After training, patients
      underwent bilateral hand tapping at baseline and every 5 minutes for 60 minutes
      after dose ingestion. Stride length (SL) was recorded at 5-minute intervals with
      an ambulatory gait monitor. Patients identified their subjective latency to "on"
      and noted drug preferences and adverse events. They also underwent a UPDRS motor
      examination at baseline and 60 minutes after dose. Twenty subjects [15 male, age
      68.7 (9.7), PD duration 13.4 (6.8)] completed. There were no significant group
      differences in tapping speed, subjective time to "on," latency of increased SL,
      or overall preference. However, all trends did favor OD C/L. Adverse events were
      similar. This small pilot study did not show significant group differences
      favoring OD C/L; however, larger studies may be justified, and individual
      patients may benefit.

PMID- 20925075
TI  - "Progressive delayed-onset postanoxic dystonia" diagnosed with PANK2 mutations 26
      years after onset-an update.

PMID- 20925076
TI  - Screening of Brazilian families with primary dystonia reveals a novel THAP1
      mutation and a de novo TOR1A GAG deletion.
AB  - The TOR1A and THAP1 genes were screened for mutations in a cohort of 21 Brazilian
      patients with Primary torsion dystonia (PTD). We identified a de novo delGAG
      mutation in the TOR1A gene in a patient with a typical DYT1 phenotype and a novel
      c.1A > G (p.Met1?) mutation in THAP1 in a patient with early onset generalized
      dystonia with speech involvement. Mutations in these two known PTD genes, TOR1A
      and THAP1, are responsible for about 10% of the PTD cases in our Brazilian cohort
      suggesting genetic heterogeneity and supporting the role of other genes in PTD.

PMID- 20925077
TI  - The 1918 influenza pandemic affected sex differentials in mortality: Comment on
      Sawchuk.

PMID- 20925078
TI  - Brief Communication: Shape analysis of the MT 1 proximal articular surface in
      fossil hominins and shod and unshod Homo.
AB  - As a follow-up study to Proctor et al. (Am J Phys Anthropol 135 (2008) 216-224),
      this study quantifies the first metatarsal proximal articular surface using three
      dimensional morphometrics to test for differences in articular surface shape
      between habitually shod and habitually unshod humans. In addition, differences in
      shape between Homo, Pan, Gorilla, and Hylobates are compared to the fossil
      hominin specimens A. L. 333-54, Stw 562, Stw 573 ("Little Foot"), OH 8, SKX 5017,
      and SK 1813. No difference in surface shape was found between habitually shod and
      habitually unshod humans. There is a clear quantitative division in articular
      surface shape between humans and apes that is more pronounced than a previous
      study by Proctor et al. (Am J Phys Anthropol 135 (2008) 216-224), due to
      additional landmarks present in this study. The specimen OH 8 is
      indistinguishable from modern Homo. The fossils A. L. 333-54, Stw 562, and Stw
      573 are intermediate in shape between humans and apes. The specimens SKX 5017 and
      SK 1813 have a more apelike articular surface. When combined with other
      characteristics, this trait suggests that Paranthropus used a degree of abduction
      during locomotion that was much less than that in extant apes, but greater than
      that in Australopithecus, allowing for some small degree of grasping ability.

PMID- 20925079
TI  - Primate life histories and dietary adaptations: a comparison of Asian colobines
      and macaques.
AB  - Primate life histories are strongly influenced by both body and brain mass and
      are mediated by food availability and perhaps dietary adaptations. It has been
      suggested that folivorous primates mature and reproduce more slowly than
      frugivores due to lower basal metabolic rates as well as to greater degrees of
      arboreality, which can lower mortality and thus fecundity. However, the opposite
      has also been proposed: faster life histories in folivores due to a diet of
      abundant, protein-rich leaves. We compared two primate taxa often found in
      sympatry: Asian colobines (folivores, 11 species) and Asian macaques (frugivores,
      12 species). We first described new data for a little-known colobine (Phayre's
      leaf monkeys, Trachypithecus phayrei crepusculus) from Phu Khieo Wildlife
      Sanctuary, Thailand. We then compared gestation periods, ages at first birth, and
      interbirth intervals in colobines and macaques. We predicted that heavier species
      would have slower life histories, provisioned populations would have faster life
      histories, and folivores would have slower life histories than frugivores. We
      calculated general regression models using log body mass, nutritional regime, and
      taxon as predictor variables. Body mass and nutritional regime had the predicted
      effects for all three traits. We found taxonomic differences only for gestation,
      which was significantly longer in colobines, supporting the idea of slower fetal
      growth (lower maternal energy) compared to macaques and/or advanced dental or gut
      development. Ages at first birth and interbirth intervals were similar between
      taxa, perhaps due to additional factors (e.g., allomothering, dispersal). Our
      results emphasize the need for additional data from wild populations and for
      establishing whether growth data for provisioned animals (folivores in
      particular) are representative of wild ones.

PMID- 20925080
TI  - Sex and age differences in the diet and ingestive behaviors of sooty mangabeys
      (Cercocebus atys) in the Tai Forest, Ivory Coast.
AB  - Members of the Cercocebus-Mandrillus clade are united by several morphological
      features, including expanded premolars which are argued to be associated with a
      preponderance of hard objects in the diet. We test the association between
      premolar expansion and hard object feeding by examining how different dental
      regions are used during food processing. We examined the diet and oral processing
      activities of sooty mangabeys (Cercocebus atys) in the Ivory Coast's Tai forest
      from August 2008 to September 2009. In addition to compiling diet profiles, we
      recorded the frequency that individuals performed four activities: 1) incising,
      2) canine puncturing/scraping, 3) postcanine crushing (i.e., isometric biting),
      and 4) routine mastication (chewing cycles). Sooty mangabeys have a relatively
      narrow diet that consists largely of nuts/seeds, fruits, and invertebrates. While
      there are age and sex differences in diet, the most frequently consumed foods are
      similar across age and sex classes. The most frequently consumed foods are seeds
      of Sacoglottis gabonensis which are the hardest items in the sooty mangabey diet.
      Patterns of ingestive behavior vary with food type, but adults and nonadults
      (excluding infants dependent on mothers) of both sexes process similar foods.
      Premolar expansion in Cercocebus atys is associated with powerful crushing of
      hard objects of specific size and durophagy is a constant feature of sooty
      mangabey feeding ecology throughout ontogeny.

PMID- 20925082
TI  - Shedding light in the controversial terminology for platelet-rich products:
      platelet-rich plasma (PRP), platelet-rich fibrin (PRF), platelet-leukocyte gel
      (PLG), preparation rich in growth factors (PRGF), classification and
      commercialism.

PMID- 20925081
TI  - A new approach to the study of Romanization in Britain: a regional perspective of
      cultural change in late iron age and roman dorset using the siler and gompertz
      makeham models of mortality.
AB  - This is the first study of health in the Roman Empire to use the Siler and
      Gompertz-Makeham models of mortality to investigate the health consequences of
      the 43 AD conquest of Britain. The study examined late Iron Age and Romano
      British populations (N = 518) from Dorset, England, which is the only region of
      Britain to display continuity in inhumation burial practice and cemetery use
      throughout the two periods. Skeletal evidence for frailty was assessed using
      cribra orbitalia, porotic hyperostosis, periosteal lesions, enamel hypoplasia,
      dental caries, tuberculosis, and rickets. These health variables were chosen for
      analysis because they are reliable indicators of general health for diachronic
      comparison (Steckel and Rose: The backbone of history: health and nutrition in
      the western hemisphere (2002)) and are associated with the introduction of
      urbanism in Britain during the Roman period (Redfern: J Rom Archaeol Supp Series
      64 (2007) 171-194; Redfern: Britannia 39 (2008a) 161-191; Roberts and Cox: Health
      and disease in Britain: from prehistory to the present day (2003)). The results
      show that levels of frailty and mortality were lower in the late Iron Age period,
      and no sex differences in mortality was present. However, post-conquest,
      mortality risk increased for children and the elderly, and particularly for men.
      The latter finding challenges received wisdom concerning the benefits of
      incorporation into the Empire and the higher status of the male body in the Roman
      world. Therefore, we conclude that the consequences of urbanism, changes in diet,
      and increased population heterogeneity negatively impacted health, to the extent
      that the enhanced cultural buffering of men did not outweigh underlying sex
      differences in biology that advantage women.

PMID- 20925083
TI  - Differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells in chitosan scaffolds with double micro
      and macroporosity.
AB  - Bone Marrow mesenchymal stem cells can be induced to differentiate into
      osteoblasts to regenerate damaged bone tissue using tissue engineering
      techniques. In this study, we examine the use of chitosan scaffolds with double
      pore structure prepared by an innovative method that combines freeze gelation
      (that produces micropores) and particle leaching out technique (that produces
      interconnected spherical macropores) seeking to enhance the osteogenic
      differentiation of goat bone marrow stromal cells (GBMSCs). The double pore
      architecture of the scaffold was characterized by scanning electron microscopy
      (SEM), microcomputed tomography and confocal laser scanning microscopy. The
      obtained hierarchical pore structure allowed very efficient seeding of GBMSCs
      that are able to occupy the whole volume of the scaffold, showing good adhesion
      and proliferation. GBMSCs were differentiated into osteoblasts as indicated by
      alkaline phosphatase activity and osteocalcin expression. The results of this
      study demonstrate that chitosan scaffold may be promising biomaterial for bone
      regeneration.

PMID- 20925084
TI  - The effect of various denier capillary channel polymer fibers on the alignment of
      NHDF cells and type I collagen.
AB  - If tissue engineers are to successfully repair and regenerate native tendons and
      ligaments, it will be essential to implement contact guidance to induce cellular
      and type I collagen alignment to replicate the native structure. Capillary
      channel polymer (CC-P) fibers fabricated by melt-extrusion have aligned
      micrometer scale surface channels that may serve the goal of achieving
      biomimetic, physical templates for ligament growth and regeneration. Previous
      work characterizing the behavior of normal human dermal fibroblasts (NHDF), on
      the 19 denier per filament (dpf) CC-P fibers, demonstrated a need for improved
      cellular and type I collagen alignment. Therefore, 5 and 9 dpf CC-P fibers were
      manufactured to determine whether their channel dimensions would achieve greater
      alignment. A 29 dpf CC-P fiber was also examined to determine whether cellular
      guidance could still be achieved within the larger dimensions of the fiber's
      channels. The 9 dpf CC-P fiber appeared to approach the topographical constraints
      necessary to induce the cellular and type I collagen architecture that most
      closely mirrored that of native ACL tissue. This work demonstrated that the novel
      cross-section of the CC-P fiber geometry could approach the necessary surface
      topography to align NHDF cells along the longitudinal axis of each fiber.

PMID- 20925085
TI  - Reliable protein structure refinement using a physical energy function.
AB  - In the past decade, significant progress has been made in protein structure
      prediction. However, refining models to a level of resolution that is comparable
      with experimental results and can be used in studies like enzymatic activity
      still remains a major challenge. We have previously demonstrated that our modular
      protein-solvent energy function, uniquely involving a potential of mean force
      description for hydrophobic solvation, works well in protein globular structure
      prediction and loop modeling. In this work, we couple protein-solvent energy
      function with our global optimization method stochastic perturbation with soft
      constraints and use them to refine a collection of template models from submitted
      predictions to recent Critical Assessment of Techniques for Protein Structure
      Prediction blind prediction contests. A prediction protocol based on a selection
      of structures with the lowest energy is able to successfully refine all of the
      test proteins, and, more importantly, our energy function does not show
      degradation in prediction when sampling is exhausted.

PMID- 20925086
TI  - Ab initio molecular geometry and anharmonic vibrational spectra of thiourea and
      thiourea-d4.
AB  - Potential energy surface (PES) of thiourea, SC(NH(2))(2), has been searched for
      stable conformers under C(1), C(s), C(2), and C(2v) symmetry constraints by post
      Hartree-Fock ab initio methods with electron correlation level varying from
      second-order Moeller-Plesset perturbation theory (MP2) to quadratic configuration
      interaction with single and double excitations (QCISD) and basis sets of double-
      and triple-zeta quality within 6-31+G(d,p) to aug-cc-pVTZ range. Thiourea
      conformers of C(2) and C(s) symmetry have been found as stationary points on the
      PES with no imaginary frequencies at MP2/6-31+G(d,p) level, whereas only the C(2)
      conformer seems as true minimum when basis sets containing more polarization
      and/or diffuse functions were used. At QCISD/cc-pVTZ level, only the C(2)
      thiourea conformer has been found as true minimum on the PES. Anharmonic
      vibrational spectra of C(2) conformers of thiourea and thiourea-d(4) have been
      computed by vibrational self-consistent field (VSCF) and correlation-corrected
      VSCF methods using quartic force field approximation at MP2/TZV+(2d,2p), and
      MP2/6-311+G(3df,2p) level and direct approach at MP2/6-31+G(2d,p) level. Both
      quartic force field and direct VSCF methods used PES expansion in curvilinear
      (internal) coordinates. Wavenumbers of fundamental, first overtone, and
      combination transitions of C(2) symmetry conformer have been calculated for
      natural abundance thiourea and thiourea-d(4) isotopomer. Anharmonic corrections
      originating from mean field and mode coupling effects vary from 5 to 60 cm(-1),
      whereas mode-mode correlation contribution seems significant in the case of nu(N
      H) stretching and delta(NH(2)) deformation modes (15-5 cm(-1)). Application of
      internal coordinates in the VSCF calculation results in slight underestimation of
      delta(NH(2)) deformation mode fundamentals and correct description of out-of
      plane large-amplitude tau(SCNH) modes.

PMID- 20925087
TI  - Activation method does not alter abnormal placental gene expression and
      development in cloned pigs.
AB  - Nuclear transfer efficiency is low and is thought to be caused by inadequate
      placental development. The objective of this study was to identify differentially
      expressed transcripts in pig placentas derived from in vivo fertilization, in
      vitro fertilization or nuclear transfer at Day 30 of gestation. Three activation
      methods were compared: electrical fusion/activation, electrical fusion/activation
      followed by treatment with reversible proteasomal inhibitor, MG132 or electrical
      fusion followed by activation with Thimerosal/DTT. Extraembryonic membranes were
      collected 30 days after artificial insemination (IVV) or embryo transfer (IVF and
      NT). Extraembryonic membrane cDNAs labeled with Cy5 and a reference cDNA labeled
      with Cy3 were hybridized to a pig reproductive tissue-specific 19,968 spot cDNA
      microarray. Images acquired and assessed by using Genepix Pro 4.0 were analyzed
      by Genespring 7.3.1. ANOVA (P < 0.05) identified 227 differentially expressed
      transcripts between the five treatments and 0 between the three activation
      methods. The nuclear transfer groups were pooled and compared to in vivo samples,
      identifying 34 up- and 19 down-regulated transcripts (>2-fold change, P < 0.05).
      Ten transcripts were validated by real-time PCR. UPTI, PAG2, and GLUD1 protein
      was quantified by Western blot and densitometry verified that UPTI and PAG2
      proteins had an expression pattern that mirrored mRNA abundance (P < 0.05).
      Localization patterns were also determined for UPTI, PAG2, GLUD2 and 14-3-3 gamma
      in Day 35 extraembryonic membranes. Observed differences in gene and protein
      expression in nuclear transfer extraembryonic membranes indicate that an impaired
      fetal-maternal interface, and not the activation method, may be causing defects
      observed in cloned pigs.

PMID- 20925088
TI  - Transport properties of graphene nanoribbon-based molecular devices.
AB  - The electronic and transport properties of an edge-modified prototype graphene
      nanoribbon (GNR) slice are investigated using density functional theory and
      Green's function theory. Two decorating functional group pairs are considered,
      such as hydrogen-hydrogen and NH(2)-NO(2) with NO(2) and NH(2) serving as a donor
      and an acceptor, respectively. The molecular junctions consist of carbon-based
      GNR slices sandwiched between Au electrodes. Nonlinear I-V curves and quantum
      conductance have been found in all the junctions. With increasing the source
      drain bias, the enhancement of conductance is quantized. Several key factors
      determining the transport properties such as the electron transmission
      probabilities, the density of states, and the component of Frontier molecular
      orbitals have been discussed in detail. It has been shown that the transport
      properties are sensitive to the edge type of carbon atoms. We have also found
      that the accepter-donor functional pairs can cause orders of magnitude changes of
      the conductance in the junctions.

PMID- 20925090
TI  - Computational study of static first hyperpolarizability of donor-acceptor
      substituted (E)-benzaldehyde phenylhydrazone.
AB  - Various hybrid functionals (B3LYP, B97-2, PBE0, BMK, BH&HLYP, CAM-B3LYP, and LC
      omegaPBE) implemented in density functional theory were applied to give estimate
      of static first hyperpolarizabilty (beta(0)) of (E)-benzaldehyde phenylhydrazone
      designated as (E)-BPH. Against those of MP2 computations as a function of the
      underlying density functional, good agreement was obtained with the BH&HLYP and
      CAM-B3LYP functionals. The LC-omegaPBE functional and the B3LYP, PBE0, B97-2, and
      BMK functionals underestimated and overestimated beta(0), respectively. The basis
      set effect on the calculated beta(0) was also investigated. It turned out that
      the 6-311+G(2d,p) basis set provided excellent converged value of beta(0). On the
      basis of the calculated results, we investigated the substituent effect on
      beta(0) of donor-acceptor (D-A) substituted (E)-BPH systematically by using the
      BH&HLYP and CAM-B3LYP computations with the 6-311+G(2d,p) basis set. We proposed
      a Zwitterion structure to explain the calculated trend in the substituent effect
      and the enhanced hyperpolarizability of type II compounds (A-(E)-BPH-D) than type
      I compounds (D-(E)-BPH-A). Natural bonding orbital analysis carried out at
      BH&HLYP/6-311+G(2d,p)//B3LYP/6-31G(2df,p) level of theory substantiated the
      claim.

PMID- 20925089
TI  - Multipole electrostatics in hydration free energy calculations.
AB  - Hydration free energy (HFE) is generally used for evaluating molecular
      solubility, which is an important property for pharmaceutical and chemical
      engineering processes. Accurately predicting HFE is also recognized as one
      fundamental capability of molecular mechanics force field. Here, we present a
      systematic investigation on HFE calculations with AMOEBA polarizable force field
      at various parameterization and simulation conditions. The HFEs of seven small
      organic molecules have been obtained alchemically using the Bennett Acceptance
      Ratio method. We have compared two approaches to derive the atomic multipoles
      from quantum mechanical calculations: one directly from the new distributed
      multipole analysis and the other involving fitting to the electrostatic potential
      around the molecules. Wave functions solved at the MP2 level with four basis sets
      (6-311G*, 6-311++G(2d,2p), cc-pVTZ, and aug-cc-pVTZ) are used to derive the
      atomic multipoles. HFEs from all four basis sets show a reasonable agreement with
      experimental data (root mean square error 0.63 kcal/mol for aug-cc-pVTZ). We
      conclude that aug-cc-pVTZ gives the best performance when used with AMOEBA, and 6
      311++G(2d,2p) is comparable but more efficient for larger systems. The results
      suggest that the inclusion of diffuse basis functions is important for capturing
      intermolecular interactions. The effect of long-range correction to van der Waals
      interaction on the hydration free energies is about 0.1 kcal/mol when the cutoff
      is 12A, and increases linearly with the number of atoms in the solute/ligand. In
      addition, we also discussed the results from a hybrid approach that combines
      polarizable solute with fixed-charge water in the HFE calculation.

PMID- 20925091
TI  - Supraglottitis in the era following widespread immunization against Haemophilus
      influenzae type B: evolving principles in diagnosis and management.
AB  - OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: To review the demographics, presentation, interventions,
      and outcomes of acute supraglottitis in the post-Haemophilus influenzae type B
      (Hib) vaccination era and make updated recommendations for treatment. STUDY
      DESIGN: Retrospective review. METHODS: Patients with the discharge diagnosis of
      acute epiglottitis or supraglottitis from two tertiary hospitals from 1995 to
      2005 were identified. Patient characteristics, signs and symptoms at
      presentation, interventions, hospital course, and outcomes were reviewed and
      analyzed. RESULTS: Sixty adults and one child were identified. The most common
      presenting symptom was odynophagia (100%), followed by dysphagia (85%) and voice
      change (75%). Thirteen patients (21%) required airway intervention; 11 patients
      were intubated, and two required tracheotomy. Stridor, respiratory distress,
      tachycardia, tachypnea, rapid onset of symptoms, and shortness of breath were all
      associated with the need for airway intervention. Patients without any of these
      symptoms recovered without airway intervention. A total of 62% of patients were
      admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU), and the average length of ICU stay was
      2.3 days. All patients were treated with intravenous antibiotics, most commonly
      ceftriaxone and ampicillin/sulbactam, and 87% of patients received at least one
      dose of steroids. The average overall length of stay was 3.8 days. There were no
      deaths. The use of corticosteroids was associated with shorter ICU and overall
      lengths of stay. CONCLUSIONS: The patient demographics, presentation, and course
      of supraglottitis have changed since the widespread use of the Hib vaccine.
      Recognizing the signs and symptoms associated with airway obstruction is
      important in the safe and effective management of this condition.

PMID- 20925092
TI  - Transradial approach for percutaneous closure of patent ductus arteriosus with
      the Amplatzer duct occluder II: a case report.
AB  - Percutaneous patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) closure is a safe and feasible
      treatment, and it is recommended over surgical approach in the majority of cases.
      Amplatzer duct occluder (ADO-AGA Medical Corporation, Golden Valley, MN) is the
      preferred device for transcatheter treatment of PDA. Recently, the ADO II (AGA
      Medical Corporation, Golden Valley, MN), allowing PDA closure through a small
      delivery catheter from an antegrade or retrograde approach, received the European
      Community mark approval. Here, we report, for the first time, successful PDA
      closure in a 66-year-old female with the ADO II device, using a transradial
      approach.

PMID- 20925093
TI  - Bifurcated aortic endograft limb occlusion managed with a novel method of
      isolated pharmacomechanical thrombectomy.
AB  - Limb occlusion of an aortic endograft is uncommon, however, it can result in
      permanent sequelae if management is delayed. We report the first case utilizing
      the Trellis device to achieve localized and prompt isolated pharmacomechanical
      thrombectomy (PMT) for the treatment of acute limb thrombosis of a bifurcated
      aortic endograft.

PMID- 20925094
TI  - Design, synthesis, and molecular-modeling study of aminothienopyridine analogues
      of tacrine for Alzheimer's disease.
AB  - 2-Amino-3-cyanothiophenes were successfully condensed with a number of
      cycloalkanones to afford tacrine analogues in a one-step reaction mediated with
      Lewis acid. The newly synthesized compounds have been tested for their ability to
      inhibit acetylcholine esterase (AChE) activity using tacrine as standard drug.
      Some of the tested compounds showed moderate inhibitory activity in comparison
      with tacrine, especially compounds 6a which displayed the highest inhibitory
      activity. Furthermore, molecular-modeling studies were performed in order to
      rationalize the obtained biological results.

PMID- 20925095
TI  - Difluorotetrahydropyridothiazinone: a selective beta-galactosidase inhibitor.
AB  - Selective difluorination, introducing a lactame moiety (instead of an amine) and
      a double bond in a trihydroxy-2-thiaquinolizidine derivative reverses the
      selectivity of the glycosidase inhibitor - a selective inhibitor for an alpha
      glucosidase is altered into an excellent, competitive inhibitor for a beta
      galactosidase.

PMID- 20925096
TI  - Rapid estimation of activation enthalpies for cytochrome-P450-mediated
      hydroxylations.
AB  - Cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes play a critical role in detoxication and
      bioactivation of xenobiotics; thus, the ability to predict the biotransformation
      rates and regioselectivity of CYP enzymes toward substrates is an important goal
      in toxicology and pharmacology. Here, we present the use of the semiempirical
      quantum chemistry method SAM1 to rapidly estimate relative activation enthalpies
      (DeltaH(?)) for the hydroxylation of aliphatic carbon centers of various
      substrates. The DeltaH(?) were determined via a reaction path calculation, in the
      reverse direction (RRP), using the iron-hydroxo-porphine intermediate and the
      substrate radical. The SAM1 DeltaH(?) were calculated via unrestricted Hartree
      Fock (UHF) and configuration interaction (CI) formalisms for both the doublet and
      quartet spin states. The SAM1 RRP DeltaH(?), after subtracting a correction
      factor, were compared with density functional theory (DFT) B3LYP activation
      energies for two sets of substrates and showed R(2) ranging from 0.69 to 0.89,
      and mean absolute differences ranging from 1.2 +/- 1.0 to 1.7 +/- 1.5 kcal/mol.
      SAM1 UHF and CI RRP calculation times were, on average, more than 200 times
      faster than those for the corresponding forward reaction path DFT calculations.
      Certain key transition-state (TS) geometry measurements, such as the forming
      O...H bond length, showed good correlation with the DFT values. These results
      suggest that the SAM1 RRP approach can be used to rapidly estimate the DFT
      activation energy and some key TS geometry measurements and can potentially be
      applied to estimate substrate hydroxylation rates and regioselectivity by CYP
      enzymes.

PMID- 20925098
TI  - Mapping spatial heterogeneity in Cu(In(1-x)Ga(x))Se2 nanocrystal-based
      photovoltaics with scanning photocurrent and fluorescence microscopy.

PMID- 20925100
TI  - Nanosheets of oxides and hydroxides: Ultimate 2D charge-bearing functional
      crystallites.
AB  - A wide variety of cation-exchangeable layered transition metal oxides and their
      relatively rare counterparts, anion-exchangeable layered hydroxides, have been
      exfoliated into individual host layers, i.e., nanosheets. Exfoliation is
      generally achieved via a high degree of swelling, typically driven either by
      intercalation of bulky organic ions (quaternary ammonium cations, propylammonium
      cations, etc.) for the layered oxides or by solvation with organic solvents
      (formamide, butanol, etc.) for the hydroxides. Ultimate two-dimensional (2D)
      anisotropy for the nanosheets, with thickness of around one nanometer versus
      lateral size ranging from submicrometer to several tens of micrometers, allows
      them to serve either as an ideal quantum system for fundamental study or as a
      basic building block for functional assembly. The charge-bearing inorganic
      macromolecule-like nanosheets can be assembled or organized through various
      solution-based processing techniques (e.g., flocculation, electrostatic
      sequential deposition, or the Langmuir-Blodgett method) to produce a range of
      nanocomposites, multilayer nanofilms, and core-shell nanoarchitectures, which
      have great potential for electronic, magnetic, optical, photochemical, and
      catalytic applications.

PMID- 20925099
TI  - Predicting posttraumatic stress symptoms in children following Hurricane Katrina:
      a prospective analysis of the effect of parental distress and parenting
      practices.
AB  - Research exhibits a robust relation between child hurricane exposure, parent
      distress, and child posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This study explored
      parenting practices that could further explicate this association. Participants
      were 381 mothers and their children exposed to Hurricane Katrina. It was
      hypothesized that 3-7 months (T1) and 14-17 months (T2) post-Katrina: (a)
      hurricane exposure would predict child PTSD symptoms after controlling for
      history of violence exposure and (b) hurricane exposure would predict parent
      distress and negative parenting practices, which, in turn, would predict
      increased child PTSD symptoms. Hypotheses were partially supported. Hurricane
      exposure directly predicted child PTSD at T1 and indirectly at T2. Additionally,
      several significant paths emerged from hurricane exposure to parent distress and
      parenting practices, which were predictive of child PTSD.

PMID- 20925101
TI  - Woven electronic fibers with sensing and display functions for smart textiles.

PMID- 20925102
TI  - Controllable self-assembly of n-type semiconductors to microtubes and highly
      conductive ultralong microwires.

PMID- 20925103
TI  - Biocompatible charged and uncharged surfaces using nanoparticle films.

PMID- 20925104
TI  - Suspended single-crystal diamond nanowires for high-performance
      nanoelectromechanical switches.

PMID- 20925106
TI  - Protein tyrosine phosphatase activity is necessary for E-cadherin-activated Src
      signaling.
AB  - Co-operation between cadherin adhesion molecules and the cytoskeleton is a key
      aspect of tissue morphogenesis that is mediated by cortical signaling at adhesive
      junctions. One such signal is the non-receptor tyrosine kinase, Src, which acts
      in several pathways at epithelial junctions, including E-cadherin signaling
      itself. We now present two new insights into junctional Src signaling. Firstly,
      we report that upstream protein tyrosine phosphatase (PTP) activity is required
      to stimulate E-cadherin-activated Src signaling at junctions. Perturbing PTP
      activity with vanadate selectively reduced the activity of Src tyrosine kinases
      at junctions. Moreover, E-cadherin homophilic ligation could not stimulate Src
      signaling in vanadate-treated cells. Additionally, vanadate treatment phenocopied
      the effects of Src inhibition on the actin cytoskeleton, suggesting that PTP
      activity is required for the dynamic regulation of the actin cytoskeleton by
      cadherin-activated Src signaling. Secondly, we identified a role for PTP
      activated Src signaling in supporting apical junctional tension by targeting non
      muscle myosin IIB. The linear shape of the apical junctions was lost in PTP- and
      Src-inhibited cells, and inhibiting Src selectively affected the junctional
      localization of myosin IIB but not of myosin IIA. We conclude that PTP-activated
      Src signaling is a possible upstream regulator of myosin IIB at the epithelial
      zonula adherens.

PMID- 20925105
TI  - Force relaxation and thin filament protein phosphorylation during acute
      myocardial ischemia.
AB  - Ischemia impairs myocardial function and may contribute to the progression of
      heart failure. In this study, rats subjected to acute ischemia demonstrated
      reduced Ca(2+) -activated force as well as a decrease in myosin-binding protein
      C, titin, and Ser23/24 phosphorylation of troponin I (TnI). All three proteins
      have been demonstrated to be downstream targets of beta-adrenergic receptor
      activation (beta-AR), leading to the hypothesis that decreased beta-AR signaling
      during ischemia leads to reduced protein phosphorylation and reduced rate
      constants of force relaxation. To test this hypothesis, force relaxation
      transients were recorded from permeabilized perfused and ischemic rat heart
      fibers following photolysis of the caged chelator diazo-2. Relaxation transients
      were best fit by double exponential functions whereby the majority (>70%) of the
      force decline was described by the fast rate constant, which was ~5 times faster
      than the slow rate constant. However, rate constants of relaxation between
      perfused and ischemic fibers were not different, despite significant decreases in
      sarcomeric protein phosphorylation in ischemic fibers. Treatment of perfused
      fibers with a cAMP analog increased Ser23/24 phosphorylation of TnI, yet the rate
      constants of relaxation remained unchanged. Interestingly, similar treatment of
      ischemic fibers did not impact TnI phosphorylation or force relaxation
      transients. Therefore, acute ischemia does not influence the rate constants of
      relaxation of permeabilized fibers. These results also suggest that the
      physiological level of sarcomeric protein phosphorylation is unlikely to be the
      primary driver of relaxation kinetics in permeabilized cardiac muscle fibers.

PMID- 20925107
TI  - Lifetime imaging of FRET between red fluorescent proteins.
AB  - Numerous processes in cells can be traced by using fluorescence resonance energy
      transfer (FRET) between two fluorescent proteins. The novel FRET pair including
      the red fluorescent protein TagRFP and kindling fluorescent protein KFP for
      sensing caspase-3 activity is developed. The lifetime mode of FRET measurements
      with a nonfluorescent protein KFP as an acceptor is used to minimize crosstalk
      due to its direct excitation. The red fluorescence is characterized by a better
      penetrability through the tissues and minimizes the cell autofluorescence signal.
      The effective transfection and expression of the FRET sensor in eukaryotic cells
      is shown by FLIM. The induction of apoptosis by camptothecine increases the
      fluorescence lifetime, which means effective cleavage of the FRET sensor by
      caspase-3. The instruments for detecting whole-body fluorescent lifetime imaging
      are described. Experiments on animals show distinct fluorescence lifetimes for
      the red fluorescent proteins possessing similar spectral properties.

PMID- 20925108
TI  - 4D retrospective lineage tracing using SPIM for zebrafish organogenesis studies.
AB  - A study demonstrating an imaging framework that permits the determination of cell
      lineages during organogenesis of the posterior lateral line in zebrafish is
      presented. The combination of Selective Plane Illumination Microscopy and
      specific fluorescent markers allows retrospective tracking of hair cell
      progenitors, and hence the derivation of their lineages within the primodium. It
      is shown that, because of its superior signal-to-noise ratio and lower photo
      damaged properties, SPIM can provide significantly higher-quality images than
      Spinning Disk Confocal technology. This allows accurate 4D lineage tracing for
      the hair cells over tens of hours of primordium migration and neuromast
      development.

PMID- 20925109
TI  - Geriatric oncology field comes into its own: growing field advances but care
      questions remain.

PMID- 20925112
TI  - Nanoparticle PSA test helps predict likelihood of prostate cancer recurrence.

PMID- 20925113
TI  - Ectopic expression of GATA6 bypasses requirement for Grb2 in primitive endoderm
      formation.
AB  - Gene knockouts in mice have showed that Grb2 and GATA6 are essential for the
      formation of primitive endoderm in blastocysts. Here, we confirmed that implanted
      Grb2-null blastocysts lack primitive or extraembryonic endoderm cells either at
      E4.5 or E5.5 stages. We analyzed the relationship between Grb2 and GATA6 in the
      differentiation of embryonic stem (ES) cells to primitive endoderm in embryoid
      body models. Upon transfection with GATA6 expression vector, Grb2-null ES cells
      underwent endoderm differentiation as indicated by the expression of the
      extraembryonic endoderm markers Dab2 and GATA4. Transfection of GATA4 expression
      vector also had the same differentiation potency. When GATA6- or GATA4
      transfected Grb2-null ES cells were allowed to aggregate, fragments of an
      endoderm layer formed on the surface of the spheroids. The results suggest that
      GATA6 is downstream of Grb2 in the inductive signaling pathway and the expression
      of GATA6 is sufficient to compensate for the defects caused by Grb2 deficiency in
      the development of the primitive and extraembryonic endoderm.

PMID- 20925114
TI  - The G-protein-coupled receptor, GPR84, is important for eye development in
      Xenopus laevis.
AB  - G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) represent diverse, multifamily groups of cell
      signaling receptors involved in many cellular processes. We identified Xenopus
      laevis GPR84 as a member of the A18 subfamily of GPCRs. During development, GPR84
      is detected in the embryonic lens placode, differentiating lens fiber cells,
      retina, and cornea. Anti-sense morpholino oligonucleotide-mediated knockdown and
      RNA rescue experiments demonstrate GPR84's importance in lens, cornea, and
      retinal development. Examination of cell proliferation using an antibody against
      histone H3 S10P reveals significant increases in the lens and retina following
      GPR84 knockdown. Additionally, there was also an increase in apoptosis in the
      retina and lens, as revealed by TUNEL assay. Reciprocal transplantation of the
      presumptive lens ectoderm between uninjected controls and morpholino-injected
      embryos demonstrates that GPR84 is necessary in the retina for proper development
      of the retina, as well as other eye tissues including the lens and cornea.

PMID- 20925115
TI  - Distinct troponin C isoform requirements in cardiac and skeletal muscle.
AB  - The zebrafish mutant silent partner is characterized by a dysmorphic, non
      contractile ventricle resulting in an inability to generate normal blood flow. We
      have identified the genetic lesion in the zebrafish homolog of the slow twitch
      skeletal/cardiac troponin C gene. Although human troponin C1 (TNNC1) is expressed
      in both cardiac and skeletal muscle, duplication of this gene in zebrafish has
      resulted in tissue-specific partitioning of troponin C expression and function.
      Mutation of the zebrafish paralog tnnc1a, which is expressed predominantly in the
      heart, results in a loss of contractility and myofibrillar organization within
      ventricular cardiomyocytes, while skeletal muscle remains functional and intact.
      We further show that defective contractility in the developing heart results in
      abnormal atrial and ventricular chamber morphology. Together, our results suggest
      that tnnc1a is required both for the function and structural integrity of the
      contractile machinery in cardiomyocytes, helping to clarify potential mechanisms
      of troponin C-mediated cardiomyopathy.

PMID- 20925116
TI  - White adipose tissue development in zebrafish is regulated by both developmental
      time and fish size.
AB  - Adipocytes are heterogeneous. Whether their differences are attributed to
      anatomical location or to different developmental origins is unknown. We
      investigated whether development of different white adipose tissue (WAT) depots
      in zebrafish occurs simultaneously or whether adipogenesis is influenced by the
      metabolic demands of growing fish. Like mammals, zebrafish adipocyte morphology
      is distinctive and adipocytes express cell-specific markers. All adults contain
      WAT in pancreatic, subcutaneous, visceral, esophageal, mandibular, cranial, and
      tail-fin depots. Unlike most zebrafish organs that form during embryogenesis, WAT
      was not found in embryos or young larvae. Instead, WAT was first identified in
      the pancreas on 12 days postfertilization (dpf), and then in visceral,
      subcutaneous, and cranial stores in older fish. All 30 dpf fish exceeding 10.6 mm
      standard length contained the adult repertoire of WAT depots. Pancreatic,
      esophageal, and subcutaneous WAT appearance correlated with size, not age, as
      found for other features appearing during postembryonic zebrafish development.

PMID- 20925117
TI  - Investigating giant (Gt) repression in the formation of partially overlapping
      pair-rule stripes.
AB  - Drosophila pair-rule genes are expressed in striped patterns with a precise order
      of overlap between stripes of different genes. We investigated the role of Giant
      (Gt) in the regulation of even-skipped, hairy, runt, and fushi tarazu stripes
      formed in the vicinity of Gt expression domains. In gt null embryos, specific
      stripes of eve, h, run, and ftz are disrupted. With an ectopic expression system,
      we verified that stripes affected in the mutant are also repressed.
      Simultaneously hybridizing gt misxpressing embryos with two pair-rule gene
      probes, we were able to distinguish differences in the repression of pairs of
      stripes that overlap extensively. Together, our results showed Gt repression
      roles in the regulation of two groups of partially overlapping stripes and that
      Gt morphogen activity is part of the mechanism responsible for the differential
      positioning of these stripes borders. We discuss the possibility that other
      factors regulate Gt stripe targets as well.

PMID- 20925118
TI  - EGR4 displays both a cell- and intracellular-specific localization pattern in the
      developing murine testis.
AB  - Spermatogenesis is an intricately regulated process of cellular differentiation
      transforming spermatogonial stem cells to spermatozoa. Elimination of the
      transcription factor EGR4 generates subfertile male mice yet the expression and
      function of EGR4 in the mammalian testis has yet to be fully investigated. We
      performed in situ hybridization and immunofluorescence to identify Egr4
      transcript and protein localization in the developing murine testis. EGR4 was
      detected in both germ and somatic cells in the neonatal testis but was specific
      to germ cells inside the seminiferous epithelium from juvenile development
      onward. EGR4 also displayed distinct intracellular localization patterns within
      specific cell populations of the testis. In addition, Egr4-deficient testis
      tubules regress from relatively normal to Sertoli cell and undifferentiated
      spermatogonia only over time. Taken together, these data suggest that Egr4 may
      regulate spermatogenesis at multiple steps, with roles in the dividing Sertoli
      cells, peritubular myoid cells, and the meiotic and elongating haploid germ cell
      populations.

PMID- 20925119
TI  - AES/GRG5: more than just a dominant-negative TLE/GRG family member.
AB  - The human Transducin-like Enhancer of Split (TLE) and mouse homologue, Groucho
      gene-related protein (GRG), represent a family of conserved non-DNA binding
      transcriptional modulatory proteins divided into two subgroups based upon size.
      The long TLE/GRGs consist of four pentadomain proteins that are dedicated co
      repressors for multiple transcription factors (TF). The second TLE/GRG subgroup
      is composed of the Amino-terminal Enhancer of Split (AES) in humans and its mouse
      homolog GRG5 (AES/GRG5). In contrast to the dedicated co-repressor function of
      long TLE/GRGs, AES/GRG5 can both positively or negatively modulate various TF as
      well as non-TF proteins in a long TLE/GRG-dependent or -independent manner.
      Therefore, AES/GRG5 is a functionally dynamic protein that is not exclusively
      defined by its role as a long TLE/GRG antagonist. AES/GRG5 may function in
      various developmental and pathological processes but the functional
      characteristics of endogenous AES/GRG5 in a physiologically relevant context
      remains to be determined.

PMID- 20925120
TI  - Dynamic Lkb1-TORC1 signaling as a possible mechanism for regulating the endoderm
      intestine transition.
AB  - The intestinal epithelium arises from undifferentiated endoderm via a
      developmental program known as the endoderm-intestine transition (EIT).
      Previously we found that the target of rapamycin complex 1 (TORC1) regulates
      intestinal growth and differentiation during the EIT in zebrafish. Here we
      address a possible role for the tumor-suppressor kinase Lkb1 in regulating TORC1
      in this context. We find that TORC1 activity is transiently upregulated during
      the EIT in both zebrafish and mouse. Concomitantly, Lkb1 becomes transiently
      localized to the nucleus, suggesting that these two phenomena may be linked.
      Morpholino-mediated knockdown of lkb1 stimulated intestinal growth via
      upregulation of TORC1, and also induced precocious intestine-specific gene
      expression in the zebrafish gut epithelium. Knockdown of tsc2, which acts
      downstream of lkb1, likewise induced early expression of intestine-specific
      genes. These data suggest that programmed localization of Lkb1 could represent a
      novel mechanism for regulating the EIT during intestinal development in
      vertebrates.

PMID- 20925121
TI  - Capsaicin induces apoptosis in SCC-4 human tongue cancer cells through
      mitochondria-dependent and -independent pathways.
AB  - Although there have been advances in the fields of surgery, radiotherapy, and
      chemotherapy of tongue cancer, the cure rates are still not substantially
      satisfactory. Capsaicin (trans-8-methyl-N-vanillyl-6-nonenamide) is the major
      pungent ingredient of hot chili pepper and has been reported to have an antitumor
      effect on many human cancer cell types. The molecular mechanisms of the antitumor
      effect of capsaicin are not yet completely understood. Herein, we investigated
      whether capsaicin induces apoptosis in human tongue cancer cells. Capsaicin
      decreased the percentage of viable cells in a dose-dependent manner in human
      tongue cancer SCC-4 cells. In addition, capsaicin produced DNA fragmentation,
      decreased the DNA contents (sub-G1 phase), and induced G0/G1 phase arrest in SCC
      4 cells. We demonstrated that capsaicin-induced apoptosis is associated with an
      increase in reactive oxygen species and Ca2+ generations and a disruption of the
      mitochondrial transmenbrane potential (DeltaPsi(m)). Treatment with capsaicin
      induced a dramatic increase in caspase-3 and -9 activities, as assessed by flow
      cytometric methods. A possible mechanism of capsaicin-induced apoptosis is
      involved in the activation of caspase-3 (one of the apoptosis-executing enzyme).
      Confocal laser microscope examination also showed that capsaicin induced the
      releases of AIF, ATF-4, and GADD153 from mitochondria of SCC-4 cells.

PMID- 20925122
TI  - Antioxidant and metabolic impairment result in DNA damage in arsenic-exposed
      individuals with severe dermatological manifestations in Eastern India.
AB  - Arsenic is an environmental toxicant, free-radical generator, carcinogenic agent,
      and aging promoter. Recently, blood samples were analyzed from individuals
      (control- male 12, female 13; arsenic-exposed- male 16, female 14; and exposed to
      >=100 MUg/L As, >=10 y) with dermatological symptoms in few affected villages in
      Eastern India to unravel their hematopoietic, metabolic, and antioxidant
      profiles. White blood cells recovered from buffy coat were used for DNA
      fragmentation test. Present observation suggests that significant number of
      individuals developed pigmentation and palmoplantar hyperkeratosis with black
      brownish patch on their body and many of those developed carcinomas.
      Hematopoietic data show a significant increase in eosinophil and decrease in
      monocyte count in either sex. Though insignificant, an increase in neutrophil in
      female and lymphocyte count in male arsenic-exposed individuals are supported by
      the earlier report on sex dimorphic immune sensitization. Significant increase in
      serum alanine transaminase in both sexes and bilirubin only in male suggests the
      eventuality of hepatic disintegration. Arsenic exposure significantly decreased
      serum amylase in female. A significant decrease in antioxidant components like
      catalase, soluble thiol, and recently recognized uric acid worsened the situation
      by generating free radicals as observed in significant rise in malondialdehyde
      level, which finally increased DNA fragmentation and arsenic-associated
      mutagenesis and carcinogenesis. This could attribute to lowering in immune
      competence and related necrotic and/or apoptotic manifestations.

PMID- 20925123
TI  - Zebrafish calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (cam-kii) inhibitors:
      expression patterns and their roles in zebrafish brain development.
AB  - Calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaM-KII) plays a critical role in
      neuronal functions. In this report, we demonstrate the expression patterns,
      functional analysis, and development role of the two zebrafish CaM-KII
      inhibitors, cam-kiin1 and cam-kiin2. Both of these genes were detected in the 5
      somite stage and are persistently expressed thereafter. The RNA transcripts of
      cam-kiin1 were prominently expressed in the forebrain and hindbrain regions,
      especially in the telencephalon, while cam-kiin2 was detected in the anterior
      brain region and neurons of the hindbrain. Through GST-pull down, co
      immunoprecipitation, and kinase assay, cam-kii inhibitors can bind to and reduce
      cam-kiialpha activity. However, no overt alternation of brain marker such as
      ngn1, otx2, and pax2.1 was observed in morphants received each one or combined
      MO. Our results suggest that the two cam-kii inhibitors exhibited distinct
      expression pattern and may play a minor role in zebrafish brain development.

PMID- 20925124
TI  - Sox17 and chordin are required for formation of Kupffer's vesicle and left-right
      asymmetry determination in zebrafish.
AB  - Kupffer's vesicle (KV), a ciliated fluid-filled sphere in the zebrafish embryo
      with a critical role in laterality determination, is derived from a group of
      superficial cells in the organizer region of the gastrula named the dorsal
      forerunner cells (DFC). We have examined the role of the expression of sox17 and
      chordin (chd) in the DFC in KV formation and laterality determination. Whereas
      sox17 was known to be expressed in DFC, its function in these cells was not
      studied before. Further, expression of chd in these cells has not been reported
      previously. Targeted knockdown of Sox17 and Chd in DFC led to aberrant Left-Right
      (L-R) asymmetry establishment, as visualized by the expression of southpaw and
      lefty, and heart and pancreas placement in the embryo. These defects correlated
      with the formation of small KVs with apparently diminished cilia, consistent with
      the known requirement for ciliary function in the laterality organ for the
      establishment of L-R asymmetry.

PMID- 20925125
TI  - Noninvasive quantification of T2 and concentrations of ascorbate and glutathione
      in the human brain from the same double-edited spectra.
AB  - The transverse relaxation times (T(2)) and concentrations of Ascorbate (Asc) and
      glutathione (GSH) were measured from a single dataset of double-edited spectra
      that were acquired at several TEs at 4 T in the human brain. Six TEs between 102
      and 152  ms were utilized to calculate T(2) for the group of 12 subjects scanned
      five times each. Spectra measured at all six TEs were summed to quantify the
      concentration in each individual scan. LCModel fitting was optimized for the
      quantification of the Asc and GSH double-edited spectra. When the fitted baseline
      was constrained to be flat, T(2) was found to be 67  ms (95% confidence interval,
      50-83  ms) for GSH and <=115  ms for Asc using the sum of spectra measured over
      60 scans. The Asc and GSH concentrations quantified in each of the 60 scans were
      0.62 +/- 0.08 and 0.81 +/- 0.11  umol/g [mean +/- standard deviation (SD), n =
      60], respectively, using 10  umol/g N-acetylaspartate as an internal reference
      and assuming a constant influence of N-acetylaspartate and antioxidant T(2)
      relaxation in the reference solution and in vivo. The T(2) value of GSH was
      measured for the first time in the human brain. The data are consistent with
      short T(2) for both antioxidants. These T(2) values are essential for the
      absolute quantification of Asc and GSH concentrations measured at long TE, and
      provide a critical step towards addressing assumptions about T(2), and therefore
      towards the quantification of concentrations without the possibility of
      systematic bias.

PMID- 20925126
TI  - Considerations for measuring the fractional anisotropy of metabolites with
      diffusion tensor spectroscopy.
AB  - Diffusion tensor spectroscopy of metabolites in brain is challenging because of
      their lower diffusivity (i.e. less signal attenuation for a given b value) and
      much poorer signal-to-noise ratio relative to water. Although diffusion tensor
      acquisition protocols have been studied in detail for water, they have not been
      evaluated systematically for the measurement of the fractional anisotropy of
      metabolites such as N-acetylaspartate, creatine and choline in the white and gray
      matter of human brain. Diffusion tensor spectroscopy was performed in vivo with
      variable maximal b values (1815 or 5018  s/mm(2)). Experiments were also
      performed on simulated spectra and isotropic alcohol phantoms of various
      diffusivities, ranging from approximately 0.54 * 10(-3) to 0.13 * 10(-3) mm(2)/s,
      to assess the sensitivity of diffusion tensor spectroscopic parameters to low
      diffusivity, noise and b value. The low maximum b value of 1815  s/mm(2) yielded
      elevated fractional anisotropy (0.53-0.60) of N-acetylaspartate in cortical gray
      matter relative to the more isotropic value (0.25-0.30) obtained with a higher b
      value of 5018  s/mm(2); in contrast, the fractional anisotropy of white matter
      was consistently anisotropic with the different maximal b values (i.e. 0.43-0.54
      for b = 1815  s/mm(2) and 0.47-0.51 for b = 5018  s/mm(2)). Simulations, phantoms
      and in vivo data indicate that greater signal attenuation, to a degree, is
      desirable for the accurate quantification of diffusion-weighted spectra for
      slowly diffusing metabolites.

PMID- 20925127
TI  - A fast black-blood sequence for four-dimensional cardiac manganese-enhanced MRI
      in mouse.
AB  - The increasing number of mouse models of cardiac diseases requires improvements
      in the current MRI tools. Anatomic and functional cardiac phenotyping by MRI
      calls for both time and space resolution in three dimensions. Black-blood
      contrast is often needed for the accurate delineation of myocardium and chambers,
      and is consistent with manganese contrast enhancement. In this article, we
      propose a fast, three-dimensional, time-resolved (four-dimensional), black-blood
      MRI sequence that allows mouse heart imaging at 10 periods of the cardiac cycle
      within 30  min at an isotropic resolution of 200  um. Two-dimensional imaging was
      possible within 80  s. Blood cancellation was achieved by employing bipolar
      gradients without the use of a double inversion recovery preparation scheme.
      Saturation slices were added in two-dimensional experiments for better blood
      nulling. The rapidity of the two-dimensional acquisition protocol allowed the
      measurement of the time course of contrast enhancement on manganese infusion.
      Owing to the very high contrast-to-noise ratio, manganese-enhanced MRI in four
      dimensions made possible the accurate assessment of regional cardiac volumes in
      healthy animals. In experimentally infarcted mice, the size of the ischemic zone
      could be measured easily with this method. The technique might be valuable in
      evaluating mouse heart diseases and their follow-up in longitudinal studies.

PMID- 20925128
TI  - Detection of fully refocused polyamine spins in prostate cancer at 7 T.
AB  - (1)H MRSI is often used at 1.5 or 3 T to study prostate cancer, where the ratio
      of choline + creatine to citrate is taken as a marker for tumour presence.
      Recently, the level of polyamines (mainly spermine) has been shown to improve
      specificity even further. However, the in vivo detection of these polyamines (at
      3.1  ppm) is hampered by signal cancellation as a result of J-coupling effects
      and signal overlap with choline (3.2  ppm) and creatine (3.0  ppm) resonances. At
      higher magnetic field strengths, the chemical shift dispersion will increase,
      which allows the use of very selective radiofrequency pulses to refocus J-coupled
      spins. In this work, we added selective refocusing pulses to a semi-LASER
      (localisation based on adiabatic selective refocusing) sequence at 7 T, and
      optimised the inter-pulse timings of the sequence for fully refocused detection
      of spermine spins, whilst maintaining optimised detection of choline, creatine
      and the strongly coupled spin system of citrate.

PMID- 20925129
TI  - A mixture model of nuchal translucency thickness in screening for chromosomal
      defects: validation of a single operator dataset.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: (1) To validate the mixture model in a single operator dataset and (2)
      to compare the detection rates for fetal chromosomal defects obtained from the
      mixture model with those obtained from either the delta nuchal translucency (NT)
      or log multiple of the median (MoM) approach. METHODS: Database query, viable
      singletons [crown-rump length (CRL) 45-84 mm corresponding to 11-13(+6) weeks],
      December 1997 to November 2006, examined by Adam Gasiorek-Wiens, the statistical
      mixture model was applied. RESULTS: Seventy-four of 4171 were lost to follow-up
      (1.8%), 4097 singleton pregnancies included trisomy 21 (n = 34, 0.8%), trisomy 18
      (n = 20, 0.5%), trisomy 13 (n = 8, 0.2%), Turner syndrome (n = 9, 0.2%) and other
      chromosomal abnormalities (n = 14, 0.3%). The main findings are that (1) the log
      transformed NT measurements follow a mixture of two Gaussian distributions and
      (2) the criteria to apply either the delta-NT or log MoM models are not met. In
      the normal group, the majority of NT measurements were dependent on the CRL, a
      small group showed a median independent of the CRL. In the abnormal group it was
      the opposite. For a 5% false-positive rate (FPR), the trisomy 21 detection rate
      was 83%. CONCLUSIONS: The use of the mixture model in a single operator dataset
      produces results compatible with the original study. The mixture model has thus
      been validated.

PMID- 20925130
TI  - Biosilicate(r) and low-level laser therapy improve bone repair in osteoporotic
      rats.
AB  - The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of a novel bioactive
      material (Biosilicate(r)) and low-level laser therapy (LLLT) on bone fracture
      consolidation in osteoporotic rats. Forty female Wistar rats were submitted to
      ovariectomy (OVX) to induce osteopenia. Eight weeks after surgery, the animals
      were randomly divided into four groups of 10 animals each: a bone defect control
      group (CG); a bone defect filled with Biosilicate group (BG); a bone defect
      filled with Biosilicate and irradiated with LLLT at 60 J/cm(2) group (BG60); and
      a bone defect filled with Biosilicate and irradiated with LLLT at 120 J/cm(2)
      group (BG120). Bone defects were surgically performed on both tibias. The size of
      particle used for Biosilicate was 180-212 um. Histopathological analysis showed
      that bone defects were predominantly filled with the biomaterial in specimens
      treated with Biosilicate. LLLT with either 60 or 120 J/cm(2) was able to increase
      collagen, Cbfa-1, VGEF and COX-2 expression in the circumjacent cells of the
      biomaterial. A morphometric analysis revealed that the Biosilicate + laser groups
      showed a higher amount of newly formed bone. Our results indicate that laser
      therapy improves bone repair process in contact with Biosilicate as a result of
      increasing bone formation, as well as COX-2 and Cbfa-1 immunoexpression,
      angiogenesis and collagen deposition in osteoporotic rats.

PMID- 20925131
TI  - Diagnostic utility of array-based comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH) in a
      prenatal setting.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Array-based comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH) is a new
      technique for detecting submicroscopic deletions and duplications. There is
      limited information regarding its use in the prenatal setting. Here, we present
      our experience of 269 prenatal aCGHs between 2006 and 2009. METHOD: The
      indications for testing were fetal anomalies on ultrasound (U/S), advanced
      maternal age (AMA), family history of a disorder of unknown etiology, parental
      concern, abnormal routine karyotype and abnormal serum biochemical screening for
      common fetal aneuploidies. RESULTS: Of 15 cases with a known abnormal karyotype,
      11 had a normal aCGH. This enabled us to reassure the families and the
      pregnancies were continued. The remaining four showed an abnormal aCGH,
      confirming the chromosomes were unbalanced, and were terminated. Of 254 cases
      with a normal karyotype, 3 had an abnormal aCGH and were terminated. Overall, new
      clinically relevant results were detected by aCGH in 18 cases, providing
      additional information for prenatal genetic counseling and risk assessment.
      CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that prenatal aCGH should be offered particularly
      in cases with abnormal U/S. We found the rate of detecting an abnormality by aCGH
      in low-risk pregnancies was 1:84, but larger studies will be needed to expand our
      knowledge and validate our conclusions.

PMID- 20925132
TI  - Epidemiologic study of aripiprazole use and the incidence of suicide events.
AB  - PURPOSE: Because second generation antipsychotics (SGA) might affect the risk of
      suicide, systematic assessment of suicide risk associated with SGA in the
      postmarketing setting is important and of interest to regulatory authorities. To
      fulfill a postmarketing request, our objective was to determine suicide event
      (attempted or completed) incidence in patients with schizophrenia or bipolar
      disorder, prescribed aripiprazole. METHODS: Using administrative data from three
      US sources, we assessed study endpoints of suicide attempts and death by suicide
      in patients aged >=18 enrolled continuously for >=3 months in their health plans
      before receiving their first ever antipsychotic (November 2002-December 2005).
      RESULTS: Among 20 489 antipsychotic users (8985 patient-years), unadjusted
      suicide event rates (per 1000 patient-years) were: 20.69 (aripiprazole); 23.99
      (olanzapine); 32.33 (quetiapine); 19.69 (risperidone); 48.52 (ziprasidone).
      Compared with current users of other SGA combined, aripiprazole users did not
      have an increased risk of suicide events (crude hazard ratio (HR) = 0.79, 95%CI:
      0.48-1.30; adjusted HR = 0.69, 95%CI: 0.42-1.14-(controlling for study site, age,
      sex, index prescription year, antipsychotic use history, other pharmacotherapy
      exposure, comorbidity presence, schizophrenia/bipolar disorder, suicide attempts,
      number inpatient/outpatient encounters). CONCLUSIONS: In this large, multi-site
      study, compared with other SGA combined, aripiprazole is not associated with an
      increased risk of suicide events in an inception cohort of patients with ICD
      9/ICD-10 codes indicative of schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.

PMID- 20925133
TI  - Reduction of lipid accumulation in HepG2 cells by luteolin is associated with
      activation of AMPK and mitigation of oxidative stress.
AB  - The present study was carried out to investigate the lipid-lowering effect of
      luteolin by using a cell model of steatosis induced by palmitate. Incubation of
      HepG2 cells with palmitate markedly increased lipid accumulation (Oil Red O
      staining), the genes involved in lipogenesis, including fatty acid synthase (FAS)
      and its upstream regulator sterol regulatory element binding protein 1c (SREBP
      1c), and reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. Luteolin enhanced the
      phosphorylation of AMP-activated protein kinase alpha (AMPKalpha) and its primary
      downstream targeting enzyme, acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC), up-regulated gene
      expression of carnitine palmitoyl transferase 1 (CPT-1), which is the rate
      limiting enzyme in mitochondrial fatty acid beta-oxidation, and down-regulated
      SREBP-1c and FAS mRNA levels in the absence and presence of palmitate. In
      addition, luteolin significantly decreased ROS production and ameliorated lipid
      accumulation in HepG2 cells caused by palmitate. Furthermore, intracellular
      triglyceride (TG) measurement indicated that the luteolin-mediated reduction of
      enhanced TG caused by palmitate was blocked by pretreatment with the AMPK
      inhibitor, compound C. The results suggested that the lipid-lowering effect of
      luteolin might be partially mediated by the up-regulation of CPT-1 and down
      regulation of SREBP-1c and FAS gene expression, possibly by activation of the
      AMPK signaling pathway, and partially might be through its antioxidative actions.

PMID- 20925134
TI  - Factors associated with caregiving burden and maternal pessimism in mothers of
      adolescents with an autism spectrum disorder in Taiwan.
AB  - Relative to the United States and other western countries, less research has
      focused on factors associated with caregiving burden and maternal pessimism in
      Taiwanese mothers of adolescents with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The
      characteristics of 50 adolescents with an ASD living at home in Taiwan and its
      association with caregiving burden and maternal pessimism were examined. The age
      range of adolescents with an ASD was from 10 to 18. Mothers, aged 35 to 55 years,
      completed self-report written questionnaires regarding their child's adaptive
      functioning and their own perceptions of caregiving burdens and concerns.
      Findings indicated that functional independence, severe maladaptive behaviours
      and severity of autism were predictive of maternal caregiving burden. Maternal
      pessimism was associated with functional independence and severity of autism. The
      findings of this study indicated that occupational therapy practitioners could
      focus on training functional independence of the individual with an ASD to meet
      the family's need in Taiwan. Researchers should pay significant attention to the
      lifespan issues of autism in Taiwanese families. The major limitations of this
      study were small sample size and without a comparison group. Future research
      using larger samples with a comparison group is needed.

PMID- 20925135
TI  - Psychological distress in women at risk for hereditary breast cancer: the role of
      family communication and perceived social support.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hereditary breast cancer has a profound impact on individual family
      members and on their mutual communication and interactions. The way at-risk women
      cope with the threat of hereditary breast cancer may depend on the quality of
      family communication about hereditary breast cancer and on the perceived social
      support from family and friends. OBJECTIVE: To examine the associations of family
      communication and social support with long-term psychological distress in a group
      of women at risk for hereditary breast cancer, who opted either for regular
      breast surveillance or prophylactic surgery. METHODS: The study cohort consisted
      of 222 women at risk for hereditary breast cancer, who previously participated in
      a study on the psychological consequences of either regular breast cancer
      surveillance or prophylactic surgery. General and breast cancer specific
      distress, hereditary cancer-related family communication, perceived social
      support, and demographics were assessed. RESULTS: Using structural equation
      modelling, we found that open communication about hereditary cancer within the
      family was associated with less general and breast cancer specific distress. In
      addition, perceived support from family and friends was indirectly associated
      with less general and breast cancer-specific distress through open communication
      within the family. DISCUSSION: These findings indicate that family communication
      and perceived social support from friends and family are of paramount importance
      in the long-term adaptation to being at risk for hereditary breast cancer.
      Attention for these issues needs to be incorporated in the care of women at risk
      for hereditary breast cancer.

PMID- 20925136
TI  - Distress screening, rater agreement, and services in pediatric oncology.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Empirically based data support the validity of the distress
      thermometer recommended by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network as a
      standard screen for patient distress. However, the feasibility and utility of the
      distress thermometer has not been studied in the pediatric oncology setting. We
      conducted a study to: (1) investigate the validity of an adapted distress
      thermometer with pediatric oncology patients, (2) assess the degree of agreement
      among different respondents, including physician and psychosocial staff, with
      respect to (a) the pediatric cancer patient's distress and (b) the
      caregiver/parent's distress, and (3) to evaluate the relationship between
      distress levels and the psychosocial services provided to patients and families.
      METHODS: Ninety-one patients and their English and Spanish-speaking caregivers
      were prospectively assessed at 3-month intervals for 1 year. The quantity of
      psychosocial services provided to each family was logged for a 12-month period.
      RESULTS: Convergent validity was demonstrated by reasonable agreement between the
      pediatric distress rating tool and standardized measures. Additionally, the
      demographic and medical predictors of distress were consistent with previously
      reported findings using more extensive assessment. There was reasonable agreement
      among multiple raters of the child's distress; however, there was discrepancy
      between self-ratings of caregiver distress and psychosocial staff ratings of
      caregiver distress. This difference in perception impacted the quantity of
      psychosocial services provided following the baseline assessment. CONCLUSION: The
      single-item distress thermometer is a viable option as a rapid screening tool of
      patient and caregiver distress to help efficiently identify those who should be
      evaluated further.

PMID- 20925137
TI  - Marital satisfaction of advanced prostate cancer survivors and their spousal
      caregivers: the dyadic effects of physical and mental health.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Coping with the physical and mental side effects of diagnosis and
      treatment for advanced prostate cancer (APC) is a challenge for both survivors
      and their spousal caregivers. There is a gap in our current understanding of the
      dyadic adjustment process on marital satisfaction in this population. The current
      study sought to: (1) document levels of physical and mental health, and marital
      satisfaction, and (2) evaluate the relationship between physical and mental
      health with marital satisfaction in this understudied population. METHODS: APC
      survivors who had undergone androgen deprivation therapy within the past year and
      their spousal caregiver participated in the study (N = 29 dyads). Physical and
      mental health was assessed using the MOS SF-36 Health Survey and marital
      satisfaction was evaluated using the Dyadic Adjustment Scale. RESULTS: The Actor
      Partner Interdependence Model revealed strong relations between physical and
      mental health with marital satisfaction for both survivor and caregiver (actor
      effects). Furthermore, caregiver physical and mental health was related with the
      survivor's marital satisfaction (partner effect). CONCLUSIONS: Levels of mental
      health and marital satisfaction were comparable to community-based and prostate
      cancer samples, while physical health was higher. Marital satisfaction between
      APC survivors and their spousal caregivers may be influenced by both physical and
      mental health functioning. In particular, APC survivor functioning may affect his
      marital satisfaction as well as his spousal caregiver's. This has implications
      for psychosocial interventions for APC dyads. Further evaluation of the complex
      nature of survivor/caregiver dyadic adjustment in dealing with APC is necessary.

PMID- 20925138
TI  - Dyskerin and cancer: more than telomerase. The defect in mRNA translation helps
      in explaining how a proliferative defect leads to cancer.
AB  - Point mutations in the DKC1 gene that encodes dyskerin cause the rare inherited
      syndrome called X-linked dyskeratosis congenita, characterized by a failure of
      proliferating tissues and increased susceptibility to cancer. Dyskerin is a
      nucleolar protein with different functions, all fundamental to basic cellular
      events such as protein expression, growth, and proliferation. The two best
      characterized dyskerin activities are the stabilization of the telomerase RNA
      component, allowing the proper function telomerase enzymatic complex, and the
      modification of specific uridine residues of ribosomal RNA by converting them to
      pseudouridine, thus allowing proper ribosome processing and function. In light of
      the recent findings, this review focuses on the molecular pathogenesis of
      dyskeratosis congenita, discussing how a defect in ribosomal function might
      impact on the translation of a subset of mRNAs encoding for tumour suppressors,
      thus providing an explanation for the apparent paradox of dyskeratosis congenita
      in which reduced cell proliferation is associated with cancer susceptibility. In
      addition, the current evidence pointing to a role played by dyskerin in tumours
      in the general population is also discussed.

PMID- 20925139
TI  - Optimal caliper widths for propensity-score matching when estimating differences
      in means and differences in proportions in observational studies.
AB  - In a study comparing the effects of two treatments, the propensity score is the
      probability of assignment to one treatment conditional on a subject's measured
      baseline covariates. Propensity-score matching is increasingly being used to
      estimate the effects of exposures using observational data. In the most common
      implementation of propensity-score matching, pairs of treated and untreated
      subjects are formed whose propensity scores differ by at most a pre-specified
      amount (the caliper width). There has been a little research into the optimal
      caliper width. We conducted an extensive series of Monte Carlo simulations to
      determine the optimal caliper width for estimating differences in means (for
      continuous outcomes) and risk differences (for binary outcomes). When estimating
      differences in means or risk differences, we recommend that researchers match on
      the logit of the propensity score using calipers of width equal to 0.2 of the
      standard deviation of the logit of the propensity score. When at least some of
      the covariates were continuous, then either this value, or one close to it,
      minimized the mean square error of the resultant estimated treatment effect. It
      also eliminated at least 98% of the bias in the crude estimator, and it resulted
      in confidence intervals with approximately the correct coverage rates.
      Furthermore, the empirical type I error rate was approximately correct. When all
      of the covariates were binary, then the choice of caliper width had a much
      smaller impact on the performance of estimation of risk differences and
      differences in means.

PMID- 20925140
TI  - Metastatic Wilms' tumor in an adolescent successfully treated with multimodal
      pediatric therapy.

PMID- 20925141
TI  - Cerebral Vasospasm.

PMID- 20925142
TI  - Measurement of vasoactive neuropeptides in biological materials: problems and
      pitfalls from 30 years of experience and novel future approaches.

PMID- 20925143
TI  - Cartilage: Commonly used drugs prevent cartilage degradation.

PMID- 20925145
TI  - Spondyloarthropathies: Synergistic therapy protects bone in patients with AS.

PMID- 20925144
TI  - Pain: Diagnostic blocks-a pain in the back?

PMID- 20925146
TI  - Medical therapy of pericardial diseases: part II: Noninfectious pericarditis,
      pericardial effusion and constrictive pericarditis.
AB  - The treatment of pericardial diseases is largely empirical because of the
      relative lack of randomized trials compared with other cardiovascular diseases.
      The main forms of pericardial diseases that can be encountered in the clinical
      setting include acute and recurrent pericarditis, pericardial effusion with or
      without cardiac tamponade, and constrictive pericarditis. Medical treatment
      should be targeted at the cause as much as possible. In this article, the therapy
      of more common forms of noninfectious pericarditis (pericarditis in systemic
      autoimmune diseases and neoplastic pericardial disease), pericardial effusion,
      and constrictive pericarditis is reviewed.

PMID- 20925147
TI  - Reply: GnRHa to trigger final oocyte maturation: a time to reconsider.

PMID- 20925148
TI  - Connective tissue diseases: Plasmacytoid dendritic cells-perpetrators in SLE
      pathogenesis?

PMID- 20925149
TI  - Connective tissue diseases: Blood flow assessment at your fingertips.

PMID- 20925150
TI  - MMF for juvenile derMatoMyositis.

PMID- 20925151
TI  - Therapy: Rituximab has similar short-term safety and efficacy to cyclophosphamide
      in ANCA-associated vasculitis.

PMID- 20925152
TI  - Beyond dark and bright: towards a more holistic understanding of inter-group
      networks.
AB  - Networks are becoming a popular organizational form for structuring human
      activities. To date, scholars have addressed networks in a variety of fields,
      including sociology, economics, public administration, criminology, political
      science, and international security. However, little has been done so far to
      systematically examine the similarities, differences, and connections between
      network forms of organization across different academic disciplines. This has
      important implications for both theory and practice. The lack of attention paid
      to organizational similarities and differences prevents the exchange of knowledge
      developed across fields. In turn, policy-makers cannot take full advantage of
      existing research, and may miss opportunities to improve the work of some
      networks and combat that of others. To address this gap in the literature, this
      paper uses the combination of organizational environments and organizational
      goals to develop a new typology of inter-group networks, and thus improve our
      understanding of how human behaviour is coordinated through networks.

PMID- 20925153
TI  - Supplier behaviour and public contracting in the English agency nursing market.
AB  - The worldwide expansion in the use of private firms to deliver public services
      and infrastructure has promoted a substantial literature on public sector
      contract and relationship management. This literature is currently dominated by
      the notion that supplier relationships should be based upon trust. Less prominent
      are more sceptical approaches that emphasize the need to assiduously manage
      potential supplier exploitation and opportunism. This article addresses this
      imbalance by focusing upon the recent experience of the English National Health
      Service (NHS) in its dealings with its nursing agencies. Between 1997 and 2001,
      the NHS was subjected to considerable exploitation and opportunism. This forced
      managers to adopt a supply strategy based upon an assiduous use of e-auctions,
      framework agreements and quality audits. The article assesses the effectiveness
      of this strategy and reflects upon whether a more defensive approach to contract
      and relationship management offers a viable alternative to one based upon trust.

PMID- 20925154
TI  - Explaining the unexpected success of the smoking ban in Italy: political strategy
      and transition to practice, 2000-2005.
AB  - The approval (2003) and enforcement (2005) of a smoking ban in Italy have been
      viewed by many as an unexpectedly successful example of policy change. The
      present paper, by applying a processualist approach, concentrates on two policy
      cycles between 2000 and 2005. These had opposing outcomes: an incomplete
      decisional stage and an authoritative decision, enforced two years later. Through
      the analysis of the different phases of agenda setting, alternative specification
      and decision making, we have compared the quality of participation of policy
      entrepreneurs in the two cycles, their political strategies and, in these, the
      relevance of issue image. The case allows us to direct the attention of scholars
      and practitioners to an early phase of the policy implementation process - which
      we have named "transition to practice". This, managed with political strategy,
      might have strongly contributed to the final successful policy outcome.

PMID- 20925155
TI  - Implementing evidence-based policy in a network setting: road safety policy in
      the Netherlands.
AB  - In the early 1990s, in order to improve road safety in The Netherlands, the
      Institute for Road Safety Research (SWOV) developed an evidence-based
      "Sustainable Safety" concept. Based on this concept, Dutch road safety policy,
      was seen as successful and as a best practice in Europe. In The Netherlands, the
      policy context has now changed from a sectoral policy setting towards a
      fragmented network in which safety is a facet of other transport-related
      policies. In this contribution, it is argued that the implementation strategy
      underlying Sustainable Safety should be aligned with the changed context. In
      order to explore the adjustments needed, two perspectives of policy
      implementation are discussed: (1) national evidence-based policies with sectoral
      implementation; and (2) decentralized negotiation on transport policy in which
      road safety is but one aspect. We argue that the latter approach matches the
      characteristics of the newly evolved policy context best, and conclude with
      recommendations for reformulating the implementation strategy.

PMID- 20925156
TI  - Health tips.  Care for an injured toe.

PMID- 20925158
TI  - Double vision.  It may be more than eye trouble.

PMID- 20925157
TI  - Top ways to reduce your risk of developing diabetes.

PMID- 20925159
TI  - Hoarseness.  Get your voice back.

PMID- 20925160
TI  - It seems as if my postnasal drip is getting worse as I age.  Is there anything I
      can do about it?

PMID- 20925161
TI  - How is sex determined in insects?  Preface.

PMID- 20925162
TI  - How is sex determined in insects? An epilogue.

PMID- 20925163
TI  - [Upper G.I cancer-esophageal and stomach neoplasm-].

PMID- 20925164
TI  - [Current pathological knowledge of Barrett cancer].

PMID- 20925165
TI  - Combination therapy with epinephrine and dexamethasone for bronchiolitis.

PMID- 20925166
TI  - Hookworm-related cutaneous larva migrans.

PMID- 20925167
TI  - A teaspoon in the stomach: How do we proceed from here?

PMID- 20925168
TI  - Profound metabolic acidosis from pyroglutamic acidemia: an  underappreciated
      cause of high anion gap metabolic acidosis.
AB  - The workup of the emergency patient with a raised anion gap metabolic acidosis
      includes assessment of the components of "MUDPILES" (methanol; uremia; diabetic
      ketoacidosis; paraldehyde; isoniazid, iron or inborn errors of metabolism; lactic
      acid; ethylene glycol; salicylates). This approach is usually sufficient for the
      majority of cases in the emergency department; however, there are many other
      etiologies not addressed in this mnemonic. Organic acids including 5-oxoproline
      (pyroglutamic acid) are rare but important causes of anion gap metabolic
      acidosis. We present the case of a patient with profound metabolic acidosis with
      raised anion gap, due to pyroglutamic acid in the setting of malnutrition and
      chronic ingestion of acetaminophen.

PMID- 20925169
TI  - Acute compartment syndrome of the dorsal forearm following noncontact injury.
AB  - Acute compartment syndrome is a limb-threatening condition in which early
      diagnosis and surgical consultation for fasciotomy are required to preserve
      functional outcome. The diagnosis is typically considered in patients with
      traumatic mechanisms of injury such as a direct blow and crush to the
      compartment, particularly when there is a fracture in the same compartment. We
      report the case of a patient with acute compartment syndrome of the dorsal
      forearm that occurred as a result of an atypical noncontact traumatic mechanism.
      Establishing the diagnosis of compartment syndrome was complicated in this
      patient, as some of the signs and symptoms of acute compartment syndrome could
      have been attributed to the presence of a coexisting rupture of the extensor
      digitorum muscle. This report serves to remind emergency physicians that,
      although rare, acute compartment syndrome can result from exertional and
      noncontact traumatic mechanisms.

PMID- 20925170
TI  - Dantrolene for the treatment of MDMA toxicity.
AB  - MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine), popularly known as "Ecstasy," was first
      introduced and patented by Merck & Co., Inc., in 1914 as an appetite suppressant.
      Currently, its primary role is as an illegal stimulant used to produce a euphoric
      effect during parties. This case report de scribes a 31-year-old man who, after
      taking 3 tablets of Ecstasy, presented to an emergency department with a
      decreased level of consciousness and became progressively hyperthermic and rigid.
      During the course of his acute illness, his temperature reached 42.2 degrees C
      rectally. He was given mechanical ventilation. He was aggressively cooled and
      dantrolene was initiated. Soon after the administration of dantrolene his
      temperature decreased and his rigidity began to resolve. The only complication
      was rhabdomyolysis with a creatine kinase level increasing to over 150 MUkat/L.
      This did not progress to acute renal failure. The patient made a full recovery
      and was discharged to psychiatry for assessment.

PMID- 20925171
TI  - Comments on pinnipeds in JAVMA cover art.

PMID- 20925172
TI  - [Positive affect and cardiovascular health].

PMID- 20925173
TI  - [Patient's emotional reactions in cardiac rehabilitation: analysis and
      perspectives].
AB  - SUBJECT: Evaluation and treatment of psychological diseases are often included in
      cardiology rehabilitation programs. The aim of this study was to analyze the
      emotional reactions in a very consistent sample of cardiac patients, hospitalized
      for a rehabilitation program. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The sample consisted of 5417
      patients, 4563 males and 854 females, with a mean age of 57.36 +/- 9.15 (range 18
      83). They were admitted in the period between 1995 and 2005 and completed the
      Cognitive Behavioral Assessment, Hospital form (CBA-H). RESULTS: Significant
      level of state- anxiety was shown by 27.8% of the subjects, 22.1% reported health
      related fears and 10% depressive symptoms. Women show higher scores in all of the
      three scales, and patients over 65 years scored higher in the depression scale.
      It is interesting to note that the mean scores in the three scales showed a
      progressive and significant decrease over the years. CONCLUSIONS: These data
      confirm that an accurate psychological screening can be extremely useful to
      support the Psychologist working in cardiac rehabilitation as it helps to plan
      more specifically the interventions, focusing on the objective patients'
      educational and psychological needs.

PMID- 20925174
TI  - Information about secondary prevention in coronary patients: a comparison between
      Italian and Brazilian application of MICRO-Q questionnaire.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The MICRO-Q (Maugerl CaRdiac preventiOn Questionnaire) is a self
      administered questionnaire addressed to the evaluation of information regarding
      secondary prevention in patients with coronary heart disease (CHD). The aim of
      this study was to compare the results from Italian and Brazilian application of
      MICRO-Q. METHODS: the instrument was administered to 500 coronary patients (250
      Italian and 250 Brazilian), 117 female and 383 male, aged on average 61.16 years
      (SD = 9.74; range: 33-86), participants of cardiac rehabilitation programs. The
      Italian MICRO-Q has 26 items, 18 true statements and 8 false, with responses
      true, false and 'don't know', with three separate scores: correct, uncorrect and
      uncertain. The Brazilian MICRO-Q has 25 items, 18 true statements and 7 false,
      with the same responses and scores. To verify and compare results we used
      Independent-Sample T Test, ANOVA and Bonferroni Post-hoc. RESULTS: The analysis
      of mean total scores of Italian and Brazilian applications showed statistically
      significant differences for correct answers (p < 0.001) and for 'don't know'
      answers (p < 0.001). 18 statements had significant (p < 0.005) differences
      between applications in the two countries. CONCLUSION: Despite differences
      between Italy and Brazil, the analysis of MICRO-Q applications showed a similar
      mean score percent of correct answers, indicating enough knowledge about
      secondary prevention of CHD.

PMID- 20925175
TI  - Predictors and early outcome of prolonged mechanical ventilation in contemporary
      heart valve surgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: During last decades mechanical ventilation has been an important
      support in the postoperative management of patients undergoing cardiac surgery.
      This study was designed to determine the predictors of prolonged mechanical
      ventilation (PMV) in patients undergoing heart valve surgery. METHODS: This
      retrospective study considered of 1056 patients who underwent isolated valve
      surgery at Tehran Heart Center from March 2002 to March 2009. PMV is considered
      as mechanical ventilation period of > or =24 hours at postoperative hospital stay
      in this study. RESULTS: PMV occurred in 6.6% of patients. Initial ventilation
      hours, atrial fibrillation, cardiac arrest and reintubation were the most
      prevalent postoperative complications. Preoperative renal failure, postoperative
      stroke, intra aortic balloon pump insertion, emergent operation, complete heart
      block, longer perfusion time were independent predictors of PMV in our patients.
      CONCLUSION: PMV is associated with significant comorbidities and increased
      hospital mortality. Strategies to delineate the patients at risk and to modify
      these risk factors by prophylactic measures should probably lead to a lower
      incidence of prolonged mechanical ventilation for patients undergoing isolated
      valve surgery.

PMID- 20925176
TI  - [Non ST ergometric variables in the diabetic patient and their prognostic
      significance].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Recent research based on large number of patients has demonstrated
      that there are strong exercise predictors of cardiovascular events other than ST
      segment behaviour. Studies focused on non-ST segment variables in exercise
      testing (exercise capacity, chronotropic and pressure response, heart rate
      recovery) in diabetics are lacking. The aim of our study is to find out
      differences in the exercise-testing variables between diabetics and non and to
      evaluate their prognostic role. METHODS: We analyzed non ST-variables in 1172
      patients undergoing exercise testing with Bruce protocol: diabetics vs. non
      diabetics: n=83 (7%) vs n=1089 (93%); mean age: 64.37 +/- 8.44 vs 60.44 +/-
      11.44; males: n=56 (67.47%) vs n=665 (61.06%). Mean follow-up was 13.5 +/- 4
      months. RESULTS: Follow-up data were available in 74 diabetics (89%), 14 (18,9%)
      presented cardiac events (death, infarction, coronaric revascularization, heart
      failure). Diabetics with events showed significantly worse 1st min Heart Rate
      (HR) and 3rd min Systolic Blood Pressure (SBP) recovery. CONCLUSIONS: Preliminary
      results highlight that non-ST variables (exercise time, chronotropic response,
      heart rate and blood pressure recovery) are significantly different in diabetics.
      Abnormal HR and SBP recovery identify a subgroup of diabetics at higher risk of
      cardiac events in the follow-up.

PMID- 20925177
TI  - An uncommon clinical condition: chronic thrombosis of the inferior vena cava. A
      case report and review of literature.
AB  - The lifetime incidence of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) is approximately 0.1% in
      general population and even more uncommon in subjects below 40 years of age.
      Thrombosis of the inferior vena cava (IVC) is an exceptionally rare clinical
      condition, with etiological factors similar to lower limb DVT. We present a case
      of post-traumatic chronic obstruction of the IVC in 41 years-old man, caused by a
      prolonged squatted position, while he was working as a bricklayer. We visited the
      patient fifteen years after the onset of the first clinical setting showing a
      severe post thrombotic syndrome, as a consequence of the already diagnosticated
      thrombosis, involving predominantly the right inferior leg. Thrombophilia
      screening tests showed patient to be a heterozygous carrier of
      methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene mutation. Computed tomography
      (CT) scan confirmed the thrombotic obstruction of the infrahepatic IVC, both
      common iliac veins, right external and internal iliac veins, with multiple
      collateral pathways. Because of thrombosis extension, inherited prothrombotic
      condition and the young age of the patient, we decided to continue life-long oral
      anticoagulant therapy.

PMID- 20925178
TI  - Unusual case of myocardial injury induced by Escherichia coli sepsis.
AB  - The typical symptoms and signs of myocardial infarction are well known.
      Alterations in electrocardiogram (ECG), echocardiography or biochemical markers
      of myocardial necrosis are usually helpful to confirm the diagnosis. Some of
      these features, however, also occur in myocarditis, which is a potential
      differential diagnosis. We describe an unusual case of bacterial sepsis due to
      Escherichia coli that caused myocardial damage (myocarditis) with ECG changes
      mimicking acute myocardial infarction. The possible pathophysiological mechanisms
      of myocardial injury in sepsis are also reviewed.

PMID- 20925179
TI  - [Association of diet, exercise, and smoking modification with risk of early
      cardiovascular events after acute coronary syndromes].

PMID- 20925180
TI  - [Job strain predicts recurrent events after a first acute myocardial infarction:
      The Stockholm Heart Epidemiology Program].

PMID- 20925182
TI  - [Ethics and psychiatry].

PMID- 20925183
TI  - [What are the ethics of care in mental health disorders?].
AB  - Psychiatry is undergoing a major crisis, on both an institutional as well as a
      clinical level. Numerous players involved in psychiatry feel in difficulty and
      are increasingly raising questions as to what direction and meaning to give to
      their practice. It is in such a context that ethics can help us to progress,
      reflect and build the future together. It is high time to create the specific
      basis of ethics in psychiatry.

PMID- 20925184
TI  - [Mental health film festival and ethics].
AB  - The mental health film festival is based on the respect of the patient as a
      subject and is a place where psychic suffering can be expressed. As a film is
      destined to be shown, there is a dilemma between the aesthetic and the
      therapeutic aspects and, it's in this link that the ethical dimension concerned
      by this kind of activity takes place.

PMID- 20925185
TI  - [Which policy for mental illness? Interview by Elisa Godart].

PMID- 20925186
TI  - [The ethics of the nursing commitment in psychiatry].
AB  - The referral nurse represents the care environment, he/she is the guarantor of
      the care plan and forms a commitment with regard to the patient. This
      positioning, arising from the empathy he/she has for the patient in a situation
      of vulnerability, may lead him/her to object to and question a medical decision.

PMID- 20925187
TI  - [Child psychiatry, the question of a kiss].
AB  - What should child psychiatry care workers do when a child spontaneously embraces
      or kisses them? This questioning goes far beyond the fact of kissing and raises
      the question of the nature of the healthcare relationship and environment. While
      theoretical knowledge is necessary, it is not sufficient for achieving phronesis
      or "practical wisdom".

PMID- 20925188
TI  - [From policy to unique care in psychiatry, the place of ethics].
AB  - Ethical reflection is an aid to psychiatrists in their role as caregiver and
      policy implementer. Ethics takes root in commitment, the act of resistance
      enables the caregiver not to be carried away by the dominant approach, but rather
      to be an individual subject respecting the singularity of others.

PMID- 20925189
TI  - [Ethics and psychiatry].

PMID- 20925190
TI  - [The creation of an art workshop within a hospital].
AB  - Organising an arts activity within a hospital unit is not simple. But if it is
      well thought out and forms part of a healthcare process, it can have an important
      role to play. An example at Montperrin hospital in Aix-en-Provence.

PMID- 20925192
TI  - [3/7. Psychiatric hospitals].

PMID- 20925191
TI  - [Pathological gambling and psychiatric patients].
AB  - There is a high prevalence of pathological gambling amongst the general
      population, but especially amongst subjects with psychiatric comorbidities with
      mood disorders or dependence on psychoactive substances. Early detection of this
      problem and a global, psychological, psychiatric and social treatment are
      essential for these patients, who are often in very difficult situations.

PMID- 20925193
TI  - [How the Feast of Corpus Christi at the psychiatric hospital of Sarthe became a
      historical event].
AB  - Can the historian, passionate about archives, build a historical narrative based
      mainly on the memories of nurses? Could the caregivers, who are themselves
      players in the history of psychiatry write it? When the former hears the
      individual accounts of the latter, history is written. The history of the Feast
      of Corpus Christi at the psychiatric hospital of Le Mans.

PMID- 20925194
TI  - NFAT regulates CSF-1 gene transcription triggered by L-selectin crosslinking.
AB  - L-selectin is a member of the selectin family that play an important role both in
      mediating the initial capture and subsequent rolling of leukocytes along the
      endothelial cells. Furthermore, L-selectin can function as a signal molecule. In
      our previous studies, we reported that L-selectin ligation could regulate CSF-1
      (colony-stimulating factor-1) gene transcription, in which AP-1 acts as a crucial
      transcriptional factor. Here we investigated the function of the NFAT in the CSF
      1 gene transcriptional events. We found that overexpression of WT NFAT induce CSF
      1 gene transcription greatly in the activated Jurkat cells. Furthermore, we found
      that NFAT can be recruited to the nucleus after L-selectin ligation, and the
      nuclear NFAT interacts with the CSF-1 promoter region to regulate CSF-1 gene
      transcription in the L-selectin ligation activated Jurkat cells. These results
      indicate that nuclear NFAT can activate CSF-1 gene transcription by connecting
      with the CSF-1 promoter in the signaling events induced by L-selectin ligation.

PMID- 20925196
TI  - In vitro effects of 2-methoxyestradiol-bis-sulphamate on cell growth, morphology
      and cell cycle dynamics in the MCF-7 breast adenocarcinoma cell line.
AB  - In the search for new and improved anticancer therapies, researchers have
      identified several potentially useful compounds. One of these agents is 2
      methoxyestradiol-bis-sulphamate (2ME-BM), a sulphamoylated derivative of 2
      methoxyestradiol. The objective of this study was to evaluate 2ME-BM's in vitro
      efficacy as antiproliferative agent in the MCF-7 breast adenocarcinoma cell line.
      Light- and fluorescent microscopy showed decreased cell density, increased
      apoptotic characteristics and significant ultrastructural aberrations indicative
      of autophagic cell death after 24 hours of exposure at a concentration of 0.4
      microM. In addition, mitotic indices revealed that 2ME-BM induces a G2M block.
      The latter was confirmed by flow cytometric analyses where increased sub-G1 and
      G2/M fractions, as well as an increase in cyclin B1 levels were observed. Further
      in vitro research into the mechanism of this potentially useful anticancer
      compound is thus warranted.

PMID- 20925195
TI  - Variable number tandem repeats in the promoter region of prostacyclin synthase
      gene in choline deficient rats.
AB  - Weanling Sprague-Dawley rats were fed on a choline-deficient diet with
      hydrogenated vegetable oil and corn oil as lipids develop acute renal failure.
      Pathogenesis of the latter is controversial and an ischemic mechanism has been
      proposed. Arachidonic acid derivatives are involved in the regulation of vascular
      tonus. Vasospasm could be due to an increase in tromboxane A2-mediated
      vasoconstriction or to a decrease in prostacyclin-induced vasodilatation. Enzymes
      involved in the synthesis of both compounds are tromboxane A2- and prostacyclin
      synthase respectively. The aim of this study was to identify the variable number
      tandem repeats (VNTR) in the promoter region of prostacyclin synthase gene and
      verify if there exists a relationship between the occurrence of VNTR in those
      choline-deficient rats which die because of acute renal failure and those which
      do not. We verified the presence of the VNTR in the prostacyclin synthase rat
      gene, but we did not find any difference in the molecular weight of the alleles
      between experimental and control rats. Renal reparation of the acute kidney
      injury due to choline deficiency in some rats is not related with differences in
      VNTR in the promoter region of the prostacyclin synthase gene.

PMID- 20925197
TI  - Nuclear pores in luteal cells during pregnancy and after parturition and pup
      removal in the rat. A freeze-fracture study.
AB  - In a previous paper we described a pronounced increase of apoptotic nuclei in rat
      corpus luteum of pregnancy whose programmed chromatin degeneration was induced by
      the progesterone antagonist mifepristone. Those observations encouraged us to
      study the apoptotic nuclear membrane during pregnancy and after parturition and
      pup removal, by using a freeze-fracture technique which allows us to observe 'en
      face' the nuclear envelop and also permits nuclear pore counting. This study was
      complemented with the TUNEL assay (TdT-mediated dUTP nick-end labelling). Changes
      in nuclear pores during pregnancy begin with an intense reduction in number but
      still showing an even distribution on the nuclear membrane, never forming
      aggregations sharply separated from pore-free areas, which are characteristic of
      other apoptotic models. Electron microscopy of thin-sections shows, coincidently
      with findings in the freeze-fracture replicas, a moderately irregular aggregation
      of marginal heterochromatin condensations. After nuclear fragmentation and
      micronuclear formation, pores behave in the usual manner in other apoptotic
      models, i.e., mainly showing migrations of nuclear pores toward the chromatin
      free areas. The present results support the hypothesis that nuclear pore
      complexes are dynamic structures, which permit their migration toward nuclear
      membrane areas devoid of chromatin aggregations that might block the
      nucleocytoplasmic transport in such areas.

PMID- 20925198
TI  - CD44 is involved in CXCL-12 induced acute myeloid leukemia HL-60 cell polarity.
AB  - CXCL-12 and its receptor CXCR4 participate in breast cancer and melanoma cell
      metastasis to bone and lymphoid nodes. CD44, as a receptor for hyaluronic acid,
      is involved in lymphocyte recirculation, homing, adhesion and migration. But the
      role of CD44 in CXCL-12 induced leukemia cell migration still remains unclear.
      The present study showed that CXCL-12 stimulation induced the rapid
      internalization of CXCR4 and facilitated the formation of lamellipodia and uropod
      in acute leukemia cell line HL-60. CXCL-12 also induced CD44 translocation into
      the uropod, while CD44 remained evenly distributed on the untreated cell
      membranes. Results suggest that CD44 participates in CXCL-12 induced cell
      polarization and subsequent cell migration.

PMID- 20925199
TI  - Conflict of interest in peer-reviewed medical journals: the World Association of
      Medical Editors (WAME) position on a challenging problem.

PMID- 20925200
TI  - The Medical Council of India guidelines on industry-physician relationship:
      breaking the conspiracy of silence.

PMID- 20925201
TI  - Effect of a single dose of diethylcarbamazine, albendazole or both on the
      clearance of Wuchereria bancrofti microfilariae and antigenaemia among
      microfilaria carriers: a randomized trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Lymphatic filariasis is a major vector-borne parasitic disease. The
      global programme to eliminate lymphatic filariasis was launched in 1997 and
      currently over 570 million people are covered under it in 48 countries. Mass
      annual single-dose drug administration of diethylcarbamazine (DEC), co
      administrated with albendazole for 5-6 years and mass distribution of
      diethylcarbamazine-fortified salt are the two strategies for elimination of
      filariasis. METHODS: Asymptomatic volunteers residing in Puducherry, India were
      screened for microfilaria (mf) by examining nocturnal thick blood smears. Those
      testing positive were randomly assigned to receive a single dose of DEC (6 mg/kg
      body weight) or albendazole 400 mg or both. Participants were hospitalized for 5
      days. Membrane filtration count was used to assess microfilaraemia and ELISA
      (Og4C3) assay to measure circulating filarial antigens (CFA). Measurements were
      done before treatment and at 1, 2 and 3 years post-treatment. Viability of the
      adult worms was assessed by looking for the filarial dance sign (FDS) using
      ultrasound examination of the scrotum in men with hydrocele. RESULTS: Fifty-four
      microfilaraemic Individuals were studied. The mf prevalence started decreasing
      only by day 180 posttreatment in the DEC group but much earlier in the other two
      groups (day 30 in the albendazole and day 90 in the DEC with albendazole group).
      The decrease in mfwas marginal (17.6%, 26.3% and 27.8%, respectively) by the end
      of year 1 posttreatment, but significant (96.7%, 78.6% and 93.3%, respectively)
      by the end of year 2 post-treatment (p < 0.05). By the end of year 3, the level
      decreased to 80% in the DEC, 90% in the albendazole and to 100% in the DEC and
      albendazole groups. However, the mf intensity decreased significantly (by 39%; p
      < 0.05) by day 7 post-treatment in both the DEC and DEC with albendazole groups,
      but only by day 30 in the albendazole group. In all the drug groups, the
      prevalence as well as intensity of CFA returned to pretreatment levels by the end
      of year 3 post-treatment. CONCLUSION: Annual single-dose administration of all
      the 3 drug regimens significantly reduced antigenaemia levels. There were no
      significant differences in the efficacy and overall pattern of CFA clearance
      between the 3 drug regimens.

PMID- 20925202
TI  - Circulating angiogenic factors in pregnancies complicated by pre-eclampsia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pre-eclampsia is an inflammatory disorder characterized by diffuse
      endothelial dysfunction possibly secondary to impaired trophoblast invasion of
      the spiral arteries during implantation. It is associated with alterations in
      maternal serum concentrations of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF),
      placental growth factor (PIGF) and soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1 (sFlt-1).
      We did a case-control study to ascertain whether pre-eclampsia is associated with
      changes in serum concentrations of VEGF, PIGF and sFlt-1 in Indian patients.
      METHODS: Serum samples were obtained from 40 women with pre-eclampsia and 40
      normotensive, non-proteinuric pregnant women. The levels of VEGF, PIGF and sFlt-1
      were analysed using ELISA. RESULTS: In the sera of pregnant women with pre
      eclampsia, the levels of sFlt-1 were significantly higher than those in the sera
      of normotensive, non-proteinuric pregnantwomen (median 11295.25 v. 2936.2 pg/ml,
      p < 0.0001), whereas there was a significant reduction in the levels of free VEGF
      (mean [SD] 170.53 [36.56] pg/ml v. 254.61 [47.39] pg/ml, p < 0.0001) and PIGF
      (mean [SD] 236.77 [93.70] pg/ml v. 744.98 [168.55] pg/ml, p < 0.0001).
      CONCLUSION: An increase in sFlt-1 levels and a simultaneous decrease in free VEGF
      and PIGF levels in the sera of women with pre-eclampsia as compared with
      normotensive, nonproteinuric pregnant women suggest that an imbalance between the
      levels of these pro- and anti-angiogenic factors'may have a role to play in the
      pathogenesis of pre-eclampsia.

PMID- 20925203
TI  - Environmental factors of households in five districts of Kerala affected by the
      epidemic of chikungunya fever in 2007.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Two epidemics of chikungunya fever were reported from Kerala in 2006
      and 2007. We aimed to investigate the environmental factors of households
      affected by chikungunya fever and to estimate the proportion of population that
      suffered from the disease during the epidemic in 2007. METHODS: A cross-sectional
      survey was conducted in the 5 heavily affected districts of Kerala during October
      November 2007. The 2-stage sampling technique was used to collect data from 10
      clusters, each having 18 houses from every district, by interviewing the subjects
      using a structured questionnaire. The sample size was 900. RESULTS: The
      proportion of the population affected by chikungunya fever was 57.1% (95% CI:
      52.8%-61.4%). There was a significant association between location of houses and
      disease status. Houses located near a public conveyance facility (within 250 m)
      were relatively protected from the disease (OR 0.19 [0.06-0.60]). About 69% of
      the households perceived mosquito infestation as a problem and 46.6% used fumes
      to avoid mosquitoes. More than 42% of households were not using any anti-mosquito
      measures at the time of the survey. Stored drinking water was the most common
      potential breeding source in the houses (23.5%). Households which did not store
      water inside were protected from the disease (OR 0.22 [0.08-0.65]). CONCLUSION:
      The study indicated the persistence of favourable domestic and environmental
      factors after the epidemic, reflecting the necessity to strengthen anti-mosquito
      campaigns.

PMID- 20925204
TI  - CD46 polymorphism: a probable risk factor for recurrent spontaneous abortion in a
      northern Indian population.
AB  - BACKGROUND: CD46 is a complement regulatory glycoprotein. Certain polymorphic
      forms of the CD46 gene have been associated with recurrent pregnancy loss in the
      Caucasian population. We assessed the role of CD46 polymorphism in recurrent
      spontaneous abortion in our setting, as this has not been done on Indian subjects
      till date. METHODS: Polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length
      polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) was carried out on 44 samples each from women with
      recurrent spontaneous abortion and normal pregnancy. Genotyping of the CD46 gene
      was done using 2.5% agarose gel. Statistical analysis was done using the TFPGA
      software. RESULTS: The absence of CD46H*1 homozygosity was more pronounced in
      women with recurrent spontaneous abortion in the Indian population. Of recurrent
      aborters, 9% had the H*1/*l genotype as compared to 30% of normal pregnant women.
      CONCLUSION: Although our data did not fit the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, this
      pilot study indicates that further increasing the sample size might clarify
      whether polymorphism in the first intron of the CD46 gene can be regarded as a
      risk factor for recurrent spontaneous abortion.

PMID- 20925205
TI  - Post-kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis (PKDL), HIV and pulmonary tuberculosis.
AB  - Post-kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis is usually a sequel to visceral
      leishmaniasis. A 25-year-old woman presented with hypopigmented maculopapular
      lesions all over the body for the past 4 years without any previous history of
      visceral leishmaniasis. She was on treatment for leprosy and pulmonary
      tuberculosis for the past 2 months, but did not show any improvement.
      Investigations confirmed that she had post-kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis
      associated with pulmonary tuberculosis and HIV-1 infection. She was started on
      treatment for the triad of diseases, and showed improvement.

PMID- 20925206
TI  - Should Vi typhoid vaccine be a part of the National Immunization Programme in
      India?

PMID- 20925207
TI  - Coffee and progression of liver disease.

PMID- 20925208
TI  - Chronic abdominal pain in children.
AB  - Chronic abdominal pain (CAP) continues to be a diagnostic and therapeutic
      challenge. It affects about 10% of school-going children and adolescents. Few
      Indian studies have reported an organic cause in 30%-40% of children with
      recurrent abdominal pain. In developing countries, parasitic infestations such as
      giardiasis and ascariasis are an important cause, of recurrent abdominal pain but
      their frequency has decreased over time. There is a paucity of data from India on
      the aetiology, epidemiology and management strategies for CAP, and there is no
      consensus on the clinical approach to this problem. We present a practical
      approach to CAP in children. The first step is to elicit a detailed history and
      do a thorough physical examination so as to categorize CAP according to the site
      of pain (epigastric, periumbilical or left lower quadrant), the predominant
      symptom associated with pain (dyspepsia, isolated pain or altered bowel habits)
      and to differentiate the pain as organic or functional based on the
      characteristics of pain and presence or absence of alarm signs. The second step
      is to do appropriate investigations, restricted to simple tests when functional
      pain is suspected (Level I) and more investigations (Level Ia) if there are alarm
      signs and pain appears to be organic in nature. Invasive investigations such as
      gastrointestinal endoscopy (Level II) may be reserved for those with possible
      organic pain. Level III investigations need to be done in a small percentage of
      children and include EEG, workup for food allergy and porphyria. The third step
      is management of organic CAP according to the aetiology, while for functional CAP
      the pharmacological and, rarely, psychological intervention is more difficult but
      should be done discreetly and tailored to the needs of the child.

PMID- 20925209
TI  - Mini-clinical examination (CEX) as a tool for formative assessment.

PMID- 20925210
TI  - The problem of compliance.

PMID- 20925211
TI  - An interesting meeting on medical ethics.

PMID- 20925212
TI  - Mental stress among medical students.

PMID- 20925213
TI  - Nurses: our standard-bearers.

PMID- 20925214
TI  - A glimmer of hope for prevention.

PMID- 20925215
TI  - Doctor, did you wash your hands?

PMID- 20925216
TI  - Madras Medical College: 175 years of medical heritage.

PMID- 20925217
TI  - Dr. Kotnis and China.

PMID- 20925218
TI  - Public health in India: law alone is insufficient for social change.

PMID- 20925220
TI  - Impact of personalized medicine on diagnostics and therapeutics.

PMID- 20925221
TI  - [Ethics in neonatal intensive care].
AB  - Work summarises current data ideas of problems of ethical thinking and decision
      making in neonatology. Primary objective ethical questions of administration
      resuscitative and intensive care are outlined, as well as administration of care
      for babies, delivered on limit of viability, in the same way for children with
      high probability of serious damage in case of survival. Role of parents in
      decision making about to other administration care is discussed, some
      recommendation and instructions for communication with parents are handed up.
      Findings of extensive european study named EURONIC are shortly mentioned, study
      concerns problems of ethical dilemmas in neonatology in 8 European countries.
      Finally the categorization of newborns in ethical thinking is mentioned and
      present circumstances in Czech republic are remarked.

PMID- 20925219
TI  - Cortical venous thrombosis due to acquired hyperhomocysteinaemia.

PMID- 20925222
TI  - [Shoulder dystocia during vaginal delivery].
AB  - Shoulder dystocia is defined as a complication of vaginal delivery that requires
      additional obstetric manoeuvres to release the shoulders of the baby. Reported
      incidence of shoulder dystocia is around 0.6-1.4%. Serious perinatal morbidity is
      associated with this type of complication. Brachial plexus injuries are one of
      the most important fetal complications of shoulder dystocia. Some cases results
      in permanent brachial plexus dysfunction. A high level of awareness and training
      for all birth attendants is recommended. The purpose of this article is to review
      the current evidence regarding the possible prediction and management of shoulder
      dystocia.

PMID- 20925223
TI  - [Perinatal brachial plexus palsy].
AB  - Upper limbs palsy as a result of affliction of plexus brachialis nervous bunch is
      disorder, whose frequency moves among 0.42-5.1 / 1000 liveborn children. Delivery
      mechanism itself certain weighty, no however only cause rising paralysis. Some
      way paralysis rise already intrauterinne, some way then at surgical childbirth
      per sectionem caeseream. Brachial plexus palsy isn't benign disorder. If isn't
      this disorder in time diagnosed and accordingly treated, child threatens late
      aftermath, especially significant limitation of limbs movement with functional
      consequencies.

PMID- 20925224
TI  - [Repair of the 3rd and 4th degree obstetric perineal tear].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Summary of the current knowledge of repair of obstetric anal sphincter
      trauma. DESIGN: Review. SETTING: Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Charles
      University and University Hospital Pilsen. SUMMARY: Review of the current
      international literature covering the given problem. RCOG classification of
      obstetrics perineal trauma should always be used as it respects the anatomic
      structures together with the physiological functions of tissue involved in ano
      rectal continence. Two types of procedure: end-to-end approximation and
      overlapping of torn ends of the anal sphincter are both referred to and they are
      discussed with regards to the functional outcome of the repair. OPERATING
      CONDITIONS: Experience of the surgeon, operating theatre and its equipment,
      asepsis, lighting, operating instruments, anesthesia, material and type of
      suture, medication is described to increase the effectiveness of the repair. A
      delay in primary repair of up to 8-12 hours does not seem to be detrimental to
      the functional outcome of the procedure. Uncommon types of injury mentioned:
      segmented tear of internal anal sphincter, lateral tear of external anal
      sphincter.

PMID- 20925225
TI  - [Severe obstetrical injuries and anal incontinence].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Commentary to article. SUBJECT: Review article. SETTING: Gynecological
      and obstetrical clinic, First Faculty of Medicine and Faculty hospital Bulovka,
      Prague. SUBJECT AND METHOD: A summary of findings of the newest studies indicated
      on Medline. CONCLUSION: The problem of anal incontinence has a significant impact
      on the quality of life after its occurence and has an incidence of about 1.4% of
      the population. One of the risk factors is vaginal delivery. The prevalence of
      postpartal anal incontinence was found in one individual study to be 3-29%, the
      differences are certainly based on the type of questions. The same fluctuations
      and prevalence of anal sphincter injuries in one individual study was from 1.6 to
      26.9%. The problem calls for a simple classification of obstetrical injuries and
      lacks a recommended approach to preventing and providing care for women with
      obstetrical injuries of the anal muscle sphincter.

PMID- 20925226
TI  - [Recombinant activated factor VII in the treatment of life threatening post
      partum haemorrhage; registry UniSeven in the Czech Republic].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To analyze the data related to the treatment of 80 Czech patients with
      life threatening postpartum haemorrhage recorded in the clinical registry
      UniSeven during years 2004-2009. DESIGN: Retrospective, observational,
      multicentre study. SETTINGS: ICU and Obstetrics departments of University and
      Regional hospitals in Czech Republic. MATERIAL AND METHODS: UniSeven is an
      international academic project of Masaryk University in Brno, Czech Republic,
      focused on recording of clinical data related to "off-label" use of rFVIIa (Novo
      Seven) in life threatening bleeding. Data of 80 case reports of post partum
      haemorrhage from the registry was analysed from the clinical (efficacy and
      safety) as well as laboratory aspects. RESULTS: In 97.5% of our patients the
      treatment with rFVIIa was able to control the bleeding. In 53 women (66.3%) only
      one dose of rFVIIa was sufficient to control the bleeding. The rest of the
      patient received two or more rFVIIa doses. First dose of rFVIIa given to patients
      who needed more than one dose was significantly lower (96.6 microg/kg) compared
      to patient succesfully treated with one dose only (110.6 microg/kg; p = 0.048).
      The mortality rate in our cohort of patients was 2.5%. We have not recorded any
      thrombembolic event as and adverse event related to the rFVIIa treatment. In
      74.3% of patients where rFVIIa was administered before considering the
      hysterectomy, it was able to avoid hysterectomy what we consider to be a
      significant improvement of the patients' quality of life. CONCLUSIONS: Our data
      were also considered during the work up of national guidelines for the treatment
      of life threatening post-partum haemorrhage in the Czech Republic.

PMID- 20925227
TI  - [Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura in pregnancy. Case report].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Description of case of patient with rare thrombotic thrombocytopenic
      purpura in pregnancy. SUBJECT: Case report. SETTING: Department of Gynecology and
      Obstetrics, Charles University and University Hospital Motol, Prague. CONCLUSION:
      Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) is a rare and substantial disorder
      characterized with combination of microangiopathic haemolytic anemia, consumption
      trombocytopenia and symptoms of organs dysfunction--especially kidneys and
      neurological deficiency. It's caused by production of microthrombi affecting
      small blood vessels. These palatelets-rich microtrombi are formed due to
      deficiency of the enzyme ADAMTS13--metalloprotease which is responsible for
      cleaving of ultralarge multimers of von Willebrand factor into smaller units. In
      our case report we describe patient with TTP in pregnancy. Therapy with
      corticosteroids and immunoglobulines was not effective, improvement of
      thrombocytopenia appeared after plasmapheresis (total count 14). The delivery was
      induced at term without complications. Target examination confirmed diagnosis of
      secondary TTP.

PMID- 20925228
TI  - [Uterine rupture in pregnancy--case study].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Analysis of two cases uterine rupture following caesarian section.
      SUBJECT: Two case studies. SETTING: Gynecological obstetrics clinic, First
      Medical Faculty and Faculty Hospital Bulovka, Prague. SUBJECT AND METHODS: The
      authors in their article describe two cases of rupture of the uterus in pregnancy
      prior to delivery. In both cases there was a history of cervicocorporal caesarian
      section. CONCLUSION: In the first case the patient was admitted from her home
      with bleeding, and signed a nonconsent form. The second case concerned a
      hospitalized patient, in which the first signs of uterine rupture were indicated
      by fetal heart rate. Both women underwent hysterectomy, paradoxically, in the
      first case the child was saved and discharged home in good health.

PMID- 20925229
TI  - [Analysis of cell free fetal DNA fragmentation rate in pregnant women during the
      course of gravidit].
AB  - AIM OF STUDY: To assess cell free fetal DNA (cffDNA) fragmentation rate in
      pregnant women during the course of gravidity. STUDY DESIGN: QF PCR efficiency in
      cffDNA and quantitative analyses in particular cffDNA molecular size fractions.
      SETTING: The study was performed at Department of Medical Genetics and Fetal
      Medicine, University Hospital Olomouc. METHOD: 1. 363 plasma DNA samples from
      women in different week of pregnancy (from 4th w.g. to 37th w.g.) were tested for
      QF PCR efficiency in particular STRs and AMELX/Y. 2. Size fractionated cff DNA
      (150-300 bp, 300-500 bp, 500-760 bp) was quantified by QF PCR in 91 pregnant
      women (from 9th w.g. to 40th w.g.). 3. Size fractionated cff DNA from male
      fetuses was quantified by real time PCR (SRY/internal control) in 22 pregnant
      women (from 9th w.g. to 36th w.g.). RESULTS: 1. QF PCR efficiency decreased from
      longer to shorter molecules. 2. The only 500 -760 bp fraction showed cffDNA
      increase in relation to week of gravidity. 3. Indirect relation between amount of
      cffDNA and week of gravidity was found in 150-300 bp fraction by Real-time PCR.
      CONCLUSION: Assembling of all 3 approaches indicates increase of longer cffDNA
      molecules during the gravidity while level of the short cffDNA molecule fragments
      probably remains from the approximately 9th w.g. the same.

PMID- 20925230
TI  - [DNA analysis on Y chromosomal AZF region deletions in Slovak population].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Study on Y chromosomal AZF region deletions in Slovak population,
      application of DNA technique. DESIGN: Genetic-prospective study. SETTING:
      Institute of Medical Biology, Genetics and Clinical Genetics, Faculty of
      Medicine, Comenius University in Bratislava. METHODS: For detecting
      microdeletions in the Y-chromosomal AZF region in men with fertility disorders
      and for identifying Y-specific sequences we used the method of polymerase chain
      reaction (PCR) with using three different sets of sY sequences. For a
      verification of the specific type of deletion we used also fluorescently labeled
      kit. RESULTS: Diagnoses of referred patients were divided into 2 groups:
      azoospermia, oligospermia. In the followed-up group of 822 patients there were
      349 patients with azoospermia, 473 patients with oligospermia. Globally we
      reported 38 cases of deletions in the AZF region of the Y chromosome, i.e. 4.62%.
      24 patients with deletion are from the group of patients with azoospermia, i.e.
      6.88%, 14 patients are from the group of patients with oligospermia (2.95%).
      Considering particular types of deletions we recorded deletions in each region,
      AZFa, AZFb and AZFc, combinated AZFbc deletion, but also a complete deletion of
      the whole AZF region. CONCLUSION: The study confirmed that detection of
      microdeletions of the AZF region is significant from diagnostic and prognostic
      view and it pointed out the importance of selection criteria for selecting
      patients.

PMID- 20925231
TI  - [Guideline for prevention of RhD alloimmunization in RhD negative women].
AB  - Events following which anti-D immunoglobulin should be given to all RhD negative
      women with no anti-D antibodies: First trimester indications (50 microg)-
      termination of pregnancy, spontaneous abortion followed by instrumentation,
      ectopic pregnancy, chorionic villus sampling, partial molar pregnancy; Second and
      third trimester indications (100 microg)--amniocentesis, cordocentesis, other
      invasive prenatal diagnostic or therapeutic procedures, spontaneous or induced
      abortion, intrauterine fetal death, attempt at external cephalic version of a
      breech presentation, abdominal trauma, obstetric haemorrhage; Antenatal
      prophylaxis at 28th weeks of gestation (250 microg); Delivery of an RhD positive
      infant * (100 microg); Minimal dose: before 20 weeks gestation--50 microg (250
      IU), after 20 weeks gestation **--100 microg (500 IU); Timing: as soon as
      possible, but no later than 72 hours after the event. In cases where prevention
      of RhD alloimmunization is not performed within 72 hours of a potentially
      sensitising event, it is still reasonable to administer anti-D immunoglobulin
      (IgG anti-D) within 13 days, and in special cases, administration is still
      recommended up to a maximum interval of 28 days postpartum.; FMH (fetomaternal
      haemorrhage)--If the amount of fetal erythrocytes which entered the maternal
      circulation is quantitatively determined, administration of 10 microg IgG anti-D
      per 0.5 ml of fetal erythrocytes or 1 ml of whole blood is indicated. *also if
      the RhD type of the infant has not been determined or is in doubt, **in
      conjunction with a test to assess the volume of any fetomaternal hemorrhage.

PMID- 20925232
TI  - [Pregnant women alloimmunisation of non-RhD erythrocyte antigens: review
      article].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this review is to give comprehensive summary on
      alloimmunisation of non-RhD erythrocyte antibodies. DESIGN: Review. SETTING:
      Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University Hospital Ostrava, Department
      of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University Hospital Olomouc. SUBJECT AND METHOD:
      Based on literature analysis using database search engines PubMed, Google
      Scholar, Ovid and Proquest in field of non-RhD erytrocyte antibodies, there has
      been summarized up-to-date knowledge on irregular antibodies. CONCLUSION:
      Pregnant women alloimmunisation of non-RhD erythrocyte antigens gather importance
      in conjunction with relative increase of their occurence. Profylaxis is not
      possible. Although these erythrocyte antigens are able to induce antibody
      responce in mother and result in subsequent hemolytic disease of fetus and
      newborn. There are discussed most frequent non-RhD antibodies in the paper.

PMID- 20925233
TI  - [Local sperm antibodies and general levels of immunoglobulins in ovulatory
      cervical mucus].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of our preliminary study was to compare the levels of total
      local sIgA and IgG with activity of detected sperm antibodies in ovulatory
      cervical mucus (OCM). SETTING: Department of Gyneacology and Obstetrics, Medical
      School and Faculty Hospital, Charles University, Plzen. METHODS: We screened
      samples of OCM from 12 pacients aged 26-31 (29,6 years on average) by radial
      immunodifusion (RID) to determine s IgA and IgG. Indirect MAR test was used for
      detection of spermagglutinationg antibodies. RESULTS: We found out by RID the
      average concentration of sIgA in OCM 567,84 mg/l (0 -1250,47) and the average
      concentration of IgG in OCM 23,57 mg/l (8,74-47,99). Antibody activity against
      sperm cells dominates in IgA with 6 pacients, in IgA with 1 patient, in IgA and
      IgG together with 1 infertile woman and in IgA and IgM isotypes together with 1
      patient. No local sperm antibodies were determined with 3 patients. CONCLUSION:
      We proved the hypothesis, that the levels of spermagglutinating antibodies do not
      correlate with findings of total sIgA and IgG in OCM with our patients.

PMID- 20925234
TI  - [Measurement of bone mineral density by heel ultrasound and forearm DXA in
      clinical practice].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The comparation of two possibilities of bone mineral density
      measurement--ultrasound and dual energy x-ray absorptiometry. DESIGN: Open
      nonrandomized observation study. SETTING: Department of Obstetrics and
      Gynecology, 1st Faculty of Medicine Charles University and General Faculty
      Hospital Prague. METHODS: We examined 190 women with mean age 56 years by both
      methods--Lunar PIXI (dual energy x-ray absorptiometry) on forearm and CUBA
      Clinical (broadband ultrasound attenuation) on heel. We took personal history for
      menopause status, hormone replacement therapy, smoking, sport activity and age.
      RESULTS: The incidence of T-scores was the same for both methods, there were
      differences in Z-scores. In both methods we have seen the same tendencies of
      interaction with risk factors. Bone mineral density (BMD) respective T-score
      significantly decreased with age. There were no significant connections between
      BMD and body mass index (lineary regression test), hormone replacement therapy
      (paired t-test), smoking and physical exercise (Mann-Whitney U test). T-score was
      significantly (p < 0.003) lower in women with history of fracture (Mann-Whitney U
      test). CONCLUSION: In spite of totally different principles of measurement both
      methods are able to screen BMD.

PMID- 20925235
TI  - [Complications of radical oncogynecological operations].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Information sheet about the most frequently complications of radical
      oncogynecological operations. DESIGN: Literature review with case reports.
      SETTING: Department of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk's
      University and Faculty Hospital, Brno. METHODS: Literature review about
      complications of radical oncogynecological operations with illustrative case
      reports. CONCLUSIONS: Radical oncogynecological operations, due to their size,
      associated with a higher morbidity compared with traditional gynecological
      surgery. The literature states morbidity parameters between 25-45% depending on
      the center of erudition and range of out performance. Basic division of surgical
      complications is on perioperative complications and postoperative complications,
      which are further divided into early and late. The most frequently intraoperative
      complication is large blood loss requiring the application of blood substitutes.
      Less common complications are injury to the urinary bladder, ureter, rarely bowel
      or neural structures, especially nerve obturatorius. Among early postoperative
      complications are dominated urological complications, particularly urinary
      bladder hypotonia, another important group are the vascular complications, ie
      trombembolia and bleeding. Between late postoperative complications is possible
      to define several basic groups, ie urology, intestinal, lymphovascular and
      complications associated with laparotomy wound suture. Prevention of
      complications should be based on several basic assumptions. These include
      adequate erudition and composition of the operating team, perfect knowledge of
      anatomical conditions in the pelvic retroperitoneum, the paraaortic, the
      paracaval and inguinal area, implementation radicality adequate performance in
      relation to the extent of the disease and developing new surgical techniques (eg
      nerve sparing surgery). Absolute necessity is also the possibility of
      interdisciplinary cooperation with other surgical disciplines, which is important
      both in terms of preventing complications, and for their event subsequent
      solutions.

PMID- 20925236
TI  - [Process of women's reproductive ageing--causes, evaluation and possible clinical
      usage].
AB  - Women's fertility steeply decreases with increasing age, but the intensity of the
      decrease is individually significantly variable. The main cause of fertility drop
      is rapid decrease of ovarian follicle count. Deletion of ovarian follicles
      happens mainly by the mechanism of cell apoptosis. Nevertheless in the whole
      process participates also others exogenous and endogenous factors. At present new
      major steps in the complex ovarian ageing process has been identified and some
      innovative therapeutic strategies have been suggested to influence this process.
      At the end this paper evaluates currently available markers of ovarian reserve
      and its abilities to be used in routine clinical practice.

PMID- 20925237
TI  - [Optic neuritis in multiple sclerosis].

PMID- 20925238
TI  - [The use of modern examination methods in early diagnosis of pigmentary glaucoma
      and pigmentary dispersion syndrome].
AB  - AIM: To establish, using modern examination methods, the possibility to determine
      the damage of visual functions characteristic for glaucoma in pigmentary
      dispersion syndrome (PDS) earlier than using classical methods, and, if the
      pigmentary glaucoma (PG) differs in the visual functions damage from the primary
      open angle glaucoma (POAG). MATERIALS AND METHODS: The followed-up cohort of 21
      persons (altogether examined 34 eyes) was divided into four groups: in the first
      group, there were the healthy controls and the next three groups were divided
      according to the type of the disease. The first group consisted of 10 eyes of 5
      healthy persons (1 woman aged 50 years and 4 men in the age 23-45 years). The
      average refractive error in this group was -0.25 diopters. In the second group,
      10 eyes of 7 patients with PDS (out of them 2 women at the age 55 and 56 years
      respectively, and 5 men, age 27-46 years) were included. The average refractive
      error in this group was -2.85 diopters. The third group comprised 9 eyes of 6
      patients with PG (3 women aged 50-56 years and 3 men at the age 21-49 years). The
      average refractive error in this group was -5.0 diopters. The fourth group
      consisted of 5 eyes of 3 patients (one woman at the age of 44 years and two men
      at the age 35 and 50 years) with POAG. The average refractive error in this group
      was -1.0 diopter. The age structure in all groups was comparable. In the followed
      up cohort of 21 persons, the refractive error, the visual acuity, (EDTRS charts),
      gonioscopy (evaluated according to Spaeth classification), intraocular pressure
      (non-contact device Canon TX 10 and applanation tonometer Inami), visual field
      testing (Medmont M700), nerve fiber layer measurement (GDx -VCC), macular volume
      (MV - OCT Stratus), PR-ERG, PR-VEP (Retiscan according to the ISCEV methodology)
      were examined. RESULTS: The statistical evaluation of the results and their
      mutual comparing among separate groups with following outputs were performed: 1.
      The control group and the PDS group: statistically significant differences were
      established in GDx and MV. Statistically most significant were the differences in
      PR-ERG and PR-VEP amplitudes (t = 28, eventually 18.254 against the tabularized
      value 2.845). 2. The control group against the PG group: statistically
      significant differences were found in GDx, MV, and PR-ERG and PR-VEP amplitudes
      as well. 3. The control group against the POAG group: statistically significant
      differences were found in GDx and MV. Statistically most important difference was
      found in the PR-VEP amplitude (t = 63.973 against the tabularized value 3.012).
      4. The PDS group versus PG group: statistically significant differences were
      found in GDx and MV as well. Statistically most important difference was found in
      the PR-VEP amplitude (t = 36.75 against the tabularized value 2,898). CONCLUSION:
      Using the modern diagnostic techniques, the PDS and PG may be differentiated.
      Statistically significant differences were found in GDx and in MV as well. The
      biggest difference was in PR-ERG and in PR-VEP. Differentiated slowing down of
      the excitations conduction speed in the visual evoked responses, which presents
      in PG and in PDS as well, may provide close proximity of both diseases. Because
      of that, it is appropriate to follow up the patients with the PDS in the same way
      as the glaucoma patients.

PMID- 20925239
TI  - [The ERG contribution in early diagnosis of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine
      maculopathy].
AB  - Derivates of chloroquine (Plaquenil, Delagil), used for long-term treatment of
      rheumatic diseases, may cause clinically proven irreversible maculopathy, which
      may progress even after the discontinuation of their application. The optimal
      early diagnosis of ocular toxicity of chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine drug
      remains controversial up to now. The aim of this review paper was to evaluate how
      appropriate is the indication of the electroretinographic (ERG) examination due
      to the early diagnosis of cumulative drug-related maculopathy. Photopic, pattern,
      and multifocal ERG (Retiscan, according to the ISCEV methodology) were examined
      in 10 patients (20 eyes) treated by means of antimalarics, 9 due to the
      rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and 1 due to the systemic lupus erythremathodes (SLE).
      The average age of the patients was 60 +/- 15 years, the treatment period was 10
      +/- 11 years; the median of the treatment period was 5 years. The control group
      consisted of 12 healthy, age matched patients (20 eyes) without any obvious
      ocular pathology. In all of them, the complete ophthalmologic examination was
      performed: the best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) for far using the Snellen
      charts, intraocular pressure (IOP) measured by means of the non contact tonometer
      NIDEK NT-2000, the Amsler grid test, examination of the anterior segment and the
      posterior segment with the slit lamp. The entry criteria in both groups were BCVA
      5/7,5 (0.67) and better, the IOP in the normal range, negative Amsler grid test,
      anterior segment without significant decrease of the transparency, and
      physiological posterior segment or with subtle granular pigment dysgrupancies in
      the macula only. The significant difference between the group treated with
      chloroquine or hydrochloroquine and the control group at the 1% level of
      significance was found in following parameters: in the photopic ERG the value of
      the b wave latency [ms], in pattern ERG, the values of the waves N35 - P50
      [microV] and P50 - N95 [microV] amplitudes, and at the 5 % level of significance
      in photopic ERG, the wave a amplitude value [microV] and in multifocal ERG, the
      value of the P1 [ms] a N1 [ms] parts latency in the pericentral ring. It follows
      from the results, that the ERG examination is suitable for the early diagnosis
      drug cumulative maculopathy caused by chloroquine derivates. Optimal is the
      individual comparison of the ERG values of the patient before and in certain time
      intervals after the beginning of the chloroquine derivates treatment.

PMID- 20925240
TI  - [Implantation of the stenopeic aniridiae posterior chamber intraocular lens after
      the trauma--yes or no?].
AB  - Perforating injuries involving the anterior as well as the posterior segment of
      the eye count among serious conditions requiring several consequential surgical
      treatments. The anatomical and functional result is often monocular partial or
      total aniridia together with aphakia. One among the possibilities to correct this
      condition is the secondary implantation of the stenopeic aniridiae posterior
      chamber intraocular lens (PC IOL).

PMID- 20925241
TI  - [Treatment of angioid streaks with anti-VEGF].
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the possibility to treat the chorioidal neovascularisation
      in angioid streaks with the help of Bevacizumab. Chorioidal neovascularisation is
      here the main reason responsible for destroying the vision and affects about 70
      85% of patients with this disease. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 50 years old woman with
      2 weeks anamnesis of worsening of vision on left eye. She claims deformed view in
      the middle of the visual field and mild decrease of visual acuity. BCVA was 0.9
      and examination with Amsler grid showed line distorsion in the central part.
      After fundus examination, angiography and OCT we set diagnosis: angioid streaks
      complicated by subfoveal chorioidal neovascularisation. We proposed patient
      treatment with intravitreal Bevacizumab and subsequently started the therapy.
      RESULTS: One week after bevacizumab application, patient claims vanishing of
      vision distortion. In four weeks metamorphopsis completely disappeared and BCVA
      reached 1.2. OCT and FAG showed less leakage. After initial improvement and 7
      months of stand still there comes again to vision deterioration (BCVA 0.7). We
      were obliged to reinject 1.25 mg of Bevacizumab and VA improved to 0.9 and also
      the deformation was less. Three months after second injection VA was again
      decreased and patient was treated with third injection. Patient is followed up
      for period of 12 months with mild deformation of picture and VA 0.7. It was not
      observed any side effect of treatment. CONCLUSIONS: The treatment of the
      chorioidal neovascularisation in angioid streaks is another possibility with the
      help of Bevacizumab.With this treatment can be delayed the devastation of VA with
      subfoveal neovascularization. It seems that the treatment is only temporally and
      during the 12 months follow up came to a few relapse.

PMID- 20925242
TI  - [Efficiency of vitrectomy in diabetic macular edema and morphometry of surgically
      removed of the internal limiting membrane].
AB  - AIM: To evaluate the efficiency of vitrectomy with peeling of the internal
      limiting membrane (ILM) in eyes with diffuse and/or cystoid nontractional
      diabetic macular edema (ME) refractory to macular laser photocoagulation.
      Histopathologic and morphometric analysis of the ILM in diabetic eyes was
      performed. Thickness of the ILM was correlated with the level of glykosylated
      hemoglobin (HbA1c) and other clinical factors. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The
      prospective study involved 56 eyes of 52 diabetic patients with a mean age of 63
      +/- 7.6 years. Vitrectomy with trypan blue-assisted ILM peeling was performed in
      standard way. Mean follow-up period was 8.7 months (range 3 - 19 months). The ILM
      was fixed immediately after peeling in 2.5% glutaraldehyde and submitted for
      electron microscopic evaluation. The ILM was photographed in standard
      magnification (x 5000) with the scale of 1 microm in the shot. RESULTS:
      Statistical analysis of the postoperative visual acuity (VA) in the study group
      of 56 eyes proved a general improvement with prevalence of the resulted VA in
      intervals 0.1-0.2 and 0.5-1.0 related to ETDRS chart. The VA was improved by at
      least 2 lines in 29 eyes of 56 eyes (51.8%), one line in 6 eyes (10.7%) and
      remained unchanged in 11 eyes (19.6%). The postoperative VA deteriorated by one
      line in 2 eyes (3.6%) and at least 2 lines in 8 eyes (14.3%). Morphometric
      analysis demonstrated a significant thickening of the ILM in all eyes with a mean
      thickness of the ILM 3.61 +/- 1.22 micro m. It was found that a higher thickness
      of the ILM is related to elevated HbA1c by both types of diabetes mellitus (DM)
      (p = 0.040). We also found significant dependence of ILM thickness in relation to
      duration of DM by comparison of men and women (p = 0.026) and significant
      correlation between ILM thickness and the age of diabetic patients related to
      their gender (p = 0.029). CONCLUSIONS: Vitrectomy with peeling of the ILM in eyes
      with chronic diffuse and/or cystoid nontractional diabetic ME mildly improves the
      VA and extends a hope for its stabilization. We confirmed increased thickness of
      the surgically peeled ILM and statistically significant correlations to elevated
      HbA1c by both types of DM and to further clinical characteristics of case series.
      Morphometric and histopathologic analyses of the ILM contribute to more objective
      evaluation of ultrastructure of the vitreomacular interface.

PMID- 20925243
TI  - [The influence of the idiopathic macular hole (IMH) surgery with the ILM peeling
      and gas tamponade on the electrical function of the retina].
AB  - Many contemporary clinical papers establish positive influence of the pars plana
      vitrectomy (PPV) with the ILM (internal limiting membrane) peeling and gas
      tamponade in macular hole to the macular morphology. They prove diminishing or
      disappearing of the central scotoma and metamorphopsia and especially also
      improvement of the BCVA for far and near. The evaluation of the objective
      functional condition of the retina is still a discussed question. This paper
      concerns with the comparison of the electric functions of the retina before and
      after the IMH surgery with the ILM peeling and the gas tamponade. In the group 19
      patients (8 men, 11 women), or 19 eyes with IMH were included. The average age
      was 69 +/- 6 years. The group consisted of patients with transparent optical
      media. In none of these patients was found other macular pathology than IMH.
      Nobody underwent other retinal surgery. The patients were examined 1 day before
      and 1 and 3 months after the surgery. During each control, the following
      examinations were performed: the Amsler grid examination, the best corrected
      visual acuity (BCVA) for far (EDRTS chart) and near (Jaeger optotypes),
      intraocular pressure measurement (non contact tonometer NIDEK NT-2000),
      examination of the anterior segment on the slit lamp, examination of the
      posterior segment biomicroscopically and by means of indirect ophthalmoscopy,
      examination of the photopic, pattern, and multifocal ERG (Retiscan, according to
      the ISCEV methodology), and OCT examination (Stratus OCT). If necessary, the
      ultrasound examination (Ultrascan Alcon) was performed as well. For the
      statistical evaluation of the ERG component values among the data files before
      the surgery (data file 1), 1 month after the surgery (data file 2), and 3 months
      after the surgery (data file 3), the non-parametric Wilcoxon pair test was used.
      In the photopic ERG, there was statistically significant prolongation of the
      latency b in data file 2 and 3 comparing to the data file 1 (p < 0.05). Comparing
      latency b of data file 1 to data file 2, there was found no statistical
      significance. Comparing other parameters of photopic ERG found no statistically
      significant difference among data files 1,2, and 3. In the multifocal ERG, there
      was found statistically significant elevation of the P1 amplitude according to
      the response density of given unit and the P1 amplitude in the central ring in
      data file 3 comparing to the data file 1 (p < 0.05). Comparison of other
      parameters was not statistically significant. In the paracentral ring, there was
      found statistically significant extension of the N1 and P1 latency in data file 3
      comparing to the data file 1 (p < 0.05). Comparison of other parameters in the
      paracentral ring was not statistically significant. Statistically significant
      improvement of the retinal electric function in the central 4 degrees 3 months
      after the surgery, confirms the positive functional effect of the surgery to the
      fovea. In the fovea, the increase of the number of functional nerve cells of the
      outer layers of the retina occurs. On the other hand, in the parafoveolar region,
      as well as in the whole retina, 3 months after the surgery, statistically
      significant decrease of the function of the retina, meaning the time prolongation
      of the conduction in the outer layers of the retina, occurs. According also to
      our results, the peeling of the ILM in the IMH surgery remains, despite its
      unquestionable contribution, still a controversial technique. During the short,
      three months lasting, follow-up period, the functional improvement in the fovea
      occurred, but the functional decrease in the parafoveolar region which correlates
      in the large extent with area of the ILM peeling was found. The discussion about
      the ILM peeling indication in the earlier stages is adequate. We will further
      follow-up the development of the retinal electric function after the IMH surgery
      with ILM peeling and gas tamponade.

PMID- 20925244
TI  - [The use of intravitreal ranibizumab application in the treatment of post
      inflammatory neovascular membranes--a case report].
AB  - The aim of this case report is to represent our experience with intravitreal
      application of ranibizumab in a patient with post-inflammatory neovascular
      membrane. Patient, a 46 years old male, complained about 3 months lasting
      metamorphopsia in the left eye. The classic post-inflammatory neovascular
      membrane was diagnosed by means of fluorescein angiography. The initial BCVA of
      the left eye was 4/6 (or 0.67). Two intravitreal injections of 0.5 mg ranibizumab
      each were applied. After two applications, the BCVA was 4/4 (or 1.0), there was
      no biomicroscopically detectable edema, and the OCT revealed reestablished
      foveolar depression. This condition remains stable even after 10 months after
      beginning of the treatment. The anti-VEGF treatment represents another
      possibility of the treatment of post-inflammatory neovascular membranes.

PMID- 20925245
TI  - [The use of molecular genetics techniques in clinical microbiology--final report
      from the workshop of the Molecular Microbiology Working Group TIDE].
AB  - In the last decade, there has been a rapid development in the use of molecular
      genetics methods in clinical microbiology. Novel technologies bring new knowledge
      and approaches to various disciplines of microbiology--taxonomy, identification
      of microbes, clinical diagnosis, epidemiology of infectious diseases and
      antibiotic resistance. This article summarizes the conclusions from the workshop
      of the Molecular Microbiology Working Group TIDE held during the Second Annual
      Meeting of the Society for Medical Microbiology of the J. E. Purkyne Czech
      Medical Association.

PMID- 20925246
TI  - [Examination of mosquitoes collected in southern Moravia in 2006-2008 tested for
      arboviruses].
AB  - The main goals of the study were to carry out virus isolation attempts on Vero
      cell cultures from mosquitoes collected in southern Moravia (Breclav district,
      Czech Republic) and to identify the isolates using a microtiter virus
      neutralization test. A total of 9.742 female mosquitoes belonging to 13 species
      were examined, and three viral strains were isolated, all from the mosquitoes
      collected in 2006: two of these isolates were identified as Tahyna
      Orthobunyavirus (both obtained from Aedes vexans mosquitoes) and one was West
      Nile flavivirus (obtained from Aedes rossicus mosquitoes). Ae. rossicus might be
      a new vector for West Nile virus.

PMID- 20925247
TI  - [Tick-borne encephalitis in the East Bohemia Region and its microbiological
      diagnostic pitfalls].
AB  - AIM OF THE STUDY: The analysis of cases of tick-borne encephalitis (TBE)
      laboratory diagnosed at the Department of Virology of the Institute of Clinical
      Microbiology of the University Hospital in Hradec Kralove in 2003-2006 and
      comparison of the data from 2003-2006, 1999-2002 and 1995-1998. Another objective
      was to compare two routinely used ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay)
      diagnostic kits for TBE. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The samples from 3284 patients
      tested by the Department of Virology of the University Hospital in Hradec Kralove
      in 2003-2006 were analyzed. The detection of the specific IgM and IgG antibodies
      in serum and cerebrospinal fluid specimens was performed using two ELISA
      diagnostic kits (Euroimmun, Germany, and Test-Line Ltd, Clinical Diagnostics,
      Czech Republic). Non-specific reactivity of IgM antibodies was only analyzed in
      2004-2006. RESULTS: In 2003-2006, TBE was diagnosed in 163 patients of the
      University Hospital in Hradec Kralove aged from 3.5 months to 80 years. The
      number was by 48 cases (29%) higher than that in 1995-1998 and by 36 cases (22%)
      higher than that in 1999-2002. TBE was confirmed in 94 males (57.7%) and 69
      females (42.3%). More than half of the patients were aged above 41 years (94/163,
      i.e., 57.6 %) and 60 patients (37 %) were older than 51 years. A biphasic course
      of infection was observed in 93/136 cases (68.4%). As many as 101/136 patients
      (74 %) had a history of a tick bite, one patient reported the consumption of non
      pasteurized milk. Thirty-eight (1.4 %) specimens showed non-specific reactivity
      of IgM antibodies. None of the cases showed cerebrospinal fluid reactivity in the
      absence of serum reactivity. CONCLUSIONS: Increase in the diagnosed TBE cases was
      reported in 2003-2006 in the East Bohemia Region. It was due mainly to more
      severe clinical forms of TBE that were more frequent than the milder ones. The
      distribution of the confirmed TBE cases remained unchanged in terms of age and
      sex, but the seasonal peak moved from summer to autumn. ELISA proved suitable for
      use in the routine diagnosis of TBE. Both of the tested commercial kits are of
      good quality. Nevertheless, in view of possible non-specific reactivity of IgM
      antibodies, IgG antibodies need to be tested in both the first acute serum
      specimen and paired sera. The detection of antibodies in cerebrospinal fluid is
      unlikely to be of diagnostic benefit for TBE. Close cooperation between the
      attending physician and clinical microbiologist is crucial.

PMID- 20925248
TI  - [Lipophilic yeasts of the genus Malassezia and skin diseases. I. Seborrhoeic
      dermatitis].
AB  - Recent technological advances have revived the interest in Malassezia yeasts and
      their clinical role, which has long been a matter of controversy because of their
      fastidious nature in vitro and relative difficulty in isolation, cultivation and
      identification. Lipophilic yeasts of the genus Malassezia form a part of normal
      microbial flora of healthy human (and animal) skin, but they also have been
      associated with several dermatological diseases, like seborrhoeic dermatitis and
      atopic dermatitis. Our understanding of the interactions between Malassezia and
      the host might provide new opportunities to better control these often
      chronically relapsing diseases.

PMID- 20925249
TI  - [Pernicious anaemia--diagnostic benefit of the detection of autoantibodies
      against intrinsic factor and gastric parietal cells antigen H+/K+ ATPase].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pernicious anaemia is an autoimmune disease that causes acquired
      vitamin B12 deficiency. The diagnostic process includes the detection of typical
      changes in the blood count, low serum levels of vitamin B12, endoscopic and
      histological signs of gastritis and autoantibodies against the gastric parietal
      cells antigen H+/K+ ATPase and intrinsic factor. OBJECTIVE: Our aims were to
      establish immunological tests for the detection of autoantibodies against
      intrinsic factor and target gastric parietal cell antigen H+/K+ ATPase and to
      evaluate their diagnostic benefits in patients with pernicious anaemia. MATERIAL
      AND METHODS: Sera from 95 patients were tested for autoantibodies against H+/K+
      ATPase and intrinsic factor by multiplex Luminex assay. The results were compared
      with those of the immunofluorescence assay for the detection of autoantibodies
      against gastric parietal cells and with the diagnostic criteria. RESULTS: The
      autoantibodies against gastric parietal cell H+/K+ ATPase had a sensitivity of
      68.2% with a specificity of 91.7% for the diagnosis of pernicious anaemia. The
      respective rates for the autoantibodies against intrinsic factor were 40.9% and
      98.6%. The combined sensitivity and specificity rates for both autoantibodies
      were 86.36% and 90.28%, respectively, the combined positive predictive value was
      73.08% and the combined negative predictive value was 95.59%. CONCLUSION: The
      detection of both autoantibodies is helpful in diagnosing pernicious anaemia and
      the combination of the two assays increases diagnostic sensitivity.

PMID- 20925250
TI  - [Prevalence of anti-Epstein-Barr virus antibodies in children and adolescents
      with secondary immunodeficiency].
AB  - Secondary immunodeficiency can be caused by multiple factors. We studied whether
      there is a relationship between secondary immunodeficiency and Epstein-Barr virus
      (EBV) infection in children and adolescents. The study group included 845
      patients with common variable immunodeficiency aged from 2 to 18 years and 394
      age-matched healthy controls. IgM and IgG antibodies against viral capsid antigen
      (VCA) and IgG antibodies against Epstein-Barr virus nuclear antigen 1 (EBNA-1)
      were quantitated by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. A statistically
      significant difference (p = 0.004) in the prevalence of EBV infection was found
      between the immunodeficient children and controls, both aged 2 to 6 years. The
      statistically significant difference was confirmed in boys (p = 0.003), but not
      in girls of this age group.

PMID- 20925251
TI  - [Herpes zoster in the Czech Republic--epidemiology and clinical manifestations].
AB  - Herpes zoster (shingles) is a viral infection of the skin that manifests itself
      as painful, unilateral vesicular rash. The causative agent is varicella-zoster
      virus (VZV). Primary infection with VZV causes chickenpox, a common childhood
      infection, and then the virus lies dormant in the sensory neural ganglia,
      reactivating to cause shingles. The most important complications are neurological
      disorders (in particular postherpetic neuralgia) and eye disorders. First-line
      therapy are antiviral agents. A single vaccine has been registered to date.
      Herpes zoster occurs sporadically in the Czech Republic and its incidence is long
      term stable. In 1990-2008 the average annual incidence was 6306 cases (61.3
      cases/100,000 population), with the lowest number of 5511 cases (53.5/100,000)
      reported in 1991 and the highest number of 6,894 cases (67.6/100,000) reported in
      2002. The incidence rate in females (69.9/100,000) was 1.4 times as high as in
      males (49.5/100,000). From the age perspective, the elderly are at a considerably
      higher risk of developing shingles. In 2008, the incidence rate was the highest
      in the age group 70 years (155.0/100,000). Nevertheless, the beginning of the
      upward trend is seen in the age group 45-49 years. Herpes zoster does not show
      any seasonal trend.

PMID- 20925252
TI  - [A simple method for the detection of CD154 (CD40L) on peripheral blood
      lymphocytes].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: CD154 (also called CD40L) is a transmembrane glycoprotein
      predominantly expressed on the surface membrane of activated CD4+ T cells. Its
      receptor CD40 is present on all B cells, but also on other cells. The interaction
      CD154-CD40 is necessary for the optimal development of the adaptive immune
      response and also has consequences for the modulation of the inflammatory
      response. A defect in the expression of CD154 is pathognomonic of congenital
      immunodeficiency called X-linked Hyper-IgM syndrome (XHIGM). To detect the
      abnormality of CD154 is essential for making the diagnosis of XHIGM. MATERIAL AND
      METHODS: We worked out a microtest for the detection of CD154 expression on in
      vitro activated CD4+ T cells in whole blood and compared it with that on isolated
      cells from peripheral blood. Heparinized peripheral blood was activated with
      phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate and ionomycin for 4 hours, labeled with
      monoclonal antibodies and analyzed by flow cytometry. Considering that the CD4
      marker on the plasma membrane surface decreases during the activation, CD4+ T
      cells are mostly recognized as CD5+/CD8- cells. Their activation is monitored
      based on the expression of CD69. Three-colour immunofluorescence staining was
      used for simultaneous detection of CD154. RESULTS: Ten blood donors were tested.
      As little as 0.5 ml of heparinized whole blood is needed to complete the test.
      Optimal time for activation and detection of CD154 on T lymphocytes is 4 hours.
      We found that the number of CD4 molecules on the surface of T cells decreases
      during the activation. The expression of CD154 in our whole blood microtest is
      fully comparable with that in the test on isolated leukocytes. CONCLUSION: The
      presented microtest for the detection of CD154 on activated lymphocytes in whole
      blood is fast and blood saving, since as little as 0.5 ml of blood is needed to
      complete it. It can be recommended as the initial test for suspected hyper-IgM
      syndrome in children. We demonstrate that this screening method can help to
      detect also carriers of XHIGM.

PMID- 20925253
TI  - [Significance of the sentinel lymph node biopsy in early breast carcinomas].
AB  - We present our experience regarding sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) at St.
      Elizabeth Institute of Oncology during 48 months. From January 1st, 2006 until
      December 31st, 2009, we had performed SLNB in 269 patients. Primary tumour size
      was 0.3-3.5cm including non-invasive breast carcinoma (i.e. TIS, T1 and T2 of TNM
      classification). Invasive carcinoma accounted for 255 (94.8%) cases, while non
      invasive carcinoma for 14 (5.2%) cases. From total of 269 patients with invasive
      carcinoma, we used validation method in 157 (72.7%). In 255 patients with
      invasive carcinoma, sentinel node was not identified in 4 (1.6%) cases--in 1
      patient with T1 invasive carcinoma and in 3 patients with T2 tumours. False
      negativity of sentinel node in T1 tumours was 4.3%. The incidence of
      macrometastases in sentinel nodes was confirmed using standard histopathologic
      examination with hematoxylin-eosin stain. In negative instances, the examination
      was then completed with serial sections and immunohistochemistry using
      cytoskeletal antibodies for confirmation of presence of micrometastases. In 6
      (2.4%) cases, we found micrometastase in originally negative sentinel lymph node.
      Subsequent axillary dissection has not confirmed non-sentinel nodes involvement.

PMID- 20925254
TI  - [Ovarial hyperstimulation syndrome in the differential diagnostics of acute
      abdomen].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The massive world-wide development of assisted reproduction (AR)
      technology and marked increase of females with infertility treatment lead to
      different medical complications. One of them is ovarian hyperstimulatory syndrome
      (OHSS), potential fatal complication in AR. It demonstrates with abdominal
      discomfort, nauzea, vomitus, ascites, and general alteration. It can imitate an
      acute abdomen syndrome, and it can lead to the primary surgical assessment. AIM:
      The description of OHSS as a cause of an acute abdomen syndrome. METHODS: Authors
      present a case of OHSS with the symptomatology of acute abdomen, which was
      handled by surgeon, primarily. CONCLUSION: Consistent patient history, including
      gynecological history, and careful physical and laboratory examinations with
      relevant imaging methods lead to the elimination of invasive procedures. OHSS is
      the most actual in differential diagnosis of acute abdomen in fertile females for
      that reasons.

PMID- 20925255
TI  - [Laparoscopy in the management of invagination in pediatric patients].
AB  - AIM: During the last decade, many articles on indications, contraindications,
      benefits and risks of laparoscopic desinvagination procedures in children have
      been presented in scientific literature. However, this therapeutic procedure has
      become a standard therapeutic option within the range of pediatric laparoscopic
      precedures. The aim of the authors was to establish this miniinvasive procedure
      in their clinic. PATIENTS AND METHODS: From January 2006 to December 2009, the
      authors operated 19 patients with ileocolonic invaginations, in whom prior
      hydrostatic desinvagination had failed. 11 pediatric patients underwent
      laparotomic revision. In 9 subjects, idiopatic invagination was detected, while
      in 2 subjects secondary intususception caused by a Meckel's diverticle was
      confirmed during the procedure. In 7 subjects aged 8-51 months, desinvagination
      was achieved using laparoscopic procedures. 3 ports were used during the
      procedures--one for optic devices, measuring 10 mm, was placed in the
      infraumbilical incision and 2 working ports of 5 mm were introduced into the left
      hypogastrium and the left mesogastrium. The desinvagination was achieved using a
      grasper and gentle traction on the invaginated colon. In two subjects with
      relapsing invagination, desinvagination was followed by ileo-coecopexy. In one
      subject, conversion was required during the laparoscopic procedure, because
      repositioning of the invaginated colon was not feasible. OUTCOMES: The mean
      duration of these laparoscopic procedures was 68.6 minutes and no intraoperative
      complications were recorded. Reallimentation was introduced on the first
      postoperative day, no reinvagination episodes were recorded and the mean duration
      of hospitalization was 4.3 days. CONCLUSION: Laparoscopic desinvagination has
      become a part of the algorithm for the management of invaginations in cases,
      where conservative approach failed, and should be used before open laparoscopic
      revision is indicated. However, the miniinvasive procedure must be performed by a
      surgeon with experience in laparoscopy.

PMID- 20925256
TI  - [Liver transplantations in children using reduced grafts].
AB  - AIM: Liver transplantation is a life-saving procedure in patients with end stage
      liver disease. Five-year survival in patients indicated for transplantation based
      on standard indication criteria, has reached a rate over 80%. Shortage of
      suitable grafts remains the main problem in these procedures. While the situation
      in adult patients is relatively satisfactory, liver transplantations in children,
      mainly in the low-weight categories, remain a worldwide problem because of the
      absolute lack of suitable donors. In order to reduce mortality in the youngest
      patients on the waiting list, a concept of reduction of the adult graft for
      pediatric use was introduced in the early 1990s. Recent introduction of novel
      methods, such as split transplantations or transplantations between relatives,
      has resulted in lower mortality rates in the youngest recipients on the waiting
      lists. The author assesses a group of patients below 18 years of age, who
      underwent reduced liver graft transplantations in the Czech Republic. MATERIAL
      AND METHODS: From 1995 to 2009, a total of 43 patients below 18 years of age
      underwent transplantations, using 48 liver grafts. Further 17 children were sent
      abroad for transplantations, where a total of 23 liver grafts were used. Only
      patients who underwent transplantations using the liver grafts adjusted in IKEM
      were assessed in the patient group, i.e. 14 patients, resp. 16 liver grafts.
      Reduction was performed in 13 subjects. One subjects underwent transplantation
      between relatives and a liver split was used in two subjects. In the lowest
      weight category up to 10 kgs, 5 liver reductions were performed. OUTCOMES: Out of
      the total (n = 16), 4 grafts failed (2 were early postoperative failures, ie.
      within 2 postoperative days and 2 grafts failed in Month 5). The mean graft
      survival was 65 months. Within the youngest recipient age group (n = 5), no graft
      failure was recorded. The mean survival time is 26 months. CONCLUSION: Since
      2007, the Czech Republic has been providing a program for all patients, including
      the lowest weight-category pediatric patients. To date data are satisfactory. No
      graft failure has been recorded in the category of the smallest (up to 10 kgs)
      pediatric patients.

PMID- 20925257
TI  - [Small intestine invagination in an adult].
AB  - Bowel intussusception in adulthood is relatively rare. It is the cause of bowel
      movement disorders in around 1-5% of cases. In contrast to intussusception in
      childhood, where the cause is usually unclear, in adulthood the unequivocal
      causes are known in 70-90% of cases. These predominantly include benign tumours
      of the small intestine. The authors describe 2 case reports, where small bowel
      intussusception was the cause of the bowel movement disorder and non-specific
      abdominal pain. This clinical entity must be kept in mind as the possible cause
      of non-specific abdominal pain in adulthood. If a malignancy is suspected, then
      the rules of oncological surgery should be followed.

PMID- 20925258
TI  - [Treatment of upper gastrointestinal tract fistules in the surgical intensive
      care unit].
AB  - The authors performed a retrospective analysis in a group of consecutively
      treated patients with upper GIT fistules (ie. fistules with internal orifices in
      the esophageal, gastric and proximal small intestine region), hospitalized in the
      Plzen hospital Surgical Clinic Septic Intensive Care Unit, from January 1, 2006
      to December 31, 2008. The author assessed the results using statistical methods
      and he studied any causative relationship between the characteristics of the
      fistules, the treatment methods and the patients morbidity/mortality rates.

PMID- 20925259
TI  - [Results and complications of laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding--12 years
      experience].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Bariatric surgery is currently the only effective treatment for
      morbid obesity. The main advantage of laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding
      (LAGB) is that this operation is minimally invazive to the stomach and adjustable
      to the patient's needs. AIM: Few long-term studies regarding the outcome of LAGB
      for morbid obesity have so far been publised. We report our 12-year experience
      with this method. PATIENTS AND METHODS: On list of 100 patients (76% women, 24%
      men) operated since February 1998 until December 2006 we present results and
      complications, reoperations. Mean follow up was 5.2 years (0.5-11.8). Patients
      lost to follow up was 22% at 5 years and 33% at 8 years. Complications occurred
      in 38% patients. 12% of the patients needed reoperation. There was no mortality.
      CONCLUSION: From our 12-year experience, we can state that LAGB is an effective
      bariatric procedure for achieving weight loss. Because of the high complication
      and reoperation rate, it is necessary to select patients according specific
      criteria and choose experienced bariatric surgery.

PMID- 20925260
TI  - [Benefit of PET/CT in the preoperative staging in pancreatic carcinomas].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Prognosis of patients with pancreatic cancer is poor. Median survival
      from diagnosis without determining surgical treatment is 3-11 months, after
      surgical treatment between 13-20 months according to various studies. 5-year
      survival rate is below 5%. The only chance of cure remains a radical surgical
      resection. Early diagnosis and determining resectability of tumour is the most
      important objective in patients with pancreatic cancer. Aim of this work is to
      evaluate the benefits and define the role of 18F-FDG PET/CT in preoperative
      staging. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 195 patients (103 men, 92 women, mean age 66.7
      year, range 32-88 years) with suspected pancreatic lesions underwent enhanced 18F
      FDG PET/CT in the preoperative staging in addition to standard investigative
      methods (ultrasonography, contrast enhanced CT, EUS, EUS FNA). All PET/CT
      findings were compared with standard methods (CT, EUS, EUS FNA), with
      peroperative findings and definitive histology in surgical patients as the
      reference standards. Interpretation of the extent of the tumor defined by TNM
      classification. Limitations of the local resectability was advanced local stage
      (T4) and presence of distant metastases (M1). RESULTS: In 195 patients with
      suspected pancreatic lesions was pre-operatively performed PET/CT in the period
      1/2007-3/2009. 153 patients with pancreatic cancer, of which 72 was not suitable
      for radical surgery because of local inoperability or a generalization of the
      disease. The sensitivity of PET/CT in the capture of primary lesions was 92.2%,
      specificity 90.5%. False negative findings in 12 patients, false-positive results
      occurred in 4 cases, positive predictive value (PPV) 97.2%, negative predictive
      value (NPV) 76.0%. In the assessment of regional lymph nodes sensitivity was
      51.9%, specificity 58.3%, PPV 58.3%,NPV 51.9%. In detection of distant metastases
      PET/CT reached sensitivity 82.8%, specificity 97.8%, PPV 96.9%, NPV 87.0%. PET/CT
      found distant metastases in 12 patients, which standard methods failed to detect.
      Surgery was cancelled in 15 patients (15.6%) with potentially resectable tumour
      based on the performance of PET/CT findings and the management of treatment was
      changed. CONCLUSION: PET/CT is highly sensitive and specific method suitable for
      preoperative staging of pancreatic cancer. It improves the selection of patients
      for surgery, who can benefit from and reduces the number of incorrectly indicated
      operations.

PMID- 20925261
TI  - [Uncommon rectal adenocarcinoma metastases].
AB  - Rectal cancer treatment has become multimodal as a result of significant advances
      in imaging diagnostic, in surgery technique of re section and in neo and adjuvant
      therapy. The aim of the case report was to present a successfully treated
      adenocarcinoma recti and adenocarcinoma of hepatal flexurae with recidivistic
      metastasis and an extremely rare intergrowth of the metastasis into venous
      system. A 61 year old patient underwent low resection of recti according to Dixon
      because of well differentiated adenocarcinoma with classification T3N0M0. The
      patient was reoperated because of metastasis of adenocarcinoma in the abdominal
      wall (16 x 15 x 20 cm) after chemotherapy (FUL-5-fluorouracyl) and radiation dose
      of 50.4 Gy. The metastasis of abdominal wall was extirpated after another cycle
      of adjuvant therapy of FUL+Leukovorin. 26 months after the first operation, a new
      sessile polyp was found in the hepatal flexurae with histological finding of well
      differentiated adenocarcinoma. The patient underwent right hemicolectomy. Since
      lymphatic nodes were without metastasis, the patient was not indicated for
      chemotherapy. Two months later, the patient was admitted because of
      phlebothrombosis of left femoral vein. The patient underwent three reoperations
      with total extirpation of recidivistic tumor located in left thigh and received
      six cycles of Xeloda. Histological examination proved an intergrowth into great
      saphenous vein. Authors did not come across a case in the literature with an
      intergrowth of metastasis into venous system with a five year survival of a
      patient. The patient from this case report has no local relapse and metastasis
      six years after the first operation.

PMID- 20925262
TI  - [A rare complication following anastomosis suturing using a biofragmentable
      Valtrac anastomosis ring--a case review and literature overview].
AB  - The use of Valtrac Ring since 1985 has brought about the ability of easier
      anastomosis suturing and shortening of the operative treatment. As other methods,
      also Valtrac ring has its disadvantages. Authors present a case report of a
      complication previously not described in the literature. A 67 year old patient,
      after right hemicolectomy with ileotransversoanastomosis with the help of Valtrac
      due to adenocarcinoma, underwent a control colonoscopy six month after operation.
      Small polyps in colon sigmoideum, colon descendens and transverse were removed
      and a tissue stripe with ulceration was found during the examination. The bioptic
      sample was taken from this stripe. After the application of Fragmine, the patient
      had a massive enterorhagia, which was not even resolved by adrenaline per
      colonoscopy. The patient underwent re-resection of ileotrasversoanastomosis. A
      ring of tissue, created by circular necrosis in the place of seroserous
      connection of biofragmentile ring of both of the lumens, was found in the tissue
      sample. Stenosis of the anastomosis, dehiscence, bleeding and fistulation are
      described in the literature as the most common complications after Valtrac use.
      The incidence is comparable with complications during anastomosis sutured by
      hand. We would like to bring this extremely rare complication to the attention to
      all surgeons and gastroenterologists, who perform endoscopic examinations in
      patients after this surgical procedure.

PMID- 20925263
TI  - [Surgical management of the failed back surgery syndrome (FBSS) using posterior
      lumbar interbody fusion (PLIF) with posterior transpedicular stabilization].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: One of possibility of treatment FBSS is posterior lumbar interbody
      fusion, PLIF with posterior transpedicular stabilization. MATERIAL AND METHODS:
      Between January 2005 and December 2007, the prospective study of treatment failed
      back surgery syndrome patients with posterior lumbal interbody fusion and
      posterior transpedicular stabilization was performed at the Department of
      Neurosurgery University Hospital FNLP in Kosice. Physical examinations were
      performed before surgery, after surgery 30 days, and at 4 follow-up visits (3
      months, 6 months, 12 months and 24 months). At each interval, patients outcomes
      measures, including visual analog scale pain rating VAS and Oswestry Disability
      Index ODI. RESULTS: At the Department of Neurosurgery, 58 failed back surgery
      syndrome patients were operated on between 1.1.205 and 31.12. 2007. Long term
      follow up was investigated in 47 patients, 11 patients were lost to follow-up.
      Postoperative complications were controlled 30 days after surgery. They were
      presented in 9 patients (19.14%). No patient died after surgery. The working
      ability was found in 23 patients 49%. Before surgery all patiens used analgesic,
      after surgery there were present decrese in using analgesic. Improvement quality
      of life and decrease pain measured with ODI and VAS were investigated. ODI before
      surgery was 71.7 and 24 months after surgery ODI was 37.7. VAS before surgery was
      7.95 and 24 months after surgery VAS was 2.82. There were found statistically
      significant influence on decrease pain mesuares ODI and VAS after surgery p <
      0.0001. CONCLUSION: Our study results show that PLIF with posterior
      transpedicular stabilization can be safely perfomed and that can allow decrease
      pain and improve quality of life in FBSS patients.

PMID- 20925264
TI  - [Submucous lipoma as a cause of invagination in adulthood].
AB  - The casuistry describes the invagination that occurred to a 67-years old patient
      due to the small intestine lipom. The patient with the three-day abdominal pain
      and vomiting was admitted to the department of surgery. On the basis of the CT
      examination the patient underwent an operation for the invagination of the small
      inkotine. The resection of the invaginated loop, the anastomosis end to end were
      performed. Histologicaly the submucosus lipom was found.

PMID- 20925265
TI  - [Acute injuries of lateral ankle joint ligaments].
AB  - Acute injuries of the lateral ankle ligaments are one of the most common form of
      injury involving the musculoskeletal apparatus. Treatment usually range from cast
      immobilisation or acute surgical repair to functional rehabilitation. The aim of
      our study was to evaluate the incidence of different grades of acute injuries of
      lateral ligaments of the ankle joint in our patients group and to compare the
      results of non surgical versus surgical treatment of third grade injuries. 3148
      patients were treated for acute lateral ankle sprain in a period of 5 years at
      our department. Each patient had stress X-ray of the ankle for evaluation of
      instability at the first visit. From the 234 patients with third grade injury, 39
      were enrolled in our study with non surgical treatment and 18 with surgical
      treatment. Each group was divided regarding to the age in two subgroups.
      Functional outcome was evaluated 12 and 24 months after injury with AOFAS
      clinical rating scale and Sports Ankle Rating System--Single Assessment Numeric
      Evaluation. Statistical analysis was done with Pearson's Chi quadrate test with P
      < 0.05. First grade injury was present in 62%, second grade in 31% and only 7% of
      the patients had third grade injury of the lateral ankle ligaments. Further only
      third grade injuries were studied. Statistically significant better results were
      seen in patients under the age of 25, in the patient group with surgical
      treatment compared to patients over 25 years of age. Also statistically
      significant better results were seen in patient with surgical treatment to non
      surgical treatment in each age group. No significant difference was observed in
      the non surgical treatment group regarding to age. Although the injuries of the
      ankle ligaments belong to the most common injuries of the musculoskeletal system,
      there is no consensus in the treatment of such disorders. Our experiences and the
      results of our study show, that surgical treatment in indicated cases provides
      better results in residual pain and instability of the ankle joint after acute
      injury of the lateral ankle ligaments.;

PMID- 20925266
TI  - [Hallux flexus--the result of posttraumatic entrapment of the flexor hallucis
      longus tendon in the tibial fracture site].
AB  - Entrapment of flexor hallucis longus after tibial fracture is very rare. We
      present a case of entrapment of flexor hallucis longus in a case of 36 years old
      male, who sustain an open tibial fracture. Fracture was stabilised with
      intramedullary nail. As a conseqence of entrapment of FHL hallux flexus was
      presented. After release of FHL in musculotendinous junction full range of motion
      in interphalangaela joint of hallux was obtained.

PMID- 20925267
TI  - [Endocannabinoid system I--the role in regulation of physiology functions].
AB  - Endocannabinoid system has a wide scale of actions on CNS and on peripheral
      tissues. The system consists of cannabinoid receptors CB1 and CB2,
      endocannabinoids and their biosynthetic and degrading enzymes. CB1 receptors in
      high density occur on presynaptic neuronal terminals in brain influencing
      neurotransmission thereby number of functions--pain perception, inhibition of
      stress reaction, regulation of motor functions, cognition, emotional reactions,
      regulation of food intake, psychical homeostasis and motivation. CB1 receptors
      are present in GIT cells, hepatocytes, adipocytes, pancreatic isles cells. Energy
      homeostasis is the main function in peripheral issues. CB2 receptors are present
      mainly in cells of immune system, in the cilliary body of eye, in testes, vasal
      cells, and intestinal smooth muscle cells.

PMID- 20925268
TI  - [Endocannabinoid system II--the role in addictive behaviour, depression and in
      pathology of eating behaviour].
AB  - Endocannabinoid system is involved in the neurobiological mechanism underlying
      drug addiction in all known kinds of drugs including nicotine and alcohol.
      Recently, relationships between endocannabinoids and biological nature of
      depression and eating disorders were recognised. Polymorphisms of genes encoding
      CB1 receptors and genes encoding main degrading enzyme FAAH responsible for
      pathology in motivation and cognition were identified.

PMID- 20925269
TI  - [Have changes in the management of treatment of the patients with acute
      pancreatitis brought the expected result?].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mortality from severe acute pancreatitis (AP) has remarkably
      decreased (10-20%) during the last decades. However, many questions on the
      treatment of this disease remained opened. To extend the most recent professional
      literature which discuses the abovementioned problem, experience from the
      treatment of patients at the department where the authors work is presented.
      METHODS: Influenced by the new methods published in professional literature and
      under the circumstances at own workplace, the decision to change the management
      of the treatment of AP has been made. The management referred to the enteral
      nutrition, epidural analgesy, antibiotic prophylaxis, pushing the surgical
      operation to the later period in the case of infected necrosis. Comparing of two
      groups of patients--A (2003-2005 years) and B (2006-2008 years) the authors came
      to interesting results. RESULTS: Applying the new protocol we observed: increased
      percentage of patients with sterile necrosis from 46% to 58%, decreased number of
      surgical re-operations from 43% to 33% and decreased mortality from 53,8% to 18%.
      CONCLUSIONS: Applying changes in the management of treatment of the patients with
      the complicated form of acute pancreatitis, the authors achieved remarkable
      results. Nevertheless, these results have to be evaluated very cautiously,
      because the group of patients who have been treated by the novel approach has not
      been very large.

PMID- 20925270
TI  - [The occurrence of microcarcinomas in the patients after thyroidectomy-
      retrospective analysis].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Microcarcinomas, minimum carcinomas, are tumours, which are in
      clinical practice defined as tumours < or = 1 cm in size. WHO defines thyroid
      microcarcinomas as tumours < or = 2 cm in size, which have different biological
      behaviour. The aim of the study was to analyze the occurrence of MC in post
      operative patients. METHODS: Using retrospective analysis we evaluated the
      occurrence of thyroid microcarcinoma in post-operative patients. Except for basic
      demographic data, carcinoma size and histological variance, the occurrence of
      bilateral impairment, presence of multi-focuses and occurrence of regional throat
      metastases were considerd. RESULTS: From 2004 to 2008 thyroid surgeries were
      performed in 400 patients. Microcarcinoma was diagnosed in 34 patients (8.5%), 5
      men and 29 women. The average age of patients with microcarcinoma was 52 years,
      similarly to other patients undergoing surgery. Histologically, 32 cases (94%)
      were papillary carcinoma, from which 4 cases were papillary follicular and 2 were
      follicular carcinomas. There were multifocal findings of microcarcinomas in 5
      patients (15%), and 4 patients (12%) had bilateral involvement. The average size
      of the tumours was 5 mm, sd 2.6. Two patients (6%) had metastases in the lymph
      nodes of the neck. Total thyroidectomies were carried out in 32 patients (94%)
      and hemithyroidectomies in 2 patients (6%). Five patients (15%), i. e. both
      patients with metastases in the lymph nodes of the neck and three patients with
      bilateral multifocal carcinomas underwent postoperative adjuvant radioiodine 131I
      ablation therapy. CONCLUSIONS: Due to the possibility of the future growth,
      metastasizing andreoccurrence, microcarcinomas cannot be considered harmless or
      almost insignificant findings. The increased risk of the MC occurrence was found
      in chronic lymphoplasmocellular thyroiditis (17%).

PMID- 20925271
TI  - [Addictive diseases and poverty].
AB  - Poverty is one of the risk factors for substance dependence and pathological
      gambling. Poverty interacts with other, often more important, protective and risk
      factors. Healthcare facilities should take into account the social situation of
      their patients; for example they can provide relevant information about social
      services or mediate social help. Communication with patient's family or community
      is also beneficial. Patients, as part of their treatment, can be instructed how
      to handle money and debts. On the other hand charitable organizations should take
      into account addictive problems of their clients.

PMID- 20925272
TI  - [Twenty years of teaching of social sciences and humanistic subjects at the First
      Faculty of Medicine Charles University in Prague].

PMID- 20925273
TI  - [Regimen for gravid women at turn of century].

PMID- 20925274
TI  - [Postgenomic era, what comes after?].
AB  - Though we start to speak about postgenomic era, the genomic era has not been
      finished yet and the structure, function and variability of our genome is being
      still intensively studied and these studies bring us continually new scientific
      information--more than we are able to digest. The classical genetics utilized
      phenotype observation for discovering the function of genetic information and
      proceeded to the molecular basis represented by nucleic acids. Determination of
      the nucleotide sequence of the human genome is the top outcome of the effort. At
      present, the function, regulatory pathways and genome modifications have become
      principal targets of our research. If we compare variability, it increases in the
      direction from human genome to transcriptome and to proteom reaching the highest
      level in phenome. Differences concern not only quantity, but also quality with
      the exception of genome which is relatively stable and "we hand over to our
      children what we have inherited from our parents"--all other levels undergo
      dynamic changes, and from this point of view are much less stable and under
      continuous influence of environment. To understand enviromental factors shaping
      our phenome, a long-term monitoring of our living functions will be necessary and
      an instrumental approach has to be looked for.

PMID- 20925275
TI  - [Mast cells--a new view of the old acquaintances].
AB  - Mast cells are well known as the producers of histamine and major effectors of
      type 1 hypersensitivity. They play however an important role in many other
      physiological and pathological processes. Lesser-known is their role in the
      processes such as a termination of pregnancy and initiation of delivery. The mast
      cells are considered as the modulators of endocrine signals on the local
      reactions in uterus. Many substances produced by the mast cells have the
      angiogenic effects known primarily for their role in tumour growth, but they
      influence also embryonal and postnatal growth or process of wound healing. Mast
      cells also participate in a number of compensatory reactions in the tissue
      response to the mechanical load, hypoxia or inflammation (airway remodelling in
      asthma, remodelling of pulmonary vessels in chronic hypoxia, myocardial
      hypertrophy, liver cirrhosis, chronic pancreatitis). This review describes recent
      concepts of their role in labour, non-cancerous angiogenesis and remodelling of
      pulmonary vasculature during chronic hypoxia.

PMID- 20925277
TI  - [Ethanol and other psychoactive substances in fatal road traffic accidents in the
      Czech Republic in 2008].
AB  - BACKGROUND: To map the recent prevalence of alcohol and other psychoactive
      substances in deceased victims of traffic accidents in the Czech Republic.
      MATERIAL AND METHODS: The studied sample consisted of individuals autopsied in
      the departments of forensic medicine who died during traffic accidents in 2008
      and were toxicologically tested for one or more of the following substances:
      ethanol, volatile substances, cannabis, opiates, stimulants, cocaine,
      benzodiazepines, and barbiturates. Case definition involved alcohol cases with
      blood alcohol concentration (BAC) 0.2 g/kg and higher; with cannabis, detections
      of active THC metabolites only were taken into account; from cases where volatile
      substances (solvents) were detected we included into the positive cases only
      those where substances were not produced post mortem or in some physiological or
      pathological statuses. RESULTS: The sample consisted of 1,040 persons deceased in
      traffic accidents, of whom 582 (56.0%) were toxicologically tested for one or
      more of the substances listed above. The sample has been divided into two
      subsamples--one of 778 (74.8%) active participants of road traffic accidents
      (pedestrians, bicyclists, and drivers) and other subsample consisting of 262
      (25.4%) non-active participants. Ethanol was found in 38.3% of 381 tested and at
      least one of other psychoactive substances was found in 11.7% of 384 tested
      active participants--of those, stimulants (mostly methamphetamine) were found
      most frequently (6.5% of 337 tested), cannabis (5.9% of 203 tested) and
      benzodiazepines (3.9% of 363 tested active participants). Drivers were positive
      for ethanol in 29.2% cases, for one or more of other psychoactive substances
      except ethanol in 12.7% cases, most frequently for stimulants (9.2%) and cannabis
      (6.2%). Professional drivers were found negative for ethanol and other
      psychoactive substance except of one case of methamphetamine (6.7%). CONCLUSION:
      The study confirms high prevalence of alcohol and other psychoactive substances,
      especially stimulants (methamphetamine), cannabis and benzodiazepines, among
      deceased participants of road traffic accidents including drivers in the Czech
      Republic.

PMID- 20925276
TI  - [Alterations in fatty acid composition of plasma and erythrocyte lipids in
      critically ill patients during sepsis].
AB  - BACKGROUND: The overall fatty acid (FA) composition, and especially proportions
      of n-6 and n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids in plasma and membrane lipids, greatly
      impacts on cell and organ functions as well as on many biological processes.
      MATERIAL AND METHODS: Polyunsaturated FA determine membrane fluidity and thus
      modulate activities of membrane proteins (enzymes, carriers and receptors). They
      also are precursors of pro- and anti-inflammatory eicosanoids and other autacoids
      (resolvins, protectins). Thus, alterations in lipid FA composition of critically
      ill patients affect reactivity of the organism to numerous pathological stimuli.
      The objective of this study was to analyse FA composition of plasma
      triacylglycerols, cholesteryl esters, plasma phospholipids and erythrocyte
      phospholipids in septic patients. RESULTS: The study group consisted of 30 septic
      patients, 19 of whom were available for three samplings: Sampling 1 was 24 hours
      after the onset of sepsis, Sampling 2 was 7 days after Sampling 1, and Sampling 3
      was 7 days after recovery from sepsis. Eight septic patients died. Compared to
      healthy controls, a decrease in n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids accompanied by
      increase in monounsaturated fatty acids in cholesteryl esters, plasma
      phospholipids and erythrocyte phospholipids persisted in all three samplings of
      septic patients. CONCLUSIONS: This effect of sepsis was significantly greater in
      cholesteryl esters and plasma phospholipids of non-surviving septic patients than
      in surviving ones. Moreover, non-survivors had lower proportions of n-3
      polyunsaturated fatty acids in plasma phospholipids compared to survivors. The
      significant decrease in proportion of polyunsaturated fatty acids in lipids of
      septic patients in the course of sepsis reflects the severity of their critical
      state and supports the importance of appropriate nutritional polyunsaturated
      fatty acids supplementation.

PMID- 20925278
TI  - [The prevalence of metabolic syndrome in women with polycystic ovary syndrome].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) affects between 4-10% women of
      fertile age and is often connected with insulin resistance. We aimed to ascertain
      the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in Czech women with PCOS and to describe
      relations of different features of metabolic syndrome with insulin sensitivity.
      METHODS AND RESULTS: 179 women with PCOS. Clinical examination was done and blood
      lipid spectrum was measured. Euglycaemic hyperinsulinaemic clamp was done in 114
      subjects. Metabolic syndrome (according to ATP III criteria) was detected in
      28.7% women. The most frequent features were an increased waist circumference,
      decreased concentration of HDL - cholesterol (both in 96%), and increased blood
      pressure (88%). Increased triglycerides (49%) and impaired fasting blood glucose
      or diabetes mellitus type 2 (37.3%) were less common. The average insulin
      sensitivity described as corrected glucose disposal (Mk) was 34.9 +/- 12.70
      micromol/kg/min. The most tight correlations was that of Mk and waist
      circumference (r = -0.896), weight (r = -0.875) and BMI (r = -0.844). CONCLUSION:
      The increased risk of metabolic syndrome and the decreased insulin sensitivity in
      polycystic ovary syndrome is tightly connected with obesity, especially with its
      abdominal type.

PMID- 20925279
TI  - [Gallstone ileus--the diagnostic and therapeutic challenge].
AB  - Gallstone ileus as a complication of gallstone disease is a diagnostic as well as
      therapeutic challenge. Its development is frequently sneaking, so correct
      diagnosis and surgical therapy is often delayed. Thus morbidity and mortality is
      high. Concrement extraction by open enterotomy is a therapeutic choice. The
      discussed issue is if one-stage cholecystectomy and fistula closure should be
      done too. The paper presents a female patient with gallstone ileus treated with
      open enterotomy only, with no postoperative complication. The literature review
      follows. Authors conclude that one-stage procedure, if feasible, is acceptable
      method for the low risk patients.

PMID- 20925280
TI  - Teacher-as-researcher: theory-into-practice.
AB  - This introductory article establishes the foundation for a special issue of the
      American Annals of the Deaf on teacher action research. The authors first
      introduce the definition of the teacher-as-researcher model, formally known as
      teacher action research. Four elements of teacher action research are discussed
      in detail: cyclical, systematic, reflective, and collaborative. Next, the history
      of teacher action research is discussed. Subsequently, the multi-paradigmatic and
      multimethodological nature of teacher action research is proposed. Finally, as a
      means of guiding readers, the scope of the special issue is described. The
      introduction concludes with the suggestion that in-service and preservice
      teachers integrate theory into practice and engage in systematic inquiry into
      their own practice to develop the mindset necessary to cope with the pedagogical
      challenges they face on a daily basis.

PMID- 20925281
TI  - Teaching poetry: a descriptive case study of a poetry unit in a classroom of
      urban deaf adolescents.
AB  - A qualitative study was conducted that reflected an analysis of a 6-week poetry
      unit in a language arts classroom of 6th and 8th graders at a school for the deaf
      in a large city in the northeastern United States. The school served a large
      population of children of poverty who were of Latino and African American
      descent. The study was guided by 4 research questions: (a) Would students benefit
      from having American Sign Language (ASL) poetry as a part of the unit? (b) Would
      teachers' signing of poems increase students' understanding of the poems? (c)
      Could students analyze the meaning of poems independently? (d) Would students
      view writing poetry as a vehicle for expressing their feelings and ideas through
      themes that were important to them? The evidence provided support for affirmative
      answers to questions a, b, and d.

PMID- 20925282
TI  - The teaching and learning of multimeaning words within a metacognitively based
      curriculum.
AB  - The study explored the effects of an 8-week intervention in which a
      teacher/researcher used direct instruction to show the multiple meanings of 7
      words to 4 deaf students ages 11-13 years in a school for the deaf. Applying
      conclusions from emerging research that links knowledge and strategy with
      metacognitive skills, the teacher/researcher used specific metacognitive
      strategies to facilitate both the acquisition of the concept of multimeaning
      words and the ability to distinguish one meaning from another while reading, and
      thus improved the students' reading comprehension. The study participants were
      able to increase their vocabulary of multimeaning words as well as their reading
      comprehension in general, and, overall, experienced an improvement in their
      observable understanding and confidence when approaching the task of reading.

PMID- 20925283
TI  - The impact of Visual Phonics on the phonological awareness and speech production
      of a student who is deaf: a case study.
AB  - The researchers explored the effectiveness of Visual Phonics as a reading
      instructional tool when used in conjunction with a modified version of the
      Fountas and Pinnell Kindergarten Phonics Curriculum (Fountas & Pinnell, 2002)
      with a preschool student who was deaf. The study participant was a 4-year-old
      deaf child who had a cochlear implant. The goal of the study was to determine
      whether the student's phonological awareness and speech production improved over
      the course of a 6-week intervention. Identical pre- and postintervention tests
      were administered to measure the extent of any improvement. It was found that
      Visual Phonics used with a phonics-based curriculum significantly increased
      phonological awareness and speech production.

PMID- 20925284
TI  - The use of graphic representations of sign language in leveled texts to support
      deaf readers.
AB  - The study considered whether adding sign language graphics to the books being
      used for reading instruction in a first-grade classroom would promote the
      literacy development of students who are deaf or hard of hearing. The researchers
      also sought to discover whether materials existed to put the process of modifying
      leveled texts within the reach of the typical classroom teacher, in terms of cost
      and procedure. Students' reading behaviors seemed to indicate that the presence
      of sign graphics supported their development as readers. The materials needed to
      create sign support for the English print in the leveled books were commercially
      available.

PMID- 20925285
TI  - What is your prediction? Teaching the metacognitive skill of prediction to a
      class of sixth- and seventh-grade students who are deaf.
AB  - The development of the metacognitive skill of prediction in deaf students in a
      middle school social studies classroom was explored in an action research study
      (Riel, 2006). After observation of this group of learners and assessment of
      current skills, a unit was developed that integrated the teaching of prediction
      into their study of the American Revolution. It was found that these students
      were already using some metacognitive skills in their social studies class, but
      through direct instruction they were able to make more and better predictions
      related to the content being studied. The study demonstrates how the social
      studies curriculum provided an opportunity for students to learn and implement
      metacognitive skills that helped them to understand the cause-and-effect
      relationships in history and eventually to become more active readers during a
      reading task.

PMID- 20925286
TI  - Did the preservice teacher-generated studies constitute actual instances of
      teacher-researcher studies, and were they consistent with notions of Dewey?
AB  - It is suggested that articles in an American Annals of the Deaf special issue on
      teacher action research constitute a 2-tiered metastudy: The first article serves
      as a literature review of the teacher-as-researcher notion; 5 subsequent articles
      form the data set for a higher-order teacher-as-researcher inquiry. It is
      maintained that the preservice teachers' work met the definition of teacher-as
      researcher in that they systematically investigated their own teaching/learning
      practices through a reflective lens, with the twin purposes of modifying their
      own practices and contributing to the theoretical in situ knowledge base of
      learning and teaching in general. It is also argued that this body of work is
      consistent with the stance on inquiry advocated by Columbia University's Teachers
      College and its Program in the Education of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, and
      that teacher research reflected Dewey's notions of pragmatism, functionalism,
      constructivism, communication, and social advocacy.

PMID- 20925287
TI  - Talking openly about death.

PMID- 20925288
TI  - Does the new GMC guidance on good practice and decision making in end-of-life
      care go far enough?

PMID- 20925289
TI  - The Liverpool Care Pathway in intensive care: an exploratory study of doctor and
      nurse perceptions.
AB  - The Liverpool Care Pathway (LCP) provides an evidence-based framework of care for
      the dying patient and provides guidance on comfort measures, discontinuation of
      inappropriate interventions, anticipatory prescribing, holistic care and care of
      the family after death. End-of-life care is becoming an important issue in
      critical care, and the LCP has been adapted for use in intensive care units in
      the United Kingdom. A qualitative study using descriptive phenomenology was used
      to explore doctor and nurse experiences of the impact of the LCP in two intensive
      care units in a 1000-bed teaching hospital in the north-west Midlands. The staff
      experience of the LCP was dependent on their role, with mixed reports about
      frequency of use and level of education received on the LCP. Education and
      adequate support was identified as being pivotal to the successful implementation
      of any type of LCP.

PMID- 20925290
TI  - Perceptions of the impact of health-care services provided to palliative care
      clients and their carers.
AB  - A wide range of services are provided to palliative care clients to alleviate
      pain and improve their quality of life. The purpose of this study was to explore
      the perceptions of clients and their carers regarding palliative care services in
      New South Wales, Austalia. Ten patients and their carers (n = 7) were randomly
      selected from a sample of palliative care clients and were informed of the study
      and interviewed. Interview data were coded independently by three researchers and
      thematic analysis was undertaken. The themes identified were similar for both
      clients and carers and included: access to services; service provision; impact on
      way of life; usefulness of services; and staffing. An additional theme identified
      by clients was the burden of caregiving on carers. Knowledge of perceptions and
      concerns of client and carers is important to consider when planning palliative
      care services.

PMID- 20925291
TI  - Interprofessional collaboration in palliative nursing: what is the patient-family
      role?
AB  - Interprofessional collaboration occurs when health professionals from different
      disciplines work together to identify needs, solve problems, make joint decisions
      on how best to proceed, and evaluate outcomes collectively. Interprofessional
      collaboration supports patient-centred care and takes place through teamwork.
      Team interactions, wider organizational issues, and environmental structures,
      such as safety, quality, efficiency and effectiveness issues influence this model
      of care. These broader contextual influences affect practice where there are
      tensions between the ideals of interprofessional collaboration and the realities
      of practice. This is evident when the patient and family position in
      interprofessional collaboration is considered. This article will discuss factors
      that affect interprofessional collaboration in relation to patients and families
      in palliative care. First, a definition of interprofessional collaboration is
      given, followed by an outline of the need for interprofessional collaboration. A
      brief discussion of key issues that influence collaboration follows, and a review
      of the implications for practice is presented.

PMID- 20925292
TI  - An investigation into the perceived stressors for staff working in the hospice
      service.
AB  - This article reports on the findings of phase two of a study into stress and
      coaching needs in two hospices in the United Kingdom. Phase one was a cross
      sectional study to assess the levels of stress and the main stressors as
      experienced by members of staff working within these two hospices. Phase two of
      the study uses qualitative methodology with the purpose of obtaining a deeper
      understanding of the stressors as experienced by hospice staff. Two focus groups
      were held, one at each hospice, and the data were analysed using grounded theory
      as its theoretical framework. A further aim of the current study was to identify
      coaching needs among this staff group in order to develop a tailor-made coaching
      programme for this service.

PMID- 20925293
TI  - The meaning of hope from the perspective of Chinese advanced cancer patients in
      Hong Kong.
AB  - AIM: This article reports a study to examine the meaning of hope from the
      perspective of Chinese advanced cancer patients in Hong Kong. METHODS: Semi
      structured interviews were conducted with a convenience sample of advanced cancer
      patients recruited from the palliative care unit of a local hospital. Data were
      saturated after 17 participants were interviewed. Qualitative content analysis
      was adopted to analyse the data. FINDINGS: Hope as experienced by the
      participants was found to consist of five components: living a normal life,
      social support, actively letting go of control, reconciliation between life and
      death, and wellbeing of significant others. CONCLUSIONS: While hope is related to
      the wellbeing of patients with advanced cancer, successful palliative care partly
      depends on an awareness of the importance of hope in the end-of-life context and
      cultural sensitivity to the meanings behind it from the patients' own
      perspective.

PMID- 20925295
TI  - Baylor Medical Center Irving.

PMID- 20925294
TI  - The business of hospital charge capture.

PMID- 20925296
TI  - Safety-net technology helps INTEGRIS Health reduce denials.

PMID- 20925297
TI  - [What responsibilities in medication errors?].

PMID- 20925298
TI  - [Individualized care for the premature newborn].

PMID- 20925299
TI  - [Developmental support care, an invitation to interact].
AB  - Foetal and neonatal development is a relatively recent science. Any child born
      prematurely, even without any apparent sequelae, may present problems
      subsequently. Care which aims to eliminate overstimulation and dys-stimulation
      and encourage the parent-child relationship forms the basis of developmental care
      programmes, in the interest of the premature newborn.

PMID- 20925300
TI  - [The Nidcap, care centred on the newborn].
AB  - The Nidcap (Newborn individualised developmental care and assessment programme)
      sets out a well-thought-out framework of care centred on the infant. Body
      temperature, nutritional and hormonal regulation is close to that observed in
      utero and individual stimulation is adapted to the cerebral capacities of the
      newborn. It thereby favours the harmonious development of the infant.

PMID- 20925301
TI  - [Communicating with premature newborns through touch].
AB  - How does the premature newborn perceive the outside world? The first sense
      developed by the foetus is touch. Through the physiology of sensoriality and
      brain maturation, touch can constitute an essential vector in communicating with
      and caring for the premature child.

PMID- 20925302
TI  - [Analgesia and sedation in premature newborns].
AB  - Analgesics and sedatives are routinely prescribed in intensive care on intubated
      premature newborns, to ensure their comfort and limit pain. The results of two
      studies show that there is no significant link between prolonged exposure to
      these treatments and a more unfavourable long-term neurological outcome.

PMID- 20925303
TI  - [Gwenaelle and Laura, first fragile moments].

PMID- 20925304
TI  - [Ethics of the care given to premature newborns].
AB  - The treatment of premature newborns has evolved a lot in France over the last
      decade. It can be examined with regard to the four main principles of biomedical
      ethics: beneficence, non-maleficence, autonomy and justice. Consequently the
      combination of medical-nursing vigilance and individualised developmental care
      enables the premature baby to benefit from truly "ethical" healthcare.

PMID- 20925305
TI  - [Individualized care of premature newborns].

PMID- 20925306
TI  - [Evendol, a pain assessment scale for pediatric emergency departments].
AB  - Evendol is a behavioural scale used to objectively assess the pain felt by
      children under 7 in paediatric emergency departments. Boasting excellent validity
      criteria and easy to use, it also differentiates pain and anxiety. It is a very
      useful tool when caring for children in pain in emergency departments.

PMID- 20925307
TI  - [A nursing consultation to improve antiretroviral medication management in
      children].
AB  - The size of the antiretroviral capsules which children infected with HIV have to
      take is a major problem. It often requires an assessment of the feasibility of
      taking this medication through a specialist nursing consultation. It is above all
      through adopting a suitable technique as well as the motivation of the children
      that this objective can be achieved.

PMID- 20925308
TI  - [The persistent crying of newborns and its treatment].
AB  - The persistent and unexplained crying of newborns, attributed to colic, is a
      frequent problem in paediatrics. Usually considered harmless, it can however have
      consequences on the baby's behaviour and emotional regulation. Moreover, mothers
      often misinterpret the crying. Faced with the maternal anxiety which is often
      associated, treatment must be multifocal.

PMID- 20925309
TI  - [12/12. Drug intoxication].

PMID- 20925310
TI  - [5/6. Obstetric delivery and confidentiality].

PMID- 20925311
TI  - [Birthing and Living].

PMID- 20925312
TI  - Local current mapping and patterning of reduced graphene oxide.
AB  - Conductive atomic force microscopy (C-AFM) has been used to correlate the
      detailed structural and electrical characteristics of graphene derived from
      graphene oxide. Uniform large currents were measured over areas exceeding tens of
      micrometers in few-layer films, supporting the use of graphene as a transparent
      electrode material. Moreover, defects such as electrical discontinuities were
      easily detected. Multilayer films were found to have a higher conductivity per
      layer than single layers. It is also shown that a local AFM-tip-induced
      electrochemical reduction process can be used to pattern conductive pathways on
      otherwise-insulating graphene oxide. Transistors with micrometer-scale tip
      reduced graphene channels that featured ambipolar transport and an 8 order of
      magnitude increase in current density upon reduction were successfully
      fabricated.

PMID- 20925313
TI  - Self-association of the adenoviral L4-22K protein.
AB  - Human adenovirus (Ad) is an icosahedral, double-stranded DNA virus that causes
      infections of the respiratory tract, urinary tract, and gastrointestinal tract.
      Assembly of virus particles requires condensation and encapsidation of the linear
      viral genome. This process requires sequence specific binding of two viral
      proteins, called IVa2 and L4-22K, to a conserved sequence located at the left end
      of the viral genome, called the packaging sequence (PS). IVa2 and an
      alternatively spliced form of L4-22K, called L4-33K, also function as
      transcriptional activators of the major late promoter (MLP), which encodes viral
      structural and core proteins. IVa2 and L4-33K bind to identical conserved DNA
      sequences downstream of the MLP, called the downstream element (DE), to activate
      transcription. To begin to dissect how the IVa2, L4-22K, and L4-33K proteins
      simultaneously function as transcriptional activators and DNA packaging proteins,
      we need to understand the thermodynamics of assembly of these proteins on DNA
      that contains the PS as well as the DE. Toward this end, we have characterized
      the self-assembly properties of highly purified, recombinant L4-22K protein. We
      show that L4-22K reversibly assembles into higher-order structures according to
      an indefinite, isodesmic assembly scheme. We show that the smallest polymerizing
      unit is likely the L4-22K monomer (s(20,w) = 2.16 +/- 0.04 S) and that the
      monomer assembles with itself and/or other aggregates with an equilibrium
      association constant, L, of 112 (102, 124) MUM(-1) (0.1 M NaCl, pH 7, 25  degrees
      C). A mechanistic consequence of an isodesmic, indefinite assembly process is
      that the free concentration of the smallest polymerizing unit cannot exceed 1/L.
      We discuss the implications of this observation with respect to the
      thermodynamics of assembly of L4-22K and IVa2 on the PS.

PMID- 20925314
TI  - Cell-based assay to quantify the antioxidant effect of food-derived carotenoids
      enriched in postprandial human chylomicrons.
AB  - We developed a new method to evaluate the antioxidant effect of food products in
      a biological system. The antioxidant status of HepG2 cells was quantified after
      incubation with postprandial human chylomicrons after the intake of vegetable
      products. Three subjects consumed in a meal a vegetable soup containing 8.4 mg of
      beta-carotene and 9 mg of lycopene. After 5 h, the subjects consumed a second
      meal without carotenoids. Blood samples were collected at basal time and every
      hour for 9 h. Chylomicrons were isolated from serum samples and used for both
      carotenoid quantification and HepG2 stimulation. Carotenoid in chylomicrons
      followed an inter-individual and bimodal carotenoid response. We demonstrated the
      antioxidant effect of postprandial chylomicrons in HepG2 at the time of maximum
      carotenoid concentration of chylomicrons with respect to basal time. This cell
      based assay seems to be a useful method to evaluate the antioxidant effect of
      fruit and vegetable products in a biological system. 

PMID- 20925315
TI  - Structure-activity relationships of polyphenols to prevent lipid oxidation in
      pelagic fish muscle.
AB  - The influence of polymerization (number of monomers) and galloylation (content of
      esterified gallates) of oligomeric catechins (proanthocyanidins) on their
      effectiveness to prevent lipid oxidation in pelagic fish muscle was evaluated.
      Non-galloylated oligomers of catechin with diverse mean polymerization (1.9-3.4
      monomeric units) were extracted from pine (Pinus pinaster) bark. Homologous
      fractions with galloylation ranging from 0.25 to <1 gallate group per molecule
      were obtained from grape (Vitis vinifera) and witch hazel (Hamamelis virginiana).
      The results showed the convenience of proanthocyanidins with medium size (2-3
      monomeric units) and low galloylation degree (0.15-0.25 gallate group/molecule)
      to inhibit lipid oxidation in pelagic fish muscle. These optimal structural
      characteristics of proanthocyanidins were similar to those lately reported in
      fish oil-in-water emulsions using phosphatidylcholine as emulsifier. This finding
      suggests that the antioxidant behavior of polyphenols in muscle-based foods can
      be mimicked in emulsions prepared with phospholipids as emulsifier agents. The
      present data give relevant information to achieve an optimum use of polyphenols
      in pelagic fish muscle.

PMID- 20925316
TI  - Modeling intrinsically disordered proteins with bayesian statistics.
AB  - The characterization of intrinsically disordered proteins is challenging because
      accurate models of these systems require a description of both their thermally
      accessible conformers and the associated relative stabilities or weights. These
      structures and weights are typically chosen such that calculated ensemble
      averages agree with some set of prespecified experimental measurements; however,
      the large number of degrees of freedom in these systems typically leads to
      multiple conformational ensembles that are degenerate with respect to any given
      set of experimental observables. In this work we demonstrate that estimates of
      the relative stabilities of conformers within an ensemble are often incorrect
      when one does not account for the underlying uncertainty in the estimates
      themselves. Therefore, we present a method for modeling the conformational
      properties of disordered proteins that estimates the uncertainty in the weights
      of each conformer. The Bayesian weighting (BW) formalism incorporates information
      from both experimental data and theoretical predictions to calculate a
      probability density over all possible ways of weighting the conformers in the
      ensemble. This probability density is then used to estimate the values of the
      weights. A unique and powerful feature of the approach is that it provides a
      built-in error measure that allows one to assess the accuracy of the ensemble. We
      validate the approach using reference ensembles constructed from the five-residue
      peptide met-enkephalin and then apply the BW method to construct an ensemble of
      the K18 isoform of the tau protein. Using this ensemble, we indentify a specific
      pattern of long-range contacts in K18 that correlates with the known aggregation
      properties of the sequence.

PMID- 20925317
TI  - Positional effects on helical Ala-based peptides.
AB  - Helix-coil equilibrium studies are important for understanding helix formation in
      protein folding, and for helical foldamer design. The quantitative description of
      a helix using statistical mechanical models is based on experimentally derived
      helix propensities and the assumption that helix propensity is position
      independent. To investigate this assumption, we studied a series of 19-residue
      Ala-based peptides, to measure the helix propensity for Leu, Phe, and Pff at
      positions 6, 11, and 16. Circular dichroism spectroscopy revealed that
      substituting Ala with a given amino acid (Leu, Phe, or Pff) resulted in the
      following fraction helix trend: KXaa16 > KXaa6 > KXaa11. Helix propensities for
      Leu, Phe, and Pff at the different positions were derived from the CD data. For
      the same amino acid, helix propensities were similar at positions 6 and 11, but
      much higher at position 16 (close to the C-terminus). A survey of protein helices
      revealed that Leu/Phe-Lys (i, i + 3) sequence patterns frequently occur in two
      structural patterns involving the helix C-terminus; however, these cases include
      a left-handed conformation residue. Furthermore, no Leu/Phe-Lys interaction was
      found except for the Lys-Phe cation-pi interaction in two cases of Phe-Ala-Ala
      Lys. The apparent high helix propensity at position 16 may be due to helix
      capping, adoption of a 310-helix near the C-terminus perhaps with Xaa-Lys (i, i +
      3) interactions, or proximity to the peptide chain terminus. Accordingly, helix
      propensity is generally position-independent except in the presence of
      alternative structures or in the proximity of either chain terminus. These
      results should facilitate the design of helical peptides, proteins, and
      foldamers.

PMID- 20925318
TI  - Molecular insights into the potential and temperature dependences of the
      differential capacitance of a room-temperature ionic liquid at graphite
      electrodes.
AB  - Molecular dynamics simulation studies of the structure and the differential
      capacitance (DC) for the ionic liquid (IL) N-methyl-N-propylpyrrolidinium
      bis(trifluoromethane)sulfonyl imide ([pyr(13)][TFSI]) near a graphite electrode
      have been performed as a function temperature and electrode potential. The IL
      exhibits a multilayer structure that extends 20-30 A from the electrode surface.
      The composition and ion orientation in the innermost layer were found to be
      strongly dependent on the electrode potential. While at potentials near the
      potential of zero charge (PZC), both cations and anions adjacent to the surface
      are oriented primarily perpendicular to the surface, the counterions in first
      layer orient increasingly parallel to the surface with increasing electrode
      potential. A minimum in DC observed around -1 V(RPZC) (potential relative to the
      PZC) corresponds to the point of highest density of perpendicularly aligned TFSI
      near the electrode. Maxima in the DC observed around +1.5 and -2.5 V(RPZC) are
      associated with the onset of "saturation", or crowding, of the interfacial layer.
      The asymmetry of DC versus electrode polarity is the result of strong
      interactions between the fluorine of TFSI and the surface, the relatively large
      footprint of TFSI compared to pyr(13), and the tendency of the propyl tails of
      pyr(13) to remain adsorbed on the surface even at high positive potentials.
      Finally, an observed decreased DC and the disappearance of the minimum in DC near
      the PZC with increasing temperature are likely due to the increasing importance
      of entropic/excluded volume effects (interfacial crowding) with increasing
      temperature.

PMID- 20925319
TI  - Effect of water electrolysis catalysts on carbon corrosion in polymer electrolyte
      membrane fuel cells.
AB  - A new approach to preventing electrochemical carbon corrosion in the cathode of
      polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) was developed. The addition of 2
      wt % IrO(2) (0.016 mg cm(-2)) to the catalyst layer of the cathode was
      demonstrated to reduce the electrochemical corrosion of carbon by 76% at 1.6
      V(NHE) and 70  degrees C compared with a commercial Pt/C catalyst of the same Pt
      loading of 0.4 mg cm(-2) and under the same test conditions. The IrO(2) was shown
      to behave as a catalyst for water electrolysis, thereby removing water from the
      catalyst layer, which promoted electrochemical carbon corrosion.

PMID- 20925320
TI  - Pd-Ga intermetallic compounds as highly selective semihydrogenation catalysts.
AB  - The intermetallic compounds Pd(3)Ga(7), PdGa, and Pd(2)Ga are found to be highly
      selective semihydrogenation catalysts for acetylene outperforming established
      systems. The stability of the crystal and electronic structure under reaction
      conditions allows the direct relation of structural and catalytic properties and
      a knowledge-based development of new intermetallic catalyst systems. In the
      crystal structure of PdGa palladium is exclusively surrounded by gallium atoms.
      The alteration of the Pd coordination in PdGa leads to a strong modification of
      the electronic structure around the Fermi level in comparison to elemental Pd.
      Electronic modification and isolation of active sites causes the excellent
      catalytic semihydrogenation properties.

PMID- 20925321
TI  - Chalcogels: porous metal-chalcogenide networks from main-group metal ions. Effect
      of surface polarizability on selectivity in gas separation.
AB  - We report the synthesis of metal-chalcogenide gels and aerogels from anionic
      chalcogenide clusters and linking metal ions. Metal ions such as Sb(3+) and
      Sn(2+), respectively chelated with tartrate and acetate ligands, react in
      solution with the chalcogenide clusters to form extended polymeric networks that
      exhibit gelation phenomena. Chalcogenide cluster anions with different charge
      densities, such as [Sn(2)S(6)](4-) and [SnS(4)](4-), were employed. In situ
      rheological measurements during gelation showed that a higher charge density on
      the chalcogenide cluster favors formation of a rigid gel network. Aerogels
      obtained from the gels after supercritical drying have BET surface areas from 114
      to 368 m(2)/g. Electron microscopy images coupled with nitrogen adsorption
      measurements showed the pores are micro (below 2 nm), meso (2-50 nm), and macro
      (above 50 nm) regions. These chalcogels possess band gaps in the range of 1.00
      2.00 eV and selectively adsorb polarizable gases. A 2-fold increase in
      selectivity toward CO(2)/C(2)H(6) over H(2) was observed for the
      Pt/Sb/Ge(4)Se(10)-containing aerogel compared to aerogel containing
      Pt(2)Ge(4)S(10). The experimental results suggest that high selectivity in gas
      adsorption is achievable with high-surface-area chalcogenide materials containing
      heavy polarizable elements.

PMID- 20925322
TI  - Coordination copolymerization mediated by Zn4O(CO2R)6 metal clusters: a balancing
      act between statistics and geometry.
AB  - Isolated successes of coordination copolymerization for the production of
      microporous coordination polymers (MCPs) have been reported recently; the logic
      for this synthetic approach has not been established nor have the key features of
      the synthetic conditions needed to generalize the method. Here, we establish
      guidelines for application of the copolymerization technique by exploring
      coordination modes and report, in addition to details on two previous
      coordination copolymers with exceptional properties, three new MCPs: UMCM-3
      (Zn(4)O(2,5-thiophenedicaboxylate)(1.2)(1,3,5-tris(4
      carboxyphenyl)benzene)(1.2)), UMCM-4 (Zn(4)O(1,4
      benzenedicarboxylate)((3)/(2))(4,4',4''-tricarboxytriphenylamine)), and UMCM-5
      (Zn(4)O(1,4-naphthalenedicarboxylate)(1,3,5-tris(4
      carboxyphenyl)benzene)((4)/(3))). The MCPs prepared by the copolymerization
      technique demonstrate Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface areas between 3500
      5200 m(2)/g and high pore volumes (1.64-2.37 cm(3)/g). In addition, the alignment
      of poly(3-hexylthiophene) within mesoporous channels of UMCM-1 is reported as a
      demonstration of the unique properties of these hosts.

PMID- 20925323
TI  - Toward the Lambertian limit of light trapping in thin nanostructured silicon
      solar cells.
AB  - We examine light trapping in thin silicon nanostructures for solar cell
      applications. Using group theory, we design surface nanostructures with an
      absorptance exceeding the Lambertian limit over a broad band at normal incidence.
      Further, we demonstrate that the absorptance of nanorod arrays closely follows
      the Lambertian limit for isotropic incident radiation. These effects correspond
      to a reduction in silicon mass by 2 orders of magnitude, pointing to the
      promising future of thin crystalline silicon solar cells.

PMID- 20925325
TI  - Plasmonic demultiplexer and guiding.
AB  - Two-dimensional plasmonic demultiplexers for surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs),
      which consist of concentric grooves on a gold film, are proposed and
      experimentally demonstrated to realize light-SPP coupling, effective dispersion,
      and multiple-channel SPP guiding. A resolution as high as 10 nm is obtained. The
      leakage radiation microscopy imaging shows that the SPPs of different wavelengths
      are focused and routed into different SPP strip waveguides. The plasmonic
      demultiplexer can thus serve as a wavelength division multiplexing element for an
      integrated plasmonic circuit and also as a plasmonic spectroscopy or filter.

PMID- 20925326
TI  - Concise synthesis of the oxapentacyclic core of cortistatin A.
AB  - A concise synthetic approach for constructing the oxapentacyclic framework of
      cortistatin A is described. The synthesis features a furan-oxyallyl [4 + 3]
      cycloaddition and double-intramolecular aldol reactions. In addition, an
      interesting core structure was obtained in 11 steps from furan by using our
      method.

PMID- 20925328
TI  - Convergent synthesis of geometrically disassembling dendrimers using Cu(I)
      catalyzed C-O bond formation.
AB  - The convergent synthesis of geometrically degradable dendrimers based on the 2,4
      bis(hydroxymethyl)phenol subunit is presented. The key step of the synthetic
      scheme involves the CuI/3,4,7,8-tetramethyl-1,10-phenanthroline-catalyzed
      coupling of aryl iodides and alcohols. The synthesis and disassembly of these
      compounds is discussed.

PMID- 20925327
TI  - Partitioning and localization of environment-sensitive 2-(2'-pyridyl)- and 2-(2'
      pyrimidyl)-indoles in lipid membranes: a joint refinement using fluorescence
      measurements and molecular dynamics simulations.
AB  - Fluorescence of environment-sensitive dyes is widely applied to monitor local
      structure and solvation dynamics of biomolecules. It has been shown that, in
      comparison with a parent indole fluorophore, fluorescence of 2-(2'-pyridyl)-5
      methylindole (5M-PyIn-0) and 2-[2'-(4',6'-dimethylpyrimidyl)]-indole (DMPmIn-0)
      is remarkably sensitive to hydrogen bonding with protic partners. Strong
      fluorescence, observed for these compounds in nonpolar and polar aprotic
      solvents, is efficiently quenched in aqueous solution. This study demonstrates
      that 5M-PyIn-0 and DMPmIn-0, which are almost nonemitting in aqueous solution,
      become highly fluorescent upon titrating with phospholipid vesicles. The
      fluorescence enhancement is accompanied by a significant blue shift of emission
      maximum. The Gibbs free energy of membrane partitioning, measured by the increase
      in the steady-state fluorescence intensities during transfer from an aqueous
      environment to a lipid bilayer, is very favorable for both compounds, being in a
      range from -7.1 to -8.0 kcal/mol and depending only slightly on lipid composition
      of the membrane. The fluorescence enhancement upon membrane partitioning is
      indicative of the loss of the specific hydrogen-bonding interactions between the
      excited fluorophore and water molecules, causing efficient fluorescence quenching
      in bulk water. This conclusion is supported by atomistic molecular dynamics (MD)
      simulations, demonstrating that both 5M-PyIn-0 and DMPmIn-0 bind rapidly and
      partition deeply into a lipid bilayer. MD simulations also show a rapid,
      nanosecond-scale decrease in the probability of solute-solvent hydrogen bonding
      during passive diffusion of the probe molecules from bulk water into a lipid
      bilayer. At equilibrium conditions, both 5M-PyIn-0 and DMPmIn-0 prefer deep
      localization within the hydrophobic, water-free region of the bilayer. A free
      energy profile of penetration across a bilayer estimated using MD umbrella
      sampling shows that both indole derivatives favor residence in a rather wide
      potential energy well located 10-15 A from the bilayer center.

PMID- 20925329
TI  - Halogenation of carbon substrates for increased reactivity with alkenes.
AB  - Carbon substrates are readily functionalized with alkene-containing molecules via
      an ultraviolet-light-catalyzed reaction, resulting in the formation of a carbon
      carbon bond with the surface. This reaction is typically performed on hydrogen
      terminated carbon substrates, limiting its utility as alkene molecules with low
      electron affinities do not readily attach to this surface. Recently, a wet
      chemical method for preparing bromine- and chlorine-terminated carbon substrates
      has been developed. Replacing the terminal hydrogen atoms with a halogen analog
      increases the surface's reactivity with alkene-containing molecules, affording a
      means of modifying the carbon substrate with the alkene molecules that do not
      readily attach to the hydrogen-terminated surface and with a greatly reduced
      reaction time.

PMID- 20925330
TI  - Novel acyclic diaminocarbene ligands with increased steric demand and their
      application in gold catalysis.
AB  - Sterically demanding and conformationally stable N,N'-ditertiaryalkyl-N,N'
      diphenyl acyclic diaminocarbenes (ADCs) were developed. Bulky ADC-Au catalysts
      not only showed competitive reactivities in hydroamination and enyne cyclization
      but also demonstrated unique ligand properties different from bulky N
      heterocyclic carbene (NHC) counterparts.

PMID- 20925332
TI  - Reversible dispersion of single-walled carbon nanotubes based on a CO2-responsive
      dispersant.
AB  - A CO(2)-responsive dispersant, N,N-dimethyl-N'-(pyren-1-ylmethyl)
      acetimidamidinium (PyAH(+)), which bears both a pyrene moiety and an amidinium
      cation, has been successfully synthesized. Through strong pi-pi interaction
      between the pyrene moiety and single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs), we have
      demonstrated that PyAH(+) can be modified onto SWNT surfaces to promote the
      dispersion of SWNTs in water. Furthermore, taking advantage of gas triggered
      interconversions between the amidinium cation and amidine, reversible control on
      the solubility of SWNTs has been achieved simply through alternated bubbling of
      CO(2) and Ar. This work has demonstrated a new method for controlled dispersion
      and aggregation of SWNTs, and it may contribute to the development of gas
      responsive carbon materials.

PMID- 20925333
TI  - Quantitative model of the phase behavior of recombinant pH-responsive elastin
      like polypeptides.
AB  - Quantitative models are required to engineer biomaterials with environmentally
      responsive properties. With this goal in mind, we developed a model that
      describes the pH-dependent phase behavior of a class of stimulus responsive
      elastin-like polypeptides (ELPs) that undergo reversible phase separation in
      response to their solution environment. Under isothermal conditions, charged ELPs
      can undergo phase separation when their charge is neutralized. Optimization of
      this behavior has been challenging because the pH at which they phase separate,
      pHt, depends on their composition, molecular weight, concentration, and
      temperature. To address this problem, we developed a quantitative model to
      describe the phase behavior of charged ELPs that uses the Henderson-Hasselbalch
      relationship to describe the effect of side-chain ionization on the phase
      transition temperature of an ELP. The model was validated with pH-responsive ELPs
      that contained either acidic (Glu) or basic (His) residues. The phase separation
      of both ELPs fit this model across a range of pH. These results have important
      implications for applications of pH-responsive ELPs because they provide a
      quantitative model for the rational design of pH-responsive polypeptides whose
      transition can be triggered at a specified pH. 

PMID- 20925335
TI  - Stability and reactivity of epsilon-chi-theta iron carbide catalyst phases in
      Fischer-Tropsch synthesis: controlling MU(C).
AB  - The stability and reactivity of epsilon, chi, and theta iron carbide phases in
      Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (FTS) catalysts as a function of relevant reaction
      conditions was investigated by a synergistic combination of experimental and
      theoretical methods. Combined in situ X-ray Absorption Fine Structure
      Spectroscopy/X-ray Diffraction/Raman Spectroscopy was applied to study Fe-based
      catalysts during pretreatment and, for the first time, at relevant high pressure
      Fischer-Tropsch synthesis conditions, while Density Functional Theory
      calculations formed a fundamental basis for understanding the influence of
      pretreatment and FTS conditions on the formation of bulk iron carbide phases. By
      combining theory and experiment, it was found that the formation of theta-Fe(3)C,
      chi-Fe(5)C(2), and epsilon-carbides can be explained by their relative
      thermodynamic stability as imposed by gas phase composition and temperature.
      Furthermore, it was shown that a significant part of the Fe phases was present as
      amorphous carbide phases during high pressure FTS, sometimes in an equivalent
      amount to the crystalline iron carbide fraction. A catalyst containing mainly
      crystalline chi-Fe(5)C(2) was highly susceptible to oxidation during FTS
      conditions, while a catalyst containing theta-Fe(3)C and amorphous carbide phases
      showed a lower activity and selectivity, mainly due to the buildup of
      carbonaceous deposits on the catalyst surface, suggesting that amorphous phases
      and the resulting textural properties play an important role in determining final
      catalyst performance. The findings further uncovered the thermodynamic and
      kinetic factors inducing the epsilon-chi-theta carbide transformation as a
      function of the carbon chemical potential MU(C).

PMID- 20925334
TI  - Expanding the genetic code of yeast for incorporation of diverse unnatural amino
      acids via a pyrrolysyl-tRNA synthetase/tRNA pair.
AB  - We report the discovery of a simple system through which variant pyrrolysyl-tRNA
      synthetase/tRNA(CUA Pyl) pairs created in Escherichia coli can be used to expand
      the genetic code of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In the process we have solved the
      key challenges of producing a functional tRNA(CUA Pyl) in yeast and discovered a
      pyrrolysyl-tRNA synthetase/tRNA(CUA Pyl) pair that is orthogonal in yeast. Using
      our approach we have incorporated an alkyne-containing amino acid for click
      chemistry, an important post-translationally modified amino acid and one of its
      analogs, a photocaged amino acid and a photo-cross-linking amino acid into
      proteins in yeast. Extensions of our approach will allow the growing list of
      useful amino acids that have been incorporated in E. coli with variant pyrrolysyl
      tRNA synthetase/tRNA(CUA Pyl) pairs to be site-specifically incorporated into
      proteins in yeast.

PMID- 20925336
TI  - Lanthanide amides [(Me(3)Si)(2)N](3)Ln(MU-Cl)Li(THF)(3) catalyzed
      hydrophosphonylation of aryl aldehydes.
AB  - A highly efficient method for the synthesis of alpha-hydroxy phosphonates via
      lanthanide amides [(Me(3)Si)(2)N](3)Ln(MU-Cl)Li(THF)(3) catalyzed
      hydrophosphonylation of aromatic aldehydes was developed. The reactions produced
      the products in excellent yields in the presence of 0.1 mol %
      [(Me(3)Si)(2)N](3)La(MU-Cl)Li(THF)(3) at room temperature within 5 min. The
      existence of LiCl in the catalyst was a key factor affecting the catalytic
      activity. The mechanism for the process of high efficiency was proposed.

PMID- 20925337
TI  - Hydride-containing models for the active site of the nickel-iron hydrogenases.
AB  - The [NiFe]-hydrogenase model complex NiFe(pdt)(dppe)(CO)(3) (1) (pdt = 1,3
      propanedithiolate) has been efficiently synthesized and found to be robust. This
      neutral complex sustains protonation to give the first nickel-iron hydride
      [1H]BF(4). One CO ligand in [1H]BF(4) is readily substituted by organophosphorus
      ligands to afford the substituted derivatives
      [HNiFe(pdt)(dppe)(PR(3))(CO)(2)]BF(4), where PR(3) = P(OPh)(3) ([2H]BF(4));
      PPh(3) ([3H]BF(4)); PPh(2)Py ([4H]BF(4), where Py = 2-pyridyl). Variable
      temperature NMR measurements show that the neutral and protonated derivatives are
      dynamic on the NMR time scale, which partially symmetrizes the phosphine complex.
      The proposed stereodynamics involve twisting of the Ni(dppe) center, not rotation
      at the Fe(CO)(2)(PR(3)) center. In MeCN solution, 3, which can be prepared by
      deprotonation of [3H]BF(4) with NaOMe, is about 10(4) stronger base than is 1. X
      ray crystallographic analysis of [3H]BF(4) revealed a highly unsymmetrical
      bridging hydride, the Fe-H bond being 0.40 A shorter than the Ni-H distance.
      Complexes [2H]BF(4), [3H]BF(4), and [4H]BF(4) undergo reductions near -1.46 V vs
      Fc(0/+). For [2H]BF(4), this reduction process is reversible, and we assign it as
      a one-electron process. In the presence of trifluoroacetic acid, proton reduction
      catalysis coincides with this reductive event. The dependence of i(c)/i(p) on the
      concentration of the acid indicates that H(2) evolution entails protonation of a
      reduced hydride. For [2H](+), [3H](+), and [4H](+), the acid-independent rate
      constants are 50-75 s(-1). For [2H](+) and [3H](+), the overpotentials for H(2)
      evolution are estimated to be 430 mV, whereas the overpotential for the N
      protonated pyridinium complex [4H(2)](2+) is estimated to be 260 mV. The
      mechanism of H(2) evolution is proposed to follow an ECEC sequence, where E and C
      correspond to one-electron reductions and protonations, respectively. On the
      basis of their values for its pK(a) and redox potentials, the room temperature
      values of DeltaG(H*) and DeltaG(H-) are estimated as respectively as 57 and 79
      kcal/mol for [1H](+).

PMID- 20925338
TI  - Molecular hydrogen "pairing" interaction in a metal organic framework system with
      unsaturated metal centers (MOF-74).
AB  - Infrared (IR) absorption spectroscopy measurements of molecular hydrogen in MOF
      74-M (M = metal center) are performed as a function of temperature and pressure
      [to 45 kTorr (60 bar) at 300 K, and at lower pressures in the 20-200 K range] to
      investigate the nature of H(2) interactions with the unsaturated metal centers. A
      small shift (~ -30 cm(-1) with respect to the unperturbed H(2) molecule) is
      observed for the internal stretch frequency of H(2) molecules adsorbed on the
      metal site at low loading. This finding is in contrast to much larger shifts (~ 
      70 cm(-1)) observed in previous studies of MOFs with unsaturated metal centers
      (including MOF-74) and the general assumption that H(2) stretch shifts depend on
      adsorption energies (FitzGerald et al., Phys. Rev. B 2010, 81, 104305). We show
      that larger shifts (~ -70 cm(-1)) do occur, but only when the next available site
      ("oxygen" site) is occupied. This larger shift originates from H(2)-H(2)
      interactions on neighboring sites of the same pore, consistent with the short
      distance between H(2) in these two sites ~2.6 A derived from an analysis of
      neutron diffraction experiments of D(2)-D(2) at 4 K (Liu et al., Langmuir 2008,
      24, 4772-4777). Our results at 77 K and low loading can be explained by a
      diffusion barrier against pair disruption, which should be enhanced by this
      interaction. Calculations indicate that the vibrational shifts do not correlate
      with binding energies and are instead very sensitive to the environment
      (interaction potential and H(2)-H(2) interactions), which complicates the use of
      variable temperature IR methods to calculate adsorption energies of specific
      adsorption sites.

PMID- 20925339
TI  - Mechanism and stereospecificity of a fully saturating polyketide synthase module:
      nanchangmycin synthase module 2 and its dehydratase domain.
AB  - Recombinant nanchangmycin synthase module 2 (NANS module 2), with the
      thioesterase domain from the 6-deoxyerythronolide B synthase (DEBS TE) appended
      to the C-terminus, was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli. Incubation of
      NANS module 2+TE with (+/-)-2-methyl-3-keto-butyryl-N-acetylcysteamine thioester
      (1), the SNAC analog of the natural ACP-bound substrate, with methylmalonyl-CoA
      (MM-CoA) in the absence of NADPH gave 3,5,6-trimethyl-4-hydroxypyrone (2),
      identified by direct comparison with synthetic 2 by radio-TLC-phosphorimaging and
      LC-ESI(+)-MS-MS. The reaction showed k(cat) 0.5 +/- 0.1 min(-1) and K(m)(1) 19 +/
      5 mM at 0.5 mM MM-CoA and k(cat)(app) 0.26 +/- 0.02 min(-1) and K(m)(MM-CoA)
      0.11 +/- 0.02 mM at 8 mM 1. Incubation in the presence of NADPH generated the
      fully saturated triketide chain elongation product as a 5:3 mixture of (2S,4R)
      2,4-dimethyl-5-ketohexanoic acid (3a) and the diastereomeric (2S,4S)-3b. The
      structure and stereochemistry of each product was established by comparison with
      synthetic 3a and 3b by a combination of radio-TLC-phosphorimaging and LC-ESI(-)
      MS-MS, as well as chiral capillary GC-MS analysis of the corresponding methyl
      esters 3a-Me and 3b-Me. The recombinant dehydratase domain from NANS module 2,
      NANS DH2, was shown to catalyze the formation of an (E)-double bond by syn
      dehydration of the ACP-bound substrate anti-(2R,3R,4S,5R)-2,4-dimethyl-3,5
      dihydroxyheptanoyl-ACP6 (4), generated in situ by incubation of (2S,3R)-2-methyl
      3-hydroxypentanoyl-SNAC (5), methylmalonyl-CoA, and NADPH with the recombinant
      [KS6][AT6] didomain and ACP6 from DEBS module 6 along with the ketoreductase from
      the tylactone synthase module 1 (TYLS KR1). These results also indirectly
      establish the stereochemistry of the reactions catalyzed by the KR and
      enoylreductase (ER) domains of NANS module 2.

PMID- 20925340
TI  - Probing the oxyferrous and catalytically active ferryl states of Amphitrite
      ornata dehaloperoxidase by cryoreduction and EPR/ENDOR spectroscopy. Detection of
      compound I.
AB  - Dehaloperoxidase (DHP) from Amphitrite ornata is a heme protein that can function
      both as a hemoglobin and as a peroxidase. This report describes the use of 77 K
      cryoreduction EPR/ENDOR techniques to study both functions of DHP. Cryoreduced
      oxyferrous [Fe(II)-O(2)] DHP exhibits two EPR signals characteristic of a
      peroxoferric [Fe(III)-O(2)(2-)] heme species, reflecting the presence of
      conformational substates in the oxyferrous precursor. (1)H ENDOR spectroscopy of
      the cryogenerated substates shows that H-bonding interactions between His
      N(epsilon)H and heme-bound O(2) in these conformers are similar to those in the
      beta-chain of oxyferrous hemoglobin A (HbA) and oxyferrous myoglobin,
      respectively. Decay of cryogenerated peroxoferric heme DHP intermediates upon
      annealing at temperatures above 180 K is accompanied by the appearance of a new
      paramagnetic species with an axial EPR signal with g(?) = 3.75 and g(?) = 1.96,
      characteristic of an S = 3/2 spin state. This species is assigned to Compound I
      (Cpd I), in which a porphyrin pi-cation radical is ferromagnetically coupled with
      an S = 1 ferryl [Fe(IV)?O] ion. This species was also trapped by rapid freeze
      quench of the ambient-temperature reaction mixture of ferric [Fe(III)] DHP and
      H(2)O(2). However, in the latter case Cpd I is reduced very rapidly by a nearby
      tyrosine to form Cpd ES [(Fe(IV)?O)(porphyrin)/Tyr(*)]. Addition of the substrate
      analogue 2,4,6-trifluorophenol (F(3)PhOH) suppresses formation of the Cpd I
      intermediate during annealing of cryoreduced oxyferrous DHP at 190 K but has no
      effect on the spectroscopic properties of the remaining cryoreduced oxyferrous
      DHP intermediates and kinetics of their decay. These observations indicate that
      substrate (i) binds to oxyferrous DHP outside of the distal pocket and (ii) can
      reduce Cpd I to Cpd II [Fe(IV)?O]. These assumptions are also supported by the
      observation that F(3)PhOH has only a small effect on the EPR properties of
      radiolytically cryooxidized and cryoreduced ferrous [Fe(II)] DHP. EPR spectra of
      cryoreduced ferrous DHP disclose the multiconformational nature of the ferrous
      DHP precursor. The observation and characterization of Cpds I, II, and ES in the
      absence and in the presence of F(3)PhOH provides definitive evidence of a
      mechanism involving consecutive one-electron steps and clarifies the role of all
      intermediates formed during turnover.

PMID- 20925341
TI  - Nitroimino-tetrazolates and oxy-nitroimino-tetrazolates.
AB  - Highly energetic 1,1'-ethylenebis(oxy)bis(5-nitroimino-tetrazolate) salts were
      obtained by reacting equimolar quantities of the acidic 1,1'
      ethylenebis(oxy)bis(5-nitroimino-tetrazole) and energetic bases in aqueous
      solution. Additionally, metathesis of silver 1,1'-ethylenebis(oxy)bis(5
      nitroimino-tetrazolate) with diaminoguanidinium chloride or triaminoguanidinium
      chloride gave the corresponding oxy-nitroimino-tetrazolate salt. These salts were
      fully characterized using IR and multinuclear NMR spectroscopy, elemental
      analysis, and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and, in some cases,
      2.2H(2)O, 8.2H(2)O, 10, 13.2H(2)O and 14, with single crystal X-ray structuring.
      The heats of formation for all compounds were calculated with Gaussian 03 and
      then combined with measured densities to determine detonation pressures (P) and
      velocities (D) of the energetic materials (Cheetah 5.0). The impact sensitivities
      of all salts were found to be less than those of the parent compounds. The
      physical and detonation properties of these oxy-nitroimino-tetrazolate salts are
      comparable to the analogous newly prepared diaminoguanidinium and
      triaminoguanidinium 1,1'-ethylenebis(5-nitroimino-tetrazolate)s.

PMID- 20925342
TI  - Stereospecificity of the dehydratase domain of the erythromycin polyketide
      synthase.
AB  - The dehydratase (DH) domain of module 4 of the 6-deoxyerythronolide B synthase
      (DEBS) has been shown to catalyze an exclusive syn elimination/syn addition of
      water. Incubation of recombinant DH4 with chemoenzymatically prepared anti
      (2R,3R)-2-methyl-3-hydroxypentanoyl-ACP (2a-ACP) gave the dehydration product 3
      ACP. Similarly, incubation of DH4 with synthetic 3-ACP resulted in the reverse
      enzyme-catalyzed hydration reaction, giving an ~3:1 equilbrium mixture of 2a-ACP
      and 3-ACP. Incubation of a mixture of propionyl-SNAC (4), methylmalonyl-CoA, and
      NADPH with the DEBS beta-ketoacyl synthase-acyl transferase [KS6][AT6] didomain,
      DEBS ACP6, and the ketoreductase domain from tylactone synthase module 1 (TYLS
      KR1) generated in situ anti-2a-ACP that underwent DH4-catalyzed syn dehydration
      to give 3-ACP. DH4 did not dehydrate syn-(2S,3R)-2b-ACP, syn-(2R,3S)-2c-ACP, or
      anti-(2S,3S)-2d-ACP generated in situ by DEBS KR1, DEBS KR6, or the rifamycin
      synthase KR7 (RIFS KR7), respectively. Similarly, incubation of a mixture of
      (2S,3R)-2-methyl-3-hydroxypentanoyl-N-acetylcysteamine thioester (2b-SNAC),
      methylmalonyl-CoA, and NADPH with DEBS [KS6][AT6], DEBS ACP6, and TYLS KR1 gave
      anti-(2R,3R)-6-ACP that underwent syn dehydration catalyzed by DEBS DH4 to give
      (4R,5R)-(E)-2,4-dimethyl-5-hydroxy-hept-2-enoyl-ACP (7-ACP). The structure and
      stereochemistry of 7 were established by GC-MS and LC-MS comparison of the
      derived methyl ester 7-Me to a synthetic sample of 7-Me.

PMID- 20925343
TI  - "Long-range" metal-ligand cooperation in H2 activation and ammonia-promoted
      hydride transfer with a ruthenium-acridine pincer complex.
AB  - The acridine-based pincer complex 1 exhibits an unprecedented mode of metal
      ligand cooperation involving a "long-range" interaction between the distal
      acridine C9 position and the metal center. Reaction of 1 with H(2)/KOH results in
      H(2) splitting between the Ru center and C9 with concomitant dearomatization of
      the acridine moiety. DFT calculations show that this process involves the
      formation of a Ru dihydride intermediate bearing a bent acridine ligand in which
      C9 is in close proximity to a hydride ligand followed by through-space hydride
      transfer. Ammonia induces transfer of a hydride from the Ru center of 1 to C9 of
      the flexible acridine pincer ligand, forming an unusual dearomatized fac-acridine
      PNP complex.

PMID- 20925344
TI  - Controlling charge separation and recombination rates in CdSe/ZnS type I core
      shell quantum dots by shell thicknesses.
AB  - Type I core/shell quantum dots (QDs) have been shown to improve the stability and
      conversion efficiency of QD-sensitized solar cells compared to core only QDs. To
      understand how the shell thickness affects the solar cell performance, its
      effects on interfacial charge separation and recombination kinetics are
      investigated. These kinetics are measured in CdSe/ZnS type I core/shell QDs
      adsorbed with anthroquinone molecules (as electron acceptor) by time-resolved
      transient absorption spectroscopy. We show that the charge separation and
      recombination rates decrease exponentially with the shell thickness (d), k(d) =
      k(0)e(-betad), with exponential decay factors beta of 0.35 +/- 0.03 per A and
      0.91 +/- 0.14 per A, respectively. Model calculations show that these trends can
      be attributed to the exponential decrease of the 1S electron and hole densities
      at the QD surface with the shell thickness. The much steeper decrease in charge
      recombination rate results from a larger hole effective mass (than electron) in
      the ZnS shell. This finding suggests possible ways of optimizing the charge
      separation yield and lifetime by controlling the thickness and nature of the
      shell materials.

PMID- 20925345
TI  - PKU-10: a new 3D open-framework germanate with 13-ring channels.
AB  - PKU-10, a germanate with the formula [(CH(3))(4)N](3)Ge(11)O(19)(OH)(9), is
      synthesized under hydrothermal conditions, and its structure is determined by
      single-crystal X-ray diffraction data. PKU-10 possesses 3D intersected 13-ring
      channels and presents a new 6-connectedness linkage mode of the Ge(7) cluster,
      T(3)P(2)O, forming a pcu topological network. Each Ge(7) cluster is, in fact,
      surrounded by eight Ge(7) clusters in a nearly perfect cube because the hydrogen
      bonds between Ge(7) clusters are also taken into account. The structure-directing
      agent tetramethylammonium (TMA(+)) ions, locating in the channels, can be
      partially exchanged by Li(+) with retention of the germanate framework. The
      germanate framework collapses with decomposition of the TMA(+) ions at
      temperatures higher than 240  degrees C.

PMID- 20925346
TI  - Dynamics of phase separation in poly(acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene)-modified
      epoxy/DDS system: kinetics and viscoelastic effects.
AB  - The dynamics of phase separation and final morphologies of poly(acrylonitrile
      butadiene-styrene) (ABS)-modified epoxy system based on diglycidyl ether of
      bisphenol A (DGEBA) cured with 4,4'-diaminodiphenylsulfone (DDS) have been
      monitored in situ throughout the entire curing process by using optical
      microscopy (OM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), rheometry, and small
      angle laser light scattering (SALLS). The evolution of phase separation and final
      morphologies with substructures were explored by OM. The final morphologies of
      the blend cured at 150 and 165  degrees C are of phase-inverted type and are
      quite different from the final morphologies of the same blend cured at 180 
      degrees C, in which the final morphologies are cocontinuous. AFM observations of
      the fully cured sample confirmed the existence of three different phases, the
      epoxy continuous phase, SAN (styrene/acrylonitrile) continuous phase, and PB
      droplets at the interface, with a strong tendency to stay at SAN continuous
      phase. Furthermore, the continuous epoxy phase contains SAN particles and the
      continuous SAN phase contains epoxy particles. Cure kinetics and rheological
      results correspond well with the viscoelastic phase separation revealed by OM.
      The SALLS results display clearly that the phase separation takes place according
      to nucleation and growth mechanism followed by spinodal decomposition. The
      development of light scattering patterns during the second stage phase separation
      follows the Cahn-Hilliard model of spinodal demixing. Furthermore, the evolution
      of the scattering vector follows a Maxwell-type relaxation equation establishing
      the viscoelastic behavior of phase separation. The relaxation time of phase
      separation can be described by the Williams-Landel-Ferry equation for
      viscoelasticity. As a whole, the dependence of phase separation on cure
      temperature and the development of final morphologies and the associated
      mechanisms were explored in detail for the complex epoxy/ABS system.

PMID- 20925347
TI  - Highly sensitive multiplexed heavy metal detection using quantum-dot-labeled
      DNAzymes.
AB  - We developed highly sensitive and specific nanosensors based on quantum dots
      (QDs) and DNAzyme for multiplexed detection of heavy metal ions in liquid. The
      QDs were coated with a thin silica layer for increased stability and higher
      quantum yield while maintaining a relatively small size for highly efficient
      energy transfer. The QD-DNAzyme nanosensors were constructed by conjugating
      quencher-labeled DNAzymes onto the surface of carboxyl-silanized QDs. In the
      presence of metal ions, the emission is restored due to the cleavage of DNAzymes.
      The detection could be completed within 25 min with a single laser excitation
      source. The detection limit of 0.2 and 0.5 nM was experimentally achieved for
      Pb(2+) and Cu(2+), respectively, which is a 50- and 70-fold improvement over the
      recent results obtained with dye molecules. Multiplexed detection was also
      demonstrated using two different colors of QDs, showing negligible cross-talk
      between the Pb(2+) detection and Cu(2+) detection.

PMID- 20925348
TI  - Nanohydroxyapatite-coated electrospun poly(l-lactide) nanofibers enhance
      osteogenic differentiation of stem cells and induce ectopic bone formation.
AB  - A combination of calcium phosphates with nanofibrous scaffolds holds promising
      potential for bone tissue engineering applications. In this study,
      nanohydroxyapatite (n-HA) was coated on the plasma-treated surface of electrospun
      poly(l-lactide) (PLLA) nanofibers and the capacity of fabricated scaffolds for
      bone formation was investigated in vitro using human cord blood derived
      unrestricted somatic stem cells (USSC) under osteogenic induction and in vivo
      after subcutaneous implantation. PLLA and n-HA-coated PLLA (n-HA/PLLA) scaffolds
      exhibited a nanofibrous structure with interconnected pores and suitable
      mechanical properties. These scaffolds were also shown to support attachment,
      spreading, and proliferation of USSC, as shown by their flattened normal
      morphology and MTT assay. During osteogenic differentiation, significantly higher
      values of ALP activity, biomineralization, and bone-related gene expression were
      observed on n-HA/PLLA compared to PLLA scaffolds. Subsequently, these markers
      were measured in higher amounts in USSC on PLLA nanofibers compared to TCPS.
      According to the in vivo results, ossification and formation of trabeculi was
      observed in the n-HA/PLLA scaffold compared to PLLA. Taking together, it was
      shown that nanofibrous structure enhanced osteogenic differentiation of USSC.
      Furthermore, surface-coated n-HA stimulated the effect of nanofibers on the
      orientation of USSC toward osteolineage. In addition, the n-HA/PLLA electrospun
      scaffold showed the capacity for ectopic bone formation in the absence of
      exogenous cells. 

PMID- 20925349
TI  - Evaluation of conventional and alternative monitoring methods for a recreational
      marine beach with nonpoint source of fecal contamination.
AB  - The objectives of this work were to compare enterococci (ENT) measurements based
      on the membrane filter, ENT(MF) with alternatives that can provide faster results
      including alternative enterococci methods (e.g., chromogenic substrate (CS), and
      quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR)), and results from regression
      models based upon environmental parameters that can be measured in real-time.
      ENT(MF) were also compared to source tracking markers (Staphylococcus aureus,
      Bacteroidales human and dog markers, and Catellicoccus gull marker) in an effort
      to interpret the variability of the signal. Results showed that concentrations of
      enterococci based upon MF (<2 to 3320 CFU/100 mL) were significantly different
      from the CS and qPCR methods (p < 0.01). The correlations between MF and CS (r =
      0.58, p < 0.01) were stronger than between MF and qPCR (r <= 0.36, p < 0.01).
      Enterococci levels by MF, CS, and qPCR methods were positively correlated with
      turbidity and tidal height. Enterococci by MF and CS were also inversely
      correlated with solar radiation but enterococci by qPCR was not. The regression
      model based on environmental variables provided fair qualitative predictions of
      enterococci by MF in real-time, for daily geometric mean levels, but not for
      individual samples. Overall, ENT(MF) was not significantly correlated with source
      tracking markers with the exception of samples collected during one storm event.
      The inability of the regression model to predict ENT(MF) levels for individual
      samples is likely due to the different sources of ENT impacting the beach at any
      given time, making it particularly difficult to to predict short-term variability
      of ENT(MF) for environmental parameters.

PMID- 20925350
TI  - A structurally tunable DNA-based extracellular matrix.
AB  - The principles of DNA nanotechnology and protein engineering have been combined
      to generate a new class of artificial extracellular matrices. The potential of
      this material for ex vivo cellular scaffolding was demonstrated using experiments
      in which human cervical cancer cells were found to adhere strongly, stay alive,
      and grow with high migration rates. The use of DNA in our DNA/protein-based
      matrices makes these structures inherently amenable to structural tunability. By
      engineering single-stranded domains into the DNA portions, we were able to fine
      tune the scaffold's persistence length and stiffness as perceived by cells. This
      was used to direct the outcome of the cell's cytoskeletal arrangement and overall
      shape, the status of its signal transduction protein p-FAK, and the localization
      of its intracellular transcription factors FOXO1a. This contribution lays the
      groundwork for the facile and modular construction of programmable extracellular
      matrices that can bring about the systematic study and replication of the
      naturally occurring extracellular niche.

PMID- 20925351
TI  - Thermodynamic and kinetic properties of a red wine pigment: catechin-(4,8)
      malvidin-3-O-glucoside.
AB  - Catechin-(4,8)-malvidin-3-glucoside, a red pigment adduct (at acid pH) found in
      red wine and resulting from the reaction between malvidin-3-glucoside and flavan
      3-ols during wine aging, was synthesized. The thermodynamic and kinetic constants
      of the network of chemical reactions were fully determined by stopped flow: (i)
      Direct pH jumps, from thermal equilibrated solutions at pH = 1.0 (flavylium
      cation, AH(+)), show three kinetic processes. The first one occurs within the
      mixing time of the stopped flow and leads to the formation of quinoidal bases A
      and/or A(-) depending on the final pH; the second one takes place with a rate
      constant equal to 0.075 + 33[H(+)] and was attributed to the hydration reaction
      that forms the pseudobases (hemiketals), B/B(-). The third process is much
      slower, 2 * 10(-4) s(-1), and is due to the cis-trans isomerization giving rise
      to a small fraction of trans-chalcones, Ct/Ct(-). (ii) Reverse pH jumps from the
      thermally equilibrated solution at moderate to neutral pH values back to a
      sufficiently acidic medium clearly distinguish three kinetic processes: the first
      one takes place within the dead time and is due to the protonation of the bases;
      the second process occurs with the same rate constant of the hydration reaction
      monitored by direct pH jumps and is attributed to the formation of flavylium
      cation from the B; the last process occurs with a rate constant of 1.8 s(-1), and
      results from the formation of AH(+) from Ct through B, reflecting the rate of the
      ring closure (tautomerization). The separation of the hydration from the
      tautomerization upon a reverse pH jump is only possible because at pH < 1 the
      former reaction is faster than the last. An identical situation was observed for
      malvidin-3-glucoside (oenin) for pH < 2.

PMID- 20925352
TI  - Enhanced ferroelectric switching characteristics of P(VDF-TrFE) for organic
      memory devices.
AB  - In the following work, we report an approach to shorten the ferroelectric
      switching time of P(VDF-TrFE) film by blending with as-synthesized gold
      nanoparticles. Ferroelectric hysteresis measurements give remnant polarization
      and coercive field of 8 MUC/cm(2) and 50 MV/m, respectively. A series of electric
      pulses was applied for the characterization of ferroelectric polymers, and the
      switching time response was evaluated. More than 3 orders of magnitude reduction
      in switching time is observed for the polymer film blended with nanoparticles of
      the amount 1 * 10(-6) wt %. The observed switching enhancements are discussed in
      terms of improved alignment of the ferroelectric crystal plane in the presence of
      the gold nanoparticles, whereby the aligned crystal planes experience a stronger
      effective field compared to the randomly oriented planes in pristine P(VDF-TrFE).

PMID- 20925353
TI  - Ion transport mechanism in glasses: non-Arrhenius conductivity and nonuniversal
      features.
AB  - In this article, we report non-Arrhenius behavior in the temperature-dependent dc
      conductivity of alkali ion conducting silicate glasses well below their glass
      transition temperature. In contrast to the several fast ion-conducting and binary
      potassium silicate glasses, these glasses show a positive deviation in the
      Arrhenius plot. The observed non-Arrhenius behavior is completely reproducible in
      nature even after prolonged annealing close to the glass transition temperature
      of the respective glass sample. These results are the manifestation of local
      structural changes of the silicate network with temperature and give rise to
      different local environments into which the alkali ions hop, revealed by in situ
      high-temperature Raman spectroscopy. Furthermore, the present study provides new
      insights into the strong link between the dynamics of the alkali ions and
      different sites associated with it in the glasses.

PMID- 20925354
TI  - Impact of head group charges, ionic sizes, and dielectric images on charge
      inversion: a Monte Carlo simulation study.
AB  - The ionic density profiles and corresponding integrated charge distribution close
      to an aqueous interface carrying charged functional groups of different valences
      exposed to mixed-salt solutions of 1:1 and 3:1 electrolytes were computed by use
      of extensive Monte Carlo simulations within the framework of the primitive model.
      The influence of varying ion sizes on charge inversion was analyzed, along with
      the crucial role of electrostatic images arising from dielectric discontinuities.
      For small sizes of charged species, it was found that charge inversion is
      enhanced by the presence of multivalent interfacial groups. Moreover, dielectric
      images further intensify the degree of charge inversion despite strong depletion
      effects. In particular, the onset of charge inversion shifts closer to the
      nonaqueous phase if the surface charge density is sufficiently low. These
      observations are opposite to the general belief of image repulsion. When large
      sized ions were considered, the degree of charge inversion was found to be
      independent of the structure of interfacial groups and to remain widely
      unaffected in the absence and presence of dielectric images. Overall, our results
      show that interionic excluded-volume interactions are an overwhelming factor in
      determining counterion condensation. In addition, the inclusion of ionic size
      asymmetry at weakly charged interface results in surface charge amplification,
      which becomes more pronounced with increasing valence of the interfacial groups.
      Our work emphasizes the fact that surface equilibria mainly result from a subtle
      balance between steric and charge correlations.

PMID- 20925355
TI  - Thermodynamic and molecular-scale analysis of new systems of water-soluble
      hydrate formers + CH4.
AB  - Among a variety of cyclic ether, cyclic ester, and cyclic ketone compounds, six
      new formers were found to form binary sII or sH hydrates with CH(4) gas. Hydrate
      phase equilibria for all the hydrate formers were measured. The results obtained
      showed distinct relationships between the hydrate-phase equilibrium curve and the
      molecular size of the guests. In addition, 2-methyltetrahydrofuran and 3
      methyltetrahydrofuran, or 4-methyl-1,3-dioxane and 4-methyl-1,3-dioxolane, showed
      different hydrate structures even though they have similar chemical structures.
      Such structural differences can provide useful information on the critical guest
      size, which determines hydrate crystal structures according to the size of the
      captured guest.

PMID- 20925356
TI  - Cyclization and rearrangement reactions of a(n) fragment ions of protonated
      peptides.
AB  - a(n) ions are frequently formed in collision-induced dissociation (CID) of
      protonated peptides in tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) based sequencing
      experiments. These ions have generally been assumed to exist as immonium
      derivatives (-HN(+)?CHR). Using a quadrupole ion trap mass spectrometer, MS/MS
      experiments have been performed and the structure of a(n) ions formed from
      oligoglycines was probed by infrared spectroscopy. The structure and
      isomerization reactions of the same ions were studied using density functional
      theory. Overall, theory and infrared spectroscopy provide compelling evidence
      that a(n) ions undergo cyclization and/or rearrangement reactions, and the
      resulting structure(s) observed under our experimental conditions depends on the
      size (n). The a(2) ion (GG sequence) undergoes cyclization to form a 5-membered
      ring isomer. The a(3) ion (GGG sequence) undergoes cyclization initiated by
      nucleophilic attack of the carbonyl oxygen of the N-terminal glycine residue on
      the carbon center of the C-terminal immonium group forming a 7-membered ring
      isomer. The barrier to this reaction is comparatively low at 10.5 kcal mol(-1),
      and the resulting cyclic isomer (-5.4 kcal mol(-1)) is more energetically
      favorable than the linear form. The a(4) ion with the GGGG sequence undergoes
      head-to-tail cyclization via nucleophilic attack of the N-terminal amino group on
      the carbon center of the C-terminal immonium ion, forming an 11-membered
      macroring which contains a secondary amine and three trans amide bonds. Then an
      intermolecular proton transfer isomerizes the initially formed secondary amine
      moiety (-CH(2)-NH(2)(+)-CH(2)-NH-CO-) to form a new -CH(2)-NH-CH(2)-NH(2)(+)-CO-
      form. This structure is readily cleaved at the -CH(2)-NH(2)(+)- bond, leading to
      opening of the macrocycle and formation of a rearranged linear isomer with the
      H(2)C?NH(+)-CH(2)- moiety at the N terminus and the -CO-NH(2) amide bond at the C
      terminus. This rearranged linear structure is much more energetically favorable (
      14.0 kcal mol(-1)) than the initially formed imine-protonated linear a(4) ion
      structure. Furthermore, the barriers to these cyclization and ring-opening
      reactions are low (8-11 kcal mol(-1)), allowing facile formation of the
      rearranged linear species in the mass spectrometer. This finding is not limited
      to 'simple' glycine-containing systems, as evidenced by the IRMPD spectrum of the
      a(4) ion generated from protonated AAAAA, which shows a stronger tendency toward
      formation of the energetically favorable (-12.3 kcal mol(-1)) rearranged linear
      structure with the MeHC?NH(+)-CHMe- moiety at the N terminus and the -CO-NH(2)
      amide bond at the C terminus. Our results indicate that one needs to consider a
      complex variety of cyclization and rearrangement reactions in order to decipher
      the structure and fragmentation pathways of peptide a(n) ions. The implications
      this potentially has for peptide sequencing are also discussed.

PMID- 20925358
TI  - Interaction of arginine with proteins and the mechanism by which it inhibits
      aggregation.
AB  - Aqueous arginine solutions are used extensively for inhibiting protein
      aggregation. There are several theories proposed to explain the effect of
      arginine on protein stability, but the exact mechanism is still not clear. To
      understand the mechanism of protein cosolvent interaction, the intraprotein,
      protein-solvent, and intrasolvent interactions have to be understood. Molecular
      dynamics simulations of aqueous arginine solutions were carried out for
      experimentally accessible concentrations and temperature ranges to study the
      structure of the solution and its energetic properties and obtain insight into
      the mechanism by which arginine inhibits protein aggregation. Simulations of
      proteins (alpha-chymotrypsinogen A and melittin) were performed. Structurally,
      the most striking feature of the aqueous arginine solutions is the self
      association of arginine molecules. Arginine shows a marked tendency to form
      clusters with head to tail hydrogen bonding. Due to the presence of the three
      charged groups, there are several possible configurations in which arginine
      molecules interact. At relatively high concentrations, these arginine clusters
      associate with other clusters and monomeric arginine molecules to form large
      clusters. The hydrogen bonds between arginine molecules were found to be stronger
      than those between arginine and water, which makes the process of self
      association enthalpically favorable. From the simulation of the proteins in
      aqueous arginine solution, arginine is found to interact with the aromatic and
      charged side chains of surface residues. A probable mechanism of the effect of
      arginine on protein stability consistent with our findings is proposed. In
      particular, arginine interacts with aromatic and charged residues due to cation
      pi interaction and salt-bridge formation, respectively, to stabilize the
      partially unfolded intermediates. The self-interaction of arginine leads to the
      formation of clusters which, due to their size, crowd out the protein-protein
      interaction. The mechanisms proposed in the literature are analyzed on the basis
      of the simulation results reported in this paper and recent experimental data.

PMID- 20925357
TI  - Accurate determination of interstrand distances and alignment in amyloid fibrils
      by magic angle spinning NMR.
AB  - Amyloid fibrils are structurally ordered aggregates of proteins whose formation
      is associated with many neurodegenerative and other diseases. For that reason,
      their high-resolution structures are of considerable interest and have been
      studied using a wide range of techniques, notably electron microscopy, X-ray
      diffraction, and magic angle spinning (MAS) NMR. Because of the excellent
      resolution in the spectra, MAS NMR is uniquely capable of delivering site
      specific, atomic resolution information about all levels of amyloid structure:
      (1) the monomer, which packs into several (2) protofilaments that in turn
      associate to form a (3) fibril. Building upon our high-resolution structure of
      the monomer of an amyloid-forming peptide from transthyretin (TTR(105-115)), we
      introduce single 1-(13)C labeled amino acids at seven different sites in the
      peptide and measure intermolecular carbonyl-carbonyl distances with an accuracy
      of ~0.11 A. Our results conclusively establish a parallel, in register, topology
      for the packing of this peptide into a beta-sheet and provide constraints
      essential for the determination of an atomic resolution structure of the fibril.
      Furthermore, the approach we employ, based on a combination of a double-quantum
      filtered variant of the DRAWS recoupling sequence and multispin numerical
      simulations in SPINEVOLUTION, is general and should be applicable to a wide range
      of systems.

PMID- 20925359
TI  - Designing heteropolymers to fold into unique structures via water-mediated
      interactions.
AB  - Hydrophobic homopolymers collapse into globular structures in water driven by
      hydrophobic interactions. Here we employ extensive molecular dynamics simulations
      to study the collapse of heteropolymers containing one or two pairs of oppositely
      charged monomers. We show that charging a pair of monomers can dramatically alter
      the most stable conformations from compact globular to more open hairpin-like. We
      systematically explore a subset of the sequence space of one- and two-charge-pair
      polymers, focusing on the locations of the charge pairs. Conformational stability
      is governed by a balance of hydrophobic interactions, hydration and interactions
      of charge groups, water-mediated charged-hydrophobic monomer repulsions, and
      other factors. As a result, placing charge pairs in the middle, away from the
      hairpin ends, leads to stable hairpin-like structures. Turning off the monomer
      water attractions enhances hydrophobic interactions significantly leading to a
      collapse into compact globular structures even for two-charge-pair
      heteropolymers. In contrast, the addition of salt leads to open and extended
      structures, suggesting that solvation of charged monomer sites by salt ions
      dominates the salt-induced enhancement of hydrophobic interactions. We also test
      the ability of a predictive scheme based on the additivity of free energy of
      contact formation. The success of the scheme for symmetric two-charge-pair
      sequences and the failure for their flipped versions highlight the complexity of
      the heteropolymer conformation space and of the design problem. Collectively, our
      results underscore the ability of tuning water-mediated interactions to design
      stable nonglobular structures in water and present model heteropolymers for
      further studies in the extended thermodynamic space and in inhomogeneous
      environments.

PMID- 20925360
TI  - Sterol binding and membrane lipid attachment to the Osh4 protein of yeast.
AB  - Osh4 is an oxysterol-binding protein homologue found in yeast that is essential
      for the intracellular transport of sterols and cell life. In this study,
      molecular dynamics simulations were used to investigate the binding of
      ergosterol, 25-hydroxycholesterol, and lipid moieties to Osh4. The binding
      energies between both sterols and Osh4 were dominated by van der Waals
      interactions with residues within the sterol binding pocket, and were further
      stabilized by water-mediated interactions with polar residues at the bottom of
      the binding pocket (W46, Q96, Y97, N165, Q181). Only Q96 was able to form direct
      hydrogen bonds with each sterol. Possible lipid binding sites on the surface of
      Osh4 were identified by docking four lipid moieties modeled from different lipid
      head groups (phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylserine,
      phosphatidylinositol(4,5)biphosphate, and
      phosphatidylinositol(3,4,5)triphosphate). Though lipids docked to several regions
      along the protein surface, the most commonly encountered regions were found along
      the beta-barrel region, a loop formed by residues 236-244, and the mouth of the
      sterol binding pocket. Several residues identified in these regions, such as
      K168, A169, K173, and E412, are either included or adjacent to residues
      experimentally implicated in Osh4 membrane binding. Lipid docking did not result
      in favorable binding regions on the alpha(7) helix or the distal binding surface,
      suggesting that protein backbone conformational changes are needed for membrane
      attachment in these regions. Ultimately, understanding how Osh4 attaches to
      cellular membranes and binds sterol will lead to a clear understanding of how
      this protein transports sterols between organelles in vivo.

PMID- 20925362
TI  - Carbanionic rearrangements of halomethylenecyclobutanes. Stereochemistry of the
      migrating group.
AB  - The unusual base-induced ring-enlargement of halomethylenecyclobutanes to 1
      halocyclopentenes was examined with unsymmetrical and (13)C-labeled substrates to
      study regio- and stereochemical characteristics. Migration of a ring carbon atom
      (single migration) or simultaneous migration of a ring carbon atom and the halide
      (double migration) gives the ring-enlarged products. (13)C-labeling experiments
      established that both rearrangements occur with retention of configuration at the
      migrating center. These systems are suggested as models for the Fritsch
      Buttenberg-Wiechell (FBW) rearrangement.

PMID- 20925361
TI  - Synthesis of regioselectively functionalized benzo[b]thiophenes by combined ortho
      lithiation-halocyclization strategies.
AB  - An efficient synthesis of 3-halo-7-oxygen-functionalized benzo[b]thiophenes
      bearing different substituents at C-2 has been developed from N,N-diethyl O-3
      halophenylcarbamates. The key steps are an ortho-lithiation reaction, which gives
      rise to 3-halo-2-sulfanylphenol derivatives, and a electrophilic cyclization. The
      subsequent functionalization of the prepared halobenzothiophenes allows the
      access of a wide variety of 2,3,7-regioselectively functionalized
      benzo[b]thiophenes in good overall yields.

PMID- 20925363
TI  - Dual reactivity of hydroxy- and methoxy- substituted o-quinone methides in
      aqueous solutions: hydration versus tautomerization.
AB  - 4-Hydroxy-6-methylene-2,4-cyclohexadien-1-one (1) and 4-methoxy-6-methylene-2,4
      cyclohexadien-1-one (2) were generated by efficient (Phi = 0.3) photodehydration
      of 2-(hydroxymethyl)benzene-1,4-diol (3a) and 2-(hydroxymethyl)-4-methoxyphenol
      (4a), respectively. o-Quinone methides 1 and 2 can be quantitatively trapped as
      Diels-Alder adducts with ethyl vinyl ether or intercepted by good nucleophiles,
      such as azide ion (k(N3)(1) = 3.15 * 10(4) M(-1) s(-1) and k(N3)(2) = 3.30 *
      10(4) M(-1) s(-1)). In aqueous solution, o-quinone methide 2 rapidly adds water
      to regenerate starting material (tau(H(2)O)(2) = 7.8 ms at 25  degrees C). This
      reaction is catalyzed by specific acid (k(H(+))(2) = 8.37 * 10(3) s(-1) M(-1))
      and specific base (k(OH(-))(2) = 1.08 * 10(4) s(-1) M(-1)) but shows no
      significant general acid/base catalysis. In sharp contrast, o-quinone methide 1
      decays (tau(H(2)O)(1) = 3.3 ms at 25  degrees C) via two competing pathways:
      nucleophilic hydration to form starting material 3a and tautomerization to
      produce methyl-p-benzoquinone. The disappearance of 1 shows not only specific
      acid (k(H(+))(1) = 3.30 * 10(4) s(-1) M(-1)) and specific base catalysis (k(OH(
      ))(1) = 3.51 * 10(4) s(-1) M(-1)) but pronounced catalysis by general acids and
      bases as well. The o-quinone methides 1 and 2 were also generated by the
      photolysis of 2-(ethoxymethyl)benzene-1,4-diol (3b) and 2-(ethoxymethyl)-4
      methoxyphenol (4b), as well as from (2,5-dihydroxy-1-phenyl)methyl- (3c) and (2
      hydroxy-5-methoxy-1-phenyl)methyltrimethylammonium iodides (4c). Short-lived
      (tau(25 degrees )(C) ~ 20 MUs) precursors of o-quinone methides 1 and 2 were
      detected in the laser flash photolysis of 3a,b and 4a,b. On the basis of their
      reactivity, benzoxete structures have been assigned to these intermediates.

PMID- 20925364
TI  - An oxidation induced by potassium metal. Studies on the anionic
      cyclodehydrogenation of 1,1'-binaphthyl to perylene.
AB  - Oxidative cyclization of 1,1'-binaphthyl (1) to perylene (2) can be achieved in
      essentially quantitative yield by the action of three or more equivalents of
      potassium metal in hot tetrahydrofuran. An overall reaction mechanism is proposed
      that accounts for all of the experimental observations reported by previous
      investigators and those from the present studies. The trans-6a,6b-dihydroperylene
      dianion (6(2-)) is believed to be the pivotal intermediate from which H(2) is
      lost. A radical chain reaction involving free hydrogen atoms (H(*)) in the two
      step propagation cycle is proposed to explain the formation of H(2) from 6(2-).
      Anionic cyclodehydrogenations of this sort are complementary to those performed
      under strongly acidic/oxidizing conditions, photochemically, or thermally (flash
      vacuum pyrolysis), and a better understanding of how they occur, together with
      the optimized synthetic protocol reported here, should encourage their wider use
      in organic synthesis.

PMID- 20925365
TI  - Temperature effect on the molecular interactions between ammonium ionic liquids
      and N,N-dimethylformamide.
AB  - In view of the wide scope of molecular interactions between the highly polar
      compound of N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) and ammonium ionic liquids (ILs), we have
      measured thermophysical properties such as densities (rho) and ultrasonic sound
      velocities (u) over the whole composition range at temperatures ranging from 25
      to 50  degrees C under atmospheric pressure. To gain some insight into the
      several aggregations of molecular interactions present in these mixed solvents,
      we predicted the excess molar volume (V(E)) and the deviations in isentropic
      compressibilities (DeltaK(s)) as a function of the concentration of IL. These
      results are fitted to the Redlich-Kister polynomials. The materials investigated
      in the present study included the hydroxide series of ammonium ILs of
      tetramethylammonium hydroxide [(CH(3))(4)N][OH] (TMAH), tetraethylammonium
      hydroxide [(C(2)H(5))(4)N][OH] (TEAH), and tetrapropylammonium hydroxide
      [(C(2)H(7))(4)N][OH] (TPAH). The intermolecular interactions and structural
      effects were analyzed on the basis of the measured and the derived properties. A
      qualitative analysis of the results is discussed in terms of the ion-dipole and
      ion-pair interactions, and hydrogen bonding between ILs and DMF molecules and
      their structural factors.

PMID- 20925366
TI  - Fluctuations in number of water molecules confined between nanoparticles.
AB  - We used molecular dynamics computer simulations to study the character of
      interactions between two nanoscale graphene plates in water and also between
      plates made of "carbon" atoms that have different interaction strength with
      water. Fluctuations in the number of water molecules in the confined space
      between plates are qualitatively similar when the plates are made of graphene or
      when the plates contain "carbon" atoms with weaker "carbon"-water interaction
      strength. We also observed that these fluctuations are strongly enhanced compared
      to the fluctuations observed next to a single plate. If the character of water
      fluctuations in the confined space determines the character of interactions, then
      it is possible to conclude that the interaction between graphene plates in water
      is hydrophobic.

PMID- 20925367
TI  - A three-step synthetic approach to asymmetrically functionalized 4H
      cyclopenta[2,1-b:3,4-b']dithiophenes.
AB  - A convenient and efficient three-step route toward both symmetrically and
      asymmetrically functionalized 4H-cyclopenta[2,1-b:3,4-b']dithiophenes has been
      developed. Using this method a broad collection of functionalized bridged
      bithiophenes can smoothly be accessed. Starting from 3-bromo-2,2'-bithiophene,
      prepared by Kumada coupling of 2-thienylmagnesium bromide with 2,3
      dibromothiophene under Pd(dppf)Cl(2) catalysis, lithiation and subsequent
      reaction with dialkyl ketones afforded (a)symmetrically dialkylated tertiary
      alcohol derivatives. By means of final Friedel-Crafts dehydration cyclization in
      sulfuric acid medium, these derivatives were converted to 4,4-dialkyl-4H
      cyclopenta[2,1-b:3,4-b']dithiophenes. Upon replacement of the dialkyl ketone
      reagent by ethyl levulinate, an ester-functionalized 4H-cyclopenta[2,1-b:3,4
      b']dithiophene was prepared, representing an attractive precursor for variously
      functionalized cyclopentadithiophene compounds.

PMID- 20925368
TI  - Application of Grote-Hynes theory to the reaction catalyzed by thymidylate
      synthase.
AB  - A theoretical study of dynamic effects on the rate-limiting step of the
      thymidylate synthase catalyzed reaction has been carried out by means of Grote
      Hynes theory, successfully predicting the values of the recrossing effects for a
      chemical reaction that involves the transfer of a classical light particle. The
      transmission coefficients, obtained at 278, 293, 303, and 313 K, are almost
      invariant and in all cases far from unity, revealing a significant coupling of
      the environment motions and the reaction coordinate. Nevertheless, their
      energetic contribution to the activation free energy represents less than 0.50
      kcal/mol for each of the four tested temperatures. Calculation of the
      transmission coefficient for the isotopically labeled hydride transfer has
      rendered almost the same values, in agreement with the experimentally observed
      temperature-independent KIEs. Fourier transform of the time-dependent friction
      kernel at these four temperatures has allowed obtaining the transition-state
      friction spectra, which present very small dependence with temperature. Their
      analysis has led to the identification of some key vibrational modes governing
      the coupling between the reaction coordinate and the protein environment, thus
      identifying the relevant motions in the active site and obtaining a full picture
      of the role of each amino acid.

PMID- 20925369
TI  - Spin-transition-like behavior on one side in a nitroxide-copper(II)-nitroxide
      triad system.
AB  - The ground spin-state of [Cu(phpyNO)(2)(H(2)O)(2)](BF(4))(2) was switched between
      S(total) = 1/2 and 3/2 across 175 K. On warming, the space group was changed from
      P2(1)2(1)2(1) to C222(1) in a single-crystal-to-single-crystal manner, and the
      transient structure could be monitored by means of the crystallographic analysis.
      The copper-radical exchange coupling changed from 2J/k(B) = -463(3) to +312(6) K
      with rather small Cu-O-N-C(2py) twisting deformation on one side, while
      practically no distortion occurred on the other.

PMID- 20925371
TI  - Polarization transfer solid-state NMR for studying surfactant phase behavior.
AB  - The phase behavior of amphiphiles, e.g., lipids and surfactants, at low water
      content is of great interest for many technical and pharmaceutical applications.
      When put in contact with air having a moderate relative humidity, amphiphiles
      often exhibit coexistence between solid and liquid crystalline phases, making
      their complete characterization difficult. This study describes a (13)C solid
      state NMR technique for the investigation of amphiphile phase behavior in the
      water-poor regime. While the (13)C chemical shift is an indicator of molecular
      conformation, the (13)C signal intensities obtained with the CP and INEPT
      polarization transfer schemes yield information on molecular dynamics. A
      theoretical analysis incorporating the effect of molecular segment reorientation,
      with the correlation time tau(c) and order parameter S, shows that INEPT is most
      efficient for mobile segments with tau(c) < 0.01 MUs and S < 0.05, while CP
      yields maximal signal for rigid segments with tau(c) > 10 MUs and/or S > 0.5
      under typical solid-state NMR experimental conditions. For liquid crystalline
      phases, where tau(c) < 0.01 MUs and 0 < S < 0.3, the observed CP and INEPT
      intensities serve as a gauge of S. The combination of information on molecular
      conformation and dynamics permits facile phase diagram determination for systems
      with solid crystalline, solid amorphous, anisotropic liquid crystalline, and
      isotropic liquid (crystalline) phases as demonstrated by experiments on a series
      of reference systems with known phase structure. Three solid phases (anhydrous
      crystal, dihydrate, gel), two anisotropic liquid crystalline phases (normal
      hexagonal, lamellar), and two isotropic liquid crystalline phases (micellar
      cubic, bicontinuous cubic) are identified in the temperature-composition phase
      diagram of the cetyltrimethylammonium succinate/water system. Replacing the
      succinate counterion with DNA prevents the formation of phases other than
      hexagonal and leads to a general increase of tau(c).

PMID- 20925372
TI  - DNA-mediated two-dimensional colloidal crystallization above different attractive
      surfaces.
AB  - We explore the formation of "floating" two-dimensional colloidal crystals above
      weakly attractive surfaces that are either positively or negatively charged. In
      particular, we studied crystal formation above positively charged poly-L-lysine
      poly(ethylene glycol) surfaces with and without short single-stranded DNA and
      above negatively charged bovine albumin serum-streptavidin multilayers. Confocal
      microscopy revealed the evolution of crystals several micrometers above all three
      surfaces. Interestingly, the "flying height" of crystals was found to depend on
      the surface coating. All crystalline structures remained remarkably stable over
      weeks, even under high salt conditions. Neither lifting the crystals nor lowering
      them by means of buoyancy forces destroyed them.

PMID- 20925370
TI  - Bishydrazide glycoconjugates for lectin recognition and capture of bacterial
      pathogens.
AB  - Bishydrazides are versatile linkers for attaching glycans to substrates for
      lectin binding and pathogen detection schemes. The alpha,omega-bishydrazides of
      carboxymethylated hexa(ethylene glycol) (4) can be conjugated at one end to
      unprotected oligosaccharides, then attached onto carrier proteins, tethered onto
      activated carboxyl-terminated surfaces, or functionalized with a photoactive
      cross-linking agent for lithographic patterning. Glycoconjugates of bishydrazide
      4 can also be converted into dithiocarbamates (DTCs) by treatment with CS(2)
      under mild conditions, for attachment onto gold substrates. The immobilized
      glycans serve as recognition elements for cell-surface lectins and enable the
      detection and capture of bacterial pathogens such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa by
      their adsorption onto micropatterned substrates. A detection limit of 103 cfu/mL
      is demonstrated, using a recently introduced method based on optical pattern
      recognition.

PMID- 20925373
TI  - Multiasperity contact adhesion model for universal asperity height and radius of
      curvature distributions.
AB  - A new approach to the multiasperities contact interaction between two surfaces is
      presented. Each asperity is individually considered with its own different height
      and radius of curvature. Different materials, such as polyvinylchlorine (PVC) and
      stainless steel, are used as model systems. For each of the model materials, a
      set of asperities was generated using Monte Carlo method. Both asperity heights
      and radii were based on their statistical distributions experimentally obtained.
      Contact forces were determined for each asperity at a given distance between the
      two surfaces, while the deformation of each asperity was calculated according to
      the Johnson-Kendall-Roberts (JKR) or the Derjaguin-Muller-Toporov (DMT) model
      (depending on the material). The contribution of each asperity to the overall
      surface was summed, and the overall contact force was determined. The developed
      method was validated against contact force measurements obtained with atomic
      force microscopy (AFM).

PMID- 20925375
TI  - Classifying substrate specificities of membrane transporters from Arabidopsis
      thaliana.
AB  - Membrane transporters catalyze the active transport of molecules across
      biological barriers such as lipid bilayer membranes. Currently, the experimental
      annotation of which proteins transport which substrates is far from complete and
      will likely remain so for much longer. Therefore, it is highly desirable to
      develop computational methods that may aid in the substrate annotation of
      putative membrane transport proteins. Here, we measured the similarity of
      membrane transporters from Arabidopsis thaliana by their amino acid composition,
      higher sequence order information, amino acid characteristics, or sequence
      conservation. We considered the substrate classes amino acids, oligopeptides,
      phosphates, and hexoses. Substrate classification based on the amino acid
      frequency yielded an accuracy of 75% or higher. Integrating additional
      information improved the prediction performance to 90% and higher.

PMID- 20925374
TI  - Layer-by-layer assembled multilayer TiO(x) for efficient electron acceptor in
      polymer hybrid solar cells.
AB  - We demonstrate that TiO(x) nanocomposite films fabricated using electrostatic
      layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly improve the power conversion efficiency of
      photovoltaic cells compared to conventional TiO(x) films fabricated via the sol
      gel process. For this study, titanium precursor/poly(allylamine hydrochloride)
      (PAH) multilayer films were first deposited onto indium tin oxide-coated glass to
      produce TiO(x) nanocomposites (TiO(x)NC). The specific effect of the LbL
      processed TiO(x) on photovoltaic performance was investigated using the planar
      bilayer TiO(x)NC and highly regioregular poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) solar
      cells, and the P3HT/LbL TiO(x)NC solar cells showed a dramatic increase in power
      efficiency, particularly in terms of the short current density and fill factor.
      The improved efficiency of this device is mainly due to the difference in the
      chemical composition of the LbL TiO(x)NC films, including the much higher
      Ti(3+)/Ti(4+) ratio and the highly reactive facets of crystals as demonstrated by
      XPS and XRD measurement, thus enhancing the electron transfer between electron
      donors and acceptors. In addition, the grazing incidence wide-angle X-ray
      scattering (GIWAXS) study revealed the presence of more highly oriented P3HT
      stacks parallel to the substrate on the LbL TiO(x)NC film compared to those on
      the sol-gel TiO(x) films, possibly influencing the hole mobility of P3HT and the
      energy transfer near and at the interface between the P3HT and TiO(x) layers. The
      results of this study demonstrate that this approach is a promising one for the
      design of hybrid solar cells with improved efficiency.

PMID- 20925376
TI  - Direct surface force measurements of polyelectrolyte multilayer films containing
      nanocrystalline cellulose.
AB  - Polyelectrolyte multilayer films containing nanocrystalline cellulose (NCC) and
      poly(allylamine hydrochloride) (PAH) make up a new class of nanostructured
      composite with applications ranging from coatings to biomedical devices.
      Moreover, these materials are amenable to surface force studies using colloid
      probe atomic force microscopy (CP-AFM). For electrostatically assembled films
      with either NCC or PAH as the outermost layer, surface morphology was
      investigated by AFM and wettability was examined by contact angle measurements.
      By varying the surrounding ionic strength and pH, the relative contributions from
      electrostatic, van der Waals, steric, and polymer bridging interactions were
      evaluated. The ionic cross-linking in these films rendered them stable under all
      solution conditions studied although swelling at low pH and high ionic strength
      was inferred. The underlying polymer layer in the multilayered film was found to
      dictate the dominant surface forces when polymer migration and chain extension
      were facilitated. The precontact normal forces between a silica probe and an NCC
      capped multilayer film were monotonically repulsive at pH values where the
      material surfaces were similarly and fully charged. In contrast, at pH 3.5, the
      anionic surfaces were weakly charged but the underlying layer of cationic PAH was
      fully charged and attractive forces dominated due to polymer bridging from
      extended PAH chains. The interaction with an anionic carboxylic acid probe showed
      similar behavior to the silica probe; however, for a cationic amine probe with an
      anionic NCC-capped film, electrostatic double-layer attraction at low pH, and
      electrostatic double-layer repulsion at high pH, were observed. Finally, the
      effect of the capping layer was studied with an anionic probe, which indicated
      that NCC-capped films exhibited purely repulsive forces which were larger in
      magnitude than the combination of electrostatic double-layer attraction and
      steric repulsion, measured for PAH-capped films. Wherever possible, DLVO theory
      was used to fit the measured surface forces and apparent surface potentials and
      surface charge densities were calculated.

PMID- 20925377
TI  - Ferrocene embedded in an electrode-supported hybrid lipid bilayer membrane: a
      model system for electrocatalysis in a biomimetic environment.
AB  - An electrode-supported system in which ferrocene molecules are embedded in a
      hybrid bilayer membrane (HBM) has been prepared and characterized. The redox
      properties of the ferrocene molecules were studied by varying the lipid and
      alkanethiol building blocks of the HBM. The midpoint potential and electron
      transfer rate of the embedded ferrocene were found to be dependent on the
      hydrophobic nature of the electrolyte and the distance at which the ferrocene was
      positioned in the HBM relative to the electrode and the solution. Additionally,
      the ability of the lipid-embedded ferrocenium ions to oxidize solution phase
      ascorbic acid was evaluated and found to be dependent on the nature of the
      counterion.

PMID- 20925378
TI  - Meeting report: International Symposium on Intelligent Drug Delivery Systems,
      2010.

PMID- 20925379
TI  - Seed coat phenolics and the developing silique transcriptome of Brassica
      carinata.
AB  - Structures for nine compounds were elucidated in seed coats of two genetically
      related Brassica carinata lines. The yellow-seeded line accumulated monomeric
      kaempferols, phenylpropanoids, and lignans, while extractable and unextractable
      proanthocyanidins and a high-performance liquid chromatography peak containing
      polymeric-like quercetin/lignan structures were strongly reduced. The brown
      seeded line accumulated large amounts of both types of proanthocyanidins
      (extractable and unextractable), as well as phenylpropanoids and lignans
      equivalent to the amounts in the yellow-seeded seed coats, but the brown-seeded
      seed coats lacked kaempferols. A Brassica napus 15K oligoarray experiment
      indicated that yellow-seeded siliques had more extreme gene expression changes
      and a 2.4-fold higher number of upregulated genes than brown-seeded siliques,
      including a host of transcription factors and genes with unknown function.
      Transcripts for six flavonoid genes (CHS, F3H, FOMT, DFR, GST, and TTG1) were
      lower and two (F3'H and FLS) were higher in yellow-seeded siliques, but
      expression of CHI, PAP1, and phenylpropanoid genes was unchanged. 

PMID- 20925380
TI  - nematicidal carboxylic acids and aldehydes from Melia azedarach fruits.
AB  - Melia azedarach is a species gaining scientific interest mostly concerning its
      range of biological activities against agricultural target pests. The nematicidal
      melia methanol extract (MME) obtained from the fruits, acting against the
      phytonematode Meloidogyne incognita , is herein reported to contain hexadecanoic,
      acetic, and hexanoic acids as well as furfural, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural, 5
      methylfurfural, and furfurol. All compounds were tested individually for
      nematicidal activity against the nematode second-stage juveniles, in paralysis
      experiments. The nematicidal activity was studied both after nematodes' immersion
      in treatment solutions and after exposure to test substance vapors. Clear dose
      and time response relationships were established at the dose ranges of 31.2-500
      and 1-100 MUg/mL, concerning the aldehydes and carboxylic acids, respectively,
      implementing analogous predominance of nematicidal activity. Nevertheless, no
      synergistic effects were observed in respective mixture interaction bioassays
      among furfural, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural, 5-methylfurfural, and furfurol. Furfural
      was the most active bionematicidal compound reported herein for the first time as
      a natural constituent of M. azedarach. 

PMID- 20925381
TI  - Multi-residue screening method to quantify mycotoxins in aqueous environmental
      samples.
AB  - Mycotoxins are naturally occurring secondary metabolites of fungi colonizing
      agricultural products on the field or during storage. In earlier work, we have
      shown that two common mycotoxins, i.e., zearalenone and deoxynivalenol, can be
      present at significant levels in the aquatic environment. This raises the
      question about the relevance of a wider range of mycotoxins in natural waters. In
      this investigation, we present the first validated method for analysis of some
      additional 30 mycotoxins in drainage, river, and wastewater treatment plant
      effluent water. The method includes solid-phase extraction over Oasis HLB
      cartridges, followed by liquid chromatography with electrospray ionization triple
      quadrupole mass spectrometry. Absolute method recoveries for 13 of the 33
      mycotoxins were higher than 70% in wastewater treatment plant effluent (at 25
      ng/L), and 27 compounds had method detection limits (MDLs) below 10 ng/L. The
      applicability of this method is illustrated with selected data from our ongoing
      monitoring campaigns. Specifically and for the first time, beauvericin and
      nivalenol were quantified in drainage and river water samples with mean
      concentrations of 6.7 and 4.3 ng/L and 6.1 and 5.9 ng/L, respectively. These
      compounds thus add to the complex mixture of natural and anthropogenic
      micropollutants in natural waters, where their ecotoxicological risk remains to
      be evaluated. 

PMID- 20925382
TI  - Development and validation of a real-time PCR method for the detection of white
      mustard (Sinapis alba) in foods.
AB  - This paper presents a real-time PCR method allowing the detection of traces of
      white mustard ( Sinapis alba ) in complex food matrices. The primers and the
      probe are targeted at the gene coding for S. alba MADS D. The real-time PCR
      method was found to be specific for white mustard and did not show any cross
      reactivity with 67 biological species, including 12 members of the Brassicaceae
      family. The limit of detection, determined by analyzing serially diluted white
      mustard DNA extracts, was 1 pg of white mustard DNA/MUL, corresponding to 5 pg of
      white mustard DNA. In model sausages, the limit of detection was found to be
      0.001% white mustard (corresponding to 10 ppm or 10 mg/kg). The real-time PCR
      method was applied to verify the correct declaration of 20 foodstuffs purchased
      from Austrian supermarkets. White mustard DNA was detected in one of three
      samples labeled with "may contain traces of mustard" and in one of seven samples
      without any information on the presence of mustard. 

PMID- 20925383
TI  - Delaying effect of a wine Lactobacillus plantarum strain on the coloration and
      xanthylium pigment formation occurring in (+)-catechin and (-)-epicatechin wine
      model solutions.
AB  - This article reports for the first time on the capacity of a wine Lactobacillus
      plantarum strain to alter the oxidative coloration of (+)-catechin and (-)
      epicatechin hydroethanolic wine model solutions in the presence of Fe(2+) as
      catalyst. The time course of color development and pigment formation in the
      solutions was tracked over 42 days. The pigments formed were characterized as
      xanthylium structures regardless of the flavanol isomer present in the solution.
      The solutions supplied with Lactobacillus plantarum RM71 were oxidized at a
      slower rate, and consequently, its final color was less than that in the
      controls. The formation of both (+)-catechin and (-)-epicatechin-derived
      xanthylium pigments was also delayed over time in the presence of the bacterium
      compared to their respective cell-free controls. The delaying effects provided by
      L. plantarum on the oxidative coloration and the generation of xanthylium-derived
      pigments were more pronounced for the (-)-epicatechin than for the (+)-catechin
      model solutions. In view of these results and given that L. plantarum is
      naturally present in winemaking and generally recognized as a safe microorganism,
      the potential application of this bacterium as an antibrowning agent for wine is
      now opened. 

PMID- 20925384
TI  - Antioxidative and anti-inflammatory protection from carnosine in the striatum of
      MPTP-treated mice.
AB  - Mice treated with 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) were used
      to examine the neuroprotective effects of carnosine. Carnosine at 0.5, 1, and 2
      g/L was directly added to the drinking water for 4 weeks. MPTP treatment
      significantly depleted striatal glutathione content, reduced the activity of
      glutathione peroxidase (GPX), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and catalase, increased
      malondialdehyde and reactive oxygen species levels, and elevated interleukin-6,
      nitrite, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha production as well as enhanced inducible
      nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) activity in the striatum (P < 0.05). The preintake
      of carnosine significantly attenuated MPTP-induced glutathione loss, retained the
      activity of GPX and SOD, diminished oxidative stress, and lowered inflammatory
      cytokines and nitrite levels as well as suppressed iNOS activity (P < 0.05). MPTP
      treatment significantly suppressed GPX mRNA expression and enhanced iNOS mRNA
      expression (P < 0.05). Carnosine preintake significantly elevated GPX mRNA
      expression and declined iNOS mRNA expression (P < 0.05). Preintake of carnosine
      also significantly improved MPTP-induced dopamine depletion and maintained 3,4
      dihydroxyphenylacetic acid and homovanillic acid levels (P < 0.05). These results
      suggest that carnosine could provide antioxidative and anti-inflammatory
      protection for the striatum against the development of Parkinson's disease. 

PMID- 20925385
TI  - Identification of cytotoxic dimers in oxidation product from sesamol, a potent
      antioxidant of sesame oil.
AB  - Phytophenols of edible plants have recently attracted much attention as potent
      antioxidants and related bioactive substances. These antioxidative phytophenols
      are very oxidizable due to their chemical properties, and their oxidation
      products must accumulate in the oxidizing foods when they are contained as active
      ingredients. In this investigation, several phytophenols, which are well known as
      potent antioxidants in food science, were oxidized by oxygen in the presence of a
      catalytic amount of Ferric ion. Caffeic acid, catechin, chlorogenic acid,
      rosmarinic acid, and sesamol were quickly oxidized, whereas eugenol, resveratrol,
      rutin, and quercetin were not under the stated conditions. The oxidation product
      mixtures of the quickly oxidized phytophenols were next subjected to a cytotoxic
      assay using normal cells. Among the products, the oxidation product from sesamol
      showed a remarkably high cytotoxic activity. To clarify the cytotoxic principle
      of the oxidation products, an assay-guided fractionation and subsequent isolation
      of the oxidation compound of sesamol was carried out. Structure analysis of the
      isolated compounds revealed that they are new dimeric compounds (2-5) of sesamol.
      The cytotoxic activity of the dimers was evaluated from the population of dead
      cells by a flow cytometric analysis of rat thymocytes in the presence of 100 MUM
      of each compound. Compound 2 showed the most potent cytotoxic activity among
      them. Compound 2 has a typical conjugated carbonyl moiety and the moiety possibly
      contributes to its high toxicity from a structure-activity point of view. 

PMID- 20925386
TI  - Interaction of curcumin with beta-lactoglobulin-stability, spectroscopic
      analysis, and molecular modeling of the complex.
AB  - Curcumin (diferuloyl methane) is the physiologically and pharmacologically active
      component of turmeric (Curcuma longa L.). Solubility and stability of curcumin
      are the limiting factors for realizing its therapeutic potential. beta
      Lactoglobulin (betaLG), the major whey protein, can solubilize and bind many
      small hydrophobic molecules. The stability of curcumin bound to betaLG in
      solution is enhanced 6.7 times, in comparison to curcumin alone (in aqueous
      solution). The complex formation of curcumin with betaLG has been investigated
      employing spectroscopic techniques. betaLG interacts with curcumin at pH 7.0 with
      an association constant of 1.04 +/- 0.1 * 10(5) M(-1) to form a 1:1 complex at 25
      degrees C. Entropy and free energy changes for the interaction derived from the
      van't Hoff plot are 18.7 cal mol(-1) K(-1) and -6.8 kcal mol(-1) at 25  degrees
      C, respectively; the interaction is hydrophobic in nature. The interaction of
      betaLG with curcumin does not affect either the conformation or the state of
      association of betaLG. Competitive ligand binding measurements, binding studies
      with denatured betaLG, effect of pH on the curcumin-betaLG interaction, Forster
      energy transfer measurements, and molecular docking studies suggest that curcumin
      binds to the central calyx of betaLG. These binding studies have prompted the
      preparation and encapsulation of curcumin in betaLG nanoparticles. Nanoparticles
      of betaLG prepared by desolvation are found to encapsulate curcumin with >96%
      efficiency. The solubility of curcumin in betaLG nanoparticle is significantly
      enhanced to ~625 MUM in comparison with its aqueous solubility (30 nM).
      Nanoparticles of betaLG, by virtue of their ability to enhance solubility and
      stability of curcumin, may fit the choice as a carrier molecule. 

PMID- 20925387
TI  - Ion binding to KcsA: implications in ion selectivity and channel gating.
AB  - Binding of K+ and Na+ to the potassium channel KcsA has been characterized from
      the stabilization observed in the heat-induced denaturation of the protein as the
      ion concentration is increased. KcsA thermal denaturation is known to include (i)
      dissociation of the homotetrameric channel into its constituent subunits and (ii)
      protein unfolding. The ion concentration-dependent changes in the thermal
      stability of the protein, evaluated as the Tm value for thermal-induced
      denaturation of the protein, may suggest the existence of both high- and low
      affinity K+ binding sites of KcsA, which lend support to the tenet that channel
      gating may be governed by K+ concentration-dependent transitions between
      different affinity states of the channel selectivity filter. We also found that
      Na+ binds to KcsA with a KD similar to that estimated electrophysiologically from
      channel blockade. Therefore, our findings on ion binding to KcsA partly account
      for K+ over Na+ selectivity and Na+ blockade and argue against the strict "snug
      fit" hypothesis used initially to explain ion selectivity from the X-ray channel
      structure. Furthermore, the remarkable effects of increasing the ion
      concentration, K+ in particular, on the Tm of the denaturation process evidence
      that synergistic effects of the metal-mediated intersubunit interactions at the
      channel selectivity filter are a major contributor to the stability of the
      tetrameric protein. This observation substantiates the notion of a role for ions
      as structural "effectors" of ion channels.

PMID- 20925388
TI  - Study of the inhibitory effect of water-soluble fullerenes on plant growth at the
      cellular level.
AB  - The effect of water-soluble fullerene C(70)(C(COOH)(2))(4-8) on plant growth was
      investigated, using the transgenic seedling lines expressing fluorescent makers.
      The retarded roots with shortened length and loss of root gravitropism were
      observed for seedlings grown in the fullerene-containing medium. Fluorescence
      imaging revealed the abnormalities of root tips in hormone distribution, cell
      division, microtubule organization, and mitochondrial activity. The study of the
      inhibitory effects at the cellular level provides new information on the
      phytotoxicity mechanism of fullerene.

PMID- 20925389
TI  - A rapid pathway toward a superb gene delivery system: programming structural and
      functional diversity into a supramolecular nanoparticle library.
AB  - Nanoparticles are regarded as promising transfection reagents for effective and
      safe delivery of nucleic acids into a specific type of cells or tissues providing
      an alternative manipulation/therapy strategy to viral gene delivery. However, the
      current process of searching novel delivery materials is limited due to
      conventional low-throughput and time-consuming multistep synthetic approaches.
      Additionally, conventional approaches are frequently accompanied with
      unpredictability and continual optimization refinements, impeding flexible
      generation of material diversity creating a major obstacle to achieving high
      transfection performance. Here we have demonstrated a rapid developmental pathway
      toward highly efficient gene delivery systems by leveraging the powers of a
      supramolecular synthetic approach and a custom-designed digital microreactor.
      Using the digital microreactor, broad structural/functional diversity can be
      programmed into a library of DNA-encapsulated supramolecular nanoparticles
      (DNA?SNPs) by systematically altering the mixing ratios of molecular building
      blocks and a DNA plasmid. In vitro transfection studies with DNA?SNPs library
      identified the DNA?SNPs with the highest gene transfection efficiency, which can
      be attributed to cooperative effects of structures and surface chemistry of
      DNA?SNPs. We envision such a rapid developmental pathway can be adopted for
      generating nanoparticle-based vectors for delivery of a variety of loads.

PMID- 20925390
TI  - Enhancement of neurite outgrowth in neuronal-like cells following boron nitride
      nanotube-mediated stimulation.
AB  - In this paper, we propose an absolutely innovative technique for the electrical
      stimulation of cells, based on piezoelectric nanoparticles. Ultrasounds are used
      to impart mechanical stress to boron nitride nanotubes incubated with neuronal
      like PC12 cells. By virtue of their piezoelectric properties, these nanotubes can
      polarize and convey electrical stimuli to the cells. PC12 stimulated with the
      present method exhibit neurite sprout 30% greater than the control cultures after
      9 days of treatment.

PMID- 20925391
TI  - Targeting the polyamine transport system with benzazepine- and azepine-polyamine
      conjugates.
AB  - The polyamine transport system (PTS) whose activity is up-regulated in cancer
      cells is an attractive target for drug design. Two heterocyclic (azepine and
      benzazepine) systems were conjugated to various polyamine moieties through an
      amidine bound to afford 18 compounds which were evaluated for their affinity for
      the PTS and their ability to use the PTS for cell delivery. Structure-activity
      relationship studies and lead optimization afforded two attractive PTS targeting
      compounds. The azepine-spermidine conjugate 14 is a very selective substrate of
      the PTS that may serve as a vector for radioelements used for diagnoses or
      therapeutics in nuclear medicine. The nitrobenzazepine-spermine conjugate 28 is a
      very powerful PTS inhibitor with very low intrinsic cytotoxicity, able to prevent
      the growth of polyamine depleted cells in presence of exogenous polyamines.

PMID- 20925392
TI  - Low-temperature synthesis of CuInSe2 nanotube array on conducting glass
      substrates for solar cell application.
AB  - Highly ordered arrays of Cu-rich and -deficient CuInSe(2) nanotubes as well as
      ZnO/CuInSe(2) core/sheath nanocables have been synthesized on glass substrates by
      using ZnO nanorod arrays as sacrificial templates via a low-cost solution method.
      Chemical conversions from hexagonal ZnO to cubic ZnSe, hexagonal CuSe and
      tetragonal CuInSe(2) are demonstrated as a novel means for synthesis of I-III-VI
      nanomaterials. Large differences in their solubility product constant (K(sp)) are
      crucial for direct exchange in the conversions. In solvothermal reaction of
      ZnO/CuSe core/shell nanocables with InCl(3), the triethylene glycol solvent
      serves as a reducing agent for the reduction of cupric (Cu(2+)) to cuprous
      (Cu(+)) ions and also as an agent for the dissolution of ZnO cores. The
      absorption coefficient of the CuInSe(2) nanotubes in the visible region is on the
      order of 10(4) cm(-1). Photoelectrochemical solar cells were fabricated with
      arrays of ZnO/Cu(1.57+/-0.10)In(0.68+/-0.10)Se(2) and ZnO/CuSe nanocables. It was
      found that power conversion efficiency of the ZnO/Cu(1.57+/-0.10)In(0.68+/
      0.10)Se(2) cell is about two times higher than that based on ZnO/CuSe.

PMID- 20925394
TI  - Structure and dynamics of hydrated ion pairs in a hydrophobic environment.
AB  - The structure, energetics, and dynamics of different alkali halide ion pairs
      hydrated in a hydrophobic medium are studied using molecular dynamics computer
      simulations. One or two water molecules hydrating NaCl, NaI, KCl, KI, and KF in
      bulk carbon tetrachloride are considered. The ion pairs remain in contact
      throughout the simulations, so the structure of the hydration complex is well
      characterized. The ions' interaction energy and hydration structure are examined
      and correlated with the ion sizes and charges. For the first four salts, the
      stronger interaction of the water molecules with the cation than with the anion
      of the ion pair is in agreement with recent experiments. However, when the anion
      is significantly smaller than the cation (as in the case of KF, which was not
      studied experimentally), the opposite behavior is found. The asymmetry of
      interaction with the cation and the anion are further elucidated by examining
      hypothetical ion pairs made from equal-sized cations and anions and by defining
      an asymmetry hydration parameter, which is found to correlate well with the
      structural characteristics, as well as with the water molecules' reorientation
      dynamics.

PMID- 20925393
TI  - Hand-held spectroscopic device for in vivo and intraoperative tumor detection:
      contrast enhancement, detection sensitivity, and tissue penetration.
AB  - Surgery is one of the most effective and widely used procedures in treating human
      cancers, but a major problem is that the surgeon often fails to remove the entire
      tumor, leaving behind tumor-positive margins, metastatic lymph nodes, and/or
      satellite tumor nodules. Here we report the use of a hand-held spectroscopic pen
      device (termed SpectroPen) and near-infrared contrast agents for intraoperative
      detection of malignant tumors, based on wavelength-resolved measurements of
      fluorescence and surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) signals. The SpectroPen
      utilizes a near-infrared diode laser (emitting at 785 nm) coupled to a compact
      head unit for light excitation and collection. This pen-shaped device effectively
      removes silica Raman peaks from the fiber optics and attenuates the reflected
      excitation light, allowing sensitive analysis of both fluorescence and Raman
      signals. Its overall performance has been evaluated by using a fluorescent
      contrast agent (indocyanine green, or ICG) as well as a surface-enhanced Raman
      scattering (SERS) contrast agent (pegylated colloidal gold). Under in vitro
      conditions, the detection limits are approximately 2-5 * 10(-11) M for the
      indocyanine dye and 0.5-1 * 10(-13) M for the SERS contrast agent. Ex vivo tissue
      penetration data show attenuated but resolvable fluorescence and Raman signals
      when the contrast agents are buried 5-10 mm deep in fresh animal tissues. In vivo
      studies using mice bearing bioluminescent 4T1 breast tumors further demonstrate
      that the tumor borders can be precisely detected preoperatively and
      intraoperatively, and that the contrast signals are strongly correlated with
      tumor bioluminescence. After surgery, the SpectroPen device permits further
      evaluation of both positive and negative tumor margins around the surgical
      cavity, raising new possibilities for real-time tumor detection and image-guided
      surgery. 

PMID- 20925395
TI  - Sequence-dependent configurational entropy change of DNA upon intercalation.
AB  - We investigated the intercalation of an antitumor drug ellipticine into four
      adenine-thymine (AT) rich DNA duplexes with the focus on the configurational
      entropy, by means of molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Two possible binding
      orientations of ellipticine in a DNA double helix were studied, and the
      orientation with the pyrrole nitrogen exposed into a major groove was identified
      as the more probable. The configurational entropy change of DNA is shown to
      contribute significantly to the binding free energy. The magnitude of this
      contribution depends on the exact DNA sequence. A detailed analysis revealed that
      the largest flexibility changes occurred in the sugar-phosphate backbone,
      resulting in an entropy gain in the most cases. The nucleobases were not involved
      in the changes of flexibility and entropy. BI/BII-like conformational transitions
      were observed after the intercalation of ellipticine, and the consequences of
      these transitions for the evaluation of entropy are discussed.

PMID- 20925396
TI  - Polyfluorinated compounds in residential and nonresidential indoor air.
AB  - Indoor air concentrations of fifteen volatile per- and polyfluorinated compounds
      (PFCs) (five fluorotelomer alcohols (FTOHs), three fluorotelomer acrylates
      (FTAs), three perfluorinated sulfonamido ethanols (FASEs), and three
      perfluorinated sulfonamides (FASAs)) were determined in residential and
      nonresidential indoor air environments. Air samples were taken with passive
      samplers, consisting of XAD-4 impregnated polyurethane foam (PUF) disks in steel
      housings. Impregnated PUF disks were extracted by fluidized bed extraction (FBE)
      using methyl-tert-butyl ether/acetone (1:1) and analyzed by gas chromatography
      mass spectrometry. Total PFC indoor air concentrations ranged from 8.2 to 458 ng
      m(-3). Individual PFC concentrations were between 42 pg m(-3) (6:2 FTA) and 209
      ng m(-3) (8:2 FTOH). Concentrations of total FTOHs, FTAs, and FASAs + FASEs
      ranged from 0.2 to 152 ng m(-3) (FTAs), from 3.3 to 307 ng m(-3) (FTOHs), and
      from 4.4 to 148 ng m(-3) (FASAs + FASEs). Most elevated individual, group, and
      total PFC concentrations were detected in two stores selling outdoor equipment,
      one furniture shop, and one carpet shop. Indoor air concentrations were several
      orders of magnitude higher than published outdoor air concentrations indicating
      indoor air environments as sources for PFCs to the atmosphere. Concentrations
      were used to estimate human exposure to investigated PFCs.

PMID- 20925397
TI  - Arginine-assisted solubilization system for drug substances: solubility
      experiment and simulation.
AB  - The poor aqueous solubility of drug substances hampers their broader
      applications. This paper describes a de novo strategy to increase the aqueous
      solubility of drug substances using an arginine-assisted solubilization system
      (AASS) with alkyl gallates as model drug substances. Solubility experiments of
      alkyl gallates showed that arginine greatly increases the aqueous solubility of
      different alkyl gallates, whose aqueous solubilities differ widely. In contrast,
      lysine showed marginal effects on alkyl gallates solubility. Molecular dynamic
      simulation indicated a greater interaction of arginine with alkyl gallates than
      that of lysine, which reflects favorable interaction between the guanidinium
      group of arginine and the aromatic ring of alkyl gallates. Such interaction
      apparently disrupts association of alkyl gallate molecules, leading to
      solubilization. These results indicate AASS as a promising approach to solubilize
      poorly soluble drug substances containing aromatic ring structures.

PMID- 20925398
TI  - Toxicity of graphene and graphene oxide nanowalls against bacteria.
AB  - Bacterial toxicity of graphene nanosheets in the form of graphene nanowalls
      deposited on stainless steel substrates was investigated for both gram-positive
      and gram-negative models of bacteria. The graphene oxide nanowalls were obtained
      by electrophoretic deposition of Mg(2+)-graphene oxide nanosheets synthesized by
      a chemical exfoliation method. On the basis of measuring the efflux of
      cytoplasmic materials of the bacteria, it was found that the cell membrane damage
      of the bacteria caused by direct contact of the bacteria with the extremely sharp
      edges of the nanowalls was the effective mechanism in the bacterial inactivation.
      In this regard, the gram-negative Escherichia coli bacteria with an outer
      membrane were more resistant to the cell membrane damage caused by the nanowalls
      than the gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus lacking the outer membrane.
      Moreover, the graphene oxide nanowalls reduced by hydrazine were more toxic to
      the bacteria than the unreduced graphene oxide nanowalls. The better
      antibacterial activity of the reduced nanowalls was assigned to the better charge
      transfer between the bacteria and the more sharpened edges of the reduced
      nanowalls, during the contact interaction.

PMID- 20925399
TI  - Tautomerism and microsolvation in 2-hydroxypyridine/2-pyridone.
AB  - The Fourier transform microwave spectra of the hydrated forms of the tautomeric
      pair 2-pyridinone/2-hydroxypyridine (2PO/2HP) have been investigated in a
      supersonic expansion. Three hydrated species, 2PO-H2O, 2HP-H2O, and 2PO-(H2O)2,
      have been observed in the rotational spectrum. Each molecular complex was
      confidently identified by the features of the 14N quadrupole hyperfine structure
      of the rotational transitions. The presence of water affects the tautomeric
      equilibrium -N?C(OH)- <-> -NH-C(?O)-, which is shifted to the enol form for the
      bare molecules 2PO/2HP but to the keto tautomer for the hydrated forms.

PMID- 20925400
TI  - All-optical patterning of Au nanoparticles on surfaces using optical traps.
AB  - The fabrication of nanoscale devices would be greatly enhanced by
      "nanomanipulators" that can position single and few objects rapidly with
      nanometer precision and without mechanical damage. Here, we demonstrate the
      feasibility and precision of an optical laser tweezer, or optical trap, approach
      to place single gold (Au) nanoparticles on surfaces with high precision
      (approximately 100 nm standard deviation). The error in the deposition process is
      rather small but is determined to be larger than the thermal fluctuations of
      single nanoparticles within the optical trap. Furthermore, areas of tens of
      square micrometers could be patterned in a matter of minutes. Since the method
      does not rely on lithography, scanning probes or a specialized surface, it is
      versatile and compatible with a variety of systems. We discuss active feedback
      methods to improve positioning accuracy and the potential for multiplexing and
      automation.

PMID- 20925401
TI  - Modeling the structure and absorption spectra of stilbazolium merocyanine in
      polar and nonpolar solvents using hybrid QM/MM techniques.
AB  - We have performed Car-Parrinello mixed quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (CP
      QM/MM) calculations for stilbazolium merocyanine (SM) in polar and nonpolar
      solvents in order to explore the role of solute molecular geometry, solvation
      shell structure, and different interaction mechanisms on the absorption spectra
      and its dependence on solvent polarity. On the basis of the average bond length
      values and group charge distributions, we find that the SM molecule remains in a
      neutral quinonoid form in chloroform (a nonpolar solvent) while it transforms to
      a charge-separated benzenoid form in water (a polar solvent). Based on a quantum
      mechanical/molecular mechanical response technique, with different MM
      descriptions for the water environment, absorption spectra were obtained as
      averages over configurations derived from the CP-QM/MM simulations. We show that
      for SM in water the solute polarization plays a major role in predictions of the
      lambda(max) and solvatochromic shift and that once this effect is included the
      contributions from solvent polarization and intermolecular charge transfer become
      less important. For SM in chloroform and water solvents, we have also performed
      absorption spectra calculations using a polarizable continuum model in order to
      address its relative performance compared to the QM/MM response technique. In the
      case of SM in water, our study supports the notion that, in order to predict
      accurate absorption spectra and solvatochromic shifts, it is important to use a
      discrete description of the solvent when it, as in water, is involved in site
      specific interaction with the solute molecule. The technique is thus shown to
      outperform the more conventional polarizable continuum model in predicting the
      solvatochromic shift.

PMID- 20925402
TI  - A density functional theory for studying ionization processes in water clusters.
AB  - A generalized Kohn-Sham (GKS) approach to density functional theory (DFT), based
      on the Baer-Neuhauser-Livshits range-separated hybrid, combined with ab initio
      motivated range-parameter tuning is used to study properties of water dimer and
      pentamer cations. The water dimer is first used as a benchmark system to check
      the approach. The present brand of DFT localizes the positive charge (hole),
      stabilizing the proton transferred geometry in agreement with recent coupled
      cluster calculations. Relative energies of various conformers of the water dimer
      cation compare well with previously published coupled cluster results. The GKS
      orbital energies are good approximations to the experimental ionization
      potentials of the system. Low-lying excitation energies calculated from time
      dependent DFT based on the present method compare well with recently published
      high-level "equation of motion-coupled-cluster" calculations. The harmonic
      frequencies of the water dimer cation are in good agreement with experimental and
      wave function calculations where available. The method is applied to study the
      water pentamer cation. Three conformers are identified: two are Eigen type and
      one is a Zundel type. The structure and harmonic vibrational structure are
      analyzed. The ionization dynamics of a pentamer water cluster at 0 K shows a fast
      <50 fs transient for transferring a proton from one of the water molecules,
      releasing a hydroxyl radical and creating a protonated tetramer carrying the
      excess hole.

PMID- 20925404
TI  - Cavity plasmonics: large normal mode splitting of electric and magnetic particle
      plasmons induced by a photonic microcavity.
AB  - We couple localized plasmon modes in nanowire pairs with resonator modes of a
      microcavity. Depending on the position of the nanowire pair in the resonator, the
      electric (symmetric) or magnetic (antisymmetric) plasmon mode is coupled,
      manifested by a huge anticrossing in the dispersion diagram. We explain this
      behavior by taking the symmetry and spatial distribution of the electric fields
      in the resonator into account. Experimental spectra verify the predicted mode
      splitting due to the resonant coupling and agree well with theory. Our work can
      serve as a model system for far-field plasmon-plasmon coupling and paves the way
      toward enhanced localized plasmon-plasmon interaction in photonically coupled
      three-dimensional Bragg structures.

PMID- 20925403
TI  - Computational analysis of HIV-1 protease protein binding pockets.
AB  - Mutations that arise in HIV-1 protease after exposure to various HIV-1 protease
      inhibitors have proved to be a difficult aspect in the treatment of HIV.
      Mutations in the binding pocket of the protease can prevent the protease
      inhibitor from binding to the protein effectively. In the present study, the
      crystal structures of 68 HIV-1 proteases complexed with one of the nine FDA
      approved protease inhibitors from the Protein Data Bank (PDB) were analyzed by
      (a) identifying the mutational changes with the aid of a developed mutation map
      and (b) correlating the structure of the binding pockets with the complexed
      inhibitors. The mutations of each crystal structure were identified by comparing
      the amino acid sequence of each structure against the HIV-1 wild-type strain
      HXB2. These mutations were visually presented in the form of a mutation map to
      analyze mutation patterns corresponding to each protease inhibitor. The crystal
      structure mutation patterns of each inhibitor (in vitro) were compared against
      the mutation patterns observed in in vivo data. The in vitro mutation patterns
      were found to be representative of most of the major in vivo mutations. We then
      performed a data mining analysis of the binding pockets from each crystal
      structure in terms of their chemical descriptors to identify important structural
      features of the HIV-1 protease protein with respect to the binding conformation
      of the HIV-1 protease inhibitors. Data mining analysis is performed using several
      classification techniques: Random Forest (RF), linear discriminant analysis
      (LDA), and logistic regression (LR). We developed two hybrid models, RF-LDA and
      RF-LR. Random Forest is used as a feature selection proxy, reducing the
      descriptor space to a few of the most relevant descriptors determined by the
      classifier. These descriptors are then used to develop the subsequent LDA, LR,
      and hierarchical classification models. Clustering analysis of the binding
      pockets using the selected descriptors used to produce the optimal classification
      models reveals conformational similarities of the ligands in each cluster. This
      study provides important information in understanding the structural features of
      HIV-1 protease which cannot be studied by other existing in vivo genomic data
      sets.

PMID- 20925405
TI  - High electrical conductivity antimony selenide nanocrystals and assemblies.
AB  - Antimony selenide is a promising thermoelectric material with a high Seebeck
      coefficient, but its figure of merit is limited by its low electrical
      conductivity. Here, we report a rapid and scalable (gram-a-minute) microwave
      synthesis of one-dimensional nanocrystals of sulfurized antimony selenide that
      exhibit 10(4)-10(10) times higher electrical conductivity than non-nanostructured
      bulk or thin film forms of this material. As the nanocrystal diameter increases,
      the nanowires transform into nanotubes through void formation and coalescence
      driven by axial rejection of sulfur incorporated into the nanowires from the
      surfactant used in our synthesis. Individual nanowires and nanotubes exhibit a
      charge carrier transport activation-energy of <60 meV arising from surface sulfur
      donor states. Nanocrystal assemblies also show high electrical conductivity,
      making the nanocrystals attractive building blocks to realize nanostructured thin
      film and bulk forms of this material for thermoelectric device applications.

PMID- 20925406
TI  - Origins of hole doping and relevant optoelectronic properties of wide gap p-type
      semiconductor, LaCuOSe.
AB  - LaCuOSe is a wide band gap (~2.8 eV) semiconductor with unique optoelectronic
      properties, including room-temperature stable excitons, high hole mobility ~8
      cm(2)/(Vs), and the capability of high-density hole doping (up to 1.7 * 10(21)
      cm(-3) using Mg). Moreover, its carrier transport and doping behaviors exhibit
      nonconventional results, e.g., the hole concentration increases with decreasing
      temperature and the high hole doping does not correlate with other properties
      such as optical absorption. Herein, secondary ion mass spectroscopy and
      photoemission spectroscopy reveal that aliovalent ion substitution of Mg at the
      La site is not the main source of hole doping and the Fermi level does not shift
      even in heavily doped LaCuOSe:Mg. As the hole concentration increases, the subgap
      optical absorption becomes more intense, but the increase in intensity does not
      correlate quantitatively. Transmission electron microscopy indicates that planar
      defects composed of Cu and Se deficiencies are easily created in LaCuOSe. These
      observations can be explained via the existence of a degenerate low-mobility
      layer and formation of complex Cu and Se vacancy defects with the assistance of
      generalized gradient approximation band calculations.

PMID- 20925407
TI  - A series of (6,6)-connected porous lanthanide-organic framework enantiomers with
      high thermostability and exposed metal sites: scalable syntheses, structures, and
      sorption properties.
AB  - A series of microporous lanthanide-organic framework enantiomers,
      Ln(BTC)(H(2)O).(DMF)(1.1) (Ln = Y 1a, 1b; Tb 2a, 2b; Dy 3a, 3b; Er 4a, 4b; Yb 5a,
      5b, BTC = 1,3,5-benzenetricarboxylate; DMF = N,N-dimethylformamide) with
      unprecedented (6,6)-connected topology have been prepared and characterized. All
      these compounds exhibit very high thermal stability of over 450  degrees C. The
      pore characteristics and gas sorption properties of these compounds were
      investigated at cryogenic temperatures by experimentally measuring nitrogen,
      argon, and hydrogen adsorption/desorption isotherms. The studies show that all
      these compounds are highly porous with surface areas of 1080 (1), 786 (2), 757
      (3), 676 (4), and 774 m(2)/g (5). The amounts of the hydrogen uptakes, 1.79 (1),
      1.45 (2), 1.40 (3), 1.51 (4), and 1.41 wt % (5) at 77 K (1 atm), show their
      promising H(2) storage performances. These porous materials with considerable
      surface areas, high voids of 44.5% (1), 44.8% (2), 47.7% (3), 44.2% (4), and
      45.7% (5), free windows of 6-7 A, available exposed metal sites and very high
      thermal stability can be easily prepared on a large scale, which make them
      excellent candidates in many functional applications, such as, gas storage,
      catalysis, and so on.

PMID- 20925408
TI  - Formal [4 + 2] cycloaddition of alkoxy-substituted donor-acceptor cyclobutanes
      and aldehydes catalyzed by Yb(OTf)3.
AB  - The cycloaddition between 2-alkoxy-1,1-cyclobutane diesters and aromatic,
      heteroaromatic, or aliphatic aldehydes under Yb(OTf)(3) catalysis generates
      tetrahydropyrans in high yields with exclusive cis-stereochemistry.

PMID- 20925409
TI  - Extensive phosphorylation flanking the C-terminal functional domains of the
      measles virus nucleoprotein.
AB  - The measles virus nucleoprotein (vNP) is the first and most abundant protein in
      infected cells. It plays numerous important roles including the encapsidation of
      genomic viral RNA and the transcription of viral proteins. Intricate interactions
      with host cell proteins rely on the structural integrity of its functional
      domains. Although some of these functional domains are known, their structural
      features are still poorly understood. Here we identified multiple isoforms of
      measles vNP by two-dimensional differential gel electrophoresis (2D-DIGE) and 2D
      Western blot. These isoforms were further analyzed by matrix-assisted laser
      desorption/ionization-time of flight (MALDI-TOF)/TOF using MS (PMF) and MSMS
      (PSD) and electrospray ionization (ESI)-ion trap using LC-ESI-ion trap MS(1),
      MS(2) (neutral loss), MS(3) (phosphosite). Both recombinant NP (rNP) and vNP were
      alpha-acetylated at the N-terminus. After tryptic or chymotryptic digestion,
      phosphopeptides were enriched and nine phosphorylation sites were identified and
      localized in the rNP, seven of which were also phosphorylated in vNP, probably by
      casein kinase 2. The phosphosites were all found within the intrinsically
      unstructured C-terminal domain. They clustered around functional domains involved
      in transcription and replication, as well as in sequences interacting with host
      cell proteins. This underlines the importance of these post-translational
      modifications.

PMID- 20925410
TI  - Fruitful adrenergic alpha(2C)-agonism/alpha(2A)-antagonism combination to prevent
      and contrast morphine tolerance and dependence.
AB  - The functional in vitro study of the enantiomers of imidazolines 4-7 highlighted
      the role played by the nature of the ortho phenyl substituent in determining the
      preferred alpha(2C)-AR configuration. Indeed, the (S) enantiomers of 4-6 or (R)
      enantiomer of 7 behave as eutomers and activate this subtype as full agonists;
      the corresponding distomers are partial agonists. Because in clinical pain
      management with opioids alpha(2C)-AR agonists, devoid of the alpha(2A)-AR
      mediated side effects, may represent an improvement over current therapies with
      clonidine like drugs, 4 and its enantiomers, showing alpha(2C)-agonism/alpha(2A)
      antagonism, have been studied in vivo. The data suggest that partial alpha(2C)
      activation is compatible with effective enhancement of morphine analgesia and
      reduction both of morphine tolerance acquisition and morphine dependence
      acquisition and expression. On the contrary, full alpha(2C)-activation appears
      advantageous in reducing morphine tolerance expression. Interestingly, the
      biological profile displayed by 4 (allyphenyline) and its eutomer (S)-(+)-4 has
      been found to be very unusual.

PMID- 20925412
TI  - Ytterbium triflate catalyzed synthesis of alkoxy-substituted donor-acceptor
      cyclobutanes and their formal [4 + 2] cycloaddition with imines: stereoselective
      synthesis of piperidines.
AB  - A new synthesis of 2-alkoxy-1,1-cyclobutane diesters and their first use in
      dipolar cycloadditions is reported. Both the formation of the donor-acceptor
      cyclobutanes and their subsequent annulation with in situ formed imines are
      catalyzed by Yb(OTf)(3). Cyclobutanes with carbon donor groups give piperidines
      with high trans stereoselectivity.

PMID- 20925413
TI  - Iron complexes for the catalytic transfer hydrogenation of acetophenone: steric
      and electronic effects imposed by alkyl substituents at phosphorus.
AB  - A series of iron(II) complexes, trans
      [Fe(NCMe)(2)(PR(2)CH(2)CH?NCH(2)CH(2)N?CHCH(2)PR(2))][BPh(4)](2) (5, R = Cy; 7, R
      = iPr; 9, R = Et) were prepared via the template synthesis in one-pot involving
      air-stable phosphonium dimers, [cyclo-(-PR(2)CH(2)CH(OH)-)(2)](Br)(2) (4, R = Cy;
      6, R = iPr; 8, R = Et), KOtBu, [Fe(H(2)O)(6)][BF(4)](2) and ethylenediamine in
      acetonitrile. In the synthesis of 9, a methanol/acetonitrile solvent mixture was
      required; otherwise an intermediate iron bis(tridentate) complex,
      [Fe(PEt(2)CH(2)CH?NCH(2)CH(2)NH(2))(2)](2+), formed as determined by electrospray
      ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS). The crude iron(II) complexes from a
      template synthesis with ethylenediamine or (S,S)-1,2-diphenylethylenediamine are
      stirred in acetone under a CO atmosphere (~2 atm) overnight to displace a NCMe
      ligand; however, in addition to this, bromide displaces an NCMe ligand as well to
      form a new class of the iron complexes trans
      [Fe(CO)(Br)(PR(2)CH(2)CH?NCHR'CHR'N?CHCH(2)PR(2))](+) (10 R = Cy, R' = H; (S,S)
      11, R = Cy, R' = Ph; 12, R = iPr, R' = H; (S,S)-13, R = iPr, R' = Ph; 14, R = Et,
      R' = H; (S,S)-15, R = Et, R' = Ph). These complexes were isolated in moderate
      yields (55-84%) as tetraphenylborate salts. Complexes 10-15 were tested for the
      catalytic transfer hydrogenation of acetophenone in basic iso-propanol at 25 and
      50  degrees C. The complexes 10-13 (where R = Cy or iPr) were inactive while the
      complexes 14 and (S,S)-15 (where R = Et) were active at 25  degrees C but had
      better activity at 50  degrees C. Complex (S,S)-15 was higher in activity than
      complex 14, achieving turnover frequencies as high as 4100 h(-1), conversions of
      acetophenone to (R)-1-phenylethanol as high as 80% and an enantiomeric excess
      (e.e.) of 50% in the product. As catalysis progressed, the e.e. diminished to as
      low as 26%.

PMID- 20925414
TI  - Preparation, properties, and crystal structures of organometallic ionic liquids
      comprising 1-ferrocenyl-3-alkylimidazolium-based salts of
      bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)amide and hexafluorophosphate.
AB  - Bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)amide (TFSA), hexafluorophosphate (PF(6)(-)), and
      iodide salts of 1-ferrocenyl-3-alkylimidazolium were prepared and their thermal
      and physical properties, including the dependence on alkyl chain length (methyl
      hexadecyl), were investigated. The TFSA salts were highly viscous ionic liquids
      with melting points around room temperature. 1-Ferrocenyl-4-methyltriazolium
      salts were also prepared for comparison. The ferrocenylimidazolium and
      ferrocenyltriazolium cations showed redox waves for both the ferrocenyl moiety
      and the azolium moiety and exhibited corresponding charge-transfer bands at
      around 330 nm, which were analyzed using the Marcus-Hush model. Crystal structure
      determinations at low temperature revealed that the PF(6) and iodide salts form
      layerlike structures composed of ionic layers of the charged moieties. The TFSA
      salt exhibited short hydrogen-bond-like intermolecular contacts between the
      hydrogen atoms of the cation and oxygen atoms of the anion.

PMID- 20925415
TI  - A beneficial kinetic effect of an eta(5)-C5Me4H ligand.
AB  - C-H activation of benzene at 26  degrees C by (eta(5)
      C(5)Me(5))W(NO)(CH(2)CMe(3))(eta(3)-CH(2)CHCHMe) results after 4 h in the
      production of five new organometallic complexes, only two of which are isomers of
      the desired (eta(5)-C(5)Me(5))W(NO)(C(6)H(5))(eta(3)-CH(2)CHCHMe) compound. In
      contrast, the identical reaction involving the eta(5)-C(5)Me(4)H analogue affords
      only the phenyl complexes during the first 24 h, thereby facilitating their
      isolation in good yields. This striking difference in reactivity can be
      attributed to the lesser steric demands of the eta(5)-C(5)Me(4)H ligand that
      result in its complexes reacting at a significantly slower rate.

PMID- 20925411
TI  - Thermochemistry of proton-coupled electron transfer reagents and its
      implications.

PMID- 20925416
TI  - Experimental evidence for the pressure dependence of the reaction rate constant
      between acetic acid and hydroxyl radicals.
AB  - The reaction rate constant of acetic acid with the hydroxyl radical is measured
      at 93 Torr with our high-pressure flow system (HPFS) and found to display a
      negative temperature dependence that can be described by the Arrhenius
      expression, k(T) = (2.44 +/- 0.22) * 10(-14) exp ((1027 +/- 24)/T)) cm(3)
      molecule(-1) s(-1). Compared with our previously reported 7 Torr data, we find a
      noticeable pressure dependence. This dependence is observed to increase with
      decreasing temperature. This finding is consistent with a termolecular reaction
      mechanism. It is the first experimental evidence of the pressure dependence for
      this rate constant. A kinetics model is constructed, and the model results agree
      qualitatively with our experimental data. The extrapolated rate constant of the
      title reaction would be faster than previously believed at conditions of the
      upper troposphere/lower stratosphere, suggesting that the importance of acetic
      acid in its impact on HO(x) chemistry is currently underestimated.

PMID- 20925417
TI  - Insights into the mechanism of O2 formation and release from the Mn4O4L6 "cubane"
      cluster.
AB  - To probe photoinduced water oxidation catalyzed by the Mn4O4L6 cubane clusters,
      we have computationally studied the mechanism and controlling factors of the O2
      formation from the [Mn4O4L6] catalyst, 6. It was demonstrated that dissociation
      of an L = H2PO2- ligand from 6 facilitates the direct O-O bond formation that
      proceeds with a 28.3 (33.4) kcal/mol rate-determining energy barrier at the
      transition state TS1. This step (the O-O single bond formation) of the reaction
      is a two-electron oxidation/reduction process, during which two oxo ligands are
      transformed into to MU2:eta2-O22- unit, and two ("distal") Mn centers are reduced
      from the 4+ to the 3+ oxidation state. Next two-electron oxidation/reduction
      occurs by "dancing" of the resulted O22- fragment between the Mn1 and Mn2/Mn(2')
      centers, keeping its strong coordination to the Mn(1')-center. As a result of
      this four-electron oxidation/reduction process Mn centers of the Mn4-core of I
      transform from {Mn1(III)-Mn(1')(III)-Mn2(IV)-Mn(2')(IV)} to {Mn1(II)-Mn(1')(II)
      Mn2(III)-Mn(2')(III)} in IV. In other words, upon O2 formation in cationic
      complex [Mn4O4L5](+), I, all four Mn-centers are reduced by one electron each.
      The overall reaction I -> TS1 -> II -> III -> TS2 -> IV -> TS3 -> V -> VI + O2 is
      found to be exothermic by 15.4 (10.5) kcal/mol. We analyze the lowest spin states
      and geometries of all reactants, intermediates, transition states, and products
      of the targeted reaction.

PMID- 20925418
TI  - Positioning and immobilization of individual quantum dots with nanoscale
      precision.
AB  - We demonstrate a technique for the precise immobilization of nanoscale objects at
      accurate positions on two-dimensional surfaces. We have developed a water-based
      photoresist that causes nanostructures such as colloidal quantum dots to
      segregate to a thin layer at surfaces. By combining this material with
      electroosmotic feedback control, we demonstrate the ability to position selected,
      individual quantum dots at specific locations and to immobilize them with 130 nm
      precision via localized UV exposure.

PMID- 20925419
TI  - Facially coordinating triamine ligands with a cyclic backbone: some structure
      stability correlations.
AB  - Metal complex formation of the two cyclic triamines 6-methyl-1,4-diazepan-6-amine
      (MeL(a)) and all-cis-2,4,6-trimethylcyclohexane-1,3,5-triamine (Me(3)tach) was
      studied. The structure of the free ligands (H(x)MeL(a))(x+) and H(x)Me(3)tach(x+)
      (0 <= x <= 3) was investigated by pH-dependent NMR spectroscopy and X-ray
      diffraction experiments. The crystal structure of (H(2)Me(3)tach)(p-O(3)S
      C(6)H(4)-CH(3))(2) showed a chair conformation with axial nitrogen atoms for the
      doubly protonated species. In contrast to a previous report, Me(3)tach was found
      to be a stronger base than the parent cis-cyclohexane-1,3,5-triamine (tach);
      pK(a)-values of H(3)Me(3)tach(3+) (25  degrees C, 0.1 M KCl): 5.2, 7.4, 11.2. The
      crystal structures of (H(3)MeL(a))(BiCl(6)).2H(2)O and (H(3)MeL(a))(ClO(4))Cl(2)
      exhibited two distinct twisted chair conformations of the seven membered
      diazepane ring. [Co(MeL(a))(2)](3+) (cis: 1(3+), trans: 2(3+)), trans
      [Fe(MeL(a))(2)](3+) (3(3+)), [(MeL(a))ClCd(MU(2)-Cl)](2) (4), trans
      [Cu(MeL(a))(2)](2+) (5(2+)), and [Cu(HMeL(a))Br(3)] (6) were characterized by
      single crystal X-ray analysis of 1(ClO(4))(3).H(2)O, 2Br(3).H(2)O,
      3(ClO(4))(3).0.8MeCN.0.2MeOH, 4, 5Br(2).0.5MeOH, and 6.H(2)O. Formation constants
      and redox potentials of MeL(a) complexes were determined by potentiometric,
      spectrophotometric, and cyclovoltammetric measurements. The stability of
      [M(II)(MeL(a))](2+)-complexes is low. In comparison to the parent 1,4-diazepan-6
      amine (L(a)), it is only slightly enhanced. In analogy to L(a), MeL(a) exhibited
      a pronounced tendency for forming protonated species such as [M(II)(HMeL(a))](3+)
      or [M(II)(MeL(a))(HMeL(a))](3+) (see 6 as an example). In contrast to MeL(a),
      Me(3)tach forms [M(II)L](2+) complexes (M = Cu, Zn) of very high stability, and
      the coordination behavior corresponds mainly to an "all-or-nothing" process.
      Molecular mechanics calculations showed that the low stability of L(a) and MeL(a)
      complexes is mainly due to a large amount of torsional strain within the pure
      chair conformation of the diazepane ring, required for tridentate coordination.
      This behavior is quite contrary to Me(3)tach and tacn (tacn =1,4,7
      triazacyclononane), where the main portion of strain is already preformed in the
      free ligand, and the amount, generated upon complex formation, is comparably low.

PMID- 20925420
TI  - Facile synthesis of Koser's reagent and derivatives from iodine or aryl iodides.
AB  - The first one-pot synthesis of neutral and electron-rich
      [hydroxy(tosyloxy)iodo]arenes (HTIBs) from iodine and arenes is presented,
      thereby avoiding the need for expensive iodine(III) precursors. A large set of
      HTIBs, including a polyfluorinated analogue, can be obtained from the
      corresponding aryl iodide under the same conditions. The reaction proceeds under
      mild conditions, without excess reagents, and is fast and high-yielding.
      Together, the two presented routes give access to a wide range of HTIBs, which
      are useful reagents in a variety of synthetic transformations.

PMID- 20925421
TI  - N-phosphorylated imidazolium salts as precursors to 2- and 5-phosphorylated
      imidazoles and new imidazol-2-ylidenes featuring the PNCN unit.
AB  - It has been experimentally proven that the reaction of 1- or 1,2-disubstituted
      imidazoles with diorganylphosphorus(III) halides proceeds via initial formation
      of N-phosporylated imidazolium salts. Treatment of these salts with strong bases
      results in phosphorylation of the parent imidazoles at the 2- or 5-positions,
      correspondingly. In a previous case, imidazol-2-ylidenes are formed as
      intermediates. With both N1 and N3 atoms bearing sterically demanding or/and pi
      donating groups, deprotonation of 1,3-disubstituted imidazolium salts with
      NaN(SiMe(3))(2) afforded new stable N-phosphorus-substituted Arduengo-type
      carbenes.

PMID- 20925422
TI  - Facile synthesis of tetrahydro-1H-isoindolones via a sequential three-component
      copper-catalyzed coupling/propargyl-allenyl isomerization/[4 + 2] cyclization
      reaction.
AB  - An interesting sequential three-component copper-catalyzed coupling/propargyl
      allenyl isomerization/[4 + 2] cyclization reaction, providing a facile synthesis
      of highly substituted tetrahydro-1H-isoindolones from conjugated vinylic alkynes,
      imines, and alpha,beta-unsaturated enoic acid chlorides is reported. The most
      attractive feature of this transformation is that three stereogenic centers could
      be generated in one step with high diastereoselectivity.

PMID- 20925424
TI  - Recognition of nucleoplasmin by its nuclear transport receptor importin
      alpha/beta: insights into a complete import complex.
AB  - Nuclear import of the pentameric histone chaperone nucleoplasmin (NP) is mediated
      by importin alpha, which recognizes its nuclear localization sequence (NLS), and
      importin beta, which interacts with alpha and is in charge of the translocation
      of the NP/alpha/beta complex through the nuclear pore. Herein, we characterize
      the assembly of a functional transport complex formed by full-length NP with
      importin alpha/beta. Isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) was used to analyze
      the thermodynamics of the interactions of importin alpha with beta, alpha with
      NP, and the alpha/beta heterodimer with NP. Our data show that binding of both
      importin alpha and alpha/beta to NP is governed by a favorable enthalpic
      contribution and that NP can accommodate up to five importin molecules per NP
      pentamer. Phosphomimicking mutations of NP, which render the protein active in
      histone chaperoning, do not modulate the interaction with importin. Using small
      angle X-ray scattering, we model the alpha/beta heterodimer, NP/alpha, and
      NP/alpha/beta solution structures, which reveal a glimpse of a complete nuclear
      import complex with an oligomeric cargo protein. The set of alternative models,
      equally well fitting the scattering data, yields asymmetric elongated particles
      that might represent consecutive geometries the complex can adopt when stepping
      through the nuclear pore.

PMID- 20925423
TI  - The alpha-helical C-terminal domain of full-length recombinant PrP converts to an
      in-register parallel beta-sheet structure in PrP fibrils: evidence from solid
      state nuclear magnetic resonance.
AB  - We report the results of solid state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)
      measurements on amyloid fibrils formed by the full-length prion protein PrP
      (residues 23-231, Syrian hamster sequence). Measurements of intermolecular 13C
      13C dipole-dipole couplings in selectively carbonyl-labeled samples indicate that
      beta-sheets in these fibrils have an in-register parallel structure, as
      previously observed in amyloid fibrils associated with Alzheimer's disease and
      type 2 diabetes and in yeast prion fibrils. Two-dimensional 13C-13C and 15N-13C
      solid state NMR spectra of a uniformly 15N- and 13C-labeled sample indicate that
      a relatively small fraction of the full sequence, localized to the C-terminal
      end, forms the structurally ordered, immobilized core. Although unique site
      specific assignments of the solid state NMR signals cannot be obtained from these
      spectra, analysis with a Monte Carlo/simulated annealing algorithm suggests that
      the core is comprised primarily of residues in the 173-224 range. These results
      are consistent with earlier electron paramagnetic resonance studies of fibrils
      formed by residues 90-231 of the human PrP sequence, formed under somewhat
      different conditions [Cobb, N. J., Sonnichsen, F. D., McHaourab, H., and
      Surewicz, W. K. (2007) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 104, 18946-18951],
      suggesting that an in-register parallel beta-sheet structure formed by the C
      terminal end may be a general feature of PrP fibrils prepared in vitro.

PMID- 20925425
TI  - Role of detection limits in drinking water regulation.
AB  - Some commentators on environmental science and policy have claimed that advances
      in analytical chemistry, reflected by an ability to detect contaminants at ever
      decreasing concentrations, lead to regulations stricter than justified by
      available toxicological data. We evaluate this claim in the context of drinking
      water regulation, with respect to contaminants regulated under the Safe Drinking
      Water Act (SDWA). We examine the relationships between historical and present
      maximum contaminant levels and goals in the greater context of detection
      capability and evaluate the extent to which different aspects of the regulatory
      apparatus (i.e., analytical capability, cost-benefit analysis, analysis of
      competing risks, and available toxicological data) influence the regulatory
      process. Our findings do not support the claim that decreases in detection limit
      lead to more stringent regulation in the context of drinking water regulation in
      the United States. Further, based on our analysis of the National Primary
      Drinking Water Regulation and existing United States Environmental Protection
      Agency approaches to establishing the practical quantifiable level, we conclude
      that in the absence of changes to the underlying toxicological model, regulatory
      revision is unlikely.

PMID- 20925426
TI  - TAT fusion protein transduction into isolated mitochondria is accelerated by
      sodium channel inhibitors.
AB  - Stringent control of ion and protein transport across the mitochondrial membranes
      is required to maintain mitochondrial function and biogenesis. In particular, the
      inner mitochondrial membrane is generally impermeable to proteins entering the
      matrix except via tightly regulated protein import mechanisms. Recently, cell
      penetrant peptides have been shown to move across the inner mitochondrial
      membrane in a manner suggesting an independent mechanism. HIV-1 transactivator of
      transcription (TAT) is an arginine-rich cell penetrant peptide, 47YGRKKRRQRRR57,
      which can transduce full-length proteins not only across the cell membrane but
      also into intracellular organelles. In this study, we investigated the ability of
      a TAT-containing protein to move into the mitochondrial matrix. Using a novel
      FACS assay for isolated, purified mitochondria, we show that TAT can deliver a
      modified fluorescent protein, mMDH-GFP, to the matrix of mitochondria and it is
      subsequently processed by the matrix peptidases. In addition, transduction of TAT
      mMDH-GFP into mitochondria is independent of canonical protein import pathways as
      well as mitochondrial membrane potential. In direct contrast to published reports
      regarding the cell membrane where the sodium channel inhibitor, amiloride, blocks
      endocytosis and inhibits TAT transduction, TAT transduction into mitochondria is
      markedly increased by this same sodium channel inhibitor. These results confirm
      that the cell penetrant peptide, TAT, can readily transduce a protein cargo into
      the mitochondrial matrix. These results also demonstrate a novel role for
      mitochondrial sodium channels in mediating TAT transduction into mitochondria
      that is independent of endocytotic mechanisms. The mechanism of TAT transduction
      into mitochondria therefore is distinctly different from transduction across the
      cell membrane.

PMID- 20925427
TI  - Active accumulation of gold nanorods in tumor in response to near-infrared laser
      irradiation.
AB  - Gold nanorods, rod-shaped gold nanoparticles, have strong absorbance in the near
      infrared region, and the absorbed light energy can be converted to heat, the so
      called photothermal effect. The gold nanorods were coated with thermoresponsive
      polymers, which have different phase transition temperatures that were controlled
      by adding comonomers, N,N-dimethylacrylamide (DMAA) or acrylamide (AAm) to N
      isopropylacrylamide (NIPAM). The phase transition temperatures of poly(NIPAM
      DMAA) and poly(NIPAM-AAm)-coated gold nanorods were 38 and 41  degrees C,
      respectively, while polyNIPAM-coated gold nanorods showed phase transition at 34 
      degrees C. Irradiation of the coated gold nanorods using the near-infrared laser
      induced a decrease in their sizes due to a phase transition of the polymer
      layers. Poly(NIPAM-AAm)-coated gold nanorods stably circulated in the blood flow
      without a phase transition after intravenous injection. Irradiation of near
      infrared light at a tumor after the injection resulted in the gold specifically
      accumulating in the tumor. This novel accumulation technique which combines a
      thermoresponsive polymer and the photothermal effect of the gold nanorods should
      be a powerful tool for targeted delivery in response to light irradiation.

PMID- 20925428
TI  - Lactosomes: structural and compositional classification of unique nanometer-sized
      protein lipid particles of human milk.
AB  - Milk fat globules (MFGs) are accepted primarily as triacylglycerol delivery
      systems. The identification of nanometer-sized lipid-protein particles termed
      "lactosomes" that do not contain triacylglycerol raises the question of their
      possible functions. MFGs were isolated by slow centrifugation, and lactosomes
      were isolated by ultracentrifugation at a density equivalent to plasma high
      density lipoproteins (HDL) (d > 1.063 g/mL) from human milk obtained from six
      volunteers at different lactation stages. Isolated lactosomes were analyzed and
      compared with MFGs for their size distribution, lipidome, proteome, and
      functional activity. Lactosomes from early milk, day 8, were found to be similar
      in size as those from mature milk >28 days, averaging ~ 25 nm in diameter. In
      total, 97 nonredundant proteins were identified in the MFG and lactosome
      fractions, 46 of which were unique to the MFG fraction and 29 of which were
      unique to the lactosome fraction. The proteins identified in the lactosome and
      MFG fractions were enriched with proteins identified with immunomodulatory
      pathways. Unlike MFGs and GM1-laden reconstituted HDL that served as a positive
      control, lactosomal binding capacity to cholera toxin was weak. Lipidomic
      analyses found that lactosomes were devoid of triacylglycerol and gangliosides,
      unlike MFGs, but rich in a variety of phospholipid species. The data found
      differences in structure, composition, and function between lactosomes and MFG,
      suggesting that these two particles are derived from different biosynthetic
      and/or secretory pathways. The results reveal a bioactive lipid-protein,
      nanometer-length scale particle that is secreted into milk not to supply energy
      to the infant but to play unique, protective, and regulatory roles.

PMID- 20925430
TI  - Effects of pH on the S(3) state of the oxygen evolving complex in photosystem II
      probed by EPR split signal induction.
AB  - The electrons extracted from the CaMn(4) cluster during water oxidation in
      photosystem II are transferred to P(680)(+) via the redox-active tyrosine D1
      Tyr161 (Y(Z)). Upon Y(Z) oxidation a proton moves in a hydrogen bond toward D1
      His190 (His(Z)). The deprotonation and reprotonation mechanism of Y(Z)-OH/Y(Z)-O
      is of key importance for the catalytic turnover of photosystem II. By light
      illumination at liquid helium temperatures (~5 K) Y(Z) can be oxidized to its
      neutral radical, Y(Z)(*). This can be followed by the induction of a split EPR
      signal from Y(Z)(*) in a magnetic interaction with the CaMn(4) cluster, offering
      a way to probe for Y(Z) oxidation in active photosystem II. In the S(3) state,
      light in the near-infrared region induces the split S(3) EPR signal,
      S(2)'Y(Z)(*). Here we report on the pH dependence for the induction of
      S(2)'Y(Z)(*) between pH 4.0 and pH 8.7. At acidic pH the split S(3) EPR signal
      decreases with the apparent pK(a) (pK(app)) ~ 4.1. This can be correlated to a
      titration event that disrupts the essential H-bond in the Y(Z)-His(Z) motif. At
      alkaline pH, the split S(3) EPR signal decreases with the pK(app) ~ 7.5. The
      analysis of this pH dependence is complicated by the presence of an alkaline
      induced split EPR signal (pK(app) ~ 8.3) promoted by a change in the redox
      potential of Y(Z). Our results allow dissection of the proton-coupled electron
      transfer reactions in the S(3) state and provide further evidence that the
      radical involved in the split EPR signals is indeed Y(Z)(*).

PMID- 20925429
TI  - Copper-doxorubicin as a nanoparticle cargo retains efficacy with minimal
      toxicity.
AB  - Repeated administration of chemotherapeutics is typically required for the
      effective treatment of highly aggressive tumors and often results in systemic
      toxicity. We have created a copper-doxorubicin complex within the core of
      liposomes and applied the resulting particle in multidose therapy. Copper and
      doxorubicin concentrations in the blood pool were similar at 24 h (~40% of the
      injected dose), indicating stable circulation of the complex. Highly quenched
      doxorubicin fluorescence remained in the blood pool over tens of hours, with
      fluorescence increasing only with the combination of liposome disruption and
      copper trans-chelation. At 48 h after injection, doxorubicin fluorescence within
      the heart and skin was one-fifth and one-half, respectively, of fluorescence
      observed with ammonium sulfate-loaded doxorubicin liposomes. After 28 days of
      twice per week doxorubicin administration of 6 mg/kg, systemic toxicity (cardiac
      hypertrophy and weight and hair loss) was not detected with the copper
      doxorubicin liposomes but was substantial with ammonium sulfate-loaded
      doxorubicin liposomes. We then incorporated two strategies designed to enhance
      efficacy, mTOR inhibition (rapamycin) to slow proliferation and therapeutic
      ultrasound to enhance accumulation and local diffusion. Tumor accumulation was
      ~10% ID/g and was enhanced approximately 2-fold with the addition of therapeutic
      ultrasound. After the 28-day course of therapy, syngeneic tumors regressed to a
      premalignant phenotype of ~(1 mm)(3) or could not be detected.

PMID- 20925431
TI  - 2D-DiGE analysis of the human endometrial secretome reveals differences between
      receptive and nonreceptive states in fertile and infertile women.
AB  - Endometrial secretions in the uterine cavity contain mediators important for
      endometrial receptivity and embryo implantation. Unbiased analysis of uterine
      fluid from a receptive versus nonreceptive time of the menstrual cycle and in
      fertile and infertile women will provide new insights into uterine receptivity.
      We hypothesized that proteomic analysis of human uterine lavages would identify
      proteins important for the establishment of pregnancy in humans. Lavages
      collected from fertile (n = 7) and infertile (n = 8) women during the
      midsecretory (MS) phase, and from fertile women during the midproliferative (MP)
      (n = 7) phase, were assessed using 2D-differential in gel electrophoresis (2D
      DiGE) over a pI 4-7 range. Statistical analysis revealed 7 spots that were
      significantly decreased in the MP compared to the MS phase, while 18 spots showed
      differential expression between fertile and infertile women. A number of proteins
      were identified by mass spectrometry, including antithrombin III and alpha-2
      macroglobulin, whose production was confirmed in endometrial epithelium. Their
      staining pattern suggests roles during embryo implantation. Assessment of the
      human endometrial secretome has identified differences in the protein content of
      uterine fluid with respect to receptivity and fertility.

PMID- 20925432
TI  - S-alkylating labeling strategy for site-specific identification of the s
      nitrosoproteome.
AB  - S-nitrosylation, a post-translational modification of cysteine residues induced
      by nitric oxide, mediates many physiological functions. Due to the labile nature
      of S-nitrosylation, detection by mass spectrometry (MS) is challenging. Here, we
      developed an S-alkylating labeling strategy using the irreversible biotinylation
      on S-nitrosocysteines for site-specific identification of the S-nitrosoproteome
      by LC-MS/MS. Using COS-7 cells without endogenous nitric oxide synthase, we
      demonstrated that the S-alkylating labeling strategy substantially improved the
      blocking efficiency of free cysteines, minimized the false-positive
      identification caused by disulfide interchange, and increased the digestion
      efficiency for improved peptide identification using MS analyses. Using this
      strategy, we identified total 586 unique S-nitrosylation sites corresponding to
      384 proteins in S-nitroso-N-acetylpenicillamine (SNAP)/l-cysteine-treated mouse
      MS-1 endothelial cells, including 234 previously unreported S-nitrosylated
      proteins. When the topologies of 84 identified transmembrane proteins were
      further analyzed, their S-nitrosylation sites were found to mostly face the
      cytoplasmic side, implying that S-nitrosylation occurs in the cytoplasm. In
      addition to the previously known acid/basic motifs, the ten deduced consensus
      motifs suggested that combination of local hydrophobicity and acid/base motifs in
      the tertiary structure contribute to the specificity of S-nitrosylation.
      Moreover, the S-nitrosylated cysteines showed preference on beta-strand, having
      lower relative surface accessibility at the S-nitrosocysteines.

PMID- 20925433
TI  - Toward the development of innovative bifunctional agents to induce
      differentiation and to promote apoptosis in leukemia: clinical candidates and
      perspectives.

PMID- 20925434
TI  - Novel 1',1'-chain substituted hexahydrocannabinols: 9beta-hydroxy-3-(1-hexyl
      cyclobut-1-yl)-hexahydrocannabinol (AM2389) a highly potent cannabinoid receptor
      1 (CB1) agonist.
AB  - In pursuit of a more detailed understanding of the structural requirements for
      the key side chain cannabinoid pharmacophore, we have extended our SAR to cover a
      variety of conformationally modified side chains within the 9-keto and 9-hydroxyl
      tricyclic structures. Of the compounds described here, those with a seven-atom
      long side chain substituted with a cyclopentyl ring at C1' position have very
      high affinities for both CB1 and CB2 (0.97 nM < K(i) < 5.25 nM), with no
      preference for either of the two receptors. However, presence of the smaller
      cyclobutyl group at the C1' position leads to an optimal affinity and selectivity
      interaction with CB1. Thus, two of the C1'-cyclobutyl analogues, namely,
      (6aR,10aR)-3-(1-hexyl-cyclobut-1-yl)-6,6a,7,8,10,10a-hexahydro-1-hydroxy-6,6
      dimethyl-9H-dibenzo[b,d]pyran-9-one and (6aR,9R,10aR)-3-(1-hexyl-cyclobut-1-yl)
      6a,7,8,9,10,10a-hexahydro-6,6-dimethyl-6H-dibenzo[b,d]pyran-1,9 diol (7e-beta,
      AM2389), exhibited remarkably high affinities (0.84 and 0.16 nM, respectively)
      and significant selectivities (16- and 26-fold, respectively) for CB1. Compound
      7e-beta was found to exhibit exceptionally high in vitro and in vivo potency with
      a relatively long duration of action.

PMID- 20925436
TI  - Preventability of drug-related harms - part I: a systematic review.
AB  - 'Preventability' is a crucial concept in the literature on adverse drug reactions
      (ADRs). We have carried out a systematic review in order to identify and analyse
      the approaches used to define 'preventability' in relation to ADRs. We have
      restricted this investigation to definitions of preventability and have not dealt
      with other aspects. We searched MEDLINE (1963-April 2009) and EMBASE (1980-April
      2009), without language restriction, for papers in which preventability of ADRs
      was likely to be defined. We found 234 papers, of which we retrieved 231. Of
      these, 172 either contained original definitions of preventability or referred to
      other papers in which preventability was defined. Forty contained no definition,
      and 19 were not relevant. In the 172 papers selected, we identified eight
      different general approaches to defining the preventability of ADRs: (1) analysis
      without explicit criteria; (2) assessment by consensus; (3) preventability linked
      to error; (4) preventability linked to standards of care; (5) preventability
      linked to medication-related factors; (6) preventability linked to information
      technology; (7) categorization of harmful treatments in explicit lists; and (8) a
      combination of more than one approach. These approaches rely on two general
      methods: the judgement of one or more investigators or the use of pre-defined
      explicit criteria; neither is satisfactory. Specific problems include the
      weakness of consensus as a method (since experts can agree and yet be wrong),
      inadequacy of definition of standards of care, and circularity in several
      definitions of preventability. Furthermore, attempts to list all preventable
      effects are bound to be incomplete and will not always apply to an individual
      case. We conclude that an approach based on analysis of the mechanisms of adverse
      reactions and their clinical features could be preferable; such an approach is
      described in a companion paper (Part II) in this issue of Drug Safety.

PMID- 20925437
TI  - Preventability of drug-related harms - part II: proposed criteria, based on
      frameworks that classify adverse drug reactions.
AB  - BACKGROUND: 'Preventability' is a crucial concept in the literature on adverse
      drug effects. However, a systematic review of the definitions of preventability
      of adverse drug effects has suggested that none fits all circumstances.
      Furthermore, when the reliability of these definitions has been examined they
      have been found to be imperfect. OBJECTIVE: To propose and outline a method for
      determining the theoretical preventability of an adverse drug effect, based on
      frameworks for classifying adverse drug reactions - the EIDOS and DoTS methods.
      METHODS: EIDOS is based on the mechanism of action of the drug. It observes that
      a drug (an Extrinsic species) causes an adverse effect by interacting with an
      Intrinsic species that is its target when the two are Distributed together, and
      that the resulting pathophysiological Outcome (the adverse effect) causes the
      Sequela (the adverse reaction). DoTS observes that the Dose-relatedness of the
      adverse effect compared with the beneficial effect is relevant (determining
      toxic, collateral, or hypersusceptibility effects), that adverse effects have
      Time-courses (varying from immediate to delayed), and that there are individual
      Susceptibility factors. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: We have elicited many published
      examples that show that each of these factors in the causation of an adverse drug
      effect can be adduced to assess its preventability. We have constructed a
      flowchart that illustrates how the processes can be logically analysed.
      CONCLUSIONS: This approach suggests methods for devising prospective preventive
      strategies and for deciding retrospectively whether an adverse reaction in an
      individual should have been prevented.

PMID- 20925435
TI  - Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy and newer biological agents.
AB  - Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) is a rare demyelinating disease
      of the brain due to a polyoma virus, JC virus. Despite the ubiquity of this
      virus, PML is rare and almost always seen in association with an underlying
      immunosuppressive condition. In the last 30 years, AIDS has been the most common
      predisposing factor. The observation of PML attending the use of certain
      monoclonal antibody therapies and other pharmacological agents has raised
      concerns about the safety profile of these agents, but has also provided a window
      into the pathogenesis of PML. Certain agents, such as the monoclonal antibodies
      natalizumab, an alpha4beta1 and alpha4beta7 integrin inhibitor, and efalizumab,
      an antibody directed against CD11a, appear to uniquely predispose to PML. Prior
      to their introduction for multiple sclerosis and Crohn's disease with respect to
      natalizumab, and psoriasis with respect to efalizumab, PML had never been
      observed with these disorders. PML occurring with other agents that currently
      carry US FDA-mandated 'black-box' warnings, such as rituximab, an antibody
      directed to CD20, or mycophenolate mofetil, a drug that inhibits T- and B-cell
      proliferation, typically occur in the background of underlying disorders that
      have already been identified as risks for PML. This review will focus on the
      available data regarding the risk for PML with monoclonal antibodies and other
      drugs. A biologically plausible explanation for the increased risk of PML will be
      proposed, as well as potential strategies for mitigating disease risk.

PMID- 20925438
TI  - Domperidone and ventricular arrhythmia or sudden cardiac death: a population
      based case-control study in the Netherlands.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Recently, a 4-fold increase in risk of sudden cardiac death (SCD) was
      reported for domperidone in a study that focused on corrected QT interval (QTc)
      prolonging drugs as a class and their association with SCD. OBJECTIVE: To
      evaluate the association between the use of domperidone and serious non-fatal
      ventricular arrhythmia (VA) and SCD in the general population. METHODS: We
      performed a population-based, case-control study during 1996-2007 in the
      Integrated Primary Care Information (IPCI) database, a longitudinal general
      practice research database in the Netherlands. We included all patients aged >=18
      years without cancer in the source population. We studied the association between
      the use of domperidone by recency of use (current, past and none) and daily dose,
      and the risk of serious non-fatal VA or SCD. Cases were defined as a natural
      death due to cardiac causes heralded by abrupt loss of consciousness within 1
      hour after the onset of acute symptoms or an unwitnessed, unexpected death of
      someone seen in a stable medical condition <24 hours previously with no evidence
      of a non-cardiac cause. Controls were randomly drawn from the source population
      and matched to cases on age, sex, practice and index date. We compared the
      exposure odds for SCD alone and VA plus SCD by means of conditional logistic
      regression while adjusting for all available confounders. In addition, we
      stratified by insurance type. RESULTS: The study population comprised 1366 cases
      (62 VA and 1304 SCD) and 14114 matched controls. Of all cases, ten patients were
      current domperidone users at the index date, all with SCD. The matched unadjusted
      odds ratio of domperidone and SCD was 3.72 (95% CI 1.72, 8.08). Daily doses >30
      mg were associated with a significant increased risk of SCD (adjusted odds ratio
      [OR(adj)] 11.4 [95% CI 1.99, 65.2]). Since there was a near interaction with
      health insurance (p = 0.050), all analyses were stratified by insurance. In
      publicly insured patients, seven cases were current users at the index date.
      Current use was associated with a significant increased risk of SCD (OR(adj) 4.17
      [95% CI 1.33, 13.1]). Amongst privately insured patients there was one
      domperidone-exposed case, and amongst non-insured there were two. CONCLUSIONS:
      Current use of domperidone, especially high doses, is associated with an
      increased risk of SCD. We could not demonstrate an effect of domperidone on non
      fatal VA due to absence of exposed cases.

PMID- 20925439
TI  - Temporal data mining for adverse events following immunization in nationwide
      Danish healthcare databases.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A rarely used opportunity in pharmacovigilance is data mining for
      adverse drug reactions (ADRs) in population-based healthcare databases.
      OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the potential of data mining for ADRs in the nationwide
      Danish healthcare databases. We specifically considered hospital contacts
      following measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) immunization. METHODS: We constructed
      a cohort consisting of all children born in Denmark from 1995 to 2007 (n =
      918,831) with individual-level linked data on childhood vaccinations and hospital
      contacts from the nationwide Danish healthcare databases. We applied a cohort
      based data mining methodology to compare the observed versus the expected
      incidence of adverse event in different time periods relative to immunization.
      With this approach we evaluated temporal associations between MMR immunization
      and 5915 different diagnoses occurring in the cohort. In order to evaluate the
      ability of our approach to detect signals, we singled out a set of four adverse
      events previously recognized as being associated with the MMR vaccine. RESULTS:
      We were able to link a total of 3,162,251 hospital contacts and 5915 different
      diagnoses to the children in the cohort. Previously recognized temporal
      associations between adverse events (febrile convulsions, idiopathic
      thrombocytopenic purpura, lymphadenopathy and rash) and MMR immunization were
      identified in the Danish databases by our method. CONCLUSIONS: Data mining in the
      Danish population-based healthcare databases provides adequate ability to detect
      adverse events. Pharmacovigilance using electronic healthcare databases holds
      potential as an important supplement to traditional pharmacovigilance.

PMID- 20925440
TI  - Pharmacists' interventions in prescribing errors at hospital discharge: an
      observational study in the context of an electronic prescribing system in a UK
      teaching hospital.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pharmacists have an essential role in improving drug usage and
      preventing prescribing errors (PEs). PEs at the interface of care are common,
      sometimes leading to adverse drug events (ADEs). This was the first study to
      investigate, using a computerized search method, the number, types, severity,
      pharmacists' impact on PEs and predictors of PEs in the context of electronic
      prescribing (e-prescribing) at hospital discharge. METHOD: This was a
      retrospective, observational, 4-week study, carried out in 2008 in the Medical
      and Elderly Care wards of a 904-bed teaching hospital in the northwest of
      England, operating an e-prescribing system at discharge. Details were obtained,
      using a systematic computerized search of the system, of medication orders either
      entered by doctors and discontinued by pharmacists or entered by pharmacists.
      Meetings were conducted within 5 days of data extraction with pharmacists doing
      their routine clinical work, who categorized the occurrence, type and severity of
      their interventions using a scale. An independent senior pharmacist
      retrospectively rated the severity and potential impact, and subjectively judged,
      based on experience, whether any error was a computer-related error (CRE).
      Discrepancies were resolved by multidisciplinary discussion. The Statistical
      Package for Social Sciences was used for descriptive data analysis. For the PE
      predictors, a multivariate logistic regression was performed using STATA 7. Nine
      predictors were selected a priori from available prescribers', patients' and drug
      data. RESULTS: There were 7920 medication orders entered for 1038 patients
      (doctors entered 7712 orders; pharmacists entered 208 omitted orders). There were
      675 (8.5% of 7920) interventions by pharmacists; 11 were not associated with PEs.
      Incidences of erroneous orders and patients with error were 8.0% (95% CI 7.4, 8.5
      [n = 630/7920]) and 20.4% (95% CI 18.1, 22.9 [n = 212/1038]), respectively. The
      PE incidence was 8.4% (95% CI 7.8, 9.0 [n = 664/7920]). The top three medications
      associated with PEs were paracetamol (acetaminophen; 30 [4.8%]), salbutamol
      (albuterol; 28 [4.4%]) and omeprazole (25 [4.0%]). Pharmacists intercepted 524
      (83.2%) erroneous orders without referring to doctors, and 70% of erroneous
      orders within 24 hours. Omission (31.0%), drug selection (29.4%) and dosage
      regimen (18.1%) error types accounted for >75% of PEs. There were 18 (2.9%)
      serious, 481 (76.3%) significant and 131 (20.8%) minor erroneous orders. Most
      erroneous orders (469 [74.4%]) were rated as of significant severity and
      significant impact of pharmacists on PEs. CREs (n = 279) accounted for 44.3% of
      erroneous orders. There was a significant difference in severity between CREs and
      non-CREs (chi2 = 38.88; df = 4; p < 0.001), with CREs being less severe than non
      CREs. Drugs with multiple oral formulations (odds ratio [OR] 2.1; 95% CI 1.25,
      3.37; p = 0.004) and prescribing by junior doctors (OR 2.54; 95% CI 1.08, 5.99; p
      = 0.03) were significant predictors of PEs. CONCLUSIONS: PEs commonly occur at
      hospital discharge, even with the use of an e-prescribing system. User and
      computer factors both appeared to contribute to the high error rate. The e
      prescribing system facilitated the systematic extraction of data to investigate
      PEs in hospital practice. Pharmacists play an important role in rapidly
      documenting and preventing PEs before they reach and possibly harm patients.
      Pharmacists should understand CREs, so they complement, rather than duplicate,
      the e-prescribing system's strengths.

PMID- 20925441
TI  - Comparison of three methods (consensual expert judgement, algorithmic and
      probabilistic approaches) of causality assessment of adverse drug reactions: an
      assessment using reports made to a French pharmacovigilance centre.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Different methods have been proposed for assessing a possible causal
      link between a drug treatment and an adverse event in individual patients. They
      approximately belong to three main categories: expert judgement, operational
      algorithms and probabilistic approaches. OBJECTIVE: To compare, in a set of
      actual drug adverse event reports, three different methods for assessing drug
      causality, each belonging to one of the three main categories: expert judgement,
      the algorithm used by the French pharmacovigilance centres since 1985, and a
      novel method based on the logistic function. METHODS: Fifty drug-event pairs were
      randomly sampled from the database of the Bordeaux pharmacovigilance centre,
      France. To serve as the gold standard, the probability for drug causation, from 0
      to 1, was first determined for each drug-event pair by a panel of senior experts
      until consensus was reached. Causality was then assessed by members of the
      Bordeaux pharmacovigilance centre by using the French algorithm and the logistic
      method. Results expressed as a probability with the logistic method and as a
      score from 0 to 4 with the French algorithm were then compared with consensual
      expert judgement, as were the sensitivity, specificity and positive and negative
      predictive values. RESULTS: Probabilities ranged from 0.08 to 0.99 (median 0.58;
      mean 0.60) for experts versus 0.18-0.88 (median 0.73; mean 0.67) for the logistic
      method. Consensual expert judgement was not discriminant (p = 0.50) in ten cases.
      For the algorithm, only three of five causality scores were found, doubtful
      scores being clearly predominant (74%) followed by possible (16%) and probable
      (10%) scores. Sensitivity and specificity were 0.96 and 0.42, respectively, for
      the logistic method versus 0.42 and 0.92 for the algorithm. Positive and negative
      predictive values were 0.78 and 0.83, respectively, for the logistic method
      versus 0.92 and 0.42 for the algorithm. CONCLUSIONS: Agreement between the three
      approaches was poor, and only satisfactory for drug events judged as drug-induced
      by consensual expert judgement. The logistic method showed high sensitivity at
      the expense of poor specificity. Conversely, the algorithm had poor sensitivity
      but good specificity. The comparatively good sensitivity and positive predictive
      values of the logistic method suggest that it may be more useful in the routine
      or automated assessment of case reports of suspected but still unknown adverse
      drug reactions. With a substantial rate of false positives relative to true
      negatives (low specificity), the logistic method does not replace, but can be
      complemented by, critical clinical assessment of individual cases in evaluating
      drug-related risk.

PMID- 20925442
TI  - Pharmacokinetics of a new orodispersible tablet formulation of vardenafil:
      results of three clinical trials.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Vardenafil is a potent and highly selective oral phosphodiesterase
      type 5 (PDE-5) inhibitor that has been shown in numerous clinical trials and post
      marketing surveillance studies to be safe and effective for improving erectile
      function in men with erectile dysfunction (ED). Until recently, the drug was only
      available as a film-coated tablet (FCT). A new orodispersible tablet (ODT)
      formulation of vardenafil has been developed that disintegrates in the subject's
      mouth without the need for water or other liquids. OBJECTIVE: To characterize the
      pharmacokinetics of a new 10 mg ODT formulation of vardenafil. METHODS: Three
      clinical trials were conducted: (i) a randomized 4-fold crossover study to assess
      the effect of food and water on the pharmacokinetics of vardenafil ODT, compared
      with vardenafil FCT, in healthy men; (ii) a phase I study to assess single and
      multiple doses of vardenafil ODT, compared with a single dose of vardenafil FCT,
      in young and elderly men with ED; and (iii) a pharmacokinetic substudy of a phase
      III trial in men of broad age range with ED. RESULTS: Vardenafil ODT was rapidly
      absorbed after oral administration without water, with a similar pharmacokinetic
      profile to vardenafil FCT, except that the ODT exhibited significantly greater
      bioavailability. After a single dose, the geometric mean area under the plasma
      concentration-time curve from time zero to infinity (AUC(infinity)) of vardenafil
      ODT increased by 21-44% compared with the FCT. There was no consistent difference
      in geometric mean maximum vardenafil plasma concentration (C(max)) between the
      two formulations. Geometric mean AUC(infinity) and C(max) were increased by 41%
      and 24%, respectively, in men with ED aged >=65 years compared with those aged
      <65 years. Multiple dosing or administration of vardenafil ODT with food had no
      meaningful effect on the pharmacokinetics of vardenafil. Vardenafil ODT was well
      tolerated. CONCLUSION: Vardenafil ODT should be taken without water. Partial
      absorption of vardenafil through the oral mucosa results in an unexpected extent
      of suprabioavailability of the ODT formulation. Vardenafil ODT is a convenient
      formulation, with pharmacokinetic and safety characteristics that are appropriate
      for the treatment of ED.

PMID- 20925443
TI  - Cerium oxide nanoparticle-induced pulmonary inflammation and alveolar macrophage
      functional change in rats.
AB  - The use of cerium compounds as diesel fuel catalyst results in the emission of
      cerium oxide nanoparticles (CeO2) in the exhaust. This study characterized the
      potential effects of CeO2 exposure on lung toxicity. Male Sprague Dawley rats
      were exposed to CeO2 by a single intratracheal instillation at 0.15, 0.5, 1, 3.5
      or 7 mg/kg body weight. At 1 day after exposure, CeO2 significantly reduced NO
      production, but increased IL-12 production, by alveolar macrophages (AM) in
      response to ex vivo lipopolysacchride (LPS) challenge, and caused AM apoptosis,
      through activation of caspases 9 and 3. CeO2 exposure markedly increased
      suppressor of cytokine signaling-1 at 1-day and elevated arginase-1 at 28-day
      post exposure in lung cells, while osteopontin was significantly elevated in lung
      tissue at both time points. CeO2 induced inflammation, cytotoxicity, air/blood
      barrier damage, and phospholipidosis with enlarged AM. Thus, CeO2 induced lung
      inflammation and injury in lungs which may lead to fibrosis.

PMID- 20925444
TI  - Genotoxicity of engineered nanomaterials.

PMID- 20925445
TI  - Gene toxicity studies on titanium dioxide and zinc oxide nanomaterials used for
      UV-protection in cosmetic formulations.
AB  - Titanium dioxide and zinc oxide nanomaterials, used as UV protecting agents in
      sunscreens, were investigated for their potential genotoxicity in in vitro and in
      vivo test systems. Since standard OECD test methods are designed for soluble
      materials and genotoxicity testing for nanomaterials is still under revision, a
      battery of standard tests was used, covering different endpoints. Additionally, a
      procedure to disperse the nanomaterials in the test media and careful
      characterization of the dispersed test item was added to the testing methods. No
      genotoxicity was observed in vitro (Ames' Salmonella gene mutation test and V79
      micronucleus chromosome mutation test) or in vivo (mouse bone marrow micronucleus
      test and Comet DNA damage assay in lung cells from rats exposed by inhalation).
      These results add to the still limited data base on genotoxicity test results
      with nanomaterials and provide congruent results of a battery of standard OECD
      test methods applied to nanomaterials.

PMID- 20925446
TI  - Exploring the aneugenic and clastogenic potential in the nanosize range: A549
      human lung carcinoma cells and amorphous monodisperse silica nanoparticles as
      models.
AB  - We explored how to assess the genotoxic potential of nanosize particles with a
      well validated assay, the in vitro cytochalasin-B micronucleus assay, detecting
      both clastogens and aneugens. Monodisperse Stober amorphous silica nanoparticles
      (SNPs) of three different sizes (16, 60 and 104 nm) and A549 lung carcinoma cells
      were selected as models. Cellular uptake of silica was monitored by ICP-MS. At
      non-cytotoxic doses the smallest particles showed a slightly higher fold
      induction of micronuclei (MNBN). When considering the three SNPs together,
      particle number and total surface area appeared to account for MNBN induction as
      they both correlated significantly with the amplitude of the effect. Using
      nominal or cellular dose did not show statistically significant differences.
      Likewise, alkaline comet assay and FISH-centromeric probing of MNBN indicated a
      weak and not statistically significant induction of oxidative DNA damage,
      chromosome breakage and chromosome loss. This line of investigation will
      contribute to adequately design and interpret nanogenotoxicity assays.

PMID- 20925447
TI  - Potential pulmonary effects of engineered carbon nanotubes: in vitro genotoxic
      effects.
AB  - The development of novel engineered nano-sized materials is a rapidly emerging
      technology with many applications in medicine and industry. In vitro and in vivo
      studies have suggested many deleterious effects of carbon nanotube exposure
      including granulomatous inflammation, release of cytosolic enzymes, pulmonary
      fibrosis, reactive oxygen damage, cellular atypia, DNA fragmentation, mutation
      and errors in chromosome number as well as mitotic spindle disruption. The
      physical properties of the carbon nanotubes make respiratory exposure to workers
      likely during the production or use of commercial products. Many of the
      investigations of the genotoxicity of carbon nanotubes have focused on reactive
      oxygen mediated DNA damage; however, the long thin tubular-shaped carbon
      nanotubes have a striking similarity to cellular microtubules. The similarity of
      carbon nanotubes to microtubules suggests a potential to interact with cellular
      biomolecules, such as the mitotic spindle, as well as the motor proteins that
      separate the chromosomes during cell division. Disruption of centrosomes and
      mitotic spindles would result in monopolar, tripolar, and quadrapolar divisions
      of chromosomes. The resulting aneuploidy is a key mechanism in the potential
      carcinogenicity of carbon nanotubes.

PMID- 20925448
TI  - Rationale of genotoxicity testing of nanomaterials: regulatory requirements and
      appropriateness of available OECD test guidelines.
AB  - The development of an environmental health and safety risk management system for
      nanoscale particle-types requires a base set of hazard data. Accurate
      determination of health and environmental risks of nanomaterials is a function of
      the integration of hazard and exposure datasets. Recently, a nanoparticle risk
      assessment strategy was promulgated and the components are described in a
      document entitled "Nanorisk framework" (www.nanoriskframework.com). A major
      component of the hazard evaluation includes a proposed minimum base set of
      toxicity studies. Included in the suggested studies were substantial particle
      characterization, a variety of acute hazard and environmental tests, concomitant
      with screening-type genotoxicity studies. The implementation of well-accepted
      genotoxicity assays for testing nanomaterials remains a controversial issue. This
      is because many of these genotoxicity tests were designed for screening general
      macroparticle chemicals and might not be suitable for the screening of
      nanomaterials (even of the same compositional material). Furthermore, no
      nanoparticle-type positive controls have been established or universally accepted
      for these tests. Although it is the comparative results of the test material vs.
      the negative or vehicle control that forms the basis for interpreting the results
      and potency of test materials in genetic toxicology assays, the lack of a
      nanoparticle-type positive control questions the suitability of the tests to
      identify nanomaterials with genotoxic properties. It is also not possible to
      establish historical positive control ranges that would confirm the sensitivity
      of the tests. Although several genetic toxicology tests have been validated for
      chemicals according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
      (OECD) test guidelines, the relevance of these assays for nanoparticulate
      materials remains to be determined. In an attempt to remedy this issue, the OECD
      has established current projects designed to evaluate the relevance and
      reproducibility of safety hazard tests for representative nanomaterials,
      including genotoxicity assays (i.e., Steering Group 3 - Safety Testing of
      Representative Nanomaterials). In this article, we discuss our past approaches
      and experience in conducting genotoxicity assays (1) for a newly developed
      ultrafine TiO2 particle-type; and (2) in a recent inhalation study, evaluating
      micronucleus formation in rat erythrocytes following exposures to engineered
      amorphous nanosilica particles. It seems clear that the development of
      standardized approaches will be necessary in order to determine whether exposures
      to specific nanoparticle-types are associated with genotoxic events. The
      appropriateness of available genotoxicity test systems for nanomaterials requires
      confirmation and standardization. Accordingly, it seems reasonable to conclude
      that any specific regulatory testing requirements for nanoparticles would be
      premature at this time.

PMID- 20925449
TI  - Possible genotoxic mechanisms of nanoparticles: criteria for improved test
      strategies.
AB  - We review the mechanisms and pathways whereby nanoparticles might cause
      genotoxicity. Primary and secondary mechanisms are discussed in relation to the
      general particle toxicology paradigm. We also discuss how we might improve
      genotoxicity assays for nanoparticles. In this context we describe the role of
      the dispersion and the protein corona, the most relevant metric, choice of
      controls and new endpoints for genotoxicity along with the need for a structure
      activity model of NP genotoxicity.

PMID- 20925450
TI  - Prevalence and clinical features of pneumonia in patients with laboratory
      confirmed pandemic influenza A H1N1 2009 infection in South Korea.
AB  - During the early stages of the pandemic influenza A H1N1 2009 (pH1N1) outbreak in
      South Korea, the government recommended antiviral therapy with laboratory
      confirmation in specialized hospitals. Hence we had a unique opportunity to test
      all patients suspected to have pH1N1, including those who initially presented
      with a mild illness, such as those who were not in at-risk groups and who had an
      uncomplicated illness. We therefore evaluated the proportion and clinical
      features of pneumonia in patients with laboratory-confirmed pH1N1. Of the 3253
      patients who visited Asan Medical Center, Seoul, South Korea, between 24 August
      and 19 October 2009 for a suspected pH1N1 infection (temperature >= 37.5 degrees
      C and at least 1 of the following symptoms: sore throat, cough, rhinorrhoea and
      nasal congestion), 553 (17%) were positive for pH1N1 by real-time reverse
      transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. Chest radiographs were performed in 96
      (17%) of the 553 patients. Of the 553 patients, 30 (5%; 95% confidence interval
      (CI) 4-8%) had pneumonia, including 26 (86%) with viral pneumonia and 4 (14%)
      with bacterial pneumonia. So, the proportion of pneumonia in patients with
      laboratory-confirmed pH1N1 was at least 5%. Multivariate analysis indicated that
      dyspnoea (odds ratio (OR) 57.8, p < 0.001), wheezing (OR 19.3, p = 0.02),
      vomiting (OR 18.5, p < 0.001) and diarrhoea (OR 11.0, p = 0.001) were
      independently associated with pneumonia. Antiviral therapy at >48 h after the
      onset of symptoms (OR 2.1, p = 0.09) tended to be more common in patients with
      pneumonia than in those without pneumonia.

PMID- 20925451
TI  - Suppression of pulmonary host defenses and enhanced susceptibility to respiratory
      bacterial infection in mice following inhalation exposure to trichloroethylene
      and chloroform.
AB  - Numerous epidemiological studies have associated episodes of increased air
      pollution with increased incidence of respiratory disease, including pneumonia,
      croup, and bronchitis. Trichloroethylene (TCE) and chloroform are among 33
      hazardous air pollutants identified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
      as presenting the greatest threat to public health in the largest number of urban
      areas. Also, both are common indoor air pollutants. Here, we assessed the
      potential effects of TCE and chloroform on resistance to pulmonary bacterial
      infection and related alveolar macrophage (AM) function. CD-1 mice were exposed
      by inhalation to filtered air (control) or concentrations of TCE ranging from 5
      to 200 ppm, or concentrations of chloroform ranging from 100 to 2000 ppm.
      Immediately following exposure, mice were challenged with an aerosol of
      Streptococcus zooepidemicus and monitored for clearance of bacteria from the lung
      and mortality. In separate experiments, exposed mice were injected
      intratracheally with viable bacteria and phagocytic function was evaluated in
      macrophages obtained from lung washes 30 min later. The NOEL for enhanced
      mortality to infection was 25 ppm for TCE and 500 ppm for chloroform. Relative to
      the air controls, differences in clearance of bacteria from the lung were noted
      in mice exposed to TCE (NOEL = 50 ppm) and to chloroform (NOEL 100 ppm), and
      differences in AM phagocytic index were noted for TCE (NOEL = 100 ppm) and for
      chloroform (NOEL < 100 ppm). The data support the utility of the S. zooepidemicus
      infectivity model in assessing potential increased risk of respiratory infection
      and suggest that delayed clearance of bacteria from the lung or decreased
      phagocytosis are viable alternatives to mortality as an endpoint. Collectively,
      these endpoints are among the most sensitive health effects reported for TCE.

PMID- 20925452
TI  - The Personal Factors of the International Classification of Functioning,
      Disability and Health in the literature - a systematic review and content
      analysis.
AB  - PURPOSE: This review provides an overview of the literature on the
      conceptualisation of the Personal Factors (PF) component of the International
      Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF). METHOD: A systematic
      literature review was carried out. Electronic searches were performed in Pubmed,
      Embase, PsycINFO, CINAHL and SSCI. Qualitative content analysis of statements
      about PF was conducted using inductive coding. RESULTS: The searches yielded 353
      citations, 79 papers were eligible for analyses. Five hundred thirty-eight
      statements about PF were extracted, condensed and coded. Beside conceptual
      statements, 238 examples of potential PF as well as five attempts at classifying
      PF were found in the literature. PF were considered in relation to clinical
      service provision, assessment and intervention, in research and social security
      contexts. PF were seen to be related to various aspects of health, functioning,
      disability and the environment. CONCLUSIONS: The analysis of the literature shows
      that PF is seen as relevant to the application of the ICF in various settings.
      The review revealed a need for standardisation of PF. The literature points to
      the potential of PF in enhancing the understanding of functioning, disability and
      health, in facilitating interventions and services for people with disabilities,
      and strengthening the perspective of individuals in the ICF.

PMID- 20925453
TI  - Meta-analysis of a partially hydrolysed 100%-whey infant formula vs. extensively
      hydrolysed infant formulas in the prevention of atopic dermatitis.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: This study presents previously unpublished point and cumulative
      incidence rates and relative risks (RRs) for comparing a partially hydrolysed
      100% whey-based infant formula, NAN-HA * (PHF-W) to extensively hydrolysed whey-
      (EHF-Whey) or casein-based (EHF-Casein) infant formulas in the prevention of
      atopic dermatitis (AD) in infants who cannot be breastfed exclusively. It also
      outlines methods to convert the above-mentioned data as well as data comparing
      PHF-W to cows' milk formula (SF) into inputs to be applied to a pharmacoeconomic
      model. * NAN-HA is a registered trade name of Nestle SA, Switzerland. METHODS:
      The incidence rates and RRs were obtained from a meta-analysis which analysed
      efficacy for PHF-W vs. EHF but did not present those. It took into consideration
      any relevant randomized controlled trial which compared the use of PHF-W with SF
      or EHF for the prevention of allergies. The primary outcomes of interest were the
      incidence, cumulative incidence and period prevalence of allergic manifestations
      and of AD in particular. Fifteen studies had been included for analysis of which
      six studies explored PHF-W vs. EHF. These results and PHF-W vs. SF data were
      adapted for inputs into a pharmacoeconomic model which used a spreadsheet
      decision-analytic economic model based on 3-month cycles to explore the cost
      effectiveness of PHF-W vs. SF and EHF. Weights were applied to the incidence
      rates and RRs for each reported time period which were then adapted into 3-month
      indicators. RESULTS: This meta-analysis for PHF-W (557 patients) vs. EHF-Whey
      (559 patients) yielded RR of 0.75 (0.54, 1.05) and 0.80 (0.63, 1.02) at 0-12
      months and at 0-36 months, respectively. Corresponding RRs for PHF-W vs. EHF
      Casein (580 patients) were 1.06 (0.74, 1.53) at 0-12 months and 1.13 (0.87, 1.47)
      at 0-36 months. CONCLUSION: It appears that the efficacy of PHF-W falls within
      the range of that of both EHF formulas (whey and casein) and allows the
      application of these results in a pharmacoeconomic model.

PMID- 20925454
TI  - Economic evaluation of a 100% whey-based, partially hydrolysed formula in the
      prevention of atopic dermatitis among French children.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: A pharmacoeconomic analysis was performed to determine costs,
      consequences and cost effectiveness of a partially hydrolysed 100% whey-based
      infant formula, NAN HA, manufactured by Nestle S.A, Switzerland (PHF-W) and
      branded under Nidal Excel HA in France, in the prevention of atopic dermatitis
      (AD) in 'at risk' children when compared to standard cows' milk formula (SF) in
      France. METHODS: A decision-analytic economic model depicting AD treatment
      pathways, as well as resource utilisation and costs associated with the treatment
      of AD in healthy yet 'at risk' French newborns who cannot be exclusively
      breastfed was constructed for a 12-month time horizon, including an initial 6
      months of intervention with formula consumption. Model inputs were based on the
      literature, official formularies and expert opinion. The modelled treatment
      pathways included a dietary management approach (formula change), a medical
      treatment approach and a combination thereof. The final outcome was the expected
      cost per avoided case of AD, yielding an incremental cost per avoided case (ICER)
      of AD when comparing subjects who used PHF-W versus SF. Outcomes were presented
      from three perspectives: the French Ministry of Health (MOH), the subjects'
      family and society as a whole. A secondary analysis also compared PHF-W to
      extensively hydrolysed formula (EHF) in prevention. RESULTS: The number of
      avoided AD cases by selecting PHF-W over SF was 13,356 cases in a birth cohort of
      185,298 'at risk' infants. The base case analysis, at 65% reimbursement, yielded
      expected ICERs of ?1343, ? -624 (savings) and ?719 from the MOH, family and
      societal perspectives, respectively. From all three perspectives, the highest
      cost was attributable to formula. In case of a 35% reimbursement rate for PHF-W,
      the ICER was ?615 from the MOH perspective, while the use of PHF-W was cost
      neutral at 10% reimbursement. PHF-W was cost-saving against EHF (?98-?116 million
      savings depending on type of EHF), when this latter was used in prevention. One
      way and probabilistic sensitivity analyses confirmed the robustness of the model.
      CONCLUSION: Under a certain range of assumptions, this analysis based on
      predictive modelling has established the cost effectiveness of PHF-W in the
      prevention of AD in infants.

PMID- 20925456
TI  - Treatment of organic acidurias and urea cycle disorders.
AB  - Three steps are extremely important in emergency management (awaiting diagnosis)
      of organic acidurias and urea cycle disorders. The first is to obtain adequate
      samples (blood and urine) before any treatment, parenteral and/or enteral
      nutrition with protein-free solution and toxin removal procedures are the second
      step. Additional therapies with cofactors and vitamins are the last step. It is
      very important to quickly carry out this strategy every time we suspect an inborn
      error of metabolism.

PMID- 20925457
TI  - Fetal and early postnatal life roots of asthma.
AB  - The origins of asthma might be traced back to events occurring during fetal life.
      Reduced lung development has been shown to be a risk factor both for viral
      induced wheeze and allergic asthma. The evidence for a causal relationship
      between exposure to environmental tobacco smoke, chemical domestic products for
      cleaning, outdoor pollutants, and reduction in lung function is quite strong.
      Reduced maternal intake of vitamin E, vitamin D, and zinc, or increased use of
      paracetamol during pregnancy is associated with increased wheezing outcomes in
      children. The odds ratio for asthma onset is also increased in infants born from
      mothers with oligohydramnios, chorioamnionitis, hypertension, preeclampsia,
      diabetes and exposed to stressful events. The risk of developing allergic asthma
      is increased if the child is exposed in the first months of life to synthetic
      bedding and is enhanced by allergen exposure and an inadequate barrier function
      of the skin. In conclusion, several lines of evidence support the concept of
      fetal programming and very early life events in the development of the different
      phenotypes of asthma. Since some environmental triggers can be easily avoided and
      some protective factors can be easily implemented all efforts should be made to
      prevent intrauterine insults and early sensitization.

PMID- 20925458
TI  - Reduced brachial flow-mediated vasodilation in young adult ex extremely low birth
      weight preterm: a condition predictive of increased cardiovascular risk?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sporadic data present in literature report how preterm birth and low
      birth weight constitute the risk factors for the development of cardiovascular
      diseases in later life. AIM: To assess the presence of potential alterations to
      endothelial function in young adults born preterm at extremely low birth weight
      (<1000 g; ex ELBW). METHOD: Thirty-two ex-ELBW subjects (10 males [M] and 22
      females [F], aged 17-28 years, mean [+/- DS] 20.1 +/- 2.5 years) were compared
      with 32 healthy, age-matched subjects born at term (C, 9 M and 23 F). EXCLUSION
      CRITERIA: 1) pathological conditions known to affect endothelial function; 2)
      administration of drugs known to affect endothelial function. Endothelial
      function was assessed by non-invasive finger plethysmography, previously
      validated by the US Food and Drug Administration (Endopath; Itamar Medical Ltd.,
      Cesarea, Israel). RESULTS: Endothelial function was significantly reduced in ex
      ELBW subjects compared to C (1.94 +/- 0.37 vs. 2.68 +/- 0.41, p < 0.0001).
      Moreover, this function correlated significantly with gestational age (r = 0.56,
      p < 0.0009) and birth weight (r = 0.63, p < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: The results
      obtained reveal a significant decrease in endothelial function of ex-ELBW
      subjects compared to controls, underlining a probable correlation with preterm
      birth and low birth weight. Taken together, these results suggest that an ELBW
      may underlie the onset of early circulatory dysfunction predictive of increased
      cardiovascular risk.

PMID- 20925459
TI  - A novel conditionally replicating "armed" adenovirus selectively targeting
      gastrointestinal tumors with aberrant wnt signaling.
AB  - Using conditionally replicating adenoviral vectors (CRAds) is a promising
      strategy in the treatment of solid tumors. The prospective of this study was to
      design a novel CRAd for the treatment of gastrointestinal cancer and show its
      efficacy in vitro, as well as in vivo. To determine if aberrant wnt signaling in
      tumor cells can be used to selectively drive viral replication, we analyzed six
      colorectal and hepatocellular cell lines, as well as 13 colorectal tumors and 17
      gastric tumors, for beta-catenin mutation status or aberrant wnt signaling, both
      of which were found frequently. Based on these findings, a novel CRAd (Ad5F11.wnt
      E1A-hIL24) containing an E1A expression cassette driven by an artificial wnt
      promoter and delivering an apoptosis-inducing gene, interleukin-24 (IL24), was
      engineered. To enhance infection efficiency, the virus was pseudotyped by
      replacing adenovirus serotype 5 (Ad5) with Ad11 fiber. Ad5F11.wnt-E1A-hIL24 virus
      exhibited high selectivity toward cells with aberrant wnt signaling both in vitro
      and in mouse xenograft tumors. Transduction efficiency was significantly improved
      compared with that of nonpseudotyped control viruses. The proliferation of tumor
      cell lines, as well as tumor growth, in mouse xenografts could be profoundly
      inhibited by viral infection with Ad5F11.wnt-E1A-hIL24. The therapeutic effect
      was associated with increased apoptosis through caspase-3 activation. In
      addition, Ad5F11b vector exhibited a more favorable biodistribution, blood
      clearance, and transgene expression compared with conventional Ad5 vector after
      systemic or intratumoral injection in human gastrointestinal cancer xenografts.
      We think that our approach is a promising strategy in the treatment of
      gastrointestinal cancer, warranting further clinical investigation.

PMID- 20925460
TI  - Thymidine kinase gene modified bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells as vehicles for
      antitumor therapy.
AB  - Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) represent an important source of cells
      for tissue repair. The tropism of these cells to the sites of injury and tumors
      has been well established. Their tumor-homing properties make BMSCs good
      candidates as antitumor agent delivery vehicles. In this study, we showed that
      BMSCs have the ability to migrate toward various cancer cells, including prostate
      cancer cells in vitro and in vivo and incorporating into the tumor mass. When
      infected with herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase (TK) gene by lentiviral
      transduction, TK-BMSCs maintained their tumor tropism capabilities and
      significantly inhibited the growth of subcutaneous PC3 prostate cancer xenografts
      in nude mice, in the presence of prodrug ganciclovir (GCV). Xenogenic TK-BMSCs
      also survived and exerted a significant antitumor effect in an animal model
      bearing metastastic RIF-1 (fibrosarcoma) tumor in the presence of prodrug GCV.
      The present study demonstrated that overexpression of TK in BMSCs did not affect
      their multidifferentiation potentials and their specific homing capacities toward
      the tumor mass, and the TK-BMSCs alone did not cause any harmful side effects in
      vivo. The use of TK-BMSCs as tumor-specific delivery vehicles together with
      controlled prodrug treatment may be a safe and novel anticancer therapy approach.

PMID- 20925461
TI  - TGF-beta: friend or foe? The role of TGF-beta/SMAD signaling in epigenetic
      silencing of ovarian cancer and its implication in epigenetic therapy.
AB  - IMPORTANCE OF THE FIELD: The TGF-beta signaling pathway plays an important role
      in regulating numerous cellular processes including growth inhibition of ovarian
      surface epithelial (OSE) cells. However, epithelial ovarian cancer is refractory
      to the inhibitory functions of TGF-beta, and yet TGF-beta induces metastasis or
      epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in advanced ovarian cancer. How TGF-beta
      plays a certain role in one cell but a different role in its malignant
      counterpart is not fully understood. AREAS COVERED IN THIS REVIEW: The role of
      TGF-beta/SMAD signaling both in normal OSE cells and ovarian cancer as well as
      how dysregulation of this signaling pathway leads to epigenetic silencing of its
      downstream targets in ovarian neoplasias are reviewed. The therapeutic
      implication of this signaling pathway in epigenetic therapy of ovarian cancer are
      also discussed. WHAT THE READER WILL GAIN: The reader will gain insight on how
      dysregulation of TGF-beta signaling alters promoter methylation and histone
      modifications of TGF-beta downstream targets in ovarian cancer. TAKE HOME
      MESSAGE: Disruption of TGF-beta/SMAD signaling leads to epigenetic silencing of
      its target genes transiently through histone modifications but permanently by
      promoter hypermethylation. Targeting the TGF-beta signaling pathway may be a
      novel therapeutic strategy in ovarian cancer.

PMID- 20925462
TI  - Immunotoxicity activity of sesquiterpenoids from black galingale (Kaempferia
      parviflora Wall. Ex. Baker) against Aedes aegypti L.
AB  - The roots of black galingale (Kaempferia parviflora) were chloroform-extracted
      and the isolated two sesquiterpene and immunotoxicity effects were studied. The
      structures and stereochemistry of these compounds were established on the basis
      of analysis of spectra including UV, MS, (1)H-NMR, and (13)C-NMR as follows: 1
      (4alpha-acetoxycadina-2,9-diene-1,8-dione), 2 (1alpha,3alpha,4beta-trihydroxy-9
      cadinen-8-one). Compound 2 had a significant toxic effect against early fourth
      stage larvae of Aedes aegypti L. with an LC(50) value of 0.7 MUM and an LC(90)
      value of 3.8 MUM. The results could be useful in search for newer, safer, and
      more effective natural immunotoxicity agents against A. aegypti.

PMID- 20925463
TI  - Calculating a cure for cancer: managing medulloblastoma MATH1-ematically.

PMID- 20925464
TI  - From survival to survivorship: late side effects become an issue in high-grade
      glioma.

PMID- 20925465
TI  - Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in persistent criminal offenders: the
      need for specialist treatment programs.

PMID- 20925467
TI  - The 7th International Congress of Neuroendocrinology (ICN2010) 11-15 July 2010,
      Rouen, France.
AB  - Neuroendocrinology has moved far beyond its initial focus on the regulation of
      pituitary hormone secretion. It now embraces not only the actions on the brain of
      a diverse range of 'new' hormones, such as leptin and ghrelin, but also the
      expanding roles of peptides as hormone-like messengers within the brain,
      controlling many fundamental behaviors and physiological processes. A recent
      International Congress of Neuroendocrinology highlighted the translational
      importance of some of these new insights.

PMID- 20925469
TI  - Brain tumor location and psychiatric symptoms: is there any association? A meta
      analysis of published case studies.
AB  - A meta-analytic study of reports of brain tumors and psychiatric symptoms for the
      past 50 years was conducted to examine potential associations between tumor
      location and psychiatric symptoms. Results demonstrated that there is a
      statistically significant association between anorexia symptoms and hypothalamic
      tumors. For the rest of the brain regions a statistically significant association
      could not be definitively determined. However, several of the regions
      demonstrated an increased likelihood of associated symptoms when compared with
      other regions. The methodological limitations of this analysis are discussed.

PMID- 20925470
TI  - Temozolomide: therapeutic limitations in the treatment of adult high-grade
      gliomas.
AB  - Temozolomide-based chemotherapy represents an incremental improvement in the
      treatment of patients with high-grade gliomas. Notwithstanding a survival benefit
      in a subset of patients with high-grade gliomas, temozolomide (TMZ; Temodar(r),
      Schering-Plough Pharmaceuticals, NJ, USA) is the primarily palliative treatment
      for the vast majority of patients. Indeed, for patients with newly diagnosed
      glioblastoma, the median increase in survival for treatment with TMZ and
      radiotherapy is only 2.5 months compared with radiotherapy alone. Additionally,
      recent studies suggest that 60-75% of patients with glioblastoma derive no
      benefit from treatment with TMZ. For the treatment of recurrent anaplastic
      gliomas, more than 50% of patients fail TMZ treatment with cancer progression at
      6 months, demonstrating that TMZ is only a modestly effective chemotherapy. In
      addition, 15-20% of patients treated with TMZ develop clinically significant
      toxicity, which can leave further treatment unsafe. Despite the availability of
      TMZ, there is still a substantial need for a chemotherapeutic agent that is more
      effective and safe. In fact, there still remains a significant unmet need for
      more effective treatments of high-grade gliomas (improved palliation or cure),
      whether that treatment be by surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy or any yet to be
      developed type of treatment, such as 'targeted therapies'.

PMID- 20925471
TI  - Paraneoplastic neurological disorders.
AB  - The article provides an overview on the diagnosis and pathogenesis of
      paraneoplastic neurological disorders (PNDs), and subsequently the current
      therapeutic strategies in these patients. PNDs are nervous system dysfunctions in
      cancer patients, which are not due to a local effect of the tumor or its
      metastases. Most of these clinically defined syndromes in adults are associated
      with lung cancer, especially small-cell lung cancer, lymphoma and gynecological
      tumors. In a part of the PND, an overlapping of different clinical syndromes can
      be observed. Highly specific autoantibodies directed against onconeuronal
      antigens led to the current hypothesis of an autoimmune pathophysiology. Whereas
      the most central nervous PNDs are more T-cell-mediated, limbic encephalitis can
      be caused by pathogenic receptor autoantibodies. The PND of the neuromuscular
      junction and paraneoplastic autonomic neuropathy are mainly associated with
      receptor or ion channel autoantibodies. The childhood opsoclonus-myoclonus
      syndrome and the PNDs associated with receptor/ion channel autoantibodies often
      respond to immunosuppressive therapies, plasmapheresis and intravenous
      immunoglobulins. By contrast, most CNS PNDs associated with defined antineuronal
      antibodies directed against intracellular antigens only stabilize after tumor
      treatment.

PMID- 20925472
TI  - Clinical assessment and diagnosis of adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity
      disorder.
AB  - Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a prevalent disorder in adult
      psychiatry, particularly in out-patient settings. There are no objective,
      laboratory-based tests that can establish this diagnosis. Present diagnostic
      criteria for ADHD are formulated primarily according to behavior in childhood,
      based on age inappropriate and impairing levels of hyperactivity, impulsivity and
      inattention. Other symptoms, such as mood instability and frustration
      intolerance, are not included in current criteria for ADHD, but are very
      prevalent in this patient group. ADHD is often comorbid with alcohol and
      substance abuse and other psychiatric disorders, in particular anxiety and
      personality disorders. Thus, the diagnostic assessment should both include a
      comprehensive clinical interview, rating scales for past and present symptoms and
      collateral information from multiple informants, as well as assessment of a
      broader spectrum of psychiatric and somatic conditions. As ADHD is associated
      with changes in brain function mediating different aspects of neuropsychological
      functions, assessment of those functions is important to understand the symptom
      patterns and to develop targeted treatment programs. Some topics for further
      research and for future developments of diagnostic criteria and tools are
      highlighted.

PMID- 20925473
TI  - Aggression in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
AB  - Research shows that aggression is an important associated feature of attention
      deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and is important in understanding the
      impact of the disorder and its treatment. The occurrence of aggressive behavior
      in combination with ADHD does not appear to be spurious and the severity and/or
      presence of aggression and ADHD may significantly impact long-term prognosis.
      This article defines subtypes of aggression in relation to ADHD, identifies
      individual differences contributing to aggressive behavior in children with ADHD
      and discusses selected possible underlying mechanisms of aggression in ADHD, as
      well as current and emerging treatment approaches. Although aggressive behavior
      in children with ADHD is common, the reasons for this are not yet well
      understood. Multidisciplinary research should focus on investigating underlying
      mechanisms related to aggression in ADHD, as well as the utility of various
      treatment modalities.

PMID- 20925475
TI  - An 'integrative neuroscience' perspective on ADHD: linking cognition, emotion,
      brain and genetic measures with implications for clinical support.
AB  - There remains a translational gap between research findings and their
      implementation in clinical practice that applies to attention
      deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), as well as to other major disorders of
      brain health in childhood, adolescence and adulthood. Research studies have
      identified potential 'markers' to support diagnostic, functional assessment and
      treatment decisions, but there is little consensus about these markers. Of these
      potential markers, cognitive measures of thinking functions, such as sustaining
      attention and associated electrical brain activity, show promise in complementing
      the clinical management process. Emerging evidence highlights the relevance of
      emotional, as well as thinking, functions to ADHD. Here, we outline an
      integrative neuroscience framework for ADHD that offers one means to bring
      together cognitive measures of thinking functions with measures of emotion, and
      their brain and genetic correlates. Understanding these measures and the
      relationships between them is a first step towards the development of tools that
      will help to assess the heterogeneity of ADHD, and aid in tailoring treatment
      choices.

PMID- 20925477
TI  - Evaluation of the potential cytotoxicity of metals associated with implanted
      biomaterials (II).
AB  - The effects of metal ions on the cell DNA and RNA synthetic functions and the
      destruction of cell defensive system caused by metal ions were studied on the
      investigation of the effects of metal ions on cell alkaline phosphatase (ALP)
      activity and cell metabolism ability. The poisonous behaviours of metal ions [Cr
      (VI), Ni, V, Cr (III), Ag, and Al] on living tissue were both quantitatively and
      qualitatively measured. It was shown that Cr (VI) has a notable action on both
      cellular DNA and RNA synthetic functions, and following that, were Ni, V. The
      limitation action of Cr (III) on the synthetic abilities of DNA and RNA increased
      with the increase of Cr (III) concentration. Different to other five metal ions,
      the limitation of Al ion on RNA was greater than that on DNA. The limitation of
      V, Ag ions on DNA was same to that on RNA. Trace Cr (VI), in culture medium
      resulted in the decreasing of GSH in living tissue. Similar to that, a little
      higher Ni ion concentration seriously reduced the GSH content in living tissue.
      It was suggested that Cr (VI), Ni, might destroy and/or disturb the orientation
      of the microtubulin in cell skeleton. For other four metal ions, together with
      increasing the concentration in culture medium, the osmotic pressure increased.
      Consequently, more metal ions entered cell membrane, more GSH were lost in cell.

PMID- 20925474
TI  - The use of &#x03B1;-2A adrenergic agonists for the treatment of attention
      deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
AB  - Neuropsychiatric disorders involve dysfunction of the prefrontal cortex (PFC), a
      highly evolved brain region that mediates executive functioning. The dorsolateral
      PFC is specialized for regulating attention and behavior, while the ventromedial
      PFC is specialized for regulating emotion. These abilities arise from PFC
      pyramidal cell networks that excite each other to maintain goals and rules 'in
      mind'. Imaging studies have shown reduced PFC gray matter, weaker PFC connections
      and altered PFC function in patients with attention-deficit/hyperactivity
      disorder. Thus, medications that strengthen PFC network connections may be
      particularly useful for the treatment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder
      and related disorders. Recent data show that compounds such as guanfacine can
      enhance PFC function by stimulating postsynaptic alpha-2A receptors on the
      dendritic spines of PFC pyramidal cells where networks interconnect. Stimulation
      of these receptors inhibits cAMP signaling, thus closing potassium channels and
      strengthening physiological connections. These actions may benefit patients with
      weak PFC function.

PMID- 20925478
TI  - Human umbilical cord blood-derived mesenchymal stem cells upregulate myelin basic
      protein in shiverer mice.
AB  - Human umbilical cord blood is a rich source of pluripotent mesenchymal stem cells
      and possesses significant advantages over other stem cell sources such as the
      embryo and bone marrow. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the
      potential of human umbilical cord blood-derived pluripotent mesenchymal stem
      cells (hUCB) to myelinate the axons of shiverer mice brains. We also investigated
      the effect of hUCB treatment on regulation of myelin basic protein in vitro in PC
      12 cells, which are normally not myelinated. The results of our study clearly
      demonstrated that hUCB survive and migrate in vivo and has the potential to
      myelinate shiverer mice brains. The expression level of myelin basic protein, a
      major component of the myelin sheath, has been significantly increased in vivo
      and in vitro as revealed by Western blot, reverse transcription (RT)-polymerase
      chain reaction, immunohistochemistry, immunocytochemistry, and fluorescent in
      situ hybridization results. Further, transmission electron microscopic images of
      hUCB-treated shiverer mice brains showed several layers of myelin around the
      axons compared with a thin and fragmented layer of myelin in untreated animals.
      Moreover, the frequency of shivering was diminished 1 month after hUCB treatment
      in shiverer mice. Our results strongly indicated that hUCB transplantation could
      be an effective means of treating demyelinating or hypomyelinating disorders.

PMID- 20925479
TI  - Metabotropic glutamate receptor-5 and protein kinase C-epsilon increase in dorsal
      root ganglion neurons and spinal glial activation in an adolescent rat model of
      painful neck injury.
AB  - There is growing evidence that neck pain is common in adolescence and is a risk
      factor for the development of chronic neck pain in adulthood. The cervical facet
      joint and its capsular ligament is a common source of pain in the neck in adults,
      but its role in adolescent pain remains unknown. The aim of this study was to
      define the biomechanics, behavioral sensitivity, and indicators of neuronal and
      glial activation in an adolescent model of mechanical facet joint injury. A
      bilateral C6-C7 facet joint distraction was imposed in an adolescent rat and
      biomechanical metrics were measured during injury. Following injury, forepaw
      mechanical hyperalgesia was measured, and protein kinase C-epsilon (PKCE) and
      metabotropic glutamate receptor-5 (mGluR5) expression in the dorsal root ganglion
      and markers of spinal glial activation were assessed. Joint distraction induced
      significant mechanical hyperalgesia during the 7 days post-injury (p < 0.001).
      Painful injury significantly increased PKCE expression in small- and medium
      diameter neurons compared to sham (p < 0.05) and naive tissue (p < 0.001).
      Similarly, mGluR5 expression was significantly elevated in small-diameter neurons
      after injury (p < 0.05). Spinal astrocytic activation after injury was also
      elevated over sham (p < 0.035) and naive (p < 0.0001) levels; microglial
      activation was only greater than naive levels (p < 0.006). Mean strains in the
      facet capsule during injury were 32.8 +/- 12.9%, which were consistent with the
      strains associated with comparable degrees of hypersensitivity in the adult rat.
      These results suggest that adolescents may have a lower tissue tolerance to
      induce pain and associated nociceptive response than do adults.

PMID- 20925480
TI  - Benefits of sports participation for executive function in disabled athletes.
AB  - We investigated the effect of sports activity on physically-disabled individuals
      using behavioral and electrophysiological techniques. Visual go/no-go
      discriminative and simple response tasks were used. Participants included 17
      disabled athletes, 9 from open-skill (wheelchair basketball) and eight from
      closed-skill (swimming) sports, and 18 healthy non-athletes. Reaction times of
      the disabled athletes were slower than those of healthy non-athletes on both
      tasks (7% and 13% difference, respectively). Intra-individual variations in
      reaction times, switch cost, and number of false alarms, were higher in the
      swimmers, but comparable to healthy non-athletes, in the basketball group. Event
      related potentials (ERPs) early components P1, N1, and P2 had longer latencies in
      the disabled athletes. The late P3 component had longer latency and smaller
      amplitude in the disabled athletes only in the discriminative response task. The
      N2 component, which reflected inhibition/execution processing in the
      discriminative response task, was delayed and reduced in the swimmer group, but
      was comparable to healthy subjects in the basketball group. Our results show that
      (1) the ERP components related to perceptual processing, and late components
      related to executive processing, were impaired in disabled subjects; and (2) open
      skill sports such as basketball may partially compensate for executive control
      impairment by fostering the stability of motor responses and favoring response
      flexibility.

PMID- 20925481
TI  - Interferon-gamma decreases chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan expression and
      enhances hindlimb function after spinal cord injury in mice.
AB  - Glial cells, including astrocytes and macrophages/microglia, are thought to
      modulate pathological states following spinal cord injury (SCI). In the present
      study, we evaluated the therapeutic effects of interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma),
      which is one of the cytokines regulating glial function, in a mouse contusive SCI
      model. We found that intraperitoneal injection of IFN-gamma significantly
      facilitated locomotor improvement following SCI. Immunohistochemistry
      demonstrated that IFN-gamma decreased the accumulation of chondroitin sulfate
      proteoglycans (CSPGs), which are critical axon outgrowth inhibitors produced by
      reactive astrocytes in the injured central nervous system (CNS). Quantitative
      real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Western blotting demonstrated
      that neurocan, one of several CSPGs, was reduced in the spinal cords of IFN-gamma
      treated mice compared to vehicle-treated mice. Consistently, IFN-gamma inhibited
      the production of neurocan from activated astrocytes in vitro. In addition, IFN
      gamma treatment enhanced the number of serotonin-positive nerve fibers and
      myelinated nerve fibers around the lesion epicenter. We also found that glial
      cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) and insulin-like growth factor-1
      (IGF-1) were upregulated post-SCI following IFN-gamma treatment. Our results
      indicate that IFN-gamma exhibits therapeutic effects in mouse contusive SCI,
      presumably by reducing CSPG expression from reactive astrocytes and increasing
      the expression of neurotrophic factors.

PMID- 20925482
TI  - Regulation of snRNA gene expression by the Drosophila melanogaster small nuclear
      RNA activating protein complex (DmSNAPc).
AB  - The small nuclear RNAs (snRNAs) are an essential class of non-coding RNAs first
      identified over 30 years ago. Many of the well-characterized snRNAs are involved
      in RNA processing events. However, it is now evident that other small RNAs,
      synthesized using similar mechanisms, play important roles at many stages of gene
      expression. The accurate and efficient control of the expression of snRNA (and
      related) genes is thus critical for cell survival. All snRNA genes share a very
      similar promoter structure, and their transcription is dependent upon the same
      multi-subunit transcription factor, termed the snRNA activating protein complex
      (SNAPc). Despite those similarities, some snRNA genes are transcribed by RNA
      polymerase II (Pol II), but others are transcribed by RNA polymerase III (Pol
      III). Thus snRNA genes provide a unique opportunity to understand how RNA
      polymerase specificity is determined and how distinct transcription machineries
      can interact with a common factor. This review will describe efforts taken toward
      solving those questions by using the fruit fly as a model organism. Drosophila
      melanogaster SNAPc (DmSNAPc) binds to a proximal sequence element (PSEA) present
      in both Pol II and Pol III snRNA promoters. Just a few differences in nucleotide
      sequence in the Pol II and Pol III PSEAs play a major role in determining RNA
      polymerase specificity. Furthermore, these same nucleotide differences result in
      alternative conformations of DmSNAPc on Pol II and Pol III snRNA gene promoters.
      It seems likely that these DNA-induced alternative DmSNAPc conformations are
      responsible for the differential recruitment of the distinct transcriptional
      machineries.

PMID- 20925483
TI  - On the formation of figurative representations: An integrative psychoanalytic
      neurobiological framework.
AB  - This article approaches the process of symbolization with a formalized framework
      that aims to integrate psychoanalytic and neurobiological findings. The authors
      propose a framework consisting of unconscious and conscious areas. Each of the
      areas provides networks for storing memories. Psychoanalytically, mental networks
      contain memories either unconscious or conscious. Neurobiologically, there are
      subunits of neuronal networks crucial for the storage and recall of memories.
      Communication between these networks is based on selective memory recall in order
      to form, for example, figurative representations.

PMID- 20925484
TI  - The effectiveness of psychoanalytic-interactional psychotherapy in borderline
      personality disorder.
AB  - Different methods are available for the psychotherapeutic treatment of patients
      with severe personality disorders. In Germany, a special form of dynamically
      oriented therapy called psychoanalytic-interactional psychotherapy or method
      (PiM) has been clinically applied for many years. PiM was derived from
      psychoanalytic therapy and has been specifically adapted for the treatment of
      severely disordered patients, for example, patients with borderline personality
      disorders, prepsychotic disorders, addictions, and perversions. In a naturalistic
      study, the effectiveness of PiM was tested in a sample of patients with
      borderline personality disorders (N = 132). The patients were treated in the
      Clinic Tiefenbrunn near Goettingen. Standardized, reliable, and valid diagnostic
      instruments were used to study the treatment effects. According to the results,
      PiM achieved significant improvements in target symptoms, general symptoms,
      interpersonal problems, and contentedness with life. The results are discussed
      with regard to the treatment of severely disordered patients.

PMID- 20925485
TI  - Manualized psychodynamic-interactional group therapy for the treatment of
      somatoform pain disorders.
AB  - Medically unexplained and clinically significant symptoms of pain are highly
      prevalent in the general population. More than one third of all patients in
      general practices and various departments of hospitals suffer from somatoform
      disorders with pain being the main complaint of 70% of these patients. This
      treatment manual is the first disorder-specific, psychodynamically oriented
      treatment for these patients. Based on psychodynamic-interactional group
      psychotherapy, it focuses on disorder-specific aspects as well as on psychic and
      interpersonal problems which have resulted from adverse childhood experiences and
      insecure attachment. In three treatment phases comprising an "information and
      motivational phase" followed by "work" and ultimately "transfer" phase spread
      over a period of 6 to 7 months, between seven and nine patients were treated in
      40 group therapy sessions. The group started with psychoeducational elements
      intended to inform them about their illness. Through the discussion and
      formulation of individual treatment goals, the patients are drawn into the work
      phase of the group therapy, in which the relationship of the patients in the
      group and their behavior is the main focus of the therapeutic interventions.

PMID- 20925486
TI  - Interrater reliability in unbalanced designs: A comment on Scholte et al. (2009).

PMID- 20925493
TI  - Comparing the shoulder impingement kinematics between circular and pumping
      strokes in manual wheelchair propulsion.
AB  - PURPOSE: The study aimed to investigate the glenohumeral kinematic difference
      between the circular and pumping strokes in manual wheelchair users. METHOD: This
      is a repeated measures design with randomised testing conditions. We recruited 10
      manual wheelchair users and asked them to perform both the pumping and circular
      strokes on a stationary roller system. We used the Zebris motion analysis system
      to collect the 3-dimension glenohumeral motion data. RESULTS: The pumping and the
      circular strokes were similar in the starting and ending positions in the
      sagittal plane. However, the pumping stroke started at a significantly larger
      abduction and internal rotation and ended with a significantly larger abduction
      and even larger internal rotation, it also traveled more ranges in all three
      planes and stayed longer in the combined positions of rotation/flexion and
      rotation/abduction as compared to the circular stroke. CONCLUSIONS: The circular
      stroke appeared more advantageous than the pumping technique in the injury
      prevention prospect because the latter involved more flexion, abduction and
      internal rotation of the shoulder, which could add more impingement stresses to
      the joint. Clinicians may need to prescribe proper wheelchair propulsion
      techniques for their clients to avoid accumulating impingement stresses in the
      shoulder joints.

PMID- 20925494
TI  - Estimation of rac-amisulpride transfer into milk and of infant dose via milk
      during its use in a lactating woman with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.
AB  - This case describes the transfer of the antipsychotic drug amisulpride into milk
      and the estimation of infant exposure via breastfeeding. The dyad investigated
      was a 28-year-old lactating woman and her 13-month-old daughter. The woman had
      been taking 400 mg of amisulpride daily for 9 days and provided eight milk
      samples and one blood sample over a 24-hour dose interval. Amisulpride
      concentrations in these samples were measured by high-performance liquid
      chromatography, and infant dose was calculated by standard methods. The infant's
      health and progress were evaluated by a neonatal pediatrician. Transfer of
      amisulpride into milk was high, with a milk:plasma distribution ratio of 19.5
      (5,188 MUg/L in milk and 266 MUg/L in plasma). The average amisulpride
      concentration in milk was 3,562 MUg/L, which, when multiplied by an average milk
      intake of 0.15 L/kg/day, gave an absolute infant dose of 534 MUg/kg/day. The
      relative infant dose was 10.7% of the maternal weight-adjusted dose (5,000
      MUg/kg/day), which is slightly above the usual 10% safety recommendation. The
      infant was in good health with an appropriate Denver development score for her
      age. She showed no acute drug-related adverse effects. Given that the infant had
      already benefited from 13 months of breastfeeding, that amisulpride has potential
      adverse effects, and that its relative infant dose was 10.7%, we recommended
      cessation of breastfeeding in the near-term.

PMID- 20925495
TI  - Breastfeeding knowledge and practices among rural women of punjab, India: a
      community-based study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Irrespective of the fact that breastfeeding in India is almost
      universal, psychosocial and cultural barriers still exists to early
      breastfeeding. The exact reasons for this delay are not clearly known. Hence we
      conducted this study to assess breastfeeding knowledge and practices and the
      factors influencing them among women in rural Punjab, India. METHODOLOGY: We
      interviewed 1,000 women in a community-based analytical cross-sectional study
      that was carried out in 20 villages of the District of Amritsar, Punjab, India,
      in 2005-2006 by standard cluster sampling. Time at initiation of breastfeeding
      and variables like understanding about the importance of colostrum, nutrition
      during lactation, and motivation by health workers were assessed. Statistical
      analysis was done by percentages compared with the chi2 test. RESULTS: Two
      hundred twenty-five respondents (23.8%) started breastfeeding their babies on the
      first day of birth, but in terms of early breastfeeding only 128 (13.5%)
      respondents put their babies on the breast within 4 hours of birth. Of the 1,000
      respondents, 356 (35.6%) of the respondents were unaware of the importance of
      colostrum, 733 (77.6%) were not given advice on benefits of
      breastfeeding/weaning, and 306 (33.5%) of respondents had not increased their
      diet during lactation. CONCLUSIONS: Early breastfeeding knowledge and practices
      were suboptimal among the mothers in rural Punjab. Health education on
      breastfeeding and nutrition remains the dark area. Research and public health
      efforts like one-to-one "breastfeeding counseling and health education on
      nutrition" to the mother by health workers should be promoted.

PMID- 20925496
TI  - Cytology testing and proficiency: survey findings of the Practice Committee of
      Society for Pediatric Pathology.

PMID- 20925497
TI  - Undifferentiated embryonal sarcoma of the liver is associated with mesenchymal
      hamartoma and multiple chromosomal abnormalities: a review of eleven cases.
AB  - Undifferentiated embryonal sarcoma (UES) of the liver is a primitive mesenchymal,
      malignant neoplasm occurring in children. The link between UES and mesenchymal
      hamartoma (MH) is controversial. Whether they share the same histiogenesis,
      representing 2 ends of a spectrum, or are distinct entities is unclear. The
      genetic aberrations of these neoplasms are not well understood, although a common
      breakpoint (19q13.4) was recently identified. The purpose of this study was to
      elucidate immunohistochemical markers that may establish a link between the 2
      tumors by reviewing cases of UES and MH. Cases of UES from 1990 to 2008 were
      identified. Clinical demographics were reviewed. Hematoxylin and eosin staining
      and immunohistochemical staining for vimentin, alpha-1 antitrypsin, and alpha
      fetoprotein were performed. Eleven children were diagnosed with UES. Five cases
      were seen arising in association with MH, and transitional zones were evident.
      The mean age at presentation was 10 years. To our knowledge, the 11-month-old
      patient is the youngest reported case of UES in concurrence with MH. All UES
      tumor cells were positive for vimentin, diastase-resistant periodic acid-Schiff
      stain, and alpha-1 antitrypsin. Chromosomal analysis of 3 UES cases, 2 arising
      with MH, showed complex karyotypes with no involvement of 19q13.4. We suggest a
      continuum between UES and MH. Although a chromosomal anomaly of 19q13.4 was not
      identified, a submicroscopic involvement of this locus cannot be excluded.
      Additionally, our analyses suggest that multiple chromosomal aberrations may be
      associated with the MH/UES spectrum.

PMID- 20925498
TI  - Avoiding osseous grafting in the atrophic posterior mandible for implant
      supported fixed partial dentures: a report of 2 cases.
AB  - Bone atrophy occurs after tooth extraction in the posterior mandible, placing the
      mandibular canal and its neural, arterial, and venous contents closer to the
      osseous facial aspect and the coronal crest. This proximity places the structure
      in danger of damage when dental implants are surgically placed to support fixed
      or removable prostheses. Several options are available to treat these areas for
      implant-supported fixed and removable complete or partial dentures. Osseous
      grafting and ridge expansion are surgical options that enable acceptance of
      standard sized dental implants but have serious morbidities. Additionally,
      vertical osseous augmentation is not predictable at this time. Narrow diameter
      dental implants can be placed to avoid the mandibular canal, but some bone volume
      situations preclude this. Very wide and very short (6.5 * 5 mm) dental implants
      may be placed at an angle in atrophic sites to successfully support fixed partial
      dentures. An anterior guidance occlusal scheme may be used in maxillary dentate
      patients or group function in maxillary complete denture patients. A 100 micron
      occlusal relief in fixed partial dentures in dentate patients may be required to
      account for natural tooth intrusion and to prevent occlusal overload of the
      implant-supported partial denture.

PMID- 20925500
TI  - Oral implantology for the traumatic brain injured patient: a case report.
AB  - Edentulous traumatic brain injured dental patients may be treated with dental
      implant-supported and retained acrylic-based complete dentures. Intraoral
      components should be minimized to present less of a surface area for plaque
      accumulation and to facilitate daily cleansing. A zero degree or lingualized
      occlusal scheme should be used. Prostheses may be truncated for patient comfort
      and gustatory function, so the potential for swallowing a prosthesis should be
      evaluated in each patient.

PMID- 20925504
TI  - Neutrophilic inclusions in a hunter.

PMID- 20925506
TI  - Spores of Clostridium difficile in Hospital Air.

PMID- 20925507
TI  - Achieving a quantitative understanding of antiretroviral drug efficacy.

PMID- 20925510
TI  - T cell subset enumeration and weekend HIV clinics: reliable performance of CD4
      cell counts after 3 days.

PMID- 20925511
TI  - Final report of the Lyme disease review panel of the infectious diseases society
      of america: a pyrrhic victory?

PMID- 20925516
TI  - Study of outcomes associated with hyponatremia and hypernatremia in children.
AB  - Sodium is usually included in hospitals' critical values lists; however, the
      values at which sodium is considered to be life threatening (critical) vary among
      hospitals. Studies of outcomes associated with hyponatremia and hypernatremia in
      pediatric patients have not been published. We performed a retrospective chart
      review of sodium values of <124 mmol/L and >155 mmol/L that occurred during a 6
      month period. Univariate and multivariate analyses for mortality risk were
      performed with the different variables. A total of 702 (1.32%) sodium tests fell
      in the study reference range, with 166 being <124 mmol/L and 536 being >155
      mmol/L. Although not statistically significant, mortality was higher (38.5%) in
      patients with sodium values <= 120 mmol/L than in those with values >= 170 mmol/L
      (25%) or in patients with other values (<14%). Underlying conditions prevented
      assessment of morbidity associated with hyponatremia or hypernatremia. Treatment
      was instituted within 4 hours in 80% of cases (50% within 1 hour). Multivariate
      analysis showed increased risk of death for hyponatremic patients if they were
      premature or had heart abnormalities, while for hypernatremic patients the risk
      increased when other critical values were present. In conclusion, sodium levels
      of <= 120 mmol/L and >= 170 mmol/L have increased mortality in children; however,
      the risk of death is not statistically different when compared to risk in
      patients with milder hyponatremia and hypernatremia. Risk factors for death in
      hyponatremic and hypernatremic patients may primarily reflect the severity of the
      underlying conditions present in these children, such as prematurity and heart
      abnormalities, rather than the sodium derangement.

PMID- 20925517
TI  - Conjunctival concentrations of a new ophthalmic solution formulation of
      moxifloxacin 0.5% in cataract surgery patients.
AB  - PURPOSE: To compare the conjunctival concentrations of moxifloxacin after
      instillation of a single drop of moxifloxacin ophthalmic solution, 0.5% (Moxi) or
      a new 0.5% ophthalmic solution formulation (MAF) containing a retention-enhancing
      agent in patients undergoing cataract surgery. METHODS: This was a randomized,
      double-masked, parallel-group study. One hundred thirty patients scheduled for
      routine phacoemulsification and intraocular lens implantation were randomized to
      both treatment and post-dose sample collection time points. A single topical drop
      of Moxi or MAF was instilled in the study eye. At the designated time (0.25, 0.5,
      1, 3, or 5 h post-dose), 2 conjunctival biopsy samples were obtained (N = 11-13
      per treatment condition). Concentrations of moxifloxacin were determined using a
      validated ultra-performance liquid chromatography method. Moxifloxacin exposure
      [maximum mean moxifloxacin concentrations (C(max)) and area under the
      concentration-time curve (AUC)] was estimated from the observed concentration
      time data. RESULTS: The conjunctival moxifloxacin C(max), 43.8 MUg/g, for MAF was
      achieved at 0.25 h. This was 1.8-fold higher than the C(max) for Moxi (24.1
      MUg/g), which was reached at 0.5 h post-dose. MAF AUC(0-3) was significantly
      greater than the AUC(0-3) of Moxi [50.5 (MUg.h)/g vs. 27.1 (MUg.h)/g; P < 0.05].
      The conjunctival moxifloxacin C(max) for MAF was 337- to 730-fold greater than
      the reported minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC(90)) values for Staphylococcus
      aureus, Streptococcus pneumoniae, and Haemophilus influenzae. The C(max):MIC(90)
      ratios for Moxi ranged from 185 to 402. Conjunctival AUC(0-24):MIC(90) ratios
      ranged from 777 to 1,683 for MAF and from 625 to 1,355 for Moxi. CONCLUSIONS: The
      new MAF ophthalmic formulation of moxifloxacin provided higher peak levels of
      moxifloxacin in the conjunctiva tissue, and larger total tissue exposure than the
      current, commercially available formulation. The superior penetration of MAF
      observed in this study could translate into greater eradication of bacteria.

PMID- 20925518
TI  - Histologic and biomechanical evaluation of alumina-blasted/acid-etched and
      resorbable blasting media surfaces.
AB  - This study evaluated the early biomechanical fixation and bone-to-implant contact
      (BIC) of an alumina-blasted/acid-etched (AB/AE) compared with an experimental
      resorbable blasting media (RBM) surface in a canine model. Higher texturization
      was observed for the RBM than for the AB/AE surface, and the presence of calcium
      and phosphorus was only observed for the RBM surface. Time in vivo and implant
      surface did not influence torque. For both surfaces, BIC significantly increased
      from 2 to 4 weeks.

PMID- 20925519
TI  - Ticks parasitizing humans in Greece.
AB  - In summer 2008, two fatal cases were observed in Northeastern Greece: a Crimean
      Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) case (first report in Greece) and a Mediterranean
      spotted fever case. In total, 537 ticks removed from humans who referred for this
      reason to the two hospitals of the region during June-September 2008 were
      identified. The vast majority of them (81.5%) were Rhipicephalus sanguineus,
      which is the main vector of Rickettsia conorii, while Hyalomma marginatum, the
      main vector of CCHF virus, accounted for 5.2%. The increased aggressiveness of R.
      sanguineus might be related to the weather conditions occurred during 2007-2008,
      while a variety of factors, including climate, might play a role in CCHF
      emergence.

PMID- 20925520
TI  - Borreliosis during pregnancy: a risk for the unborn child?
AB  - Little is known regarding the possible harmful effects of Borrelia infections in
      pregnancy, since such a risk analysis is difficult to perform. Transplacental
      transmission of Borrelia burgdorferi has been documented in several animal
      studies. Therefore, it had been thought that fetal infection and teratogenicity
      was possible from B. burgdorferi, especially considering the similarities between
      Lyme borreliosis and syphilis. However, several clinical, serological, and
      epidemiological studies have failed to confirm a causal association between B.
      burgdorferi infection and a pregnancy adverse outcome. Moreover, there have been
      no reported cases of transmission of Borrelia via breast milk. However, the
      therapeutic approach to pregnant women with Lyme disease should be antibiotic
      treatment, according to the clinical manifestation and the timing of the tick
      bite. An effective vaccine is not yet available and the prevention of Lyme
      borreliosis depends on public and physician education, and appropriate antibiotic
      therapy during pregnancy.

PMID- 20925521
TI  - Rickettsia spp. in wild small mammals in Lower Bavaria, South-Eastern Germany.
AB  - So far, data on the natural cycle of rickettsiae of the tick-borne spotted fever
      group (SFG) in Central Europe are barely available. Some studies showed the
      occurrence of different Rickettsia species in their arthropod vectors, but it is
      unclear which animals might have any kind of reservoir function. This survey was
      therefore set up to provide information on the occurrence of SFG rickettsiae in
      small mammals in Germany. A total of 124 rodents and insectivores were collected
      over a period of 3 years in Lower Bavaria, South-Eastern Germany. Screening for
      Rickettsia antibodies was performed using immunofluorescence with Rickettsia
      conorii and R. helvetica slides, and the comparability of sera and body fluids
      (transudates) was investigated in these assays. Further, real-time polymerase
      chain reaction (PCR) was used for screening of Rickettsial DNA in rodents and
      insectivores. Ear versus liver tissue was compared to evaluate the more suitable
      tissue for detection of specific DNA. Further, a new PCR targeting the 18S
      ribosomal nucleic acid was established as internal control. The results indicated
      that transudates are a sufficient alternative to proof infection in cases where
      no sera are available. Rickettsial DNA, that is, Rickettsia felis and R.
      helvetica, was found in seven animals with the ears proving to be a proper choice
      for PCR. Statistical analyses revealed that the presence of ectoparasites and the
      body size positively correlated with the occurrence of rickettsial DNA. Overall,
      our study suggests that rodents and other small mammals may act as reservoir
      hosts for Rickettsia. However, with the course of infection and its transmission
      in wild animals still unknown, further investigations are needed to better
      understand the natural cycle of SFG rickettsiae.

PMID- 20925523
TI  - The emergence of Staphylococcus aureus ST398.
AB  - The epidemiology of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has
      changed dramatically over the past 15 years. Initially a nosocomial pathogen,
      newly emergent strains of MRSA have become increasingly common in the community
      among individuals lacking contact with healthcare. More recently, a third group
      of MRSA strains have been identified in association with livestock, particularly
      swine. These strains, termed livestock-associated MRSA, have now been identified
      in Europe, North America, and Asia in humans and animals. One molecular type,
      ST398, has been the dominant strain of livestock-associated MRSA identified to
      date. The emergence of this strain in animals and humans will be described in
      this review, including colonization and clinical infections caused by this
      strain. We also discuss lingering research questions and implications for
      controlling spread of this bacterium in an agricultural environment and beyond.

PMID- 20925522
TI  - Bird migration and risk for H5N1 transmission into Qinghai Lake, China.
AB  - The highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 virus still cause devastating effects
      to humans, agricultural poultry flocks, and wild birds. Wild birds are also
      detected to carry H5N1 over long distances and are able to introduce it into new
      areas during migration. In this article, our objective is to provide lists of
      bird species potentially involved in the introduction of highly pathogenic avian
      influenza H5N1 in Qinghai Lake, which is an important breeding and stopover site
      for aquatic birds along the Central Asian Flyway. Bird species were classified
      according to the following behavioral and ecological factors: migratory status,
      abundance, degree of mixing species and gregariousness, and the prevalence rate
      of H5N1 virus. Most of the high-risk species were from the family Anatidae, order
      Anseriformes (9/14 in spring, 11/15 in fall). We also estimated the relative risk
      of bird species involved by using a semi-quantitative method; species from family
      Anatidae accounted for over 39% and over 91% of the total risk at spring and fall
      migration periods, respectively. Results also show the relative risk for each
      bird aggregating site in helping to identify high-risk areas. This work may also
      be instructive and meaningful to the avian influenza surveillance in the
      breeding, stopover, and wintering sites besides Qinghai Lake along the Central
      Asian Flyway.

PMID- 20925524
TI  - Molecular epidemiology of yellow fever in Bolivia from 1999 to 2008.
AB  - Yellow fever (YF) is a serious public health problem in Bolivia since at least
      the 19th century. Surprisingly, very limited information has been made available
      to date regarding the genetic characterisation and epidemiology of Bolivian YF
      virus (YFV) strains. Here, we conducted the genetic characterization of 12 human
      isolates of YFV collected in Bolivia between 1999 and 2008, by sequencing and
      analysis of two regions of the viral genome: a fragment encoding structural
      proteins "PrM" (premembrane and envelope) and a distal region "EMF," spanning the
      end of the virus genome. Our study reveals a high genetic diversity of YFV
      strains circulating in Bolivia during the last decade: we identified not only
      "Peruvian-like" genotype II viruses (related to previously characterized Bolivian
      strains), but also, for the fist time, "Brazilian-like" genotype I viruses.
      During the complete period of the study, only cases of "jungle" YF were detected
      (i.e., circulation of YFV via a sylvatic cycle) with no cluster of urban cases.
      However, the very significant spread of the Aedes aegypti mosquito across
      Bolivian cities threatens the country with the reappearance of an urban YFV
      transmission cycle and thus is required a sustained epidemiological surveillance.

PMID- 20925525
TI  - Phenotypic variability and population structure of peridomestic Triatoma
      infestans in rural areas of the arid Chaco (Western Argentina): spatial influence
      of macro- and microhabitats.
AB  - Triatoma infestans, one of the main vectors of Trypanosoma cruzi, is strongly
      associated with rural human ecotopes. Infested peridomestic places could act as a
      source of house infestation as a result of the movement of vectors among
      habitats. The quantitative study of phenotypic traits and nutritional variables
      could be informative about the population structure and the relative mobility of
      vectors. This is the first approach toward analyzing the phenetic characteristics
      of T. infestans and the relationship with their potential role to invade and
      colonize other habitats in the arid Chaco region. This article compares the
      phenotypic structure of T. infestans populations living in chicken coops and goat
      corrals, analyzing the geometric morphometry of wings and heads, antennal
      phenotypes, and the nutritional status of 257 adults and nymphs. The study area
      remained untreated with insecticides during the 15 years before the present
      study. The insects collected in peridomestic structures located in two zones 80
      km apart exhibited significant differences in their morphotypes, suggesting an
      environmental effect and/or the absence of individual exchange between zones. The
      population structure was clear in T. infestans from goat corrals and chicken
      coops in one zone and less pronounced in the other. These results suggest the
      existence of a different rate of individual exchange among ecotopes within each
      zone. Morphometric variables of heads and wings were significantly correlated in
      insects collected in goat corrals but not in chicken coops, suggesting a habitat
      effect and supporting the hypothesis of different canalization forces that affect
      the two organs. The nutritional status of adults indicated a low dispersal
      probability with zonal differences. This article provides the first combined
      morphometric analysis of the head of adults and fifth instar nymphs in
      triatomines and the first combined analysis of head and wing in T. infestans.

PMID- 20925526
TI  - Trypanosoma cruzi infection modulates the expression of Triatoma brasiliensis
      def1 in the midgut.
AB  - Antimicrobial peptides are an essential component of the insect immune system.
      One of the most ubiquitous is defensin, which has been identified in all examined
      insect orders. Triatoma brasiliensis (Heteroptera, Triatominae), the main
      Trypanosoma cruzi vector in semi-arid regions of north-eastern Brazil, expresses
      def1, a defensin encoding gene, predominantly in the anterior region (cardia and
      stomach) of the midgut. In the present study, we compared the transcript
      abundance of T. brasiliensis def1 in the anterior (stomach) and posterior midgut
      (small intestine) regions of naive bugs with those infected with a familiar T.
      cruzi isolate. In the stomach, only slight differences between the two insect
      groups were visible, whereas in the small intestine wide differences (up to 9.6
      fold) between infected and noninfected bugs become apparent. The highly increased
      def1 transcript abundance at 20 days after the infective blood meal might be a
      response to the T. cruzi infection, suggesting a potential function of intestinal
      defensin in the parasite population control.

PMID- 20925527
TI  - Detection of Borrelia burgdorferi DNA in tick feces provides evidence for
      organism shedding during vector feeding.
AB  - Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacterium that causes Lyme disease, is transmitted to a
      susceptible host by Ixodes spp. tick bites. However, there is uncertainty whether
      B. burgdorferi are shed from ticks by the fecal route. In this study, B.
      burgdorferi-infected ticks were fed on mice while confined to a certain area of
      the skin by a capsule. During and after feeding, tick feces were collected and
      placed in Barbour-Stoenner-Kelley (BSK)-II media for cultivation and in sterile
      water for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis. Although none of the tested
      samples were culture positive for B. burgdorferi, all but one of the fecal DNA
      samples from infected ticks were PCR positive. These results indicated that B.
      burgdorferi were shed from feeding ticks during defecation and suggest that the
      spirochetes did not remain viable once exposed to the outside environment. This
      finding has important ramifications for investigators interpreting B. burgdorferi
      specific PCR results when conducting tick transmission experiments.

PMID- 20925528
TI  - Prevention of dengue outbreaks through Aedes aegypti oviposition activity
      forecasting method.
AB  - Dengue has affected the north provinces of Argentina, mainly Salta province. The
      2009 outbreak, with 5 deaths and >27,000 infected, was the most important, and
      the first to extend into the central area of the country. This article includes
      research on seasonal Aedes aegypti abundance variation in Oran City (Salta
      province), and determination of the date of mosquito population increase and an
      estimation of the date of maximum rate of increase as well as the intrinsic rate
      of natural increase (r), to detect the optimal time to apply vector control
      measures. Between September 2005 and March 2007, ovitraps were randomly
      distributed in the city to collect Ae. aegypti eggs. The variation observed in
      the number of collected eggs was described by fitting a third-degree polynomial
      by the least square method, allowing to determine the time when population
      increase began (week 1), after the temperate and dry season. Eggs were collected
      throughout the year, with the highest variation in abundance during the warm and
      rainy season, and the maximum value registered in February 2007. The rate of
      increase of the number of eggs laid per week peaked between weeks 9 and 10 after
      the beginning of the population increase (week 1). Week 1 depends on temperature,
      it occurs after getting over the thermal threshold and the needed accumulation of
      160 degree-day is reached. Consequently, week 1 changes depending on temperature.
      Peak abundance of eggs during 2005-2006 was recorded on week 15 (after week 1);
      during 2006-2007, the peak was observed on week 22. Estimation of the intrinsic
      rate of natural increase (r) of Ae. aegypti is useful not only to determine
      optimal time to apply vector control measures with better cost-benefit, but also
      to add an insecticide control strategy against the vector to diminish the
      possibility of resistance.

PMID- 20925529
TI  - Serosurvey study of Toscana virus in domestic animals, Granada, Spain.
AB  - Toscana virus (TOSV) is transmitted by infected sandflies. In Mediterranean
      countries, TOSV is one of the major viral pathogens involved in aseptic
      meningitis and meningoencephalitis in humans. It remains unclear if there are
      animal reservoirs able to maintain the virus through the cold months of the year,
      when the vector is not circulating. From May to October of 2006 and 2007, we
      conducted a serosurvey study on domestic animals from Granada province (southern
      Spain). TOSV was investigated in 1186 serum samples from horses, goats, pigs,
      cats, dogs, sheep, and cows by serology (indirect fluorescence assay), viral
      culture, and RT-polymerase chain reaction. Specific anti-TOSV antibodies were
      detected in 429 (36.2%) serum samples. The highest seropositivity rates were
      observed in cats (59.6%) and dogs (48.3%). These results suggest that an
      important percentage of the domestic animals have been infected by TOSV.
      Significantly different seroprevalence rates were detected in goats among
      distinct geographical areas. All viral cultures were negative. TOSV was detected
      by RT-polymerase chain reaction in only one serum sample from a goat. Thus, the
      studied animals do not seem to act as reservoirs for TOSV; otherwise, they could
      be amplifying hosts for the virus.

PMID- 20925530
TI  - Elevated cervical white blood cell infiltrate is associated with genital HIV
      detection in a longitudinal cohort of antiretroviral therapy-adherent women.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Identification of factors associated with the presence of human
      immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in female genital secretions is critical for
      intervention strategies targeting transmission and eliminating replication of
      genital virus. We sought to monitor the prevalence of genital HIV shedding in
      antiretroviral therapy-adherent women over time and to assess changes in the
      genital microenvironment. METHODS: Levels of cell-free HIV (HIV RNA) and HIV
      infected cells (HIV DNA) were monitored in peripheral blood samples and cervical
      and vaginal fluid samples at monthly intervals in 11 women for 1 year. Genital
      tract infections and fluctuations in cervical and vaginal white blood cell counts
      were also evaluated at each study visit. RESULTS: Plasma HIV was undetectable at
      the majority of study visits; when detected, it was only at low levels.
      Throughout the study, genital HIV RNA and DNA were detected in each person.
      Combined genital HIV (RNA and DNA) was detected at 49.2% of study visits and was
      associated with an elevated concentration of cervical white blood cell infiltrate
      (odds ratio, 2.52 [95% confidence interval, 1.01-6.22]; P = .04). Infiltrate was
      not associated with a clinical disorder or patient-reported symptoms.
      CONCLUSIONS: Despite antiretroviral therapy adherence and clinically suppressed
      plasma viremia, HIV was intermittently detected in genital secretions and was
      associated with subclinical inflammation and cells trafficking to the cervical
      mucosa.

PMID- 20925531
TI  - Therapeutic recombinant murine activated protein C attenuates pulmonary
      coagulopathy and improves survival in murine pneumococcal pneumonia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Recombinant human activated protein C (APC) improves survival of
      patients with severe sepsis; this beneficial effect is especially apparent in
      patients with pneumococcal pneumonia. The aim of this study was to determine the
      effect of APC treatment initiated after induction of pneumococcal pneumonia on
      pulmonary coagulation, inflammation, and survival, with or without concurrent
      antibiotic therapy. METHODS: Mice were infected intranasally with viable
      Streptococcus pneumoniae and were treated intraperitoneally after 24 h of
      infection with vehicle, recombinant mouse (rm) APC (125 MUg), ceftriaxone (500
      MUg), or rm-APC plus ceftriaxone. Treatment with rm-APC or vehicle was repeated
      every 8 h for a maximum of 96 h. Animals were either killed 48 h after infection
      or were monitored in a survival study (with an extra dose of ceftriaxone given
      after 72 h). RESULTS: Rm-APC treatment inhibited pulmonary activation of
      coagulation, as reflected by lower levels of thrombin-antithrombin complexes and
      D-dimer. Rm-APC did not affect the pulmonary levels of 55 inflammatory mediators
      in the context of antibiotic therapy. Rm-APC added to ceftriaxone markedly
      improved survival, compared with ceftriaxone treatment alone. CONCLUSIONS: Rm-APC
      inhibits pulmonary activation of coagulation and, when added to antibiotic
      therapy, improves survival in murine pneumococcal pneumonia.

PMID- 20925533
TI  - Impact of dental and zygomatic implants on stress distribution in maxillary
      defects: a 3-dimensional finite element analysis study.
AB  - The aim of this study was to evaluate the stress distribution in the bone around
      dental and zygomatic implants for 4 different implant-supported obturator
      prostheses designs in a unilaterally maxillary defect using a 3-dimensional
      finite element stress analysis. A 3-dimensional finite element model of the human
      unilateral maxillary defect was constructed. Four different implant-supported
      obturator prostheses were modeled; model 1 with 2 zygomatic implants and 1 dental
      implant, model 2 with 2 zygomatic implants and 2 dental implants, model 3 with 2
      zygomatic implants and 3 dental implants, and model 4 with 1 zygomatic implant
      and 3 dental implants. Bar attachments were used as superstructure. A 150-N
      vertical load was applied in 3 different ways, and von Mises stresses in the
      cortical bone around implants were evaluated. When the models (model 1-3) were
      compared in terms of number of implants, all of the models showed similar highest
      stress values under the first loading condition, and these values were less than
      under model 4 conditions. The highest stress values of models 1-4 under the first
      loading condition were 8.56, 8.59, 8.32, and 11.55 Mpa, respectively. The same
      trend was also observed under the other loading conditions. It may be concluded
      that the use of a zygomatic implant on the nondefective side decreased the
      highest stress values, and increasing the number of dental implants between the
      most distal and most mesial implants on the nondefective side did not decrease
      the highest stress values.

PMID- 20925532
TI  - Factors associated with prevalent abnormal anal cytology in a large cohort of HIV
      infected adults in the United States.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The prevalence of and risk factors for abnormal anal cytology among
      men and women with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection have not been
      extensively investigated. METHODS: The Study to Understand the Natural History of
      HIV and AIDS in the Era of Effective Therapy (SUN study) is a prospective cohort
      study of HIV-infected patients in 4 US cities. Baseline questionnaires were
      administered and anal samples for cytology and human papillomavirus (HPV)
      detection and genotyping were collected. RESULTS: Among 471 men and 150 women
      (median age, 41 years), 78% of participants were receiving combination
      antiretroviral therapy, 41% had a CD4(+) cell count of >=500 cells/MUL, and 71%
      had an HIV RNA viral load of <400 copies/mL. The anal cytology results were as
      follows: 336 participants (54%) had negative results, 96 participants (15%) had
      atypical squamous cells, 149 participants (24%) had low-grade squamous
      intraepithelial lesions, and 40 participants (6%) had high-grade squamous
      intraepithelial lesions. In a multivariate analysis, abnormal anal cytology was
      associated with number of high-risk and low-risk HPV types (adjusted odds ratio
      [AOR] for both, 1.28; P < .001), nadir CD4(+) cell count of <50 cells/MUL (AOR,
      2.38; P = .001), baseline CD4(+) cell count of <500 cells/MUL (AOR, 1.75; P =
      .004), and ever having receptive anal intercourse (AOR, 2.51; P < .001).
      CONCLUSION: HIV-infected persons with multiple anal HPV types or a nadir CD4(+)
      cell count of <50 cells/MUL have an increased risk for abnormal anal cytology.

PMID- 20925535
TI  - The midterm elections--high stakes for health policy.

PMID- 20925536
TI  - Reviving the FDA.

PMID- 20925537
TI  - Creating accountable care organizations.

PMID- 20925538
TI  - Images in clinical medicine. Huntington's chorea.

PMID- 20925539
TI  - Becoming accountable-opportunities and obstacles for ACOs.

PMID- 20925540
TI  - Low-cost lessons from Grand Junction, Colorado.

PMID- 20925541
TI  - The effects of the Affordable Care Act on workers' health insurance coverage.

PMID- 20925534
TI  - Clopidogrel with or without omeprazole in coronary artery disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Gastrointestinal complications are an important problem of
      antithrombotic therapy. Proton-pump inhibitors (PPIs) are believed to decrease
      the risk of such complications, though no randomized trial has proved this in
      patients receiving dual antiplatelet therapy. Recently, concerns have been raised
      about the potential for PPIs to blunt the efficacy of clopidogrel. METHODS: We
      randomly assigned patients with an indication for dual antiplatelet therapy to
      receive clopidogrel in combination with either omeprazole or placebo, in addition
      to aspirin. The primary gastrointestinal end point was a composite of overt or
      occult bleeding, symptomatic gastroduodenal ulcers or erosions, obstruction, or
      perforation. The primary cardiovascular end point was a composite of death from
      cardiovascular causes, nonfatal myocardial infarction, revascularization, or
      stroke. The trial was terminated prematurely when the sponsor lost financing.
      RESULTS: We planned to enroll about 5000 patients; a total of 3873 were randomly
      assigned and 3761 were included in analyses. In all, 51 patients had a
      gastrointestinal event; the event rate was 1.1% with omeprazole and 2.9% with
      placebo at 180 days (hazard ratio with omeprazole, 0.34, 95% confidence interval
      [CI], 0.18 to 0.63; P<0.001). The rate of overt upper gastrointestinal bleeding
      was also reduced with omeprazole as compared with placebo (hazard ratio, 0.13;
      95% CI, 0.03 to 0.56; P = 0.001). A total of 109 patients had a cardiovascular
      event, with event rates of 4.9% with omeprazole and 5.7% with placebo (hazard
      ratio with omeprazole, 0.99; 95% CI, 0.68 to 1.44; P = 0.96); high-risk subgroups
      did not show significant heterogeneity. The two groups did not differ
      significantly in the rate of serious adverse events, though the risk of diarrhea
      was increased with omeprazole. CONCLUSIONS: Among patients receiving aspirin and
      clopidogrel, prophylactic use of a PPI reduced the rate of upper gastrointestinal
      bleeding. There was no apparent cardiovascular interaction between clopidogrel
      and omeprazole, but our results do not rule out a clinically meaningful
      difference in cardiovascular events due to use of a PPI. (Funded by Cogentus
      Pharmaceuticals; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00557921.).

PMID- 20925543
TI  - Severe hypoglycemia and risks of vascular events and death.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Severe hypoglycemia may increase the risk of a poor outcome in
      patients with type 2 diabetes assigned to an intensive glucose-lowering
      intervention. We analyzed data from a large study of intensive glucose lowering
      to explore the relationship between severe hypoglycemia and adverse clinical
      outcomes. METHODS: We examined the associations between severe hypoglycemia and
      the risks of macrovascular or microvascular events and death among 11,140
      patients with type 2 diabetes, using Cox proportional-hazards models with
      adjustment for covariates measured at baseline and after randomization. RESULTS:
      During a median follow-up period of 5 years, 231 patients (2.1%) had at least one
      severe hypoglycemic episode; 150 had been assigned to intensive glucose control
      (2.7% of the 5571 patients in that group), and 81 had been assigned to standard
      glucose control (1.5% of the 5569 patients in that group). The median times from
      the onset of severe hypoglycemia to the first major macrovascular event, the
      first major microvascular event, and death were 1.56 years (interquartile range,
      0.84 to 2.41), 0.99 years (interquartile range, 0.40 to 2.17), and 1.05 years
      (interquartile range, 0.34 to 2.41), respectively. During follow-up, severe
      hypoglycemia was associated with a significant increase in the adjusted risks of
      major macrovascular events (hazard ratio, 2.88; 95% confidence interval [CI],
      2.01 to 4.12), major microvascular events (hazard ratio, 1.81; 95% CI, 1.19 to
      2.74), death from a cardiovascular cause (hazard ratio, 2.68; 95% CI, 1.72 to
      4.19), and death from any cause (hazard ratio, 2.69; 95% CI, 1.97 to 3.67)
      (P<0.001 for all comparisons). Similar associations were apparent for a range of
      nonvascular outcomes, including respiratory, digestive, and skin conditions
      (P<0.01 for all comparisons). No relationship was found between repeated episodes
      of severe hypoglycemia and vascular outcomes or death. CONCLUSIONS: Severe
      hypoglycemia was strongly associated with increased risks of a range of adverse
      clinical outcomes. It is possible that severe hypoglycemia contributes to adverse
      outcomes, but these analyses indicate that hypoglycemia is just as likely to be a
      marker of vulnerability to such events. (Funded by Servier and the National
      Health and Medical Research Council of Australia; ClinicalTrials.gov number,
      NCT00145925.).

PMID- 20925545
TI  - Dystrophin immunity in Duchenne's muscular dystrophy.
AB  - We report on delivery of a functional dystrophin transgene to skeletal muscle in
      six patients with Duchenne's muscular dystrophy. Dystrophin-specific T cells were
      detected after treatment, providing evidence of transgene expression even when
      the functional protein was not visualized in skeletal muscle. Circulating
      dystrophin-specific T cells were unexpectedly detected in two patients before
      vector treatment. Revertant dystrophin fibers, which expressed functional,
      truncated dystrophin from the deleted endogenous gene after spontaneous in-frame
      splicing, contained epitopes targeted by the autoreactive T cells. The potential
      for T-cell immunity to self and nonself dystrophin epitopes should be considered
      in designing and monitoring experimental therapies for this disease. (Funded by
      the Muscular Dystrophy Association and others; ClinicalTrials.gov number,
      NCT00428935.).

PMID- 20925546
TI  - Profound deafness in childhood.

PMID- 20925548
TI  - Images in clinical medicine. A white hand and a red hand-erythromelalgia.

PMID- 20925547
TI  - Rejection of the kidney allograft.

PMID- 20925549
TI  - Clinical problem-solving. A heavy heart.

PMID- 20925544
TI  - Rolofylline, an adenosine A1-receptor antagonist, in acute heart failure.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Worsening renal function, which is associated with adverse outcomes,
      often develops in patients with acute heart failure. Experimental and clinical
      studies suggest that counterregulatory responses mediated by adenosine may be
      involved. We tested the hypothesis that the use of rolofylline, an adenosine A1
      receptor antagonist, would improve dyspnea, reduce the risk of worsening renal
      function, and lead to a more favorable clinical course in patients with acute
      heart failure. METHODS: We conducted a multicenter, double-blind, placebo
      controlled trial involving patients hospitalized for acute heart failure with
      impaired renal function. Within 24 hours after presentation, 2033 patients were
      randomly assigned, in a 2:1 ratio, to receive daily intravenous rolofylline (30
      mg) or placebo for up to 3 days. The primary end point was treatment success,
      treatment failure, or no change in the patient's clinical condition; this end
      point was defined according to survival, heart-failure status, and changes in
      renal function. Secondary end points were the post-treatment development of
      persistent renal impairment and the 60-day rate of death or readmission for
      cardiovascular or renal causes. RESULTS: Rolofylline, as compared with placebo,
      did not provide a benefit with respect to the primary end point (odds ratio,
      0.92; 95% confidence interval, 0.78 to 1.09; P=0.35). Persistent renal impairment
      developed in 15.0% of patients in the rolofylline group and in 13.7% of patients
      in the placebo group (P=0.44). By 60 days, death or readmission for
      cardiovascular or renal causes had occurred in similar proportions of patients
      assigned to rolofylline and placebo (30.7% and 31.9%, respectively; P=0.86).
      Adverse-event rates were similar overall; however, only patients in the
      rolofylline group had seizures, a known potential adverse effect of A1-receptor
      antagonists. CONCLUSIONS: Rolofylline did not have a favorable effect with
      respect to the primary clinical composite end point, nor did it improve renal
      function or 60-day outcomes. It does not show promise in the treatment of acute
      heart failure with renal dysfunction. (Funded by NovaCardia, a subsidiary of
      Merck; ClinicalTrials.gov numbers, NCT00328692 and NCT00354458.).

PMID- 20925550
TI  - Illuminating the potential of pluripotent stem cells.

PMID- 20925551
TI  - Autoimmunity in a genetic disease-a cautionary tale.

PMID- 20925552
TI  - Microflora, helminths, and the immune system-who controls whom?

PMID- 20925553
TI  - Endovascular repair of abdominal aortic aneurysm.

PMID- 20925554
TI  - Hospital-acquired infections due to gram-negative bacteria.

PMID- 20925555
TI  - Incentives for drug development-the curious case of colchicine.

PMID- 20925556
TI  - Communicating the rhythm.

PMID- 20925560
TI  - A relaxed implant bed: implants placed after two weeks of osteotomy with
      immediate loading:  a one year clinical trial.
AB  - A waiting period of 2 weeks after osteotomy increases the surrounding tissue
      activity to its maximum level as collagen formation and neoangiogenesis represent
      a relaxed and acceptable implant bed configuration. The aim of the present study
      was a clinical and radiologic evaluation of early osteotomy with implant
      placement delayed for 2 weeks with immediate loading in the anterior and premolar
      region with minimally invasive approach. Seven GS II implants (Osstem) were
      placed in 6 patients. Osteotomy was done followed by flap closure without
      placement of the implant. After waiting for approximately 2 weeks, implant
      placement was done, which was loaded immediately with provisional crown in
      implant protected occlusion. It was replaced by definitive restoration after 6-8
      weeks, which was considered baseline. Implant stability and marginal bone levels
      were assessed with clinical and radiologic parameters at baseline, 6- and 12
      month intervals. None of the implants were found mobile during the 1-year period.
      The average mean marginal bone loss was 0.4 mm over the 1-year follow-up period.
      In the present study, early osteotomy with delayed implant placement showed
      negligible crestal bone loss with no mobility.

PMID- 20925561
TI  - The business of telemedicine: strategy primer.
AB  - There is some tacit understanding that telemedicine can provide cost efficiency
      along with increased access and equality of care for the geographically
      disadvantaged. However, concrete strategic guidance for healthcare organizations
      to attain these benefits is fragmented and limited in existing literature.
      Telemedicine programs need to move from a grant-funded to a profit-centered
      status to sustain their existence. This article extends work presented at a
      recent American Telemedicine Association Business and Finance Special Interest
      Group course to provide a conceptual framework for strategic planning and for
      effectively implementing telemedicine programs. An expert panel of telemedicine
      coordinators provides insight and recommendations.

PMID- 20925562
TI  - Ambulance 12-lead electrocardiography transmission via cell phone technology to
      cardiologists.
AB  - This study demonstrates transmission of 12-lead electrocardiography (ECG) in an
      ambulance to the cell phone of the attendant emergency medical technician and
      then to the hospital and to cell phones of off-site cardiologists. The emergency
      medical technician cell phone receives Extensible Markup Language files generated
      by a Phillips Extensible Markup Language ECG instrument via Wi-Fi-based wireless
      network and then sends them to an ECG-processing server at the hospital over the
      mobile telephone network. After reducing ECG noises and artifacts, the server
      converts files to Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine-based ECG
      reports stored in Picture Archiving and Communication System. These reports are
      sent to the cell phones of off-site cardiologists. Consequently, on-site
      Emergency Department physicians and off-site cardiologists can discuss ECG
      reports via Picture Archiving and Communication System on their computers or cell
      phones to prepare for the most appropriate treatment while the patient is on the
      way to the hospital. In conclusion, this 12-lead ECG transmission e-technology
      expands the functions of a 12-lead ECG instrument and facilitates more efficient
      prehospital cardiac care.

PMID- 20925563
TI  - A new, phonocardiography-based telemetric fetal home monitoring system.
AB  - The purpose of this article is to describe a new, phonocardiography-based fetal
      telemonitoring system, which, due to its passive nature, allows long-term
      measurements even at the home of the pregnant woman. The input element of the
      system was the home monitor with two sensors for recording the trans-abdominal
      fetal heart signal and the uterine contractions. The recorded signal was
      transmitted by mobile network and Internet to an Evaluation Center, where it was
      analyzed in detail to obtain information about possible dysfunction of the fetal
      heart. The investigations on this system made clear that by advanced processing
      of the recorded signal the system captured many additional cardiac features
      compared with the traditional ultrasound-based cardiotocographic procedure.

PMID- 20925564
TI  - Resident perceptions of a tele-intensive care unit implementation.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Remote intensive care unit (ICU) monitoring (tele-ICU) may provide a
      means to address the shortage of intensive care physicians. However, the
      consequences of implementing a tele-ICU system for house staff education and
      clinical experience are unknown. The purpose of this study was to determine
      resident perceptions of the impact of a tele-ICU implementation on patient care,
      education, and the overall work environment. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Cross
      sectional survey of residents who rotated through the medical ICU within the
      first year after the implementation of a tele-ICU in a large, academically
      affiliated, community hospital. Each question was graded on a 5-point Likert
      scale. RESULTS: Thirty-five of 60 residents completed the survey (58% response
      rate). Sixty-three percent of residents reported that tele-ICU was associated
      with an improved ability to focus on urgent patient issues, and 46% thought that
      the tele-ICU helped them to feel less overwhelmed. Although most residents were
      neutral (51%), 37% agreed that the tele-ICU was a valuable educational
      experience. Seventy-seven percent reported that the tele-ICU integration was
      associated with improved patient safety, but many were concerned about the impact
      on continuity and communication. There was no perceived association with patient
      or family satisfaction. CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggests that a tele-ICU
      implementation in a medical ICU does not seem to have a negative impact on the
      educational experience of residents and is associated with perceived improvements
      in patient safety and quality. Future studies should objectively measure the
      educational impact of implementing a tele-ICU system.

PMID- 20925565
TI  - Implementation of a wireless device for real-time telemedical assistance of home
      ventilated amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients: a feasibility study.
AB  - Neuromuscular disorders encompass a wide category of illnesses with a significant
      burden on the patient, family, and society. Telehome monitoring presents an
      alternative for closer follow-up, by ensuring timely transmission of data and
      prompting medical support before deterioration occurs. We used telehome
      monitoring devices for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients with respiratory
      failure in a clinic. This instrument directly acts as a digital recorder of
      parameters received from an external instrument, such as the bi-level ventilator,
      and contains an internal modem for direct connection to the Internet, thereby
      allowing bidirectional flexibility in collecting data and parameter changes
      whenever needed. The use and acceptance of the system was investigated with
      patients and all therapists involved. The instrument was found to be user
      friendly and effective by the researchers, being practical for both patients and
      therapists. Therefore, it can be integrated into a routine home care application
      based on a large respiratory rehabilitation center. The device was extensively
      tested, and in an ongoing randomized controlled study it is being investigated
      whether this management strategy is able to hasten the ventilator adaptation
      process and to diminish the overall utilization of health services, with
      concurrent economic viability. We conclude that home telemonitoring represents a
      positive contribution to the management of chronic patients and raised awareness
      of it should be considered in a near future. This portable telemonitoring device
      provides an opportune approach to better understand and recognize a ventilatory
      pattern through long-term ventilation monitoring in the home environment.

PMID- 20925566
TI  - MEDLINE versus EMBASE and CINAHL for telemedicine searches.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Researchers in the domain of telemedicine throughout the world tend
      to search multiple bibliographic databases to retrieve the highest possible
      number of publications when conducting review projects. Medical Literature
      Analysis and Retrieval System Online (MEDLINE), Excerpta Medica Database
      (EMBASE), and Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL)
      are three popular databases in the discipline of biomedicine that are used for
      conducting reviews. Access to the MEDLINE database is free and easy, whereas
      EMBASE and CINAHL are not free and sometimes not easy to access for researchers
      in small research centers. OBJECTIVE: This project sought to compare MEDLINE with
      EMBASE and CINAHL to estimate what proportion of potentially relevant
      publications would be missed when only MEDLINE is used in a review project, in
      comparison to when EMBASE and CINAHL are also used. METHODS: Twelve simple
      keywords relevant to 12 different telemedicine applications were searched using
      all three databases, and the results were compared. RESULTS: About 9%-18% of
      potentially relevant articles would have been missed if MEDLINE had been the only
      database used. CONCLUSIONS: It is preferable if all three or more databases are
      used when conducting a review in telemedicine. Researchers from developing
      countries or small research institutions could rely on only MEDLINE, but they
      would loose 9%-18% of the potentially relevant publications. Searching MEDLINE
      alone is not ideal, but in a resource-constrained situation, it is definitely
      better than nothing.

PMID- 20925567
TI  - Cost savings of telemedicine utilization for child psychiatry in a rural Kansas
      community.
AB  - The costs of pediatric telemedicine services remain underreported and
      understudied; however, there is evidence that telepediatric services can be cost
      competitive with traditional ones. For 15 years, the University of Kansas Center
      for Telemedicine and Telehealth has been providing telemental health outreach
      from the University of Kansas Medical Center (KUMC). One service site is located
      in Crawford County, Kansas, which provides telepsychiatry services to children
      and adolescents. The purpose of this study was to examine the costs of operating
      the Crawford County site relative to accessing services at KUMC, the likely
      alternative service location. The cost of travel time to parents who accompanied
      a dependent to either location also was estimated. Patients and parents were
      examined over a 6-month period in 2006. One hundred thirty-two patients received
      257 telemedicine psychiatric consultations during this period. Cost estimates for
      using the pediatric telemedicine service were assessed for all patients; however,
      travel and related costs were collected from a sample of 26 patient-parent dyads.
      The estimated costs of services were obtained using standard cost-accounting
      procedures. An average cost per consultation in Crawford County was $168.61. The
      cost savings in travel time and other expenses to parents and patients were
      substantial between use of the county site and KUMC. Subtracting average savings
      in travel costs to patients and parents produced an average cost of a
      telepsychiatry consult in Crawford County of only $30.99. This study was
      conducted over 6 months with a small number of observations; it should be
      replicated over a longer study period, with more patients, and with more data
      that might capture marginal costs of services.

PMID- 20925568
TI  - Making the invisible visible: near-infrared spectroscopy and phlebotomy in
      children.
AB  - AIM: Phlebotomy and venous cannulation are the most frequently performed and the
      most distressing invasive procedures in pediatrics. The aim of this pilot study
      was to assess whether a novel vein imaging system was advantageous for the
      identification of superficial veins, thus reducing the number of skin punctures.
      METHODS: The Vein Viewer was trialled in 50 children <16 years of age who
      required venous blood sampling or peripheral venous catheterization as part of
      their standard clinical care. A questionnaire with 10 questions about their
      experience of using this equipment was distributed to the pediatric doctors and
      nurses performing the procedures. RESULTS: During a 9-month period, 38
      venipunctures and 12 cannulations were performed in 50 children (mean age 6.67
      years). On average, 1.7 puncture attempts per child were necessary. Fifty
      questionnaires were completed by 11 consultants, 16 registrars, 20 senior house
      officers, and 3 nurses. Seventy-two percent rated the imaging device as useful,
      8% as not useful, and 20% remained neutral. Visibility of the peripheral veins
      was improved in 76% of children, and the same as with room light in 24%.
      CONCLUSIONS: Near-infrared technology facilitated venipuncture and venous
      cannulation in a pediatric cohort. Further, controlled trials are required
      including children of specific age groups and those from ethnic minorities.

PMID- 20925570
TI  - Going home.

PMID- 20925569
TI  - Using telehealth for assessment of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder: the
      experience of two Canadian rural and remote communities.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Telehealth has been used for fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD)
      diagnostic assessment in select Manitoban communities since 2000. OBJECTIVE: The
      purpose of this study was to evaluate the FASD telehealth program within two
      rural and remote Northern Manitoban communities by comparing community practices
      from the perspective of professionals working with the FASD diagnostic clinics in
      these communities. Recommendations for the further development of FASD assessment
      by telehealth were made to further improve current implementation and guide
      expansion of the FASD telehealth program within the province. METHODOLOGY:
      Semistructured interviews were conducted from October 19 to December 11, 2009.
      Participants (N = 26) were comprised of professionals, including those in the
      education, social services, and health sectors. RESULTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS: Two
      themes emerged from the data and covered the perceived strengths and drawbacks
      with the program, and meaningful suggestions to improve the service. Participants
      regarded the FASD telehealth program as successful and useful, especially given
      the remote location of the communities and the lack of on-site services.
      Recommendations addressing the barriers pertaining to the process were made from
      the study's findings and available scientific literature. CONCLUSIONS: This study
      will provide a solid basis for the successful further development of the FASD
      telehealth programs.

PMID- 20925571
TI  - The Eighth International Conference on Smart Homes and Health Telematics 2010,
      July 22-24, 2010, Seoul, South Korea.

PMID- 20925572
TI  - Association of renin BglI polymphism with essential hypertension: a meta-analysis
      involving 1811 cases and 1626 controls.
AB  - In an effort to clarify association of an intronic polymorphism BglI in a renin
      gene with essential hypertension, we performed a meta-analysis of the case
      control association studies. Publications in the English language and human
      subjects were searched in PubMed and EMBASE as of July 10, 2009. A fixed-effects
      model was applied to pool data in the absence of between-studies heterogeneity,
      and a random-effects model otherwise. Data and study quality were assessed in
      duplicate. Publication bias was evaluated using the fail-safe number. From three
      studies with four populations including 1811 patients with essential hypertension
      and 1626 controls, we found a significant association of renin BglI B with an
      increased risk for essential hypertension (OR = 1.25; 95% CI, 1.11 to 1.41; P =
      0.0002). In addition, significance persisted after assuming the dominant (OR =
      1.30; 95% CI, 1.13 to 1.51; P = 0.0004) mode of inheritance, while no
      significance was observed for the recessive mode (OR = 1.46; 95% CI, 0.82 to
      2.60; P = 0.20). The fail-safe number at the level of 0.05 supported these
      significant associations. In sum, our meta-analysis expands previous findings by
      showing that the presence of renin BglI B allele is associated with an increased
      risk in developing essential hypertension, and this effect might act in a
      dominant mode of inheritance. Further studies are warranted to fully address
      questions about the etiologic mechanisms of this positive association.

PMID- 20925574
TI  - Comparison of two different energy-based vascular sealing systems for the
      hemostasis of various types of arteries: a porcine model-evaluation of LigaSure
      ForceTriadTM.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The ForceTriadTM generator has been recently developed. This new
      electrosurgical generator would demonstrate improved quality and efficiency in
      blood vessel sealing. AIM: To compare currently available 10-mm laparoscopic
      electrosurgical devices with the LigaSureTM Vessel Sealing System and ForceTriad
      generator (Valleylab, Inc., a division of Tyco Healthcare) for use in vessel
      sealing. METHODS: Blood vessels of various types and diameters were harvested
      from alive four pigs using three instruments: LigaSure AtlasTM with LigaSure
      Vessel Sealing Generator (LSAt), LigaSure Atlas with ForceTriad Generator
      (LSAtFT), and EndoclipTM II (Autosuture, USSC; a division of Tyco Healthcare). A
      total of 100 arteries were processed by removal of fatty and connective tissue
      from the adventitia before sealing. An additional set of specimens was sealed and
      histopathologically analyzed after being stained with hematoxylin and eosin.
      RESULTS: The mean burst pressure was significantly higher with LSAtFT compared to
      LSAt (P < 0.01). The sealing process was significantly shorter with LSAtFT (P <
      0.05). With regard to the degree of thermal injury, adventitial collagen
      denaturation and proximal thermal injury to the smooth muscle in the media of the
      vessel wall were less common with LSAtFT; however, the numbers were too small for
      statistical analysis. CONCLUSION: Both the LSAt and LSAtFT secured all vessel
      sizes to well above physiologic levels. The LSAtFT could be used more confidently
      in vessels up to 7 mm. Our findings indicate that LSAtFT could be a safer and
      more efficient instrument for advanced laparoscopic surgery.

PMID- 20925573
TI  - Injury-induced regulation of steroidogenic gene expression in the cerebellum.
AB  - Sex steroids assist adult neural tissue in the protection from and repair of
      damage resulting from neural injury; some steroids may be synthesized in the
      brain. Songbirds are especially useful models to explore steroidal
      neuroprotection and repair. First, the full suite of cholesterol transporters and
      steroidogenic enzymes are expressed in the zebra finch (ZF) brain. Second,
      estrogens promote recovery of behavioral function after damage to the adult ZF
      cerebellum. Third, the estrogen synthetic enzyme aromatase is rapidly upregulated
      in reactive glia following neural injury, including in the ZF cerebellum. We
      hypothesized that cerebellar injury would locally upregulate steroidogenic
      factors upstream of aromatase, providing the requisite substrate for
      neuroestrogen synthesis. We tested this hypothesis by lesioning the cerebellum of
      adult songbirds using both males and females that peripherally synthesize
      steroids in different amounts. We then used quantitative PCR to examine
      expression of mRNAs for the neurosteroidogenic factors TSPO, StAR, SCC, 3beta
      HSD, CYP17, and aromatase, at 2 and 8 days post-lesion. Compared to sham lesions,
      cerebellar lesions significantly upregulated mRNA levels of TSPO and aromatase.
      Sex differences in response to the lesions were detected for TSPO, StAR, and
      aromatase. All birds responded to experimental conditions by showing time
      dependent changes in the expression of TSPO, SCC, and aromatase, suggesting that
      acute trauma or stress may impact neurosteroidogensis for many days. These data
      suggest that the cerebellum is an active site of steroid synthesis in the brain,
      and each steroidogenic factor likely provides neuroprotection and promotes
      repair.

PMID- 20925576
TI  - Inhibition of X4-tropic HIV type 1 replication by knockdown of the cellular
      protein LEREPO4.
AB  - Human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1) and host cell factors show important
      mutual interactions. We found that HIV-1 infection induced expression of a likely
      ortholog of mouse immediate early response erythropoietin 4 (LEREPO4) in vitro.
      When LEREPO4 expression was suppressed by siRNA in P4-CCR5 cells, HIV-1
      replication showed significantly reduced HIV-1 transcript and p24 protein levels
      as measured by quantitative PCR and ELISA, respectively. The LEREPO4 knockdown
      also had an inhibitory effect on HIV-1-LTR-driven reporter plasmid expression of
      beta-galactosidase. Furthermore, the inhibitory effect of LEREPO4 silencing on
      HIV-1 replication was confirmed in Jurkat T cells. The up-regulation of LEREPO4
      by HIV-1 and the inhibition of HIV-1 replication mediated by knockdown of LEREPO4
      may point to an important functional role of LEREPO4 as a novel HIV-1 dependency
      factor.

PMID- 20925578
TI  - Intravitreal tissue plasminogen activator and pneumatic displacement of
      submacular hemorrhage.
AB  - PURPOSE: We sought to evaluate the efficacy, safety, and visual outcome of
      intravitreal tissue plasminogen activator (t-pa) and pneumatic displacement to
      treat submacular hemorrhage. METHODS: In this retrospective, interventional case
      series, 46 consecutive eyes of 45 patients received intravitreal t-pa (50ug in
      0.1 mL) and expansile gas (0.3 mL perfluoropropane) injection for submacular
      hemorrhage. Hemorrhages were secondary to exudative age-related macular
      degeneration in 28 eyes, idiopathic polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (IPCV) in
      11 eyes, retinal arterial macroaneurysm in 2 eyes, pathologic myopia in 3 eyes,
      and trauma in 1 eye. After surgery, patients maintained a supine position for the
      first 6 h and then remained prone for about 1 week. Outcome measures were visual
      acuity, displacement of submacular hemorrhage, and surgical complications.
      RESULTS: Complete displacement of thick blood out of the fovea was achieved in 40
      of 45 eyes (89%), and partial displacement was achieved in 5 eyes (11%). Best
      postoperative visual acuity improved by 2 Snellen lines or greater in 21 of 45
      eyes (46.67%). At a mean follow up of 15.64 months, final visual acuity improved
      by 2 Snellen lines or greater in 16 eyes (35.6%). The complication of
      breakthrough vitreous hemorrhage occurred in nine eyes (20%). Eyes with nonage
      related macular degeneration tended to have better final visual recovery,
      especially eyes with IPCV over extended follow up (P = 0.035). CONCLUSIONS:
      Intravitreal injection of t-pa and expansile gas was an effective and safe
      treatment for submacular hemorrhage. Our study features a considerable number of
      patients with IPCV, and the outcomes are favorable.

PMID- 20925579
TI  - Association of CYP2D6 single-nucleotide polymorphism with response to ophthalmic
      timolol in primary open-angle Glaucoma--a pilot study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: We aimed to investigate whether CYP2D6 polymorphisms were associated
      with the intraocular pressure (IOP)-lowering effect and systemic complications
      (especially bradycardia) of ophthalmic timolol. METHODS: One hundred twenty-three
      primary open-angle glaucoma subjects (123 eyes) were treated with 0.5% aqueous
      formulations of ophthalmic timolol. IOP and heart rate were measured before and
      after timolol administration. DNA was extracted from venous leukocytes of all the
      subjects. Two single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of CYP2D6, for example,
      rs16947 (2850C>T, R296C) and rs1135840 (4180C>G, S486T), were detected by
      restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis. RESULTS: Neither rs16947 (P =
      0.339) nor rs1135840 (P = 0.903) genotype was statistically correlated with the
      IOP-lowering effect of timolol eye drops. The rs16947 genotype was significantly
      associated with occurrence of bradycardia in primary open-angle glaucoma patients
      (P = 0.021). The patients with rs16947 CT (P = 0.043) or TT (P = 0.043) were more
      inclined to bradycardia than those with rs16947 CC, although there was no
      significant difference between CT and TT (P = 0.177). The analysis of variance
      showed no significant difference in heart rate (P = 0.559) among GG, GC, and CC
      groups. CONCLUSIONS: CYP2D6 SNP rs16947 may confer susceptibility to timolol
      induced bradycardia. Patients with CC genotype were unlikely to suffer from
      timolol-induced bradycardia, whereas those with TT genotype were found to suffer
      from timolol-induced bradycardia.

PMID- 20925577
TI  - Doxycycline hydrogels as a potential therapy for ocular vesicant injury.
AB  - PURPOSE: The goals of this study were (1) to compare the injury at the basement
      membrane zone (BMZ) of rabbit corneal organ cultures exposed to half mustard (2
      chloroethyl ethyl sulfide, CEES) and nitrogen mustard with that of in vivo rabbit
      eyes exposed to sulfur mustard (SM); (2) to test the efficacy of 4 tetracycline
      derivatives in attenuating vesicant-induced BMZ disruption in the 24-h period
      postexposure; and (3) to use the most effective tetracycline derivative to
      compare the improvement of injury when the drug is delivered as drops or
      hydrogels to eyes exposed in vivo to SM. METHODS: Histological analysis of
      hematoxylin and eosin-stained sections was performed; the ultrastructure of the
      corneal BMZ was evaluated by transmission electron microscopy; matrix
      metalloproteinase-9 was assessed by immunofluorescence; doxycycline as drops or a
      hydrogel was applied daily for 28 days to eyes exposed in vivo to SM. Corneal
      edema was assessed by pachymetry and the extent of neovascularization was graded
      by length of longest vessel in each quadrant. RESULTS: Injury to the BMZ was
      highly similar with all vesicants, but varied in degree of severity. The
      effectiveness of the 4 drugs in retaining BMZ integrity did not correlate with
      their ability to attenuate matrix metalloproteinase-9 expression at the
      epithelial-stromal border. Doxycycline was most effective on organ cultures;
      therefore, it was applied as drops or a hydrogel to rabbit corneas exposed in
      vivo to SM. Eyes were examined at 1, 3, 7, and 28 days after exposure. At 7 and
      28 days after SM exposure, eyes treated with doxycycline were greatly improved
      over those that received no therapy. Corneal thickness decreased somewhat faster
      using doxycycline drops, whereas the hydrogel formulation decreased the incidence
      of neovascularization. CONCLUSIONS: Corneal cultures exposed to 2-chloroethyl
      ethyl sulfide and nitrogen mustard were effective models to simulate in vivo SM
      exposures. Doxycycline as drops and hydrogels ameliorated vesicant injury. With
      in vivo exposed animals, the drops reduced edema faster than the hydrogels, but
      use of the hydrogels significantly reduced neovascularization. The data provide
      proof of principle that a hydrogel formulation of doxycycline as a daily therapy
      for ocular vesicant injury should be further investigated.

PMID- 20925580
TI  - Successful treatment of Pseudallescheria boydii keratitis with topical natamycin
      as monotherapy.
AB  - PURPOSE: To report a case of Pseudallescheria boydii keratitis successfully
      treated with topical natamycin as monotherapy. METHODS: Interventional case
      report describing the clinical presentation, histopathologic findings, course,
      and treatment of a patient with P. boydii keratitis. RESULTS: A 50-year-old male
      electrician with a 4-day history of right eye pain and blurring of vision was
      referred. There was history of right eye injury while hammering and examining a
      hole in the ceiling. Examination showed a corneal abscess with overlying
      epithelial defect measuring 2 mm in diameter. Histopathologic investigation
      revealed septate hyaline cylindrical hyphae with acute angle branching and
      formation of oval to pyriform conidia truncated at the base, compatible with P.
      boydii. The patient was treated with topical natamycin 5%, which eradicated the
      infection, resulting in a final best-corrected visual acuity of 6/7.5.
      CONCLUSION: The fungus P. boydii can cause keratitis. The success rate for
      treatment was generally thought to be poor. Early detection and treatment is
      important in improving the outcome. This is believed to be the first reported
      case of P. boydii keratitis successfully treated with topical natamycin as
      monotherapy.

PMID- 20925581
TI  - Photodynamic therapy for polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy.

PMID- 20925575
TI  - Changes in the distribution of HIV type 1 subtypes D and A in Rakai District,
      Uganda between 1994 and 2002.
AB  - HIV-1 subtype D (HIV-1D) progresses to disease faster and has lower
      transmissibility than subtype A (HIV-1A). We examined whether these differences
      could lead to a population level change in the distribution of these subtypes
      over time. HIV-1 viral RNA was extracted from stored serum samples from HIV
      positive subjects participating in a population-based cohort study in Rakai,
      Uganda in 1994 and 2002. Portions of the viral proteins gag and gp41 were
      sequenced and subtyped. HIV-1 subtype assignments were generated for 773 subjects
      in 1994 and 812 subjects in 2002. The change in subtype distribution of the
      population as a whole as well as quartile age groups were examined for
      significant changes using a linear model. There was a significant decrease in the
      proportion of subjects infected with HIV-1D from 70.2% to 62.4% and a significant
      increase in subjects infected with HIV-1A from 16.7% to 23.3% over the 8-year
      period (p = 0.005). The most marked changes in proportion of HIV-1D and A were
      seen in the younger individuals (<25 and 25-30 years; p < 0.05). The percentages
      of subjects infected with HIV-1C and recombinant subtypes did not change
      significantly. Over this 8-year period, the overall viral population in this
      region evolved toward the less virulent HIV-1A strain, most likely as a
      consequence of the faster disease progression and lower transmissibility of HIV
      1D.

PMID- 20925582
TI  - Intravitreal ranibizumab in the treatment of cystoid macular edema associated
      with retinitis pigmentosa.

PMID- 20925583
TI  - Genetic polymorphisms of glycine N-acyltransferase (GLYAT) in a French Caucasian
      population.
AB  - In humans, the glycine N-acyltransferase enzyme (GLYAT) is thought to be
      important in the detoxification of endogenous and xenobiotic compounds which
      contain a carboxylic acid group, such as benzoic, isovaleric, or acetylsalicylic
      acids. The aim of this work was to report a comprehensive investigation of GLYAT
      genetic polymorphisms in DNA samples from 55 subjects of French Caucasian origin,
      using polymerase chain reaction-single-strand conformation polymorphism and
      sequencing strategies. Seven different polymorphisms of the GLYAT gene were
      identified, including two polymorphisms in the 5' flanking region of the gene (g.
      8457C>T and g.-8010A>G), two polymorphisms in intron 5 (g.13931A>G and
      g.13944C>T) and three missense mutations in exon 2 (g.49T>A; p.Ser17Thr), exon 5
      (g.13886A>G; p.Asn156Ser) and exon 6 (g.14435C>T; p.Arg199Cys). In addition to
      the wild-type allele GLYAT*1 (2.7%), four novel alleles were identified: GLYAT*2A
      (75.5%), *2B (4.5%), *3 (16.4%) and *4 (0.9%), and five different genotypes.
      Localisation of the p.Ser17Thr and p.Arg199Cys missense mutations in predicted
      secondary structures suggest that these variants might have a potential role on
      the GLYAT protein activity. These results could be helpful in investigating the
      potential association of GLYAT variants with an incidence of reduced efficiency
      in xenobiotic carboxylic acids detoxification in humans.

PMID- 20925584
TI  - The metabolism and disposition of a potent inhibitor of hepatitis C virus NS3/4A
      protease.
AB  - Compound A ((1aR,5S,8S,10R,22aR)-5-tert-butyl-N-{(1R,2S)-1
      [(cyclopropylsulfonyl)carbamoyl]-2-ethenylcyclopropyl}-14-methoxy-3,6-dioxo
      1,1a,3,4,5,6,9,10,18,19,20,21,22,22a-tetradecahydro-8H-7,10
      methanocyclopropa[18,19][1,10,3,6]dioxadiazacyclononadecino[12,11-b]quinoline-8
      carboxamide) is a prototype of a series of subnanomolar inhibitors of genotypes
      1, 2, and 3 hepatitis C virus (HCV) NS3/4A proteases. HCV NS3/4A protease
      inhibitors have demonstrated high antiviral effects in patients with chronic HCV
      infection and are likely to form a key component of future HCV therapy. Compound
      A showed excellent liver exposure in rats, which is essential for compounds
      intended to treat HCV. The compound was mainly eliminated intact in bile and
      showed greater than dose proportional systemic exposure in rats. Compound A
      demonstrated time- and temperature-dependent uptake into rat and human
      hepatocytes and proved to be a substrate for rat hepatic uptake transporter
      Oatp1b2 and for human hepatic uptake transporters OATP1B1 and OATP1B3. The liver
      selectivity observed for this compound is likely to be due to transporter
      mediated hepatic uptake together with moderate passive permeability. Metabolism
      was mainly CYP3A-mediated and generated a reactive epoxide on the
      vinylcyclopropyl sulfonamide moiety that could be quenched by glutathione.
      Similar metabolic profiles of Compound A were obtained in liver microsomes of
      rats and humans. The oral bioavailability at 5 mg/kg was low due to extensive
      hepatic first-pass effect but clearly the intestinal absorption was enough to
      deliver a high amount of the compound to the liver. The metabolism and
      disposition properties of Compound A are particularly attractive to support its
      evaluation as a drug candidate for the treatment of hepatitis C.

PMID- 20925585
TI  - In vitro metabolism, glutathione conjugation, and CYP isoform specificity of
      epoxidation of 4-vinylphenol.
AB  - 4-Vinylphenol (4VP) has been identified as a minor urinary metabolite of styrene
      in rat and human volunteers. This compound has been shown to be more hepatotoxic
      and pneumotoxic than both styrene and styrene oxide at lower doses in rats and
      mice. To explore the possible toxicity mechanism of 4VP, the current study was
      conducted to investigate the metabolism of 4VP, the glutathione (GSH) conjugation
      of the metabolites of 4VP and its cytochrome P(450) (CYP) specificity in
      epoxidation in different microsomes in vitro. Incubations of 4VP with mouse lung
      microsomes afforded two major metabolites which were identified as 4-(2-oxiranyl)
      phenol of 4VP (4VPO) and 4VP catechol. 4VPO was found to react with GSH to form
      GSH conjugate and 4VP catechol was found to further be metabolized to
      electrophilic species which react with GSH to form the corresponding 4VP catechol
      GSH conjugates. Relative formation rates for those GSH conjugates and the
      regioisomer formation of 4VPO-GSH conjugates with both inhibitors of CYP 2F2 and
      CYP 2E1 in microsomal incubation condition were also investigated. This present
      study provides better insight on the lung toxicity seen with 4VP, the toxic
      metabolite of commercial styrene.

PMID- 20925586
TI  - Norwegian obstetricians' opinions about cesarean section on maternal request:
      should women pay themselves?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: to explore obstetricians' opinions on cesarean section (CS) on
      maternal request in the absence of a medical indication, and the potential to
      regulate CS on maternal request through financial incentives such as patient co
      payment. DESIGN: cross-sectional study. SETTING: Norway. POPULATION/SAMPLE: a
      total of 507 obstetricians (response rate 71%). METHODS: Questionnaire covering
      socio-demographic variables, professional experience and attitudes about CS on
      maternal request (such as willingness to perform, views on how CS on maternal
      request should be financed). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: obstetricians' opinions about
      CS on maternal request including funding and use of patient co-payments. RESULTS:
      clinical encounters with CS on maternal request were considered problematic from
      a clinical viewpoint by 62% of the respondents. While 35% considered the costs of
      CS on maternal request to be a public responsibility, 40% suggested use of co
      payments ranging from ?188- ?7,500. Male obstetricians less frequently considered
      CS on maternal request problematic and were more likely to favor public funding
      than females. Female obstetricians favored use of co-payments more often than
      males (64% female vs. 37% male obstetricians, chi(2) = 23.94, p < 0.001) and
      suggested higher co-payments. The median co-payment was ?1,875 for female and
      ?1,250 for male obstetricians (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: the study supports the
      existence of a gender difference concerning obstetricians' responses to patient
      requested cesarean section. The results indicate that a substantial proportion of
      obstetricians welcome some form of constraint concerning cesarean section
      requests in the absence of a medical indication.

PMID- 20925587
TI  - Non-inferiority randomized trials, an issue between science and ethics: the case
      of the SYNTAX study.
AB  - Non-inferiority trials are questionable when death and serious complications are
      included among outcomes. The term itself "non-inferiority" is misleading, since
      such a study would not demonstrate that a new treatment is non-inferior to a
      control treatment, but simply that the inferiority would not reach a pre
      specified level, deemed as acceptable by the designers of the trial. Group cross
      over, assay-sensitivity and the need of a placebo arm are major issues for the
      reliability of non-inferiority trials. The SYNTAX trial for severe coronary
      artery disease was designed on a non-inferiority margin of 6.6%. In this paper we
      show that the SYNTAX designers were ready to accept up to 30% higher rate of
      death and major adverse events to claim the non-inferiority of percutaneous
      coronary intervention versus coronary artery bypass grafting. Eventually the
      SYNTAX study failed because percutaneous patients sustained an even higher rate
      of adverse events. We propose major caution in performing non-inferiority
      randomized trials.

PMID- 20925588
TI  - Laparoscopic reduction of intussusception in children by a single surgeon in
      comparison with open surgery.
AB  - The surgical approach for managing intussusception is controversial. In this
      study, a retrospective analysis of patients undergoing surgical reduction for
      intussusception over a period of five years was conducted. All patients received
      either open surgery or laparoscopic approach after failing enema reduction of
      intussusception. The clinical and operative data were collected and analyzed.
      Eight patients received open surgery (OPEN group), and 37 patients received
      laparoscopic surgery, while two (5.4%) of them converted to open surgery. The
      remaining 35 patients were included in the LAP group. There was no difference in
      age, gender, clinical symptoms and signs, duration of symptoms, level of
      intussusception, and complications between the OPEN and LAP groups. In contrast,
      the operation time and length of hospital stay in the LAP group were
      significantly shorter than those in the OPEN group (P = 0.013 and P = 0.001
      respectively). No recurrence was disclosed in the OPEN group but three patients
      in the LAP group had recurrent intussusception (8.6%); however, the difference of
      the recurrence rate between these two groups was not statistically significant (P
      = 0.40). In conclusion, reducing intussusception with the laparoscopic approach
      is highly successful and can be performed first for stable patients requiring
      surgical intervention.

PMID- 20925589
TI  - Traumatic epidural haematoma of the posterior cranial fossa.
AB  - A posterior fossa epidural haematoma (EDH) is uncommon and the diagnosis is
      difficult because the clinical symptoms are non-specific. Therefore, a computed
      tomography scan is important for the early diagnosis and management. Thirty-four
      patients with a posterior fossa EDH were admitted between 2001 and 2008. A
      retrospective analysis of the clinical and radiographic findings with regard to
      outcome and prognostic factors was carried out. The Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS)
      score on admission was recorded to be: one in 3-5, five in 6-8, six in 9-12 and
      22 patients in 13-15. The admission GCS score was the most valuable prognostic
      factor. Among the 28 patients with a GCS score of more than 9, 27 patients
      survived with good results; for the six patients with a GCS score of less than
      eight, two patients had good recovery and four patients had unfavourable outcome.
      The 15 patients that were conservatively treated and 14 out of the 19 patients
      surgically treated had a good recovery. Among the other surgically treated
      patients, two were moderately disabled, two remained in a vegetative state and
      one died (overall mortality 2.9%). An occipital fracture was present in 28 cases.
      Six patients with a diastatic fracture of the lambdoid suture had a more
      complicated venous sinus injury requiring early surgery compared to those with a
      simple linear fracture. The patients admitted with associated intracranial
      injuries, such as a contrecoup injury including subdural haemorrhage or traumatic
      subarachnoid haemorrhage had a poor outcome. The initial GCS score on admission
      and the presence of associated intracranial injuries were important factors
      associated with the patient prognosis. A diastatic fracture of the lambdoid
      suture was associated with complicated venous sinus injuries making surgery more
      difficult.

PMID- 20925590
TI  - Huge calcified chronic subdural haematoma.
AB  - Huge calcified chronic subdural hematoma is quite rare. We reported a such case
      in a old man. The intraoperative photographs of the case fully demonstrated the
      morphology of the calcified chronic subdural hematoma.

PMID- 20925591
TI  - Synergistic effect of emodin in combination with ampicillin or oxacillin against
      methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.
AB  - Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a substantial contributor
      to morbidity and mortality. In search of a natural products capable of inhibiting
      this multidrug resistant bacteria, we have investigated the antimicrobial
      activity of emodin (EM) isolated from Rheum palmatum L. (Polygonaceae) against 17
      different strains of the bacterium. New antimicrobial activity was found using
      the paper disc diffusion method, agar dilution as well as checkerboard method.
      Against the 17 strains, the disc diffusion test was in the range of 18-30 mm, and
      the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of EM were in the range of 1.5-25
      MUg/mL. From those results we performed the checkerboard test to determine the
      synergism of EM in combination with ampicillin (AM) or oxacillin (OX) against all
      strains. The combined activity of EM and two antimicrobial agents (AM, OX)
      against all strains resulted in a fractional inhibitory concentrations index
      (FICI) ranging from 0.37-0.5 and from 0.37-0.75, respectively. The effect of EM
      with AM and OX was found to be synergistic or partially synergistic. We found
      that EM reduced the MICs of AM and OX. EM and in combination with AM or OX could
      lead to the development of new combination antibiotics against MRSA infection.

PMID- 20925592
TI  - Natural sperm birefringence can be used to estimate sperm viability and
      morphology.
AB  - Semen parameters were evaluated by a variety of tests. A polarizing microscope
      (PM) which allows, in a single step, for the evaluation of the number, motility,
      viability of sperm using the phenomenon of birefringence was used. This approach
      avoids a Papanicolaou staining procedure modified for sperm (PAP) performed in
      fixed material. The aim of this study was to examine the birefringence of sperm
      structures, in live cells, for the direct analysis of morphology on fresh
      samples. Semen samples from 15 men of recently proven fertility and from 66 male
      patients who attended our center for semen analysis were examined by polarization
      microscope (PM) analysis in order to find an index representing a pool of sperm
      with normal morphology and progressive motility. The receiver operating
      characteristics (ROC) curves were used to determine the performance of the
      proposed diagnostic method. The difference between the two areas under the ROC
      curves (PAP=0.76 and PM=0.82) was quantitatively not significant (P=0.308);
      however, the curve of the PM method was always higher than the curve of PAP,
      revealing that, qualitatively, PM was more sensitive than PAP. The PM index can
      represent the percentage of motile sperm with normal morphology, which is the
      actual pool of sperm that can reach and fertilize the oocyte. We suggest a PM
      diagnostic cut-off value of 20%, since this value was the lowest found for
      individuals of proven fertility.

PMID- 20925593
TI  - Detection of pathogens in foods: the current state-of-the-art and future
      directions.
AB  - Over the last fifty years, microbiologists have developed reliable culture-based
      techniques to detect food borne pathogens. Although these are considered to be
      the "gold-standard," they remain cumbersome and time consuming. Despite the
      advent of rapid detection methods such as ELISA and PCR, it is clear that
      reduction and/or elimination of cultural enrichment will be essential in the
      quest for truly real-time detection methods. As such, there is an important role
      for bacterial concentration and purification from the sample matrix as a step
      preceding detection, so-called pre-analytical sample processing. This article
      reviews recent advancements in food borne pathogen detection and discusses future
      methods with a focus on pre-analytical sample processing, culture independent
      methods, and biosensors.

PMID- 20925595
TI  - Maternal omega-3 fatty acid supplementation and risk for perinatal maternal
      depression.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: A systematic review was conducted to assess the possible association
      between omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) supplementation and intake in
      the perinatal period and the risk of maternal perinatal depression. METHODS: Two
      PubMed searches and a BIOSIS Preview, a Web of Science and a PsychInfo search
      were conducted with the search terms 'DHA, pregnancy and depression' and 'omega-3
      fatty acids, pregnancy and depression'. RESULTS: Ten articles - three
      longitudinal cohort studies, five randomized controlled trials and two pilot
      trials- that met selection criteria were reviewed. Six found no association, two
      found mixed results, and two found a positive association between omega-3 PUFAs
      and reduced incidence of maternal perinatal depression. The heterogeneity of
      results can be explained by dissimilar study designs, including differences in
      study duration, time period of measurement and number of participants, and in
      varied dosages and types of supplemental PUFAs. Some of the larger studies and
      those that found a positive effect were more likely to be using higher doses,
      close to 2 g of docosahexaeonic acid (DHA) + eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), and
      began the supplementation earlier in pregnancy. CONCLUSIONS: Future RCTs to
      investigate the role of PUFA supplementation and risk for maternal perinatal
      depression should begin supplementation early in pregnancy and use a dosage
      closer to 2 g of DHA + EPA. Depression should also be measured using a diagnostic
      interview schedule in addition to a screener.

PMID- 20925596
TI  - Anti-IL-17A therapy protects against bone erosion in experimental models of
      rheumatoid arthritis.
AB  - Interleukin-17A (IL-17A) is a pro-inflammatory cytokine secreted by a subset of
      memory T cells and other innate immune cells. It is associated with rheumatoid
      arthritis (RA) due to IL-17A expression in RA synovial fluid. The severe bone
      erosive rat adjuvant-induced arthritis (rAIA) and mouse collagen-induced
      arthritis (mCIA) models were used to address the therapeutic efficacy of anti-IL
      17A treatment with a focused investigation on bone protection. In the rAIA model,
      treatment with anti-IL-17A completely alleviated arthritis, lowered the level of
      receptor activator of NFkappaB ligand (RANKL), and inhibited structural damage to
      the bones. In the mCIA model, IL-17A neutralization coincident with arthritis
      development or in mice with established arthritis diminished joint swelling by
      inhibiting disease initiation and progression. Intriguingly, even the few joints
      that became outwardly severely inflamed in the presence of an anti-IL-17A
      antagonist had diminished joint histopathology scores compared to severely
      inflamed, control-treated mice. The bone-preserving property correlated with
      decreased RANKL message in severely inflamed paws of arthritic mice. These data
      identify IL-17A as a key factor in inflammation-mediated bone destruction and
      support anti-IL-17A therapy for the treatment of inflammatory bone diseases such
      as RA.

PMID- 20925597
TI  - Survivin: a target from brain cancer to neurodegenerative disease.
AB  - Apoptosis is an important contributing factor during neuronal death in a variety
      of neurodegenerative disorders, including multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease
      and sciatic nerve injury. Whereas several clinical and preclinical studies have
      focused on the neuroprotective effects of caspase inhibitors, their clinical
      benefits are still unclear. Here, we discuss novel alternative strategies to
      protect neuronal cells from apoptotic death using members of the inhibitors of
      apoptosis (IAP) family. We specifically review the different roles of survivin,
      which is an important member of the IAP family that serves a dual role in the
      inhibition of apoptosis as well as a vital role in mitosis and cell division. Due
      to the various roles of survivin during cell division and apoptosis, targeting
      this protein illustrates a new therapeutic window for the treatment of
      neurodegenerative diseases.

PMID- 20925594
TI  - K(ATP) channels process nucleotide signals in muscle thermogenic response.
AB  - Uniquely gated by intracellular adenine nucleotides, sarcolemmal ATP-sensitive
      K(+) (K(ATP)) channels have been typically assigned to protective cellular
      responses under severe energy insults. More recently, K(ATP) channels have been
      instituted in the continuous control of muscle energy expenditure under non
      stressed, physiological states. These advances raised the question of how K(ATP)
      channels can process trends in cellular energetics within a milieu where each
      metabolic system is set to buffer nucleotide pools. Unveiling the mechanistic
      basis of the K(ATP) channel-driven thermogenic response in muscles thus invites
      the concepts of intracellular compartmentalization of energy and proteins, along
      with nucleotide signaling over diffusion barriers. Furthermore, it requires
      gaining insight into the properties of reversibility of intrinsic ATPase activity
      associated with K(ATP) channel complexes. Notwithstanding the operational
      paradigm, the homeostatic role of sarcolemmal K(ATP) channels can be now
      broadened to a wider range of environmental cues affecting metabolic well-being.
      In this way, under conditions of energy deficit such as ischemic insult or
      adrenergic stress, the operation of K(ATP) channel complexes would result in
      protective energy saving, safeguarding muscle performance and integrity. Under
      energy surplus, downregulation of K(ATP) channel function may find potential
      implications in conditions of energy imbalance linked to obesity, cold
      intolerance and associated metabolic disorders.

PMID- 20925598
TI  - Ultrastructural analysis and electron microscopic localization of Nox4 in healthy
      and atherosclerotic human aorta.
AB  - During diverse pathological conditions, vascular smooth muscle cells (SMCs)
      characteristically change from a quiescent, contractile phenotype to a
      proliferative, synthetic state, migrate toward the intima, and synthesize excess
      extracellular matrix. Although reactive oxygen species (ROS) are generally
      considered to be toxic to cells, recent evidence suggests that they may also
      modulate multiple signaling pathways. The vascular system contains several
      sources of ROS, among which NADPH oxidases (NOXes) have been shown to take an
      important part in the regulation of cell function, with effects on growth and
      proliferation. In the present study, the authors investigate the ultrastructural
      features of SMCs and the expression profile of Nox4 in healthy and
      atherosclerotic human aorta to explore the possibility of a relationship between
      Nox4 and SMCs differentiation state. The data extend at the level of
      immunoelectron microscopy previous observations, demonstrating for the first time
      the precise distribution and the differential expression of Nox4 in the
      morphologically distinct SMC types of healthy and diseased human aorta.

PMID- 20925599
TI  - Abnormal nuclear structures (micronuclei, nuclear blebs, strings, and pockets) in
      a case of anaplastic giant cell carcinoma of the thyroid: an immunohistochemical
      and ultrastructural study.
AB  - The authors report a case of a 70-year-old woman with an anaplastic giant cell
      thyroid carcinoma, along with immunohistochemical and electron microscopic
      findings. Histologically, the tumor is characterized by mononucleated and
      multinucleated giant cells, lack of architectural cohesion, atypical mitoses, and
      extensive areas of coagulative necrosis. Tumor cells showed AE1/AE3 positivity as
      well as nuclear overexpression of p53 and ki-67. Semithin sections revealed
      multiple nuclei with heterogeneous size ranging from micronuclei to large-size
      (giant) nuclei. Micronuclei were confirmed by electron microscopy that disclosed
      also the presence of nuclear blebs, strings, and pockets. Morphological findings
      of these abnormal nuclear structures in conjunction with p53 and Ki-67 nuclear
      overexpression suggested a faulty mitotic checkpoint/mitotic catastrophe in the
      progression of anaplastic giant cell thyroid carcinoma.

PMID- 20925601
TI  - Caesarean section wound infection.

PMID- 20925602
TI  - Hypnosis for hyperemesis gravidarum.
AB  - Hyperemesis gravidarum--severe and persistent nausea and vomiting during
      pregnancy--can lead to serious negative health consequences for both mother and
      fetus. Appropriate evidence-based treatment for this illness is paramount.
      Studies describing hypnosis in the treatment of hyperemesis gravidarum (HG) were
      reviewed. A literature search was carried out using Cochrane, PsycINFO,
      PsycARTICLES, and Web of Knowledge databases. A total of 45 studies were
      identified by the search. Six studies fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Studies
      were reviewed in terms of study design, methodological quality, intervention and
      outcomes. Methodology between the studies differed but all reported encouraging
      positive outcomes. However, the quality of current evidence, based on the studies
      reviewed in this study, is not sufficient to establish if hypnosis is an
      effective treatment for HG. To be able to accurately assess the efficacy of
      hypnosis for HG, it is recommended that well-designed studies, e.g. randomised
      control trials, be carried out.

PMID- 20925600
TI  - Serotonin receptor signaling and regulation via beta-arrestins.
AB  - Serotonin receptors are the product of 15 distinct genes, 14 of which are G
      protein-coupled receptors. These receptors are expressed in a wide range of cell
      types, including distinct neuronal populations, and promote diverse functional
      responses in multiple organ systems. These receptors are important for mediating
      the in vivo effects of their cognate neurotransmitter, serotonin, as well as the
      endogenous tryptamines. In addition, the actions of many drugs are mediated,
      either directly or indirectly, through serotonin receptors, including
      antidepressants, antipsychotics, anxiolytics, sleep aids, migraine therapies,
      gastrointestinal therapeutics and hallucinogenic drugs. It is becoming
      increasingly evident that serotonin receptors can engage in differential
      signaling that is determined by the chemical nature of the ligand and that
      ligands that demonstrate a predilection for inducing a particular signaling
      cascade are considered to have "functional selectivity". The elucidation of the
      cellular signaling pathways that mediate the physiological responses to serotonin
      and other agonists is an active area of investigation and will be an onward
      looking focal point for determining how to effectively and selectively promote
      beneficial serotonergic mimicry while avoiding unwanted clinical side effects.
      This review highlights the modulation of serotonin 2A, 2C, and four receptors by
      beta-arrestins, which may represent a fulcrum for biasing receptor responsiveness
      in vivo.

PMID- 20925603
TI  - Pulmonary dysfunction in acute antepartum pyelonephritis and other pregnancy
      infections.

PMID- 20925604
TI  - Lymphoepithelioma-like carcinoma of the cervix.

PMID- 20925605
TI  - Does saline irrigation reduce the wound infection in caesarean delivery?
AB  - The aim of this prospective randomised study was to estimate the effect of saline
      wound irrigation before wound closure in the prevention of infection following
      caesarean delivery. Participants with indications for elective or emergency
      caesarean section were randomly allocated to two groups. A total of 260 women who
      underwent wound irrigation before wound closure and 260 did not. No demographic
      differences were identified between the groups. There were also no significant
      differences between the groups in terms of factors known to influence wound
      infection. The incidence of wound infection was 7.3% for the control group and
      6.5% for the saline group; however, the difference was not significant (relative
      risk: 0.88; 95% confidence interval: 0.45-1.74; p=0.86). In conclusion, saline
      wound irrigation before wound closure did not reduce the infection rate in
      patients undergoing caesarean delivery.

PMID- 20925606
TI  - Iatrogenic bladder injuries during caesarean delivery: a case control study.
AB  - This study determined the rate, risk factors, management and outcome of bladder
      injury during caesarean section and suggests ways to improve the quality of care
      and reduce maternal morbidity and mortality. During the study period, there were
      76 bladder injuries in 56,799 caesarean deliveries for an overall incidence of
      0.13%. Women with a bladder injury were more likely to have had a prior caesarean
      delivery, as compared with the control group (72.4% vs 34.2%; p < 0.001). Cases
      were also more likely than controls to have had prior pelvic surgery. The
      presence of adhesions during the procedure was greater in the bladder injury
      group than the controls. In conclusion, our study suggests that a previous
      caesarean delivery is the most common risk factor for bladder injury during
      caesarean delivery. Moreover, the presence of labour, station of the presenting
      fetal part deeper than or equal to +1, and a large baby were independent risks
      for a bladder injury during caesarean delivery. Women requesting primary
      caesarean deliveries should be counselled about the potential for significant
      surgical complications in repeat caesarean deliveries when discussing the
      indications for a primary elective caesarean delivery.

PMID- 20925607
TI  - Intrapartum cardiotocograph interpretation by midwives and trainee obstetricians
      using a modified definition of a fetal heart rate deceleration.
AB  - The aim of this study was to assess cardiotocograph (CTG) interpretation by
      midwives and trainee obstetricians using the standard and a modified definition
      of fetal heart rate deceleration compared with consultant interpretation as the
      Gold Standard. A randomised survey using the online tool at: www.surveymonkey.com
      between 4 January and 24 April 2009, was conducted at a tertiary obstetric unit,
      UK. A total of 104 (~54%) health professionals responded, providing 1,118
      responses with respect to the presence of decelerations on 13 anonymised CTGs.
      Five obstetric consultants (62.5%) provided expert opinion. Midwives and trainee
      obstetricians were more likely to concur with Consultant opinion when using the
      modified definition of fetal heart rate deceleration compared with the standard
      definition. Larger scale studies may be needed to further evaluate the usefulness
      of the modified definition.

PMID- 20925608
TI  - Thyroid autoantibodies and associated complications during pregnancy.
AB  - This study was undertaken to determine the presence of thyroid autoantibodies and
      associated pregnancy complications from 49 pregnant women with thyroid disease.
      There were 31 (63%) women with Graves' disease (GD) and 18 (37%) with primary
      hypothyroidism (PHT). A total of 26 (53.1%) women, 19 (61%) with GD and seven
      (39%) with PHT, had positive antibodies. Six had thyroid peroxidase antibodies
      (TPO), one with thyroglobulin antibody (TG) and eight had TSH receptor antibodies
      (TR). Two had a mixture of antibodies involving TG/TPO (one GD vs one PHT), four
      with TG/TPO/TR (all had GD) and five with TPO/TR (four with GD vs one with PHT).
      There were associations in women with positive thyroid antibodies and pre
      eclampsia (15.4%), abruptio placenta (4%), caesarean deliveries (31%), postpartum
      thyroiditis (19.2%) and abnormal neonatal thyroid function (15.4%). Women with
      positive thyroid antibodies in pregnancy need close care during and after
      pregnancy, as they can develop complications affecting both mother and fetus.

PMID- 20925609
TI  - Overweight and obesity in pregnancy do not adversely affect neonatal outcomes:
      new evidence.
AB  - We studied neonatal outcomes of infants of obese mothers in a cohort of 6,125
      deliveries, using logistic multivariate analysis to remove the role of potential
      confounding variables. Although, as in previous reports, the crude unadjusted
      prevalence of several adverse neonatal outcomes was higher in these infants, the
      multivariable analysis revealed that only two outcomes remained significantly
      associated with maternal overweight and obesity: neonatal macrosomia (adjusted
      odds ratios aOR 1.4, p < 0.001) and meconium aspiration syndrome (aOR 1.6, p =
      0.05), indicating that the unadjusted association with the other outcomes was
      caused by confounding factors. Nonetheless, as macrosomia is associated with
      increased health risks both to the mothers and their infants, and maternal
      obesity with considerable maternal morbidity during pregnancy, these results
      should not lead to complacency, but instead encourage better prevention of
      obesity in general and during pregnancy in particular.

PMID- 20925610
TI  - Role of interventional radiology in the management of morbidly adherent placenta.
AB  - The incidence of morbidly adherent placenta is rising and is directly
      proportional to the rate of rise of caesarean deliveries. Despite improvement in
      antenatal diagnosis, by accuracy of ultrasound and MRI techniques, placenta
      accreta is still associated with a high maternal morbidity rate. Management of
      pregnancies with a morbidly adherent placenta is extremely challenging and is
      becoming an increasingly common problem for maternity units globally. The main
      challenges include controlling the haemorrhage and dissection of the invaded
      tissues. Traditionally, these cases were managed by caesarean hysterectomy. There
      has now been a shift towards conservative management of placenta accreta,
      involving uterine and placental conservation, with the aid of interventional
      radiology by means of insertion of occluding balloons into appropriate vessels.
      We describe three cases of morbidly adherent placentas, managed at our unit where
      meticulous preoperative planning, multidisciplinary approach and the key role of
      interventional radiology led to a safe outcome for both the mother and the baby.

PMID- 20925611
TI  - Postpartum hypocalcaemia in Maiduguri, North-eastern Nigeria: a 10-year review.
AB  - The aim of maternal calcium homeostasis is to provide adequate calcium flux
      across the placenta during pregnancy and into breast milk during lactation, to
      ensure normal fetal and neonatal skeletal mineralisation. The objective of this
      study was to document the characteristics and outcome of patients who had
      postpartum hypocalcaemia. Cases of symptomatic postpartum hypocalcaemia managed
      over a 10-year period (1 January 1998 to 31 December 2007) at the University of
      Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, were retrospectively reviewed. A total of 34 cases
      were identified. The sociodemographic characteristics, corrected calcium level,
      duration of treatment, mode of delivery and the packed cell volume (PCV) were
      analysed using the EPI-INFO Version 3.4.3 statistical package. The mean age and
      parity were 24.29 +/- 5.88 and 3.39 +/- 2.32, respectively. All the patients
      presented with carpopedal spasm with or without associated symptoms. There was a
      direct relationship (R2 linear = 0.292, p = 0.001) between PCV and serum calcium.
      Multiparous women were significantly more affected than primiparae (chi2 = 15.08;
      p = 0.0005). Half of the patients presented within 1 week of onset of symptoms.
      In conclusion, the association between anaemia and postpartum hypocalcaemia needs
      further study to determine the cause and effect relationship.

PMID- 20925612
TI  - Severe anaemia in pregnancy: a tertiary hospital experience from northern India.
AB  - Anaemia is a major health problem among woman of reproductive age group,
      particularly in developing countries. We undertook this study to determine the
      maternal and perinatal outcome in patients with severe anaemia in pregnancy, with
      a haemoglobin concentration of < 7 g/dl. The in-hospital data were analysed for
      12 months between January 2007 and December 2007 and 2.15% (n = 96) of women were
      found to have severe anaemia. Out of these, 18.75% had pre-term premature rupture
      of membranes and 5.12% of all deliveries were pre-term. Hypertensive diseases of
      pregnancy were seen in 17.7%; abruption in 3.12% and 9.37% had congestive cardiac
      failure. Postpartum haemorrhage was seen in 25.5% of the patients and 8.33% had
      puerperal pyrexia. Fetal distress was seen in 26% of and 33.33% had small for
      gestational age neonates; there were 16.66% stillbirths and 4.16% neonatal
      deaths. Of the 96 severely anaemic women, six died after admission. Our study
      shows that efforts must be taken towards safe motherhood and spreading awareness
      about the various consequences of anaemia, which is usually preventable with
      early correction.

PMID- 20925613
TI  - Laparoscopic assisted vaginal hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy as
      a day surgery procedure: a promising option.
AB  - Laparoscopic surgical techniques are increasingly being used to treat
      gynaecological malignancies as studies confirm long-term results similar to open
      procedures. Within the UK National Health Service, there is a drive towards day
      of surgery admission and reducing inpatient stay. We audited the length of
      inpatient stay, acceptability to patients of day of surgery admission and timing
      of discharge and accessibility to early community follow-up, among women
      undergoing laparoscopic assisted vaginal hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo
      oophorectomy in our unit over a 6-month period. We show that women find short
      inpatient stays acceptable and that many can be safely discharged, with no
      postoperative hospital follow-up, within 24&#x2009;h. Adequate pre-admission
      procedures and easy access to advice, post-discharge must be ensured.

PMID- 20925614
TI  - Microbiology of cysts/abscesses of Bartholin's gland: review of empirical
      antibiotic therapy against microbial culture.
AB  - Bartholin's glands are prone to obstruction at their opening into the vestibule,
      forming cysts which could be infected to become gland abscess. In our unit,
      treatment of Bartholin's abscess is usually surgical. In addition to surgical
      treatment, antimicrobial agents are often administered before microbial culture
      results are known. In this study, we aimed to determine the most common pathogens
      in Bartholin's glands abscess in our local population so that empiric
      antimicrobial therapy, if required, could be correctly directed. Among the 78
      cases reviewed, there was positive microbial culture in 73.9%. Bartholin's
      abscess was commonly caused by opportunistic organisms, either as single agents
      or polymicrobial infections. Aerobic organisms were the commonest with coliforms
      being the most common bacteria. No cases of N. gonorrhoea or C. trachomatis were
      encountered. Flucloxacillin as a single agent was the most frequently prescribed
      antibiotic. Poly-pharmacy was common practice. It was concluded that whether
      adjuvant antibiotic therapy is necessary following surgical treatment of
      Bartholin's abscess is still controversial. Where antibiotics are required, the
      optimal initial therapy is not known. As poly-microbial infections are common, a
      broad spectrum agent like co-amoxiclav may be suitable for empirical treatment
      until culture results are known.

PMID- 20925615
TI  - NHS abortion services: referral pathways and outcomes.
AB  - The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of the different referral
      pathways to accessing abortion services. It was a retrospective observational
      study comparing abortion referral processes in two district hospitals. The
      results showed that 149 patients self-accessed the NHS abortion service in group
      A compared with group B of 365 formally referred patients. Half of the patients
      in each group had an appointment within 5 days of referral and nearly all within
      2 weeks. However, 74% of patients in group A had their termination request met
      within 7 days of the initial appointment, compared with only 37% in group B (p =
      0.0011). A total of 70% of terminations performed in group A were undertaken at
      less than 10 weeks' gestation, compared with only 31% in group B (p < 0.0001). It
      was concluded that the open referral pathway to accessing NHS abortion services,
      where available, appears to be effective in allowing more abortions to be
      undertaken at an early gestation.

PMID- 20925616
TI  - Fertility characteristics and family planning methods used by women delivering at
      a University Hospital in Eastern Turkey.
AB  - The aim of this study was to assess the fertility characteristics and family
      planning methods in the city of Elazig, Turkey. This cross-sectional descriptive
      study included all the women who had delivered babies at the Elazig Firat Medical
      Center Obstetrics and Gynecology Clinic. Across the entire group, the mean number
      of pregnancies was found to be 2.98 +/- 1.89. Among the family planning methods
      used, the first choice of most women was the condom, which ranked first with
      32.2%; the oral contraceptive ranked second with 15.1%. The question, 'Have you
      ever used any contraceptive methods?' was asked and 55.4% answered 'yes'. The
      most common method was condom use. The most common method of contraception used
      by married women for the first time was the condom, and the most common method
      used during marriage was, again, the condom.

PMID- 20925617
TI  - Laparoscopy--or not--for management of unexplained infertility.
AB  - This study aimed at evaluating the role of laparoscopy in the management of
      unexplained infertility in a prospective randomised controlled trial. The study
      comprised of 255 patients as a study group and 257 patients as a control group.
      All women had unexplained infertility. Patients in the study group had
      laparoscopy followed by ovarian stimulation and timed intercourse for six cycles,
      while patients in the control group were treated directly with ovarian
      stimulation and timed intercourse for six cycles. Severe adhesions were found in
      one in each of the two groups, respectively. They were referred directly to the
      IVF/ICSI programme. Moderate pelvic endometriosis was demonstrated in three cases
      in the two groups. Again, severe endometriosis was found in two cases in the
      study groups and they were referred to the IVF/ICSI programme. After 6 months of
      follow-up, clinical pregnancy occurred in 114/255 (44.7%) in the study group and
      107/257 (41.7%) in the control group and the difference was not statistically
      significant (p > 0.05). The miscarriage rate was similar in the two groups. We
      concluded that laparoscopy could be postponed when proceeding in the management
      of unexplained infertility, until ovarian stimulation and timed intercourse had
      been found to be unsuccessful in achieving pregnancy.

PMID- 20925618
TI  - How useful are the BSUG database outcome criteria: validation using the MESA
      questionnaire.
AB  - Urinary stress incontinence is common, but there is a wide range of prevalence
      which might account for variations in definition of incontinence and variations
      in study methodology. Our study assessed the validity and reliability of the
      British Society of Urogynaecology's (BSUG) database subjective outcome scores
      after the tension-free vaginal tape (TVT), by correlating these with the changes
      in the Medical Epidemiologic and Social Aspects of Ageing (MESA) questionnaire
      score. A total of 100 women with urodynamic stress incontinence underwent TVT,
      completed a MESA questionnaire preoperatively and at 6 months postoperatively. We
      also collected information about three outcome measures of the BSUG database,
      patients' global impression of outcome and stress and urge symptom analyses. Our
      study showed that the postoperative patients' global impression of outcome
      improved significantly in 85% of cases and had 73.89% reduction in mean MESA
      scores (p < 0.001). The outcome measures of the BSUG database relates well to
      symptom improvement, based on MESA scores and these subjective assessments
      currently used by the BSUG's database are a valid assessment of TVT outcome.

PMID- 20925619
TI  - Risk factors for mesh erosion complicating vaginal reconstructive surgery.
AB  - Synthetic mesh erosion is a recognised complication for pelvic floor repair
      surgery which occurs in 1-10% of patients. Our study aimed to evaluate the
      different risk factors involved in synthetic mesh erosion complicating vaginal
      reconstructive surgery at a general district hospital. A retrospective audit of
      133 vaginal mesh reconstructive operations at Hinchingbrooke Hospital,
      Cambridgeshire, UK, was carried out. A total of 14 (10.53%) cases of mesh erosion
      into the vagina were reported. An increased rate of mesh erosion was associated
      with concurrent vaginal hysterectomy and previous vaginal reconstructive surgery
      (p < 0.05, RR 3.222, 95% CI 1.071-9.698 and p < 0.05, RR 4.571, 95% CI 1.58
      13.23, respectively). The use of Safil(r) suture material (polyglycolic acid) was
      associated with a higher incidence of Gynecare Gynemesh(r) erosion (p < 0.05, OR
      = 9, 95% CI 1.073-75.5). It is concluded that this audit has shown the importance
      of analysing outcomes with all changes of practice, including the change of
      suture provider.

PMID- 20925620
TI  - Cervical cancer in Indian rural women: trends over two decades.
AB  - Worldwide, cervical cancer is considered to be the second commonest cancer as far
      as mortality and incidence is concerned and India contributes to about 20-30% of
      the global burden. This paper is based on analysis of records of persons
      suffering from various cancers over 25 years. Cervical cancer constituted 14.4%
      of all cancers of men and women put together, 28.8% of the cancers in women and
      73.3% of all gynaecological cancer. The cases studied were divided into five
      Blocks: Block A 1983-1987; Block B 1988-1992; Block C 1993-1997; Block D 1998
      2002 and Block E 2003-2007. A 2.34 times increase in cancer cases from Block A to
      Block E was seen; in women, overall cancer increased by 3.21 times;
      gynaecological cancer by 3.08 times; cervical cancer 2.91 and ovarian cancer 7.1
      times. Cervical cancer in outpatients increased from 0.55% among all
      gynaecological cases in 1983, to 3.5% in 2007. Cervical cancer comprised of 1.05%
      of the newly registered outpatients and 70.09% of gynaecological cancer cases.
      Inpatient gynaecological cancer increased from 2.81% in 1983 to 9.81% in 2007.
      Out of all cervical cancer in women, cervical cancer was 34.7% in Block A (1983
      1987) and 28.6 % in Block E (2003-2007). Of the cervical cancer cases, 43.8%
      belonged to the age group 30-49 years and 37.6% at 50-64 years. Cervical cancer
      in women with less than three births increased from 13.1% in Block A to 33.1% in
      Block E. The proportion of illiterate women or those with primary education was
      seven times more compared with those with secondary education. Our study revealed
      that cervical cancer still continues to rank first. Also the overall number of
      cancer cases has been increasing.

PMID- 20925621
TI  - A rare case of rheumatic chorea probably unmasked by pregnancy.

PMID- 20925622
TI  - Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome in a woman with pre-eclampsia.

PMID- 20925623
TI  - Hip pain in pregnancy: an unusual case of venous thrombosis.

PMID- 20925624
TI  - Maternal and fetal outcome in pregnancy-associated pure red cell aplasia.

PMID- 20925625
TI  - Placenta percreta: conservative treatment--segmental uterine resection with
      placenta in one piece.

PMID- 20925626
TI  - An unusual case of vaginal leiomyosarcoma in pregnancy.

PMID- 20925627
TI  - Limb body wall defect: three different presentations with abdominal wall defects.

PMID- 20925628
TI  - Discordant late onset lower urinary tract obstruction in a dizygotic twin
      pregnancy treated with vesicoamniotic shunt.

PMID- 20925629
TI  - Direct colo-labial Crohn's abscess mimicking Bartholinitis.

PMID- 20925630
TI  - Heterotopic pregnancy: tubal ectopic pregnancy with a viable IVF intrauterine
      pregnancy.

PMID- 20925631
TI  - Bowel perforation resulting from mesh erosion: a rare complication following
      abdominal sacrocolpopexy.

PMID- 20925632
TI  - Asymptomatic ureteric calculi.

PMID- 20925633
TI  - Primary ovarian leiomyoma in a postmenopausal woman.

PMID- 20925634
TI  - Sclerosing stromal tumour of the ovary associated with Meigs' syndrome and
      elevated CA125.

PMID- 20925635
TI  - Unusual presentation of invasive hydatidiform mole metastasizing to the lung.

PMID- 20925636
TI  - Stage III squamous cell carcinoma of the vulva with groin nodes metastasis in a
      patient with epidermolysis bullosa.

PMID- 20925639
TI  - Re: Narchi H, Skinner A. 2009. Infants of diabetic mothers with abnormal fetal
      growth missed by standard growth charts. Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology
      29:609&#x2013;613.

PMID- 20925642
TI  - Pentoxifylline and local honey for radiation-induced burn following breast
      conservative surgery.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Breast-conserving therapy is currently the standard of management
      of breast cancer cases. Radiotherapy is an integral part of it; however, it has
      several complications. Radiation induced burn is a common complication of
      radiotherapy that requires more effective lines of management rather than the
      classically used ones. We investigated whether the addition of pentoxifylline
      (PTX) alone or in combination with topical honey is effective in its management
      compared to the standard measures. METHODS AND MATERIALS: In this prospective
      study, patients were randomly allocated into three groups each of 50 cases. Group
      A received standard burn treatment (control group). Group B received additionally
      400 mg PTX twice daily. Group C received the same treatment as Group B with
      adding topical purified honey ointment. Patients were assessed initially and
      subsequently after 4 and 12 weeks, for projected coetaneous surface area (PCSA)
      of burn, pain severity, limitation of movement and exudation. RESULTS: There was
      a striking regression of the mean PCSAs of lesions among groups B and C at 12
      weeks, with reduction rates (86+/-61%) and (76+/-58%) respectively (p<0.0001***).
      The addition of honey was associated with marked pain relieving effect and rescue
      of proper motion. Finally, honey was associated with shorter duration of
      treatment as 74% of group C patients completely recovered after 12 weeks,
      compared to only 54% and 36% of groups B and A in order. CONCLUSION: Combination
      of PTX and honey is an ideal measure for treatment of radiation-induced burn
      following breast conservative surgery.

PMID- 20925643
TI  - Nanotechnology for delivery of drugs and biomedical applications.
AB  - Nanotechnology is a multidisciplinary scientific field that deals with the
      formulation, preparation, characterization and application of structures, devices
      and systems at nanometric scale. Area of concern is interdisciplinary, but with
      peculiarities, among others, medicine, pharmacy, biophysics, electronics,
      bioengineering, and molecular biology. Interest for modern nanotechnology lies in
      the creation and use of structures which have new properties because of their
      small size as well as the possibility of using these systems to control or
      manipulate biological structures at nanometric or atomic level. It will open the
      way to diagnosis and medical treatment to molecular level. This paper covers
      various fundamental and applied aspects of nanotechnology, in its chapters:
      introduction; nanoparticles (therapeutic polymers, polymeric nanoparticles, non
      polymeric nanoparticles, liposomes, nanodevices) nanopharmaceutical systems used
      in diagnosis and therapy, in tissue engineering; pharmacokinetics and toxicity of
      nanoparticulate systems. Nanoparticulate systems have the potential to constitute
      a new generation of drug delivery systems. By their nature, nanodevices can be
      used as innovative diagnostic tool for detecting and monitoring disease, also for
      its treatment and use in developing new drugs.

PMID- 20925644
TI  - Overuse of PPIs in patients at admission, during treatment, and at discharge in a
      tertiary Spanish hospital.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The first generic PPI was introduced in Spain in 2001, and since then
      their prescriptions have increased steadily by about 200%. AIM: To evaluate the
      frequency of use and the appropriateness of indications of PPIs in hospitalised
      patients, and possible factors predicting their use. We also evaluated relevant
      PPI-drug interactions and serious adverse drug reactions (SADRs). METHODS: This
      was a cross-sectional, prescription-indication drug-utilisation study in
      hospitalised patients with follow-up until discharge. Sampling was random and
      stratified by services, and was calculated to obtain an error in the precision of
      prescription of +/-4% with a 95% confidence interval with maximum variability
      (50%). RESULTS: 328 patients were included; 28.65% were prescribed a PPI at
      admission, 82.62% were prescribed a PPI during hospitalisation, and 54.75% at
      discharge, with inappropriate indications in 74.47%, 61.25% and 80.24%
      respectively. The OR of being discharged with PPIs was 3.01(95% CI:2.17-4.18,
      p=0.000). The inappropriate indication most frequently seen at admission and at
      discharge was antiplatelet therapy. During hospitalisation it was prophylaxis for
      stress ulcer in patients at low risk. PPI prescription at admission remained at
      discharge in 75.90% of cases, 73.02% without an acceptable indication. Being >64
      years old, taking >4 drugs, co-medication (NSAIDs, antiaggregation and
      anticoagulation), certain hospital departments and length of stay >15 days
      predicted 83.7% of prescriptions at discharge. Four relevant PPI-drug
      interactions were found, and 2 resulted in SADRs, thus the incidence per 1, 000
      patients was 2.66 (Poisson 95% CI:0.62-7.23). CONCLUSIONS: There was a very high
      frequency of overuse of PPIs in inpatients and outpatients. Hospitalisation did
      not represent an opportunity for better prescription of PPIs.

PMID- 20925645
TI  - Cannabis-derived substances in cancer therapy--an emerging anti-inflammatory role
      for the cannabinoids.
AB  - Cannabinoids, the active components of the cannabis plant, have some clinical
      merit both as an anti-emetic and appetite stimulant in cachexic patients.
      Recently, interest in developing cannabinoids as therapies has increased
      following reports that they possess anti-tumour properties. Research into
      cannabinoids as anti-cancer agents is in its infancy, and has mainly focussed on
      the pro-apoptotic effects of this class of agent. Impressive anti-cancer
      activities have been reported; actions that are mediated in large part by
      disruptions to ubiquitous signalling pathways such as ERK and PI3-K. However,
      recent developments have highlighted a putative role for cannabinoids as anti
      inflammatory agents. Chronic inflammation has been associated with neoplasia for
      sometime, and as a consequence, reducing inflammation as a way of impacting
      cancer presents a new role for these compounds. This article reviews the ever
      changing relationship between cannabinoids and cancer, and updates our
      understanding of this class of agent. Furthermore, the relationship between
      chronic inflammation and cancer, and how cannabinoids can impact this
      relationship will be described.

PMID- 20925646
TI  - Exploratory study on the effects of biodegradable nanoparticles with drugs on
      malignant B cells and on a human/mouse model of Burkitt lymphoma.
AB  - The aim of this study was to determine if Rituximab coated Biodegradable
      Nanoparticles (BNPs) loaded with Chlorambucil and Hydroxychloroquine could induce
      apoptosis of B-Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (B-CLL), MEC-1 and BJAB cells in
      vitro and evaluate their toxic and therapeutic effects on a Human/Mouse Model of
      Burkitt Lymphoma at an exploratory, proof of concept scale. We found that
      Rituximab-Chlorambucil-Hydroxychloroquine BNPs induce a decrease in cell
      viability of malignant B cells in a dose-dependent manner. The mediated
      cytotoxicity resulted from apoptosis, and was confirmed by monitoring the B-CLL
      cells after Annexin V/propidium iodide staining. Additional data revealed that
      these BNPs were non toxic for healthy animals, and had prolonged survival in this
      mice model of human lymphoma.

PMID- 20925647
TI  - Clinical pharmacokinetics of ibuprofen arginine.
AB  - Currently, several ibuprofen compounds are available on the market, mainly
      differing in terms of pharmaceutical composition that influence the
      pharmacokinetic profile and eventually the onset of drug action. This review will
      mainly deal with the clinical pharmacokinetics of ibuprofen arginine, an
      alternative formulation specifically designed to improve the absorption of
      ibuprofen. Indeed, available data from studies in healthy volunteers have
      consistently shown that the formulation of ibuprofen arginine is characterized by
      prompt absorption of ibuprofen as compared to the conventional formulation at all
      tested doses with higher peak plasma concentration and lower Tmax values. This
      trend has been confirmed also in studies dealing with chiral ibuprofen
      pharmacokinetics. Most importantly, the shortening in the absorption time
      observed either with racemic mixture or with the S(+)-enantiomer of ibuprofen
      arginine did not imply a faster drug elimination eventually leading to inadequate
      daily drug exposure, as documented by T1/2 and AUC values being comparable to
      those measured with the free acid form. Taken together, the
      pharmacokinetic/dynamic characteristics of ibuprofen arginine can be considered
      particularly favorable for several clinical conditions, such as moderate/severe
      pain, in which a rapid pharmacologic effect is required.

PMID- 20925648
TI  - Reductions in medications with substantial weight loss with behavioral
      intervention.
AB  - Medical costs of obesity in the United States exceed $147 billion annually with
      medication costs making a sizable contribution. We examined medication costs
      associated with substantial weight losses in an intensive behavioral weight loss
      program. Inclusion criteria were medication use for obesity co-morbidities:
      hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, degenerative joint disease, or
      gastroesophageal reflux disease. Group A, 83 obese patients on medications
      completed 8 weeks of classes, lost 19 kg in 20 weeks. Group B, 100 severely obese
      patients, lost 59 kg in 45 weeks. Medications were discontinued: Group A, 18%;
      Group B, 64%. Mean numbers of medications decreased significantly for all co
      morbidities. Mean numbers of daily medications, initial and final, respectively
      were: Group A, total, 3.0 +/- 0.2 (mean +/- SEM) and 1.7 +/- 0.2; Group B, total,
      2.5 +/- 0.2 and 0.7 +/- 0.1. Monthly costs for all medications decreased
      significantly for all co-morbidities and were as follows: Group A, total, $249 +/
      25 and $153 +/- 19; Group B: total, $237 +/- 27 and $65 +/- 12. Medically
      supervised weight loss is very effective approach for improving cardiovascular
      risk factors and reducing medical costs.

PMID- 20925649
TI  - Immunogenicity of biotherapeutics: a need for consensus on flexibility of
      approach.

PMID- 20925650
TI  - Towards responsible, safe self-medication.

PMID- 20925651
TI  - Fibrosis in the anterior segments of the eye.
AB  - The anterior segment of the eye ball, i. e., cornea and conjunctiva, serves as
      the barrier to the external stimuli. Cornea is transparent and is a "window"of
      the light sense, while conjunctiva covers the sclera, the main part of the
      eyeshell. Fibrosis/scarring in cornea potentially impairs vision by the reduction
      of its transparency and the alteration of the regular curvature. Fibrotic
      reaction in conjunctiva is also of a clinical importance because inflammatory
      fibrosis in this tissue affects the physiology of the cornea and also of a
      problem post-eye surgery. In this review we discuss on the topic that is quite
      critical in vision. Although various growth factors are considered to be involved
      in, focus was put on the roles of transforming growth factorbeta (TGFbeta).

PMID- 20925652
TI  - Integrins modulate cellular fibrogenesis at multiple levels; Regulation of TGF
      beta signaling.
AB  - Fibrosis could occur in virtually any organ or tissue. The fibrotic lesion
      indolently disrupts the structure of the healthy organ, thereby hampering its
      proper function, consequence of which is devastating. Among the myriad factors
      that modulate fibrogenesis, transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta) is one of
      the most studied and its central role for fibrotic disorders has been strongly
      suggested. Due to the pleiotropic nature of this cytokine, TGF-beta modulates
      multiple cellular responses throughout fibrogenesis. The complexity is supported
      by the TGF-beta receptor-specific phosphorylation of both the canonical, Smad-,
      and non-canonical, "non-Smad," pathways. The latter modulates Smad activity
      either independent of Smad or by phosphorylating the Smad linker region, distinct
      from those receptor-regulated. Despite the commodity of this mediator, the
      mechanism by which TGF-beta signaling causes specific pathogenesis and disease
      varies depending on the nature of the organ and the cells that compose that
      organ. Cells express a specific series of integrins that act as cellular sensors
      for the extracellular environment, determining subsequent cellular signals in a
      cell-type specific manner. Integrins may change their expression pattern under
      pathological conditions and contribute to the regulation of fibrogenesis via
      modulating ambient TGF-beta activity. This regulation includes release of active
      TGF-beta from its latent form and modulation of various signals downstream of
      integrin-engagement, which participate in the non-canonical regulation of TGF
      beta signaling. TGF-beta also induces expression of integrins, as well as their
      ligand extracellular matrix, generating an amplification loop. Furthermore,
      myriads of intracellular signaling molecules that associate with integrin
      engagement could non-canonically modulate TGF-beta signals. The entire picture of
      this mutual regulation between integrin and the TGF-beta pathways might be
      difficult to draw. Instead, this review intends to depict several critical
      aspects of this regulation, with examples from various types of fibrosis in
      different tissues to help understanding the integrin-modulation of fibrogenesis,
      a critical clue for therapeutic approaches to fibrosis.

PMID- 20925653
TI  - Phosphorylation-dependent association of the G4-1/G5PR regulatory subunit with
      IKKbeta negatively modulates NF-kappaB activation through recruitment of protein
      phosphatase 5.
AB  - The transcription factor NF-kappaB (nuclear factor kappaB) co-ordinates various
      gene expressions in response to diverse signals and is a critical regulator of
      inflammation and innate immunity. Several negative regulators of NF-kappaB have
      been identified as downstream targets of NF-kappaB and function as a feedback
      control of NF-kappaB activation. A few protein phosphatases have also been shown
      to inactivate NF-kappaB activation. However, little is known about how protein
      phosphatases detect and respond to NF-kappaB activation. In the present study, we
      report a regulatory subunit of PP5 (protein phosphatase 5), G4-1, that physically
      interacts with IKKbeta [IkappaB (inhibitor of NF-kappaB) kinase beta] and
      negatively regulates NF-kappaB activation. The association of G4-1 with IKKbeta
      depends on the kinase activity of IKKbeta. Mapping of the G4-1-binding domain of
      IKKbeta reveals that the serine-rich domain in the C-terminus of IKKbeta is
      required for G4-1 binding. When seven autophosphorylated serine residues in this
      domain were mutated to alanine, the mutant form of IKKbeta lost its ability to
      bind G4-1 and was more potent than the wild-type kinase to activate NF-kappaB.
      Knockdown of G4-1 enhanced TNFalpha (tumour necrosis factor alpha)-induced NF
      kappaB activity, and knockdown of PP5 totally abolished the inhibitory activity
      of G4-1 on NF-kappaB activation. The results of the present study suggest that G4
      1 functions as an adaptor to recruit PP5 to the phosphorylated C-terminus of
      activated IKKbeta and to down-regulate the activation of IKKbeta.

PMID- 20925654
TI  - Ephrin-B3 binds to a sulfated cell-surface receptor.
AB  - The ephrins are a family of proteins known to bind the Eph (erythropoietin
      producing hepatocellular) receptor tyrosine kinase family. In the present paper,
      we provide data showing that ephrin-B3 binds a sulfated cell-surface protein on
      HEK-293T (human embryonic kidney-293 cells expressing the large T-antigen of
      simian virus 40) and HeLa cells, a binding that is nearly completely blocked by
      treatment of these cell lines with chlorate or heparinase, or by addition of the
      heavily sulfated glycosaminoglycan heparin. This indicates that heparan sulfate
      on these cells is essential for cell-surface binding of ephrin-B3. Heparin did
      not affect ephrin-B3 binding to EphB receptors expressed on transfected HEK-293T
      cells, indicating further that ephrin-B3 binds an alternative receptor which is a
      heparan sulfate proteoglycan. Site-directed mutagenesis analysis revealed that
      Arg178 and Lys179 are important for heparin binding of ephrin-B3 and also for
      ephrin-B3 binding to cells. These amino acids, when introduced in the non-heparin
      binding ephrin-B1, conferred the heparin-binding property. Functional studies
      reveal that ephrin-B3 binding to cells induces cellular signalling and influences
      cell rounding and cell spreading. In conclusion, our data provide evidence for an
      unknown ephrin-B3-binding cell-surface proteoglycan involved in cellular
      signalling.

PMID- 20925655
TI  - A hierarchical classification of polysaccharide lyases for glycogenomics.
AB  - Carbohydrate-active enzymes face huge substrate diversity in a highly selective
      manner using only a limited number of available folds. They are therefore
      subjected to multiple divergent and convergent evolutionary events. This and
      their frequent modularity render their functional annotation in genomes difficult
      in a number of cases. In the present paper, a classification of polysaccharide
      lyases (the enzymes that cleave polysaccharides using an elimination instead of a
      hydrolytic mechanism) is shown thoroughly for the first time. Based on the
      analysis of a large panel of experimentally characterized polysaccharide lyases,
      we examined the correlation of various enzyme properties with the three levels of
      the classification: fold, family and subfamily. The resulting hierarchical
      classification, which should help annotate relevant genes in genomic efforts, is
      available and constantly updated at the Carbohydrate-Active Enzymes Database
      (http://www.cazy.org).

PMID- 20925656
TI  - Annual Research Review: All mothers are not created equal: neural and
      psychobiological perspectives on mothering and the importance of individual
      differences.
AB  - Quality of mothering relies on the integrity of multiple physiological and
      behavioral systems and on two maternal factors, one proximal and one distal, that
      have a great impact on how a mother mothers: postpartum depression and early
      experiences. To mother appropriately requires the action of systems that regulate
      sensation, perception, affect, reward, executive function, motor output and
      learning. When a mother is at risk to engage in less than optimal mothering, such
      as when she is depressed or has experienced adversity in childhood, the function
      of many or all of maternal and related systems may be affected. In this paper, we
      will review what is currently known about the biological basis of mothering, with
      attention to literature on hormones but with a particular focus on recent
      advances in the fields of functional neuroimaging. Instead of discussing strictly
      'maternal' brain imaging studies, we instead use a systems approach to survey
      important findings relevant to brain systems integral to and/or strongly related
      to the mothering experience: (a) social behavior; (b) reward and affect; (c)
      executive function; and (d) maternal behavior. We find that there are many
      commonalities in terms of the brain regions identified across these systems and,
      as we would expect, all are sensitive to the influence of, or function
      differently in the context of, depression and adverse early experience. It is
      likely that the similarity and cross-talk between maternal, affect and stress
      systems, observed behaviorally, hormonally and in the context of brain function,
      allows for mood disturbance and early adverse experiences to have a significant
      impact on the quality of mothering and the motivation to mother.

PMID- 20925657
TI  - Succinyl CoA Synthetase of Tobacco.
AB  - The isouition and partial purification of succinyl CoA synthetase from Nicotiana
      tabacum is described. Enzynio activity had a pH optimum of pH 7.0 and apparent Km
      values for succinic acid. ATF and MgCl(2) . are 3.5 * 10(-2) 5.7 * 10(-3) and 4.0
      * 10(-3) M, respectively. The euzyme is specific in requirement for ATP. Enzyme
      activity was low in seed, decreased during germination and seedling development,
      then increased to maximum in physiologically mature leaf tissue. Plauts with the
      apical apical meristem removed had less euzyme activity in leaves but more enzyme
      activity in the roots than plants with apical meristem intact. Most enzyme
      activity observed was associated with the soluble fractions of the cell.

PMID- 20925658
TI  - Effects of flooding the root system of sunflower plants on the cytokin in content
      in the xylem sap.
AB  - The severe chlorosis observed in the lower most of flooded sunflower plants
      (Helianthus annuus L. cv. Tall Single) may lie initiated by a reduction in the
      import of cytokinins by the stoot from the flooded root system. Experiment
      indicates that during 12 hours following the release of flooding, plants
      previously flooded for 72 hours or less recover their ability to exude sap when
      the root systems are aerated, and the root systems synthesize and export amino
      acids to the shoot. Plants flooded for longer periods lose these abilities. The
      metabolic activity of the root apices declines parallel with the decline in
      eytnkinin concentration in the sap with increase in flooding time up to 72 hours.
      Flooding for 96 hours drastically reduce all four parameters of root activity.
      After flooding for this period there was a large increase in the number of
      blackened and tetrazolium-negative root apices which were in all probability
      dead. The correlation between the metabolic activity of the root apices and the
      total cytokinin content of the sap supports tbe view that root apices may be
      sites of cytokinin synthesis.

PMID- 20925659
TI  - Effect of Auxins and Light on Rooting Stem Cuttings of Populus nigra Salix
      tetrasperma, Ipomea fistulosa and Hibiscus notodus in Relation to Polarity.
AB  - The apical and basal ends of stem cuttings of Populus nigra, Salix tetrasperma,
      Ipomoea fistulosa and Hibiscus notodus were treated with 10 mg/l solutions of IAA
      and IBA for 24 hours and were planted either erect or inverted both in light and
      dark. Observations for the number of cuttings that rooted and the roots produced
      on them were recorded at weekly intervals. In Salix, Ipomoea and Hibiscus rooting
      was more on cuttings planted erect, while in populus it did not differ much with
      the manner of planting. The reduced rooting in inverted cuttings may be ascribed
      to the low level of endogenous auxin at the apex due to polar transport. An
      exogenous application of auxins enhanced rooting on inverted cuttings. In dark,
      roots on Populus and Salix cuttings were produced both above and within the
      rooting medium. The weak polarity of these two plants may be due to the potential
      root primordia reported in their stem. The formation of callus occurred on the
      top of Populus cuttings whether planted erect or inverted but it differentiated
      into branches on erect cuttings only. In those planted in an inverted position
      the callus failed to differentiate in spite of the application of kinetin,
      auxins, TIBA, coumarin and sucrose, and dried ultimately.

PMID- 20925660
TI  - The Effect of Deleterious Concentrations of Copper on the Photosynthesis of
      Chlorella pyrenoidosa.
AB  - If a single salt solution of CuSO(4) is used, Cu penetrates immediately iuto the
      plasma of Chlorella cells, reducing the rates of photosynthesis at both high and
      low illumination. If CuSO(4) is added to ordinary Osterlind culture-medium (pH 8)
      it takes some hours before any influence of deleterious concentrations of Cu is
      observed and initially only at light saturation. The algae must have been
      illuminated during the whole period. Maximum influence of CuSO(4) is found duriug
      the first 24 hours of treatment. A significant deleterious influence of Cu
      concentrations as low as about 1 MUg/l is found. The influence of Cu increases
      with decreasing concentrations of the alga. If a culture medium at pH 5 is used
      instead of the ordinary one at pH 8, copper concentrations ahout 10 times as high
      must he used be order to obtain the same deleterious effect. An increase of the
      cotncentration of K reduces the influence of Cu to some extent. These facts show
      that the effect of deleterious concentrations of Cu in halanced solutions is not
      due to a marked penelration of this ion into the plasma but to a binding to the
      cytoplasmic membrane whereby the celts i.a. become more or less unable to divide.
      The cells become saturated with assimilation products which have a depressant
      effect on the rate of photosynthesis. Other cations compete with Cu for the
      "active sites" on the membranes.

PMID- 20925661
TI  - Growth and Endogenous Gibberellin Content of Dormant Groundnut Embryonic-axes as
      Influenced by Leaching and GA(3).
AB  - Leacthing the excised embryonic-axes from dormant groundunt (Arachis hypogaea)
      seeds resulted in their growth. However, their growth was stunted compared to
      that of after-ripened ones. It is attributed to (1) the lower amount of
      gibberellin-like substances in the dry, dormant embryonic-axes than in the after
      ripened ones, and (2) the inability of the former to sythesise tbe tibberetllin
      as indicated by the lower content compared to the after-ripened ones kept in
      water. Exogenousty supplied GA(3) (0.1 mg/1) increased both the endogenous
      gibberellin and growth of the dormant, leached embryonic-axes to the level of
      after-ripened ones.

PMID- 20925662
TI  - Influence of the Maize Dwarf Mosaic Virns and Simazine upon the Buffer Soluble
      Proteins and Catalase Activity of a Virus-susceptible and a Virus-tolerant
      Variety of Zea mays.
AB  - Inbred corn varieties differing in their tolerance to the maize dwarf mosaic
      virus infection also differ in varietal character and host response to simazine.
      Oh 7B, a tolerant cv., has less total soluble and globulin proteins than the
      sensitive variety, H 55, but more Kjeldahl nitrogen, albumin protein and a
      doubling of catalase activity. Virus inoculation in Oh 7B causes a reduction in
      all three protein fractions, Kjeldahl nitrogen and catalase activity. Deleterious
      virus-simazine interaction does not occur with either variety and the observed
      varietal and host response differences in protein may account for the conflicting
      reports of other workers.

PMID- 20925663
TI  - Stomata constellation in the leaves of cotton, maize and wheat plants as a
      function of soil moisture and environment.
AB  - In two locations, one subtropical and the other semidesert, the following three
      agricultural plant species were studied: cotton, maize and wheat. In each zone
      species were examined in irrigated and nonirrigated experimental plols for four
      leaf parameters: density of stomata and epidermis cells and length of stomala and
      leaf area. The following conclusions follow from the results: 1) The water
      deficit in the soil accompanied by extreme climatic conditions (August-September)
      led to a significant increment in the density of stomata and epidermis cells; in
      some of the varieties a decrease in length of stomata was observed. The decrease
      in leaf area in the nonirrigated plant was accompanied by an increase in ash
      content. Identical xeromorphic changes were stated in selected leaves the area of
      which was equal to those of the irrigated plants. In spite of the maximal number
      of stomata per unit area on both sides of Ihe blade a full turgor was maintained
      in the cells of the nonirrigated plants during the hottest and driest months and
      they survived until rains started (Novemher), although no significant changes
      were then noted in soil moisture within the sphere of the root dispersion.

PMID- 20925664
TI  - Microbiology of saturated salt solutions and other harsh environments: v.
      Relation of inosine-5'-phosphate and carbohydrate to growth of wildtype and
      mutant penicillium in boric Acid and potassium chloride selective media.
AB  - The study of chemical stress tolerance in a Penicillium mutant was continued
      using KCl- and H(3) BO(3) -saturated glucose peptone broth as a basic growth
      medium. Growth was completely restricted to the mutant. Variations were the
      presence or absence of inosine-5'-phosphate (inosinic acid, IMP) and choice of
      carhohydrate which was substituted for glucose. All six monosaccharides used
      three hexoses, three pentoses - were essentially equivalent hence data are
      presented only for D-glucose and D-xylose. The other carbohydrates, sucrose,
      lactose, maltose and starch differed in their suitability as carbon sources. In
      the presence of the nionosaccharides the mutant can grow both in KCl and H(3)
      BO(3) media, but growth rates are greatly enhanced by IMP. Boric acid blocked
      sporulation under all conditions. KCl permitted spores of abnormal color to form
      without IMP, whereas spores of normal green color appeared in its presence. Media
      containing H(3) BO(3) and disaccharides or starch supported no growth, but
      addition of IMP stimulated growth without sporulation. In KCl media sucrose alone
      among the disaccharides and starch permit limited growth without IMP, but the
      nucleotide is required for sporogenesis. These results show that the role of
      nucleotides, especially IMP, is not limited to recovery from exposure to extreme
      salt effects, but also applies to growth in the continuing presence of quite
      different chemical stress conditions.

PMID- 20925665
TI  - Nutrition of Cosmarium turpinii.
AB  - A defined medium for Cosmarium turpinii Breb. was established. The optimal
      concentrations of major elements (Ca, N, P, S, and Mg) were detemiined, with the
      calcium level found to be most demanding. Iron, boron, and manganese were found
      to be essential micronutrient elements. Vitamin B(12) is also required, eitber as
      the planar group of cyanocobalamin alone or with adenine or benziniizole
      derivatives. Survival of cells during plateau pbase of growth can be extended by
      tbe addition of eitber 10(-3) M urea, isoleucine, or glycine.

PMID- 20925666
TI  - The effect of light on nitrate and nitrite assimilation by chlorella and
      ankistrodesmus.
AB  - Light stimulates the assimilation of nitrate and nitrite by two green algae,
      Chlorella pyrenoidosa and Ankistrodesmus braunii. Assimilation can be observed
      when the algae are illuminated in the absence of carbon dioxide under both
      aerobic and anaerobic conditions. The rates of assimilation by Chlorella do not
      depend on the presence of carbon dioxide, but Ankistrodesmus assimilates nitrate
      and nitrite more rapidly when cultures are illuminated in the presence of carbon
      dioxide than in its absence. The ratios of O(2) : NO(3') and O(2) : NO(2') vary
      from one experiment to the other and, with the exception of Chlorella cultures
      reducing nitrite they are higher than the 'expected' values of 2.0 and 1.5
      respectively. Oxygen evolution accompanying nitrate and nitrite by algae
      illuminated in the absence of carbon dioxide is completely inhibited by DCMU at
      concentrations of 4 * 10(-6) M. However, nitrite assimilation by both
      Ankistrodesmus and Chlorella and nitrate assimilation by Ankistrodesmus are less
      sensitive to the inhibitor.

PMID- 20925667
TI  - Inhibition of Nitrogen-Fixing and Nitrifying Bacteria by Seed Plants: VI.
      Inhibitors from Euphorbia supina.
AB  - Euphorbia suinna occurs in the pioneer weed stage of succession in abandoned
      fields in several midwestern states of the United States. It was previously found
      to be very inhibitory to several test strains of nitrogen-fixing and nitrifying
      bacteria and to several associated seed plants. The present project was concerned
      wilh the identification of the chief inhibitors produced by that species, using
      appropriate column and paper chromatographic techniques, and by tests of
      bacterial inhibition employing the diffusion technique on solid media. Three
      hydrolyzable tannins were consistently isolated from extracts of the species. All
      three tannins and purified reagent tannic acid from at least two commercial
      sources yielded ellagic acid, gallic acid, and glucose on hydrolj'sis by acid or
      tannase. All yielded one or more additional phenolics which were not identified.
      The tannins from E. supina were all slightly different from each other and from
      commercial reagent tannic acid as indicated by different Rf's on paper, elution
      sequence from polyamide columns, and relative amounts of glucose, ellagic acid
      and gallic acid produced on hydrolysis.

PMID- 20925668
TI  - Some aspects of respiration and respiration inhibitors in low temperature effects
      of the cotton plant.
AB  - Respiration of leaf tissue from cotlon plants in the nine leaf stage was found to
      be severely reduced at temperatures below 15 degrees C. In another study, young
      cotton plants were exposed to chilling temperature (2.8 degrees C) for 72 hours
      and the ability of the plant tissues to recover respiration at normal
      temperatures (15 and 25 degrees C) was examined at periodic intervals. Chilling
      exposures of 12 hours injured cotton tissues as indicated by increased
      respiratiou of leaves and roots at 25 degrees C. Further chilling malerially
      reduced the capacity of the leaves to re-estahlish normal respiration rales at
      higher temperatures. Picolinic acid, Dexon and matonate were used to study the
      influence of respiratory inhibitors on the chill damage of the collon plants. The
      chemicals were applied six hours before cold exposure aud fhe growth and
      development of cold injured plants was studied to indicate the effectiveness of
      the treatments. Tissue weights at the final harvests indicated that picolinic
      acid and Dexon treated plants recovered better after cold injury than the
      untreated plauts. The results suggest thai 15 degrees C may be a critical
      temperaliire for many physiological processes of the cotton plant because the
      supply of energy needed for plant reactionsis restricted due to inadequate
      respiration. They also indicate that the disturhances in respiration are among
      the early effects of chilling colton plants and may be the cause of delayed
      growth and development of cotton plants subjccled to non-lethal chilling
      exposures. It is concluded that chemicals like picolinie acid and Dexon may he
      effective through protection of specific systems rather than a general reduction
      of respiration.

PMID- 20925669
TI  - Effets de l'acide gibberellique et de la kinetine sur le developpement de
      l'activitealpha-amylasique durant la croissance de l'Orge.
AB  - Effects of gibberellic acid and kinetic on alpha-amylase production during the
      germination of barley. - The action of gibberellic acid and kinetin, alone or
      combined at different concentrations, has been studied on alpha-amylase
      production in whole barley seedlings and in embryoless endosperms in course of
      the six first days of development in the dark. The classic activation of alpha
      amylase synthesis by gibberellic acid has been confirmed both in whole seeds and
      in embryoless endosperms. Kinetin inhibits alpha-amylase synthesis after the
      third day of germination but has no effect on isolated endosperms. When
      gibberellic acid and kinetin are given simultaneously gibberellic acid stimulated
      during the three first days just as it does alone, kinetin inhibits after the
      third day also as it was alone so that the two regulators act, without
      interactions, at different stages in the time. These effects of kinetin are be
      independent. A critical examination of the techniques used in the literature in
      the stud of amylase is made.

PMID- 20925670
TI  - Variations de quelques aclivites enzymatiques (peroxydase, catalase, AIA-oxydase)
      et de la teneur en polyphenols au cours de la germination de I'Orge. Influence de
      la kinetine.
AB  - Peroxidase catalase, IAA-oxidase and polyphenol content of growing barley
      coleoptile. Effect of kinetin. - Kinetin strongly inhibits root and coleoptile
      growth of germinating barley in the dark. Treated coleoptiles become senescent
      before the untreated ones. Soluble proteins content, peroxidase, catalase and IAA
      oxidase activity were greatly increased in treated coleoptiles while the level of
      polyphenols was reduced. These biochemical effects joined with the other property
      of kinetin to diminish alpha-amylase synthesis in the endosperm are discussed in
      relation to growth and in connection with the classic view of a cytokinin
      retarded senescence.

PMID- 20925671
TI  - An Interaction between the Effects of Kinetin and Gibberellin in Retarding Leaf
      Senescence.
AB  - The relation hetween the effects of kinetin and gibberellin on retardation of
      leaf senescence was studied. Leaf discs were incubated for five days in several
      hormone concentrations, the chlorophyll was extracted and its amount estimated
      spectrophotometrically. Investigation of leaves from actively growing plants of
      Taraxacum megalorrhizon and Tropaeolum majus showed that an interaction existed
      between the effect of both hormones. Leaf age, light intensity and day length had
      a marked effect on the degree of response to the hormonal treatments, hut the
      change in response effected by these conditions remained similar for both
      hormones. Possible interpretations of the interaction observed between the
      effects of kinetin and gibberellin are discussed.

PMID- 20925672
TI  - Pathways of IAA Production from Tryptophan by Plants and by Tbeir Epipbytic
      Bacteria: a Comparison: I. IAA Formation by Sterile Pea Sections in vivo as
      Inftuenced by IAA Oxidase Inbibitors and by Transaminase Coenzyme.
AB  - Under nonsterile conditions, IAA can be extracted from pea stem sections
      infiltrated with buffer, IAA, or tryptophan. This IAA has microbial origin, since
      its occurrence is prevented by antibiotics. All infiltrated IAA disappears in the
      sections. Under sterile conditions, several inhibitors of IAA oxidase prevent the
      complete disappearance of infiltrated IAA. Some of them permit, by preventing the
      disappearance of produced IAA, the formation in vivo of extractable IAA amounts
      from tryptophan. This IAA production is further increased by pyridoxal
      (phospbate), and by alpha-ketoglutarate.

PMID- 20925673
TI  - Phase-shift in Geotropical Oscillations - A Theoretical and Experimental Study.
AB  - Geotropically induced phase-shifts in circumnutations of Heliauthus annuus
      hypocotyls are studied. - Theoretical deductions from a previously developed
      theory for geotropical movements are made for the case of a short gravitational
      stimulation in different phase positions of an oscillating hypocotyl. -
      Experimental studies are performed to test the theoretical results. - The
      conclusions are drawn, that the theory mentioned can satisfactorily describe
      geotropically induced phase-shifts. A comparison with phase-shifts in
      photoperiodic systems is made.

PMID- 20925674
TI  - An investigation of bidirectional translocation in the Phloem.
AB  - Patterns of (14) CO(2) , assimilate movement in Vicia jaba plants having 7 nodes
      were studied. Bidirectional translocation occurred throughout most of the stem
      length when tracer was applied to leaves of various ages. To determine whether
      this bidirectional translocation occurs within single sieve tubes, a O.1 %
      solution of the fluorescent dye K-fluorescein was applied to a lightly scraped
      area on the stem in the middle of a young internode. After one hour the dye was
      present short distances above and below the treated area. Free-hand sections of
      the internode showed the dye to be localized in the traces of the larger leaves
      below tbe treated area and in the traces of the younger leaves above the treated
      area. The dye was never present in the same bundle both above and below the
      treated area, indicating that each bundle and sieve tube translocated the dye in
      only one direction. These results were confirmed using Phaseolus vulgaris, Vinca
      rosea, and Pelargonium hortum. A similar study in which petioles of young
      Ecballium elaterium leaves were treated showed that usually the phloem of one
      bundle translocated the dye in only one direction but in some cases the external
      phloem of the bicollateral bundles carried the dye toward the stem while the
      internal phloem carried the dye toward the blade. When longer time intervals were
      used in all these experiments, the dye sometimes appeared in the same phloem
      areas both above and below the treated area. This is explained by a lateral
      transfer of tracer within the phloem, either through secondary phloem or through
      bundle anastomoses at the nodes.

PMID- 20925675
TI  - Elimination of Geotropic Responsiveness in Roots of Cress (Lepidium sativum) by
      Removal of Statolith Starch.
AB  - Roots of garden cress (Lepidium sativum L.) seedlings were made starch-free by
      treatment with gibberellic acid and kinetic for 29 hours at 35 degrees C in the
      dark. After 3 hours of temperature adaptation at 21 degrees C the starch-depleted
      roots were unable to respond to gravity, but elongated 0.48 mm por hour. Under
      the same conditions control roots pretreated in plain water at 21 and at 35
      degrees C elongated 0.64 and 0.33 mm per hour, respcetively (at 21 degrees C).
      When the hormone-treated seedlings were illuminated, their roots reformed starch
      after 20 to 24 hours; simultaneously the geotropic responsiveness was restored.
      The results are interpreted in support of the statolith theory.

PMID- 20925676
TI  - Free amino Acid pools and enzymes in teratonia and habituated tobaceo tissue
      cultures.
AB  - The free amino acid content of habituated (normal) and teratoma (abnormal)
      tobacco tissue cultured on white's medium were compared. Significant qualitative
      differences (twofold or more) were observed for serine, proline, alanine,
      leucine, phenylalanine, and lysine. There were qualitative differences in several
      unidentified ninhydrin sensitive compounds. One unknown which co-chromatographed
      with homo-serine was present in high concentrations (9.96 MUmol/g dry weight) in
      habituated but was lacking in teratoma tissue, Isoenzymes of an esterase, acid
      phosphatase, and oxidase were demonstrated in both tissues. The distinct
      differences in the isoenzyme pattern of acid phosphatase suggests a differential
      regulatory capacity of certain phosphomonoester intermediates and P(1) . The
      invertase activity was higher in habituated tissue, implying a greater capacity
      to utilize the sole carbon source, socrose.

PMID- 20925677
TI  - Stimulating Effect of Pentoses on the Utilization of Galactose in Ophiostoma
      multiannulatum.
AB  - The influence of some pentoses on the ability of the fungus Ophiostoma
      multiannulatum to grow on d-galactose was investigated. There is no measurable
      growth of the wild type Ophiostoma when galactose is the sole carhon source, d
      xylose has a stimulating effect on the utilization of galactose in this fungus.
      Even when d-xylose is added in low concentrations as compared to the
      concentration of galactose in the mixtures the growth-promoting effect is high.
      The xylose can be added in amounts which are directly growth-limiting. The
      addition of l-arabinose also results in growth on gatactose if the concentration
      ratio arabinose: galactose is selected high enough. The results are discussed and
      compared to previously published data on stimulating effects from other hexoses
      on the utitization of galactose in this fungus.

PMID- 20925678
TI  - Callus cultures of tomato mutants: I. Nutritional requirements.
AB  - Callus from hypocotyl, stem, and fruit tissue of tomato mutants was grown on a
      complex pea extract medium. The genotypes responded differently to the levels of
      nutrients and stimulators or inhibitors in the medium. Hypocotyl callus of yellow
      (r) tomato required K(2) SO(4) for quick establishment and continued steady
      growth for several months; callus of this mutant could also grow with 0.5 %
      dimethyl sulfoxide in the medium, although growth was less than the control. The
      red ghost (r(+) gh) mutant is sensitive to a toxic component in the pea extract,
      and makes its best growth with the standard minerals and vitamins, but in 1/2
      concentration pea extract plus 5 % coconut water. Tangerine (t), red lutescent
      stem (r(+) l(2) ), and r(+) gh are mutants which respond differently to thiourea:
      t grows about the same at all concentrations, r(+) gh grows best at low thiourea,
      and r(+) l(2) grows best at the specific level of 20 mg/l thiourea. The recent
      active t or r(+) l(1) and r(+) l(2) isolates require supplementary auxin to which
      the older, slow-growing isolates do not respond. However, there is variation in
      growth response of different isolates of the same mutant. The several red (r(+) )
      cultures are similar in their slow growth, but somewhat different in responses to
      specific nutrients. The recent (+) isolate is one of the most active cultures, in
      comparison to the slow growth of t callus isolated in 1964. It is therefore
      concluded that growth is affected both by the specific requirements of the mutant
      and by the age and vigor of isolates.

PMID- 20925679
TI  - Growth Regulators in Populus tremula I. Distribution of Auxin and Growth
      Inhibitors.
AB  - The content of acid ether-soluble auxins and inhibitors in vegetative tissues of
      aspen (Populus tremula L.) was determined with the Avena coleoptile
      straightgrowth assay. A growth promotor, tentativety identified as indol-3-yl
      acetic acid, occurred in highest concentration in the growing stem parts. It was
      also detected in various parts of the roots. Large amounts of inhibitors
      (inhihitor beta) were found in growing stem tissue and in upper mature stem
      parts. Considerably lower content of inhibitors was found in leaves, in the basal
      stem part and in the roots. Nonwoody growing roots and the wood of older root
      segments, especially, contained very smalt quantities of inhibitors. The elution
      volume of a part of the inhibitory activity on a Sephadex column was similar to
      that of abscisic acid.

PMID- 20925680
TI  - "Adaptation" and chromosome variability in excised roots of cereals.
AB  - Heteroploidy, often coinciding with phenotypic or metabolic changes, was found in
      cereal root cultures. In some cases the changes were apparent after only 4
      passages and affected the roots of bread wheat as well as those containing all or
      some of the wheat and rye genomes. It is unsafe to assume that cultured organised
      tissues are cytologically stable. The cause of the abnormality is not known but
      possible mechanisms are discussed.

PMID- 20925681
TI  - The Adaptation of Plankton Algae IV. Light Adaptation in Different Algal Species.
AB  - Two types with regard to adaptation to different light intensities are described:
      tbe Chlorella type and the Cyclotella type. The Chlorella type is mostly found
      among the green algae, the Cyclotella type among the diatoms. The Chlorella type
      adapts to a new light intensity mainly by changing the pigment content. Therefore
      the cells adapted to a high light intensity have a lower chlorophyll a content
      per cell than cells adapted to a low light intensity. Light saturation is mostly
      rather low for cells adapted to low light intensities. The light-saturated rate
      of photosynthesisist mostly lower for cells adapted to a high light intensity
      than for cells adapted to a low light intensity. The actual photosynthesis is not
      much higher at a high light intensity than at a low one. The actual
      photosynthesis is the photosynthesis at the light intensity where the cells are
      grown. - The Cyclotella type adapts only by changing the light-saturated rate.
      The chlorophyll content is the same in cells grown at low and high light
      intensities. Light saturation for cells grown at a low light intensity is rather
      high. The light-saturated rate is much higher in the case examined at the high
      light intensity than at the low one. The actual photosynthesis is considerably
      higher for cells grown at the high light intensities than for cells grown at low
      light intensities.- The two adaptation types are not sharply separated since
      transition types occur.

PMID- 20925682
TI  - alpha-Aminoadipic Acid and alpha,E-Diaminopimelic Acid in Inoculated Pea Plants
      (Pisum sativum) and Root Nodule Bacteria (Rhizobium leguminosarum).
AB  - Observations were made on the content of alpha-aminoadipic acid and alpha
      aminophimelic acid (DAP) in pea plants, nodules and Rhizobium leguminosarum,
      strain HT3. The preparations were purified by ion exchange chromatography,
      Qualitative analyses were made by paper chromatography, and quantitative analyses
      by means of an automatic amino acid analysator. In the whole plant and seeds the
      content of alpha-aminoadipic acid soluble in 70% ethanol varied between 10 and 80
      MUg/g dry weight. The shoot and red nitrogen fixing nodules contained more of
      this acid than roots and green inactive nodules. In the insoluble fraction of the
      shoot its concentration was 0.4-0.6 mg/g dry weight. alpha-Aminoadipic acid was
      not found in free living rhizobia, which again contained a considerable amount of
      alpha-aiaminopimelic acid, about 0.5 mg/g dry weight. The synthesis of DAP was
      intensive also in root nodules. In red nodules, which fixed molecular nitrogen,
      the content of DAP was 2.1 mg/g dry weight and in green inactive nodules 1.3 mg/g
      dry weight. It was shown that in the nodules DAP is closely connected with cell
      wall peptides of bacteroids. DAP could not be found in pea plants outside the
      nodules.

PMID- 20925683
TI  - The Effect of Various Aliphatic Aldehydes and Related Compounds on the Growth of
      Dipodascus aggregatus.
AB  - The growth of Dipodascus aggregatus in cultures inoculated with cells from the
      acceleration phase of growth was stimulated by the saturated and unbranched
      aliphatic C(3) C(4) , and C(6) to C(11) aldehydes (80 MUM]. Nonanal was most
      active in stimulating growth. The C(12) aldehyde inhibited growth. The C(5) ,
      aldehyde generally inhibited growth. - Nonan did not affect growth. 2-Nonanone
      and 5-nonanone promoted growth insignificantly. - In cultures inoculated with
      cells from the exponential phase growth was unaffected or even inhibited by all
      the aldehydes tested. The C(4) , C(5) , C(10) , and C(11) aldehydes inhibited
      growth to a larger extent than nonanal.

PMID- 20925685
TI  - Associations between weight change over 8 years and baseline body mass index in a
      cohort of continuing and quitting smokers.
AB  - AIM: To examine the association between weight change and baseline body mass
      index (BMI) over 8 years in a cohort of continuing and quitting smokers. DESIGN:
      Prospective cohort. SETTING: Oxfordshire general practices nicotine patch/placebo
      trial with 8-year follow-up. PARTICIPANTS: Eighty-five participants were
      biochemically proven abstinent at 3, 6, 12 months and 8 years (abstainers). A
      total of 613 smoked throughout the 8 years (smokers), 26 quit for a whole year
      but were smoking again by 8 years (relapsed); 116 smoked for the first year but
      were abstinent at 8 years (late abstainers). MEASUREMENTS: Weight and BMI was
      measured at baseline and at 8 years. Regression models were used to examine
      weight gain by smoking status and the association of BMI at the time of quitting.
      FINDINGS: Abstainers gained 8.79kg [standard deviation (SD) 6.36; 95% confidence
      interval (CI) 7.42, 10.17]. Smokers gained 2.24 kg (SD 6.65; 95% CI 1.7, 2.77).
      Relapsed smokers gained 3.28 kg (SD 7.16; 95% CI 0.328, 6.24). Late abstainers
      gained 8.33 kg (SD 8.04; 95% CI 6.85, 9.81). The association between baseline BMI
      and weight change was modified by smoking status. In smokers there was a negative
      linear association of BMI, while in abstainers a J-shaped curve fitted best.
      These models estimated weight change over 8 years in abstainers of +9.8 kg,
      +7.8kg, +10.2kg, +19.4kg and in smokers of +3.9kg, +2.6kg, 1.0kg and -0.8kg,
      where BMI was 18, 23, 29 and 36, respectively. CONCLUSION: Obese smokers gain
      most weight on quitting smoking, while obese continuing smokers are likely to
      remain stable or lose weight. Obese quitters have the greatest need for
      interventions to ameliorate weight gain.

PMID- 20925684
TI  - Teaching community program clinicians motivational interviewing using expert and
      train-the-trainer strategies.
AB  - AIMS: The effectiveness of expert-led (EX) and train-the-trainer (TT) strategies
      was compared to a self-study approach (SS) for teaching clinicians motivational
      interviewing (MI). DESIGN: Twelve community treatment programs were assigned
      randomly to the three conditions. EX and TT conditions used skill-building
      workshops and three monthly supervision sessions guided by treatment integrity
      ratings, performance feedback and coaching techniques. Trainers in TT were first
      trained and certified in MI and then prepared carefully to deliver the workshops
      and supervise MI at their programs. Clinicians in SS only received the training
      materials. SETTING: Licensed out-patient and residential addiction and mental
      health treatment programs in the US state of Connecticut were involved in the
      study. PARTICIPANTS: Ninety-two clinicians who provided addiction treatment
      within these programs and had limited experience with MI participated in the
      study. MEASUREMENTS: Primary outcomes were the clinicians' MI adherence and
      competence and the percentage of clinicians meeting clinical trial standards of
      MI performance. Assessments occurred at baseline, post-workshop, post-supervision
      and at 12-week follow-up. FINDINGS: The study found EX and TT, in comparison to
      SS, improved clinicians' adherence and competence significantly, with higher
      percentages of clinicians reaching clinical trial standards of MI performance and
      few differences between EX and TT. CONCLUSIONS: This study supports the combined
      use of workshops and supervision to teach community program clinicians MI and
      suggests the train-the-trainer approach may be a feasible and effective strategy
      for disseminating empirically supported treatments.

PMID- 20925686
TI  - How best to measure change in evaluations of treatment for substance use
      disorder.
AB  - AIMS: To compare the performance of the Jacobson & Truax (JT) reliable change
      index (RCI) with three alternative methods, using data from individuals receiving
      treatment for substance use disorders. DESIGN: English National Treatment Outcome
      Monitoring Database for publicly funded specialist community pharmacological and
      psychosocial interventions. PARTICIPANTS: New adult admissions to treatment
      across England (1 January-31 December 2008), with in-treatment clinic progress
      review conducted after an average of 122.8 days for 18,163 individuals.
      MEASUREMENTS: Self-reported days using heroin, crack, cocaine powder and alcohol
      during the 4 weeks before admission and clinical review, recorded using the
      Treatment Outcomes Profile and analysed using a multi-level, mixed-linear model,
      with both observed and true scores to estimate the effect of regression to the
      mean (RTM). Differences in performance among the JT RCI and the alternative
      methods were assessed by the proportion assigned to a reliably 'improved',
      'unchanged' or 'reliably deteriorated' category; level of agreement; difference
      in effect size for observed and true scores; and receiver operating
      characteristic parameters. FINDINGS: When compared to the alternative methods,
      the JT RCI was more conservative in assigning individuals to the improved
      category, and it showed no evidence of inferiority on any measure. For each
      method, all individuals categorized as reliably deteriorated and the majority of
      those categorized reliably improved had outcome scores which fell beyond that
      expected by RTM. Substituting true scores for observed scores moderated the size
      of the change effect associated with reduced use of the four substances, but this
      remained statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: The Jacobson & Truax Reliable
      Change Index appears to be the optimal measure of change for evaluations of
      treatment for substance use disorder, in that it is the most conservative for
      assessing improvement and at least as accurate on all other criteria. Any
      evaluation of change needs to take account of regression to the mean.

PMID- 20925687
TI  - Gamma-butyrolactone (GBL) dependence and withdrawal.
AB  - AIM: To describe morbidity associated with gamma-butyrolactone (GBL) dependence,
      and outcomes of withdrawal. DESIGN: Case series. SETTING: Specialist out-patient
      clinic and affiliated in-patient detoxification unit. Patients with home support
      were offered the option of out-patient withdrawal management, based on high-dose
      diazepam and baclofen, titrated against withdrawal severity in an initial session
      lasting approximately 4 hours. Patients were then reviewed daily during the first
      3 days of treatment, offered weekly follow-up for 4 weeks, and telephoned 2-4
      months later. PARTICIPANTS: People dependent on GBL seeking detoxification.
      MEASUREMENTS: Drug history and social functioning were obtained by self-report in
      clinical interviews with a single clinician. Treatment completion, outcomes and
      adverse events associated with withdrawal are reported. FINDINGS: Patients
      reported impaired social functioning associated with GBL dependence and
      difficulty in accessing treatment. Nineteen patients commenced detoxification; 17
      initially declined admission and were treated as out-patients. Mean diazepam dose
      in the first 24 hours was 75 mg (range 40-110 mg). Sixteen patients completed
      withdrawal, although several had lapses to GBL use during treatment. One patient
      developed delirium and required transfer to the in-patient detoxification unit.
      Most patients had persisting insomnia, anxiety and depression for weeks after
      withdrawal. CONCLUSIONS: GBL withdrawal can be managed in ambulatory settings,
      but needs to be backed up with seamless access to in-patient treatment if
      required.

PMID- 20925689
TI  - Dihydropyridines and multidrug resistance: previous attempts, present state, and
      future trends.
AB  - Multidrug resistance is defined as the resistance of a tumor cell to the
      cytotoxic action of divergent drugs used in chemotherapy. Dihydropyridines are a
      class of calcium channel antagonists that were discovered to have a multidrug
      resistance reversing effect and prompted investigations resulting in the
      synthesis of hundreds of new derivatives. Most of the investigators tried to
      achieve two goals: a decrease in Ca2(+) channel-blocking activity and an increase
      in the multidrug resistance reversing effect. Most of the synthesized compounds
      failed in the later stages of studies especially in clinical trials because of
      pharmacokinetic or pharmacodynamic limitations. Therefore, it will be necessary
      to include new methods, such as combinatorial synthesis, and, more importantly,
      to apply computational methods based on global structure-activity relationship
      models that consider all problems. Moreover, some compounds should be synthesized
      that are effective on several multidrug resistance targets.

PMID- 20925688
TI  - Revised dose schema of sublingual buprenorphine in the treatment of the neonatal
      opioid abstinence syndrome.
AB  - AIMS: More than half of infants exposed to opioids in utero develop neonatal
      abstinence syndrome (NAS) of severity to require pharmacological therapy. Current
      treatments are associated with prolonged hospitalization. We sought to optimize
      the dose of sublingual buprenorphine in the treatment of NAS. DESIGN: Randomized,
      Phase 1, open-label, active-control clinical trial comparing sublingual
      buprenorphine to oral morphine. SETTING: Large, urban, tertiary care hospital.
      PARTICIPANTS: Twenty-four term infants requiring pharmacological treatment for
      NAS. MEASUREMENTS: Outcomes were neonatal safety, length of treatment and length
      of hospitalization. FINDINGS: Sublingual buprenorphine was safe and effective.
      Infants treated with buprenorphine had a 23-day length of treatment compared to
      38 days for those treated with morphine (P = 0.01), representing a 40% reduction.
      Length of hospital stay in the buprenorphine group was reduced 24%, from 42 to 32
      days (P = 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Sublingual buprenorphine was safe in NAS, with a
      substantial efficacy advantage over standard of care therapy with oral morphine.

PMID- 20925690
TI  - Combined in silico and experimental approach for drug design: the binding mode of
      peptidic and non-peptidic inhibitors to hsp90 N-terminal domain.
AB  - Heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) is a prime target for antitumor therapies. The
      information obtained by molecular dynamics (MD) simulations is combined with NMR
      data to provide a cross-validated atomic resolution model of the complementary
      interactions of heat shock protein 90 with a peptidic (shepherdin) and a non
      peptidic (5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide-1-beta-d-ribofuranoside, AICAR)
      inhibitor, showing antiproliferative and proapoptotic activity in multiple tumor
      cell lines. This approach highlights the relevant role of imidazolic moiety in
      the interaction of both antagonist molecules. In 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide-1
      beta-d-ribofuranoside bound state, one conformation of those present in solution
      is selected, where imidazolic, H4 and H5 protons have a key role in defining a
      non-polar region contacting heat shock protein 90 surface. The dynamic
      equilibrium between N-type and S-type puckered forms of 5-aminoimidazole-4
      carboxamide-1-beta-d-ribofuranoside moiety is shown to be functional to inhibitor
      binding. The first experimental structural data on these inhibitors are presented
      and discussed as hints for future design of improved molecules.

PMID- 20925691
TI  - In silico exploration for identifying structure-activity relationship of MEK
      inhibition and oral bioavailability for isothiazole derivatives.
AB  - In this study, quantitative structure-activity/property models are developed for
      modeling and predicting both MEK inhibitory activity and oral bioavailability of
      novel isothiazole-4-carboxamidines. The models developed are thoroughly discussed
      to identify the key components that influence the inhibitory activity and oral
      bioavailability of the selected compounds. These selected descriptors serve as a
      first guideline for the design of novel and potent MEK inhibitors with desired
      ADME properties.

PMID- 20925692
TI  - Novel chalcones and 1,3,5-triphenyl-2-pyrazoline derivatives as antibacterial
      agents.
AB  - Novel sixteen chalcones and thirteen 1,3,5-triphenyl-2-pyrazolines were
      synthesized and characterized using FT-IR, HR-Mass, NMR (1H-NMR, 13C-NMR, 135
      DEPT, 1H-1H CoSY and 1H and 13C CoSY) and XRD. These compounds were evaluated for
      their antibacterial activity against six micro-organisms, namely Bacillus
      subtilis NCIM 2718, Staphylococcus aureus NCIM 5021, Salmonella typhi NCIM 2501,
      Enterobacter aerogenes NCIM 5139, Pseudomonas aeruginosa NCIM 5029, and Proteus
      vulgaris NCIM 2813 by twofold dilution method using resazurin as the indicator
      dye. In the case of chalcones, compounds with hydroxyl and bromo substitutions in
      the B-ring favor activity and benzyloxy substitution irrespective of its position
      in the A-ring. In the case of 1,3,5-triphenyl-2-pyrazolines, chloro substitution
      in the A-ring favors activity. Hydrophilic/lipophilic balance of the compounds
      plays a major role in their antibacterial activity.

PMID- 20925693
TI  - Screening for in vitro antimycobacterial activity and three-dimensional
      quantitative structure-activity relationship (3D-QSAR) study of 4
      (arylamino)coumarin derivatives.
AB  - The resurgence of tuberculosis and the emergence of multidrug-resistant strains
      of Mycobacteria necessitate the search for new classes of antimycobacterial
      agents. We have synthesized a small library of 50 analogues of 4
      (arylamino)coumarins with various aromatic amines at the C(4) - position of the
      coumarin scaffold. The compounds were evaluated for antimycobacterial activity
      against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H(37) Rv with rifampicin as the standard. Of
      the molecules synthesized, compound 9 was found to be most potent with a minimum
      inhibitory concentration >6.25 MUg/mL for 100% inhibition. In an effort to
      develop new and more effective molecules in this series, the relationship between
      structure and activity was investigated by comparative molecular field analysis.
      Various models were generated using comparative molecular field analysis alone
      and comparative molecular field analysis plus a hydropathy field (HINT). In all,
      eight models were generated with atom-fit and field-fit alignment strategies. The
      comparative molecular field analysis models (Models 3a and 4a) based on field-fit
      alignment were the best with statistically good correlation coefficients (r2) and
      cross-validated q2. The values of r2(pred) for the validation set were 0.469 and
      0.516. Based on the comparative molecular field analysis contours, some insights
      into the structure-activity relationship of the compounds could be gained.

PMID- 20925694
TI  - Predictive QSPR study of the dissociation constants of diverse pharmaceutical
      compounds.
AB  - The objective of the article was to perform a predictive analysis, based on
      quantitative structure-property relationships, of the dissociation constants
      (pK(a)) of different medicinal compounds (e.g., salicylic acid, salbutamol,
      lidocaine). Given the importance of this property in medicinal chemistry, it is
      of interest to develop theoretical methods for its prediction. The descriptors
      selection from a pool containing more than a thousand geometrical, topological,
      quantum-mechanical, and electronic types of descriptors was performed using the
      enhanced replacement method. Genetic algorithm and the replacement method (RM)
      techniques were used as reference points. A new methodology for the selection of
      the optimal number of descriptors to include in a model was presented and
      successfully used, showing that the best model should contain four descriptors.
      The best quantitative structure-property relationships linear model constructed
      using 62 molecular structures not previously used in this type of quantitative
      structure-property study showed good predictive attributes. The root mean squared
      error of the 26 molecules test set was 0.5600. The analysis of the quantitative
      structure-property relationships model suggests that the dissociation constants
      depend significantly on the number of acceptor atoms for H-bonds and on the
      number of carboxylic acids present in the molecules.

PMID- 20925695
TI  - 2-(pyrazin-2-yloxy)acetohydrazide analogs QSAR Study: An insight into the
      structural basis of antimycobacterial activity.
AB  - Quantitative structure activity relationship analysis based on classical Hansch
      approach was adopted on reported novel series of 2-(pyrazin-2
      yloxy)acetohydrazide analogs. Various types of descriptors like topological,
      spatial, thermodynamic, and electronic were used to derive a quantitative
      relationship between the antitubercular activity and structural properties. The
      consensus scoring function showed a significant statistics of training and test
      set. Coefficient of determination (r2) of consensus model and predictive squared
      correlation coefficient (r2(pred)) were found to be 0.889 and 0.782,
      respectively. The model is not only able to predict the activity of test
      compounds but also explained the important structural features of the molecules
      in a quantitative manner. The study revealed that antimycobacterium activity is
      predominantly explained by the molecular connectivity indices of length 6,
      hydrogen donor feature of the analogs, and shape factors of the substituent. The
      comparative investigation of antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus
      aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli, and Salmonella typhi provided
      structural insights on how modulation of the molecular connectivity indices,
      energy of lowest unoccupied molecular orbital, accessible surface area, and
      moment of inertia of the analogs could be usefully made to optimize the
      antibacterial activity.

PMID- 20925696
TI  - A 54-year-old woman with a meningeal lesion compressing the medulla oblongata.
AB  - A 54-year-old woman had nausea, vomiting and personality changes since a few
      weeks. Paresis of the abducens and hypoglossal nerves on the left side, a right
      sided reduction of the visual field, discrete dysarthri*a and ataxia were
      diagnosed. Cranial magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated a contrast enhancing
      circular meningeal lesion of the foramen magnum. Histological examination
      revealed a granulomatous lesion of the meninges with focal necrosis, vasculitis
      and neutrophils indicating immune complex reactions. A diagnosis of primary
      meningeal Wegener's disease was made. Medication with low dose prednisolone led
      to complete remission of the lesion 1.5 years later.

PMID- 20925697
TI  - 17-year-old girl with headache and complex partial seizure.
AB  - Supratentorial cortical ependymoma is a rare clinical entity where ependymoma
      occurring in the cortex without any connection to the ventricular system since
      ependymoma usually arises from the lining of the ventricular system or central
      canal of spinal cord. There have been 14 such cases reported in the literature.We
      report the first case of a supratentorial extraaxial cortical anaplastic
      ependymoma with minimal cortical attachment in a 17-years-old girl, presented
      with headache and complex partial seizure. Histological features of anaplasia
      including numerous mitoses, necrosis and high Ki-67 lead to postoperative
      adjuvant radiation therapy although gross total resection was achieved.

PMID- 20925699
TI  - Is care still the 'essence' of nursing?

PMID- 20925700
TI  - Care provision for rural dwelling older people.

PMID- 20925701
TI  - Personal and social determinants of health services utilization by Mexican older
      people.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Increased healthcare needs among older individuals around the world
      demands a better understanding of factors influencing healthcare service
      utilization patterns. OBJECTIVE: To examine personal and social correlates to
      health services utilization among Mexican older persons. DESIGN AND METHODS: This
      was a cross-sectional study conducted between 2004 and 2006 with 2030 Mexican
      adults 60 years and older and based on a health services utilization framework. A
      two-stage cluster sampling with probability proportionate to size was used.
      Participants were randomly selected and recruited in four metropolitan areas in
      Northeastern Mexico. Chi-square and Pearson's chi-squared tests and logistic
      regression were used for data analyses. RESULTS: Significantly more women than
      men had lost a spouse and were illiterate. Also, females reported significantly
      poorer health, higher nutritional risk and lower ability to perform activities of
      daily and instrumental living than males. Predictors of healthcare utilization
      were: Having a caregiver during an illness; perceiving to have a health problem;
      being able to afford food, and having children. CONCLUSIONS: Predisposing,
      enabling and need factors are strong predictors of health services utilization
      among Mexican older persons. In addition, gender differences exist among this
      population in relation to health status, but not to health services demands.

PMID- 20925702
TI  - Functional health status among rural and urban older adults in Taiwan: the effect
      of personal control and social control.
AB  - AIM: To assess the relationship between perceived social control/personal control
      and functional health status among older adults in rural and urban Taiwan.
      BACKGROUND: The ageing of the population is poised to emerge as a preeminent
      worldwide phenomenon. It is assumed that even though older adults experience many
      decades of autonomy and independence, the potential for illness or bodily decline
      will induce a serious reduction in the level of perceived control in older adult
      populations. METHOD: This is a descriptive correlational study using a secondary
      data base, Social Environment and Biomarkers of Aging Study. Social Environment
      and Biomarkers of Aging Study is a nationally representative study of health
      outcomes in the Taiwanese population. RESULTS: Both perceived levels of social
      control and personal control had a statistically significant relationship with
      functional health status. Functional health status was significantly higher for
      urban older adults than their rural counterparts. CONCLUSIONS: Personal control
      and social control were both found to be predictors of functional health status.
      Major findings are supported by previous studies. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE:
      Nurses should create programs and plan activities to assist older adults to
      enhance their perceptions of social control or personal control in order to
      improve the health status of older adults and minimize associated health care
      costs.

PMID- 20925703
TI  - Barriers to and facilitators of self-management adherence in Korean older adults
      with type 2 diabetes.
AB  - AIM: The aim of this study was to identify the barriers to and facilitators of
      self-management adherence in Korean older adults with type 2 diabetes. DESIGN AND
      METHODS: Qualitative data collected from 24 participants in three focus groups
      who had previously taken part in a diabetes self-management education programme
      in a community setting were analyzed using an interpretive method. RESULTS: The
      barriers to adherence to self-management included ageing-related physical and
      psychological changes, restrictions related to specific cultural factors, lack of
      self-discipline and poor understanding of self-management. Facilitators of self
      management were knowing the benefits of and having a system to reinforce self
      management, being the master of oneself by reshaping historical life habits and
      family support. The perceived barriers and facilitators differed with gender as a
      result of the characteristics of Korean culture. CONCLUSIONS: This study
      identified the major barriers to and facilitators of self-management adherence
      specific to Korean older adults with diabetes, which can be used to develop
      better diabetes self-management education programmes for this population.
      RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Korean nurses working with Korean older adults
      with diabetes can utilize the findings of this study to structure better tailored
      and culturally appropriate self-management programmes specific to older adults.

PMID- 20925704
TI  - Raising the bar of care for older people in Ontario emergency departments.
AB  - AIM: To describe the role of geriatric emergency management nurses as a catalyst
      for culture change in emergency department processes with the goal to improve
      care and outcomes of older people. BACKGROUND: The changing context and
      literature has called for a culture change within emergency department care to
      integrate principles of older people care into care delivery. There is a paucity
      of reports describing how geriatric emergency care models bring about a broader
      change in culture within the entire emergency department. METHODS: The Ontario
      Ministry of Health and Long-term Care in Canada established a programme to place
      geriatric emergency management nurses into emergency departments with the goal to
      improve delivery of care through development of unique, site-appropriate
      solutions. RESULTS: Geriatric emergency management nurses incorporate capacity
      building into their role to develop and strengthen the skills, instincts,
      abilities, process and resources of the emergency department. Care processes
      focus on areas of staffing, mobilization, comfort, medication, hygiene,
      nutrition/hydration, cognition, environment, equipment and stimulation. Multi
      modal educational strategies and advocacy promote appropriate person-centred
      care. Improved communication among care providers at key patient transition
      points remains a priority system-level improvement. CONCLUSION: Geriatric
      emergency management nurses work collaboratively with the emergency department
      team to facilitate change in the way that emergency department care is provided
      to the older person experiencing health emergencies. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE:
      Known strategies that have been effective in improving outcomes for older people
      within the hospital and residential care setting can be generalized into
      emergency department care. Further research into the effectiveness of these
      strategies in this environment is recommended.

PMID- 20925705
TI  - Quality of life: dementia and dignity.

PMID- 20925706
TI  - Dignity, dining and dialogue: reviewing the literature on quality of life for
      people with dementia.
AB  - AIM: To review contemporary literature on quality of life for people with
      dementia. BACKGROUND: One of the consequences of population ageing is the
      predicted increase in the incidence of dementia. While we can as yet do little to
      affect the course of the disease, health care professionals are well-placed to
      intervene to affect quality of life and quality of care for people with dementia.
      RESULTS: Research into quality of life for people with dementia has grown
      markedly over the last decade, in line with evolving conceptual and theoretical
      understandings of this complex concept. While much of the literature continues to
      focus on assessment and measurement of quality of life, emerging areas of
      interest are noted, including dialogue associated with personhood; dignity; and
      dining and mealtime experiences. CONCLUSION: Literature on quality of life for
      people with dementia is as diverse as the concept itself. Established and
      emerging areas of research suggest that this diversity will continue into the
      future as we strive to better understand quality of life for people with dementia
      in all its complexity.

PMID- 20925707
TI  - Dementia, dignity and quality of life: nursing practice and its dilemmas.
AB  - AIMS: The need for healthcare practitioners to respect the dignity of older
      people is widely recognised in England, where it has been given attention by
      politicians, professionals and health service regulators. This article aims to
      provide examples of how such ambitions may be used in practice development.
      METHODS: This article reports the use of five vignettes discussed by dementia
      care practitioners that explored the areas of dementia diagnosis, lying,
      incontinence, behavioural and psychological distress, and end of life care.
      FINDINGS: Each vignette promoted discussion of differences of perspectives about
      the ways to enhance the dignity of people with dementia in hospital, care home
      and community settings. The discussion confirmed that while dignity may be one
      quality indicator of good care potentially enhancing quality of life, it is not
      always straightforward. It may be more easily conceptualised when talking of
      physical care and treatment than other areas. CONCLUSION: The opportunity to
      debate the subject and to discuss practice examples revealed differences of
      opinion and moral perspectives between practitioners about the use and relevance
      of the term dignity. These need to be acknowledged in any debates about objective
      and subjective definitions of quality of life.

PMID- 20925709
TI  - Editorial: outcomes from gerontological nursing: considering person-centredness.

PMID- 20925708
TI  - Is quality of life being compromised in people with dementia in long-term care?
AB  - AIM: To outline the importance of understanding quality of life (QOL) in people
      with dementia living in long-term care. To consider several key research
      questions and some of the challenges and impact of neglecting knowledge transfer.
      BACKGROUND: There is a gap between the knowledge in the broad dementia research
      literature and transfer of knowledge into practice. Quality of life research and
      transfer of research into practice is one means by which health professionals can
      inform health and social care policy and improve care practice. DISCUSSION: There
      are a number of unanswered research questions in relation to QOL in people with
      dementia living in long term care. A selection of questions discussed in this
      paper relate to the impact of staff knowledge of mental health assessment and the
      importance of therapeutic communication, cognitive training programs and social
      biography, individual needs, weight and behavioural and psychological symptoms of
      dementia (BPSD), resident choice and the impact of the environment on QOL.
      CONCLUSION: Research methods used to assess QOL must not be too restrictive and
      mixed methods and data from multiple perspectives should be encouraged so that an
      extensive understanding is uncovered. Potential strategies to assist knowledge
      transfer in long-term care settings are needed.

PMID- 20925710
TI  - The care of older people with dementia in acute hospitals.
AB  - AIM: To explore the experiences of patients and nursing staff of the care
      received by older people with dementia in acute hospitals. BACKGROUND: The
      prevalence of dementia is steadily increasing as is the number of people with the
      condition requiring acute hospital care. Significant concerns about the quality
      of this care have been raised. There is a paucity of knowledge about the views of
      such care from the perspectives of people with dementia and nurses. METHOD: An
      ethnographic approach was used and data were collected thorough observation and
      interviews in one acute hospital in the United Kingdom. FINDINGS: Findings
      suggest that care for older people with dementia in acute hospitals is not always
      optimum although there are clear exceptions. Generally, people with dementia
      found the delivery of care and the experience of being in hospital distressing as
      they did not know what was happening and they were often ignored. Nurses strive
      to give good care but do not always achieve this. CONCLUSION: Bourdieu's Model of
      Practice assists in explaining why care is as it is. There is a clear need to
      improve current practice. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: It is imperative that
      innovative methods of developing practice are implemented and evaluated.
      Education alone will not lead to sustained changes in practice. Further research
      into this subject needs to be undertaken.

PMID- 20925711
TI  - Developing person-centred practice: nursing outcomes arising from changes to the
      care environment in residential settings for older people.
AB  - AIM: To present the nursing outcomes from the evaluation of developments in the
      care environment in residential settings for older people. DESIGN: The evaluation
      data reported here is derived from a larger national programme of work that
      focused on the development of person-centred practice in residential services for
      older people using an emancipatory practice development framework. A multi-method
      evaluation framework was utilised. Outcome data were collected at three time
      points between December 2007 and September 2009. The data reported here were
      collected using an instrument called the 'Person-Centred Nursing Index'.
      FINDINGS: Heavy workload was the main cause of stress among nurses. Personal and
      professional satisfaction with the job was scored highest by the total sample of
      nurses. Nineteen factors were examined using the Person-Centred Nursing Index.
      Statistically significant changes were observed in 12 of these. In addition,
      there were statistically significant changes in nurses' perceptions of caring,
      indicating a shift from a dominant focus on 'technical' aspects of care, to one
      where 'intimate' aspects of care were more highly valued. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL
      PRACTICE: The findings highlight the importance of the development of effective
      teamwork, workload management, time management and staff relationships in order
      to create a culture where there is a more democratic and inclusive approach to
      practice and space for the formation of person-centred relationships.

PMID- 20925712
TI  - Changes in nursing home residents during an innovation based on the theory of
      gerotranscendence.
AB  - AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: The aim of the present study was to investigate how
      residents were affected when an intervention based on the theory of
      gerotranscendence and guidelines derived from the theory was introduced in a
      nursing home. BACKGROUND: The notion that communication is essential in staff
      resident interaction is widely accepted both in theory and practise, as is the
      notion that communicative behaviour influences patient outcomes. No studies as
      yet have focused on whether residents are influenced by staff use of guidelines
      derived from the theory of gerotranscendence. DESIGN: The study was explorative
      in nature and used a qualitative approach. METHODS: Data were collected through
      interviews with residents and participant observations; qualitative content
      analysis was performed. SAMPLE SIZE: six residents. RESULTS: The study shows that
      many residents reviewed and thought about their lives, and that this aspect
      changed during the study period. Some residents' descriptions of their situation
      revealed that certain changes in social life on the ward had occurred. These
      changes could be an effect of the intervention. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE:
      For nurses working in gerontological care, it is a challenge to get to know and
      provide the best nursing care and individual treatment for each resident; this
      involves a holistic view helping residents in their ageing process. The use of
      guidelines derived from the theory of gerotranscendence could help nurses promote
      positive ageing and constitute one way of treating residents in a more
      individualized manner.

PMID- 20925713
TI  - Outcomes from the work of registered nurses working with older people in UK care
      homes.
AB  - AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: This research sought to illuminate the distinct
      contributions made by Registered Nurses (RNs) and Care Assistants (CAs) to
      outcomes for older people in UK (nursing) care homes and to identify the outcomes
      of their work. This paper reports on aspects relevant to RNs. BACKGROUND: Older
      people living in long-term residential care settings around the world are among
      the most vulnerable individuals within their communities and those with the most
      complex needs. Nursing has historically been fundamental in the delivery of these
      services but, in some countries, the role of Registered Nurses in residential
      care is coming under increasing scrutiny, particularly in the context of
      escalating costs and funding restrictions, a questioning of the need for a 24
      hour 'health' professional presence in a 'social care' service and a lack of
      evidence on the distinct contribution that RNs make to outcomes in these
      settings. DESIGN: A multi-method qualitative interpretive approach, adopting a
      structure-process-outcome framework and grounded in the philosophical
      hermeneutics of Hans-Georg Gadamer (2003). METHODS: For Phase 1 of the study, RNs
      and CAs from care homes around the UK contributed examples of their work, which
      they identified as having made a 'significant' difference to older individuals.
      Phase 2 comprised researcher fieldwork (observations, interviews and documentary
      analysis) in three care homes around UK. Research participants included RNs, CAs,
      older residents, relatives, home managers and professionals working in the homes.
      RESULTS: RN roles in care homes are broad and multifaceted. Distinct outcomes of
      RN work are consequent to their caring and their knowledge and skills developed
      through broad experience in a range of healthcare settings. Outcomes for
      residents from RN work include enhanced personhood and wellbeing, improved health
      and function, the prevention of problems/adverse outcomes and enhanced quality of
      life. RN outcomes have positive impact on relatives, staff and the homes in
      general. CONCLUSIONS: There is potential to reconsider the broad, 'anything and
      everything' nature of the RN role in care homes identified in the research.
      However, given the complex healthcare needs of the current resident population,
      the 24-hour RN presence is deemed essential.

PMID- 20925714
TI  - Relationship centred outcomes focused on compassionate care for older people
      within in-patient care settings.
AB  - This paper describes outcomes from research titled Leadership in Compassionate
      Care. The research adopts a participatory action research approach, utilizing
      appreciative inquiry and relationship centred care. Outcomes of the research are
      based upon relationships between patients, families and staff. This paper focuses
      on in-patient care for older people. A range of data generation activities were
      undertaken including: observation, interviews using emotional touch points and
      reflective accounts. To highlight outcomes in compassionate care, this paper uses
      case studies from two participating services. Principles of compassionate care
      were derived from understanding experiences of patients, relatives and staff and
      initiating responsive action projects. The aim was to enhance the experience of
      relationship centred, compassionate care. The process of emotional touch points
      enabled a richer understanding of experience. In terms of outcomes for patients
      this involved, enhanced quality of time spent with family and opening up
      conversations between families and staff. Outcomes for families involved enhanced
      access to relevant information and the opportunity to make sense of their
      situation. Staff outcomes were gaining experience in working alongside family to
      co-create the service, enhanced understanding of the experiences of patients and
      relatives led to direct changes in individual and team practices.

PMID- 20925715
TI  - Constructions of dignity: a pre-requisite for flourishing in the workplace?
AB  - AIMS: To explore the relationship between nurses' understanding of dignity and
      how it is enhanced and developed in their practice environment. BACKGROUND:
      Dignity is a ubiquitous concept in an era of healthcare reform yet is referred to
      almost exclusively in terms of the quality of care delivered to support the
      experience of the patient rather than the caregivers engaged in the relationships
      of care. This article focuses on dignity in the professional life of nurses in
      aged care. METHOD: This is part of a doctoral study of the implementation of a
      palliative approach in residential aged care using emancipatory practice
      development methodology. Constructions of dignity were co-created with
      participants through creative reflective activities and subsequently analysed
      using reflexive methods and data from other sources within the study. RESULTS:
      Constructions of dignity and subsequent actions taken by nurses on their own
      behalf to articulate their experiences of transforming practice are
      interconnected with dignity enhancing relationships and emancipatory ways of
      working in practice development. CONCLUSIONS: Dignity enhancing ways of working
      in an active learning group and workplace have been interlinked with actions that
      promote person-centredness in developing a palliative approach to care.

PMID- 20925716
TI  - The use of life story work with people with dementia to enhance person-centred
      care.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Person-centred care has been linked with quality of care but
      difficulties remain in person-centred care being implemented in care practice.
      This study explores the use of life story work to enhance person-centred care
      with people with dementia. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: The study investigates how life
      story work is: understood and developed in practice; experienced by all
      participants and affects the delivery and outcomes of care. DESIGN AND METHODS:
      The experience of older people with dementia, family carers and care staff in
      using life story work was explored within an NHS Health and Social Care Trust. A
      multiple case study design was adopted within a constructivist approach. Semi
      structured interviews, observation, conversations were employed. FINDINGS: Life
      story work has the potential to: enable care staff to see the person behind the
      patient; allow family carers to uphold their relatives' personhood; enable the
      voice of the person with dementia to be heard, verbally and non-verbally; be
      enjoyable for all concerned and enable the person with dementia to feel proud
      about themselves and their lives. CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Life
      story work has the potential to enhance person-centred care for older people with
      dementia and their families. Taking a practice development approach ensures that
      life story work can be implemented sensitively and is sustained in practice.

PMID- 20925717
TI  - Using drama to improve person-centred dementia care.
AB  - AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: We implemented a 12-week drama-based educational
      intervention to introduce to dementia practitioners person-centred care that
      emphasizes the notion of embodied selfhood (defined as non-verbal self
      expression). BACKGROUND: Person-centred dementia care guidelines emphasize the
      assessment of individual needs, and where appropriate, the use of non
      pharmacological interventions before resorting to pharmacological management.
      However, dementia care is not consistent with these guidelines suggesting
      conceptual limitations and reliance on passive knowledge translation strategies.
      DESIGN AND METHODS: Focus groups and semi-structured interviews with
      practitioners (n = 24) in two nursing homes in central Canada were undertaken to
      assess the effectiveness of the drama-based components of the intervention.
      RESULTS: Our findings suggest that drama was effective as an educational
      modality, and helped implement the person-centred approach into practice.
      Significant practice outcomes included: new awareness that residents' body
      movements and dispositions can convey meaning; seeking biographical information
      from families; increased time efficiency; and supporting residents' independence.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our findings make an important contribution to person-centred
      dementia care by broadening the notion of personhood, and by facilitating
      implementation using drama. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: As an enhancement of
      person-centred care, the support of embodied selfhood may significantly improve
      residents' quality of life, quality of care, and practitioners' care-giving
      experience.

PMID- 20925718
TI  - 'Patient participation' in everyday activities in special care units for persons
      with dementia in Norwegian nursing homes.
AB  - AIM: The aim of this study was to explore 'patient participation' in everyday
      activities for persons with dementia living in special care units in nursing
      homes. BACKGROUND: Studies about how 'patient participation' appears in the
      context of special care units for persons with dementia are lacking. DESIGN: The
      study has an explorative design. METHOD: Grounded theory was chosen. Data
      collection was carried out by means of open observations and additional
      conversations with residents and personnel. Simultaneously, data analysis was
      performed with open, axial and selective coding. FINDINGS: The findings showed
      that 'patient participation' concerned 'A matter of presence' as the core
      category. The other categories described as 'presence of personnel' and 'presence
      of residents', were strongly connected to the core category as well as to each
      other. Presence of personnel comprised three levels; being there in body, which
      required physical presence; being there in mind, which required presence with all
      senses based on knowledge and competence; and being there in morality which was
      understood as being fully present, as it was based on humanistic values and
      included the two other levels. Presence of residents comprised 'ability and wish'
      and 'adaptation'. The presence of the personnel had a huge impact on the ability
      and will to participate of the residents. Organizational conditions concerning
      leadership, amount of personnel and routines as well as housing conditions
      concerning architecture and shared accommodation, could stimulate or hinder
      'patient participation'. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: The study highlighted the
      great impact of the personnel's presence in body, mind and morality on the
      participation capacity of the residents. The great importance of the nurse
      leaders was stressed, as they were responsible for organizational issues and
      served as role models. Group supervision of the personnel and their leaders would
      be an implication to propose, as these kinds of reflection groups offer
      opportunities to reflect on values, actions and routines.

PMID- 20925719
TI  - From health organization-centred standardization work process to a personhood
      centred care process in an Italian nursing home: effectiveness on bowel
      elimination model.
AB  - AIMS: An Italian nursing home's standardized work process redesign towards a
      personhood-centred nursing care is the focus of this study. The aim was to
      develop and implement a multi-method, personhood-centred, bowel elimination
      programme, to reduce the number of patients suffering from constipation and
      lessen the use of the invasive practises routinely adopted in nursing home
      (laxatives, enemas, rectal exploration). BACKGROUND: Although the importance of
      the application of personhood-centred care concepts in gerontology nursing has
      been widely recognized, the actual tendency of the Italian National Health
      System, which has few nursing resources for to the care of the older persons, is
      standardization. Standardization is enacted mainly by a functional pattern and
      carries the risk of using the same nursing answer to patient's different needs,
      priorities, preferences and histories. Constipation in older people living in
      nursing homes is one of the effects of extreme standardization. METHODS: A case
      crossover study design was adopted from 2006 to 2007. Twenty persons were
      enrolled in the programme. The multi-method programme included three phases:
      assessment (first phase), development/implementation (second) and evaluation
      (third phase). RESULTS: In the first phase, nine (45%) persons were constipated;
      in the third phase, only two (10%) were constipated (chi(2) 6.14, P = 0.013). The
      relative risk of being a constipated person in the first phase compared with the
      third phase was 4.5 (confidence interval 95%: 1.11-18.27). During the first phase
      562 invasive procedures were observed (+/- 25.5, range: 2-85) for bowel
      elimination whereas during the third phase 120 were observed (+/- 12, range: 0
      58). CONCLUSION: After the personhood-centred multi-method programme, seven
      persons have modified their bowel elimination pattern, and they were no longer
      constipated. The programme has also reduced the use of invasive procedures. The
      reduction of invasive practises might have affected positively the persons'
      quality of life, their comfort and also the workload of the nurses, reducing the
      time they needed for constipation management and using it for prevention
      strategies.

PMID- 20925720
TI  - Editorial: IJOPN enters a new stage as a stand alone journal.

PMID- 20925721
TI  - Editorial: 'the gift of understanding' section.

PMID- 20925722
TI  - Nurses' experiences of caring encounters with older people living in Swedish
      nursing homes.
AB  - Aim.  The aim of the study was to describe and interpret the meaning of nurses'
      experiences of caring encounters with residents in nursing homes. Background. 
      Life for residents in nursing homes can be characterized as a process of
      decreased physical and psychological resources. Therefore, encounters with nurses
      are important activities for providing meaning and security for the residents.
      Research in this field has previously focused on communication, attitudes and job
      satisfaction, but gives limited knowledge about what the human encounters in this
      context mean for the nurses. Method.  A hermeneutic method was used in this
      study. Interviews were conducted with 14 nurses from two nursing homes about
      their experiences of caring encounters. The transcribed interview texts were
      interpreted as a whole. Results.  In the interpretation of the text concerning
      the meaning of nurses' experiences of encounters with resident's four themes and
      11 subthemes emerged. The comprehensive interpretation mainly showed possible
      ways available being present, being significant and being aware of opportunities
      for the nurse to find meaning in the encounter with the resident, but impossible
      ways as being inadequately were also revealed. Conclusion.  This study shows the
      importance of caring encounters between nurses and residents in nursing homes.
      The good encounters provide various possible ways for nurses to find meaning and
      a sense of communion with residents. However, bad encounters, described as being
      inadequate, were found to inhibit nurses from finding meaning in their encounters
      with residents. Relevance to clinical practice.  Meeting the needs of older
      people in nursing homes requires special knowledge about the importance of the
      caring encounter. Therefore, nurses in this care context need supervision and
      continuous education in order to gain relevant knowledge about the meaning of
      caring encounters for themselves and residents.

PMID- 20925723
TI  - A literature review on fatigue among older people in pain: prevalence and
      predictors.
AB  - Objective.  The aim of the study was to survey existing research about fatigue
      among older people with chronic non-malignant pain. Method.  A structured
      literature review was carried out using the Medline database. The terms 'fatigue'
      and 'tiredness' were used synonymously. These subject headings were combined with
      pain. A literature search was made in 2004 and included articles back to 1995.
      Results.  The review of studies from the last decade resulted in 11 articles of
      relevance. The result showed that fatigue was common among older people and even
      more common among those in pain. However, there was discordance regarding the
      prevalence, and the figures ranged from 30% to 98%. Fatigue was found to be
      associated above all with pain, functional limitations/functioning, and low
      quality of life. No articles were found focusing on interventions against
      fatigue. Conclusions.  Fatigue is common in old age and even more common when
      people are in pain. However, knowledge seems to be sparse especially regarding
      interventions in daily care. Thus, more studies are needed that focus on fatigue
      to get firm evidence about the prevalence among older people in pain. In
      addition, studies about interventions against fatigue are urgently needed so that
      the care of older people can include actions against fatigue and to improve
      quality of life. Relevance to clinical practice.  It is of importance that
      fatigue is not ignored in the care of older people. By intervening against
      symptoms such as fatigue it will most likely ease the pain and improve quality of
      life.

PMID- 20925724
TI  - Loss of parents in childhood - associations with depression, loneliness, and
      attitudes towards life in older Finnish people.
AB  - Aim.  This study examines the prevalence of parental loss in childhood of older
      generations in Finland and how it is associated with demographic variables,
      depression, feelings of loneliness and attitudes towards life in old age.
      Background.  A parental loss is a significant trauma in a child's life. It has
      long-term consequences in late adulthood, such as depression in middle age. Loss
      of parent/parents has not been under concern in the nursing literature. Little is
      known about the prevalence of parental loss and its consequences in old age such
      as depression, inner feelings of loneliness and life attitudes. Methods.  The
      data were collected with a postal questionnaire from a random sample of 3728
      older people (>=75 years) in Finland who responded to a question concerning loss
      of a parent when respondent was age <=17 years. Results.  Of those responding to
      the question concerning parental loss, 31.2% had lost their mother and/or father
      in the childhood (at age <=17 years). Loss of parents was associated with lower
      level of education, physically heavy lifetime work, and not being married. There
      was no statistically significant relation between the loss of parent/parents in
      the childhood and self-reported depression or loneliness in the old age. In
      addition, loss of parent/parents was not associated with any attitudes towards
      life, such as life satisfaction, plans for the future, zest for life or
      happiness. Conclusions.  Surprisingly many people from older generations had lost
      their parent/parents in their childhood, but it is not associated with
      depression, feelings of loneliness or other attitudes towards life. Several
      explanations for this are discussed. Relevance to clinical practice.  Loss of
      parents does not necessarily lead to older people's psychological frailty. Nurses
      should be cautious when making interpretations about older people's early life
      history. Among older people early losses may be a source of successful coping
      skills rather than a risk factor for depression, loneliness and pessimistic life
      attitudes.

PMID- 20925725
TI  - Hospitalized older peoples' views of health and health promotion.
AB  - Older peoples' health varies considerably and the number of older people who need
      hospital care will increase in the future. Traditionally, the focus of nursing
      care in hospitals is oriented towards diagnosis and treatment of disease,
      although health and health promotion are inherent in theories and definitions of
      nursing. This is an important issue in health politics, in new laws and
      regulations in Norway. However, it was difficult to find research-based knowledge
      about how nurses work with health promotion and health related to older
      hospitalized patients. This study aimed at describing older hospitalized
      patients' experiences of health and health promotion. The study used a
      descriptive and explorative qualitative design, with an interpretative
      phenomenological approach. Ten older hospitalized patients, recruited through
      purposeful sampling, were interviewed during their hospital stay. The informants
      described health as Being able to be the person I am, to do what I want to do,
      and feel well and have strength. Health promotion was described as Being enabled
      through being the person I am, through information and knowledge and through hope
      and motivation. The findings may be applied to nursing practice in order to focus
      on promotion of health as an individual process built upon the unique person's
      life and situation, supported by nursing care and medical treatment.

PMID- 20925726
TI  - Influences on nurses' communications with older people at the end of life:
      perceptions and experiences of nurses working in palliative care and general
      medicine.
AB  - Aim.  This paper reports an exploratory study investigating nurses' perceptions
      and experiences regarding listening and talking to dying older people about
      issues relating to the end of life. Background.  At the end of life, nurses need
      to be able to communicate with older people in an open and sensitive manner.
      Although studies highlight that many nurses feel ill-prepared to respond when
      patients express their concerns and needs about the end of life, few consider
      nurses' views of caring specifically for dying older people in acute medical
      settings. Methods.  Focus groups and interviews were undertaken with a purposive
      sample of nurses, including students and support workers, on general medical and
      palliative care units (24 participants). These were recorded on mini-disc,
      transcribed verbatim and offered to participants for comment and clarification.
      Guided by the principles of the constant comparative technique, transcripts were
      analysed for broad similarities and differences in the data and participants
      given the opportunity to comment on the findings. Following the study, a workshop
      comprising participants and experts in the field reviewed and discussed the
      implications of the findings for practice. Results.  Factors influencing nurses'
      communication with older people at the end of life, included: nurses' perceptions
      and experiences of talking and listening to older people; learning from other
      members of the multi-professional team; environmental and organizational
      constraints such as time, privacy and the culture of care; and perceived
      differences between the values of nurses and those of doctors and patients'
      families. All participants recognized the importance of communicating with older
      people at the end of life, but general medical nurses expressed the need for
      further support. Relevance to clinical practice.  Fostering a palliative care
      approach, through education and organizational culture that focuses on person
      centred care and multi-professional teamwork in a supportive environment, is
      essential. This should ensure that nurses engage with older people in a
      meaningful way as they face the end of their lives.

PMID- 20925727
TI  - Editorial: End-of-life issues in long-term care - implications for practice.

PMID- 20925728
TI  - End-of-life care in long-term care settings for older people: a literature
      review.
AB  - Most if not all of end-of-life care for people living in long-term care
      facilities is provided within the facility. This type of care is likely to
      increase with population ageing. This paper presents a literature review of the
      published literature on end-of-life care in long-term care facilities such as
      nursing homes, aged care facilities, residential care homes and continuing care
      settings, published between 2000 and 2004. A subset of literature that focuses on
      the development of practice and the identification of interventions to promote
      the provision of end-of-life care in care homes is examined in detail. Twenty
      five papers are identified and these address modes of service delivery, the
      introduction of 'interventions' that facilitate care for individuals, and the
      development of tools. This work remains largely descriptive. Small-scale work
      dominates, reflecting the initial stages of knowledge development in this area of
      work. Suggestions for ways to expand the scope of the end-of-life care
      development work in long-term care settings are presented, as it is time to
      expand the horizons of these initiatives to become more rigorous and responsive
      to the needs of older people and their families in this care setting.

PMID- 20925729
TI  - The challenges in adopting care pathways for the dying for use in care homes.
AB  - An increasing number of older people are requiring palliative care within the
      care home setting. There are currently a number of initiatives that are generally
      gaining approval and being implemented within health care in general with the
      goal of improving standards of palliative care. These are the Integrated Care
      Pathway for the dying person, the Gold Standards Framework and the Preferred
      Place of Care document. The Liverpool Care Pathway is being used across a wide
      range of care settings to improve care in the last 24-48 hours of life and is
      being implemented in care homes as part of a national rollout programme. This
      article aims to explore some of the issues associated with the use of the care
      pathways in care homes, particularly without the input of additional resources
      and support for the care homes. It also questions the appropriateness of the
      pathway in its current format without further work on the specific palliative
      care needs of the residents dying in care homes.

PMID- 20925730
TI  - Palliative care in long-term care: a system in change.
AB  - The provision of palliative care for older people within the next decade will
      need to be substantially different to that provided today. In long-term care
      settings the achievement of quality palliative care will require attention to all
      levels of the health and social care system, in both its formal and informal
      manifestations. We suggest that long-term care facilities will become the
      hospices of the future, caring for older people with chronic conditions with a
      long trajectory to death, the most common being dementia. We see this progression
      as inevitable and appropriate if the right support is provided. We discuss the
      impact that transferability and sustainability has had on the present provision
      of palliative care for older people and how that may affect the future. Four
      forces which are important factors in public policy; leadership, a culture that
      supports learning throughout the care process, an emphasis on effective team
      development and the use of information technologies for quality activities are
      used as a framework for our vision of social planning. We then go on to discuss
      the impact of costs, workforce, service planning and public awareness as vital
      areas where progress needs to be carefully tackled. We suggest some likely poor
      outcomes if this planning does not occur, but indicate that if planning and
      implementation is effective then services can provide the kind of care the baby
      boomer generation seeks.

PMID- 20925731
TI  - Editorial.

PMID- 20925732
TI  - Students' ideals for nursing older people in practice.
AB  - Aim.  Drawing on research exploring nursing students' experiences of working with
      older people, this paper aims to demonstrate how context and culture can impact
      on the realization of their ideals. Background.  The principles underpinning
      individualized and person-centred approaches to care resonate with those focal to
      gerontologic nursing. Restrictive contexts of care and pervasive workplace
      cultures render nurses unable to deliver care in accord with these. Design and
      method.  This interpretive study was informed by phenomenological-hermeneutic
      theory. A purposive sample (n = 10) was recruited from a single educational
      institution. Data were generated in two phases using loosely structured
      interviews and supplementary activity. Themes explicating their experiences were
      identified via systematized detailed analysis and issues pertaining to nursing
      students' orientation towards older people cut across these. Findings and
      discussion.  Students perceived that older people were prone to depersonalization
      and marginalization, so sought to show respect by coming to know individuals,
      form human connections with them and personalize care accordingly. Giving
      respect, promoting personhood, asserting reciprocal identity and maintaining
      dignity were prominent features of this but were often frustrated by practices
      and cultures encountered in mainstream settings. Conclusions.  Nursing students'
      approaches to older people are contextual and reflect elements of person-centred
      ideology. Their attempts upholding their ideals are liable to be subverted by
      workplace norms. Preparatory education should address these, assist students to
      learn how to attend to personhood in restrictive environments and offer targeted
      placements in age-specific and non-acute services. Relevance to clinical
      practice.  Demographic trends mean that working with older people has increased
      significance for nurses in most settings. Person-centredness is seen as
      beneficial for older people but contemporary service imperatives and enduring
      practices are inhibitory, preventing entrants to nursing from developing related
      skills.

PMID- 20925733
TI  - Promoting breast health: older women's perceptions of an innovative intervention
      to enhance screening.
AB  - Aims and objectives.  This study is a continuation of prior funded research in
      which we tested the use of age and ethnically sensitive video breast health kits
      to increase knowledge about breast cancer and enhance the screening practices of
      breast self-examination and mammography among older Caucasian and African
      American women. Background.  Breast cancer is the most frequent cancer in women
      worldwide and accounts for 23% of all cancers. Mammography is currently the best
      procedure available for mass screening of breast cancer. However,
      underutilization of mammography is a problem among older women in the United
      States. Elders are at the greatest risk for developing and dying from breast
      cancer but they are the least likely group to be screened routinely with
      mammograms or to practice breast self-examination, particularly if they are
      African-American. Design.  Participatory qualitative evaluation focus groups were
      used to assess the overall impact of the video kit intervention programme and to
      elucidate the quantitative findings of the original study. Methods.  Four focus
      groups were conducted in two diverse settings with a purposive sample of 23
      participants (N = 23). The overall sample was predominantly African-American
      (87%) with mean age of 71 +/- 7.9 years and mean education completed of 12 +/-
      3.4 years. Results.  Five major themes emerged from group discussions: usability
      and appeal of the intervention, fear and empowerment, personal relevance and
      intergenerational sharing, impact on screening behaviours, and story telling.
      Conclusions.  Analyses suggest that customized media materials constructed
      especially for older African-American women empowered participants in this sample
      to action regarding their own breast health. Relevance to clinical practice. 
      These findings may translate to global populations where risk is increasing but
      screening programmes are not widely available. Given that older women are
      historically difficult to access and impact, further design and evaluation of
      innovative and sensitive educational programmes such as the one described here
      are recommended.

PMID- 20925734
TI  - Preserving personhood in dementia research: a literature review.
AB  - The aim of this literature review was to investigate studies that actively engage
      older people with dementia in research 'with' rather than 'on' them. The focus of
      the paper is the methods that researchers have used to ensure that studies are
      ethical, meaningful and preserve the personhood of individuals. The intention is
      to present a selection of papers rather than undertake an exhaustive review. It
      is well recognized that the prevalence of dementia in older adults is increasing,
      this increase is reflected by a huge rise in the amount of research into this
      area. The biomedical model continues to dominate dementia research however there
      is a small, but growing, body of research that actively seeks to engage people
      with dementia. This increase in research that actively engages people with
      dementia has developed in parallel with the 'new culture' of dementia care in
      which Kitwood (Dementia Reconsidered: The Person Comes First. Open University
      Press, Buckingham, 1997) exhorts us to respect the personhood of people with
      dementia. This review identifies 22 studies that sought the views and experiences
      of older people with dementia. There is evidence in each paper that the
      researchers had given thought to ensuring that their work was ethical, meaningful
      and preserved the personhood of individuals. The skill with which this aim was
      achieved varied considerably from formulaic approaches to those that clearly
      demonstrate that the researchers have a mindset that is grounded in a powerful
      belief in, and application of, the concepts of genuine respect for older people
      with dementia. The examples of good practice that have been drawn from these
      papers have direct application to both future research and to the provision of
      clinical care.

PMID- 20925735
TI  - Moving forward together: evaluation of an action group involving staff and
      relatives within a nursing home for older people with dementia.
AB  - Background.  This paper describes the implementation and evaluation of an action
      group within a nursing home for older people with dementia. Over a two-year
      period, researchers worked with staff, residents and relatives on a series of
      initiatives aimed at improving experiences of living and working within the home.
      The action group, involving staff, residents and their relatives was the vehicle
      through which a number of important changes were achieved. The project was
      underpinned by ideas about relationship-centred care and the Senses Framework.
      Methods.  A constructivist methodology informed both the initial development and
      the evaluation of the project. This paper reports findings from interviews with
      staff and relatives and process recordings of group discussions. Findings.  Data
      from the evaluation provide evidence of ways in which the project has contributed
      to creating the senses (security, significance, belonging, purpose, continuity
      and achievement) for each of the key stakeholder groups. Factors supporting and
      hindering the project were also identified. Conclusions.  The development
      approach using the Senses Framework adopted within the project is a useful model
      for partnership working in settings providing continuing care for older people.
      Relevance to clinical practice.  Findings from this small-scale but intensive
      project suggest that staff within care homes should seek to engage with a range
      of stakeholders in order to improve experiences for all involved in long-term
      care. Academic staff within schools of nursing should consider innovative, action
      oriented approaches to supporting developments within care homes.

PMID- 20925736
TI  - Editorial: delirium.

PMID- 20925737
TI  - Delirium: a new appraisal of an old problem.
AB  - Delirium is a prevalent condition associated with high morbidity and mortality.
      Studies investigating delirium date back centuries but the subject has received
      increased attention in the last two decades. This recent attention focuses on,
      risk factors, early recognition, consequences and management of delirium. The aim
      of this paper was to provide an updated review of issues concerning the
      assessment and identification of delirium. Assessment is central to the effective
      management but delirium continues to be under-recognized by the healthcare team.
      This review sets the scene for the following papers on practice and the future
      direction for the management of delirium.

PMID- 20925738
TI  - Delirium and older people: repositioning nursing care.
AB  - Aims.  To critically examine the nursing care offered to older people who have
      been delirious. Background.  Delirium occurs as a result of physiological
      imbalances resulting in an alteration in consciousness and cognitive impairment.
      Delirium is a prevalent and serious cognitive disorder experienced by older
      people. While there is a vast number of studies published utilizing quantitative
      methods, there remains a dearth of research relating to delirium in older people
      from a qualitative perspective. Design.  A qualitative research design that
      utilized a critical gerontological framework underpinned this study. This
      framework drew on aspects of postmodernism and Foucault's understanding of
      discourse. Methods.  Data sources included published documents on delirium, semi
      structured taped interviews with people over the age of 65 years who had been
      delirious (as well as their clinical notes), family members, Registered Nurses
      and a hospital doctor. A postmodern discourse analytic approach was used to
      interrogate the 20 sets of data collected. Findings.  Textual analysis revealed
      the presence of two major discourses impacting on being an older person with
      delirium. These were identified as a nursing discourse of delirium and a personal
      discourse of delirium. A nursing discourse of delirium was largely focussed on
      the biomedical processes that resulted in a delirious episode. Conversely, a
      personal discourse of delirium highlights that there are other ways of 'knowing'
      about delirium through considering the narratives of older adults, and their
      families, when offering a nursing service to this group of people. Relevance to
      clinical practice.  Nursing needs to critically examine all aspects of nursing
      care as it applies to older people who have delirium to ensure the rhetorical
      claims of the profession become the reality for consumers of health services. The
      use of critical gerontology provides nurses with the tools to challenge the
      status quo and uncover the multiple, varied, contradictory and complex
      representations of delirium in older people. Inherent within a personal discourse
      of delirium is the importance of incorporating into nursing care communicative
      and other relational activities, such as forming and maintaining a therapeutic
      relationship.

PMID- 20925740
TI  - Editorial: 'Evidence-based healthcare - a lot of bull?'.

PMID- 20925739
TI  - Delirium, nursing practice and the future.
AB  - The preceding papers have outlined the issues of under-recognition of delirium,
      aspects of assessment to improve this situation and presented an alternative
      discursive construction of delirious patients. With respect to the understandings
      from the first two papers, the authors intend to suggest a direction for future
      practice and research in the area of delirium. The discussion will start with an
      overview of current international practice. Approaches focussing on the specific
      care of team members or on multidisciplinary care have been reported as well as
      approaches that focus on a clinical expert such as a nurse specialist or those
      that focus care of patients with delirium in a specific identified clinical
      setting. The literature represents variable evidence of the success, or
      otherwise, of different initiatives. The authors intend to provoke debate on the
      care of delirious patients and indicate the priorities for the future management
      of delirium.

PMID- 20925741
TI  - Research use in the care of older people: a survey among healthcare staff.
AB  - Background.  Sweden has one of the largest proportions of older people in the
      world. To manage the healthcare needs of an aging population, there has been an
      alteration from hospital care to community-based care. In these settings, the
      majority of staff is enrolled nurses (EN) and nurse aides (NA) without university
      education. Aim and design.  The overall aim of this cross-sectional survey was to
      explore staff perceptions of factors related to research utilization in the care
      of older people. Method.  Questionnaires covering research utilization and
      demographics were sent to all staff (n = 132) working in seven units in older
      people care. The response rate was 67% (n = 89). The respondents consisted of
      ENs/NAs (n = 63), Registered Nurses (RN) and rehabilitation professionals (RP) as
      physiotherapists and occupational therapists (RN/RP n = 26). Results.  Most of
      staff reported positive attitudes towards research. The RNs/RPs stated more often
      than the ENs/NAs that they wanted to base their practice on research (81% vs.
      25%; P = 0.001). The RNs/RPs also reported a greater extent of research use in
      daily practice (54% vs. 17%; P = 0.001). Support from colleagues (77% vs. 22%; P
      < 0.001) and unit managers (73% vs. 10%; P < 0.001) for implementing research
      findings was also more frequently reported by the RNs/RPs compared with the
      ENs/NAs. The majority of the ENs/NAs stated Do not know on many items concerning
      attitudes towards research, support for research utilization and actual use of
      research. Conclusions.  Despite overall positive attitudes towards research, the
      majority of staff did not use research findings in daily practice. This was
      particularly valid for the EN/NA group. Relevance to clinical practice.  There is
      an urgent need for managers and others in the care of older people to develop
      strategies for implementing evidence-based practice that involves the EN/NA
      group.

PMID- 20925742
TI  - Discharging older people from hospital to home: what do we know?
AB  - Aims and objectives.  The aim of this literature review was to examine empirical
      research to date on hospital discharge and illuminate areas in need of further
      exploration. Background.  Discharging older people from hospital has long been
      associated with difficulties and complications. With a steady increase in the
      ageing population in Ireland and their use of acute hospital services, the
      successful management of hospital discharge is now a central concern to health
      service management. Methods.  Using a seven-step approach by Stolz et al.
      [Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences (2004) Vol. 18, 111-119] a keyword
      database search was conducted which revealed 44 studies that matched the author's
      inclusion criteria. Results.  These studies uncover aspects of the discharge
      process that are in need of further research, and particularly suggest more
      rigour in the measurement of hospital discharge outcomes. Relevance to clinical
      practice.  This review focuses on a very important clinical issue given the
      predicted increase in the use of acute services by older people and the known
      vulnerabilities of the interface between hospital and community settings.

PMID- 20925743
TI  - Restraint removal: tension between protective custody and human rights.
AB  - Aims and objectives.  To describe the culture of an aged care facility relating
      to restraint use and provide insight into the process of changing to minimal
      restraint care. Background.  In 1999, the accreditation process for residential
      aged care facilities (This term has been used in Australia since around 1997 and
      replaces the terms 'nursing homes' and 'hostels') in Australia was extended to
      include a review of restraint use, with the view to minimization. As using
      restraint had traditionally been viewed as acceptable, it was expected that there
      would be tensions involved for staff making the transition to providing minimal
      restraint care. Design.  The research was situated within the qualitative
      paradigm and guided by symbolic interactionism, grounded theory, and case study.
      Methods.  Data were collected through observation of instances of restraint,
      individual interviews with staff, and document analysis. Results.  The transition
      to minimal restraint care was associated with tensions for staff. Whilst efforts
      had been made to make the facility restraint-free, bedrails were still in
      evidence, and were not necessarily viewed by staff as constituting restraint.
      Conclusions.  Nurses may experience a tension between human rights and duty of
      care when adopting restraint-minimization practices. Relevance to clinical
      practice.  Tensions may be alleviated by adopting a universal definition of
      restraint, acquiring physical resources and new skills in care delivery and
      modifying staff, resident and family attitudes towards the delivery of care.

PMID- 20925745
TI  - Editorial: risk.

PMID- 20925744
TI  - Older people's experience of participating in a reminiscence group with a
      gerotranscendental perspective: reminiscence group with a gerotranscendental
      perspective in practice.
AB  - Tornstam's theory of gerotranscendence provides the theoretical underpinning for
      two small reminiscence groups that met for eight weekly sessions in a Swedish
      daycentre. Tornstams's theoretical perspective provides a developmental model for
      understanding positive progressive changes in values, attitudes and behaviour in
      the second half of life. Practical guidelines derived from this theory informed
      the group-work approach used. Participants' opinions about their reminiscence
      experience were analysed to determine the relevance of gerotranscendental theory
      as a basis for understanding older people's use of reminiscence in the ageing
      process. The study aimed at investigating older peoples' experiences of
      participating in a reminiscence group with a gerotranscendental perspective. The
      study used a qualitative approach. Older people were invited to participate in
      reminiscence group sessions arranged at a daycentre. When the sessions were
      finished, participants were interviewed about their experience of the
      reminiscence group. Data were analysed and categorized by using qualitative
      methods. The participants were satisfied with the arrangement of the group
      sessions. All participants believed they had reminisced and thought much more
      about their childhood and also recalled other memories from their lives during
      the period. Three quite different views emerged of the recall experience and
      effects of participating in the reminiscence group: 'An activity like any other;
      an activity that led to thoughts about memories from life or an activity that
      influenced my thoughts about life.' Findings suggest that it is possible to
      arrange reminiscence groups from a gerotranscendental perspective that serve as
      an intervention in gerontological nursing. This paper provides some guidance
      concerning how this type of group may be arranged and the various categories of
      participant response that may be expected.

PMID- 20925746
TI  - Risk and ageing populations: practice development research through an
      international research network.
AB  - Background.  Risk theories derive from a range of disciplines, with nursing
      traditionally concentrating on scientific medical perspectives. However, for
      older people, risk perception and management is filled with complexity and
      paradox, and the threat of focusing on physical safety only to the detriment of
      the well-being of the older person. Method.  An international collaborative
      research network on risk in ageing populations has been developed, with 22
      members in six countries (Britain, USA, India, South Africa, Australia and
      Northern Ireland). The network supports several independent projects, many of
      which have developed as a result of the network. An annual workshop for members
      has provided the opportunity to share and synthesize methodological experiences
      and to identify a developing model of risk for older people. Findings.  The
      developing model highlights the importance for older people of engaging with risk
      in a positive way, and describes patterns of risk-philic and risk-phobic
      activity. The inter-relationship of the individual older person with their
      community, with practitioners and with society is specific to the context of
      different countries. Conclusion.  Socio-critical practice development research
      can be a vehicle for advancing an understanding of risk theory for older people.
      Risk underpins concepts of choice and capacity to execute decisions. It is
      influenced by society, policy, health and social care services, and has a
      profound impact on the experiences of older people.

PMID- 20925747
TI  - Risk perception among older South Asian people in the UK with type 2 diabetes.
AB  - Aim.  To report on a study which developed a knowledge of the experiences of
      South Asian people with diabetes in the UK in relation to socio-cultural and
      dietary practices, religion and ageing influences on the perception and
      understanding of risks. Background.  South Asian people have enhanced
      vulnerability to poor health as a result of diabetes. Risk perception and
      management is culturally mediated, yet imperative to the behaviour adjustments
      required for diabetes management. Method.  A grounded theory study with data
      collected by focus group with ethnic health development workers and individual
      interviews with 20 older people with diabetes. Where necessary, interpreters were
      involved in data collection. Findings.  A number of issues influence the
      perception of risk among South Asian older people with diabetes: beliefs about
      its cause, perceived severity and its visibility, food and its social function,
      religion and beliefs about external control over their life span and diabetes
      management. People weighed up the risks in making decisions about issues such as
      dietary management and the emphasis placed on diabetes as a pathology.
      Conclusion.  Good risk communication will maintain the current trend of improving
      patient's choice and self-management in health care, and there is a need for this
      to be sensitive to the particular issues faced by South Asians with diabetes in
      the UK.

PMID- 20925748
TI  - The risk to enduring relationships following the move to a care home.
AB  - Aim.  To explore findings from a study which investigated the meanings that older
      people attributed to their experiences of living in a care home and consequently
      the risks that they identify in this. Background.  There is evidence from this
      and other studies that being able to engage in long-time friendships is important
      to older people. The move to a care home has the potential to disrupt these
      relationships and there is a risk of breakdown of the friendships that have been
      valued throughout life. Method.  A hermeneutic inquiry that explored the meaning
      that eight older people ascribed to their life in the care home. This paper
      focuses on the narratives that concerned relationships with long-time friends and
      the risks to these relationships. Results.  The paper highlights the importance
      of engaging in meaningful relationships with other people. The participant's
      stories illuminated the importance of maintaining friendships following the move
      to a care home and how these had had a positive impact on their lives in that
      setting. With advancing age and increasing frailty the participants were acutely
      aware that their friendships were vulnerable to breakdown and they implemented a
      range of strategies to sustain their relationships with these people. Conclusion.
      The findings point to the importance of acknowledging the value of long-time
      friendships to older people and the need to support them in their efforts to
      sustain these relationships and reduce risks to them.

PMID- 20925749
TI  - Risk factors for elder abuse and neglect: brief descriptions of different
      scenarios in South Africa.
AB  - Aim.  To describe various situations in which older people in South Africa are
      vulnerable. Background.  Poverty compromises the health of many older people in
      South Africa but the circumstances and ways in which this is managed and risk
      thought of is poorly understood. This paper presents three scenarios that
      describe individual studies and provide insight into the factors influencing the
      lives of some older people. Method.  Scenario 1 concerns people with dementia.
      Pilot work has collected interview data from four people with dementia, their
      four informal carers and three hospital nursing staff. Scenario 2 concerns an
      analysis of data collected routinely as part of the Halt Elder Abuse Line, a
      telephone-based service for people to report abuse. Scenario 3 concerns an
      interview study with farm workers who have retired and who are vulnerable to
      being displaced from the farms. Conclusion.  A variety of policy, social and
      individual factors result in older people being vulnerable and continuing
      research is required to further develop an understanding of these dynamics of
      risk to promote changes to current policy and practices.

PMID- 20925750
TI  - Guest Editorial: Cultural transformation in nursing homes.

PMID- 20925751
TI  - Guest Editorial: Privacy and dignity in residential care homes: cross-cultural
      issues.

PMID- 20925752
TI  - A comparative study of nursing staff, care recipients' and their relatives'
      perceptions of quality of older people care.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Comparisons of different stakeholders' ratings of the quality of
      older people care can help to drive quality improvement. AIM: The aim was to
      compare staff, older care recipients' and their relatives' quality of care
      ratings. DESIGN: Cross-sectional questionnaire surveys in 2003 and 2004, using a
      repeated measures design on an organizational level. METHODS: Nursing staff, care
      recipients and relatives in two older people care organizations were included.
      The ratings of an overall quality grade, information, activities, general care
      and staff skills were compared between the respondent groups. RESULTS: Care
      recipients in both organizations rated the overall quality grade significantly
      higher than nursing staff and relatives. Staff ratings of the information given
      to care recipients were significantly more positive than care recipients' and
      relatives' ratings. All three groups gave lowest ratings to the quality of
      activities offered to care recipients, with lowest ratings from nursing staff.
      CONCLUSIONS: Concurrent measurements of staff, care recipients and relatives'
      care quality perceptions can provide a broad evaluation of an organization's
      strength and limitations. Relevance to clinical practice.  Staff, care
      recipients' and relatives' perceptions can be useful for older people care
      organizations and decision makers in developing care processes and outcomes of
      care.

PMID- 20925753
TI  - Psychosocial group rehabilitation for lonely older people: favourable processes
      and mediating factors of the intervention leading to alleviated loneliness.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Loneliness among community-dwelling older people is a common problem,
      with serious health consequences. OBJECTIVES: The favourable processes and
      mediating factors of a psychosocial group rehabilitation intervention in
      alleviating older people's loneliness were evaluated. DESIGN: Altogether, 117
      lonely, home-dwelling individuals (aged >=75 years) participated in a
      psychosocial group rehabilitation intervention. The content comprised (i) art and
      inspiring activities, (ii) group exercise and discussions or (iii) therapeutic
      writing and group therapy. METHODS: The psychosocial group rehabilitation
      intervention was evaluated from the group leaders' diaries and by observing the
      groups. Experiences of loneliness and social participation were collected by
      postintervention questionnaires from the participants. Data were analysed using
      methodological triangulation. RESULTS: Doing things together and sharing
      experiences with their peers inspired lively discussions, created a feeling of
      togetherness and led to participants' empowerment and increased self-esteem. The
      intervention socially activated the participants, and their feelings of
      loneliness had been alleviated during the intervention. CONCLUSION: Several
      common favourable processes and mediating factors were identified in the
      psychosocial group rehabilitation intervention that led to alleviation of
      loneliness among older people. Relevance to clinical practice.  The psychosocial
      group rehabilitation intervention gives nurses an effective tool to support older
      people's psychosocial resources by activating them and alleviating their
      loneliness.

PMID- 20925754
TI  - 'Alone with my pain - it can't be explained, it has to be experienced'. A
      Norwegian in-depth interview study of pain in nursing home residents.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Nursing home residents often have pain as their everyday experiences
      and experience pain in silence. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to gain an
      understanding of how nursing home residents experienced pain and how it
      influenced their lives and daily living. DESIGN: The present study applied a
      descriptive design. Fifteen residents from nursing homes were recruited among the
      participants in a larger quantitative study who reported having pain. METHODS: A
      qualitative method using in-depth interviews was used. The data were analysed
      applying Kvale's method of interpretive analysis. RESULTS: Two dimensions of pain
      were identified: physical pain and pain as suffering. These are described in
      relation to factors that influence the intensity and the consequences of pain
      experiences. CONCLUSIONS: Physical pain may be relieved by various means of pain
      management. The residents experienced pain as suffering because pain management
      was not timely, inappropriate, or insufficient and also because of the nature of
      their social situation in nursing homes. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE:
      Caregivers in nursing homes need to understand how it feels for residents to live
      with pain, to be interested in and aware of their needs and finally to know how
      to respond to their pain and suffering.

PMID- 20925755
TI  - Effects of clear visual input and change in standing sequence on standing sway
      related to falls during night toilet use.
AB  - AIM: The aim of this study is to provide objective evidence that clear visual
      input and change in standing sequence can reduce fall risk related to night
      toilet use among hospitalized older patients. BACKGROUND: In hospitalized older
      patients, falls are likely to occur during night toileting needs. METHOD: Using a
      stabilometer, we measured and compared maximal standing sway for 10 seconds
      immediately after standing with three visual input modes in two standing
      patterns, comparing healthy younger adults (n=22) and older patients (n=19). The
      three modes are no visual input (mode 1), vague (mode 2), and clear visual input
      (mode 3). Standing sequences A and B are defined as supine-to-standing and supine
      to-sitting-to-standing, respectively. RESULTS: For a given visual mode, maximal
      moved distance was significantly greater for older patients than for younger
      adults with both standing patterns (P<0.0001). Both standing pattern B and clear
      visual input decreased maximal moved distance in younger adults and older
      patients. A greater maximal moved distance score indicated a greater fall risk.
      RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: It is important for nurses to train older
      patients to turn on the light and perform standing pattern B, when going to the
      bathroom at night. In addition, it is advisable to confirm the placement of
      distinct visual markers on the way to the bathroom.

PMID- 20925756
TI  - An exploratory study of nurse aides' communication behaviours: giving 'positive
      regard' as a strategy.
AB  - AIM: The aim of this study was to identify the communication behaviours and
      strategies used by socially skilled geriatric nurse aides working with residents
      in long term care facilities. BACKGROUND: Communication skills are recognized as
      tools for establishing relationships and accomplishing care related tasks. A
      small but growing research literature exists within gerontology around geriatric
      nurse aide/resident communication. The present study was intended to contribute
      to this literature. DESIGN: This study used an exploratory qualitative design
      involving personal interviews with geriatric nurse aides. METHODS: Interviewers
      carried out 90-minute interviews with 16 nurse aides who worked at an assisted
      living facility or a nursing home. Of interest was the extent to which
      established systems for coding interactions could be used to code nurse
      aide/resident interactions, or whether new categories would emerge. RESULTS: The
      novel finding that all of the aides used a communication strategy that could be
      characterized as 'giving positive regard', defined as acknowledging the resident,
      treating the resident with respect. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: The category
      of 'giving positive regard' included specific behaviours which can be included as
      content in communication skill training programs.

PMID- 20925757
TI  - Using gaming workshops to prepare nursing students for caring for older people in
      clinical practice.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Older people are the least satisfied with the care they receive when
      they are acutely ill. Furthermore, within nurse education, nursing older people
      has been submerged rather than embedded in the acute focus of nursing curricula.
      Lecturers designed a 1-day gaming workshop to stimulate interest in nursing older
      people. AIM: To explore the influence of gaming workshops on undergraduate
      nursing students' learning about nursing older people. METHODS: Both quantitative
      and qualitative methods were used. A survey questionnaire was distributed pre-
      and postgaming workshops to a cohort of second year nursing students (n=100, 86%
      response rate). Students (n=9) were invited to participate in a semi-structured
      interview on completion of their placement. FINDINGS: Responses were
      significantly more positive for the questionnaire postworkshop when compared with
      the responses of preworkshop. Five themes were identified from the interviews,
      they included teacher interaction; level of student engagement with the topic;
      the effect of the teaching method; influence of the workshops on practice;
      working with older people. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Nursing students preferred
      this novel teaching method to lectures. They learned about appropriate and
      relevant care of older people, however, they seem to struggle to apply concepts
      related to caring for older people in the acute settings.

PMID- 20925758
TI  - Editorial: Disaster relief: older people and care needs.

PMID- 20925759
TI  - Mapping the vulnerability of older persons to disasters.
AB  - Older people sit at the centre of a unique constellation of factors that combine
      to increase their vulnerability to the negative effects of catastrophic events.
      The aim of this paper is to explore some of the factors that underlie this
      vulnerability. Attention will be directed at three broad factors that will be
      discussed in some depth, namely poverty, long standing health conditions and
      psychological trauma. The aim is not, however, to provide a comprehensive
      systematic review of existing research evidence regarding the older person and
      disasters. This is due in part to the paucity of studies that take as their
      primary focus the older population and disasters. Whilst poverty, chronic illness
      and psychological issues are discussed in this paper as separate issues, they are
      interconnected. A map of the synergies between factors is presented that places
      the older person at the centre of a network of vulnerabilities. Recommendations
      for strategic planning and clinical practice are made that address this complex
      problem. The hope is that with insightful preparation the older population can be
      spared then worse consequences of a disaster when it strikes.

PMID- 20925760
TI  - Perceptions of older people on disaster response and preparedness.
AB  - Most disasters occur in developing countries but in the last decade due to the
      increasing threat of floods, air disasters and terrorist threat, disaster
      response and preparedness is a growing global concern. Due to an ageing
      population across the world, older people now constitute a significant proportion
      of those at risk from disasters. This paper reports on a qualitative study
      carried out in Sri Lanka and in the United States where a group of older people
      were asked about aspects of disaster response and preparedness. The group from
      Sri Lanka (n=9) who had direct experience of the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami were
      asked how they perceived international aid relief and a group of white Caucasians
      from East Coast USA (n=8) were asked about disaster preparedness. Findings
      indicate that both groups had similar issues albeit that they were looking at
      different phases of the disaster cycle and from different cultural perspectives.
      Both groups identified issues related to, protecting the rights of the older
      person and preventing loss of independence in responding and preparing for a
      disaster, mistrust of government and access to resources and all expressed strong
      feelings of self-responsibility.

PMID- 20925762
TI  - Editorial: Nurses need to prevent the abuse of older people.

PMID- 20925761
TI  - Addressing the imbalance: empowering older people in disaster response and
      preparedness.
AB  - This paper explores the role of the nurse in empowering older people at all
      stages in the disaster cycle. Evidence points to the need to increase the level
      of consultation and inclusivity of older people on this topic. Caution is called
      for in relation to classifying older people as a vulnerable group in disasters
      without first recognising that older people are probably the richest resource
      within any culture when it comes to emergency planning and?or coping with
      disasters. Practical advice on how nurses can best assist older people is
      presented.

PMID- 20925763
TI  - Current legal responses to elder abuse.
AB  - Abstract.  In this paper, legal provisions for dealing with elder abuse in social
      or healthcare settings will be considered. The need for such measures for
      detection and management of elder abuse will be highlighted. Interventions should
      take into account elderly victims' vulnerability, which may be due to physical
      and/or psychological dependence. The effectiveness of current interventions is
      limited due to a lack of cohesion and the absence of a specific legal framework.
      The term 'vulnerable adults' is broader than 'elder abuse'. It is difficult to
      estimate the extent of the problem of elder abuse because of the usually intimate
      settings within which it takes place - this may affect the strength of the
      evidence. The purpose of this paper is to encourage a debate on the effectiveness
      of current legal responses to elder abuse. The true figures of the incidence of
      abuse may never be known. Consequently, in criminal law trials, providing
      evidence on abuse can be very traumatic and intimidating for a victim because of
      the circumstances in which it generally takes place. The irony is that the
      likelihood of a criminal prosecution may be higher in more serious types of abuse
      where the evidence is overwhelming, on the basis of the res ipsa loquitor (facts
      speak for themselves) principle. The abuse in question may be domestic or
      institutional; the effects nevertheless are the same.

PMID- 20925764
TI  - Partnerships between older people and their carers in the management of
      medication.
AB  - Background.  Responsibility for medication can be an integral part of the
      informal caring role. Aims and objectives.  To explore partnerships between older
      people and their carers in the management of medication and consider the
      implications for health professionals. Methods.  Older people and their carers
      were identified through community pharmacies in four randomly selected areas of
      England. Data regarding their activities, responsibilities and experiences of
      managing medication were collected in semi-structured interviews conducted in
      respondents' own homes. Ninety-four transcripts relating to 47 older people and
      their associated carers were analysed using a qualitative approach. Results. 
      Responsibility for medication was shared to varying extents between older people
      and their carers, and different patterns of partnership were identified.
      Differing perspectives between older people and their carers regarding the role,
      purpose and need for medication were revealed. Underlying these perspectives were
      issues concerning the sharing/concealment of information, autonomy and control.
      Caring was also described as a dynamic process. Older people and carers commented
      on how sharing responsibilities for medication varied on a day-to-day basis, as
      well as expressing concern regarding the changing needs of the older person and
      the carer's capacity to cope. CONCLUSIONS:   Older people and their carers work
      together in diverse and sometimes complex ways to manage medication. Problems
      included dilemmas relating to the sharing of information, patient determination,
      disputes about the control of medication and concerns about the future. RELEVANCE
      TO PRACTICE:   These patterns of partnership need to be recognized and taken into
      account by health professionals when providing information, advice and support.
      They need to listen for indications of differing perspectives and be aware of
      their possible implications for adherence to medication regimens. In caring for
      older people, health professionals need to find a balance that respects their
      autonomy whilst providing support for carers to enable them to be effective in
      their roles.

PMID- 20925765
TI  - Caring connections with older persons with dementia in an acute hospital setting 
      a hermeneutic interpretation of the staff nurse's experience.
AB  - BACKGROUND:   The literature highlights the challenges inherent in caring for
      older persons with dementia in the acute care context. However despite concerns
      relating to the quality of care available to persons with dementia in this
      setting, there is a paucity of research with which to guide practice.
      Specifically the existing literature lacks in-depth knowledge on nurses'
      experiences. AIM:   The aim of this paper is to report the findings of a study
      exploring nurses' experiences of caring for older persons with dementia in an
      acute hospital setting. METHODS:   Using a hermeneutic approach, a purposive
      sample of seven nurses was interviewed regarding the research phenomenon.
      Interview texts were subjected to thematic content analysis. Multiple data
      sources were employed to expand the horizon of understanding including: the
      textual data, personal and professional understandings, reflective journal data
      and conceptual frameworks derived from theoretical and research literature. The
      data were collected in 2002. RESULTS:   The findings reported here relate to the
      theme 'Meeting the patient as a person'. Meaningful care for the older person
      with dementia in the acute context required a respectful connection with the
      patient as person, which required establishing a bond with the person. The
      meaning of the caring experience was found to relate to the personhood of both
      the nurse and the patient, experienced within the context of relationship. To
      make this connection it was necessary to work with those who knew the patient
      best i.e. relatives/carers. CONCLUSIONS:   Despite the contextual limitations of
      the acute setting, the importance of knowing and respecting the person with
      dementia and the centrality of relationship as the medium within which caring is
      experienced is demonstrated. However, nurses lack specific knowledge on which to
      base care. Further research is therefore recommended to identify how care which
      promotes the integrity of the person with dementia may be effectively
      operationalized across the acute care setting.

PMID- 20925766
TI  - The impact of sensory impairment on social interaction between residents in care
      homes.
AB  - Aim.  The aim was to draw on older people's narratives to illuminate the
      experience of living in a care home and the impact that vision and hearing
      impairments have on the individual's ability to engage in social interactions
      with other residents. Methods.  The paper draws on two research studies, first, a
      hermeneutic inquiry examining the meaning ascribed to living in a care home, the
      second, a constructivist study, exploring relationships between residents,
      families and staff. Both studies drew on older people's narrative accounts to
      explore their experiences of living in a care home. On independently interpreting
      the narratives a similar theme emerged around the challenges to social
      interactions experienced by residents with sight and/or hearing impairment. This
      resulted in a cross study analysis to further illuminate this theme. Findings. 
      The cross study analysis highlighted the difficulties residents experience in
      interacting with others, in the home, as a consequence of sight and/or hearing
      impairment, and the potential impact this had on feelings of social isolation.
      This is illustrated through narratives from two residents, one with sight
      impairment and the other with hearing loss. The narratives highlight the problems
      these people encountered and how resilient they were in adjusting to their
      sensory loss and maintaining social interactions. One conclusion from the study
      is the need for more empirical work in this area. Relevance to clinical practice.
      The paper identifies a number of issues for practice including staff taking a
      more proactive role in screening for, and managing, visual and hearing
      impairments in residents. Also the vital role staff play in ensuring the
      environment optimizes the residents' ability to fully engage in the residential
      community.

PMID- 20925767
TI  - Editorial: wandering.

PMID- 20925768
TI  - What's new about wandering behaviour? An assessment of recent studies.
AB  - Problem.  The number and quality of studies on wandering and other behaviours has
      lagged that of biological sciences in the field of dementia research. Recent
      studies of wandering are examined for quantity, rigour, and findings. Approach. 
      Medline, CINAHL and PsychInfo were searched systematically for studies of
      wandering. Research reports were reviewed and data was abstracted to characterise
      quantity and rigour. Study findings were organised by topic and summarised.
      Results.  Between 2003 and 2005 inclusive, 47 studies met inclusion criteria. The
      largest proportion of studies was quantitative and descriptive; an explicit
      theory or framework guided about half of the studies. Major findings encompassed
      quantification and description, epidemiology, associated factors, and
      intervention and management of wandering. Conclusions.  The growing body of
      research on wandering in becoming more rigorous. Newer measures of wandering have
      strong psychometric properties. Wandering occurs in multiple dementias and
      affects patients in larger numbers as dementia worsens. Wandering manifests
      similarly across cultural/ethnic groups and care settings and is associated with
      falls and increased mortality. A variety of interventions have been evaluated,
      but studies lack rigour.

PMID- 20925769
TI  - Implementing the wandering evidence for older people with dementia: key issues
      for nurses and carers.
AB  - This paper explores and discusses key issues for nurses and carers in
      implementing the evidence from the recent assessment of wandering studies
      conducted by Algase. Wandering is one of the most burdensome of all the
      behavioural symptoms and is increasing as the prevalence rates of dementia rise
      with the aging of the population. Wandering describes a diverse pattern of
      behaviour from aimless walking and pacing through to elopement. Until recently,
      the empirical evidence in relation to wandering and its implications for caring
      for older people has seriously lagged behind other research. However, several
      studies have led to important advances in the management of wandering and despite
      there being in some instances methodological deficiencies and modest efficacy,
      nurses, carers and older people who wander will benefit from the findings.

PMID- 20925771
TI  - Editorial.

PMID- 20925770
TI  - Wandering into the future: reconceptualizing wandering 'A natural and good
      thing'.
AB  - There is still significant scope for improvement in knowledge on wandering in
      dementia and in the care of persons with dementia who wander. Although progress
      in research-derived knowledge is evident over the last 15 years, the current
      state of practice is influenced by an immature research base where the
      clarification of what wandering is still needs to be achieved. This is fuelled by
      research which to date, has framed wandering as a problem behaviour and generally
      starts from the premise that it needs to be prevented or severely controlled.
      People with dementia may think and feel differently about wandering, as will be
      suggested in this paper. The voices of those who have experiential expertise of
      dementia and wandering need to be included in the debate on wandering to
      influence both nursing research and practice. In regard to the practice context,
      it is suggested that there is little evidence to suggest that screening for
      wandering, assessment of wandering, person-centred and evidence-based care
      planning and interventions or evaluation are yet the norm for older persons with
      dementia. Thus, these areas must be the priorities for the immediate future.
      Whilst at a theoretical level, there are three key issues that require attention
      in the future: the orientation of research on wandering including
      reconceptualizing wandering to address the lack of theoretical frameworks to
      explain wandering, addressing the need some care settings might have with
      application of research and recognition of the experiential expertise of older
      persons with dementia.

PMID- 20925772
TI  - The meaning of good and bad care in the community care: older people's lived
      experiences.
AB  - In spite of a considerable body of research in the past decades on what does or
      does not constitute good care for older people, there are still few studies
      addressing this question in which older people narrate their experiences of being
      dependent on community care. This study was therefore carried out aiming to
      explore older people's lived experiences of what good and bad care meant to them,
      when it was offered by community care services. Nineteen older persons in three
      Swedish communities participated in the study, which used a phenomenological
      hermeneutic approach. Data were collected through unstructured interviews and
      Colaizzi's framework was utilized in the analysis of the data. The key theme
      arising from the analysis was that of being encountered as a human being by
      caregivers who, through the provision of safe and secure care, provide
      opportunities for living life as usual. When any of these circumstances are
      lacking, bad care will be the consequence. As the general intention in society is
      to ensure good quality of care to older people as well as others, the findings in
      our study should have important implications for providers of community care for
      older people.

PMID- 20925773
TI  - Facilitating best practice in aged care: exploring influential factors through
      critical incident technique.
AB  - Aim.  The focus of this study is on the perspective of facilitators of evidence
      based aged care in long-term care (LTC) homes about the factors that influence
      the outcome of their efforts to encourage nursing staff use of best practice
      knowledge. Design.  Critical incident technique was used to examine facilitators'
      experiences. Methods.  Thirty-four participants submitted critical incident
      stories about their facilitation experiences through face-to-face interviews,
      telephone interviews, and/or a web-based written questionnaire. The resultant 123
      stories were analysed using an inductive qualitative approach. Results.  Factors
      at individual and contextual levels impacted the success of facilitators' work.
      The approaches and traits of facilitators as well as the emotionality and
      intellectual capacity of nursing staff were the individual factors of influence.
      On a contextual level, the inherent leadership, culture, and workload demands
      within LTC homes, as well as externally imposed standards were influential.
      Conclusions.  Primary factors influencing the facilitation of best aged care in
      LTC homes appear to be largely relational in nature and intimately connected to
      the emotionality of those who work within these settings. Enhancing the
      interactional patterns amongst staff and leaders as well as promoting a positive
      emotional climate may be particularly effective in promoting better aged care
      nursing practice.

PMID- 20925774
TI  - Nurses' opinions about a web-based distance course in a specialist education
      programme for the care of older people: a questionnaire study.
AB  - Aim.  The aim of the present study was to investigate students' opinions about a
      web-based distance learning course that was part of a specialist education
      programme. Background.  Most registered nurses (RNs) who work with older people
      in Sweden do not have a specialist education in caring for older people. Design. 
      Survey. Method.  The study was a descriptive survey with both qualitative and
      quantitative questions. Results.  The students found the web-based course very
      useful for their theoretical and professional development. New perspectives on
      ageing, increased knowledge about analysing and describing theories as well as
      practising interviews and qualitative analysis as methods were appreciated by the
      students. Conclusions.  One way for RNs in Sweden to get a university specialist
      education in the care of older people is to have a distance web-based course, as
      it allows flexibility and improves the students' theoretical and professional
      knowledge and communication skills. Relevance for clinical practice.  Managers
      working in care for older people settings and educators will be interested in
      this study's finding that distance learning is a useful strategy for providing
      education for RNs who work with older people.

PMID- 20925775
TI  - Dignity as experienced by nursing home staff.
AB  - Aims and objectives.  To explore nursing home staff members' experiences of what
      dignity in end of life care means to older people and to themselves. Background. 
      Dignity is a concept often used in end-of-life care, but its meaning is rarely
      clarified. Design.  Qualitative descriptive study. Methods.  Content analysis.
      This study is based on interviews with 21 staff members in four different nursing
      homes in Sweden. Findings.  The results show that staff members balanced between
      providing for the older person's physical needs while wishing to be able to
      deliver a 'deeper' level of care. The older people's dignity is presented in the
      main theme: Feeling trust - Showing respect. The staff members' dignity is
      presented in the main theme: Maintaining self-respect - Being shown respect.
      Threats to dignity are presented in the main theme: conflicts between the ideal
      and the reality. Conclusions.  The results reveal that nursing home staff members
      deal with a moral conflict between what they are able to deliver and what they
      would like to provide in the care of older people. Relevance to clinical
      practice.  To promote older people's dignity, there is a need to take account of
      staff members' work situation. Supervision and continuous education could be one
      way of achieving this.

PMID- 20925776
TI  - Prevention, detection and intervention with delirium in an acute care hospital: a
      feasibility study.
AB  - Background.  The prevalence of delirium in acute care hospitals ranges from 5
      86%. Delirious patients are at greater risk of negative health outcomes and their
      care is often more costly. Aim.  To determine the feasibility of a full-scale
      trial to test the effectiveness of an intervention designed to improve delirium
      prevention, detection and intervention in an acute care hospital. Design.  A
      delirium prevention protocol was designed by an interdisciplinary group of
      clinicians and implemented on intervention unit patients who passed a mental
      status screen, were at high risk for delirium according to the modified NEECHAM
      scale, and met other eligibility criteria. These patients were reviewed at daily
      interdisciplinary team meetings and team recommendations were placed in the
      patient's chart. On the usual care unit, physicians were notified if their
      patients were at high risk, but the delirium protocol was not implemented.
      Methods.  The delirium protocol was pilot tested with 35 high risk patients on an
      Acute Care for Elders (ACE) unit. Outcomes were compared to 35 high risk patients
      on a similar medical unit without the delirium protocol. Results.  The main
      outcome examined whether there is a difference in average day 3 modified NEECHAM
      scores comparing the intervention and control groups. The mean modified NEECHAMs
      on day 3 were not statistically significantly different (intervention group 3.76
      and control group 3.24) (P= 0.368). Baseline NEECHAM scores did not correlate
      well with development of delirium (P = 0.204). A history of confusion during a
      previous hospitalization was the strongest predictor of developing delirium
      during the current hospitalization. Conclusion.  This pilot study was not powered
      to detect an effect of the intervention, however, feasibility for a fully powered
      trial was established. Relevance to clinical practice.  Completion of the NEECHAM
      screen every shift was not considered burdensome for either nurses or patients
      and may help identify acute delirium.

PMID- 20925777
TI  - Nursing staff's description of a good encounter in nursing homes.
AB  - Background.  It has been stated that there is too little research on what
      constitutes good communication and good encounters in nursing homes. Aim and
      objectives.  The aim of the present study was to examine nursing staff members'
      views on what is important in caring encounters with older people living in
      nursing homes. Design.  A qualitative descriptive study using focus group
      interviews with staff in a nursing home in Sweden. Method.  Focus group
      interviews, analysed using qualitative content analysis. Results.  Three main
      themes emerged describing nursing staff members' opinions about the content of
      good encounters: 'Caring encounters from the perspective of equality', 'Caring
      encounters from the perspective of integrity' and 'Caring encounters from the
      perspective of promoting security'. Conclusions.  The nursing staff had
      theoretical knowledge of what constitutes a good caring encounter, but they
      seemed to need more supervision and training to develop their ways of
      encountering older people as well as to become stronger in their professional
      role. When performing such training with staff, the methodology of appreciative
      inquiry could be a powerful tool. Relevance to clinical practice.  It is
      important to help staff become empowered and to help them develop and improve
      their encounters with older care recipients.

PMID- 20925778
TI  - Differences in health status of older people aged 65 and above after total hip
      replacement compared with the normal population: a cross-sectional study.
AB  - Aim.  The aim of the study was to describe the health status of older patients
      with osteoarthrosis following total hip replacement and to compare their health
      status with population norms in order to analyse the need for a rehabilitation
      programme after total hip replacement. Background.  Total hip replacement is a
      very efficient operation in terms of pain relief and improvement of walking
      ability. However, after the operation some patients still report low health
      status. Method.  A cross-sectional study including 287 older patients aged 65-74
      and 75+ years who had had total hip replacement within the previous 12 months was
      performed. Patients from five Danish counties received a mailed questionnaire
      requesting information about their health status and demographic data. The Short
      Form 36 measures eight domains of importance of health. The scores related to
      each dimension are transformed to an interval scale ranging from 0 (worst score)
      to 100 (best score). Danish population norm data were used as reference point.
      Results.  In total, 287 (91.4%) patients responded. The patients completed the
      questionnaire 207 (114) days after surgery within a range of 10-360 days. In all
      eight health domains patients reported significantly lower scores than the age
      specific norm population. Conclusion.  Our results indicate that health status is
      scored lower for patients after total hip replacement. This implies that there
      might be a need for further postoperative rehabilitation based on the
      identification of problems experienced by patients in the postoperative period.
      Relevance to clinical practice.  Patients health status is a predictor for well
      being, quality of life and survival. Older people need rehabilitation after
      surgery to reduce dysfunction and improve perception of health. Our results
      demonstrate a need for further studies examining problems experienced by patients
      in the postoperative period. Intervention research is needed before such a
      programme can be implemented.

PMID- 20925779
TI  - Editorial: Research culture - connecting what we do with what we know.

PMID- 20925780
TI  - The research/practice nexus: underlying assumptions about the nature of research
      uptake into practice in literature pertaining to care of the older person.
AB  - Much has been written about the link between practice and research in the nursing
      and health literature. The literature from fields of practice relating to care of
      the older person is no exception. Enhancing best practice to effectively meet the
      needs and desires of older people, and provide an optimal working environment for
      those providing that care, requires sustainable synergies between research and
      practice. However, the perception of a gap(s) between 'what we know' and 'what we
      do' persists in the writing in relation to the care of older people, as it does
      in healthcare more broadly. Rather than attempting to provide an exhaustive
      descriptive review of the literature, this paper reports on, and provides an
      analysis of, two broad thematic areas that are reflected in much of the writing
      about research and practice relevant to the care of older people. The first
      thematic area relates to literature that presupposes a linear/passive view of
      research uptake. The second thematic area includes literature that conceptualizes
      research uptake as dynamic/active. The discussion focuses on what these thematic
      areas can tell us about enhancing and optimizing synergies and connections
      between research and practice relating to care of the older person.

PMID- 20925781
TI  - Taking action to close the research/practice divide.
AB  - In this paper we focus at the level of individual project to explore aspects of
      the nexus between research and practice. Using a research project that sought to
      explore and understand care transitions for older people as the vehicle for our
      discussion, we examine how the process by which a research project itself is
      thought about, conceptualized, developed and conducted influences knowledge
      translation and ways to get research into practice, and conversely practice into
      research. Processes and strategies we engaged in throughout this research project
      to promote the transfer of knowledge both among and between researchers,
      practitioners and the wider practice community are highlighted.

PMID- 20925783
TI  - Editorial.

PMID- 20925782
TI  - Connecting what we do with what we know: building a community of research and
      practice.
AB  - How to think about, develop, maintain and optimize connections between research
      and practice remains a vexed and contested area in the increasingly complex
      multidisciplinary and inter-professional practice that constitutes contemporary
      healthcare and service delivery. A body of literature challenging linear and
      passive notions of research uptake has emerged which views research uptake as a
      dynamic, contextualized and active process. This paper explores the development
      of a successful and exciting community of research and practice involving a
      university and an aged care organization in Australia. The community of research
      and practice is premised on dynamic, contextual and active interaction between
      research and practice; where the categories of research and practice are not
      mutually exclusive or static; and where community is more than just a structure
      to facilitate collaborative research projects. It is proposed that the idea of a
      community of research and practice is a useful one in terms of seeking to better
      understand and provide strategies for knowledge translation between researchers
      and practitioners and those who are both.

PMID- 20925784
TI  - Developing a questionnaire to measure nurses' attitudes towards hospitalized
      older people.
AB  - A number of studies have used generic measures to evaluate nurses' attitudes
      toward hospitalized older people. Those measures do not consider the context in
      which nurses meet older people and the influence that this may have on nurses'
      attitudes. The aims and objectives of the study were to develop a questionnaire
      from focus group data to evaluate nurses' attitudes towards hospitalized older
      people. To evaluate the psychometric properties of the questionnaire the design
      included a qualitative and quantitative phase. The method used for the
      qualitative phase was focus group interviews with the intention of identifying
      the phenomena that may indicate nurses' attitudes towards older people. The
      quantitative phase included the development and psychometric testing of an
      attitudinal questionnaire. Samples for the qualitative phase included Registered
      Nurses from the care of older people setting; Registered Nurses from the acute
      setting; nursing students and nurse teachers. The sample for the quantitative
      phase included nursing students (numbering 355). Ten themes were identified
      through thematic analysis. Eighty items were extrapolated from the qualitative
      analysis and used to formulate a questionnaire which was then distributed to the
      nursing students. On analysis, the reliability was 0.78. Further analysis using
      Principal Components Analysis (P.C.A.) with orthogonal rotation indicated that 45
      items loaded on to eight factors. Results of the quantitative analysis indicated
      that there was a strong correlation between the thematic analysis and the P.C.A.
      The results would suggest that there may be important and relevant domains that
      are worthy of further study into nurses' attitudes towards older people. If the
      domains identified are useful for identifying negative attitudes towards older
      people, then strategies can be implemented to try and reduce negative attitudes
      in clinical practice.

PMID- 20925785
TI  - An evaluation of the effectiveness of an educational and experiential
      intervention on nursing students' attitudes towards older people.
AB  - Objectives.  This paper reports the results of a study that aimed to evaluate the
      effectiveness of an educational and experiential intervention on nursing
      students' attitudes towards older people. Background.  With repeated exposure to
      very sick older people in hospitals or nursing homes, nursing students are at
      risk of adopting stereotypical views about this section of the population as
      frail and dependent. Design.  A pre- and post-test design was used to conduct the
      study. Methods.  Using Kogan's Attitudes Towards Old People Scale, the attitudes
      of nursing students were tested at the beginning of a degree programme in Adult
      Nursing (n = 130) and one year later (n = 94) following a series of visits to a
      well-older person in the community. Results.  Nursing students reported positive
      attitudes towards older people and these were retained throughout the first year
      of their nurse training. No statistically significant differences were found
      associated with any of the five independent variables in either pre- or
      postintervention students. Conclusions.  The attitudes of nursing students
      towards older people remained positive. While it is possible that the
      experiential and educational interventions utilized in this study may have
      contributed to the retention of positive attitudes, further research is required
      to test this hypothesis. Relevance to clinical practice.  Nurses have a major
      role to play in responding to the health and social care needs of older people
      and their families. The cultivation of positive attitudes is a key factor in
      enabling practising nurses to respond to this challenge.

PMID- 20925786
TI  - Discharge of the older person from the emergency department - the perceptions of
      health professionals.
AB  - Aims of study.  This study aimed to examine the management of the older person in
      preparation for discharge home from an emergency department by exploring the
      perceptions of health professionals on procedures undertaken particularly in
      relation to the planned support, supply of medications, dressings, and contact
      information given to patients. An additional aim related to the perceived
      satisfaction levels of older patients and their carers. Background.  It is
      imperative that older patients are adequately prepared for discharge home from
      the emergency department so as to avoid unnecessary anxiety, increase in health
      problems and possible re-attendance or admission to hospital. Design.  The sample
      in this study comprised the total population (n = 222) of all medical and nursing
      staff in both the emergency department and the primary care area. Methods.  The
      method adopted was a survey approach which employed the use of standardized
      questionnaires comprising both open and closed questioning styles. Results.  The
      data obtained identified results similar to previous research in that a
      discrepancy exists between hospital and community staff in relation to the
      procedures undertaken when discharging older people from the emergency
      department, such as arranging follow-up care and appointments and giving the
      patient relevant contact numbers and dressings. Conclusion.  The findings of this
      study support previous research in that there is a need to provide patients with
      planned support, aids and appliances, clear instructions and relevant contact
      numbers on discharge from the emergency department. Relevance to clinical
      practice.  Good quality discharge planning is essential for a continuum of care
      for older people discharged from the emergency department. While patient
      education is often difficult in the busy emergency department, the provision of
      relevant information to older patients prior to discharge is essential
      particularly in relation to prescribed medications and wound care.

PMID- 20925787
TI  - Self-perceived health among older women living in their own residence.
AB  - Aim.  The aim was to characterize women who perceived themselves as healthy and
      to compare them with women who perceived themselves as less healthy with regard
      to demographical, social, medical and functional factors. Another aim was to
      describe changes within the healthy group after one year. Background.  Self
      perceived health is influenced by several factors, of which diseases and illness
      are only a part. Method and participants.  Two hundred and seventy-eight women,
      75 and 80 years old, of which 50% (n = 139) perceived themselves as healthy and
      less healthy, respectively. Data were collected by using the Nottingham Health
      Profile, Geriatric Depression Scale, Mini Nutritional Assessment, Mini Mental
      State Examination and Philadelphia Geriatric Center Multilevel Assessment
      Instrument, in two examinations at intervals of one year. Results.  The women in
      the healthy group were characterized as having no or low depression symptoms (P =
      0.016), better physical mobility (P = 0.029) and better physical health (P <
      0.001). Furthermore no or less pain, fewer doctor visits, more energy and fewer
      negative emotional reactions were predictors for self-perceived health in the
      healthy group at the one-year follow-up. Conclusion.  The most important
      predictors associated with perceiving oneself as healthy were no or few
      depression symptoms, physical mobility and good physical health. Relevance to
      clinical practice.  Attention has to be paid to women's mood, physical health,
      mobility, pain and energy to help them stay healthy.

PMID- 20925788
TI  - Prevalence of falls with minor and major injuries and their associated factors
      among older adults in long-term care facilities.
AB  - Aims and objectives.  The objectives of this study were to determine the
      prevalence of falls with minor and major injuries and identify their risk
      factors. Background.  Falls among residents of long-term care facilities (LTCF)
      constitute a significant health issue. Design.  This is a secondary analysis of a
      cross-sectional study carried out among older people (n = 2332). Methods.  This
      is a descriptive study focusing on the secondary analysis of a cross-sectional
      study carried out with a group of older people (n = 2332) in 28 LTCF in Quebec
      City, Canada. Research assistants collected original data for each resident from
      two sources: structured simultaneous interviews with two nurses per unit from
      each of the homes and a review of the residents' medical files. Results.  7.2% of
      subjects had a fall leading to minor injuries and 10.1% a fall leading to major
      injuries. Risk factors associated with fall-related minor injury are young age,
      male gender and cognitive impairment. Factors associated with fall-related major
      injury were functional autonomy and length of stay. In further statistical
      analysis, controlling for functional autonomy, disruptive behaviours and
      neuroleptic use were found associated with fall-related major injury.
      Conclusions.  This study demonstrates that the factors associated with fall
      related minor injury are different from those associated with fall-related major
      injury. Relevance to clinical practice.  This study suggests that nurses working
      with LTCF residents who are concerned about the prevention of fall-related major
      injury, may contribute to a reduction in such falls through optimal management of
      behavioural problems and neuroleptic use.

PMID- 20925789
TI  - Editorial: mental health issues for older people.

PMID- 20925790
TI  - Models of mental health care for older adults: a review of the literature.
AB  - Aim.  This paper reviews literature that draws on models of mental health care
      for older adults. Background.  It is predicted that as a consequence of the aging
      of the population the incidence of mental health disorders, common in older
      populations, will also rise. Many such disorders can be successfully managed if
      detected early. Assessment and management requires collaboration between health
      professionals who are skilled and educated in the management of older adults with
      mental illness and the use of models of care appropriate to this population.
      Results.  The paucity of research in this area is demonstrated. Conclusion.  The
      need for mental health nurses to challenge current models of mental health care
      for older adults is identified so that they take on an expanded and developed
      specialist role in care of older adults with mental illness.

PMID- 20925791
TI  - A needs-based model for older people's mental health.
AB  - Abstract  Background.  Mental health services for older people in South Tyneside
      (UK) have adopted a person-centred service model that is 'needs-led'. This
      service model uses Local Authority 'Fair Access to Care Services' (FACS)
      eligibility criteria to ensure fair and equal access to mental health services
      for older people in South Tyneside based upon their level of mental health need.
      This is achieved by the application of mental health specific criteria within the
      FACS framework. Aims.  This paper describes how stakeholders from statutory and
      non-statutory organizations in South Tyneside, in consultation with service users
      and carers, collaborated to produce the model and the application into practice
      of the model. Furthermore, the development of specific indicators of level of
      mental health needs supplementary to FACS, as commonly shared and understood
      language across boundaries is described. Conclusions.  The model is argued as the
      basis for collaboration and empowerment of practitioners across organizations to
      drive and lead positive change and is an essential and appropriate framework for
      the commissioning of services in addition to ensuring the appropriate and timely
      provision of needs-led services for older people with mental health needs.

PMID- 20925792
TI  - Mental health community liaison in aged care: a service of value to all.
AB  - Aim.  This paper describes an effective community nursing role in which mental
      health care is brought to long-term care in a way that restores and promotes
      mental health wellbeing in the older person, builds understanding between
      clinicians, and develops staff confidence in attending to the whole needs of
      residents of nursing homes. Background.  Mental health is a significant issue in
      the ageing population and there is much that mental health nurses as well as
      staff in long-term care can do to promote early detection of problems, facilitate
      effective treatment and build coping in the older person and family so that they
      recover from grief or depression issues and go on to make this stage of life
      satisfying and rewarding. Conclusions.  The mental health nurse liaison role is a
      useful contribution to comprehensive aged care in the community. The role
      provides support to clinicians enabling them to develop skills and expand their
      area of practice, whilst creating an environment in which the needs of the client
      may also be better understood and thereby met.

PMID- 20925793
TI  - New directions in mental health practice with older people: Canadian strategies
      for mental health reform.
AB  - Aim and objective.  The purpose of this article is to draw attention to problems
      in the Canadian health system that must be overcome if Canada is to ensure that
      older people can access the services they need. Background.  Projections suggest
      that 20% of Canadians will be aged 65+ by 2021. If current prevalence rates for
      mental illness continue, this will result in a significant increase in the number
      of older Canadians with or at risk for mental illness and mental health problems.
      Design.  Findings of the final report of the Standing Committee on Social
      Affairs, Science and Technology are summarized and related to the intended role
      and primary strategy of the proposed Canadian Mental Health Commission. Methods. 
      The relevance of the Interprofessional Education for Collaborative Patient
      Centred Practice initiative launched by Health Canada is then considered in light
      of the intention that the Commission adopt collaboration with relevant
      stakeholders as its primary strategy for achieving mental health reform.
      Conclusions.  Fragmentation in service delivery must be overcome if older
      Canadians are to receive age appropriate mental health services when and where
      they need them. Yet there is little evidence that the degree of interprofessional
      collaboration required can be achieved. Relevance to clinical practice The
      reforms advocated by the Senate Committee are widely embraced but evidence is
      needed on how mental health and other professionals can best learn to work
      together in the interests of older people and other mental health consumers.

PMID- 20925794
TI  - Models of mental health care for older people: implications for practice.

PMID- 20925795
TI  - Editorial: The need to be a global community.

PMID- 20925796
TI  - Incontinence: prevalence, management, staff knowledge and professional practice
      environment in rehabilitation units.
AB  - Background.  Bladder and bowel incontinence is a major health care problem, which
      adversely affects the lives of many individuals living at home or in health
      service facilities. Current approaches to continence care emphasize comfort,
      safety and reduction of risk, rather than detailed individualized assessment and
      management. The literature illustrates a gap between evidence and actual practice
      and emphasizes the context of care as being a key element for successful
      implementation of evidence based practice. Aims.  To identify prevalence of bowel
      and bladder incontinence and its management, investigate continence knowledge and
      describe the professional practice environment within a rehabilitation unit for
      older people. Method.  An integrated evaluation of continence prevalence, staff
      knowledge and the work environment was adopted. Results.  Findings revealed a
      high incidence of incontinence (60% urinary, 3% faecal, 37% mixed) a lack of
      specific continence assessment and specific rationale for treatment decisions or
      continuation of care. The focus was on continence containment rather than on
      proactive management. Staff demonstrated a reasonable knowledge of incontinence
      causation and treatment as measured by the staff knowledge audit. The evaluation
      of the work environment indicated a low to moderate perception of control over
      practice (2.39), autonomy in practice (2.87), nurse doctor relationship (2.67)
      and organizational support (2.67).

PMID- 20925797
TI  - Predicting needs for nursing home admission - does sense of coherence delay
      nursing home admission in care dependent older people? A longitudinal study.
AB  - Objectives.  This study examined predisposing, enabling and need variables
      (Andersen's Behavioral Model) influencing the need for nursing home admission
      (NHA) in older people receiving home nursing care. In particular, the potential
      role of coping ability, measured as 'sense of coherence' (SOC), was studied.
      Design, sample, and measurements.  A survey with baseline- and follow-up data
      after a 2-year period was undertaken with 208 patients aged 75+. The measures
      used were: gender, education, age, social visits, SOC, social provision scale
      (SPS), self-rated health (SRH), general health questionnaire (GHQ), clinical
      dementia rating (CDR), Barthel activities of daily living (ADL) index, and
      registered illnesses (RI). A Cox proportional model was used to examine factors
      that could explain risk of NHA. Results.  Measures with predictive properties
      were Barthel ADL index, SPS, SRH, and gender. SOC, along with subjective health
      complaints, general health questionnaire, RI and social visits did not predict
      NHA. Conclusions.  It is concluded that the patients' subjective evaluations of
      both their health and perceived social support were important predictors of
      future NHA needs, and should be seriously taken into consideration, along with
      the more commonly used objective measures of ADL and CDR.

PMID- 20925798
TI  - Impact of community care in enabling older people with complex needs to remain at
      home.
AB  - Aim.  This aim of the study was to explore the impact of community care in
      enabling older people with complex needs to remain at home. Background.  Changing
      demographic trends and successive government policies have led to an increase in
      the number of older people with complex needs residing in the community. Design. 
      A qualitative approach using semi-structured interviews was used to collect data
      from older people (n = 17) and carers (n = 14). Method.  Social workers were
      asked to identify community dwelling older people (65+ years) with multiple needs
      requiring interventions from a range of health and social care practitioners.
      Results.  Community care enabled older people with complex needs who would
      otherwise have required residential or nursing home care to remain in their own
      homes. This was the expressed wish of both the older people and carers
      interviewed. Conclusions.  The provision of high-quality community care for older
      people is a globally significant challenge and one that requires creative
      solutions, both at a local and strategic level. Relevance to clinical practice. 
      Nurses and other health and social care professionals need to understand the
      significance of 'home' for older people and take steps to ensure that additional
      and appropriate resources are targeted towards community care.

PMID- 20925799
TI  - From alert commander to passive spectator: older male carers' experience of
      receiving formal support.
AB  - Aim.  The aim was to describe older male carers' experience of receiving formal
      support. Background.  To older male carers, creating new roles seems to be
      important. Their need for support in their caregiving is poorly understood.
      Design.  A qualitative approach with a critical perspective on men and
      masculinities was used. Participants.  Focus groups comprising a total of 11 men
      were used. Methods.  Qualitative content analysis was adopted. Results.  Three
      categories of response were found: 'using ad hoc solutions for maintaining a
      protective environment', 'coping but being left behind' and 'recapturing the
      caregiving role'. Discussion.  Not only the quantity of support services offered
      to older male carers but also their quality dimension, based on a genuine
      understanding of the men's support needs, must be addressed. Conclusions. 
      Professional caregivers attempt to relieve the men of their care obligations
      entirely. A reciprocal arrangement involving the men as partners, instead, may
      help them to regard their caring experience as valuable, which is important to
      their self-image. Relevance to clinical practice.  These men's socially based
      networks need to be recognized by professional caregivers as important, to
      reframe the men's identity and notion of masculinity.

PMID- 20925800
TI  - Veteran preferences for end-of-life care.
AB  - Understanding one's disease and prognosis is a difficult thing for anyone to be
      faced with. Thinking about end-of-life issues can be incredibly stressful, and
      this is true for individuals who have knowledge of the options and services that
      are available to them. Not having knowledge about these issues can make facing
      decisions confusing, to the point of impossible. In addition, not having
      awareness of options when facing a terminal illness could mean missing out on
      receiving a lot of healthcare needs that others who have been provided with
      education and planning around these issues are afforded with. It is necessary
      that this very important aspect of care, education about palliative care,
      hospice, comfort care and advanced directives begin in primary care clinics,
      before individuals find themselves in acute care with so many unknowns.

PMID- 20925801
TI  - Implementation of the abilities-focused approach to morning care of people with
      dementia by nursing staff.
AB  - Background.  The efficacy of the abilities-focused approach to morning care has
      been demonstrated in two studies. However, the extent to which nurses are aware
      of and actually implement abilities-focused interventions in day-to-day practice
      is not known. Aim.  The study aimed to determine the type and number of abilities
      focused interventions delivered by nursing staff to residents with dementia
      during morning care. Methods.  A one-group repeated measure design was used.
      Seventy-nine nursing staff attended an educational session to instruct them in
      the application of abilities-focused interventions. Data on the type and number
      of interventions used by nurses were obtained before, after and 3-months
      following attendance at the session. Data were collected through participants'
      self-report and observation. Results.  Most nursing staff used abilities-focused
      interventions when providing morning care. Introduction to resident, orientation
      to resident and conversation with resident were three types of interventions most
      often applied over time. The number of interventions implemented increased after
      attendance at the education session and returned to baseline level at 3-month
      follow-up. Conclusions.  Future research is recommended to examine the long-term
      effects of alternative designs of educational sessions.

PMID- 20925802
TI  - Editorial: Urinary incontinence.

PMID- 20925803
TI  - Promoting urinary continence with older people: a selective literature review.
AB  - As the population of older people increases so does the prevalence of urinary
      incontinence experienced. Despite its complex aetiology most of the contributing
      factors are reversible, when accurate assessment leads to the development of a
      person-centred continence care plan. This selective literature review highlights
      that a change in perspective among older people and healthcare professionals will
      enable a focus on bladder rehabilitation and proactive approaches to managing
      urinary incontinence, even in the very frail population. The need to design tools
      to facilitate such developments is discussed together with the need for greater
      focus on educational support that considers the wider context and the multiple
      factors that influence practice.

PMID- 20925804
TI  - Promoting urinary continence with older people: key issues for nurses.
AB  - Urinary incontinence is one of the most common and distressing of the conditions
      experienced by older people. It is not just associated with physical and
      cognitive frailty but also features significantly in the fit community living
      population. Urinary incontinence is known to be hidden and under-reported. Yet
      the needs of older people across the globe in relation to urinary incontinence
      will increase with the changing demography. Palliative strategies to contain
      urinary incontinence predominate in practice, although the reasons for this are
      not fully understood. Conservative approaches including lifestyle adjustments and
      behavioural therapies form the mainstay of active continence promotion but their
      routine use by nurses working with older people seems to be minimal. Promoting
      continence with older people is an area of practice long overdue for significant
      and sustainable practice development.

PMID- 20925805
TI  - Overcoming the barriers to optimum continence care: the need for an expanded
      approach to implementation.
AB  - In spite of a growing body of evidence to show that urinary incontinence is
      treatable or symptoms can be significantly improved in the majority of older
      people significant shortfalls in the quality of continence care are highlighted
      consistently in the international literature. The key barriers to providing
      optimal continence care for older people points to a need to address change not
      only from an individual practitioner perspective but also at the levels of the
      multidisciplinary team and organization. Examples of some emerging implementation
      frameworks that incorporate the broader context in which change occurs in 'real
      world' practice are introduced which may serve as useful guides. It is argued
      that if national and international standards of good practice for continence care
      are to be achieved, implementation methods have to take account of the complex
      interplay of patient, practitioner, social and organizational factors that
      mediate change.

PMID- 20925806
TI  - Editorial: Gerontological nursing research - do we have a lifespan approach?

PMID- 20925807
TI  - Coaching patients to self-care: a primary responsibility of nursing.
AB  - Aim.  To explore the process nurses use to guide and support patients to actively
      re-establish self-care. Background.  The movement of hospitalized patients from
      less to more independence is primarily a nursing responsibility. Studies of
      nursing practice in inpatient rehabilitation settings have begun to shed some
      light on this, but as yet there is limited understanding of the actual skills
      nurses use to support patients to re-establish self-care. Method.  This study
      used grounded theory. Microanalysis and constant comparative analysis of data
      collected during interviews with, and observation of, registered and enrolled
      nurses during everyday nursing practice in five inpatient rehabilitation units
      facilitated open, axial and selective coding. Relevant literature was woven into
      the final theory. Findings.  To facilitate patient transition from the role of
      acute care patient to rehabilitation patient actively reclaiming self-care,
      nurses engaged in a three-phase process known as coaching patients to self-care.
      The three phases were: easing patients into rehabilitation, maximizing patient
      effort and providing graduated assistance. Conclusion.  Coaching patients to self
      care is a primary activity and technology of rehabilitation nursing. Relevance to
      clinical practice.  Patients in a variety of settings would benefit from nurses
      incorporating coaching skills into their nurse-patient interactions.

PMID- 20925808
TI  - Risk management dilemmas in dementia care: an organizational survey in three UK
      countries.
AB  - Aims and objectives.  The overall project aimed to understand the variability of
      the construction of risk in dementia care from the perspective of the person with
      dementia, family carers and practitioners with the intention of developing
      negotiated partnerships in risk management. This paper focuses on the objective
      of identifying the understandings of risk by practitioners. Background.  Risk
      management can result in a 'safety first' approach to care practices, but this
      may be disempowering for people with dementia. Design.  This paper describes the
      results of the first stage of the study: a survey to service managers or
      equivalent in health, social and voluntary sector care organizations in three
      countries of the UK. Methods.  Data from this stage was collection by postal
      questionnaire (n = 46). Results.  Risk was portrayed as a multidimensional
      concept and clustered around three themes: (1) Risk and Independence, (2) Risk
      and Resource, and (3) Organizational Risk Management. Conclusions.  Very wide
      understandings of risk are identifiable, ranging from avoidance of physical harm
      through to managed risk taking to improve quality of life, and to an appreciation
      of the impact of organizational and professional patterns of behaviour resulting
      in harm to the person with dementia. Relevance to clinical practice.  Obtaining
      information about the perspectives of others may help to illuminate some of the
      dilemmas experienced by staff in this study, and the development of risk
      assessment frameworks may assist staff to resolve some of these.

PMID- 20925809
TI  - Improving the oral health of older people in long-term residential care: a review
      of the literature.
AB  - Background.  Unrefutable evidence now links poor oral health with the development
      of preventable systemic illnesses and debilitating conditions that threaten
      quality of life and life itself. This is especially significant for an increasing
      older population who are dependent on others for care. Aims and objectives.  The
      majority of studies analysing the oral health of older dependent people in long
      term residential care have been undertaken by dental professionals. This critical
      literature review examines the issue from a nursing perspective because nursing
      care providers have a fundamental role in daily oral health provision for
      dependent residents. Conclusions.  Multiple barriers were found to negatively
      impact on daily oral healthcare provision, including lack of care provider
      education, oral health values, availability of resources, implementation of
      supportive policies, documentation and oral health assessment tools. Relevance to
      clinical practice.  The nursing profession, at all levels, must become pro-active
      in removing financial, political and workforce barriers that impact negatively on
      oral health outcomes. A multi-faceted approach is required to address these
      barriers, including development and implementation of oral health education
      programmes, assessment screening tools, care plans, documentation, supply of oral
      hygiene aids and the appointment of oral care 'champions'.

PMID- 20925810
TI  - Editorial: Preventing neglect in formal care settings.

PMID- 20925811
TI  - Elder abuse and neglect: the nurse's responsibility in care of the older person.
AB  - This paper presents a review of elder abuse and contextualizes it within selected
      publications which demonstrate the complexity of the topic. Such complexity is
      enmeshed within discourses of elder abuse and the interpretation within culture
      and professional discourses. This paper considers the discursive and practice
      silence in nursing with a particular focus on neglect. The publications selected
      are judged to represent key areas of discourses of elder abuse and neglect,
      rather than a wide-ranging literature review.

PMID- 20925812
TI  - The concept of frailty and its significance in the consequences of care or
      neglect for older people: an analysis.
AB  - Older people, and particularly those of advanced age, become increasingly
      vulnerable to the consequences of abuse or neglect and, since the birth of
      specialist services for older people, researchers and clinicians have sought to
      understand the reasons for this. ?Multi-agency work across the UK is developing
      innovative strategies, protocols and tools to support investigation into
      situations of possible neglect in formal care settings. Emerging within this work
      has been a dilemma concerning which terminology should be used to most accurately
      describe care in specific situations, for example should care be described as
      'inadequate' or 'poor', or as 'neglect'. One key element in this decision is the
      consequence, or consequences, of the care for the vulnerable person, i.e. its
      impact on the individual. Because of the complex changes which accompany ageing,
      and particularly older age, this is not straightforward. Is a person's health
      deteriorating as a consequence of ageing or disease? Are factors such as mental
      state or motivation impacting on their health? Is this the trajectory that their
      health would naturally follow? Or is the deterioration a direct consequence of
      the care that they have, or have not, been given? And, if so, to what degree?
      Identifying ways of addressing these questions could support the development of a
      lexicon of terms and definitions which could be used to accurately define
      specific categories of neglect in specific circumstances.?This paper describes
      the practice based dilemmas that prompted this work. It briefly sets a historical
      context for contemporary understandings of the mechanisms that render older
      people particularly vulnerable to the effects of neglect. Some perspectives on
      defining neglect are offered. The paper then outlines the findings of a
      literature review and concepts analysis of the term frailty. It offers a new
      definition of frailty and explains the theoretical approach within which this
      nests. The paper concludes with a discussion on the implications of frailty as a
      consequence of care or neglect for older people.

PMID- 20925813
TI  - The development of the West Sussex institutional care neglect risk assessment
      tool: a reflective analysis using Mezirow's transformative learning framework.
AB  - The protection of vulnerable people is becoming more understood internationally,
      and in the UK standards of care for frail older people is now receiving
      appropriate attention (CSCI 2009, The state of social care in England 2007-2008.
      Commission for Social Care Inspection, London). Although many people continue to
      live in their own homes, even when they are very frail, many receive long term
      care in institutional settings, and are dependent on the standards, practices,
      belief systems and culture of the staff who care for them. As society becomes
      more intolerant of sub standard services, more adult protection investigations
      are being carried out to establish whether frail people are being neglected.
      Within West Sussex England, the multi agency safeguarding team addressed the
      dilemma of how to assess the risk to other residents in a formal care setting,
      when concerns had been raised about a small number of people who are resident in
      that place. The Consultant Nurse, used intuitive and craft knowledge, including
      examination of clinical evidence as audit data, collected as part of her
      practice, to examine how to assess the risk to others in formal care settings
      where care had been identified as neglectful for some of the residents. This
      paper uses the reflective framework of Mezirow transformative learning theory
      (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transformative_learning) to examine the development
      of a neglect risk assessment tool and highlight the issues identified by a
      consultant nurse in examining concerns about poor care and neglect in formal care
      settings. The final section of the paper describes the new Neglect Risk
      Assessment Tool developed in West Sussex, England, and offers case examples
      illustrating its use in practice.

PMID- 20925814
TI  - Shifting the focus: outcomes of care for older people.
AB  - Internationally there is commitment to work towards eradicating the abuse of
      older people and to develop services that promote their equality, dignity and
      human rights. The emphasis on service users is gradually increasing and, along
      with this, the focus within health and social care policy, service provision and
      professional practice is shifting. In UK health and social care policy the
      emphasis on service structure and provision is being replaced by a focus on
      outcomes for service users, including outcomes which patients themselves
      evaluate. The focus of UK Adult Protection services is also shifting from
      intervention to prevention through developing greater understanding of the
      factors which contribute to abuse, changing attitudes towards entrenched poor
      care, identifying preventative services and safeguarding vulnerable adults.
      Nursing literature is also beginning to acknowledge the evolution of an outcomes
      focus. This paper discusses the shifting emphasis in UK health and social care in
      the safeguarding of vulnerable people and in nursing practice. It offers an
      overview of literature on outcomes. The paper then describes a research study
      which sought to identify outcomes of care for older people living in UK care
      homes. The outcomes framework developed through the research is offered, along
      with a discussion of the advantages of an outcome-focused approach to care and
      some of the remaining challenges. A case example is offered to illustrate an
      outcomes-focused approach. Finally, the paper draws conclusions on how shifting
      the focus of care delivery from traditional problem-orientated approaches and
      ritualized practice towards the outcomes of care that individual older people
      choose and evaluate for themselves offers potential towards eradicating abuse and
      neglect in formal care settings.

PMID- 20925815
TI  - Guest Editorial: Health literacy in later life.

PMID- 20925816
TI  - Development and psychometric testing of a new geriatric spiritual well-being
      scale.
AB  - Aims and objectives.  Assess the psychometric properties of a new geriatric
      spiritual well-being scale (GSWS), specifically designed for older adults.
      Background.  Religiosity and spiritual wellness must be measured as two distinct
      concepts to prevent confounding them as synonymous among atheist and agnostic
      population. Design.  A test-retest survey design was used to estimate the
      psychometric properties. Methods.  A convenience sample of 138 community-dwelling
      older adults was drawn from the inner city of Detroit. Data were collected using
      telephone survey interviews. Data analyses included descriptive statistics,
      structural equation modelling, reliability analyses, and point-biserial
      correlations. Results.  The factorial validity of the proposed model was not
      supported by the data. Fit indices were chi(2)  = 185.98, d.f. = 98, P < 0.00,
      goodness-of-fit index of 0.85, comparative fit index of 0.87 and root mean error
      of approximation of 0.08, indicating a mediocre fit. Reliability statistics for
      the subscales ranged from being poor (0.36) to good (0.84) with an acceptable
      overall scale alpha of 0.76. Participants' performance stability and criterion
      related validity were also supported. Conclusions.  The GSWS is an age-specific
      assessment tool that was developed specifically to address a population's
      cultural diversity. Future research endeavors will be to test the psychometric
      properties of this scale in culturally diverse older adult populations for
      further instrument development. Relevance to clinical practice.  Nurses need to
      recognize that agnostics/atheists have spiritual needs that do not include
      religious beliefs or practices. Thus, assessing patients' religious beliefs and
      practices prior to assessing spiritual well-being is essential to prevent bias.

PMID- 20925817
TI  - Delirium and older people: what are the constraints to best practice in acute
      care?
AB  - An Australian research team conducted a six-month acute care pilot study in a
      medical ward of a large hospital in New South Wales. Aim.  To explore ways health
      practitioners might redesign their practice to include prevention, early
      detection and management of delirium in older people based on the best current
      practice. Method and design.  Participatory action research (PAR) was selected as
      the best approach for involving ward staff to make sustainable clinical practice
      decisions. The PAR group comprised research academics and eight clinicians from
      the ward. Thirteen PAR sessions were held over 5 months. Clinicians described
      care of patients with delirium. Stories were analysed to identify constraints to
      best practice. Following PAR group debate about concerns and issues, there were
      actions toward improved practice taken by clinicians. Relevance to clinical
      practice.  The following constraints to best practice were identified: delayed
      transfer of patients from the Emergency Department; routine ward activities were
      not conducive to provision of rest and sleep; assisting with the patient's
      orientation was not possible as relatives were not able to accompany and/or stay
      with the older patient. Underreporting of delirium and attributing confusion to
      dementia was viewed as an education deficit across disciplines. A wide range of
      assessment skills was identified as prerequisites for working in this acute care
      ward, with older people and delirium. Clinicians perceived that management driven
      by length of a patient's stay was incongruent with best practice delirium care
      which required more time for older patients to recover from delirium. Two
      significant actions towards practice improvement were undertaken by this PAR
      group: (i) development of a draft delirium alert prevention protocol and (ii) a
      separate section of the ward became a dedicated space for the care of patients
      with delirium. A larger study is being planned across a variety of settings.

PMID- 20925818
TI  - Hip fractures and cognitive state: patient outcomes and proxies' perceptions of
      the rehabilitation period.
AB  - Background.  Numerous studies are available on hip fracture and rehabilitation
      outcomes, some mention dementia but very few from a family/proxy perspective.
      Aim.  To investigate whether cognitive state influences the hip fracture
      patients' rehabilitation outcomes as well as the proxies' perceptions of the 6
      month rehabilitation period. Design.  A survey with structured and unstructured
      questions. Statistics and content analysis. Methods.  The questionnaire was sent
      to 40 proxies of hip fracture patients with and without cognitive impairment, 32
      replied. Statistics and content analysis were used to analyse the data. Results. 
      In the cognitively impaired group, physical function decreased (P = 0.0241) as
      well as locomotion (P = 0.0005) compared to pre-fracture. This group mainly
      participated in rehabilitation sessions in institutions (P = 0.0001) and their
      main support came from nursing staff. The cognitively impaired group assessed the
      rehabilitation period as being of a much lower quality than the cognitively
      intact group (P = 0.0048). In the impaired group, hindrances to rehabilitation
      were low level of staffing, and lack of access to rehabilitation resources such
      as physiotherapists. Conclusions and relevance for clinical practice.  Hip
      fracture patients are a dichotomous group and cognition is decisive for physical
      and social outcomes as well as type of rehabilitation support.

PMID- 20925819
TI  - Factors supporting self-management in Parkinson's disease: implications for
      nursing practice.
AB  - Aim.  To identify the factors associated with better self-management in people
      with moderate to high levels of Parkinson's disease following an acute illness
      event. Design and methods.  A prospective, descriptive study conducted with 75
      persons with Parkinson's disease over the age of 55, collected twice: within a
      week of an acute event and 1 month later, after resuming usual life at home.
      Participants completed a questionnaire on self-rated health status, self
      efficacy, sense of coherence, symptom monitoring and medication and general self
      management. Background.  Parkinson's disease is a chronic neurological condition
      that affects many dimensions of life, including threats to self-identity and
      confidence in self-management. Self-management has the potential to reduce costs
      through decreased hospital admissions, disease progression and avoidance of
      complications. While evidence for the relationships between self-management and
      self-efficacy and sense of coherence has been demonstrated in some chronic
      illness groups, this has not previously been demonstrated in Parkinson's disease.
      Results.  The independent predictors of better self-management were not being
      hospitalized in the last 6 months, more frequent symptom checking and better self
      efficacy for self-management. The influence of other factors on self-management,
      such as sense of coherence, was mediated through self-efficacy. Support of family
      and others was associated with better self-efficacy both directly and through an
      improved sense of coherence. Conclusions and relevance to nursing practice.  The
      presence of informal support plays an important role in sustaining self-efficacy
      and sense of coherence and hence self-management in persons with Parkinson's
      disease. Since these attributes are amenable to change, nurses are in a good
      position to encourage participation in Parkinson's support groups, teach self
      management skills through regular symptom monitoring and to assess and promote
      self-efficacy and sense of coherence.

PMID- 20925820
TI  - Formal and informal care in relation to activities of daily living and self
      perceived health among older care-dependent individuals in Norway.
AB  - Background.  Research about formal care of older home-dwelling people in the
      Nordic countries is comprehensive, while research on informal care has been less
      inclusive. Aim.  To describe self-reported activities of daily living and
      perceived health, and to relate them to amount and types of formal and informal
      care received by a group of care-dependent, home-dwelling older individuals in
      Norway. Design and methods.  A sample consisting of 242 persons aged 75+ years
      receiving home nursing services. Data were collected by means of structured
      interviews with questions about activities of daily living (ADL), amount and
      types of formal and informal care and demographic variables. Descriptive
      statistics, chi-square test, Mann-Whitney U-test and multiple stepwise regression
      were used in the analyses. Results.  ADL dependency was the only predictor for
      explaining quantity of home nursing received. Those who received a generous
      amount of formal care also received a lot of care and support from informal
      networks. The type of care from the two sources differed. The home nurses
      performed PADL tasks. While the informal caregivers offered help with IADL tasks.
      Conclusion.  This study of receiving help in this group of older people in Norway
      shows that formal and informal care resources complement one another.

PMID- 20925821
TI  - Editorial: Developing user-centred services.

PMID- 20925822
TI  - Discovery Interviews: a mechanism for user involvement.
AB  - Discovery Interviews have become widely used in the UK National Health Service as
      a service improvement tool and patient involvement mechanism. This first paper in
      a series of three explores the development of Discovery Interviews in the NHS in
      the context of explicit central government policy of the development of patient
      centred services and user involvement in shaping health service organization and
      delivery. It draws on the published literature on Discovery Interviews to date,
      including that on evaluation.

PMID- 20925823
TI  - Discovery Interviews with older people: reflections from a practitioner.
AB  - This paper reports on a nurse consultant's experiences of using Discovery
      Interview technique with older patients and their relatives about their urgent
      care experiences.

PMID- 20925824
TI  - Service improvement using patient narratives: engaging with the issues.
AB  - In this paper, the authors reflect on data quality issues arising from a UK
      project that trained senior practitioners to undertake Discovery Interviews with
      older people and their relatives about their urgent care experiences. These
      reflections are used to explore the potential for qualitative research methods to
      inform the development of the Discovery Interview technique.

PMID- 20925825
TI  - Editorial.

PMID- 20925826
TI  - The impact of residential respite care on the behaviour of older people with
      dementia: literature review.
AB  - Aim.  The aim of this review was to examine the impact of residential respite
      care on the behaviour displayed by older people with dementia. Background. 
      Relocation of older people with dementia to a different care setting could have a
      negative impact on their behaviour. If such a response is anticipated, a short
      term admission to a residential aged care facility for respite care would appear
      to be futile for the older person and their home caregiver. Therefore, it is
      important to know what the outcomes of residential respite care are in relation
      to behaviour for older people with dementia. Methods.  A literature search was
      undertaken and papers emerged from a range of disciplines. The search terms
      'respite'; 'respite care'; 'residential respite care'; 'short-stay', 'short
      term', 'overnight stays/admissions', 'behav*' and various combinations of these
      terms were used to find relevant publications in English from Ageline, CINAHL,
      Medline and, Psychinfo databases dating from 1966. Other key publications were
      located when searching through the reference lists of retrieved publications. A
      limited body of literature on residential respite care for older people with
      dementia was revealed. Results.  Six studies were identified, which met the
      criteria of residential respite care as the intervention and behaviour as an
      outcome. Conclusions.  The studies had a variety of methodological limitations
      and produced contradictory findings. The strength of the studies was the
      reporting of outcomes for respite recipients who are usually overlooked in the
      outcomes for respite research. Relevance to clinical practice.  Residential
      respite care has great anecdotal support but more empirical and evaluative
      research is needed on outcomes for the respite recipients.

PMID- 20925827
TI  - Evaluating the context within which continence care is provided in rehabilitation
      units for older people.
AB  - Aim.  This paper presents the first phase of an all Ireland 2-year study between
      the University of Ulster and University College Cork, to determine the contextual
      indicators that enable or hinder person centred continence care and management in
      rehabilitation settings for older people. The primary outcome of the study was
      the development of a tool to enable practitioners to assess the practice context
      within which continence care is provided. The main focus of this paper is the
      value of understanding practice 'context' (culture, leadership and evaluation)
      and its impact to the provision of person centred continence care. Background. 
      The literature highlights the effect of continence problems on the quality of
      life of older people. Incontinence is often seen by health care professionals and
      older people as an inevitable consequence of ageing and difficult to treat.
      Furthermore, health care professionals do not always have the necessary skills
      and knowledge of best practice in continence care and treatments. The Promoting
      Action on Research Implementation in Health Services (PARIHS) framework utilized
      in the study proposes that successful implementation of evidence in practice is
      dependent on the inter-relationship of three key elements; the nature of the
      evidence, the quality of the context and expert facilitation. Kitson et al.
      propose that for successful implementation, evidence needs to be robust, the
      context receptive to change and appropriate facilitation is needed. Consequently
      understanding practice 'context' and its impact on the provision of person
      centred continence care is of value. Methods.  Case study methodology with
      several data collection methods was utilized to measure all aspects of 'context'
      as identified by the PARIHS framework. Methods include: Royal College of
      Physicians Audit Scheme, Staff Knowledge questionnaire, semi-structured
      observation of practice and multidisciplinary focus groups. Findings.  The data
      were analysed in two stages. Stage 1 using both qualitative and quantitative
      (SPSS 12) methods. Stage 2 analysed all the data utilizing the characteristics of
      context from the PARIHS framework in order to identify the strong and weak
      characteristics of the context within which continence care was provided.
      Continence care and management in this study was found to be focused on
      continence containment rather than proactive management. The evidence suggests
      that the context (leadership, culture and evaluation) was weak and not conducive
      to person centred continence care and management. Conclusion.  An analysis of the
      data using the context framework provided a picture of the context within the
      units and the identification of the specific contextual issues hindering and
      enabling the delivery of person centred continence care. This process has thus,
      added to our understanding of the importance of context to the provision of
      person-centred care.

PMID- 20925828
TI  - Urinary tract infection: under treated and investigated: an examination of the
      nursing management of urinary tract infections in nursing home residents
      experiencing impaired cognition.
AB  - This research in nursing management of urinary tract infections in nursing home
      residents experiencing impaired cognition was informed through qualitative
      naturalistic enquiry. The findings suggest the response to this infective process
      lacks cohesive planning and the dearth of available evidence concerning the
      nursing management in this cohort has the potential to lead to detrimental health
      outcomes. The study exposes the complexities of issues which impact on
      satisfactory outcome.

PMID- 20925829
TI  - Training primary care nurses in late-life depression: knowledge, attitude and
      practice changes.
AB  - Aim.  This paper reports on the uptake of a two-day late-life depression training
      programme with primary care nurses and its impact on knowledge, attitudes and the
      use of a brief screening protocol following training. Background.  Late-life
      depression is a common condition associated with medical illnesses, impaired
      psychosocial functioning and risk for suicide. Although treatable, it is under
      recognized in primary care. Nurses have an important contribution to make to its
      detection, yet few studies have focused on training primary care nurses for this
      role. Design.  An uncontrolled pre- and post-test design was used. Data were
      collected using the Late-Life Depression Quiz, the Depression Attitude
      Questionnaire (DAQ) and an Impact on Clinical Practice Questionnaire at 1 and 3
      months. Seventy-three nurses commenced training and 66 completed the programme
      out of a total of 253 invited to participate. Results.  Statistically significant
      differences were found between pre- and post-training for knowledge about late
      life depression (P < 0.0005). No significant association was found between age,
      length of experience, level of contact and pre-training knowledge scores.
      Attitudes towards depression were more optimistic following training which were
      significant for nine of the DAQ statements (P < 0.05). However, when the overall
      level of significance was adjusted for multiple testing of 20 DAQ items, two
      remained statistically significant (P < 0.0025). Finally, a 77% response rate to
      the 1-month practice questionnaire and a 52% at 3 months showed that nurses were
      using the screening measure (mean 5.0, SD 7.71; mean 5.6, SD 7.71 respectively).
      Conclusion.  A short training programme on late-life depression was effective in
      producing both knowledge and attitude change in primary care nurses. The use of a
      short two-item depression screening measure prompted nurses to complete more in
      depth assessment for depression. Relevance to clinical practice.  Training
      primary care nurses to identify and manage older persons with depression is
      essential to improve quality of life.

PMID- 20925830
TI  - Palliative care in nursing homes: exploring care assistants' knowledge.
AB  - Aim.  To explore the level of palliative care knowledge and to identify
      educational needs of care assistants (CAs) working within a nursing home context.
      Background.  In the United Kingdom (UK) many patients at the end-of-life are
      admitted to (or reside in) nursing homes, where they receive care from
      unqualified CAs who have little formal training. Mandatory training in specific
      skills to meet palliative care needs are absent. Method.  Questionnaire to CAs in
      48 of 91 private nursing homes in one UK region. Findings.  A population of 1135
      CAs were targeted with a response rate of 45% (n = 508). A high proportion of CAs
      in this sample required information about the philosophy and principles of
      palliative care. Results support the need for an educational initiative to
      improve palliative care in nursing homes. Conclusion.  Although recognized as a
      common place of death for older people, CAs are often unprepared to provide end
      of-life care to nursing home residents. It is recommended that attention be given
      towards developing the skills and knowledge of this staff group.

PMID- 20925831
TI  - Challenges in community health nursing of old migrant patients in Norway - an
      exploratory study.
AB  - Old people of non-western minority backgrounds are an invisible group in Norway
      in several ways: in the national debate about the ageing population, in geriatric
      health care services, and in the general picture of ethnic minorities. There is a
      lack of knowledge about health and care amongst old migrants. This study aimed at
      exploring nurse managers' perceptions of the content of community health nursing
      care of older people from non-western countries of origin, and the challenges
      associated with caring for this group of patients. The study took place in a
      medium-sized Norwegian community, a mostly urban area with surrounding rural
      areas. The community health nursing system was organized in six districts with
      nurses in management positions, covering nursing homes, special housing and home
      based care. Data were collected by a questionnaire with structured and open-ended
      questions answered by 18 nurse managers. The data provided scarce information,
      but indicated a lack of systematic cultural care assessments. Community health
      nursing of old non-western migrant patients was described as deficient and a
      demanding burden. The challenges were captured in four themes: language barriers,
      family involvement in care, deficiencies in cultural competency and the need for
      development. Increased competency, action and local responsibility were
      identified as propositions to manage the challenges. The lack of awareness and
      knowledge concerning cultural issues found in this study highlights the need for
      further development and research on this topic.

PMID- 20925832
TI  - Researching with centenarians.
AB  - Aims and objectives.  The objectives were shaped by ways in which to best engage
      the readers' curiosity about being 100 years old. Background.  In the effort to
      reverse negative stereotyping associated with older people, the aim was to
      produce a book of individual stories for public readership that had the power to
      combat ageism and to present alternative constructions. Methods.  Twenty-four
      centenarians were interviewed. Each person was asked to retell, using their own
      words, something about themselves and the social context that had shaped their
      lives. Centenarians could select whatever was foremost in their minds; an aspect
      of their lives that they wanted to share. We asked a few standard questions: What
      is it like to have lived one hundred years? What, in your opinion, has
      contributed to longevity? What matters today? A conversational approach to
      interviewing was adopted with the use of prompts to encourage story telling.
      Results.  Centenarians privileged talking about their early years, childhood,
      going to school and first employment. Although most people could relate to a
      country upbringing and fewer years at school, subsequent life experiences and
      opportunities were diverse. Advice to others who desired a long life was keeping
      active, leading a simple life, eating well, working hard, maintaining an interest
      in events and surroundings, helping others and being moderate in all things.
      Maintaining a sense of humour was thought to be important. Loss of eyesight,
      mostly in the last few years, had been a profound disruption in the lives,
      creating new dependencies. Extensive family cohesion and frequent contact with
      others who cared was a profound feature. There appears to be a matter of fact
      appraisal of difficulties, losses and sadness but these were considered to be
      part of life and not particularly extraordinary. It seemed that these people had
      made a successful transition to living beyond 100 years old by leaving stress
      behind and moving on. Embedded in the stories of centenarians was a sense of self
      that was strong and resilient. Conclusions.  The book containing 24 separate
      stories was published by Penguin. Sharing the stories of centenarians provided an
      opportunity to engage with the public readership and help shape wider social
      perceptions of older people as worth listening to. Relevance to clinical
      practice.  In this paper, alternatives to dominant stories about ageing are
      presented and challenge the negative stereotyping of older people and its
      associated notions of decline, dementia, decay and death. Its relevance to
      clinical practice is precisely to show that older people are worth listening to.
      Moreover their ordinary lives make interesting, popular readership. Although the
      stories were primed to reach a wide public audience, we argue that its health
      promotion message and our creative effort to combat negative stereotypes can
      filter to healthcare delivery.

PMID- 20925833
TI  - Editorial: sexuality.

PMID- 20925834
TI  - Sexuality, health care and the older person: an overview of the literature.
AB  - Abstract.  This paper reviews recent literature around sexuality, health care and
      the older person. The construction of sexuality and the importance of sexuality
      to older people are discussed, as is sexual diversity in old age, and sexuality
      and health. Also discussed are the myths and stereotypes associated with this
      topic, and the medical, social, healthcare, and institutional barriers to
      sexuality and sexual health in later life.

PMID- 20925835
TI  - Barriers to the expression of sexuality in the older person: the role of the
      health professional.
AB  - Sexuality is an important contributing factor to quality of life and sense of
      well-being. All adults have the right to express their sexuality, regardless of
      their age. Research indicates, however, that older people frequently experience
      barriers to the expression of their sexuality. Many of these barriers are
      influenced by the health professionals and services that care for them. This
      paper will outline these barriers and identify strategies that the healthcare
      professional can implement to help improve practice in this area.

PMID- 20925836
TI  - Sexuality: from stigma, stereotypes and secrecy to coming out, communication and
      choice.
AB  - Ageism and sexism have been remarkably successful in portraying sexuality as the
      preserve of young people and stereotyping older people as asexual. Older people
      have colluded in the stereotype by passing as asexual and generally keeping
      secret their ongoing interest in, or expression of, sexuality. The labelling as
      'deviant' and associated stigma experienced by people who dare to breach societal
      stereotypes are recognized as tools used by powerful vested interests to maintain
      and manage the norms and values of society. Despite the sanctions, people do find
      ways of resisting, and over time norms and values change. This paper notes the
      centrality of sexuality to identity and argues that nursing is pivotally placed
      to recognize and value the older person's sexuality and support older people to
      'come out' and re-claim the sexuality of their choice. It provides a provocative
      vision of how care and attitudes might look in 2025.

PMID- 20925837
TI  - Guest Editorial: My home life programme.

PMID- 20925838
TI  - How nursing home staff deal with residents who talk about death.
AB  - Aims.  The overall aim of this study was to gain knowledge about how nursing
      staff treat and communicate with residents who talk about death and about their
      reasons for their treatment as well as to investigate how staff explain
      residents' reasons for talking about death. Background.  Studies have established
      that nursing staff have problems in dealing with patients who talk about death
      and that staff do not know how they should relate to talking about death. Method.
      A qualitative explorative design. Interviews with staff were performed and
      analysed using a qualitative content analysis. Findings.  Staff descriptions of
      their various ways of dealing with a situation in which residents talk about
      death could be divided into two qualitatively different main categories: 'allow
      and facilitate talk about death' and 'avoid talk about death'. The most common
      explanation provided by staff in all categories was that they acted the way they
      did because they did not know how to address discussions about death. Staff
      members' descriptions of residents' reasons for talking about death were quite
      different. Conclusions.  The study indicates that nursing staff need to reflect
      on their own attitudes towards death and that they need to develop further. Their
      behaviour may depend on each staff member's individual attitudes and development.
      Nursing staff need training in and knowledge about how to communicate with
      residents who talk about death. This knowledge could be acquired through
      training, guidance and joint reflection in groups.

PMID- 20925839
TI  - Predictors of medication compliance among older heart failure patients.
AB  - Aim.  To examine relationships between psycho-social and patho-physiological
      measures in explaining medication compliance in older heart failure (HF)
      patients. Background.  Self-efficacy is a predictor not only of medication
      compliance, but also health recovery. How older HF patients conceptualize and
      manage this life-threatening event is central to ongoing rehabilitation.
      Regulating ongoing medical and lifestyle changes in the rehabilitation process
      requires that any underlying negative affect be productively managed by the use
      of appropriate coping strategies. Method.  Using an exploratory correlational
      design, 51 older HF patients were asked to complete the Beck Depression
      Inventory, Beliefs about Medication and Diet Questionnaire, Reactions to Daily
      Events Questionnaire and Self-regulation scale. A self-report measure of
      medication compliance was obtained as part of a semi-structured interview. The
      study was conducted in 2003-2004. Results.  Using descriptive statistics, patho
      physiological and psychosocial characteristics were given. Independent t-tests
      were used to assess the gender effects. Pairwise correlations were used to
      examine the relationships between presenting circumstances, psychosocial
      characteristics, medication compliance beliefs and self-reported medication
      compliance behaviours. All positive coping strategies and self-regulation were
      associated with positive intentions in medication compliance. Males were more
      inclined towards proactive coping and self-regulatory strategies than were
      females. Increased depressive symptoms were linked to carelessness in compliance.
      A belief in medication compliance was associated with a reduced likelihood of
      carelessness Conclusion.  Bandura's three conditions for agency in
      rehabilitation, self-efficacy and goal-directed intention appeared to be
      important even in the early phase of the programme. Positive coping strategies
      and self-regulation suggests a positive basis for medication compliance and more
      successful ongoing rehabilitation for older HF patients. We identify a
      significantly enhanced educative role for nurses in this context. Relevance to
      clinical practice.  We suggest that nurses dealing with compliance issues among
      older patients need to monitor behaviour through addressing both the quality of
      affect during the patient's response to HF (self-concept, -esteem and -efficacy)
      as well as the quality of health-related metacognitive knowledge underlying the
      self-regulatory decisions (such as the patients conceptions of 'wellness' and the
      strategic knowledge underpinning its achievement and maintenance).

PMID- 20925840
TI  - Older peoples' personal care needs: an analysis of care provision: care provision
      and the roles of key healthcare personnel.
AB  - Aims and Objectives.  The study aimed to investigate and evaluate the provision
      of personal care for older patients within the acute care setting. Specific
      objectives included: (i) exploration of older peoples' perceptions of personal
      care provision; (ii) evaluation of nursing documentation related to personal
      cleansing and dressing care; (iii) identification of personnel responsible for
      personal cleansing and dressing care; (iv) identification of personal cleansing
      and dressing ward facilities; (v) development of a tool for use in the assessment
      and planning of personal hygiene and dressing care. Background.  The maintenance
      of individual hygiene and dressing needs are key activities of living and
      constitute important aspects of personal care. This is an area of care which to
      date has attracted limited empirical enquiry. This paper reports on the findings
      from an evaluation study which sought to examine key aspects of personal care
      provision. Design.  A quantitative multi-method research design was adopted.
      Methods.  The methods used included patient interviews (n = 20), documentary
      analysis (n = 100) and a review of ward facilities (n = 5). Data were analysed
      using descriptive and non-parametric statistics. Results.  Data suggest little
      patient involvement in decision-making regarding the provision of personal care.
      Documentary analysis highlighted limited assessment and care planning related to
      this key aspect of care. The key role of healthcare assistants in meeting
      personal care needs was highlighted and results indicated diversity in the
      availability of ward facilities. Conclusion.  Inadequacies in the provision of
      personal care for older patients in the acute care setting are highlighted. While
      state-of-the-art ward facilities are desirable, they are not the determining
      factor in quality personal care. The key role of healthcare assistants in
      personal care provision is emphasized. A more structured approach to the
      assessment and planning of personal care is recommended. Relevance to clinical
      practice.  A more individualized and person-centered approach to personal care is
      required. To facilitate this, a systematic assessment of personal hygiene and
      dressing needs is recommended using a structured format (Personal Hygiene and
      Dressing Chart) in order to address older peoples' needs related to this key
      activity during hospital stay.

PMID- 20925841
TI  - Emergency hospital admissions for ill-defined conditions amongst older people: a
      review of the literature.
AB  - Objective.  To conduct a review of the literature on frequency and
      characteristics of emergency hospital admissions of older people for ill-defined
      conditions. Background.  Emergency hospital admissions for ill-defined conditions
      are increasing for older people. Despite concern about this trend little is known
      about the frequency or characteristics of such admissions in emergency medical
      settings. Method.  Relevant papers were identified by searching Medline, Cinahl,
      Web of Science and other databases. Papers that met inclusion criteria were
      selected. A descriptive analysis approach was taken. Results.  Eighteen studies
      met the inclusion criteria for the review, all descriptive, survey or cohort
      studies. None directly investigated the patient group. Some relevant data were
      available, particularly in relation to frequency of admissions for ill-defined
      conditions. Conclusions.  There is a paucity of research on the patient group,
      but the evidence available suggests the incidence of these admissions is high in
      emergency settings and in many countries. Future research on incidence in
      specific settings, appropriateness of admissions and patient characteristics is
      urgently required. Relevance to clinical practice.  As the population ages
      increased numbers of older people will be admitted to hospital for ill-defined
      conditions. Nursing interventions may contribute to future management of these
      patients.

PMID- 20925843
TI  - Editorial: gerotranscendence.

PMID- 20925842
TI  - Experiences of health and well-being, a question of adjustment and compensation -
      views of older people dependent on community care.
AB  - Most studies concerning older people's health and well-being have focused on
      their ill health, disease and complaints and have mainly been conducted with a
      quantitative design. Hence, there is still a need for qualitative studies in
      which these peoples' own views on health and well-being are shown, especially
      when they are dependent on health care in a community setting. A qualitative
      approach was used in the study reported here and aimed at obtaining a deeper
      understanding of older peoples' own views about their health and well-being.
      Interviews were carried out on two occasions with 19 older people living in their
      own homes and in sheltered accommodation. The data were analysed using content
      analysis. The findings suggested that the possibility to feel healthy was
      dependent both on the older person's own ability to adjust or compensate to their
      situation, and on how their caregivers, relatives and friends could compensate
      for the obstacles the older person faced. The subcategories that captured the
      informants' experiences of health and ill health were described as positive and
      negative poles of autonomy, togetherness, tranquillity and security in daily
      life. The significance of the caregivers was clearly evident. Their competence,
      commitment and treatment were prerequisites for the older person's ability to
      experience health in spite of being dependent on care.

PMID- 20925844
TI  - The theory of gerotranscendence as applied to gerontological nursing - Part I.
AB  - Introduction.  This article outlines the theory of gerotranscendence - a
      psychosocial theory of ageing developed by Lars Tornstam, a Swedish Sociology
      professor. Description of the theory.  Through his theory of gerotranscendence,
      Tornstam has introduced a new understanding of ageing, stating that human
      development is a life-long process that continues into old age and that, when
      optimized, ends in a new perspective. The theory of gerotranscendence focuses on
      two phenomena: the old person and the ageing process itself. The theory describes
      both the experience of growing old and the characteristics of a normal and
      positive old age. Foundation and empirical base of the theory.  The theory is
      based on both the ideas and theories of others as well as on empirical studies.
      Relevance of the theory and its application in nursing.  The theory of
      gerotranscendence could provide new key concepts for understanding the
      developmental process of ageing and the transition into old age. This theory
      facilitates the possibility of structuring care for older people in addition to
      guiding it. Because the theory describes development and the meaning of
      development in older age, it is possible to discuss how care of older people
      could be structured as well as how staff caring for older people could promote
      the process of ageing.

PMID- 20925845
TI  - The theory of gerotranscendence in practice: guidelines for nursing - Part II.
AB  - Aim.  The aims of this article were to describe both how guidelines were derived
      from the theory of gerotranscendence and the actual guidelines. It also discusses
      the relevance of guidelines to practice. Background.  This article describes how
      guidelines were derived from the theory of gerotranscendence as well as the
      content of the guidelines and how they could be used. The view of ageing
      introduced by the theory may have several consequences for nursing staff members'
      attitudes and treatment of older people, as it offers a new understanding of
      living in old age. Resultant guidelines.  Concrete guidelines at three levels -
      focusing on the individual, activity and organization - were derived using focus
      groups. The guidelines describe different ways to support older people in their
      process towards gerotranscendence. Conclusion.  The theory of gerotranscendence
      and the guidelines could help support nursing staff in their attitude towards
      older people and could be used as a supplement to enrich the present care.

PMID- 20925846
TI  - Adoption of an innovation based on the theory of gerotranscendence by staff in a
      Nursing home - Part III.
AB  - This article presents an intervention involving introduction of the theory of
      gerotranscendence and practical guidelines derived from the theory. A qualitative
      method was used with triangulation of methods in data collection and analysis.
      Both the theory of gerotranscendence and the theory of innovation were used as
      frameworks in the analysis. Introducing this new perspective constituted an
      abstract intervention. It involved nursing staff changing their interpretations
      and values with respect to ageing and their treatment of older people in ways not
      compatible with extant values. The 'early adopters' were staff members who felt
      acquainted with the essential ideas of the theory because they perceived in
      themselves a personal developmental process in line with the theory. The
      innovation attributes, described in the innovation theory, explained some of the
      problems associated with adopting the guidelines.

PMID- 20925847
TI  - Editorial: A lot of things are happening with nursing and older people.

PMID- 20925848
TI  - Guest Editorial: 'Boundaries and barriers': redefining older people nursing in
      the 21st century.

PMID- 20925849
TI  - Attitudes of Egyptian nursing home residents towards staying in a nursing home: a
      qualitative study.
AB  - Aim.  The aim of this study was to identify the attitudes of Egyptian nursing
      home residents towards staying in a nursing home and to differentiate between
      various types of these attitudes. Background.  The number of older persons in
      Egypt who require nursing care is increasing. In response, nursing homes in
      bigger cities like Cairo were founded, although family care seems to be the
      prevalent norm. Methods.  Semi-structured guideline interviews were performed
      with 21 residents from four different nursing homes in Cairo. Interviews were
      analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Findings.  One category of resident
      was those who were sent to the nursing home by persons closely related to them.
      Another category made their own decision to move to a nursing home. Relationships
      with social networks and self-help abilities are factors of importance in
      influencing decision-making. Conclusion.  Nursing homes in Egypt fulfil different
      functions for different types of older persons. Charitable institutions are a
      last resort for those with no income and a disrupted social network. For better
      off older persons, nursing homes may provide the benefits of socialising with
      peers and receiving medical treatment.

PMID- 20925850
TI  - Need for uniqueness in older women: an exploratory look.
AB  - Problem.  Information about older women dwells on age-related illness and
      disabilities yet, other empowering traits could be promoting positive forces.
      Aim.  While everyone desires some distinctiveness, this study explores higher
      levels of the motivational construct need for uniqueness (NU) in older women. NU
      concepts are: 1) perceived feelings of being or thinking different, 2) outspoken
      social behaviour, and 3) creative consumer consumption. Design.  An exploratory,
      descriptive cross-sectional study provided quantitative data and focus groups
      generated qualitative data. Major results.  Significant differences in all three
      NU concepts were evident between 87 (42%) with no/weak NU and 122 (58%) who
      'preferred to be different from other people'. Focus groups provided examples
      over their lifetime within the context of their societal expectations. Relevance
      to clinical practice.  The nurse's strategy to partner with older women to
      individualize their care and teaching will be important in maintaining their well
      being. Examining their decision-making with how they respond to perceived
      feelings of being or thinking different (such as taking risks), how outspoken are
      they, and their patterns of consumer consumption are a few questions that could
      be asked to examine an older woman's NU. Further research examining specific
      health care decisions in those with NU will also be needed to note their
      responses toward future self-care activities.

PMID- 20925851
TI  - Decrepit death as a discourse of death in older age: implications for policy.
AB  - Background.  In Australia, care of the older person dying in residential aged
      care is contentious. This paper reports on selected results of a study of aged
      and palliative care policies, undertaken to elicit discourses of dying in aged
      care environments. Aims.  To gain understanding of the relationship of policy to
      practice and to highlight commonalities and differences between aged and
      palliative care policies. Design and method.  Utilizing discourse analysis, a
      range of palliative care and aged care documents were analysed, to explicate
      layers of complexity. Two divergent discourses emerged in the data organization.
      Results.  The dominant palliative care discourse about dying decries an
      'undeserved death'; the discourse about an older dying person is described as
      'decrepit death'. These competing discourses provide a framework for examining
      emerging national policy work to improve care of the dying. Conclusions.  Dying
      in residential aged care has been hidden and unacknowledged by the community. The
      challenge of providing more equitable care has recently received significant
      government policy attention. Relevance to clinical practice.  Policy influences
      practice; both aged care and palliative care nurses, could benefit from
      understanding the place of policy in implementing changes on behalf of those in
      their care.

PMID- 20925852
TI  - Staying in 'the stream of life': rehabilitation of older people in their own
      homes following total hip replacement.
AB  - Background.  According to World Health Organization (WHO), rehabilitation should
      be based on the person's entire situation with a focus on body functions, level
      of activity, participation and environment. But different types of investigations
      show an unclear concept of rehabilitation in professional nursing. Aims and
      objectives.  This study aims to identify older persons' (>=75 years of age)
      experiences of the rehabilitation process after total hip replacement. Design and
      methods.  Qualitative interviews were undertaken with six persons who were
      rehabilitated in their own homes following total hip replacement. The interviews
      were guided by Max van Manen's phenomenological methodology with its focus on the
      life world as described through patients' experience of time, space, body and
      interpersonal relations. Results.  Staying in the stream of life confirmed the
      importance of the life world. What is essential in the rehabilitation process is
      to get back into everyday life as soon as possible and participate in activities
      which are meaningful and which are linked to being at home where 'you can be who
      you are'. The home is the framework for being in the stream of life, and it
      provides the centre of gravity for the people's welfare. Conclusion.  Staying in
      the stream of life is about being the author of one's own meaningful life. It
      takes into account life phenomena embodied in the maintenance aspect of health
      care; dignity in relation to identity and integrity; and an understanding of the
      dialectical relation between frailty and strength. Relevance to clinical
      practice.  Rather than focusing exclusively on patient participation and goal
      directed activity, nursing actions should integrate life phenomena as key aspects
      of rehabilitation with older people in their own right.

PMID- 20925853
TI  - Validity and reliability testing of the Oulu patient classification: instrument
      within primary health care for the older people.
AB  - Aim.  The aim of the study was to evaluate the reliability and validity of The
      Oulu Patient Classification (OPC) instrument to see whether the instrument that
      has been developed for hospital care is valid and useful within primary health
      care for older people. Background.  Although different patient classification
      instruments have been under development since the 1960s, this is still a very
      important research area today. Method.  Inter-rater reliability testing of the
      OPC instrument was undertaken. The inter-rater reliability was tested through
      parallel classification (n = 1722). Validity testing was conducted as an expert
      validation of the manual for the OPC instrument, using a questionnaire during
      June and July of 2005 (n = 61). Results.  The inter-rater reliability testing
      achieved over 70% consensus, Cohen's Kappa showed a strong consensus for OPC
      classifications (0.65). The reliability measured with Cronbach's Alpha was also
      acceptable. Conclusion.  The results show that the OPC instrument provides a good
      overview of the patient's care needs and is a reliable instrument within primary
      health care for older people.

PMID- 20925854
TI  - Social support and networks in health promotion of older people: a case study in
      Brazil.
AB  - Aim.  This research aimed at identifying social support for older people and
      their families. Background.  The Brazilian National Policy for Older People's
      Health, created in 1998, is based on the promotion of healthy ageing, aiming at
      encouraging older people to remain in their environment and independently exert
      their functions in society. Nursing has engaged in this process, seeking to
      provide integrated care to the older person and family. Method.  A case study
      with multiple participants was carried out. The inclusion criteria were families
      of older people over 70 years old who attended a Family Health Unit in the
      interior of the State of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Data were collected between April
      and June, 2007. In-depth interviews, genograms and ecomaps were used to collect
      data, which were categorized by thematic content analysis. Results.  Three
      families participated in this study, totalling seven participants. Conclusions. 
      The older people's families depend on institutional networks for their health
      maintenance. Spirituality and religion are mixed and are very expressive sources
      of support. Relevance to clinical practice.  Assessing social support and
      networks can favour nursing interventions in order to intensify social
      interactions, promote leisure and help the families of older people to cope with
      life changes.

PMID- 20925855
TI  - Hope: a construct central to living with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
AB  - Background.  Hope plays an integral role in health and illness and may assist
      individuals to cope in difficult and adverse circumstances, for instance when
      living with an illness such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD),
      which can demand continuous adaptation. Aim.  This paper reports the meaning of
      hope in people living with COPD as described by seven participants involved in a
      home-based pulmonary maintenance program. Methods.  Using an interpretive
      phenomenological approach a purposive sample of seven participants were
      interviewed to understand participants' experiences of the phenomena of hope. An
      interpretative description is provided. Results.  Thematic analysis revealed a
      number of themes, including that hope persists despite chronic illness and the
      unpredictable dilemmas of living with COPD. Many benefits were found to be gained
      from involvement in a home-based pulmonary maintenance program, including
      increasing exercise capacity, hope and wellbeing. Conclusion.  Despite the
      limitations imposed by living with COPD participants revealed a determination to
      live as normal a life as possible. The pulmonary maintenance program was pivotal
      in assisting participants to improve exercise capacity, hope and wellbeing.
      Nurses may have a role to play in helping people with COPD maintain or regain
      hope.

PMID- 20925857
TI  - Editorial.

PMID- 20925856
TI  - 'I love nursing, but..'- qualitative findings from Australian aged-care nurses
      about their intrinsic, extrinsic and social work values.
AB  - Aim.  The aim of this qualitative analysis - a component of a larger survey
      study, was to provide insights and understandings about intrinsic and extrinsic
      work values for nurses in aged-care. Background.  Intrinsic and extrinsic work
      values impact on nurses' job satisfaction and ultimately nursing retention. This
      study contributes further to knowledge development in this area by building on a
      previous work values study in aged-care nursing. Methods.  This paper presents
      the qualitative research findings from the final open-ended question from a
      survey of nurses employed in the aged-care sector in the State of Queensland,
      Australia in 2007. Data from a cohort of 105 aged care sector nurses was analysed
      relying on deductive content analysis. Findings.  Two intrinsic work values
      emerged - low morale and images of nursing and two extrinsic work values emerged 
      remuneration and working conditions. The work value 'working conditions'
      comprised four aspects of aged-care work, specifically staff turnover, workplace
      violence, care team membership specifically the Assistants-in-Nursing and
      paperwork. A single social workplace value 'support by management' is discussed
      as identified as important to these nurses. Conclusion.  Qualitative insights
      into aged-care nurses' intrinsic and extrinsic work values suggest that work
      satisfaction is low. Workforce policy makers and employers of nurses in aged-care
      need to comprehend the relationship between job satisfaction, retention and work
      values. Relevance to clinical practice.  These findings have implications for
      recruitment, retention and workforce planning within the aged-care environment.

PMID- 20925858
TI  - Human rights: Care of the human spirit.

PMID- 20925859
TI  - Innovative approach to health promotion for the over 45s: using a health check
      log.
AB  - Objectives.  To determine effectiveness of the health check log (HCL) in
      promoting health-related quality of life and health awareness, health monitoring
      skills and timely consultation with health professionals for a cohort of
      community-dwelling people over 45 years, compared with a similar cohort not
      recording the HCL. Design.  An exploratory longitudinal study using a quasi
      experimental methodology and data triangulation. Outcome measures included the SF
      36 health survey; a semi-structured participant feedback survey and participant
      focus group discussions. Sample.  A convenience sample (n = 309) of community
      dwellers over the age of 45 living in the South Eastern Sydney/Illawarra Area
      Health Service, Sydney, Australia. Results.  The majority of participants
      recording the HCL reported health benefits. The SF-36 health survey found younger
      age is a predictor for positive change in 'social functioning' (beta = -0.14, t =
      2.25, P < 0.05), while non-pension income was a predictor of positive 'physical
      functioning' (beta = 0.12, t = 2.02, P < 0.05) and 'general health' (beta = 0.13,
      t = 2.11, P < 0.05). Alternatively, full-time employment (beta = -0.12, t = 2.02,
      P < 0.05) and not living alone (beta = 0.18, t = 3.09, P < 0.01) predicted
      negative change in 'role - physical'. Participant reactions to recording the HCL
      via feedback survey and focus group discussions were mostly positive.
      Conclusions.  The majority who maintained the HCL benefited by achieving improved
      health and knowledge of health monitoring, which was, however, moderated by age,
      income source, employment status and living arrangements.

PMID- 20925860
TI  - Support networks of older people living in the community.
AB  - Aim.  The aim of the study was to identify the social support networks of older
      people living in the community in Ireland using Wenger's (1994) network typology.
      Background.  The population of older people in the community is increasing. With
      increasing age and changes in family circumstances a substantial proportion of
      older people will require social, psychological and instrumental support. However
      a lack of adequate social support networks for vulnerable older people can result
      in poor health, loneliness and isolation. Method.  A national, cross-sectional
      telephone survey of 683 people aged between 65 and 99 years was undertaken using
      the Practitioner Assessment of Network Type as the basis for identifying social
      support networks. Results.  The results demonstrated that the majority of older
      people were living in stable and supportive social networks and reported high
      levels of contact with family, friends and neighbours. However, a significant
      minority of older people were living in vulnerable networks. Older people in
      these networks are susceptible to loneliness, isolation and poor emotional and
      physical health. Conclusion.  Through the identification of people in vulnerable
      networks, nurses working both in the hospital and community setting can ensure
      that formal support is aimed at providing care to older people who do not have
      access to informal care networks. Furthermore, the predictive utility of the
      Practitioner Assessment Network Type (PANT) can enable nurses to identify people
      at risk of poor social support.

PMID- 20925861
TI  - Relatives' experiences of encountering the older person with acute confusional
      state: experiencing unfamiliarity in a familiar person.
AB  - Aims and objectives.  The aim was to understand the lived experience of close
      relatives encountering older persons with acute confusional state. Background. 
      Little is known about relatives of patients with acute confusional state and
      their experiences while encountering a family member exhibiting acute confusional
      state. Design.  A descriptive phenomenological research approach was used.
      Methods.  Data were collected by interviewing 10 close relatives of older people
      with acute confusional state at two hospital wards. Results.  Relatives
      experience the encounter as encountering a familiar person who has suddenly
      become unfamiliar, struggling to separate the familiar from the unfamiliar and
      trying to understand the causes of acute confusional state and the behaviour of
      the person. Six constituents illuminate the phenomenon: 'change in the other
      person', 'rapid and unexpected changes', 'experiencing insecurity in the
      encounter', 'trusting or mistrusting the other person', 'experiencing loss' and
      'experiencing exposure'. Relevance to clinical practice.  It is important for
      professional carers to support relatives on how to encounter the person with
      acute confusional state, and to co-operate with relatives to gain knowledge about
      the unique person behind the acute confusional state. Conclusion.  Relatives'
      difficulties in dealing with strong emotions evoked within the encounter,
      experiencing limitation and lack of trust is essential knowledge for professional
      carers in all care settings.

PMID- 20925862
TI  - The reliability of the Hendrich Fall Risk Model in a geriatric hospital.
AB  - Aims and objectives.  The purpose of this study was to test the interrater
      reliability of the Hendrich Fall Risk Model, an instrument to identify patients
      in a hospital setting with a high risk of falling. Background.  Falls are a
      serious problem in older patients. Valid and reliable fall risk assessment tools
      are required to identify high-risk patients and to take adequate preventive
      measures. Methods.  Seventy older patients were independently and simultaneously
      assessed by six pairs of raters made up of nursing staff members. Consensus
      estimates were calculated using simple percentage agreement and consistency
      estimates using Spearman's rho and intra class coefficient. Results.  Percentage
      agreement ranged from 0.70 to 0.92 between the six pairs of raters. Spearman's
      rho coefficients were between 0.54 and 0.80 and the intra class coefficients were
      between 0.46 and 0.92. Conclusions.  Whereas some pairs of raters obtained
      considerable interobserver agreement and internal consistency, the others did
      not. Therefore, it is concluded that the Hendrich Fall Risk Model is not a
      reliable instrument. The use of more unambiguous operationalized items is
      preferred. Relevance to clinical practice.  In practice, well operationalized
      fall risk assessment tools are necessary. Observer agreement should always be
      investigated after introducing a standardized measurement tool.

PMID- 20925863
TI  - A study of nurses' knowledge of a palliative approach in residential aged care
      facilities.
AB  - Aim.  To identify residential aged care nurses' current knowledge of palliative
      care for older residents in need of end-of-life care. Background.  Recently,
      there has been a growing interest in the delivery of palliative care in
      residential aged care facilities. While it is recognized that aged care nurses do
      possess palliative care knowledge the actual level of their knowledge has not
      been well documented. Design/method.  An analytical study using a validated
      questionnaire tool - Palliative Care Quiz for Nursing, developed by Ross et al.
      [Journal of Advanced Nursing23 (1996) 126-137], combined with a demographic
      survey of Registered Nurses and assistants in nursing working in five high care
      residential aged care facilities in inner city region of Sydney, Australia.
      Results.  The total Palliative Care Quiz for Nursing score possible was 20. The
      mean score for Registered Nurses was 11.7 (SD 3.1) and for AINs 5.8 (SD 3.3), the
      difference between scores being significant (t = 8.7, df 95, P = 0.000).
      Misconceptions in palliative care were identified for both the groups of carers.
      Conclusion.  This research has highlighted the need for ongoing palliative care
      education for both the groups of primary carers. Relevance to clinical practice. 
      The findings of this research highlight the existing palliative care knowledge of
      residential aged care nurses and provides evidence for education programmes.

PMID- 20925864
TI  - Editorial: care homes.

PMID- 20925865
TI  - Older people actively reconstruct their life in a care home.
AB  - The research reported here aimed to present the stories of care home residents
      through an interpretative study that was informed by a biographical approach and
      narrative method. Eight older people who lived in four different care homes in
      England participated in a sequence of up to eight narrative interviews over a six
      month period. The findings revealed how the older people tried to live as active
      biographical agents who were instrumental in shaping their own life in a care
      home. They were able to do this to a greater or lesser extent through the
      implementation of a range of resident-led strategies. The understanding of care
      home life that was developed through this study offers an alternative biography
      for living in care homes that is not only possible but achievable. This is a
      biography of frail older people who are active in reconstructing their life
      following the move to a care home, and living lives that are meaningful,
      purposeful and enjoyable. This sits in contrast to the standard biography that
      dominates current understanding of care home life that of older people merely
      'existing' for the most part of their days. This image provides a vision for long
      term care for older people, which is grounded in the views and aspirations of
      older people.

PMID- 20925866
TI  - Using relationships to develop practice that values the contribution of older
      people, families and staff.
AB  - Relationships between staff, residents and their families have emerged within the
      literature as fundamental to the experiences of life within the community of a
      care home. While there is consensus in the literature that such relationships are
      central to caring processes, there is a dearth of studies that have explained how
      different factors contribute to the formation of relationships. The research
      reported here aims to describe the nature of relationships and develop an
      interpretive framework to understand how relationships influence the experience
      of residents, families and staff in care homes. This paper is based on the
      findings from a constructivist inquiry. Data were collected in three care homes
      using participant observation, interviews and focus groups with older people,
      families and staff. Constructivist methodology seeks to share multiple
      perceptions between participants with the aim of creating a joint construction.
      This process, known as the hermeneutic dialectic supported the development of
      shared meanings as views and ideas were shared between participants. The findings
      suggested that three types of relationships are developed within care homes:
      pragmatic; personal and responsive and reciprocal. These relationships are
      influenced by a range of factors that include leadership, team working and the
      contributions made by residents, families and staff.

PMID- 20925867
TI  - Living bereavement: an exploration of healthcare workers' responses to loss and
      grief in an NHS continuing care ward for older people.
AB  - This article reports on research rooted in a work based education project and the
      theme of loss was chosen by the participating care staff who felt it was central
      to their work with dependent older people. They coined the phrase 'living
      bereavement' meaning the complex responses and grief reactions of those
      experiencing and bearing witness to the multiple losses endured in continuing
      care environments. Aim.  The research was to identify the emotional demand of
      living bereavement and to explore and develop care staff's capacity to work with
      it. Methods.  Qualitative methods including participant observation and
      Reflective Work Groups were used to generate and analyse data over a three year
      period. A psychoanalytic dimension was added to the research through
      participation in a supervision group facilitated by a psychotherapist. Findings. 
      In the article the key message from the findings, that there is an intense
      emotional demand in care work related to loss and grief in continuing care
      environments, is explained. The trajectory of living bereavement is discussed and
      illustrated with examples. Implications for practice.  Some emotional aspects of
      the care work were glossed over or ignored which affected the way care was
      delivered. This may have been because the feelings were disturbing or painful to
      deal with. It is important to support staff working with difficult feelings so
      that emotional aspects of their work can be acknowledged and thought about.

PMID- 20925868
TI  - The Norwegian teaching home program: developing a model for systematic practice
      development in the nursing home sector.
AB  - Background.  In the mid-1990s, there was persistent critique of the quality of
      care provided in residential aged care facilities in Norway, in line with similar
      concerns expressed in many other countries. Difficulties recruiting qualified
      staff and high turnover led to difficult working conditions. Little prestige was
      associated with providing geriatric care. Collaboration between educational
      institutions, universities and elderly care institutions with the purpose of
      strengthening education, competence development, practice development and
      research within elderly care was poorly developed. The Norwegian teaching nursing
      home (NTNH) program was launched to address these issues. Aim.  The purpose of
      the NTNH was to contribute to the quality of care of frail older persons by
      improving the competence of staff, improving the prestige of working with older
      people, stimulating development of services, facilitating research into the care
      of older persons, and developing good learning environments for students.
      Methods.  The NTNH-program was developed over a period of seven years, applying a
      participatory action research design. Progressing through four phases, it
      involved a number of people and institutions across Norway. Results.  Formal and
      informal competence of staff was increased. A large number of practice
      development projects contributed to increased quality of care in selected problem
      areas. Models of competence development were disseminated to other institutions,
      thereby improving the level of competence beyond the NTNHs. Learning conditions
      for students were improved. Following a formal evaluation of the program,
      teaching nursing homes (TNHs) were established on a permanent basis in 2004, with
      financial support from the Department of Health and Social Services. In 2008, a
      total of 20 TNHs are part of the NTNH program. Conclusions.  The NTNH program led
      to permanent establishment of a series of TNHs responsible for contributing to
      competence development, practice development and research on a continuous basis
      in order to secure high levels of care to the Norwegian nursing home population.
      The program has created substantial enthusiasm within the nursing home sector and
      has increased the prestige of these institutions.

PMID- 20925869
TI  - Current situation of German care homes.
AB  - Aim.  The aim of this paper is to explore the situation of and current
      developments in the German care home sector. Background.  Germany, like other
      Western countries, faces demographic change and subsequently tries to develop
      structures and processes to achieve a care system which can tackle the increasing
      number of people in need of care with a variety of quality services. Policy
      strives to set up structures and instruments to enhance the quality of service
      provision. Discussion.  Figures show that the structures in the care sector are
      changing in favour to increased privatization of homes, a slight increase in size
      and improved building structures. In order to tackle the expected changes, a mix
      of low and high skilled qualification and new job profiles arise in the care
      sector. Other changes to be observed are the development of new living
      arrangements and the utilization of new technologies to support the care process.
      Conclusion.  This contribution looks at the socio-demographic changes in care,
      the statutory developments and the structures of care homes as well as current
      discussions on future developments.

PMID- 20925870
TI  - Calling for an international dialogue on quality of life in care homes.
AB  - meyer j. & owen t. (2008) International Journal of Older People Nursing 3, 291
      294?Calling for an international dialogue on quality of life in care homes.

PMID- 20925871
TI  - Editorial: The importance of dignity.

PMID- 20925872
TI  - Tactile stimulation associated with nursing care to individuals with dementia
      showing aggressive or restless tendencies: an intervention study in dementia
      care.
AB  - Aim.  This study aimed to describe from documentation both the caregivers'
      experiences of giving tactile stimulation to five people with moderate-to-severe
      dementia and who showed aggressive or restless tendencies, and the changes seen
      in them. Background.  Clinical experiences indicate that tactile stimulation can
      contribute to a feeling of trust and confirmation as well as to improving
      communication, promoting relaxation and easing pain. There is, however, very
      little scientific documentation of the effects of touch massage for people with
      dementia. Design.  From caregivers' documentation (28 weeks) of experiences, the
      giving of tactile stimulation to five randomly selected people with dementia
      showing aggressive or restless tendencies and the subsequent changes noticed.
      Method.  The documentation was analysed by using qualitative content analysis.
      Results.  All residents displayed signs of positive feelings and relaxation. The
      caregivers stated that they felt able to interact with the residents in a more
      positive way and that they felt they had a warmer relationship with them.
      Conclusion.  Tactile stimulation can be seen as a valuable way to communicating
      non-verbally, of giving feedback, confirmation, consolation or a feeling of being
      valuable and taken care of. Relevance to clinical practice.  Tactile stimulation
      has to be administered with respect and care, and given from a relational ethics
      perspective. Otherwise, there is a risk that tactile stimulation will be used
      merely as a technique instead of as a part of an effort to achieve optimal good,
      warm nursing care.

PMID- 20925873
TI  - A model of event-generated dependence in older adults.
AB  - Aims and objectives.  The proposed model of event-generated dependence
      characterizes dependence in older adults as an emergent phenomenon that may arise
      from interaction between the older adult with compromised health and the social
      environment, resulting in altered reciprocity. Background.  Pejorative
      characterizations of dependence in older adults influence nursing care
      negatively. Concept analyses recommend the recognition that dependence is
      interactive in nature, not an inherent trait of the individual, and that
      dependence involves changes in interpersonal reciprocity. Conclusions.  The model
      provides a testable causal path between dependence and psychological outcomes.
      Relevance to clinical practice.  The event generated dependence model can
      sensitize nurses to an alternative view of dependence. It is important for nurses
      to recognize their role in determining the social environment of care, attend to
      the promotion of reciprocity with older adults as care is provided, and
      incorporate changes in their attitudes toward inequitable reciprocity.

PMID- 20925874
TI  - Life situation and daily life in a nursing home as described by nursing home
      residents in Sweden.
AB  - Aims and objectives.  The overall aim of this study was to investigate nursing
      home residents' opinion of their life situation in a nursing home and of their
      earlier life. Background.  Few studies have focused on residents' perception of
      their daily life and life situation in nursing homes. Design.  A qualitative
      explorative design was used. Methods.  Residents in a nursing home were
      interviewed and qualitative content analysis was performed. Results.  The views
      of life residents described and how they apprehended their situation were quite
      different. The findings give an understanding of what it is like to live in a
      nursing home and show that residents apprehend their situation in very different
      ways. All individuals who were content with their situation in the nursing home
      were also content with their earlier life. Relevance to clinical practice.  For
      the nurse in gerontological care, it is a challenge to get to know each resident
      and to provide the best nursing care and the best individual treatment for each
      resident. Another challenge is to help each resident find a life in the nursing
      home that is acceptable for him/her, and one aspect of this involves helping
      residents in their ageing process. The present study highlights what an important
      role staff have in relation with nursing home residents.

PMID- 20925875
TI  - Designing a Resource Guide to help promote health in caregiving.
AB  - Aim.  To describe development of a Resource Guide, one component of a theory
      based intervention. The Guide contains information and ideas to illuminate
      caregivers' self-care knowledge as a basis for organizing and reinforcing self
      care activities. Background.  Inherent in the complexity of caregiving roles is
      the emergence of caregiving as a responsibility, often overshadowing caregiver's
      personal care needs. Health care professionals can partner with caregivers to
      promote caregiver health. Self-Care TALK is a multimodal intervention to support
      this partnership. Methods.  Two theoretical perspectives guided Resource Guide
      content; adult learning theory and the schema model of cognitive behavioural
      theory. Materials to stimulate conversations about caregivers' personal concerns
      about self-care were adapted from extant literature. Sources of information were
      chosen based on caregivers' learning needs and images of health. Areas of
      development focused on content, reading level/readability, graphic design, and
      self-evaluation. Results.  The Resource Guide standardizes Self-Care TALK
      protocol while personalizing caregivers' self-care. The Resource Guide provides
      structure for conversations about what self-care is and ways to promote health.
      Conclusion.  The Resource Guide promotes a learning environment that complements
      interests and experiences of older caregivers. Use of the Guide supports and
      extends caregivers' self-care vocabularies, and helps clarify self-care schemas
      and health promotion.

PMID- 20925876
TI  - Coming and staying: a qualitative exploration of Registered Nurses' experiences
      working in nursing homes.
AB  - Aim. This paper reports on a qualitative study that explored the reasons why
      Registered Nurses (RNs) chose to work in nursing homes in Southern Ontario,
      Canada and what factors attracted them to remain. Background.  There is a paucity
      of information about factors associated with the recruitment and retention of RNs
      within long-term care (LTC) in Canada. As the population of older people is
      growing in Canada and elsewhere, it is essential that we better understand what
      attracts RNs to work and remain in this setting. Design and method. A case study
      approach was used in this study of nine RNs working in three nursing homes. Data
      were collected through in-depth interviews. Findings. Six sub-themes were
      identified: 'Job of Choice', 'Job of Convenience', 'Caring for the Residents', 'A
      Supportive Environment', 'Heavy Workload' and 'Supervisory Role of the RN'.
      Conclusion. Nurses chose to work in the nursing home because it was a 'Job of
      Convenience'. However, characteristics of the organizational environment played a
      major role in their remaining. Also, the caring relationship with residents
      played a role in the nurses remaining in this setting. Relevance to clinical
      practice. Strategies are provided that nurse managers may consider when planning
      recruitment and retention activities for LTC settings.

PMID- 20925877
TI  - A comparative review of the Katz ADL and the Barthel Index in assessing the
      activities of daily living of older people.
AB  - Assessment of a patient's functional ability to perform activities of daily
      living is an essential part of nursing. Measuring the functional ability of older
      adults is a potent predictor of a patient's morbidity and hospital outcome. The
      information generated from assessment scales is only constructive if the
      information generated is clinically useful and scientifically reliable. The Katz
      activities of daily living and the Barthel Index are two of the oldest competing
      indices for assessing activities of daily living. The Katz activities of daily
      living and the Barthel Index evaluate a patient's function in terms of level of
      independence or dependence when performing certain activities required for daily
      living. This paper will compare their significance and usefulness to nursing
      practice of the older adult. As information is gathered and interpreted to
      complete these assessment scales, the relative merits in specific situations of
      these two oldest competing indices need to be considered to ensure their
      appropriateness and sensitivity. Often, with the use of assessment scales for
      activities of daily living, the results often tend to be subjective and lack a
      systematic approach. Subjective assessment of patients makes it difficult to
      evaluate the effectiveness of treatments, leading to bias and the
      misinterpretation of data. This may be critical in the care of older adults,
      where presenting problems are often complex and multi-dimensional. As assessment
      of functional ability has become more important to nursing practice, this paper
      will investigate the Katz activities of daily living and the Barthel Index for
      reliability and explore the variations that exist between the two indices.
      Although research on assessment scales has been ongoing since the work of Katz et
      al. (1963) there remains conceptual issues as to what constitutes activities of
      daily living and defining terminology associated with the measurement.

PMID- 20925879
TI  - Editorial: volunteers.

PMID- 20925878
TI  - Staff-family relationships in nursing home care: a typology of challenging
      behaviours.
AB  - Aim.  This paper draws on data from a study which investigated how Australian
      nursing home staff constructed staff-family relationships. Background.  Working
      with the family in aged care to provide the best care possible is consistent with
      modern nursing philosophy which espouses holistic care. The quality and enjoyment
      of the experience however, is frequently fraught with problems and challenges for
      both the staff and the family involved. Design.  A qualitative constructivist
      design as described by Guba and Lincoln [Fourth Generation Evaluation. Sage
      Publications, London.] was used. Method.  Thirty paid caregivers drawn from eight
      nursing homes were interviewed about their experiences of working with residents'
      families. A constant comparative method of data analysis was used to arrive at
      the findings. Results.  This paper reports on seven themes under the category of
      'unacceptable behaviours'. These themes describe a range of attitudes and
      behaviours exhibited by families which staff members found undesirable.
      Conclusions.  Staff members found a number of family behaviours challenging.
      Nursing home staff perceives the family as subordinate to their needs and want to
      retain control of the work environment. Relevance to clinical practice.  Nursing
      home staff need to move away from custodial models of care focused on 'getting
      the work done' and develop more family friendly work practices that are inclusive
      of the needs of the family and view them as equal partners in care.

PMID- 20925880
TI  - Working with volunteers: key issues for gerontological nursing - Literature scan.
AB  - This article explores volunteering with older people through a study of the
      literature, mainly from the UK. The discussion is grouped around five themes:
      organization, support, sustainability, stereotypes and boundaries. The article
      discusses nurses' roles in working with volunteers and volunteer coordinators. It
      notes that older people are often volunteers themselves. A number of areas for
      future research are outlined.

PMID- 20925881
TI  - Working with volunteers: key issues for gerontological nursing - Application to
      practice the contribution of volunteers in a long-term care setting: a case
      study.
AB  - Adopting a case study approach, this paper examines the impact of a volunteers
      scheme in a large Jewish care home within the UK. Good practice is articulated,
      opportunities and challenges identified, with specific reference to religious and
      cultural beliefs and the role of the volunteer coordinator is examined. The paper
      concludes that teamwork and the role of the volunteer coordinator is pivotal to
      the ongoing success of the volunteer scheme.

PMID- 20925882
TI  - Working with volunteers: key issues for gerontological nursing - Future
      challenges.
AB  - To ensure that older people have access to all the advice, information and
      support they need nurses are increasingly expected to work with volunteers and
      the wider Voluntary and Community Sector. This article charts some of the current
      issues facing the sector so that nurses can collaborate more effectively, respect
      the contribution that volunteers can make and ultimately deliver well being,
      independence and choice. The focus is on recent policy in England which has
      sought to modernize and equip the Voluntary and Community Sector to meet National
      Health Service priorities. However, the underpinning themes and issues are likely
      to have broader resonance for volunteering in an international context. Trends in
      commissioning (service procurement) are identified which are likely to influence
      the future role and numbers of volunteers working in health and social care.
      Throughout this article key issues for nurse practitioners are discussed: What is
      the changing role of the volunteer? Can volunteers deliver significant extra
      capacity? What are the workforce implications? What are the risks and outcomes
      for older people?

PMID- 20925883
TI  - Guest Editorial: The right to walk - an older person's human right.

PMID- 20925884
TI  - Personhood and dementia: revisiting Tom Kitwood's ideas.
AB  - Person-centred care is often cited as an aim of gerontological nursing and
      promotion of personhood is said to be the basis for person-centred care. As such,
      it forms a cornerstone value for many gerontological nurses, particularly those
      working in dementia care. Tom Kitwood's ideas and definition of personhood are
      widely referred to in the literature and used in the dementia care field. More
      recently, there is a move to critique and partially reject Kitwood's ideas on
      personhood. This paper has three aims: (i) to explore some central ideas around
      key theories of personhood (ii) to critique Kitwood's work on personhood. (iii)
      To summarize current critiques of Kitwood's ideas and provide a response that
      outlines why Kitwoods' ideas are still relevant. It is suggested many critiques
      ignore Kitwoods' ultimate purpose; that of moral concern for 'others'. However,
      the main criticism put forward in this paper is that, rather than completely
      rejecting personhood theories, Kitwood locates his work on what it means to be a
      person within a traditional Cartesian personhood framework, albeit from a revised
      or pragmatic viewpoint. Finally, it is suggested that definitions of persons and
      personhood need to take account of the body and time (corporeality and
      temporality) and gerontological nursing may want to reassess how much allegiance
      is given to basing nursing frameworks on the concept of personhood.

PMID- 20925885
TI  - Still going strong: perceptions of the body among 85-year-old people in Sweden.
AB  - Background.  Studies on the lived experience of an aging body are scarce. Aim and
      objectives.  The aim of this study was to illuminate the experiences of the body
      among elderly people. Design.  This study is part of the Umea 85+ Study, a cross
      sectional investigation into successful aging and threats against successful
      aging. The present study has an explorative design. Methods.  The text from 40
      thematic interviews with 85-year-olds was analysed using qualitative content
      analysis. Results.  Two themes and seven subthemes were developed. The theme:
      Still going strong encompassed the subthemes of Exercising and being active,
      Caring for one's body, Standing on one's own two feet and Feeling healthy. The
      theme: Adapting to a failing body encompassed the subthemes of Not being able to
      perform activities and manage by oneself, Feeling fatigued and Compensating for
      bodily decline. Conclusions.  The participants felt that the body was still a
      source of pleasure, in spite of its defects. Assistive devices were important for
      the maintenance of independence when the body declined. Relevance to clinical
      practice.  When caring for elderly people with declining bodily function, it is
      important to have appropriate and well-tested equipment in readiness.

PMID- 20925886
TI  - Natural activity: an explorative study of the interplay between cage-birds and
      older people in a Swedish hospital setting.
AB  - Aim.  The aim of this study was to describe the interaction between cage-birds
      and older people as it arises in spontaneous situations in a Swedish hospital
      ward setting. Background.  Older people are at risk of being affected by mental
      fatigue because of various age-related reductions and disease. Mental fatigue
      manifests itself through a reduced ability to concentrate. The method of
      alleviating mental fatigue with the use of stimulating natural settings or animal
      assisted activities is so far unexplored in Sweden and subsequently it is
      important to study the method in a Swedish context to implement it as a
      recognized nursing intervention in the care of older people. Design.  The study
      had an explorative observational design, and was conducted at a geriatric ward
      with a consecutive selection of participants. Method.  The observations were
      analysed using a constant comparative method influenced by Grounded Theory.
      'Attention restorative theory' was used as the theoretical framework to guide the
      study. Result.  Our findings indicate that animal-assisted therapy has a positive
      effect on involuntary attention and mental restoration, as well as on enhanced
      social behaviour among older people. Relevance to clinical practice.  The result
      strengthens the assumption that animal companionship should be considered a
      beneficial nursing intervention for older people to prevent mental fatigue.

PMID- 20925887
TI  - Engaging older people with dementia in research: myth or possibility.
AB  - Aim.  The aim of this paper was to explore a range of strategies that were used
      to enable older people with dementia to become actively engaged in research
      'with' rather than 'on' them. Background.  It is well recognized that the
      prevalence of dementia in older adults is increasing. This increase is reflected
      by a huge rise in the amount of research in this area. The biomedical model
      continues to dominate dementia research; however, the last two decades have seen
      an increased interest in studies that seek the views of people with dementia. A
      review of literature that has actively engaged people with dementia suggests that
      research can be conducted in such ways that are both ethical and meaningful.
      These studies demonstrate that this group has a valuable contribution to research
      studies. Discussion.  This literature establishes that it is possible to engage
      people with dementia in research, the majority of studies have tended to focus on
      those in the earlier stages of the disease. This paper demonstrates, through the
      use of a set of criteria which were specifically developed to evaluate this type
      of work, how people even with advanced dementia were engaged in research about
      their experience of acute hospital care in ways that were both meaningful and
      ethical. Conclusion.  This paper demonstrates that it is possible to actively
      engage older people with dementia, even those in the more advanced stages of the
      disease, in research. It is essential that researchers understand ethical
      principles and are able to apply these sensitively and flexibly.

PMID- 20925888
TI  - To both be like a captain and fellow worker of the caring team: the meaning of
      Nurse Assistants' expectations of Registered Nurses in Swedish residential care
      homes.
AB  - Aim.  To describe the expectations of and to illuminate the meaning of the Nurse
      Assistants' (NA) expectations of Registered Nurses (RN) who are responsible for
      the care of older people living in residential care homes in Sweden. Background. 
      Older people in Sweden who are provided with residential care are extremely frail
      and incapable of independent living. Therefore, when providing care, RN and NA
      encounter older people who require a great deal of care. An important
      precondition for the provision of satisfactory care is to have adequate
      collaboration between NAs and RNs and their expectations of each other. In this
      paper, the focus is on the NAs expectations of the RNs. Method.  The study is
      based on a qualitative approach and a phenomenological-hermeneutical method. Ten
      NAs were interviewed and asked to narrate as freely as possible, about their
      expectations of RNs. The narratives were audio taped and transcribed verbatim.
      The analytical process includes the following steps; naive reading, structural
      analysis, comprehensive understanding and reflection. Results.  The RNs were
      expected to take responsibility for being fellow human beings and experts in
      providing care as well as always available to participate in caring. The RNs were
      expected to make stand-alone decisions and create a sense of safety for both
      older people and the NAs and have the courage to work alone and create a safe
      environment for both the older people and the NAs. The meaning of these
      expectations was that the RNs are like a captain in providing care, but at the
      same time, fellow workers. Conclusion.  When the RNs do not meet the NAs
      expectations, there is a risk of conflict and therefore also a risk that an
      unsafe environment being created when caring for older people.

PMID- 20925889
TI  - Shielding or caging? Healthcare staffs' views on fall risk and protection in
      Stockholm.
AB  - Aim.  To describe Registered Nurses' and enrolled nurses' views and reasoning on
      falls, fall risk, use of physical restraints and patients' safety and security in
      nursing homes. Background.  Nursing home patients frequently suffer from diseases
      which require medication. Both Registered Nurses and enrolled nurses must make
      decisions about how to protect patients from falls and fall-related injuries.
      Physical restraints are frequently used. When patients are unable to understand
      or do not wish to limit their freedom of movement, staff must consider each
      decision carefully. Method.  A qualitative approach was used. Data were analysed
      using a thematic content analysis method. Findings.  Staff have sufficient
      knowledge about which pathologically related conditions lead to fall risk. An
      insufficient number of staff on duty jeopardizes patient safety. Wheelchairs with
      safety belts, and bed rails, are sometimes used. For Registered Nurses it was not
      an easy decision to use restraints. Enrolled nurses' actions were based on
      standard procedure, to protect and supervise patients. Conclusion.  Staff often
      use restraints to protect their patients, even though this may mean compromising
      the patient's integrity. Relevance to clinical practice.  Nurses, occupational
      therapists, physiotherapists and physicians should plan the care together.
      Restrictive measures should be adapted to each individual patient.

PMID- 20925890
TI  - Unmet expectations: why nursing home staff leave care work.
AB  - Background.  The shortages of healthcare professionals have been a common topic
      in care of older people. Aim and objectives.  The aim of the present study was to
      illuminate what caused the nursing home caregivers to decide to leave their
      employment. Design.  A two-year intervention study was performed in three nursing
      homes in Sweden. Method.  This qualitative interview study was conducted with 18
      caregivers who decided to leave their employment during the first year. Content
      analysis was the method used to analyse the interviews. Result.  The caregivers'
      decisions to leave their work in care of older people could be encompassed in one
      main category: 'Unmet Expectations'. Their experiences were lack of encouragement
      and trust and professional development. Feelings of insecurity, different
      opinions on the care delivered, being disregarded and betrayed followed as did
      thoughts of leaving work and pursing other opportunities. Conclusion.  The main
      findings indicated that organizational work pressure with information about
      pending financial cutbacks caused the caregivers to leave the nursing homes.
      Relevance to clinical practice.  The study's results show the value of meeting
      the needs of caregivers, as caregivers consider that they meet the needs of the
      older people. Optimal use of caregivers' skills, experiences, competence and
      respect for their aspirations is also likely to result in cost-efficient care.

PMID- 20925891
TI  - Editorial: older people maintaining well-being.

PMID- 20925892
TI  - Older people maintaining well-being: discussion of key literature.
AB  - This paper describes the process of initial searching for publications on older
      people and well-being, and discusses some of the difficulties in doing this is a
      field where key terms are diverse. The paper selects some publications which were
      judged to be particularly significant or interesting, rather than an inclusive
      and fully comprehensive literature report.

PMID- 20925893
TI  - Older people maintaining well-being: an International Appreciative Inquiry study.
AB  - This paper reports on the progress of an international study investigating older
      people's strategies for maintaining well-being in the UK, Germany, South Africa
      and Australia. It uses an Appreciative Inquiry framework for investigation.

PMID- 20925894
TI  - Older people maintaining well-being: implications for future developments.
AB  - This paper indicates the ways in which the strategies which older people have
      developed for maintaining well-being could be explored further. This exploration,
      it is argued, is necessary given the scarcity of research in this field, which
      reduces the impact that these strategies might have for practice.

PMID- 20925895
TI  - Editorial: 'They sentenced me to 20 years of boredom'.

PMID- 20925896
TI  - The feasibility of developing a standards rating system for all Australian
      government aged care homes.
AB  - Aims and objectives.  The main objective of this project was to investigate the
      likelihood of creating an easily understood rating system for all aged care
      homes. A secondary objective was to canvas the feasibility of alternative systems
      that could better inform aged care consumers. Background.  Standards rating
      systems are used internationally to enable comparisons in healthcare. In
      Australia, the performance of numerous services and products are measured
      according to the star system of ratings, yet despite their widespread use, star
      ratings remain absent from the healthcare industry. Methods.  A National
      Consultative Group (NCG) consisting of key stakeholder representatives was
      consulted, and a literature review performed on existing standards (or 'star')
      rating systems. Telephone interviews were conducted with representatives from
      aged care homes, as well as consumers. Results.  A standards rating system for
      aged care homes was not found to be feasible in the current climate. However, an
      alternative system that emphasises empowering aged care consumers, such as one
      that allows consumers to search for an aged care home using their own criteria of
      preference, was considered more feasible. Conclusion.  The need for information
      to assist consumer choice - limited as it may be - is real. Ways of providing
      more consumer friendly, useful information need to be further explored and
      developed. Recommendations are made for future work in this area.

PMID- 20925897
TI  - Multiprofessional collaboration promoting home care clients' personal resources:
      perspectives of older clients.
AB  - Home care can be decisive in supporting older people in the home environment.
      However, one professional in home care cannot take the whole responsibility for
      promotion alone; on the contrary multiprofessional collaboration is needed. The
      aim of the study is to describe the experiences of multiprofessional
      collaboration in promoting personal resources among older home care clients (75+
      years) in Finland. The data were collected by unstructured interviews with 21
      older home care clients. Their mean age was 83.5 years, ranging from 75 to 91,
      with 17 female and four male participants. Inductive content analysis was used to
      analyze the data. The interviewees described the work of professionals from four
      perspectives: expertise, communication, decision-making and responsibility.
      Multiprofessional collaboration promoted the personal resources of interviewees
      with physical, psychological and social support. This study showed that the
      professionals worked as being expert-oriented: in the multiprofessional
      collaboration, each expert took care of his/her own part of the client's
      situation. This included the risk,, that the client's overall situations remained
      uncharted. However, the client's overall situation is a very important aspect
      when professionals suppport older people living in their own homes as long as
      possible. This study revealed the need for developing collaboration skills
      between social and health care professionals so that the staffs serve the needs
      of aged clients better together.

PMID- 20925898
TI  - Factors related to fatigue among older patients with heart failure in primary
      health care.
AB  - Aim.  Our aim was to explore the relationship between fatigue and physical,
      mental, social and demographic factors among older patients with heart failure,
      with special reference to gender. Background.  If interventions aimed at
      preventing or alleviating fatigue are to be successful, more knowledge about
      factors associated with fatigue is needed. Design.  A cross-sectional design was
      used. Methods.  Forty-nine patients aged 77.7 +/- 8.7 years (21 men and 28 women)
      with verified heart failure from one primary healthcare centre answered a
      questionnaire including Multi-dimensional Fatigue Inventory, 36-item Short-Form
      Health Survey, Geriatric Depression Scale, Self-Transcendence Scale, Resilience
      Scale, Social Provision Scale and demographic variables. Descriptive statistics
      and multiple linear regression analyses were conducted. Results.  Levels of
      general fatigue were high (mean 14.6 +/- 3.9). Female gender (beta = 0.280, P =
      0.033) and role function for physical reasons (beta = -0.458, P = 0.001)
      explained 36% of the variance in general fatigue. Conclusions.  Fatigue was more
      closely related to limitations in role functioning for physical reasons than to
      reduced physical function per se or to mental and social factors. Women reported
      more fatigue than men. Relevance to clinical practice.  Caregivers should examine
      the impact of fatigue in everyday life for each individual.

PMID- 20925899
TI  - Older immigrants' experiences of their life situation in the context of receiving
      public care in Sweden.
AB  - Objectives.  The aim of this study was to illuminate older immigrants' experience
      of their life situation in the context of receiving public care in Sweden.
      Background.  To meet the varying needs from the growing number of older
      immigrants, more knowledge about the experience of their life situation, health,
      illness and family ties is needed, especially in the context of receiving public
      health care and service. Methods.  Data were collected through interviews with
      sixteen immigrants aged 65 years and older, originally from nine different
      countries, living in Southern Sweden and receiving continuous care and service.
      The texts were analysed using qualitative content analysis. Results.  The overall
      impression from the texts was that the informants expressed a debt of gratitude
      to Swedish society. Their experience could be understood as - being burdened with
      health complaints; experiencing painful losses; wanting to manage by oneself and
      feeling exposed and deserted. Conclusions.  The results show that older
      immigrants are vulnerable when receiving public care. This was related to
      previous life events, cultural differences as well as communication difficulties.
      When planning for and providing care for older immigrants, it is important to be
      aware of their exposed situation and to acknowledge their life history and family
      context.

PMID- 20925900
TI  - A mapper's reflection on Dementia Care Mapping with older residents living in a
      nursing home.
AB  - Aim and objective.  This paper explores reflection stemming from a Dementia Care
      Mapper's own learning and development concerning person-centred care with older
      residents living in a dementia specific nursing home. Background.  Dementia Care
      Mapping has been employed in few Australian residential care facilities to
      promote person-centred care and the well-being of residents. Reflection has also
      been used selectively in some practices to improve and evaluate the care process.
      However, contemporary nursing literature has failed to highlight the usefulness
      of applying reflection following Dementia Care Mapping with older residents.
      Method.  The mapper's reflections arose from the Dementia Care Mapping
      observation of five older residents and writing a daily reflective journal.
      Findings.  From the reflection, a dominant major theme emerged named as the
      Learning Experience from Mapping Residents with two sub-themes entitled Mapper's
      Identification of Resident's Unique Needs and Mapper's Empowerment of Clinicians.
      Dementia Care Mapping recommendations from the mapper's experience highlighted
      effective approaches to conducting Dementia Care Mapping in residential care
      facilities. Conclusions.  The valuable process of reflection to Dementia Care
      Mapping provided the mapper with clinical insights. Further from the mapper's
      final reflection, a poem entitled Come Back Mind, Come Back to Me was conceived
      and penned. Relevance to clinical practice.  The mapper's engagement in ongoing
      reflection incorporated with Dementia Care Mapping has the potential to promote
      best practice for the care of older people living in aged care facilities.

PMID- 20925901
TI  - Best practice for the management of older people with dementia in the acute care
      setting: a review of the literature.
AB  - Aim.  This paper reviews the theoretical and research-based literature related to
      the management of people with chronic confusion as a consequence of dementia in
      the acute care setting. Background.  People aged 65 years and over are at
      increased risk of poor outcomes when admitted to the acute care setting as a
      result of comorbity and mismanagement of their chronic confusion. The challenge
      of caring for people with dementia in acute care is one that requires special
      attention. Results.  The theoretical literature outlines a number of principles
      of care necessary for best practice in the care of people with dementia. A number
      of different models of care are reported in the literature and some evaluative
      research has been undertaken to assess the benefits of the different models.
      Conclusion.  There are a number of interventions that if put into place in acute
      care may improve care of people with dementia and reduce the burden of care.
      There is emerging evidence that interventions such as staff education, skilled
      expertise, standardized care protocols and environmental modification help to
      meet the needs of people with dementia in acute hospital settings. This paper
      adds to our current understanding of management of dementia in the acute care
      setting, an area that demonstrates the need to move from descriptive to
      intervention studies to ensure evidence for care of persons with a dementing
      condition.

PMID- 20925902
TI  - Transitions in men's caring identities: experiences from home-based care to
      nursing home placement.
AB  - Objectives.  The aim of this study is to describe, from a gender identity
      perspective, the experiences of older men involved in the process of caring for a
      partner at home and the placement into a nursing home. Background.  Few studies
      have paid attention to the importance of gender when considering the social
      experiences of older men providing care for an ill spouse and finally placing a
      partner in a nursing home. Further understanding is much needed of how older men
      experience the process of caring for a spouse from a gender identity perspective.
      Design.  A qualitative constructivist approach was adopted for this study.
      Participants.  Data consists of interviews with seven men that have been informal
      carers and experienced the placement of their wife in a nursing home. Methods. 
      Interviews were analysed with a constructivist approach. Results.  The results
      indicate that men go through two transitions in their gender identity during the
      caregiving process and placement. From the mutual loving relationship of being a
      loving husband, the social responsibility of daily care of their wives changes
      the situation into that of being a caring husband, and finally with the move to a
      nursing home there is a transition from intimate care to a relationship based on
      friendship. Conclusions.  The results show that older caregiving men undergo a
      process involving a reconstruction of gender identity. To formally recognize
      men's caring activities and to make them sustainable, we believe that men in an
      informal caring relationship need support. Relevance to clinical practice. 
      Nurses need to recognize the identity struggles resulting in sadness and
      suffering that are related to changes in men's lives during the caregiving
      process. Understanding the dynamics and changes that occur when men take on a
      caring task is important for the development of their role as carers.

PMID- 20925903
TI  - Editorial: ageing, spirituality and nursing.

PMID- 20925904
TI  - A review of the literature in 2006.
AB  - In this, the first of three papers, attention is drawn to the literature for one
      year, reflecting a sample of the interrelated themes of ageing, spirituality and
      nursing. It is clear that nurses are unsure how to include this component of care
      in their daily practice. However, with the rapidly increasing ageing population,
      and the recent escalation of literature on spirituality, it seems timely to
      analyse some of these findings and to consider the implications for practice.
      Some of the major emerging themes have been identified in this paper, with a view
      to further exploration of the themes in the second paper, and expanding the
      discussion in the third paper.

PMID- 20925905
TI  - Application to practice guidelines.
AB  - Drawing on the international literature for 2006 as discussed in the previous
      paper, this paper explores key issues for translating the evidence into practice.
      It brings the themes of ageing, spirituality and nursing more sharply into focus,
      providing practical suggestions for care in a variety of settings. Taking seven
      identified themes into consideration, the paper draws out implications for
      practice from each theme. This discussion is intended to provide encouragement
      for nurses to consider the spiritual domain in holistic care, not as an optional
      extra but as the centre of a dynamic partnership with the older people in their
      care. The paper concludes with recommendations for further research and
      development work.

PMID- 20925906
TI  - Practice development in aged care nursing of older people: the perspective of
      ageing and spiritual care.
AB  - This third paper on older people nursing and spirituality moves beyond the
      literature reviewed in the two previous papers, exploring directions for the
      practice and continuing research in this field. Issues of chronic illness
      challenge nurses working with older people to focus on continuing health
      promotion and opportunities for spiritual promotion of resilience and
      transcendence. The changes from monocultural to multicultural societies challenge
      nurses to know how to provide culturally and faith appropriate care. The
      extension of palliative care to the needs of those growing older and dying is
      noted as an important area for developing spiritual care. It is asserted that
      spiritual assessment forms a basis for the provision of spiritual care for all of
      these themes. Ethical perspectives of older people nursing must be carefully
      addressed as frail and vulnerable older people struggle with issues of
      compromised autonomy. Further research should focus on spirituality as seen
      through the eyes of older people and examine the interface between nurses and
      patients, where the relationship becomes the guiding basis for practice.
      Education in nursing courses and through continuing programmes of education is
      needed to ensure adequate understanding of spirituality in the nursing role.

PMID- 20925907
TI  - Abstracts of the 26th Patient Classification Systems International (PCSI) Working
      Conference. Munich, Germany. September 15-18, 2010.

PMID- 20925908
TI  - Density-equalizing mapping and scientometric benchmarking of European allergy
      research.
AB  - Due to the great socioeconomic burden of allergic diseases, research in this
      field which is important for environmental medicine is currently increasing.
      Therefore the European Union has initiated the Global Allergy and Asthma European
      network (GA2LEN). However, despite increasing research in the past years detailed
      scientometric analyses have not been conducted so far. This study is the first
      scientometric analysis in a field of growing interest. It analyses scientific
      contributions in European allergy research between 2001 and 2007. Three different
      meetings of the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology were analysed
      for contributions and an increase in both the amount of research and networks was
      found.

PMID- 20925909
TI  - An integrated analysis of molecular aberrations in NCI-60 cell lines.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cancer is a complex disease where various types of molecular
      aberrations drive the development and progression of malignancies. Large-scale
      screenings of multiple types of molecular aberrations (e.g., mutations, copy
      number variations, DNA methylations, gene expressions) become increasingly
      important in the prognosis and study of cancer. Consequently, a computational
      model integrating multiple types of information is essential for the analysis of
      the comprehensive data. RESULTS: We propose an integrated modeling framework to
      identify the statistical and putative causal relations of various molecular
      aberrations and gene expressions in cancer. To reduce spurious associations among
      the massive number of probed features, we sequentially applied three layers of
      logistic regression models with increasing complexity and uncertainty regarding
      the possible mechanisms connecting molecular aberrations and gene expressions.
      Layer 1 models associate gene expressions with the molecular aberrations on the
      same loci. Layer 2 models associate expressions with the aberrations on different
      loci but have known mechanistic links. Layer 3 models associate expressions with
      nonlocal aberrations which have unknown mechanistic links. We applied the layered
      models to the integrated datasets of NCI-60 cancer cell lines and validated the
      results with large-scale statistical analysis. Furthermore, we
      discovered/reaffirmed the following prominent links: (1) Protein expressions are
      generally consistent with mRNA expressions. (2) Several gene expressions are
      modulated by composite local aberrations. For instance, CDKN2A expressions are
      repressed by either frame-shift mutations or DNA methylations. (3) Amplification
      of chromosome 6q in leukemia elevates the expression of MYB, and the downstream
      targets of MYB on other chromosomes are up-regulated accordingly. (4)
      Amplification of chromosome 3p and hypo-methylation of PAX3 together elevate MITF
      expression in melanoma, which up-regulates the downstream targets of MITF.
      (5)Mutations of TP53 are negatively associated with its direct target genes.
      CONCLUSIONS: The analysis results on NCI-60 data justify the utility of the
      layered models for the incoming flow of cancer genomic data. Experimental
      validations on selected prominent links and application of the layered modeling
      framework to other integrated datasets will be carried out subsequently.

PMID- 20925910
TI  - MetAssimulo: simulation of realistic NMR metabolic profiles.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Probing the complex fusion of genetic and environmental interactions,
      metabolic profiling (or metabolomics/metabonomics), the study of small molecules
      involved in metabolic reactions, is a rapidly expanding 'omics' field. A major
      technique for capturing metabolite data is 1H-NMR spectroscopy and this yields
      highly complex profiles that require sophisticated statistical analysis methods.
      However, experimental data is difficult to control and expensive to obtain. Thus
      data simulation is a productive route to aid algorithm development. RESULTS:
      MetAssimulo is a MATLAB-based package that has been developed to simulate 1H-NMR
      spectra of complex mixtures such as metabolic profiles. Drawing data from a
      metabolite standard spectral database in conjunction with concentration
      information input by the user or constructed automatically from the Human
      Metabolome Database, MetAssimulo is able to create realistic metabolic profiles
      containing large numbers of metabolites with a range of user-defined properties.
      Current features include the simulation of two groups ('case' and 'control')
      specified by means and standard deviations of concentrations for each metabolite.
      The software enables addition of spectral noise with a realistic autocorrelation
      structure at user controllable levels. A crucial feature of the algorithm is its
      ability to simulate both intra- and inter-metabolite correlations, the analysis
      of which is fundamental to many techniques in the field. Further, MetAssimulo is
      able to simulate shifts in NMR peak positions that result from matrix effects
      such as pH differences which are often observed in metabolic NMR spectra and pose
      serious challenges for statistical algorithms. CONCLUSIONS: No other software is
      currently able to simulate NMR metabolic profiles with such complexity and
      flexibility. This paper describes the algorithm behind MetAssimulo and
      demonstrates how it can be used to simulate realistic NMR metabolic profiles with
      which to develop and test new data analysis techniques. MetAssimulo is freely
      available for academic use at http://cisbic.bioinformatics.ic.ac.uk/metassimulo/.

PMID- 20925911
TI  - Estimation of incidence and social cost of colon cancer due to nitrate in
      drinking water in the EU: a tentative cost-benefit assessment.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Presently, health costs associated with nitrate in drinking water are
      uncertain and not quantified. This limits proper evaluation of current policies
      and measures for solving or preventing nitrate pollution of drinking water
      resources. The cost for society associated with nitrate is also relevant for
      integrated assessment of EU nitrogen policies taking a perspective of welfare
      optimization. The overarching question is at which nitrogen mitigation level the
      social cost of measures, including their consequence for availability of food and
      energy, matches the social benefit of these measures for human health and
      biodiversity. METHODS: Epidemiological studies suggest colon cancer to be
      possibly associated with nitrate in drinking water. In this study risk increase
      for colon cancer is based on a case-control study for Iowa, which is extrapolated
      to assess the social cost for 11 EU member states by using data on cancer
      incidence, nitrogen leaching and drinking water supply in the EU. Health costs
      are provisionally compared with nitrate mitigation costs and social benefits of
      fertilizer use. RESULTS: For above median meat consumption the risk of colon
      cancer doubles when exposed to drinking water exceeding 25 mg/L of nitrate (NO3)
      for more than ten years. We estimate the associated increase of incidence of
      colon cancer from nitrate contamination of groundwater based drinking water in
      EU11 at 3%. This corresponds to a population-averaged health loss of 2.9 euro per
      capita or 0.7 euro per kg of nitrate-N leaching from fertilizer. CONCLUSIONS: Our
      cost estimates indicate that current measures to prevent exceedance of 50 mg/L
      NO3 are probably beneficial for society and that a stricter nitrate limit and
      additional measures may be justified. The present assessment of social cost is
      uncertain because it considers only one type of cancer, it is based on one
      epidemiological study in Iowa, and involves various assumptions regarding
      exposure. Our results highlight the need for improved epidemiological studies.

PMID- 20925912
TI  - Patterns of molecular and phenotypic diversity in pearl millet [Pennisetum
      glaucum (L.) R. Br.] from West and Central Africa and their relation to
      geographical and environmental parameters.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The distribution area of pearl millet in West and Central Africa
      (WCA) harbours a wide range of climatic and environmental conditions as well as
      diverse farmer preferences and pearl millet utilization habits which have the
      potential to lead to local adaptation and thereby to population structure. The
      objectives of our research were to (i) assess the geographical distribution of
      genetic diversity in pearl millet inbreds derived from landraces, (ii) assess the
      population structure of pearl millet from WCA, and (iii) identify those
      geographical parameters and environmental factors from the location at which
      landraces were sampled, as well as those phenotypic traits that may have affected
      or led to this population structure. Our study was based on a set of 145 inbred
      lines derived from 122 different pearl millet landraces from WCA. RESULTS: Five
      sub-groups were detected within the entire germplasm set by STRUCTURE. We
      observed that the phenotypic traits flowering time, relative response to
      photoperiod, and panicle length were significantly associated with population
      structure but not the environmental factors which are expected to influence these
      traits in natural populations such as latitude, temperature, or precipitation.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggested that for pearl millet natural selection is
      compared to artificial selection less important in shaping populations.

PMID- 20925913
TI  - Tissue distribution of cloxacillin after intramammary administration in the
      isolated perfused bovine udder.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Various intramammary suspensions containing cloxacillin benzathine
      are registered for use in cattle as antibiotics for intramammary use at drying
      off. To ensure antibacterial efficacy, the glandular tissue concentration of an
      antimicrobial agent must be sufficient. Since the possibilities to measure
      concentrations in the different areas of the glandular tissue in vivo are very
      limited, it was the aim of the present study to examine the distribution of
      cloxacillin in vitro using the isolated perfused bovine udder. METHODS: Mammary
      glands taken at slaughter from healthy lactating cows were perfused in vitro with
      warmed and gassed Tyrode solution. 600 mg cloxacillin benzathine were
      administered as Orbenin Extra Dry Cow by the intramammary route to six front and
      rear quarters each. Samples of glandular tissue--at different distances from and
      vertical to the teat right up to the udder base--were gathered from the treated
      quarters after 6 h. Perfusate was also sampled before and hourly after treatment
      for 6 h. The cloxacillin content of the tissue samples and perfusate samples was
      analysed by high performance liquid chromatography. RESULTS: The concentration of
      cloxacillin in the glandular tissue of front quarters measured 6 h after
      administration tended to decrease with increasing vertical distance from the
      teat. The decrease pattern of the concentration was not quite clear in rear
      quarters. A considerable variation in the tissue concentrations of cloxacillin
      was obvious, which reflects in vivo conditions. The concentrations measured in
      the perfusate samples were below the limit of quantification at all time points,
      indicating limited absorption of the antibiotic from the glandular tissue.
      CONCLUSION: After intramammary administration of the dry off product containing
      cloxacillin benzathine concentrations of more than 0.5 MUg/g (MIC) were reached
      in all regions of the front and rear quarters.

PMID- 20925914
TI  - Continuous glucose monitors prove highly accurate in critically ill children.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Hyperglycemia is associated with increased morbidity and mortality
      in critically ill patients and strict glycemic control has become standard care
      for adults. Recent studies have questioned the optimal targets for such
      management and reported increased rates of iatrogenic hypoglycemia in both
      critically ill children and adults. The ability to provide accurate, real-time
      continuous glucose monitoring would improve the efficacy and safety of this
      practice in critically ill patients. The aim of our study is to determine if a
      continuous, interstitial glucose monitor will correlate with blood glucose values
      in critically ill children. METHODS: We evaluated 50 critically ill children age
      6 weeks to 16 years old with a commercially available continuous glucose monitor
      (CGM; Medtronic Guardian(r)). CGM values and standard blood glucose (BG) values
      were compared. During the study, no changes in patient management were made based
      on CGM readings alone. RESULTS: Forty-seven patients had analyzable CGM data. A
      total of 1,555 CGM and routine BG measurements were compared using Clarke error
      grid and Bland-Altman analysis. For all readings, 97.9% were within clinically
      acceptable agreement. The mean absolute relative difference between CGM and BG
      readings was 15.3%. For the 1,555 paired CGM and BG measurements, there is a
      statistically significant linear relationship between CGM values and BG (P <
      .0001). A high degree of clinical agreement existed in three subpopulation
      analyses based on age, illness severity, and support measures. This included some
      of our smallest patients (that is, < 12 months old), those who required
      vasopressors, and those who were treated for critical illness hyperglycemia.
      CONCLUSIONS: In one of the largest studies to date, in a highly vulnerable ICU
      population, CGM values have a clinically acceptable correlation with the BG
      values now used diagnostically and therapeutically. Our data contest the
      theoretical concerns posed by some regarding CGM use in the ICU. The existing
      medical evidence may now support a role for CGM devices in the identification and
      management of hyperglycemia in diverse ICU settings.

PMID- 20925915
TI  - A comparison of ARMS and DNA sequencing for mutation analysis in clinical biopsy
      samples.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We have compared mutation analysis by DNA sequencing and
      Amplification Refractory Mutation SystemTM (ARMSTM) for their ability to detect
      mutations in clinical biopsy specimens. METHODS: We have evaluated five real-time
      ARMS assays: BRAF 1799T>A, [this includes V600E and V600K] and NRAS 182A>G [Q61R]
      and 181C>A [Q61K] in melanoma, EGFR 2573T>G [L858R], 2235-2249del15 [E746
      A750del] in non-small-cell lung cancer, and compared the results to DNA
      sequencing of the mutation 'hot-spots' in these genes in formalin-fixed paraffin
      embedded tumour (FF-PET) DNA. RESULTS: The ARMS assays maximised the number of
      samples that could be analysed when both the quality and quantity of DNA was low,
      and improved both the sensitivity and speed of analysis compared with sequencing.
      ARMS was more robust with fewer reaction failures compared with sequencing and
      was more sensitive as it was able to detect functional mutations that were not
      detected by DNA sequencing. DNA sequencing was able to detect a small number of
      lower frequency recurrent mutations across the exons screened that were not
      interrogated using the specific ARMS assays in these studies. CONCLUSIONS: ARMS
      was more sensitive and robust at detecting defined somatic mutations than DNA
      sequencing on clinical samples where the predominant sample type was FF-PET.

PMID- 20925916
TI  - The effectiveness of M-health technologies for improving health and health
      services: a systematic review protocol.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The application of mobile computing and communication technology is
      rapidly expanding in the fields of health care and public health. This systematic
      review will summarise the evidence for the effectiveness of mobile technology
      interventions for improving health and health service outcomes (M-health) around
      the world. FINDINGS: To be included in the review interventions must aim to
      improve or promote health or health service use and quality, employing any mobile
      computing and communication technology. This includes: (1) interventions designed
      to improve diagnosis, investigation, treatment, monitoring and management of
      disease; (2) interventions to deliver treatment or disease management programmes
      to patients, health promotion interventions, and interventions designed to
      improve treatment compliance; and (3) interventions to improve health care
      processes e.g. appointment attendance, result notification, vaccination
      reminders.A comprehensive, electronic search strategy will be used to identify
      controlled studies, published since 1990, and indexed in MEDLINE, EMBASE,
      PsycINFO, Global Health, Web of Science, the Cochrane Library, or the UK NHS
      Health Technology Assessment database. The search strategy will include terms
      (and synonyms) for the following mobile electronic devices (MEDs) and a range of
      compatible media: mobile phone; personal digital assistant (PDA); handheld
      computer (e.g. tablet PC); PDA phone (e.g. BlackBerry, Palm Pilot); Smartphone;
      enterprise digital assistant; portable media player (i.e. MP3 or MP4 player);
      handheld video game console. No terms for health or health service outcomes will
      be included, to ensure that all applications of mobile technology in public
      health and health services are identified. Bibliographies of primary studies and
      review articles meeting the inclusion criteria will be searched manually to
      identify further eligible studies. Data on objective and self-reported outcomes
      and study quality will be independently extracted by two review authors. Where
      there are sufficient numbers of similar interventions, we will calculate and
      report pooled risk ratios or standardised mean differences using meta-analysis.
      DISCUSSION: This systematic review will provide recommendations on the use of
      mobile computing and communication technology in health care and public health
      and will guide future work on intervention development and primary research in
      this field.

PMID- 20925917
TI  - Effects of inbreeding and genetic modification on Aedes aegypti larval
      competition and adult energy reserves.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Genetic modification of mosquitoes offers a promising strategy for
      the prevention and control of mosquito-borne diseases. For such a strategy to be
      effective, it is critically important that engineered strains are competitive
      enough to serve their intended function in population replacement or reduction of
      wild mosquitoes in nature. Thus far, fitness evaluations of genetically modified
      strains have not addressed the effects of competition among the aquatic stages
      and its consequences for adult fitness. We therefore tested the competitive
      success of combinations of wild, inbred and transgenic (created in the inbred
      background) immature stages of the dengue vector Aedes aegypti in the presence of
      optimal and sub-optimal larval diets. RESULTS: The wild strain of Ae. aegypti
      demonstrated greater performance (based on a composite index of survival,
      development rate and size) than the inbred strain, which in turn demonstrated
      greater performance than the genetically modified strain. Moreover, increasing
      competition through lowering the amount of diet available per larva affected
      fitness disproportionately: transgenic larvae had a reduced index of performance
      (95-119%) compared to inbred (50-88%) and wild type larvae (38-54%). In terms of
      teneral energy reserves (glycogen, lipid and sugar), adult wild type mosquitoes
      had more reserves directly available for flight, dispersal and basic metabolic
      functions than transgenic and inbred mosquitoes. CONCLUSIONS: Our study provides
      a detailed assessment of inter- and intra-strain competition across aquatic
      stages of wild type, inbred, and transgenic mosquitoes and the impact of these
      conditions on adult energy reserves. Although it is not clear what competitive
      level is adequate for success of transgenic strains in nature, strong gene drive
      mechanisms are likely to be necessary in order to overcome competitive
      disadvantages in the larval stage that carryover to affect adult fitness.

PMID- 20925918
TI  - DiffCoEx: a simple and sensitive method to find differentially coexpressed gene
      modules.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Large microarray datasets have enabled gene regulation to be studied
      through coexpression analysis. While numerous methods have been developed for
      identifying differentially expressed genes between two conditions, the field of
      differential coexpression analysis is still relatively new. More specifically,
      there is so far no sensitive and untargeted method to identify gene modules (also
      known as gene sets or clusters) that are differentially coexpressed between two
      conditions. Here, sensitive and untargeted means that the method should be able
      to construct de novo modules by grouping genes based on shared, but subtle,
      differential correlation patterns. RESULTS: We present DiffCoEx, a novel method
      for identifying correlation pattern changes, which builds on the commonly used
      Weighted Gene Coexpression Network Analysis (WGCNA) framework for coexpression
      analysis. We demonstrate its usefulness by identifying biologically relevant,
      differentially coexpressed modules in a rat cancer dataset. CONCLUSIONS: DiffCoEx
      is a simple and sensitive method to identify gene coexpression differences
      between multiple conditions.

PMID- 20925919
TI  - A probabilistic cell model in background corrected image sequences for single
      cell analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Methods of manual cell localization and outlining are so onerous that
      automated tracking methods would seem mandatory for handling huge image
      sequences, nevertheless manual tracking is, astonishingly, still widely practiced
      in areas such as cell biology which are outside the influence of most image
      processing research. The goal of our research is to address this gap by
      developing automated methods of cell tracking, localization, and segmentation.
      Since even an optimal frame-to-frame association method cannot compensate and
      recover from poor detection, it is clear that the quality of cell tracking
      depends on the quality of cell detection within each frame. METHODS: Cell
      detection performs poorly where the background is not uniform and includes
      temporal illumination variations, spatial non-uniformities, and stationary
      objects such as well boundaries (which confine the cells under study). To improve
      cell detection, the signal to noise ratio of the input image can be increased via
      accurate background estimation. In this paper we investigate background
      estimation, for the purpose of cell detection. We propose a cell model and a
      method for background estimation, driven by the proposed cell model, such that
      well structure can be identified, and explicitly rejected, when estimating the
      background. RESULTS: The resulting background-removed images have fewer artifacts
      and allow cells to be localized and detected more reliably. The experimental
      results generated by applying the proposed method to different Hematopoietic Stem
      Cell (HSC) image sequences are quite promising. CONCLUSION: The understanding of
      cell behavior relies on precise information about the temporal dynamics and
      spatial distribution of cells. Such information may play a key role in disease
      research and regenerative medicine, so automated methods for observation and
      measurement of cells from microscopic images are in high demand. The proposed
      method in this paper is capable of localizing single cells in microwells and can
      be adapted for the other cell types that may not have circular shape. This method
      can be potentially used for single cell analysis to study the temporal dynamics
      of cells.

PMID- 20925920
TI  - Rationale and design of the Exercise Intensity Trial (EXCITE): A randomized trial
      comparing the effects of moderate versus moderate to high-intensity aerobic
      training in women with operable breast cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Exercise Intensity Trial (EXcITe) is a randomized trial to
      compare the efficacy of supervised moderate-intensity aerobic training to
      moderate to high-intensity aerobic training, relative to attention control, on
      aerobic capacity, physiologic mechanisms, patient-reported outcomes, and
      biomarkers in women with operable breast cancer following the completion of
      definitive adjuvant therapy. METHODS/DESIGN: Using a single-center, randomized
      design, 174 postmenopausal women (58 patients/study arm) with histologically
      confirmed, operable breast cancer presenting to Duke University Medical Center
      (DUMC) will be enrolled in this trial following completion of primary therapy
      (including surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy). After baseline
      assessments, eligible participants will be randomized to one of two supervised
      aerobic training interventions (moderate-intensity or moderate/high-intensity
      aerobic training) or an attention-control group (progressive stretching). The
      aerobic training interventions will include 150 mins.wk-1 of supervised treadmill
      walking per week at an intensity of 60%-70% (moderate-intensity) or 60% to 100%
      (moderate to high-intensity) of the individually determined peak oxygen
      consumption (VO2peak) between 20-45 minutes/session for 16 weeks. The progressive
      stretching program will be consistent with the exercise interventions in terms of
      program length (16 weeks), social interaction (participants will receive one-on
      one instruction), and duration (20-45 mins/session). The primary study endpoint
      is VO2peak, as measured by an incremental cardiopulmonary exercise test.
      Secondary endpoints include physiologic determinants that govern VO2peak, patient
      reported outcomes, and biomarkers associated with breast cancer
      recurrence/mortality. All endpoints will be assessed at baseline and after the
      intervention (16 weeks). DISCUSSION: EXCITE is designed to investigate the
      intensity of aerobic training required to induce optimal improvements in VO2peak
      and other pertinent outcomes in women who have completed definitive adjuvant
      therapy for operable breast cancer. Overall, this trial will inform and refine
      exercise guidelines to optimize recovery in breast and other cancer survivors
      following the completion of primary cytotoxic therapy. TRIAL REGISTRATION:
      NCT01186367.

PMID- 20925922
TI  - A novel real-time PCR assay for specific detection and quantification of
      Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis in milk with the inherent possibility
      of differentiation between viable and dead cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP) is the etiological
      agent of paratuberculosis (Johne's disease) in ruminants and is suggested to be
      one of the etiologic factors in Crohn's disease in humans. Contaminated milk
      might expose humans to that pathogen. The aim of the present study was to develop
      a novel real-time PCR assay providing the additional possibility to detect viable
      Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP) based on the MAP-specific
      Mptb52.16 target. The design included an internal amplification control to
      identify false negative results. FINDINGS: Inclusivity and exclusivity tested on
      10 MAP strains, 22 non-MAP mycobacteria, and 16 raw milk microflora strains
      achieved 100%. The detection limit in artificially contaminated raw milk was 2.42
      * 101 MAP cells/ml milk. In a survey of naturally contaminated samples obtained
      from dairy herds with a known history of paratuberculosis, 47.8% pre-milk and
      51.9% main milk samples tested positive. Real-time PCR-derived MAP-specific
      bacterial cell equivalents (bce) ranged from 1 * 100 to 5.1 * 102 bce/51 ml; the
      majority of samples had less than one bce per ml milk. Expression of the chosen
      target was detected in artificially contaminated raw milk as well as inoculated
      Dubos broth, thus confirming the real-time PCR assay's potential to detect viable
      MAP cells. CONCLUSIONS: Concentrating the DNA of a large sample volume in
      combination with the newly developed real-time PCR assay permitted quantification
      of low levels of MAP cells in raw milk and pasteurized milk. The selected target 
      Mptb52.16 - is promising with regard to the detection of viable MAP. Future
      studies integrating quantitative DNA- and RNA-based data might provide important
      information for risk assessment concerning the presence of MAP in raw milk and
      pasteurized milk.

PMID- 20925921
TI  - Seeking treatment for symptomatic malaria in Papua New Guinea.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Malaria places a significant burden on the limited resources of many
      low income countries. Knowing more about why and where people seek treatment will
      enable policy makers to better allocate the limited resources. This study aims to
      better understand what influences treatment-seeking behaviour for malaria in one
      such low-income country context, Papua New Guinea (PNG). METHODS: Two culturally,
      linguistically and demographically different regions in PNG were selected as
      study sites. A cross sectional household survey was undertaken in both sites
      resulting in the collection of data on 928 individuals who reported suffering
      from malaria in the previous four weeks. A probit model was then used to identify
      the factors determining whether or not people sought treatment for presumptive
      malaria. Multinomial logit models also assisted in identifying the factors that
      determined where people sought treatments. RESULTS: Results in this study build
      upon findings from other studies. For example, while distance in PNG has
      previously been seen as the primary factor in influencing whether any sort of
      treatment will be sought, in this study cultural influences and whether it was
      the first, second or even third treatment for a particular episode of malaria
      were also important. In addition, although formal health care facilities were the
      most popular treatment sources, it was also found that traditional healers were a
      common choice. In turn, the reasons why participants chose a particular type of
      treatment differed according to the whether they were seeking an initial or
      subsequent treatments. CONCLUSIONS: Simply bringing health services closer to
      where people live may not always result in a greater use of formal health care
      facilities. Policy makers in PNG need to consider within-country variation in
      treatment-seeking behaviour, the important role of traditional healers and also
      ensure that the community fully understands the potential implications of not
      seeking treatment for illnesses such as malaria at a formal health care facility.

PMID- 20925923
TI  - Detection of Babesia divergens in southern Norway by using an immunofluorescence
      antibody test in cow sera.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The incidence of bovine babesiosis, caused by Babesia divergens
      (Apicomplexa: Piroplasmida) has decreased markedly since the 1930 s, but may re
      emerge as a consequence of climate change and changes in legislation and
      pasturing practices. This is a potentially serious disease, with both economical
      and animal welfare consequences. Therefore, there is a need to survey the
      distribution of B. divergens. METHODS: We tested sera from 306 healthy pastured
      cows from 24 farms along the southern Norwegian coast by using an indirect
      immunofluorescence IgG antibody test (IFAT). Fractions of seropositive cows were
      compared by calculating 95% CI. RESULTS: The results of this test showed that 27%
      of the sera were positive for B. divergens antibodies. The fraction of antibody
      positive sera that we detected showed a two-humped distribution, with a high
      fraction of positives being found in municipalities in the western and eastern
      parts of the study area, while the municipalities between these areas had few or
      no positive serum samples. CONCLUSIONS: Neither the farmers' observations nor the
      Norwegian Dairy Herd Recording System give an adequate picture of the
      distribution of bovine babesiosis. Serological testing of cows by using IFAT is a
      convenient way of screening for the presence of B. divergens in an area.

PMID- 20925924
TI  - Cloning and characterization of a novel alternatively spliced transcript of the
      human CHD7 putative helicase.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The CHD7 (Chromodomain Helicase DNA binding protein 7) gene encodes a
      member of the chromodomain family of ATP-dependent chromatin remodeling enzymes.
      Mutations in the CHD7 gene are found in individuals with CHARGE, a syndrome
      characterized by multiple birth malformations in several tissues. CHD7 was
      identified as a binding partner of PBAF complex (Polybromo and BRG Associated
      Factor containing complex) playing a central role in the transcriptional
      reprogramming process associated to the formation of multipotent migratory neural
      crest, a transient cell population associated with the genesis of various
      tissues. CHD7 is a large gene containing 38 annotated exons and spanning 200 kb
      of genomic sequence. Although genes containing such number of exons are expected
      to have several alternative transcripts, there are very few evidences of
      alternative transcripts associated to CHD7 to date indicating that alternative
      splicing associated to this gene is poorly characterized. FINDINGS: Here, we
      report the cloning and characterization by experimental and computational studies
      of a novel alternative transcript of the human CHD7 (named CHD7 CRA_e), which
      lacks most of its coding exons. We confirmed by overexpression of CHD7 CRA_e
      alternative transcript that it is translated into a protein isoform lacking most
      of the domains displayed by the canonical isoform. Expression of the CHD7 CRA_e
      transcript was detected in normal liver, in addition to the DU145 human prostate
      carcinoma cell line from which it was originally isolated. CONCLUSIONS: Our
      findings indicate that the splicing event associated to the CHD7 CRA_e
      alternative transcript is functional. The characterization of the CHD7 CRA_e
      novel isoform presented here not only sets the basis for more detailed functional
      studies of this isoform, but, also, contributes to the alternative splicing
      annotation of the CHD7 gene and the design of future functional studies aimed at
      the elucidation of the molecular functions of its gene products.

PMID- 20925925
TI  - Trend of Entamoeba histolytica infestation in Kolkata.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Entamoeba histolytica infection is found almost all over the world
      and is highly endemic and a major cause of parasitic diarrhoea particularly in
      the developing countries. METHODS: A systemic surveillance was set up at the
      Infectious Disease hospital, Kolkata, India between November 2007 and October
      2009 for understanding the trend of E. histolytica infection in Kolkata. Fecal
      samples were collected from diarrhoeal patients attending the hospital, under the
      surveillance system and processed for detection of E. histolytica. RESULTS:
      During the last two years about 2500 diarrhoeal samples were collected and
      screened for E. histolytica. About 3.6% were positive for E. histolytica. As
      compared to the earlier years, E. histolytica infection was observed to be less
      amongst patients screened during the last two years. No seasonality was observed
      in Kolkata although in the neighboring tropical country Bangladesh, a typical
      seasonality of E. histolytica infection was noticed. CONCLUSION: The study
      indicates that the detection rate of E. histolytica infection amongst diarrhoeal
      patients in Kolkata is decreasing during the last two years than that of
      Bangladesh.

PMID- 20925926
TI  - Clinical outcomes of seasonal influenza and pandemic influenza A (H1N1) in
      pediatric inpatients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In April 2009, a novel influenza A H1N1 (nH1N1) virus emerged and
      spread rapidly worldwide. News of the pandemic led to a heightened awareness of
      the consequences of influenza and generally resulted in enhanced infection
      control practices and strengthened vaccination efforts for both healthcare
      workers and the general population. Seasonal influenza (SI) illness in the
      pediatric population has been previously shown to result in significant
      morbidity, mortality, and substantial hospital resource utilization. Although
      influenza pandemics have the possibility of resulting in considerable illness, we
      must not ignore the impact that we can experience annually with SI. METHODS: We
      compared the outcomes of pediatric patients <=18 years of age at a large urban
      hospital with laboratory confirmed influenza and an influenza-like illness (ILI)
      during the 2009 pandemic and two prior influenza seasons. The primary outcome
      measure was hospital length of stay (LOS). All variables potentially associated
      with LOS based on univariable analysis, previous studies, or hypothesized
      relationships were included in the regression models to ensure adjustment for
      their effects. RESULTS: There were 133 pediatric cases of nH1N1 admitted during
      2009 and 133 cases of SI admitted during the prior 2 influenza seasons (2007-8
      and 2008-9). Thirty-six percent of children with SI and 18% of children with
      nH1N1 had no preexisting medical conditions (p = 0.14). Children admitted with SI
      had 1.73 times longer adjusted LOS than children admitted for nH1N1 (95% CI 1.35 
      2.13). There was a trend towards more children with SI requiring mechanical
      ventilation compared with nH1N1 (16 vs.7, p = 0.08). CONCLUSIONS: This study
      strengthens the growing body of evidence demonstrating that SI results in
      significant morbidity in the pediatric population. Pandemic H1N1 received
      considerable attention with strong media messages urging people to undergo
      vaccination and encouraging improved infection control efforts. We believe that
      this attention should become an annual effort for SI. Strong unified messages
      from health care providers and the media encouraging influenza vaccination will
      likely prove very useful in averting some of the morbidity related to influenza
      for future epidemics.

PMID- 20925927
TI  - Trajectories of maternal symptoms of anxiety and depression. A 13-year
      longitudinal study of a population-based sample.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is a lack of population-based studies of developmental
      trajectories following mothers throughout the whole child-rearing phase and there
      are few longitudinal studies focusing on both symptoms of depression and anxiety.
      The aim of the current study is to identify latent trajectory groups based on
      counts of symptoms of anxiety and depression among mothers throughout the child
      rearing phase and the relations of the latent groups to maternal socio
      demographic variables. METHODS: Data is from a prospective, longitudinal study of
      nearly 1000 families in Norway followed from when the index children were 18
      months until they were 14.5 years old (the TOPP study). The study used latent
      profile analysis (LPA) to identify latent groups of mothers with distinct
      trajectories across time of symptom counts. Latent group differences on socio
      demographic variables were tested with one-way ANOVAs, chi-square tests and exact
      tests. RESULTS: Six trajectories based on maternal scores from six waves of data
      collection of symptoms of anxiety and depression were identified; a 'No symptoms'
      group with mothers without symptoms; a 'Low' group with mothers reporting low
      symptom levels; a 'Moderate-low' group with mothers reporting moderately low
      symptom levels; a 'Moderate' group with mothers with moderate symptoms; a 'High
      chronic' group with mothers with overall high symptom levels; and a 'Low-rising'
      group with mothers starting with a low symptom level that increased over time.
      The mothers in the High-chronic symptom group differed from the other mothers on
      several socio-demographic variables. They were significantly younger than the
      mothers in the Low group comprising the oldest mothers. The mothers in the High
      chronic group had significantly lower education, were less likely to have paid
      work and were less likely to be living with a partner than the mothers in the
      other groups. CONCLUSIONS: The study shows socio-demographic differences between
      mothers classified into six trajectory groups based on symptoms of anxiety and
      depression covering 13 years of the child-rearing period. Specific socio
      demographic risk factors characterised mothers in the High-chronic symptom group.
      Identifying subgroups with enduring problems might inform more targeted
      preventive efforts.

PMID- 20925928
TI  - Comparison of real-time PCR and microscopy for malaria parasite detection in
      Malawian pregnant women.
AB  - BACKGROUND: New diagnostic tools for malaria are required owing to the changing
      epidemiology of malaria, particularly among pregnant women in sub-Saharan Africa.
      Real-time PCR assays targeting Plasmodium falciparum lactate dehydrogenase
      (pfldh) gene may facilitate the identification of a high proportion of pregnant
      women with a P. falciparum parasitaemia below the threshold of microscopy. These
      molecular methods will enable further studies on the effects of these
      submicroscopic infections on maternal health and birth outcomes. METHODS: The
      pfldh real-time PCR assay and conventional microscopy were compared for the
      detection of P. falciparum from dried blood spots and blood smears collected from
      the peripheral blood of 475 Malawian women at delivery. A cycle threshold (Ct) of
      the real-time PCR was determined optimizing the sensitivity and specificity of
      the pfldh PCR assay compared to microscopy. A real-time PCR species-specific
      assay was applied to identify the contribution to malaria infections of three
      Plasmodium species (P. falciparum P. ovale and P. malariae) in 44 discordant
      smear and pfldh PCR assay results. RESULTS: Of the 475 women, P. falciparum was
      detected in 11 (2.3%) by microscopy and in 51 (10.7%) by real-time PCR; compared
      to microscopy, the sensitivity of real-time PCR was 90.9% and the specificity
      91.2%. If a Ct value of 38 was used as a cut-off, specificity improved to 94.6%
      with no change in sensitivity. The real-time PCR species-specific assay detected
      P. falciparum alone in all but four samples: two samples were mixed infections
      with P. falciparum and P. malariae, one was a pure P. malariae infection and one
      was a pfldh PCR assay-positive/species-specific assay-negative sample. Of three
      P. malariae infections detected by microscopy, only one was confirmed by the
      species-specific assay. CONCLUSIONS: Although microscopy remains the most
      appropriate method for clinical malaria diagnosis in field settings, molecular
      diagnostics such as real-time PCR offer a more reliable means to detect malaria
      parasites, particularly at low levels. Determination of the possible contribution
      of these submicroscopic infections to poor birth outcomes and maternal health is
      critical. For future studies to investigate these effects, this pfldh real-time
      PCR assay offers a reliable detection method.

PMID- 20925929
TI  - (Not) Keeping the stem straight: a proteomic analysis of maritime pine seedlings
      undergoing phototropism and gravitropism.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Plants are subjected to continuous stimuli from the environment and
      have evolved an ability to respond through various growth and development
      processes. Phototropism and gravitropism responses enable the plant to reorient
      with regard to light and gravity. RESULTS: We quantified the speed of maritime
      pine seedlings to reorient with regard to light and gravity over 22 days.
      Seedlings were inclined at 15, 30 and 45 degrees with vertical plants as
      controls. A lateral light source illuminated the plants and stem movement over
      time was recorded. Depending on the initial angle of stem lean, the apical
      response to the lateral light source differed. In control and 15 degrees 
      inclined plants, the apex turned directly towards the light source after only 2
      h. In plants inclined at 30 degrees  and 45 degrees , the apex first reoriented
      in the vertical plane after 2 h, then turned towards the light source after 24 h.
      Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis coupled with mass spectrometry was then used
      to describe the molecular response of stem bending involved in photo- and gravi
      tropism after 22 hr and 8 days of treatment. A total of 486 spots were
      quantitatively analyzed using image analysis software. Significant changes were
      determined in the protein accumulation of 68 protein spots. Early response
      gravitropic associated proteins were identified, which are known to function in
      energy related and primary metabolism. A group of thirty eight proteins were
      found to be involved in primary metabolism and energy related metabolic pathways.
      Degradation of Rubisco was implicated in some protein shifts. CONCLUSIONS: Our
      study demonstrates a rapid gravitropic response in apices of maritime pine
      seedlings inclined >30 degrees . Little or no response was observed at the stem
      bases of the same plants. The primary gravitropic response is concomitant with a
      modification of the proteome, consisting of an over accumulation of energy and
      metabolism associated proteins, which may allow the stem to reorient rapidly
      after bending.

PMID- 20925930
TI  - The association between demographic factors, user reported experiences and user
      satisfaction: results from three casualty clinics in Norway.
AB  - BACKGROUND: User reported experiences and satisfaction are increasingly used as
      basis for quality indicators in the health sector. However, there is limited
      understanding of factors associated with user reported experiences and
      satisfaction with casualty clinics. METHODS: A random sample of 542 patients that
      had contacted any of three casualty clinics from mid April to mid May 2008 was
      mailed a questionnaire. A reminder was sent to non-respondents after six weeks.
      Descriptive statistics for four user reported experiences scales and 20 single
      items are presented. Multivariate regression analysis was used to assess
      associations between background variables and user reported experiences, and
      between user reported experiences and user satisfaction. RESULTS: 225 (41.5%)
      patients, carers and guardians returned a completed questionnaire. Users reported
      most positive experiences with the doctor services and the nursing services at
      the casualty clinics; on a scale from 0 to 100, where 100 is the best possible
      experience the doctor scale was 82 and the nursing scale 81. Users reported least
      positive experiences with the organization of the casualty clinic, with a scale
      score of 65. Self perceived health was associated with user satisfaction, while
      self perceived health and age were associated with user reported experiences with
      organization of the clinics. A range of user reported experience domains were
      related to user satisfaction, after controlling for socio-demographic variables,
      including experiences with doctor services at the clinics, organization of the
      clinics, information and self perceived incorrect treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Users
      report positive experiences with the three casualty clinics, with organization as
      the aspect with largest improvement potential. The importance of age and health
      status for users' experiences and satisfaction with casualty clinics was shown,
      but a range of user reported experiences with the clinics were the most important
      predictors for user satisfaction.

PMID- 20925931
TI  - Evaluation of the late life disability instrument in the Lifestyle Interventions
      and Independence for Elders Pilot (LIFE-P) study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The late life disability instrument (LLDI) was developed to assess
      limitations in instrumental and management roles using a small and restricted
      sample. In this paper we examine the measurement properties of the LLDI using
      data from the Lifestyle Interventions and Independence for Elders Pilot (LIFE-P)
      study. METHODS: LIFE-P participants, aged 70-89 years, were at elevated risk of
      disability. The 424 participants were enrolled at the Cooper Institute, Stanford
      University, University of Pittsburgh, and Wake Forest University. Physical
      activity and successful aging health education interventions were compared after
      12-months of follow-up. Using factor analysis, we determined whether the LLDI's
      factor structure was comparable with that reported previously. We further
      examined how each item related to measured disability using item response theory
      (IRT). RESULTS: The factor structure for the limitation domain within the LLDI in
      the LIFE-P study did not corroborate previous findings. However, the factor
      structure using the abbreviated version was supported. Social and personal role
      factors were identified. IRT analysis revealed that each item in the social role
      factor provided a similar level of information, whereas the items in the personal
      role factor tended to provide different levels of information. CONCLUSIONS:
      Within the context of community-based clinical intervention research in aged
      populations, an abbreviated version of the LLDI performed better than the full 16
      item version. In addition, the personal subscale would benefit from additional
      research using IRT. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The protocol of LIFE-P is consistent with
      the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki and is registered at
      http://www.ClinicalTrials.gov (registration # NCT00116194).

PMID- 20925932
TI  - Edelfosine-induced metabolic changes in cancer cells that precede the
      overproduction of reactive oxygen species and apoptosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Metabolic flux profiling based on the analysis of distribution of
      stable isotope tracer in metabolites is an important method widely used in cancer
      research to understand the regulation of cell metabolism and elaborate new
      therapeutic strategies. Recently, we developed software Isodyn, which extends the
      methodology of kinetic modeling to the analysis of isotopic isomer distribution
      for the evaluation of cellular metabolic flux profile under relevant conditions.
      This tool can be applied to reveal the metabolic effect of proapoptotic drug
      edelfosine in leukemia Jurkat cell line, uncovering the mechanisms of induction
      of apoptosis in cancer cells. RESULTS: The study of 13C distribution of Jukat
      cells exposed to low edelfosine concentration, which induces apoptosis in <=5% of
      cells, revealed metabolic changes previous to the development of apoptotic
      program. Specifically, it was found that low dose of edelfosine stimulates the
      TCA cycle. These metabolic perturbations were coupled with an increase of nucleic
      acid synthesis de novo, which indicates acceleration of biosynthetic and
      reparative processes. The further increase of the TCA cycle fluxes, when higher
      doses of drug applied, eventually enhance reactive oxygen species (ROS)
      production and trigger apoptotic program. CONCLUSION: The application of Isodyn
      to the analysis of mechanism of edelfosine-induced apoptosis revealed primary
      drug-induced metabolic changes, which are important for the subsequent initiation
      of apoptotic program. Initiation of such metabolic changes could be exploited in
      anticancer therapy.

PMID- 20925933
TI  - Intraindividual variability (IIV) in an animal model of ADHD - the Spontaneously
      Hypertensive Rat.
AB  - Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is characterized by numerous
      behaviors including inattention, hyperactivity and impulsiveness. ADHD-affected
      individuals also have high intra-individual variability (IIV) in reaction time.
      The genetic control of IIV is not well understood. The single study of the
      genetics of this phenomenon in humans detected only marginal associations between
      genotypes at two candidate genes for ADHD and variability in response time. The
      Spontaneously Hypertensive Rat (SHR/NCrl) is an animal model of ADHD, expressing
      high activity, inattention and impulsive behavior during operant and task tests.
      The SHR might be useful for identifying genes for variability, but it is not
      known whether it also expresses high IIV, as is symptomatic of ADHD. We therefore
      conducted an investigation of IIV in the SHR. We used 16 SHR/NCrl rats and 15
      Wistar-Kyoto (WKY/Nico) controls applying a reinforcement schedule used in the
      validation of the SHR as an animal model of ADHD. We represented IIV as the
      average absolute deviation of individual behavior within the five 18-min segments
      of each experimental session from the average behavioral trait value within that
      session ('individual phenotypic dispersion', PDi). PDi for hyperactivity,
      impulsiveness and inattention in the SHR and WKY rats was analyzed using
      nonparametric ranking by experimental session. SHR/NCrl rats had higher PDi than
      WKY/Nico controls for impulsiveness and inattention. There was a significant
      upward trend for PDi over experimental segments within sessions for attention in
      SHR rats, but not in WKY. PDi for hyperactivity was correlated with PDi for
      impulsiveness and we therefore excluded observations associated with short IRTs
      (< 0.67 s); dispersion in hyperactivity outside this interval was also
      significantly higher in SHR rats than in WKY rats. Some studies indicate the
      sharing of symptoms of hyperactivity and impulsiveness in SHR and ADHD-affected
      humans; high IIV in operant behavioral metrics suggests that the SHR may be
      useful in elucidating the genetic basis for IIV in humans.

PMID- 20925935
TI  - Clinical expert guidelines for the management of cough in lung cancer: report of
      a UK task group on cough.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cough is a common and distressing symptom in lung cancer patients.
      The clinical management of cough in lung cancer patients is suboptimal with
      limited high quality research evidence available. The aim of the present paper is
      to present a clinical guideline developed in the UK through scrutiny of the
      literature and expert opinion, in order to aid decision making in clinicians and
      highlight good practice. METHODS: Two systematic reviews, one focusing on the
      management of cough in respiratory illness and one Cochrane review specifically
      on cancer, were conducted. Also, data from reviews, phase II trials and case
      studies were synthesized. A panel of experts in the field was also convened in an
      expert consensus meeting to make sense of the data and make clinical
      propositions. RESULTS: A pyramid of cough management was developed, starting with
      the treatment of reversible causes of cough/specific pathology. Initial cough
      management should focus on peripherally acting and intermittent treatment; more
      resistant symptoms require the addition of (or replacement by) centrally acting
      and continuous treatment. The pyramid for the symptomatic management starts from
      the simpler and most practical regimens (demulcents, simple linctus) to weak
      opioids to morphine and methadone before considering less well-researched and
      experimental approaches. CONCLUSION: The clinical guidelines presented aim to
      provide a sensible clinical approach to the management of cough in lung cancer.
      High quality research in this field is urgently required to provide more evidence
      based recommendations.

PMID- 20925934
TI  - Monitoring of malaria parasite resistance to chloroquine and sulphadoxine
      pyrimethamine in the Solomon Islands by DNA microarray technology.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Little information is available on resistance to anti-malarial drugs
      in the Solomon Islands (SI). The analysis of single nucleotide polymorphisms
      (SNPs) in drug resistance associated parasite genes is a potential alternative to
      classical time- and resource-consuming in vivo studies to monitor drug
      resistance. Mutations in pfmdr1 and pfcrt were shown to indicate chloroquine (CQ)
      resistance, mutations in pfdhfr and pfdhps indicate sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine
      (SP) resistance, and mutations in pfATPase6 indicate resistance to artemisinin
      derivatives. METHODS: The relationship between the rate of treatment failure
      among 25 symptomatic Plasmodium falciparum-infected patients presenting at the
      clinic and the pattern of resistance-associated SNPs in P. falciparum infecting
      76 asymptomatic individuals from the surrounding population was investigated. The
      study was conducted in the SI in 2004. Patients presenting at a local clinic with
      microscopically confirmed P. falciparum malaria were recruited and treated with
      CQ+SP. Rates of treatment failure were estimated during a 28-day follow-up
      period. In parallel, a DNA microarray technology was used to analyse mutations
      associated with CQ, SP, and artemisinin derivative resistance among samples from
      the asymptomatic community. Mutation and haplotype frequencies were determined,
      as well as the multiplicity of infection. RESULTS: The in vivo study showed an
      efficacy of 88% for CQ+SP to treat P. falciparum infections. DNA microarray
      analyses indicated a low diversity in the parasite population with one major
      haplotype present in 98.7% of the cases. It was composed of fixed mutations at
      position 86 in pfmdr1, positions 72, 75, 76, 220, 326 and 356 in pfcrt, and
      positions 59 and 108 in pfdhfr. No mutation was observed in pfdhps or in
      pfATPase6. The mean multiplicity of infection was 1.39. CONCLUSION: This work
      provides the first insight into drug resistance markers of P. falciparum in the
      SI. The obtained results indicated the presence of a very homogenous P.
      falciparum population circulating in the community. Although CQ+SP could still
      clear most infections, seven fixed mutations associated with CQ resistance and
      two fixed mutations related to SP resistance were observed. Whether the absence
      of mutations in pfATPase6 indicates the efficacy of artemisinin derivatives
      remains to be proven.

PMID- 20925936
TI  - Robust assignment of cancer subtypes from expression data using a uni-variate
      gene expression average as classifier.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Genome wide gene expression data is a rich source for the
      identification of gene signatures suitable for clinical purposes and a number of
      statistical algorithms have been described for both identification and evaluation
      of such signatures. Some employed algorithms are fairly complex and hence
      sensitive to over-fitting whereas others are more simple and straight forward.
      Here we present a new type of simple algorithm based on ROC analysis and the use
      of metagenes that we believe will be a good complement to existing algorithms.
      RESULTS: The basis for the proposed approach is the use of metagenes, instead of
      collections of individual genes, and a feature selection using AUC values
      obtained by ROC analysis. Each gene in a data set is assigned an AUC value
      relative to the tumor class under investigation and the genes are ranked
      according to these values. Metagenes are then formed by calculating the mean
      expression level for an increasing number of ranked genes, and the metagene
      expression value that optimally discriminates tumor classes in the training set
      is used for classification of new samples. The performance of the metagene is
      then evaluated using LOOCV and balanced accuracies. CONCLUSIONS: We show that the
      simple uni-variate gene expression average algorithm performs as well as several
      alternative algorithms such as discriminant analysis and the more complex
      approaches such as SVM and neural networks. The R package rocc is freely
      available at http://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/rocc/index.html.

PMID- 20925937
TI  - Impact of maternal metabolic abnormalities in pregnancy on human milk and
      subsequent infant metabolic development: methodology and design.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Childhood obesity is on the rise and is a major risk factor for type
      2 diabetes later in life. Recent evidence indicates that abnormalities that
      increase risk for diabetes may be initiated early in infancy. Since the offspring
      of women with diabetes have an increased long-term risk for obesity and type 2
      diabetes, the impact of maternal metabolic abnormalities on early nutrition and
      infant metabolic trajectories is of considerable interest. Human breast milk, the
      preferred food during infancy, contains not only nutrients but also an array of
      bioactive substances including metabolic hormones. Nonetheless, only a few
      studies have reported concentrations of metabolic hormones in human milk
      specifically from women with metabolic abnormalities. We aim to investigate the
      impact of maternal metabolic abnormalities in pregnancy on human milk hormones
      and subsequently on infant development over the first year of life. The objective
      of this report is to present the methodology and design of this study.
      METHODS/DESIGN: The current investigation is a prospective study conducted within
      ongoing cohort studies of women and their offspring. Pregnant women attending
      outpatient obstetrics clinics in Toronto, Canada were recruited. Between April
      2009 and July 2010, a total of 216 pregnant women underwent a baseline oral
      glucose tolerance test and provided medical and lifestyle history. Follow-up
      visits and telephone interviews are conducted and expected to be completed in
      October 2011. Upon delivery, infant birth anthropometry measurements and human
      breast milk samples are collected. At 3 and 12 months postpartum, mothers and
      infants are invited for follow-up assessments. Interim telephone interviews are
      conducted during the first year of offspring life to characterize infant feeding
      and supplementation behaviors. DISCUSSION: An improved understanding of the link
      between maternal metabolic abnormalities in pregnancy and early infant nutrition
      may assist in the development of optimal prevention and intervention strategies
      and in the protection of nutritionally vulnerable offspring who are at risk for
      obesity and diabetes later in life.

PMID- 20925938
TI  - A randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, prospective trial to evaluate the
      effect of vildagliptin in new-onset diabetes mellitus after kidney
      transplantation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: New-onset diabetes mellitus after transplantation (NODAT), a frequent
      and serious complication after transplantation, is associated with decreased
      graft and patient survival. Currently, it is diagnosed and treated primarily
      according to existing guidelines for type II diabetes. To date, only a few trials
      have studied antidiabetic drugs in patients with NODAT. Vildagliptin is a novel
      dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitor that improves pancreatic islet function
      by enhancing both alpha- and beta-cell responsiveness to increased blood glucose.
      Experimental data show potential protective effects of DPP-4 inhibitors on islet
      function after exogenous stress stimuli including immunosuppressants. Therefore,
      the therapy of NODAT with this class of compounds seems attractive. At present,
      vildagliptin is used to treat type II diabetes as monotherapy or in combination
      with other antidiabetic drugs, since that it efficiently decreases glycated
      hemoglobin (HbA1c) values. Additionally, vildagliptin has been shown to be safe
      in patients with moderately impaired kidney function. This study will evaluate
      the safety and efficacy of vildagliptin monotherapy in renal transplant
      recipients with recently diagnosed NODAT. METHODS/DESIGN: This study is a
      randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, prospective phase II trial. Using
      the results of routinely performed oral glucose tolerance tests (OGTT) in stable
      renal transplant patients at our center, we will recruit patients without a
      history of diabetes and a 2 h glucose value surpassing 200 mg/dl (11.1 mmol/l).
      They are randomized to receive either 50 mg vildagliptin or placebo once daily. A
      total of 32 patients with newly diagnosed NODAT will be included. The primary
      endpoint is the difference in the 2 h glucose value between baseline and the
      repeated OGTT performed 3 months after treatment start, compared between the
      vildagliptin- and the placebo-group. Secondary endpoints include changes in HbA1c
      and fasting plasma glucose (FPG). The safety of vildagliptin in renal transplant
      patients will be assessed by the number of symptomatic hypoglycemic episodes
      (glucose <72 mg/dl or 4 mmol/l), the number of adverse events, and possible
      medication-associated side-effects. DISCUSSION: NODAT is a severe complication
      after kidney transplantation. Few trials have assessed the safety and efficacy of
      antidiabetic drugs for these patients. The purpose of this study is to assess the
      safety and efficacy of vildagliptin in renal transplant patients with NODAT.
      TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00980356.

PMID- 20925939
TI  - An increase in the burden of neonatal admissions to a rural district hospital in
      Kenya over 19 years.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Most of the global neonatal deaths occur in developing nations,
      mostly in rural homes. Many of the newborns who receive formal medical care are
      treated in rural district hospitals and other peripheral health centres. However
      there are no published studies demonstrating trends in neonatal admissions and
      outcome in rural health care facilities in resource poor regions. Such
      information is critical in planning public health interventions. In this study we
      therefore aimed at describing the pattern of neonatal admissions to a Kenyan
      rural district hospital and their outcome over a 19 year period, examining
      clinical indicators of inpatient neonatal mortality and also trends in
      utilization of a rural hospital for deliveries. METHODS: Prospectively collected
      data on neonates is compared to non-neonatal paediatric (<= 5 years old)
      admissions and deliveries' in the maternity unit at Kilifi District Hospital from
      January 1(st) 1990 up to December 31(st) 2008, to document the pattern of
      neonatal admissions, deliveries and changes in inpatient deaths. Trends were
      examined using time series models with likelihood ratios utilised to identify
      indicators of inpatient neonatal death. RESULTS: The proportion of neonatal
      admissions of the total paediatric <= 5 years admissions significantly increased
      from 11% in 1990 to 20% by 2008 (trend 0.83 (95% confidence interval 0.45-1.21).
      Most of the increase in burden was from neonates born in hospital and very young
      neonates aged < 7 days. Hospital deliveries also increased significantly.
      Clinical diagnoses of neonatal sepsis, prematurity, neonatal jaundice, neonatal
      encephalopathy, tetanus and neonatal meningitis accounted for over 75% of the
      inpatient neonatal admissions. Inpatient case fatality for all <= 5 years
      declined significantly over the 19 years. However, neonatal deaths comprised 33%
      of all inpatient death among children aged <= 5 years in 1990, this increased to
      55% by 2008. Tetanus 256/390 (67%), prematurity 554/1,280(43%) and neonatal
      encephalopathy 253/778(33%) had the highest case fatality. A combination of six
      indicators: irregular respiration, oxygen saturation of <90%, pallor, neck
      stiffness, weight < 1.5 kg, and abnormally elevated blood glucose > 7 mmol/l
      predicted inpatient neonatal death with a sensitivity of 81% and a specificity of
      68%. CONCLUSIONS: There is clear evidence of increasing burden in neonatal
      admissions at a rural district hospital in contrast to reducing numbers of non
      neonatal paediatrics' admissions aged <= 5 years. Though the inpatient case
      fatality for all admissions aged <= 5 years declined significantly, neonates now
      comprise close to 60% of all inpatient deaths. Simple indicators may identify
      neonates at risk of death.

PMID- 20925940
TI  - Analysis of Alzheimer's disease severity across brain regions by topological
      analysis of gene co-expression networks.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder
      involving variations in the transcriptome of many genes. AD does not affect all
      brain regions simultaneously. Identifying the differences among the affected
      regions may shed more light onto the disease progression. We developed a novel
      method involving the differential topology of gene coexpression networks to
      understand the association among affected regions and disease severity. METHODS:
      We analysed microarray data of four regions--entorhinal cortex (EC), hippocampus
      (HIP), posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) and middle temporal gyrus (MTG) from AD
      affected and normal subjects. A coexpression network was built for each region
      and the topological overlap between them was examined. Genes with zero
      topological overlap between two region-specific networks were used to
      characterise the differences between the two regions. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:
      Results indicate that MTG shows early AD pathology compared to the other regions.
      We postulate that if the MTG gets affected later in the disease, post-mortem
      analyses of individuals with end-stage AD will show signs of early AD in the MTG,
      while the EC, HIP and PCC will have severe pathology. Such knowledge is useful
      for data collection in clinical studies where sample selection is a limiting
      factor as well as highlighting the underlying biology of disease progression.

PMID- 20925941
TI  - Assessing time to pulmonary function benefit following antibiotic treatment of
      acute cystic fibrosis exacerbations.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is a life-shortening genetic disease in which
      ~80% of deaths result from loss of lung function linked to inflammation due to
      chronic bacterial infection (principally Pseudomonas aeruginosa). Pulmonary
      exacerbations (intermittent episodes during which symptoms of lung infection
      increase and lung function decreases) can cause substantial resource utilization,
      morbidity, and irreversible loss of lung function. Intravenous antibiotic
      treatment to reduce exacerbation symptoms is standard management practice.
      However, no prospective studies have identified an optimal antibiotic treatment
      duration and this lack of objective data has been identified as an area of
      concern and interest. METHODS: We have retrospectively analyzed pulmonary
      function response data (as forced expiratory volume in one second; FEV1) from a
      previous blinded controlled CF exacerbation management study of intravenous
      ceftazidime/tobramycin and meropenem/tobramycin in which spirometry was conducted
      daily to assess the time course of pulmonary function response. RESULTS: Ninety
      five patients in the study received antibiotics for at least 4 days and were
      included in our analyses. Patients received antibiotics for an average of 12.6
      days (median = 13, SD = 3.2 days), with a range of 4 to 27 days. No significant
      differences were observed in mean or median treatment durations as functions of
      either treatment group or baseline lung disease stage. Average time from
      initiation of antibiotic treatment to highest observed FEV1 was 8.7 days (median
      = 10, SD = 4.0 days), with a range of zero to 19 days. Patients were treated an
      average of 3.9 days beyond the day of peak FEV1 (median = 3, SD = 3.8 days), with
      89 patients (93.7%) experiencing their peak FEV1 improvement within 13 days.
      There were no differences in mean or median times to peak FEV1 as a function of
      treatment group, although the magnitude of FEV1 improvement differed between
      groups. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that antibiotic response to exacerbation
      as assessed by pulmonary function is essentially complete within 2 weeks of
      treatment initiation and relatively independent of the magnitude of pulmonary
      function response observed.

PMID- 20925942
TI  - Distinct expression patterns of mitochondrially localized YFP in neuronal subsets
      in the retina of three transgenic mouse lines.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Transgenic labels that allow the visualization of specific
      populations of neurons have proven to be powerful tools for research. Further
      developing such resources to label additional cell types and specific organelles
      within these cell will provide additional experimental opportunities. FINDINGS:
      The retinal expression profile of a mitochondria-localized yellow fluorescent
      protein (YFP) in each of three transgenic mouse lines was determined. Each line,
      Mito-R, Mito-Y and Mito-Z, expresses YFP in distinct and reproducible populations
      of retinal neurons. In the Mito-R line, YFP is expressed in most or all retinal
      ganglion cells (RGCs) and photoreceptors making this line useful for studying
      axonal transport in diseases such as glaucoma and photoreceptor degeneration
      related to transport of mitochondria into the inner segments. In the Mito-Y line,
      YFP is expressed in many cell types in the dorsal retina and in a rough mosaic
      population of RGCs in the rest of the retina, making this line useful for study
      of how retinal mosaics are organized. In the Mito-Z line, YFP is expressed in a
      subset of RGCs, amacrine cells, bipolar cells and photoreceptors. The Mito-Z line
      is inserted on the X-Chromosome, resulting in X-inactivation mosaicism in female
      mice carrying a single copy of the transgene. In the female hemizygous retina,
      expression is present in distinct clonal columns, making this transgenic line
      useful for analysis of clonal proliferation and lateral migration of retinal
      neurons. CONCLUSION: The retinal expression profiles of three transgenic mouse
      lines that express a mitochondrially localized YFP were characterized in this
      study. These lines will allow researchers to isolate and identify cell types
      within the retina and to study retinal mitochondrial trafficking and disease.

PMID- 20925943
TI  - Factors associated with access to HIV care and treatment in a prevention of
      mother to child transmission programme in urban Zimbabwe.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This cross-sectional study assessed factors affecting access to
      antiretroviral therapy (ART) among HIV-positive women from the prevention of
      mother to child transmission HIV programme in Chitungwiza, Zimbabwe. METHODS:
      Data were collected between June and August 2008. HIV-positive women attending
      antenatal clinics who had been referred to the national ART programme from
      January 2006 until December 2007 were surveyed. The questionnaire collected socio
      demographic data, treatment-seeking behaviours, and positive or negative factors
      that affect access to HIV care and treatment. RESULTS: Of the 147 HIV-positive
      women interviewed, 95 (65%) had registered with the ART programme. However,
      documentation of the referral was noted in only 23 (16%) of cases. Of the 95
      registered women, 35 (37%) were receiving ART; 17 (18%) had not undergone CD4
      testing. Multivariate analysis revealed that participants who understood the
      referral process were three times more likely to access HIV care and treatment
      (OR = 3.21, 95% CI 1.89-11.65) and participants enrolled in an HIV support group
      were twice as likely to access care and treatment (OR = 2.34, 95% CI 1.13-4.88).
      Those living with a male partner were 60% less likely to access care and
      treatment (OR = 0.40, 95% CI 0.16-0.99). Participants who accessed HIV care and
      treatment faced several challenges, including long waiting times (46%),
      unreliable access to laboratory testing (35%) and high transport costs (12%). Of
      the 147 clients surveyed, 52 (35%) women did not access HIV care and treatment.
      Barriers included perceived long queues (50%), competing life priorities, such as
      seeking food or shelter (33%) and inadequate referral information (15%).
      CONCLUSIONS: Despite many challenges, the majority of participants accessed HIV
      care. Development of referral tools and decentralization of CD4 testing to
      clinics will improve access to ART. Psychosocial support can be a successful
      entry point to encourage client referral to care and treatment programmes.

PMID- 20925944
TI  - Web 2.0 and internet social networking: a new tool for disaster management?-
      lessons from Taiwan.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Internet social networking tools and the emerging web 2.0
      technologies are providing a new way for web users and health workers in
      information sharing and knowledge dissemination. Based on the characters of
      immediate, two-way and large scale of impact, the internet social networking
      tools have been utilized as a solution in emergency response during disasters.
      This paper highlights the use of internet social networking in disaster emergency
      response and public health management of disasters by focusing on a case study of
      the typhoon Morakot disaster in Taiwan. DISCUSSION: In the case of typhoon
      disaster in Taiwan, internet social networking and mobile technology were found
      to be helpful for community residents, professional emergency rescuers, and
      government agencies in gathering and disseminating real-time information,
      regarding volunteer recruitment and relief supplies allocation. We noted that if
      internet tools are to be integrated in the development of emergency response
      system, the accessibility, accuracy, validity, feasibility, privacy and the
      scalability of itself should be carefully considered especially in the effort of
      applying it in resource poor settings. SUMMARY: This paper seeks to promote an
      internet-based emergency response system by integrating internet social
      networking and information communication technology into central government
      disaster management system. Web-based networking provides two-way communication
      which establishes a reliable and accessible tunnel for proximal and distal users
      in disaster preparedness and management.

PMID- 20925945
TI  - The cost of reducing starting RNA quantity for Illumina BeadArrays: a bead-level
      dilution experiment.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The demands of microarray expression technologies for quantities of
      RNA place a limit on the questions they can address. As a consequence, the RNA
      requirements have reduced over time as technologies have improved. In this paper
      we investigate the costs of reducing the starting quantity of RNA for the
      Illumina BeadArray platform. This we do via a dilution data set generated from
      two reference RNA sources that have become the standard for investigations into
      microarray and sequencing technologies. RESULTS: We find that the starting
      quantity of RNA has an effect on observed intensities despite the fact that the
      quantity of cRNA being hybridized remains constant. We see a loss of sensitivity
      when using lower quantities of RNA, but no great rise in the false positive rate.
      Even with 10 ng of starting RNA, the positive results are reliable although many
      differentially expressed genes are missed. We see that there is some scope for
      combining data from samples that have contributed differing quantities of RNA,
      but note also that sample sizes should increase to compensate for the loss of
      signal-to-noise when using low quantities of starting RNA. CONCLUSIONS: The
      BeadArray platform maintains a low false discovery rate even when small amounts
      of starting RNA are used. In contrast, the sensitivity of the platform drops off
      noticeably over the same range. Thus, those conducting experiments should not opt
      for low quantities of starting RNA without consideration of the costs of doing
      so. The implications for experimental design, and the integration of data from
      different starting quantities, are complex.

PMID- 20925946
TI  - Dimethylthiourea protects against chlorine induced changes in airway function in
      a murine model of irritant induced asthma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Exposure to chlorine (Cl2) causes airway injury, characterized by
      oxidative damage, an influx of inflammatory cells and airway hyperresponsiveness.
      We hypothesized that Cl2-induced airway injury may be attenuated by antioxidant
      treatment, even after the initial injury. METHODS: Balb/C mice were exposed to
      Cl2 gas (100 ppm) for 5 mins, an exposure that was established to alter airway
      function with minimal histological disruption of the epithelium. Twenty-four
      hours after exposure to Cl2, airway responsiveness to aerosolized methacholine
      (MCh) was measured. Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) was performed to determine
      inflammatory cell profiles, total protein, and glutathione levels.
      Dimethylthiourea (DMTU;100 mg/kg) was administered one hour before or one hour
      following Cl2 exposure. RESULTS: Mice exposed to Cl2 had airway
      hyperresponsiveness to MCh compared to control animals pre-treated and post
      treated with DMTU. Total cell counts in BAL fluid were elevated by Cl2 exposure
      and were not affected by DMTU treatment. However, DMTU-treated mice had lower
      protein levels in the BAL than the Cl2-only treated animals. 4-Hydroxynonenal
      analysis showed that DMTU given pre- or post-Cl2 prevented lipid peroxidation in
      the lung. Following Cl2 exposure glutathione (GSH) was elevated immediately
      following exposure both in BAL cells and in fluid and this change was prevented
      by DMTU. GSSG was depleted in Cl2 exposed mice at later time points. However, the
      GSH/GSSG ratio remained high in chlorine exposed mice, an effect attenuated by
      DMTU. CONCLUSION: Our data show that the anti-oxidant DMTU is effective in
      attenuating Cl2 induced increase in airway responsiveness, inflammation and
      biomarkers of oxidative stress.

PMID- 20925947
TI  - Factors that influenced county system leaders to implement an evidence-based
      program: a baseline survey within a randomized controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Despite the burgeoning number of well-validated interventions that
      have been shown in randomized trials to produce superior outcomes compared to
      usual services, it is estimated that only 10% of public systems deliver evidence
      based mental health services. In California, for example, more than 15,000
      children are placed in group homes or residential centers with some evidence of
      iatrogenic effects. The present study evaluates the willingness among county
      leaders of child public service systems to adopt a new evidence-based model,
      Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care, (MTFC), as a way to decrease the
      prevalence of out-of-home placements. Specifically, the study examines how county
      level socio-demographic factors and child public service system leaders'
      perceptions of their county's organizational climate influence their decision of
      whether or not to consider adopting MTFC. METHODS: Two levels were examined in
      this study: Stable and historical factors from 40 California counties gathered
      from public records including population size, number of entries into out-of-home
      care, financing of mental health services, and percent minority population; and
      system leaders' perceptions of their county's organizational climate and
      readiness for change measured via a web-based survey. The number of days-to
      consent was the primary outcome variable defined as the duration of time between
      being notified of the opportunity to implement MTFC and the actual signing of a
      consent form indicating interest in considering implementation. Survival analysis
      methods were used to assess the predictors of this time-to-event measure. The
      present study is part of a larger randomized trial comparing two methods of
      implementation where counties are randomized to one of three time cohorts and two
      implementation conditions. RESULTS: The number of entries into care was the
      primary predictor of days-to-consent. This variable was significantly correlated
      to county size. System leader's perceptions of positive climate and
      organizational readiness for change also contributed to but did not mediate or
      moderate the days-to-consent. CONCLUSIONS: System leaders' decision to consider
      implementing a new evidence-based model was influenced most by their objective
      need for the program and next by their perception of the county's organizational
      climate and motivation to change. These findings highlight the importance of
      understanding the fit between the needs of the systems or agencies and the
      potential for addressing those needs with the proposed new program.

PMID- 20925948
TI  - Exercise rehabilitation on home-dwelling patients with Alzheimer's disease--a
      randomized, controlled trial. Study protocol.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Besides cognitive decline, Alzheimer's disease (AD) leads to physical
      disability, need for help and permanent institutional care. The trials
      investigating effects of exercise rehabilitation on physical functioning of home
      dwelling older dementia patients are still scarce. The aim of this study is to
      investigate the effectiveness of intensive exercise rehabilitation lasting for
      one year on mobility and physical functioning of home-dwelling patients with AD.
      METHODS: During years 2008-2010, patients with AD (n = 210) living with their
      spousal caregiver in community are recruited using central AD registers in
      Finland, and they are offered exercise rehabilitation lasting for one year. The
      patients are randomized into three arms: 1) tailored home-based exercise twice
      weekly 2) group-based exercise twice weekly in rehabilitation center 3) control
      group with usual care and information of exercise and nutrition. Main outcome
      measures will be Guralnik's mobility and balance tests and FIM-test to assess
      physical functioning. Secondary measures will be cognition, neuropsychiatric
      symptoms according to the Neuropsychiatric Inventory, caregivers' burden,
      depression and health-related quality of life (RAND-36). Data concerning
      admissions to institutional care and the use and costs of health and social
      services will be collected during a two year follow-up. DISCUSSION: To our
      knowledge this is the first large scale trial exploring whether home-dwelling
      patients with AD will benefit from intense and long-lasting exercise
      rehabilitation in respect to their mobility and physical functioning. It will
      also provide data on cost-effectiveness of the intervention. TRIAL REGISTRATION:
      ACTRN12608000037303.

PMID- 20925949
TI  - Dopaminergic reward system: a short integrative review.
AB  - Memory is an essential element to adaptive behavior since it allows
      consolidation of past experience guiding the subject to consider them in future
      experiences. Among the endogenous molecules that participate in the consolidation
      of memory, including the drug-seeking reward, considered as a form of learning,
      is dopamine. This neurotransmitter modulates the activity of specific brain
      nucleus such as nuclei accumbens, putamen, ventral tegmental area (VTA), among
      others and synchronizes the activity of these nuclei to establish the
      neurobiological mechanism to set the hedonic element of learning. We review the
      experimental evidence that highlights the activity of different brain nuclei
      modulating the mechanisms whereby dopamine biases memory towards events that are
      of motivational significance.

PMID- 20925950
TI  - Effects of dihydrocapsiate on adaptive and diet-induced thermogenesis with a high
      protein very low calorie diet: a randomized control trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Dihydrocapsiate (DCT) is a natural safe food ingredient which is
      structurally related to capsaicin from chili pepper and is found in the non
      pungent pepper strain, CH-19 Sweet. It has been shown to elicit the thermogenic
      effects of capsaicin but without its gastrointestinal side effects. METHODS: The
      present study was designed to examine the effects of DCT on both adaptive
      thermogenesis as the result of caloric restriction with a high protein very low
      calorie diet (VLCD) and to determine whether DCT would increase post-prandial
      energy expenditure (PPEE) in response to a 400 kcal/60 g protein liquid test
      meal. Thirty-three subjects completed an outpatient very low calorie diet (800
      kcal/day providing 120 g/day protein) over 4 weeks and were randomly assigned to
      receive either DCT capsules three times per day (3 mg or 9 mg) or placebo. At
      baseline and 4 weeks, fasting basal metabolic rate and PPEE were measured in a
      metabolic hood and fat free mass (FFM) determined using displacement
      plethysmography (BOD POD). RESULTS: PPEE normalized to FFM was increased
      significantly in subjects receiving 9 mg/day DCT by comparison to placebo (p <
      0.05), but decreases in resting metabolic rate were not affected. Respiratory
      quotient (RQ) increased by 0.04 in the placebo group (p < 0.05) at end of the 4
      weeks, but did not change in groups receiving DCT. CONCLUSIONS: These data
      provide evidence for postprandial increases in thermogenesis and fat oxidation
      secondary to administration of dihydrocapsiate. TRIAL REGISTRATION:
      clinicaltrial.govNCT01142687.

PMID- 20925951
TI  - Randomised phase I/II study to evaluate carbon ion radiotherapy versus
      fractionated stereotactic radiotherapy in patients with recurrent or progressive
      gliomas: the CINDERELLA trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Treatment of patients with recurrent glioma includes neurosurgical
      resection, chemotherapy, or radiation therapy. In most cases, a full course of
      radiotherapy has been applied after primary diagnosis, therefore application of
      re-irradiation has to be applied cauteously. With modern precision photon
      techniques such as fractionated stereotactic radiotherapy (FSRT), a second course
      of radiotherapy is safe and effective and leads to survival times of 22, 16 and 8
      months for recurrent WHO grade II, III and IV gliomas.Carbon ions offer physical
      and biological characteristics. Due to their inverted dose profile and the high
      local dose deposition within the Bragg peak precise dose application and sparing
      of normal tissue is possible. Moreover, in comparison to photons, carbon ions
      offer an increased relative biological effectiveness (RBE), which can be
      calculated between 2 and 5 depending on the GBM cell line as well as the endpoint
      analyzed. Protons, however, offer an RBE which is comparable to photons.First
      Japanese Data on the evaluation of carbon ion radiation therapy for the treatment
      of primary high-grade gliomas showed promising results in a small and
      heterogeneous patient collective. METHODS DESIGN: In the current Phase I/II
      CINDERELLA-trial re-irradiation using carbon ions will be compared to FSRT
      applied to the area of contrast enhancement representing high-grade tumor areas
      in patients with recurrent gliomas. Within the Phase I Part of the trial, the
      Recommended Dose (RD) of carbon ion radiotherapy will be determined in a dose
      escalation scheme. In the subsequent randomized Phase II part, the RD will be
      evaluated in the experimental arm, compared to the standard arm, FSRT with a
      total dose of 36 Gy in single doses of 2 Gy.Primary endpoint of the Phase I part
      is toxicity. Primary endpoint of the randomized part II is survival after re
      irradiation at 12 months, secondary endpoint is progression-free survival.
      DISCUSSION: The Cinderella trial is the first study to evaluate carbon ion
      radiotherapy for recurrent gliomas, and to compare this treatment to photon FSRT
      in a randomized setting using an ion beam delivered by intensity modulated
      rasterscanning. TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT01166308.

PMID- 20925952
TI  - A novel mutation in the sterol 27-hydroxylase gene of a woman with autosomal
      recessive cerebrotendinous xanthomatosis.
AB  - Mutations of the gene encoding the mitochondrial enzyme sterol 27-hydroxylase
      (CYP27A1 gene) cause defects in the cholesterol pathway to bile acids that lead
      to the storage of cholestanol and cholesterol in tendons, lenses and the central
      nervous system. This disorder is the cause of a clinical syndrome known as
      cerebrotendinous xanthomatosis (CTX). Since 1991 several mutations of the CYP27A1
      gene have been reported. We diagnosed the clinical features of CTX in a caucasian
      woman. Serum levels of cholestanol and 7alpha-hydroxycholesterol were elevated
      and the concentration of 27-hydroxycholesterol was reduced. Bile alcohols in the
      urine and faeces were increased. The analysis of the CYP27A1 gene showed that the
      patient was a compound heterozygote carrying two mutations both located in exon
      8. One mutation is a novel four nucleotide deletion (c.1330-1333delTTCC) that
      results in a frameshift and the occurrence of a premature stop codon leading to
      the formation of a truncated protein of 448 amino acids. The other mutation,
      previously reported, is a C - > T transition (c. c.1381C > T) that converts the
      glutamine codon at position 461 into a termination codon (p.Q461X). These
      truncated proteins are expected to have no biological function being devoid of
      the cysteine residue at position 476 of the normal enzyme that is crucial for
      heme binding and enzyme activity.

PMID- 20925953
TI  - A relational conceptual framework for multidisciplinary health research centre
      infrastructure.
AB  - Although multidisciplinary and team-based approaches are increasingly
      acknowledged as necessary to address some of the most pressing contemporary
      health challenges, many researchers struggle with a lack of infrastructure to
      facilitate and formalise the requisite collaborations. Specialised research
      centres have emerged as an important organisational solution, yet centre
      productivity and sustainability are frequently dictated by the availability and
      security of infrastructure funds.Despite being widely cited as a core component
      of research capacity building, infrastructure as a discrete concept has been
      rather analytically neglected, often treated as an implicit feature of research
      environments with little specification or relegated to a narrow category of
      physical or administrative inputs. The terms research infrastructure, capacity,
      and culture, among others, are deployed in overlapping and inconsistent ways,
      further obfuscating the crucial functions of infrastructure specifically and its
      relationships with associated concepts.The case is made for an expanded
      conceptualisation of research infrastructure, one that moves beyond conventional
      'hardware' notions. Drawing on a case analysis of NEXUS, a multidisciplinary
      health research centre based at the University of British Columbia, Canada, a
      conceptual framework is proposed that integrates the tangible and intangible
      structures that interactively underlie research centre functioning.A relational
      approach holds potential to allow for more comprehensive accounting of the
      returns on infrastructure investment. For those developing new research centres
      or seeking to reinvigorate existing ones, this framework may be a useful guide
      for both centre design and evaluation.

PMID- 20925955
TI  - Radioiodine remnant ablation of differentiated thyroid cancer does not further
      increase oxidative damage to membrane lipids - early effect.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Radioiodine (131I) therapy is widely accepted as an essential part
      of therapeutic regimens in many cases of differentiated thyroid cancer. Radiation
      induced oxidative damage to macromolecules is a well known phenomenon. Frequently
      examined process to evaluate oxidative damage to macromolecules is lipid
      peroxidation (LPO), resulting from oxidative damage to membrane lipids. The aim
      of the study was to examine serum LPO level in hypothyroid (after total
      thyroidectomy) cancer patients subjected to ablative activities of 131I.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was carried out in 21 patients (18 females and 3
      males, average age 52.4 +/- 16.5 years) after total thyroidectomy for papillary
      (17 patients) or follicular (4 patients) thyroid carcinoma. Hypothyroidism was
      confirmed by increased TSH blood concentration (BRAHMS, Germany), measured before
      131I therapy. Activity of 2.8 - 6.9 GBq of 131I was administered to the patients
      orally as sodium iodide (OBRI, Poland). Concentrations of malondialdehyde + 4
      hydroxyalkenals (MDA + 4-HDA), as an index of LPO (LPO-586 kit, Calbiochem, USA),
      were measured in blood serum just before 131I administration (day "0") and on the
      days 1-4 after 131I therapy. Sera from 23 euthyroid patients served as controls.
      Correlations between LPO and TSH or 131I activity were calculated. RESULTS:
      Expectedly, serum LPO level, when measured before 131I therapy, was several times
      higher (p < 0.00001) in cancer patients than in healthy subjects, which is
      probably due to hypothyroidism caused by total thyroidectomy. However, we did not
      observe any differences between LPO levels after and before 131I therapy. LPO did
      not correlate with TSH concentration. In turn, negative correlation was found
      between 131I activity and LPO level on the day "2" after radioiodine treatment.
      CONCLUSIONS: Radioiodine remnant ablation of differentiated thyroid cancer does
      not further increase oxidative damage to membrane lipids, at least early, after
      therapy.

PMID- 20925954
TI  - The origin of Eastern European Jews revealed by autosomal, sex chromosomal and
      mtDNA polymorphisms.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This study aims to establish the likely origin of EEJ (Eastern
      European Jews) by genetic distance analysis of autosomal markers and haplogroups
      on the X and Y chromosomes and mtDNA. RESULTS: According to the autosomal
      polymorphisms the investigated Jewish populations do not share a common origin,
      and EEJ are closer to Italians in particular and to Europeans in general than to
      the other Jewish populations. The similarity of EEJ to Italians and Europeans is
      also supported by the X chromosomal haplogroups. In contrast according to the Y
      chromosomal haplogroups EEJ are closest to the non-Jewish populations of the
      Eastern Mediterranean. MtDNA shows a mixed pattern, but overall EEJ are more
      distant from most populations and hold a marginal rather than a central position.
      The autosomal genetic distance matrix has a very high correlation (0.789) with
      geography, whereas the X-chromosomal, Y-chromosomal and mtDNA matrices have a
      lower correlation (0.540, 0.395 and 0.641 respectively). CONCLUSIONS: The close
      genetic resemblance to Italians accords with the historical presumption that
      Ashkenazi Jews started their migrations across Europe in Italy and with
      historical evidence that conversion to Judaism was common in ancient Rome. The
      reasons for the discrepancy between the biparental markers and the uniparental
      markers are discussed.

PMID- 20925956
TI  - Self-reported use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) products in
      topical treatment of diabetic foot disorders by diabetic patients in Jeddah,
      Western Saudi Arabia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is little published on current Saudi diabetic patients'
      practices when they are exposed to foot disorders such as open wound, ulcer, and
      skin cracks. These factors are usually influenced by local culture and
      communities beliefs. The aim of the current study was to identify the pattern of
      patients' use of CAM products in dealing with diabetic foot disorders topically
      in a group of diabetic patients. FINDINGS: A Cross-sectional descriptive study of
      a representative cohort of diabetic patients living in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia was
      designed. A pre-designed questionnaire to identify local diabetics' practices in
      dealing topically with foot disorders including open wound, chronic ulcer, and
      skin cracks was designed. Questionnaire was administered by a group of trained
      nutrition female students to diabetics face to face living in their neighborhood.
      A total of 1634 Saudi diabetics were interviewed. Foot disorders occurred in
      approximately two thirds of the respondents 1006 (61.6%). Out of the 1006
      patients who had foot disorders, 653 reported trying some sort of treatment as
      307 patients (47.1%) used conventional topical medical treatment alone, 142
      (21.7%) used CAM products alone, and 204 (31.2%) used both treatments. The most
      commonly used CAM product by the patients was Honey (56.6%) followed by
      Commiphora Molmol (Myrrh) in (37.4%) and Nigellia Sativa (Black seed) in (35.1%).
      The least to be used was Lawsonia inermis (Henna) in (12.1%). Ten common natural
      preparations used topically to treat diabetic foot disorders were also
      identified. CONCLUSIONS: The use of CAM products in topical treatment of diabetic
      foot disorders is fairly common among Saudi diabetic patients. Honey headed the
      list as a solo topical preparation or in combination with other herbs namely
      black seeds and myrrh. The efficacy of the most common products needs further
      research.

PMID- 20925957
TI  - Pharmacokinetic targeting of intravenous busulfan reduces conditioning regimen
      related toxicity following allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation for
      acute myelogenous leukemia.
AB  - Optimal conditioning therapy for hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) in
      acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) remains undefined. We retrospectively compared
      outcomes of a consecutive series of 51 AML patients treated with oral busulfan (1
      mg/kg every 6 hours for 4 days) and cyclophosphamide (60 mg/kg IV * 2 days) -
      (Bu/Cy) with 100 consecutive AML patients treated with pharmacokinetic targeted
      IV busulfan (AUC < 6000 MUM/L*min per day * 4 days) and fludarabine (40 mg/m2 * 4
      days) - (t-IV Bu/Flu). The Bu/Cy and t-IV Bu/Flu groups significantly differed
      according to donor relation, stem cell source, aGVHD prophylaxis, remission
      status, primary vs. secondary disease, median age, and % blasts prior to HCT (p <
      0.01 for each). Conditioning with t-IV Bu/Flu reduced early toxicity including
      idiopathic pneumonia syndrome (IPS) and hepatic veno-occlusive disease (VOD).
      Additionally, the trajectory of early NRM (100 day: 16% vs. 3%, and1 year: 25%
      vs. 15% for Bu/Cy and t-IV Bu/Flu, respectively) favored t-IV Bu/Flu. Grade II-IV
      aGVHD (48% vs. 82%, p < 0.0001), as well as moderate/severe cGVHD (7% vs. 40%, p
      < 0.0001) differed between the Bu/Cy and t-IV Bu/Flu groups, due to the
      predominance of peripheral blood stem cells in the t-IV Bu/Flu group.
      Pharmacokinetic targeting of intravenous busulfan in combination with fludarabine
      is associated with reduced conditioning regimen related toxicity compared to oral
      busulfan and cyclophosphamide. However, multivariable analysis did not
      demonstrate significant differences in overall survival (p = 0.78) or non-relapse
      mortality (p = 0.6) according to conditioning regimen delivered.

PMID- 20925958
TI  - WestREN: a description of an Irish academic general practice research network.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Primary care research networks have been established internationally
      since the 1960s to enable diverse practitioners to engage in and develop research
      and education and implement research evidence.The newly established Western
      Research and Education Network (WestREN) is one such network consisting of a
      collaboration between the Discipline of General Practice at NUI Galway and 71
      West of Ireland general practices. In September 2009 all member practices were
      issued with a questionnaire with two objectives: to describe the structure and
      characteristics of the member practices and to compare the results to the
      national profile of Irish general practice. METHODS: A postal survey was used
      followed by one written and one email reminder. RESULTS: A response rate of 73%
      (52/71) was achieved after two reminders.Half of practices were in a rural
      location, one quarter located in an urban setting and another quarter in a mixed
      location.Ninety-four per cent of general practitioners practice from purpose
      built or adapted premises with under 6% of practices being attached to the
      general practitioner's residence. Over 96% of general practitioners use
      appointment systems with 58% using appointment only.All practices surveyed were
      computerised, with 80% describing their practices as 'fully computerised'. Almost
      60% of general practitioners are coding chronic diagnoses with 20% coding
      individual consultations. Twenty-five per cent of general practitioners were
      single-handed with the majority of practices having at least two general
      practitioners, and a mean number of general practitioners of 2.4. Ninety-two per
      cent of practices employed a practice nurse with 30% employing more than one
      nurse.Compared to the national profile, WestREN practices appear somewhat larger,
      and more likely to be purpose-built and in rural areas. National trends apparent
      between 1982 and 1992, such as increasing computerisation and practice nurse
      availability, appear to be continuing. CONCLUSIONS: WestREN is a new university
      affiliated general practice research network in Ireland. Survey of its initial
      membership confirms WestREN practices to be broadly representative of the
      national profile and has provided us with valuable information on the current and
      changing structure of Irish general practice.

PMID- 20925959
TI  - The clinical potential of microRNAs.
AB  - MicroRNAs are small noncoding RNAs that function to control gene expression.
      These small RNAs have been shown to contribute to the control of cell growth,
      differentiation and apoptosis, important features related to cancer development
      and progression. In fact, recent studies have shown the utility of microRNAs as
      cancer-related biomarkers. This is due to the finding that microRNAs display
      altered expression profiles in cancers versus normal tissue. In addition,
      microRNAs have been associated with cancer progression. In this review, the
      mechanisms to alter microRNA expression and their relation to cancer will be
      addressed. Moreover, the potential application of microRNAs in clinical settings
      will also be highlighted. Finally, the challenges regarding the translation of
      research involving microRNAs to the clinical realm will be discussed.

PMID- 20925960
TI  - Dynamic, mating-induced gene expression changes in female head and brain tissues
      of Drosophila melanogaster.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Drosophila melanogaster females show changes in behavior and
      physiology after mating that are thought to maximize the number of progeny
      resulting from the most recent copulation. Sperm and seminal fluid proteins
      induce post-mating changes in females, however, very little is known about the
      resulting gene expression changes in female head and central nervous system
      tissues that contribute to the post-mating response. RESULTS: We determined the
      temporal gene expression changes in female head tissues 0-2, 24, 48 and 72 hours
      after mating. Females from each time point had a unique post-mating gene
      expression response, with 72 hours post-mating having the largest number of genes
      with significant changes in expression. At most time points, genes expressed in
      the head fat body that encode products involved in metabolism showed a marked
      change in expression. Additional analysis of gene expression changes in dissected
      brain tissues 24 hours post-mating revealed changes in transcript abundance of
      many genes, notably, the reduced transcript abundance of genes that encode ion
      channels. CONCLUSIONS: Substantial changes occur in the regulation of many genes
      in female head tissues after mating, which might underlie aspects of the female
      post-mating response. These results provide new insights into the physiological
      and metabolic changes that accompany changes in female behaviors.

PMID- 20925961
TI  - Development of an EGFRvIII specific recombinant antibody.
AB  - BACKGROUND: EGF receptor variant III (EGFRvIII) is the most common variant of the
      EGF receptor observed in human tumors. It results from the in frame deletion of
      exons 2-7 and the generation of a novel glycine residue at the junction of exons
      1 and 8. This novel juxtaposition of amino acids within the extra-cellular domain
      of the EGF receptor creates a tumor specific and immunogenic epitope. EGFRvIII
      expression has been seen in many tumor types including glioblastoma multiforme
      (GBM), breast adenocarcinoma, non-small cell lung carcinoma, ovarian
      adenocarcinoma and prostate cancer, but has been rarely observed in normal
      tissue. Because this variant is tumor specific and highly immunogenic, it can be
      used for both a diagnostic marker as well as a target for immunotherapy.
      Unfortunately many of the monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies directed against
      EGFRvIII have cross reactivity to wild type EGFR or other non-specific proteins.
      Furthermore, a monoclonal antibody to EGFRvIII is not readily available to the
      scientific community. RESULTS: In this study, we have developed a recombinant
      antibody that is specific for EGFRvIII, has little cross reactivity for the wild
      type receptor, and which can be easily produced. We initially designed a
      recombinant antibody with two anti-EGFRvIII single chain Fv's linked together and
      a human IgG1 Fc component. To enhance the specificity of this antibody for
      EGFRvIII, we mutated tyrosine H59 of the CDRH2 domain and tyrosine H105 of the
      CDRH3 domain to phenylalanine for both the anti-EGFRvIII sequence inserts. This
      mutated recombinant antibody, called RAb(DMvIII), specifically detects EGFRvIII
      expression in EGFRvIII expressing cell lines as well as in EGFRvIII expressing
      GBM primary tissue by western blot, immunohistochemistry (IHC) and
      immunofluorescence (IF) and FACS analysis. It does not recognize wild type EGFR
      in any of these assays. The affinity of this antibody for EGFRvIII peptide is 1.7
      * 107 M-1 as determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). CONCLUSION:
      This recombinant antibody thus holds great potential to be used as a research
      reagent and diagnostic tool in research laboratories and clinics because of its
      high quality, easy viability and unique versatility. This antibody is also a
      strong candidate to be investigated for further in vivo therapeutic studies.

PMID- 20925963
TI  - HER2 testing on core needle biopsy specimens from primary breast cancers:
      interobserver reproducibility and concordance with surgically resected specimens.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Accurate evaluation of human epidermal growth factor receptor type-2
      (HER2) status based on core needle biopsy (CNB) specimens is mandatory for
      identification of patients with primary breast cancer who will benefit from
      primary systemic therapy with trastuzumab. The aim of the present study was to
      validate the application of HER2 testing with CNB specimens from primary breast
      cancers in terms of interobserver reproducibility and comparison with surgically
      resected specimens. METHODS: A total of 100 pairs of archival formalin-fixed
      paraffin-embedded CNB and surgically resected specimens of invasive breast
      carcinomas were cut into sections. All 100 paired sections were subjected to HER2
      testing by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and 27 paired sections were subjected to
      that by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), the results being evaluated by
      three and two observers, respectively. Interobserver agreement levels in terms of
      judgment and the concordance of consensus scores between CNB samples and the
      corresponding surgically resected specimens were estimated as the percentage
      agreement and kappa statistic. RESULTS: In CNB specimens, the percentage
      interobserver agreement of HER2 scoring by IHC was 76% (kappa = 0.71) for 3 * 3
      categories (0-1+ versus 2+ versus 3+) and 90% (kappa = 0.80) for 2 * 2 categories
      (0-2+ versus 3+). These levels were close to the corresponding ones for the
      surgically resected specimens: 80% (kappa = 0.77) for 3 * 3 categories and 92%
      (kappa = 0.88) for 2 * 2 categories. Concordance of consensus for HER2 scores
      determined by IHC between CNB and the corresponding surgical specimens was 87%
      (kappa = 0.77) for 3 * 3 categories, and 94% (kappa = 0.83) for 2 * 2 categories.
      Among the 13 tumors showing discordance in the mean IHC scores between the CNB
      and surgical specimens, the results of consensus for FISH results were concordant
      in 11. The rate of successful FISH analysis and the FISH positivity rate in cases
      with a HER2 IHC score of 2+ differed among specimens processed at different
      institutions. CONCLUSION: It is mandatory to study HER2 on breast cancers, and
      either CNB or surgical specimen can be used.

PMID- 20925962
TI  - Treatment results for hypopharyngeal cancer by different treatment strategies and
      its secondary primary--an experience in Taiwan.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to evaluate treatment results in our
      hypopharyngeal cancer patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of three hundred
      and ninety five hypopharyngeal cancer patients received radical treatment at our
      hospital; 96% were male. The majority were habitual smokers (88%), alcohol
      drinkers (73%) and/or betel quid chewers (51%). All patients received a CT scan
      or MRI for tumor staging before treatment. The stage distribution was stage I: 2
      (0.5%); stage II: 22 (5.6%); stage III: 57 (14.4%) and stage IV: 314 (79.5%).
      Radical surgery was used first in 81 patients (20.5%), and the remaining patients
      (79.5%) received organ preservation-intended treatment (OPIT). In the OPIT group,
      46 patients received radiotherapy alone, 156 patients received chemotherapy
      followed by radiotherapy (CT/RT) and 112 patients received concomitant chemo
      radiotherapy (CCRT). RESULTS: The five-year overall survival rates for stages
      I/II, III and IV were 49.5%, 47.4% and 18.6%, respectively. There was no
      significant difference in overall and disease-specific survival rates between
      patients who received radical surgery first and those who received OPIT. In the
      OPIT group, CCRT tended to preserve the larynx better (p = 0.088), with three
      year larynx preservation rates of 44.8% for CCRT and 27.2% for CT/RT. Thirty
      seven patients developed a second malignancy, with an annual incidence of 4.6%.
      CONCLUSIONS: There was no survival difference between OPIT and radical surgery in
      hypopharyngeal cancer patients at our hospital. CCRT may offer better laryngeal
      preservation than RT alone or CT/RT. However, prospective studies are still
      needed to confirm this finding. Additionally, second primary cancers are another
      important issue for hypopharyngeal cancer management.

PMID- 20925964
TI  - Over-expression of HO-1 on mesenchymal stem cells promotes angiogenesis and
      improves myocardial function in infarcted myocardium.
AB  - Heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) is a stress-inducible enzyme with diverse cytoprotective
      effects, and reported to have an important role in angiogenesis recently. Here we
      investigated whether HO-1 transduced by mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) can induce
      angiogenic effects in infarcted myocardium. HO-1 was transfected into cultured
      MSCs using an adenoviral vector. 1 * 106 Ad-HO-1-transfected MSCs (HO-1-MSCs) or
      Ad-Null-transfected MSCs (Null-MSCs) or PBS was respectively injected into rat
      hearts intramyocardially at 1 h post-myocardial infarction. The results showed
      that HO-1-MSCs were able to induce stable expression of HO-1 in vitro and in
      vivo. The capillary density and expression of angiogenic growth factors, VEGF and
      FGF2 were significantly enhanced in HO-1-MSCs-treated hearts compared with Null
      MSCs-treated and PBS-treated hearts. However, the angiogenic effects of HO-1 were
      abolished by treating the animals with HO inhibitor, zinc protoporphyrin. The
      myocardial apoptosis was marked reduced with significantly reduced fibrotic area
      in HO-1-MSCs-treated hearts; Furthermore, the cardiac function and remodeling
      were also significantly improved in HO-1-MSCs-treated hearts. Our current
      findings support the premise that HO-1 transduced by MSCs can induce angiogenic
      effects and improve heart function after acute myocardial infarction.

PMID- 20925965
TI  - Application of tumor-node-metastasis staging 2002 version in locally advanced
      hepatocellular carcinoma: is it predictive of surgical outcome?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Locally advanced (pT3-4N0M0) hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a
      heterogeneous group of tumors, which consists of four different categories,
      including HCC with "multiple tumors more than 5 cm", "major vascular invasion",
      "invasion of adjacent organs", and "perforation of visceral peritoneum". The aim
      of our study was to verify whether the 2002 version of the Tumor-Node-Metastasis
      staging system could predict surgical outcomes in patients with locally advanced
      HCC. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed 298 patients with pT3-4N0M0 HCC who
      underwent hepatic resection from 1993 to 2000 in an academic tertiary hospital.
      Overall survival (OS) and cumulative recurrence rate (CRR) of the four categories
      of locally advanced HCC patients were compared. RESULTS: In multivariate
      analysis, major vascular invasion was identified as the most significant factor
      (HR = 3.291, 95% CI 2.362-4.584, P < 0.001) followed by cirrhosis status on OS,
      and was found to be the only independent factor of CRR (HR = 2.242, 95% CI 1.811
      3.358, P < 0.001) in patients with locally advanced HCC. Among the four
      categories of locally advanced HCC, OS was significantly worse, and CRR was
      significantly higher in patients with HCC with major vascular invasion (pT3) than
      with multiple tumors more than 5 cm (pT3); or tumor invasion of adjacent organs
      (pT4); or perforation of visceral peritoneum (pT4). No significant differences
      were observed in OS or CRR between the latter three groups of patients.
      CONCLUSIONS: HCC with major vascular invasion, which are classified as pT3 under
      the current TNM staging, have the worst prognosis when compared with the other
      categories of pT3-4 disease. There is a need to redefine the T classification and
      to stratify locally advanced HCC.

PMID- 20925966
TI  - Rationale, design, and results of the first screening round of a comprehensive,
      register-based, Chlamydia screening implementation programme in the Netherlands.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Implementing Chlamydia trachomatis screening in the Netherlands has
      been a point of debate for several years. The National Health Council advised
      against implementing nationwide screening until additional data collected from a
      pilot project in 2003 suggested that screening by risk profiles could be
      effective. A continuous increase in infections recorded in the national
      surveillance database affirmed the need for a more active approach. Here, we
      describe the rationale, design, and implementation of a Chlamydia screening
      demonstration programme. METHODS: A systematic, selective, internet-based
      Chlamydia screening programme started in April 2008. Letters are sent annually to
      all 16 to 29-year-old residents of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and selected
      municipalities of South Limburg. The letters invite sexually active persons to
      login to http://www.chlamydiatest.nl with a personal code and to request a test
      kit. In the lower prevalence area of South Limburg, test kits can only be
      requested if the internet-based risk assessment exceeds a predefined value.
      RESULTS: We sent invitations to 261,025 people in the first round. One-fifth of
      the invitees requested a test kit, of whom 80% sent in a sample for testing. The
      overall positivity rate was 4.2%. CONCLUSIONS: This programme advances Chlamydia
      control activities in the Netherlands. Insight into the feasibility,
      effectiveness, cost-effectiveness, and impact of this large-scale screening
      programme will determine whether the programme will be implemented nationally.

PMID- 20925968
TI  - International Society of Sports Nutrition: 7th Annual ISSN Conference and Expo
      Clearwater Beach, FL, USA. 24-26 June 2010. Abstracts.

PMID- 20925967
TI  - Singling out genetic disorders and disease.
AB  - Preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) involves testing of single cells biopsied
      from oocytes and/or embryos generated in vitro. As only embryos unaffected for a
      given genetic condition are transferred to the uterus, it avoids prenatal
      diagnosis and termination of pregnancy. Follow-up data from PGD pregnancies,
      deliveries and children show an acceptable live birth rate and, so far, no
      detrimental effects of the procedure have been observed. Of course, the long-term
      health outcome is currently unknown. PGD was first performed in 1990 and remained
      an experimental procedure for a number of years. Now, two decades later, it is
      regarded as an established alternative to prenatal diagnosis: its use has
      expanded, the range of applications has broadened, and continuous technical
      progress in single-cell testing has led to high levels of efficiency and
      accuracy. The current gold standard methods (single-cell multiplex-PCR for
      monogenic diseases and interphase fluorescence in situ hybridization for
      chromosomal aberrations) are being replaced by single-cell whole genome
      amplification and array technology. These generalized methods substantially
      reduce the pre-PGD workload and allow more automated genome-wide analysis. The
      implementation of laboratory accreditation schemes brings the field at the same
      level of routine diagnostics. This article reviews the state of the art and
      considers indications, accuracy and current technical changes in the field of
      PGD.

PMID- 20925969
TI  - Cannabis use at a young age is associated with psychotic experiences.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cannabis use is associated with psychosis and a range of subclinical
      psychiatric symptoms. The strength of this association depends on dosage and age
      at first use. The current study investigates whether level of cannabis exposure
      and starting age are associated with specific profiles of subclinical symptoms.
      METHOD: We collected cross-sectional data from a young adult population sample by
      administering an online version of the Community Assessment of Psychic
      Experiences (CAPE). Cannabis exposure was quantified as the amount of Euros spent
      on cannabis per week and the age of initial cannabis use. The primary outcome
      measure was the odds ratio (OR) to belong to the highest 10% of scores on the
      total CAPE and the positive-, negative- and depressive symptom dimensions.
      RESULTS: In 17 698 adolescents (mean age 21.6, s.d.=4.2 years), cannabis use at
      age 12 years or younger was strongly associated with a top 10% score on psychotic
      experiences [OR 3.1, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.1-4.3] and to a lesser degree
      with negative symptoms (OR 1.7, 95% CI 1.1-2.5). The OR of heavy users
      (>?25/week) for negative symptoms was 3.4 (95% CI 2.9-4.1), for psychotic
      experiences 3.0 (95% CI 2.4-3.6), and for depressive symptoms 2.8 (95% CI 2.3
      3.3). CONCLUSIONS: Early start of cannabis use is strongly associated with
      subclinical psychotic symptoms and to a lesser degree with negative symptoms,
      while smoking high amounts of cannabis is associated with increased levels of all
      three symptom dimensions: psychotic, negative and depressive. These results
      support the hypothesis that the impact of cannabis use is age specific.

PMID- 20925970
TI  - Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation reduces cortisol concentrations in
      bulimic disorders.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In people with bulimic eating disorders, exposure to high-calorie
      foods can result in increases in food craving, raised subjective stress and
      salivary cortisol concentrations. This cue-induced food craving can be reduced by
      repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS). We investigated whether rTMS
      has a similar effect on salivary cortisol concentrations, a measure of
      hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPAA) activity. METHOD: We enrolled twenty
      two female participants who took part in a double-blind randomized sham
      controlled trial on the effects of rTMS on food craving. Per group, eleven
      participants were randomized to the real or sham rTMS condition. The intervention
      consisted of one session of high-frequency rTMS delivered to the left
      dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). Salivary cortisol concentrations were
      assessed at four time points throughout the 90-min trial. To investigate
      differences in post-rTMS concentrations between the real and sham rTMS groups, a
      random-effects model including the pre-rTMS cortisol concentrations as covariates
      was used. RESULTS: Salivary cortisol concentrations following real rTMS were
      significantly lower compared with those following sham rTMS. In this sample,
      there was also a trend for real rTMS to reduce food craving more than sham rTMS.
      CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that rTMS applied to the left DLPFC alters
      HPAA activity in people with a bulimic disorder.

PMID- 20925971
TI  - The heterogeneity of antipsychotic response in the treatment of schizophrenia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Schizophrenia is a heterogeneous disorder in terms of patient
      response to antipsychotic treatment. Understanding the heterogeneity of treatment
      response may help to guide treatment decisions. This study was undertaken to
      capture inherent patterns of response to antipsychotic treatment in patients with
      schizophrenia, characterize the subgroups of patients with similar courses of
      response, and examine illness characteristics at baseline as possible predictors
      of response. METHOD: Growth mixture modeling (GMM) was applied to data from a
      randomized, double-blind, 12-week study of 628 patients with schizophrenia or
      schizo-affective disorder treated with risperidone or olanzapine. RESULTS: Four
      distinct response trajectories based on Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale
      (PANSS) total score over 12 weeks were identified: Class 1 (420 patients, 80.6%)
      with moderate average baseline PANSS total score showing gradual symptom
      improvement; Class 2 (65 patients, 12.5%) showing rapid symptom improvement;
      Class 3 (24 patients, 4.6%) with high average baseline PANSS total score showing
      gradual symptom improvement; and Class 4 (12 patients, 2.3%) showing unsustained
      symptom improvement. Latent class membership of early responders (ER) and early
      non-responders (ENR) was determined based on 20% symptom improvement criteria at
      2 weeks and ultimate responders (UR) and ultimate non-responders (UNR) based on
      40% symptom improvement criteria at 12 weeks. Baseline factors with potential
      influence on latent class membership were identified. CONCLUSIONS: This study
      identified four distinct treatment response patterns with predominant
      representation of responders or non-responders to treatment in these classes.
      This heterogeneity may represent discrete endophenotypes of response to treatment
      with different etiologic underpinnings.

PMID- 20925972
TI  - A randomized trial of unilateral and bilateral prefrontal cortex transcranial
      magnetic stimulation in treatment-resistant major depression.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although several studies have reported that repetitive transcranial
      magnetic stimulation (rTMS) treatment has demonstrable efficacy in patients with
      depression, the parameters needed to optimize therapeutic efficacy remain
      unclear. To this end we determined the efficacy of low-frequency right rTMS to
      the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) compared to two forms of bilateral
      rTMS to the DLPFC: (1) sequential low-frequency right-sided followed by high
      frequency left-sided rTMS and (2) sequential low-frequency rTMS to both
      hemispheres. METHOD: A total of 219 patients with treatment-resistant depression
      (TRD) were randomized to a 4-week course of rTMS applied with one of the three
      treatment conditions. Outcomes were assessed with standard rating scales.
      RESULTS: Overall, slightly more than 50% of the patients achieved clinical
      response criteria. There was no substantial difference in response between the
      unilateral and bilateral treatment groups. Successful response to rTMS was
      predicted by a greater degree of baseline depression severity. CONCLUSIONS: There
      is no substantial difference in efficacy between unilateral right-sided rTMS and
      the two forms of bilateral rTMS assessed in the study. Furthermore, our results
      call into question the specificity between frequency and laterality and rTMS
      response.

PMID- 20925975
TI  - Dynamics within site selectively templated and tagged xerogel sensor platforms.
AB  - In a nitrobenzo-2-oxa-1,3-diazole (NBD) -based, 9-anthrol-responsive site
      selectively templated and tagged xerogel (SSTTX) sensor platform, there are two
      reporter molecule site types (responsive and non-responsive) that are responsible
      for the observed fluorescence signals. These NBD sites function independently.
      Site 1 alone binds the target analyte and yields an analyte-dependent signal.
      This signal arises from analyte binding decreasing the photo-induced electron
      transfer (PET) efficiency between a strategically placed amine residue and the
      excited NBD reporter molecule within the template site. Site 2 does not respond
      to analyte, it is not fully formed, and it manifests itself as a background
      signal. In an n-octyl residue-free SSTTX, the local microviscosity sensed by the
      site 1 NBD reporter molecules in the absence and presence of target analyte is
      ~260 cP and ~540 cP, respectively. These local microviscosity values are
      substantially greater in comparison to free NBD dissolved in THF (eta = 0.46 cP
      at 298 K, phi ~25 ps). As the SSTTX n-octyl content is increased, the local
      microviscosity sensed by the site 1 NBD reporter molecules in the absence and
      presence of target analyte is ~360 cP and ~760 cP, respectively. This behavior is
      consistent with the n-octyl chains crowding the cybotactic region surrounding the
      site 1 NBD reporter molecules. This n-octyl-induced site 1 "crowding" is also
      associated with improved analyte binding to site 1 and better overall SSTTX
      analytical performance.

PMID- 20925976
TI  - Drop coating deposition Raman spectroscopy of fluorescein isothiocyanate labeled
      protein.
AB  - Using bovine serum albumin (BSA) as the model protein, normal Raman spectra of
      fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) conjugated protein were systematically studied
      for the first time using both solution and the drop coating deposition Raman
      (DCDR) sampling techniques. The FITC-BSA Raman spectra are dominated by the FITC
      Raman features that are strongly pH dependent. Current DCDR detection sensitivity
      obtained with a 10:1 FITC-BSA conjugate is 45 fmol in terms of total protein
      consumption and ~15 attomol at laser probed volume. Unlike the FITC-BSA solution
      Raman spectra, where the FITC Raman features are photostable, concurrent FITC
      fluorescence and Raman photobleaching is observed in the DCDR spectra of FITC
      BSA. While the FITC Raman photobleaching follows a single exponential decay
      function with a time constant independent of the FITC labeling ratio, the
      fluorescence background photobleaching is much more complicated and it depends
      strongly on the FITC labeling ratio and sample conditions. Mechanistically, the
      FITC Raman photobleaching is believed to be due to photochemical reaction of the
      FITC molecules in the electronically excited state. The FITC fluorescence
      photobleaching involves both concentration quenching and photochemical quenching,
      and the latter may involve a photochemical intermediate that is fluorescence
      inactive but Raman active.

PMID- 20925977
TI  - First steps of in situ surface-enhanced Raman scattering during shipboard
      experiments.
AB  - It is shown that the surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) technique can be
      applied to detect organic molecules during in situ experiments. To this purpose,
      we used trans-1,2-bis(4-pyridyl)ethylene (BPE) as a target molecule. Adsorbed on
      the SERS chemosensor surface and excited under laser, the vibration modes of the
      molecules can be identified. SERS chemosensors are based on quartz substrates
      functionalized by silanization and partially coated with gold nanoparticles. SERS
      measurements during shipboard experiments were made with a home-made in situ
      Raman spectrometer connected to a marinized micro-fluidic system. The device was
      designed to host chemosensors in order to ensure measurements with a flow cell. A
      theoretical limit of detection was estimated in the range of picomolar (pM)
      concentrations based on Freundlich isotherm calculations.

PMID- 20925978
TI  - Chemical reduction method for preparation of silver nanoparticles on a silver
      chloride substrate for application in surface-enhanced infrared optical sensors.
AB  - A new method for the preparation of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) on silver
      chloride discs was developed to integrate the unique properties of plasmonic
      nanoparticles into infrared optical sensing technologies. AgNP layers exhibiting
      strong infrared surface enhancement were prepared by reacting silver chloride
      discs in a solution containing hydrazine, which acts as a reducing agent. The
      silver ions in the outer layer of the disc could be reduced under proper
      conditions and the reduced silver coagulated to form suitable AgNPs for surface
      enhanced infrared absorption (SEIRA) measurements. To examine the influences of
      the reaction solution composition and also to optimize preparation of SEIRA
      substrates, factors such as pH value, reaction time, and concentration of
      reducing agent were examined. Results indicated that both the concentrations of
      hydrazine and hydroxide strongly influenced the SEIRA signals. The strongest
      signals were observed when AgNPs on a AgCl substrate were prepared by using a
      reducing solution of 20 mM NaOH with 0.75 mM hydrazine. Using the optimized
      substrates, intense SEIRA spectra were observed with an enhancement factor around
      two orders of magnitude compared to measurements made using conventional sampling
      techniques.

PMID- 20925979
TI  - A study of glutathione molecules adsorbed on silver surfaces under different
      chemical environments by surface-enhanced Raman scattering in combination with
      the heat-induced sensing method.
AB  - In this study, surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) in combination with a
      heat-induced sensing technique has been applied for investigating molecular
      orientations of glutathione molecules adsorbed on silver colloidal nanoparticles
      under different chemical environments, which has enabled us to further study how
      glutathione molecules are adsorbed on the silver surfaces. Factors that may
      affect the configurations of glutathione molecules adsorbed on the silver
      nanocolloids have been investigated. By observing the relative enhancement
      factors of SERS bands due to individual functional groups contributed from
      different terminals, the affinity between the different functional groups of
      glutathione and the silver surfaces under different conditions has been sorted
      and the orientations of glutathione molecules adsorbed on the silver surfaces
      have been investigated.

PMID- 20925980
TI  - Qualitative analysis using Raman spectroscopy and chemometrics: a comprehensive
      model system for narcotics analysis.
AB  - The rapid, on-site identification of illicit narcotics, such as cocaine, is
      hindered by the diverse nature of the samples, which can contain a large variety
      of materials in a wide concentration range. This sample variance has a very
      strong influence on the analytical methodologies that can be utilized and in
      general prevents the widespread use of quantitative analysis of illicit narcotics
      on a routine basis. Raman spectroscopy, coupled with chemometric methods, can be
      used for in situ qualitative and quantitative analysis of illicit narcotics;
      however, careful consideration must be given to dealing with the extensive
      variety of sample types. To assess the efficacy of combining Raman spectroscopy
      and chemometrics for the identification of a target analyte under real-world
      conditions, a large-scale model sample system (633 samples) using a target
      (acetaminophen) mixed with a wide variety of excipients was created. Materials
      that exhibit problematic factors such as fluorescence, variable Raman scattering
      intensities, and extensive peak overlap were included to challenge the efficacy
      of chemometric data preprocessing and classification methods. In contrast to
      spectral matching analyte identification approaches, we have taken a chemometric
      classification model-based approach to account for the wide variances in spectral
      data. The first derivative of the Raman spectra from the fingerprint region (750
      1900 cm(-1)) yielded the best classifications. Using a robust segmented cross
      validation method, correct classification rates of better than ~90% could be
      attained with regression-based classification, compared to ~35% for SIMCA. This
      study demonstrates that even with very high degrees of sample variance, as
      evidenced by dramatic changes in Raman spectra, it is possible to obtain
      reasonably reliable identification using a combination of Raman spectroscopy and
      chemometrics. The model sample set can now be used to validate more advanced
      chemometric or machine learning algorithms being developed for the identification
      of analytes such as illicit narcotics.

PMID- 20925981
TI  - Characterization of automotive paint clear coats by ultraviolet absorption
      microspectrophotometry with subsequent chemometric analysis.
AB  - Clear coats have been a staple in automobile paints for almost thirty years and
      are of forensic interest when comparing transferred and native paints. However,
      the ultraviolet (UV) absorbers in these paint layers are not typically
      characterized using UV microspectrophotometry, nor are the results studied using
      multivariate statistical methods. In this study, measurements were carried out by
      UV microspectrophotometry on 71 samples from American and Australian automobiles,
      with subsequent chemometric analysis of the absorbance spectra. Sample
      preparation proved to be vital in obtaining accurate absorbance spectra and a
      method involving peeling the clear coat layer and not using a mounting medium was
      preferred. Agglomerative hierarchical clustering indicated three main groups of
      spectra, corresponding to spectra with one, two, and three maxima. Principal
      components analysis confirmed this clustering and the factor loadings indicated
      that a substantial proportion of the variance in the data set originated from
      specific spectral regions (230-265 nm, 275-285 nm, and 300-370 nm). The three
      classes were well differentiated using discriminant analysis, where the cross
      validation accuracy was 91.6% and the external validation accuracy was 81.1%.
      However, results showed no correlation between the make, model, and year of the
      automobiles.

PMID- 20925982
TI  - Interactions of vitamin K3 with herring-sperm DNA using spectroscopy and
      electrochemistry.
AB  - By means of ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) and fluorescence spectra, the binding
      ratio between vitamin K(3) and herring-sperm DNA in a physiological pH
      environment (pH = 7.40) was determined as n(K3):n(DNA) = 2:1, and the binding
      constants of vitamin K(3) binding to DNA at different temperatures were
      determined as K(theta)(298K) = 1.28 * 10(5) L.mol(-1) and K(theta)(310K) = 7.19 *
      10(4) L.mol(-1), which were confirmed using the double reciprocal method are
      Delta(r)H(m)(theta) = -3.57 * 10(4) J.mol(-1), Delta(r)G(m)(theta) = -2.92 *
      10(4) J.mol(-1), and Delta(r)S(m)(theta) = 217.67 J.mol(-1)K(-1). The driving
      power of this process was enthalpy. An intercalation binding of the vitamin K(3)
      with DNA was supported by a competitive experiment using acridine orange (AO) as
      a spectral probe. By combination analysis of the Scatchard method and cyclic
      voltammetry, we suggested that the interaction mode between vitamin K(3) and
      herring-sperm DNA would be a mixed mode. The quinonoid, duality fused-ring of
      vitamin K(3) can intercalate into the base pairs of DNA, and there is an
      electrostatic binding along with intercalation binding.

PMID- 20925983
TI  - Association of indigo with zeolites for improved color stabilization.
AB  - The durability of an organic color and its resistance against external chemical
      agents and exposure to light can be significantly enhanced by hybridizing the
      natural dye with a mineral. In search for stable natural pigments, the present
      work focuses on the association of indigo blue with several zeolitic matrices
      (LTA zeolite, mordenite, MFI zeolite). The manufacturing of the hybrid pigment is
      tested under varying oxidizing conditions, using Raman and ultraviolet-visible
      (UV-Vis) spectrometric techniques. Blending indigo with MFI is shown to yield the
      most stable composite in all of our artificial indigo pigments. In the absence of
      defects and substituted cations such as aluminum in the framework of the MFI
      zeolite matrix, we show that matching the pore size with the dimensions of the
      guest indigo molecule is the key factor. The evidence for the high color
      stability of indigo@MFI opens a new path for modeling the stability of indigo in
      various alumino-silicate substrates such as in the historical Maya Blue pigment.

PMID- 20925984
TI  - Self-consistent algorithm for calibrating spectrometers to picometer accuracy
      over the entire wavelength range.
AB  - Spectrometer calibration accuracies are of high importance for a wide range of
      applications. Typically, one calibrates the spectrometer with a calibration lamp,
      providing distinct and well-defined calibration lines. However, for small
      spectral ranges, where only two calibration lines are present, the calibration
      becomes inaccurate. We present a high-precision nonlinear wavelength calibration
      method, which is based on two or more reference lines from a calibration lamp.
      The additional key element introduced is a Fabry-Perot multilayer structure that
      yields multiple sharp transmission maxima of similar intensity over the full
      spectrometer range under broad-band illumination (e.g., white-light source). An
      iterative algorithm is put forward to obtain a self-consistent calibration of
      picometer precision over the full spectrometer range. In regions distant from
      calibration lines the accuracy is enhanced by at least a factor of two compared
      to conventional methods.

PMID- 20925985
TI  - Numerical correction of detector channel cross-talk using full-spectrum
      fluorescence correlation spectroscopy.
AB  - Fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) uses fluctuations in the fluorescence
      collected from a small illuminated volume to measure dynamic processes of
      fluorophores. In traditional FCS, spectral overlap produces cross-talk in
      dedicated detector channels, undermining the accuracy of measurements of
      molecular interactions. Here, the experimental realization of full-spectrum
      fluorescence correlation spectroscopy is described and coupled with multivariate
      data analysis to numerically correct detector cross-talk, isolating spectra and
      fluctuation traces of mixture components in spite of overlap. Application of this
      methodology is illustrated using the measurement of the diffusion constant of
      labeled polystyrene in hydroxypropyl cellulose in the presence of a persistent
      dye. Additionally, the results show that full-spectrum FCS with multivariate
      analysis can isolate and characterize signals from unanticipated sample
      components.

PMID- 20925986
TI  - Sensitive chemiluminescence determination of thirteen cephalosporin antibiotics
      with luminol-copper(II) reaction.
AB  - A new chemiluminescence reaction, the luminol-Cu(2+) reaction, was investigated
      for the determination of thirteen (13) cephalosporin antibiotics, namely
      cefalexin, cefadroxil, cefradine, cefazolin sodium, cefaclor, cefuroxime axetil,
      cefotaxime sodium, cefoperazone sodium, ceftriaxone sodium, ceftazidime,
      cefetamet pivoxil hydrochloride, cefixime, and cefpodoxime. It was found that,
      without adding any special oxidant, strong chemiluminescent (CL) signal could be
      produced from the reaction of the alkaline luminol with the above-mentioned
      antibiotics in the presence of Cu(2+). The experimental conditions for the
      reaction were carefully optimized with flow-injection mode. The detection limits
      are 0.3 ng/mL cefalexin, 3 ng/mL cefadroxil, 0.3 ng/mL cefradine, 0.02 MUg/mL
      cefazolin sodium, 0.8 ng/mL cefaclor, 0.02 MUg/mL cefuroxime axetil, 5 ng/mL
      cefotaxime sodium, 0.02 MUg/mL cefoperazone sodium, 0.8 ng/mL ceftriaxone sodium,
      1 ng/mL ceftazidime, 0.08 ng/mL cefetamet pivoxil hydrochloride, 0.8 ng/mL
      cefixime, and 2 ng/mL cefpodoxime. The proposed method was validated by direct
      application to commercial formulations and spiked milk samples containing
      cefradine. A possible reaction mechanism is also discussed.

PMID- 20925987
TI  - Nondestructive assessment of engineered cartilage constructs using near-infrared
      spectroscopy.
AB  - Noninvasive assessment of engineered cartilage properties would enable better
      control of the developing tissue towards the desired structural and compositional
      endpoints through optimization of the biochemical environment in real time. The
      objective of this study is to assess the matrix constituents of cartilage using
      near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS), a technique that permits full-depth assessment
      of developing engineered tissue constructs. Mid-infrared (mid-IR) and NIR data
      were acquired from full-thickness cartilage constructs that were grown up to 4
      weeks with and without mechanical stimulation. Correlations were assessed between
      established mid-IR peak areas that reflect the relative amount of collagen (amide
      I, amide II, and 1338 cm(-1)) and proteoglycan (PG), (850 cm(-1)), and the
      integrated area of the NIR water absorbance at 5190 cm(-1). This analysis was
      performed to evaluate whether simple assessment of the NIR water absorbance could
      yield information about matrix development. It was found that an increase in the
      mid-IR PG absorbance at 850 cm(-1) correlated with the area of the NIR water peak
      (Spearman's rho = 0.95, p < 0.0001). In the second analysis, a partial least
      squares method (PLS1) was used to assess whether an extended NIR spectral range
      (5400-3800 cm(-1)) could be utilized to predict collagen and proteoglycan content
      of the constructs based on mid-IR absorbances. A subset of spectra was randomly
      selected as an independent prediction set in this analysis. Average of the
      normalized root mean square errors of prediction of first-derivative NIR spectral
      models were 7% for 850 cm(-1) (PG), 11% for 1338 cm(-1) (collagen), 8% for amide
      II (collagen), and 8% for amide I (collagen). These results demonstrate the
      ability of NIRS to monitor macromolecular content of cartilage constructs and is
      the first step towards employing NIR to assess engineered cartilage in situ.

PMID- 20925988
TI  - Determination of organic and inorganic carbon in forest soil samples by mid
      infrared spectroscopy and partial least squares regression.
AB  - Analyses of organic and inorganic carbon are of great interest in the field of
      soil analyses. Soil samples from a national monitoring project were provided for
      this study, including more than 130 forest sites from Austria. We investigated
      the humus layers (if present undecomposed litter (L), of mixed samples of F-
      (intermediate decomposed organic matter) and H-(highly decomposed organic matter)
      (FH)) and upper mineral soil layers (0-5 and 5-10 cm) of the samples. Mid
      infrared spectra were recorded and evaluated by their band areas; subsequently we
      calculated models with the partial least squares approach. This was done by
      correlating calculated data of the mid-infrared spectra with gas-volumetrically
      determined carbonate values and measurements of organic carbon from an elemental
      analyzer. For carbonate determination, this approach gave satisfying results. For
      measurements of organic carbon, it was necessary to discriminate into humus
      layers and mineral soils or even more groups to obtain satisfactory correlations
      between spectroscopically determined and conventionally measured values. These
      additional factors were the presence of carbonate, the forest type, and the
      dominant tree species. In mineral soils, fewer subdivisions were necessary to
      obtain useful results. In humus layers, groupings of sites with more similar
      characteristics had to be formed in order to obtain satisfying results. The
      conclusion is that the chemical background of soil organic matter leading to
      different proportions of functional groups, especially in the less humified
      organic matter of the humus layers, plays a key role in analyses with mid
      infrared spectroscopy. Keeping this in mind, the present approach has a
      significant potential for the prediction of properties of forest soil layers,
      such as, e.g., carbonate and organic carbon contents.

PMID- 20925989
TI  - Hydrogel network formation revised: high-resolution magic angle spinning nuclear
      magnetic resonance as a powerful tool for measuring absolute hydrogel cross-link
      efficiencies.
AB  - In the present work, high-resolution magic angle spinning (hr-MAS) NMR
      spectroscopy is applied as a straightforward nondestructive technique to quantify
      unreacted methacrylamide functionalities in cross-linked gelatin hydrogels. By
      adjusting several cross-linking parameters including the ultraviolet (UV)
      irradiation time and the photo-initiator concentration, the cross-linking degree
      can be easily varied. Remarkably, under all experimental conditions typically
      applied for hydrogel development, no more than 40% of the methacrylamide moieties
      present have reacted. The hr-MAS based approach to determine the cross-linking
      efficiency is shown to provide an innovative and more convenient alternative to
      the well-established classical techniques. In addition, the results obtained are
      in good correlation with mechanical analysis data.

PMID- 20925990
TI  - Characterization of a variable angle reflection Fourier transform infrared
      accessory modified for surface plasmon resonance spectroscopy.
AB  - The Harrick AutoSeagull variable angle reflection accessory for Fourier transform
      infrared (FT-IR) spectrometers provides access to various spectroscopic
      techniques in a highly flexible platform. In particular, its ability to perform
      total internal reflection measurements is of interest because it also forms the
      basis for surface plasmon resonance (SPR) spectroscopy in prism-based
      configurations. The work presented here discusses the modification of the
      AutoSeagull to perform SPR spectroscopy, allowing for easy incorporation of the
      technique into most common FT-IR spectrometers. The wavelength dependency of the
      dielectric constant of the plasmon-supporting metal (in our case, gold) is
      largely responsible for the sensitivity attributed to changes in the sample's
      refractive index (RI) monitored by SPR spectroscopy. Furthermore, the optical
      properties of gold are such that when near-infrared (NIR) and/or mid-infrared
      (mid-IR) wavelengths are used to excite surface plasmons, higher sensitivities to
      RI changes are experienced compared to surface plasmons excited with visible
      wavelengths. The result is that in addition to instrumental simplicity, SPR
      analysis on FT-IR spectrometers, as permitted by the modified AutoSeagull, also
      benefits from the wavelength ranges accessible. Adaptation of the AutoSeagull to
      SPR spectroscopy involved the incorporation of slit apertures to minimize the
      angular spread reaching the detector, resulting in sharper SPR "dips" but at the
      cost of noisier spectra. In addition, discussion of the system's analytical
      performance includes comparison of dip quality as a function of slit size,
      tailoring of the dip minima location with respect to incident angle, and
      sensitivity to bulk RI changes.

PMID- 20925991
TI  - A new method to obtain Fourier transform infrared spectra free from water vapor
      disturbance.
AB  - Infrared absorption bands due to water vapor in the mid-infrared regions often
      obscure important spectral features of the sample. Here, we provide a novel
      method to collect a qualified infrared spectrum without any water vapor
      interference. The scanning procedure for a single-beam spectrum of the sample is
      divided into two stages under an atmosphere with fluctuating humidity. In the
      first stage, the sample spectrum is measured with approximately the same number
      of scans as the background. If the absorbance of water vapor in the spectrum is
      positive (or negative) at the end of the first stage, then the relative humidity
      in the sample compartment of the spectrometer is changed by a dry (or wet) air
      blow at the start of the second stage while the measurement of the sample
      spectrum continues. After the relative humidity changes to a lower (or higher)
      level than that of the previously collected background spectrum, water vapor
      peaks will become smaller and smaller with the increase in scanning number during
      the second stage. When the interfering water lines disappear from the spectrum,
      the acquisition of a sample spectrum is terminated. In this way, water vapor
      interference can finally be removed completely.

PMID- 20925992
TI  - Modern management of mild-to-moderate joint pain due to osteoarthritis: a
      holistic approach.
AB  - Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common form of arthritis and it is often
      associated with significant disability and impaired quality of life. Once thought
      to be caused by an age-related 'wearing out' of articular cartilage, it is now
      recognized to be a dynamic process in which cartilage degradation alternates with
      repair. Several expert guidelines for the management of OA exist, which concur in
      their recommendations for a stepwise approach to the employment of
      pharmacological agents and the introduction of suggestions to extend the use of
      agents such as topical non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, especially for mild
      to-moderate forms of the disease. They also emphasize the importance of non
      pharmacological measures, such as nutraceuticals, education, diet, exercise and
      the use of aids in improving signs and symptoms and slowing progression. In many
      countries, effective medicinal and nutraceutical agents are available 'over-the
      counter'. This review explains the modern approach to the management of mild-to
      moderate osteoarthritic pain.

PMID- 20925993
TI  - Patient perceptions concerning pain management in the treatment of rheumatoid
      arthritis.
AB  - Previous qualitative studies have revealed discrepancies between patients' and
      physicians' perceptions of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and its treatment.
      Questionnaires were administered to 2795 patients with RA (756 from Europe; 2039
      from the USA) to measure patients' perceptions regarding pain management in RA.
      Although the majority of patients reported their RA as somewhat-to-completely
      controlled, 75% of European and 82% of US patients reported their pain as
      moderate-to-severe in the previous 2 months. The majority of European (60%) and
      US (65%) patients reported dissatisfaction with their arthritis pain. Patients'
      pain levels corresponded with their disease severity. A higher percentage of
      patients who reported severe pain were being treated for depression than those
      who had moderate or mild pain. Patients in the USA rated pain relief as the top
      required benefit from their RA medication. A comprehensive examination of
      patients' perspectives regarding pain could lead to better patient care and pain
      management strategies.

PMID- 20925994
TI  - Remifentanil reduces the incidence of post-operative delirium.
AB  - A secondary exploratory analysis of data from an observational study was used to
      study the influence of the opioid used for intraoperative anaesthesia on the
      incidence of post-operative delirium. Patients who had been admitted to the
      recovery room following elective general anaesthesia were divided into those who
      had received fentanyl or remifentanil. For unbiased patient analysis, matched
      pairs were built with respect to gender, age, physical status, anaesthetic type
      and surgery duration. In 752 patients, the overall incidence of delirium was 9.9%
      in the recovery room and 3.8% on the first post-operative day. Compared with the
      remifentanil group, the fentanyl group had a significantly higher incidence of
      delirium in the recovery room (12.2% versus 7.7%) and on the first post-operative
      day (5.8% versus 1.9%). Delirium in the recovery room and on the first post
      operative day were both associated with a significantly prolonged post-operative
      hospital stay. The choice of intraoperative opioid influences the incidence of
      post-operative delirium. Remifentanil was associated with a lower incidence of
      post-operative delirium in the early post-operative period.

PMID- 20925996
TI  - The influence of prenatal counselling on postpartum contraceptive choice.
AB  - This study tested the hypothesis that individual counselling in the third
      trimester would increase postpartum contraceptive use to a greater extent than
      only providing an educational leaflet. A total of 180 third trimester pregnant
      women of mean age 28.3 years who were attending Marmara University Hospital for
      prenatal care were enrolled. One-third were randomly allocated to receive
      prenatal contraceptive counselling and the remaining two-thirds (control group)
      received an educational leaflet. Participants were followed-up at 6 - 9 months
      postpartum. The majority of subjects (91.5%) wanted to use contraception after
      delivery but 26.7% did not know which method to use. At follow-up, 79.6% of all
      women had begun a postpartum contraceptive regime and 68.7% were using a modern
      contraceptive method. Overall, there was no statistically significant difference
      in postpartum contraception use between the control and intervention groups in
      this study population. It is, therefore, concluded that prenatal counselling was
      not superior to educational leaflets for increasing the use of effective and
      modern postpartum contraception.

PMID- 20925995
TI  - Short-term effectiveness of ultrasound therapy in knee osteoarthritis.
AB  - This randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind study was designed to
      investigate the short-term efficacy of ultrasound therapy in 90 patients with
      knee osteoarthritis (OA). Patients were randomly assigned to three groups: group
      1 received continuous ultrasound, group 2 received pulsed ultrasound, and group 3
      received a 'sham' (placebo) ultrasound for 5 min each session. All treatments
      were applied once a day for 5 days a week for 2 weeks, i.e. a total treatment
      duration of 10 days. Compared with baseline, significant improvements were
      observed in the visual analogue scale pain scores and the Western Ontario and
      McMaster Universities osteoarthritis index (WOMAC) scores in all three groups.
      The reductions in pain and WOMAC scores were significantly higher in patients
      treated with pulsed ultrasound than in the placebo group. In conclusion, pulsed
      ultrasound therapy is a safe and effective treatment modality in patients with
      knee OA. Further research is required to investigate the long-term efficacy of
      pulsed ultrasound therapy in knee OA.

PMID- 20925997
TI  - Clinical outcomes of ovulation induction with metformin, clomiphene citrate and
      human menopausal gonadotrophin in polycystic ovary syndrome.
AB  - This pilot study evaluated the effects of coadministration of metformin with
      clomiphene citrate (CC) and human menopausal gonadotrophin (HMG) in women with CC
      resistant polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Sixty women with PCOS were randomly
      assigned to receive 3 months' treatment with metformin or placebo together with
      CC and HMG. Transvaginal ultrasound was used to monitor follicular development
      and ovulation was induced by human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG). The number of
      dominant follicles, the oestradiol level on the day HCG was given and the amount
      of HMG required were significantly lower in the metformin group than in the
      placebo group, whereas the mono-ovulatory rate and pregnancy rate in the third
      cycle were significantly higher. The cumulative pregnancy rate in the metformin
      group (43.3%) was higher than in the placebo group (20.0%), but this difference
      did not reach statistical significance. In conclusion, coadministration of
      metformin with CC and HMG reduced the amount of HMG required and increased the
      mono-ovulatory rate and pregnancy rate.

PMID- 20925998
TI  - Usefulness of C-arm angiographic computed tomography for detecting iodized oil
      retention during transcatheter arterial chemoembolization of hepatocellular
      carcinoma.
AB  - Transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) with iodized oil and anticancer
      agents is widely used for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) treatment. To assess C
      arm angiographic computed tomography (CCT) for detecting iodized oil retention
      during TACE, CCT images were obtained of 40 tumours (24 HCC patients). The
      primary CCT images showed complete iodized oil retention patterns (type I) in
      29/40 (73%) tumours, at which point embolization was terminated; incomplete
      iodized oil retention requiring further iodized oil embolization occurred in
      11/40 (28%) tumours and, of these, complete iodized oil retention patterns were
      achieved in eight tumours. Conventional CT scanning employed 1 week later showed
      the same iodized oil retention patterns as demonstrated in the latest CCT images
      (37/40 [93%] tumours). In 24 additional HCC patients who underwent TACE but not
      CCT (control group), conventional CT scans obtained 1 week after TACE showed
      complete iodized oil retention in 32/42 (76%) tumours. The rate of complete
      iodized oil retention pattern was significantly higher in patients undergoing
      CCT. It is concluded that the distribution of iodized oil within HCC lesions can
      be demonstrated on CCT images during TACE, helping to achieve complete iodized
      oil filling of tumours and, thereby, improving therapeutic effects.

PMID- 20925999
TI  - A comparison of the proximal femoral nail antirotation device and dynamic hip
      screw in the treatment of unstable pertrochanteric fracture.
AB  - This prospective randomized study compared the outcome of elderly patients with
      an unstable pertrochanteric fracture, treated with a proximal femoral nail
      antirotation device (PFNA; n = 51) or a dynamic hip screw (DHS; n = 55). All
      patients in the DHS group and nine in the PFNA group had open reductions.
      Incisions were significantly shorter for the PFNA than the DHS group. Blood loss
      and the number of patients requiring post-operative blood transfusions were
      significantly greater, but operation and fluoroscopy times were significantly
      shorter, for the DHS versus the PFNA group. Time to mobilization with a frame was
      significantly shorter in the PFNA group, and post-operative complications were
      more common in the DHS group. Poor fracture reduction led to three revisions. All
      fractures in both groups united during follow-up. The PFNA allowed earlier
      mobilization and faster recovery than the DHS. The PFNA is a highly acceptable,
      minimally invasive implant for unstable fractures.

PMID- 20926000
TI  - Clinicopathological implications of tumour-associated macrophages and
      vascularization in sinonasal melanoma.
AB  - This study investigated tumour-associated macrophages (TAMs) and their effects on
      tumour vascularization in sinonasal melanoma (SNM). Data on 45 patients with SNM
      undergoing surgery were reviewed retrospectively. Tumour sections were analysed
      immunohistochemically for TAMs, microvessels, lymph vessels, and vasculogenic
      mimicry in both intra- and peritumoural areas. The density of intratumoural TAMs
      was associated with tumour thickness and with overall survival in SNM stages I
      and II but there were no correlations between micro- or lymph vessel density and
      TAM infiltration. Greater TAM infiltration was observed in tumour tissues with
      vasculogenic mimicry although this was not statistically significant. These data
      suggest that high intratumoural TAM infiltration is associated with tumour
      aggressiveness and a poor prognosis for SNM, and that activation of macrophages
      can be polarized by different micro-environments. TAMs could be potential
      prognostic indicators for patients with SNM.

PMID- 20926001
TI  - Effectiveness of a systemic antibiotic followed by topical ionized solution as
      surgical site infection prophylaxis.
AB  - The aim of this randomized, double-blind clinical trial was to determine the
      effectiveness of systemic antibiotic application followed by either topical
      ionized solution (IS) or topical saline solution (placebo) as surgical site
      infection (SSI) prophylaxis in appendectomy for non-perforated appendicitis.
      Prophylactic antibiotic was administered pre-incision and either topical IS or
      placebo was applied pre-suturing to 529 patients, who were then monitored for 30
      days. When topical IS was used, SSI relative risk was 0.739 (95% CI 0.537, 1.019)
      and the SSI prevention rate was 26.06% (CI -1.8%, 46.3%). The number needed to
      treat was 14.80 patients and the number needed to harm was 209 in order for SSI
      to be avoided. In conclusion, there was a trend for topical IS prophylaxis to
      reduce SSI frequency in patients undergoing appendectomy for non-perforated
      appendicitis, but the result was not statistically significant.

PMID- 20926002
TI  - Celecoxib inhibits beta-catenin-dependent survival of the human osteosarcoma MG
      63 cell line.
AB  - Cyclo-oxygenase (COX)-2 inhibitors may exert antitumour effects through COX-2
      independent mechanisms. This study investigated the effects of the COX-2
      inhibitor celecoxib on the viability of the human osteosarcoma MG-63 cell line
      and its beta-catenin signalling pathway. Cell viability and apoptosis were
      examined in celecoxib-treated cells or after beta-catenin knockdown in vitro.
      Analyses were performed to detect glycogen synthase kinase (GSK)-3beta,
      phosphorylated GSK-3beta, beta-catenin, c-Myc and cyclin D1 proteins, and mRNA
      levels of beta-catenin, c-Myc and CCND1 (encoding cyclin D1). beta-Catenin was
      shown to be required for MG63 cell survival and celecoxib exerted an inhibitory
      effect on the viability of cultured MG-63 cells in a time- and dose-dependent
      manner. beta-Catenin protein decreased in the cytosol and nucleus following
      celecoxib treatment (from 6 h after initiation of treatment onwards; lowest
      protein levels were reached at > 72 h). Significant reductions in beta-catenin, c
      Myc and CCND1 mRNA were observed. Celecoxib inhibited MG-63 cell viability,
      possibly by activating GSK-3beta and inhibiting beta-catenin-dependent gene
      transcription, suggesting a role for celecoxib in osteosarcoma treatment.

PMID- 20926003
TI  - Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor attenuates chronic neuroinflammation in the
      brain of amyloid precursor protein transgenic mice: an Alzheimer's disease mouse
      model.
AB  - Recent evidence suggests that inflammatory mechanisms contribute significantly to
      the progression of Alzheimer's disease. Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G
      CSF) is an anti-inflammatory immunomodulator, but the mechanism of its anti
      inflammatory effect is unclear. This study was designed to investigate whether G
      CSF could inhibit inflammation in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease through an
      alpha7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (alpha7 nAChR) pathway. Mice transgenic
      for the V171I mutant amyloid precursor protein (APP) were injected subcutaneously
      with G-CSF 50 MUg/kg per day or phosphate-buffered saline (PBS; control group)
      for 7 days, and wild-type C57/BL6 mice were injected with PBS daily for 7 days.
      Mice were killed on days 7, 14 and 28 after treatment began. Levels of alpha7
      nAChR protein were significantly increased and levels of interleukin-1beta,
      tumour necrosis factor-alpha and nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) protein were
      significantly decreased in the brain of APP transgenic mice in response to G-CSF.
      Levels of alpha7 nAChR protein correlated negatively with NF-kappaB levels. It is
      concluded that G-CSF might attenuate inflammation by down-regulating NF-kappaB
      and up-regulating alpha7 nAChR in the brain of APP transgenic mice, indicating a
      potential new therapeutic approach to Alzheimer's disease.

PMID- 20926004
TI  - The value of dihydrouracil/uracil plasma ratios in predicting 5-fluorouracil
      related toxicity in colorectal cancer patients.
AB  - This study investigated the relationship between the dihydrouracil/uracil
      (UH(2)/U) plasma ratio, a surrogate marker of dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase
      (DPD) activity, and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU)-related early toxicity. Plasma UH(2)/U
      ratios were determined in 68 colorectal cancer patients and 100 healthy controls.
      A cut-off value indicative of DPD deficiency was calculated using receiver
      operator characteristics. Patients experiencing toxicity were screened for the
      DPD G-to-A point mutation within the 5'-splicing donor site of intron 14
      (IVS14+1G>A). Overall, 24/68 patients (35%) experienced toxicity (all grades) and
      abnormal UH(2)/U ratios were demonstrated in 21/24 (87.5%) patients. Drug
      concentrations up to 130 times the recommended level were found in 13/24 (54%)
      patients experiencing toxicity. One patient experiencing toxicity was a
      heterozygous carrier of the IVS14+1G>A mutation. A low UH(2)/U plasma ratio had a
      sensitivity of 0.87 and specificity of 0.93 for predicting 5-FU-induced toxicity.
      Systematic detection of DPD-deficient patients using the UH(2)/U ratio could
      optimize 5-FU-based chemotherapy and minimize life-threatening toxicity.

PMID- 20926005
TI  - Thymic expression of the main immunogenic region of titin in thymomatous
      myasthenia gravis.
AB  - Antititin antibody occurs in the serum of myasthenia gravis (MG) patients with
      thymoma (MGT), and is a diagnostic marker for the disease. The mechanism that
      triggers MGT development is, however, unclear. This study evaluated the role of
      the main immunogenic region (MIR) of titin in MGT pathogenesis. Titin MIR
      antiserum (antibody titre 1:16) was obtained and an in situ immunohistochemical
      study of thymomatous tissue samples was performed. Strong immunostaining for
      titin MIR was observed on epithelial cell membranes in MGT patients, and the
      degree of immunostaining was directly proportional to the number of epithelial
      cells in thymomatous tissue. Serum antititin antibody levels were closely related
      to titin MIR levels in thymoma cells; however, titin MIR levels did not appear to
      be related to MG severity. Antititin antibody may be a good surrogate marker for
      thymoma but is probably not involved in the pathogenesis of MGT.

PMID- 20926006
TI  - Effect of antegrade graft cardioplegia combined with passive graft perfusion in
      on-pump coronary artery bypass grafting.
AB  - Patients undergoing on-pump coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) with proximal
      graft anastomosis were randomly divided into groups that received antegrade
      cardioplegic infusion only via the aortic root (group A) or antegrade
      cardioplegic infusion via the aortic root and additional cardioplegia via vein or
      free arterial grafts after completion of each distal anastomosis (group B). The
      group B patients also received bypass graft perfusion with warm arterial blood
      just after removal of the cross-clamp until the proximal graft anastomosis was
      completed. The need for defibrillation and inotropic support during separation
      from cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB), and total CPB time were significantly lower in
      group B than in group A. Group B also had significantly lower peak cardiac
      troponin I levels 12 h after operation compared with group A and this was more
      pronounced in subgroups with severe right coronary artery stenosis and poor left
      ventricular ejection fraction than in the whole population. It is concluded that
      antegrade graft cardioplegia and graft perfusion with warm blood during proximal
      graft anastomosis may improve myocardial protection.

PMID- 20926007
TI  - Expression of activin A and follistatin in glioblastoma and their effects on U87
      in vitro.
AB  - In some cancer cell lines, the gene encoding activin A (inhibin betaA [INHBA]) is
      over-expressed and enhances cancer proliferation. Protein levels of activin A and
      follistatin were assessed in glioblastoma and normal brain tissues in this study,
      and the effect of activin A and follistatin treatment on the proliferation of U87
      human glioblastoma cells in vitro was also studied. High levels of activin A were
      observed in glioblastomas compared with normal brain tissue. In contrast,
      follistatin levels were similar between the two tissues. [(3)H]Thymidine assay
      showed that activin A (3 - 30 ng/ml) produced a dose-dependent increase in DNA
      synthesis of U87 cells compared with controls. Flow cytometric analyses showed
      that activin A increased the proliferative index of U87 cells compared with
      controls. Activin A also induced up-regulation of p-SMAD2/3 in a dose-dependent
      manner. Treatment of U87 cells with follistatin blocked these activin A-induced
      effects. The disequilibrium between activin A and follistatin may play a role in
      the development of glioblastoma.

PMID- 20926008
TI  - Distribution of lysosome-associated membrane proteins-1 and -2, and cathepsin D
      in eosinophilic granular bodies: possible relationship to cyst development in
      pilocytic astrocytomas.
AB  - Pilocytic astrocytomas are usually cystic; cyst formation within these tumours
      may result in increased intracranial pressure, due to the effect of their mass,
      and contribute to cerebral damage. Eosinophilic granular bodies (EGBs) are
      produced abundantly in pilocytic astrocytomas but their role in disease
      progression remains unknown. Immunohistochemistry studies showed EGBs to exhibit
      pronounced reactivity to antibodies against lysosome-associated membrane proteins
      (LAMP)-1 and LAMP-2, and the lysosomal enzyme cathepsin D. Both LAMP-1 and LAMP-2
      showed peripheral rim and granular staining patterns. The EGBs were scattered
      widely across cysts and, where EGBs aggregated in clusters, were usually close to
      areas of fluid in the cysts. Most EGBs had nuclei either attached or close by,
      indicating that the EGBs may be derived from anucleated astrocytes. The results
      suggest that EGBs, together with other factors, may play a role in the
      development of cysts in pilocytic astrocytomas.

PMID- 20926009
TI  - Influence of thyroid hormones and transforming growth factor-beta1 on cystatin C
      concentrations.
AB  - Serum cystatin C concentrations are reported to increase in the hyperthyroid
      state. Serum concentrations of cystatin C and transforming growth factor-beta1
      (TGF-beta1) were measured in patients with thyroid dysfunction, and the effects
      of 3,5,3'-tri-iodothyronine (T(3)) and TGF-beta1 on cystatin C production in
      human hepatoblastoma (Hep G2) cells were studied. Serum concentrations of
      cystatin C and TGF-beta1 were significantly higher in patients with Graves'
      disease compared with control subjects. Significantly positive correlations were
      observed between thyroid hormones and cystatin C, thyroid hormones and TGF-beta1,
      and TGF-beta1 and cystatin C in patients with thyroid dysfunction. Serum
      concentrations of cystatin C and TGF-beta1 decreased after treatment for
      hyperthyroidism. Cystatin C mRNA levels and cystatin C secretion were increased
      by T(3) and TGF-beta1 in cultured Hep G2 cells. These results suggest that serum
      cystatin C concentrations increase in patients with hyperthyroidism. The
      mechanisms for this may involve elevation of serum TGF-beta1 levels and the
      stimulatory effects of T(3) and TGF-beta1 on cystatin C production.

PMID- 20926010
TI  - Update on the incidence of metamizole sodium-induced blood dyscrasias in Poland.
AB  - Metamizole sodium (metamizole) is a popular non-opioid analgesic and a common non
      prescription product in Poland. Controversy exists regarding the level of risk of
      agranulocytosis or aplastic anaemia associated with its use. Two previous
      pharmacovigilance studies conducted in Poland found the risk was low. Twenty-four
      of the 25 haematology centres that provide specialist care for the 30 million
      adults in Poland participated in this prospective 12-month study. Twenty-one
      cases of agranulocytosis, 48 of aplastic anaemia, 15 of neutropenia and 11 of
      pancytopenia were reported. Of these cases, three (two agranulocytosis; one
      aplastic anaemia) were judged as being possibly related to metamizole. Crude
      estimates of the rate of agranulocytosis and aplastic anaemia associated with
      metamizole were 0.16 and 0.08 cases/million person-days of use, respectively.
      Ongoing national safety surveillance in Poland shows that, despite the
      possibility of drug-induced blood dyscrasias with metamizole, the risk is very
      low.

PMID- 20926011
TI  - Prognostic value of protease-activated receptor 2 expression in oesophageal
      squamous cell carcinoma.
AB  - Protease-activated receptor-2 (PAR-2) is essential for the initiation and
      development of tumours, suggesting that the detection of PAR-2 expression might
      serve as a clinical marker in the prediction or diagnosis of clinical outcomes of
      malignant neoplasia. Using immunohisto chemical methods, this study investigated
      whether the detection of PAR-2 protein had clinical implications for patients
      with oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). PAR-2 protein was present at a
      high level in primary OSCC sites but at a low level in normal oesophageal tissue.
      The level of PAR-2 protein in tumours was significantly correlated with the
      clinical stage and histological grade of disease. Patients with tumours highly
      positive for PAR-2 protein had a significantly worse prognosis than those with
      lower PAR-2 levels. Thus, the over-expression of PAR-2 is a characteristic
      feature of OSCC and suggests that the immuno histochemical detection of raised
      levels of PAR-2 may be a potentially useful prognostic indicator.

PMID- 20926012
TI  - Plasma cathepsin L and its related pro/antiangiogenic factors play useful roles
      in predicting rich coronary collaterals in patients with coronary heart disease.
AB  - Cathepsin L enhances angiogenesis by increasing extracellular matrix degradation
      and remodelling. This study investigated whether plasma cathepsin L could be used
      as a biomarker to predict collateral formation in patients with coronary heart
      disease (CHD). Patients with CHD (n = 218; aged 67 +/- 11 years) underwent
      coronary angiography and were categorized as having either 'poor' or 'rich'
      collaterals. Plasma cathepsin L, the proangiogenic placenta growth factor (PLGF)
      and the antiangiogenic factors, cystatin C and endostatin, were measured.
      Elevated cathepsin L and PLGF levels were independently and significantly
      associated with enhanced collateral formation in patients with CHD; subgroup
      analyses also showed a significant correlation in patients with diabetes and
      acute coronary syndrome. Plasma endostatin and cystatin C levels were not
      significantly correlated with coronary collateral formation. Plasma cathepsin L
      and PLGF, acting as important modulators of angiogenesis, could be used as
      biomarkers to predict coronary collateral formation in patients with CHD.

PMID- 20926013
TI  - Efficacy of a multimodal analgesia protocol in total knee arthroplasty: a
      randomized, controlled trial.
AB  - A total of 100 osteoarthritis patients undergoing unilateral total knee
      arthroplasty were randomly assigned to receive either a multimodal analgesia
      protocol, comprising oral celecoxib and tramadol before and after surgery and
      intra-articular injection of large doses of morphine, ropivacaine, adrenaline and
      betamethasone during surgery (trial group), or oral and intra-articular placebo
      (control group). All patients received patient-controlled analgesia for 48 h
      after surgery. Morphine consumption up to 48 h after surgery was significantly
      lower in the trial than in the control group. Compared with the control group,
      the trial group had significantly lower visual analogue scale (VAS) scores for
      pain at rest from 6 h to 7 days after surgery and significantly lower VAS scores
      during activity from 24 h to 7 days after surgery. Active straight leg raise and
      active 90 degrees knee flexion were achieved sooner and range of knee movement at
      postoperative days 1 - 15 were significantly greater in the trial group.
      Postoperative wound healing, infection, blood pressure, heart rate, rash,
      respiratory depression, urinary retention and deep vein thrombosis were similar
      in the two groups, but nausea and vomiting were significantly less frequent in
      the trial group.

PMID- 20926015
TI  - Establishment of a paclitaxel resistant human breast cancer cell strain (MCF
      7/Taxol) and intracellular paclitaxel binding protein analysis.
AB  - Multidrug resistance of tumours is one of the most important factors that leads
      to chemotherapy failure. A multidrug-resistant breast cancer cell line, MCF
      7/Taxol, was established from the drug-sensitive parent cell line MCF-7. The
      biological properties of MCF-7/Taxol, including its drug resistance profile and
      profile of paclitaxel binding proteins, were analysed and compared with the
      parent cell line. A number of paclitaxel binding proteins were present in MCF-7
      cells but absent from MCF-7/Taxol cells, namely heat shock protein 90, actinin
      and dermcidin precursor. The identification of differential paclitaxel binding
      proteins between the multidrug-resistant MCF-7/Taxol cell line and the parent
      drug-sensitive cell line MCF-7 provides insight into possible mechanisms involved
      in resistance to these chemotherapy drugs.

PMID- 20926014
TI  - Combined inhibitory effects of celecoxib and fluvastatin on the growth of human
      hepatocellular carcinoma xenografts in nude mice.
AB  - This study was designed to investigate the in vivo growth inhibitory effects of
      celecoxib, a cyclo-oxygenase-2 inhibitor, and fluvastatin, a 3-hydroxy-3
      methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase inhibitor, on the hepatocellular carcinoma
      (HCC) cell line, BEL-7402. Athymic nude mice implanted with BEL-7402 cells were
      given celecoxib and fluvastatin, either alone or in combination, and the effect
      of treatment on tumour growth was evaluated after 6 weeks. The combination of
      celecoxib and fluvastatin enhanced inhibition of tumour growth, induction of
      apoptosis, inhibition of tumour cell proliferation, and inhibition of tumour
      angiogenesis compared with either treatment alone. The combination of celecoxib
      and fluvastatin also increased levels of the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor
      p21(Waf1/Cip1), decreased levels of p-Akt, myeloid cell leukaemia-1 (Mcl-1) and
      survivin protein, but had no effect on Akt protein levels in tumours. These
      results suggest that celecoxib combined with fluvastatin would be more
      efficacious for the treatment of HCC than either treatment alone and this
      combination of therapy warrants further research.

PMID- 20926016
TI  - Efficacy of tamsulosin 0.4 mg/day in relieving double-J stent-related symptoms: a
      randomized controlled study.
AB  - This study evaluated the efficacy of tamsulosin in improving stent-related
      symptoms and quality of life in patients with in-dwelling double-J ureteral
      stents. A total of 42 patients (15 males and 27 females) with ureteral stent
      placement following ureteroscopy, percutaneous nephrolithotomy or balloon
      dilatation, were prospectively randomized into two groups of 21 patients. Group I
      received 0.4 mg tamsulosin once daily for 4 weeks and group II was a non-placebo,
      non-treatment control. All patients completed the International Prostate Symptom
      Score (IPSS) and SF-36 questionnaires at 2 and 4 weeks post-operatively. The IPSS
      scores for irritative and obstructive symptoms were significantly lower in group
      I than group II at both 2 and 4 weeks. Among the eight domains of SF-36, role
      limitation due to physical health and bodily pain was significantly better in
      group I at 2 and 4 weeks. General health was also significantly better in group I
      at 2 weeks. Tamsulosin improved both urinary symptoms and quality of life without
      causing serious side-effects.

PMID- 20926017
TI  - Effect of local gentamicin application on healing and wound infection in patients
      with modified radical mastectomy: a prospective randomized study.
AB  - This study investigated the effects of Gentacoll implants on healing in patients
      (n = 44) undergoing modified radical mastectomy and axillary dissection. Group I,
      the Gentacoll group (n = 22), underwent surgery followed by insertion of 10 * 10
      * 0.5 cm Gentacoll implants (280 mg collagen sponge plus 200 mg gentamicin
      sulphate) into the axillary area and under the flap area of the breast before
      wound closure. Group II, the control group (n = 22), underwent surgery without
      the application of Gentacoll. Neither group received oral or parenteral post
      operative antibiotic therapy. Outcome measures included wound infection, seroma
      formation, total drainage volumes, drain removal time and duration of hospital
      stay. Post-operative infection rate, seroma formation, drainage volumes and
      duration of hospital stay were significantly reduced in the Gentacoll group
      compared with the control group. In conclusion, the application of Gentacoll
      significantly improved post-operative outcomes in patients undergoing modified
      radical mastectomy.

PMID- 20926018
TI  - YKL-40 protein levels and clinical outcome of human endometrial cancer.
AB  - The secreted glycoprotein YKL-40 is a member of the chitinase family and elevated
      serum YKL-40 levels have been reported to be associated with reduced survival in
      several malignancies, including endometrial cancer. This study investigated
      immunoreactivity to YKL-40 protein and its prognostic implications in endometrial
      cancer. Levels of YKL-40 protein in normal endometrium (n = 42), endometrial
      hyperplasia (n = 40) and endometrial adeno carcinoma (n = 68) were examined using
      immunohistochemistry. YKL-40 immunoreactivity was significantly higher in
      endometrial adenocarcinoma compared with hyperplastic and normal endo metrium. In
      addition, high immuno reactivity of YKL-40 protein was associated with advanced
      stage, high histological grade, lymph node metastasis and lympho vascular
      invasion. Moreover, positive immunoreactivity for YKL-40 was a significant
      predictor of poor prognosis, as measured by estimated progression-free survival
      and estimated overall survival, compared with negative immunoreactivity. In
      conclusion, high YKL-40 immuno reactivity in endometrial cancer may be associated
      with poor prognosis.

PMID- 20926019
TI  - Impact of modified treatment in echocardiographically confirmed pseudo-pulseless
      electrical activity in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients with constant end
      tidal carbon dioxide pressure during compression pauses.
AB  - This study evaluated the ability of focused echocardiography (FE) and capnography
      to differentiate between pulseless electrical activity (PEA) and pseudo-PEA in
      out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, and the potential survival benefits with modified
      treatment. In PEA patients with stable end-tidal carbon dioxide pressure
      (P(et)CO(2)) during the compression pause and concomitant FE showing cardiac
      kinetic activity, the compression pause was prolonged for 15 s and an additional
      20 IU vasopressin was administered. If pulselessness persisted, compressions were
      continued. Fifteen of the 16 patients studied (94%) achieved restoration of
      spontaneous circulation (ROSC); eight patients (50%) attained a good neurological
      outcome (Cerebral Performance Category 1 - 2). In an historical PEA group with
      stable P(et)CO(2) values (n = 48), ROSC was achieved in 26 patients (54%); four
      patients (8%) attained Cerebral Performance Category 1 - 2. Echocardiographical
      verification of the pseudo-PEA state enabled additional vasopressor treatment and
      cessation of chest compressions, and was associated with significantly higher
      rates of ROSC, survival to discharge and good neurological outcome.

PMID- 20926020
TI  - Reduction in left supplementary motor area grey matter in adult female
      fibromyalgia sufferers with marked fatigue and without affective disorder: a
      pilot controlled 3-T magnetic resonance imaging voxel-based morphometry study.
AB  - This study aimed to test the hypothesis that structural grey matter brain changes
      might occur in the chronic intractable pain disorder fibromyalgia when this is
      associated with marked fatigue in the absence of a DSM-IV-TR (Diagnostic and
      Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition, text revision) diagnosis of
      affective disorder. High-resolution 3-T cerebral magnetic resonance imaging scans
      were acquired in 10 female, right-handed, non-smoking, white Caucasian subjects:
      five patients with fibromyalgia associated with marked fatigue and five age
      matched healthy women. Voxel-wise generalized linear modelling of the processed
      neuroanatomical data using permutation-based non-parametric testing, forming
      clusters at t > 2.3 and testing clusters for significance at P < 0.05, corrected
      for multiple comparisons across space, revealed significantly lower grey matter
      density in the patients with fibromyalgia and marked fatigue in the left
      supplementary motor area. This brain region plays an important role in cognitive
      or executive control and in the translation of painful cognition; these functions
      are impaired in fibromyalgia associated with marked fatigue.

PMID- 20926021
TI  - Relationship between the acid-inhibitory effects of two proton pump inhibitors
      and CYP2C19 genotype in Japanese subjects: a randomized two-way crossover study.
AB  - This two-way crossover study investigated possible differences between the proton
      pump inhibitors, omeprazole and rabeprazole, in their effect on gastric acid
      secretion in Japanese subjects with differing cytochrome P450, family 2,
      subfamily C, polypeptide 19 (CYP2C19) genotypes. A total of 23 Helicobacter
      pylori-negative healthy volunteers received omeprazole 20 mg/day and rabeprazole
      10 mg/day. Each drug treatment was given for a continuous 7-day period allocated
      in random order, with an interval of at least 1 week between drug treatment
      periods to allow for wash-out. Intragastric pH was measured on days 1 and 7.
      Overall median intragastric pH levels at 7 and 8 h after the first administration
      were significantly higher with omeprazole. There was no significant difference in
      intragastric pH in homozygous extensive metabolizers, whereas intragastric pH was
      significantly higher with omeprazole in combined data from heterozygous extensive
      metabolizers and poor metabolizers at 6, 7 and 8 h after the first drug
      administration. There were no significant differences in intragastric pH between
      omeprazole and rabeprazole irrespective of genotype on day 7 of administration.
      In conclusion, on day 1 the time to onset of the antisecretory action of 20
      mg/day omeprazole was more rapid than that of 10 mg/day rabeprazole in Japanese
      individuals who have a higher incidence of the CYP2C19 poor metabolizer genotype,
      however by day 7 no difference in antisecretory effect was found, regardless of
      genotype.

PMID- 20926022
TI  - Short-term corneal endothelial changes after laser-assisted subepithelial
      keratectomy.
AB  - To investigate the short-term effects of laser-assisted subepithelial keratectomy
      (LASEK) on the corneal endothelium, 10 patients undergoing LASEK for myopia
      without complications (20 eyes) were observed. Each eye was evaluated by slit
      lamp biomicroscopy and non-contact specular microscopy pre-operatively, and at 15
      min, 1 day and 1 week post-operatively. The decrease in endothelial cell density
      was statistically significant at 15 min post-operatively, and the difference
      between pre-operative and 15-min post-operative coefficient of variation of cell
      size was also statistically significant. The percentage of hexagonal cells was
      significantly different from baseline levels at 15 min and at 1 day post
      operatively. All parameters at 1 week post-operatively were not statistically
      different from those observed pre-operatively. Immediate changes in endothelial
      cell number and morphology occurred following LASEK, but endothelial morphology
      returned to the pre-operative condition after 1 week. Long-term follow-up is
      needed to identify further consequences of this procedure.

PMID- 20926023
TI  - Sociotropic or autonomous personality and problem solving in peritoneal dialysis
      patients.
AB  - This study investigated the sociotropic and autonomous personality
      characteristics and perceived problem solving ability of continuous ambulatory
      peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) patients, and their relationship with quality of life.
      The study included 14 CAPD patients and 54 healthy volunteers. Sociotropy and
      autonomy scores were significantly higher in CAPD patients than in the healthy
      control group. Among CAPD patients, there was a significant correlation between
      problem solving and serum phosphate, parathormone levels and erythrocyte
      sedimentation rate. There was a negative correlation between total dialysis time
      and sociotropy in CAPD patients, and a positive correlation between general
      health/pain perception and autonomy. Appropriate medical management, time on
      dialysis and positive self-perception of health were correlated with better
      problem solving ability and higher autonomous but lower sociotropic personality
      styles.

PMID- 20926024
TI  - Increased levels of soluble vascular endothelial cadherin are associated with
      poor outcome in severe sepsis.
AB  - Endothelial cells are thought to play a key role in sepsis pathogenesis: vascular
      endothelial damage occurs in severe sepsis and multiple organ dysfunction.
      Soluble vascular endothelial cadherin (VE-cadherin) levels were investigated in a
      prospective study involving 28 consecutive critically ill patients with or
      without severe sepsis who were admitted to surgical intensive care; 13 healthy
      age-matched volunteers were included as controls. Soluble VE-cadherin levels
      increased significantly in patients with severe sepsis compared with ill patients
      without severe sepsis and healthy controls. There was a significant linear
      correlation between soluble VE-cadherin levels and illness severity scores.
      Soluble VE-cadherin levels were significantly higher in patients who died
      compared with survivors. In vitro cell culture showed that serum from patients
      with severe sepsis greatly decreased VE-cadherin staining at intercellular
      junctions and total VE-cadherin expression in human umbilical cord vein
      endothelial cells. These findings suggest that endothelial cells play an
      important role in the poor outcome of patients with severe sepsis.

PMID- 20926025
TI  - Effect of narrow-band UVB phototherapy on soluble cell adhesion molecules in
      patients with psoriasis vulgaris.
AB  - This study investigated the effect of narrow-band ultraviolet B (NB-UVB)
      phototherapy on serum levels of the soluble cell adhesion molecules sE-selectin,
      sP-selectin, sL-selectin and soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1)
      in 58 patients with psoriasis vulgaris. Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI)
      scores significantly decreased after treatment, confirming the efficacy of NB-UVB
      phototherapy. Serum levels of sE-selectin also decreased significantly after
      treatment, and levels of sICAM-1 showed a significant correlation with PASI score
      and with levels of sE-selectin. The efficacy of NB-UVB phototherapy in improving
      psoriatic lesions may be a function of decreased serum levels of E-selectin.
      These findings emphasize the complex roles of soluble cell adhesion molecules in
      the immunopathogenesis of psoriasis.

PMID- 20926026
TI  - Type I plasminogen activator inhibitor 4G allele frequency is associated with
      chronic venous insufficiency.
AB  - Chronic venous insufficiency (CVI) is a common disease associated with poor
      quality of life. Genetic polymorphisms causing coagulation abnormalities may
      account for some of the CVI pathogenesis. Type I plasminogen activator inhibitor
      (PAI-1) is responsible for fibrinolytic system regulation, and plasma levels of
      PAI-1 are strongly correlated with PAI-1 4G/5G gene polymorphism. The association
      between PAI-1 4G/5G gene polymorphism and CVI was investigated. In 34 consecutive
      patients with clinically overt CVI, the PAI-1 4G/4G polymorphism was detected in
      three cases (8.8%); the 4G/5G polymorphism was detected in 28 (82.4%). In 34 age-
      and sex-matched controls, the PAI-1 4G/4G polymorphism was detected in one case
      (2.9%) and the 4G/5G polymorphism was detected in 14 cases (41.2%). The PAI-1 4G
      allele was found significantly more frequently in CVI patients than in controls.
      The 4G allele was associated with a 3.25-fold increase in CVI risk. Thus, a
      relationship between CVI and the PAI-1 4G allele is apparent.

PMID- 20926027
TI  - Effect of high-dose vitamin C on oxygen free radical production and myocardial
      enzyme after tourniquet ischaemia-reperfusion injury during bilateral total knee
      replacement.
AB  - This study investigated the effects of high-dose vitamin C on oxygen free radical
      production and cardiac enzymes after tourniquet application and ischaemia
      reperfusion injury during bilateral total knee replacement (TKR) in elderly
      patients. In the vitamin C (VC) group (VC group, n = 16), during surgery,
      patients received a priming bolus of 0.06 g/kg vitamin C with 100 ml saline
      followed by 0.02 g/kg vitamin C mixed with 30 ml saline, intravenously. The
      control group (n = 16) received no intra-operative vitamin C. In the VC group,
      malondialdehyde levels were lower, and arterial oxygen tension and mean blood
      pressure were higher, than in controls after post-operative deflation of both
      knee tourniquets. Troponin I levels were lower in the VC group than in controls 8
      h post-operation. Administering high-dose vitamin C during bilateral TKR could
      prevent oxygen free radical production and a decline in arterial oxygen tension
      and mean blood pressure induced by ischaemia-reperfusion injury, thereby
      protecting the myocardium.

PMID- 20926028
TI  - Improved prediction from revised injury severity classification (RISC) over
      trauma and injury severity score (TRISS) in an independent evaluation of major
      trauma patients.
AB  - The usefulness of the Revised Injury Severity Classification (RISC) analysis was
      compared with that of the Trauma and Injury Severity Score (TRISS) for evaluating
      the quality of treatment of severely injured patients at the General Hospital
      Celje, Slovenia. Over a period of 2 years, data from a cohort of 155 patients
      treated at the General Hospital Celje were included in the Traumaregister
      Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Unfallchirurgie. The structure of the patient group was
      compared with that in the registry, and TRISS and RISC analyses were performed.
      The M statistic (0.83) showed a good match of the distribution of probability of
      survival between groups. Evaluation of RISC (area under the curve [AUC] 0.94,
      Hosmer-Lemeshow test 3.5) demonstrated the efficacy of this method in the patient
      group. TRISS (AUC 0.89, Hosmer-Lemeshow test 21.1) was not a reliable instrument
      for analysis of treatment of major trauma patients. We believe that RISC should
      replace TRISS for evaluation of the treatment of major trauma patients.

PMID- 20926029
TI  - Immunohistochemical analysis and biological behaviour of gastric glomus tumours:
      a case report and review of the literature.
AB  - Gastric glomus tumours are rare and clinically recognized as benign.
      Nevertheless, some show biological behaviour similar to that of malignant
      lesions. During the last 40 years, we have encountered only one gastric glomus
      tumour. Analysis of frozen sections of this tumour suggested a mesenchymal tumour
      with malignant potential. Three mitoses per 50 high-power fields, with no
      cytological abnormalities, were observed. Tumour cells were positive for alpha
      smooth muscle actin, vimentin and actin but negative for CD117, S-100 protein,
      creatine kinase, desmin, CD68, collagen type IV, CD34 and p53. The post-operative
      period was uneventful. During 37 months' follow-up, no recurrence or metastasis
      was detected and a benign course was considered likely. Literature on the
      immunohistochemistry and biological behaviour of gastric glomus tumours was also
      reviewed. Immunohistochemical studies are helpful in the differential diagnosis
      of gastric glomus tumours: although most are benign, malignancy cannot be
      excluded. Thus, long-term follow-up of the patient is necessary.

PMID- 20926030
TI  - Aggressive angiomyxoma of the vulva: case report and literature review.
AB  - Aggressive angiomyxoma is a rare softtissue tumour, typically occurring in the
      female pelvis and carrying a high risk of local infiltration and relapse. Surgery
      remains the first line of treatment, however some adjuvant treatments, such as
      gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonists, have been used for primary
      treatment and for treatment against tumour recurrence. We describe a case of
      vulvar aggressive angiomyxoma in a 31-year old woman who underwent surgical
      excision of the tumour. Diagnosis was made on the basis of histopathological
      examination and positive immunohistochemical staining with oestrogen and
      progesterone receptors. Postsurgery, a GnRH agonist (3.75 mg triptorelin) was
      injected intramuscularly every month for 3 months to prevent tumour recurrence
      and, to date, no relapse has been observed. Whether treatment is with surgery,
      hormone therapy or both, it is clear that aggressive angiomyxoma requires close,
      long-term follow-up to monitor for disease recurrence and that the
      individualization of each case is essential for adequate management.

PMID- 20926031
TI  - Isolated primary non-Hodgkin's lymphoma of the thoracic spine: a case report with
      a review of the literature.
AB  - A case of isolated primary non-Hodgkin's lymphoma of the spine is presented along
      with a review of previous cases reported in the literature. An 80-year old
      immunocompetent man was admitted with progressive numbness and weakness of both
      lower extremities of 2 weeks' duration. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the
      cervicothoracic spine revealed an extradural spinal mass at the T1 - T3 level,
      with invasion into the T3 vertebral body. The lesion was at first thought to be a
      metastatic tumour. Because of the manifestations of compression, the patient
      underwent laminectomy and posterior decompression. Histopathological examination
      revealed diffuse large B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. All other investigations
      (including computed tomography of the chest and abdomen, bone scan, peripheral
      blood examination and tumour marker examination) were negative for occult
      disease. This case demonstrates that neurosurgeons should be aware of the
      occurrence of isolated primary spinal lymphoma, which should be included in the
      differential diagnosis of metastatic tumours.

PMID- 20926032
TI  - Statistical significance in genetic association studies.

PMID- 20926033
TI  - Immunological and hematological changes in patients with hyperthyroidism or
      hypothyroidism.
AB  - AIMS: Thyroid hormones have been shown to influence the immune system and
      haematopoiesis. The aim of this study was to evaluate some immunological and
      hematological parameters in peripheral blood of hypo- or hyperthyroid women.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Blood samples were collected from 50 women with
      hypothyroid disease, 50 women with hyperthyroid disease and a control group
      consisting of 50 sex - and age - matched euthyroid subjects. Thyroid function
      assesed according to measurent of T3, T4 and TSH levels. The complete blood count
      (CBC), total and differential counts of white blood cells (WBC), serum levels of
      immunoglobulins (IgG, IgA, IgM and IgE) and C3 and C4 complement components
      determined in three groups by using standard immunological and hematological
      methods. RESULTS: In hyperthyroid women the mean serum concentrations of IgG
      (2312.4+/-584 mg/dl), IgA (296+/- 87 mg/dl) and IgE ( 301+/- 264 IU/ml) were
      significantly higher than those found in the control group (1539+/- 974 mg/dl, P
      < 0.0003; 234+/- 116 mg/dl, P < 0.01; 109.8+/-115 IU/ml, P < 0.0001,
      respectively) and the mean MCV was significantly lower in comparison with the
      euthyroid group (P < 0.05). Hypothyroid patients had higher serum IgE
      concentrations in comparison with the euthyroid group (179.8+/- 218 IU/ml vs.
      109.8+/- 115 IU/ml; P < 0.047). The mean serum C3 concentration in hypothyroid
      patients was also significantly higher in comparison with the euthyroid group
      (138.7+/- 36.6 mg/ml vs. 117.8+/- 32.1 mg/dl; P < 0.01). In the hypothyroid group
      the mean eosinophil count was markedly higher in comparison with the hyperthyroid
      group (P < 0.06) and the mean count of RBC and the levels of some RBC-related
      indices, such as hematocrit and hemoglobin, were significantly lower in
      comparison with the euthyroid group (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: These results
      indicate hypergammablobulinemia and lower MVC in hyperythyroid patients, and
      higher IgE levels, C3 levels and eosinophil count as well as anemia in
      hypothyroid patients.

PMID- 20926034
TI  - Effect of ex vivo-expanded gammadelta-T cells combined with galectin-1 antibody
      on the growth of human cervical cancer xenografts in SCID mice.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the antitumor activity of ex vivo-expanded gammadelta-T
      cells derived from tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes(gammadeltaTILs) from cervical
      cancer patients when combined with galectin-1 antibody and studied both in vitro
      and in vivo. METHODS: The presence of gammadeltaTILs in cervical cancer specimens
      was detected by immunohistochemistry and gammadeltaTILs were expanded using the
      solid-phase antibody method. The expression of galectin-1 by the human cervical
      cancer cell line, SiHa, was measured by Western blot and ELISA. In vitro
      cytotoxic activities of expanded gammadeltaTILs, with or without galectin-1
      inhibitor, were determined using the LDH-release test. In vivo antitumor activity
      of gammadeltaTILs, combined with galectin-1 antibody, was evaluated using the
      SCID mouse model. RESULTS: gammadeltaTILs existed in the cervical cancer and the
      percentage of TCRgammadelta(+) cells in gammadeltaTILs after ex vivo expansion
      was 91.2+/-1.2% detected by flow cytometry. SiHa cell expressed and secreted
      galectin-1 as measured by Western blot and ELISA. Expanded gammadeltaTILs from
      human cervical cancer demonstrated marked cytotoxicity to SiHa or Hela cells. In
      comparison with non-treated group, the cytotoxicity of gammadelta TILs towards
      SiHa or Hela cell was significantly increased when effector and target cells were
      incubated with either lactose or galectin-1 antibody at E/T ratio of 1:1 (p <
      0.05). gammadeltaTILs, in combination with galectin-1 antibody treatment,
      significantly suppressed the growth of xenografts in SCID mice, in comparison
      with all other groups (p < 0.05). gammadeltaTILs alone also showed the ability to
      inhibit tumour growth in vivo, but were more efficient when combined with
      specific antibody (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Taken together, our results suggest
      that gammadelta-T cells, combined with galectin-1 antibody treatment, could be a
      more effective adoptive immunotherapy for patients with cervical cancer than
      traditional adoptive immunotherapy methods.

PMID- 20926035
TI  - C-reactive protein, vitamin B12 and C677T polymorphism of N-5,10
      methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase gene are related to insulin resistance and
      risk factors for metabolic syndrome in Chinese population.
AB  - PURPOSE: Metabolic syndrome (MS) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) are complex
      diseases affected by both dietary intake and genetic background. Whether N-5, 10
      methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) C677T gene polymorphism, high
      sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and dietary components folate and vitamin
      B12 are associated with MS in Asian has not been determined. METHODS: We
      hypothesized that MTHFR gene C677T, folate, vitamin B12 and hs-CRP are associated
      with MS and factors related to MS in northern Han Chinese. To test this
      hypothesis, MTHFR C677T gene polymorphism was determined by PCR-RFLP, serum
      insulin, folate and vitamin B12 levels by radioimmunoassay, and hs-CRP by
      immunoturbidimetry in newly diagnosed T2DM patients with MS (118) and without MS
      (40), and in 55 healthy subjects. RESULTS: Results indicated that MS-associated
      T2DM accounts for 75% of newly diagnosed T2DM in Han Chinese. Serum hs-CRP was
      higher and serum vitamin B12 was lower in subjects with TT genotype in comparison
      with those with CC or CT genotypes. Total T frequency was significantly higher in
      MS-associated T2DM patients (45.3%) compared to 26.3% in non-MS-associated T2DM
      patients. MTHFR C677T gene polymorphism and vitamin B12 levels were associated
      with MS-associated T2DM. CONCLUSION: MTHFR C677T gene polymorphism may contribute
      to insulin resistance in Han Chinese with MS by increasing hs-CRP and decreasing
      vitamin B12, and consequently play an important role in development of MS
      associated T2DM.

PMID- 20926036
TI  - Diagnosis and treatment of juxta-ampullary duodenal diverticulum.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To summarize the diagnosis and treatment of juxta-ampullary duodenal
      diverticulum (JAD) in our hospital. METHODS: Of 5000 consecutive endoscopic
      retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) performed in our department, 225
      patients were diagnosed with JAD and treated. All patients were classified based
      on the location of Ampullae of Vater in relation to the duodenal diverticulum. Of
      the 225 JAD patients, 96 patients (43%) required surgery. RESULTS: The 225
      patients with JAD were divided into Type A (146 cases, 65%) or Type B (79 cases,
      35%). Type A patients presented with papillae near the diverticulum or in its
      margin. In this type, 36 patients (25%) presented with diverticulitis, bleeding,
      perforation or cholelithiasis, and were treated surgically. Type B patients
      presented with papillae inside the diverticulum. Among them, 60 patients (76%)
      had complications requiring surgery. CONCLUSIONS: JAD can be divided into two
      types based on location of the papillae. ERCP was the primary method of
      diagnosing JAD and patients with severe complications required surgical
      intervention.

PMID- 20926037
TI  - Clinical outcome and left ventricular remodeling in AMI patients with
      insufficient myocardial reperfusion after recanalization.
AB  - AIM: Myocardial contrast echocardiography (MCE) is effective in predicting
      myocardial viability and functional recovery on a segmental level in patients
      with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). In this study, we investigated whether
      insufficient myocardial reperfusion plays an important role in left ventricular
      (LV) remodeling and functional recovery in patients with thrombolysis in
      myocardial infarction (TIMI) flow grade 3 and corrected TIMI frame count (CTFC) <
      40 after recanalization of the infarct-related artery. METHOD: Patients underwent
      intracoronary injection of microbubbles for echocardiographic assessment of
      myocardial microvascular perfusion, wall motion score, LV volume and ejection
      function (EF) at baseline, 30 minutes, one month and six months after
      recanalization. The patients with MCESI < 1 were considered to have insufficient
      myocardial reperfusion (group A, n=11), while the patients with MCESI>=1 were
      considered to have sufficient myocardial reperfusion (group B, n=47) after AMI
      recanalization. RESULTS: The wall motion score index (WMSI) and the left
      ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) showed significant improvement at 1 month
      and 6 months in group B, but only at six months in group A. Left ventricular end
      systolic and end-diastolic volumes (LVESV and LVEDV) were also significantly
      decreased at one and six months in group B. WMSI, LVESV, LVEDV and LVEF were
      significantly improved in group B in comparison with group A at one month and six
      months (P < 0.01). By six months, significant correlations were seen in all
      patients between MCESI and changes in LVESV, LVEDV and LVEF at 6 months. Similar
      correlations were observed between the myocardial regional blood flow (Q) and
      changes in LVESV , LVEDV and LVEF. CONCLUSION: Insufficient myocardial
      reperfusion was a strong independent predictor of LV remodeling and functional
      recovery in AMI patients with TIMI flow grade 3 and CTFC < 40 after
      recanalization. MCE has important additional value for prognosis and risk
      assessment in patients with acute myocardial infarction following recanalization.

PMID- 20926038
TI  - Effects of statin use on total oxidant and antoxidant capacity and ceruloplasmin
      activity.
AB  - PURPOSE: Oxidative damage plays an important role in atherosclerosis development.
      Statin drugs have anti-oxidant properties, but the clinical value of their
      antioxidant properties remains unclear. In this study, our aims were: (1) to
      assess the anti-oxidant effects of statins in patients with coronary artery
      disease (CAD) using a newly developed valid measure of total oxidant and anti
      oxidant capacity; and (2) to identify whether statins influence ceruloplamin
      levels. METHODS: Within a cross-sectional study, 67 dyslipidemic CAD patients on
      atorvastatin for at least three months were compared with 69 age- and gender
      matched CAD patients not using atorvastatin. All patients were either newly
      diagnosed with or already had established CAD. Patients and controls were
      selected from among patients who had undergone coronary angiography for a variety
      of reasons. Immediately prior to angiography, plasma total oxidant and
      antioxidant capacity and ceruloplasmin (Cp) levels were measured by means of a
      relatively new and highly-reliable method. RESULTS: Total oxidant capacity levels
      were significantly lower and total antioxidant capacity significantly higher in
      those on atorvastatin; serum seruloplasmin levels also were significanly
      increased in the atorvastatin groups (all p < 0.05). On multivariate analysis,
      atorvastatin use was a significant determinant of Cp increase, independent of any
      antioxidant effect. CONCLUSIONS: This study clearly demonstrates increased anti
      oxidant capacity and decreased oxidative stress with statin use. Atorvastatin use
      may also increase Cp levels although this effect appears to be independent of its
      anti-oxidant effects.

PMID- 20926039
TI  - Prior intense exercise reduces arterial carbon dioxide pressure in extreme
      obesity.
AB  - PURPOSE: Unlike normal weight individuals, individuals with extreme obesity do
      not show a decrease in arterial carbon dioxide pressure (PaCO2) from rest to peak
      exercise. This indicates that breathing is compromised. The objective of this
      study was to determine if prior high intensity exercise lowers PaCO2 in
      comparison with a first bout, normalized for the same metabolic rate. METHODS:
      Oxygen consumption during incremental, ramped exercise was matched to constant
      workload exercise (75% of peak power). Both protocols were to volitional
      exhaustion 39 +/- 8 min apart. Eleven obese subjects (BMI = 47 +/- 8 kg/m2,
      aerobic capacity = 2.3 +/- 0.6 L/min) were evaluated. Forty paired samples were
      obtained at the same metabolic rate between the two protocols. RESULTS: The mean
      absolute difference and 95% CI were large for arterial oxygen pressure (PaO2) = 9
      (6, 11) mmHg and alveolar to arterial oxygen pressure difference (AaDO2) = 7 (5,
      8) mmHg. The mean absolute difference for arterial oxyhemoglobin saturation
      (%SaO2) = 0.5 (0.4, 0.7) %; PaCO2 = 4 (3, 4) mmHg; physiological dead space to
      tidal volume ratio (VD/VT) = 0.04 (0.03, 0.05); and alveolar ventilation (VA) = 3
      (2, 4) L/min. The recovery period after the first bout of exercise reduced the
      PaCO2 by 3 mmHg when matched for similar metabolic rates. Constant workload
      exercise predicted VA, %SaO2, V(D)/V(T), and PaCO2, but not PaO2 or AaDO2 during
      incremental exercise at similar metabolic rates. CONCLUSION: Given a sufficient
      chemical stimulus, obese subjects will attempt to breathe more, although this
      does not mean more VA, which removes CO2.

PMID- 20926040
TI  - Comparison of total oxidant/antioxidant status in unconjugated hyperbilirubinemia
      of newborn before and after conventional and LED phototherapy: A prospective
      randomized controlled trial.
AB  - PURPOSE: We evaluated and compared the oxidant and antioxidant status of
      hyperbilirubinemic infants before and after the two forms of phototherapy:
      conventional and LED phototherapy, in order to identify the optimal treatment
      method. METHOD: Thirty newborns exposed to conventional (Group I) phototherapy
      and 30 infants exposed to LED phototherapy (Group II) were studied. The serum
      total antioxidant capacity (TAC) and the total oxidant status (TOS) were assessed
      by EREL's method. RESULTS: There were no statistically significant differences in
      TAC or TOS levels between Group I and Group II prior to phototherapy, and no
      statistically significant difference in TAC levels between the two groups after
      phototherapy; however, TOS levels were significantly lower in Group II compared
      to Group I after phototherapy. Oxidative stress index (OSI) increased after
      conventional phototherapy (p < 0.05) CONCLUSION: The increase in TOS following
      conventional phototherapy was not not observed following LED phototherapy. This
      difference should be considered when using phototherapy.

PMID- 20926041
TI  - [Titles of persons].

PMID- 20926042
TI  - [Telomeres--the beginning and the end].

PMID- 20926043
TI  - [Telomeres and telomerase].
AB  - In 2009 the Nobel Prize in Medicine was awarded to EH Blackburn, CW Greider and
      JW Szostak for their work on "How chromosomes are protected by telomeres and the
      enzyme telomerase". Telomeres are specialized DNA structures localized at the end
      of linear chromosomes. Telomeres are known as the biological clock of the cell,
      since they shorten with each cell division. Telomerase can elongate telomeres.
      Telomeres protect chromosome ends against being recognized as double stranded DNA
      breaks, and are thought to be a guard against cancer. It has furthermore been
      suggested that telomeres may play a role in aging and age-related diseases.

PMID- 20926044
TI  - [The role of telomeres in cancer].
AB  - Telomeres are a double-edged sword when it comes to cancer. On one hand,
      telomeres limit the cells' ability to divide and thereby restrict the uninhibited
      growth seen in cancer. On the other hand, short telomeres can initiate the
      chromosome instability that characterizes cancer. Diseases with the combination
      of short telomeres and high cancer risk are seen, but until now the use of
      telomeres as predictors of cancer has, in general, been unsuccessful. Telomeres
      and telomerase play an important role in further cancer development. Researchers
      are trying to exploit this in the development of new cancer therapies.

PMID- 20926045
TI  - [The role of telomeres in aging-related disease].
AB  - Telomeres are specialized DNA structures, protecting the ends of linear
      chromosomes. The association between telomeres and cellular aging is well
      established, and it has been shown that there is a negative correlation between
      telomere length and chronological age for many types of human tissue. On the
      other hand, the association between telomere length and mortality is poor.
      Nevertheless, it has been suggested that telomeres may play a role in the
      development of many aging-related diseases. This has led to attempts to develop
      telomere-elongating treatment.

PMID- 20926046
TI  - [Smoking among more than 45,000 randomly sampled Danish women and men].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The aim of the study was to describe smoking and examine the
      association between socio-demographic factors (age, educational level and degree
      of urbanization) and smoking status, age at smoking initiation and heavy smoking.
      MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study is based on data from two cross-sectional surveys
      conducted in 2004 and 2006 among randomly sampled women and men (18-45 years). A
      total of 22,199 women (response rate: 81.4%) and 23,080 men (response rate:
      71.0%) were included in the study. RESULTS: One third of the participating women
      and men reported being smokers. The majority smoked more than 15 cigarettes/day
      (59% women, 74% men). The proportion of never smokers was higher among the
      youngest. The proportion of daily smokers was lowest in the youngest age groups,
      especially among women. The prevalence of daily smokers was highest among
      participants with limited education, among women living in the southern suburbs
      of Copenhagen, and among men living in peripheral rural areas. In the
      multivariate analysis, smoking more than 15 cigarettes/day was strongly
      associated with age (less prevalent among the youngest) and educational level
      (more prevalent among participants with limited education). Age at smoking
      initiation seemed to decrease, as it was lowest among the youngest participants
      and among those with the lowest educational level. CONCLUSION: Fewer and
      particularly fewer young persons start smoking. However, we found an uneven
      distribution in the proportion of smokers especially in relation to educational
      level but also in relation to degree of urbanization.

PMID- 20926047
TI  - [Improved survival in children with neuroblastoma].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The aims of the present study were to analyze whether changes in
      incidence and mortality rates have taken place in Denmark during the period 1981
      2005, and whether the distribution of known prognostic factors has changed during
      this period. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total of 206 children below 15 years of age
      with neuroblastoma or ganglioneuroblastoma who were diagnosed in Denmark between
      1981 and 2005. RESULTS: The incidence was 8.68 per million children below 15
      years of age (world standard 9.6) and 43.5 per million children below 12 months
      of age and these incidences have remained unchanged since 1970. The mortality
      rate has decreased steadily during the study period. The prognostic factors age,
      stage and site of primary tumour did not change during the study period and were
      not different from those reported by others. 32% of the children were below 12
      months of age at diagnosis. 53% of the children had metastatic disease. The
      overall 5-year survival increased over the study period from 38% in 1981-1985 to
      69% in 2001-2005. A significant increase in the survival of children > 12 months
      of age with stage 4 disease was also observed. Relapse/disease progression more
      than three years from diagnosis occurred in only 2% of patients. The median time
      from relapse to death was three months. CONCLUSION: The survival of children with
      neuroblastoma in Denmark has increased significantly over the last 25 years.

PMID- 20926048
TI  - [Extreme levels of hyperlipidaemia as a cause of acute pancreatitis].
AB  - Hypertriglyceridaemia is an uncommon cause of acute pancreatitis, accounting for
      1-4% of cases. In the case of lipoprotein-lipase mutations, lipid levels may rise
      to extreme levels during acute pancreatitis. In this case a 29-year-old female
      was hospitalized several times due to acute pancreatitis. She presented with
      extreme lipid levels and difficulty in blood testing. While the correlation of
      acute pancreatitis and hyperlipidaemia is known, awareness of its association
      with defects in lipid metabolism could, in this case, have furthered diagnostic
      and prevented repeated hospitalizations.

PMID- 20926049
TI  - [Intraplacental choriocarcinoma].
AB  - Choriocarcinoma is found in 1/20,000-40,000 pregnancies. The disease typically
      presents with symptomatic metastases. We present a case of incidentally
      discovered intraplacental choriocarcinoma. A gravida 7 at 35 + 4 weeks' gestation
      presented because of abdominal pain and decreased foetal movement. An acute
      Caesarean was performed with the delivery of a hypotonic, anaemic girl with an
      Apgar score of 0/1. Choriocarcinoma typically presents as yellow areas,
      resembling intraplacental infarction. Consequently, the incidence is probably
      higher than presumed.

PMID- 20926050
TI  - [Second-degree burn in a pregnant woman].
AB  - The incidence of burn injuries in pregnancy is low. Nevertheless, burns can cause
      maternal and foetal mortality and should be treated aggressively if substantial.
      Minor burns may frequently be managed without hospitalization. A 27-year-old
      primigravid woman with a gestational age of 38+6 presented with an abdominal
      partial-thickness burn covering 3% of her total body surface area. Conservative
      treatment was conducted in the emergency department. Medical induction of labour
      was performed. A healthy boy was delivered vaginally within 36 hours after the
      injury.

PMID- 20926051
TI  - [Rare form of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease].
AB  - Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) is the most common type of prion disease. A
      considerable variation in disease phenotype is seen, primarily influenced by a
      naturally occurring polymorphism in the prion protein gene. We present a case of
      sporadic CJD of atactic type. Molecular genetic analysis showed a VV polymorphism
      at codon 129 in the prion protein gene. The various polymorphisms at codon 129
      and their influence on the clinical picture and pathology are briefly discussed.

PMID- 20926052
TI  - [Picture of the month: imported malaria].

PMID- 20926053
TI  - [Sociophysiology: basic processes of empathy].
AB  - The aim of this review is to describe sociophysiological and social cognitive
      processes that underlie the complex phenomenon of human empathy. Automatic
      reflexive processes such as physiological contagion and action mirroring are
      mediated by the mirror neuron system. They are a basis for further processing of
      social signals and a physiological link between two individuals. This link
      comprises simultaneous activation of shared motor representations. Shared
      representations lead implicitly via individual associations in the limbic and
      vegetative system to a shared affective state. These processes are called
      sociophysiology. Further controlled- reflective, self-referential processing of
      those social signals leads to explicit, conscious representations of others'
      minds. Those higher-order processes are called social cognition. The interaction
      of physiological and cognitive social processes lets arise the phenomenon of
      human empathy.

PMID- 20926054
TI  - [Neurocognition and social cognition in patients with schizophrenia or mood
      disorders].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Overview on the current knowledge regarding neurocognition and social
      cognition in patients with schizophrenia or mood disorders. METHODS: Selective
      literature research on deficits in neurocognition and social cognition intrinsic
      to schizophrenia and mood disorders, their occurrence and effects. RESULTS:
      Deficits in neurocognition and social cognition are more pronounced in patients
      with schizoprenia than in those with mood disorders. However, regardless of
      diagnosis these impairments have significant negative impact on the patients'
      subjective and functional outcome. CONCLUSIONS: It is important to consider
      cognitive deficits as an integral part of a treatment approach to achieve mental
      stabilization in patients with schizophrenia or mood disorders.

PMID- 20926055
TI  - [Increasing criminality in patients with schizophrenia: fiction, logical
      consequence or avoidable side effect of the mental health reforms?].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The reforms of general mental health care aimed at a substantial
      improvement of the situation of the mentally ill. We examined the question of a
      possible association between the mental health reforms and the steady increase of
      the population of forensic mental hospitals becoming apparent since the
      introduction of community psychiatry. RESULTS: All recent publications report a
      moderate albeit statistically significantly increased risk of criminality in
      patients suffering from schizophrenia, which becomes more obvious in severe,
      violent offences. In homicide it comes up to the 10-fold of that of the general
      population. Comorbid substance abuse has a substantial impact on the extent of
      illegal behaviour, however, even under consideration of alcohol abuse the risk of
      homicide amounts to about the 7-fold of that of the general population. Nearly
      all European countries give account on a remarkable increase of the incidence and
      prevalence rates of mentally disordered offenders. Patients suffering from
      schizophrenia are disproportionately affected by this development. However, the
      substantially increased risk of homicide in schizophrenic patients, reported
      already in the pre-reform era, remained stable over time. Accordingly, the rate
      of patients admitted to forensic-psychiatric treatment because of offences of
      minor severity is on the rise. CONCLUSION: This development cannot be explained
      by single details of the mental health reforms, which show remarkable regional
      differences concerning numbers of mental hospital beds, ways of service
      provision, legal preconditions and rates of criminality and substance abuse.
      Rather, national and international data suggest changes of general societal
      attitudes to be the crucial factor. They have resulted in changes concerning the
      self-understanding of the representatives of modern mental healthcare. As
      aggressive behaviour is not integrated in the understanding of schizophrenia of
      present-day psychiatry, the objective needs of a subgroup of severely and
      chronically ill psychotic patients with high rates of comorbid substance abuse,
      lack of insight and compliance are increasingly neglected. The denial of these
      facts promotes the shift of 'difficult-to-treat patients' into forensic
      psychiatric facilities and damages the reputation of psychiatry.

PMID- 20926056
TI  - [The German language version of the Camberwell Assessment of Need for the Elderly
      (CANE) among dementia patients].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the present study was to assess the needs of dementia
      patients using the German language version of the Camberwell Assessment of Need
      for the Elderly (CANE) and to investigate the internal consistency of German
      language. METHODS: A sample of 45 dementia patients was investigated using the
      German CANE. Data were collected from family caregivers. RESULTS: Most dementia
      patients showed a multitude of problems. In most cases, support was provided more
      frequently from informal caregivers than from social or medical services.
      Internal consistency ranged between 0.797 and 0.900 (Cronbach's Alpha).
      CONCLUSIONS: The high frequency of problems indicates the importance of long-term
      planning of services for dementia patients. The internal consistency of the
      German CANE was sufficiently high.

PMID- 20926057
TI  - [The psychometric value of the Verbal Short-Term Memory Scale by Arnold &
      Kohlmann in psychiatry].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Of various tests used to determine verbal short-term-memory deficits
      in mentally ill persons the Verbal Short-Term Memory Scale by Arnold and Kohlmann
      meets the important criteria of being fast, user-friendly and every day life
      like, despite its old norms and questionable validity. The aim of this study was
      to assess the psychological value of this instrument by correlating it with those
      two subtests of the standardized Wechsler Memory Scale (WMS), which assess verbal
      shortterm memory. METHODS: 478 random patients at a university psychiatric
      hospital, who were referred for psychological testing, were examined with the
      Verbal Short-Term Memory Scale by Arnold & Kohlmann and the subtests "Logical
      Memory" and "Verbal Paired Associates" of the Wechsler Memory Scale. RESULTS:
      Performance by the total sample on both memory tests was in the lowest or just
      below the range of dispersion for normal values. All scales of both tests showed
      significant positive correlation. CONCLUSIONS: Despite its age the Verbal Short
      Term Memory Scale by Arnold & Kohlmann is especially recommended for quick
      differential diagnosis of a patient's memory in an acute psychiatric examination.

PMID- 20926059
TI  - [Are eating disorders addictions?].
AB  - The various eating disorders, anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge-eating
      disorder, are characterized by severe disturbances in eating behavior and are
      seen as typical "psychosomatic disorders". The subdivision of anorexia nervosa
      into two subtypes, namely "anorexia nervosa restricting type" and "anorexia
      nervosa bulimic type" has proved to be very good. It is to be assumed that eating
      disorders are not a homogeneous group, and that the various subtypes of eating
      disorders are also heterogeneous at several levels. Co-morbid psychiatric
      disorders, especially affective disorders, anxiety disorders, substance-related
      disorders, and personality disorders, are often found in eating- disordered
      patients. Many anorectics of the restrictive type and orthorectics show co-morbid
      psychiatric disorders such as anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorders,
      and avoidant or obsessive-compulsive personality disorders, while a co-morbidity
      of affective disorders, addiction, personality disorders, especially multi
      impulsivity and borderline personality disorder, is frequently found in
      anorectics of bulimic type, bulimics, and binge eaters. Addictive behavior
      manifests itself in permanent preoccupation with food and eating, withdrawal
      symptoms, continuation of disturbed eating behavior in spite of negative
      consequences, loss of control, and frequent relapse. There are some indications
      that there is a basic psychological disturbance common to eating disorders,
      especially bulimia nervosa, and to substance-related disorders, namely a
      personality disorder with an emotional instability and multi-impulsivity. The
      possible associations between eating disorders and mental disorders, particularly
      addictions, will be discussed.

PMID- 20926058
TI  - [Quality assurance of take-over from in-patient to out-patient care: experiences
      in Lower Austria].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Community mental health teams (CMHT) provide support for severely
      disabled, chronic mentally ill patients. In this study, referrals to CMHT by a
      psychiatric hospital in Lower Austria were analysed, as were the first few weeks
      of care for referred patients. METHODS: Referrals to CMHT of a catchment area
      (pop 250.000) were analysed for 2002- 2006. RESULTS: In the first 6 months of
      each year, 124 to 189 patients were referred to CMHT. Between 2002 and 2006, the
      percentage of affective disorders (ICD-10: F3: 40.0 %), and substance use
      disorders (F1: 38.9 %) within the referrals diminished, as compared to patients
      suffering from schizophrenia (F2 initially 25.4 % of referrals vs. 49.7 %) and
      personality disorders (F6 initially 6.4 % of referrals vs. 22.4 %). In 30.7 % vs.
      56.6 % of patients, CMHT workers managed to establish contact to patients after
      discharge from hospital. They actively sought contact with 39.9 to 74.6 % of
      referred patients (by means of telephone calls, letters, home visits, etc.). In
      26.5 to 46.9 % of the referrals, continuous care was planned. CONCLUSIONS: This
      study emphasizes the advantage of specific referrals to CMHT, if care for
      severely disabled individuals is needed and should be provided. Furthermore, a
      description of outreach activities, which are intended to maintain contact with
      patients characterized by poor compliance, is presented. These activities are not
      yet part of routine care in German speaking countries.

PMID- 20926060
TI  - [Sexual addiction: chimera or clinical syndrom? A plea for a clinical
      conceptualization].
AB  - The phenomenon of sexual addiction as a clinical syndrom is discussed
      controversially. The article first deals with some mythological, historical and
      literary sources, which have been an inspiration for the nomenclature, e.g.
      nymphomania. Scientific research started in the 19th century, but also a
      classification in terms of a morally contaminated pathology, which led to
      barbaric forms of "therapies" and procedures, especially for women. The ICD-10
      and the DSM-IV do not contain categories that correspond with the clinical
      experience of many experts. The application of the WHO criteria should be
      possible, but this might fail due to big intercultural and individual differences
      in defining normal sexuality as the point of origin for pathological aberrances.
      Later some nosological concepts and therapeutic approaches are presented. The
      criticism of the term of "sexual addiction" is followed by the criticism of the
      criticism. The article ends with the conviction, that it should be a useful and
      reasonable challenge for psychiatrists to come to a reliable classification of
      this disorder to provide easier access to serious and professional help to those
      who often suffer enormous pain and shame.

PMID- 20926061
TI  - Surfactants and wetting at superhydrophobic surfaces: water solutions and non
      aqueous liquids.
AB  - Wetting studies regarding amphiphilic molecules and adsorption properties on
      highly water repellent solid surfaces play key roles in research and technology,
      with increasing interest both in fundamental and application fields. Nevertheless
      the wetting properties of aqueous surfactant solutions, non aqueous liquids or
      immiscible phases on superhydrophobic (SH) solid surfaces have been so far rarely
      investigated. In this work the authors give an overview on this topic reviewing
      the literature available together with preliminary results concerning the
      influence of the distribution properties of surfactants between two immiscible
      phases. Transition between wetting states can be also considered a possible
      development of these studies based on switching mechanisms.

PMID- 20926063
TI  - Driver behaviour at rail level crossings: responses to flashing lights, traffic
      signals and stop signs in simulated rural driving.
AB  - Australian road and railway authorities have made a concerted effort to reduce
      the number of rail level crossings, particularly the higher risk passive
      crossings that are protected by devices such as 'give way' or 'stop' signs. To
      improve this situation, passive level crossings are often upgraded with active
      controls such as flashing red lights. Traffic signals may provide good safety
      outcomes at level crossings but remain untested. The primary purpose of this
      research was to compare driver behaviour at two railway level crossings with
      active controls, flashing red lights and traffic signals, to behaviour at the
      current standard passive level crossing control, a stop sign. Participants drove
      the MUARC advanced driving simulator for 30 min. During the simulated drive,
      participants were exposed to three level crossing scenarios. Each scenario
      consisted of one of three level crossing control types, and was associated with
      an oncoming train. Mean vehicle speed on approach to the level crossings
      decreased more rapidly in response to flashing lights than to traffic signals.
      While speed on approach was lowest for the stop-sign condition, the number of non
      compliant drivers (i.e., those who did not stop) at the crossing was highest for
      this condition. While results indicate that traffic signals at rail level
      crossings do not appear to offer any safety benefits over and above flashing red
      lights, further avenues of research are proposed to reach more definitive
      conclusions. Compliance was lowest for the passive crossing control which
      provides further support for the ongoing passive crossing upgrades in Australia.

PMID- 20926064
TI  - Epithelial Na+ channel (ENaC) expression in obstructive sialadenitis of the
      submandibular gland.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The epithelial sodium channel (ENaC) has a critical
      role in the control of sodium balance, blood volume, blood pressure and viscosity
      of extracellular water. In submandibular gland disease, viscosity of the saliva
      plays an important role in the pathophysiology. However, there has been little
      study into the relationship between expression of ENaC and obstructive
      sialadenitis. The aim of this study was to elucidate the ENaC expression in
      excretory duct obstruction of the submandibular gland. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      Seven-week old male Sprague-Dawley 12 rats were enrolled in the study. The rats
      were decapitated and histological changes of the submandibular gland tissue
      examined on days 0, 1, 3, 7, 14 and 21 after submandibular gland duct ligation.
      The expression of ENaC mRNA in the submandibular gland tissue was tested by
      reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Quantitative analysis
      of the ENaC protein was performed through Western blotting and tissue
      localization of the protein was performed by immunohistochemical staining.
      RESULTS: By real time RT-PCR, the expression of ENaC (alpha, beta, gamma) mRNA
      increased after ligation of the submandibular gland duct. alpha and gamma ENaC
      mRNA expression began to increase after 1 day. But beta ENaC mRNA expression
      began to increase significantly after 14 days. The increase of ENaC mRNA
      expression lasted for 3 weeks. The expression of ENaC (alpha, beta, gamma)
      protein was identified by Western blotting analysis, and ENaC protein was
      localized in ductal epithelial cells by immunohistochemistry. CONCLUSION: The
      expression of ENaC (alpha, beta, gamma) was increased by excretory duct ligation
      of the submandibular gland in rats and ENaC was considered to have a certain role
      in the pathogenesis of obstructive sialadenitis.

PMID- 20926065
TI  - To include or not to include? A response to the meta-analysis of heart rate
      variability and depression.

PMID- 20926066
TI  - Infralimbic D2 receptors are necessary for fear extinction and extinction-related
      tone responses.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Fear extinction is dependent on plasticity in the infralimbic
      prefrontal cortex, an area heavily innervated by midbrain dopaminergic inputs.
      Dopamine D2 receptors are concentrated in infralimbic output neurons that are
      involved in the suppression of conditioned fear after extinction. Here, we
      examined the specific role of infralimbic D2 receptors in mediating associative
      learning underlying fear extinction using the selective D2 antagonist raclopride.
      METHODS: Raclopride was administered systemically or infused into the infralimbic
      prefrontal cortex before fear extinction, and extinction retention was tested the
      following day. Rats were also prepared for single-unit recording in the
      infralimbic prefrontal cortex to assess the effect of raclopride on firing
      properties. RESULTS: We found that systemic injection of raclopride given before
      extinction impaired retrieval of extinction when rats were tested drug-free the
      next day but also induced catalepsy during extinction training. To determine
      whether impaired extinction was due to impaired motor function or disruption of
      extinction consolidation, we infused raclopride directly into the infralimbic
      prefrontal cortex. Raclopride infused immediately before extinction training did
      not produce motor deficits but impaired recall of extinction when tested drug
      free. Furthermore, in animals that underwent extinction training, systemic
      raclopride reduced the tone responsiveness of infralimbic prefrontal cortex
      neurons in layers 5/6, with no changes in average firing rate. CONCLUSIONS: We
      suggest that D2 receptors facilitate extinction by increasing the signal-to-noise
      of infralimbic prefrontal cortex neurons that consolidate extinction.

PMID- 20926067
TI  - Basic impairments in regulating the speed-accuracy tradeoff predict symptoms of
      attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is characterized by
      poor optimization of behavior in the face of changing demands. Theoretical
      accounts of ADHD have often focused on higher-order cognitive processes and
      typically assume that basic processes are unaffected. It is an open question
      whether this is indeed the case. METHOD: We explored basic cognitive processing
      in 25 subjects with ADHD and 30 typically developing children and adolescents
      with a perceptual decision-making paradigm. We investigated whether individuals
      with ADHD were able to balance the speed and accuracy of decisions. RESULTS: We
      found impairments in the optimization of the speed-accuracy tradeoff.
      Furthermore, these impairments were directly related to the hyperactive and
      impulsive symptoms that characterize the ADHD-phenotype. CONCLUSIONS: These data
      suggest that impairments in basic cognitive processing are central to the
      disorder. This calls into question conceptualizations of ADHD as a "higher-order"
      deficit, as such simple decision processes are at the core of almost every
      paradigm used in ADHD research.

PMID- 20926068
TI  - Disruption of white matter integrity in bipolar depression as a possible
      structural marker of illness.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Diffusion tensor imaging allows the study of integrity of white
      matter (WM) tracts. Literature suggests that WM integrity could be altered in
      bipolar disorder. Heterogeneity of brain imaging methods, the studied samples,
      and drug treatments make localization, nature, and severity of the WM
      abnormalities unclear. METHODS: We applied tract-based spatial statistics of
      diffusion tensor imaging measures to compare fractional anisotropy (FA), mean,
      and radial diffusivity of the WM skeleton in a group of 40 consecutively admitted
      inpatients affected by a major depressive episode without psychotic features with
      a diagnosis of bipolar disorder type I and 21 unrelated healthy volunteers from
      the general population. RESULTS: Compared with control subjects, patients showed
      lower FA in the genu of the corpus callosum and in anterior and right superior
      posterior corona radiata and higher values of radial diffusivity in WM tracts of
      splenium, genu and body of corpus callosum, right mid-dorsal part of the cingulum
      bundle, left anterior and bilateral superior and posterior corona radiata,
      bilateral superior longitudinal fasciculus, and right posterior thalamic
      radiation. Patients had no brain areas with higher FA or lower diffusivity values
      than control subjects. CONCLUSIONS: Reduced FA with increased mean and radial
      diffusivity suggests significant demyelination and/or dysmyelination without
      axonal loss. Comparing our findings with other observations in homogeneous
      samples of euthymic and manic patients, it can be hypothesized that changes in
      measures of WM integrity might parallel illness phases of bipolar illness.

PMID- 20926069
TI  - A daguerreotype of Phineas Gage?

PMID- 20926070
TI  - Positive correlation in the bisection of long and short horizontal Oppel-Kundt
      illusory gradients: Implications for the interpretation of the "cross-over"
      effect in spatial neglect.
AB  - Right brain damaged patients with left spatial neglect typically bisect long
      horizontal lines to the right of their midpoint. However, bisections of very
      short lines can favour the emergence of a paradoxical "cross-over" effect in
      which lines are bisected to the left of the true midpoint. It has been suggested
      that in healthy participants similar variations in the position of the subjective
      line midpoint can be observed in the bisections of long and short Oppel-Kundt (O
      K) illusory gradients (Savazzi et al., 2007). This analogy was taken as proof
      that patients with neglect suffer a distorted representation of horizontal space
      that is equivalent to illusory distortions that O-K gradients induce in the
      intact brain (Savazzi et al., 2007). In contrast to this proposal, however, it
      has been noted that reversal of O-K illusion with short gradients was never
      described in literature (Doricchi et al., 2008). To resolve this incongruence, it
      was argued that such a reversal can be observed in healthy participants showing
      strong conventional illusory effects with long gradients (Savazzi, 2008). This
      proposal suggests that the greater the shift in the conventional direction of the
      illusion for long gradients, the greater the shift in the opposite direction with
      equivalent short gradients (i.e., negative correlation). Here we tested this
      hypothesis in a sample of 100 healthy participants who bisected horizontal O-K
      illusory gradients of different lengths (2, 4, 8 and 16cm). We found no reversal
      of O-K illusion with short gradients and a positive, rather than negative,
      correlation between bisection of long and short gradients. Participants showing
      strong illusory effects in the bisection of long gradients showed analogous
      effects in the bisection of very short ones. These findings do not support the
      space anisometry interpretation of line bisection performance and the cross-over
      effect in patients with neglect.

PMID- 20926071
TI  - Gene expression analysis of a new source of human oocytes and embryos for
      research and human embryonic stem cell derivation.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To create developmentally competent embryos from failed-to-fertilize
      oocytes for use in infertility research and human embryonic stem cell derivation.
      DESIGN: Attempts to recover developmental potential of failed-to-fertilize
      oocytes were made by using either parthenogenetic activation or reinsemination by
      intracytoplasmic sperm injection. Resulting embryos were cultured to various
      stages up to and including blastocyst, and single embryos exhibiting normal
      development were analyzed for gene expression by quantitatively profiling
      representative transcripts. SETTING: Hospital-based assisted reproductive
      technology laboratory and University academic laboratories. PATIENT(S): One
      hundred sixty-five couples undergoing assisted fertility treatment.
      INTERVENTION(S): Metaphase II stage oocytes were either parthenogenetically
      activated or reinseminated with donor sperm, then allowed to develop up to and
      including the blastocyst stage. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Gene expression analysis
      was performed on oocytes and embryos by quantitative reverse transcriptase
      polymerase chain reaction for markers of developmental competence. RESULT(S):
      Fertilization occurred in 65% of the activated or reinseminated oocytes, which
      resulted in a blastocyst formation rate of 8%. Evaluation of a number of
      developmentally important genes in those embryos exhibiting normal development
      revealed profile and levels of expression similar to control embryos. One
      blastocyst from an activated oocyte yielded a novel pluripotent stem cell line
      indistinguishable from those derived from embryos surplus to infertility
      treatment. CONCLUSION(S): Clinically unusable oocytes represent a valuable
      alternative source of normal human embryos for human infertility and stem cell
      research without conflicting with patient treatment.

PMID- 20926072
TI  - A proposed new system of coding and injury classification for arteries in the
      trunk and extremities.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective review of arterial injury with prospective intra
      observer and inter-observer analyses. AIM: To introduce a new classification
      system for arterial injuries in the extremities and trunk. METHODS: Retrospective
      review of all patients with arterial injuries treated at a level I trauma centre
      during a 3.5-year period. Major arteries were located and coded, and the
      arteries' lesion was categorised in reference to the alphanumeric format of the
      AO fracture coding system and injury classification. Each major artery was coded
      in a numeric format and further divided into three segments: proximal, middle and
      distal. The severity of artery injury was classified into different types and
      subtypes in an alphanumeric format. Inter-observer and intra-observer
      reliabilities were tested. RESULTS: Systemic arteries were coded and arterial
      injuries were classified in the alphanumeric notation. The intra- and inter
      observers' reliabilities were found to be acceptable in the application of the
      new system. CONCLUSION: The preliminary data demonstrate that the new coding and
      injury classification system for arteries in the trunk and extremities are
      reliable and efficient for data storage and retrieval, and provide a favourable
      environment for discussion among different physicians or centres.

PMID- 20926073
TI  - Haemodynamic instability resulting from a low energy pubic ramus fracture in a 78
      year-old woman. A case report and review of the literature.

PMID- 20926074
TI  - Obstetric violence: a new legal term introduced in Venezuela.

PMID- 20926075
TI  - Predictive validity of the Hendrich fall risk model II in an acute geriatric
      unit.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Falls are the most common adverse events reported in acute care
      hospitals, and older patients are the most likely to fall. The risk of falling
      cannot be completely eliminated, but it can be reduced through the implementation
      of a fall prevention program. A major evidence-based intervention to prevent
      falls has been the use of fall-risk assessment tools. Many tools have been
      increasingly developed in recent years, but most instruments have not been
      investigated regarding reliability, validity and clinical usefulness. OBJECTIVES:
      This study intends to evaluate the predictive validity and inter-rater
      reliability of Hendrich fall risk model II (HFRM II) in order to identify older
      patients at risk of falling in geriatric units and recommend its use in clinical
      practice. DESIGN: A prospective descriptive design was used. SETTING: The study
      was carried out in a geriatric acute care unit of an Italian University hospital.
      PARTICIPANTS: All over 65 years old patients consecutively admitted to a
      geriatric acute care unit of an Italian University hospital over 8-month period
      were enrolled. METHODS: The patients enrolled were screened for the falls risk by
      nurses with the HFRM II within 24h of admission. The falls occurring during the
      patient's hospital stay were registered. Inter-rater reliability, area under the
      ROC curve, sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values and
      time for the administration were evaluated. RESULTS: 179 elderly patients were
      included. The inter-rater reliability was 0.87 (95% CI 0.71-1.00). The
      administration time was about 1min. The most frequently reported risk factors
      were depression, incontinence, vertigo. Sensitivity and specificity were
      respectively 86% and 43%. The optimal cut-off score for screening at risk
      patients was 5 with an area under the ROC curve of 0.72. The risk factors more
      strongly associated with falls were confusion and depression. CONCLUSIONS: As
      falls of older patients are a common problem in acute care settings it is
      necessary that the nurses use specific validate and reliable fall risk assessment
      tools in order to implement the most effective prevention measures. Our findings
      provided supporting evidence to the choice of the HFRM II to screen older
      patients at risk of falling in acute care settings.

PMID- 20926076
TI  - Relationships of mitral annular calcification to cardiovascular risk factors: the
      Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA).
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mitral annular calcification (MAC) is a fibrous, degenerative
      calcification of the mitral valve. The relationship between MAC and
      cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors is not well defined. Thus, we performed
      a cross-sectional study to determine which CVD risk factors are independently
      associated with MAC in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA). METHODS:
      MESA includes 6814 women and men ages 45-84 years old without apparent CVD in 4
      ethnic groups (12% Chinese, 38% Caucasian, 22% Hispanic, and 28% African
      American). MAC was defined by presence of calcium in the mitral annulus by
      cardiac computed tomography at enrollment. Multivariable logistic regression was
      used to evaluate relationships between MAC and CVD risk factors. RESULTS: The
      overall prevalence of MAC was 9%. The prevalence of MAC was highest in Caucasians
      (12%), followed by Hispanics (10%), African Americans (7%) and was lowest in
      Chinese (5%). Characteristics associated with MAC included age (p<0.01), female
      gender (p<0.01), increased body mass index (BMI) (p=0.03), and former smoking
      status (p<0.008). The MAC group had a higher prevalence of hypertension, diabetes
      mellitus (DM), and family history of heart attack (all p<0.001). After adjusting
      for all variables, age, female gender, diabetes mellitus, and increased BMI
      remained strongly associated with MAC. CONCLUSIONS: Age, female gender, DM, and
      increased BMI were significantly associated with MAC. Prevalence of MAC was
      strongly associated with female gender and increasing age in all ethnicities.

PMID- 20926077
TI  - Anti-inflammatory salicylate beneficially modulates pre-existing atherosclerosis
      through quenching of NF-kappaB activity and lowering of cholesterol.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Inflammation plays an important role in all stages of atherosclerosis,
      but little is known about the therapeutic effects of quenching inflammation in
      already existing atherosclerotic lesions. Putative beneficial effects of
      salicylate, an inhibitor of NF-kappaB activation, were studied in mice with
      established lesions. METHODS: ApoE*3-Leiden mice received a high-cholesterol diet
      (HC) to establish atherosclerotic lesions. Reference mice (REF) were sacrificed
      to determine the lesion area at the start of two interventions. In one
      intervention group HC diet feeding was continued, but the diet contained
      salicylate (HC+SAL). As salicylate not only quenches inflammation but also
      reduces plasma cholesterol, a second intervention group was fed a low-cholesterol
      diet (LC) resulting in cholesterol levels comparable to HC+SAL. The effects of
      these interventions on lesion area and composition were assessed after 8 and 16
      weeks. RESULTS: HC+SAL markedly reduced hepatic NF-kappaB activity compared to
      REF, and was significantly more effective than LC diet feeding. HC+SAL and LC
      also quenched aortic NF-kappaB activity. While continuing HC diet typically
      further increases total lesion area, 16 weeks of intervention with HC+SAL and LC
      halted further disease progression and resulted in lesion sizes comparable to
      that of REF. At the same time, lesion composition was significantly improved,
      particularly with salicylate. Strikingly, HC+SAL resulted in a lower lesional
      macrophage content and a greater plaque stability index (ratio of collagen to
      macrophage area) than LC. CONCLUSION: Anti-inflammatory salicylate reduces
      atherosclerotic macrophage content and increases lesion stability of pre-existing
      plaques through quenching of NF-kappaB activity and reducing plasma cholesterol.

PMID- 20926078
TI  - Impact of statin pretreatment on the incidence of plaque rupture in ST-elevation
      acute myocardial infarction.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Several studies in experimental animals have shown that statins
      stabilize atheromatous plaques by increasing fibrous-cap thickness. However,
      direct evidence linking the use of statins to the incidence of plaque rupture in
      humans is lacking. We investigated whether statin treatment before the onset of
      ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) influences the incidence of plaque
      rupture detected by intravascular ultrasound (IVUS). METHODS: The study enrolled
      458 patients with STEMI who were admitted within 6h from symptom onset. IVUS
      interrogation was performed before percutaneous coronary intervention. RESULTS:
      Plaque ruptures were detected in 262 patients (57%). Patients with statin
      pretreatment (n=68) had a lower incidence of plaque rupture than those without
      (37% vs. 61%, p<0.001). Univariate analysis revealed that smoking (p=0.003),
      lower high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (p=0.001), and a lack of statin
      pretreatment (p<0.001) were associated with a higher incidence of plaque rupture.
      Multivariate logistic regression analysis identified statin pretreatment as a
      negative determinant of plaque rupture independent of age, gender, coronary risk
      factors, and all other medications (odds ratio 0.35; 95% CI 0.19-0.66, p=0.001).
      Positive remodeling was also associated with plaque rupture (p<0.001), and the
      relationship between statin pretreatment and a lower incidence of plaque rupture
      persisted after adjustment for positive remodeling (odds ratio 0.42; 95% CI 0.22
      0.80, p=0.009). CONCLUSIONS: Statin treatment before the onset of STEMI is
      associated with a lower incidence of plaque rupture, suggesting that the
      prevention of plaque rupture may be a crucial mechanism underlying clinical
      benefits associated with statins.

PMID- 20926079
TI  - Non-invasive assessment of failure torque in rat bones with simulated lytic
      lesions using computed tomography based structural rigidity analysis.
AB  - This study applies CT-based structural rigidity analysis (CTRA) to assess failure
      torque of rat femurs with simulated lytic defects at different locations
      (proximal and distal femur) and diameters (25% and 50% of the cross-section at
      the site), and compared the results to those obtained from mechanical testing.
      Moreover, it aims to compare the correlation coefficients between CTRA-based
      failure torque and DXA-based aBMD versus actual failure torque. Twenty rats were
      randomly assigned to four equal groups of different simulated lesions based on
      size and location. Femurs from each animal underwent micro-computed tomography to
      assess three-dimensional micro-structural data, torsional rigidity using
      structural rigidity analysis and dual energy X-ray absorptiometry to assess bone
      mineral density. Following imaging, all specimens were subjected to torsion.
      Failure torque predicted from CT-derived structural rigidity measurements was
      better correlated with mechanically derived failure torque [R(2)=0.85] than was
      aBMD from DXA [R(2)=0.32]. In summary, the results of this study suggest that
      computed tomography based structural rigidity analysis can be used to accurately
      and quantitatively measure the mechanical failure torque of bones with osteolytic
      lesions in an experimental rat model. Structural rigidity analysis can provide
      more accurate predictions on maximal torque to mechanical failure than dual
      energy X-ray absorptiometry based on bone mineral density.

PMID- 20926080
TI  - Mechanical recovery of dentin following remineralization in vitro--an indentation
      study.
AB  - This study sought to gain insights into the steps leading to remineralization and
      mechanical recovery of hydrated dentin. Mechanical recovery in water was
      hypothesized to result from effective mineral matrix binding and to occur from
      the innermost regions outwards due to an increase in the number of nucleation
      sites. Partially demineralized (0.05 M acetate, pH=5.0, 8h) dentin was
      remineralized using calcium and phosphate solutions of 10.1 or 9.8 degree of
      saturation (DS) for hydroxyapatite (pH=7.4) for 4, 8 or 24h. Remineralization
      used a constant solution composition approach, which allowed for a continuous
      mineral growth with relatively constant thermodynamic driving forces. Crystal
      growth rates (R) were calculated using concentrations of calcium and phosphate.
      Before and after de- and re-mineralization, specimens had their surface and cross
      section elastic moduli measured using AFM-nanoindentation in water. DS=10.1
      provided higher R and higher mechanical recovery at the surface (p<0.0001). Cross
      sectional measurements showed that subsurface mechanical recovery occurred from
      the innermost demineralized areas gradually outwards for both groups with no
      statistical differences at different DS, thus suggesting that remineralization is
      driven by mineral growth within nucleation sites with preserved collagen fibrils.
      Further, mechanical recovery appeared to initially obey a heterogeneous pattern,
      which vanished with time. This study provides evidence of mechanical recovery of
      hydrated dentin after remineralization and novel insights into the steps leading
      to mechanical recovery of carious dentin.

PMID- 20926081
TI  - Evaluation of waist-mounted tri-axial accelerometer based fall-detection
      algorithms during scripted and continuous unscripted activities.
AB  - It is estimated that by 2050 more than one in five people will be aged 65 or
      over. In this age group, falls are one of the most serious life-threatening
      events that can occur. Their automatic detection would help reduce the time of
      arrival of medical attention, thus reducing the mortality rate and in turn
      promoting independent living. This study evaluated a variety of existing and
      novel fall-detection algorithms for a waist-mounted accelerometer based system.
      In total, 21 algorithms of varying degrees of complexity were tested against a
      comprehensive data-set recorded from 10 young healthy volunteers performing 240
      falls and 120 activities of daily living (ADL) and 10 elderly healthy volunteers
      performing 240 scripted ADL and 52.4 waking hours of continuous unscripted normal
      ADL. Results show that using an algorithm that employs thresholds in velocity,
      impact and posture (velocity+impact+posture) achieves 100% specificity and
      sensitivity with a false-positive rate of less than 1 false-positive (0.6 false
      positives) per day of waking hours. This algorithm is the most suitable method of
      fall-detection, when tested using continuous unscripted activities performed by
      elderly healthy volunteers, which is the target environment for a fall-detection
      device.

PMID- 20926082
TI  - Liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry compatible approaches for the
      quantitation of folic acid in fortified juices and cereals using aqueous normal
      phase conditions.
AB  - Folic acid was separated under aqueous normal phase (ANP) conditions with Diamond
      HydrideTM columns and quantitated in fortified cereal and juice matrices using
      high performance liquid chromatography/ultraviolet absorption (HPLC-UV) and
      liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC-MS) based methodologies. The folic
      acid was well-resolved from matrix components under the ANP conditions studied
      and allowed for the direct analyses of the fortified juices and cereals without
      the sample cleanup that is often required for other reported LC-based approaches.
      The calibration curve obtained from the LC-MS analyses demonstrated good
      linearity (R(2)=0.9997) in the studied concentration range of 0.05-0.5 mg/L. The
      spiked flour percent recovery was 90% with HPLC-UV and 91% with LC-MS. Spiked
      juice percent recovery was 102% with LC-MS. However, analyses of juices were
      unsatisfactory either in terms of recovery or sensitivity. Therefore, analyses of
      juices will either need to be performed by LC-MS or, if by HPLC-UV, will require
      sample cleanup. Three cereals and one juice were analyzed with the methods.

PMID- 20926083
TI  - Rapid affinity purification of erythropoietin from biological samples using
      disposable monoliths.
AB  - Identification of post-translational modifications of proteins in biological
      samples often requires access to preanalytical purification and concentration
      methods. In the purification step high or low molecular weight substances can be
      removed by size exclusion filters, and high abundant proteins can be removed, or
      low abundant proteins can be enriched, by specific capturing tools. In this paper
      is described the experience and results obtained with a recently emerged and easy
      to-use affinity purification kit for enrichment of the low amounts of EPO found
      in urine and plasma specimens. The kit can be used as a pre-step in the EPO
      doping control procedure, as an alternative to the commonly used ultrafiltration,
      for detecting aberrantly glycosylated isoforms. The commercially available
      affinity purification kit contains small disposable anti-EPO monolith columns (6
      MUL volume, O7 mm, length 0.15 mm) together with all required buffers. A 24
      channel vacuum manifold was used for simultaneous processing of samples. The
      column concentrated EPO from 20 mL urine down to 55 MUL eluate with a
      concentration factor of 240 times, while roughly 99.7% of non-relevant urine
      proteins were removed. The recoveries of Neorecormon (epoetin beta), and the EPO
      analogues Aranesp and Mircera applied to buffer were high, 76%, 67% and 57%,
      respectively. The recovery of endogenous EPO from human urine was 65%. High
      recoveries were also obtained when purifying human, mouse and equine EPO from
      serum, and human EPO from cerebrospinal fluid. Evaluation with the accredited EPO
      doping control method based on isoelectric focusing (IEF) showed that the
      affinity purification procedure did not change the isoform distribution for
      rhEPO, Aranesp, Mircera or endogenous EPO. The kit should be particularly useful
      for applications in which it is essential to avoid carry-over effects, a problem
      commonly encountered with conventional particle-based affinity columns. The
      encouraging results with EPO propose that similar affinity monoliths, with the
      appropriate antibodies, should constitute useful tools for general applications
      in sample preparation, not only for doping control of EPO and other hormones such
      as growth hormone and insulin but also for the study of post-translational
      modifications of other low abundance proteins in biological and clinical
      research, and for sample preparation prior to in vitro diagnostics.

PMID- 20926084
TI  - Hydrophilic interaction chromatography of intact, soluble proteins.
AB  - The separation of intact proteins by means of Hydrophilic Interaction
      Chromatography (HILIC) was demonstrated with human apoA-I, recombinant human
      apoM, and equine cytochrome C. Five different commercially available HILIC
      columns were compared. Using one of these columns, different glycosylated
      isoforms of apoM were separated from each other and from the aglyco-form.

PMID- 20926085
TI  - The obstruction factor in size-exclusion chromatography. 1. The intraparticle
      obstruction factor.
AB  - We report the first of a series of studies on the obstruction factor gamma in
      size-exclusion chromatography (SEC). Here, using narrow dispersity polymer
      standards we examine how the intraparticle obstruction factor gamma(p) depends
      individually on a number of analyte properties, column characteristics, and user
      defined parameters. Far from being constant, gamma(p) is seen to vary with
      analyte molar mass and solvent, as well as with the pore size and particle size
      of the column packing material, sometimes in seemingly counterintuitive manner.
      Over the limited temperature range accessible to our equipment, however, no
      statistically significant change in gamma(p) with temperature was discovered. The
      results presented should be applicable to forms of packed column chromatography
      other than SEC. The latter technique, however, presents a convenient test bed for
      quantitative determination of the obstruction factor, due to minimized sorptive
      mass transfer and longitudinal diffusion contributions to band broadening in most
      forms of SEC.

PMID- 20926086
TI  - Rapid automated screening, identification and quantification of organic micro
      contaminants and their main transformation products in wastewater and river
      waters using liquid chromatography-quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometry
      with an accurate-mass database.
AB  - In this study we have developed and evaluated an analytical method for a rapid
      automated screening and confirmation of a large number of organic micro
      contaminants (almost 400) and also the quantification of the positive findings in
      water samples of different types (surface and wastewaters) using liquid
      chromatography-electrospray quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC
      QTOFMS) based on the use of an accurate-mass database. The created database
      includes data not only on the accurate masses of the target ions but also on the
      characteristic in-source fragment ions, isotopic pattern and retention time data.
      This customized database was linked to commercially available software which
      extracted all the potential compounds of interest from the LC-QTOFMS raw data of
      each sample and matched them against the database to search for targeted
      compounds in the sample. The detailed fragmentation information has also been
      used as a powerful tool for the automatic identification of unknown compounds
      and/or transformation products with similar structures to those of known organic
      contaminants included in the database. The database can be continually enlarged.
      To confirm identification of compounds which have no fragment ions (or fragments
      with low intensity/relative abundance) from in-source CID fragmentation or
      isomers which are not distinguished within full single mass spectra, a "Targeted
      MS/MS" method is developed. Thereafter, these compounds can be further analyzed
      using the collision energy (CE) in QTOF-MS/MS mode. Linearity and limits of
      detection were studied. Method detection limits (MDLs) in effluent wastewater and
      river waters were, in most cases, lowers or equal to 5 and 2 ng/L, respectively.
      Only 15 compounds had MDLs between 5 and 50 ng/L in effluent wastewater matrix.
      We obtained a linearity of the calibration curves over two orders of magnitude.
      The method has been applied to real samples and the results obtained reveal that
      most of the pharmaceutically active compounds contained in the created database
      were present in the water samples with concentrations in the range of ng/L and
      MUg/L levels and in most of the samples between 2 and 15 pesticides of the 300
      contained in the database were also detected. In addition to the compounds
      included in the database, some degradation products were found, thus revealing
      the method as a useful tool for the analysis of organic micro-contaminants in
      waters.

PMID- 20926087
TI  - Evaluation of the enantioselectivity of glycogen-based dual chiral selector
      systems towards basic drugs in capillary electrophoresis.
AB  - Several chiral reagents including cyclodextrins (CDs) and derivatives, crown
      ethers, proteins, chiral surfactants and polymers have been involved in dual
      selector systems for enantioseparation of a series of chiral compounds by
      capillary electrophoresis (CE). In comparison to the chiral reagents above
      mentioned, there is no report concerning the use of polysaccharides in dual
      chiral CE system. In this paper we first investigate the enantioselectivity of
      polysaccharide-based dual selector systems towards some chiral drugs. During our
      recent work, glycogen belonging to the class of branched polysaccharides has been
      used as a novel chiral selector in CE. In this study, three glycogen-based dual
      chiral CE systems have been established for enantiomeric separations of several
      racemic basic drugs consisting of duloxetine, cetirizine, citalopram,
      sulconazole, laudanosine, amlodipine, propranolol, atenolol and nefopam. These
      three dual systems combined glycogen (neutral polysaccharide) with chondroitin
      sulfate A (CSA, ionic polysaccharide), beta-CD and HP-beta-CD, respectively. It
      was found that the dual system of glycogen/CSA exhibited good enantioselective
      properties toward the tested drugs. More importantly, compared to the single
      selector systems, synergistic effect was observed when glycogen was used with CSA
      for most of the analytes. This indicated the enhancement of enantioseparation
      observed for these analytes in glycogen/CSA system might be due to some favorable
      interaction effects between glycogen and CSA. Moreover, in order to evaluate the
      stereoselectivity of glycogen/CSA, the influences of buffer pH and selector
      concentration on enantioseparation of the studied drugs were also investigated.

PMID- 20926088
TI  - Repeated probing of Southwestern blots using alkaline phosphatase stripping.
AB  - Southwestern blotting is when a DNA sequence is used to probe DNA-binding
      proteins on an electrophoretic gel blot. It would be highly desirable to be able
      to probe a blot repeatedly with different DNA sequences. Alkaline phosphatase can
      remove 5'-phosphoryl groups from DNA and radiolabeled 5'-(32)P-DNA probes are
      commonly used in Southwestern blotting. Here is shown that once probed, the
      radioisotope signal on the blot can be effectively removed by brief digestion
      with alkaline phosphatase, and the blot can then be repeatedly probed at least
      six times with different DNA probes. This exceeds the repetitions possible with
      another commonly used method using SDS. The technique can be used with either one
      dimensional or multi-dimensional Southwestern blots and does not have a large
      effect on the phosphorylation state of the blotted proteins. An alternative
      method using T4 polynucleotide kinase stripping is also introduced but was less
      well characterized.

PMID- 20926089
TI  - Determination of cyclic and linear siloxanes in soil samples by ultrasonic
      assisted extraction and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.
AB  - A rapid method, based on sonication-assisted extraction in small columns (SAESC)
      and subsequent quantification and identification by gas chromatography-mass
      spectrometry (GC-MS), was developed for the determination of cyclic and linear
      siloxanes in soil. In the experiments with spiked samples (10-50 ng g(-1)), the
      recovery of cyclic and linear siloxanes ranged from 87.7 to 108.0% and from 84.9
      to 107.6%, respectively. The validated method was used to determine the levels of
      these compounds in various types of soil samples collected from different
      locations in Spain. The cyclic siloxanes, decamethylcyclopentasiloxane (D5) and
      dodecamethylcyclohexasiloxane (D6) were detected in all the soil samples analyzed
      at concentrations from 9.2 to 56.9 ng g(-1) for D5 and from 5.8 to 27.1 ng g(-1)
      for D6 in agricultural soils and from 22 to 184 ng g(-1) for D5 and from 28 to
      483 ng g(-1) for D6 in industrial soils. The total linear siloxanes
      concentrations (L5-L14) (sum of the 10 congeners) ranged from 191 to 292 ng g(-1)
      in agricultural soils and from 1411 to 8532 ng g(-1) in industrial soils.

PMID- 20926090
TI  - Characterization and identification of steroidal alkaloids in Fritillaria species
      using liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray ionization quadrupole time
      of-flight tandem mass spectrometry.
AB  - Liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray ionization quadrupole time-of
      flight tandem mass spectrometry (LC/ESI-QTOF-MS/MS) was performed to study the
      fragmentation behaviors of steroidal alkaloids from Fritillaria species, the
      antitussive and expectorant herbs widely used in traditional Chinese medicine. We
      propose, herein, a strategy that combining key diagnostic fragment ions and the
      relative abundances and amounts of major fragment ions (the ions exceeding 10% in
      abundance) to distinguish different sub-classes of Fritillaria alkaloids (FAs).
      It was found that hydrogen rearrangement and induction effects result in ring
      cleavage of the basic skeletons occurred in the MS/MS process and produced
      characteristic fragment ions, which are useful for structural elucidation. This
      method was finally used to investigate the primary steroidal alkaloids in the
      extracts of eight major Fritillaria species. As a result, 41 steroidal alkaloids
      (29 cevanine type, 1 jervine type, 6 veratramine type and 5 secosolanidine type
      alkaloids) were selectively identified in these Fritillaria species. Twenty-six
      compounds were unambiguously identified by comparing with the reference compounds
      and 15 compounds were tentatively identified or deduced according to their MS/MS
      data. Logical fragmentation pathways for different types of FAs have been
      proposed and are useful for the identification of these types of steroidal
      alkaloids in natural products especially when there are no reference compounds
      available.

PMID- 20926091
TI  - Strategies for the elimination of matrix effects in the liquid chromatography
      tandem mass spectrometry analysis of the lipophilic toxins okadaic acid and
      azaspiracid-1 in molluscan shellfish.
AB  - Considerable efforts are being made worldwide to replace in vivo assays with
      instrumental methods of analysis for the monitoring of marine biotoxins in
      shellfish. Analysis of these compounds by the preferred technique of liquid
      chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) is challenged by matrix
      effects associated with the shellfish tissues. In methods validation, assessment
      of matrix interferences is imperative to ensure the validity and accuracy of
      results being produced. Matrix interferences for the analysis of okadaic acid
      (OA) and azaspiracid 1 (AZA1) were assessed using acidic methods on electrospray
      triple stage quadrupole (TSQ) and hybrid quadrupole time of flight (QToF)
      instruments by the use of matrix matched standards for different tissue types.
      Using an acidic method no matrix interference and suppression was observed on the
      TSQ for OA and AZA1 respectively, whilst the opposite was observed on the QToF;
      matrix enhancement for OA and no matrix interference for AZA1. The suppression of
      AZAs on the TSQ was found to be due to interfering compounds being carried over
      from previous injections. The degree of suppression is very much dependant on the
      tissue type ranging from 15 to 70%. Several strategies were evaluated to
      eliminate these interferences, including the partitioning of the extract with
      hexane, optimisation of the chromatographic method and the use of on-line SPE.
      Hexane clean up did not have any impact on matrix effects. The use of an alkaline
      method and a modified acidic method eliminated matrix suppression for AZA1 on the
      TSQ instrument while an on-line SPE method proved to be effective for matrix
      enhancement of OA on the QToF.

PMID- 20926092
TI  - Lab on a chip packing of submicron particles for high performance EOF pumping.
AB  - The packing of submicrometer sized silica beads inside a microchannel was enabled
      by a novel method which avoids the complication and limitations of generating a
      frit using conventional approaches and the restriction of flow using a
      submicrometer sized weir. A micrometer sized weir and two short columns of 5 MUm
      and 800 nm silica beads packed in succession behind the weir together functioned
      as a high pressure frit to allow the construction of a primary packed bed of 390
      nm silica beads. This packed bed microchannel was tested as an EOF pump, wherein
      it exhibited superior performance with regards to pressure tolerance, i.e.,
      sustaining good flow rate under extremely high back pressure, and maximal
      pressure generation. Under a modest applied electric field strength of 150 V/cm,
      the flow rate against a back pressure of 1200 psi (~8.3 MPa) was 40 nL/min, and
      the maximal pressure reached 1470 psi (~10 MPa). This work has demonstrated that
      it is possible to create a high performance packed bed microchannel EOF pump
      using nanometer sized silica beads, as long as proper care is taken during the
      packing process to minimize the undesirable mixing of two different sized
      particles at the boundaries between particle segments and to maximize the packing
      density throughout the entire packed bed.

PMID- 20926093
TI  - Temperature dependent dendritic domain shapes in Langmuir monolayers of
      tetradecanoyl N-ethanolamide at the air-water interface.
AB  - The effect of temperature on the surface phase behavior of tetradecanoyl N
      ethanolamide (NHEA-14) in Langmuir monolayers at the air-water interface has been
      investigated by film balance and Brewster angle microscopy (BAM). It has been
      observed that dendritic domains are formed in the coexistence region between
      liquid-expanded (LE) and liquid-condensed (LC) phases at different temperatures.
      At 10 and 15 degrees C, the domains are four-armed dendrites having wide arms
      which have a tendency to be fractal while growing in size. At 20 degrees C, five
      armed dendritic domains are formed. At a temperature higher than 20 degrees C,
      the domains are mainly six-armed dendrites having very narrow and sharp arms. The
      formation of dendritic domains should be due to the presence of interfacial
      hydrogen bonding among the head groups of the amphiphile. Increased dehydration
      of the head groups with an increase in the temperature should be responsible for
      the temperature dependency of the dendritic domain shapes in the monolayers of
      NHEA-14.

PMID- 20926094
TI  - Multi-nuclear liquid state NMR investigation of the effects of pH and addition of
      polyethyleneglycol on the long-term hydrolysis and condensation of
      tetraethoxysilane.
AB  - The long-time behavior of the hydrolysis and condensation reaction of the
      tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) pre-solution at different pH values with and without
      addition of polyethyleneglycol (PEG) for various aging times was characterized by
      liquid (1)H, (13)C, and (29)Si NMR spectroscopy. After aging, the alcohol is
      released in the TEOS pre-solution without addition of PEG at pH 3 and 9. On the
      other hand, the hydrolysis and condensation rates of the TEOS pre-solutions with
      addition of PEG at pH 3 and 9 increase except for the TEOS pre-solution with
      addition of PEG 2000 at pH 9. However, the hydrolysis and condensation rates of
      the TEOS pre-solutions with and without addition of PEG at pH 5 and 7 are almost
      the same before and after aging. The effects of the pH values, polymer size and
      aging times on the hydrolysis and condensation reaction of the TEOS pre-solutions
      are discussed.

PMID- 20926095
TI  - Facile fabrication of free-standing colloidal-crystal films by interfacial self
      assembly.
AB  - This paper reports a rapid and facile method of preparing free-standing colloidal
      crystals from monodisperse charged polystyrene (PS) microspheres. Mixed solvents
      (ethanol/water) were used as the dispersion medium in the self-assembly process
      of colloidal crystals. By a simple "floating self-assembly" method, PS
      microspheres floated on the surface of liquid and self-assembled into large area
      of three-dimensional (3D) ordered colloidal crystals within 15 min. Then
      epichlorohydrin was added in as a cross-linking agent to strengthen the colloidal
      crystal film. After cross-linking reactions between the microspheres, the
      obtained colloidal-crystal film was free-standing and could be easily transferred
      to other substrates. Using tetrabutyl titanate as a titania precursor, 3D porous
      TiO(2) materials with rodlike skeletal structure were fabricated from the
      prepared free-standing colloidal crystal. This work provides a facile method to
      fabricate free-standing colloidal-crystal film, which can be used as an ideal
      template for the preparation of porous materials.

PMID- 20926096
TI  - The hydrophobicity of silicone-based oils and surfactants and their use in
      reactive microemulsions.
AB  - In this work, for the first time, the Hydrophilic-Lipophilic Difference (HLD)
      framework for microemulsion formulation has been applied to silicone oils and
      silicone alkyl polyether surfactants. Based on the HLD equations and recently
      introduced mixing rules, we have quantified the hydrophobicity of the oils
      according to the equivalent alkane carbon number (EACN). We have found that, in a
      reference system containing sodium dihexyl sulfosuccinate (SDHS) as the
      surfactant, 0.65 centistoke (cSt) and 3.0 cSt silicone oils behave like n
      dodecane and n-pentadecane, respectively. Silicone alkyl polyether surfactants
      were found to have characteristic curvatures ranging 3.4-18.9, exceeding that of
      most non-ionic surfactants. The introduction of methacrylic acid (MAA) and
      hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) to the aqueous phase caused a significant
      negative shift in HLD, indicative of an aqueous phase that is less hydrophilic
      than pure water. The more hydrophobic surfactants (largest positive curvatures)
      were used in order to compensate for this effect. These findings have led to the
      formulation of bicontinuous microemulsions (MUEs) containing silicone oil,
      silicone alkyl polyether and reactive monomers in aqueous solution. Ternary phase
      diagrams of these systems revealed the potential for silicone-containing polymer
      composites with bicontinuous morphologies. These findings have also helped to
      explain the phase behavior of formulations previously reported in literature, and
      could help in providing a systematic, consistent approach to future silicone oil
      based microemulsion formulation.

PMID- 20926097
TI  - Fabrication of superparamagnetic macroporous Fe3O4 and its derivates using
      colloidal crystals as templates.
AB  - In this paper, we reported the preparation of superparamagnetic macroporous
      Fe(3)O(4) and its derivates using organic colloidal crystal as templates and
      their catalytic activity for chemical vapor deposition. The poly(styrene-methyl
      methacrylate-acrylic acid) (P(St-MMA-AA)) copolymer colloids were deposited in an
      orderly manner onto the silicon surface, together with the infiltration of the
      Fe(3)O(4) nanoparticles into the interspaces of the colloids. The formed hybrid
      colloidal crystal subsequently was immersed in tetrahydrofuran to remove the
      organic components fully to obtain a macroporous Fe(3)O(4) framework with three
      dimensional porous structure. The macroporous Fe(3)O(4) exhibits
      superparamagnetism due to the magnetic coupling of Fe(3)O(4) nanoparticles in the
      structure. Macroporous Fe(2)O(3) and Fe materials were obtained based on
      oxidization and reduction of the macroporous Fe(3)O(4), respectively. It was
      demonstrated that the macroporous Fe(3)O(4) materials possess catalytic activity
      and can induce growth of carbon nanotubes.

PMID- 20926098
TI  - Construction and deconstruction of multilayer films containing
      polycarboxybetaine: effect of pH and ionic strength.
AB  - The influences of pH and NaCl concentration of dipping solutions and the pH and
      NaCl concentration of disintegration solutions on the disintegration behaviors of
      poly(4-vinylpyridiniomethanecarboxylate) (PVPMC)/poly(sodium 4-styrenesulfonate)
      (PSS) (PVPMC/PSS) multilayer films were investigated by ultraviolet-visible
      spectroscopy (UV-vis), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), quartz
      crystal microbalance (QCM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). It was found that
      the disintegration rates and degrees of PVPMC/PSS multilayer films in neutral
      water could be well controlled by changing pH of dipping solutions and immersion
      time during the disintegration process. Furthermore, PVPMC/PSS multilayer films
      could be disintegrated completely and rapidly in pH 8 alkali solution or
      physiological condition (i.e., 0.15 M NaCl solution). The controllable
      disintegration of PVPMC/PSS multilayer films was then utilized to fabricate
      PEC/PSS free-standing multilayer films, in which PEC was a positively charged
      polyelectrolyte complex made from excessive poly(diallyldimethylammonium) (PDDA)
      and PSS. The experimental results indicated that the disintegration rates of
      PVPMC/PSS sacrificial sublayer strongly affected the integrity of the resultant
      PEC/PSS free-standing multilayer films. Only free-floating PEC/PSS was released
      from neutral water by disintegrating PVPMC/PSS multilayer sublayers. However,
      large size flat and tube-like PEC/PSS free-standing multilayer films with good
      mechanical properties were obtained facilely from pH 8 alkali solution and 0.15 M
      NaCl solution, respectively. The preparation of such free-standing films at
      physiological condition may be useful in the biological or medical application.

PMID- 20926099
TI  - Connecting instances to promote children's relational reasoning.
AB  - The practice of learning from multiple instances seems to allow children to learn
      about relational structure. The experiments reported here focused on two issues
      regarding relational learning from multiple instances: (a) what kind of
      perceptual situations foster such learning and (b) how particular object
      properties, such as complexity and similarity, interact with relational learning.
      Two kinds of perceptual situations were of interest here: simultaneous view,
      where instances are viewed at once, and sequential view, where instances are
      viewed one at a time (one right after the other). We examined the influence of
      particular perceptual situations and object properties using two tests of
      relational reasoning: a common match-to-sample task, where new instances are
      compared with a common sample, and a variable match-to-sample task, where new
      instances are compared with a sample that varies on each trial. Experiments 1 and
      2 indicate that simultaneous presentation of even highly dissimilar instances,
      one simple and one complex, effectively connects them together and improves
      relational generalization in both match-to-sample tasks. Experiment 3 shows that
      simple samples are more effective than complex ones in the common match-to-sample
      task. However, when one instance is not used a common sample and various pairs of
      instances are simply compared, as in Experiment 4, simple and rich instances are
      equally effective at promoting relational learning. These results bear on our
      understanding of how children connect instances and how those initial connections
      affect learning and generalization.

PMID- 20926100
TI  - Prospective study of pandysmaturation and adult mental disorder in high-risk and
      normal-risk offspring.
AB  - More than 50 years ago, Fish postulated that a special form of early abnormal
      neurodevelopment, "pandysmaturation", defined a priori as constituting retarded
      cranial development in the first year of life, combined with delay in early motor
      milestone attainment, was related to genetic risk for schizophrenia, and was
      associated with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders in young adulthood. Fish
      confirmed this in a very small sample. We retested Fish's postulation in a larger
      prospective study. Pandysmaturation was blindly investigated through medical
      records and prospective researcher and maternal observations, studying 75 "high
      risk" offspring of women with a history of schizophrenia or affective psychosis
      and 91 "normal-risk" offspring. Subjects were studied prospectively from mother's
      pregnancy to 22 years of age, at which time the offspring were independently
      assessed for schizophrenia-spectrum and affective disorders. Pandysmaturation (n
      = 13, with 10 "definite" and 3 "probable" degrees) was significantly related to
      genetic risk for schizophrenia (Odds Ratio 4.9, p = 0.02) but not to genetic risk
      for affective disorders (OR 1.2, p = 0.81). Pandysmaturation was significantly
      associated with schizophrenia-spectrum (OR 6.2, p = 0.02), but not affective (OR
      0.9, p = 0.90), disorders in young adulthood. Pandysmaturation was more strongly
      associated than was retarded cranial development, motor milestone delay, or
      social/cognitive milestone delay by itself. Pandysmaturation has efficacy as an
      early life risk-indicator of schizophrenia-spectrum disorder in young adulthood
      at least in subjects at genetic risk, strengthening the evidence for a generally
      genetic-based neurodevelopmental model of schizophrenia-spectrum (as contrasted
      with affective) disorders. Pandysmaturation is a risk-indicator for future
      schizophrenia-spectrum disorder, for potential use in scientific studies and
      clinical practice.

PMID- 20926101
TI  - Ultrastructural differences in rectus sheath of hernia patients and healthy
      controls.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The etiology of inguinal hernia remains unclear. Research data
      indicate the presence of pathologic alterations within the connective tissue;
      their exact character remains the subject of dispute. The search for new methods
      to diagnose connective tissue abnormalities, and thoroughly explain the character
      of the ultrastructural alterations, continues. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study
      group included 10 male patients aged 18-60 y (five with primary inguinal hernia
      and five with acute appendicitis with no history of hernia). A specimen of the
      rectus muscle sheath was harvested from all of them upon surgery. The tissue
      samples were fixed and examined by spectrofluorometry and fluorescence
      microscopy, yielding fluorescence spectra and microscopic fluorescence images.
      RESULTS: Both techniques have demonstrated significant differences between the
      biopsy samples harvested from hernia patients and healthy controls. The groups of
      fluorescence spectra were shifted relative to each other and showed maximum
      emission at different wavelengths after excitation with 350 nm light (arbitrarily
      chosen for one of the cross-link proteins). The spectra obtained for healthy
      controls were more homogenous, while the spectra of the hernia samples differed
      even between each other. In microscopic images, the difference was a more chaotic
      distribution of fluorophores in the samples obtained from hernia patients.
      CONCLUSIONS: The evidence of significant differences between the samples
      harvested from the same location from hernia patients and healthy controls, found
      by fluorescence techniques, indicates the presence of abnormalities in the
      connective tissue forming the rectus muscle sheath. This area is not a part of
      the hernial defect, therefore, we can assume that the changes can be attributed
      to a generalized process.

PMID- 20926102
TI  - Overexpression of p35 in Min6 pancreatic beta cells induces a stressed neuron
      like apoptosis.
AB  - Cdk5 activity has been implicated in brain development and the regulation of many
      neuronal processes. Recently, the expression of p35 and Cdk5 activity has been
      reported in pancreatic beta cells. Decreased Cdk5 activity enhanced glucose
      stimulated insulin secretion. This suggests that Cdk5 may play an important role
      in the regulation of insulin secretion. To further understand how Cdk5 regulates
      insulin secretion in glucose-stimulated pancreatic beta cells, we first confirmed
      the presence of a low level of p35 in pancreatic Min6 cells. Next, in a time
      course experiment in high glucose (25 mM) we showed that endogenous p35 increased
      gradually accompanied by a 3-fold increase in Cdk5 activity by 16 h. Insulin
      secretion, however, doubled after 2 h followed by progressive downregulation,
      negatively correlated with Cdk5 activity. On the other hand, overexpression of
      p35 in these cells resulted in more than a three-fold increase in Cdk5 activity
      within 2 h coupled to a 50% reduction in insulin secretion in both high and low
      (3 mM) glucose. Most significantly, cells overexpressing p35, treated with high
      glucose for 4 h, showed induction of p25, the p35-derived truncated fragment
      which hyperactivates Cdk5 in neurons. As a result, insulin secretion was
      inhibited and cells became apoptotic. Roscovitine or co-infection of dominant
      negative Cdk5 (dnCdk5) with p35 increased insulin secretion and inhibited
      apoptosis. These results suggest that the model for deregulation and
      hyperactivation of Cdk5 in neurodegeneration may apply to the pathology seen in
      type 2 diabetes (T2DM). It is consistent with the view that Alzheimer's disease
      and T2DM are linked metabolically and pathologically by Cdk5 in a number of ways.

PMID- 20926103
TI  - Microscopic polyangiitis presenting with medullary infarct.
AB  - Microscopic polyangiitis is a small vessel vasculitis which is rarely associated
      with ischemic stroke. Cerebrovascular disease has rarely been reported in
      connection with this disease. It may cause fatal hemorrhage, hemorrhagic
      conversion and multiple lacunar infarcts. We report here a 55-year-old woman with
      left medullary oblangata infarction without any symptoms of microscopic
      polyangiitis. During hospitalization, retinal ischemia, mononeuritis multiplex
      and pulmonary infiltration developed. Sural nerve biopsy was concomitant with
      small vessel vasculitis. Elevated CRP and sedimentation and positive P-ANCA led
      to confirmation of a diagnosis of microscopic polyangiitis. Our patient is a rare
      case of microscopic polyangiitis presenting with medullary infarction. Although
      the characteristics of this disease are well-known, the first symptom can be a
      medullary infarction, which has not been reported in literature before.

PMID- 20926104
TI  - Redo transapical aortic valve implantation: feasibility of a repeat approach
      through the left ventricular apex.

PMID- 20926105
TI  - Results of mitral valve repair for Barlow disease (bileaflet prolapse) via right
      minithoracotomy versus conventional median sternotomy: a randomized trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The results of mitral repair for complex Barlow valves are adequate
      and support earlier intervention. It is unknown whether these results are
      reproducible in the context of minimally invasive surgery via right
      minithoracotomy. METHODS: We randomized patients with Barlow mitral disease
      (bileaflet prolapse) to have conventional open repair via median sternotomy (MS
      group) or minimally invasive (MI group) repair. Repair was done using
      polytetrafluoroethylene chordal reimplantation for both leaflets. In the MI
      group, we adopted right minithoracotomy, peripheral cannulation, external aortic
      clamping, and surgery under direct vision. RESULTS: Both groups comprised 70
      patients. The operative and the cardiopulmonary bypass times were significantly
      longer in the MI group (P = .003 and P = .012). Mitral repair was successful in
      98.5% MI patients and 100% MS patients. Operative mortality was comparable. The
      mean mechanical ventilation time, intensive care unit stay, and hospital stay
      were lower in the MI group (P = .014, P =.02, and P = .03,). Mean pain score was
      lower in the MI group at postoperative days 2 and 4. At follow-up, the freedom
      from moderate (2+) or severe (3+ or 4+) mitral regurgitation was 98% versus 97%
      (P = .9). Two patients underwent reoperation (1 in each group) for late failure
      of repair. The Kaplan-Meier analysis confirmed these results. CONCLUSIONS: Our
      data indicate that the optimal standard-of-care results of mitral repair for
      complex disease (Barlow) are reproducible in the minimally invasive settings
      through right minithoracotomy and direct vision. The minimally invasive technique
      can be proposed for complex mitral disease and early referral of these patients
      can be encouraged.

PMID- 20926106
TI  - Temporal changes in Sphingomonas and Mycobacterium populations in mangrove
      sediments contaminated with different concentrations of polycyclic aromatic
      hydrocarbons (PAHs).
AB  - The change in community diversity and structure of the indigenous, dominant,
      polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH)-degrading bacterial genera, Sphingomonas
      and Mycobacterium, due to contamination in the environment is not very well
      known. A combination of PCR-DGGE with specific primers and a cultivation
      dependent microbiological method was used to detect different populations of
      Sphingomonas and Mycobacterium in mangrove sediments. The structure of the entire
      bacterial community (including Sphingomonas) did not show a shift due to
      environmental contamination, whereas the diversity of Mycobacterium populations
      in mangrove sediments with higher PAH contamination increased from exposure
      between Day 0 and Day 30. The isolated Mycobacterium strains migrated to the same
      position as the major bands of the bacterial communities in Mycobacterium
      specific DGGE. A dioxygenase gene system, nidA, which is commonly found in PAH
      degrading Mycobacterium strains, was also detected in the more highly
      contaminated sediment slurries. The present study revealed that Mycobacterium
      species were the dominant PAH-degraders and played an important role in degrading
      PAHs in contaminated mangrove sediments.

PMID- 20926107
TI  - Water for life.

PMID- 20926108
TI  - [Pulmonary hypertension: the contribution of MDCT to the diagnosis of its
      different types].
AB  - Pulmonary hypertension is characterized by progressive involvement of the
      pulmonary vessels that leads to increased vascular resistance and consequently to
      right ventricular failure. Vascular lesions are a common factor in a wide
      spectrum of diseases, and their result, pulmonary hypertension, is a severe
      clinical condition with a poor prognosis that worsens the normal course of the
      diseases to which it is associated (COPD, collagen disease, sarcoidosis, and
      congenital or acquired heart disease). It is important for pulmonary hypertension
      to be diagnosed as early as possible because nowadays drugs can reduce mortality
      and improve the quality of life; furthermore, some types of pulmonary
      hypertension (e.g., chronic thromboembolism and those associated with some
      congenital heart diseases like left-to-right shunt) can be treated surgically. In
      cases of suspected pulmonary hypertension, imaging methods can confirm the
      diagnosis, suggest a cause, help choose the most appropriate treatment, and
      monitor the response to treatment. This review describes the approach to
      pulmonary hypertension using different imaging techniques; special emphasis is
      given to the role of multidetector CT (MDCT), which makes it possible to study
      all the organs in the thorax in a single acquisition. We review the radiological
      signs of pulmonary hypertension and the current (Dana Point) radiological
      criteria for classifying the type of hypertension based on alterations in the
      lung parenchyma, mediastinum, pleural spaces, and pericardium, as well as on the
      study of the chambers of the heart.

PMID- 20926109
TI  - Advantages and limits of real-time PCR assay and PCR-restriction fragment length
      polymorphism for the identification of cutaneous Leishmania species in Tunisia.
AB  - Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL), a public health problem in Tunisia, is associated
      to three species: Leishmania (L.) infantum, L. major and L. killicki. Accurate
      and sensitive procedures for the diagnostic of Leishmania infection and for
      species identification are required to enable adequate treatment and appropriate
      control measures. Several PCR-methods are applied for the diagnosis and the
      identification of Leishmania parasites such as PCR-restriction fragment length
      polymorphism (PCR-RFLP), DNA sequencing, hybridization probes and real-time PCR
      (RT-PCR). In this study, PCR-RFLP and RT-PCR were performed on skin scrapings
      from 27 patients with confirmed CL by microscopic examination, in order to
      compare their usefulness and efficiency for identification of Leishmania species
      in routine diagnostic laboratories. Identification of Leishmania species was
      successfully achieved in 96.3% and 81.5% respectively. Agreement between using
      internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1)-PCR-RFLP and kDNA-RT-PCR assays was 70%
      (19/27). Characterization problems using RT-PCR were mainly due to the
      difficulties in analyzing the melting temperatures. ITS1-PCR-RFLP and kDNA-RT-PCR
      presented an interesting alternative to conventional methods for the
      identification of Leishmania parasites from clinical samples. Both PCR assays can
      be used in a routine diagnostic, however, further prospective studies including
      largest sampling, are required to determine their performances in a routine use.

PMID- 20926110
TI  - Classical swine H1N1 influenza viruses confer cross protection from swine-origin
      2009 pandemic H1N1 influenza virus infection in mice and ferrets.
AB  - The hemagglutinin of the 2009 pandemic H1N1 influenza virus is a derivative of
      and is antigenically related to classical swine but not to seasonal human H1N1
      viruses. We compared the A/California/7/2009 (CA/7/09) virus recommended by the
      WHO as the reference virus for vaccine development, with two classical swine
      influenza viruses A/swine/Iowa/31 (sw/IA/31) and A/New Jersey/8/1976 (NJ/76) to
      establish the extent of immunologic cross-reactivity and cross-protection in
      animal models. Primary infection with 2009 pandemic or NJ/76 viruses elicited
      antibodies against the CA/7/09 virus and provided complete protection from
      challenge with this virus in ferrets; the response in mice was variable and
      conferred partial protection. Although ferrets infected with sw/IA/31 virus
      developed low titers of cross-neutralizing antibody, they were protected from
      pulmonary replication of the CA/7/09 virus. The data suggest that prior exposure
      to antigenically related H1N1 viruses of swine-origin provide some protective
      immunity against the 2009 pandemic H1N1 virus.

PMID- 20926111
TI  - Virus inactivation by silver doped titanium dioxide nanoparticles for drinking
      water treatment.
AB  - Photocatalytic inactivation of viruses and other microorganisms is a promising
      technology that has been increasingly utilized in recent years. In this study,
      photocatalytic silver doped titanium dioxide nanoparticles (nAg/TiO(2)) were
      investigated for their capability of inactivating Bacteriophage MS2 in aqueous
      media. Nano-sized Ag deposits were formed on two commercial TiO(2) nanopowders
      using a photochemical reduction method. The MS2 inactivation kinetics of
      nAg/TiO(2) was compared to the base TiO(2) material and silver ions leached from
      the catalyst. The inactivation rate of MS2 was enhanced by more than 5 fold
      depending on the base TiO(2) material, and the inactivation efficiency increased
      with increasing silver content. The increased production of hydroxyl free
      radicals was found to be responsible for the enhanced viral inactivation.

PMID- 20926113
TI  - Benzyl-penicillin (Penicillin G) transformation in aqueous solution at low
      temperature under controlled laboratory conditions.
AB  - Antibiotics are released into the environment in a variety of ways: via
      wastewater effluent as a result of incomplete metabolism in the body after use in
      human therapy, as runoff after use in agriculture, through improper disposal by
      private households or hospitals or through insufficient removal by water
      treatment plants. Unlike in most European countries, in Arctic regions effluents
      are not suitably treated prior to their release into the aquatic environment.
      Also, many of the scattered human settlements in remote regions of the Arctic do
      not possess sewage treatment facilities and pharmaceutical residues therefore
      enter the aqueous environment untreated. Only limited data are available on the
      biodegradation of antibiotics under Arctic conditions. However, such information
      is needed to estimate the potential harm of antibiotics for the environment. Pen
      G is used in this study since it is a widely prescribed antibiotic compound whose
      environmental properties have not yet been investigated in detail. Thus, for a
      very first assessment, the OECD approved biodegradation Zahn-Wellens test (ZWT,
      OECD 302 B) was used to study biodegradation and non-biotic elimination of the
      antibiotic Benzyl-penicillin (Pen-G) at different temperatures (5 degrees C, 12.5
      degrees C and 20 degrees C). The testing period was extended from the OECD
      standard of 28-42d. In addition to dissolved organic carbon (DOC), Pen-G levels
      and major transformation products were recorded continuously by LC-ion-trap
      MS/MS. DOC monitoring revealed considerable temperature dependence for the
      degradation process of Pen-G. DOC loss was slowest at 5 degrees C and
      considerably faster at 12.5 degrees C and 20 degrees C. In the initial step of
      degradation it was found that Pen-G was hydrolyzed. This hydrolyzed Pen-G was
      subsequently further degraded by decarboxylation, the result of which was 2-(5,5
      dimethyl-1,3-thiazolidin-2-yl)-2-(2-phenylacetamido)acetic acid. Furthermore,
      direct elimination of 2-phenyl-acetaldehyde from the hydrolyzed and
      decarboxylated Pen-G also led to the formation of 2-[amino(carboxy)methyl]-5,5
      dimethyl-1,3-thiazolidone-4-carboxylic acid. Since biodegradation slows down
      considerably at a low temperature, the resulting transformation products had
      considerably longer residence times at 5 degrees C compared to higher temperature
      conditions within the 42-d experiment. The results presented here clearly
      demonstrate that a risk assessment for pharmaceuticals present in low ambient
      temperature environments (i.e. the Arctic) cannot be based on test results
      obtained under standard laboratory conditions (i.e. 20 degrees C ambient
      temperatures).

PMID- 20926112
TI  - Influence of an additional amino group on the potency of aminoadamantanes against
      influenza virus A. II - Synthesis of spiropiperazines and in vitro activity
      against influenza A H3N2 virus.
AB  - Spiro[piperidine-2,2'-adamantane] 4 is one of the most potent synthetic anti
      influenza A aminoadamantanes or other cage structure amines tested so far. Based
      on previous results Tataridis et al. (2007) [5h] which demonstrate the boost of
      in vitro potency by the presence of an additional amino group, we examined
      whether the incorporation of a second amino group into this heterocycle would
      increase the anti-influenza A virus activity. The new synthetic molecules 5-7 are
      capable of forming two hydrogen bonds within the receptor. We identified the
      diamino derivatives 5 and 6, which are active against influenza A H3N2 virus
      although less potent than amantadine and its equipotent spiropiperidine 4.

PMID- 20926114
TI  - Characterization of trace element geochemistry in continuous flow-through
      microcosms: a preliminary step to environmentally meaningful ecotoxicological
      experiments.
AB  - The increasing use of freshwater/sediment microcosms in geochemical and
      ecotoxicological studies requires additional efforts to characterize and
      understand their functioning and the main parameters that can influence the
      pollutants' behavior and bioavailability inside the microcosms themselves. In
      this study, we investigated the geochemical behavior of four elements (Cr(III),
      Cu, Cd, and Pb) in microcosms containing one type of natural water and sediment.
      The microcosms were operated under flow-through conditions with continuous metal
      spiking (2.5-40 MUgL(-1) for Cr(III) and Pb; 1.25-20 MUgL(-1) for Cu and Cd) over
      a period of 1 month. During this period, metal concentrations and partitioning
      between colloidal and truly dissolved phases in the microcosm water columns
      showed very little variability indicating that the system rapidly reached and
      maintained a steady state. Metal concentrations in pore waters also showed little
      variability, while Cd, Cr, and Pb levels in the top layer of sediments increased
      linearly from day 0 to day 28 (no significant variations in sedimentary Cu levels
      were observed). These features make this type of microcosms particularly suitable
      for ecotoxicological studies with zooplanktonic or epibenthic organisms.
      Characterizing the geochemical properties of microcosms provides critical
      information for properly interpreting microcosms-based ecotoxicity data and for
      reducing uncertainty in laboratory-to-field extrapolation.

PMID- 20926115
TI  - Letter to the editor re Lettmeier et al. (2010): proposal for a revised reference
      concentration (RfC) for mercury vapour in adults, Sci Total Environ (2010,
      doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2010.04.027).

PMID- 20926116
TI  - Coagulation responses after a submaximal exercise in sickle cell trait carriers.

PMID- 20926117
TI  - PLA2G7 gene polymorphisms and coronary heart disease risk: a meta-analysis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Variants of PLA2G7 gene have been reported to be associated with
      coronary heart disease (CHD) since ten years ago, but the available data on this
      relationship are inconsistent. A meta-analysis was conducted to assess the effect
      of PLA2G7 gene on CHD. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Association studies were identified
      from the databases of PubMed, EMbase, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure
      (CNKI) and Wanfang by two investigators and pooled effects (odds ratio (OR),
      together with 95% confidence interval (CI)) were calculated. RESULTS: 14
      association studies focusing on three polymorphisms (A379V, V279F and R92H) in
      PLA2G7 gene and risk of CHD were included in meta-analysis, covering a total of
      8,280 cases and 5,656 controls. Concerning R92H, a significantly increased CHD
      risk was observed in recessive model, with an OR of 1.31(1.02, 1.68).
      Nevertheless, combined analyses of studies of the A379V and V279F variants showed
      no significant overall association with CHD, yielding ORs of 0.99(0.85, 1.15) and
      1.09(0.88, 1.35) in allelic analysis, with strong evidence of heterogeneity.
      Similar results were also obtained in dominant and recessive models. CONCLUSIONS:
      The results indicate 92H allele had probably increased the risk of CHD, while the
      hypothesized effects of A379V and V279F polymorphisms on CHD cannot be confirmed
      in present data. However, given the limited number of studies and the potential
      biases, the influence of these polymorphisms on CHD risk needs further
      investigation.

PMID- 20926118
TI  - Resveratrol, a phytoestrogen found in red wine, down-regulates protein S
      expression in HepG2 cells.
AB  - INTRODUATION: Resveratrol, a phytoestrogen present at a high concentration in red
      wine, has been reported to possess many health benefit effects that are
      protective against age-related diseases. Protein S (PS), an important
      anticoagulant factor in the protein C (PC) anticoagulant pathway, is mainly
      synthesized by hepatocytes, and its plasma level is decreased in high-estrogen
      conditions such as pregnancy and oral contraceptive use. The aim of this study
      was to investigate whether resveratrol affects PS expression in HepG2 cells.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: The secreted and intracellular levels of PS were
      determined by an enzyme-linked ligandsorbent assay and Western blotting. The mRNA
      expressions of PS, PC and beta chain of C4b-binding protein (C4BP-beta) were
      analyzed by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. The PS gene promotor
      activities in HepG2 cells transiently expressing estrogen receptor (ER) alpha
      were examined by a luciferase reporter assay. RESULTS: Resveratrol dose- and time
      dependently down-regulated the PS expression in HepG2 cells at a transcriptional
      level, resulting in a significant decrease in secreted PS; however, the PC and
      C4BP-beta mRNA expressions were not affected. This action of resveratrol was not
      mediated through either the ER signaling or those of mitogen-activated protein
      kinases and protein kinase C. Piceatannol, a hydroxylated metabolite of
      resveratrol, and genistein, an isoflavone found in soy products, also down
      regulated the PS expression. CONCLUSIONS: Resveratrol down-regulates the PS
      expression in HepG2 cells in an ER-independent manner, and the two phenolic
      hydroxyls at carbon-3 and -5 of resveratrol may be involved in this function.

PMID- 20926119
TI  - Retrievable inferior vena cava filters are not getting retrieved: where is the
      gap?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to assess the retrieval rate and the
      predictors of successful retrieval of Retrievable Inferior Vena Cava (RIVC)
      filters. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of adult
      patients who had RIVC filter placements from 2004-2008. We excluded patients who
      died or were lost to follow-up and those who refused or had unsuccessful
      retrieval. We collected demographic and clinical data including indications for
      placement and follow-up. Successful retrieval was defined as objective evidence
      of retrieval by medical records. RESULTS: Over a 4 year period, we identified 351
      patients who had RIVC filter placements. We excluded 99 patients (65 died, 24
      decided to leave filter in place, 7 had unsuccessful retrieval and 3 lost follow
      up). Majority of the filters were placed for surgical patients (161, 63.9%). Of
      252 eligible patients for retrieval, only 47 filters were successfully retrieved
      yielding a retrieval rate of 18.7%. We identified three predictors for successful
      retrieval: Male gender, home discharge and follow up with procedural service.
      CONCLUSION: In this large cohort we found that the retrieval rate of retrievable
      IVCF is extremely low consistent with national statistics. Male patients,
      patients who were discharged home and patients who were followed by the
      procedural service had higher chance of successful retrieval. We recommend that
      procedural service placing the filter should ascertain adequate follow-up. We are
      not certain why more males had successful retrieval than females. Further studies
      are necessary to investigate this finding.

PMID- 20926120
TI  - Incidence of cytomegalovirus-associated thrombosis and its risk factors: a case
      control study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Cytomegalovirus (CMV)-associated thrombosis has been reported
      sporadically in the medical literature until now. However, thrombosis incidence
      and its risk factors have never been studied in a cohort of patients with acute
      CMV infection. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective case-control study. Medical
      charts and imaging study reports of all consecutive patients diagnosed with acute
      CMV infection during the years 2005-2006 in a tertiary medical center were
      reviewed for the presence of arterial and/or venous thromboses, and their
      acquired as well as inherited predispositions. The control group included age
      matched and sex-matched consecutive patients, in whom acute CMV infection was
      excluded. Laboratory tests used for acute CMV infection diagnosis/exclusion were
      also matched, including serology, antigenemia, and PCR. RESULTS: Included were
      140 patients with acute CMV infection (study group) and 140 consecutive matched
      patients in whom acute CMV infection was excluded (control group). Among the
      control group, none of the patients had thrombosis, while among the study group,
      nine (6.4%; p=0.003) patients had thrombosis: five (3.6%; p=0.025) patients had
      arterial thrombosis and four (2.9%; p=0.045) patients had venous thrombosis.
      Binary logistic regression analysis showed that acute CMV infection was
      independently associated with thrombosis among the whole cohort (p=0.004), while
      use of oral contraceptives/hormones or pregnancy were independently associated
      with thrombosis among patients with acute CMV infection (p=0.043). CONCLUSIONS:
      Thrombosis in patients with acute CMV infection is not rare. Acute CMV infection
      is associated with thrombosis independent of other risk factors for thrombosis.
      We hope to raise physician's awareness to the association between acute CMV
      infection and thrombosis.

PMID- 20926121
TI  - Regarding the manuscript of Huang et al. published in Acta Histochemica
      (doi:10.1016/j.acthis.2010.06.003).

PMID- 20926122
TI  - Decreased expression of CD36 in circumvallate taste buds of high-fat diet induced
      obese rats.
AB  - Mammals spontaneously prefer lipid rich foods. Overconsumption of high-fat diet
      leads to obesity and related diseases. Recent findings indicate that taste may
      participate in the orosensory perception of dietary lipids and the fatty taste
      may contribute to a preference for and excessive consumption of dietary fat.
      CD36, a trans-membrane glycoprotein, which is located in the taste buds of
      circumvallate papillae of rodents, appears to be a plausible receptor for this
      fatty taste. Obese subjects present a stronger preference for fatty foods, though
      the mechanisms involved are complex and are not fully investigated. Our data from
      immunofluorescence and real-time RT-PCR showed that the expression levels of CD36
      in circumvallate taste buds were significantly lower in high-fat diet induced
      obese rats as compared with that of control rats fed a normal diet. These results
      suggest that decreased expression of CD36 in circumvallate taste buds of high-fat
      diet induced obese rats may be associated with diminished fatty taste sensitivity
      and in order to compensate the preference for dietary fat, rats consume more
      fatty foods. Therapeutic strategies designed to alter or manipulate CD36
      expression or function in taste buds may have important implications in treating
      obesity and related diseases.

PMID- 20926123
TI  - The value of p16ink4a expression by fluorescence in situ hybridization in triage
      for high risk HPV positive in cervical cancer screening.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of fluorescence in
      situ hybridization (FISH) detection for p16ink4a expression as an alternative
      triage for high risk HPV positive women in cervical cancer screening. METHODS:
      Totally 191 cervical cell specimens from women with HPV positive were collected.
      The p16ink4a expression by FISH and liquid-based thin-layer cytology was
      performed and followed by colposcopy with or without biopsied histologic
      examination for all participants. The relationship between p16ink4a expression
      and histologic diagnosis, as well as cytology was analyzed. RESULTS: The positive
      rate of p16ink4a was 5.35% in normal or inflammation cases, 56.67% in CIN 1,
      83.78% in CIN 2-3, 100.00% in carcinoma, respectively, with a significance
      between <CIN2 and >=CIN 2 (P<0.001). The p16ink4a expression presented a
      concordance trend as cytology grading, with a positive rate of 9.28% in NILM,
      33.33% in ASCUS, 53.37% in LSIL, 81.25% in ASC-H, and 95% in HSIL, respectively.
      Compared with cytology, FISH detection for p16ink4a had a higher accuracy (84.8%
      vs. 74.34%), higher sensitivity (87.75% vs. 52.00%) and similar specificity
      (83.84% vs. 88.79%) for predicting >=CIN 2 lesions. CONCLUSIONS: FISH detection
      specific to p16ink4a presents a high consistency with cytologic grading and has a
      higher accuracy for predicting high grade CIN than cytology in high risk HPV
      positive women. Our findings suggest that FISH detection for p16ink4a is a
      potential alternative triage for high-risk HPV positive women in cervical cancer
      screening.

PMID- 20926124
TI  - Vitamin D receptor binds to the epsilon germline gene promoter and exhibits
      transrepressive activity.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Recently, an increased incidence of allergic diseases has been
      associated with vitamin D deficiency. We demonstrated previously that calcitriol,
      the active form of vitamin D, inhibits epsilon germline transcription, a
      prerequisite for IgE production. However, the underlying mechanisms remain
      unexplored. OBJECTIVE: We sought to investigate whether the epsilon germline gene
      promoter (Iepsilon) represents a primary vitamin D receptor (VDR) target.
      Therefore we investigated VDR binding to Iepsilon, analyzed VDR-complex
      composition in more detail, and delineated its functional consequences. METHODS:
      The VDR binding to Iepsilon in human B cells, the composition of the VDR
      recruited complex, and the acetylation pattern were investigated by means of
      chromatin immunoprecipitation. The calcitriol-mediated action on Iepsilon was
      analyzed by using a reporter gene assay. RESULTS: We demonstrate that Iepsilon is
      a possible VDR target. Calcitriol-activated VDR binds together with retinoid X
      receptor alpha to the Iepsilon region. The heterodimer interacts with silencing
      mediator for retinoid and thyroid hormone receptors, which recruits histone
      deacetylase (HDAC) 1 and HDAC3. The inhibition of silencing mediator for retinoid
      and thyroid hormone receptors or HDACs reversed the site-specific deacetylation
      of histones 3 and 4 and the calcitriol-driven inhibition of the epsilon germline
      transcription. The VDR-complex transrepressive actions on Iepsilon were confirmed
      in a reporter assay. CONCLUSION: We show here that inhibition of IgE production
      by calcitriol is mediated by its transrepressive activity through the VDR
      corepressor complex affecting chromatin compacting around the Iepsilon region.
      Our findings shed new light on mechanisms of VDR transrepression and
      understanding of IgE regulation.

PMID- 20926125
TI  - Uniform definition of asthma severity, control, and exacerbations: document
      presented for the World Health Organization Consultation on Severe Asthma.
AB  - Asthma is a global health problem affecting around 300 million individuals of all
      ages, ethnic groups and countries. It is estimated that around 250,000 people die
      prematurely each year as a result of asthma. Concepts of asthma severity and
      control are important in evaluating patients and their response to treatment, as
      well as for public health, registries, and research (clinical trials,
      epidemiologic, genetic, and mechanistic studies), but the terminology applied is
      not standardized, and terms are often used interchangeably. A common
      international approach is favored to define severe asthma, uncontrolled asthma,
      and when the 2 coincide, although adaptation may be required in accordance with
      local conditions. A World Health Organization meeting was convened April 5-6,
      2009, to propose a uniform definition of severe asthma. An article was written by
      a group of experts and reviewed by the Global Alliance against Chronic
      Respiratory Diseases review group. Severe asthma is defined by the level of
      current clinical control and risks as "Uncontrolled asthma which can result in
      risk of frequent severe exacerbations (or death) and/or adverse reactions to
      medications and/or chronic morbidity (including impaired lung function or reduced
      lung growth in children)." Severe asthma includes 3 groups, each carrying
      different public health messages and challenges: (1) untreated severe asthma, (2)
      difficult-to-treat severe asthma, and (3) treatment-resistant severe asthma. The
      last group includes asthma for which control is not achieved despite the highest
      level of recommended treatment and asthma for which control can be maintained
      only with the highest level of recommended treatment.

PMID- 20926126
TI  - Quality of life and pets.

PMID- 20926127
TI  - Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in early adolescents' friendship development:
      friendship selection, influence, and prospective friendship quality.
AB  - Friendships are essential for adolescent social development. However, they may be
      pursued for varying motives, which, in turn, may predict similarity in
      friendships via social selection or social influence processes, and likely help
      to explain friendship quality. We examined the effect of early adolescents' (N =
      374, 12-14 years) intrinsic and extrinsic friendship motivation on friendship
      selection and social influence by utilizing social network modeling. In addition,
      longitudinal relations among motivation and friendship quality were estimated
      with structural equation modeling. Extrinsic motivation predicted activity in
      making friendship nominations during the sixth grade and lower friendship quality
      across time. Intrinsic motivation predicted inactivity in making friendship
      nominations during the sixth, popularity as a friend across the transition to
      middle school, and higher friendship quality across time. Social influence
      effects were observed for both motives, but were more pronounced for intrinsic
      motivation.

PMID- 20926128
TI  - Development and in vivo evaluation of an oral drug delivery system for
      paclitaxel.
AB  - The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of poly(acrylic acid)
      cysteine (PAA-cysteine) exhibiting a molecular mass of 100 and 250 kDa and
      reduced glutathione (GSH) on the absorption of the P-glycoprotein (P-gp) and
      cytochrome P450 (CYP450) substrate paclitaxel in vitro and in vivo. In vitro
      transport studies were performed with Caco-2 monolayers. Furthermore, the
      delivery system based on PAA-cysteine, GSH and paclitaxel was evaluated in vivo
      in rats. In vitro, the formulation comprising 0.5% (m/v) PAA-cysteine (100
      kDa)/0.5% (m/v) GSH improved the transport of paclitaxel 6.7-fold (P(app) = 8.7
      +/- 1.3 * 10(-6) cm/s) in comparison to paclitaxel itself serving as buffer only
      control (P(app) = 1.3 +/- 0.4 * 10(-6) cm/s). Moreover, in the presence of the
      formulation containing 0.5% (m/v) PAA-cysteine (250 kDa)/0.5% (m/v) GSH
      paclitaxel absorption was even 7.4-fold (P(app) = 9.7 +/- 0.3 * 10(-6) cm/s)
      improved in comparison to the buffer only control. In vivo, the oral
      administration of formulations containing 1 mg of paclitaxel, 1 mg of GSH and 8
      mg of PAA-cysteine (100 kDa or 250 kDa) resulted in an improved paclitaxel plasma
      concentration and bioavailability. The area under the plasma concentration-time
      curve (AUC(0-8)) of paclitaxel was 4.7-fold and 5.7-fold improved in comparison
      to the oral formulation containing paclitaxel alone, respectively. Moreover,
      c(max) was improved by 6.3-fold and even 7.3-fold in comparison to the oral
      formulation containing paclitaxel alone, respectively. Thus, according to the
      achieved results it is suggested that PAA-cysteine in combination with GSH would
      be a potentially valuable tool for improving the oral bioavailability of P-gp and
      CYP450 substrates such as paclitaxel.

PMID- 20926129
TI  - Tocopheryl oligochitosan-based self assembling oligomersomes for siRNA delivery.
AB  - Amphiphilic alpha-tocopherol oligochitosan conjugates were constructed by
      conjugating alpha-tocopherol succinate to water soluble oligochitosans with
      various molecular weights. In aqueous medium, the tocopherol oligochitosan
      conjugates self-assembled to single layered oligomersomes. The sizes of alpha
      tocopherol-oligochitosan-based oligomersomes (TCOsomes) could be controlled by
      chain lengths of oligochitosans. The mean sizes of TCOsomes were 220 and 377 nm
      as the sizes of oligochitosans were 4000 and 12,500, respectively. For all
      TCOsomes formed in this study, polydispersity indexes were in the ranges of 0.111
      0.256. Cryo-TEM images showed clear thickening in the unilamellar layer of
      TCOsomes upon complexation with siRNAs. Zeta potentials decreased as the ratios
      of siRNA/TCOsomes increased. TCOsomes self-assembled from tocopherol
      oligochitosan 4K (TCOsome(4K)) significantly enhanced the cellular uptake of
      siRNAs (>98%), and reduced the expression of target proteins more effectively
      than did Lipofectamine 2000. In tumor xenografted mice, the intratumoral
      administration of siMcl-1 using TCOsomes substantially silenced the expression of
      Mcl-1 and prevented the growth of tumor. The hematoxylin-eosin staining showed
      the apoptosis of cells in the tissues of the mice treated with siMcl
      1/TCOsome(4K) complexes, but not with siGL2/TCOsome(4K) complexes. The self
      assembling and size-controllable oligomersomes might be suitable for effective in
      vivo delivery of siRNAs.

PMID- 20926130
TI  - The biological properties of iron oxide core high-density lipoprotein in
      experimental atherosclerosis.
AB  - Lipoproteins are a family of plasma nanoparticles responsible for the
      transportation of lipids throughout the body. High-density lipoprotein (HDL), the
      smallest of the lipoprotein family, measures 7-13 nm in diameter and consists of
      a cholesteryl ester and triglyceride core that is covered with a monolayer of
      phospholipids and apolipoproteins. We have developed an iron oxide core HDL
      nanoparticle (FeO-HDL), which has a lipid based fluorophore incorporated in the
      phospholipid layer. This nanoparticle provides contrast for optical imaging,
      magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM).
      Consequently, FeO-HDL can be visualized on the anatomical, cellular and sub
      cellular level. In the current study we show that the biophysical features of FeO
      HDL closely resemble those of native HDL and that FeO-HDL possess the ability to
      mimic HDL characteristics both in vitro as well as in vivo. We demonstrate that
      FeO-HDL can be applied to image HDL interactions and to investigate disease
      settings where HDL plays a key function. More generally, we have demonstrated a
      multimodal approach to study the behavior of biomaterials in vitro as well as in
      vivo. The approach allowed us to study nanoparticle dynamics in circulation, as
      well as nanoparticle targeting and uptake by tissues and cells of interest.
      Moreover, we were able to qualitatively assess nanoparticle excretion, critical
      for translating nanotechnologies to the clinic.

PMID- 20926131
TI  - The biocompatibility of titanium cardiovascular devices seeded with autologous
      blood-derived endothelial progenitor cells: EPC-seeded antithrombotic Ti
      implants.
AB  - Implantable and extracorporeal cardiovascular devices are commonly made from
      titanium (Ti) (e.g. Ti-coated Nitinol stents and mechanical circulatory assist
      devices). Endothelializing the blood-contacting Ti surfaces of these devices
      would provide them with an antithrombogenic coating that mimics the native lining
      of blood vessels and the heart. We evaluated the viability and adherence of
      peripheral blood-derived porcine endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs), seeded onto
      thin Ti layers on glass slides under static conditions and after exposure to
      fluid shear stresses. EPCs attached and grew to confluence on Ti in serum-free
      medium, without preadsorption of proteins. After attachment to Ti for 15 min,
      less than 5% of the cells detached at a shear stress of 100 dyne / cm(2).
      Confluent monolayers of EPCs on smooth Ti surfaces (Rq of 10 nm), exposed to 15
      or 100 dyne/cm(2) for 48 h, aligned and elongated in the direction of flow and
      produced nitric oxide dependent on the level of shear stress. EPC-coated Ti
      surfaces had dramatically reduced platelet adhesion when compared to uncoated Ti
      surfaces. These results indicate that peripheral blood-derived EPCs adhere and
      function normally on Ti surfaces. Therefore EPCs may be used to seed
      cardiovascular devices prior to implantation to ameliorate platelet activation
      and thrombus formation.

PMID- 20926133
TI  - Homer regulation of native plasma membrane calcium channels in A431 cells.
AB  - Homers are adapter proteins that play a significant role in the organization of
      calcium signaling protein complexes. Previous functional studies linked Homer
      proteins to calcium influx in nonexcitable cells. These studies utilized calcium
      imaging or whole-cell current recordings. Because of limited resolution of these
      methods, an identity of Homer-modulated ion channels remained unclear. There are
      several types of plasma membrane calcium influx channels in A431 cells. In the
      present study, we demonstrated that Homer dissociation resulted in specific
      activation of I(min) channels but not of I(max) channels in inside-out patches
      taken from A431 cells. In contrast, inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate activated both
      I(min) and I(max) channels in inside-out patches. Short (1a) and long (1c) forms
      of Homer had different effects on I(min) channel activity. Homer 1a but not Homer
      1c activated I(min) in the patches. This study indicates that I(min) channels are
      specifically regulated by Homer proteins in A431 cells.

PMID- 20926132
TI  - Multilayered silk scaffolds for meniscus tissue engineering.
AB  - Removal of injured/damaged meniscus, a vital fibrocartilaginous load-bearing
      tissue, impairs normal knee function and predisposes patients to osteoarthritis.
      Meniscus tissue engineering solution is one option to improve outcomes and
      relieve pain. In an attempt to fabricate knee meniscus grafts three layered wedge
      shaped silk meniscal scaffold system was engineered to mimic native meniscus
      architecture. The scaffolds were seeded with human fibroblasts (outside) and
      chondrocytes (inside) in a spatial separated mode similar to native tissue, in
      order to generate meniscus-like tissue in vitro. In chondrogenic culture in the
      presence of TGF-b3, cell-seeded constructs increased in cellularity and
      extracellular matrix (ECM) content. Histology and Immunohistochemistry confirmed
      maintenance of chondrocytic phenotype with higher levels of sulfated
      glycosaminoglycans (sGAG) and collagen types I and II. Improved scaffold
      mechanical properties along with ECM alignment with time in culture suggest this
      multiporous silk construct as a useful micro-patterned template for directed
      tissue growth with respect to form and function of meniscus-like tissue.

PMID- 20926134
TI  - Ionotropic NMDA and P2X1/5 receptors mediate synaptically induced Ca2+ signalling
      in cortical astrocytes.
AB  - Local, global and propagating calcium (Ca(2+)) signals provide the substrate for
      glial excitability. Here we analyse Ca(2+) permeability of NMDA and P2X(1/5)
      receptors expressed in cortical astrocytes and provide evidence that activation
      of these receptors trigger astroglial Ca(2+) signals when stimulated by either
      endogenous agonists or by synaptic release of neurotransmitters. The Ca(2+)
      permeability of the ionotropic receptors was determined by reversal potential
      shift analysis; the permeability ratio P(Ca)/P(K) was 3.1 for NMDA receptors and
      2.2 for P2X(1/5) receptors. Selective stimulation of ionotropic receptors (with
      NMDA and alpha,beta-methyleneATP) in freshly isolated cortical astrocytes induced
      ion currents associated with transient increases in cytosolic Ca(2+)
      concentration ([Ca(2+)](i)). Stimulation of neuronal afferents in cortical slices
      triggered glial synaptic currents and [Ca(2+)](i) responses, which were partially
      blocked by selective antagonists of NMDA (D-AP5 and UBP141) and P2X(1/5) (NF449)
      receptors. We conclude that ionotropic receptors contribute to astroglial Ca(2+)
      signalling and may provide a specific mechanism for fast neuronal-glial
      signalling at the synaptic level.

PMID- 20926135
TI  - Baseline predictors of visual acuity and retinal thickness outcomes in patients
      with retinal vein occlusion: Standard Care Versus COrticosteroid for REtinal Vein
      Occlusion Study report 10.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate baseline factors associated with visual acuity and
      central retinal thickness outcomes in patients with macular edema secondary to
      retinal vein occlusion in the Standard Care versus COrticosteroid for REtinal
      Vein Occlusion (SCORE) Study. DESIGN: Two multicenter, randomized clinical
      trials: one evaluating participants with central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO)
      and one evaluating participants with branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO).
      PARTICIPANTS: Participants with follow-up data of 1 year or more, including 238
      with CRVO and 367 with BRVO. METHODS: Visual acuity was measured by the
      electronic Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (E-ETDRS) method, and
      central retinal thickness was measured by optical coherence tomography (OCT).
      Regression analysis related these outcomes to 20 baseline measures. Multiple P
      values were adjusted to control the false discovery rate. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:
      Outcome measures of visual acuity letter score included absolute change from
      baseline, a gain of >= 15 from baseline, and a loss of >= 15 from baseline.
      Outcome measures of center point thickness included absolute change from
      baseline, a measurement of <= 250 MUm, and a measurement of >= 500 MUm. Outcomes
      were assessed at 1 and 2 years. RESULTS: For CRVO and BRVO, younger age was
      associated with improved visual acuity and central retinal thickness outcomes.
      For CRVO, triamcinolone treatment and less severe anatomic abnormalities of the
      retina (center point thickness and areas of retinal hemorrhage, thickening, and
      fluorescein leakage) were predictive of better visual acuity outcomes. For BRVO,
      no history of coronary artery disease was predictive of improved visual acuity
      outcomes. For center point thickness outcomes, shorter duration of macular edema
      was associated with improvement in both disease entities. For CRVO, higher
      baseline visual acuity letter score was predictive of favorable OCT outcomes. For
      BRVO, lower baseline visual acuity letter score, presence of dense macular
      hemorrhage, and no prior grid photocoagulation were predictive of favorable OCT
      outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Several factors were predictive of better visual acuity
      outcomes and more favorable OCT outcomes, including younger age and shorter
      duration of macular edema, respectively. These factors may assist clinicians in
      predicting disease course for patients with CRVO and BRVO.

PMID- 20926136
TI  - Interaction of copper(II) with the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs naproxen
      and diclofenac: synthesis, structure, DNA- and albumin-binding.
AB  - Copper(II) complexes with the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)
      naproxen and diclofenac have been synthesized and characterized in the presence
      of nitrogen donor heterocyclic ligands (2,2'-bipyridine, 1,10-phenanthroline or
      pyridine). Naproxen and diclofenac act as deprotonated ligands coordinated to
      Cu(II) ion through carboxylato oxygens. The crystal structures of (2,2'
      bipyridine)bis(naproxenato)copper(II), 1, (1,10
      phenanthroline)bis(naproxenato)copper(II), 2 and
      bis(pyridine)bis(diclofenac)copper(II), 4 have been determined by X-ray
      crystallography. The UV study of the interaction of the complexes with calf
      thymus DNA (CT DNA) has shown that the complexes can bind to CT DNA with (2,2'
      bipyridine)bis(naproxenato)copper(II) exhibiting the highest binding constant to
      CT DNA. Competitive study with ethidium bromide (EB) indicates that the complexes
      can displace the DNA-bound EB suggesting strong competition with EB. The cyclic
      voltammograms of the complexes recorded in the presence of CT DNA have shown that
      the complexes can bind to CT DNA by the intercalative binding mode which has also
      been verified by DNA solution viscosity measurements. The NSAID ligands and their
      complexes exhibit good binding propensity to human or bovine serum albumin
      protein having relatively high binding constant values. The biological properties
      of the previously reported complexes [Cu(2)(naproxenato)(4)(H(2)O)(2)],
      [Cu(2)(diclofenac)(4)(H(2)O)(2)] and [Cu(naproxenato)(2)(pyridine)(2)(H(2)O)]
      have been also evaluated. The dinuclear complexes exhibit similar affinity for CT
      DNA as the 2,2'-bipyridine or 1,10-phenanthroline containing complexes. The
      pyridine containing complexes exhibit the lowest affinity for CT DNA and the
      lowest ability to displace EB from its EB-DNA complex.

PMID- 20926137
TI  - Hydroxyquinoline based binders: promising ligands for chelatotherapy?
AB  - We report here a thorough physico-chemical study of the coordination properties
      of clioquinol, an oxine-type active neurological drug in Alzheimer's disease,
      toward biologically relevant divalent metal ions (Cu, Zn, Ni, Co and Mn). Using a
      fruitful combination of electrospray mass spectrometry, absorption
      spectrophotometry and potentiometry, we have characterized the mono- and bis
      chelated metal ion species. The determination of the stability constants showed a
      classical thermodynamic behavior along the studied series with the cupric
      complexes being by far the most stable species. Our data are discussed within the
      scope of Alzheimer's disease.

PMID- 20926138
TI  - Infants' representations of three-dimensional occluded objects.
AB  - Infants' ability to represent objects has received significant attention from the
      developmental research community. With the advent of eye-tracking technology,
      detailed analysis of infants' looking patterns during object occlusion have
      revealed much about the nature of infants' representations. The current study
      continues this research by analyzing infants' looking patterns in a novel manner
      and by comparing infants' looking at a simple display in which a single three
      dimensional (3D) object moves along a continuous trajectory to a more complex
      display in which two 3D objects undergo trajectories that are interrupted behind
      an occluder. Six-month-old infants saw an occlusion sequence in which a ball
      moved along a linear path, disappeared behind a rectangular screen, and then a
      ball (ball-ball event) or a box (ball-box event) emerged at the other edge. An
      eye-tracking system recorded infants' eye-movements during the event sequence.
      Results from examination of infants' attention to the occluder indicate that
      during the occlusion interval infants looked longer to the side of the occluder
      behind which the moving occluded object was located, shifting gaze from one side
      of the occluder to the other as the object(s) moved behind the screen.
      Furthermore, when events included two objects, infants attended to the
      spatiotemporal coordinates of the objects longer than when a single object was
      involved. These results provide clear evidence that infants' visual tracking is
      different in response to a one-object display than to a two-object display.
      Furthermore, this finding suggests that infants may require more focused
      attention to the hidden position of objects in more complex multiple-object
      displays and provides additional evidence that infants represent the spatial
      location of moving occluded objects.

PMID- 20926141
TI  - The functional significance of the TGM2 gene in schizophrenia: a correlation of
      SNPs and circulating IL-2 levels.
AB  - The present study was undertaken to genotype four single nucleotide
      polymorphisms, which were previously found to be associated with schizophrenia,
      in 77 patients with schizophrenia and 52 control subjects in order to assess
      their genotypic association with plasma IL-2 levels. Kruskal-Wallis analysis
      revealed an association between rs4811528 and plasma IL-2 levels in the patient
      group (chi(2)=7.60, df=2, p=0.022) but not in the control group; binary logistic
      regression also confirmed the association of rs4811528 with altered IL-2
      secretion (chi(2)=8.191, df=3, p=0.042) after adjustment for age and sex. TGM2
      may be involved in dysfunction of the immune system in schizophrenia.

PMID- 20926142
TI  - Expression of the alpha7 nAChR subunit duplicate form (CHRFAM7A) is down
      regulated in the monocytic cell line THP-1 on treatment with LPS.
AB  - We investigated the expression of the partially duplicated alpha7 nAChR subunit
      gene in three monocytic cell lines: THP-1, U937 and Mono-Mac-6. Qualitative PCR
      revealed the presence of the classic alpha7 gene in these lineages, but real-time
      PCR showed the exclusive expression of alpha7dup. Both mRNA and protein levels
      were reduced in THP-1 upon LPS challenge, and it was found that transcriptional
      down-regulation was mediated by a direct mechanism dependent on NF-kappaB as its
      specific inhibitor parthenolide prevented the reduction in the alpha7dup
      transcript. Such precise regulation suggests that alpha7dup may specifically
      participate in the inflammatory response of the innate immune system.

PMID- 20926139
TI  - A tune in "a minor" can "b major": a review of epidemiology, illness course, and
      public health implications of subthreshold depression in older adults.
AB  - BACKGROUND: With emphasis on dimensional aspects of psychopathology in
      development of the upcoming DSM-V, we systematically review data on epidemiology,
      illness course, risk factors for, and consequences of late-life depressive
      syndromes not meeting DSM-IV-TR criteria for major depression or dysthymia. We
      termed these syndromes subthreshold depression, including minor depression and
      subsyndromal depression. METHODS: We searched PubMed (1980-Jan 2010) using the
      terms: subsyndromal depression, subthreshold depression, and minor depression in
      combination with elderly, geriatric, older adult, and late-life. Data were
      extracted from 181 studies of late-life subthreshold depression. RESULTS: In
      older adults subthreshold depression was generally at least 2-3 times more
      prevalent (median community point prevalence 9.8%) than major depression.
      Prevalence of subthreshold depression was lower in community settings versus
      primary care and highest in long-term care settings. Approximately 8-10% of older
      persons with subthreshold depression developed major depression per year. The
      course of late-life subthreshold depression was more favorable than that of late
      life major depression, but far from benign, with a median remission rate to non
      depressed status of only 27% after >=1 year. Prominent risk factors included
      female gender, medical burden, disability, and low social support; consequences
      included increased disability, greater healthcare utilization, and increased
      suicidal ideation. LIMITATIONS: Heterogeneity of the data, especially related to
      definitions of subthreshold depression limit our ability to conduct meta
      analysis. CONCLUSIONS: The high prevalence and associated adverse health outcomes
      of late-life subthreshold depression indicate the major public health
      significance of this condition and suggest a need for further research on its
      neurobiology and treatment. Such efforts could potentially lead to prevention of
      considerable morbidity for the growing number of older adults.

PMID- 20926143
TI  - Can we predict community-wide effects of herbicides from toxicity tests on
      macrophyte species?
AB  - Macrophyte communities play an essential role in the way freshwater ecosystems
      function. It is thus of great concern to understand how environmental factors,
      especially anthropogenic ones, influence their composition and diversity. The aim
      of this study was to examine whether the effects of a herbicide mixture (50%
      atrazine, 35% isoproturon, 15% alachlor) on single macrophyte species can be used
      to predict its impact at a community level. In a first experiment we tested the
      sensitivity of six species (Azolla filiculoides, Ceratophyllum demersum, Elodea
      canadensis, Lemna minor, Myriophyllum spicatum and Vallisneria spiralis) grown
      separately and exposed to 0.6-600 MUg L(-1) of the herbicide mixture. In a second
      experiment, conducted in microcosms, we tested the effects of herbicides on
      macrophyte assemblages composed of the same six species exposed to 0, 6 or 60 MUg
      L(-1) of the herbicide mixture. Species grown separately exhibited growth
      inhibition at 60 and 600 MUg L(-1). At 600 MUg L(-1) the sensitivity differed
      significantly between species. V. spiralis was the most resistant species, C.
      demersum, M. spicatum and E. canadensis exhibited intermediate sensitivities, and
      A. filiculoides and L. minor were the most sensitive species. In microcosms,
      community biomass and Shannon evenness index were reduced after 8 weeks at 60 MUg
      L(-1). Communities also exhibited changes in their composition: the relative and
      absolute abundance of C. demersum increased at 6 MUg L(-1), while the relative
      abundance of V. spiralis increased at 60 MUg L(-1). These results are in
      agreement with the individual responses of these species to the herbicides. It is
      therefore concluded that short-term effects of herbicides on simple macrophyte
      communities can be predicted from the sensitivity of individual species. However,
      further investigations are required to examine whether longer term effects can be
      predicted as well, especially in more complex communities.

PMID- 20926144
TI  - Minor symptoms of depression in patients with congenital heart disease have a
      larger impact on quality of life than limited exercise capacity.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: In patients with congenital heart disease quality of life is only
      marginally associated with exercise capacity. The aim of this study was to
      determine the prevalence of depression and its impact on quality of life and
      exercise capacity. PATIENTS AND METHODS: From November 2007 to October 2009 a
      total of 767 patients (352 female, 14-67 years) with various congenital heart
      diseases (37 palliated/native cyanotic, 57 Fontan, 74 Transposition of the Great
      Arteries (TGA) after atrial switch, 50 other TGA, 136 Fallot, 38 Ebstein, 47
      Pulmonic stenosis/regurgitation, 68 aortic coarctation, 103 aortic stenosis, 90
      isolated shunts, 67 other) completed the health-related quality of life
      questionnaire SF-36 and the German translation of the "Center for Epidemiologic
      Studies Depression Scale" (CES-D) to assess depressive symptoms. Afterwards a
      cardiopulmonary exercise test was performed. RESULTS: Only 66 patients (8.6%)
      showed depressive symptoms fulfilling the CES-D definition for depression. The
      total prevalence of depression was lower than in the general population (Wilcoxon
      test, p<0.001) and did not differ substantially in between the diagnostic
      subgroups (Kruskal-Wallis test, p=0.195). CES-D score was correlated to all of
      the nine dimensions of quality of life (r=-0.170 to r=-0.740, p<0.001) and less
      pronounced to exercise capacity (r=-0.164, p<0.001). Correlation of peak oxygen
      uptake to quality of life was weaker than the CES-D scores in all subscales of
      life quality. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with congenital heart disease are rarely
      depressive. However, even minor depressive symptoms have a stronger impact on
      quality of life than limited exercise capacity as seen in many patients.

PMID- 20926145
TI  - The impact of rapid atrial pacing on ADMA and endothelial NOS.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) inhibitor asymmetric
      dimethylarginine (ADMA) is a well-established risk factor for oxidative stress,
      vascular dysfunction, and congestive heart failure. The aim of the present study
      was to determine the impact of rapid atrial pacing (RAP) on ADMA levels and eNOS
      expression. METHODS AND RESULTS: ADMA levels were studied in 60 age- and gender
      matched patients. Thirty five patients had persistent atrial fibrillation (AF)>=
      4months. In AF-patients, parameters were studied before and 24h after electrical
      cardioversion. Moreover, ADMA, eNOS expression, and calcium-handling proteins
      were studied in pigs subjected to RAP as well as in endothelial cell (EC)
      cultures. ADMA level was significantly higher in AF compared to sinus rhythm
      patients (p=0.024). ADMA was highest in AF-patients, who also showed elevated
      troponin T (TnT) levels. Moreover, ADMA showed a significant linear correlation
      to TnT (r=0.47; p<0.01). After electrical cardioversion ADMA returned to normal
      within 24h. In pigs, RAP for 7h increased ADMA levels (p=0.018) and TnI (p<0.05),
      and reduced mRNA expression of ventricular and aortic eNOS (-80%; p<0.05)
      compared to sham-control. However, ADMA per se did not affect eNOS mRNA level in
      EC cultures. CONCLUSION: The current study shows that acute and persistent
      episodes of atrial tachyarrhythmia are associated with elevated ADMA levels
      accompanied by increased ischemic myocardial markers. Moreover, RAP increases
      ADMA and down-regulates eNOS expression in an ADMA-independent manner. We
      conclude that the combination of these two separate and potentially synergistic
      mechanisms may contribute to long-term vascular injury during atrial
      tachyarrhythmia.

PMID- 20926146
TI  - Down-regulation of CREB-binding protein expression blocks thrombin-mediated
      endothelial activation by inhibiting acetylation of NF-kappaB.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: CREB-binding protein (CBP) belongs to a unique class of transcription
      co-activators possessing histone acetyltransferase (HAT) activity. The aim of the
      present study was to evaluate the role of CBP in thrombin-induced endothelial
      activation, and also explore the underlying mechanism. METHODS: Leukocyte
      endothelial adhesion was calculated as the proportion of the labeled-neutrophils
      that adhered to ECs relative to all neutrophils applied. Levels of adhesion
      molecules were analyzed by real-time RT-PCR and western blot. Electrophoretic
      mobility shift assay and NF-kappaB reporter assay were performed to evaluate NF
      kappaB activation. Acetylation of NF-kappaB was measured with immunoprecipitation
      and western blot assay. To detect the CBP-HAT activity, acetyl residues on an
      acetylated histone H4 was analyzed. RESULTS: Leukocyte-endothelial adhesion
      induced by thrombin was markedly attenuated in endothelial cells with CBP
      knockdown. The decreased adhesion was paralleled by the reduction of vascular
      cell adhesion molecule-1, intercellular adhesion molecule-1 and E-selectin.
      Furthermore, CBP silencing suppressed thrombin-mediated NF-kappaB activation, and
      this inhibitory effect was associated with decreased acetylation of NF-kappaB and
      CBP-HAT activity. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that CBP is involved in the
      regulation of endothelial activation via NF-kappaB-dependent pathway. Down
      regulation of CBP may play a role in returning ECs from a pre-inflammatory status
      to a quiescent state in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis.

PMID- 20926147
TI  - Left ventricular function and energy homeostasis in patients with type 1 diabetes
      with and without microvascular complications.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This study was performed to assess left ventricular (LV) energy
      metabolism and function in patients with type 1 diabetes with or without overt
      microvascular complications. METHODS: We performed cardiac Magnetic Resonance
      Imaging (MRI) and (31)P spectroscopy (MRS) in 24 patients with overt
      microvascular complications and in 15 carefully selected patients without
      complications in spite of a long duration of the disease (>20 years) and matched
      for anthropometric features. 31 healthy subjects served as a control group.
      RESULTS: Systolic function was preserved in all study subjects. Patients with
      overt complications showed a higher LV wall mass/end diastolic volume ratio and
      altered parameters of diastolic function when compared to patients without
      complications and to controls. They were also characterized by lower PCr/ATP
      ratio (a recognized marker of energy metabolism). No effect of HbA1c was detected
      within groups. CONCLUSIONS: In patients with type 1 diabetes 1) overt
      microvascular complications were associated with altered LV geometry, diastolic
      function and energy metabolism 2) in patients without complications and duration
      of disease >20 years no association with these alterations were found despite
      poor glycemic control. The features of this highly selected subgroup of patients
      demonstrated that long lasting chronic hyperglycemia per se is not sufficient to
      induce abnormality of cardiac energy metabolism and that additional yet to be
      identified (metabolic or genetic) factors must be important contributing factors.

PMID- 20926148
TI  - Human plasma complement C3 is independently associated with coronary heart
      disease, but only in heavy smokers (the CODAM study).
AB  - BACKGROUND: Complement C3 is an emerging risk factor for coronary heart disease
      (CHD) and is particularly increased in the metabolic syndrome. A direct effect of
      smoking on structure and function of complement C3 has been suggested.
      HYPOTHESIS: Smoking behavior may affect the cardiovascular risk that is
      associated with plasma complement C3. METHODS: The association between plasma C3
      and CHD was studied in the CODAM (Cohort on Diabetes and Atherosclerosis
      Maastricht) study population (n=562, 61% male) with examination of effect
      modification by smoking. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of CHD was 23.3%. Higher
      plasma C3 levels were associated with a higher CHD prevalence, and there was a
      significant interaction with heavy smoking (p=0.01). In never & light smokers,
      the univariate OR for CHD per 1s.d. (0.33 g/L) increase in C3 was 1.09 [95%
      confidence interval (CI) 0.85-1.41] (p=0.505) whereas in heavy smokers it was
      2.05 [1.43-2.93] (p<0.001). The association in the group of heavy smokers
      remained significant (OR 2.38 [1.54-3.68], p<0.001) after adjustment for
      traditional risk factors for cardiovascular disease and also after further
      adjustment for other cardiometabolic risk factors, i.e. the metabolic syndrome,
      CRP and insulin resistance (HOMA2IR) (OR C3 between 2.16 and 2.29, all p <=
      0.001). CONCLUSION: Human plasma complement C3 is associated with prevalent CHD,
      but only in heavy smokers, and this association is independent of important
      metabolic cardiovascular risk factors.

PMID- 20926149
TI  - Intensity-modulated radiation therapy in newly diagnosed glioblastoma: a
      systematic review on clinical and technical issues.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) could
      represent a new tool to improve the therapeutic ratio in the treatment of
      glioblastoma. This systematic review investigates the evidence behind the
      application of IMRT to glioblastoma, assessing the potential benefits from both
      the clinical and dosimetrical perspective. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two independent
      researchers systematically identified all relevant articles available on PubMed
      and MEDLINE databases until December 2009. RESULTS: Ultimately, seventeen studies
      were included in the analysis, for a total of 204 treated patients and 148
      patient datasets used in planning studies. Most dosimetrical studies provided
      statistical analysis. Clinical series did not include any randomized controlled
      study, ultimately hindering a meta-analysis. From the dosimetrical point of view,
      conformal radiotherapy and IMRT provide similar results in terms of target
      coverage, while IMRT is better in terms of dose conformity, in reducing the
      maximum dose to the organs at risk and in healthy brain sparing. In clinical
      reports, a wide variability was recorded concerning dose per fraction, total
      dose, and chemotherapy administration. A comprehensive qualitative comparison
      with literature on similar non-IMRT clinical series showed that in most IMRT
      series excellent compliance and low rates of toxicity were recorded.
      Hypofractionated regimens in association with chemotherapy showed results that
      are even superior to the standard treatment. CONCLUSIONS: According to the
      available data, the dosimetrical advantages of IMRT translate into the clinical
      capability of delivering higher dose levels in a shorter time. This approach in
      glioblastoma patients with good prognosis suggests the possibility of improving
      outcomes without an increase in toxicity.

PMID- 20926150
TI  - Inactivation of Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Salmonella spp. on alfalfa seeds by
      caprylic acid and monocaprylin.
AB  - Alfalfa and other seed sprouts have been implicated in several Escherichia coli
      O157:H7 and Salmonella spp. human illness outbreaks in the U.S. Continuing food
      safety issues with alfalfa seeds necessitate the need for discovery and use of
      novel and effective antimicrobials. The potential use of caprylic acid (CA) and
      monocaprylin (MC) for reducing E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella spp. populations on
      alfalfa seeds was evaluated. The effectiveness of three concentrations of CA and
      MC (25, 50, and 75 mM) to reduce E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella spp. populations
      in 0.1% peptone water and on alfalfa seeds was evaluated. Surviving populations
      of E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella spp. were enumerated by direct plating on
      tryptic soy agar (TSA). Non-inoculated alfalfa seeds were soaked for up to 120
      min to evaluate the effect of CA and MC solutions on seed germination rate. For
      planktonic cells, the efficacy of the treatments was: 75 MC > 50 MC > 25 MC > 75
      CA > 50 CA > 25 CA. Both E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella spp. were reduced to
      below the detection limit (0.6 log CFU/ml) within 10 min of exposure to 75 MC
      from initial populations of 7.65 +/- 0.10 log CFU/ml and 7.71 +/- 0.11 log
      CFU/ml, respectively. Maximum reductions of 1.56 +/- 0.25 and 2.56 +/- 0.17 log
      CFU/g for E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella spp., respectively, were achieved on
      inoculated alfalfa seeds (from initial populations of 4.74 +/- 0.62 logCFU/g and
      5.27+/-0.20logCFU/g, respectively) when treated with 75 MC for 90 min.
      Germination rates of CA or MC treated seeds ranged from 84% to 99%. The
      germination rates of CA or MC soaked seeds and water soaked seeds (control) were
      similar (P > 0.05) for soaking times of <= 90 min. Monocaprylin (75 mM) can be
      used to reduce E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella spp. on alfalfa seeds without
      compromising seed viability.

PMID- 20926151
TI  - Multigenic expression analysis as an approach to understanding the behaviour of
      Oenococcus oeni in wine-like conditions.
AB  - The correct performance of wine malolactic fermentation (MLF) depends on the
      metabolic characteristics of the Oenococcus oeni strain/s responsible for this
      process. This study characterizes four O. oeni strains, which behave differently
      in terms of malolactic performance, the citric acid use related to acetic acid
      production, and stress adaptation. Metabolic evolution and its associated
      enzymatic activities were studied and the transcriptional response of the genes
      related to MLF, citrate metabolism and stress response was compared among
      strains. A higher initial expression of both the malolactic enzyme and the
      encoding gene mleA may be related to faster MLF. The initial transcriptional
      levels of citrate lyase (citE) proved indicative of early citrate consumption.
      Moreover, the strains that performed best in wine-like conditions presented a
      much higher relative expression of several stress responsive genes, particularly
      hsp18, clpP, ctsR and rmlB. Finally, an inter-strain comparison of the
      transcriptional levels of selected genes at different times during MLF proved a
      useful tool in characterizing strains based on their metabolic behaviour.

PMID- 20926153
TI  - Association between cardiorespiratory fitness and arterial stiffness in men with
      the metabolic syndrome.
AB  - AIMS: We tested the hypothesis that high cardiorespiratory fitness (fitness) is
      associated with lower levels of arterial stiffness in 1035 (age 52 +/- 6 years)
      men with and without the metabolic syndrome. METHODS: Arterial stiffness was
      derived from brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV). Fitness was directly
      measured by peak oxygen uptake during a standard treadmill test. RESULTS: Men
      with the metabolic syndrome (n = 168) had significantly higher baPWV than men
      without the metabolic syndrome (1424 +/- 175 cm/s vs. 1333 +/- 150 cm/s, p <
      0.05). When separated according to quartiles of fitness, men with and without the
      metabolic syndrome in the highest quartile of fitness had significantly lower
      baPWV compared to men in the lowest quartile of fitness (p < 0.05). Fitness was
      inversely correlated with baPWV in men with (p = -0.29, p < 0.05) and without the
      metabolic syndrome (p = -0.22, p < 0.05). There was no differences in baPWV
      levels between fit men with the metabolic syndrome and unfit men without the
      metabolic syndrome (fit/MetS; 1366 +/- 140 vs. unfit/no MetS; 1401 +/- 194 cm/s,
      p = 0.81). CONCLUSIONS: These results demonstrate that high fitness is inversely
      associated with arterial stiffness in men with and without the metabolic
      syndrome. Increased arterial stiffness in the metabolic syndrome is attenuated by
      high fitness.

PMID- 20926152
TI  - Asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and type 2 diabetes in the Women's
      Health Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chronic airway inflammation in asthma or chronic obstructive
      pulmonary disease (COPD) may be involved in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes;
      however, prospective data have been limited. METHODS: A prospective cohort of
      38,570 women who were aged >= 45 years, free of cardiovascular disease and cancer
      at baseline, and free of diabetes at baseline and in the first 12 months were
      analyzed. We classified all women into three groups according to the presence and
      absence of self-reported asthma or COPD (including emphysema, chronic bronchitis,
      and bronchiectasis). RESULTS: During a median follow-up of 12.2 years, 2472
      incident type 2 diabetes events were documented. Women who had ever reported
      asthma or COPD were associated with an increased diabetes risk; the multivariate
      RRs were 1.37 (95% CI, 1.20-1.57) for women who had asthma alone and 1.38 (95%
      CI, 1.14-1.67) for COPD without asthmatic symptoms. Furthermore, these
      associations were not significantly modified by age, smoking status, physical
      activity, BMI, alcohol intake, hormone replacement therapy, menopausal status or
      randomized treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Asthma and COPD were individually and
      independently associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes in women,
      indicating that chronic airway inflammation may contribute to diabetes
      pathogenesis.

PMID- 20926154
TI  - The impacts of thiazolidinediones on circulating C-reactive protein levels in
      different diseases: a meta-analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Thiazolidinediones (TZDs), including rosiglitazone and pioglitazone,
      are widely used as antidiabetic agents. Here we present an updated meta-analysis
      of the respective effects of rosiglitazone and pioglitazone on the levels of C
      reactive protein (CRP), a biomarker and predictor of CAD risks. METHODS AND
      RESULTS: PubMed and EMBASE were systematically searched using the terms "C
      reactive protein" and "rosiglitazone" or "pioglitazone" or "thiazolidinedione". A
      total of 59 rosiglitazone studies and 36 pioglitazone studies were included for
      evaluation. These were classified as 2-group studies and 1-group studies
      according to their study design. Standard mean difference (SMD) of CRP and 95% CI
      were calculated to evaluate the effect of TZDs on CRP. The overall SMD for
      rosiglitazone treatment is -0.392 (95% CI, [-0.446, -0.338]) in 2-group studies
      and -0.424 (95% CI, [-0.501, -0.346]) in 1-group studies. The overall SMD for
      pioglitazone treatment is -0.577 (95% CI, [-0.732, -0.421]) in 2-group studies
      and -0.327 (95% CI, [-0.439, -0.216]) in 1-group studies. Moreover, TZDs were
      found to significantly reduce CRP levels in both diabetes mellitus (DM) and non
      DM patients. CONCLUSIONS: Our meta-analysis suggested that both rosiglitazone and
      pioglitazone significantly decrease serum CRP levels. TZDs presented their CRP
      lowering effect in both DM and non-DM patients.

PMID- 20926155
TI  - RFID-initiated workflow control to facilitate patient safety and utilization
      efficiency in operation theater.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To control the workflow for surgical patients, we in-cooperate radio
      frequency identification (RFID) technology to develop a Patient Advancement
      Monitoring System (PAMS) in operation theater. METHODS: The web-based PAMS is
      designed to monitor the whole workflow for the handling of surgical patients. The
      system integrates multiple data entry ports Across the multi-functional surgical
      teams. Data are entered into the system through RFID, bar code, palm digital
      assistance (PDA), ultra-mobile personal computer (UMPC), or traditional keyboard
      at designated checkpoints. Active radio-frequency identification (RFID) tag can
      initiate data demonstration on the computer screens upon a patient's arrival at
      any particular checkpoint along the advancement pathway. RESULTS: The PAMS can
      manage the progress of operations, patient localization, identity verification,
      and peri-operative care. The workflow monitoring provides caregivers' instant
      information sharing to enhance management efficiency. CONCLUSION: RFID-initiate
      surgical workflow control is valuable to meet the safety, quality, efficiency
      requirements in operation theater.

PMID- 20926156
TI  - PDF equations for advective-reactive transport in heterogeneous porous media with
      uncertain properties.
AB  - We consider advective-reactive solute transport in porous media whose hydraulic
      and transport properties are uncertain. These properties are treated as random
      fields, which renders nonlinear advection-reaction transport equations
      stochastic. We derive a deterministic equation for the probability density
      function (PDF) of the concentration of a solute that undergoes heterogeneous
      reactions, e.g., precipitation or dissolution. The derivation treats exactly
      (without linearization) a reactive term in the transport equation which accounts
      for uncertainty (randomness) in both flow velocity and kinetic rate constants but
      requires a closure, such as a Large-Eddy-Diffusivity (LED) approximation used in
      the present analysis. No closure is required when reaction rates are the only
      source of uncertainty. We use exact concentration PDFs obtained for this setting
      to analyze the accuracy of our general, LED-based PDF equations.

PMID- 20926157
TI  - Empirical correlations to estimate agglomerate size and deposition during
      injection of a polyelectrolyte-modified Fe0 nanoparticle at high particle
      concentration in saturated sand.
AB  - Controlled emplacement of polyelectrolyte-modified nanoscale zerovalent iron
      (NZVI) particles at high particle concentration (1-10 g/L) is needed for
      effective in situ subsurface remediation using NZVI. Deep bed filtration theory
      cannot be used to estimate the transport and deposition of concentrated
      polyelectrolyte-modified NZVI dispersions (>0.03 g/L) because particles
      agglomerate during transport which violates a fundamental assumption of the
      theory. Here we develop two empirical correlations for estimating the deposition
      and transport of concentrated polyelectrolyte-modified NZVI dispersions in
      saturated porous media when NZVI agglomeration in porous media is assumed to
      reach steady state quickly. The first correlation determines the apparent stable
      agglomerate size formed during NZVI transport in porous media for a fixed
      hydrogeochemical condition. The second correlation estimates the attachment
      efficiency (sticking coefficient) of the stable agglomerates. Both correlations
      are described using dimensionless numbers derived from parameters affecting
      deposition and agglomeration in porous media. The exponents for the dimensionless
      numbers are determined from statistical analysis of breakthrough data for
      polyelectrolyte-modified NZVI dispersions collected in laboratory scale column
      experiments for a range of ionic strength (1, 10, and 50mM Na(+) and 0.25, 1, and
      1.25 mM Ca(2+)), approach velocity (0.8 to 55 * 10(-4)m/s), average collector
      sizes (d(50)=99 MUm, 300 MUm, and 880 MUm), and polyelectrolyte surface modifier
      properties. Attachment efficiency depended on approach velocity and was inversely
      related to collector size, which is contrary to that predicted from classic
      filtration models. High ionic strength, the presence of divalent cations, lower
      extended adsorbed polyelectrolyte layer thickness, decreased approach velocity,
      and a larger collector size promoted NZVI agglomeration and deposition and thus
      limited its mobility in porous media. These effects are captured quantitatively
      in the two correlations developed. The application and limitations of using the
      correlations for preliminary design of in situ NZVI emplacement strategies is
      discussed.

PMID- 20926158
TI  - Phosphorus-deficiency reduces aluminium toxicity by altering uptake and
      metabolism of root zone carbon dioxide.
AB  - The role of phosphorus (P) status in root-zone CO(2) utilisation for organic acid
      synthesis during Al(3+) toxicity was assessed. Root-zone CO(2) can be
      incorporated into organic acids via Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPC, EC
      4.1.1.31). P-deficiency and Al(3+) toxicity can induce organic acid synthesis,
      but it is unknown how P status affects the utilisation of PEPC-derived organic
      acids during Al(3+) toxicity. Two-week-old Solanum lycopersicum seedlings were
      transferred to hydroponic culture for 3 weeks. The hydroponic culture consisted
      of a standard Long Ashton nutrient solution containing either 0.1MUM or 1mM P.
      Short-term Al(3+) toxicity was induced by a 60-min exposure to a pH-buffered
      solution (pH 4.5) containing 2mM CaSO(4) and 50MUM AlCl(3). Al(3+) toxicity
      induced a decline in root respiration, adenylate concentrations and an increase
      in root-zone CO(2) utilisation for both P sufficient and P-deficient plants.
      However during Al(3+) toxicity, P deficiency enhanced the incorporation and
      metabolism of root-zone CO(2) via PEPC. Moreover, P deficiency led to a greater
      proportion of the PEPC-derived organic acids to be exuded during Al(3+) toxicity.
      These results indicate that P-status can influence the response to Al(3+) by
      inducing a greater utilisation of PEPC-derived organic acids for Al(3+)
      detoxification.

PMID- 20926159
TI  - Comparative analysis of proteome changes induced by the two spotted spider mite
      Tetranychus urticae and methyl jasmonate in citrus leaves.
AB  - Citrus plants are currently facing biotic and abiotic stresses. Therefore, the
      characterization of molecular traits involved in the response mechanisms to
      stress could facilitate selection of resistant varieties. Although large cDNA
      microarray profiling has been generated in citrus tissues, the available protein
      expression data are scarce. In this study, to identify differentially expressed
      proteins in Citrus clementina leaves after infestation by the two-spotted spider
      mite Tetranychus urticae, a proteome comparison was undertaken using two
      dimensional gel electrophoresis. The citrus leaf proteome profile was also
      compared with that of leaves treated over 0-72h with methyl jasmonate, a compound
      playing a key role in the defense mechanisms of plants to insect/arthropod
      attack. Significant variations were observed for 110 protein spots after spider
      mite infestation and 67 protein spots after MeJA treatments. Of these, 50
      proteins were successfully identified by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry
      tandem mass spectrometry. The majority constituted photosynthesis- and metabolism
      related proteins. Five were oxidative stress associated enzymes, including
      phospholipid glutathione peroxidase, a salt stressed associated protein,
      ascorbate peroxidase and Mn-superoxide dismutase. Seven were defense-related
      proteins, such as the pathogenesis-related acidic chitinase, the protease
      inhibitor miraculin-like protein, and a lectin-like protein. This is the first
      report of differentially regulated proteins after T. urticae attack and exogenous
      MeJA application in citrus leaves.

PMID- 20926160
TI  - Efficient synthesis of 6-(hetero)arylthieno[3,2-b]pyridines by Suzuki-Miyaura
      coupling. Evaluation of growth inhibition on human tumor cell lines, SARs and
      effects on the cell cycle.
AB  - A wide variety of new bi(hetero)aryl derivatives of the thieno[3,2-b]pyridine
      skeleton was obtained in high to excellent yields (65-91%) by Suzuki-Miyaura
      cross-coupling of the methyl 3-amino-6-bromothieno[3,2-b]pyridine-2-carboxylate,
      recently reported by us, with aryl or heteroaryl pinacolboranes or potassium
      trifluoroborates. The coupling products obtained were evaluated for their growth
      inhibitory effect on three human tumor cell lines, representing different tumor
      models, MCF-7 (breast adenocarcinoma), A375-C5 (melanoma) and NCI-H460 (non-small
      cell lung cancer). Some of the compounds showed an interesting activity against
      the tested cell lines, with GI50 values in the MUM range, and it was possible to
      establish some structure-activity relationships (SARs). Several compounds
      presented GI50 values below 15 MUM, particularly a bithiophene and an o-aniline
      thienopyridine derivative. The first presented selectivity for MCF-7 and NCI-H460
      cell lines, with very low GI50 values (0.7-1.0 MUM), while the latter was active
      against the three cell lines tested in this study, also presenting very low GI50
      values (2.5-4.2 MUM). The effect of these two compounds on cell cycle progression
      was analyzed in the NCI-H460 cell line. Results showed that both compounds
      interfered with the normal cell cycle distribution.

PMID- 20926161
TI  - Novel alkyl- and arylcarbamate derivatives with N-benzylpiperidine and N
      benzylpiperazine moieties as cholinesterases inhibitors.
AB  - The study presents synthesis and biological activity of novel alkyl- and
      arylcarbamate derivatives with N-benzylpiperidine and N-benzylpiperazine moieties
      designed as cholinesterases inhibitors. These fragments turned out to determine
      compounds' selectivity between AChE and BuChE. Derivatives of N-benzylpiperazine
      (16-25) were selective BuChE inhibitors with 3-(2-(4-benzylpiperazin-1-yl)-2
      oxoethyl)-phenyl butylcarbamate (22) being the most potent compound (pIC50=5.00)
      while a series of carbamate derivatives of N-benzylpiperidine (5-14) displayed
      non-selective BuChE/AChE inhibitory activity. Molecular modelling studies point
      out significant differences between orientations of these two groups of compounds
      in the active site of AChE, which can be an explanation of their different
      biological activity.

PMID- 20926162
TI  - Old phenothiazine and dibenzothiadiazepine derivatives for tomorrow's
      neuroprotective therapies against neurodegenerative diseases.
AB  - From an in-house library of compounds, five phenothiazines and one
      dibenzothiadiazepine were selected to be tested in neuroprotective and
      cholinergic assays. Three of them, derived from the N-alkylphenothiazine, the N
      acylaminophenothiazine, and the 1,4,5-dibenzo[b,f]thiadiazepine system, protected
      human neuroblastoma cells against oxidative stress generated by both exogenous
      and mitochondrial free radicals. They could also penetrate the CNS, according to
      an in vitro blood-brain barrier model, and an N-acylaminophenothiazine derivative
      behaved as a selective inhibitor of butyrylcholinesterase. Free radical capture
      and/or promotion of antioxidant protein biosynthesis are mechanisms that can be
      implicated in their neuroprotective actions. Due to their excellent
      pharmacological properties and the fact that they were not biologically explored
      in the past, one N-acylaminophenothiazine and one 1,4,5-dibenzo[b,f]thiadiazepine
      have been selected to develop two new series that are currently in progress.

PMID- 20926163
TI  - Molecular docking and QSAR study on steroidal compounds as aromatase inhibitors.
AB  - In order to develop more potent, selective and less toxic steroidal aromatase
      (AR) inhibitors, molecular docking, 2D and 3D hybrid quantitative structure
      activity relationship (QSAR) study have been conducted using topological,
      molecular shape, spatial, structural and thermodynamic descriptors on 32
      steroidal compounds. The molecular docking study shows that one or more hydrogen
      bonds with MET374 are one of the essential requirements for the optimum binding
      of ligands. The QSAR model obtained indicates that the aromatase inhibitory
      activity can be enhanced by increasing SIC, SC_3_C, Jurs_WNSA_1, Jurs_WPSA_1 and
      decreasing CDOCKER interaction energy (ECD), IAC_Total and Shadow_XZfrac. The
      predicted results shows that this model has a comparatively good predictive power
      which can be used in prediction of activity of new steroidal aromatase
      inhibitors.

PMID- 20926164
TI  - Identification of efficient fluorophores for the direct labeling of DNA via
      rolling circle amplification (RCA) polymerase phi29.
AB  - The enzymatic incorporation as well as the spectroscopic properties and
      photochemical stability of a series of fluorescent labels differing in dye class,
      charge, and rigidity were studied to identify new tools for signal enhancement in
      situ on microarrays without secondary labeling. These fluorophores were chosen to
      spectrally match or resemble the golden standard Cy3. With the rhodamine DY-555,
      that is three times more emissive than Cy3, we found a bright and stable
      chromophore, the spectroscopic properties of which are minimally influenced by
      dye microenvironment.

PMID- 20926165
TI  - [Penicilliosis in Vietnam: a series of 94 patients].
AB  - PURPOSE: Haiphong is the second city of Vietnam most affected by HIV infection.
      Penicilliosis represents the third leading cause of opportunistic infection.
      However, this systemic fungal infection remains poorly knew by practitioners.
      This study aimed to clarify the clinical, diagnostic and therapeutic aspects of
      penicilliosis. METHODS: It is a descriptive study, prospective and retrospective,
      conducted over a 3-year period in Viet Tiep hospital, Haiphong. RESULTS: With 94
      cases, penicilliosis represented 11% of opportunistic infections. The patients
      were young (mean: 33 years) and male (87%). The main symptoms were persistent
      fever (99%), weight loss (88%), skin lesions (86%), hepatomegaly (69%) and
      lymphadenopathy (68%). Anemia was noted in 77% of cases. The average CD4 count
      was 29/MUL. The culture of skin biopsies and blood culture were positive for
      Penicillium marneffei in 94% and 90% of cases, respectively. Despite
      antiretroviral and antifungal therapy, the mortality rate was 18%. Itraconazole
      monotherapy, administered in 53 patients due to the unavailability of
      amphotericin B, did not significantly affect the survival compared to the
      recommended treatment received by the 41 other patients. CONCLUSION: In Haiphong,
      penicilliosis is one of the most frequent and severe opportunistic infections of
      AIDS. The diagnosis should be considered in all febrile and immunocompromised
      patients having spent time in Vietnam. The prognosis can be improved by early
      diagnosis through the blood culture and a good adherence to an appropriate
      antifungal therapy.

PMID- 20926166
TI  - Iranian staff nurses' attitudes toward nursing students.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Clinical education is an indispensible part of the nursing
      education. Clinical nurses play an important role in this teaching learning
      process. The quality and quantity of student-nurse interactions in the clinical
      area can either facilitate or hamper students' learning. The rationale of this
      research was to probe into staff nurses' attitudes toward nursing students within
      the context of clinical education in Iran. The nursing literature seems wanting
      in issues related to staff nurses' attitudes toward nursing students. Thus, we
      draw on Peplau's interpersonal relations in nursing to address staff-student
      relationship. That is, the nursing student was taken as the client. METHODS: A
      descriptive cross-sectional design was selected for this study. The entire staff
      nurses of Medical and Surgical units (n=82) employed at Dr Fatemi and Imam
      Khomeini hospitals of Ardabil medical sciences university were selected. Stagg's
      questionnaire and a demographic tool were used to gather data. Attitudes were
      measured using a five-point Likert scale. Attitudes of staff nurses were
      inspected using cross tabulations and frequencies. FINDINGS: The results
      demonstrated that attitude scores toward nursing students were low and moderate.
      Some nurses (45.71%) believed that working with students is pleasant and most
      (98.57%) have thought that staff should have a good relationship with nursing
      students. Furthermore, staff nurses pointed out that the there is a need to
      overhaul the educational system of nursing students (94.3%), that nursing
      students do not acquire the sufficient clinical skill (67.14%), and that the
      students are not prepared enough for the clinical task (51.43%). CONCLUSION:
      According to the results of the staffs' feelings on the relationship between
      nurse and student, it seems that nurses should cultivate an atmosphere which ends
      to empathy, assurance and sincerity of nursing students.

PMID- 20926167
TI  - National survey of how acupuncture education is organised for Swedish midwives.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: in Sweden, acupuncture education is required before midwives can use
      the method in clinical practice. Courses in acupuncture are usually organised by
      private individuals or companies, and each health facility decides on the
      adequacy of the educational package. Therefore, there is no overall standard or
      quality control for free-standing courses of acupuncture education for midwives.
      The aim of this study was to survey the education given to Swedish midwives in
      the use of acupuncture treatment in the obstetric area. DESIGN: a postal survey
      using a structured questionnaire. SETTING: organisers of acupuncture education.
      PARTICIPANTS: 18 acupuncture instructors. MEASUREMENTS AND FINDINGS: acupuncture
      courses were usually organised outside universities and colleges. The courses
      were similar in terms of extent and content, and were mainly based on a Western
      medical approach. The recommended indications were extensive despite a lack of
      scientific evidence. The most common instructor profile was a midwife without any
      academic degree. KEY CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: courses differed
      considerably in the extent to which they were research based. Continuing
      professional education for midwives should be given at the same academic level,
      at least, as basic midwifery education.

PMID- 20926168
TI  - The specificity of fatiguing protocols affects scapular orientation: Implications
      for subacromial impingement.
AB  - BACKGROUND: shoulder impairments are often associated with altered scapular
      kinematics. As muscles control scapular movement, functionally altering muscle
      performance through fatigue may produce scapular kinematics that mimic those of
      injured patients. The aim of this study was to examine if changes in scapular
      tilt, rotation and pro/retraction following two different upper extremity
      fatiguing protocols have any implications with respect to subacromial
      impingement. METHODS: scapular orientation was monitored during posturally
      constrained static holds (at 0 degrees , 45 degrees  and 90 degrees  of humeral
      elevation) before and after two fatiguing protocols, one global and one local.
      Both protocols are associated with producing changes in shoulder skeletal
      arrangement. FINDINGS: following the global fatiguing protocol, there was
      significantly more scapular posterior tilt (P<0.01) and upward rotation (P<0.02),
      particularly at 90 degrees  humeral elevation. No changes in scapular orientation
      occurred following the local fatiguing protocol. INTERPRETATION: scapular
      orientation changes following muscle fatigue acted to increase the subacromial
      space. Thus, the rotator cuff muscles, not the scapular stabilizers, have more
      influence on actively preventing mechanical subacromial impingement. The lack of
      evidence of reduction of the subacromial space thus implicates superior humeral
      head translation as a more likely primary mechanism of the initiation of
      subacromial impingement.

PMID- 20926169
TI  - Translating HIV interventions into practice: community-based organizations'
      experiences with the diffusion of effective behavioral interventions (DEBIs).
AB  - Efficacious behavioral interventions developed to address the spread of HIV/STIs
      are currently being disseminated in the USA through a national diffusion program
      (DEBI) spearheaded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
      Understanding how interventions are translated to real world settings is
      necessary to further scientific knowledge of this process and to facilitate
      future translation efforts in public health. Prior studies have begun to
      elucidate how agencies translate behavioral interventions into practice, but
      further work is needed. Guided by the ADAPT framework, we examined agencies'
      assessment, preparation, and implementation of interventions. Our qualitative
      interview-based study focused on six community-based agencies in California
      (United States) funded to implement three group-level HIV interventions. Findings
      showed considerable variation in the extent to which agencies engaged in
      assessment and broad-based preparation and in the ease with which agencies
      implemented the interventions. The findings provide insight into the process that
      agencies undergo in the translation of effective behavioral interventions and
      illustrate how agencies can inform logic models that guide translation. We also
      identify relevant dimensions of existing models, including the ADAPT framework
      and Rogers's (1995, 2005) diffusion of innovations in organizations, that have
      value for agencies that are translating research to practice.

PMID- 20926170
TI  - Spirituality within the family and the prevention of health risk behavior among
      adolescents in Bangkok, Thailand.
AB  - This study investigates the influences of a family's spiritual beliefs and
      practices on substance use and sexual risk behaviors among young adolescents 13
      14 years old in Bangkok, Thailand. Independent predictor variables are the
      parents' and teens' spiritual beliefs and practices in Buddhism and parental
      monitoring behaviors. The study uses data from the 2007 Baseline Survey of the
      Thai Family Matters Project, which adapted a U.S. based family prevention program
      for Thai culture. A representative sample of 420 pairs of parents and teens from
      the Bangkok metropolitan area was recruited to participate in the study.
      Structural equation models indicate that positive direct and indirect
      associations of the spirituality of parents and teens within a family and the
      prevention of adolescent risk behaviors are significant and consistent.

PMID- 20926171
TI  - [The complete dorsum nasal island flap based on the superior alar artery].
AB  - The complete dorsal nasal aesthetic unit can be raised in a vascular island flap
      based on the superior alar artery, at the level of the nasalis muscle. This flap
      uses the vertical glabellar cutaneous laxity. It hides scars between the nasal
      aesthetics units and its distal rotation point allows a pure translation of the
      nasal skin without distortions encountered when using medial canthal rotation
      flaps. This local flap is reliable and had been successfully used for four
      patients without complications or secondary procedures. It allows large
      reconstructions for up to 25 mm defects leaving minimal scars. It represents an
      interesting alternative for the reconstruction of defects of the nasal tip or
      supra tip of the nose, and has also been used for alar reconstructions.

PMID- 20926172
TI  - [Incidence of symptomatic and asymptomatic chronic thromboembolic pulmonary
      hypertension].
AB  - INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: To assess the incidence of long-term symptomatic and
      asymptomatic chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) in a cohort of
      patients with acute symptomatic pulmonary embolism (PE), and the potential risk
      factors for its diagnosis. METHODS: We conducted a prospective, long-term, follow
      up study in 110 consecutive patients with an acute episode of pulmonary embolism
      (PE). All patients underwent transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) two years after
      the diagnosis of PE was made. If systolic pulmonary artery pressure exceeded 40
      mm Hg and there was evidence of residual PE either by ventilation-perfusion or CT
      scan, patients underwent right heart catheterisation to confirm the diagnosis. In
      asymptomatic patients, right heart catheterisation was performed if a repeated
      TTE still demonstrated persistent pulmonary hypertension six months after the
      first. RESULTS: CTEPH was diagnosed in 10 (6 patients during follow-up, and 4 at
      the end of the study) of the 110 patients (9.1%; 95% confidence interval [CI],
      3.7 to 14.5%). All patients showed symptoms related to the disease according to a
      structured questionnaire. In the multivariate regression analysis, only
      concomitant age (relative risk [RR] 1.2 per age; 95% CI, 1.0 to 1.3; P=0.03) and
      previous PE (RR 5.7; IC 95%, 1.5 a 22.0; P=0.01) were independent predictors of
      CTEPH. CONCLUSIONS: CTEPH cumulative incidence appears to be higher than
      previously reported. All patients had symptoms related to the disease.

PMID- 20926173
TI  - Comparison of surface cooling and invasive cooling for rapid induction of mild
      therapeutic hypothermia in pigs--effectiveness of two different devices.
AB  - AIM OF THE STUDY: The effectiveness and safety of non-invasive surface cooling
      was compared to invasive endovascular cooling in an animal model. METHODS: Eight
      healthy pigs (29-38 kg) were cooled twice, starting in the first 4 pigs with
      unique surface cooling pads followed by endovascular cooling. In the second 4
      pigs the order was reversed. The goal was to quickly lower pulmonary artery
      temperature from 38 to 33 degrees C. A paired t-test was used to compare cooling
      rates ( degrees C/h, mean+/-standard deviation) between both cooling techniques.
      RESULTS: Mean non-invasive surface cooling rate (11.9+/-3.8 degrees C/h)
      significantly exceeded mean invasive cooling rate (3.9+/-0.7 degrees C/h;
      p<0.001). The mean difference in cooling rates was 8.0+/-3.6 degrees C/h. No
      surface cooling related adverse skin reactions were observed. CONCLUSIONS:
      Surface cooling is a simple method for achieving fast cooling rates. In our
      animal model, non-invasive cooling was three times faster than rapid endovascular
      cooling without overshoot.

PMID- 20926174
TI  - Acute myocardial infarction might cause aortic dissection.

PMID- 20926175
TI  - Pain relief in outpatient hysteroscopy: a survey of current UK clinical practice.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Outpatient hysteroscopy is increasingly being used as a cost
      effective alternative to in-patient hysteroscopy under general anaesthesia. Like
      other outpatient gynaecological procedures, however, it has the potential to
      cause pain severe enough for the procedure to be abandoned. There are no national
      guidelines on pain relief for outpatient hysteroscopy. METHODS: A postal survey
      of UK gynaecologists was carried out to evaluate current clinical practice
      regarding methods of pain relief used during office hysteroscopy. A total of 250
      questionnaires were sent out and 115 responses received. RESULTS: Outpatient
      hysteroscopy was offered by 76.5% of respondents. Respondents reported a wide
      variation in the use of routine and rescue analgesia, and also in the nature of
      the analgesia used. One-quarter of those offering outpatient hysteroscopy used no
      form of analgesia. CONCLUSION: The results showed that whilst there is no
      consensus on the type of analgesia provided, rescue analgesia is commonly being
      used, particularly in the form of intracervical blocks.

PMID- 20926178
TI  - A plea to young surgeons dealing with radical prostatectomy patients: invest your
      time and intellectual energy in optimizing your research methodology and keep
      your feet on the ground.

PMID- 20926176
TI  - Expression and knockdown of cellular prion protein (PrPC) in differentiating
      mouse embryonic stem cells.
AB  - The mammalian cellular prion protein (PrP(C)) is a highly conserved glycoprotein
      that may undergo conversion into a conformationally altered isoform (scrapie
      prion protein or PrP(Sc)), widely believed to be the pathogenic agent of
      transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs). Although much is known about
      pathogenic PrP conversion and its role in TSEs, the normal function of PrP(C) is
      poorly understood. Given the abundant expression of PrP(C) in the developing
      mammalian CNS and the spatial association with differentiated stages of
      neurogenesis, recently it has been proposed that PrP(C) participates in neural
      cell differentiation. In the present study, we investigated the role of PrP(C) in
      neural development during early embryogenesis. In bovine fetuses, PrP(C) was
      differentially expressed in the neuroepithelium, showing higher levels at the
      intermediate and marginal layers where more differentiated states of neurogenesis
      were located. We utilized differentiating mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells to test
      whether PrP(C) contributed to the process of neural differentiation during early
      embryogenesis. PrP(C) showed increasing levels of expression starting on Day 9
      until Day 18 of ES cell differentiation. PrP(C) expression was negatively
      correlated with pluripotency marker Oct-4 confirming that ES cells had indeed
      differentiated. Induction of ES cells differentiation by retinoic acid (RA)
      resulted in up-regulation of PrP(C) at Day 20 and nestin at Day 12. PrP(C)
      expression was knocked down in PrP-targeted siRNA ES cells between Days 12 and
      20. PrP(C) knockdown in ES cells resulted in nestin reduction at Days 16 and 20.
      Analysis of bovine fetuses suggests the participation of PrP(C) in neural cell
      differentiation during early embryogenesis. The positive association between
      PrP(C) and nestin expression provide evidence for the contribution of PrP(C) to
      ES cell differentiation into neural progenitor cells.

PMID- 20926179
TI  - Unruptured intracranial aneurysm as a cause of cerebral ischemia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Unruptured intracranial artery aneurysms (IAs) can be revealed by
      cerebral ischemia. Little is known on the clinical course and outcome of patients
      with this condition. We report our findings in a consecutive series of 15 such
      patients. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed patients with ischemic stroke (IS)
      or transient ischemic attack (TIA), unruptured IA on the symptomatic cerebral
      artery, and no other potential cause of cerebral ischemia consecutively treated
      in a tertiary stroke unit. RESULTS: Fifteen patients (ten women, and five men)
      were identified. Their mean age was 49.7 years (range, 37-80 years). Ten patients
      presented with IS, and five with TIA. The median diameter of IA was 7.5mm (range,
      2.5-23 mm). Aneurysm thrombosis was found on imaging in 9/10 patient with IS, and
      1/5 patients with TIA (p=0.017). Thirteen patients were given an antiplatelet
      agent. Mean follow-up until last visit or treatment of aneurysm was 393 days
      (median 182 days; range, 6-1825 days). There was no ischemic recurrence. Partial
      or complete recanalization of aneurysm thrombosis occurred in 7/10 patients. Two
      patients, both with initial aneurysmal thrombosis and on antiplatelet therapy,
      experienced aneurysm rupture. CONCLUSION: Unruptured IA is a rare cause of
      IS/TIA. IS is associated with aneurysm thrombosis. Our findings suggest that
      aneurysm thrombosis is a dynamic process which is associated with a low rate of
      ischemic recurrence on antiplatelet therapy but may be followed by subarachnoid
      hemorrhage.

PMID- 20926180
TI  - Spinal meningiomas: age-related features.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Spinal meningiomas mainly occur in old patients, with a remarkable
      female prevalence. This study investigates the different features between younger
      and older patients in an adult population (>18 years). MATERIALS AND METHODS: A
      surgical series of 120 adult patients operated on for spinal meningiomas at the
      Neurosurgical Clinic of the "Federico II" University of Naples is reviewed. In
      this series 117 patients with a sporadic spinal meningioma were divided in two
      groups: group I including 30 patients (25.6%) younger than 50 years of age, group
      II including 87 patients (74.4%) older than 50 years. 3 patients had a spinal
      meningioma and neurofibromatosis. Several parameters, including sex, predisposing
      factors, tumor location and growth, histology, recurrences, proliferation index
      Ki-67 LI, and outcome, are considered and compared in the two age groups.
      RESULTS: Group I showed an incidence of high cervical spine (C1-C4) meningiomas
      higher than group II (23.3% vs 3.4%, p=0.026) and lower rate of thoracic tumors
      (60% vs 82.7%, p=0.04). No significant differences of histological type and Ki-67
      LI were found. Group I had 2 cases of atypical meningiomas (6.6% vs 0%, ns).
      Recurrences occurred in 6.6% of group I and 2.6% of group II, with no
      significance. In recurrent meningiomas values of Ki-67 LI were significantly
      higher than values in not recurrent meningiomas (p=0.0001), whereas no difference
      of estrogen and progesterone receptor expression was noted. CONCLUSIONS: Younger
      adult patients with spinal meningiomas show not rare occurrence of NF (9%) and
      significantly higher incidence of high cervical and lower incidence of thoracic
      localizations with respect to the older patients. On the other hand, there are
      not significant differences of histology, Ki-67 LI and recurrence rate, excepting
      for a slight difference for atypical meningiomas.

PMID- 20926181
TI  - Steroid hormone receptors in cancer development: a target for cancer
      therapeutics.
AB  - The steroid hormone receptors (SHRs) are ligand-dependent intracellular
      transcription factors that are known to influence the development and growth of
      many human cancers. SHRs pass signals from a steroid/hormone to the target genes
      by interacting with specific response element DNA sequences and various
      coregulatory proteins that consists of activators and/or corepressors.
      Disruptions in physiological functions of SHRs leads to several types of
      malignancies such as breast cancer, leukemia and lymphoma, prostate cancer,
      ovarian cancer, and lung cancer among others. Steroids/hormones/SHRs and their
      coregulators have opened up a unique window for novel steroid-based targeted
      therapies for cancer. Thus, dysregulation of SHR signaling in cancers compared
      with normal tissues can be exploited to target drugs that prevent and treat human
      cancers. In recent years, hormonal therapy has made a major contribution to the
      treatment of several cancers including reduced recurrence rates and longer
      survival rates. Development of various steroid receptor modulators and their
      potential therapeutic efficacies has provided us a great opportunity to
      effectively manage diseases like cancer in future. In this review article, we
      have summarized up-to-date knowledge of the role of SHRs in the development and
      progression of cancers, and potential endocrine-based therapeutic approaches to
      tackle these diseases.

PMID- 20926182
TI  - Global DNA hypomethylation-induced DeltaNp73 transcriptional activation in non
      small cell lung cancer.
AB  - p73 possesses an extrinsic P1 promoter and an intrinsic P2 promoter controlling
      the expression of the pro-apoptotic TAp73 isoforms and the anti-apoptotic
      DeltaNup73 isoforms respectively. In this study, we investigated the DNA
      methylation status of both promoters as a means of epigenetic transcriptional
      control of their corresponding isoforms in 102 primary non-small cell lung
      carcinomas (NSCLCs). We demonstrated that while P1 hypermethylation-associated
      reduction of TAp73 mRNA levels is relatively infrequent, the P2 hypomethylation
      associated over-expression of DeltaNup73 mRNA is a frequent event, particularly
      among squamous cell carcinomas. P2 hypomethylation strongly correlated with LINE
      1 element hypomethylation, indicating that DeltaNup73 over-expression may be a
      passive consequence of global DNA hypomethylation.

PMID- 20926183
TI  - RETRACTED: A novel class of specific Hsp90 small molecule inhibitors demonstrate
      in vitro and in vivo anti-tumor activity in human melanoma cells.
AB  - This article has been retracted: please see Elsevier Policy on Article Withdrawal
      (http://www.elsevier.com/locate/withdrawalpolicy).This article has been retracted
      at the request of the Authors. Following an investigation by Pfizer, Figures 2,
      5B and 5C appear to be duplications and hence the conclusions in the manuscript
      cannot be verified. The Authors apologize for this inconvenience.

PMID- 20926184
TI  - Screening for novel antibacterial agents based on the activities of compounds on
      metabolism of Escherichia coli: a microcalorimetric study.
AB  - The emergence and prevalence of resistance to antibacterial agents is a pressing
      threaten for human health. Screening for novel antibacterial agents targeting not
      only multiplying but also non-multiplying bacteria using appropriate approach is
      in great demand. In this study, the microcalorimetric method was used to measure
      the metabolic curves of E. coli growth affected by chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA)
      and ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA). By analyzing the metabolic curves and thermo-
      kinetic/dynamic parameters, the antibacterial activities of CDCA and UDCA on
      multiplying and non-multiplying bacteria of Escherichia coli (E. coli) were
      evaluated. The results illustrated that, for the multiplying metabolism of E.
      coli, the two compounds controlled the anaerobic fermentative, with IC(50(1))
      (half-inhibitory concentration) of 566.2 MUg/mL for CDCA and 573.6 MUg/mL for
      UDCA, respectively, but had no effective action on aerobic metabolism of the
      bacteria. The action of the two compounds on the non-multiplying metabolism was
      studied by taking the heat output of E. coli in the stationary phase as the
      additive guideline of the activity. The values of IC(50(2)) were 543.4 and 547.5
      MUg/mL, and MSC(50) (minimum stationary-cidal concentration 50) were 532.6 and
      537.3 MUg/mL for CDCA and UDCA, respectively. So, CDCA had more powerful
      antibacterial activity on E. coli than UDCA either for multiplying bacteria or
      non-multiplying metabolism, and they both showed stronger activities on non
      multiplying metabolism than on multiplying metabolism of the bacteria. The
      microcalorimetric method should be strongly suggested in screening novel
      antibacterial agents for fighting against multidrug-resistant bacteria.

PMID- 20926185
TI  - A comparative study among different photochemical oxidation processes to enhance
      the biodegradability of paper mill wastewater.
AB  - Advanced oxidation processes including UV, UV/H(2)O(2), Fenton reaction
      (Fe(II)/H(2)O(2)) and photo-Fenton process (Fe(II)/H(2)O(2)/UV) for the treatment
      of paper mill wastewater will be investigated. A comparison among these
      techniques is undertaken with respect to the decrease of chemical oxygen demand
      (COD) and total suspended solids (TSS) and the evolution of chloride ions.
      Optimum operating conditions for each process under study revealed the effect of
      the initial amounts of Fe(II) and hydrogen peroxide. Of the tested processes,
      photo-Fenton process was found to be the fastest one with respect to COD and TSS
      reduction of the wastewater within 45 min reaction time under low amounts of
      Fe(II) and hydrogen peroxide of 0.5 and 1.5mg/L, respectively, and amounted to
      79.6% and 96.6% COD and TSS removal. The initial biodegradability of the organic
      matter present in the effluent, estimated as the BOD(5)/COD, was low 0.21. When
      the effluent was submitted to the different types of AOPs used in this study, the
      biodegradability increases significantly. Within 45 min of reaction time, the
      photo-Fenton process appears as the most efficient process in the enhancement of
      the biodegradability of the organic matter in the effluent and the BOD(5)/COD
      ratio increased from 0.21 to 0.7.

PMID- 20926186
TI  - Adsorption of divalent heavy metal ions from water using carbon nanotube sheets.
AB  - Removal of some divalent heavy metal ions (Cu(2+), Zn(2+), Pb(2+), Cd(2+),
      Co(2+)) from aqueous solutions using carbon nanotube (CNT) sheets was performed.
      CNT sheets were synthesized by chemical vapor deposition of cyclohexanol and
      ferrocene in nitrogen atmosphere at 750 degrees C, and oxidized with concentrated
      nitric acid at room temperature and then employed as adsorbent for water
      treatment. Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms were used to describe the adsorption
      behavior of heavy metal ions by oxidized CNT sheets. The obtained results
      demonstrated that the oxidized CNT sheets can be used as an effective adsorbent
      for heavy metal ions removal from water. It was found out that kinetics of
      adsorption varies with initial concentration of heavy metal ions. Preference of
      adsorption onto the oxidized CNT sheets can be ordered as
      Pb(2+)>Cd(2+)>Co(2+)>Zn(2+)>Cu(2+). Using the oxidized CNT sheets, waste water
      treatment without CNT leakage into water is economically feasible. Therefore, CNT
      sheets have good potential application in environmental protection.

PMID- 20926187
TI  - Kinetics of Fe(3)O(4)-CoO/Al(2)O(3) catalytic ozonation of the herbicide 2-(2,4
      dichlorophenoxy) propionic acid.
AB  - The presence of Fe(3)O(4)-CoO/Al(2)O(3) can improve degradation efficiency
      significantly during the ozonation of the herbicide 2-(2,4-dichlorophenoxy)
      propionic acid (2,4-DP). The main factors affecting degradation efficiency, such
      as pH, the catalyst concentration and addition of the scavenger, were
      investigated. The kinetics of the catalytic ozonation are also discussed. The
      results indicate that two factors, the oxidation after adsorption of 2,4-DP and
      the oxidation of hydroxyl radicals (OH), lead to a great enhancement in ozonation
      efficiency during the catalytic ozonation of 2,4-DP in the presence of Fe(3)O(4)
      CoO/Al(2)O(3), in which the oxidation of the OH plays an important role. Under
      controlled conditions, the apparent reaction rate constants for the degradation
      of 2,4-DP were determined to be 2.567 * 10(-4)s(-1) for O(3) and 1.840 * 10(-3)s(
      1) for O(3)/Fe(3)O(4)-CoO/Al(2)O(3). The results from the analysis of the
      reaction kinetics using the relative method showed that O(3)/Fe(3)O(4)
      CoO/Al(2)O(3) possessed a larger R(ct) (R(ct) is defined as the ratio of the .OH
      exposure to the O(3) exposure, R(ct) = ?C(t)(OH) dt/C(t)O(3)dt) than O(3),
      indicating that O(3)/Fe(3)O(4)-CoO/Al(2)O(3) produced more hydroxyl radicals.

PMID- 20926188
TI  - Selective inhibition of nitrite oxidation by chlorate dosing in aerobic granules.
AB  - Partial nitrification was successfully achieved with addition of 5mM KClO(3) in
      the aerobic granules system. Batch tests demonstrated that KClO(3) selectively
      inhibited nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB) but not ammonia-oxidizing bacteria
      (AOB). During stable partial nitrification, the influent pH was kept at 7.8-8.2,
      while the DO and temperature were not controlled in the SBR. When the NH(4)-N and
      COD levels were kept at 100mg/l and 400mg/l in the influent, the NH(4)-N and COD
      removal efficiencies reached 98.93% and 78.65%, respectively. The NO(2)-N
      accounted for 92.95% of the NO(chi)-N (NO(2)-N+NO(3)-N) in the effluent.
      Furthermore, about 90% of the chlorate was reduced to nontoxic chloride, thus it
      would not cause environmental problem. SEM showed that the main composition of
      the aerobic granules was bacilli and coccus bacteria. FISH analysis revealed that
      AOB became the dominant nitrifying bacteria, whereas NOB were detected only in
      low abundance. Chlorate could be used to control the development and maintenance
      of aerobic granules sludge for partial nitrification.

PMID- 20926189
TI  - Modified native cellulose fibers--a novel efficient adsorbent for both fluoride
      and arsenic.
AB  - Native cellulose fibers were surface modified by poly(N,N-dimethyl aminoethyl
      methacrylate) (PDMAEMA) to generate an anion adsorbent, which was characterized
      by scanning electron microscopy, fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and
      elemental analyzer. This adsorbent had high efficiency in removal of F(-),
      AsO(2)(-) and AsO(4)(3-) from aqueous solutions, even at low initial
      concentrations. Adsorption kinetics showed that the adsorption equilibrium could
      be reached within 1 min. The distribution coefficient did not change with
      adsorbent dose, indicating the adsorption was a homogenous process. Langmuir,
      Freundlich and Temkin models were used to fit the adsorption isotherms. Based on
      the parameters calculated from the models, the adsorption capacity was in the
      order of AsO(4)(3-)?AsO(2)(-)>F(-), and the adsorption was a favorable process.
      Compared with Freundlich and Temkin models, the isotherms followed Langmuir model
      a little better.

PMID- 20926190
TI  - Mechanisms of association between obesity and chronic pain in the elderly.
AB  - Chronic pain is more common in the elderly and impairs functioning and quality of
      life. Though obesity, defined by body mass index (BMI), has been associated with
      pain prevalence among older adults, the mechanism of this association remains
      unclear. We examined components of the metabolic syndrome, insulin resistance, a
      marker of inflammation, and the presence of painful comorbidities as possible
      mediators of this association. Participants were 407 individuals aged >70 in the
      Einstein Aging Study. Chronic pain and pain over the last 3 months were defined
      using the Total Pain Index (TPI). Insulin resistance was modeled as fasting
      insulin, HOMA and QUICKI. High sensitivity C-reactive protein was used as a
      marker of inflammation. Cross-sectional logistic regression models were
      constructed to assess the associations of these factors with prevalent pain,
      adjusted for other known pain correlates. Prevalence of chronic pain was 52%. Of
      the clinical components of metabolic syndrome, central obesity was significantly
      associated with pain (OR 2.03, 95% CI 1.36-3.01). After adjustment for insulin
      resistance, inflammation, and pain-related comorbidities, central obesity
      predicted higher TPI scores (OR 1.55, 95% CI 1.04-2.33) and nearly doubled the
      risk of chronic pain (OR 1.70, 95% CI 1.05-2.75). Central obesity is the
      metabolic syndrome component showing the strongest independent association with
      pain, and the relationship is not explained by markers of insulin resistance or
      inflammation, nor by the presence of osteoarthritis or neuropathy.

PMID- 20926191
TI  - Generalized expansion of nociceptive reflex receptive fields in chronic pain
      patients.
AB  - Widespread central hypersensitivity is present in chronic pain and contributes to
      pain and disability. According to animal studies, expansion of receptive fields
      of spinal cord neurons is involved in central hypersensitivity. We recently
      developed a method to quantify nociceptive receptive fields in humans using
      spinal withdrawal reflexes. Here we hypothesized that patients with chronic
      pelvic pain display enlarged reflex receptive fields. Secondary endpoints were
      subjective pain thresholds and nociceptive withdrawal reflex thresholds after
      single and repeated (temporal summation) electrical stimulation. 20 patients and
      25 pain-free subjects were tested. Electrical stimuli were applied to 10 sites on
      the foot sole for evoking reflexes in the tibialis anterior muscle. The reflex
      receptive field was defined as the area of the foot (fraction of the foot sole)
      from which a muscle contraction was evoked. For the secondary endpoints, the
      stimuli were applied to the cutaneous innervation area of the sural nerve.
      Medians (25-75 percentiles) of fraction of the foot sole in patients and controls
      were 0.48 (0.38-0.54) and 0.33 (0.27-0.39), respectively (P=0.008). Pain and
      reflex thresholds after sural nerve stimulation were significantly lower in
      patients than in controls (P<0.001 for all measurements). This study provides for
      the first time evidence for widespread expansion of reflex receptive fields in
      chronic pain patients. It thereby identifies a mechanism involved in central
      hypersensitivity in human chronic pain. Reverting the expansion of nociceptive
      receptive fields and exploring the prognostic meaning of this phenomenon may
      become future targets of clinical research.

PMID- 20926193
TI  - Effects of temperature on heat pain adaptation and habituation in men and women.
AB  - We recently reported that women report greater pain adaptation and habituation to
      moderately painful heat stimuli than men (Hashmi and Davis [16]); but slightly
      lower temperatures were needed to evoke moderate pain in the women. Hardy et al
      (1962) and LaMotte (1979) suggested that pain adaptation is most prominent at
      modest noxious heat temperatures and may occur at temperatures close to pain
      thresholds. Thus, as a follow-up to our previous study, we examined the role of
      absolute temperature in pain adaptation and habituation in men and women and
      assessed whether pain threshold impacts these findings. We hypothesised that pain
      adaptation and habituation would be more prominent at low and moderate
      temperatures, and that higher temperatures would induce pain adaptation and
      habituation in women but not in men. We further hypothesized that pain adaptation
      would not be correlated with pain thresholds. To test this, we obtained
      continuous ratings of pain evoked by 44.5-47.5 degrees C stimuli applied to the
      dorsal foot of men and women. Each run consisted of three 30s stimuli at the same
      temperature with a 60s inter-stimulus interval. Women showed within-stimulus
      adaptation of total pain at all temperatures, but men showed significant
      adaptation to temperatures less than 47 degrees C. There were no sex differences
      in inter-stimulus habituation and both men and women reported habituation to
      temperatures less than 46 degrees C. Pain thresholds did not correlate with pain
      adaptation. These data highlight the temperature-sensitivity and sex differences
      of pain adaptation and habituation.

PMID- 20926192
TI  - Sex-specificity and estrogen-dependence of kappa opioid receptor-mediated
      antinociception and antihyperalgesia.
AB  - This investigation determined whether the activation of the kappa opioid receptor
      (KOR) in the spinal cord produces estrogen-dependent, sex-specific modulation of
      acute and inflammation-induced persistent nociception. We demonstrate for the
      first time that KOR antinociception and gene expression are enhanced by exogenous
      or endogenous estrogen in the female. The lack of KOR antinociception and KOR
      gene expression are not altered by the hormonal status (testosterone or estrogen)
      in males. Cannulae were implanted intrathecally in male, gonadectomized male
      (GDX), intact and ovariectomized female (OVX) Sprague-Dawley rats. Estradiol was
      injected subcutaneously, 48h before testing (GDX+E and OVX+E). Intrathecal
      injection of U50,488H, a selective KOR agonist, dose dependently increased heat
      evoked tail flick latencies (TFLs) in proestrous and OVX+E groups, but not in
      male, GDX, GDX+E, OVX, and diestrous groups. Further, estrogen dose-dependently
      enhanced the effect of U50,488H in OVX rats. KOR selective antagonist, nor
      binaltorphimine (Nor-BNI), blocked the antinociceptive effect of U50,488H.
      U50,488H reversed the carrageenan-induced thermal hyperalgesia in OVX+E rats, but
      not in male or OVX rats. However, U50,488H treatment did not alter mechanical
      thresholds in any group, with or without inflammation. KOR gene expression was
      enhanced in proestrous and OVX+E groups as compared to any other group. We
      conclude that selective activation of KOR in the spinal cord produces sex
      specific, stimulus- and estrogen-dependent attenuation of acute and inflammatory
      pain in the rat via estrogen-induced upregulation of the KOR gene expression in
      the spinal cord. These findings may further implicate estrogen dependence of KOR
      effects in learning, epilepsy, stress response, addiction etc.

PMID- 20926194
TI  - Longitudinal study of an outbreak of Trypanosoma evansi infection in equids and
      dromedary camels in Israel.
AB  - An outbreak of trypanosomoasis caused by Trypanosoma evansi involving horses,
      camels and donkeys occurred in a farm in Israel. A longitudinal study of two
      outbreak phases was conducted which included clinical monitoring, blood smears,
      packed cell volume (PCV), serology and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) followed
      by reverse dot blot (RDB) for the molecular detection of infection. This was the
      first reported T. evansi outbreak in domestic animals in Israel. Most of the
      camels on the farm (8/10; 80%) were diagnosed with T. evansi infection whereas
      infection was less prevalent in the horses (3/7; 43%) and donkeys (6/13; 46%).
      Clinical disease was evident in 4 camels and 1 horse exhibiting characteristic
      clinical signs, anemia and parasitemia detected on blood smears and by positive
      RDB. Six other animals were diagnosed as asymptomatic latent carriers by positive
      RDB and 6 additional animals were only seropositive and were considered suspected
      carriers. A significant difference was found in the mean PCV between symptomatic
      and latent carriers with severe anemia observed only in the symptomatic animals.
      An anaphylactic-like reaction, fatal in one case, was observed in 2 camels
      diagnosed with severe trypanosome parasitemia immediately following treatment
      with melarsenoxide cysteamine. Furthermore, recurrence of infection was
      documented in one camel 4 months post treatment.

PMID- 20926195
TI  - Injuries and deaths at a pub fire in Bangkok, Thailand on New Year's Eve 2009.
AB  - This investigation describes the 67 people who died and the 153 who were
      hospitalized from a New Years' Eve fire in a Bangkok pub. We interviewed
      survivors and reviewed medical charts and forensic reports of decedents.
      Survivors were young (median age 27 years), single (84.7%) and lived in Thailand
      (93.6%). Most were on the concert floor when the fire started (74.0%), became
      aware of danger when they saw flames (61.5%) and escaped through the main entry
      door (42.9%). Common injuries were burns (75.6%), smoke inhalation (47.4%) and
      open wounds (32.1%). The decedents' median age was 27 years and 88.1% lived in
      Thailand. Most of the dead bodies were found at or near the main entrance. The
      main causes of death were asphyxia (88.1%) or burn (10.4%). Soot was present in
      the trachea of 95.5% of the decedents. Carboxyhemoglobin level in 37.5% was in
      the toxic range. The average percent of body surface burned was 75.0%. Loss of
      consciousness in the pub (RR 3.5, 95% CI 1.7-7.3) was a risk factor for severe
      injury and smoke inhalation (RR 9.3, 95% CI 3.1-28.0) was a risk factor for
      death.

PMID- 20926196
TI  - Incidence and risk factors of vancomycin-resistant enterococcus colonization in
      burn unit patients.
AB  - This study was aimed to identify the incidence of vancomycin-resistant
      enterococcus (VRE) colonization in burn patients, to collate risk factors for
      colonization and to determine the VRE resistance profile to different
      antimicrobial agents. This prospective study was carried out on the burn unit,
      during the period from September 2008 to January 2010, in 128 patients who were
      hospitalized at least 3 weeks or more. Periodic swabs were taken from burn wound,
      rectal, axillary, umblicaly and throat regions of the patients on admission and
      7th, 14th, 21st days of hospitalization. Demographics and known risk factors were
      retrieved and assessed by statistical methods. Only 20 patients (15.6%) were
      colonized with enterococci on admission and these strains isolated from rectal,
      umblical and throat samples were sensitive to vancomycin. Initial VRE isolation
      was made in the first samples from the rectum of two patients on the 7th day. The
      rates of rectal, umblical, throat and axillary colonization increased to 21.9%,
      3.1%, 3.1% and 3.1% at 28th day, respectively. VRE strains were the first
      isolated from burn wounds of only one patient (0.8%) on the 14th day and the
      colonization rate increased to 7.0% at the 28th day. Our study indicated that
      rectal colonization was seen more than other sites of colonization and was
      strictly correlate to colonizing enterococci between burn wound and other body
      regions. Multivariate analyses showed that glycopeptide use, burn depth and total
      burn surface area were independent risk factors for acquisition of VRE. All VSE
      strains were susceptible to teicoplanin, tigecycline and linezolid. VSE strains
      were more resistant to gentamicin and streptomycin, and VRE strains were more
      resistant to penicillin and ampicillin. The present study showed tigecycline and
      linezolid to be most active agents against VRE strains. The determined VRE
      colonization and risk factors of VRE acquisition are expected to be useful in
      establishing guidelines for preventing VRE infection in burn unit.

PMID- 20926197
TI  - Topically applied rhGM-CSF for the wound healing: a systematic review.
AB  - The process of wound healing involves a complex interplay of cells, mediators,
      growth factors and cytokines. GM-CSF has been shown to be involved in a number of
      processes essential in this event. Topically applied rhGM-CSF has been reported
      to successfully treat wounds with diverse etiology, including burns, chronic
      venous leg ulcers, pressure ulcers, and leprosy ulcers, both in animal
      experiments and clinical studies. To evaluate the effect of the rhGM-CSF on wound
      healing, 8 RCT studies and 23 clinical studies and case reports are collected for
      analysis of the evidence. The overall effects of rhGM-CSF on the healing of wound
      are diverse. Topically applied rhGM-CSF is beneficial for deep partial-thickness
      burn wounds, chronic leg ulcers, and leprosy ulcers. rhGM-CSF may have a positive
      effect on other type of chronic ulcers such as pressure ulcers and cancer related
      ulcers, but the evidence is not sufficient for generalised use at present. rhGM
      CSF is suggested have no accelerating effect on the healing of healthy wounds or
      surgical incisions.

PMID- 20926198
TI  - Differences in the relative involvement of peripherally released interleukin (IL)
      6, brain IL-1beta and prostanoids in mediating lipopolysaccharide-induced fever
      and sickness behavior.
AB  - Although peripherally released interleukin (IL)-6 is critical for fever, its role
      in sickness behaviors, in particular anorexia and lethargy, induced by
      lipopolysaccharide (LPS) administration appears to be less important. Using
      quantifiable measures of fever, anorexia and lethargy, that is, body temperature,
      food intake and voluntary wheel-running, we investigated whether the less-than
      essential role for IL-6 in mediating sickness behaviors compared to fever implies
      important roles for other inflammatory mediators, particularly IL-1beta and
      prostanoids, in these responses. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned
      to receive one of the following three injections before receiving a subcutaneous
      (SC) injection of LPS (250 MUg/kg) or saline: (1) intraperitoneal injection of
      pre-immune serum or antiserum to IL-6 (IL-6AS), to reduce the biological activity
      of peripherally released IL-6; (2) intracerebroventricular injection of vehicle
      or a caspase-1 inhibitor, to inhibit the production of mature IL-1beta; or (3)
      intraperitoneal injection of vehicle or one of the two doses (1 or 10 mg/kg) of
      diclofenac, a nonselective cyclooxygenase inhibitor shown to block the formation
      of prostanoids. LPS administration induced fever, anorexia and lethargy with an
      accompanying increase in IL-6 and IL-1beta concentrations in the circulation and
      IL-1beta in the brain. Rats pre-treated with: (1) IL-6AS had reduced plasma
      levels of bioactive IL-6, no fever and attenuated sickness behaviors; (2) the
      caspase-1 inhibitor had reduced concentrations of IL-1beta in the pre-frontal
      cortex, hypothalamus and hippocampus, and attenuated fever and sickness
      behaviors; (3) diclofenac had a dose-dependent attenuation in fever and sickness
      behaviors. Doses of diclofenac which completely abolished fever however had
      lesser effects on anorexia and lethargy. Our results confirm a difference in the
      sensitivity of sickness responses to IL-6 antagonism and identify that it may be
      related to different levels of sensitivity or responsiveness in brain regions
      and/or mechanisms, to prostanoids, IL-1beta, or IL-6 itself.

PMID- 20926199
TI  - Temporally controlled multiple-gene delivery in scaffolds: A promising strategy
      to enhance bone regeneration.
AB  - Bone defects sometimes require more effective repair regimens than conventional
      clinical therapies can provide. On account of this, tissue-engineered scaffolds
      have emerged as a promising alternative. Scaffolds that release genes encoding
      growth factors (GFs) offer additional benefits for bone regeneration in
      comparison with scaffolds providing protein delivery. The present gene delivery
      systems focus on unitary or dual genes delivery without controlled release. In
      the meantime, evidences indicate that bone formation is a complex cascade of
      events, in which time-dependent expression of multiple growth factors is
      involved. In our hypothesis, a temporally controlled, multi-gene delivery system
      embedded in a scaffold matrix can be fabricated; such a system is capable of
      mimicking the expression of growth factor profile in osteogenesis. Consequently,
      bone regeneration can be promoted by sequential gene expression of multiple
      growth factors.

PMID- 20926200
TI  - Hypothalamic opioid-melanocortin appetitive balance and addictive craving.
AB  - Whilst the parallels between drug and food craving are receiving increasing
      attention, the recently elucidated complex physiology of the hypothalamic
      appetite regulatory centres has been largely overlooked in the efforts to
      understand drug craving which is one of the most refractory and problematic
      aspects of drug and behavioural addictions. Important conceptual gains could be
      made by researchers from both appetite and addiction neuroscience if they were to
      have an improved understanding of each others' disciplines. It is well known in
      addiction medicine that the use of many substances is elevated in opiate
      dependency. There is voluminous evidence of very high rates of drug use in opiate
      agonist maintained patients, and the real possibility exists that opiate agonist
      therapy therefore increases drug craving. Conversely, opiate antagonist therapy
      with naloxone or naltrexone has been shown to reduce most chemical and
      behavioural addictions, and naltrexone is now being developed together with
      bupropion as the anti-obesity drug "Contrave". Hypothalamic melanocortins,
      particularly alpha-MSH, are known to constitute the main brake to consumptive
      behaviour of food. There is a well described antagonism between melanocortins and
      opioids at many loci including the hypothalamus. Administration of exogenous
      opiates is known to both suppress alpha-MSH and to stimulate hedonic food
      consumption. Opiate maintenance programs are associated with weight gain. As
      monoamines, opioids and cannabinoids are known to be involved in appetite
      regulation, and as endorphin opioids are known to be perturbed in other
      addictions, further exploration of the hypothalamic appetite regulatory centre
      would appear to be an obvious, albeit presently largely overlooked, locus in
      which to study drug and other craving mechanisms.

PMID- 20926201
TI  - Consumer acceptance of high pressure processed beef-based chilled ready meals:
      the mediating role of food-related lifestyle factors.
AB  - The aim of this research was to investigate the effects of high pressure
      processing (HPP) on consumer acceptance for chilled ready meals manufactured
      using a low-value beef cut. Three hundred consumers evaluated chilled ready meals
      subjected to 4 pressure treatments and a non-treated control monadically on a 9
      point scale for liking for beef tenderness and juiciness, overall flavour,
      overall liking, and purchase intent. Data were also collected on consumers' food
      consumption patterns, their attitudes towards food by means of the reduced food
      related lifestyle (FRL) instrument, and socio-demographics. The results indicated
      that a pressure treatment of 200 MPa was acceptable to most consumers. K-means
      cluster analysis identified 4 consumer groups with similar preferences, and the
      optimal pressure treatments acceptable to specific consumer groups were
      identified for those firms that would wish to target attitudinally differentiated
      consumer segments.

PMID- 20926202
TI  - Oxidative and color stability of cooked ground pork containing lotus leaf
      (Nelumbo nucifera) and barley leaf (Hordeum vulgare) powder during refrigerated
      storage.
AB  - This study aimed to evaluate the oxidative and color stability of cooked ground
      pork containing lotus leaf powder at 0.1 (LP1) and 0.5% (LP2) as well as barley
      leaf powder at 0.1 (BP1) and 0.5% (BP2) during refrigerated storage for 10 days.
      The oxidative stability of these powders was compared with butylhydroxytoluene
      (BHT). LP1 had higher a* and lower b* values than the control (-) over 4 days
      (p<0.05). The pH values of the ground pork samples made with addition of LP and
      BHT decreased until day 4 and then increased. Thiobarbituric acid-reactive
      substance (TBARS) values were lowest in LP2 on day 10 (p<0.05). The ground pork
      samples containing LP and BP had lower peroxide values (POVs) and conjugated
      dienes (CD) compared to the control (-).These results indicate that LP or BP can
      be incorporated into ground pork to effectively retard oxidation after cooking.

PMID- 20926203
TI  - Relationship between plasma cells and hepatic stellate cells in autoimmune
      hepatitis.
AB  - Autoimmune hepatitis is an inflammatory chronic disease of the liver, which
      frequently results in cirrhosis. The present study aimed to verify the
      relationship between plasma cells and stellate cells in autoimmune hepatitis.
      Thirty-three pre-treatment, 11 post-treatment, and 10 normal liver biopsies were
      reviewed. Sirius Red staining (for semi-quantitative analysis of hepatic
      fibrosis) and immunohistochemistry were carried out: double staining for smooth
      muscle alpha-actin and plasma cell marker (for detection and localization of
      activated hepatic stellate cells and plasma cells, respectively); and single
      staining for glial fibrillary acid protein (for detection of hepatic stellate
      cells). We found an increase in the stellate cell population, mainly with an
      activated phenotype in autoimmune hepatitis, compared to the control group (liver
      specimens with no histological evidence of liver disease, obtained from patients
      undergoing hepatic resection for benign liver mass). A positive significant
      correlation was observed between stellate cells and scores of fibrosis (measured
      by Sirius Red) and the number of plasma cells. Additionally, there was a co
      localization of plasma cells and activated stellate cells. We also observed a
      reduction in the number of plasma cells, hepatic stellate cells, and fibrosis in
      patients who had successfully been treated and had a second liver biopsy post
      treatment. Our findings support that the number of plasma cells can be a
      surrogate marker for the severity of liver disease, reflecting the number of
      hepatic stellate cells and the amount of fibrosis. It remains to be seen if this
      is a result of a direct interaction between the plasma cells and hepatic stellate
      cells or the response to the same stimulus that affects both cellular types.

PMID- 20926204
TI  - Multiple meningioma with different grades of malignancy: case report with genetic
      analysis applying single-nucleotide polymorphism array and classical
      cytogenetics.
AB  - Multiple meningiomas with synchronous tumor lesions represent only 1-9% of all
      meningiomas and usually show a uniform histology. The simultaneous occurrence of
      different grades of malignancy in these nodules is observed in only one third of
      multiple meningiomas. We report a case of a sporadic multiple meningioma
      presenting with different histopathological grades (WHO I and II). The tumor
      genome of both nodules was analyzed by GTG-banding, spectral karyotyping (SKY),
      locus-specific FISH, and single nucleotide polymorphism array (SNP-A)
      karyotyping. GTG-banding and SKY revealed 25 structural and 33 numerical
      aberrations with a slightly increased aberration frequency in the WHO grade II
      nodule. We could confirm terminal deletions on chromosomes 1p [ish
      del(1)(p36)(p58-,pter-) 16.5% WHO grade I and 20.9% WHO grade II], partial
      deletions on 22q, and/or monosomy 22 (monosomy 22 14% WHO grade I and 34% WHO
      grade II) as the most frequent aberrations in both meningioma nodules. In the
      meningioma WHO grade II, in addition, a de novo paracentric inversion within
      chromosomal band 1p36 was detectable. Furthermore, for meningiomas de novo,
      dicentric chromosomes 4 could be identified in both tumor nodules. We also
      detected previously published segmental uniparental disomy regions 1p31.1,
      6q14.1, 10q21.1, and 14q23.3 in normal control DNA of the patient and in both
      tumor nodules. Taken together, we describe a very rare case of multiple
      meningioma with overlapping but also distinct genetic aberration patterns in two
      nodules of different WHO grades of malignancy.

PMID- 20926205
TI  - [Modern management of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia: a proposal for a risk
      assessment method in colposcopic decision-making].
AB  - Recent improve in the understanding of the natural progression of cervical
      intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) and in the knowledge of treatments pregnancy
      related morbidity in addition with progression in mean age of first pregnancy
      brings out the need to rethink CIN management. Efficient tools are therefore
      needed to optimize therapeutic indications and destructive techniques have to be
      reconsidered. Because there is no superior technique for treating CIN in terms of
      treatment failure, the choice of a treatment method will not depend on this
      criteria but on the overall consideration of its characteristics, advantages and
      limitations put in balance with age of women, plan of pregnancy as well as CIN
      severity, risk of progression and of microinvasion misdiagnosis. The use of a
      "risk assessment method" based on five criteria: colposcopic impression,
      transformation zone type and size, age and agreement between cytology and
      histology would allow for proper evaluation of the risk of microinvasion
      misdiagnosis. Depending on their severity, each of these five criteria would be
      graded from 1 to 3. The presence of at least one grade 3 criteria would warrant
      the need for excisional treatment, preferably large loop excision of the
      transformation zone, allowing for histological analysis and reliable diagnosis.
      Ablative technique could be reasonably considered for only one grade 2 criteria
      or if all criteria are grade 1, reflecting good prognosis. Such risk assessment
      method requires to be prospectively evaluated.

PMID- 20926206
TI  - [An unusual endometritis].
AB  - We report a case of pyometra without any related risk factor. This leads to a
      severe septic shock. Evolution was successful because of quick surgical
      management. We report literature management of such infection. Although pyometra
      is an uncommon disease, it should be kept in mind as delayed management may lead
      to fatal outcome.

PMID- 20926207
TI  - [Statement of conscience in trisomy 21 screening: pregnant women's free will
      jeopardized].

PMID- 20926208
TI  - Ovine footrot: new approaches to an old disease.
AB  - Footrot is a bacterial disease that has substantial economic and welfare impacts
      in sheep and can be difficult to manage. Research is focussed on reducing the
      impact that footrot has on farmers and their flocks and better understanding the
      aetiology of the disease. Key areas of current research include, developing
      better vaccines, deploying tailored vaccines in a specific and targeted fashion
      on individual farms, analysing and developing better farm management practices to
      suit specific sheep farming environments, elucidating the virulence genes and
      bacterial population dynamics that drive footrot and using genetic testing in
      combination with selective breeding to produce stock that are more resilient to
      disease.

PMID- 20926209
TI  - Characterization of Arcanobacterium abortisuis by phenotypic properties and by
      sequencing the 16S-23S rDNA intergenic spacer region.
AB  - The present study was designed to characterize phenotypically and genotypically
      nine Arcanobacterium abortisuis strains collected from specimen of pigs in a
      period of nine years. All nine A. abortisuis strains and A. abortisuis reference
      strain DSM 19515 displayed a synergistic hemolytic reaction with Staphylococcus
      aureus beta-hemolysin, Rhodococcus equi, and Arcanobacterium haemolyticum
      indicator strains and showed the typical biochemical properties of this species.
      The species identity could be confirmed by identification and sequencing of the
      16S-23S rDNA intergenic spacer region (ISR), which appeared to be a useful target
      for genotypic characterization of this bacterial species. The A. abortisuis
      strains of the present study were isolated from specimen of pigs together with
      various other bacterial species indicating that the pathogenic importance of this
      newly described species remains to be elucidated.

PMID- 20926210
TI  - Controlled doe exposure as biostimulation of buck rabbits.
AB  - Female exposure of males could be a low-cost biostimulation option that benefits
      AI in commercial rabbit operations by improving buck rabbits reproductive
      performance. The objective of the study was to evaluate exposure of buck rabbits
      to females as a biostimulation option to improve reproductive potential.
      Treatments were: exposure (biostimulated) or not (control) of bucks to does.
      Bucks were New Zealand White, 15-month-old, sexually experienced and fertile.
      Experimental design was completely random with nine replications, experimental
      unit was one buck. Doe exposure was permanent using replacement pubertal does
      housed in an adjacent wire-mesh cage and changed for new ones every other week.
      Semen collection lasted 14 weeks (late winter and early spring) twice a week with
      two ejaculates at each collection. Analyses of variance were under a mixed model:
      treatments, ejaculate number and season were fixed and rabbit random effects and
      buck weight at each collection as covariable. Biostimulated bucks showed greater
      (P<0.05) reproductive potential due to: 7% lesser reaction time (greater libido);
      and increased semen volume (40%), sperm motility (29%), sperm per ejaculate
      (31%), normal alive motile sperm (65%) and number of semen doses (64%). Semen
      characteristics differed by season in control bucks but not in doe exposed bucks
      (treatment * ejaculate number, P<0.05). Reproductive potential in spring was
      greater (P<0.05) than in winter in both treatments. Doe exposure is a
      biostimulation method that improves sexual drive and sperm production and quality
      of buck rabbits.

PMID- 20926211
TI  - Clinical fractures cluster in time after initial fracture.
AB  - A history of fractures is a well recognised risk factor for a new clinical
      fracture. However, this subsequent fracture risk is not constant, but fluctuates
      over time, with the greatest increase in the years immediately after the initial
      fracture, followed by a gradual waning of risk toward the population risk. The
      clustering of fractures occurred regardless of age, gender and initial fracture
      location. It is therefore likely that fracture risk models, which take into
      account this fluctuation of fracture risk over time, will be more relevant in
      predicting an individual's subsequent fracture risk. Regardless of the cause of
      this clustering, these studies all strongly support the need for early action
      after an initial fracture to reduce the preventable risk of subsequent fractures
      with medical interventions that have been shown to immediately decrease the risk
      of fractures.

PMID- 20926212
TI  - Congenital infection-like syndrome with intracranial calcification.
AB  - Congenital infection-like syndrome includes multiple disorders. Although novel
      syndromes have recently been described and their genetic defects identified, many
      cases remain unclassified. Here we report a patient with neuroradiologic findings
      of intracranial calcification and cerebellar hypoplasia, and clinical features of
      growth retardation, progressive pancytopenia, interstitial pneumonia, and immune
      abnormality. Our patient had a phenotypic overlap with Aicardi-Goutieres syndrome
      and Hoyeraal-Hreidarsson syndrome, despite the absence of mutation in their
      responsible genes.

PMID- 20926213
TI  - Hyperpyrexia resulting in encephalopathy in a 14-month-old patient with cblC
      disease.
AB  - Cobalamin C (cblC) defect, the most common inborn error of cobalamin metabolism,
      is a multisystem disorder usually presenting with progressive neurological,
      haematological and ophthalmological signs. We report on a cblC patient diagnosed
      in the newborn age who developed nearly normal during the first year of life.
      During an upper respiratory tract infection with severe hyperpyrexia at the age
      of 14months he developed an acute encephalopathic crisis resulting in severe
      mental retardation and marked internal and external cerebral atrophy. Hyperacute
      encephalopathic crises have not been observed so far in patients with cblC
      defect. It remains unclear, if this association is incidental or if the
      underlying metabolic defect may have predisposed the brain tissue to hyperpyrexia
      induced damage.

PMID- 20926214
TI  - Aeroportia and gastric pneumatosis due to  gastroparesia.

PMID- 20926215
TI  - Simultaneous quantification of dextromethorphan and its metabolites dextrorphan,
      3-methoxymorphinan and 3-hydroxymorphinan in human plasma by ultra performance
      liquid chromatography/tandem triple-quadrupole mass spectrometry.
AB  - A rapid and sensitive ultra performance liquid chromatography/tandem mass
      spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) method has been developed and validated for the
      simultaneous quantitative determination of dextromethorphan (DM) and its
      metabolites dextrorphan (DX), 3-methoxymorphinan (3MM) and 3-hydroxymorphinan
      (3HM), in human lithium heparinized plasma. The extraction involved a simple
      liquid-liquid extraction with 1 ml n-butylchloride from 200MUl aliquots of
      plasma, after the addition of 20 MUl 4% (v/v) ammonium hydroxide and 100 MUl
      stable labeled isotopic internal standards in acetonitrile. Chromatographic
      separations were achieved on an Aquity UPLC((r)) BEH C(18) 1.7 MUm 2.1 mm x 100mm
      column eluted at a flow-rate of 0.250 ml/min on a gradient of acetonitrile. The
      overall cycle time of the method was 7 min, with elution times of 1.3min for DX
      and 3HM, 2.8 min for 3MM and 2.9min for DM. The multiple reaction monitoring
      transitions were set at 272>215 (m/z), at 258>133 (m/z), at 258>213 (m/z) and at
      244>157 (m/z) for DM, DX, 3MM and 3HM, respectively. The calibration curves were
      linear (r2>=0.995) over the range of 0.500-100 nM with the lower limit of
      quantitation validated at 0.500 nM for all compounds, which is equivalent to 136,
      129, 129 and 122 pg/ml for DM, DX, 3MM and 3HM, respectively. Extraction
      recoveries were constant, but ranged from 39% for DM to 83% for DX. The within
      run and between-run precisions were within 11.6%, while the accuracy ranged from
      92.7 to 110.6%. The applicability of the bioanalytical method was demonstrated
      and is currently implemented in a clinical trial to study DM as probe-drug for
      individualized tamoxifen treatment in breast cancer patients.

PMID- 20926216
TI  - Microfluidic direct injection method for analysis of urinary 4
      (methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanol (NNAL) using molecularly imprinted
      polymers coupled on-line with LC-MS/MS.
AB  - The work described in this paper involves development of a high-throughput on
      line microfluidic sample extraction method using capillary micro-columns packed
      with MIP beads coupled with tandem mass spectrometry for the analysis of urinary
      NNAL. The method was optimized and matrix effects were evaluated and resolved.
      The method enabled low sample volume (200 MUL) and rapid analysis of urinary NNAL
      by direct injection onto the microfluidic column packed with molecularly
      imprinted beads engineered to NNAL. The method was validated according to the FDA
      bioanalytical method validation guidance. The dynamic range extended from 20.0 to
      2500.0 pg/mL with a percent relative error of +/-5.9% and a run time of 7.00 min.
      The lower limit of quantitation was 20.0 pg/mL. The method was used for the
      analysis of NNAL and NNAL-Gluc concentrations in smokers' urine.

PMID- 20926217
TI  - A general static-headspace gas chromatographic method for determination of
      residual benzene in oral liquid pharmaceutical products.
AB  - Sodium benzoate is used in oral liquid pharmaceutical products for its anti
      microbial properties. The benzoate salts present in liquid pharmaceutical
      products can potentially generate residual levels of free benzene during
      manufacturing of the drug product and or during the shelf-life of the product
      under its storage conditions. To ensure the safety and quality of the
      pharmaceutical products (containing benzoate in the formulation), a selective and
      sensitive analytical method is required to monitor residual benzene in oral
      liquid pharmaceutical products. In this paper, we report the development and
      validation of a general static-headspace gas chromatographic (SH-GC) method to
      determine residual benzene in oral liquid pharmaceutical products. The liquid
      pharmaceutical drug product sample is dissolved in dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) in a
      GC headspace vial. A DB-624 capillary column (30 m x 0.32 mm I.D. and 1.8 MUm
      film thickness) was used under isothermal conditions with a flame ionization
      detection (FID). The benzene peak was well separated from all other volatile
      compounds that are present in the formulation of a number of liquid drug
      products. This method was successfully validated using a representative oral
      liquid pharmaceutical drug product. The limit of detection of the method for
      benzene is 0.5 ppm which met the 2 ppm limit of current ICH guideline for
      residual benzene in pharmaceutical products.

PMID- 20926218
TI  - The prevalence and characteristics of Streptococcus pneumoniae isolates
      expressing serotypes 6C and 6D in Hong Kong prior to the introduction of the 7
      valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine.
AB  - A study was conducted to determine the prevalence of the 2 newly described types,
      6C and 6D, among pneumococcal isolates collected in Hong Kong before availability
      of the 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine. A total of 154 serogroup 6
      isolates obtained from nasopharynx (n = 106), blood (n = 22), respiratory (n =
      24), and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) (n = 2) during 1995 to 2001 were analyzed by
      polymerase chain reaction typing. Five nasopharyngeal and 2 sputum isolates were
      found to belong to 6C and 6D, respectively. The isolates were genetically
      diverse, but one 6C and two 6D isolates exhibited some clonal relationship.
      Phylogenetic analysis of the wchA-wciN(beta)-wciO nucleotide sequences showed
      that the Hong Kong 6C/6D isolates had 2 allelic profiles, which were more closely
      related to 6C/6D isolates from Fijian and Korea than were those from Brazil and
      the United States. However, all of the wciP gene sequences for both Hong Kong and
      non-Hong Kong isolates clustered together: 6C isolates with the wciP-9 allele and
      6D isolates with the wciP-5 allele. In conclusion, the prevalence of the 2 newly
      described serotypes was low before the era of the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine.
      Nonetheless, results from the molecular studies indicated that the evolution of
      the capsular genes have involved complex pathways.

PMID- 20926219
TI  - Evaluation of 4 polymerase chain reaction protocols for cultured Leishmania spp.
      typing.
AB  - Leishmaniasis is a disease caused by the protozoan Leishmania resulting in a
      variety of clinical manifestations, from self-healing skin lesions to fatal
      visceral disease. The development of polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based
      techniques has made species identification easier, faster, and less labor
      intensive. The main targets for PCR amplification include kinetoplastid DNA
      (kDNA), miniexon, and conserved regions such as the internal transcribed spacer.
      The objective of this work was to evaluate 4 different PCR techniques designed to
      type Leishmania using laboratory strains. Parasites were subjected to 4 PCR
      procedures using specific Leishmania primers for miniexon (designated A1 and A2)
      and kDNA (designated B1 and B2, C1 and C2, and D1, D2 and D3). Discrimination
      between some species and the 2 main subgenera Leishmania and Viannia was
      achieved. Unweighted pair group method analysis resulted in the expected
      clustering of the 2 species from the subgenus Leishmania. However, some species
      in the subgenus Viannia could not be distinguished, representing a continued
      challenge for PCR-based protocols. Results are discussed in terms of advantages,
      limitations, and reproducibility of these 4 PCR-based techniques in the taxonomy
      of Leishmania.

PMID- 20926220
TI  - Comparative evaluation of 3 selective media for primary isolation of Helicobacter
      pylori from gastric biopsies under routine conditions.
AB  - This study evaluates 3 selective media (Pylori agar [bioMerieux, France], BD
      Helicobacter agar, modified [Becton Dickinson, USA], and an in-house medium)
      designed for Helicobacter pylori isolation. Ninety-eight strains were isolated
      from 400 gastric biopsies. The media were equally efficient for Helicobacter
      pylori's growth. However, contaminations were only observed using commercial
      media.

PMID- 20926221
TI  - Emergence of 16S rRNA methylase gene armA and cocarriage of bla(IMP-1) in
      Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates from South Korea.
AB  - Of the 100 multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates from a Korean
      hospital, 14 isolates that were resistant to all aminoglycosides tested carried
      16S rRNA methylase gene armA. Fourteen armA-positive isolates were classified
      into 8 pulsotypes. Seven armA-positive isolates cocarried bla(IMP-1). This study
      is the first report of occurrence of armA in P. aeruginosa.

PMID- 20926222
TI  - Soluble Fas ligand is another good diagnostic marker for tuberculous pleurisy.
AB  - Soluble Fas ligand (sFasL) is abundant in effusions of tuberculous (TB) pleurisy;
      however, its diagnostic value has not been scrutinized. We collected pleural
      effusions from 79 patients, including 23 with TB pleurisy and 56 without TB, and
      measured sFasL, adenosine deaminase (ADA), and interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma)
      concentrations of each specimen. The median of the sFasL concentration of the TB
      group was 57.3 pg/mL, which was significantly higher than that of the non-TB
      group (27.4 pg/mL) (P < 0.001). When cutoff value was 39.85 pg/mL, the
      sensitivity and specificity of sFasL were 95.7% and 80.4%, respectively. The area
      under the receiver operating characteristic curve for sFasL was not significantly
      different from those of ADA and IFN-gamma. Soluble FasL concentrations of TB
      patients were significantly higher than those of parapneumonic effusion subgroup
      (P = 0.039). In conclusion, pleural effusion sFasL is another good diagnostic
      marker for TB pleurisy.

PMID- 20926223
TI  - Rapid differentiation of VGII/AFLP6 genotype within Cryptococcus gattii by
      polymerase chain reaction.
AB  - VGII/AFLP6 genotype, also considered to be a cryptic species within Cryptococcus
      gattii, is an emerging pathogen and always related to higher incidence of C.
      gattii infection. Here, a polymerase chain reaction-based method with specific
      primers was developed to rapid differentiation of this emerging pathogen.

PMID- 20926224
TI  - Gluteal injection site granuloma.

PMID- 20926225
TI  - What should laypersons know about cancer? Towards an operational definition of
      cancer literacy.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To operationally define cancer literacy, understanding which aspects
      of cancer are important to be known by a layperson to be considered cancer
      literate. METHODS: A Delphi study in three consecutive rounds was conducted among
      a panel of Swiss cancer experts (oncologists, GPs, nurses from oncology wards,
      social workers, public health experts). RESULTS: The result of the Delphi process
      is a first operational definition of the concept of cancer literacy, a list of
      the aspects of cancer that, in the expert's view, laypeople should know to be
      considered cancer literate. CONCLUSIONS: We have now an idea of what should be
      known about cancer. The study also provides us with some useful hints about what
      should be communicated about cancer, e.g. via public communication campaigns,
      school education, or media. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: The operational definition of
      the concept can be used for the development and the validation of a measure of
      cancer literacy, not anymore limited to basic literacy and numeracy skills.

PMID- 20926226
TI  - Informing abortion counseling: an examination of evidence-based practices used in
      emotional care for other stigmatized and sensitive health issues.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Emotional care is an important component of abortion services.
      Evidence-based counseling for other stigmatized and sensitive health issues may
      be informative for the improvement of abortion counseling. METHODS: We searched
      the literature for practices used in emotional care for stigmatized and sensitive
      health issues. We made analytic choices for the selection of articles using the
      "constant comparative method," a grounded theory technique. We selected practices
      that were effective in supporting coping and improving psychosocial adjustment.
      Findings were synthesized and analyzed to draw evidence-based implications for
      abortion counseling. RESULTS: We uncovered nine practices used in emotional care
      for stigmatized and sensitive health issues that have been shown to support
      coping or improve psychological adjustment. The techniques and interventions
      identified were: self-awareness assessments, peer counseling, decision aids,
      encouraging active client participation, supporting decision satisfaction,
      support groups, Internet-based support, ongoing telephone counseling, and public
      artistic expression. CONCLUSION: A variety of patient-centered, evidence-based
      interventions used for other health issues are applicable in emotional care for
      abortion. Evaluation of these practices in the abortion counseling setting can
      determine their appropriateness and effectiveness. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS:
      Abortion care providers may be able to integrate additional patient-centered
      practices to support coping or improve psychological adjustment after abortion.

PMID- 20926227
TI  - Ontogenic expression profiles of thyroid-specific genes in embryonic and hatching
      chicks.
AB  - The last trimester of the embryonic life of chickens is marked by a steady
      increase in circulating thyroxine (T(4)) levels, reaching a maximum around
      hatching. We have measured thyroidal mRNA expression levels of several genes
      involved in the biosynthesis of T(4), namely sodium/iodine symporter (NIS),
      thyroglobulin (Tg), thyroid peroxidase (TPO), thyrotropin receptor (TSHR), and
      thyroid transcription factor 1 (TTF-1), during this period. Subsequently, we
      measured the expression of these genes in more detail during the entire hatching
      process and compared the gene expression profiles with concomitant changes in
      intrathyroidal and circulating thyroid hormone levels. We found that NIS and TPO
      mRNA expression increased significantly in the perinatal period, whereas Tg mRNA
      expression rose gradually throughout the last week of embryogenesis but was
      stable during hatching. TSHR and TTF-1 mRNA levels did not change significantly
      during the last week of embryonic development and hatching. Our results suggest
      that the elevated plasma T(4) levels observed in the developmental period studied
      are caused by an increased synthesis and secretion of T(4) by the thyroid gland.
      Augmented expression of Tg may play an important role in the increasing T(4)
      production during the last week of embryonic development, whereas increased NIS
      and TPO expression around hatching allows the thyrocytes to boost T(4) synthesis
      even further.

PMID- 20926228
TI  - Prepubertal ethanol exposure alters hypothalamic transforming growth factor-alpha
      and erbB1 receptor signaling in the female rat.
AB  - Glial-derived transforming growth factor alpha (TGFalpha) activates the
      erbB1/erbB2 receptor complex on adjacent glial cells in the medial basal
      hypothalamus (MBH). This receptor activation stimulates the synthesis and release
      of prostaglandin-E(2) (PGE(2)) from the glial cells, which then induces the
      release of prepubertal luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH) secretion
      from nearby nerve terminals; thus, showing the importance of glial-neuronal
      communications at the time of puberty. Ethanol (EtOH) is known to cause depressed
      prepubertal LHRH secretion and delayed pubertal development. In this study, we
      assessed whether short-term EtOH exposure could alter the hypothalamic glial to
      glial signaling components involved in prepubertal PGE(2) secretion. Immature
      female rats began receiving control or EtOH diets beginning when 27 days old. The
      animals were killed by decapitation after 4 and 6 days of treatment and confirmed
      to be in the late juvenile stage of development. Blood and brain tissues were
      collected for gene, protein, and hormonal assessments. Real-time polymerase chain
      reaction (PCR) analysis demonstrated that EtOH did not affect basal levels of
      erbB1 gene expression in the MBH. Expression of total erbB1 protein was also
      unaffected; however, the EtOH caused suppressed phosphorylation of erbB1 protein
      in the MBH at both 4 and 6 days (P<.01) as revealed by Western blotting.
      Phosphorylation and total protein levels of erbB2 receptor were not affected by
      EtOH exposure. Because this receptor is critical for PGE(2) synthesis/release,
      which mediates the secretion of LHRH, we assessed whether in vivo EtOH exposure
      could affect the release of PGE(2). EtOH exposure for 6 days suppressed (P<.01)
      basal levels of PGE(2) released into the medium. The effects of 4- and 6-day EtOH
      exposure on gene and protein expressions of TGFalpha, an upstream component in
      the activation of erbB1/erbB2, were also studied. The levels of TGFalpha mRNA
      were increased markedly at 4 days (P<.001), but declined to near basal levels by
      6 days in the EtOH-treated animals. The EtOH caused increases in TGFalpha protein
      expression at both 4 (P<.001) and 6 (P<.01) days; hence, suggesting that the EtOH
      inhibited release of the peptide. We confirmed this inhibition by showing
      decreased (P<.01) TGFalpha released from MBHs incubated in vitro following 6 days
      of EtOH exposure in vivo. Thus, these results demonstrate that EtOH is capable of
      interfering with hypothalamic glial to glial signaling processes involved in
      prepubertal PGE(2) secretion.

PMID- 20926229
TI  - Prognostic factors in stages II/III/IV and stages III/IV endometrioid and serous
      adenocarcinoma of the endometrium.
AB  - AIMS: To explore and to compare the outcome of patients diagnosed with stage
      II/III/IV and stage III/IV endometrioid adenocarcinoma (EAC) with their serous
      carcinoma (USC) counterparts. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 107 patients (73
      EAC and 34 USC) were evaluated. For statistical analysis, the following baseline
      variables were considered for their prognostic value: the patient's age at
      presentation, the tumor size, the depth of myometrial invasion (MI), the lympho
      vascular involvement (LVI) and the USC and the EAC subtypes (considered as binary
      variables). Disease free survival (DFS), death of disease (DOD) and overall
      survival (OS) were assessed using univariate and multiple Cox proportional
      hazards models. RESULTS: In univariate analysis, USC tends to recur more
      frequently than EAC (p = 0.004), a finding that disappeared in multivariate
      analysis. Furthermore, tumor histology had no significance in predicting the
      tumor outcomes. Among all of the prognostic factors and after adjusting for the
      aforementioned variables, MI >=50% was the only independent factor in predicting
      DOD in stages II/III/IV (p = 0.009) and in stages III/IV (p = 0.004). MI was also
      an independent predictive factor for OS (p = 0.02) and early recurrences in
      stages III/IV. LVI was the only independent factor in predicting recurrences (p =
      0.004) in stages II/III/IV but not in stages III/IV. CONCLUSION: Based on our
      study, tumor histology was not a significant factor in predicting disease outcome
      in stages II/III/IV and II/IV. Despite our limited sample size, we believe that
      our findings provide meaningful insights into the clinical study of endometrial
      cancer patients which in turn warrants further investigation.

PMID- 20926230
TI  - Radiographic results of femoral tunnel drilling through the anteromedial portal
      in anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction.
AB  - PURPOSE: The goal of this study was to determine the femoral tunnel position by
      use of the head of a metallic femoral interference screw as a reference marker.
      In addition, we present postoperative films from an anatomically placed single
      bundle anterior cruciate ligament with femoral interference screw fixation using
      the anteromedial portal drilling technique. METHODS: Two surgeons evaluated 43
      random postoperative radiographs in patients who underwent anterior cruciate
      ligament reconstruction by a single surgeon. Four measurements were taken on
      lateral knee radiographs with superimposed condyles for each patient. These
      included the total sagittal diameter of the lateral condyle measured along the
      Blumensaat line (A1), the maximum intercondylar height from the Blumensaat line
      to the condyle edge along the center of the screw head (B1), the distance from
      the center of the screw head to the most dorsal contour of the lateral condyle
      (A2), and the distance from the center of the screw head to the Blumensaat line
      (B2). The latter 2 values were then expressed as percentages of the lengths A1
      and B1. From the anteroposterior (AP) films, the angle between the axis of the
      screw and anatomic axis of the femur was determined. RESULTS: The center of the
      screw head was 31.3% of the Blumensaat line and 24.8% of the condylar height. The
      axis of the screw was found to be 43 degrees  from the anatomic axis of the femur
      on the AP radiographs. CONCLUSIONS: The mean center of the screw head was 31.3%
      of the Blumensaat line and 24.8% of the condylar height. The mean axis of the
      screw was found to be 43 degrees  from the anatomic axis of the femur on the AP
      radiographs. Furthermore, we have described the appearance of a lateral
      radiograph with this technique. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level III, diagnostic study.

PMID- 20926231
TI  - Krackow locking stitch versus locking premanufactured loop stitch for soft-tissue
      fixation: a biomechanical study.
AB  - PURPOSE: To biomechanically compare construct elongation under loading conditions
      and to compare load to failure for the locking premanufactured loop stitch versus
      the Krackow stitch. METHODS: Twenty porcine Achilles tendons were randomly
      assigned to receive the locking Krackow stitch with No. 2 FiberWire (Arthrex,
      Naples, FL) or the locking premanufactured loop stitch with No. 2 FiberLoop
      (SpeedWhip; Arthrex). Each tendon was pre-tensioned 3 times at 100 mm/min to 100
      N for removal of slack, preloaded to 50 N to simulate tension applied clinically,
      and cyclically loaded at 200 mm/min to 200 N for 200 cycles. Total elongation of
      both suture strands was measured at each stage. Each tendon was loaded to
      failure. RESULTS: Elongation (mean +/- standard deviation) in the Krackow group
      and the SpeedWhip group did not differ with initial loading at 50 N (4.5 +/- 1.0
      mm and 5.0 +/- 1.7 mm, respectively; P = .4) or with cyclic loading (15.6 +/- 5.7
      mm and 17.0 +/- 2.6 mm, respectively; P = .5). Load to failure was significantly
      higher in the SpeedWhip group as compared with the Krackow group (344.0 +/- 23.1
      N and 301.3 +/- 24.4 N, respectively; P = .001). CONCLUSIONS: In a porcine tendon
      model, the locking loop stitch group was not significantly different regarding
      construct elongation with initial or cyclic loading compared with the Krackow
      stitch group. These findings suggest that the locking loop stitch has adequate
      strength to serve as an alternative to the Krackow stitch in procedures where the
      Krackow stitch is used. The elongation data suggest that augmentation or
      protection with early stress postoperatively would be needed with the locking
      loop stitch as with the Krackow stitch clinically. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Similar
      elongation in the 2 constructs suggests that this locking loop stitch has
      adequate strength to serve as an alternative to the Krackow stitch in procedures
      where the Krackow stitch is used.

PMID- 20926232
TI  - Open-wedge osteotomy using an internal plate fixator in patients with medial
      compartment gonarthritis and varus malalignment: 3-year results with regard to
      preoperative arthroscopic and radiographic findings.
AB  - PURPOSE: Our purpose was to evaluate the 3-year clinical results of patients with
      medial-compartment osteoarthritis of the knee and varus malalignment who
      underwent open-wedge high tibial osteotomy (HTO) with an internal plate fixator
      (TomoFix; Synthes, Solothurn, Switzerland). Clinical results are correlated with
      arthroscopic and radiographic findings at the time of surgery. METHODS: This
      study included 69 patients with a minimum follow-up of 36 months who underwent
      open-wedge HTO for medial-compartment osteoarthritis of the knee. Knee function
      was assessed before surgery and at 6, 12, 24, and 36 months after HTO by use of
      subjective International Knee Documentation Committee and Lysholm scores.
      Arthroscopic findings before HTO and radiographic assessment of the metaphyseal
      deformity of the proximal tibia (tibial bone varus angle) were correlated with
      clinical outcome. RESULTS: A significant continuous increase in International
      Knee Documentation Committee score from 47.25 +/- 18.71 points before surgery to
      72.72 +/- 17.15 points at 36 months after HTO was found (P < .001). Grade of
      cartilage damage of the medial compartment and partial-thickness defects of the
      lateral compartment did not significantly influence clinical outcome (P > .05 at
      all time points). The tibial bone varus angle was correlated significantly with
      greater improvement and better clinical outcome after HTO (P < .01). The overall
      complication rate of 8.6% was mostly related to surgical causes; nevertheless, a
      high proportion of patients reported discomfort related to the implant at some
      point during the follow-up period (40.6%). CONCLUSIONS: Open-wedge osteotomy by
      use of the TomoFix system leads to reliable 3-year results. Results do not depend
      on the severity of medial cartilage defects, whereas partial-thickness defects of
      the lateral compartment seem to be well tolerated. The prognostic relevance of
      patellofemoral cartilage defects remains unclear. Local irritation of the implant
      was observed in a significant number of patients. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level IV,
      therapeutic case series.

PMID- 20926233
TI  - An unusual complication of neurogenic bladder.

PMID- 20926234
TI  - Pseudoaneurysm of the popliteal artery in a patient with multiple hereditary
      exostoses.
AB  - We present an interesting case of a 14-year-old girl with multiple hereditary
      exostoses. She presented with a few days history of a pulsative mass in the
      distal third of the right upper thigh. Leg radiography showed multiple exostoses
      of distal femur, proximal tibia, and fibula. Large pseudoaneurysm of popliteal
      artery was found in Doppler sonography. The diagnosis was verified with multi
      slice computed tomography of both legs along with the digital subtraction
      angiography of right leg. The patient then underwent surgery. After surgery the
      patient's vascular status was regular, with no signs of pseudoaneurysm.

PMID- 20926235
TI  - A case of rectal obstruction caused by bilateral internal iliac artery aneurysms.
AB  - In this article, we report a rare case of rectal obstruction caused by bilateral
      internal iliac artery aneurysms that required open surgical repair. A 73-year-old
      man was admitted to our hospital complaining of abdominal pain and persistent
      constipation for >1 month. Computed tomography demonstrated bilateral internal
      iliac artery aneurysms, 5.0 and 7.0 cm each in diameter, which occupied the
      intrapelvic space. An urgent surgery was performed to reduce the volume of the
      aneurysms and release the obstructed rectum. The postoperative course was
      uneventful, in which he had good evacuation. Aneurysms in the iliac region can be
      a good indication for the use of newly developed endovascular devices; however,
      open surgery should be considered without delay to avoid ileus or subileus
      symptoms when the aneurysms cause space-occupying complications.

PMID- 20926236
TI  - The significance of endoleaks in thoracic endovascular aneurysm repair.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Endoleak is one of the rare complications that occur after thoracic
      endovascular aneurysm repair (TEVAR). The aim of this study was to assess the
      incidence of endoleaks and the predictive factors for their occurrence, as well
      as their effect on secondary interventions after TEVAR. METHODS: Medical and
      radiological data of all TEVAR procedures performed between 2004 and 2008 were
      entered prospectively into our database and reviewed retrospectively. Primary
      endpoints included were the incidence and the type of endoleak, aneurysmal sac
      expansion, and secondary interventions. RESULTS: In all, 67 patients (18 women
      and 49 men; mean age, 67 +/- 14 years) were treated consecutively for descending
      thoracic aortic aneurysms (mean diameter: 69 +/- 18 mm) by TEVAR during the
      observed period, using 83 stent-grafts (11 Cook TX2, 31 Gore TAG, and 41
      Medtronic Valiant), with a median follow-up of 27 months (range: 2-64). In 13 of
      67 patients, 14 (19.4%) endoleaks were diagnosed, of which 71% (10 of 14) were
      type I, 29% (4 of 14) were type II, and none were type III. Ten endoleaks (71%)
      were diagnosed on the first postoperative computed tomographic angiography at 1
      month, and the other four (29%) developed later on. Predictive factors for
      endoleaks on univariate analysis included age (p = 0.04), length of the proximal
      neck immediately after the left subclavian artery (p = 0.04), the fusiform
      morphology of the descending thoracic aortic aneurysms (p = 0.04), and the type
      of stent-graft used (p = 0.02). Eight of the 10 type I endoleaks (80%) were
      successfully treated by endovascular means, using proximal cuffs (n = 5) or
      distal extensions (n = 3). None of type II endoleaks were treated by secondary
      intervention. The six endoleaks treated conservatively were all associated with a
      significant mean increase of their aneurysmal sac (+3.2 +/- 2.6 mm) during follow
      up. No secondary conversion to open surgery was performed to treat an endoleak.
      CONCLUSIONS: On the basis of the study, it seems as if endoleaks are detected in
      one of the five patients treated with TEVAR during follow-up period, particularly
      if they are old with a proximal and fusiform aneurysm. Short- and mid-term follow
      up suggest that most type I endoleaks can successfully be treated by endovascular
      techniques and that type II endoleaks treated conservatively require a close
      radiological monitoring.

PMID- 20926237
TI  - Endovascular treatment of elective abdominal aortic aneurysms: independent
      predictors of early and late mortality.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to review our personal experience with
      patients who underwent elective endovascular repair of abdominal aortic aneurysms
      so as to detect the predictors of early and late mortality. METHODS: Between
      November 2000 and June 2008, a total of 235 consecutive patients (218 men; mean
      age: 71.9 +/- 8.0 years, range: 48-95 years) underwent endovascular repair of
      abdominal aortic aneurysms. Comorbidities were defined by using the Society for
      Vascular score grading system and the preoperative risk grade on the basis of the
      classification of the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA). Physical
      examination and spiral computed tomography were planned at 1, 4, and 12 months
      after the procedure, and on a yearly basis thereafter. Contrast-enhanced
      ultrasonography and plain X-rays were also performed. RESULTS: Primary technical
      success rate was 97% (228 of 235 cases). The overall hospital mortality was 2.1%
      (n = 5), ranging from 1.2% and 2.8% for patients with an ASA of score 2 and 3,
      respectively, to 7.7% for patients with an ASA score of 4. Multivariable analysis
      confirmed chronic renal failure (OR: 12.12, 95% CI: 1.83-80.17, p = 0.010) and
      transrenal endograft (OR: 9.61, 95% CI: 1.01-91.57, p = 0.049) as the only
      independent predictors of early mortality. Follow-up was completed for all 230
      patients who were discharged, with a mean follow-up period of 26.3 +/- 22.7
      months (maximum: 92 months). Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed a reduced survival
      rate for older patients (p < 0.001) and patients with a larger aneurysm (p <
      0.001). A reduced survival rate was also demonstrated for women and patients with
      higher ASA scores (p = 0.007, and p = 0.003, respectively). In multivariate Cox
      analysis, ASA score, age, diameter of the aneurysm, and being female
      independently affected long-term survival. CONCLUSION: On the basis of our
      experience, it was concluded that chronic renal failure and the endograft
      configuration were independent predictors of early mortality. Also, older
      patients, women, and patients with larger aneurysms and higher ASA scores had the
      poorest late survival rates.

PMID- 20926238
TI  - Inferior mesenteric artery aneurysm in the setting of chronic colonic vascular
      ectasia.
AB  - Colonic vascular ectasia is a condition characterized by dilated submucosal
      veins, venules, or capillaries found commonly in patients with lower
      gastrointestinal hemorrhage. We present a case of colorectal ectasia associated
      with ischemia and an inferior mesenteric artery aneurysm. These pathologic
      findings may be the result of the vascular ectasia and may add to the natural
      history of this condition.

PMID- 20926239
TI  - Midterm results of endovascular repair of thoracic aortic false aneurysm
      formation after coarctation repair.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to evaluate the short-term and midterm
      results of endovascular repair of false aneurysm formation after coarctation
      repair. METHODS: Between November 1998 and August 2009, seven patients underwent
      endovascular repair for false aneurysm formation after coarctation repair (two
      women, five men; mean age: 45.4 +/- 12.1 years; range: 30-60 years). Follow-up
      computed tomography scans were performed at 1 week, 3 months, 6 months, and
      annually thereafter. RESULTS: All endografts were successfully deployed (Excluder
      TAG in three patients, Talent in one patient, Valiant in three patients). Among
      them, six patients underwent hybrid technique with supra-aortic debranching and
      simultaneous or staged endovascular stent grafting as follows: transposition of
      the left common carotid artery (LCCA) into the brachiocephalic trunk which was
      later followed by transposition of the left subclavian artery into the LCCA in
      one case and transposition of the left subclavian artery into the LCCA in
      remaining five cases. No major complications occurred. A mean follow-up of 44.8
      +/- 41.3 months (range: 1-131 months) demonstrated no endoleak, rupture,
      conversion, or migration. CONCLUSIONS: Short-and mid-term results of endovascular
      treatment of false aneurysm formation after coarctation repair favor the
      proposition of endovascular repair as a first-line treatment option. Long-term
      survival studies are mandatory to determine the efficacy and durability of this
      technique.

PMID- 20926240
TI  - Peripheral arterial disease in octogenarians and nonagenarians: factors
      predicting survival.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To describe the prevalence and character of complications associated
      with revascularization procedures as a result of peripheral arterial disease in
      octogenarians and nonagenarians and to assess their overall survival depending on
      baseline characteristics, type of treatment modality, and possible procedure
      related complications. A retrospective clinical study was carried out. METHODS: A
      total of 383 patients aged >80 years, referred with suspected peripheral arterial
      disease, were categorized into octogenarians and nonagenarians. Data regarding
      cardiovascular risk factors, comorbidities, type of treatment, and possible
      procedure-related complications were collected from patients' files. The cohort
      was followed up for total mortality until December 31, 2007, by means of record
      linkage with the National Causes of Death Register. RESULTS: A total of 57
      (14.9%) patients were treated surgically, whereas 71 (18.5%) underwent an
      endovascular procedure. Conservative treatment was chosen significantly more
      often for nonagenarians (p = 0.032). Postoperative complications (nonfatal,
      13.2%; fatal, 3.1%) were equally distributed between the age groups and genders
      (p = 0.840 and p = 0.820, respectively) but were significantly more common after
      surgical procedures (p < 0.001 for both fatal and nonfatal complications). As
      expected, the overall survival was significantly poorer among nonagenarians as
      compared with octogenarians (33 vs. 45 months, respectively; p < 0.001). Older
      age, critical limb ischemia (CLI), and males were independently associated with
      mortality (odds ratio [OR]: 1.89, 95% confidence levels [CI]: 1.18-3.04; OR:
      3.72, 95% CI: 2.34-5.91; and OR: 1.77, 95% CI: 1.10-2.80, respectively). The
      survival for nonagenarian men with CLI was 24 months and for women 28, regardless
      of the treatment modality. CONCLUSIONS: Octo- and nonagenarians seem to tolerate
      arterial reconstruction relatively well. Endovascular interventions should be
      favored over surgical procedures as they are associated with fewer complications.
      At the same time, the life expectancy of nonagenarians with CLI is limited to
      approximately 2 years, irrespective of the method of treatment. Further studies
      should be conducted to clarify the actual effect of vascular reconstructions
      among the elderly population with regard to benefits of both costs and quality of
      life.

PMID- 20926241
TI  - Surgical repair of a giant pseudoaneurysm of the right common carotid artery
      following a gunshot.
AB  - Common carotid pseudoaneurysms are very rare. The authors report a case of a 18
      year-old patient with 11 cm large posttraumatic pseudoaneurysm of the right
      common carotid artery caused by a gunshot in the neck. The patient also had a
      right hemiplegia, secondary to the left sylvian artery stroke and aphasia. A
      surgical repair was undertaken with an approach including a total sternotomy. The
      aneurysm was excluded and a saphenous vein patch was used to repair the 2-cm
      defect on the arterial wall. The postoperative period was uneventful. This is
      probably the largest carotid artery aneurysm ever described. The potential
      hazards of an aneurysm of the common carotid artery indicate that surgical
      treatment is warranted particularly in a patient with a past history of
      controlateral stroke.

PMID- 20926242
TI  - Chylothorax after thoracoabdominal aneurysm repair: efficacy of somatostatin.
AB  - Chylothorax is a rare but serious complication that presents after
      thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm surgery. There are insufficient data to reach a
      consensus on how to manage it. Some researchers have suggested early reoperation
      for high output drainage. We present the case of a patient who underwent
      thoracoabdominal aortic replacement and who subsequently developed postoperative
      chylothorax. High output (>1,000 mL per day) chest tube drainage until
      postoperative day 4 drastically decreased and stopped in a week with the
      administration of somatostatin and total parenteral nutrition which helped avoid
      a major re-exploration. Surgery should be reserved as an option only for patients
      with persistent leaks that do not respond to somatostatin therapy.

PMID- 20926243
TI  - Endovascular repair of ruptured thoracic aortic aneurysms: predictors of
      procedure-related stroke.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) is a valuable tool in the
      treatment of ruptured descending thoracic aortic aneurysm (rDTAA). A major
      complication of this procedure is stroke. We investigated the incidence and risk
      factors for stroke after TEVAR for rDTAA. METHODS: We retrospectively evaluated
      the outcomes of all patients who were treated with TEVAR for rDTAA at seven
      institutions between 2002 and 2009. A total of 92 patients were identified, with
      a mean age of 69.4 +/- 11 years and 67% were men. Multivariable logistic
      regression analysis was used to investigate risk factors for stroke, including
      demographics, comorbidities, aneurysm, and procedural details. RESULTS: The 30
      day mortality was 17.4% (n = 16), and 7.6% (n = 7) suffered from procedure
      related stroke. Four of seven patients with stroke (57.1%) expired within 30
      days, compared with 12 (14.1%) of the patients without stroke (OR, 8.11; p =
      .004). In multivariable regression analysis, increasing age was associated with
      an increased risk of stroke (OR, 1.38; 95% CI, 1.08-1.76; p = .010), whereas more
      recent procedures were associated with a reduced risk of stroke (OR, 0.52; 95%
      CI, 0.28-0.97; p = .039). The aneurysm-related survival at 1 year after TEVAR was
      42.9% for patients who suffered from stroke, and 77.6% for those without stroke
      (p = .006). CONCLUSIONS: Endovascular repair of rDTAA is associated with a
      considerable risk of stroke, and stroke is an important cause of 30-day mortality
      in this patient group. Particularly older patients are at risk for developing
      stroke after endovascular repair of rDTAA. The risk of stroke decreased
      significantly over time in this evaluation.

PMID- 20926244
TI  - Brain injury after carotid revascularization: outcomes, mechanisms, and
      opportunities for improvement.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The most worrisome complication of carotid revascularization is
      neurologic injury, typically manifesting as a perioperative stroke. However,
      patients undergoing these procedures are at risk for a broad spectrum of
      neurologic injury. We sought to perform a systematic review of neurologic injury
      after carotid revascularization to guide future quality improvement efforts
      focused on reducing potentially preventable events. METHODS: Using a specified
      search strategy, we evaluated the mechanisms of neurologic injury, the
      measurement of neurobehavioral outcomes, and use of neuroimaging to evaluate
      carotid revascularization outcomes, and the application of these techniques in
      current registries and clinical trials of carotid revascularization. RESULTS: We
      found that neurologic injury after carotid revascularization results from three
      broad etiologies: atheroembolic, thrombotic, and hypo/hyperperfusion. Broad
      variation exists across studies examining neurobehavioral outcomes. Of the 47
      studies examining the effect of carotid endarterectomy on neurobehavioral
      functioning, 25 found that some aspect of cognition improved, 12 revealed no
      change in cognition, and 10 revealed declines in some aspect of cognition. There
      is a wide variation in the measurement of neurologic outcomes in clinical
      registries and trials. In reviewing 13 industry-sponsored registries of carotid
      artery stenting and 10 randomized trials of carotid endarterectomy and carotid
      artery stenting, registries were less likely to use validated neurologic
      assessment scales, independent neurologic examinations, and neuroimaging to
      establish outcomes than randomized trials. CONCLUSIONS: Despite a considerable
      body of evidence, there is a lack of consensus in determining optimal strategies
      for the assessment and characterization of neurologic injury and its effect on
      neurobehavioral outcomes after carotid revascularization, especially among
      industry-sponsored trials. As a result, rates of neurologic outcomes varied
      considerably across studies, registries, and clinical trials. Future efforts to
      correlate neuroimaging with cognitive outcomes may offer insight into methods to
      decrease neurologic injury after carotid revascularization.

PMID- 20926245
TI  - Extracorporeally irradiated autograft-prosthetic composite arthroplasty with
      vascular reconstruction for primary bone tumor of the proximal tibia.
AB  - The proximal tibia is a common site for primary bone tumors. Proximal tibial
      tumors may invade the adjacent soft-tissue by destroying the cortex and may
      further invade neurovascular bundles. We treated a patient with primary bone
      tumor of the proximal tibia with neurovascular invasion by extracorporeally
      irradiated autograft-prosthetic composite arthroplasty with vascular
      reconstruction. In cases of concomitant allograft arthroplasty and vascular
      reconstruction, we recommend that vascular reconstruction be performed before
      arthroplasty to minimize ischemia time. Good oncological and functional outcomes
      were achieved 75 months after surgery. Therefore, this reconstruction technique
      can be considered as a good treatment option.

PMID- 20926246
TI  - Endovascular treatment of a huge cervical carotid artery pseudoaneurysm with
      Wallgraft prosthesis.
AB  - Traumatic pseudoaneurysm of the internal carotid artery (ICA) is a rare cause of
      epistaxis, which may be life-threatening if left untreated. We report the case of
      a massive epistaxis from left ICA pseudoaneurysm. Our patient was a 38 year-old
      man with the history of a severe traffic accident 13 years ago. The
      pseudoaneurysm was treated with the placement of a Wallgraft prosthesis inside
      the carotid artery. After the endovascular treatment, the left ICA remained
      patent and no recurrent hemorrhage was noted in the 1 year follow up after the
      procedure.

PMID- 20926247
TI  - Abdominal infectious aortitis caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae: a case report
      and literature review.
AB  - We report a case of a 75-year-old man who had been complaining of fever and
      pelvic pain for 3 weeks. First angio-computed tomography (CT) characteristics and
      blood culture led to suspicion of a pneumococcal-infected aortic aneurysm, which
      however was not confirmed by the surgeon. The abdominal infectious aortitis
      caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae was affirmed by a second angio-CT performed 7
      days later. Without further delay, the patient underwent surgery for resection of
      mycotic aneurysm and in situ reconstruction with aortobiiliac homograft, in
      association with antibiotics. He died 10 days after the surgery as a result of
      severe sepsis in a polyvalent intensive care unit. This case report highlights
      the severity of this pathology. We reviewed the relevant literature related to
      Streptococcal pneumoniae mycotic aneurysm located in the abdominal aorta,
      including 29 more cases. Various microorganisms have already been associated with
      mycotic aneurysms, including S pneumoniae. Infectious aortitis remains a rare
      disease. It is extremely important to establish an early diagnosis but it may be
      delayed because clinical manifestations are usually nonspecific. However, if left
      untreated it is always lethal. Antibiotic in combination with complete surgical
      excision of the infected aorta is the treatment of reference. This therapeutic
      association dramatically improved patient survival.

PMID- 20926248
TI  - Use of a totally implantable access port through the external jugular vein when
      the cephalic vein approach is not feasible.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We report our experience of using a totally implantable access port
      (TIAP) through the external jugular vein (EJV) when the cephalic vein (CV)
      approach is not feasible. METHODS: We reviewed 197 cases involving TIAP
      implantation through the EJV in a single medical center between January 1995 and
      January 2009. All the ports were implanted after the CV approach was found
      unfeasible. Patient characteristics, operating time, and early and late
      complications were recorded. RESULTS: The mean patient age was 50 years (range:
      33-75). The mean operating time was 54.5 +/- 7.5 minutes. Early complications
      within the first 30 postoperative days included port hematoma (2%) and catheter
      migration (2%). The late postoperative complications included catheter occlusion
      (2.5%), venous thrombosis (2%), and port infection (1.5%). There were no
      complications associated with TIAP disconnection. CONCLUSIONS: The EJV approach
      is an easy and safe alternative method for TIAP implantation when the CV approach
      is not feasible. This method can avoid conversion to percutaneous puncture of the
      subclavian vein, which could result in life-threatening complications such as
      pneumothorax and hemothorax. In patients with breast cancer or those who are
      contraindicated for TIAP implantation on the opposite side, the EJV cutdown
      approach provides an alternative route with comfortable and satisfactory results
      as complications with this approach are rare.

PMID- 20926249
TI  - Is the good-imitator-poor-talker profile syndrome-specific in Down syndrome?:
      evidence from standardised imitation and language measures.
AB  - The emergence of the Down syndrome (DS) behavioural phenotype during early
      development may be of great importance for early intervention. The main goal of
      this study was to investigate the good-imitator-poor-talker developmental profile
      in DS at preschool age. Twenty children with Down syndrome (DS; mean nonverbal
      mental age NMA 1 y10 m) and 15 children with non-specific mental retardation (NS
      MR; mean NMA 1 y11 m) participated in this study. The Preschool Imitation and
      Praxis Scale (PIPS) and the Dutch version of the MacArthur-Bates Communicative
      Development Inventories (N-CDI) were used to determine absolute and relative
      (contrasted to a nonverbal mental age reference) imitation and language
      abilities. Results revealed that there was clear evidence for a good-imitator
      poor-talker profile in preschoolers with DS. However, only the advanced bodily
      imitation ability seems to be syndrome-specific. Clinical implications of these
      findings are considered.

PMID- 20926250
TI  - Some phonatory and resonatory characteristics of the rock, pop, soul, and Swedish
      dance band styles of singing.
AB  - This investigation aims at describing voice function of four nonclassical styles
      of singing, Rock, Pop, Soul, and Swedish Dance Band. A male singer,
      professionally experienced in performing in these genres, sang representative
      tunes, both with their original lyrics and on the syllable /pae/. In addition, he
      sang tones in a triad pattern ranging from the pitch Bb2 to the pitch C4 on the
      syllable /pae/ in pressed and neutral phonation. An expert panel was successful
      in classifying the samples, thus suggesting that the samples were representative
      of the various styles. Subglottal pressure was estimated from oral pressure
      during the occlusion for the consonant [p]. Flow glottograms were obtained from
      inverse filtering. The four lowest formant frequencies differed between the
      styles. The mean of the subglottal pressure and the mean of the normalized
      amplitude quotient (NAQ), that is, the ratio between the flow pulse amplitude and
      the product of period and maximum flow declination rate, were plotted against the
      mean of fundamental frequency. In these graphs, Rock and Swedish Dance Band
      assumed opposite extreme positions with respect to subglottal pressure and mean
      phonation frequency, whereas the mean NAQ values differed less between the
      styles.

PMID- 20926251
TI  - Vowel harmonic amplitude differences in persons with vocal nodules.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Spectrum is a fast Fourier transform-generated power spectrum
      extracted from the speech sample. It is reported to provide a quantitative
      acoustic index of the degree of glottal abduction and adduction in voices
      perceived to be breathy or pressed. In the present study, it was hypothesized
      that there would be abnormal reduction of higher harmonic amplitudes relative to
      the amplitude of the first harmonics in the subjects with vocal nodules and hence
      the present study was carried out. METHOD: One hundred twenty participants were
      divided into clinical group and control group. They were instructed to phonate
      /a/ at their most comfortable pitch and loudness. Fourier transformation of the
      recorded acoustic signal was first performed to create a spectrum. Amplitudes
      were measured for the first and second harmonics (H1 and H2) as well as the
      harmonics at the first, second, and third formants (A1, A2, and A3) using the
      Computerized Speech Science Lab (Kay Pentax, Lincoln, NJ). RESULTS: There was a
      significant difference between the means of two groups for all the parameters,
      such as H1-H2, H1-A1, H1-A2, and H1-A3 at P<0.05. The obtained results are
      discussed with respect to the underlying pathophysiology. CONCLUSIONS: The
      present study investigated the vowel harmonic amplitude differences in persons
      with vocal nodules. The results revealed a significant difference between the two
      groups for the vowel harmonic amplitude differences. This particular measure
      could be used to track the changes following the vocal treatment.

PMID- 20926252
TI  - Evidence for heterozygous abnormalities of the elastin gene (ELN) affecting the
      quantity of vocal fold elastic fibers: a pilot study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate the effects of a heterozygous elastin gene (Eln)
      abnormality (deletion of one Eln allele) on the structural characteristics of the
      vocal fold lamina propria using a mouse model of human disease. STUDY DESIGN:
      Cross-sectional between-subjects design. METHODS: Five mice, four with
      heterozygous Eln deletions (Eln +/-) serving as an animal model for the human
      disease supravalvular aortic stenosis and one normal wild-type control (Eln +/+)
      were used for this study. Vocal folds were obtained from each animal and stained
      for the protein elastin using histochemical methods. Descriptive data from
      qualitative visual inspection and quantitative data from microscopic digital
      image analysis were collected to determine the staining density of elastic fibers
      within the vocal fold lamina propria. RESULTS: Qualitative visual inspection
      revealed greater staining density (eg, a greater quantity) for elastic fibers in
      the Eln +/+ animal. Quantitative measurements using digital pixel analysis of
      staining density revealed significant differences between mice with the two
      genotypes, confirming the qualitative findings. CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest that
      Eln requires two functioning alleles for normal structural development of the
      vocal fold lamina propria. This pilot evidence supports the hypothesis of a
      structural etiology causing altered vocal function in humans with a similar
      genotype.

PMID- 20926253
TI  - Comparative analysis of the closed quotient for lip and tongue trills in relation
      to the sustained vowel /epsilon/.
AB  - Various types of trill exercises have been used for a long time as a tool in the
      treatment and preparation of the voice. Although they are reported to produce
      vocal benefits in most subjects, their physiology has not yet been studied in
      depth. The aim of this study was to compare the mean and standard deviation of
      the closed quotient in exercises of lip and tongue trills with the sustained
      vowel /epsilon/ in opera singers. Ten professional classical (operatic) singers,
      reportedly in perfect laryngeal health, served as subjects for this study and
      underwent electroglottography. During the examination, the subjects were
      instructed to deliver the sustained vowel /epsilon/ and lip and tongue trills in
      a same preestablished frequency and intensity. The mean values and standard
      deviation of the closed quotient were obtained using the software developed for
      this purpose. The comparison of the results was intrasubjects; maximum
      intensities were compared only among them and so were minimum intensities. The
      means of closed quotient were statistically significant only in the strong
      intensities, and the lip trill was different from the tongue trill and the
      sustained vowel /epsilon/. The standard deviation of the closed quotient
      distinguished the sustained vowel /epsilon/ from the lip and tongue trills in the
      two intensities. We concluded that there is oscillation of the closed quotient
      during the exercises of tongue and lip trills, and the closed quotient is higher
      during the performance of exercises of the lip trill, when compared with the two
      other utterances, only in the strong intensities.

PMID- 20926254
TI  - Effect of tonsillectomy on the adult voice.
AB  - OBJECTIVES AND HYPOTHESIS: Anecdotal evidence suggests that tonsillectomy has no
      deleterious consequences on a person's voice under normal vocal demand. However,
      whether the enlarged dimensions of the oropharynx after tonsillectomy impair the
      quality of a professional voice user remains unclear. Therefore, we designed a
      study to determine whether adult tonsillectomy altered the resonance
      characteristics of the vocal tract in any way and whether these changes were
      transient or permanent. STUDY DESIGN: This is a prospective observational study
      with full institutional ethical approval. METHODS: All adult patients presenting
      for tonsillectomy for recurrent tonsillitis in our institution were recruited.
      Their voice was recorded preoperatively, postoperatively, and at 4 weeks
      postoperatively. The values of the first four formants were calculated in all
      recordings. The oropharyngeal dimensions were measured preoperatively and
      postoperatively. Tonsillar weights and volumes were also measured. RESULTS: The
      first formant was noted to rise postoperatively. The average value of F2 and F3
      did not alter postoperatively or at 4 weeks. However, it was noted that the
      fourth formant was not universally present preoperatively but was present in all
      patients postoperatively and at 4 weeks. CONCLUSIONS: Altering the dimensions of
      the oropharynx after tonsillectomy causes the first formant to rise but has no
      effect on the third and fourth formants. However, the fourth formant appears in
      patients who previously did not demonstrate it. The fourth formant was present in
      a greater proportion of male patients preoperatively than female patients, but it
      was universally present postoperatively and at 4 weeks in both sexes. This
      suggests that increasing the horizontal dimensions of the oropharynx has a
      nontransient effect on the higher order formants of the voice.

PMID- 20926255
TI  - Partial misspecification of survey design features sufficed to severely bias
      estimates of health-related outcomes.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Surveys frequently deviate from simple random sampling through the use
      of unequal probability sampling, stratified sampling, and multistage sampling.
      This work uses a survey of public health to systematically illustrate the effects
      of incompletely accounting for strata, clustering, and weights. STUDY DESIGN AND
      SETTING: Data analysis was based on the Study of Health in Pomerania (n=4,308, 20
      79 years), a two-stage regional survey with high sampling fractions at the first
      stage. Effects of survey design features comprising weights, stratification,
      clustering, and finite population correction on point and variance estimates of
      lifestyle indicators and clinical parameters were assessed. RESULTS:
      Misspecifications of the survey design substantially affected both the point
      estimates of health characteristics and their standard errors (SEs). The
      strongest bias in SEs concerned the omission of the second sampling stage.
      Ignoring the sampling design led to minor differences in variance estimates from
      the complete setup. Weighting predominantly affected point estimates of lifestyle
      factors. CONCLUSION: A partial misspecification of survey design elements may
      bias variance estimates severely and is sometimes even more harmful compared with
      completely neglecting design elements. If subgroups are sampled at different
      rates, weighting is of particular relevance with regard to prevalence estimates
      of lifestyle indicators.

PMID- 20926256
TI  - No inconsistent trial assessments by NICE and IQWiG: different assessment goals
      may lead to different assessment results regarding subgroup analyses.

PMID- 20926257
TI  - PubMed had a higher sensitivity than Ovid-MEDLINE in the search for systematic
      reviews.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare the performance of Ovid-MEDLINE vs. PubMed for identifying
      randomized controlled trials of methotrexate (MTX) in patients with rheumatoid
      arthritis (RA). STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING: We created search strategies for Ovid
      MEDLINE and PubMed for a systematic review of MTX in RA. Their performance was
      evaluated using sensitivity, precision, and number needed to read (NNR). RESULTS:
      Comparing searches in Ovid-MEDLINE vs. PubMed, PubMed retrieved more citations
      overall than Ovid-MEDLINE; however, of the 20 citations that met eligibility
      criteria for the review, Ovid-MEDLINE retrieved 17 and PubMed 18. The sensitivity
      was 85% for Ovid-MEDLINE vs. 90% for PubMed, whereas the precision and NNR were
      comparable (precision: 0.881% for Ovid-MEDLINE vs. 0.884% for PubMed and NNR: 114
      for Ovid-MEDLINE vs. 113 for PubMed). CONCLUSION: In systematic reviews of RA,
      PubMed has higher sensitivity than Ovid-MEDLINE with comparable precision and
      NNR. This study highlights the importance of well-designed database-specific
      search strategies.

PMID- 20926258
TI  - Survival distributions impact the power of randomized placebo-phase design and
      parallel groups randomized clinical trials.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The study evaluated the power of the randomized placebo-phase design
      (RPPD)-a new design of randomized clinical trials (RCTs), compared with the
      traditional parallel groups design, assuming various response time distributions.
      In the RPPD, at some point, all subjects receive the experimental therapy, and
      the exposure to placebo is for only a short fixed period of time. STUDY DESIGN
      AND SETTING: For the study, an object-oriented simulation program was written in
      R. The power of the simulated trials was evaluated using six scenarios, where the
      treatment response times followed the exponential, Weibull, or lognormal
      distributions. The median response time was assumed to be 355 days for the
      placebo and 42 days for the experimental drug. RESULTS: Based on the simulation
      results, the sample size requirements to achieve the same level of power were
      different under different response time to treatment distributions. The scenario
      where the response times followed the exponential distribution had the highest
      sample size requirement. In most scenarios, the parallel groups RCT had higher
      power compared with the RPPD. CONCLUSION: The sample size requirement varies
      depending on the underlying hazard distribution. The RPPD requires more subjects
      to achieve a similar power to the parallel groups design.

PMID- 20926259
TI  - Decreased Neuregulin 1 C-terminal fragment in Brodmann's area 6 of patients with
      schizophrenia.
AB  - Neuregulin 1 (NRG1) is a susceptibility gene for schizophrenia. A decrease in
      NRG1-ErbB4 signalling has also been associated with the disease. beta-amyloid
      precursor protein-cleaving enzyme (BACE1) processes type III NRG1 precursor, a
      major neuregulin variant expressed in the brain, to release NRG1 fragments that
      trigger signalling events and activation of neurotransmitter receptors.
      Experimental evidence suggests that muscarinic acetylcholine receptors (CHRM)
      regulate BACE1 expression. Having recently shown that CHRM1 levels are decreased
      selectively in frontal cortex regions of a subpopulation of schizophrenic
      patients (muscarinic receptor deficit schizophrenia, MRDS) we aimed to compare
      the protein expression of BACE1 and NRG1 in the agranular frontal cortex
      Brodmann's area 6 of SCZ subjects with normal levels of CHRM1 (N = 19), MRDS (N =
      20), and age/gender-matched non-psychiatric (healthy) controls (HC; N = 20).
      Western blot analysis of post-mortem samples showed that the levels of BACE1 and
      full-length NRG1 precursor (130 kDa) did not differ significantly between the
      three groups. In contrast, the levels of the NRG1 C-terminal fragment (NRG1-CTF)
      were decreased by approximately 50% in both schizophrenic groups compared to the
      HC group (p<0.0027). The ratio of NRG1-CTF versus NRG1 precursor was
      significantly reduced in the SCZ groups compared to the HC group (p = 0.051).
      There was no correlation between the levels of either full-length NRG1, NRG1-CTF,
      or BACE1 and the final recorded doses of antipsychotic drugs for the subjects
      with schizophrenia. A positive correlation was found between BACE1 and full
      length NRG1 precursor in the HC group (r(2) = 0.671, p<0.001) but not in the
      schizophrenic groups. These data suggest that the proteolytic processing of NRG1
      is impaired in schizophrenia.

PMID- 20926260
TI  - The meaning of childhood attention-deficit hyperactivity symptoms in patients
      with a first-episode of schizophrenia-spectrum psychosis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To examine childhood ADHD symptoms in regard to their association with
      a number of illness-related variables including risk factors, early
      neurodevelopment, premorbid functioning and clinical characteristics in patients
      with schizophrenia-spectrum psychoses. METHODS: One-hundred and twenty-two first
      episode patients with DSM-IV schizophrenia-spectrum disorders were
      retrospectively assessed by means of their biological mothers for childhood ADHD
      symptoms. Using correlational analyses and hierarchical regression models, the
      severity of ADHD symptoms was examined in relation to familial liability to
      schizophrenia, obstetric complications, milestones attainment delay, premorbid
      functioning during childhood and adolescence, age at illness onset, episode
      psychopathology and response to treatment after one-month trial with
      antipsychotic medication. RESULTS: Twenty-one patients (17%) met DSM-IV criteria
      for childhood ADHD. Univariate analyses showed that severity of childhood ADHD
      symptoms was related to male gender, obstetric complications, delayed milestones
      attainment, poor school functioning and an earlier age of onset of psychotic
      symptoms. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that severity of childhood ADHD
      symptoms was independently predicted by obstetric complications and
      neurodevelopmental delay, with no further variables entering in the regression
      models. Path analyses showed that obstetric complications had both direct and
      indirect effects, through neurodevelopmental delay, on ADHD symptoms.
      CONCLUSIONS: These findings are consistent with a neurodevelopmental model of
      schizophrenia and with the hypothesis of shared environmental risk factors
      between ADHD and schizophrenia-spectrum disorders. Childhood ADHD symptoms in
      schizophrenia-spectrum disorders appear to be an epiphenomenon of obstetric
      complications and early neurodevelopment delay with no further influence on the
      clinical expression of the illness.

PMID- 20926261
TI  - Epiplakin accelerates the lateral organization of keratin filaments during wound
      healing.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Epiplakin (EPPK) belongs to the plakin family of cytolinker proteins
      and, resembling other members of the plakin family such as BPAG1 (an autoantigen
      of bullous pemphigoid) and plectin, EPPK has plakin repeat domains (PRDs) that
      bind to intermediate filaments. Elimination of EPPK by gene targeting in mice
      resulted in the acceleration of keratinocyte migration during wound healing. EPPK
      is expressed in proliferating keratinocytes at wound edges and, in view of its
      putative function in binding to keratin, we postulated that the keratin network
      in EPPK-null (EPPK(-/-)) mice might be disrupted during wound healing. OBJECTIVE:
      To examine this hypothesis and to determine the precise localization of EPPK in
      relation to keratin filaments, we compared the non-wounded and wounded epidermis
      of wild-type and EPPK(-/-) mice. METHODS: Non-wounded epidermis and wounded
      epidermis from wild-type and EPPK(-/-) mice were examined by immunofluorescence
      staining and electron microscopy before and after double immunostaining. RESULTS:
      EPPK was colocalized with keratin 17 (K17) more extensively than with other
      keratins examined in wounded epidermis. The expression of K5, K10, K6, and K17
      was the same in EPPK(-/-) mice after wounding as in normal mice, but diameters of
      keratin filaments were reduced in EPPK(-/-) keratinocytes. Electron microscopy
      after immunostaining revealed that EPPK colocalized with K5, K10 and K6 after
      wounding in wild-type mice. CONCLUSION: Our data indicate that EPPK accelerates
      keratin bundling in proliferating keratinocytes during wound healing and suggest
      that EPPK might contribute to reinforcement of keratin networks under mechanical
      stress.

PMID- 20926262
TI  - In vivo development of antimicrobial resistance in Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains
      isolated from the lower respiratory tract of Intensive Care Unit patients with
      nosocomial pneumonia and receiving antipseudomonal therapy.
AB  - Pseudomonas aeruginosa causes severe nosocomial pneumonia in Intensive Care Unit
      (ICU) patients, with an increased prevalence of multiresistant strains. We
      examined the impact of the use of antipseudomonal antibiotic(s) on the
      susceptibility of P. aeruginosa isolated from ICU patients with clinically
      suspected hospital-acquired pneumonia collected in five teaching hospitals (110
      non-duplicate initial isolates; 62 clonal pairs of initial and last isolates
      during treatment). Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) were determined for
      amikacin, ciprofloxacin, meropenem, piperacillin/tazobactam (TZP), cefepime and
      ceftazidime (used in therapy) as well as five reporter antibiotics (aztreonam,
      colistin, gentamicin, piperacillin and ticarcillin) using Clinical and Laboratory
      Standards Institute (CLSI) methodology. Susceptibility was assessed according to
      European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing (EUCAST) and CLSI
      breakpoints. Resistance rates prior to treatment exceeded 25% for cefepime,
      ceftazidime, piperacillin, ticarcillin and aztreonam (EUCAST and CLSI) and for
      gentamicin, TZP and colistin (EUCAST only). The highest rates of cross-resistance
      were noted for ceftazidime and cefepime and the lowest rate for amikacin. Mean
      MIC values were systematically higher in isolates from patients previously
      exposed (1 month) to the corresponding antibiotic. For clonal pairs, a systematic
      increase in MIC between initial and last isolates (significant for amikacin,
      cefepime, meropenem and TZP) was noted. There was a significant correlation
      between the use of antibiotics (adjusted for respective proportional use of each
      drug) and loss of susceptibility at the population level when using EUCAST
      breakpoints. The high level of resistance of P. aeruginosa in ICU patients with
      nosocomial pneumonia as well as its further increase during treatment severely
      narrows the already limited therapeutic options. Further observational studies
      and the development of early diagnosis for resistant isolates are warranted.

PMID- 20926263
TI  - Effect of ceftobiprole on the normal human intestinal microflora.
AB  - Ceftobiprole is a new broad-spectrum pyrrolidinone cephem active against
      meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus
      faecalis and Gram-negative bacteria such as Enterobacteriaceae and Pseudomonas
      spp. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of
      administration of ceftobiprole on the normal intestinal microflora. Twelve
      healthy subjects (six males and six females) aged 20-31 years received
      ceftobiprole 500 mg by intravenous infusion every 8h for 7 days. Plasma samples
      were collected on Days -1, 1, 4, 7, 10, 14 and 21 for determination of drug
      concentration by biological and chemical methods. Faecal samples were collected
      on Days -1, 2, 4, 7, 10, 14 and 21. For analysis of the microflora, faecal
      specimens were cultured on non-selective and selective media. Different colony
      types were counted, isolated in pure culture and identified to genus level. All
      new colonising aerobic and anaerobic bacteria were tested for susceptibility to
      ceftobiprole. Plasma concentrations of ceftobiprole 10 min after completion of
      infusion were as follows: Day 1, 14.7-23.6 mg/L; Day 4, 15.9-24.5 mg/L; and Day
      7, 15.9-23.9 mg/L. No ceftobiprole was detected in plasma on Days -1, 10, 14 and
      21. No measurable concentrations of ceftobiprole were found in faeces on Days -1,
      2, 4, 7, 10, 14 and 21. There were minor changes in the numbers of enteric
      bacteria, enterococci and Candida albicans and there were moderate changes in the
      numbers of bifidobacteria, lactobacilli, clostridia and Bacteroides spp. during
      the same period. No Clostridium difficile strains or toxins were found. No new
      colonising aerobic and anaerobic bacteria with ceftobiprole minimum inhibitory
      concentrations of >= 4 mg/L were found. Ceftobiprole had no significant
      ecological impact on the human intestinal microflora.

PMID- 20926265
TI  - The microstructural integrity of the corpus callosum and associated impulsivity
      in alcohol dependence: a tractography-based segmentation study using diffusion
      spectrum imaging.
AB  - Previous post-mortem and structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies in
      patients with alcohol dependence have demonstrated abnormalities of brain white
      matter. The present study investigated the microstructural integrity in the
      corpus callosum and the associations of this integrity with neurobehavioral
      assessments. Twenty-five male cases fulfilling the DSM-IV diagnosis of alcohol
      dependence and 15 male control subjects were scanned using a 3T MRI system.
      Callosal fiber tracts were reconstructed by diffusion spectrum imaging
      tractography and were subdivided into seven functionally distinct segments. The
      microstructural integrity was quantified in terms of generalized fractional
      anisotropy (GFA). Compared with normal subjects, men with alcohol dependence
      showed lower GFA values on all segments of the corpus callosum. The segment
      interconnecting the bilateral orbitofrontal cortices was the most affected. The
      score on the Barratt Impulsivity Scale showed an inverse relationship with GFA on
      the callosal fiber tracts connecting the bilateral orbitofrontal cortices.
      Furthermore, the duration of regular use was negatively associated with GFA on
      the callosal fiber tracts connecting the bilateral temporal and parietal
      cortices. Our findings suggest that a high self-rated impulsivity level was
      associated with low anisotropy in white matter of corpus callosum sectors
      extending to the orbitofrontal cortex.

PMID- 20926264
TI  - Suicide attempts in a prospective cohort of patients with schizophrenia treated
      with sertindole or risperidone.
AB  - The incidence of suicide attempts (fatal and non-fatal) was analysed in a
      prospective cohort of patients with schizophrenia randomly assigned to sertindole
      (4905 patients) or risperidone (4904 patients) in a parallel-group open-label
      study with blinded classification of outcomes (the sertindole cohort prospective
      study--SCoP). The total exposure was 6978 and 7975 patient-years in the
      sertindole and risperidone groups, respectively. Suicide mortality in the study
      was low (0.21 and 0.28 per 100 patients per year with sertindole and risperidone,
      respectively). The majority (84%) of suicide attempts occurred within the first
      year of treatment. Cox's proportional hazards model analysis of the time to the
      first suicide attempt, reported by treating psychiatrists and blindly reviewed by
      an independent expert group according to the Columbia Classification Algorithm of
      Suicide Assessment (both defining suicide attempts by association of suicidal act
      and intent to die), showed a lower risk of suicide attempt for sertindole-treated
      patients than for risperidone-treated patients. The effect was statistically
      significant with both evaluation methods during the first year of randomized
      treatment (hazard ratios [95% CI]: 0.5 [0.31-0.82], p=0.006; and 0.57 [0.35
      0.92], p=0.02, respectively). With classification by an independent safety
      committee using a broader definition including all incidences of intentional self
      harm, also those without clear suicidal intent, the results were not significant.
      A history of previous suicide attempts was significantly associated with
      attempted suicides in both treatment groups.

PMID- 20926266
TI  - [Risks of energy drinks in youths].
AB  - The market value for energy drinks is continually growing and the annual
      worldwide energy drink consumption is increasing. However, issues related to
      energy drink ingredients and the potential for adverse health consequences remain
      to be elucidated. This aim of the present paper is to review the current
      knowledge on putative adverse effects of energy drinks, especially in youths.
      There are many energy drink brands in the worldwide market, even if only few
      brands are available in France. Although the energy drink content varies, these
      beverages often contain taurine, caffeine, vitamins B and carbohydrates. These
      drinks vary widely in both caffeine content (80 to 141 mg per can) and caffeine
      concentration. Except caffeine, the effects of energy drink ingredients on
      physical and cognitive performances remain controversial. Researchers identified
      moderate positive effects of energy drinks on performances, whereas others found
      contrary results. The adverse effects of energy drink can be related to either
      the toxicity of ingredients or specific situations in which energy drinks are
      used such as ingestion in combination with alcohol. Although the issue of taurine
      induced toxic encephalopathy has been addressed, it is likely that the risk of
      taurine toxicity after energy drink consumption remains low. However, whether the
      prolonged use of energy drinks providing more than 3g taurine daily remains to be
      examined in the future. The consumption of energy drinks may increase the risk
      for caffeine overdose and toxicity in children and teenagers. The practice of
      consuming great amounts of energy drink with alcohol is considered by many
      teenagers and students a primary locus to socialize and to meet people. This
      pattern of energy drink consumption explains the enhanced risk of both caffeine
      and alcohol toxicity in youths. Twenty five to 40% of young people report
      consumption of energy drink with alcohol while partying. Consumption of energy
      drinks with alcohol during heavy episodic drinking is at risk of serious injury,
      sexual assault, drunk driving, and death. However, even after adjusting for
      alcohol consumption, students who consume alcohol mixed with energy drinks had
      dramatically higher rates of serious alcohol-related consequences. It has been
      reported that the subjective perceptions of some symptoms of alcohol intoxication
      are less intense after the combined ingestion of the alcohol plus energy drink;
      however, these effects are not detected in objective measures of motor
      coordination and visual reaction time.

PMID- 20926267
TI  - [Alcopops: systemic and dental consequences].
AB  - Alcopops are highly-sweetened premixed spirit-based drinks. Ready to drink and
      sold in small bottles, it contains between 3 and 5 % alcohol by volume, sugars,
      citric and malic acid with a pH around 3. Their success is attributed to the fact
      that spirits are more palatable and better tasting with a fruity flavour, similar
      to non alcoholic beverages. Especially aimed at female teenagers in search for
      the alcohol effect while disliking its strong taste, it has been sold in Europe
      for 15 years. So called "designer drinks" are often consumed during the weekend,
      binge-drinked with some friends. The frequent consumption has severe consequences
      on general health, which includes body overweight due to the amount of sugar, and
      alcohol-related consequences of utmost importance considering consumer's young
      age. Moreover, alcopops may introduce to the consumption of alcohol and induce
      addiction. Consequences on oral health may include dental erosion. Erosion is a
      premature loss of mineralized tissues (enamel and dentin), due to the contact
      with acids. The low pH of these drinks and the increased risk of vomiting because
      of an excessive alcohol intake could potentially lead to substantial damage to
      the teeth. The treatment depends on the erosion stage. The medical professionals
      should be aware of the possible implications relating to alcopops' consumption.
      Some preventive advices can be given to the teenagers and to their parents:
      reduce acids consumptions, do not brush the teeth immediately after an acid drink
      and regularly visit a dentist.

PMID- 20926268
TI  - Tumour shrinkage and contour change during radiotherapy increase the dose to
      organs at risk but not the target volumes for head and neck cancer patients
      treated on the TomoTherapy HiArtTM system.
AB  - AIMS: To quantify the changes in contours of the target and organs at risk and
      the differences between planned and delivered doses to the target and organs at
      risk during the course of radiotherapy in head and neck cancer patients treated
      with intensity-modulated radiotherapy on the TomoTherapy HiArtTM system.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Five patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and
      neck treated with radical chemoradiotherapy using the TomoTherapy HiArt system
      were included in the study. The target volumes were treated to three different
      dose levels depending on the level of clinical risk for harbouring disease.
      Patient positions were assessed daily with megavoltage computed tomography (MVCT)
      and positional correction made before each treatment when necessary. MVCTs were
      superimposed on to the planning kilovoltage computed tomography images for each
      patient and target volumes and organ at risk volumes were re-outlined on MVCT
      images. Doses to clinical target volumes and organs at risk were recalculated to
      show the actual delivered doses. RESULTS: There was shrinkage in the volume of
      the parotid glands during treatment in all cases. The mean volume reduction in
      the ipsilateral parotid gland was more marked at 30.2%, compared with the
      contralateral parotid glands. However, the mean percentage dose per fraction
      increase was higher in the contralateral parotid glands at 24%, compared with the
      ipsilateral parotids. The calculated doses were higher than the planned doses in
      all CTV-54, CTV-60 and CTV-68, but the mean dose differences were modest, in the
      range 1.3-2.4%. CONCLUSIONS: We have shown that there were considerable changes
      in the volume and dose to the parotids during treatment. The changes in volume
      and dose to the clinical target volume were more modest in comparison. Adaptive
      radiotherapy planning can be helpful in improving the dose to the parotid glands.
      However, its role in the optimisation of the dosage to the clinical target volume
      is less likely to result in a significant clinical benefit.

PMID- 20926269
TI  - Skeletal muscle choristoma in the lung of a female Sprague-Dawley rat: a case
      report.
AB  - In this report we describe a choristoma in the lung of a female placebo rat. The
      lesion was observed microscopically in the central part of the left lung lobe and
      was characterized by a nodule consisting of well-differentiated skeletal muscle
      cells. The muscle fibers were haphazardly organized giving the nodule a poorly
      demarcated border. Choristoma is a very rare lesion.

PMID- 20926270
TI  - The aryl hydrocarbon receptor: fine-tuning the immune-response.
AB  - Triggers involved in the development of an autoimmune disease, and those that are
      part of determining its level of severity, are a major focus of current
      investigative efforts. However, factors that increase the risk to disease may not
      be similar to those that determine its severity or its pace of progression. The
      aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) has been highlighted as having a potential
      regulatory role in these processes. Here we describe the recent findings of the
      possible involvement of AhR in the initiation and inhibition of immune responses.

PMID- 20926271
TI  - Efficacy of intravenous immunoglobulin for small fiber neuropathy associated with
      sarcoidosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Small fiber neuropathy (SFN) is commonly associated with sarcoidosis
      and can cause significant morbidity to afflicted patients. The appropriate
      treatment of this condition, when associated with sarcoidosis, is not well
      established. METHODS: Descriptive case series of three patients with sarcoidosis
      and SFN. The presenting clinical features, skin biopsy results, autonomic reflex
      screen and quantitative sudomotor axon reflex testing (QSART) findings, and
      response to therapy are delineated. RESULTS: We describe three patients with
      biopsy-proven sarcoidosis who developed intractable neuropathic pain and/or
      symptoms related to associated autonomic dysfunction despite treatment with
      various immunosuppressive medications and narcotic analgesics. QSART showed
      evidence of a postganglionic sudomotor abnormality in one patient and was normal
      in the other two. Skin biopsy findings were abnormal, demonstrating a non-length
      dependent sensory SFN in all three patients. Painful neuropathic symptoms, as
      well as symptoms related to dysautonomia from SFN responded significantly to
      treatment with intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG). CONCLUSION: IVIG appears to be
      effective in relieving symptoms from SFN associated with sarcoidosis, suggesting
      an underlying immune mechanism. Larger prospective, controlled studies would be
      needed to confirm this response to IVIG and to further elucidate the underlying
      pathobiology behind this association with sarcoidosis.

PMID- 20926272
TI  - The impact of gas exchange measurement during exercise in pulmonary sarcoidosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pulmonary sarcoidosis shows a remarkable heterogeneity of phenotypes
      ranging from bihilar lymphadenopathy to progressive fibrosis. Individual disease
      assessment is demanding and requires sensible, practical measures. We tested
      whether gas exchange measurements during exercise reflects disease activity and
      clinical course in sarcoidosis. METHODS: In 149 patients with proven pulmonary
      sarcoidosis the alveolar-arterial oxygen pressure gradient (P(A-a)O(2)) during
      exercise was assessed and compared with chest X-ray typing, pulmonary function,
      single breath-diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide (DL(CO)), serological
      markers, cell composition of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) and clinical
      course. Patients were categorized according to thresholds of P(A-a)O(2) during
      exercise. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Chest X-ray typing, pulmonary function,
      DL(CO) and the need for immunosuppressive treatment differed between the disease
      categories based on P(A-a)O(2) during exercise (p < 0.0001 each). Patients with
      an impairment of gas exchange during exercise also showed elevated levels of
      neopterin (p = 0.002) and higher percentages of neutrophils (p = 0.013) and
      eosinophils (p < 0.0001) in BALF. Multivariate regression analysis showed that
      forced vital capacity (FVC) (p = 0.009) and P(A-a)O(2) during exercise (p <
      0.0001) were independently associated with a prolonged need for immunosuppressive
      treatment (>1 year), but not DL(CO). About 50% (n = 75) of the study population
      showed a normal spirometry. Even in this subgroup 23% had an impaired gas
      exchange during exercise, which correlated with chest X-ray types (p < 0.0001)
      and the need for immunosuppressive treatment (p < 0.005). CONCLUSIONS: Impaired
      gas exchange during exercise reflects disease activity and its extent and is
      associated with a prolonged need for immunosuppressive treatment during follow-up
      in patients with pulmonary sarcoidosis.

PMID- 20926273
TI  - Reply to: Kelly et al. Alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency.

PMID- 20926274
TI  - Reducing H2S production by O2 feedback control during large-scale sewage sludge
      composting.
AB  - Hydrogen sulfide (H(2)S) production patterns and the influence of oxygen (O(2))
      concentration were studied based on a well operated composting plant. A real
      time, online multi-gas detection system was applied to monitor the concentrations
      of H(2)S and O(2) in the pile during composting. The results indicate that H(2)S
      was mainly produced during the early stage of composting, especially during the
      first 40 h. Lack of available O(2) was the main reason for H(2)S production.
      Maintaining the O(2) concentration higher than 14% in the pile could reduce H(2)S
      production. This study suggests that shortening the interval between aeration or
      aerating continuously to maintain a high O(2) concentration in the pile was an
      effective strategy for restraining H(2)S production in sewage sludge composting.

PMID- 20926275
TI  - Urchinlike MnO2 nanoparticles for the direct electrochemistry of hemoglobin with
      carbon ionic liquid electrode.
AB  - In this paper an urchinlike MnO(2) nanoparticle was synthesized by hydrothermal
      method and applied to the protein electrochemistry for the first time. By using a
      carbon ionic liquid electrode (CILE) as the basal electrode, hemoglobin (Hb) was
      immobilized on the surface of CILE with chitosan (CTS) and MnO(2) nanoparticle
      composite materials. Spectroscopic results indicated that Hb molecules retained
      its native structure in the composite film. A pair of well-defined redox peaks
      appeared on the cyclic voltammogram with the formal peak potential as -0.180 V
      (vs. SCE), which indicated that direct electron transfer of Hb was realized on
      the modified electrode. The result can be attributed to the specific
      characteristic of MnO(2) nanoparticle and the advantages of CILE, which
      facilitated the electron transfer rate. The fabricated CTS-MnO(2)-Hb/CILE showed
      good electrocatalytic ability to the reduction of trichloroacetic acid (TCA).
      Under the optimal conditions the catalytic current was in linear to TCA
      concentration in the range from 0.5 to 16.0 mmol L(-1) with the detection limit
      calculated as 0.167 mmol L(-1) (3sigma). The result indicated that urchinlike
      MnO(2) nanoparticle had the potential application in the third generation
      electrochemical biosensors.

PMID- 20926276
TI  - Rapid nested-PCR for tyrosinase gene detection on chip.
AB  - The availability of non-invasive, fast and sensitive technologies for detection
      of circulating cancer cells is still a critical need of clinical oncology,
      particularly for diagnosis of aggressive and highly metastatic tumors, like
      malignant melanoma. Here we present the first nested polymerase chain reaction
      process carried out by a microfabricated, hybrid plastic-glass microfluidic chip
      on the tyrosinase gene, a predictive marker for melanoma diagnosis. The device is
      a hybrid system consisting of a glass microchannel embedded in an elastomeric
      matrix, and operating in flow-oscillating modality on a droplet of biological
      sample. The convection heat transfer and the temperature distribution inside the
      carrier fluid in the device are investigated. The oil responds to temperature
      changes with a characteristic time around 53 s, and exhibits three different
      thermal gradients along the capillary, with temperature variations below 4
      degrees C in correspondence of heater electrodes. The sample heating/cooling
      rates in the chip are as high as 16 degrees C/s, allowing rapid processes. The
      nested polymerase chain reaction process is performed in less than 50 min, namely
      more than four times faster than in a standard thermocycler. The rapidity of the
      analysis method, combined with the simple and low-cost fabrication, reduced
      sample evaporation, and flexibility of the overall microfluidic platform, make it
      promising for the detection of events of tumor spreading.

PMID- 20926277
TI  - Highly reproducible immunoassay of cancer markers on a gold-patterned microarray
      chip using surface-enhanced Raman scattering imaging.
AB  - This paper reports a highly reproducible immunoassay of cancer markers using
      surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) imaging. SERS is a highly sensitive
      detection method but it is limited in its ability to achieve reproducible signal
      enhancement because of the difficulty with precisely controlling the uniform
      distribution of hot junctions. Consequently, inconsistent enhancement prevents
      the wide exploitation of SERS detection as a bio-detection tool for quantitative
      analysis. To resolve this problem, we explored the use of a SERS imaging-based
      immunoassay. For this purpose, Raman reporter-labeled hollow gold nanospheres
      (HGNs), were manufactured and antibodies were immobilized onto their surfaces for
      targeting specific antigens. After the formation of sandwich immunocomplexes
      using these functional HGNs on the surfaces of gold patterned wells, the SERS
      mapping images were measured. For target protein markers, 12*9 pixels were imaged
      using a Raman mapping technique in the 0-10(-4) g/mL concentration range, and the
      SERS signals for 66 pixels were averaged. Here, the SERS imaging-based assay
      shows much better correlations between concentration and intensity than does the
      conventional point-based assay. The limits of detection were determined to be 0.1
      pg/mL and 1.0 pg/mL for angiogenin (ANG) and alpha-fetoprotein (AFP),
      respectively. This detection sensitivity is increased by three or four orders of
      magnitude over that of conventional ELISA method. The detectable dynamic range
      for SERS imaging (10(-4)-10(-12) g/mL) is also much wider than that for ELISA
      (10(-6)-10(-9) g/mL).

PMID- 20926278
TI  - Improving immunosensor performances using an acoustic mixer on droplet
      microarray.
AB  - A major drawback of protein microarrays is the lack of control of ligand
      immobilization at the surface of the chip which limits their performances and
      thus their impacts in in vitro diagnosis. To improve antibody (Ab) grafting
      during the spotting process on commercialized gold SPRi chips, we propose to
      produce a chaotic flow in every spotted droplet, by using an acoustic field, in
      order to disrupt the steady state of the reaction of Ab grafting. Our results
      show that acoustic mixing during Ab binding at the biochips surface increases
      their biorecognition performances of a mean factor of 2.7 in comparison with Ab
      layer grafted in a passive mode. Moreover, it increases statistically the
      homogeneity of the response over all the surface of the chips.

PMID- 20926279
TI  - HDR imaging evaluation of a NT-proBNP test with a mobile phone.
AB  - The determination of NT-proBNP levels is key for the monitoring of patients with
      diagnosed heart failure and it is a routine measurement typically performed at
      health care centers, which would benefit from decentralized alternatives. Here we
      investigate the quantitative evaluation of a well-established NT-proBNP test
      using a standard mobile phone (Nokia 6720) as measuring platform rather than a
      dedicated instrument. A Java ME software developed for this application controls
      the illumination and imaging of the proBNP test under defined time intervals,
      which enables the composition of multi-exposure sets that are processed as high
      dynamic range (HDR) images for contrast enhancement. The results show that HDR
      processing significantly increases the sensitivity and resolution of the
      technique achieving a performance within the diagnostics range. These results
      demonstrate the feasibility to exploit a ubiquitous device to decentralize the
      evaluation of a routine test and identify key processing alternatives to bring
      the performance of such systems within the diagnostics range.

PMID- 20926280
TI  - Gold nanoparticles-decorated amine-terminated poly(amidoamine) dendrimer for
      sensitive electrochemical immunoassay of brevetoxins in food samples.
AB  - A sensitive electrochemical immunosensor for the fast screening of brevetoxin B
      (BTX-2) in food samples was developed by means of immobilizing BTX-2-bovine serum
      albumin conjugate (BTX-2-BSA) on the gold nanoparticles-decorated amine
      terminated poly(amidoamine) dendrimers (AuNP-PAADs). The presence of gold
      nanoparticles greatly improved the conductivity of the PAADs, and three
      dimensional PAADs increased the surface coverage of the biomolecules on the
      electrode. Under optimal conditions, three types of immunosensor, i.e. with
      AuNPs, PAADs, or AuNP-PAADs, were used for the determination of BTX-2 in a
      competitive-type immunoassay format using horseradish peroxidase-labeled anti-BTX
      antibodies (HRP-anti-BTX-2) as trace in the H(2)O(2)-o-phenylenediamine (o-PD)
      system. A low detection limit (LOD) of 0.01 ng/mL and a wide dynamic working
      linear range of 0.03-8 ng/mL BTX-2 using AuNP-PAADs as matrices were obtained in
      comparison with those of only using AuNP or PAADs. Intra-batch assay precision
      was substantially improved by resorting to the AuNP-PAADs manifold. The proposed
      method features unbiased identification of negative (blank) and positive samples.
      No significant differences were encountered in the analysis of the spiking real
      samples between the electrochemical immunosensor and liquid chromatography for
      the determination of BTX-2. Importantly, this method provided a biocompatible
      immobilization and a promising immunosensing platform for analytes with small
      molecules in the analysis and detection of food safety.

PMID- 20926281
TI  - Nanostructured digital microfluidics for enhanced surface plasmon resonance
      imaging.
AB  - The advances in genomics and proteomics have unveiled an exhaustive catalogue of
      biomarkers that can potentially be used as diagnostic and prognostic indicators
      of genetic and infectious diseases. Current thrust in biosensor development is
      towards rapid, real-time, label-free and highly sensitive detection of the
      indicative biomarkers. While surface plasmon resonance imaging (SPRi) biosensors
      could potentially be the best suited candidate for biomarker-based diagnosis,
      important milestones need to be reached. Commercially available SPRi
      instrumentation is currently limited by the flow-cell technology to serial-sample
      processing and has limited sensitivity for the detection of markers present at
      low concentration. In this paper, we have implemented an approach to enhance
      sample handling and increase the sensitivity of the SPRi detection technique. We
      have developed a digital microfluidic platform with an integrated nanostructured
      biosensor interface that allows for rapid, ultra-low volume, sensitive, and
      automated on-chip SPRi detection of DNA hybridization reactions. Through the
      exploitation of electromagnetic properties of nanofabricated periodic gold
      nanoposts, SPRi signal was increased by 200% with the estimated limit of
      detection of 500 pM (90 attomoles). Using the versatile fluidic manipulation
      provided by the digital microfluidics, rapid and parallel target identification
      was achieved on multiple array elements within 1 min using 180 nL sample volume.
      By delivering multiple target analytes in individually addressable low volume
      droplets, without external pumps and fluidic interconnects, the overall assay
      time, cost and complexity was reduced. The proposed platform allows extreme
      versatility in the manipulation of precious low volume samples which makes this
      technology very suitable for diagnostic applications.

PMID- 20926282
TI  - Size-controllable quartz nanostructure for signal enhancement of DNA chip.
AB  - A mask-free, cost-effective dry-etching method for the fabrication of height- and
      spacing-controlled, pillar-like nanostructures was established in order to detect
      DNA molecules. The height and spacing of the quartz nanostructure were regulated
      by successive O(2) and CF(4) reactive ion etching times. The height and spacing
      of the nanostructures were tuned between 118 and 269 nm and between 107 and 161
      nm, respectively. Probe DNA was immobilized on the structure and hybridized with
      fluorescently-labeled target DNA. Increases in the height and spacing of the
      nanopillar structure positively correlated with the fluorescence intensity of
      bound DNA. Usage of the nanostructure increased the DNA detection limit by up to
      100-fold.

PMID- 20926284
TI  - Protein-based hybrid catalysts--design and evolution.
AB  - Artificial metalloenzymes result from the introduction of a catalytically
      competent non-native metal cofactor within a protein environment. In the present
      contribution, we summarize the recent achievements in the design and the
      optimization of such protein-based hybrid catalysts, with an emphasis on
      enantioselective transformations. The second part outlines the milestones
      required to achieve en masse production, screening and directed evolution of
      artificial metalloenzymes. In the spirit of Darwinian evolution, this will allow
      the full potential of such protein-based hybrid catalysts to be fully unraveled,
      thus complementing both homogeneous and enzymatic catalysis.

PMID- 20926283
TI  - Strong cation exchange (SCX) based analytical methods for the targeted analysis
      of protein post-translational modifications.
AB  - The multidimensional combination of strong cation exchange (SCX) chromatography
      and reversed phase chromatography has emerged as a powerful approach to separate
      peptides originating from complex samples such as digested cellular lysates or
      tissues before analysis by mass spectrometry, enabling the identification of over
      10,000s of peptides and thousands of proteins in a single sample. Although, such
      multidimensional chromatography approaches are powerful, the in-depth analysis of
      protein post-translational modifications still requires additional sample
      preparation steps, involving the specific enrichment of peptides displaying the
      targeted modification. Here, we describe how in particular SCX chromatography can
      be used for the targeted analysis of important post-translational modifications,
      such as phosphorylation and N-terminal acetylation. Compared to other methods,
      SCX is less labor-intensive and more robust, and therefore likely more easily
      adaptable to main-stream research laboratories.

PMID- 20926285
TI  - Endoscopic plantar fascia release, calcaneal drilling and calcaneal spur removal
      for management of painful heel syndrome.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The pathogenesis of painful heel syndrome is multifactorial including
      plantar fasciitis, increased intra-osseous pressure of the os calcis, calcaneal
      periostitis and presence of calcaneal spur. The currently used endoscopic
      treatment of painful heel syndromes involves endoscopic plantar fascia release
      alone without addressing other pathological changes. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the
      clinical outcome of endoscopic plantar fascia release, calcaneal drilling and
      calcaneal spur removal. METHODS: The study was conducted on 22 cases/24 feet with
      idiopathic painful heel syndrome resistant to conservative treatment. All cases
      were treated by plantar fasciotomy; calcaneal drilling and calcaneal spur removal
      using a modified cannula trocar system. Evaluation of pain was done using VAS and
      functional evaluation was done using the Modified Mayo Scoring System for Plantar
      Fasciotomy. Also patient's satisfaction was evaluated by direct questionnaire.
      RESULTS: There was statistically significant improvement in the mean VAS from
      82.81 (+/-7.8 std) preoperative to 6.63 (+/-2.75 std) and the Mayo score form
      7.05 (+/-3.67 std) preoperative to 87.5 (+/-4.81 std) at 2 years follow up
      (P<0.05). The satisfaction rate was 85% with no major complications. CONCLUSION:
      Endoscopic plantar fascia release with calcaneal drilling and calcaneal spur
      removal has high success rate and patient's satisfaction rate when compared to
      published reports on isolated endoscopic plantar release.

PMID- 20926286
TI  - Genomics and systems approaches in the mammalian circadian clock.
AB  - The circadian clock is an endogenous oscillator that regulates daily rhythms in
      behavior and physiology. In recent years, systems biology and genomics approaches
      re-shaped our view of the clock. Our understanding of outputs that regulate
      behavior and physiology has been enhanced through gene expression profiling and
      proteomic analyses. Systems approaches uncovered underlying principles of
      transcriptional regulation and robustness of the oscillator through perturbation
      analysis and synthetic methods. Finally, new clock components and modifiers were
      identified through cell-based screening efforts and proteomics.

PMID- 20926287
TI  - Getting ready to move: transmitted information in the corticospinal pathway
      during preparation for movement.
AB  - Corticospinal interactions are considered to play a key role in executing
      voluntary movements. Nonetheless several different studies have shown directly
      and indirectly that these interactions take place long before movement starts,
      when preparation for forthcoming movements dominates. When motor-related
      parameters are continuously processed in several premotor cortical sites,
      segmental circuitry is directly exposed to this processing via descending
      pathways which originate from these sites in parallel to descending fibers that
      derive from primary motor cortex. Recent studies have highlighted the functional
      role of these interactions in priming downstream elements for the ensuing motor
      actions. Time-resolved analysis has further emphasized the dynamic properties of
      pre-movement preparatory activity.

PMID- 20926288
TI  - Localisation of phosphorylated mTOR expression is critical to tumour progression
      and outcomes in patients with endometrial cancer.
AB  - Correlations between mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) expression, and
      clinicopathological features, outcome and Akt expression in endometrial
      endometrioid adenocarcinoma (EEC) were investigated. Tumour samples were obtained
      from 82 patients with EEC who had undergone hysterectomy, and phosphorylated mTOR
      (p-mTOR) and Akt (p-Akt) expression in the cytoplasm and nucleus was analysed by
      immunohistochemical staining. Nuclear p-mTOR was significantly elevated in poorly
      differentiated tumours and positively correlated with lymph node involvement (P =
      0.05). Nuclear p-mTOR expression was associated with significantly shorter
      relapse-free survival (RFS) (P<0.01) and slightly shorter overall survival (OS)
      (P = 0.08). Cytoplasmic expression of p-mTOR was not correlated with any
      clinicopathological factors. Although not significant, cytoplasmic p-mTOR
      expression was associated with shorter PFS and OS (P = 0.09, P = 0.283,
      respectively). Neither cytoplasmic nor nuclear p-Akt expression was associated
      with clinicopathological factors or with survival. Localisation of p-mTOR may be
      critical for tumour progression and outcomes in patients with EEC.

PMID- 20926289
TI  - Structure, morphology and thermal characteristics of banana nano fibers obtained
      by steam explosion.
AB  - In this work, cellulose nanofibers were extracted from banana fibers via a steam
      explosion technique. The chemical composition, morphology and thermal properties
      of the nanofibers were characterized to investigate their suitability for use in
      bio-based composite material applications. Chemical characterization of the
      banana fibers confirmed that the cellulose content was increased from 64% to 95%
      due to the application of alkali and acid treatments. Assessment of fiber
      chemical composition before and after chemical treatment showed evidence for the
      removal of non-cellulosic constituents such as hemicelluloses and lignin that
      occurred during steam explosion, bleaching and acid treatments. Surface
      morphological studies using SEM and AFM revealed that there was a reduction in
      fiber diameter during steam explosion followed by acid treatments. Percentage
      yield and aspect ratio of the nanofiber obtained by this technique is found to be
      very high in comparison with other conventional methods. TGA and DSC results
      showed that the developed nanofibers exhibit enhanced thermal properties over the
      untreated fibers.

PMID- 20926290
TI  - Bacterial transformation and biodegradation processes simulation in horizontal
      subsurface flow constructed wetlands using CWM1-RETRASO.
AB  - The performance and reliability of the CWM1-RETRASO model for simulating
      processes in horizontal subsurface flow constructed wetlands (HSSF CWs) and the
      relative contribution of different microbial reactions to organic matter (COD)
      removal in a HSSF CW treating urban wastewater were evaluated. Various different
      approaches with diverse influent configurations were simulated. According to the
      simulations, anaerobic processes were more widespread in the simulated wetland
      and contributed to a higher COD removal rate [72-79%] than anoxic [0-1%] and
      aerobic reactions [20-27%] did. In all the cases tested, the reaction that most
      contributed to COD removal was methanogenesis [58-73%]. All results provided by
      the model were in consonance with literature and experimental field observations,
      suggesting a good performance and reliability of CWM1-RETRASO. According to the
      good simulation predictions, CWM1-RETRASO is the first mechanistic model able to
      successfully simulate the processes described by the CWM1 model in HSSF CWs.

PMID- 20926292
TI  - Comparative study of cellulose waste versus organic waste as substrate in a
      sulfate reducing bioreactor.
AB  - The biodegradability and comparative effectiveness in treatment of acid mine
      drainage of ten locally available organic waste materials were examined. pH of
      AMD increased from 2.70 to 6.25, 7.10 and 7.50 with buffalo, cow and goat manures
      whereas cellulosic wastes increased the pH within the range of 4.83-5.32 in
      laboratory scale single substrate bioreactors. Significant reduction was observed
      in Eh, acidity and sulfate with manures in treated AMD. Maximum metal removal
      efficiency was 99.3%, 99.9%, 99.8%, 99.1%, 99.1%, and 73.8% for Fe, Cu, Zn, Ni,
      Co and Mn in maximum retention period of 10 days. The highest efficiency of metal
      removal was observed in bioreactors with manures as single substrate. The
      effectiveness of substrate depends on its biodegradation ability, the results
      with cellulosic waste indicates it may need more than 10 days to biodegrade.
      Biodegradability of organic waste was evaluated according to COD/SO(4)(2-) and
      C/N ratio and the ratios of 0.48-0.57 and 22.22-23.00 respectively were adequate
      parameters for activity of sulfate reducing bacteria and pollutant removal
      efficiency.

PMID- 20926291
TI  - Effect of aspartate and glutamate on the fate of enhanced biological phosphorus
      removal process and microbial community structure.
AB  - This study investigated the fate of enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR)
      and changes in microbial speciation in a sequencing batch reactor (SBR) fed with
      aspartate and glutamate. It involved SBR operation for 288 days, batch tests for
      observation of metabolic functions together with microscopic and phylogenetic
      analyses. Polyphosphate accumulating organisms (PAOs) were observed in abundance
      with complete removal of phosphorus. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH)
      combined with 4',6-dia-midino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) staining confirmed the
      accumulation of polyphosphate by Rhodocyclus-related and Actinobacterial PAOs.
      Aspartate seemed to favor the competitive growth of Rhodocyclus-related PAOs
      since EBPR population used the common biochemical pathways followed by
      Rhodocyclus-related PAOs in the aspartate fed batch tests. In the glutamate fed
      batch reactors, however, Actinobacterial PAOs appeared to be competitively
      selected which explains the lower levels of PHA generation. Even though
      operational conditions did not change, effective EBPR could not be maintained
      during the latter part of the study.

PMID- 20926293
TI  - Chalcone HTMC causes in vitro selective cytotoxicity, cell-cycle G1 phase arrest
      through p53-dependent pathway in human lung adenocarcinoma A549 cells, and in
      vivo tumor growth suppression.
AB  - The present Letter identified 2'-hydroxy-2,3,4',6'-tetramethoxychalcone (HTMC) as
      a potent in vitro cytotoxic agent with selective activity against cell lines
      derived from human lung cancer. In A549 lung adenocarcinoma cells, HTMC caused G1
      phase cell-cycle arrest. HTMC treatment also led to an inhibition of cell-cycle
      regulatory proteins phosphorylation of cdc2 (Tyr(15) and Tyr(161)) and Rb
      (Ser(795) and Ser(807/811)), which was accompanied by the accumulation of tumor
      suppressor genes p53 and p21. In addition, in vivo data demonstrated that HTMC
      act as a tumor growth suppressing agent.

PMID- 20926294
TI  - 3-Urea-1-(phenylmethyl)-pyridones as novel, potent, and selective EP3 receptor
      antagonists.
AB  - A series of 3-urea-1-(phenylmethyl)-pyridones was discovered as novel EP(3)
      antagonists via high-throughput screening and subsequent optimization. The
      synthesis, structure-activity relationships, and optimization of the initial hit
      that resulted in potent and selective EP(3) receptor antagonists such as 11g are
      described.

PMID- 20926295
TI  - Range of motion and repeatability of knee kinematics for 11 clinically relevant
      motor tasks.
AB  - Standard gait analysis reports knee joint rotations in the three anatomical
      planes without addressing their different levels of reliability. Most clinical
      studies also restrict analysis to knee flexion-extension, because knee abduction
      adduction and axial rotation are small with respect to the corresponding amount
      of measurement artefact. This study analyses a set of 11 motor tasks, in order to
      identify those that are adequately repeatable and that can induce greater motion
      at the knee than walking. Ten volunteers (mean +/- SD age: 29 +/- 9 years) each
      underwent three motion analysis sessions on different days with a standard gait
      analysis system and protocol. In each session they performed normal walking,
      walking with sidestep and crossover turns, ascent onto and descent off a step,
      descent with sidestep and crossover turns, chair rise, mild and deep squats, and
      lunge. Range and repeatability of motions in the three anatomical planes were
      compared by ANOVA. The sidestep turns showed a range of axial rotation
      significantly larger than that in walking (about 8 degrees ), while maintaining
      similar levels of repeatability. Ascent, chair rise, squat, and lunge showed
      greater flexion ranges than walking; among these, ascent was the most repeatable.
      The results show that turning increases knee axial rotation in young subjects
      significantly. Further, squats and lunges, currently of large interest in
      orthopaedics and sports research, have smaller repeatability, likely accounted
      for to the smaller constraints than in the traditional motor tasks.

PMID- 20926296
TI  - The microanatomical structure of the cistern of the lamina terminalis.
AB  - Microanatomical dissection was performed on 14 formalin-fixed human cadaveric
      head specimens to provide information relevant for surgical procedures involving
      the cistern of the lamina terminalis (LT). The cistern of the LT was located in
      the midline of the telencephalon and was tent-shaped. The superior wall was
      located between the septal areas bilaterally, the lateral walls leaned laterally
      downwards, the anterior wall was the integrated line of the bilateral
      leptomeninges, the posterior and the inferoposterior walls were composed of the
      LT, the inferior margin was the arachnoid membrane between the optic nerves, and
      the inferoanterior wall usually formed a recess in front of the optic chiasm. In
      summary, the shape of the cistern of the LT is relatively constant, which is
      helpful for predicting the direction of hemorrhage of an aneurysm of the anterior
      communicating artery; in distinguishing its neural, vascular, and fibrous
      contents; and guiding surgical procedures.

PMID- 20926297
TI  - Surgical management of large solid hemangioblastomas of the posterior fossa.
AB  - From January 2000 to January 2009, 15 patients presented with large solid
      hemangioblastomas of the posterior fossa; eight of these patients were also
      diagnosed with von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) disease. Diagnostic imaging showed large
      vascular lesions. All 15 patients underwent surgery through a suboccipital
      ipsilateral, modified far-lateral, suboccipital midline or suboccipital
      supracerebellar approach. Preoperative embolization was attempted in seven
      patients. Complete removal of the tumor was performed in all patients. An overall
      neurological improvement was observed in 11 of the 15 patients, corresponding to
      61.5%. During follow-up, six patients, all with VHL disease, developed
      recurrence. Two patients died of renal cell carcinoma after 1 year. Our favorable
      outcomes suggest that surgical resection is the optimal treatment for patients
      with large solid hemangioblastomas of the posterior fossa. With improved
      microsurgical techniques and a better understanding of the vascular pattern of
      this type of tumor, total microsurgical removal can be performed with low
      mortality.

PMID- 20926298
TI  - Living without 30nm chromatin fibers.
AB  - Eukaryotic genomes must be folded and compacted to fit within the restricted
      volume of the nucleus. According to the current paradigm, strings of nucleosomes,
      termed 10nm chromatin fibers, constitute the template of transcriptionally active
      genomic material. The majority of the genome is maintained in a silenced state
      through higher-order chromatin assemblies, based on the 30nm chromatin fiber,
      which excludes activating regulatory factors. New experimental approaches,
      however, including chromatin conformation capture and cryo-electron microscopy,
      call into question the in situ evidence for the 30nm chromatin fiber. We suggest
      that the organization of the genome based on 10nm chromatin fibers is sufficient
      to describe the complexities of nuclear organization and gene regulation.

PMID- 20926299
TI  - Quantification of the difference between 3D CT and plain radiograph for
      measurement of the position of medial unicompartmental knee replacements.
AB  - The aim of this study was to quantify the differences in measurements obtained
      from 3D Computed Tomography and plain radiograph, for the positioning of the
      tibial component of the Oxford unicompartmental knee replacement. Post-operative
      3D Computed Tomography data and plain radiographs (long antero-posterior (AP) and
      short lateral) were obtained for 28 knees of patients who had undergone medial
      unicompartmental knee replacement. Parameters of the orientation/positioning of
      the tibial component: Varus/valgus, posterior tibial slope and rotation were
      measured with both modalities. Bland-Altman plots were used to calculate the 1.96
      standard deviation limits of agreement (LOA) between imaging modalities. Intra
      class correlation was used to assess inter-method and inter-rater reliability
      (>0.81 = very good reliability). Radiographs were less reliable in all
      parameters, when compared with 3D CT (intra class correlation coefficients:
      tibial rotation 0.94 vs 0.96, varus/valgus 0.76 vs 0.94, and posterior tibial
      slope 0.82 vs 0.92). The LOA were -4.9 degrees  to 3.4 degrees  for varus/valgus
      (bias -0.7 degrees , one third >3 degrees  different); -4.9 degrees  to 0.1
      degrees  for posterior tibial slope (bias -2.4 degrees , one third >3 degrees 
      different); and -20.6 degrees  to 16.1 degrees  for rotation (bias -2.2 degrees ,
      one third >10 degrees  different). There was some disagreement between
      measurement by 3D Computed Tomography and plain radiograph for all three
      parameters of tibial component orientation, especially tibial rotation. This will
      be particularly relevant to research into the relationship between the accuracy
      of implant positioning/orientation and patient satisfaction/implant survival
      rates. This method offers a more reliable standard for the reporting of knee
      arthroplasty.

PMID- 20926300
TI  - Synthesis and evaluation of macrocyclic amino acid derivatives for tumor imaging
      by gallium-68 positron emission tomography.
AB  - (68)Ga PET imaging in clinical oncology represents a notable development because
      the availability of (68)Ga is not dependent on a cyclotron. Furthermore, labeled
      amino acid derivatives have been proven to be useful for the imaging many tumor
      types. In the present study, we synthesized beta-aminoalanine, gamma
      aminohomoalanine, and lysine conjugates of macrocyclic bifunctional chelating
      agents, such as, NOTA (1a-c) and DOTA (2a-c). The compounds produced were found
      to be potential useful as (68)Ga-PET imaging agents. In particular, they showed
      high tumor uptakes in vitro and in vivo, and had high labeling yields and
      excellent stabilities. The co-ordination chemistry of NOTA-monoamide compound 1a
      was studied by multinuclear NMR. In vitro studies showed that the synthesized
      compounds were taken up by cancer cells more than controls ((68)Ga-NOTA and
      (68)Ga-DOTA). Furthermore, in vivo studies showed that they have high tumor to
      muscle and tumor to blood ratios, and small-animal PET imaging revealed high
      tumor uptakes as compared with other organs, and high bladder activities,
      indicating rapid renal excretion. These results might motivate the use of (68)Ga
      amino acid PET for tumor diagnosis.

PMID- 20926301
TI  - Indapamide-like benzenesulfonamides as inhibitors of carbonic anhydrases I, II,
      VII, and XIII.
AB  - A series of novel 2-chloro-5-[(1-benzimidazolyl- and 2
      benzimidazolylsulfanyl)acetyl]benzene-sulfonamides were designed and synthesized.
      Their binding to recombinant human carbonic anhydrase (hCA) isozymes I, II, VII,
      and XIII was determined by isothermal titration calorimetry and thermal shift
      assay. The designed S-alkylated benzimidazole derivatives exhibited stronger
      binding than the indapamide-like N-alkylated benzimidazoles, with the K(d)
      reaching about 50-100 nM with drug-targeted hCAs VII and XIII. The cocrystal
      structures of selected compounds with hCA II were determined by X-ray
      crystallography, and structural features of the binding event were revealed.

PMID- 20926302
TI  - Structured illumination microscopy of autofluorescent aggregations in human
      tissue.
AB  - Sections from human eye tissue were analyzed with Structured Illumination
      Microscopy (SIM) using a specially designed microscope setup. In this microscope
      the structured illumination was generated with a Twyman-Green Interferometer.
      This SIM technique allowed us to acquire light-optical images of autofluorophore
      distributions in the tissue with previously unmatched optical resolution. In this
      work the unique setup of the microscope made possible the application of SIM with
      three different excitation wavelengths (488, 568 and 647 nm), thus enabling us to
      gather spectral information about the autofluorescence signal.

PMID- 20926303
TI  - Separation of 90Y from 90Sr by a solvent extraction method using N,N,N',N'
      tetraoctyl diglycolamide (TODGA) as the extractant.
AB  - The relative extraction efficiency of N,N,N',N'-tetraoctyl diglycolamide (TODGA)
      towards Y(3+) and Sr(2+) was investigated from HNO(3) as well as HCl medium. The
      separation factor (S.F.) values were found to be much higher in HCl medium as
      compared to those obtained from HNO(3) medium. Based on the high separation
      factor values obtained in the HCl media, a separation method for (90)Y from
      (90)Sr (containing (90)Y in secular equilibrium) has been developed in the
      present work. The purity of the separated (90)Y was ascertained from its decay
      profile and half-life measurements. The extracted species was determined to be
      Y(X)(3) . 3TODGA where X(-) is the nitrate or the chloride anion. The
      thermodynamic parameters were also determined and the two phase extraction
      constants (log K(ex)) were calculated. The extraction of Y(III) was highly
      exothermic and entropy destabilized and was equally favourable from both HNO(3)
      medium as well as HCl medium.

PMID- 20926304
TI  - A new and simple calibration-independent method for measuring the beam energy of
      a cyclotron.
AB  - This work recommends a new and simple-to-perform method for measuring the beam
      energy of an accelerator. The proposed method requires the irradiation of two
      monitor foils interspaced by an energy degrader. The primary advantage of the
      proposed method, which makes this method unique from previous energy evaluation
      strategies that employ the use of monitor foils, is that this method is
      independent of the detector efficiency calibration. This method was evaluated by
      performing proton activation of (nat)Cu foils using both a cyclotron and a tandem
      Van de Graaff accelerator. The monitor foil activities were read using a dose
      calibrator set to an arbitrary calibration setting. Excellent agreement was noted
      between the nominal and measured proton energies.

PMID- 20926305
TI  - Canna indica flower: New source of anthocyanins.
AB  - In this study the red flowers of Canna indica (Cannaceae) were extracted by using
      sonicator and isolation of anthocyanins have been carried out. Four anthocyanin
      pigments have been isolated apart from quercetin and lycopene. They are Cyanidin
      3-O-(6''-O-alpha-rhamnopyranosyl)-beta-glucopyranoside (1), Cyanidin-3-O-(6''-O
      alpha-rhamnopyranosyl)-beta-galactopyranoside (2), Cyanidin-3-O-beta
      glucopyranoside (3) and Cyanidin-O-beta-galactopyranoside (4). These compounds
      were isolated by using HPLC and their structures were subsequently determined on
      the basis of spectroscopic analyses, i.e., (1)H NMR, (13)C NMR, HMQC, HMBC, ESI
      MS, FTIR, UV-Visible etc. The isolated compounds showed good antioxidant activity
      thus makes it suitable for use in food coloration and as a nutraceutical. Thus it
      is a promising pigment source for food applications.

PMID- 20926306
TI  - Predictors of postoperative decline in quality of life after major lung
      resections.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Severe impairment in quality of life (QoL) is one of the major
      patients' fears about lung surgery. Its prediction can be valuable information
      for both patients and physicians. The objective of this study was to identify
      predictors of clinically relevant decline of the physical and emotional
      components of QoL after lung resection. METHODS: This is a prospective
      observational study on 172 consecutive patients submitted to lobectomy or
      pneumonectomy (2007-2008). QoL was assessed before and 3 months after operation
      through the administration of the Short Form 36v2 survey. The relevance of the
      perioperative changes in physical component summary (PCS) and mental component
      summary (MCS) scales was measured by the Cohen's effect size (mean change of the
      variable divided by its baseline standard deviation). An effect size >0.8 is
      regarded as large and clinically relevant. QoL changes were dichotomized
      according to this threshold. Logistic regression and bootstrap analyses were used
      to identify reliable predictors of large decline in PCS and MCS. RESULTS: A total
      of 48 patients (28%) had a large decline in the PCS scale and 26 (15%) in the MCS
      scale. Patients with a better preoperative physical functioning (p=0.0008) and
      bodily pain (p=0.048) scores and those with worse mental health (p=0.0007) scores
      were those at higher risk of a relevant physical deterioration. Patients with a
      lower predicted postoperative forced expiratory volume in 1s (ppoFEV1; p=0.04),
      higher preoperative scores of social functioning (p=0.02) and mental health
      (p=0.06) were those at higher risk of a relevant emotional deterioration. The
      following logistic equations were derived to calculate the risk of decline in
      physical or emotional components of QoL, respectively: risk of physical decline:
      lnR/(1+R): -11.6+0.19XPF, physical functioning+0.05XBP, bodily pain-0.05XMH,
      mental health; risk of emotional decline: ln R1/(1+R1): -8.06
      0.03XppoFEV1+0.11XSF+0.055XMH. CONCLUSIONS: A consistent proportion of patients
      undergoing lung resection exhibit an important postoperative worsening in their
      QoL. We were able to identify reliable risk factors and predictive equations
      estimating this decline. These findings may be used as selection criteria for
      efficacy trials on perioperative physical rehabilitation or psychological
      treatments, during preoperative counseling, in the surgical decision-making
      process and for selecting those patients who would benefit from physical and
      emotional supportive programs.

PMID- 20926307
TI  - UV-shielding property, photocatalytic activity and photocytotoxicity of ceria
      colloid solutions.
AB  - UV-shielding property, photocatalytic activity and cytotoxicity (including
      photocytotoxicity) of citrate-stabilized ceria colloid solutions were studied. It
      was established that UV-shielding property (namely, the sun protection factor,
      the critical absorption wavelength and the UVA/UVB-ratio) of ceria nanoparticles
      are as good as those of titanium dioxide and zinc oxide nanoparticles. It was
      further demonstrated that ceria nanoparticles possesses substantially lower
      photocatalytic activity, which additionally decreases upon decrease in ceria
      particle size. It was found that colloid ceria solutions are non-toxic to mouse
      fibroblasts (L929) and fibroblast-like cells of African Green monkey (VERO).
      Moreover, ceria nanoparticles are capable to protect these cells from UV
      irradiation-induced damage. It was proposed that nanocrystalline ceria could be
      used not only as UV-blocking material, but also as prophylactic and even
      therapeutic compound for sunburns treatment.

PMID- 20926308
TI  - Native IL-32 is released from intestinal epithelial cells via a non-classical
      secretory pathway as a membrane-associated protein.
AB  - Although IL-32 has been shown to be induced under various pathological
      conditions, a detailed understanding of native IL-32 intracellular distribution
      and mechanism of release from cells has not been reported. We examined the
      expression of IL-32 in the intestinal epithelial cell line HT-29 following
      TNFalpha and IFNgamma co-stimulation. The subcellular localization of induced IL
      32 was associated with the membrane of lipid droplet-like structures and vacuolar
      structures that co-localized with markers of endosomes and lysosomes. Prolonged
      co-stimulation resulted in cell death and appearance of IL-32 in the culture
      medium. IL-32 released from co-stimulated HT-29 cells was found in a detergent
      sensitive particulate fraction, and in a step density gradient the IL-32
      particulate was buoyant, suggesting association with a membrane-bound vesicle.
      Upon Triton X-114 partitioning, most of the IL-32 partitioned to the detergent
      phase, suggesting hydrophobic characteristics. When IL-32-containing vesicles
      were subjected to protease K treatment, a protease resistant ~12kDa fragment was
      generated from ~24kDa IL-32. We propose that under these conditions, native IL-32
      is released via a non-classical secretory route perhaps involving multi-vesicular
      bodies and exosomes. Demonstration of membrane association for both intracellular
      and released IL-32 suggests this unique cytokine may have a complex biosynthetic
      pathway and mechanism of action.

PMID- 20926309
TI  - Targeted ion parking for the quantitation of biotherapeutic proteins: concepts
      and preliminary data.
AB  - Targeted ion parking (or TIPing) is the first quantitative application of ion/ion
      reactions for mass spectrometry. In TIPing, intact biotherapeutic proteins are
      electrosprayed as intact molecules (no digestion) and, as expected, many multiply
      protonated species are produced (e.g., (M + 7H)(7+), (M + 8H)(8+), etc.). Several
      of these multiply charged species are selectively isolated using a quadrupole
      mass analyzer and then contained in a linear ion trap. The protein ions are then
      subjected to a proton-transfer reaction with a reagent anion. The ions undergo
      sequential charge reduction (e.g., to (M + 6H)(6+)) during a defined reaction
      period. Applying a low-amplitude waveform to the trap during this reaction time
      stops the ion/ion reaction at a chosen (and predicted) charge state for the
      protein. This funnels the analyte ions into a single channel with relatively high
      efficiency (>50% of reactant ion signal is converted into product ion signal)
      that can be used for quantitation. In TIPing, the target protein's molecular
      weight and charge state distribution are the only prerequisite knowledge
      required. This information can be acquired experimentally or can be easily
      predicted based upon amino acid sequences. Preliminary data for a biotherapeutic
      protein, a domain antibody, were collected using TIPing coupled online with
      liquid chromatography (LC-TIPing). The LC-TIPing data demonstrate a linear
      response for samples from 10-1000 ng/mL extracted from a complex plasma sample,
      demonstrating the analytical potential for TIPing.

PMID- 20926310
TI  - Maximal voluntary isometric contraction exercises: a methodological investigation
      in moderate knee osteoarthritis.
AB  - PURPOSE: The objectives were, (i) to determine whether differences exist in
      relative activation amplitudes for participants with asymptomatic knees and
      participants with moderate medial compartment knee osteoarthritis during a series
      of maximal effort contractions and (ii) to determine whether maximum activations
      occurred on similar exercises for both groups. SCOPE: Sixty-eight participants
      with asymptomatic knees and 68 participants with moderate medial compartment knee
      osteoarthritis completed eight standardized 3-s maximal voluntary isometric
      exercises. Maximal electromyographic amplitudes were identified for a 100 ms
      window from three quadriceps, two gastrocnemius and two hamstring muscle sites
      for each exercise. For each exercise, amplitudes were normalized to percent of
      the absolute maximum activation (%MVIC). Frequency counts for exercises eliciting
      absolute maximum amplitudes were recorded. Analysis of variance models determined
      exercise and group main effects and interactions in relative amplitudes (%MVIC)
      for each muscle. CONCLUSION: The exercises produced similar relative activation
      amplitudes between groups. The highest relative amplitude occurred for
      gastrocnemius during standing plantarflexion (86-93%MVIC), for the vasti during
      knee extension (45 degrees ) and (15 degrees ) (81-86%MVIC), for rectus femoris
      during knee extension (15 degrees ) (89%MVIC) and for hamstring muscles during
      knee flexion (15 degrees ) and prone knee flexion (55 degrees ) (81-94%MVIC). No
      single exercise elicited absolute maximum activation for every participant for
      each muscle, supporting the value of using an exercise series for normalization
      purposes.

PMID- 20926311
TI  - Optimal screw placement for base plate fixation in reverse total shoulder
      arthroplasty.
AB  - HYPOTHESIS: Scapular cortical thickness has not been fully characterized from the
      perspective of determining optimal screw placement for securing the glenoid base
      plate in reverse shoulder arthroplasty. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twelve fresh
      frozen cadaveric scapulae underwent high resolution CT scans with 3-dimensional
      reconstructions and wall thickness analysis. Digital base plates were positioned
      and virtual screws were placed according to 2 scenarios: A - intraosseous through
      the entire course and exits a "safe region" with no known neurovascular
      structures; B - may leave and re-enter the bone and penetrates the thickest
      cortical region accessible regardless of adjacent structures. RESULTS: For
      scenario A, the optimal screw configurations were: (superior screw) length = 35
      mm, 9 degrees  superior, 2 degrees  posterior; (inferior screw-A) length = 34 mm,
      16 degrees  inferior, 5 degrees  anterior; (inferior screw-B) length = 31 mm, 31
      inferior, 4 posterior; (posterior screw) length 19 mm, 29 degrees  inferior, 3
      degrees  anterior. For scenario B: (superior screw) length = 36 mm, 28 degrees 
      superior, 10 degrees  anterior; (inferior screw) length = 35 mm, 19 degrees 
      inferior, 4 degrees  anterior; (posterior screw) length 37 mm, 23 degrees 
      superior, 3 degrees  anterior. The anterior screw was consistent between
      scenarios A and B, averaged 29 mm in length and was directed 16 degrees  inferior
      and 14 degrees  posterior. CONCLUSION: Thicker cortical regions were present in
      the lateral aspect of the suprascapular notch, scapular spine base,
      anterior/superior aspect of inferior pillar and junction of glenoid neck and
      scapular spine. Regions with high cortical thickness were accessible for both
      scenarios except for the posterior screw in scenario A.

PMID- 20926312
TI  - Functional and radiographic long-term outcomes of hemiarthroplasty for proximal
      humeral fractures.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hemiarthroplasty is the preferred surgical procedure for 3- and 4
      part proximal humeral fractures. Our retrospective study examined functional and
      radiographic outcomes at 2- and 5-year follow-up in patients who received a
      hemiarthroplasty for 3- and 4-part proximal humeral fractures. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: Forty-seven consecutive patients of a single surgeon treated with a
      cemented shoulder hemiarthroplasty between 2000 and 2006 were followed up.
      Standard surgical technique was used in all cases. Postoperative radiographs were
      compared with radiographs at 2 and 5 years along with active range of motion and
      functional outcomes scores. RESULTS: Twenty-five patients were examined at 2
      years and twenty-two at 2 and 5 years. The mean age was 61 years. The mean
      acromiohumeral distance decreased from 10.3 mm postoperatively to 8.5 mm at 2
      years and 6.7 mm at 5 years (P <= .001). More patients had stem osteolysis and
      tuberosity reabsorption at 2 and 5 years compared with postoperatively (P = .016
      and P <= .001, respectively). The University of California, Los Angeles score
      decreased from 26.0 to 22.3 (P = .045); the Constant score decreased from 61.1 to
      50.1 (P = .01); the Simple Shoulder Test 12 score decreased from 7.7 to 6.2 (P =
      .018); and the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons score decreased from 70.4 to
      58.8 (P = .015). Pain scores increased from 2- to 5-year follow-up (P = .018).
      The range-of-motion measures changed little from the 2-to 5-year follow-up.
      CONCLUSIONS: Hemiarthroplasty has a high rate of long-term complications.
      Increases in acromiohumeral distance, stem osteolysis, and tuberosity
      reabsorption were observed between 2- and 5-year follow-up. Pain scores and
      functional outcomes worsened. No improvement in range of motion was observed.

PMID- 20926313
TI  - Deltoid compartment syndrome is a surgical emergency.

PMID- 20926314
TI  - Mechanical soft tissue property validation in tissue engineering using magnetic
      resonance imaging experimental research.
AB  - RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES: To perform magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans
      regarding material parameter and model validation in computational simulations of
      mechanical interaction of human soft-tissue with body-supporting devices,
      enhanced medical prognosis in pressure sore prophylaxis, and comfort optimization
      in automotive and aircraft seating. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In vivo human gluteal
      fat and passive muscle tissue material parameters of a volunteer evaluated via
      combined MRI numerical method and body-supporting foam material parameters
      employed in finite element (FE) simulations of tissue-support interaction were
      verified by a defined loading scenario using MRI. MRI of the loaded
      configurations were performed and compared with simulation results for
      displacement field information. RESULTS: Deformation of gluteal skin/fat and
      passive muscle-tissue and support material under interacting loading using
      numerical simulation complied with the MRI results. Accordance was found for
      deformed skin surface and internal fat-muscle tissue boundaries by superimposing
      experimental and numerical outputs. Further evidence of established through in
      vivo gluteal tissue parameters was thus provided and tissue material isotropy
      assumption was shown for use in simulated buttock loading interactions.
      Additionally, a new concept of FE model validation regarding non-MRI-sensitive
      materials such as polyurethane foam was introduced comprising peripheral surface
      visualization. CONCLUSION: Imaging techniques are essential in biomechanical
      modeling and provide key information regarding model validation and validity
      assessment.

PMID- 20926315
TI  - Comparison of different tumor response criteria in patients with hepatocellular
      carcinoma after systemic therapy with the multikinase inhibitor sorafenib.
AB  - RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to compare tumor changes in
      patients with hepatocellular carcinoma receiving sorafenib using evaluation
      criteria of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) and
      the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL) as opposed to the
      Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) version 1.1. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: Twenty-five patients with inoperable hepatocellular carcinoma receiving
      oral sorafenib underwent magnetic resonance imaging at baseline and follow-up
      every 8 weeks (range, 2-19 weeks; mean, 7.6 weeks). Data were evaluated
      retrospectively. Survey time until progression ranged from 5 to 102 weeks (mean,
      25.6 weeks), with a total of 54 target lesions being monitored. Additionally,
      evaluation of serum alpha-fetoprotein was performed at follow-up. RESULTS: The
      best response at follow-up using RECIST resulted in rates of 4% objective
      response (complete remission or partial remission), 24% (progressive disease),
      and 72% (stable disease). In contrast, AASLD and EASL criteria identified
      objective responses in 28% and 48%. Twenty percent of all patients classified as
      having progressive disease by RECIST were identified as having "pseudo"
      progression due to extensive necrosis. Eleven percent of patients classified as
      having stable disease by RECIST were disclosed as essentially progressive. AASLD
      area and AASLD diameter disclosed 36% and 40% of patients as having partial
      remission, respectively, whereas EASL criteria discovered only 24%. There was no
      significant correlation between serum alpha-fetoprotein progression and AASLD,
      EASL, or RECIST evaluation criteria. CONCLUSIONS: Response monitoring via
      functional criteria such as AASLD or EASL criteria is likely to more accurately
      reflect vital tumor burden in hepatocellular carcinoma compared to RECIST.

PMID- 20926316
TI  - An interactive web-based tool for detecting verification (work-up) bias in
      studies of the efficacy of diagnostic imaging.
AB  - RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES: Diagnostic tests are validated by comparison against a
      "gold standard" reference test. When the reference test is invasive or expensive,
      it may not be applied to all patients. This results in biased estimates of the
      sensitivity and specificity of the diagnostic test. This type of bias is called
      "verification bias" and is a common problem in imaging research. The purpose of
      this study was to create an interactive web-based tool to help detect the
      presence of prevalence of verification bias in data. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The
      web-based tool was written using well-documented and freely available open-source
      software (HTML, Apache, Ruby, and R). Our calculator is currently hosted on a Mac
      OS X server, but should run with minor changes on most other platforms. RESULTS:
      Our program applies user-supplied study data to generate a global sensitivity
      analysis plot containing noncorrected and corrected values of sensitivity and
      specificity and 95% confidence intervals for these estimates. Interpretation of
      the global sensitivity analysis (GSA) plot is relatively simple. Because the
      characteristic GSA "butterfly" plot contains all possible values of sensitivity
      and specificity, any indices lying outside of this butterfly are therefore
      incompatible with the data, confirming that they are biased. CONCLUSIONS: Our
      online calculator makes it easy for investigators to use global sensitivity
      analysis to demonstrate the presence of significant verification bias and to
      estimate bias-corrected values of sensitivity and specificity.

PMID- 20926317
TI  - Gd-EOB-DTPA enhanced micro-MR imaging of hepatic tumors in H-ras 12V transgenic
      mice.
AB  - RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES: The aims of this study were to evaluate the morphologic
      characteristics and growth pattern of hepatic tumors in H-ras 12V transgenic (TG)
      mice using a micro-magnetic resonance (MR) system and to assess the usefulness of
      gadolinium ethoxybenzyl diethylenetriamine penta-acetic acid (Gd-EOB-DTPA)
      enhancement for the detection of hepatic tumors in these mice. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: Hepatocellular carcinoma lines were established to allow insertion of
      the H-ras 12V transgene under the control of the albumin enhancer/promoter. Seven
      H-ras 12V TG mice and four wild-type mice were included in this study. The mice
      underwent various MR imaging examinations, including T1-weighted imaging
      (repetition time, 300 ms; echo time, 11 ms), Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced T1-weighted
      imaging (dose, 0.025 mmol/kg), and T2-weighted imaging (repetition time, 3500 ms;
      echo time, 36 ms), with a 4.7-T MR scanner, at 4, 6, 8, and 9 months of age. All
      mice were euthanized after the final MR imaging procedure, except for one TG
      mouse and two wild-type mice that were euthanized after MR imaging procedures at
      4 months of age. For imaging analysis, the tumor characteristics in each MR
      sequence, including tumor size, number, and signal intensity (SI), were recorded,
      and the contrast-to-noise ratio and contrast enhancement ratio were calculated to
      quantify the SI of the tumor. The MR images were correlated with the findings of
      histopathologic examinations. RESULTS: No tumors were detected in the four wild
      type mice. In the six TG mice, a total of 67 tumors were found in histopathologic
      specimens obtained at 9 months of age. Of the 67 tumors, 62 were detected on Gd
      EOB-DTPA-enhanced T1-weighted images with fat saturation. The majority of hepatic
      tumors showed high SI on T1-weighted images without fat saturation. The SI
      diminished on T1-weighted images with fat saturation. The tumor contrast-to-noise
      ratio for Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced T1-weighted imaging was significantly better than
      that for the other sequences. The tumors were histopathologically confirmed as
      hepatocellular adenomas (n = 32) and well-differentiated hepatocellular
      carcinomas (n = 35). CONCLUSIONS: Micro-MR imaging can reveal the characteristics
      of hepatic tumors in a live murine model. Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced T1-weighted
      imaging is helpful in the detection of hepatic tumors in H-ras 12V TG mice.

PMID- 20926318
TI  - Quantitative evaluation of the peripheral nerve blood perfusion with high
      frequency contrast-enhanced ultrasound.
AB  - RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES: The blood perfusion of peripheral nerves plays an
      important role in regeneration after nerve injury. Previous studies have shown
      that it is possible to quantitatively assess the blood perfusion of the tissue
      using contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS). The aim of this study was to evaluate
      the feasibility of CEUS for quantitative assessment of the blood perfusion of the
      sciatic nerve in normal New Zealand white rabbits and to compare these parameters
      to those of surrounding skeletal muscle and the main artery in the thigh.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: CEUS of the bilateral sciatic nerves was performed in 12
      normal New Zealand white rabbits after a bolus injection of SonoVue (0.13 mL/kg).
      Pulse-inversion harmonic imaging was used for real-time CEUS. The blood perfusion
      of the left sciatic nerve was compared to that of its surrounding muscle, the
      arterial branch in the thigh, and the contralateral side. RESULTS: The supplying
      arteries in the sciatic nerve could be demonstrated during the early phase of
      CEUS, followed by the homogeneous enhancement of the whole nerve. The area under
      the curve and the perfusion index of the sciatic nerve were higher than those of
      the surrounding muscle and lower than those of the arterial branch in the thigh
      (both P values = .000). The maximum intensity of the sciatic nerve was similar to
      that of skeletal muscle and lower than that of the arterial branch. The time to
      peak was not significantly different among the sciatic nerve, skeletal muscle,
      and arterial branch (P = .551). There were no differences in area under the
      curve, mean transit time, perfusion index, maximum intensity, and time to peak
      between the left and right sciatic nerves (P > .05). CONCLUSIONS: CEUS may be a
      feasible method for the quantitative assessment of blood perfusion of the
      peripheral nerves.

PMID- 20926319
TI  - Costs associated with angiogenesis inhibitor therapies for metastatic renal cell
      carcinoma in clinical practice: results from a medical chart review study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To estimate costs for treatment of mRCC patients receiving
      angiogenesis inhibitors (AI) using resource utilization data from medical charts.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective chart review was performed in two U.S.
      tertiary oncology centers. Non-trial mRCC patients treated from 04/2003 to
      06/2008, >= 18 years old, and with >= 1 prescription for sunitinib (SU; n = 57),
      sorafenib (SOR; n = 62), or >= 1 intravenous (i.v.) administration bevacizumab
      (BEV; n = 25) as first AI were included. Per-patient-per-month (PPPM) costs
      ($2008) were estimated for drug, i.v. administration, office visits, procedures,
      and AE treatments. AI drug costs were estimated by applying Average Wholesale
      Price to treatment course. Office visit and procedure costs were based on private
      insurance reimbursement. Hospitalization costs were based on HCUP National
      Inpatient Sample charges for AEs and were converted to costs. ER visit cost was
      based on national average from Medical Expenditure Panel Survey. RESULTS: Median
      treatment duration (mo) was 10.5 (SU), 8.1 (SOR), 7.9 (BEV). Average daily oral
      dosage was 32 mg (SU), 690 mg (SOR); average dose per i.v. administration was 871
      mg (BEV). Total PPPM costs were $7,945 (SU), $6,990 (SOR), $15,189 (BEV). AI
      drugs accounted for the majority of PPPM costs ($5,639 [SU], $5,214 [SOR],
      $13,664 [BEV]), followed by procedures ($1,420 [SU], $1,004 [SOR], $749 [BEV]),
      and AE treatments ($729 [SU], $636 [SOR], $291 [BEV]). CONCLUSIONS: BEV patients
      incurred about twice the cost of SU patients and more than twice the cost of SOR
      patients, mainly due to higher drug and i.v. administration costs. Patients who
      received SU incurred the highest cost for AE management.

PMID- 20926320
TI  - Renal artery dissection during repositioning of a mal-deployed aortic endograft
      with suprarenal fixation.
AB  - Endograft mal-deployment during endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) may cause
      renal artery (RA) occlusion. We report bilateral RA occlusion following insertion
      of an endograft with suprarenal barb fixation. Attempted salvage using the 'pull
      down' technique caused right RA dissection. Despite bilateral RA stenting, the
      right kidney was atrophic on an ultrasound scan at 6 months. This potential
      hazard of devices with suprarenal barb fixation should be considered when
      repositioning is attempted.

PMID- 20926321
TI  - Blocking the saphenofemoral junction during ultrasound-guided foam sclerotherapy-
      assessment of a presumed safety-measure procedure.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Ultrasound-guided foam sclerotherapy (UGFS) is a technique in which a
      mixture of sclerosing drug and gas is used to treat varicose veins. Several
      authors have demonstrated transient systemic effects after UGFS. These effects
      are not well understood but probably originate from a systemic distribution of
      the sclerosing foam. Therefore, safety measures have been developed to prevent
      foam from flowing into the deep venous system. The aim of the study is to
      evaluate whether blockage of the saphenofemoral (SF) junction by either manual
      compression or surgical ligation prevents microbubbles from leaking into the deep
      venous circulation. METHODS: To detect the distribution of microbubbles,
      radioactive pertechnetate (99mTcO4-) was added to the foam solution. Initially,
      in vitro trials were performed in the laboratory to investigate the effect of
      99mTc on foam stability. The time taken for foam to liquefy was measured for foam
      alone and for the mixture with 99mTc. In subsequent research, eight varicose
      great saphenous veins (GSVs) were treated by UGFS. In three patients, this
      treatment was preceded by surgical ligation of the SF junction. In three
      patients, the groin was manually compressed during UGFS. In two patients, UGFS
      was performed without compression of the groin. RESULTS: In vitro, 99mTc did not
      influence foam stability; after 2.6 min all foam had reduced to liquid,
      regardless of whether 99mTc had been added or not. In vivo trials showed that all
      patients showed a decrease in the cumulative amount of 99mTc detected in the GSV
      following polidocanol-99mTc mixture injection. However, the decrease of
      radioactivity was slightly reduced when compression or ligation of the SF
      junction was performed. CONCLUSIONS: Blocking the SF junction during UGFS using
      either manual compression or ligation does not prevent, but may reduce the flow
      of foam into the femoral vein.

PMID- 20926322
TI  - Cucurbitacin D induces fetal hemoglobin synthesis in K562 cells and human
      hematopoietic progenitors through activation of p38 pathway and stabilization of
      the gamma-globin mRNA.
AB  - The search for novel therapeutic candidates targeting fetal hemoglobin (HbF)
      activation to reduce the imbalance of globin genes is regarded as a promising
      approach for the clinical management of sickle cell disease and beta-thalassemia.
      For the first time, we identified cucurbitacin D (CuD), an oxygenated tetracyclic
      triterpenoid, as a molecular entity inducing gamma-globin gene expression and HbF
      synthesis in K562 cells and human hematopoietic progenitors from a beta
      thalassemia patient. CuD demonstrated a higher potency in HbF induction when
      compared with hydroxyurea, which was revealed by the evidence that CuD results in
      a higher fetal cell percentage and greater HbF content in K562 cells, in
      addition, to being less cytotoxic. Moreover, CuD also promotes higher HbF
      expression in primary erythroid cells. In the study to elucidate the molecular
      mechanisms of CuD's action, our data indicated that CuD-stimulated HbF synthesis
      was mediated by p38 pathway activation. At the post-transcriptional level, CuD
      treatment led to a significant elongation of the gamma-globin mRNA half-life in
      K562 cells. Taken together, the results suggest that CuD may be a potential
      therapeutic agent for beta-hemoglobinopathies, including sickle cell anemia and
      beta-thalassemia.

PMID- 20926323
TI  - Reversible magnetic resonance imaging and spectroscopy abnormalities in the
      course of vigabatrin treatment for West syndrome.
AB  - Transient magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) hyperintensity of globus pallidi,
      thalami, dentate nuclei and cerebral peduncles has recently been described in a
      significant number of young children during treatment with vigabatrin for
      infantile spasms. We describe two children with infantile spasms treated with
      vigabatrin, investigated with consecutive MRI as well as magnetic resonance
      spectroscopy (MRS). Hyperintensity developed during high dose vigabatrin
      treatment and remitted totally after dose reduction in one case, and cessation in
      the other. Abnormalities on MRS, suggesting an increase in the glutamine
      glutamate complex in the basal ganglia, were found in both cases while on
      vigabatrin treatment. These changes remitted in the first case after reduction of
      vigabatrin dose and when seizure free and with a normalized EEG, but persisted in
      the second case following cessation of vigabatrin without remission of seizure
      activity.

PMID- 20926324
TI  - An open-label Phase I/II clinical trial of pyrimethamine for the treatment of
      patients affected with chronic GM2 gangliosidosis (Tay-Sachs or Sandhoff
      variants).
AB  - Late-onset GM2 gangliosidosis is an autosomal recessive, neurodegenerative,
      lysosomal storage disease, caused by deficiency of beta-hexosaminidase A (Hex A),
      resulting from mutations in the HEXA (Tay-Sachs variant) or the HEXB (Sandhoff
      variant) genes. The enzyme deficiency in many patients with juvenile or adult
      onset forms of the disease results from the production of an unstable protein,
      which becomes targeted for premature degradation by the quality control system of
      the smooth endoplasmic reticulum and is not transported to lysosomes. In vitro
      studies have shown that many mutations in either the alpha or beta subunit of Hex
      A can be partially rescued, i.e. enhanced levels of both enzyme protein and
      activity in lysosomes, following the growth of patient cells in the presence of
      the drug, pyrimethamine. The objectives of the present clinical trial were to
      establish the tolerability and efficacy of the treatment of late-onset GM2
      gangliosidosis patients with escalating doses of pyrimethamine, to a maximum of
      100 mg per day, administered orally in a single daily dose, over a 16-week period
      . The primary objective, tolerability, was assessed by regular clinical
      examinations, along with a panel of hematologic and biochemical studies. Although
      clinical efficacy could not be assessed in this short trial, treatment efficacy
      was evaluated by repeated measurements of leukocyte Hex A activity, expressed
      relative to the activity of lysosomal beta-glucuronidase. A total of 11 patients
      were enrolled, 8 males and 3 females, aged 23 to 50 years. One subject failed the
      initial screen, another was omitted from analysis because of the large number of
      protocol violations, and a third was withdrawn very early as a result of adverse
      events which were not drug-related. For the remaining 8 subjects, up to a 4-fold
      enhancement of Hex A activity at doses of 50 mg per day or less was observed.
      Additionally marked individual variations in the pharmacokinetics of the drug
      among the patients were noted. However, the study also found that significant
      side effects were experienced by most patients at or above 75 mg pyrimethamine
      per day. We concluded that pyrimethamine treatment enhances leukocyte Hex A
      activity in patients with late-onset GM2 gangliosidosis at doses lower than those
      associated with unacceptable side effects. Further plans are underway to extend
      these trials and to develop methods to assess clinical efficacy.

PMID- 20926325
TI  - Body composition analysis in late-onset Pompe disease.
AB  - Pompe disease is an inherited metabolic disorder caused by alpha-glycosidase
      deficiency. The adult onset form is mainly characterized by progressive proximal
      muscle weakness and respiratory dysfunction. The aim of the present study is to
      evaluate body composition in adult patients before and after enzyme replacement
      therapy (ERT). Body composition was examined at baseline by means of dual x-ray
      absorptiometry (DXA) in nine adult patients and after different time periods in
      six of them who received ERT. Total BMD (bone mineral density) was initially
      mildly decreased in two patients, while femoral neck BMD was decreased in five
      patients. On the other hand fat mass was increased in the majority of patients,
      while body mass index (BMI) was high in four. ERT administration did not seem to
      induce obvious BMD changes in any patient. Conclusively, the greater femoral neck
      BMD involvement may be attributed to the lower mechanical load applied by the
      selectively weakened muscles, whereas the increased fat mass may be the result of
      metabolic and nutritional derangement.

PMID- 20926327
TI  - [First French transfusions (1667-1668)].
AB  - The pioneers of blood transfusion first appeared in the 17th century, mainly in
      France and England, through animal experimentation, followed by some attempts in
      the healthy or sick. In France, the names of Dom Robert and Jean-Baptiste Denis
      belong to the beginning of the adventure of transfusion. Transfusions were then
      made with a total lack of knowledge of immunological danger. Following the death
      of a transfused patient, a death most likely related to acute intravascular
      hemolysis, the practice of transfusion was prohibited, on both sides of the
      Channel, by decision of Parliament.

PMID- 20926326
TI  - Seroepidemiological study of Pneumocystis jirovecii infection in healthy infants
      in Chile using recombinant fragments of the P. jirovecii major surface
      glycoprotein.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To characterize the seroepidemiological features of Pneumocystis
      jirovecii infection in healthy Chilean children using overlapping fragments (A,
      B, C) of the P. jirovecii major surface glycoprotein (Msg). METHODS: Serum
      antibodies to MsgA, MsgB, and MsgC were measured every 2 months by enzyme-linked
      immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in 45 Chilean infants from about age 2 months to 2
      years. RESULTS: Peak antibody levels (usually reached at age 6 months) and the
      force (or rate) of infection were somewhat greater for MsgC than for MsgA.
      Significant seasonal variation in antibody levels was only found with MsgA.
      Respiratory infections occurred in most children, but nasopharyngeal aspirates
      were of limited value in detecting the organism. In contrast, serological
      responses commonly occurred, and higher levels only to MsgC were significantly
      related to the number of infections. CONCLUSIONS: Serological responses to
      recombinant Msg fragments provide new insights into the epidemiological and
      clinical features of P. jirovecii infection of early childhood. MsgA, the amino
      terminus fragment, is more sensitive in detecting seasonal influences on antibody
      levels, whereas MsgC is better able to detect changes in antibody levels in
      response to clinical infection.

PMID- 20926328
TI  - An open-loop controlled active lung simulator for preterm infants.
AB  - We describe the underlying theory, design and experimental evaluation of an
      electromechanical analogue infant lung to simulate spontaneous breathing patterns
      of preterm infants. The aim of this work is to test the possibility to obtain
      breathing patterns of preterm infants by taking into consideration the air
      compressibility. Respiratory volume function represents the actuation pattern,
      and pulmonary pressure and flow-rate waveforms are mathematically obtained
      through the application of the perfect gas and adiabatic laws. The mathematical
      model reduces the simulation interval into a step shorter than 1 ms, allowing to
      consider an entire respiratory act as composed of a large number of almost
      instantaneous adiabatic transformations. The device consists of a spherical
      chamber where the air is compressed by four cylinder-pistons, moved by stepper
      motors, and flows through a fluid-dynamic resistance, which also works as flow
      rate sensor. Specifically designed software generates the actuators motion, based
      on the desired ventilation parameters, without controlling the gas pneumatic
      parameters with a closed-loop. The system is able to simulate tidal volumes from
      3 to 8 ml, breathing frequencies from 60 to 120 bpm and functional residual
      capacities from 25 to 80 ml. The simulated waveforms appear very close to the
      measured ones. Percentage differences on the tidal volume waveform vary from 7%
      for the tidal volume of 3 ml, down to 2.2-3.5% for tidal volumes in the range of
      4-7 ml, and 1.3% for the tidal volume equal to 8 ml in the whole breathing
      frequency and functional residual capacity ranges. The open-loop
      electromechanical simulator shows that gas compressibility can be theoretically
      assessed in the typical pneumatic variable range of preterm infant respiratory
      mechanics.

PMID- 20926329
TI  - Patient tolerance of neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) in the presence
      of orthopaedic implants.
AB  - Neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) may help reduce the incidence of deep
      vein thrombosis (DVT) in the postoperative total hip and knee arthroplasty
      patient. However, discomfort associated with stimulus may reduce patient
      acceptance of NMES as therapy. The aim of this study was to determine if patient
      comfort and tolerance of NMES was affected by applying stimulation in proximity
      to an orthopaedic implant. There was a concern that this may cause a
      concentration of current around the metal which could result in hypersensitivity
      of NMES and reduce its effectiveness. Twenty patients took part in this study, 10
      total hip and 10 total knee arthroplasty patients. Each patient was at least 3
      weeks post surgery. NMES was applied to the calf muscles of each leg using skin
      surface electrodes. Four excitatory levels were recorded, which were: sensory
      threshold, motor threshold, pain threshold and pain tolerance. Following this,
      patients underwent a 5 min stimulation session and indicated their overall
      comfort level on a visual analogue scale. Measurements of peak venous velocity,
      mean velocity and volume flow were recorded by duplex scanning from the popliteal
      vein at rest and in response to NMES elicited contractions during this session.
      Finally, patients completed a short verbal interview detailing their experience
      with the NMES treatment. The blood flow results showed increases in peak venous
      velocities, mean velocities and volume flow produced by NMES of 200%, 60% and 60%
      respectively when compared to resting blood flow. Comfort assessment indicated
      that the presence of a metallic implant did not give rise to hypersensitivity due
      to NMES. Patients found the application of calf muscle NMES comfortable and
      acceptable as a treatment. We conclude that the use of NMES on postoperative
      orthopaedic patients can be safely administered as a DVT prevention method.

PMID- 20926330
TI  - Networks, resources and agencies: on the character and production of enabling
      places.
AB  - The study of therapeutic landscapes, restorative places and enabling environments
      - what might collectively be referred to as enabling places - has revealed much
      of the relationship between place and health promotion. However, it is arguable
      that this work has only partially accounted for the diverse therapeutic features
      of enabling places and the various means of their production. Drawing on Bruno
      Latour, this paper introduces a conceptual logic of enabling places grounded in
      the analysis of enabling resources. Three categories of enabling resources will
      be considered: social, affective and material resources. It will be argued that
      enabling places are composed in diverse actor-networks, facilitating access to
      enabling resources and supporting the development of novel agencies or
      capacities. This draws attention to the various networks and associations that
      promote health and wellbeing, as well as the resources and agencies necessary to
      maintain these states. The paper concludes that the analysis of enabling
      resources, and the networks and agencies that comprise them, provides a novel
      basis for describing the character and production of enabling places, as well as
      the diverse benefits associated with them.

PMID- 20926332
TI  - Virus-derived small interfering RNAs at the core of plant-virus interactions.
AB  - Once a virus enters a cell, viral double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) is targeted by the
      RNA silencing machinery to initiate a cascade of regulatory events directed by
      viral small interfering RNAs (vsiRNAs). Recent genetic and functional studies
      along with the high-throughput sequencing of vsiRNAs have shed light on the
      genetic and structural requirements for virus targeting, the origins and
      compositions of vsiRNAs and their potential for controlling gene expression. The
      precise nature of the triggering molecules of virus-induced RNA silencing or the
      targeting constraints for viral genome recognition and processing represent
      outstanding questions that will be discussed in this review. The contribution of
      vsiRNAs to antiviral defense and host genome modifications has profound
      implications for our understanding of viral pathogenicity and host specificity in
      plants.

PMID- 20926333
TI  - Spherical aberration in relation to visual performance in contact lens wear.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The aim of the present study was to evaluate changes in spherical
      aberration and their effect on visual quality (visual acuity and contrast
      sensitivity) in both distance and near with different non-custom-made contact
      lenses. METHODS: A wavefront analyser was used to measure the aberrations in each
      subject's eyes uncorrected and with the contact lenses: a standard lens and two
      aspherical contact lenses. High-contrast visual acuity at distance was measured
      with Test-Chart 2000 (100% contrast) and at near with Sloan ETDRS Near Point
      chart (100% contrast). Low-contrast visual acuity at distance was measured with
      Test-Chart 2000 (10% contrast) and contrast measurements at near with Mars letter
      contrast sensitivity chart. RESULTS: Mean spherical aberration was positive for
      all pupil sizes in the uncorrected eye, residual spherical aberration was close
      to zero with the standard lens for all pupil sizes, whereas the two aspheric
      contact lenses over-corrected spherical aberration. The changes in aberration
      were statistically significant (p < 0.05) with all lenses. No significant
      difference could be detected between trial frame correction, spherical and
      aspherical soft contact lens designs with respect to visual quality. This was the
      case for both distance and near. CONCLUSION: The results are in line with
      previous studies and indicate that non-custom-made spherical aberration control
      contact lenses have little effect on visual quality as defined in this study.

PMID- 20926334
TI  - Multi-tasking of somatic embryogenesis receptor-like protein kinases.
AB  - Receptor-like protein kinases (RLKs) are transmembrane proteins crucial for cell
      to-cell and cell-to-environment communications. The extracellular domain of a RLK
      is responsible for perception of a specific extracellular ligand to trigger a
      unique intercellular signaling cascade, often via phosphorylation of cellular
      proteins. The signal is then transduced to the nucleus of a cell where it alters
      gene expression. There are more than 610 RLKs in Arabidopsis thaliana, only a
      handful of them have been functionally characterized. This review focuses on
      recent advances in our understanding of a small group of RLKs named somatic
      embryogenesis receptor-like protein kinases (SERKs). SERKs act as coreceptors in
      multiple signaling pathways via their physical interactions with distinct ligand
      binding RLKs.

PMID- 20926335
TI  - Sending mixed messages: auxin-cytokinin crosstalk in roots.
AB  - Despite their relatively simple appearance, roots are incredibly complex organs
      that are highly adapted to differing environments. Many aspects of root
      development are co-ordinated by subtle spatial differences in the concentrations
      of the phytohormones auxin and cytokinin. Events from the formation of a root
      during embryogenesis to the determination of the network of lateral roots are
      controlled by interactions between these hormones. Recently, interactions have
      been defined where auxin signaling promotes the expression of cytokinin signaling
      inhibitors, cytokinin signaling promotes the expression of auxin signaling
      inhibitors and finally where cytokinin signaling regulates the complex network of
      auxin transport proteins to position zones of high auxin signaling. We are
      witnessing a period of discovery in which we are beginning to understand how
      these hormonal pathways communicate to regulate root formation.

PMID- 20926331
TI  - mda-7/IL-24: a unique member of the IL-10 gene family promoting cancer-targeted
      toxicity.
AB  - Melanoma differentiation associated gene-7/interleukin-24 (mda-7/IL-24) is a
      unique member of the IL-10 gene family that displays nearly ubiquitous cancer
      specific toxicity, with no harmful effects toward normal cells or tissues. mda
      7/IL-24 was cloned from human melanoma cells by differentiation induction
      subtraction hybridization (DISH) and promotes endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress
      culminating in apoptosis or toxic autophagy in a broad-spectrum of human cancers,
      when assayed in cell culture, in vivo in human tumor xenograft mouse models and
      in a Phase I clinical trial in patients with advanced cancers. This
      therapeutically active cytokine also induces indirect antitumor activity through
      inhibition of angiogenesis, stimulation of an antitumor immune response, and
      sensitization of cancer cells to radiation-, chemotherapy- and antibody-induced
      killing.

PMID- 20926336
TI  - Brillouin study of photopolymerization process of two-monomer systems.
AB  - The results of Brillouin scattering investigations of two-component system: 2,2
      bis[4-(2-hydroxy-3-methacryloxypropoxy)phenyl]propane/polyethylene glycol
      methacrylate (bis-GMA/PEGMM) containing 0, 30, 50, 70, 85 and 100 mol% of PEGMM
      are presented. For the first time the Brillouin spectroscopy was used to monitor
      the progress of the polymerization process. The polymerization was initiated by
      ultraviolet radiation (lambda=365 nm), at temperature 20 degrees C and 40 degrees
      C. Some of the physical parameters characteristic for this system such as
      velocity V, adiabatic compressibility beta(ad) and attenuation coefficient alpha
      of the acoustic waves have been estimated from Brillouin spectra as a functions
      of the polymerization time. The obtained results have been discussed in terms of
      changes of the elastic properties of the two-component system occurring during
      polymerization process and their dependence on bis-GMA/PEGMM system composition.

PMID- 20926337
TI  - Analytical sensitivity of four HIV combined antigen/antibody assays using the p24
      WHO standard.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Common Technical Specifications for HIV-1 p24 assays published in
      2009 fixed the lower limit of detection for obtaining C.E. approval at 2 IU/ml
      against the WHO standard (first international reference, code NIBSC 90/636); it
      was previously 50 pg/ml. Some recent fourth generation HIV assays that
      simultaneously detect antigen and antibody are equivalent to p24 assays, but they
      were mainly evaluated using p24 antigen standards in pg/ml and little is known of
      their performance with the IU/ml standard. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate four of the
      combined serological assays most commonly used for HIV diagnosis in France
      against the WHO standard in IU/ml. STUDY DESIGN: The analytical sensitivity of
      four combined p24 antigen and antibody assays (ARCHITECT HIV Ag/Ab Combo, AxSYM
      HIV Ag/Ab Combo, VIDAS HIV DUO Quick and VIDAS HIV DUO Ultra) and of one p24
      assay (VIDAS HIV p24 II) were determined using dilutions of the WHO standard.
      RESULTS: Four of the five assays had a lower limit of detection below 2 IU/ml:
      1.24 for ARCHITECT Combo, 0.66 for VIDAS DUO Ultra, 0.43 for VIDAS DUO Quick and
      0.73 to 1.15 for VIDAS p24, while that of AxSYM was close to 2 (1.94-2.25).
      CONCLUSIONS: We have provided the first data on the lower limit of detection of
      HIV combined assays using the IU/ml WHO standard and demonstrated the need for a
      single international standard for comparing assays. We recommend the use of this
      approach in medical laboratory to validate on site their methods.

PMID- 20926338
TI  - FLO11 is essential for pellicle formation by wild pellicle-forming yeasts
      isolated from contaminated wines.
AB  - The Deltaflo11/Deltaflo11 disruptant strains constructed from three wild yeast
      strains, which were independently isolated from pellicles formed on the surface
      of contaminated stored wines, completely lost their ability to form pellicles.
      The FLO11 expression level of the pellicle-forming strains was much higher than
      that of non-pellicle-forming wine strains. Cell surface hydrophobicity of the
      Deltaflo11/Deltaflo11 disruptant strains was as high as that of the parental
      pellicle-forming strains. These findings indicate that FLO11 is essential for
      unfavorable pellicle formation of wild pellicle-forming yeasts by mechanisms
      other than increasing cell surface hydrophobicity.

PMID- 20926339
TI  - Brewer's yeast cell wall affects microbiota composition and decreases Bacteroides
      fragilis populations in an anaerobic gut intestinal model.
AB  - Brewer's yeast cell wall (BYC) has been reported to have prebiotic activity that
      improves the microbiotal composition of the human gut. To understand the precise
      effect of BYC on gut microbiota and its metabolism, we used a three-stage
      continuous-flow reactor system that mimicked the environment of the large
      intestine. The reactor system was able to maintain the bacterial community stably
      for a week. The Bacteroides fragilis population decreased drastically after the
      addition of BYC into this system while the number of Lactobacillus was stably
      maintained. In addition, propionate and acetate levels increased drastically.
      This metabolic change correlated with an increase in a number of specific
      operational taxonomic units annotated to the genus Veillonella and Megasphaella.
      These results suggest that BYC affects the composition of microbiota in an in
      vitro model system.

PMID- 20926340
TI  - Stroke phases responses around maximal lactate steady state in front crawl.
AB  - The objective of this study was to analyze changes in stroke rate (SR), stroke
      length (SL) and stroke phases (entry and catch, pull, push and recovery) when
      swimming at (MLSS) and above (102.5% MLSS) the maximal lactate steady state.
      Twelve endurance swimmers (21+/-8 year, 1.77+/-0.10 m and 71.6+/-7.7 kg)
      performed in different days the following tests: (1) 200- and 400-m all-out
      tests, to determine critical speed (CS), and; (2) 2-4 30-min sub-maximal constant
      speed tests, to determine the MLSS and 102.5% MLSS. There was significant
      difference among MLSS (1.22+/-0.05 ms(-1)), 102.5% MLSS (1.25+/-0.04 ms(-1)) and
      CS (1.30+/-0.08 ms(-1)). SR and SL were maintained between the 10th and 30th
      minute of the test swum at MLSS and have modified significantly at 102.5% MLSS
      (SR - 30.9+/-3.4 and 32.2+/-3.5 cycles min(-1) and SL - 2.47+/-0.2 and 2.38+/-0.2
      m cycle(-1), respectively). All stroke phases were maintained at 10th and 30th
      minute at MLSS. However, the relative duration of propulsive phase B (pull)
      increased significantly at 102.5% MLSS (21.7+/-3.4% and 22.9+/-3.9%,
      respectively). Therefore, the metabolic condition may influence the stroke
      parameters (SR and SL) and stroke strategy to maintain the speed during swim
      tests lasting 30 min.

PMID- 20926341
TI  - Percutaneous coronary intervention in very elderly patients. In-hospital
      mortality and clinical outcome.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There are very few data about percutaneous coronary intervention
      (PCI) in very elderly patients. This study was aimed at assessing the
      demographic, clinical and angiographic features, procedural characteristics and
      in-hospital results of very elderly patients (VEP), aged >=85 years undergoing
      PCI and comparing their results with those of a control group (CG) of patients
      younger than 85 years undergoing PCI throughout the same period of time. METHODS
      AND RESULTS: Between November 2004 and January 2007, 1699 consecutive PCI
      procedures were evaluated, 102 (6%) PCI procedures were performed in VEP and 1597
      (94%) in patients <85 years. The mean age in the VEP group was 87.4 +/- 2.4 years
      vs. 66.7 +/- 11.2 years in the CG (p<0.0001). There were more females in the VEP
      group 49% vs. 22% than in the CG p<0.0001. Acute coronary syndromes (ACS) were a
      more frequent indication for PCI in VEP than in the CG: ST segment elevation
      myocardial infarction (STEMI) 14.7% vs. 8.3%, p = 0.025 and non-ST segment
      elevation acute coronary syndromes 54.9% vs. 43.5%, p = 0.024. The proportion of
      drug-eluting stents used, although high in both groups, was lower in VEP than in
      the CG (86.5% vs. 92.9%, p = 0.005). Angiographic lesion success rates were
      similar in both groups (95.9%). Global unadjusted in-hospital mortality was
      higher in the VEP group in comparison with the CG 3.9% vs. 0.68%, p = 0.01. The
      difference in mortality was due only to PCI in patients presenting with STEMI
      (26.6% in VEP group vs. 3.7% in the CG p = 0.007). There were no in-hospital
      deaths in VEP presenting with stable coronary syndromes or other ACS. There were
      no differences in unadjusted in-hospital myocardial infarction, new
      revascularisation or stroke between both groups. CONCLUSIONS: In patients >=85
      years old, PCI seems effective and carries an acceptable in-hospital mortality
      rate. The presence of STEMI substantially increases the risk of in-hospital
      death.

PMID- 20926343
TI  - The use of simulation to address the acute care skills deficit in pre
      registration nursing students: a clinical skill perspective.
AB  - The increase in patient acuity in primary and secondary settings is continuing,
      with a corresponding increase in the need for technological competence in these
      areas. Evidence, however, both nationally and internationally, suggests that
      these expectations are not being met. This paper offers a review of the
      literature on acute care, with a specific focus on pre-registration nursing
      students and the development of acute care skills. Three themes are discussed:
      factors contributing to the acute care skills deficit, the knowledge and skills
      required to work in acute care and strategies used to support the acquisition of
      acute care skills. In response to the review, and based upon the evidence-based
      solutions identified, the clinical skills team at Bournemouth University designed
      and developed two teaching sessions, using simulation and role play to support
      the acquisition of acute care skills in pre-registration students. Student
      evaluations identify that their knowledge, competence and confidence in this area
      have increased following the teaching sessions, although caution remains
      regarding transferability of these skills into the practice environment.

PMID- 20926344
TI  - Extra corporeal photo chemotherapy (ECP) in acute and chronic GVHD.

PMID- 20926342
TI  - The molecular mechanisms underlying the pharmacological actions of ER modulators:
      implications for new drug discovery in breast cancer.
AB  - Our understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying the pharmacological
      actions of estrogen receptor (ER) ligands has evolved considerably in recent
      years. Much of this knowledge has come from a detailed dissection of the
      mechanism(s) of action of the Selective Estrogen Receptor Modulators (SERMs)
      tamoxifen and raloxifene, so called for their ability to function as ER agonists
      or antagonists depending on the tissue in which they operate. These mechanistic
      insights have had a significant impact on the discovery of second generation
      SERMs, some of which are in late stage clinical development for the
      treatment/prevention of breast cancer as well as other estrogenopathies. In
      addition to the SERMs, however, have emerged the Selective Estrogen Degraders
      (SERDs), which as their name suggests, interact with and facilitate ER turnover
      in cells. One drug of this class, fulvestrant, has been approved as a third line
      treatment for ER-positive metastatic breast cancer. Whereas the first generation
      SERMs/SERDs were discovered in a serendipitous manner, this review will highlight
      how our understanding of the molecular pharmacology of ER ligands has been
      utilized in the development of the next generation of SERMs/SERDs, some of which
      are likely to have a major impact on the pharmacotherapy of breast cancer.

PMID- 20926345
TI  - Emergent therapy with therapeutic plasma exchange in acute recurrent pancreatitis
      due to severe hypertriglyceridemia.
AB  - Hypertriglyceridemia causes acute pancreatitis in 1.3-3.8% of patients. We report
      here on two cases with severe (triglyceride level >1000 mg/dL)
      hypertriglyceridemia-induced acute recurrent pancreatitis. Both patients had
      uncontrolled hypertriglyceridemia and suffered from acute pancreatitis. No cause
      of secondary hypertriglyceridemia was detected. While stage E pancreatitis
      (Ranson's score: 2) was diagnosed in the first case, stage D pancreatitis with a
      null Ranson's score was detected in the second case. Both patients were treated
      with classical treatment with fluid replacement, analgesic, antibiotics and
      discontinuation of oral intake. Therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) with fresh
      frozen plasma was performed consecutively and with two procedures on the 2nd and
      3rd day in the first case. After TPE, while the triglyceride levels decreased
      from 4408 to 302 mg/dL, the amylase levels dropped from 4234 to 171 IU/L. In the
      second case, TPE was performed once daily. After TPE, the levels of triglyceride
      and amylase decreased from 2210 mg/dL and 1618 IU/L to 154 mg/dL and 110 IU/L,
      respectively. Local and systemic complications due to acute pancreatitis were not
      observed. Clinical signs and laboratory values improved. At the two-year follow
      up of both patients, acute pancreatitis had not recurred with regular fenofibrate
      treatment. Hypertriglyceridemia should be considered in patients with acute
      recurrent pancreatitis. Although there is no definitive evidence for early
      application of TPE in severe hypertriglyceridemia-induced acute pancreatitis yet,
      therapy with TPE may be of benefit, improving the clinical course.

PMID- 20926346
TI  - Treatment of diabetic ulcers, using autologous platelet and fibrinic gel.
      Experience the FIBRINET(r) device.
AB  - There is evidence that platelets may be used locally as a source of growth
      factors that play a fundamental role in wound healing. From October 2008 to
      September 2009, at Tor Vergata Rome University Hospital, seven patients were
      enrolled in the study. All of these patients had ulcers with a extension over 3.5
      cm(2). Four patients achieved a total recovery of the ulcers, while three
      experienced a reduction of the diameter of the ulcers. Our data are preliminary,
      but it is possible to suggest that recovery of the ulcers using the FIBRINET(r)
      system is related to platelet activation in the specific ulcer area.

PMID- 20926347
TI  - HIV status in discordant couples in sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review and
      meta-analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Most couples affected by HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa live in
      discordant relationships. Men are thought to be the index case in most
      relationships, and most social marketing and awareness campaigns are focused on
      men. We investigated serodiscordance in stable relationships to establish the
      gender balance of index-case infections. METHODS: We did a systematic review,
      random-effects meta-analysis, and meta-regression of published and unpublished
      studies enrolling discordant couples and assessed the proportion of men and women
      that were index cases. We repeated the analysis with data from demographic and
      health surveys (DHS) from the 14 countries that have documented the HIV status of
      couples. Our primary outcome was the total number of HIV discordant couples,
      including the proportion of HIV-positive women. FINDINGS: We included data from
      27 cohorts of 13,061 couples and DHS data from 14 countries of 1145 couples. The
      proportion of HIV-positive women in stable heterosexual serodiscordant
      relationships was 47% (95% CI 43-52), which shows that women are as likely as men
      to be the index partner in a discordant couple. DHS data (46%, 41-51) and our
      sensitivity analysis (47%, 43-52) showed similar findings. Meta-regression showed
      that urban versus rural residence (odds ratio 0.31, 95% CI 0.22-0.39), latitude
      (beta coefficient 0.02, 0.023-0.034), gender equality (beta coefficient -0.42, 
      0.56 to -0.27), HIV prevalence (beta coefficient -0.037, -0.04 to -0.030), and
      older age (beta coefficient 0.20, 0.08-0.32) were associated with the proportion
      of female index cases. INTERPRETATION: Our study shows the need to focus on both
      sexes in HIV prevention strategies, such as promotion of condom use and
      mitigation of risk behaviours. FUNDING: None.

PMID- 20926348
TI  - Polydimethylsiloxane (macroplastique(r)) injection for vesicoureteral reflux in
      duplex ureters: a comparison with single renal systems.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: VUR in patients with a duplex system (DS) is often treated by open
      surgery. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of subureteric
      polydimethylsiloxane (Macroplastique((r))) injection (SMING) in the management of
      VUR in duplex and single (SS) renal systems. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Fifteen
      children (24 refluxing renal units) with VUR in DS underwent SMING. VUR was more
      frequent in the lower moiety. VUR was graded moderate/severe in 88% of renal
      units. There was a history of urinary tract infections in 40% of cases. The
      outcome for DS patients was compared with 44 children (60 refluxing renal units)
      with moderate/severe VUR in SS. RESULTS: The VUR resolution/improvement rate was
      88% in DS and 95% in SS patients. Ureteric reimplantation was required because of
      recurrent VUR in 13% and 7% of DS and SS groups, respectively. Transient ureteral
      obstruction was observed in 1/15 and 5/44 patients. Two required double-J
      ureteric stenting for 3 months. CONCLUSION: SMING seems an effective treatment
      for VUR in both DS and SS patients, even in severe cases. The complication rate
      does not significantly differ between the two groups.

PMID- 20926349
TI  - Idiopathic high-flow priapism in a pediatric patient.
AB  - High-flow priapism is a very rare condition in children. The most common cause is
      perineal trauma, which is a major cause of arterio-cavernosal fistula. A few
      pediatric patients have high-flow priapism without an obvious cause. There are
      many therapeutic modalities for this condition, depending on the etiology. We
      report a case of idiopathic high-flow priapism in a 6-year-old boy who underwent
      repeated superselective embolization.

PMID- 20926350
TI  - Localizing and lateralizing features of auras and seizures.
AB  - The symptomatology of auras and seizures is a reflection of activation of
      specific parts of the brain by the ictal discharge, the location and extent of
      which represent the symptomatogenic zone. The symptomatogenic zone is presumably,
      though not necessarily, in close proximity to the epileptogenic zone, the area
      responsible for seizure generation, the complete removal or disconnection of
      which is necessary for seizure freedom. Knowledge about the symptomatogenic zone
      in focal epilepsy is acquired through careful video/EEG monitoring and behavioral
      correlation of seizures and electrical stimulation studies. Ictal symptomatogy
      provides important lateralizing and/or localizing information in the presurgical
      assessment of epilepsy surgery candidates. As the initial symptoms of epileptic
      seizures, many types of auras have highly significant localizing or lateralizing
      value. Similarly, motor signs during focal and secondary generalized seizures,
      language manifestations, and autonomic features offer reliable clues to the
      delineation of the epileptogenic zone. Some focal epilepsies (e.g., neocortical
      temporal lobe epilepsy, insular lobe epilepsy, temporal-plus epilepsies, and
      parieto-occipital lobe epilepsy) generate seizure manifestations that mimic
      temporal lobe epilepsy, potentially contributing to surgical failure. To optimize
      surgical outcome, careful interpretation of ictal symptomatology in conjunction
      with other components of the presurgical evaluation is required.

PMID- 20926351
TI  - Cardiorespiratory and electroencephalographic responses to exhaustive acute
      physical exercise in people with temporal lobe epilepsy.
AB  - We evaluated physiological and electroencephalographic responses during a
      cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET) in people with epilepsy. Behavioral outcomes
      of people with epilepsy were also compared with those of healthy controls. Thirty
      eight subjects (19 people with epilepsy and 19 controls) participated in this
      study. Poor outcomes in the behavioral analyses (habitual level of physical
      activity and quality of life) were observed in the people with epilepsy. With
      respect to the CPET, V.O(2max) (14.6%) and V.O(2) at anaerobic threshold (16.1%)
      were significantly lower in the epilepsy group than in the control group.
      Although not statistically significant, a decrease in the number of epileptiform
      discharges was observed between the rest state and exercise (82%) and between the
      rest state and recovery period (74%). In conclusion, the lower aerobic fitness in
      people with epilepsy observed may be associated with their sedentary habits.
      Moreover, our findings reinforce the hypothesis that exhaustive exercise is not a
      seizure-inducing factor.

PMID- 20926352
TI  - Long-term neuropsychological follow-up of a child with Kluver-Bucy syndrome.
AB  - We describe the case of a 10-year-old girl who developed behavioral changes
      consistent with Kluver-Bucy Syndrome following Listeria meningoencephalitis at
      21/2 years of age. MRI at age 4 revealed evidence of diffuse brain atrophy with
      predominant temporal lobe involvement. Electroencephalograpy at 91/2 years of age
      showed abnormal electrical discharges from the left temporal area. Follow-up MRI
      with volumetric analysis of the mesial temporal structures at 9 years of age
      demonstrated decreased hippocampal volume bilaterally. Consistent with the
      morphological abnormalities, serial neuropsychological evaluations demonstrated
      expressive and receptive language impairment and an amnestic syndrome that
      significantly decreased her ability to make new declarative memories and maintain
      adequate academic progress.

PMID- 20926353
TI  - A structured questionnaire predicts if convulsions are epileptic or nonepileptic.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Therapy for convulsive seizures is usually initiated on the basis of
      clinical assessment, without video/EEG confirmation, but a nonepileptic origin
      may eventually be demonstrated. This study evaluates the diagnostic value of a
      witness-questionnaire in distinguishing between convulsive epileptic seizures
      (CES) and convulsive nonepileptic seizures (CNES). METHODS: We prospectively
      identified all adult patients admitted for video/EEG evaluation of convulsive
      attacks and interviewed the "best" witness using 12 questions on ictal and
      postictal features. RESULTS: Video/EEG diagnosed CES in 19 and CNES in 26
      patients. The predictive accuracy of the questionnaire was 84.4%. Six features
      were strong predictors of CNES diagnosis: ictal eye closure, presence of side-to
      side movements, prolonged seizure duration, and three postictal breathing
      features (not loud, shallow, no snoring). CONCLUSION: A structured witness
      questionnaire distinguishes CES and CNES and will help in selecting patients for
      early video/EEG evaluation and rapid initiation of appropriate therapy.

PMID- 20926354
TI  - Parents report more ADHD symptoms than do teachers in children with epilepsy.
AB  - Children with epilepsy have a high rate of attention deficit/hyperactivity
      disorder (ADHD), yet parent-teacher agreement on ADHD symptoms in epilepsy is
      unknown despite the need to assess symptoms across settings such as home and
      school. Parent-teacher agreement on ADHD ratings was investigated in 208 children
      with epilepsy (mean age = 11.2, SD = 3.6) using the ADHD Rating Scale IV, along
      with associations with demographic variables, epilepsy severity, adaptive level,
      and quality of life. Children were four times more likely to be identified as
      having clinically elevated ADHD symptoms when parent ratings were the benchmark
      versus teachers. Agreement was highest for children with more severe ADHD
      symptoms, for the Hyperactivity-Impulsivity dimension of behavior, and for
      children with broadly normal adaptive behavior. Higher parent and teacher ADHD
      ratings were related to reduced quality of life, but unrelated to epilepsy
      severity. Exclusive reliance on parent or teacher ratings may yield variable
      rates of ADHD symptoms in children with epilepsy.

PMID- 20926355
TI  - Psychometric Properties of the Spanish Version of the Tampa Scale for
      Kinesiophobia (TSK).
AB  - The Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia (TSK) is one of the most frequently employed
      measures for assessing pain-related fear in pain patients. Although the TSK has
      been translated into different languages, a Spanish version of the TSK has not
      been available, up to now. Thus, the aim of this study was to validate the
      Spanish version of the TSK in 2 different pain samples: A heterogeneous chronic
      pain sample (n = 125) and a musculoskeletal acute pain sample (n = 86). Factor
      analysis revealed a 2-factor model of 11 items replicated on both samples, named
      TSK-11. The instrument obtained shows good reliability (internal consistency and
      stability) and validity (convergent and predictive), with the advantage of
      brevity. Evidence is provided on discriminant validity between both TSK factors
      (called Activity Avoidance and Harm). The Harm factor shows the best predictive
      validity, as it predicts pain persistence, catastrophizing, depression, and pain
      intensity scores after 6 months. Changes in the Activity Avoidance factor are
      positively correlated with changes in catastrophizing and anxiety, and negatively
      associated with changes in functional status. The results of this study point to
      the relative contribution of both components of pain-related fear to pain
      adjustment. PERSPECTIVE: This article presents the Spanish version of the TSK.
      Factor analysis revealed a 2-factor model (called Activity Avoidance and Harm).
      The version obtained shows good reliability and validity. Results provide
      clinicians with access to a measure of pain-related fear for Spanish-speaking
      pain patients, offering the advantage of brevity.

PMID- 20926356
TI  - Dissecting axes of autonomic control in humans: Insights from neuroimaging.
AB  - The combination of functional brain imaging with measurement of peripheral
      autonomic responses in humans can provide insight into the embodiment of mental
      processes and the integration of cognition and emotion with changes in somatic
      physiology. Initial studies in healthy people and patents validate inferences
      from more detailed animal experiments regarding the organization of central
      autonomic control. In particular these have illustrated the coupling of behaviour
      with sympathetic arousal. Over the last two decades, the growth of emotional
      neuroscience alongside advances in functional brain imaging has fuelled
      investigations of relationships between perception, feeling states, somatic and
      autonomic bodily reactions. These studies have driven a more mechanistic
      understanding of brain systems through which bodily state is regulated and
      modified to support adaptive behaviour. In parallel, they have enabled the
      application of human neuroimaging to autonomic neuroscience. Specific
      methodological challenges are posed by combining physiological recordings with
      neuroimaging techniques, particularly functional magnetic resonance brain
      imaging, which are nevertheless addressable. Using such methods, the neural
      correlates of dynamic autonomic control has been systematically examined in
      studies of healthy individuals and patients with specific autonomic dysfunction
      (including autonomic failure, autonomic (neurally) mediated syncope and the
      postural tachycardia syndrome). These studies reveal antagonistic interaction of
      systems underpinning autonomic cardiovascular control (involving mid and
      subgenual cingulate cortices) and partial organ-specificity of other axes of
      autonomic response. Current and anticipated technical advances, including the
      integration of autonomically-focused microneurography and neural stimulation with
      advanced neuroimaging, will continue to provide detailed insight into dynamics of
      autonomic control. Translating these insights into clinical benefits remains a
      priority.

PMID- 20926357
TI  - [Apical left ventriculotomy for closure of muscular ventricular septal defects.
      Is it a safe procedure?].

PMID- 20926358
TI  - Preoperative assessment of soft tissue deficiency in the temporal region with
      reverse engineering.

PMID- 20926360
TI  - Erratum to the titles of two articles published in Orthopaedics and Traumatology:
      Surgery and Research.

PMID- 20926359
TI  - Brachydactyly, anonychia and a deformed nasal tip in a 16-year-old girl: a case
      report.
AB  - The current report describes a case of a 16-year-old girl with a rare combination
      of nasal dysmorphology, anonychia and brachydactyly of hands and feet. The
      combination of hand and nasal malformations suggested a type B brachydactyly.
      Genetic investigation, however, revealed Cooks syndrome with unexplained facial
      dysmorphology. Concerning her cosmetic complaints, options for surgical treatment
      were discussed. It was decided to treat only the nasal deformity by open
      rhinoplasty, leaving the nail deformities undisturbed.

PMID- 20926361
TI  - Neointimal tissue rupture as a mechanism of myocardial infarction very late
      following implantation of bare metal stents. Insights from optical coherence
      tomography.

PMID- 20926362
TI  - Primary hepatic (extranodal) lymphoma: utility of [(18)F]fluorodeoxyglucose
      PET/CT.
AB  - Primary hepatic lymphoma is extremely rare. Although the utility of
      fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG)-positron emission tomography (PET) for imaging
      extranodal lymphoma has been reported, there is very little literature describing
      its use in primary hepatic lymphoma. This case report demonstrates the effect of
      FDG-PET/computed tomography (CT) in a case of unifocal primary hepatic lymphoma
      and its usefulness in the assessment of treatment response.

PMID- 20926364
TI  - Cardiac lymphoma causing coronary compression, pericardial effusion, and
      atrioventricular block.

PMID- 20926363
TI  - Impairment of endothelial progenitor cell function and vascularization capacity
      by aldosterone in mice and humans.
AB  - AIMS: Hyperaldosteronism is associated with vascular injury and increased
      cardiovascular events. Bone marrow-derived endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs)
      play an important role in endothelial repair and vascular homeostasis. We
      hypothesized that hyperaldosteronism impairs EPC function and vascularization
      capacity in mice and humans. METHODS AND RESULTS: We characterized the effects of
      aldosterone and mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) blockade on EPC number and
      function as well as vascularization capacity and endothelial function. Treatment
      of human EPC with aldosterone induced translocation of the MR and impaired
      multiple cellular functions of EPC, such as differentiation, migration, and
      proliferation in vitro. Impaired EPC function was rescued by pharmacological
      blockade or genetic ablation of the MR. Aldosterone protein kinase A (PKA)
      dependently increased reactive oxygen species formation in EPC. Aldosterone
      infusion in mice impaired EPC function, EPC homing to vascular structures and
      vascularization capacity in a MR-dependent but blood pressure-independent manner.
      Endothelial progenitor cells from patients with primary hyperaldosteronism
      compared with controls of similar age displayed reduced migratory potential.
      Impaired EPC function was associated with endothelial dysfunction. MR blockade in
      patients with hyperaldosteronism improved EPC function and arterial stiffness.
      CONCLUSION: Endothelial progenitor cells express a MR that mediates functional
      impairment by PKA-dependent increase of reactive oxygen species. Normalization of
      EPC function may represent a novel mechanism contributing to the beneficial
      effects of MR blockade in cardiovascular disease prevention and treatment.

PMID- 20926365
TI  - Acute right heart overload due to pulmonary artery obstruction caused by ruptured
      aortic dissection.

PMID- 20926366
TI  - Pneumomediastinum after implantable cardiac defibrillator implantation.

PMID- 20926367
TI  - Age-related temporal and parietal cortical thinning in autism spectrum disorders.
AB  - Studies of head size and brain volume in autism spectrum disorders have suggested
      that early cortical overgrowth may be followed by prematurely arrested growth.
      However, the few investigations quantifying cortical thickness have yielded
      inconsistent results, probably due to variable ages and/or small sample sizes. We
      assessed differences in cortical thickness between high-functioning adolescent
      and young adult males with autism spectrum disorders (n = 41) and matched
      typically developing males (n = 40). We hypothesized thinner cortex, particularly
      in frontal, parietal and temporal regions, for individuals with autism spectrum
      disorders in comparison with typically developing controls. Furthermore, we
      expected to find an age * diagnosis interaction: with increasing age, more
      pronounced cortical thinning would be observed in autism spectrum disorders than
      typically developing participants. T(1)-weighted magnetization prepared rapid
      gradient echo 3 T magnetic resonance imaging scans were acquired from high
      functioning males with autism spectrum disorders and from typically developing
      males matched group-wise on age (range 12-24 years), intelligence quotient (>=
      85) and handedness. Both gyral-level and vertex-based analyses revealed
      significantly thinner cortex in the autism spectrum disorders group that was
      located predominantly in left temporal and parietal regions (i.e. the superior
      temporal sulcus, inferior temporal, postcentral/superior parietal and
      supramarginal gyri). These findings remained largely unchanged after controlling
      for intelligence quotient and after accounting for psychotropic medication usage
      and comorbid psychopathology. Furthermore, a significant age * diagnosis
      interaction was found in the left fusiform/inferior temporal cortex: participants
      with autism spectrum disorders had thinner cortex in this region with increasing
      age to a greater degree than did typically developing participants. Follow-up
      within group comparisons revealed significant age-related thinning in the autism
      spectrum disorders group but not in the typically developing group. Both thinner
      temporal and parietal cortices during adolescence and young adulthood and
      discrepantly accelerated age-related cortical thinning in autism spectrum
      disorders suggest that a second period of abnormal cortical growth (i.e. greater
      thinning) may be characteristic of these disorders.

PMID- 20926368
TI  - Gait ataxia in essential tremor is differentially modulated by thalamic
      stimulation.
AB  - Patients with advanced stages of essential tremor frequently exhibit tandem gait
      ataxia with impaired balance control and imprecise foot placement, resembling
      patients with a cerebellar deficit. Thalamic deep brain stimulation, a surgical
      therapy for otherwise intractable cases, has been shown to improve tremor, but
      its impact on cerebellar-like gait difficulties remains to be elucidated. Eleven
      patients affected by essential tremor (five females; age 69.8 +/- 3.9 years;
      disease duration 24.4 +/- 11.2 years; follow-up after surgery 24.7 +/- 20.3
      months) were evaluated during the following conditions: stimulation off,
      stimulation on and supra-therapeutic stimulation. Ten age-matched healthy
      controls served as the comparison group. Locomotion by patients and controls was
      assessed with (i) overground gait and tandem gait; (ii) balance-assisted
      treadmill tandem gait and (iii) unassisted treadmill gait. The two treadmill
      paradigms were kinematically analysed using a 3D opto-electronic motion analysis
      system. Established clinical and kinesiological measures of ataxia were computed.
      During stimulation off, the patients exhibited ataxia in all assessment
      paradigms, which improved during stimulation on and worsened again during supra
      therapeutic stimulation. During over ground tandem gait, patients had more
      missteps and slower gait velocities during stimulation off and supra-therapeutic
      stimulation than during stimulation on. During balance-assisted tandem gait,
      stimulation on reduced the temporospatial variability in foot trajectories to
      nearly normal values, while highly variable (ataxic) foot trajectories were
      observed during stimulation off and supra-therapeutic stimulation. During
      unassisted treadmill gait, stimulation on improved gait stability compared with
      stimulation off and supra-therapeutic stimulation, as demonstrated by increased
      gait velocity and ankle rotation. These improvements in ataxia were not a
      function of reduced tremor in the lower limbs or torso. In conclusion, we
      demonstrate the impact of thalamic stimulation on gait ataxia in patients with
      essential tremor with improvement by stimulation on and deterioration by supra
      therapeutic stimulation, despite continued control of tremor. Thus, cerebellar
      dysfunction in these patients can be differentially modulated with optimal versus
      supra-therapeutic stimulation. The cerebellar movement disorder of essential
      tremor is due to a typical cerebellar deficit, not to trembling extremities. We
      hypothesize that deep brain stimulation affects two major regulating circuits:
      the cortico-thalamo-cortical loop for tremor reduction and the cerebello-thalamo
      cortical pathway for ataxia reduction (stimulation on) and ataxia induction
      (supra-therapeutic stimulation).

PMID- 20926369
TI  - World Health Organization definition of myocardial infarction: 2008-09 revision.
AB  - BACKGROUND: WHO has played a leading role in the formulation and promulgation of
      standard criteria for the diagnosis of coronary heart disease and myocardial
      infarction since early 1970s. METHODS: The revised definition takes into
      consideration the following: well-resourced settings can use the ESC/ACC/AHA/WHF
      definition, which has new biomarkers as a compulsory feature; in resource
      constrained settings, a typical biomarker pattern cannot be made a compulsory
      feature as the necessary assays may not be available; the definition must also
      have provision for diagnosing non-fatal events with incomplete information on
      cardiac biomarkers and the ECG; to facilitate epidemiologic monitoring definition
      must recognize fatal events with incomplete or no information on cardiac
      biomarkers and/or ECG and/or autopsy and/or coronary angiography. RESULTS:
      Category A definition is the same as ESC/ACC/AHA/WHF definition of MI, and can be
      applied to settings with no resource constraints. Category B definition of MI is
      to be applied whenever there is incomplete information on cardiac bio-markers
      together with symptoms of ischaemia and the development of unequivocal
      pathological Q waves. Category C definition (probable MI) is to be applied when
      individuals with MI may not satisfy Category A or B definitions because of
      delayed access to medical services and/or unavailability of electrocardiography
      and/or laboratory assay of cardiac biomarkers. In these situations, the term
      probable MI should be used when there is either ECG changes suggestive of MI or
      incomplete information on cardiac biomarkers in a person with symptoms of
      ischaemia with no evidence of a non-coronary reason. CONCLUSIONS: This article
      presents the 2008-09 revision of the World Health Organization (WHO) definition
      of myocardial infarction (MI) developed at a WHO expert consultation.

PMID- 20926370
TI  - Is education causal? Yes.

PMID- 20926371
TI  - Distribution of hyperglycaemia and related cardiovascular disease risk factors in
      low-income countries: a cross-sectional population-based survey in rural Uganda.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Data on non-communicable disease (NCD) burden are often limited in
      developing countries in Africa but crucial for planning and implementation of
      prevention and control strategies. We assessed the prevalence of related
      cardiovascular disease risk factors (hyperglycaemia, high blood pressure and
      obesity) in a longstanding population cohort in rural Uganda. METHODS: Trained
      field staff conducted a cross-sectional population-based survey of cardiovascular
      disease risk indicators using a questionnaire and simple measurements of body
      mass index (BMI), waist and hip circumference, waist/hip ratio (WHR), blood
      pressure and random plasma glucose. All members of the population cohort aged
      >=13 years were eligible to participate in the survey. RESULTS: Of the 4801 males
      and 5372 females who were eligible, 2719 (56.6%) males and 3959 (73.7%) females
      participated in the survey. Male and female participants had a mean standard
      deviation (SD) age of 31.8 (18.4) years and 33.7 (17.6) years, respectively. The
      observed prevalences of probable diabetes (glucose >11.0 mmol/l) and probable
      hyperglycaemia (7.0-11.0 mmol/l) were 0.4 and 2.9%, respectively. Less than 1% of
      males and 4% of females were obese (BMI >=30 kg/m(2)), with 3.6% of males and
      14.5% of females being overweight (BMI 25.0-29.9 kg/m(2)). However, in women, the
      prevalence of abdominal obesity was high (71.3% as measured by WHR and 31.2% as
      measured by waist circumference). The proportions of male and female current
      regular smokers were low (13.7 and 0.9%, respectively). The commonest
      cardiovascular disease risk factor was high blood pressure, with an observed
      prevalence of 22.5% in both sexes. CONCLUSIONS: Population-based data on the
      burden of related cardiovascular disease risk factors can aid in the planning and
      implementation of an effective response to the double burden of communicable
      diseases and NCDs in this rural population of a low-income country undergoing
      epidemiological transition.

PMID- 20926372
TI  - A tandem SH2 domain in transcription elongation factor Spt6 binds the
      phosphorylated RNA polymerase II C-terminal repeat domain (CTD).
AB  - Spt6 is an essential transcription elongation factor and histone chaperone that
      binds the C-terminal repeat domain (CTD) of RNA polymerase II. We show here that
      Spt6 contains a tandem SH2 domain with a novel structure and CTD-binding mode.
      The tandem SH2 domain binds to a serine 2-phosphorylated CTD peptide in vitro,
      whereas its N-terminal SH2 subdomain, which we previously characterized, does
      not. CTD binding requires a positively charged crevice in the C-terminal SH2
      subdomain, which lacks the canonical phospho-binding pocket of SH2 domains and
      had previously escaped detection. The tandem SH2 domain is apparently required
      for transcription elongation in vivo as its deletion in cells is lethal in the
      presence of 6-azauracil.

PMID- 20926373
TI  - Noncanonical tandem SH2 enables interaction of elongation factor Spt6 with RNA
      polymerase II.
AB  - Src homology 2 (SH2) domains are mostly found in multicellular organisms where
      they recognize phosphotyrosine-containing signaling proteins. Spt6, a conserved
      transcription factor and putative histone chaperone, contains a C-terminal SH2
      domain conserved from yeast to human. In mammals, this SH2 domain recognizes
      phosphoserines rather than phosphotyrosines and is essential for the recruitment
      of Spt6 by elongating RNA polymerase II (RNAPII), enabling Spt6 to participate in
      the coupling of transcription elongation, chromatin modulation, and mRNA export.
      We have determined the structure of the entire Spt6 C-terminal region from
      Antonospora locustae, revealing the presence of two highly conserved tandem SH2
      domains rather than a single SH2 domain. Although the first SH2 domain has a
      canonical organization, the second SH2 domain is highly noncanonical and appears
      to be unique in the SH2 family. However, both SH2 domains have phosphate-binding
      determinants. Our biochemical and genetic data demonstrate that the complete
      tandem, but not the individual SH2 domains, are necessary and sufficient for the
      interaction of Spt6 with RNAPII and are important for Spt6 function in vivo.
      Furthermore, our data suggest that binding of RNAPII to the Spt6 tandem SH2 is
      more extensive than the mere recognition of a doubly phosphorylated C-terminal
      domain peptide by the tandem SH2. Taken together, our results show that Spt6
      interaction with RNAPII via a novel arrangement of canonical and noncanonical SH2
      domains is crucial for Spt6 function in vivo.

PMID- 20926374
TI  - Butyrate-rich colonic microenvironment is a relevant selection factor for
      metabolically adapted tumor cells.
AB  - The short chain fatty acid (SCFA) butyrate is a product of colonic fermentation
      of dietary fibers. It is the main source of energy for normal colonocytes, but
      cannot be metabolized by most tumor cells. Butyrate also functions as a histone
      deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor to control cell proliferation and apoptosis. In
      consequence, butyrate and its derived drugs are used in cancer therapy. Here we
      show that aggressive tumor cells that retain the capacity of metabolizing
      butyrate are positively selected in their microenvironment. In the mouse
      xenograft model, butyrate-preselected human colon cancer cells gave rise to
      subcutaneous tumors that grew faster and were more angiogenic than those derived
      from untreated cells. Similarly, butyrate-preselected cells demonstrated a
      significant increase in rates of homing to the lung after intravenous injection.
      Our data showed that butyrate regulates the expression of VEGF and its receptor
      KDR at the transcriptional level potentially through FoxM1, resulting in the
      generation of a functional VEGF:KDR autocrine growth loop. Cells selected by
      chronic exposure to butyrate express higher levels of MMP2, MMP9, alpha2 and
      alpha3 integrins, and lower levels of E-cadherin, a marker for epithelial to
      mesenchymal transition. The orthotopic model of colon cancer showed that cells
      preselected by butyrate are able to colonize the animals locally and at distant
      organs, whereas control cells can only generate a local tumor in the cecum.
      Together our data shows that a butyrate-rich microenvironment may select for
      tumor cells that are able to metabolize butyrate, which are also phenotypically
      more aggressive.

PMID- 20926375
TI  - The sphingosine kinase 1 inhibitor 2-(p-hydroxyanilino)-4-(p
      chlorophenyl)thiazole induces proteasomal degradation of sphingosine kinase 1 in
      mammalian cells.
AB  - Sphingosine kinase 1 (SK1) is an enzyme that catalyzes the phosphorylation of
      sphingosine to produce the bioactive lipid sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P). We
      demonstrate here that the SK1 inhibitor, SKi (2-(p-hydroxyanilino)-4-(p
      chlorophenyl)thiazole) induces the proteasomal degradation of SK1 in human
      pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells, androgen-sensitive LNCaP prostate cancer
      cells, MCF-7 and MCF-7 HER2 breast cancer cells and that this is likely mediated
      by ceramide as a consequence of catalytic inhibition of SK1 by SKi. Moreover, SK1
      is polyubiquitinated under basal conditions, and SKi appears to increase the
      degradation of SK1 by activating the proteasome. In addition, the proteasomal
      degradation of SK1a and SK1b in androgen-sensitive LNCaP cells is associated with
      the induction of apoptosis. However, SK1b in LNCaP-AI cells (androgen
      independent) is less sensitive to SKi-induced proteasomal degradation and these
      cells are resistant to SKi-induced apoptosis, thereby implicating the ubiquitin
      proteasomal degradation of SK1 as an important mechanism controlling cell
      survival.

PMID- 20926376
TI  - Structure-based catalytic optimization of a type III Rubisco from a
      hyperthermophile.
AB  - The Calvin-Benson-Bassham cycle is responsible for carbon dioxide fixation in all
      plants, algae, and cyanobacteria. The enzyme that catalyzes the carbon dioxide
      fixing reaction is ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco).
      Rubisco from a hyperthermophilic archaeon Thermococcus kodakarensis (Tk-Rubisco)
      belongs to the type III group, and shows high activity at high temperatures. We
      have previously found that replacement of the entire alpha-helix 6 of Tk-Rubisco
      with the corresponding region of the spinach enzyme (SP6 mutant) results in an
      improvement of catalytic performance at mesophilic temperatures, both in vivo and
      in vitro, whereas the former and latter half-replacements of the alpha-helix 6
      (SP4 and SP5 mutants) do not yield such improvement. We report here the crystal
      structures of the wild-type Tk-Rubisco and the mutants SP4 and SP6, and discuss
      the relationships between their structures and enzymatic activities. A comparison
      among these structures shows the movement and the increase of temperature factors
      of alpha-helix 6 induced by four essential factors. We thus supposed that an
      increase in the flexibility of the alpha-helix 6 and loop 6 regions was important
      to increase the catalytic activity of Tk-Rubisco at ambient temperatures. Based
      on this structural information, we constructed a new mutant, SP5-V330T, which was
      designed to have significantly greater flexibility in the above region, and it
      proved to exhibit the highest activity among all mutants examined to date. The
      thermostability of the SP5-V330T mutant was lower than that of wild-type Tk
      Rubisco, providing further support on the relationship between flexibility and
      activity at ambient temperatures.

PMID- 20926377
TI  - Ablation of skeletal muscle triadin impairs FKBP12/RyR1 channel interactions
      essential for maintaining resting cytoplasmic Ca2+.
AB  - Previously, we have shown that lack of expression of triadins in skeletal muscle
      cells results in significant increase of myoplasmic resting free Ca(2+)
      ([Ca(2+)](rest)), suggesting a role for triadins in modulating global
      intracellular Ca(2+) homeostasis. To understand this mechanism, we study here how
      triadin alters [Ca(2+)](rest), Ca(2+) release, and Ca(2+) entry pathways using a
      combination of Ca(2+) microelectrodes, channels reconstituted in bilayer lipid
      membranes (BLM), Ca(2+), and Mn(2+) imaging analyses of myotubes and RyR1
      channels obtained from triadin-null mice. Unlike WT cells, triadin-null myotubes
      had chronically elevated [Ca(2+)](rest) that was sensitive to inhibition with
      ryanodine, suggesting that triadin-null cells have increased basal RyR1 activity.
      Consistently, BLM studies indicate that, unlike WT-RyR1, triadin-null channels
      more frequently display atypical gating behavior with multiple and stable
      subconductance states. Accordingly, pulldown analysis and fluorescent FKBP12
      binding studies in triadin-null muscles revealed a significant impairment of the
      FKBP12/RyR1 interaction. Mn(2+) quench rates under resting conditions indicate
      that triadin-null cells also have higher Ca(2+) entry rates and lower
      sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca(2+) load than WT cells. Overexpression of FKBP12.6
      reverted the null phenotype, reducing resting Ca(2+) entry, recovering
      sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca(2+) content levels, and restoring near normal
      [Ca(2+)](rest). Exogenous FKBP12.6 also reduced the RyR1 channel P(o) but did not
      rescue subconductance behavior. In contrast, FKBP12 neither reduced P(o) nor
      recovered multiple subconductance gating. These data suggest that elevated
      [Ca(2+)](rest) in triadin-null myotubes is primarily driven by dysregulated RyR1
      channel activity that results in part from impaired FKBP12/RyR1 functional
      interactions and a secondary increased Ca(2+) entry at rest.

PMID- 20926378
TI  - STIM1-dependent and STIM1-independent function of transient receptor potential
      canonical (TRPC) channels tunes their store-operated mode.
AB  - Ca(2+) influx by store-operated Ca(2+) channels is a key component of the
      receptor-evoked Ca(2+) signal. In all cells examined, transient receptor
      potential canonical (TRPC) channels mediate a significant portion of the receptor
      stimulated Ca(2+) influx. Recent studies have revealed how STIM1 activates TRPC1
      in response to store depletion; however, the role of STIM1 in TRPC channel
      activation by receptor stimulation is not fully understood. Here, we established
      mutants of TRPC channels that could not be activated by STIM1 but were activated
      by the "charge-swap" mutant STIM1(K684E,K685E). Significantly, WT but not mutant
      TRPC channels were inhibited by scavenging STIM1 with Orai1(R91W), indicating the
      STIM1 dependence and independence of WT and mutant TRPC channels, respectively.
      Importantly, mutant TRPC channels were robustly activated by receptor
      stimulation. Moreover, STIM1 and STIM1(K684E,K685E) reciprocally affected
      receptor-activated WT and mutant TRPC channels. Together, these findings indicate
      that TRPC channels can function as STIM1-dependent and STIM1-independent
      channels, which increases the versatility of TRPC channel function and their role
      in receptor-stimulated Ca(2+) influx.

PMID- 20926379
TI  - The suppression of CRMP2 expression by bone morphogenetic protein (BMP)-SMAD
      gradient signaling controls multiple stages of neuronal development.
AB  - The formation of the functional mammalian cerebral cortex requires a concerted
      control of neurogenesis, neuronal migration, and neuronal morphogenesis. However,
      molecular mechanisms that control these processes are not well understood. We
      have found that the BMP signaling downstream transcription factor SMAD1 and CRMP2
      (collapsin response mediator protein-2) are inversely and complementarily
      expressed in the developing neocortex. BMPs can suppress CRMP2 expression in
      cortical cells. Our ChIP assay demonstrates that both SMAD1 and -4 bind to CRMP2
      promoter in the neocortex, and overexpression of SMAD1 and 4 in vivo suppresses
      CRMP2 expression. RNA interference of CRMP2 and overexpression of dominant
      negative forms of CRMP2 in utero cause accumulation of multipolar cells in the
      ventricular, subventricular, and intermediate zones and suppresses neurite
      outgrowth, suggesting that CRMP2 is required for multipolar to bipolar transition
      for directional neuronal migration and neurite outgrowth. Thus, our study reveals
      a novel mechanism that the BMP-SMAD signaling pathway controls neuronal migration
      and neurite outgrowth by suppressing the transcription of CRMP2.

PMID- 20926380
TI  - NMR-derived topology of a GFP-photoprotein energy transfer complex.
AB  - Forster resonance energy transfer within a protein-protein complex has previously
      been invoked to explain emission spectral modulation observed in several
      bioluminescence systems. Here we present a spatial structure of a complex of the
      Ca(2+)-regulated photoprotein clytin with its green-fluorescent protein (cgGFP)
      from the jellyfish Clytia gregaria, and show that it accounts for the
      bioluminescence properties of this system in vitro. We adopted an indirect
      approach of combining x-ray crystallography determined structures of the separate
      proteins, NMR spectroscopy, computational docking, and mutagenesis. Heteronuclear
      NMR spectroscopy using variously (15)N,(13)C,(2)H-enriched proteins enabled
      assignment of backbone resonances of more than 94% of the residues of both
      proteins. In a mixture of the two proteins at millimolar concentrations,
      complexation was inferred from perturbations of certain (1)H-(15)N HSQC
      resonances, which could be mapped to those residues involved at the interaction
      site. A docking computation using HADDOCK was employed constrained by the sites
      of interaction, to deduce an overall spatial structure of the complex. Contacts
      within the clytin-cgGFP complex and electrostatic complementarity of interaction
      surfaces argued for a weak protein-protein complex. A weak affinity was also
      observed by isothermal titration calorimetry (K(D) = 0.9 mM). Mutation of clytin
      residues located at the interaction site reduced the degree of protein-protein
      association concomitant with a loss of effectiveness of cgGFP in color-shifting
      the bioluminescence. It is suggested that this clytin-cgGFP structure corresponds
      to the transient complex previously postulated to account for the energy transfer
      effect of GFP in the bioluminescence of aequorin or Renilla luciferase.

PMID- 20926381
TI  - Alternatively expressed domains of AU-rich element RNA-binding protein 1 (AUF1)
      regulate RNA-binding affinity, RNA-induced protein oligomerization, and the local
      conformation of bound RNA ligands.
AB  - AU-rich element RNA-binding protein 1 (AUF1) binding to AU-rich elements (AREs)
      in the 3'-untranslated regions of mRNAs encoding many cytokines and other
      regulatory proteins modulates mRNA stability, thereby influencing protein
      expression. AUF1-mRNA association is a dynamic paradigm directed by various
      cellular signals, but many features of its function remain poorly described.
      There are four isoforms of AUF1 that result from alternative splicing of exons 2
      and 7 from a common pre-mRNA. Preliminary evidence suggests that the different
      isoforms have varied functional characteristics, but no detailed quantitative
      analysis of the properties of each isoform has been reported despite their
      differential expression and regulation. Using purified recombinant forms of each
      AUF1 protein variant, we used chemical cross-linking and gel filtration
      chromatography to show that each exists as a dimer in solution. We then defined
      the association mechanisms of each AUF1 isoform for ARE-containing RNA substrates
      and quantified relevant binding affinities using electrophoretic mobility shift
      and fluorescence anisotropy assays. Although all AUF1 isoforms generated
      oligomeric complexes on ARE substrates by sequential dimer association, sequences
      encoded by exon 2 inhibited RNA-binding affinity. By contrast, the exon 7-encoded
      domain enhanced RNA-dependent protein oligomerization, even permitting
      cooperative RNA-binding activity in some contexts. Finally, fluorescence
      resonance energy transfer-based assays showed that the different AUF1 isoforms
      remodel bound RNA substrates into divergent structures as a function of
      protein:RNA stoichiometry. Together, these data describe isoform-specific
      characteristics among AUF1 ribonucleoprotein complexes, which likely constitute a
      mechanistic basis for differential functions and regulation among members of this
      protein family.

PMID- 20926382
TI  - Oxidative stress inhibits vascular K(ATP) channels by S-glutathionylation.
AB  - The K(ATP) channel is an important player in vascular tone regulation. Its
      opening and closure lead to vasodilation and vasoconstriction, respectively. Such
      functions may be disrupted in oxidative stress seen in a variety of
      cardiovascular diseases, while the underlying mechanism remains unclear. Here, we
      demonstrated that S-glutathionylation was a modulation mechanism underlying
      oxidant-mediated vascular K(ATP) channel regulation. An exposure of isolated
      mesenteric rings to hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)) impaired the K(ATP) channel
      mediated vascular dilation. In whole-cell recordings and inside-out patches,
      H(2)O(2) or diamide caused a strong inhibition of the vascular K(ATP) channel
      (Kir6.1/SUR2B) in the presence, but not in the absence, of glutathione (GSH).
      Similar channel inhibition was seen with oxidized glutathione (GSSG) and thiol
      modulating reagents. The oxidant-mediated channel inhibition was reversed by the
      reducing agent dithiothreitol (DTT) and the specific deglutathionylation reagent
      glutaredoxin-1 (Grx1). Consistent with S-glutathionylation, streptavidin pull
      down assays with biotinylated glutathione ethyl ester (BioGEE) showed
      incorporation of GSH to the Kir6.1 subunit in the presence of H(2)O(2). These
      results suggest that S-glutathionylation is an important mechanism for the
      vascular K(ATP) channel modulation in oxidative stress.

PMID- 20926383
TI  - A molecular switch between the outer and the inner vestibules of the voltage
      gated Na+ channel.
AB  - Voltage-gated ion channels are transmembrane proteins that undergo complex
      conformational changes during their gating transitions. Both functional and
      structural data from K(+) channels suggest that extracellular and intracellular
      parts of the pore communicate with each other via a trajectory of interacting
      amino acids. No crystal structures are available for voltage-gated Na(+)
      channels, but functional data suggest a similar intramolecular communication
      involving the inner and outer vestibules. However, the mechanism of such
      communication is unknown. Here, we report that amino acid Ile-1575 in the middle
      of transmembrane segment 6 of domain IV (DIV-S6) in the adult rat skeletal muscle
      isoform of the voltage-gated sodium channel (rNa(V)1.4) may act as molecular
      switch allowing for interaction between outer and inner vestibules. Cysteine
      scanning mutagenesis of the internal part of DIV-S6 revealed that only mutations
      at site 1575 rescued the channel from a unique kinetic state ("ultra-slow
      inactivation," I(US)) produced by the mutation K1237E in the selectivity filter.
      A similar effect was seen with I1575A. Previously, we reported that
      conformational changes of both the internal and the external vestibule are
      involved in the generation of I(US). The fact that mutations at site 1575
      modulate I(US) produced by K1237E strongly suggests an interaction between these
      sites. Our data confirm a previously published molecular model in which Ile-1575
      of DIV-S6 is in close proximity to Lys-1237 of the selectivity filter.
      Furthermore, these functional data define the position of the selectivity filter
      relative to the adjacent DIV-S6 segment within the ionic permeation pathway.

PMID- 20926384
TI  - Adenosine A2A receptor is involved in cell surface expression of A2B receptor.
AB  - The A2A and A2B adenosine receptors (A2AR and A2BR) are implicated in many
      physiological processes. However, the mechanisms of their intracellular
      maturation and trafficking are poorly understood. In comparative studies of A2AR
      versus A2BR expression in transfected cells, we noticed that the levels of cell
      surface expression of A2BR were significantly lower than those of A2AR. A large
      portion of the A2BR was degraded by the proteasome. Studies of cell surface
      expression of A2BR chimeric molecules in transfectants suggested that A2BR does
      not have the dominant forward transport signal for export from the endoplasmic
      reticulum to the cell surface. A2BR surface expression was increased in A2BR
      chimeras where the A2BR carboxyl terminus (CT) was replaced or fused with the
      A2AR CT. Co-transfection of A2AR with A2BR enhanced surface expression of A2BR
      though the F(X)(6)LL motif in the A2AR CT. The requirements of A2AR expression
      for better A2BR cell surface expression was not only established in transfectants
      but also confirmed by observations of much lower levels of A2BR-induced
      intracellular cAMP accumulation in response to A2BR-activating ligand in
      splenocytes from A2AR(-/-) mice than in wild type mice. The results of
      mechanistic studies suggested that poor A2BR expression at the cell surface might
      be accounted for mainly by the lack of a dominant forward transport signal from
      the endoplasmic reticulum to the plasma membrane; it is likely that A2BR forms a
      hetero-oligomer complex for better function.

PMID- 20926385
TI  - Identification of a residue in helix 2 of rice plasma membrane intrinsic proteins
      that influences water permeability.
AB  - Molecular selection, ion exclusion, and water permeation are well known
      regulatory mechanisms in aquaporin. Water permeability was found to be diverse in
      different subgroups of plasma membrane intrinsic proteins (PIPs), even though the
      residues surrounding the water holes remained the same across the subgroups. Upon
      homology modeling and structural comparison, a conserved Ala/Ile(Val) residue
      difference was identified in helix 2 that affected the conformation of the NPA
      region and consequently influenced the water permeability. The residue difference
      was found to be conservative within the two subgroups of PIPs in rice as well as
      in other plants. Functional tests further confirmed the prediction via site
      directed mutagenesis where replacement of Ala(103) or Ala(102) in respective
      OsPIP1;1 or OsPIP1;3 with Val yielded 7.0- and 2.2-fold increases in water
      transportation, and substitution of Ile(98) or Val(95) in respective OsPIP2;3 or
      OsPIP2;7 with Ala resulted in 73 or 52% reduction of water transportation. Based
      on structural analyses and molecular dynamics simulations, we proposed that the
      difference in water permeability was attributed to the orientation variations of
      helix 2 that modified water-water and water-protein interactions.

PMID- 20926387
TI  - The eukaryotic translation elongation Factor 1Bgamma has a non-guanine nucleotide
      exchange factor role in protein metabolism.
AB  - The turnover of damaged proteins is critical to cell survival during stressful
      conditions such as heat shock or oxidative stress. The accumulation of misfolded
      proteins in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is toxic to cells. Therefore these
      proteins must be efficiently exported from the ER and degraded by the proteasome
      or the vacuole. Previously it was shown that the loss of eukaryotic elongation
      factor 1Bgamma (eEF1Bgamma) from the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae results in
      resistance to oxidative stress. Strains lacking eEF1Bgamma show severe defects in
      protein turnover during conditions of oxidative stress. Furthermore, these
      strains accumulate a greater amount of oxidized proteins, which correlates with
      changes in heat shock chaperones. These strains show severe defects in vacuole
      morphology and defects related to the maturation of carboxypeptidase Y that is
      not dependent on the catalytic subunit of the eEF1B complex as a guanine
      nucleotide exchange factor. Finally, eEF1Bgamma co-immunoprecipitates with an
      essential component of ER-Golgi transport vesicles. Taken together, these results
      support a broader protein metabolism role for eEF1Bgamma.

PMID- 20926386
TI  - Blocking O-linked GlcNAc cycling in Drosophila insulin-producing cells perturbs
      glucose-insulin homeostasis.
AB  - A dynamic cycle of O-linked GlcNAc (O-GlcNAc) addition and removal is catalyzed
      by O-GlcNAc transferase and O-GlcNAcase, respectively, in a process that serves
      as the final step in a nutrient-driven "hexosamine-signaling pathway." Evidence
      points to a role for O-GlcNAc cycling in diabetes and insulin resistance. We have
      used Drosophila melanogaster to determine whether O-GlcNAc metabolism plays a
      role in modulating Drosophila insulin-like peptide (dilp) production and insulin
      signaling. We employed transgenesis to either overexpress or knock down
      Drosophila Ogt(sxc) and Oga in insulin-producing cells (IPCs) or fat bodies using
      the GAL4-UAS system. Knockdown of Ogt decreased Dilp2, Dilp3, and Dilp5
      production, with reduced body size and decreased phosphorylation of Akt in vivo.
      In contrast, knockdown of Oga increased Dilp2, Dilp3, and Dilp5 production,
      increased body size, and enhanced phosphorylation of Akt in vivo. However,
      knockdown of either Ogt(sxc) or Oga in the IPCs increased the hemolymph
      carbohydrate concentration. Furthermore, phosphorylation of Akt stimulated by
      extraneous insulin in an ex vivo cultured fat body of third instar larvae was
      diminished in strains subjected to IPC knockdown of Ogt or Oga. Knockdown of O
      GlcNAc cycling enzymes in the fat body dramatically reduced neutral lipid stores.
      These results demonstrate that altered O-GlcNAc cycling in Drosophila IPCs
      modulates insulin production and influences the insulin responsiveness of
      peripheral tissues. The observed phenotypes in O-GlcNAc cycling mimic pancreatic
      beta-cell dysfunction and glucose toxicity related to sustained hyperglycemia in
      mammals.

PMID- 20926388
TI  - Characterization of FdmV as an amide synthetase for fredericamycin A biosynthesis
      in Streptomyces griseus ATCC 43944.
AB  - Fredericamycin (FDM) A is a pentadecaketide natural product that features an
      amide linkage. Analysis of the fdm cluster from Streptomyces griseus ATCC 43944,
      however, failed to reveal genes encoding the types of amide synthetases commonly
      seen in natural product biosynthesis. Here, we report in vivo and in vitro
      characterizations of FdmV, an asparagine synthetase (AS) B-like protein, as an
      amide synthetase that catalyzes the amide bond formation in FDM A biosynthesis.
      This is supported by the findings that (i) inactivation of fdmV in vivo afforded
      the DeltafdmV mutant strain SB4027 that abolished FDM A and FDM E production but
      accumulated FDM C, a biosynthetic intermediate devoid of the characteristic amide
      linkage; (ii) FdmV in vitro catalyzes conversion of FDM C to FDM B, a known
      intermediate for FDM A biosynthesis (apparent K(m) = 162 +/- 67 MUM and k(cat) =
      0.11 +/- 0.02 min(-1)); and (iii) FdmV also catalyzes the amidation of FDM M-3, a
      structural analog of FDM C, to afford amide FDM M-6 in vitro, albeit at
      significantly reduced efficiency. Preliminary enzymatic studies revealed that, in
      addition to the common nitrogen sources (L-Gln and free amine) of class II
      glutamine amidotransferases (to which AS B belongs), FdmV can also utilize L-Asn
      as a nitrogen donor. The amide bond formation in FDM A biosynthesis is proposed
      to occur after C-8 hydroxylation but before the carbaspirocycle formation.

PMID- 20926389
TI  - Genomics-driven reconstruction of acinetobacter NAD metabolism: insights for
      antibacterial target selection.
AB  - Enzymes involved in the last steps of NAD biogenesis, nicotinate mononucleotide
      adenylyltransferase (NadD) and NAD synthetase (NadE), are conserved and essential
      in most bacterial species and are established targets for antibacterial drug
      development. Our genomics-based reconstruction of NAD metabolism in the emerging
      pathogen Acinetobacter baumannii revealed unique features suggesting an
      alternative targeting strategy. Indeed, genomes of all analyzed Acinetobacter
      species do not encode NadD, which is functionally replaced by its distant homolog
      NadM. We combined bioinformatics with genetic and biochemical techniques to
      elucidate this and other important features of Acinetobacter NAD metabolism using
      a model (nonpathogenic) strain Acinetobacter baylyi sp. ADP1. Thus, a comparative
      kinetic characterization of PncA, PncB, and NadV enzymes allowed us to suggest
      distinct physiological roles for the two alternative, deamidating and
      nondeamidating, routes of nicotinamide salvage/recycling. The role of the NiaP
      transporter in both nicotinate and nicotinamide salvage was confirmed. The
      nondeamidating route was shown to be transcriptionally regulated by an ADP-ribose
      responsive repressor NrtR. The NadM enzyme was shown to possess dual substrate
      specificity toward both nicotinate and nicotinamide mononucleotide substrates,
      which is consistent with its essential role in all three routes of NAD
      biogenesis, de novo synthesis as well as the two salvage pathways. The
      experimentally confirmed unconditional essentiality of nadM provided support for
      the choice of the respective enzyme as a drug target. In contrast, nadE, encoding
      a glutamine-dependent NAD synthetase, proved to be dispensable when the
      nondeamidating salvage pathway functioned as the only route of NAD biogenesis.

PMID- 20926390
TI  - Crystal structure of Leishmania major oligopeptidase B gives insight into the
      enzymatic properties of a trypanosomatid virulence factor.
AB  - Oligopeptidase B (OPB) is a serine peptidase with dibasic substrate specificity.
      It is found in bacteria, plants, and trypanosomatid pathogens, where it has been
      identified as a virulence factor and potential drug target. In this study we
      expressed active recombinant Leishmania major OPB and provide the first structure
      of an oligopeptidase B at high resolution. The crystallographic study reveals
      that OPB comprises two domains, a catalytic and a propeller domain, linked
      together by a hinge region. The structure has been determined in complex with the
      oligopeptide, protease-inhibitor antipain, giving detailed information on the
      enzyme active site and extended substrate binding pockets. It shows that Glu-621
      plays a critical role in the S1 binding pocket and, along with Phe-603, is
      largely responsible for the enzyme substrate specificity in P1. In the S2 binding
      pocket, Tyr-499 was shown to be important for substrate stability. The structure
      also allowed an investigation into the function of residues highlighted in other
      studies including Glu-623, which was predicted to be involved in the S1 binding
      pocket but is found forming an inter-domain hydrogen bond. Additional important
      salt bridges/hydrogen bonds between the two domains were observed, highlighting
      the significance of the domain interface in OPB. This work provides a foundation
      for the study of the role of OPBs as virulence factors in trypanosomatids. It
      could facilitate the development of specific OPB inhibitors with therapeutic
      potential by exploiting its unique substrate recognition properties as well as
      providing a model for OPBs in general.

PMID- 20926391
TI  - O-linked beta-N-acetylglucosamine (O-GlcNAc) regulates stress-induced heat shock
      protein expression in a GSK-3beta-dependent manner.
AB  - To investigate the mechanisms by which O-linked beta-N-acetylglucosamine
      modification of nucleocytoplasmic proteins (O-GlcNAc) confers stress tolerance to
      multiple forms of cellular injury, we explored the role(s) of O-GlcNAc in the
      regulation of heat shock protein (HSP) expression. Using a cell line in which
      deletion of the O-GlcNAc transferase (OGT; the enzyme that adds O-GlcNAc) can be
      induced by 4-hydroxytamoxifen, we screened the expression of 84 HSPs using
      quantitative reverse transcriptase PCR. In OGT null cells the stress-induced
      expression of 18 molecular chaperones, including HSP72, were reduced. GSK-3beta
      promotes apoptosis through numerous pathways, including phosphorylation of heat
      shock factor 1 (HSF1) at Ser(303) (Ser(P)(303) HSF1), which inactivates HSF1 and
      inhibits HSP expression. In OGT null cells we observed increased Ser(P)(303)
      HSF1; conversely, in cells in which O-GlcNAc levels had been elevated, reduced
      Ser(P)(303) HSF1 was detected. These data, combined with those showing that
      inhibition of GSK-3beta in OGT null cells recovers HSP72 expression, suggests
      that O-GlcNAc regulates the activity of GSK-3beta. In OGT null cells, stress
      induced inactivation of GSK-3beta by phosphorylation at Ser(9) was ablated
      providing a molecular basis for these findings. Together, these data suggest that
      stress-induced GlcNAcylation increases HSP expression through inhibition of GSK
      3beta.

PMID- 20926392
TI  - Admission rates and in-hospital mortality for hip fractures in England 1998 to
      2009: time trends study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Fractures of the proximal femur are an important public health
      concern. The incidence of hip fractures is an index of osteoporosis burden. There
      have been no recent studies examining national trends in hip fractures in
      England. METHODS: We used national data for 1998-2009 from the English Hospital
      Episode Statistics database. Patients with an admission for hip fracture (574,482
      admissions) were identified. RESULTS: Between 1998 and 2009, there was little
      change in age-standardized hip fracture rates (102.0-101.8 fractures per 100,000
      person-years), but age-standardized in-hospital mortality decreased by 16.5% (95%
      CI (confidence interval): -18.5 to -8.4%) (126.9-106.0 deaths per 1000 hip
      fracture admissions). The majority of hip fractures and deaths occurred in
      females and older people. A socioeconomic gradient of 25.9% difference (95% CI:
      15.7-36.1%) existed for mortality in 2008 (93.5-117.7 per 1000). CONCLUSIONS: Hip
      fracture rates have not decreased in England since 1998, although inpatient
      mortality rates have declined. There is a socioeconomic gradient for in-hospital
      hip fracture deaths.

PMID- 20926393
TI  - Cellular and viral chromatin proteins are positive factors in the regulation of
      adenovirus gene expression.
AB  - The adenovirus genome forms chromatin-like structure with viral core proteins.
      This complex supports only a low level of transcription in a cell-free system,
      and thus core proteins have been thought to be negative factors for
      transcription. The mechanism how the transcription from the viral DNA complexed
      with core proteins is activated in infected cells remains unclear. Here, we found
      that both core proteins and histones are bound with the viral DNA in early phases
      of infection. We also found that acetylation of histone H3 occurs at the promoter
      regions of viral active genes in a transcription-independent manner. In addition,
      when a plasmid DNA complexed with core proteins was introduced into cells, core
      proteins enhanced transcription. Knockdown of TAF-I, a remodeling factor for
      viral core protein-DNA complexes, reduces the enhancement effect by core
      proteins, indicating that core proteins positively regulate viral transcription
      through the interaction with TAF-I. We would propose a possible mechanism that
      core proteins ensure transcription by regulating viral chromatin structure
      through the interaction with TAF-I.

PMID- 20926394
TI  - Structural basis for the dual RNA-recognition modes of human Tra2-beta RRM.
AB  - Human Transformer2-beta (hTra2-beta) is an important member of the
      serine/arginine-rich protein family, and contains one RNA recognition motif
      (RRM). It controls the alternative splicing of several pre-mRNAs, including those
      of the calcitonin/calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), the survival motor
      neuron 1 (SMN1) protein and the tau protein. Accordingly, the RRM of hTra2-beta
      specifically binds to two types of RNA sequences [the CAA and (GAA)(2)
      sequences]. We determined the solution structure of the hTra2-beta RRM (spanning
      residues Asn110-Thr201), which not only has a canonical RRM fold, but also an
      unusual alignment of the aromatic amino acids on the beta-sheet surface. We then
      solved the complex structure of the hTra2-beta RRM with the (GAA)(2) sequence,
      and found that the AGAA tetra-nucleotide was specifically recognized through
      hydrogen-bond formation with several amino acids on the N- and C-terminal
      extensions, as well as stacking interactions mediated by the unusually aligned
      aromatic rings on the beta-sheet surface. Further NMR experiments revealed that
      the hTra2-beta RRM recognizes the CAA sequence when it is integrated in the stem
      loop structure. This study indicates that the hTra2-beta RRM recognizes two types
      of RNA sequences in different RNA binding modes.

PMID- 20926395
TI  - The use of quaternary ammonium disinfectants selects for persisters at high
      frequency from some species of non-tuberculous mycobacteria and may be associated
      with outbreaks of soft tissue infections.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) are increasingly important as
      opportunistic infections after major and minor surgical procedures, likely
      because they are ubiquitous and not effectively killed by many commonly used
      disinfectants. Outbreaks of soft tissue infections with NTM appeared related to
      the use of commercial disinfectants based on quaternary ammonium compounds
      (QACs). METHODS: We studied the survival of clinical and environmental isolates
      of Mycobacterium abscessus, Mycobacterium massiliense, Mycobacterium chelonae and
      Mycobacterium fortuitum after 20 min, 60 min or 24 h exposures to different QACs,
      and the surviving bacteria were then re-exposed to QACs to see if the percentage
      of surviving bacteria had increased. The bacteria were labelled with a dnaA-gfp
      fusion and their level of QAC resistance monitored as increasing fluorescence.
      The QAC-resistant bacteria were then serially restreaked onto non-selective
      medium and retested for QAC survival. RESULTS: The frequency of survivors was <1
      in 10(5) bacteria with Mycobacterium smegmatis, but >1 in 100 with the other
      mycobacteria studied. Different environmental and clinical isolates had similar
      QAC MICs, but QAC survivors of each strain were resistant. The QAC-surviving
      strains reverted to the original, non-resistant phenotype after several passages
      on non-selective medium. CONCLUSIONS: QACs should not be used in settings where
      even minimally invasive procedures are performed, as they select for a non
      genetically determined reversible resistant phenotype that appears at high
      frequency with several rapidly growing mycobacterial species associated with
      healthcare-related infections. M. smegmatis behaves differently and is not an
      adequate model for testing the activity of disinfectants against NTM.

PMID- 20926396
TI  - Severity assessment of skin and soft tissue infections: cohort study of
      management and outcomes for hospitalized patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Skin and soft tissue infections (SSTIs) are caused by bacterial
      invasion of the skin and underlying soft tissues and can present with a wide
      spectrum of signs, symptoms and illness severity. They are a common indication
      for antimicrobial therapy. However, there are few data on treatment outcomes or
      the validity of clinical severity scores. METHODS: Two hundred and five adult
      patients admitted to Ninewells Hospital, Scotland in 2005, and treated with
      antibiotics for SSTI, were identified. They were stratified into four classes of
      severity (class IV = most severe) based on sepsis, co-morbidity and their
      standardized early warning score (SEWS). Empirical antimicrobial therapy by
      severity class was compared with the recommendations of a UK guideline. RESULTS:
      Thirty-five different empirical antimicrobial regimens were prescribed. Overall,
      43% of patients were over-treated, this being particularly common in the lowest
      severity class I (65% patients). Thirty-day mortality was 9% (18/205) and 17
      patients (8%) died during their index admission. Mortality (30 day) and
      inadequate therapy increased with severity class: I, no sepsis or co-morbidity
      (45% patients, 1% mortality, 14% therapy inadequate); II, significant co
      morbidity but no sepsis (32% patients, 11% mortality, 39% therapy inadequate);
      III, sepsis but SEWS <4 (17% of patients, 17% mortality, 39% therapy inadequate);
      and IV, sepsis plus SEWS >= 4 (6% of patients, 33% mortality, 92% therapy
      inadequate). CONCLUSIONS: SSTI in hospital is associated with significant
      mortality. Choice of empirical therapy is not evidence based, with significant
      under-treatment of severely ill patients.

PMID- 20926397
TI  - Pharmacodynamics of empirical antibiotic monotherapies for an intensive care unit
      (ICU) population based on Canadian surveillance data.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To evaluate, using Monte Carlo simulation, the pharmacodynamics (PD)
      of empirical antibiotic monotherapies for serious infections consistent with
      Canadian intensive care unit (ICU) surveillance data. METHODS: Meropenem,
      piperacillin/tazobactam and cefepime, along with ceftobiprole, a broad-spectrum
      cephalosporin active against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA),
      were tested at standard and highest recommended doses with and without prolonged
      infusion times (t'). Population pharmacokinetic models were used to simulate
      antibiotic serum concentrations (n = 5000). Cumulative target attainment (CTA) at
      >50%, >75% and 100% fT( > MIC) (percentage of time free concentrations exceed the
      MIC) targets were determined based on ICU surveillance data including 4798
      pathogens, most commonly methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (20.1%), Escherichia
      coli (15.2%) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (12.3%). RESULTS: With standard doses,
      ceftobiprole (500 mg every 8 h, t' 2 h) had 0.90 CTA at the >50% fT( > MIC)
      target while meropenem (1 g every 8 h, t' 0.5 h), piperacillin/tazobactam (3.375
      g every 6 h, t' 0.5 h) and cefepime (2 g every 12 h, t' 0.5 h) reached >50% fT( >
      MIC) in 0.79-0.82 of the population (0.84-0.88 when MRSA was excluded).
      Piperacillin/tazobactam had the largest reduction in CTA at the >75% and 100% fT(
      > MIC) targets requiring prolonged infusions to maintain comparable PD. For all
      agents, prolonged infusions and/or high doses were required to achieve >0.9 CTA
      at the lowest target, to reach higher targets or to cover less susceptible
      pathogens such as P. aeruginosa. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides important
      comparative data on empirical antibiotic monotherapies in an ICU setting
      including preliminary data on ceftobiprole. Ceftobiprole was most active overall,
      but similar to meropenem, piperacillin/tazobactam (lowest target only) and
      cefepime when MRSA was excluded. Prolonged infusions in particular and high doses
      were effective at improving antibiotic PD.

PMID- 20926398
TI  - Clld7, a candidate tumor suppressor on chromosome 13q14, regulates pathways of
      DNA damage/repair and apoptosis.
AB  - Chronic lymphocytic leukemia deletion gene 7 (Clld7) is a candidate tumor
      suppressor on chromosome 13q14. Clld7 encodes an evolutionarily conserved protein
      that contains an RCC1 domain plus broad complex, tramtrack, bric-a-brac (BTB),
      and POZ domains. In this study, we investigated the biological functions of Clld7
      protein in inducible osteosarcoma cell lines. Clld7 induction inhibited cell
      growth, decreased cell viability, and increased gamma-H2AX staining under
      conditions of caspase inhibition, indicating activation of the DNA damage/repair
      pathway. Real-time PCR analysis in tumor cells and normal human epithelial cells
      revealed Clld7 target genes that regulate DNA repair responses. Furthermore,
      depletion of Clld7 in normal human epithelial cells conferred resistance to
      apoptosis triggered by DNA damage. Taken together, the biological actions of
      Clld7 are consistent with those of a tumor suppressor.

PMID- 20926399
TI  - Multiple injections of electroporated autologous T cells expressing a chimeric
      antigen receptor mediate regression of human disseminated tumor.
AB  - Redirecting T lymphocyte antigen specificity by gene transfer can provide large
      numbers of tumor-reactive T lymphocytes for adoptive immunotherapy. However,
      safety concerns associated with viral vector production have limited clinical
      application of T cells expressing chimeric antigen receptors (CAR). T lymphocytes
      can be gene modified by RNA electroporation without integration-associated safety
      concerns. To establish a safe platform for adoptive immunotherapy, we first
      optimized the vector backbone for RNA in vitro transcription to achieve high
      level transgene expression. CAR expression and function of RNA-electroporated T
      cells could be detected up to a week after electroporation. Multiple injections
      of RNA CAR-electroporated T cells mediated regression of large vascularized flank
      mesothelioma tumors in NOD/scid/gammac(-/-) mice. Dramatic tumor reduction also
      occurred when the preexisting intraperitoneal human-derived tumors, which had
      been growing in vivo for >50 days, were treated by multiple injections of
      autologous human T cells electroporated with anti-mesothelin CAR mRNA. This is
      the first report using matched patient tumor and lymphocytes showing that
      autologous T cells from cancer patients can be engineered to provide an effective
      therapy for a disseminated tumor in a robust preclinical model. Multiple
      injections of RNA-engineered T cells are a novel approach for adoptive cell
      transfer, providing flexible platform for the treatment of cancer that may
      complement the use of retroviral and lentiviral engineered T cells. This approach
      may increase the therapeutic index of T cells engineered to express powerful
      activation domains without the associated safety concerns of integrating viral
      vectors.

PMID- 20926400
TI  - REO-10: a phase I study of intravenous reovirus and docetaxel in patients with
      advanced cancer.
AB  - PURPOSE: REOLYSIN (Oncolytics Biotech) consists of a wild-type oncolytic
      reovirus, which has selective cytotoxicity for tumor cells while sparing normal
      cells. In a phase I study as a single agent, repeated infusions of reovirus were
      safe with evidence of antitumor activity. Preclinical studies indicate potential
      for synergy between reovirus and chemotherapeutic agents. A multicenter, phase I
      dose escalation study was designed to assess the safety of combining reovirus
      with docetaxel chemotherapy in patients with advanced cancer. EXPERIMENTAL
      DESIGN: Patients received 75 mg/m(2) docetaxel (day 1) and escalating doses of
      reovirus up to 3 * 10(10) TCID(50) (days 1-5) every 3 weeks. RESULTS: Twenty-five
      patients were enrolled, and 24 patients were exposed to treatment, with 23
      completing at least one cycle and 16 suitable for response assessment. Dose
      limiting toxicity of grade 4 neutropenia was seen in one patient, but the maximum
      tolerated dose was not reached. Antitumor activity was seen with one complete
      response and three partial responses. A disease control rate (combined complete
      response, partial response, and stable disease) of 88% was observed.
      Immunohistochemical analysis of reovirus protein expression was observed in
      posttreatment tumor biopsies from three patients. CONCLUSION: The combination of
      reovirus and docetaxel is safe, with evidence of objective disease response, and
      warrants further evaluation in a phase II study at a recommended schedule of
      docetaxel (75 mg/m(2), three times weekly) and reovirus (3 * 10(10) TCID(50),
      days 1-5, every 3 weeks).

PMID- 20926401
TI  - EML4-ALK fusion gene assessment using metastatic lymph node samples obtained by
      endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration.
AB  - PURPOSE: Anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) fusion genes represent novel oncogenes
      for non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLC). Several ALK inhibitors have been
      developed, and are now being evaluated in ALK-positive NSCLC. The feasibility of
      detecting ALK fusion genes in samples obtained by endobronchial ultrasound-guided
      transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) was determined. The
      clinicopathologic characteristics of ALK-positive lung cancer were also analyzed.
      EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: From April 2008 to July 2009, NSCLC cases with
      hilar/mediastinal lymph node metastases detected by EBUS-TBNA were enrolled.
      Positive expression of ALK fusion protein was determined using
      immunohistochemistry, and ALK gene rearrangements were further examined to verify
      the translocation between ALK and partner genes using fluorescent in situ
      hybridization and reverse transcription-PCR. Direct sequencing of PCR products
      was performed to identify ALK fusion variants. RESULTS: One hundred and nine
      cases were eligible for the analysis using re-sliced samples. Screening of these
      specimens with immunohistochemistry revealed ALK positivity in seven cases
      (6.4%), all of which possessed echinoderm microtubule-associated protein-like 4
      ALK fusion genes as detected by fluorescent in situ hybridization and reverse
      transcription-PCR. All ALK-positive cases had an adenocarcinoma histology and
      possessed no EGFR mutations. Compared with ALK-negative cases, ALK-positive cases
      were more likely to have smaller primary tumors (P < 0.05), to occur at a younger
      age (<60 years; P < 0.05), and to occur in never/light smokers (smoking index <
      400; P < 0.01). Mucin production was frequently observed in ALK-positive
      adenocarcinomas (29.4%; P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: EBUS-TBNA is a practical and
      feasible method for obtaining tissue from mediastinal and hilar lymph nodes that
      can be subjected to multimodal analysis of ALK fusion genes in NSCLC.

PMID- 20926402
TI  - The tissue is the issue: personalized medicine for non-small cell lung cancer.
AB  - The development of molecular markers is crucial for improving therapy in advanced
      non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Here, we review perspectives of biomarker
      driven personalized therapy in NSCLC, with particular reference to the detection
      of EML4-ALK gene rearrangements. Different molecular assays, validation, and
      clinical application to different types of tissue specimens are discussed.

PMID- 20926403
TI  - Predicting intention to biobank: a national survey.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The success of human population biobanks are dependent on the
      publics' willingness to participate. This research aimed to determine those
      factors important in determining the public's intention to donate a biological
      sample to a publicly funded biobank, and allow that sample to be linked with
      medical records. METHODS: A national sample of 1000 Australians was surveyed via
      telephonic interviews. Questions included the reported likelihood that
      respondents would participate in biobank research, ratings of trust in biobanks,
      beliefs that biobank research will lead to improved health care and general
      ratings of comfort with blood taking and DNA analysis. RESULTS: The sample
      reported a high level of trust in university biobanks, a strong belief that
      biobank research will lead to improved health care and a strong willingness to
      participate in biobank research. Using structural equation modelling, trust in
      the biobank was found to be the most important determinant of intention to
      participate in biobank research, followed by general comfort with blood taking
      and DNA analysis, belief in health-care benefits and higher education. Gender,
      age, parental status and experience of genetic conditions were not significantly
      associated with intention to participate. CONCLUSIONS: Australians are generally
      willing to participate in biobank research, and this is strongly determined by
      trust. While benefit beliefs and comfort with research are also relevant, higher
      trust was associated with intention regardless of these factors, suggesting
      reasons other than concern for improved health care are important in determining
      the publics' willingness to participate in biobank research.

PMID- 20926404
TI  - Determinants of self-rated health in Spain: differences by age groups for adults.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Identifying factors associated with self-rated health (SRH) in two
      age groups (16-49 and >= 50 years) in the context of action for health promotion
      in adults. METHODS: The data used came from the household and adults
      questionnaires of the National Health Survey of Spain for 2006. SRH was
      categorized as positive (very positive or positive) and negative (fair, poor or
      very poor). Odds ratios for positive SRH compared with negative SRH were
      calculated using logistic regression models for complex samples. The determinants
      of the positive SRH were obtained for the total population and for two age
      groups. RESULTS: Among the population aged >= 16 years, 66.6% reports positive
      SRH, 78.6% in the 16- to 49-year-old group and 47.7% in the >= 50-year-old group.
      SRH worsens with age until the age of 49, whereas 50 years onwards older report
      better health than the younger. The influence of lifestyle on the SRH varies by
      age group among adults as well: in the younger age groups, obesity, smoking and
      non-alcohol are associated with poor SRH; in contrast, physical exercise only in
      leisure time and enough sleeping hours are associated with positive SRH in the >=
      50-year-old population. CONCLUSIONS: The factors associated with SRH differ
      across age groups, particularly for lifestyle. Understanding the differences
      between the factors associated with the positive SRH is highly relevant for the
      design of specific programmes aimed at improving public health.

PMID- 20926406
TI  - Children's self-regulation in eating: associations with inhibitory control and
      parents' feeding behavior.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Children who self-regulate while eating and children who show high
      global self-regulation abilities, such as inhibitory control, are less likely to
      be overweight than children who do not show the same capacities for self
      regulation. This study examined the association between child self-regulation in
      eating and inhibitory control, and investigated whether self-regulation is
      related to parents' restrictive feeding practices. METHOD: Sixty-three parents
      reported on their 3- to 9-year-old children's self-regulation in eating,
      inhibitory control, and their own feeding practices. RESULTS: Self-regulation in
      eating and inhibitory control were positively correlated, r = .54. Self
      regulation in eating predicted parents' use of restrictive feeding practices
      above and beyond children's inhibitory control and parents' concerns about their
      children's weight, p < .01. CONCLUSIONS: When parents believed their children
      could self-regulate, they used less restrictive feeding practices. Because
      restriction can compromise self-regulatory abilities, early interventions should
      teach parents about children's nascent abilities in this domain.

PMID- 20926405
TI  - Parental involvement and adolescents' diabetes management: the mediating role of
      self-efficacy and externalizing and internalizing behaviors.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To examine mediating processes linking parental involvement to
      diabetes management (adherence and metabolic control) during adolescence.
      METHODS: A total of 252 young adolescents (M age = 12.49 years, SD = 1.53, 53.6%
      females) with type 1 diabetes reported their parents' involvement in diabetes
      management (relationship quality, monitoring, and behavioral involvement), their
      own externalizing and internalizing behaviors, diabetes-self efficacy, and
      adherence behaviors. HbA1c was drawn from medical records. RESULTS: SEM analyses
      indicated that the associations of mothers' and fathers' relationship quality
      with diabetes outcomes were mediated by adolescents' perceptions of self-efficacy
      and externalizing behaviors, and the associations of fathers' monitoring and
      behavioral involvement with adherence were partially mediated by adolescents'
      self-efficacy. There were also direct (non-mediated) associations between
      mothers' monitoring and adherence, and fathers' monitoring and adherence and
      metabolic control. CONCLUSIONS: Quality of the parent-adolescent relationship and
      monitoring are important for better adherence and metabolic control among
      adolescents through higher diabetes self-efficacy.

PMID- 20926407
TI  - Brief report: Preliminary findings from a pilot health care transition education
      intervention for adolescents and young adults with special health care needs.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess acceptability and feasibility of a school-based health care
      transition education intervention designed to equip adolescents and young adults
      (A/YA) who have special health care needs with important health literacy, self
      advocacy, and self-determination skills. METHODS: A qualitative research approach
      was used to assess a 40-hr curriculum implemented with 137 A/YA in 13 high school
      special education classes. Three focus groups were conducted with 15 students and
      7 educators. Participants were questioned about perceived relevance, readability,
      interest, ease of implementation and completeness of the curriculum. RESULTS: All
      focus group participants said the curriculum was highly relevant and valuable.
      Teachers reported little difficulty with ease of implementation, though the
      reading level appeared high for some students. CONCLUSIONS: This intervention
      model shows promise for empowering A/YA with special health care needs to become
      more independent in managing their health care, and warrants further development
      and evaluation. The curriculum is available at
      http://health.usf.edu/medicine/pediatrics/ad_med/resources.htm.

PMID- 20926408
TI  - The cold pressor task: is it an ethically acceptable pain research method in
      children?
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The cold pressor task (CPT) is an experimental method of inducing
      pain. Ethical concerns have been raised regarding the nontherapeutic induction of
      pain in children. The objectives of this study were to describe the ethical
      challenges and acceptability of the CPT from the perspective of researchers,
      children and parents. METHODS: Study 1:16 researchers completed a survey
      regarding their experiences obtaining ethical approval and use of the CPT in
      pediatric research. Study 2: 175 children and 194 parents answered questions
      about their experiences participating in studies that used the CPT. RESULTS: Full
      ethics board review was generally required. Adverse events were rare and
      transient. The majority of researchers, children, and parents reported positive
      experiences with the CPT. CONCLUSIONS: The CPT is judged by researchers,
      children, and parents to be an acceptable research method. The CPT can be used
      ethically in pediatric research with appropriate study safeguards.

PMID- 20926409
TI  - Early detection of 5-FU-induced acute leukoencephalopathy on diffusion-weighted
      MRI.
AB  - A 59-year-old man treated with 5-fluorouracil and cisplatin for advanced
      oesophageal cancer presented abnormal behaviour and subsequently developed
      impairment of cognitive function, dysphagia and dysarthria on the fifth day of
      the treatment. Although brain computed tomography revealed no abnormal findings,
      brain magnetic resonance imaging using diffusion-weighted imaging clearly
      revealed the presence of a high signal intensity in the deep white matter of the
      bilateral cerebral hemispheres, including the corpus callosum symmetrically. A
      diagnosis of acute leukoencephalopathy was reached based on these findings. His
      clinical symptoms normalized four days after the discontinuation of the
      chemotherapy. Improvement in magnetic resonance imaging findings was delayed
      compared with that of clinical symptoms; however, the high signal intensity
      detected in the deep white matter had disappeared completely five months after
      the onset of symptoms. Early detection of drug-induced leukoencephalopathy is
      important as the clinical symptoms can be reversed by early discontinuation of
      the causative drug. Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging is a useful
      modality for the early detection and definitive diagnosis of this characteristic
      encephalopathy.

PMID- 20926410
TI  - Metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma in the tympanic membrane.
AB  - Primary tympanic membrane cancer is very rare; metastatic cancer to the tympanic
      membrane is extremely rare and presents diagnostic challenges. We report a case
      of metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma in the tympanic membrane. The presenting
      symptom was hearing loss. Physical examination revealed a friable granulomatous
      mass over the left anterior tympanic membrane extended from the external auditory
      canal. Computed tomography scan of the temporal bone revealed one soft tissue
      mass involving the left external auditory canal and tympanic membrane. A left
      middle ear mass biopsy was performed. The tumor cells were uniformly positive for
      cytokeratin and hepatocyte paraffin-1, confirming a diagnosis of metastatic
      tympanic membrane. A tympanic membrane mass might easily be misdiagnosed and
      improperly treated. This case serves as a reminder that the differential
      diagnosis of acute hearing loss in cancer patients should include the metastasis
      occurring in the auditory canal or tympanic membrane, and that tissue biopsies
      are necessary to establish the definitive diagnosis for such lesions.

PMID- 20926411
TI  - Two consecutive cases of platinum-refractory pulmonary pleomorphic carcinoma that
      showed dramatic responses to MAID (mesna, doxorubicin, ifosfamide and
      dacarbazine) chemotherapy.
AB  - When oncologists encounter patients with pulmonary pleomorphic carcinoma, most
      cases have recurrent disease after surgery or metastatic disease. Previous
      studies have suggested that patients with pleomorphic carcinoma have extremely
      poor responses to chemotherapy regimens commonly used for non-small cell lung
      cancer and have a dismal prognosis. This report describes two consecutive
      patients with platinum-refractory pulmonary pleomorphic carcinoma who received
      doxorubicin, ifosfamide plus dacarbazine chemotherapy. Both patients showed
      dramatic responses to this combination chemotherapy and the treatment effect was
      sustained for 7 and 9 months, respectively. Our report strongly suggests that the
      treatment approaches to patients with pulmonary pleomorphic carcinoma should
      differ from the approaches to patients with other common types of non-small cell
      lung cancer. Doxorubicin, ifosfamide plus dacarbazine chemotherapy may have an
      important role in the treatment of patients with pulmonary pleomorphic carcinoma.

PMID- 20926412
TI  - Outcomes and tolerability of systemic chemotherapy for pancreatic or biliary
      cancer patients aged 75 years or older.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The incidence of pancreatic or biliary tract cancer is increasing in
      our aging population, but little is known of treatment outcomes in elderly
      patients with pancreatic or biliary tract cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients
      with pancreatic or biliary tract cancer who received chemotherapy in our
      institute between September 2007 and August 2009 were retrospectively reviewed to
      compare treatment outcomes between the elderly (aged 75 years or older) and the
      younger patients. Data were collected of patient backgrounds, adverse events and
      dose intensity within the first two cycles and overall survival time. RESULTS: Of
      the 102 who met the inclusion criteria, 19 were elderly who were introduced to
      full dose chemotherapy. Medication for their comorbidities was required in 15
      (79%) of the 19 elderly patients and in 27 (33%) of 83 younger patients. The
      frequencies of haematological adverse events of grades 3 or 4 were 42% and 39%,
      and those of non-haematological adverse events were 21% and 16%, for the elderly
      and younger, respectively. Similar dose intensities were delivered to the elderly
      and younger. Also, similar proportions of elderly and younger received dose
      reductions. There was no difference in overall survival between the elderly and
      the younger. CONCLUSION: No clear difference in treatment outcomes was seen
      between the elderly and the younger patients who received gemcitabine alone.
      Gemcitabine chemotherapy appears to be safe and the same treatment effect was
      seen even in older patients with pancreatic or biliary tract cancer.

PMID- 20926413
TI  - The importance of evaluation of DNA amplificability in KRAS mutation testing with
      dideoxy sequencing using formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded colorectal cancer
      tissues.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We evaluated DNA amplificability to achieve a 100% success rate in
      KRAS mutation testing with dideoxy sequencing using formalin-fixed and paraffin
      embedded colorectal cancer tissue samples obtained from a recent clinical trial.
      METHODS: We evaluated the effects of deparaffinization, formalin fixation or
      storage time, and amplicon size on the amplificability of DNAs extracted from 19
      formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded colorectal cancer tissue samples. We
      subjected to KRAS mutation analysis 112 samples from metastatic colorectal cancer
      patients in 31 hospitals enrolled in a Phase II trial of a second-line FOLFIRI (5
      fluorouracil+ leucovorin + irinotecan) + cetuximab regimen. RESULTS:
      Deparaffinization, formalin fixation and storage times did not appear to affect
      the recovery and amplificability of DNAs. However, amplicon size had a remarkable
      effect on the amplificability of DNAs. The smaller fragments with a size of <=278
      bp (96-278 bp) were successfully amplified with polymerase chain reaction in all
      samples tested, whereas the larger fragments with a size of >=298 bp (298-565 bp)
      were not amplified. All samples from our clinical trial were successfully
      analyzed using three sets of primers with the amplicon sizes of 201, 221 and 240
      bp, and KRAS mutations in exons 2 and 3 were detected in 49 of the 112 cases
      (43.8%). CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that the evaluation of DNA
      amplificability and amplicon size is important for the success of mutation
      detection tests such as the KRAS test with dideoxy sequencing using formalin
      fixed and paraffin-embedded tissue samples in the clinical setting.

PMID- 20926414
TI  - Benefit of laparoscopic radical nephrectomy in patients with a high BMI.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to analyze all relevant data
      collected thus far at our hospital in order to compare the laparoscopic vs. open
      techniques in terms of the intraoperative results and to analyze whether patients
      with a higher BMI may derive greater benefit from laparoscopy. METHODS: We
      reviewed the medical records of 93 patients treated with laparoscopic nephrectomy
      and 91 patients treated with the open method at our institution. We analyzed the
      data with the aim of determining what kind of factor would be associated with an
      increase in estimated blood loss and prolongation of operative time, and we
      compared the results for laparoscopic and open nephrectomy. RESULTS: A
      statistically significant correlation was observed between body mass index and
      operating time (P = 0.018) or estimated blood loss (P = 0.017) in laparoscopic
      nephrectomy. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that body mass index was an
      independent risk factor for prolonged operating time (P = 0.030, odds ratio =
      1.174). In the open nephrectomy patients, body mass index also had a significant
      correlation with operating time (P < 0.001) and estimated blood loss (P < 0.001).
      Multivariate analysis also revealed that operating time depended on body mass
      index (P < 0.001, odds ratio = 1.348) and tumor size (P = 0.030, odds ratio =
      1.320), and the odds ratio of body mass index was higher than that in
      laparoscopic nephrectomy. CONCLUSIONS: As body mass index increases, both
      laparoscopic nephrectomy and open nephrectomy become technically more difficult.
      However, our data showed that for patients with a high body mass index, the
      laparoscopic approach is comparatively safer and of greater benefit.

PMID- 20926415
TI  - Overexpression of FurA in Anabaena sp. PCC 7120 reveals new targets for this
      regulator involved in photosynthesis, iron uptake and cellular morphology.
AB  - Previous genomic analyses of the filamentous nitrogen-fixing cyanobacterium
      Anabaena sp. PCC 7120 have identified three ferric uptake regulator (Fur)
      homologs with low sequence identities and probably different functions in the
      cell. FurA is a constitutive protein that shares the highest homology with Fur
      from heterotrophic bacteria and appears to be essential for in vitro growth. In
      this study, we have analysed the effects of FurA overexpression on the Anabaena
      sp. phenotype and investigated which of the observed alterations were directly
      operated by FurA. Overexpression of the regulator led to changes in cellular
      morphology, resulting in shorter filaments with rounded cells of different sizes.
      The furA-overexpressing strain showed a slower photoautotrophic growth and a
      marked decrease in the oxygen evolution rate. Overexpression of the regulator
      also decreased both catalase and superoxide dismutase activities, but did not
      lead to an increase in the levels of intracellular reactive oxygen species. By
      combining phenotypic studies, reverse transcription-PCR analyses and
      electrophoretic mobility shift assays, we identified three novel direct targets
      of FurA, including genes encoding a siderophore outer membrane transporter
      (schT), bacterial actins (mreBCD) and the PSII reaction center protein D1 (psbA).
      The affinity of FurA for these novel targets was markedly affected by the absence
      of divalent metal ions, confirming previous evidence of a critical role for the
      metal co-repressor in the function of the regulator in vivo. The results unravel
      new cellular processes modulated by FurA, supporting its role as a global
      transcriptional regulator in Anabaena sp. PCC 7120.

PMID- 20926416
TI  - Ion and oxygen fluxes in the unicellular alga Eremosphaera viridis.
AB  - Plasma membrane fluxes of the large unicellular model algal cell Eremosphaera
      viridis (De Bary) were measured under various light regimes to explore the role
      of plasma membrane fluxes during photosynthesis and high light-induced
      chloroplast translocation. Plasma membrane fluxes were measured directly and non
      invasively with self-referencing ion-selective (H(+), Ca(2+), K(+) and Cl(-))
      potentiometric microelectrodes and oxygen amperometric microelectrodes. At light
      irradiances high enough to induce chloroplast migration from the cell periphery
      to its center, oxygen evolution declined to respiratory net O(2) uptake prior to
      any significant chloroplast translocation, while net K(+) and Cl(-) influx
      increased during the decline in photosynthetic activity (and the membrane
      potential depolarized). The results suggest that chloroplast translocation is not
      the cause of the cessation of O(2) evolution at high irradiance. Rather, the
      chloroplast translocation may play a protective role: shielding the centrally
      located nucleus from damaging light intensities. At both high and low light
      intensities (similar to ambient growth conditions), there was a strong inverse
      correlation between H(+) net fluxes and respiratory and photosynthetic net O(2)
      fluxes. A similar inverse relationship was also observed for Ca(2+) net fluxes,
      but only at higher light intensities. The net H(+) fluxes are small relative to
      the buffering capacity of the cell, but are clearly related to both
      photosynthetic and respiratory activity.

PMID- 20926417
TI  - Analogs of the CLV3 peptide: synthesis and structure-activity relationships
      focused on proline residues.
AB  - CLAVATA3 (CLV3) is a plant peptide hormone in which the proline residues are post
      translationally hydroxylated and glycosylated. CLV3 plays a key role in
      controlling the stem cell mass in the shoot meristem of Arabidopsis thaliana. In
      a previous report, we identified a dodecapeptide (MCLV3) from CLV3-overexpressing
      Arabidopsis calli; MCLV3 was the smallest functional peptide derived from the
      CLV3 precursor. Here, we designed a series of MCLV3 analogs in which proline
      residues were substituted with proline derivatives or N-substituted glycines
      (peptoids). Peptoid substitution at Pro9 decreased bioactivity without affecting
      specific binding to the CLV1-related protein in cauliflower membrane. These
      findings suggest that peptoid-substituted peptides would be lead compounds for
      developing potential agonists and antagonists of CLV3.

PMID- 20926418
TI  - CopyMap: localization and calling of copy number variation by joint analysis of
      hybridization data from multiple individuals.
AB  - SUMMARY: The program package CopyMap identifies copy number variation from oligo
      hybridization and CGH data. Using a time-dependent hidden Markov model to combine
      evidence of copy number variants (CNVs) across multiple carriers, CopyMap is
      substantially more accurate than standard hidden Markov methods in identifying
      CNVs and calling CNV-carriers. Moreover, CopyMap provides more precise estimates
      of CNV-boundaries. AVAILABILITY: The C-source code and detailed documentation for
      the program CopyMap is available on the Internet at
      http://www.sph.umich.edu/csg/szoellner/

PMID- 20926419
TI  - GeneMANIA Cytoscape plugin: fast gene function predictions on the desktop.
AB  - The GeneMANIA Cytoscape plugin brings fast gene function prediction capabilities
      to the desktop. GeneMANIA identifies the most related genes to a query gene set
      using a guilt-by-association approach. The plugin uses over 800 networks from six
      organisms and each related gene is traceable to the source network used to make
      the prediction. Users may add their own interaction networks and expression
      profile data to complement or override the default data. AVAILABILITY AND
      IMPLEMENTATION: The GeneMANIA Cytoscape plugin is implemented in Java and is
      freely available at http://www.genemania.org/plugin/.

PMID- 20926420
TI  - ALCHEMY: a reliable method for automated SNP genotype calling for small batch
      sizes and highly homozygous populations.
AB  - MOTIVATION: The development of new high-throughput genotyping products requires a
      significant investment in testing and training samples to evaluate and optimize
      the product before it can be used reliably on new samples. One reason for this is
      current methods for automated calling of genotypes are based on clustering
      approaches which require a large number of samples to be analyzed simultaneously,
      or an extensive training dataset to seed clusters. In systems where inbred
      samples are of primary interest, current clustering approaches perform poorly due
      to the inability to clearly identify a heterozygote cluster. RESULTS: As part of
      the development of two custom single nucleotide polymorphism genotyping products
      for Oryza sativa (domestic rice), we have developed a new genotype calling
      algorithm called 'ALCHEMY' based on statistical modeling of the raw intensity
      data rather than modelless clustering. A novel feature of the model is the
      ability to estimate and incorporate inbreeding information on a per sample basis
      allowing accurate genotyping of both inbred and heterozygous samples even when
      analyzed simultaneously. Since clustering is not used explicitly, ALCHEMY
      performs well on small sample sizes with accuracy exceeding 99% with as few as 18
      samples. AVAILABILITY: ALCHEMY is available for both commercial and academic use
      free of charge and distributed under the GNU General Public License at
      http://alchemy.sourceforge.net/ CONTACT: mhw6@cornell.edu SUPPLEMENTARY
      INFORMATION: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

PMID- 20926421
TI  - MEDELLER: homology-based coordinate generation for membrane proteins.
AB  - MOTIVATION: Membrane proteins (MPs) are important drug targets but knowledge of
      their exact structure is limited to relatively few examples. Existing homology
      based structure prediction methods are designed for globular, water-soluble
      proteins. However, we are now beginning to have enough MP structures to justify
      the development of a homology-based approach specifically for them. RESULTS: We
      present a MP-specific homology-based coordinate generation method, MEDELLER,
      which is optimized to build highly reliable core models. The method outperforms
      the popular structure prediction programme Modeller on MPs. The comparison of the
      two methods was performed on 616 target-template pairs of MPs, which were
      classified into four test sets by their sequence identity. Across all targets,
      MEDELLER gave an average backbone root mean square deviation (RMSD) of 2.62 A
      versus 3.16 A for Modeller. On our 'easy' test set, MEDELLER achieves an average
      accuracy of 0.93 A backbone RMSD versus 1.56 A for Modeller. AVAILABILITY AND
      IMPLEMENTATION: http://medeller.info; Implemented in Python, Bash and Perl CGI
      for use on Linux systems; Supplementary data are available at
      http://www.stats.ox.ac.uk/proteins/resources.

PMID- 20926422
TI  - TURNIP: tracking unresolved nucleotide polymorphisms in large hard-to-assemble
      regions of repetitive DNA sequence.
AB  - TURNIP comprises a suite of Perl scripts and modules that facilitates the
      resolution of microheterogeneity within hard-to-assemble repetitive DNA
      sequences. TURNIP was originally developed for the Saccharomyces Genome
      Resequencing Project (SGRP) within which the ribosomal DNA (rDNA) of 36 strains
      of S.cerevisiae were analysed to investigate the occurrence of potential
      polymorphisms. Here, 'partially resolved SNPs', or pSNPs, as well as indels, were
      found to be far more prevalent than previously suspected. More generally, the
      TURNIP software ascertains degrees of variation between large tandem repeats
      within a single locus, offering insights into mechanisms of genome stability and
      gene conversion in any organism for which genome sequence data are available.
      AVAILABILITY: The TURNIP source code, results files and online help are available
      at http://www.ncyc.co.uk/software/turnip.html.

PMID- 20926423
TI  - GPCRRD: G protein-coupled receptor spatial restraint database for 3D structure
      modeling and function annotation.
AB  - SUMMARY: G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) comprise the largest family of
      integral membrane proteins. They are the most important class of drug targets.
      While there exist crystal structures for only a very few GPCR sequences, numerous
      experiments have been performed on GPCRs to identify the critical residues and
      motifs. GPCRRD database is designed to systematically collect all experimental
      restraints (including residue orientation, contact and distance maps) available
      from the literature and primary GPCR resources using an automated text mining
      algorithm combined with manual validation, with the purpose of assisting GPCR 3D
      structure modeling and function annotation. The current dataset contains
      thousands of spatial restraints from mutagenesis, disulfide mapping distances,
      electron cryo-microscopy and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy experiments.
      AVAILABILITY: http://zhanglab.ccmb.med.umich.edu/GPCRRD/ CONTACT: zhng@umich.edu
      SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics
      online.

PMID- 20926424
TI  - Robust relationship inference in genome-wide association studies.
AB  - MOTIVATION: Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have been widely used to map
      loci contributing to variation in complex traits and risk of diseases in humans.
      Accurate specification of familial relationships is crucial for family-based
      GWAS, as well as in population-based GWAS with unknown (or unrecognized) family
      structure. The family structure in a GWAS should be routinely investigated using
      the SNP data prior to the analysis of population structure or phenotype. Existing
      algorithms for relationship inference have a major weakness of estimating allele
      frequencies at each SNP from the entire sample, under a strong assumption of
      homogeneous population structure. This assumption is often untenable. RESULTS:
      Here, we present a rapid algorithm for relationship inference using high
      throughput genotype data typical of GWAS that allows the presence of unknown
      population substructure. The relationship of any pair of individuals can be
      precisely inferred by robust estimation of their kinship coefficient, independent
      of sample composition or population structure (sample invariance). We present
      simulation experiments to demonstrate that the algorithm has sufficient power to
      provide reliable inference on millions of unrelated pairs and thousands of
      relative pairs (up to 3rd-degree relationships). Application of our robust
      algorithm to HapMap and GWAS datasets demonstrates that it performs properly even
      under extreme population stratification, while algorithms assuming a homogeneous
      population give systematically biased results. Our extremely efficient
      implementation performs relationship inference on millions of pairs of
      individuals in a matter of minutes, dozens of times faster than the most
      efficient existing algorithm known to us. AVAILABILITY: Our robust relationship
      inference algorithm is implemented in a freely available software package, KING,
      available for download at http://people.virginia.edu/~wc9c/KING.

PMID- 20926425
TI  - Community case management in Nicaragua: lessons in fostering adoption and
      expanding implementation.
AB  - Community case management (CCM) as applied to child survival is a strategy that
      enables trained community health workers or volunteers to assess, classify, treat
      and refer sick children who reside beyond the reach of fixed health facilities.
      The Nicaraguan Ministry of Health (MOH) and Save the Children trained and
      supported brigadistas (community health volunteers) in CCM to improve equitable
      access to treatment for pneumonia, diarrhoea and dysentery for children in remote
      areas. In this article, we examine the policy landscape and processes that
      influenced the adoption and implementation of CCM in Nicaragua. Contextual
      factors in the policy landscape that facilitated CCM included an international
      technical consensus supporting the strategy; the role of government in health
      care provision and commitment to reaching the poor; a history of community
      participation; the existence of community-based child survival strategies; the
      decentralization of implementation authority; internal MOH champions; and a
      credible catalyst organization. Challenges included scepticism about community
      level cadres; resistance from health personnel; operational gaps in treatment
      norms and materials to support the strategy; resource constraints affecting
      service delivery; tensions around decentralization; and changes in
      administration. In order to capitalize on the opportunities and overcome the
      challenges that characterized the policy landscape, stakeholders pursued various
      efforts to support CCM including sparking interest, framing issues, monitoring
      and communicating results, ensuring support and cohesion among health personnel,
      supporting local adaptation, assuring credibility and ownership, joint problem
      solving, addressing sustainability and fostering learning. While delineated as
      separate efforts, these policy and implementation processes were dynamic and
      interactive in nature, balancing various tensions. Our qualitative analysis
      highlights the importance of supporting routine monitoring and documentation of
      these strategic operational policy and management issues vital for CCM success.
      We also demonstrate that while challenges to CCM adoption and implementation
      exist, they are not insurmountable.

PMID- 20926426
TI  - Methylation profiling identifies 2 groups of gliomas according to their
      tumorigenesis.
AB  - Extensive genomic and gene expression studies have been performed in gliomas, but
      the epigenetic alterations that characterize different subtypes of gliomas remain
      largely unknown. Here, we analyzed the methylation patterns of 807 genes (1536
      CpGs) in a series of 33 low-grade gliomas (LGGs), 36 glioblastomas (GBMs), 8
      paired initial and recurrent gliomas, and 9 controls. This analysis was performed
      with Illumina's Golden Gate Bead methylation arrays and was correlated with
      clinical, histological, genomic, gene expression, and genotyping data, including
      IDH1 mutations. Unsupervised hierarchical clustering resulted in 2 groups of
      gliomas: a group corresponding to de novo GBMs and a group consisting of LGGs,
      recurrent anaplastic gliomas, and secondary GBMs. When compared with de novo GBMs
      and controls, this latter group was characterized by a very high frequency of
      IDH1 mutations and by a hypermethylated profile similar to the recently described
      glioma CpG island methylator phenotype. MGMT methylation was more frequent in
      this group. Among the LGG cluster, 1p19q codeleted LGG displayed a distinct
      methylation profile. A study of paired initial and recurrent gliomas demonstrated
      that methylation profiles were remarkably stable across glioma evolution, even
      during anaplastic transformation, suggesting that epigenetic alterations occur
      early during gliomagenesis. Using the Cancer Genome Atlas data set, we
      demonstrated that GBM samples that had an LGG-like hypermethylated profile had a
      high rate of IDH1 mutations and a better outcome. Finally, we identified several
      hypermethylated and downregulated genes that may be associated with LGG and GBM
      oncogenesis, LGG oncogenesis, 1p19q codeleted LGG oncogenesis, and GBM
      oncogenesis.

PMID- 20926427
TI  - Acute cardiac effects of neuregulin-1/ErbB signalling.

PMID- 20926428
TI  - Translation and commercialization of regenerative medicines.

PMID- 20926429
TI  - Alignment hierarchies: engineering architecture from the nanometre to the
      micrometre scale.
AB  - Natural tissues are built of metabolites, soluble proteins and solid
      extracellular matrix components (largely fibrils) together with cells. These are
      configured in highly organized hierarchies of structure across length scales from
      nanometre to millimetre, with alignments that are dominated by anisotropies in
      their fibrillar matrix. If we are to successfully engineer tissues, these
      hierarchies need to be mimicked with an understanding of the interaction between
      them. In particular, the movement of different elements of the tissue (e.g.
      molecules, cells and bulk fluids) is controlled by matrix structures at distinct
      scales. We present three novel systems to introduce alignment of collagen
      fibrils, cells and growth factor gradients within a three-dimensional collagen
      scaffold using fluid flow, embossing and layering of construct. Importantly,
      these can be seen as different parts of the same hierarchy of three-dimensional
      structure, as they are all formed into dense collagen gels. Fluid flow aligns
      collagen fibrils at the nanoscale, embossed topographical features provide
      alignment cues at the microscale and introducing layered configuration to three
      dimensional collagen scaffolds provides microscale- and mesoscale-aligned
      pathways for protein factor delivery as well as barriers to confine protein
      diffusion to specific spatial directions. These seemingly separate methods can be
      employed to increase complexity of simple extracellular matrix scaffolds,
      providing insight into new approaches to directly fabricate complex physical and
      chemical cues at different hierarchical scales, similar to those in natural
      tissues.

PMID- 20926430
TI  - Colourful parrot feathers resist bacterial degradation.
AB  - The brilliant red, orange and yellow colours of parrot feathers are the product
      of psittacofulvins, which are synthetic pigments known only from parrots. Recent
      evidence suggests that some pigments in bird feathers function not just as colour
      generators, but also preserve plumage integrity by increasing the resistance of
      feather keratin to bacterial degradation. We exposed a variety of colourful
      parrot feathers to feather-degrading Bacillus licheniformis and found that
      feathers with red psittacofulvins degraded at about the same rate as those with
      melanin and more slowly than white feathers, which lack pigments. Blue feathers,
      in which colour is based on the microstructural arrangement of keratin, air and
      melanin granules, and green feathers, which combine structural blue with yellow
      psittacofulvins, degraded at a rate similar to that of red and black feathers.
      These differences in resistance to bacterial degradation of differently coloured
      feathers suggest that colour patterns within the Psittaciformes may have evolved
      to resist bacterial degradation, in addition to their role in communication and
      camouflage.

PMID- 20926431
TI  - The cosmopolitan maternal heritage of the Thoroughbred racehorse breed shows a
      significant contribution from British and Irish native mares.
AB  - The paternal origins of Thoroughbred racehorses trace back to a handful of Middle
      Eastern stallions, imported to the British Isles during the seventeenth century.
      Yet, few details of the foundation mares were recorded, in many cases not even
      their names (several different maternal lineages trace back to 'A Royal Mare').
      This has fuelled intense speculation over their origins. We examined
      mitochondrial DNA from 1929 horses to determine the origin of Thoroughbred
      foundation mares. There is no evidence to support exclusive Arab maternal origins
      as some historical records have suggested, or a significant importation of
      Oriental mares (the term used in historic records to refer to Middle East and
      western Asian breeds including Arab, Akhal-Teke, Barb and Caspian). Instead, we
      show that Thoroughbred foundation mares had a cosmopolitan European heritage with
      a far greater contribution from British and Irish Native mares than previously
      recognized.

PMID- 20926432
TI  - Self-organization of cellular structures induced by the overexpression of nuclear
      envelope proteins: a correlative light and electron microscopy study.
AB  - The mechanisms by which the supramolecular order is formed inside the cell
      nucleus remain poorly understood. So far, two major hypotheses - ordered assembly
      and stochastic self-organization - have been discussed. To determine which
      mechanism is responsible for the formation of nuclear envelope, cells
      overexpressing one of the nuclear envelope proteins (lamin A, lamin B1, pom121 or
      ndc1) were investigated. According to the ordered assembly model, the presence of
      an excessive amount of a component has no effect in the formation of the normal
      structure of a nuclear envelope because it is programmed and cannot be distorted.
      In contrast, according to the self-organization concept, there is no such
      strictly determined cellular structures, and an excessive amount of even one
      component will affect the cellular organization. In the present study, formation
      of a redundant nuclear envelope was observed in the case of lamin B1 and lamin A
      overexpression. In the case of the nucleoporins pom121 and ndc1, no incorporation
      of the overexpressed proteins into the nuclear envelope was observed on the first
      day after transfection; however, the remodeling of endoplasmic reticulum elements
      and the formation of membrane aggregates in the cytoplasm were observed. After
      mitosis, pom121 from the cytoplasmic aggregates was translocated into the
      redundant nuclear envelope in which it induced inner nuclear membrane
      protrusions. Therefore, our results indicate that the formation of the nuclear
      envelope is not predetermined and that an excessive amount of even one protein
      component can affect cellular structure formation. This study concluded that
      nuclear envelope formation is achieved by the self-organization mechanism.

PMID- 20926435
TI  - Footprints pull origin and diversification of dinosaur stem lineage deep into
      Early Triassic.
AB  - The ascent of dinosaurs in the Triassic is an exemplary evolutionary radiation,
      but the earliest phase of dinosaur history remains poorly understood. Body
      fossils of close dinosaur relatives are rare, but indicate that the dinosaur stem
      lineage (Dinosauromorpha) originated by the latest Anisian (ca 242-244 Ma). Here,
      we report footprints from the Early-Middle Triassic of Poland, stratigraphically
      well constrained and identified using a conservative synapomorphy-based approach,
      which shifts the origin of the dinosaur stem lineage back to the Early Olenekian
      (ca 249-251 Ma), approximately 5-9 Myr earlier than indicated by body fossils,
      earlier than demonstrated by previous footprint records, and just a few million
      years after the Permian/Triassic mass extinction (252.3 Ma). Dinosauromorph
      tracks are rare in all Polish assemblages, suggesting that these animals were
      minor faunal components. The oldest tracks are quadrupedal, a morphology uncommon
      among the earliest dinosauromorph body fossils, but bipedality and moderately
      large body size had arisen by the Early Anisian (ca 246 Ma). Integrating trace
      fossils and body fossils demonstrates that the rise of dinosaurs was a drawn-out
      affair, perhaps initiated during recovery from the Permo-Triassic extinction.

PMID- 20926433
TI  - Targeted deletion of endothelial lipase increases HDL particles with anti
      inflammatory properties both in vitro and in vivo.
AB  - Previous studies have shown that targeted deletion of endothelial lipase (EL)
      markedly increases the plasma high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) level
      in mice. However, little is known about the functional quality of HDL particles
      after EL inhibition. Therefore, the present study assessed the functional quality
      of HDL isolated from EL(-/-) and wild-type (WT) mice. Anti-inflammatory functions
      of HDL from EL(-/-) and WT mice were evaluated by in vitro assays. The HDL
      functions such as PON-1 or PAF-AH activities, inhibition of cytokine-induced
      vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 expression, inhibition of LDL oxidation, and
      the ability of cholesterol efflux were similar in HDL isolated from WT and EL(-/
      ) mice. In contrast, the lipopolysaccharide-neutralizing capacity of HDL was
      significantly higher in EL(-/-) mice than that in WT mice. To evaluate the anti
      inflammatory actions of HDL in vivo, lipopolysaccharide-induced systemic
      inflammation was generated in these mice. EL(-/-) mice showed higher survival
      rate and lower expression of inflammatory markers than WT mice. Intravenous
      administration of HDL isolated from EL(-/-) mice significantly improved the
      mortality after lipopolysaccharide injection in WT mice. In conclusion, targeted
      disruption of EL increased HDL particles with preserved anti-inflammatory and
      anti-atherosclerotic functions. Thus, EL inhibition would be a useful strategy to
      raise 'good' cholesterol in the plasma.

PMID- 20926436
TI  - Genetic diversity, parasite prevalence and immunity in wild bumblebees.
AB  - Inbreeding and a consequent loss of genetic diversity threaten small, isolated
      populations. One mechanism by which genetically impoverished populations may
      become extinct is through decreased immunocompetence and higher susceptibility to
      parasites. Here, we investigate the relationship between immunity and inbreeding
      in bumblebees, using Hebridean island populations of Bombus muscorum. We sampled
      nine populations and recorded parasite prevalence and measured two aspects of
      immunity: the encapsulation response and levels of phenoloxidase (PO). We found
      that prevalence of the gut parasite Crithidia bombi was higher in populations
      with lower genetic diversity. Neither measure of immune activity was correlated
      with genetic diversity. However, levels of PO declined with age and were also
      negatively correlated with parasite abundance. Our results suggest that as insect
      populations lose heterozygosity, the impact of parasitism will increase, pushing
      threatened populations closer to extinction.

PMID- 20926437
TI  - Experimental peripheral administration of oxytocin elevates a suite of
      cooperative behaviours in a wild social mammal.
AB  - The evolution and expression of different forms of cooperative behaviour (e.g.
      feeding, guarding, sentinel duties, etc.) are usually studied independently, with
      few studies considering them as a single syndrome. However, studies investigating
      individuals' investment across a suite of different behaviours reveal that they
      are correlated, suggesting a single mechanism determining the evolution and
      expression of cooperative behaviours. A hormonal mechanism could achieve this,
      and one possibility is oxytocin (OT), which affects several prosocial or
      alloparental behaviours independently. We show, using a double-blind experiment,
      that peripheral administration of OT to social, free-living meerkats Suricata
      suricatta elevates a suite of cooperative behaviours. Treated individuals
      increase their contributions to communal, cooperative activities (digging,
      guarding, pup-feeding and associating with pups) and decrease initiation of
      aggressive interactions, compared with a saline control. This suggests that
      different forms of cooperative behaviour form a single syndrome with a common
      causal basis. If our peripherally administered OT acts in the same way as the
      naturally released hormone, then a general tendency to prosociality may be
      modulated by this hormonal system. Therefore, it may be difficult for an
      individual to decouple expression of cooperative behaviours that provide the
      practitioner with benefits from those that provide the recipient with benefits.
      It may also explain why social species typically exhibit a suite of cooperative
      behaviours, without having to invoke independent evolution of each.

PMID- 20926438
TI  - Dispersal and diversity in the earliest North American sauropodomorph dinosaurs,
      with a description of a new taxon.
AB  - Sauropodomorph dinosaurs originated in the Southern Hemisphere in the Middle or
      Late Triassic and are commonly portrayed as spreading rapidly to all corners of
      Pangaea as part of a uniform Late Triassic to Early Jurassic cosmopolitan
      dinosaur fauna. Under this model, dispersal allegedly inhibited dinosaurian
      diversification, while vicariance and local extinction enhanced it. However,
      apomorphy-based analyses of the known fossil record indicate that sauropodomorphs
      were absent in North America until the Early Jurassic, reframing the temporal
      context of their arrival. We describe a new taxon from the Kayenta Formation of
      Arizona that comprises the third diagnosable sauropodomorph from the Early
      Jurassic of North America. We analysed its relationships to test whether
      sauropodomorphs reached North America in a single sweepstakes event or in
      separate dispersals. Our finding of separate arrivals by all three taxa suggests
      dispersal as a chief factor in dinosaurian diversification during at least the
      early Mesozoic. It questions whether a 'cosmopolitan' dinosaur fauna ever
      existed, and corroborates that vicariance, extinction and dispersal did not
      operate uniformly in time or under uniform conditions during the Mesozoic. Their
      relative importance is best measured in narrow time slices and circumscribed
      geographical regions.

PMID- 20926439
TI  - The influence of maternal effects on indirect benefits associated with polyandry.
AB  - Despite numerous and diverse theoretical models for the indirect benefits of
      polyandry, empirical support is mixed. One reason for the difficulty in detecting
      indirect benefits of polyandry may be that these are subtle and are mediated by
      environmental effects, such as maternal effects. Maternal effects may be
      especially important if females allocate resources to their offspring depending
      on the characteristics of their mating partners. We test this hypothesis in the
      burying beetle Nicrophorus vespilloides, a species that provides extensive and
      direct parental care to offspring. We used a fully factorial design and mated
      females to one, two, three, four or five different males and manipulated
      conditions so that their offspring received reduced (12 h) or full (ca 72 h)
      maternal care. We found that average offspring fitness increased with full
      maternal care but there was no significant effect of polyandry or the interaction
      between the duration of maternal care and the level of polyandry on offspring
      fitness. Thus, although polyandry could provide a mechanism for biasing paternity
      towards high quality or compatible males, and variation in parental care matters,
      we found no evidence that female N. vespilloides gain indirect benefits by using
      parental care to bias the allocation of resources under different mating
      conditions.

PMID- 20926440
TI  - Is oxidative stress a physiological cost of reproduction? An experimental test in
      house mice.
AB  - Investment in reproduction is costly and frequently decreases survival or future
      reproductive success. However, the proximate underlying causes for this are
      largely unknown. Oxidative stress has been suggested as a cost of reproduction
      and several studies have demonstrated changes in antioxidants with reproductive
      investment. Here, we test whether oxidative stress is a consequence of
      reproduction in female house mice (Mus musculus domesticus), which have extremely
      high energetic demands during reproduction, particularly through lactation.
      Assessing oxidative damage after a long period of reproductive investment, there
      was no evidence of increased oxidative stress, even when females were required to
      defend their breeding territory. Instead, in the liver, markers of oxidative
      damage (malonaldehyde, protein thiols and the proportion of glutathione in the
      oxidized form) indicated lower oxidative stress in reproducing females when
      compared with non-reproductive controls. Even during peak lactation, none of the
      markers of oxidative damage indicated higher oxidative stress than among non
      reproductive females, although a positive correlation between protein oxidation
      and litter mass suggested that oxidative stress may increase with fecundity. Our
      results indicate that changes in redox status occur during reproduction in house
      mice, but suggest that females use mechanisms to cope with the consequences of
      increased energetic demands and limit oxidative stress.

PMID- 20926441
TI  - Candidate genes versus genome-wide associations: which are better for detecting
      genetic susceptibility to infectious disease?
AB  - Technological developments allow increasing numbers of markers to be deployed in
      case-control studies searching for genetic factors that influence disease
      susceptibility. However, with vast numbers of markers, true 'hits' may become
      lost in a sea of false positives. This problem may be particularly acute for
      infectious diseases, where the control group may contain unexposed individuals
      with susceptible genotypes. To explore this effect, we used a series of
      stochastic simulations to model a scenario based loosely on bovine tuberculosis.
      We find that a candidate gene approach tends to have greater statistical power
      than studies that use large numbers of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in
      genome-wide association tests, almost regardless of the number of SNPs deployed.
      Both approaches struggle to detect genetic effects when these are either weak or
      if an appreciable proportion of individuals are unexposed to the disease when
      modest sample sizes (250 each of cases and controls) are used, but these issues
      are largely mitigated if sample sizes can be increased to 2000 or more of each
      class. We conclude that the power of any genotype-phenotype association test will
      be improved if the sampling strategy takes account of exposure heterogeneity,
      though this is not necessarily easy to do.

PMID- 20926442
TI  - Convergent evolution of kin-based sociality in a lizard.
AB  - Studies of social birds and mammals have produced extensive theory regarding the
      formation and dynamics of kin-based social groups in vertebrates. However,
      comparing kin dynamics in birds and mammals to social reptiles provides the
      opportunity to identify selective factors that promote independent origins of kin
      sociality across vertebrates. We combined a 5-year mark-recapture study with a
      DNA microsatellite analysis of relatedness in a social lizard (Xantusia vigilis)
      to examine the formation and stability of kin groups. We found that these lizards
      are highly sedentary and that groups often form through the delayed dispersal of
      offspring. Groups containing juveniles had higher relatedness than adult-only
      groups, as juveniles were commonly found in aggregations with at least one parent
      and/or sibling. Groups containing nuclear family members were more stable than
      groups of less-related lizards, as predicted by social theory. We conclude that
      X. vigilis aggregations conform to patterns of kin sociality observed in avian
      and mammalian systems and represent an example of convergent evolution in social
      systems. We suggest that kin-based sociality in this and other lizards may be a
      by-product of viviparity, which can promote delayed juvenile dispersal by
      allowing prolonged interaction between a neonate and its mother.

PMID- 20926443
TI  - Sex allocation in haplodiploids is mediated by egg size: evidence in the spider
      mite Tetranychus urticae Koch.
AB  - Haplodiploid species display extraordinary sex ratios. However, a differential
      investment in male and female offspring might also be achieved by a differential
      provisioning of eggs, as observed in birds and lizards. We investigated this
      hypothesis in the haplodiploid spider mite Tetranychus urticae, which displays
      highly female-biased sex ratios. We show that egg size significantly determines
      not only larval size, juvenile survival and adult size, but also fertilization
      probability, as in marine invertebrates with external fertilization, so that
      female (fertilized) eggs are significantly larger than male (unfertilized) eggs.
      Moreover, females with on average larger eggs before fertilization produce a more
      female-biased sex ratio afterwards. Egg size thus mediates sex-specific egg
      provisioning, sex and offspring sex ratio. Finally, sex-specific egg provisioning
      has another major consequence: male eggs produced by mated mothers are smaller
      than male eggs produced by virgins, and this size difference persists in adults.
      Virgin females might thus have a (male) fitness advantage over mated females.

PMID- 20926445
TI  - Back to the future.

PMID- 20926444
TI  - Caste-specific visual adaptations to distinct daily activity schedules in
      Australian Myrmecia ants.
AB  - Animals are active at different times of the day and their activity schedules are
      shaped by competition, time-limited food resources and predators. Different
      temporal niches provide different light conditions, which affect the quality of
      visual information available to animals, in particular for navigation. We
      analysed caste-specific differences in compound eyes and ocelli in four
      congeneric sympatric species of Myrmecia ants, with emphasis on within-species
      adaptive flexibility and daily activity rhythms. Each caste has its own
      lifestyle: workers are exclusively pedestrian; alate females lead a brief life on
      the wing before becoming pedestrian; alate males lead a life exclusively on the
      wing. While workers of the four species range from diurnal, diurnal-crepuscular,
      crepuscular-nocturnal to nocturnal, the activity times of conspecific alates do
      not match in all cases. Even within a single species, we found eye area, facet
      numbers, facet sizes, rhabdom diameters and ocelli size to be tuned to the
      distinct temporal niche each caste occupies. We discuss these visual adaptations
      in relation to ambient light levels, visual tasks and mode of locomotion.

PMID- 20926446
TI  - The use of 'specials' in primary care.
AB  - Most drugs prescribed for patients as part of their NHS treatment are licensed
      medicinal products. However, there are rare occasions when a patient needs a
      formulation or strength that is not available as a licensed form, or needs to
      avoid ingredients that provoke allergy. To address such needs, many specially
      prepared products are produced by specialist manufacturing units. These so-called
      'specials', unlike licensed medicines, are not assessed for safety or efficacy by
      a regulatory body.1 Prescribers are often unaware of the costs of specials. Here
      we explore some of the issues associated with specials in primary care and
      whether their use represents good value for money.

PMID- 20926447
TI  - OTC tamsulosin for benign prostatic hyperplasia.
AB  - Earlier this year, tamsulosin, an alpha blocker previously only available on
      prescription, became available for sale by pharmacists as a treatment for
      functional symptoms of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) in men aged 45-75 years
      (Flomax Relief MR - Boehringer Ingelheim). A television advert for the over-the
      counter (OTC) product claims that it is a "simple and effective" treatment that
      can relieve symptoms within 1 week, allowing the user to "take control of your
      annoying pee problems".1 Here we review the evidence on tamsulosin and assess
      whether its availability as an OTC product confers worthwhile advantages.

PMID- 20926448
TI  - Do corticosteroids improve outcome in meningitis?
AB  - Despite significant advances in prevention of meningitis through vaccination, and
      in improved antimicrobial treatment, the disease still kills around 340,000
      people worldwide each year.1 Around 75% of these deaths occur in Africa and South
      East Asia and around 3% in Europe.1 The mortality rate for bacterial meningitis
      is 10-30% and sequelae, such as cranial nerve impairment, particularly leading to
      hearing loss, occur in 5-40% of patients.2 Whether adjunctive corticosteroid
      treatment improves the outcome in bacterial meningitis through an anti
      inflammatory effect has been a long-standing controversy. Here we review the role
      of adjunctive corticosteroids in the management of children (aged over 1 month)
      and adults with bacterial or tuberculous meningitis.

PMID- 20926450
TI  - Naturally occurring germline and tumor-associated mutations within the ATP
      binding motifs of PTEN lead to oxidative damage of DNA associated with decreased
      nuclear p53.
AB  - Somatic and germline mutations in PTEN (phosphatase and tensin homolog deleted on
      chromosome 10) are found in sporadic cancers and Cowden syndrome patients,
      respectively. Recent identification of naturally occurring cancer and germline
      mutations within the ATP-binding motifs of PTEN (heretofore referred to as PTEN
      ATP-binding mutations) has revealed that these mutations disrupted the
      subcellular localization and tumor-suppressor activity of PTEN. However, very
      little is known about the underlying mechanisms of PTEN ATP-binding mutations in
      tumorigenesis. Here we show that these mutations impair PTEN's function both
      qualitatively and quantitatively. On the one hand, PTEN ATP-binding mutants lose
      their phosphatase activity and the effect of downregulation of cyclin D1. On the
      other, the mislocalized mutant PTEN results in a significantly decreased nuclear
      p53 protein level and transcriptional activity, enhanced production of reactive
      oxygen species, induction of Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase as well as dramatically
      increased DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs). When compared with wild-type PTEN, the
      ATP-binding mutant PTEN has reduced half-life in vitro and decreased protein
      expression levels in vivo. Our data, thus, reveal a novel mechanism of
      tumorigenesis in patients with germline or somatic mutations affecting PTEN ATP
      binding motifs, i.e. qualitative and quantitative impairment of PTEN due to the
      loss of its phosphatase activity, and nuclear mislocalization, resulting in rapid
      PTEN protein degradation, suppression of p53-mediated transcriptional activity,
      loss of protection against oxidative stress as well as accumulation of
      spontaneous DNA DSBs.

PMID- 20926451
TI  - The connexin26 S17F mouse mutant represents a model for the human hereditary
      keratitis-ichthyosis-deafness syndrome.
AB  - Mutations in the GJB2 gene coding for connexin26 (Cx26) can cause a variety of
      deafness and hereditary hyperproliferative skin disorders in humans. In this
      study, we investigated the Cx26S17F mutation in mice, which had been identified
      to cause the keratitis-ichthyosis-deafness (KID) syndrome in humans. The KID
      syndrome is characterized by keratitis and chronic progressive corneal
      neovascularization, skin hyperplasia, sensorineural hearing loss and increased
      carcinogenic potential. We have generated a conditional mouse mutant, in which
      the floxed wild-type Cx26-coding DNA can be deleted and the Cx26S17F mutation is
      expressed under control of the endogenous Cx26 promoter. Homozygous mutants are
      not viable, whereas the surviving heterozygous mice show hyperplasia of tail and
      foot epidermis, wounded tails and annular tail restrictions, and are smaller than
      their wild-type littermates. Analyses of auditory brainstem responses (ABRs)
      indicate an ~35 dB increased hearing threshold in these mice, which is likely due
      to the reduction of the endocochlear potential by 20-40%. Our results indicate
      that the Cx26S17F protein, which does not form functional gap junction channels
      or hemichannels, alters epidermal proliferation and differentiation in the
      heterozygous state. In the inner ear, reduced intercellular coupling by
      heteromeric channels composed of Cx26S17F and Cx30 could contribute to hearing
      impairment in heterozygous mice, while remaining wild-type Cx26 may be sufficient
      to stabilize Cx30 and partially maintain cochlear homeostasis. The phenotype of
      heterozygous mice resembles many of the symptoms of the human KID syndrome. Thus,
      these mice represent an appropriate model to further investigate the disease
      mechanism.

PMID- 20926452
TI  - The beta1 subunit of the Na,K-ATPase pump interacts with megalencephalic
      leucoencephalopathy with subcortical cysts protein 1 (MLC1) in brain astrocytes:
      new insights into MLC pathogenesis.
AB  - Megalencephalic leucoencephalopathy with subcortical cysts (MLC) is a rare
      congenital leucodystrophy caused by mutations in MLC1, a membrane protein of
      unknown function. MLC1 expression in astrocyte end-feet contacting blood vessels
      and meninges, along with brain swelling, fluid cysts and myelin vacuolation
      observed in MLC patients, suggests a possible role for MLC1 in the regulation of
      fluid and ion homeostasis and cellular volume changes. To identify MLC1 direct
      interactors and dissect the molecular pathways in which MLC1 is involved, we used
      NH2-MLC1 domain as a bait to screen a human brain library in a yeast two-hybrid
      assay. We identified the beta1 subunit of the Na,K-ATPase pump as one of the
      interacting clones and confirmed it by pull-downs, co-fractionation assays and
      immunofluorescence stainings in human and rat astrocytes in vitro and in brain
      tissue. By performing ouabain-affinity chromatography on astrocyte and brain
      extracts, we isolated MLC1 and the whole Na,K-ATPase enzyme in a multiprotein
      complex that included Kir4.1, syntrophin and dystrobrevin. Because Na,K-ATPase is
      involved in intracellular osmotic control and volume regulation, we investigated
      the effect of hypo-osmotic stress on MLC1/Na,K-ATPase relationship in astrocytes.
      We found that hypo-osmotic conditions increased MLC1 membrane expression and
      favoured MLC1/Na,K-ATPase-beta1 association. Moreover, hypo-osmosis induced
      astrocyte swelling and the reversible formation of endosome-derived vacuoles,
      where the two proteins co-localized. These data suggest that through its
      interaction with Na,K-ATPase, MLC1 is involved in the control of intracellular
      osmotic conditions and volume regulation in astrocytes, opening new perspectives
      for understanding the pathological mechanisms of MLC disease.

PMID- 20926453
TI  - The KRAB-containing zinc-finger transcriptional regulator ZBRK1 activates SCA2
      gene transcription through direct interaction with its gene product, ataxin-2.
AB  - Gene transcription is controlled by transcriptional regulators acting with
      specific co-regulators to allow gene activation and repression. Here, we report
      the identification of the KRAB-containing zinc-finger transcriptional regulator,
      ZBRK1, as an interaction partner of the SCA2 gene product ataxin-2. Furthermore,
      we discovered that an elevated ZBRK1 level resulted in increased ataxin-2 levels,
      whereas interference on transcriptional and protein levels of ZBRK1 yielded
      reduced ataxin-2 levels, suggesting that a complex comprising ZBRK1 and ataxin-2
      regulates SCA2 gene transcription. A bioinformatic analysis utilizing the known
      ZBRK1 consensus DNA-binding motif revealed ZBRK1-binding sites in the SCA2
      promoter. These predicted sites were experimentally validated by chromatin
      immunoprecipitation experiments along with luciferase-based promoter analyses
      corroborating that SCA2 gene transcription is controlled by a ZBRK1/ataxin-2
      complex. Finally, we demonstrate that SCA2 gene transcription is significantly
      reduced in colon tumors possessing low ZBRK1 transcripts. Thus, our results
      provide first evidence that ataxin-2 acts as a co-regulator of ZBRK1 activating
      its own transcription, thereby representing the first identified ZBRK1 co
      activator.

PMID- 20926454
TI  - Toxic encephalopathy in elderly patients during treatment with capecitabine:
      literature review and a case report.
AB  - Capecitabine is now-a-days rapidly replacing 5-Fluorouracil in daily clinical
      practice. Neurologic toxicity during a treatment with fluoropyrimidines, as 5
      fluorouracil, represents a well-known side-effect, largely described in
      literature. Central nervous system (CNS) toxicity, mainly encephalopathy with or
      without seizures, occurs occasionally even when conventional doses are used. CNS
      toxicity incidence increases markedly when the blood-brain barrier is either
      overwhelmed or bypassed (Hildebrand J. Neurological complications of cancer
      chemotherapy. Curr Opin Oncol 2006; 18: 321-324). Peripheral nervous system (PNS)
      toxicity is more common because proximal and distal extremities of the peripheral
      nerves are not protected by a blood-brain like barrier and peripheral neuropathy
      remains a major limiting factor for the administration of conventional doses of
      several agents (Saif W, Wood TE, McGee PJ and Diasio RB. Peripheral neuropathy
      associated with capecitabine, Anticancer Drugs 2004;15: 767-771). Capecitabine is
      a prodrug of 5-fluorouracil, more easily administered by mouth; its
      transformation in 5-fluorouracil is performed in the liver. There are only a few
      reports on the toxic neurological side-effects of capecitabine. We describe in
      our report a rare case of toxic encephalopathy in a 82-year-old female, with a
      brief review of literature. In the literature reviewed, we found 12 neurologic
      episodes due to capecitabine lasting between a few days till some months. All
      clinical symptoms of the cases described in literature, obtained a complete
      regression with the discontinuation of capecitabine. A relation was not found
      with dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (DPD) mutation, also if pharmacologic and
      pharmacogenetic assessment should be done for this drug, especially in old
      patients. Toxic encephalopathy represents a rare event during capecitabine
      treatment and on the bases of the data found, is fairly managed in the clinical
      setting. The knowledge of the natural history of the toxic effect allows the use
      of the drug also in old patients.

PMID- 20926455
TI  - Stability of unused reconstituted bortezomib in original manufacturer vials.
AB  - BACKGROUND. Bortezomib is a modified dipeptidyl boronic acid analogue used to
      treat multiple myeloma, mantle cell lymphoma, and, more recently, renal
      transplantation graft rejection. As per manufacturer recommendations, bortezomib
      is to be administered within 8 h of preparation or may be stored for up to 8 h in
      the vial or a syringe following reconstitution. Preserving unused reconstituted
      bortezomib beyond these 8 h may allow for cost savings. This study aims to
      examine the stability of unused reconstituted bortezomib when stored at 4 degrees
      C for up to 15 days. METHODS: Using an LC-MS/MS assay, the concentration of
      reconstituted bortezomib was measured at predetermined time points following
      storage at 4 degrees C in the manufacturer vial. Percent bortezomib remaining at
      a time point was calculated versus initial bortezomib concentration. RESULTS: The
      concentrations of bortezomib were found to be 51.93 ng/mL+/-4.60 after 1 day of
      storage, 57.40 ng/mL+/-4.77 after 8 days of storage, and 49.43 ng/mL+/-2.85 after
      15 days of storage. The percent of bortezomib remaining was 110.53% and 95.19%
      after 8 days and 15 days, respectively. CONCLUSION: Unused reconstituted
      bortezomib is stable for up to 15 days stored at 4 degrees C in the original
      manufacturer vial. Such use of bortezomib may improve cost efficiency by reducing
      bortezomib waste.

PMID- 20926456
TI  - Explaining autism: Ten reasons to focus on the developing self.
AB  - My aim in this paper is to present reasons for adopting a focus on the
      development of self/other-awareness when characterizing the developmental
      psychopathology of autism. The strengths of such a position include an emphasis
      on children's emotional relations with embodied persons as foundational for their
      growing understanding of minds. I give special attention to the process of
      identifying with the attitudes of others, and experience of other-person-centred
      emotions, for the development of communication and thinking. The study of
      limitations in these aspects of self-other relatedness among individuals with
      autism is pivotal for understanding the pathogenesis of the syndrome.

PMID- 20926458
TI  - Theory of own mind in autism: Evidence of a specific deficit in self-awareness?
AB  - Assuming that self-awareness is not a unitary phenomenon, and that one can be
      aware of different aspects of self at any one time, it follows that selective
      impairments in self-awareness can occur. This article explores the idea that
      autism involves a particular deficit in awareness of the 'psychological self', or
      'theory of own mind'. This hypothesised deficit renders individuals with autism
      spectrum disorder (ASD) at least as impaired at recognising their own mental
      states as at recognising mental states in other people. This deficit, it is
      argued, stands in contrast to an apparently typical awareness of the 'physical
      self' amongst people with autism. Theoretical implications of the empirical
      evidence are discussed.

PMID- 20926457
TI  - Self-referenced processing, neurodevelopment and joint attention in autism.
AB  - This article describes a parallel and distributed processing model (PDPM) of
      joint attention, self-referenced processing and autism. According to this model,
      autism involves early impairments in the capacity for rapid, integrated
      processing of self-referenced (proprioceptive and interoceptive) and other
      referenced (exteroceptive) information. Measures of joint attention have proven
      useful in research on autism because they are sensitive to the early development
      of the 'parallel' and integrated processing of self- and other-referenced
      stimuli. Moreover, joint attention behaviors are a consequence, but also an
      organizer of the functional development of a distal distributed cortical system
      involving anterior networks including the prefrontal and insula cortices, as well
      as posterior neural networks including the temporal and parietal cortices.
      Measures of joint attention provide early behavioral indicators of atypical
      development in this parallel and distributed processing system in autism. In
      addition it is proposed that an early, chronic disturbance in the capacity for
      integrating self- and other-referenced information may have cascading effects on
      the development of self awareness in autism. The assumptions, empirical support
      and future research implications of this model are discussed.

PMID- 20926459
TI  - Delayed video self-recognition in children with high functioning autism and
      Asperger's disorder.
AB  - Two studies are reported which investigate delayed video self-recognition (DSR)
      in children with autistic disorder and Asperger's disorder relative to one
      another and to their typically developing peers. A secondary aim was to establish
      whether DSR ability is dependent on metarepresentational ability. Children's
      verbal and affective responses to their image were also measured. Three groups of
      male children between 5 and 9 years, comprising 15 with high-functioning autistic
      disorder (HFA), 12 with Asperger's disorder (AspD), and 15 typically developing
      (TD) children, participated in Study 1. Study 2 included two groups of younger
      children (18 HFA; 18 TD) aged 4 to 7 years. Participant groups in each study were
      equally able to recognize themselves using delayed video feedback, and responded
      to their marked image with positive affect. This was so even amongst children
      with HFA who were impaired in their performance on false belief tasks, casting
      doubt on a metarepresentational basis of DSR.

PMID- 20926460
TI  - Poor awareness of symptoms of oesophageal cancer.
AB  - Oesophageal cancer presents as advanced disease; in the majority of patients the
      symptoms are present for many months prior to diagnosis. Dysphagia has been
      described as the key to an early diagnosis of oesophageal cancer. This study aims
      to assess the public perception of the importance of this symptom. Ninety-six
      patients completed a questionnaire. This evaluated patient understanding of
      symptoms of dysphagia compared to the finding of a breast lump, haemoptysis,
      chest pain and loss of weight concerning urgency, probable cause of symptoms and
      treatment required. Sixty-five patients (71%) would visit their GP within 24 h of
      finding a breast lump or suffering from haemoptysis (82%) or having chest pain
      (82%). Forty-seven patients (51%) who experienced dysphagia would seek medical
      advice after one week and further 18 (19%) after one month (P<0.0001). Only eight
      patients (10%) associated dysphagia with cancer compared to 53 patients (57%)
      with the finding of a breast lump (P<0.031). This study concludes that there is
      poor understanding of the main symptoms of oesophageal cancer. New health
      campaigns are needed if the cancer is to be detected at an earlier and
      potentially curable stage.

PMID- 20926461
TI  - Feasibility of cell transplantation with a left ventricular assist device to
      improve the success rate of left ventricular assist device removal: the first
      experiment.
AB  - Left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) greatly support heart recovery, but
      recurrent heart failure after LVAD removal limits their use as 'a bridge to
      recovery'. The combination of LVADs and cell transplantation (CTx) is expected to
      be effective to improve the success rate of LVAD removal. We investigated the
      feasibility of combined CTx therapy and LVAD support with a new heterotopic rat
      heart-lung transplantation model that could simulate LVAD support and LVAD
      removal. The heart and both lungs of a rat were heterotopically transplanted, and
      the heart was kept unloaded for two weeks. The heart was then reloaded for two
      weeks (LVAD group). Syngenic smooth muscle cells were transplanted into the
      hearts that had been unloaded for a week, and the hearts were kept unloaded for
      another week and then reloaded (CT-LVAD group). In the unloaded state, CTx could
      reduce the left ventricle (LV) volume more effectively than LVAD therapy alone
      (P<0.01) and maintain the LV volume even after the hearts were reloaded (P<0.01).
      The results suggest that CTx with LVAD support can prevent recurrent LV dilation
      after LVAD removal and improve the success rate of LVAD removal.

PMID- 20926462
TI  - Chest tube management following pulmonary lobectomy: change of protocol results
      in fewer air leaks.
AB  - Much controversy exists regarding the management of chest tubes following
      pulmonary lobectomy. The objective of this study was to analyse the effect of a
      new chest tube management protocol on clinical features, such as postoperative
      air leak, drain characteristics, 30-day postoperative complications and length of
      hospital stay. We retrospectively analysed 133 patients who underwent pulmonary
      lobectomy, from January 2005 to December 2008. A new chest tube protocol was
      introduced on 1 January 2007 and included placement of a single chest tube and
      early conversion to water seal. The chest tube was removed when air leak had
      resolved and (non-chylous) fluid drainage was <400 ml/day. The results of
      patients in the old (n=68) and the new protocol (n=65) were compared. In the new
      protocol group the median duration of air leak and duration of chest tube
      drainage declined significantly. Also the length of hospital stay decreased
      significantly to a median of eight days. The number of reinterventions and 30-day
      morbidity and mortality rates did not differ significantly. Our data suggest that
      placement of a single chest tube and early conversion to water seal decreases the
      duration of air leak and chest tube drainage and length of hospital stay.

PMID- 20926463
TI  - Analytical characteristics of the Roche highly sensitive troponin T assay and its
      application to a cardio-healthy population.
AB  - BACKGROUND: It is desirable that current assays for cardiac troponin (cTn) are
      able to meet the recommended criterion that the diagnosis and risk assessment of
      patients present with symptoms of myocardial infarction requires a rise and fall
      in cTn with at least one point above the 99th percentile of a reference
      population. We have evaluated the analytical characteristics of the new highly
      sensitive troponin T (hs-TnT) assay to see if it meets this criterion and applied
      it to a carefully defined, cardio-healthy Australian reference population.
      METHODS: An imprecision profile was determined for the Roche hs-TnT assay (Roche
      Diagnostics, Sydney, Australia) using multiple samples analysed on nine separate
      occasions. The distribution of troponin T was determined using 104 samples from a
      cardio-healthy population. RESULTS: The new hs-TnT assay meets the specifications
      of a coefficient of variation of 10% at the 99th percentile of our cardio-healthy
      reference population. Of the 104 samples analysed 44 showed troponin T
      concentrations above the manufacturer's quoted limit of detection. Age and gender
      differences in the median and 99th percentile troponin T concentration were
      observed. CONCLUSIONS: The new hs-TnT assay shows improved precision and
      sensitivity at very low troponin concentration. We have shown that a significant
      number of individuals in this cardio-healthy population had detectable
      circulating troponin concentration. With many apparently healthy people having
      detectable troponin, clinical judgement will become more important in
      interpreting troponin results.

PMID- 20926464
TI  - Spironolactone interference in the immunoassay of androstenedione.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In an evaluation of androstenedione results from patient serum
      samples using the Siemens Immulite 2500 analyser and manual Coat-A-Count (CAC)
      methods, three outliers were evident with grossly elevated results in the CAC
      assay. METHODS: The clinic notes of three patients with apparently high serum
      androstenedione concentrations by the CAC assay were checked for medications. The
      samples were all from patients with polycystic ovary syndrome taking 100-200 mg/d
      of a steroidal antiandrogen (spironolactone). Two other patients on 50 mg
      spironolactone per day had less markedly higher androstendione results with the
      CAC assay. In a further five patients who were selected since they were on
      spironolactone and had high androstenedione results by the CAC method,
      spironolactone was temporarily withdrawn and fresh blood samples obtained for
      analysis. RESULTS: Spironolactone treatment was associated with higher
      androstenedione concentrations measured by the CAC assay that reverted to normal
      on treatment withdrawal. Based on a single test with spironolactone at 1000
      ng/mL, the manufacturer reported only 0.109% interference in the CAC assay.
      CONCLUSIONS: Spironolactone (and/or its metabolites) may interfere in the Siemens
      CAC assay for androstenedione but not in the Immulite 2500 assay. This experience
      highlights the need for information from clinicians on drug treatment when
      laboratory investigations are requested. Drug interferences in immunoassay are
      common and need evaluation beyond tests performed to certify laboratory reagents.

PMID- 20926465
TI  - Commutability of National Institute of Standards and Technology standard
      reference material 1955 homocysteine and folate in frozen human serum for total
      folate with automated assays.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of the present study was to evaluate standard reference
      material (SRM) 1955 commutability as a reference material for serum folate using
      automated methods. We also designed so as to reduce the intermethod variability
      present in different automated methods. METHODS: Using a microbiological assay
      related to the 'information value' of SRM 1955 as a comparison method, we
      investigated the possibility of standardization for the assay values of serum
      folate as measured by the automated methods (Access, Centaur and Elecsys). In the
      assay of 50 patient sera by these automated methods, we corrected observed values
      by the SRM 1955 and compared with comparison values. RESULTS: The observed values
      of SRM 1955 Levels I, II and III were within or outside (but near) a 95%
      prediction interval obtained from patient sera by the automated methods. The
      normalized residuals obtained from SRM 1955 were within +/-3.0 (in SD units),
      which enabled us to conclude that the SRM 1955 had a physicochemical
      characterization similar to native serum. Twelve patients were assessed as
      hypofolataemia (<6.0 ng/mL) and 38 patients as normal (>=6.0 ng/mL). Before
      correction, folate levels in six of 12 patients were lower than 6.0 ng/mL, and
      those in seven of 38 patients were higher than 6.0 ng/mL with the automated
      methods. After correction, low levels were found in four of 12 patients, and
      normal levels were found in 33 of 38 patients. CONCLUSIONS: The use of SRM 1955
      would help to reduce the intermethod variability present in different automated
      methods for serum folate measurement.

PMID- 20926466
TI  - Hyperprolactinaemia and mental illness.

PMID- 20926467
TI  - Clinical biochemistry of hyperthermia.
AB  - Heatstroke is the most severe form of heat-related disorders that include mild
      heat intolerance, heat exhaustion and heat stress. The incidence of heat-related
      disorders is increasing due to several factors that include climate change, co
      morbidities and drug usage. Patients with heatstroke present with a core body
      temperature above 40 degrees C, multiorgan dysfunction and central nervous system
      disorder. The pathogenesis of heatstroke is not fully understood; however, heat
      shock proteins, inflammatory cytokines and their modulators have been implicated.
      The clinical biochemistry laboratory plays an important role in the management of
      patients with heatstroke. Biochemical findings in patients with heatstroke
      include elevated urea, creatinine, cardiac and skeletal muscle enzymes, myoglobin
      and troponin. There is also biochemical evidence of metabolic acidosis,
      respiratory alkalosis, hepatic injury with elevated enzyme levels as well as
      abnormal hematological and coagulation indices. This review article aims at
      increasing awareness of the biochemical changes seen in patients with heatstroke
      and their possible role in prognosis and in elucidating the pathogenesis of
      heatstroke.

PMID- 20926468
TI  - Calculation of the 99th percentile upper reference limit and clinical decision
      concentration of the Abbott STAT TnI assay.

PMID- 20926469
TI  - Acute pancreatitis.
AB  - Acute pancreatitis (AP) is an important cause of morbidity and mortality
      worldwide and the annual incidence appears to be increasing. It presents as a
      mild self-limiting illness in 80% of patients. However, one-fifth of these
      develop a severe complicated life-threatening disease requiring intensive and
      prolonged therapeutic intervention. Alcohol and gallstone disease remain the
      commonest causes of AP but metabolic abnormalities, obesity and genetic
      susceptibility are thought be increasingly important aetiological factors. The
      prompt diagnosis of AP and stratification of disease severity is essential in
      directing rapid delivery of appropriate therapeutic measures. In this review, the
      range of diagnostic and prognostic assays, severity scoring systems and
      radiological investigations used in current clinical practice are described,
      highlighting their strengths and weaknesses. Increased understanding of the
      complex pathophysiology of AP has generated an array of new potential diagnostic
      assays and these are discussed. The multidisciplinary approach to management of
      severe pancreatitis is outlined, including areas of controversy and novel
      treatments.

PMID- 20926470
TI  - An audit of management of patients with borderline increased plasma-free
      metanephrines.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Measurement of plasma-free metanephrine plus normetanephrine (PFM) is
      the best screening test for phaeochromocytoma. While clearly raised levels are
      diagnostic, borderline increases may be associated with factors such as stress
      and medications, and should prompt a repeat study after interfering factors are
      withdrawn. METHODS: PFM results reported by a teaching hospital laboratory over a
      12-month period were extracted from the laboratory information system. All
      borderline raised results were examined for a subsequent repeat test (as
      recommended by attached interpretative comment) and those not repeated were
      followed up by examination of case-notes or questionnaires to doctors. RESULTS:
      Of 111 patients with borderline increased PFM which did not normalize on repeat
      measurement, 33 were from the hospital and 78 from outside locations. Hospital
      notes for 27 out of 33 hospital-patients (82%) could be reviewed, and 49
      completed questionnaires (63% of 78 sent out) were received from outside
      locations. Of these 76 patients thus followed up, the test was not repeated in 55
      (72%) cases with borderline increased PFM. Of 10 patients with an adrenal mass
      and borderline PFM, only three had PFM repeated. Of another nine patients with
      undetermined final diagnosis and borderline PFM, only three had the test
      repeated. CONCLUSION: Seventy-two per cent of borderline increased PFM results
      were not followed up with appropriate repeat testing, potentially leading to
      missed detection of phaeochromocytoma. A stronger interpretative comment may
      encourage appropriate repeat testing in more cases with borderline increased PFM
      and suspected phaeochromocytoma.

PMID- 20926471
TI  - Serum aspirin esterase activity is lower in end-stage renal disease patients than
      in healthy control subjects and increases after haemodialysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Studies regarding aspirin metabolism can be important in patients
      with renal failure who have an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases. We
      undertook this study to assess the aspirin esterase (AE) status in end-stage
      renal disease (ESRD) patients. METHODS: A total of 42 patients on long-term
      haemodialysis (HD) with a mean dialysis course of 6.1 y were recruited. RESULTS:
      Serum AE levels were 44% lower and cholinesterase (ChE) levels were 22% lower in
      ESRD patients before dialysis as compared with control subjects (P = 0.0001). A
      very strong correlation was found between AE and ChE levels. AE levels increased
      on average 28% after dialysis with adjustments for age, gender, total
      cholesterol, triglyceride and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (P = 0.002).
      In addition, ChE levels were significantly increased (48%) after dialysis (P =
      0.0001). Changes in AE activity were significantly and positively correlated with
      those of ChE (r = 0.427, P = 0.005). When we adjusted for several confounders, we
      found that the changes in AE activity operated by dialysis are significant
      independently of age, gender, aspirin (ASA) intake, cholesterol, triglycerides,
      high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and ChE. CONCLUSIONS: We report that serum
      AE activity is significantly lower in ESRD and that treatment by HD results in an
      increase of activity. We confirm that AE is associated with lipid parameters and
      ChE. Our results show variations in ASA catabolism between the dialysis sessions,
      suggesting an oscillating pattern in ASA disposal in these patients. The
      mechanisms for reduced AE activity in uraemia and the effects of HD need further
      investigation.

PMID- 20926472
TI  - Analysis of serum bile acids by isotope dilution-mass spectrometry to assess the
      performance of routine total bile acid methods.
AB  - BACKGROUND: WEQAS, one of the largest EQA (External Quality Assessment) providers
      in the UK, offers a bile acid EQA scheme, with linear serum pools containing
      cholic acid, deoxycholic acid and chenodeoxycholic acid, reflecting levels
      observed in obstructive cholestasis. Total bile acids are currently measured
      routinely by non-specific enzymatic methods. Traceability of results to the SI
      unit utilizing reference target values is the preferred method of comparison of
      returned results where available, ensuring the transfer of accuracy from
      definitive methods to routine methods. METHODS: Target values have been assigned
      to EQA material utilizing isotope dilution gas chromatography mass spectrometry
      (ID-GCMS). The methodology was based on published routine methods and adapted for
      use as a ID-GCMS target method. The total bile acid target value was reported as
      the sum of the three major bile acids measured: cholic acid, deoxycholic acid and
      chenodeoxycholic acid. RESULTS: The produced target values have been used to
      assess the performance of total bile acid methods. A degree of variability was
      observed between the third-generation enzyme-formazan methods and the fifth
      generation thio-NADH methods. Additionally, the Sentinel results showed a
      positive bias in comparison to their peer formazan method group. CONCLUSION: The
      use of ID-GCMS target results provides a common comparison for resumed results in
      EQA schemes, highlighting any method differences. Thus can then aid in the
      harmonisation of results observed for each of the different methods.

PMID- 20926473
TI  - Serum fetuin A/alpha2HS-glycoprotein levels in patients with non-alcoholic fatty
      liver disease: relation with liver fibrosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Serum concentrations of fetuin A/alpha2HS-glycoprotein (AHSG) have
      been linked to human metabolic alterations and can serve as an indicator of liver
      cell function. We assayed serum levels of AHSG in patients with non-alcoholic
      fatty liver disease (NAFLD), a hepatic manifestation of the metabolic syndrome,
      and examined their association with clinical, biochemical and histological
      phenotypes. METHODS: Serum AHSG levels were determined by enzyme linked
      immunosorbent assay in 99 patients with biopsy-proven NAFLD and 75 age- and
      gender-matched controls. RESULTS: Serum AHSG levels were significantly higher in
      patients with NAFLD (940 +/- 120 MUg/mL) compared with healthy controls (800 +/-
      130 MUg/mL, Student's t test, P < 0.001). Bivariate analyses (Spearman's rank
      correlation) in patients with NAFLD showed a statistically significant
      association between AHSG levels and insulin resistance as assessed by the HOMA
      (homeostasis model assessment) index (r = 0.31, P < 0.01) and the liver fibrosis
      score index (r = 0.36, P < 0.001). The association between AHSG and fibrosis
      remained statistically significant even after adjustment for potential
      confounders, including the HOMA index ([beta] = 1.65, t = 2.38, P < 0.05).
      CONCLUSION: Serum AHSG levels are significantly increased in adult patients with
      biopsy-proven NAFLD and are associated with insulin resistance. Importantly, our
      pilot data indicate that serum AHSG levels may identify NAFLD patients with
      higher fibrosis scores.

PMID- 20926474
TI  - Cortisol measurement in patients receiving metyrapone therapy.
AB  - Current guidance recommends titrating the dose of metyrapone against serum
      cortisol concentration, in patients under medical management of Cushing's
      syndrome. In the UK, this almost always involves measuring serum cortisol
      concentration by immunoassay, the performance of which is questionable in the
      presence of altered steroid metabolism. Sera from two patients receiving
      metyrapone were analysed using a liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry
      (MS) steroid assay to identify which steroids, if any, were elevated in these
      patients. In addition, control serum was spiked with a series of steroids to
      identify any potential positive interferences in a cortisol immunoassay. Serum 11
      deoxycortisol concentration was elevated in both of the patients studied. One
      patient also had an elevated serum 17-hydroxyprogesterone concentration and the
      other an elevated androstenedione. In addition, the results of the interference
      studies indicated that the cortisol immunoassay was susceptible to interference
      from 11-deoxycortisol, 17-hydroxyprogesterone and 21-deoxycortisol. However, the
      magnitude of interference, in the serum cortisol immunoassay, due to these three
      steroids could not account for the discrepancy between the cortisol
      concentrations measured by immunoassay and those measured by MS. Both clinicians
      and laboratory staff should be aware of these interferences when monitoring
      patients undergoing treatment with metyrapone, and consequently serum should be
      measured in these patients by MS, not by immunoassay.

PMID- 20926475
TI  - Patients with mild Alzheimer's disease should have access to drugs, says draft
      NICE guidance.

PMID- 20926476
TI  - Recombinant factor VIIa reduces bleeding after blunt liver injury in
      coagulopathic, hypofibrinogenaemic pigs.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Recombinant factor VIIa (rFVIIa) has been successfully used in
      various clinical conditions to treat severe coagulopathy, but its efficacy may be
      affected by the underlying conditions. We therefore investigated the efficacy of
      rFVIIa treatment under conditions of hypofibrinogenaemia in a pig model of blunt
      liver injury. METHODS: Severe haemodilution was instigated in four groups of
      seven anaesthetized pigs. Before inflicting liver injury, animals were assigned
      to receive either 70 mg kg(-1) fibrinogen (fibrinogen group) or placebo (control
      group). Thirty seconds after injury, rFVIIa (180 ug kg(-1)) (rFVIIa and
      fibrinogen+rFVIIa groups) or vehicle (control and fibrinogen groups) was
      administered. Haemodynamic variables, coagulation parameters, and blood loss were
      monitored for 2 h. Histology was examined to evaluate the presence of thrombi and
      the consistency of liver injury. RESULTS: At the end of the observation period,
      total blood loss [median (range)] decreased in all intervention groups
      [fibrinogen: 1275 (1221-1439) ml, P=0.036; rFVIIa: 966 (923-1136) ml, P=0.008;
      fibrinogen+rFVIIa: 678 (475-756) ml, P=0.008] when compared with control animals
      [blood loss: 1752 (1735-2221) ml]. The mortality rate in the control group was
      100%, whereas only 42% of fibrinogen-substituted animals died (P=0.023). All
      animals treated with rFVIIa or fibrinogen+rFVIIa (P<0.001) survived and no signs
      of thromboembolism were observed. CONCLUSIONS: rFVIIa under conditions of
      hypofibrinogenaemia exhibited a positive impact on coagulation parameters and a
      reduction in blood loss. These effects were significantly improved after prior
      substitution with fibrinogen.

PMID- 20926477
TI  - Safety implications of the Boyle-Davis mouth gag and tracheal tube position in
      tonsillectomy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The risk of death after tonsillectomy is extremely small, and is
      mostly caused by the direct or indirect effects of haemorrhage or anaesthetic
      complications. These complications include aspiration, accidental dislodgement of
      the tracheal tube (TT), and pneumothorax or pneumomediastinum. The Boyle-Davis
      mouth gag (BDG) is a device used to visualize the oropharynx and stabilize the TT
      during tonsillectomy. We postulate that a deployed BDG may influence the position
      of the TT, and potentially result in silent aspiration, accidental extubation,
      and unilateral pulmonary ventilation. This has not, to our knowledge, been
      evaluated before. The aim of this prospective, pilot study was to evaluate the
      displacement of the TT upon opening and closing the BDG, in an objective manner.
      METHODS: Patients undergoing tonsillectomy with/without adenoidectomy at a
      regional department underwent flexible bronchoscopy to evaluate the changes in
      position of the TT tip with the BDG in an open and closed position, relative to
      the position of the carina. RESULTS: Twenty-three patients were enrolled into the
      study. Deploying the BDG resulted in TT displacement in 96% of patients. The mean
      displacement was 9.5 mm (range -10 to +27 mm). CONCLUSIONS: We believe that this
      study raises concerns not previously highlighted, on how manipulating a BDG may
      influence the TT position. It may serve to explain additional mechanisms of
      potentially fatal anaesthetic complications such as TT dislodgement, unilateral
      ventilation, and pneumothorax, particularly in paediatric patients, after
      tonsillectomy.

PMID- 20926478
TI  - Differential impacts of modes of anaesthesia on the risk of stroke among
      preeclamptic women who undergo Caesarean delivery: a population-based study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This study compared the stroke-free survival rates and hazard ratios
      (HRs) for stroke between preeclamptic women who received general anaesthesia and
      those who received neuraxial anaesthesia for Caesarean section (CS). METHODS:
      This study used 2002-7 data from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research
      Database. The stroke-free survival rate was estimated by the Kaplan-Meier method.
      The log-rank test was used to examine the difference in the stroke-free survival
      rates between general, spinal, and epidural anaesthesia. The Cox proportional
      hazard regression was used to estimate the HR for general anaesthesia. RESULTS: A
      total of 303 862 women underwent CS of which 8567 had preeclampsia (75 stroke
      cases) and 295 295 did not (303 stroke cases). The stroke-free survival rate was
      significantly lower in the preeclamptic women who received general anaesthesia
      when compared with those who received epidural (P=0.008) or spinal anaesthesia
      (P<0.001) within the 6 yr period after the index delivery. There was no
      statistically significant difference between spinal and epidural anaesthesia in
      terms of stroke rate (P=0.143). The unadjusted HR of stroke for general
      anaesthesia was 2.81 [95% confidence interval (CI), 1.69-4.64; P<0.001]. After
      adjusting for potential confounders, the adjusted HR for general anaesthesia was
      2.38 (95% CI, 1.33-4.28; P=0.004) compared with neuraxial anaesthesia over a 1-6
      yr follow-up period. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, general anaesthesia for CS
      delivery was associated with increased risk of stroke when compared with
      neuraxial anaesthesia in preeclamptic women.

PMID- 20926480
TI  - Hungry for profit.

PMID- 20926479
TI  - Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of the short-acting sedative CNS 7056 in
      sheep.
AB  - BACKGROUND: CNS 7056 is a new short-acting esterase-metabolized benzodiazepine.
      We report the first pharmacokinetic (PK) and pharmacodynamic (PD) study of CNS
      7056 and its inactive metabolite CNS 7054 in sheep. METHODS: The stability of CNS
      7056 in blood samples was examined ex vivo. Six sheep were prepared with
      physiological instrumentation, and were given doses of 0.37, 0.74, and 1.47 mg
      kg(-1) (2 min infusion) of CNS 7056 in alternating order on separate days.
      RESULTS: CNS 7056 was degraded in warm whole sheep blood (23% over 2 h), but not
      in plasma or blood stored on ice. Using non-compartmental analysis (NCA), CNS
      7056 had a mean (sd) clearance of 4.52 (0.96) litre min(-1) and a terminal half
      life of 21.3 (10.9) min. There was a rapid conversion of CNS 7056 to its
      metabolite CNS 7054, which had a terminal half-life of 22.5 (3.4) min. The
      arterial kinetics of CNS 7056 could be described by a three-compartment model,
      with volumes of 1.9, 3.9, and 79 litre, a clearance of 4.2 litre min(-1), and
      inter-compartmental clearances of 2.85 and 1.44 litre min(-1), while the
      metabolite could be described by a two-compartment model. Cardiac output was an
      important covariate. Sedation as measured by the alpha power band of the EEG
      showed rapid onset and offset. The t(1/2,)(k)(e0) for sedation was 1.78 min, and
      the EC(50) was 0.10 ug ml(-1). CONCLUSIONS: CNS 7056 has PK-PD properties
      compatible with its potential human use as a short-acting i.v. sedative.

PMID- 20926481
TI  - Climate Change. Giving it 10%.

PMID- 20926483
TI  - Rosiglitazone and the need for a new drug safety agency.

PMID- 20926486
TI  - Depressed about depression.

PMID- 20926487
TI  - Confusion and delays beset WHO's management of H1N1 pandemic.

PMID- 20926489
TI  - A baby with noisy breathing.

PMID- 20926491
TI  - Towards an end to stillbirths.

PMID- 20926490
TI  - Variation in rates of caesarean section among English NHS trusts after accounting
      for maternal and clinical risk: cross sectional study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine whether the variation in unadjusted rates of caesarean
      section derived from routine data in NHS trusts in England can be explained by
      maternal characteristics and clinical risk factors. DESIGN: A cross sectional
      analysis using routinely collected hospital episode statistics was performed. A
      multiple logistic regression model was used to estimate the likelihood of women
      having a caesarean section given their maternal characteristics (age, ethnicity,
      parity, and socioeconomic deprivation) and clinical risk factors (previous
      caesarean section, breech presentation, and fetal distress). Adjusted rates of
      caesarean section for each NHS trust were produced from this model. SETTING: 146
      English NHS trusts. Population Women aged between 15 and 44 years with a
      singleton birth between 1 January and 31 December 2008. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE:
      Rate of caesarean sections per 100 births (live or stillborn). RESULTS: Among 620
      604 singleton births, 147 726 (23.8%) were delivered by caesarean section. Women
      were more likely to have a caesarean section if they had had one previously
      (70.8%) or had a baby with breech presentation (89.8%). Unadjusted rates of
      caesarean section among the NHS trusts ranged from 13.6% to 31.9%. Trusts
      differed in their patient populations, but adjusted rates still ranged from 14.9%
      to 32.1%. Rates of emergency caesarean section varied between trusts more than
      rates of elective caesarean section. CONCLUSION: Characteristics of women
      delivering at NHS trusts differ, and comparing unadjusted rates of caesarean
      section should be avoided. Adjusted rates of caesarean section still vary
      considerably and attempts to reduce this variation should examine issues linked
      to emergency caesarean section.

PMID- 20926492
TI  - Variation in caesarean delivery rates.

PMID- 20926493
TI  - The role of inattention and social perception and performance in two subtypes of
      ADHD.
AB  - This study evaluated the social perception and social functioning of children
      with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder-Combined (ADHD-C), ADHD
      predominately inattentive (ADHD-PI), and controls. Two-hundred and seventy
      children with ADHD-C, ADHD-PI, or controls were evaluated using direct and
      indirect measures of social functioning. The ADHD-C and ADHD-PI groups showed
      significant differences in interpretation of emotional and nonverbal cues on a
      direct measure of social perception compared with controls. The number of
      inattentive symptoms was significantly related to poor performance for
      interpretation of both emotional and nonverbal cues, whereas hyperactivity and
      impulsivity symptoms showed a less robust relation. Children with ADHD-C were
      rated by parents and teachers as showing significant problems with social
      performance and problem behaviors compared with those with ADHD-PI or with
      controls. These findings show a link between inattention and social perception
      that is separate from impulsivity difficulties. These findings have important
      implications for treatment.

PMID- 20926495
TI  - Sensitivity and specificity of the ankle--brachial index to diagnose peripheral
      artery disease: a structured review.
AB  - The ankle-brachial index (ABI) is a simple, inexpensive diagnostic test for
      peripheral artery disease (PAD). However, it has shown variable accuracy for
      identification of significant stenosis. The authors performed a structured review
      of the sensitivity and specificity of ABI <= 0.90 for the diagnosis of PAD.
      MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane databases, Science Citation Index database, and
      Biological Abstracts database were searched for studies of the sensitivity and
      specificity of using ABI <= 0.90 for the diagnosis of PAD. Eight studies
      comprising 2043 patients (or limbs) met the inclusion criteria. The result
      indicated that, although strict inclusion criteria on studies were formulated,
      different reference standards were found in these studies, and methods of ABI
      determination and characteristics of populations varied greatly. A high level of
      specificity (83.3-99.0%) and accuracy (72.1-89.2%) was reported for an ABI <=
      0.90 in detecting >= 50% stenosis, but there were different levels of sensitivity
      (15-79%). Sensitivity was low, especially in elderly individuals and patients
      with diabetes. In conclusion, the test of ABI <= 0.90 can be a simple and useful
      tool to identify PAD with serious stenosis, and may be substituted for other non
      invasive tests in clinical practice.

PMID- 20926494
TI  - Genetic ancestry and lower extremity peripheral artery disease in the Multi
      Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis.
AB  - Using self-report of race/ethnicity, African Americans consistently have a higher
      prevalence of peripheral artery disease (PAD) compared to other ethnic groups. We
      aimed to determine the associations between estimated genetic admixture and PAD
      among African and Hispanic Americans. We studied the association between genetic
      ancestry and PAD among 1417 African and Hispanic American participants in the
      Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis who were genotyped for ancestry informative
      markers (AIMs). PAD was defined as an ankle-brachial index (ABI) < 0.90. The
      overall prevalence of PAD among the 712 self-identified African American subjects
      was 15.2% and 4.6% among the 705 self-identified Hispanic Americans. A one
      standard deviation increment in European ancestry was associated with non
      significant reductions in the odds for PAD among African (OR: 0.96 [95% CI: 0.78
      1.18]) and Hispanic Americans (0.84 [0.58-1.23]), while the same increment in
      Native American ancestry was significantly associated with a lower odds of PAD in
      Hispanic Americans (0.56 [0.36-0.96]). Adjustment for demographic variables,
      field center, cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors and inflammatory markers
      strengthened the odds for European ancestry among African (0.85 [0.66-1.10]) and
      Hispanic Americans (0.68 [0.41-1.11]). The magnitude of the association for
      Native American ancestry among Hispanic Americans did not materially change (0.56
      [0.29-1.09]). In conclusion, a higher percent Native American ancestry in
      Hispanics is associated with a lower odds of PAD while in both Hispanics and
      African Americans, greater European ancestry does not appear to be associated
      with lower odds for PAD.

PMID- 20926496
TI  - Polymorphisms of the hypoxia-inducible factor 1 gene and peripheral artery
      disease.
AB  - Hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF1) is a key regulator of angiogenesis and is
      involved in inflammation, which are two important features of the pathogenesis of
      peripheral artery disease (PAD). The gene for the HIF1-alpha subunit (HIF1A)
      carries two common mis-sense mutations, P582S (C>T, rs11549465) and A588T (G>A,
      rs11549467), which both have been related to increased trans-activation capacity
      of HIF1-alpha. The aim of the present study was to analyze the role of these
      polymorphisms in PAD. The study was designed as a case-control study including
      917 patients with documented PAD and 969 control subjects. HIF1A genotypes were
      determined by exonuclease (TaqMan) assays. HIF1A P582S genotype frequencies were
      not significantly different between PAD patients (PP 82.2%; PS 16.5%; SS 1.3%)
      and control subjects (83.2%; 15.3%; 1.5%; p = 0.72). Similarly, HIF1A A588T
      genotype frequencies did not differ significantly between PAD patients (AA 95.9%;
      AT 4.1%) and control subjects (AA 96.8%; AT 3.2%; p = 0.28). In a multivariate
      logistic regression analysis including age, sex, smoking, diabetes, arterial
      hypertension and hypercholesterolemia, neither the HIF1A P582S polymorphism (odds
      ratio: 1.26; 95% confidence interval 0.92-1.74; p = 0.16) nor the A588T
      polymorphism (odds ratio: 1.17; 95% confidence interval 0.59-2.35; p = 0.66) was
      significantly associated with the presence of PAD. Both polymorphisms were
      furthermore not associated with age at onset of PAD, Fontaine stage of the
      disease or the ankle/brachial index of patients. We conclude that functional
      polymorphisms in the HIF1A gene do not contribute to susceptibility to PAD.

PMID- 20926498
TI  - Impact of venous thromboembolism, venous stasis syndrome, venous outflow
      obstruction and venous valvular incompetence on quality of life and activities of
      daily living: a nested case-control study.
AB  - The role of venous stasis syndrome (VSS) mechanisms (i.e. venous outflow
      obstruction [VOO] and venous valvular incompetence [VVI]) on quality of life
      (QoL) and activities of daily living (ADL) is unknown. The objective of this
      study was to test the hypotheses that venous thromboembolism (VTE),VSS,VOO and
      VVI are associated with reduced QoL and ADL. This study is a follow-up of an
      incident VTE case-control study nested within a population-based inception cohort
      of residents from Olmsted County, MN, USA, between 1966 and 1990. The study
      comprised 232 Olmsted County residents with a first lifetime VTE and 133
      residents without VTE. Methods included a questionnaire and physical examination
      for VSS; vascular laboratory testing for VOO and VVI; assessment of QoL by SF36
      and of ADL by pertinent sections from the Older Americans Resources and Services
      (OARS) and Arthritis Impact Measurement Scales (AIMS2) questionnaires. Of the 365
      study participants, 232 (64%), 161 (44%), 43 (12%) and 136 (37%) had VTE, VSS,
      VOO and VVI, respectively. Prior VTE was associated with reduced ADL and
      increased pain, VSS with reduced physical QoL and increased pain, and VOO with
      reduced physical QoL and ADL.VVI was not associated with QoL or ADL. In
      conclusion,VSS and VOO are associated with worse physical QoL and increased pain.
      VOO and VTE are associated with impaired ADL. We hypothesize that rapid clearance
      of venous outflow obstruction in individuals with acute VTE will improve their
      QoL and ADL.

PMID- 20926499
TI  - Diagnosis of venous thromboembolism: an update.
AB  - Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE) cannot be diagnosed solely
      on a clinical basis owing to the lack of sensitivity and specificity of clinical
      signs and symptoms. Phlebography and pulmonary angiography are invasive and
      resource-demanding imaging modalities. Because the prevalence of DVT and PE is
      relatively low (typically 20% or less) among clinically suspected individuals,
      submitting all of them to imaging would not be cost-effective. Therefore, non
      invasive diagnostic algorithms have been developed that include clinical
      probability assessment and D-dimer measurement. These initial steps allow the
      selection of patients who require non-invasive imaging: compression
      ultrasonography in cases of suspected DVT and multidetector computed tomography
      (CT) angiography in cases of suspected PE. This review gives a critical appraisal
      of the sequential steps of the diagnostic work-up in suspected DVT or PE.

PMID- 20926497
TI  - Cholinergic activation of hematopoietic stem cells: role in tobacco-related
      disease?
AB  - Tobacco use is associated with an increase in the white blood cell (WBC) count.
      This association has been attributed to bronchopulmonary inflammation and/or
      infection. It is not known if nicotine itself may play a role. The objective of
      this study was to determine whether nicotine itself could affect the WBC count,
      and to determine whether this was due to a direct effect on hematopoietic stem
      cells (HSC). C57Bl6J mice received nicotine orally, and measurements of the WBC
      count, bone marrow and spleen cellularity, and HSC count were made. To determine
      the functionality of HSCs, irradiated animals received bone marrow transplants
      from vehicle or nicotine-treated mice. Nicotine increased leukocytes in the
      peripheral blood, bone marrow and spleen. The peripheral red cell and platelet
      count were unaffected. Nicotine increased the frequency of HSC in the bone
      marrow. Isolated long-term HSCs from nicotine-treated mice transplanted into
      irradiated mice regenerated all hematopoietic cell lineages, demonstrating the
      functional competence of those HSCs. HSCs expressed nicotinic acetylcholine
      receptors (nAChRs), as documented by FITC-conjugated alpha-bungarotoxin binding.
      Nicotine increased soluble Kit ligand, consistent with stem cell activation. In
      conclusion, the data suggest a new mechanism for the increased WBC associated
      with tobacco use. The effect of nicotine to activate hematopoiesis may contribute
      to tobacco-related diseases.

PMID- 20926500
TI  - Mesenteric venous thrombosis.
AB  - First differentiated from arterial causes of acute mesenteric ischemia 75 years
      ago, acute mesenteric venous thrombosis (MVT) is an uncommon disorder with non
      specific signs and symptoms, the diagnosis of which requires a high index of
      suspicion. The location, extent, and rapidity of thrombus formation determine
      whether intestinal infarction ensues. Etiologies, when identified, usually can be
      separated into local intra-abdominal factors and inherited or acquired
      hypercoagulable states. The diagnosis is most often made by contrast-enhanced
      computed tomography, though angiography and exploratory surgery still have
      important diagnostic as well as therapeutic roles. Anticoagulation prevents clot
      propagation and is associated with decreased recurrence and mortality.
      Thrombectomy and thrombolysis may preserve questionably viable bowel and should
      be considered under certain circumstances. Evidence of infarction mandates
      surgery and resection whenever feasible. Although its mortality rate has fallen
      over time, acute MVT remains a life-threatening condition requiring rapid
      diagnosis and aggressive management. Chronic MVT may manifest with complications
      of portal hypertension or may be diagnosed incidentally by noninvasive imaging.
      Management of chronic MVT is directed against variceal hemorrhage and includes
      anticoagulation when appropriate; mortality is largely dependent on the
      underlying risk factor.

PMID- 20926501
TI  - Fibrinolysis for acute pulmonary embolism.
AB  - Acute pulmonary embolism (PE) presents as a constellation of clinical syndromes
      with a variety of prognostic implications. Patients with acute PE who have normal
      systemic arterial blood pressure and no evidence of right ventricular (RV)
      dysfunction have an excellent prognosis with therapeutic anticoagulation alone.
      Normotensive acute PE patients with evidence of RV dysfunction are categorized as
      having submassive PE and comprise a population at intermediate risk for adverse
      events and early mortality. Patients with massive PE present with syncope,
      systemic arterial hypotension, cardiogenic shock, or cardiac arrest and have the
      highest risk for short-term mortality and adverse events. The majority of deaths
      from acute PE are due to RV pressure overload and subsequent RV failure. The goal
      of fibrinolysis in acute PE is to rapidly reduce RV afterload and avert impending
      hemodynamic collapse and death. Although generally considered to be a life-saving
      intervention in massive PE, fibrinolysis remains controversial for submassive PE.
      Successful administration of fibrinolytic therapy requires weighing benefit
      versus risk. Major bleeding, in particular intracranial hemorrhage, is the most
      feared complication of fibrinolysis. Alternatives to fibrinolysis for acute PE,
      including surgical embolectomy, catheter-assisted embolectomy, and inferior vena
      cava (IVC) filter insertion, should be considered when contraindications exist or
      when patients have failed to respond to an initial trial of fibrinolytic therapy.
      Patients with massive and submassive PE may be best served by rapid triage to
      specialized centers with experience in the administration of fibrinolytic therapy
      and the capacity to offer alternative advanced therapies such as surgical and
      catheter-assisted embolectomy.

PMID- 20926502
TI  - SVM Annual Meeting--April 2010 Cleveland, OH, USA.

PMID- 20926503
TI  - Images in vascular medicine: Renal arteriovenous fistula.

PMID- 20926504
TI  - Images in vascular medicine: Hypoglossal nerve palsy due to internal carotid
      artery dissection.

PMID- 20926505
TI  - Characterization and heterologous expression of a new matrix attachment region
      binding protein from the unicellular green alga Dunaliella salina.
AB  - Although interactions between the nuclear matrix and special regions of
      chromosomal DNA called matrix attachment regions (MARs) are implicated in various
      nuclear functions, the understanding of the regulatory mechanism of MARs is still
      poor. A few MAR-binding proteins (MARBP) have been isolated from some plants and
      animals, but not from the unicellular algae. Here, we identify a novel MAR
      binding protein, namely DMBP-1, from the halotolerant alga Dunaliella salina. The
      cDNA of DMBP-1 is 2322-bp long and contains a 1626 bp of an open reading frame
      encoding a polypeptide of 542 amino acids (59 kDa). The DMBP-1 expressed in
      Escherichia coli specifically binds A/T-rich MAR DNA. The DMBP-1 fused to green
      fluorescent protein appears only inside the nuclei of Chinese hamster ovarian
      cells transfected with the pEGFP-MBP, indicating that the protein is located in
      the nuclei. The findings mentioned above may contribute to better understanding
      of the nuclear matrix-MAR interactions.

PMID- 20926506
TI  - Retinoid treatment of Emphysema in Patients on the Alpha-1 International
      Registry. The REPAIR study: study design, methodology and quality control of
      study assessments.
AB  - Emphysema is characterized by the destruction of alveolar wall and enlargement of
      alveolar airspaces, resulting in a reduction of the total lung gas exchange area,
      loss of lung elastic recoil and hyperinflation. The REPAIR study (Retinoid
      treatment of Emphysema in Patients on the Alpha-1 International Registry) is the
      first proof-of-concept study of a new potential disease-modifying drug,
      Palovarotene(c), an orally active, gamma selective retinoid agonist in patients
      with emphysema secondary to alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency (AATD) as a model
      population for the general smoke-induced emphysema population. This article
      describes the study design as well as the effectiveness of the quality control
      that was implemented on the key efficacy endpoints, based on data derived from
      the placebo-treated subjects. In this multicentre, multinational study the
      implementation of standardized procedures included: careful site selection, use
      of trained staff, regular monitoring and machine calibration, use of biological
      controls and regular feedback to sites by an independent quality control centre.
      All of these procedures resulted in high-quality measurements of lung density,
      spirometry, static lung volumes and gas transfer. It was also confirmed that CT
      lung density was the most sensitive endpoint followed by TLco, FEV(1) and RV
      measured by body box.

PMID- 20926507
TI  - The relationship between gastroesophageal reflux and asthma: an update.
AB  - Asthma and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) are both common conditions and,
      hence, they often coexist. However, asthmatics have been found to have a much
      greater prevalence of GERD symptoms than the general population. There remains
      debate regarding the underlying physiologic mechanism(s) of this relationship and
      whether treatment of GERD actually translates into improved asthma outcomes.
      Based on smaller trials with somewhat conflicting results regarding improved
      asthma control with treatment of GERD, current guidelines recommend a trial of
      GERD treatment for symptomatic asthmatics even without symptoms of GERD. However,
      recently a large multicenter trial demonstrated that the treatment of
      asymptomatic GERD with proton-pump inhibitors did not improve asthma control in
      terms of pulmonary function, rate of asthma exacerbations, asthma-related quality
      of life, or asthma symptom frequency. These data suggest empiric treatment of
      asymptomatic GERD in asthmatics is not a useful practice. This review article
      provides an overview of the epidemiology and pathophysiologic relationships
      between asthma and GERD as well as a summary of current data regarding links
      between treatment of GERD with asthma outcomes.

PMID- 20926508
TI  - Patient doses in CT examinations in Switzerland: implementation of national
      diagnostic reference levels.
AB  - Diagnostic reference levels (DRLs) were established for 21 indication-based CT
      examinations for adults in Switzerland. One hundred and seventy-nine of 225
      computed tomography (CT) scanners operated in hospitals and private radiology
      institutes were audited on-site and patient doses were collected. For each CT
      scanner, a correction factor was calculated expressing the deviation of the
      measured weighted computed tomography dose index (CTDI) to the nominal weighted
      CTDI as displayed on the workstation. Patient doses were corrected by this factor
      providing a realistic basis for establishing national DRLs. Results showed large
      variations in doses between different radiology departments in Switzerland,
      especially for examinations of the petrous bone, pelvis, lower limbs and heart.
      This indicates that the concept of DRLs has not yet been correctly applied for CT
      examinations in clinical routine. A close collaboration of all stakeholders is
      mandatory to assure an effective radiation protection of patients. On-site audits
      will be intensified to further establish the concept of DRLs in Switzerland.

PMID- 20926509
TI  - Evaluation of paediatric X-ray doses in Moroccan university hospitals.
AB  - This work evaluates the entrance skin dose (ESD), the body organ dose (BOD) and
      the effective dose (E) for chest X-ray exposures of paediatric patients. Two
      Moroccan university hospitals in Rabat, composed of two departments, and one in
      Casablanca with one paediatric compartment has been considered. For reasons of
      confidentiality, the departments are named A, B and C. Patients were divided into
      four age groups: 0-1, 1-5, 5-10 and 10-15 y, so that the results could be
      compared with previous published data found in the literature. The results have
      been calculated with the use of the Dose Cal software. Results of mean ESD for
      the age interval 1-5 y and antero-posterior (AP) projection are: 162 uGy for
      hospital A, 91 uGy for hospital B and 105 uGy for hospital C. The diagnostic
      reference levels (DRLs) of 100 uGy for this age range is exceeded in hospital A,
      while in the other two hospitals results were within the DRL and comparable with
      the results found in Brazil, Soudan, Nigeria and other radiological centres
      inpean Countries. The results of BOD and E showed that for the three departments,
      the BOD varies in the same proportion as the ESD. The highest values are those of
      hospital A. For the PA examination, the dose is reduced compared with the AP
      projection, especially for sensitive organs.

PMID- 20926510
TI  - Considerations and preliminary design of patient exposure registry.
AB  - To aid in protecting patients from unnecessary exposures and to reduce radiation
      burdens to the public, a system for tracking a patient's medical exposure history
      and related radiation doses would be a useful tool. A patient-centred exposure
      registry, the Patient Exposure Registry (PER), is a mechanism that provides this
      tracking. This article outlines the objectives of the proposed Canadian PER
      together with considerations and preliminary design of the registry.
      Implementation strategy is discussed. The strategy will allow many initiatives
      progressing in parallel such as backward data mining and forward development in
      order to make this important registry a reality in the near future.

PMID- 20926511
TI  - Evaluation of geometric efficiency and radiation exposure in z-axis for volume
      scan.
AB  - The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) recommended that a display be
      provided on the operating console of medical computed tomography (CT) scanners
      when the geometric efficiency (GE) in the z-axis is 70% or less. Taking into
      account the increase in the number of detector rows and the changes in the
      scanning method, the present study was conducted to review the GE and to evaluate
      the exposure dose in the z-axis direction. The GE for a single-rotation scan was
      calculated in accordance with IEC-606024 Ed. 2. The findings of the present study
      suggest that 320-row area detector computed tomography volume scan (single axial
      scan with no table movement in which it just happened to use a very large beam
      width) extends 18.8 mm beyond the nominal beam collimation, even when the GE is
      >70%. However, compared with the helical scan, which is the present mainstream of
      CT examinations, the dose beyond the scan length is narrower in volume scan for a
      limited scan length of 160 mm or less.

PMID- 20926512
TI  - Clinical application of a novel sliver nanoparticles biosensor based on localized
      surface plasmon resonance for detecting the microalbuminuria.
AB  - In order to explore the clinical application of the nanobiosensor based on
      localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR), we used our LSPR biosensor to detect
      the microalbuminuria in this work. The sliver nanoparticles were fabricated by
      using nanosphere lithography. The anti-human albumin antibody was immobilized on
      the sensor surface by amine coupling method. The different concentrations of
      commercial albumin and albumin in urine samples from three mild preeclampsia
      patients were determined according to the peak of LSPR extinction spectra. Under
      optimum conditions, our results showed that the biosensor displayed a detection
      limit of 1 ng/ml and wide dynamic range of 1 ng/ml to 1 MUg/ml. Furthermore, the
      microalbuminuria of three patients was determined by our biosensor within a short
      assay time, without sample purification. This biosensor proposed herein is easy
      to prepare and could be used for low-cost, rapid, label-free, and sensitive
      screening of the microalbuminuria. This approach provides a promising platform
      for developing clinical diagnostic applications.

PMID- 20926513
TI  - Osteogenic growth peptide enhances the proliferation of bone marrow mesenchymal
      stem cells from osteoprotegerin-deficient mice by CDK2/cyclin A.
AB  - To promote bone formation is one of the fundamental strategies in osteoporosis
      treatment and fractures repair. As one of the stimulators on bone formation,
      osteogenic growth peptide (OGP) increases both proliferation and differentiation
      of the osteoblasts in vitro and in vivo, in which osteoprotegerin (OPG) has been
      suggested being involved. In this study, we evaluated the effects of OGP on bone
      marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) from OPG-deficient mice in vitro by 3-(4,5
      dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay, alkaline phosphatase
      (ALP) activity assay, real-time polymerase chain reaction, and western blot
      analysis. Results showed that OGP stimulated MSC proliferation and increased the
      expression of CDK2 and cyclin A in MSCs both at mRNA and protein levels. However,
      no differentiative effect of OGP was shown as ALP activity and the expression
      levels of Runx2 and Osterix were not increased significantly by OGP. Our study
      suggested that OGP may increase the bone formation in OPG-deficient mice by
      stimulating MSC proliferation rather than differentiation, and probably by
      triggering CDK2/cyclin A pathway.

PMID- 20926514
TI  - Genome-wide gene expression profiling reveals aberrant MAPK and Wnt signaling
      pathways associated with early parthenogenesis.
AB  - Mammalian parthenogenesis could not survive but aborted during mid-gestation,
      presumably because of lack of paternal gene expression. To understand the
      molecular mechanisms underlying the failure of parthenogenesis at early stages of
      development, we performed global gene expression profiling and functional
      analysis of parthenogenetic blastocysts in comparison with those of blastocysts
      from normally fertilized embryos. Parthenogenetic blastocysts exhibited changes
      in the expression of 749 genes, of which 214 had lower expression and 535 showed
      higher expressions than fertilized embryos using a minimal 1.8-fold change as a
      cutoff. Genes important for placenta development were decreased in their
      expression in parthenote blastocysts. Some maternally expressed genes were up
      regulated and paternal-related genes were down-regulated. Moreover, aberrantly
      increased Wnt signaling and reduced mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)
      signaling were associated with early parthenogenesis. The protein level of
      extracellular signal-regulated kinase 2 (ERK2) was low in parthenogenetic
      blastocysts compared with that of fertilized blastocysts 120 h after
      fertilization. 6-Bromoindirubin-3'-oxime, a specific glycogen synthase kinase-3
      (GSK-3) inhibitor, significantly decreased embryo hatching. The expression of
      several imprinted genes was altered in parthenote blastocysts. Gene expression
      also linked reduced expression of Xist to activation of X chromosome. Our
      findings suggest that failed X inactivation, aberrant imprinting, decreased
      ERK/MAPK signaling and possibly elevated Wnt signaling, and reduced expression of
      genes for placental development collectively may contribute to abnormal placenta
      formation and failed fetal development in parthenogenetic embryos.

PMID- 20926515
TI  - Murine mammary epithelial stem cells: discovery, function, and current status.
AB  - An entire mammary epithelial outgrowth, capable of full secretory
      differentiation, may comprise the progeny of a single cellular antecedent, i.e.,
      may be generated from a single mammary epithelial stem cell. Early studies showed
      that any portion of an intact murine mammary gland containing epithelium could
      recapitulate an entire mammary epithelial tree on transplantation into an
      epithelium-free mammary fat pad. More recent studies have shown that a hierarchy
      of mammary stem/progenitor cells exists among the mammary epithelium and that
      their behavior and maintenance is dependent on signals generated both locally and
      systemically. In this review, we have attempted to develop the scientific saga
      surrounding the discovery and characterization of the murine mammary
      stem/progenitor cell hierarchy and to suggest further approaches that will
      enhance our knowledge and understanding of these cells and their role in both
      normal development and neoplasia.

PMID- 20926516
TI  - Bacterial nanomachines: the flagellum and type III injectisome.
AB  - The bacterial flagellum and the virulence-associated injectisome are complex,
      structurally related nanomachines that bacteria use for locomotion or the
      translocation of virulence factors into eukaryotic host cells. The assembly of
      both structures and the transfer of extracellular proteins is mediated by a
      unique, multicomponent transport apparatus, the type III secretion system. Here,
      we discuss the significant progress that has been made in recent years in the
      visualization and functional characterization of many components of the type III
      secretion system, the structure of the bacterial flagellum, and the injectisome
      complex.

PMID- 20926518
TI  - Cost-efficient design of occupational exposure assessment strategies--a review.
AB  - When designing a strategy for collecting occupational exposure data, both
      economic and statistical performance criteria should be considered. However, very
      few studies have addressed the trade-off between the cost of obtaining data and
      the precision/accuracy of the exposure estimate as a research issue. To highlight
      the need of providing cost-efficient designs for assessing exposure variables in
      occupational research, the present review explains and critically evaluates the
      concepts and analytical tools used in available cost efficiency studies. Nine
      studies were identified through a systematic search using two algorithms in the
      databases PubMed and ScienceDirect. Two main approaches could be identified in
      these studies: 'comparisons' of the cost efficiency associated with different
      measurement designs and 'optimizations' of resource allocation on the basis of
      functions describing cost and statistical efficiency. In either case, the
      reviewed studies use simplified analytical tools and insufficient economic
      analyses. More research is needed to understand whether these drawbacks
      jeopardize the guidance on cost-efficient exposure assessment provided by the
      studies, as well as to support theoretical results by empirical data from
      occupational life.

PMID- 20926519
TI  - Body composition assessed by the 4-component model and association with lung
      function in 6-12-y-old children with cystic fibrosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Malnutrition is an indicator of a poor prognosis in patients with
      cystic fibrosis (CF). Previous body-composition (BC) studies in children with CF
      used 2-component models (2CMs) to assess fat mass (FM) and fat-free mass (FFM),
      but to our knowledge no study has used the gold-standard 4-component model (4CM),
      which allows for a more accurate evaluation of the nature of both elements.
      OBJECTIVE: We measured BC by using the 4CM in 6-12-y-old children with CF to 1)
      compare findings with those of healthy, matched control children and reference
      data; 2) relate BC to lung spirometry [forced expired volume in 1 s (FEV1)]; and
      3) compare findings with those from more commonly used 2CM techniques. DESIGN:
      One hundred clinically stable children with CF (57% girls) aged 6-12 y were
      measured by using the 4CM. Children with CF underwent spirometry (FEV1). RESULTS:
      Girls with CF had significantly less FM than did healthy girls, even after
      adjustment for height and pubertal status; boys with CF had higher body mass
      index SD scores than did healthy boys. FM in girls was positively associated with
      the FEV1 percentage predicted. The 2CM FM was significantly different from the
      4CM FM, with differences dependent on sex and condition, although most techniques
      identified a relation between FM and FEV1 in girls. CONCLUSIONS: Although shorter
      than healthy children, boys with CF were heavier and had a BC within the normal
      range; however, girls with CF had lower FM than did healthy girls, and this was
      associated with poorer lung function. Given the worse prognosis in girls, this
      finding merits more attention. The reliability of 2CM techniques varied with sex
      and health status.

PMID- 20926517
TI  - Nuclear speckles.
AB  - Nuclear speckles, also known as interchromatin granule clusters, are nuclear
      domains enriched in pre-mRNA splicing factors, located in the interchromatin
      regions of the nucleoplasm of mammalian cells. When observed by
      immunofluorescence microscopy, they usually appear as 20-50 irregularly shaped
      structures that vary in size. Speckles are dynamic structures, and their
      constituents can exchange continuously with the nucleoplasm and other nuclear
      locations, including active transcription sites. Studies on the composition,
      structure, and dynamics of speckles have provided an important paradigm for
      understanding the functional organization of the nucleus and the dynamics of the
      gene expression machinery.

PMID- 20926520
TI  - Skipping breakfast: longitudinal associations with cardiometabolic risk factors
      in the Childhood Determinants of Adult Health Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The long-term effects of skipping breakfast on cardiometabolic health
      are not well understood. OBJECTIVE: The objective was to examine longitudinal
      associations of breakfast skipping in childhood and adulthood with
      cardiometabolic risk factors in adulthood. DESIGN: In 1985, a national sample of
      9-15-y-old Australian children reported whether they usually ate breakfast before
      school. During follow-up in 2004-2006, 2184 participants (26-36 y of age)
      completed a meal-frequency chart for the previous day. Skipping breakfast was
      defined as not eating between 0600 and 0900. Participants were classified into 4
      groups: skipped breakfast in neither childhood nor adulthood (n = 1359), skipped
      breakfast only in childhood (n = 224), skipped breakfast only in adulthood (n =
      515), and skipped breakfast in both childhood and adulthood (n = 86). Diet
      quality was assessed, waist circumference was measured, and blood samples were
      taken after a 12-h fast (n = 1730). Differences in mean waist circumference and
      blood glucose, insulin, and lipid concentrations were calculated by linear
      regression. RESULTS: After adjustment for age, sex, and sociodemographic and
      lifestyle factors, participants who skipped breakfast in both childhood and
      adulthood had a larger waist circumference (mean difference: 4.63 cm; 95% CI:
      1.72, 7.53 cm) and higher fasting insulin (mean difference: 2.02 mU/L; 95% CI:
      0.75, 3.29 mU/L), total cholesterol (mean difference: 0.40 mmol/L; 95% CI: 0.13,
      0.68 mmol/L), and LDL cholesterol (mean difference: 0.40 mmol/L; 95% CI: 0.16,
      0.64 mmol/L) concentrations than did those who ate breakfast at both time points.
      Additional adjustments for diet quality and waist circumference attenuated the
      associations with cardiometabolic variables, but the differences remained
      significant. CONCLUSIONS: Skipping breakfast over a long period may have
      detrimental effects on cardiometabolic health. Promoting the benefits of eating
      breakfast could be a simple and important public health message.

PMID- 20926521
TI  - Haptoglobin genotype modifies the association between dietary vitamin C and serum
      ascorbic acid deficiency.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Haptoglobin (which is encoded by the Hp gene) is a hemoglobin-binding
      protein that has antioxidant properties and a common polymorphism that consists
      of 2 structurally different alleles: Hp1 and Hp2. The capacity of Hp2 to inhibit
      oxidation and vitamin C depletion is less than that of Hp1, but the influence on
      vitamin C requirements remains unknown. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to determine
      whether the Hp polymorphism modifies the association between dietary vitamin C
      and serum ascorbic acid deficiency (<11 MUmol/L). DESIGN: Nonsmoking men and
      women (n = 1046) between 20 and 29 y of age participated in the Toronto
      Nutrigenomics and Health Study. Blood samples were collected after the subjects
      had fasted overnight to determine serum ascorbic acid concentrations by HPLC and
      for genotyping. A 196-item food-frequency questionnaire was used to estimate
      vitamin C intake. RESULTS: A gene-diet interaction on serum ascorbic acid was
      observed (P = 0.02). The overall odds ratio (95% CI) for serum ascorbic acid
      deficiency was 2.84 (1.73, 4.65) for subjects who did not meet the Recommended
      Dietary Allowance for vitamin C compared with those who did. The corresponding
      odds ratios were 4.77 (2.36, 9.65) for the Hp2-2 genotype and 1.69 (0.80, 3.63)
      for carriers of the Hp1 allele. CONCLUSIONS: Individuals with the Hp2-2 genotype
      had an increased risk of deficiency if they did not meet the Recommended Dietary
      Allowance for vitamin C, whereas carriers of the Hp1 allele did not. The findings
      suggest that the greater antioxidant capacity of Hp1 might spare serum ascorbic
      acid.

PMID- 20926523
TI  - Science trumps politics: urinary sodium data challenge US dietary sodium
      guideline.

PMID- 20926522
TI  - Afebrile Plasmodium falciparum parasitemia decreases absorption of fortification
      iron but does not affect systemic iron utilization: a double stable-isotope study
      in young Beninese women.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) affects many young women in sub-Saharan
      Africa. Its etiology is multifactorial, but the major cause is low dietary iron
      bioavailability exacerbated by parasitic infections such as malaria. OBJECTIVE:
      We investigated whether asymptomatic Plasmodium falciparum parasitemia in
      Beninese women would impair absorption of dietary iron or utilization of
      circulating iron. DESIGN: Iron absorption and utilization from an iron-fortified
      sorghum-based meal were estimated by using oral and intravenous isotope labels in
      23 afebrile women with a positive malaria smear (asexual P. falciparum
      parasitemia; > 500 parasites/MUL blood). The women were studied while infected,
      treated, and then restudied 10 d after treatment. Iron status, hepcidin, and
      inflammation indexes were measured before and after treatment. RESULTS: Treatment
      reduced low-grade inflammation, as reflected by decreases in serum ferritin, C
      reactive protein, interleukin-6, interleukin-8, and interleukin-10 (P < 0.05);
      this was accompanied by a reduction in median serum hepcidin of ~ 50%, from 2.7
      to 1.4 nmol/L (P < 0.005). Treatment decreased serum erythropoietin and growth
      differentiation factor 15 (P < 0.05). Clearance of parasitemia increased
      geometric mean dietary iron absorption (from 10.2% to 17.6%; P = 0.008) but did
      not affect systemic iron utilization (85.0% compared with 83.1%; NS).
      CONCLUSIONS: Dietary iron absorption is reduced by ~ 40% in asymptomatic P.
      falciparum parasitemia, likely because of low-grade inflammation and its
      modulation of circulating hepcidin. Because asymptomatic parasitemia has a
      protracted course and is very common in malarial areas, this effect may
      contribute to IDA and blunt the efficacy of iron supplementation and
      fortification programs. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as
      NCT01108939.

PMID- 20926524
TI  - Vitamin D deficiency and anthropometric indicators of adiposity in school-age
      children: a prospective study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cross-sectional studies have indicated that vitamin D serostatus is
      inversely associated with adiposity. It is unknown whether vitamin D deficiency
      is a risk factor for the development of adiposity in children. OBJECTIVE: We
      investigated the associations between vitamin D serostatus and changes in body
      mass index (BMI; in kg/m2), skinfold-thickness ratio (subscapular-to-triceps),
      waist circumference, and height in a longitudinal study in children from Bogota,
      Colombia. DESIGN: We quantified plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D]
      concentrations in baseline samples of a randomly selected group of 479
      schoolchildren aged 5-12 y and classified vitamin D status as deficient [25(OH)D
      concentrations < 50 nmol/L], insufficient [25(OH)D concentrations >= 50 and < 75
      nmol/L], or sufficient [25(OH)D concentrations >= 75 nmol/L]. We measured
      anthropometric variables annually for a median of 30 mo. We estimated the average
      change in each anthropometric indicator according to baseline vitamin D status by
      using multivariate mixed linear regression models. RESULTS: Vitamin D-deficient
      children had an adjusted 0.1/y greater change in BMI than did vitamin D
      sufficient children (P for trend = 0.05). Similarly, vitamin D-deficient children
      had a 0.03/y (95% CI: 0.01, 0.05/y) greater change in subscapular-to-triceps
      skinfold-thickness ratio and a 0.8 cm/y (95% CI: 0.1, 1.6 cm/y) greater change in
      waist circumference than did vitamin D-sufficient children. Vitamin D deficiency
      was related to slower linear growth in girls (-0.6 cm/y, P = 0.04) but not in
      boys (0.3 cm/y, P = 0.34); however, an interaction with sex was not statistically
      significant. CONCLUSION: Vitamin D serostatus was inversely associated with the
      development of adiposity in school-age children.

PMID- 20926525
TI  - Gender, age, body mass index, and IGF-I individually and jointly determine
      distinct GH dynamics: analyses in one hundred healthy adults.
AB  - BACKGROUND: GH secretion is quantifiable as mean, peak, and nadir GH
      concentrations; degree of irregularity (approximate entropy); and spikiness
      (brief staccato-like fluctuations). HYPOTHESIS: Distinct GH dynamics reflect
      relatively distinct (combinations of) subject variables, such as gender, age,
      body mass index (BMI), and IGF-I concentrations. LOCATION: The study took place
      at a clinical translational research unit. SUBJECTS: Subjects included 100
      healthy adults ages 20-77 yr (59 women and 41 men), BMI 18-42 kg/m(2), and IGF-I
      9.2-38 nmol/liter. MEASURES: Immunofluorometric GH assay was done on 10-min
      samples collected for 24 h. RESULTS: Stepwise forward-selection multivariate
      regression analysis revealed that mean GH concentrations were simultaneously
      determined (overall r = 0.36; P < 0.001) by gender (higher in women, P < 0.001),
      BMI (negatively, P < 0.001), and IGF-I (positively, P < 0.001). Peak GH levels
      were influenced (r = 0.28) by both BMI (P < 0.001) and IGF-I (P = 0.001). Nadir
      GH values were jointly affected by gender (higher in women, P = 0.005) and BMI
      (negatively, P = 0.001). GH approximate entropy was triply defined (r = 0.29) by
      gender (greater irregularity in women, P < 0.001), age (P = 0.022), and BMI (P =
      0.008) and dually (r = 0.25) by gender (P = 0.0001) and BMI (P = 0.017) if sex
      steroids were included. GH spikiness was determined (r = 0.29) by gender (higher
      in women, P = 0.0016) and BMI (positively, P = 0.0002). CONCLUSION: In healthy
      adults, combinations of gender, age, BMI, and IGF-I specify distinct GH dynamics,
      thus requiring balanced representation of these variables in comparative GH
      studies.

PMID- 20926526
TI  - Weight loss after therapy of hypothyroidism is mainly caused by excretion of
      excess body water associated with myxoedema.
AB  - CONTEXT: In hypothyroidism, resting energy expenditure (REE) is reduced and
      weight gain is common. Physical activity contributes to the total daily energy
      expenditure, and changes in physical activity might contribute to hypothyroid
      associated weight changes. OBJECTIVE: The objective of the present study was to
      evaluate mechanisms involved in body weight changes associated with
      hypothyroidism. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: We conducted a 1-yr controlled
      follow-up study on outpatients newly diagnosed with hypothyroidism (n = 12) and a
      euthyroid measurement control group (n = 10). MAIN OUTCOME AND INTERVENTIONS:
      Changes in body mass and composition (dual-energy x-ray analysis scan), REE
      (indirect calorimetry), and spontaneous physical activity (pedometers and two
      different questionnaires) were studied before and after 12 months of L-T(4)
      therapy or observation (control group). RESULTS: TSH changed from 102 (85) to 2.2
      (2.1) mU/liter mean (SD) and free T(4) from 4.5 (2.1) to 18 (3.3) pmol/liter
      after 1 yr of treatment. Body weight decreased from 83.7 (16.4) to 79.4 (16.0) kg
      (P = 0.002) due to change in the lean mass subcompartment only (P = 0.001)
      because fat and bone mass was virtually unchanged. Significant increase was
      observed in REE and in physical activity measured with questionnaires but not
      measured as daily steps. No significant changes were observed in the control
      group. CONCLUSION: L-T(4) therapy of hypothyroidism associated with significant
      decrease in body weight and increase in REE. Physical activity measured with
      questionnaires increased significantly, but not number of daily steps. Despite
      changes in REE and body weight, fat mass was unchanged during the study. We
      propose that total body energy equilibrium is maintained during treatment of
      hypothyroidism and that weight loss observed during such treatment is caused by
      excretion of excess body water associated with untreated myxoedema.

PMID- 20926527
TI  - Short- and long-term outcome of patients with pseudo-vitamin D deficiency rickets
      treated with calcitriol.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pseudo-vitamin D deficiency rickets (PDDR; OMIM 264700) is a rare
      autosomal recessive disorder caused by mutations in the CYP27B1 gene, leading to
      an inability to synthesize 1alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D(3) (calcitriol). The long
      term (>1 yr) effects of calcitriol replacement treatment have not been reported.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty-nine patients (20 females) with PDDR received
      calcitriol for periods of 2.0-26 yr. In 21 patients, data were available at
      diagnosis and during the first 2 yr of treatment with calcitriol. Twenty-five
      patients had reached their final height at the time of this analysis. RESULTS:
      The most common presenting features were active rickets, neurological signs, and
      short stature. Treatment with calcitriol resulted in the normalization of
      biochemical parameters and mean lumbar spine areal bone mineral density z-scores
      within 3 months, whereas height z-scores increased more gradually. As to long
      term effects, adult patients who had received calcitriol before the pubertal
      growth spurt (n = 11) had normal height, whereas patients who were treated with
      calcitriol only after puberty (n = 14) on average were short (height z-score 
      2.2). Lumbar spine areal bone mineral density z-scores were normal in all
      patients who had achieved final height. Nine women had 19 pregnancies, which all
      were without complications. All newborns were eucalcemic at birth. CONCLUSION:
      Treatment with calcitriol started in infancy results in short- and long-term
      correction of all clinical, biochemical, and radiological abnormalities related
      to PDDR.

PMID- 20926528
TI  - PVALB, a new Hurthle adenoma diagnostic marker identified through gene
      expression.
AB  - CONTEXT: A better means to accurately identify malignant thyroid nodules and to
      distinguish them from benign tumors is needed. We previously identified markers
      for detecting thyroid malignancy, with sensitivity estimated at or close to 100%.
      One lingering problem with these markers was that false positives occurred with
      Hurthle cell adenomas (HCA) which lowered test specificity. METHODS: To locate
      accurate diagnostic markers, we profiled in depth the transcripts of a HCA and a
      Hurthle cell carcinoma (HCC). From 1146 differentially expressed genes, 18
      transcripts specifically expressed in HCA were tested by quantitative PCR in a
      wide range of thyroid tumors (n = 76). Sensibility and specificity were
      calculated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC). Selected markers were
      further validated in an independent set of thyroid tumors (n = 82) by
      immunohistochemistry. To define the panel that would yield best diagnostic
      accuracy, these markers were tested in combination with our previous identified
      markers. RESULTS: Seventeen of the 18 genes showed statistical significance based
      on a mean relative level of expression (P < 0.05). KLK1 (sensitivity = 0.97) and
      PVALB (sensitivity = 0.94) were the best candidate markers. The combination of
      PVALB and C1orf24 increased specificity to >97% and maintained sensitivity for
      detection of carcinoma. CONCLUSION: We identified tumor markers that can be used
      in combination for a more accurate preoperative diagnosis of thyroid nodules and
      for postoperative diagnosis of thyroid carcinoma in tumor sections. This improved
      test would help physicians rapidly focus treatment on true malignancies and avoid
      unnecessary treatment of benign tumors, simultaneously improving medical care and
      reducing costs.

PMID- 20926529
TI  - Moderate doses of hGH (0.64 mg/d) improve lipids but not cardiovascular function
      in GH-deficient adults with normal baseline cardiac function.
AB  - CONTEXT: Data regarding effects of lower-dose GH on cardiopulmonary function in
      GH-deficient (GHD) adults are limited. OBJECTIVES: The objective was to assess
      effects of lower-dose GH on exercise capacity and echocardiographic parameters in
      GHD adults. DESIGN: The study was a 6-month double-blind, placebo-controlled
      randomized trial. SETTING: The study was conducted at the General Clinical
      Research Center. PARTICIPANTS: Thirty hypopituitary adults with GHD were studied.
      INTERVENTION: Subjects were randomized to recombinant human GH or placebo for 6
      months, followed by open-label recombinant human GH for 12 months. MAIN OUTCOME
      MEASURES: Primary endpoints were exercise duration, maximal oxygen consumption,
      and left ventricular ejection fraction. Secondary endpoints were
      echocardiographic indices of systolic and diastolic function, left ventricular
      mass, lipids, and body composition. RESULTS: In the 6-month double-blind phase,
      mean GH dose was 0.64 mg/d. Mean IGF-I sd score increased from -4.5 to -1.0.
      Exercise duration, maximal oxygen consumption, left ventricular ejection
      fraction, and other echocardiographic parameters were normal at baseline and did
      not change. GH decreased total and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol by 7.5% (P
      = 0.016) and 14.7% (P = 0.002) (P = 0.04 vs. placebo). Mean lean body mass
      increased by 2.2 kg (P = 0.004), fat mass decreased by 1.7 kg (P = 0.21), and
      percent body fat decreased by 2.5% (P = 0.018), although between-group changes
      were not significant. CONCLUSIONS: Human GH did not improve exercise performance
      or echocardiographic parameters or decrease fat mass but significantly decreased
      total and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, increased IGF-I, and increased
      lean body mass. These results indicate that responses to human GH are variable
      and should be assessed at baseline and during treatment.

PMID- 20926530
TI  - Mitochondrial localization and regulation of BRAFV600E in thyroid cancer: a
      clinically used RAF inhibitor is unable to block the mitochondrial activities of
      BRAFV600E.
AB  - CONTEXT: The oncogenic BRAF(V600E) mutation results in an active structural
      conformation characterized by greatly elevated ERK activity. However, additional
      cellular effects caused by subcellular action of BRAF(V600E) remain to be
      identified. OBJECTIVE: To explore these effects, differences in the subcellular
      localization of wild-type and mutant BRAF in thyroid cancer were investigated.
      RESULTS: A significant proportion of endogenous and exogenous BRAF(V600E), but
      not wild-type BRAF, was detected in the mitochondrial fraction, similar to other
      BRAF mutants including BRAF(V600D), BRAF(V600K), BRAF(V600R), and BRAF(G469A),
      which showed elevated kinase activity and mitochondrial localization. Induced
      expression of BRAF(V600E) suppressed the apoptotic responses against
      staurosporine and TNFalpha/cycloheximide. Interestingly, the mitochondrial
      localization and antiapoptotic activities of BRAF(V600E) were unaffected by
      sorafenib and U0126 suppression of MAPK kinase (MEK) and ERK activities.
      Similarly, although the RAF inhibitor sorafenib effectively inhibited MEK/ERK
      activation, it did not block the mitochondrial localization of BRAF(V600E). In
      addition, inducible expression of BRAF(V600E) increased the glucose uptake rate
      and decreased O(2) consumption, suggesting that BRAF(V600E) reduces mitochondrial
      oxidative phosphorylation, a signature feature of cancer cells. Again, these
      metabolic alterations resulted by BRAF(V600E) expression were not affected by the
      treatment of thyroid cells by sorafenib. Therefore, RAF and MEK inhibitors are
      unable to block the antiapoptotic activity of BRAF(V600E) or correct the high
      glucose uptake rate and glycolytic activity and suppressed mitochondrial
      oxidative phosphorylation induced by BRAF(V600E). CONCLUSIONS: The mitochondrial
      localization observed in oncogenic BRAF mutants might be related to their altered
      responses to apoptotic stimuli and characteristic metabolic phenotypes found in
      thyroid cancer. The inability of MEK and RAF inhibitors, U0126 and sorafenib,
      respectively, to block the mitochondrial localization of BRAF(V600E) has
      additional therapeutic implications for BRAF(V600E)-positive thyroid cancers.

PMID- 20926531
TI  - Cross-sectional versus longitudinal associations of lean and fat mass with pQCT
      bone outcomes in children.
AB  - CONTEXT: Cross-sectional associations for lean mass (LM) and fat mass (FM) with
      bone may not reflect longitudinal associations. OBJECTIVE: Cross-sectional and
      longitudinal associations of LM and FM with radial bone measurements in children
      were compared. DESIGN AND PARTICIPANTS: We conducted a longitudinal study on 370
      (232 females) children, 8-18 yr of age. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: LM and FM were
      measured by dual-energy absorptiometry. Peripheral quantitative computed
      tomography at the 4% radius (4R) and 20% radius (20R) measured bone mineral
      content (BMC), volumetric bone mineral density (vBMD), area, and strength [polar
      stress strain index (pSSI)]. RESULTS: Males at 20R had negative FM cross
      sectional and longitudinal associations with cortical area and BMC and pSSI (P <
      0.02); negative cross-sectional association with total area (P < 0.001); and
      negative longitudinal association with cortical thickness (P < 0.001). Females at
      20R had FM cross-sectional association with total area, cortical BMC, and pSSI
      and longitudinal associations with cortical BMC and area, vBMD, and pSSI that
      went from positive to negative with age and, in some cases, varied with menarche.
      Both sexes at 4R had a negative FM cross-sectional association with BMC and area
      (P < 0.001) but negative longitudinal association with vBMD (P < 0.05). LM
      associations with bone outcomes were generally positive, except for negative
      longitudinal associations with cortical BMC and vBMD in young females (P < 0.01).
      LM associations were greater magnitude than FM associations and often depended on
      age. CONCLUSIONS: For males and older females, cross-sectional associations
      indicated a reduced bone size with higher FM, whereas longitudinal associations
      showed a decrease in cortical area without changes in bone size. LM was
      positively associated with BMC and area.

PMID- 20926532
TI  - The Thyroid Epidemiology, Audit, and Research Study (TEARS): the natural history
      of endogenous subclinical hyperthyroidism.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: For patients with subclinical hyperthyroidism (SH), the objective of
      the study was to define the rates of progression to frank hyperthyroidism and
      normal thyroid function. DESIGN: Record-linkage technology was used
      retrospectively to identify patients with SH in the general population of
      Tayside, Scotland, from January 1, 1993, to December 31, 2009. PATIENTS: All
      Tayside residents with at least two measurements of TSH below the reference range
      for at least 4 months from baseline and normal free T(4)/total T(4) and total
      T(3) concentrations at baseline were included as potential cases. Using a unique
      patient identifier, data linkage enabled a cohort of SH cases to be identified
      from prescription, admission, and radioactive iodine treatment records. Cases
      younger than 18 yr of age were also excluded from the study. OUTCOME MEASURES:
      The status of patients was investigated at 2, 5, and 7 yr after diagnosis.
      RESULTS: We identified 2024 cases with SH, a prevalence of 0.63% and an incidence
      of 29 per 100,000 in 2008. Most SH cases without thyroid treatment remained as SH
      at 2 (81.8%), 5 (67.5%), and 7 yr (63.0%) after diagnosis. Few patients (0.5
      0.7%) developed hyperthyroidism at 2, 5, and 7 yr. The percentage of SH cases
      reverting to normal increased with time: 17.2% (2 yr), 31.5% (5 yr), and 35.6% (7
      yr), and this was more common in SH patients with baseline TSH between 0.1 and
      0.4 mU/liter. CONCLUSION: Very few SH patients develop frank hyperthyroidism,
      whereas a much larger proportion revert to normal, and many remain with SH.

PMID- 20926533
TI  - Metformin versus placebo from first trimester to delivery in polycystic ovary
      syndrome: a randomized, controlled multicenter study.
AB  - CONTEXT: Metformin is widely prescribed to pregnant women with polycystic ovary
      syndrome (PCOS) in an attempt to reduce pregnancy complications. Metformin is not
      approved for this indication, and evidence for this practice is lacking.
      OBJECTIVES: Our objective was to test the hypothesis that metformin, from first
      trimester to delivery, reduces pregnancy complications in women with PCOS. DESIGN
      AND SETTING: We conducted a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind,
      multicenter study at 11 secondary care centers. PARTICIPANTS: The participants
      were 257 women with PCOS, in the first trimester of pregnancy, aged 18-42 yr.
      INTERVENTION: We randomly assigned 274 singleton pregnancies (in 257 women) to
      receive metformin or placebo, from first trimester to delivery. MAIN OUTCOME
      MEASURES: The prevalence of preeclampsia, gestational diabetes mellitus, preterm
      delivery, and a composite of these three outcomes is reported. RESULTS:
      Preeclampsia prevalence was 7.4% in the metformin group and 3.7% in the placebo
      group (3.7%; 95% CI, -1.7-9.2) (P=0.18). Preterm delivery prevalence was 3.7% in
      the metformin group and 8.2% in the placebo group (-4.4%; 95%, CI, -10.1-1.2)
      (P=0.12). Gestational diabetes mellitus prevalence was 17.6% in the metformin
      group and 16.9% in the placebo group (0.8%; 95% CI, -8.6-10.2) (P=0.87). The
      composite primary endpoint prevalence was 25.9 and 24.4%, respectively (1.5%; 95%
      CI, -8.9-11.3) (P=0.78). Women in the metformin group gained less weight during
      pregnancy compared with those in the placebo group. There was no difference in
      fetal birth weight between the groups. CONCLUSIONS: Metformin treatment from
      first trimester to delivery did not reduce pregnancy complications in PCOS.

PMID- 20926534
TI  - Effects of exercise on insulin resistance and body composition in overweight and
      obese women with and without polycystic ovary syndrome.
AB  - CONTEXT: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is an insulin-resistant (IR) state.
      Visceral fat (VF) is independently associated with IR. OBJECTIVES: The objectives
      of the study were to explore mechanisms underpinning IR by assessing the effect
      of exercise training on IR and body composition in overweight PCOS and non-PCOS
      women. DESIGN: This was a prospective exercise intervention study. SETTING AND
      PARTICIPANTS: The study was conducted at an academic medical center. Participants
      included 20 overweight PCOS and 14 overweight non-PCOS women. INTERVENTION: The
      intervention included 12 wk of intensified aerobic exercise (3 h/wk). MAIN
      OUTCOME MEASURES: IR on euglycemic hyperinsulinemic clamp, body composition
      including abdominal visceral and sc fat distribution by computer tomography and
      lipids was measured. RESULTS: PCOS subjects were more IR (P = 0.02) and had more
      VF (P = 0.04 age adjusted) than non-PCOS women. In PCOS women, IR correlated with
      VF (r = -0.78, P < 0.01). With exercise training, both groups maintained weight
      but within PCOS, VF (-12.0 cm(2), P = 0.03) and within non-PCOS abdominal sc fat
      (-40.2 cm(2), P = 0.02) decreased. Despite exercise-induced improvement in IR
      within PCOS (+27.9 mg . m(-2) . min(-1), P = 0.03), no relationship with
      decreased VF (r = -0.08, P = 0.84) and no differential changes in IR and VF
      between groups were noted. Triglycerides decreased within PCOS (-0.27 mmol/liter,
      P = 0.02) and decreased differentially between groups (P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS:
      Higher IR was related to increased VF in PCOS, suggesting an etiological role for
      VF in intrinsic IR in PCOS; however, changes with exercise intervention did not
      support a causal relationship. Triglycerides were modulated more by exercise
      training in PCOS than non-PCOS women. Within-group exercise-induced reductions in
      cardiometabolic risk factors including IR, triglycerides, and VF in PCOS were
      observed without significant weight loss and if confirmed in future controlled
      trials, suggest weight loss should not be the sole focus of exercise programs.

PMID- 20926535
TI  - Demethylation of TMS1 gene sensitizes thyroid cancer cells to TRAIL-induced
      apoptosis.
AB  - CONTEXT: TMS1 is a tumor suppressor gene that encodes for caspase recruitment
      domain containing regulatory protein and has been shown to be hypermethylated in
      various cancers. However, its methylation status has not been investigated in
      thyroid cancer. Therefore, we studied the methylation of TMS1 and its functional
      consequence in thyroid cancer. DESIGN: The methylation status of the promoter
      region of the TMS1 gene was determined using methylation-specific PCR in 40
      papillary thyroid cancer samples, 10 normal thyroid tissue, and seven thyroid
      cancer cell lines. RT-PCR and Western blot analysis were used to assess the
      expression levels. 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine was used to demethylate the thyroid
      cancer cell lines. Cell viability and apoptosis was determined by
      dimethylthiazoldiphenyltetra-zoliumbromide and flow cytometry. RESULTS: Twenty
      three percent of the papillary thyroid carcinoma samples were found to be
      methylated for the TMS1 gene. Two of seven thyroid cell lines were either
      completely or partially methylated for the TMS1 gene. The treatment of methylated
      thyroid cancer cell lines with 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine resulted in the
      demethylation of the TMS1 gene leading to the restoration of its expression.
      After demethylation, treatment of cells with TNF-related apoptosis-inducing
      ligand (TRAIL) led to the induction of apoptosis via activation of caspases-8,
      caspase-3, and poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase. Interestingly, gene silencing of TMS1
      using TMS1-specific small interfering RNA prevented TRAIL-mediated apoptosis.
      CONCLUSION: Our results demonstrated that the TMSI gene is methylated in thyroid
      cancer cells and repression of methylation by 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine restored
      expression of the TMS1 gene and sensitized cells to TRAIL-induced apoptosis.
      These findings suggest that the TMS1 gene can be targeted by combination of
      demethylating agents with TRAIL to induce efficient apoptosis in thyroid cancer
      cells.

PMID- 20926536
TI  - Comprehensive genetic analysis of 182 unrelated families with congenital adrenal
      hyperplasia due to 21-hydroxylase deficiency.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Genetic analysis is commonly performed in patients with congenital
      adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) due to 21-hydroxylase deficiency. STUDY OBJECTIVE: The
      objective of the study was to describe comprehensive CYP21A2 mutation analysis in
      a large cohort of CAH patients. METHODS: Targeted CYP21A2 mutation analysis was
      performed in 213 patients and 232 parents from 182 unrelated families. Complete
      exons of CYP21A2 were sequenced in patients in whom positive mutations were not
      identified by targeted mutation analysis. Copy number variation and deletions
      were determined using Southern blot analysis and PCR methods. Genotype was
      correlated with phenotype. RESULTS: In our heterogeneous U.S. cohort, targeted
      CYP21A2 mutation analysis did not identify mutations on one allele in 19 probands
      (10.4%). Sequencing identified six novel mutations (p.Gln262fs, IVS8+1G>A, IVS9
      1G>A, p.R408H, p.Gly424fs, p.R426P) and nine previously reported rare mutations.
      The majority of patients (79%) were compound heterozygotes and 69% of nonclassic
      (NC) patients were compound heterozygous for a classic and a NC mutation.
      Duplicated CYP21A2 haplotypes, de novo mutations and uniparental disomy were
      present in 2.7% of probands and 1.9 and 0.9% of patients from informative
      families, respectively. Genotype accurately predicted phenotype in 90.5, 85.1,
      and 97.8% of patients with salt-wasting, simple virilizing, and NC mutations,
      respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Extensive genetic analysis beyond targeted CYP21A2
      mutational detection is often required to accurately determine genotype in
      patients with CAH due to the high frequency of complex genetic variation.

PMID- 20926538
TI  - Approach to assigning gender in 46,XX congenital adrenal hyperplasia with male
      external genitalia: replacing dogmatism with pragmatism.
AB  - The goal of sex assignment is to facilitate the best possible quality of life for
      the patient. Factors such as reproductive system development, sexual identity,
      sexual function, and fertility are important considerations in this regard.
      Although some DSD gender assignments are relatively straightforward, those with
      midstage genital ambiguity and unclear gonadal function represent a major
      challenge. A recent major change in DSD care has been to encourage a male
      assignment for 46,XY infants with ambiguous genitalia who have evidence of
      testicular function and in utero central nervous system androgen exposure. In
      contrast, assignment of virilized 46,XX DSD patients remains female when ovaries
      and internal organs are present, regardless of the extent of virilization of the
      external genitalia. In this paper, we propose consideration of male assignment
      for these 46,XX patients who have fully developed male genitalia based on
      available outcome data.

PMID- 20926537
TI  - Genetic studies reveal the role of the endocrine and metabolic systems in aging.
AB  - Aging is a natural process that involves a general decline in many physiological
      functions, resulting in loss of function and eventually death. Extensive research
      is being performed in order to elucidate the biology of aging, especially with
      the advent of newer molecular and genetic methodologies. The endocrine system
      plays a major role in orchestrating cellular interactions, metabolism, growth,
      and senescence. Thus, researchers traditionally used hormones as tools to induce
      and examine specific biological effects that are associated with aging.
      Furthermore, because our recent knowledge on hormonal action expanded
      significantly, downstream pathways and genetic determinants currently prevail in
      aging research. In this review, we will summarize the effects of several hormones
      on human aging and longevity and present recent data from the Longevity Genes
      Study performed at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, looking at the phenotype
      and genotype of centenarians and their offspring. We will demonstrate that
      genetic factors that are associated with human longevity are heritable and may
      contribute not only to quantitative longevity but also to protection from age
      dependent disease and exceptional good health.

PMID- 20926539
TI  - Ectopic thyroid gland causing dysphonia: imaging and molecular studies.

PMID- 20926540
TI  - Toward excellence in testosterone testing: a consensus statement.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Testosterone assays are widely used. However, deficiencies in these
      assays limit their broad and effective implementation and threaten the health of
      those patients whose medical care relies upon its accurate measurement.
      Furthermore, the translation of research findings into information useful for
      patient care, such as new evidence-based clinical guidelines, is not possible
      unless both research and clinical assays are held to higher standards than are
      currently required. A group of concerned stakeholders was convened to address
      this problem. METHODS: Representatives of multiple professional societies,
      government, and industry, having a stake in ensuring that testosterone levels are
      measured accurately and reliably, met to identify goals, objectives, and actions
      necessary to bring about the standardization of assays for testosterone. RESULTS:
      To ensure highly accurate testosterone testing that will result in improved
      diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease through the use of standardized
      assays, a series of recommendations were agreed upon. The recommendations
      included the following: technical improvements for assay standardization;
      education of health care providers, patients, and all others concerned with
      testosterone testing; plans to encourage all concerned journals, government
      agencies, and health insurance companies to support this effort; and
      encouragement to manufacturers to develop better and more cost effective assays.
      CONCLUSION: A preliminary timeline was set out to implement the recommendations
      of the Group.

PMID- 20926541
TI  - IGF-I: panacea or poison?

PMID- 20926542
TI  - To beta-e or not to beta-e replicating after 30: retrospective dating of human
      pancreatic islets.

PMID- 20926543
TI  - Elevated insulin-like growth factor-I values in children with Prader-Willi
      syndrome compared with growth hormone (GH) deficiency children over two years of
      GH treatment.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Children with Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) are routinely treated with
      GH and have a response comparable with that observed in children with GH
      deficiency (GHD). OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to compare changes in
      serum IGF-I, IGF binding protein 3 (IGFBP-3), IGF-I to IGFBP-3 molar ratio, and
      growth velocity during the first 2 yr of GH therapy in PWS and GHD children.
      SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Thirty-three children with PWS (14 boys, 4.9 +/- 3.8 yr)
      and 591 with GHD (351 boys, 9.6 +/- 3.6 yr), all naive to GH treatment, were
      included in this study. Serum IGF-I and IGFBP-3 were measured at 0, 6, 12, and 24
      months of GH therapy. The mean initial dose of GH was 0.9 and 1 mg/m(2) . d in
      the PWS and GHD groups, respectively. RESULTS: Mean +/- SD IGF-I sdscore (SDS)
      and IGFBP-3 SDS were significantly higher in PWS compared with GHD. The IGF-I to
      IGFBP-3 molar ratio was significantly lower at baseline and subsequently not
      different. Despite significantly lower GH doses in PWS children at 6, 12, and 24
      months (P = 0.021, P = 0.021, P = 0.001), IGF-I reached 2.8 +/- 1.2 SDS at 24
      months (72% of values > 2 SDS), and remained at 0.7 +/- 1.6 SDS in GHD children
      (17% of values > 2 SDS). IGFBP-3 did not exceed 2 SDS in either group. There was
      no significant change in the IGF-I to IGFBP-3 molar ratio. CONCLUSIONS: IGF-I SDS
      increases to a greater extent in PWS than GHD. Bioavailable IGF-I is apparently
      not different, suggesting that any possible safety issues related to elevated IGF
      I are similar in both groups.

PMID- 20926544
TI  - Allele polymorphisms of tumor integrins correlate with peritoneal carcinosis
      capability of gastric cancer cells in radically resected patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Preclinical studies suggested that integrins are relevant for gastric
      cancer diffusion. We investigated integrins polymorphisms role in determining
      peritoneal carcinosis or hematogenous metastases in radically resected gastric
      cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Integrins genotyping was carried out on pT3
      radically resected gastric tumors recurring with either peritoneal-only
      carcinosis or hematogenous metastases. RESULTS: The following factors resulted
      independently associated with peritoneal carcinosis or hematogenous metastases:
      the A genotype of rs2269772 (ITGA3) [odds ratio (OR) for peritoneal carcinosis:
      22.2, 95% confidence interval 1.2-40, P=0.03], the G genotype of rs2269772
      (ITGA3) (OR for hematogenous metastases: 5.5, 95% confidence interval 2.2-14.15,
      P=0.0003), the C genotype of rs11902171 (ITGV) (OR for peritoneal carcinosis:
      6.8, 95% confidence interval 1.3-33.4, P=0.01), the G genotype of rs11902171
      (ITGV) (OR for hematogenous metastases: 2.5, 95% confidence interval 1.1-5.7, P =
      0.02), diffuse histology (OR for peritoneal carcinosis: 4.7, 95% confidence
      interval 1.9-11.3, P=0.0005) and intestinal histology (OR for hematogenous
      metastases: 4.2, 95% confidence interval 1.9-9.9, P=0.0008). CONCLUSIONS: Tumor
      histology represents a crucial issue conditioning tumoral behavior; genotyping of
      rs2269772 (ITGA3) and rs11902171 (ITGV) may be a further asset in the definition
      of high-risk patients for peritoneal carcinosis among those relapsing after
      curative resection. The selection tool deriving from this analysis may allow an
      optimal use of innovative treatment strategies.

PMID- 20926545
TI  - Evaluation of psychosocial distress in patients treated in a community-based
      oncology group practice in Germany.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Systematic evaluation of psychosocial distress in oncology
      outpatients is an important issue. We assessed feasibility and benefit of
      standardized routine screening using the Distress Thermometer (DT) and Problem
      List (PL) in all patients of our community-based hematooncology group practice.
      PATIENTS AND METHODS: One thousand four hundred forty-six patients were screened
      between July 2008 and September 2008. Five hundred randomly selected patients
      were sent a feedback form. RESULTS: The average distress level was 4.7, with 37%
      indicating a distress level >5. Patients with nonmalignant diseases (81%
      autoimmune diseases or hereditary hemochromatosis) showed the highest distress
      level of 5.2. Most distressed were patients who just learned about relapse or
      metastases (6.4), patients receiving best supportive care (5.4) and patients
      receiving adjuvant antihormonal therapy (5.4). Ninety-seven percent of patients
      appreciated to speak to their doctor about their distress. Fifty-six percent felt
      better than usual after this consultation. CONCLUSION: DT and PL are feasible
      instruments to measure distress in hematooncology outpatients receiving routine
      care. DT and PL are able to improve doctor-patient communication and thus should
      be implemented in routine patient care. The study shows that distress is
      distributed differently between individuals, disease groups and treatment phases.

PMID- 20926546
TI  - Role of KRAS let-7 LCS6 SNP in metastatic colorectal cancer patients.

PMID- 20926547
TI  - Dietary supplement use patterns in men with prostate cancer: the Cancer Prostate
      Sweden study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In a European setting, we know little about the use of dietary
      supplements among men with prostate cancer (PCa) and to what extent lifestyle,
      disease or other factors influence such use. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We evaluated
      supplement use in 1127 men with incident PCa and in 900 population controls in
      Sweden. Age-adjusted binary regression with an identity link was carried out to
      estimate prevalence differences and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs).
      Modifying effects of lifestyle- and diet-related factors were explored by
      statistical assessment of additive interaction. RESULTS: Among men with PCa, 542
      individuals (48%) had used supplements, which was a 10% (95% CI: 5.9%-15%) higher
      prevalence than among population controls. Among individuals with high intake of
      fatty fish, vegetables, and phytoestrogens, but low intake of saturated fat,
      supplement use was 29% (95% CI: 18%-41%) more common in men with PCa than in
      population controls. We found no evidence of heterogeneity by categories of
      education, smoking history, body mass index, fiber, fruit, or phytoestrogen
      intake, treatment, or disease stage. CONCLUSION: Supplement use is common in
      Swedish men with PCa, especially among those with a healthy dietary pattern.

PMID- 20926548
TI  - First evidence of oncologic neuropathic pain prevalence after screening 8615
      cancer patients. Results of the On study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Thirty percent to ninety percent of cancer patients suffer from pain,
      including neuropathic pain (NP), which results in great burden for cancer
      patients. Thus, it was of great interest to determine NP prevalence in cancer
      patients in Spain, to raise awareness of the condition, and aiming to improve
      management of cancer NP. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A 1-month follow-up prospective
      epidemiological multicenter study was conducted to assess prevalence and
      management of NP in Spanish oncologic units. The first 10 cancer patients at each
      unit diagnosed with NP by the validated Douleur Neuropathique 4 questionnaire
      (DN4) were recruited. RESULTS: Of 8615 screened patients, 2567 (30%) suffered
      from pain. From these, 33% had NP according to investigators and 19% according to
      DN4 test. Three hundred and sixty-six patients (mean age 62.6 years; 61.2% male)
      were recruited. Pain decrease at 1 month was greater in patients with metastases
      (P<0.01) and depended on treatment (P<0.05), with 'oxycodone' showing 50.4% pain
      relief. CONCLUSIONS: NP prevalence in cancer pain is 33%. DN4 reports only about
      half the cancer NP cases diagnosed by clinicians. Pharmaceutical treatment of
      cancer pain, including NP, has a greater effect in patients with metastases and
      seems to depend on the specific treatment used.

PMID- 20926549
TI  - Evolution in management of testicular seminoma: population-based outcomes with
      selective utilization of active therapies.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In this article, we report the evolution of treatment with increased
      use of active surveillance for stage I disease as well as risk-adapted
      chemotherapy for disseminated disease and associated outcomes of testicular
      seminoma in a contemporary population-based cohort. METHODS: All patients with
      histologically confirmed seminoma referred from 1999 to 2008 to the British
      Columbia Cancer Agency or Providence Cancer Center were retrospectively reviewed.
      Both institutions manage 90% of testicular cancers in their respective area.
      RESULTS: A total of 649 patients were included. Clinical stage (CS) distribution:
      CSI/II/III n=545/87/17. For CSI, there was a progressive and marked decrease in
      the utilization of prophylactic radiation (RT), and corresponding increase in the
      use of active surveillance. No deaths related to seminoma were reported in CSI
      patients. CSII or CSIII patients received RT or International Germ Cell Cancer
      Collaborative Group (IGCCCG) risk-appropriate chemotherapy with 101 of 104
      patients being in long-term remission and 3 patients dying from treatment
      complications. For the entire seminoma population, <1% of patients died of
      seminoma or treatment after a median follow-up of 47 months (range 2-130 months).
      CONCLUSIONS: Progressive application of policies of active surveillance and
      earlier initiation of IGCCCG risk-adapted chemotherapy result in nearly universal
      control for all patients presenting with seminoma while reducing the burden of
      treatment.

PMID- 20926550
TI  - Metabolic and signaling aspects underpinning the regulation of plant carbon
      nitrogen interactions.
AB  - In addition to light and water, CO(2) and mineral elements are required for plant
      growth and development. Among these factors, nitrogen is critical, since it is
      needed to synthesize amino acids, which are the building elements of protein,
      nucleotides, chlorophyll, and numerous other metabolites and cellular components.
      Therefore, nitrogen is required by plants in higher quantities and this
      investment in nitrogen supports the use of CO(2), water, and inorganic nitrogen
      to produce sugars, organic acids, and amino acids, the basic building blocks of
      biomass accumulation. This system is maintained by complex metabolic machinery,
      which is regulated at different levels according to environmental factors such as
      light, CO(2), and nutrient availability. Plants integrate these signals via a
      signaling network, which involves metabolites as well as nutrient-sensing
      proteins. Due to its importance, much research effort has been expended to
      understand how carbon and nitrogen metabolism are integrated and regulated
      according to the rates of photosynthesis, photorespiration, and respiration.
      Thus, in this article, we both discuss recent advances in carbon/nitrogen
      metabolisms as well as sensing and signaling systems in illuminated leaves of C3
      plants and provide a perspective of the type of experiments that are now required
      in order to take our understanding to a higher level.

PMID- 20926551
TI  - Sex-related differences in morphological, physiological, and ultrastructural
      responses of Populus cathayana to chilling.
AB  - Low temperature is one of the abiotic factors limiting plant growth and
      productivity. Yet, knowledge about sex-related responses to low temperature is
      very limited. In our study, the effects of low, non-freezing temperature on
      morphological, physiological, and ultrastructural traits of leaves in Populus
      cathayana Rehd. males and females were investigated. The results showed that 4 
      degrees C temperature caused a chilling stress, and females suffered from greater
      negative effects than did males. At the early growth stage of development,
      chilling (4  degrees C) significantly inhibited plant growth, decreased net
      photosynthesis rate (P(n)), stomatal conductance (g(s)), transpiration (E), and
      chlorophyll pigments (Chl), and increased intercellular CO(2) concentration
      (C(i)), chlorophyll a/b (Chl a/b), proline, soluble sugar and H(2)O(2) contents,
      and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) activity in both sexes, whereas peroxidase (POD)
      and glutathione reductase (GR) activities decreased and thiobarbituric acid
      reactive substance (TBARS) content increased only in females. Chilling stress
      also caused chloroplast changes and an accumulation of numerous plastoglobules
      and small vesicles in both sexes. However, disintegrated chloroplasts and
      numerous tilted grana stacks were only found in chilling-stressed females. Under
      chilling stress, males showed higher Chl and soluble sugar contents, and higher
      superoxide dismutase (SOD), POD, and GR activities than did females. In addition,
      males exhibited a better chloroplast structure and more intact plasma membranes
      than did females under chilling stress. These results suggest that sexually
      different responses to chilling are significant and males possess a better self
      protection mechanism than do females in P. cathayana.

PMID- 20926552
TI  - Understanding plant response to nitrogen limitation for the improvement of crop
      nitrogen use efficiency.
AB  - Development of genetic varieties with improved nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) is
      essential for sustainable agriculture. Generally, NUE can be divided into two
      parts. First, assimilation efficiency involves nitrogen (N) uptake and
      assimilation and second utilization efficiency involves N remobilization.
      Understanding the mechanisms regulating these processes is crucial for the
      improvement of NUE in crop plants. One important approach is to develop an
      understanding of the plant response to different N regimes, especially to N
      limitation, using various methods including transcription profiling, analysing
      mutants defective in their normal response to N limitation, and studying plants
      that show better growth under N-limiting conditions. One can then attempt to
      improve NUE in crop plants using the knowledge gained from these studies. There
      are several potential genetic and molecular approaches for the improvement of
      crop NUE discussed in this review. Increased knowledge of how plants respond to
      different N levels as well as to other environmental conditions is required to
      achieve this.

PMID- 20926553
TI  - Maize meiotic mutants with improper or non-homologous synapsis due to problems in
      pairing or synaptonemal complex formation.
AB  - During meiotic prophase homologous chromosomes find each other and pair. Then
      they synapse, as the linear protein core (axial element or lateral element) of
      each homologous chromosome is joined together by a transverse central element,
      forming the tripartite synaptonemal complex (SC). Ten uncloned Zea mays mutants
      in our collection were surveyed by transmission electron microscopy by making
      silver-stained spreads of SCs to identify mutants with non-homologous synapsis or
      improper synapsis. To analyse the mutants further, zyp1, the maize orthologue of
      the Arabidopsis central element component ZYP1 was cloned and an antibody was
      made against it. Using antibodies against ZYP1 and the lateral element components
      AFD1 and ASY1, it was found that most mutants form normal SCs but are defective
      in pairing. The large number of non-homologous synapsis mutants defective in
      pairing illustrates that synapsis and pairing can be uncoupled. Of the ten
      mutants studied, only dsy2 undergoes normal homologous chromosome recognition
      needed for homologous pairing. The dsy2 mutation fails to maintain the SC. ZYP1
      elongation is blocked at zygotene, and only dots of ZYP1 are seen at prophase I.
      Another mutant, mei*N2415 showed incomplete but homologous synapsis and ASY1 and
      AFD1 have a normal distribution. Although installation of ZYP1 is initiated at
      zygotene, its progression is slowed down and not completed by pachytene in some
      cells and ZYP1 is not retained on pachytene chromosomes. The mutants described
      here are now available through the Maize Genetics Cooperation Stock Center
      (http://maizecoop.cropsci.uiuc.edu/).

PMID- 20926554
TI  - Positive outlook as a moderator of the effectiveness of an HIV/STI intervention
      with adolescents in detention.
AB  - Justice-involved adolescents engage in high levels of risky sexual behavior,
      underscoring the need for targeted, effective, prevention interventions geared
      toward this population. In a randomized controlled trial, 484 detained
      adolescents received a theory-based intervention or an information-only control.
      We have previously demonstrated that the theory-based intervention was superior
      to the control condition in changing theoretical mediators and in producing
      longitudinal decreases in risky sexual behavior. In the present study, we
      examined differential response to the intervention based on the adolescents'
      level of positive outlook (composed of self-esteem, perceived control over the
      future and optimism toward the future). Changes to putative theoretical mediators
      (attitudes, perceived norms, self-efficacy and intentions) were measured
      immediately post-intervention, and behavioral data were obtained 3, 6, 9 and 12
      months later. Positive outlook significantly moderated program effects both in
      the context of the mediational path model and in the context of the longitudinal
      growth model. Specifically, intervention effects were strongest for those scoring
      relatively lower on the positive outlook dimension, whereas adolescents high in
      positive outlook demonstrated greater attitudes and self-efficacy and decreased
      risky sexual behavior, regardless of condition. Findings are discussed in terms
      of targeting and tailoring of intervention content.

PMID- 20926555
TI  - Orthodontic treatment need in a 12-year-old population in the Western Sahara.
AB  - The aim of this study was to establish orthodontic treatment need according to
      the Dental Aesthetic Index (DAI) and Aesthetic Component (AC) and Dental Health
      Component (DHC) of the Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need (IOTN) and to
      determine its association with gender among Saharan schoolchildren. The study was
      carried out in accordance with World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations
      for oral health surveys at 12 years of age. The sample comprised 248 Sahrawi
      children (135 girls and 113 boys) living in refugee camps in Tindouf, Algeria.
      None of the children had previously received any orthodontic treatment. A chi
      square test was used to analyse the IOTN results by gender, and a Student's t
      test was employed for the DAI results. The mean DAI was 23.32 with a standard
      deviation of 6.05, 4 percent with a very severe and 9.2 per cent with severe
      malocclusion. Orthodontic treatment need was 16.1 and 2.0 percent, respectively,
      according to grades 4 and 5 of the IOTN DHC, 13.7 percent according to the IOTN
      AC, and 28.6 percent according to the modified IOTN (IOTN DHC grades 4-5 and/or
      IOTN AC grades 8-10). There were no statistically significant differences by
      gender. The orthodontic treatment need of Western Saharan schoolchildren is
      similar to that reported by many recent studies in European and in Sub-Saharan
      countries.

PMID- 20926556
TI  - Factors influencing the stability of miniscrews. A retrospective study on 300
      miniscrews.
AB  - The aim of this study was to investigate, over a period of approximately 3 years,
      the reactions to orthodontic loading of a type V titanium miniscrew. In this
      retrospective study, conducted in a private practice, the records of 300
      miniscrews inserted in 132 consecutive patients (80 females, 60.6 percent) by the
      same surgeon were evaluated. The mean age of the patients was 23.2 years. Three
      types of miniscrews (type A: diameter 1.5 mm, length 9 mm; type B: diameter 1.5
      mm, length 11 mm; and type C: diameter 1.3 mm, length 11 mm) were used. The
      clinical variables evaluated included the loading time and location of the
      miniscrew in relation to the gingiva and root. The success rates with different
      variables were compared using chi-square or Fisher's exact test where
      appropriate. A cumulative survival rate of 81 percent (243/300) was found using
      Kaplan-Meier analysis, with an optimum success rate for the 1.3 mm wide miniscrew
      inserted in the attached gingiva, with immediate loading applied. Cox
      proportional hazard regression showed significant differences between success
      rate and the following parameters: gender, loading time, gingival or bone
      localization, and diameter of the miniscrews. Considering the clinically
      controllable parameters, and within the limits of this retrospective study, 1.3
      mm diameter miniscrews inserted in attached gingiva and immediately loaded had
      the most favourable prognosis.

PMID- 20926557
TI  - Determinants of tetherin antagonism in the transmembrane domain of the human
      immunodeficiency virus type 1 Vpu protein.
AB  - Tetherin (BST2/CD317) potently restricts the particle release of human
      immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) mutants defective in the accessory gene
      vpu. Vpu antagonizes tetherin activity and induces its cell surface
      downregulation and degradation in a manner dependent on the transmembrane (TM)
      domains of both proteins. We have carried out extensive mutagenesis of the HIV-1
      NL4.3 Vpu TM domain to identify three amino acid positions, A14, W22, and, to a
      lesser extent, A18, that are required for tetherin antagonism. Despite the
      mutants localizing indistinguishably from the wild-type (wt) protein and
      maintaining the ability to multimerize, mutation of these positions rendered Vpu
      incapable of coimmunoprecipitating tetherin or mediating its cell surface
      downregulation. Interestingly, these amino acid positions are predicted to form
      one face of the Vpu transmembrane alpha helix and therefore potentially
      contribute to an interacting surface with the transmembrane domain of tetherin
      either directly or by modulating the conformation of Vpu oligomers. While the
      equivalent of W22 is invariant in HIV-1/SIVcpz Vpu proteins, the positions of A14
      and A18 are highly conserved among Vpu alleles from HIV-1 groups M and N, but not
      those from group O or SIVcpz that lack human tetherin (huTetherin)-antagonizing
      activity, suggesting that they may have contributed to the adaption of HIV-1 to
      human tetherin.

PMID- 20926558
TI  - Evolved variants of the membrane protein can partially replace the envelope
      protein in murine coronavirus assembly.
AB  - The coronavirus small envelope (E) protein plays a crucial, but poorly defined,
      role in the assembly of virions. To investigate E protein function, we previously
      generated E gene point mutants of mouse hepatitis virus (MHV) that were defective
      in growth and assembled virions with anomalous morphologies. We subsequently
      constructed an E gene deletion (DeltaE) mutant that was only minimally viable.
      The DeltaE virus formed tiny plaques and reached optimal infectious titers many
      orders of magnitude below those of wild-type virus. We have now characterized
      highly aberrant viral transcription patterns that developed in some stocks of the
      DeltaE mutant. Extensive analysis of three independent stocks revealed that, in
      each, a faster-growing virus harboring a genomic duplication had been selected.
      Remarkably, the net result of each duplication was the creation of a variant
      version of the membrane protein (M) gene that was situated upstream of the native
      copy of the M gene. Each different variant M gene encoded an expressed protein
      (M*) containing a truncated endodomain. Reconstruction of one variant M gene in a
      DeltaE background showed that expression of the M* protein markedly enhanced the
      growth of the DeltaE mutant and that the M* protein was incorporated into
      assembled virions. These findings suggest that M* proteins were repeatedly
      selected as surrogates for the E protein and that one role of E is to mediate
      interactions between transmembrane domains of M protein monomers. Our results
      provide a demonstration of the capability of coronaviruses to evolve new gene
      functions through recombination.

PMID- 20926559
TI  - Mice lacking alpha/beta and gamma interferon receptors are susceptible to junin
      virus infection.
AB  - Junin virus (JUNV) causes a highly lethal human disease, Argentine hemorrhagic
      fever. Previous work has demonstrated the requirement for human transferrin
      receptor 1 for virus entry, and the absence of the receptor was proposed to be a
      major cause for the resistance of laboratory mice to JUNV infection. In this
      study, we present for the first time in vivo evidence that the disruption of
      interferon signaling is sufficient to generate a disease-susceptible mouse model
      for JUNV infection. After peripheral inoculation with virulent JUNV, adult mice
      lacking alpha/beta and gamma interferon receptors developed disseminated
      infection and severe disease.

PMID- 20926560
TI  - Transforming growth factor beta is a major regulator of human neonatal immune
      responses following respiratory syncytial virus infection.
AB  - Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality.
      Previous studies have suggested that T-cell responses may contribute to RSV
      immunopathology, which could be driven by dendritic cells (DCs). DCs are
      productively infected by RSV, and during RSV infections, there is an increase of
      DCs in the lungs with a decrease in the blood. Pediatric populations are
      particularly susceptible to severe RSV infections; however, DC responses to RSV
      from pediatric populations have not been examined. In this study, primary
      isolated DCs from cord blood and adult peripheral blood were compared after RSV
      infection. Transcriptional profiling and biological network analysis identified
      transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta) and associated signaling molecules as
      differentially regulated in the two age groups. TGF-beta1 was decreased in RSV
      infected adult-blood DCs but increased in RSV-infected cord blood DCs. Coculture
      of adult RSV-infected DCs with autologous T cells induced secretion of gamma
      interferon (IFN-gamma), interleukin 12p70 (IL-12p70), IL-2, and tumor necrosis
      factor alpha (TNF-alpha). Conversely, coculture of cord RSV-infected DCs and
      autologous T cells induced secretion of IL-4, IL-6, IL-1beta, and IL-17. Addition
      of purified TGF-beta1 to adult DC-T-cell cocultures reduced secretion of IFN
      gamma, IL-12p70, IL-2, and TNF-alpha, while addition of a TGF-beta chemical
      inhibitor to cord DC-T-cell cocultures increased secretion of IL-12p70. These
      data suggest that TGF-beta acts as a major regulator of RSV DC-T-cell responses,
      which could contribute to immunopathology during infancy.

PMID- 20926561
TI  - Amphipathic alpha-helix AH2 is a major determinant for the oligomerization of
      hepatitis C virus nonstructural protein 4B.
AB  - Nonstructural protein 4B (NS4B) is a key organizer of hepatitis C virus (HCV)
      replication complex formation. It induces a specific membrane rearrangement,
      designated membranous web, that serves as a scaffold for the HCV replication
      complex. However, the mechanisms underlying membranous web formation are poorly
      understood. Based on fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) and
      confirmatory coimmunoprecipitation analyses, we provide evidence for an
      oligomerization of NS4B in the membrane environment of intact cells. Several
      conserved determinants were found to be involved in NS4B oligomerization, through
      homotypic and heterotypic interactions. N-terminal amphipathic alpha-helix AH2,
      comprising amino acids 42 to 66, was identified as a major determinant for NS4B
      oligomerization. Mutations that affected the oligomerization of NS4B disrupted
      membranous web formation and HCV RNA replication, implying that oligomerization
      of NS4B is required for the creation of a functional replication complex. These
      findings enhance our understanding of the functional architecture of the HCV
      replication complex and may provide new angles for therapeutic intervention. At
      the same time, they expand the list of positive-strand RNA virus replicase
      components acting as oligomers.

PMID- 20926562
TI  - Association of potent human antiviral cytidine deaminases with 7SL RNA and viral
      RNP in HIV-1 virions.
AB  - 7SL RNA promotes the formation of the signal recognition particle that targets
      secretory and membrane proteins to the endoplasmic reticulum. 7SL RNA is also
      selectively packaged by many retroviruses, including HIV-1. Here, we demonstrate
      that 7SL RNA is an integral component of the viral ribonucleoprotein (RNP)
      complex containing Gag, viral genomic RNA, and tRNA(3)(Lys). Only the potent anti
      HIV-1 cytidine deaminases can bind to 7SL RNA and target to HIV-1 RNP. A
      conserved motif in the amino-terminal region of A3G is important for 7SL RNA
      interaction. The weak anti-HIV-1 A3C did not interact with 7SL RNA and failed to
      target to viral RNPs, despite efficient virion packaging. However, a chimeric
      construct of A3C plus the 7SL-binding amino terminus of A3G did target to viral
      RNPs and showed enhanced anti-HIV-1 activity. 7SL RNA binding is a conserved
      feature of human anti-HIV-1 cytidine deaminases. Thus, potent anti-HIV-1 cytidine
      deaminases have evolved to possess a unique RNA-binding ability for precise HIV-1
      targeting and viral inhibition.

PMID- 20926563
TI  - Genomic profiling of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) receptor and
      interleukin-1 receptor knockout mice reveals a link between TNF-alpha signaling
      and increased severity of 1918 pandemic influenza virus infection.
AB  - The influenza pandemic of 1918 to 1919 was one of the worst global pandemics in
      recent history. The highly pathogenic nature of the 1918 virus is thought to be
      mediated in part by a dysregulation of the host response, including an
      exacerbated proinflammatory cytokine response. In the present study, we compared
      the host transcriptional response to infection with the reconstructed 1918 virus
      in wild-type, tumor necrosis factor (TNF) receptor-1 knockout (TNFRKO), and
      interleukin-1 (IL-1) receptor-1 knockout (IL1RKO) mice as a means of further
      understanding the role of proinflammatory cytokine signaling during the acute
      response to infection. Despite reported redundancy in the functions of IL-1beta
      and TNF-alpha, we observed that reducing the signaling capacity of each of these
      molecules by genetic disruption of their key receptor genes had very different
      effects on the host response to infection. In TNFRKO mice, we found delayed or
      decreased expression of genes associated with antiviral and innate immune
      signaling, complement, coagulation, and negative acute-phase response. In
      contrast, in IL1RKO mice numerous genes were differentially expressed at 1 day
      postinoculation, including an increase in the expression of genes that contribute
      to dendritic and natural killer cell processes and cellular movement, and gene
      expression profiles remained relatively constant at later time points. We also
      observed a compensatory increase in TNF-alpha expression in virus-infected IL1RKO
      mice. Our data suggest that signaling through the IL-1 receptor is protective,
      whereas signaling through the TNF-alpha receptor increases the severity of 1918
      virus infection. These findings suggest that manipulation of these pathways may
      have therapeutic benefit.

PMID- 20926564
TI  - HIV-1 continues to replicate and evolve in patients with natural control of HIV
      infection.
AB  - Elucidating mechanisms leading to the natural control of HIV-1 infection is of
      great importance for vaccine design and for understanding viral pathogenesis.
      Rare HIV-1-infected individuals, termed HIV-1 controllers, have plasma HIV-1 RNA
      levels below the limit of detection by standard clinical assays (<50 to 75
      copies/ml) without antiretroviral therapy. Although several recent studies have
      documented persistent low-grade viremia in HIV-1 controllers at a level not
      significantly different from that in HIV-1-infected individuals undergoing
      treatment with combination antiretroviral therapy (cART), it is unclear if plasma
      viruses are undergoing full cycles of replication in vivo or if the infection of
      new cells is completely blocked by host immune mechanisms. We studied a cohort of
      21 HIV-1 controllers with a median level of viremia below 1 copy/ml, followed for
      a median of 11 years. Less than half of the cohort carried known protective HLA
      types (B*57/27). By isolating HIV-1 RNA from large volumes of plasma, we
      amplified single genome sequences of both pro-rt and env longitudinally. This
      study is the first to document that HIV-1 pro-rt and env evolve in this patient
      group, albeit at rates somewhat lower than in HIV-1 noncontrollers, in HLA
      B*57/27-positive, as well as HLA B*57/27-negative, individuals. Viral diversity
      and adaptive events associated with immune escape were found to be restricted in
      HIV-1 controllers, suggesting that replication occurs in the face of less overall
      immune selection.

PMID- 20926565
TI  - Immature and transitional B cells are latency reservoirs for a gammaherpesvirus.
AB  - Gammaherpesviruses, including Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV; also
      known as human herpesvirus 8 [HHV-8]), Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), and murine
      gammaherpesvirus 68 (MHV68; also known as gammaherpesvirus 68 [gammaHV68] or
      murine herpesvirus 4 [MuHV-4]), establish lifelong latency in the resting memory
      B cell compartment. However, little is known about how this reservoir of infected
      mature B cells is maintained for the life of the host. In the context of a normal
      immune system, the mature B cell pool is naturally maintained by the renewable
      populations of developing B cells that arise from hematopoiesis. Thus, recurrent
      infection of these developing B cell populations could allow the virus continual
      access to the B cell lineage and, subsequent to differentiation, the memory B
      cell compartment. To begin to address this hypothesis, we examined whether MHV68
      establishes latency in developing B cells during a normal course of infection. In
      work described here, we demonstrate the presence of viral genome in bone marrow
      pro-pre-B cells and immature B cells during early latency and immature B cells
      during long-term latency. Further, we show that transitional B cells in the
      spleen are latently infected and express the latency-associated nuclear antigen
      (LANA) throughout chronic infection. Because developing B cells normally exhibit
      a short life span and a high rate of turnover, these findings suggest a model in
      which gammaherpesviruses may gain access to the mature B cell compartment by
      recurrent seeding of developing B cells.

PMID- 20926566
TI  - Efficient activation of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus spike
      protein by the transmembrane protease TMPRSS2.
AB  - The distribution of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV)
      receptor, an angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), does not strictly correlate
      with SARS-CoV cell tropism in lungs; therefore, other cellular factors have been
      predicted to be required for activation of virus infection. In the present study,
      we identified transmembrane protease serine 2 (TMPRSS2), whose expression does
      correlate with SARS-CoV infection in the upper lobe of the lung. In Vero cells
      expressing TMPRSS2, large syncytia were induced by SARS-CoV infection. Further,
      the lysosome-tropic reagents failed to inhibit, whereas the heptad repeat peptide
      efficiently inhibited viral entry into cells, suggesting that TMPRSS2 affects the
      S protein at the cell surface and induces virus-plasma membrane fusion. On the
      other hand, production of virus in TMPRSS2-expressing cells did not result in S
      protein cleavage or increased infectivity of the resulting virus. Thus, TMPRSS2
      affects the entry of virus but not other phases of virus replication. We
      hypothesized that the spatial orientation of TMPRSS2 vis-a-vis S protein is a key
      mechanism underling this phenomenon. To test this, the TMPRSS2 and S proteins
      were expressed in cells labeled with fluorescent probes of different colors, and
      the cell-cell fusion between these cells was tested. Results indicate that
      TMPRSS2 needs to be expressed in the opposing (target) cell membrane to activate
      S protein rather than in the producer cell, as found for influenza A virus and
      metapneumoviruses. This is the first report of TMPRSS2 being required in the
      target cell for activation of a viral fusion protein but not for the S protein
      synthesized in and transported to the surface of cells. Our findings suggest that
      the TMPRSS2 expressed in lung tissues may be a determinant of viral tropism and
      pathogenicity at the initial site of SARS-CoV infection.

PMID- 20926567
TI  - Tetrameric ring formation of Epstein-Barr virus polymerase processivity factor is
      crucial for viral replication.
AB  - The Epstein-Barr virus BMRF1 DNA polymerase processivity factor, which is
      essential for viral genome replication, exists mainly as a C-shaped head-to-head
      homodimer but partly forms a ring-shaped tetramer through tail-to-tail
      association. Based on its molecular structure, several BMRF1 mutant viruses were
      constructed to examine their influence on viral replication. The R256E virus,
      which has a severely impaired capacity for DNA binding and polymerase
      processivity, failed to form replication compartments, resulting in interference
      of viral replication, while the C95E mutation, which impairs head-to-head contact
      in vitro, unexpectedly hardly affected the viral replication. Also, surprisingly,
      replication of the C206E virus, which is expected to have impairment of tail-to
      tail contact, was severely restricted, although the mutant protein possesses the
      same in vitro biochemical activities as the wild type. Since the tail-to-tail
      contact surface is smaller than that of the head-to-head contact area, its
      contribution to ring formation might be essential for viral replication.

PMID- 20926568
TI  - Multiple functions of Rice dwarf phytoreovirus Pns10 in suppressing systemic RNA
      silencing.
AB  - RNA silencing is a potent mechanism of antiviral defense response in plants and
      other organisms. For counterdefense, viruses have evolved a variety of
      suppressors of RNA silencing (VSRs) that can inhibit distinct steps of a
      silencing pathway. We previously identified Pns10 encoded by Rice dwarf
      phytoreovirus (RDV) as a VSR, the first of its kind from double-stranded RNA
      (dsRNA) viruses. In this study we investigated the mechanisms of Pns10 function
      in suppressing systemic RNA silencing in the widely used Nicotiana benthamiana
      model plant. We report that Pns10 suppresses local and systemic RNA silencing
      triggered by sense mRNA, enhances viral replication and/or viral RNA stability in
      inoculated leaves, accelerates the systemic spread of viral infection, and
      enables viral invasion of shoot apices. Mechanistically, Pns10 interferes with
      the perception of silencing signals in recipient tissues, binds double-stranded
      small interfering RNA (siRNAs) with two-nucleotide 3' overhangs, and causes the
      downregulated expression of RDR6. These results significantly deepen our
      mechanistic understanding of the VSR functions encoded by a dsRNA virus and
      contribute additional evidence that binding siRNAs and interfering with RDR6
      expression are broad mechanisms of VSR functions encoded by diverse groups of
      viruses.

PMID- 20926569
TI  - Order to the viral universe.

PMID- 20926570
TI  - Antibody to the E3 glycoprotein protects mice against lethal venezuelan equine
      encephalitis virus infection.
AB  - Six monoclonal antibodies were isolated that exhibited specificity for a furin
      cleavage site deletion mutant (V3526) of Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus
      (VEEV). These antibodies comprise a single competition group and bound the E3
      glycoprotein of VEEV subtype I viruses but failed to bind the E3 glycoprotein of
      other alphaviruses. These antibodies neutralized V3526 virus infectivity but did
      not neutralize the parental strain of Trinidad donkey (TrD) VEEV. However, the E3
      specific antibodies did inhibit the production of virus from VEEV TrD-infected
      cells. In addition, passive immunization of mice demonstrated that antibody to
      the E3 glycoprotein provided protection against lethal VEEV TrD challenge. This
      is the first recognition of a protective epitope in the E3 glycoprotein.
      Furthermore, these results indicate that E3 plays a critical role late in the
      morphogenesis of progeny virus after E3 appears on the surfaces of infected
      cells.

PMID- 20926571
TI  - The inhibitory action of P56 on select functions of E1 mediates interferon's
      effect on human papillomavirus DNA replication.
AB  - The interferon (IFN)-induced protein P56 inhibits human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA
      replication by binding to HPV E1, which has several distinct functions in
      initiating viral DNA replication. Here, we determined that P56 inhibited HPV type
      18 (HPV18) E1's DNA helicase activity, E2 binding, and HPV Ori sequence-specific
      DNA binding but not nonspecific DNA binding. We observed that deletion of a
      single amino acid, F399, produced an E1 mutant that could not bind P56. This E1
      mutant retained its ability to support Ori DNA replication, but this activity was
      not inhibited by IFN, demonstrating that P56 is the principal executor of the
      anti-HPV action of IFN.

PMID- 20926572
TI  - Hepatitis C virus nonstructural protein 5A: biochemical characterization of a
      novel structural class of RNA-binding proteins.
AB  - Hepatitis C virus (HCV) nonstructural protein 5A (NS5A) exhibits a preference for
      G/U-rich RNA in vitro. Biological analysis of the NS5A RNA-binding activity and
      its target sites in the genome will be facilitated by a description of the NS5A
      RNA complex. We demonstrate that the C-4 carbonyl of the uracil base and, by
      inference, the C-6 carbonyl of the guanine base interact with NS5A. U-rich RNA of
      5 to 6 nucleotides (nt) is sufficient for high-affinity binding to NS5A. The
      minimal RNA-binding domain of NS5A consists of residues 2005 to 2221 (referred to
      as domain I-plus). This region of the protein includes the amino-terminal domain
      I as well as the subsequent linker that separates domains I and II. This linker
      region is the site of adaptive mutations. U-rich RNA-binding activity is not
      observed for an NS5A derivative containing only residues 2194 to 2419 (domains II
      and III). Mass spectrometric analysis of an NS5A-poly(rU) complex identified
      domains I and II as sites for interaction with RNA. Dimerization of NS5A was
      demonstrated by glutaraldehyde cross-linking. This dimerization is likely
      mediated by domain I-plus, as dimers of this protein are trapped by cross
      linking. Dimers of the domain II-III protein are not observed. The monomer-dimer
      equilibrium of NS5A shifts in favor of dimer when U-rich RNA is present but not
      when A-rich RNA is present, consistent with an NS5A dimer being the RNA-binding
      competent form of the protein. These data provide a molecular perspective of the
      NS5A-RNA complex and suggest possible mechanisms for regulation of HCV and
      cellular gene expression.

PMID- 20926573
TI  - Glycine 184 in nonstructural protein NS1 determines the virulence of influenza A
      virus strain PR8 without affecting the host interferon response.
AB  - The nonstructural protein NS1 of influenza A virus counteracts the interferon
      (IFN) system and thereby promotes viral replication. NS1 has acquired different
      mechanisms to limit induction of IFN. It prevents double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) and
      RIG-I-mediated activation of interferon regulatory factor 3 (IRF3), and it blocks
      posttranscriptional processing of cellular mRNAs by binding to the cleavage and
      polyadenylation specificity factor (CPSF). Using a mouse-adapted A/PR/8/34 virus
      and reverse genetics to introduce specific mutations in NS1 which eliminate one
      or both functions, we determined the relative contributions of these two
      activities of NS1 to viral virulence in mice. We found that a functional RNA
      binding motif was required for IFN suppression and virulence. Restoration of CPSF
      binding in the NS1 protein of wild-type A/PR/8/34 virus, which cannot bind CPSF
      due to mutations in the central binding motif at positions 103 and 106, resulted
      in enhanced virulence. Surprisingly, if CPSF binding was abolished by
      substituting glycine for arginine at position 184 in the classical NS1-CPSF
      binding motif, the mutant virus replicated much more slowly in mice, although the
      mutated NS1 protein continued to repress the IFN response very efficiently. Our
      results show that a functional RNA-binding motif is decisive for NS1 of A/PR/8/34
      virus to suppress IFN induction. They further demonstrate that in addition to its
      contribution to CPSF binding, glycine 184 strongly influences viral virulence by
      an unknown mechanism which does not involve the IFN system.

PMID- 20926574
TI  - Antiviral immunity following smallpox virus infection: a case-control study.
AB  - Outbreaks of smallpox (i.e., caused by variola virus) resulted in up to 30%
      mortality, but those who survived smallpox infection were regarded as immune for
      life. Early studies described the levels of neutralizing antibodies induced after
      infection, but smallpox was eradicated before contemporary methods for
      quantifying T-cell memory were developed. To better understand the levels and
      duration of immunity after smallpox infection, we performed a case-control study
      comparing antiviral CD4(+) and CD8(+) T-cell responses and neutralizing antibody
      levels of 24 smallpox survivors with the antiviral immunity observed in 60
      smallpox-vaccinated (i.e., vaccinia virus-immune) control subjects. We found that
      the duration of immunity following smallpox infection was remarkably similar to
      that observed after smallpox vaccination, with antiviral T-cell responses that
      declined slowly over time and antiviral antibody responses that remained stable
      for decades after recovery from infection. These results indicate that severe,
      potentially life-threatening disease is not required for the development of
      sustainable long-term immunity. This study shows that the levels of immunity
      induced following smallpox vaccination are comparable in magnitude to that
      achieved through natural variola virus infection, and this may explain the
      notable success of vaccination in eradicating smallpox, one of the world's most
      lethal diseases.

PMID- 20926575
TI  - Excessive RNA splicing and inhibition of HIV-1 replication induced by modified U1
      small nuclear RNAs.
AB  - HIV-1 RNA undergoes a complex splicing process whereby over 40 different mRNA
      species are produced by alternative splicing. In addition, approximately half of
      the RNA transcripts remain unspliced and either are used to encode Gag and Gag
      Pol proteins or are packaged into virions as genomic RNA. It has previously been
      shown that HIV-1 splicing is regulated by cis elements that bind to cellular
      factors. These factors either enhance or repress definition of exons that are
      flanked by the HIV-1 3' splice sites. Here we report that expression of modified
      U1 snRNPs with increased affinity to HIV-1 downstream 5' splice sites and to
      sequences within the first tat coding exon act to selectively increase splicing
      at the upstream 3' splice sites in cotransfected 293T cells. This results in a
      decrease of unspliced viral RNA levels and an approximately 10-fold decrease in
      virus production. In addition, excessive splicing of viral RNA is concomitant
      with a striking reduction in the relative amounts of Gag processing intermediates
      and products. We also show that T cell lines expressing modified U1 snRNAs
      exhibit reduced HIV-1 replication. Our results suggest that induction of
      excessive HIV-1 RNA splicing may be a novel strategy to inhibit virus replication
      in human patients.

PMID- 20926576
TI  - Human T-lymphotropic virus type 1 Tax protein complexes with P-TEFb and competes
      for Brd4 and 7SK snRNP/HEXIM1 binding.
AB  - Positive transcription elongation factor b (P-TEFb) plays an important role in
      stimulating RNA polymerase II elongation for viral and cellular gene expression.
      P-TEFb is found in cells in either an active, low-molecular-weight (LMW) form or
      an inactive, high-molecular-weight (HMW) form. We report here that human T
      lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) Tax interacts with the cyclin T1 subunit of P
      TEFb, forming a distinct Tax/P-TEFb LMW complex. We demonstrate that Tax can play
      a role in regulating the amount of HMW complex present in the cell by decreasing
      the binding of 7SK snRNP/HEXIM1 to P-TEFb. This is seen both in vitro using
      purified Tax protein and in vivo in cells transduced with Tax expression
      constructs. Further, we find that a peptide of cyclin T1 spanning the Tax binding
      domain inhibits the ability of Tax to disrupt HMW P-TEFb complexes. These results
      suggest that the direct interaction of Tax with cyclin T1 can dissociate P-TEFb
      from the P-TEFb/7SK snRNP/HEXIM1 complex for activation of the viral long
      terminal repeat (LTR). We also show that Tax competes with Brd4 for P-TEFb
      binding. Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assays demonstrated that Brd4 and P
      TEFb are associated with the basal HTLV-1 LTR, while Tax and P-TEFb are
      associated with the activated template. Furthermore, the knockdown of Brd4 by
      small interfering RNA (siRNA) activates the HTLV-1 LTR promoter, which results in
      an increase in viral expression and production. Our studies have identified Tax
      as a regulator of P-TEFb that is capable of affecting the balance between its
      association with the large inactive complex and the small active complex.

PMID- 20926578
TI  - cis-Acting sequences that contribute to synthesis of minus-strand DNA are not
      conserved between hepadnaviruses.
AB  - Hepadnaviruses are DNA viruses that are found in several mammalian and avian
      species. These viruses replicate their genome through reverse transcription of an
      RNA intermediate termed pregenomic RNA (pgRNA). pgRNA is reverse transcribed by
      the viral polymerase into a minus-strand DNA, followed by synthesis of the plus
      strand DNA. There are multiple cis-acting sequences that contribute to the
      synthesis of minus-strand DNA for human hepatitis B virus (HBV). Less is known
      about the cis-acting sequences of avian hepadnaviruses that contribute to
      synthesis of minus-strand DNA. To identify cis-acting sequences of duck hepatitis
      B virus (DHBV) and heron hepatitis B virus (HHBV), we analyzed variants
      containing 200-nucleotide (nt) deletions. Most variants of DHBV synthesized minus
      strand DNA to 50 to 100% of the wild-type (WT) level, while two variants
      synthesized less than 50%. For HHBV, most variants synthesized minus-strand DNA
      to less than 50% the WT level. These results differ from those for HBV, where
      most of the genome can be removed with little consequence. HBV contains a
      sequence, phi, that contributes to the synthesis of minus-strand DNA. It has been
      proposed that DHBV has an analogous sequence. We determined that the proposed phi
      sequence of DHBV does not contribute to the synthesis of minus-strand DNA.
      Finally, we found that the DR2 sequence present in all hepadnaviruses is
      important for synthesis of minus-strand DNA in both DHBV and HHBV but not in HBV.
      These differences in cis-acting sequences suggest that the individual
      hepadnaviruses have evolved differences in their mechanisms for synthesizing
      minus-strand DNA, more so than for other steps in replication.

PMID- 20926577
TI  - Metagenomic analysis of the viromes of three North American bat species: viral
      diversity among different bat species that share a common habitat.
AB  - Effective prediction of future viral zoonoses requires an in-depth understanding
      of the heterologous viral population in key animal species that will likely serve
      as reservoir hosts or intermediates during the next viral epidemic. The
      importance of bats as natural hosts for several important viral zoonoses,
      including Ebola, Marburg, Nipah, Hendra, and rabies viruses and severe acute
      respiratory syndrome-coronavirus (SARS-CoV), has been established; however, the
      large viral population diversity (virome) of bats has been partially determined
      for only a few of the ~1,200 bat species. To assess the virome of North American
      bats, we collected fecal, oral, urine, and tissue samples from individual bats
      captured at an abandoned railroad tunnel in Maryland that is cohabitated by 7 to
      10 different bat species. Here, we present preliminary characterization of the
      virome of three common North American bat species, including big brown bats
      (Eptesicus fuscus), tricolored bats (Perimyotis subflavus), and little brown
      myotis (Myotis lucifugus). In samples derived from these bats, we identified
      viral sequences that were similar to at least three novel group 1 CoVs, large
      numbers of insect and plant virus sequences, and nearly full-length genomic
      sequences of two novel bacteriophages. These observations suggest that bats
      encounter and disseminate a large assortment of viruses capable of infecting many
      different animals, insects, and plants in nature.

PMID- 20926579
TI  - Elevated circulating IGF-I promotes mammary gland development and proliferation.
AB  - Animal studies have shown that IGF-I is essential for mammary gland development.
      Previous studies have suggested that local IGF-I rather than circulating IGF-I is
      the major mediator of mammary gland development. In the present study we used the
      hepatic IGF-I transgenic (HIT) and IGF-I knockout/HIT (KO-HIT) mouse models to
      examine the effects of enhanced circulating IGF-I on mammary development in the
      presence and absence of local IGF-I. HIT mice express the rat IGF-I transgene
      under the transthyretin promoter in the liver and have elevated circulating IGF-I
      and normal tissue IGF-I levels. The KO-HIT mice have no tissue IGF-I and
      increased circulating IGF-I. Analysis of mammary gland development reveals a
      greater degree of complexity in HIT mice as compared to control and KO-HIT mice,
      which demonstrate similar degrees of mammary gland complexity.
      Immunohistochemical evaluation of glands of HIT mice also suggests an enhanced
      degree of proliferation of the mammary gland, whereas KO-HIT mice exhibit mammary
      gland proliferation similar to control mice. In addition, HIT mice have a higher
      percentage of proliferating myoepithelial and luminal cells than control mice,
      whereas KO-HIT mice have an equivalent percentage of proliferating myoepithelial
      and luminal cells as control mice. Thus, our findings show that elevated
      circulating IGF-I levels are sufficient to promote normal pubertal mammary
      epithelial development. However, HIT mice demonstrate more pronounced mammary
      gland development when compared to control and KO-HIT mice. This suggests that
      both local and endocrine IGF-I play roles in mammary gland development and that
      elevated circulating IGF-I accelerates mammary epithelial proliferation.

PMID- 20926580
TI  - BAX-dependent and BAX-independent regulation of Kiss1 neuron development in mice.
AB  - The Kiss1 gene and its product kisspeptin are important regulators of
      reproduction. In rodents, Kiss1 is expressed in the hypothalamic arcuate (ARC)
      and anteroventral periventricular (AVPV)/rostral periventricular (PeN) nuclei. In
      the AVPV/PeN, females have more Kiss1 and tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) neurons than
      males. We explored the ontogeny of the Kiss1 sex difference, and the role of cell
      death in establishing Kiss1 and TH cell number. We also determined whether Kiss1
      cells in AVPV/PeN coexpress TH. AVPV/PeN Kiss1 neurons were first detected in
      both sexes on postnatal d 10, but the Kiss1 sex difference did not emerge until
      postnatal d 12. The role of BAX-mediated apoptosis in generating this sex
      difference was tested in adult Bax knockout (KO) and wild-type mice. Deletion of
      Bax did not diminish the sex difference in Kiss1 expression in the AVPV/PeN. TH
      expression was sexually dimorphic in the AVPV of both wild-type and Bax KO mice
      but, unlike Kiss1, was not sexually dimorphic in the PeN of either genotype.
      Double-label analysis determined that most Kiss1 neurons coexpress TH mRNA, but
      many TH neurons do not coexpress Kiss1, especially in the PeN. These findings
      suggest that several subpopulations of TH cells reside within the AVPV/PeN, only
      one of which coexpresses Kiss1. In the ARC, Kiss1 cell number was markedly
      increased in Bax KO mice of both sexes, indicating that although BAX-dependent
      apoptosis does not generate the sex difference in either Kiss1 or TH expression
      in AVPV/PeN, BAX does importantly regulate Kiss1 cell number in the ARC.

PMID- 20926581
TI  - Rapid signaling actions of environmental estrogens in developing granule cell
      neurons are mediated by estrogen receptor beta.
AB  - Estrogenic endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) constitute a diverse group of
      man-made chemicals and natural compounds derived from plants and microbial
      metabolism. Estrogen-like actions are mediated via the nuclear hormone receptor
      activity of estrogen receptor (ER)alpha and ERbeta and rapid regulation of
      intracellular signaling cascades. Previous study defined cerebellar granule cell
      neurons as estrogen responsive and that granule cell precursor viability was
      developmentally sensitive to estrogens. In this study experiments using Western
      blot analysis and pharmacological approaches have characterized the receptor and
      signaling modes of action of selective and nonselective estrogen ligands in
      developing cerebellar granule cells. Estrogen treatments were found to briefly
      increase ERK1/2-phosphorylation and then cause prolonged depression of ERK1/2
      activity. The sensitivity of granule cell precursors to estrogen-induced cell
      death was found to require the integrated activation of membrane and
      intracellular ER signaling pathways. The sensitivity of granule cells to
      selective and nonselective ER agonists and a variety of estrogenic and
      nonestrogenic EDCs was also examined. The ERbeta selective agonist DPN, but not
      the ERalpha selective agonist 4,4',4'-(4-propyl-[1H]-pyrazole-1,3,5-triyl)
      trisphenol or other ERalpha-specific ligands, stimulated cell death. Only EDCs
      with selective or nonselective ERbeta activities like daidzein, equol,
      diethylstilbestrol, and bisphenol A were observed to induce E2-like neurotoxicity
      supporting the conclusion that estrogen sensitivity in granule cells is mediated
      via ERbeta. The presented results also demonstrate the utility of estrogen
      sensitive developing granule cells as an in vitro assay for elucidating rapid
      estrogen-signaling mechanisms and to detect EDCs that act at ERbeta to rapidly
      regulate intracellular signaling.

PMID- 20926582
TI  - hCG-induced down-regulation of PPARgamma and liver X receptors promotes
      periovulatory progesterone synthesis by macaque granulosa cells.
AB  - An ovulatory stimulus induces the rapid and dramatic increase in progesterone
      synthesis by the primate ovarian follicle. However, little is known about the
      early events leading to the shift from estrogen to progesterone production.
      Because steroidogenesis represents an aspect of cholesterol metabolism, it was
      hypothesized that transcription factors regulating cholesterol balance would be
      among the earliest to change in response to an ovulatory stimulus. Granulosa
      cells were isolated from rhesus monkey follicles following controlled ovarian
      stimulation protocols before or up to 24 hr after an ovulatory human chorionic
      gonadotropin (hCG) bolus. The peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma
      (PPARG) and the liver X receptors [nuclear receptor (NR)1H2, NR1H3] decreased
      within 3 hr of hCG, as did the reverse cholesterol transporters ATP-binding
      cassette (ABC)A1 and ABCG1. Treatment of granulosa cells isolated before an
      ovulatory stimulus with hCG and rosiglitizone resulted in an increase in NR1H3
      and ABCG1, and decreased steroidogenic acute regulatory (STAR) protein and
      scavenger receptor-BI (SCARB1). A liver X receptor agonist attenuated hCG-induced
      progesterone synthesis in vitro and increased the expression of ABCA1 and ABCG1,
      and suppressed STAR, P450 side-chain cleavage A1, hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase
      3B, and SCARB1. These data suggest that an initial action of LH/CG on the primate
      preovulatory follicle is to rapidly reduce the expression of PPARG, resulting in
      reduced NR1H3 with the consequence shifting the balance from cholesterol efflux
      via ABCA1 and ABCG1 to cholesterol uptake (SCARB1) and metabolism (STAR, P450
      side-chain cleavage A1, hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase 3B). That the regulation of
      PPARG and the liver X receptors occurs within 3 hr strongly indicates that early
      events in the primate luteinizing follicle are critical to successful ovulation
      and luteal formation.

PMID- 20926584
TI  - Intrauterine position affects estrogen receptor alpha expression in the
      ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus via promoter DNA methylation.
AB  - There is well-established evidence in many mammalian species for effects of the
      intrauterine position (IUP) (the sex-specific positioning of the embryo) on
      postnatal brain function and behavior. We found that the IUP affects estrogen
      receptor (ER)alpha expression in adult female rats in the ventrolateral region of
      the hypothalamic ventromedial nucleus (vlVMH), which is associated with sexual
      behavior. The ERalpha expression level in the vlVMH was higher in females that
      developed in utero between two male siblings (2M females) than in those that
      developed between female siblings (2F females). We also found that the cytosine
      methylation status across the ERalpha promoter in the vlVMH was affected by the
      IUP, with greater methylation in 2F females. These findings showed a negative
      correlation between ERalpha expression levels in the vlVMH and methylation
      frequency in the ERalpha promoter. This suggests that genomic methylation
      sustains the effect of the fetal IUP on ERalpha expression in the vlVMH.

PMID- 20926583
TI  - Evidence of a role for insulin-like growth factor binding protein (IGFBP)-3 in
      metabolic regulation.
AB  - IGF-binding protein (IGFBP)-3 is a metabolic regulator that has been shown to
      inhibit insulin-stimulated glucose uptake in murine models. This finding
      contrasts with epidemiological evidence of decreased serum IGFBP-3 in patients
      with type 2 diabetes. The purpose of this study was to clarify the role of IGFBP
      3 in metabolism. Four-week-old male IGFBP-3(-/-) and control mice were subjected
      to a high-fat diet (HFD) for 12 wk. IGFBP-3(-/-) mice were heavier before the
      initiation of HFD and at the end of the study period. Resting metabolic rate was
      significantly decreased in knockout mice; however, respiratory exchange ratio was
      not significantly different. Fasting blood glucose and insulin levels were
      significantly elevated in IGFBP-3(-/-) mice. However, IGFBP-3(-/-) mice had
      relatively normal glucose tolerance because the relative glucose excursion over
      time was not different between the groups. During hyperinsulinemic clamps, IGFBP
      3(-/-) mice had increased basal hepatic glucose production, but after insulin
      stimulation, no differences in hepatic glucose production were observed. A second
      cohort of older IGFBP-3(-/-) mice on HFD displayed unexpected evidence of hepatic
      steatosis. In summary, glucose tolerance and clamp testing indicate that IGFBP-3(
      /-) mice preserve insulin sensitivity despite evidence of increased basal glucose
      turnover and hepatic steatosis. We provide evidence that genetic deletion of
      IGFBP-3 modulates hepatic carbohydrate and lipid metabolism.

PMID- 20926586
TI  - Kisspeptin-10 inhibits angiogenesis in human placental vessels ex vivo and
      endothelial cells in vitro.
AB  - Recent studies suggest that kisspeptin (a neuropeptide central to the regulation
      of gonadotrophin secretion) has diverse roles in human physiology, including a
      putative role in implantation and placental function. Kisspeptin and its receptor
      are present in human blood vessels, where they mediate vasoconstriction, and
      kisspeptin is known to inhibit tumor metastasis and trophoblast invasion, both
      processes involving angiogenesis. We hypothesized that kisspeptin contributes to
      the regulation of angiogenesis in the reproductive system. The presence of the
      kisspeptin receptor was confirmed in human placental blood vessels and human
      umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) using immunochemistry. The ability of
      kisspeptin-10 (KP-10) (a shorter biologically active processed peptide) to
      inhibit angiogenesis was tested in explanted human placental arteries and HUVEC
      using complementary ex vivo and in vitro assays. KP-10 inhibited new vessel
      sprouting from placental arteries embedded in Matrigel and tube-like structure
      formation by HUVEC, in a concentration-dependent manner. KP-10 had no effect on
      HUVEC viability or apoptosis but induced concentration-dependent inhibition of
      proliferation and migration. In conclusion, KP-10 has antiangiogenic effects and,
      given its high expression in the placenta, may contribute to the regulation of
      angiogenesis in this tissue.

PMID- 20926585
TI  - Retrograde endocannabinoid signaling reduces GABAergic synaptic transmission to
      gonadotropin-releasing hormone neurons.
AB  - Cannabinoids suppress fertility via reducing hypothalamic GnRH output. gamma
      Aminobutyric acid (GABA)(A) receptor (GABA(A)-R)-mediated transmission is a major
      input to GnRH cells that can be excitatory. We hypothesized that cannabinoids act
      via inhibiting GABAergic input. We performed loose-patch electrophysiological
      studies of acute slices from adult male GnRH-green fluorescent protein transgenic
      mice. Bath application of type 1 cannabinoid receptor (CB1) agonist WIN55,212
      decreased GnRH neuron firing rate. This action was detectable in presence of the
      glutamate receptor antagonist kynurenic acid but disappeared when bicuculline was
      also present, indicating GABA(A)-R involvement. In immunocytochemical
      experiments, CB1-immunoreactive axons formed contacts with GnRH neurons and a
      subset established symmetric synapses characteristic of GABAergic
      neurotransmission. Functional studies were continued with whole-cell patch-clamp
      electrophysiology in presence of tetrodotoxin. WIN55,212 decreased the frequency
      of GABA(A)-R-mediated miniature postsynaptic currents (mPSCs) (reflecting
      spontaneous vesicle fusion), which was prevented with the CB1 antagonist AM251,
      indicating collectively that activation of presynaptic CB1 inhibits GABA release.
      AM251 alone increased mPSC frequency, providing evidence that endocannabinoids
      tonically inhibit GABA(A)-R drive onto GnRH neurons. Increased mPSC frequency was
      absent when diacylglycerol lipase was blocked intracellularly with
      tetrahydrolipstatin, showing that tonic inhibition is caused by 2
      arachidonoylglycerol production of GnRH neurons. CdCl(2) in extracellular
      solution can maintain both action potentials and spontaneous vesicle fusion.
      Under these conditions, when endocannabinoid-mediated blockade of spontaneous
      vesicle fusion was blocked with AM251, GnRH neuron firing increased, revealing an
      endogenous endocannabinoid brake on GnRH neuron firing. Retrograde
      endocannabinoid signaling may represent an important mechanism under
      physiological and pathological conditions whereby GnRH neurons regulate their
      excitatory GABAergic inputs.

PMID- 20926587
TI  - Inhibition of the type 2 iodothyronine deiodinase underlies the elevated plasma
      TSH associated with amiodarone treatment.
AB  - The widely prescribed cardiac antiarrhythmic drug amiodarone (AMIO) and its main
      metabolite, desethylamiodarone (DEA), have multiple side effects on thyroid
      economy, including an elevation in serum TSH levels. To study the AMIO effect on
      TSH, mice with targeted disruption of the type 2 deiodinase gene (D2KO) were
      treated with 80 mg/kg AMIO for 4 wk. Only wild-type (WT) mice controls developed
      the expected approximate twofold rise in plasma TSH, illustrating a critical role
      for D2 in this mechanism. A disruption in the D2 pathway caused by AMIO could
      interfere with the transduction of the T4 signal, generating less T3 and
      softening the TSH feedback mechanism. When added directly to sonicates of HEK-293
      cells transiently expressing D2, both AMIO and DEA behaved as noncompetitive
      inhibitors of D2 [IC(50) of >100 MUm and ~5 MUm, respectively]. Accordingly, D2
      activity was significantly decreased in the median eminence and anterior
      pituitary sonicates of AMIO-treated mice. However, the underlying effect on TSH
      is likely to be at the pituitary gland given that in AMIO-treated mice the
      paraventricular TRH mRNA levels (which are negatively regulated by D2-generated
      T3) were decreased. In contrast, AMIO and DEA both exhibited dose-dependent
      inhibition of D2 activity and elevation of TSH secretion in intact TalphaT1
      cells, a pituitary thyrotroph cell line used to model the TSH feedback mechanism.
      In conclusion, AMIO and DEA are noncompetitive inhibitors of D2, with DEA being
      much more potent, and this inhibition at the level of the pituitary gland
      contributes to the rise in TSH seen in patients taking AMIO.

PMID- 20926588
TI  - NOD2 activation induces muscle cell-autonomous innate immune responses and
      insulin resistance.
AB  - Insulin resistance is associated with chronic low-grade inflammation in vivo,
      largely mediated by activated innate immune cells. Cytokines and pathogen-derived
      ligands of surface toll-like receptors can directly cause insulin resistance in
      muscle cells. However, it is not known if intracellular pathogen sensors can, on
      their own, provoke insulin resistance. Here, we show that the cytosolic pattern
      recognition receptors nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-containing
      protein (NOD)1 and NOD2 are expressed in immune and metabolic tissues and
      hypothesize that their activation in muscle cells would result in cell-autonomous
      responses leading to insulin resistance. Bacterial peptidoglycan motifs that
      selectively activate NOD2 were directly administered to L6- GLUT4myc myotubes in
      culture. Within 3 h, insulin resistance arose, characterized by reductions in
      each insulin-stimulated glucose uptake, GLUT4 translocation, Akt Ser(473)
      phosphorylation, and insulin receptor substrate 1 tyrosine phosphorylation.
      Muscle cell-autonomous responses to NOD2 ligand included activation of the
      stress/inflammation markers c-Jun N-terminal kinase, ERK1/2, p38 MAPK,
      degradation of inhibitor of kappaBalpha, and production of proinflammatory
      cytokines. These results show that NOD2 alone is capable of acutely inducing
      insulin resistance within muscle cells, possibly by activating endogenous
      inflammatory signals and/or through cytokine production, curbing upstream insulin
      signals. NOD2 is hence a new inflammation target connected to insulin resistance,
      and this link occurs without the need of additional contributing cell types. This
      study provides supporting evidence for the integration of innate immune and
      metabolic responses through the involvement of NOD proteins and suggests the
      possible participation of cell autonomous immune responses in the development of
      insulin resistance in skeletal muscle, the major depot for postprandial glucose
      utilization.

PMID- 20926589
TI  - Molecular cloning, characterization, and chromosome mapping of reptilian estrogen
      receptors.
AB  - In many vertebrates, steroid hormones are essential for ovarian differentiation
      during a critical developmental stage as well as promoting the growth and
      differentiation of the adult female reproductive system. Although studies have
      been extensively conducted in mammals and a few fish, amphibians, and bird
      species, the molecular mechanisms of sex steroid hormone (estrogens) action have
      been poorly examined in reptiles. Here, we evaluate hormone receptor and ligand
      interactions in two species of snake, the Okinawa habu (Protobothrops
      flavoviridis, Viperidae) and the Japanese four-striped rat snake (Elaphe
      quadrivirgata, Colubridae) after the isolation of cDNAs encoding estrogen
      receptor alpha (ESR1) and estrogen receptor beta (ESR2). Using a transient
      transfection assay with mammalian cells, the transcriptional activity of
      reptilian (Okinawa habu, Japanese four-striped rat snake, American alligator, and
      Florida red-belly freshwater turtle) ESR1 and ESR2 was examined. All ESR proteins
      displayed estrogen-dependent activation of transcription via an estrogen-response
      element-containing promoter; however, the responsiveness to various estrogens was
      different. Further, we determined the chromosomal locations of the snake steroid
      hormone receptor genes. ESR1 and ESR2 genes were localized to the short and long
      arms of chromosome 1, respectively, whereas androgen receptor was localized to a
      pair of microchromosomes in the two snake species examined. These data provide
      basic tools that allow future studies examining receptor-ligand interactions and
      steroid endocrinology in snakes and also expands our knowledge of sex steroid
      hormone receptor evolution.

PMID- 20926590
TI  - Specific involvement of gonadal hormones in the functional maturation of growth
      hormone releasing hormone (GHRH) neurons.
AB  - Growth hormone (GH) is the key hormone involved in the regulation of growth and
      metabolism, two functions that are highly modulated during infancy. GH secretion,
      controlled mainly by GH releasing hormone (GHRH), has a characteristic pattern
      during postnatal development that results in peaks of blood concentration at
      birth and puberty. A detailed knowledge of the electrophysiology of the GHRH
      neurons is necessary to understand the mechanisms regulating postnatal GH
      secretion. Here, we describe the unique postnatal development of the
      electrophysiological properties of GHRH neurons and their regulation by gonadal
      hormones. Using GHRH-eGFP mice, we demonstrate that already at birth, GHRH
      neurons receive numerous synaptic inputs and fire large and fast action
      potentials (APs), consistent with effective GH secretion. Concomitant with the GH
      secretion peak occurring at puberty, these neurons display modifications of
      synaptic input properties, decrease in AP duration, and increase in a transient
      voltage-dependant potassium current. Furthermore, the modulation of both the AP
      duration and voltage-dependent potassium current are specifically controlled by
      gonadal hormones because gonadectomy prevented the maturation of these active
      properties and hormonal treatment restored it. Thus, GHRH neurons undergo
      specific developmental modulations of their electrical properties over the first
      six postnatal weeks, in accordance with hormonal demand. Our results highlight
      the importance of the interaction between the somatotrope and gonadotrope axes
      during the establishment of adapted neuroendocrine functions.

PMID- 20926591
TI  - Commentary: the year in circadian rhythms.
AB  - The circadian clock orchestrates intrinsic timing in most organisms and controls
      a large variety of physiological and metabolic programs. In my presentation "The
      Year in Circadian Rhythms" at the Endocrine Society meeting (San Diego, June
      2010) I reviewed some of the recent spectacular developments of the field. The
      exceptional interest that circadian rhythms have suscitated during the past two
      decades has caused a remarkable increase in the number of researchers and of
      committed resources dedicated to the field. This has also generated the promise
      of potentially novel pharmacological strategies. Indeed, specific molecular
      pathways of circadian regulation have been recently linked to endocrine and
      metabolic control, as well as cell cycle and proliferation. Importantly,
      circadian gene expression involves an important proportion of cellular genes,
      underscoring the role played by dynamic mechanisms of chromatin remodeling. This
      suggests that the circadian machinery could have evolved as a privileged
      molecular interface between cellular metabolism and epigenetic control.

PMID- 20926592
TI  - Limited utility of oral glucose tolerance test in biochemically active
      acromegaly.
AB  - CONTEXT: Measurement of GH after oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) is used for
      the diagnosis and surveillance of acromegaly. However, there are major
      discrepancies between glucose-suppressed GH and plasma IGF1 as indices of
      biochemical activity of acromegaly in patients with relatively mild GH
      oversecretion. This study was aimed to assess the performance of OGTT in patients
      with acromegaly and variable GH outputs. METHODS: Forty adults with newly
      diagnosed, untreated acromegaly (15 with GH >4.3 MUg/l and 25 with GH <4.3 MUg/l)
      and elevated IGF1 levels were studied. All underwent Q10 min for 24 h sampling
      for GH followed by an OGTT. RESULTS: Postglucose nadir GH (GHn) correlated
      significantly to 24 h GHn, mean 24 h GH, and baseline GH (P<0.001 for all
      comparisons). GHn correlated significantly to IGF1 z-scores for the 'low' GH
      group and for the entire group (P<0.0001 for both comparisons), but not for the
      'high' GH group. None of the patients with mean GH >4.3 MUg/l had GHn below 1
      MUg/l. In contrast, 13 out of 25 patients (52%) with GH <4.3 MUg/l showed GHn
      lower than 1 MUg/l, and 7 of them (28%) had GHn lower than 0.4 MUg/l. These
      groups did not differ significantly either for average or for maximal GH
      suppression in OGTT. CONCLUSIONS: Our data show that suppressibility of GH by
      glucose in acromegaly is a function of the degree of GH hypersecretion and that
      OGTT has only limited diagnostic value in patients with biochemically active
      acromegaly but only mildly increased GH output.

PMID- 20926593
TI  - Pituitary apoplexy: re-evaluation of risk factors for bleeding into pituitary
      adenomas and impact on outcome.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess frequency, symptoms and outcome of pituitary apoplexy (PA)
      among pituitary adenoma patients, to gain better insight into risk factors for
      bleeding into pituitary adenoma and to estimate the sequelae of PA by means of a
      matched control group. METHOD: By reviewing charts of 574 patients with pituitary
      adenoma, we analysed incidence, symptoms and outcome of PA and potential risk
      factors for developing PA by means of a control group (patients with pituitary
      adenoma without PA). RESULTS: In total, 42 suffered from PA, all had
      macroadenomas; 30/217 male (14%) and 12/179 female (7%) macroadenoma patients,
      32/194 patients with clinically non-functioning (16.5%) and 10/202 with
      clinically active (5.0%) macroadenoma were affected. Antithrombotic therapy
      predisposed patients to PA (P=0.026), diabetes mellitus and hypertension did not
      (P=1.00). Patients with PA and pituitary adenoma patients without PA had similar
      frequencies of hypopituitarism (45 vs 48%, P>0.05) and visual field defects (38
      vs 55%, P>0.05), but ophthalmoplegia was significantly more common (76 vs 5%,
      P<0.001) in patients with PA. Nearly all patients were treated by surgery; most
      recovered from ophthalmoplegia, whereas visual function improved only moderately.
      Endocrine outcome was worse in patients with PA than in patients without PA.
      CONCLUSIONS: Male sex and characteristics of the adenoma itself (especially
      tumour size and tumour type) rather than patient's cardiovascular risk factors
      such as diabetes and hypertension seem to predispose to PA; antithrombotic
      therapy may also be important.

PMID- 20926594
TI  - Wnt receptors, bone mass, and fractures: gene-wide association analysis of LRP5
      and LRP6 polymorphisms with replication.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Genes explaining the susceptibility to osteoporosis have not been
      fully elucidated. Our objective was to explore the association of polymorphisms
      capturing common variations of the lipoprotein receptor-related protein (LRP) 5
      and 6 genes, encoding two Wnt receptors, with femoral neck bone mineral density
      (BMD) and osteoporotic fractures of the spine and the hip. DESIGN: Cross
      sectional, case-control, and replication genetic association study. METHODS:
      Thirty-nine tagging and functional single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were
      analyzed in a group of 1043 postmenopausal women and 394 women with hip
      fractures. The results were replicated in a different group of 342 women.
      RESULTS: Three SNPs of the LRP6 gene were associated with BMD (nominal
      uncorrected P values <0.05) in the discovery cohort. One showed a significant
      association after multiple test correction; two of them were also associated in
      the replication cohort, with a combined standardized mean difference of 0.51
      (P=0.009) and 0.47 (P<0.003) across rs11054704 and rs2302685 genotypes. In the
      discovery cohort, several LRP5 SNPs were associated with vertebral fractures
      (odds ratio (OR) 0.67; P=0.01), with hip fractures (unadjusted ORs between 0.59
      and 1.21; P=0.005-0.033, but not significant after multiple test adjustment or
      age adjustment), and with height and the projected femoral neck area, but not
      with BMD. Transcripts of LRP5 and LRP6 were similarly abundant in bone samples.
      CONCLUSIONS: In this study, we found common polymorphisms of LRP5 associated with
      osteoporotic fractures, and polymorphisms of the LRP6 gene associated with BMD,
      thus suggesting them as likely candidates to contribute to the explaination of
      the hereditary influence on osteoporosis.

PMID- 20926595
TI  - Genetic hyperthyroidism: hyperthyroidism due to activating TSHR mutations.
AB  - Three syndromes affecting the thyroid gland are described in the literature
      separately: familial nonautoimmune hyperthyroidism, sporadic congenital
      nonautoimmune hyperthyroidism, and autonomous adenomas. Recent studies have shown
      that these three syndromes are caused by similar activating mutations of the TSH
      receptor gene (TSHR), and that the consequences of these mutations on the
      physiology and gene expression of the thyroid are qualitatively, but not
      quantitatively, similar. The three syndromes and two suggested unrecognized
      variants are in fact facets of the same disease, genetic hyperthyroidism due to
      TSHR mutations, the expression of which depends on the intensity of activation,
      its timing, and on the number of affected cells.

PMID- 20926596
TI  - A phylogenetic model for investigating correlated evolution of substitution rates
      and continuous phenotypic characters.
AB  - The comparative approach is routinely used to test for possible correlations
      between phenotypic or life-history traits. To correct for phylogenetic inertia,
      the method of independent contrasts assumes that continuous characters evolve
      along the phylogeny according to a multivariate Brownian process. Brownian
      diffusion processes have also been used to describe time variations of the
      parameters of the substitution process, such as the rate of substitution or the
      ratio of synonymous to nonsynonymous substitutions. Here, we develop a
      probabilistic framework for testing the coupling between continuous characters
      and parameters of the molecular substitution process. Rates of substitution and
      continuous characters are jointly modeled as a multivariate Brownian diffusion
      process of unknown covariance matrix. The covariance matrix, the divergence times
      and the phylogenetic variations of substitution rates and continuous characters
      are all jointly estimated in a Bayesian Monte Carlo framework, imposing on the
      covariance matrix a prior conjugate to the Brownian process so as to achieve a
      greater computational efficiency. The coupling between rates and phenotypes is
      assessed by measuring the posterior probability of positive or negative
      covariances, whereas divergence dates and phenotypic variations are marginally
      reconstructed in the context of the joint analysis. As an illustration, we apply
      the model to a set of 410 mammalian cytochrome b sequences. We observe a negative
      correlation between the rate of substitution and mass and longevity, which was
      previously observed. We also find a positive correlation between omega = dN/dS
      and mass and longevity, which we interpret as an indirect effect of variations of
      effective population size, thus in partial agreement with the nearly neutral
      theory. The method can easily be extended to any parameter of the substitution
      process and to any continuous phenotypic or environmental character.

PMID- 20926597
TI  - Primary controls on species richness in higher taxa.
AB  - The disparity in species richness across the tree of life is one of the most
      striking and pervasive features of biological diversity. Some groups are
      exceptionally diverse, whereas many other groups are species poor. Differences in
      diversity among groups are frequently assumed to result from primary control by
      differential rates of net diversification. However, a major alternative
      explanation is that ecological and other factors exert primary control on clade
      diversity, such that apparent variation in net diversification rates is a
      secondary consequence of ecological limits on clade growth. Here, I consider a
      likelihood framework for distinguishing between these competing hypotheses. I
      incorporate hierarchical modeling to explicitly relax assumptions about the
      constancy of diversification rates across clades, and I propose several
      statistics for a posteriori evaluation of model adequacy. I apply the framework
      to a recent dated phylogeny of ants. My results reject the hypothesis that net
      diversification rates exert primary control on species richness in this group and
      demonstrate that clade diversity is better explained by total time-integrated
      speciation. These results further suggest that it may not possible to estimate
      meaningful speciation and extinction rates from higher-level phylogenies of
      extant taxa only.

PMID- 20926599
TI  - The structural basis of blood group A-related glycolipids in an A3 red cell
      phenotype and a potential explanation to a serological phenomenon.
AB  - Glycolipids from the red cells of a rare blood group A subgroup individual,
      expressing the blood group A(3) phenotype with the classical mixed-field
      agglutination phenomenon, A(2(539G>A))/O(1) genotype, and an unusual blood group
      A glycolipid profile, were submitted to a comprehensive biochemical and
      structural analysis. To determine the nature of blood group A glycolipids in this
      A(3) phenotype, structural determination was carried out with complementary
      techniques including proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1D and 2D), mass
      spectrometry (MS) (nano-electrospray ionization/quadrupole time-of-flight and
      tandem mass spectrometry) and thin layer chromatography with immunostaining
      detection. As expected, total blood group A structures were of low abundance, but
      contrary to expectations extended-A type 2 and A type 3 glycolipids were more
      dominant than A hexaglycosylceramides based on type 2 chain (A-6-2 glycolipids),
      which normally is the major A glycolipid. Several para-Forssman
      (GalNAcbeta3GbO(4)) structures, including extended forms, were identified but
      surmised not to contribute to the classic mixed-field agglutination of the A(3)
      phenotype. It is proposed that the low level of A antigen combined with an
      absence of extended branched glycolipids may be the factor determining the mixed
      field agglutination phenomenon in this individual.

PMID- 20926598
TI  - DNA methylation and histone H3-K9 modifications contribute to MUC17 expression.
AB  - MUC17 glycoprotein is a membrane-associated mucin that is mainly expressed in the
      digestive tract. It has been suggested that MUC17 expression is correlated with
      the malignancy potential of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas (PDACs). In the
      present study, we provided the first report of the MUC17 gene expression through
      epigenetic regulation such as promoter methylation, histone modification and
      microRNA (miRNA) expression. Near the transcriptional start site, the DNA
      methylation level of MUC17-negative cancer cell lines (e.g. PANC1) was high,
      whereas that of MUC17-positive cells (e.g. AsPC-1) was low. Histone H3-K9 (H3-K9)
      modification status was also closely related to MUC17 expression. Our results
      indicate that DNA methylation and histone H3-K9 modification in the 5' flanking
      region play a critical role in MUC17 expression. Furthermore, the hypomethylation
      status was observed in patients with PDAC. This indicates that the
      hypomethylation status in the MUC17 promoter could be a novel epigenetic marker
      for the diagnosis of PDAC. In addition, the result of miRNA microarray analysis
      showed that five potential miRNA candidates existed. It is also possible that the
      MUC17 might be post-transcriptionally regulated by miRNA targeting to the 3'
      untranslated region of its mRNA. These understandings of the epigenetic changes
      of MUC17 may be of importance for the diagnosis of carcinogenic risk and the
      prediction of outcomes for cancer patients.

PMID- 20926600
TI  - Time, species, and separating their effects on trait variance in clades.

PMID- 20926601
TI  - Characterization of molecular forms of N-terminal B-type natriuretic peptide in
      vitro.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The heterogeneity of circulating peptides may influence the
      interpretation of results from N-terminal profragment of BNP (NT-proBNP) assays.
      Our objective was to characterize the heterogeneity for better usability of the
      assays. METHODS: Endogenous proBNP was purified from patient samples and treated
      with trifluoromethanesulfonic acid (chemical deglycosylation). The human proBNP
      gene was introduced into rat hearts by adenoviral transfer. Cell lysates and
      plasma samples containing proBNP-derived peptides were analyzed by
      chromatography. The fate of exogenous recombinant NT-proBNP added to fresh whole
      blood samples was followed by immunoassays and chromatography. The main NT-proBNP
      components were isolated and identified by mass spectrometry. RESULTS:
      Immunoreactive NT-proBNP in human plasma comprised several molecular forms, as
      did circulating immunoreactive human NT-proBNP after adenoviral transfer of human
      proBNP cDNA into rat ventricular myocardium. Incubation of recombinant NT
      proBNP(1-76) in human plasma or serum resulted in multiple components with the 2
      major components identified as NT-proBNP(1-36) and NT-proBNP(1-62/64). Profiling
      by different antisera and chromatography indicated masking of the non-mid-region
      epitopes likely due to formation of oligomers. More than 75% of the original
      immunoreactivity in the mid-region epitope was retained after 3-week storage of
      plasma samples at room temperature. CONCLUSIONS: There is marked heterogeneity in
      immunoreactive NT-proBNP in plasma not related to glycosylation. The mid-region
      epitope of NT-proBNP is stable even in harsh storage conditions. Careful choice
      of antibody epitopes can yield extraordinarily robust assays.

PMID- 20926602
TI  - HMGA proteins regulate the expression of FGF2 in uterine fibroids.
AB  - In human fibroids genes encoding the high-mobility proteins containing the 'AT
      hook' DNA-binding motif (HMGA) are frequently affected by non-random chromosomal
      rearrangements. Thus, the different proteins and their derivatives resulting from
      these genomic rearrangements can be assumed to be involved in the genesis of
      these tumors by activation of largely identical downstream pathways. Constructs
      encoding HMGA proteins and their relevant derivatives were overexpressed in human
      myometrial cells, and RNA isolated from these cells was hybridized to filter
      arrays. Four genes were either up- or down-regulated at least 2-fold after
      overexpression of either of the HMGA genes and their derivatives. FGF2
      (fibroblast growth factor 2) was one of these genes, and we were then able to
      show by microarray analyses that tumors with rearrangements of the HMGA2 locus (n
      = 8) expressed significantly higher levels of FGF2 than those with an apparently
      normal karyotype (n = 47). Accordingly, by quantitative real-time PCR uterine
      leiomyomas with rearrangements of the HMGA2 locus were found to express
      significantly higher levels of FGF2 than those with an apparently normal
      karyotype with a linear relationship between the expression of FGF2 and the level
      of HMGA2 overexpression as well as the tumor size. The results of western blot
      analyses confirmed these findings. Moreover, stimulation of myometrial tissue by
      FGF1, a strong inducer of HMGA2, leads to an increase of HMGA2 as well as FGF2
      expression. In conclusion, the results contribute to the understanding of the
      association between the overexpression of HMGA proteins, the regulation of FGF2
      expression and the size of fibroids.

PMID- 20926603
TI  - Non-apoptotic Fas-induced regulation of cytokines in undifferentiated and
      decidualized human endometrial stromal cells depends on caspase-activity.
AB  - Fas has originally been described as a member of the death-receptor family,
      mediating apoptosis upon stimulation by Fas-ligand (FasL). However, Fas
      expressing human endometrial stromal cells (ESCs) are resistant to Fas-mediated
      apoptosis. Since the implanting embryo secretes FasL, we examined whether Fas
      mediates non-apoptotic effects in human ESCs in vitro. ESCs were isolated from
      hysterectomy specimens, decidualized using progesterone and 17beta-estradiol and
      incubated with an activating anti-Fas antibody, recombinant FasL and a caspase
      inhibitor. Leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF), interleukin (IL)-11, -6, -8,
      monocyte chemoattractant protein (MCP)-1 and RANTES (Regulated on Activation
      Normal T cell Expressed and Secreted) were measured using ELISA and real-time RT
      PCR. Viability of ESCs was determined using an MTT assay. Caspase-activity was
      measured by luminescent assays. Activation of nuclear factor (NF)-kappaB was
      detected by in-cell western and transcription factor assays. LIF and IL-11 in
      undifferentiated and IL-8 in decidualized ESCs were up-regulated by non-apoptotic
      Fas-signaling. In contrast, IL-6, MCP-1 and RANTES were not regulated by Fas.
      Caspases were activated upon Fas-stimulation and the Fas-mediated effects on LIF,
      IL-11 and -8 were reversed by caspase-inhibition. The transcription factor NF
      kappaB was not activated in ESCs after stimulation of Fas. These results suggest
      a differential regulatory role of caspase-dependent Fas-signaling at the feto
      maternal interface during early implantation. Remarkably, this typical death
      machinery mediates non-apoptotic effects in the human endometrium rather than
      inducing apoptosis.

PMID- 20926604
TI  - Dietary glycemic load is a predictor of age-related hearing loss in older adults.
AB  - Age-related hearing loss is a frequent disability in older adults and nutrition
      could play a role in the development of this condition. Carbohydrate nutrition
      [including dietary glycemic index (GI) and load (GL)] may be linked to hearing
      loss. We aimed to determine the association between carbohydrate nutrition
      (including mean dietary GI and GL, and the dietary intakes of carbohydrate and
      sugar), starch, cereal and total fiber, and age-related hearing loss. The Blue
      Mountains Hearing Study is a population-based survey of age-related hearing loss
      (1997-1999 to 2002-2004). Hearing loss was measured in 2956 participants (aged
      >=50 y) and was defined as the pure-tone average of frequencies 0.5, 1.0, 2.0,
      and 4.0 kHz > 25 dB hearing level. Dietary data were collected in a
      semiquantitative FFQ. A purpose-built database based on Australian GI values was
      used to calculate the mean GI. A higher mean dietary GI was associated with an
      increased prevalence of any hearing loss, comparing quintiles 1 (lowest) and 5
      (highest), [multivariable-adjusted odds ratio = 1.41 (95% CI = 1.01-1.97)].
      Participants in the highest quartile of mean dietary GL intake compared with
      those in the lowest quartile had a 76% greater risk of developing incident
      hearing loss (P-trend = 0.04). Higher carbohydrate and sugar intakes were
      associated with incident hearing loss (P-trend = 0.03 and P-trend = 0.05,
      respectively). In summary, a high-GL diet was a predictor of incident hearing
      loss, as was higher intake of total carbohydrate. Hence, high postprandial
      glycemia might be a potential underlying biological mechanism in the development
      of age-related hearing loss.

PMID- 20926605
TI  - Modular processing in the hand representation of primate primary somatosensory
      cortex coexists with widespread activation.
AB  - Neurons in the hand representation of primary somatosensory cortex (area 3b) are
      known to have discretely localized receptive fields; and these neurons form
      modules that can be visualized histologically as distinct digit and palm
      representations. Despite these indicators of the importance of local processing
      in area 3b, widespread interactions between stimuli presented to locations across
      the hand have been reported. We investigated the relationship of neuron firing
      rate with distance from the site of maximum activation in cortex by recording
      from a 100-electrode array with electrodes spaced 400 MUm apart, implanted into
      the area 3b hand representation in anesthetized owl monkeys. For each stimulated
      location on the hand, the electrode site where neurons had the highest peak
      firing rate was defined as the peak activation site. The lesser firing rates of
      neurons at all other electrode sites in the grid were compared with the firing
      rates of neurons at the peak activation site. On average, peak firing rates of
      neurons decreased rapidly with distance away from the peak activation site. The
      effect of distance on the variance of firing rates was highly significant (P <
      0.0001). However, individual neurons retained high firing rates for distances
      over 3 mm. The clear decline in firing rate with distance from the most activated
      location indicates that local processing is emphasized in area 3b, while the
      distance of neurons with reduced but maintained firing rates <=3-4 mm from the
      site of best activation demonstrated widespread activation in primary
      somatosensory cortex.

PMID- 20926606
TI  - The bidirectionality of motor learning in the vestibulo-ocular reflex is a
      function of cerebellar mGluR1 receptors.
AB  - Bidirectional changes in synaptic transmission have the potential to optimize the
      control of movement. However, it can be difficult to establish a causal
      relationship between the bidirectionality of synaptic plasticity and
      bidirectional changes in the speed of actual movements. We asked whether
      metabotropic glutamate receptor 1 (mGluR1) receptors, which participate in
      cerebellar long-term depression (LTD), are necessary for bidirectional motor
      learning in the vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR). Cerebellar LTD and long-term
      potentiation (LTP) are thought to cause increases and decreases, respectively, in
      the gain of the VOR; the direction of learning depends on the behavioral
      protocol. We injected either the mGluR1 agonist (S)-DHPG or the antagonist YM
      298198 bilaterally into the flocculus of alert cats, and then induced motor
      learning. In the presence of YM 298198, the VOR gain decreased in gain-up, as
      well as in gain-down protocols. (S)-DHPG augmented gain-up learning. Gain-down
      learning was not significantly affected by either drug. These results supported
      the hypothesis that gain-up learning relies on cerebellar LTD, but gain-down
      learning relies on a different mechanism. In the absence of mGluR1 activity,
      cerebellar LTD may be replaced with LTP, permitting learning in only one
      direction.

PMID- 20926607
TI  - Examining the auditory nerve fiber response to high rate cochlear implant
      stimulation: chronic sensorineural hearing loss and facilitation.
AB  - Neural prostheses, such as cochlear and retinal implants, induce perceptual
      responses by electrically stimulating sensory nerves. These devices restore
      sensory system function by using patterned electrical stimuli to evoke neural
      responses. An understanding of their function requires knowledge of the nerves
      responses to relevant electrical stimuli as well as the likely effects of
      pathology on nerve function. We describe how sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL)
      affects the response properties of single auditory nerve fibers (ANFs) to
      electrical stimuli relevant to cochlear implants. The response of 188 individual
      ANFs were recorded in response to trains of stimuli presented at 200, 1,000,
      2,000, and 5,000 pulse/s in acutely and chronically deafened guinea pigs. The
      effects of stimulation rate and SNHL on ANF responses during the 0-2 ms period
      following stimulus onset were examined to minimize the influence of ANF
      adaptation. As stimulation rate increased to 5,000 pulse/s, threshold decreased,
      dynamic range increased and first spike latency decreased. Similar effects of
      stimulation rate were observed following chronic SNHL, although onset threshold
      and first spike latency were reduced and onset dynamic range increased compared
      with acutely deafened animals. Facilitation, defined as an increased nerve
      excitability caused by subthreshold stimulation, was observed in both acute and
      chronic SNHL groups, although the magnitude of its effect was diminished in the
      latter. These results indicate that facilitation, demonstrated here using stimuli
      similar to those used in cochlear implants, influences the ANF response to
      pulsatile electrical stimulation and may have important implications for cochlear
      implant signal processing strategies.

PMID- 20926608
TI  - Differing neurophysiologic mechanosensory input from glabrous and hairy skin in
      juvenile rats.
AB  - Sensory afferents in skin encode and convey thermal and mechanical conditions,
      including those that threaten tissue damage. A small proportion of skin, the
      glabrous skin of the distal extremities, is specialized to explore the
      environment in fine detail. Aside from increased innervation density, little is
      known regarding properties of mechanosensory afferents to glabrous skin in
      younger animals that explain the exquisite precision and high contrast in rapidly
      sampling physical structures, including those that threaten injury. To assess
      this, we obtained intact neuronal intracellular recordings in vivo from 115
      mechanosensitive afferent neurons from lumbar and thoracic dorsal root ganglia in
      juvenile rats. Two characteristics were unique to glabrous skin: a threefold
      higher proportion of fast-conducting to slow-conducting afferents that were high
      threshold mechanosensitive nociceptors compared with hairy skin and a twofold
      faster conduction velocity of fast-conducting nociceptors compared with hairy
      skin. Additionally differences were found in mechanical thresholds between
      glabrous skin and hairy skin for each fiber type. These differences reflect and
      help explain the rapid response of skin specialized to explore the physical
      environment. Additionally, these results highlight potential limitations of using
      passive electrical properties and conduction velocity alone to characterize
      primary afferents without knowledge of the skin type they innervated.

PMID- 20926609
TI  - Influence of fatigue on hand muscle coordination and EMG-EMG coherence during
      three-digit grasping.
AB  - Fingertip force control requires fine coordination of multiple hand muscles
      within and across the digits. While the modulation of neural drive to hand
      muscles as a function of force has been extensively studied, much less is known
      about the effects of fatigue on the coordination of simultaneously active hand
      muscles. We asked eight subjects to perform a fatiguing contraction by gripping a
      manipulandum with thumb, index, and middle fingers while matching an isometric
      target force (40% maximal voluntary force) for as long as possible. The
      coordination of 12 hand muscles was quantified as electromyographic (EMG) muscle
      activation pattern (MAP) vector and EMG-EMG coherence. We hypothesized that
      muscle fatigue would cause uniform changes in EMG amplitude across all muscles
      and an increase in EMG-EMG coherence in the higher frequency bands but with an
      invariant heterogeneous distribution across muscles. Muscle fatigue caused a
      12.5% drop in the maximum voluntary contraction force (P < 0.05) at task failure
      and an increase in the SD of force (P < 0.01). Although EMG amplitude of all
      muscles increased during the fatiguing contraction (P < 0.001), the MAP vector
      orientation did not change, indicating that a similar muscle coordination pattern
      was used throughout the fatiguing contraction. Last, EMG-EMG coherence (0-35 Hz)
      was significantly greater at the end than at the beginning of the fatiguing
      contraction (P < 0.01) but was heterogeneously distributed across hand muscles.
      These findings suggest that similar mechanisms are involved for modulating and
      sustaining digit forces in nonfatiguing and fatiguing contractions, respectively.

PMID- 20926610
TI  - Synchrony in normal and focal epileptic brain: the seizure onset zone is
      functionally disconnected.
AB  - Synchronization of local and distributed neuronal assemblies is thought to
      underlie fundamental brain processes such as perception, learning, and cognition.
      In neurological disease, neuronal synchrony can be altered and in epilepsy may
      play an important role in the generation of seizures. Linear cross-correlation
      and mean phase coherence of local field potentials (LFPs) are commonly used
      measures of neuronal synchrony and have been studied extensively in epileptic
      brain. Multiple studies have reported that epileptic brain is characterized by
      increased neuronal synchrony except possibly prior to seizure onset when
      synchrony may decrease. Previous studies using intracranial
      electroencephalography (EEG), however, have been limited to patients with
      epilepsy. Here we investigate neuronal synchrony in epileptic and control brain
      using intracranial EEG recordings from patients with medically resistant partial
      epilepsy and control subjects with intractable facial pain. For both epilepsy and
      control patients, average LFP synchrony decreases with increasing interelectrode
      distance. Results in epilepsy patients show lower LFP synchrony between seizure
      generating brain and other brain regions. This relative isolation of seizure
      generating brain underlies the paradoxical finding that control patients without
      epilepsy have greater average LFP synchrony than patients with epilepsy. In
      conclusion, we show that in patients with focal epilepsy, the region of epileptic
      brain generating seizures is functionally isolated from surrounding brain
      regions. We further speculate that this functional isolation may contribute to
      spontaneous seizure generation and may represent a clinically useful
      electrophysiological signature for mapping epileptic brain.

PMID- 20926611
TI  - Hyperexcitable substantia nigra dopamine neurons in PINK1- and HtrA2/Omi
      deficient mice.
AB  - The electrophysiological properties of substantia nigra pars compacta (SNC)
      dopamine neurons can influence their susceptibility to degeneration in toxin
      based models of Parkinson's disease (PD), suggesting that excitotoxic and/or
      hypoactive mechanisms may be engaged during the early stages of the disease. It
      is unclear, however, whether the electrophysiological properties of SNC dopamine
      neurons are affected by genetic susceptibility to PD. Here we show that deletion
      of PD-associated genes, PINK1 or HtrA2/Omi, leads to a functional reduction in
      the activity of small-conductance Ca(2+)-activated potassium channels. This
      reduction causes SNC dopamine neurons to fire action potentials in an irregular
      pattern and enhances burst firing in brain slices and in vivo. In contrast, PINK1
      deletion does not affect firing regularity in ventral tegmental area dopamine
      neurons or substantia nigra pars reticulata GABAergic neurons. These findings
      suggest that changes in SNC dopamine neuron excitability may play a role in their
      selective vulnerability in PD.

PMID- 20926612
TI  - Social and ecological regulation of a decision-making circuit.
AB  - Ecological context, sensory inputs, and the internal physiological state are all
      factors that need to be integrated for an animal to make appropriate behavioral
      decisions. However, these factors have rarely been studied in the same system. In
      the African cichlid fish Astatotilapia burtoni, males alternate between two
      phenotypes based on position in a social hierarchy. When dominant (DOM), fish
      display bright body coloration and a wealth of aggressive and reproductive
      behavioral patterns that make them conspicuous to predators. Subordinate (SUB)
      males, on the other hand, decrease predation risk by adopting cryptic coloration
      and schooling behavior. We therefore hypothesized that DOMs would show enhanced
      startle-escape responsiveness to compensate for their increased predation risk.
      Indeed, behavioral responses to sound clicks of various intensities showed a
      significantly higher mean startle rate in DOMs compared with SUBs.
      Electrophysiological recordings from the Mauthner cells (M-cells), the neurons
      triggering startle, were performed in anesthetized animals and showed larger
      synaptic responses to sound clicks in DOMs, consistent with the behavioral
      results. In addition, the inhibitory drive mediated by interneurons (passive
      hyperpolarizing potential [PHP] cells) presynaptic to the M-cell was
      significantly reduced in DOMs. Taken together, the results suggest that the
      likelihood for an escape to occur for a given auditory stimulus is higher in DOMs
      because of a more excitable M-cell. More broadly, this study provides an
      integrative explanation of an ecological and social trade-off at the level of an
      identifiable decision-making neural circuit.

PMID- 20926614
TI  - Topographic organization of excitatory and inhibitory commissural connections in
      the superior colliculi and their functional roles in saccade generation.
AB  - Our electrophysiological study showed that there are topographic connections
      between excitatory and inhibitory commissural neurons (CNs) in one superior
      colliculus (SC) and tectoreticular neurons (TRNs) in the opposite SC. To obtain
      morphological evidence for these topographic commissural connections between the
      SCs, tracers were injected into various parts of the SC, the inhibitory burst
      neuron (IBN) area and Forel's field H (FFH), in the cat. Retrogradely labeled CNs
      were classified into three types according to their somatic areas and identified
      as GABA-positive or -negative immunohistochemically. Caudal SC injections labeled
      small GABA-positive CNs (<200 MUm(2)) in the deep layers of the opposite rostral
      SC. Rostral SC injections mainly labeled medium-sized GABA-negative CNs (200-700
      MUm(2)) in the upper intermediate layer of the opposite rostral SC and small GABA
      positive CNs in its deeper layers. Lateral SC injections labeled small GABA
      positive CNs in the opposite medial SC and mainly medium-sized GABA-negative CNs
      in its lateral part. Medial SC injections labeled small GABA-positive CNs in the
      lateral SC and medium-sized GABA-negative CNs in the medial SC. In comparison,
      TRNs projecting to the FFH or IBN region were large (>700 MUm(2)) and medium
      sized. Many of the medium-sized GABA-negative CNs were TRNs projecting to the
      FFH. These results indicate that mirror-symmetric excitatory pathways link medial
      to medial (upper field) and lateral to lateral (lower field) parts of the SCs,
      whereas upper and lower field representations are linked by reciprocal inhibitory
      pathways in the tectal commissure. These connections presumably play important
      roles in conjugate upward and downward vertical saccades.

PMID- 20926613
TI  - Astrocytes in the retrotrapezoid nucleus sense H+ by inhibition of a Kir4.1
      Kir5.1-like current and may contribute to chemoreception by a purinergic
      mechanism.
AB  - Central chemoreception is the mechanism by which CO(2)/pH sensors regulate
      breathing in response to tissue pH changes. There is compelling evidence that pH
      sensitive neurons in the retrotrapezoid nucleus (RTN) are important
      chemoreceptors. Evidence also indicates that CO(2)/H(+)-evoked adenosine 5'
      triphosphate (ATP) release in the RTN, from pH-sensitive astrocytes, contributes
      to chemoreception. However, mechanism(s) by which RTN astrocytes sense pH is
      unknown and their contribution to chemoreception remains controversial. Here, we
      use the brain slice preparation and a combination of patch-clamp
      electrophysiology and immunohistochemistry to confirm that RTN astrocytes are pH
      sensitive and to determine mechanisms by which they sense pH. We show that pH
      sensitive RTN glia are immunoreactive for aldehyde dehydrogenase 1L1, a marker of
      astrocytes. In HEPES buffer the pH-sensitive current expressed by RTN astrocytes
      reversed near E(K(+)) (the equilibrium potential for K(+)) and was inhibited by
      Ba(2+) and desipramine (blocker of Kir4.1-containing channels), characteristics
      most consistent with heteromeric Kir4.1-Kir5.1 channels. In bicarbonate buffer,
      the sodium/bicarbonate cotransporter also contributed to the CO(2)/H(+)-sensitive
      current in RTN astrocytes. To test the hypothesis that RTN astrocytes contribute
      to chemoreception by a purinergic mechanism, we used fluorocitrate to selectively
      depolarize astrocytes while measuring neuronal activity. We found that
      fluorocitrate increased baseline activity and pH sensitivity of RTN neurons by a
      P2-receptor-dependent mechanism, suggesting that astrocytes may release ATP to
      activate RTN chemoreceptors. We also found in bicarbonate but not HEPES buffer
      that P2-receptor antagonists decreased CO(2) sensitivity of RTN neurons. We
      conclude that RTN astrocytes sense CO(2)/H(+) in part by inhibition of a Kir4.1
      Kir5.1-like current and may provide an excitatory purinergic drive to pH
      sensitive neurons.

PMID- 20926615
TI  - The episodic nature of spike trains in the early visual pathway.
AB  - An understanding of the neural code in a given visual area is often confounded by
      the immense complexity of visual stimuli combined with the number of possible
      meaningful patterns that comprise the response spike train. In the lateral
      geniculate nucleus (LGN), visual stimulation generates spike trains comprised of
      short spiking episodes ("events") separated by relatively long intervals of
      silence, which establishes a basis for in-depth analysis of the neural code. By
      studying this event structure in both artificial and natural visual stimulus
      contexts and at different contrasts, we are able to describe the dependence of
      event structure on stimulus class and discern which aspects generalize. We find
      that the event structure on coarse time scales is robust across stimulus and
      contrast and can be explained by receptive field processing. However, the
      relationship between the stimulus and fine-time-scale features of events is less
      straightforward, partially due to a significant amount of trial-to-trial
      variability. A new measure called "label information" identifies structural
      elements of events that can contain <=30% more information in the context of
      natural movies compared with what is available from the overall event timing. The
      first interspike interval of an event most robustly conveys additional
      information about the stimulus and is somewhat more informative than the event
      spike count and much more informative than the presence of bursts. Nearly every
      event is preserved across contrast despite changes in their fine-time-scale
      features, suggesting that--at least on a coarse level--the stimulus selectivity
      of LGN neurons is contrast invariant. Event-based analysis thus casts previously
      studied elements of LGN coding such as contrast adaptation and receptive field
      processing in a new light and leads to broad conclusions about the composition of
      the LGN neuronal code.

PMID- 20926616
TI  - Physiological basis for inhibition of morphine and improgan antinociception by
      CC12, a P450 epoxygenase inhibitor.
AB  - Many analgesic drugs, including MU-opioids, cannabinoids, and the novel nonopioid
      analgesic improgan, produce antinociception by actions in the rostral
      ventromedial medulla (RVM). There they activate pain-inhibiting neurons, termed
      "OFF-cells," defined by a nociceptive reflex-related pause in activity. Based on
      recent functional evidence that neuronal P450 epoxygenases are important for the
      central antinociceptive actions of morphine and improgan, we explored the
      convergence of opioid and nonopioid analgesic drug actions in RVM by studying the
      effects of the P450 epoxygenase inhibitor CC12 on the analgesic drug-induced
      activation of these OFF-cells and on behavioral antinociception. In rats lightly
      anesthetized with isoflurane, we recorded the effects of intraventricular
      morphine and improgan, with and without CC12 pretreatment, on tail flick latency
      and activity of identified RVM neurons: OFF-cells, ON-cells (pronociceptive
      neurons), and neutral cells (unresponsive to analgesic drugs). CC12 pretreatment
      preserved reflex-related changes in OFF-cell firing and blocked the analgesic
      actions of both drugs, without interfering with the increase in spontaneous
      firing induced by improgan or morphine. CC12 blocked suppression of evoked ON
      cell firing by improgan, but not morphine. CC12 pretreatment had no effect by
      itself on RVM neurons or behavior. These data show that the epoxygenase inhibitor
      CC12 works downstream from receptors for both MU-opioid and improgan, at the
      inhibitory input mediating the OFF-cell pause. This circuit-level analysis thus
      provides a cellular basis for the convergence of opioid and nonopioid analgesic
      actions in the RVM. A presynaptic P450 epoxygenase may therefore be an important
      target for development of clinically useful nonopioid analgesic drugs.

PMID- 20926617
TI  - Sleep and synaptic renormalization: a computational study.
AB  - Recent evidence indicates that net synaptic strength in cortical and other
      networks increases during wakefulness and returns to a baseline level during
      sleep. These homeostatic changes in synaptic strength are accompanied by
      corresponding changes in sleep slow wave activity (SWA) and in neuronal firing
      rates and synchrony. Other evidence indicates that sleep is associated with an
      initial reactivation of learned firing patterns that decreases over time.
      Finally, sleep can enhance performance of learned tasks, aid memory
      consolidation, and desaturate the ability to learn. Using a large-scale model of
      the corticothalamic system equipped with a spike-timing dependent learning rule,
      in agreement with experimental results, we demonstrate a net increase in synaptic
      strength in the waking mode associated with an increase in neuronal firing rates
      and synchrony. In the sleep mode, net synaptic strength decreases accompanied by
      a decline in SWA. We show that the interplay of activity and plasticity changes
      implements a control loop yielding an exponential, self-limiting renormalization
      of synaptic strength. Moreover, when the model "learns" a sequence of activation
      during waking, the learned sequence is preferentially reactivated during sleep,
      and reactivation declines over time. Finally, sleep-dependent synaptic
      renormalization leads to increased signal-to-noise ratios, increased resistance
      to interference, and desaturation of learning capabilities. Although the specific
      mechanisms implemented in the model cannot capture the variety and complexity of
      biological substrates, and will need modifications in line with future evidence,
      the present simulations provide a unified, parsimonious account for diverse
      experimental findings coming from molecular, electrophysiological, and behavioral
      approaches.

PMID- 20926619
TI  - Characterization of digoxin uptake in sandwich-cultured human hepatocytes.
AB  - Digoxin is a drug that is commonly used to treat congestive heart failure.
      Because of digoxin's narrow therapeutic index, patients are susceptible to drug
      drug interaction-mediated cardiotoxicity. Digoxin is primarily cleared renally;
      however, a significant component of clearance is due to multidrug resistance 1
      mediated transport into bile. Digoxin is reported to be actively transported into
      human hepatocytes by the organic anion-transporting polypeptide 1B3 (OATP1B3);
      however, further characterization has not been fully described. The purpose of
      this study was to investigate the hepatic uptake mechanisms of [(3)H]digoxin
      using sandwich-cultured human hepatocytes (SCHH) and transporter-expressing
      cells. Digoxin uptake in SCHH involves both a saturable (carrier-mediated)
      process and a passive (nonsaturable) process. At low concentrations, the
      saturable component exhibited an apparent K(m) of 2.39 MUM and a V(max) of 4.49
      pmol/(min . mg protein). The calculated passive diffusion clearance was 1.25
      MUl/(min . mg protein). Uptake of [(3)H]digoxin in SCHH was not inhibited by a
      variety of substrates or inhibitors for OATP1B1, OATP1B3, OATP2B1, organic anion
      transporter 2, organic cation transporter 1, and monocarboxylate transporter 8.
      Cytochalasin B, which inhibits glucose transporters, did not significantly
      inhibit digoxin uptake, whereas the flavonoids quercetin and rutin inhibited
      uptake by ~50%. Nonlabeled digoxin inhibited [(3)H]digoxin uptake by ~50%.
      Studies with OATP-transfected human embryonic kidney cells or oocytes showed that
      digoxin is not a substrate of OATP1B1, OATP2B1, or OATP1B3. In conclusion, the
      data suggest that digoxin uptake in SCHH involves both saturable and passive
      processes. The saturable process is mediated by an as yet undetermined digoxin
      transporter(s).

PMID- 20926618
TI  - A gain-of-function mutation of Arabidopsis cryptochrome1 promotes flowering.
AB  - Plants use different classes of photoreceptors to collect information about their
      light environment. Cryptochromes are blue light photoreceptors that control
      deetiolation, entrain the circadian clock, and are involved in flowering time
      control. Here, we describe the cry1-L407F allele of Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis
      thaliana), which encodes a hypersensitive cryptochrome1 (cry1) protein. Plants
      carrying the cry1-L407F point mutation have elevated expression of CONSTANS and
      FLOWERING LOCUS T under short-day conditions, leading to very early flowering.
      These results demonstrate that not only the well-studied cry2, with an
      unequivocal role in flowering promotion, but also cry1 can function as an
      activator of the floral transition. The cry1-L407F mutants are also
      hypersensitive toward blue, red, and far-red light in hypocotyl growth
      inhibition. In addition, cry1-L407F seeds are hypersensitive to germination
      inducing red light pulses, but the far-red reversibility of this response is not
      compromised. This demonstrates that the cry1-L407F photoreceptor can increase the
      sensitivity of phytochrome signaling cascades. Molecular dynamics simulation of
      wild-type and mutant cry1 proteins indicated that the L407F mutation considerably
      reduces the structural flexibility of two solvent-exposed regions of the protein,
      suggesting that the hypersensitivity might result from a reduced entropic penalty
      of binding events during downstream signal transduction. Other nonmutually
      exclusive potential reasons for the cry1-L407F gain of function are the location
      of phenylalanine-407 close to three conserved tryptophans, which could change
      cry1's photochemical properties, and stabilization of ATP binding, which could
      extend the lifetime of the signaling state of cry1.

PMID- 20926620
TI  - Toxicological evaluation of acyl glucuronides of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory
      drugs using human embryonic kidney 293 cells stably expressing human UDP
      glucuronosyltransferase and human hepatocytes.
AB  - The chemical reactivity of acyl glucuronide (AG) has been thought to be
      associated with the toxic properties of drugs containing carboxylic acid
      moieties, but there has been no direct evidence that AG formation was related to
      the toxicity. In the present study, the cytotoxicity and genotoxicity of AGs were
      investigated. Human embryonic kidney (HEK) 293 cells stably expressing UDP
      glucuronosyltransferase (UGT) 1A3 (HEK/UGT1A3) were constructed to assess the
      cytotoxicity of AGs, and HEK/UGT1A4 cells were also used as a negative reference.
      After exposure to nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as naproxen
      (1 mM), diclofenac (0.1 mM), ketoprofen (1 mM), or ibuprofen (1 mM) for 24 h,
      HEK/UGT1A3 cells produced AG in a time-dependent manner. However, HEK/UGT1A4
      cells hardly produced AG. The cytotoxicity of HEK/UGT1A3 cells was not increased
      compared with that of HEK/UGT1A4 cells. In addition, the AG formed in NSAID
      treated human hepatocytes was decreased from one-third to one-ninth by treatment
      with (-)-borneol, an inhibitor of acyl glucuronidation, but the cytotoxicity was
      increased. These results indicated that AG formation reflected the detoxification
      process in human hepatocytes. Furthermore, the possibility of genotoxicity from
      the AG formed in NSAID-treated HEK/UGT cells was investigated by the comet assay,
      and DNA damage was not detected in any HEK/UGT cell lines. In conclusion, the in
      vitro cytotoxic and genotoxic effects of the AGs of NSAIDs were investigated and
      AG was not found to be a causal factor in the toxicity.

PMID- 20926621
TI  - Identification of human liver cytochrome P450 enzymes involved in the metabolism
      of SCH 530348 (Vorapaxar), a potent oral thrombin protease-activated receptor 1
      antagonist.
AB  - Vorapaxar (SCH 530348), a potent oral thrombin protease-activated receptor 1
      antagonist, is being developed as an antiplatelet agent for patients with
      established vascular disease. The objective of this study was to identify the
      human liver cytochrome P450 (P450) enzyme(s) responsible for the metabolism of
      SCH 530348. Human liver microsomes metabolized SCH 530348 to M19, an amine
      metabolite formed via carbamate cleavage, and M20 (monohydroxy-SCH 530348).
      Recombinant human CYP3A4 exhibited the most activity (11.5% profiled
      radioactivity) for the formation of M19, followed by markedly less substrate
      conversion with CYP1A1 and CYP2C19. Trace levels of M19, a major excreted human
      metabolite, were detected with CYP1A2, CYP3A5, and CYP4F3A. Formation of M19 by
      human liver microsomes was inhibited 89% by ketoconazole (IC(50), 0.73 MUM), 34%
      by tranylcypromine, and 89% by anti-CYP3A4 monoclonal antibody. There was a
      significant correlation between the rate of M19 formation and midazolam 1'
      hydroxylation (r = 0.75) or M19 formation and testosterone 6beta-hydroxylation (r
      = 0.92). The results of screening, inhibition, and correlation studies confirmed
      that CYP3A4 is the major P450 enzyme responsible for M19 formation from SCH
      530348. In contrast, formation of M20, a major circulating human metabolite at
      steady state, was primarily catalyzed by CYP3A4 and CYP2J2. M20 is
      pharmacologically equipotent to SCH 530348, whereas M19 is an inactive
      metabolite. Formation of M20 by human liver microsomes was inhibited 89% by
      ketoconazole, 75% by astemizole (a CYP2J2 inhibitor), and 43% by CYP3A4
      monoclonal antibody. These results suggest that CYP3A4 and CYP2J2 are both
      involved in the formation of M20 metabolite.

PMID- 20926623
TI  - Ethosuximide was superior to valproate and lamotrigine in controlling seizures
      and minimising side effects.

PMID- 20926622
TI  - Which injuries may indicate child abuse?
AB  - Making the decision as to whether an injury is a result of child abuse or not is
      stressful for both the family involved and the clinical team. It is not a
      decision that is taken lightly, and with an increasing expectation by the
      investigating agencies, lawyers and the public in general, to ensure that it is
      based on explicit 'evidence', clinicians need to be up to date with the latest
      scientific publications in the field. This article aims to summarise the current
      evidence in relation to all physical injuries except those pertaining to the
      central nervous system, which will form a separate article. It will examine the
      pattern of accidental and abusive bruises, fractures, burns, abdominal injuries
      and oral injuries focusing on discriminating features and necessary
      investigations.

PMID- 20926624
TI  - Assessment and investigation of the child with disordered development.
AB  - Every paediatrician, generalist or specialist, at every level and in every
      setting will come across the child or young person with disordered development
      and has a duty of care to ensure that appropriate assessment and investigations
      are undertaken, if each individual is to be given the best possible opportunities
      to achieve the highest possible level of participation and enjoy the best
      possible quality of life. Using a structured approach, all paediatricians have
      the potential to make a significant positive difference and should seek every
      opportunity to do so, even if seeing the child for an entirely different reason.
      Key messages of this article include: (1) each child is unique and requires
      careful, individual, clinical assessment and thought before any investigations
      are undertaken; (2) there is no single list of appropriate tests to be done for
      all children with disordered development; (3) the clinical judgement of the
      experienced clinician (expert triage) is more helpful than 'guidelines' in
      deciding which investigations to do; (4) clinical networking with colleagues in
      paediatric neurodisability, neurology, clinical genetics, metabolic paediatrics,
      and so on, is essential to achieve the highest possible yield from investigations
      and to reduce the number, discomfort and expense of inappropriate investigations;
      (5) the more effort and thought that goes into formulating differential
      diagnoses, the more appropriate the investigations are likely to be and the
      higher the likely diagnostic hit rate. Diagnostic hit rates up to 80% have been
      reported in the literature for those with severe learning disabilities and this
      is likely to be even higher once microarray comparative genomic hybridisation
      becomes more widely available.

PMID- 20926625
TI  - Medical and prehospital care training in UK fire and rescue services.

PMID- 20926626
TI  - Asymptomatic common carotid artery dissection caused by blunt injury.

PMID- 20926627
TI  - The reliability of vital signs in estimating pain severity among adult patients
      treated by paramedics.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to examine the strength of correlation
      between initial pain severity score and systolic blood pressure, heart rate and
      respiratory rates among adults reporting pain in the prehospital setting as a
      means of validating the presence and severity of pain. METHODS: A retrospective
      cohort study was conducted including all adults with a Glasgow Coma Score >12
      assessed by paramedics in a metropolitan area over a 7 day period in 2005. Pain
      was self-scored by patients using a 0-10 numeric rating scale (NRS). RESULTS: Of
      the patients transported, 1766/3357 (53%) reported pain, and an NRS score was
      recorded for 1286. Median age was 57 years, 51% were women, and median initial
      NRS was six. Mean heart rate was 85 (95% CI 84 to 86), mean systolic blood
      pressure was 139 mmHg (95% CI 138 to 141) and mean respiratory rate was 18 (95%
      CI 18 to 18). There was no significant correlation between NRS and heart rate
      (r=0.002, p=0.61, 95% CI -0.007 to +0.011) or blood pressure (r=-0.0007, p=0.81,
      95% CI -0.007 to +0.005), although this was statistically significant for initial
      pain score and respiratory rate (r 0.058, p=0.001, 95% CI 0.024 to 0.093).
      CONCLUSION: A lack of any meaningful correlation between pain scores and changes
      in vital signs in this population demonstrates that these signs cannot be used to
      validate the severity of pain reported by adult patients.

PMID- 20926628
TI  - A prospective review of the use of ketamine to facilitate endotracheal intubation
      in the helicopter emergency medical services (HEMS) setting.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Ketamine is a dissociative agent used for sedation and intubation
      in various clinical settings. Despite its proven haemodynamic safety, ketamine
      has not been widely used in prehospital medicine. This study examined the use of
      ketamine in helicopter emergency medical services (HEMS). METHODS: This
      prospective cohort study enrolled all patients transported by a single HEMS
      program in whom ketamine was used to facilitate intubation. Data were collected
      using standard forms by two independent trained research staff. Demographics,
      medical condition, intubation conditions, vital signs (pre and post drug
      administration) and complications were recorded. Proportions, medians with IQR,
      change scores and CIs are reported; differences were compared using paired t
      tests. RESULTS: During the 2-year study period, 71 patients received ketamine to
      facilitate endotracheal intubation. Ketamine was used most often in men (52
      (73%)), and the median age was 49 years (IQR: 31, 69). Most patients were adults
      (70 (99%)) with medical illnesses (42 (59%)); 37 (52%) intubations were performed
      at the sending hospital, and 30 (42%) were performed on scene. A paramedic
      performed the intubation in 58 cases (82%). The median ketamine dose was 80 mg
      (IQR: 60, 100; ~ 1mg/kg); 53 (75%) patients also received a paralytic agent. Mean
      arterial pressure (2.3 mmHg; 95% CI: -8.0 to 3.3) and heart rate (0.45 beats/min,
      95% CI: -4.9 to 4.0) changes failed to reach statistical or clinical
      significance. No differences were found between patients with suspected
      concomitant head injury and other patients with respect to ketamine dose, changes
      in vital signs and complications. Complications included: one (1.4%) interstitial
      IV, five (7%) failed intubations, five (7%) hypotension and four (6%)
      hypertension episodes, one (1%) bradycardia, two (3%) tachycardia and five (7%)
      deaths. CONCLUSIONS: Ketamine is an effective agent in facilitating intubation in
      a HEMS environment. Complications are similar to use in the controlled Emergency
      Department setting.

PMID- 20926629
TI  - Exercise reduces oxidative stress but does not alleviate hyperinsulinemia or
      renal dopamine D1 receptor dysfunction in obese rats.
AB  - Impairment of renal dopamine D1 receptor (D1R)-mediated natriuresis is associated
      with hypertension in humans and animal models, including obese Zucker rats. We
      have previously reported that treatment of these rats with antioxidants or
      insulin sensitizers reduced insulin levels and oxidative stress, restored D1R
      mediated natriuresis, and reduced blood pressure. Furthermore, the redox
      sensitive transcription factor, nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB), has been
      implicated in impairment of D1R-mediated natriuresis during oxidative stress. In
      this study, we investigated the effect of exercise on insulin levels, oxidative
      stress, nuclear translocation of NF-kappaB, blood pressure, albuminuria, and D1R
      mediated natriuresis. The exercise protocol involved treadmill exercise from 3 wk
      of age for 8 wk. Exercise reduced oxidative stress, nuclear translocation of NF
      kappaB, and albuminuria. However, exercise did not reduce plasma insulin levels
      or blood pressure. Also, selective D1R agonist (SKF-38393)-mediated increases in
      sodium excretion and guanosine 5'-O-(3-thiotriphosphate) binding were impaired in
      obese rats compared with lean rats, and exercise did not restore this defect. We
      conclude that, while exercise is beneficial in reducing oxidative stress and
      renal injury, reducing insulin levels may be required to restore D1R-mediated
      natriuresis in this model of obesity and metabolic syndrome. Furthermore, this
      study supports previous observations that restoring D1R function contributes to
      blood pressure reduction in this model.

PMID- 20926630
TI  - Drosophila provides rapid modeling of renal development, function, and disease.
AB  - The evolution of specialized excretory cells is a cornerstone of the metazoan
      radiation, and the basic tasks performed by Drosophila and human renal systems
      are similar. The development of the Drosophila renal (Malpighian) tubule is a
      classic example of branched tubular morphogenesis, allowing study of mesenchymal
      to-epithelial transitions, stem cell-mediated regeneration, and the evolution of
      a glomerular kidney. Tubule function employs conserved transport proteins, such
      as the Na(+), K(+)-ATPase and V-ATPase, aquaporins, inward rectifier K(+)
      channels, and organic solute transporters, regulated by cAMP, cGMP, nitric oxide,
      and calcium. In addition to generation and selective reabsorption of primary
      urine, the tubule plays roles in metabolism and excretion of xenobiotics, and in
      innate immunity. The gene expression resource FlyAtlas.org shows that the tubule
      is an ideal tissue for the modeling of renal diseases, such as nephrolithiasis
      and Bartter syndrome, or for inborn errors of metabolism. Studies are assisted by
      uniquely powerful genetic and transgenic resources, the widespread availability
      of mutant stocks, and low-cost, rapid deployment of new transgenics to allow
      manipulation of renal function in an organotypic context.

PMID- 20926631
TI  - Expression and role of serum and glucocorticoid-regulated kinase 2 in the
      regulation of Na+/H+ exchanger 3 in the mammalian kidney.
AB  - Serum and glucocorticoid-regulated kinase 2 (sgk2) is 80% identical to the kinase
      domain of sgk1, an important mediator of mineralocorticoid-regulated sodium
      (Na(+)) transport in the distal nephron of the kidney. The expression pattern and
      role in renal function of sgk2 are virtually uncharacterized. In situ
      hybridization and immunohistochemistry of rodent kidney coupled with real-time RT
      PCR of microdissected rat kidney tubules showed robust sgk2 expression in the
      proximal straight tubule and thick ascending limb of the loop of Henle. Sgk2
      expression was minimal in distal tubule cells with aquaporin-2 immunostaining but
      significant in proximal tubule cells with Na(+)/H(+) exchanger 3 (NHE3)
      immunostaining. To ascertain whether mineralocorticoids regulate expression of
      sgk2 in a manner similar to sgk1, we examined sgk2 mRNA expression in the kidneys
      of adrenalectomized rats treated with physiological doses of aldosterone together
      with the glucocorticoid receptor antagonist RU486. Northern blot analysis and in
      situ hybridization showed that, unlike sgk1, sgk2 expression in the kidney was
      not altered by aldosterone treatment. Based on the observation that sgk2 is
      expressed in proximal tubule cells that also express NHE3, we asked whether sgk2
      regulates NHE3 activity. We heterologously expressed sgk2 in opossum kidney (OKP)
      cells and measured Na(+)/H(+) exchange activity by Na(+)-dependent cell pH
      recovery. Constitutively active sgk2, but not sgk1, stimulated Na(+)/H(+)
      exchange activity by >30%. Moreover, the sgk2-mediated increase in Na(+)/H(+)
      exchange activity correlated with an increase in cell surface expression of NHE3.
      Together, these results suggest that the pattern of expression, regulation, and
      role of sgk2 within the mammalian kidney are distinct from sgk1 and that sgk2 may
      play a previously unrecognized role in the control of transtubular Na(+)
      transport through NHE3 in the proximal tubule.

PMID- 20926632
TI  - Global gene expression profiling in early-stage polycystic kidney disease in the
      Han:SPRD Cy rat identifies a role for RXR signaling.
AB  - Han:SPRD Cy is a spontaneous rat model of polycystic kidney disease (PKD) caused
      by a missense mutation in Pkdr1. Cystogenesis in this model is not clearly
      understood. In the current study, we performed global gene expression profiling
      in early-stage PKD cyst development in Cy/Cy kidneys and normal (+/+) kidneys at
      3 and 7 days of postnatal age. Expression profiles were determined by microarray
      analysis, followed by validation with real-time RT-PCR. Genes were selected with
      over 1.5-fold expression changes compared with age-matched +/+ kidneys for
      canonical pathway analysis. We found nine pathways in common between 3- and 7-day
      Cy/Cy kidneys. Three significantly changed pathways were designated "Vitamin D
      Receptor (VDR)/Retinoid X Receptor (RXR) Activation," "LPS/IL-1-Mediated
      Inhibition of RXR Function," and "Liver X Receptor (LXR)/RXR Activation." These
      results suggest that RXR-mediated signaling is significantly altered in
      developing kidneys with mutated Pkdr1. In gene ontology analysis, the functions
      of these RXR-related genes were found to be involved in regulating cell
      proliferation and organ morphogenesis. With real-time RT-PCR analysis, the
      upregulation of Ptx2, Alox15b, OSP, and PCNA, major markers of cell proliferation
      associated with the RXR pathway, were confirmed in 3- and 7-day Cy/Cy kidneys
      compared with 3-day +/+ kidneys. The increased RXR protein was observed in both
      the nucleus and cytoplasm of cystic epithelial cells in early-stage Cy/Cy
      kidneys, and the RXR-positive cells were strongly positive for PCNA staining.
      Taken together, cell proliferation and organ morphogenesis signals transduced by
      RXR-mediated pathways may have important roles for cystogenesis in early-stage
      PKD in this Pkdr1-mutated Cy rat.

PMID- 20926633
TI  - Telomerase immortalization of principal cells from mouse collecting duct.
AB  - Recently, the use of overexpression of telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT)
      has led to the generation of immortalized human cell lines. However, this cell
      immortalization approach has not been reported in well-differentiated mouse
      cells, such as renal epithelial cells. We sought to establish and then
      characterize a mouse collecting duct cell line, using ectopic expression of
      mTERT. Isolated primary cortical collecting duct (CCD) cell lines were transduced
      with mouse (m)TERT, using a lentiviral vector. mTERT-negative cells did not
      survive blasticidin selection, whereas mTERT-immortalized cells proliferated in
      selection media for over 40 subpassages. mTERT messenger RNA and telomerase
      activity was elevated in these cells, compared with an SV40-immortalized cell
      line. Flow cytometry with Dolichos biflorus agglutinin was used to select the CCD
      principal cells, and we designated this cell line mTERT-CCD. Cells were well
      differentiated and exhibited morphological characteristics typically found in
      renal epithelial cells, such as tight junction formation, microvilli, and primary
      cilia. Further characterization using standard immunofluorescence revealed
      abundant expression of aquaporin-2 and the vasopressin type 2 receptor. mTERT-CCD
      cells exhibited cAMP-stimulated/benzamil-inhibited whole cell currents. Whole
      cell patch-clamp currents were also enhanced after a 6-day treatment with
      aldosterone. In conclusion, we have successfully used mTERT to immortalize mouse
      collecting duct cells that retain the basic in vivo phenotypic characteristics of
      collecting duct cells. This technique should be valuable in generating cell lines
      from genetically engineered mouse models.

PMID- 20926634
TI  - Hypertension resistance polymorphisms in ROMK (Kir1.1) alter channel function by
      different mechanisms.
AB  - The renal outer medullary K(+) (ROMK) channel plays a critical role in renal
      sodium handling. Recent genome sequencing efforts in the Framingham Heart Study
      offspring cohort (Ji W, Foo JN, O'Roak BJ, Zhao H, Larson MG, Simon DB, Newton
      Cheh C, State MW, Levy D, and Lifton RP. Nat Genet 40: 592-599, 2008) recently
      revealed an association between suspected loss-of-function polymorphisms in the
      ROMK channel and resistance to hypertension, suggesting that ROMK activity may
      also be a determinant of blood pressure control in the general population. Here
      we examine whether these sequence variants do, in fact, alter ROMK channel
      function and explore the mechanisms. As assessed by two-microelectrode voltage
      clamp in Xenopus oocytes, 3/5 of the variants (R193P, H251Y, and T313FS)
      displayed an almost complete attenuation of whole cell ROMK channel activity.
      Surface antibody binding measurements of external epitope-tagged channels and
      analysis of glycosylation-state maturation revealed that these variants prevent
      channel expression at the plasmalemma, likely as a consequence of retention in
      the endoplasmic reticulum. The other variants (P166S, R169H) had no obvious
      effects on the basal channel activity or surface expression but, instead,
      conferred a gain in regulated-inhibitory gating. As assessed in giant excised
      patch-clamp studies, apparent phosphotidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP(2))
      binding affinity of the variants was reduced, causing channels to be more
      susceptible to inhibition upon PIP(2) depletion. Unlike the protein product of
      the major ROMK allele, these two variants are sensitive to the inhibitory affects
      of a G protein-coupled receptor, which stimulates PIP(2) hydrolysis. In summary,
      we have found that hypertension resistance sequence variants inhibit ROMK channel
      function by different mechanisms, providing new insights into the role of the
      channel in the maintenance of blood pressure.

PMID- 20926635
TI  - Molecular studies of influenza B virus in the reverse genetics era.
AB  - Recovery of an infectious virus of defined genetic structure entirely from cDNA
      and the deduction of information about the virus resulting from phenotypic
      characterization of the mutant is the process of reverse genetics. This approach
      has been possible for a number of negative-strand RNA viruses since the recovery
      of rabies virus in 1994. However, the recovery of recombinant orthomyxoviruses
      posed a greater challenge due to the segmented nature of the genome. It was not
      until 1999 that such a system was reported for influenza A viruses, but since
      that time our knowledge of influenza A virus biology has grown dramatically.
      Annual influenza epidemics are caused not only by influenza A viruses but also by
      influenza B viruses. In 2002, two groups reported the successful recovery of
      influenza B virus entirely from cDNA. This has allowed greater depth of study
      into the biology of these viruses. This review will highlight the advances made
      in various areas of influenza B virus biology as a result of the development of
      reverse genetics techniques for these viruses, including (i) the importance of
      the non-coding regions of the influenza B virus genome; (ii) the generation of
      novel vaccine strains; (iii) studies into the mechanisms of drug resistance; (iv)
      the function(s) of viral proteins, both those analogous to influenza A virus
      proteins and those unique to influenza B viruses. The information generated by
      the application of influenza B virus reverse genetics systems will continue to
      contribute to our improved surveillance and control of human influenza.

PMID- 20926636
TI  - Recombinants between Deformed wing virus and Varroa destructor virus-1 may
      prevail in Varroa destructor-infested honeybee colonies.
AB  - We have used high-throughput Illumina sequencing to identify novel recombinants
      between Deformed wing virus (DWV) and Varroa destructor virus-1 (VDV-1), which
      accumulate to higher levels than DWV in both honeybees and Varroa destructor
      mites. The recombinants, VDV-1(VVD) and VDV-1(DVD), exhibit crossovers between
      the 5'-UTR and the regions encoding the structural (capsid) and non-structural
      viral proteins. This implies that the genomes are modular and that each region
      may evolve independently, as demonstrated in human enteroviruses. Individual
      honeybee pupae were infected with a mixture of observed recombinants and DWV. A
      strong correlation was observed between VDV-1(DVD) levels in honeybee pupae and
      associated mites, suggesting that this recombinant, with a DWV-derived 5'-UTR and
      non-structural protein region flanking a VDV-1-derived capsid-encoding region, is
      better adapted to transmission between V. destructor and honeybees than the
      parental DWV or a recombinant bearing the VDV-1-derived 5'-UTR (VDV-1(VVD)).

PMID- 20926637
TI  - Varroa destructor is an effective vector of Israeli acute paralysis virus in the
      honeybee, Apis mellifera.
AB  - The Israeli acute paralysis virus (IAPV) is a significant marker of honeybee
      colony collapse disorder (CCD). In the present work, we provide the first
      evidence that Varroa destructor is IAPV replication-competent and capable of
      vectoring IAPV in honeybees. The honeybees became infected with IAPV after
      exposure to Varroa mites that carried the virus. The copy number of IAPV in bees
      was positively correlated with the density of Varroa mites and time period of
      exposure to Varroa mites. Further, we showed that the mite-virus association
      could possibly reduce host immunity and therefore promote elevated levels of
      virus replication. This study defines an active role of Varroa mites in IAPV
      transmission and sheds light on the epidemiology of IAPV infection in honeybees.

PMID- 20926638
TI  - Evolutionary history of dog rabies in Brazil.
AB  - Although dogs are considered to be the principal transmitter of rabies in Brazil,
      dog rabies had never been recorded in South America before European colonization.
      In order to investigate the evolutionary history of dog rabies virus (RABV) in
      Brazil, we performed a phylogenetic analysis of carnivore RABV isolates from
      around the world and estimated the divergence times for dog RABV in Brazil. Our
      estimate for the time of introduction of dog RABV into Brazil was the late-19th
      to early-20th century, which was later than the colonization period but
      corresponded to a period of increased immigration from Europe to Brazil. In
      addition, dog RABVs appeared to have spread to indigenous animals in Brazil
      during the latter half of the 20th century, when the development and urbanization
      of Brazil occurred. These results suggest that the movement of rabid dogs, along
      with human activities since the 19th century, promoted the introduction and
      expansion of dog RABV in Brazil.

PMID- 20926639
TI  - The variable regions of hepatitis C virus glycoprotein E2 have an essential
      structural role in glycoprotein assembly and virion infectivity.
AB  - The three variable regions of hepatitis C virus (HCV) glycoprotein E2 can be
      removed simultaneously from the E2 ectodomain (residues 384-661) without
      affecting folding or CD81 binding. In this study, we show that deletion of
      hypervariable region (HVR) 2 or the intergenotypic variable region (igVR) in the
      context of the E1E2 polyprotein eliminates formation of heterodimers, reduces
      CD81 binding and abolishes virus entry. The replication competence of genomic RNA
      transcribed from the JFH1 infectious HCV clone was not affected by the HVR1, HVR2
      or igVR deletions in transfected Huh7.5 cells. However, infectivity of the
      resultant cell-culture-derived HCV (HCVcc) was abolished by HVR2 or igVR
      deletions, while deletion of HVR1 led to a 5- to 10-fold reduction in
      infectivity. Serial passage of cells transfected with genomes lacking HVR1
      generated reverted viruses with wild-type levels of infectivity. Sequencing of
      viral cDNA obtained after full reversion revealed mutations in E1 (I262L) and E2
      (N415D) that were present in 35 and 27 % of clones, respectively. Insertion of
      N415D into HVR1-deleted HCV genomes conferred wild-type levels of infectivity,
      while I262L increased infectivity by 2.5-fold. These results suggest that HVR2
      and the igVR, but not HVR1, are essential for structural integrity and function
      of the HCV glycoprotein heterodimer.

PMID- 20926640
TI  - Different seasons with decreased performance of immunochemical faecal occult
      blood tests in colorectal cancer screening.

PMID- 20926642
TI  - Evidence for neuroinflammation and neuroprotection in HCV infection-associated
      encephalopathy.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Fatigue, mood disturbances and cognitive dysfunction are frequent in
      patients infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) who have mild liver disease. The
      reason is still unclear. The present study aims to gain more insight into the
      pathomechanism by combining an extensive neuropsychological examination with
      magnetic resonance spectroscopy in four different brain regions in a patient
      group covering the whole spectrum of neuropsychiatric findings in patients
      afflicted with HCV who have only mild liver disease. METHODS: 53 HCV-positive
      patients with only mild liver disease and differing degrees of neuropsychiatric
      symptoms were studied with single-voxel MRS of the parietal white matter,
      occipital grey matter, basal ganglia and pons. Brain metabolite concentrations
      were quantitatively analysed by using LCmodel. MRS data were compared to those of
      23 healthy controls adjusted for age, and analysed for relationships with the
      extent of neuropsychiatric symptoms. RESULTS: Choline (p=0.02), creatine
      (p=0.047) and N-acetyl-aspartate plus N-acetyl-aspartyl-glutamate (NN, p=0.02)
      concentrations in the basal ganglia and choline concentrations in the white
      matter (p=0.045) were significantly higher in the patients than in controls.
      Interestingly, the difference was most evident for the patients with low fatigue
      scores (eg, white matter: choline: p=0.001, creatine: p=0.003, NN: p=0.031). Myo
      inositol differed significantly between groups in the white (p=0.001) and grey
      matter (p=0.003). Fatigue correlated negatively with white matter NN, choline and
      creatine and myo-inositol levels in white and grey matter and basal ganglia
      (p<0.01). CONCLUSION: As the increase of choline, creatine and myo-inositol are
      usually interpreted to indicate glial activation and macrophage infiltration in
      chronic inflammation and slow virus infections of the brain the present data
      endorse the hypothesis, that HCV infection may induce neuroinflammation and brain
      dysfunction. The concomitant increase of NN and the negative correlation to the
      extent of fatigue suggest a cerebral compensatory process after HCV infection.

PMID- 20926643
TI  - Composition and energy harvesting capacity of the gut microbiota: relationship to
      diet, obesity and time in mouse models.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Increased efficiency of energy harvest, due to alterations
      in the gut microbiota (increased Firmicutes and decreased Bacteroidetes), has
      been implicated in obesity in mice and humans. However, a causal relationship is
      unproven and contributory variables include diet, genetics and age. Therefore, we
      explored the effect of a high-fat (HF) diet and genetically determined obesity
      (ob/ob) for changes in microbiota and energy harvesting capacity over time.
      METHODS: Seven-week-old male ob/ob mice were fed a low-fat diet and wild-type
      mice were fed either a low-fat diet or a HF-diet for 8 weeks (n=8/group). They
      were assessed at 7, 11 and 15 weeks of age for: fat and lean body mass (by NMR);
      faecal and caecal short-chain fatty acids (SCFA, by gas chromatography); faecal
      energy content (by bomb calorimetry) and microbial composition (by metagenomic
      pyrosequencing). RESULTS: A progressive increase in Firmicutes was confirmed in
      both HF-fed and ob/ob mice reaching statistical significance in the former, but
      this phylum was unchanged over time in the lean controls. Reductions in
      Bacteroidetes were also found in ob/ob mice. However, changes in the microbiota
      were dissociated from markers of energy harvest. Thus, although the faecal energy
      in the ob/ob mice was significantly decreased at 7 weeks, and caecal SCFA
      increased, these did not persist and faecal acetate diminished over time in both
      ob/ob and HF-fed mice, but not in lean controls. Furthermore, the proportion of
      the major phyla did not correlate with energy harvest markers. CONCLUSION: The
      relationship between the microbial composition and energy harvesting capacity is
      more complex than previously considered. While compositional changes in the
      faecal microbiota were confirmed, this was primarily a feature of high-fat
      feeding rather than genetically induced obesity. In addition, changes in the
      proportions of the major phyla were unrelated to markers of energy harvest which
      changed over time. The possibility of microbial adaptation to diet and time
      should be considered in future studies.

PMID- 20926644
TI  - Distinguishing Menetrier's disease from its mimics.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Menetrier's disease (MD) is a rare hypertrophic gastropathy
      characterised by giant rugal folds, hypochlorhydria, protein loss and a classic
      constellation of symptoms (nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and peripheral
      oedema). It is considered a clinical diagnosis that may at times be difficult to
      establish. Firm diagnostic criteria for MD are proposed by delineating the
      clinicopathological features that best differentiate MD from its mimics. METHOD:
      48 patients referred to Vanderbilt University Medical Center for consideration of
      enrolment in a clinical trial of treatment of patients with MD with cetuximab
      were evaluated for a definitive diagnosis by assessing the clinical presentation,
      pertinent laboratory values and histopathological features. RESULTS: MD was
      confirmed in 25 of the 48 patients (52%). The remaining 23 patients were
      considered to be mimics of MD, the most common diagnoses being gastric polyps or
      polyposis syndromes (13/23, 57%). Gastric slides were available from 40 of the 48
      patients for detailed histological analysis (22/25 MD and 18/23 non-MD). Foveolar
      hyperplasia, glandular tortuosity and dilation, and a marked reduction in
      parietal cell number were present in all 22 cases of MD. Lamina propria smooth
      muscle hyperplasia and oedema characterised most cases (18/22 and 19/22,
      respectively). More than half had prominent eosinophils (11/22) and/or plasma
      cells (12/22) in the lamina propria. The clinical presentation of patients with
      MD was characterised by significantly younger age of onset, male predominance and
      increased vomiting compared with non-MD patients, and a lower prevalence of
      anaemia compared with MD patients with polyps. There was a trend towards
      increased frequency of peripheral oedema in patients with MD compared with non-MD
      patients. CONCLUSIONS: MD is most accurately diagnosed by
      clinicohistopathological analysis including oesophagogastroduodenoscopy with
      gastric pH, appropriate laboratory tests (complete blood count, serum albumin,
      serum gastrin, Helicobacter pylori and cytomegalovirus serology) and full
      thickness mucosal biopsy of the involved gastric mucosa.

PMID- 20926646
TI  - Cause-effect relationship between the hepatitis C virus and insulin resistance at
      the time of direct antiviral therapy.

PMID- 20926645
TI  - Severe polyposis in Apc(1322T) mice is associated with submaximal Wnt signalling
      and increased expression of the stem cell marker Lgr5.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) is a tumour suppressor gene
      mutated in the germline of patients with familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) and
      somatically in most colorectal cancers. APC mutations impair beta-catenin
      degradation, resulting in increased Wnt signalling. The most frequent APC
      mutation is a codon 1309 truncation that is associated with severe FAP. A
      previous study compared two mouse models of intestinal tumorigenesis, Apc(R850X)
      (Min) and Apc(1322T) (1322T), the latter a model of human codon 1309 changes.
      1322T mice had more severe polyposis but, surprisingly, these tumours had lower
      levels of nuclear beta-catenin than Min tumours. The consequences of these
      different beta-catenin levels were investigated. METHODS: Enterocytes were
      isolated from 1322T and Min tumours by microdissection and gene expression
      profiling was performed. Differentially expressed Wnt targets and other stem cell
      markers were validated using quantitative PCR, in situ hybridisation and
      immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: As expected, lower nuclear beta-catenin levels in
      1322T lesions were associated with generally lower levels of Wnt target
      expression. However, expression of the Wnt target and stem cell marker Lgr5 was
      significantly higher in 1322T tumours than in Min tumours. Other stem cell
      markers (Musashi1, Bmi1 and the Wnt target Cd44) were also at higher levels in
      1322T tumours. In addition, expression of the Bmp antagonist Gremlin1 was higher
      in 1322T tumours, together with lower Bmp2 and Bmp4 expression. CONCLUSIONS: The
      severe phenotype caused by truncation of Apc at codon 1322 is associated with an
      increased number of stem cells. Thus, a submaximal level of Wnt signalling
      favours the stem cell phenotype and this may promote tumorigenesis. A level of
      Wnt signalling exists that is too high for optimal tumour growth.

PMID- 20926647
TI  - Mapping of cortical activity in the first two decades of life: a high-density
      sleep electroencephalogram study.
AB  - Evidence that electroencephalography (EEG) slow-wave activity (SWA) (EEG spectral
      power in the 1-4.5 Hz band) during non-rapid eye movement sleep (NREM) reflects
      plastic changes is increasing (Tononi and Cirelli, 2006). Regional assessment of
      gray matter development from neuroimaging studies reveals a posteroanterior
      trajectory of cortical maturation in the first three decades of life (Shaw et
      al., 2008). Our aim was to test whether this regional cortical maturation is
      reflected in regional changes of sleep SWA. We evaluated all-night high-density
      EEG (128 channels) in 55 healthy human subjects (2.4-19.4 years) and assessed age
      related changes in NREM sleep topography. As in adults, we observed frequency
      specific topographical distributions of sleep EEG power in all subjects. However,
      from early childhood to late adolescence, the location on the scalp showing
      maximal SWA underwent a shift from posterior to anterior regions. This shift
      along the posteroanterior axis was only present in the SWA frequency range and
      remained stable across the night. Changes in the topography of SWA during sleep
      parallel neuroimaging study findings indicating cortical maturation starts early
      in posterior areas and spreads rostrally over the frontal cortex. Thus, SWA might
      reflect the underlying processes of cortical maturation. In the future, sleep SWA
      assessments may be used as a clinical tool to detect aberrations in cortical
      maturation.

PMID- 20926648
TI  - Nogo-A stabilizes the architecture of hippocampal neurons.
AB  - Although the role of myelin-derived Nogo-A as an inhibitor of axonal regeneration
      after CNS injury has been thoroughly described, its physiological function in the
      adult, uninjured CNS is less well known. We address this question in the
      hippocampus, where Nogo-A is expressed by neurons as well as oligodendrocytes. We
      used 21 d in vitro slice cultures of neonatal hippocampus where we applied
      different approaches to interfere with Nogo-A signaling and expression and
      analyze their effects on the dendritic and axonal architecture of pyramidal
      cells. Neutralization of Nogo-A by function-blocking antibodies induced a major
      alteration in the dendrite structure of hippocampal pyramidal neurons. Although
      spine density was not influenced by Nogo-A neutralization, spine type
      distribution was shifted toward a more immature phenotype. Axonal complexity and
      length were greatly increased. Nogo-A KO mice revealed a weak dendritic phenotype
      resembling the effect of the antibody treatment. To discriminate a possible cell
      autonomous role of Nogo-A from an environmental, receptor-mediated function, we
      studied the effects of short hairpin RNA-induced knockdown of Nogo-A or NgR1, a
      prominent Nogo-A receptor, within individual neurons. Knockdown of Nogo-A
      reproduced part of the dendritic and none of the spine or axon alterations.
      However, downregulation of NgR1 replicated the dendritic, the axonal, and the
      spine alterations observed after Nogo-A neutralization. Together, our results
      demonstrate that Nogo-A plays a major role in stabilizing and maintaining the
      architecture of hippocampal pyramidal neurons. Mechanistically, although the
      majority of the activity of Nogo-A relies on a receptor-mediated mechanism
      involving NgR1, its cell-autonomous function plays a minor role.

PMID- 20926649
TI  - Transcriptional control of KCNQ channel genes and the regulation of neuronal
      excitability.
AB  - Regulation of the resting membrane potential and the repolarization of neurons
      are important in regulating neuronal excitability. The potassium channel subunits
      Kv7.2 and Kv7.3 play a key role in stabilizing neuronal activity. Mutations in
      KCNQ2 and KCNQ3, the genes encoding Kv7.2 and Kv7.3, cause a neonatal form of
      epilepsy, and activators of these channels have been identified as novel
      antiepileptics and analgesics. Despite the observations that regulation of these
      subunits has profound effects on neuronal function, almost nothing is known about
      the mechanisms responsible for controlling appropriate expression levels. Here we
      identify two mechanisms responsible for regulating KCNQ2 and KCNQ3 mRNA levels.
      We show that the transcription factor Sp1 activates expression of both KCNQ2 and
      KCNQ3, whereas the transcriptional repressor REST (repressor element 1-silencing
      transcription factor) represses expression of both of these genes. Furthermore,
      we show that transcriptional regulation of KCNQ genes is mirrored by the
      correlated changes in M-current density and excitability of native sensory
      neurons. We propose that these mechanisms are important in the control of
      excitability of neurons and may have implications in seizure activity and pain.

PMID- 20926650
TI  - Smooth operator: avoidance of subharmonic bifurcations through mechanical
      mechanisms simplifies song motor control in adult zebra finches.
AB  - Like human infants, songbirds acquire their song by imitation and eventually
      generate sounds that result from complicated neural networks and intrinsically
      nonlinear physical processes. Signatures of low-dimensional chaos such as
      subharmonic bifurcations have been reported in adult and developing zebra finch
      song. Here, we use methods from nonlinear dynamics to test whether adult male
      zebra finches (Taenopygia guttata) use the intrinsic nonlinear properties of
      their vocal organ, the syrinx, to insert subharmonic transitions in their song.
      In contrast to previous data on the basis of spectrographic evidence, we show
      that subharmonic transitions do not occur in adult song. Subharmonic transitions
      also do not arise in artificially induced sound in the intact syrinx, but are
      commonly generated in the excised syrinx. These findings suggest that subharmonic
      transitions are not used to increase song complexity, and that the brain controls
      song in a surprisingly smooth control regimen. Fast, smooth changes in acoustic
      elements can be produced by direct motor control in a stereotyped fashion, which
      is a more reliable indicator of male fitness than abrupt acoustic changes that do
      not require similarly precise control. Consistent with this view is the presence
      of high fidelity at every level of motor control, from telencephalic premotor
      areas to superfast syringeal muscles.

PMID- 20926652
TI  - Role of the cerebellar cortex in conditioned goal-directed behavior.
AB  - Learning a new goal-directed behavioral task often requires the improvement of at
      least two processes, including an enhanced stimulus-response association and an
      optimization of the execution of the motor response. The cerebellum has recently
      been shown to play a role in acquiring goal-directed behavior, but it is unclear
      to what extent it contributes to a change in the stimulus-response association
      and/or the optimization of the execution of the motor response. We therefore
      designed the stimulus-dependent water Y-maze conditioning task, which allows
      discrimination between both processes, and we subsequently subjected Purkinje
      cell-specific mutant mice to this new task. The mouse mutants L7-PKCi, which
      suffer from impaired PKC-dependent processes such as parallel fiber to Purkinje
      cell long-term depression (PF-PC LTD), were able to acquire the stimulus-response
      association, but exhibited a reduced optimization of their motor performance.
      These data show that PF-PC LTD is not required for learning a stimulus-response
      association, but they do suggest that a PKC-dependent process in cerebellar
      Purkinje cells is required for optimization of motor responses.

PMID- 20926651
TI  - Sleep deprivation triggers inducible nitric oxide-dependent nitric oxide
      production in wake-active basal forebrain neurons.
AB  - Sleep loss negatively impacts performance, mood, memory, and immune function, but
      the homeostatic factors that impel sleep after sleep loss are imperfectly
      understood. Pharmacological studies had implicated the basal forebrain (BF)
      inducible nitric oxide (NO) synthase (iNOS)-dependent NO as a key homeostatic
      factor, but its cellular source was obscure. To obtain direct evidence about the
      cellular source of iNOS-generated NO during sleep deprivation (SD), we used
      intracerebroventricular perfusion in rats of the cell membrane-permeable dye
      diaminofluorescein-2/diacetate (DAF-2/DA) that, once intracellular, bound NO and
      fluoresced. To circumvent the effects of neuronal NOS (nNOS), DAF-2/DA was
      perfused in the presence of an nNOS inhibitor. SD led to DAF-positive
      fluorescence only in the BF neurons, not glia. SD increased expression of iNOS,
      which colocalized with NO in neurons and, more specifically, in prolonged
      wakefulness-active neurons labeled by Fos. SD-induced iNOS expression in
      wakefulness-active neurons positively correlated with sleep pressure, as measured
      by the number of attempts to enter sleep. Importantly, SD did not induce Fos or
      iNOS in stress-responsive central amygdala and paraventricular hypothalamic
      neurons, nor did SD elevate corticosterone, suggesting that the SD protocol did
      not provoke iNOS expression through stress. We conclude that iNOS-produced
      neuronal NO is an important homeostatic factor promoting recovery sleep after SD.

PMID- 20926653
TI  - Distinct frontoparietal networks set the stage for later perceptual
      identification priming and episodic recognition memory.
AB  - Recent imaging evidence suggests that a network of brain regions including the
      medial temporal lobe, ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, and dorsal posterior
      parietal cortex supports the successful encoding of long-term memories. Other
      areas, like the ventral posterior parietal and dorsolateral prefrontal cortices,
      have been associated with encoding failure rather than success. In line with the
      transfer-appropriate processing view, we hypothesized that distinct neural
      networks predict successful encoding depending on whether the later memory test
      draws primarily on perceptual or conceptual memory representations. Following an
      encoding phase, memory was assessed in a combined incidental perceptual
      identification and intentional recognition memory test. We found that during
      encoding, activation in ventral posterior parietal and dorsolateral prefrontal
      cortex predicted successful perceptual identification priming, whereas activation
      in ventrolateral prefrontal and dorsal posterior parietal cortex predicted
      successful recognition memory. Extending recent theories of attention to memory,
      the results suggest that ventral parietal regions support stimulus-driven
      attention to perceptual item features, forming memories accessed by later
      perceptual memory tests, whereas dorsal parietal regions support attention to
      meaningful item features, forming memories accessed by later conceptual memory
      tests.

PMID- 20926655
TI  - Targeting NMNAT1 to axons and synapses transforms its neuroprotective potency in
      vivo.
AB  - Axon and synapse degeneration are common components of many neurodegenerative
      diseases, and their rescue is essential for effective neuroprotection. The
      chimeric Wallerian degeneration slow protein (Wld(S)) protects axons dose
      dependently, but its mechanism is still elusive. We recently showed that Wld(S)
      acts at a non-nuclear location and is present in axons. This and other recent
      reports support a model in which Wld(S) protects by extranuclear redistribution
      of its nuclear NMNAT1 portion. However, it remains unclear whether cytoplasmic
      NMNAT1 acts locally in axons and synapses or at a non-nuclear site within cell
      bodies. The potency of axon protection by non-nuclear NMNAT1 relative to Wld(S)
      also needs to be established in vivo. Because the N-terminal portion of Wld(S)
      (N70) localized to axons, we hypothesized that it mediates the trafficking of the
      NMNAT1 portion. To test this, we substituted N70 with an axonal targeting peptide
      derived from amyloid precursor protein, and fused this to NMNAT1 with disrupted
      nuclear targeting. In transgenic mice, this transformed NMNAT1 from a molecule
      unable to inhibit Wallerian degeneration, even at high expression levels, into a
      protein more potent than Wld(S), able to preserve injured axons for several weeks
      at undetectable expression levels. Preventing NMNAT1 axonal delivery abolished
      its protective effect. Axonally targeted NMNAT1 localized to vesicular
      structures, colocalizing with extranuclear Wld(S), and was cotransported at least
      partially with mitochondria. We conclude that axonal targeting of NMNAT activity
      is both necessary and sufficient to delay Wallerian degeneration, and that
      promoting axonal and synaptic delivery greatly enhances the effectiveness.

PMID- 20926654
TI  - Control of exocytosis by synaptotagmins and otoferlin in auditory hair cells.
AB  - In pre-hearing mice, vesicle exocytosis at cochlear inner hair cell (IHC) ribbon
      synapses is triggered by spontaneous Ca(2+) spikes. At the onset of hearing, IHC
      exocytosis is then exclusively driven by graded potentials, and is characterized
      by higher Ca(2+) efficiency and improved synchronization of vesicular release.
      The molecular players involved in this transition are still unknown. Here we
      addressed the involvement of synaptotagmins and otoferlin as putative Ca(2+)
      sensors in IHC exocytosis during postnatal maturation of the cochlea. Using cell
      capacitance measurements, we showed that Ca(2+)-evoked exocytosis in mouse IHCs
      switches from an otoferlin-independent to an otoferlin-dependent mechanism at
      postnatal day 4. During this early exocytotic period, several synaptotagmins
      (Syts), including Syt1, Syt2 and Syt7, were detected in IHCs. The exocytotic
      response as well as the release of the readily releasable vesicle pool (RRP) was,
      however, unchanged in newborn mutant mice lacking Syt1, Syt2 or Syt7 (Syt1(-/-),
      Syt2(-/-) and Syt7(-/-) mice). We only found a defect in RRP recovery in Syt1(-/
      ) mice which was apparent as a strongly reduced response to repetitive
      stimulations. In post-hearing Syt2(-/-) and Syt7(-/-) mutant mice, IHC synaptic
      exocytosis was unaffected. The transient expression of Syt1 and Syt2, which were
      no longer detected in IHCs after the onset of hearing, indicates that these two
      most common Ca(2+)-sensors in CNS synapses are not involved in mature IHCs. We
      suggest that otoferlin underlies highly efficient Ca(2+)-dependent membrane
      membrane fusion, a process likely essential to increase the probability and
      synchrony of vesicle fusion events at the mature IHC ribbon synapse.

PMID- 20926656
TI  - Histone H1 poly[ADP]-ribosylation regulates the chromatin alterations required
      for learning consolidation.
AB  - Memory formation requires changes in gene expression, which are regulated by the
      activation of transcription factors and by changes in epigenetic factors.
      Poly[ADP]-ribosylation of nuclear proteins has been postulated as a chromatin
      modification involved in memory consolidation, although the mechanisms involved
      are not well characterized. Here we demonstrate that poly[ADP]-ribose polymerase
      1 (PARP-1) activity and the poly[ADP]-ribosylation of proteins over a specific
      time course is required for the changes in synaptic plasticity related to memory
      stabilization in mice. At the molecular level, histone H1 poly[ADP]-ribosylation
      was evident in the hippocampus after the acquisition period, and it was
      selectively released in a PARP-1-dependent manner at the promoters of cAMP
      response element-binding protein and nuclear factor-kappaB dependent genes
      associated with learning and memory. These findings suggest that histone H1
      poly[ADP]-ribosylation, and its loss at specific loci, is an epigenetic mechanism
      involved in the reprogramming of neuronal gene expression required for memory
      consolidation.

PMID- 20926657
TI  - Left hemisphere lateralization for language in right-handers is controlled in
      part by familial sinistrality, manual preference strength, and head size.
AB  - We investigated the effects of familial sinistrality (FS+; presence of left
      handedness in one's close relatives), manual preference strength (MPS), and head
      size on the hemispheric lateralization of language in right-handers. Functional
      magnetic resonance imaging was used to map 49 individuals while listening to a
      story in their mother tongue. We found that individuals who had both the FS+
      trait and weak MPS had no left hemisphere dominance for this lexicosyntactic
      task, whereas others showed a leftward functional asymmetry. In addition, the
      smaller the brain size, the smaller the leftward asymmetry for language,
      independent of FS and MPS. None of these effects were observed when the same
      subjects performed a spatial attention task that elicited right hemispheric
      functional asymmetry. These results demonstrate that the left hemisphere
      dominance for language in right-handers is a variable controlled, in part, by a
      number of specific factors, including FS, MPS, and head size.

PMID- 20926658
TI  - POSH is an intracellular signal transducer for the axon outgrowth inhibitor
      Nogo66.
AB  - Myelin-derived inhibitors limit axon outgrowth and plasticity during development
      and in the adult mammalian CNS. Nogo66, a functional domain of the myelin-derived
      inhibitor NogoA, signals through the PirB receptor to inhibit axon outgrowth. The
      signaling pathway mobilized by Nogo66 engagement of PirB is not well understood.
      We identify a critical role for the scaffold protein Plenty of SH3s (POSH) in
      relaying process outgrowth inhibition downstream of Nogo66 and PirB. Blocking the
      function of POSH, or two POSH-associated proteins, leucine zipper kinase (LZK)
      and Shroom3, with RNAi in cortical neurons leads to release from myelin and
      Nogo66 inhibition. We also observed autocrine inhibition of process outgrowth by
      NogoA, and suppression analysis with the POSH-associated kinase LZK demonstrated
      that LZK operates downstream of NogoA and PirB in a POSH-dependent manner. In
      addition, cerebellar granule neurons with an RNAi-mediated knockdown in POSH
      function were refractory to the inhibitory action of Nogo66, indicating that a
      POSH-dependent mechanism operates to inhibit axon outgrowth in different types of
      CNS neurons. These studies delineate an intracellular signaling pathway for
      process outgrowth inhibition by Nogo66, comprised of NogoA, PirB, POSH, LZK, and
      Shroom3, and implicate the POSH complex as a potential therapeutic target to
      enhance axon outgrowth and plasticity in the injured CNS.

PMID- 20926659
TI  - Functional requirements for reward-modulated spike-timing-dependent plasticity.
AB  - Recent experiments have shown that spike-timing-dependent plasticity is
      influenced by neuromodulation. We derive theoretical conditions for successful
      learning of reward-related behavior for a large class of learning rules where
      Hebbian synaptic plasticity is conditioned on a global modulatory factor
      signaling reward. We show that all learning rules in this class can be separated
      into a term that captures the covariance of neuronal firing and reward and a
      second term that presents the influence of unsupervised learning. The
      unsupervised term, which is, in general, detrimental for reward-based learning,
      can be suppressed if the neuromodulatory signal encodes the difference between
      the reward and the expected reward-but only if the expected reward is calculated
      for each task and stimulus separately. If several tasks are to be learned
      simultaneously, the nervous system needs an internal critic that is able to
      predict the expected reward for arbitrary stimuli. We show that, with a critic,
      reward-modulated spike-timing-dependent plasticity is capable of learning motor
      trajectories with a temporal resolution of tens of milliseconds. The relation to
      temporal difference learning, the relevance of block-based learning paradigms,
      and the limitations of learning with a critic are discussed.

PMID- 20926660
TI  - Ca2+-dependent desensitization of TRPV2 channels is mediated by hydrolysis of
      phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate.
AB  - TRPV2 is a member of the transient receptor potential family of ion channels
      involved in chemical and thermal pain transduction. Unlike the related TRPV1
      channel, TRPV2 does not appear to bind either calmodulin or ATP in its N-terminal
      ankyrin repeat domain. In addition, it does not contain a calmodulin-binding site
      in the distal C-terminal region, as has been proposed for TRPV1. We have found
      that TRPV2 channels transiently expressed in F-11 cells undergo Ca(2+)-dependent
      desensitization, similar to the other TRPVs, suggesting that the mechanism of
      desensitization may be conserved in the subfamily of TRPV channels. TRPV2
      desensitization was not altered in whole-cell recordings in the presence of
      calmodulin inhibitors or on coexpression of mutant calmodulin but was sensitive
      to changes in membrane phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP(2)), suggesting
      a role of membrane PIP(2) in TRPV2 desensitization. Simultaneous confocal imaging
      and electrophysiological recording of cells expressing TRPV2 and a fluorescent
      PIP(2)-binding probe demonstrated that TRPV2 desensitization was concomitant with
      depletion of PIP(2). We conclude that the decrease in PIP(2) levels on channel
      activation underlies a major component of Ca(2+)-dependent desensitization of
      TRPV2 and may play a similar role in other TRP channels.

PMID- 20926662
TI  - Auditory cortical neurons convey maximal stimulus-specific information at their
      best frequency.
AB  - Sensory neurons are often thought to encode information about their preferred
      stimuli. It has also been proposed that neurons convey the most information about
      stimuli in the flanks of their tuning curves, where firing rate changes most
      steeply. Here we demonstrate that the responses of rat auditory cortical neurons
      convey maximal stimulus-specific information about sound frequency at their best
      frequency, rather than in the flanks of their tuning curves. Theoretical work has
      shown that stimulus-specific information shifts from tuning curve slope to peak
      as neuronal variability increases. These results therefore suggest that with
      respect to the most informative regions of the tuning curve, auditory cortical
      neurons operate in a regime of high variability.

PMID- 20926661
TI  - Hippocampal c-Jun-N-terminal kinases serve as negative regulators of associative
      learning.
AB  - In the adult mouse, signaling through c-Jun N-terminal kinases (JNKs) links
      exposure to acute stress to various physiological responses. Inflammatory
      cytokines, brain injury and ischemic insult, or exposure to psychological acute
      stressors induce activation of hippocampal JNKs. Here we report that exposure to
      acute stress caused activation of JNKs in the hippocampal CA1 and CA3 subfields,
      and impaired contextual fear conditioning. Conversely, intrahippocampal injection
      of JNKs inhibitors sp600125 (30 MUm) or D-JNKI1 (8 MUm) reduced activity of
      hippocampal JNKs and rescued stress-induced deficits in contextual fear. In
      addition, intrahippocampal administration of anisomycin (100 MUg/MUl), a potent
      JNKs activator, mimicked memory-impairing effects of stress on contextual fear.
      This anisomycin-induced amnesia was abolished after cotreatment with JNKs
      selective inhibitor sp600125 without affecting anisomycin's ability to
      effectively inhibit protein synthesis as measured by c-Fos immunoreactivity. We
      also demonstrated milder and transient activation of the JNKs pathway in the CA1
      subfield of the hippocampus during contextual fear conditioning and an
      enhancement of contextual fear after pharmacological inhibition of JNKs under
      baseline conditions. Finally, using combined biochemical and transgenic
      approaches with mutant mice lacking different members of the JNK family (Jnk1,
      Jnk2, and Jnk3), we provided evidence that JNK2 and JNK3 are critically involved
      in stress-induced deficit of contextual fear, while JNK1 mainly regulates
      baseline learning in this behavioral task. Together, these results support the
      possibility that hippocampal JNKs serve as a critical molecular regulator in the
      formation of contextual fear.

PMID- 20926663
TI  - Wnts influence the timing and efficiency of oligodendrocyte precursor cell
      generation in the telencephalon.
AB  - Oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) are generated from multiple progenitor
      domains in the telencephalon in developmental succession from ventral to dorsal.
      Previous studies showed that Wnt signaling inhibits the differentiation of OPCs
      into mature oligodendrocytes. Here we explored the hypothesis that Wnt signaling
      limits the generation of OPCs from neural progenitors during forebrain
      development. We manipulated Wnt signaling in mouse neural progenitor cultures and
      found that Wnt signaling influences progenitors cell autonomously to alter the
      production of OPCs, and that endogenous Wnt signaling in these cultures limits
      the efficiency of generating OPCs from neural progenitors. To examine these
      events in vivo, we electroporated a soluble Wnt inhibitor or a dominant-negative
      transcriptional regulator into embryonic mouse neocortical ventricular zone
      before the usual onset of OPC production and showed that decreasing Wnt signaling
      in cortical progenitors results in early production of OPCs. Our studies indicate
      that Wnt signaling influences the timing and extent of OPC production in the
      developing telencephalon.

PMID- 20926664
TI  - Hyperpolarization-activated currents in gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH)
      neurons contribute to intrinsic excitability and are regulated by gonadal steroid
      feedback.
AB  - Pulsatile release of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) is required for
      fertility and is regulated by steroid feedback. Hyperpolarization-activated
      currents (I(h)) play a critical role in many rhythmic neurons. We examined the
      contribution of I(h) to the membrane and firing properties of GnRH neurons and
      the modulation of this current by steroid milieu. Whole-cell voltage- and current
      clamp recordings were made of GFP-identified GnRH neurons in brain slices from
      male mice that were gonad-intact, castrated, or castrated and treated with
      estradiol implants. APV, CNQX, and bicuculline were included to block fast
      synaptic transmission. GnRH neurons (47%) expressed a hyperpolarization-activated
      current with pharmacological and biophysical characteristics of I(h). The I(h)
      specific blocker ZD7288 reduced hyperpolarization-induced sag and rebound
      potential, decreased GnRH neuron excitability and action potential firing, and
      hyperpolarized membrane potential in some cells. ZD7288 also altered the pattern
      of burst firing and reduced the slope of recovery from the after
      hyperpolarization potential. Activation of I(h) by hyperpolarization increased
      spike frequency, whereas inactivation of I(h) by depolarization reduced spike
      frequency. Castration increased I(h) compared with that in gonad-intact males.
      This effect was reversed by in vivo estradiol replacement. Together, these data
      indicate I(h) provides an excitatory drive in GnRH neurons that contributes to
      action potential burst firing and that estradiol regulates I(h) in these cells.
      As estradiol is the primary central negative feedback hormone on GnRH neuron
      firing in males, this provides insight into the mechanisms by which steroid
      hormones potentially alter the intrinsic properties of GnRH neurons to change
      their activity.

PMID- 20926665
TI  - Multiple desensitization mechanisms of mechanotransducer channels shape firing of
      mechanosensory neurons.
AB  - How desensitization of mechanotransducer currents regulates afferent signal
      generation in mammalian sensory neurons is essentially unknown. Here, we
      dissected desensitization mechanisms of mechanotransducer channels in rat sensory
      neurons that mediate the sense of touch and pain. We identified four types of
      mechanotransducer currents that distribute differentially in cutaneous
      nociceptors and mechanoreceptors and that differ in desensitization rates.
      Desensitization of mechanotransducer channels in mechanoreceptors was fast and
      mediated by channel inactivation and adaptation, which reduces the mechanical
      force sensed by the transduction channel. Both processes were promoted by
      negative voltage. These properties of mechanotransducer channels suited them to
      encode the dynamic parameters of the stimulus. In contrast, inactivation and
      adaptation of mechanotransducer channels in nociceptors had slow time courses and
      were suited to encode duration of the stimulus. Thus, desensitization properties
      of mechanotransducer currents relate to their functions as sensors of phasic and
      tonic stimuli and enable sensory neurons to achieve efficient stimulus
      representation.

PMID- 20926666
TI  - Differential patterns of inputs create functional zones in central nucleus of
      inferior colliculus.
AB  - Distinct pathways carry monaural and binaural information from the lower auditory
      brainstem to the central nucleus of the inferior colliculus (ICC). Previous
      anatomical and physiological studies suggest that differential ascending inputs
      to regions of the ICC create functionally distinct zones. Here, we provide direct
      evidence of this relationship by combining recordings of single unit responses to
      sound in the ICC with focal, iontophoretic injections of the retrograde tracer
      Fluoro-Gold at the physiologically characterized sites. Three main patterns of
      anatomical inputs were observed. One pattern was identified by inputs from the
      cochlear nucleus and ventral nucleus of the lateral lemniscus in isolation, and
      these injection sites were correlated with monaural responses. The second pattern
      had inputs only from the ipsilateral medial and lateral superior olive, and these
      sites were correlated with interaural time difference (ITD)-sensitive responses
      to low frequency (<500 Hz). A third pattern had inputs from a variety of olivary
      and lemniscal sources, notably the contralateral lateral superior olive and
      dorsal nucleus of the lateral lemniscus. These were correlated with high
      frequency ITD sensitivity to complex acoustic stimuli. These data support the
      notion of anatomical regions formed by specific patterns of anatomical inputs to
      the ICC. Such synaptic domains may represent functional zones in ICC.

PMID- 20926667
TI  - Convergence of presenilin- and tau-mediated pathways on axonal trafficking and
      neuronal function.
AB  - Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a significant and growing health problem in the aging
      population. Although definitive mechanisms of pathogenesis remain elusive,
      genetic and histological clues have implicated the proteins presenilin (PS) and
      tau as key players in AD development. PS mutations lead to familial AD, and
      although tau is not mutated in AD, tau pathology is a hallmark of the disease.
      Axonal transport deficits are a common feature of several neurodegenerative
      disorders and may represent a point of intersection of PS and tau function. To
      investigate the contribution of wild-type, as opposed to mutant, tau to axonal
      transport defects in the context of presenilin loss, we used a mouse model
      postnatally deficient for PS (PS cDKO) and expressing wild-type human tau
      (WtTau). The resulting PS cDKO;WtTau mice exhibited early tau pathology and
      axonal transport deficits that preceded development of these phenotypes in WtTau
      or PS cDKO mice. These deficits were associated with reduced neurotrophin
      signaling, defective learning and memory and impaired synaptic plasticity. The
      combination of these effects accelerated neurodegeneration in PS cDKO;WtTau mice.
      Our results strongly support a convergent role for PS and tau in axonal transport
      and neuronal survival and function and implicate their misregulation as a
      contributor to AD pathogenesis.

PMID- 20926668
TI  - Morphine- and CaMKII-dependent enhancement of GIRK channel signaling in
      hippocampal neurons.
AB  - G-protein-gated inwardly rectifying potassium (GIRK) channels, which help control
      neuronal excitability, are important for the response to drugs of abuse. Here, we
      describe a novel pathway for morphine-dependent enhancement of GIRK channel
      signaling in hippocampal neurons. Morphine treatment for ~20 h increased the
      colocalization of GIRK2 with PSD95, a dendritic spine marker. Western blot
      analysis and quantitative immunoelectron microscopy revealed an increase in GIRK2
      protein and targeting to dendritic spines. In vivo administration of morphine
      also produced an upregulation of GIRK2 protein in the hippocampus. The mechanism
      engaged by morphine required elevated intracellular Ca(2+) and was insensitive to
      pertussis toxin, implicating opioid receptors that may couple to Gq G-proteins.
      Met-enkephalin, but not the MU-selective (DAMGO) and delta-selective (DPDPE)
      opioid receptor agonists, mimicked the effect of morphine, suggesting involvement
      of a heterodimeric opioid receptor complex. Peptide (KN-93) inhibition of CaMKII
      prevented the morphine-dependent change in GIRK localization, whereas expression
      of a constitutively activated form of CaMKII mimicked the effects of morphine.
      Coincident with an increase in GIRK2 surface expression, functional analyses
      revealed that morphine treatment increased the size of serotonin-activated GIRK
      currents and Ba(2+)-sensitive basal K(+) currents in neurons. These results
      demonstrate plasticity in neuronal GIRK signaling that may contribute to the
      abusive effects of morphine.

PMID- 20926669
TI  - Spatiotemporal coupling between hippocampal acetylcholine release and theta
      oscillations in vivo.
AB  - Both acetylcholine (ACh) and theta oscillations are important for learning and
      memory, but the dynamic interaction between these two processes remains unclear.
      Recent advances in amperometry techniques have revealed phasic ACh releases in
      vivo. However, it is unknown whether phasic ACh release co-occurs with theta
      oscillations. We investigated this issue in the CA1 region of urethane
      anesthetized male rats using amperometric and electrophysiological recordings. We
      found that ACh release was highly correlated with the appearance of both
      spontaneous and induced theta oscillations. Moreover, the maximal ACh release was
      observed around or slightly above the pyramidal layer. Interestingly, such
      release lagged behind theta initiation by 25-60 s. The slow ACh release profile
      was matched by the slow firing rate increase of a subset of medial-septal low
      firing-rate neurons. Together, these results establish, for the first time, the
      in vivo coupling between phasic ACh release and theta oscillations on
      spatiotemporal scales much finer than previously known. These findings also
      suggest that phasic ACh is not required for theta initiation and may instead
      operate synergistically with theta oscillations to promote neural plasticity in
      the service of learning and memory.

PMID- 20926670
TI  - Quantitative analysis of synaptic vesicle Rabs uncovers distinct yet overlapping
      roles for Rab3a and Rab27b in Ca2+-triggered exocytosis.
AB  - Rab GTPases are molecular switches that orchestrate protein complexes before
      membrane fusion reactions. In synapses, Rab3 and Rab5 proteins have been
      implicated in the exo-endocytic cycling of synaptic vesicles (SVs), but an
      involvement of additional Rabs cannot be excluded. Here, combining high
      resolution mass spectrometry and chemical labeling (iTRAQ) together with
      quantitative immunoblotting and fluorescence microscopy, we have determined the
      exocytotic (Rab3a, Rab3b, Rab3c, and Rab27b) and endocytic (Rab4b, Rab5a/b,
      Rab10, Rab11b, and Rab14) Rab machinery of SVs. Analysis of two closely related
      proteins, Rab3a and Rab27b, revealed colocalization in synaptic nerve terminals,
      where they reside on distinct but overlapping SV pools. Moreover, whereas Rab3a
      readily dissociates from SVs during Ca(2+)-triggered exocytosis, and is
      susceptible to membrane extraction by Rab-GDI, Rab27b persists on SV membranes
      upon stimulation and is resistant to GDI-coupled Rab retrieval. Finally, we
      demonstrate that selective modulation of the GTP/GDP switch mechanism of Rab27b
      impairs SV recycling, suggesting that Rab27b, probably in concert with Rab3s, is
      involved in SV exocytosis.

PMID- 20926671
TI  - Estrogen receptor beta activity modulates synaptic signaling and structure.
AB  - Brain-synthesized estrogen has been shown to influence synaptic structure,
      function, and cognitive processes. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying
      the rapid effects of estrogen on the dendritic spines of cortical neurons are not
      clear. Estrogen receptor beta (ERbeta) is expressed in cortical neurons, and
      ERbeta knock-out mice display impaired performance in cortically mediated
      processes, suggesting that signaling via this receptor has profound effects on
      cortical neuron function. However, the effect of rapid signaling via ERbeta on
      dendritic spines and the signaling pathways initiated by this receptor in
      cortical neurons are unknown. Here, we show that activation of ERbeta with the
      specific agonist WAY-200070 results in increased spine density and PSD-95
      (postsynaptic density-95) accumulation in membrane regions. Activation of ERbeta
      by WAY-200070 also resulted in the phosphorylation of p21-activated kinase (PAK)
      and extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2) in cultured cortical
      neurons, suggesting a mechanism for the regulation of the actin cytoskeleton.
      Moreover, we found that aromatase, an enzyme critical for estrogen production, is
      present at presynaptic termini, supporting a role for brain-synthesized estrogen
      as a neuromodulator in the cortex. These results implicate ERbeta signaling in
      controlling dendritic spine morphology, in part via a PAK/ERK1/2-dependent
      pathway, and provide mechanistic insight into the rapid cellular effects of
      estrogen on brain function.

PMID- 20926673
TI  - Oscillatory dipoles as a source of phase shifts in field potentials in the
      mammalian auditory brainstem.
AB  - A popular model of binaural processing, proposed by Jeffress (1948), states that
      external interaural time delays (ITDs) are compensated by internal axonal delays
      allowing ITD to be spatially represented by a population of coincidence detectors
      in the medial superior olive (MSO). Isolating single-neuron responses in MSO is
      difficult because of the presence of a strong extracellular field potential known
      as the neurophonic, so that few studies have tested Jeffress's key prediction.
      Phase delays in the nucleus laminaris neurophonic in owls have been observed and
      are consistent with a Jeffress-like model. Here, we recorded neurophonic
      responses in cat MSO to monaural tones at locations along its dendritic axis.
      Fourier analysis of the neurophonic was used to extract amplitude and phase at
      the stimulus frequency. Amplitude, as a function of depth, showed two peaks
      separated by a dip. A half-cycle phase shift was observed at depths close to the
      dip, over a wide frequency range. Current source density analysis for
      contralateral (ipsilateral) stimulation shows a current source close to the
      neurophonic amplitude peak and a sink a few hundred micrometers ventromedially
      (dorsolaterally). These results are consistent with a dipole configuration:
      contralateral (ipsilateral) excitation causes a current sink at the ventromedial
      (dorsolateral) dendrites and a source at the soma and dorsolateral (ventromedial)
      dendrites. Incorporating these results in a dipole model explains the phase and
      amplitude patterns observed. We conclude that the half-cycle phase shift is
      consistent with a current dipole, making it difficult to derive measurements of
      axonal delays from the neurophonic.

PMID- 20926672
TI  - Attention protects the fidelity of visual memory: behavioral and
      electrophysiological evidence.
AB  - Recall from visual memory is vulnerable to the influence of task-irrelevant
      information, including the remembered, prototypical value of stimuli seen
      previously. Wilken and Ma (2004) proposed that this distortion of recall was
      actually adaptive, with the task-irrelevant information compensating for
      imperfections of memory. We tested their proposal by using trial-by-trial
      oscillations in the electroencephalogram's alpha band (8-14 Hz) collected from
      human subjects as a marker for the strength of visual attention. Subjects' recall
      of stimulus spatial frequency showed a systematic error, namely a shift toward
      the prototypical value of previously seen stimuli. The magnitude of this
      prototype effect was strongly related to the amplitude of alpha band oscillations
      recorded at posterior sensor locations during the first 100 ms after stimulus
      onset. Our results support the hypothesis that the prototype effect is
      compensatory for imprecision in memory. Moreover, the attentional modulation of
      alpha activity during the encoding of the target stimulus is consistent with the
      view that attention sharpens the neural responses that are elicited by the task
      relevant stimulus.

PMID- 20926674
TI  - Tuning curves for movement direction in the human visuomotor system.
AB  - Neurons in macaque primary motor cortex (M1) are broadly tuned to arm movement
      direction. Recent evidence suggests that human M1 contains directionally tuned
      neurons, but it is unclear which other areas are part of the network coding
      movement direction and what characterizes the responses of neuronal populations
      in those areas. Such information would be highly relevant for the implementation
      of brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) in paralyzed patients. We used functional
      magnetic resonance imaging adaptation to identify which areas of the human brain
      show directional selectivity and the degree to which these areas are affected by
      the type of motor act (to press vs to grasp). After adapting participants to one
      particular hand movement direction, we measured the release from adaptation
      during occasional test trials, parametrically varying the angular difference
      between adaptation and test direction. We identified multiple areas broadly tuned
      to movement direction, including M1, dorsal premotor cortex, intraparietal
      sulcus, and the parietal reach region. Within these areas, we observed a gradient
      of directional selectivity, with highest directional selectivity in the right
      parietal reach region, for both right- and left-hand movements. Moreover,
      directional selectivity was modulated by the type of motor act to varying
      degrees, with the largest effect in M1 and the smallest modulation in the
      parietal reach region. These data provide an important extension of our knowledge
      about directional tuning in the human brain. Furthermore, our results suggest
      that the parietal reach region might be an ideal candidate for the implementation
      of BCI in paralyzed patients.

PMID- 20926675
TI  - Dendritic growth in medial prefrontal cortex and cognitive flexibility are
      enhanced during the postpartum period.
AB  - The postpartum period is associated with numerous hormonal changes, some of which
      have been linked to detrimental effects on the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), a
      brain region involved in cognition. Here, we investigated whether mPFC structure
      and function are negatively influenced during the postpartum period, an outcome
      that might be predicted by the maternal hormonal milieu. Mother rats were tested
      on an attentional set-shifting task, and dendritic architecture of layer 2/3 mPFC
      pyramidal neurons was analyzed. Mother rats exhibited increased dendritic spine
      number in the mPFC, an effect that coincided with improved attention and
      behavioral flexibility. These findings suggest that the postpartum period is
      associated with promotion of neuronal growth in the mPFC and enhanced cognitive
      function.

PMID- 20926676
TI  - Generation of black-dominant responses in V1 cortex.
AB  - Consistent with human perceptual data, we found many more black-dominant than
      white-dominant responses in layer 2/3 neurons of the macaque primary visual
      cortex (V1). Seeking the mechanism of this black dominance of layer 2/3 neurons,
      we measured the laminar pattern of population responses (multiunit activity and
      local field potential) and found that a small preference for black is observable
      in early responses in layer 4Cbeta, the parvocellular-input layer, but not in the
      magnocellular-input layer 4Calpha. Surprisingly, further analysis of the dynamics
      of black-white responses in layers 4Cbeta and 2/3 suggested that black-dominant
      responses in layer 2/3 were not generated simply because of the weak black
      dominant inputs from 4Cbeta. Instead, our results indicated the neural circuitry
      in V1 is wired with a preference to strengthen black responses. We hypothesize
      that this selective wiring could be due to (1) feedforward connectivity from
      black-dominant neurons in layer 4C to cells in layer 2/3 or (2) recurrent
      interactions between black-dominant neurons in layer 2/3, or a combination of
      both.

PMID- 20926677
TI  - Serotonin, but not N-methyltryptamines, activates the serotonin 2A receptor via a
      beta-arrestin2/Src/Akt signaling complex in vivo.
AB  - Hallucinogens mediate many of their psychoactive effects by activating serotonin
      2A receptors (5-HT(2A)R). Although serotonin is the cognate endogenous
      neurotransmitter and is not considered hallucinogenic, metabolites of serotonin
      also have high affinity at 5-HT(2A)R and can induce hallucinations in humans.
      Here we report that serotonin differs from the psychoactive N-methyltryptamines
      by its ability to engage a beta-arrestin2-mediated signaling cascade in the
      frontal cortex. Serotonin and 5-hydroxy-L-tryptophan (5-HTP) induce a head-twitch
      response in wild-type (WT) mice that is a behavioral proxy for 5-HT(2A)R
      activation. The response in beta-arrestin2 knock-out (betaarr2-KO) mice is
      greatly attenuated until the doses are elevated, at which point, betaarr2-KO mice
      display a head-twitch response that can exceed that of WT mice. Direct
      administration of N-methyltryptamines also produces a greater response in
      betaarr2-KO mice. Moreover, the inhibition of N-methyltransferase blocks 5-HTP
      induced head twitches in betaarr2-KO mice, indicating that N-methyltryptamines,
      rather than serotonin, primarily mediate this response. Biochemical studies
      demonstrate that serotonin stimulates Akt phosphorylation in the frontal cortex
      and in primary cortical neurons through the activation of a beta
      arrestin2/phosphoinositide 3-kinase/Src/Akt cascade, whereas N-methyltryptamines
      do not. Furthermore, disruption of any of the components of this cascade prevents
      5-HTP-induced, but not N-methyltryptamine-induced, head twitches. We propose that
      there is a bifurcation of 5-HT(2A)R signaling that is neurotransmitter and beta
      arrestin2 dependent. This demonstration of agonist-directed 5-HT(2A)R signaling
      in vivo may significantly impact drug discovery efforts for the treatment of
      disorders wherein hallucinations are part of the etiology, such as schizophrenia,
      or manifest as side effects of treatment, such as depression.

PMID- 20926679
TI  - NMDA-mediated regulation of DSCAM dendritic local translation is lost in a mouse
      model of Down's syndrome.
AB  - Down's syndrome cell adhesion molecule (DSCAM) belongs to the Down's syndrome
      critical region of human chromosome 21, and it encodes a cell adhesion molecule
      involved in dendrite morphology and neuronal wiring. Although the function of
      DSCAM in the adult brain is unknown, its expression pattern suggests a role in
      synaptic plasticity. Local mRNA translation is a key process in axonal growth,
      dendritogenesis, and synaptogenesis during development, and in synaptic
      plasticity in adulthood. Here, we report the dendritic localization of DSCAM mRNA
      in the adult mouse hippocampus, where it associates with CPEB1 [cytoplasmic
      polyadenylation element (CPE) binding protein 1], an important regulator of mRNA
      transport and local translation. We identified five DSCAM isoforms produced by
      alternative polyadenylation bearing different combinations of regulatory CPE
      motifs. Overexpression of DSCAM in hippocampal neurons inhibited dendritic
      branching. Interestingly, dendritic levels of DSCAM mRNA and protein were
      increased in hippocampal neurons from Ts1Cje mice, a model of Down's syndrome.
      Most importantly, DSCAM dendritic translation was rapidly induced by NMDA in wild
      type, but not in Ts1Cje neurons. We propose that impairment of the NMDA-mediated
      regulation of DSCAM translation may contribute to the alterations in dendritic
      morphology and/or synaptic plasticity in Down's syndrome.

PMID- 20926678
TI  - Testing the reward prediction error hypothesis with an axiomatic model.
AB  - Neuroimaging studies typically identify neural activity correlated with the
      predictions of highly parameterized models, like the many reward prediction error
      (RPE) models used to study reinforcement learning. Identified brain areas might
      encode RPEs or, alternatively, only have activity correlated with RPE model
      predictions. Here, we use an alternate axiomatic approach rooted in economic
      theory to formally test the entire class of RPE models on neural data. We show
      that measurements of human neural activity from the striatum, medial prefrontal
      cortex, amygdala, and posterior cingulate cortex satisfy necessary and sufficient
      conditions for the entire class of RPE models. However, activity measured from
      the anterior insula falsifies the axiomatic model, and therefore no RPE model can
      account for measured activity. Further analysis suggests the anterior insula
      might instead encode something related to the salience of an outcome. As
      cognitive neuroscience matures and models proliferate, formal approaches of this
      kind that assess entire model classes rather than specific model exemplars may
      take on increased significance.

PMID- 20926680
TI  - Dysfunction of heterotrimeric kinesin-2 in rod photoreceptor cells and the role
      of opsin mislocalization in rapid cell death.
AB  - Due to extensive elaboration of the photoreceptor cilium to form the outer
      segment, axonemal transport (IFT) in photoreceptors is extraordinarily busy, and
      retinal degeneration is a component of many ciliopathies. Functional loss of
      heterotrimeric kinesin-2, a major anterograde IFT motor, causes mislocalized
      opsin, followed by rapid cell death. Here, we have analyzed the nature of protein
      mislocalization and the requirements for the death of kinesin-2-mutant rod
      photoreceptors. Quantitative immuno EM showed that opsin accumulates initially
      within the inner segment, and then in the plasma membrane. The light-activated
      movement of arrestin to the outer segment is also impaired, but this defect
      likely results secondarily from binding to mislocalized opsin. Unlike some other
      retinal degenerations, neither opsin-arrestin complexes nor photoactivation were
      necessary for cell loss. In contrast, reduced rod opsin expression provided
      enhanced rod and cone photoreceptor survival and function, as measured by
      photoreceptor cell counts, apoptosis assays, and ERG analysis. The cell death
      incurred by loss of kinesin-2 function was almost completely negated by Rho-/-.
      Our results indicate that mislocalization of opsin is a major cause of
      photoreceptor cell death from kinesin-2 dysfunction and demonstrate the
      importance of accumulating mislocalized protein per se, rather than specific
      signaling properties of opsin, stemming from photoactivation or arrestin binding.

PMID- 20926681
TI  - C-jun inhibits mammary apoptosis in vivo.
AB  - c-jun, which is overexpressed in a number of human cancers encodes a critical
      component of the AP-1 complex. c-jun has been shown to either induce or inhibit
      cellular apoptosis. Germ line deletion of both c-jun alleles is embryonically
      lethal. To determine the role of the endogenous c-jun gene in apoptosis, we
      performed mammary epithelial cell-targeted somatic deletion using floxed c-jun (c
      jun(f/f)) conditional knockout mice. Laser capture microdissection demonstrated
      endogenous c-jun inhibits expression of apoptosis inducing genes and reactive
      oxygen species (ROS)-reducing genes (MnSOD, catalase). ROS have been implicated
      in apoptosis and undergo enzymatic elimination via MnSOD and CuZnSOD with further
      detoxification via catalase. c-jun-mediated survival was in part dependent on ROS
      production. c-jun-mediated repression of MnSOD and catalase occurred via
      mitochondrial complex I and NOX I. Collectively, these studies define a pivotal
      role of endogenous c-jun in promoting cell survival via maintaining mitochondrial
      integrity and expression of the key regulators of ROS production.

PMID- 20926682
TI  - Vav3 is involved in GABAergic axon guidance events important for the proper
      function of brainstem neurons controlling cardiovascular, respiratory, and renal
      parameters.
AB  - Vav3 is a phosphorylation-dependent activator of Rho/Rac GTPases that has been
      implicated in hematopoietic, bone, cerebellar, and cardiovascular roles.
      Consistent with the latter function, Vav3-deficient mice develop hypertension,
      tachycardia, and renocardiovascular dysfunctions. The cause of those defects
      remains unknown as yet. Here, we show that Vav3 is expressed in GABAegic neurons
      of the ventrolateral medulla (VLM), a brainstem area that modulates respiratory
      rates and, via sympathetic efferents, a large number of physiological circuits
      controlling blood pressure. On Vav3 loss, GABAergic cells of the caudal VLM
      cannot innervate properly their postsynaptic targets in the rostral VLM, leading
      to reduced GABAergic transmission between these two areas. This results in an
      abnormal regulation of catecholamine blood levels and in improper control of
      blood pressure and respiration rates to GABAergic signals. By contrast, the
      reaction of the rostral VLM to excitatory signals is not impaired. Consistent
      with those observations, we also demonstrate that Vav3 plays important roles in
      axon branching and growth cone morphology in primary GABAergic cells. Our study
      discloses an essential and nonredundant role for this Vav family member in axon
      guidance events in brainstem neurons that control blood pressure and respiratory
      rates.

PMID- 20926683
TI  - TatB functions as an oligomeric binding site for folded Tat precursor proteins.
AB  - Twin-arginine-containing signal sequences mediate the transmembrane transport of
      folded proteins. The cognate twin-arginine translocation (Tat) machinery of
      Escherichia coli consists of the membrane proteins TatA, TatB, and TatC. Whereas
      Tat signal peptides are recognized by TatB and TatC, little is known about
      molecular contacts of the mature, folded part of Tat precursor proteins. We have
      placed a photo-cross-linker into Tat substrates at sites predicted to be either
      surface-exposed or hidden in the core of the folded proteins. On targeting of
      these variants to the Tat machinery of membrane vesicles, all surface-exposed
      sites were found in close proximity to TatB. Correspondingly, incorporation of
      the cross-linker into TatB revealed multiple precursor-binding sites in the
      predicted transmembrane and amphipathic helices of TatB. Large adducts indicative
      of TatB oligomers contacting one precursor molecule were also obtained. Cross
      linking of Tat substrates to TatB required an intact twin-arginine signal peptide
      and disappeared upon transmembrane translocation. Our collective data are
      consistent with TatB forming an oligomeric binding site that transiently
      accommodates folded Tat precursors.

PMID- 20926684
TI  - beta1A integrin is a master regulator of invadosome organization and function.
AB  - Invadosomes are adhesion structures involved in tissue invasion that are
      characterized by an intense actin polymerization-depolymerization associated with
      beta1 and beta3 integrins and coupled to extracellular matrix (ECM) degradation
      activity. We induced the formation of invadosomes by expressing the constitutive
      active form of Src, SrcYF, in different cell types. Use of ECM surfaces
      micropatterned at the subcellular scale clearly showed that in mesenchymal cells,
      integrin signaling controls invadosome activity. Using beta1-/- or beta3-/-
      cells, it seemed that beta1A but not beta3 integrins are essential for initiation
      of invadosome formation. Protein kinase C activity was shown to regulate
      autoassembly of invadosomes into a ring-like metastructure (rosette), probably by
      phosphorylation of Ser785 on the beta1A tail. Moreover, our study clearly showed
      that beta1A links actin dynamics and ECM degradation in invadosomes. Finally, a
      new strategy based on fusion of the photosensitizer KillerRed to the beta1A
      cytoplasmic domain allowed specific and immediate loss of function of beta1A,
      resulting in disorganization and disassembly of invadosomes and formation of
      focal adhesions.

PMID- 20926685
TI  - The roles of two distinct regions of PINCH-1 in the regulation of cell attachment
      and spreading.
AB  - Cells attach to the extracellular matrix (ECM) through integrins to form focal
      adhesion complexes, and this process is followed by the extension of lamellipodia
      to enable cell spreading. PINCH-1, an adaptor protein essential for the
      regulation of cell-ECM adhesion, consists of five tandem LIM domains and a small
      C-terminal region. PINCH-1 is known to interact with integrin-linked kinase (ILK)
      and Ras suppressor protein 1 (Rsu-1); however, the precise mechanism by which
      this complex regulates cell-ECM adhesion is not fully understood. We report here
      that the LIM1 domain of PINCH-1, which associates with ILK to stabilize the
      expression of this protein, is sufficient for cell attachment but not for cell
      spreading. In contrast, the C-terminal region of PINCH-1, which binds to Rsu-1,
      plays a pivotal role in cell spreading but not in cell attachment. We also show
      that PINCH-1 associates with Rsu-1 to activate Rac1 and that Rac1 activation is
      necessary for cell spreading. Thus, these data reveal how specific domains of
      PINCH-1 direct two independent pathways: one utilizing ILK to allow cell
      attachment, and the other recruiting Rsu-1 to activate Rac1 in order to promote
      cell spreading.

PMID- 20926686
TI  - Hepatocyte growth factor inhibits apoptosis by the profibrotic factor angiotensin
      II via extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 in endothelial cells and tissue
      explants.
AB  - Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), an endogenous tissue repair factor, attenuates
      apoptosis in many primary cell types, but the mechanism is not completely
      understood. Our laboratory demonstrated that angiotensin (Ang) II activates the
      intrinsic apoptotic pathway in primary endothelial cells (ECs) via reduction of
      the antiapoptotic protein Bcl-x(L). Ang II decreased Bcl-x(L) mRNA half-life by
      reducing its binding to nucleolin, a protein that normally binds a 3' AU-rich
      region and stabilizes Bcl-x(L) mRNA. We hypothesized HGF may block apoptosis
      induced by Ang II. We used primary EC and ex vivo cultures of rat lung tissue to
      investigate HGF inhibition of Ang II-induced apoptosis. Our data indicated HGF
      abrogated Ang II-induced apoptosis by inhibiting cytochrome c release, caspase-3
      activation, and DNA fragmentation. RNA-immunoprecipitation experiments
      demonstrated that HGF stabilized Bcl-x(L) mRNA by increasing nucleolin binding to
      the 3'-untranslated region that was associated with cytoplasmic localization of
      nucleolin. Cytoplasmic localization of nucleolin and Bcl-x(L) mRNA stabilization
      required HGF activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK)1/2, but
      not phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase. HGF also blocked Ang II-induced caspase-3
      activation and lactate dehydrogenase release in tissue explants in an ERK
      dependent manner.

PMID- 20926687
TI  - Inner/Outer nuclear membrane fusion in nuclear pore assembly: biochemical
      demonstration and molecular analysis.
AB  - Nuclear pore complexes (NPCs) are large proteinaceous channels embedded in double
      nuclear membranes, which carry out nucleocytoplasmic exchange. The mechanism of
      nuclear pore assembly involves a unique challenge, as it requires creation of a
      long-lived membrane-lined channel connecting the inner and outer nuclear
      membranes. This stabilized membrane channel has little evolutionary precedent.
      Here we mapped inner/outer nuclear membrane fusion in NPC assembly biochemically
      by using novel assembly intermediates and membrane fusion inhibitors. Incubation
      of a Xenopus in vitro nuclear assembly system at 14 degrees C revealed an early
      pore intermediate where nucleoporin subunits POM121 and the Nup107-160 complex
      were organized in a punctate pattern on the inner nuclear membrane. With time,
      this intermediate progressed to diffusion channel formation and finally to
      complete nuclear pore assembly. Correct channel formation was blocked by the
      hemifusion inhibitor lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC), but not if a complementary
      shaped lipid, oleic acid (OA), was simultaneously added, as determined with a
      novel fluorescent dextran-quenching assay. Importantly, recruitment of the bulk
      of FG nucleoporins, characteristic of mature nuclear pores, was not observed
      before diffusion channel formation and was prevented by LPC or OA, but not by
      LPC+OA. These results map the crucial inner/outer nuclear membrane fusion event
      of NPC assembly downstream of POM121/Nup107-160 complex interaction and upstream
      or at the time of FG nucleoporin recruitment.

PMID- 20926688
TI  - RRP1B targets PP1 to mammalian cell nucleoli and is associated with Pre-60S
      ribosomal subunits.
AB  - A pool of protein phosphatase 1 (PP1) accumulates within nucleoli and accounts
      for a large fraction of the serine/threonine protein phosphatase activity in this
      subnuclear structure. Using a combination of fluorescence imaging with
      quantitative proteomics, we mapped the subnuclear localization of the three
      mammalian PP1 isoforms stably expressed as GFP-fusions in live cells and
      identified RRP1B as a novel nucleolar targeting subunit that shows a specificity
      for PP1beta and PP1gamma. RRP1B, one of two mammalian orthologues of the yeast
      Rrp1p protein, shows an RNAse-dependent localization to the granular component of
      the nucleolus and distributes in a similar manner throughout the cell cycle to
      proteins involved in later steps of rRNA processing. Quantitative proteomic
      analysis of complexes containing both RRP1B and PP1gamma revealed enrichment of
      an overlapping subset of large (60S) ribosomal subunit proteins and pre-60S
      nonribosomal proteins involved in mid-late processing. Targeting of PP1 to this
      complex by RRP1B in mammalian cells is likely to contribute to modulation of
      ribosome biogenesis by mechanisms involving reversible phosphorylation events,
      thus playing a role in the rapid transduction of cellular signals that call for
      regulation of ribosome production in response to cellular stress and/or changes
      in growth conditions.

PMID- 20926690
TI  - Increased apoptosis in bovine blastocysts exposed to high levels of IGF1 is not
      associated with downregulation of the IGF1 receptor.
AB  - The hypothesis that high concentrations of IGF1 can impair embryo development was
      investigated in a bovine in vitro model to reflect conditions in polycystic ovary
      syndrome (PCOS) patients. Embryos were either cultured in the absence or presence
      of a physiological (100  ng/ml) or supraphysiological (1000  ng/ml) IGF1
      concentration. Cell allocation, apoptosis, transcript and protein expression of
      selected genes involved in apoptosis, glucose metabolism and the IGF system were
      analysed. Supraphysiological IGF1 concentration did not improve blastocyst
      formation over controls, but induced higher levels of apoptosis, decreased TP53
      protein expression in the trophectoderm and increased the number of cells in the
      inner cell mass (ICM). The increase in ICM cells corresponded with an increase in
      IGF1 receptor (IGF1R) protein in the ICM. A small, but significant, percentage of
      blastocysts displayed a hypertrophic ICM, not observed in controls and virtually
      absent in embryos treated with physiological concentrations of IGF1.
      Physiological IGF1 concentrations increased total IGF1R protein expression and
      upregulated IGFBP3 transcripts leading to an increase in blastocyst formation
      with no effects on cell number or apoptosis. In conclusion, the results support
      the hypothesis of detrimental effects of supraphysiological IGF1 concentrations
      on early pregnancy. However, our results do not support the premise that
      increased apoptosis associated with high levels of IGF1 is mediated via
      downregulation of the IGF1R as previously found in preimplantation mouse embryos.
      This in vitro system with the bovine preimplantation embryo reflects critical
      features of fertility in PCOS patients and could thus serve as a useful model for
      in-depth mechanistic studies.

PMID- 20926689
TI  - Differential modulation of keratin expression by sulforaphane occurs via Nrf2
      dependent and -independent pathways in skin epithelia.
AB  - Treatment with the natural chemical sulforaphane (SF) ameliorates skin blistering
      in keratin 14 (K14)-deficient mice, correlating with the induction of K16 and K17
      in the basal layer of epidermis (Kerns et al., PNAS 104:14460, 2007). Here we
      address the basis for the SF-mediated K16 and K17 induction in mouse epidermis in
      vivo. As expected, induction of K16 partly depends on the transcription factor
      Nrf2, which is activated by SF exposure. Strikingly, K17 induction occurs
      independently of Nrf2 activity and parallels the decrease in glutathione
      occurring shortly after epidermal exposure to SF. Pharmacological manipulation of
      glutathione levels in mouse epidermis in vivo alters K17 and K16 expression in
      the expected manner. We present findings suggesting that select MAP kinases
      participate in mediating the Nrf2- and glutathione-dependent alterations in K16
      and K17 levels in SF-treated epidermis. These findings advance our understanding
      of the effect of SF on gene expression in epidermis, point to a role for
      glutathione in mediating some of these effects, and establish that SF induces the
      expression of two contiguous and highly related genes, K16 and K17, via distinct
      mechanisms.

PMID- 20926691
TI  - Pregnancy and interferon tau regulate DDX58 and PLSCR1 in the ovine uterus during
      the peri-implantation period.
AB  - Interferon tau (IFNT), the pregnancy recognition signal in ruminants, abrogates
      the luteolytic mechanism for maintenance of the corpus luteum for production of
      progesterone (P(4)). This study examined the expression of DEAD (Asp-Glu-Ala-Asp)
      box polypeptide 58 (DDX58) and phospholipid scramblase 1 (PLSCR1) mRNAs in the
      ovine uterus as these genes were increased most in 2fTGH (STAT1 positive) cells
      by IFNT. The results of this study indicated that IFNT regulates expression of
      DDX58 and PLSCR1 mRNAs in the ovine uterus, which confirmed the results of the in
      vitro transcriptional profiling experiment with the 2fTGH (parental STAT1
      positive) and U3A (STAT1 null) cell lines. Steady-state levels of DDX58 and
      PLSCR1 mRNAs increased in cells of the ovine uterus between days 12 and 20 of
      pregnancy, but not between days 10 and 16 of the estrous cycle. The expression of
      DDX58 and PLSCR1 mRNAs was greatest in endometrial stromal cells, but there was
      transient expression in uterine luminal and superficial glandular epithelial
      cells. P(4) alone did not induce expression of DDX58 and PLSCR1 mRNAs; however,
      intrauterine injections of IFNT did induce expression of DDX58 and PLSCR1 mRNAs
      in the endometria of nonpregnant ewes independent of effects of P(4). These
      results indicate that IFNT induces expression of DDX58 and PLSCR1 in ovine
      endometrial cells via the classical STAT1-mediated cell signaling pathway. Based
      on their known biological effects, DDX58 and PLSCR1 are IFN-stimulated genes,
      which may increase the antiviral status of cells of the pregnant uterus to
      protect against viral infection and/or enhance secretion of type I IFNs that
      inhibit viral replication.

PMID- 20926692
TI  - A small set of extra-embryonic genes defines a new landmark for bovine embryo
      staging.
AB  - Axis specification in mouse is determined by a sequence of reciprocal
      interactions between embryonic and extra-embryonic tissues so that a few extra
      embryonic genes appear as 'patterning' the embryo. Considering these interactions
      as essential, but lacking in most mammals the genetically driven approaches used
      in mouse and the corresponding patterning mutants, we examined whether a
      molecular signature originating from extra-embryonic tissues could relate to the
      developmental stage of the embryo proper and predict it. To this end, we have
      profiled bovine extra-embryonic tissues at peri-implantation stages, when
      gastrulation and early neurulation occur, and analysed the subsequent expression
      profiles through the use of predictive methods as previously reported for tumour
      classification. A set of six genes (CALM1, CPA3, CITED1, DLD, HNRNPDL, and
      TGFB3), half of which had not been previously associated with any extra-embryonic
      feature, appeared significantly discriminative and mainly dependent on embryonic
      tissues for its faithful expression. The predictive value of this set of genes
      for gastrulation and early neurulation stages, as assessed on naive samples, was
      remarkably high (93%). In silico connected to the bovine orthologues of the mouse
      patterning genes, this gene set is proposed as a new trait for embryo staging. As
      such, this will allow saving the bovine embryo proper for molecular or cellular
      studies. To us, it offers as well new perspectives for developmental phenotyping
      and modelling of embryonic/extra-embryonic co-differentiation.

PMID- 20926693
TI  - Contributions of conventional and heavy-chain IgG to immunity in fetal, neonatal,
      and adult alpacas.
AB  - In addition to conventional immunoglobulins, camelids produce antibodies that do
      not incorporate light chains into their structures. These so-called heavy-chain
      (HC) antibodies have incited great interest in the biomedical community, as they
      have considerable potential for biotechnological and therapeutic application.
      Recently, we have begun to elucidate the immunological functions of HC
      antibodies, yet little is known about their significance in maternal immunity or
      about the B lymphocytes that produce them. This study describes the application
      of isotype-specific reagents toward physiological assessments of camelid IgGs and
      the B cells that produce them. We document the specificities of monoclonal
      antibodies that distinguish two conventional IgG1 isotypes and two HC IgG3
      variants produced by alpacas. Next, we report that the relative concentrations of
      five isotypes are similar in serum, milk, and colostrum; however, following
      passive transfer, the concentrations of HC IgG2 and IgG3 declined more rapidly
      than the concentration of conventional IgG1 in the sera of neonates. Finally, we
      assessed the distribution of B cells of distinct isotypes within lymphoid tissues
      during fetal and adult life. We detected IgG1, IgG2, and IgG3 in lymphocytes
      located in lymph node follicles, suggesting that HC B cells affinity mature
      and/or class switch. One IgG3 isotype was present in B cells located in ileal
      Peyer's patches, and one conventional IgG1 isotype was detected in splenic
      marginal zone B cells. Our findings contribute to the growing body of knowledge
      pertaining to HC antibodies and are compatible with functional specialization
      among conventional and HC IgGs in the alpaca.

PMID- 20926695
TI  - Detection of humoral response using a recombinant heat shock protein 70, DnaK, of
      Mycoplasma haemofelis in experimentally and naturally hemoplasma-infected cats.
AB  - Hemoplasmas is the trivial name given to a group of erythrocyte-parasitizing
      bacteria of the genus Mycoplasma. Of the feline hemoplasmas, Mycoplasma
      haemofelis is the most pathogenic, while "Candidatus Mycoplasma haemominutum" and
      "Candidatus Mycoplasma turicensis" are less pathogenic. Shotgun libraries of
      fragmented M. haemofelis genomic DNA were constructed, and random colonies were
      selected for DNA sequencing. In silico-translated amino acid sequences of
      putative open reading frames were compared to mass spectrometry data from M.
      haemofelis protein spots identified as being immunogenic by two-dimensional gel
      electrophoresis and Western blotting. Three of the spots matched the predicted
      sequences of a heat shock protein 70 (DnaK) homolog, elongation factor Ts, and a
      fragment of phosphoglycerate kinase found during library screening. A full-length
      copy of the M. haemofelis dnaK gene was cloned into Escherichia coli and
      recombinantly expressed. Recombinant M. haemofelis DnaK was purified and then
      used in Western blotting and an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to
      investigate the humoral immune response during acute infection in cats
      experimentally infected with M. haemofelis, "Ca. Mycoplasma haemominutum," or
      "Ca. Mycoplasma turicensis". The recombinant M. haemofelis DnaK ELISA also was
      used to screen clinical samples submitted for hemoplasma PCR testing to a
      commercial laboratory (n = 254). Experimentally infected cats became seropositive
      following infection, with a greater and earlier antibody response seen in cats
      inoculated with M. haemofelis than those seen in cats inoculated with "Ca.
      Mycoplasma haemominutum" or "Ca. Mycoplasma turicensis," by both Western blotting
      and ELISA. Of the clinical samples, 31.1% had antibodies detected by the ELISA
      but only 9.8% were positive by PCR for one or more hemoplasmas.

PMID- 20926694
TI  - Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus infection at the time of
      porcine circovirus type 2 vaccination has no impact on vaccine efficacy.
AB  - Several porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) vaccines are now commercially available
      and have been shown to be effective at decreasing the occurrence of porcine
      circovirus-associated disease (PCVAD). Many herds are coinfected with PCV2 and
      porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV). Some producers and
      veterinarians are concerned that if pigs are vaccinated for PCV2 at or near the
      time that they are typically infected with PRRSV, the efficacy of the PCV2
      vaccine will be compromised. The impact of PRRSV on PCV2 vaccination is unclear
      and has not been investigated under controlled conditions. The objective of the
      present study was to determine whether the presence of PRRSV viremia has an
      effect on the efficacy of commercial PCV2 vaccinations. Three-week-old PCV2
      negative conventional pigs with passively derived anti-PCV2 antibodies were
      either vaccinated with one of three commercial PCV2 vaccines or left
      nonvaccinated. A portion of the pigs were infected with PRRSV 1 week prior to
      PCV2 vaccination. To determine vaccine efficacy, a PCV2 challenge was conducted
      at 8 weeks of age. PCV2 vaccination, regardless of PRRSV infection status at the
      time of vaccination, was similarly effective in inducing an anti-PCV2 IgG
      response in the presence of maternally derived immunity and in protecting the
      pigs from PCV2 challenge, as determined by a reduction in the level of PCV2
      viremia and a reduction in the prevalence and amount of PCV2 antigen in lymphoid
      tissues in vaccinated pigs compared to nonvaccinated pigs. The results indicate
      that acute PRRSV infection at the time of PCV2 vaccination has no adverse effect
      on PCV2 vaccine efficacy.

PMID- 20926696
TI  - Immunization with truncated recombinant protein SpaC of Erysipelothrix
      rhusiopathiae strain 715 serovar 18 confers protective immunity against challenge
      with various serovars.
AB  - Previously, we showed that surface protective antigen (Spa) proteins of
      Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae can be classified into three molecular species-SpaA,
      SpaB, and SpaC-and that SpaC is the most broadly cross-protective antigen among
      the three Spa proteins. In this study, we examined the ability of the alpha
      helical domain, which comprises the N-terminal half of SpaC, to elicit cross
      protective immunity in mice and pigs. Mice actively immunized with the full
      length protein (rSpaC664) or the alpha-helical domain (rSpaC427), but not the C
      terminal domain (rSpaC253), were protected against challenge with E.
      rhusiopathiae serovars 1a, 2, 6, 19, and 18 expressing heterologous (SpaA or
      SpaB) and homologous (SpaC) Spas. The alpha-helical domain seemed to provide
      better protection than rSpaC664, although the differences did not reach
      statistical significance. Similarly, mice passively immunized with rabbit anti
      rSpaC664 or anti-rSpaC427 sera, but not anti-rSpaC253 serum, were protected from
      challenge with various serovars. Pigs immunized with SpaC427 also developed
      specific antibodies against Spa proteins and were protected from challenge with
      the highly virulent heterologous E. rhusiopathiae strain Fujisawa (serovar 1a).
      Taken together, these results demonstrate for the first time the striking
      protective efficacy of the alpha-helical domain-mediated immunization in both
      mice and pigs, thereby highlighting its utility as the most promising candidate
      for the development of a safe and effective vaccine against erysipelas.

PMID- 20926697
TI  - Simultaneous measurement of antigen-stimulated interleukin-1 beta and gamma
      interferon production enhances test sensitivity for the detection of
      Mycobacterium bovis infection in cattle.
AB  - In order to identify cytokines that may be useful as candidates for inclusion in
      diagnostic tests for Mycobacterium bovis infection in cattle, we compared the
      levels of gamma interferon (IFN-gamma), interleukin 1beta (IL-1beta), IL-4, IL
      10, IL-12, macrophage inflammatory protein 1beta (MIP-1beta), and tumor necrosis
      factor alpha (TNF-alpha) in whole-blood cultures from tuberculosis (TB) reactor
      animals or TB-free controls following stimulation with M. bovis-specific antigens
      (purified protein derivative from M. bovis [PPD-B] or ESAT-6/CFP-10). In addition
      to IFN-gamma responses, the production of IL-1beta and TNF-alpha was also
      statistically significantly elevated in TB reactor cattle over that in uninfected
      controls following stimulation with PPD-B or ESAT-6/CFP-10 peptides. Thus, we
      evaluated whether the use of these two additional readouts could disclose further
      animals not detected by measuring IFN-gamma alone. To this end, receiver
      operating characteristic (ROC) analyses were performed to define diagnostic
      cutoffs for positivity for TNF-alpha and IL-1beta. These results revealed that
      for ESAT-6/CFP-10-induced responses, the use of all three readouts (IFN-gamma,
      TNF-alpha, and IL-1beta) in parallel increased the sensitivity of detection of M.
      bovis-infected animals by 11% but also resulted in a specificity decrease of 14%.
      However, applying only IFN-gamma and IL-1beta in parallel resulted in a 5%
      increase in sensitivity without the corresponding loss of specificity. The
      results for PPD-B-induced responses were similar, although the loss of
      specificity was more pronounced, even when only IFN-gamma and IL-1beta were used
      as readout systems. In conclusion, we have demonstrated that the use of an
      additional readout system, such as IL-1beta, can potentially complement IFN-gamma
      by increasing overall test sensitivity for the detection of M. bovis infection in
      cattle.

PMID- 20926698
TI  - Seroprevalence of pertussis among Danish patients with cough of unknown etiology.
AB  - The common perception that pertussis is only a childhood disease is not correct.
      Vaccination or infection with Bordetella pertussis provides only short-lived
      protection against pertussis-and the majority of the population is consequently
      at risk of contracting pertussis. We evaluated the seroprevalence of pertussis
      antibodies (IgG against pertussis toxin) in serum samples from 265 Danish
      patients, aged 8 years and older, with coughs of unknown etiology. Depending on
      the cutoff chosen, we found that 2.6% to 10.9% of these patients were
      seropositive for pertussis. Of 178 patients with a reported duration of cough
      between 2 weeks and 3 months, 3.4% to 12.4% were seropositive for pertussis,
      indicating recent infection. Our study indicates that B. pertussis infection may
      be underdiagnosed among older children and adults with coughs in Denmark.

PMID- 20926699
TI  - Molecular cloning of an immunogenic protein of Baylisascaris procyonis and
      expression in Escherichia coli for use in developing improved serodiagnostic
      assays.
AB  - Larva migrans caused by Baylisascaris procyonis is an important zoonotic disease.
      Current serological diagnostic assays for this disease depend on the use of the
      parasite's larval excretory-secretory (ES) antigens. In order to identify genes
      encoding ES antigens and to generate recombinant antigens for use in diagnostic
      assays, construction and immunoscreening of a B. procyonis third-stage larva cDNA
      expression library was performed and resulted in identification of a partial
      length cDNA clone encoding an ES antigen, designated repeat antigen 1 (RAG1). The
      full-length rag1 cDNA contained a 753-bp open reading frame that encoded a
      protein of 250 amino acids with 12 tandem repeats of a 12-amino-acid long
      sequence. The rag1 genomic DNA revealed a single intron of 837 bp that separated
      the 753-bp coding sequence into two exons delimited by canonical splice sites. No
      nucleotide or amino acid sequences present in the GenBank databases had
      significant similarity with those of RAG1. We have cloned, expressed, and
      purified the recombinant RAG1 (rRAG1) and analyzed its diagnostic potential by
      enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Anti-Baylisascaris species-specific rabbit
      serum showed strong reactivity to rRAG1, while only minimal to no reactivity was
      observed with sera against the related ascarids Toxocara canis and Ascaris suum,
      strongly suggesting the specificity of rRAG1. On the basis of these results, the
      identified RAG1 appears to be a promising diagnostic antigen for the development
      of serological assays for specific detection of B. procyonis larva migrans.

PMID- 20926700
TI  - Development, characterization, and application of monoclonal antibodies against
      severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus nucleocapsid protein.
AB  - Five monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) against recombinant nucleocapsid protein (NP)
      of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-causing coronavirus (CoV) were
      developed by hybridoma technology. Epitope mapping by Western blotting showed
      that these anti-SARS-CoV NP MAbs bind to distinct domains of NP. These anti-SARS
      CoV NP MAbs, with their high specificity, are potentially ideal candidates for
      developing early and sensitive diagnostic assays for SARS-CoV.

PMID- 20926701
TI  - Development and characterization of protective Haemophilus parasuis subunit
      vaccines based on native proteins with affinity to porcine transferrin and
      comparison with other subunit and commercial vaccines.
AB  - Haemophilus parasuis is the agent responsible for causing Glasser's disease,
      which is characterized by fibrinous polyserositis, polyarthritis, and meningitis
      in pigs. In this study, we have characterized native outer membrane proteins with
      affinity to porcine transferrin (NPAPT) from H. parasuis serovar 5, Nagasaki
      strain. This pool of proteins was used as antigen to developed two vaccine
      formulations: one was adjuvanted with a mineral oil (Montanide IMS 2215 VG PR),
      while the other was potentiated with a bacterial neuraminidase from Clostridium
      perfringens. The potential protective effect conferred by these two vaccines was
      compared to that afforded by two other vaccines, consisting of recombinant
      transferrin-binding protein (rTbp) A or B fragments from H. parasuis, Nagasaki
      strain, and by a commercially available inactivated vaccine. Five groups of
      colostrum-deprived piglets immunized with the vaccines described above, one group
      per each vaccine, and a group of nonvaccinated control animals were challenged
      intratracheally with a lethal dose (3 * 108 CFU) of H. parasuis, Nagasaki strain.
      The two vaccines containing rTbps yielded similar results with minimal protection
      against death, clinical signs, gross and microscopic lesions, and H. parasuis
      invasion. In contrast, the two vaccines composed of NPAPT antigen and commercial
      bacterin resulted in a strong protection against challenge (without deaths and
      clinical signs), mild histopathological changes, and no recovery of H. parasuis,
      thus suggesting their effectiveness in preventing Glasser's disease outbreaks
      caused by serovar 5.

PMID- 20926702
TI  - Serum intercellular adhesion molecule 1 variations in young children with acute
      otitis media.
AB  - Acute otitis media (AOM) is an inflammatory reaction in the middle ear, most
      often occurring in young children. Streptococcus pneumoniae, nontypeable
      Haemophilus influenzae, and Moraxella catarrhalis are the most common bacteria
      isolated. Intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1) is involved in the innate
      immune response to infection by microorganisms, in effective antigen
      presentation, and in subsequent T-cell activation. Here we prospectively studied
      levels of serum soluble ICAM-1 (sICAM-1) before, at the time of, and after
      antimicrobial treatment of AOM in a group of 138 children ages 6 to 30 months.
      Middle ear fluids were collected by tympanocentesis to identify otopathogens. We
      found that (i) serum levels of sICAM-1 were significantly higher in S. pneumoniae
      , nontypeable H. influenzae-, and M. catarrhalis-infected children than in well
      children (P < 0.001), confirming that a systemic inflammatory response occurs
      during AOM; (ii) sICAM-1 levels varied from no elevation (110 ng/ml) to elevation
      to high levels (maximum, 1,470 ng/ml) among children with AOM; (iii) in paired
      samples, sICAM-1 levels increased 4- to 20-fold when children developed AOM
      compared to their sICAM-1 levels before infection; and (iv) the level of sICAM-1
      returned to the pre-AOM level at the convalescent stage of AOM after successful
      antimicrobial therapy. We conclude that AOM often causes a systemic inflammatory
      reaction, as measured by elevation of the serum sICAM-1 level, and that a high
      variability in sICAM-1 responses occurs with the presence of otopathogens during
      AOM.

PMID- 20926703
TI  - Sensitive assay for quantification of hepatitis B virus mutants by use of a minor
      groove binder probe and peptide nucleic acids.
AB  - Lamivudine is the first nucleoside analogue that was shown to have a potent
      effect on hepatitis B virus (HBV). However, the emergence of mutants resistant or
      cross-resistant to nucleoside/nucleotide analogues remains a serious problem.
      Several assays for the detection and quantification of antiviral-resistant
      mutants have been reported, but it has been difficult to measure the amounts of
      mutants accurately, especially when the target strain is a minor component of the
      mixed population. It has been shown that accurate measurement of a minor strain
      is difficult as long as a matching reaction with a single probe is included in
      the assay. We developed a new method for the quantification of lamivudine
      resistant strains in a mixed-virus population by real-time PCR using minor groove
      binder probes and peptide nucleic acids, and we achieved a wide and measurable
      range, from 3 to 10 log10 copies/ml, and high sensitivity, with a discriminative
      limit of 0.01% of the predominant strain. The clinical significance of measuring
      substitutions not only of M204 but also of L180 residues of HBV polymerase was
      demonstrated by this method. This assay increases the versatility of a sensitive
      method for the quantification of a single-nucleotide mutation in a heterogeneous
      population.

PMID- 20926705
TI  - Detection of a novel astrovirus in brain tissue of mink suffering from shaking
      mink syndrome by use of viral metagenomics.
AB  - In 2000, farmed mink kits in Denmark were affected by a neurological disorder.
      The characteristic clinical signs included shaking, staggering gait, and ataxia.
      The disease, given the name shaking mink syndrome, was reproduced by the
      inoculation of brain homogenate from affected mink kits into healthy ones.
      However, the etiology remained unknown despite intensive efforts. In this study,
      random amplification and large-scale sequencing were used, and an astrovirus was
      detected in the brain tissue of three experimentally infected mink kits. This
      virus also was found in the brain of three mink kits naturally displaying the
      disease but not in the six healthy animals investigated. The complete coding
      region of the detected astrovirus was sequenced and compared to those of both a
      mink astrovirus associated with preweaning diarrhea and to a recently discovered
      human astrovirus associated with a case of encephalitis in a boy with x-linked
      agammaglobulinemia. The identities were 80.4 and 52.3%, respectively, showing
      that the virus described in this study was more similar to the preweaning
      diarrhea mink astrovirus. For the nonstructural coding regions the sequence
      identity was around 90% compared to that of the astrovirus, which is associated
      with preweaning diarrhea in mink. The region coding for the structural protein
      was more diverse, showing only 67% sequence identity. This finding is of interest
      not only because the detected virus may be the etiological agent of the shaking
      mink syndrome but also because this is one of the first descriptions of an
      astrovirus found in the central nervous system of animals.

PMID- 20926704
TI  - Diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis in HIV-positive patients by microscopic
      observation drug susceptibility assay.
AB  - The microscopic observation drug susceptibility assay (MODS) is a novel and
      promising test for the early diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB). We evaluated the
      MODS assay for the early diagnosis of TB in HIV-positive patients presenting to
      Pham Ngoc Thach Hospital for Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases in southern Vietnam.
      A total of 738 consecutive sputum samples collected from 307 HIV-positive
      individuals suspected of TB were tested by smear, MODS, and the mycobacteria
      growth indicator tube method (MGIT). The diagnostic sensitivity and specificity
      of MODS compared to the microbiological gold standard (either smear or MGIT) were
      87 and 93%, respectively. The sensitivities of smear, MODS, and MGIT were 57, 71,
      and 75%, respectively, against clinical gold standard (MODS versus smear,
      P<0.001; MODS versus MGIT, P=0.03). The clinical gold standard was defined as
      patients who had a clinical examination and treatment consistent with TB, with or
      without microbiological confirmation. For the diagnosis of smear-negative
      patients, the sensitivities of MODS and MGIT were 38 and 45%, respectively
      (P=0.08). The median times to detection using MODS and MGIT were 8 and 11 days,
      respectively, and they were 11 and 17 days, respectively, for smear-negative
      samples. The original bacterial/fungal contamination rate of MODS was 1.1%, while
      it was 2.6% for MGIT. The cross-contamination rate of MODS was 4.7%. In
      conclusion, MODS is a sensitive, specific, and rapid test that is appropriate for
      the detection of HIV-associated TB; its cost and ease of use make it particularly
      useful in resource-limited settings.

PMID- 20926706
TI  - Susceptibility profiles, molecular epidemiology, and detection of KPC-producing
      Escherichia coli isolates from the New York City vicinity.
AB  - The detection of Enterobacteriaceae carrying the carbapenemase KPC has been
      problematic. Thirty isolates of KPC-possessing Escherichia coli were gathered
      from hospitals in New York City and Connecticut. The imipenem, meropenem,
      doripenem, and ertapenem MIC50 values were 4, 2, 1, and 4 MUg/ml, respectively.
      Over half of the isolates belonged to a single ribotype. Using an ertapenem
      breakpoint of 0.25 MUg/ml would efficiently detect these isolates.

PMID- 20926707
TI  - Improved detection of Bartonella DNA in mammalian hosts and arthropod vectors by
      real-time PCR using the NADH dehydrogenase gamma subunit (nuoG).
AB  - We used a whole-genome scanning technique to identify the NADH dehydrogenase
      gamma subunit (nuoG) primer set that is sensitive and specific enough to detect a
      diverse number of Bartonella species in a wide range of environmental samples yet
      maintains minimal cross-reactivity to mammalian host and arthropod vector
      organisms.

PMID- 20926708
TI  - Isolation of a novel Orientia species (O. chuto sp. nov.) from a patient infected
      in Dubai.
AB  - In July 2006, an Australian tourist returning from Dubai, in the United Arab
      Emirates (UAE), developed acute scrub typhus. Her signs and symptoms included
      fever, myalgia, headache, rash, and eschar. Orientia tsutsugamushi serology
      demonstrated a 4-fold rise in antibody titers in paired serum collections (1:512
      to 1:8,192), with the sera reacting strongest against the Gilliam strain antigen.
      An Orientia species was isolated by the in vitro culture of the patient's acute
      blood taken prior to antibiotic treatment. The gene sequencing of the 16S rRNA
      gene (rrs), partial 56-kDa gene, and the full open reading frame 47-kDa gene was
      performed, and comparisons of this new Orientia sp. isolate to previously
      characterized strains demonstrated significant sequence diversity. The closest
      homology to the rrs sequence of the new Orientia sp. isolate was with three
      strains of O. tsutsugamushi (Ikeda, Kato, and Karp), with a nucleotide sequence
      similarity of 98.5%. The closest homology to the 47-kDa gene sequence was with O.
      tsutsugamushi strain Gilliam, with a nucleotide similarity of 82.3%, while the
      closest homology to the 56-kDa gene sequence was with O. tsutsugamushi strain
      TA686, with a nucleotide similarity of 53.1%. The molecular divergence and
      geographically unique origin lead us to believe that this organism should be
      considered a novel species. Therefore, we have proposed the name "Orientia
      chuto," and the prototype strain of this species is strain Dubai, named after the
      location in which the patient was infected.

PMID- 20926709
TI  - Histoplasma capsulatum prosthetic valve endocarditis with negative fungal blood
      cultures and negative histoplasma antigen assay in an immunocompetent patient.
AB  - We report a case of Histoplasma capsulatum endocarditis in which Histoplasma
      antigen assay and fungal blood cultures were negative. The diagnosis was made by
      microscopic examination and culture of the excised valve. Histoplasma capsulatum
      should be considered in the differential diagnosis of culture-negative
      endocarditis in regions where it is endemic and in travelers.

PMID- 20926710
TI  - Molecular phylogeny and proposal of two new species of the emerging pathogenic
      fungus Saksenaea.
AB  - Saksenaea is a monotypic genus belonging to the order Mucorales and capable of
      producing severe human infections. Through a polyphasic study based on analysis
      of the sequences of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region, domains D1 and
      D2 of the 28S rRNA gene, and the elongation factor 1alpha (EF-1alpha) gene, as
      well as by evaluation of relevant morphological and physiological characteristics
      of a set of clinical and environmental strains, we have demonstrated that
      Saksenaea vasiformis is a complex of species. We propose as new species Saksenaea
      oblongispora, characterized by oblong sporangiospores and unable to grow at 42
      degrees C, and Saksenaea erythrospora, characterized by large sporangiophores and
      sporangia and by ellipsoid sporangiospores, biconcave in the lateral view.
      Itraconazole, posaconazole, and terbinafine were active against all isolates
      included in the study, while amphotericin B, voriconazole, and the echinocandins
      showed low activity.

PMID- 20926711
TI  - Feasibility study of a human papillomavirus E6 oncoprotein test for diagnosis of
      cervical precancer and cancer.
AB  - In a feasibility study using a prototype, lateral-flow test for human
      papillomavirus type 16, 18, and/or 45 (HPV16/18/45) E6 oncoproteins, 51 of 75
      (68%; 95% confidence interval [95% CI] of 56 to 78%) of HPV16/18/45 DNA-positive
      specimens from women with a diagnosis of CIN3+ (cervical intraepithelial
      neoplasia grade 3+ or cervical cancer) tested positive for HPV16/18/45 E6
      oncoprotein. None of 16 (95% CI of 0 to 37%) HPV16/18/45 DNA-positive cervical
      specimens from women with a negative or CIN1 diagnosis tested positive for
      HPV16/18/45 E6 oncoprotein.

PMID- 20926712
TI  - Evaluation of time to detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in broth culture as
      a determinant for end points in treatment trials.
AB  - Time to detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in broth culture was examined for
      utility as a treatment efficacy end point. Of 146 patients in a phase IIB trial,
      a decreased mean time to detection was found in 5 with treatment failure. Time to
      detection in an analysis-of-covariance model was associated with lung cavities,
      less intensive treatment, and differences in the bactericidal effects of
      treatment regimens.

PMID- 20926713
TI  - Incidence of and risk factors for community-associated methicillin-resistant
      Staphylococcus aureus acquired infection or colonization in intensive-care-unit
      patients.
AB  - The incidence of and risk factors for acquiring community-associated methicillin
      resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) among patients staying in intensive
      care units (ICUs) remain unclear. We enrolled patients staying in two ICUs at the
      Far Eastern Memorial Hospital during the period of 1 September 2008 to 30
      September 2009 to clarify this issue. Surveillance cultures for MRSA were taken
      from nostril, sputum or throat, axillae, and the inguinal area in all enrolled
      patients upon admission to the ICU, every 3 days thereafter, and on the day of
      discharge from the ICU. For each MRSA isolate, we performed multilocus sequence
      typing, identified the type of staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec, detected
      the presence of the Panton-Valentine leukocidin gene, and conducted drug
      susceptibility tests. Among the 1,906 patients who were screened, 203 patients
      were carriers of MRSA before their admission to the ICU; 81 patients acquired
      MRSA during their stay in the ICU, including 31 who acquired CA-MRSA. The
      incidence rates of newly acquired MRSA and CA-MRSA during the ICU stay were 7.9
      and 3.0 per 1,000 patient-days, respectively. Prior usage of antipseudomonal
      penicillins and antifungals and the presence of a nasogastric tube were found to
      be independent risk factors for acquiring CA-MRSA during the ICU stay when data
      for CA-MRSA carriers and patients without carriage of MRSA were compared
      (P=0.0035, 0.0330, and 0.0262, respectively). Prior usage of carbapenems was
      found to be a protective factor against acquiring CA-MRSA when data for patients
      with CA-MRSA and those with health care-associated MRSA acquired during ICU stay
      were compared (P=0.0240).

PMID- 20926714
TI  - Normalized resistance interpretation as a tool for establishing epidemiological
      MIC susceptibility breakpoints.
AB  - Normalized resistance interpretation (NRI) utilizes the fact that the wild-type
      population on the sensitive side is not affected by resistance development, and
      therefore a normalized reconstruction of the peak can be performed. The method
      was modified for MIC distributions by the introduction of helper variables, in
      between values assigned the mean of the neighboring numbers of isolates. This
      method was used on Staphylo- coccus aureus and Escherichia coli MIC distributions
      for 27 antimicrobials each and obtained from the EUCAST (European Committee on
      Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing) website
      (http://www.eucast.org/mic_distributions/). The number of isolates in each of the
      54 distributions ranged from 40 to 124,472. NRI produced normalized distributions
      in all cases. Cutoff values were calculated for +2.0 and +2.5 standard deviations
      (SD) above the means and then rounded up to nearest regular MIC dilution step.
      EUCAST also show cutoff values, ECOFF values, which were used as the reference.
      The NRI generated +2.0 SD values showed the best agreement with 26 of 27 within
      +/-1 dilution step and 17 exactly on the ECOFF values for Staphylococcus aureus,
      and 25 of 27 within +/-1 dilution step and 14 right on the ECOFF values for
      Escherichia coli. NRI offers an objective method for the reconstruction of the
      wild-type population in an MIC distribution for a given bacterial species and an
      antimicrobial agent. This method offers a new tool in comparative susceptibility
      studies such as global surveillance of resistance, as well as in quality control
      in individual laboratories.

PMID- 20926716
TI  - Report from the 2009 AOA North American Traveling Fellowship.

PMID- 20926717
TI  - Does a trauma course improve resident performance on the trauma domain of the
      OITE?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Lecture-based courses are common in orthopaedic surgery; however,
      their effectiveness in improving medical knowledge has not been widely assessed.
      The Orthopaedic Trauma Association conducts a resident trauma course that occurs
      four to six weeks prior to the Orthopaedic In-Training Examination (OITE). The
      purposes of this study were to determine whether residents who had taken this
      course performed better on the trauma domain of the OITE and to compare the
      effect of the course with the effect of a focused rotation in orthopaedic trauma.
      METHODS: The percentile scores on the trauma domain of the OITE for forty-seven
      residents in postgraduate year (PGY) 2 were reviewed. Twenty-nine residents who
      took a trauma course within six weeks before the OITE were compared with eighteen
      residents who took the course after the OITE. As a secondary analysis, the effect
      of a trauma rotation for the same PGY-2 residents before and after the OITE was
      also assessed. Baseline orthopaedic knowledge was assessed with use of the
      overall OITE percentage scores. RESULTS: The trauma domain scores were not
      significantly better among the residents who took the course (mean and standard
      deviation, 62.2 +/- 9.9) compared with those who had not taken it (mean, 59.2 +/-
      6.2) (p = 0.2). A significant difference (p = 0.04) was found for a trauma
      rotation, with the residents who had a trauma rotation scoring better (mean, 64.5
      +/- 6.8) than the residents who had not (mean, 58.8 +/- 8.9). The subgroup of
      residents who had both a course and a trauma rotation before the test scored
      significantly better (p = 0.01) than the subgroup that had neither of these
      experiences before the test (mean, 65.6 +/- 8.0 and 56.9 +/- 6.4, respectively).
      CONCLUSIONS: An orthopaedic trauma course alone does not enhance an orthopaedic
      resident's trauma medical knowledge as assessed on a standardized test. However,
      a trauma rotation before, and in particular the combination of both a course and
      a trauma rotation, can improve trauma test scores.

PMID- 20926718
TI  - Commentary on an article by Captain Brian R. Waterman, MD, et al.: "the
      epidemiology of ankle sprains in the United States".

PMID- 20926719
TI  - Commentary on an article by Stavros Thomopoulos, PhD, et al.: "the effects of
      exogenous basic fibroblast growth factor on intrasynovial flexor tendon healing
      in a canine model".

PMID- 20926720
TI  - Development of fatty atrophy after neurologic and rotator cuff injuries in an
      animal model of rotator cuff pathology.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Detachment of a tendon from its osseous insertion, as can be the case
      with severe rotator cuff injuries, leads to atrophy of and increased fat in the
      corresponding muscle. We sought to validate a rotator cuff injury model in the
      rabbit and to test the hypothesis that tenotomy of a rotator cuff tendon would
      consistently create muscle atrophy and fatty degeneration analogous to the
      changes that occur after injury to a nerve innervating the same muscle. METHODS:
      New Zealand white rabbits were divided into three groups: (1) partial rotator
      cuff tear without retraction of the muscle, (2) complete rotator cuff tear with
      retraction of the muscle, and (3) nerve transection of the subscapular nerve.
      Animals were killed at two or six weeks after injury, and the muscles were
      analyzed for weight, cross-sectional area, myosin fiber-type composition, and fat
      content. In addition, the subscapular nerve was harvested at two weeks and
      evaluated for neuronal injury. RESULTS: At six weeks after injury, the rabbit
      muscles in the complete tenotomy and nerve transection groups had significant
      decreases in wet mass and increases in fat content relative to the control
      groups. Fat accumulation had a similar spatial pattern at six weeks in both the
      nerve transection and complete tenotomy groups. Such changes were not seen in the
      partial tenotomy group. No change was found in muscle myosin fiber-type
      composition. At two weeks after injury, subscapular nerves in the complete
      tenotomy group showed gross evidence of neuronal injury. CONCLUSIONS: This study
      establishes the rabbit subscapularis muscle as a valid model to study the
      muscular changes associated with rotator cuff tears. Our data suggest that the
      muscular changes associated with complete tenotomy are comparable with those seen
      with denervation of the muscle and suggest that chronic rotator cuff tears may
      induce a neurologic injury.

PMID- 20926721
TI  - The epidemiology of ankle sprains in the United States.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Ankle sprain has been studied in athletic cohorts, but little is
      known of its epidemiology in the general population. A longitudinal, prospective
      epidemiological database was used to determine the incidence and demographic risk
      factors for ankle sprains presenting to emergency departments in the United
      States. It was our hypothesis that ankle sprain is influenced by sex, race, age,
      and involvement in athletics. METHODS: The National Electronic Injury
      Surveillance System (NEISS) was queried for all ankle sprain injuries presenting
      to emergency departments between 2002 and 2006. Incidence rate ratios were then
      calculated with respect to age, sex, and race. RESULTS: During the study period,
      an estimated 3,140,132 ankle sprains occurred among an at-risk population of
      1,461,379,599 person-years for an incidence rate of 2.15 per 1000 person-years in
      the United States. The peak incidence of ankle sprain occurred between fifteen
      and nineteen years of age (7.2 per 1000 person-years). Males, compared with
      females, did not demonstrate an overall increased incidence rate ratio for ankle
      sprain (incidence rate ratio, 1.04; 95% confidence interval, 1.00 to 1.09).
      However, males between fifteen and twenty-four years old had a substantially
      higher incidence of ankle sprain than their female counterparts (incidence rate
      ratio, 1.53; 95% confidence interval, 1.41 to 1.66), whereas females over thirty
      years old had a higher incidence compared with their male counterparts (incidence
      rate ratio, 2.03; 95% confidence interval, 1.65 to 2.65). Compared with the
      Hispanic race, the black and white races were associated with substantially
      higher rates of ankle sprain (incidence rate ratio, 3.55 [95% confidence
      interval, 1.01 to 6.09] and 2.49 [95% confidence interval, 1.01 to 3.97],
      respectively). Nearly half of all ankle sprains (49.3%) occurred during athletic
      activity, with basketball (41.1%), football (9.3%), and soccer (7.9%) being
      associated with the highest percentage of ankle sprains during athletics.
      CONCLUSIONS: An age of ten to nineteen years old is associated with higher rates
      of ankle sprain. Males between fifteen and twenty-four years old have higher
      rates of ankle sprain than their female counterparts, whereas females over thirty
      years old have higher rates than their male counterparts. Half of all ankle
      sprains occur during athletic activity.

PMID- 20926722
TI  - The effects of exogenous basic fibroblast growth factor on intrasynovial flexor
      tendon healing in a canine model.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Studies have demonstrated that flexor tendon repair strength fails to
      increase in the first three weeks following suturing of the tendon, a finding
      that correlates closely with the timing of many clinical failures. The
      application of growth factors holds promise for improving the tendon-repair
      response and obviating failure in the initial three weeks. METHODS: The effects
      of basic fibroblast growth factor on flexor tendon healing were evaluated with
      use of a canine model. Operative repair followed by the sustained delivery of
      basic fibroblast growth factor, at two different doses, was compared with
      operative repair alone. Histological, biochemical, and biomechanical methods were
      used to evaluate the tendons twenty-one days after repair. RESULTS: Vascularity,
      cellularity, and adhesion formation were increased in the tendons that received
      basic fibroblast growth factor as compared with the tendons that received
      operative repair alone. DNA concentration was increased in the tendons that
      received 1000 ng of basic fibroblast growth factor (mean and standard deviation,
      5.7 +/- 0.7 MUg/mg) as compared with the tendons that received 500 ng of basic
      fibroblast growth factor (3.8 +/- 0.7 MUg/mg) and the matched control tendons
      that received operative repair alone (4.5 +/- 0.9 MUg/mg). Tendons that were
      treated with basic fibroblast growth factor had a lower ratio of type-I collagen
      to type-III collagen, indicating increased scar formation compared with that seen
      in tendons that received operative repair alone (3.0 +/- 1.6 in the group that
      received 500-ng basic fibroblast growth factor compared with 4.3 +/- 1.0 in the
      paired control group that received operative repair alone, and 3.4 +/- 0.6 in the
      group that received 1000-ng basic fibroblast growth factor compared with 4.5 +/-
      1.9 in the paired control group that received operative repair alone). Consistent
      with the increases in adhesion formation that were seen in tendons treated with
      basic fibroblast growth factor, the range of motion was reduced in the group that
      received the higher dose of basic fibroblast growth factor than it was in the
      paired control group that received operative repair alone (16.6 degrees  +/- 9.4
      degrees  in the group that received 500 ng basic fibroblast growth factor, 13.4
      degrees  +/- 6.1 degrees  in the paired control group that received operative
      repair alone, and 29.2 degrees  +/- 5.8 degrees  in the normal group [i.e., the
      group of corresponding, uninjured tendons from the contralateral forelimb]; and
      15.0 degrees  +/- 3.8 degrees  in the group that received 1000 ng basic
      fibroblast growth factor, 19.3 degrees  +/- 5.5 degrees  in the paired control
      group that received operative repair alone, and 29.0 degrees  +/- 8.8 degrees  in
      the normal group). There were no significant differences in tendon excursion or
      tensile mechanical properties between the groups that were treated with basic
      fibroblast growth factor and the groups that received operative repair alone.
      CONCLUSIONS: Although basic fibroblast growth factor accelerated the cell
      proliferation phase of tendon healing, it also promoted neovascularization and
      inflammation in the earliest stages following the suturing of the tendon. Despite
      a substantial biologic response, the administration of basic fibroblast growth
      factor failed to produce improvements in either the mechanical or functional
      properties of the repair. Rather, increased cellular activity resulted in
      peritendinous scar formation and diminished range of motion.

PMID- 20926723
TI  - Effects of workers' compensation on the diagnosis and surgical treatment of
      patients with hand and wrist disorders.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Workers' Compensation differs from standard insurance, and it is
      unclear how or if Workers' Compensation insurance influences the diagnosis and
      treatment of hand and wrist disorders. The aim of this study was to compare the
      diagnosis and course of treatment of hand disorders between patients with
      Workers' Compensation insurance and patients with standard insurance. METHODS:
      The complete medical records of patients who visited an academic orthopaedic hand
      clinic between January 2005 and January 2007 were reviewed, and information on
      patient history, utilization of diagnostic tests, diagnosis, surgery, and wait
      time to surgery was collected. Patients with Workers' Compensation insurance and
      those with other, third-party coverage were analyzed and compared. Patients
      without insurance were excluded from this study. RESULTS: 1413 patients
      (representing 2121 diagnoses) were included in the study. One hundred and sixteen
      patients (8%) had Workers' Compensation insurance and 1297 patients (92%) had
      standard insurance. Patients with Workers' Compensation insurance were younger
      than patients with standard insurance (mean age, forty-three years compared with
      fifty years, respectively; p < 0.05) and were also more likely to be male (50%
      compared with 40%, respectively; p = 0.04). Generally, Workers' Compensation
      patients more often had neurological conditions (p < 0.01), but there was no
      significant difference in the most common diagnoses between the two groups.
      Patients with Workers' Compensation underwent surgery slightly more often than
      did patients with standard insurance (44% compared with 35%, respectively; p =
      0.07) and had a higher average number of visits before undergoing surgery (2.3
      visits compared with 1.2 visits, respectively; p < 0.05). Twenty-three (45%) of
      the fifty-one patients with Workers' Compensation insurance who received a
      diagnosis indicating the need for surgery underwent surgery after the first
      visit, compared with 316 (69%) of 458 patients with standard insurance (p <
      0.05). Patients with Workers' Compensation insurance were more likely than
      patients with standard insurance to undergo electrodiagnostic testing (26%
      compared with 15%, respectively; p < 0.01) or magnetic resonance imaging (16%
      compared with 9%, respectively; p = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: Compared with patients
      receiving standard insurance, patients receiving Workers' Compensation insurance
      have a greater number of clinic visits before undergoing surgery and receive more
      diagnostic testing. More research is needed to explore these differences and
      their potential clinical and economic consequences.

PMID- 20926724
TI  - Hypovitaminosis D in patients scheduled to undergo orthopaedic surgery: a single
      center analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Vitamin D is essential for optimal bone health and muscle function.
      An alarmingly high rate of vitamin-D deficiency in the general population has
      been reported recently. The purpose of the present study was to characterize the
      extent of low serum levels of vitamin D among orthopaedic surgery patients.
      METHODS: We performed a retrospective chart review of 723 patients who were
      scheduled for orthopaedic surgery between January 2007 and March 2008.
      Preoperative serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) levels were measured. The
      prevalence of normal (>=32 ng/mL), insufficient (<32 ng/mL), and deficient (<20
      ng/mL) vitamin-D levels was determined. Logistic regression was used to assess
      risk factors for insufficient (<32 ng/mL) 25(OH)D levels. RESULTS: Overall, 43%
      of all patients had insufficient serum vitamin-D levels, and, of these, 40% had
      deficient levels. Among the orthopaedic services, the highest rates of low serum
      vitamin-D levels were seen in the trauma and sports services, in which the rates
      of abnormal (insufficient and deficient) vitamin-D levels were 66% and 52%,
      respectively. The lowest rate of abnormal vitamin-D levels was seen in the
      metabolic bone disease service. Patients between the ages of fifty-one and
      seventy years were 35% less likely to have low vitamin-D levels than patients
      between the ages of eighteen and fifty years (p = 0.018). The prevalence of low
      vitamin-D levels was significantly higher in men (p = 0.006). Individuals with
      darker skin tones (blacks and Hispanics) were 5.5 times more likely to have low
      vitamin-D levels when compared with those with lighter skin tones (whites and
      Asians) (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of low serum levels of vitamin D
      among patients undergoing orthopaedic surgery is very common. Given the
      importance of vitamin D in musculoskeletal health, such low levels may negatively
      impact patient outcomes.

PMID- 20926725
TI  - Repair of a deficient abductor mechanism with Achilles tendon allograft after
      total hip replacement.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Abductor mechanism insufficiency after total hip arthroplasty is a
      rare but debilitating problem. The diagnosis is difficult, and when the condition
      is recognized there are few successful treatment options. The purpose of this
      study was to review our experience with a surgical technique involving use of a
      fresh-frozen Achilles tendon allograft with an attached calcaneal bone graft to
      reconstruct a deficient abductor mechanism after total hip arthroplasty. METHODS:
      From 2003 to 2006, we performed seven abductor reconstructions with an Achilles
      tendon allograft in patients with abductor deficiency after total hip
      arthroplasty. At a mean of twenty-nine months after the total hip arthroplasty,
      all seven patients had symptoms of lateral hip pain and abductor muscle weakness
      as demonstrated by a Trendelenburg test. The abductor tendon rupture was
      diagnosed on the basis of an arthrogram and was confirmed at surgery. RESULTS:
      Before the reconstruction, the average Harris hip score was 34.7 points and the
      average pain score was 11.4 points. After a minimum duration of follow-up of
      twenty-four months, the average Harris hip score was 85.9 points and the average
      pain score was 38.9 points. CONCLUSIONS: Abductor reconstruction with an Achilles
      tendon allograft with a calcaneal bone block attached to the greater trochanter
      can produce substantial relief of pain, increased abductor muscle strength,
      decreased limp, and improvements in the Trendelenburg sign and in function at the
      time of early follow-up.

PMID- 20926726
TI  - Outcomes associated with the internal fixation of long-bone fractures proximal to
      traumatic amputations.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Preservation of optimal residual limb length following a traumatic
      amputation can be challenging. The purpose of this study was to determine if
      acceptable results can be achieved by definitive fixation of a long-bone fracture
      proximal to a traumatic amputation. METHODS: We identified thirty-seven active
      duty military service members who underwent internal fixation of a long-bone
      fracture proximal to a traumatic amputation. Functional status was assessed with
      the Tegner activity level scale and prosthesis use. Secondary outcome measures
      were the development of nonunion, infection, and heterotopic ossification.
      RESULTS: Twelve patients (32%) underwent amputation and fracture in the same
      osseous segment. Ten patients (27%) sustained bilateral traumatic amputations,
      and eight (22%) had a major fracture of the contralateral extremity. The median
      times to fracture fixation and amputation closure were twelve days and nineteen
      days, respectively, after the injury. The mean Tegner activity score was 3.32
      (range, 1 to 6); patients with isolated extremity injuries had significantly
      higher Tegner scores than those with severe bilateral injuries (3.59 and 2.38,
      respectively; p = 0.04). Thirty-three patients (89%) developed an infection
      requiring surgical debridement. However, all fractures were treated until union
      occurred, and amputation level salvage was successful in all instances.
      Heterotopic ossification developed in twenty-eight patients (76%), with operative
      excision required in eleven patients (39%). CONCLUSIONS: High complication rates,
      but acceptable final results, can be achieved with internal fixation of a
      fracture proximal to a traumatic amputation to preserve functional joint levels
      or salvage residual limb length.

PMID- 20926727
TI  - Reliability and validity of radiographic measurements in hindfoot varus and
      valgus.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Clinical decision-making in the treatment of foot deformities is
      based primarily on the results of the physical examination and the radiographic
      findings. The purpose of this study was to determine the validity and reliability
      of commonly used radiographic measurements of hindfoot valgus and varus
      deformities. METHODS: Seventy-two patients with hindfoot deformity (thirty-six
      hindfoot valgus, mean age 15.5 years; thirty-six hindfoot varus, mean age 30.2
      years) were evaluated. Nine representative indices on weight-bearing radiographs
      were assessed. Three examiners measured the radiographic indices at two sessions,
      and intraobserver and interobserver reliability was determined. Discriminant
      validity of the radiographic measurements between hindfoot valgus and varus was
      evaluated. The correlation with pedobarographic findings in evaluating the
      distribution of foot pressure during gait was assessed for convergent validity.
      RESULTS: Naviculocuboid overlap, anteroposterior talonavicular coverage angle,
      anteroposterior talus-first metatarsal angle, calcaneal pitch angle, and lateral
      talus-first metatarsal angle showed excellent reliability. Naviculocuboid
      overlap, anteroposterior talonavicular coverage angle, and anteroposterior talus
      first metatarsal angle showed excellent discriminant validity (in terms of effect
      size r) and convergent validity (in terms of correlation coefficients with
      pedobarography). CONCLUSIONS: Naviculocuboid overlap, anteroposterior
      talonavicular coverage angle, and anteroposterior talus-first metatarsal angle
      are reliable and valid measures for the evaluation of hindfoot valgus and varus
      deformities.

PMID- 20926728
TI  - Diversity based on race, ethnicity, and sex between academic orthopaedic surgery
      and other specialties: a comparative study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Previous studies have demonstrated a lack of diversity in
      orthopaedics; however, it is unclear whether this observation is unique to
      orthopaedics or similar to other surgical fields. The present study compares
      diversity in the field of orthopaedics with diversity in other surgical and
      nonsurgical fields. To our knowledge, no previous study has placed this issue in
      a comparative perspective between specialties at both the residency and faculty
      levels. METHODS: Public registries from 2006 and 2007 were used to determine the
      composition (according to race, ethnicity, and sex) of the orthopaedic workforce
      in the United States, including medical students, orthopaedic residents,
      orthopaedic faculty, and full professors. The diversity of orthopaedic residents
      and faculty was then compared with that in five other specialties. In addition,
      the applicant pools to orthopaedic and general surgery residencies were compared.
      RESULTS: Within the 2006 orthopaedic workforce, there was a significant decrease
      in the representation of African-Americans, Hispanics/Latinos, Asian-Americans,
      and women from medical schools to orthopaedic residencies (p < 0.001). African
      Americans, Hispanics/Latinos, and Asian-Americans were underrepresented among
      orthopaedic faculty compared with their representation in orthopaedic residency
      programs (p < 0.05). Furthermore, women and Asian-Americans were
      disproportionately underrepresented as full professors compared with their
      presence on the faculty at academic orthopaedic institutions (p < 0.05). When
      compared with other surgical specialties, African-Americans and Hispanics/Latinos
      made up a significantly smaller proportion of orthopaedic residents than general
      surgery residents and neurological surgery. Orthopaedic surgery had the lowest
      representation of female residents and faculty (p < 0.05 for all comparisons). In
      examining the applicant pool, orthopaedic surgery was less diverse than general
      surgery (p < 0.001). Furthermore, African-American and Hispanic/Latino
      orthopaedic applicants also submitted a lower average number of applications than
      Whites or Asian-Americans. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that on a
      comparative basis, orthopaedic surgery lags behind general surgery and other
      surgical and nonsurgical fields in terms of the representation of minorities and
      women. Thus, given similar capabilities and qualifications of applicants, a
      concerted effort could be made to recruit more diverse residents and faculty.

PMID- 20926729
TI  - Extreme enchondromatosis: a report of two cases and review of the literature.

PMID- 20926730
TI  - Displaced longitudinal stress fracture of the patella: a case report.

PMID- 20926731
TI  - Suprascapular neuropathy.
AB  - Suprascapular neuropathy has often been overlooked as a source of shoulder pain.
      The condition may be more common than once thought as it is being diagnosed more
      frequently. Etiologies for suprascapular neuropathy may include repetitive
      overhead activities, traction from a rotator cuff tear, and compression from a
      space-occupying lesion at the suprascapular or spinoglenoid notch. Magnetic
      resonance imaging is useful for visualizing space-occupying lesions, other
      pathological entities of the shoulder, and fatty infiltration of the rotator
      cuff. Electromyography and nerve conduction velocity studies remain the standard
      for diagnosis of suprascapular neuropathy; however, data on interobserver
      reliability are limited. Initial treatment of isolated suprascapular neuropathy
      is typically nonoperative, consisting of physical therapy, nonsteroidal anti
      inflammatory drugs, and activity modification; however, open or arthroscopic
      operative intervention is warranted when there is extrinsic nerve compression or
      progressive pain and/or weakness. More clinical data are needed to determine if
      treatment of the primary offending etiology in cases of traction from a rotator
      cuff tear or compression from a cyst secondary to a labral tear is sufficient or
      whether concomitant decompression of the nerve is warranted for management of the
      neuropathy.

PMID- 20926732
TI  - Thoracic mass in a cynomolgus macaque (Macaca fascicularis).
AB  - A male cynomolgus macaque at the age of 3 years and 11 months suffered sudden
      cardiac arrest during a surgical operation. This animal had been clinically
      asymptomatic for 6 months from the acclimatization period to death. At necropsy,
      a white mass approximately 5 cm in diameter was found at the base of the heart.
      Histopathologically, the mass consisted of a granuloma with a number of
      multinucleated giant cells and multiple necrotic foci. Fungal hyphae
      characterized by parallel cell walls, distinct septa, and branching were observed
      in the lesion. The granuloma extended into the thoracic lymph nodes and the
      subepicardium of the left atrium, compressed the bronchioli, and was separated
      from the pulmonary parenchyma by a thick fibrous layer. The hyphal morphology and
      results of polymerase chain reaction assays demonstrated that the pathogen was
      Aspergillus sp.

PMID- 20926733
TI  - Intestinal atresia and ectopia in a bovine fetus.
AB  - A 2-year-old Red Holstein cow was presented with uterine torsion at 235 days of
      pregnancy. The fetus extracted by cesarean section had weak vital signs and
      marked abdominal distention. An edematous pouch that contained tubular structures
      with peristaltic activity was associated with the umbilical cord. Because of poor
      prognosis, both dam and fetus were euthanized. At necropsy, the fetus had severe
      distention of the forestomachs, abomasum, and proximal small intestine; absence
      of distal small intestine, cecum, and proximal colon; atresia of the 2 blind ends
      of the intestine; and atrophy of distal colon and rectum. The tubular structures
      associated with the umbilical cord were identified as the segments of intestine
      that were absent in the fetus. Intestinal atresia combined with ectopia may be
      caused by local ischemia during temporary herniation and rotation of the fetal
      gut into the extraembryonic coelom. The close connection between ectopic
      intestine and amniotic sheath of the umbilical cord in this case may have
      facilitated vascularization and allowed development and viability of the ectopic
      intestine.

PMID- 20926735
TI  - Paranasal sinus masses of Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis
      canadensis).
AB  - This article describes 10 cases of paranasal sinus masses in Rocky Mountain
      bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis canadensis). Among 21 bighorns that were examined
      from 11 herds in Colorado, 10 individuals (48%) from 4 herds (36%) had masses
      arising from the paranasal sinuses. Affected animals included 9 of 17 females
      (53%) and 1 of 4 males (25%), ranging in age from approximately 2 years to
      greater than 10 years. Defining gross features of these masses included
      unilateral or bilateral diffuse thickening of the respiratory lining of the
      maxillary and/or frontal sinuses, with abundant seromucinous exudate in the
      affected sinus cavities. Defining histologic features of these masses included
      chronic inflammation and proliferation of mesenchymal and epithelial cells of the
      mucosa and submucosa. Epithelial changes included hyperplasia of mucosal
      epithelium, hyperplasia of submucosal glands and ducts, and neoplasia
      (adenocarcinoma). Mesenchymal changes included submucosal myxedema, submucosal
      fibroplasia/fibrosis, bone destruction, and neoplasia (myxomatous fibroma).
      Specific immunohistochemistry and polymerase chain reaction for Jaagsiekte sheep
      retrovirus and enzootic nasal tumor virus were performed with negative results.

PMID- 20926736
TI  - Suppression of proliferation and invasive behavior of human metastatic breast
      cancer cells by dietary supplement BreastDefend.
AB  - AIM: The study was to evaluate the effect of the dietary supplement BreastDefend
      (BD) on the proliferation and invasive behavior of highly metastatic human breast
      cancer cells in vitro. METHODS: Cell proliferation and cytotoxicity of BD was
      evaluated in MDA-MB-231 cells treated with BD (0-40 MUg/mL) by MTT assay and
      trypan blue staining, respectively. Expression of cell cycle regulatory genes
      were determined by DNA-microarray analysis. Effect of BD on invasiveness was
      assessed by cellular adhesion, migration, and invasion assays. RESULTS: BD
      treatment of cells MDA-MB-231 resulted in the cytostatic inhibition of cell
      proliferation with IC(50) 22.2, 19.1, and 17.5 MUg/mL for 24, 48, and 72 hours,
      respectively. The inhibition of proliferation was mediated by the upregulation
      expression of CCNG1, CHEK1, CDKN1C, GADD45A, and E2F2, whereas BD downregulated
      expression of CCNA1 and CDK6 genes. The induction of expression of GADD45A and
      inhibition of expression of cyclin A1 (gene CCNA1) by BD was also confirmed on
      the protein level. BD treatment suppressed the invasive behavior of MDA-MB-231
      cells by the inhibition of cellular adhesion, migration, and invasion. This
      inhibition of invasiveness was mediated by the suppression of secretion of
      urokinase plasminogen activator (uPA), and by the downregulation of expression of
      CXCR4 in breast cancer cells treated with BD. CONCLUSION: BD inhibits
      proliferation and invasive behavior of the highly metastatic human breast cancer
      cells in vitro. BD may have a therapeutic potential for prevention or treatment
      of highly metastatic breast cancers.

PMID- 20926734
TI  - Ulcerative typhlocolitis associated with Helicobacter mastomyrinus in telomerase
      deficient mice.
AB  - Telomerase deficiency induces early senescence and defects in proliferating cell
      populations, but in mice it has not been associated with inflammatory bowel
      disease. Genetically engineered mice lacking either telomerase reverse
      transcriptase (TERT) or telomerase RNA were examined for chronic diarrhea and
      wasting. Affected mice had pasty stools, thickened nondistensible colon walls,
      and contracted ceca. Histologically, the cecal mucosa was largely replaced by
      inflammatory infiltrate consisting of plasma cells, neutrophils, lymphocytes, and
      macrophages with marked widespread fibrosis and ulceration. Remaining epithelium
      was disorganized and hyperplastic, with multifocal dysplasia. Colonic mucosa was
      markedly hyperplastic with similar inflammation and epithelial dysplasia.
      Multifocal adenomatous hyperplasia, but no inflammation, was present in the small
      intestine. Microaerophilic spiral bacteria with 16S rRNA gene sequences identical
      to Helicobacter mastomyrinus were isolated from the colon and cecum. Severe
      granulomatous typhlocolitis without epithelial dysplasia developed in germ-free
      recombination-activating gene (RAG) knockout (KO) recipients of CD4+ T cells and
      inoculated with cecal contents from affected TERT KO mice and in specific
      pathogen-free recipient RAG KO mice and interleukin-10 KO mice inoculated with H
      mastomyrinus. Typhlocolitis in mice given H mastomyrinus was more severe than in
      mice given Helicobacter hepaticus. Telomerase-deficient mice are susceptible to
      helicobacter-associated typhlocolitis. H mastomyrinus causes severe disease in
      susceptible mouse strains.

PMID- 20926737
TI  - Proteomic and functional analyses reveal the potential involvement of endoplasmic
      reticulum stress and alpha-CP1 in the anticancer activities of oridonin in HepG2
      cells.
AB  - Oridonin has been shown to exhibit therapeutic effects against hepatocellular
      carcinoma (HCC) in vitro and in vivo. This study aimed to identify the anti-HCC
      mechanisms of oridonin in HepG2 cells using proteomic and functional analyses.
      MTT assay showed that oridonin treatment for 24 hours dose-dependently inhibited
      cell growth with an IC(50) value of 40.4 MUM. Treatment with 40 MUM oridonin for
      24 hours induced apoptosis determined by nuclear morphologic changes of DAPI
      stained cells and flow cytometric analysis of annexin V-FITC/PI-stained cells,
      which was accompanied by Grp78 upregulation and alpha-CP1 downregulation
      identified by proteomic analysis. Immunoblot analysis for the endoplasmic
      reticulum (ER) stress- related proteins demonstrated that the expression levels
      of phosphorylated PERK (p-PERK) and CHOP were increased, whereas PERK, ATF-6, and
      IRE-1 expression levels were decreased. Knockdown of alpha-CP1 expression with
      siRNA significantly increased cell death and apoptosis in control and oridonin
      treated HepG2 cells. Together, these data provide proteomic and functional
      evidence for the potential involvement of ER stress and alpha-CP1 in the
      antiproliferative and apoptotic activities of oridonin in HepG2 cells, which shed
      new light on the action mechanisms of oridonin in HCC management.

PMID- 20926738
TI  - Biomarkers for early detection of Alzheimer disease.
AB  - The existence of an effective biomarker for early detection of Alzheimer disease
      would facilitate improved diagnosis and stimulate therapeutic trials.
      Multidisciplinary clinical diagnosis of Alzheimer disease is time consuming and
      expensive and relies on experts who are rarely available outside of specialty
      clinics. Thus, many patients do not receive proper diagnosis until the disease
      has progressed beyond stages in which treatments are maximally effective. In the
      clinical trial setting, rapid, cost-effective screening of patients for Alzheimer
      disease is of paramount importance for the development of new treatments.
      Neuroimaging of cortical amyloid burden and volumetric changes in the brain and
      assessment of protein concentrations (eg, beta-amyloid 1-42, total tau,
      phosphorylated tau) in cerebrospinal fluid are diagnostic tools that are not
      widely available. Known genetic markers do not provide sufficient discriminatory
      power between different forms of dementia to be useful in isolation. Recent
      studies using panels of biomarkers for diagnosis of Alzheimer disease or mild
      cognitive impairment have been promising, though no such studies have been cross
      validated in independent samples of subjects. The ideal biomarker enabling early
      detection of Alzheimer disease has not yet been identified.

PMID- 20926739
TI  - Current treatments for patients with Alzheimer disease.
AB  - There is neither proven effective prevention for Alzheimer disease nor a cure for
      patients with this disorder. Nevertheless, a spectrum of biopsychosocial
      therapeutic measures is available for slowing progression of the illness and
      enhancing quality of life for patients. These measures include a range of
      educational, psychological, social, and behavioral interventions that remain
      fundamental to effective care. Also available are a number of pharmacologic
      treatments, including prescription medications approved by the US Food and Drug
      Administration for Alzheimer disease, "off-label" uses of medications to manage
      target symptoms, and controversial complementary therapies. Physicians must make
      the earliest possible diagnosis to use these treatments most effectively.
      Physicians' goals should be to educate patients and their caregivers, to plan
      long-term care options, to maximally manage concurrent illnesses, to slow and
      ameliorate the most disabling symptoms, and to preserve effective functioning for
      as long as possible. The authors review the various current treatments for
      patients with Alzheimer disease.

PMID- 20926740
TI  - Investigational medications for treatment of patients with Alzheimer disease.
AB  - Development of effective treatments for patients with Alzheimer disease has been
      challenging. Currently approved treatments include acetylcholinesterase
      inhibitors and the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonist memantine
      hydrochloride. To investigate treatments in development for patients with
      Alzheimer disease, the author conducted a review of the literature. New
      approaches for treatment or prevention focus on several general areas, including
      cholinergic receptor agonists, drugs to decrease beta-amyloid and tau levels,
      antiinflammatory agents, drugs to increase nitric oxide and cyclic guanosine
      monophosphate levels, and substances to reduce cell death or promote cellular
      regeneration. The author focuses on medications currently in clinical trials.
      Cholinergic agents include orthostatic and allosteric muscarinic M1 agonists and
      nicotinic receptor agonists. Investigational agents that target beta-amyloid
      include vaccines, antibodies, and inhibitors of beta-amyloid production. Anti
      inflammatory agents, including nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, the natural
      product curcumin, and the tumor necrosis factor alpha inhibitor etanercept, have
      also been studied. Some drugs currently approved for other uses may also show
      promise for treatment of patients with Alzheimer disease. Results of clinical
      trials with many of these investigational drugs have been disappointing, perhaps
      because of their use with patients in advanced stages of Alzheimer disease.
      Effective treatment may need to begin earlier-before neurodegeneration becomes
      severe enough for symptoms to appear.

PMID- 20926741
TI  - Alzheimer disease: update on basic mechanisms.
AB  - Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia in the aged population.
      Pathologically, Alzheimer disease is characterized by progressive synaptic and
      neuronal loss and the presence of diagnostic amyloid plaques, consisting of
      fibril b-amyloid peptide aggregates and neurofibrillary tangles containing
      hyperphosphorylated tau protein filaments. Although plaques and tangles were
      originally considered the mediators of neurotoxicity in Alzheimer disease, recent
      research has underscored the roles of soluble beta-amyloid oligomers and tau
      molecules. Furthermore, new evidence has re-emphasized the important roles of
      endocytic, autophagic, and lysosomal pathways in Alzheimer disease pathogenesis
      including the finding that deficiency or mutations in the gene that encodes
      presenilin 1 (the most common cause for early-onset familial Alzheimer disease)
      impairs the maturation of the lysosomal proton pump. The author discusses recent
      developments in the perspective of Alzheimer disease pathogenesis and potential
      therapeutic interventions.

PMID- 20926742
TI  - Modern care for patients with Alzheimer disease: rationale for early
      intervention.
AB  - More than 5 million people in the United States are afflicted with Alzheimer
      disease, a condition that is the seventh leading cause of death in the nation.
      Lacking definitive disease-modifying treatments, modern care for individuals with
      Alzheimer disease is necessarily multimodal, combining the use of approved
      pharmaceutic agents (ie, acetylcholinesterase inhibitors, N-methyl-D-aspartate
      receptor antagonists, antipsychotics), lifestyle and behavioral interventions,
      and components of palliative care. Some promising experimental treatments are
      undergoing clinical trials, including immunotherapy to prevent the deposition of
      beta-amyloid, a protein implicated as an etiologic factor in the disease. The
      authors briefly examine the rationale and methods for screening patients for
      early indications of the onset of Alzheimer disease. They also describe current
      and potential treatments for patients with this disease.

PMID- 20926743
TI  - Recruitment of subjects into clinical trials for Alzheimer disease.
AB  - Alzheimer disease is a devastating neurodegenerative disorder affecting millions
      of Americans. It reduces the ability of the individual to remain independent,
      places a burden on caregivers, and substantially increases healthcare costs. New
      treatments are being tested in numerous clinical trials with the goal of
      preventing or delaying the onset of Alzheimer disease, slowing or modifying the
      disease's course, or finding a cure for patients with the disease. Alzheimer
      disease research can successfully proceed only if individuals who have this
      illness are willing to participate in clinical trials. However, recruitment and
      retention of subjects in clinical trials for Alzheimer disease is a challenging
      task. Furthermore, because of reductions in decision-making capacities of
      individuals with Alzheimer disease, clinical trials also need to involve
      caregivers. The present article delineates unique hurdles encountered in the
      recruitment process for Alzheimer disease clinical trials. The article also
      identifies strategies for effective recruitment of subjects in Alzheimer disease
      clinical trials, including guidelines to help principal investigators and
      clinical research coordinators reach recruitment goals.

PMID- 20926744
TI  - Alzheimer disease: the crisis is upon us.

PMID- 20926745
TI  - p21-activated kinase 4 regulates ovarian cancer cell proliferation, migration,
      and invasion and contributes to poor prognosis in patients.
AB  - Ovarian cancer is a lethal gynecological malignancy, and to improve survival, it
      is important to identify novel prognostic and therapeutic targets. In this study,
      we present a role for p21-activated kinase 4 (Pak4) in ovarian cancer
      progression. We show a significant association between increased expression of
      Pak4 and its activated form, phosphorylated (p)-Pak4 Ser(474), with metastasis of
      ovarian cancers, shorter overall and disease-free survival, advanced stage and
      high-grade cancers, serous/clear cell histological subtypes, and reduced
      chemosensitivity. Pak4 overexpression was also observed in ovarian cancer cell
      lines. Pak4 and p-Pak4 expression were detected both in the nucleus and cytoplasm
      of ovarian cancer cells, in vitro as well as in vivo. Stable knockdown of Pak4 in
      ovarian cancer cell lines led to reduced cell migration, invasion, and
      proliferation, along with reduced c-Src, ERK1/2, and epidermal growth factor
      receptor (EGFR) activation and decreased matrix metalloproteinase 2 (MMP2)
      expression. Conversely, Pak4 overexpression promoted ovarian cancer cell
      migration and invasion in a c-Src, MEK-1, MMP2, and kinase-dependent manner, and
      induced cell proliferation through the Pak4/c-Src/EGFR pathway that controls
      cyclin D1 and CDC25A expression. Stable knockdown of Pak4 also impeded tumor
      growth and dissemination in nude mice. This report reveals the association
      between Pak4 and important clinicopathologic parameters, suggesting Pak4 to be a
      significant prognostic marker and potential therapeutic molecular target in
      ovarian cancer. The implied possible cross-talk between Pak4 and EGFR suggests
      the potential of dual targeting of EGFR and Pak4 as a unique therapeutic approach
      for cancer therapy.

PMID- 20926746
TI  - Crowding and function reunite.

PMID- 20926747
TI  - Long-distance inflammatory and genotoxic impact of cancer in vivo.

PMID- 20926748
TI  - FERONIA as an upstream receptor kinase for polar cell growth in plants.

PMID- 20926749
TI  - Vascular endothelial platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule 1 (PECAM-1)
      regulates advanced metastatic progression.
AB  - Most patients who die from cancer succumb to treatment-refractory advanced
      metastatic progression. Although the early stages of tumor metastasis result in
      the formation of clinically silent micrometastatic foci, its later stages
      primarily reflect the progressive, organ-destructive growth of already advanced
      metastases. Early-stage metastasis is regulated by multiple factors within tumor
      cells as well as by the tumor microenvironment (TME). In contrast, the molecular
      determinants that control advanced metastatic progression remain essentially
      uncharacterized, precluding the development of therapies targeted against it.
      Here we show that the TME, functioning in part through platelet endothelial cell
      adhesion molecule 1 (PECAM-1), drives advanced metastatic progression and is
      essential for progression through its preterminal end stage. PECAM-1-KO and
      chimeric mice revealed that its metastasis-promoting effects are mediated
      specifically through vascular endothelial cell (VEC) PECAM-1. Anti-PECAM-1 mAb
      therapy suppresses both end-stage metastatic progression and tumor-induced
      cachexia in tumor-bearing mice. It reduces proliferation, but not angiogenesis or
      apoptosis, within advanced tumor metastases. Because its antimetastatic effects
      are mediated by binding to VEC rather than to tumor cells, anti-PECAM-1 mAb
      appears to act independently of tumor type. A modified 3D coculture assay showed
      that anti-PECAM-1 mAb inhibits the proliferation of PECAM-1-negative tumor cells
      by altering the concentrations of secreted factors. Our studies indicate that a
      complex interplay between elements of the TME and advanced tumor metastases
      directs end-stage metastatic progression. They also suggest that some therapeutic
      interventions may target late-stage metastases specifically. mAb-based targeting
      of PECAM-1 represents a TME-targeted therapeutic approach that suppresses the end
      stages of metastatic progression, until now a refractory clinical entity.

PMID- 20926750
TI  - Influence of severe renal impairment on the pharmacokinetics of clazosentan.
AB  - The purpose of this open-label, parallel-group study was to investigate the
      effect of severe renal impairment on the pharmacokinetics (PK), tolerability, and
      safety of clazosentan, an intravenous endothelin receptor antagonist. Clazosentan
      was administered as a continuous intravenous infusion of 1 mg/h for a period of 6
      hours in 9 subjects with severe renal impairment (group A) and 8 healthy subjects
      (group B) (creatinine clearance <30 mL/min and >80 mL/min, respectively). The
      subjects in both groups were well matched for sex, body mass index, and age (+/
      10 years). The PK parameters of clazosentan were calculated by both model
      independent and model-dependent methods. The differences in the PK parameters
      between the subjects with severe renal impairment and healthy subjects were
      minor. The geometric means for area under the curve (AUC) during the infusion,
      AUC(0-t), (AUC from zero to time t of the last measured concentration above the
      limit of quantification) AUC(0-infinity) (AUC from zero to infinity), and
      concentration at steady state were 7%, 8%, 8%, and 8%, respectively, higher in
      group A than in group B. The results obtained after 2-compartmental modeling were
      in agreement with those obtained after noncompartmental analysis. Administration
      of clazosentan was well tolerated in both groups. The data suggest that there is
      no need for dose adjustment of clazosentan in patients with renal impairment.

PMID- 20926751
TI  - Clinical pharmacokinetics of tonapofylline: evaluation of dose proportionality,
      oral bioavailability, and gender and food effects in healthy human subjects.
AB  - Tonapofylline is an antagonist of adenosine A1 receptor being developed for heart
      failure. In the present studies, pharmacokinetic characteristics, including dose
      proportionality, bioavailability, and effects of gender and food, were evaluated
      in healthy subjects receiving single-dose tonapofylline (0.2-375 mg) in a
      parallel or crossover design. Following oral administration, tonapofylline
      concentrations mostly peaked within 3 hours and declined over time in a multiple
      phasic manner. Based on a power model, dose proportionality of peak concentration
      (C(max)), area under the time-concentration curve for all values (AUC(all)), and
      area under the time-concentration curve to infinity (AUC(inf)) was concluded in a
      clinical setting. The bioavailability of tonapofylline was 81.2% (90% confidence
      interval, 70.6%-93.5%). Following intravenous administration, the steady-state
      volume of distribution of tonapofylline was estimated to be 756 mL/kg. The total
      clearance of tonapofylline was low (64.8 mL/h/kg), approximately 5% of hepatic
      blood flow. The terminal half-life was variable within groups and ranged from
      11.2 to 24.2 hours across the dose range. Female subjects showed significantly
      higher C(max), AUC(all), and AUC(inf) than male subjects (P < .05). Food
      decreased C(max) by approximately 39%, whereas it did not appear to affect
      AUC(all) and AUC(inf). The intersubject variability of the pharmacokinetic
      parameters of tonapofylline was generally less than 30%. In these studies, a
      single dose of tonapofylline was safe and well tolerated.

PMID- 20926752
TI  - Incidence and contributors to potential drug-drug interactions in hospitalized
      patients.
AB  - Drug-drug interactions (DDIs) are drug combinations that result in
      pharmacological or clinical responses that differ from solitary administration.
      Previous studies of DDIs have been limited to particular drugs or particular
      patient populations. The authors performed a retrospective cohort study of all
      adults admitted to a teaching hospital between 1999 and 2005. All medications
      administered to patients were identified and compared with a standard reference
      of important DDIs. The authors measured the potential DDI incidence density as
      the percentage of time in the hospital during which patients were exposed to at
      least 1 DDI and used multivariate Poisson regression to determine its
      determinants. A total of 19.3% of 140 349 hospitalizations had at least 1
      potential DDI. The potential DDI incidence density was 18.8%. Factors having the
      greatest influence on potential DDI incidence density included increased patient
      age (adjusted rate ratio patient >75 years vs <30 years, 2.25; 95% CI, 2.15
      2.35), increased number of drug orders (adjusted rate ratio, 2.27 [2.23-2.30] for
      logarithm), and patient service (adjusted rate ratio, 1.49 [1.46-1.52] for
      surgical vs medical service). Potential DDIs were present during one fifth of
      hospitalization time.

PMID- 20926753
TI  - Pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, and safety of ticagrelor in volunteers with
      mild hepatic impairment.
AB  - Ticagrelor, a P2Y12 receptor antagonist that inhibits ADP-induced platelet
      aggregation (IPA), has demonstrated improved outcomes in patients with acute
      coronary syndromes compared with clopidogrel. Because ticagrelor undergoes
      extensive hepatic elimination, this study evaluated the effect of mild hepatic
      impairment on its pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, and safety. A single oral
      90-mg ticagrelor dose was administered to volunteers with and without hepatic
      impairment (10 with Child-Pugh class A; 10 with normal liver function).
      Absorption of ticagrelor and formation of its active metabolite, AR-C124910XX,
      were rapid in both groups. Ticagrelor exposure was higher in hepatically impaired
      volunteers (maximum concentration [C(max)] 12%; area under the plasma
      concentration-time curve from time 0 to infinity [AUC] 23%) compared with
      controls. AR-C124910XX exposure was also higher in hepatic impairment (C(max)
      17%; AUC 66%). Ticagrelor is highly protein bound (>99.8%); the unbound fraction
      in plasma was comparable in volunteers with hepatic impairment and controls.
      Overall, IPA parameters were not significantly different between groups, and
      similar IPA-concentration profiles were observed. Ticagrelor was well tolerated
      in both groups, and no adverse events were reported. In conclusion, mild hepatic
      impairment resulted in modestly higher exposure to ticagrelor and AR-C124910XX,
      without subsequent effects on pharmacodynamics or tolerability. Based on these
      data, no ticagrelor dosage adjustment is needed in patients with mild hepatic
      impairment.

PMID- 20926754
TI  - Effects of BG9928, an adenosine A1 receptor antagonist, in patients with
      congestive heart failure.
AB  - Previous studies suggest that adenosine A1 receptor antagonists may promote
      natriuresis without deleterious effects on renal function. This study evaluated
      renal and hemodynamic effects as well as safety, pharmacokinetics, and
      tolerability of BG9928, a selective adenosine A1-receptor antagonist, in patients
      with heart failure. In this multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo
      controlled, dose-escalation study, 33 patients received a single dose of BG9928
      (0.03, 0.3, 1.0, or 3.0 mg/kg) or placebo intravenously. Change from baseline in
      urinary sodium excretion for the 8-hour postdose interval was greater for all
      dosing groups versus placebo. The 0.03-mg/kg and 0.3-mg/kg groups had significant
      reductions in body weight versus placebo (-0.8 kg, -1.1 kg, 0.3 kg, respectively;
      P < 005). No changes in creatinine clearance or hemodynamic parameters were
      observed among any of the BG9928 groups versus placebo. However, pulmonary
      capillary wedge pressure tended to decrease and correlated with weight loss.
      Across the range of doses studied, pharmacokinetic parameters were linear and
      predictable. One patient who received the highest dose (3.0 mg/kg) developed
      seizures, and no further patients received that dose. Single intravenous BG9928
      doses of up to 1.0 mg/kg were well tolerated and increased sodium excretion
      without worsening renal function. Further studies are needed to determine the
      clinical benefit of adenosine A1 receptor antagonism.

PMID- 20926755
TI  - Population pharmacokinetic analysis and dosing regimen optimization of aprotinin
      in neonates and young infants undergoing cardiopulmonary bypass.
AB  - The objective of this study was to determine an optimal dosing regimen for
      maintaining the therapeutic target range of aprotinin in neonates and young
      infants during cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). A total of 27 patients scheduled for
      open heart surgery were enrolled. Aprotinin was administered a 25 000 KIU
      (kallikrein inhibition unit)/kg bolus before operation, a 35 000 KIU/kg for CPB
      circuit priming, and a 12 500 KIU/kg/hour continuous infusion intra- and
      immediate postoperative period. Blood samples were obtained at 12 time points per
      patient. Population pharmacokinetic modeling and Monte-Carlo simulations were
      used to optimize the aprotinin dosing regimen. No mortality or aprotinin-related
      complication was encountered. A CPB adjusted 2-compartment model best fit the
      data. Clearance was 687 mL/hour during CPB and 350 mL/hour pre- and post-CPB, and
      corresponding volumes of distribution were 1577 mL and 1352 mL, respectively. The
      simulations conducted showed that more than twice the dose administered in this
      study is required to maintain the target concentration of aprotinin. The
      pharmacokinetics of aprotinin appears to be affected more sensitively by CPB in
      neonates and young infants than in adults. Therefore, dosage adjustment
      considering these pharmacokinetic differences and the influence of CPB is needed
      in neonates and young infants.

PMID- 20926756
TI  - Activated sterol regulatory element-binding protein-2 suppresses hepatocyte
      nuclear factor-4-mediated Cyp3a11 expression in mouse liver.
AB  - Sterol regulatory element-binding protein-2 (SREBP-2) is a key transcription
      factor for the cholesterol homeostasis. Recent studies have suggested the
      association of CYP3A enzymes, major drug-metabolizing enzymes, with cholesterol
      metabolism. In the present study, we have investigated a possible involvement of
      SREBP-2 in hepatic Cyp3a11 expression. Feeding a low-cholesterol diet (LCD) to
      mice activated hepatic SREBP-2 whereas it attenuated hepatic Cyp3a11 expression.
      These phenomena were reversed by cholesterol supplementation to LCD. In reporter
      assays, the overexpression of constitutively active SREBP-2 reduced Cyp3a11
      reporter activity through the region from -1581 to -1570 of Cyp3a11. This region
      contained a putative hepatocyte nuclear factor-4alpha (HNF-4alpha) binding motif,
      and HNF-4alpha, but not SREBP-2, bound to the motif in in vitro binding assays.
      With the mutation or deletion of this motif, the SREBP-2-dependent suppression of
      Cyp3a11 expression disappeared in reporter assays. In pull-down assays and
      coimmunoprecipitation assays, SREBP-2 bound to peroxisome proliferator-activated
      receptor gamma coactivator-1alpha (PGC-1alpha), a major coactivator for HNF
      4alpha, via its transactivation domain and inhibited the interaction between HNF
      4alpha and PGC-1alpha in vitro. A mutant SREBP-2 lacking the transactivation
      domain consistently failed to reduce Cyp3a11 reporter activity. Furthermore, PGC
      1alpha overexpression relieved the SREBP-2-mediated reduction of Cyp3a11 reporter
      activity. Finally, chromatin immunoprecipitation assays demonstrated that the
      extent of PGC-1alpha binding to the Cyp3a11 promoter was reduced by LCD-feeding
      in mouse livers. In conclusion, activated SREBP-2 interacts with PGC-1alpha in
      mouse livers at reduced cholesterol intake. This results in the reduced PGC
      1alpha recruitment to HNF-4alpha on the Cyp3a11 promoter and the subsequent down
      regulation of Cyp3a11 expression.

PMID- 20926757
TI  - Development of a selective small-molecule inhibitor of Kir1.1, the renal outer
      medullary potassium channel.
AB  - The renal outer medullary potassium (K+) channel, ROMK (Kir1.1), is a putative
      drug target for a novel class of loop diuretic that would lower blood volume and
      pressure without causing hypokalemia. However, the lack of selective ROMK
      inhibitors has hindered efforts to assess its therapeutic potential. In a high
      throughput screen for small-molecule modulators of ROMK, we previously identified
      a potent and moderately selective ROMK antagonist, 7,13-bis(4-nitrobenzyl)-1,4,10
      trioxa-7,13-diazacyclopentadecane (VU590), that also inhibits Kir7.1. Because
      ROMK and Kir7.1 are coexpressed in the nephron, VU590 is not a good probe of ROMK
      function in the kidney. Here we describe the development of the structurally
      related inhibitor 2,2'-oxybis(methylene)bis(5-nitro-1H-benzo[d]imidazole)
      (VU591), which is as potent as VU590 but is selective for ROMK over Kir7.1 and
      more than 65 other potential off-targets. VU591 seems to block the intracellular
      pore of the channel. The development of VU591 may enable studies to explore the
      viability of ROMK as a diuretic target.

PMID- 20926758
TI  - Impaired overload-induced hypertrophy is associated with diminished mTOR
      signaling in insulin-resistant skeletal muscle of the obese Zucker rat.
AB  - Recent data have suggested that insulin resistance may be associated with a
      diminished ability of skeletal muscle to undergo hypertrophy (Paturi S, Gutta AK,
      Kakarla SK, Katta A, Arnold EC, Wu M, Rice KM, Blough ER. J Appl Physiol 108: 7
      13, 2010). Here we examine the effects of insulin resistance using the obese
      Zucker (OZ) rat with increased muscle loading on the regulation of the mammalian
      target of rapamycin (mTOR) and its downstream signaling intermediates 70-kDa
      ribosomal protein S6 kinase (p70S6k), ribosomal protein S6 (rpS6), eukaryotic
      elongation factor 2 (eEF2), and eukaryotic initiation factor 4E-binding protein 1
      (4E-BP1). Compared with that observed in lean Zucker (LZ) rats, the degree of
      soleus muscle hypertrophy as assessed by changes in muscle wet weight (LZ: 35%
      vs. OZ: 16%) was significantly less in the OZ rats after 3 wk of muscle overload
      (P < 0.05). This diminished growth in the OZ rats was accompanied by significant
      impairments in the ability of the soleus to undergo phosphorylation of mTOR
      (Ser(2448)), p70S6k (Thr(389)), rpS6 (Ser(235/236)), and protein kinase B (Akt)
      (Ser(473) and Thr(308)) (P < 0.05). Taken together, these data suggest that
      impaired overload-induced hypertrophy in insulin-resistant skeletal muscle may be
      related to decreases in the ability of the muscle to undergo mTOR-related
      signaling.

PMID- 20926759
TI  - Effects of high-altitude hypoxia on the hormonal response to hypothalamic
      factors.
AB  - Acute and chronic exposure to high altitude induces various physiological
      changes, including activation or inhibition of various hormonal systems. In
      response to activation processes, a desensitization of several pathways has been
      described, especially in the adrenergic system. In the present study, we aimed to
      assess whether the hypophyseal hormones are also subjected to a hypoxia-induced
      decrease in their response to hypothalamic factors. Basal levels of hormones and
      the responses of TSH, thyroid hormones, prolactin, sex hormones, and growth
      hormone to the injection of TRH, gonadotropin-releasing hormone, and growth
      hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH) were studied in eight men in normoxia and on
      prolonged exposure (3-4 days) to an altitude of 4,350 m. Thyroid hormones were
      elevated at altitude (+16 to +21%), while TSH levels were unchanged, and follicle
      stimulating hormone and prolactin decreased, while leutinizing hormone was
      unchanged. Norepinephrine and cortisol levels were elevated, while no change was
      observed in levels of epinephrine, dopamine, growth hormone (GH), IGF-1, and
      IGFBP-3. The mean response to hypothalamic factors was similar in both altitudes
      for all studied hormones, although total T4 was lower in hypoxia during 45 to 60
      min after injection. The effect of hypoxia on the hypophyseal response to
      hypothalamic factors was similar among subjects, except for the GH response to
      GHRH administration. We conclude that prolonged exposure to high-altitude hypoxia
      induces contrasted changes in hormonal levels, but the hypophyseal response to
      hypothalamic factors does not appear to be blunted.

PMID- 20926761
TI  - Dietary protein regulates hepatic constitutive protein anabolism in rats in a
      dose-dependent manner and independently of energy nutrient composition.
AB  - We had previously observed that drastic increases in protein consumption greatly
      modified hepatic protein anabolism in rats, but the confounding effects of other
      macronutrient changes or a moderate protein increase to generate the same
      modifications have not yet been established. This study examined the metabolic
      and hormonal responses of rats subjected to 14-day isoenergetic diets containing
      normal, intermediate, or high-protein levels (NP: 14% of energy, IP: 33%, HP:
      50%) and different carbohydrate (CHO) to fat ratios within each protein level.
      Fasted or fed rats (n = 104) were killed after the injection of a flooding dose
      of (13)C-valine. The hepatic protein content increased in line with the dietary
      protein level (P < 0.05). The hepatic fractional synthesis rates (FSR) of protein
      were significantly influenced by both the protein level and the nutritional state
      (fasted vs. fed) (P < 0.0001) but not by the CHO level, reaching on average
      110%/day, 92%/day, and 83%/day in rats fed the NP, IP, and HP diets,
      respectively. The FSR of plasma albumin and muscle did not differ between diets,
      while feeding tended to increase muscle FSR. Proteolysis, especially the
      proteasome-dependent system, was down-regulated in the fed state in the liver
      when protein content increased. Insulin decreased with the CHO level in the diet.
      Our results reveal that excess dietary protein lowers hepatic constitutive, but
      not exported, protein synthesis rates, independently of the other macronutrients,
      and related changes in insulin levels. This response was observed at the moderate
      levels of protein intake (33%) that are plausible in a context of human
      consumption.

PMID- 20926760
TI  - Encoding of the cough reflex in anesthetized guinea pigs.
AB  - We have previously described the physiological and morphological properties of
      the cough receptors and their sites of termination in the airways and centrally
      in the nucleus tractus solitarius (nTS). In the present study, we have addressed
      the hypothesis that the primary central synapses of the cough receptors subserve
      an essential role in the encoding of cough. We found that cough requires
      sustained, high-frequency (>=8-Hz) afferent nerve activation. We also found
      evidence for processes that both facilitate (summation, sensitization) and
      inhibit the initiation of cough. Sensitization of cough occurs with repetitive
      subthreshold activation of the cough receptors or by coincident activation of C
      fibers and/or nTS neurokinin receptor activation. Desensitization of cough evoked
      by repetitive and/or continuous afferent nerve activation has a rapid onset (<60
      s) and does not differentiate between tussive stimuli, suggesting a central
      nervous system-dependent process. The cough reflex can also be actively inhibited
      upon activation of other airway afferent nerve subtypes, including slowly
      adapting receptors and pulmonary C-fibers. The sensitization and desensitization
      of cough are likely attributable to the prominent, primary, and unique role of N
      methyl-d-aspartate receptor-dependent signaling at the central synapses of the
      cough receptors. These attributes may have direct relevance to the presentation
      of cough in disease and for the effectiveness of antitussive therapies.

PMID- 20926762
TI  - Effect of intracerebroventricular benzamil on cardiovascular and central
      autonomic responses to DOCA-salt treatment.
AB  - DOCA-salt treatment increases mean arterial pressure (MAP), while central
      infusion of benzamil attenuates this effect. The present study used c-Fos
      immunoreactivity to assess the role of benzamil-sensitive proteins in the brain
      on neural activity following chronic DOCA-salt treatment. Uninephrectomized rats
      were instrumented with telemetry transmitters for measurement of MAP and with an
      intracerebroventricular (ICV) cannula for benzamil administration. Groups
      included rats receiving DOCA-salt treatment alone, rats receiving DOCA-salt
      treatment with ICV benzamil, and appropriate controls. At study completion, MAP
      in vehicle-treated DOCA-salt rats reached 142 +/- 4 mmHg. In contrast DOCA-salt
      rats receiving ICV benzamil had lower MAP (124 +/- 3 mmHg). MAP in normotensive
      controls was 102 +/- 3 mmHg. c-Fos immunoreactivity was quantified in the
      supraoptic nucleus (SON) and across subnuclei of the hypothalamic paraventricular
      nucleus (PVN), as well as other cardiovascular regulatory sites. Compared with
      vehicle-treated normotensive controls, c-Fos expression was increased in the SON
      and all subnuclei of the PVN, but not in other key autonomic nuclei, such as the
      rostroventrolateral medulla. Moreover, benzamil treatment decreased c-Fos
      immunoreactivity in the SON and in medial parvocellular and posterior
      magnocellular neurons of the PVN in DOCA-salt rats but not areas associated with
      regulation of sympathetic activity. Our results do not support the hypothesis
      that DOCA-salt increases neuronal activity (as indicated by c-Fos
      immunoreactivity) of other key regions that regulate sympathetic activity. These
      results suggest that ICV benzamil attenuates DOCA-salt hypertension by modulation
      of neuroendocrine-related PVN nuclei rather than inhibition of PVN sympathetic
      premotor neurons in the PVN and rostroventrolateral medulla.

PMID- 20926763
TI  - Gut T1R3 sweet taste receptors do not mediate sucrose-conditioned flavor
      preferences in mice.
AB  - Most mammals prefer the sweet taste of sugars, which is mediated by the
      heterodimeric T1R2+T1R3 taste receptor. Sugar appetite is also enhanced by the
      post-oral reinforcing actions of the nutrient in the gut. Here, we examined the
      contribution of gut T1R3 (either alone or as part of the T1R3+T1R3 receptor) to
      post-oral sugar reinforcement using a flavor-conditioning paradigm. We trained
      mice to associate consumption of a flavored solution (CS+) with intragastric (IG)
      infusions of a sweetener, and a different flavored solution (CS-) with IG
      infusions of water (23 h/day); then, we measured preference in a CS+ vs. CS-
      choice test. In experiment 1, we predicted that if activation of gut T1R3
      mediates sugar reinforcement, then IG infusions of a nutritive (sucrose) or
      nonnutritive (sucralose) ligand for this receptor should condition a preference
      for the CS+ in B6 wild-type (WT) mice. While the mice that received IG sucrose
      infusions developed a strong preference for the CS+, those that received IG
      sucralose infusions developed a weak avoidance of the CS+. In experiment 2, we
      used T1R3 knockout (KO) mice to examine the necessity of gut T1R2+T1R3 receptors
      for conditioned flavor preferences. If intact gut T1R3 (or T1R2+T1R3) receptors
      are necessary for flavor-sugar conditioning, then T1R3 KO mice should not develop
      a sugar-conditioned flavor preference. We found that T1R3 KO mice, like WT mice,
      acquired a strong preference for the CS+ paired with IG sucrose infusions. The KO
      mice were also like WT mice in avoiding a CS+ flavor paired with IG sucralose
      infusions These findings provide clear evidence that gut T1R3 receptors are not
      necessary for sugar-conditioned flavor preferences or sucralose-induced flavor
      avoidance in mice.

PMID- 20926764
TI  - Calcium handling in zebrafish ventricular myocytes.
AB  - The zebrafish is an important model for the study of vertebrate cardiac
      development with a rich array of genetic mutations and biological reagents for
      functional interrogation. The similarity of the zebrafish (Danio rerio) cardiac
      action potential with that of humans further enhances the relevance of this
      model. In spite of this, little is known about excitation-contraction coupling in
      the zebrafish heart. To address this issue, adult zebrafish cardiomyocytes were
      isolated by enzymatic perfusion of the cannulated ventricle and were subjected to
      amphotericin-perforated patch-clamp technique, confocal calcium imaging, and/or
      measurements of cell shortening. Simultaneous recordings of the voltage
      dependence of the L-type calcium current (I(Ca,L)) amplitude and cell shortening
      showed a typical bell-shaped current-voltage (I-V) relationship for I(Ca,L) with
      a maximum at +10 mV, whereas calcium transients and cell shortening showed a
      monophasic increase with membrane depolarization that reached a plateau at
      membrane potentials above +20 mV. Values of I(Ca,L) were 53, 100, and 17% of
      maximum at -20, +10, and +40 mV, while the corresponding calcium transient
      amplitudes were 64, 92, and 98% and cell shortening values were 62, 95, and 96%
      of maximum, respectively, suggesting that I(Ca,L) is the major contributor to the
      activation of contraction at voltages below +10 mV, whereas the contribution of
      reverse-mode Na/Ca exchange becomes increasingly more important at membrane
      potentials above +10 mV. Comparison of the recovery of I(Ca,L) from acute and
      steady-state inactivation showed that reduction of I(Ca,L) upon elevation of the
      stimulation frequency is primarily due to calcium-dependent I(Ca,L) inactivation.
      In conclusion, we demonstrate that a large yield of healthy atrial and
      ventricular myocytes can be obtained by enzymatic perfusion of the cannulated
      zebrafish heart. Moreover, zebrafish ventricular myocytes differed from that of
      large mammals by having larger I(Ca,L) density and a monophasically increasing
      contraction-voltage relationship, suggesting that caution should be taken upon
      extrapolation of the functional impact of mutations on calcium handling and
      contraction in zebrafish cardiomyocytes.

PMID- 20926765
TI  - Catestatin in rat RVLM is sympathoexcitatory, increases barosensitivity, and
      attenuates chemosensitivity and the somatosympathetic reflex.
AB  - The fundamental role and corollary effects of neuropeptides that govern
      cardiorespiratory control in the brain stem are poorly understood. One such
      regulatory peptide, catestatin [Cts, human chromogranin A-(352-372)],
      noncompetitively inhibits nicotinic-cholinergic-stimulated catecholamine release.
      Previously, we demonstrated the presence of chromogranin A mRNA in brain stem
      neurons that are important for the maintenance of arterial pressure. In the
      present study, using immunofluorescence histochemistry, we show that Cts
      immunoreactivity is colocalized with tyrosine hydroxylase in C1 neurons of the
      rostral ventrolateral medulla (RVLM, n = 3). Furthermore, we investigated the
      effects of Cts on resting blood pressure, splanchnic sympathetic nerve activity,
      phrenic nerve activity, heart rate, and adaptive reflexes. Cts (1 mM in 50 nl or
      100 MUM in 50-100 nl) was microinjected into the RVLM in urethane-anesthetized,
      vagotomized, ventilated Sprague-Dawley rats (n = 19). Cardiovascular responses to
      stimulation of carotid baroreceptors, peripheral chemoreceptors, and the sciatic
      nerve (somatosympathetic reflex) were analyzed. Cts (1 mM in 50 nl) increased
      resting arterial pressure (28 +/- 3 mmHg at 2 min postinjection), sympathetic
      nerve activity (15 +/- 3% at 2 min postinjection), and phrenic discharge
      amplitude (31 +/- 4% at 10 min postinjection). Cts increased sympathetic
      barosensitivity 40% (slope increased from -0.05 +/- 0.01 before Cts to -0.07 +/-
      0.01 after Cts) and attenuated the somatosympathetic reflex [1st peak: 36% (from
      132 +/- 32.1 to 84.0 +/- 17.0 MUV); 2nd peak: 44% (from 65.1 +/- 21.4 to 36.6 +/-
      14.1 MUV)] and chemoreflex (blood pressure response to anoxia decreased 55%,
      sympathetic response decreased 46%). The results suggest that Cts activates
      sympathoexcitatory bulbospinal neurons in the RVLM and plays an important
      regulatory role in adaptive reflexes.

PMID- 20926766
TI  - Tetrahydrobiopterin does not affect end-organ responsiveness to norepinephrine
      mediated vasoconstriction in aged skin.
AB  - We have recently demonstrated that tetrahydrobiopterin (BH(4)) augments reflex
      vasoconstriction (VC) in aged skin. Although this appears to occur through its
      role in norepinephrine (NE) biosynthesis, the extent with which vascular
      mechanisms are affected are unknown. We hypothesized that localized BH(4)
      supplementation would not affect the VC response to exogenous NE when sympathetic
      nerves were blocked. Two microdialysis fibers were placed in bretylium tosylate
      pretreated (presynaptically blocks neurotransmitter release from sympathetic
      adrenergic nerve terminals; iontophoresis, 200 MUA for 20 min) 3-cm(2) forearm
      skin of 10 young (Y) and 10 older (O) subjects for perfusion of 1) Ringer
      (control) and 2) 5 mM BH(4). While local skin temperature was clamped at 34
      degrees C, six concentrations of NE (10(-12), 10(-10), 10(-8), 10(-6), 10(-4),
      10(-2) M) were infused at each drug-treated site. Cutaneous vascular conductance
      (CVC) was calculated (CVC = laser Doppler flux/mean arterial pressure) and
      normalized to baseline (%DeltaCVC(base)). Despite prejunctional adrenergic
      blockade, NE-mediated VC was blunted in aged skin at each NE dose (10(-12): -12
      +/- 2 vs. -21 +/- 2; 10(-10): -15 +/- 2 vs. -27 +/- 1; 10(-8): -22 +/- 2 vs. -32
      +/- 2; 10(-6): -27 +/- 2 vs. -38 +/- 1; 10(-4): -52 +/- 3 vs. -66 +/- 5; 10(-2): 
      62 +/- 3 vs. -75 +/- 4%DeltaCVC(base); P < 0.01), and this response was not
      affected by pretreatment with BH(4) (P > 0.05). Localized BH(4) did not affect
      end-organ responsiveness to exogenous NE, suggesting that the effects of BH(4) on
      cutaneous VC are primarily isolated to the NE biosynthetic pathway.

PMID- 20926767
TI  - Late-gestational systemic hypoxia leads to a similar early gene response in mouse
      placenta and developing brain.
AB  - Late-gestational intrauterine hypoxia represents a well-known risk factor of
      acquired perinatal brain injury. Cell type and age-specific sensitivity of
      hypoxia-responsive genes to low-oxygen partial pressure is to be considered in
      the screening for early indicators of fetoplacental tissue hypoxia. To identify
      early hypoxia-induced alterations in gene expression during late-gestational
      hypoxia (6% O(2), 6 h; gestational day 20) we compared primary mouse placenta and
      brain transcriptomes using high-density oligonucleotide microarrays. Upregulation
      of candidate marker genes for hypoxia was confirmed by quantitative RT-PCR and
      immunohistochemistry. Both developing brain and placenta were highly responsive
      to systemic hypoxia at the level of gene expression involving hypoxia-inducible
      transcription factor (HIF)-dependent genes and immediate early genes (IEG) (Fos,
      Jun, Egr1, Bhlhb2), apoptosis-promoting factors (Bnip3, Dusp1, Ier3) that were
      all upregulated, and genes modulating RNA binding and translation (Rbm3, Thap2,
      Lig4, Rbm12b) that mainly were downregulated. Functional activity of the HIF
      system was obvious from elevated expression of various known HIF target genes
      (Adm, Vegf, Hk2, Pdk1, Bnip3, Ier3, Dusp-1), indicating immediate availability
      among early response to acute hypoxia. In addition, genes not yet described as
      being hypoxia related were identified that are involved in angiogenesis/cell
      differentiation (Gna13, Gab2), mRNA processing, and embryonic development. RT-PCR
      of placenta and brain tissues confirmed upregulation of selected HIF target genes
      and IEG. These data indicate that the early hypoxia-induced genomic response of
      the placenta mirrors that of developing brain in a temporally parallel manner.
      Our observations implicate future diagnostic options to identify fetal and
      cerebral tissue hypoxia.

PMID- 20926768
TI  - Effect of the estrous cycle and surgical ovariectomy on energy balance, fuel
      utilization, and physical activity in lean and obese female rats.
AB  - This study presents an in-depth analysis of the effects of obesity on energy
      balance (EB) and fuel utilization in adult female rats, over the estrous cycle
      and immediately after surgical ovariectomy (OVX), to model pre- and
      postmenopausal states, respectively. Female Wistar rats were fed a high-fat (46%)
      diet for 16 wk to produce mature lean and obese animals. Stage of estrous was
      identified by daily vaginal lavage, while energy intake (EI), total energy
      expenditure (TEE), and fuel utilization were monitored in a multichamber indirect
      calorimeter and activity was monitored by infrared beam breaks. Metabolic
      monitoring studies were repeated during the 3-wk period of rapid OVX-induced
      weight gain. Component analysis of TEE was performed to determine the nonresting
      and resting portions of energy expenditure. Obesity was associated with a greater
      fluctuation in EB across the estrous cycle. Cycling obese rats were less active,
      expended more energy per movement, and oxidized more carbohydrate than lean rats.
      The changes in EB over the cycle in lean and obese rats were driven by changes in
      EI. Finally, OVX induced a large positive energy imbalance in obese and lean
      rats. This resulted primarily from an increase in EI in both groups, with little
      change in TEE following OVX. These observations reveal a dominant effect of
      obesity on EB, fuel utilization, and activity levels in cycling rats, which has
      implications for studies focused on obesity and EB in female rodents.

PMID- 20926769
TI  - Computational fluid dynamic analysis of flow velocity waveform notching in
      umbilical arteries.
AB  - Umbilical artery Doppler velocimetry waveform notching has long been associated
      with umbilical cord abnormalities, such as distortion, torsion, and/or
      compression (i.e., constriction). The physical mechanism by which the notching
      occurs has not been elucidated. Flow velocity waveforms (FVWs) from two
      dimensional pulsatile flows in a constricted channel approximating a compressed
      umbilical cord are analyzed, leading to a clear relationship between the notching
      and the constriction. Two flows with an asymmetric, semi-elliptical constriction
      are computed using a stabilized finite-element method. In one case, the
      constriction blocks 75% of the flow passage, and in the other the constriction
      blocks 85%. Channel width and prescribed flow rates at the channel inflow are
      consistent with typical cord diameters and flow rates reported in the literature.
      Computational results indicate that waveform notching is caused by flow
      separation induced by the constriction, giving rise to a vortex (core) wave and
      associated eddies. Notching in FVWs based on centerline velocity (centerline FVW)
      is directly related to the passage of an eddy over the point of measurement on
      the centerline. Notching in FVWs based on maximum cross-sectional velocity
      (envelope FVW) is directly related to acceleration and deceleration of the fluid
      along the vortex wave. Results show that notching in envelope FVW is not present
      in flows with less than a 75% constriction. Furthermore, notching disappears as
      the vortex wave is attenuated at distances downstream of the constriction. In the
      flows with 75 and 85% constriction, notching of the envelope FVW disappears at
      ~3.8 and ~4.3 cm (respectively) downstream of the constriction. These results are
      of significant medical importance, given that envelope FVW is typically measured
      by commercial Doppler systems.

PMID- 20926770
TI  - Inhibition of cell adhesion by anti-P-selectin aptamer: a new potential
      therapeutic agent for sickle cell disease.
AB  - Adhesive interactions between circulating sickle red blood cells (RBCs),
      leukocytes, and endothelial cells are major pathophysiologic events in sickle
      cell disease (SCD). To develop new therapeutics that efficiently inhibit adhesive
      interactions, we generated an anti-P-selectin aptamer and examined its effects on
      cell adhesion using knockout-transgenic SCD model mice. Aptamers, single-stranded
      oligonucleotides that bind molecular targets with high affinity and specificity,
      are emerging as new therapeutics for cardiovascular and hematologic disorders. In
      vitro studies found that the anti-P-selectin aptamer exhibits high specificity to
      mouse P-selectin but not other selectins. SCD mice were injected with the anti-P
      selectin aptamer, and cell adhesion was observed under hypoxia. The anti-P
      selectin aptamer inhibited the adhesion of sickle RBCs and leukocytes to
      endothelial cells by 90% and 80%, respectively. The anti-P-selectin aptamer also
      increased microvascular flow velocities and reduced the leukocyte rolling flux.
      SCD mice treated with the anti-P-selectin aptamer demonstrated a reduced
      mortality rate associated with the experimental procedures compared with control
      mice. These results demonstrate that anti-P-selectin aptamer efficiently inhibits
      the adhesion of both sickle RBCs and leukocytes to endothelial cells in SCD model
      mice, suggesting a critical role for P-selectin in cell adhesion. Anti-P-selectin
      aptamer may be useful as a novel therapeutic agent for SCD.

PMID- 20926771
TI  - X-linked lymphoproliferative disease due to SAP/SH2D1A deficiency: a multicenter
      study on the manifestations, management and outcome of the disease.
AB  - X-linked lymphoproliferative disease (XLP1) is a rare immunodeficiency
      characterized by severe immune dysregulation and caused by mutations in the
      SH2D1A/SAP gene. Clinical manifestations are varied and include hemophagocytic
      lymphohistiocytosis (HLH), lymphoma and dysgammaglobulinemia, often triggered by
      Epstein-Barr virus infection. Historical data published before improved treatment
      regimens shows very poor outcome. We describe a large cohort of 91 genetically
      defined XLP1 patients collected from centers worldwide and report characteristics
      and outcome data for 43 patients receiving hematopoietic stem cell transplant
      (HSCT) and 48 untransplanted patients. The advent of better treatment strategies
      for HLH and malignancy has greatly reduced mortality for these patients, but HLH
      still remains the most severe feature of XLP1. Survival after allogeneic HSCT is
      81.4% with good immune reconstitution in the large majority of patients and
      little evidence of posttransplant lymphoproliferative disease. However, survival
      falls to 50% in patients with HLH as a feature of disease. Untransplanted
      patients have an overall survival of 62.5% with the majority on immunoglobulin
      replacement therapy, but the outcome for those untransplanted after HLH is
      extremely poor (18.8%). HSCT should be undertaken in all patients with HLH,
      because outcome without transplant is extremely poor. The outcome of HSCT for
      other manifestations of XLP1 is very good, and if HSCT is not undertaken
      immediately, patients must be monitored closely for evidence of disease
      progression.

PMID- 20926772
TI  - High doses of mother's lymphocyte infusion to treat EBV-positive T-cell
      lymphoproliferative disorders in childhood.
AB  - Donor lymphocyte infusion is an alternative treatment for Epstein-Barr virus
      (EBV)-associated lymphoproliferative disorders (LPDs) but with risk of graft
      versus-host diseases (GVHDs). According to the fetal-maternal microchimerism
      tolerance, we assumed that maternal lymphocyte infusion may be effective without
      causing GVHD. In 54 cases when a child required cytotherapy or hematopoietic stem
      cell transplantation, we studied the mother for child-mother microchimerism with
      use of insertion-deletion polymorphisms as allogeneic markers and a combination
      of nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and real-time quantitative PCR.
      Thirteen mothers were child-microchimerism-positive at the ratio of 10(-5)-10(
      3). Among them, 5 children had non-transplant-associated, EBV(+) T-cell LPD. In
      these 5 cases, high doses of human leukocyte antigen-haploidentical maternal
      peripheral blood mononuclear cells (> 10(8)/kg/infusion) were infused 1-4 times.
      Symptoms of all 5 patients improved between 3 and 10 days after the infusion;
      thereafter, 3 cases showed complete remission for 6-18 months without further
      therapy and 2 had partial remission. During the period of observation, none
      developed obvious GVHD. By quantitative PCR, in some patients maternal cells were
      found to be eliminated or decreased after infusions, indicating existence of host
      versus-graft reaction. We suggest that high doses of mother's lymphocyte infusion
      may be an effective and safe treatment for non-transplant-associated EBV(+) T
      cell LPD.

PMID- 20926773
TI  - Secondary solid cancers after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation using
      busulfan-cyclophosphamide conditioning.
AB  - Risks of secondary solid cancers among allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant
      (HCT) recipients who receive conditioning without total body irradiation are not
      well known. We evaluated the incidence and risk factors for solid cancers after
      HCT using high-dose busulfan-cyclophosphamide conditioning in 4318 recipients of
      first allogeneic HCT for acute myeloid leukemia in first complete remission (N =
      1742) and chronic myeloid leukemia in first chronic phase (N = 2576). Our cohort
      represented 22 041 person-years at risk. Sixty-six solid cancers were reported at
      a median of 6 years after HCT. The cumulative-incidence of solid cancers at 5 and
      10 years after HCT was 0.6% and 1.2% among acute myeloid leukemia and 0.9% and
      2.4% among chronic myeloid leukemia patients. In comparison to general population
      incidence rates, HCT recipients had 1.4* higher than expected rate of invasive
      solid cancers (95% confidence interval, 1.08-1.79, P = .01). Significantly
      elevated risks were observed for tumors of the oral cavity, esophagus, lung, soft
      tissue, and brain. Chronic graft-versus-host disease was an independent risk
      factor for all solid cancers, and especially cancers of the oral cavity.
      Recipients of allogeneic HCT using busulfan-cyclophosphamide conditioning are at
      risk for developing solid cancers. Their incidence continues to increase with
      time, and lifelong cancer surveillance is warranted in this population.

PMID- 20926774
TI  - The role of HMGB1 in efferocytosis: when the dead go unburied. Focus on "HMGB1
      inhibits macrophage activity in efferocytosis through binding to the alphavbeta3
      integrin".

PMID- 20926775
TI  - Inhibition of voltage-gated K+ channels in dendritic cells by rapamycin.
AB  - Rapamycin, an inhibitor of the serine/threonine kinase mammalian target of
      rapamycin (mTOR), is a widely used immunosuppressive drug. Rapamycin affects the
      function of dendritic cells (DCs), antigen-presenting cells participating in the
      initiation of primary immune responses and the establishment of immunological
      memory. Voltage-gated K(+) (Kv) channels are expressed in and impact on the
      function of DCs. The present study explored whether rapamycin influences Kv
      channels in DCs. To this end, DCs were isolated from murine bone marrow and ion
      channel activity was determined by whole cell patch clamp. To more directly
      analyze an effect of mTOR on Kv channel activity, Kv1.3 and Kv1.5 were expressed
      in Xenopus oocytes with or without the additional expression of mTOR and voltage
      gated currents were determined by dual-electrode voltage clamp. As a result,
      preincubation with rapamycin (0-50 nM) led to a gradual decline of Kv currents in
      DCs, reaching statistical significance within 6 h and 50 nM of rapamycin.
      Rapamycin accelerated Kv channel inactivation. Coexpression of mTOR upregulated
      Kv1.3 and Kv1.5 currents in Xenopus oocytes. Furthermore, mTOR accelerated Kv1.3
      channel activation and slowed down Kv1.3 channel inactivation. In conclusion,
      mTOR stimulates Kv channels, an effect contributing to the immunomodulating
      properties of rapamycin in DCs.

PMID- 20926776
TI  - Roles and controls of mTOR in the heart. Focus on "mTOR attenuates the
      inflammatory response in cardiomyocytes and prevents cardiac dysfunction in
      pathological hypertrophy".

PMID- 20926777
TI  - Identification and functional implication of a Rho kinase-dependent moesin-EBP50
      interaction in noradrenaline-stimulated artery.
AB  - Ezrin, radixin, and moesin (ERM) proteins are known to be substrates of Rho
      kinase (ROCK), a key player in vascular smooth muscle regulation. Their function
      in arteries remains to be elucidated. The objective of the present study was to
      investigate ERM phosphorylation and function in rat aorta and mesenteric artery
      and the influence of ERM-binding phosphoprotein 50 (EBP50), a scaffold partner of
      ERM proteins in several cell types. In isolated arteries, ERM proteins are
      phosphorylated by PKC and ROCK with different kinetics after either agonist
      stimulation or KCl-induced depolarization. Immunoprecipitation of EBP50 in
      noradrenaline-stimulated arteries allowed identification of its interaction with
      moesin and several other proteins involved in cytoskeleton regulation. This
      interaction was inhibited by Y27632, a ROCK inhibitor. Moesin or EBP50 depletion
      after small interfering RNA transfection by reverse permeabilization in intact
      mesenteric arteries both potentiated the contractility in response to agonist
      stimulation without any effect on contractile response induced by high KCl. This
      effect was preserved in ionomycin-permeabilized arteries. These results indicate
      that, in agonist-stimulated arteries, the activation of ROCK leads to the binding
      of moesin to EBP50, which interacts with several components of the cytoskeleton,
      resulting in a decrease in the contractile response.

PMID- 20926778
TI  - Changes in mitochondrial surface charge mediate recruitment of signaling
      molecules during apoptosis.
AB  - Electrostatic interactions with negative lipids contribute to the subcellular
      localization of polycationic proteins. In situ measurements using cytosolic
      probes of surface charge indicate that normal mitochondria are not noticeably
      electronegative. However, during apoptosis mitochondria accrue negative charge
      and acquire the ability to attract cationic proteins, including K-Ras. The marked
      increase in the surface charge of mitochondria occurs early in apoptosis,
      preceding depolarization of their inner membrane, cytochrome c release, and
      flipping of phosphatidylserine across the plasmalemma. Using novel biosensors, we
      determined that the increased electronegativity of the mitochondria coincided
      with and was likely attributable to increased exposure of cardiolipin, which is
      dianionic. Ectopic (over)expression of cardiolipin-binding proteins precluded the
      increase in surface charge and inhibited apoptosis, implying that mitochondrial
      exposure of negatively charged lipids is required for progression of programmed
      cell death.

PMID- 20926779
TI  - Thyroid hormone inhibits ERK phosphorylation in pressure overload-induced
      hypertrophied mouse hearts through a receptor-mediated mechanism.
AB  - Pressure overload-induced cardiac hypertrophy results in a pathological type of
      hypertrophy with activation of signaling cascades like the extracellular signal
      regulated kinase (ERK) pathway, which promotes negative cardiac remodeling and
      decreased contractile function. In contrast, thyroid hormone mediates a
      physiological type of hypertrophy resulting in enhanced contractile function. In
      addition, thyroid hormone action is diminished in pressure overload-induced
      cardiac hypertrophy. We hypothesized that thyroid hormone status modulates ERK
      activity and that administration of thyroid hormone could alter the activity of
      this kinase in cardiac hypertrophy induced by pressure overload. ERK is activated
      by phosphorylation; accordingly, we investigated phosphorylation of ERK in hearts
      of control, hypothyroid, and hyperthyroid mice. In addition, the effect of T3
      treatment on ERK phosphorylation in hypertrophied hearts from transverse aortic
      constricted (TAC) mice was investigated. Results showed that phosphorylated ERK
      (p-ERK) was decreased by 25% in hyperthyroid mice. In contrast, hypothyroid mice
      presented increased p-ERK by 80%. TAC mice presented a greater than fourfold
      increase of p-ERK compared with control mice. Interestingly, T3 administration
      dramatically canceled TAC-induced ERK phosphorylation (36% lower compared with
      control). Raf-1 is upstream of the ERK pathway. TAC mice presented a 45% increase
      in phospho-Raf-1 (Ser338). T3 treatment inhibited this effect of pressure
      overload and further decreased p-Raf-1 (Ser338) by 37%, compared with control.
      Overexpression of thyroid hormone receptor-alpha in cultured cardiomyocytes
      potentiated the inhibitory effect of T3 on ERK phosphorylation. We concluded that
      thyroid hormone has an inhibitory effect on the Raf-1/ERK pathway. Furthermore,
      treatment of TAC mice with T3 inhibited Raf-1/ERK pathway by a thyroid hormone
      receptor-dependent mechanism.

PMID- 20926780
TI  - Rab5a-mediated localization of claudin-1 is regulated by proteasomes in
      endothelial cells.
AB  - Tight junctions composed of transmembrane proteins, including claudin, occludin,
      and tricellulin, and peripheral membrane proteins are a major barrier to
      endothelial permeability, whereas the role of claudin in the regulation of tight
      junction permeability in nonneural endothelial cells is unclear. This study
      demonstrates that claudin-1 is dominantly expressed and depletion of claudin-1
      using small interfering RNA (siRNA) increased tight junction permeability in EA
      hy.926 cells, indicating that claudin-1 is a crucial regulator of endothelial
      tight junction permeability. The ubiquitin-proteasome system has been implicated
      in the regulation of endocytotic trafficking of plasma membrane proteins.
      Therefore, the involvement of proteasomes in the localization of claudin-1 was
      investigated by pharmacological and genetic inhibition of proteasomes using a
      proteasome inhibitor, N-acetyl-Leu-Leu-Nle-CHO, and siRNA against the beta5
      subunit of the 20S proteasome, respectively. Claudin-1 was localized at cell-cell
      contact sites in control cells. Claudin-1 was localized in the cytoplasm in
      association with Rab5a and EEA-1, a marker of early endosome, following
      inhibition of proteasomes. Depletion of Rab5a using siRNA reversed the
      localization of claudin-1 induced by inhibition of proteasomes. These data
      suggest that proteasomes regulate claudin-1 localization at the plasma membrane,
      which changes upon proteasomal inhibition to a Rab5a-mediated endosomal
      localization.

PMID- 20926782
TI  - Regulation of CFTR chloride channel macroscopic conductance by extracellular
      bicarbonate.
AB  - The CFTR contributes to Cl- and HCO3- transport across epithelial cell apical
      membranes. The extracellular face of CFTR is exposed to varying concentrations of
      Cl- and HCO3- in epithelial tissues, and there is evidence that CFTR is sensitive
      to changes in extracellular anion concentrations. Here we present functional
      evidence that extracellular Cl- and HCO3- regulate anion conduction in open CFTR
      channels. Using cell-attached and inside-out patch-clamp recordings from
      constitutively active mutant E1371Q-CFTR channels, we show that voltage-dependent
      inhibition of CFTR currents in intact cells is significantly stronger when the
      extracellular solution contains HCO3- than when it contains Cl-. This difference
      appears to reflect differences in the ability of extracellular HCO3- and Cl- to
      interact with and repel intracellular blocking anions from the pore. Strong block
      by endogenous cytosolic anions leading to reduced CFTR channel currents in intact
      cells occurs at physiologically relevant HCO3- concentrations and membrane
      potentials and can result in up to ~50% inhibition of current amplitude. We
      propose that channel block by cytosolic anions is a previously unrecognized,
      physiologically relevant mechanism of channel regulation that confers on CFTR
      channels sensitivity to different anions in the extracellular fluid. We further
      suggest that this anion sensitivity represents a feedback mechanism by which CFTR
      dependent anion secretion could be regulated by the composition of the secretions
      themselves. Implications for the mechanism and regulation of CFTR-dependent
      secretion in epithelial tissues are discussed.

PMID- 20926781
TI  - Role of epithelial HCO3- transport in mucin secretion: lessons from cystic
      fibrosis.
AB  - The invitation to present the 2010 Hans Ussing lecture for the Epithelial
      Transport Group of the American Physiological Society offered me a unique,
      special, and very surprising opportunity to join in saluting a man whom I met
      only once, but whose work was the basis, not only for my career, but also for
      finding the molecular defect in the inherited disease cystic fibrosis (CF). In
      this context, I will venture to make the tribute with a new explanation of why a
      mutation in a single gene that codes for an anion channel can cause devastation
      of multiple epithelial systems with pathogenic mucus. In so doing, I hope to
      raise awareness of a new role for that peculiar anion around which so much
      physiology revolves, HCO(3)(-). I begin by introducing CF pathology as I question
      the name of the disease as well as the prevalent view of the basis of its
      pathology by considering: 1) mucus, 2) salt, and 3) HCO(3)(-). I then present
      recent data showing that HCO(3)(-) is required for normal mucus discharge, and I
      will close with conjecture as to how HCO(3)(-) may support mucus discharge and
      why the failure to transport this electrolyte is pathogenic in CF.

PMID- 20926783
TI  - Pathways for ATP release by bovine ciliary epithelial cells, the initial step in
      purinergic regulation of aqueous humor inflow.
AB  - ATP release by nonpigmented (NPE) and pigmented (PE) ciliary epithelial cells is
      the enabling step in purinergic regulation of aqueous humor formation, but the
      release pathways are unknown. We measured ATP release from primary cultures of
      bovine mixed NPE and PE (bCE) cells and transformed bovine NPE and PE cells,
      using the luciferin-luciferase reaction. Hypotonicity-triggered bCE ATP release
      was inhibited by the relatively selective blocker of pannexin-1 (PX1)
      hemichannels (probenecid, 1 mM, 47 +/- 2%), by a connexin inhibitor (heptanol, 1
      mM, 49 +/- 4%), and by an inhibitor of vesicular release (bafilomycin A1, 25 +/-
      2%), but not by the P2X(7) receptor (P2RX(7)) antagonist KN-62. Bafilomycin A1
      acts by reducing the driving force for uptake of ATP from the cytosol into
      vesicles. The reducing agent dithiothreitol reduced probenecid-blockable ATP
      release. Similar results were obtained with NPE and PE cell lines. Pannexins PX1
      3, connexins Cx43 and Cx40, and P2RX(7) were identified in native cells and cell
      lines by RT-PCR. PX1 mRNA expression was confirmed by Northern blots; its
      quantitative expression was comparable to that of Cx43 by real-time PCR.
      Heterologous expression of bovine PX1 in HEK293T cells enhanced swelling
      activated ATP release, inhibitable by probenecid. We conclude that P2RX(7)
      independent PX1 hemichannels, Cx hemichannels, and vesicular release contribute
      comparably to swelling-triggered ATP release. The relatively large response to
      dithiothreitol raises the possibility that the oxidation-reduction state is a
      substantial regulator of PX1-mediated ATP release from bovine ciliary epithelial
      cells.

PMID- 20926784
TI  - Drug-induced deactivation of inhibitory networks predicts pathological gambling
      in PD.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Some patients with Parkinson disease (PD) develop pathological
      gambling when treated with dopamine agonists (DAs). However, little is known
      about DA-induced changes in neuronal networks that may underpin this drug-induced
      change in behavior in vulnerable individuals. In this case-control study, we
      aimed to investigate DA-induced changes in brain activity that may differentiate
      patients with PD with DA-induced pathological gambling (gamblers) from patients
      with PD without such a history (controls). METHODS: Following overnight
      withdrawal of antiparkinsonian medication, patients were studied with H2(15)O PET
      before and after administration of DA (3 mg apomorphine) to measure changes in
      regional cerebral blood flow as an index of regional brain activity during a card
      selection game with probabilistic feedback. RESULTS: We observed that the
      direction of DA-related activity change in brain areas that are implicated in
      impulse control and response inhibition (lateral orbitofrontal cortex, rostral
      cingulate zone, amygdala, external pallidum) distinguished gamblers from
      controls. DA significantly increased activity in these areas in controls, while
      gamblers showed a significant DA-induced reduction of activity. CONCLUSIONS: We
      propose that in vulnerable patients with PD, DAs produce an abnormal neuronal
      pattern that resembles those found in nonparkinsonian pathological gambling and
      drug addiction. DA-induced disruption of inhibitory key functions--outcome
      monitoring (rostral cingulate zone), acquisition and retention of negative action
      outcome associations (amygdala and lateral orbitofrontal cortex)--together with
      restricted access of those areas to executive control (external pallidum)--may
      well explain loss of impulse control and response inhibition in vulnerable
      patients with PD, thereby fostering the development of pathological gambling.

PMID- 20926785
TI  - Pathological gambling in PD: did the devil make me do it?

PMID- 20926786
TI  - Cost-effectiveness of multimodal CT for evaluating acute stroke.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Multimodal CT, including noncontrast CT (NCCT), CT with contrast, CT
      angiography (CTA), and perfusion CT (CTP), is increasingly used in acute stroke
      patients to identify candidates for endovascular therapy. Our goal is to explore
      the cost-effectiveness of multimodal CT as a diagnostic test. METHODS: A Markov
      model compared multimodal CT to NCCT in a hypothetical cohort of nonhemorrhagic
      stroke patients presenting within 3 hours of symptom onset who were potential IV
      tPA candidates. Patients who failed to improve after IV tPA or in whom IV tPA was
      contraindicated were candidates for endovascular therapy. Direct costs (2008
      USD), outcomes, and probabilities were obtained from the literature. RESULTS: For
      the 3-month time horizon, multimodal CT had lower costs (-$1,716), had greater
      quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs, 0.004), and was the cost-effective choice
      100% of the time for a willingness-to-pay of $100,000/QALY (probabilistic
      sensitivity analysis). The number needed to screen with multimodal CT to avoid 1
      diagnostic angiogram was 2. Over a lifetime, multimodal CT had lower costs (
      $2,058), had greater QALYs (0.008), and was cost-effective, with a 90.1%
      likelihood, for a willingness-to-pay of $100,000/QALY. CONCLUSIONS: Multimodal CT
      appears to be a cost-saving screening tool over the short term. However,
      additional data regarding clinical outcomes following multimodal CT-guided intra
      arterial treatment are needed before the long-term cost-effectiveness can be
      suitably addressed. This analysis can be incorporated into future discussions of
      multimodal CT as a diagnostic test for unselected patients, within and beyond the
      3-hour IV tPA time window.

PMID- 20926787
TI  - Removing interictal fast ripples on electrocorticography linked with seizure
      freedom in children.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Fast ripples (FR, 250-500 Hz) detected with chronic intracranial
      electrodes are proposed biomarkers of epileptogenesis. This study determined
      whether resection of FR-containing neocortex recorded during intraoperative
      electrocorticography (ECoG) was associated with postoperative seizure freedom in
      pediatric patients with mostly extratemporal lesions. METHODS: FRs were
      retrospectively reviewed in 30 consecutive pediatric cases. ECoGs were recorded
      at 2,000 Hz sampling rate and visually inspected for FR, with reviewer blinded to
      the resection and outcome. RESULTS: Average age at surgery was 9.1 +/- 6.7 years,
      ECoG duration was 11.8 +/- 8.1 minutes, and postoperative follow-up was 27 +/- 4
      months. FRs were undetected in 6 ECoGs with remote or extensive lesions. FR
      episodes (n = 273) were identified in ECoGs from 24 patients, and in 64% FRs were
      independent of spikes, sharp waves, voltage attenuation, and paroxysmal fast
      activity. Of these 24 children, FR-containing cortex was removed in 19 and all
      became seizure-free, including 1 child after a second surgery. The remaining 5
      children had incomplete FR resection and all continued with seizures
      postoperatively. In 2 ECoGs, the location of electrographic seizures matched FR
      location. FR-containing cortex was found outside of MRI and FDG-PET abnormalities
      in 6 children. CONCLUSION: FRs were detected during intraoperative ECoG in 80% of
      pediatric epilepsy cases, and complete resection of FR cortex correlated with
      postoperative seizure freedom. These findings support the view that interictal
      FRs are excellent surrogate markers of epileptogenesis, can be recorded during
      brief ECoG, and could be used to guide future surgical resections in children.

PMID- 20926788
TI  - Impaired ATP kinetics in failing in vivo mouse heart.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The hypothesis that the failing heart may be energy-starved is
      supported in part by observations of reduced rates of adenosine 5'-triphosphate
      (ATP) synthesis through the creatine kinase (CK) reaction, the primary myocardial
      energy reservoir, in patients with heart failure (HF). Although murine models
      have been used to probe HF pathophysiology, it has not been possible to
      noninvasively measure the rate of ATP synthesis through CK in the in vivo mouse
      heart. The purpose of this work was to exploit noninvasive spatially localized
      magnetic resonance spectroscopy techniques to measure ATP flux through CK in in
      vivo mouse hearts and determine the extent of any reductions in murine HF.
      METHODS AND RESULTS: The Triple Repetition Time Saturation Transfer (TRiST)
      magnetic resonance spectroscopy method of measuring ATP kinetics was first
      validated in skeletal muscle, rendering similar results to conventional
      saturation transfer magnetic resonance spectroscopy. In normal mouse hearts, the
      in vivo CK pseudo-first-order-rate constant, k(F), was 0.32+/-0.03 s(-1) (mean+/
      SD) and the rate of ATP synthesis through CK was 3.16+/-0.47 MUmol/g/s. Thoracic
      aortic constriction reduced k(F) by 31% (0.23+/-0.03 s(-1), P<0.0001) and ATP
      synthesis through CK by 51% (1.54+/-0.25 MUmol/g/s, P<0.0001), values analogous
      to those in failing human hearts. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the small size and high
      murine heart rate, the ATP synthesis rate through CK is similar in vivo in murine
      and human hearts and comparably reduced in HF. Because murine thoracic aortic
      constriction shares fundamental energetic similarities with human HF, this model
      and new magnetic resonance spectroscopy approach promise a powerful means to
      noninvasively probe altered energetics in HF.

PMID- 20926789
TI  - IL-2 and IL-4 stimulate MEK1 expression and contribute to T cell resistance
      against suppression by TGF-beta and IL-10 in asthma.
AB  - The T cell-driven airway inflammation in chronic asthma is uninhibited and
      sustained. We examined the resistance of T cells from asthmatic patients against
      suppression by TGF-beta, IL-10 and glucocorticoids and explored its signaling
      mechanism. CD4(+)CD25(-) T cells from allergic asthmatic subjects demonstrated
      increased TCR-stimulated proliferation as compared with healthy and chronic
      obstructive pulmonary disease controls. This proliferation was resistant to
      inhibition by TGF-beta, IL-10, and dexamethasone and to anergy induction. CD4 T
      cells from asthmatic patients, but not chronic obstructive pulmonary disease,
      allergic rhinitis, and healthy subjects, showed increased expression of MEK1,
      heightened phosphorylation of ERK1/2, and increased levels of c-Fos. IL-2 and IL
      4 stimulated the expression of MEK1 and c-Fos and induced T cell resistance. The
      inhibition of MEK1 reversed, whereas induced expression of c-Fos and JunB
      promoted T cell resistance against TGF-beta- and IL-10-mediated suppression. We
      have uncovered an IL-2- and IL-4-driven MEK1 induction mechanism that results in
      heightened ERK1/2 activation in asthmatic T cells and make them resistant to
      certain inhibitory mechanisms.

PMID- 20926790
TI  - Blockade of programmed death-1 pathway rescues the effector function of tumor
      infiltrating T cells and enhances the antitumor efficacy of lentivector
      immunization.
AB  - Despite intensive effort, the antitumor efficacy of tumor vaccines remains
      limited in treating established tumors regardless of the potent systemic tumor
      specific immune response and the increases of tumor infiltration of T effector
      cells. In the current study, we demonstrated that although lentivector (lv)
      immunization markedly increased Ag-dependent tumor infiltration of CD8 and CD4 T
      cells and generated Ag-specific antitumor effect, it simultaneously increased the
      absolute number of myeloid-derived suppressor cells and regulatory T cells in the
      tumor lesions. In addition, lv immunization induced expression of programmed
      death-ligand 1 in the tumor lesions. Furthermore, the tumor-infiltrating CD8 T
      cells expressed high levels of programmed death-1 and were partially
      dysfunctional, producing lower amounts of effector cytokines and possessing a
      reduced cytotoxicity. Together, these immune-suppression mechanisms in the tumor
      microenvironment pose a major obstacle to effective tumor immunotherapy and may
      explain the limited antitumor efficacy of lv immunization. The loss of effector
      function in the tumor microenvironment is reversible, and the effector function
      of CD8 T cells in the tumor could be partially rescued by blocking programmed
      death-1 and programmed death-ligand 1 pathway in vitro and in vivo, resulting in
      enhanced antitumor efficacy of lv immunization. These data suggest that
      immunization alone may exacerbate immune suppression in the tumor lesions and
      that methods to improve the tumor microenvironment and to rescue the effector
      functions of tumor-infiltrating T cells should be incorporated into immunization
      strategies to achieve enhanced antitumor efficacy.

PMID- 20926791
TI  - The beta-human chorionic gonadotropin-related peptide LQGV exerts anti
      inflammatory effects through activation of the adrenal gland and glucocorticoid
      receptor in C57BL/6 mice.
AB  - The systemic inflammatory response syndrome is a complex host response to a
      variety of clinical insults, generally leading to severe pathology. The human
      chorionic gonadotropin beta-chain-related tetrapeptide leucine-glutamine-glycine
      valine (LQGV) reduces hemorrhagic and LPS-induced systemic inflammatory response
      syndrome, but its mechanisms of action are not yet fully understood. Through the
      combination of in vivo, in vitro, and ex vivo approaches, we demonstrate that
      LQGV actively stimulates corticosterone production in mice and thereby suppresses
      in vivo TLR4-directed inflammation upon LPS administration. Blocking in vivo
      glucocorticosteroid receptor signaling reduced the prosurvival effect of LQGV.
      Also, upon multiple TLR activation by heat-killed Listeria monocytogenes,
      splenocytes from LQGV-treated mice produced significantly less TNF-alpha and IL
      6, which was absent after in vitro blockage of the glucocorticosteroid receptor.
      Using adrenal gland and adrenal cell line cultures, we show that LQGV stimulates
      corticosterone production. Moreover, by using specific pharmacological inhibitors
      of the adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and luteinizing hormone receptors as
      well as of cAMP signaling, we demonstrate that LQGV stimulates the ACTH receptor.
      These data show that the beta-human chorionic gonadotropin-related tetrapeptide
      LQGV stimulates adrenal glucocorticosteroid production through activation of the
      ACTH receptor with consequent glucocorticoid receptor activation and
      immunosuppression in C57BL/6 mice.

PMID- 20926792
TI  - Beta7 integrin deficiency suppresses B cell homing and attenuates chronic ileitis
      in SAMP1/YitFc mice.
AB  - Lymphocyte recruitment to intestinal tissues depends on beta(7) integrins. In
      this study, we studied disease severity and lymphocyte recruitment into the small
      intestine in SAMP1/YitFc mice, which develop chronic ileitis with similarity to
      human Crohn's disease. To assess the role of beta(7) integrins in chronic
      ileitis, we generated SAMP1/YitFc lacking beta(7) integrins (SAMP1/YitFc Itgb7(-/
      )) using a congenic strain developed via marker-assisted selection. We analyzed
      ileal inflammation in SAMP1/YitFc and SAMP1/YitFc Itgb7(-/-) mice by
      histopathology and the distribution of T and B lymphocytes in the mesenteric
      lymph nodes (MLNs) by flow cytometry. Short-term (18 h) adoptive transfer
      experiments were used to study the in vivo homing capacity of T and B
      lymphocytes. In both young (<20 wk) and old (20-50 wk) SAMP1/YitFc Itgb7(-/-)
      mice, ileitis was reduced by 30-50% compared with SAMP1/YitFc mice. SAMP1/YitFc
      Itgb7(-/-) mice showed a dramatic 67% reduction in the size of their MLNs, which
      was caused by a 85% reduction in lymphocyte numbers and reduced short-term B cell
      homing. Flow cytometric analysis revealed a highly significant decrease in the
      percentage of B cells in MLNs of SAMP1/YitFc Itgb7(-/-) mice. Cotransfer of
      SAMP1/YitFc MLN B cells but not SAMP1/YitFc Itgb7(-/-) MLN B cells along with
      CD4(+) T cells resulted in exacerbated ileitis severity in SCID mice. Our
      findings suggest that beta(7) integrins play an essential role in spontaneous
      chronic ileitis in vivo by promoting homing of disease-exacerbating B cells to
      MLNs and other intestinal tissues.

PMID- 20926793
TI  - Synergistic effect of IL-6 and IL-4 in driving fate revision of natural Foxp3+
      regulatory T cells.
AB  - Expression of forkhead transcription factor Foxp3 defines a distinct lineage of
      naturally arising regulatory T cells (nTregs) that is segregated from effector
      CD4(+) T cells during early development in the thymus. It remains elusive whether
      nTregs can convert into effector cells by turning off their Foxp3 expression and,
      if so, whether Th17 is a default alternative fate choice. In this report we
      provide compelling evidence showing that effector T cell-polarizing cytokines IL
      6 and IL-4 can act synergistically to induce marked downregulation and
      inactivation of Foxp3 gene expression in mouse nTregs, and consequently the loss
      of suppressor phenotype and functions. However, the resulting Foxp3(-) cells are
      not polarized and do not express IL-17 or other Th17-associated genes. Therefore,
      nTreg fate revision is not restricted to the Treg-Th17 axis and is likely to
      represent a rather broad phenomenon with divergent outcomes.

PMID- 20926794
TI  - Contribution of astrocyte-derived IL-15 to CD8 T cell effector functions in
      multiple sclerosis.
AB  - The contribution of local factors to the activation of immune cells infiltrating
      the CNS of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) remains to be defined. The
      cytokine IL-15 is pivotal in the maintenance and activation of CD8 T lymphocytes,
      a prominent lymphocyte population found in MS lesions. We investigated whether
      astrocytes are a functional source of IL-15 sufficient to enhance CD8 T
      lymphocyte responses and whether they provide IL-15 in the inflamed CNS of
      patients with MS. We observed that human astrocytes in primary cultures increased
      surface IL-15 levels upon activation with combinations of proinflammatory
      cytokines. Expanded human myelin autoreactive CD8 T lymphocytes cultured with
      such activated astrocytes displayed elevated lytic enzyme content, NKG2D
      expression, and Ag-specific cytotoxicity. These functional enhancements were
      abrogated by anti-IL-15-blocking Abs. Immunohistochemical analysis of brain
      tissue sections obtained from patients with MS demonstrated colocalization for IL
      15 and the astrocyte marker glial fibrillary acidic protein within white matter
      lesions. The majority of astrocytes (80-90%) present in demyelinating MS lesions
      expressed IL-15, whereas few astrocytes in normal control brain sections had
      detectable IL-15. IL-15 could be detected in the majority of Iba-1-expressing
      microglia in the control sections, albeit in lower numbers when compared with
      microglia/macrophages in MS lesions. Furthermore, infiltrating CD8 T lymphocytes
      in MS lesions were in close proximity to IL-15-expressing cells. Astrocyte
      production of IL-15 resulting in the activation of CD8 T lymphocytes ascribes a
      role for these cells as contributors to the exacerbation of tissue damage during
      MS pathogenesis.

PMID- 20926795
TI  - IL-33 mediates inflammatory responses in human lung tissue cells.
AB  - IL-33 is a member of the IL-1 family and mediates its biological effects via the
      ST2 receptor, which is selectively expressed on Th2 cells and mast cells.
      Although polymorphic variation in ST2 is strongly associated with asthma, it is
      currently unclear whether IL-33 acts directly on lung tissue cells at sites of
      airway remodeling. Therefore, we aimed to identify the IL-33-responsive cells
      among primary human lung tissue cells. ST2 mRNA was expressed in both endothelial
      and epithelial cells but not in fibroblasts or smooth muscle cells.
      Correspondingly, IL-33 promoted IL-8 production by both endothelial and
      epithelial cells but not by fibroblasts or smooth muscle cells. Transfection of
      ST2 small interference RNA into both endothelial and epithelial cells
      significantly reduced the IL-33-dependent upregulation of IL-8, suggesting that
      IL-33-mediated responses in these cells occur via the ST2 receptor. Importantly,
      Th2 cytokines, such as IL-4, further enhanced ST2 expression and function in both
      endothelial and epithelial cells. The IL-33-mediated production of IL-8 by
      epithelial cells was almost completely suppressed by corticosteroid treatment. In
      contrast, the effect of corticosteroid treatment on the IL-33-mediated responses
      of endothelial cells was only partial. IL-33 induced activation of both ERK and
      p38 MAPK in endothelial cells but only ERK in epithelial cells. p38 MAPK was
      required for the IL-33-mediated responses of endothelial cells, whereas ERK was
      required for IL-33-mediated IL-8 production by epithelial cells. Taken together,
      these findings suggest that IL-33-mediated inflammatory responses of lung tissue
      cells may be involved in the chronic allergic inflammation of the asthmatic
      airway.

PMID- 20926796
TI  - NKG2D initiates caspase-mediated CD3zeta degradation and lymphocyte receptor
      impairments associated with human cancer and autoimmune disease.
AB  - Deficiencies of the T cell and NK cell CD3zeta signaling adapter protein in
      patients with cancer and autoimmune diseases are well documented, but mechanistic
      explanations are fragmentary. The stimulatory NKG2D receptor on T and NK cells
      mediates tumor immunity but can also promote local and systemic immune
      suppression in conditions of persistent NKG2D ligand induction that include
      cancer and certain autoimmune diseases. In this paper, we provide evidence that
      establishes a causative link between CD3zeta impairment and chronic NKG2D
      stimulation due to pathological ligand expression. We describe a mechanism
      whereby NKG2D signaling in human T and NK cells initiates Fas ligand/Fas-mediated
      caspase-3/-7 activation and resultant CD3zeta degradation. As a consequence, the
      functional capacities of the TCR, the low-affinity Fc receptor for IgG, and the
      NKp30 and NKp46 natural cytotoxicity receptors, which all signal through CD3zeta,
      are impaired. These findings are extended to ex vivo phenotypes of T and NK cells
      among tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes and in peripheral blood from patients with
      juvenile-onset lupus. Collectively, these results indicate that pathological
      NKG2D ligand expression leads to simultaneous impairment of multiple CD3zeta
      dependent receptor functions, thus offering an explanation that may be applicable
      to CD3zeta deficiencies associated with diverse disease conditions.

PMID- 20926797
TI  - A nonredundant role for IL-21 receptor signaling in plasma cell differentiation
      and protective type 2 immunity against gastrointestinal helminth infection.
AB  - Pathogen-specific Ab production following infection with the gut-dwelling
      roundworm Heligmosomoides polygyrus is critical for protective immunity against
      reinfection. However, the factors required for productive T cell-B cell
      interactions in the context of a type 2-dominated immune response are not well
      defined. In the present study, we identify IL-21R signaling as a critical factor
      in driving pathogen-specific plasma cell differentiation and protective immunity
      against H. polygyrus in mice. We show that B cells require direct IL-21R signals
      to differentiate into CD138(+) plasma cells. In contrast, IL-21R signaling is
      dispensable for germinal center formation, isotype class switching, and Th2 and T
      follicular helper cell differentiation. Our studies demonstrate a selective role
      for IL-21 in plasma cell differentiation in the context of protective
      antiparasitic type 2 immunity.

PMID- 20926798
TI  - Substance P upregulates cyclooxygenase-2 and prostaglandin E metabolite by
      activating ERK1/2 and NF-kappaB in a mouse model of burn-induced remote acute
      lung injury.
AB  - Acute lung injury (ALI) is a major cause of mortality in burn patients, even
      without direct inhalational injury. Identification of early mediators that
      instigate ALI after burn and of the molecular mechanisms by which they work are
      of high importance but remain poorly understood. We previously reported that an
      endogenous neuropeptide, substance P (SP), via binding neurokinin-1 receptor
      (NK1R), heightens remote ALI early after severe local burn. In this study, we
      examined the downstream signaling pathway following SP-NK1R coupling that leads
      to remote ALI after burn. A 30% total body surface area full-thickness burn was
      induced in male BALB/c wild-type (WT) mice, preprotachykinin-A (PPT-A) gene
      deficient mice, which encode for SP, and PPT-A(-/-) mice challenged with
      exogenous SP. Local burn injury induced excessive SP-NK1R signaling, which
      activated ERK1/2 and NF-kappaB, leading to significant upregulation of
      cyclooxygenase (COX)-2, PGE metabolite, and remote ALI. Notably, lung COX-2
      levels were abrogated in burn-injured WT mice by L703606, PD98059, and Bay 11
      7082, which are specific NK1R, MEK-1, and NF-kappaB antagonists, respectively.
      Additionally, burn-injured PPT-A(-/-) mice showed suppressed lung COX-2 levels,
      whereas PPT-A(-/-) mice injected with SP showed augmented COX-2 levels postburn,
      and administration of PD98059 and Bay 11-7082 to burn-injured PPT-A(-/-) mice
      injected with SP abolished the COX-2 levels. Furthermore, treatment with
      parecoxib, a selective COX-2 inhibitor, attenuated proinflammatory cytokines,
      chemokines, and ALI in burn-injured WT mice and PPT-A(-/-) mice injected with SP.
      To our knowledge, we show for the first time that SP-NK1R signaling markedly
      elevates COX-2 activity via ERK1/2 and NF-kappaB, leading to remote ALI after
      burn.

PMID- 20926799
TI  - No requirement of trans presentations of IL-15 for human CD8 T cell
      proliferation.
AB  - The trans presentation of IL-15 by cells expressing the specific high-affinity
      receptor alpha-chain (IL-15Ralpha) to cells expressing the signaling receptor
      beta-chain and gamma-chain is essential for the generation and maintenance of CD8
      memory T cells, NK cells, and NKT cells in an in vivo mouse system. We have also
      demonstrated in vitro that cell-surface IL-15Ralpha on cells expressing all the
      receptor components present IL-15 to receptor beta-chain/gamma-chain coexpressed
      on the same cell surface (cis presentation). However, although mouse CD8 T cells
      express all the IL-15R components, they show no evidence of cis presentation. In
      this study, we demonstrate that increased expression of mouse IL-15Ralpha in
      mouse CD8 T cells by retrovirus-mediated gene transfer changes the ability of the
      T cell to use cis presentation on the cell surface, indicating that cis
      presentation requires high expression of mouse IL-15Ralpha on the cell surface.
      Using cell lines expressing human or mouse receptors, we demonstrate that cis
      presentation occurs more efficiently in the human receptor-ligand combination
      than in that of the mouse system. Moreover, we found that primary human CD8 T
      cells do not require trans presentation of human IL-15 in vitro. These findings
      raise the possibility that the maintenance and generation of memory CD8 T cells
      are achieved via distinct mechanisms in humans and mice. Therefore, careful study
      of the human immune system, rather than extrapolation from the murine model, is
      necessary to achieve more complete understanding of memory CD8 T cell development
      in humans.

PMID- 20926800
TI  - Neutropenia enhances lung dendritic cell recruitment in response to Aspergillus
      via a cytokine-to-chemokine amplification loop.
AB  - Current understanding of specific defense mechanisms in the context of
      neutropenic infections is limited. It has previously been reported that invasive
      aspergillosis, a prototypic opportunistic infection in neutropenic hosts, is
      associated with marked accumulation of inflammatory dendritic cells (DCs) in the
      lungs. Given recent data indicating that neutrophils can modulate immune
      responses independent of their direct microbial killing, we hypothesized that
      neutropenia impacts the host response to Aspergillus by determining the migration
      and phenotype of lung DCs. Inflammatory DCs, but not other DC subsets, were found
      to accumulate in the lungs of neutropenic hosts challenged with killed or live
      attenuated Aspergillus as compared with nonneutropenic hosts, indicating that the
      accumulation was independent of neutrophil microbicidal activity. The mechanism
      of this accumulation in neutropenic hosts was found to be augmented influx of
      DCs, or their precursors, from the blood to the lungs. This effect was
      attributable to greatly elevated lung TNF expression in neutropenic as compared
      with nonneutropenic animals. This resulted in greater lung expression of the
      chemokine ligands CCL2 and CCL20, which, in turn, mediated enhanced recruitment
      of TNF-producing inflammatory DCs, resulting in a positive feedback cycle.
      Finally, in the context of neutropenic invasive aspergillosis, depletion of DCs
      resulted in impaired fungal clearance, indicating that this mechanism is
      protective for the host. These observations identify what we believe is a novel
      defense mechanism in invasive aspergillosis that is the result of alterations in
      DC traffic and phenotype and is specific to neutropenic hosts.

PMID- 20926802
TI  - Transforming growth factor Beta regulates proliferation and invasion of rat
      placental cell lines.
AB  - Implantation of an embryo in the endometrium is a critical step for continuation
      of pregnancy, and implantation failure is a major cause of infertility. In rats,
      the implantation process involves invasion of the endometrial epithelial lining
      by the trophoblastic cells in order to reach the underlying stromal cells.
      Transforming growth factor beta (TGFB) is a multifunctional cytokine that
      regulates proliferation, differentiation, and invasiveness of multiple cell
      lineages. We used rat HRP-1 and RCHO-1 placental cell lines to perform this
      study. HRP-1 cells were derived from midgestation chorioallantoic placental
      explants of the outbred Holtzman rat, whereas RCHO-1 cells were established from
      a rat choriocarcinoma. MTT proliferation assays revealed that each TGFB isoform
      decreased HRP-1 cell growth in a dose-dependent manner, whereas RCHO-1 cells were
      resistant to the growth-suppressive effect of TGFB1 and TGFB3. Only TGFB2 reduced
      RCHO-1 cell proliferation. Activation of ERK, MAPK14 (p38 MAPK), or SMAD pathways
      is known to play a role in cell proliferation, and we found that TGFB activates
      these pathways in both HRP-1 and RCHO-1 cells in an isoform-specific manner. MTT
      proliferation assays revealed that ERK pathway is partially implicated in TGFB3
      reduced HRP-1 cell proliferation. Hoechst nuclear staining and caspase-3 cleavage
      demonstrated that TGFB isoforms failed to induce apoptosis in both cell lines.
      Matrigel invasion assays showed that both HRP-1 and RCHO-1 cells exhibit
      intrinsic invasive ability under untreated conditions. The capacity of HRP-1
      cells to invade the Matrigel was selectively increased by TGFB2 and TGFB3,
      whereas all TGFB isoforms could increase the invasiveness of RCHO-1 cells. These
      important functional studies progressively reveal a key role for TGFB in
      regulating proliferation and invasiveness of placental cells.

PMID- 20926801
TI  - Estrogen, efferent ductules, and the epididymis.
AB  - Estrogen's presence in the male reproductive system has been known for over 60
      years, but its potential function in the epididymis remains an important area of
      investigation. Estrogen is synthesized by germ cells, producing a relatively high
      concentration in rete testis fluid. There are two estrogen receptors (ESR), the
      presence of which in the head of the epididymis is well documented and consistent
      between species; however, in other regions of the epididymis, their expression
      appears to be isotype, species, and cell specific. ESR1 is expressed
      constitutively in the epididymis; however, its presence is downregulated by high
      doses of estrogen, making the design of experiments complicated, as the phenotype
      of the Cyp19a1(-/-) mouse does not resemble that of the Esr1(-/-) mouse. Ligand
      independent and DNA-binding Esr1 mutant models further demonstrate the complexity
      and importance of both signaling pathways in maintenance of efferent ductules and
      epididymis. Data now reveal the presence of not only classical nuclear receptors,
      but also cytoplasmic ESR and rapid responding membrane receptors; however, their
      importance in the epididymis remains undetermined. ESR1 regulates ion transport
      and water reabsorption in the efferent ducts and epididymis, and its regulation
      of other associated genes is continually being uncovered. In the male, some
      genes, such as Aqp9 and Slc9a3, contain both androgen and estrogen response
      elements and are dually regulated by these hormones. While estrogen pathways are
      a necessity for fertility in the male, future studies are needed to understand
      the interplay between androgens and estrogens in epididymal tissues, particularly
      in cell types that contain both receptors and their cofactors.

PMID- 20926803
TI  - Labor and inflammation increase the expression of oxytocin receptor in human
      amnion.
AB  - The oxytocin/oxytocin receptor (OXT/OXTR) system plays an important role in the
      regulation of parturition. The amnion is a major source of prostaglandins and
      inflammatory cytokine synthesis, which increase both before and during labor.
      Amnion is a noncontractile tissue; therefore, the role played by OXT/OXTR in this
      tissue will be fundamentally different from the role played in myometrial
      contractions. In the present study, we demonstrate increased OXTR mRNA and
      protein concentrations in human amnion epithelial cells associated with the onset
      of labor. We show that incubation of primary human amnion epithelial cells with
      IL1B results in a rapid, transient up-regulation of OXTR mRNA expression, which
      peaks in prelabor samples after 6 h. Incubation of prelabor amnion epithelial
      cells with OXT results in a marked increase of prostaglandin E(2) synthesis, and
      we demonstrate that OXT activates the extracellular signal-regulated protein
      kinase signal transduction pathway to stimulate up-regulation of cyclo-oxygenase
      2 in human amnion epithelial cells. The increased ability of human amnion to
      produce prostaglandins in response to OXT treatment suggests a complementary role
      for the OXT/OXTR system in the activation of human amnion and the onset of labor.

PMID- 20926804
TI  - Cryopreservation of canine embryos.
AB  - The assisted reproductive techniques (ARTs) such as in vitro fertilization,
      embryo transfer, and cryopreservation of gametes have contributed considerably to
      the development of biomedical sciences in addition to improving infertility
      treatments in humans as well as the breeding of domestic animals. However, ARTs
      used in canine species have strictly limited utility when compared with other
      mammalian species, including humans. Although successful somatic cell cloning has
      been reported, artificial insemination by frozen semen to date is only available
      for the improved breeding and reproduction for companion and working dogs as well
      as guide dogs for the blind. We describe here the successful cryopreservation of
      embryos and subsequent embryo transfer in dogs. Canine embryos were collected
      from excised reproductive organs after artificial insemination and subsequently
      cryopreserved by a vitrification method. When the 4-cell to morula stage of
      cryopreserved embryos were nonsurgically transferred into the uteri of nine
      recipient bitches using a cystoscope, five recipients became pregnant and four of
      them delivered a total of seven pups. The cryopreservation of embryos in canine
      species will facilitate the transportation and storage of genetic materials and
      will aid in the elimination of vertically transmitted diseases in dogs. In
      addition, this technique will contribute to the improved breeding of companion
      and working dogs such as guide dogs, drug-detecting dogs, and quarantine dogs.

PMID- 20926805
TI  - Disparate binding of three types of vitellogenin to multiple forms of
      vitellogenin receptor in white perch.
AB  - Three types of white perch (Morone americana) vitellogenin (VtgAa, VtgAb, and
      VtgC) were purified, labeled with digoxigenin (DIG), and subjected to Vtg
      receptor (Vtgr) binding assays in 96-well plates coated with perch ovarian
      membrane proteins or to ligand blotting procedures. Binding specificity was
      evaluated by incubating membrane protein preparations with constant amounts of
      DIG-Vtg tracer (VtgAa, VtgAb, VtgC, or a mixture of VtgAa and VtgAb [VtgAa/b])
      alone or in the presence of unlabeled Vtg ligands. At 250-fold excess molar
      concentration relative to the tracer, VtgAa and VtgAb were each able to displace
      only approximately 50% of bound DIG-VtgAa/b, but VtgAa/b could fully displace DIG
      VtgAa and DIG-VtgAb under the same conditions. Over a broad range of excess molar
      ratios, unlabeled VtgAa and VtgAb each displaced their respective DIG-Vtg tracer
      much more effectively than each did the heterologous tracer (DIG-VtgAb and DIG
      VtgAa, respectively). Ligand blotting revealed three forms of Vtgr, a large
      receptor (>212 kDa) that bound only to VtgAa and two smaller receptors (~ 116 and
      ~ 110.5 kDa) that bound preferentially to VtgAb. The VtgC did not specifically
      bind to ovarian membrane proteins in either assay. Collectively, these results
      indicate the presence of a system of multiple ovarian Vtgrs with disparate
      binding to the three types of Vtg present in higher-order teleosts
      (Acanthomorpha). To our knowledge, this is the first report on binding of
      multiple types of Vtg to multiple forms of Vtgr in any vertebrate.

PMID- 20926806
TI  - Differential gene expression in ovaries of pregnant pigs with high and low
      prolificacy levels and identification of candidate genes for litter size.
AB  - Previous results from a genome scan in an F(2) Iberian * Meishan pig intercross
      showed several chromosome regions associated with litter size traits in this
      species. In order to identify candidate genes underlying these quantitative trait
      loci (QTL), we performed an ovary gene expression analysis during the sow's
      pregnancy. F(2) sows were ranked by their estimated breeding values for
      prolificacy: six sows with the highest estimated breeding value (EBV) (i.e., high
      prolificacy) and six sows with the lowest EBV (low prolificacy) were selected.
      Samples were hybridized using an Affymetrix GeneChip porcine genome array.
      Statistical analysis with a mixed model approach identified 221 differentially
      expressed probes, representing 189 genes. These genes were functionally annotated
      in order to identify genetic pathways overrepresented in this list. Among the
      functional groups most represented was, in first position, immune system response
      activation against external stimulus. The second group consisted of integrated
      genes that regulate maternal homeostasis by complement and coagulation cascades.
      A third group was involved in lipid and fatty acid enzymes of metabolic
      processes, which participate in the steroidogenesis pathway. In order to identify
      powerful candidate genes for prolificacy, the second approach of this study was
      to merge microarray data with the QTL positional information affecting litter
      size, previously detected in the same experimental cross. As a result, we have
      identified 27 differentially expressed genes colocalizing with QTL for litter
      size traits, which fulfill the biological, positional, and functional criteria.

PMID- 20926807
TI  - Activin A balances Sertoli and germ cell proliferation in the fetal mouse testis.
AB  - Activin affects many aspects of cellular development, including those essential
      for reproductive fitness. This study examined the contribution of activin A to
      murine fetal testicular development, revealing contrasting outcomes of activin
      actions on Sertoli cells and gonocytes. Shortly after sex determination, from
      Embryonic Day 12.5 (E12.5) through to birth (0 dpp), the activin A subunit
      transcript (Inhba) level rises in testis but not ovary, followed closely by the
      Inha transcript (encoding the inhibitory inhibin alpha subunit). Activin receptor
      transcript levels also change, with Acvr1 (encoding ALK2) and Acvr2b (ActRIIB)
      significantly higher and lower, respectively, at 0 dpp compared with E13.5 and
      E15.5. Transcripts encoding the signaling mediators Smad1, Smad3, and Smad4 were
      higher at 0 dpp compared with E13.5 and E15.5, whereas Smad2, Smad5, and Smad7
      were lower. Detection of phosphorylated (P-)SMAD2/3 in nearly all testis cell
      nuclei indicated widespread transforming growth factor beta (TGFB) and/or activin
      ligand signaling activity. In contrast to wild-type littermates, activin betaA
      subunit knockout (Inhba(-/-)) mice have significantly smaller testes at birth,
      attributable to a 50% lower Sertoli cell number and decreased Sertoli cell
      proliferation from E13.5. Inhba(-/-) testes contained twice the normal gonocyte
      number at birth, with some appearing to bypass quiescence. Persistence of
      widespread P-SMAD2/3 in Inhba(-/-) cells indicates other TGFB superfamily ligands
      are active in fetal testes. Significant differences in Smad and cell cycle
      regulator transcript levels correlating to Inhba gene dosage correspond to
      differences in Sertoli and germ cell numbers. In Inhba(-/-) testes, Cdkn1a
      (encoding p21(cip1)), identified previously in fetal gonocytes, was lower at
      E13.5, whereas Cdkn1b (encoding p(27kip1) in somatic cells) was lower at birth,
      and cyclin D2 mRNA and protein were lower at E15.5 and 0 dpp. Thus, activin A
      dosage contributes to establishing the balance between Sertoli and germ cell
      number that is ultimately required for adult male fertility.

PMID- 20926808
TI  - Apoptosis in mouse amniotic epithelium is induced by activated macrophages
      through the TNF receptor type 1/TNF pathway.
AB  - The amniotic epithelium is in direct contact with the amniotic fluid and has
      tight junctions. The amniotic tight junctions function as a barrier to restrict
      fluid flux via the amniotic membrane during midpregnancy in the mouse. However,
      during late pregnancy, amniotic fluid volume significantly decreases in
      association with the disruption of amniotic tight junctions. The disruption of
      amniotic tight junctions is caused by apoptosis in the amniotic epithelium on
      Embryonic Day 17 (E17). In this study, we examine the molecular mechanisms
      underlying apoptosis of the amniotic epithelium of the mouse. We found that from
      E16, the number of activated macrophages that express high levels of NOS2 and
      tumor necrosis factor (TNF) increase in amniotic fluid. TNF receptor type 1
      (TNFR1) was detectable from E16 onward. On E17, amniotic epithelial cells
      expressing TNFR1 became TUNEL positive, suggesting that TNF/TNFR1 signaling may
      initiate apoptosis. To further confirm the role of TNF/TNFR1 signaling, WP9QY, a
      TNFR1 antagonist, was injected into the amniotic cavity and was found to
      significantly reduce the numbers of apoptotic cells in the E17 amniotic
      epithelium. Furthermore, dehydroxymethylepoxyquinomicin, a specific nuclear
      factor-kappa B inhibitor, was found to inhibit TNF production in macrophages and
      amniotic apoptosis in vivo. Finally, we showed that injection of TNF into the
      amniotic cavity induces early onset of apoptosis. These results indicate that
      amniotic apoptosis is induced by the TNF pathway via TNFR1 expressed in the
      amniotic epithelial cells and that activation of macrophages may trigger amniotic
      apoptosis.

PMID- 20926809
TI  - Investigating unstable fixation in patients with macular disease.
AB  - PURPOSE: To assess the effect on visual acuity of compensating fixation
      instability by controlling retinal image motion in people with macular disease.
      METHODS: Ten patients with macular disease participated in this study. Crowded
      and noncrowded visual acuity were measured using an eye tracking system to
      compensate for fixation instability. Four conditions, corresponding to four
      levels of retinal image motion, were tested: no compensation (normal motion),
      partial compensation (reduced motion), total compensation (no motion), and
      overcompensation (increased motion). Fixation stability and the number of
      preferred retinal loci were also measured. RESULTS: Modulating retinal image
      motion had the same effect on crowded and noncrowded visual acuity (P = 0.601).
      When fixation instability was overcompensated, acuity worsened by 0.1 logMAR
      units (P < 0.001) compared with baseline (no compensation) and remained equal to
      baseline for all other conditions. CONCLUSIONS: In people with macular disease,
      retinal image motion caused by fixation instability does not reduce either
      crowded or noncrowded visual acuity. Acuity declines when fixation instability is
      overcompensated, showing limited tolerance to increased retinal image motion. The
      results provide evidence that fixation instability does not improve visual acuity
      and may be a consequence of poor oculomotor control.

PMID- 20926810
TI  - Multifocal electroretinograms predict onset of diabetic retinopathy in adult
      patients with diabetes.
AB  - PURPOSE: The authors' previous models predicted local formation of diabetic
      retinopathy (DR) in adults with diabetes and existing retinopathy. Here they
      derived a multivariate model for local prediction of DR onset in patients with no
      previous retinopathy. METHODS: Seventy-eight eyes from 41 diabetes patients were
      tested annually for several years. The presence or absence of DR at the last
      study visit was the outcome measure, and measurements of risk factors from the
      previous visit were used for prediction. Logistic regression was used to assess
      the relationship between DR development and 7 factors: multifocal ERG (mfERG)
      implicit time (IT) Z-score, sex, diabetes duration, blood glucose, HbA1c, age,
      and diabetes type. Thirty-five retinal zones, spanning 45 degrees , were
      constructed from the mfERG stimulus elements. The maximum IT Z-score for each
      zone was calculated based on data from 50 control subjects. ROC curve analysis,
      using fivefold cross-validation, was used to determine the model's predictive
      properties. RESULTS: Mild DR developed in 80 of 2730 retinal zones (3%) in 29 of
      78 eyes (37%). Multivariate analysis showed mfERG IT to be predictive for DR
      development in a zone after adjusting for diabetes type. The multivariate model
      has a sensitivity of 80% and a specificity of 74%. CONCLUSIONS: mfERG IT is a
      good predictor of DR onset, 1 year later, in patients with diabetes without DR.
      It can be used to assess the risk for DR development in these patients and may be
      a valuable outcome measure in evaluation of novel prophylactic therapeutics
      directed at impeding DR.

PMID- 20926811
TI  - Fatty Acid uptake and incorporation into phospholipids in the rat lens.
AB  - PURPOSE: Phospholipids are a major component of lens fiber cells and influence
      the activity of membrane proteins. Previous investigations of fatty acid uptake
      by the lens are limited. The purpose of the present study was thus to determine
      whether exogenous fatty acids could be taken up by the rat lens and incorporated
      into molecular phospholipids. METHODS: Lenses were incubated with fluorescently
      labeled palmitic acid and then analyzed by confocal microscopy. Concurrently,
      lenses incubated with either fluorescently labeled palmitic acid or the more
      physiologically relevant (13)C(18)-oleic acid were sectioned into nuclear and
      cortical regions and analyzed by highly sensitive and structurally selective
      electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry techniques. RESULTS: The
      detection of fluorescently labeled palmitic acid, even after 16 hours of
      incubation, was limited to approximately the outer 25% to 30% of the rat lens.
      Mass spectrometry also revealed the presence of free (13)C(18)-oleic acid in the
      cortex but not the nucleus. No evidence could be found for incorporation of
      fluorescently labeled palmitic acid into phospholipids; however, a low level of
      (13)C(18)-oleic acid incorporation into phosphatidylethanolamine (PE),
      specifically PE (PE 16:0/(13)C(18) 18:1) was detected in the lens cortex after 16
      hours. CONCLUSIONS: These data demonstrate that uptake of exogenous (e.g.,
      dietary fatty acids) by the lens and their incorporation into phospholipids is
      minimal, most likely occurring only during de novo synthesis in the outermost
      region of the lens. This finding adds support to the hypothesis that once
      synthesized there is no active remodeling or turnover of fiber cell
      phospholipids.

PMID- 20926812
TI  - A role of corneal mechanical adaptation in contact lens-related dry eye symptoms.
AB  - PURPOSE: To compare corneal mechanical adaptation measured psychophysically in
      contact lens wearers with or without dry eye symptoms. METHODS: Two groups of
      contact lens wearers were recruited. One group (symptomatic) consisted of
      subjects with dry eye symptoms (according to the subjective evaluation of symptom
      of dryness [SeSoD] questionnaire). The second control group (asymptomatic)
      consisted of subjects reporting no symptoms. There were 32 (aged 20 to 42 years,
      6 males and 26 females) and 29 subjects (aged 21 to 36 years, 9 males and 20
      females) in the symptomatic and asymptomatic groups, respectively. Mechanical
      stimulus thresholds of the cornea were determined using a Belmonte pneumatic
      esthesiometer and the ascending method of limits. Then three stimulus intensity
      groups (subthreshold, threshold, and suprathreshold) were applied to the eye in
      random order, each 20 times. Subjects rated the intensity of the stimuli using a
      scale of zero to four. The rating data from the two groups were compared by
      Friedman nonparametric ANOVA. Adaptation was defined as the reduction in
      subsequent ratings compared with earlier ones. RESULTS: No significant difference
      was seen in subjects' thresholds in both groups (P = 0.22). The symptomatic group
      rated their sensations to suprathreshold stimuli higher than the asymptomatic
      group. More importantly, there was significant adaptation with suprathreshold
      mechanical stimulation in the asymptomatic group (P = 0.006) but not in the
      symptomatic group (P = 0.08). There was no adaptation during threshold and
      subthreshold stimulus sessions in either group. CONCLUSIONS: Adaptation was found
      to suprathreshold mechanical stimuli in the asymptomatic group but not in the
      symptomatic group.

PMID- 20926813
TI  - Cell delivery with fixed amniotic membrane reconstructs corneal epithelium in
      rabbits with limbal stem cell deficiency.
AB  - PURPOSE: To explore the feasibility and efficacy of a cell delivery system using
      amniotic membrane (AM) fixed by a novel biomembrane-fixing device (BMFD) for
      corneal epithelium reconstruction in rabbits with limbal stem cell deficiency
      (LSCD). METHODS: Sixty female rabbits with LSCD were created and randomly
      assigned to three groups of 20 each: LSCD rabbits without treatment (the
      control), LSCD rabbits treated with BMFD-fixed AM (BMFD-AM), and rabbits treated
      with male human limbal epithelial cells delivered with BMFD-fixed AM (BMFD
      AM+cells). They were followed up with slit lamp observation and corneal
      fluorescein staining for 14 days. Cytokeratin K3 and K4 and mucin 5AC were used
      to evaluate corneal conjunctivalization. Sry gene detection was used to trace the
      delivered cells. RESULTS: The corneal re-epithelialization time was 5.60 +/- 0.46
      days in the BMFD-AM+cell group, significantly shorter (P < 0.05) than in the LSCD
      (12.45 +/- 0.65 days) and the BMFD-AM (9.25 +/- 0.51 days) groups.
      Conjunctivalization and neovascularization were observed to be severe in the LSCD
      group and moderate in the BMFD-AM group. The prevention of conjunctivalization in
      the BMFD-AM+cell group was evidenced by positive K3/K12 and negative MUC5AC and
      K4 observed on re-epithelialized corneal epithelium. The histologic sections at
      different time points and positive Sry gene expression indicated that the
      delivered cells adhered to the wounded corneal surface and proliferated well.
      CONCLUSIONS: These findings demonstrate that the BMFD with fixed AM served well
      as a cell delivery system for the ocular surface. The delivered limbal epithelial
      cells promoted corneal re-epithelialization and prevented corneas from
      conjunctivalization and neovascularization in rabbits with experimental LSCD.

PMID- 20926814
TI  - Intravitreal injections of neurotrophic factors secreting mesenchymal stem cells
      are neuroprotective in rat eyes following optic nerve transection.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the neuroprotective effect of intravitreal injections of
      neurotrophic factors secreting mesenchymal stem cells (NTF-SCs) on the survival
      of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) in rat eyes after optic nerve transection (ONT).
      METHODS: Rat and human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) were
      induced to secrete high levels of NTF. The neuroprotective effect from
      intravitreally injected untreated MSCs or NTF-SCs was compared with that from PBS
      injections using an ONT model in 146 rats. RGCs were labeled by applying
      rhodamine dextran to the orbital optic nerve or by injecting Fluorogold into the
      superior colliculus. Cell- and saline-treated eyes were compared 8 days after
      ONT. For tracking, MSCs and NTF-SCs were labeled with PKH26 and analyzed at 2
      hours and at 10, 17, and 24 days using immunohistochemistry and RT-PCR. RESULTS:
      Mean RGC survival at 8 days after transection increased significantly after
      intravitreal injections of human NTF-SCs (69% +/- 3%) or of untreated human MSCs
      (66% +/- 5%) versus PBS (46% +/- 3%; P = 0.0005 and P = 0.03, respectively). In
      an additional set of experiments, human NTF-SCs versus PBS were significantly
      neuroprotective, but bone marrow-derived rat NTF-SCs were not (P = 0.001 and P =
      0.1, respectively). Immunohistochemistry demonstrated that human-derived MSCs,
      human NTF-SCs, and rat-derived NTF-SCs survived at least 24 days after
      intravitreal injection. CONCLUSIONS: Bone marrow-derived MSCs can deliver NTFs by
      intravitreal injection and can be neuroprotective after ONT. This approach might
      be further studied to deliver NTFs by autotransplantation in glaucomatous eyes.

PMID- 20926815
TI  - A novel method for the induction of experimental glaucoma using magnetic
      microspheres.
AB  - PURPOSE: The development of a method for the sustained elevation of intraocular
      pressure in experimental glaucoma based on the anterior chamber injection of
      paramagnetic microbeads. METHODS: Unilateral glaucoma was induced in adult male
      Norwegian Brown rats by the injection of paramagnetic polystyrene microspheres. A
      handheld 0.45 Tesla magnet was used to draw the beads into the iridocorneal angle
      to impede aqueous drainage via the trabecular meshwork. RESULTS: Elevated
      intraocular pressures (IOPs) were induced in 61 rats, resulting in a mean
      elevation of 5.8 mm Hg +/- 1.0 (SEM) relative to the contralateral control eye.
      The mean duration of sustained IOP elevation (defined as >5 mm Hg relative to the
      control eye for at least 7 consecutive days) after a single injection was 12.8
      days +/- 0.9 (SEM, maximum duration 27 days). In all eyes, the visual axis
      remained clear from the time of injection, with minimal inflammation after
      injection. Retinal ganglion cell loss was determined in 21 animals (mean integral
      IOP, 194.5 mm Hg days +/- 87.5 [SEM]) as 36.4% +/- 2.4 (SEM) compared with the
      contralateral, untreated eye. CONCLUSIONS: The use of paramagnetic microbeads for
      the occlusion of the iridocorneal angle produces a sustained elevation of IOP
      with fewer injections and avoids the risk of visual axis occlusion. It represents
      a simple and effective method for the induction of experimental glaucoma.

PMID- 20926816
TI  - In vivo quantification of bacterial keratitis with optical coherence tomography.
AB  - PURPOSE: To quantify the human corneal inflammatory response in treated bacterial
      keratitis with long-wavelength anterior segment optical coherence tomography (AS
      OCT). METHODS: Patients with clinically suspected bacterial keratitis were
      recruited from the corneal service at Southampton Eye Unit, UK. Patients
      underwent AS-OCT and slit-lamp examination on presentation (day 0) and days 3, 7,
      and 14 of treatment. Corneal thickness (CT) in the infiltrated area, infiltrate
      thickness (IT), and infiltrate width (IW) were measured on high-resolution AS-OCT
      scans. Mean values for each day and rates of change for each interval were
      calculated and compared (one-way ANOVA, paired t-test). RESULTS: Twenty-six eyes
      of 26 patients were recruited. Mean CT and IT on presentation were 905 MUm and
      388 MUm, respectively. On days 3, 7, and 14, CT and IT decreased to 753 MUm and
      320 MUm (P < 0.01), 678 MUm and 296 MUm (P < 0.01), and 584 MUm and 207 MUm (P <
      0.01), respectively. Mean IW, 1498 MUm on presentation, did not change during
      treatment (P > 0.30). Mean daily rate of CT reduction was faster in the early
      (days 0-3) compared to late (days 7-14) phase (4.49% vs. 1.33%, P = 0.006). Mean
      daily rate of IT reduction was no different in early, middle, and late phases
      (5.41% vs. 1.19% vs. 3.38%, P > 0.01). In the late phase, IT decreased faster
      than CT (3.38% vs. 1.33%, P = 0.003). CONCLUSIONS: CT and IT decreased
      significantly by day 3 in resolving bacterial keratitis. The rapid early phase
      reduction in IT and CT was followed by rapid late phase IT reduction. This study
      demonstrates that serial AS-OCT examination can be used to monitor in vivo the
      clinical course of inflammatory disease.

PMID- 20926817
TI  - The relationship between retinal arteriolar and venular calibers is genetically
      mediated, and each is associated with risk of cardiovascular disease.
AB  - PURPOSE: Retinal arteriolar and venular calibers are highly heritable and
      associated with cardiovascular disease. This study was designed to investigate
      the relative influence of genetic and environmental factors on the high
      phenotypic correlation (r = 0.59) between these two traits and to assess the
      shared and specific influence of established and novel cardiovascular disease
      risk factors on them. METHODS: A total of 1463 Caucasian female twins (706
      monozygotic and 757 dizygotic), between 24 and 79 years of age, underwent retinal
      photography from which retinal arteriolar (mean, 153.75 +/- 22.1 MUm, SD) and
      venular (mean, 232.1 +/- 36.6 MUm) calibers were measured with semiautomated
      software. A bivariate heritability model was used to assess the genetic and
      environmental influences underlying both specific trait variance and the
      covariance between the vessel traits. The investigation was an assessment of
      phenotypic associations between retinal arteriolar and venular calibers and
      cardiovascular disease risk factors. RESULTS: Additive genetic factors accounted
      for approximately three fourths of the covariance between retinal arteriolar and
      venular calibers within the cohort. This finding was replicated in a sample of
      1981 twins from the Australian Twins Eye Study. The partial correlation showed
      that known risk factors accounted for only 5% of the covariance between
      arteriolar and venular calibers. Novel associations were found between venular
      caliber and beta-cell function (P = 0.011) and insulin sensitivity (P = 0.002).
      CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that future gene-mapping studies may identify
      pleiotropic genetic variants influencing both retinal arteriolar and venular
      calibers. Genetic variants associated with retinal caliber and (risk factors for)
      cardiovascular disease should provide new etiologic insights into this complex
      disease.

PMID- 20926818
TI  - Changes in retinal sensitivity in geographic atrophy progression as measured by
      microperimetry.
AB  - PURPOSE: To characterize changes in macular sensitivity during geographic atrophy
      (GA) progression using microperimetry. METHODS: Retinal sensitivity in the
      macular area was evaluated by microperimetry in 10 patients with bilateral GA,
      with adequate data obtained in 9 of 10 patients (n = 18 eyes). Patients had been
      enrolled in an interventional trial in which one eye had been randomized to
      treatment and the other eye observed. No treatment effect with regard to GA
      growth and microperimetric measurements was detected, and all eyes were analyzed.
      Microperimetric assessments of the central 20 degrees  of the macula were
      performed every 6 months over 24 months. Parameters analyzed included number of
      scotomatous points, mean retinal sensitivity of responding points, and fixation
      stability. Autofluorescence imaging and fundus photography were also obtained.
      RESULTS: Microperimetric parameters demonstrated statistically significant
      changes as a function of time. Mean number of scotomatous points increased
      significantly with time (P = 0.004) at a rate of 4.4 points/year. Mean retinal
      sensitivities of all points, all responding points, and all perilesional points
      all decreased significantly with time (P < 0.003), as did fixation quality within
      the 2 degrees  and 4 degrees  circles (P < 0.002). The growth of GA lesion area
      was associated with the changes in the number of scotomatous points (P = 0.01)
      but not with changes in the other microperimetric parameters. CONCLUSIONS:
      Macular sensitivity and fixation quality undergo progressive change during the GA
      progression, reflecting alterations in macular function extending beyond the GA
      lesion proper. Microperimetric measurements may provide useful functional outcome
      measures for the clinical study of GA.

PMID- 20926820
TI  - Correlation of corneal acoustic and elastic properties in a canine eye model.
AB  - PURPOSE: To examine the correlation between corneal acoustic impedance and
      Young's modulus in a canine eye model. METHODS: Twenty canine globes were
      recovered from healthy animals. Corneal acoustic impedance was measured in the
      intact globes using two methods: a quantitative ultrasound spectroscopy method
      and the reflection amplitude method. The intraocular pressure was maintained at
      10 mm Hg during the ultrasound measurements. Corneal strips were then prepared
      for standard uniaxial tensile tests. Young's moduli at various strain levels and
      those at a loading level equivalent to that for ultrasound measurements were
      compared with the acoustic impedance of the same cornea. RESULTS: The mean
      acoustic impedance of the canine corneas was 1.72 +/- 0.05 MPa . s/m using the
      quantitative ultrasound spectroscopy method and 1.71 +/- 0.04 MPa . s/m using the
      reflection amplitude method. Young's secant modulus was 1.07 +/- 0.48 MPa at 1%
      strain and 2.01 +/- 0.98 MPa at 5% strain, and the tangent modulus was 1.28 +/-
      0.69 and 3.16 +/- 0.71 MPa, respectively. Significant linear correlations between
      acoustic impedance and Young's modulus (at 1%-5% strains) were found in the
      measured canine corneas. The correlation remained strong when comparing the two
      parameters measured under equivalent loading. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests a
      potentially strong correlation between corneal acoustic impedance and Young's
      modulus at low strain levels. If such correlation also exists in the human eye,
      it may allow the noninvasively determined acoustic impedance to be used as a
      surrogate for Young's modulus, which is difficult to obtain in vivo.

PMID- 20926819
TI  - XIAP therapy increases survival of transplanted rod precursors in a degenerating
      host retina.
AB  - PURPOSE: To assess the survival of rod precursor cells transplanted into the Rd9
      mouse, a model of X-linked retinal degeneration, and the effect of antiapoptotic
      therapy with X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis (XIAP) on preventing cell loss.
      METHODS: Dissociated retinal cells from P4 Nrlp-GFP mice were transplanted into
      the subretinal space of 2-, 5-, and 8-month-old Rd9 mice. Histology,
      immunohistochemistry, and quantification of integrated cells were performed every
      month for up to 3 months after transplantation. XIAP delivery to donor cells was
      accomplished by transfection with adenoassociated virus (AAV-XIAP). Intraretinal
      activation of immune modulators was assessed using a quantitative real-time
      polymerase chain reaction-based immune response array. RESULTS: GFP-positive rod
      precursors were able to integrate into the outer nuclear layer (ONL) of the Rd9
      retina. Transplanted cells underwent morphologic differentiation with the
      formation of inner and outer segments and synaptic projections to bipolar cells.
      Integration of donor cells into the ONL increased as a function of host age at
      the time of transplantation. The number of integrated cells was maximal at 1
      month after transplantation and then decreased with time. Survival of integrated
      cells was significantly increased when donor cells were pretreated with AAV-XIAP.
      We did not detect any donor cell-specific activation of inflammation within the
      host retina. CONCLUSIONS: Survival of integrated cells decreases with time after
      transplantation but can be significantly increased with XIAP antiapoptotic
      therapy. Preventing programmed cell death through XIAP therapy may be an
      important component of future therapeutic retinal cell transplantation
      strategies.

PMID- 20926822
TI  - Cytokeratin 8 is expressed in human corneoconjunctival epithelium, particularly
      in limbal epithelial cells.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the expression of
      cytokeratin (CK) 8 in the corneoconjunctival epithelium. METHODS: In 17 cadaveric
      corneoscleral discs and 3 other discs, the presence of CK8 alone or CK8, together
      with CK3, CK15, vimentin, and integrin alpha6, was investigated by using indirect
      immunohistochemistry on radial cryosections. Four corneoscleral discs stored in
      organ culture were used for the preparation of tangential sections of the limbus
      and for the isolation of limbal epithelial cells and their subsequent
      cultivation. CK8 expression was examined by RT-PCR in the corneal, limbal, and
      conjunctival epithelium. RESULTS: Sixty percent of the cadaveric corneoscleral
      samples and all samples stored in organ culture revealed positivity for CK8 in
      the basal epithelial layer of the limbus. Positive basal cells formed a single
      line or separated clusters. The signal for CK8 became weaker toward the surface
      of the limbal epithelium. The colocalization of CK8 with vimentin and CK15 in the
      limbus was also found. CK3 showed only occasional positivity in some of the
      surface limbal cells. The expression of integrin alpha6 in the basal membrane was
      absent or decreased under the CK8-positive clusters. Cell cultures revealed
      strong positivity for CK8 in approximately 80% of the cultured cells, and CK8
      expression in the cornea, limbus, and conjunctiva was determined by RT-PCR.
      CONCLUSIONS: The study demonstrates the strong expression of CK8 in limbal
      epithelial basal cells, which is maintained during the differentiation and
      migration of the limbal cells toward the central corneal epithelium.

PMID- 20926821
TI  - Visual activity before and after the onset of juvenile myopia.
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate visual activities before and after the onset of juvenile
      myopia. METHODS: The subjects were 731 incident myopes (-0.75 D or more myopia on
      cycloplegic autorefraction in both meridians) and 587 emmetropes (between -0.25
      and +1.00 D) in the Collaborative Longitudinal Evaluation of Ethnicity and
      Refractive Error (CLEERE) Study. Parents supplied visual activity data annually.
      Data from myopic children 5 years before through 5 years after myopia onset were
      compared to data from age-, sex-, and ethnicity-matched models of children who
      remained emmetropic. RESULTS: Hours per week spent reading or using a
      computer/playing video games did not differ between the groups before myopia
      onset; however, hours per week for both activities were significantly greater in
      myopes than in emmetropes at onset and in 4 of the 5 years after onset by 0.7 to
      1.6 hours per week. Hours per week spent in outdoor/sports activities were
      significantly fewer for children who became myopic 3 years before onset through 4
      years after onset by 1.1 to 1.8 hours per week. Studying and TV watching were not
      significantly different before myopia onset. CONCLUSIONS: Before myopia onset,
      near work activities of future myopic children did not differ from those of
      emmetropes. Those who became myopic had fewer outdoor/sports activity hours than
      the emmetropes before, at, and after myopia onset. Myopia onset may influence
      children's near work behavior, but the lack of difference before onset argues
      against a major causative role for near work. Less outdoor/sports activity before
      myopia onset may exert a stronger influence on development than near work.

PMID- 20926823
TI  - Identifying the critical success factors in the coverage of low vision services
      using the classification analysis and regression tree methodology.
AB  - PURPOSE: To identify the critical success factors (CSF) associated with coverage
      of low vision services. METHODS: Data were collected from a survey distributed to
      Vision 2020 contacts, government, and non-government organizations (NGOs) in 195
      countries. The Classification and Regression Tree Analysis (CART) was used to
      identify the critical success factors of low vision service coverage. Independent
      variables were sourced from the survey: policies, epidemiology, provision of
      services, equipment and infrastructure, barriers to services, human resources,
      and monitoring and evaluation. Socioeconomic and demographic independent
      variables: health expenditure, population statistics, development status, and
      human resources in general, were sourced from the World Health Organization
      (WHO), World Bank, and the United Nations (UN). RESULTS: The findings identified
      that having >50% of children obtaining devices when prescribed (chi(2) = 44; P <
      0.000), multidisciplinary care (chi(2) = 14.54; P = 0.002), >3 rehabilitation
      workers per 10 million of population (chi(2) = 4.50; P = 0.034), higher
      percentage of population urbanized (chi(2) = 14.54; P = 0.002), a level of
      private investment (chi(2) = 14.55; P = 0.015), and being fully funded by
      government (chi(2) = 6.02; P = 0.014), are critical success factors associated
      with coverage of low vision services. CONCLUSIONS: This study identified the most
      important predictors for countries with better low vision coverage. The CART is a
      useful and suitable methodology in survey research and is a novel way to simplify
      a complex global public health issue in eye care.

PMID- 20926824
TI  - Foveal structure and thickness of retinal layers long-term after surgical peeling
      of idiopathic epiretinal membrane.
AB  - PURPOSE: To better understand the long-term effect of idiopathic epiretinal
      membrane peeling on retinal anatomy, the foveal structure and the thickness of
      individual retinal layers were analyzed with frequency-domain optical coherence
      tomography (fdOCT). The long-term postoperative course of macular thickness was
      followed. METHODS: fdOCT scans were obtained from the horizontal midline in 33
      eyes long-term (mean 46 +/- 13 months) after surgery and in 30 eyes of age
      matched controls. Raw images were exported, and the thickness of retinal layers
      was measured with a manual segmentation procedure aided by a customized computer
      program. Macular thickness was quantified over time with the time-domain (td) OCT
      Fast Macular Thickness program. RESULTS: Thickness of retinal layers between the
      outer nuclear and the ganglion cell plus inner plexiform layers in the horizontal
      midline of the fovea and the nasal parafovea was greater than normal, whereas
      that of the RPE, photoreceptor, and retinal nerve fiber layers was not different
      from controls. Twelve of 33 eyes had a foveal pit though the median foveal shape
      was distorted. Central macular thickness quantified with tdOCT remained
      increased, whereas the decrease of nasal macular thickness toward normal values
      was incomplete and delayed to 35 months after surgery. Superior, temporal, and
      inferior macular thickness returned to normal 12 to 14 months after surgery.
      CONCLUSIONS: Long-term after surgery, the fovea and the nasal parafovea remain
      thickened between the outer nuclear layer and the ganglion cell layer, whereas
      the superior, temporal, and inferior macular thickness returns to normal. Long
      term observations are required in the assessment of macular recovery from
      mechanical stress.

PMID- 20926825
TI  - Human orbital muscle: a new point of view from the fetal development of
      extraocular connective tissues.
AB  - PURPOSE: In the human body, the orbital muscle is a limited smooth-muscle tissue
      extending between hard tissues. To provide better understanding of its function,
      the authors re-examined its development in fetuses. METHODS: Using 20 human
      fetuses (12-25 weeks of gestation), semiserial horizontal or sagittal paraffin
      sections were prepared at intervals of 20 to 100 MUm. In addition to routine
      histology, the authors performed silver staining as well as immunohistochemistry
      for alpha smooth-muscle actin (SMA), vimentin, S100 protein, and tyrosine
      hydroxylase. RESULTS: Up to 12 weeks, the orbital muscle appeared as a plate-like
      mesenchymal condensation between the ciliary and sphenopalatine ganglia. Up to 15
      weeks, the thick smooth-muscle layer provided an inferoposterior wall for the
      orbit. A notable feature was a difference in fatty tissue development between the
      ocular (anterior) and posterior sides of the orbital muscle. At 20 and 25 weeks,
      SMA immunoreactivity and the amount of smooth-muscle basal lamina were decreased,
      in contrast to an increase in the number of collagenous fiber bundles. Nerves for
      the orbital muscle are unlikely to contain sympathetic fibers until 15 weeks.
      CONCLUSIONS: The authors hypothesize that, in the early stage, the orbital muscle
      separates the orbital content from the surrounding loose spaces to maintain
      conditions adequate for the development of orbital fat and other connective
      tissues. Later, the orbital muscle is replaced by collagenous fibers and seems to
      provide guidance for calcification of the inferoposterior bony orbital wall.
      Vimentin-positive osteoprogenitor cells appear to migrate from the perichondrium
      of the sphenoid and ethmoid.

PMID- 20926827
TI  - Peripheral refraction and refractive error in singapore chinese children.
AB  - PURPOSE: Peripheral hyperopia was hypothesized to stimulate axial elongation.
      This study describes peripheral refraction and its associations with central
      refractive error in young Singapore Chinese children. METHODS: Two hundred fifty
      children aged 40 months or older recruited from the Strabismus, Amblyopia, and
      Refractive Error in Young Singapore Children study were included in this
      analysis. Peripheral refraction was measured after pupil dilation using an
      infrared autorefractor. A total of five measurements were captured: central
      visual axis and 15 degrees  and 30 degrees  eccentricities in the nasal and
      temporal visual fields. RESULTS: The mean age of the participants recruited was
      83 +/- 36 months. There were 37 children with high and moderate myopia (<=-3 D;
      14.8%), 81 with low myopia (-2.99 to -0.5 D; 32.4%), 84 with emmetropia (-0.49 to
      1.0 D; 33.6%), and 47 with hyperopia (>1.0 D; 18.8%). Compared with the central
      axis, children with high and moderate myopia had relative hyperopia at all
      peripheral eccentricities (P < 0.001), whereas children with low myopia had
      relative hyperopia only at the temporal and nasal 30 degrees  (P < 0.001), but
      not at the nasal and temporal 15 degrees . Children with emmetropia and hyperopia
      had peripheral relative myopia at all eccentricities (P < 0.001). A significant
      correlation between the nasal and temporal refractive error at 30 degrees  was
      noted (Spearson's correlation coefficient = 0.85, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Young
      myopic Singapore Chinese children had relative hyperopia in the periphery. This
      study substantiates previous studies in older children and in Caucasian subjects.

PMID- 20926826
TI  - Interaction of recombinant myocilin with the matricellular protein SPARC:
      functional implications.
AB  - PURPOSE: Myocilin is an extracellular glycoprotein with unknown function that is
      associated with glaucoma. Calpain II cleaves recombinant myocilin within the
      linker region of the protein, releasing the C-terminal olfactomedin domain from
      the N-terminal domain. The authors previously reported that myocilin interacts
      with the C-terminal region of hevin, a secretory glycoprotein belonging to the
      SPARC family of matricellular proteins. This study aims to investigate the
      interaction of myocilin with SPARC. METHODS: Protein-protein interactions were
      evaluated by the yeast two-hybrid system. The positive interactions were
      confirmed by solid-phase binding assays using Ni-chelating HPLC purified
      recombinant proteins and coexpression of recombinant proteins in HEK-293T cells.
      Coexpression of myocilin, SPARC, and hevin in ocular tissues was identified by
      immunoflorescence microscopy, Western blot, and array-based gene profiling.
      RESULTS: Yeast two-hybrid analyses showed that myocilin interacted with the
      highly conserved C-terminal extracellular calcium binding (EC) domain within
      SPARC and hevin. Solid-phase binding assays confirmed these interactions and
      showed that both myocilin and its C-terminal olfactomedin fragment interacted
      noncovalently with SPARC and a peptide containing the EC domain of SPARC. Full
      length myocilin interacted with higher affinity with SPARC and its EC domain than
      the myocilin C-terminal fragment. Coexpression of the two recombinant proteins in
      HEK-293T cells also indicated their intracellular interaction. CONCLUSIONS:
      Recombinant myocilin and SPARC interact through their C-terminal domains. The
      data suggest that the proteolytic processing of myocilin modulates this
      interaction as well as the interactions of myocilin with other extracellular
      matrix and matricellular proteins, further supporting a functional role for this
      proteolytic cleavage.

PMID- 20926828
TI  - Use of tissue cross-reactivity studies in the development of antibody-based
      biopharmaceuticals: history, experience, methodology, and future directions.
AB  - Tissue cross-reactivity (TCR) studies are screening assays recommended for
      antibody and antibody-like molecules that contain a complementarity-determining
      region (CDR), primarily to identify off-target binding and, secondarily, to
      identify sites of on-target binding that were not previously identified. At the
      present time, TCR studies involve the ex vivo immunohistochemical (IHC) staining
      of a panel of frozen tissues from humans and animals, are conducted prior to
      dosing humans, and results are filed with the initial IND/CTA to support first-in
      human clinical trials. In some cases, a robust TCR assay cannot be developed, and
      in these cases the lack of a TCR assay should not prevent a program from moving
      forward. The TCR assay by itself has variable correlation with toxicity or
      efficacy. Therefore, any findings of interest should be further evaluated and
      interpreted in the context of the overall pharmacology and safety assessment data
      package. TCR studies are generally not recommended for surrogate molecules or for
      comparability assessments in the context of manufacturing/cell line changes.
      Overall, the design, implementation, and interpretation of TCR studies should
      follow a case-by-case approach.

PMID- 20926829
TI  - Deletion of the nuclear isoform of poly(ADP-ribose) glycohydrolase (PARG) reveals
      its function in DNA repair, genomic stability and tumorigenesis.
AB  - Poly(ADP-ribose) metabolism, mediated mainly by poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase
      (PARP) 1 and poly(ADP-ribose) glycohydrolase (PARG), regulates various cellular
      processes in response to genotoxic stress. PARP1 has been shown to be important
      in multiple cellular processes, including DNA repair, chromosomal stability,
      chromatin function, apoptosis and transcriptional regulation. However, whether
      PARP1's polymer synthesizing activity or polymer homeostasis is responsible for
      these functions remains largely unknown. Given a concerted action of multiple
      PARPs and unique PARG in the homeostasis of poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation, PARG is
      hypothesized to function in these processes. The lethal phenotype of the PARG
      null mutation in mouse embryos, however, hampers further investigation on
      biological function of PARG. Here, we show that mouse embryonic fibroblasts
      carrying a hypomorphic mutation of PARG, i.e. lacking the nuclear 110 kD isoform
      (PARG(110)(-/-)), have defects in the repair of DNA damage caused by various
      genotoxic agents. PARG(110)(-/-) cells exhibit genomic instability, characterized
      by a high frequency of sister chromatid exchange, micronuclei formation and
      chromosomal aberrations. Moreover, mutant cells contain supernumerary
      centrosomes, another hallmark of genomic instability, which correlates with an
      accumulation of S-phase cells after replication poison. Intriguingly, PARG(110)(
      /-) cells accumulate more Rad51 foci in response to hydroxyurea, indicative of a
      defective repair of replication fork damage. Finally, PARG(110)(-/-) mice are
      susceptible to diethylnitrosamine-induced hepatocellular carcinoma. These data
      demonstrate that the homeostasis of poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation is important for an
      efficient DNA repair of damaged replication forks and for stabilizing the genome,
      thereby preventing carcinogenesis.

PMID- 20926830
TI  - Developmental toxicity testing of biopharmaceuticals in nonhuman primates:
      previous experience and future directions.
AB  - Developmental toxicity studies for pharmaceutical safety testing are designed to
      evaluate potential adverse effects of drug treatment on pregnancy and on the
      developing embryo/fetus. Biopharmaceuticals present specific challenges for
      developmental toxicity testing because the pharmacology of these molecules, which
      are frequently human-specific proteins, is often restricted to humans and
      nonhuman primates (NHPs). For those species-restricted molecules, the only option
      for the evaluation of potential effects on development of the human
      biopharmaceutical is to use NHPs. This article reviews each of the stages of
      development in cynomolgus macaques (the most frequently used NHP) and the
      potential exposure of the embryo, fetus, and infant following administration of a
      biopharmaceutical during pregnancy and lactation. Because the purpose of the NHP
      developmental studies is to identify potential human risks, a comparison between
      macaque and human development and potential exposure has been made when possible.
      Understanding the potential exposure of the conceptus relative to critical
      periods in development is essential to designing a scientifically based study
      that adequately addresses human risks. Some options for NHP study designs,
      including the option of combining end points into a single study, and the pros
      and cons of each of the study options have been reviewed. Developmental studies
      for biopharmaceuticals in NHPs need to be optimally designed on a case-by-case
      basis taking into consideration the pharmacology of the molecule, the type of
      molecule (antibody or non-antibody), the potential exposure relative to the
      development of potential target organs, the clinical use, and the ethical
      considerations associated with the use of NHPs.

PMID- 20926831
TI  - Opening up to precompetitive collaboration.
AB  - In order to enhance biomedical research and development efficiency and
      innovation, nontraditional research collaborations have emerged that feature the
      sharing of information, resources, and capabilities. Although many of these so
      called precompetitive collaborations are in the field of oncology, the lessons
      they offer are broadly applicable to other subfields of translational medicine.

PMID- 20926832
TI  - The Bayh-Dole Act turns 30.
AB  - On 12 December 1980, in the waning days of the lame duck session of the 96th
      Congress, the U.S. Senate passed the University and Small Business Patent
      Procedures Act, now known as the Bayh-Dole Act, a seemingly obscure act that
      allowed universities to claim title to inventions that had been made with federal
      funding. It is unlikely that many present that day realized what a dramatic
      impact that act would have. Data clearly show that it played a critical role in
      rejuvenating the entire U.S. economic system, transforming it from a
      manufacturing base to an innovation base. Yet ironically, the act has passionate
      critics.

PMID- 20926833
TI  - Effects of AIN457, a fully human antibody to interleukin-17A, on psoriasis,
      rheumatoid arthritis, and uveitis.
AB  - Interleukin-17A (IL-17A) is elaborated by the T helper 17 (T(H)17) subset of T(H)
      cells and exhibits potent proinflammatory properties in animal models of
      autoimmunity, including collagen-induced arthritis, experimental autoimmune
      encephalomyelitis, and experimental autoimmune uveitis. To determine whether IL
      17A mediates human inflammatory diseases, we investigated the efficacy and safety
      of AIN457, a human antibody to IL-17A, in patients with psoriasis, rheumatoid
      arthritis, and chronic noninfectious uveitis. Patients with chronic plaque-type
      psoriasis (n = 36), rheumatoid arthritis (n = 52), or chronic noninfectious
      uveitis (n = 16) were enrolled in clinical trials to evaluate the effects of
      neutralizing IL-17A by AIN457 at doses of 3 to 10 mg/kg, given intravenously. We
      evaluated efficacy by measuring the psoriasis area and severity index (PASI), the
      American College of Rheumatology 20% response (ACR20) for rheumatoid arthritis,
      or the number of responders for uveitis, as defined by either vision improvement
      or reduction in ocular inflammation or corticosteroid dose. AIN457 treatment
      induced clinically relevant responses of variable magnitude in patients suffering
      from each of these diverse immune-mediated diseases. Variable response rates may
      be due to heterogeneity in small patient populations, differential pathogenic
      roles of IL-17A in these diseases, and the different involvement or activation of
      IL-17A-producing cells. The rates of adverse events, including infections, were
      similar in the AIN457 and placebo groups. These results support a role for IL-17A
      in the pathophysiology of diverse inflammatory diseases including psoriasis,
      rheumatoid arthritis, and noninfectious uveitis.

PMID- 20926834
TI  - PGC-1alpha, a potential therapeutic target for early intervention in Parkinson's
      disease.
AB  - Parkinson's disease affects 5 million people worldwide, but the molecular
      mechanisms underlying its pathogenesis are still unclear. Here, we report a
      genome-wide meta-analysis of gene sets (groups of genes that encode the same
      biological pathway or process) in 410 samples from patients with symptomatic
      Parkinson's and subclinical disease and healthy controls. We analyzed 6.8 million
      raw data points from nine genome-wide expression studies, and 185 laser-captured
      human dopaminergic neuron and substantia nigra transcriptomes, followed by two
      stage replication on three platforms. We found 10 gene sets with previously
      unknown associations with Parkinson's disease. These gene sets pinpoint defects
      in mitochondrial electron transport, glucose utilization, and glucose sensing and
      reveal that they occur early in disease pathogenesis. Genes controlling cellular
      bioenergetics that are expressed in response to peroxisome proliferator-activated
      receptor gamma coactivator-1alpha (PGC-1alpha) are underexpressed in Parkinson's
      disease patients. Activation of PGC-1alpha results in increased expression of
      nuclear-encoded subunits of the mitochondrial respiratory chain and blocks the
      dopaminergic neuron loss induced by mutant alpha-synuclein or the pesticide
      rotenone in cellular disease models. Our systems biology analysis of Parkinson's
      disease identifies PGC-1alpha as a potential therapeutic target for early
      intervention.

PMID- 20926835
TI  - Association of khat chewing with increased risk of stroke and death in patients
      presenting with acute coronary syndrome.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the prevalence and significance of khat chewing in
      patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). PATIENTS AND METHODS: From January
      29, 2007, through July 29, 2007, 8176 consecutive patients presenting with ACS
      were enrolled in a prospective, multicenter study from 6 adjacent Middle Eastern
      countries. RESULTS: Of the 8176 study patients, 7242 (88.6%) were non-khat
      chewers, and 934 (11.4%) were khat chewers, mainly of Yemeni origin. Khat chewers
      were older (57 vs 56 years; P=.01) and more likely to be men (85.7% vs 74.5%)
      compared with non-khat chewers. Non-khat chewers were more likely to have
      diabetes mellitus, hypertension, dyslipidemia, obesity, and prior history of
      coronary artery disease and revascularization. Cigarette smoking was more
      prevalent in khat chewers, and they were more likely to present greater than 12
      hours after onset of symptoms compared with non-khat chewers. At admission, khat
      chewers had higher heart rate, Killip class, and Global Registry of Acute
      Coronary Events risk scores. Khat chewers had a significantly higher risk of
      cardiogenic shock, stroke, and mortality. After adjustment of baseline variables,
      khat chewing was an independent risk factor for in-hospital mortality (odds
      ratio, 1.9; 95% confidence interval, 1.3-2.7; P<.001) and stroke (odds ratio,
      2.7; 95% confidence interval, 1.3-5.9; P=.01). CONCLUSION: In this large cohort
      of patients with ACS, khat chewing was prevalent and was associated with
      increased risk of stroke and death. In the context of increasing global
      migration, a greater awareness of potential widespread practices is essential.

PMID- 20926837
TI  - Stenotic arterial lesions in a young woman.

PMID- 20926836
TI  - Human herpesvirus 6 infection as a trigger of multiple sclerosis.
AB  - We systematically reviewed the existing evidence to determine whether a
      relationship exists between infection with human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) and
      multiple sclerosis (MS) and, if so, to define the strength of that relationship.
      The following terms were used in searches of the Entrez-PubMed database (1966
      2009): human herpes virus 6, HHV 6, demyelination, multiple sclerosis,
      pathogenesis, diagnosis, serology, cerebrospinal fluid, IgG antibodies, IgM
      antibodies, PCR, and lymphoproliferative techniques. Study quality was assessed
      using the criteria proposed by Moore and Wolfson and by the classification
      criteria used by the Canadian Task Force on the Periodic Health Examination.
      Studies were categorized both by experimental technique and by quality (high [A],
      intermediate [B], and low [C]) as determined by the Moore and Wolfson criteria.
      Overall, 25 (41%) of 61 studies, 15 (60%) of which were classified as A quality,
      reached a statistically significant result. According to the Canadian Task Force
      classification, all studies were categorized as evidence of quality II-1.
      Limitations of the available experimental techniques and perspectives for future
      research are discussed. The current review supports the need for further,
      objective, evidence-based examination of the relationship between HHV-6 infection
      and multiple sclerosis.

PMID- 20926838
TI  - Dynamic medium produces caprine embryo from preantral follicles grown in vitro.
AB  - The aim of this study was to develop a dynamic culture medium containing FSH, LH
      and EGF to promote the in vitro development of oocytes obtained from goat
      preantral follicles to complete maturation and to improve the capacity of these
      oocytes for in vitro fertilization (IVF) and embryo production. For experiment I,
      preantral follicles were cultured for 18 days in medium supplemented with
      increasing concentrations of FSH (T1 - control) or in control medium added LH
      alone or in association with EGF: T2 (LH 50 ng/ml), T3 (LH 50 ng/ml + EGF 50
      ng/ml), T4 (LH 50 ng/ml + EGF 100 ng/ml), T5 (LH 100 ng/ml), T6 (LH 100 ng/ml +
      EGF 50 ng/ml) and T7 (LH 100 ng/ml + EGF 100 ng/ml). For experiment II, preantral
      follicles were cultured only in the culture medium used in T7, and after 18 days,
      their oocytes underwent in vitro maturation (IVM) followed by IVF. At the end of
      the culture period, T3, T4 and T7 had a positive influence on the daily
      follicular growth rate. Oocytes grown in T4 and T7 had a meiosis resumption
      percentage significantly superior to the other treatments. Two embryos were
      obtained, in which preantral follicles in medium supplemented with 100 ng/ml LH
      and 100 ng/ml EGF (T7). In conclusion, our sequential culture system was able to
      promote the in vitro growth of preantral follicles, promoting their oocyte
      maturation and caprine embryo production from preantral follicles.

PMID- 20926839
TI  - Asymmetric syncytial expression of GLUT9 splice variants in human term placenta
      and alterations in diabetic pregnancies.
AB  - Glucose transport from the maternal to fetal side of the placenta is critical for
      fetal growth and development due to the absence of fetal gluconeogenesis. Human
      GLUT9, existing as 2 isoforms, is a novel member of the transporter family. This
      study investigated the localization and relative expression levels of these
      isoforms in the human term placenta from both control and diabetic patients.
      Placenta samples were collected from normal pregnancies and those complicated by
      maternal diabetes (White classifications A1, A2, and B). Antibodies specific for
      the different isoforms were used to detect expression. Both forms of the protein
      are expressed in syncytiotrophoblast cells. Subcellular fractionation revealed an
      asymmetrical expression pattern with GLUT9a on basal membranes, whereas GLUT9b
      localizes to microvillus membranes. Expression of both isoforms is significantly
      increased in placental tissue from diabetic pregnancies. Altered expression of
      GLUT9 in the placenta may play a role in the fetal pathophysiology associated
      with diabetes-complicated pregnancies.

PMID- 20926840
TI  - Results from a clinical multidisciplinary weight management program.
AB  - BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE: Published data regarding outcomes of pediatric behavioral
      weight management are mainly from research interventions. The authors wished to
      explore outcomes from a clinical program. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of
      data from obese adolescents enrolled in the Michigan Pediatric Outpatient Weight
      Evaluation and Reduction program (April 2007 to June 2008). The multidisciplinary
      program included group sessions, individual visits, and exercise classes. Linear
      regression was used to explore associations between change in body mass index
      (BMI) and age, sex, race, and insurance. RESULTS: N = 67. Mean age was 14.5
      years; 71% female, 50% Medicaid enrollees, and 30% African American. Mean initial
      BMI was 40. Mean change in BMI was -2.3 for those completing the 24-week program
      (n = 48; P < .01). Reduction in BMI was not associated with participants'
      demographic characteristics. CONCLUSIONS: A clinical multidisciplinary weight
      loss program for adolescents can lead to decreases in BMI after 24 weeks. Further
      work is needed to assess long-term outcomes.

PMID- 20926841
TI  - How far can toddlers reach onto a standard kitchen countertop?

PMID- 20926842
TI  - Four-month-old infant with macrocephaly and prominent scalp veins.

PMID- 20926843
TI  - Development of predictive quantitative structure-activity relationship models of
      epipodophyllotoxin derivatives.
AB  - Epipodophyllotoxins are the most important anticancer drugs used in chemotherapy
      for various types of cancers. To further, improve their clinical efficacy a large
      number of epipodophyllotoxin derivatives have been synthesized and tested over
      the years. In this study, a quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR)
      model has been developed between percentage of cellular protein-DNA complex
      formation and structural properties by considering a data set of 130
      epipodophyllotoxin analogues. A systematic stepwise searching approach of zero
      tests, missing value test, simple correlation test, multicollinearity test, and
      genetic algorithm method of variable selection was used to generate the model. A
      statistically significant model (r((train))(2) = 0.721; q(cv)(2) = 0.678) was
      obtained with descriptors such as solvent-accessible surface area, heat of
      formation, Balaban index, number of atom classes, and sum of E-state index of
      atoms. The robustness of the QSAR models was characterized by the values of the
      internal leave-one-out cross-validated regression coefficient (q(cv)(2)) for the
      training set and r((test))(2) for the test set. The root mean square error
      between the experimental and predicted percentage of cellular protein-DNA complex
      formation (PCPDCF) was 0.194 and r((test))(2) = 0.689, revealing good
      predictability of the QSAR model.

PMID- 20926844
TI  - High-throughput screen for Escherichia coli heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70/DnaK):
      ATPase assay in low volume by exploiting energy transfer.
AB  - Members of the heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70) family of molecular chaperones are
      emerging as potential therapeutic targets. Their ATPase activity has classically
      been measured using colorimetric phosphate detection reagents, such as quinaldine
      red (QR). Although such assays are suitable for 96-well plate formats, they
      typically lose sensitivity when attempted in lower volume due to path length and
      meniscus effects. These limitations and Hsp70's weak enzymatic activity have
      combined to create significant challenges in high-throughput screening. To
      overcome these difficulties, the authors have adopted an energy transfer strategy
      that was originally reported by Zuck et al. (Anal Biochem 2005;342:254-259).
      Briefly, white 384-well plates emit fluorescence when irradiated at 430 nm. In
      turn, this intrinsic fluorescence can be quenched by energy transfer with the QR
      based chromophore. Using this more sensitive approach, the authors tested 55,400
      compounds against DnaK, a prokaryotic member of the Hsp70 family. The assay
      performance was good (Z' ~0.6, coefficient of variation ~8%), and at least one
      promising new inhibitor was identified. In secondary assays, this compound
      specifically blocked stimulation of DnaK by its co-chaperone, DnaJ. Thus, this
      simple and inexpensive adaptation of a colorimetric method might be suitable for
      screening against Hsp70 family members.

PMID- 20926845
TI  - The contribution of health technology assessment, health needs assessment, and
      health impact assessment to the assessment and translation of technologies in the
      field of public health genomics.
AB  - The European Union has named genomics as one of the promising research fields for
      the development of new health technologies. Major concerns with regard to these
      fields are, on the one hand, the rather slow and limited translation of new
      knowledge and, on the other hand, missing insights into the impact on public
      health and health care practice of those technologies that are actually
      introduced. This paper aims to give an overview of the major assessment
      instruments in public health [health technology assessment (HTA), health needs
      assessment (HNA) and health impact assessment (HIA)] which could contribute to
      the systematic translation and assessment of genomic health applications by
      focussing at population level and on public health policy making. It is shown to
      what extent HTA, HNA and HIA contribute to translational research by using the
      continuum of translational research (T1-T4) in genomic medicine as an analytic
      framework. The selected assessment methodologies predominantly cover 2 to 4
      phases within the T1-T4 system. HTA delivers the most complete set of
      methodologies when assessing health applications. HNA can be used to prioritize
      areas where genomic health applications are needed or to identify infrastructural
      needs. HIA delivers information on the impact of technologies in a wider scope
      and promotes informed decision making. HTA, HNA and HIA provide a partly
      overlapping and partly unique set of methodologies and infrastructure for the
      translation and assessment of genomic health applications. They are broad in
      scope and go beyond the continuum of T1-T4 translational research regarding
      policy translation.

PMID- 20926846
TI  - Factors associated with participation in providing buccal cell DNA for a genetic
      epidemiologic study.
AB  - AIMS: Our aim was to investigate factors associated with participation in buccal
      cell DNA collection using a large-scale prospective cohort study. METHODS: Of the
      183,634 Korea Medical Insurance Corporation (KMIC) prospective cohort study
      enrollees, 44,773 (36,794 men) were randomly selected. Buccal cell collection
      kits were mailed and collected from March to September 2004. Epidemiologic
      characteristics measured at baseline (1990 or 1992) and during follow-up (1998)
      were compared between respondents and nonrespondents. RESULTS: Among the 13,084
      (29.2%) respondents, 78.7% submitted usable samples (DNA concentration >=3 MUg).
      After adjustments for either or both age and family history of chronic disease,
      participation in men was positively associated with old age, a family history of
      chronic disease, low subjective health status, and regular exercise, and
      negatively associated with current smoking status. In women, only old age was
      associated with participation. Low body mass index (BMI) (<18.5 kg/m(2)), blood
      pressure, total cholesterol, and fasting blood glucose level were negatively
      associated with participation in men after adjustments for age and family history
      of chronic disease, but not in women, except for low BMI. CONCLUSIONS: In this
      study, collecting buccal cell DNA by mailed survey has a low success rate (29%),
      and there appear to be a nonresponse bias and gender differences in the
      collection process.

PMID- 20926847
TI  - Quality of care indicators for muscle-invasive bladder cancer.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To define a set of quantifiable quality of care indicators (QIs) to
      measure the standard of care in our institute given to patients with muscle
      invasive bladder cancer (MIBC). PATIENTS AND METHODS: Possible QIs were defined
      and selected by a multidisciplinary project group from recent literature,
      guidelines, and/or consensus within the project group. In a retrospective study a
      baseline for each QI was assessed and compared to a predefined benchmark.
      RESULTS: Four categories of QIs were selected: (1) care management, (2)
      accessibility and time management, (3) professional competence, and (4) patient
      factors. A list of 26 QIs was created. In the retrospective study, it became
      evident that 22 QIs failed to reach their benchmark, because of (1) an inadequate
      process of care (n = 5), (2) insufficient care given (n = 14), and (3) data not
      retrievable in retrospective study design (n = 2). Adjustments were made in the
      different processes of care in order to improve quality of care. CONCLUSIONS: In
      the face of a complete lack of a QoC registration system for MIBC, we listed 26
      quantifiable QIs, to measure QoC in our own institute. Our process of care did
      not meet 22 of the benchmarks, after which adjustments were made. This QoC
      registration method is a first step in defining applicable quality of care
      indicators, for implementation in the clinical practice.

PMID- 20926848
TI  - Evidence in a human fetus of micrognathia and cleft lip as potential effects of
      early cytomegalovirus infection.
AB  - Human cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is one of the most frequent congenital
      infections, affecting 0.2-2% of all live births. Approximately 30-50% of pregnant
      women are seronegative at the beginning of pregnancy, and 1% will develop primary
      infection during pregnancy. Fetal CMV infection is associated with a phenotype
      that has been described to include central nervous system anomalies, hydrops
      fetalis and oligohydramnios. Impaired first branchial arch development as well as
      orofacial clefts after CMV infection have been shown in animal models. We present
      a case in which ultrasound examination at 29 weeks of gestation revealed marked
      micrognathia and slight cleft lip as well as multiple signs of fetal infection.
      We focus on the detection of fetal face and skull anomalies.

PMID- 20926849
TI  - Surgical management of the newborn with congenital diaphragmatic hernia.
AB  - Despite advances in the surgical treatment and medical management over the last
      20 years, neonates with congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) remain one of the
      most challenging patient groups for all clinicians. Treatment strategies have
      shifted from emergent surgical repair and maximum ventilatory support to delayed
      repair and preoperative hemodynamic stabilization with lung-sparing ventilation
      strategies and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. Subsequently, overall
      survival has improved to as high as 80% in some centers. However, specific
      treatment criteria are vague and highly variable amongst centers. This lack of
      consensus of these treatment modalities remains elusive due to the heterogeneity
      in disease severity as well as heterogeneity in patient care amongst centers. As
      a result of the rare incidence of disease and limited experience of individual
      centers, the evidence for CDH is typically reported as a homogenous disease
      largely supported by case series and networked-based studies. To better evaluate
      the data and compare treatment strategies, a classification and stratification of
      disease and centers is needed.

PMID- 20926850
TI  - The impact of the 2007 ATS/IDSA diagnostic criteria for nontuberculous
      mycobacterial disease on the diagnosis of nontuberculous mycobacterial lung
      disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In 2007, the American Thoracic Society (ATS) and Infectious Disease
      Society of America (IDSA) published new diagnostic guidelines for nontuberculous
      mycobacterial (NTM) disease. Bacteriological criteria have become simpler
      compared to the 1997 ATS diagnostic criteria. OBJECTIVE: For assessing the impact
      of the 2007 ATS/IDSA diagnostic criteria, we compared the diagnosis rate and time
      to diagnosis of NTM lung disease using the 1997 and 2007 ATS guidelines. METHODS:
      Sixty-four patients who had excreted Mycobacterium intracellulare, M. avium, M.
      abscessus or M. kansasii at least one time in their respiratory specimens at
      Chonnam National University Hospital were reviewed. The 1997 ATS and 2007
      ATS/IDSA guidelines were applied to these patients. RESULTS: Thirty-seven of 64
      patients (57.8%) were diagnosed with NTM lung disease by the 1997 ATS criteria.
      When the 2007 ATS/IDSA criteria were applied, 6 patients were newly diagnosed
      with NTM lung disease. The diagnosis rate significantly increased from 57.8 to
      67.2% (p < 0.001). The time to diagnosis in the 1997 ATS and 2007 ATS/IDSA
      guidelines was 46.4 +/- 53.0 and 36.2 +/- 38.5 days, respectively (p = 0.002).
      CONCLUSION: These data suggest that we can shorten the time to diagnose NTM lung
      disease and diagnose more simply by using the 2007 ATS/IDSA guidelines. Further
      study will be needed to assess that these changes affect the management of NTM
      disease.

PMID- 20926851
TI  - Everything you always wanted to know about sex ... in flies.
AB  - 'Everything you always wanted to know about sex' is a workshop organized as part
      of the annual Drosophila Research Conference of the Genetics Society of America.
      This workshop provides an intellectual venue for interaction among research
      groups that study sexual dimorphism from the molecular, evolutionary, genomic,
      and behavioral perspectives. The speakers summarize the key ideas behind their
      research for people working in other fields, outline unsolved questions, and
      offer their opinions about future directions. The 2010 workshop highlighted the
      power of the Drosophila model for understanding sexual dimorphism at levels
      ranging from cell biology and gene regulation to population genetics and genome
      evolution, and demonstrated the importance of cross-disciplinary interactions in
      the study of sex. In this respect, Drosophila sets a good example for research in
      other organisms, including humans and their mammalian relatives.

PMID- 20926852
TI  - Cladistic analysis reveals brainless urbilateria.

PMID- 20926853
TI  - On the origin and evolution of the tripartite brain.
AB  - The many different nervous systems found in bilaterally symmetric animals may
      indicate that the tripartite brain appeared several times during the course of
      bilaterian evolution. However, comparative developmental genetic evidence in
      arthropods, annelids, urochordates, and vertebrates suggests that the development
      of a tripartite brain is orchestrated by conserved molecular mechanisms.
      Similarities in the underlying genetic programs do not necessarily reflect a
      common origin of structures. Nevertheless, 3 lines of evidence support a
      monophyletic origin of the tripartite brain and possibly also an elongated
      central nervous system (CNS): structural homology, character identity networks,
      and the functional equivalence of character identity genes. Monophyly of the
      brain also implies that the brain was secondarily reduced and lost multiple times
      during the course of evolution, leading to extant brainless bilaterians. The
      likelihood of secondary loss can be estimated by metazoan divergence times and
      through reconstructed cases such as limb loss in tetrapods or eye loss in fish.
      When scaled to molecular clock dates, monophyly of the tripartite brain indicates
      that existing brainless Bilateria had several hundred million years' time for the
      secondary modification and eventual loss of a primitive/ancestral brain and CNS.
      To corroborate this conjecture, ancestral character identity genes of living
      brainless Bilateria can be tested for their potential to substitute Drosophila or
      Mus homologs in tripartite brain development.

PMID- 20926854
TI  - Cellular scaling rules for the brains of an extended number of primate species.
AB  - What are the rules relating the size of the brain and its structures to the
      number of cells that compose them and their average sizes? We have shown
      previously that the cerebral cortex, cerebellum and the remaining brain
      structures increase in size as a linear function of their numbers of neurons and
      non-neuronal cells across 6 species of primates. Here we describe that the
      cellular composition of the same brain structures of 5 other primate species, as
      well as humans, conform to the scaling rules identified previously, and that the
      updated power functions for the extended sample are similar to those determined
      earlier. Accounting for phylogenetic relatedness in the combined dataset does not
      affect the scaling slopes that apply to the cerebral cortex and cerebellum, but
      alters the slope for the remaining brain structures to a value that is similar to
      that observed in rodents, which raises the possibility that the neuronal scaling
      rules for these structures are shared among rodents and primates. The conformity
      of the new set of primate species to the previous rules strongly suggests that
      the cellular scaling rules we have identified apply to primates in general,
      including humans, and not only to particular subgroups of primate species. In
      contrast, the allometric rules relating body and brain size are highly sensitive
      to the particular species sampled, suggesting that brain size is neither
      determined by body size nor together with it, but is rather only loosely
      correlated with body size.

PMID- 20926855
TI  - Cellular scaling rules for primate spinal cords.
AB  - The spinal cord can be considered a major sensorimotor interface between the body
      and the brain. How does the spinal cord scale with body and brain mass, and how
      are its numbers of neurons related to the number of neurons in the brain across
      species of different body and brain sizes? Here we determine the cellular
      composition of the spinal cord in eight primate species and find that its number
      of neurons varies as a linear function of cord length, and accompanies body mass
      raised to an exponent close to 1/3. This relationship suggests that the
      extension, mass and number of neurons that compose the spinal cord are related to
      body length, rather than to body mass or surface. Moreover, we show that although
      brain mass increases linearly with cord mass, the number of neurons in the brain
      increases with the number of neurons in the spinal cord raised to the power of
      1.7. This faster addition of neurons to the brain than to the spinal cord is
      consistent with current views on how larger brains add complexity to the
      processing of environmental and somatic information.

PMID- 20926856
TI  - Central projections of primary sensory afferents to the spinal dorsal horn in the
      long-tailed stingray, Himantura fai.
AB  - The central projections of primary sensory afferents innervating the caudal
      region of the pectoral fin of the long-tailed stingray (Himantura fai) were
      labeled by applying the lipophilic carbocyanine dye DiI to the dorsal roots in
      fixed tissue. These observations were complemented by examination of hemotoxylin
      and eosin-stained paraffin sections of the dorsal root entry zone, and
      transmission electron microscopy of the dorsal horn. Transverse sections of the
      sensory nerve and dorsal root revealed two distinct myelinated axon sizes in the
      sensory nerve. Although the thick and thin axons do not appear to group together
      in the sensory nerves and dorsal root, they segregate into a dorsally directed
      bundle of thin fibers and a more horizontally directed bundle of thick fibers
      soon after entering the spinal cord. In DiI-labeled horizontal sections, fibers
      were observed to enter the spinal cord and diverge into rostrally and caudally
      directed trajectories. Branching varicose axons could be traced in the dorsal
      horn gray matter in the segment of entry and about half of the adjacent rostral
      and caudal segments. In transverse and sagittal sections, DiI-labeled afferents
      were seen to innervate the superficial and, to a lesser extent, deeper laminae of
      the dorsal horn, but not the ventral horn. Electron microscopy of unlabeled
      dorsal horn sections revealed a variety of synaptic morphologies including large
      presynaptic elements (some containing dense-core vesicles) making synaptic
      contacts with multiple processes in a glomerular arrangement; in this respect,
      the synaptic ultrastructure is broadly similar to that seen in the dorsal horn of
      rodents and other mammals.

PMID- 20926857
TI  - The organization of CRF neuronal pathways in toads: Evidence that retinal
      afferents do not contribute significantly to tectal CRF content.
AB  - Previous work has suggested that the peptide corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF)
      acts to inhibit visually guided feeding in anurans, but little is known about
      potential targets for CRF within the subcortical visuomotor circuitry. Here we
      investigated the relationship between CRF neuronal organization and visual
      pathways in toads. CRF-immunoreactive (ir) neurons and fibers were widely
      distributed throughout the ventral subpallial telencephalon and hypothalamus,
      although few fibers were found in telencephalic areas, such as the striatum, that
      are known to project to the tectum in anurans. Large populations of CRF-ir cells
      were observed in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis and preoptic area as
      well as in the ventral infundibular hypothalamus. CRF-ir neurons and fibers also
      were observed in several midbrain and brain stem areas. Colchicine treatment
      significantly enhanced CRF-ir neurons and fibers throughout the brain, and
      revealed CRF-ir cell groups in several brain areas (including the dorsal
      hypothalamus) that were not observed in untreated animals. Intrinsic CRF
      immunoreactive neurons were routinely observed in cell layer 8 and sometimes in
      layer 6 of the optic tectum in both untreated and colchicine-treated animals. CRF
      was detected in toad optic tectum by radioimmunoassay, although tectal CRF
      content was less than that of the hypothalamus and forebrain. Unilateral eye
      ablation did not affect CRF content of the contralateral optic tectum. We
      conclude that CRF-producing neurons are widely distributed in several areas of
      the toad brain known to be involved in regulating the behavioral, autonomic and
      endocrine response to stressors, including the optic tectum and several brain
      areas known to project to the optic tectum. Furthermore, retinal afferents do not
      contribute significantly to tectal CRF content.

PMID- 20926858
TI  - Biweekly vinorelbine and gemcitabine as second-line treatment and beyond in non
      small cell lung cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To evaluate the activity and tolerance of gemcitabine (GEM) in
      combination with vinorelbine (VRL) in pretreated patients with advanced non-small
      cell lung cancer (NSCLC). PATIENTS AND METHODS: Fifteen patients with advanced
      NSCLC who had disease progression after a cisplatin- or taxane-based front-line
      regimen were enrolled into a 2-stage design trial and were treated with VRL 30
      mg/m2 i.v. for 10 min followed by GEM 1,200 mg/m2 i.v. for 30 min on days 1 and
      15 of each 28-day cycle. Chemotherapy was given for 6 cycles unless disease
      progression or unacceptable toxicity was seen. The patients' median age was 64
      years and the performance status (WHO) was 0 (n = 7), 1 (n = 5), and 2 (n = 3).
      The treatment was second line for 10 (67%) and third line or more for 5 (33%)
      patients. RESULTS: No complete or partial responses were observed. Stable disease
      was seen in 4 (27%) patients and progressive disease in 11 (73%). The median time
      to tumor progression was 3 months (range 1-12) and the median survival was 4
      months (range 2-31). Severe myelotoxicity was infrequent. Grade 2 neutropenia was
      observed in 2 (13%) patients, grade 2 thrombocytopenia in 1 (7%), and grade 2
      anemia in 3 (20%). Nonhematologic toxicities were very mild and easily
      manageable. CONCLUSION: The GEM plus VRL combination at the present doses and
      schedule is a safe but ineffective regimen; therefore, it is not recommended as
      second-line treatment in patients with advanced NSCLC.

PMID- 20926859
TI  - Effects of legal antibiotic restrictions on consumption of broad-spectrum beta
      lactam antibiotics, glycopeptides and amphotericin B.
AB  - In 2002, antimicrobial drugs were the most frequently prescribed drugs in Turkey.
      On February 15, 2003, the Turkish Government implemented a new Budget Application
      Instruction (BAI) to promote rational antibiotic usage in order to decrease the
      costs. This BAI restricted the reimbursement of certain antibiotics without
      prescription or approval by the infectious diseases specialists (IDS). The
      purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of BAI on antibiotic consumption
      for the 3 years before and 2 years after its implementation, according to IMS
      Health Office findings. Based on the data of the IMS Health Turkey Office, the
      amount of some broad-spectrum antibiotics (piperacillin/tazobactam, imipenem,
      meropenem, cefoperazone/sulbactam, ceftazidime, cefepime, teicoplanin,
      vancomycin, and amphotericin B) that were prescribed by IDS between 2000 and 2002
      and between 2003 and 2004 are determined. The Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical
      classification and the defined daily dose (DDD)/1,000 methodology are used to
      calculate antibiotic consumption. Total antibiotic consumption before BAI, in
      2000, 2001 and 2002 was 0.091, 0.107 and 0.119 DDD/1,000 inhabitant-days,
      respectively, and after BAI, in 2003 and 2004, 0.137 and 0.135 DDD/1,000
      inhabitant-days, respectively. Average utilization of antibiotics before the
      implementation of BAI was 0.105 DDD and increased to 0.136 DDD after BAI.
      Antibiotic consumption has increased 1.3-fold after the implementation of BAI.
      However, the effect of restricted antibiotic utilization was revealed especially
      in the second year after BAI. The consumption of antimicrobials decreased to
      0.135 in 2004 while it was 0.137 in 2003.

PMID- 20926860
TI  - Low endotoxin release from Escherichia coli and Bacteroides fragilis during
      exposure to moxifloxacin.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Bacterial endotoxin is known to act as a potent trigger of
      disseminated coagulation and septic shock. During clinical antibiotic treatment,
      endotoxin may be released from Gram-negative bacteria. It is known that
      antibiotic classes differ in their ability to induce endotoxin release. AIM: It
      was the aim of this study to test the endotoxin-liberating potential of different
      antibiotics with activity against Escherichia coli and Bacteroides fragilis.
      METHODS: In vitro test models were used to evaluate the endotoxin-liberating
      potential of moxifloxacin, a 4th-generation quinolone with antianaerobic
      activity. Bacteria were exposed to moxifloxacin at 2*, 10* and 50* the minimal
      inhibitory concentration. Endotoxin release was measured by enzyme-linked
      immunosorbent and Limulus amoebocyte lysate assays. Comparator drugs were
      ceftazidime and imipenem, i.e. antibiotics with known high and low endotoxin
      liberating potential, respectively. As a parameter for biological responses to
      endotoxin, the release of proinflammatory cytokines (tumor necrosis factor-alpha,
      interleukin-1beta) from monocytes/macrophages was quantified with bioassays.
      RESULTS: In all test systems, release of endotoxin during exposure of bacteria to
      moxifloxacin was minimal or low and comparable with that of imipenem.
      CONCLUSIONS: Moxifloxacin has a low potential to cause endotoxin-mediated
      detrimental clinical effects. Concerning its endotoxin-releasing properties,
      moxifloxacin appears to be a choice equivalent to the carbapenems.

PMID- 20926862
TI  - Chemokines in inflammatory bowel diseases.
AB  - Uncontrolled activation of mucosal effector cells has been identified as the main
      pathogenic mechanism involved in the initiation and perpetuation of mucosal
      inflammation in inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). The sustained activation of
      these cells leads to the aberrant production of various pro-inflammatory
      mediators, which co-ordinated action amplifies the inflammatory process. In this
      setting a network of tissue-specific chemoattractant cytokines (chemokines) and
      their corresponding receptors have been implicated as main contributors in the
      initiation and perpetuation of the inflammatory reaction in IBD. They are
      produced by a variety of inflammatory cells present in IBD lesions, as well as
      endothelial and epithelial cells. Chemokines not only control the multistep
      process of leukocyte adhesion to and migration across the endothelium, but also
      the release of lipid mediators and oxygen radicals from leukocytes, the
      modulation of tumorigenesis, release of matrix metalloproteinases and tissue
      fibrosis. Numerous data indicate that that intestinal chemokine expression is non
      selectively up-regulated in IBD and correlates with disease activity. The
      development of selective inhibitors for chemokines or chemokine receptors, based
      on a more complete understanding of the immunopathogenic role of chemokines in
      intestinal inflammation, will be of great interest as potential novel therapeutic
      strategies in IBD.

PMID- 20926864
TI  - New insights into IBD epidemiology: Are there any lessons for treatment?
AB  - Changing trends in the epidemiology of IBD provide an opportunity to examine
      possible etiological hypotheses. Why did IBD emerge in developed nations in the
      middle of the 20th century? Why did it emerge initially as ulcerative colitis but
      now Crohn's disease has become the predominate form of IBD in developed nations?
      Why is IBD emerging in recent years in developing nations and why is it that
      ulcerative colitis is the predominate form in these countries? In this chapter we
      will explore what is known about environmental issues that impact on disease
      presentation and where they provide opportunities for therapy. Managing smoking
      cessation in Crohn's disease is substantiated by evidence showing that smokers
      have a worse course of disease than non-smokers or than persons who quit smoking.
      Introducing nicotine to patients with ulcerative colitis has not brought the
      positive results anticipated with the widespread observation that smoking
      cessation was associated with flaring of this disease. Assessing and managing
      stress in both Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis has emerged as an important
      consideration for clinicians caring for patients with IBD, especially for
      patients with active disease who may develop maladaptive coping mechanisms.
      Recent data suggest that stress may antedate flares. It is unknown what may
      induce changes in the gut flora of patients with IBD compared to controls. There
      are suggestions that antibiotic use in childhood and specific diets particularly
      those lower in omega-3 fatty acids may impact on disease presentation and the
      common mechanism may be through alteration of gut flora. For at-risk families
      (where there are affected family members) perhaps greater vigilance with
      antibiotic use in childhood and ensuring diets are higher in omega-3 fatty acids
      can be considered. In the future there may be approaches to modulate gut flora
      either with antibiotics targeted against identified noxious microbes or with
      selective probiotics that can rebalance the gut dysbiosis.

PMID- 20926863
TI  - Genes and environment: how will our concepts on the pathophysiology of IBD
      develop in the future?
AB  - Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) has long been known to arise from the interplay
      between host and environmental factors. From this, a picture is currently
      emerging in which IBD is likely the result of a continuum of diseases that range
      from mono- and oligogenically inherited familial forms at one extreme to sporadic
      forms at the other extreme, which are polygenic in origin and strongly influenced
      by environmental factors and especially those of infectious origin. The recent
      expansion of knowledge on the genetic underpinning of IBD has revealed several
      converging and inter-related functional host pathways that are central to the
      pathogenesis of these disorders. These include pathways such as autophagy,
      intracellular bacterial sensing and the unfolded protein response, which play
      specific roles at the interface between the host and the highly complex microbial
      communities within the intestines. As such they focus on the functional
      relationship between the intestinal epithelium and the unique microbial and
      immune environments along its luminal and abluminal surfaces. Thus, the genetic
      and environmental factors which are relevant to IBD seem to have the common
      property of influencing disease by virtue of their specific impact upon the
      functional relationship between these microbial communities and the intestinal
      immune system.

PMID- 20926865
TI  - Smoking, physical activity, nutrition and lifestyle: environmental factors and
      their impact on IBD.
AB  - Current smoking increases the risk of developing Crohn's disease and worsens its
      course, increasing the need for steroids, immunosuppressants, and re-operations.
      On the contrary, smoking protects against ulcerative colitis and after disease
      onset improves its course, decreasing the need for colectomy. Smoking cessation
      improves Crohn's disease and worsens ulcerative colitis. Achieving smoking
      cessation in Crohn's disease is thus an important goal of therapy, whereas
      patients with ulcerative colitis should not be discouraged to quit, because the
      beneficial effect of smoking for their disease is counterbalanced by the
      deleterious respiratory and cardiovascular effects of tobacco. Physical activity
      improves quality of life without detrimental effect on disease activity, and may
      contribute to increase muscle mass and to prevent osteoporosis. Regarding
      nutrition, a Western diet may be associated with an increased risk of IBD, and a
      case-control study revealed an increased consumption of linoleic acid before
      diagnosis of ulcerative colitis. Liquid diets may improve Crohn's disease flares
      and decrease the need for steroids; however, there are no defined diets able to
      improve the disease course, and in Crohn's disease, supplementation with omega-3
      fatty acids did not show a significant benefit. Obesity is becoming more
      prevalent in IBD and may be associated with higher disease activity. In total,
      adhering to four simple lifestyle factors - never smoking, physical activity,
      prudent diet and body mass index <25 - may have a strong impact both on the
      prevention of major chronic diseases and on the course of IBD.

PMID- 20926866
TI  - New serologic markers for inflammatory bowel disease diagnosis.
AB  - Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) are chronic intestinal disorders where, in
      genetically susceptible hosts, an intestinal microorganism triggers an over
      reactive immune response. Antibodies against luminal antigens are specifically
      associated with Crohn's disease (CD). In addition to the previously described
      antibodies antineutrophil cytoplasmic (auto)antibodies (ANCA), anti-Saccharomyces
      cerevisiae antibodies (ASCA), OmpC, I2 and CBir1 Flagellin, new anti-glycan
      antibodies were recently added to the armamentarium of serologic markers in IBD.
      Glycans are sugars associated with proteins, abundant on many living cells. The
      anti-glycan antibodies are directed against laminaribioside, chitobioside,
      mannobioside and mannan residues and are designated anti-laminaribioside
      carbohydrate antibodies (ALCA), anti-chitobioside carbohydrate antibodies (ACCA),
      anti-mannobioside carbohydrate antibodies (AMCA) and gASCA, respectively. Anti
      laminarin IgA (Anti-L), and anti-chitin IgA (Anti-C) are new members of this
      family. Laminarin and chitobioside are capable of stimulating the innate immune
      system, thus the finding of antibodies against these glycans suggests a
      connection between the adaptive and innate arms of the immune response in CD
      patients. The contribution of serologic markers, specifically the anti-glycan
      antibodies, to IBD diagnosis may be in differentiating IBD from other
      gastrointestinal diseases, and between CD and ulcerative colitis (UC), in better
      classifying undetermined colitis and for decision-making prior to proctocolectmy
      in UC patients. The anti-glycan antibodies are specifically important in ASCA
      negative CD patients. Correlation between serologic markers and genetic
      variations may contribute to reclassifying IBD into new and more homogeneous
      subclasses. Their significance in diagnosing populations at risk, such as
      unaffected relatives of IBD patients and CD patients prior to diagnosis, is under
      current investigation.

PMID- 20926867
TI  - Can serologic markers help determine prognosis and guide therapy?
AB  - The search for biologic markers that can assess the natural history and perhaps
      predict the course of an individual's disease - including response to treatments
      over time - has become an important focus of inflammatory bowel disease research.
      The knowledge of an individual's prognosis can help physicians and patients make
      important management decisions and aid communication on risks and benefits of
      disease and treatment.

PMID- 20926868
TI  - CT enterography: is it the current state-of-the-art for small bowel diagnostics?
AB  - CT enterography has rapidly emerged as the preferred small bowel imaging modality
      at several tertiary care medical centers. It utilizes negative or neutral oral
      contrast agents to enhance small bowel mural assessments. A high sensitivity and
      specificity for active inflammation and its ability to detect extra-intestinal
      disease set CT enterography apart from more traditional imaging methods. It has
      also been shown to be of great value for the detection of occult penetrating
      disease, changing physician level of confidence, and altering management plans in
      a large proportion of patients. Concerns regarding radiation exposure will likely
      become less of an issue with new dose reduction techniques. CT enterography has
      begun to revolutionize Crohn's disease evaluations for luminal and extraluminal
      disease, and its role will likely continue to expand in diagnostic and management
      algorithms.

PMID- 20926869
TI  - MRI enterography: the future of small bowel diagnostics?
AB  - MRI plays an increasing role in small bowel imaging of Crohn's disease. MR
      enterography (MRE) without nasojejunal intubation and radiation exposure offers
      similar results compared to MR enteroclysis (with intubation) and should be
      therefore the preferred method. Sensitivity and specificity is comparable to that
      of CT enterography. Capsule endoscopy is obviously superior to MRE in detecting
      superficial lesions, but this is limited to the mucosa and stenosis has to be
      excluded before examination using imaging, like MRE. There are no convincing
      studies in the literature regarding assessment of disease activity with imaging.
      Moreover, there is no consensus in the literature about a suitable reference
      standard.

PMID- 20926870
TI  - Capsule and balloon endoscopy: When are they really needed in patients with
      inflammatory bowel diseases?
AB  - The evaluation of the small bowel in patients with suspected or established IBD
      is generally performed by radiologic techniques. Capsule endoscopy and balloon
      enteroscopy may offer additional advantages in the evaluation of small bowel
      inflammation in patients with suspected small bowel involvement but negative
      prior radiologic evaluation. This review summarizes the current clinical status
      of capsule and balloon enteroscopy in patients with suspected or established IBD.

PMID- 20926871
TI  - Chromoendoscopy: what is its true value for ulcerative colitis surveillance?
AB  - Advanced imaging technologies are enabling targeted biopsies or endoscopic
      resections due to better visualization of the mucosal architecture. This new
      concept of 'smart biopsies' is in particular important for patients with higher
      risk for development cancer (e.g. ulcerative colitis) but can also be beneficial
      for screening purposes. This short review will focus on new imaging modalities
      like chromoendoscopy, digital chromoendoscopy, high-definition endoscopy and
      confocal laser endomicroscopy in the lower GI tract which will be crucial in the
      future to detect colorectal neoplasia earlier then before.

PMID- 20926872
TI  - Supportive therapy in IBD: what additional diagnoses and conditions must be
      treated?
AB  - Despite advances in our understanding of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)
      pathogenesis and increased ability to treat patients with severe and refractory
      disease, patients continue to suffer from disease complications, and increasing
      numbers of both Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) patients are
      admitted annually in the USA. The rapid evolution in IBD medications and
      treatment paradigms has contributed to a disparity in clinical care which may
      vary between expert centers routinely treating large numbers of IBD patients and
      hospitals with low annual IBD admissions. High-volume centers handling in excess
      of 150 IBD annual admissions have improved operative and inpatient outcomes
      compared with hospitals caring for IBD patients less frequently. Although the
      precise reason for this disparity in clinical outcomes is not known, we
      hypothesize that expert centers provide superior IBD supportive therapy. This
      supportive care includes additional diagnostic and therapeutic approaches to help
      patients achieve optimal outcomes. We review information regarding disparities in
      the quality of IBD clinical care then focus on supportive therapy for IBD
      patients, including diagnostic approaches to identify confounding factors
      contributing to poor IBD outcome, supportive therapeutic approaches to optimize
      the outcome in hospitalized IBD patients, and future directions exploring brain
      body interaction in the treatment of pain, stress and sleep deprivation in
      patients suffering from IBD.

PMID- 20926873
TI  - What is the patient's perspective: How important are patient-reported outcomes,
      quality of life and disability?
AB  - Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is known to influence physical, psychological,
      familial and social dimensions of life. Over the past two decades, attention has
      been focused on the ability of IBD to alter patients' quality of life. A number
      of general and disease-specific scales have been used to assess quality of life
      in patients with IBD. The Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire (IBDQ) is the
      most widely disease-specific tool used in clinical trials. Forty to fifty million
      individuals in the USA now live with potentially disabling conditions. Disability
      usually refers to an individual's inability to perform a task successfully.
      Disability refers to the problems that are experienced in different areas or
      health domains, whereas quality of life refers to how the individual feels about
      these limitations and restrictions. Data about disability are objective
      descriptions that differ from subjective appraisals such as quality of life, well
      being, and personal satisfaction with life. For instance, difficulties in walking
      (disability) may be in stark contrast to how the individual feels about this
      difficulty (quality of life). It should be emphasized that the concepts of health
      related quality of life and disability are different but not mutually exclusive.
      When compared to quality of life, disability remains poorly investigated in IBD.
      Work is the only dimension of disability that has been widely assessed in IBD.
      Similar to multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis, developing a specific
      instrument capable of evaluating disability in IBD is a prerequisite to
      undertaking clinical trials aimed at identifying therapies capable of changing
      their clinical course.

PMID- 20926874
TI  - Evolving concepts in IBD therapy: What should be studied in the future?
AB  - New knowledge regarding the etiopathophysiology of inflammatory bowel diseases
      (IBD) may provide new approaches for treatment. The most convincing concept at
      the moment is a defective mucosal barrier due to inappropriate recognition of the
      luminal flora or to a defective defense against those bacteria. These concepts
      indicate that the paradigm of immune suppression may not be the optimal concept.
      Therefore variable approaches to improve the barrier function or to modulate
      luminal components have to be studied in the future. This includes probiotics,
      bile acid receptor agonists, Toll-like receptor agonists and many other as yet
      hypothetical ideas. We still have much to learn about the concepts mentioned in
      order to achieve the goals of treatment, i.e. avoiding structural damage and
      complications.

PMID- 20926875
TI  - Does treatment schedule matter? Once daily versus divided doses of 5-ASAs.
AB  - Sulfasalazine was the first 5-ASA used to treat ulcerative colitis (UC). Because
      of tolerability issues, it was administered in a three times a day schedule in
      order to try to minimize side effects. With the development of sulfa-free 5-ASA
      products, the controlled trials used historical clinical experience and in vitro
      pharmacokinetic studies to dose their therapies to perhaps be in the most
      favorable light possible. However, it became clear over the years that outside of
      the context of a clinical trial, t.i.d. or even q.i.d. dosing led to lower
      patient satisfaction and overall adherence. Research demonstrated that upwards of
      40% of patients were not taking their maintenance 5-ASA, and many patients cited
      unintentional forgetfulness as the reason. It became clear that simplifying the
      regimen was paramount for acceptable outcomes. Early pilot data and then
      controlled trials demonstrated the efficacy and safety of twice daily 5-ASA for
      active and quiescent UC. Now several large controlled trials demonstrate the non
      inferiority and increased patient adherence and satisfaction with once daily
      dosing. MMX mesalamine was the first 5-ASA to receive US FDA approval in a once
      daily regimen. Results from the PODIUM and QDIEM trials have demonstrated
      acceptable effectiveness rates with favorable side effect profiles. Adherence
      rates remain high in real-world settings when medication is given once daily and
      data now suggest that once daily may be more effective than more frequently. It
      thus appears that the majority of patients with UC, whether with active or
      quiescent disease, can be treated with once daily 5-ASA.

PMID- 20926876
TI  - New keys to maintenance treatment in ulcerative colitis.
AB  - Maintenance treatment in ulcerative colitis often fails to prevent flares and
      long term complications. The first key to maintenance is to use effective
      therapy, even when patients become asymptomatic. The second key is to communicate
      the importance of adherence to patients, and to help them achieve long term
      adherence. Simplified dosing schedules are of some benefit, but the bond between
      patient and doctor, and the patient's belief in the efficacy of the therapy are
      essential. Decreased co-pays (a fixed amount paid by patients seeking care that
      is not reimbursed my medical insurance) have been associated with increased
      adherence, and incentives for patients may be a cost-effective approach to
      improving adherence. While the most substantial data on the association between
      adherence and clinical outcomes is in 5-ASAs, non-adherence can also limit the
      efficacy of thiopurines and biologics. The third key to maintenance treatment is
      monitoring and maintaining control of inflammation. Decreased histologic and
      endoscopic damage to the colon has been associated with decreased risk of colon
      cancer. The most cost-effective way to monitor smoldering inflammation is not
      known, but endoscopy, structured symptom indices, and biomarkers may be valuable
      approaches. The fourth key to maintenance treatment is optimizing immunomodulator
      therapy with thiopurines, and possibly methotrexate in the future. The fifth key
      to maintenance treatment in ulcerative colitis is maintaining biologic efficacy
      by avoiding low trough levels and being vigilant for subclinical inflammation and
      symptom recurrence at the end of dose intervals. Combination therapy with
      immunomodulators improves trough levels in Crohn's, and may prove to have
      benefits for the maintenance of biologic efficacy in ulcerative colitis.

PMID- 20926877
TI  - Phosphatidylcholine (lecithin) and the mucus layer: Evidence of therapeutic
      efficacy in ulcerative colitis?
AB  - Colonic mucus protects against attacks from bacteria in stool. One component of
      mucus is phosphatidylcholine (PC) which is thought to be arranged as continuous
      lamellar layer in the apical mucus and to be responsible for establishing a
      protective hydrophobic surface. This 'intestinal surfactant' plays a key role in
      mucosal defense. Thus, a defective PC layer contributes to the development of
      inflammation. Analysis of rectoscopically acquired mucus aliquots revealed a 70%
      decrease in PC content in ulcerative colitis (UC) compared to Crohn's disease
      (CD) and healthy controls - independent of disease activity. Accordingly, we
      propose that lack of mucus PC is a key pathogenetic factor in UC. In clinical
      studies a delayed-release oral PC preparation (rPC) was found to substitute the
      lack of PC in rectal mucus. Indeed, in non-steroid-treated active UC, 53% of rPC
      patients reached remission [clinical activity index (CAI) <=3] compared to 10% of
      placebo patients (p <= 0.001). Endoscopic and histologic findings improved
      concomitantly. A second trial with 60 chronic-active, steroid-dependent UC
      patients was conducted to test for steroid-sparing effects. Complete steroid
      withdrawal with a concomitant achievement of remission (CAI <=3) or clinical
      response (>=50% CAI improvement) was reached in 15 PC-treated patients (50%) but
      only in 3 (10%) placebo patients (p = 0.002). In conclusion, intrinsic reduction
      of PC (lecithin) in colonic mucus may be a key pathogenetic feature of UC.
      Topical supplement of PC by a delayed-released oral PC preparation is effective
      in resolving inflammatory activity of UC and may develop to a first-choice
      therapy for this disease.

PMID- 20926878
TI  - The role of biologics in ulcerative colitis.
AB  - Since the introduction of anti-TNF agents for the treatment of Crohn's disease
      there has been interest in the potential for treating ulcerative colitis with
      biological therapies. Early observational series suggested a benefit in the
      setting of severe, hospitalized patients. However, the recent completion of two
      large multi-center, double-blind placebo-controlled trials confirmed a role for
      infliximab for outpatients with refractory, moderate-severe disease with evidence
      for clinical remissions, mucosal healing, and a reduction in colectomies. Despite
      this evidence, there are numerous questions remaining regarding the optimal
      positioning in the setting of moderate-severe disease, potential benefits of
      concomitant immune suppression and the need for maintenance treatment after
      induction therapy. Additional clinical trials have demonstrated a less profound
      benefit for adalimumab at similar doses that are used in Crohn's disease. Other
      biological agents that have targeted T cells such as visiluzimab and abatacept
      were not demonstrated to be effective in controlled trials.

PMID- 20926879
TI  - Timing and indications for colectomy in chronic ulcerative colitis: Surgical
      consideration.
AB  - Total proctocolectomy (TPC) cures a patient of the intestinal manifestation of
      chronic ulcerative colitis. The timing of surgery during the illness will
      influence the choice of operation, the frequency of post-operative complications,
      and the long-term functional outcomes. Surgery is divided into emergency, urgent,
      and elective procedures. Emergency cases are performed for complications of
      fulminant colitis: hemorrhage, perforation, toxic megacolon or sepsis. A subtotal
      colectomy (STC) with a Brooke ileostomy (BI) is the procedure of choice. STC
      removes the bulk of the disease, allows the patient's health to be restored,
      medication to be withdrawn, and permits a future restorative operation. Urgent
      operations occur in hospitalized patients with continued symptoms after seven
      days of maximal medical therapy. Once again the preferred operation is a STC-BI.
      Indications for elective colectomy include: persistent symptoms despite maximal
      medical therapy, medication side-effects, persistent chronic disease state,
      dysplasia/malignancy. Elective surgical options include TPC-BI, TPC with ileal
      pouch anal anastomosis (IPAA), or STC-BI. The choice of operation is based upon
      patient preference and preoperative physiologic and functional status. Factors
      associated with increased post-operative complications are weight loss >10%,
      multiple preoperative blood transfusions, albumin <3.0 gm/dl, and degree of
      immuno-suppression. In high-risk patients, STC-BI should be performed. IPAA can
      be performed later after the patient's health is restored. In conclusion,
      numerous factors affect the timing and choice of operation in patients with CUC.
      Avoiding complications in IPAA patients is essential as they negatively impact
      the long-term function and durability of the IPAA.

PMID- 20926880
TI  - Hepatotoxicity of agents used in the management of inflammatory bowel disease.
AB  - Patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are at risk for hepatobiliary
      disease and toxicity, and the diagnosis of drug-induced liver disease in patients
      being treated for IBD can represent a clinical challenge. There are a number of
      disease states associated with IBD, which are primary sclerosing cholangitis,
      cholangiocarcinoma and autoimmune hepatitis. There is a wide spectrum of hepatic
      injury that can occur from the agents used to treat IBD, such as acute or chronic
      hepatic injury directly attributable to the drugs used to treat IBD (e.g.
      sulfasalazine, mesalamine, thiopurines, methotrexate, TNF antagonists, quinolone
      antibiotics); liver toxicity from drugs used to treat complications of
      immunomodulators and TNF antagonists (e.g. isoniazid for treatment of
      reactivation tuberculosis), and exacerbation of underlying chronic viral
      hepatitis with infliximab and other TNF antagonists. Thiopurines are also
      associated with the development of hepatic vascular lesions, such as nodular
      regenerative hyperplasia and peliosis hepatic. In addition, biologics can be
      associated with the reactivation of underlying chronic viral hepatitis, mandating
      universal screening prior to initiation of TNF-alpha antagonist therapy.

PMID- 20926881
TI  - Epstein-Barr virus, lymphoma risk and the potential role of HIV infection in IBD
      patients undergoing immunosuppression.
AB  - For decades, lymphoma has been considered a dreaded and untoward complication of
      autoimmune disorders, including inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Yet until
      recently, the data linking inflammatory bowel disease with an increased risk for
      lymphoma has been equivocal. With the publication of the CESAME trial in 2009, a
      greater understanding of lymphoma risk has begun to emerge. In this Falk
      Symposium paper, I discuss the available data from studies that interrogated the
      relationship between lymphoma and IBD, thiopurines and TNFalpha-directed agents.
      While recent data has clarified some aspects of lymphoma epidemiology in patients
      with IBD, causality and the mechanisms that underlie it remain very poorly
      understood.

PMID- 20926882
TI  - Vaccines and inflammatory bowel disease.
AB  - Patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), including Crohn's disease and
      ulcerative colitis, are at increased risk for infection due to both their
      underlying disease and the immunosuppressive therapy used to treat the disease.
      Numerous groups and papers support the routine vaccination of IBD patients, yet
      many opportunities to vaccinate this vulnerable population are missed. While
      immunogenicity may be somewhat attenuated, some protection is likely to be
      provided, especially when vaccination is performed during periods of reduced
      immunosuppression. Live viral vaccines should be avoided during periods of more
      intense immunosuppression; further specific guidance on this as well as
      information on individual vaccines is provided.

PMID- 20926883
TI  - State-of-the-art: Immunosuppression and biologic therapy.
AB  - Azathioprine and 6-mercaptopurine are orally administered immunosuppressive drugs
      which are effective for the treatment of Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis.
      Azathioprine is rapidly converted to 6-mercaptopurine after administration. 6
      Mercaptopurine is then either converted to the putative active metabolites, the 6
      thioguinine nucleotides, or inactivated by the enzyme xanthine oxidase to 6
      thiouric acid or alternatively inactivated to 6-methylmercaptopurine by the
      enzyme thiopurine methyltransferase. Thiopurine methyltransferase activity is
      genetically determined, with one in 300 patients having low or absent enzyme
      activity, one in 10 patients having intermediate enzyme activity, and 9 in 10
      patients having normal enzyme activity. Patients with intermediate or low
      thiopurine methyltransferase activity are at risk for early leukopenia. Higher
      erythrocyte 6-thioguinine nucleotide concentrations are associated with a greater
      likelihood of clinical response. Azathioprine is modestly effective for Crohn's
      disease and ulcerative colitis. Toxicity associated with azathioprine includes
      infection and lymphoma. Anti-TNF therapy with infliximab, adalimumab, and
      certolizumab pegol is effective for induction and maintenance treatment of
      Crohn's disease, and infliximab is effective for ulcerative colitis. Toxicity
      associated with anti-TNF therapy includes infection and lymphoma. Combination
      therapy with infliximab and azathioprine is more effective for inducing and
      maintaining steroid-free remission and mucosal healing then monotherapy with
      either drug alone. Strategies to reduce immunogenicity of anti-TNF agents include
      combination therapy with azathioprine and administration of a loading dose
      followed by systematic maintenance dosing. Higher serum trough concentrations of
      infliximab occur more frequently in patients receiving combination therapy with
      azathioprine and are associated with better clinical outcomes. Combination
      therapy is associated with an increased relative risk of opportunistic infection,
      but is not associated with an increased absolute risk of serious infection.
      Clinical practice should change such that combination therapy with an anti-TNF
      agent and azathioprine replace azathioprine in patients failing first line
      therapy with mesalamine and/or steroids.

PMID- 20926884
TI  - What options do we have for induction therapy for Crohn's disease?
AB  - The first goal of Crohn's disease treatment is to induce a response. The choice
      of induction therapy depends on a number of factors. First, disease severity will
      dictate the level of intensity of treatment. Moderate to severely active Crohn's
      disease needs to be treated more aggressively than mild disease. Second, it is
      important to consider the disease distribution, since some medications (e.g. 5
      aminosalicylates, budesonide, antibiotics) are more effectively delivered to the
      small bowel or the colon. Third, prior medications need to be considered. A
      patient naive to immunomodulators and anti-TNF agents will be managed very
      differently from a patient who has already failed two anti-TNF drugs. A fourth
      critical factor is considering the individual patient. The balance of benefits
      and risks will depend upon the patient's expected disease course, and how much
      risk they are at personally for serious adverse events related to treatment. In
      addition, patients' preferences for treatment need to be addressed since they
      will choose therapies differently based on their personal experience with
      symptoms, thresholds for risk taking, and fears about their disease and
      treatment. The basic armamentarium for induction therapy for Crohn's disease
      includes: 5-aminosalicylates, antibiotics, budesonide, systemic corticosteroids,
      thiopurines, methotrexate, and anti-TNF agents. These drugs can be used alone or
      combined in difference treatment algorithms to optimize therapy. The art of
      treating the IBD patient is in understanding the options and being able to apply
      an individualized regimen based upon unique patient and disease factors.

PMID- 20926885
TI  - How rapidly should remission be achieved?
AB  - The major goal of therapy in inflammatory bowel disease is to induce remission.
      Remission has multiple definitions - clinical remission, where the patient's
      symptoms have remitted, and endoscopic remission, in which there has been
      complete mucosal healing. Mucosal healing is a harder endpoint of remission but
      may be more difficult to achieve. In clinical trials we are forced to use
      activity indices such as the Crohn's disease activity index that may not
      completely reflect the endoscopic and histologic state of the bowel. Ideally we
      would like to see remission as quickly as possible to improve patient quality of
      life. The time to remission varies between different therapeutic approaches.
      Steroids tend to have a rapid clinical effect with remission seen in some
      patients as early as two weeks. In early anti-TNF trials, a single dose of
      infliximab lead to 27% remission at two weeks compared to 4% of placebo patients.
      Adalimumab and certolizumab have similar reports of early induction of remission.
      Mesalamine in Crohn's disease has inconsistent and delayed remission rates,
      whereas in ulcerative colitis, response and remission rates are more consistent
      in the three-week time frame. Azathioprine and 6-mercaptopurine have delayed
      onset of action but may induce remission as early as six weeks if dosing is
      optimized. In this presentation induction of clinical remission and mucosal
      healing in Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis will be discussed. The impact
      of early remission on disease course will also be reviewed.

PMID- 20926886
TI  - Fistula treatment: The unresolved challenge.
AB  - In population-based studies, up to 50% of patients with Crohn's disease suffer
      from fistulas. Fistulas pose a considerable morbidity including permanent
      sphincter and perineal tissue destruction as well as professional and personal
      disabilities. Treatment options have progressed in recent years and fistula
      closure and fibrosis of the fistula track is achieved in some patients. Depending
      on severity of symptoms and fistula location, different medical and surgical
      therapies can be chosen. Internal fistulas such as ileoileal or ileocecal
      fistulas are either asymptomatic and do not require intervention or they are
      symptomatic and need surgery alone. They always carry a risk of abscess
      formation. Symptomatic perianal fistulizing disease can be treated with
      antibiotics (i.e. metronidazole and ciprofloxacin) for three months and/or
      immunosuppressant therapy (6-mercaptopurine or azathioprine). More complex cases
      require therapy with anti-TNF agents. Only few and preliminary data exist on
      cyclosporine A, tacrolimus or methotrexate in fistulizing Crohn's disease.
      Therefore, these therapies should mainly be used as second-line therapies.
      Surgery is reserved for the treatment of perianal sepsis in the presence of
      abscesses and refractory disease or complications of fistulas, or used in
      combination with pharmacological approaches. The surgical interventions in
      perianal disease consist of surgical drainage with or without seton placement,
      transient ileostomy, or in severe cases, proctectomy. The classification of
      fistulas in patients with Crohn's disease remains poorly defined and largely
      investigator dependent. The unresolved challenges in fistula treatment warrant
      randomized controlled trials for existing and future treatment strategies as well
      as a better classification system to compare available studies.

PMID- 20926887
TI  - Speech disfluency types of fluent and stuttering individuals: age effects. IALP
      Student Award.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the present study was to quantify and compare the
      typology of speech disruptions presented by stuttering and fluent Brazilian
      Portuguese-speaking children, adolescents and adults. SUBJECTS AND METHODS:
      Participants were 150 individuals, with ages between 4.0 and 49.11 years, who
      were divided into six groups: children who stutter (n = 25), children who do not
      stutter (n = 25), adolescents who stutter (n = 25), adolescents who do not
      stutter (n = 25), adults who stutter (n = 25) and adults who do not stutter (n =
      25). For each participant, the frequency of stuttering-like disfluencies (SLD)
      and other disfluencies was calculated based on the video recordings of
      spontaneous speech samples. RESULTS: The results obtained for SLD were
      significant when comparing stuttering and fluent individuals. In children who
      stutter, adolescents who stutter, and adults who stutter, a higher frequency of
      SLD was found. Other disfluencies did not differentiate the groups. CONCLUSION:
      The age factor did not qualify quantitatively any of the groups, but indicated
      qualitative differences (in terms of the type of speech disfluencies) between
      groups. The results revealed similarities when compared with studies carried out
      in different languages.

PMID- 20926888
TI  - The effect of smoking on the dysphonia severity index in females.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the capability of the Dysphonia Severity Index
      (DSI) and its component measures to reveal differences in vocal capability
      between groups of young adult female smokers and nonsmokers. PATIENTS AND
      METHODS: The subjects were 30 female nonsmokers and 30 female smokers between the
      ages of 18 and 24 years. Data on the DSI components (maximum phonation time, MPT;
      highest phonational frequency, F(0 high); lowest intensity, I(low), and jitter)
      were collected, followed by calculation of the DSI. RESULTS: Significant
      differences between groups were observed on the DSI, with reduced DSI scores in
      smokers primarily due to reductions in F(0 high) and increases in I(low). A
      strong partial correlation between MPT and the DSI in smokers may be indicative
      of reductions in respiratory support and/or phonatory control. CONCLUSIONS:
      Significant group differences in the DSI and component measures may be indicative
      of early changes in vocal function secondary to smoking. Reductions in frequency
      and dynamic range are consistent with the possibility of increased vocal fold
      mass in smokers. The results indicate that significant differences in the DSI
      between groups may be observed in subjects with perceptually normal vocal quality
      and with normal levels of vocal perturbation.

PMID- 20926889
TI  - Objective vocal parameters in Farsi-speaking adults with Down syndrome.
AB  - Previous studies have indicated significant differences in vocal parameters
      between children with Down syndrome and normal children. This study was performed
      to see whether there is a significant dissociation between normal adults and
      adults with Down syndrome in terms of some vocal parameters. The participants
      were 22 adults with Down syndrome and 22 normal adults matched for age and
      gender. We measured jitter, shimmer, fundamental frequency (F0), and maximum
      phonation time (MPT). The results showed a significantly higher F0 and a
      significantly lower jitter in the Down syndrome group compared to the control
      group, while the average amounts of MPT and shimmer were not different. Moreover,
      the shimmer and jitter of females in both groups were lower than those of males.
      These findings might be the result of a physiological retardation of the larynx
      rather than mental retardation in the Down syndrome population.

PMID- 20926890
TI  - Connexin channel-dependent signaling pathways in inflammation.
AB  - Inflammation is a highly regulated process with common but also specific
      characteristics in each tissue affected. Recruitment of leukocytes from the blood
      to the injured tissue is an important early step in the inflammatory cascade.
      This review highlights the role of connexins (Cxs) in the regulation of both
      acute and chronic inflammatory processes. Cxs form gap junction channels that
      provide a cytoplasmic continuity between adjacent cells allowing the
      intercellular exchange of ions and metabolites. Their structural halves form
      connexons or hemichannels. Each of them consists of 6 Cx proteins and
      hemichannels not taking part in gap junction formation but facilitating the
      release of small molecules such as ATP. Based on the differential distribution of
      various Cxs in different tissues such as the brain, lung capillaries and large
      blood vessels, our aim was to analyze the specific roles of Cxs in the
      inflammatory process in these tissues. Three typical sites of inflammation were
      chosen to shed light on similarities and differences in several types of
      responses: (1) atherosclerosis as a model for chronic inflammation, (2) the lung
      as an example of acute inflammation and (3) the 'immune-privileged' environment
      of the brain to highlight specific reactions of the vasculature to ischemic
      damage and inflammation at this site.

PMID- 20926891
TI  - RCAN1 regulates vascular branching during Xenopus laevis angiogenesis.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: The mechanisms that regulate the size-related morphologies of
      various blood vessels from the aorta to capillary vessels are still poorly
      understood. In this study, we evaluate the involvement of regulator of
      calcineurin 1 (RCAN1), a regulatory protein in the calcineurin/NFAT signal
      transduction pathway, in vascular morphology to gain further insight into these
      mechanisms. METHODS AND RESULTS: We first generated 2 types of vasculature in
      vitro from the same source of human umbilical vein endothelial cells by fibrin
      gel assay. We found that RCAN1 was significantly upregulated in large vessels
      with low branching frequencies when compared with small vessels with high
      branching frequencies. Next, to clarify whether RCAN1 regulates the branching of
      blood vessels in vivo, we injected RCAN1 mRNA into fertilized Xenopus laevis
      eggs. Overexpression of RCAN1 decreased the number of branching points that
      sprouted from intersomitic vessels during X. laevis angiogenesis. In addition,
      coexpression of calcineurin A, a target of RCAN1, could rescue RCAN1-suppressed
      vascular branching. CONCLUSIONS: These results provide in vivo evidence of RCAN1
      regulated vascular branching which may play a role in the patterning of
      morphologically different vasculature.

PMID- 20926892
TI  - Induced chromosome deletion in a Williams-Beuren syndrome mouse model causes
      cardiovascular abnormalities.
AB  - AIMS: The Williams-Beuren syndrome (WBS) is a genetic disorder caused by a
      heterozygous ~1.5-Mb deletion. The aim of this study was to determine how the
      genetic changes in a Wbs mouse model alter Eln expression, blood pressure, vessel
      structure, and abdominal aortic wall dynamics in vivo. METHODS: Elastin (ELN)
      transcript levels were quantified by qRT-PCR and blood pressure was measured with
      a tail cuff system. M-mode ultrasound was used to track pulsatile abdominal
      aortic wall motion. Aortas were sectioned and stained to determine medial
      lamellar structure. RESULTS: ELN transcript levels were reduced by 38-41% in Wbs
      mice lacking one copy of the ELN gene. These mice also had a 10-20% increase in
      mean blood pressure and significantly reduced circumferential cyclic strain (p <
      0.001). Finally, histological sections showed disorganized and fragmented elastin
      sheets in Wbs mice, but not the characteristic increase in lamellar units seen in
      Eln(+/-) mice. CONCLUSIONS: The deletion of Eln in this Wbs mouse model results
      in lower gene expression, hypertension, reduced cyclic strain, and fragmented
      elastin sheets. The observation that the number of medial lamellar units is
      normal in Wbs deletion mice, which is in contrast to Eln(+/-) mice, suggests
      other genes may be involved in vascular development.

PMID- 20926893
TI  - Ccm1 regulates microvascular morphogenesis during angiogenesis.
AB  - Cerebral cavernous malformations (CCMs) are characterized by abnormally dilated
      intracranial capillaries that have a propensity to bleed. The development of some
      CCMs in humans has been attributed to mutations in CCM1 and CCM2 genes. In animal
      models, major cardiovascular defects caused by both gene mutations have been
      observed. However, the effects of the loss of Ccm function on the
      microvasculature in animal models are less defined. Using high-resolution imaging
      in vivo, we demonstrated that the loss of Ccm1 in zebrafish embryos leads to
      failed microvascular lumenization during angiogenesis due to impaired
      intraendothelial vacuole formation and fusion. No developmental changes during
      vasculogenesis and the initial stage of angiogenesis were observed, being in
      contrast to prior reports. In vivo zebrafish studies were further substantiated
      by in vitro findings in human endothelial cells that elucidated the biochemical
      pathways of CCM1 deficiency. We found that CCM1 regulates angiogenic
      microvascular lumen formation through Rac1 small GTPase. In summary, Ccm1 has
      been identified as a key angiogenic modulator in microvascular tubulogenesis.
      Additionally, the microvascular pathology observed in developing Ccm1 mutant
      zebrafish embryos mirrors that seen in human CCM lesions, suggesting that
      zebrafish might provide a superior animal model to study the pathogenesis of
      human CCM.

PMID- 20926894
TI  - Marfan syndrome decreases Ca2+ wave frequency and vasoconstriction in murine
      mesenteric resistance arteries without changing underlying mechanisms.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: Vascular smooth muscle in Marfan syndrome, a connective tissue
      disorder caused by mutations in FBN1 encoding fibrillin-1, is associated with
      decreased tonic contraction. As Ca(2+) waves are tightly associated with
      vasoconstriction, we hypothesized decreased tonic contraction in Marfan syndrome
      is due to aberrant Ca(2+) wave signaling. METHODS: Isometric force and
      intracellular Ca(2+) were measured from second-order mesenteric arteries from
      mice heterozygous for the Fbn1 allele encoding a cysteine substitution
      (Fbn1(C1039G/+)). RESULTS: Phenylephrine concentration-dependently induced tonic
      contraction associated with sustained repetitive oscillations in intracellular
      [Ca(2+)] in both control and Marfan vessels, although Marfan vessels displayed
      significantly decreased Ca(2+) wave frequency and decreased number of cells
      exhibiting waves. Inhibition of sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca(2+) re-uptake by
      cyclopiazonic acid abolished Ca(2+) waves, dramatically decreasing tonic
      contraction. Nifedipine significantly reduced Ca(2+) wave frequency and tonic
      contraction, while the nifedipine-insensitive component was abolished by SKF
      96365. Ca(2+) waves and tonic contraction were abolished by 2
      aminoethoxydiphenylborate, but were unaffected by ryanodine or tetracaine.
      CONCLUSION: Phenylephrine-induced Ca(2+) waves underlie tonic contraction in
      resistance-sized mesenteric arteries and appear to be produced by repetitive
      cycles of regenerative Ca(2+) release from the sarcoplasmic reticulum. Decreased
      frequency of Ca(2+) waves in Marfan syndrome appears to be responsible for
      reduced tonic contraction.

PMID- 20926895
TI  - Acute tumor lysis syndrome - a rare complication in the treatment of solid
      tumors.

PMID- 20926896
TI  - Expression pattern of the ASPP family members in endometrial endometrioid
      adenocarcinoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Apoptosis-stimulating protein of p53 (ASPP) family members can
      stimulate the apoptotic function of p53 but have no impact on its cell cycle
      arrest function. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The expression pattern of the ASPP family
      consisting of ASPP1, ASPP2, and iASPP was examined by immunohistochemistry in 45
      formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded endometrial endometrioid adenocarcinoma
      (EEA) specimens and 26 normal endometrial tissue (NET) samples. RESULTS: The
      expression rates of ASPP1 and ASPP2 in EEA were significantly lower than those in
      NET (p < 0.05). However, the iASPP expression rate in EEA was statistically
      higher in contrast to NET (p < 0.05). Expression of ASPP1 and iASPP in EEA had no
      correlation with any clinicopathological features (p > 0.05). iASPP was
      associated with grade, invasion, and lymph node metastasis (p < 0.05).
      CONCLUSIONS: It is a novel finding that the expression pattern of the ASPP family
      members has respective pathological and clinical implications in EEA, and iASPP
      might be a candidate target for EEA therapy.

PMID- 20926897
TI  - A phase III randomized equivalence study of biosimilar filgrastim versus Amgen
      filgrastim in patients receiving myelosuppressive chemotherapy for breast cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Filgrastim was developed to treat chemotherapy-induced neutropenia.
      This phase III study was designed to demonstrate bioequivalence of Amgen
      filgrastim and a biosimilar filgrastim developed by Hospira (Study GCF071;
      sponsored by Hospira). PATIENTS AND METHODS: Breast cancer patients suitable for
      treatment with doxorubicin and docetaxel in the neoadjuvant/adjuvant or first
      line metastatic setting were enrolled at 37 European centers. Patients were
      randomized (2:1) to receive Hospira filgrastim or Amgen filgrastim, after the end
      of chemotherapy. Filgrastim (5 MUg/kg/day) was administered under double-blind
      conditions. Primary endpoint to demonstrate bioequivalence was duration of severe
      neutropenia (DSN) in cycle 1. RESULTS: 184 patients were randomized to Hospira
      filgrastim and 95 to Amgen filgrastim. Mean DSN in cycle 1 was similar with
      Hospira filgrastim (1.6 days; n = 165) and Amgen filgrastim (1.3 days; n = 85),
      meeting predefined criteria for bioequivalence. Secondary endpoints supporting
      bioequivalence included mean time to absolute neutrophil count recovery and
      incidence of febrile neutropenia. The most common treatment-related adverse event
      with Hospira filgrastim was grade 1-2 bone pain. CONCLUSIONS: Hospira filgrastim
      and Amgen filgrastim are bioequivalent in efficacy with similar safety profiles.
      Hospira filgrastim may be useful for the prophylaxis of complications related to
      neutropenia caused by chemotherapy.

PMID- 20926898
TI  - Population-based patterns of care in the first-line treatment of patients with
      advanced esophagogastric adenocarcinoma in Germany.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Randomized studies proved the efficacy of new drugs for the systemic
      treatment of advanced gastric cancer in the past 5 years. However, little is
      known about the use of firstline chemotherapy in clinical practice in patients
      with advanced or metastatic adenocarcinoma of the esophagogastric junction (AEG)
      and the stomach. We investigated temporal trends in therapy and factors
      influencing treatment decisions for these patients during a 4-year period.
      PATIENTS AND METHODS: 1058 patients (median age 67 years) with advanced AEG or
      gastric cancers undergoing treatment decisions were documented with the
      Therapiemonitor(r) in 2006-2009. Therapiemonitor collects population-based data
      regarding treatment decisions and strategies. Time trends of drug use and
      intensity in the first-line treatment were analyzed in the entire patient group
      and according to age (cut-off 65 years) and Karnofsky performance status (KPS;
      cut-off 80%). RESULTS: Over time, the use of oxaliplatin and docetaxel as well as
      capecitabine increased while cisplatin and irinotecan use slightly declined. The
      use of chemotherapy triplets rose from 10.1% in 2006 to 47.0% in 2009. Treatment
      patterns significantly varied by age and KPS: Older patients were significantly
      less likely to receive chemotherapy triplets, cisplatin and docetaxel but tended
      to more often receive oxaliplatin. Likewise, triplets, cisplatin and docetaxel
      were less frequently used in patients with KPS < 80%, while capecitabine and
      irinotecan were significantly more often used in this patient group. CONCLUSIONS:
      A clear tendency towards the use of more intensive chemotherapy regimens in
      patients with AEG and gastric cancer was observed over time. Older or less fit
      patients were treated preferably with monotherapy or chemotherapy doublets during
      2006-2009. Oxaliplatin and docetaxel use has substantially risen.

PMID- 20926899
TI  - Merkel cell carcinoma of the gluteal region with ipsilateral metastasis into the
      pancreatic graft of a patient after combined kidney-pancreas transplantation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is a rare tumour of the skin that
      predominantly affects elderly or immunocompromised patients. The malignant
      transformation of Merkel cells is currently considered to be related to an
      infection with Merkel cell polyomavirus. CASE REPORT: We present the case of a 62
      year-old man who developed a Merkel cell polyomavirus-positive MCC in a non-UV
      exposed part of the right gluteal region 8 years after combined kidney-pancreas
      transplantation. Following excision and radical re-excision of the tumour, no
      adjuvant radiotherapy was indicated because of the risk of adjacent pancreatic
      graft failure. Despite adjustment of the immunosuppressive therapy with
      conversion to sirolimus, the tumour generalised and metastasised into the
      pancreatic graft, leading to its failure. Subsequent chemotherapy did not affect
      the course of the disease, and the patient died 9 months after diagnosis.
      CONCLUSIONS: To our knowledge, we present the first case of MCC associated with
      metastatic involvement of the transplanted pancreas followed by its subsequent
      failure. Given the highly aggressive course of the disease in patients after
      organ transplantation, MCC therapy should be sufficiently aggressive from the
      time of diagnosis and should not be influenced by attempts to preserve graft
      function.

PMID- 20926900
TI  - Spontaneous pneumothorax during chemotherapy: a case report.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Spontaneous pneumothorax (SP) associated with malignant disease is
      relatively infrequent but has important diagnostic and therapeutic implications.
      CASE REPORT: We describe a case of SP that occurred during chemotherapy with
      ifosfamide and doxorubicin in a patient with an advanced pleomorphic sarcoma. The
      pneumothorax developed secondary to the rapid regression of peripheral pulmonary
      metastases presumably resulting in bronchopleural fistula formation. After
      treatment with chest tube drainage, the patient recovered and chemotherapy could
      be continued without further complications. DISCUSSION: We discuss different
      pathophysiological mechanisms and the clinical context of SP in sarcoma patients
      and give an overview of the literature and different treatment options.

PMID- 20926901
TI  - Acute tumor lysis syndrome after transarterial chemoembolization for well
      differentiated hepatocellular carcinoma with neuroendocrine features.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Acute tumor lysis syndrome (ATLS) was gradually considered as a
      separate entity or condition associated with bulk tumor treatment. There are few
      reports of ATLS following transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) in patients with
      hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Primary HCCs with neuroendocrine features are
      also extremely rare. CASE REPORT: We report such a rare case of well
      differentiated (WD)-HCC with neuroendocrine features, which presented with ATLS
      after TACE. The patient was a 54-year-old female. Needle biopsy of the liver
      histologically confirmed WD-HCC. On the 5th postoperative day, the patient was
      identified as having ATLS. Hemodialysis was done while her renal functions
      recovered. In the follow-up visits, computed tomography results showed distinct
      reduction in tumor size. CONCLUSIONS: When a large HCC with rich blood supply
      undergoes TACE, we should pay attention to the possibility of ATLS. Close
      monitoring after antineoplastic therapy in high-risk patients is warranted.

PMID- 20926902
TI  - Fatal reactivation of occult hepatitis B virus infection after rituximab and
      chemotherapy in lymphoma: necessity of antiviral prophylaxis.
AB  - The anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody rituximab has been used extensively in the
      treatment of B-cell lymphoma. However, several studies reported hepatitis B virus
      (HBV) reactivation after rituximab administration. The majority of these cases
      have been described in chronic carriers of HBV, whereas reactivation in occult
      hepatitis B carriers is relatively rare. We report a fatal case of fulminant
      hepatitis B that occurred in a B-cell lymphoma patient with occult hepatitis B
      after rituximab-containing chemotherapy, which raised the necessity of antiviral
      prophylaxis in this setting.

PMID- 20926903
TI  - Recapitulation of ras oncogene mutations in breast cancer.
AB  - Several human breast cancer cell lines have been shown to contain mutational
      activation of Ras oncogenes. The goal of this review is to clarify the physiology
      and biochemical pathways of Ras family oncogenes in order to understand
      thoroughly the mechanisms behind Ras gene mutations. Ras genes are involved in
      the early stages of mammary oncogenesis through augmented expression of the
      normal p21 protein. Recognition of the mechanisms resulting in aberrant
      expression of Ras, as well as unveiling the influence of the Ras family gene
      activation in the Ras signaling pathway, should have a major impact on clarifying
      the oncogenetic process, possibly offering candidate therapy and prevention
      strategies.

PMID- 20926904
TI  - Mitomycin C in patients with gynecological malignancies.
AB  - Mitomycin C (MMC) is an effective cytostatic agent used in the treatment of
      patients with gynecological malignancies and breast carcinoma. This review
      presents and discusses the current treatment options with MMC in patients with
      breast, cervical, and vulvar carcinomas, as well as rarer gynecological
      malignancies. New combinations and developments are also presented and their
      potential clinical relevance is examined. Consequently, also for the next years a
      MMC-containing chemotherapy continues to be a relevant part of an individualized
      therapy despite numerous innovative new drugs, especially for the salvage therapy
      of metastatic breast cancer and the simultaneous radiochemotherapy of other
      gynecological malignancies.

PMID- 20926905
TI  - [Oncology research and treatment in Germany].

PMID- 20926906
TI  - [Clinical research in Germany at the example of oncology].
AB  - Oncology is a major topic at many German universities. Research in oncology is
      funded by various programs of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, the
      German Research Council, and by charities. Programs such as the foundation of
      coordinating centers for clinical research or the Program of Excellence of the
      German Cancer Aid to establish Comprehensive Cancer Centers in Germany shall
      improve the quality of clinical research in oncology. This is important because
      the 14th amendment of the German Medicines Law has markedly raised the standards
      for the design and conduct of clinical trials, accompanied by a substantial
      increase in costs. Consequently,the pharmaceutical industry plays an ever
      increasing role in funding of clinical trials in oncology in Germany, but is
      mostly focused on the further development of their own products. In addition,
      research in clinical oncology often suffers from the fact that it takes a long
      time from the design of a trial to its publication, making it more difficult to
      achieve academic goals such as a habilitation. In the future, an improved
      training of medical doctors in clinical research and a further improved public
      funding structure for clinical research in oncology, e.g. by a National German
      Cancer Center,could be advantageous.

PMID- 20926907
TI  - [Open questions in the drug therapy of tumors with new active substances].
AB  - At the time of market authorization and/or the expansion of indication of new
      oncology drugs, it is often not possible to reliably measure the relevant benefit
      for the patient. The conception of the clinical studies, on which the market
      authorization and/or expansion of indication is based, orients itself primarily
      at the regulatory requirements of the regulatory authorities. In addition, their
      results are frequently published only incompletely or some time after the end of
      the clinical study. To clarify these outstanding questions regarding the
      individual treatment of patients, independent,science-initiated clinical studies
      after the market authorization are required. However, the execution of these
      studies is obstructed due to insufficient financial means as well as by
      regulations and the low evaluation of such studies by the academia. Further
      challenges result from the high costs of innovative oncologic therapies, which
      burden the resources of the statutory and private health insurance providers(GKV,
      PKV) who are confronted with an aging population and a rising prevalence of tumor
      cases. Independent post-market authorization clinical studies need to be
      completed in order to ensure a need-oriented and efficient treatment with new
      oncologic substances. New perspectives result by connecting the reimbursement of
      the costs of innovative therapies by the GKV and PKV to the generation of
      evidence in the context of clinical studies, thus improving the medical care of
      tumor patients as well as the efficient handling of limited health resources.

PMID- 20926908
TI  - [The Coordinating Centers for Clinical Trials (KKS) and the KKS Network:
      competence for clinical research].
AB  - The Network of the Coordination Centers for Clinical Trials (CTCs;
      Koordinierungszentren fur Klinische Studien(KKS)) comprises 17 institutions
      working as scientific service provider for universities, study groups, the
      pharmaceutical and medical devices industry as well as additional clients
      associated with clinical research. The CTCs have established planning and conduct
      of clinical trials according to Good Clinical Practice (GCP) guidelines,with a
      wide range of study support in academia. One focus according to indications is
      cancer. Expertise in hematological/oncological research can be requested
      nationwide and cross-institutional. The KKS network currently cooperates with
      medical societies and other, even European networks in 20 countries and has been
      established as a strong platform for oncological trials.

PMID- 20926909
TI  - [Funding and sponsorship of clinical trials in oncology].
AB  - The lack of clinical trials represents a bottleneck in the future of the German
      health care system. Although central organizations as the G-BA (Federal Joint
      Committee), the IQWiG (Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care) or
      the INEK (Institute for Hospital Reimbursement), which were established during
      the last years as central boards for the decision process in health care, use the
      results of high-quality trials as basis of their decisions, the off-label use as
      an implicit way of clinical trial promotion by German sickness funds to reduce
      the cost of care in this special setting has at the same time been combatted in
      recent years.Thereby, an important basis for the development of oncological
      therapies through clinical studies was abolished and completely impeded. Also,
      the underlying conditions of investigator-initiated clinical trials caused more
      effort because of new legislation. The trend of prioritization in the German
      health care system based on short resources and the use of study-based evidence
      for decision-making must lead to the establishment of a new and effective
      financing and funding of clinical trials. Sickness funds must also be involved in
      this funding. G-BA and IQWiG, who are castigators of the quality and sponsoring
      of investigator-initiated clinical trials, must in conclusion postulate basic
      conditions for successful financing and funding of clinical trials in
      consideration of their duties and responsibilities.

PMID- 20926910
TI  - [Demographic change and cancer].
AB  - BACKGROUND: The demographic changes in Germany lead to a modified age structure
      of the population towards a growing proportion of elderly people. As many
      diseases like cancer usually appear in higher age groups, increasing numbers of
      cases are expected. The quantification of this development is an important
      indicator of the future burden of the health system. MATERIAL AND METHODS:
      Currently available age- and sex-specific incidence rates of the most frequent
      cancer sites, based on population-based cancer registries, were assigned 'ceteris
      paribus' to the expected populations of the years 2030, 2050 and 2060 (12th
      coordinated population prediction, predicted by the Federal Statistical Office).
      RESULTS: The number of incident cancer cases will increase from 494,000 in 2010
      to 642,000 in 2050 (+26%). There are considerable differences among the different
      cancer sites (-29% to +47%). CONCLUSIONS: Caused by demographic changes, sizably
      higher numbers of incident cancer cases have to be expected in the future in
      Germany. The declining population will cause an even more strongly increasing
      cancer burden in the population.

PMID- 20926911
TI  - [Clinical trials and personalized medicine in oncology?].
AB  - Clinical trials aim to evaluate benefits of therapeutic or diagnostic procedures
      for a 'standardized' cohort rather than for individual patients. On the other
      hand, 'personalized medicine' focuses on the prediction of potential benefits or
      risks for individuals in as much detail as possible.Currently, clinical trials
      may still implement the known predictive and/or prognostic factors, as they
      generally address relatively large groups of patients bearing a well-identified
      factor and therefore defining an 'enriched' patient cohort. In the near future,
      as more and more factors for stratification will become available,it is likely
      that patient cohorts become smaller--hopefully with an increase in the observed
      effect. Therefore, innovative designs of clinical trials are warranted to
      integrate the needs of better stratification in smaller patient subsets.

PMID- 20926912
TI  - [Relevance of clinical trials for the decision-making process within the bodies
      of the self-government].
AB  - Clinical studies are the central basis on which the decision-making process
      regarding reimbursement of medical interventions of the bodies of the self
      government is founded. For many of these reimbursement questions that await a
      decision, studies with a sufficient certainty of results are absent. Even though
      the self-government has instruments on hand with which it may initiate clinical
      trials (i.e. the deferment of a decision of the Federal Joint Committee) or
      support them (German Social Code, Book V,S 35c), the possibilities of a remedy of
      this deficit itself are limited. A continuous and sound advancement and funding
      of the development of structures that lead to the conduct of the required
      clinical trials, independently of particular interests (e.g. of the
      pharmaceutical industry), is urgently needed.

PMID- 20926913
TI  - Intonational differences between L1 and L2 english in South Africa.
AB  - Previous studies have shown that characteristics of a person's first language
      (L1) may transfer to a second language (L2). The current study looks at the
      extent to which this holds for aspects of intonation as well. More specifically,
      we investigate to what extent traces of the L1 can be discerned in the way
      intonation is used in the L2 for two functions: (1) to highlight certain words by
      making them sound more prominent and (2) to signal continuation or finality in a
      list by manipulating the speech melody. To this end, the article presents an
      explorative study into the way focus and boundaries are marked prosodically in
      Zulu, and it also compares such prosodic functions in two variants of English in
      South Africa, i.e., English spoken as an L1, and English spoken as an
      L2/additional language by speakers who have Zulu as their L1. The latter language
      is commonly referred to as Black South African English. This comparison is
      interesting from a typological perspective, as Zulu is intonationally different
      from English, especially in the way prosody is exploited for signalling
      informationally important stretches of speech. Using a specific elicitation
      procedure, we found in a first study that speakers of South African English (as
      L1) mark focused words and position within a list by intonational means, just as
      in other L1 varieties of English, whereas Zulu only uses intonation for marking
      continuity or finality. A second study focused on speakers of Black South African
      English, and compared the prosody of proficient versus less proficient speakers.
      We found that the proficient speakers were perceptually equivalent to L1 speakers
      of English in their use of intonation for marking focus and boundaries. The less
      proficient speakers marked boundaries in a similar way as L1 speakers of English,
      but did not use prosody for signalling focus, analogous to what is typical of
      their native language. Acoustic observations match these perceptual results.

PMID- 20926914
TI  - A laryngographic and laryngoscopic study of Northern Vietnamese tones.
AB  - A laryngographic and laryngoscopic study of tone production in Northern
      Vietnamese, a language whose tones combine both fundamental frequency (f0)
      modulations and voice qualities (phonation types), was conducted with 5 male and
      5 female speakers. Results show that the f0 contours of Northern Vietnamese tones
      are not only attributable to changes in vocal fold length and tension (partly
      through changes in larynx height), but that f0 drops are also largely caused by
      the glottal configurations responsible for the contrastive voice qualities
      associated with some of the tones. We also find that voice quality contrasts are
      mostly due to glottal constriction: they occasionally involve additional
      ventricular fold incursion and epiglottal constriction, but these articulations
      are usually absent.

PMID- 20926915
TI  - On the phonetics of intensifying emphasis in German.
AB  - This paper presents an exploratory study in the field of emphasis in German. It
      provides a comprehensive acoustic analysis for a type of emphasis that
      intensifies lexical meanings either positively or negatively. A speech corpus was
      recorded using an elicitation method adapted to yield natural-sounding,
      conversational, expressive speech under controlled conditions. Supporting the
      distinction between positive and negative intensification, two clearly different
      phonetic profiles emerged. These phonetic profiles of positive and negative
      intensification involve voice quality as well as the dynamics of the speech
      signal across its segmental and prosodic layers. By means of these profiles, the
      intensifying emphases were correctly classified by a discriminant analysis as
      positive or negative in around 90% of the cases. Moreover, indications were found
      for a third type of intensifying emphasis, which was called 'reinforcement'. Its
      multidimensional phonetic profile falls in between the ones of positive and
      negative intensification.

PMID- 20926919
TI  - Genistein activates endothelial nitric oxide synthase in broiler pulmonary
      arterial endothelial cells by an Akt-dependent mechanism.
AB  - Deregulation of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) plays an important role
      in the development of multiple cardiovascular diseases. Our recent study
      demonstrated that genistein supplementation attenuates pulmonary arterial
      hypertension in broilers by restoration of endothelial function. In this study,
      we investigated the molecular mechanism by using broiler pulmonary arterial
      endothelial cells (PAECs). Our results showed that genistein stimulated a rapid
      phosphorylation of eNOS at Ser(1179) which was associated with activation of
      eNOS/NO axis. Further study indicated that the activation of eNOS was not
      mediated through estrogen receptors or tyrosine kinase inhibition, but via a
      phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt-dependent signaling pathway, as the eNOS
      activity and related NO release were largely abolished by pharmacological
      inhibitors of PI3K or Akt. Thus, our findings revealed a critical function of Akt
      in mediating genistein-stimulated eNOS activity in PAECs, partially accounting
      for the beneficial effects of genistein on the development of cardiovascular
      diseases observed in animal models.

PMID- 20926918
TI  - Endoplasmic reticulum stress (ER-stress) by 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2DG) reduces
      cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) expression and N-glycosylation and induces a loss of COX
      2 activity via a Src kinase-dependent pathway in rabbit articular chondrocytes.
AB  - Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress regulates a wide range of cellular responses
      including apoptosis, proliferation, inflammation, and differentiation in
      mammalian cells. In this study, we observed the role of 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2DG)
      on inflammation of chondrocytes. 2DG is well known as an inducer of ER stress,
      via inhibition of glycolysis and glycosylation. Treatment of 2DG in chondrocytes
      considerably induced ER stress in a dose- and time-dependent manner, which was
      demonstrated by a reduction of glucose regulated protein of 94 kDa (grp94), an ER
      stress-inducible protein, as determined by a Western blot analysis. In addition,
      induction of ER stress by 2DG led to the expression of COX-2 protein with an
      apparent molecular mass of 66-70kDa as compared with the normally expressed 72-74
      kDa protein. The suppression of ER stress with salubrinal (Salub), a selective
      inhibitor of eif2-alpha dephosphorylation, successfully prevented grp94 induction
      and efficiently recovered 2DG- modified COX-2 molecular mass and COX-2 activity
      might be associated with COX-2 N-glycosylation. Also, treatment of 2DG increased
      phosphorylation of Src in chondrocytes. The inhibition of the Src signaling
      pathway with PP2 (Src tyrosine kinase inhibitor) suppressed grp94 expression and
      restored COX-2 expression, N-glycosylation, and PGE2 production, as determined by
      a Western blot analysis and PGE2 assay. Taken together, our results indicate that
      the ER stress induced by 2DG results in a decrease of the transcription level,
      the molecular mass, and the activity of COX-2 in rabbit articular chondrocytes
      via a Src kinase-dependent pathway.

PMID- 20926920
TI  - Comparative proteomics study of freshly isolated, in vitro cultured, and
      proliferating islet preparation cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In vitro islet expansion has recently drawn interest for its
      potential application in diabetes therapy, while how islet cells adapt to in
      vitro circumstances is not quite clear. AIM: Proteomics changes of cultivated
      islet cells under different conditions were examined in this study.
      MATERIAL/SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A comparative proteomics study was performed on
      fresh isolated islet cells, cultured cells and in vitro proliferating islet cells
      stimulated by basic fibroblast growth factor via electrophoresis and liquid
      chromatography in tandem with mass spectrometry. RESULTS: In total, 1897 proteins
      were identified in this study. Hierarchical analysis revealed substantial changes
      in the proteome during cultivation but relatively less difference between
      different culture conditions. Over 100 proteins showed significantly different
      expression levels between groups, most of which are involved in metabolism or
      cell process pathways. Overall, the detected proteins were involved in 152 known
      pathways. Furthermore, in-depth investigation suggested that some proteins, such
      as extracellular signal-regulated protein kinases and Rac, might play key roles
      in the proliferation, apoptosis, and differentiation of in vitro cultured islet
      cells. CONCLUSION: We established comparative proteome references of fresh and
      cultured islet cells, which could provide useful information for future islet
      transplantation strategy.

PMID- 20926922
TI  - HIV in Asia: universal access in sight.

PMID- 20926921
TI  - Fasting and post-prandial adipose tissue lipoprotein lipase and hormone-sensitive
      lipase in obesity and type 2 diabetes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Fasting and post-prandial abnormalities of adipose tissue (AT)
      lipoprotein lipase (LPL) and hormone- sensitive lipase (HSL) activities may have
      pathophysiological relevance in insulin-resistant conditions. AIM: The aim of
      this study was to evaluate activity and gene expression of AT LPL and HSL at
      fasting and 6 h after meal in two insulin-resistant groups - obese with Type 2
      diabetes and obese without diabetes - and in non-diabetic normal-weight controls.
      MATERIAL/SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Nine obese subjects with diabetes, 10 with obesity
      alone, and 9 controls underwent measurements of plasma levels of glucose,
      insulin, and triglycerides before and after a standard fat-rich meal. Fasting and
      post-prandial (6 h) LPL and HSL activities and gene expressions were determined
      in abdominal subcutaneous AT needle biopsies. RESULTS: The diabetic obese
      subjects had significantly lower fasting and post-prandial AT heparin-releasable
      LPL activity than only obese and control subjects (p<0.05) as well as lower mRNA
      LPL levels. HSL activity was significantly reduced in the 2 groups of obese
      subjects compared to controls in both fasting condition and 6 h after the meal
      (p<0.05), while HSL mRNA levels were not different. There were no significant
      changes between fasting and 6 h after meal measurements in either LPL or HSL
      activities and gene expressions. CONCLUSIONS: Lipolytic activities in AT are
      differently altered in obesity and Type 2 diabetes being HSL alteration
      associated with both insulin-resistant conditions and LPL with diabetes per se.
      These abnormalities are similarly observed in the fasting condition and after a
      fat-rich meal.

PMID- 20926923
TI  - Catalyzing HIV prevention in Asia: from individual to population level impact.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: HIV prevention in Asia has two sides, modest overall coverage of
      individual services, yet some leading examples of population impact at national
      level. This review assesses the coverage of individual services and the
      additional components required to catalyze population level impact in Asia.
      METHODS: The review first assesses the latest data on the coverage of services by
      most-at-risk populations and country. The Asian Epidemic Model is used to
      estimate the coverage levels of these services required to reduce HIV incidence.
      Information on the services, unit costs, and coverage is used to define a
      priority prevention package that is affordable and can lead to high population
      coverage. Analysis of national programs, epidemiology, and behavior data is
      undertaken to identify additional factors required and barriers to population
      level prevention impact. RESULTS: HIV prevention has shown variable coverage
      across Asia, with less than one in two sex workers, one in five injecting drug
      users, and one in two men who have sex with men reached with services. In
      addition, coverage of prevention of mother-to-child transmission is still low at
      32%. Yet modeling suggests 60-80% coverage of all most-at-risk populations is
      required to reduce HIV incidence. National situations show the importance of
      implementing a priority package of HIV prevention to high coverage rapidly,
      combined with intense engagement of most-at-risk populations. DISCUSSION: HIV
      prevention at population level requires universal access to priority services
      alongside mobilization of all most-at-risk populations. It is only where service
      delivery and social change models of prevention have been combined effectively
      that HIV has declined. This helps explain the paradox in Asian HIV prevention,
      modest overall service delivery with some key national HIV prevention successes.

PMID- 20926924
TI  - Injection drug use, HIV and the current response in selected low-income and
      middle-income countries.
AB  - Over half of the world's estimated opiate users reside in Asia, including an
      estimated 3.9 million injecting drug users (IDUs). Injection drug use is a
      significant factor in determining the course of HIV epidemics, particularly
      during the early stages of epidemics in Asian countries. Several countries report
      high HIV prevalence in this population and IDUs account for a large proportion of
      reported infections. The purpose of this review is to examine the current status
      of the epidemic, the availability and coverage of select interventions
      recommended by WHO, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC) and United
      Nations Joint Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), resource requirements for scaling
      up harm reduction in Asia, gaps in the national response, barriers to
      implementation and recommendations for overcoming barriers to scaling up
      prevention, treatment and care services for IDUs in the region.

PMID- 20926925
TI  - Risk and vulnerability: do socioeconomic factors influence the risk of acquiring
      HIV in Asia?
AB  - HIV epidemics in Asia have been mainly concentrated among certain population
      groups such as injecting drug users, sex workers and their clients and men who
      have sex with men (MSM). HIV risk has also been associated with labour migrants
      and their partners. Many of the people at risk through these behaviours are very
      poor, and this raises the question that poverty and social deprivation may be
      underlying factors that drive the adoption of risk behaviours and can be regarded
      as 'determinants' of vulnerability to HIV infection in Asia. The study presents
      some observations of the socioeconomic pattern of HIV spread in Asia, using
      country-level and household-level data. The discussion then draws tentative
      conclusions about what is known concerning the mechanisms influencing the risk of
      HIV acquisition in Asia and what they might imply for programme design and
      policy. In summary, the data presented here do not support the hypothesis that
      HIV epidemics in Asia are primarily driven by poverty and social deprivation,
      though sex inequality and education for women and girls are strongly associated
      factors. There is clearly a multidimensional relationship between the risk of HIV
      infection and a host of underlying social and cultural factors that confound any
      attempt at a single explanation for the HIV epidemic in Asia or elsewhere. There
      is an undeniable need for further research through multicountry studies and
      better analysis of existing household data, as well as through further
      investigation of the quantitative relationship between the barriers to HIV
      services and the risk of infection. The key message for policy is to seek a broad
      balance between a focus on prevention and treatment for the higher-risk
      behaviours without losing sight of the importance of programmes that address
      vulnerability and behavioural change among the sexually active adult population.
      The implication of these findings for the allocation of resources for downstream
      factors such as risk behaviours as well as upstream development factors is
      briefly discussed.

PMID- 20926926
TI  - A review of the epidemiology of HIV infection and prevention responses among MSM
      in Asia.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To review the epidemiology of HIV infection and prevention responses
      among men who have sex with men (MSM) in Asia. METHODS: A review of the existing
      scientific literature and governmental and non-governmental reports regarding the
      epidemiology of HIV infection and prevention responses among MSM in Asia.
      RESULTS: Data show that HIV infection is now widespread among MSM throughout
      Asia. With the exception of the Philippines and Timor Leste, all countries for
      which information is available show epidemics of HIV infection among MSM,
      particularly in urban areas. Double-digit HIV prevalence among MSM is found in
      cities in China, Taiwan, India, Myanmar and Thailand. Incidence data, although
      scarce, confirm the ongoing transmission of HIV among MSM. Reports of new HIV
      diagnoses in MSM have been increasing in recent years, particularly in the
      developed economies of East Asia. HIV prevention responses have started in most
      Asian countries, but while the exact coverage and investment of such responses
      remain unclear, coverage seems to be far from the 60-80% level needed to have an
      effect on the HIV epidemic. Both Government and donor investment in prevention
      programs for MSM remain inadequate, especially when compared with the
      contribution of male-to-male transmission to the overall burden of the HIV
      epidemic. CONCLUSION: Enlarged HIV prevention coverage and increased financial
      investment are necessary to reduce the spread of HIV infection among MSM in Asia.

PMID- 20926927
TI  - AIDS in Asia amid competing priorities: a review of national responses to HIV.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The paper reviews progress in addressing the HIV epidemic and
      questions whether at the midway mark to the conclusion of the Millennium
      Development Goal set for 2015, the goal number 6 of halting and reversing the HIV
      epidemic will be reached. METHODS: Fourteen 2008 United Nations General Assembly
      Special Session on HIV/AIDS country progress reports and 18 country reports on
      Universal Access 2009 were analyzed. Data on national HIV strategic plans was
      also provided by 18 countries that participated in the regional training on
      costed national strategic plans 15-16 September, in Bangkok in 2008. RESULTS:
      Four countries with substantial populations in Asia are on track to achieve
      Millennium Development Goal 6. Elsewhere, elements of a potentially effective
      response are being introduced, but the degree of urgency and scale needed to curb
      the epidemics are not yet evident. Most national programmes still lack key
      planning components for the operation and financing of the response. Only 13
      national strategic plans explicitly address the three key populations at higher
      risk for HIV. One third of the countries that have designed plans for effective
      interventions have not costed them. DISCUSSION: Early successes in controlling
      HIV epidemics in Asia may not be sustainable in the future. There is an urgent
      need to make prevention scale-up as robust as treatment scale-up and to focus
      programmes on high impact prevention, which directly contributes to reduction of
      new HIV infection. A necessary objective is to convince policy makers that the
      emergency posed by HIV continues.

PMID- 20926928
TI  - Missed opportunities for HIV testing and counselling in Asia.

PMID- 20926929
TI  - Essential elements of strategic information systems to guide focused HIV
      responses in south and south-east Asia.
AB  - Strategic information is fundamental to the formulation and delivery of effective
      HIV programmes, but generating that information is a complex process, for which
      most countries in south and south-east Asia lack capacity and supporting
      structures. Although most countries in this region have made tremendous strides
      in collecting relevant data, advances in the ability to translate that data into
      strategic information and evidence for action, have not kept pace. To overcome
      these shortcomings, this paper presents a comprehensive approach to collecting
      strategic information and building the capacity to use it effectively, which is
      based on experience in the successful use of data in different countries in south
      and south-east Asia. The system recommended here requires that staff and
      resources carry out four major functions: implement an early alert and response
      system allowing for the timely collection, synthesis and use of information to
      respond quickly to emerging epidemics; carefully analyze data to develop policy
      scenarios and resource projections to guide decision-making; periodically
      evaluate the impact of the current response and make recommendations to improve
      it; and engage policy-makers in ways that proactively promote improvements to
      current programmes based on evidence. At present, countries in this region are
      carrying out these functions in an ad-hoc and uncoordinated manner, if at all.
      The establishment and resourcing of structures dedicated to fulfilling these
      functions in an organized and coordinated manner are required to counteract the
      formidable barriers and challenges that inhibit the use of Asia's wealth of data
      for maximum benefit.

PMID- 20926930
TI  - Scale-up of national antiretroviral therapy programs: progress and challenges in
      the Asia Pacific region.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There has been tremendous scale-up of antiretroviral therapy (ART)
      services in the Asia Pacific region, which is home to an estimated 4.7 million
      persons living with HIV/AIDS. We examined treatment scale-up, ART program
      practices, and clinical outcome data in the nine low-and-middle-income countries
      that share over 95% of the HIV burden in the region. METHODS: Standardized
      indicators for ART scale-up and treatment outcomes were examined for Cambodia,
      China, India, Indonesia, Myanmar, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Thailand, and Vietnam
      using data submitted by each country to the WHO/The Joint United Nations
      Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS)/UNICEF joint framework tool for monitoring the
      health sector response to HIV/AIDS. Data on ART program practices were abstracted
      from National HIV Treatment Guidelines for each country. RESULTS: At the end of
      2009, over 700,000 HIV-infected persons were receiving ART in the nine focus
      countries. Treatment coverage varies widely in the region, ranging from 16 to
      93%. All nine countries employ a public health approach to ART services and
      provide a standardized first-line nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor
      based regimen. Among patients initiated on first-line ART in these countries, 65
      88% remain alive and on treatment 12 months later. Over 50% of mortality occurs
      in the first 6 months of therapy, and losses to follow-up range from 8 to 16% at
      2 years. CONCLUSION: Impressive ART scale-up efforts in the region have resulted
      in significant improvements in survival among persons receiving therapy.
      Continued funding support and political commitment will be essential for further
      expansion of public sector ART services to those in need. To improve treatment
      outcomes, national programs should focus on earlier identification of persons
      requiring ART, decentralization of ART services, and the development of stronger
      healthcare systems to support the provision of a continuum of HIV care.

PMID- 20926931
TI  - Asia can afford universal access for AIDS prevention and treatment.
AB  - This paper draws on published reports, data from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS,
      Tuberculosis, and Malaria and the Asian Development Bank, and analysis by the
      Commission on AIDS in Asia to estimate financial resources required to achieve
      universal access for HIV in low-income and middle-income countries of Asia. It
      explores optimal use of available resources to mount effective response to AIDS
      in Asia against an uncertain economic climate. Although there is global
      commitment to tackle the HIV pandemic, available financing falls short of minimum
      requirements to achieve universal access to prevention and treatment. To support
      essential HIV priorities in Asia, the Commission on AIDS in Asia estimated annual
      resource needs to be US$ 3.1 billion. Yet, in 2007, according to one study,
      estimated total public spending on AIDS in 14 major Asian countries was only US$
      0.9 billion. Hence, scarce resources need to be carefully applied to address the
      concentrated HIV epidemics in Asia and achieve universal coverage by prioritizing
      investment in high-impact interventions to maximally avert new infections and
      deaths, intensifying multisectoral efforts through catalytic financing that
      mainstreams HIV interventions into existing services, particularly for low-impact
      prevention programs, and ensuring countries with growing economies mobilize
      increased amounts of domestic funding to match international financing.

PMID- 20926932
TI  - An inappropriate tool: criminal law and HIV in Asia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Asian countries have applied criminal sanctions widely in areas
      directly relevant to national HIV programmes and policies, including
      criminalization of HIV transmission, sex work, homosexuality and drug injection.
      This criminalization may impede universal access to HIV prevention and treatment
      services in Asia and undermine vulnerable people's ability to be part of the HIV
      response. OBJECTIVE: To review the status of application of criminal law in key
      HIV-related areas in Asia and analyze its impact. METHODS: Review of literature
      and application of human rights norms to analysis of criminal law measures.
      RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Criminal laws in the areas considered here and their
      enforcement, while intended to reduce HIV transmission, are inappropriate and
      counterproductive with respect to health and human rights. Governments should
      remove punitive laws that impede the HIV response and should ensure meaningful
      participation of people living with HIV, people who use illicit drugs, sex
      workers and men who have sex with men in combating stigma and discrimination and
      developing rights-centered approaches to HIV.

PMID- 20926933
TI  - HIV epidemics and prevention responses in Asia and Eastern Europe: lessons to be
      learned?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This paper describes characteristics of the HIV epidemics in Eastern
      Europe and Central Asia (EECA) and Asia and Central Asia, and draws comparisons
      between these regions. It focuses on the role that key populations continue to
      play in HIV transmission in both regions, the challenges that this poses and the
      implications for appropriate policy and practice. METHODS: Review of available
      data - particularly from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria,
      and the United Nations Joint Programme on HIV/AIDS. RESULTS: In many countries
      across both regions, insufficient attention is paid to fully understanding HIV
      transmission and risks within key populations driving the HIV epidemics. However,
      it is clear that at-risk populations such as people who inject drugs, sex workers
      and their clients, and men who have sex with men (MSM) play important roles in
      HIV transmission both in Asia and EECA. The extent to which this role has been
      identified, accepted and targeted for HIV prevention, treatment and care is
      highly varied. There are several cases of good practice in terms of HIV
      programming and funding, but also many challenges. CONCLUSION: There is much that
      HIV decision-makers and policy-makers in both regions can learn from one another
      in this field. At-risk populations must be identified, supported and engaged in
      order to achieve universal access to HIV prevention, treatment and care.

PMID- 20926934
TI  - Know your epidemic, know your response: targeting HIV in Asia.
AB  - This article provides an overview of the HIV epidemic in Asia, the context within
      which the epidemic is evolving, and the key actions to address the challenges
      faced by countries and risk groups. HIV epidemics across Asia are predominantly
      concentrated among most-at-risk populations. Although there have been many
      successes in the HIV response in Asia over the past decade, great challenges
      clearly remain - especially when addressing most-at-risk populations, who are
      often criminalized, marginalized, and discriminated against. These groups face
      significant legal and social barriers to accessing HIV prevention and treatment
      services. In order to reach the Millennium Development Goal of halting and
      reversing the spread of HIV by 2015 and to achieve universal access to HIV
      treatment, these barriers must be overcome across Asia. High-impact programs must
      be targeted at those in need, with continuous and predictable funding for a
      sustainable response that incorporates prevention and treatment scale-up. Strong
      political leadership and the involvement of affected communities are key to
      developing a systematic and comprehensive response. The potential consequences of
      inaction in Asia are enormous: even small increases in the HIV prevalence levels
      in the region will translate into vast numbers of new HIV infections due to the
      sheer size of the population.

PMID- 20926935
TI  - Liver x receptors: a potential therapeutic target for modulating the
      atherosclerotic process.
AB  - Liver X receptors (LXRs) are nuclear receptors that play a major role in the
      expression of genes which are involved in lipid metabolism. LXRs are part of the
      superfamily of steroid receptors that work to deliver metabolic signals on the
      transcriptional level to either suppress or activate target genes. LXRs, once
      ligand-activated, work by forming heterodimers with the retinoid X receptor,
      after which they act as transcription factors by binding to the promoter region
      of deoxyribonucleic acid sequences, thereby affecting gene expression.
      Specifically, LXR has been shown to be involved with genes that help in the
      modulation of lipid metabolism, therein having a significant effect on the
      development or propagation of atherosclerosis. This review paper will discuss the
      overall function of LXRs and their role in lipid metabolism, and will help
      identify possible therapeutic modulators of LXRs that can be used for the
      prevention and treatment of atherosclerosis.

PMID- 20926936
TI  - The autonomic nervous system in cardiac electrophysiology: an elegant interaction
      and emerging concepts.
AB  - The autonomic nervous system plays an integral role in the modulation of normal
      cardiac electrophysiology. This is achieved via a complex network of pre- and
      postganglionic sympathetic and parasympathetic fibers that synapse on extrinsic
      and intrinsic cardiac ganglia and ultimately directly innervate cardiac myocytes.
      Alterations in autonomic tone may induce changes in local cellular
      electrophysiology that may manifest clinically in a number of ways, ranging from
      changes in heart rate to changes in heart rhythm. These relationships between
      autonomic tone and the evolution of cardiac dysrhythmias are areas of evolving
      research, with increasing evidence for a key role for autonomic ganglia in the
      pathogenesis of atrial fibrillation and sympathetic nerves in the predilection
      toward ventricular tachycardia in areas of myocardial scar. In this review, we
      highlight what is known about the anatomy and physiology of the cardiac autonomic
      nervous system, the evidence supporting the relationship of autonomic tone to
      clinically significant arrhythmias, and a variety of mechanisms (eg, direct ion
      channel effects) and diagnostic tools that exist to help define this
      relationship. Further emphasized are potential future avenues of research needed
      to elucidate the relationship between changes in normal autonomic tone and the
      pathogenesis of cardiac arrhythmias.

PMID- 20926937
TI  - Functional mitral regurgitation.
AB  - Functional mitral regurgitation (MR) is a common clinical entity which will
      likely increase in the future due to predicted demographic changes. It is also
      associated with poor long-term survival. The anatomic structure of the mitral
      valve apparatus is complex and consists of several components, each of which can
      be affected by a variety of diseases resulting in MR. In primary MR, the valvular
      incompetence is caused by compromised or structurally disrupted components of the
      valve apparatus; the valve in functional MR is structurally normal, with the
      regurgitation resulting from failure of coaptation of the mitral valve leaflets
      without coexisting structural changes of the valve itself. Therefore, we defined
      functional MR as a systolic retrograde flow from the left ventricle into the left
      atrium due to reduction and/or elimination of the normal systolic coaptation of
      the mitral valve leaflets. A slow progression of the symptoms is typical for this
      valve disease and often ends in irreversible left ventricular dysfunction. The
      pathophysiology and treatment of functional MR are quite complex. This article
      reviews and summarizes the existing literature, with a focus on the
      pathophysiology and current treatment of functional MR.

PMID- 20926938
TI  - Chronic coronary disease in the post-COURAGE Era: a new paradigm.
AB  - In recent decades, there have been substantial declines in the morbidity and
      mortality rates of cardiovascular disease. Nonetheless, cardiologists have
      sometimes been slow to amend prevailing concepts and alter established clinical
      strategies even when compelling new evidence comes to light. Recent studies have
      underscored the systemic nature of coronary artery disease, its early age at
      onset, and its high prevalence in the general population. Prevention and
      treatment approaches should fully incorporate these concepts. Furthermore,
      prevention of the most devastating complications of chronic coronary artery
      disease-sudden death and acute coronary events-should be given the highest
      priority.

PMID- 20926939
TI  - The pleiotropic effects of the hydroxy-methyl-glutaryl-CoA reductase inhibitors
      in cardiovascular disease: a comprehensive review.
AB  - The hydroxy-methyl-glutaryl-CoA reductase inhibitors (statins) are used
      extensively in the treatment of hyperlipidemia, and in the long-term prevention
      of coronary artery disease and stroke. They have also demonstrated a benefit in a
      variety of other cardiovascular disease processes. These secondary actions are
      known as pleiotropic effects. An updated discussion on the pleiotropy of statins
      is provided, and emphasizes the importance of randomized, placebo-controlled
      trials to further elucidate the potential benefits of these non-lipid-lowering
      actions in the treatment of cardiovascular disease.

PMID- 20926940
TI  - Relaxin: a new approach for the treatment of acute congestive heart failure.
AB  - Relaxin, a naturally-occurring hormone in the insulin family, was discovered to
      have a physiologic role in pregnancy. Named initially for its relaxing effect on
      the pubic ligament, relaxin receptors have since been found to be widely
      distributed in many organs in both males and females. Acting through multiple
      pathways, including the stimulation of gelatinases leading to activation of
      endothelin type B receptors and subsequently nitric oxide, relaxin has been shown
      to cause vasodilation. In animal models and studies in humans, relaxin has been
      shown to increase cardiac output and renal perfusion. Due to these effects,
      relaxin has been examined as a treatment for acute heart failure. The results of
      phase I and II trials have shown favorable clinical trends without any major
      adverse events, suggesting that relaxin has the potential to be an effective
      medication for acute heart failure in conjunction with or in place of current
      treatments.

PMID- 20926943
TI  - Current world literature.

PMID- 20926941
TI  - Novel agents for the treatment of hyponatremia: a review of conivaptan and
      tolvaptan.
AB  - Hyponatremia is the most commonly encountered electrolyte abnormality. If
      uncorrected, it can lead to seizure, coma, or death due to brain stem herniation.
      Once the serum osmolality and volume status of the patient is determined,
      treatment should be initiated to correct the serum sodium by 8 to 12 mEq/L within
      the first 24 hours. Arginine vasopressin (AVP) antagonists represent a new class
      of drugs indicated to treat hypervolemic and euvolemic hyponatremia. Conivaptan
      is a nonselective AVP antagonist that is available intravenously, and tolvaptan
      is a V2 selective AVP antagonist that is available as an oral tablet. Both agents
      produce highly effective and safe aquaresis to increase serum Na levels. Both
      agents have limited data in heart failure patients, but have been shown to
      produce significant decreases in pulmonary capillary wedge pressure, body weight,
      and signs and symptoms of heart failure. Neither drug has been approved for the
      treatment of heart failure, to date. There were no cases of osmotic demyelination
      syndrome with these agents, and the most common adverse events during studies
      were dry mouth and thirst. Overall, both conivaptan and tolvaptan are promising
      agents that can be used in hospitalized patients. Further studies are needed to
      assess the appropriateness of their use in symptomatic hyponatremic patients, and
      to determine their benefits in terms of disease outcome and length of stay to
      justify the high acquisition costs.

PMID- 20926944
TI  - Zoledronic acid induces cell-cycle prolongation in murine lung cancer cells by
      perturbing cyclin and Ras expression.
AB  - Zoledronic acid (ZOL) was shown earlier to prolong survival in animal models of
      lung cancer. The aim of this study was to examine whether alteration of
      intracellular cyclins, cyclin-dependent kinases, cyclin-dependent kinase
      inhibitors, retinoblastoma, and Ras protein expression and E2F localization are
      among the possible antilung cancer mechanisms driven by ZOL. Furthermore, we used
      geranylgeraniol to test whether the mevalonate pathway is involved in the
      antitumor effects of ZOL against lung cancer. Line-1 cells, a murine lung
      adenocarcinoma cell line, were examined. ZOL significantly slowed the growth of
      these cells both in vitro and in vivo. The ZOL-treated cells typically arrested
      at the S/G2/M phase of the cell cycle, accompanied by increased intracellular
      levels of cyclin A, B1, and CDC2 and decreased levels of cyclin D, p21, p27,
      phosphorylated retinoblastoma, and Ras. In addition, ZOL affected the
      distribution of E2F. When geranylgeraniol was added to the ZOL-treated cells,
      either in vitro or in vivo, tumor growth, cell-cycle progression, the expression
      of certain cyclins, and cyclin-related regulatory proteins were partially
      returned to that of untreated controls. Therefore, ZOL elicits cell-cycle
      prolongation that seems to be associated with alterations in the levels of
      certain cyclins and cyclin-related regulatory proteins. Furthermore, the
      mevalonate pathway regulates ZOL-induced murine lung cancer inhibition both in
      vitro and in vivo.

PMID- 20926945
TI  - Synthesis of protopanaxadiol derivatives and evaluation of their anticancer
      activities.
AB  - Protopanaxadiol (PPD), an aglycon of ginseng saponins, has shown anticancer
      activity in earlier studies. Here, we have reported the semisynthesis of nine PPD
      derivatives with acetyl substitutions. Subsequently, the antiproliferative
      effects of these nine analogs on different human cancer cell lines have been
      investigated. Compounds 1, 3, and 5 showed more significant and more potent
      antiproliferative activity compared with PPD and other derivatives. A flow
      cytometric assay indicated that compounds 1, 3, and 5 arrested cell cycle
      progression in the G1 phase and significantly induced apoptosis of cancer cells.

PMID- 20926946
TI  - Differences in 5-HT1A receptor-mediated hypothermia in rats with low or high
      exploratory activity.
AB  - Alterations in the serotonin (5-HT) system and the 5-HT1A receptor function have
      a significant role in anxiety-related and depression-related states. This study
      investigated the stress-induced hyperthermia (SIH) response and sensitivity to
      the 5-HT1A receptor agonist 8-hydroxy-2-(di-n-propylamino)-tetraline in rats with
      persistently low or high levels of exploratory activity (LE and HE,
      respectively), of which the LE rats show more anxiety-like and depressive-like
      phenotypes. No differences in the SIH in response to novel cage or injection
      stress were found using rectal temperature measurements. However, the LE rats had
      significantly less pronounced decreases in SIH in response to the 0.3 mg/kg dose
      of 8-hydroxy-2-(di-n-propylamino)-tetraline. Exploratory behaviour correlated
      significantly and positively with the magnitude of change in body temperature in
      response to the 5-HT1A receptor agonist. This finding suggests a less effective 5
      HT1A function in the LE rats and implicates the 5-HT1A receptor in the anxiety
      component of passive behaviour in novel surroundings. 

PMID- 20926947
TI  - Inhibitory avoidance memory deficit induced by scopolamine: interaction with
      glutamatergic system in the nucleus accumbens.
AB  - The possible involvement of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors of the nucleus
      accumbens (NAc) in amnesia induced by scopolamine was investigated. An inhibitory
      (passive) avoidance task was used for memory assessment in male Wistar rats. The
      results revealed that intra-NAc administration of a nonselective muscarinic
      acetylcholine antagonist, scopolamine (1 and 2 g/rat) impaired memory
      consolidation in the animals when tested 24 h later. Post-training intra-NAc
      administration of NMDA (0.005 and 0.01 g/rat) also impaired memory consolidation,
      whereas post-training intra-NAc administration of the NMDA receptor antagonist,
      MK-801 (0.5, 1 and 1.5 g/rat) did not. Intra-NAc co-administration of an
      ineffective dose of NMDA with ineffective doses of scopolamine (0.25 and 0.5
      g/rat) after training had no significant effect on memory consolidation, but
      intra-NAc injections of effective doses of NMDA (0.005 and 0.01 g/rat) prevented
      the amnesic effect of an effective dose of scopolamine (2 g/rat). In contrast,
      intra-NAc co-administration of MK-801 (0.5, 1 and 1.5 g/rat) along with an
      effective dose of scopolamine (2 g/rat) did not prevent the effect of the latter
      drug. It can be concluded that NMDA receptors in the NAc are involved in the
      modulation of memory consolidation that was affected by scopolamine. 

PMID- 20926948
TI  - The effects of spironolactone on atrial remodeling in patients with preserved
      left ventricular function after an acute myocardial infarction: a randomized
      follow-up study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Atrial remodeling is an important part of cardiac remodeling after
      acute myocardial infarction (AMI). The aim of this study was to evaluate the
      effect of spironolactone on atria in patients with preserved left ventricular
      (LV) functions after AMI by using two-dimensional and tissue Doppler imaging
      techniques (TDI). METHODS: The study consisted of 110 patients with AMI,
      successfully revascularized with percutaneous coronary intervention, ejection
      fraction greater than or equal to 40%, and Killip class I-II. Patients were
      randomized into two groups: conventional therapy (n=55) and additional
      spironolactone of 25 mg/day with standard conventional therapy (n=55).
      Echocardiography was performed in the first 48-72 h of AMI and during 6 months of
      follow-up. Left atrial volume index and emptying fraction were obtained. The peak
      regional atrial contraction velocity, the time between the onset of p-wave on the
      monitor ECG and the onset, peak, and the end (TE) of the atrial contraction wave
      on the tissue Doppler technique curve were measured. RESULTS: The left atrial
      volume index and left atrium (LA) dimensions did not significantly change in
      either group. In the spironolactone group, left atrial emptying fraction
      increased compared with both baseline value (from 53.0 +/- 0.16 to 57.0 +/- 0.13
      P=0.011) and conventional therapy group (from 50.0 +/- 0.17 to 47.0 +/- 0.16,
      P=0.013). The atrial contraction velocity did not change but the LA-TE,
      interatrial septum-TE, and right atrium-TE were prolonged in the conventional
      therapy group. CONCLUSION: Additional spironolactone therapy provided a little
      benefit on LA remodeling and atrial electromechanic properties in patients with
      AMI and preserved LV functions.

PMID- 20926949
TI  - Serum choline levels in patients with stable angina and acute coronary syndromes:
      relation to the severity of coronary artery disease.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We sought to investigate whether serum choline levels are increased
      across the spectrum of coronary artery disease (CAD) manifestations and correlate
      with the severity of coronary stenosis. METHODS: A total of 36 patients with
      acute coronary syndrome (ACS) [22 patients with non-ST-segment elevation ACS and
      14 patients with ST-segment elevation acute myocardial infarction (STEMI)], 22
      patients with stable angina pectoris (SAP), and 18 controls were recruited for
      the study. In ACS patients, serum choline levels were measured on admission, and
      at 24 and 48 h thereafter, using high-performance liquid chromatography. The
      severity of CAD was assessed using the Gensini score. RESULTS: Serum choline
      levels on admission were significantly higher in the entire group of patients
      with ACS than in controls. The highest level of choline was observed in the STEMI
      group, followed by the SAP, and the non-ST-segment elevation ACS groups. Serum
      choline levels decreased gradually in patients with STEMI over the 48-h period.
      Serum choline levels on admission, and at 24 or 48 h thereafter, did not
      correlate with the presence of CAD neither in patients with ACS (P=0.78, 0.98 and
      0.98, respectively) nor in those with SAP (P=0.92). CONCLUSION: Our results
      suggest that serum choline levels are increased in ACS patients. However, there
      was no clear correlation between levels of choline and the severity and extent of
      CAD in this patient group.

PMID- 20926950
TI  - Adjunctive pharmacologic therapy in percutaneous coronary intervention: part I
      antiplatelet therapy.
AB  - Ischemic heart disease is a major cause of morbidity and mortality throughout the
      world. Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) has rapidly evolved from balloon
      angioplasty to drug-eluting stents over the past 25 years and has become an
      important treatment option for coronary heart disease. During PCI,
      atherosclerotic plaque disruption and the endothelium denudation stimulate both
      platelet aggregation and the thrombus generation. Therefore, pharmacological
      adjuvant therapies to protect the procedure-related thrombotic complication
      during PCI are indispensable. In addition to aspirin, whose benefit has been
      clearly shown in ischemic heart disease, clopidogrel and prasugrel have shown to
      dramatically reduce the rate of thrombosis after stent placement. The
      introduction of glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitors has further improved the results
      of PCI especially in high-risk patients. In addition, several new drugs with
      antiplatelet or with antithrombin activities are currently under development.

PMID- 20926951
TI  - A summer of cricket: prospective evaluation of all contacts with medical services
      at Edgbaston cricket ground during summer 2009.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Crowd contact rates with medical services at cricket matches are
      unknown. The aim of this study was to detail every contact made with medical
      services at an international test cricket ground, whether medical or not.
      METHODS: Prospective, observational study of 22 matches, from county to
      international level, over the 2009 summer cricket season at Edgbaston Cricket
      Ground, Birmingham, UK. RESULTS: Four hundred and forty-four contacts from 22
      matches attended by 183 387 spectators produced an incidence rate of 24/10 000.
      Nearly three-quarters of contacts were male (74%, n=325) and the mean age was 36
      years (95% confidence interval 35-38 years). Contact rates increased with crowd
      size (Pearson's coefficient 0.877, P<0.001). The majority of the presentations
      were for new illness or injury [262 (59%)]. There was a high proportion of
      'opportunistic' presentations [111 (25%)], which included advice or treatment for
      existing wounds or injuries, requests to use medical facilities (e.g. injecting
      insulin) and nonmedical contacts (e.g. repair of clothes). Eighteen patients were
      either sent home directly, to a minor injuries unit or to hospital. Seven
      ambulance transfers to hospital were required [2% (7/444)]. CONCLUSION: Contact
      rates with medical services at cricket matches were high (24/10 000 spectators),
      probably because of longer and multiday events. Match day services are often used
      for opportunistic and nonmedical contacts at large sports stadia, which produced
      nearly one-quarter of contacts over a summer of cricket at Edgbaston. This study
      adds unique and comprehensive data of medical requirements for crowds at all-day
      and multiday events.

PMID- 20926952
TI  - The relative efficacy of adenosine versus verapamil for the treatment of stable
      paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia in adults: a meta-analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Verapamil and adenosine are the most common agents used to treat
      paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia (PSVT). We performed a systematic review
      and meta-analysis to determine the relative effectiveness of these drugs and to
      examine their respective adverse effect profiles. METHODS: We searched MEDLINE,
      EMBASE, CINAHL, the Cochrane database, and international clinical trial registers
      for randomized controlled trials comparing adenosine (or adenosine compounds)
      with verapamil for the treatment of PSVT in stable adult patients. The primary
      outcome was rate of reversion to sinus rhythm. Secondary outcome was occurrence
      of pooled adverse events. Odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were
      calculated using a random effects model (RevMan v5). RESULTS: Eight trials were
      appropriate and had the available data. The reversion rate for adenosine was
      90.8% (95% CI: 87.3-93.4%) compared with 89.9% for verapamil (95% CI: 86.0
      92.9%). The pooled odds ratio for successful reversion was 1.27 (95% CI: 0.63
      2.57) favouring adenosine. This was not statistically significant. There was a
      higher rate of minor adverse effects described with adenosine (16.7-76%) compared
      with verapamil (0-9.9%). The rate of hypotension was lower with adenosine [0.6%
      (95% CI: 0.1-2.4%)] compared with verapamil [3.7% (95% CI: 1.9-6.9%)].
      CONCLUSION: Adenosine and verapamil have similar efficacy in treating PSVT.
      Adenosine has a higher rate of minor adverse effects, and of overall adverse
      effects, whereas verapamil has a higher rate of causing hypotension. A decision
      between the two agents should be made on a case-by-case basis and ideally involve
      informed discussion with the patient where appropriate.

PMID- 20926953
TI  - Osteoporosis in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis.
AB  - Metabolic bone disease has been recognized as an important complication of
      chronic liver disease particularly in cholestatic disorders [primary biliary
      cirrhosis (PBC) and primary sclerosing cholangitis] and after liver
      transplantation. It includes osteoporosis and more rarely osteomalacia, which is
      more frequent in severe malabsorption and advanced liver disease. The
      pathogenesis of this disorder is complex and is likely to be multifactorial.
      Regardless of the etiology of osteoporosis in PBC patients, they have an
      increased risk of spontaneous or low-trauma fracturing leading to significant
      patient morbidity, deterioration of quality of life, and even patient mortality.
      The development of bone densitometry has allowed assessment of bone mass and then
      contributed in estimating the fracture risk. The gold standard of bone mineral
      density measurement is currently the dual- energy X-ray absorptiometry.
      Recommendations formulated by the World Health Organization have reported the
      diagnostic ranges of osteoporosis based on the t-score: patient with osteoporosis
      has a t-score less than -2.5 SD, osteopenia has a t-score between -1.0 and -2.5
      SD and a normal individual has a t-score more than -1.0 SD. The risk of fracture
      shows a correlation with bone mineral density but no fracture threshold was
      determined and the best site of characterizing the hip fracture risk is the
      measure of the bone mineral density of the proximal femur. The treatment of
      osteoporosis in patients with PBC is largely based on trials of patients with
      postmenopausal osteoporosis as there are a few and smaller studies of
      osteoporotic patients with PBC. Bisphosphonates seem to be effective in biliary
      disease and are more tolerated.

PMID- 20926954
TI  - Tuberculosis in patients receiving antiretroviral treatment: incidence, risk
      factors, and prevention strategies.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine tuberculosis (TB) incidence rates and risk factors among
      individuals receiving antiretroviral treatment (ART). DESIGN: Observational
      cohort in Johannesburg, South Africa. METHODS: Incident TB was classified as
      early (less than 6 months of ART) or late (greater than 6 months of ART) incident
      TB. CD4 cell counts, viral load, body mass index, and hemoglobin were measured 6
      monthly. Hazard ratios for factors associated with early and late incident TB
      were assessed using Cox proportional hazards regression. RESULTS: During 13,416
      person-years of follow-up, 501 TB cases occurred among 7536 individuals,
      corresponding to a 10% risk in the first 4 years of ART and an overall incidence
      rate of 4.2 cases/100 person-years. The highest incidence rate (21.7 per 100
      person-years) was observed in the first 3 months of ART among people with CD4
      count below 50 cells/mm3. Low baseline CD4 count, anemia, and low body mass index
      were the strongest risk factors for early incident TB. Low updated CD4 count, low
      updated body mass index, anemia, and high viral load on ART were strong risk
      factors for late incident TB. CONCLUSIONS: Severity of HIV disease and
      unfavorable response to ART are associated with early and late incident TB,
      respectively. Early ART initiation and intensified TB screening at ART initiation
      are crucial to reduce incident TB.

PMID- 20926956
TI  - Self-evaluation of the cognitive effects of electroconvulsive therapy.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Using standard self-evaluation questionnaires, numerous studies have
      found that subjective memory improves shortly after electroconvulsive therapy
      (ECT). This change covaries strongly with depression severity and is not
      associated with objective amnestic effects or treatment parameters. We examined
      subjective evaluations of ECT's cognitive effects using a novel interview that
      directly inquired about global impact, in contrast to the standard method of
      inquiring about specific aspects of cognition. METHODS: We conducted a
      prospective, randomized, double-masked trial comparing the effects of pulse width
      (0.3 vs 1.5 milliseconds) and electrode placement (right unilateral vs bilateral)
      on cognitive outcomes. Subjective evaluations were obtained before and during the
      week after the randomized ECT course, using the Cognitive Failures Questionnaire,
      the Squire Memory Complaint Questionnaire, and the novel Global Self-Evaluation
      of Memory. An extensive neuropsychological battery was administered at these time
      points. RESULTS: Cognitive Failures Questionnaire and Squire Memory Complaint
      Questionnaire scores improved at post-ECT relative to pre-ECT, strongly covaried
      with depression severity (24-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale scores) but
      not with objective amnestic deficits or treatment parameters. In contrast, the
      treatment conditions differed in post-ECT Global Self-Evaluation of Memory
      scores, and these scores were associated with objective amnestic effects.
      CONCLUSIONS: In contrast to standard methods, direct questioning about global
      impact resulted in more negative views about ECT's cognitive effects, concordance
      with objective cognitive measures, and differences among treatment conditions.
      Patients may be more accurate in their assessment of ECT's adverse effects than
      had previously been suggested.

PMID- 20926955
TI  - Dissociation of CD154 and cytokine expression patterns in CD38+ CD4+ memory T
      cells in chronic HIV-1 infection.
AB  - Expression of the activation antigen CD38 on T cells is a strong predictor of the
      risk of HIV disease progression, but it is not known whether CD38 is a marker or
      mediator of dysfunction. We examined the relationship between CD38 expression and
      responses to T-cell receptor stimulation in central memory and effector memory
      CD4 T cells in HIV-infected persons and in healthy controls. Basal CD38
      expression was preserved by blocking golgi transport with brefeldin A.
      Intracellular expression of interleukin 2, interferon gamma, and CD154 was
      measured after stimulating peripheral blood mononuclear cells with the
      superantigen staphylococcal enterotoxin B with or without anti-CD28
      costimulation. Interferon-gamma responses were comparable or increased in
      stimulated CD38 memory cells, and the interleukin 2 responses of costimulated
      CD38 central memory cells were decreased in HIV infection. In CD38 cells and
      especially in CD38 cells of HIV-infected persons, stimulated memory cells more
      often failed to express CD154 (CD40 ligand) when induced to express cytokine. A
      dissociated cytokine and CD154 expression by memory CD4 T cells may impair
      interactions between T cells and antigen-presenting cells, contribute to impaired
      immunity and help explain the relationship between CD38 expression and disease
      progression in chronic HIV infection.

PMID- 20926957
TI  - 7-year survey after percutaneous dilatational tracheotomy on a medical intensive
      care unit.
AB  - PURPOSE: Percutaneous dilatational tracheotomy (PDT) is a well-established
      procedure in intensive care medicine. Several reports confirm a low acute and
      long-term complication rate. However, dilatational tracheotomy is still often
      postponed even in patients that are under ventilator support for more than 2
      weeks. We present a retrospective study analyzing the subjective long-term
      results after percutaneous tracheotomy performed at our medical intensive care
      unit between 2002 and 2008. METHODS: We used a modified method described by
      Ciaglia for tracheotomy. We selected 649 patients eligible for the survey among
      those who had received PDT between 2002 and 2008 and had been dismissed from
      hospital alive. RESULTS: The return rate was 38.5% with 29.8% of the
      questionnaires being completed by the patients; in 32 cases, relatives reported
      of the patients' death. No patient experienced wound infection; none needed
      surgical wound revision. Dysarthria was reversible in all 16 cases; 2 patients
      reported a persistent hoarseness that was preexisting in both cases. One patient
      experienced a tracheal stenosis and received a tracheal stent; one other required
      a permanent tracheotomy because of a nonresectable granulation tissue. The
      overall rate of long-term complications associated with the long-term ventilation
      and the PDT was 1.8%. CONCLUSIONS: Percutaneous dilatational tracheotomy is an
      easily performed, cost-saving method for long-term ventilated patients with a low
      rate of acute and long-term complications even in old and multimorbid internal
      medicine patients.

PMID- 20926958
TI  - The risks and benefits of a modified digital tourniquet.

PMID- 20926959
TI  - Suprapatellar versus infra-patellar intramedullary nail insertion of the tibia: a
      cadaveric model for comparison of patellofemoral contact pressures and forces.
AB  - PURPOSE: To quantify patellofemoral contact pressures and forces during
      infrapatellar (IP) and suprapatellar (SP) intramedullary tibial nail insertion.
      METHODS: Fresh-frozen hemicadavers with intact lower extremities and pelves were
      used for this study. A standard IP entry portal was used on nine tibiae, whereas
      an SP entry portal was used in eight tibiae. A digital electronic pressure sensor
      system was used to dynamically measure peak pressures within the patellofemoral
      joint during each procedure. Data were continuously recorded from the start to
      completion of each procedure. Mean pressure and force as well as peak contact
      pressures recorded were then compared between the two techniques. RESULTS: Mean
      patellofemoral pressures and forces as well as peak contact pressures were higher
      in the SP group than the IP group. The mean peak contact pressure was 0.90 MPa
      (range, 0.48-1.26 MPa) during IP nailing. The mean peak contact pressure on the
      patella and femoral condyles was 1.84 MPa (range, 1.09-2.95 MPa) and 2.13 MPa
      (range, 1.10-2.86 MPa), respectively, during SP nailing. CONCLUSIONS: It is known
      that structural integrity of articular cartilage is compromised at impact loads
      exceeding 25 MPa, and chondrocyte apoptosis can occur at sustained loads of as
      little as 4.5 MPa in immature bovine cartilage. The results of this study
      indicate that although the patellofemoral contact pressures are higher with SP
      nail insertion, they remain below the values reported to be detrimental to
      articular cartilage. Based on these data, we do not believe that the SP entry
      portal poses a significant risk to the viability or structural integrity of the
      articular cartilage of the patellofemoral joint. Clinical correlation is needed.

PMID- 20926960
TI  - Stiffness of knee-spanning external fixation systems for traumatic knee
      dislocations: a biomechanical study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to compare the relative stiffness of
      four common external fixation (XF) configurations used to span and stabilize the
      knee after knee dislocation. METHODS: Synthetic composite femora and tibiae
      connected with cords were used to simulate a knee. Four configurations of
      external fixation were tested: anterior femoral pins with monotube (XF1),
      anterolateral femoral pins with monotube (XF2), anterolateral femoral pins with
      two connecting rods (XF3), and hinged ring fixator (XF4). Six specimens of each
      configuration were loaded nondestructively in varus/valgus, anterior-to-posterior
      shear, flexion/extension, axial compression, internal/external torsion, and
      failure in varus. RESULTS: XF2 was stiffer than XF1 in varus, valgus, and axial
      loading (P < 0.01) demonstrating that anterolateral pins provided greater
      stiffness than anterior femoral pins. XF3 was stiffer than XF2 in varus, valgus,
      and anterior-to-posterior shear (P < 0.002), indicating that two connecting rods
      provided greater stiffness than the monotube. XF4 was similar to the other
      configurations in anterior-to-posterior shear and torsion, indicating the hinged
      frame provided adequate stability. The average load to failure in varus mode was
      250 N-m, which was far beyond the nondestructive loading of all specimens. There
      was no statistical difference between the different constructs in load to
      failure. CONCLUSIONS: The stiffest construct for external fixation of a knee
      dislocation was achieved when pins were placed anterior lateral on the femur and
      two connecting rods were used. A stiffer construct may provide a better clinical
      outcome and we therefore recommend this frame configuration.

PMID- 20926961
TI  - Dorsalis pedis artery pseudoaneurysm after Lisfranc surgery.
AB  - We present a 44-year-old man who sustained a Lisfranc dislocation complicated by
      a dorsalis pedis pseudoaneurysm. This case represents a rare complication of a
      commonly performed orthopaedic procedure.

PMID- 20926962
TI  - Does the zone of injury in combat-related Type III open tibia fractures preclude
      the use of local soft tissue coverage?
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Does the large zone of injury in high-energy, combat-related open
      tibia fractures limit the effectiveness of rotational flap coverage? DESIGN:
      Retrospective consecutive series. SETTING: This study was conducted at Brooke
      Army Medical Center, Walter Reed Army Medical Center, and National Naval Medical
      Center between March 2003 and September 2007. PATIENTS/PARTICIPANTS: We
      identified 67 extremities requiring a coverage procedure out of 213 consecutive
      combat-related Type III open diaphyseal tibia fractures. INTERVENTION: The 67
      Type III B tibia fractures were treated with rotational or free flap coverage.
      MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Flap failure, reoperation, infection, amputation, time to
      union, and visual pain scale. RESULTS: There were no differences between the free
      and rotational flap cohorts with respect to demographic information, injury
      characteristics, or treatment before coverage. The reoperation and amputation
      rates were significantly lower for the rotational coverage group (30% and 9%)
      compared with the free flap group (64% and 36%; P = 0.05 and P = 0.03,
      respectively). The coverage failure rate was also lower for the rotational flap
      cohort (7% versus 27%, P = 0.08). The average time to fracture union for the free
      flap group was 9.5 months (range, 5-15.8 months) and 10.5 months (range, 3-41
      months) for the rotational flap group (P = 0.99). CONCLUSIONS: There was a
      significantly lower amputation and reoperation rate for patients treated with
      rotational coverage. Contrary to our hypothesis and previous reports, the zone of
      injury in combat-related open tibia fractures does not preclude the use of local
      rotational coverage when practicable.

PMID- 20926963
TI  - The retropatellar portal as an alternative site for tibial nail insertion: a
      cadaveric study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To define spatial relationships between major intra-articular
      structures of the knee and the entry site of a tibial nail inserted using a
      retropatellar portal. DESIGN: Cadaveric study using 16 fresh-frozen limbs.
      SETTING: University-affiliated cadaver and anatomy laboratory. RESULTS: The mean
      distance of the nail entry site and the medial and lateral menisci were 6.6 +/-
      3.2 mm and 6.4 +/- 4.4 mm, respectively. The distance to the medial and lateral
      articular surfaces were 5.6 +/- 3.6 mm and 7.4 +/- 4.2 mm, respectively. The mean
      distance to the anterior cruciate ligament footprint was 7.5 +/- 3.5 mm. The
      lateral meniscus was never injured during the procedure. The anterior cruciate
      ligament was undisturbed in all specimens. The medial meniscus was injured 1 to 2
      mm in 12.5% of specimens. The intermeniscal ligament was injured 1 to 2 mm in
      81.2% of the specimens. CONCLUSION: The intermeniscal ligament and medial
      meniscus are at the most risk during intramedullary nailing of the tibia using
      the retropatellar technique. This may be corrected by avoiding an excessively
      medial start point. Damage to the intermeniscal ligament and medial meniscus
      occurs more commonly with the retropatellar portal, but this damage was never
      more than 1 to 2 mm. This risk, however, appears similar to the pattern and
      incidence of injury that occurred in prior studies investigating tibial nail
      insertion through a standard patellar tendon approach. The retropatellar
      technique demands clinical investigation to further define both its safety and
      its use.

PMID- 20926964
TI  - Extruded osteoarticular distal tibia: success at 18-month follow-up with
      reimplantation.
AB  - Extruded bone is a rare complication of open fractures associated with high
      energy. We describe a case of bony extrusion involving an osteoarticular segment
      of distal tibial treated with reimplantation and internal fixation with 18-month
      follow-up.

PMID- 20926965
TI  - Retropatellar technique for intramedullary nailing of proximal tibia fractures: a
      cadaveric assessment.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate if the radiographically correct and anatomically safe
      starting point and the appropriate sagittal plane vector could be obtained using
      a retropatellar technique for proximal tibia fractures treated with an
      intramedullary device. METHODS: We performed a cadaveric and radiographic study
      utilizing 16 limbs. We performed a retropatellar approach via longitudinal
      quadriceps split, passed a specialized trocar through the patellofemoral joint
      and onto the superior aspect of the tibia, and inserted Kirschner wires into the
      anatomic safe zone of the tibial plateau at 0, 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 degrees of
      knee flexion utilizing biplanar fluoroscopy. We recorded knee flexion with a
      goniometer and the entrance vector of the Kirschner wire in relation to the
      anterior tibial cortex. SETTING: University-affiliated cadaver and anatomy
      laboratory. RESULTS: There was a progressive increase in the ability to obtain
      the correct anatomical start site from 1 of 16 (6.25%) at full extension to 12 of
      16 (75%) at 50 degrees of knee flexion (P = 0.00098). A statistically significant
      decrease in the average sagittal plane entrance vector in relation to the
      anterior tibial cortex was found from 23.1 degrees at full extension to -0.41
      degrees at 50 degrees of knee flexion (P < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: The
      retropatellar technique allows the radiographically defined correct start site to
      be localized, particularly at higher degrees of knee flexion. More favorable
      intramedullary nail insertion angles were possible with the retropatellar
      technique, particularly with knee flexion angles greater than 20 degrees. The
      retropatellar technique demands further investigations to further delineate its
      advantages, limitations, and possible risks to local anatomy.

PMID- 20926966
TI  - Repeated bout effect is not correlated with intraindividual variability during
      muscle-damaging exercise.
AB  - The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that the repeated bout effect
      depends on intraindividual variability during a second bout of eccentric
      exercise. Eleven healthy men performed 2 resistance training bouts consisting of
      maximal eccentric exercise (EE1 and EE2) using the knee extensor muscles. The
      interval between the exercise bouts was 2 weeks and consisted of 10 sets of 12
      repetitions at 160 degrees  . s(-1). Maximal isokinetic concentric torque at 30
      degrees  . s(-1) was measured before the bouts and 2 minutes and 24 hours
      thereafter. Muscle soreness score and creatine kinase activity were determined
      before and after exercise. Intraindividual variability in torque during each
      eccentric repetition was measured during exercise. Repeated bout effect
      manifested after EE2: Muscle soreness was less, the shift in optimal knee joint
      angle to a longer muscle length was less, and the decrease in isokinetic
      concentric torque 2 minutes after exercise was less for EE2 compared with that
      for EE1. During concentric (isokinetic) contraction, length-dependent changes in
      isokinetic torque (IT) occurred after both EE1 and EE2: The shorter the muscle
      length, the greater the change in IT. There was a significant relationship
      between the decrease in maximal isokinetic knee extension torque 24 hours after
      EE1 and intraindividual variability of EE1 (R2 = 0.71, p < 0.05), but this
      relationship was not significant for EE2 (R2 = 0.18). It seems that
      intraindividual variability during eccentric exercise protects against muscle
      fatigue and damage during the first exercise bout but not during a repeat bout.
      These findings may be useful to coaches who wish to improve muscle function in
      resistance training with less depression in muscle function and discomfort of
      their athletes, specifically, when muscle is most sensitive to muscle-damaging
      exercise.

PMID- 20926967
TI  - Effect of varying rest intervals between sets of assistance exercises on creatine
      kinase and lactate dehydrogenase responses.
AB  - To examine the effects of different rest intervals between sets on serum creatine
      kinase (CK) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity, 10 men (age = 25.6 +/- 2.2
      years, height = 173.1 +/- 7.1 cm, and body mass = 75.9 +/- 10.0 kg) participated
      in a randomized within-subject design that involved 4 resistance exercise
      sessions. Each session consisted of 4 sets of 10 repetitions with 10 repetition
      maximum loads for the chest press, pullover, biceps curl, triceps extension, leg
      extension, and prone leg curl. The sessions differed only in the length of the
      rest interval between sets and exercises, specifically: 60, 90, 120, 180 seconds.
      Serum CK and LDH were significantly (p < 0.05) elevated 24-72 hours after each
      session, with no significant differences between rest intervals (p = 0.94 and p =
      0.99, respectively). The mechanical stress imposed by the 4 resistance exercise
      sessions invoked similar damage to the muscle fibers independent of the rest
      interval between sets. These data indicate that the accumulated volume of work is
      the primary determinant of muscle damage in trained subjects who are accustomed
      to resistance exercise with short rest intervals.

PMID- 20926968
TI  - Exercise-induced inspiratory muscle fatigue during swimming: the effect of race
      distance.
AB  - Exercise-induced inspiratory muscle fatigue (IMF) has been quantified for several
      sports. However, it is not yet known if, or to what extent, IMF is determined by
      the competition distance. The aim of the present study was to assess the
      influence of 3 different competitive front-crawl swimming race distances on the
      magnitude of IMF. Ten well-trained swimmers from a local swim team participated
      in the study and on separate days completed maximal 100-, 200-, and 400-m time
      trials (TTs). Before and after each trial, maximal inspiratory pressure (MIP) was
      measured and %IMF determined from pre- and post-time-trial differences in MIP.
      The heart rate (HR) and rate of perceived dyspnea (RPD) was also assessed. For
      all distances, posttrial MIP was lower than pretrial MIP, though this was only
      significant for 100 m (p < 0.05). There were no differences between distances for
      absolute posttrial MIP. The %IMF after the 100-m TT (8.2 +/- 4.1%) was, however,
      significantly greater than the 400 m (4.9 +/- 3.8%) TT (p < 0.05) but not 200-m
      TT. There were no differences between trials for HR or RPD (p > 0.05). There were
      no relationships between %IMF and mean pretrial MIP (r = -0.28, p > 0.05) or
      between %IMF and time for any TT (100 m, r = 0.25; 200 m, r = 0.34; 400 m r =
      0.18; p > 0.05). The lack of difference between trials for posttrial absolute MIP
      suggests that race distance during swimming does not substantially influence the
      degree of IMF.

PMID- 20926969
TI  - Another great idea from a nurse.

PMID- 20926970
TI  - Reducing neonatal pain during routine heel lance procedures.
AB  - PURPOSE: To measure the difference in pain scores for newborns who were held and
      swaddled while undergoing routine heel lance procedures compared to newborns who
      were lying on their backs and not swaddled during heel lance. Additionally, we
      sought to compare the total amount of time it took to collect the specimens in
      each group. DESIGN AND METHODS: A total of 42 neonates recruited from a large
      tertiary hospital were enrolled in a randomized controlled trial. Infants in the
      experimental group (n = 22) were swaddled and held in an upright position during
      routine heel lance procedures while neonates in the control group (n = 20)
      remained in a standard care position. Pain was measured with the Neonatal
      Inventory Pain Scale (NIPS) at two points in time for each group (just before the
      heel lance procedure and at the completion of the heel lance). Total collection
      time was measured using a stopwatch accurate to 1/100th of a second. Specimen
      quality was measured based on the number of rejected specimens for each group.
      Descriptive statistics and t tests were used to analyze the data. RESULTS: The
      mean NIPS score for neonates who were swaddled and held during the procedure
      (experimental group) was significantly lower (M = 1.3, SD = .9) than the score
      for infants in the standard position (control group) (M = 2.7, SD = 1.3), t (40)
      = -4.48, p < .001. Although the total collection time was lower for infants who
      were swaddled (2 minutes and 17 seconds, SD = 59) versus (2 minutes and 47
      seconds, SD = 85) for controls, this was not a statistically significant
      difference (p = .45). CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: Swaddling combined with positioning
      neonates upright during routine heel lance procedures offers nurses a
      nonpharmacologic method of neonatal pain reduction for heel sticks. This
      technique can be easily implemented on any unit independent of facility
      protocols. Furthermore, the technique is not associated with any cost or policy
      development, making it more likely that nurses can use it in practice.

PMID- 20926971
TI  - Leptin and its intracellular signaling pathway maintains the neurosphere.
AB  - Leptin is associated with the maintenance of epidermal growth factor (EGF)
      reactive neural lineage cells, including the neural progenitors. One-day
      treatment with leptin (10, 100, or 1000 ng/ml) followed by EGF treatment
      increased the number of small-sized and mid-sized colonies compared with the
      nonleptin treatment. Leptin prevented the inactivation of the
      phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3 K) and extracellular signal regulated kinase
      (ERK) pathways in neurosphere cells cultured in the non-EGF medium.
      Bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) incorporation into the neurosphere cells induced by
      leptin was suppressed by LY294002, a PI3 K inhibitor, but not by U0126, a MEK1/2
      inhibitor, which activates ERK1/2, although U0126 decreased phosphorylated
      extracellular signal regulated kinase levels. These results suggest that leptin
      maintains the self-renewal ability and EGF reactivity of immature neural lineage
      cells and the signal is mediated, at least in part, by the PI3 K pathway.

PMID- 20926972
TI  - Neuronal collagen XVII is localized to lipofuscin granules.
AB  - We have earlier shown that collagen XVII is expressed by neurons in the human
      brain, although its exact intracellular location and function have remained
      unknown. In this study we have localized collagen XVII specifically to neuronal
      lipofuscin granules using electron microscopy in autopsy samples from the human
      brainstem. Our results show that collagen XVII expression is mainly confined to
      an ultrastructurally definable, specific type of lipofuscin granule. The function
      of neuronal collagen XVII remains unclear. However, as the functional
      significance of lipofuscin remains debated, the presence of collagen XVII in just
      some types of lipofuscin may be helpful in the process of exploring the variety
      of neuronal, age-related lipopigments, which are as yet defined operationally
      rather than functionally or structurally.

PMID- 20926973
TI  - Intense dopamine innervation of the subventricular zone in Huntington's disease.
AB  - Dopamine exerts a robust promoting effect on adult neurogenesis. Here, we report
      the presence of an intense dopamine (tyrosine hydroxylase immunoreactive) zone
      along the ventricular border of the caudate nucleus in patients with Huntington's
      disease, but not in age-matched controls. This thin (150-400 microm)
      paraventricular zone was composed of numerous small and densely packed dopamine
      axon varicosities and overlapped the deep layers of the subventricular zone.
      Immunoreactivity in the paraventricular zone was 50% higher than in adjacent
      striatal areas. This intense dopamine zone concurs with the striking increase of
      neurogenesis noted in the subventricular zone of Huntington's disease patients
      and indicates that dopamine might play a crucial role in intrinsic mechanisms
      designed to compensate for the massive striatal neuronal losses that occur in
      Huntington's disease.

PMID- 20926974
TI  - Expression of connexin29 and 32 in the penumbra region after traumatic brain
      injury of mice.
AB  - Connexins (Cx) are transmembrane proteins forming vertebrate gap junction
      channels for direct cell-cell communication. We found that the expressions of two
      Cx family members, Cx29 and Cx32, were progressively increased in the sharp
      border of injury penumbra regions after cryotraumatic brain injury. Although
      these two Cxs are expressed exclusively in the oligodendrocytes in the normal
      cerebral cortex, their expressions were increased in the astrocytes and microglia
      localized in the injury border. Highly selective induction of Cxs in the injury
      border suggests that altered Cxs may contribute to the propagations of injury
      related and/or regeneration signals after acute brain injury.

PMID- 20926975
TI  - Chronic pedunculopontine nucleus stimulation restores functional connectivity.
AB  - The mechanisms of deep brain stimulation (DBS) are poorly understood. Earlier,
      high-frequency DBS has been thought to represent a depolarization block of the
      target area and low-frequency stimulation has been thought to 'drive' neuronal
      activity. We investigated the long-term effect of low-frequency DBS in a
      longitudinal imaging study of a patient who received bilateral pedunculopontine
      nucleus stimulation. We used the diffusion tensor imaging techniques including
      probabilistic tractography and topographic mapping to analyze long-term changes
      in connectivity with low-frequency DBS. Post-DBS connectivity analysis suggested
      a normalization of pathological pedunculopontine nucleus connectivity with DBS
      therapy. These findings may help elucidate the mechanisms of DBS, suggesting
      neuroplasticity involving a reorganization of target connectivity long term. This
      is the first reported case showing neuroimaging evidence of neuroplasticity after
      low-frequency DBS.

PMID- 20926976
TI  - Monitoring of 2-deoxy-2-[18F]fluoro-D-glucose uptake in tumor-bearing mice using
      high-sensitivity projection imaging: compared with PET imaging.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the feasibility of using high-sensitivity projection
      [F]fluoro-deoxyglucose imaging to monitor chemotherapeutic efficacy in BALB/c
      mice bearing CT-26 tumor implants. METHODS: A planar positron imaging system
      (PPIS)-4800 and a microPET R4 were used for projection and tomographic imaging,
      respectively. Six disks filled with different volumes of F-FDG solution were
      scanned by PPIS for calibration check. Tumor-bearing mice were treated with
      saline (control) or cyclophosphamide by intraperitoneal injections. Tumor
      responses were evaluated by both PPIS and microPET imaging. RESULTS: The disk
      activity ratios obtained from PPIS were 1.00: 1.30: 1.98: 2.48: 2.73: 3.53 with
      corresponding volume ratios of 1.0: 1.5: 2.0: 2.5: 3.0: 3.5. PPIS imaging in
      tumor-bearing mice showed that the tumor/non-tumor ratios were 1.62, 2.12, 3.03,
      4.46, and 3.61 on days 7, 10, 13, 17, and 20, respectively, after tumor
      inoculation. In addition, PPIS was used to monitor the chemotherapeutic effect of
      cyclophosphamide on tumor-bearing mice. The correlation coefficients between the
      tumor sizes and tumor/non-tumor ratios for microPET and PPIS were 0.63 and 0.72,
      respectively, in the control group, and were 0.98 and 0.81, respectively, in the
      cyclophosphamide-treated group. CONCLUSION: This study showed that PPIS imaging
      is a feasible modality for monitoring tumor responses. These results suggest that
      PPIS, a potential high-throughput screening imaging system, may be used for the
      preclinical evaluation of tumor response to new anticancer drugs using murine
      tumor models.

PMID- 20926977
TI  - Utility of fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography in the identification
      of new lesions in lung cancer patients for the assessment of therapy response.
AB  - PURPOSE: Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors Version 1.1 (RECIST 1.1)
      has added positron emission tomography (PET) as an optional complement for the
      detection of new lesions. In this study, we evaluate the utility of
      fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG)-PET in the identification of new lesions and progressive
      disease not recognized on computed tomography (CT) in patients with nonsmall cell
      lung cancer (NSCLC) undergoing therapy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Seventy patients
      (30 female, 40 male; mean age 67+/-14 years, range, 39-94 years) with NSCLC
      underwent FDG-PET before and after chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy, whereas 69
      patients underwent CT imaging. Overall (OS) and progression-free survivals (PFS)
      were calculated for RECIST 1.1 with CT alone, RECIST 1.1 with PET for the
      identification of new lesions, visual PET, and semiquantitative PET using a
      change in standardized uptake value ranging from -15 to -50%. RESULTS: PET
      identified new lesions in 26 patients, resulting in 10 patients (14.5%) being
      upgraded to progressive disease. The combination of CT and PET for the detection
      of new lesions improved the prediction of survival (OS: P=0.0491 for all stages
      and P=0.0033 for stage IV; PFS: P=0.0045 for stage IV) compared with CT imaging
      alone (OS: P=0.1362 for all stages and P=0.1625 for stage IV; PFS: P=0.0632 for
      stage IV). Furthermore, a change in standardized uptake value of -35% was the
      most discriminative for the prediction of survival for the semiquantitative PET
      approach (OS: P=0.0393 for all stages, P=0.0051 for stage IV; PFS: P=0.0092 for
      stage IV) and more discriminative than the visual PET approach (OS: P=0.2699 for
      all stages, P=0.0105 for stage IV; PFS: P=0.014 for stage IV). CONCLUSION: FDG
      PET is helpful in identifying new lesions in NSCLC patients, resulting in the
      improved assessment of therapy response with CT imaging combined with FDG-PET
      compared with CT imaging alone. Although RECIST 1.1 includes FDG-PET only as an
      optional adjunct, we recommend the implementation of PET imaging in the
      assessment of therapy response.

PMID- 20926978
TI  - Distribution pattern of 68Ga-DOTATATE in disease-free patients.
AB  - PURPOSE: 68Ga-DOTA-DPhe1,Tyr3-octreotate (68Ga-DOTATATE) is a somatostatin
      analogue that shows high affinity for somatostatin receptor subtype 2 (sst2) and
      has been used for imaging neuroendocrine tumours. However, normal uptake patterns
      and potential pitfalls have not been described with this high-sensitivity
      radiotracer. The aim of this study was therefore to outline the normal
      distribution pattern of 68Ga-DOTATATE in disease-free patients, to provide
      standardized uptake values (SUVs) of various organs and to compare our results
      with the current knowledge on sst2 receptor expression in vitro. METHODS: 68Ga
      DOTATATE PET/computed tomography was performed in 42 patients (15 men and 27
      women). Approximately 145 MBq of tracer was injected intravenously and imaging
      was performed using a GE Discovery ST PET/computed tomography scanner. SUVs were
      calculated on the reconstructed images for various organs. RESULTS: 68Ga-DOTATATE
      uptake was noted in the sst2-expressing organs such as pituitary, thyroid,
      stomach wall, spleen, adrenals, kidneys, pancreas and prostate and in the liver
      and salivary glands, with excreted activity in the bowel and in the pelvicalyceal
      system of the kidneys and urinary bladder. The SUVs ranged from 0.1 to 48.8 in
      the organs considered. Potential pitfalls in interpreting the 68Ga-DOTATATE
      uptake in organs such as thyroid, pancreas lymph nodes and bowel were identified.
      CONCLUSION: This study shows the distribution pattern of 68Ga-DOTATATE outlines
      the range of SUVs for various organs in disease-free patients and identifies some
      of the potential pitfalls encountered during imaging.

PMID- 20926979
TI  - Erythropoietin requires endothelial nitric oxide synthase to counteract TNF
      [alpha]-induced microcirculatory dysfunction in murine striated muscle.
AB  - In the present study, we aimed to evaluate whether erythropoietin (EPO) treatment
      may exert nonhematopoietic endothelial protection against TNF-[alpha]-induced
      microvascular inflammation and to determine the involvement of the nitric oxide
      (NO)-producing enzyme isoforms endothelial NO synthase (eNOS) and inducible NO
      synthase (iNOS). Murine dorsal skinfold chambers of wild-type (WT) animals were
      topically stimulated with TNF-[alpha] after pretreatment with epoetin beta (1,000
      IU/kg body weight i.p.) or physiological saline. Leukocyte behavior,
      microvascular perfusion, and apoptosis were assessed by in vivo fluorescence
      microscopy. To study the involvement of NO, we compared eNOS-deficient (eNOS-/-)
      and iNOS-deficient (iNOS-/-) mice with WT animals. TNF-[alpha]-associated
      leukocyte activation, perfusion failure, and apoptosis were substantially
      attenuated in EPO-pretreated WT mice, which was accompanied by marked reduction
      of perivascular infiltration with F4/80-stained macrophages. The anti
      inflammatory protective effects of EPO were abolished in eNOS-/-, but not in iNOS
      /- mice, both with unaffected intercellular adhesion molecule 1 expression.
      However, the antiapoptotic effect of EPO was maintained in both eNOS-/- and iNOS
      /- mice, indicating that this mechanism might rather be independent of NO. We
      conclude that EPO treatment elicits protection against TNF-[alpha]-induced
      microcirculatory dysfunction, depending on NO derived from endothelial cells, but
      not on the inducible isoform.

PMID- 20926980
TI  - Inhibition of glycogen synthase kinase 3[beta] activity with lithium in vitro
      attenuates sepsis-induced changes in muscle protein turnover.
AB  - Loss of lean body mass is a characteristic feature of the septic response, and
      the mechanisms responsible for this decrease and means of prevention have not
      been fully elucidated. The present study tested the hypothesis that in vitro
      treatment of skeletal muscle with lithium chloride (LiCl), a glycogen synthase
      kinase (GSK) 3 inhibitor, would reverse both the sepsis-induced increase in
      muscle protein degradation and inhibition of protein synthesis. Sepsis decreased
      GSK-3[beta] phosphorylation and increased GSK-3[beta] activity, under basal
      conditions. Sepsis increased muscle protein degradation, with a concomitant
      increase in atrogin 1 and MuRF1 mRNA and 26S proteosome activity. Incubation of
      septic muscle with LiCl completely reversed the increased GSK-3[beta] activity
      and decreased proteolysis to basal nonseptic values, but only partially reduced
      proteosome activity and did not diminish atrogene expression. Lithium chloride
      also did not ameliorate the sepsis-induced increase in LC3-II, a marker for
      activated autophagy. In contrast, LiCl increased protein synthesis only in
      nonseptic control muscle. The inability of septic muscle to respond to LiCl was
      independent of its ability to reverse the sepsis-induced increase in eukaryotic
      initiation factor (eIF) 2B[varepsilon] phosphorylation, decreased eIF2B activity,
      or the reduced phosphorylation of FOXO3, but instead was more closely associated
      with the continued suppression of mTOR (mammalian target of rapamycin) kinase
      activity (e.g., reduced phosphorylation of 4E-BP1 and S6). These data suggest
      that in vitro lithium treatment, which inhibited GSK-3[beta] activity, (a)
      effectively reversed the sepsis-induced increase in proteolysis, but only in part
      by a reduction in the ubiquitin-proteosome pathway and not by a reduction in
      autophagy; and (b) was ineffective at reversing the sepsis-induced decrease in
      muscle protein synthesis. This lithium-resistant state seems mediated at the
      level of mTOR and not eIF2/eIF2B. Hence, use of GSK-3[beta] inhibitors in the
      treatment of sepsis may not be expected to fully correct the imbalance in muscle
      protein turnover.

PMID- 20926981
TI  - A prospective randomized trial using blood volume analysis in addition to
      pulmonary artery catheter, compared with pulmonary artery catheter alone, to
      guide shock resuscitation in critically ill surgical patients.
AB  - Measurement of blood volume (BV) may guide fluid and red blood cell management in
      critically ill patients when capillary leak from shock and fluid resuscitation
      makes assessment of intravascular volume difficult. This is a prospective
      randomized trial of critically ill surgical patients with septic shock, severe
      sepsis, severe respiratory failure, and/or cardiovascular collapse. The control
      group received fluid management based on pulmonary artery catheter parameters and
      red blood cell transfusions based on hematocrit values. The BV group received
      fluid and red blood cell transfusions based on BV analyses in addition to
      pulmonary artery catheter parameters. Blood volume was measured using the
      radioisotope tracer technique with iodine 131-labeled albumin. This allowed
      direct measurement of plasma volume and calculation of the red blood cell volume.
      The control group was blinded to the BV results. There were statistically
      significantly more times when the control group (compared with the BV group)
      demonstrated hypervolemia (48% vs. 37%) and red blood cell deficiency (33% vs.
      16%). There was a delay in red blood cell transfusions administered to the
      control group by 1.5 +/- 2 days at which time the abnormality became clinically
      evident. Blood volume analyses provided additional information to the clinicians
      resulting in a change in treatment in 44% of the time to patients randomized to
      the BV group. The mortality rates were significantly different between the two
      groups (8% for the BV group and 24% in the control group; P = 0.03). Blood volume
      measurements allowed the physicians to promptly treat physiologic disturbances in
      both red blood cell volume and plasma volume, resulting in improved survival.

PMID- 20926982
TI  - Pathway analysis in microarray data: a comparison of two different pathway
      analysis devices in the same data set.
AB  - Oligonucleotide microarray technology has been developed to a very powerful and
      favorable biotechnique. However, it is an explicit challenge to judge the
      potential biological meaning of such extensive amounts of data. There are various
      commercially available or free-software applications for pathway analyses on
      microarray data on the market. The aim of the present study was to test whether
      pathway analyses on the same data set using different commercially available
      devices lead to roughly comparable or massively diverging results and, if so, to
      give potential explanations. Two different commercially available pathway
      analysis programs (GeneGo and Pathway Studio 6) have been elected. The programs
      have been compared concerning their different analyses tools, underlying
      databases, database constructions, and network-building algorithms. The same data
      set has been uploaded into two different programs. Pathway analysis was performed
      according to the following three criteria: the five top networks, the five top
      diseases, and the five top canonical networks that are associated with the
      uploaded gene list. The different programs differ in extracting their information
      from the literature, in database construction, and network-building algorithms.
      The "top networks," as suggested by the programs as to be "most important,"
      substantially differ from each other and share only one same gene. Concerning the
      most represented diseases in the data set, there are certain overlaps but no
      uniform results in the different applications. Pathway analyses of microarray
      data using preformed software devices offer valuable options for investigating on
      the biological relevance and function of a focus gene set. However, there is no
      standard in constructing such programs. This leads to substantial differences
      when investigating on the same data set using different devices. The intention of
      this work is to sensitize for the potentialities and also pitfalls doing pathway
      analysis using automated software tools.

PMID- 20926983
TI  - Pretreatment with berberine and yohimbine protects against LPS-induced myocardial
      dysfunction via inhibition of cardiac I-[kappa]B[alpha] phosphorylation and
      apoptosis in mice.
AB  - Myocardial dysfunction is a common complication in sepsis and significantly
      contributes to the mortality of patients with septic shock. Our previous study
      demonstrated that pretreatment with berberine (Ber) protected against the
      lethality induced by LPS, which was enhanced by yohimbine, an [alpha]2-adrenergic
      receptor antagonist, and Ber combined with yohimbine also improved survival in
      mice subjected to cecal ligation and puncture. However, no studies have examined
      whether Ber and yohimbine reduce LPS-induced myocardial dysfunction. Here, we
      report that pretreatment with Ber, Ber combined with yohimbine, or yohimbine
      significantly reduced LPS-induced cardiac dysfunction in mice. LPS-provoked
      cardiac apoptosis, I-[kappa]B[alpha] phosphorylation, IL-1[beta], TNF-[alpha],
      and NO production were attenuated by pretreatment with Ber and/or yohimbine,
      whereas cardiac Toll-like receptor 4 mRNA expression, malondialdehyde content,
      and superoxide dismutase activity were not affected. These data demonstrate for
      the first time that pretreatment with Ber and/or yohimbine prevents LPS-induced
      myocardial dysfunction in mice through inhibiting myocardial apoptosis, cardiac I
      [kappa]B[alpha] phosphorylation, and TNF-[alpha], IL-1[beta], and NO production,
      suggesting that activation of [alpha]2-adrenergic receptor in vivo may be
      responsible at least in part for LPS-induced cardiac dysfunction, and Ber in
      combination with yohimbine may be a potential agent for preventing cardiac
      dysfunction during sepsis.

PMID- 20926984
TI  - Leukotriene b4 and its metabolites prime the neutrophil oxidase and induce
      proinflammatory activation of human pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells.
AB  - Leukotrienes are proinflammatory lipid mediators, derived from arachidonic acid
      via 5-lipoxygenase (5-LO). Leukotriene B4 (LTB4) is an effective
      polymorphonuclear neutrophil (PMN) chemoattractant, as well as being a major
      product of PMN priming. Leukotriene B4 is rapidly metabolized into products that
      are thought to be inactive, and little is known about the effects of LTB4 on the
      pulmonary endothelium. We hypothesize that LTB4 and its metabolites are effective
      PMN priming agents and cause proinflammatory activation of pulmonary endothelial
      cells. Isolated PMNs were primed (5 min, 37 degrees C) with serial concentrations
      10 to 10 M of LTB4 and its metabolites: 6-trans-LTB4, 20-OH-LTB4, and 20-COOH
      LTB4, and then activated with fMLP. Primary human pulmonary microvascular
      endothelial cells (HMVECs) were incubated with these lipids (6 h, 37 degrees C,
      5% CO2), and intercellular adhesion molecule 1 was measured by flow cytometry.
      Polymorphonuclear neutrophil adhesion was measured by myeloperoxidase assays, and
      to ensure that these reactions were specific to the LTB4 receptors, BLT1 and BLT2
      were antagonized with CP105,696 (BLT1) or silenced with siRNA (BLT1 and BLT2).
      Leukotriene B4 and its metabolites primed PMNs over a wide range of
      concentrations, depending on the specific metabolite. In addition, at high
      concentrations these lipids also caused increases in the surface expression of
      intercellular adhesion molecule 1 on HMVECs and induced HMVEC-mediated adhesion
      of PMNs. Silencing of BLT2 abrogated HMVEC activation, and blockade of BLT1
      inhibited the observed PMN priming activity. We conclude that LTB4 and its omega
      oxidation and nonenzymatic metabolites prime PMNs over a range of concentrations
      and activate HMVECs. These data have expanded the repertoire of causative agents
      in acute lung injury and postinjury multiple organ failure.

PMID- 20926985
TI  - STY39, a novel alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone analogue, attenuates
      bleomycin-induced pulmonary inflammation and fibrosis in mice.
AB  - Various anti-inflammatory agents have been used to treat acute or chronic lung
      injury-induced pulmonary fibrosis (PF). However, the efficacy of the available
      treatments is disappointing, and new therapies are urgently needed. In the
      current study, we investigated the effect of a novel alpha-melanocyte-stimulating
      hormone analog, STY39, on bleomycin (BLM)-induced pulmonary inflammation and
      fibrosis in mice. C57BL/6 mice received an intratracheal injection of BLM before
      being treated with STY39 (0.625, 1.25, or 2.5 mg/kg, i.p.) once a day for 14
      consecutive days. Various parameters, reflecting the inflammatory reaction,
      metabolism of extracellular matrix, myofibroblast proliferation, and degree of
      fibrosis in the lung, were evaluated. We found that STY39 significantly improved
      the survival of mice with lethal BLM-induced lung injury, limited body weight
      loss and the increase in the lung index, reduced the mRNA expression of types I
      and III procollagen and the production of hydroxyproline in the lung, diminished
      myofibroblast proliferation, and ultimately reduced BLM-induced lung damage.
      Further investigation revealed that, in a dose-dependent manner, STY39 treatment
      inhibited leukocyte migration into the lung; reduced the production of TNF-alpha,
      IL-6, macrophage inflammatory protein 2, and transforming growth factor beta1 in
      the lung; and altered the ratio of matrix metalloproteinase 1 to tissue
      inhibitors of metalloproteinase 1. These findings suggest that STY39 attenuates
      BLM-induced experimental PF by limiting the inflammatory reaction through the
      inhibition of proinflammatory and profibrosis cytokines and by accelerating the
      metabolism of extracellular matrix. Therefore, STY39 may be an effective therapy
      for preventing PF.

PMID- 20926986
TI  - Estrogen augments the protection of hypertonic saline treatment from mesenteric
      ischemia-reperfusion injury.
AB  - Either estrogen or hypertonic saline (HTS) administration can decrease lung
      inflammation after ischemia-reperfusion. The present study investigated whether
      combined treatment with estrogen and HTS could provide further protection from
      mesenteric ischemia-reperfusion (MSIR) injury. Male C3H/HeOuJ mice were randomly
      segregated into the following groups: sham-operated (sham), vehicle treatment
      followed by MSIR (vehicle treated), estrogen treatment followed by MSIR (estrogen
      treated), HTS treatment and MSIR (HTS treated), and combined treatment of
      estrogen plus HTS and MSIR (combined treated). In MSIR, mice were subjected to
      mesenteric ischemia for 60 min followed by reperfusion for 30 min. The histology
      of the lung and the gut was obtained. Lung injury was evaluated by lung edema and
      myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity; lung protein expression of macrophage migration
      inhibitory factor (MIF), toll-like receptor-4 (TLR4), phosphorylated inhibitory
      kappaBalpha (p-IkappaBalpha), and inducible nitric oxide synthetase (iNOS) were
      assayed. Survival analysis was monitored after MSIR for 120 min. Compared with
      those in the sham-treated group, the lung water ratio, MPO activity, and
      expressions of MIF, TLR4, p-IkappaBalpha, and iNOS were significantly increased
      in the vehicle-treated group. Diminished MIF, TLR4, p-IkappaBalpha, and iNOS
      expressions were found in the estrogen-treated group, whereas suppression of p
      IkappaBalpha and iNOS was found in the HTS-treated group. Treatment with estrogen
      or HTS decreased the lung water and MPO activity. The combined treatment of
      estrogen and HTS further significantly diminished p-IkappaBalpha and iNOS
      expression, lung edema, and MPO activity and improved the inflammation of the
      lung and the morphology of the gut in histology compared with the results of a
      single treatment of estrogen or HTS. Survival analysis showed significantly
      increased survival in the combination-treated group compared with survival in the
      HTS-treated group. In conclusion, compared with single-agent use, treatment
      combining estrogen and HTS further decreases lung p-IkappaBalpha and iNOS
      expressions, as well as the degree of lung injury. These effects may result in
      better rates of survival from MSIR injury.

PMID- 20926987
TI  - Challenges to effective research in acute trauma resuscitation: consent and
      endpoints.
AB  - Selection of study endpoints is one of the most important decisions in the design
      of effective clinical trials. Late mortality (e.g., 28 days) is an unambiguous
      endpoint, accepted by regulatory agencies, but it is viewed as problematic among
      researchers in the study of resuscitation for acute trauma injury with
      hemorrhagic shock. In February 2008, physicians, ethicists, statisticians, and
      research scientists from the military, academia, industry, the Federal Drug
      Administration, and the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute gathered to
      discuss the obstacles confronting the trauma community in their efforts to
      improve patient outcomes. The primary meeting objective was to generate
      preliminary suggestions for a series of follow-up meetings that will develop
      consensus guidelines for the design of large multicenter clinical trials. Twenty
      short presentations and discussions, summarized here, outlined the group's
      concerns and suggestions. Successful and failed, completed or ongoing, clinical
      studies provided insight as to endpoints that may be of value for future trauma
      and shock studies. In addition to the importance of appropriate endpoints in
      study design, other related topics were discussed, including trauma epidemiology,
      patient enrollment and inclusion criteria, community consultation and the
      difficulty of obtaining informed consent in acute trauma research, and the
      inclusion of quality of life in composite endpoints. The consensus was that more
      discussion was needed and that consideration of new endpoints for clinical trials
      in emergency trauma research was a worthwhile and necessary goal.

PMID- 20926988
TI  - The effect of the intrathoracic pressure regulator on hemodynamics and cardiac
      output.
AB  - The intrathoracic pressure regulator (ITPR) (CirQLator; Advanced Circulatory
      Systems Inc, Roseville, Minn) is a novel, noninvasive device intended to increase
      cardiac output and blood pressure in hypovolemic or cardiogenic shock by
      generating a continuous low-level intrathoracic vacuum in between positive
      pressure ventilations. Although there are robust data supporting the benefit of
      the ITPR in multiple animal models of shock, the device has not been used in
      humans.The goals of this study were to evaluate both the safety and efficacy of
      the ITPR in humans. Twenty patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft
      surgery were enrolled in this phase 1 study. Intraoperative use of both pulmonary
      artery pressure monitoring and transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) was
      required for study inclusion. Hemodynamic variables as well as TEE measurements
      of left ventricular performance were collected at baseline and after the ITPR
      device was activated, before surgical incision. Thermodilution cardiac output
      increased significantly with the application of the ITPR (4.9 vs. 5.5 L/min; P =
      0.017). Similarly, cardiac output was measured by TEE (5.1 vs. 5.7 L/min; P =
      0.001).There were significant increases in pulmonary artery systolic blood
      pressures (35 vs. 38 mmHg; P G 0.001) and mean pulmonary artery pressures (24 vs.
      26 mmHg; P = 0.008). There were no significant differences in systemic blood
      pressures, left ventricular volumes, stroke volume, or ejection fraction as
      measured by TEE. Using two different measurement techniques, application of the
      ITPR increased cardiac output in normovolemic anesthetized patients who underwent
      coronary artery bypass graft before sternotomy. These data suggest that the ITPR
      has the potential to safely and effectively increase cardiac output in humans.

PMID- 20926990
TI  - Kounis syndrome.
AB  - The association between acute coronary events and acute allergic reactions has
      been recognized for several years. The first reported case occurred in 1950,
      during an allergic reaction to penicillin. In 1991, Kounis and Zavras described
      the syndrome of allergic angina and allergic myocardial infarction, currently
      known as Kounis syndrome. Two subtypes have been described: type I, which occurs
      in patients without predisposing factors for coronary artery disease and is
      caused by coronary artery spasm, and type II, which occurs in patients with
      angiographic evidence of coronary disease when the allergic events induce plaque
      erosion or rupture. This syndrome has been reported in association with a variety
      of medical conditions, environmental exposures, and medication exposures.
      Entities such as Takotsubo cardiomyopathy, drug-eluted stent thrombosis, and
      coronary allograft vasculopathy appear to be associated with this syndrome. In
      this review, we discuss the pathobiology, clinical features, associated entities,
      and management of Kounis syndrome.

PMID- 20926989
TI  - Liver X receptor alpha activation with the synthetic ligand T0901317 reduces lung
      injury and inflammation after hemorrhage and resuscitation via inhibition of the
      nuclear factor kappaB pathway.
AB  - Liver X receptor alpha (LXRalpha) is a nuclear transcription factor that
      regulates lipid metabolism. Recently, it has been shown that activation of
      LXRalpha with synthetic ligands has anti-inflammatory effects in atherosclerosis
      and chemical-induced dermatitis. We investigated the effect of the LXRalpha
      agonist, T0901317, on lung inflammation in a rodent model of hemorrhagic shock.
      Hemorrhagic shock was induced in male rats by withdrawing blood to a goal mean
      arterial blood pressure of 50 mmHg. Blood pressure was maintained at this level
      for 3 h, at which point rats were rapidly resuscitated with shed blood. Animals
      were then treated with T0901317 (50 mg . kg) or vehicle i.p. and sacrificed at 1,
      2, and 3 h after resuscitation. Treatment with T0901317 significantly improved
      the cardiac and stroke volume indices as well as the heart rate of rats during
      the resuscitation period as compared with vehicle-treated rats. The T0901317
      treated animals showed significant improvement in the plasma level of lactate,
      whereas base deficit and bicarbonate levels both trended toward improvement. The
      T0901317-treated animals also showed lower levels of plasma cytokines and
      chemokines monocyte chemoattractant protein 1, macrophage inflammatory protein
      1alpha, TNF-alpha, KC, and IL-6. Lung injury and neutrophil infiltration were
      reduced by treatment with T0901317, as evaluated by histology and myeloperoxidase
      assay. At molecular analysis, treatment with T0901317 increased nuclear LXRalpha
      expression and DNA binding while also inhibiting activation of nuclear factor
      kappaB, a proinflammatory transcription factor, in the lung. Thus, our data
      suggest that LXRalpha is an important modulator of the inflammatory response and
      lung injury after severe hemorrhagic shock, likely through the inhibition of the
      nuclear factor kappaB pathway.

PMID- 20926991
TI  - Universal MRSA nasal surveillance: characterization of outcomes at a tertiary
      care center and implications for infection control.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Recognition of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)
      nasal carriage by active surveillance cultures has been widely debated. Our
      institution implemented universal nasal screening by polymerase chain reaction
      (PCR) for MRSA and isolation of screen positive patients in December 2007. Here
      we present data about the correlation between screen positivity and subsequent
      development of infection and the impact of isolation on surgical site infection
      rates. METHODS: This was a retrospective, observational study from January 1,
      2008, through June 30, 2008, on all inpatient admissions with a nasal MRSA PCR
      screen. Genotype of 15 MRSA blood isolates was determined utilizing the
      Diversilab(r) (bioMerieux, Hazelwood, MO) system. A phenotypic rule was deduced
      and utilized for analyzing all MRSA clinical isolates. RESULTS: 5375 patients
      were screened at <=48 hours following admission. 581 MRSA positive nasal carriers
      (10.80%) were identified. 496 (85.3%) were asymptomatic MRSA nasal carriers.
      There were a total of 158 MRSA clinical infections. 85 (14.6%) MRSA nasal
      carriers had clinical infection. Of the 4794 (89.1%) non-nasally colonized
      patients, 73 (1.5%) had MRSA clinical infection. MRSA surgical site infection
      rate remained unchanged during the intervention period. Phenotypic predictive
      rule inferred 59.8% community-acquired MRSA (CA-MRSA) infections and 40% hospital
      acquired MRSA (HA-MRSA) infections. CONCLUSIONS: Our study showed a positive
      correlation between having a nasal screen positivity and subsequent development
      of infection. Isolation of MRSA screen positive patients alone as an intervention
      did not reduce the surgical site infection rates. Since most of our isolates are
      CA-MRSA, our institution is implementing several new interventions to further
      reduce the incidence of HA-MRSA conditions.

PMID- 20926992
TI  - Lemierre syndrome: a rare disease affecting previously healthy, young
      individuals.

PMID- 20926993
TI  - Exposure-related effects of atazanavir on the pharmacokinetics of raltegravir in
      HIV-1-infected patients.
AB  - Raltegravir (RAL) is primarily metabolized by uridine diphosphate-glucorunosyl
      transferase 1A1 (UGT1A1). Atazanavir (ATV), a strong inhibitor of UGT1A1, has
      been shown to increase plasma concentrations of RAL by approximately 50% in
      healthy volunteers. However, the extent of this interaction has not been studied
      in HIV-infected patients. A pharmacokinetic study was performed in 22 HIV
      infected adults treated with 400 mg RAL plus 300 mg ATV 300 twice a day. Both
      drugs showed high pharmacokinetic variability (RAL AUC 0-12 7649 +/- 4862
      ng*h/mL; ATV AUC 0-12 = 19237 +/- 13136 ng*h/mL). Notably, RAL trough
      concentrations were significantly higher compared with those measured in HIV
      subjects (n = 24) on RAL plus nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (506 +/
      411 versus 177 +/- 262 ng/mL, P < 0.01). A significant correlation was found
      between RAL and ATV area under the curve (AUC) (r = 0.611, P = 0.005). Notably,
      patients with ATV AUC 0-12 above the mean or with concentrations exceeding the
      half maximal inhibitory concentration for UGT1A1 had twofold higher RAL AUCs
      compared with patients with lower ATV exposure. Coadministration of ATV
      significantly increased plasma concentrations of RAL, especially in HIV-1
      infected patients exposed to high concentrations of the protease inhibitor. This
      pharmacokinetic drug interaction could be handled by routine measurements of ATV
      trough concentrations and by the assessment of plasma RAL concentrations 2 to 3
      hours after the morning drug intake.

PMID- 20926994
TI  - Assessment of infant dose through milk in a lactating woman taking amisulpride
      and desvenlafaxine for treatment-resistant depression.
AB  - This study presents the case of a 35-year-old breastfeeding mother who delivered
      her fourth child 5 months previously and was prescribed 100 mg amisulpride twice
      daily and 250 mg desvenlafaxine in the morning for treatment-resistant
      depression. Arriving at this regimen took approximately 2 months postbirth.
      Because she was keen to continue breastfeeding her infant, and published data on
      the use of amisulpride and desvenlafaxine were very limited, the clinical team
      sought assistance from the therapeutic drug monitoring laboratory to quantify
      infant dose-exposure to guide consideration of continuing breastfeeding. A
      sampling schedule for milk and plasma from mother and plasma from her infant was
      agreed and drug concentrations were measured by high-performance liquid
      chromatography. Absolute (theoretic) infant dose (MUg/kg/d) was calculated as the
      product of the average concentration in milk and an assumed milk intake of 0.15
      L/kg/day (294 mg/kg/day for desvenlafaxine and 183 mg/kg/day for amisulpride),
      and relative infant dose was estimated as absolute infant dose expressed as a
      percentage of the maternal dose in MUg/kg/day (7.8% for desvenlafaxine and 6.1%
      for amisulpride). Consistent with the infant being partially breastfed, the ratio
      of drug in the infant's plasma to that in mother's plasma was lower at 1.7% for
      desvenlafaxine and 3.9% for amisulpride. A pediatric assessment of the infant
      found achievement of expected developmental progress for age and no detectable
      drug-related adverse effects. Assessing the safety of breastfeeding was difficult
      because it involved simultaneous use of two drugs for which there was limited
      previous experience. However, after discussion of the infant dose-exposure data
      and lack of adverse effects, the mother elected to continue partial breastfeeding
      for the next few months. The clinical team plans a reassessment of the infant's
      progress in 3 months.

PMID- 20926995
TI  - A simple and sensitive high-performance liquid chromatographic method for the
      determination of vinflunine and 4-O-deacetylvinflunine from human blood.
AB  - Vinflunine (VFL) is the first bifluorinated tubulin-targeted agent obtained
      through a semi synthetic process using superacidic chemistry. Pharmacologic
      models evidenced a high degree of activity from several cancer lines. The
      intravenous formulation of VFL (Javlor, Pierre Fabre Medicament, Boulogne,
      France) is registered for bladder cancer and is undergoing Phase III trials for
      nonsmall cell lung and breast cancer. To support most of the pharmacokinetic
      studies in humans, a sensitive high-performance liquid chromatography
      bioanalytical method coupled with ultraviolet detection was developed and
      validated for the simultaneous quantification of VFL and its active metabolite 4
      O-deacetylvinflunine. The two compounds, together with 17-bromovinorelbine, used
      as an internal standard, were extracted from blood (1 mL) by a liquid-liquid
      process under basic conditions using diethyl ether. The organic phase was then
      back-extracted with HCl 0.1 mol/L. Analysis was performed through a cyano column
      and detection was set at 268 nm. Total analysis run time was less than 15
      minutes. The assay was sensitive for the two compounds to at least 2 ng/mL and
      calibration curves were linear up to 200 ng/mL. The between-run imprecision and
      the mean inaccuracy were lower than 7% and 8.3%, respectively. Blood samples were
      stable when stored at -70 degrees C over 24 months. The long-term reproducibility
      and the suitability of this analytical method were demonstrated through the
      analysis of about 6000 biologic samples during the clinical development of
      intravenous VFL. This method is adequately sensitive to monitor the blood
      concentrations observed at the recommended dose defined in a clinical setting.

PMID- 20926996
TI  - Population pharmacokinetic analysis of mycophenolic acid coadministered with
      either tasocitinib (CP-690,550) or tacrolimus in adult renal allograft
      recipients.
AB  - Tasocitinib (CP-690,550) is an orally active Janus kinase inhibitor that is in
      development for prophylaxis of acute rejection after kidney transplantation and
      for the treatment of select autoimmune diseases. The current study was conducted
      to evaluate the systemic exposure of mycophenolic acid (MPA) in de novo kidney
      transplant patients when coadministered with tasocitinib compared with exposure
      in patients receiving tacrolimus, which has no effect on MPA pharmacokinetics.
      Plasma MPA concentrations were obtained from 17 adult patients who received
      either 15 mg or 30 mg tasocitinib twice daily (eight patients) or tacrolimus
      (nine patients) after kidney transplantation. All patients also received
      concomitant mycophenolate mofetil, prednisone, and basiliximab induction. The
      median mycophenolate mofetil dose was 1000 mg twice daily. A two-compartment
      population pharmacokinetic model estimating oral clearance, between-patient
      variability in oral clearance, central volume of distribution, and residual
      variability in combination with historical estimates of first-order absorption
      rate constant, intercompartmental clearance, and peripheral volume of
      distribution adequately described the sparse MPA data. Based on individual
      estimates oral clearance from the population pharmacokinetic model, mean steady
      state area under the concentration-time curve values for a mycophenolate mofetil
      dose of 1000 mg twice daily were 63 mg.hr/L (22%) and 59 mg.hr/L (36%) for the
      tasocitinib and tacrolimus groups, respectively. These results indicate that
      tasocitinib does not influence systemic MPA exposure.

PMID- 20926997
TI  - Are intra-articular corticosteroid injections better than conventional TENS in
      treatment of rotator cuff tendinitis in the short run? A randomized study.
AB  - AIM: Rotator cuff problems are common causes of pain and restriction of movement
      in shoulder. The aim of this study to compare the effect of intra-articular
      injection of corticosteroid and conventional transcutaneous electrical nerve
      stimulator (TENS) treatment in treatment of rotator cuff tendinitis. METHODS:
      Subjects were randomly allocated into Group 1 (intra-articular injection of
      corticosteroid) and Group 2 (conventional transcutaneous electrical nerve
      stimulation-TENS). Outcome measurements were performed using the Visual Analogue
      Scale (VAS) for pain, range of motion (ROM), the Shoulder Disability
      Questionnaire (SDQ), the Short Form-36 (SF-36), and Beck Depression Scale (BDS)
      questionnaires and paracetamol consumption. RESULTS: In both groups, significant
      improvement was observed in all weeks in VAS, ROM and SDQ scores (P<0.05).
      Improvement was detected in most of the SF36 scores at the end of the treatment
      in both groups (P<0.05), while no significant change was observed in BDI score
      (P>0.05). In both treatment groups, paracetamol consumption decreased in time
      (P<0.05). When the groups were compared, a significant difference was found
      between the groups in favor of Group 1 in terms of VAS-at night and VAS-at rest
      in weeks 1, 4 and 12, and VAS-during movement in week 1 and 12 (P<0.05). The
      comparison of two groups revealed a significant difference in favor of Group 1 in
      weeks 1 in the passive abduction and the active and passive IR ROM measurements
      (P<0.05). There was also a significant difference in favor of Group 1 observed in
      weeks 1 in SDQ scores (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Intra-articular injection of
      corticosteroid and conventional TENS are efficient in the treatment of rotator
      cuff tendinitis. When two treatments are compared, it may be concluded that intra
      articular steroid injection was more effective especially in the first weeks
      regarding pain, ROM and disability. Otherwise, use of TENS allow to patients to
      increase activity level, improve function and quality of life like that in our
      study. TENS, as it is cheaper, non-invasive, more easily performed and efficient,
      may be preferable for the treatment of shoulder pain. Further studies are needed
      to include these results in the prospective treatment guidelines.

PMID- 20926998
TI  - Does short-wave diathermy increase the effectiveness of isokinetic exercise on
      pain, function, knee muscle strength, quality of life, and depression in the
      patients with knee osteoarthritis? A randomized controlled clinical study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is a painful condition causing disability
      and muscle weakness. Shortwave diathermy (SWD) is one of several physical therapy
      modalities and used predominantly as a pain reduction modality in the clinical
      practice. However, the efficacy of SWD in knee OA is still inconclusive. AIM: The
      aim of this study was to determine if SWD increase the effectiveness of
      isokinetic exercise on pain, function, muscle strength, quality of life and
      depression in patients with OA. DESIGN: This was a randomised, controlled
      clinical trial. SETTING: Inpatient Physiotherapy Department. POPULATION: Forty
      women aged between 42 and 74 years, with a diagnosis of bilateral primary knee
      OA. METHODS: Patients were sequentially randomized into two groups. Group 1
      (N.=20) received SWD and isokinetic muscular strengthening exercises. Group 2
      (N.=20) served as control group and they received isokinetic exercises only. Both
      of the programs were performed three days a week, for a duration of four weeks,
      and a total of 12 sessions. Patients were assessed before treatment (BT), after
      treatment (AT), and at a three-month follow-up (F). Outcome measures included
      visual analogue scale, Western Ontario and McMaster University Osteoarthritis
      Index, six minute walking distance, isokinetic muscle testing, Short Form 36 and
      Beck depression index. RESULTS: The patients with OA in each group had
      significant improvements in pain, disability, depression, walking distance,
      muscle strength, and quality of life AT and F when compared with their initial
      status (P<0.05). There was no statistically significant difference between the
      groups according to all the parameters regarding the change scores between AT-BT
      test and F-BT test (P>0.05) except some isokinetic peak torque measurements (F-BT
      scores of extension right 60 degrees , 120 degrees  and flexion right 60 degrees
      ). CONCLUSION: Use of SWD in addition to isokinetic exercise program seems to
      have no further significant effect in terms of pain, disability, walking
      distance, muscle strength, quality of life and depression in patients with knee
      OA. CLINICAL REHABILITATION IMPACT: Considering the time and cost of combination
      therapy is now, the isokinetic exercise program, as it is efficient, may be
      preferable for the treatment of knee OA, alone.

PMID- 20926999
TI  - Quality indicators indicate good adherence to the clinical practice guideline on
      "Osteoarthritis of the hip and knee" and few prognostic factors influence outcome
      indicators: a prospective cohort study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Evaluation with quality indicators of adherence to the clinical
      practice guideline on "Osteoarthritis of the hip and knee" and of treatment
      outcomes. AIM: Furthermore to determine prognostic factors for outcome
      indicators. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study. POPULATION: Twenty-seven well
      informed physical therapists recorded patient and treatment characteristics of
      103 community-dwelling patients referred by a general practitioner diagnosed with
      osteoarthritis of hip or knee. METHODS: With selected process and outcome
      indicators adherences to the guideline and treatment outcomes were assessed.
      Prognostic factors were calculated for Algofunctional Index (AI) and Visual
      Analogue Scale (VAS) for pain (decreases of <=25% indicating "poor outcome"),
      number of sessions (>12) and duration of treatment (>6 weeks), using multivariate
      logistic regression models. RESULTS: Process indicators showed that information &
      advice was given to 95% of the patients and functions and activities were
      exercised in 97% respectively 87%. Aftercare was arranged for 46% of the
      patients, that was clearly lower than the benchmark of 90%. Outcome indicators
      VAS-pain and AI decreased by 45% and 36%, respectively. The combination ">12
      months" duration of complaints and age >=65" was associated with a "poor outcome"
      on AI (OR 2.53; 95% CI 1.01-6.38). Co-morbidity (OR 2.8; 95% CI 1.17-6.88), and
      "VAS-pain at baseline >=51 mm" (OR 3.1; 95% CI 1.34-7.23) were associated with a
      higher number of treatment sessions. CONCLUSION AND CLINICAL REHABILITATION
      IMPACT: and Quality indicators showed that a group of well-informed physical
      therapists could to a large extent adhere to key recommendations of the guideline
      and that clinically relevant improvements were obtained in terms of pain and
      physical functioning. Prognostic factors for poorer outcome on outcome indicators
      were comorbidity, a higher pain score at baseline and the combination ">12
      months' duration of complaints and age >=65".

PMID- 20927000
TI  - Does hippotherapy improve balance in persons with multiple sclerosis: a
      systematic review.
AB  - AIM: Multiple sclerosis (MS) leads to changes in balance due to the breakdown of
      a number of neurological processes. Hippotherapy utilizes the movement of the
      horse to provide sensory feedback and has been used as a therapeutic intervention
      for different neurological conditions. Little is known about the effects of
      hippotherapy in MS. The purpose of this study is to systematically review and
      examine the evidence for hippotherapy as an intervention to improve balance in
      persons with MS. METHODS: Major electronic databases were searched for articles
      relating to hippotherapy, MS and balance. Only full length articles published in
      peer reviewed journals that were written in English or translated into English
      were included. Articles were assessed using a modified quality index that was
      used for descriptive purposes only and did not exclude any study from the review.
      RESULTS: All studies examined in this review were either case-control or case
      series. Collectively all three studies reported improvements in balance. Pre-test
      and post-test Berg Balance Scale scores in two studies revealed that primary
      progressive MS demonstrated the greatest amount of change after hippotherapy
      compared to other subtypes of MS. CONCLUSION: Hippotherapy has a positive effect
      on balance in persons with MS and has an added benefit of enhancing quality of
      life. The data is limited and further research will lead to a greater knowledge
      base and has the potential to increase accessibility for hippotherapy to be used
      as a rehabilitation modality.

PMID- 20927001
TI  - Gait analysis in a patient with severe Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease: a case study
      with a new orthotic device for footdrop.
AB  - Management of footdrop in severe Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) patients is a
      challenge owing to the combination of quadriceps muscle weakness, distal muscular
      atrophy, sensory impairment and poor soft tissue resistance to the placement of
      an orthotic device. We present a case study of a patient who gradually became
      unable to use his ankle-foot orthoses because they hampered the compensative
      movements required to stabilize his knees passively and caused pain. The aim of
      this report is to describe orthotic management in such a severe CMT case and to
      present a new orthotic device that we devised for the footdrop in this patient.
      We provided him with 3 different footdrop devices, each of which was highly
      elastic to allow knee hyperextension, and left him free to decide which one to
      use: 1) the silicone-ankle-foot orthoses were rapidly discarded because of pain;
      2) the Codivilla support was not used because of discomfort and poor aesthetic
      appearance; 3) a new device, called the "Soft Footdrop Insert" (SFI), consisting
      of a sheet of Veolform, a reticulated polyolephinic foam, stuck to the counter of
      midcalf boots, was found to be effective, comfortable, pain-free and
      aesthetically acceptable, and was consequently used the vast majority of the
      time. At a 3-year follow-up, an instrumental gait analysis, in which ordinary
      shoes were compared with the Codivilla support and the SFI, revealed that both
      the Codivilla support and the SFI controlled footdrop more effectively than
      ordinary shoes and increased swing and mean velocity; in addition, the SFI
      yielded the best gait performances. We think that a soft, invisible device, such
      as the SFI, may satisfy the needs of CMT patients and improve compliance with
      orthoses-wearing for footdrop.

PMID- 20927002
TI  - The ankle-foot orthosis improves balance and reduces fall risk of chronic spastic
      hemiparetic patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Ankle foot orthoses (AFO) are commonly used orthotic device in order
      to restore the ankle foot function and to improve the balance and gait in post
      stroke hemiparetic patients. However, there remain some discussions about their
      effectiveness on long term hemiparetic patients who had mild to moderate
      spasticity. AIM: To investigate the relative effect of prefabricated
      thermoplastic posterior leaf spring AFO (PLS-AFO) on balance and fall risk.
      DESIGN: A cross-over interventional study SETTING: The Department of PMR of a
      tertiary hospital. POPULATION: Twenty-five chronic post-stroke long duration
      hemiparetic patients who had Ashworth grade 1-2 spasticity at affected calf
      muscles and lower limb Brunnstrom stage 2-3 and also able to walk independently
      without an assistive device. METHODS: Berg Balance Scale (BERG), and the postural
      stability test (PST) and the fall risk test (FRT) of Biodex balance systems were
      used for the assessments. All of the patients were assessed with AFO and without
      AFO. All assessments were made with footwear. RESULTS: The mean post-stroke
      duration was 20,32+/-7,46 months. The BERG scores were 42,12+/-9,05 without AFO
      and 47,52+/-7,77 with AFO; the overall stability scores of FRT were 3,35+/-1,97
      without AFO and 2,69+/-1,65 with AFO (P<0,001). CONCLUSION: It was found that the
      prefabricated thermoplastic PLS-AFO improve balance and provide fall risk
      reduction in chronic post-stroke ambulatory hemiparetic patients who had mild to
      moderate spasticity on their affected lower limb. CLINICAL REHABILITATION IMPACT:
      These results encourage the usage of AFO on long duration hemiparetic patients in
      order to provide better balance and lesser fall risk.

PMID- 20927004
TI  - The ICF Core Set for stroke from the perspective of physicians: a worldwide
      validation study using the Delphi technique.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The ICF Core Set for stroke is an application of the International
      Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) and represents the
      typical spectrum of problems in functioning of patients with stroke. AIM: The aim
      of this study was to validate the ICF Core Set for stroke from the perspective of
      physicians. DESIGN: Observational. SETTING: Other. POPULATION: Physicians
      experienced in stroke treatment. METHODS: Physicians experienced in stroke
      treatment were asked about the patients' problems, patients' resources and
      aspects of environment that physicians take care of in a three-round electronic
      mail survey using the Delphi technique. The responses were linked to the ICF by
      two persons. The degree of agreement was calculated using Kappa statistic.
      RESULTS: Eighty-eight physicians in 30 countries named 2142 patients' problems
      that covered all ICF components. Two hundred seventy-seven ICF categories were
      linked to these. Kappa statistic for agreement reached 0.68 with a 95% confidence
      interval of 0.66-0.69. Although 28 ICF categories were not represented in the ICF
      Core Set for stroke, only four of them were considered as important by at least
      75% of the participants. Those categories addressed sensations associated with
      cardiovascular and respiratory functions, urinary excretory functions,
      involuntary movement functions and sensations related to muscle and movement
      functions. CONCLUSION: The validity of the ICF components Body structures,
      Activities and Participation, and Environ-mental Factors was fully supported.
      Only some body functions were identified that were not covered and need to be
      investigated further.

PMID- 20927003
TI  - The perception of involved professionals towards research feasibility and
      usefulness: lessons from the Multi-Site Trial on Efficacy of Constraint Induced
      Movement Therapy in Children with Hemiplegia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In the last decades, the world of rehabilitation has been more and
      more calling for clear evidence to support intervention and numerous research
      programs have been developed. At stake, relatively little research on opinions
      and attitude of rehabilitation personnel involved in research conducted in real
      clinical settings has been carried out. AIM: To explore the opinion of
      professionals involved in a national clinical trial on research. DESIGN:
      Multicentre cross-sectional study. SETTING: 19 rehabilitation centres/services (4
      research institutes, 15 local rehabilitation services). POPULATION: All
      professional participating to a multi-centre clinical trial on the effects of
      Constraint Induced Movement Therapy on children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy.
      METHODS: A 15-questions questionnaire inquiring feasibility, usefulness,
      products, costs, judgement and perceptions about clinical research in
      rehabilitation was administered. RESULTS: Among those working in one of the 19
      rehabilitation centres part of the multicentric study, 76 professionals were
      asked to fill in the questionnaire. 68 professionals answered (89.4% of response
      rate). More than 75% of the sample thinks that its rehabilitation centre is
      suited to develop clinical research. Research results useful for the development
      of their daily activities (new tools for the assessment of children, to
      demonstrate the efficacy of a new treatment option and to learn a new way of
      working, and to strengthen the ties within the working team). Research is costly
      in terms of personal time and effort, but it can modify the rehabilitation praxis
      (assessment tools, the relationship with colleagues/patients). 98% of the
      interviewees declared the willingness to participate to other research projects.
      CONCLUSION AND CLINICAL REHABILITATION IMPACT: This survey highlights the
      importance of conducting research in local rehabilitation services, not only in
      terms of generation of new evidences, but also in terms of building networks,
      sharing experiences and knowledge, connecting with centers of excellence and
      providing a specific training for research conduction.

PMID- 20927006
TI  - Managing spasticity with drugs.
AB  - Spasticity is a common symptom observed after pyramidal system lesion. The
      treatment of spasticity has considerably changed during last years, notably with
      the generalization of Botulinum toxin use. However, the treatment of spasticity
      should consider all therapeutic possibility in accordance with patient status and
      objective. Drugs are only a part of the treatment and physical therapy must
      always be used. Others treatments such as surgery, orthosis, occupational therapy
      must also be discussed individually. Several guidelines are now available for
      Botulinum toxin treatment but only the French guidelines consider all drug
      therapies. This review addresses the different drugs commonly used on the basis
      of an extensive review of literature. Some facts are clearly established by
      randomized controlled trials but a certain number of questions remains unclear
      and only clinical experience and consensus can guide injectors.

PMID- 20927005
TI  - Is health-related-quality of life of stroke patients influenced by neurological
      impairments at one year after stroke?
AB  - AIM: The aim of this study was to evaluate which neurological impairments on
      discharge from rehabilitation services are associated with a worse outcome in
      terms of health related-quality of life (HRQoL) one year after stroke. METHODS:
      We enrolled 528 first-time stroke patients in a multicenter observational study
      involving 18 Italian inpatients rehabilitation centers. Neurological impairment
      related factors, socio-demographic and general clinical variables and process
      indicators were considered independent variables at discharge. Outcome was
      represented by the following dependent variables of HRQoL: EuroQoL-5D
      questionnaire (5D-EQoL) and its derived index (Eq-Index) and a Visual Analogue
      Score (QoL-VAS). RESULTS: The strongest predictors of lower HRQoL were an
      incomplete limbs motor recovery. An incomplete lower limb motor recovery was
      associated with a lower HRQoL only in the "mobility" domains, whereas a
      incomplete upper limb motor recovery could predict a lower HRQoL in all domains
      except "mobility". Regarding cognitive impairments, the presence of neglect at
      discharge was associated with a lower HRQoL in "self-care", "pain-discomfort" and
      "anxiety-depression". Female gender, presence of urinary catheter seemed to exert
      a much lesser role in predicting HRQoL. CONCLUSION: The results of this study
      suggest that upper limb motor impairments may have a detrimental impact on the
      patient's perceived HRQoL one year after stroke.

PMID- 20927007
TI  - Five-step clinical assessment in spastic paresis.
AB  - Among the three main factors of motor impairment that emerge in chronological
      order following a lesion to central motor pathways, the last two antagonize
      movement: 1) stretch-sensitive paresis, a reduction of agonist motor unit
      recruitment upon voluntary command, worsened by antagonist stretch; 2) soft
      tissue contracture, and 3) muscle overactivity. Types of muscle overactivity
      include 1) spasticity, an increase in the velocity-dependent response to muscle
      stretch, measured at rest; 2) spastic dystonia, i.e., chronic tonic muscle
      activity at rest, sensitive to stretch of the dystonic muscle and 3) spastic co
      contraction, an inappropriate degree of antagonistic contraction during voluntary
      agonist command, sensitive to stretch of the co-contracting muscle. A five-step
      clinical assessment may closely parallel this phenomenology, in which the first
      four steps aim at quantifying the antagonistic potential of each muscle group.
      Step-1 measures passive range of motion, i.e., the angle of arrest upon slow
      stretch of the muscle group assessed (minimizing spastic dystonia), which
      provides insight on soft tissue length and extensibility. Step-2 measures the
      angle of catch or clonus upon fast passive stretch of the muscle group assessed,
      which provides insight on stretch reflex excitability. Step-3 measures the range
      of active motion against the muscle group assessed, a net result of agonist
      recruitment minus the combined resistance from passive soft tissue stiffness and
      spastic co-contraction in the muscle group assessed. Step-4 measures the maximal
      frequency of rapid alternating movements along the maximal active range of
      motion, evaluating Step-3 performance repeatability. Step-5 evaluates active
      function, using for example a walking test (10 m or 2 min) for lower limb and the
      Modified Frenchay Scale for upper limb assessment, and perceived function through
      patient global subjective assessment.

PMID- 20927008
TI  - Rehabilitation procedures in the management of spasticity.
AB  - Spasticity is a major disabling symptom in many patients with spinal and/or
      cerebral lesions. During functional movements, spasticity manifests itself within
      the complex condition of the "spastic movement disorder". The pathophysiology of
      the spastic movement disorder relies on multiple factors including abnormal
      supraspinal drive, abnormal control of reflex activities, and changes in muscle
      mechanical properties. The most widely used procedures for management of
      spasticity are represented by pharmacological treatment aimed at inhibiting
      reflex hyperexcitability. In the last decades, several non pharmacological
      procedures for treating spasticity have been put forward, including muscle
      stretching, muscle reinforcement, physical agents and pain management. These
      procedures may have both neurophysiological and biomechanical effects on the
      spastic movement disorder. In the present paper, the literature concerning non
      pharmacological procedures in the treatment of spasticity was reviewed and
      discussed, taking into account the multifaceted pathophysiology of the spastic
      movement disorder. Although further research in this field is recommended,
      existing evidence supports the potential role of rehabilitation interventions as
      a therapeutic tool, which could be integrated with traditional pharmacological
      procedures in the management of the spastic movement disorder.

PMID- 20927009
TI  - EJPRM systematic continuous update on Cochrane reviews in rehabilitation: news
      from the 3rd 4th and 5th Issues of 2010.
AB  - AIM: Since 2007 we focused our attention as EJPRM to the best available clinical
      evidence as offered by the Cochrane Collaboration. Due to the absence of a
      specific Rehabilitation Group (only a Field exists), reviews of PRM interest are
      in different groups and not easy to find. Consequently, the EJPRM offer the
      service of listing and presenting all these reviews systematically. The aim of
      the present paper was to systematically review all the new rehabilitation papers
      published in the 3rd 4th and 5th Issues of 2010 from the Cochrane Library in
      order to provide to physicians involved in the field a summary of the best
      evidence nowadays available. METHODS: The author systematically searched all the
      new papers of rehabilitative interest in the 3rd 4th and 5th Issues of 2010 of
      the Cochrane Library. The retrieved papers have been then divided in subgroups on
      the base of the topic and the Cochrane Groups. RESULTS: The number of included
      papers was 8, 7 of these were new reviews. Four new reviews deal with
      neurological rehabilitation, being performed by the Stroke group, 2 with
      musculoskeletal disorders, 1 with cardiac rehabilitation. Moreover, 1 review from
      the Back Group the has been updated. CONCLUSION: The Cochrane Collaboration and
      his product, the Cochrane Library, are really relevant instruments to improve EBM
      in medical practice and thus also in the Rehabilitation Field. The present paper
      can help Rehabilitation Specialists to easily retrieve the conclusions of the
      most relevant and updated reviews in order to change their clinical practice in a
      more rapid and effective way.

PMID- 20927010
TI  - Disability seen from within.
AB  - An old physician describes with a ad auto-hironic humor the changes by ageing,
      with all the insight that the medical profession can give on the process of
      progressive disability.

PMID- 20927012
TI  - Open access to scientific research: where are we and where are we going? Facts
      and figures on the occasion of the 2010 Open Access Week (October 18-24).
AB  - This contribution is aimed at presenting a sort of "state of the art" of Open
      Access on the occasion of the 2010 international Open Access Week, to be held
      from October 18 to October 24. We shall see facts and figures about open archives
      and the mandates to deposit; about Open Access journals; about impact and
      citation advantages for the researchers, and about economic sustainability.

PMID- 20927013
TI  - Special issue on PET/CT and radiotherapy. Foreword.

PMID- 20927014
TI  - PET/CT for radiotherapy: image acquisition and data processing.
AB  - This paper focuses on acquisition and processing methods in positron emission
      tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) for radiotherapy (RT) applications. The
      recent technological evolutions of PET/CT systems are described. Particular
      emphasis is dedicated to the tools needed for the patient positioning and
      immobilization, to be used in PET/CT studies as well as during RT treatment
      sessions. The effect of organ and lesion motion due to patient's respiration on
      PET/CT imaging is discussed. Breathing protocols proposed to minimize PET/CT
      spatial mismatches in relation to respiratory movements are illustrated. The
      respiratory gated (RG) 4D-PET/CT techniques, developed to measure and compensate
      for organ and lesion motion, are then introduced. Finally a description is
      provided of different acquisition and data processing techniques, implemented
      with the aim at improving: i) image quality and quantitative accuracy of PET
      images, and ii) target volume definition and treatment planning in RT, by using
      specific and personalised motion information.

PMID- 20927015
TI  - PET/CT and radiotherapy : data transfer, radiotherapy workflow and quality
      assurance.
AB  - The development of new technologies in radiation therapy has made it possible to
      introduce more sophisticated techniques that can deliver the prescribed dose with
      more conformation and accuracy and to apply dose escalation protocols without
      increasing the risk of healthy tissue damage. This has consented the simultaneous
      delivery of different dose levels to different parts of the target, making it
      possible to boost those tumour sub-volumes that are considered more radio
      resistant. The use of PET for radiotherapy planning purposes has become
      increasingly important in the last few years, because of its ability to provide
      valuable biologic and functional data. PET imaging can affect the treatment
      strategy definition and improve the target delineation and the assessment of
      therapy response. The most attractive aspect is the perspective to deliver
      differential doses inside target volumes for areas of different biologic
      behaviour based on functional imaging, moving closer to the goals of biologically
      conformal radiation therapy. Each single step of PET/CT-guided radiotherapy
      workflow, needs to be performed following high standard procedures, within a
      rigorous and appropriate quality assurance protocol to minimize the sources of
      errors and to maximize the efficacy of PET imaging in radiation therapy, ensuring
      safe and effective use of the technology. The present paper focuses on aspects
      concerning the use of PET/CT in radiation treatment process, with the aim to
      delineate different possible approaches to its clinical application and to
      highlight the critical aspects of the various subprocesses.

PMID- 20927016
TI  - Functional target volume delineation for radiation therapy on the basis of
      positron emission tomography and the correlation with histopathology.
AB  - Accurate target volume delineation becomes more and more important for modern
      high-precision radiotherapy. During the last years, molecular imaging using
      positron emission tomography (PET) has been shown to be of high clinical impact
      on diagnosis, staging and/or restaging of many malignancies. Therefore, the
      integration of PET-data into the radiotherapy planning process is of high
      interest in radio-oncology. During the last years a number of automatic and semi
      automatic PET-based volume delineation methods have been developed which will be
      presented in this review. We will not only describe those algorithms currently
      used in clinical settings, but also present some of the latest developments in
      this highly dynamic field of research. Furthermore, validation of different
      segmentation approaches against histopathology is discussed.

PMID- 20927017
TI  - Hypoxia PET/CT imaging: implications for radiation oncology.
AB  - Hypoxia, a condition of reduced partial pressure of oxygen in tissue, is an
      important determinant of poor tumor response to radiation treatment. Many
      invasive and non-invasive methods and approaches have been investigated to detect
      tumor hypoxia for response prediction and to facilitate modulation of radiation
      treatment. In this review we discuss the biological consequences of tumor
      hypoxia, methods of measuring regional tumor hypoxia with positron emission
      tomography (PET) tracers and applications for radiation oncology.

PMID- 20927018
TI  - Use of PET/CT for staging and radiation therapy planning in patients with non
      small cell lung cancer.
AB  - Positron emission tomography (PET) and more recently PET/computed tomography (CT)
      scanning represent major advances in the imaging of lung cancer and have an
      especially high impact on the management of patients who are candidates for
      potentially curative or "radical" radiotherapy (RT). This article reviews the
      current status of PET and PET/CT for staging patients before RT and considers the
      use of PET and PET/CT images for target volume definition. The relevant
      literature on the use of PET for staging lung cancer is reviewed and placed in
      the context of patients who are candidates for RT. Research that specifically
      considers the use of PET for RT planning is considered critically and some
      promising areas for future research are discussed. The available literature is
      almost exclusively devoted to non small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with few
      relevant studies of small cell lung cancer (SCLC). The primary PET
      radiopharmaceutical shown to have value for staging and RT planning is 18F
      fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG). In prospective studies where PET imaging was used to
      stage radical RT candidates, 25-30% of patients were excluded from radical
      therapy because of PET detected advanced disease. In all studies where "PET
      assisted" and conventional target or treatment volumes were compared, there were
      major differences between PET and conventional volumes. Because PET-assisted
      staging is proven to be significantly more accurate than conventional staging and
      because all studies show major differences between PET-assisted and conventional
      treatment volumes in NSCLC, routine use of PET/CT for RT planning is recommended.

PMID- 20927019
TI  - Impact of PET/CT on planning of radiotherapy in head and neck cancer.
AB  - Radiation therapy (RT) has a prominent role in the treatment of locally advanced
      head and neck cancer. Image and biologically guided intensity modulated RT are
      becoming strongholds of state-of-the-art management with positron emission
      tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) as the preferred diagnostic tool in
      treatment planning. The procedures required in the workflow from diagnosis to
      treatment plan are complex and consensus on optimal image acquisition,
      reconstruction parameters and contouring methods remains to be established. In
      spite of this the potential of PET/CT-based treatment planning has been widely
      recognized and many large referral centres have adopted the technique in either a
      routine or an experimental setting. PET/CT with 2-deoxy-2-[18F]fluoro-D-glucose
      ([18F]FDG) assists in selection of correct treatment goal and dose optimisation
      and increases the confidence of contouring process modifying treatment plan in
      most patients. For dose escalation and adaptive RT strategies PET may provide
      regional distribution of desired tumour characteristics such as hypoxic,
      metabolically active or rapidly proliferating sub-volumes. It is expected that
      within a few years PET/CT will be recommended for all patients presenting with
      stage III-IV disease considering the obvious benefits associated with more
      accurate volumetric presentation of primary and locoregional disease and the
      improved opportunities to conform and escalate RT dose in an attempt to improve
      therapeutic gain.

PMID- 20927020
TI  - PET/CT and radiotherapy in gynecological cancer.
AB  - Molecular imaging, in particular, positron emission tomography (PET), has brought
      an additional dimension to management of patients with cancer and to radiation
      therapy planning. The combination of PET and computed tomography (CT) in a single
      system (PET/CT) to form an inherently fused anatomical and functional dataset has
      provided an imaging modality which could be used as the prime tool in the
      delineation of tumour volumes and the preparation of patient treatment plans,
      especially when integrated with virtual simulation. PET imaging (typically using
      18F-FDG) can provide data on metabolically active tumour volumes. These
      functional data have the potential to modify treatment volumes and to guide
      treatment delivery to cells with particular metabolic characteristics. Depending
      on its sensitivity and specificity, 18F-FDG PET has been shown to influence the
      selection of target volumes also in gynecological cancer. The potential of such
      data from PET was recognized at an early stage and was integrated into the
      radiotherapy treatment for some gynecological malignancies. In particular 18F-FDG
      PET has been demonstrated to be useful in patients with cervical cancer candidate
      to radiotherapy; preliminary data suggest a potential use also in patients with
      endometrial cancer, uterine sarcoma and ovarian cancer. This paper reviews the
      state of the art of the integration of PET and PET/CT applications in
      radiotherapy, and the use of 18F-FDG PET in disease staging, patient selection,
      treatment planning and treatment evaluation in gynaecological malignancies, in
      particular in patients with cervical cancer, endometrial cancer, uterine sarcoma
      and ovarian cancer.

PMID- 20927021
TI  - PET/CT and radiotherapy in prostate cancer.
AB  - Radiotherapy is one of the corner stone treatments for patients with prostate
      cancer. Especially for locally advanced tumors radiotherapy +/- adjuvant androgen
      deprivation treatment is standard of care. This brings up the need for accurate
      assessment of extra prostatic tumor growth and/or the presence of nodal
      metastases for selection of the optimal radiation dose and treatment volume.
      Morphological imaging like transrectal ultra sound, computed tomography (CT) and
      magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are routinely used but are limited in their
      accuracy in detecting extra prostatic extension and nodal metastases. In this
      article we present a structured review of the literature on positron emission
      tomography (PET)/CT and radiotherapy in prostate cancer patients with emphasis
      on: 1) the pretreatment assessment of extra prostatic tumor extension, nodal and
      distant metastases; 2) the intraprostatic tumor characterization and radiotherapy
      treatment planning; and 3) treatment evaluation and the use of PET/CT in guidance
      of salvage treatment. PET/CT is not an appropriate imaging technique for accurate
      T-staging of prostate cancer prior to radiotherapy. Although macroscopic disease
      beyond the prostatic capsule and into the periprostatic fat or in seminal vesicle
      is often accurately detected, the microscopic extension of prostate cancer
      remains undetected. Choline PET/CT holds a great potential as a single step
      diagnostic procedure of lymph nodes and skeleton, which could facilitate
      radiotherapy treatment planning. At present the use of PET/CT for treatment
      planning in radiotherapy is still experimental. Choline PET based tumor
      delineation is not yet standardized and different segmentation-algorithms are
      under study. However, dose escalation using dose-painting is feasible with only
      limited increases of the doses to the bladder and rectum wall. PET/CT using
      either acetate or choline is able to detect recurrent prostate cancer after
      radiotherapy but stratification of patients for any local salvage treatment has
      not been addressed in the current literature.

PMID- 20927022
TI  - Testing of microbial contamination during the preparation of the radiocompound
      [90Y]DOTATOC for clinical trials: a process validation study by Media Fill
      approach.
AB  - AIM: Radioisotopes used in nuclear radiopharmacy possess short half-lives, not
      allowing enough time to wait for completion of sterility tests. Moreover,
      carrying out sterility tests on highly radioactive solutions inside the hospital
      microbiology laboratory arises concerns about radioprotection. Therefore, the
      release of radiopharmaceuticals for injection is allowed in microbial analysis.
      For this reason, the effectiveness of the aseptic procedures has to be
      continuously assessed in order to guarantee the safety of the drug. The aim of
      this study was to validate the sterile preparation of [90Y]DOTATOC by means of
      media fill test. METHODS: In order to validate the process, a simulation test was
      used: the media fill test. To apply this method, operators simulated each step of
      the process using culture medium (Triptic Soy Broth, TSB) instead of actual
      radiopharmaceutical product. Media fill test procedure has been subdivided into 5
      phases, from the simulation of reagent preparation through the dispensing
      operations up to ward delivery. After every step, the processed medium was
      incubated at 35  degrees C for 14 days. If the compounding procedures are
      adequately performed, no growth of microorganisms will be detected. RESULTS:
      Microbiological analyses, carried out on all vials obtained at the end of each
      step, showed no microbial growth. For this reason, sterility tests were
      considered satisfactory. CONCLUSION: Application of media-fill test allowed both
      to validate operative modality used for [90Y]-DOTATOC handling and to attest the
      ability of operators who worked on it. Additionally, a correct quality control of
      the radiopharmaceutical i.v. preparations allows clinic infections control and
      prevention.

PMID- 20927023
TI  - Comparison of efficacy of 2220 MBq versus 3700 MBq I-131 for ablation of thyroid
      remnant in patients with differentiated thyroid cancer.
AB  - AIM: We evaluated the efficacy of two doses of I-131 (2220 MBq versus 3700 MBq)
      after thyroid hormone withdrawal for thyroid remnant ablation postoperatively in
      patients with differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC). METHODS: A total of 133
      patients with DTC were studied retrospectively. Group 1 (N.=48) included patients
      with a primary tumor less than 4 cm in mean diameter and confined to the thyroid
      gland that received an average ablation dose of 2220 MBq. Group 2 (N.=81)
      included patients with a primary tumor equal to or greater than 4 cm in mean
      diameter and/or with vascular invasion and/or intrathyroidal lymphovascular
      invasion and/or microscopic extrathyroidal extension that received an average
      ablation dose of 3700 MBq. There was no significant difference between the two
      groups in terms of demographic characteristics or the radioiodine uptake in the
      neck (2.86+2.31% versus 2.84+1.21%, P=0.97). The success of the remnant ablation
      was judged by the standard institutional protocol: I-123 whole body scan (WBS)
      and serum Thyroglobulin (Tg) level after thyroid hormone withdrawal or
      preparation with recombinant human TSH (rhTSH) 6-12 months after ablation.
      RESULTS: Overall, remnant ablation was successful in 121/133 (91%) patients.
      There was no statistically significant difference in the success of ablation
      between Group 1 and Group 2 (87.5% versus 93%, P=0.273). CONCLUSION: Therefore,
      for thyroid remnant ablation after thyroid hormone withdrawal, an administered I
      131 dose of 2220 MBq is just as effective as 3700 MBq and has the potential for
      fewer longterm side effects.

PMID- 20927024
TI  - Exploring dopaminergic activity in ring chromosome 20 syndrome: a SPECT study.
AB  - AIM: Several lines of evidence indicate that the dopaminergic system may play a
      role in the propagation of epileptic seizures and, indeed, DOPA metabolism
      impairment has recently been demonstrated in PET studies of ring chromosome 20
      [r(20)] patients. We conducted a study looking for correlations between r(20)
      mosaicism, other clinical variables and both pre-synaptic dopamine transporter
      (DAT) expression and post-synaptic D2 receptor density. METHODS: Five patients
      with r(20) and epilepsy were enrolled in the study. DAT expression and D2 density
      were measured by single photon emission tomography (SPECT) imaging with 185 MBq
      of [123I]ioflupane and [123I]IBZM, respectively, on different days. Linear
      correlations between r(20) mosaicism, clinical variables and binding of
      [123I]ioflupane or [123I]IBZM were examined. RESULTS: A significant correlation
      between seizure frequency and r(20) mosaicism was detected (r=0.903, P<0.05),
      along with a negative correlation between r(20) mosaicism and binding of
      [123I]ioflupane in the putamen and in the caudate nucleus (r=-0.692 and r=-807;
      P<0.05). Seizure frequency was positively correlated with post-synaptic D2
      density (r=0.925, P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Striatal neurons are involved in r(20)
      epilepsy; the relationship found between r(20) mosaicism and DAT expression
      suggests that drugs acting on the dopaminergic system could have a place in the
      treatment of this rare form of epilepsy.

PMID- 20927026
TI  - The ESRC Centre for Population Change - working in partnership with ONS and GROS.

PMID- 20927027
TI  - Stability and change in fertility intentions in Britain, 1991-2007.
AB  - The very low fertility experienced in several European countries in recent
      decades in the presence of higher intended family sizes has renewed interest in
      fertility intentions data. While the overall level of childbearing in Britain
      over the past few decades has remained relatively stable and high in comparison
      with many other European countries, we have seen sizeable increases in the age at
      which childbearing starts. This study uses data from the 1991 to 2007 General
      Household Surveys to examine trends in family intentions data in an attempt to
      arrive at a better understanding of these recent fertility developments. First,
      time trends in intended family size are compared with trends in observed
      fertility. Next, aggregate changes in intentions regarding the level and timing
      of fertility across the life course for cohorts are investigated together with
      the extent to which these aggregate intentions are matched by the subsequent
      childbearing of cohorts. Finally, both change across the life course and
      uncertainty in family intentions are examined. We conclude by discussing what
      these findings might tell us about contemporary reproductive decision making.

PMID- 20927028
TI  - National and international graduate migration flows.
AB  - This article examines the nature of national and international graduate migration
      flows in the UK. Migration equations are estimated with microdata from a matched
      dataset of Students and Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education,
      information collected by the Higher Education Statistical Agency. The probability
      of migrating is related to a set of observable characteristics using multinomial
      logit regression. The analysis suggests that migration is a selective process
      with graduates with certain characteristics having considerably higher
      probabilities of migrating, both to other regions of the UK and abroad.

PMID- 20927029
TI  - The demographic characteristics and economic activity patterns of carers over 50:
      evidence from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing.
AB  - Studies on informal care provision have often focused on the provision of care
      for persons with a long term physical or mental ill-health or disability, or
      problems related to old age. However, the provision of care and support more
      broadly, for example in the form of childcare for grandchildren, can also impact
      on various aspects of a carer's life, such as their employment (if under the
      state retirement age), lifetime earnings and, by extension, pension income in
      later life. This article uses data from Wave 3 of the English Longitudinal Study
      of Ageing (ELSA) to explore the demographic characteristics, caring patterns,
      health status and economic activity patterns of carers aged over 50 in England.
      The results suggest that the nature of care provision differs across age groups,
      and that caring can be quite a different experience for older men and women. This
      article also sheds light on the characteristics of 'round-the-clock' carers, a
      relatively under-researched group which makes up just over one fifth of all
      carers aged 50 and over.

PMID- 20927030
TI  - Migration in later life: evidence from the British Household Panel Study.
AB  - This article uses data from the British Household Panel Study over the period
      1991 - 2007 to examine the factors associated with residential mobility among
      people aged 50 and over. In line with earlier research, the likelihood of
      migrating, that is, changing address, is found to vary according to the
      demographic and socio-economic characteristics of the older person. Those in late
      middle age (50-59) and the oldest-old (90 and over) were most likely to move.
      Migration was also strongly associated with changes in partnership, health and
      economic status during the last 12 months, highlighting the importance of seeing
      migration within a life course context with certain life course events such as
      divorce, widowhood or retirement being important triggers for prompting a move.
      As divorce and remarriage become more common in later life, 'relationship driven
      migration' is likely to become more important, adding a new category to the
      classical typology of later life migration.

PMID- 20927031
TI  - A comparison of official population projections with Bayesian time series
      forecasts for England and Wales.
AB  - We compare official population projections with Bayesian time series forecasts
      for England and Wales. The Bayesian approach allows the integration of
      uncertainty in the data, models and model parameters in a coherent and consistent
      manner. Bayesian methodology for time-series forecasting is introduced, including
      autoregressive (AR) and stochastic volatility (SV) models. These models are then
      fitted to a historical time series of data from 1841 to 2007 and used to predict
      future population totals to 2033. These results are compared to the most recent
      projections produced by the Office for National Statistics. Sensitivity analyses
      are then performed to test the effect of changes in the prior uncertainty for a
      single parameter. Finally, in-sample forecasts are compared with actual
      population and previous official projections. The article ends with some
      conclusions and recommendations for future work.

PMID- 20927032
TI  - A cross country review of the validation and/or adjustment of census data.
AB  - This article reviews existing procedures employed by various countries in the
      evaluation of, and/or adjustment, either of census data, or of population
      estimates based upon census data. The work was carried out to ensure all
      potential demographic techniques are considered by the ONS for the post census
      evaluation process of the 2011 Census.

PMID- 20927033
TI  - Change in living arrangements following death of a partner in England and Wales,
      1971 to 2001.
AB  - Understanding trends and changes in the circumstances of couples separated by
      death is important for policy initiatives to reduce vulnerabilities associated
      with end of life care and for those who live on. This article uses widow(er)hood
      statistics and census data from the Office for National Statistics Longitudinal
      Study. It examines changes in couples' living arrangements and households at four
      successive censuses from 1971 to 2001 and shows how these differ by age and
      gender on the death of a spouse or partner. Findings draw attention to the
      effects of ageing and mortality improvements as well as wider social and economic
      trends in family and household formation, residential independence in older age,
      and policy developments on long-term care provision for older people.

PMID- 20927034
TI  - An analysis of patient register data in the Longitudinal Study - what does it
      tell us about the quality of the data?
AB  - This article uses data for members of the ONS Longitudinal Study (LS) from both
      Census 2001 enumeration and patient registrations "frozen" on census day 2001
      from the National Health Service Central Register (NHSCR) to examine potential
      sources of difference in area of usual residence.Overall 95.7 per cent of ONS LS
      members enumerated at census resided in the same area as recorded on the NHSCR
      data. Where areas differed, or the ONS LS member was not on the NHSCR on census
      day, subsequent NHSCR records were examined. Records flagged on the NHSCR as ONS
      LS members in England and Wales on census day but with no census record were also
      investigated.

PMID- 20927035
TI  - Bidirectional relationship between chronic kidney and periodontal disease: a
      study using structural equation modeling.
AB  - Periodontal disease is associated with diabetes, heart disease, and chronic
      kidney disease (CKD), relationships postulated to be due in part to vascular
      inflammation. A bidirectional relationship between CKD and periodontal disease is
      plausible, though this relationship has not been previously reported. In this
      study, we assessed the potential for connections between CKD and periodontal
      disease, and mediators of these relationships using structural equation models of
      data from 11,211 adults >= 18 years of age who participated in the Third National
      Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Multivariable logistic regression models
      were used to test the hypothesis that periodontal disease was independently
      associated with CKD. Given the potential that the periodontal disease and CKD
      relationship may be bidirectional, a two-step analytic approach was used that
      involved tests for mediation and structural equation models to examine more
      complex direct and indirect effects of periodontal disease on CKD, and vice
      versa. In two separate models, periodontal disease (adjusted odds ratio of 1.62),
      edentulism (adjusted odds ratio of 1.83), and the periodontal disease score were
      associated with CKD when simultaneously adjusting for 14 other factors.
      Altogether, three of four structural equation models support the hypothesized
      relationship. Thus, our analyses support a bidirectional relationship between CKD
      and periodontal disease, mediated by hypertension and the duration of diabetes.

PMID- 20927036
TI  - Quality of care and mortality are worse in chronic kidney disease patients living
      in remote areas.
AB  - Many patients with non-dialysis dependent chronic kidney disease (CKD) live far
      from the closest nephrologist; although reversible, this might constitute a
      barrier to optimal care. In order to evaluate outcomes, we selected 31,452
      outpatients older than 18 years with an estimated glomerular filtration rate
      (eGFR) less than 45 ml/min per 1.73 m2 who had serum creatinine measured at least
      once during 2005 in Alberta, Canada. We then used logistic regression to examine
      the association between outcomes of 6545 patients who lived more than 50 km from
      the nearest nephrologist. Over a median follow-up of 27 months, 7684 participants
      died and 15,075 were hospitalized at least once. Compared with those living
      within 50 km, those further away were significantly less likely to visit a
      nephrologist or a multidisciplinary CKD clinic within 18 months of the index
      measurement of the eGFR. Similarly, remote dwellers with diabetes were
      significantly less likely to have hemoglobin A1c evaluated within 1 year of the
      index eGFR measurement, to have urinary albumin assessed biannually, or to
      receive an angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor or receptor blocker in the
      setting of diabetes or proteinuria. Remote-dwelling participants were also
      significantly more likely to die or be hospitalized during follow-up than those
      living closer. Thus, among people with CKD, remote dwellers were less likely to
      receive specialist care, recommended laboratory testing, and appropriate
      medications, and were more likely to die or be hospitalized compared with those
      living closer to a nephrologist.

PMID- 20927037
TI  - The rhesus protein RhCG: a new perspective in ammonium transport and distal
      urinary acidification.
AB  - Urinary acidification is a complex process requiring the coordinated action of
      enzymes and transport proteins and resulting in the removal of acid and the
      regeneration of bicarbonate. Proton secretion is mediated by luminal H(+)-ATPases
      and requires the parallel movement of NH3, and its protonation to NH4(+), to
      provide sufficient buffering. It has been long assumed that ammonia secretion is
      a passive process occurring by means of simple diffusion driven by the urinary
      trapping of ammonium. However, new data indicate that mammalian cells possess
      specific membrane proteins from the family of rhesus proteins involved in
      ammonia/MUm permeability. Rhesus proteins were first identified in yeast and
      later also in plants, algae, and mammals. In rodents, RhBG and RhCG are expressed
      in the collecting duct, whereas in humans only RhCG was detected. Their
      expression increases with maturation of the kidney and accelerates after birth in
      parallel with other acid-base transport proteins. Deletion of RhBG in mice had no
      effect on renal ammonium excretion, whereas RhCG deficiency reduces renal
      ammonium secretion strongly, causes metabolic acidosis in acid-challenged mice,
      and impairs restoration of normal acid-base status. Microperfusion experiments or
      functional reconstitution in liposomes demonstrates that ammonia is the most
      likely substrate of RhCG. Similarly, crystal structures of human RhCG and the
      homologous bacterial AmtB protein suggest that these proteins may form gas
      channels.

PMID- 20927038
TI  - Raloxifene, a selective estrogen receptor modulator, is renoprotective: a post
      hoc analysis.
AB  - Estrogens have a protective effect on kidney fibrosis in several animal models.
      Here, we tested the effect of raloxifene, an estrogen receptor modulator, on the
      change in serum creatinine or estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and
      incident kidney-related adverse events. We performed a post-hoc analysis of the
      multiple outcomes of raloxifene evaluation trial, a double-masked, placebo
      controlled randomized clinical trial encompassing 7705 post-menopausal women
      (aged 31-80 years) with osteoporosis. Participants were randomized to either of
      two doses of raloxifene, 60 or 120 mg/day, or placebo. Serum creatinine was
      measured at a central laboratory at baseline and annually. Adverse events were
      assessed every 6 months and uniformly categorized. Compared with those in the
      placebo group, participants on raloxifene had a slower yearly rate of increase in
      creatinine (significant at the low dose) and a significantly slower yearly rate
      of decrease in eGFR for both doses over 3 years of follow-up. Raloxifene was
      associated with significantly fewer kidney-related adverse events compared with
      placebo. Thus, treatment with raloxifene was safe and renoprotective. Clinical
      trials of raloxifene in post-menopausal women with kidney disease designed to
      look at kidney outcomes are needed to confirm these findings.

PMID- 20927039
TI  - Pharmacotherapy of urolithiasis: evidence from clinical trials.
AB  - Urolithiasis is a worldwide problem with significant health and economic burdens.
      Medical therapy that alters the course of stone disease has enormous medical and
      financial impact. Urolithiasis is a final manifestation of a broad range of
      etiologies and pathogenesis. The modest progress in understanding the
      pathophysiology has hampered successful development of targeted therapy. Current
      regimens are based mostly on rational alteration of urinary biochemistry and
      physical chemistry to lower the risk of precipitation. In terms of
      pharmacotherapy, there are drugs to successfully improve hypercalciuria,
      hypocitraturia, aciduria, hyperuricosuria, and hypercystinuria. These agents have
      been proven to be effective in randomized controlled trials in improving urinary
      biochemical and physicochemical risk factors, as well as clinical outcomes.
      Although our current regimens have clearly improved the management and lives of
      stone formers, there are still clearly identifiable immense voids in the
      knowledge of pathophysiology of stone disease that can be filled with combined
      basic science and clinical studies.

PMID- 20927040
TI  - Rapid fluid removal during dialysis is associated with cardiovascular morbidity
      and mortality.
AB  - Patients receiving hemodialysis have high rates of cardiovascular morbidity and
      mortality that may be related to the hemodynamic effects of rapid
      ultrafiltration. Here we tested whether higher dialytic ultrafiltration rates are
      associated with greater all-cause and cardiovascular mortality, and
      hospitalization for cardiovascular disease. We used data from the Hemodialysis
      Study, an almost-7-year randomized clinical trial of 1846 patients receiving
      thrice-weekly chronic dialysis. The ultrafiltration rates were divided into three
      categories: up to 10 ml/h/kg, 10-13 ml/h/kg, and over 13 ml/h/kg. Compared to
      ultrafiltration rates in the lowest group, rates in the highest were
      significantly associated with increased all-cause and cardiovascular-related
      mortality with adjusted hazard ratios of 1.59 and 1.71, respectively. Overall,
      ultrafiltration rates between 10-13 ml/h/kg were not associated with all-cause or
      cardiovascular mortality; however, they were significantly associated among
      participants with congestive heart failure. Cubic spline interpolation suggested
      that the risk of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality began to increase at
      ultrafiltration rates over 10 ml/h/kg regardless of the status of congestive
      heart failure. Hence, higher ultrafiltration rates in hemodialysis patients are
      associated with a greater risk of all-cause and cardiovascular death.

PMID- 20927041
TI  - Toll-like receptor 4 regulates early endothelial activation during ischemic acute
      kidney injury.
AB  - Ischemic acute kidney injury (AKI) triggers an inflammatory response which
      exacerbates injury that requires increased expression of endothelial adhesion
      molecules. To study this further, we used in situ hybridization, immunohistology,
      and isolated endothelial cells, and found increased Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)
      expression on endothelial cells of the vasa rectae of the inner stripe of the
      outer medulla of the kidney 4 h after reperfusion. This increase was probably due
      to reactive oxygen species, known to be generated early during ischemic AKI,
      because the addition of hydrogen peroxide increased TLR4 expression in MS1
      microvascular endothelial cells in vitro. Endothelial TLR4 may regulate adhesion
      molecule (CD54 and CD62E) expression as they were increased on endothelia of wild
      type but not TLR4 knockout mice in vivo. Further, the addition of high-mobility
      group protein B1, a TLR4 ligand released by injured cells, increased adhesion
      molecule expression on endothelia isolated from wild-type but not TLR4 knockout
      mice. TLR4 was localized to proximal tubules in the cortex and outer medulla
      after 24 h of reperfusion. Thus, at least two different cell types express TLR4,
      each of which contributes to renal injury by temporally different mechanisms
      during ischemic AKI.

PMID- 20927042
TI  - Direct targeting of fibroblast growth factor-inducible 14 protein protects
      against renal ischemia reperfusion injury.
AB  - Tumor necrosis factor-like weak inducer of apoptosis (TWEAK) is known to have
      pivotal roles in various inflammatory processes. The TWEAK receptor, fibroblast
      growth factor-inducible 14 (Fn14), has various unique functions under
      physiological and pathological conditions; however, the therapeutic potential of
      its direct targeting remains unknown. Here, we found that Fn14 expression was
      highly upregulated in ischemic renal tissues and tubular epithelial cells of
      patient biopsies and experimental animal models of renal injury. To clarify the
      function of Fn14 in ischemia reperfusion injury, we coincubated renal tubular
      cells with ITEM-2, an anti-Fn14 blocking monoclonal antibody, and found that it
      inhibited the production of proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines after
      injury. Furthermore, Fn14 blockade downregulated the local expression of several
      proinflammatory mediators, reduced accumulation of neutrophils and macrophages in
      ischemic tissues, and inhibited tubular cell apoptosis. Importantly, Fn14
      blockade attenuated the development of chronic fibrosis after ischemia
      reperfusion injury and significantly prolonged the survival of lethally injured
      mice. Thus, we conclude that Fn14 is a critical mediator in the pathogenesis of
      ischemia reperfusion injury.

PMID- 20927043
TI  - Angiotensin II diminishes the effect of SGK1 on the WNK4-mediated inhibition of
      ROMK1 channels.
AB  - ROMK1 channels are located in the apical membrane of the connecting tubule and
      cortical collecting duct and mediate the potassium secretion during normal
      dietary intake. We used a perforated whole-cell patch clamp to explore the effect
      of angiotensin II on these channels in HEK293 cells transfected with green
      fluorescent protein (GFP)-ROMK1. Angiotensin II inhibited ROMK1 channels in a
      dose-dependent manner, an effect abolished by losartan or by inhibition of
      protein kinase C. Furthermore, angiotensin II stimulated a protein kinase C
      sensitive phosphorylation of tyrosine 416 within c-Src. Inhibition of protein
      tyrosine kinase attenuated the effect of angiotensin II. Western blot studies
      suggested that angiotensin II inhibited ROMK1 channels by enhancing its tyrosine
      phosphorylation, a notion supported by angiotensin II's failure to inhibit
      potassium channels in cells transfected with the ROMK1 tyrosine mutant (R1Y337A).
      However, angiotensin II restored the with-no-lysine kinase-4 (WNK4)-induced
      inhibition of R1Y337A in the presence of serum-glucocorticoids-induced kinase 1
      (SGK1), which reversed the inhibitory effect of WNK4 on ROMK1. Moreover, protein
      tyrosine kinase inhibition abolished the angiotensin II-induced restoration of
      WNK4-mediated inhibition of ROMK1. Angiotensin II inhibited ROMK channels in the
      cortical collecting duct of rats on a low sodium diet, an effect blocked by
      protein tyrosine kinase inhibition. Thus, angiotensin II inhibits ROMK channels
      by two mechanisms: increasing tyrosine phosphorylation of the channel and
      synergizing the WNK4-induced inhibition. Hence, angiotensin II may have an
      important role in suppressing potassium secretion during volume depletion.

PMID- 20927045
TI  - Disrupted activity in the hippocampal-accumbens circuit of type III neuregulin 1
      mutant mice.
AB  - Neuregulin 1 (Nrg1), a schizophrenia susceptibility gene, is involved in
      fundamental aspects of neurodevelopment. Mice lacking any one of the several
      isoforms of Nrg1 have a variety of schizophrenia-related phenotypes, including
      deficits in working memory and sensorimotor gating, loss of spines in pyramidal
      neurons in the ventral subiculum, loss of dendrites in cortical pyramidal cells,
      loss of parvalbumin-positive interneurons in the prefrontal cortex, and altered
      plasticity in corticolimbic synapses. Mice heterozygous for a disruption in exon
      7 of the Nrg1 gene lack Type III (cysteine-rich-domain-containing) isoforms and
      have sensorimotor gating deficits that may involve changes in the activity of a
      circuit involving projections from the ventral hippocampus (vHPC) to medium spiny
      neurons in the nucleus accumbens (nACC). To explore the neural basis of these
      deficits, we examined electrophysiological activity in the nACC and vHPC of these
      mice. Under urethane anesthesia, bursts of spontaneous activity propagated from
      the vHPC to the nACC in both wild-type and mutant mice. However, these bursts
      were weaker in mutant nACC, with reduced local field potential amplitude and
      spiking activity. Single units in mutant nACC fired less frequently within the
      bursts, and more frequently outside of the bursts. Moreover, within-burst nACC
      spiking was less modulated by vHPC activity, as determined by phase-locking to
      the low-frequency oscillatory components of the bursts. These data suggest that
      the efficacy of vHPC input to the nACC is reduced in the Type III Nrg1
      heterozygotes, supporting a role for Nrg1 in the functional profile of
      hippocampal-accumbens synapses.

PMID- 20927044
TI  - How human electrophysiology informs psychopharmacology: from bottom-up driven
      processing to top-down control.
AB  - This review surveys human event-related brain potential (ERP) and event-related
      magnetic field (ERF) approaches to psychopharmacology and psychopathology, and
      the way in which they complement behavioral studies and other neuroimaging
      modalities. The major paradigms involving ERP/ERF are P50 suppression, loudness
      dependent auditory evoked potential (LDAEP), mismatch negativity (MMN), P300,
      mental chronometry, inhibitory control, and conflict processing (eg, error
      related negativity (ERN)). Together these paradigms cover a range of more bottom
      up driven to more top-down controlled processes. A number of relationships
      between the major neurotransmitter systems and electrocortical mechanisms are
      highlighted. These include the role of dopamine in conflict processing, and
      perceptual processing vs motor preparation; the role of serotonin in P50
      suppression, LDAEP, and MMN; glutamate/NMDA and MMN; and the role of
      acetylcholine in P300 generation and memory-related processes. A preliminary
      taxonomy for these relationships is provided, which should be helpful in attuning
      possible new treatments or new applications of existing treatments to various
      disorders.

PMID- 20927046
TI  - Stress and alcohol cues exert conjoint effects on go and stop signal responding
      in male problem drinkers.
AB  - Stress, cues, and pharmacological priming are linked with relapse to addictive
      behavior. Increased salience and decreased inhibitory control are thought to
      mediate the effects of relapse-related stimuli. However, the functional
      relationship between these two processes is unclear. To address this issue, a
      modified Stop Signal Task was employed, which used Alcohol, Neutral, and Non
      Words as Go stimuli, and lexical decision as the Go response. Subjects were 38
      male problem drinkers (mean Alcohol Dependence Scale (ADS) score: 18.0).
      Uncontrollable noise (~ 10 min at 110 dB) was the stressor; nonalcoholic placebo
      beer (P-Beer) was the cue manipulation, and alcohol (0.7 g/kg), the
      pharmacological prime. Half the sample received alcohol, and half P-Beer. Stress
      and beverage (test drink vs soft drink) were manipulated within subjects on two
      sessions, with half the sample receiving active manipulations together and half
      receiving them separately. Go response time (RT) and Stop Signal RT (SSRT) were
      slower to Alcohol than Neutral words. Stress augmented this bias. Alcohol and P
      Beer impaired overall SSRT. Stress impaired neither overall SSRT nor Go RT. SSRT
      to Neutral words and Non-Words correlated inversely with Go RT to Alcohol and
      Neutral words, and Non-Words. ADS correlated directly with SSRT to Alcohol words.
      A resource allocation account was proposed, whereby diversion of limited
      resources to salient cues effectively yoked otherwise independent Go and Stop
      processes. Disturbances of prefrontal norepinephrine and dopamine were cited as
      possibly accounting for these effects. Treatments that optimize prefrontal
      catecholamine transmission may deter relapse by reducing disinhibitory effects of
      salient eliciting stimuli.

PMID- 20927047
TI  - Central and peripheral administration of secretin inhibits food intake in mice
      through the activation of the melanocortin system.
AB  - Secretin (Sct) is released into the circulation postprandially from the duodenal
      S-cells. The major functions of Sct originated from the gastrointestinal system
      are to delay gastric emptying, stimulate fluid secretion from pancreas and liver,
      and hence optimize the digestion process. In recent years, Sct and its receptor
      (Sctr) have been identified in discrete nuclei of the hypothalamus, including the
      paraventricular nucleus (PVN) and the arcuate nucleus (Arc). These nuclei are the
      primary brain sites that are engaged in regulating body energy homeostasis, thus
      providing anatomical evidence to support a functional role of Sct in appetite
      control. In this study, the effect of Sct on feeding behavior was investigated
      using wild-type (wt), Sct(-/-), and secretin receptor-deficient (Sctr(-/-)) mice.
      We found that both central and peripheral administration of Sct could induce Fos
      expression in the PVN and Arc, suggesting the activation of hypothalamic feeding
      centers by this peptide. Consistent with this notion, Sct was found to increase
      thyrotropin-releasing hormone and melanocortin-4 receptor (Mc4r) transcripts in
      the PVN, and augment proopiomelanocortin, but reduces agouti-related protein mRNA
      expression in the Arc. Injection of Sct was able to suppress food intake in wt
      mice, but not in Sctr(-/-) mice, and that this effect was abolished upon
      pretreatment with SHU9119, an antagonist for Mc4r. In summary, our data suggest
      for the first time that Sct is an anorectic peptide, and that this function is
      mediated by the melanocortin system.

PMID- 20927048
TI  - Deconstructing antiobesity compound action: requirement of serotonin 5-HT2B
      receptors for dexfenfluramine anorectic effects.
AB  - The now-banned anorectic molecule, dexfenfluramine, promotes serotonin release
      through a serotonin transporter-dependent mechanism, and it has been widely
      prescribed for the treatment of obesity. Previous studies have identified that 5
      HT(2B) receptors have important roles in dexfenfluramine side effects, that is,
      pulmonary hypertension, plasma serotonin level regulation, and valvulopathy. We
      thus investigated a putative contribution of 5-HT(2B) receptors in
      dexfenfluramine-dependent feeding behavior in mice. Interestingly, the hypophagic
      response to dexfenfluramine (3-10 mg/kg) observed in wild-type mice (1-4 h) was
      eliminated in mice lacking 5-HT(2B) receptors (5-HT(2B)(-/-)). These findings
      were further validated by the lack of hypophagic response to dexfenfluramine in
      wild-type mice treated with RS127445, a highly selective and potent antagonist
      (pKi=8.22 +/- 0.24). Using microdialysis, we observed that in 5-HT(2B)(-/-) awake
      mice, the dexfenfluramine-induced hypothalamic peak of serotonin release (1 h)
      was strongly reduced (fourfold) compared with wild type. Moreover, using
      hypothalamic synaptosomes, we established the serotonergic neuron autonomous
      properties of this effect: a strong serotonin release was observed upon
      dexfenfluramine stimulation of synaptosome preparation from wild type but not
      from mice lacking active 5-HT(2B) receptors. These findings strongly suggest that
      activation of presynaptic 5-HT(2B) receptors is a limiting step in the serotonin
      transporter dependent-releasing effect of dexfenfluramine, whereas other
      serotonin receptors act downstream with respect to feeding behavior.

PMID- 20927051
TI  - Infectious disease: do steroids benefit patients with bacterial meningitis?

PMID- 20927049
TI  - Risk-assessment and coping strategies segregate with divergent intrinsic aerobic
      capacity in rats.
AB  - Metabolic function is integrally related to an individual's susceptibility to,
      and progression of, disease. Selective breeding for intrinsic treadmill running
      in rats has produced distinct lines of high- or low-capacity runners (HCR and
      LCR, respectively) that exhibit numerous physiological differences. To date, the
      role of intrinsic aerobic capacity on behavior and stress response in these rats
      has not been addressed and was the focus of these studies. HCR and LCR rats did
      not differ in their locomotor response to novelty or behavior in the light/dark
      box. In contrast, immobility in the forced swim test was higher in LCR rats
      compared with HCR rats, regardless of desipramine treatment. Although both HCR
      and LCR rats responded to cat odor with decreased exploration and increased risk
      assessment, HCR rats showed greater contextual conditioning to cat odor. HCR rats
      exhibited higher expression of corticotropin-releasing hormone in the central
      nucleus of the amygdala, as well as heavier adrenal and thymus weight.
      Corticosterone was comparable among HCR and LCR rats at light/dark transitions,
      and in response to unavoidable cat odor. HCR rats, however, exhibited a greater
      corticosterone response following the light/dark box. These experiments show that
      the LCR phenotype associates with decreased risk assessment in response to
      salient danger signals and passive coping. In contrast, HCR rats show a more
      naturalistic strategy in that they employ active coping and a more vigilant and
      cautious response to environmental novelty and salient danger signals. Within
      this context, we propose that intrinsic aerobic capacity is a central feature
      mechanistically linking complex metabolic disease and behavior.

PMID- 20927052
TI  - Parkinson disease: deep brain stimulation versus best medical therapy for PD.

PMID- 20927050
TI  - Regulation of hippocampal cannabinoid CB1 receptor actions by adenosine A1
      receptors and chronic caffeine administration: implications for the effects of
      Delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol on spatial memory.
AB  - The cannabinoid CB(1) receptor-mediated modulation of gamma-aminobutyric acid
      (GABA) release from inhibitory interneurons is important for the integrity of
      hippocampal-dependent spatial memory. Although adenosine A(1) receptors have a
      central role in fine-tuning excitatory transmission in the hippocampus, A(1)
      receptors localized in GABAergic cells do not directly influence GABA release.
      CB(1) and A(1) receptors are the main targets for the effects of two of the most
      heavily consumed psychoactive substances worldwide: Delta(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol
      (THC, a CB(1) receptor agonist) and caffeine (an adenosine receptor antagonist).
      We first tested the hypothesis that an A(1)-CB(1) interaction influences GABA and
      glutamate release in the hippocampus. We found that A(1) receptor activation
      attenuated the CB(1)-mediated inhibition of GABA and glutamate release and this
      interaction was manifested at the level of G-protein activation. Using in vivo
      and in vitro approaches, we then investigated the functional implications of the
      adenosine-cannabinoid interplay that may arise following chronic caffeine
      consumption. Chronic administration of caffeine in mice (intraperitoneally, 3
      mg/kg/day, for 15 days, >12 h before trials) led to an A(1)-mediated enhancement
      of the CB(1)-dependent acute disruptive effects of THC on a short-term spatial
      memory task, despite inducing a reduction in cortical and hippocampal CB(1)
      receptor number and an attenuation of CB(1) coupling with G protein. A(1)
      receptor levels were increased following chronic caffeine administration. This
      study shows that A(1) receptors exert a negative modulatory effect on CB(1)
      mediated inhibition of GABA and glutamate release, and provides the first
      evidence of chronic caffeine-induced alterations on the cannabinoid system in the
      cortex and hippocampus, with functional implications in spatial memory.

PMID- 20927053
TI  - Stroke: predicting the risk of poststroke epilepsy-why and how?

PMID- 20927054
TI  - Neuro-oncology: Therapeutic benefits of reirradiation for recurrent brain tumors.

PMID- 20927055
TI  - Parkinson disease: deep brain stimulation in Parkinson disease-what went wrong?

PMID- 20927057
TI  - CT colonography: Ready for prime time?

PMID- 20927058
TI  - Con: CT colonography-not yet ready for community-wide implementation.

PMID- 20927059
TI  - A balancing view: the good, the bad, and the unknown.

PMID- 20927060
TI  - Update from the GI program directors' caucus.

PMID- 20927061
TI  - Self-dilation for resistant, benign esophageal strictures.

PMID- 20927062
TI  - Editorial: Cancer surveillance in achalasia: better late than never?
AB  - Patients with achalasia have an increased risk for the development of esophageal
      squamous cell cancer. Endoscopic surveillance in long-standing achalasia has been
      advocated by some, but the most recent American Society of Gastrointesinal
      Endoscopy guidelines regard current data as insufficient to support such an
      approach. In this issue of the American Journal of Gastroenterology, Leeuwenburgh
      and colleagues report on the results of a long-term prospective study with fixed
      surveillance intervals. The authors confirm earlier observations of an increased
      cancer risk after 10 years of symptomatic achalasia. Despite some limitations,
      this study and earlier data suggest that it might be worthwhile to consider
      endoscopic surveillance in patients with long-standing achalasia.

PMID- 20927065
TI  - Editorial: Treatment of patients with HCV-related cirrhosis with peginterferon
      and ribavirin: Swinging the pendulum toward treatment.
AB  - Patients with hepatitis C virus-related cirrhosis are at increased risk for
      hepatic decompensation and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). They also responded
      less well to standard therapy compared with those without cirrhosis. Several
      recent studies have demonstrated that patients with cirrhosis can be safely
      treated and those who achieve a sustained virological response have better
      clinical outcomes compared with nonresponders. These results support treatment
      for patients with compensated cirrhosis. In addition, cirrhotic patients should
      be monitored after a sustained virological response is obtained, because some
      patients remain at risk for complications of liver disease, particularly HCC.
      Newer, more effective therapy is needed for patients with cirrhosis.

PMID- 20927068
TI  - Irritable bowel syndrome and diverticular disease: association or misdiagnosis?

PMID- 20927071
TI  - "Short" double-balloon or single-balloon enteroscope for ERCP in patients with
      billroth II gastrectomy or Roux-en-Y anastomosis.

PMID- 20927072
TI  - Remaining in an upright position is suboptimal for transnasal gastroscopy.

PMID- 20927074
TI  - Scleroderma with a twist.

PMID- 20927075
TI  - Hepatosplenic T-cell lymphoma in inflammatory bowel disease: a possible
      thiopurine-induced chromosomal abnormality.

PMID- 20927076
TI  - Crohn's disease masquerading as idiopathic amyloidosis and nephrotic syndrome for
      2 years before diagnosis.

PMID- 20927077
TI  - A case of ulcerative colitis associated with autoimmune hemolytic anemia
      successfully treated by autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

PMID- 20927078
TI  - Methanogenic flora and constipation: many doubts for a pathogenetic link.

PMID- 20927084
TI  - Prediction of neutropenia-related effects of a new combination therapy with the
      anticancer drugs BI 2536 (a Plk1 inhibitor) and pemetrexed.
AB  - This study investigated the feasibility of predicting the neutropenia-related
      effects of a therapy that combines the investigational drug BI 2536 (inhibitor of
      Polo-like kinase 1) and pemetrexed, an approved anticancer drug. Predictions were
      arrived at using the pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) parameters of each
      of the drugs obtained from monotherapy studies and assuming that the neutropenic
      effect is additive when the drugs are administered as a combination therapy.
      Subsequently, a PK/PD model was developed to determine whether this assumption of
      additive effect was reasonable in relation to these two drugs. All analyses and
      simulations were performed using the population approach in NONMEM, version VI.

PMID- 20927085
TI  - Following the money in epilepsy therapeutics.

PMID- 20927102
TI  - An unprecedented nucleic acid capture mechanism for excision of DNA damage.
AB  - DNA glycosylases that remove alkylated and deaminated purine nucleobases are
      essential DNA repair enzymes that protect the genome, and at the same time
      confound cancer alkylation therapy, by excising cytotoxic N3-methyladenine bases
      formed by DNA-targeting anticancer compounds. The basis for glycosylase
      specificity towards N3- and N7-alkylpurines is believed to result from intrinsic
      instability of the modified bases and not from direct enzyme functional group
      chemistry. Here we present crystal structures of the recently discovered Bacillus
      cereus AlkD glycosylase in complex with DNAs containing alkylated, mismatched and
      abasic nucleotides. Unlike other glycosylases, AlkD captures the extrahelical
      lesion in a solvent-exposed orientation, providing an illustration for how
      hydrolysis of N3- and N7-alkylated bases may be facilitated by increased lifetime
      out of the DNA helix. The structures and supporting biochemical analysis of base
      flipping and catalysis reveal how the HEAT repeats of AlkD distort the DNA
      backbone to detect non-Watson-Crick base pairs without duplex intercalation.

PMID- 20927103
TI  - Oxidative stress induces angiogenesis by activating TLR2 with novel endogenous
      ligands.
AB  - Reciprocity of inflammation, oxidative stress and neovascularization is emerging
      as an important mechanism underlying numerous processes from tissue healing and
      remodelling to cancer progression. Whereas the mechanism of hypoxia-driven
      angiogenesis is well understood, the link between inflammation-induced oxidation
      and de novo blood vessel growth remains obscure. Here we show that the end
      products of lipid oxidation, omega-(2-carboxyethyl)pyrrole (CEP) and other
      related pyrroles, are generated during inflammation and wound healing and
      accumulate at high levels in ageing tissues in mice and in highly vascularized
      tumours in both murine and human melanoma. The molecular patterns of
      carboxyalkylpyrroles are recognized by Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2), but not TLR4
      or scavenger receptors on endothelial cells, leading to an angiogenic response
      that is independent of vascular endothelial growth factor. CEP promoted
      angiogenesis in hindlimb ischaemia and wound healing models through MyD88
      dependent TLR2 signalling. Neutralization of endogenous carboxyalkylpyrroles
      impaired wound healing and tissue revascularization and diminished tumour
      angiogenesis. Both TLR2 and MyD88 are required for CEP-induced stimulation of
      Rac1 and endothelial migration. Taken together, these findings establish a new
      function of TLR2 as a sensor of oxidation-associated molecular patterns,
      providing a key link connecting inflammation, oxidative stress, innate immunity
      and angiogenesis.

PMID- 20927105
TI  - Seismic evidence of negligible water carried below 400-km depth in subducting
      lithosphere.
AB  - Strong evidence exists that water is carried from the surface into the upper
      mantle by hydrous minerals in the uppermost 10-12 km of subducting lithosphere,
      and more water may be added as the lithosphere bends and goes downwards.
      Significant amounts of that water are released as the lithosphere heats up,
      triggering earthquakes and fluxing arc volcanism. In addition, there is
      experimental evidence for high solubility of water in olivine, the most abundant
      mineral in the upper mantle, for even higher solubility in olivine's high
      pressure polymorphs, wadsleyite and ringwoodite, and for the existence of dense
      hydrous magnesium silicates that potentially could carry water well into the
      lower mantle (deeper than 1,000 km). Here we compare experimental and seismic
      evidence to test whether patterns of seismicity and the stabilities of these
      potentially relevant hydrous phases are consistent with a wet lithosphere. We
      show that there is nearly a one-to-one correlation between dehydration of
      minerals and seismicity at depths less than about 250 km, and conclude that the
      dehydration of minerals is the trigger of instability that leads to seismicity.
      At greater depths, however, we find no correlation between occurrences of
      earthquakes and depths where breakdown of hydrous phases is expected. Lastly, we
      note that there is compelling evidence for the existence of metastable olivine
      (which, if present, can explain the distribution of deep-focus earthquakes) west
      of and within the subducting Tonga slab and also in three other subduction zones,
      despite metastable olivine being incompatible with even extremely small amounts
      of water (of the order of 100 p.p.m. by weight). We conclude that subducting
      slabs are essentially dry at depths below 400 km and thus do not provide a
      pathway for significant amounts of water to enter the mantle transition zone or
      the lower mantle.

PMID- 20927104
TI  - ETV1 is a lineage survival factor that cooperates with KIT in gastrointestinal
      stromal tumours.
AB  - Gastrointestinal stromal tumour (GIST) is the most common human sarcoma and is
      primarily defined by activating mutations in the KIT or PDGFRA receptor tyrosine
      kinases. KIT is highly expressed in interstitial cells of Cajal (ICCs)-the
      presumed cell of origin for GIST-as well as in haematopoietic stem cells,
      melanocytes, mast cells and germ cells. Yet, families harbouring germline
      activating KIT mutations and mice with knock-in Kit mutations almost exclusively
      develop ICC hyperplasia and GIST, suggesting that the cellular context is
      important for KIT to mediate oncogenesis. Here we show that the ETS family member
      ETV1 is highly expressed in the subtypes of ICCs sensitive to oncogenic KIT
      mediated transformation, and is required for their development. In addition, ETV1
      is universally highly expressed in GISTs and is required for growth of imatinib
      sensitive and resistant GIST cell lines. Transcriptome profiling and global
      analyses of ETV1-binding sites suggest that ETV1 is a master regulator of an ICC
      GIST-specific transcription network mainly through enhancer binding. The ETV1
      transcriptional program is further regulated by activated KIT, which prolongs
      ETV1 protein stability and cooperates with ETV1 to promote tumorigenesis. We
      propose that GIST arises from ICCs with high levels of endogenous ETV1 expression
      that, when coupled with an activating KIT mutation, drives an oncogenic ETS
      transcriptional program. This differs from other ETS-dependent tumours such as
      prostate cancer, melanoma and Ewing sarcoma where genomic translocation or
      amplification drives aberrant ETS expression. It also represents a novel
      mechanism of oncogenic transcription factor activation.

PMID- 20927107
TI  - A redox switch in angiotensinogen modulates angiotensin release.
AB  - Blood pressure is critically controlled by angiotensins, which are vasopressor
      peptides specifically released by the enzyme renin from the tail of
      angiotensinogen-a non-inhibitory member of the serpin family of protease
      inhibitors. Although angiotensinogen has long been regarded as a passive
      substrate, the crystal structures solved here to 2.1 A resolution show that the
      angiotensin cleavage site is inaccessibly buried in its amino-terminal tail. The
      conformational rearrangement that makes this site accessible for proteolysis is
      revealed in our 4.4 A structure of the complex of human angiotensinogen with
      renin. The co-ordinated changes involved are seen to be critically linked by a
      conserved but labile disulphide bridge. Here we show that the reduced unbridged
      form of angiotensinogen is present in the circulation in a near 40:60 ratio with
      the oxidized sulphydryl-bridged form, which preferentially interacts with
      receptor-bound renin. We propose that this redox-responsive transition of
      angiotensinogen to a form that will more effectively release angiotensin at a
      cellular level contributes to the modulation of blood pressure. Specifically, we
      demonstrate the oxidative switch of angiotensinogen to its more active sulphydryl
      bridged form in the maternal circulation in pre-eclampsia-the hypertensive crisis
      of pregnancy that threatens the health and survival of both mother and child.

PMID- 20927106
TI  - Jasmonate perception by inositol-phosphate-potentiated COI1-JAZ co-receptor.
AB  - Jasmonates are a family of plant hormones that regulate plant growth, development
      and responses to stress. The F-box protein CORONATINE INSENSITIVE 1 (COI1)
      mediates jasmonate signalling by promoting hormone-dependent ubiquitylation and
      degradation of transcriptional repressor JAZ proteins. Despite its importance,
      the mechanism of jasmonate perception remains unclear. Here we present structural
      and pharmacological data to show that the true Arabidopsis jasmonate receptor is
      a complex of both COI1 and JAZ. COI1 contains an open pocket that recognizes the
      bioactive hormone (3R,7S)-jasmonoyl-l-isoleucine (JA-Ile) with high specificity.
      High-affinity hormone binding requires a bipartite JAZ degron sequence consisting
      of a conserved alpha-helix for COI1 docking and a loop region to trap the hormone
      in its binding pocket. In addition, we identify a third critical component of the
      jasmonate co-receptor complex, inositol pentakisphosphate, which interacts with
      both COI1 and JAZ adjacent to the ligand. Our results unravel the mechanism of
      jasmonate perception and highlight the ability of F-box proteins to evolve as
      multi-component signalling hubs.

PMID- 20927108
TI  - Neurogenic bowel management after spinal cord injury.

PMID- 20927109
TI  - Long-term exposure to elevated blood pressure and mortality from cardiovascular
      disease in a Japanese population: the Ibaraki Prefectural Health Study.
AB  - High blood pressure (BP) has been well established as a leading risk factor for
      both cardiovascular disease and mortality in general. However, the effect of long
      term exposure to elevated BP on mortality risks in Asian populations remains
      unclear. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of time
      averaged BP levels over 5 years on subsequent cardiovascular disease mortalities
      in a Japanese population. A total of 46,484 adults (14,771 men and 31,713 women)
      aged 40-79 years, who had no history of stroke or heart disease and who underwent
      health checkups in Ibaraki prefecture, Japan, in 1993 and 1998 were followed up
      through 2005. Hazard ratios (HRs) for mortality were estimated using a Cox
      proportional hazard model. Multivariate HRs (95% confidence interval) associated
      with a 10 mm Hg increase in systolic BP were measured in 1993 and 1998, and their
      averages were 1.11 (1.05-1.16), 1.13 (1.07-1.18) and 1.17 (1.10-1.27),
      respectively. Multivariate HRs for a 10 mm Hg increase in time-averaged systolic
      BP were 1.12 (1.03-1.21) in men and 1.24 (1.13-1.35) in women. The subgroup
      analysis of antihypertensive use showed that multivariate HRs for time-averaged
      systolic BP were 1.20 (1.11-1.29) in sustained non-users and 1.17 (1.04-1.32) in
      sustained users. Similar results were also obtained for diastolic BP. In
      conclusion, long-term exposure to elevated BP substantially associates with
      excess risk for cardiovascular disease mortality among Japanese subjects,
      irrespective of antihypertensive medication use. Thus, appropriate management of
      BP is important in both users and non-users of antihypertensive medication.

PMID- 20927110
TI  - Mechanical stretch potentiates angiotensin II-induced proliferation in
      spontaneously hypertensive rat vascular smooth muscle cells.
AB  - Angiotensin II (AngII) stimulates vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC)
      proliferation; however, the effect of AngII on cell proliferation in the presence
      of mechanical force is not clear. We investigated the mechanism of AngII-induced
      cell proliferation mediated by mechanical stretch in VSMCs of both normotensive
      and hypertensive rats. VSMCs obtained from the thoracic aortas of 8-week-old
      Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats and spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) were stretched
      by a Flex culture system. Mechanical stretch significantly upregulated protein
      expression of AngII type 1 (AT1) receptor, epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor
      and mitogen-activated protein kinase phosphatase-1 in both SHR and WKY VSMCs;
      however, there was no significant difference in these changes between the cells
      from SHR and WKY. Mechanical stretch attenuated AngII-induced phosphorylation of
      extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) 1/2, ERK kinase (MEK) and EGF
      receptor; it also attenuated [3H] thymidine incorporation and cell proliferation
      in VSMC of WKY. In contrast, the effects of AngII were augmented by mechanical
      stretch in VSMC of SHR. AngII-induced ERK 1/2 phosphorylation and cell
      proliferation in SHR were inhibited by pretreatment with an AT1 receptor blocker,
      candesartan and an inhibitor of MEK, PD98059. Moreover, pretreatment with an EGF
      receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor, AG1478, also blocked upregulation of AngII
      induced ERK 1/2 phosphorylation induced by stretch in SHR VSMCs. This study
      demonstrates that mechanical stretch augments SHR VSMC proliferation through an
      AT1/EGF receptor/ERK-dependent pathway. These findings may provide new insights
      into the signaling mechanisms whereby AngII exerts its growth-promoting effects
      on vasculature in a hypertensive state.

PMID- 20927111
TI  - The combined impact of blood pressure category and glucose abnormality on the
      incidence of cardiovascular diseases in a Japanese urban cohort: the Suita Study.
AB  - Few prospective studies have examined the combined impact of blood pressure (BP)
      categories and glucose abnormalities on the incidence of cardiovascular disease
      (CVD) in the general Asian population. This study aimed to examine the effect of
      the combined risks of these factors on the incidence of CVD in a general Japanese
      population. We studied 5321 Japanese individuals (aged 30-79 years), without CVD
      at baseline, who received follow-up for an average of 11.7 years. Serum fasting
      glucose categories were defined according to the 2003 American Diabetes
      Association recommendations. BP categories were defined by the 2009 Japanese
      Society of Hypertension Guidelines for the Management of Hypertension. The Cox
      proportional hazard ratios (HRs) for CVD according to the serum glucose and BP
      categories were calculated. In 62,036 person-years of follow-up, we documented
      364 CVD events (198 stroke and 166 coronary heart disease (CHD)). Compared with
      normoglycemic subjects, the multivariable HRs (95% confidence intervals (CIs))
      for CVD, CHD and stroke were 1.25 (1.00-1.58), 1.46 (1.04-2.04) and 1.11 (0.81
      1.52), respectively, in individuals with impaired fasting glucose (IFG), whereas
      these values were 2.13 (1.50-3.03), 2.28 (1.34-3.88) and 2.08 (1.29-3.35),
      respectively, in individuals with diabetes mellitus (DM). Compared with
      normoglycemic and optimal blood pressure (BP) subjects, increased risks of CVD
      were observed in the normoglycemic subjects with high-normal BP or hypertension,
      the IFG subjects with normal or higher BP, and the DM subjects regardless of BP
      category (P-value for interaction=0.046). In conclusion, the high-normal BP
      subjects in all glucose categories and the normal BP subjects with IFG showed
      increased risk of CVD in this Japanese population. Further investigation of
      larger cohorts of DM subjects should be conducted to better understand this
      phenomenon.

PMID- 20927113
TI  - Mean and yearly changes in blood pressure with age in the metabolic syndrome: the
      DESIR study.
AB  - Systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP; DBP) increase with age, but after 45
      years of age, the yearly change in DBP (DeltaDBP) tends to be smaller in
      comparison with the yearly change in SBP (DeltaSBP), which increases with age.
      The effect of the metabolic syndrome (MetS) on this yearly change has never been
      explored. In a 9-year longitudinal cohort Data from an Epidemiologic Study on the
      Insulin Resistance syndrome (DESIR) study, we examined 1308 men and 1325 women,
      aged 30-65 years, who had never been treated for hypertension. SBP and DBP were
      measured at four examinations 3 years apart, and pulse pressure (PP) and yearly
      changes (DeltaSBP, DeltaDBP and DeltaPP) were calculated. SBP and PP increased
      with age to a higher degree in patients with the MetS. In men and women with the
      MetS, DBP remained nearly constant, but in those without the MetS, DBP increased.
      After adjusting for baseline values, DeltaSBP and DeltaPP increased by 0.5 mm Hg
      per year for every additional 10 years from baseline. These correlations with age
      were similar for men and women, and the yearly change was always higher than in
      those with the MetS. In contrast, DeltaDBP increased very slowly until 50 years
      of age and then decreased similarly for those with and without the MetS. The
      increase in PP with age, a marker of vascular aging, was determined to begin
      earlier in the present study than has been shown in the past, and the MetS
      amplified this effect. This new aspect of the MetS might modify clinical
      management leading to earlier drug treatment, particularly in regard to both
      endothelial dysfunction and increased arterial stiffness.

PMID- 20927114
TI  - Microangiopathy and visual deficits characterize the retinopathy of a
      spontaneously hypertensive rat model with type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome.
AB  - Retinopathy has been increasing in prevalence as a consequence of type 2 diabetes
      and a cluster of coexisting risk factors characterized as the metabolic syndrome.
      However, the combined effects of these conditions on the retina are poorly
      understood. Therefore, we focused on the spontaneously hypertensive corpulent rat
      (SHR/N-cp), a model with type 2 diabetes, obesity and features of the metabolic
      syndrome to characterize retinal changes at a structural and functional level.
      SHR/N-cp males at 4 and 8 months of age were used in this study. Metabolic
      parameters and blood pressure were measured by standard methods. Morphology was
      investigated by histological techniques supplemented by nicotinamide adenine
      dinucleotide phosphate-diaphorase staining of whole mounts and fluorescein
      angiography to analyze the retinal vasculature. The in vivo function of the
      retina was examined by electroretinography (ERG). Obese SHR/N-cp rats were
      hypertensive and showed significant increases in body weight, serum levels of
      glucose, triglycerides, total cholesterol and urinary glucose excretion compared
      with lean controls (P < 0.01 for each). Histology indicated an overall intact
      integrity of the retina and aspects of microangiopathy in obese SHR/N-cp rats.
      ERG revealed intact processing of light signals but significantly decreased
      amplitudes of b-waves for all (P < 0.01) and of a-waves for some examined light
      intensities (P < 0.05). Oscillatory potentials were significantly protracted (P <
      0.01), whereas amplitudes were not reduced. Microangiopathy and
      electroretinographic deficits combine to produce an early non-proliferative
      retinopathy phenotype in the obese SHR/N-cp rats. Thus, this model represents a
      valuable experimental tool to obtain further insights into the mechanisms of
      retinopathy in the context of obesity, type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome.

PMID- 20927112
TI  - Effects of valsartan and amlodipine on cardiorenal protection in Japanese
      hypertensive patients: the Valsartan Amlodipine Randomized Trial.
AB  - The Valsartan Amlodipine Randomized Trial, a multicenter, prospective,
      randomized, open-labeled, blinded-end point trial, was designed to compare the
      beneficial effects of the angiotensin II receptor blocker valsartan and the
      calcium channel blocker amlodipine on cardiovascular events in Japanese essential
      hypertensive patients. The primary end point was a composite of all-cause death,
      sudden death, cerebrovascular death, cardiac events, vascular events and renal
      events. The secondary endpoints were effects on left ventricular hypertrophy,
      cardiac sympathetic nerve activity and renal function. A total of 1021 patients
      were enrolled in the present trial. The mean follow-up period was 3.4 years.
      There were no significant differences in blood pressure (BP) levels between the
      valsartan group and the amlodipine group throughout the trial. There was no
      significant difference in the primary endpoint between the two groups (hazard
      ratio: 1.0, P = 0.843). No difference in any event category of the primary
      endpoint was noted for either group. However, we observed a significant reduction
      of left ventricular mass index, as determined by echocardiography, in the
      valsartan group compared with the amlodipine group. We also observed a
      significant decrease in cardiac sympathetic nerve activity in the valsartan group
      but not in the amlodipine group. Moreover, there was a significant reduction in
      the urinary albumin to creatinine ratio in the valsartan group but not in the
      amlodipine group. Therefore, although BP levels were well controlled and remained
      equal in the two groups, valsartan had more protective effects on the heart and
      kidney than amlodipine in Japanese hypertensive patients.

PMID- 20927116
TI  - Prevalence of primary aldosteronism among prehypertensive and stage 1
      hypertensive subjects.
AB  - Recent studies have reported a high prevalence of primary aldosteronism among
      patients with severe hypertension. However, the prevalence of this disease among
      normotensive and mildly hypertensive patients has not been determined. The aim of
      this study was to examine the prevalence of primary aldosteronism among
      prehypertensive and stage 1 hypertensive subjects. A total of 292 adult subjects
      with hypertension or prehypertension was screened for primary aldosteronism.
      Subjects with a plasma aldosterone concentration (ng per 100 ml) to plasma renin
      activity (ng ml(-1) h(-1)) ratio (ARR) above 20 underwent confirmatory captopril
      suppression testing. A total of 54 subjects (18.5%) had an ARR above 20. A
      captopril suppression test was performed in 17 of 54 subjects with probable
      primary aldosteronism. The test confirmed the diagnosis of primary aldosteronism
      in 11 (64.7%) of 17 patients, giving a least prevalence of 3.8% for this disease.
      The 11 patients with primary aldosteronism had a mean +/- s.d. systolic blood
      pressure of 139 +/- 4 mm Hg, diastolic blood pressure of 95 +/- 10 mm Hg and
      serum potassium of 4.46 +/- 0.48 mEq l(-1) at the time of screening test. The
      prevalence of primary aldosteronism as could be assessed in this study was at
      least 6.8% in prehypertensive patients, 3.3% in stage 1 hypertensive patients and
      3.1% in stage 2 hypertensive patients. In conclusion, this study suggests a high
      prevalence of primary aldosteronism among prehypertensive and stage 1
      hypertensive Japanese patients. Significant numbers of prehypertensive
      individuals may have subclinical forms of this disease.

PMID- 20927115
TI  - The therapeutic importance of home blood pressure assessment and combination
      antihypertensive therapy for achieving target blood pressure control: Ibaraki
      hypertension assessment trial.
AB  - Tight blood pressure (BP) control is important for the prevention of
      cardiovascular disease in hypertensive patients. A cross-sectional study of 2339
      patients from 101 clinics and hospitals in Ibaraki Prefecture was performed to
      evaluate BP control with the patients' current antihypertensive medication. Group
      A (n=892) included high-risk hypertensive patients with at least one of the
      following risk factors: diabetes mellitus, chronic kidney disease or a history of
      myocardial infarction. Group B (n=586) included patients <65 years old and Group
      C (n=859) included patients >=65 years old. Both groups B and C included
      hypertensive patients without the above risk factors. A mean of 1.8+/-1.0
      antihypertensive drugs per patient were prescribed. A total of 35.8% of all
      patients received monotherapy, 40% received a combination of three therapies and
      20.3% received more than three kinds of drugs. The percentage of patients
      achieving the target BP at the office and at home was significantly higher in
      Group C than in the other groups (P<0.001). A combination of more than two
      antihypertensive drugs, including a high dose of either an angiotensin receptor
      blocker or a calcium channel blocker, was frequently prescribed to Group A to
      achieve the target office BP. Although the target BP should be lower in Group A
      (given their comorbidities), the absolute BP value and the number of medications
      were similar to the other groups. In conclusion, we demonstrated that physicians
      should treat hypertension more intensively with a combination of more than two
      antihypertensive drugs, using a high dose to achieve the target BP. In addition,
      it is important to teach hypertensive patients the clinical importance of
      monitoring their BP at home and the need to achieve home BP targets.

PMID- 20927117
TI  - Role of the nitric oxide metabolic pathway and prostanoids in the pathogenesis of
      endothelial dysfunction and essential hypertension in young men.
AB  - The aim of this study was to explore the role of selected prostanoids and the
      nitric oxide (NO) metabolic pathway in the pathogenesis of endothelial
      dysfunction (ED) in young men with and without essential hypertension (HTN). A
      total of 70 men aged 18-40 years old (23 hypertensive and 47 normotensive) were
      investigated. Initial metabolite concentrations of the NO pathway (asymmetric
      dimethylarginine, L-arginine and symmetric dimethylarginine), selected
      cardiovascular risk markers (serum lipids, creatinine, glucose and high
      sensitivity C-reactive protein), oxidative stress markers (malonylodialdehyde,
      thiol index and nitrotyrosine) and prostanoids (thromboxane B2 (TxB(2)) and 6
      keto-prostaglandin F (PGF)-1-alpha) were measured. Ultrasound assessment of
      endothelial function (flow-mediated vasodilation (FMD)) of the brachial artery
      was studied before and after intravenous infusion of L-arginine (16.0 g). All
      measurements were repeated after oral administration of indomethacin (75 mg per
      day) for 2 days. The prevalence of ED was similar in both hypertensive and
      normotensive groups. A lower baseline plasma level of 6-keto-PGF-1-alpha and a
      higher baseline of TxB(2) were observed in the hypertensive group. A different
      response to indomethacin assessed by prostanoid levels was observed and was
      dependent on the presence of HTN. No significant differences in metabolites of
      the NO pathway were observed at either baseline or following indomethacin
      treatment. In hypertensive patients, L-arginine and indomethacin had a
      synergistic positive effect on FMD. ED in young normotensive men primarily
      depends on NO deficiency. In young hypertensive men, disorders in prostanoid
      metabolism have important roles in decreasing NO bioavailability. The high
      prevalence of ED in potentially healthy subjects suggests that the ultrasound FMD
      measurement is an important tool in the stratification of cardiovascular risk.

PMID- 20927118
TI  - Blood pressure overshoot after tilt reversal in patients with familial
      amyloidotic polyneuropathy.
AB  - The pathophysiology of the hemodynamic responses to postural stress in familial
      amyloidotic polyneuropathy (FAP) remains to be elucidated. The aim of the study
      was to evaluate hemodynamic responses after tilt reversal in FAP. Systolic blood
      pressure (BP) and heart rate variability (HRV) were analyzed in the baseline, 70
      degrees  upright position, and after tilt reversal in 15 FAP patients and 14
      healthy controls. Beat-to-beat BP was recorded with a Finapres device. Maximum
      systolic BP after tilt reversal was increased with 22 +/- 13 mm Hg in FAP
      patients as compared with baseline (BP overshoot), whereas controls showed a
      significantly lower BP overshoot (8 +/- 6 mm Hg, P < 0.001). In all states, total
      spectral power and the power of the low and high frequency components were all
      significantly lower than those of the controls (P < 0.01). In a linear regression
      analysis adjusted for age, we found a significant inverse relation between BP
      overshoot and HRV (total spectral power, power of the low-frequency and high
      frequency components) in all three states (standardized beta between -0.74 to 
      0.53, P < 0.01). Five FAP patients presented a trial arrhythmia precluding HRV
      analysis: four of those presented BP overshoots >= 12 mm Hg. BP overshoot may be
      a marker to assess the progression of cardiac autonomic dysfunction, especially
      as heart arrhythmia in many FAP patients prevent HRV analysis. In addition,
      assessment of the post-tilt BP reaction points to possible treatment modalities
      for orthostatic hypotension at least in the early stages of the disease.

PMID- 20927119
TI  - Immunology and cell biology publication of the year award 2009.

PMID- 20927120
TI  - Variations in/nearby genes coding for JAZF1, TSPAN8/LGR5 and HHEX-IDE and risk of
      type 2 diabetes in Han Chinese.
AB  - Several genetic loci (JAZF1, CDC123/CAMK1D, TSPAN8/LGR5, ADAMTS9, VEGFA and HHEX
      IDE) were identified to be significantly related to the risk of type 2 diabetes
      and quantitative metabolic traits in European populations. Here, we aimed to
      evaluate the impacts of these novel loci on type 2 diabetes risk in a population
      based case-control study of Han Chinese (1912 cases and 2041 controls). We
      genotyped 13 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in/near these genes and
      examined the differences in allele/genotype frequency between cases and controls.
      We found that both IDE rs11187007 and HHEX rs1111875 were associated with type 2
      diabetes risk (for both variants: odds ratio (OR)=1.15, 95% confidence interval
      (CI) 1.04-1.28, P=0.009). In a meta-analysis where we pooled our data with the
      three previous studies conducted in East Asians, we found that the variants of
      JAZF1 rs864745 (1.09 (1.03-1.16); P=3.49 * 10(-3)) and TSPAN8/LGR5 rs7961581
      (1.11(1.05-1.17); P=1.89 * 10(-4)) were significantly associated with type 2
      diabetes risk. In addition, the meta-analysis (7207 cases and 8260 controls) also
      showed that HHEX rs1111875 did have effects on type 2 diabetes in Chinese
      population (OR=1.15(1.10-1.21); P=1.93 * 10(-8)). This large population-based
      study and meta-analysis further confirmed the modest effects of the JAZF1,
      TSPAN8/LGR5 and HHEX-IDE loci on type 2 diabetes in Chinese and other East
      Asians.

PMID- 20927121
TI  - Familiar Meniere's disease restricted to 1.48 Mb on chromosome 12p12.3 by allelic
      and haplotype association.
AB  - Meniere's disease (MD) is a disorder of the inner ear characterized by episodes
      of vertigo, tinnitus and fluctuating sensorineural hearing loss. Most MD cases
      are sporadic, but 5-15% of patients are familial following an autosomal dominant
      mode of inheritance with incomplete penetrance. We have previously identified a
      candidate gene region for MD on chromosome 12p12.3 using linkage analysis. We
      genotyped 15 Swedish families segregating familial MD (FMD) to further clarify
      the role of chromosome 12p in a larger cohort of families. Highly polymorphic
      marker loci were analyzed over the 16-Mb candidate region in affected and healthy
      family members as well as in control subjects. The results revealed allelic
      association between FMD and several individual polymorphic marker alleles and
      single-nucleotide polymorphisms. Moreover, a common three-marker haplotype
      spanning 1.48 Mb co-segregates with FMD in 60% of the families investigated,
      forming the core of a possible ancestral haplotype associated with FMD in Sweden.

PMID- 20927122
TI  - Prevalence of male sexual dysfunction among Ghanaian populace: myth or reality?
AB  - This study was designed to investigate the prevalence and type of sexual
      dysfunction (SD) in healthy sexually active Ghanaian men of fertile age. Sexual
      functioning was determined in 300 healthy Ghanaian men with the Golombok Rust
      Inventory of Sexual Satisfaction (GRISS) questionnaire leaving in Kumasi
      metropolis, between December 2009 and April 2010. All men had a steady
      heterosexual relationship for at least 2 years before enrollment in the study. Of
      the 300 men selected, 255 (85%) completed the survey; the overall prevalence of
      SD in these subjects was 66%. The most prevalent areas of difficulty were
      infrequency (70.2%), premature ejaculation (64.7%), dissatisfaction with sexual
      acts (61.2%), impotency (59.6%), nonsensuality (59.2%), noncommunication (56.9%)
      and avoidance (49.0%). There were positive correlation between SD, impotence,
      dissatisfaction and age. The prevalence rate of SD in Ghanaian men is high and
      related to age.

PMID- 20927123
TI  - TAT-mediated delivery of a DNA repair enzyme to skin cells rapidly initiates
      repair of UV-induced DNA damage.
AB  - UV light causes DNA damage in skin cells, leading to more than one million cases
      of non-melanoma skin cancer diagnosed annually in the United States. Although
      human cells possess a mechanism (nucleotide excision repair) to repair UV-induced
      DNA damage, mutagenesis still occurs when DNA is replicated before repair of
      these photoproducts. Although human cells have all the enzymes necessary to
      complete an alternate repair pathway, base excision repair (BER), they lack a DNA
      glycosylase that can initiate BER of dipyrimidine photoproducts. Certain
      prokaryotes and viruses produce pyrimidine dimer-specific DNA glycosylases (pdgs)
      that initiate BER of cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers (CPDs), the predominant UV
      induced lesions. Such a pdg was identified in the Chlorella virus PBCV-1 and
      termed Cv-pdg. The Cv-pdg protein was engineered to contain a nuclear
      localization sequence (NLS) and a membrane permeabilization peptide
      (transcriptional transactivator, TAT). Here, we demonstrate that the Cv-pdg-NLS
      TAT protein was delivered to repair-proficient keratinocytes and fibroblasts, and
      to a human skin model, where it rapidly initiated removal of CPDs. These data
      suggest a potential strategy for prevention of human skin cancer.

PMID- 20927125
TI  - Exploring the "hair growth-wound healing connection": anagen phase promotes wound
      re-epithelialization.
AB  - When the skin is damaged, a variety of cell types must migrate, proliferate, and
      differentiate to reform a functional barrier to the external environment. Recent
      studies have shown that progenitor cells residing in hair follicles (HFs) are
      able to contribute to this re-epithelialization of wounds in vivo. However, the
      influence of the hair cycle on wound healing has not previously been addressed.
      Here, we have exploited spontaneous postnatal hair-cycle synchronicity in mice to
      systematically examine the influence of the different hair-cycle stages on murine
      skin wound healing. We report significant acceleration of healing during the
      anagen phase of HF cycling in vivo, associated with alterations in epithelial,
      endothelial, and inflammatory cell types. Intriguingly, gene profiling data
      reveal a clear correlation between the transcription of genes beneficial for
      wound healing and those upregulated during the anagen phase of the hair cycle in
      unwounded skin. These findings, which demonstrate a previously unappreciated
      association between HF cycling and wound healing, reveal numerous molecular
      correlates for further investigation.

PMID- 20927124
TI  - Propionibacterium acnes activates the IGF-1/IGF-1R system in the epidermis and
      induces keratinocyte proliferation.
AB  - Propionibacterium acnes has a major role in the development of acne lesions. IGF
      1 stimulates the proliferation of keratinocytes via an activation of the IGF-1
      receptor (IGF-1R). Zinc has been proven to work efficiently against inflammatory
      acne and to modulate the IGF-1 system. Our objectives were to study the
      modulation of IGF-1 and IGF-1R expression by P. acnes extracts and to determine
      their modulation by zinc gluconate. In vivo, we analyzed biopsies of acne lesions
      and healthy skin, and in vitro we used skin explants incubated with two P. acnes
      extracts--membrane fraction (MF) and cytosolic proteins--with or without zinc.
      IGF-1 and IGF-1R expression was evaluated using immunohistochemistry, and the IGF
      1 production in supernatants was measured by ELISA. Then, IGF-1 and IGF-1R mRNA
      levels were analyzed using quantitative PCR on normal human epidermal
      keratinocytes (NHEKs). IGF-1 and IGF-1R were overexpressed in acne lesions. MF
      increased IGF-1 and IGF-1R expression in the epidermis of explants and was
      associated with an overexpression of both Ki-67 and filaggrin. Zinc had the
      effect of downregulating IGF-1 and IGF-1R levels. These observations were
      confirmed at the mRNA level for IGF-1R in NHEKs. These results demonstrate that
      P. acnes can induce the formation of comedones by stimulating the IGF/IGF-1R
      system. Moreover, zinc downregulates this pathway.

PMID- 20927126
TI  - Polymorphisms in IL10 are associated with total Immunoglobulin E levels and
      Schistosoma mansoni infection intensity in a Brazilian population.
AB  - Interleukin (IL)-10 is a regulatory cytokine of the helper T cell type 2 (TH2)
      pathway, which underlies both the host defense to helminthic infection and atopic
      diseases, including asthma. Although IL10 promoter polymorphisms are associated
      with increased atopy risk, IL10 variation has not been thoroughly explored in
      schistosomiasis-endemic populations. Three atopy-related IL10 promoter
      polymorphisms (rs1800896, rs1800871 and rs1800872), complemented by six tagging
      single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), were genotyped in 812 individuals in 318
      nuclear families from a schistosomiasis-endemic area in Brazil. Associations
      between markers and total serum Immunoglobulin E (tIgE) levels, indicating non
      specific activation of the TH2 pathway, and Schistosoma mansoni fecal egg counts,
      indicating burden of infection reflecting effectiveness of schistosomiasis host
      immunity, were performed using family-based transmission disequilibrium tests for
      quantitative traits (QTDTs). Alleles A, T and A at the three promoter SNPs
      rs1800896, rs1800871 and rs1800872 were associated with high tIgE levels in the
      same direction as in atopy populations (P=0.0008, 0.026 and 0.045), but not with
      egg counts. IL10 promoter polymorphisms appear to influence non-specific tIgE
      levels, but not schistosomiasis-specific immunity. The tagging SNP rs3024495 was
      associated with high S. mansoni egg counts (P=0.005), suggesting a novel locus in
      IL10 may influence clinically relevant burden of infection.

PMID- 20927127
TI  - PTX3 genetic variations affect the risk of Pseudomonas aeruginosa airway
      colonization in cystic fibrosis patients.
AB  - Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a common life-threatening autosomal recessive disorder in
      the Caucasian population, and the gene responsible is the CF transmembrane
      conductance regulator (CFTR). Patients with CF have repeated bacterial infection
      of the airways caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA), which is one of the
      predominant pathogen, and endobronchial chronic infection represents a major
      cause of morbidity and mortality. Pentraxin 3 (PTX3) is a gene that encodes the
      antimicrobial protein, PTX3, which is believed to have an important role in
      innate immunity of lung. To address the role of PTX3 in the risk of PA lung
      colonization, we investigated five single nucleotide polymorphisms of PTX3 gene
      in 172 Caucasian CF patients who were homozygous for the F508del mutation. We
      observed that PTX3 haplotype frequencies were significantly different between
      patients with PA colonization, as compared with noncolonized patients. Moreover,
      a protective effect was found in association with a specific haplotype (odds
      ratio 0.524). Our data suggest that variations within PTX3 affect lung
      colonization of Pseudomonas in patients with CF.

PMID- 20927128
TI  - Characteristics of resistant hypertension: ageing, body mass index,
      hyperaldosteronism, cardiac hypertrophy and vascular stiffness.
AB  - Resistant hypertension (RHTN) includes patients whose blood pressure (BP) is
      controlled with the use of four or more antihypertensive medications, and is
      referred to as 'controlled resistant hypertension' (CRH). While specifically
      comparing patients with CRH and uncontrolled resistant hypertension (UCRH), we
      hoped to identify distinguishing characteristics that would provide insight into
      factors contributing to resistance to antihypertensive therapies. RHTN patients
      were identified as controlled (CRH, n=43) or uncontrolled (UCRH, n=47). No
      statistical differences were observed between the CRH and UCRH subgroups with
      respect to age and gender. The body mass index, aldosterone-renin ratio and pulse
      wave velocity (PWV) were significantly higher in UCRH patients. Although both
      subgroups showed increased cardiac mass, left ventricular mass index was
      significantly higher in UCRH compared with CRH patients. Multivariate linear
      regression analysis indicated that PWV was significantly dependent on age in both
      UCRH and CRH patients; however, the influence of ageing was more pronounced in
      the former subgroup. Older age, greater vascular stiffness, higher aldosterone
      levels and greater left ventricular hypertrophy were significantly associated
      with lack of BP control in patients with RHTN. These findings suggest important
      possibilities in terms of preventing and better treating RHTN.

PMID- 20927129
TI  - Further study of chromosome 7p22 to identify the molecular basis of familial
      hyperaldosteronism type II.
AB  - Familial hyperaldosteronism type II (FH-II) is an inherited form of
      hyperaldosteronism associated with hypertension in most patients. The mutations
      that cause FH-II are unknown, but linkage analysis has mapped them to chromosome
      7p22. As FH-II is clinically indistinguishable from sporadic primary
      aldosteronism, a common and treatable condition, unravelling the cause of FH-II
      has important implications for these sporadic cases. To investigate whether FH-II
      is caused by large deletions or insertions, we examined the virtual karyotype of
      four pairs of affected and unaffected individuals using high-density bead chips.
      We also sequenced the coding regions of five 7p22 candidate genes that were
      prioritized because of their putative role in cell growth. We found no evidence
      of single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) copy number variation between pairs, and
      from the widest gap on the chip, chromosome 7p22 deletions or insertions
      exceeding ~50 kb in these pedigrees can be excluded. We found 15 SNPs (two of
      which were novel), but none of them were non-synonymous and segregated with the
      disease in the FH-II pedigrees. We have been able to exclude large genomic
      deletions or insertions at 7p22 and refine the candidate gene list for this
      locus, but the mutations causing FH-II remain elusive.

PMID- 20927131
TI  - A DEAB-sensitive aldehyde dehydrogenase regulates hematopoietic stem and
      progenitor cells development during primitive hematopoiesis in zebrafish embryos.
AB  - Although aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) activity has become a surrogate of
      hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs), its function during
      hematopoiesis was unclear. Here, we examined its role in zebrafish hematopoiesis
      based on pharmacological inhibition and morpholino (MO) knockdown. Zebrafish
      embryos were treated with diethylaminobenzaldehyde (DEAB, 1 MUmol/l) between 0-
      and 48 hour-post-fertilization (hpf). MOs targeting aldhs were injected between 1
      and 4-cell stage. The effects on hematopoiesis were evaluated at different
      stages. DEAB treatment between 0 and 18 hpf increased gene expression associated
      with HSPC (scl, lmo2), erythropoiesis (gata1, alpha- and beta-eHb) and
      myelopoiesis (spi1) as well as gfp(+) cells in dissociated Tg(gata1:gfp) embryos.
      The effects were ameliorated by all-trans retinoic acid (1 nmol/l). Definitive
      hematopoiesis and the erythromyeloid precursors were unaffected. In all, 14 out
      of 15 zebrafish aldhs were detectable by reverse transcription PCR in 18 hpf
      embryos, of which only aldh1a2 and aldh16a1 were expressed in sites pertinent to
      hematopoiesis. Molecular targeting by MOs was demonstrated for 15 aldhs, but none
      of them, even in combined aldh1a2 and aldh1a3 knockdown, recapitulated the
      hematopoietic expansion in DEAB-treated embryos. In conclusion, DEAB expands HSPC
      population during primitive hematopoiesis through inhibition of aldh and retinoic
      acid synthesis. The specific aldh isoform(s) remains to be determined.

PMID- 20927132
TI  - HMGB1-induced autophagy promotes chemotherapy resistance in leukemia cells.
AB  - Autophagy, a tightly regulated lysosome-dependent catabolic pathway, is important
      in the regulation of cancer development and progression and in determining the
      response of tumor cells to anticancer therapy. However, the role of autophagy in
      leukemia still remains largely unknown. Here we show that high-mobility group box
      1 (HMGB1), the best characterized damage-associated molecular pattern, was
      released from leukemia cell lines after chemotherapy-induced cytotoxicity and
      activated autophagy to protect against injury. Treatment with HMGB1-neutralizing
      antibodies increased the sensitivity of leukemia cells to chemotherapy; whereas,
      exogenous HMGB1 rendered these cells more resistant to drug-induced cytotoxicity.
      Moreover, exogenous HMGB1 increased autophagy as evaluated by increased
      expression of the autophagic marker microtubule-associated protein light chain 3
      II, degradation of sequestosome 1 (p62) and autophagosome formation. Furthermore,
      knockdown or pharmacological inhibition of either phosphoinositide 3-kinase-III
      or extracellular signal-regulated kinase kinase mitogen-activated protein kinase
      kinase/extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase inhibited HMGB1-induced
      autophagy. Taken together, these results suggest that HMGB1 release after
      chemotherapy is a critical regulator of autophagy and a potential drug target for
      therapeutic interventions in leukemia.

PMID- 20927133
TI  - Reduced methyl-CpG protein binding contributing to miR-184 expression in
      umbilical cord blood CD4+ T-cells.

PMID- 20927134
TI  - CEBPA methylation as a prognostic biomarker in patients with de novo acute
      myeloid leukemia.
AB  - Hypermethylation of the distal CEBPA promoter region has been reported to result
      in the downregulation of CEBPA expression in several malignancies. However, the
      clinical implication of CEBPA hypermethylation in acute myeloid leukemia (AML)
      remains unclear. To investigate the correlation between CEBPA hypermethylation
      and clinical features in AML, quantitative MassARRAY analyses for CEBPA
      methylation status were performed on a cohort of 193 patients. High CEBPA
      methylation group (CEBPA(high-meth), n=28) and low methylation group (CEBPA(low
      meth), n=165) were defined by using two-way hierarchical clustering. With a
      median follow-up of 48 months, among the 125 patients receiving standard
      induction therapy, CEBPA(high-meth) was associated with better treatment response
      (complete remission rate 93.3% versus 73.6%, P=0.116). In patients with normal
      karyotype and without CEBPA and NPM1 mutations, the CEBPA(high-meth) had longer
      overall survival (OS) than the CEBPA(low-meth) (P=0.028). Multivariate analysis
      further supported that the CEBPA methylation was an independent prognostic factor
      for disease free-survival (hazard ratio=0.416; 95% confidence interval, 0.223
      0.777, P=0.006) and OS (hazard ratio=0.406; 95% confidence interval, 0.166-0.996,
      P=0.050). We conclude that CEBPA methylation status is a useful prognostic
      biomarker for AML patients.

PMID- 20927135
TI  - Sendai virus vectors. Pushing the envelope in the lung.

PMID- 20927136
TI  - Skeletal muscle cells: from local inflammatory response to active immunity.
AB  - The skeletal muscles are the major living component of the human body. They are
      constituted by stable cells, the myofibres, and by adult multipotent stem cells,
      the satellite cells, which can multiply to regenerate and repair the damaged
      tissues. Injections of DNA in muscle cells have been used to produce recombinant
      proteins with opposite goals: somatic reparation of genetic defects, which needs
      to elicit no inflammatory or immune response, and DNA vaccination, which needs a
      robust immune response. Because of possible therapeutical interventions, a
      growing body of information is being produced dealing with every aspect of the
      myofibres during inflammatory and autoimmune responses: skeletal muscle-antigen
      presenting cell (APC) interaction and intrinsic APC capabilities of myoblasts and
      myocytes, the response to released cytokines and their endogenous production, the
      regulation of Toll-like receptors and major histocompatibility complex
      expression. According to these data, the muscle tissue is now emerging no longer
      as a passive bystander, but more as an active player that, when correctly
      manipulated, can drive tolerance or immunization to these de novo produced
      proteins. In the present review, we summarize the recent developments on the
      control of muscle immune function.

PMID- 20927137
TI  - Supervised classification of microbiota mitigates mislabeling errors.

PMID- 20927138
TI  - Comparative metagenomics of microbial communities inhabiting deep-sea
      hydrothermal vent chimneys with contrasting chemistries.
AB  - Deep-sea hydrothermal vent chimneys harbor a high diversity of largely unknown
      microorganisms. Although the phylogenetic diversity of these microorganisms has
      been described previously, the adaptation and metabolic potential of the
      microbial communities is only beginning to be revealed. A pyrosequencing approach
      was used to directly obtain sequences from a fosmid library constructed from a
      black smoker chimney 4143-1 in the Mothra hydrothermal vent field at the Juan de
      Fuca Ridge. A total of 308,034 reads with an average sequence length of 227 bp
      were generated. Comparative genomic analyses of metagenomes from a variety of
      environments by two-way clustering of samples and functional gene categories
      demonstrated that the 4143-1 metagenome clustered most closely with that from a
      carbonate chimney from Lost City. Both are highly enriched in genes for mismatch
      repair and homologous recombination, suggesting that the microbial communities
      have evolved extensive DNA repair systems to cope with the extreme conditions
      that have potential deleterious effects on the genomes. As previously reported
      for the Lost City microbiome, the metagenome of chimney 4143-1 exhibited a high
      proportion of transposases, implying that horizontal gene transfer may be a
      common occurrence in the deep-sea vent chimney biosphere. In addition, genes for
      chemotaxis and flagellar assembly were highly enriched in the chimney
      metagenomes, reflecting the adaptation of the organisms to the highly dynamic
      conditions present within the chimney walls. Reconstruction of the metabolic
      pathways revealed that the microbial community in the wall of chimney 4143-1 was
      mainly fueled by sulfur oxidation, putatively coupled to nitrate reduction to
      perform inorganic carbon fixation through the Calvin-Benson-Bassham cycle. On the
      basis of the genomic organization of the key genes of the carbon fixation and
      sulfur oxidation pathways contained in the large genomic fragments, both obligate
      and facultative autotrophs appear to be present and contribute to biomass
      production.

PMID- 20927139
TI  - Structure of the human gastric bacterial community in relation to Helicobacter
      pylori status.
AB  - The human stomach is naturally colonized by Helicobacter pylori, which, when
      present, dominates the gastric bacterial community. In this study, we aimed to
      characterize the structure of the bacterial community in the stomach of patients
      of differing H. pylori status. We used a high-density 16S rRNA gene microarray
      (PhyloChip, Affymetrix, Inc.) to hybridize 16S rRNA gene amplicons from gastric
      biopsy DNA of 10 rural Amerindian patients from Amazonas, Venezuela, and of two
      immigrants to the United States (from South Asia and Africa, respectively). H.
      pylori status was determined by PCR amplification of H. pylori glmM from gastric
      biopsy samples. Of the 12 patients, 8 (6 of the 10 Amerindians and the 2 non
      Amerindians) were H. pylori glmM positive. Regardless of H. pylori status, the
      PhyloChip detected Helicobacteriaceae DNA in all patients, although with lower
      relative abundance in patients who were glmM negative. The G2-chip taxonomy
      analysis of PhyloChip data indicated the presence of 44 bacterial phyla (of which
      16 are unclassified by the Taxonomic Outline of the Bacteria and Archaea
      taxonomy) in a highly uneven community dominated by only four phyla:
      Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Actinobacteria and Bacteroidetes. Positive H. pylori
      status was associated with increased relative abundance of non-Helicobacter
      bacteria from the Proteobacteria, Spirochetes and Acidobacteria, and with
      decreased abundance of Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes. The
      PhyloChip detected richness of low abundance phyla, and showed marked differences
      in the structure of the gastric bacterial community according to H. pylori
      status.

PMID- 20927140
TI  - [Minimally invasive posterior approach in total hip arthroplasty. Prospective
      randomised trial].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Our working hypothesis was that minimally invasive surgery was
      superior to conventional surgery for total hip arthroplasty procedure. We
      compared THR results in the minimally invasive posterior approach with THR
      results in the conventional posterior approach. METHODS: Prospective, randomised
      trial. Fifty patients were selected and then divided into two groups based on
      treatment (minimally invasive posterior approach or conventional posterior
      approach). DATA COLLECTED: Perioperative bleeding, postoperative pain, time of
      recovery, component orientation, complications and functional results. One year
      follow-up. RESULTS: No differences were found in blood loss, surgical time,
      component orientation, rate of complications or functional result. The minimally
      invasive lateral approach produced less postoperative pain and a faster recovery,
      with a shorter hospital stay and earlier walking-start, and a positive economic
      impact with 5% of the total process cost saved. CONCLUSIONS: Minimally invasive
      surgery permits less postoperative pain, faster recovery and a positive economic
      saving, without differences in the rest of the items studied.

PMID- 20927141
TI  - [Nephritic colic management in an emergency room of a referral hospital].
AB  - BACKGROUND: To evaluate the diagnostic and therapeutic management of patients
      with nephritic colic in a referral hospital, their monitoring and the incidence
      of alternative diagnoses. METHODS: This is a retrospective review of 182 randomly
      selected patients who presented a clinical diagnosis compatible with nephritic
      colic in a referral hospital. In these cases initial treatment, monitoring and
      alternative diagnoses have been evaluated. RESULTS: Fifty-five point four percent
      of the patients were male, the mean age was 47.7 years and 40% of the cases were
      in spring. Urinalysis was carried out in every patient (62.7% dipstick and 72%
      urinary sediment); they were pathological in over 70%. In 26.4% of cases renal
      function deteriorated, always transiently. Abdominal radiography (81.9%) was the
      most frequently diagnostic test performed, followed by ultrasound (25.8%).
      Treatment included a serum therapy in 31.3%; metamizol (61%) was the most
      commonly used analgesic followed by ketorolac (44.5%). More than one non
      steroidal anti-inflammatory was used by 46.2%. Hospital admission was required by
      24 patients, and 5 of them needed emergency surgery. Twenty-four point one
      percent of patients had relapses during the next six months. Forty-one point six
      percent were referred to urology discharge on from the emergency room. Eighteen
      point one percent of patients had alternative diagnoses; acute pyelonephritis was
      the most frequent of these (55%). CONCLUSIONS: In our work we found a significant
      variation in the diagnostic and therapeutic management of these patients. The use
      of clinical guidelines could help us to unify the management of patients with
      nephritic colic, both in the emergency room and on discharge. Due to the high
      prevalence of alternative diagnoses, we have to systematically exclude more
      serious diseases.

PMID- 20927142
TI  - [Body composition and energy metabolism in women with excess body weight].
AB  - BACKGROUND: The objective of this paper is to evaluate body composition and
      energy expenditure in women with excess body weight. METHODS: There was a non
      randomized, cross-sectional study with 40 women, [26 with excess weight (G1) and
      14 eutrophic (G2)]. The following evaluations were made: dietetic, anthropometric
      and body composition (electrical bioimpedance), physical activity (three
      dimensional accelerometer) and energy expenditure, basal and resting (indirect
      calorimetry). RESULTS: The energy intake and physical activity did not differ
      between groups. The parameters of body composition were higher in G1, except
      total body water. There was a relationship between energy expenditure and body
      composition. The lean mass was the biggest determinant of energy expenditure.
      There was no difference in metabolic parameters between groups, but lower
      nutrient oxidation and increased metabolic efficiency in G1 was suggested.
      CONCLUSION: Excess weight was associated with body composition and energy
      expenditure changes that justify the accumulation of body fat.

PMID- 20927143
TI  - [Analysis of weekly mortality as a tool for the early detection of alerts in
      public health].
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is a growing interest in public health in monitoring indicators
      in real time that permit immediate action to be taken. The aim of this study is
      to evaluate the utility of the analysis of weekly mortality for the early
      detection of alerts in public health. METHODS: We analysed the early reception of
      mortality (ERM) from five computerised civil registers in Navarre and gathered
      70% of total mortality (TM) for the 2003-2007 period. We identified the weeks
      when mortality exceeded the threshold calculated on the basis of the five
      previous years. We analysed the correspondence of these excesses in mortality
      with flu levels of incidence and with high atmospheric temperatures. RESULTS: The
      was moderate concordance between the alerts detected from the information
      proceeding from the ERM and TM sources (Kappa index 0.59; CI 95% 0.42-0.76). Both
      sources behaved analogously in the detection of excesses of mortality when these
      occurred in weeks of severe flu, with 13 and 12 alerts respectively. In relation
      to high temperatures, TM only generated alerts in the years when heat waves were
      declared, while ERM also generated them in other weeks which were hot but did not
      reach the heat wave threshold. CONCLUSION: The early availability of results, the
      acceptable concordance between sources and the high percentage of excesses of
      mortality attributable to identified public health problems, show the potential
      utility of monitoring weekly mortality in epidemiological surveillance.

PMID- 20927144
TI  - [Care for immigrant patients: facts and professionals' perception in 6 primary
      health care zones in Navarre].
AB  - BACKGROUND: To describe utilisation of health care services and motives for
      consultation in Primary Care in the native and the immigrant population, and
      compare this with the perception of primary care professionals. METHODS: Data was
      collected on health care activity during the year 2006 for all people registered
      (N=86,966) in the 6 basic health care zones with the highest proportion of
      immigrants (14.4%) and on the following variables: country of origin, age, sex,
      year of inscription in the public health service. The health card and OMI-AP
      programme databases were used. A qualitative methodology of focus groups and in
      depth interviews was employed. RESULTS: Seventy-two point four percent of
      immigrants requested care from the primary care professionals in 2006, of whom
      50% proceeded from Ecuador and 70% were between 25 and 44 years old. Eighty-two
      percent of the natives made consultations and required more referrals to
      specialised care than the immigrants of the same age group. The most frequent
      consultation with natives and with immigrants was "acute respiratory infections"
      (7 to 23% according to age group). The second most frequent with immigrants was
      "administrative problems". The consultations with immigrants were not related to
      preventive aspects such as smoking and there were more consultations (p>0.001)
      for gynaeco-obstetric episodes (10.7%) and those related to work (19%) or
      psychosomatic problems (8.5%). The perception of the primary care professionals
      was that the immigrants carry out more consultations than the natives and
      generate a certain "disorder" in the clinic. CONCLUSION: Immigrants use
      healthcare services less than the native population. Nonetheless, this fact is
      not perceived in this way by the primary care professionals. Fewer preventive
      activities are carried out with immigrants, who suffer from more labour and
      psychosomatic problems.

PMID- 20927145
TI  - [Narcolepsy: update on etiology, clinical features and treatment].
AB  - Narcolepsy is a disease that involves an alteration in the generation and
      organisation of sleep. The main symptoms are excessive daytime sleepiness and
      cataplexy, followed by hypnagogic hallucinations, sleep paralysis and disrupted
      nocturnal sleep. The prevalence of typical narcolepsy oscillates between 25-50:
      100.000 in general. Recently there has been a peak incidence in patients born in
      the month of March. According to the new classification, the Multiple Sleep
      Latency Test (MSLT) is mandatory for diagnosing narcolepsy without cataplexy, and
      advisable for diagnosing narcolepsy with cataplexy. Until now, the attempt has
      been made to control each symptom by its own specific treatment. At present, new
      American and European treatment guidelines propose new drugs that act on all the
      symptoms. The application of new criteria of diagnosis and treatment has improved
      the diagnosis, giving better options of treatment.

PMID- 20927146
TI  - [Family and chronic paediatric illness].
AB  - Pediatric illnesses are always a family problem. Hospitalization, treatments and
      their long term consequences constitute a challenge for the family. In this
      paper, we describe the structural, procedural and emotional alterations that
      affect the family dynamic. We argue that the child should be treated within the
      family context and propose a multi-dimensional intervention model centered on the
      family's singularities and specific needs, the support available in their
      environment, the development of capacities and resilience, and also the
      organization of user-centered services that are coordinated with all the services
      provided by the community.

PMID- 20927148
TI  - [Humoral hypercalcemia in mixed endometrial carcinoma].
AB  - Hypercalcemia secondary to neoplastic disease is a frequent entity caused in the
      majority of cases by ectopic secretions of PTHrP. Despite this there are certain
      tumours, such as uterine carcinomas, in which this type of paraneoplastic
      manifestation has been described very little. We present a case of humoral
      hypercalcemia in a mixed endometrial carcinoma.

PMID- 20927147
TI  - [Jaundice secondary to giant pancreatic serous cystoadenoma].
AB  - Serous cystadenoma is the second most frequent pancreatic cystic neoplasm and
      accounts for 1-2% of exocrine neoplasms of the pancreas. Recently, they have been
      identified more frequently, due to the improvement in imaging techniques.
      Differential diagnosis should be performed with mucinous cystoadenoma, due to the
      latter's potential for malignant transformation. We present the case of a female
      patient who underwent examination for painless jaundice and cholestasis, with a
      final diagnosis of pancreatic serous cystoadenoma.

PMID- 20927150
TI  - [Loa Loa and Mansonella perstans coinfection in a patient from Guinea].
AB  - We present a case of mixed infection by two filariae (Loa loa and Mansonella
      perstans). It seems that the infection was suspected due to a pronounced
      eosinophilia in a routine analysis. Sheathed and unsheathed microfilariae were
      observed in the spread of peripheral blood, which enabled a diagnosis to be
      established of mixed infection by filariae. The definitive diagnosis of the
      species was carried out at the National Centre of Microbiolgy of Majadahonda. A
      treatment was initiated with dietilcarbamazina and mebendazole which resulted in
      the patient's being cured and in the elimination of the microfilariae in the
      patient's blood. Filariasis is still endemic in many countries. Due to the
      increase of travellers to such zones and the migratory movements from such areas
      it is not unusual for us to come across such a diagnosis. The implantation of
      massive treatments against filariae in endemic zones by the World Health
      Organisation is reducing their transmission and is managing to eliminate the
      disease in some areas.

PMID- 20927149
TI  - Rupture of hepatic artery aneurysm associated with ischemic hepatitis.
AB  - Hepatic artery aneurysms are scarcely reported, mainly because of non-specific
      symptoms. More often, they are incidental findings during imaging studies to
      investigate other acute or chronic abdominal conditions. These aneurysms are
      usually detected in the sixth decade of life, predominantly among males. We
      report the case of a 69 year-old female with an unsuspected huge hepatic artery
      aneurysm associated with ischemic hepatitis. Suspicion of aneurysm arose during
      imaging studies to clarify the origin of jaundice and abdominal pain. After
      establishment of the diagnosis, but before open surgery, there was a spontaneous
      rupture of the aneurysm, which caused hemoperitoneum and death. The necropsy
      study confirmed ischemic hepatitis. Hepatic artery aneurysms are second among the
      visceral aneurysms, and may cause abdominal pain, jaundice, and hemorrhagic
      events. One should suspect abdominal aneurysms in elderly patients with unclear
      abdominal pain, and this hypothesis should be ruled out by imaging studies.

PMID- 20927151
TI  - Obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome.

PMID- 20927152
TI  - Adult cochlear implants in New Zealand--a chronic funding issue.

PMID- 20927153
TI  - Societal costs of obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome.
AB  - AIM: To estimate the societal costs of obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS)
      in New Zealand and develop a simulation tool to evaluate treatment options.
      METHOD: Treatment profiles, availability, uptake, and costs were based on
      services in the Wellington Region, and were used to develop a decision analytic
      model with micro costing of each potential outcome. Sensitivity analyses were
      conducted with 10,000 Monte Carlo simulations randomly varying each model
      parameter between high and low estimates. RESULTS: Total annual societal costs of
      OSAS for New Zealanders aged 30-60 years were estimated at $40 million (range $33
      $90 million) or $419 per case, with accidents being the major contributor. This
      included 58% direct medical, 13% direct non-medical, 25% indirect, and 3%
      intangible costs. The estimated incremental net cost of treating OSAS was $389
      per case treated (range $338-$427). The estimated incremental net direct medical
      cost per quality of life year (QALY) gained was $94 (range $56-$310). CONCLUSION:
      The estimated incremental direct medical cost per QALY gained by OSAS treatment
      is well below the average QALY cost ($6865) for drugs selected by PHARMAC to
      receive government subsidy for use in the healthcare system. Thus, the analysis
      strongly supports the cost effectiveness of OSAS treatment.

PMID- 20927154
TI  - Exploring knowledge and attitudes of taxi drivers with regard to obstructive
      sleep apnoea syndrome.
AB  - AIM: To examine the attitudes of taxi drivers towards symptoms of obstructive
      sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS), and to determine whether these attitudes could
      influence their health and safety as a professional driver. METHOD: Qualitative
      research based on three focus groups conducted in Wellington, New Zealand.
      Participants were 27 taxi drivers who had a high pre-test risk for obstructive
      sleep apnoea. Assignment to focus groups was based on self-identification as
      being Maori and Pacific peoples, New Zealand European, or non-Maori and non
      Pacific. RESULT: Participants described avoidance of health issues and
      dissatisfaction with their general practitioners. These attitudes were
      attributable to: (i) lack of knowledge, (ii) deliberate avoidance, and (iii) fear
      of loss of employment and income. CONCLUSIONS: The attitudes and level of
      knowledge of the focus group participants lead us to make the following
      recommendations. Drivers need systematic education about the effects of
      insufficient sleep and of OSAS on driving skills and safety. Taxi managers and
      drivers should cooperate to develop and implement safe driving policies to manage
      driver fatigue. Clear guidelines are need for drivers, managers, and healthcare
      professionals on the diagnosis and treatment of sleep disorders among drivers,
      and their potential consequences for driver licensing.

PMID- 20927155
TI  - Improved speech discrimination after cochlear implantation in the Southern
      Cochlear Implant Adult Programme.
AB  - AIM: To assess the rate and amount of improvement in speech discrimination scores
      following cochlear implant (CI) at the Southern Cochlear Implant Programme-Adult
      (SCIPA). METHODS: A retrospective review of those implanted between 1999 and 2008
      at SCIPA. We recorded type of implant, age of onset of deafness, age at implant,
      aetiology, and speech discrimination test (hearing in noise test, HINT) results
      pre-implant and over time post-implant. RESULTS: The mean post-implant HINT score
      (auditory alone) for the 78 patients who had follow-up up to nine months was 74%,
      and at 18 months (52 patients) was 81%, compared with a mean pre-implant score of
      15%. Performance plateaued at around 6 months post-implant. Age at operation was
      unrelated to outcome but earlier onset of deafness (and higher percentage of life
      deaf) gave a poorer outcome. Medium pre-implant scores were associated with lower
      post-implant scores than those with low or high pre-implant scores. CONCLUSIONS:
      Our results compare favourably with world-wide standards. Benefit in speech
      discrimination appears to plateau 6 months post-implant. A shorter duration of
      deafness or percentage of life spent deaf gives better results, but patients with
      very poor pre-implant functioning may in fact perform better at long term follow
      up than those with slightly better pre-implant functioning.

PMID- 20927156
TI  - Nasal fractures: patient satisfaction following closed reduction.
AB  - AIM: Nasal fractures are commonly treated by primary closed reduction. However,
      studies suggest this produces unacceptable functional and aesthetic results. Many
      patients require revision surgery. We aimed to assess patient satisfaction
      following closed reduction of nasal fractures. METHODS: Retrospective chart
      review of patients with nasal fractures treated by closed reduction at the
      Wellington Regional Plastic, Maxillofacial and Burns Unit, New Zealand over a 2
      year period was undertaken. Digital manipulation under general anaesthetic was
      performed. Patients were followed-up by telephone with a structured interview.
      RESULTS: Of 116 consecutive patients, 74 (65%) were successfully contacted. 65
      (88%) were satisfied with functional outcome, and 64 (86%) with aesthetic
      outcome. Of the 34 patients reporting incomplete correction, 12 (35%) would
      consider revision surgery. CONCLUSION: Patients treated with closed reduction of
      nasal fracture performed under general anaesthetic with digital manipulation
      reported high levels of satisfaction with functional and aesthetic outcomes.
      Revision rate is low.

PMID- 20927157
TI  - Self-dilation for refractory oesophageal strictures: an Auckland City Hospital
      study.
AB  - AIM: To determine the demographics, indications and long-term outcomes of
      patients using self-dilators for refractory oesophageal strictures. METHODS:
      Patients with oesophageal strictures who performed self-dilation were analysed
      retrospectively. Patients who were still alive were also interviewed via
      telephone. RESULTS: A total of 8 patients were analysed and 2 patients had since
      died. Most patients were in the 20-29 age group (n=4) when they first attempted
      self-dilation. The most common cause for oesophageal strictures was ingestion of
      corrosive (n=5). Each patient underwent on average 20 endoscopies (including
      endoscopic dilations) before attempting self-dilations. 1 patient developed
      oesophageal perforation during endoscopic dilation. 3 patients were still using
      self-dilators at the time of analysis. All the patients were only using
      lubricants (K-Y jelly) and none required topical anaesthetic such as Xylocaine
      throat spray. CONCLUSIONS: Oesophageal self-dilators were well-tolerated and
      complications were rare. By reducing the need for endoscopies, they are
      potentially cost-effective. However, patients must receive proper education
      before they are able to administer this treatment with confidence.

PMID- 20927158
TI  - Getting tangled in red tape: the challenges of doing clinical research in New
      Zealand.
AB  - Regulations and the number of forms that require completion remain a major
      frustration for researchers attempting to establish a clinical research project.
      It is essential that clinical research is of the highest standard and abides by
      ethical principles. However, the duplication of information required and lack of
      co-ordination between national and local ethics and research committees is a
      hindrance to conducting clinical research. This publication highlights the
      pitfalls in our current system with a case study, and suggests changes to the
      ethical review process that may aid researchers in establishing clinical
      research.

PMID- 20927159
TI  - MRI imaging of the inner ear for Meniere's disease.

PMID- 20927160
TI  - Bilateral superior canal dehiscence syndrome.

PMID- 20927161
TI  - Inadvertent swallowing of toothbrush.

PMID- 20927162
TI  - Poland syndrome: rare presentation in two cases.
AB  - Poland syndrome was first described in 1840 by Alfred Poland while still a
      medical student and the other components of the syndrome were described at London
      Guy's Hospital following the dissection of a cadaver's hand, which had hypoplasia
      and syndactyly. The incidence of Poland syndrome has been reported to be 1 in
      30,000 live births. In the present case report, two Poland syndrome patients with
      ipsilateral hypomastia and a reduction in the axillary/pectoral hairs diagnosed
      during adulthood are presented; one patient was affected on the left side and had
      widespread cafe au lait spots, and the other patient had respiratory dysfunction
      due to multiple rib anomalies.

PMID- 20927163
TI  - Reassessing Cartwright--understanding the factual record.

PMID- 20927164
TI  - A patient's response to recent criticisms of the findings in the report of the
      Cervical Cancer Inquiry 1988.

PMID- 20927165
TI  - A response to Dr Paul Patten. Re: a particular relationship.

PMID- 20927166
TI  - Comment on the book review of The Cartwright Papers in the NZMJ.

PMID- 20927167
TI  - A retrospective study: response to Dr McCredie. Re: consequences in women of
      participating in a study of the natural history of cervical intraepithelial
      neoplasia 3.

PMID- 20927168
TI  - A response to Ms Sandercock and Dr Burls regarding the methods used in the
      analysis for our first paper 'Natural history of cervical neoplasia and risk of
      invasive cancer in women diagnosed with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia 3'.

PMID- 20927169
TI  - Intravenous antibiotics.

PMID- 20927170
TI  - Long-term benefit of increasing the prominence of a quitline number on cigarette
      packaging: 3 years of Quitline call data.

PMID- 20927171
TI  - Is New Zealand lagging behind other OECD countries in measures to reduce alcohol
      related harm?

PMID- 20927172
TI  - A comparative study on the adverse effects of flunixin, ketoprofen and
      phenylbutazone in miniature donkeys: haematological, biochemical and pathological
      findings.
AB  - AIM: To evaluate the adverse effects of flunixin, ketoprofen and phenylbutazone
      when administered I/V to clinically normal miniature donkeys. METHODS: Twenty
      clinically normal adult (2.0-2.5 years old) male miniature donkeys weighing 113
      136 kg and 0.81- 0.86 m tall were randomly assigned to one of four groups, and
      administered either saline (n=5), 1.0 mg/kg flunixin (n=5), 2.2 mg/kg ketoprofen
      (n=5), or 4.4 mg/kg phenylbutazone (n=5) I/V at 0800 hours on Day 1, then every
      12 h, for 12 days. The animals were observed every 8 h, and examined physically
      daily. Blood, faeces and urine samples were collected daily from all donkeys, for
      haematological indices and enzyme activities, occult blood, and urinalysis,
      respectively. Immediately after euthanasia, complete post-mortem examinations
      were performed on all donkeys, and gross lesions recorded. Histopathology was
      conducted on a wide range of tissues. RESULTS: Clinically, mild anorexia and
      diarrhoea were observed during the study only in donkeys treated with
      phenylbutazone. There was an effect of treatment with the non-steroidal anti-infl
      ammatory drugs (NSAID) on red blood cell (RBC) counts, packed cell volume (PCV)
      and enzyme activities, but not on urine. Lesions were observed in the glandular
      mucosa of the stomach of all donkeys treated with NSAID, including ulceration in
      most. Also, in donkeys treated with NSAID, hyperaemia, erosion and ulceration of
      the gastrointestinal tract, and congestion of the liver, kidney and spleen, were
      observed. Microscopically, hepatic and renal lesions comprised biliary
      hyperplasia and interstitial nephritis, respectively. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL
      RELEVANCE: The gastrointestinal, hepatic and renal lesions observed in the
      donkeys treated with NSAID demonstrated the toxic potential of NSAID, which was
      greatest for animals treated with phenylbutazone, less for flunixin, and least
      for ketoprofen. When use of these compounds is contemplated in clinical cases,
      the risk of adverse effects and the comparative toxic potential should be
      considered, together with the efficacy of the compound for the condition being
      treated.

PMID- 20927173
TI  - Low levels of antibacterial drug resistance expressed by Gram-negative bacteria
      isolated from poultry carcasses in New Zealand.
AB  - AIM: To provide baseline data on the levels and patterns of antibacterial drug
      resistance expressed by Gram-negative bacteria isolated from poultry carcasses in
      New Zealand. METHODS: Between July and December 2006, isolates of Escherichia
      coli (n=407) and Salmonella spp. (n=3) originating from carcass-rinse samples
      were submitted by testing laboratories affiliated to five major poultry
      processing plants. Isolates of Campylobacter jejuni (n=193) originating from
      retail poultry carcasses in 2005-2006 were retrieved from the Massey University
      archives. All isolates underwent disc diffusion susceptibility testing against
      panels of 12 (Enterobacteriaceae) and six (Campylobacter spp.) antibacterial
      drugs. Cephalothin-resistance in isolates of E. coli was confirmed using ETest
      strips, and confirmation of the resistance phenotypes for a subset of C. jejuni
      isolates used microbroth dilution assays. Patterns within the resistance
      phenotypes of the isolates were investigated using hierarchical clustering, and
      logistic regression modelling. RESULTS: The majority of isolates (71.5% E. coli,
      99% C. jejuni, and all three Salmonella spp. isolates) were fully susceptible to
      the drugs that were tested. Four (1%) E. coli isolates showed resistance to three
      or more drugs. The proportions of susceptible E. coli differed between the five
      processing plants. Resistances were detected in E. coli isolates, using disc
      diffusion to cephalothin (18.2%), ampicillin (4.4%), tetracycline (4.4%) and
      gentamicin (1.5%). There was an association between cephalothin-resistant
      isolates of E. coli and decreased susceptibility to gentamicin. Using ETests to
      ascertain the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of E. coli for cephalothin
      gave inconsistent results. One of 193 C. jejuni isolates was resistant to
      erythromycin, and microbroth dilution assays confirmed that this panel of C.
      jejuni was generally susceptible to antibacterial drugs. CONCLUSIONS: The levels
      of resistance shown by Gram-negative bacteria isolated from chicken carcasses in
      New Zealand are among the lowest reported around the world. No resistance to
      extended-spectrum cephalosporin drugs was detected in E. coli, suggesting that
      CTX-M and AmpC beta-lactamases are rare or absent. Salmonella spp. are rarely
      isolated from poultry carcasses during routine testing in New Zealand, and the
      isolates identified during this study were fully susceptible to the drugs tested.
      A panel of C. jejuni isolates originating from retail poultry carcasses were
      susceptible to first-line and second-line antibacterial drugs. The use of
      cephalothin as a marker of resistance to first-generation cephalosporins may not
      be appropriate for non-type-specific E. coli of animal origin.

PMID- 20927174
TI  - Association of microsatellite polymorphisms with immune responses to a killed
      Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis vaccine in Merino sheep.
AB  - AIM: To study the association of polymorphisms at five microsatellite loci with
      immune responses to a killed Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (Map)
      vaccine. METHODS: Merino sheep (504 vaccinates and 430 unvaccinated controls)
      from a long-term Johne's vaccine trial undertaken on three different properties
      in the Central Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia, were genotyped for five
      microsatellite markers located in three immunologically significant chromosome
      regions. The marker loci included three from the major histocompatibility complex
      (MHC), namely DYMS1, OLADRB and SMHCC1; and one each from the solute carrier
      family 11 member 1 (SLC11A1), OVINRA1, and the interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma),
      o(IFN)-gamma, gene regions. Associations between immune responses and genetic
      polymorphisms at the marker loci were examined by analysing both allelic and
      genotypic effects. RESULTS: The o(IFN)-gamma locus had only two alleles, whereas
      the other four loci exhibited extensive polymorphism, with the number of alleles
      ranging from 10 (OVINRA1) to 21 (DYMS1), resulting in 30-92 genotypes per locus.
      Heterozygosities varied between 37% (o(IFN)-gamma) and 87% (SMHCC1), while
      information on polymorphic contents ranged from 0.31 (o(IFN)-gamma) to 0.87
      (DYMS1). Each of the three properties exhibited unique allelic and genotypic
      frequencies. Analysis of immune response data revealed strong antibody and IFN
      gamma responses as early as 2 months post-vaccination. Immune responses in
      control animals on all three properties remained consistently low, except for
      slightly elevated IFN-gamma responses at a few time-points on two properties,
      concomitant with exposure to natural infection. Genotype-phenotype association
      analyses revealed a number of marker genotypes/alleles to be significantly
      associated with antibody and IFN-gamma responses. However, the effects of only
      five genotypes (one each at DYMS1, OLADRB, SMHCC1, OVINRA1 and o(IFN)-gamma) and
      three alleles (one each at o(IFN)-gamma, DYMS1and OLADRB) on IFN-gamma responses
      were consistent across the three properties. CONCLUSION: Considering the
      significance of IFN-gamma responses in protection against Map, it is possible
      that the genotypes/alleles identified might have a role in protective immune
      responses to natural Map infections, and further studies are warranted to confirm
      this.

PMID- 20927175
TI  - Effect of setting a maximum milking time, from peak lactation, on production,
      milking time and udder health.
AB  - AIM: To examine the effect of setting a maximum milking time, from peak lactation
      until drying-off, on production, duration of milking, and udder health of dairy
      cows. METHODS: Forty cows were assigned in twin-pairs to be either milked until
      cups were removed at a milk flow-rate threshold of 0.35 kg/minute (Control), or
      until cups were removed at a milk flow-rate threshold of 0.35 kg/minute, or
      maximum time, whichever came first (MaxT). The maximum time was set by
      determining the milking time of the 70th percentile cow when ranked from fastest
      to slowest, irrespective of yield. The milking routine was typical of that
      practised on dairy farms in New Zealand, and involved no pre-milking preparation.
      The study began at peak lactation (68 (SD 7) days in milk; DIM) and continued for
      26 weeks. Duration of milking and milk yield were measured for each milking.
      Composition of milk was determined from weekly herd tests, and milk quality from
      fortnightly somatic cell counts (SCC). Completeness of milking and teat condition
      were assessed during the study. The bacterial status of quarter milk samples was
      determined at the beginning and end of the study, and all treated cases of
      clinical mastitis recorded. ANOVA was used to examine the effect of treatment
      group on variables of interest. RESULTS: Total milk, fat and protein yields
      during the study period did not differ between treatments. On average, 30.3% of
      the morning and 27.6% of the afternoon milkings of MaxT cows reached the maximum
      time at which cups were removed, and were therefore shortened. While the average
      milking time of the slowest-milking cow was longer for the Control compared with
      MaxT group in Weeks 1-18, the average milking time did not differ between
      treatments. There was no difference in overall SCC, and the incidence of clinical
      mastitis, or the percentage of infected quarters at drying-off, was similar for
      the MaxT and Control cows. CONCLUSION: The results show that setting a maximum
      milking time can reduce the milking time of slower-milking cows in a herd without
      compromising overall herd production and udder health. CLINICAL RELEVANCE:
      Although the numbers of cows in the study were small there was no evidence of a
      major increase in SCC, or subclinical or clinical mastitis when a maximum milking
      time was set for slower-milking cows.

PMID- 20927176
TI  - Investigation of a pig herd with animals seropositive for classical swine fever
      and where porcine circovirus-associated disease had been diagnosed.
AB  - AIM: To investigate the cause of classical swine fever (CSF) virus-seropositive
      animals in a nucleus pig-breeding herd in New Zealand, where porcine circovirus
      associated disease had been diagnosed. CASE HISTORY AND CLINICAL FINDINGS: An
      exotic disease investigation was undertaken to exclude CSF and porcine
      reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) on a nucleus pig-breeding herd
      comprising approximately 300 breeding sows, 1,000 weaners, and 650 grower pigs.
      The herd was experiencing poor reproductive performance in sows, and breeding
      records showed a declining farrowing rate attributable to a single manager. The
      growing pigs (10-15 weeks old) were experiencing respiratory disease and wasting,
      and the mortality rate by pen varied between 9 and 20%. Post-mortem changes in
      affected grower pigs were consistent with circovirus-associated diseases.
      DIAGNOSTIC TESTING: Serological screening using an IDEXX-ELISA gave negative
      results for PRRS virus antibodies, but two grower pigs and one sow tested
      positive for CSF virus antibodies. These three seropositive animals remained
      positive to CSF virus, using three commercial ELISA test kits, over 27 weeks. A
      newly developed virus neutralisation test (VNT), using a New Zealand isolate of
      border disease (BD) virus, demonstrated that the seropositive pig sera had higher
      antibody titres to BD virus than to bovine viral diarrhoea (BVD) virus and CSF
      virus. PCR performed on tonsil, kidney, ileum and spleen gave negative results
      for CSF virus, and histopathology on lymph nodes, intestine, lung, kidney, liver
      and brain showed no evidence of the disease. Virus isolation performed on a
      number of samples was negative. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: The seropositive samples for
      CSF virus found in this investigation were likely to be a cross reaction to a
      pestivirus other than CSF virus. The finding of a possible endemic pestivirus
      capable of being transmitted between sheep and pigs on this farm may explain
      findings from previous serological survey work in New Zealand, and supports
      experience elsewhere, where BD virus was found to be the predominant ruminant
      pestivirus infecting pigs. The results show that pestivirus cross reactivity can
      result in unexpectedly high titres, and that testing with a full set of (local)
      pestiviruses is necessary to reach the correct conclusion. The investigation has
      direct relevance where pig herds with a low seroprevalence are encountered during
      surveillance for CSF.

PMID- 20927177
TI  - Necrotising fasciitis in a bull due to infection with Arcanobacterium
      haemolyticum.
AB  - CASE HISTORY: A 2-year-old Hereford bull was lame for one week before becoming
      recumbent. CLINICAL AND PATHOLOGICAL FINDINGS: The scrotum and ventral perineal
      region were cold and blackened caudally. The semimembranosus and semitendinosus
      muscles were firm on palpation. The bull was subject to euthanasia, and necropsy
      revealed that the skin and S/C tissues of the caudal half of the scrotum were
      grey and necrotic. The caudal and distal aspects of the semimembranosus and
      semitendinosus muscles were grey and necrotic to a depth of approximately 15 cm,
      and these changes appeared to track along fascial planes. The tissue had an
      offensive smell, and large amounts of flocculent, watery, brown fluid and some
      gas were present. Histology of affected muscle and S/C tissues revealed
      coagulative necrosis, with oedema and large numbers of bacteria that were
      predominantly Gram-positive rods. Adjacent blood vessels contained thrombi while
      the epidermis overlying the affected areas appeared diffusely necrotic,
      suggesting infarction. Culture of the fluid yielded a pure growth of
      Arcanobacterium spp., which was identified as Arcanobacterium haemolyticum, using
      an API Coryne biochemical test strip. DIAGNOSIS: Necrotising fasciitis and
      myositis due to Arcanobacterium haemolyticum. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Arcanobacterium
      haemolyticum has not previously been reported as a cause of necrotising fasciitis
      in any species. Necrotising fasciitis is probably an under-reported condition in
      cattle due to its clinical similarity to clostridial disease.

PMID- 20927178
TI  - Presumptive Nocardia spp. infection in a dog treated with cyclosporin and
      ketoconazole.
AB  - CASE HISTORY: A dog that had received 8 months of cyclosporin and ketoconazole
      therapy for treatment of atopic dermatitis subsequently developed severe
      neurological disease, that failed to respond to treatment with trimethoprim
      sulphadiazine and clindamycin. HISTOPATHOLOGICAL FINDINGS: Histopathological
      examination of the pulmonary parenchyma and spinal cord revealed loose aggregates
      of Gram-positive, partially acid-fast, fine, beaded, filamentous bacteria, most
      consistent with Nocardia spp. DIAGNOSIS: A presumptive diagnosis was made of
      disseminated nocardiosis of the spinal cord and lungs. CLINICAL RELEVANCE:
      Nocardia spp. is an opportunistic actinomycete that may cause disseminated
      disease, particularly in immunocompromised animals. Cyclosporin is used in
      veterinary medicine to control immune-mediated and allergic disorders, with few
      reported adverse side effects. This case gives further evidence that involvement
      of the spinal cord in nocardiosis of the central nervous system (CNS) carries a
      poor prognosis, and opportunistic infection by Nocardia spp. may be a potential
      complication of immunosuppressive cyclosporin therapy in the dog.

PMID- 20927179
TI  - Obstructive urolithiasis in a Saanen goat in New Zealand, resulting in a ruptured
      bladder.
AB  - CASE HISTORY: A 3-year-old male, castrated Saanen goat was presented with an
      acute onset of vocalisation, abdominal discomfort and 'tail-flagging'. CLINICAL
      FINDINGS: Radiographs, including a positive-contrast study, indicated obstructive
      urolithiasis, and evidence of rupture of the urethra. Analysis of uroliths
      identified calcium carbonate crystals. Amputation of the urethral process could
      not re-establish urethral patency, so a tube cystotomy was performed but also was
      not successful. Eighteen days after admission, a perineal urethrostomy was
      performed. However, the goat's condition deteriorated 12 days after the
      urethrostomy, and the owner consented to euthanasia of the animal. Post-mortem
      examination revealed a hole 2x1 cm on the dorsal aspect of the bladder, and a
      necrotic focus measuring approximately 2x3 cm ventrally. DIAGNOSIS: Obstructive
      urolithiasis, with ruptured bladder and urethra. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Obstructive
      urolithiasis is probably an under-reported condition of castrated male goats in
      New Zealand.

PMID- 20927181
TI  - Synthesis and characterisation of coating polyurethane cationomers containing
      fluorine built-in hard urethane segments.
AB  - Polyurethane cationomers were synthesised in the reaction of 4,4'
      methylenebis(phenyl isocyanate) with polyoxyethylene glycol (M = 2,000) or
      poly(tetrafluoroethyleneoxide-co-difluoromethylene oxide) alpha,omega
      diisocyanate and N-methyl diethanolamine. Amine segments were built-in to the
      urethane-isocyanate prepolymer in the reaction with 1-bromobutane or formic acid,
      and then they were converted to alkylammonium cations. The obtained isocyanate
      prepolymers were then extended in the aqueous medium that yielded stable aqueous
      dispersions which were applied on the surfaces of test poly(tetrafluoroethylene)
      plates. After evaporation of water, the dispersions formed thin polymer coatings.
      (1)H, (13)C NMR and IR spectral methods were employed to confirm chemical
      structures of synthesised cationomers. Based on (1)H NMR and IR spectra, the
      factors kappa and alpha were calculated, which represented the polarity level of
      the obtained cationomers. The DSC, wide angle X-ray scattering and atom force
      microscopy methods were employed for the microstructural assessment of the
      obtained materials. Changes were discussed in the surface free energy and its
      components, as calculated independently according to the method suggested by van
      Oss-Good, in relation to chemical and physical structures of cationomers as well
      as morphology of coating surfaces obtained from those cationomers. Fluorine
      incorporated into cationomers (about 30%) contributed to lower surface free
      energy values, down to about 15 mJ/m(2). That was caused by gradual weakening of
      long-range interactions within which the highest share is taken by dispersion
      interactions.

PMID- 20927182
TI  - The fruits of collaboration in a multidisciplinary field.
AB  - Collaboration between researchers and between research organizations is generally
      considered a desirable course of action, in particular by some funding bodies.
      However, collaboration within a multidisciplinary community, such as the Computer
      Human Interaction (CHI) community, can be challenging. We performed a
      bibliometric analysis of the CHI conference proceedings to determine if papers
      that have authors from different organization or countries receive more citations
      than papers that are authored by members of the same organization. There was no
      significant difference between these three groups, indicating that there is no
      advantage for collaboration in terms of citation frequency. Furthermore, we
      tested if papers written by authors from different organizations or countries
      receive more best paper awards or at least award nominations. Papers from only
      one organization received significantly fewer nominations than collaborative
      papers.

PMID- 20927183
TI  - Characterizing a scientific elite: the social characteristics of the most highly
      cited scientists in environmental science and ecology.
AB  - In science, a relatively small pool of researchers garners a disproportionally
      large number of citations. Still, very little is known about the social
      characteristics of highly cited scientists. This is unfortunate as these
      researchers wield a disproportional impact on their fields, and the study of
      highly cited scientists can enhance our understanding of the conditions which
      foster highly cited work, the systematic social inequalities which exist in
      science, and scientific careers more generally. This study provides information
      on this understudied subject by examining the social characteristics and opinions
      of the 0.1% most cited environmental scientists and ecologists. Overall, the
      social characteristics of these researchers tend to reflect broader patterns of
      inequality in the global scientific community. However, while the social
      characteristics of these researchers mirror those of other scientific elites in
      important ways, they differ in others, revealing findings which are both novel
      and surprising, perhaps indicating multiple pathways to becoming highly cited.

PMID- 20927184
TI  - Identification of small interfering RNA targeting Signal Transducer and Activator
      of Transcription 6: Characterisation and selection of candidates for pre-clinical
      development.
AB  - The interleukin (IL)-13 pathway and its associated transcription factor, signal
      transducer and activator of transcription 6 (STAT6), have been clearly implicated
      in the pathogenesis of bronchial asthma. We have developed a system to
      effectively screen the STAT6 gene for targeting with small interfering (si) RNA
      molecules. By incorporating an in silico and in vitro screening system we were
      able to identify fourteen siRNA molecules suitable for pre-clinical drug
      development. Furthermore, we were able to demonstrate that modification of
      certain siRNAs, designed to improve in vivo longevity, was possible without
      significant loss of target knockdown efficacy and that the siRNA produced by our
      selection process did not induce demonstrable interferon responses. These data
      suggest that several STAT6-targeting siRNA suitable for pre-clinical development
      are available for potential use in the treatment of asthma.

PMID- 20927185
TI  - Continuous differential impedance spectroscopy of single cells.
AB  - A device for continuous differential impedance analysis of single cells held by a
      hydrodynamic cell trapping is presented. Measurements are accomplished by
      recording the current from two closely-situated electrode pairs, one empty
      (reference) and one containing a cell. We demonstrate time-dependent measurement
      of single cell impedance produced in response to dynamic chemical perturbations.
      First, the system is used to assay the response of HeLa cells to the effects of
      the surfactant Tween, which reduces the impedance of the trapped cells in a
      concentration dependent way and is interpreted as gradual lysis of the cell
      membrane. Second, the effects of the bacterial pore-forming toxin, Streptolysin-O
      are measured: a transient exponential decay in the impedance is recorded as the
      cell membrane becomes increasingly permeable. The decay time constant is
      inversely proportional to toxin concentration (482, 150, and 30 s for 0.1, 1, and
      10 kU/ml, respectively). ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of
      this article (doi:10.1007/s10404-009-0534-2) contains supplementary material,
      which is available to authorized users.

PMID- 20927186
TI  - Genetic architecture of complex traits and accuracy of genomic prediction: coat
      colour, milk-fat percentage, and type in Holstein cattle as contrasting model
      traits.
AB  - Prediction of genetic merit using dense SNP genotypes can be used for estimation
      of breeding values for selection of livestock, crops, and forage species; for
      prediction of disease risk; and for forensics. The accuracy of these genomic
      predictions depends in part on the genetic architecture of the trait, in
      particular number of loci affecting the trait and distribution of their effects.
      Here we investigate the difference among three traits in distribution of effects
      and the consequences for the accuracy of genomic predictions. Proportion of black
      coat colour in Holstein cattle was used as one model complex trait. Three loci,
      KIT, MITF, and a locus on chromosome 8, together explain 24% of the variation of
      proportion of black. However, a surprisingly large number of loci of small effect
      are necessary to capture the remaining variation. A second trait, fat
      concentration in milk, had one locus of large effect and a host of loci with very
      small effects. Both these distributions of effects were in contrast to that for a
      third trait, an index of scores for a number of aspects of cow confirmation
      ("overall type"), which had only loci of small effect. The differences in
      distribution of effects among the three traits were quantified by estimating the
      distribution of variance explained by chromosome segments containing 50 SNPs.
      This approach was taken to account for the imperfect linkage disequilibrium
      between the SNPs and the QTL affecting the traits. We also show that the accuracy
      of predicting genetic values is higher for traits with a proportion of large
      effects (proportion black and fat percentage) than for a trait with no loci of
      large effect (overall type), provided the method of analysis takes advantage of
      the distribution of loci effects.

PMID- 20927187
TI  - Understanding uncertainties in model-based predictions of Aedes aegypti
      population dynamics.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Aedes aegypti is one of the most important mosquito vectors of human
      disease. The development of spatial models for Ae. aegypti provides a promising
      start toward model-guided vector control and risk assessment, but this will only
      be possible if models make reliable predictions. The reliability of model
      predictions is affected by specific sources of uncertainty in the model.
      METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: This study quantifies uncertainties in the
      predicted mosquito population dynamics at the community level (a cluster of 612
      houses) and the individual-house level based on Skeeter Buster, a spatial model
      of Ae. aegypti, for the city of Iquitos, Peru. The study considers two types of
      uncertainty: 1) uncertainty in the estimates of 67 parameters that describe
      mosquito biology and life history, and 2) uncertainty due to environmental and
      demographic stochasticity. Our results show that for pupal density and for female
      adult density at the community level, respectively, the 95% prediction confidence
      interval ranges from 1000 to 3000 and from 700 to 5,000 individuals. The two
      parameters contributing most to the uncertainties in predicted population
      densities at both individual-house and community levels are the female adult
      survival rate and a coefficient determining weight loss due to energy used in
      metabolism at the larval stage (i.e. metabolic weight loss). Compared to
      parametric uncertainty, stochastic uncertainty is relatively low for population
      density predictions at the community level (less than 5% of the overall
      uncertainty) but is substantially higher for predictions at the individual-house
      level (larger than 40% of the overall uncertainty). Uncertainty in mosquito
      spatial dispersal has little effect on population density predictions at the
      community level but is important for the prediction of spatial clustering at the
      individual-house level. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: This is the first systematic
      uncertainty analysis of a detailed Ae. aegypti population dynamics model and
      provides an approach for identifying those parameters for which more accurate
      estimates would improve model predictions.

PMID- 20927189
TI  - Chemosensitization of Trypanosoma congolense strains resistant to isometamidium
      chloride by tetracyclines and enrofloxacin.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Because of the development of resistance in trypanosomes to
      trypanocidal drugs, the livelihood of millions of livestock keepers in sub
      Saharan Africa is threatened now more than ever. The existing compounds have
      become virtually useless and pharmaceutical companies are not keen on investing
      in the development of new trypanocides. We may have found a breakthrough in the
      treatment of resistant trypanosomal infections, through the combination of the
      trypanocide isometamidium chloride (ISM) with two affordable veterinary
      antibiotics. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In a first experiment, groups of
      mice were inoculated with Trypanosoma congolense strains resistant to ISM and
      either left untreated or treated with (i) tetracycline, (ii) ISM or (iii) the
      combination of the antibiotic and the trypanocide. Survival analysis showed that
      there was a significant effect of treatment and resistance to treatment on the
      survival time. The groups treated with ISM (with or without antibiotic) survived
      significantly longer than the groups that were not treated with ISM (P<0.01). The
      group treated with the combination trypanocide/antibiotic survived significantly
      longer than the group treated with ISM (P<0.01). In a second experiment, groups
      of cattle were inoculated with the same resistant trypanosome strain and treated
      with (i) ISM, (ii) ISM associated with oxytetracycline or (iii) ISM associated
      with enrofloxacine. All animals treated with ISM became parasitaemic. In the
      groups treated with ISM-oxytetracycline and ISM-enrofloxacine, 50% of the animals
      were cured. Animals from the groups treated with a combination
      trypanocide/antibiotic presented a significantly longer prepatent period than
      animals treated with ISM (p<0.001). The impact of the disease on the haematocrit
      was low in all ISM treated groups. Yet, it was lower in the groups treated with
      the combination trypanocide/antibiotic (p<0.01). CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: After
      optimization of the administration protocol, this new therapeutic combination
      could constitute a promising treatment for livestock infected with drug resistant
      T. congolense.

PMID- 20927190
TI  - Leishmania-specific surface antigens show sub-genus sequence variation and immune
      recognition.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A family of hydrophilic acylated surface (HASP) proteins, containing
      extensive and variant amino acid repeats, is expressed at the plasma membrane in
      infective extracellular (metacyclic) and intracellular (amastigote) stages of Old
      World Leishmania species. While HASPs are antigenic in the host and can induce
      protective immune responses, the biological functions of these Leishmania
      specific proteins remain unresolved. Previous genome analysis has suggested that
      parasites of the sub-genus Leishmania (Viannia) have lost HASP genes from their
      genomes. METHODS/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We have used molecular and cellular methods
      to analyse HASP expression in New World Leishmania mexicana complex species and
      show that, unlike in L. major, these proteins are expressed predominantly
      following differentiation into amastigotes within macrophages. Further genome
      analysis has revealed that the L. (Viannia) species, L. (V.) braziliensis, does
      express HASP-like proteins of low amino acid similarity but with similar
      biochemical characteristics, from genes present on a region of chromosome 23 that
      is syntenic with the HASP/SHERP locus in Old World Leishmania species and the L.
      (L.) mexicana complex. A related gene is also present in Leptomonas seymouri and
      this may represent the ancestral copy of these Leishmania-genus specific
      sequences. The L. braziliensis HASP-like proteins (named the orthologous (o)
      HASPs) are predominantly expressed on the plasma membrane in amastigotes and are
      recognised by immune sera taken from 4 out of 6 leishmaniasis patients tested in
      an endemic region of Brazil. Analysis of the repetitive domains of the oHASPs has
      shown considerable genetic variation in parasite isolates taken from the same
      patients, suggesting that antigenic change may play a role in immune recognition
      of this protein family. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: These findings confirm that
      antigenic hydrophilic acylated proteins are expressed from genes in the same
      chromosomal region in species across the genus Leishmania. These proteins are
      surface-exposed on amastigotes (although L. (L.) major parasites also express
      HASPB on the metacyclic plasma membrane). The central repetitive domains of the
      HASPs are highly variant in their amino acid sequences, both within and between
      species, consistent with a role in immune recognition in the host.

PMID- 20927191
TI  - Mycobacterium africanum--review of an important cause of human tuberculosis in
      West Africa.
AB  - Mycobacterium africanum consists of two phylogenetically distinct lineages within
      the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex, known as M. africanum West African 1 and
      M. africanum West African 2. These lineages are restricted to West Africa, where
      they cause up to half of human pulmonary tuberculosis. In this review we discuss
      the definition of M. africanum, describe the prevalence and restricted
      geographical distribution of M. africanum West African 1 and 2, review the
      occurrence of M. africanum in animals, and summarize the phenotypic differences
      described thus far between M. africanum and M. tuberculosis sensu stricto.

PMID- 20927192
TI  - Urinary collagen fragments are significantly altered in diabetes: a link to
      pathophysiology.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The pathogenesis of diabetes mellitus (DM) is variable, comprising
      different inflammatory and immune responses. Proteome analysis holds the promise
      of delivering insight into the pathophysiological changes associated with
      diabetes. Recently, we identified and validated urinary proteomics biomarkers for
      diabetes. Based on these initial findings, we aimed to further validate urinary
      proteomics biomarkers specific for diabetes in general, and particularity
      associated with either type 1 (T1D) or type 2 diabetes (T2D).
      METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Therefore, the low-molecular-weight urinary
      proteome of 902 subjects from 10 different centers, 315 controls and 587 patients
      with T1D (n = 299) or T2D (n = 288), was analyzed using capillary-electrophoresis
      mass-spectrometry. The 261 urinary biomarkers (100 were sequenced) previously
      discovered in 205 subjects were validated in an additional 697 subjects to
      distinguish DM subjects (n = 382) from control subjects (n = 315) with 94% (95%
      CI: 92-95) accuracy in this study. To identify biomarkers that differentiate T1D
      from T2D, a subset of normoalbuminuric patients with T1D (n = 68) and T2D (n =
      42) was employed, enabling identification of 131 biomarker candidates (40 were
      sequenced) differentially regulated between T1D and T2D. These biomarkers
      distinguished T1D from T2D in an independent validation set of normoalbuminuric
      patients (n = 108) with 88% (95% CI: 81-94%) accuracy, and in patients with
      impaired renal function (n = 369) with 85% (95% CI: 81-88%) accuracy. Specific
      collagen fragments were associated with diabetes and type of diabetes indicating
      changes in collagen turnover and extracellular matrix as one hallmark of the
      molecular pathophysiology of diabetes. Additional biomarkers including
      inflammatory processes and pro-thrombotic alterations were observed.
      CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: These findings, based on the largest proteomic study
      performed to date on subjects with DM, validate the previously described
      biomarkers for DM, and pinpoint differences in the urinary proteome of T1D and
      T2D, indicating significant differences in extracellular matrix remodeling.

PMID- 20927193
TI  - Inferring regulatory networks from expression data using tree-based methods.
AB  - One of the pressing open problems of computational systems biology is the
      elucidation of the topology of genetic regulatory networks (GRNs) using high
      throughput genomic data, in particular microarray gene expression data. The
      Dialogue for Reverse Engineering Assessments and Methods (DREAM) challenge aims
      to evaluate the success of GRN inference algorithms on benchmarks of simulated
      data. In this article, we present GENIE3, a new algorithm for the inference of
      GRNs that was best performer in the DREAM4 In Silico Multifactorial challenge.
      GENIE3 decomposes the prediction of a regulatory network between p genes into p
      different regression problems. In each of the regression problems, the expression
      pattern of one of the genes (target gene) is predicted from the expression
      patterns of all the other genes (input genes), using tree-based ensemble methods
      Random Forests or Extra-Trees. The importance of an input gene in the prediction
      of the target gene expression pattern is taken as an indication of a putative
      regulatory link. Putative regulatory links are then aggregated over all genes to
      provide a ranking of interactions from which the whole network is reconstructed.
      In addition to performing well on the DREAM4 In Silico Multifactorial challenge
      simulated data, we show that GENIE3 compares favorably with existing algorithms
      to decipher the genetic regulatory network of Escherichia coli. It doesn't make
      any assumption about the nature of gene regulation, can deal with combinatorial
      and non-linear interactions, produces directed GRNs, and is fast and scalable. In
      conclusion, we propose a new algorithm for GRN inference that performs well on
      both synthetic and real gene expression data. The algorithm, based on feature
      selection with tree-based ensemble methods, is simple and generic, making it
      adaptable to other types of genomic data and interactions.

PMID- 20927195
TI  - Malignant transformation of non-neoplastic Barrett's epithelial cells through
      well-defined genetic manipulations.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Human Barrett's cancer cell lines have numerous, poorly-characterized
      genetic abnormalities and, consequently, those lines have limited utility as
      models for studying the early molecular events in carcinogenesis. Cell lines with
      well-defined genetic lesions that recapitulate various stages of neoplastic
      progression in Barrett's esophagus would be most useful for such studies.
      METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: To develop such model cell lines, we started with
      telomerase-immortalized, non-neoplastic Barrett's epithelial (BAR-T) cells, which
      are spontaneously deficient in p16, and proceeded to knock down p53 using RNAi,
      to activate Ras by introducing oncogenic H-Ras(G12V), or both. BAR-T cells
      infected with either p53 RNAi or oncogenic H-Ras(G12V) alone maintained cell-to
      cell contact inhibition and did not exhibit anchorage-independent growth in soft
      agar. In contrast, the combination of p53 RNAi knockdown with expression of
      oncogenic H-Ras(G12V) transformed the p16-deficient BAR-T cells, as evidenced by
      their loss of contact inhibition, by their formation of colonies in soft agar,
      and by their generation of tumors in immunodeficient mice.
      CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Through these experiments, we have generated a number
      of transformed and non-transformed cell lines with well-characterized genetic
      abnormalities recapitulating various stages of carcinogenesis in Barrett's
      esophagus. These lines should be useful models for the study of carcinogenesis in
      Barrett's esophagus, and for testing the efficacy of chemopreventive and
      chemotherapeutic agents.

PMID- 20927194
TI  - Functional metagenomics: a high throughput screening method to decipher
      microbiota-driven NF-kappaB modulation in the human gut.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIM: The human intestinal microbiota plays an important role in
      modulation of mucosal immune responses. To study interactions between intestinal
      epithelial cells (IECs) and commensal bacteria, a functional metagenomic approach
      was developed. One interest of metagenomics is to provide access to genomes of
      uncultured microbes. We aimed at identifying bacterial genes involved in
      regulation of NF-kappaB signaling in IECs. A high throughput cell-based screening
      assay allowing rapid detection of NF-kappaB modulation in IECs was established
      using the reporter-gene strategy to screen metagenomic libraries issued from the
      human intestinal microbiota. METHODS: A plasmid containing the secreted alkaline
      phosphatase (SEAP) gene under the control of NF-kappaB binding elements was
      stably transfected in HT-29 cells. The reporter clone HT-29/kb-seap-25 was
      selected and characterized. Then, a first screening of a metagenomic library from
      Crohn's disease patients was performed to identify NF-kappaB modulating clones.
      Furthermore, genes potentially involved in the effect of one stimulatory
      metagenomic clone were determined by sequence analysis associated to mutagenesis
      by transposition. RESULTS: The two proinflammatory cytokines, TNF-alpha and IL
      1beta, were able to activate the reporter system, translating the activation of
      the NF-kappaB signaling pathway and NF-kappaB inhibitors, BAY 11-7082, caffeic
      acid phenethyl ester and MG132 were efficient. A screening of 2640 metagenomic
      clones led to the identification of 171 modulating clones. Among them, one
      stimulatory metagenomic clone, 52B7, was further characterized. Sequence analysis
      revealed that its metagenomic DNA insert might belong to a new Bacteroides strain
      and we identified 2 loci encoding an ABC transport system and a putative
      lipoprotein potentially involved in 52B7 effect on NF-kappaB. CONCLUSIONS: We
      have established a robust high throughput screening assay for metagenomic
      libraries derived from the human intestinal microbiota to study bacteria-driven
      NF-kappaB regulation. This opens a strategic path toward the identification of
      bacterial strains and molecular patterns presenting a potential therapeutic
      interest.

PMID- 20927196
TI  - Smoking and gamma-glutamyltransferase: opposite interactions with alcohol
      consumption and body mass index.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Smoking has recently been suggested to synergistically interact with
      alcohol intake as a determinant of serum gamma-glutamyltransferase (gamma-GT), an
      emergent powerful predictor of disease and mortality. This study investigated
      whether this also applies to higher smoking and alcohol exposure ranges and to
      body mass index (BMI), which likewise is strongly associated with gamma-GT.
      METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Analyses were based on occupational health
      examinations of more than 15,000 German male workers aged 16-64 years,
      predominantly from the construction industry. Sociodemographics and other health
      related information were collected during the exam. Joint associations of smoking
      and alcohol consumption or BMI with elevated or log-transformed gamma-GT were
      examined by tabulation and multiple adjusted regression models. Cigarette smoking
      exerted no effect on gamma-GT in teetotalers, but there was a statistically
      significant effect of smoking among participants with higher alcohol consumption
      intensity, odds of elevated gamma-GT being increased by 24% and 27% per
      additional 10 cigarettes smoked per day in subjects drinking 61-90 and >90 gram
      alcohol per day, respectively (P for interaction = 0.039). The interaction was
      opposite for BMI, where no association was seen in obese subjects, whereas odds
      of elevated gamma-GT were increased by 24% per 10 cigarettes below 25 kg/m(2) (P
      for interaction = 0.040). This novel interaction was replicable in an independent
      cohort. CONCLUSION: The evidence for opposite interactions of smoking with
      alcohol and BMI as determinants of serum gamma-GT suggests that different
      physiological pathways are responsible for the associations between these
      factors.

PMID- 20927198
TI  - MOTHER'S EMPLOYMENT DEMANDS, WORK-FAMILY CONFLICT, AND ADOLESCENT DEVELOPMENT.
AB  - This study revisited the old research question of whether or not maternal
      employment would adversely affect children's development. We reframed the
      question by asking how a mother's temporal employment demands might be linked to
      child development. We used longitudinal data from a sample of 340 white, lower-
      to middle-class, dual-earner families living in the rural Midwest of the United
      States. The data were obtained from questionnaires and videotaped observations,
      and were informed by the mother, the father, the adolescent child, and a trained
      observer. As predicted, we found a strong relationship between a mother's
      temporal employment demands and work-family conflict, which was significantly
      associated with her emotional distress. A husband's egalitarian gender ideology
      was found to reduce the mother's emotional distress. Maternal distress was then
      negatively associated with nurturant and involved parenting, which in turn
      predicted a reduction in the adolescent child's emotional and behavioral problems
      over time.

PMID- 20927197
TI  - Re-examination of the Controversial Coexistence of Traumatic Brain Injury and
      Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Misdiagnosis and Self-Report Measures.
AB  - The coexistence of traumatic brain injury (TBI) and posttraumatic stress disorder
      (PTSD) remains a controversial issue in the literature. To address this
      controversy, we focused primarily on the civilian-related literature of TBI and
      PTSD. Some investigators have argued that individuals who had been rendered
      unconscious or suffered amnesia due to a TBI are unable to develop PTSD because
      they would be unable to consciously experience the symptoms of fear,
      helplessness, and horror associated with the development of PTSD. Other
      investigators have reported that individuals who sustain TBI, regardless of its
      severity, can develop PTSD even in the context of prolonged unconsciousness. A
      careful review of the methodologies employed in these studies reveals that
      investigators who relied on clinical interviews of TBI patients to diagnose PTSD
      found little or no evidence of PTSD. In contrast, investigators who relied on
      PTSD questionnaires to diagnose PTSD found considerable evidence of PTSD. Further
      analysis revealed that many of the TBI patients who were initially diagnosed with
      PTSD according to self-report questionnaires did not meet the diagnostic criteria
      for PTSD upon completion of a clinical interview. In particular, patients with
      severe TBI were often misdiagnosed with PTSD. A number of investigators found
      that many of the severe TBI patients failed to follow the questionnaire
      instructions and erroneously endorsed PTSD symptoms because of their cognitive
      difficulties. Because PTSD questionnaires are not designed to discriminate
      between PTSD and TBI symptoms or determine whether a patient's responses are
      accurate or exaggerated, studies that rely on self-report questionnaires to
      evaluate PTSD in TBI patients are at risk of misdiagnosing PTSD. Further research
      should evaluate the degree to which misdiagnosis of PTSD occurs in individuals
      who have sustained mild TBI.

PMID- 20927199
TI  - Transferencias intergeracionais privadas na Amazonia rural brasileira.
AB  - What motivates family members to share resources? Past research argues for, on
      the one hand, love and altruism, and on the other, the expectation of
      reciprocity. Drawing on this literature, this paper examines intergenerational
      transfers between small farmers and their non-coresident children in the rural
      area around the city of Altamira, Para, Brazil. We apply GoM (Grade of
      Membership) models to create profiles of private transfers, using data collected
      in 2005 by a team from Indiana University. The results show three profiles: low
      intergenerational transfers, high levels of transfers of visits and help, and
      high levels of transfers of visits and money. There is no clear difference in
      profile by birth order, but we do find sex differences in profile. Men are more
      likely to send money while women provide time transfers (work and visits). Upward
      transfers are most common from children with high levels of education or living
      in urban areas, suggesting a repayment of prior investments made by parents.
      Thus, our empirical evidence supports theories arguing that transfers are
      motivated by intertemporal contracts between parents and children, and that
      altruistic theories of family transfers should be rethought among rural
      agricultural populations in contexts characterized by many environmental and
      institutional challenges.

PMID- 20927200
TI  - An Integrated Genetic-Genomic Approach for the Identification of Novel Cancer
      Loci in Mice Sensitized to c-Myc-Induced Apoptosis.
AB  - Deregulated c-Myc is associated with a wide range of human cancers. In many cell
      types, overexpression of c-Myc potently promotes cell growth and proliferation
      concomitant with the induction of apoptosis. Secondary genetic events that shift
      this balance either by increasing growth and proliferation or limiting apoptosis
      are likely to cooperate with c-Myc in tumorigenesis. Here, the authors have
      performed large-scale insertional mutagenesis in EMU-c-myc mice that, through
      mdm2 loss of function mutations, are sensitized to apoptosis. The authors chose
      to use this genetic background based on the hypothesis that the high level of
      apoptosis induced by c-Myc overexpression in MDM2-deficient mice would act as a
      rate-limiting barrier for lymphoma development. As a result, it was predicted
      that the spectrum of retroviral insertions would be shifted toward loci that
      harbor antiapoptotic genes. Nine novel common insertion sites (CISs) specific to
      mice with this sensitized genetic background were identified, suggesting the
      presence of novel antiapoptotic cancer genes. Moreover, cross-comparing the data
      to the Retroviral Tagged Cancer Gene Database, the authors identified an
      additional 23 novel CISs. Here, evidence is presented that 2 genes, ppp1r16b and
      hdac6, identified at CISs, are bona fide cellular oncogenes. This study
      highlights the power of combining unique sensitized genetic backgrounds with
      large-scale mutagenesis as an approach for identifying novel cancer genes.

PMID- 20927201
TI  - Labor Migration, Drug Trafficking Organizations, and Drug Use: Major Challenges
      for Transnational Communities in Mexico.
AB  - In our article, we present the recent findings of our ethnographic field study on
      drug use and the emergence of a drug use culture in transnational communities in
      Mexico. Transnational communities are part of a larger migratory labor circuit
      that transcends political borders and are not restricted to a single locality.
      Transnational migrants and returning immigrants link the multiple localities
      through their social networks. In southern Guanajuato, Mexico, using a
      transnational migration paradigm, we examined the manner in which transnational
      migration and drug trafficking organizations are contributing to a growing drug
      problem in these communities. We found that transnational migrants and returning
      immigrants, including deported workers, introduce drugs and drug use practices,
      and contribute to the creation of a drug use culture within the communities. The
      social conditions in the community that foster and proliferate drug use are many:
      the erosion of the traditional family, truncated kinship bases, and new social
      formations. These conditions are all consequences of migration and emigration.
      Recent drug cartel activities are also contributing to this growing drug problem.
      The cartels have aggressively targeted these communities because of availability
      of money, existing drug use, a drug use culture, and the breakdown of traditional
      deterrents to substance abuse. Although a number of communities in three
      municipalities were part of our study, we focus on two: Lindavista, a rancho,
      Progreso, a municipal seat. Our field study in Mexico, one of four sequential
      ethnographic field studies conducted in Guanajuato and Pennsylvania, was
      completed over a six month period, from September, 2008, through February, 2009,
      using traditional ethnography. The four field studies are part of a larger,
      ongoing, three-year bi-national study on drug use among transnational migrants
      working in southeastern Pennsylvania. This larger study, near its third and final
      year, is funded by the National Institute of Drug Abuse.

PMID- 20927203
TI  - Vulnerable, but strong: The spinal cord-injured patient during rehabilitation.
AB  - A traumatic spinal cord injury affects the body to an extent that the patient
      requires the assistance of others to survive and recover. The rehabilitation
      phase puts the patient in a vulnerable position and involves a considerable
      amount of strength on the patient's part. The aim of this paper is to explore the
      vulnerability of the spinal cord patient and how this vulnerability connects to
      the necessary strength, as the patient struggles to survive the injury and get
      through the rehabilitation.The circumstances of 12 traumatic spinal cord-injured
      patients were observed in the rehabilitation unit and after discharge.A
      phenomenological-hermeneutic narrative approach applying Ricoeur's theory was
      used. Data were collected by field observation and interviews during the first 2
      years after the spinal cord injury.The patient's strength during the
      rehabilitation was portrayed by their endurance and from their narratives of how
      they handled difficult situations. The patient's perception of vulnerability
      varied, and strength was mobilised as a response to the vulnerability to overcome
      the imbalance between demands and resources. Vulnerability should therefore refer
      to a person's experience of the situation rather than the person, as it may
      hinder the professionals' open, explorative approach towards the person.

PMID- 20927204
TI  - Gene therapy within our vision: Illustrating the genetic paradigm.

PMID- 20927202
TI  - Assessment of health claims, content, and safety of herbal supplements containing
      Ginkgo biloba.
AB  - BACKGROUND: European Regulation 1924/2006 states that all health claims made on
      foods need to be substantiated scientifically. OBJECTIVE: To apply the PASSCLAIM
      criteria for the scientific substantiation of health claims on foods to herbal
      supplements containing Ginkgo biloba. Evaluation of three selected claimed health
      effects for G. biloba (improvement of blood circulation, improvement of symptoms
      of old age, and improvement of memory) was achieved through review of publicly
      available scientific data. A total of 35 human intervention studies were
      evaluated. Commercially available products claimed to contain mainly G. biloba
      (N=29) were randomly sampled in the Netherlands and analyzed for their content on
      ginkgo extract. Also, a toxicological risk assessment was performed. RESULTS: The
      three selected health claims investigated could not be substantiated. This was
      mainly because of a lack of data from studies in healthy volunteers. In most
      studies results performed with a 24% standardized G. biloba extract were
      described. However, our chemical analysis showed that 25 of the 29 sampled
      products did not contain the required minimum 24% standardized extract. Moreover,
      in most preparations the content of substances typical for G. biloba did not
      conform to what was declared on the label. Since toxicity data for G. biloba are
      very limited, a safety limit could not be established. CONCLUSIONS: Evidence is
      lacking for three health claims of herbal products with G. biloba. Neither safety
      nor efficacy can be guaranteed at the recommended daily dose. The
      multidisciplinary approach described in this paper provides good insight into
      issues that are relevant for the evaluation of health claims for herbal food
      supplements.

PMID- 20927205
TI  - Gene therapy in ophthalmology.
AB  - It has been more than a year since ophthalmologists and scientists under Dr.
      Robin Ali's team at the Moorsfield Eye Hospital and the Institute of
      Ophthalmology, University College London, successfully treated patients with a
      severely blinding disease, Leber's congenital amaurosis (LCA) using gene therapy.
      This success does not look to be transient, and this achievement in gene
      replacement therapy clinical trial for LCA has instilled hope in numerous
      families with patients suffering from this and similar retinal degenerative
      diseases, for whom restoration of lost vision has remained a distant dream so
      far. The encouragement that this success has given is expected to also lead to
      start of clinical trials for other blinding ocular diseases for which gene
      therapy experiments at the laboratory and animal levels have been successful.
      This article reviews the various studies that have led to the understanding of
      gene therapy outcomes in human ocular diseases and attempts to provide a brief
      sketch of successful clinical trials.

PMID- 20927206
TI  - Changes in intraocular pressure after clear corneal phacoemulsification in normal
      patients.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate changes in intraocular pressure (IOP) after clear corneal
      phacoemulsification (CCP) in normal patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A
      prospective study including 273 normal patients selected for cataract extraction
      by CCP. Intraocular pressure was recorded on the 15(th) day, l(st), 2(nd), 3(rd)
      month and 6 months after surgery. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: For statistical analysis,
      Epi Info was used to determine the statistical significance of changes in IOP.
      RESULTS: The mean age of 96 women and 177 men was 71 +/- 12 years. The mean IOP
      before surgery was 14.18 +/- 3.4 mmHg. Our patients showed a mean decrease in IOP
      of 2.25 mmHg (16%) compared to preoperative values. Change in IOP was not related
      to lens thickness (P = 0.12), but significantly correlated with change in
      anterior chamber depth (ACD) (P = 0.002). The postoperative IOP was inversely
      related to preoperative ACD (P = 0.012). Age, sex and axial length were not
      significantly related to IOP reduction (P = 0.2-0.5) CONCLUSION: CCP was
      associated with a statistically significant reduction in IOP. The exact mechanism
      by which cataract surgery results in IOP reduction is unclear. CCP can be
      performed with the intent of achieving better IOP control.

PMID- 20927207
TI  - Epidemiological profile of fungal keratitis in urban population of West Bengal,
      India.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Corneal diseases are one of the major causes of visual loss and
      blindness, second only to cataract. Amongst corneal diseases, microbial keratitis
      is a major blinding disease. In some countries, fungal keratitis accounts for
      almost 50% of patients with culture-proven microbial keratitis. AIM: This study
      was conducted to determine the epidemiological characteristics of fungal
      keratitis in an urban population of West Bengal and identify the specific
      pathogenic organisms. METHODS: The charts of patients with microbial keratitis
      who attended the Cornea Services of Priyamvada Birla Aravind Eye Hospital from
      January to December 2008 were retrospectively reviewed. Records of patients with
      10% KOH mount and culture positive fungal keratitis were analyzed for
      epidemiological features, laboratory findings and treatment outcomes. RESULTS: Of
      the 289 patients of microbial keratitis included in the study, 110 patients
      (38.06%) were diagnosed with fungal keratitis (10% KOH mount positive). Of the
      110 patients, 74 (67.27%) fitted the study inclusion criteria (10% KOH mount and
      culture positive). Forty five of 74 patients (60.81%) in the study group were in
      the older age group (>50 years). Ocular trauma in 35 cases (47.29%) was
      identified as a high risk factor and vegetative injuries in 17 cases (22.97%)
      were identified as a significant cause for fungal keratitis. Maximum organism
      source was from corneal scrapings in 41 cases (55%). The predominant fungal
      species isolated was Aspergillus sp (55.40%) followed by Candida albicans 14
      cases (18.91%) and Fusarium sp. in 8 cases (10.81%). Agricultural activity
      related ocular trauma was the principal cause of mycotic keratitis and males were
      more commonly affected. Thirty of 74 cases (40.55%) of the culture positive
      patients healed with corneal scar formation with medical treatment whereas 44
      cases (59.45%) required therapeutic keratoplasty. CONCLUSION: Fungal keratitis is
      an important cause of microbial keratitis with injury to the cornea being a
      leading predisposing factor. Although Aspergillus sp. was implicated in most of
      the patients in our study population, Candida sp. were found in higher numbers
      than previously reported. Keratitis caused by filamentous fungi responds
      adequately to medical management. Therapeutic keratoplasty continues to remain an
      important treatment modality in infections with Candida sp. Early diagnosis with
      prompt identification of the pathogenic organism is mandatory to initiate
      appropriate therapy and thereby reduce morbidity.

PMID- 20927209
TI  - Combined autologous and allograft limbal cell transplantation with penetrating
      keratoplasty in a case of chemical corneal burn patient.
AB  - A patient with chemical corneal burn presented two months after the acute episode
      of chemical injury to his right eye (OD) and was diagnosed with severe limbal
      stem cell deficiency and with vascularized corneal opacity OD. Limbal cell
      transplantation and penetrating keratoplasty (PKP) was performed. The autologous
      and allograft limbal tissue included peripheral cornea, limbus and conjunctiva
      obtained from contralateral eye and cadaveric eye bank cornea. Central corneal
      button was used for a PKP with 32 intermittent sutures. One year after the
      procedure, the corneal surface remains clear with a best corrected visual acuity
      of 6/12 (-2.00 DS / -2.75 DC-/ 150 degrees . Eighteen sutures are still in place;
      no vascularization has extended beyond the host graft junction. Ocular surface is
      wetting well with no filamentary keratitis.Combined autologous and allograft
      limbal cell transplant can be performed for severe deficiency of corneal stem
      cells in a patient with chemical corneal burn.

PMID- 20927208
TI  - The determinants of trichiasis recurrence differ at one and two years following
      lid surgery in Vietnam: A community-based intervention study.
AB  - AIM: To compare determinants for recurrence of trichiasis at one and two years
      following lid surgery in Vietnam. STUDY DESIGN: Community-based intervention
      study. METHODS: This study was carried out between 2000 and 2003 in four trachoma
      endemic districts of Vietnam. Trained trichiasis surgeons performed modified
      Cuenod Nataf lid surgery on 648 eyes of 472 patients with Trachomatous trichiasis
      (TT). Trained investigators collected information on ocular and lid status before
      surgery and at one and two years following surgery. Trichiasis recurrence was
      calculated after adjusting for one or both eyes of each operated individual.
      RESULTS: Fifty-six eyes developed recurrence at one year with adjusted prevalence
      of 8.8% (95% CI 6.60-11.01). One hundred and one eyes [15.9% (95% CI 13.04
      18.72)] had recurrence two years following surgery. Female gender, older age
      group, study area, severe grade of trachomatous scarring (TS), past history of
      lid surgery, postoperative suture adjustment and surgeon were risk factors for
      recurrence at the end of one year. Study area and previous lid surgery were risk
      factors for recurrence in the second year. Recurrence at one year could be
      predicted if study area and severity of Trachomatous Scarring (TS) are known.
      CONCLUSIONS: One and two year recurrence rates with modified Cuenod Nataf lid
      surgeries for TT in Vietnam were acceptably low. Early recurrence could be
      reduced by proper case selection. However, late recurrence seems to be dependent
      on interaction of risk factors. Only age of the patient was the reliable
      predictor of recurrence.

PMID- 20927210
TI  - Vidi, vini, vinci: External ophthalmomyiasis infection that occurred, and was
      diagnosed and treated in a single day: A rare case report.
AB  - Ophthalmomyiasis is an infestation of eye with larvae or maggots of certain
      flies. Oestrus ovis (sheep nasal botfly) belonging to family Oestridae is the
      most common cause of human myiasis. We describe here an acute presentation of a
      case of external ophthalmomyiasis, i.e., infestation of conjunctiva due to first
      instar larvae of Oestrus ovis. In this case report the occurrence, diagnosis and
      treatment all took place in the setting of a single day. Prompt treatment by
      removal of larvae mechanically followed by instillation of antibiotic and steroid
      eye drops helped to prevent serious complications. The taxonomic identification
      of fly is also important as some fly species are capable of penetrating deeper
      tissues of eyes, which is sight threatening.

PMID- 20927211
TI  - Idiopathic choroidal neovascular membrane in a young female.
AB  - A case of idiopathic choroidal neovascular membrane (CNVM) is described in a 17
      year-old female patient. On initial examination her vision was counting fingers
      at one meter in the left eye (OS) and Fluorescein angiography showed a well
      defined hyperfluorescent area corresponding to the CNVM. Intravitreal bevacizumab
      was injected into OS, and at a five-week follow-up visit, visual acuity improved
      to 20/100 OS. This case is unusual, in that the CNVM developed in a young lady
      with no significant past medical history and with the absence of a choroidal or
      retinal pigment epithelial disease process that may be associated with a CNVM.

PMID- 20927212
TI  - Orbital manifestations of Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis: A report of three cases.
AB  - Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis (LCH) is a spectrum of disorders characterized by
      accumulation of histiocytes in various tissues. It is rarely encountered in
      ophthalmic practice and has an affinity for the orbit. We report three patients
      with LCH involving the lateral orbital wall, each with a different form of the
      condition.

PMID- 20927213
TI  - Orbital venous-lymphatic malformation: Role of imaging.

PMID- 20927214
TI  - VMD2 mutational analysis in a Japanese family with Best macular dystrophy.

PMID- 20927215
TI  - Canaliculitis: Are we missing the diagnosis?

PMID- 20927216
TI  - Twelve-year-old boy with decreased vision in his right eye.

PMID- 20927217
TI  - Subhyaloid hemorrhage as the presenting sign of pregnancy-induced hypertension.

PMID- 20927218
TI  - Glamour of technology.

PMID- 20927219
TI  - Dosimetry evaluation of SAVI-based HDR brachytherapy for partial breast
      irradiation.
AB  - Accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI) with high dose rate (HDR)
      brachytherapy offers an excellent compact course of radiation due to its limited
      number of fractions for early-stage carcinoma of breast. One of the recent
      devices is SAVI (strut-adjusted volume implant), which has 6, 8 or 10 peripheral
      source channels with one center channel. Each channel can be differentially
      loaded. This paper focuses on the treatment planning, dosimetry and quality
      assurance aspects of HDR brachytherapy implant with GammaMed Plus HDR afterloader
      unit. The accelerated PBI balloon devices normally inflate above 35 cc range, and
      hence these balloon type devices cannot be accommodated in small lumpectomy
      cavity sizes. CT images were obtained and 3-D dosimetric plans were done with
      Brachyvision planning system. The 3-D treatment planning and dosimetric data were
      evaluated with planning target volume (PTV)_eval V90, V95, V150, V200 skin dose
      and minimum distance to skin. With the use of the SAVI 6-1 mini device, we were
      able to accomplish an excellent coverage - V90, V95, V150 and V200 to 98%, 95%,
      37 cc (<50 cc volume) and 16 cc (<20 cc volume), respectively. Maximum skin dose
      was between 73% and 90%, much below the prescribed dose of 34 Gy. The minimum
      skin distance achieved was 5 to 11 mm. The volume that received 50% of the
      prescribed radiation dose was found to be lower with SAVI. The multi-channel SAVI
      based implants reduced the maximum skin dose to markedly lower levels as compared
      to other modalities, simultaneously achieving best dose coverage to target
      volume. Differential-source dwell-loading allows modulation of the radiation dose
      distribution in symmetric or asymmetric opening of the catheter shapes and is
      also advantageous in cavities close to chest wall.

PMID- 20927220
TI  - Comparative dosimetry of GammaMed Plus high-dose rate Ir brachytherapy source.
AB  - The comparative dosimetry of GammaMed (GM) Plus high-dose rate brachytherapy
      source was performed by an experiment using 0.1-cc thimble ionization chamber and
      simulation-based study using EGSnrc code. In-water dose measurements were
      performed with 0.1-cc chamber to derive the radial dose function (r = 0.8 to 20.0
      cm) and anisotropy function (r = 5.0 cm with polar angle from 10 degrees  to 170
      degrees ). The nonuniformity correction factor for 0.1-cc chamber was applied for
      in-water measurements at shorter distances from the source. The EGSnrc code was
      used to derive the dose rate constant (Lambda), radial dose function g(L)(r) and
      anisotropy function F(r, theta) of GM Plus source. The dosimetric data derived
      using EGSnrc code in our study were in very good agreement relative to published
      data for GM Plus source. The radial dose function up to 12 cm derived from
      measured dose using 0.1-cc chamber was in agreement within +/-3% of data derived
      by the simulation study.

PMID- 20927221
TI  - Optimized point dose measurement for monitor unit verification in intensity
      modulated radiation therapy using 6 MV photons by three different methodologies
      with different detector-phantom combinations: A comparative study.
AB  - The study was aimed to compare accuracy of monitor unit verification in intensity
      modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) using 6 MV photons by three different
      methodologies with different detector phantom combinations. Sixty patients were
      randomly chosen. Zero degree couch and gantry angle plans were generated in a
      plastic universal IMRT verification phantom and 30*30*30 cc water phantom and
      measured using 0.125 cc and 0.6 cc chambers, respectively. Actual gantry and
      couch angle plans were also measured in water phantom using 0.6 cc chamber. A
      suitable point of measurement was chosen from the beam profile for each field.
      When the zero-degree gantry, couch angle plans and actual gantry, couch angle
      plans were measured by 0.6 cc chamber in water phantom, the percentage mean
      difference (MD) was 1.35%, 2.94 % and Standard Deviation (SD) was 2.99%, 5.22%,
      respectively. The plastic phantom measurements with 0.125 cc chamber Semiflex
      ionisation chamber (SIC) showed an MD=4.21% and SD=2.73 %, but when corrected for
      chamber-medium response, they showed an improvement, with MD=3.38 % and SD=2.59
      %. It was found that measurements with water phantom and 0.6cc chamber at gantry
      angle zero degree showed better conformity than other measurements of medium
      detector combinations. Correction in plastic phantom measurement improved the
      result only marginally, and actual gantry angle measurement in a flat- water
      phantom showed higher deviation.

PMID- 20927222
TI  - Portable and wide-range solid-state transmission densitometer for quality control
      in film radiography.
AB  - In biology, materials science, radiography quality control or film dosimetry in
      radiotherapy, a transmission densitometer is useful for measurements of optical
      density. The design proposed here is oriented to quality control in radiographic
      films. The instrument described here utilizes low-cost solid-state devices and is
      easy to construct. The use of 1-watt white light-emitting diode in this
      densitometer enables low power consumption and a cold light source. Moreover, the
      instrument does not need a reference light, which results in decreasing the
      number of parts and reducing the overall size of the apparatus.

PMID- 20927223
TI  - Quantitation of normal metabolite concentrations in six brain regions by in-vivoH
      MR spectroscopy.
AB  - This study examined the concentrations of brain metabolites visible to in
      vivo(1)H-Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy ((1)H-MRS) at 1.5 T in a sample of 28
      normal subjects. Quantitation was attempted for inositol compounds, choline
      units, total creatine and N-acetyl moieties, using open-source software. Six
      brain regions were considered: frontal and parietal white matter, medial temporal
      lobe, thalamus, pons and cerebellum. Absolute concentrations were derived using
      tissue water as an internal reference and using an external reference; metabolite
      signal intensity ratios with respect to creatine were also calculated. The inter
      individual variability was smaller for absolute concentrations (internal
      reference) as compared to that for signal intensity ratios. Significant regional
      variability in concentration was found for all metabolites, indicating that
      separate normative values are needed for different brain regions. The values
      obtained in this study can be used as reference in future studies, provided the
      same methodology is followed; it is confirmed that despite unsuccessful attempts
      in the past, smaller coefficients of variation can indeed be obtained through
      absolute quantification.

PMID- 20927224
TI  - Comparison of dosimetric characteristics of Siemens virtual and physical wedges
      for ONCOR linear accelerator.
AB  - Dosimetric properties of virtual wedge (VW) and physical wedge (PW) in 6- and 10
      MV photon beams from a Siemens ONCOR linear accelerator, including wedge factors,
      depth doses, dose profiles, peripheral doses, are compared. While there is a
      great difference in absolute values of wedge factors, VW factors (VWFs) and PW
      factors (PWFs) have a similar trend as a function of field size. PWFs have
      stronger depth dependence than VWF due to beam hardening in PW fields. VW dose
      profiles in the wedge direction, in general, match very well with those of PW,
      except in the toe area of large wedge angles with large field sizes. Dose
      profiles in the nonwedge direction show a significant reduction in PW fields due
      to off-axis beam softening and oblique filtration. PW fields have significantly
      higher peripheral doses than open and VW fields. VW fields have similar surface
      doses as the open fields, while PW fields have lower surface doses. Surface doses
      for both VW and PW increase with field size and slightly with wedge angle. For VW
      fields with wedge angles 45 degrees  and less, the initial gap up to 3 cm is
      dosimetrically acceptable when compared to dose profiles of PW. VW fields in
      general use less monitor units than PW fields.

PMID- 20927225
TI  - Impact of tissue heterogeneity corrections in stereotactic body radiation therapy
      treatment plans for lung cancer.
AB  - This study aims at evaluating the impact of tissue heterogeneity corrections on
      dosimetry of stereotactic body radiation therapy treatment plans. Four
      dimensional computed tomography data from 15 low stage non-small cell lung cancer
      patients was used. Treatment planning and dose calculations were done using
      pencil beam convolution algorithm of Varian Eclipse system with Modified Batho
      Power Law for tissue heterogeneity. Patient plans were generated with 6 MV co
      planar non-opposing four to six field beams optimized with tissue heterogeneity
      corrections to deliver a prescribed dose of 60 Gy in three fractions to at least
      95% of the planning target volume, keeping spinal cord dose <10 Gy. The same
      plans were then regenerated without heterogeneity correction by recalculating
      previously optimized treatment plans keeping identical beam arrangements, field
      fluences and monitor units. Compared with heterogeneity corrected plans, the non
      corrected plans had lower average minimum, mean, and maximum tumor doses by 13%,
      8%, and 6% respectively. The results indicate that tissue heterogeneity is an
      important determinant of dosimetric optimization of SBRT plans.

PMID- 20927226
TI  - Longitudinal volume analysis from computed tomography: Reproducibility using
      adrenal glands as surrogate tumors.
AB  - This study aims to determine the precision (reproducibility) of volume assessment
      in routine clinical computed tomography (CT) using adrenal glands as surrogate
      tumors. Seven patients at our institution were identified retrospectively as
      having received numerous abdominal CT scans (average 13.1, range 5 to 20). The
      adrenal glands were used as surrogate tumors, assuming no actual volume change.
      Left and right adrenal gland volumes were assessed by hand segmentation for each
      patient scan. Over 1240 regions of interest were outlined in total. The
      reproducibility, expressed as the coefficient of variation (COV), was used to
      characterize measurement precision. The average volumes were 5.9 and 4.5 cm(3)
      for the left and right adrenal gland, respectively, with COVs of 17.8% and 18.9%,
      respectively. Using one patient's data (20 scans) as an example surrogate for a
      spherical tumor, it was calculated that a 13% change in volume (4.2% change in
      diameter) could be determined with statistical significance at P=0.05. For this
      case, cursor positioning error in linear measurement of object size, by even 1
      pixel on the CT image, corresponded to a significant change in volume (P=0.05).
      The precision of volume determination was dependent on total volume. Precision
      improved with increasing object size (r(2) =0.367). Given the small dimensions of
      the adrenal glands, the ~18% COV is likely to be a high estimate compared to
      larger tumors. Modern CT scanners working with thinner sections (i.e. <1 mm) are
      likely to produce better measurement precision. The use of volume measurement to
      quantify changing tumor size is supported as a more precise metric than linear
      measurement.

PMID- 20927227
TI  - Marching Toward Hair Research: HAIRINDIA 2010.

PMID- 20927228
TI  - Sixth world congress for hair research cairns-on the great barrier reef,
      australia, 16-19 june, 2010.

PMID- 20927229
TI  - Aging of the hair follicle pigmentation system.
AB  - Skin and hair phenotypes are powerful cues in human communication. They impart
      much information, not least about our racial, ethnic, health, gender and age
      status. In the case of the latter parameter, we experience significant change in
      pigmentation in our journey from birth to puberty and through to young adulthood,
      middle age and beyond. The hair follicle pigmentary unit is perhaps one of our
      most visible, accessible and potent aging sensors, with marked dilution of
      pigment intensity occurring long before even subtle changes are seen in the
      epidermis. This dichotomy is of interest as both skin compartments contain
      melanocyte subpopulations of similar embryologic (i.e., neural crest) origin.
      Research groups are actively pursuing the study of the differential aging of
      melanocytes in the hair bulb versus the epidermis and in particular are examining
      whether this is in part linked to the stringent coupling of follicular
      melanocytes to the hair growth cycle. Whether some follicular melanocyte
      subpopulations are affected, like epidermal melanocytes, by UV irradiation is not
      yet clear. A particular target of research into hair graying or canities is the
      nature of the melanocyte stem compartment and whether this is depleted due to
      reactive oxygen species-associated damage, coupled with an impaired antioxidant
      status, and a failure of melanocyte stem cell renewal. Over the last few years,
      we and others have developed advanced in vitro models and assay systems for
      isolated hair follicle melanocytes and for intact anagen hair follicle organ
      culture which may provide research tools to elucidate the regulatory mechanisms
      of hair follicle pigmentation. Long term, it may be feasible to develop
      strategies to modulate some of these aging-associated changes in the hair
      follicle that impinge particularly on the melanocyte populations.

PMID- 20927230
TI  - Photoaggravation of hair aging.
AB  - Photoaggravation of hair aging includes various chemical and physical changes in
      fiber properties which lead to an increase in fiber porosity, loss of mechanical
      strength and an increase in surface roughness. These changes come from lipid
      oxidation, disulfide bond cleavage, tryptophan degradation and cysteic acid
      formation. Hair exposed to sunlight is claimed to be more brittle, stiffer and
      drier than before irradiation and exhibits a reduced water-absorption capacity.
      Hair pigments function to provide photochemical protection to hair proteins. Hair
      pigments accomplish this protection by absorbing and filtering the impinging
      radiation and subsequently dissipating this energy as heat. However, in the
      process of protecting the hair proteins from light, the pigments are degraded or
      bleached. Dark hair is more resistant to photodegradation than light hair,
      because of the higher photostability of eumelanin compared to pheomelanin.
      Integral lipids of hair fibers are degraded by ultraviolet light, as well as by
      visible light, helping to explain the weakening of the cell membrane complex
      exposed to light radiation.

PMID- 20927231
TI  - Trichomycoses.
AB  - Hair infection by fungal agents, also called trichomycoses, is one of the common
      concerns in human beings. The common agents causing hair infections are
      dermatophytes, Malassezia species and those causing piedra. The former two can
      give rise to considerable discomfort and also cause immune-mediated reactions in
      the form of kerion and dermatophytids. The etiopathogenesis of trichomycoses,
      along with its clinical aspects and the management, are briefed here.

PMID- 20927232
TI  - Hair evaluation methods: merits and demerits.
AB  - Various methods are available for evaluation (for diagnosis and/or
      quantification) of a patient presenting with hair loss. Hair evaluation methods
      are grouped into three main categories: Non-invasive methods (e.g.,
      questionnaire, daily hair counts, standardized wash test, 60-s hair count, global
      photographs, dermoscopy, hair weight, contrasting felt examination,
      phototrichogram, TrichoScan and polarizing and surface electron microscopy), semi
      invasive methods (e.g., trichogram and unit area trichogram) and invasive methods
      (e.g., scalp biopsy). Any single method is neither 'ideal' nor feasible. However,
      when interpreted with caution, these are valuable tools for patient diagnosis and
      monitoring. Daily hair counts, wash test, etc. are good methods for primary
      evaluation of the patient and to get an approximate assessment of the amount of
      shedding. Some methods like global photography form an important part of any hair
      clinic. Analytical methods like phototrichogram are usually possible only in the
      setting of a clinical trial. Many of these methods (like the scalp biopsy)
      require expertise for both processing and interpreting. We reviewed the available
      literature in detail in light of merits and demerits of each method. A plethora
      of newer methods is being introduced, which are relevant to the cosmetic
      industry/research. Such methods as well as metabolic/hormonal evaluation are not
      included in this review.

PMID- 20927233
TI  - Reliability of hamilton-norwood classification.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hamilton-Norwood scale (HNS) has been largely used to assess
      clinically the severity of androgenetic alopecia (AGA), especially for
      therapeutical trials and even to establish its association with important
      diseases such as ischemic heart disease and prostate cancer. OBJECTIVE: To study
      HNS reproducibility in the hands of dermatologists and dermatology residents.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Seven dermatologists and 16 residents in dermatology
      classified 43 photographs of male heads with different degrees of AGA. In a
      second study, 8 appraisers (3 dermatologists and 5 residents in dermatology)
      examined 56 pictures with the same procedure and repeated the observation 3
      months later. In the first study, the inter-rater agreement was estimated by
      calculating an intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC). In the second study,
      for intra-rater repeatability, each rater's scores from session 1 were paired
      with his/her scores for the same subjects in session 2, and the ordinary least
      products linear regression was calculated. RESULTS: In the first study, the
      concordance of appraisers was unsatisfactory (ICC = 0.63-0.68)]. In the second
      study, repeatability was poor, without any significant difference between
      dermatologists and dermatology residents. COMMENT: Reliability of HNS is
      unsatisfactory even in the hands of expert appraisers. To obtain better
      reliability, the number of classes should be reduced, but with such reduction HNS
      would be usable to classify patients only in a broad way.

PMID- 20927235
TI  - Male androgenetic alopecia: population-based study in 1,005 subjects.
AB  - CONTEXT: Male androgenetic alopecia (AGA) is a common condition. There is limited
      information on its prevalence and patterns. AIMS: (1). To find the prevalence and
      most common pattern (2). To correlate the age and pattern of alopecia. SETTINGS
      AND DESIGN: Population-based study. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a population
      based study from the public. The selection was random. The method involved was
      asking the age and, if found to between 30 and 50 years, the scalp was examined
      for alopecia and the pattern was determined using the Hamilton Norwood
      classification. RESULTS: Of 1,005 subjects, the youngest was 30 years old and the
      oldest 49 years old, with a mean age of 37.05 +/- standard deviation 4.79. 39.2%
      of the subjects were in the age group of 30-35, 34.4% in the 36-40 year age
      group, 26.0% in the 41-45 years age group and 0.4% in the 46-50 years age group.
      Five hundred and eighty-three subjects (58%) had AGA, the most common type being
      grade II (27.27%) followed by grade I (22.12%) and grade III (21.78%). 47.5% (P =
      0.003) had pattern alopecia in the 30-35 years age group, 58.7% in the 36-40
      years age group (P = 0.8) and 73.2% in the 41-45 years age group (P <= 0.001). In
      the 30-35 years age group, grade I was 51.18%, grade II was 42.77% and grade VI
      was 18.52%. In the 41-45 years age group, grade I was 13.38%, grade III was
      33.85% and grade VI was 66.67%. CONCLUSIONS: Fifty-eight percent of the male
      population aged 30-50 years had AGA. Its grade increased with increase in age.
      12.9% of the male population had grades IV to VI, and would benefit from hair
      transplantation while 44.1% had grades I to III and are potential candidates for
      medical treatment.

PMID- 20927234
TI  - Dermoscopy in female androgenic alopecia: method standardization and diagnostic
      criteria.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Establishing the trichoscopy criteria of female androgenic alopecia
      (FAGA). DESIGN: Trichoscopy images were retrospectively evaluated. SETTING:
      Dermatologic hospital-based clinic and private practice offices. PATIENTS AND
      METHODS: One hundred and thirty-one females (59 with androgenic alopecia, 33 with
      chronic telogen effluvium (CTE), 39 healthy controls). The diagnosis was based on
      clinical examination and confirmed by histopatology. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE:
      Trichoscopy results obtained in frontal, occipital and both temporal areas of the
      scalp under a 20-fold and 70-fold magnification, including average hair
      thickness, number of 'yellow dots' and vellus hairs, number of hairs in one
      pilosebaceous unit and percentage of follicular ostia with perifollicullar
      hyperpigmentation. RESULTS: Average hair thickness in frontal area versus occiput
      was, respectively, 0.061 +/- 0.008 mm versus 0.058 +/- 0.007 mm in healthy
      controls, 0.047 +/- 0.007 mm versus 0.052 +/- 0.008 mm in androgenic alopecia and
      0.056 +/- 0.007 mm versus 0.053 +/- 0.009 mm in CTE. Mean percentage of thin
      hairs (< 0.03 mm) in androgenic alopecia was 20.9 +/- 12% and was significantly
      higher than in healthy controls (6.15 +/- 4.6%, P < 0.001) or in CTE (10.4 +/-
      3.9%, P < 0.001). The number of yellow dots, pilosebaceous units with only one
      hair and with perifollicular hyperpigmentation was significantly increased in
      androgenic alopecia. Classification and Regression Tree Analysis was performed to
      establish diagnostic criteria for FAGA. CONCLUSION: FAGA may be differentiated
      from CTE based on trichoscopy criteria. Major criteria are ratio of (1) more than
      four yellow dots in four images (70-fold magnification) in the frontal area, (2)
      lower average hair thickness in the frontal area compared to the occiput and (3)
      more than 10% of thin hairs (below 0.03 mm) in the frontal area. Minor criteria
      encompass increased frontal to occipital ratio of (1) single-hair pilosebaceous
      units, (2) vellus hairs and (3) perifollicular discoloration. Fulfillment of two
      major criteria or one major and two minor criteria allows to diagnose FAGA based
      on trichoscopy with a 98% specificity.

PMID- 20927236
TI  - Videodermoscopy does not enhance diagnosis of scalp contact dermatitis due to
      topical minoxidil.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Videodermoscopy (VD) is a noninvasive diagnostic tool that provides
      useful information for the differential diagnosis of scalp disorders. OBJECTIVES:
      The aim of this study was to investigate if dermoscopy may help the clinician in
      the diagnosis of contact dermatitis of the scalp. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We
      analyzed the dermoscopic images taken from 7 patients with contact dermatitis due
      to topical minoxidil, 6 patients complaining of intense scalp itching during
      treatment with topical minoxidil but with negative patch tests and 19 controls.
      The following dermoscopic patterns described for scalp diseases were evaluated:
      Vascular patterns (simple loops, twisted loops and arborizing lines),
      follicular/perifollicular patterns (yellow dots, empty ostia, white dots,
      peripilar signs), white scales, yellow scales, follicular plugging, hair diameter
      diversity, honeycomb pattern and short regrowing hairs. Findings were graded from
      0-4, according to severity in 20-fold magnifications. Statistical analysis
      included univariate analysis and Chi-square test by SPSS version 12. RESULTS:
      There were no statistical differences in the analysis of the vascular patterns
      and scales between the 3 groups. CONCLUSIONS: We were not able to detect
      dermoscopic features that can help the clinician in distinguishing scalp contact
      dermatitis due to topical minoxidil from other conditions that cause severe scalp
      itching. In particular, minoxidil contact dermatitis does not produce increase or
      alterations in the morphology of the scalp vessels or significant scalp scaling
      when evaluated with dermoscopy.

PMID- 20927238
TI  - White piedra in a mother and daughter.
AB  - White Piedra is a superficial fungal infection of the hair caused by Trichosporon
      asahii. It is also known as trichomycosis nodosa or trichomycosis nodularis. We
      report two cases of White Piedra in a mother and her daughter for the rarity of
      such occurrence.

PMID- 20927237
TI  - Immunofluoresence of the outer root sheath in anagen and telogen hair: an aid to
      diagnosis in pemphigus.
AB  - Desmoglein 1 and 3 are distributed in the outer root sheath (ORS) of the hair
      follicle. Direct immunofluoresence (DIF) pattern of ORS in cases of pemphigus
      resembles the DIF pattern of the perilesional skin. We performed a DIF of the
      anagen and telogen hair ORS in a case of pemphigus and correlated it with the DIF
      findings of perilesional skin. Telogen hair ORS promises to be a useful tool in
      performing DIF for the purpose of diagnosis and follow-up in cases of pemphigus.

PMID- 20927239
TI  - Minoxidil topical foam: a new kid on the block.

PMID- 20927240
TI  - Bamboo Hair in Netherton's Syndrome.

PMID- 20927241
TI  - Stem cell therapy: the eventual future.

PMID- 20927242
TI  - Embedding clinical trials in clinical practice: Harvesting experience and
      winnowing evidence.

PMID- 20927243
TI  - Adaptive design clinical trials: Methodology, challenges and prospect.
AB  - New drug development is a time-consuming and expensive process. Recently, there
      has been stagnation in the development of novel compounds. Moreover, the
      attrition rate in clinical research is also on the rise. Fearing more stagnation,
      the Food and Drug Administration released the critical path initiative in 2004
      and critical path opportunity list in 2006 thus highlighting the need of
      advancing innovative trial designs. One of the innovations suggested was the
      adaptive designed clinical trials, a method promoting introduction of pre
      specified modifications in the design or statistical procedures of an on-going
      trial depending on the data generated from the concerned trial thus making a
      trial more flexible. The adaptive design trials are proposed to boost clinical
      research by cutting on the cost and time factor. Although the concept of adaptive
      designed clinical trials is round-the-corner for the last 40 years, there is
      still lack of uniformity and understanding on this issue. This review highlights
      important adaptive designed methodologies besides covering the regulatory
      positions on this issue.

PMID- 20927244
TI  - Renal effects of Mammea africana Sabine (Guttiferae) stem bark methanol/methylene
      chloride extract on L-NAME hypertensive rats.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The present study aims at evaluating the effects of methanol/methylene
      chloride extract of the stem bark of Mammea africana on the renal function of L
      NAME treated rats. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Normotensive male Wistar rats were
      divided into five groups respectively treated with distilled water, L-NAME (40
      mg/kg/day), L-NAME + L-arginine (100 mg/kg/day), L-NAME + captopril (20
      mg/kg/day) or L-NAME + M. africana extract (200 mg/kg/day) for 30 days. Systolic
      blood pressure was measured before and at the end of treatment. Body weight was
      measured at the end of each week. Urine was collected 6 and 24 h after the first
      administration and further on day 15 and 30 of treatment for creatinine, sodium
      and potassium quantification, while plasma was collected at the end of treatment
      for the creatinine assay. ANOVA two way followed by Bonferonni or one way
      followed by Tukey were used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: M. africana
      successfully prevented the rise in blood pressure and the acute natriuresis and
      diuresis induced by L-NAME. When given chronically, the extract produced a
      sustained antinatriuretic effect, a non-significant increase in urine excretion
      and reduced the glomerular hyperfiltration induced by L-NAME. CONCLUSIONS: The
      above results suggest that the methanol/methylene chloride extract of the stem
      bark of M. africana may protect kidney against renal dysfunction and further
      demonstrate that its antihypertensive effect does not depend on a diuretic or
      natriuretic activity.

PMID- 20927245
TI  - Effects of ethanol extract of Ficus bengalensis (bark) on inflammatory bowel
      disease.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The present study was designed to evaluate the effects of ethanol
      extract of Ficus bengalensis Linn. bark (AEFB) on inflammatory bowel disease
      (IBD). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Effects of AEFB were studied on 2,4,6
      trinitrobenzenesulfonic acid (TNBS, 0.25 ml 120 mg/ml in 50% ethanol
      intrarectally, on first day only) induced IBD in rats. The effects of co
      administration of prednisolone (2 mg/kg) and AEFB (250, 500 mg/kg) for 21 days
      were evaluated. Animals sacrificed at end of the experiment and various
      histopathological parameters like colon mucosal damage index (CMDI) and disease
      activity index (DAI) were assessed. In the colon homogenate malondialdehyde
      (MDA), myeloperoxidase (MPO), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and nitric oxide (NO)
      levels and in mesentery % mast cell protection was also measured. RESULTS: Rats
      treated with only TNBS showed more score of CMDI and DAI, higher MDA, NO, MPO,
      and lower SOD activity as compared to the control group. Treatment with AEFB
      significantly declined both indices scores and decreased the MPO, MDA, NO, and
      increased the SOD activity. AEFB also increased the % mast cell protection
      compared to alone TNBS-treated animals. CONCLUSION: In our study, we found that
      AEFB has a significant protective effect in the IBD in rats that is comparable to
      that of prednisolone and may be because of the presence of flavonoids,
      terpenoids, and phenolic compounds.

PMID- 20927246
TI  - Mechanism of cardioprotective effect of erythropoietin-induced preconditioning in
      rat heart.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The cardioprotective potential of human recombinant erythropoietin
      (alpha) (Epo) against ischemia-reperfusion-induced injury is well known. But, the
      underlying mechanisms are not well elucidated. The aim of this study was to
      characterize the mechanism involved in the cardioprotective effect of Epo-induced
      preconditioning in isolated rat heart. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The heart was
      mounted on a Langendorff apparatus. After 10 min of stabilization, four cycles of
      ischemic preconditioning (IPC) were given followed by 30 min of global ischemia
      and 120 min of reperfusion. Epo preconditioning was induced by four cycles of 5
      min perfusion of K-H solution containing Epo (1.0 U/ml) followed by 5 min
      perfusion with K-H solution. Myocardial infarct size was estimated
      macroscopically using the triphenyltetrazolium chloride staining technique. The
      extent of myocardial injury was measured by release of lactate dehydrogenase and
      creatine kinase-MB in the coronary effluent. RESULTS: The present study
      demonstrates that Epo preconditioning was almost as effective as IPC.
      Administration of Wortmannin (100 nM), a PI-3K inhibitor, or Chelerythrine (1
      uM), a protein kinase-C (PKC) inhibitor, or AG490 (5 uM), a JAK-2 inhibitor,
      significantly attenuated the cardioprotective effects of Epo-induced
      preconditioning. CONCLUSION: Our result suggest that the cardioprotective
      potential of Epo-induced preconditioning in isolated rat heart was due to an
      interplay of the JAK-2, PI-3K and PKC pathways. Inhibition of any one of the
      three pathways was sufficient to block the cardioprotective effect of Epo-induced
      preconditioning in isolated rat heart.

PMID- 20927247
TI  - Antidiabetic activity of Cassia occidentalis (Linn) in normal and alloxan-induced
      diabetic rats.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the hypoglycemic activity of various extracts, petroleum
      ether, chloroform and aqueous extract of Cassia occidentalis in normal and
      alloxan-induced diabetic rats. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Petroleum ether, chloroform
      and aqueous extract of whole plant of Cassia occidentalis were orally tested at
      the dose of 200 mg/kg for hypoglycemic effect in normal and alloxan-induced
      diabetic rats. In addition, changes in body weight, serum cholesterol,
      triglyceride and total protein levels, assessed in the ethanol extract-treated
      diabetic rats, were compared with diabetic control and normal animals.
      Histopathological observations during 21 days treatment were also evaluated.
      RESULTS: Aqueous extract of C. occidentalis produced a significant reduction in
      fasting blood glucose levels in the normal and alloxan-induced diabetic rats.
      Apart from aqueous extract, petroleum ether extract showed activity from day 14
      and chloroform extract showed activity from 7 days. Significant differences were
      observed in serum lipid profiles (cholesterol and triglyceride), serum protein,
      and changes in body weight by aqueous extract treated-diabetic animals, when
      compared with the diabetic control and normal animals. Concurrent
      histopathological studies of the pancreas of these animals showed comparable
      regeneration by extract which were earlier necrosed by alloxan. CONCLUSION:
      Aqueous extract of C. occidentalis exhibited significant antihyperglycemic
      activity in normal and alloxan-induced diabetic rats. They also showed
      improvement in parameters like body weight and serum lipid profiles as well as
      histopathological studies showed regeneration of beta-cells of pancreas and so
      might be of value in diabetes treatment.

PMID- 20927248
TI  - Nature of action of Sitagliptin, the dipeptidyl peptidase-IV inhibitor in
      diabetic animals.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the dipeptidyl peptidase-IV (DPP
      IV) inhibitor sitagliptin with respect to mode of inhibition and its in vivo
      duration of inhibition and efficacy in type 2 diabetes animal model. MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: DPP-IV enzyme assay was carried out in human plasma (10 MUL) or
      human recombinant enzyme (10 ng) using H-Gly-Pro-AMC as a substrate. The
      competitive nature was estimated by plotting IC(50) values measured at different
      substrate concentrations on the Y axis and substrate concentration on the X axis.
      The tight binding nature was estimated by plotting IC(50) values measured at
      different plasma volumes on the Y axis and plasma volumes on the X axis. Fast
      binding kinetics was assessed by progressive curves at different inhibitor
      concentrations in the DPP-IV assay. The reversibility of the inhibitor was
      assessed by a dissociation study of the DPP-IV-sitagliptin complex. Durations of
      DPP-IV inhibition and efficacy were shown in ob/ob mice dosed at 10 mg/kg, p.o.
      RESULTS: Sitagliptin is a competitive, reversible, fast and tight binding DPP-IV
      inhibitor. In ob/ob mice, 10 mg/kg, (p.o.) showed a long duration of inhibition
      of > 70% at 8 h. The duration was translated into long duration of efficacy (~
      35% glucose excursion at 8 h) in the same model and the effect was comparable to
      vildagliptin. CONCLUSION: The DPP-IV inhibitor sitagliptin behaves as a
      competitive, tight, and fast binding inhibitor. Sitagliptin differs
      mechanistically from vildagliptin and exhibits comparable efficacy to that of
      latter. The finding may give an understanding to develop-second generation DPP-IV
      inhibitors with desired kinetic profiles.

PMID- 20927249
TI  - Evaluation of Cassia occidentalis for in vitro cytotoxicity against human cancer
      cell lines and antibacterial activity.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the in vitro cytotoxicity and antibacterial properties of
      Cassia occidentalis (whole plant) via alcoholic, hydro-alcoholic, and aqueous
      extracts against eight human cancer cell lines from six different tissues and
      four bacterial strains. MATERIAL AND METHODS: in vitro cytotoxicity against the
      human cancer cells, cultured for 48h in presence of different concentrations C.
      occidentalis extracts and percentage of cell viability, was evaluated using the
      sulforhodamine-B (SRB) assay. The antibacterial activity was performed using the
      standard protocol against bacterial strains. RESULTS: It was observed that
      aqueous extract of C. occidentalis (whole plant) had more potential than hydro
      alcoholic and alcoholic extracts against HCT-15, SW-620, PC-3, MCF-7, SiHa, and
      OVCAR-5 human cancer cell lines at 100, 30, and 10 MUg/ml in a dose-dependent
      manner. The hydro-alcoholic extract showed potential against Bacillus subtillis.
      CONCLUSION: The plant can be explored for the possible development of lead
      molecules for drug discovery.

PMID- 20927250
TI  - Propofol and priapism.
AB  - Propofol-induced priapism in a 25-year-old male confirmed by rechallenge is
      reported for its rarity and to create awareness among practitioners, because
      propofol is used frequently in India for the induction and maintenance of
      anesthesia or sedation. The probable mechanisms are highlighted. Because propofol
      causes low-flow priapism, early alleviation is essential to minimize and/or avert
      the long-term complications.

PMID- 20927251
TI  - Rifampicin-induced thrombocytopenia.
AB  - In the treatment of tuberculosis there are special therapeutic problems related
      to adverse effects of drugs, compliance to treatment, and microbial resistance.
      Thrombocytopenia is an uncommon but potentially fatal adverse effect of certain
      anti-tubercular drugs when the incriminating drug is taken by a susceptible
      individual. We report a case of rifampicin-induced thrombocytopenia, which
      although rare, needs attention.

PMID- 20927252
TI  - Unusual nail pigmentation following cyclophosphamide-containing chemotherapy
      regimen.
AB  - Cyclophosphamide therapy may rarely cause pigmentation of the nails which is of
      different patterns. We report a patient who developed pigmentation of nails after
      six cycles of cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, and 5-flourouracil chemotherapy,
      each repeated after 28 days for breast cancer. The patient developed nail
      pigmentation that started proximally and spread distally and involved all the
      nails of both hands and feet except the second and third toenails of right foot.
      Using Naranjo ADR Probability Scale, the case revealed a "probable" association
      with cyclophosphamide.

PMID- 20927253
TI  - Diffuse skeletal pain after administration of alendronate.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Osteoporosis is caused by bone resorption in excess of bone
      formation, and bisphosphonates, are used to inhibit bone resorption. Alendronate,
      a biphosphonate, is effective for both the treatment and prevention of
      osteoporosis in postmenopausal women. Side effects are relatively few and
      prominently gastrointestinal. Musculoskeletal pain may be an important side
      effect in these patients. We presented a patient admitted to our out-patient
      clinic with diffuse skeletal pain after three consecutive administration of
      alendronate. CONCLUSION: We conclude that patients with osteoporosis can report
      pain, and bisphosphonate-related pain should also be considered before ascribing
      this complaint to osteoporosis.

PMID- 20927254
TI  - Capreomycin-induced optic neuritis in a case of multidrug resistant pulmonary
      tuberculosis.
AB  - A patient of multidrug-resistant pulmonary tuberculosis was prescribed an anti
      tubercular regimen containing capreomycin. Patient developed optic neuritis 3
      months after starting treatment. Investigations did not reveal any specific cause
      for this ocular condition and on discontinuing capreomycin his vision recovered.
      We conclude that capreomycin is the cause of reversible optic neuritis in our
      case.

PMID- 20927255
TI  - Drug safety monitoring in patients of movement disorders of a tertiary care
      hospital.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Movement disorders (MD) are neurological conditions that affect the
      speed, fluency, quality, and ease of movement and commonly include Parkinson's
      disease, tremor and dystonias. Drugs are important causes of MD, and the
      incidence and prevalence of such disorders are possibly underappreciated because
      of the lack of recognition. OBJECTIVES: To assess the incidence of all adverse
      drug reactions (ADRs) and estimate the prevalence of drug-induced MD among
      patients attending the clinic. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This prospective
      observational study was conducted at an outpatient referral MD clinic of a
      tertiary care hospital for 1 year. The demographic data, drug intake, diagnosis,
      and ADRs experienced by the subjects were recorded. Causality assessment was done
      by Naranjo's scale. RESULTS: Incidence of ADR among patients who attended this
      clinic was 19.7% (151 out of 768 patients experienced at least one ADR). A total
      of 299 ADRs were detected out of which 30.8% were gastrointestinal, 28.4%
      psychiatric, and 26% MD effects. The commonly implicated suspect drugs were
      levodopa (37.8%) and trihexyphenidyl (25.1%). The prevalence of drug-induced MD
      was 10.15% and drug-induced dyskinesias and dystonias were the most common.
      CONCLUSION: MDs are clinically important neurological disorders which are often
      caused by drugs and interestingly drugs used for its management are also
      associated with high incidence of ADRs. Hence these ADRs should be carefully
      monitored.

PMID- 20927257
TI  - A survey on postgraduate pharmacology education in India.

PMID- 20927256
TI  - Pharmacovigilance on olanzapine.

PMID- 20927258
TI  - The need for introducing medication vials tailored for pediatric use. Where do we
      stand?

PMID- 20927259
TI  - Effect of participation in a clinical trial on glycemic control in type 2
      diabetic patients.

PMID- 20927260
TI  - SJA is now on PubMed.

PMID- 20927261
TI  - Personalized intravenous regional anesthesia.

PMID- 20927262
TI  - Comparison of epidural ropivacaine and ropivacaine clonidine combination for
      elective cesarean sections.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIM: Neuraxial adjuvants augment the action of local anesthetics.
      The aim is to determine the qualitative and quantitative aspects of epidural
      block of ropivacaine 0.75% versus ropivacaine 0.75% with clonidine for elective
      cesarean section. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: A randomized double-blind study was
      conducted among 51 healthy parturients, scheduled for elective cesarean section,
      at Gian Sagar Medical College and Hospital, Banur, Punjab, India. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: Epidural block was administered with 20 ml of ropivacaine 0.75% (group
      R) and ropivacaine 0.75% and clonidine 75 ug (group RC) and anesthetic level was
      achieved minimum until T6-T7 dermatome. Onset time of analgesia, sensory and
      motor block levels, maternal heart rate and blood pressure, neonatal Apgar
      scores, postoperative analgesic dose and adverse events were recorded. RESULTS:
      Fifty one patients were enrolled in this study and were subjected to statistical
      analysis. Groups were comparable with regard to demographic data, neonatal Apgar
      scores and incidences of side effects except for the higher incidence of dry
      mouth in patients of RC group. Onset of analgesia was much shorter in RC group
      along with prolonged duration of analgesia. The incidence of bradycardia and
      hypotension was more in RC group as compared to R group which was statistically
      significant. The dose requirement for postoperative pain relief was significantly
      lesser in RC group. CONCLUSIONS: The addition of 75 ug clonidine to isobaric
      epidural ropivacaine results in longer, complete and effective analgesia with
      similar block properties and helped to reduce the effective dose of ropivacaine
      when compared with plain ropivacaine for cesarean delivery.

PMID- 20927263
TI  - Does the use of ketamine or nitroglycerin as an adjuvant to lidocaine improve the
      quality of intravenous regional anesthesia?
AB  - AIMS: To compare and evaluate the effect of adding ketamine or nitroglycerin
      (NTG) as adjuncts to lidocaine for intravenous regional anesthesia (IVRA) on
      intraoperative and postoperative analgesia, sensorial and motor block onset
      times, and tourniquet pain. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: A prospective, randomized,
      double-blind study was carried out. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Seventy-five patients
      undergoing hand surgery were divided into three groups as follows: control group
      receiving lidocaine 2%, LK group receiving lidocaine 2% with ketamine, and LN
      group administered lidocaine 2% with NTG. Sensory and motor blocks' onset and
      recovery times were recorded. Visual analog scale (VAS) for tourniquet pain was
      measured after tourniquet application and it was also used to measure
      postoperative pain. Analgesic consumption for tourniquet pain and postoperatively
      were recorded. RESULTS: Sensory block onset times were shorter in the LK (4.4 +/-
      1.2 minutes) and LN (3.5 +/- 0.9 minutes) groups compared with the control group
      (6.5 +/- 1.1 minute) (P < 0.0001) and motor block onset times were shorter in the
      LK (7.3 +/- 1.6 minutes) and LN (3.6 +/- 1.2 minutes) groups compared with the
      control group (10.2 +/- 1.5 minutes) (P< 0.0001). Sensory recovery time prolonged
      in the LK (6.7 +/- 1.3 minutes) and LN (6.9 +/- 1.1 minutes) groups compared with
      the control group (5.3 +/- 1.4 minutes) (P = 0.0006 and < 0.0001, respectively).
      Motor recovery time prolonged in the LK (8.4 +/- 1.4 minutes) and LN (7.9 +/- 1.1
      minutes) groups compared with the control group (7.1 +/- 1.3 minutes) (P = 0.0014
      and 0.023, respectively). The sensory and motor block onset times were also
      shorter in LN group than in the LK group (3.5 +/- 0.9 versus 4.4 +/- 1.2 minutes,
      P=0.004; and 3.6 +/- 1.2 versus 7.3 +/- 1.6 minutes, P < 0.0001, respectively).
      The amount of fentanyl required for tourniquet pain was less in adjuvant groups
      when compared with control group. It was 13.6 +/- 27.9 and 27.6 +/- 34.9 ug in LK
      group and LN groups, respectively, versus 54.8 +/- 28 ug in the control group.
      VAS scores of tourniquet pain were higher at 10, 20, 30, 40 minutes in the
      control group compared with the other study groups (P < 0.0001). It was also
      higher in LN group compared with LK group at 30 and 40 minutes (P < 0.001).
      Postoperative VAS scores were higher for the first 4 h in control group compared
      with the other study groups (P< 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: The adjuvant drugs
      (ketamine or NTG) when added to lidocaine in IVRA were effective in improving the
      overall quality of anesthesia, reducing tourniquet pain, increasing tourniquet
      tolerance and improving the postoperative analgesia in comparison to the control
      group. Ketamine as an adjuvant produced better tolerance to tourniquet than the
      other groups. NTG as an adjuvant produced faster onset of sensory and motor
      blockades in comparison to other groups.

PMID- 20927264
TI  - Mixed venous versus central venous oxygen saturation in patients undergoing on
      pump beating coronary artery bypass grafting.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To examine the validity of central venous oxygen saturation (ScvO(2))
      as a numerical substitution of mixed venous oxygen saturation (SvO(2)) in adult
      patients undergoing normothermic on pump beating coronary artery bypass grafting
      (CABG). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Prospective clinical observational study was done
      at King Khalid University Hospital, King Saud University, Riyadh, Kingdom of
      Saudi Arabia. Thirty four adult patients scheduled for coronary artery surgery
      were included. Patients were monitored by a pulmonary artery catheter (PAC) as a
      part of our routine intraoperative monitoring. SvO(2) and ScvO(2) were
      simultaneously measured 15 minutes (T1) and 30 minutes (T2) after induction of
      anesthesia, 15 and 30 minutes after initiation of cardiopulmonary bypass (T3 and
      T4), and 15 and 30 minutes after admission to intensive care unit (T5 and T6).
      RESULTS: ScvO(2) showed higher reading than SvO(2) all through our study. Our
      results showed perfect positive statistically significant correlation between
      SvO(2) and ScvO(2) at all data points. Individual mean of difference (MOD)
      between both the readings at study time showed MOD of 1.34 and 1.44 at T1 and T2
      simultaneously. This MOD was statistically insignificant, but after on pump
      beating normothermic bypass was initiated; MOD was 5.2 and 4.4 at T3 and T4 with
      high statistical significance. In ICU, MOD continues to have high statistical
      significance, MOD was 6.3 at T5 and at T6 it was 4.6. CONCLUSIONS: In on pump
      beating CABG patients; ScvO(2) and SvO(2) are not interchangeable numerically.
      ScvO(2) is useful in the meaning of trend; our data suggest that ScvO(2) is
      equivalent to SvO(2) , only in the course of clinical decisions as long as
      absolute values are not required.

PMID- 20927265
TI  - Survival after in-hospital cardiopulmonary resuscitation in a major referral
      center.
AB  - AIM: This study was undertaken to assess the demographics, clinical parameters
      and outcomes of patients undergoing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), by the
      code blue team at our center to compare with other centers. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: Data were collected retrospectively from all adult patients who
      underwent CPR at our hospital from 2007 to 2008. CPR was performed on 290
      patients and it was given 313 times. Clinical outcomes of interest were survival
      at the end of CPR and survival at discharge from the hospital. Factors associated
      with survival were evaluated via binomial and chi square-tests. RESULTS: Of the
      290 patients included, 95 patients (30.4%) had successful CPR. However, only 35
      patients (12%) were alive at discharge. The majority requiring CPR were above 60
      years of age (61.7%). Males required CPR more than females. There were 125 women
      (43.1%) and 165 males (56.9%) aged 3 to 78 (average 59.6) years. Majority (179)
      of the cases (61.7%) were above 60 years of age. Regarding the various wards, 54
      cases (17.3%) were in the internal medicine ward, 63 cases (20.1%) in the surgery
      ward, 1 case (0.3%) in the clinic, 11 cases (3.5%) in the paraclinic, 116 cases
      (37.1%) in the emergency (ER), 55 cases (17.5%) in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU)
      and Coronary Care Unit (CCU), and 13 cases (4.2%) were in other wards. Cardiac
      massage was done in 133 cases (42.5%), defibrillation only via electroshock 3
      cases (1%), and both were used in177 cases (56.5%). The ER had the most cases of
      CPR. Both cardiac massage and electroshock defibrillation were needed in most
      cases. CONCLUSION: In-hospital CPR for cardiopulmonary arrest was associated with
      30.4% success at our center at the end of CPR but only 12% were alive at
      discharge. Duration of CPR >10 minutes was predictive of significantly decreased
      survival to discharge.

PMID- 20927266
TI  - Comparison of two drug combinations in total intravenous anesthesia: Propofol
      ketamine and propofol-fentanyl.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Keeping in consideration the merits of total intravenous
      anesthesia (TIVA), a genuine attempt was made to find the ideal drug combinations
      which can be used in general anesthesia. This study was conducted to evaluate and
      compare two drug combinations of TIVA using propofol-ketamine and propofol
      fentanyl and to study the induction, maintenance and recovery characteristics
      following anesthesia with these techniques. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: A case control
      study was conducted, which included 100 patients, in the department of
      Anaesthesiology and Intensive care, Government Medical College and Hospital,
      Patiala. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A hundred patients between the ages of 20 and 50
      years of either gender were divided into two groups of 50 each, and they
      underwent elective surgery of approximately 1 h duration. Group I received
      propofol-ketamine while group II received propofol-fentanyl for induction and
      maintenance of anesthesia. All the results were tabulated and analyzed
      statistically with student's unpaired t-test and chi-square test. RESULTS:
      Propofol-fentanyl combination produced a significantly greater fall in pulse rate
      (PR; 9.28% versus 0.23%) and in both systolic (7.94% versus 0.12%) and diastolic
      blood pressures (BP; 8.10% versus 0.35%) as compared to propofol-ketamine during
      induction of anesthesia. Propofol-ketamine combination produced stable
      hemodynamics during maintenance phase while on the other hand propofol-fentanyl
      was associated with a slight increase in both PR and BP. During recovery,
      ventilation score was better in group I while movement and wakefulness score was
      better in group II. Mean time to protrusion of tongue and lifting of head was
      shorter in group I. CONCLUSIONS: Both propofol-ketamine and propofol-fentanyl
      combinations produce rapid, pleasant and safe anesthesia with only a few untoward
      side effects and only minor hemodynamic effects.

PMID- 20927267
TI  - Comparison of classic peribulbar anesthesia and new entry point (single
      percutaneous injection technique) in vitroretinal surgery.
AB  - PURPOSE: To describe the method that seeks to improve the administration of
      regional anesthesia for vitroretinal surgery avoiding the risk of potential
      complications associated with other techniques through comparison of safety and
      efficacy of classic peribulbar anesthesia versus single percutaneous technique
      using a prospective, randomized clinical trial. MATERIALS AND METHODS: One
      hundred patients were randomized to classic peribulbar and single percutaneous
      peribulbar technique after informed consent. Pain during administration of
      anesthesia, during surgery was graded on a visual analogue pain scale and
      compared for both techniques. Globe akinesia, analgesia and IOP measurements
      before and after administration of anesthesia, detection of distribution of local
      anesthetic agent by ultrasound scanning and complications related were also
      compared. RESULTS: Twenty out of 50 (40%) patients of group 1(classic pirebulbar)
      and 36/50 (72%) of group II (single percutaneous technique) experience no pain
      during administration of anesthesia. Scores for globe akinesia and anesthesia
      were less satisfactory in group 1 and supplemental blocks required in 8% of the
      patients while in group II all of the patients (100%) showed proper globe
      akinesia and anesthesia. There were significant elevation in mean IOP following
      injection in both groups and the incidence of subconjunctival haemorrhage,
      chemosis and echymosis were more frequent in group 1. CONCLUSION: Single
      percutaneous peribulbar technique proved to be a safe and efficient technique
      that offers excellent anesthesia and akinesia with less complication for various
      ophthalmic procedures.

PMID- 20927268
TI  - Conventional mechanical ventilation.
AB  - The provision of mechanical ventilation for the support of infants and children
      with respiratory failure or insufficiency is one of the most common techniques
      that are performed in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU). Despite its
      widespread application in the PICUs of the 21st century, before the 1930s,
      respiratory failure was uniformly fatal due to the lack of equipment and
      techniques for airway management and ventilatory support. The operating rooms of
      the 1950s and 1960s provided the arena for the development of the manual skills
      and the refinement of the equipment needed for airway management, which
      subsequently led to the more widespread use of endotracheal intubation thereby
      ushering in the era of positive pressure ventilation. Although there seems to be
      an ever increasing complexity in the techniques of mechanical ventilation, its
      successful use in the PICU should be guided by the basic principles of gas
      exchange and the physiology of respiratory function. With an understanding of
      these key concepts and the use of basic concepts of mechanical ventilation, this
      technique can be successfully applied in both the PICU and the operating room.
      This article reviews the basic physiology of gas exchange, principles of
      pulmonary physiology, and the concepts of mechanical ventilation to provide an
      overview of the knowledge required for the provision of conventional mechanical
      ventilation in various clinical arenas.

PMID- 20927269
TI  - Dynamic left ventricular outflow tract obstruction complicating aortic valve
      replacement: A hidden malefactor revisited.
AB  - It is known that a dynamic left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT) obstruction
      exists in patients, following aortic valve replacement (AVR) and is usually
      considered to be benign. We present a patient with dynamic LVOT obstruction
      following AVR, who developed refractory cardiogenic shock and expired inspite of
      various treatment strategies. This phenomenon must be diagnosed early and should
      be considered as a serious and potentially fatal complication following AVR. The
      possible mechanisms and treatment options are reviewed.

PMID- 20927270
TI  - Severe lingual tonsillar hypertrophy and the rationale supporting early use of
      wire-guided retrograde intubation.
AB  - An expanding body of literature exists which describes the airway challenges and
      management options for lingual tonsillar hypertrophy (LTH). The use of retrograde
      intubation to secure a patient's airway in the setting of LTH has been previously
      unreported and should be considered early in the event of a cannot intubate,
      cannot ventilate scenario. A 55-year-old man, who had previously been described
      as an easy intubation, presented an unexpected cannot intubate, cannot ventilate
      scenario secondary to LTH. Various noninvasive airway maneuvers were attempted to
      restore ventilation without success. We describe the advantages of early use of
      wire-guided retrograde intubation as an alternative to a surgical airway for
      obtaining a secure airway in a patient with LTH, in whom noninvasive airway
      management maneuvers have failed. Multiple different noninvasive approaches to
      management of LTH have been previously described including the laryngeal tube,
      laryngeal mask airway, and fiberoptic bronchoscopy. Unfortunately, none of these
      noninvasive airway maneuvers successfully ventilated this patient and an invasive
      airway became necessary. Retrograde intubation is a less invasive alternative to
      the surgical airway with potentially less risk for complications. Retrograde
      intubation may be particularly effective in the setting of LTH as it may stent
      open an otherwise occluded airway and allow passage of an endotracheal tube.
      Skillful use of this technique should be considered early as a viable option in
      any case of unexpected difficult intubation due to LTH.

PMID- 20927271
TI  - Difficult intubation management in a child with I-cell disease.
AB  - I-cell disease (mucolipidosis II) is a rare metabolic disorder resulting from the
      deficiency of a specific lysosomal enzyme, N-acetylglucosamine-1
      phosphotransferease. Developmental delay and growth failure are common
      presentations of I-cell disease. Psychomotor deterioration is rapid and
      progressive. Some physical signs such as hip dislocations, inguinal hernia,
      hepatomegaly, joint limitation, and skin changes may be present at birth. Coarse
      facial features and skeletal abnormalities become more conspicuous with time. The
      life expectancy of children with this condition is poor, with death usually
      occurring around the fifth year. A case report of the anesthetic management of
      gingivectomy with multiple dental extractions in a 5-year-old Omani female with I
      cell disease is presented. The problems faced and their management during
      anesthesia are described.

PMID- 20927272
TI  - Endotracheal tube defects: Hidden causes of airway obstruction.
AB  - Manufacturing defects of endotracheal tube (ETT) are still encountered in
      anesthesia practice. Many such defects go unnoticed during routine inspection
      prior to their use. Such defects in ETT may lead to partial or complete airway
      obstruction in an intubated patient. We report a case of partial airway
      obstruction with a prepacked, single use, uncuffed ETT due to a manufacturing
      defect in the form of a plastic meniscus at the distal end of the tube. This case
      report highlights the significance of standard monitoring of ventilation and the
      role of a vigilant clinician in detecting such defects in avoiding critical
      events as can arise from the use of such defective ETTs. It also emphasizes the
      need for double checking ETTs prior to their use.

PMID- 20927273
TI  - Ventricular tachycardia during microdebrider-assisted turbinectomy: An
      electrocardiographic artifact.
AB  - Interference of monitored electrocardiogram is common during different surgical
      procedures using electrical equipment. The electrical devices used induce
      artifacts in the electrocardiographic tracing, which may resemble serious
      arrhythmia. We describe a case of electrocardiographic artifact resembling
      ventricular tachycardia with the use of a Storz unidrive microdebrider during
      inferior turbinectomy under general anesthesia. This case report highlights the
      importance of knowledge of various equipment-related electrocardiographic
      artifacts in avoiding unnecessary and harmful therapeutic interventions.

PMID- 20927274
TI  - Pulmonary artery catheter entrapment in cardiac surgery.
AB  - A pulmonary artery catheter (PAC) is an important tool in the preoperative
      cardiac management, and it provides measurements which helps in the patient
      management During open heart surgery the catheter tends to rest against the
      anterior lateral wall of the right atrium where the catheter may be caught by a
      suture in the cannulation for cardiopulmonary bypass. We describe a very rare
      complication which is inadvertent surgical suturing of the PAC to the inferior
      vena cava that necessitated reopening the chest, cutting, the suture and removing
      the catheter.

PMID- 20927275
TI  - Pseudo loss of resistance in epidural space localization.

PMID- 20927276
TI  - Ultrasound guided femoral nerve block: An essential pain management modality in
      emergency settings for femur fractures.

PMID- 20927277
TI  - State of the Globe: Rabies is Still Rampant and Needs Action.

PMID- 20927278
TI  - Surveying Infections among Pregnant Women in the Niger Delta, Nigeria.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is paucity of epidemiological data on infectious diseases among
      antenatal mothers in Bayelsa State of the Niger Delta, Nigeria. AIMS: The aim of
      this study was to determine the seroprevalence of the serological markers Human
      immunodeficiency virus-antibody (HIV-Ab), Hepatitis B surface antigen(HBsAg),
      Hepatitis C virus antibody(HCV-A)and antibodies to T. pallidum among pregnant
      women in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, South-South Nigeria. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: This
      is a cross-sectional study which was carried out in Yenagoa city, the heart of
      the Niger Delta, Nigeria. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Human immunodeficiency virus
      (HIV) antibodies were detected by using "Determine" HIV-1/2 test strip (Abbott
      Laboratories, Japan); hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), antibodies to
      hepatitis C virus (anti-HCV) and antibodies to T. pallidum were carried out using
      ACON rapid test strips (ACON Laboratories, USA). All positive samples for HIV,
      HBV and HCV were confirmed using the Clinotech diagnostic enzyme-linked
      immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test kits (Clinotech Laboratories, USA), while all
      reactive samples to Treponema pallidum antibodies were confirmed by the Treponema
      pallidum hemagglutination (TPHA) test (Lorne Laboratories Ltd., UK). All test
      procedures were carried out according to the manufacturers' instructions.
      STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: The data generated were coded, entered, validated and
      analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS), version 12.0, and
      Epi info. The seroprevalence of syphilis, HBsAg, HCV and HIV was expressed for
      the entire study group by age, sex and other demographic features using Pearson
      chi-square analysis. Values below 0.05 were considered statistically significant.
      RESULTS: A total of 1,000 apparently healthy pregnant women aged between 15 and
      44 years with a mean of 27.34+/-5.43 years were screened. In terms of percentage,
      89.4% of the subjects were married, and 10.6% were without formal husbands. The
      overall seroprevalence of HIV, HBsAg, HCV and syphilis was found to be 4.1%,
      5.3%, 0.5% and 5.0%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: High prevalence of some
      infectious diseases was observed in the present study, which may pose serious
      health risk to women of reproductive age in this region. It is important to point
      out that there is need to improve antenatal care of pregnant women by mandatory
      screening for these infectious diseases.

PMID- 20927279
TI  - Current Knowledge Attitudes, and Practices of Healthcare Providers about Leprosy
      in Assam, India.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Leprosy is a chronic infectious disease that is associated with
      serious morbidity and is a disease of public health concern because of the case
      load and the social stigma attached to the disease. AIM: To understand the
      knowledge of, and attitudes towards, leprosy amongst healthcare providers in
      Assam, India. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: This cross-sectional study was conducted
      during March to June 2007 in different health institutions of the Kamrup district
      of Assam. RESULTS: Among the program managers interviewed, only half were
      organizing training sessions, and 37.5% were involved in supervision of the
      program activities at the periphery level. Among the program managers who were
      involved with leprosy elimination, only half were organizing training session and
      37.5% were involved in supervision of the program activities at the periphery
      level. Medical officers consistently demonstrated higher knowledge about leprosy,
      followed by health supervisors and multipurpose workers (MPWs), including nursing
      staff. Regarding training status with regard to leprosy, 90% of medical officers,
      80% of health supervisors and around 87% of MPWs (83% of male MPWs and 89% of
      female MPWs) had attended training programs on leprosy. Regarding WHO MDT, 80% of
      health supervisors, 84.8% of male MPWs and 86.2% of female MPWs had an idea of
      MDT and treatment duration of various categories of patients. CONCLUSIONS: These
      observations suggest that there appear to be adequate knowledge and positive
      behavior among healthcare providers with regard to leprosy in this part of India.
      However, there is still a need to organize training programs at regular intervals
      to train new recruits, as well as reinforce and update the knowledge of those
      already trained.

PMID- 20927280
TI  - Retrospective analysis of suspected rabies cases reported at bugando referral
      hospital, mwanza, Tanzania.
AB  - AIMS: The aim of this study was to determine the incidence of humans being bitten
      by rabies-suspected animals, and the victims' adherence to post-exposure
      prophylaxis (PEP) regimen. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective analysis of
      data of victims treated at Bugando Medical Centre during the period 2002-2006
      (n=5 years) was done. RESULTS: A total of 767 bite injuries inflicted by rabies
      suspected animals were reported, giving a mean annual incidence of ~58 cases per
      100,000 (52.5% males, 47.5% females). The proportion of children bitten was
      relatively higher than that of adults. All victims were treated by using
      inactivated diploid-cell rabies vaccine and were recommended to appear for the
      second and third doses. However, only 28% of the victims completed the
      vaccination regime. Domestic dogs were involved in 95.44% of the human bite
      cases, whereas cats (3.9%), spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta) (0.03%), vervet
      monkey (Cercopithecur aethiops) (0.01%) and black-backed jackal (0.01%) played a
      minor role. The majority of rabies-suspected case reports were from Nyamagana
      district and occurred most frequently from June to October each year.
      CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, this study revealed that incidences of humans being
      bitten by dogs suspected of rabies are common in Tanzania, involve mostly
      children, and victims do not comply with the prophylactic regimen. Rigorous
      surveillance to determine the status of rabies and the risk factors for human
      rabies, as well as formulation and institution of appropriate rabies-control
      policies, is required.

PMID- 20927281
TI  - Solar disinfection improves drinking water quality to prevent diarrhea in under
      five children in sikkim, India.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Solar radiations improve the microbiological quality of water and
      offer a method for disinfection of drinking water that requires few resources and
      no expertise and may reduce the prevalence of diarrhea among under-five children.
      AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To find out the reduction in the prevalence of diarrhea in
      the under-five children after consumption of potable water treated with solar
      disinfection method. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a population-based
      interventional prospective study in the urban slum area of Mazegoan, Jorethang,
      south Sikkim, during the period 1(st) May 2007 to 30(th) November 2007 on 136
      children in the under-five age group in 102 households selected by random
      sampling. Main outcome measure was the assessment of the reduction of the
      prevalence of diarrhea among under-five children after consumption of potable
      water treated with solar disinfection method practiced by the caregivers in the
      intervention group keeping water in polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles as
      directed by the investigators. The data were collected by the interview method
      using a pre-tested questionnaire prepared on the basis of socio-demographics and
      prevalence of diarrhea. The data were subjected to percentages and chi-square
      tests, which were used to find the significance. RESULTS: After four weeks of
      intervention among the study group, the diarrhea prevalence was 7.69% among solar
      disinfection (SODIS) users, while 31.82% prevalence was observed among non-users
      in that period; the reduction in prevalence of diarrhea was 75.83%. After eight
      weeks of intervention, the prevalence of diarrhea was 7.58% among SODIS users and
      31.43% among non-users; the reduction in diarrhea was 75.88% in the study group.
      The findings were found to be statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: In our
      study, we observed that the prevalence of diarrhea decreased significantly after
      solar disinfection of water was practiced by the caregivers keeping potable water
      in PET bottles in the intervention group.

PMID- 20927282
TI  - Time of default in tuberculosis patients on directly observed treatment.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Default remains an important challenge for the Revised National
      Tuberculosis Control Programme, which has achieved improved cure rates.
      OBJECTIVES: This study describes the pattern of time of default in patients on
      DOTS. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: Tuberculosis Unit in District Tuberculosis Centre,
      Yavatmal, India; Retrospective cohort study. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This analysis
      was done among the cohort of patients of registered at the Tuberculosis Unit
      during the year 2004. The time of default was assessed from the tuberculosis
      register. The sputum smear conversion and treatment outcome were also assessed.
      STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Kaplan-Meier plots and log rank tests. RESULTS: Overall,
      the default rate amongst the 716 patients registered at the Tuberculosis Unit was
      10.33%. There was a significant difference in the default rate over time between
      the three DOTS categories (log rank statistic= 15.49, P=0.0004). Amongst the 331
      smear-positive patients, the cumulative default rates at the end of intensive
      phase were 4% and 16%; while by end of treatment period, the default rates were
      6% and 31% in category I and category II, respectively. A majority of the smear
      positive patients in category II belonged to the group 'treatment after default'
      (56/95), and 30% of them defaulted during re-treatment. The sputum smear
      conversion rate at the end of intensive phase was 84%. Amongst 36 patients
      without smear conversion at the end of intensive phase, 55% had treatment
      failure. CONCLUSIONS: Patients defaulting in intensive phase of treatment and
      without smear conversion at the end of intensive phase should be retrieved on a
      priority basis. Default constitutes not only a major reason for patients needing
      re-treatment but also a risk for repeated default.

PMID- 20927283
TI  - High-level Aminoglycoside Resistance and Reduced Susceptibility to Vancomycin in
      Nosocomial Enterococci.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The objectives of the present study were to identify the species of
      enterococci isolated from nosocomial infections and to determine the antibiotic
      susceptibility pattern with reference to high-level aminoglycosides and
      vancomycin. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Enterococci were isolated from various
      clinical samples collected from patients after 72 hours of hospitalization.
      Various species of Enterococcus were identified by standard methods. High-level
      aminoglycoside resistance and vancomycin susceptibility in enterococci were
      detected by disk-diffusion and agar-screen methods. RESULTS: One hundred eighty
      enterococcal strains were isolated from various clinical samples. Various species
      of Enterococcus - Enterococcus fecalis 130 (72.22%), Enterococcus casseliflavus
      24 (13.33%), Enterococcus fecium 17 (9.44%), Enterococcus durans 7 (3.89%) and
      Enterococcus dispar 2 (1.11%) - were isolated. The highest resistance to
      aminoglycoside was observed among E. fecium, followed by E. durans, E. fecalis
      and E. casseliflavus, both by disk-diffusion and agar-screen methods. The high
      level aminoglycoside resistance (HLAR) was significantly (P<0.05) higher in E.
      fecium by agar-screen method. All enterococci showed minimum inhibitory
      concentration (MIC) of <=8 MUg/mL to vancomycin. Sixteen (12.31%) E. fecalis and
      3 (12.5%) E. fecium strains were intermediately resistant to vancomycin (MIC= 8
      MUg/mL), whereas other strains were susceptible to vancomycin. CONCLUSION: The
      occurrence of high-level aminoglycoside resistance in enterococcal isolates in
      our setup was high. Even though none of the enterococcal strains showed
      resistance to vancomycin, yet reduced susceptibility to vancomycin was noticed in
      our study. This would require routine testing of enterococcal isolates for HLAR
      and vancomycin susceptibility. Agar-screen method was found to be superior to
      disk-diffusion method in detecting resistant strains to aminoglycosides and
      vancomycin.

PMID- 20927284
TI  - Correlates of Vaginal Colonization with Group B Streptococci among Pregnant
      Women.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A study of genital colonization by group B streptococcus (GBS) was
      conducted in pregnant women in their third trimester, which is a known risk
      factor of morbidity and mortality among newborns. AIMS: The present study was
      undertaken to study the prevalence and the correlates of vaginal colonization by
      GBS among pregnant women. SETTING AND DESIGN: This observational cross-sectional
      study was conducted during September 2002 to March 2004 on 524 pregnant women.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Three high vaginal swabs were obtained from all the
      pregnant women admitted at term and in preterm labor. Two swabs were used for
      aerobic culture and the third one for gram staining. The first set of swabs was
      cultured on 5% Sheep blood agar plates. The second set of swabs were inoculated
      into Todd-Hewitt broth and then subcultured in 5% Sheep blood agar plates. The
      main outcome measures were the presence of GBS infection in comparison to the age
      group, gravida, gestational age, premature rupture of membrane (PROM), preterm
      labor and association with febrile spells of the present pregnancy. RESULTS: The
      culture positivity rate of GBS was 4.77% and coexistent organisms isolated were
      Candida species (36%), Staphylococcus aureus (8%) and Enterococcus species (8%).
      Culture positivity in the age group of 18-25 years was 5.71%, of which 5.74% were
      in their first pregnancy. The correlation between age group and gravida with GBS
      culture positivity was statistically insignificant. The culture positivity in <36
      weeks of gestational age was 6.93%. This relation was statistically significant.
      Twenty-eight percent developed PROM. Sixty-four percent of culture positives had
      preterm labor. CONCLUSION: GBS infection among pregnant women was significantly
      correlated with the gestational age, PROM and preterm labor. In pregnancy GBS
      colonization causes asymptomatic bacteriuria or UTI. It is a well known cause of
      puerperal infections with amnionitis, endometritis and sepsis being the most
      commonly reported infections.[5].

PMID- 20927285
TI  - Oviposition Deterrence Induced by Ocimum kilimandscharicum and Ocimum suave
      Extracts to Gravid Anopheles gambiae s.s (Diptera: Culicidae) in Laboratory.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In most of the past decades, mosquito control has been done by the
      use of indoor residual spray and insecticides-treated bed nets. The control of
      mosquitoes by targeting the breeding sites (larval habitat) has not been given
      priority. Disrupting the oviposition sensory detection of mosquitoes by
      introducing deterrents of plant origin, which are cheap resources, might be add
      value to integrated vector control. Such knowledge is required in order to
      successfully manipulate the behavior of mosquitoes for monitoring or control.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty gravid mosquitoes were placed in a cage measuring
      30 * 30 * 30 cm for oviposition. The oviposition media were made of different
      materials. Experiments were set up at 6:00 pm, and eggs were collected for
      counting at 7:30 am. Mosquitoes were observed until they died. The comparisons of
      the number of eggs were made between the different treatments. RESULTS: There was
      significant difference in the number of eggs found in control cups when compared
      with the number of eggs found in water treated with Ocimum kilimandscharicum (OK)
      (P=0.02) or Ocimum suave (OS) (P=0.000) and that found in water with debris
      treated with OK (P=0.011) or OS (P=0.002). There was no significant difference in
      the number of eggs laid in treated water and the number of eggs laid in water
      with debris treated either with OK (P=0.105) or OS (P=0.176). Oviposition
      activity index for both OS and OK experiments lay in a negative side and ranged
      from -0.19% to -1%. The results show that OS and OK deter oviposition in
      An.gambiae s.s. CONCLUSIONS: Further research needs to be done on the effect of
      secondary metabolites of these plant extracts as they decompose in the breeding
      sites. In the event of favorable results, the potential of these plant extracts
      can be harnessed on a larger scale.

PMID- 20927286
TI  - Preventing Post-Transfusion Hepatitis by screening blood donors for IgM Antibody
      to Hepatitis B core antigen.

PMID- 20927288
TI  - Quinolone and cephalosporin resistance in enteric Fever.
AB  - Enteric fever is a major public health problem in developing countries.
      Ciprofloxacin resistance has now become a norm in the Indian subcontinent. Novel
      molecular substitutions may become frequent in future owing to selective
      pressures exerted by the irrational use of ciprofloxacin in human and veterinary
      therapeutics, in a population endemic with nalidixic acid-resistant strains. The
      therapeutics of ciprofloxacin-resistant enteric fever narrows down to third- and
      fourth-generation cephalosporins, azithromycin, tigecycline and penems. The first
      line antimicrobials ampicillin, chloramphenicol and co-trimoxazole need to be
      rolled back. Antimicrobial surveillance coupled with molecular analysis of
      fluoroquinolone resistance is warranted for reconfirming novel and established
      molecular patterns for therapeutic reappraisal and for novel-drug targets. This
      review explores the antimicrobial resistance and its molecular mechanisms, as
      well as novel drugs in the therapy of enteric fever.

PMID- 20927287
TI  - Human immunodeficiency virus and leishmaniasis.
AB  - The Leishmaniases are a group of diseases transmitted to humans by the bite of a
      sandfly, caused by protozoan parasites of the genus Leishmania. Various
      Leishmania species infect humans, producing a spectrum of clinical
      manifestations. It is estimated that 350 million people are at risk, with a
      global yearly incidence of 1-1.5 million for cutaneous and 500,000 for visceral
      Leishmaniasis (VL). VL is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in East
      Africa, Brazil and the Indian subcontinent. Co-infection with human
      immunodeficiency virus (HIV) alters the immune response to the disease. Here we
      review the immune response to Leishmania in the setting of HIV co-infection.
      Improved understanding of the immunology involved in co-infections may help in
      designing prophylactic and therapeutic strategies against Leishmaniasis.

PMID- 20927289
TI  - Extended-spectrum beta-lactamases in Gram Negative Bacteria.
AB  - Extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBLs) are a group of plasmid-mediated,
      diverse, complex and rapidly evolving enzymes that are posing a major therapeutic
      challenge today in the treatment of hospitalized and community-based patients.
      Infections due to ESBL producers range from uncomplicated urinary tract
      infections to life-threatening sepsis. Derived from the older TEM is derived from
      Temoniera, a patient from whom the strain was first isolated in Greece. beta
      lactamases, these enzymes share the ability to hydrolyze third-generation
      cephalosporins and aztreonam and yet are inhibited by clavulanic acid. In
      addition, ESBL-producing organisms exhibit co-resistance to many other classes of
      antibiotics, resulting in limitation of therapeutic option. Because of inoculum
      effect and substrate specificity, their detection is also a major challenge. At
      present, however, organizations such as the Clinical and Laboratory Standards
      Institute (formerly the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards)
      provide guidelines for the detection of ESBLs in Klebsiella pneumoniae, K.
      oxytoca, Escherichia coli and Proteus mirabilis. In common to all ESBL-detection
      methods is the general principle that the activity of extended-spectrum
      cephalosporins against ESBL-producing organisms will be enhanced by the presence
      of clavulanic acid. Carbapenems are the treatment of choice for serious
      infections due to ESBL-producing organisms, yet carbapenem-resistant isolates
      have recently been reported. ESBLs represent an impressive example of the ability
      of gram-negative bacteria to develop new antibiotic-resistance mechanisms in the
      face of the introduction of new antimicrobial agents. Thus there is need for
      efficient infection-control practices for containment of outbreaks; and
      intervention strategies, e.g., antibiotic rotation to reduce further selection
      and spread of these increasingly resistant pathogens.

PMID- 20927290
TI  - Methicillin and Vancomycin Resistant S. aureus in Hospitalized Patients.
AB  - S. aureus is the major bacterial cause of skin, soft tissue and bone infections,
      and one of the commonest causes of healthcare-associated bacteremia. Hospital
      associated methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) carriage is associated with an
      increased risk of infection, morbidity and mortality. Screening of high-risk
      patients at the time of hospital admission and decolonization has proved to be an
      important factor in an effort to reduce nosocomial transmission. The electronic
      database Pub Med was searched for all the articles on "Establishment of MRSA and
      the emergence of vancomycin-resistant S. aureus (VRSA)." The search included case
      reports, case series and reviews. All the articles were cross-referenced to
      search for any more available articles. A total of 88 references were obtained.
      The studies showed a steady increase in the number of vancomycin-intermediate and
      vancomycin-resistant S. aureus. Extensive use of vancomycin creates a selective
      pressure that favors the outgrowth of rare, vancomycin-resistant clones leading
      to heterogenous vancomycin intermediate S. aureus hVISA clones, and eventually,
      with continued exposure, to a uniform population of vancomycin-intermediate S.
      aureus (VISA) clones. However, the criteria for identifying hVISA strains have
      not been standardized, complicating any determination of their clinical
      significance and role in treatment failures. The spread of MRSA from the hospital
      to the community, coupled with the emergence of VISA and VRSA, has become major
      concern among healthcare providers. Infection-control measures, reliable
      laboratory screening for resistance, appropriate antibiotic prescribing practices
      and avoidance of blanket treatment can prevent long-term emergence of resistance.

PMID- 20927291
TI  - Cephalosporin Resistance in Neisseria gonorrhoeae.
AB  - Gonorrhea, a disease of public health importance, not only leads to high
      incidence of acute infections and complications but also plays a major role in
      facilitating human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) acquisition and transmission. One
      of the major public health needs for gonorrhea control is appropriate, effective
      treatment. However, treatment options for gonorrhea are diminishing as Neisseria
      gonorrhoeae have developed resistance to several antimicrobial drugs such as
      sulfonamides, penicillin, tetracyclines and quinolones. Antimicrobial resistance
      (AMR) surveillance of N. gonorrhoeae helps establish and maintain the efficacy of
      standard treatment regimens. AMR surveillance should be continuous to reveal the
      emergence of new resistant strains, monitor the changing patterns of resistance,
      and be able to update treatment recommendations so as to assist in disease
      control. Current treatment guidelines recommend the use of single dose injectable
      or oral cephalosporins. The emergence and spread of cephalosporin resistant and
      multi drug resistant N. gonorrhoeae strains, represents a worrying trend that
      requires monitoring and investigation. Routine clinical laboratories need to be
      vigilant for the detection of such strains such that strategies for control and
      prevention could be reviewed and revised from time to time. It will be important
      to elucidate the genetic mechanisms responsible for decreased susceptibility and
      future resistance. There is also an urgent need for research of safe, alternative
      anti-gonococcal compounds that can be administered orally and have effective
      potency, allowing high therapeutic efficacy (greater than 95.0% cure rate).

PMID- 20927293
TI  - Kikuchi-fujimoto disease from eastern India.
AB  - Kikuchi's disease, a rare disorder which usually presents with fever painful
      lymphadenopathy, rash and arthritis, all of which are close mimickers of
      infective and immunological disorders. It is essentially a histopathological
      diagnosis and tests to rule out other connective tissue disorders or infective
      etiology must be undertaken. We present a series of two cases of kikuchi
      fujimoto's disease presenting primarily with lymphadenopathy and fever in all
      cases. The first is a case of generalized lymphadenopathy and the second case of
      kikuchi's disease with SLE, a rare association. Lymph node excision biopsy and
      histopathology documented Kikuchi Fujimoto disease in above cases. All the cases
      improved on follow up and had no residual stigmata.

PMID- 20927294
TI  - Case Series of Adenocarcinoma of the Prostate Associated with Schistosoma
      haematobium Infection in Tanzania.
AB  - In endemic areas, schistosomiasis has been associated with the pathogenesis of
      bladder, prostate, colorectal and renal carcinoma. However, the relationship
      between prostate cancer and schistosomiasis infection remains controversial. Here
      we present a series of three cases from Tanzania of prostatic adenocarcinoma
      associated with urinary schistosomiasis.

PMID- 20927292
TI  - Multidrug resistant acinetobacter.
AB  - Emergence and spread of Acinetobacter species, resistant to most of the available
      antimicrobial agents, is an area of great concern. It is now being frequently
      associated with healthcare associated infections. Literature was searched at
      PUBMED, Google Scholar, and Cochrane Library, using the terms 'Acinetobacter
      Resistance, multidrug resistant (MDR), Antimicrobial Therapy, Outbreak, Colistin,
      Tigecycline, AmpC enzymes, and carbapenemases in various combinations. The terms
      such as MDR, Extensively Drug Resistant (XDR), and Pan Drug Resistant (PDR) have
      been used in published literature with varied definitions, leading to confusion
      in the correlation of data from various studies. In this review various
      mechanisms of resistance in the Acinetobacter species have been discussed. The
      review also probes upon the current therapeutic options, including combination
      therapies available to treat infections due to resistant Acinetobacter species in
      adults as well as children. There is an urgent need to enforce infection control
      measures and antimicrobial stewardship programs to prevent the further spread of
      these resistant Acinetobacter species and to delay the emergence of increased
      resistance in the bacteria.

PMID- 20927295
TI  - Bilateral Thalamic Hyperintensities in a case of Viral Encephalitis.

PMID- 20927296
TI  - Hepatitis B, needle stick and medical workers.

PMID- 20927297
TI  - Hepatitis C and helicobacter pylori.

PMID- 20927298
TI  - A cross-sectional study among medical residents with noninvasive rapid
      serological test for helicobacter pylori.

PMID- 20927299
TI  - Multiple-ring enhancing lesions in an immunocompetent adult.

PMID- 20927300
TI  - Severe rhabdomyolysis associated in meningococcemia.

PMID- 20927301
TI  - Drug resistant urinary isolates of pseudomonas aeruginosa and acinetobacter
      species.

PMID- 20927302
TI  - Mycoplasmotic giant cell epitheliomatous inverted papillary carcinoma of the
      aural canal.

PMID- 20927303
TI  - Psychopharmacological treatment status in outpatients with bipolar disorder: a
      clinical survey in Germany.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The objective of this epidemiological study was to evaluate the
      current treatment status as well as the acceptance of medication and satisfaction
      with life in outpatients with bipolar disorder in Germany. METHODS: Data for this
      cross-sectional epidemiologic survey was collected between February 15th, 2006
      and May 31st, 2006. Three hundreds six bipolar euthymic outpatients under routine
      treatment conditions were included in the study. Forty one practicing
      psychiatrists used a clinical interview to evaluate the current treatment status,
      acceptance of current medication, and current life satisfaction. RESULTS: The
      majority of patients suffered from "pure" bipolar-II-disorder (50.6%), followed
      by 23.0% with "pure" bipolar-I-disorder. Apart from these patients, 12.9% of all
      participants had a history of mixed episodes and 5.6% a history of rapid cycling.
      Mean duration of bipolar disorder was 10.6 years. The majority of patients
      (54.3%) received psychopharmacological monotherapy. Combination therapy was
      administered in 45.9% of the patients, 39.3% receiving two agents, and 6.6% three
      agents. Antidepressants (64.1%) were the most common combination medications.
      Monotherapy was used preferably in bipolar-I- (62.7%) and bipolar-II-disorders
      (56.2%), combination therapy predominantly in patients with a history of mixed
      episodes (57.7%) and rapid cycling (55.0%). Half of the patients (49.2%) were
      able to hold an occupation. 84.2% of all patients were satisfied with their
      medication. Overall, patients evaluated their life satisfaction between "good"
      and "satisfactory" (2.69 according to German school grades where 1 is the highest
      and 6 the lowest mark). Patients receiving lithium, valproate or antidepressants
      as monotherapy rated above the mean, patients with combination therapy,
      carbamazepine monotherapy or medications summarized as "others" rated below the
      mean. CONCLUSION: Most of the German outpatients received a pharmacotherapy that
      is recommended in the guidelines of bipolar disorder. The use of (atypical)
      antipsychotics was low. Conversely, the incidence of treatment with tricyclic
      antidepressants (not guideline compatible), was observed to be relatively high.
      Irrespective of their medication, in Germany patients with bipolar disorder show
      a high acceptance of their pharmacotherapy, and rate their life satisfaction as
      high. Nonetheless, half of the evaluated patients were not able to pursue a
      profession. Besides the disease age, gender and family life e.g., child care may
      also play a confounding role regarding the unemployment statistics.

PMID- 20927304
TI  - The positive and negative affect schedule: psychometric properties of the korean
      version.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) was developed as a
      measure of positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA). The aim here is to
      examine the factor structure and concurrent validity of the Korean version of the
      Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (K-PANAS) in a clinical sample in Korea.
      METHODS: K-PANAS was administered to a clinical sample in Korea. Internal
      consistency, test-retest reliability, and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were
      undertaken to examine the factorial structure and reliability of the K-PANAS.
      RESULTS: The reliability of K-PANAS is satisfactory. CFA showed that several of
      the models commonly used in Western populations provided an insufficient fit. The
      modified model provided a more adequate fit to the data. CONCLUSION: The authors
      demonstrate that the K-PANAS has adequate psychometric properties, and that
      findings obtained in the West using PANAS were partially replicated.

PMID- 20927305
TI  - Current use of depression rating scales in mental health setting.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study was to investigate the current use of depression rating
      scales by psychiatrists and clinical psychologists in Korea. METHODS: The
      questionnaires from many psychiatrists and clinical psychologists were included
      in the analysis. The questionnaire was composed of items about examining the
      percentage of patients clinically using depression rating scales, reasons for not
      use of them, the degree of satisfaction, the perceived agreement rate between the
      result of depression rating scales and doctor's clinical interview in the
      evaluation of patients with depressive symptoms. Data were analyzed by chi(2) and
      independent t-test. RESULTS: The clinical use of depression rating scales was
      more frequent in the psychologists than in the psychiatrists. The purposes for
      using depression rating scales were assessed into six areas, there was no
      significant difference in between two groups, and both groups pointed out their
      purpose as rating of severity and screening. The reasons for not using scales
      were that their interview may be sufficient for diagnosis and assessment of
      depressive patients and they are not familiar with the use of depression rating
      scales. The psychiatrists usually prefer the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI),
      Hamilton Depression Rating Scale and Symptom Checklist 90-Revision (SCL-90-R) in
      order of frequency, and the clinical psychologists are more likely to use the
      BDI, Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory and SCL-90-R. Overall rate of
      satisfaction in the use of the scales was 67.29+/-14.45% and overall perceived
      agreement rate was 70.89+/-16.45%. CONCLUSION: Currently used depression rating
      scales at the clinical practice were not various. Therefore, to heighten
      clinicians' utility of these depression rating scales measures, either
      educational efforts or advertisements, or both, will be necessary to spread them
      wildly.

PMID- 20927306
TI  - Impairment of Concept Formation Ability in Children with ADHD: Comparisons
      between Lower Grades and Higher Grades.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We investigated executive functions (EFs), as evaluated by the
      Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), and other EF between lower grades (LG) and
      higher grades (HG) in elementary-school-age attention deficit hyperactivity
      disorder (ADHD) children. METHODS: We classified a sample of 112 ADHD children
      into 4 groups (composed of 28 each) based on age (LG vs. HG) and WCST performance
      [lower vs. higher performance on WCST, defined by the number of completed
      categories (CC)] Participants in each group were matched according to age,
      gender, ADHD subtype, and intelligence. We used the Wechsler intelligence Scale
      for Children 3rd edition to test intelligence and the Computerized Neurocognitive
      Function Test-IV, which included the WCST, to test EF. RESULTS: Comparisons of
      EFs scores in LG ADHD children showed statistically significant differences in
      performing digit spans backward, some verbal learning scores, including all
      memory scores, and Stroop test scores. However, comparisons of EF scores in HG
      ADHD children did not show any statistically significant differences. Correlation
      analyses of the CC and EF variables and stepwise multiple regression analysis in
      LG ADHD children showed a combination of the backward form of the Digit span test
      and Visual span test in lower-performance ADHD participants significantly
      predicted the number of CC (R(2)=0.273, p<0.001). CONCLUSION: This study suggests
      that the design of any battery of neuropsychological tests for measuring EF in
      ADHD children should first consider age before interpreting developmental
      variations and neuropsychological test results. Researchers should consider the
      dynamics of relationships within EF, as measured by neuropsychological tests.

PMID- 20927307
TI  - Efficacy and tolerability of aripiprazole: a 26-week switching study from oral
      antipsychotics.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine if the maintenance effectiveness and tolerability of
      aripiprazole demonstrated in a 12-week study were maintained in an extension
      phase (up to 26 weeks). METHODS: This study was the extension of our switching
      study from other antipsychotics to aripiprazole in symptomatically stable
      patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. All the patients were
      randomly assigned to the aripiprazole group or the non-aripiprazole group. The
      effectiveness analysis consisted of the comparison of the upper bound of the 95%
      confidence interval (CI) of the mean Clinical Global Impression-Improvement (CGI
      I) score to 4 (no change) at the end of the study. RESULTS: At the baseline, the
      aripiprazole group (n=135) and the non-aripiprazole group (n=31) were comparable
      with respect to their mean ages, gender distribution, baseline Positive and
      Negative Syndrome Scale scores, and Clinical Global Impression-Severity (CGI-S)
      scores. The study showed that the mean CGI-I score was 2.92 (95% CI: 2.72-3.12)
      in the aripiprazole group and 2.81 (95% CI: 2.35-3.26) in the non-aripiprazole
      group at 26 weeks. In the aripiprazole group, the remission rates at 12 and 26
      weeks were 74.8% and 72.6%, respectively, and 80.2% of the patients with
      remission at 12 weeks maintained their remission state until the end of the
      study. About one-fourth of the patients in the aripiprazole group reported one or
      more spontaneous treatment-emergent adverse events, such as insomnia, headache,
      and nausea. CONCLUSION: This study suggested that most clinically stable
      outpatients with schizophrenia maintain their remission states after being
      switched to aripiprazole, without serious symptom aggravation and adverse events
      over a course of 26 weeks.

PMID- 20927308
TI  - Genetic Association Study of the Alpha 7 Nicotinic Receptor (CHRNA7) with the
      Development of Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder in Korean Population.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: CHRNA7 has been shown to be a strong candidate gene for schizophrenia
      and bipolar disorder. It is located on chromosome 15q13-q14, which is one of the
      replicated linkage spots for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. METHODS: We
      conducted an association study to determine whether previous positive association
      is replicable in the Korean population. We included 254 patients with
      schizophrenia, 193 patients with bipolar disorder type I, 38 patients with
      bipolar disorder type II, 64 schizoaffective disorder patients, and 349 controls.
      All subjects were ethnically Korean. A total of 898 subjects were included, and
      genotyping was done for three single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of CHRNA7.
      These three intronic SNPs were rs2337506 (A/G), rs6494223 (C/T), and rs12916879
      (A/G). RESULTS: There was only one marginally significant association; this
      association was between rs12916879 and bipolar disorder type I in the male
      subgroup. In both the allele and genotype distributions, we found a weak signal
      (Chi-squared=3.57, df=1, p=0.06 for allele, Chi-squared=7.50, df=2, p=0.02 for
      genotype) only. Unphased haplotype analysis could not provide additional support
      for this finding. No SNP was associated with schizophrenia or any other affected
      groups in this Korean sample. The associative finding is marginal and
      inconclusive. CONCLUSION: We could not replicate positive association in other
      ethnic groups previously studied. This suggests possible heterogeneity in the
      genes associated with schizophrenia and bipolar disorders. Because of structural
      complexity of the CHRNA7 gene and the limited statistical power of this study,
      further genetic studies with more SNPs and larger samples covering various
      populations, along with more fine molecular exploration of the CHRNA7 gene
      structure, are required.

PMID- 20927309
TI  - Increased glycogen synthase kinase-3beta mRNA level in the hippocampus of
      patients with major depression: a study using the stanley neuropathology
      consortium integrative database.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Glycogen synthase kinase-3beta (GSK-3beta) has become recognized as a
      broadly influential enzyme affecting diverse range of biological functions,
      including gene expression, cellular architecture, and apoptosis. The results of
      previous studies suggest that GSK-3beta activity may be increased in the brain of
      patients with major depressive disorders (MDD). A recent animal study reported
      increased GSK-3beta messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) level in the hippocampus of
      those with depression. However, few studies have investigated GSK-3beta activity
      in the brain of patients with MDD. METHODS: In order to test whether patients
      with MDD have an increase in GSK-3beta activity in the brain compared to normal
      controls, we explored GSK-3beta expression level in all brain regions by using
      the Stanley Neuropathology Consortium Integrative Database (SNCID), which is a
      web-based method of integrating the Stanley Medical Research Institute data sets.
      RESULTS: The level of GSK-3beta mRNA expression in the hippocampus was
      significantly increased in the MDD group (n=8) compared with the control group
      (n=12, p<0.05). Spearman's test also reveals that GSK-3beta mRNA expression
      levels were significantly correlated with nitric oxide synthase 1
      (NOS1)(rho=0.70, p<0.0001) and stathmin-like 3 (STMN3)(rho=0.70, p<0.0001) in the
      hippocampus. CONCLUSION: Our results correspond with the results of previous
      animal studies that reported increased GSK-3beta activity in the hippocampus of
      those with depression. Our findings also suggest that oxidative stress-induced
      neuronal cell death and abnormal synaptic plasticity in the hippocampus may play
      important roles in the pathophysiology of major depression.

PMID- 20927310
TI  - Frontal Dysfunction Underlies Depression in Mild Cognitive Impairment: A FDG-PET
      Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Depression is a very common symptom in people with mild cognitive
      impairment (MCI), a preclinical stage of Alzheimer's disease (AD), and in those
      with clinically evident AD. Moreover, MCI individuals with depression show a
      higher conversion rate to clinical AD than those without depression. This study
      aimed to elucidate the functional neuroanatomical substrate of depression in MCI.
      METHODS: Thirty-six patients were recruited from a University Hospital-based
      cohort; 18 of these subjects had MCI with depression (MCI_D); the remaining 18
      subjects were age- and gender-matched, and had MCI with no depression (MCI_ND).
      For comparison, 16 cognitively normal (CN) elderly individuals were also
      included. All subjects underwent Fluorodeoxyglucose Positron Emission Tomography
      (FDG-PET) scanning and regional cerebral glucose metabolism was compared among
      the three groups by a voxel-based method. The relationship between severity of
      depression, as measured by Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD) scores,
      and glucose metabolism was also investigated. RESULTS: MCI_D showed lower glucose
      metabolism in the right superior frontal gyrus than MCI_ND. There was a
      significant negative correlation between HRSD score and glucose metabolism at the
      same frontal region for overall MCI subjects. When compared with CN, both MCI_D
      and MCI_ND showed decreased glucose metabolism in the precuneus, while MCI_D had,
      in addition, reduced metabolism in other diffuse brain regions. CONCLUSION: Given
      previous observations on depression in AD, our results suggest that functional
      disruption of the frontal region, known to be associated with primary or other
      secondary depression, underlies depression in preclinical AD as well as
      clinically evident AD.

PMID- 20927311
TI  - Changes in Cerebral Cortex and Limbic Brain Functions after Short-Term Paroxetine
      Treatment in Panic Disorder: An [F]FDG-PET Pilot Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Panic disorder (PD) is a common and often chronic psychiatric illness,
      and serotonin-specific reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are the drugs of choice for
      the treatment of PD. Previous studies suggested the cerebral cortex and limbic
      brain structures played a major role in the development of PD, but the
      therapeutic effect of SSRIs on specific brain structures remains unclear in PD.
      We examined the changes in PD patients' glucose metabolism using the [(18)F]
      Fluorodeoxy-glucose-positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) before and after 12
      weeks of paroxetine treatment. METHODS: We assessed the brain glucose metabolism
      of 5 PD patients, using the [(18)F]FDG-PET, and treated them with paroxetine
      (12.5-37.5 mg/day) for 12 weeks. Then, we compared before and after treatment PET
      images of the patients, using voxel-based statistical analysis and a post hoc
      regions of interest analysis. Furthermore, we measured the patients' clinical
      variables, including information from the Panic Disorder Severity Scale (PDSS),
      Clinical Global Impression for Severity (CGI-S), and Hamilton Anxiety Rating
      Scale (HAMA). RESULTS: After 12 weeks of paroxetine treatment, the patients
      showed significant clinical improvement in terms of PDSS, CGI-S and HAMA scores
      (12.8+/-1.8 vs. 3.8+/-2.3, 4.6+/-0.5 vs. 2.0+/-1.4, and 15.2+/-4.0 vs. 5.0+/-1.2,
      respectively; all p values<0.05). After treatment, patients' glucose metabolism
      increased significantly in global brain areas: the right precentral gyrus, right
      middle frontal gyrus, right amygdala, right caudate body, right putamen, left
      middle frontal gyrus, left precentral gyrus, left insula, left parahippocampal
      gyrus, and left inferior frontal gyrus (All areas were significant at uncorrected
      p<0.001 and cluster level corrected p<0.05). CONCLUSION: In these PD patients,
      cerebral cortex and limbic brain functions changed after short-term treatment
      with paroxetine. The therapeutic action of paroxetine may be related to altered
      glucose metabolism at both the cerebral cortex and limbic brain areas.

PMID- 20927312
TI  - Retrospective case series of aripiprazole augmentation in pervasive developmental
      disorders.
AB  - Due to co-morbidities and treatment resistant nature of pervasive developmental
      disorder (PDD), diverse combinations of regimens have been tried. This
      retrospective study aimed to explore adjunctive use of aripiprazole in children
      with PDD. Changes in illness severity were measured by Clinical Global Impression
      of Severity (CGI-S) and Clinical Global Impression of Improvement (CGI-I) in 14
      aripiprazole-treated patients with PDD. Improvement of illness severity was
      observed after aripiprazole add-on (5.8+/-0.8 to 4.9+/-1.0, Z=-2.75, p=0.001).
      Mean dosage was 7.7 mg/day [standard deviation (SD) 3.3, range 5-15]. A higher
      mean dosage was observed in group with improvement in symptoms (t=-2.33, df =12,
      p=0.004). The target symptoms most effectively improved after using aripiprazole
      were positive psychotic symptoms (mean CGI-I: 2.0+/-1.4, 3 responders/4 patients,
      75% response) followed by aggressive behavior (2.5+/-1.7, 3/4, 75%), self
      injurious behavior (2.0+/-1.0, 2/3, 67%), stereotypic behavior (2.7+/-1.2, 2/3,
      67%), tic (2.8+/-1.0, 2/4, 50%), irritability (3.5+/-2.1, 1/2, 50%), obsessive
      behavior (2.5+/-2.1, 1/3, 33%), hyperactivity (3.4+/-1.6, 3/7, 43%) and mood
      fluctuation (3, 0/1, no response). Five patients (35%) discontinued aripiprazole
      due to treatment-emergent adverse effects (akathisia, insomnia, withdrawal). The
      results of this study suggest that aripiprazole augmentation may be used safely
      in maladaptive behaviors of some populations of PDD. However, future studies are
      required to confirm these preliminary findings.

PMID- 20927313
TI  - Association between Estrogen Receptor Gene Polymorphisms and Depression in Post
      Menopausal Women: A Preliminary Study.
AB  - Post-menopausal women experience variable biological and psychological changes.
      The effect of reduced levels of estrogen can effect on post-menopausal
      depression. Estrogen triggers physiological responses by binding to the estrogen
      receptor (ER). Two subtypes of ER, ERa and ERb are now known. We investigated the
      significance of ERa and ERb polymorphisms and post-menopasal depression in this
      study. Forty three women with post-menopausal depression and 63 post-menopausal
      women without depression as normal controls were recruited. Polymerase chain
      reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism method was used to investigate
      genotypes of ERa and ERb polymorphisms. Genotypes of PvuII and XbaI polymorphism
      of ERa receptor were significantly different in patients with post-menopausal
      depression comparing with controls. Genotypes of ERb did not show association
      with post-menopausal depression. Our study showed that ERa receptor polymorphism
      had an association with depression in post-menopausal women. It suggests that
      investigation of ER genes and their functions might be important for
      understanding pathophysilogical mechanism of post-menopausal depression.

PMID- 20927314
TI  - Cholestatic jaundice induced by duloxetine in a patient with major depressive
      disorder.
AB  - Duloxetine is a balanced and potent serotonin and noradrenaline reuptake
      inhibitor (SNRI) and has adverse effects that are commonly associated with such
      drugs, including nausea, dry mouth, constipation, insomnia, and dizziness.
      Recently, duloxetine-induced liver injury has also been observed in patients with
      preexisting liver disease or chronic alcohol use. We investigated the effects of
      duloxetine in a healthy young adult with major depressive disorder (MDD) but no
      risk factors, and found that his total bilirubin level increased to 3.3 mg/dL and
      he developed jaundice after 5 months of duloxetine treatment. Discontinuation of
      duloxetine treatment saw his total bilirubin level decrease to 1.8 mg/dL. Thus,
      the administration of duloxetine might induce liver injury in a patient with MDD.
      However, the limitations of this single case report must be acknowledged.
      Although the cause of hepatic dysfunction in this case remains to be elucidated,
      clinicians should monitor liver function carefully after duloxetine treatment.
      Further investigations with a larger sample are needed.

PMID- 20927315
TI  - Characterization and mechanistic studies of a novel melanoma-targeting construct
      containing IkappaBa for specific inhibition of nuclear factor-kappaB activity.
AB  - The transcription factor nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) is a central mediator
      of growth and homeostasis for both normal and neoplastic cells. IkappaBalpha is
      the natural intracellular inhibitor of NF-kappaB and can effectively complex with
      and thereby inhibit the biologic activity and translocation of NF-kappaB to the
      nucleus. We designed a fusion protein designated IkappaBalpha/scFvMEL composing
      of human IkappaBalpha and the single-chain antibody scFvMEL, targets melanoma
      gp240 antigen. Cells treated with IkappaBalpha/scFvMEL before irradiation showed
      specifically inhibition of both constitutive and radiation-induced NF-kappaB
      activity on gp240 antigen-positive A375M cells. Pretreatment of A375M cells with
      IkappaBalpha/scFvMEL significantly sensitized melanoma cells to ionizing
      radiation assessed using a clonogenic survival assay. Mechanistic studies showed
      that IkappaBalpha/scFvMEL, when exogenously added to A375M cells, could be
      coimmunoprecipitated with the p65 subunit of NF-kappaB. IkappaBalpha/scFvMEL
      inhibited in a time and/or dose-dependent manner of tumor necrosis factor alpha-
      or radiation-induced NF-kappaB activity in vitro. IkappaBalpha/scFvMEL was also
      shown to specifically inhibit the translocation of the NF-kappaB p65 subunit to
      the cell nucleus and NF-kappaB-mediated gene transcription. Further, initial
      studies showed that mice bearing well-established A375M xenografts were treated
      (intravenously) with IkappaBalpha/scFvMEL and showed a significant suppression of
      tumor growth. We also observed a decrease in levels of Bcl-2 and Bcl-XL signaling
      events downstream of NF-kappaB in the tumor model. These studies demonstrate for
      the first time that tumor cell-targeted delivery of IkappaBalpha may be
      beneficial for the treatment of melanoma when combined with standard anticancer
      therapies such as radiation.

PMID- 20927316
TI  - An anti-urokinase plasminogen activator receptor antibody (ATN-658) blocks
      prostate cancer invasion, migration, growth, and experimental skeletal metastasis
      in vitro and in vivo.
AB  - Urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR) is a multidomain protein that
      plays important roles in the growth, invasion, and metastasis of a number of
      cancers. In the present study, we examined the effects of administration of a
      monoclonal anti-uPAR antibody (ATN-658) on prostate cancer progression in vitro
      and in vivo. We examined the effect of treatment of ATN-658 on human prostate
      cancer cell invasion, migration, proliferation, and regulation of intracellular
      signaling pathways. For in vivo studies, PC-3 cells (1 x 10(6)) were inoculated
      into the right flank of male Balb C nu/nu mice through subcutaneous or through
      intratibial route (2 x 10(5)) of male Fox Chase severe combined immunodeficient
      mice to monitor the effect on tumor growth and skeletal metastasis. Treatment
      with ATN-658 resulted in a significant dose-dependent decrease in PC-3 cell
      invasion and migration without affecting cell doubling time. Western blot
      analysis showed that ATN-658 treatment decreased the phosphorylation of
      serine/threonine protein kinase B (AKT), mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK),
      and focal adhesion kinase (FAK) without affecting AKT, MAPK, and FAK total
      protein expression. In in vivo studies, ATN-658 caused a significant decrease in
      tumor volume and a marked reduction in skeletal lesions as determined by Faxitron
      x-ray and micro-computed tomography. Immunohistochemical analysis of subcutaneous
      and tibial tumors showed a marked decrease in the levels of expression of pAKT,
      pMAPK, and pFAK, consistent with the in vitro observations. Results from these
      studies provide compelling evidence for the continued development of ATN-658 as a
      potential therapeutic agent for the treatment of prostate and other cancers
      expressing uPAR.

PMID- 20927317
TI  - A critical role of c-Cbl-interacting protein of 85 kDa in the development and
      progression of head and neck squamous cell carcinomas through the ras-ERK
      pathway.
AB  - Activation of the transforming growth factor (TGF) alpha/epidermal growth factor
      receptor (EGFR)-mediated signaling pathway is a common mechanism for dysregulated
      growth of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). c-Cbl-interacting
      protein of 85 kDa (CIN85) is an adaptor protein that facilitates EGFR
      internalization. Little is known, however, about a role of CIN85 in EGFR
      signaling as well as its relevance to tumor development and progression of HNSCC.
      Here, we demonstrate that CIN85 is highly expressed in HNSCC tumor samples
      compared with adjacent normal tissues, and this overexpression is significantly
      correlated with advanced clinical stage. The experiments using CIN85
      overexpressing and knockdown HNSCC cell lines showed that CIN85 promotes HNSCC
      growth and facilitates EGFR internalization without apparently affecting
      phosphorylation of EGFR. Moreover, CIN85 promoted TGF-alpha-induced activation of
      Ras and phosphorylation of downstream molecules such as c-Raf, MEK, and
      extracellular signal-regulated kinase, leading to expression of c-Myc that is
      critical for sustained proliferation of HNSCC. Taken together, these findings
      suggest that CIN85 not only controls EGFR internalization but also promotes the
      EGFR-mediated tumor development and progression, and thus, CIN85 may serve as a
      potential therapeutic target in a subset of HNSCC.

PMID- 20927318
TI  - Specific targeting of tumor endothelial cells by a shiga-like toxin-vascular
      endothelial growth factor fusion protein as a novel treatment strategy for
      pancreatic cancer.
AB  - PURPOSE: Tumor endothelial cells express vascular endothelial growth factor
      receptor 2 (VEGFR-2). VEGF can direct toxins to tumor vessels through VEGFR-2 for
      antiangiogenic therapy. This study aimed to selectively damage the VEGFR-2
      overexpressing vasculature of pancreatic cancer by SLT-VEGF fusion protein
      comprising VEGF and the A subunit of Shiga-like toxin which inhibits protein
      synthesis of cells with high VEGFR-2 expression. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: Expression
      of VEGF and VEGF receptors was evaluated in human pancreatic cancer cells (AsPC
      1, HPAF-2) and in normal human endothelial cells (HUVEC) by reverse transcription
      polymerase chain reaction. Cells were treated with SLT-VEGF (0.1-10 nM), and cell
      viability, proliferation, and endothelial tube formation were assessed.
      Orthotopic pancreatic cancer (AsPC-1, HPAF-2) was induced in nude mice. Animals
      were treated with SLT-VEGF fusion protein alone or in combination with
      gemcitabine. Treatment began 3 days or 6 weeks after tumor induction. Primary
      tumor volume and dissemination were determined after 14 weeks. Microvessel
      density and expression of VEGF and VEGF receptors were analyzed by
      immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: SLT-VEGF did not influence proliferation of
      pancreatic cancer cells; HUVECs (low-level VEGFR-2) reduced their proliferation
      rate and tube formation but not their viability. SLT-VEGF fusion protein reduced
      tumor growth and dissemination, increasing 14-week survival (AsPC-1, up to 75%;
      HPAF-2, up to 83%). Results of gemcitabine were comparable with SLT-VEGF
      monotherapy. Combination partly increased the therapeutic effects in comparison
      to the respective monotherapies. Microvessel density was reduced in all groups.
      Intratumoral VEGFR-2 expression was found in endothelial but not in tumor cells.
      CONCLUSIONS: SLT-VEGF is toxic for tumor vasculature rather than for normal
      endothelial or pancreatic cancer cells. SLT-VEGF treatment in combination with
      gemcitabine may provide a novel approach for pancreatic cancer.

PMID- 20927320
TI  - Longitudinal magnetic resonance imaging-based assessment of vascular changes and
      radiation response in androgen-sensitive prostate carcinoma xenografts under
      androgen-exposed and androgen-deprived conditions.
AB  - Prostate cancer (PCa) patients receive androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) to
      reduce tumor burden. However, complete eradication of PCa is unusual, and
      recurrent disease is evident within approximately 2 years in high-risk patients.
      Clinical evidence suggests that combining ADT with radiotherapy improves local
      control and disease-free survival in these patients compared with radiotherapy
      alone. We investigated whether vascularization of androgen-sensitive PCa
      xenografts changed after ADT and whether such therapy affected radiation
      response. CWR22 xenografts received combinations of ADT by castration (CWR22-cas)
      and 15 Gy of single-dose irradiation. At a shortest tumor diameter of 8 mm,
      vascularization was visualized by dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance
      imaging before radiation and 1 and 9 days after radiation. Voxel-wise
      quantitative modeling of contrast enhancement curves extracted the hemodynamic
      parameter K(trans), reflecting a combination of permeability, density, and blood
      flow. Tumor volumes and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) were monitored during the
      experiment. The results showed that K(trans) of CWR22-cas tumors 36+/-4 days
      after ADT was 47.1% higher than K(trans) of CWR22 tumors (P = .01). CWR22-cas
      tumors showed no significant changes in K(trans) after radiation, whereas
      K(trans) of CWR22 tumors at day 1 decreased compared with pretreatment values (P
      = .04) before a continuous increase from day 1 to day 9 followed (P = .01). Total
      PSA in blood correlated positively to tumor volume (r = 0.59, P < .01). In
      conclusion, androgen-exposed xenografts demonstrated radiation-induced reductions
      in vascularization and tumor volumes, whereas androgen-deprived xenografts showed
      increased vascularization and growth inhibition, but no significant additive
      effect of radiation.

PMID- 20927319
TI  - Gene expression levels as predictive markers of outcome in pancreatic cancer
      after gemcitabine-based adjuvant chemotherapy.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The standard palliative chemotherapy for pancreatic ductal
      adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is gemcitabine-based chemotherapy; however, PDAC still
      presents a major therapeutic challenge. The aims of this study were to
      investigate the expression pattern of genes involved in gemcitabine sensitivity
      in resected PDAC tissues and to determine correlations of gene expression with
      treatment outcome. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We obtained formalin-fixed paraffin
      embedded (FFPE) tissue samples from 70 patients with PDAC. Of the 70 patients, 40
      received gemcitabine-based adjuvant chemotherapy (AC). We measured hENT1, dCK,
      CDA, RRM1, and RRM2 messenger RNA (mRNA) levels by quantitative real-time reverse
      transcription-polymerase chain reaction and determined the combined score (GEM
      score), based on the expression levels of hENT1, dCK, RRM1, and RRM2, to
      investigate the association with survival time. By determining the expression
      levels of these genes in endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration (EUS
      FNA) cytologic specimens, we investigated the feasibility of individualized
      chemotherapy. RESULTS: High dCK (P = .0067), low RRM2 (P = .003), and high GEM
      score (P = .0003) groups had a significantly longer disease-free survival in the
      gemcitabine-treated group. A low GEM score (<2) was an independent predictive
      marker for poor outcome to gemcitabine-based AC as shown by multivariate analysis
      (P = .0081). Altered expression levels of these genes were distinguishable in
      microdissected neoplastic cells from EUS-FNA cytologic specimens. CONCLUSIONS:
      Quantitative analyses of hENT1, dCK, RRM1, and RRM2 mRNA levels using FFPE tissue
      samples and microdissected neoplastic cells from EUS-FNA cytologic specimens may
      be useful in predicting the gemcitabine sensitivity of patients with PDAC.

PMID- 20927321
TI  - Syndecan-1-dependent suppression of PDK1/Akt/bad signaling by docosahexaenoic
      acid induces apoptosis in prostate cancer.
AB  - Evidence indicates that diets enriched in n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3
      PUFAs) reduce the risk of prostate cancer, but biochemical mechanisms are
      unclear. Syndecan-1 (SDC-1), a transmembrane heparan sulfate proteoglycan,
      supports the integrity of the epithelial compartment. In tumor cells of
      epithelial lineage, SDC-1 is generally downregulated. This may result in
      perturbation of homeostasis and lead to progression of malignancy. Our studies
      have shown that the n-3 PUFA species, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), increases SDC-1
      expression in prostate tissues of Pten knockout (Pten(P-/-)) mice/cells and human
      prostate cancer cells. We have now determined that DHA-mediated up-regulation of
      SDC-1 induces apoptosis. Bovine serum albumin-bound DHA and exogenous human
      recombinant SDC-1 ecotodomain were delivered to PC3 and LNCaP cells in the
      presence or absence of SDC-1 small interfering (si)RNA. In the presence of
      control siRNA, both DHA and SDC-1 ectodomain induced apoptosis, whereas SDC-1
      silencing blocked DHA-induced but not SDC-1 ectodomain-induced apoptosis.
      Downstream effectors of SDC-1 signaling linked to n-3 PUFA-induced apoptosis
      involved the 3'-phosphoinositide-dependent kinase 1 (PDK1)/Akt/Bad integrating
      network. A diet enriched in n-3 PUFA decreased phosphorylation of PDK1, Akt
      (T308), and Bad in prostates of Pten(P-/-) mice. Similar results were observed in
      human prostate cancer cells in response to DHA and SDC-1 ectodomain. The effect
      of DHA on PDK1/Akt/Bad signaling was abrogated by SDC-1 siRNA. These findings
      define a mechanism by which SDC-1-dependent suppression of phosphorylation of
      PDK1/Akt/Bad mediates n-3 PUFA-induced apoptosis in prostate cancer.

PMID- 20927322
TI  - Short hairpin RNA-mediated fibronectin knockdown delays tumor growth in a mouse
      glioma model.
AB  - Glioblastoma multiforme is the most common and lethal primary brain tumor. Glioma
      progression depends on the rapid proliferation of tumor cells accompanied by an
      acute immunosuppressive environment, facilitated mainly by tumor infiltration of
      regulatory T cells (Tregs). In this study, we characterize the role of
      fibronectin, a high-molecular weight extracellular matrix glycoprotein secreted
      by tumor cells, in controlling glioma progression and in mediating
      immunosuppression. Fibronectin binds to membrane-spanning integrin receptors and
      plays an important role in cell signaling, in defining cellular shape, in
      mobility, and in regulating the cell cycle. We found that inhibition of
      fibronectin expression in glioma cells, using short hairpin RNA-mediated
      silencing of gene expression, delayed cell proliferation in vitro. This delayed
      growth is explained, in part, by the observed reduced expression of integrin
      beta(1) fibronectin receptor, which was restored by the inhibition of proteosomal
      activity. In our analysis of the downstream signaling targets of integrin
      beta(1), we demonstrated reduced phosphorylation of Src kinase and STAT-3. We
      also observed reduced survivin expression that induced a three-fold increased
      accumulation of fibronectin-knockdown cells in the G(2)/M phase. In an
      experimental animal model, the fibronectin knockdown tumors had a mean survival
      advantage of 23 days over wild-type tumors. Moreover, brain samples of animals
      bearing fibronectin-knockdown tumors showed delayed Treg recruitment.
      Collectively, we propose that fibronectin is a key mediator of glioma progression
      because its inhibition delays both tumor progression and immunosuppression.

PMID- 20927323
TI  - Protein phosphatase 2A negatively regulates eukaryotic initiation factor 4E
      phosphorylation and eIF4F assembly through direct dephosphorylation of Mnk and
      eIF4E.
AB  - The eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4E (eIF4E) is frequently
      overexpressed in human cancers and is associated with cellular transformation,
      tumorigenesis, and metastatic progression. It is known that Mnks can
      phosphorylate eIF4E. Protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) functions as a tumor
      suppressor, and it was previously suggested to regulate eIF4E phosphorylation.
      However, how PP2A regulates eIF4E phosphorylation has not been fully addressed.
      In this study, we have not only validated the role of PP2A in regulation of eIF4E
      phosphorylation but also demonstrated the mechanism underlying this process.
      Inhibition of PP2A using either okadaic acid or PP2A small interfering RNA
      (siRNA) increased eIF4E phosphorylation, which could be abolished by the presence
      of the Mnk inhibitor CGP57380 or deficiency of Mnk genes. Thus, Mnks are involved
      in PP2A-mediated regulation of eIF4E phosphorylation. Moreover, a
      dephosphorylation assay revealed that PP2A could directly dephosphorylate Mnk1
      and eIF4E. m(7)GTP pull-down assay detected more eIF4G and phospho-eIF4E and less
      4EBP-1 in PP2A siRNA-transfected cells than in control siRNA-transfected cells,
      indicating an increased cap binding of eIF4F complex. Accordingly, okadaic acid
      treatment or PP2A knockdown increased the levels of c-Myc and Mcl-1, which are
      proteins known to be regulated by a cap-dependent translation mechanism. Taken
      together, we conclude that PP2A negatively regulates eIF4E phosphorylation and
      eIF4F complex assembly through dephosphorylation of Mnk and eIF4E, thus
      suggesting a novel mechanism by which PP2A exerts its tumor-suppressive function.

PMID- 20927324
TI  - The unfolded protein response protects from tau neurotoxicity in vivo.
AB  - The unfolded protein response is a critical system by which the cell handles
      excess misfolded protein in the secretory pathway. The role of the system in
      modulating the effects of aggregation prone cytosolic proteins has received less
      attention. We use genetic reporters to demonstrate activation of the unfolded
      protein response in a transgenic Drosophila model of Alzheimer's disease and
      related tauopathies. We then use loss of function genetic reagents to support a
      role for the unfolded protein response in protecting from tau neurotoxicity. Our
      findings suggest that the unfolded protein response can ameliorate the toxicity
      of tau in vivo.

PMID- 20927325
TI  - ERK3 is required for metaphase-anaphase transition in mouse oocyte meiosis.
AB  - ERK3 (extracellular signal-regulated kinase 3) is an atypical member of the
      mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase family of serine/threonine kinases. Little
      is known about its function in mitosis, and even less about its roles in
      mammalian oocyte meiosis. In the present study, we examined the localization,
      expression and functions of ERK3 during mouse oocyte meiotic maturation.
      Immunofluorescent analysis showed that ERK3 localized to the spindles from the
      pre-MI stage to the MII stage. ERK3 co-localized with alpha-tubulin on the
      spindle fibers and asters in oocytes after taxol treatment. Deletion of ERK3 by
      microinjection of ERK3 morpholino (ERK3 MO) resulted in oocyte arrest at the MI
      stage with severely impaired spindles and misaligned chromosomes. Most
      importantly, the spindle assembly checkpoint protein BubR1 could be detected on
      kinetochores even in oocytes cultured for 10 h. Low temperature treatment
      experiments indicated that ERK3 deletion disrupted kinetochore-microtubule (K-MT)
      attachments. Chromosome spreading experiments showed that knock-down of ERK3
      prevented the segregation of homologous chromosomes. Our data suggest that ERK3
      is crucial for spindle stability and required for the metaphase-anaphase
      transition in mouse oocyte maturation.

PMID- 20927326
TI  - Age-correlated gene expression in normal and neurodegenerative human brain
      tissues.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Human brain aging has received special attention in part because of
      the elevated risks of neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease in
      seniors. Recent technological advances enable us to investigate whether similar
      mechanisms underlie aging and neurodegeneration, by quantifying the similarities
      and differences in their genome-wide gene expression profiles. PRINCIPAL
      FINDINGS: We have developed a computational method for assessing an individual's
      "physiological brain age" by comparing global mRNA expression datasets across a
      range of normal human brain samples. Application of this method to brains samples
      from select regions in two diseases--Alzheimer's disease (AD, superior frontal
      gyrus), frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD, in rostral aspect of frontal
      cortex ~BA10)--showed that while control cohorts exhibited no significant
      difference between physiological and chronological ages, FTLD and AD exhibited
      prematurely aged expression profiles. CONCLUSIONS: This study establishes a
      quantitative scale for measuring premature aging in neurodegenerative disease
      cohorts, and it identifies specific physiological mechanisms common to aging and
      some forms of neurodegeneration. In addition, accelerated expression profiles
      associated with AD and FTLD suggest some common mechanisms underlying the risk of
      developing these diseases.

PMID- 20927327
TI  - Xenopus egg extracts increase dynamics of histone H1 on sperm chromatin.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Linker histone H1 has been studied in vivo and using reconstituted
      chromatin, but there have been few systematic studies of the effects of the
      cellular environment on its function. Due to the presence of many other chromatin
      factors and specific chaperones such as RanBP7/importin beta that regulate
      histone H1, linker histones likely function differently in vivo than in purified
      systems. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We have directly compared H1 binding to
      sperm nuclei in buffer versus Xenopus egg extract cytoplasm, and monitored the
      effects of adding nuclear import chaperones. In buffer, RanBP7 decondenses sperm
      nuclei, while H1 binds tightly to the chromatin and rescues RanBP7-mediated
      decondensation. H1 binding is reduced in cytoplasm, and H1 exhibits rapid FRAP
      dynamics in cytoplasm but not in buffer. RanBP7 decreases H1 binding to chromatin
      in both buffer and extract but does not significantly affect H1 dynamics in
      either condition. Importin beta has a lesser effect than RanBP7 on sperm
      chromatin decondensation and H1 binding, while a combination of RanBP7/importin
      beta is no more effective than RanBP7 alone. In extracts supplemented with
      RanBP7, H1 localizes to chromosomal foci, which increase after DNA damage. Unlike
      somatic H1, the embryonic linker histone H1M binds equally well to chromatin in
      cytoplasm compared to buffer. Amino-globular and carboxyl terminal domains of H1M
      bind chromatin comparably to the full-length protein in buffer, but are inhibited
      ~10-fold in cytoplasm. High levels of H1 or its truncations distort mitotic
      chromosomes and block their segregation during anaphase. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE:
      RanBP7 can decondense sperm nuclei and decrease H1 binding, but the rapid
      dynamics of H1 on chromatin depend on other cytoplasmic factors. Cytoplasm
      greatly impairs the activity of individual H1 domains, and only the full-length
      protein can condense chromatin properly. Our findings begin to bridge the gap
      between purified and in vivo chromatin systems.

PMID- 20927328
TI  - Postural strategies and sensory integration: no turning point between childhood
      and adolescence.
AB  - In this study, we investigated the sensory integration to postural control in
      children and adolescents from 5 to 15 years of age. We adopted the working
      hypothesis that considerable body changes occurring during these periods may lead
      subjects to under-use the information provided by the proprioceptive pathway and
      over-use other sensory systems such as vision to control their orientation and
      stabilize their body. It was proposed to determine which maturational differences
      may exist between the sensory integration used by children and adolescents in
      order to test the hypothesis that adolescence may constitute a specific phase in
      the development of postural control. This hypothesis was tested by applying an
      original protocol of slow oscillations below the detection threshold of the
      vestibular canal system, which mainly serves to mediate proprioceptive
      information, to the platform on which the subjects were standing. We highlighted
      the process of acquiring an accurate sensory and anatomical reference frame for
      functional movement. We asked children and adolescents to maintain a vertical
      stance while slow sinusoidal oscillations in the frontal plane were applied to
      the support at 0.01 Hz (below the detection threshold of the semicircular canal
      system) and at 0.06 Hz (above the detection threshold of the semicircular canal
      system) with their eyes either open or closed. This developmental study provided
      evidence that there are mild differences in the quality of sensory integration
      relative to postural control in children and adolescents. The results reported
      here confirmed the predominance of vision and the gradual mastery of
      somatosensory integration in postural control during a large period of
      ontogenesis including childhood and adolescence. The youngest as well as the
      oldest subjects adopted similar qualitative damping and segmental stabilization
      strategies that gradually improved with age without reaching an adult's level.
      Lastly, sensory reweighting for postural strategies as assessed by very slow
      support oscillations presents a linear development without any qualitative
      turning point between childhood and adolescence.

PMID- 20927329
TI  - Interferon alpha induces establishment of alphaherpesvirus latency in sensory
      neurons in vitro.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Several alphaherpesviruses, including herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1)
      and pseudorabies virus (PRV), establish lifelong latency in neurons of the
      trigeminal ganglion (TG). Although it is thought that efficient establishment of
      alphaherpesvirus latency is based on a subtle interplay between virus, neurons
      and the immune system, it is not clear which immune components are of major
      importance for the establishment of latency. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:
      Here, using an in vitro model that enables a natural route of infection, we show
      that interferon alpha (IFNalpha) has the previously uncharacterized capacity to
      induce a quiescent HSV-1 and PRV infection in porcine TG neurons that shows
      strong similarity to in vivo latency. IFNalpha induced a stably suppressed HSV-1
      and PRV infection in TG neurons in vitro. Subsequent treatment of neurons
      containing stably suppressed virus with forskolin resulted in reactivation of
      both viruses. HSV and PRV latency in vivo is often accompanied by the expression
      of latency associated transcripts (LATs). Infection of TG neurons with an HSV-1
      mutant expressing LacZ under control of the LAT promoter showed activation of the
      LAT promoter and RT-PCR analysis confirmed that both HSV-1 and PRV express LATs
      during latency in vitro. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: These data represent a unique
      in vitro model of alphaherpesvirus latency and indicate that IFNalpha may be a
      driving force in promoting efficient latency establishment.

PMID- 20927331
TI  - QKI-7 regulates expression of interferon-related genes in human astrocyte glioma
      cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The human QKI gene, called quaking homolog, KH domain RNA binding
      (mouse), is a candidate gene for schizophrenia encoding an RNA-binding protein.
      This gene was shown to be essential for myelination in oligodendrocytes. QKI is
      also highly expressed in astrocytes, but its function in these cells is not
      known. METHODS/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We studied the effect of small interference
      RNA (siRNA)-mediated QKI depletion on global gene expression in human astrocyte
      glioma cells. Microarray measurements were confirmed with real-time quantitative
      polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). The presence of QKI binding sites (QRE) was
      assessed by a bioinformatic approach. Viability and cell morphology were also
      studied. The most significant alteration after QKI silencing was the decreased
      expression of genes involved in interferon (IFN) induction (P = 6.3E-10),
      including IFIT1, IFIT2, MX1, MX2, G1P2, G1P3, GBP1 and IFIH1. All eight genes
      were down-regulated after silencing of the splice variant QKI-7, but were not
      affected by QKI-5 silencing. Interestingly, four of them were up-regulated after
      treatment with the antipsychotic agent haloperidol that also resulted in
      increased QKI-7 mRNA levels. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The coordinated expression
      of QKI-7 splice variant and IFN-related genes supports the idea that this
      particular splice variant has specific functions in astrocytes. Furthermore, a
      role of QKI-7 as a regulator of an inflammatory gene pathway in astrocytes is
      suggested. This hypothesis is well in line with growing experimental evidence on
      the role of inflammatory components in schizophrenia.

PMID- 20927330
TI  - Mechanical stress activates Smad pathway through PKCdelta to enhance interleukin
      11 gene transcription in osteoblasts.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mechanical stress rapidly induces DeltaFosB expression in
      osteoblasts, which binds to interleukin (IL)-11 gene promoter to enhance IL-11
      expression, and IL-11 enhances osteoblast differentiation. Because bone
      morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) also stimulate IL-11 expression in osteoblasts,
      there is a possibility that BMP-Smad signaling is involved in the enhancement of
      osteoblast differentiation by mechanical stress. The present study was undertaken
      to clarify whether mechanical stress affects BMP-Smad signaling, and if so, to
      elucidate the role of Smad signaling in mechanical stress-induced enhancement of
      IL-11 gene transcription. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Mechanical loading by
      fluid shear stress (FSS) induced phosphorylation of BMP-specific receptor
      regulated Smads (BR-Smads), Smad1/5, in murine primary osteoblasts (mPOBs). FSS
      rapidly phosphorylated Y311 of protein kinase C (PKC)delta, and phosphorylated
      PKCdelta interacted with BR-Smads to phosphorylate BR-Smads. Transfection of
      PKCdelta siRNA or Y311F mutant PKCdelta abrogated BR-Smads phosphorylation and
      suppressed IL-11 gene transcription enhanced by FSS. Activated BR-Smads bound to
      the Smad-binding element (SBE) of IL-11 gene promoter and formed complex with
      DeltaFosB/JunD heterodimer via binding to the C-terminal region of JunD. Site
      directed mutagenesis in the SBE and the AP-1 site revealed that both SBE and AP-1
      sites were required for full activation of IL-11 gene promoter by FSS.
      CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: These results demonstrate that PKCdelta-BR-Smads
      pathway plays an important role in the intracellular signaling in response to
      mechanical stress, and that a cross-talk between PKCdelta-BR-Smads and
      DeltaFosB/JunD pathways synergistically stimulates IL-11 gene transcription in
      response to mechanical stress.

PMID- 20927332
TI  - Investigation of KIF6 Trp719Arg in a case-control study of myocardial infarction:
      a Costa Rican population.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND METHODOLOGY: The 719Arg allele of KIF6 (rs20455) was associated
      with coronary events in Caucasian participants of five prospective studies. We
      investigated whether this KIF6 variant was associated with non-fatal myocardial
      infarction (MI) in a case-control study of an admixed population from the Central
      Valley of Costa Rica. Genotypes of the KIF6 variant were determined for 4,134 men
      and women. Cases (1,987) had survived a first MI; controls (2,147) had no history
      of MI and were matched to cases by age, sex, and area of residence. We tested the
      association between the KIF6 719Arg allele and non-fatal MI by conditional
      logistic regression and adjusted for admixture of founder populations. PRINCIPAL
      FINDINGS: Compared with the reference Trp/Trp homozygotes, KIF6 719Arg carriers
      were not at significantly higher risk for non-fatal MI in this study after
      adjustment for traditional risk factors or admixture (OR= 1.12; 95%CI, 0.98
      1.28). Heterozygotes of the KIF6 Trp719Arg variant were at increased risk of non
      fatal MI: the adjusted odds ratio was 1.16 (95% confidence interval, 1.01-1.34),
      but this association would not be significant after a multiple testing
      correction. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: We found that carriers of the KIF6 719Arg
      allele were not at increased risk of non-fatal MI in a case-control study of
      Costa Ricans living in the Central Valley of Costa Rica.

PMID- 20927333
TI  - Delayed onset of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis in Olig1 deficient
      mice.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Olig1 is a basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factor that is
      essential for oligodendrogenesis and efficient remyelination. However, its role
      in neurodegenerative disorders has not been well-elucidated.
      METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Here we investigated the effects of Olig1
      deficiency on experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), an animal model of
      multiple sclerosis (MS). We show that the mean disease onset of myelin
      oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG)-induced EAE in Olig1(-/-) mice is
      significantly slower than wide-type (WT) mice (19.8 +/- 2.2 in Olig1(-/-) mice
      and 9.5 +/- 0.3 days in WT mice). In addition, 10% of Olig1(-/-) mice did not
      develop EAE by the end of the observation periods (60 days). The severity of EAE,
      the extent of demyelination, and the activation of microglial cells and
      astrocytes in spinal cords, were significantly milder in Olig1(-/-) mice compared
      with WT mice in the early stage. Moreover, the visual function, as assessed by
      the second-kernel of multifocal electroretinograms, was better preserved, and the
      number of degenerating axons in the optic nerve was significantly reduced in
      Olig1(-/-) mice. Interestingly, Olig1 deficiency had no effect on T cell response
      capability, however, it reduced the expression of myelin proteins such as MOG,
      myelin basic protein (MBP) and myelin-associated glycoprotein (MAG). The
      expression of Olig2 remained unchanged in the optic nerve and brain, and it was
      reduced in the spinal cord of Olig1(-/-) mice. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our
      results suggest that the Olig1 signaling pathways may be involved in the
      incidence rate and the severity of neurological symptoms in MS.

PMID- 20927334
TI  - Genome-based microsatellite development in the Culex pipiens complex and
      comparative microsatellite frequency with Aedes aegypti and Anopheles gambiae.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mosquitoes in the Culex pipiens complex are among the most medically
      important vectors for human disease worldwide and include major vectors for
      lymphatic filariasis and West Nile virus transmission. However, detailed genetic
      studies in the complex are limited by the number of genetic markers available.
      Here, we describe methods for the rapid and efficient identification and
      development of single locus, highly polymorphic microsatellite markers for Cx.
      pipiens complex mosquitoes via in silico screening of the Cx. quinquefasciatus
      genome sequence. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Six lab colonies representing
      four Cx. pipiens and two Cx. quinquefasciatus populations were utilized for
      preliminary assessment of 38 putative loci identified within 16 Cx.
      quinquefasciatus supercontig assemblies (CpipJ1) containing previously mapped
      genetic marker sequences. We identified and validated 12 new microsatellite
      markers distributed across all three linkage groups that amplify consistently
      among strains representing the complex. We also developed four groups of 3-5
      microsatellite loci each for multiplex-ready PCR. Field collections from three
      cities in Indiana were used to assess the multiplex groups for their application
      to natural populations. All were highly polymorphic (Mean  = 13.0 alleles) per
      locus and reflected high polymorphism information content (PIC) (Mean  = 0.701).
      Pairwise F(ST) indicated population structuring between Terre Haute and Fort
      Wayne and between Terre Haute and Indianapolis, but not between Fort Wayne and
      Indianapolis. In addition, we performed whole genome comparisons of
      microsatellite motifs and abundance between Cx. quinquefasciatus and the primary
      vectors for dengue virus and malaria parasites, Aedes aegypti and Anopheles
      gambiae, respectively. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: We demonstrate a systematic
      approach for isolation and validation of microsatellites for the Cx. pipiens
      complex by direct screen of the Cx. quinquefasciatus genome supercontig
      assemblies. The genome density of microsatellites is greater in Cx.
      quinquefasciatus (0.26%) than in Ae. aegypti (0.14%), but considerably lower than
      in An. gambiae (0.77%).

PMID- 20927335
TI  - Human microRNA oncogenes and tumor suppressors show significantly different
      biological patterns: from functions to targets.
AB  - MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small noncoding RNAs which play essential roles in many
      important biological processes. Therefore, their dysfunction is associated with a
      variety of human diseases, including cancer. Increasing evidence shows that
      miRNAs can act as oncogenes or tumor suppressors, and although there is great
      interest in research into these cancer-associated miRNAs, little is known about
      them. In this study, we performed a comprehensive analysis of putative human
      miRNA oncogenes and tumor suppressors. We found that miRNA oncogenes and tumor
      suppressors clearly show different patterns in function, evolutionary rate,
      expression, chromosome distribution, molecule size, free energy, transcription
      factors, and targets. For example, miRNA oncogenes are located mainly in the
      amplified regions in human cancers, whereas miRNA tumor suppressors are located
      mainly in the deleted regions. miRNA oncogenes tend to cleave target mRNAs more
      frequently than miRNA tumor suppressors. These results indicate that these two
      types of cancer-associated miRNAs play different roles in cancer formation and
      development. Moreover, the patterns identified here can discriminate novel miRNA
      oncogenes and tumor suppressors with a high degree of accuracy. This study
      represents the first large-scale bioinformatic analysis of human miRNA oncogenes
      and tumor suppressors. Our findings provide help for not only understanding of
      miRNAs in cancer but also for the specific identification of novel miRNAs as
      miRNA oncogenes and tumor suppressors. In addition, the data presented in this
      study will be valuable for the study of both miRNAs and cancer.

PMID- 20927336
TI  - Building a morphogen gradient without diffusion in a growing tissue.
AB  - In many developmental systems, spatial pattern arises from morphogen gradients,
      which provide positional information for cells to determine their fate.
      Typically, diffusion is thought to be the mechanism responsible for building a
      morphogen gradient. An alternative mechanism is investigated here. Using
      mathematical modeling, we demonstrate how a non-diffusive morphogen concentration
      gradient can develop in axially growing tissue systems, where growth is due to
      cell proliferation only. Two distinct cases are considered: in the first, all
      cell proliferation occurs in a localized zone where active transcription of a
      morphogen-producing gene occurs, and in the second, cell proliferation is
      uniformly distributed throughout the tissue, occurring in both the active
      transcription zone and beyond. A cell containing morphogen mRNA produces the
      morphogen protein, hence any gradient in mRNA transcripts translates into a
      corresponding morphogen protein gradient. Proliferation-driven growth gives rise
      to both advection (the transport term) and dilution (a reaction term). These two
      key mechanisms determine the resultant mRNA transcript distribution. Using the
      full range of uniform initial conditions, we show that advection and dilution due
      to cell proliferation are, in general, sufficient for morphogen gradient
      formation for both types of axially growing systems. In particular, mRNA
      transcript degradation is not necessary for gradient formation; it is only
      necessary with localized proliferation for one special value of the initial
      concentration. Furthermore, the morphogen concentration decreases with distance
      away from the transcription zone, except in the case of localized proliferation
      with the initial concentration sufficiently large, when the concentration can
      either increase with distance from the transcription zone or sustain a local
      minimum. In both localized and uniformly distributed proliferation, in order for
      a concentration gradient to form across the whole domain, transcription must
      occur in a zone equal to the initial domain size; otherwise, it will only form
      across part of the tissue.

PMID- 20927337
TI  - Decreased fat storage by Lactobacillus paracasei is associated with increased
      levels of angiopoietin-like 4 protein (ANGPTL4).
AB  - BACKGROUND: Intervention strategies for obesity are global issues that require
      immediate attention. One approach is to exploit the growing consensus that
      beneficial gut microbiota could be of use in intervention regimes. Our objective
      was to determine the mechanism by which the probiotic bacteria Lactobacillus
      paracasei ssp paracasei F19 (F19) could alter fat storage. Angiopoietin-like 4
      (ANGPTL4) is a circulating lipoprotein lipase (LPL) inhibitor that controls
      triglyceride deposition into adipocytes and has been reported to be regulated by
      gut microbes. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: A diet intervention study of mice
      fed high-fat chow supplemented with F19 was carried out to study potential
      mechanistic effects on fat storage. Mice given F19 displayed significantly less
      body fat, as assessed by magnetic resonance imaging, and a changed lipoprotein
      profile. Given that previous studies on fat storage have identified ANGPTL4 as an
      effector, we also investigated circulating levels of ANGPTL4, which proved to be
      higher in the F19-treated group. This increase, together with total body fat and
      triglyceride levels told a story of inhibited LPL action through ANGPTL4 leading
      to decreased fat storage. Co-culture experiments of colonic cell lines and F19
      were set up in order to monitor any ensuing alterations in ANGPTL4 expression by
      qPCR. We observed that potentially secreted factors from F19 can induce ANGPTL4
      gene expression, acting in part through the peroxisome proliferator activated
      receptors alpha and gamma. To prove validity of in vitro findings, germ-free mice
      were monocolonized with F19. Here we again found changes in serum triglycerides
      as well as ANGPTL4 in response to F19. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our results
      provide an interesting mechanism whereby modifying ANGPTL4, a central player in
      fat storage regulation, through manipulating gut flora could be an important
      gateway upon which intervention trials of weight management can be based.

PMID- 20927338
TI  - Crystal structure of a complex between amino and carboxy terminal fragments of
      mDia1: insights into autoinhibition of diaphanous-related formins.
AB  - Formin proteins direct the nucleation and assembly of linear actin filaments in a
      variety of cellular processes using their conserved formin homology 2 (FH2)
      domain. Diaphanous-related formins (DRFs) are effectors of Rho-family GTPases,
      and in the absence of Rho activation they are maintained in an inactive state by
      intramolecular interactions between their regulatory N-terminal region and a C
      terminal segment referred to as the DAD domain. Although structures are available
      for the isolated DAD segment in complex with the interacting region in the N
      terminus, it remains unclear how this leads to inhibition of actin assembly by
      the FH2 domain. Here we describe the crystal structure of the N-terminal
      regulatory region of formin mDia1 in complex with a C-terminal fragment
      containing both the FH2 and DAD domains. In the crystal structure and in
      solution, these fragments form a tetrameric complex composed of two interlocking
      N+C dimers. Formation of the tetramer is likely a consequence of the particular N
      terminal construct employed, as we show that a nearly full-length mDia1 protein
      is dimeric, as are other autoinhibited N+C complexes containing longer N-terminal
      fragments. The structure provides the first view of the intact C-terminus of a
      DRF, revealing the relationship of the DAD to the FH2 domain. Delineation of
      alternative dimeric N+C interactions within the tetramer provides two general
      models for autoinhibition in intact formins. In both models, engagement of the
      DAD by the N-terminus is incompatible with actin filament formation on the FH2,
      and in one model the actin binding surfaces of the FH2 domain are directly
      blocked by the N-terminus.

PMID- 20927339
TI  - Quantification of three-dimensional cell-mediated collagen remodeling using graph
      theory.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cell cooperation is a critical event during tissue development. We
      present the first precise metrics to quantify the interaction between mesenchymal
      stem cells (MSCs) and extra cellular matrix (ECM). In particular, we describe
      cooperative collagen alignment process with respect to the spatio-temporal
      organization and function of mesenchymal stem cells in three dimensions.
      METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We defined two precise metrics: Collagen
      Alignment Index and Cell Dissatisfaction Level, for quantitatively tracking type
      I collagen and fibrillogenesis remodeling by mesenchymal stem cells over time.
      Computation of these metrics was based on graph theory and vector calculus. The
      cells and their three dimensional type I collagen microenvironment were modeled
      by three dimensional cell-graphs and collagen fiber organization was calculated
      from gradient vectors. With the enhancement of mesenchymal stem cell
      differentiation, acceleration through different phases was quantitatively
      demonstrated. The phases were clustered in a statistically significant manner
      based on collagen organization, with late phases of remodeling by untreated cells
      clustering strongly with early phases of remodeling by differentiating cells. The
      experiments were repeated three times to conclude that the metrics could
      successfully identify critical phases of collagen remodeling that were dependent
      upon cooperativity within the cell population. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE:
      Definition of early metrics that are able to predict long-term functionality by
      linking engineered tissue structure to function is an important step toward
      optimizing biomaterials for the purposes of regenerative medicine.

PMID- 20927340
TI  - Novel Gd nanoparticles enhance vascular contrast for high-resolution magnetic
      resonance imaging.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Gadolinium (Gd), with its 7 unpaired electrons in 4f orbitals that
      provide a very large magnetic moment, is proven to be among the best agents for
      contrast enhanced MRI. Unfortunately, the most potent MR contrast agent based on
      Gd requires relatively high doses of Gd. The Gd-chelated to diethylene-triamine
      penta-acetic acid (DTPA), or other derivatives (at 0.1 mmole/kg recommended
      dose), distribute broadly into tissues and clear through the kidney. These
      contrast agents carry the risk of Nephrogenic Systemic Fibrosis (NSF),
      particularly in kidney impaired subjects. Thus, Gd contrast agents that produce
      higher resolution images using a much lower Gd dose could address both imaging
      sensitivity and Gd safety. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: To determine whether a
      biocompatible lipid nanoparticle with surface bound Gd can improve MRI contrast
      sensitivity, we constructed Gd-lipid nanoparticles (Gd-LNP) containing lipid
      bound DTPA and Gd. The Gd-LNP were intravenously administered to rats and MR
      images collected. We found that Gd in Gd-LNP produced a greater than 33-fold
      higher longitudinal (T(1)) relaxivity, r(1), constant than the current FDA
      approved Gd-chelated contrast agents. Intravenous administration of these Gd-LNP
      at only 3% of the recommended clinical Gd dose produced MRI signal-to-noise
      ratios of greater than 300 in all vasculatures. Unlike current Gd contrast
      agents, these Gd-LNP stably retained Gd in normal vasculature, and are eliminated
      predominately through the biliary, instead of the renal system. Gd-LNP did not
      appear to accumulate in the liver or kidney, and was eliminated completely within
      24 hrs. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The novel Gd-nanoparticles provide high quality
      contrast enhanced vascular MRI at 97% reduced dose of Gd and do not rely on renal
      clearance. This new agent is likely to be suitable for patients exhibiting
      varying degrees of renal impairment. The simple and adaptive nanoparticle design
      could accommodate ligand or receptor coating for drug delivery optimization and
      in vivo drug-target definition in system biology profiling, increasing the margin
      of safety in treatment of cancers and other diseases.

PMID- 20927341
TI  - Insights into the genetic history of French cattle from dense SNP data on 47
      worldwide breeds.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Modern cattle originate from populations of the wild extinct aurochs
      through a few domestication events which occurred about 8,000 years ago. Newly
      domesticated populations subsequently spread worldwide following breeder
      migration routes. The resulting complex historical origins associated with both
      natural and artificial selection have led to the differentiation of numerous
      different cattle breeds displaying a broad phenotypic variety over a short period
      of time. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: This study gives a detailed assessment
      of cattle genetic diversity based on 1,121 individuals sampled in 47 populations
      from different parts of the world (with a special focus on French cattle)
      genotyped for 44,706 autosomal SNPs. The analyzed data set consisted of new
      genotypes for 296 individuals representing 14 French cattle breeds which were
      combined to those available from three previously published studies. After
      characterizing SNP polymorphism in the different populations, we performed a
      detailed analysis of genetic structure at both the individual and population
      levels. We further searched for spatial patterns of genetic diversity among 23
      European populations, most of them being of French origin, under the recently
      developed spatial Principal Component analysis framework.
      CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Overall, such high throughput genotyping data confirmed
      a clear partitioning of the cattle genetic diversity into distinct breeds. In
      addition, patterns of differentiation among the three main groups of populations-
      the African taurine, the European taurine and zebus--may provide some additional
      support for three distinct domestication centres. Finally, among the European
      cattle breeds investigated, spatial patterns of genetic diversity were found in
      good agreement with the two main migration routes towards France, initially
      postulated based on archeological evidence.

PMID- 20927342
TI  - Identification of thioaptamer ligand against E-selectin: potential application
      for inflamed vasculature targeting.
AB  - Active targeting of a drug carrier to a specific target site is crucial to
      provide a safe and efficient delivery of therapeutics and imaging contrast
      agents. E-selectin expression is induced on the endothelial cell surface of
      vessels in response to inflammatory stimuli but is absent in the normal vessels.
      Thus, E-selectin is an attractive molecular target, and high affinity ligands for
      E-selectin could be powerful tools for the delivery of therapeutics and/or
      imaging agents to inflamed vessels. In this study, we identified a thiophosphate
      modified aptamer (thioaptamer, TA) against E-selectin (ESTA-1) by employing a two
      step selection strategy: a recombinant protein-based TA binding selection from a
      combinatorial library followed by a cell-based TA binding selection using E
      selectin expressing human microvascular endothelial cells. ESTA-1 selectively
      bound to E-selectin with nanomolar binding affinity (K(D) = 47 nM) while
      exhibiting minimal cross reactivity to P- and L-selectin. Furthermore, ESTA-1
      binding to E-selectin on the endothelial cells markedly antagonized the adhesion
      (over 75% inhibition) of sLe(x) positive HL-60 cells at nanomolar concentration.
      ESTA-1 also bound specifically to the inflamed tumor-associated vasculature of
      human carcinomas derived from breast, ovarian, and skin but not to normal organs,
      and this binding was highly associated with the E-selectin expression level.
      Similarly, intravenously injected ESTA-1 demonstrated distinct binding to the
      tumor vasculature in a breast cancer xenograft model. Together, our data
      substantiates the discovery of a thioaptamer (ESTA-1) that binds to E-selectin
      with high affinity and specificity, thereby highlighting the potential
      application of ESTA-1 for E-selectin targeted delivery.

PMID- 20927343
TI  - Crystal structure of the Formin mDia1 in autoinhibited conformation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Formin proteins utilize a conserved formin homology 2 (FH2) domain to
      nucleate new actin filaments. In mammalian diaphanous-related formins (DRFs) the
      FH2 domain is inhibited through an unknown mechanism by intramolecular binding of
      the diaphanous autoinhibitory domain (DAD) and the diaphanous inhibitory domain
      (DID). METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Here we report the crystal structure of a
      complex between DID and FH2-DAD fragments of the mammalian DRF, mDia1 (mammalian
      diaphanous 1 also called Drf1 or p140mDia). The structure shows a tetrameric
      configuration (4 FH2 + 4 DID) in which the actin-binding sites on the FH2 domain
      are sterically occluded. However biochemical data suggest the full-length mDia1
      is a dimer in solution (2 FH2 + 2 DID). Based on the crystal structure, we have
      generated possible dimer models and found that architectures of all of these
      models are incompatible with binding to actin filament but not to actin monomer.
      Furthermore, we show that the minimal functional monomeric unit in the FH2
      domain, termed the bridge element, can be inhibited by isolated monomeric DID.
      NMR data on the bridge-DID system revealed that at least one of the two actin
      binding sites on the bridge element is accessible to actin monomer in the
      inhibited state. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our findings suggest that
      autoinhibition in the native DRF dimer involves steric hindrance with the actin
      filament. Although the structure of a full-length DRF would be required for
      clarification of the presented models, our work here provides the first
      structural insights into the mechanism of the DRF autoinhibition.

PMID- 20927344
TI  - Controlled trials in children: quantity, methodological quality and descriptive
      characteristics of pediatric controlled trials published 1948-2006.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The objective of this study was to describe randomized controlled
      trials (RCTs) and controlled clinical trials (CCTs) in child health published
      between 1948 and 2006, in terms of quantity, methodological quality, and
      publication and trial characteristics. We used the Trials Register of the
      Cochrane Child Health Field for overall trends and a sample from this to explore
      trial characteristics in more detail. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We
      extracted descriptive data on a random sample of 578 trials. Ninety-six percent
      of the trials were published in English; the percentage of child-only trials was
      90.5%. The most frequent diagnostic categories were infectious diseases (13.2%),
      behavioural and psychiatric disorders (11.6%), neonatal critical care (11.4%),
      respiratory disorders (8.9%), non-critical neonatology (7.9%), and anaesthesia
      (6.5%). There were significantly fewer child-only studies (i.e., more mixed child
      and adult studies) over time (P = 0.0460). The proportion of RCTs to CCTs
      increased significantly over time (P<0.0001), as did the proportion of
      multicentre trials (P = 0.002). Significant increases over time were found in
      methodological quality (Jadad score) (P<0.0001), the proportion of double-blind
      studies (P<0.0001), and studies with adequate allocation concealment (P<0.0001).
      Additionally, we found an improvement in reporting over time: adequate
      description of withdrawals and losses to follow-up (P<0.0001), sample size
      calculations (P<0.0001), and intention-to-treat analysis (P<0.0001). However,
      many trials still do not describe their level of blinding, and allocation
      concealment was inadequately reported in the majority of studies across the
      entire time period. The proportion of studies with industry funding decreased
      slightly over time (P = 0.003), and these studies were more likely to report
      positive conclusions (P = 0.028). CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The quantity and
      quality of pediatric controlled trials has increased over time; however, much
      work remains to be done, particularly in improving methodological issues around
      conduct and reporting of trials.

PMID- 20927345
TI  - Functional connectivity of the posteromedial cortex.
AB  - As different areas within the PMC have different connectivity patterns with
      various cortical and subcortical regions, we hypothesized that distinct
      functional modules may be present within the PMC. Because the PMC appears to be
      the most active region during resting state, it has been postulated to play a
      fundamental role in the control of baseline brain functioning within the default
      mode network (DMN). Therefore one goal of this study was to explore which
      components of the PMC are specifically involved in the DMN. In a sample of
      seventeen healthy volunteers, we performed an unsupervised voxelwise ROI-based
      clustering based on resting state functional connectivity. Our results showed
      four clusters with different network connectivity. Each cluster showed positive
      and negative correlations with cortical regions involved in the DMN. Progressive
      shifts in PMC functional connectivity emerged from anterior to posterior and from
      dorsal to ventral ROIs. Ventral posterior portions of PMC were found to be part
      of a network implicated in the visuo-spatial guidance of movements, whereas
      dorsal anterior portions of PMC were interlinked with areas involved in
      attentional control. Ventral retrosplenial PMC selectively correlated with a
      network showing considerable overlap with the DMN, indicating that it makes
      essential contributions in self-referential processing, including
      autobiographical memory processing. Finally, ventral posterior PMC was shown to
      be functionally connected with a visual network.The paper represents the first
      attempt to provide a systematic, unsupervised, voxelwise clustering of the human
      posteromedial cortex (PMC), using resting-state functional connectivity data.
      Moreover, a ROI-based parcellation was used to confirm the results.

PMID- 20927346
TI  - Changes in waist circumference and mortality in middle-aged men and women.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Waist circumference (WC) adjusted for body mass index (BMI) is
      positively associated with mortality, but the association with changes in WC is
      less clear. We investigated the association between changes in WC and mortality
      in middle-aged men and women, and evaluated the influence from concurrent changes
      in BMI. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Data on 26,625 healthy men and women from
      the Danish Diet, Cancer and Health study was analyzed. WC and BMI were assessed
      in 1993-97 and in 1999-02. Information on mortality was obtained by linkage to
      the Danish central Person Register. Hazard ratios (HR) were estimated with Cox
      regression models. During 6.7 years of follow-up, 568 and 361 deaths occurred
      among men and women, respectively. Changes in WC were positively associated with
      mortality (HR per 5 cm for the sexes combined  = 1.09 (1.02 : 1.16) with
      adjustment for covariates, baseline WC, BMI and changes in BMI), whereas changes
      in BMI were inversely associated with mortality (HR per kg/m2 for the sexes
      combined  = 0.91 (0.86, 0.97) with adjustment for covariates, baseline WC, BMI
      and changes in WC). Associations between changes in WC and mortality were not
      notably different in sub-groups stratified according to changes in BMI, baseline
      WC or when smokers or deaths occurring within the first years of follow-up were
      excluded. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Changes in WC were positively associated with
      mortality in healthy middle-aged men and women throughout the range of concurrent
      changes in BMI. These findings suggest a need for development of prevention and
      treatment strategies targeted against redistribution of fat mass towards the
      abdominal region.

PMID- 20927347
TI  - Cartilaginous epiphyses in extant archosaurs and their implications for
      reconstructing limb function in dinosaurs.
AB  - Extinct archosaurs, including many non-avian dinosaurs, exhibit relatively simply
      shaped condylar regions in their appendicular bones, suggesting potentially large
      amounts of unpreserved epiphyseal (articular) cartilage. This "lost anatomy" is
      often underappreciated such that the ends of bones are typically considered to be
      the joint surfaces, potentially having a major impact on functional
      interpretation. Extant alligators and birds were used to establish an objective
      basis for inferences about cartilaginous articular structures in such extinct
      archosaur clades as non-avian dinosaurs. Limb elements of alligators, ostriches,
      and other birds were dissected, disarticulated, and defleshed. Lengths and
      condylar shapes of elements with intact epiphyses were measured. Limbs were
      subsequently completely skeletonized and the measurements repeated. Removal of
      cartilaginous condylar regions resulted in statistically significant changes in
      element length and condylar breadth. Moreover, there was marked loss of those
      cartilaginous structures responsible for joint architecture and congruence.
      Compared to alligators, birds showed less dramatic, but still significant
      changes. Condylar morphologies of dinosaur limb bones suggest that most non
      coelurosaurian clades possessed large cartilaginous epiphyses that relied on the
      maintenance of vascular channels that are otherwise eliminated early in ontogeny
      in smaller-bodied tetrapods. A sensitivity analysis using cartilage correction
      factors (CCFs) obtained from extant taxa indicates that whereas the presence of
      cartilaginous epiphyses only moderately increases estimates of dinosaur height
      and speed, it has important implications for our ability to infer joint
      morphology, posture, and the complicated functional movements in the limbs of
      many extinct archosaurs. Evidence suggests that the sizes of sauropod epiphyseal
      cartilages surpassed those of alligators, which account for at least 10% of
      hindlimb length. These data suggest that large cartilaginous epiphyses were
      widely distributed among non-avian archosaurs and must be considered when making
      inferences about locomotor functional morphology in fossil taxa.

PMID- 20927348
TI  - Targeting the PI3K/Akt cell survival pathway to induce cell death of HIV-1
      infected macrophages with alkylphospholipid compounds.
AB  - BACKGROUND: HIV-1 infected macrophages and microglia are long-lived viral
      reservoirs persistently producing viral progenies. HIV-1 infection extends the
      life span of macrophages by promoting the stress-induced activation of the
      PI3K/Akt cell survival pathway. Importantly, various cancers also display the
      PI3K/Akt activation for long-term cell survival and outgrowth, and Akt inhibitors
      have been extensively searched as anti-cancer agents. This led us to investigate
      whether Akt inhibitors could antagonize long-term survival and cytoprotective
      phenotype of HIV-1 infected macrophages. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Here, we examined
      the effect of one such class of drugs, alkylphospholipids (ALPs), on cell death
      and Akt pathway signals in human macrophages and a human microglial cell line,
      CHME5, infected with HIV-1 BaL or transduced with HIV-1 vector, respectively. Our
      findings revealed that the ALPs, perifosine and edelfosine, specifically induced
      the death of HIV-1 infected primary human macrophages and CHME5 cells.
      Furthermore, these two compounds reduced phosphorylation of both Akt and
      GSK3beta, a downstream substrate of Akt, in the transduced CHME5 cells.
      Additionally, we observed that perifosine effectively reduced viral production in
      HIV-1 infected primary human macrophages. These observations demonstrate that the
      ALP compounds tested are able to promote cell death in both HIV-1 infected
      macrophages and HIV-1 expressing CHME5 cells by inhibiting the action of the
      PI3K/Akt pathway, ultimately restricting viral production from the infected
      cells. SIGNIFICANCE: This study suggests that Akt inhibitors, such as ALP
      compounds, may serve as potential anti-HIV-1 agents specifically targeting long
      living HIV-1 macrophages and microglia reservoirs.

PMID- 20927349
TI  - Studies on a novel serine protease of a DeltahapADeltaprtV Vibrio cholerae O1
      strain and its role in hemorrhagic response in the rabbit ileal loop model.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Two well-characterized proteases secreted by Vibrio cholerae O1
      strains are hemagglutinin protease (HAP) and V. cholerae protease (PrtV). The
      hapA and prtV knock out mutant, V. cholerae O1 strain CHA6.8DeltaprtV, still
      retains residual protease activity. We initiated this study to characterize the
      protease present in CHA6.8DeltaprtV strain and study its role in pathogenesis in
      rabbit ileal loop model (RIL). METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We partially
      purified the residual protease secreted by strain CHA6.8DeltaprtV from culture
      supernatant by anion-exchange chromatography. The major protein band in native
      PAGE was identified by MS peptide mapping and sequence analysis showed homology
      with a 59-kDa trypsin-like serine protease encoded by VC1649. The protease
      activity was partially inhibited by 25 mM PMSF and 10 mM EDTA and completely
      inhibited by EDTA and PMSF together. RIL assay with culture supernatants of
      strains C6709 (FA ratio 1.1+/-0.3 n = 3), CHA6.8 (FA ratio 1.08+/-0.2 n = 3),
      CHA6.8DeltaprtV (FA ratio 1.02+/-0.2 n = 3) and partially purified serine
      protease from CHA6.8DeltaprtV (FA ratio 1.2+/-0.3 n = 3) induced fluid
      accumulation and histopathological studies on rabbit ileum showed destruction of
      the villus structure with hemorrhage in all layers of the mucosa. RIL assay with
      culture supernatant of CHA6.8DeltaprtVDeltaVC1649 strain (FA ratio 0.11+/-0.005 n
      = 3) and with protease incubated with PMSF and EDTA (FA ratio 0.3+/-0.05 n = 3)
      induced a significantly reduced FA ratio with almost complete normal villus
      structure. CONCLUSION: Our results show the presence of a novel 59-kDa serine
      protease in a DeltahapADeltaprtV V. cholerae O1 strain and its role in
      hemorrhagic response in RIL model.

PMID- 20927350
TI  - Epigenetic transgenerational actions of vinclozolin on promoter regions of the
      sperm epigenome.
AB  - Previous observations have demonstrated that embryonic exposure to the endocrine
      disruptor vinclozolin during gonadal sex determination promotes transgenerational
      adult onset disease such as male infertility, kidney disease, prostate disease,
      immune abnormalities and tumor development. The current study investigates genome
      wide promoter DNA methylation alterations in the sperm of F3 generation rats
      whose F0 generation mother was exposed to vinclozolin. A methylated DNA
      immunoprecipitation with methyl-cytosine antibody followed by a promoter tilling
      microarray (MeDIP-Chip) procedure was used to identify 52 different regions with
      statistically significant altered methylation in the sperm promoter epigenome.
      Mass spectrometry bisulfite analysis was used to map the CpG DNA methylation and
      16 differential DNA methylation regions were confirmed, while the remainder could
      not be analyzed due to bisulfite technical limitations. Analysis of these
      validated regions identified a consensus DNA sequence (motif) that associated
      with 75% of the promoters. Interestingly, only 16.8% of a random set of 125
      promoters contained this motif. One candidate promoter (Fam111a) was found to be
      due to a copy number variation (CNV) and not a methylation change, suggesting
      initial alterations in the germline epigenome may promote genetic abnormalities
      such as induced CNV in later generations. This study identifies differential DNA
      methylation sites in promoter regions three generations after the initial
      exposure and identifies common genome features present in these regions. In
      addition to primary epimutations, a potential indirect genetic abnormality was
      identified, and both are postulated to be involved in the epigenetic
      transgenerational inheritance observed. This study confirms that an environmental
      agent has the ability to induce epigenetic transgenerational changes in the sperm
      epigenome.

PMID- 20927351
TI  - CD1d expression in paneth cells and rat exocrine pancreas revealed by novel
      monoclonal antibodies which differentially affect NKT cell activation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: CD1d is a nonpolymorphic MHC class I-like molecule which presents
      nonpeptide ligands, e.g. glycolipids, to NKT cells. These cells are known to have
      multiple effects on innate and adaptive immune responses and on the development
      of pathological conditions. In order to analyze CD1d expression and function in
      the rat, the first rat CD1d-specific monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) were generated.
      METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Two mAbs, WTH-1 and WTH-2, were generated which
      bound equally well to cell surface-expressed rat and mouse CD1d. Their non
      overlapping epitopes were mapped to the CD1d heavy chain. Flow cytometry and
      immunohistological analyses revealed a nearly identical degree and pattern of
      CD1d expression for hematopoieitic cells of both species. Notable is also the
      detection of CD1d protein in mouse and rat Paneth cells as well as the extremely
      high CD1d expression in acinar exocrine cells of the rat pancreas and the
      expression of CD4 on rat marginal zone B cells. Both mAbs blocked alpha
      galactosylceramide recognition by primary rat and mouse NKT cells. Interestingly,
      the two mAbs differed in their impact on the activation of various autoreactive T
      cell hybridomas, including the XV19.2 hybridoma whose activation was enhanced by
      the WTH-1 mAb. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The two novel monoclonal antibodies
      described in this study, allowed the analysis of CD1d expression and CD1d
      restricted T cell responses in the rat for the first time. Moreover, they
      provided new insights into mechanisms of CD1d-restricted antigen recognition.
      While CD1d expression by hematopoietic cells of mice and rats was extremely
      similar, CD1d protein was detected at not yet described sites of non-lymphatic
      tissues such as the rat exocrine pancreas and Paneth cells. The latter is of
      special relevance given the recently reported defects of Paneth cells in CD1d(-/
      ) mice, which resulted in an altered composition of the gut flora.

PMID- 20927352
TI  - Predators are attracted to the olfactory signals of prey.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Predator attraction to prey social signals can force prey to trade
      off the social imperatives to communicate against the profound effect of
      predation on their future fitness. These tradeoffs underlie theories on the
      design and evolution of conspecific signalling systems and have received much
      attention in visual and acoustic signalling modes. Yet while most territorial
      mammals communicate using olfactory signals and olfactory hunting is widespread
      in predators, evidence for the attraction of predators to prey olfactory signals
      under field conditions is lacking. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: To redress
      this fundamental issue, we examined the attraction of free-roaming predators to
      discrete patches of scents collected from groups of two and six adult, male house
      mice, Mus domesticus, which primarily communicate through olfaction. Olfactorily
      hunting predators were rapidly attracted to mouse scent signals, visiting mouse
      scented locations sooner, and in greater number, than control locations. There
      were no effects of signal concentration on predator attraction to their prey's
      signals. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: This implies that communication will be costly
      if conspecific receivers and eavesdropping predators are simultaneously attracted
      to a signal. Significantly, our results also suggest that receivers may be at
      greater risk of predation when communicating than signallers, as receivers must
      visit risky patches of scent to perform their half of the communication equation,
      while signallers need not.

PMID- 20927353
TI  - Calcium gluconate in phosphate buffered saline increases gene delivery with
      adenovirus type 5.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Adenoviruses are attractive vectors for gene therapy because of their
      stability in vivo and the possibility of production at high titers. Despite
      exciting preclinical data with various approaches, there are only a few examples
      of clear efficacy in clinical trials. Effective gene delivery to target cells
      remains the key variable determining efficacy and thus enhanced transduction
      methods are important. METHODS/RESULTS: We found that heated serum could enhance
      adenovirus 5 mediated gene delivery up to twentyfold. A new protein-level
      interaction was found between fiber knob and serum transthyretin, but this was
      not responsible for the observed effect. Instead, we found that heating caused
      the calcium and phosphate present in the serum mix to precipitate, and this was
      responsible for enhanced gene delivery. This finding could have relevance for
      designing preclinical experiments with adenoviruses, since calcium and phosphate
      are present in many solutions. To translate this into an approach potentially
      testable in patients, we used calcium gluconate in phosphate buffered saline,
      both of which are clinically approved, to increase adenoviral gene transfer up to
      300-fold in vitro. Gene transfer was increased with or without heating and in a
      manner independent from the coxsackie-adenovirus receptor. In vivo, in mouse
      studies, gene delivery was increased 2-, 110-, 12- and 13-fold to tumors, lungs,
      heart and liver and did not result in increased pro-inflammatory cytokine
      induction. Antitumor efficacy of a replication competent virus was also increased
      significantly. CONCLUSION: In summary, adenoviral gene transfer and antitumor
      efficacy can be enhanced by calcium gluconate in phosphate buffered saline.

PMID- 20927354
TI  - Cost-effectiveness of pooled nucleic acid amplification testing for acute HIV
      infection after third-generation HIV antibody screening and rapid testing in the
      United States: a comparison of three public health settings.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Detection of acute HIV infection (AHI) with pooled nucleic acid
      amplification testing (NAAT) following HIV testing is feasible. However, cost
      effectiveness analyses to guide policy around AHI screening are lacking;
      particularly after more sensitive third-generation antibody screening and rapid
      testing. METHODS AND FINDINGS: We conducted a cost-effectiveness analysis of
      pooled NAAT screening that assessed the prevention benefits of identification and
      notification of persons with AHI and cases averted compared with repeat antibody
      testing at different intervals. Effectiveness data were derived from a Centers
      for Disease Control and Prevention AHI study conducted in three settings:
      municipal sexually transmitted disease (STD) clinics, a community clinic serving
      a population of men who have sex with men, and HIV counseling and testing sites.
      Our analysis included a micro-costing study of NAAT and a mathematical model of
      HIV transmission. Cost-effectiveness ratios are reported as costs per quality
      adjusted life year (QALY) gained in US dollars from the societal perspective.
      Sensitivity analyses were conducted on key variables, including AHI positivity
      rates, antibody testing frequency, symptomatic detection of AHI, and costs.
      Pooled NAAT for AHI screening following annual antibody testing had cost
      effectiveness ratios exceeding US$200,000 per QALY gained for the municipal STD
      clinics and HIV counseling and testing sites and was cost saving for the
      community clinic. Cost-effectiveness ratios increased substantially if the
      antibody testing interval decreased to every 6 months and decreased to cost
      saving if the testing interval increased to every 5 years. NAAT was cost saving
      in the community clinic in all situations. Results were particularly sensitive to
      AHI screening yield. CONCLUSIONS: Pooled NAAT screening for AHI following
      negative third-generation antibody or rapid tests is not cost-effective at
      recommended antibody testing intervals for high-risk persons except in very high
      incidence settings.

PMID- 20927355
TI  - Are drug companies living up to their human rights responsibilities? The Merck
      perspective.
AB  - BACKGROUND TO THE DEBATE: The human rights responsibilities of drug companies
      have been considered for years by nongovernmental organizations, but were most
      sharply defined in a report by the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to health,
      submitted to the United Nations General Assembly in August 2008. The "Human
      Rights Guidelines for Pharmaceutical Companies in relation to Access to
      Medicines" include responsibilities for transparency, management, monitoring and
      accountability, pricing, and ethical marketing, and against lobbying for more
      protection in intellectual property laws, applying for patents for trivial
      modifications of existing medicines, inappropriate drug promotion, and excessive
      pricing. Two years after the release of the Guidelines, the PLoS Medicine Debate
      asks whether drug companies are living up to their human rights responsibilities.
      Sofia Gruskin and Zyde Raad from the Harvard School of Public Health say more
      assessment is needed of such responsibilities; Geralyn Ritter, Vice President of
      Global Public Policy and Corporate Responsibility at Merck & Co. argues that
      multiple stakeholders could do more to help States deliver the right to health;
      and Paul Hunt and Rajat Khosla introduce Mr. Hunt's work as the UN Special
      Rapporteur on the right to the highest attainable standard of health, regarding
      the human rights responsibilities of pharmaceutical companies and access to
      medicines.

PMID- 20927356
TI  - Are drug companies living up to their human rights responsibilities? Moving
      toward assessment.
AB  - BACKGROUND TO THE DEBATE: The human rights responsibilities of drug companies
      have been considered for years by nongovernmental organizations, but were most
      sharply defined in a report by the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to health,
      submitted to the United Nations General Assembly in August 2008. The "Human
      Rights Guidelines for Pharmaceutical Companies in relation to Access to
      Medicines" include responsibilities for transparency, management, monitoring and
      accountability, pricing, and ethical marketing, and against lobbying for more
      protection in intellectual property laws, applying for patents for trivial
      modifications of existing medicines, inappropriate drug promotion, and excessive
      pricing. Two years after the release of the Guidelines, the PLoS Medicine Debate
      asks whether drug companies are living up to their human rights responsibilities.
      Sofia Gruskin and Zyde Raad from the Harvard School of Public Health say more
      assessment is needed of such responsibilities; Geralyn Ritter, Vice President of
      Global Public Policy and Corporate Responsibility at Merck & Co. argues that
      multiple stakeholders could do more to help States deliver the right to health;
      and Paul Hunt and Rajat Khosla introduce Mr. Hunt's work as the UN Special
      Rapporteur on the right to the highest attainable standard of health, regarding
      the human rights responsibilities of pharmaceutical companies and access to
      medicines.

PMID- 20927358
TI  - Drug companies should be held more accountable for their human rights
      responsibilities.

PMID- 20927357
TI  - Genomic fossils calibrate the long-term evolution of hepadnaviruses.
AB  - Because most extant viruses mutate rapidly and lack a true fossil record, their
      deep evolution and long-term substitution rates remain poorly understood. In
      addition to retroviruses, which rely on chromosomal integration for their
      replication, many other viruses replicate in the nucleus of their host's cells
      and are therefore prone to endogenization, a process that involves integration of
      viral DNA into the host's germline genome followed by long-term vertical
      inheritance. Such endogenous viruses are highly valuable as they provide a
      molecular fossil record of past viral invasions, which may be used to decipher
      the origins and long-term evolutionary characteristics of modern pathogenic
      viruses. Hepadnaviruses (Hepadnaviridae) are a family of small, partially double
      stranded DNA viruses that include hepatitis B viruses. Here we report the
      discovery of endogenous hepadnaviruses in the genome of the zebra finch. We used
      a combination of cross-species analysis of orthologous insertions, molecular
      dating, and phylogenetic analyses to demonstrate that hepadnaviruses infiltrated
      repeatedly the germline genome of passerine birds. We provide evidence that some
      of the avian hepadnavirus integration events are at least 19 My old, which
      reveals a much deeper ancestry of Hepadnaviridae than could be inferred based on
      the coalescence times of modern hepadnaviruses. Furthermore, the remarkable
      sequence similarity between endogenous and extant avian hepadnaviruses (up to 75%
      identity) suggests that long-term substitution rates for these viruses are on the
      order of 10(-8) substitutions per site per year, which is a 1,000-fold slower
      than short-term rates estimated based on the sequences of circulating
      hepadnaviruses. Together, these results imply a drastic shift in our
      understanding of the time scale of hepadnavirus evolution, and suggest that the
      rapid evolutionary dynamics characterizing modern avian hepadnaviruses do not
      reflect their mode of evolution on a deep time scale.

PMID- 20927359
TI  - Effectiveness of chest physiotherapy in infants hospitalized with acute
      bronchiolitis: a multicenter, randomized, controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Acute bronchiolitis treatment in children and infants is largely
      supportive, but chest physiotherapy is routinely performed in some countries. In
      France, national guidelines recommend a specific type of physiotherapy combining
      the increased exhalation technique (IET) and assisted cough (AC). Our objective
      was to evaluate the efficacy of chest physiotherapy (IET + AC) in previously
      healthy infants hospitalized for a first episode of acute bronchiolitis. METHODS
      AND FINDINGS: We conducted a multicenter, randomized, outcome assessor-blind and
      parent-blind trial in seven French pediatric departments. We recruited 496
      infants hospitalized for first-episode acute bronchiolitis between October 2004
      and January 2008. Patients were randomly allocated to receive from
      physiotherapists three times a day, either IET + AC (intervention group, n=246)
      or nasal suction (NS, control group, n=250). Only physiotherapists were aware of
      the allocation group of the infant. The primary outcome was time to recovery,
      defined as 8 hours without oxygen supplementation associated with minimal or no
      chest recession, and ingesting more than two-thirds of daily food requirements.
      Secondary outcomes were intensive care unit admissions, artificial ventilation,
      antibiotic treatment, description of side effects during procedures, and parental
      perception of comfort. Statistical analysis was performed on an intent-to-treat
      basis. Median time to recovery was 2.31 days, (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.97
      2.73) for the control group and 2.02 days (95% CI 1.96-2.34) for the intervention
      group, indicating no significant effect of physiotherapy (hazard ratio [HR]=1.09,
      95% CI 0.91-1.31, p=0.33). No treatment by age interaction was found (p=0.97).
      Frequency of vomiting and transient respiratory destabilization was higher in the
      IET + AC group during the procedure (relative risk [RR]=10.2, 95% CI 1.3-78.8,
      p=0.005 and RR=5.4, 95% CI 1.6-18.4, p=0.002, respectively). No difference
      between groups in bradycardia with or without desaturation (RR=1.0, 95% CI 0.2
      5.0, p=1.00 and RR=3.6, 95% CI 0.7-16.9, p=0.10, respectively) was found during
      the procedure. Parents reported that the procedure was more arduous in the group
      treated with IET (mean difference=0.88, 95% CI 0.33-1.44, p=0.002), whereas there
      was no difference regarding the assessment of the child's comfort between both
      groups (mean difference=-0.07, 95% CI -0.53 to 0.38, p=0.40). No evidence of
      differences between groups in intensive care admission (RR=0.7, 95% CI 0.3-1.8,
      p=0.62), ventilatory support (RR=2.5, 95% CI 0.5-13.0, p=0.29), and antibiotic
      treatment (RR=1.0, 95% CI 0.7-1.3, p=1.00) was observed. CONCLUSIONS: IET + AC
      had no significant effect on time to recovery in this group of hospitalized
      infants with bronchiolitis. Additional studies are required to explore the effect
      of chest physiotherapy on ambulatory populations and for infants without a
      history of atopy. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00125450.

PMID- 20927360
TI  - Clever cattle parasite captures cell division machinery.

PMID- 20927361
TI  - The transforming parasite Theileria co-opts host cell mitotic and central
      spindles to persist in continuously dividing cells.
AB  - The protozoan parasite Theileria inhabits the host cell cytoplasm and possesses
      the unique capacity to transform the cells it infects, inducing continuous
      proliferation and protection against apoptosis. The transforming schizont is a
      multinucleated syncytium that resides free in the host cell cytoplasm and is
      strictly intracellular. To maintain transformation, it is crucial that this
      syncytium is divided over the two daughter cells at each host cell cytokinesis.
      This process was dissected using different cell cycle synchronization methods in
      combination with the targeted application of specific inhibitors. We found that
      Theileria schizonts associate with newly formed host cell microtubules that
      emanate from the spindle poles, positioning the parasite at the equatorial region
      of the mitotic cell where host cell chromosomes assemble during metaphase. During
      anaphase, the schizont interacts closely with host cell central spindle. As part
      of this process, the schizont recruits a host cell mitotic kinase, Polo-like
      kinase 1, and we established that parasite association with host cell central
      spindles requires Polo-like kinase 1 catalytic activity. Blocking the interaction
      between the schizont and astral as well as central spindle microtubules prevented
      parasite segregation between the daughter cells during cytokinesis. Our findings
      provide a striking example of how an intracellular eukaryotic pathogen that
      evolved ways to induce the uncontrolled proliferation of the cells it infects
      usurps the host cell mitotic machinery, including Polo-like kinase 1, one of the
      pivotal mitotic kinases, to ensure its own persistence and survival.

PMID- 20927362
TI  - Misspecifications of stimulus presentation durations in experimental psychology:
      a systematic review of the psychophysics literature.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In visual psychophysics, precise display timing, particularly for
      brief stimulus presentations, is often required. The aim of this study was to
      systematically review the commonly applied methods for the computation of
      stimulus durations in psychophysical experiments and to contrast them with the
      true luminance signals of stimuli on computer displays. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL
      FINDINGS: In a first step, we systematically scanned the citation index Web of
      Science for studies with experiments with stimulus presentations for brief
      durations. Articles which appeared between 2003 and 2009 in three different
      journals were taken into account if they contained experiments with stimuli
      presented for less than 50 milliseconds. The 79 articles that matched these
      criteria were reviewed for their method of calculating stimulus durations. For
      those 75 studies where the method was either given or could be inferred, stimulus
      durations were calculated by the sum of frames (SOF) method. In a second step, we
      describe the luminance signal properties of the two monitor technologies which
      were used in the reviewed studies, namely cathode ray tube (CRT) and liquid
      crystal display (LCD) monitors. We show that SOF is inappropriate for brief
      stimulus presentations on both of these technologies. In extreme cases, SOF
      specifications and true stimulus durations are even unrelated. Furthermore, the
      luminance signals of the two monitor technologies are so fundamentally different
      that the duration of briefly presented stimuli cannot be calculated by a single
      method for both technologies. Statistics over stimulus durations given in the
      reviewed studies are discussed with respect to different duration calculation
      methods. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The SOF method for duration specification
      which was clearly dominating in the reviewed studies leads to serious
      misspecifications particularly for brief stimulus presentations. We strongly
      discourage its use for brief stimulus presentations on CRT and LCD monitors.

PMID- 20927363
TI  - Meta-analysis of relationships between human offtake, total mortality and
      population dynamics of gray wolves (Canis lupus).
AB  - Following the growth and geographic expansion of wolf (Canis lupus) populations
      reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park and central Idaho in 1995-1996, Rocky
      Mountain wolves were removed from the endangered species list in May 2009. Idaho
      and Montana immediately established hunting seasons with quotas equaling 20% of
      the regional wolf population. Combining hunting with predator control, 37.1% of
      Montana and Idaho wolves were killed in the year of delisting. Hunting and
      predator control are well-established methods to broaden societal acceptance of
      large carnivores, but it is unprecedented for a species to move so rapidly from
      protection under the Endangered Species Act to heavy direct harvest, and it is
      important to use all available data to assess the likely consequences of these
      changes in policy. For wolves, it is widely argued that human offtake has little
      effect on total mortality rates, so that a harvest of 28-50% per year can be
      sustained. Using previously published data from 21 North American wolf
      populations, we related total annual mortality and population growth to annual
      human offtake. Contrary to current conventional wisdom, there was a strong
      association between human offtake and total mortality rates across North American
      wolf populations. Human offtake was associated with a strongly additive or super
      additive increase in total mortality. Population growth declined as human offtake
      increased, even at low rates of offtake. Finally, wolf populations declined with
      harvests substantially lower than the thresholds identified in current state and
      federal policies. These results should help to inform management of Rocky
      Mountain wolves.

PMID- 20927364
TI  - Phylogenetic and molecular characterization of H9N2 influenza isolates from
      chickens in Northern China from 2007-2009.
AB  - The repeated transmission to pigs and humans, and the long-term endemicity in
      terrestrial poultry of H9N2 viruses in China lend urgency to the study of their
      ecology and pathogenicity. In the present paper, we reported an H9N2 virus
      sublineage isolated from chickens in northern China from 2007 to 2009 has high
      lethality for mice. Phylogenetic analysis of the full genome indicated that six
      representative H9N2 isolates shared high homology to each other, and they
      clustered in the same sublineage with other H9N2 viruses isolated recently in
      northern China. The isolates were double-reassortant viruses containing M genes
      similar to A/Quail/Hong Kong/G1/97 (H9N2) and the other seven gene segments from
      A/Chicken/Shanghai/F/98 (H9N2). These six isolates were capable of replicating in
      the lungs of infected chickens without producing observable clinical signs of
      disease or death. However, they were highly lethal to mice with mortality rates
      as high as 100% (14/14) without prior adaptation. The affected mice exhibited
      severe respiratory syndromes and diffuse lung injury. The H9N2 viruses could be
      detected in multiple organs of the infected mice, including hearts, livers,
      spleens, lungs and kidneys. Our findings demonstrated that H9N2 viruses isolated
      from the chickens in northern China have established a stable sublineage with
      enhanced pathogenicity to mice, suggesting that urgent attention will need to be
      paid to the transmission of H9N2 viruses from chickens to mammals.

PMID- 20927365
TI  - Rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) do recognize themselves in the mirror:
      implications for the evolution of self-recognition.
AB  - Self-recognition in front of a mirror is used as an indicator of self-awareness.
      Along with humans, some chimpanzees and orangutans have been shown to be self
      aware using the mark test. Monkeys are conspicuously absent from this list
      because they fail the mark test and show persistent signs of social responses to
      mirrors despite prolonged exposure, which has been interpreted as evidence of a
      cognitive divide between hominoids and other species. In stark contrast with
      those reports, the rhesus monkeys in this study, who had been prepared for
      electrophysiological recordings with a head implant, showed consistent self
      directed behaviors in front of the mirror and showed social responses that
      subsided quickly during the first experimental session. The self-directed
      behaviors, which were performed in front of the mirror and did not take place in
      its absence, included extensive observation of the implant and genital areas that
      cannot be observed directly without a mirror. We hypothesize that the head
      implant, a most salient mark, prompted the monkeys to overcome gaze aversion
      inhibition or lack of interest in order to look and examine themselves in front
      of the mirror. The results of this study demonstrate that rhesus monkeys do
      recognize themselves in the mirror and, therefore, have some form of self
      awareness. Accordingly, instead of a cognitive divide, they support the notion of
      an evolutionary continuity of mental functions.

PMID- 20927366
TI  - DAAM1 is a formin required for centrosome re-orientation during cell migration.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Disheveled-associated activator of morphogenesis 1 (DAAM1) is a
      formin acting downstream of Wnt signaling that is important for planar cell
      polarity. It has been shown to promote proper cell polarization during embryonic
      development in both Xenopus and Drosophila. Importantly, DAAM1 binds to
      Disheveled (Dvl) and thus functions downstream of the Frizzled receptors. Little
      is known of how DAAM1 is localized and functions in mammalian cells. We
      investigate here how DAAM1 affects migration and polarization of cultured cells
      and conclude that it plays a key role in centrosome polarity.
      METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Using a specific antibody to DAAM1, we find that
      the protein localizes to the acto-myosin system and co-localizes with ventral
      myosin IIB-containing actin stress fibers. These fibers are particularly evident
      in the sub-nuclear region. An N-terminal region of DAAM1 is responsible for this
      targeting and the DAAM1(1-440) protein can interact with myosin IIB fibers
      independently of either F-actin or RhoA binding. We also demonstrate that DAAM1
      depletion inhibits Golgi reorientation in wound healing assays. Wound-edge cells
      exhibit multiple protrusions characteristic of unpolarized cell migration.
      Finally, in U2OS cells lines stably expressing DAAM1, we observe an enhanced
      myosin IIB stress fiber network which opposes cell migration.
      CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: This work highlights the importance of DAAM1 in
      processes underlying cell polarity and suggests that it acts in part by affecting
      the function of acto-myosin IIB system. It also emphasizes the importance of the
      N-terminal half of DAAM1. DAAM1 depletion strongly blocks centrosomal re
      polarization, supporting the concept that DAAM1 signaling cooperates with the
      established Cdc42 associated polarity complex. These findings are also consistent
      with the observation that ablation of myosin IIB but not myosin IIA results in
      polarity defects downstream of Wnt signaling. The structure-function analysis of
      DAAM1 in cultured cells parallels more complex morphological events in the
      developing embryo.

PMID- 20927367
TI  - Genome-wide DNA methylation maps in follicular lymphoma cells determined by
      methylation-enriched bisulfite sequencing.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Follicular lymphoma (FL) is a form of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL)
      that arises from germinal center (GC) B-cells. Despite the significant advances
      in immunotherapy, FL is still not curable. Beyond transcriptional profiling and
      genomics datasets, there currently is no epigenome-scale dataset or integrative
      biology approach that can adequately model this disease and therefore identify
      novel mechanisms and targets for successful prevention and treatment of FL.
      METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We performed methylation-enriched genome-wide
      bisulfite sequencing of FL cells and normal CD19(+) B-cells using 454 sequencing
      technology. The methylated DNA fragments were enriched with methyl-binding
      proteins, treated with bisulfite, and sequenced using the Roche-454 GS FLX
      sequencer. The total number of bases covered in the human genome was 18.2 and
      49.3 million including 726,003 and 1.3 million CpGs in FL and CD19(+) B-cells,
      respectively. 11,971 and 7,882 methylated regions of interest (MRIs) were
      identified respectively. The genome-wide distribution of these MRIs displayed
      significant differences between FL and normal B-cells. A reverse trend in the
      distribution of MRIs between the promoter and the gene body was observed in FL
      and CD19(+) B-cells. The MRIs identified in FL cells also correlated well with
      transcriptomic data and ChIP-on-Chip analyses of genome-wide histone
      modifications such as tri-methyl-H3K27, and tri-methyl-H3K4, indicating a
      concerted epigenetic alteration in FL cells. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: This study
      is the first to provide a large scale and comprehensive analysis of the DNA
      methylation sequence composition and distribution in the FL epigenome. These
      integrated approaches have led to the discovery of novel and frequent targets of
      aberrant epigenetic alterations. The genome-wide bisulfite sequencing approach
      developed here can be a useful tool for profiling DNA methylation in clinical
      samples.

PMID- 20927368
TI  - Visualization of coronary wall atherosclerosis in asymptomatic subjects and
      patients with coronary artery disease using magnetic resonance imaging.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is sensitive to early
      atherosclerotic changes such as positive remodeling in patients with coronary
      artery disease (CAD). We assessed prevalence, quality, and extent of coronary
      atherosclerosis in a group of healthy subjects compared to patients with
      confirmed CAD. METHODOLOGY: Twenty-two patients with confirmed CAD (15M, 7F, mean
      age 60.4 +/- 10.4 years) and 26 healthy subjects without history of CAD (11M,
      15F, mean age 56.1 +/- 4.4 years) underwent MRI of the right coronary artery
      (RCA) and vessel wall (MR-CVW) on a clinical 1.5T MR-scanner. Wall thickness
      measurements of both groups were compared. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Stenoses of the
      RCA (both < and >=50% on CAG) were present in all patients. In 21/22 patients,
      stenoses detected at MRI corresponded to stenoses detected with conventional
      angiography. In 19/26 asymptomatic subjects, there was visible luminal narrowing
      in the MR luminography images. Fourteen of these subjects demonstrated
      corresponding increase in vessel wall thickness. In 4/26 asymptomatic subjects,
      vessel wall thickening without luminal narrowing was present. Maximum and mean
      wall thicknesses in patients were significantly higher (2.16 vs 1.92 mm, and 1.38
      vs 1.22 mm, both p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: In this cohort of middle-aged individuals,
      both patients with stable angina and angiographically proven coronary artery
      disease, as well as age-matched asymptomatic subjects. exhibited coronary vessel
      wall thickening detectable with MR coronary vessel wall imaging. Maximum and mean
      wall thicknesses were significantly higher in patients. The vast majority of
      asymptomatic subjects had either positive remodeling without luminal narrowing,
      or non-significant stenosis. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00456950.

PMID- 20927369
TI  - An improved strategy for generating forces in steered molecular dynamics: the
      mechanical unfolding of titin, e2lip3 and ubiquitin.
AB  - One of the applications of Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations is to explore the
      energetic barriers to mechanical unfolding of proteins such as occurs in response
      to the mechanical pulling of single molecules in Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM)
      experiments. Although Steered Molecular Dynamics simulations have provided
      microscopic details of the unfolding process during the pulling, the simulated
      forces required for unfolding are typically far in excess of the measured values.
      To rectify this, we have developed the Pulsed Unconstrained Fluctuating Forces
      (PUFF) method, which induces constant-momentum motions by applying forces
      directly to the instantaneous velocity of selected atoms in a protein system. The
      driving forces are applied in pulses, which allows the system to relax between
      pulses, resulting in more accurate unfolding force estimations than in previous
      methods. In the cases of titin, ubiquitin and e2lip3, the PUFF trajectories
      produce force fluctuations that agree quantitatively with AFM experiments.
      Another useful property of PUFF is that simulations get trapped if the target
      momentum is too low, simplifying the discovery and analysis of unfolding
      intermediates.

PMID- 20927370
TI  - Land use, macroalgae, and a tumor-forming disease in marine turtles.
AB  - Wildlife diseases are an increasing concern for endangered species conservation,
      but their occurrence, causes, and human influences are often unknown. We analyzed
      3,939 records of stranded Hawaiian green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas) over 28
      years to understand fibropapillomatosis, a tumor-forming disease linked to a
      herpesvirus. Turtle size is a consistent risk factor and size-standardized models
      revealed considerable spatial and temporal variability. The disease peaked in
      some areas in the 1990s, in some regions rates remained constant, and elsewhere
      rates increased. Land use, onshore of where the turtles feed, may play a role.
      Elevated disease rates were clustered in watersheds with high nitrogen
      footprints; an index of natural and anthropogenic factors that affect coastal
      eutrophication. Further analysis shows strong epidemiological links between
      disease rates, nitrogen-footprints, and invasive macroalgae and points to
      foraging ecology. These turtles now forage on invasive macroalgae, which can
      dominate nutrient rich waters and sequester environmental N in the amino acid
      arginine. Arginine is known to regulate immune activity, promote herpesviruses,
      and contribute to tumor formation. Our results have implications for
      understanding diseases in aquatic organisms, eutrophication, herpesviruses, and
      tumor formation.

PMID- 20927371
TI  - Analysis of beta-globin chromatin micro-environment using a novel 3C variant,
      4Cv.
AB  - Higher order chromatin folding is critical to a number of developmental
      processes, including the regulation of gene expression. Recently developed
      biochemical techniques such as RNA TRAP and chromosome conformation capture (3C)
      have provided us with the tools to probe chromosomal structures. These techniques
      have been applied to the beta-globin locus, revealing a complex pattern of
      interactions with regions along the chromosome that the gene resides on. However,
      biochemical and microscopy data on the nature of beta-globin interactions with
      other chromosomes is contradictory. Therefore we developed a novel 4C variant,
      Complete-genome 3C by vectorette amplification (4Cv), which allows an unbiased
      and quantitative method to examine chromosomal structure. We have used 4Cv to
      study the microenvironment of the beta-globin locus in mice and show that a
      significant proportion of the interactions of beta-globin are inter-chromosomal.
      Furthermore, our data show that in the liver, where the gene is active, beta
      globin is more likely to interact with other chromosomes, compared to the brain
      where the gene is silent and is more likely to interact with other regions along
      the same chromosome. Our data suggest that transcriptional activation of the beta
      globin locus leads to a change in nuclear position relative to the chromosome
      territory.

PMID- 20927372
TI  - Hfq is a global regulator that controls the pathogenicity of Staphylococcus
      aureus.
AB  - The Hfq protein is reported to be an RNA chaperone, which is involved in the
      stress response and the virulence of several pathogens. In E. coli, Hfq can
      mediate the interaction between some sRNAs and their target mRNAs. But it is
      controversial whether Hfq plays an important role in S. aureus. In this study, we
      found that the deletion of hfq gene in S. aureus 8325-4 can increase the surface
      carotenoid pigments. The hfq mutant was more resistant to oxidative stress but
      the pathogenicity of the mutant was reduced. We reveal that the Hfq protein can
      be detected only in some S. aureus strains. Using microarray and qRT-PCR, we
      identified 116 genes in the hfq mutant which had differential expression from the
      wild type, most of which are related to the phenotype and virulence of S. aureus.
      Among the 116 genes, 49 mRNAs can specifically bind Hfq protein, which indicates
      that Hfq also acts as an RNA binding protein in S. aureus. Our data suggest that
      Hfq protein of S. aureus is a multifunctional regulator involved in stress and
      virulence.

PMID- 20927373
TI  - Processing interrogative sentence mood at the semantic-syntactic interface: an
      electrophysiological research in Chinese, German, and Polish.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Languages differ in the marking of the sentence mood of a polar
      interrogative (yes/no question). For instance, the interrogative mood is marked
      at the beginning of the surface structure in Polish, whereas the marker appears
      at the end in Chinese. In order to generate the corresponding sentence frame, the
      syntactic specification of the interrogative mood is early in Polish and late in
      Chinese. In this respect, German belongs to an interesting intermediate class.
      The yes/no question is expressed by a shift of the finite verb from its final
      position in the underlying structure into the utterance initial position, a move
      affecting, hence, both the sentence's final and the sentence's initial
      constituents. The present study aimed to investigate whether during generation of
      the semantic structure of a polar interrogative, i.e., the processing preceding
      the grammatical formulation, the interrogative mood is encoded according to its
      position in the syntactic structure at distinctive time points in Chinese,
      German, and Polish. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In a two-choice go/nogo
      experimental design, native speakers of the three languages responded to pictures
      by pressing buttons and producing utterances in their native language while their
      brain potentials were recorded. The emergence and latency of lateralized
      readiness potentials (LRP) in nogo conditions, in which speakers asked a yes/no
      question, should indicate the time point of processing the interrogative mood.
      The results revealed that Chinese, German, and Polish native speakers did not
      differ from each other in the electrophysiological indicator.
      CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The findings suggest that the semantic encoding of the
      interrogative mood is temporally consistent across languages despite its
      disparate syntactic specification. The consistent encoding may be ascribed to
      economic processing of interrogative moods at various sentential positions of the
      syntactic structures in languages or, more generally, to the overarching status
      of sentence mood in the semantic structure.

PMID- 20927374
TI  - Improving decision speed, accuracy and group cohesion through early information
      gathering in house-hunting ants.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Successful collective decision-making depends on groups of animals
      being able to make accurate choices while maintaining group cohesion. However,
      increasing accuracy and/or cohesion usually decreases decision speed and vice
      versa. Such trade-offs are widespread in animal decision-making and result in
      various decision-making strategies that emphasize either speed or accuracy,
      depending on the context. Speed-accuracy trade-offs have been the object of many
      theoretical investigations, but these studies did not consider the possible
      effects of previous experience and/or knowledge of individuals on such trade
      offs. In this study, we investigated how previous knowledge of their environment
      may affect emigration speed, nest choice and colony cohesion in emigrations of
      the house-hunting ant Temnothorax albipennis, a collective decision-making
      process subject to a classical speed-accuracy trade-off. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL
      FINDINGS: Colonies allowed to explore a high quality nest site for one week
      before they were forced to emigrate found that nest and accepted it faster than
      emigrating naive colonies. This resulted in increased speed in single choice
      emigrations and higher colony cohesion in binary choice emigrations.
      Additionally, colonies allowed to explore both high and low quality nest sites
      for one week prior to emigration remained more cohesive, made more accurate
      decisions and emigrated faster than emigrating naive colonies.
      CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: These results show that colonies gather and store
      information about available nest sites while their nest is still intact, and
      later retrieve and use this information when they need to emigrate. This improves
      colony performance. Early gathering of information for later use is therefore an
      effective strategy allowing T. albipennis colonies to improve simultaneously all
      aspects of the decision-making process--i.e. speed, accuracy and cohesion--and
      partly circumvent the speed-accuracy trade-off classically observed during
      emigrations. These findings should be taken into account in future studies on
      speed-accuracy trade-offs.

PMID- 20927375
TI  - Bioinvasion in a Brazilian bay: filling gaps in the knowledge of southwestern
      Atlantic biota.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Biological invasions are a major cause of global species change.
      Nevertheless, knowledge about the distribution and ecology of introduced species
      is regionally biased, and many gaps in knowledge exist for most developing
      countries. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: To study the zoobenthos on the hard
      substratum of the Ilha Grande Bay, a survey was conducted on both natural and
      artificial substrata at three depths and seven sites. The species recorded were
      classified as native, cryptogenic or introduced. Multivariate analyses were
      conducted to assess the prevalence of introduced species in these communities and
      to compare the distribution of species on natural and artificial substrata of
      this bay to identify possible discrepancies in habitat use. Of the 61 species, 25
      were cryptogenic, 10 were introduced and 26 were native. Similar numbers of
      introduced species were found on both natural and artificial substrata, though
      the community composition was significantly different between them. We also
      compared the species composition of the Ilha Grande Bay survey to other
      inventories taken around the world. The highest similarities were found between
      the Ilha Grande Bay inventory and the Atlantic coastal region (Tampa Bay, USA and
      the Gulf of Mexico), American Samoa and Pearl Harbor (USA) inventories.
      CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: This study presents the first published comprehensive
      list of hard substratum sessile marine invertebrate species in a Brazilian bay.
      The high percentage of cryptogenic species reveals gaps in both zoological
      records and information on introduced species for the Brazilian coast. The
      introduced species successfully colonized different sites in the Ilha Grande Bay,
      including both natural and artificial substrata. In addition, we find that
      artificial structures may not be good surrogates for natural rocky shores and may
      represent an ecological threat. Comparisons with other inventories suggest a
      history of broad-scale invasion, though more evidence is needed to support this
      conclusion.

PMID- 20927376
TI  - Ontology-based meta-analysis of global collections of high-throughput public
      data.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The investigation of the interconnections between the molecular and
      genetic events that govern biological systems is essential if we are to
      understand the development of disease and design effective novel treatments.
      Microarray and next-generation sequencing technologies have the potential to
      provide this information. However, taking full advantage of these approaches
      requires that biological connections be made across large quantities of highly
      heterogeneous genomic datasets. Leveraging the increasingly huge quantities of
      genomic data in the public domain is fast becoming one of the key challenges in
      the research community today. METHODOLOGY/RESULTS: We have developed a novel data
      mining framework that enables researchers to use this growing collection of
      public high-throughput data to investigate any set of genes or proteins. The
      connectivity between molecular states across thousands of heterogeneous datasets
      from microarrays and other genomic platforms is determined through a combination
      of rank-based enrichment statistics, meta-analyses, and biomedical ontologies. We
      address data quality concerns through dataset replication and meta-analysis and
      ensure that the majority of the findings are derived using multiple lines of
      evidence. As an example of our strategy and the utility of this framework, we
      apply our data mining approach to explore the biology of brown fat within the
      context of the thousands of publicly available gene expression datasets.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our work presents a practical strategy for organizing, mining, and
      correlating global collections of large-scale genomic data to explore normal and
      disease biology. Using a hypothesis-free approach, we demonstrate how a data
      driven analysis across very large collections of genomic data can reveal novel
      discoveries and evidence to support existing hypothesis.

PMID- 20927377
TI  - The market triumph of ecotourism: an economic investigation of the private and
      social benefits of competing land uses in the Peruvian Amazon.
AB  - Annual revenue flow to developing countries for ecotourism (or nature-based
      tourism) could be as large as US$ 210*10(12), providing an enormous financial
      incentive against habitat loss and exploitation. However, is ecotourism the most
      privately and/or socially valuable use of rainforest land? The question is rarely
      answered because the relevant data, estimates of profits and fixed costs, are
      rarely available. We present a social cost-benefit analysis of land use in an
      ecotourism cluster in the Tambopata region of Amazonian Peru. The net present
      value of ecotourism-controlled land is given by the producer surplus (profits
      plus fixed costs of ecotourism lodges): US$ 1,158 ha(-1), which is higher than
      all currently practiced alternatives, including unsustainable logging, ranching,
      and agriculture. To our knowledge, this is the first sector-wide study of
      profitability and producer surplus in a developing-country ecotourism sector and
      the first to compare against equivalent measures for a spectrum of alternative
      uses. We also find that ecotourism-controlled land sequesters between 5.3 to 8.7
      million tons of above-ground carbon, which is equivalent to between 3000-5000
      years of carbon emissions from the domestic component of air and surface travel
      between the gateway city of Cusco and the lodges, at 2005 emission rates.
      Ecotourism in Tambopata has successfully monetized the hedonic value of wild
      nature in Amazonian Peru, and justifies the maintenance of intact rainforest over
      all alternative uses on narrow economic grounds alone.

PMID- 20927378
TI  - Genetic and molecular functional characterization of variants within TNFSF13B, a
      positional candidate preeclampsia susceptibility gene on 13q.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Preeclampsia is a serious pregnancy complication, demonstrating a
      complex pattern of inheritance. The elucidation of genetic liability to
      preeclampsia remains a major challenge in obstetric medicine. We have adopted a
      positional cloning approach to identify maternal genetic components, with
      linkages previously demonstrated to chromosomes 2q, 5q and 13q in an
      Australian/New Zealand familial cohort. The current study aimed to identify
      potential functional and structural variants in the positional candidate gene
      TNFSF13B under the 13q linkage peak and assess their association status with
      maternal preeclampsia genetic susceptibility. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The
      proximal promoter and coding regions of the positional candidate gene TNFSF13B
      residing within the 13q linkage region was sequenced using 48 proband or founder
      individuals from Australian/New Zealand families. Ten sequence variants (nine
      SNPs and one single base insertion) were identified and seven SNPs were
      successfully genotyped in the total Australian/New Zealand family cohort (74
      families/480 individuals). Borderline association to preeclampsia (p = 0.0153)
      was observed for three rare SNPs (rs16972194, rs16972197 and rs56124946) in
      strong linkage disequilibrium with each other. Functional evaluation by
      electrophoretic mobility shift assays showed differential nuclear factor binding
      to the minor allele of the rs16972194 SNP, residing upstream of the translation
      start site, making this a putative functional variant. The observed genetic
      associations were not replicated in a Norwegian case/control cohort (The Nord
      Trondelag Health Study (HUNT2), 851 preeclamptic and 1,440 non-preeclamptic
      women). CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: TNFSF13B has previously been suggested to
      contribute to the normal immunological adaption crucial for a successful
      pregnancy. Our observations support TNFSF13B as a potential novel preeclampsia
      susceptibility gene. We discuss a possible role for TNFSF13B in preeclampsia
      pathogenesis, and propose the rs16972194 variant as a candidate for further
      functional evaluation.

PMID- 20927379
TI  - Ultra high throughput sequencing in human DNA variation detection: a comparative
      study on the NDUFA3-PRPF31 region.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Ultra high throughput sequencing (UHTS) technologies find an
      important application in targeted resequencing of candidate genes or of genomic
      intervals from genetic association studies. Despite the extraordinary power of
      these new methods, they are still rarely used in routine analysis of human
      genomic variants, in part because of the absence of specific standard procedures.
      The aim of this work is to provide human molecular geneticists with a tool to
      evaluate the best UHTS methodology for efficiently detecting DNA changes, from
      common SNPs to rare mutations. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We tested the
      three most widespread UHTS platforms (Roche/454 GS FLX Titanium, Illumina/Solexa
      Genome Analyzer II and Applied Biosystems/SOLiD System 3) on a well-studied
      region of the human genome containing many polymorphisms and a very rare
      heterozygous mutation located within an intronic repetitive DNA element. We
      identify the qualities and the limitations of each platform and describe some
      peculiarities of UHTS in resequencing projects. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: When
      appropriate filtering and mapping procedures are applied UHTS technology can be
      safely and efficiently used as a tool for targeted human DNA variations
      detection. Unless particular and platform-dependent characteristics are needed
      for specific projects, the most relevant parameter to consider in mainstream
      human genome resequencing procedures is the cost per sequenced base-pair
      associated to each machine.

PMID- 20927380
TI  - Equitoxic doses of 5-azacytidine and 5-aza-2'deoxycytidine induce diverse
      immediate and overlapping heritable changes in the transcriptome.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The hypomethylating agent 5-Azacytidine (5-Aza-CR) is the first drug
      to prolong overall survival in patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS).
      Surprisingly, the deoxyribonucleoside analog 5-Aza-2'deoxycytidine (5-Aza-CdR)
      did not have a similar effect on survival in a large clinical trial. Both drugs
      are thought to exert their effects after incorporation into DNA by covalent
      binding of DNA methyltransferase (DNMT). While 5-Aza-CdR is incorporated into
      only DNA, 5-Aza-CR is also incorporated into RNA. Here, we have analyzed whether
      this difference in nucleic acid incorporation may influence the capacities of
      these drugs to regulate the expression of mRNA and microRNAs (miRNA), which may
      potentially affect the activities of the drugs in patients. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL
      FINDINGS: A hematopoietic (HL-60; acute myeloid leukemia) and a solid (T24;
      transitional cell carcinoma) cancer cell line were treated with equitoxic doses
      of 5-Aza-CR and 5-Aza-CdR for 24 hrs, and the immediate (day 2) and lasting (day
      8) effects on RNA expression examined. There was considerable overlap between the
      RNAs heritably upregulated by both drugs on day 8 but more RNAs were stably
      induced by the deoxy analog. Both drugs strongly induced expression of cancer
      testis antigens. On day 2 more RNAs were downregulated by 5-Aza-CR, particularly
      at higher doses. A remarkable downregulation of miRNAs and a significant
      upregulation of tRNA synthetases and other genes involved in amino acid
      metabolism was observed in T24 cells. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Overall, this
      suggests that significant differences exist in the immediate action of the two
      drugs, however the dominant pattern of the lasting, and possible heritable
      changes, is overlapping.

PMID- 20927381
TI  - Identification of an archaeal presenilin-like intramembrane protease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The GXGD-type diaspartyl intramembrane protease, presenilin,
      constitutes the catalytic core of the gamma-secretase multi-protein complex
      responsible for activating critical signaling cascades during development and for
      the production of beta-amyloid peptides (Abeta) implicated in Alzheimer's
      disease. The only other known GXGD-type diaspartyl intramembrane proteases are
      the eukaryotic signal peptide peptidases (SPPs). The presence of presenilin-like
      enzymes outside eukaryots has not been demonstrated. Here we report the existence
      of presenilin-like GXGD-type diaspartyl intramembrane proteases in archaea.
      METHODOLOGY AND PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We have employed in vitro activity assays to
      show that MCMJR1, a polytopic membrane protein from the archaeon Methanoculleus
      marisnigri JR1, is an intramembrane protease bearing the signature YD and GXGD
      catalytic motifs of presenilin-like enzymes. Mass spectrometry analysis showed
      MCMJR1 could cleave model intramembrane protease substrates at several sites
      within their transmembrane region. Remarkably, MCMJR1 could also cleave
      substrates derived from the beta-amyloid precursor protein (APP) without the need
      of protein co-factors, as required by presenilin. Two distinct cleavage sites
      within the transmembrane domain of APP could be identified, one of which
      coincided with Abeta40, the predominant site processed by gamma-secretase.
      Finally, an established presenilin and SPP transition-state analog inhibitor
      could inhibit MCMJR1. CONCLUSIONS AND SIGNIFICANCE: Our findings suggest that a
      primitive GXGD-type diaspartyl intramembrane protease from archaea can
      recapitulate key biochemical properties of eukaryotic presenilins and SPPs.
      MCMJR1 promises to be a more tractable, simpler system for in depth structural
      and mechanistic studies of GXGD-type diaspartyl intramembrane proteases.

PMID- 20927382
TI  - A role for calcium-permeable AMPA receptors in synaptic plasticity and learning.
AB  - A central concept in the field of learning and memory is that NMDARs are
      essential for synaptic plasticity and memory formation. Surprisingly then,
      multiple studies have found that behavioral experience can reduce or eliminate
      the contribution of these receptors to learning. The cellular mechanisms that
      mediate learning in the absence of NMDAR activation are currently unknown. To
      address this issue, we examined the contribution of Ca(2+)-permeable AMPARs to
      learning and plasticity in the hippocampus. Mutant mice were engineered with a
      conditional genetic deletion of GluR2 in the CA1 region of the hippocampus (GluR2
      cKO mice). Electrophysiology experiments in these animals revealed a novel form
      of long-term potentiation (LTP) that was independent of NMDARs and mediated by
      GluR2-lacking Ca(2+)-permeable AMPARs. Behavioral analyses found that GluR2-cKO
      mice were impaired on multiple hippocampus-dependent learning tasks that required
      NMDAR activation. This suggests that AMPAR-mediated LTP interferes with NMDAR
      dependent plasticity. In contrast, NMDAR-independent learning was normal in
      knockout mice and required the activation of Ca(2+)-permeable AMPARs. These
      results suggest that GluR2-lacking AMPARs play a functional and previously
      unidentified role in learning; they appear to mediate changes in synaptic
      strength that occur after plasticity has been established by NMDARs.

PMID- 20927383
TI  - Quantitative phosphoproteomics of proteasome inhibition in multiple myeloma
      cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The proteasome inhibitor bortezomib represents an important advance
      in the treatment of multiple myeloma (MM). Bortezomib inhibits the activity of
      the 26S proteasome and induces cell death in a variety of tumor cells; however,
      the mechanism of cytotoxicity is not well understood. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL
      FINDINGS: We investigated the differential phosphoproteome upon proteasome
      inhibition by using stable isotope labeling by amino acids in cell culture
      (SILAC) in combination with phosphoprotein enrichment and LC-MS/MS analysis. In
      total 233 phosphoproteins were identified and 72 phosphoproteins showed a 1.5
      fold or greater change upon bortezomib treatment. The phosphoproteins with
      expression alterations encompass all major protein classes, including a large
      number of nucleic acid binding proteins. Site-specific phosphopeptide
      quantitation revealed that Ser38 phosphorylation on stathmin increased upon
      bortezomib treatment, suggesting new mechanisms associated to bortezomib-induced
      apoptosis in MM cells. Further studies demonstrated that stathmin phosphorylation
      profile was modified in response to bortezomib treatment and the regulation of
      stathmin by phosphorylation at specific Ser/Thr residues participated in the
      cellular response induced by bortezomib. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our systematic
      profiling of phosphorylation changes in response to bortezomib treatment not only
      advanced the global mechanistic understanding of the action of bortezomib on
      myeloma cells but also identified previously uncharacterized signaling proteins
      in myeloma cells.

PMID- 20927384
TI  - Variations and determinants of hospital costs for acute stroke in China.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The burden of stroke is high and increasing in China. We modelled
      variations in, and predictors of, the costs of hospital care for patients with
      acute stroke in China. METHODS AND FINDINGS: Baseline characteristics and
      hospital costs for 5,255 patients were collected using the prospective register
      based ChinaQUEST study, conducted in 48 Level 3 and 14 Level 2 hospitals in China
      during 2006-2007. Ordinary least squares estimation was used to determine factors
      associated with hospital costs. Overall mean cost of hospitalisation was 11,216
      Chinese Yuan Renminbi (CNY) (~US$1,602) per patient, which equates to more than
      half the average annual wage in China. Variations in cost were largely
      attributable to stroke severity and length of hospital stay (LOS). Model
      forecasts showed that reducing LOS from the mean of 20 days for Level 3 and 18
      days for Level 2 hospitals to a duration of 1 week, which is common among Western
      countries, afforded cost reductions of 49% and 19%, respectively. Other lesser
      determinants varied by hospital level: in Level 3 hospitals, health insurance and
      the occurrence of in-hospital complications were each associated with 10% and 18%
      increases in cost, respectively, whilst treatment in a teaching hospital was
      associated with approximately 39% decrease in cost on average. For Level 2
      hospitals, stroke due to intracerebral haemorrhage was associated with a 19%
      greater cost than for ischaemic stroke. CONCLUSIONS: Changes to hospital policies
      to standardise resource use and reduce the variation in LOS could attenuate costs
      and improve efficiencies for acute stroke management in China. The success of
      these strategies will be enhanced by broader policy initiatives currently
      underway to reform hospital reimbursement systems.

PMID- 20927385
TI  - eIF4A inhibition allows translational regulation of mRNAs encoding proteins
      involved in Alzheimer's disease.
AB  - Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the main cause of dementia in our increasingly aging
      population. The debilitating cognitive and behavioral symptoms characteristic of
      AD make it an extremely distressing illness for patients and carers. Although
      drugs have been developed to treat AD symptoms and to slow disease progression,
      there is currently no cure. The incidence of AD is predicted to increase to over
      one hundred million by 2050, placing a heavy burden on communities and economies,
      and making the development of effective therapies an urgent priority. Two
      proteins are thought to have major contributory roles in AD: the microtubule
      associated protein tau, also known as MAPT; and the amyloid-beta peptide (A
      beta), a cleavage product of amyloid precursor protein (APP). Oxidative stress is
      also implicated in AD pathology from an early stage. By targeting eIF4A, an RNA
      helicase involved in translation initiation, the synthesis of APP and tau, but
      not neuroprotective proteins, can be simultaneously and specifically reduced,
      representing a novel avenue for AD intervention. We also show that protection
      from oxidative stress is increased upon eIF4A inhibition. We demonstrate that the
      reduction of these proteins is not due to changes in mRNA levels or increased
      protein degradation, but is a consequence of translational repression conferred
      by inhibition of the helicase activity of eIF4A. Inhibition of eIF4A selectively
      and simultaneously modulates the synthesis of proteins involved in Alzheimer's
      disease: reducing A-beta and tau synthesis, while increasing proteins predicted
      to be neuroprotective.

PMID- 20927386
TI  - Modeling the cost-effectiveness of the integrated disease surveillance and
      response (IDSR) system: meningitis in Burkina Faso.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Effective surveillance for infectious diseases is an essential
      component of public health. There are few studies estimating the cost
      effectiveness of starting or improving disease surveillance. We present a cost
      effectiveness analysis the Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR)
      strategy in Africa. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: To assess the impact of the
      IDSR in Africa, we used pre- and post- IDSR meningococcal meningitis surveillance
      data from Burkina Faso (1996-2002 and 2003-2007). IDSR implementation was
      correlated with a median reduction of 2 weeks to peak of outbreaks (25(th)
      percentile 1 week; 75(th) percentile 4 weeks). IDSR was also correlated with a
      reduction of 43 meningitis cases per 100,000 (25(th)-40: 75(th)-129). Assuming
      the correlations between reductions in time to peak of outbreaks and cases are
      related, the cost-effectiveness of IDSR was $23 per case averted (25(th)-$30;
      75(th)--cost saving), and $98 per meningitis-related death averted (25(th)-$140:
      75(th)--cost saving). CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: We cannot absolutely claim that
      the measured differences were due to IDSR. We believe, however, that it is
      reasonable to claim that IDSR can improve the cost-effectiveness of public health
      surveillance.

PMID- 20927387
TI  - A genome-wide association study of red blood cell traits using the electronic
      medical record.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Electronic Medical Record (EMR) is a potential source for high
      throughput phenotyping to conduct genome-wide association studies (GWAS),
      including those of medically relevant quantitative traits. We describe use of the
      Mayo Clinic EMR to conduct a GWAS of red blood cell (RBC) traits in a cohort of
      patients with peripheral arterial disease (PAD) and controls without PAD.
      METHODOLOGY AND PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Results for hemoglobin level, hematocrit, RBC
      count, mean corpuscular volume, mean corpuscular hemoglobin, and mean corpuscular
      hemoglobin concentration were extracted from the EMR from January 1994 to
      September 2009. Out of 35,159 RBC trait values in 3,411 patients, we excluded
      12,864 values in 1,165 patients that had been measured during hospitalization or
      in the setting of hematological disease, malignancy, or use of drugs that affect
      RBC traits, leaving a final genotyped sample of 3,012, 80% of whom had >=2
      measurements. The median of each RBC trait was used in the genetic analyses,
      which were conducted using an additive model that adjusted for age, sex, and PAD
      status. We identified four genomic loci that were associated (P<5 * 10(-8)) with
      one or more of the RBC traits (HBLS1/MYB on 6q23.3, TMPRSS6 on 22q12.3, HFE on
      6p22.1, and SLC17A1 on 6p22.2). Three of these loci (HBLS1/MYB, TMPRSS6, and HFE)
      had been identified in recent GWAS and the allele frequencies, effect sizes, and
      the directions of effects of the replicated SNPs were similar to the prior
      studies. CONCLUSIONS: Our results demonstrate feasibility of using the EMR to
      conduct high throughput genomic studies of medically relevant quantitative
      traits.

PMID- 20927388
TI  - Susceptible and protective HLA class 1 alleles against dengue fever and dengue
      hemorrhagic fever patients in a Malaysian population.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The human leukocyte antigen alleles have been implicated as probable
      genetic markers in predicting the susceptibility and/or protection to severe
      manifestations of dengue virus (DENV) infection. In this present study, we aimed
      to investigate for the first time, the genotype variants of HLA Class 1(-A and 
      B) of DENV infected patients against healthy individuals in Malaysia.
      METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: This study was carried out with 92 dengue disease
      patients and 95 healthy controls from three different ethnic groups (Malay,
      Chinese and Indian) in Malaysia. All patients with clinical and laboratory
      confirmation of DENV infection were typed for the HLA-A and B loci, using
      polymerase chain reaction-sequence specific primer techniques. In our total
      population, a significant increase for HLA-B*53 (P = 0.042, Pc = 1.008) allele
      and a significant decrease for A*03 (P = 0.015, Pc = 0.18, OR = 5.23, 95% CI =
      1.19-23.02) and B*18 (P = 0.017, Pc = 0.408) alleles were noted in DHF patients
      as compared to healthy donors. We also observed that in the Malay DHF patients,
      allele B*13 (P = 0.049, Pc = 1.176, OR = 0.18, 95% CI = 0.03-0.90) was present at
      a significantly higher frequency in this population while allele HLA-B*18 (P =
      0.024, Pc = 0.576) was seen to be negatively associated with DHF.
      CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: These are the first findings on genetic polymorphisms
      in our population and we conclude that: (1) In our total population, HLA-B*53
      probably involve in disease susceptibility, while the HLA-A*03 and HLA-B*18 may
      confer protection from progression to severe disease; (2) In the Malay
      population, HLA-B*13 and B*18 are probably associated in disease susceptibility
      and protection, respectively. These results could furnish as a valuable
      predictive tool to identify ethnically different individuals at risk and/or
      protection from severe forms of DENV infection and would provide valuable
      informations for the design of future dengue vaccine.

PMID- 20927389
TI  - Cyclosporine A-sensitive, cyclophilin B-dependent endoplasmic reticulum
      associated degradation.
AB  - Peptidyl-prolyl cis/trans isomerases (PPIs) catalyze cis/trans isomerization of
      peptide bonds preceding proline residues. The involvement of PPI family members
      in protein refolding has been established in test tube experiments. Surprisingly,
      however, no data is available on the involvement of endoplasmic reticulum (ER)
      resident members of the PPI family in protein folding, quality control or
      disposal in the living cell. Here we report that the immunosuppressive drug
      cyclosporine A (CsA) selectively inhibits the degradation of a subset of
      misfolded proteins generated in the ER. We identify cyclophilin B (CyPB) as the
      ER-resident target of CsA that catalytically enhances disposal from the ER of
      ERAD-L(S) substrates containing cis proline residues. Our manuscript presents the
      first evidence for enzymatic involvement of a PPI in protein quality control in
      the ER of living cells.

PMID- 20927390
TI  - An efficient multistrategy DNA decontamination procedure of PCR reagents for
      hypersensitive PCR applications.
AB  - BACKGROUND: PCR amplification of minute quantities of degraded DNA for ancient
      DNA research, forensic analyses, wildlife studies and ultrasensitive diagnostics
      is often hampered by contamination problems. The extent of these problems is
      inversely related to DNA concentration and target fragment size and concern (i)
      sample contamination, (ii) laboratory surface contamination, (iii) carry-over
      contamination, and (iv) contamination of reagents. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL
      FINDINGS: Here we performed a quantitative evaluation of current decontamination
      methods for these last three sources of contamination, and developed a new
      procedure to eliminate contaminating DNA contained in PCR reagents. We observed
      that most current decontamination methods are either not efficient enough to
      degrade short contaminating DNA molecules, rendered inefficient by the reagents
      themselves, or interfere with the PCR when used at doses high enough to eliminate
      these molecules. We also show that efficient reagent decontamination can be
      achieved by using a combination of treatments adapted to different reagent
      categories. Our procedure involves gamma- and UV-irradiation and treatment with a
      mutant recombinant heat-labile double-strand specific DNase from the Antarctic
      shrimp Pandalus borealis. Optimal performance of these treatments is achieved in
      narrow experimental conditions that have been precisely analyzed and defined
      herein. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: There is not a single decontamination method
      valid for all possible contamination sources occurring in PCR reagents and in the
      molecular biology laboratory and most common decontamination methods are not
      efficient enough to decontaminate short DNA fragments of low concentration. We
      developed a versatile multistrategy decontamination procedure for PCR reagents.
      We demonstrate that this procedure allows efficient reagent decontamination while
      preserving the efficiency of PCR amplification of minute quantities of DNA.

PMID- 20927391
TI  - Ultrafast mid-IR laser scalpel: protein signals of the fundamental limits to
      minimally invasive surgery.
AB  - Lasers have in principle the capability to cut at the level of a single cell, the
      fundamental limit to minimally invasive procedures and restructuring biological
      tissues. To date, this limit has not been achieved due to collateral damage on
      the macroscale that arises from thermal and shock wave induced collateral damage
      of surrounding tissue. Here, we report on a novel concept using a specifically
      designed Picosecond IR Laser (PIRL) that selectively energizes water molecules in
      the tissue to drive ablation or cutting process faster than thermal exchange of
      energy and shock wave propagation, without plasma formation or ionizing radiation
      effects. The targeted laser process imparts the least amount of energy in the
      remaining tissue without any of the deleterious photochemical or photothermal
      effects that accompanies other laser wavelengths and pulse parameters. Full
      thickness incisional and excisional wounds were generated in CD1 mice using the
      Picosecond IR Laser, a conventional surgical laser (DELight Er:YAG) or mechanical
      surgical tools. Transmission and scanning electron microscopy showed that the
      PIRL laser produced minimal tissue ablation with less damage of surrounding
      tissues than wounds formed using the other modalities. The width of scars formed
      by wounds made by the PIRL laser were half that of the scars produced using
      either a conventional surgical laser or a scalpel. Aniline blue staining showed
      higher levels of collagen in the early stage of the wounds produced using the
      PIRL laser, suggesting that these wounds mature faster. There were more viable
      cells extracted from skin using the PIRL laser, suggesting less cellular damage.
      beta-catenin and TGF-beta signalling, which are activated during the
      proliferative phase of wound healing, and whose level of activation correlates
      with the size of wounds was lower in wounds generated by the PIRL system. Wounds
      created with the PIRL systsem also showed a lower rate of cell proliferation.
      Direct comparison of wound healing responses to a conventional surgical laser,
      and standard mechanical instruments shows far less damage and near absence of
      scar formation by using PIRL laser. This new laser source appears to have
      achieved the long held promise of lasers in minimally invasive surgery.

PMID- 20927392
TI  - Cognitive functioning in patients with bipolar disorder: association with
      depressive symptoms and alcohol use.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cognitive dysfunction is clearly recognized in bipolar patients, but
      the degree of impairment varies due to methodological factors as well as
      heterogeneity in patient populations. The goal of this study was to evaluate
      cognitive functioning in bipolar patients and to assess its association with
      depressive symptoms. Post hoc the relationship with lifetime alcohol use disorder
      was explored. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The study included 110 bipolar
      patients and 75 healthy controls. Patients with severe depressive symptoms,
      (hypo)manic symptoms and current severe alcohol use disorder were excluded.
      Diagnoses were evaluated via the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview.
      Cognitive functioning was measured in domains of psychomotor speed, speed of
      information processing, attentional switching, verbal memory, visual memory,
      executive functioning and an overall mean score. Severity of depression was
      assessed by the Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology-self rating. Patients were
      euthymic (n = 46) or with current mild (n = 38) or moderate (n = 26) depressive
      symptoms. Cognitive impairment was found in 26% (z-score 2 or more above
      reference control group for at least one domain) of patients, most prominent in
      executive functioning (effect size; ES 0.49) and speed of information processing
      (ES 0.47). Depressive symptoms were associated with dysfunction in psychomotor
      speed (adjusted beta 0.43; R(2) 7%), speed of information processing (adjusted
      beta 0.36; R(2) 20%), attentional switching (adjusted beta 0.24; R(2) 16%) and
      the mean score (adjusted beta 0.23; R(2) 24%), but not with verbal and visual
      memory and executive functioning. Depressive symptoms explained 24% of the
      variance in the mean z-score of all 6 cognitive domains. Comorbid lifetime
      alcohol use (n = 21) was not associated with cognitive dysfunction.
      CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Cognitive dysfunction in bipolar disorder is more
      severe in patients with depressive symptoms, especially regarding speed and
      attention. Therefore, interpretation of cognitive functioning in patients with
      depressive symptoms should be cautious. No association was found between
      cognitive functioning and lifetime comorbid alcohol use disorder.

PMID- 20927393
TI  - Relating mutant genotype to phenotype via quantitative behavior of the NADPH
      redox cycle in human erythrocytes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The NADPH redox cycle plays a key role in antioxidant protection of
      human erythrocytes. It consists of two enzymes: glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase
      (G6PD) and glutathione reductase. Over 160 G6PD variants have been characterized
      and associated with several distinct clinical manifestations. However, the
      mechanistic link between the genotype and the phenotype remains poorly
      understood. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We address this issue through a novel
      framework (design space) that integrates information at the genetic, biochemical
      and clinical levels. Our analysis predicts three qualitatively-distinct
      phenotypic regions that can be ranked according to fitness. When G6PD variants
      are analyzed in design space, a correlation is revealed between the phenotypic
      region and the clinical manifestation: the best region with normal physiology,
      the second best region with a pathology, and the worst region with a potential
      lethality. We also show that Plasmodium falciparum, by induction of its own G6PD
      gene in G6PD-deficient erythrocytes, moves the operation of the cycle to a region
      of the design space that yields robust performance. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: In
      conclusion, the design space for the NADPH redox cycle, which includes
      relationships among genotype, phenotype and environment, illuminates the
      function, design and fitness of the cycle, and its phenotypic regions correlate
      with the organism's clinical status.

PMID- 20927394
TI  - Stressful dieting: nutritional conditions but not compensatory growth elevate
      corticosterone levels in zebra finch nestlings and fledglings.
AB  - Unfavourable conditions throughout the period of parental care can severely
      affect growth, reproductive performance, and survival. Yet, individuals may be
      affected differently, depending on the developmental period during which
      constraints are experienced. Here we tested whether the nestling phase compared
      to the fledgling phase is more susceptible to nutritional stress by considering
      biometry, physiology, sexually selected male ornaments and survival using zebra
      finches (Taeniopygia guttata) as a model species. As nestlings (day 0-17) or
      fledglings (day 17-35), subjects were raised either on low or high quality food.
      A low quality diet resulted in significantly elevated baseline corticosterone
      titres in both nestlings and fledglings. Subjects showed substantial compensatory
      growth after they had experienced low quality food as nestlings but catch-up
      growth did neither lead to elevated baseline corticosterone titres nor did we
      detect long term effects on biometry, male cheek patch, or survival. The
      compensation for temporally unfavourable environmental conditions reflects
      substantial phenotypic plasticity and the results show that costs of catch-up
      growth were not mediated via corticosterone as a physiological correlate of
      allostatic load. These findings provide new insights into the mechanisms and
      plasticity with which animals respond to periods of constraints during
      development as they may occur in a mistiming of breeding.

PMID- 20927395
TI  - The role of the focal adhesion protein PINCH1 for the radiosensitivity of
      adhesion and suspension cell cultures.
AB  - Focal adhesion (FA) signaling mediated by adhesion to extracellular matrix and
      growth factor receptors contributes to the regulation of the cellular stress
      response to external stimuli. Critical to focal adhesion assembly and signaling
      is the adapter protein PINCH1. To evaluate whether the prosurvival function of
      PINCH1 in radiation cell survival depends on cell adhesion, we examined
      PINCH1(fl/fl) and PINCH1(-/-) mouse embryonic fibroblasts and human cancer cell
      lines. Here, we found that the enhanced cellular radiosensitivity mediated by
      PINCH1 depletion observed under adhesion conditions is conserved when cells are
      irradiated under suspension conditions. This unsuspected finding could not be
      explained by the observed modification of adhesion and growth factor associated
      signaling involving FAK, Paxillin, p130(CAS), Src, AKT, GSK3beta and ERK1/2 under
      suspension and serum withdrawal relative to adhesion conditions with serum. Our
      data suggest that the adapter protein PINCH1 critically participates in the
      regulation of the cellular radiosensitivity of normal and malignant cells
      similarly under adhesion and suspension conditions.

PMID- 20927396
TI  - CRISPR associated diversity within a population of Sulfolobus islandicus.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Predator-prey models for virus-host interactions predict that viruses
      will cause oscillations of microbial host densities due to an arms race between
      resistance and virulence. A new form of microbial resistance, CRISPRs (clustered
      regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) are a rapidly evolving, sequence
      specific immunity mechanism in which a short piece of invading viral DNA is
      inserted into the host's chromosome, thereby rendering the host resistant to
      further infection. Few studies have linked this form of resistance to population
      dynamics in natural microbial populations. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We
      examined sequence diversity in 39 strains of the archeaon Sulfolobus islandicus
      from a single, isolated hot spring from Kamchatka, Russia to determine the
      effects of CRISPR immunity on microbial population dynamics. First, multiple
      housekeeping genetic markers identify a large clonal group of identical genotypes
      coexisting with a diverse set of rare genotypes. Second, the sequence-specific
      CRISPR spacer arrays split the large group of isolates into two very different
      groups and reveal extensive diversity and no evidence for dominance of a single
      clone within the population. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The evenness of resistance
      genotypes found within this population of S. islandicus is indicative of a lack
      of strain dominance, in contrast to the prediction for a resistant strain in a
      simple predator-prey interaction. Based on evidence for the independent
      acquisition of resistant sequences, we hypothesize that CRISPR mediated clonal
      interference between resistant strains promotes and maintains diversity in this
      natural population.

PMID- 20927397
TI  - Axonal-transport-mediated gene transduction in the interior of rat bone.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Gene transduction has been considered advantageous for the sustained
      delivery of proteins to specific target tissues. However, in the case of hard
      tissues, such as bone, local gene delivery remains problematic owing to
      anatomical accessibility limitations of the target sites. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL
      FINDINGS: Here, we evaluated the feasibility of exogenous gene transduction in
      the interior of bone via axonal transport following intramuscular administration
      of a nonviral vector. A high expression level of the transduced gene was achieved
      in the tibia ipsilateral to the injected tibialis anterior muscle, as well as in
      the ipsilateral sciatic nerve and dorsal root ganglia. In sciatic transection
      rats, the gene expression level was significantly lowered in bone.
      CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: These results suggest that axonal transport is critical
      for gene transduction. Our study may provide a basis for developing therapeutic
      methods for efficient gene delivery into hard tissues.

PMID- 20927399
TI  - Superoxide flashes in mouse skeletal muscle are produced by discrete arrays of
      active mitochondria operating coherently.
AB  - Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) constitute important intracellular signaling
      molecules. Mitochondria are admitted sources of ROS, especially of superoxide
      anions through the electron transport chain. Here the mitochondria-targeted
      ratiometric pericam (RPmt) was used as a superoxide biosensor, by appropriate
      choice of the excitation wavelength. RPmt was transfected in vivo into mouse
      muscles. Confocal imaging of isolated muscle fibers reveals spontaneous flashes
      of RPmt fluorescence. Flashes correspond to increases in superoxide production,
      as shown by simultaneous recordings of the fluorescence from MitoSox, a
      mitochondrial superoxide probe. Flashes occur in all subcellular populations of
      mitochondria. Spatial analysis of the flashes pattern over time revealed that
      arrays of mitochondria work as well-defined superoxide-production-units. Increase
      of superoxide production at the muscle fiber level involves recruitment of
      supplemental units with no increase in per-unit production. Altogether, these
      results demonstrate that superoxide flashes in muscle fibers correspond to
      physiological signals linked to mitochondrial metabolism. They also suggest that
      superoxide, or one of its derivatives, modulates its own production at the
      mitochondrial level.

PMID- 20927398
TI  - Alpha-adducin Gly460Trp polymorphism and hypertension risk: a meta-analysis of 22
      studies including 14303 cases and 15961 controls.
AB  - BACKGROUND: No clear consensus has been reached on the alpha-adducin polymorphism
      (Gly460Trp) and essential hypertension risk. We performed a meta-analysis in an
      effort to systematically summarize the possible association.
      METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Studies were identified by searching MEDLINE and
      EMBASE databases complemented with perusal of bibliographies of retrieved
      articles and correspondence with original authors. The fixed-effects model and
      the random-effects model were applied for dichotomous outcomes to combine the
      results of the individual studies. We selected 22 studies that met the inclusion
      criteria including a total of 14303 hypertensive patients and 15961 normotensive
      controls. Overall, the 460Trp allele showed no statistically significant
      association with hypertension risk compared to Gly460 allele (P = 0.69, OR =
      1.02, 95% CI 0.94-1.10, P(heterogeneity)<0.0001) in all subjects. Meta-analysis
      under other genetic contrasts still did not reveal any significant association in
      all subjects, Caucasians, East Asians and others. The results were similar but
      heterogeneity did not persist when sensitivity analyses were limited to these
      studies. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our meta-analysis failed to provide evidence
      for the genetic association of alpha-adducin gene Gly460Trp polymorphism with
      hypertension. Further studies investigating the effect of genetic networks,
      environmental factors, individual biological characteristics and their mutual
      interactions are needed to elucidate the possible mechanism for hypertension in
      humans.

PMID- 20927400
TI  - Near scale-free dynamics in neural population activity of waking/sleeping rats
      revealed by multiscale analysis.
AB  - A neuron embedded in an intact brain, unlike an isolated neuron, participates in
      network activity at various spatial resolutions. Such multiple scale spatial
      dynamics is potentially reflected in multiple time scales of temporal dynamics.
      We identify such multiple dynamical time scales of the inter-spike interval (ISI)
      fluctuations of neurons of waking/sleeping rats by means of multiscale analysis.
      The time scale of large non-Gaussianity in the ISI fluctuations, measured with
      the Castaing method, ranges up to several minutes, markedly escaping the low-pass
      filtering characteristics of neurons. A comparison between neural activity during
      waking and sleeping reveals that non-Gaussianity is stronger during waking than
      sleeping throughout the entire range of scales observed. We find a remarkable
      property of near scale independence of the magnitude correlations as the primary
      cause of persistent non-Gaussianity. Such scale-invariance of correlations is
      characteristic of multiplicative cascade processes and raises the possibility of
      the existence of a scale independent memory preserving mechanism.

PMID- 20927402
TI  - Adjacent nucleotide dependence in ncRNA and order-1 SCFG for ncRNA
      identification.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) are known to be involved in many critical
      biological processes, and identification of ncRNAs is an important task in
      biological research. A popular software, Infernal, is the most successful
      prediction tool and exhibits high sensitivity. The application of Infernal has
      been mainly focused on small suspected regions. We tried to apply Infernal on a
      chromosome level; the results have high sensitivity, yet contain many false
      positives. Further enhancing Infernal for chromosome level or genome wide study
      is desirable. METHODOLOGY: Based on the conjecture that adjacent nucleotide
      dependence affects the stability of the secondary structure of an ncRNA, we first
      conduct a systematic study on human ncRNAs and find that adjacent nucleotide
      dependence in human ncRNA should be useful for identifying ncRNAs. We then
      incorporate this dependence in the SCFG model and develop a new order-1 SCFG
      model for identifying ncRNAs. CONCLUSIONS: With respect to our experiments on
      human chromosomes, the proposed new model can eliminate more than 50% false
      positives reported by Infernal while maintaining the same sensitivity. The
      executable and the source code of programs are freely available at
      http://i.cs.hku.hk/~kfwong/order1scfg.

PMID- 20927403
TI  - Sustained spindle-assembly checkpoint response requires de novo transcription and
      translation of cyclin B1.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Microtubule-targeting drugs induce mitotic delay at pro-metaphase by
      preventing the spindle assembly checkpoint to be satisfied. However, especially
      after prolonged treatments, cells can escape this arrest in a process called
      mitotic slippage. The mechanisms underlying the spindle assembly checkpoint and
      slippage are not fully understood. It has been generally accepted that during
      mitosis there is a temporary shutdown of high-energy-consuming processes, such as
      transcription and translation. However, the synthesis of specific proteins is
      maintained or up-regulated since protein synthesis is necessary for entry into
      and progression through mitosis. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In this work we
      investigated whether the mitotic arrest caused by the mitotic checkpoint is
      independent of transcription and translation. By using immunofluorescent
      microscopy and western blotting, we demonstrate that inhibition of either of
      these processes induces a shortening of the mitotic arrest caused by the
      nocodazole treatment, and ultimately leads to mitotic slippage. Our western
      blotting and RTQ-PCR results show that inhibition of transcription during mitotic
      arrest does not affect the expression of the spindle checkpoint proteins, whereas
      it induces a significant decrease in the mRNA and protein levels of Cyclin B1.
      The exogenous expression of Cyclin B1 substantially rescued the mitotic phenotype
      in nocodazole cells treated with the inhibitors of transcription and translation.
      CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: This work emphasizes the importance of transcription
      and translation for the maintenance of the spindle assembly checkpoint,
      suggesting the existence of a mechanism dependent on cyclin B1 gene regulation
      during mitosis. We propose that continuous transcription of mitotic regulators is
      required to sustain the activation of the spindle assembly checkpoint.

PMID- 20927401
TI  - Lipoic acid attenuates inflammation via cAMP and protein kinase A signaling.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Abnormal regulation of the inflammatory response is an important
      component of diseases such as diabetes, Alzheimer's disease and multiple
      sclerosis (MS). Lipoic acid (LA) has been shown to have antioxidant and anti
      inflammatory properties and is being pursued as a therapy for these diseases. We
      first reported that LA stimulates cAMP production via activation of G-protein
      coupled receptors and adenylyl cyclases. LA also suppressed NK cell activation
      and cytotoxicity. In this study we present evidence supporting the hypothesis
      that the anti-inflammatory properties of LA are mediated by the cAMP/PKA
      signaling cascade. Additionally, we show that LA oral administration elevates
      cAMP levels in MS subjects. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We determined the
      effects of LA on IL-6, IL-17 and IL-10 secretion using ELISAs. Treatment with 50
      ug/ml and 100 ug/ml LA significantly reduced IL-6 levels by 19 and 34%,
      respectively, in T cell enriched PBMCs. IL-17 levels were also reduced by 35 and
      50%, respectively. Though not significant, LA appeared to have a biphasic effect
      on IL-10 production. Thymidine incorporation studies showed LA inhibited T cell
      proliferation by 90%. T-cell activation was reduced by 50% as measured by IL-2
      secretion. Western blot analysis showed that LA treatment increased
      phosphorylation of Lck, a downstream effector of protein kinase A. Pretreatment
      with a peptide inhibitor of PKA, PKI, blocked LA inhibition of IL-2 and IFN gamma
      production, indicating that PKA mediates these responses. Oral administration of
      1200 mg LA to MS subjects resulted in increased cAMP levels in PBMCs four hours
      after ingestion. Average cAMP levels in 20 subjects were 43% higher than
      baseline. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Oral administration of LA in vivo resulted in
      significant increases in cAMP concentration. The anti-inflammatory effects of LA
      are mediated in part by the cAMP/PKA signaling cascade. These novel findings
      enhance our understanding of the mechanisms of action of LA.

PMID- 20927404
TI  - The adaptive function of masturbation in a promiscuous African ground squirrel.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Studies of animal mating systems increasingly emphasize female
      multiple mating and cryptic sexual selection, particularly sperm competition.
      Males under intense sperm competition may manipulate sperm quantity and quality
      through masturbation, which could waste sperm and decrease fertility. I examined
      the factors influencing masturbation by male Cape ground squirrels (Xerus
      inauris) in light of a number of functional hypotheses. METHODOLOGY:
      Observational data on a marked population of squirrels were collected in east
      central Namibia using scan and all-occurrences sampling. FINDINGS: Masturbation
      was far more frequent on days of female oestrus and mostly occurred after
      copulation. Masturbation rates were higher in dominant males, which copulate
      more, than in subordinates and increased with number of mates a female accepts.
      CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that masturbation in this species was not a
      response to sperm competition nor a sexual outlet by subordinates that did not
      copulate. Instead masturbation could function as a form of genital grooming.
      Female Cape ground squirrels mate with up to 10 males in a 3-hr oestrus, and by
      masturbating after copulation males could reduce the chance of infection.
      Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) can profoundly affect fertility, and their
      consequences for mating strategies need to be examined more fully.

PMID- 20927405
TI  - A selection fit mechanism in BMP receptor IA as a possible source for BMP ligand
      receptor promiscuity.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Members of the TGF-beta superfamily are characterized by a highly
      promiscuous ligand-receptor interaction as is readily apparent from the numeral
      discrepancy of only seven type I and five type II receptors available for more
      than 40 ligands. Structural and functional studies have been used to address the
      question of how specific signals can be deduced from a limited number of receptor
      combinations and to unravel the molecular mechanisms underlying the protein
      protein recognition that allow such limited specificity. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In
      this study we have investigated how an antigen binding antibody fragment (Fab)
      raised against the extracellular domain of the BMP receptor type IA (BMPR-IA)
      recognizes the receptor's BMP-2 binding epitope and thereby neutralizes BMP-2
      receptor activation. The crystal structure of the complex of the BMPR-IA
      ectodomain bound to the Fab AbD1556 revealed that the contact surface of BMPR-IA
      overlaps extensively with the contact surface for BMP-2 interaction. Although the
      structural epitopes of BMPR-IA to both binding partners coincides, the structures
      of BMPR-IA in the two complexes differ significantly. In contrast to the
      structural differences, alanine-scanning mutagenesis of BMPR-IA showed that the
      functional determinants for binding to the antibody and BMP-2 are almost
      identical. CONCLUSIONS: Comparing the structures of BMPR-IA bound to BMP-2 or
      bound to the Fab AbD1556 with the structure of unbound BMPR-IA shows that binding
      of BMPR-IA to its interaction partners follows a selection fit mechanism,
      possibly indicating that the ligand promiscuity of BMPR-IA is inherently encoded
      by structural adaptability. The functional and structural analysis of the BMPR-IA
      binding antibody AbD1556 mimicking the BMP-2 binding epitope may thus pave the
      way for the design of low-molecular weight synthetic receptor binders/inhibitors.

PMID- 20927406
TI  - An upstream Hfq binding site in the fhlA mRNA leader region facilitates the OxyS
      fhlA interaction.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To survive, bacteria must be able to adapt to environmental stresses.
      Small regulatory RNAs have been implicated as intermediates in a variety of
      stress-response pathways allowing dynamic gene regulation. The RNA binding
      protein Hfq facilitates this process in many cases, helping sRNAs base pair with
      their target mRNAs and initiate gene regulation. Although Hfq has been identified
      as a critical component in many RNPs, the manner by which Hfq controls these
      interactions is not known. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: To test the
      requirement of Hfq in these mRNA-sRNA complexes, the OxyS-fhlA system was used as
      a model. OxyS is induced in response to oxidative stress and down regulates the
      translation of fhlA, a gene encoding a transcriptional activator for formate
      metabolism. Biophysical characterization of this system previously used a minimal
      construct of the fhlA mRNA which inadvertently removed a critical element within
      the leader sequence of this mRNA that effected thermodynamics and kinetics for
      the interaction with Hfq. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Herein, we report
      thermodynamic, kinetic and structural mapping studies during binary and ternary
      complex formation between Hfq, OxyS and fhlA mRNA. Hfq binds fhlA mRNA using both
      the proximal and distal surfaces and stimulates association kinetics between the
      sRNA and mRNA but remains bound to fhlA forming a ternary complex. The upstream
      Hfq binding element within fhlA is similar to (ARN)(x) elements recently
      identified in other mRNAs regulated by Hfq. This work leads to a kinetic model
      for the dynamics of these complexes and the regulation of gene expression by
      bacterial sRNAs.

PMID- 20927407
TI  - Finding new genes for non-syndromic hearing loss through an in silico
      prioritization study.
AB  - At present, 51 genes are already known to be responsible for Non-Syndromic
      hereditary Hearing Loss (NSHL), but the knowledge of 121 NSHL-linked chromosomal
      regions brings to the hypothesis that a number of disease genes have still to be
      uncovered. To help scientists to find new NSHL genes, we built a gene-scoring
      system, integrating Gene Ontology, NCBI Gene and Map Viewer databases, which
      prioritizes the candidate genes according to their probability to cause NSHL. We
      defined a set of candidates and measured their functional similarity with respect
      to the disease gene set, computing a score ( S S M avg) that relies on the
      assumption that functionally related genes might contribute to the same (disease)
      phenotype. A Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, comparing the pair-wise distribution on the
      disease gene set with the distribution on the remaining human genes, provided a
      statistical assessment of this assumption. We found at a p-value < 2.2.10 (-16)
      that the former pair-wise is greater than the latter, justifying a prioritization
      strategy based on the functional similarity of candidate genes respect to the
      disease gene set. A cross-validation test measured to what extent the S S M avg
      ranking for NSHL is different from a random ordering: adding 15% of the disease
      genes to the candidate gene set, the ranking of the disease genes in the first
      eight positions resulted statistically different from a hypergeometric
      distribution with a p-value = 2.04.10(-5) and a power > 0.99. The twenty top
      scored genes were finally examined to evaluate their possible involvement in
      NSHL. We found that half of them are known to be expressed in human inner ear or
      cochlea and are mainly involved in remodeling and organization of actin formation
      and maintenance of the cilia and the endocochlear potential. These findings
      strongly indicate that our metric was able to suggest excellent NSHL candidates
      to be screened in patients and controls for causative mutations.

PMID- 20927408
TI  - Neuroimaging study designs, computational analyses and data provenance using the
      LONI pipeline.
AB  - Modern computational neuroscience employs diverse software tools and
      multidisciplinary expertise to analyze heterogeneous brain data. The classical
      problems of gathering meaningful data, fitting specific models, and discovering
      appropriate analysis and visualization tools give way to a new class of
      computational challenges--management of large and incongruous data, integration
      and interoperability of computational resources, and data provenance. We
      designed, implemented and validated a new paradigm for addressing these
      challenges in the neuroimaging field. Our solution is based on the LONI Pipeline
      environment [3], [4], a graphical workflow environment for constructing and
      executing complex data processing protocols. We developed study-design, database
      and visual language programming functionalities within the LONI Pipeline that
      enable the construction of complete, elaborate and robust graphical workflows for
      analyzing neuroimaging and other data. These workflows facilitate open sharing
      and communication of data and metadata, concrete processing protocols, result
      validation, and study replication among different investigators and research
      groups. The LONI Pipeline features include distributed grid-enabled
      infrastructure, virtualized execution environment, efficient integration, data
      provenance, validation and distribution of new computational tools, automated
      data format conversion, and an intuitive graphical user interface. We demonstrate
      the new LONI Pipeline features using large scale neuroimaging studies based on
      data from the International Consortium for Brain Mapping [5] and the Alzheimer's
      Disease Neuroimaging Initiative [6]. User guides, forums, instructions and
      downloads of the LONI Pipeline environment are available at
      http://pipeline.loni.ucla.edu.

PMID- 20927409
TI  - Desynchronization of neocortical networks by asynchronous release of GABA at
      autaptic and synaptic contacts from fast-spiking interneurons.
AB  - Networks of specific inhibitory interneurons regulate principal cell firing in
      several forms of neocortical activity. Fast-spiking (FS) interneurons are
      potently self-inhibited by GABAergic autaptic transmission, allowing them to
      precisely control their own firing dynamics and timing. Here we show that in FS
      interneurons, high-frequency trains of action potentials can generate a delayed
      and prolonged GABAergic self-inhibition due to sustained asynchronous release at
      FS-cell autapses. Asynchronous release of GABA is simultaneously recorded in
      connected pyramidal (P) neurons. Asynchronous and synchronous autaptic release
      show differential presynaptic Ca(2+) sensitivity, suggesting that they rely on
      different Ca(2+) sensors and/or involve distinct pools of vesicles. In addition,
      asynchronous release is modulated by the endogenous Ca(2+) buffer parvalbumin.
      Functionally, asynchronous release decreases FS-cell spike reliability and
      reduces the ability of P neurons to integrate incoming stimuli into precise
      firing. Since each FS cell contacts many P neurons, asynchronous release from a
      single interneuron may desynchronize a large portion of the local network and
      disrupt cortical information processing.

PMID- 20927410
TI  - Inferring the dynamics of diversification: a coalescent approach.
AB  - Recent analyses of the fossil record and molecular phylogenies suggest that there
      are fundamental limits to biodiversity, possibly arising from constraints in the
      availability of space, resources, or ecological niches. Under this hypothesis,
      speciation rates decay over time and biodiversity eventually saturates, with new
      species emerging only when others are driven to extinction. This view of macro
      evolution contradicts an alternative hypothesis that biodiversity is unbounded,
      with species ever accumulating as they find new niches to occupy. These
      contrasting theories of biodiversity dynamics yield fundamentally different
      explanations for the disparity in species richness across taxa and regions. Here,
      we test whether speciation rates have decayed or remained constant over time, and
      whether biodiversity is saturated or still expanding. We first derive a general
      likelihood expression for internode distances in a phylogeny, based on the well
      known coalescent process from population genetics. This expression accounts for
      either time-constant or time-variable rates, time-constant or time-variable
      diversity, and completely or incompletely sampled phylogenies. We then compare
      the performance of different diversification scenarios in explaining a set of 289
      phylogenies representing amphibians, arthropods, birds, mammals, mollusks, and
      flowering plants. Our results indicate that speciation rates typically decay over
      time, but that diversity is still expanding at present. The evidence for
      expanding-diversity models suggests that an upper limit to biodiversity has not
      yet been reached, or that no such limit exists.

PMID- 20927411
TI  - A widespread chromosomal inversion polymorphism contributes to a major life
      history transition, local adaptation, and reproductive isolation.
AB  - The role of chromosomal inversions in adaptation and speciation is controversial.
      Historically, inversions were thought to contribute to these processes either by
      directly causing hybrid sterility or by facilitating the maintenance of co
      adapted gene complexes. Because inversions suppress recombination when
      heterozygous, a recently proposed local adaptation mechanism predicts that they
      will spread if they capture alleles at multiple loci involved in divergent
      adaptation to contrasting environments. Many empirical studies have found
      inversion polymorphisms linked to putatively adaptive phenotypes or distributed
      along environmental clines. However, direct involvement of an inversion in local
      adaptation and consequent ecological reproductive isolation has not to our
      knowledge been demonstrated in nature. In this study, we discovered that a
      chromosomal inversion polymorphism is geographically widespread, and we test the
      extent to which it contributes to adaptation and reproductive isolation under
      natural field conditions. Replicated crosses between the prezygotically
      reproductively isolated annual and perennial ecotypes of the yellow monkeyflower,
      Mimulus guttatus, revealed that alternative chromosomal inversion arrangements
      are associated with life-history divergence over thousands of kilometers across
      North America. The inversion polymorphism affected adaptive flowering time
      divergence and other morphological traits in all replicated crosses between four
      pairs of annual and perennial populations. To determine if the inversion
      contributes to adaptation and reproductive isolation in natural populations, we
      conducted a novel reciprocal transplant experiment involving outbred lines, where
      alternative arrangements of the inversion were reciprocally introgressed into the
      genetic backgrounds of each ecotype. Our results demonstrate for the first time
      in nature the contribution of an inversion to adaptation, an annual/perennial
      life-history shift, and multiple reproductive isolating barriers. These results
      are consistent with the local adaptation mechanism being responsible for the
      distribution of the two inversion arrangements across the geographic range of M.
      guttatus and that locally adaptive inversion effects contribute directly to
      reproductive isolation. Such a mechanism may be partially responsible for the
      observation that closely related species often differ by multiple chromosomal
      rearrangements.

PMID- 20927412
TI  - How and why chromosome inversions evolve.

PMID- 20927413
TI  - Are drug companies living up to their human rights responsibilities? The
      perspective of the former United Nations Special Rapporteur (2002-2008).
AB  - BACKGROUND TO THE DEBATE: The human rights responsibilities of drug companies
      have been considered for years by nongovernmental organizations, but were most
      sharply defined in a report by the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to health,
      submitted to the United Nations General Assembly in August 2008. The "Human
      Rights Guidelines for Pharmaceutical Companies in relation to Access to
      Medicines" include responsibilities for transparency, management, monitoring and
      accountability, pricing, and ethical marketing, and against lobbying for more
      protection in intellectual property laws, applying for patents for trivial
      modifications of existing medicines, inappropriate drug promotion, and excessive
      pricing. Two years after the release of the Guidelines, the PLoS Medicine Debate
      asks whether drug companies are living up to their human rights responsibilities.
      Sofia Gruskin and Zyde Raad from the Harvard School of Public Health say more
      assessment is needed of such responsibilities; Geralyn Ritter, Vice President of
      Global Public Policy and Corporate Responsibility at Merck & Co. argues that
      multiple stakeholders could do more to help States deliver the right to health;
      and Paul Hunt and Rajat Khosla introduce Mr. Hunt's work as the UN Special
      Rapporteur on the right to the highest attainable standard of health, regarding
      the human rights responsibilities of pharmaceutical companies and access to
      medicines.

PMID- 20927414
TI  - Knoop hardness of five composites cured with single-peak and polywave LED curing
      lights.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare the ability of four light-emitting diode (LED) curing
      lights to polymerize five composite resins in 10 seconds at 4 and 8 mm. METHOD
      AND MATERIALS: Two second-generation, single-peak LED curing lights (Bluephase
      16i, Ivoclar Vivadent, and LEDemetron II, Kerr) and two third-generation polywave
      LED curing lights (UltraLume 5, Ultradent, and Bluephase G2, Ivoclar Vivadent)
      were compared. Three examples of each brand of curing light were used, and their
      light outputs were measured with a spectro-radiometer. Five composite resins
      (Filtek Supreme A2B, 3M ESPE; Vit-l-escence A2, Ultradent; Aelite LS Posterior
      A2, Bisco; and Tetric EvoCeram A2 and Tetric EvoCeram Bleach M, both Ivoclar
      Vivadent) were polymerized for 10 seconds at 4 and 8 mm from the end of the light
      guide. The Knoop microhardness (KHN50gf) was measured at 49 locations across the
      top and bottom surfaces of the specimens to determine the ability of each light
      to cure each brand of composite in 10 seconds. RESULTS: At 4 and 8 mm, the
      Bluephase G2 light delivered the broadest spectral range of wavelengths, greatest
      irradiance, and energy density. The Bluephase G2 always produced harder, better
      cured resins compared to the other three lights. Overall, the ability of the
      lights to cure these five composites was ranked from highest to lowest: Bluephase
      G2, UltraLume 5, Bluephase 16i, and LEDemetron II (ANOVA with REGWQ multiple
      comparison test, P < .01). CONCLUSION: This study suggests that polywave LED
      curing lights should be used in preference to single-peak LED curing lights.

PMID- 20927415
TI  - Short-term in situ/ex vivo study of the anticariogenic potential of a resin
      modified glass-ionomer cement associated with adhesive systems.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: As resin-modified glass-ionomer cement (RMGIC) is an adhesive
      material, its association to dentin bonding agents (DBAs) was previously
      proposed. This study investigated the adjunctive behavior of an RMGIC with etch
      and-rinse bonding systems under in situ/ex vivo cariogenic challenge. METHOD AND
      MATERIALS: Bovine enamel blocks (3 3 3 3 2 mm) were randomly assigned to group
      VP, Vitremer + its own primer (3M ESPE); group VSB, Vitremer + Single Bond (3M
      ESPE); and group VPB, Vitremer + Prime and Bond 2.1 (Dentsply). Two blocks of
      each group were randomly placed in an acrylic palatal appliance, so each
      appliance included six blocks. Volunteers (n = 10) wore these appliances
      according to given instructions to promote a sucrose challenge eight times/day
      for 15 days. After this period, the blocks were removed from the devices and
      cleaned, and demineralization was assessed through longitudinal microhardness
      analysis (Knoop indenter, 25 g/5 s). Data were submitted to three-way ANOVA and
      Tukey test (P < .05). RESULTS: No treatment was able to completely avoid
      demineralization. All materials showed a statistically significant difference in
      mineral loss when the microhardness on the outer enamel was compared with deeper
      regions (P < .05). CONCLUSION: Association of the tested RMGICs with etch-and
      rinse DBAs did not seem to be more beneficial against caries than the
      conventional treatment with RMGIC.

PMID- 20927416
TI  - Diagnostic value of NobelGuide to minimize the need for reconstructive surgery of
      jaws before implant placement: a review.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To test if using a CAD/CAM system might reduce the necessity of bone
      augmentation in patients with atrophic maxillary arches before implant therapy.
      METHOD AND MATERIALS: Twenty male and female patients consecutively scheduled for
      bone augmentation of the jaw before implant surgery were included in this study,
      with a total of 29 jaws (maxillary and mandibular) to analyze for the implant
      supported fixed prosthesis group and 19 maxillary arches for the implant
      supported removable prosthesis group. NobelGuide System (Nobel Biocare), Autocad
      System (Autodesk), and routine manual CT measurements of available bone were used
      in this study. RESULTS: The total results of the mean values of the fixed
      prosthesis group plus the mean values of the removable prosthesis group showed a
      statistically significant difference between the NobelGuide intervention score
      and both manual (P = .004) and Autocad (P = .001) measurements. CONCLUSIONS: The
      NobelGuide System represents a viable diagnostic device to reduce the entity or
      avoid bone reconstructive surgery before implant placements in the atrophic
      maxilla and mandible.

PMID- 20927417
TI  - An unusual triplication of primary teeth-a rare case report.
AB  - Odontogenic anomalies can occur as a result of conjoining or twinning defects.
      This article reports the case of fusion in a 10-year-old boy in relation to the
      primary maxillary right incisors. Clinicoradiographic examination revealed the
      presence of triple teeth, ie, fusion between the maxillary right incisors along
      with a supernumerary tooth on the labial surface. The offending triple tooth was
      extracted under local anesthesia. The extracted tooth was sectioned using a hard
      tissue microtome at three levels-the coronal, middle root, and apical levels,
      respectively-and these sections were visualized under a stereomicroscope. Based
      on the histologic findings, a final diagnosis of fusion was confirmed. A brief
      review of the literature on triple teeth is also presented.

PMID- 20927418
TI  - Chondrosarcoma of the maxilla mimicking pulp disease on initial presentation.
AB  - Chondrosarcomas are malignant mesenchymal tumors characterized by the
      differentiation of pure hyaline cartilage, and they are relatively uncommon in
      jawbones. Chondrosarcoma of the jaws usually presents as a painless mass or
      swelling associated with loosening of the associated teeth. This report describes
      an unusual case of chondrosarcoma that mimicked pulp disease on initial
      presentation in the maxilla of a 22-year-old man. The relevant literature is
      reviewed regarding clinicopathologic features and therapeutic management of
      chondrosarcomas.

PMID- 20927419
TI  - Long-term antibacterial surface properties of composite resin incorporating
      polyethyleneimine nanoparticles.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The development of new longer-lasting composite resins is an urgent
      public health need. It has been shown that surface roughness of composite resins
      is increased by Streptococcus mutans biofilm in vitro and further that
      incorporation of small amounts of antibacterial nanoparticles (polyethyleneimine
      [PEI]) into composite resins renders a strong antibacterial effect against S
      mutans biofilm. The present study tested the hypotheses that incorporation of PEI
      nanoparticles into composite resins prevents the increase of surface roughness
      caused by S mutans biofilm and that PEI incorporation into composite resin has a
      long-lasting antibacterial effect. METHOD AND MATERIALS: Composite resin
      incorporating PEI nanoparticles was characterized using contact angle goniometry,
      X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and SEM. Six-month-aged samples were
      tested for antibacterial effect against S mutans using the direct contact test.
      Surface roughness following 1 month of bacterial challenge was depicted using
      atomic force microscopy (AFM). RESULTS: Contact angle increased following PEI
      incorporation, and XPS revealed surface iodide and nitrogen elements. Direct
      contact test results showed that 6-month-aged composite resins incorporating PEI
      nanoparticles completely inhibited S mutans growth (P < .05). AFM analysis showed
      an increase in root mean square roughness following bacterial challenge in
      composite resin samples (P < .05); no effect was depicted in samples
      incorporating PEI. CONCLUSION: Changing the surface properties of composite
      resins by incorporating PEI antibacterial nanoparticles may improve their
      clinical performance both by inhibiting bacterial growth and by preventing
      changes in the surface roughness.

PMID- 20927420
TI  - Optical integration and fluorescence: a comparison among restorative materials
      with spectrophotometric analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the optical integration and fluorescence of three
      contemporary restorative materials used for incisoproximal restorations. METHOD
      AND MATERIALS: A microfilled hybrid composite (Amaris, VOCO; MHC), a nanofilled
      hybrid composite (Grandio, VOCO; NHC), and an experimental ormocer (VOCO; ORM)
      were used to consecutively restore 10 extracted incisors with incisoproximal
      restorations using the natural layering concept, mimicking the natural anatomy of
      the tooth. Before and after placement of each restoration, the teeth were
      photographed under standardized conditions (direct, indirect, and fluorescent
      light), and spectrophotometric measurements (SpectroShade, Handy Dental Type
      713000, MHT) were made using a black-and-white background. Between measurements,
      the teeth were allowed to rehydrate for 2 weeks. Ten independent evaluators
      scored each light condition using an optical integration score on a scale from 0
      to 10 (0 = worst optical integration, restoration can be easily distinguished
      from remaining tissue; 10 = optimal optical integration). Differences in L*a*b
      and DE values and optical integration scores were statistically analyzed using
      ANOVA. RESULTS: MHC obtained the highest optical integration and fluorescence
      scores (P < .01), followed by NHC, although there were no statistically
      significant differences found among DE of the restorative materials. ORM achieved
      the worst optical integration and fluorescence. CONCLUSION: The microfilled
      hybrid composite obtained the highest optical integration scores (P < .01),
      followed by the nanofilled hybrid composite. The experimental ormocer showed the
      least favorable optical behavior. Spectrophotometric measurements showed no
      statistically significant differences among all three restorative materials.

PMID- 20927421
TI  - Comparison of the three-dimensional correctness of impression techniques: a
      randomized controlled trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: In vitro studies showed superior impression correctness for one-stage
      impressions. However, clinical data, especially clinical trials, are lacking in
      this matter. The aim of the study was to investigate the three-dimensional
      correctness of impressions for final restorations applying three different
      impression techniques. METHOD AND MATERIALS: Three impressions each were made
      from 48 patients with different techniques using metal stock trays. In a
      randomized order, one-stage putty-wash, two-stage putty-wash, and monophase
      impressions (respectively, Dimension Penta H and Garant L, Dimension Penta H
      Quick and Garant L Quick, Impregum Penta; 3M ESPE) were made with either
      polyvinyl siloxane or polyether materials. The double-cord technique was applied
      at all abutment teeth. Factors potentially influencing the correctness of the
      impressions were recorded. The precision of the impressions was three
      dimensionally analyzed using the resulting gypsum models. Discrepancies between
      the impressions were calculated using the one-stage putty-wash impression as
      reference. RESULTS: Discrepancies between the one-stage putty-wash impressions
      and the monophase impressions are significantly lower compared with two-stage
      putty-wash impressions. The depth of the most subgingival portion of the
      preparation margin significantly influences the discrepancies between the
      impression techniques. CONCLUSION: In light of the major influence of clinical
      parameters on impression correctness, one-stage procedures should be favored.
      These findings support the results of in vitro investigations.

PMID- 20927422
TI  - A randomized clinical evaluation of triclosan-containing dentifrice and mouthwash
      association in the control of plaque and gingivitis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this double-blind study was to evaluate the clinical
      efficacy of the association of triclosan-containing mouthrinse and dentifrice on
      biofilm and gingivitis reduction. METHOD AND MATERIALS: Forty patients with a
      diagnosis of gingivitis were selected and randomly divided into four groups (n =
      10): group TT-triclosan-containing mouthrinse and triclosan-containing
      dentifrice; group CT-control mouthrinse and triclosan-containing dentifrice;
      group TC-triclosan-containing mouthrinse and control dentifrice; group CC-control
      mouthrinse and control dentifrice. Patients were evaluated by a calibrated
      examiner using a quantitative Plaque Index and Gingivitis Index at 0, 15, and 30
      days. Intragroup analysis was performed by Friedman test and intergroup analysis
      by Kruskal-Wallis. RESULTS: Intragroup evaluation revealed a statistically
      significant reduction in Plaque Index for groups that used triclosan,
      independently of the group (TT, CT, and TC) (P < .05). Intergroup analysis
      suggested that only the group that used the association of triclosan dentifrice
      and mouthrinse (group TT) demonstrated statistically reduced Plaque Index at 30
      days, when compared to the control group (CC) (P < .05). With regard to
      gingivitis reduction, no difference was observed between groups, although the
      association presented a faster reduction in bleeding levels. CONCLUSION: Only the
      association of triclosan dentifrice and triclosan mouthrinse statistically
      reduced Plaque Index, when compared to the control group; however, regarding the
      additional benefits to gingivitis control, more studies should be done to confirm
      the results.

PMID- 20927423
TI  - Implant-supported oral rehabilitation of a patient with systemic lupus
      erythematosus: case report and review of the literature.
AB  - Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease
      with multisystemic involvement. Immune-suppressive drugs used in the treatment of
      the disease can increase the risk of infection and delay healing, which are of
      concern in dental-treatment procedures. Because of the involvement of the
      salivary glands, the composition and amount of saliva released are usually
      altered in patients with SLE. Significantly lowered salivary flow rate causes
      difficulties during dental procedures and makes it difficult to maintain oral
      hygiene and conserve both fixed and removable prostheses. This case report
      presents a patient who had an extremely dry mouth and oral lesions due to SLE and
      describes how oral rehabilitation was achieved with implant-supported fixed
      dentures. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of the use of
      oral implants in a patient with SLE. Dental practitioners should consider dental
      implants as a preferred treatment choice in the oral rehabilitation of patients
      with SLE.

PMID- 20927424
TI  - Wrong tooth extraction: root cause analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Errors made by clinicians in dental practice require changes in the
      original planning of patient management. The purpose of this study was to analyze
      events that led to wrong tooth extraction. METHOD AND MATERIALS: A total of 54
      insurance claims for wrong tooth extractions were reported and evaluated by
      Medical Consultants International from 1993 to 2004. Data were collected and
      analyzed according to parameters regarding the clinician who performed the
      procedure, the nature of the referral for extraction, the demographics of the
      patient, the venue in which the extraction took place, the reason for the error,
      and the nature of the insurance claim. RESULTS: General practitioners performed
      72% of the extractions, 49% of the referring clinicians were orthodontists, 74%
      of the errors were made during extraction, and 77% of the errors were made in
      polyclinics. CONCLUSIONS: Errors during treatment and poor communication among
      clinicians led to extraction of the wrong teeth. This can be avoided by greater
      caution on the part of the extracting clinician when following the treatment
      plan. Guidelines toward this end are recommended.

PMID- 20927425
TI  - Pigmentary demarcation lines (Futcher lines): an orofacial case.
AB  - Pigmentary demarcation lines are rare physiologic pigmentations shaped as lines
      of deeper discoloration with abrupt transition from less pigmented areas. These
      lines are known and seen by dermatologists in the skin of African, Indian, and
      Japanese patients, usually females. No report of intraoral pigmentary demarcation
      lines was found in the literature. This article presents a rare case of
      pigmentary demarcation lines of the skin of the face and oral mucosa, which
      should be of interest to the general dentist.

PMID- 20927426
TI  - Gingival crevicular fluid biochemical markers in periodontal disease: a cross
      sectional study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the levels of interleukin-1b (IL-1b) and alkaline
      phosphatase (ALP) in gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) and correlate these
      measurements with clinical characteristics of healthy patients and patients with
      gingivitis and periodontitis. METHOD AND MATERIALS: Thirty-six individuals were
      subdivided into three groups of 12: control, gingivitis, and periodontitis
      groups. GCF samples were obtained from 2 sites for each patient. GCF volume was
      measured with the Periotron 8000; IL-1b levels were evaluated using the ELISA
      technique; ALP was measured by the kinetic method. RESULTS: Mean levels of IL-1b
      and ALP in the 3 groups were, respectively, 22.34 +/- 16.53 MUL/site and 7.68 +/-
      2.46 U/L in the control group; 41.46 +/- 27.98 MUL/site and 9.80 +/- 1.53 U/L in
      the gingivitis group; and 105.97 +/- 89.26 MUL/site and 11.56 +/- 1.82 U/L in the
      periodontitis group. The amount of IL-1b in the periodontitis group was
      significantly higher than in the other groups, but no significant difference was
      found between the control group and the gingivitis group. The amount of ALP
      differed significantly among the 3 groups (P < .05). A positive correlation was
      observed among IL-1b levels, GCF volume, and probing depth. There was no evidence
      for a correlation between IL-1b and ALP levels. CONCLUSION: Monitoring immune
      markers may give additional information on healthy or diseased sites.

PMID- 20927427
TI  - Novel metal complexes containing a chiral trinitrogen isoindoline-based pincer
      ligand: in situ synthesis and structural characterization.
AB  - The first synthesis and characterization of metal coordinated complexes
      containing in situ prepared chiral trinitrogen 1,3-bis(4,5-dihydrooxazol-2
      ylimino)isoindoline-based pincer ligands are reported. Two zinc complexes,
      isolated as Zn(L)(2), where L = 1,3-bis(4,5-dihydro-4-(R)-phenyloxazol-2
      ylimino)isoindoline ((R,R)-5) or 1,3-bis(4,5-dihydro-4-(S)-iso-propyloxazol-2
      ylimino)isoindoline ((S,S)-6), respectively, are reported. Complexes Zn((R,R)
      5)(2) and Zn((S,S)-6)(2) were prepared in situ through the condensation of
      phthalonitrile with enantiopure 2-amino-4-(R)-phenyloxazoline ((R)-3) or 2-amino
      4-(S)-iso-propyloxazoline ((S)-4) in the presence of ZnCl(2) at 80  degrees C in
      dry toluene over 3-4 days. The characterizations of Zn((R,R)-5)(2) and Zn((S,S)
      6)(2) in both the solid (X-ray crystallography) and solution (multinuclear NMR
      spectroscopy) states are reported.

PMID- 20927428
TI  - Regioselective functionalization of iminophosphoranes through Pd-mediated C-H
      bond activation: C-C and C-X bond formation.
AB  - The orthopalladation of iminophosphoranes [R(3)P=N-C(10)H(7)-1] (R(3) = Ph(3) 1,
      p-Tol(3) 2, PhMe(2) 3, Ph(2)Me 4, N-C(10)H(7)-1 = 1-naphthyl) has been studied.
      It occurs regioselectively at the aryl ring bonded to the P atom in 1 and 2,
      giving endo-[Pd(MU-Cl)(C(6)H(4)-(PPh(2=N-1-C(10)H(7))-2)-kappa-C,N](2) (5) or
      endo-[Pd(MU-Cl)(C(6)H(3)-(P(p-Tol)(2)=N-C(10)H(7)-1)-2-Me-5)-kappa-C,N](2) (6),
      while in 3 the 1-naphthyl group is metallated instead, giving exo-[Pd(MU
      Cl)(C(10)H(6)-(N=PPhMe(2))-8)-kappa-C,N](2) (7). In the case of 4,
      orthopalladation at room temperature affords the kinetic exo isomer [Pd(MU
      Cl)(C(10)H(6)-(N=PPh(2)Me)-8)-kappa-C,N](2) (11exo), while a mixture of 11exo and
      the thermodynamic endo isomer [Pd(MU-Cl)(C(6)H(4)-(PPhMe=N-C(10)H(7)-1)-2)-kappa
      C,N](2) (11endo) is obtained in refluxing toluene. The heating in toluene of the
      acetate bridge dimer [Pd(MU-OAc)(C(10)H(6)-(N=PPh(2)Me)-8)-kappa-C,N](2) (13exo)
      promotes the facile transformation of the exo isomer into the endo isomer [Pd(MU
      OAc)(C(6)H(4)-(PPhMe=N-C(10)H(7)-1)-2)-kappa-C,N](2) (13endo), confirming that
      the exo isomers are formed under kinetic control. Reactions of the
      orthometallated complexes have led to functionalized molecules. The
      stoichiometric reactions of the orthometallated complexes [Pd(MU-Cl)(C(10)H(6)
      (N=PPhMe(2))-8)-kappa-C,N](2) (7), [Pd(MU-Cl)(C(6)H(4)-(PPh(2)[=NPh)-2)](2) (17)
      and [Pd(MU-Cl)(C(6)H(3)-(C(O)N=PPh(3))-2-OMe-4)](2) (18) with I(2) or with CO
      results in the synthesis of the ortho-halogenated compounds [PhMe(2)P=N-C(10)H(6)
      I-8] (19), [I-C(6)H(4)-(PPh(2)=NPh)-2] (21) and [Ph(3)P=NC(O)C(6)H(3)-I-2-OMe-5]
      (23) or the heterocycles [C(10)H(6)-(N=PPhMe(2))-1-(C(O))-8]Cl (20), [C(6)H(5)
      (N=PPh(2)-C(6)H(4)-C(O)-2]ClO(4) (22) and [C(6)H(3)-(C(O)-1,2-N-PPh(3))-OMe-4]Cl
      (24).

PMID- 20927429
TI  - Metabolic probes for imaging endosymbiotic bacteria within toxic dinoflagellates.
AB  - Fluorescence microscopy offers an important tool for the study of complex
      biological phenomena such as symbiosis. Here we identify a strategy that adapts
      the unique differences between the secondary metabolism in host and guest
      symbiotic species to selectively image endosymbiotic organisms. The method is
      demonstrated by application to the complex symbiotic relationships in toxic
      marine dinoflagellates.

PMID- 20927430
TI  - LiCl-Promoted Pd(II)-catalyzed ortho carbonylation of N,N-dimethylbenzylamines.
AB  - Palladium-catalyzed highly regioselective carbonylation of substituted N,N
      dimethylbenzylamines with the assistance of LiCl was developed. The ortho
      functionalized N,N-dimethylbenzylamine was further transformed into ortho-methyl
      benzoate under mild conditions. These two transformations could be combined into
      one pot to produce the desired product in moderate yield. Applications of this
      methodology to synthesize the fragments of variolaric acid were also studied.

PMID- 20927431
TI  - Densely integrated array of chemiresistor vapor sensors with electron-beam
      patterned monolayer-protected gold nanoparticle interface films.
AB  - Use of electron-beam induced crosslinking to pattern films of monolayer-protected
      gold nanoparticles (MPNs) onto a chemiresistor (CR) sensor array is described.
      Each of the four CRs comprises a 100 um(2) set of interdigital electrodes (IDEs)
      with 100 nm widths and spaces, separated from adjacent devices by 4 um. Films of
      four MPNs, each with a different thiolate monolayer, were successively patterned
      on the IDEs. Vapor exposures yield rapid, reversible changes in CR resistances
      and differential vapor sensitivities comparable to those reported for larger CRs
      with unpatterned MPN films. The array response patterns facilitate vapor
      discrimination. This is the smallest MPN-coated CR array yet reported. The
      advantages of using such an array as the detector in microfabricated gas
      chromatographic analyzers are considered.

PMID- 20927432
TI  - A novel multi-functional magnetic Fe-Ti-V spinel catalyst for elemental mercury
      capture and callback from flue gas.
AB  - A novel magnetic Fe-Ti-V spinel catalyst showed an excellent performance for
      elemental mercury capture at 100  degrees C, and the formed HgO can be
      catalytically decomposed by the catalyst at 300  degrees C to reclaim elemental
      mercury and regenerate the catalyst.

PMID- 20927433
TI  - Self-organization of electron acceptor molecules on graphene.
AB  - Graphene grown on Ir(111) electronically decouples adsorbed molecules from the
      metallic substrate and allows the study of their self-organization on surfaces.
      We study two electron acceptor molecules from the same family. The intermolecular
      interaction, attractive for TCNQ and repulsive for F(4)-TCNQ, dictates the
      molecular ordering.

PMID- 20927434
TI  - Alkyne insertion into cyclometallated pyrazole and imine complexes of iridium,
      rhodium and ruthenium; relevance to catalytic formation of carbo- and
      heterocycles.
AB  - The cyclometallated complexes [MCl(C^N)(ring)] (HC^N = 2-phenylpyrazole, M = Ir,
      Rh ring = Cp*; M = Ru, ring = p-cymene) readily undergo insertion reactions with
      RC=CR (R = CO(2)Me, Ph) to give mono insertion products, the rhodium complex also
      reacts with PhC=CH regiospecifically to give an analogous product. The products
      of the reactions of the cyclometallated imine complexes [MCl(C^N)Cp*] (HC^N =
      PhCH=NR, R = Ph, CH(2)CH(2)OMe, Me; M = Ir, Rh) with PhC=CPh depend on the
      substituent R; when R = CH(2)CH(2)OMe a monoinsertion is observed, however for R
      = Me the initial insertion product is unstable, undergoing reductive elimination
      with loss of the organic fragment, and for R = Ph no metal-containing product is
      isolated. With PhC=CH the cyclometallated imine complexes can give mono or di
      insertion products. The implications for catalytic synthesis of carbo- and
      heterocycles by a tandem C-H activation, alkyne insertion mechanism are
      discussed.

PMID- 20927435
TI  - Terphenyl substituted derivatives of manganese(II): distorted geometries and
      resistance to elimination.
AB  - Reaction of {Li(THF)Ar'MnI(2)}(2) (Ar' = C(6)H(3)-2,6-(C(6)H(2)-2,6-(i)Pr(3))(2))
      with LiAr', LiC=CR (R = (t)Bu or Ph), or (C(6)H(2)-2,4,6-(i)Pr(3))MgBr(THF)(2)
      afforded the diaryl MnAr'(2) (1), the alkynyl salts
      Ar'Mn(C=C(t)Bu)(4){Li(THF)}(3) (2) and Ar'Mn(C=CPh)(3)Li(3)(THF)(Et(2)O)(2)(MU(3)
      I) (3), and the manganate salt {Li(THF)}Ar'Mn(MU-I)(C(6)H(2)-2,4,6-(i)Pr(3)) (4),
      respectively. Complex 4 reacted with one equivalent of (C(6)H(2)-2,4,6
      (i)Pr(3))MgBr(THF)(2) to afford the homoleptic dimer {Mn(C(6)H(2)-2,4,6
      (i)Pr(3))(MU-C(6)H(2)-2,4,6-(i)Pr(3))}(2) (5), which resulted from the
      displacement of the bulkier Ar' ligand in preference to the halogen. The reaction
      of the more crowded {Li(THF)Ar*MnI(2)}(2) (Ar* = C(6)H(3)-2,6-(C(6)H(2)-2,4,6
      (i)Pr(3))(2)) with Li(t)Bu gave complex Ar*Mn(t)Bu (6). Complex 1 is a rare
      monomeric homoleptic two-coordinate diaryl Mn(II) complex; while 6 displays no
      tendency to eliminate beta-hydrogens from the (t)Bu group because of the
      stabilization supplied by Ar*. Compounds 2 and 3 have cubane frameworks, which
      are constructed from a manganese, three carbons from three acetylide ligands,
      three lithiums, each coordinated by a donor, plus either a carbon from a further
      acetylide ligand (2) or an iodide (3). The Mn(II) atom in 4 has an unusual
      distorted T-shaped geometry while the dimeric 5 features trigonal planar
      manganese coordination. The chloride substituted complex
      Li(2)(THF)(3){Ar'MnCl(2)}(2) (7), which has a structure very similar to that of
      {Li(THF)Ar'MnI(2)}(2), was also prepared for use as a possible starting material.
      However, its generally lower solubility rendered it less useful than the iodo
      salt. Complexes 1-7 were characterized by X-ray crystallography and UV-vis
      spectroscopy. Magnetic studies of 2-4 and 6 showed that they have 3d(5) high-spin
      configurations.

PMID- 20927436
TI  - Novel use of fluorescent glucose analogues to identify a new class of triazine
      based insulin mimetics possessing useful secondary effects.
AB  - There is an urgent need to discover new compounds that effectively treat diabetes
      by mimicking the action of insulin (insulin mimetics). Traditional approaches to
      studying anti-diabetic agents in cells are inconvenient for screening chemical
      libraries to identify insulin mimetics. 2-(N-(7-Nitrobenz-2-oxa-1,3-diazol-4
      yl)amino)-2-deoxyglucose (2-NBDG) and 6-NBDG are fluorescent analogues of glucose
      that could be employed in screening. However, there are no published data about
      the use of these analogues to identify new insulin mimetics. We have developed a
      screening system based on 6-NBDG using 3T3-L1 adipocytes in a 96-well culture
      plate format. 6-NBDG was found to produce a larger signal than 2-NBDG in this
      screening system. 6-NBDG uptake in 3T3-L1 adipocytes was sensitive to insulin,
      known insulin mimetics, inhibitors of glucose transport and insulin-sensitizing
      compounds. To validate our screening system, a chemical library of 576 tagged,
      triazine-based small molecules was screened. The screening results were identical
      to that obtained from a commercial enzyme-based glucose assay. Two inducers of
      glucose uptake were shown to be non-cytotoxic and confirmed as insulin mimetic
      compounds by their inhibition of epinephrine-stimulated free fatty acid release
      from adipocytes. These novel insulin mimetics functioned at a markedly lower
      concentration than two widely studied insulin mimetics, zinc(ii) complexes and
      vanadium compounds, and also showed novel, beneficial effects on endothelial cell
      function (a key determinant of secondary complications in diabetes). The
      discovery of new insulin mimetics using 6-NBDG validates the use of this probe in
      the development of large-scale, cell-based screening systems based on the uptake
      of fluorescent-tagged glucose analogues. This research should aid the development
      of novel strategies to discover new drugs and drug targets for combating the
      increasing prevalence of diabetes.

PMID- 20927437
TI  - A highly selective OFF-ON fluorescent sensor for zinc in aqueous solution and
      living cells.
AB  - A novel compound, 2-p-tolyl-1H-imidazo[4,5-f][1,10]phenanthrolinium
      hydrogenselenite (HMPIP.HSeO(3), C1), shows a peculiar OFF-ON fluorescent
      response to Zn(2+) in aqueous solution and living cells.

PMID- 20927438
TI  - Superior SWNT dispersion by amino acid based amphiphiles: designing biocompatible
      cationic nanohybrids.
AB  - Stable aqueous SWNT dispersion up to 92% was achieved using amino acid based
      amphiphiles through a structure-property investigation. The nanohybrids showed
      remarkable serum stability and biocompatibility to mammalian cells.

PMID- 20927440
TI  - A naked-eye visible and fluorescence "turn-on" probe for acetyl-cholinesterase
      assay and thiols as well as imaging of living cells.
AB  - A resorufin derivative with a DBS group (probe 1) was designed and investigated
      for the detection of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and inhibitor screening. The new
      assay is based on cascade enzymatic and chemical reactions of ATC, AChE and probe
      1, and it can be carried out in a dual-signal detection mode. Moreover, the
      results show that probe 1 can be used for cell fluorescence staining.

PMID- 20927441
TI  - Effect of diluent chain length on the performance of the electrochemical DNA
      sensor at elevated temperature.
AB  - Here we report the effect of passivating diluent chain length and sensor
      interrogation temperature on the electrochemical DNA (E-DNA) sensor's mismatch
      discrimination capability. Both stem-loop and linear probe-based E-DNA sensors
      were constructed with various diluents, including 6-mercapto-1-hexanol and longer
      chain hydroxyl-terminated alkanethiols. Contrary to previously reported results,
      we find that the E-DNA sensors work optimally in the presence of the longer chain
      diluents, signified by the enhanced % signal suppression observed upon target
      hybridization. Of note, the sensors' signaling efficiency maintains even when
      interrogated at an elevated temperature, permitting the use of stringent
      temperature conditions to improve sensor specificity. For example, a stem-loop E
      DNA sensor fabricated with 8-mercapto-1-octanol, when employed at 47  degrees C,
      produces signal suppression of 79%, 35% and 1.6% for the perfect match, single
      base mismatch, and 2-base mismatch DNA targets, respectively. In addition to the
      significant enhancement in sensor discrimination capacity, high temperature
      operation also improves hybridization kinetics. Our results also suggest that the
      stem-loop E-DNA sensors demonstrate better mismatch discrimination capability
      when compared to the linear probe system under the same experimental condition.

PMID- 20927439
TI  - Identification of epigenetic DNA modifications with a protein nanopore.
AB  - Two DNA bases, 5-methylcytosine (5mC) and 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (hmC), marks of
      epigenetic modification, are recognized in immobilized DNA strands and
      distinguished from G, A, T and C by nanopore current recording. Therefore, if
      further aspects of nanopore sequencing can be addressed, the approach will
      provide a means to locate epigenetic modifications in unamplified genomic DNA.

PMID- 20927442
TI  - Improved Cope-type hydroamination reactivity of hydrazine derivatives.
AB  - A systematic investigation on the metal-free, Cope-type hydroamination reactivity
      of hydrazides and analogues is reported. Optimization of the hydrazide structure
      resulted in more facile intramolecular reactivity and enabled intermolecular
      reactions of alkenes, thus providing a direct approach to polysubstituted
      hydrazides.

PMID- 20927448
TI  - Rapid isolation and detection of cancer cells by utilizing integrated
      microfluidic systems.
AB  - The present study reports a new three-dimensional (3D) microfluidic platform
      capable of rapid isolation and detection of cancer cells from a large sample
      volume (e.g. ~1 mL) by utilizing magnetic microbead-based technologies. Several
      modules, including a 3D microfluidic incubator for the magnetic beads to capture
      cancer cells, a microfluidic control module for sample transportation and a
      nucleic acid amplification module for genetic identification, are integrated into
      this microsystem. With the incorporation of surface-modified magnetic beads,
      target cancer cells can be specifically recognized and conjugated onto the
      surface of the antibody-coated magnetic microbeads by utilizing a swirling effect
      generated by the new 3D microfluidic incubator, followed by isolating and
      purifying the magnetic complexes via the incorporation of an external magnet and
      a microfluidic control module, which washes away any unbound waste solution.
      Experimental results show that over 90% of the target cancer cells can be
      isolated from a large volume of bio-samples within 10 min in the 3D microfluidic
      incubator. In addition, the expressed genes associated with ovarian and lung
      cancer cells can also be successfully amplified by using the on-chip nucleic acid
      amplification module. More importantly, the detection limit of the developed
      system is found to be 5 * 10(1) cells mL(-1) for the target cancer cells,
      indicating that this proposed microfluidic system may be adapted for clinical use
      for the early detection of cancer cells. Consequently, the proposed 3D
      microfluidic system incorporated with immunomagnetic beads may provide a
      promising automated platform for the rapid isolation and detection of cancer
      cells with a high sensitivity.

PMID- 20927449
TI  - An unusual ten-connected self-penetrating metal-organic framework based on
      tetranuclear cobalt clusters.
AB  - The unusual ten-connected self-penetrating metal-organic framework based on
      tetranuclear cobalt clusters has been synthesized and characterized, which
      represents the highest-connected uninodal network topology presently known for
      self-penetrating systems.

PMID- 20927450
TI  - Multimode hydriding/dehydriding reactions of CaPd.
AB  - Combined thermodynamical and structural studies have confirmed the occurrence of
      multimode hydriding/dehydriding reactions of CaPd that vary depending on
      temperature, and that these reactions proceed via hydrogen solution/dissolution
      in the temperature range 273-523 K and via phase decomposition/recombination in
      the temperature range 523-773 K.

PMID- 20927451
TI  - Relative basicities toward metal triflates Lewis acids by electrospray mass
      spectrometry.
AB  - The relative Lewis basicity of a series of phosphoryl compounds toward cations
      M(n+)(OTf)(n-1) derived from triflate salts, M(OTf)(n), is ranked using
      electrospray mass spectrometry according to competitive adduct formation.

PMID- 20927452
TI  - Phosphine-mediated disulfide metathesis in aqueous media.
AB  - Dynamic carbohydrate systems have been efficiently generated through phosphine
      mediated disulfide metathesis in aqueous media. The protein compatibility and
      binding features of the dynamic systems were demonstrated in situ using (1)H STD
      NMR.

PMID- 20927453
TI  - A large volume, portable, real-time PCR reactor.
AB  - A point-of-care, diagnostic system incorporating a portable thermal cycler and a
      compact fluorescent detector for real-time, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) on
      disposable, plastic microfluidic reactors with relatively large reaction volume
      (ranging from 10 uL to 100 uL) is described. To maintain temperature uniformity
      and a relatively fast temperature ramping rate, the system utilizes double-sided
      heater that features a master, thermoelectric element and a thermal waveguide
      connected to a second thermoelectric element. The waveguide has an aperture for
      optical coupling between a miniature, fluorescent reader and the PCR reaction
      chamber. The temperature control is accomplished with a modified, feedforward,
      variable structural proportional-integral-derivative controller. The temperature
      of the liquid in the reaction chamber tracks the set-point temperature with an
      accuracy of +/- 0.1  degrees C. The transition times from one temperature to
      another are minimized with controllable overshoots (< 2  degrees C) and
      undershoots (< 5  degrees C). The disposable, single-use PCR chip can be quickly
      inserted into a thermal cycler/reader unit for point-of-care diagnostics
      applications. The large reaction chamber allows convenient pre-storing of dried,
      paraffin-encapsulated PCR reagents (polymerase, primers, dNTPs, dyes, and
      buffers) in the PCR chamber. The reagents are reconstituted "just in time" by
      heating during the PCR process. The system was tested with viral and bacterial
      nucleic acid targets.

PMID- 20927454
TI  - Bringing natural products into the fold - exploring the therapeutic lead
      potential of secondary metabolites for the treatment of protein-misfolding
      related neurodegenerative diseases.
AB  - A review with 187 references, describing natural products that exhibit bioactive
      properties relevant to the treatment of protein aggregation-related
      neurodegenerative diseases (e.g., Huntington's, Parkinson's, and prion diseases)
      and comparing the chemical properties of these secondary metabolite leads to
      compounds in clinical use for treating central nervous system conditions.

PMID- 20927456
TI  - Computational study of ethene hydroarylation at [Ir(kappa(2)-OAc)(PMe3)Cp]+.
AB  - Density functional theory calculations have been employed to model ethene
      hydroarylation using an [Ir(kappa(2)-OAc)(PMe(3))Cp](+) catalyst, 1. The reaction
      proceeds via: (i) an acetate-assisted C-H activation of benzene via an AMLA-6
      transition state; (ii) rate-limiting insertion of ethene into the Ir-Ph bond; and
      (iii) protonolysis of the beta-phenylethyl species by HOAc. A range of competing
      processes are assessed, the most important of which are the C-H activation of
      ethene at 1 and trapping of the beta-phenylethyl intermediate with ethene. The
      former process gives rise to Ir-vinyl species which can then access further
      ethene insertion to give stable allyl by-products. A comparison with other ethene
      hydroarylation catalysts reported in the literature is presented.

PMID- 20927455
TI  - Design, synthesis and evaluation of beta-lactam antigenic peptide hybrids;
      unusual opening of the beta-lactam ring in acidic media.
AB  - beta-Lactam peptides were envisioned as conformational constraints in antigenic
      peptides (APs). Three different beta-lactam tripeptides of varying flexibility
      were prepared in solution and incorporated in place of the central part of the
      altered melanoma associated antigenic peptide Leu(27)-Melan-A(26-35) using solid
      phase synthesis techniques. Upon TFA cleavage from the solid support, an
      unexpected opening of the beta-lactam ring occurred with conservation of the
      amide bond. After adaptation of the solid phase synthesis strategy, beta-lactam
      peptides were successfully obtained and both opened and closed forms were
      evaluated for their capacity to bind to the antigen-presenting class-I MHC HLA-A2
      protein system. None of the closed beta-lactam peptides bound to HLA-A2, but
      their opened variants were shown to be moderate to good HLA-A2 ligands, one of
      them being even capable of stimulating a Melan-A-specific T cell line.

PMID- 20927457
TI  - DFT study of the mechanism of benzocyclobutene formation by palladium-catalysed
      C(sp3)-H activation: role of the nature of the base and the phosphine.
AB  - DFT(B3PW91) calculations of the mechanism of the intramolecular C(sp(3))-H
      arylation of 2-bromo-tert-butylbenzene to form benzocyclobutene catalysed by
      Pd(PR(3)) (R = Me, (t)Bu) and a base (acetate, bicarbonate, carbonate) show that
      the preferred mechanism is highly dependent on the nature of the phosphine and
      the base used in the calculations. With the experimental reagents (P(t)Bu(3) and
      carbonate) the rate-determining step is C-H activation with the base coordinated
      trans to the C-H bond. An agostic interaction of a geminal C-H bond with respect
      to the bond to be cleaved induces a lowering of the activation barrier.

PMID- 20927458
TI  - Integration of paper-based microfluidic devices with commercial electrochemical
      readers.
AB  - The combination of simple Electrochemical Micro-Paper-based Analytical Devices
      (EuPADs) with commercially available glucometers allows rapid, quantitative
      electrochemical analysis of a number of compounds relevant to human health (e.g.,
      glucose, cholesterol, lactate, and alcohol) in blood or urine.

PMID- 20927459
TI  - Differentiation between normal and tumor vasculature of animal and human glioma
      by FTIR imaging.
AB  - Malignant gliomas are very aggressive tumors, highly angiogenic and invading
      heterogeneously the surrounding brain parenchyma, making their resection very
      difficult. To overcome the limits of current diagnostic imaging techniques used
      for gliomas, we proposed using FTIR imaging, with a spatial resolution from 6 to
      10 MUm, to provide molecular information for their histological examination,
      based on discrimination between normal and tumor vasculature. Differentiation
      between normal and tumor blood vessel spectra by hierarchical cluster analysis
      was performed on tissue sections obtained from xenografted brain tumors of Rag
      gamma mice 28 days after intracranial implantation of glioma cells, as well as
      for human brain tumors obtained in clinics. Classical pathological examination
      and immunohistochemistry were performed in parallel to the FTIR spectral imaging
      of brain tissues. First on the animal model, classification of FTIR spectra of
      blood vessels could be performed using spectral intervals based on fatty acyl
      (3050-2800 cm(-1)) and carbohydrate (1180-950 cm(-1)) absorptions, with the
      formation of two clusters corresponding to healthy and tumor parts of the tissue
      sections. Further data treatments on these two spectral intervals provided
      interpretable information about the molecular contents involved in the
      differentiation between normal and tumor blood vessels, the latter presenting a
      higher level of fatty acyl chain unsaturation and an unexpected loss of
      absorption from osidic residues. This classification method was further
      successfully tested on human glioma tissue sections. These findings demonstrate
      that FTIR imaging could highlight discriminant molecular markers to distinguish
      between normal and tumor vasculature, and help to delimitate areas of
      corresponding tissue.

PMID- 20927460
TI  - Enhanced permanganate chemiluminescence.
AB  - The significant enhancement of acidic potassium permanganate chemiluminescence by
      Mn(II) results from the concomitant presence of permanganate and Mn(III) in the
      reagent solution, which enables rapid production of the excited Mn(II) emitter
      with a wide range of analytes. Furthermore, the key Mn(III) co-reactant can be
      quickly generated by reducing permanganate with sodium thiosulfate, instead of
      the slow (~24 h) equilibration required when Mn(ii) is used. The emission from
      reactions with analytes such as tyrosine and fenoterol was over two orders of
      magnitude more intense than with the traditional permanganate reagent.

PMID- 20927461
TI  - Conformational control in a bipyridine linked pi-conjugated oligomer: cation
      mediated helix unfolding and refolding.
AB  - A chiral pi-conjugated oligomer having alternate bipyridine and carbazole
      moieties connected through acetylinic bonds undergoes helical folding in
      chloroform-acetonitrile (40/60, v/v) as evident by fluorescence and circular
      dichroism changes. In the presence of transition metal cations such as Zn(2+)
      defolding of the helical conformation occurs. Upon decomplexation of the cation
      with EDTA, the helical conformation is regained.

PMID- 20927462
TI  - In situ imaging of usnic acid in selected Cladonia spp. by vibrational
      spectroscopy.
AB  - In this study, we demonstrate the first in situ detection of usnic acid (UA) in
      selected species of the lichen Cladonia, using FPA-FTIR imaging and Raman
      microscopy. Fruticose lichens present a variety of defensive mechanisms, one of
      which is the production of UA. This polyketide secondary metabolite, produced by
      certain lichenized fungi, has a protective function for the lichen that includes
      a strong absorption in the ultraviolet range. Upon confirming the distinct
      spectral signature of UA in lichen tissue, we mapped its distribution in Cladonia
      arbuscula, Cladonia uncialis and Cladonia sulphurina tissues. Spectroscopic
      images were obtained from cryosectioned lichen fragments embedded in media and
      from hand-sectioned fragments that were media-free. UA was present in the
      pycnidia, and younger walls of C. arbuscula and C. uncialis, the spore-producing
      region of a C. uncialis apothecium, and in both the younger and older soredia of
      C. sulphurina. The localization of UA in lichens is an important precursor to
      future work that includes the identification of the gene cluster responsible for
      its biosynthesis. Our results show that FTIR and Raman imaging can be an
      effective way to study the distribution of natural products in lichens with
      micron-scale precision.

PMID- 20927463
TI  - Pyrazine-bridged Dy2 single-molecule magnet with a large anisotropic barrier.
AB  - Utilization of the strong electron-withdrawing ligand, hfac, leads to a novel
      dinuclear dysprosium single-molecule magnet featuring a pyrazine bridge with a
      large anisotropic barrier.

PMID- 20927464
TI  - Anatase TiO(2) microspheres with exposed mirror-like plane {001} facets for high
      performance dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs).
AB  - Anatase TiO(2) microspheres with exposed mirror-like plane {001} facets were
      successfully synthesized via a facile hydrothermal process. The photoanode
      composed of TiO(2) microsphere top layer shows an improved DSSCs efficiency owing
      to the superior light scattering effect of microspheres and excellent light
      reflecting ability of the mirror-like plane {001} facets.

PMID- 20927465
TI  - Effects of the biological backbone on stacking interactions at DNA-protein
      interfaces: the interplay between the backbone...pi and pi...pi components.
AB  - The (gas-phase) MP2/6-31G*(0.25) pi...pi stacking interactions between the five
      natural bases and the aromatic amino acids calculated using (truncated) monomers
      composed of conjugated rings and/or (extended) monomers containing the biological
      backbone (either the protein backbone or deoxyribose sugar) were previously
      compared. Although preliminary energetic results indicated that the protein
      backbone strengthens, while the deoxyribose sugar either strengthens or weakens,
      the interaction calculated using truncated models, the reasons for these effects
      were unknown. The present work explains these observations by dissecting the
      interaction energy of the extended complexes into individual backbone...pi and
      pi...pi components. Our calculations reveal that the total interaction energy of
      the extended complex can be predicted as a sum of the backbone...pi and pi...pi
      components, which indicates that the biological backbone does not significantly
      affect the ring system through pi-polarization. Instead, we find that the
      backbone can indirectly affect the magnitude of the pi...pi contribution by
      changing the relative ring orientations in extended dimers compared with
      truncated dimers. Furthermore, the strengths of the individual backbone...pi
      contributions are determined to be significant (up to 18 kJ mol(-1)). Therefore,
      the origin of the energetic change upon model extension is found to result from a
      balance between an additional (attractive) backbone...pi component and
      differences in the strength of the pi...pi interaction. In addition, to
      understand the effects of the biological backbone on the stacking interactions at
      DNA-protein interfaces in nature, we analyzed the stacking interactions found in
      select DNA-protein crystal structures, and verified that an additive approach can
      be used to examine the strength of these interactions in biological complexes.
      Interestingly, although the presence of attractive backbone...pi contacts is
      qualitatively confirmed using the quantum theory of atoms in molecules (QTAIM),
      QTAIM electron density analysis is unable to quantitatively predict the additive
      relationship of these interactions. Most importantly, this work reveals that both
      the backbone...pi and pi...pi components must be carefully considered to
      accurately determine the overall stability of DNA-protein assemblies.

PMID- 20927466
TI  - Atomic force microscopy of DNA at high humidity: irreversible conformational
      switching of supercoiled molecules.
AB  - Three topologically different double-stranded DNA molecules of the same size
      (bps) have been imaged in air on mica using amplitude modulation atomic force
      microscopy (AM AFM) under controlled humidity conditions. At very high relative
      humidity (>90% RH), localized conformational changes of the DNA were observed,
      while at lower RH, the molecules remained immobile. The conformational changes
      occurred irreversibly and were driven principally by superhelical stress stored
      in the DNA molecules prior to binding to the mica surface. The binding mechanism
      of the DNA to the mica (surface equilibration versus kinetic trapping) modulated
      the extent of the conformational changes. In cases where DNA movement was
      observed, increased kinking of the DNA was seen at high humidity when more
      surface water was present. Additionally, DNA condensation behavior was also
      present in localized regions of the molecules. This study illustrates that
      changes in the tertiary structure of DNA can be induced during AFM imaging at
      high humidity on mica. We propose that AM AFM in high humidity will be a useful
      technique for probing DNA topology without some of the drawbacks of imaging under
      bulk solution.

PMID- 20927467
TI  - A straightforward approach towards 5-substituted thiazolylpeptides via the thio
      Ugi-reaction.
AB  - A wide range of 5-substituted thiazoles are easily accessible via cross coupling
      of thiazolyl triflates. These activated thiazoles can be obtained by Ugi
      reactions using thioacids (thio-Ugi-reaction) and subsequent cyclisation of the
      endo thiopeptides formed with triflic anhydride. In addition, cyclisations with
      acyl halides give rise to 5-acyloxysubstituted derivatives.

PMID- 20927468
TI  - Total syntheses of the furanosesquiterpenes crassifolone and dihydrocrassifolone
      via an Au(I)-catalysed intramolecular Michael addition reaction.
AB  - The racemic modifications of title natural products 1 and 2 have been synthesised
      for the first time. The key step was the Au(i)-catalysed conversion of the
      furanyl-substituted ynone 13 into the annulated furan 14.

PMID- 20927469
TI  - Convenient synthesis of Cu3(BTC)2 encapsulated Keggin heteropolyacid nanomaterial
      for application in catalysis.
AB  - Nanomaterial of Cu(3)(BTC)(2) (BTC = benzene tricarboxylic acid) incorporating
      Keggin heteropolyacid conveniently prepared at room temperature and recovered by
      freeze drying outperforms ultrastable Y zeolite in acid catalysed esterification
      reaction.

PMID- 20927470
TI  - Sandwich probes: two simultaneous reactions for templated nucleic acid detection.
AB  - Fluorescence-quenched nucleic acid probes with reactive moieties at both the 5'
      and 3' ends are synthesized and tested for reaction with two adjacent nucleophile
      containing DNAs. These probes improve signal to background over singly reactive
      probes and can discriminate single nucleotide polymorphisms in the target DNA or
      RNA.

PMID- 20927471
TI  - Novel PEG-organized biocompatible fluorescent nanoparticles doped with an
      ytterbium cyanoporphyrazine complex for biophotonic applications.
AB  - The preparation and properties are described of two types of novel PEG-organized
      nanoparticles including silica-modified uniform disk-shaped nanoparticles doped
      with a fluorescent ytterbium cyanoporphyrazine complex; a large enhancement of
      red emission for both types of nanoparticles is observed in physiological liquids
      owing to their binding to biomolecules.

PMID- 20927472
TI  - Click-triazole: coordination of 2-(1,2,3-triazol-4-yl)-pyridine to cations of
      traditional tetrahedral geometry (Cu(I), Ag(I)).
AB  - Coordination studies of the pyridine-triazole diad to copper(i) and silver(i)
      reveal the potential and conditions for the solution- and solid-state self
      assembly of supramolecular architectures based on this motif.

PMID- 20927473
TI  - Facile synthesis of highly active and stable Pt-Ir/C electrocatalysts for oxygen
      reduction and liquid fuel oxidation reaction.
AB  - A facile room temperature synthesis technique has been developed for Pt-Ir/C
      electrocatalysts for applications to low-temperature fuel cells. The prepared
      Pt(x)Ir(y) electrocatalyst was highly stable and active toward the oxygen
      reduction reaction (ORR), as well as liquid fuel oxidation reaction with high CO
      tolerance.

PMID- 20927474
TI  - Improvement of proteolytic efficiency towards low-level proteins by an
      antifouling surface of alumina gel in a microchannel.
AB  - A microfluidic reactor has been developed for rapid enhancement of protein
      digestion by constructing an alumina network within a poly(ethylene
      terephthalate) (PET) microchannel. Trypsin is stably immobilized in a sol-gel
      network on the PET channel surface after pretreatment, which produces a protein
      resistant interface to reduce memory effects, as characterized by X-ray
      fluorescence spectrometry and electroosmotic flow. The gel-derived network within
      a microchannel provides a large surface-to-volume ratio stationary phase for
      highly efficient proteolysis of proteins existing both at a low level and in
      complex extracts. The maximum reaction rate of the encapsulated trypsin reactor,
      measured by kinetic analysis, is much faster than in bulk solution. Due to the
      microscopic confinement effect, high levels of enzyme entrapment and the
      biocompatible microenvironment provided by the alumina gel network, the low-level
      proteins can be efficiently digested using such a microreactor within a very
      short residence time of a few seconds. The on-chip microreactor is further
      applied to the identification of a mixture of proteins extracted from normal
      mouse liver cytoplasm sample via integration with 2D-LC-ESI-MS/MS to show its
      potential application for large-scale protein identification.

PMID- 20927479
TI  - The influence of reaction conditions on the Diels-Alder cycloadditions of 2-thio
      3-chloroacrylamides; investigation of thermal, catalytic and microwave
      conditions.
AB  - The Diels-Alder cycloadditions of cyclopentadiene and 2,3-dimethyl-1,3-butadiene
      to a range of 2-thio-3-chloroacrylamides under thermal, catalytic and microwave
      conditions is described. The influence of reaction conditions on the outcome of
      the cycloadditions, in particular the stereoselectivity and reaction efficiency,
      is discussed. While the cycloadditions have been attempted at the sulfide,
      sulfoxide and sulfone levels of oxidation, use of the sulfoxide derivatives is
      clearly beneficial for stereoselective construction of Diels-Alder cycloadducts.

PMID- 20927480
TI  - Synthesis and structure of azole-fused indeno[2,1-c]quinolines and their anti
      mycobacterial properties.
AB  - Prompted by our discovery of a new class of conformationally-locked indeno[2,1
      c]quinolines as anti-mycobacterials, compounds 2a and 3a (Fig. 1; MIC < 0.39 MUg
      mL(-1) and 0.78 MUg mL(-1), respectively)(14) with a freely rotating C2-imidazolo
      substituent, we herein describe the synthesis of pentacyclic azole-fused
      quinoline derivatives 4 and 5, in which we have restricted the rotation of the C2
      imidazolo moiety by fusing it to the adjacent quinoline-nitrogen to give a five
      membered fused azole heterocycle. The idea of locking the flexibility of the
      system by conformational constraint was simply to reduce its entropy, thereby
      reducing the overall free-energy of its binding to the target receptor. Out of 22
      different azole-fused indeno[2,1-c]quinoline derivatives, seven structurally
      distinct compounds, 9, 15, 17, 25, 27, 28 and 29, have shown 79-99% growth
      inhibition of Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv at a fixed dose of 6.25 MUg mL(
      1). The efficacies of these compounds were evaluated in vitro for 8/9 consecutive
      days using the BACTEC radiometric assay upon administration of single dose on day
      one. Of these, two compounds, 9 and 28, inhibited growth of M. tuberculosis very
      effectively at MIC < 0.39 MUg mL(-1) (0.89 MUM and 1 MUM, respectively). These
      active compounds 9, 15, 17, 25, 27, 28 and 29 were screened for their cytotoxic
      effect on mammalian cells (human monocytic cell line U937), which showed that the
      human cell survival is almost unperturbed (100% survival), except for compound
      25, hence these new compounds with new scaffolds have been identified as potent
      anti-mycobacterials, virtually with no toxicity. Thus these "hit" molecules
      constitute our important "leads" for further optimization by structure-activity
      relationship against TB.

PMID- 20927481
TI  - Synthesis of oxygen heterocycles by regioselective Heck reaction.
AB  - The regioselective Heck arylation of unsaturated alcohols is utilized as the key
      step in a convenient one-pot procedure for the production of 2,2-disubstituted
      tetrahydrofurans and tetrahydropyrans. The arylation reaction is effected with a
      palladium-diphosphine catalyst alongside a hydrogen bond donor; this is followed
      by the introduction of a Bronsted acid to the reaction mixture, affording the
      oxygen heterocycles in moderate yields.

PMID- 20927482
TI  - Highly sensitive and selective colorimetric and off-on fluorescent probe for
      Cu(2+) based on rhodamine derivative.
AB  - A new probe for Cu(2+) based on the Cu(2+)- induced reversible ring-opening
      mechanism of the rhodamine spirolactam was described. It displayed a highly
      selective and sensitive "turn-on" fluorescent and colorimetric response toward
      Cu(2+).

PMID- 20927483
TI  - Cationic zinc complexes: a new class of catalyst for living lactide
      polymerization at ambient temperature.
AB  - Cationic zinc complexes of a bis(phosphinimine) pincer ligand have been prepared.
      Methylzinc and zinc-lactate complexes have been structurally characterized, and
      the latter is the first cationic metal complex to promote coordination-insertion
      polymerization of lactide at ambient temperature. This novel catalyst system is
      remarkably active and also exhibits living character. A detailed investigation of
      the kinetics and mechanism of the polymerization process has been undertaken.

PMID- 20927484
TI  - Identification of phospholipid scramblase 1 as a biomarker and determination of
      its prognostic value for colorectal cancer.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to examine the expression of phospholipid
      scramblase 1 (PLSCR1) in tumor tissues and plasma specimens of patients with
      colorectal cancer (CRC), as well as analyze its association with clinical
      parameters. The expression levels of PLSCR1 protein in 104 matched CRC and
      adjacent normal tissue sections and 50 pairs of CRC tissue blocks were determined
      by use of immunohistochemical and Western blot analyses, respectively. To
      evaluate the diagnostic potential of PLSCR1, the plasma levels of PLSCR1 were
      investigated in 111 additional subjects (59 CRC patients and 52 healthy controls)
      by Western blot. PLSCR1 was overexpressed in malignant adenocarcinoma tissues
      compared with normal colorectal mucosa (P < 0.001). In addition, the plasma level
      of PLSCR1 was not only significantly elevated in CRC patients compared with
      healthy individuals (P < 0.001), but it was also substantially increased in early
      stage CRC (P < 0.001). Importantly, the overall sensitivity and specificity of
      PLSCR1 for CRC detection were 80% and 59.6%, respectively. The area under the ROC
      curve of PLSCR1 for CRC diagnosis is 0.75, which increases to 0.8 if combined
      with the measurement of carcinoembryonic antigen. Univariate analysis with the
      Cox regression model revealed that elevated PLSCR1 expression indicated a poor
      prognosis for CRC. This study showed that PLSCR1 protein levels were
      significantly elevated in both the cancer tissue and plasma of CRC patients.
      Moreover, the plasma levels of PLSCR1 were significantly elevated in patients
      with early stage CRC compared with healthy individuals, suggesting that PLSCR1
      might be used as a noninvasive serological diagnostic and prognostic biomarker
      for CRC.

PMID- 20927485
TI  - Identification of treatment efficacy-related host factors in chronic hepatitis C
      by ProteinChip serum analysis.
AB  - Recent development of proteomic array technology, including protein profiling
      coupling ProteinChip array with surface-enhanced laser desorption ionization time
      of-flight mass spectrometry (SELDI-TOF/MS), provides a potentially powerful tool
      for discovery of new biomarkers by comparison of its profiles according to
      patient phenotypes. We used this approach to identify the host factors associated
      with treatment response in patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC) receiving a 48
      wk course of pegylated interferon (PEG-IFN) alpha 2b plus ribavirin (RBV).
      Protein profiles of pretreatment serum samples from 32 patients with genotype 1b
      and high viral load were conducted by SELDI-TOF/MS by using the three different
      ProteinChip arrays (CM10, Q10, IMAC30). Proteins showed significantly different
      peak intensities between sustained virological responders (SVRs), and non-SVRs
      were identified by chromatography, SDS-PAGE, TOF/MS and tandem mass spectrometry
      (MS/MS) assay. Eleven peak intensities were significantly different between SVRs
      and non-SVRs. The three SVR-increased peaks could be identified as two
      apolipoprotein (Apo) fragments and albumin and, among the eight non-SVR-increased
      proteins, four peaks identified as two iron-related and two fibrogenesis-related
      protein fragments, respectively. Multivariate analysis showed that the serum
      ferritin and three peak intensity values (Apo A1, hemopexin and transferrin) were
      independent variables associated with SVRs, and the area under the receiver
      operating characteristic (ROC) curves for SVR prediction by using the Apo
      A1/hemopexin and hemopexin/transferrin were 0.964 and 0.936. In conclusion,
      pretreatment serum protein profiling by SELDI-TOF/MS is variable for
      identification of response-related host factors, which are useful for treatment
      efficacy prediction in CHC receiving PEG-IFN plus RBV. Our data also may help us
      understand the mechanism for treatment resistance and development of more
      effective antiviral therapy targeted toward the modulation of lipogenesis or iron
      homeostasis in CHC patients.

PMID- 20927487
TI  - Stress at work--a risk factor for depression?

PMID- 20927488
TI  - Calciphylaxis in POEMS syndrome: A case treated with etidronate.

PMID- 20927486
TI  - Hypertrophic scarring and keloids: pathomechanisms and current and emerging
      treatment strategies.
AB  - Excessive scars form as a result of aberrations of physiologic wound healing and
      may arise following any insult to the deep dermis. By causing pain, pruritus and
      contractures, excessive scarring significantly affects the patient's quality of
      life, both physically and psychologically. Multiple studies on hypertrophic scar
      and keloid formation have been conducted for decades and have led to a plethora
      of therapeutic strategies to prevent or attenuate excessive scar formation.
      However, most therapeutic approaches remain clinically unsatisfactory, most
      likely owing to poor understanding of the complex mechanisms underlying the
      processes of scarring and wound contraction. In this review we summarize the
      current understanding of the pathophysiology underlying keloid and hypertrophic
      scar formation and discuss established treatments and novel therapeutic
      strategies.

PMID- 20927489
TI  - Difference in impact of neurobehavioural dysfunction on Activities of daily
      living performance between right and left hemispheric stroke.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To explore whether persons with right- and left-sided cerebrovascular
      accidents differ significantly in mean impact of neurobehavioural impairments on
      ability to perform activities of daily living. DESIGN AND SUBJECTS: Retrospective
      study of data from 215 persons (103 right-sided, 112 left-sided cerebrovascular
      accident). The Activities of daily living-focused Occupation-based
      Neurobehavioral Evaluation was used to evaluate ability on an activities of daily
      living scale and the impact of neurobehavioural impairment on ability on another
      scale. METHODS: To control for possible differences in activities of daily living
      ability between groups, analysis of covariance, with activities of daily living
      ability as a covariate, was used to test for a significant difference in impact
      of neurobehavioural impairments on activities of daily living ability between
      groups. RESULTS: Expected moderate correlation (r = -0.57) was obtained between
      activities of daily living ability and neurobehavioural impact measures, and
      there was no difference in mean neurobehavioural impact measures between groups
      (F [1, 212] = 2.910, p = 0.090). CONCLUSION: This study is the first to explore
      directly the impact of neurobehavioural impairment on activities of daily living
      ability. While persons with right-sided and left-sided cerebrovascular accidents
      may differ in type of neurobehavioural impairments, direct evaluation of the
      impact of such impairments on activities of daily living ability reveals no
      difference between groups.

PMID- 20927491
TI  - Isokinetic muscle evaluation of quadriceps in patients with chronic obstructive
      pulmonary disease.
AB  - RATIONALE: Muscle debility has a significant impact on health-related quality of
      life in subjects with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and is
      correlated to exacerbation and even mortality. Assessing muscle strength is
      extremely relevant. Lack of standardisation in numbers of sets and rest interval
      in isokinetic test protocol can lead to distinct results, making com- prehension
      and comparisons among studies difficult. AIM: To analyse the effect of two sets
      and three different rest intervals on isokinetic strength measurement of
      quadriceps tests, in order to define the adequate test protocol. METHODS:
      Subjects with severe or very severe COPD underwent three isokinetic tests to
      evaluate knee extensor muscle strength, at an angular velocity of 60 degrees ?s
      1, with rest intervals of 30, 60 and 120 seconds. Each test consisted of two sets
      of five repetitions, during which peak torque, total work and fatigue index were
      measured. RESULTS: In 20 studied subjects (66.1 +/- 7.4 years, 70 +/- 10.8 kg,
      167.4 +/- 6.2 cm, FEV1 36.5 +/- 10.1%), there were no significant differences in
      peak torque, total work and fatigue index, independent of number of sets or rest
      interval between sets. CONCLUSION: In subjects with severe or very severe COPD,
      quadriceps muscle strength can be evaluated by an isokinetic protocol with one
      set of five repetitions. If two sets are performed, a rest interval of 30 seconds
      is enough to ensure muscle recovery between sets.

PMID- 20927490
TI  - Genital psoriasis: A systematic literature review on this hidden skin disease.
AB  - It is well known that the genital skin may be affected by psoriasis. However,
      little is known about the prevalence and clinical appearance of genital
      psoriasis, and genital skin is often neglected in the treatment of psoriatic
      patients. We performed an extensive systematic literature search for evidence
      based data on genital psoriasis with respect to epidemiology, aetiology, clinical
      and histopathological presentation, diagnosis and treatment. Three
      bibliographical databases (PubMed, EMBASE and the Cochrane Library) were used as
      data sources. Fifty-nine articles on genital psoriasis were included. The results
      show that psoriasis frequently affects the genital skin, but that evidence-based
      data with respect to the efficacy and safety of treatments for genital psoriasis
      are extremely limited. An advised treatment paradigm for genital psoriasis, based
      on the levels of evidence, is: first-line: (weak) topical corticosteroids; second
      line: vitamin D preparations or tar-based treatments.

PMID- 20927492
TI  - Impact of combined exercise on chronic obstructive pulmonary patients' state of
      health.
AB  - AIM: The aim of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a 10-week combined
      training programme (aerobic and strength exercise) compared to an aerobic
      training programme, and respiratory physiotherapy on COPD patients' health.
      METHODS: Fifty subjects with moderate to severe COPD were randomly assigned to
      two groups. Combined group (CG, n=25) who underwent combined training, and
      aerobic group (AG, n=25) who underwent aerobic training. These were compared with
      fifty COPD subjects who underwent respiratory physiotherapy, breathing control
      and bronchial clearance techniques (RP group, n = 50). We evaluated health state
      through two questionnaires, St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) and SF
      36, at the beginning and at the end of the programme. RESULTS: The CG group
      showed differences (p<0.0001) in modification rates in state of health compared
      to the AG and RP groups in the activity (64 +/- 9%, 19 +/- 7%, 1 +/- 15%) ,
      impact (35 +/- 5%, 20 +/- 18%, 1 +/- 14%) and total (41 +/- 9%, 26 +/- 17%, 1 +/-
      15%) domains assessed by the SGRQ, and the physical function (109 +/- 74%, 22 +/-
      12%, 0.1 +/- 18%), physical role (52 +/- 36%, 11 +/- 15%, 1.3 +/- 21%) and
      vitality (83 +/- 39%, 14 +/- 38%) domains assessed by SF-36. CONCLUSION: These
      results suggest that combined training in subjects with COPD appears to be a more
      effective method, with better clinical changes, and improvements in health state
      perception.

PMID- 20927493
TI  - Risk factors for readmission after hospital discharge in chronic obstructive
      pulmonary disease. The role of quality of life indicators.
AB  - AIMS: To identify demographic, clinical, functional and inherent quality of life
      (QOL) and depression factors with impact on use of the Emergency Services (ES) or
      readmission after hospital discharge for acute exacerbation of chronic
      obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) over a period of 66 weeks. QOL was evaluated
      by the St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ). The Beck Depression
      Inventory assessed depression. We prospectively evaluated 45 patients (84.4%
      male, median age 73 years, stage IV 51%). The median total SGRQ score was 50.6,
      with a greater impact on symptoms, especially in younger patients (r=-0.425;
      p=0.043), and activity limitation than emotional impact of the disease. More than
      half were depressed. Worse QOL meant depression (R=0.699; p=0.02). Low FEV1
      correlated with depression (r=-0.46; p =0.05) but not with QOL. Long-acting anti
      cholinergic bronchodilator and inhaled steroids improved QOL. Almost 85% of
      patients used ES (25.8% for exacerbated COPD). Rate of hospital readmission for
      all reasons and exacerbated COPD was 64.9% and 33.3%. The number of readmissions
      (all reasons) was correlated with age (R=0.48; p=0003), cor pulmonale (R=-0.46;
      p=0.03) and QOL (R=0.67; p=0.004). Depressed patients (R=0.51; p=004), with low
      FEV1 (R=-0413; p=0.04) and with cor pulmonale (R=-046, p=0.005) had more
      inhospital days for exacerbation of COPD. QOL and depression are variables to
      consider in the evaluation and treatment of patients with COPD as part of a set
      of clinical and functional data that can predict the risk of readmission after
      hospital discharge for exacerbated COPD.

PMID- 20927494
TI  - Early nasal continuous positive airway pressure versus INSURE in VLBW neonates.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Evidence suggests the INSURE strategy (INtubate-SURfactant
      administration and Extubate to nasal continuous positive airway pressure [nCPAP])
      is superior to mechanical ventilation (MV) with rescue surfactant for the
      management of respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) in very low birth weight (VLBW)
      neonates. There is limited data, however, to assess whether INSURE is superior to
      nCPAP alone. We aimed to compare these two strategies regarding early and late
      outcomes. METHODS: Retrospective cohort study from Jan/2002 to Aug/2008. We
      included VLBW neonates with gestational age (GA) <= 30 weeks registered in the
      Vermont Oxford Network that used either nCPAP alone (nCPAP group, N=40), or with
      INSURE (INSURE group, N=56). We assessed early (RDS, need for rescue surfactant,
      and CPAP failure with MV) and late outcomes (chronic lung disease of prematurity
      (CLD), mortality, and composite outcome of mortality and/or CLD). RESULTS:
      Neonates in the INSURE group had lower mean GA, while other baseline variables
      were comparable. The proportion of RDS was significantly superior in the nCPAP
      group (53% vs. 30%; adjusted OR [95% CI] - 0.2 [0.1-0.6]). Therapeutic surfactant
      was administered to all cases with RDS in the nCPAP group, but to none from the
      INSURE group. MV was more frequently required in the nCPAP group (11/ 40, 28% vs.
      9/ 56, 12%; p=0.04). No statistically significant differences were found in
      either of the late outcomes. CONCLUSION: The use of nCPAP alone in VLBW neonates
      with GA <= 30 weeks may be associated with slightly poorer early outcomes than
      the INSURE strategy, but there were no significant differences in CLD or
      mortality.

PMID- 20927495
TI  - The influence of an undergraduate scientific initiation programme on the
      professional profile of new physicians.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: This paper studies the influence of a Scientific Initiation
      Programme (SIP) on the professional profile of new doctors from a Brazilian
      university. AIM AND METHODS: Evaluate fifty-two new doctors divided into two
      groups matched by sex, age and academic performance and differing only in
      participation in the SIP. Professional and socioeconomic data were collected,
      including schooling of parents; average income before, during and after the
      medical course; current professional situation; results of exams for civil
      servant recruitment; and titles and degrees obtained after graduation. RESULTS:
      Significant differences were found only in civil servant recruitment exam results
      (p = 0.0098) and in income after graduation (p = 0.02), which were both higher in
      the non-SIP group. Only one doctor got a M.Sc. degree after graduation, but many
      of them in both groups obtained technical titles, and had papers presented at
      congresses or published. CONCLUSIONS: Apparently, taking part in a SIP led to
      lower income and worse civil servant recruitment exam results. However, this may
      only reflect a transient phase in a long-term process. New research currently
      under way will answer this remaining question, now that more time has elapsed
      since graduation.

PMID- 20927496
TI  - [Latent tuberculosis infection treatment. Current recommendations].
AB  - Diagnosis and treatment of latent infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis
      (LTBI), significantly reduces the risk of developing active tuberculosis and the
      transmission of the disease in the community. LTBI screening must pass by the
      exclusion of active disease (symptoms enquiry and chest radiography) and
      assessment of immune response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis testing with the
      tests currently available - tuberculin skin test and interferon -gamma release
      assay (IGRA). The choice of treatment must take into account the efficacy and
      side effects associated with the same. This document provides updated
      recommendations on latent tuberculosis infection treatment. Topics covered
      include whom to test for TB and reviewed LTBI treatment regimens.

PMID- 20927497
TI  - [Non-infectious pulmonary complications after the hematopoietic stem cell
      transplantation].
AB  - Pulmonary complications are important cause of mortality and morbidity after
      hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, in 30% to 60% of the patients.
      Improvements in prophylaxis and treatment of infectious complications have been
      increasing the rate of non-infectious complications. Early diagnosis and
      treatment of those complications can significantly change the evolution of
      hematopoietic stem cell transplantation receptors. The objective of this study is
      to review the most frequent non-infection complications associated to
      hematopoietic stem cell transplantation since the first bone marrow
      transplantation performed in 1957. A systematic literature review was performed,
      using the PICO strategy to ask the questions. The descriptors hematopoietic stem
      cell transplantation, non-infectious pulmonary complications, systematic review,
      in portuguese and their english correspondents, were used to access the following
      databases: MEDLINE, EBM, Embase, Cocrane Library, LILACS and SciELO. In this
      review, 263 studies were identified, from which 31 were selected for full
      analyzis. The non-infection pulmonary complications most frequently found were:
      bronchiolitis obliterans, bronchiolitis obliterans organizing pneumonia,
      pulmonary edema, idiopathic pneumonia syndrome, delayed pulmonary toxicity
      syndrome, diffuse alveolar hemorrhage, engrafment syndrome and pulmonary
      cytolitic thrombi.

PMID- 20927498
TI  - [Nasal and laryngeal sarcoidosis - case presentation].
AB  - The authors present the case of a 41-year-old woman with nasal and laryngeal
      involvement by sarcoidosis, review the literature and discuss the otolaryngologic
      manifestations, the diagnostic evaluation, treatment and prognostic of this
      entity.

PMID- 20927499
TI  - [Primary ciliary dyskinesia revisited: based on three clinical reports].
AB  - Primary ciliary dyskinesia is a genetically and clinically heterogeneous
      disorder. Its pathogenesis reflects structural and functional compromise of the
      cilia. Common clinical manifestations include recurrent upper and lower
      respiratory tract infections and infertility, as well as situs inversus totalis
      in half of the affected patients. Besides its rarity and phenotypic heterogeneity
      its diagnosis usually requires a high suspicion index. The main purpose of this
      paper is to review the pathogenesis, clinical features, diagnostic and
      therapeutic approaches of primary ciliary dyskinesia beyond the discussion of
      three clinical reports. We report the cases of three patients all with a past
      history of neonatal respiratory distress and two with situs inversus totalis. The
      subsequent clinical manifestations included lower airway symptoms in two patients
      (chronic productive cough and recurrent pneumonia and wheezing) and upper
      respiratory tract disease in all patients. Age at primary ciliary dyskinesia
      diagnosis differed considerably among patients (8 months, 5 and 12 years). The
      two patients with later diagnosis had already obstructive lung function
      compromise at the time of diagnosis. The authors discuss the different clinical
      patterns presented, therapeutic strategies and the clinical progression that
      ensued, factors possibly implicated in late diagnosis and its prognostic
      consequences. The main goal is to emphasize early and/or prevalent clinical
      features of primary ciliary dyskinesia in order to promote clinical awareness and
      early recognition of the disease.

PMID- 20927500
TI  - [Congenital lobar emphysema of the newborn. Report of four clinical cases].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Congenital lobar emphysema (CLE) is a rare anomaly of lung
      development that presents in the neonatal period in about 50% of the cases. The
      authors report four clinical cases of congenital lobar emphysema in the newborn.
      CLINICAL CASES: Four term newborns, 3M/ 1F, were admitted for respiratory
      distress starting between 20 hours of life and 18 days. The chest x -ray at
      admission was suggestive of CLE and the diagnosis was confirmed by computorized
      tomography. The CLE affected the right upper lobe in three cases and the medium
      lobe in one case. All patients were treated with lobectomy. The pathological
      study of the surgical specimens confirmed the diagnosis in the four cases, and
      revealed hypoplasia of the bronquiolar tree cartilage in three. CONCLUSIONS: Our
      series is according to literature regarding to male gender preponderance,
      clinical presentation, different time to diagnosis, unilobar involvement and no
      identification of an evident aetiology in one case. Surgical treatment was
      universal.

PMID- 20927501
TI  - [Persistent left atrial thrombus in atrial fibrillation under oral
      anticoagulation].
AB  - The case of a 78-year-old female patient who suffered atrial fibrillation and
      persistent thrombus in the left atrial appendage despite sufficient
      anticoagulation is reported. The case is chosen to demonstrate the complexity
      inherent in prophylaxis as well as risk evaluation of thromboembolism on the
      basis of clinical and echocardiographic criteria. We also discuss transesophageal
      echocardiography as the standard diagnostic procedure for detection of
      intracardiac thrombi prior to cardioversion as well as cardiac computer
      tomography as an alternative.

PMID- 20927502
TI  - Serial NT-proBNP measurements for risk stratification of patients with
      decompensated heart failure.
AB  - PURPOSE: NT-proBNP is an important prognostic predictor in patients with heart
      failure. However, it is unknown whether a change of NT-proBNP plasma levels in
      the early phase of decompensation might be of additional prognostic value in
      patients with acute decompensation of heart failure. METHODS AND RESULTS: NT
      proBNP plasma levels of 116 patients with decompensated heart failure from
      ischemic/non-ischemic origin were measured at baseline and at 12, 24 and 48 h
      after hospital admission. Baseline levels and changes of plasma levels within the
      first 48 h were correlated with 30-day mortality. In all patients, NT-proBNP 12 h
      after admission was highest and superior with respect to the prediction of 30-day
      mortality compared to plasma levels on admission. In total, 38 patients died
      within the first 30 days. In these patients absolute NT-proBNP plasma levels were
      significantly higher and the increase within 12 h after admission was more
      pronounced compared to survivors (p<0.001). NT-proBNP at 12 h after admission
      also had the highest predictive value for the 30-day mortality rate in patients
      with acute myocardial infarction. The increase of NT-proBNP plasma levels within
      12 h after admission had the highest predictive value in patients suffering from
      decompensated heart failure. CONCLUSIONS: NT-proBNP is a powerful marker of 30
      day mortality in patients with decompensated heart failure of ischemic and non
      ischemic origin. Compared with single baseline measurements, serial measurements
      of NT-proBNP plasma levels within 12 h after hospital admission may be used to
      increase the predictive value of NT-proBNP with regard to the early
      identification of patients who are at high risk of mortality.

PMID- 20927503
TI  - [Disseminated papules in a patient with acute myeloid leukemia].
AB  - Cryptococcosis most commonly occurs in immunosuppressed patients. The pathogen is
      the yeast Cryptococcus neoformans. This article reports on the case of a 20-year
      old female patient with acute myeloid leukemia who suddenly developed
      disseminated livid red papules and papulovesicles. The clinical picture and in
      particular the histopathology findings led to the diagnosis of cutaneous
      cryptococcosis, which was successfully treated with amphotericin B. For the
      differential diagnosis generalized herpes zoster, erythema exudativum multiforme
      and disseminated molluscum contagiosum must be considered. To confirm the
      diagnosis attempts can also be made to culture the pathogen from skin biopsy
      preparations. Furthermore, fungal spores can be rapidly and simply detected with
      the Tzanck test.

PMID- 20927504
TI  - Designer lymphocytes to fight cancer: a helping hand from modern molecular
      biology.

PMID- 20927505
TI  - Patellofemoral osteoarthritis in patients with operative treatment for patellar
      dislocation: a magnetic resonance-based analysis.
AB  - PURPOSE: the clinical role of patellofemoral (PF) osteoarthrosis (OA) in the
      outcome after PF stabilizing surgery is poorly understood. The study hypothesis
      was that PF cartilage lesions and OA are associated with a poor long-term outcome
      after PF stabilizing surgery. METHODS: the study cohort included thirty-seven
      patients who underwent PF stabilizing surgery by traditional nonanatomic
      procedures and were evaluated a minimum of 10 years (range 10-21) after surgery.
      PF OA was assessed by magnetic resonance (MR) images and plain radiographs
      obtained at follow-up. Median patient age at follow-up was 33 years (29-43).
      RESULTS: at the final follow-up, PF full-thickness cartilage lesions were
      observed on MR images in 29 (78%) patients. Only 46% of the patients reported
      satisfaction at follow-up, and dissatisfaction was associated with PF OA (full
      thickness articular cartilage loss on MR images; P = 0.022). Especially high
      incidence, 89%, of medial patellar facet cartilage lesions were found among the
      patients dissatisfied with the result (16/18 patients) (n.s.). Eight (22%) of the
      37 patients reported recurrent patellar instability episodes at follow-up. Median
      Kujala score was 83 points (range 55-98). CONCLUSION: patellofemoral OA is a
      significant long-term risk of nonanatomic surgery for patellar instability and
      has a greater impact on subjective outcome than residual instability more than 10
      years after surgery.

PMID- 20927506
TI  - Standardized combined cryotherapy and compression using Cryo/Cuff after wrist
      arthroscopy.
AB  - PURPOSE: cryotherapy and compression as integral part of the RICE regimen are
      thought to improve treatment outcome after sport injuries. Using standardized
      cryotherapy and compression perioperatively has been reported with conflicting
      clinical results. The impact of combined cryotherapy and compression is compared
      to standard care among patients undergoing wrist arthroscopy. METHODS: fifty-six
      patients undergoing wrist arthroscopy were assessed, 54 patients were randomized
      to either Cryo/Cuff (3 * 10 min twice daily) or standard care over 3 weeks.
      Follow-up clinical visits were at postoperative days 1, 8, and 21. One patient in
      each group was lost during follow-up. Fifty-two patients were analyzed.
      Statistics were performed as Intention-to-treat analysis. Outcome parameters were
      pain, three-dimensional volume of the wrist, range of motion, and DASH score.
      RESULTS: the Cryo/Cuffgroup had a 49% reduction in pain level (VAS 3.5 +/- 0.4
      vs. VAS 1.8 +/- 0.2 on the 21st postoperative day) when compared to a reduction
      of 41% in the control group (VAS 5.1 +/- 0.6 preoperatively vs. VAS 3.0 +/- 0.5
      on the 21st postoperative day). Swelling and range of motion were not as
      significantly different between the two groups as were DASH scores (DASH-score
      Cryo/Cuff group preoperatively 37.3 +/- 3.5 and postoperatively 36.9 +/- 3.5;
      DASH-score control group preoperatively 42.8 +/- 4.3 and postoperatively 41.9 +/-
      4.9). The CONSORT score reached 17 out of 22. CONCLUSION: there was no
      significant effect of additional home-based combined cryotherapy and compression
      using the Cryo/Cuff wrist bandage, following wrist arthroscopy regarding pain,
      swelling, range of motion, and subjective impairment assessed using the DASH
      score over 3 weeks in comparison with the control group.

PMID- 20927507
TI  - Fluoro-Free navigated retrograde drilling of osteochondral lesions.
AB  - PURPOSE: Retrograde drilling of osteochondral lesions (OCLs) is a recommended,
      but demanding operative approach for revascularization of lesions in stage 1-3
      according to Berndt and Harty after failed conservative treatment. The gold
      standard of intraoperative driller guidance is fluoroscopic control. Limitations
      are a 2D visualization of a 3D procedure and sometimes limited view of the OCL in
      fluoroscopy, leading to increased radiation exposure. A new image-free navigation
      procedure was evaluated for practicability and precision in first clinical
      applications. METHODS: In a period of 7 months, retrograde drillings were
      performed in eight patients (3x femoral condyle, 5x talus) using the new Fluoro
      Free navigation procedure without rigidly fixed reference bases. RESULTS: In
      total, 29 retrograde drillings were performed without any technical problem. The
      overall mean operating time was 82.1 +/- 29.3 min (34.6 +/- 6.4 min for the
      standard arthroscopy and 11.2 +/- 1.2 min per drill). Twenty-seven of 29
      drillings hit the target with a 100% first-pass accuracy. Two complications
      during drilling (one navigation specific and one navigation independent) were
      observed. CONCLUSION: The paper describes the promising first clinical
      applications of a new Fluoro-Free navigation procedure for the retrograde
      drilling of OCLs determined by arthroscopy. The benefit of that navigated
      drillings with a high rate of first-pass accuracy and no need for radiation
      exposure in contrast to standard techniques is highlighted.

PMID- 20927508
TI  - Simultaneous quantification of ten cytotoxic drugs by a validated LC-ESI-MS/MS
      method.
AB  - A liquid chromatography separation with electrospray ionisation and tandem mass
      spectrometry detection method was developed for the simultaneous quantification
      of ten commonly handled cytotoxic drugs in a hospital pharmacy. These cytotoxic
      drugs are cytarabine, gemcitabine, methotrexate, etoposide phosphate,
      cyclophosphamide, ifosfamide, irinotecan, doxorubicin, epirubicin and
      vincristine. The chromatographic separation was carried out by RPLC in less than
      21 min, applying a gradient elution of water and acetonitrile in the presence of
      0.1% formic acid. MS/MS was performed on a triple quadrupole in selected reaction
      monitoring mode. The analytical method was validated to determine the limit of
      quantification (LOQ) and quantitative performance: lowest LOQs were between 0.25
      and 2 ng mL(-1) for the ten investigated cytotoxic drugs; trueness values (i.e.
      recovery) were between 85% and 110%, and relative standard deviations for both
      repeatability and intermediate precision were always inferior to 15%. The multi
      compound method was successfully applied for the quality control of
      pharmaceutical formulations and for analyses of spiked samples on potentially
      contaminated surfaces.

PMID- 20927509
TI  - Aza-Michael reaction with enone-modified vegetable oils: evidence of the keto
      enolic equilibrium by NIR chemical imaging and evolving factor analysis.
AB  - The existence of an enone-dienol tautomerism in enone-containing triglyceride,
      obtained from high oleic sunflower oil, was detected in an image set captured at
      95  degrees C by fixed-size image window-evolving factor analysis. A (1)H NMR
      spectrum and a UV-Visible spectrum of the enone-containing triglyceride at 25 
      degrees C and at 95  degrees C were measured to corroborate the presence of the
      enol form. The presence of this equilibrium explains the different behaviour of
      the curing reaction between an enone-containing triglyceride and
      diaminodiphenylmethane, which was evaluated following the spectral evolution of
      two pixels that differ in the presence or absence of the enol form. As the enol
      form acts as a inert species in the reaction, it leads to different degree of
      advance depending on which growing zone is observed.

PMID- 20927510
TI  - Plasma B-type natriuretic peptides in children with cardiovascular diseases.
AB  - Natriuretic peptides (NP) are released from the heart in response to pressure and
      volume overload. The biologic properties of NPs include counterregulation of the
      rennin-angiotensin-aldosterone pathway and a decrease in sympathetic tone
      resulting in diuresis, natriuresis, and vasodilation. Natriuretic peptides help
      to maintain fluid balance and blood pressure in a healthy physiologic range. The
      B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) and its N-terminal precursor (NTpBNP) have
      become important diagnostic biomarkers of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) in
      adults. Although many studies suggest that BNP also is a reliable test for
      diagnosing significant CVDs in children, data are lacking on whether additional
      use of BNP increases diagnostic accuracy and predicts prognosis. This
      comprehensive review describes the utility of BNP and NTpBNP for various CVDs of
      the neonatal and pediatric age groups. Because BNP is not a stand-alone test, it
      should not replace history, physical examination, or clinical judgment, but it
      has a clear value in adding details to the whole story for children, thus
      enabling the front-line physicians to make a diagnosis, especially in the acute
      care setting.

PMID- 20927511
TI  - Investigation of supragingival plaque microbiota in different caries status of
      Chinese preschool children by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis.
AB  - This study aimed to detect differences in the richness of total supragingival
      plaque microbiota as well as the species composition of oral streptococci
      involved in the different stages of dental caries. Forty-five plaque samples were
      collected from caries-moderate (CM, 4 <= dmfs <= 6), caries-susceptible (CS, dmfs
      >= 10), and age-matched caries-free children separately. Total DNA was isolated
      directly from each sample, and polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel
      electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE) analyses using universal and primers specific for oral
      streptococci were carried out. Using 16S rDNA PCR-DGGE, 34 different species of
      bacteria were identified in a culture-independent manner and classified into 11
      genera according to phylogenetic analysis. Among them, Mitis group streptococci
      and Campylobacter, which were present in health status, no longer appeared in
      caries-susceptible samples. In addition, Capnocytophaga, Burkholderia, and
      Prevotella were found significantly less frequently in the CS group samples (P <
      0.05), while there were no significant differences among the prevalence of
      Neisseria, Leptotrichia, Haemophilus, Mutans group streptococci, Corynebacterium,
      and Actinomyces in the three groups. Further DGGE analysis of rnpB gene amplicons
      obtained with oral streptococci species-specific primers showed that a total of
      23 species of oral streptococci were identified. Streptococcus sanguinis,
      Streptococcus mitis, and Streptococcus oralis showed a significantly higher
      prevalence in healthy children (P < 0.05), while that of Streptococcus mutans and
      Streptococcus sobrinus did not vary among the three groups. Overall, these
      results suggest that supragingival plaque microbiota as a whole undergoes a more
      complicated shift in the caries process.

PMID- 20927512
TI  - Functional characterization of a new holin-like antibacterial protein coding gene
      tmp1 from goat skin surface metagenome.
AB  - We have identified a holin-like gene from a goat skin surface metagenome. The ORF
      designated tmp1 coding for 34 amino acids shared sequence similarity with
      putative holin-like toxin genes. To analyze the antibacterial activity of tmp1
      encoded protein, this ORF was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli BL21(DE3).
      The expressed gene product Tmp1 exhibited antibacterial activity against Gram
      positive bacteria but not to Gram-negative bacteria. A single transmembrane
      domain (TMD) was identified within Tmp1 and deletion analysis of the N-terminal
      region and TMD indicated TMD to be responsible for antibacterial activity. The
      TMD-dependent antibacterial activity was validated using a synthetic peptide with
      the amino acid sequence of TMD. Besides antibacterial activity, Tmp1 also
      complemented the function of holin in a lysis-defective bacteriophage lambda. To
      broaden the spectrum of antibacterial activity, a mutant library of tmp1 was
      generated by random mutagenesis. Four mutants with amino acid substitutions at
      the N-terminus of Tmp1 exhibited increased antibacterial activity against Gram
      positive and Gram-negative bacteria and were not hemolytic. An improved activity
      of these mutant proteins is attributed to their increased hydrophobicity.

PMID- 20927513
TI  - Relationship between the pelvic osteolytic volume on computed tomography and
      clinical outcome in patients with cementless acetabular components.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between the pelvic
      osteolytic volume on computed tomography (CT) and clinical outcome in patients
      with cementless acetabular components. We reviewed 87 patients (104 hips) who met
      the following inclusion criteria: (1) there was evidence of pelvic osteolysis on
      CT at a minium of five years postoperatively, (2) all cups and stems were
      radiographically stable at the time of CT, (3) the follow-up period after CT was
      a minimum of two years clinically. The mean pelvic osteolytic volume was 2.3 +/-
      6.9 cm(3). The mean Harris hip score (HHS) at CT was 92.3 +/- 7.9 points.
      Inversely moderate correlation (r = -0.569, P < 0.05) was found between the HHS
      at CT and pelvic osteolytic volume. In ten cases of hips with acetabular
      revisions, the mean pelvic osteolytic volume was 16.3 +/- 26.9 cm(3). The mean
      HHS at CT and HHS at reoperation was 87.6 +/- 9.2 points and 73.4 +/- 8.8 points,
      respectively, with significant difference (P < 0.05). The area under curve (ROC)
      analysis showed that the optimal cutoff value of the osteolytic volume was 4.8
      cm(3) with 100% each for sensitivity and specificity. We conclude that the amount
      of pelvic osteolytic volume on CT may be used to guide treatment decision-making
      in patients with well-fixed cementless acetabular components who show evidence of
      pelvic osteolysis.

PMID- 20927514
TI  - Reduction malarplasty using an L-shaped osteotomy through intraoral and sideburns
      incisions.

PMID- 20927515
TI  - Update on the split-muscle technique for breast augmentation: prevention and
      correction of animation distortion and double-bubble deformity.

PMID- 20927516
TI  - Reduction malarplasty using an L-shaped osteotomy through intraoral and sideburns
      incisions.
AB  - The slender, oval-shaped face is considered to be attractive in East Asia. To
      obtain the ideal contour of the midface, reduction malarplasty has been
      popularized in oriental countries in recent years. This report describes a
      surgical technique for reduction of the zygomatic body and arch. After
      labiobuccal vestibular incisions are made, the anterior zygomatic body and
      lateral orbital rim are exposed by subperiosteal dissection. Thereafter, an L
      shaped osteotomy is performed. Two parallel horizontal osteotomies are made in
      the anterior part of the zygomatic body, and the middle bone segment is removed.
      The zygomatic arch root is fractured through a small sideburn incision just
      anterior to the articular tubercle. Finally, the freed zygomatic complex is
      medially repositioned and fixed with one or two bicortex screws. Operations on 32
      patients demonstrated that this technique may be a sound method for malar complex
      reduction, with the advantages of simple manipulation, stable fixation, and less
      risk of a drooping face.

PMID- 20927517
TI  - Juvenile gigantomastia in a 12-year-old girl: a case report.
AB  - Juvenile gigantomastia is a rare, massive breast enlargement. It appears in
      adolescence and can affect one or both breasts of otherwise healthy girls. This
      report describes a case of a bilateral and symmetric gigantomastia in a 12-year
      old girl.

PMID- 20927518
TI  - L-specular plasty versus double-round plasty: two new techniques for earlobe
      split repair.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Split earlobes can be classified into two groups: congenital and
      traumatic. The congenital group can be divided into three categories: anterior,
      posterior with doubled earlobe, and sagittal. The traumatic group can be divided
      into two categories: complete and incomplete. This report describes and compares
      two new techniques the authors have developed for split earlobe repair: L
      specular plasty and double-curve-specular plasty. Both techniques are simple to
      perform and deliver a good aesthetic result. METHODS: A series of 30 patients
      with split earlobes underwent surgery from September 2007 to September 2009. All
      the patients enjoyed good health with no organic pathologies. All the patients
      had surgery under local anesthesia. The L-specular plasty technique was used to
      treat 15 patients (13 complete splits, 2 incomplete splits). The remaining 15
      patients (13 complete splits, 2 incomplete splits) were treated with the double
      curve-specular plasty. RESULTS: Skin necrosis was not reported for any of the
      treated patients. Sutures are completely removed after 2 weeks. The sutures for
      three patients were removed after 20 days due to slow cicatrization. Repiercing
      of the ear may occur after 6 months. One patient (8%) experienced a wound
      infection, treated successfully with systemic antibiotic therapy. Two patients
      (16%) experienced hypertrophic scars. Only two patients (16%) had recurrence
      during a mean follow-up period of 13.4 months (range, 6-24 months: September 2007
      2009). CONCLUSION: Both double-curve-specular plasty and L-specular plasty are
      simple, reliable procedures. They both deliver very good aesthetic results thanks
      to the curve incisions that follow the natural shape of the earlobe. However, the
      patients treated with double-curve-specular plasty reported greater satisfaction
      in the outcome of their surgery.

PMID- 20927519
TI  - Galactorrhea after aesthetic breast augmentation with silicone implants: report
      of two cases and management of postoperative galactorrhea.
AB  - Galactorrhea is a rare event after breast augmentation. The physiopathologic
      bases of galactorrhea depend on the central secretion of prolactin. These
      physiopathologic bases must be clearly understood for the prevention and
      treatment of postoperative galactorrhea. This report describes two cases of a
      postoperative galactorrhea after aesthetic breast augmentation with silicone
      implants. The clinical appearance closely resembles a postoperative sepsis
      without hyperthermia. Bacteriologic samples are negative. Endocrinologic
      examination finds a characteristic hyperprolactinemia. The evolution is favorable
      under dopaminergic agonists.

PMID- 20927520
TI  - Environmental impact assessment of sand mining from the small catchment rivers in
      the southwestern coast of India: a case study.
AB  - In the past few decades, the demand for construction grade sand is increasing in
      many parts of the world due to rapid economic development and subsequent growth
      of building activities. This, in many of the occasions, has resulted in
      indiscriminate mining of sand from in-stream and floodplain areas leading to
      severe damages to the river basin environment. The case is rather alarming in the
      small catchment rivers like those draining the southwestern coast of India due to
      limited sand resources in their alluvial reaches. Moreover, lack of adequate
      information on the environmental impact of river sand mining is a major lacuna
      challenging regulatory efforts in many developing countries. Therefore, a
      scientific assessment is a pre-requisite in formulating management strategies in
      the sand mining-hit areas. In this context, a study has been made as a case to
      address the environmental impact of sand mining from the in-stream and floodplain
      areas of three important rivers in the southwestern coast of India namely the
      Chalakudy, Periyar and Muvattupuzha rivers, whose lowlands host one of the fast
      developing urban-cum-industrial centre, the Kochi city. The study reveals that an
      amount of 11.527 million ty(-1) of sand (8.764 million ty(-1) of in-stream sand
      and 2.763 million ty(-1) of floodplain sand) is being mined from the midland and
      lowland reaches of these rivers for construction of buildings and other
      infrastructural facilities in Kochi city and its satellite townships.
      Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) carried out as a part of this investigation
      shows that the activities associated with mining and processing of sands have not
      only affected the health of the river ecosystems but also degraded its overbank
      areas to a large extent. Considering the degree of degradation caused by sand
      mining from these rivers, no mining scenario may be opted in the deeper zones of
      the river channels. Also, a set of suggestions are made for the overall
      improvement of the rivers and its biophysical environment.

PMID- 20927521
TI  - Influence of residual stenosis on clinical outcome and restenosis after middle
      cerebral artery stenting.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to assess whether the residual stenosis
      has effect on restenosis after stenting for atherosclerotic stenosis in the
      middle cerebral artery. METHODS: Sixty-seven patients underwent 69 single-stent
      procedures successfully for atherosclerotic stenosis >=70% in the M1 segment of
      middle cerebral artery were reviewed retrospectively. All patients were
      classified into two groups: nonresidual (<=30%) and residual (>30%) stenosis. The
      influence of residual stenosis immediately after stent placement on clinical
      outcomes and restenosis at follow-up was analyzed. Restenosis was defined as
      >=20% stenosis on angiographic follow-up imaging after excluding postoperative
      residual stenosis. RESULTS: Between groups, it was no difference in the
      conventional risk factors of cerebrovascular diseases, characteristics of
      targeted vessels, and types of stent. The residual stenosis had no influence on
      any stroke or death, but the ipsilateral stroke had a trend in the residual
      stenosis group. The incidence of restenosis was higher in patients with residual
      stenosis >30% (17% vs. 45.5%, P = 0.04), and the increase of percent stenosis was
      7.9 +/- 11.7 and 17.1 +/- 15.4, respectively (P = 0.03). The correlation
      coefficient was r = 0.37 (P < 0.01) between the residual stenosis and the
      increase of percent stenosis. Univariate and multivariate regression analysis
      showed that residual stenosis >30% was an independent risk factor for restenosis
      at follow-up (log-rank, Chi-square = 6.09, P = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Residual
      stenosis immediately after stenting for atherosclerotic middle cerebral artery
      stenosis may be a predictor of clinical outcomes and restenosis at follow-up.

PMID- 20927522
TI  - The role of interventional radiology in the management of deep venous thrombosis:
      advanced therapy.
AB  - Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) is often managed with a health care pathway that
      funnels patients to anticoagulation therapy alone. This "usual treatment" is
      designed to stop propagation and embolisation of venous thrombus but not remove
      it. Surgical thrombectomy was once the only option in severe cases in which limbs
      were threatened, but thrombus removal is no longer restricted to emergency cases.
      Interventional radiologists are now using advanced endovascular techniques to
      achieve thrombus removal in a minimally invasive manner in a very short treatment
      time, thereby quickly restoring patency, relieving acute symptoms, and
      potentially limiting the subsequent development of postthrombotic syndrome when
      followed with anticoagulation and compression regimens. This article provides an
      overview of the interventions available for treating DVT. One of the newer
      "single-session" techniques is isolated pharmacomechanical thrombolysis, which is
      described here in detail with supporting cases.

PMID- 20927523
TI  - Inhibition of N-linked glycosylation by tunicamycin induces E-cadherin-mediated
      cell-cell adhesion and inhibits cell proliferation in undifferentiated human
      colon cancer cells.
AB  - PURPOSE: Aberrant protein glycosylation and disassembly of E-cadherin-mediated
      cell-cell adhesion are characteristics of epithelial cancer. However, the
      relationship between these two events in colorectal cancer remains to be defined.
      In this study, we analyzed whether N-glycan expression is crucial for the loss of
      E-cadherin-mediated cell-cell adhesion in human colorectal cancer cells. METHODS:
      Differentiated Caco-2 and undifferentiated HCT-116 colon cancer cells were used
      as models of stable and unstable adherens junctions (AJs), respectively. Complex
      type N-glycans were detected using the lectins E-PHA (Phaseolus vulgaris E.) and
      L-PHA (Phaseolus vulgaris L.). To study E-cadherin-mediated AJ assembly, we
      examined the effects of swainsonine, an inhibitor of alpha-mannosidase II, and
      tunicamycin, a drug that inhibits the biosynthesis of N-glycans, via western
      blot, immunofluorescence, differential extraction in Triton X-100, and electron
      microscopy. Cell proliferation and apoptosis were examined by crystal violet
      staining and flow cytometry, respectively. RESULTS: We observed positive labeling
      for E-PHA and L-PHA lectins in both cell lines; however, HCT-116 cells had
      increased E-cadherin-linked complex-type N-glycans. Interestingly, tunicamycin,
      but not swainsonine, was able to induce functional E-cadherin-mediated cell-cell
      adhesion in undifferentiated HCT-116 cells, as shown by the increased association
      of E-cadherin with the actin cytoskeleton. Moreover, in HCT-116 cells,
      tunicamycin also induced the formation of tight cell-cell contacts, and it
      inhibited cell proliferation without triggering apoptosis. CONCLUSIONS:
      Collectively, our results demonstrate for the first time that altered N-glycan
      expression plays an important role in the loss of AJ stability in
      undifferentiated colorectal cancer cells and that this loss may be associated
      with the progression of colorectal cancer.

PMID- 20927524
TI  - High-performance liquid chromatographic method for the determination of sorafenib
      in human serum and peritoneal fluid.
AB  - PURPOSE: Sorafenib is recommended for therapy of advanced hepatocellular
      carcinoma and renal cell carcinoma. Preclinical data indicate a relation between
      dose and antitumor efficacy. In clinical trials, adverse events improve after
      dose reduction suggesting a dose-dependent toxicity. Given dose has a direct
      impact on the drug serum concentration, but the latter also can be influenced by
      multiple factors, including interaction and metabolisation. To enable the
      investigation of concentration-related effects, an easy and sensitive assay for
      sorafenib drug monitoring is essential. METHODS: A high-performance liquid
      chromatography (HPLC) analysis involving an extraction with diethyl ether
      followed by separation on a PinnacleTM DB C18 column and quantitation by UV
      absorbance at 260 nm was established. Sorafenib concentrations in samples of
      serum and peritoneal fluid have been determined. RESULTS: The assay was validated
      for serum samples and is linear over the concentration range of 100-5,000 ng/ml
      with a determination coefficient of >0.999. The limit of detection is 0.25 ng/ml.
      The intra- and inter-day coefficients of variation were below 3.03%. Sorafenib
      recovery in spiked probes of peritoneal fluid was above 85%. Sorafenib
      concentrations in 44 serum samples and 14 probes of peritoneal fluid have been
      determined with a mean of 3,328 and 1,380 ng/ml, respectively (standard deviation
      2,267 and 659 ng/ml). CONCLUSIONS: A sensitive and selective HPLC method for the
      determination of sorafenib in human serum was developed and also verified for
      peritoneal fluid. This method provides a useful tool for pharmacokinetic
      investigations as well as for therapeutic drug monitoring of sorafenib.

PMID- 20927525
TI  - Phase II study of a fixed dose-rate infusion of gemcitabine associated with
      erlotinib in advanced pancreatic cancer.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the feasibility, toxicity and efficacy of the combination
      regimen consisting of gemcitabine-FDR infusion plus erlotinib, in ACP patients.
      METHODS: Forty-two patients with histologically confirmed, locally advanced or
      metastatic pancreatic cancer were included in this phase II trial. Main
      objectives were to assess the efficacy and safety of this regimen. Therapeutic
      regimen consisted of gemcitabine 1,200 mg/m(2) in 120-min infusion on days 1, 8
      and 15, plus erlotinib 100 mg orally once daily. Cycles were repeated every 28
      days. RESULTS: A total of 160 courses of gemcitabine-FDR erlotinib were
      administered (median 3.8 courses per patient). The most common grade 3-4 AEs were
      neutropenia (21%), thrombocytopenia (10%), skin rash (10%) and asthenia (10%).
      Complete response was achieved in one patient (2%) and 11 (26%) achieved a
      partial response. Stable disease and progression disease were observed in 11
      patients (26%) and 19 (45%), respectively. Median time to progression was 5
      months (95%CI: 3.9-5.8 months) and median overall survival was 8 months (95% CI:
      5.1-10.8). One-year survival rate was 35%. CONCLUSIONS: A regimen consisting of
      gemcitabine-FDR infusion plus erlotinib is active and well tolerated in APC
      patients. However, the results do not justify the conduct of a Phase III trial.

PMID- 20927526
TI  - CT predictors of mortality in pathology confirmed ARDS.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To identify CT findings that predict mortality in acute respiratory
      distress syndrome (ARDS) and to identify CT findings that differentiate diffuse
      alveolar damage (DAD) from DAD with prominent histopathological features of
      organizing pneumonia (DAD-OP). METHODS: Twenty-eight patients with ARDS
      (corroborated by open biopsy) and chest CT within 2 weeks of biopsy were included
      in our study. Differences in CT findings in patients with survivors versus
      nonsurvivors as well as for DAD versus DAD-OP were compared using Fisher's exact
      test. RESULTS: Lung involvement of greater than 80%, RA/LA ratio >1, and varicoid
      traction bronchiectasis were statistically more common in nonsurvivors than in
      survivors (respective p values of 0.001, 0.008, and 0.038). PA dilation greater
      than 3 cm and RV/LV ratio greater than 0.9 were also more common in nonsurvivors
      than in survivors but these factors did not achieve significance. CT findings did
      not differentiate DAD from DAD-OP. CONCLUSION: Our study suggests that >80% of
      lung involvement, RA/LA ratio >1, and varicoid bronchiectasis predict mortality
      in patients with ARDS/DAD. Signs of right-sided heart failure (PA dilation
      greater than 3 cm and RV/LV ratio greater than 0.9) approached significance. CT
      findings did not differentiate DAD from DAD-OP.

PMID- 20927527
TI  - Assessment of tissue perfusion by contrast-enhanced ultrasound.
AB  - Contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) with microbubble contrast agents is a new
      imaging technique for quantifying tissue perfusion. CEUS presents several
      advantages over other imaging techniques in assessing tissue perfusion, including
      the use of microbubbles as blood-pool agents, portability, availability and
      absence of exposure to radiation or nuclear tracers. Dedicated software packages
      are necessary to quantify the echo-signal intensity and allow the calculation of
      the degree of tissue contrast enhancement based on the accurate distinction
      between microbubble backscatter signals and native tissue background. The
      measurement of organ transit time after microbubble injection and the analysis of
      tissue reperfusion kinetics represent the two fundamental methods for the
      assessment of tissue perfusion by CEUS. Transit time measurement has been shown
      to be feasible and has started to become accepted as a clinical tool, especially
      in the liver. The loudness of audio signals from spectral Doppler analysis is
      used to generate time-intensity curves to follow the wash-in and wash-out of the
      microbubble bolus. Tissue perfusion may be quantified also by analysing the
      replenishment kinetics of the volume of microbubbles after their destruction in
      the imaged slice. This allows to obtain semiquantitative parameters related to
      local tissue perfusion, especially in the heart, brain, and kidneys.

PMID- 20927528
TI  - Functional inhibition of erectile process in rats by indomethacin.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Despite the important role played by prostaglandins in the control of
      erection, the potential contribution of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in
      erectile dysfunction in experimental animals has not been investigated. We
      examined the effect of the selective COX-2 inhibitor, celexocib, and the non
      selective COX-inhibitors, indomethacin and diclofenac on erectile process in
      vivo. METHODS: Erectile responses to electrical stimulation of the cavernous
      nerve in anesthetized male rats were recorded after single and repeated
      administration and intracavernosal pressure/mean arterial pressure (ICP/MAP) was
      calculated. The effect on blood pressure during erection and total plasma
      nitrite/nitrate level was also investigated. RESULTS: Single-dose administration
      of indomethacin significantly reduced erectile responses to electrical
      stimulation at all frequencies tested; 15 mg/kg further reduced ICP/MAP to 0.016
      +/- 0.005 compared to 0.064 +/- 0.012 and 0.104 +/- 0.035 for indomethacin (5
      mg/kg) and control, respectively at 0.5 Hz. Longer-term treatment with
      indomethacin completely abolished erectile responses at low frequencies and
      significantly reduced ICP/MAP at higher frequencies, accompanied by significant
      reduction in total plasma nitrite/nitrate level. Diclofenac reduced erectile
      responses only at low frequencies in contrast to celexocib that failed to
      negatively affect erectile responses. CONCLUSION: Indomethacin, and to a lower
      extent diclofenac, may adversely affect erectile responses in rats.

PMID- 20927529
TI  - Observed magnetic resonance imaging changes in pediatric patients treated with
      stereotactic radiosurgery for intracranial tumors.
AB  - PURPOSE: This study seeks to characterize magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
      changes following stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) of pediatric brain
      malignancies. METHODS: Serial MRI evaluations were performed on 21 lesions
      treated with SRS for either medulloblastoma (n=12), juvenile pilocytic
      astrocytoma (n=4), ependymoma (n=2), atypical rhabdoid teratoid tumor (n=2), or
      pineocytoma (n=1). Prescription doses ranged from 14 to 30 Gy in one to five
      fractions. Tumor response was qualified as complete (CR), partial (PR), stable
      disease (SD), or progressive disease (PD) according to the RECIST v1.1. Median
      radiographic follow-up after SRS was 17 months. RESULTS: A total of 80 follow-up
      MRI scans were reviewed with a median of eight per patient. During serial MRI
      evaluation, eight lesions met criteria for PD at a median of 6 months. However,
      of these, three (37%) represented transient tumor edema with two lesions later
      developing a CR at a median of 15 months and one persisting as SD at 12 months.
      The remaining five lesions were true local failures. Of the 13 lesions that did
      not show evidence of PD, a CR was obtained in 11 lesions at a median of 3 months
      (range, 2-6), and SD was seen in the remaining two tumors at last follow-up.
      CONCLUSION: Lesion enlargement following SRS for pediatric intracranial tumors is
      common, and a proportion of patients meeting requirements for PD at early
      radiographic follow-up may later develop complete resolution of their lesions.
      Physicians should be aware of these radiographic changes to avoid unwarranted
      medical and surgical interventions.

PMID- 20927530
TI  - A novel NF1 gene mutation in an Italian family with neurofibromatosis type 1.
AB  - PURPOSE: Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) is a common autosomal dominant disorder
      with an estimated incidence of one in 3,500 births. Clinically, NF1 is
      characterized by cafe-au-lait (CAL) spots, neurofibromas, freckling of the
      axillary or inguinal region, Lisch nodules, optic nerve glioma, and bone
      dysplasias. NF1 is caused by inactivating mutations of the 17q11.2-located NF1
      gene. We present a clinical and molecular study of an Italian family with NF1.
      METHODS: The proband, a 10-year-old boy, showed large CAL spots and freckling on
      the axillary region and plexiform neurofibromas on the right side only. His
      father (47 years old) showed, in addition to the similar signs, numerous
      neurofibromas of various sizes on his thorax, abdomen, back, and shoulder. Two
      additional family members (a brother and a sister of the proband) presented only
      small CAL spots. The coding exons of NF1 gene were analyzed for mutations by
      denaturing high-performance liquid chromatography and sequencing in all family
      members. RESULTS: The mutational analysis of the NF1 gene revealed a novel
      frameshift insertion mutation in exon 4c (c.654 ins A) in all affected family
      members. This novel mutation creates a shift on the reading frame starting at
      codon 218 and leads to the introduction of a premature stop at codon 227.
      CONCLUSIONS: The segregation of the mutation with the affected phenotype and its
      absence in the 200 normal chromosomes suggest that it is responsible for the NF1
      phenotype.

PMID- 20927531
TI  - Plasma TM2-PK levels in mycosis fungoides patients.
AB  - Aerobic glycolysis increases in tumor cells and pyruvate kinase (PK) is one of
      the key enzymes involved; PK exists in different isoforms in various tissues.
      Tumor M2-PK (TM2-PK) is one of these isoforms and its expression has been
      observed in various tumor cells, including lymphocytes, and in
      lymphoproliferative disorders. The present study aimed to compare plasma levels
      of TM2-PK and serum levels of two established markers of various
      lymphoproliferative disorders-lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and beta-2
      microglobulin, and to evaluate the role of TM2-PK in drug monitorization and
      disease activity in mycosis fungoides (MF) patients. The study included 27 MF
      patients and 46 healthy controls. Among the MF patients, 18 were stage IA, 6 were
      stage IB, 1 was stage IIA, and 2 were stage III. Plasma TM2-PK, and serum LDH and
      beta-2 microglobulin levels in the patients and controls were measured using the
      ELISA technique, a kinetic method, and a chemiluminescent assay, respectively.
      Measurements were repeated in the patient group posttreatment. Median levels of
      TM2-PK, LDH, and beta-2 microglobulin level in the MF patients were 22 U mL-1,
      375 U L-1, and 1,831 ng mL-1, respectively. TM2-PK and beta-2 microglobulin
      levels did not significantly differ between the MF patients and controls;
      however, LDH levels were significantly higher in the MF patients. TM2-PK levels
      in 17 of the MF patients that were in remission did not significantly differ from
      their pre-therapy levels. Based on a cut-off point of 17.5 U mL-1, the
      sensitivity and specificity of TM2-PK for diagnosing MF were 55.6 and 60.9%,
      respectively. beta-2 microglobulin was the most sensitive marker for diagnosing
      MF (63%), while LDH was the most specific marker. Furthermore, the sensitivity of
      TM2-PK increased when it was analyzed in combination as parallel tests with LDH
      and beta-2 microglobulin (86%), while the specificity was measured as 32%. In
      serial analysis, the specificity was increased to 98%, while the sensitivity was
      5%. Statistically significant agreement in diagnosing MF was also noted between
      TM2-PK and LDH levels. TM2-PK may not be a useful marker for MF, especially in
      early-stage patients, because it proliferates slowly. We think that TM2-PK levels
      should be investigated in advanced-stage MF or in other types of cutaneous T-cell
      lymphomas; in particular, in combination with other established markers.

PMID- 20927532
TI  - Rap1-independent telomere attachment and bouquet formation in mammalian meiosis.
AB  - Attachment of telomeres to the nuclear envelope (NE) and their clustering in a
      chromosomal bouquet during meiotic prophase I is an evolutionary conserved event
      that promotes chromosome pairing and recombination. In fission yeast, bouquet
      formation fails when the telomeric protein Rap1 is absent or when the telomeric
      protein Taz1 fails to recruit Rap1 to telomeres. The mammalian Rap1 orthologue is
      a component of the shelterin complex and localises to telomeres through an
      interaction with a Taz1-like telomeric DNA binding factor, TRF2. Here, we
      investigated the role of mammalian Rap1 in meiotic telomere attachment and
      clustering by analysing spermatogenesis in Rap1-deficient mice. The results
      establish that the meiotic three-dimensional nuclear architecture and
      recombination are not affected by the absence of Rap1. Furthermore, Rap1
      deficient meiotic telomeres assemble the SUN1 nuclear membrane protein, attach to
      the NE, and undergo bouquet formation indistinguishable from the wild-type
      setting. Thus, the role of Rap1 in meiosis is not conserved between fission yeast
      and mammals, suggesting that mammals have alternative modes for connecting
      telomeres to SUN proteins on the meiotic nuclear envelope.

PMID- 20927533
TI  - Deep brain stimulation in the nucleus ventralis intermedius in patients with
      essential tremor: habituation of tremor suppression.
AB  - In patients with essential tremor (ET) already treated with chronic deep brain
      stimulation (DBS) of the nucleus ventralis intermedius (VIM) we investigated
      whether optimization of stimulation parameters could improve clinical tremor
      suppression, and whether this putative effect could be sustained over time.
      Twenty-three ET patients with VIM-DBS participated in the prospective study. All
      electrode contacts were tested systematically and stimulation parameters were
      optimized over the course of 2 days. Clinical tremor rating scale (TRS) was
      videotaped before, directly after the optimization and at a 10 weeks follow-up
      and evaluated blindly and independently by two clinicians. For stimulation effect
      optimization we increased the number of active contacts whereas the total charge
      applied to the tissue was kept constant. TRS hemi-body scores decreased
      significantly after optimization. At the 10 weeks follow-up, however, the
      improvement had faded and was no longer significant. The activities of daily
      living (ADL) remained significantly improved. Systematic optimization of VIM-DBS
      parameters in ET patients leads to a short term improvement which habituates over
      time. Our results provide further evidence for a tolerance effect in chronic VIM
      stimulation thereby suggesting that frequently alternating stimulation protocols
      should be tested in future studies of ET patients treated with VIM-DBS.

PMID- 20927534
TI  - Laparoscopic versus open appendectomy--quality of life 7 years after surgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In spite of the widespread use of laparoscopic appendectomy, there is
      an ongoing debate on the advantages of this method when compared to open
      appendectomy. In the evaluation of a postoperative procedure, long-term quality
      of life is essential. PATIENTS AND METHODS: From 1999 to 2001, 493 patients
      diagnosed with acute appendicitis were operated in a German general district
      hospital and included in an observational study. In a median postoperative
      interval of 7 years, these patients were re-evaluated regarding their quality of
      life after surgery. A Short-Form 36 Health Survey (SF-36) questionnaire was
      applied to evaluate the general parameters of quality of life after surgery. This
      questionnaire was supplemented by an additional self-developed module referring
      to the appendectomy. The primary outcome was the recommendation of the
      experienced operating procedure to relatives and friends. RESULTS: A total of 243
      patients underwent a laparoscopic procedure: 132 patients were re-evaluated
      (recovery rate 54%). In the open group, 250 patients were operated: 121 patients
      were re-evaluated (recovery rate 48%). The median interval from operation to
      evaluation was 7 years in the laparoscopic group and 7.7 years in the open group.
      For the primary outcome, patients with laparoscopic appendectomy would
      significantly more often recommend the procedure than patients with the open
      operation method. For secondary outcomes, the cosmetic results were judged
      significantly more favourably in the laparoscopic group. The eight scaled scores
      of the SF-36 questionnaire did not differ significantly between the two groups.
      Four patients of the open group and nine patients of the laparoscopic group
      (including one converted procedure) needed a reoperation because of incisional
      hernia, adhesions and late infections. CONCLUSION: Patients after laparoscopic
      appendectomy show a higher degree of satisfaction with their body and their scar
      than patients after open appendectomy.

PMID- 20927535
TI  - Dysphonia at 12 months corrected age in very low-birth-weight-born children.
AB  - Preterm newborn infants may suffer laryngeal injuries after multiple intubations
      and long-term mechanical ventilation. Former studies have focused on acute
      laryngeal injuries diagnosed by endoscopy, performed within the neonatal period.
      This retrospective case-control study aims to investigate the prevalence and
      clinical risk factors for voice disorders in former very low-birth-weight (<
      1,500 g) infants (VLBW) at 1-year follow-up examinations. We screened former VLBW
      infants for presence of dysphonia at the corrected age of 1 year and compared
      cases with unaffected infants matched by birth weight and gestational age. Of the
      843 former VLBW infants, admitted from January 1998 to May 2006, 18 subjects had
      persistent dysphonia. All cases had a birth weight below 1,000 g. Surgical
      ligation of a ductus arteriosus had been performed in ten infants. Duration of
      ventilation and number of intubations were not different between cases and
      controls, but a documented difficult intubation was a predictor of subsequent
      dysphonia. The rate of dysphonia at 1 year of life was 6.6% among formerly
      ventilated infants with birth weights <1,000 g (extremely low-birth-weight
      infants). Persistent dysphonia has to be added to the list of specific long-term
      consequences of extremely immature birth and given attention at follow-up
      examinations.

PMID- 20927536
TI  - Toll-like receptors in domestic animals.
AB  - Toll-like receptors are pattern recognition receptors with which hosts recognize
      pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMP). This recognition process is
      translated rapidly into a meaningful defense reaction. This form of innate host
      defense is preserved in the animal kingdom: invertebrates heavily depend on it;
      higher vertebrates also have an adaptive immune system. Both adaptive and innate
      immune systems are intertwined in that the former also depends on an intact
      innate recognition and response system. Members of the TLR system cover
      recognition of parasitic, bacterial or viral germs. Due to the constraints
      imposed by the necessity to recognize PAMP and to interact with downstream
      signaling molecules, the TLR system is relatively conserved in evolution.
      Nevertheless, subtle species differences have been reported for several mammalian
      TLR members. Examples of this will be given. In all mammalian species
      investigated, part of the coding sequence is available for the most important TLR
      members, thus allowing study of expression of these TLR members in various
      tissues by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction in its classical (RT
      PCR) and quantitative real time RT-PCR (qRT-PCR) form. In some species, the whole
      coding sequences of the most important or even all TLR members are known. This
      allows construction of cDNA and transfection of common host cells, thus
      permitting functional studies. Extensive investigations were devoted to the study
      of non-synonymous single nucleotide polymorphisms. In a few cases, expression of
      a given amino acid in the extracellular (ligand-binding) portion of TLR members
      could be associated with infectious diseases. This will be discussed below.

PMID- 20927537
TI  - Induced chemical defenses in a freshwater macrophyte suppress herbivore fitness
      and the growth of associated microbes.
AB  - The freshwater macrophyte Cabomba caroliniana induces a chemical defense when
      attacked by either the crayfish Procambrus clarkii or the snail Pomacea
      canaliculata. Induction by either consumer lowers the palatability of the plant
      to both consumers. When offered food ad libitum, snails feeding on non-induced C.
      caroliniana grew 2.6-2.7 times more than those feeding on induced C. caroliniana.
      Because snails fed less on induced plants, this could be a behavioral effect
      (reduced feeding), a physiological effect of the induced metabolites on the
      consumer, or both. To assess these possibilities, we made artificial diets with
      lipid extracts of induced versus non-induced C. caroliniana and restricted
      control snails to consuming only as much as treatment snails consumed. Growth
      measured as shell diameter was significantly lower on the diet containing extract
      from induced, as opposed to non-induced, plants; change in snail mass was more
      variable and showed a similar, but non-significant, trend. Thus, snails may
      reduce feeding on induced plants to avoid suppression of fitness. The induced
      defenses also suppressed growth of co-occurring microbes that might attack the
      plant through herbivore-generated feeding scars. When two bacteria and three
      fungi isolated from C. caroliniana surfaces were cultured with the lipid extract
      from induced and non-induced C. caroliniana, both extracts inhibited the
      microbes, but the induced extract was more potent against three of the five
      potential pathogens. Thus, induced plant defenses can act against both direct
      consumers and microbes that might invade the plant indirectly through herbivore
      generated wounds.

PMID- 20927538
TI  - Does mesh shrinkage in any way depend upon the method of mesh fixation in
      laparoscopic incisional hernia repair?

PMID- 20927539
TI  - A comparative study of handsewn versus stapled gastrojejunal anastomosis in
      laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The two basic techniques available in which to perform the
      gastrojejunal (GJ) anastomosis during a laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass
      (LRYGBP) are stapled and handsewn. Few outcomes differences have been noted
      between the two to recommend one as a superior approach. We present our findings
      in comparison of the two methods. METHODS: This is a retrospective review of all
      patients who underwent LRYGBP at a single institution during a 3-year period. The
      two different techniques that were used were a linear stapled and handsewn
      anastomosis with an anastomotic diameter of 18 mm. The groups were compared for
      postoperative complications, including stricture, anastomotic leak, and the need
      for early reoperation. All patients were followed up for a minimum period of 8
      months. RESULTS: A total of 222 patients were analyzed after excluding 4
      patients: 3 for revisional surgery and 1 for conversion to open. There were 99
      patients in the stapled group and 123 in the handsewn group. In both groups,
      patients were predominantly female. The average age was 42.63 in the stapled
      group and 44.33 in the handsewn group (P = 0.218). Body mass index was 48.23 in
      the stapled group and 47.91 in the handsewn group (P = 0.733). Stricture rate in
      the stapled group was 10.1% (10/99) and 4.1% (5/123) in the handsewn group (P =
      0.076). Four patients from the stapled group (4.08%) and six from the handsewn
      group (4.88%) needed early reoperation. One patient in each group had a GJ
      anastomotic leak (0.9%). There were no deaths. CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of
      anastomotic stricture tends to be lower with a handsewn technique with lower
      operative time. No difference was appreciated in the anastomotic leak or
      reexploration rate with either technique.

PMID- 20927541
TI  - Transvaginal laparoscopically assisted endoscopic cholecystectomy: preliminary
      clinical results for a series of 43 cases in China.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Transvaginal cholecystectomy has been performed successfully at
      several research institutions worldwide using natural orifice transluminal
      endoscopic surgery (NOTES) techniques. However, it is a growing new surgical
      concept in China. Several technical challenges hinder the safe clinical
      application of NOTES. This study investigated transvaginal endoscopic
      cholecystectomy performed with the assistance of a single umbilical trocar and
      achieved helpful initial clinical experience. METHODS: From May 2009 to April
      2010, a total of 43 transvaginal human cholecystectomies were performed. A single
      umbilical trocar was used for safe access and laparoscopic assistance during the
      operation. After the gallbladder had been removed through the vagina, the
      colpotomy was closed with absorbable stitches under direct vision. In addition,
      Student's t-test was performed for two samples to estimate the superiority of
      NOTES over a conventional laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) operation. RESULTS:
      The procedure was successfully completed for all the patients. No intra- or post
      operative complications occurred. The patients recovered promptly after surgery,
      and all were satisfied with ideal cosmetic outcomes. The postoperative pain,
      hospital stay, and cost of hospitalization with NOTES were much less than with
      conventional LC operations. CONCLUSIONS: Although endoscopic instruments
      specifically designed for NOTES are not available, the addition of an umbilical
      trocar is an optimal way to allow safe performance of NOTES procedures in an
      easily reproducible manner. The authors' initial experience demonstrates that
      this hybrid technique is potentially feasible and effective for reducing
      postoperative pain and recovery times while improving the cosmetic results of
      transvaginal cholecystectomy.

PMID- 20927542
TI  - Synthetic polymer-tissue adhesion using an ultrasonic scalpel.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Interface phenomena such as encapsulation and formation of dead space
      around implanted biomaterials lower biomaterial performance. To advance tissue
      adhesive technology, understanding the interactions between tissue (collagen) and
      polymer is indispensable. Adhesion between tissue and polymer was studied using
      an ultrasonically activated scalpel (UAS). METHODS: The Harmonic Scalpel was used
      as an ultrasonically activated scalpel for polymer and tissue adhesion. A piece
      of porcine aorta and a polymeric film were layered and placed between the blades
      of the Harmonic Scalpel. Then the samples were gripped with 20 kgf of force for 1
      10 s to adhere the porcine aorta and polymeric films. The adhesion was
      characterized by macro- and microscopic observation, thermographic analysis, and
      measurement of bonding strength, static contact angle (SCA), and surface
      properties. RESULTS: Cellulose, vinylon, polyethylene terephthalate, nylon, and
      Pellethane could be bonded to the aorta. Bonding was not observed for the
      polyethylene, polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride, or polytetrafluoroethylene. This
      suggests that the existence of functional groups such as hydroxyl, carbonyl,
      carboxyl, and amide groups in the polymer structure are key factors in adhesion.
      Harmonic Scalpel modification of the polyethylene surface during corona discharge
      treatment further indicated that the functional groups of the polymers are one of
      the essential factors for tissue adhesion. The temperatures of adhesion were 90
      150  degrees C for the polymers, and the melting temperatures (Tm) were 193-306 
      degrees C. This suggests that adhesion was formed by the interaction between the
      melted polymer surface and the tissue collagen. CONCLUSION: Both polar functional
      groups and adequate thermal characteristics are necessary for polymers to bond
      with tissues. These findings should be useful for the development of novel
      polymers that can be bonded to living tissues with UAS treatment, which can be
      applied for endoscopic surgery.

PMID- 20927543
TI  - Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) lobectomy using a standardized
      anterior approach.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Lobectomy using video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) still is
      a controversial operation despite its many observed benefits. The controversy may
      be due to difficulties performing the procedure. This study addresses a
      standardized anterior approach facilitating the operation. METHODS: This report
      describes 156 VATS lobectomies performed with a uniform anterior three-port
      technique. The surgeon and the assistant stand on the abdominal side of the
      patient, and the setup is independent of the lobe to be resected. RESULTS: From
      2005 to 2007, 156 VATS lobectomies and 13 conversions (7.7%) were performed with
      an anterior three-port technique. No mortality occurred among the VATS
      lobectomies during a 30-day period. The major comorbidity rate was 78%. The
      comorbidities included former thoracic surgery (9%) or a history of another
      cancer (22%), indicating potentially difficult surgery and a nonselected
      population. The majority (92%) of the patients had lung cancer. The major
      postoperative problem was air leakage, which usually prolongs the tube time and
      the in-hospital stay, but a "no-touch fissure" technique significantly reduced
      the median tube time to 4 days and the postoperative hospital stay to 5 days.
      CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that VATS lobectomies can be performed using a
      standardized anterior approach with low rates of conversion and morbidity. A "no
      touch fissure" technique lowers the postoperative tube time, the in-hospital
      stay, and the number of patients with prolonged air leakage. A uniform anterior
      approach facilitates VATS lobectomy and makes this advanced procedure more easily
      adaptable by many surgeons familiar with an open anterior approach. The findings
      show that VATS lobectomy can be performed safely for a large proportion of lung
      cancer patients.

PMID- 20927544
TI  - Transanal endoscopic microsurgery for 135 patients with small nonadvanced low
      rectal cancer (iT1-iT2, iN0): short- and long-term results.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Local excision of rectal cancer as an alternative to radical
      resection for patients with small nonadvanced low rectal cancer (SNALRC) (iT1
      iT2, iN0) is debated. This study aimed to analyze the short- and long-term
      results for a series of 135 patients with SNALRC who underwent local excision by
      transanal endoscopic microsurgery (TEM). METHODS: According to the study
      protocol, 135 patients classified by endorectal ultrasound, magnetic resonance
      imaging (MRI), and computed tomography (CT) imaging as having iT1 iN0 iM0 (n =
      51) or iT2 iN0 iM0 (n = 84) low rectal cancer were enrolled in the study. All the
      patients with iT2 rectal cancer underwent neoadjuvant therapy. The definitive
      histologic findings showed 24 pT0 patients (17.8%), 66 pT1 patients (48.8%), and
      45 pT2 patients (33.4%). RESULTS: Minor complications were observed in 12
      patients (8.8%) and major complications in 2 patients (1.5%). During a median
      follow-up period of 97 months (range, 55-139 months), local recurrences occurred
      for four patients and distant metastases for two patients. The patients who
      experienced a recurrence had been preoperatively staged as iT2 and were low or
      nonresponders to neoadjuvant treatment (ypT2). At the end of the follow-up
      period, the disease-free survival rates were 100% for the iT1 patients and 93%
      for the iT2 patients CONCLUSIONS: The long-term results for adequate local
      excision by TEM with or without neoadjuvant radiochemotherapy in the treatment of
      SNALRC based on the current study protocol are not inferior to those reported in
      the literature for radical surgery with total mesorectal excision (TME).

PMID- 20927545
TI  - Single-incision laparoscopic appendectomy using conventional instruments: an
      initial experience using a novel technique.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Laparoscopic appendectomy has gained wide acceptance. This study
      aimed to evaluate the feasibility, safety, and cosmetic results of a novel
      technique: single incision laparoscopic (SIL) appendectomy. METHODS: The study
      enrolled consecutive patients undergoing appendectomy for acute appendicitis.
      Appendectomy was performed using three trocars and conventional laparoscopic
      instruments through a single small umbilical incision (length, ~3 cm). The
      patients received standard pre- and postoperative care and presented for a follow
      up visit after a mean of 27 days. RESULTS: The study cohort consisted of 26
      patients (10 women and 16 men) with an average age of 44 years (range, 13-83
      years). Of 26 appendectomies, 22 (85%) were achieved through a single surgical
      site. The mean SIL appendectomy operative time was 58 min (range, 33-107 min). No
      operative complications occurred. The average postoperative hospital stay was 1.2
      days for nonperforated appendicitis and 2.7 days for perforated appendicitis. At
      the follow-up visit, no patient showed any evidence of incisional hernia. The
      operative incisions were minimally visible, and all the individuals reported a
      highly favorable cosmetic outcome. CONCLUSIONS: The results of the study
      demonstrated that laparoscopic appendectomy can be achieved through a single
      umbilical incision using conventional instruments and that this approach is
      successful, safe, and aesthetic.

PMID- 20927546
TI  - Safety, efficacy, and cost-effectiveness of common laparoscopic procedures.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Laparoscopic surgery has been shown to offer superior surgical
      outcomes for most abdominal surgical procedures. However, there is hardly any
      evidence on surgical outcomes with patient risk stratification. This study aimed
      to compare outcomes of common laparoscopic and open surgical procedures for
      varying illness severity. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of surgical outcomes
      for six commonly performed surgical procedures including cholecystectomy,
      appendectomy, reflux surgery, gastric bypass surgery, ventral hernia repair, and
      colectomy was performed using the University HealthSystem Consortium (UHC)
      Clinical Database/Resource Manager (CDB/RM). The 3-year discharge data for the
      six commonly performed laparoscopic surgical procedures were analyzed for outcome
      measures including observed mortality, overall patient morbidity, intensive care
      unit (ICU) admissions, 30-day readmissions, length of hospital stay, and hospital
      costs. RESULTS: In this study, 208,314 patients underwent one of six common
      surgical procedures by either the open or the laparoscopic approach. Overall, the
      laparoscopic approach showed significantly lower mortality, reduced morbidity,
      fewer ICU admissions and 30-day readmissions, shorter hospital stay, and
      significantly reduced hospital costs for all the procedures. At stratification by
      illness severity, the laparoscopic group showed better or comparable surgical
      outcomes across all the illness severity groups. However, the observed mortality
      was comparable for the minor and moderate severity patients between laparoscopic
      and open surgery for most procedures. The 30-day readmission rate for
      major/extreme severity patients was comparable between the two groups for most
      surgical procedures. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated the superiority of
      laparoscopy over conventional open surgery across all illness severity risk
      groups for common surgical procedures. The results in general show that
      laparoscopic surgery is safe, efficacious, and cost-effective compared with open
      surgery and suggest that laparoscopic surgery should be the procedure of choice
      for all common surgical procedures, regardless of illness severity.

PMID- 20927547
TI  - Video. Laparoscopic dissection of Denonvilliers' fascia and implications for
      total mesorectal excision for treatment of rectal cancer.
AB  - AIM: To inspect Denonvilliers' fascia and its relationship with neighboring
      oncologically and functionally important anatomic structures by laparoscopic
      approach. METHODS: A total of 112 patients with middle or low rectal cancer were
      successfully treated by laparoscopic total mesorectal excision (TME). Digital
      versatile disk (DVD) recordings were retrieved for scrutiny of the whole
      dissection process of Denonvilliers' fascia and its contiguous anatomic
      structures. RESULTS: As highlighted in the attached video footage, for nearly all
      male patients (91%, n = 58), the boundaries of Denonvilliers' fascia could be
      clearly recognized by laparoscopy. Denonvilliers' fascia, varying in nature from
      a fragile translucent fibrous layer to a tough leathery membrane, manifests
      itself as a trapezoidal "apron" covering the glistening fatty tissues of the
      anterior mesorectum. Anterior dissection in TME can be efficiently continued
      downwards "in front of" Denonvilliers' fascia. When the prostate is reached, the
      natural surgical plane halts, and the dissection plane should be shifted to
      behind this fascia. In contrast, in female patients, Denonvilliers' fascia was
      much less obvious as a distinct fibrous layer than in male patients. The most
      appropriate term for the structure in between the rectum and vagina may be
      rectovaginal septum, in which there is no natural surgical plane, rather than
      Denonvilliers' fascia. CONCLUSIONS: By laparoscopic approach, the nature of
      Denonvilliers' fasciae in male and female patients can be better defined and
      facilitates more precise laparoscopic total mesorectal excision for rectal
      cancer.

PMID- 20927548
TI  - Comparative study of balloon and metal olive dilators for endoscopic management
      of benign anastomotic rectal strictures: clinical and cost-effectiveness
      outcomes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Postoperative anastomotic strictures frequently complicate colorectal
      resection. Currently, various endoscopic techniques are being employed in their
      management, but the establishment of an optimal therapeutic strategy is still
      pending. The purpose of our study is to compare through-the-scope (TTS) balloon
      dilators versus Eder-Puestow metal olive dilators in the treatment of
      postoperative benign rectal strictures, considering the clinical outcome and cost
      effectiveness of each method. METHODS: A total of 39 patients with benign
      anastomotic rectal stenosis were retrospectively studied. In group A, 15 patients
      underwent dilation with Eder-Puestow metal olives, while in group B 19 patients
      were treated by means of TTS balloon dilators. The technical and clinical success
      of dilation, complications, number of repeated sessions required, disease-free
      time intervals, and the overall cost of each procedure were evaluated. RESULTS:
      Dilations were technically successful in all patients. No major complications
      occurred in either group. The number of dilations needed, rate of stricture
      recurrence, and duration of stenosis-free time intervals were not statistically
      significantly different between the two groups. Both methods proved more
      effective in older patients, given the greater number of dilations required in
      younger patients of both groups and higher frequency of stricture relapse in
      younger balloon-dilated patients (median 64.00 years) compared with older ones
      (median 75.00 years) (p = 0.001). An indisputable advantage of the Eder-Puestow
      technique, compared with TTS balloon dilators, is the low cost of equipment
      (median 22.30 <euro> compared with 680 <euro>, respectively; p < 0.001).
      CONCLUSION: Endoscopic dilation of postoperative benign rectal strictures is
      equally effective and safe, especially in older patients, when performed by Eder
      Puestow bougies or TTS balloon dilators. However, metal olivary tips seem to
      surpass balloon dilators when considering the obvious economical benefits of the
      first method.

PMID- 20927549
TI  - Retention of laparoscopic procedural skills acquired on a virtual-reality
      surgical trainer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Virtual-reality (VR) simulator training has been shown to improve
      surgical performance in laparoscopic procedures in the operating room. We have,
      in a randomised controlled trial, demonstrated transferability to real
      operations. The validity of the LapSim virtual-reality simulator as an assessment
      tool has been demonstrated in several reports. However, an unanswered question
      regarding simulator training is the durability, or retention, of skills acquired
      during simulator training. The aim of the present study is to assess the
      retention of skills acquired using the LapSim VR simulator, 6 and 18 months after
      an initial training course. METHODS AND MATERIALS: The investigation was designed
      as a 6- and 18-month follow-up on a cohort of participants who earlier
      participated in a skills training programme on the LapSim VR. The follow-up
      cohort consisted of trainees and senior consultants allocated to two groups: (1)
      novices (experience < 5 procedures, n = 9) and (2) experts (experience > 200
      procedures during the past 3 years, n = 10). Each participant performed ten
      sessions. Assessment of skills was based on time, economy of movement and the
      error parameter "bleeding". The novice group were re-tested after 6 and 18
      months, whereas the expert group were only retested once, after 6 months. None of
      the novices performed laparoscopic surgery in the follow-up period. The experts
      continued their daily work with laparoscopic surgery. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS:
      Novices showed retention of skills after 6 months. After 18 months, novices'
      laparoscopic skills had returned to the pre-training level. This indicates that
      laparoscopic skills seemed to deteriorate in the period between 6 and 18 months
      without training. Experts showed consistent performance over time. This
      information can be included when planning training curricula in minimal invasive
      surgery.

PMID- 20927550
TI  - Management of postoperative nausea and vomiting in patients undergoing
      laparoscopic cholecystectomy.
AB  - The common and distressing complications of postoperative nausea and vomiting
      (PONV) are the main concern of 40-70% of patients undergoing laparoscopic
      cholecystectomy (LC). The first step in preventing PONV after LC is to reduce the
      risk factors involving patient characteristics, surgical procedure, anesthetic
      technique, and postoperative care. Particularly, the use of propofol-based
      anesthesia can reduce the incidence of PONV after LC. Second, prophylactic
      antiemetics including antihistamines (dimenhydrinate), phenothiazines
      (perphenazine), butyrophenones (droperidol), benzamides (metoclopramide),
      dexamethasone, and serotonin receptor antagonists (ondansetron, granisetron,
      tropisetron, dolasetron, and ramosetron) are available for preventing PONV after
      LC. Third, antiemetic therapy combined with a serotonin receptor antagonist
      (ondansetron, granisetron) and droperidol or dexamethasone is highly effective in
      the prevention of PONV after LC. Fourth, acupressure at the P6 point is a
      nonpharmacologic technique that is as effective as ondansetron for preventing
      PONV after LC. Knowledge regarding the risk factors for PONV and antiemetics is
      needed for the management of PONV after LC.

PMID- 20927551
TI  - Video. "No scar" small bowel resection in a survival porcine model using
      transcolonic NOTES((r)) and transabdominal approach.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Fundamental techniques and essential tools for performing "no scar"
      surgery still need to be developed. Our study was designed to evaluate the
      feasibility of performing small bowel resection by transcolonic NOTES((r)) and
      transabdominal approach using rigid laparoscopic and flexible endoscopic
      instruments. METHODS: One non survival and four survival experiments were
      performed using a porcine model. The endoscope with an overtube was advanced into
      the peritoneal cavity through the colotomy. Mini-laparoscopic instruments were
      placed through the abdominal wall under the endoscopic observation. The endoscope
      was replaced with a rigid linear stapler. The small bowel was identified. The
      segment of the small bowel was resected by firing the endo stapler, and extracted
      through the colon. The two limbs of the small bowel were approximated with two
      stay-sutures. An enterotomy was then created on the antimesenteric sides of each
      line. A side-to-side anastomosis was performed with another application of the
      endo stapler. The stapler was withdrawn. The enterotomy was closed by suturing.
      The colotomy was closed with endoclips and the endoscope was withdrawn. The mini
      laparoscopic instruments were removed. RESULTS: Small bowel resection was
      successfully performed in all animals. The surgery time was 70 minutes. There was
      no mortality or complications. The animals recovered uneventfully, and survived
      the 2 weeks postprocedure period. They remained healthy, and gained weight.
      Necropsy was performed 2 weeks after the surgery. On necropsy, evaluation of the
      abdominal skin revealed no scars. The peritoneal cavity was examined. No signs of
      infection, bleeding, perforations, and adhesions were noted. Endoscopic
      examination of the colotomy and anastomosis revealed complete healing that was
      confirmed by histopathology. CONCLUSIONS: The study has demonstrated the
      feasibility of small bowel resection using transcolonic NOTES((r)) and
      transabdominal approach. Simultaneous use of flexible endoscopic and rigid
      laparoscopic instruments in NOTES((r)) is not only feasible but has significant
      advantages and greatly facilitates the performance of the operation, yet leaves
      no scars.

PMID- 20927553
TI  - Fatal renal failure caused by Cortinarius mushrooms.

PMID- 20927556
TI  - Pharyngoesophageal diverticulum: a delayed complication of anterior cervical
      spine surgery.
AB  - Pharyngoesophageal diverticulum after anterior cervical spine surgery is a rarely
      reported but potentially life-threatening complication. A case report of
      pharyngoesophageal diverticulum 7 years after anterior cervical spine surgery is
      presented. The patient suffered from dysphagia, odynophagia, recurrent fever,
      weight loss, and also an impressive bulging in the neck with swallowing. After
      careful examination and preparation, he underwent revision surgery via an open
      procedure, had the implants removed, pouch excised, and esophagus reconstructed
      reinforced by a sternohyoid muscle flap as well as an omohyoid muscle flap. The
      post-operative period was uneventful, and he experienced a satisfactory recovery.
      At last follow up, 2.5 years post surgery, the patient remained symptom free.
      Upon review of the literature, only six such previous reports with seven cases
      were found. Diagnostic tools, possible mechanism, correlative factors and
      treatment are discussed. This patient was fortunate that although his symptoms
      developed long after the initial anterior cervical operation and the pouch grew
      impressively large almost perforating, he still recovered well. It again proves
      the necessity of long-term X-ray follow up, and also reminds the surgeons to be
      alert of the possibility of esophageal injury even when the esophageal symptoms
      are mild and occur long after the initial operation.

PMID- 20927554
TI  - Preventing chemotherapy-induced hepatitis B reactivation in breast cancer
      patients: a prospective comparison of prophylactic versus deferred preemptive
      lamivudine.
AB  - PURPOSE: Prophylactic lamivudine to prevent chemotherapy-induced hepatitis B
      virus (HBV) reactivation has been widely adopted in hematological cancer
      patients. We examined the deferred preemptive strategy, upon rising viremia, in
      breast cancer (BC) patients based on sensitive serum HBV DNA level monitoring in
      a non-randomized controlled study. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Baseline virological
      profiles before cytotoxic chemotherapy were retrospectively analyzed in
      historical BC and non-BC patients. A prospective cohort study, including 22 early
      BC patients (Group I) who were hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)+/- and
      required adjuvant chemotherapy, were enrolled and had deferred preemptive use of
      lamivudine upon viremic surge. During the study period, another 23 BC patients,
      who did not participate in the above-mentioned study, received prophylactic use
      of lamivudine as routine practice (Group 2). Chemotherapy-induced hepatitis
      events and the lamivudine treatment course were compared. RESULTS: There was no
      significant difference in the incidence of hepatitis during chemotherapy between
      these two groups. Patients in Group I had statistically significant shorter
      duration of lamivudine use during chemotherapy. However, once lamivudine had been
      initiated, the treatment course is not significantly shorter than those patients
      given prophylactically. CONCLUSIONS: Deferred preemptive strategy is feasible to
      control HBV replication and prevent its reactivation in BC patients undergoing
      chemotherapy. However, it may not be superior to prophylactic strategy and
      clinically practical.

PMID- 20927557
TI  - Minimally invasive or open transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion as revision
      surgery for patients previously treated by open discectomy and decompression of
      the lumbar spine.
AB  - Minimally invasive lumbar fusion techniques have been developed in recent 20
      years. The goals of these procedures are to reduce approach-related soft tissue
      injury, postoperative pain, and disability while allowing the surgery to be
      conducted in an effective manner. There have been no prospective clinical reports
      published on the comparison of minimally invasive transforaminal lumbar interbody
      fusion as revision surgery for patients previously treated by open discectomy and
      decompression or a traditional open approach. A prospective clinical study was
      performed by evaluating the clinical and radiographic results of minimally
      invasive transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion as an alternative new technique
      in the revision surgery for patients previously treated by open procedure. 52
      patients (28 M, 24 F) with an average age of 55.7 (31-76) were prospectively
      evaluated. All patients who had previous discectomy (n = 13), hemilaminectomy (n
      = 16), laminectomy (n = 12) and facetectomy (n = 11) underwent monosegmental and
      bisegmental minimally invasive transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (MiTLIF) (n
      = 25) or open transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (OTLIF) (n = 27) by two
      experienced surgeons at one hospital, from March 2006 to October 2008 (minimum 12
      month follow-up). The following data were compared between the two groups: the
      clinical and radiographic results, operative time, blood loss, X-ray exposure
      time, postoperative back pain, and complications. Clinical outcome was assessed
      using the visual analogue scale and the Oswestry disability index (ODI). The
      operative time and clinical and radiographic results were basically identical in
      both groups. Comparing with the OTLIF group, the MiTLIF group had significantly
      less blood loss and less postoperative back pain at the second day
      postoperatively. The radiation time was significantly longer in the MiTLIF group.
      Complications included three cases of small dural tear in the MiTLIF group. There
      were five cases of dural tear and two cases of superficial wound infection in the
      OTLIF group. One case of nonunion was observed from each group. Minimally
      invasive TLIF is a safe and effective procedure for treatment of selected
      revision patients previously treated by open surgery with some potential
      advantages. However, this technique needs longer X-ray exposure time.

PMID- 20927558
TI  - Surgical site infection associated with the use of bovine serum albumine
      glutaraldehyde surgical adhesive (BioGlue) in cranial surgery: a case-control
      study.
AB  - PURPOSE: To enhance the water tightness of dura mater closure in cranial surgery,
      an organic glue called BioGlue was used in our neurosurgical department between
      January 2006 and June 2007. During this period of time, we noticed an important
      increase in the surgical site infection (SSI) incidence. We conducted a case
      control study to identify risk factors for these infections. Our objective was to
      test the hypothesis that BioGlue was one of the risk factors. METHODS: Cases with
      infection were defined retrospectively. We included two controls per case. Study
      data were age, sex, time of year, in stay hospital preoperative time, length of
      surgery, type of surgery, surgeon, use of BioGlue, and use of duraplasty. We
      first performed a univariate analysis and then the significant variables were
      introduced in a logistic regression model. RESULTS: Thirty patients were defined
      as cases (60 controls). In multivariate analysis, risk factors were young age (p
      = 0.04), extended operative length (p = 0.02) and the use of BioGlue (p = 0.007).
      The combined use of BioGlue and Neuropatch appeared to be a significant risk
      factor for SSI (p = 0.002). CONCLUSIONS: BioGlue seems to increase the risk of
      SSI for patients who underwent craniotomy, especially when associated with
      synthetic dural graft. BioGlue triggers an intense inflammatory response, which
      causes wound breaches allowing bacteria to spread down in the wound, and then
      creates an ideal environment for bacterial growth.

PMID- 20927559
TI  - Cardiac 123I-MIBG scintigraphy as an outcome-predicting tool for subthalamic
      nucleus stimulation in Parkinson's disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: 123I-meta-iodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) myocardial scintigraphy is a
      useful tool for differentiating idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD) from other
      parkinsonian syndromes, but its prognostic value in PD has not been established.
      The objective of this study was to clarify the correlation between cardiac MIBG
      uptake parameters and the outcome in PD patients subjected to the subthalamic
      nucleus stimulation. METHOD: We enrolled 31 consecutive PD patients and
      calculated the heart-to-mediastinum ratio (H/M) and washout rate (WR) based on
      the activity measured at 15 min (early phase) and 3 h (delayed phase) after the
      intravenous injection of MIBG (111 MBq). Cardinal motor symptoms and activity of
      daily living (ADL) were assessed on the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale
      (UPDRS) and Schwab and England (S-E) ADL scale, before and 3 months after
      surgery. FINDINGS: Neither early nor delayed H/M correlated with any of the
      preoperative subscores on the UPDRS or S-E, nor with postoperative outcome. On
      the other hand, increased WR was a positive predictor for postoperative
      improvement rate on S-E in medication-off state (p = 0.00003). Also, WR showed a
      more faint but significant correlation with preoperative levodopa responsiveness
      on S-E (p = 0.008). CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that 123I-MIBG scintigraphy
      in combination with levodopa-responsiveness evaluation may represent a useful
      tool for prediction of outcomes in patients subjected to STN stimulation.

PMID- 20927560
TI  - Venous anastomotic circle, multiple varices and oculomotor palsy--a rare
      coincidence.
AB  - Oculomotor nerve palsy due to a venous varix arising from flow anomalies caused
      by a dural arteriovenous fistula (AVF) is a rare phenomenon. We report a case of
      surgical third nerve palsy with a rare underlying AVF as the cause and discuss in
      detail the patho-anatomy and its significance. A tentorial dural AVF mimicking
      the arterial circle was found with multiple varix formation causing compressive
      oculomotor palsy. This was treated successfully with OnyxTM injection with a
      satisfactory angiographic result and complete resolution of symptoms.

PMID- 20927561
TI  - Reversible encephalopathy induced by cefoperazone: a case report monitored with
      EEG.
AB  - In patients with an impaired state of consciousness, EEG is fundamental, a
      correct neurological work-up. Cephalosporins have been identified as a case of
      triphasic waves' (TW) reversible encephalopathy. We report a case of an acute
      reversible encephalopathy with TWs during treatment with cefoperazone. We report
      the occurrence and regression of a confusional state with TWs encephalopathy at
      EEG after the administration of cefoperazone for urinary tract infection in a
      patient admitted for syncope. In conclusion, cefoperazone should be considered as
      a cause of toxic encephalopathy with EEG TWs, when there is a temporal
      relationship with its administration; EEG monitoring is useful in the
      neurological follow-up.

PMID- 20927562
TI  - Vitamin B12 deficiency associated with symptoms of frontotemporal dementia.
AB  - We report the case of an elderly patient with cobalamin deficiency who
      progressively developed cognitive and behavioral symptoms associated with
      neuropsychiatric disturbances. His neuropsychological profile showed many
      features suggestive for a frontal-dysexecutive syndrome and was related to a
      predominant asymmetric (right > left) frontal lobe hypoperfusion. He completely
      recovered after a treatment with vitamin B12 and follow-up of 7 years showed that
      his improvement remained stable. Along with the other cases reported in the
      literature, our case also proves that there are some cases of vitamin B12
      deficiency that can manifest with the symptoms of frontotemporal dementia and
      that they are completely reversible after substitution therapy.

PMID- 20927563
TI  - A rare Von Hippel-Lindau disease that mimics acute myelitis: case report and
      review of the literature.
AB  - Von Hippel-Lindau disease (VHL) comprises a series of complicated clinical
      manifestations. We hereby report one unique case of VHL with a natural history
      that mimics acute myelitis. MRI and biopsy in this patient showed multiple solid
      hemangioblastomas of the central nervous system and kidney. This study further
      confirmed that VHL is of highly clinical, imaging, and pathological
      heterogeneity. Diagnosis for VHL should be based on combination of clinical,
      radiological, pathological, and genetic data.

PMID- 20927564
TI  - Medical-grade honey enriched with antimicrobial peptides has enhanced activity
      against antibiotic-resistant pathogens.
AB  - Honey has potent activity against both antibiotic-sensitive and -resistant
      bacteria, and is an interesting agent for topical antimicrobial application to
      wounds. As honey is diluted by wound exudate, rapid bactericidal activity up to
      high dilution is a prerequisite for its successful application. We investigated
      the kinetics of the killing of antibiotic-resistant bacteria by RS honey, the
      source for the production of Revamil(r) medical-grade honey, and we aimed to
      enhance the rapid bactericidal activity of RS honey by enrichment with its
      endogenous compounds or the addition of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs). RS honey
      killed antibiotic-resistant isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus
      epidermidis, Enterococcus faecium, and Burkholderia cepacia within 2 h, but
      lacked such rapid activity against methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) and
      extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Escherichia coli. It was not
      feasible to enhance the rapid activity of RS honey by enrichment with endogenous
      compounds, but RS honey enriched with 75 MUM of the synthetic peptide
      Bactericidal Peptide 2 (BP2) showed rapid bactericidal activity against all
      species tested, including MRSA and ESBL E. coli, at up to 10-20-fold dilution. RS
      honey enriched with BP2 rapidly killed all bacteria tested and had a broader
      spectrum of bactericidal activity than either BP2 or honey alone.

PMID- 20927565
TI  - An unusual cause of hemoptysis: costocervical trunk pseudoaneurysm.

PMID- 20927567
TI  - Mitochondrial DNA replication and disease: insights from DNA polymerase gamma
      mutations.
AB  - DNA polymerase gamma (pol gamma), encoded by POLG, is responsible for replicating
      human mitochondrial DNA. About 150 mutations in the human POLG have been
      identified in patients with mitochondrial diseases such as Alpers syndrome,
      progressive external ophthalmoplegia, and ataxia-neuropathy syndromes. Because
      many of the mutations are described in single citations with no genotypic family
      history, it is important to ascertain which mutations cause or contribute to
      mitochondrial disease. The vast majority of data about POLG mutations has been
      generated from biochemical characterizations of recombinant pol gamma. However,
      recently, the study of mitochondrial dysfunction in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and
      mouse models provides important in vivo evidence for the role of POLG mutations
      in disease. Also, the published 3D-structure of the human pol gamma assists in
      explaining some of the biochemical and genetic properties of the mutants. This
      review summarizes the current evidence that identifies and explains disease
      causing POLG mutations.

PMID- 20927568
TI  - Evidence that alpha-lipoic acid inhibits NF-kappaB activation independent of its
      antioxidant function.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: alpha-Lipoic acid (LA) exerts beneficial effects in cardiovascular
      diseases though its antioxidant and/or anti-inflammatory functions. It is
      postulated that the anti-inflammatory function of LA results from its antioxidant
      function. In this study we tested whether inhibition of NF-kappaB by LA is
      dependent on its antioxidant function. METHODS: Human umbilical vein endothelial
      cells (HUVECs) were treated with tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFalpha) in the
      presence of various antioxidants, including LA, tiron, apocynin, and tempol. The
      activation of the nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) signaling pathway was then
      analyzed. RESULTS: LA, but not other tested antioxidants, inhibited TNFalpha
      induced inhibitor-kappaB-alpha (IkappaBalpha) degradation and VCAM-1 and COX2
      expression in HUVECs. Although LA activated the phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase
      (PI3-kinase)/Akt pathway in HUVECs, inhibition of Akt by LY294002 did not affect
      inhibition of TNFalpha-induced IkappaBalpha degradation by LA. In transient co
      transfection assays of a constitutively active mutant of IkappaB kinase-2 (IKK2),
      IKK2(EE), and a NF-kappaB luciferase reporter construct, LA dose-dependently
      inhibited IKK2(EE)-induced NF-kappaB activation in addition to inhibiting IKK
      activity in in vitro assays. Consistent with the effect on luciferase expression,
      LA inhibited IKK2(EE)-induced cyclo-oxygenase-2 (COX2) expression, suggesting
      that IKK2 inhibition by LA may be a relevant mechanism that explains its anti
      inflammatory effects. CONCLUSIONS: LA inhibits NF-kappaB activation through
      antioxidant-independent and probably IKK-dependent mechanisms.

PMID- 20927569
TI  - Outcome of treatment and parameters influencing recurrence in patients with
      bisphosphonate-related osteonecrosis of the jaws.
AB  - PURPOSE: Bisphosphonate-related osteonecrosis of the jaws (BRONJ) is now a well
      recognised entity which is difficult to manage and often recurs. The aim of this
      study was to examine the success of resection of the necrotic bone and identify
      risk factors for recurrence in these patients. METHODS: One hundred and eight
      patients were evaluated prospectively and investigated at least twice. Multiple
      logistic regression analysis was used to determine factors independently
      associated with the dependent variable of recurrence of BRONJ. RESULTS: Factors
      influencing the development of recurrence of BRONJ were the presence of bacterial
      bone infection of the necrotic area (P = 0.011), type of treatment (either
      conservative or surgical, P = 0.001) with a lower recurrence rate for surgically
      treated patients, extent of surgical treatment with better outcome in larger
      resections (P < 0.0001), number of debridements performed (P < 0.0001), and the
      extent of radiographic appearance of osteolysis assessed by dental panoramic
      tomogram (P = 0.028). CONCLUSIONS: An increased risk for recurrence can be found
      in cases with bacterial bone infection of the necrotic area, type of conservative
      or surgical treatment, extent of surgical treatment with better outcome in larger
      resections, and the number of debridements performed. Microvascular tissue
      transfer should be considered in selected cases if other options have been
      exhausted.

PMID- 20927570
TI  - Stripe-like increase of rCBV beyond the visible border of glioblastomas: site of
      tumor infiltration growing after neurosurgery.
AB  - We observed a stripe-like pattern of regional cerebral blood volume (rCBV)
      increase in a defined region adjacent to the contrast enhancement (CE) on MRI of
      glioblastomas (GBM) that we defined as the "striate sign" (SS). We hypothesized
      that the SS marks infiltration of GBM outside the CE volume transforming into
      future CE tumor in the follow-up. T2*-weighted dynamic susceptibility-weighted CE
      (DSC)-MRI, and T1 and T2-weighted images (WI) of 16 patients with GBM were
      retrospectively evaluated in a baseline MRI performed before neurosurgery. In
      seven of these patients we also performed a (1)H MR spectroscopic imaging ((1)H
      MRSI). The regions of interest (ROI) delineating the SS were defined on rCBV maps
      for each patient. ROIs were overlaid on follow-up T1-WI and T2-WI MRI performed
      3, 6, and 9 months after neurosurgery. Size and maximum signal intensity (max SI)
      of de novo CE within the area of the SS were analyzed. Statistical analysis was
      performed with the Friedman test (P < 0.05). In 15/16 patients de novo CE
      completely covered the area of the SS within nine months. Normalized max SI of de
      novo CE of the 3, 6, and 9-months follow-up MR examinations were significantly
      higher than in the baseline MRI (P < 0.001). Normalized choline was increased
      within the SS in all patients with de novo CE (n = 6). De-novo CE appeared within
      the SS in all patients (96% of all slices). This implies that the SS might
      indicate the site of future CE tumor, which represents the area of tumor growth
      after neurosurgery.

PMID- 20927566
TI  - The gap gene network.
AB  - Gap genes are involved in segment determination during the early development of
      the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster as well as in other insects. This review
      attempts to synthesize the current knowledge of the gap gene network through a
      comprehensive survey of the experimental literature. I focus on genetic and
      molecular evidence, which provides us with an almost-complete picture of the
      regulatory interactions responsible for trunk gap gene expression. I discuss the
      regulatory mechanisms involved, and highlight the remaining ambiguities and gaps
      in the evidence. This is followed by a brief discussion of molecular regulatory
      mechanisms for transcriptional regulation, as well as precision and size
      regulation provided by the system. Finally, I discuss evidence on the evolution
      of gap gene expression from species other than Drosophila. My survey concludes
      that studies of the gap gene system continue to reveal interesting and important
      new insights into the role of gene regulatory networks in development and
      evolution.

PMID- 20927571
TI  - The effect of crystallizing and non-crystallizing cosolutes on succinate buffer
      crystallization and the consequent pH shift in frozen solutions.
AB  - PURPOSE: To effectively inhibit succinate buffer crystallization and the
      consequent pH changes in frozen solutions. METHODS: Using differential scanning
      calorimetry (DSC) and X-ray diffractometry (XRD), the crystallization behavior of
      succinate buffer in the presence of either (i) a crystallizing (glycine,
      mannitol, trehalose) or (ii) a non-crystallizing cosolute (sucrose) was
      evaluated. Aqueous succinate buffer solutions, 50 or 200 mM, at pH values 4.0 or
      6.0 were cooled from room temperature to -25 degrees C at 0.5 degrees C/min. The
      pH of the solution was measured as a function of temperature using a probe
      designed to function at low temperatures. The final lyophiles prepared from these
      solutions were characterized using synchrotron radiation. RESULTS: When the
      succinic acid solution buffered to pH 4.0, in the absence of a cosolute, was
      cooled, there was a pronounced shift in the freeze-concentrate pH. Glycine and
      mannitol, which have a tendency to crystallize in frozen solutions, remained
      amorphous when the initial pH was 6.0. Under this condition, they also inhibited
      buffer crystallization and prevented pH change. At pH 4.0 (50 mM initial
      concentration), glycine and mannitol crystallized and did not prevent pH change
      in frozen solutions. While sucrose, a non-crystallizing cosolute, did not
      completely prevent buffer crystallization, the extent of crystallization was
      reduced. Sucrose decomposition, based on XRD peaks attributable to beta-D
      glucose, was observed in frozen buffer solutions with an initial pH of 4.0.
      Trehalose completely inhibited crystallization of the buffer components when the
      initial pH was 6.0 but not at pH 4.0. At the lower pH, the crystallization of
      both trehalose dihydrate and buffer components was evident. CONCLUSION: When
      retained amorphous, sucrose and trehalose effectively inhibited succinate buffer
      component crystallization and the consequent pH shift. However, when trehalose
      crystallized or sucrose degraded to yield a crystalline decomposition product,
      crystallization of buffer was observed. Similarly, glycine and mannitol, two
      widely used bulking agents, inhibited buffer component crystallization only when
      retained amorphous. In addition to stabilizing the active pharmaceutical
      ingredient, lyoprotectants may prevent solution pH shift by inhibiting buffer
      crystallization.

PMID- 20927572
TI  - Diagnosis of arthritis through fuzzy inference system.
AB  - Expert or knowledge-based systems are the most common type of AIM (artificial
      intelligence in medicine) system in routine clinical use. They contain medical
      knowledge, usually about a very specifically defined task, and are able to reason
      with data from individual patients to come up with reasoned conclusion. Although
      there are many variations, the knowledge within an expert system is typically
      represented in the form of a set of rules. Arthritis is a chronic disease and
      about three fourth of the patients are suffering from osteoarthritis and
      rheumatoid arthritis which are undiagnosed and the delay of detection may cause
      the severity of the disease at higher risk. Thus, earlier detection of arthritis
      and treatment of its type of arthritis and related locomotry abnormalities is of
      vital importance. Thus the work was aimed to design a system for the diagnosis of
      Arthitis using fuzzy logic controller (FLC) which is, a successful application of
      Zadeh's fuzzy set theory. It is a potential tool for dealing with uncertainty and
      imprecision. Thus, the knowledge of a doctor can be modelled using an FLC. The
      performance of an FLC depends on its knowledge base which consists of a data base
      and a rule base. It is observed that the performance of an FLC mainly depends on
      its rule base, and optimizing the membership function distributions stored in the
      data base is a fine tuning process.

PMID- 20927573
TI  - Arkansas People Participating in Lead Education (APPLE): results of a lead-safe
      training program.
AB  - Lead is still seen as one of the most harmful environmental toxins for young
      children, with the predominant source being deteriorating lead-based paint. Those
      at continued risk include those living in homes built before 1978, renovators and
      remodelers, and especially those with limited access to proper healthcare and
      diets. Proper training on lead-safe work practices focused on preventing and
      reducing the spread of lead dust can help reduce lead exposure. Presented in this
      paper are experiences in delivering lead-safe work practices training in six
      Arkansas cities, and results from pre- and post- surveys delivered before and
      immediately after the training. Pre- and post-surveys assess strong and weak
      areas of training. Participants demonstrated positive shifts in attitude and
      behavior towards lead-safe work practices following training. However, our
      research found that more emphasis should be focused on clarifying current lead
      exposure sources and routes for children.

PMID- 20927574
TI  - Improving the alcohol retail environment to reduce youth access: a randomized
      community trial of a best practices toolkit intervention.
AB  - Underage alcohol use remains a significant public health problem throughout the
      United States and has important consequences for the health of individuals and
      communities. The objective of this study was to assess the impact of distributing
      an alcohol retailer toolkit via direct mail on increasing positive alcohol
      retailer attitudes towards checking IDs, encouraging retail managers to formalize
      ID checking procedures with their employees, and promoting consumers to be
      prepared to show ID when purchasing alcohol. This community randomized study
      included five matched Massachusetts community pairs. Our analysis sample
      consisted of 209 retailers (77 intervention; 132 control). In models adjusted for
      baseline response and matching community and establishment characteristics,
      intervention communities reported posting, on average, one additional sign or
      wall decal in their establishments (beta = 0.937, P = 0.0069), and a twofold
      higher odds of handing out written materials on ID checking to staff (OR: 2.074,
      95%CI: 1.003-4.288) compared to control establishments. However, the intervention
      was not found to have an effect on changing establishment policies, retailer
      attitudes, or other establishment practices. Intervention retailers perceived all
      components of the toolkit to be very useful for their establishments, and nearly
      all reported having shared materials with their employees and customers. These
      results suggest that some significant changes in alcohol retailer establishment
      practices can be achieved among motivated owners or managers through the
      distribution of a toolkit targeting best retailer practices. We do, however,
      recommend that future program planners consider alternative dissemination and
      marketing strategies beyond direct mail to encourage greater utilization.

PMID- 20927575
TI  - Genetic counseling for early-onset familial Alzheimer disease in large Aboriginal
      kindred from a remote community in British Columbia: unique challenges and
      possible solutions.
AB  - A novel, pathogenic presenilin 1 (PS1) mutation has recently been identified in a
      large Aboriginal kindred living in dispersed communities throughout British
      Columbia, Canada. Disseminating genetic information and ensuring that appropriate
      genetic counseling services are provided to all concerned relatives have posed
      several unique challenges. These challenges include knowledge exchange and
      continuity of care in a geographically remote and culturally distinct community.
      To our knowledge, this is the first time a specific genetic counseling approach
      has been needed for early-onset familial Alzheimer disease (EOFAD) in a North
      American Aboriginal community.

PMID- 20927576
TI  - Interacting oscillations in neural control of breathing: modeling and qualitative
      analysis.
AB  - In mammalian respiration, late-expiratory (late-E, or pre-inspiratory)
      oscillations emerge in abdominal motor output with increasing metabolic demands
      (e.g., during hypercapnia, hypoxia, etc.). These oscillations originate in the
      retrotrapezoid nucleus/parafacial respiratory group (RTN/pFRG) and couple with
      the respiratory oscillations generated by the interacting neural populations of
      the Botzinger (BotC) and pre-Botzinger (pre-BotC) complexes, representing the
      kernel of the respiratory central pattern generator. Recently, we analyzed
      experimental data on the generation of late-E oscillations and proposed a large
      scale computational model that simulates the possible interactions between the
      BotC/pre-BotC and RTN/pFRG oscillations under different conditions. Here we
      describe a reduced model that maintains the essential features and architecture
      of the large-scale model, but relies on simplified activity-based descriptions of
      neural populations. This simplification allowed us to use methods of dynamical
      systems theory, such as fast-slow decomposition, bifurcation analysis, and phase
      plane analysis, to elucidate the mechanisms and dynamics of synchronization
      between the RTN/pFRG and BotC/pre-BotC oscillations. Three physiologically
      relevant behaviors have been analyzed: emergence and quantal acceleration of late
      E oscillations during hypercapnia, transformation of the late-E activity into a
      biphasic-E activity during hypercapnic hypoxia, and quantal slowing of BotC/pre
      BotC oscillations with the reduction of pre-BotC excitability. Each behavior is
      elicited by gradual changes in excitatory drives or other model parameters,
      reflecting specific changes in metabolic and/or physiological conditions. Our
      results provide important theoretical insights into interactions between RTN/pFRG
      and BotC/pre-BotC oscillations and the role of these interactions in the control
      of breathing under different metabolic conditions.

PMID- 20927577
TI  - A randomized trial of a group based cognitive behavior therapy program for older
      adults with epilepsy: the impact on seizure frequency, depression and
      psychosocial well-being.
AB  - Few studies have examined the effectiveness of cognitive behavior therapy to
      manage seizures and improve psychosocial functioning in older adults with
      epilepsy. This study evaluated the efficacy of a 6 week group CBT program in
      community dwelling adults with epilepsy who were aged over 60 years. A total of
      37 participants were randomly assigned to either a CBT group or a control group.
      Measures of depression, dysthymia, psychosocial functioning and seizure frequency
      were completed at pre and post intervention. Seizure frequency was significantly
      reduced in the CBT group compared to the control group (Cohen's d 0.63). The
      results suggest that the relationship between seizure frequency and psychological
      and psychosocial well being in older adults requires further investigation.
      Although there were no significant between group differences on measures of
      depression and psychosocial functioning, both the CBT and control groups improved
      significantly from baseline.

PMID- 20927578
TI  - Light at night and breast cancer risk: results from a population-based case
      control study in Connecticut, USA.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the potential association between domestic exposure to
      light at night (LAN) and the risk of human breast cancer. METHODS: A case-control
      study of female breast cancer was conducted in Connecticut. A total of 363
      incident breast cancer cases and 356 age frequency-matched controls were
      interviewed using a standardized, structured questionnaire to obtain information
      on sleeping patterns and bedroom light environment. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95%
      confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated by unconditional multivariate logistic
      regression. RESULTS: A non-significantly increased risk of breast cancer was
      observed among postmenopausal women for those keeping lights on while sleeping
      (OR = 1.4, 95% CI 0.7, 2.7), those who reported mainly sleeping in the daytime
      (OR = 1.4, 95% CI 0.5, 4.3), and those not drawing the curtains/window shades
      while sleeping at night (OR = 1.2, 95% CI 0.8, 1.9). CONCLUSION: The results from
      this study suggest a potential increased risk of breast cancer associated with
      domestic exposure to LAN. Further studies with larger sample size are needed to
      confirm the results.

PMID- 20927579
TI  - Anti-angiogenic effects of resveratrol mediated by decreased VEGF and increased
      TSP1 expression in melanoma-endothelial cell co-culture.
AB  - Resveratrol, a naturally occurring polyphenol, has been reported to be an anti
      tumor and chemopreventive agent. Recent data show that it may also exert anti
      angiogenic effects. We hypothesized that the anti-angiogenic activity of
      resveratrol may be caused by modulation of tumor cell release of thrombospondin-1
      (TSP1) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) into the extracellular
      matrix, leading to vascular endothelial cell (VEC) apoptosis. We therefore
      evaluated the effects of resveratrol on melanoma cell lines co-cultured with
      vascular endothelial cells in monolayer and in three dimensional spheroids. We
      found that resveratrol stimulated isolated VEC proliferation, while it caused
      growth inhibition of VECs grown with melanoma cells in three-dimensional co
      culture. This effect was associated with increased melanoma cell expression of
      tumor suppressor protein 53 and matrix protein TSP1, as well as decreased hypoxia
      driven expression of hypoxia inducible factor-1alpha and inhibition of VEGF
      production.

PMID- 20927582
TI  - Mutations in BRCA2 and PALB2 in male breast cancer cases from the United States.
AB  - Male breast cancer (MBC) is an uncommon disease with a frequency of approximately
      one in 1000. Due to the rarity of MBC, it is understudied and its etiology is
      poorly understood. Our objectives are to determine the frequency of pathogenic
      mutations in BRCA2 and PALB2 in MBC cases and to investigate the correlations
      between mutation status and cancer phenotypes. Single strand conformation
      polymorphism analysis, direct sequencing, and multiplex ligation-dependent probe
      amplification were employed to screen for mutations in the BRCA2 gene, followed
      by direct sequencing of the PALB2 gene in BRCA2-negative MBC cases. Pathogenic
      BRCA2 mutations were identified in 18 of the 115 MBC cases, including four of the
      ten cases (40%) from breast cancer families and 14 of the 105 cases (13%)
      unselected for family history of breast cancer. The difference in BRCA2-mutation
      frequencies between cases with and without family history of breast cancer was
      not statistically significant (P = 0.145), suggesting that family history is not
      a strong predictor of carrying a mutation in males. We observed a highly
      significant association of carrying a pathogenic BRCA2 mutation with high tumor
      grade (P < 0.001) and a weak association with positive lymph nodes (P < 0.02). Of
      the 97 BRCA2-negative MBC cases, we identified one PALB2 mutation with confirmed
      pathogenicity and one mutation predicted to be pathogenic, a prevalence of
      pathogenic PALB2-mutation of 1-2%. Based on our results and previous studies,
      genetic testing for BRCA2 should be recommended for any diagnosed MBC case,
      regardless of family history of breast cancer.

PMID- 20927583
TI  - The non-breast-cancer death rate among breast cancer patients.
AB  - Non-breast-cancer deaths currently account for almost half of deaths among breast
      carcinoma patients in the 15 years following diagnosis. Understanding the trends
      of non-breast-cancer death is vital for calibrating treatment and survival
      expectations, and for understanding the consequences of potentially toxic
      therapies. To observe trends over time in non-breast-cancer relative survival-the
      non-breast-cancer survival rates of breast cancer patients relative to the non
      breast-cancer survival rates of the population as a whole, matched for gender,
      race, age, region, and year of diagnosis. Non-breast-cancer relative survival
      between breast carcinoma patients and the general population was measured using
      SEER public-use data of patients diagnosed with breast carcinoma between 1973 and
      2007. Non-breast-cancer relative survival improved significantly from 1973 to the
      present. From 1986 onward, the non-breast-cancer survival rate among breast
      carcinoma patients is equal to, or slightly higher than, matched populations who
      did not have breast carcinoma. This improvement over time occurred across almost
      all patient stratifications, including race, age, tumor size, and nodal status.
      However, patients receiving full mastectomies, and patients not receiving
      radiotherapy experienced no increase in relative survival. The most dramatic
      relative survival improvements occurred in patients who received radiation and
      patients receiving partial mastectomies, and such improvements were seen even
      after controlling for changes in tumor size over time. Non-breast-cancer relative
      survival among breast carcinoma patients has improved significantly since 1973;
      breast cancer patients are currently no more likely to die of other causes than
      the general population.

PMID- 20927584
TI  - Physiological studies on the effect of copper nicotinate (Cu-N complex) on the
      fish, Clarias gariepinus, exposed to mercuric chloride.
AB  - Female catfish, Clarias gariepinus, were collected from the Nile River at Assiut
      region, were divided into 7 groups. The first group was left as control, and the
      second was treated with mercuric chloride (MC) for 3 weeks following by normal
      water for 1 week. The third, fourth and fifth groups were provided by MC (150
      MUg/ l of water). This treatment was continued for 3 weeks. Then, the fish were
      received CN instead of MC, for 1 week, with 15 and 25 mg CN/100 g wet food. The
      fifth fish group received diet supplemented with vit E (alpha-tocopherol) (100
      mg/kg wet diet), for 1 week, instead of MC treatment. Vitamin E was used as
      standard antioxidant drug. Following 3 weeks of normal ambient water, the sixth
      and seventh aquaria received only CN for 1 week, with 15 and 25 mg CN
      respectively/100 g wet food, respectively. At the end of the experiment, Samples
      of liver, kidneys (posterior part), gills (right gills) and ovary were excised.
      The measurement included the oxidative stress parameters: carbonyl protein and
      total peroxide and the antioxidant enzyme activities superoxide dismutase (SOD),
      catalase (CAT) and glutathione S-transferase (GST) in all selected organs. MC
      treatment induced harmful effect in fish, probably due to its enhancing effect on
      reactive oxygen species (ROS) production in fish organs especially the
      respiratory and osmoregulatory organs namely gills. The result suggests that this
      gill damage may exert hypoxic case, anoxia for different organs and some Cu
      excretion resulting in a magnification of ROS overproduction. Also, the observed
      oxidative stress in ovary tissue of MC-treated fish may affect fish fertility.
      The addition of CN in fish diets could protect the fish C. gariepinus against MC
      induced oxidative damage showing recovery of fish organs. It could suggest that
      the detoxifying mechanism of action of CN is mainly due to its scavenging
      activity of free radicals rather than tissue healing.

PMID- 20927585
TI  - Effects of cocaine-kindling on the expression of NMDA receptors and glutamate
      levels in mouse brain.
AB  - In the present study we examined the effects of cocaine seizure kindling on the
      expression of NMDA receptors and levels of extracellular glutamate in mouse
      brain. Quantitative autoradiography did not reveal any changes in binding of [3H]
      MK-801 to NMDA receptors in several brain regions. Likewise, in situ
      hybridization and Western blotting revealed no alteration in expression of the
      NMDA receptor subunits, NR1 and NR2B. Basal overflow of glutamate in the ventral
      hippocampus determined by microdialysis in freely moving animals also did not
      differ between cocaine-kindled and control groups. Perfusion with the selective
      excitatory amino acid transporter inhibitor, pyrrolidine-2,4-dicarboxylic acid
      (tPDC, 0.6 mM), increased glutamate overflow confirming transport inhibition.
      Importantly, KCl-evoked glutamate overflow under tPDC perfusion was significantly
      higher in cocaine-kindled mice than in control mice. These data suggest that
      enhancement of depolarization stimulated glutamate release may be one of the
      mechanisms underlying the development of increased seizure susceptibility after
      cocaine kindling.

PMID- 20927586
TI  - Light effects on mitochondrial photosensitizers in relation to retinal
      degeneration.
AB  - The retina captures and converts light between 400-760 nm into electrical signals
      that are sent to the brain by way of the optic nerve and in the process helps to
      translate these electrical signals into what is known as vision. The same light
      that allows vision to occur is nevertheless also potentially toxic to retinal
      cells in certain situations. The shorter wavelengths of light are known to
      interact with chromophores in photoreceptors and pigment epithelial cells to
      cause oxidative stress and severe damage. Indeed it is generally accepted that
      short wavelength light effects is one cause for loss of photoreceptor function in
      age-related macular degeneration. Recent studies have demonstrated that light may
      be a contributing factor for the death of retinal ganglion cells in certain
      situations. Light as impinging on the retina, especially the short wavelength
      form, affect mitochondrial chromophores and can result in neurone death.
      Importantly ganglion cell axons within the eye are laden with mitochondria and
      unlike the outer retina are not protected from short wavelength light by macular
      pigments. It has therefore been proposed that when ganglion cell function is
      already compromised, as in glaucoma, then light impinging on their mitochondria
      might be a contributor to their eventual demise.

PMID- 20927587
TI  - Efficacy of eprinomectin against Toxocara vitulorum in calves.
AB  - This study was made to investigate efficacy of eprinomectin pour-on against to
      Toxocara vitulorum in calves. In the study, 16 calves naturally infected with T.
      vitulorum were divided into two groups as treatment (eight calves) and control
      (eight calves). Eprinomectin (0.5 mg/kg, Eprinex, Merial) was given to treatment
      group calves, and eggs per gramme were determined in the faeces on the day of pre
      treatment and the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, 14th and 28th days of post
      treatment. No side effects associated with nervous, respiratory and
      gastrointestinal systems were observed. In conclusion, eprinomectin was
      determined to be 100% effective against T. vitulorum. This is the first study to
      evaluate the efficacy of eprinomectin against a natural T. vitulorum infection in
      calves.

PMID- 20927588
TI  - Initial virological response and viral mutation with adefovir dipivoxil added to
      ongoing Lamivudine therapy in Lamivudine-resistant chronic hepatitis B.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although adefovir dipivoxil (ADV) has been used for antiviral
      treatment of lamivudine (LAM)-resistant chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients, the
      long-term efficacy of this treatment is not well understood. Initial virological
      response (IVR) has been reported to be an important factor in relation to the
      development of ADV-resistance. AIMS: We therefore examined the factors associated
      with IVR and ADV mutation in these patients. METHODS: Forty-nine LAM-resistant
      CHB patients with ADV add-on LAM therapy, 47% of whom were hepatitis B e-antigen
      (HBeAg)-positive with median treatment duration of 23 months, were enrolled in
      this study. Patients were classified into IVR and non-IVR groups on the basis of
      viral suppression status. Mutational analysis of the HBV polymerase/reverse
      transcriptase (rt) domain was performed by PCR-direct sequencing. RESULTS: Serum
      HBV DNA was undetectable (<2.6 log10 copies/mL) in 67, 82, and 84% of patients at
      24, 48, and 96 weeks, respectively, after ADV add-on LAM therapy. IVR was
      achieved in 82% of patients, and ALT normalized at week 24 in 90% of IVR and 78%
      of non-IVR patients. The lower pretreatment HBV DNA level and virus-containing
      mutations other than double mutation of rtL180M + rtM204V were significantly
      associated with IVR (P=0.002 and P=0.014, respectively). ADV-resistant mutations
      in the RT motif, reported previously, were not detected. CONCLUSION: IVR is
      useful for predicting the antiviral efficacy of ADV and LAM combination therapy
      in LAM-resistant CHB.

PMID- 20927589
TI  - Epigenetic silencing of somatostatin in gastric cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Somatostatin (SST), a primary inhibitor of gastrin-stimulated gastric
      acid secretion, has potent antitumor and anti-secretory activity in several human
      cancers. AIMS: This study was performed to investigate the SST gene expression
      levels and possible epigenetic mechanisms that regulate expression of SST in
      gastric adenocarcinomas. METHODS: Quantitative real-time (RT)-PCR and
      quantitative bisulfite pyrosequencing were used to study primary gastric cancer
      tissue samples and cell lines. RESULTS: Quantitative RT-PCR analysis revealed
      down-regulation of the SST transcript in 93% of gastric carcinoma samples
      (30/32), compared with 21 normal samples (P<0.001). Because of the presence of a
      large CpG island in the SST promoter, we next examined its promoter DNA
      methylation levels by use of quantitative bisulfite pyrosequencing. The results
      revealed a significant increase in SST promoter DNA methylation in tumor samples
      compared with normal samples (P<0.05). Promoter DNA hypermethylation and
      silencing of SST was also detected in seven gastric cancer cell lines that we
      tested. To confirm the role of promoter DNA methylation as an epigenetic
      mechanism regulating SST expression, AGS gastric cancer cells were treated with 5
      Aza-dc. This treatment led to reduction of promoter DNA methylation levels of SST
      accompanied by restoration of its mRNA expression. CONCLUSIONS: Our results
      indicate that promoter DNA methylation levels play a critical role in regulating
      SST expression in gastric cancer. This finding provides a foundation for further
      studies on the role of SST in gastric carcinogenesis and its potential as a
      biomarker for gastric cancers.

PMID- 20927590
TI  - Helicobacter pylori VacA reduces the cellular expression of STAT3 and pro
      survival Bcl-2 family proteins, Bcl-2 and Bcl-XL, leading to apoptosis in gastric
      epithelial cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Helicobacter pylori vacuolating cytotoxin, VacA, stimulates apoptosis
      via a mitochondria-dependent pathway. VacA induces apoptosis via activation of
      the pro-apoptotic B-cell lymphoma (Bcl)-2 family proteins, Bcl-2-associated X
      protein (Bax) and Bcl-2 homologous antagonist/killer (Bak), while the implication
      of such pro-survival Bcl-2 family members as Bcl-2 and Bcl-XL in the VacA-induced
      apoptosis remains unknown. Signal transduction and activator of transcription 3
      (STAT3) is a pivotal transcription factor that upregulates Bcl-2 and Bcl-XL.
      AIMS: This study was conducted to elicit the implication of STAT3 and pro
      survival Bcl-2 and Bcl-XL in the intrinsic apoptosis. METHODS: Immunoblot and
      reverse transcriptase real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) were employed
      to assess the cellular expression of STAT3, Bcl-2, and Bcl-XL in response to
      purified VacA in gastric adenocarcinoma cell lines. VacA-induced apoptosis was
      quantitated morphologically following knockdown by each specific small
      interfering RNA (siRNA) or in the presence of pharmacological inhibitors.
      RESULTS: VacA reduced STAT3, Bcl-2, and Bcl-XL expression in a dose-dependent
      manner. Knockdown of STAT3, Bcl-2, and Bcl-XL by siRNA induced apoptosis to a
      similar extent in the case of sufficient VacA inoculation. The VacA-mediated
      reduction of STAT3 expression was independent of cellular vacuolization, since a
      vacuolar-type ATPase inhibitor, bafilomycin A1, did not inhibit VacA-induced
      reduction of STAT3, Bcl-2, and Bcl-XL expression. Instead, a c-JUN NH2-terminal
      kinase (JNK) inhibitor, SP600125, restored the VacA-induced reduction of STAT3
      expression to the basal level. CONCLUSIONS: VacA-induced apoptosis may be, in
      part, implicated in the reduction of STAT3 linking to the downregulation of Bcl-2
      and Bcl-XL, in association with JNK activity.

PMID- 20927591
TI  - Expression and prognostic significance of CD151, c-Met, and integrin
      alpha3/alpha6 in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: CD151, c-Met, and integrin alpha3/alpha6 are all involved in the
      hepatocyte growth factor (HGF)/c-Met signal pathway, which plays an important
      role in the malignant progression of tumors. AIMS: The purpose of this study was
      to explore the expression and prognostic significance of these proteins in
      pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). METHODS: We used immunohistochemical
      methods to investigate the expression patterns of CD151, c-Met, and integrin
      alpha3/alpha6proteins in 71 patients with PDAC and in ten samples of normal
      pancreatic tissue. We also assessed correlations between these proteins and
      clinicopathological parameters and survival of PDAC patients using various
      statistical methods. RESULTS: CD151, c-Met, and integrin alpha3/alpha6 were all
      overexpressed in PDAC. CD151 and c-Met overexpressions were significantly
      associated with TNM stage (p=0.001 and p=0.038, respectively) and lymph node
      invasion (p=0.000, p=0.012, respectively). A significant positive linear
      correlation was found between CD151 and c-Met (r=0.583; p=0.000), integrin alpha3
      (r=0.457; p=0.000), and integrin alpha6 (r=0.671; p=0.000). Overexpression of
      CD151, c-Met, integrin alpha3, or integrin alpha6 was related to poor survival of
      PDAC patients (p=0.000, p=0.000, p=0.005, and p=0.003, respectively), and CD151
      and c-Met were independent factors in prognosis of PDAC. CONCLUSIONS: CD151, c
      Met, and integrin alpha3/alpha6 were all overexpressed in PDAC. CD151 and c-Met
      might be new molecular markers to predict the prognosis of PDAC patients.

PMID- 20927592
TI  - Occult hepatitis B: clinical implications and treatment decisions.
AB  - First reported in 1978, occult hepatitis B is a term used to describe the
      presence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA without hepatitis B surface antigenemia.
      The prevalence of occult HBV is unclear and depends in part on the sensitivity of
      the hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and DNA assays used as well as the
      prevalence of HBV infection in the study population. The origin of occult HBV
      also remains in question. Several mechanisms have been hypothesized including
      mutations in the regulatory regions of the HBV genome, persistence of Ig-bound
      HBV immune complexes, viral interference, and blockage of free HBsAg secretion.
      Occult HBV has important clinical implications such as transmission through blood
      transfusion, reactivation in the setting of immunosuppression, and interference
      with hepatitis C treatment. To date, there is little data pertaining to the
      treatment of occult HBV outside of the setting of chemotherapy-induced HBV
      reactivation.

PMID- 20927593
TI  - Rate and factors affecting treatment uptake of patients with chronic hepatitis C
      in a tertiary referral hospital.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Contraindications to interferon and ribavirin for treatment of
      chronic hepatitis C (CHC) are well recognized, and previous data indicated the
      consequent suboptimal treatment uptake. AIM: To evaluate the treatment rate of
      CHC patients in a tertiary referral center in Hong Kong, and to examine the
      reasons for non-treatment. METHODS: A retrospective review of all referred CHC
      patients to the outpatient clinic was conducted. Treatment uptake rate was
      evaluated and patients' sociodemographic, biochemical, and histological data were
      examined to identify reasons for treatment decision. RESULTS: CHC patients (303)
      were assessed for antiviral therapy from 2000 to 2009. Of the patients, 138
      (45.5%) did not receive antiviral therapy. Reasons for non-treatment were as
      follows: 31.9% declined treatment, 18.8% had decompensated cirrhosis, 12.3% were
      considered too elderly, 17.4% had too mild liver disease, 7.2% had psychiatric
      history, 7.2% had significant comorbidities, and 2.9% had ongoing alcohol or
      substance abuse. Independent factors associated with non-treatment were older age
      (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 1.05, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.03-1.08, p <
      0.001), significant comorbidities (aOR 2.53, 95% CI 1.34-4.78, p = 0.004),
      psychiatric history (aOR 6.04, 95% CI 2.14-17.02, p < 0.001), mild liver disease
      (aOR 7.72, 95% CI 3.86-15.44, p < 0.001) and decompensated cirrhosis (aOR 9.42,
      95% CI 2.57-34.50, p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Current treatment uptake for CHC
      patients was suboptimal, as a large proportion of patients were either reluctant
      for treatment or not suitable for the current antiviral therapy.
      Multidisciplinary interventions are needed in the short term while alternative
      antiviral therapy is desired in the long term to overcome barriers to treatment.

PMID- 20927594
TI  - Automated gastric slow wave cycle partitioning and visualization for high
      resolution activation time maps.
AB  - High-resolution (HR) multi-electrode mapping has become an important technique
      for evaluating gastrointestinal (GI) slow wave (SW) behaviors. However, the
      application and uptake of HR mapping has been constrained by the complex and
      laborious task of analyzing the large volumes of retrieved data. Recently, a
      rapid and reliable method for automatically identifying activation times (ATs) of
      SWs was presented, offering substantial efficiency gains. To extend the automated
      data-processing pipeline, novel automated methods are needed for partitioning
      identified ATs into their propagation cycles, and for visualizing the HR
      spatiotemporal maps. A novel cycle partitioning algorithm (termed REGROUPS) is
      presented. REGROUPS employs an iterative REgion GROwing procedure and
      incorporates a Polynomial-surface-estimate Stabilization step, after initiation
      by an automated seed selection process. Automated activation map visualization
      was achieved via an isochronal contour mapping algorithm, augmented by a
      heuristic 2-step scheme. All automated methods were collectively validated in a
      series of experimental test cases of normal and abnormal SW propagation,
      including instances of patchy data quality. The automated pipeline performance
      was highly comparable to manual analysis, and outperformed a previously proposed
      partitioning approach. These methods will substantially improve the efficiency of
      GI HR mapping research.

PMID- 20927595
TI  - The effect of cumulative length of hospital stay on the antifungal resistance of
      Candida strains isolated from critically ill surgical patients.
AB  - Fluconazole is the first line of therapy for the management of candidiasis.
      However, fluconazole-resistant strains pose an emerging challenge in everyday
      clinical practice. In this study, we sought to determine whether cumulative
      length of hospital stay (CLOS) is a predictive factor for the acquisition of non
      susceptible Candida strains to fluconazole. Thirty-three critically ill emergency
      surgery patients with 56 Candida isolates were enrolled in this prospective
      study. We divided our isolates according to their minimum inhibitory
      concentration (MIC) to fluconazole using 8 mcg/ml as a cutoff. We then compared
      the two groups with respect to basic demographics, antifungal agents prescribed,
      number of wide-spectrum antibiotics, duration of central venous catheter
      placement, elapsed time to positive culture, duration of prior hospital stay, and
      length of hospital stay. Non-susceptible fluconazole samples belonged to patients
      with a significantly longer prior hospital stay and a longer CLOS (P = 0.02 and
      0.01, respectively). The difference between the 2 groups regarding non-albicans
      strains was statistically significant (P < 0.001). By fitting a non-parametric
      receiver-operating characteristics (ROC) curve into our analysis, a CLOS >= 29
      days predicted the occurrence of non-susceptible strains with 90% sensitivity and
      79.6% specificity (correct classification 81.5%). A CLOS >= 29 days is a strong
      predictor for the isolation of non-susceptible Candida isolates to fluconazole
      among critically ill emergency surgery patients. Clinicians should consider the
      duration of previous hospital stay when deciding on empiric antifungal therapy.

PMID- 20927596
TI  - Association of goat (Capra hircus) CD4 gene exon 6 polymorphisms with ability of
      sperm internalizing exogenous DNA.
AB  - As one of the transport systems on the sperm plasma membrane, CD4 molecule plays
      a distinct role in the process of sperm/DNA interaction. This makes it possible
      to explain the mechanism of sperm-mediated gene transfer (SMGT), which at present
      is still a mystery in this area. In this study, seminal samples of 60 individuals
      from seven breed bucks were collected to detect the ability of sperm in
      internalizing exogenous DNA, and genomic DNA from 147 individual blood samples
      (including 60 bucks referred ahead) were extracted to test the polymorphisms of
      CD4 genes by using PCR-SSCP technique. Then the correlation between them was
      evaluated. The results showed that: (1) it was a novel finding that breed
      dependence of exogenous DNA binding to goat spermatozoa. There was the most
      significant difference among the buck breeds of sperm in binding exogenous DNA
      (F((6, 53)) = 4.811, P = 0.001) and in internalizing them into nuclei (F((6, 53))
      = 4.587, P = 0.001). The ability of Lezhi Black goat was the lowest (P < 0.01)
      among the seven breeds. (2) There was no significant correlation between the
      ability of sperm in internalizing exogenous DNA and each semen quality parameter
      (P > 0.05). (3) In particular, three single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) were
      described and there was one SNP (G/A(700)) of CD4 gene that made G234R
      substitution in the amino acid sequence of CD4 molecule. Nanjiang Yellow goat and
      Lezhi Black goat had higher hereditary variation compared with other breeds. (4)
      CD4 polymorphisms were highly associated with the ability of sperm in
      internalizing exogenous DNA. The SNP of Caprine CD4 gene exon 6 might be an
      important molecular marker of the ability to internalize exogenous DNA into
      sperm.

PMID- 20927597
TI  - Anti-theory in action? Planning for pandemics, triage and ICU or: how not to bite
      a bullet.
AB  - Anti-theory is a multi-faceted critique of moral theory which, it appears, is
      undergoing something of reassessment. In a recent paper Hamalainen discusses the
      relevance of an anti-theoretical perspective for the activity of applied ethics.
      This paper explores her view of anti-theory. In particular I examine its
      relevance for understanding the formal guidance on pandemic flu planning issues
      by the Department of Health (DoH) in the UK and some subsequent discussions
      around triage and reverse triage decisions which may be considered by both
      Primary and Secondary Care Trusts (PCTs and SCTs) (On the division between
      Primary and Secondary Care Trusts in the UK National Health Service see:
      http://www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/thenhs/about/Pages/nhsstructure.aspx [Accessed
      August 2010]). in setting their own policies and which may face clinicians in the
      eventuality of a pandemic. Following Hamalainen in contrasting reflective
      equilibrium with her anti-theory inspired suggestion of an instrumental approach
      to moral theory in practice I demonstrate how this understanding complements the
      diversity of our intuitive moral judgements. Consequentially I suggest that this
      anti-theoretical instrumental approach is in greater accord with the conditions
      under which such policy planning and decision making is, or will be, made.
      Furthermore, on the grounds of keeping open the ethical dimensions of medical
      practice in conditions of uncertainty, i.e. during a pandemic, I suggest that the
      anti-theoretical instrumental perspective is, ethically, the preferable approach
      to producing such policies and guidelines.

PMID- 20927598
TI  - Correlation of pulmonary hypertension severity with metrics of comorbid sleep
      disordered breathing.
AB  - PURPOSE: We performed nocturnal polysomnography in patients with pulmonary
      hypertension (PH) of varying etiologies to determine the association of metrics
      describing sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) with measures of PH severity.
      METHODS: Consecutive patients referred for evaluation of dyspnea on exertion and
      elevated pulmonary arterial pressure >30 mmHg on echocardiography, who underwent
      right and left heart catheterization and polysomnography, were included. Patients
      were not pre-selected for symptoms of sleep-disordered breathing. RESULTS: Twenty
      eight patients including 22 females and six males with a mean age of 55.2 +/-
      11.9 years were evaluated. Etiologies of PH were idiopathic (32%) and PH
      associated with other diseases (68%). Most were World Health Organization (WHO)
      Functional class II (39%) and III (39%). The group mean pulmonary arterial
      pressure (mPAP) was 40.9 +/- 15.1 mmHg. Diurnal resting and exercise arterial
      oxygen saturations (SaO(2)) were 94.9 +/- 3.7% and 88.3 +/- 8.9%. The mean apnea
      hypopnea index (AHI) was 11.4 +/- 19.8/h; 50% of all patients had an AHI >= 5/h;
      30.6 +/- 36.0% of total sleep time was spent with SaO(2) < 90% (T90%); 66% of
      subjects with an AHI >= 5/h of sleep reported snoring, and 60% noted daytime
      somnolence; however, only 29% had an Epworth Sleepiness Scale >=10. Right atrial
      pressure and mPAP were significantly correlated with AHI and T90%. The best
      predictive model relating PH severity to metrics of SDB was a highly significant
      association (p = 0.005) between mPAP and a linear combination of AHI and T90%.
      CONCLUSIONS: SDB comprised of obstructive apneas, hypopneas, and nocturnal
      hypoxemia is prevalent in PH and cannot be accurately predicted by sleep apnea
      signs and symptoms or diurnal rest and exercise SaO(2). The association of AHI
      and T90% with mPAP suggests a potential relationship between the pathophysiology
      of sleep-disordered breathing and PH.

PMID- 20927599
TI  - [From "chronic bronchitis"to genetic emphysema].

PMID- 20927600
TI  - Journal of General Internal Medicine. From the editor's desk: our paper
      anniversary.

PMID- 20927601
TI  - Can technological artefacts be moral agents?
AB  - In this paper we discuss the hypothesis that, 'moral agency is distributed over
      both humans and technological artefacts', recently proposed by Peter-Paul
      Verbeek. We present some arguments for thinking that Verbeek is mistaken. We
      argue that artefacts such as bridges, word processors, or bombs can never be
      (part of) moral agents. After having discussed some possible responses, as well
      as a moderate view proposed by Illies and Meijers, we conclude that technological
      artefacts are neutral tools that are at most bearers of instrumental value.

PMID- 20927602
TI  - Short tandem repeat profiling: part of an overall strategy for reducing the
      frequency of cell misidentification.
AB  - The role of cell authentication in biomedical science has received considerable
      attention, especially within the past decade. This quality control attribute is
      now beginning to be given the emphasis it deserves by granting agencies and by
      scientific journals. Short tandem repeat (STR) profiling, one of a few DNA
      profiling technologies now available, is being proposed for routine
      identification (authentication) of human cell lines, stem cells, and tissues. The
      advantage of this technique over methods such as isoenzyme analysis, karyotyping,
      human leukocyte antigen typing, etc., is that STR profiling can establish
      identity to the individual level, provided that the appropriate number and types
      of loci are evaluated. To best employ this technology, a standardized protocol
      and a data-driven, quality-controlled, and publically searchable database will be
      necessary. This public STR database (currently under development) will enable
      investigators to rapidly authenticate human-based cultures to the individual from
      whom the cells were sourced. Use of similar approaches for non-human animal cells
      will require developing other suitable loci sets. While implementing STR analysis
      on a more routine basis should significantly reduce the frequency of cell
      misidentification, additional technologies may be needed as part of an overall
      authentication paradigm. For instance, isoenzyme analysis, PCR-based DNA
      amplification, and sequence-based barcoding methods enable rapid confirmation of
      a cell line's species of origin while screening against cross-contaminations,
      especially when the cells present are not recognized by the species-specific STR
      method. Karyotyping may also be needed as a supporting tool during establishment
      of an STR database. Finally, good cell culture practices must always remain a
      major component of any effort to reduce the frequency of cell misidentification.

PMID- 20927604
TI  - Development and characterization of new cell line BPH22 from midgut epithelial
      cells of Poekilocerus pictus (Fabricius, 1775).
AB  - Poekilocerus pictus is a painted grasshopper, which feeds on Calotropis sp.
      containing the cardiac glycosides. A new cell line BPH22 is developed from midgut
      of P. pictus to study its unique physiology and biochemistry. Initially, the
      Graces insect medium is used with 10% (v/v) fetal bovine serum. After four
      passages, the serum quantity was reduced up to 0%.The lag phase in growth curve
      was 5 d and log phase is up to 10-11 d. The addition of Calotropis extract in
      Graces medium enhanced the growth of cells. The Calotropis extract with Graces
      medium altered the morphology of cells of BPH22. The amplification and sequencing
      of 16S rRNA gene confirmed the origin and purity of the BPH22.

PMID- 20927603
TI  - The effect of physiological concentrations of sex hormones, insulin, and glucagon
      on growth of breast and prostate cells supplemented with unmodified human serum.
AB  - The majority of cell culture studies have assessed the effect of hormones on
      cancer cell growth using media supplemented with charcoal-treated fetal bovine
      serum (CTS). We aimed to determine whether using a system more reflective of the
      human condition by changing the charcoal-treated serum to an untreated pooled
      human serum (PHS) resulted in the same hormone responses in breast and prostate
      cell lines. MCF-7 breast cancer, MCF-10A non-transformed breast, and LNCaP
      prostate cancer cell lines supplemented with PHS were treated with high and low
      physiological concentrations of six hormones (17beta-estradiol,
      dehydroepiandosterone (DHEA), dihydrotestosterone (DHT), testosterone, insulin,
      and glucagon). Cell growth was measured after 72 h of incubation. All hormones
      stimulated growth of MCF-7 cells (p < 0.05). MCF-10A cell growth was inhibited by
      DHEA, DHT, and testosterone (p < 0.05), unaffected by 17beta-estradiol and
      glucagon, and stimulated by insulin (p < 0.05). LNCaP cell growth was stimulated
      by the highest concentration of DHEA and DHT (p < 0.05) and inhibited by the
      highest concentration of 17beta-estradiol (p < 0.05), while insulin and
      testosterone, had no effect. Overall, PHS lowered the magnitude of the effect of
      hormones on cell growth in comparison to CTS. Due to the presence of all serum
      constituents, our model represents a more appropriate physiological environment
      for determining the effect of hormones on cancer cell growth. Further studies are
      required to determine the mechanisms by which added hormones interact with the
      constituents of untreated human serum.

PMID- 20927605
TI  - Convenient gram-scale metabolite synthesis by engineered fission yeast strains
      expressing functional human P450 systems.
AB  - The growing need for the characterization of cytochrome P450 (P450) metabolites
      often necessitates their synthesis up to Gram-scale. This task may in principle
      be achieved by using various techniques including chemical synthesis, the use of
      laboratory animals, in vitro P450 systems or microbial biotransformation.
      However, these approaches are in many instances unfavorable due to low yields,
      laborious purification, costs of cofactors, or the formation of non-physiologic
      metabolites. The fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe has previously been
      shown by others and us to be very well suited for the heterologous expression of
      human P450s. In this study, we demonstrate whole-cell biotransformation reactions
      carried out with fission yeast strains that coexpress human cytochrome P450
      reductase (CPR) and one of the following P450 isoforms: CYP2B6, CYP2C9, CYP2C19,
      CYP2D6, or CYP3A4, respectively. These strains could successfully convert their
      respective standard substrates but showed different responses with respect to
      incubation pH, the presence of glucose, and temperature, respectively. In
      addition, the preparative of synthesis of 2.8 g of 4'-hydroxydiclofenac was
      achieved by whole-cell biotransformation of diclofenac using a CPR-CYP2C9
      coexpressing fission yeast strain.

PMID- 20927606
TI  - Role of vasoactive intestinal peptide in hyperoxia-induced injury of primary type
      II alveolar epithelial cells.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We investigated the effect of VIP on primary type II alveolar
      epithelial cells (AECIIs) upon the exposure of hyperoxia. METHODS: AECIIs were
      isolated and purified from premature rats and exposed to air (21% oxygen),
      hyperoxia(95% oxygen), VIP+air and VIP+hyperoxia, respectively. The proliferation
      and apoptosis of AECIIs were detected by MTT cell proliferation assay, flow
      cytometry and western blot. The production of intracellular reactive oxygen
      species (ROS) was determined by 2 ', 7'-dichloro-dihydrotestosterone fluorescein
      diacetate (DCFH-DA) molecular probe and the total antioxidant capacity (TAOC) by
      ultraviolate spectro-photometer. RESULTS: Cell proliferation significantly
      increased and apoptosis decreased upon the treatment with VIP. In addition, the
      level of ROS in the hyperoxia+VIP group was significantly lower than in the
      hyperoxia group, in contrast, TAOC was higher in the hyperoxia+VIP group than
      that in the hyperoxia group. CONCLUSIONS: VIP exerts a protective role in the
      hyperoxia-induced oxidative stress damage in AECIIs, which probably attributed to
      its anti-oxidant and anti-apoptosis property.

PMID- 20927607
TI  - Phenotype and radiological correlation in patients with growth hormone
      deficiency.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To confirm that MRI findings like hypoplastic anterior pituitary, thin
      or interrupted pituitary stalk, and ectopic posterior pituitary (EPP) in patients
      with growth hormone deficiency are a good indicator of the severity of
      hypopituitarism. METHODS: MR images were obtained for 44 patients (IGHD: CPHD;
      30:14) and analyzed to define one or more of the following triad of
      abnormalities: small/absent anterior pituitary, thin or interrupted pituitary
      stalk, and EPP, as well as for any other associated anomalies. The findings were
      correlated with the clinical and biochemical presentation. RESULTS: Pituitary
      abnormalities were common in both groups (53% with IGHD, 79% with CPHD). Breech
      delivery, neonatal hypoglycemia, jaundice, micropenis, birth asphyxia occurred
      more commonly in CPHD compared to IGHD. In patients whose peak growth hormone
      (GH) level was less than 3 ng/ml (n: 37), 68% had the MR triad; while none of
      them with GH>3 ng/ml had pituitary abnormality on MRI. CONCLUSIONS: The presence
      of structural anomalies in the hypothalamic pituitary area in patients with GHD
      suggests severity of hypopituitarism and MRI of hypothalamic pituitary area may
      aid in diagnosis of patients with suspected GHD.

PMID- 20927608
TI  - Intensive medical therapy for asymptomatic carotid artery stenosis.
AB  - The majority of carotid revascularization procedures are done in patients without
      recent symptoms of cerebral ischemia (asymptomatic carotid stenosis). In previous
      studies from the past two decades, the stroke risk associated with asymptomatic
      carotid stenosis has been estimated to be 2-2.5% per year. Given the relatively
      benign nature of asymptomatic carotid stenosis, it has been proposed that
      confining revascularization to a limited, higher-risk subgroup is a sensible
      strategy. Evidence is accumulating that improved medical therapy has led to a
      lower risk of stroke in medically treated patients and that ultrasound methods
      can identify higher-risk patients. These developments are highlighted in this
      article.

PMID- 20927609
TI  - Headache in patients with cancer.
AB  - Contemporary cancer research has led to unparalleled advances in therapeutics and
      improved survival. Even as treatment options continue to improve, quality of life
      should remain a priority. Headache drastically impacts the quality of life of
      patients with cancer and has a wide etiological scope, making diagnosis a
      challenge. Intracranial mass lesions are only one cause; others include
      extracranial tumors, paraneoplastic processes, and the consequences of diagnostic
      and therapeutic interventions used in cancer care. Fortunately, cancer-related
      headache is treatable, but a sound understanding of the variable etiologies is
      crucial to appropriate diagnostic evaluation and treatment. In this review, we
      highlight the important causes of headache in the patient with cancer, and
      consider the epidemiology, pathophysiology, clinical course, and treatment
      options for each.

PMID- 20927610
TI  - Tension type headache in adolescence and childhood: where are we now?
AB  - Tension type headache (TTH) is a primary headache disorder considered common in
      children and adolescents. It remains debatable whether TTH and migraine are
      separate biological entities. This review summarizes the most recent literature
      of TTH with regards to children and adolescents. Further studies of TTH are
      needed to develop a biologically based classification system that may be
      facilitated through understanding changes in the developing brain during
      childhood and adolescence.

PMID- 20927611
TI  - An overview of mood disorders in the DSM-5.
AB  - The process of revising the DSM, which is based on new findings in the literature
      and experience with the current classification, is initiated every 12-18 years.
      The process for the revision of DSM-IV to the DSM-5 began in 2006-after a series
      of meeting proceedings and monographs were published during the previous 3 years
      with the appointment of diagnostic group chairs by Director Dr. David Kupfer and
      Vice Director Dr. Darrel Regier. Members were recruited for workgroups to review
      the existing DSM-IV, to decide what worked well and which areas needed change, to
      review the available literature and data, and to propose changes based on an
      appropriate level of evidence in the literature proportional to the significance
      of the change. At the halfway point in this process, the Mood Disorders Workgroup
      has made tentative recommendations to be tested in field trials. These
      recommendations and some of the basis for them are discussed in this review.
      Final decisions await the data from field trials, possible revisions by the
      workgroups, and action by the task force. This article describes some of the
      recommendations made by the Mood Disorders Workgroup at this point in the
      process.

PMID- 20927612
TI  - NMR chemical shift assignments of a complex between SUMO-1 and SIM peptide
      derived from the C-terminus of Daxx.
AB  - Small Ubiquitin-like MOdifiers (SUMOs) are ubiquitin-like proteins known to
      covalently modify large number of cellular proteins. The mammalian SUMO family
      includes four paralogues, SUMO-1 through SUMO-4. Death-associated protein-6,
      Daxx, is a 740 residue important transcription corepressor known to represses
      transcriptional potential of several sumolyted transcription factors. Daxx also
      plays important role in apoptosis. Both terminals of Daxx harbor separate SUMO
      Interaction Motifs (SIM), which mediate its interaction with SUMO and hence the
      sumolyted transcription factors. The C-terminal SIM of Daxx preferentially binds
      SUMO-1. Practically complete (1)H, (13)C and (15)N resonance assignments for the
      complex between SUMO-1 and 20 residue Daxx C-terminal SIM peptide are reported
      here.

PMID- 20927613
TI  - Backbone 1H, 13C, and 15N assignments for the tandem ubiquitin binding domains of
      signal transducing adapter molecule 1.
AB  - Signal transducing adapter molecule (STAM) forms the endosomal sorting complex
      required for transport-0 (ESCRT-0) complex with hepatocyte growth factor
      regulated substrate (Hrs) to sort the ubiquitinated cargo proteins from the early
      endosomes to the ESCRT-1 complex. ESCRT-0 complex, STAM and Hrs, contains
      multiple ubiquitin binding domains, in which STAM has two ubiquitin binding
      domains, Vps27/Hrs/Stam (VHS) and ubiquitin interacting motif (UIM) at its N
      terminus. By the cooperation of the multiple ubiquitin binding domains, the ESCRT
      0 complex recognizes poly-ubiquitin, especially Lys63-linked ubiquitin. Here, we
      report the backbone resonance assignments and the secondary structure of the N
      terminal 191 amino acids of the human STAM1 which includes the VHS domain and
      UIM. The {(1)H}-(15)N heteronuclear NOE experiments revealed that an unstructured
      and flexible loop region connects the VHS domain and UIM. Our work provides the
      basic information for the further NMR investigation of the interaction between
      STAM1 and poly-ubiquitin.

PMID- 20927614
TI  - 1H, 15N, and 13C assignments of the N-terminal activation domain of Dictyostelium
      discoideum Formin C.
AB  - Dictyostelium discoideum Formin C (ForC) plays an important role in the fruiting
      body formation during the multicellular stages of the slime mold. Formins are
      multidomain proteins that are known to regulate the actin cytoskeleton. Here, we
      report the assignments of the (1)H, (15)N, and (13)C nuclei of the N-terminal
      activation domain (residues 1-100) of ForC. Chemical shifts have been deposited
      at the BioMagResBank under the BMRB accession number 17,029. The N-terminal
      region of the 131 kDa ForC protein is supposed to form a GTPase-binding domain
      required for activation of the formin.

PMID- 20927615
TI  - Mechanical circulatory support as a bridge to transplant or for destination
      therapy.
AB  - Mechanical circulatory support (MCS) frequently is used to treat medically
      refractory end-stage heart failure. Initially designed to be a bridge to
      transplantation, MCS also has proven itself as a durable therapy for patients who
      are not transplant candidates. As outcomes for patients with MCS have improved,
      research interest in device development has flourished, with many new device
      types under investigation. In addition to improvement of MCS devices,
      investigational work continues to achieve appropriate patient selection and
      complication management.

PMID- 20927616
TI  - Antitumor activity of efrapeptins, alone or in combination with 2-deoxyglucose,
      in breast cancer in vitro and in vivo.
AB  - Efrapeptins (EF), a family of fungal peptides, inhibit proteasomal enzymatic
      activities and the in vitro and in vivo growth of HT-29 cells. They are also
      known inhibitors of F(1)F(0)-ATPase, a mitochondrial enzyme that functions as an
      Hsp90 co-chaperone. We have previously shown that treatment of cancer cells with
      EF results in disruption of the Hsp90:F(1)F(0)-ATPase complex and inhibition of
      Hsp90 chaperone activity. The present study examines the effect of EF on breast
      cancer growth in vitro and in vivo. As a monotherapy, EF inhibited cell
      proliferation in vitro with an IC(50) value ranging from 6 nM to 3.4 MUM.
      Inhibition of Hsp90 chaperone function appeared to be the dominant mechanism of
      action and the factor determining cellular sensitivity to EF. In vitro inhibition
      of proteasome became prominent in the absence of adequate levels of Hsp90 and
      F(1)F(0)-ATPase as in the case of the relatively EF-resistant MDA-MB-231 cell
      line. In vivo, EF inhibited MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 xenograft growth with a maximal
      inhibition of 60% after administration of 0.15 and 0.3 mg/kg EF, respectively. 2
      Deoxyglucose (2DG), a known inhibitor of glycolysis, acted synergistically with
      EF in vitro and antagonistically in vivo. In vitro, the synergistic effect was
      attributed to a prolonged endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress. In vivo, the
      antagonistic effect was ascribed to the downregulation of tumoral and/or stromal
      F(1)F(0)-ATPase by 2DG.

PMID- 20927617
TI  - Contribution of nitric oxide to cerebral blood flow regulation under hypoxia in
      rats.
AB  - This study was designed to clarify whether nitric oxide (NO) participates in the
      regulation of local cerebral blood flow (CBF) during hypoxia (inhalation of 15%
      O(2) in N(2)). The CBF response to hind-paw stimulation (evoked CBF) of Sprague
      Dawley (SD) rats was measured by laser-Doppler flowmetry. Physiological
      variables, such as heart rate, mean blood pressure, and PaCO(2) during hypoxia,
      were identical to those under normoxic conditions. Hypoxia increased the baseline
      CBF (17.5 +/- 14.3%) and the normalized peak amplitude of evoked CBF (31.1 +/-
      18.5%) relative to those during normoxia. When an NOS inhibitor was infused
      intravenously, these differences were abolished in both the baseline CBF or
      evoked CBF between normoxic and hypoxic conditions, whereas the heart rate
      decreased and the mean blood pressure increased during hypoxia in comparison with
      these during normoxia. The field potential was constant under all experimental
      conditions. These results suggest that NO plays a major role in the regulation of
      baseline and evoked CBF during hypoxia.

PMID- 20927618
TI  - Diethylene glycol in health products sold over-the-counter and imported from
      Asian countries.
AB  - Diethylene glycol (DEG), a chemical that has been implicated in multiple
      medication-associated mass poisonings, can result in renal and neurological
      toxicity if ingested. Three previous such mass poisonings implicated Chinese
      manufacturers as the origin of contaminated ingredients. No literature exists on
      potential DEG or triethylene glycol (TEG), a related compound, contamination of
      health products imported from Asian countries to the USA. Our primary objective
      was to quantitatively assess the amount of DEG present in a convenience sampling
      of these health products. The study's secondary objectives were to: (1) evaluate
      for, and quantify TEG levels in these samples; (2) compare DEG and TEG levels in
      these products directly to levels in medications implicated in previous similar
      mass poisonings; and (3) to estimate DEG dose (in mg/kg) based on the
      manufacturer's instructions and compare these values to toxic doses from past
      mass poisonings and the literature. A quantitative assessment of DEG and TEG was
      performed in a convenience sampling of over-the-counter health products imported
      from Asian countries. Results were converted to volume to volume (v/v) % and
      compared with DEG levels in medications implicated in previous mass poisonings.
      Estimated doses (based on the manufacturer's instructions) of each product with
      detectable levels of DEG for a 70 kg adult were compared to toxic doses of DEG
      reported in the literature. Seventeen of 85 (20%) samples were not able to be
      analyzed for DEG or TEG due to technical reasons. Fifteen of 68 (22%) samples
      successfully tested had detectable levels of DEG (mean, 18.8 MUg/ml; range, 0.791
      110.1 MUg/ml; and volume to volume (v/v) range, 0.00007-0.01%). Two of 68 (3%)
      samples had TEG levels of 12.8 and 20.2 MUg/ml or 0.0012% and 0.0018% TEG v/v.
      The product with the highest DEG% by v/v was 810 times less than the product
      involved in the Panama DEG mass poisoning (8.1%). The lowest reported toxic dose
      from a past DEG mass poisoning (14 mg/kg) was more than 150 times higher than the
      highest daily dose estimated in our study (0.09 mg/kg). Sixty-eight of 85 (80%)
      samples were able to be successfully analyzed for DEG and TEG. DEG and TEG were
      detectable in 15/68 (22%) and 2/68 (3%) samples, respectively. Based on current
      standards, these levels probably do not represent an acute public health threat.
      Additional research focusing on why DEG is found in these products and on the
      minimum amount of DEG needed to result in toxicity is needed.

PMID- 20927619
TI  - Effect of phonological and morphological awareness on reading comprehension in
      Hebrew-speaking adolescents with reading disabilities.
AB  - This research explored phonological and morphological awareness among Hebrew
      speaking adolescents with reading disabilities (RD) and its effect on reading
      comprehension beyond phonological and word-reading abilities. Participants
      included 39 seventh graders with RD and two matched control groups of normal
      readers: 40 seventh graders matched for chronological age (CA) and 38 third
      graders matched for reading age (RA). We assessed phonological awareness, word
      reading, morphological awareness, and reading comprehension. Findings indicated
      that the RD group performed similarly to the RA group on phonological awareness
      but lower on phonological decoding. On the decontextualized morphological task,
      RD functioned on par with RA, whereas in a contextualized task RD performed above
      RA but lower than CA. In reading comprehension, RD performed as well as RA.
      Finally, results indicated that for normal readers contextual morphological
      awareness uniquely contributed to reading comprehension beyond phonological and
      word-reading abilities, whereas no such unique contribution emerged for the RD
      group. The absence of an effect of morphological awareness in predicting reading
      comprehension was suggested to be related to a different recognition process
      employed by RD readers which hinder the ability of these readers to use
      morphosemantic structures. The lexical quality hypothesis was proposed as further
      support to the findings, suggesting that a low quality of lexical representation
      in RD students leads to ineffective reading skills and comprehension. Lexical
      representation is thus critical for both lexical as well as comprehension
      abilities.

PMID- 20927620
TI  - Management of portal hypertension in children.
AB  - Management of portal hypertension in children has evolved over the past several
      decades. Portal hypertension can result from intrahepatic or extrahepatic causes.
      Management should be tailored to the child based on the etiology of the portal
      hypertension and on the functionality of the liver. The most serious complication
      of portal hypertension is gastroesophageal variceal bleeding, which has a
      mortality of up to 30%. Initial treatment of bleeding focuses on stabilizing the
      patient. Further treatment measures may include endoscopic, medical, or surgical
      interventions as appropriate for the child, depending on the cause of the portal
      hypertension. beta-Blockers have not been proven to effectively prevent primary
      or secondary variceal bleeding in children. Sclerotherapy and variceal band
      ligation can be used to stop active bleeding and can prevent bleeding from
      occurring. Transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunts and surgical shunts may
      be reserved for those who are not candidates for transplant or have refractory
      bleeding despite medical or endoscopic treatment.

PMID- 20927622
TI  - [Abstracts of the 34th Autumn Conference of the DGK and 21st Annual Convention of
      the Working Group for Cardiac Pacemakers and Arrhythmia. October 7-9, 2010.
      Nurmberg, Germany].

PMID- 20927621
TI  - [Recording cervical and ocular vestibular evoked myogenic potentials: part 1:
      anatomy, physiology, methods and normal findings].
AB  - Vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (VEMP) have gained in clinical significance
      in recent years, now forming an integral part of neurootological examinations to
      establish the functional status of the otolith organs. They are sensitive to low
      frequency acoustic stimuli. When stimulated, receptors in the sacculus and
      utriculous are activated. By means of reflexive connections, myogenic potentials
      can be recorded when the relevant muscles are tonically activated. The
      vestibulocolic (sacculocollic) reflex travels from the otolith organs over the
      central circuitry to the ipsilateral sternocleidomastoid muscle. Myogenic
      potentials can be recorded by means of cervical VEMP (cVEMP). The vestibuloocular
      reflex crosses contralaterally to the extraocular eye muscle. Ocular VEMP (oVEMP)
      are recorded periocularly, preferably from the inferior oblique muscle. Various
      stimulation methods are used including air conduction and bone conduction.

PMID- 20927623
TI  - [Abstracts of the German Pain Congress 2010. Visions and Errors. October 6-9,
      2010. Mannheim, Germany].

PMID- 20927624
TI  - Seasonal changes of PFOS and PFOA concentrations in Lake Biwa water.
AB  - A survey on seasonal concentration changes of perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS)
      and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) was performed for surface water in Lake Biwa
      (14 sites) from February to November in 2009. The concentrations of PFOS and PFOA
      were 0.8-1.6 and 7.0-10 ng/L in northern basin of Lake Biwa (eight sites), 0.9
      1.7 and 8.3-13 ng/L in southern basin of Lake Biwa except Akanoi Bay (four
      sites), 1.4-2.8 and 9.1-17 ng/L in Akanoi Bay (8C) and 2.4-5.3 and 12-26 ng/L in
      Akanoi Bay (168), respectively. Seasonal changes were recognized for both of PFOS
      and PFOA in the two sites of Akanoi Bay but not in the other sites of the
      southern and northern basins of Lake Biwa. Monthly detailed surveys in the
      surface water were performed on the changes of PFOS and PFOA concentrations from
      June in 2009 to May in 2010 and further on the changes of conductivity values.
      The changes of PFOS and PFOA concentrations were well consistent with those of
      conductivity values.

PMID- 20927625
TI  - Bilateral testicular adrenal rests in a boy with congenital adrenal hyperplasia.

PMID- 20927626
TI  - Internal herniation through the foramen of Winslow during pregnancy: MR findings
      [corrected].
AB  - We present a unique case of jaundice in pregnancy, secondary to common bile duct
      obstruction by an unusual internal colonic hernia. We also illustrate the
      benefits of using non-ionizing imaging modalities in the diagnosis and pre
      operative planning of this rare condition.

PMID- 20927628
TI  - Curing the plasmid pXO2 from Bacillus anthracis A16 using plasmid
      incompatibility.
AB  - Plasmid incompatibility, which has no effect on other plasmids or chromosomal
      genes, can be used to cure a target plasmid. In this report, we successfully
      cured the plasmid pXO2 from Bacillus anthracis A16 with a newly constructed,
      incompatible plasmid pKSV7-oriIV and obtained a new pXO2-cured strain, designated
      A16PI2. This is the first time that a plasmid was cured from the B. anthracis
      wild-type strain A16 utilizing this principle, which could be considered as an
      efficacious method to cure large plasmids.

PMID- 20927629
TI  - Recanalized umbilical vein as a conduit for mesenterico/porto-Rex bypass for
      patients with extrahepatic portal vein obstruction.
AB  - PURPOSE: Mesenterico-left portal vein (meso-Rex) bypass is as an effective
      modality for restoring intrahepatic portal perfusion in patients with
      extrahepatic portal vein obstruction. Achieving sufficient patency is difficult
      with end-to-side anastomosis of a bypass graft to a small or hypoplastic left
      portal vein in the Rex recessus. Here, we describe the use of a recanalized
      umbilical vein in the round ligament as a conduit for bypass construction in two
      patients. METHODS: Case 1 was an 11-year-old boy diagnosed with rupture of the
      esophageal varices and hypersplenism due to congenital extrahepatic portal
      hypertension. Because of persistent hypersplenism and thrombocytopenia, he
      underwent meso-Rex bypassing with a left iliac vein graft interposed between the
      umbilical vein and the superior mesenteric vein. Case 2 was a neonate with a
      large hepatic tumor (mesenchymal hamartoma) that developed abdominal compartment
      syndrome at birth. The tumor was removed by right hepatectomy with excision of
      the portal vein bifurcation at 3 days of age. Porto-Rex bypassing was
      accomplished by end-to-end anastomosis between the portal vein trunk and the
      umbilical vein. RESULTS: Sufficient hepatopetal portal flow through the umbilical
      vein was achieved in both patients and maintained for over 16 and 13 months,
      respectively. Although hypersplenism remained in Case 1, intrahepatic portal vein
      branches gradually widened and the cavernoma in the hepatic hilum disappeared
      within 2 months. Neither patient had symptoms or signs of portal hypertension at
      the most recent follow-up. CONCLUSION: Using the umbilical vein as a vein conduit
      may facilitate construction of a meso/porto-Rex bypass and restore intrahepatic
      portal vein perfusion in patients with extrahepatic portal vein obstruction.

PMID- 20927630
TI  - Defects in amphiphysin 2 (BIN1) and triads in several forms of centronuclear
      myopathies.
AB  - Myotubular myopathy and centronuclear myopathies (CNM) are congenital myopathies
      characterized by generalized muscle weakness and mislocalization of muscle fiber
      nuclei. Genetically distinct forms exist, and mutations in BIN1 were recently
      identified in autosomal recessive cases (ARCNM). Amphiphysins have been
      implicated in membrane remodeling in brain and skeletal muscle. Our objective was
      to decipher the pathogenetic mechanisms underlying different forms of CNM, with a
      focus on ARCNM cases. In this study, we compare the histopathological features
      from patients with X-linked, autosomal recessive, and dominant forms,
      respectively, mutated in myotubularin (MTM1), amphiphysin 2 (BIN1), and dynamin 2
      (DNM2). We further characterize the ultrastructural defects in ARCNM muscles. We
      demonstrate that the two BIN1 isoforms expressed in skeletal muscle possess the
      phosphoinositide-binding domain and are specifically targeted to the triads close
      to the DHPR-RYR1 complex. Cardiac isoforms do not contain this domain, suggesting
      that splicing of BIN1 regulates its specific function in skeletal muscle.
      Immunofluorescence analyses of muscles from patients with BIN1 mutations reveal
      aberrations of BIN1 localization and triad organization. These defects are also
      observed in X-linked and autosomal dominant forms of CNM and in Mtm1 knockout
      mice. In addition to previously reported implications of BIN1 in cancer as a
      tumor suppressor, these findings sustain an important role for BIN1 skeletal
      muscle isoforms in membrane remodeling and organization of the excitation
      contraction machinery. We propose that aberrant BIN1 localization and defects in
      triad structure are part of a common pathogenetic mechanism shared between the
      three forms of centronuclear myopathies.

PMID- 20927631
TI  - Molecular diagnostics of brain tumors.

PMID- 20927633
TI  - Immune responses to recombinant Brugia malayi pepsin inhibitor homolog (Bm-33) in
      patients with human lymphatic filariaisis.
AB  - Immune responses to recombinant Brugia malayi pepsin inhibitor homolog (rBm-33)
      were investigated in patients with human lymphatic filariasis (microfilaremics
      (MF) and chronic pathology (CP)) along with endemic normals (EN). Flow cytometric
      analysis (24 h) revealed CD4(+) T cell activation in patients (MF and CP)
      compared to normals (EN), with increased expression of CD69 and diminished levels
      of CD62L and CD127. This was associated with an elevated expression of CD154 but
      not CD28 and CTLA4 in CP patients. However, Bm-33-induced cytokine expression
      profile (IL-1beta, IL-12, IL-8, IFN-gamma, IL-10 and TGF-beta) did not exhibit
      any significant difference between normals and patients at the same time point.
      Although CD4(+) T cell activation was observed initially in filarial patients (24
      h), lymphoproliferation studies (96 h) suggested diminished proliferation
      compared to normals, indicating functional inactivation in the former upon
      prolonged antigen exposure. This indicates that rBm-33 induces an early T cell
      activation in MF and CP patients followed by a decreased lymphoproliferation that
      might contribute to immune suppression in these individuals.

PMID- 20927632
TI  - Disorders of glucose metabolism: post mortem analyses in forensic cases--part II.
AB  - In continuation to part I, a literature review is presented concerning
      biochemical problems of forensic post mortem cases of unclear hyperglycaemia or
      hypoglycaemia. Clinical parameters for this purpose were recently reviewed.
      Particular attention was paid to the detection of diabetic ketoacidosis, of
      hyperosmolar coma, insulinoma, insulin-induced or oral diabetic-induced
      hypoglycaemia. The second part of the review discusses the analytes ketone
      bodies, synthetic insulins, human insulin, C-peptide, proinsulin and insulin
      antibodies. Special interest is given to post mortem matrices for those analytes
      to reference concentrations, stability data, analytic interferences and
      analytical procedures which should be used in toxicological laboratories willing
      to detect diabetic metabolism disorders after death.

PMID- 20927634
TI  - Physiological variability in the deglutition literature: hyoid and laryngeal
      kinematics.
AB  - A literature review was conducted on hyoid and/or laryngeal displacement during
      swallowing in healthy populations according to several inclusion criteria.
      Anterior and superior displacement measures of both structures from previously
      published studies were compiled for meta-analysis. Results showed a large degree
      of variability across studies for each structure and plane of movement. Potential
      sources of variation were identified, including statistical, methodological,
      stimulus-related, and participant-related sources.

PMID- 20927635
TI  - The mutation spectrum of the SLC25A13 gene in Chinese infants with intrahepatic
      cholestasis and aminoacidemia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: SLC25A13 gene mutations cause citrin deficiency, which leads to
      neonatal intrahepatic cholestasis caused by citrin deficiency (NICCD).
      Information on the mutation spectrum of SLC25A13 in the Chinese population is
      limited. The aim of this study was to explore the mutation spectrum of the
      SLC25A13 gene in Chinese infants with intrahepatic cholestasis and various forms
      of aminoacidemia. METHODS: Sequence analyses were performed on 39 infants with
      intrahepatic cholestasis and various forms of aminoacidemia. Novel mutations were
      subjected to homology and structural analyses. Western blots were performed when
      liver specimens available. RESULTS: Genetic testing revealed the presence of
      SLC25A13 gene mutations (9 heterozygotes, 6 homozygotes and 13 compound
      heterozygotes) in 28 infants. Subsequent Western blot analysis revealed 22 cases
      of citrin deficiency, accounting for 56.4% of the 39 patients. Twelve types of
      mutations, including nine known mutations and three novel mutations, were found.
      Of the 49 mutated alleles, known ones include 851del4 (26 alleles, 53.1%),
      1638ins23 (6 alleles, 12.2%), IVSl6ins3kb (3 alleles, 6.1%), IVS6+5G>A (2
      alleles, 4.1%), E601K (2 alleles, 4.1%) and IVS11+1G>A, R184X, R360X and R585H (1
      allele each, 2.0%). The three novel mutations were a splice site change
      (IVS6+1G>A), a deletion mutation (1092_1095delT) and a missense mutation (L85P),
      each in one allele. CONCLUSIONS: The mutation spectrum of the SLC25A13 gene in a
      Chinese population of infants with intrahepatic cholestasis with various forms of
      aminoacidemia was found to be different from that of other population groups in
      East Asia. The SLC25A13 gene mutation is the most important cause of infantile
      intrahepatic cholestasis with various forms of aminoacidemia.

PMID- 20927637
TI  - The emergence of genotypes 3 and 4 hepatitis E virus in swine and humans: a
      phylogenetic perspective.
AB  - To investigate whether there is any phylogenetic evidence to support the
      hypothesis that swine is the natural host of HEV genotypes 3 and 4, Bayesian
      analysis of 80 full-length genomic sequences of HEV was performed. The results
      showed that the strains of genotypes 3 and 4 from swine are paraphyletic with
      regard to strains of human origin, which are thus phylogenetically nested among
      the swine strains. Recognition of HEV genotypes 3 and 4 as viruses from swine or
      swine HEV can provide an evolutionary explanation to the observation of cross
      species infection by genotypes 3 and 4 HEV.

PMID- 20927636
TI  - High ability to predict the treatment outcome of peginterferon and ribavirin
      combination therapy based on the reduction in HCV RNA levels at 4 weeks after
      starting therapy and amino acid substitutions in the hepatitis C virus in
      patients infected with HCV genotype 1b.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The ability to predict the outcome of peginterferon (PEG-IFN) and
      ribavirin combination therapy based on the reduction in hepatitis C virus (HCV)
      RNA levels at 4 weeks after starting the therapy and amino acid substitutions in
      HCV was to be confirmed. METHODS: We measured the reduction in HCV RNA levels at
      4 weeks after starting the combination therapy, as well as examining amino acid
      substitutions at residue 70 in the HCV core and within the interferon sensitivity
      determining region (ISDR) of HCV non-structural protein 5A (NS5A), for 101
      patients infected with HCV genotype 1b. The ability of these factors to predict a
      sustained virologic response (SVR) was analyzed. RESULTS: When a 3 log(10)
      reduction in HCV RNA levels at 4 weeks after starting therapy was set as the cut
      off value, an SVR was achieved in 37 of the 46 patients (80.4%) with a >=3
      log(10) decrease and in 4 of the 55 patients (7.3%) with a <3 log(10) decrease.
      All 4 patients who achieved an SVR despite a <3 log(10) reduction in HCV RNA
      levels at 4 weeks had an arginine at residue 70 in the HCV core and a non-wild
      type sequence for the ISDR of HCV NS5A. CONCLUSION: A >=3 log(10) reduction in
      HCV RNA levels at 4 weeks after starting therapy indicates that a patient has a
      high likelihood of achieving an SVR as a final outcome. Additional information on
      the amino acid substitutions at residue 70 in the HCV core and within NS5A-ISDR
      will further increase the ability to predict a clinical response.

PMID- 20927638
TI  - Two micro-scale protocols for the isolation of DNA from polysaccharide-rich plant
      tissue.
AB  - The high polysaccharide content of some plant species hinders the successful
      isolation of their DNA. As an alternative to the macro-extraction methods
      previously published for polysaccharide-rich plants, we present two techniques
      (STE/CTAB and HEPES/CTAB), which are performed in microcentrifuge tubes. These
      protocols are suitable for small amounts of silica gel-preserved plant tissue
      such as are commonly available from endangered plants. The critical step to
      remove polysaccharides was performing initial washes in either STE (0.25 M
      sucrose, 0.03 M Tris, 0.05 M EDTA) or HEPES (2% beta-mercaptoethanol, 0.2% PVP,
      0.1 M HEPES, pH 8.0) buffer. Precipitating the DNA at room temperature with
      isopropanol also aided in decreasing polysaccharide co-precipitation. Of the two
      protocols we present the STE/CTAB method has the advantages of being more cost
      effective and avoiding the use of the hazardous chemical beta-mercaptoethanol.

PMID- 20927639
TI  - Phase I clinical and pharmacokinetic study of trabectedin and carboplatin in
      patients with advanced solid tumors.
AB  - PURPOSE: This study intended to determine the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) and
      the recommended phase II dose (RD) of trabectedin combined with carboplatin in
      patients with advanced solid tumors. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Carboplatin-pretreated
      patients received carboplatin AUC 4 (Group 1), whereas carboplatin-naive patients
      received carboplatin AUC 5 (Group 2) as a 1-h i.v. infusion followed by
      trabectedin at dose range from 0.5-1.2 mg/m(2) in the schedule of 3-h/every-3
      weeks. Pharmacokinetic (PK) sampling was performed in the first 2 cycles.
      RESULTS: Forty-four patients were treated and evaluable for safety and dose
      limiting toxicities (DLTs). In Group 1, at trabectedin 1.0 mg/m(2), cumulative
      hematological toxicity was found in all patients and 1/10 patients had DLTs. The
      RD was considered trabectedin 0.8 mg/m(2) combined with carboplatin AUC 4.
      Although no DLT occurred at this dose level, frequent dose delays (28.6%) and the
      4-week cycle re-scheduling (66.7%) were required. In Group 2, DLTs occurred at
      trabectedin 0.8 mg/m(2) (3/8 patients), 1.0 mg/m(2) (3/10 patients) and 1.2
      mg/m(2) (2/2 patients) with cumulative hematological toxicity associated with an
      important number of transfusions. In this group, neither the MTD nor the RD were
      established. Promising antitumor activity was found for this
      carboplatin/trabectedin combination; especially in patients with advanced ovarian
      cancer and soft tissue sarcoma. No significant PK drug-drug interaction occurred.
      CONCLUSIONS: This study established a trabectedin dose of 0.8 mg/m(2) combined
      with carboplatin AUC 4 and given every 4 weeks as the most feasible schedule in
      carboplatin-pretreated patients. Dose and cycle recommendations for carboplatin
      naive patients warrant further evaluation.

PMID- 20927640
TI  - The effect of sampling methods on the apparent constituents of ink from the squid
      Sepioteuthis australis.
AB  - Results of experiments conducted on ink recovered from the squid Sepioteuthis
      australis indicate that there is no epinephrine or protein naturally present in
      the ink as it would be ejected in vivo. Protein content was effectively zero when
      ink was syringed from the duct end of the ink sac of freshly killed animals. By
      contrast, there were proteins in samples collected from dead specimens where ink
      was collected by a stripping method. From these samples, a single large molecular
      weight protein was identified as having tyrosinase activity. Digestion of
      syringed ink did not yield signs of melanin-bound proteins. Analysis of
      supernatants after centrifugation of squid ink consistently revealed the presence
      of DOPA, dopamine, and taurine, whereas epinephrine and nor-epinephrine were
      recorded from what was believed to be contaminated ink. Histological
      investigations of the ink sac revealed a compartmentalised glandular structure
      distal to the duct end. Closer observation of the glandular tissue showed that
      compartments increased in size as they matured and moved further into the lumen.
      It was concluded that the presence of epinephrine and tyrosinase (or a related
      protein) in the ink of S. australis could be attributed to rupturing of basal
      glandular compartments or contamination from other sources during the extraction
      process.

PMID- 20927642
TI  - The early years of Title V: extending and improving care for children with
      special health care needs, 1935-1941.
AB  - This historical study examines the early years of the federal program of services
      for children with physical disabilities in the United States (US) during the
      1930s, known today as services for Children with Special Health Care Needs
      (CSHCN). Established as part of the Social Security Act (SSA) of 1935, the
      Crippled Children Services (CCS) program was one of the first medical programs
      for children supported by the federal government. Under the SSA, states and
      territories quickly developed state-level CCS programs during the late 1930s. The
      US Children's Bureau administered the program for the federal government and
      helped states to incorporate preventive services and interdisciplinary approaches
      to service provision into state-level CCS programs. Factors that influenced the
      implementation of these programs included the availability of matching state
      funds, the establishment of state programs for crippled children prior to the
      SSA, and the accessibility of qualified health care professionals and facilities.
      The early efforts of this federal program on behalf of children with disabilities
      can be seen in services for CSHCN today.

PMID- 20927641
TI  - Tomato pathogenesis-related protein genes are expressed in response to
      Trialeurodes vaporariorum and Bemisia tabaci biotype B feeding.
AB  - The temporal and spatial expression of tomato wound- and defense-response genes
      to Bemisia tabaci biotype B (the silverleaf whitefly) and Trialeurodes
      vaporariorum (the greenhouse whitefly) feeding were characterized. Both species
      of whiteflies evoked similar changes in tomato gene expression. The levels of
      RNAs for the methyl jasmonic acid (MeJA)- or ethylene-regulated genes that encode
      the basic beta-1,3-glucanase (GluB), basic chitinase (Chi9), and Pathogenesis
      related protein-1 (PR-1) were monitored. GluB and Chi9 RNAs were abundant in
      infested leaves from the time nymphs initiated feeding (day 5). In addition, GluB
      RNAs accumulated in apical non-infested leaves. PR-1 RNAs also accumulated after
      whitefly feeding. In contrast, the ethylene- and salicylic acid (SA)-regulated
      Chi3 and PR-4 genes had RNAs that accumulated at low levels and GluAC RNAs that
      were undetectable in whitefly-infested tomato leaves. The changes in
      Phenylalanine ammonia lyase5 (PAL5) were variable; in some, but not all
      infestations, PAL5 RNAs increased in response to whitefly feeding. PAL5 RNA
      levels increased in response to MeJA, ethylene, and abscisic acid, and declined
      in response to SA. Transcripts from the wound-response genes, leucine
      aminopeptidase (LapA1) and proteinase inhibitor 2 (pin2), were not detected
      following whitefly feeding. Furthermore, whitefly infestation of transgenic
      LapA1:GUS tomato plants showed that whitefly feeding did not activate the LapA1
      promoter, although crushing of the leaf lamina increased GUS activity up to 40
      fold. These studies indicate that tomato plants perceive B. tabaci and T.
      vaporariorum in a manner similar to baterical pathogens and distinct from tissue
      damaging insects.

PMID- 20927643
TI  - Predictors of obesity in childhood, adolescence, and adulthood in a birth cohort.
AB  - To determine how characteristics of pregnancy, birth, and early infancy are
      related to offspring obesity at three critical developmental periods. Mothers
      were followed through pregnancy and 10-15 years after. Offspring data were
      obtained through medical record review. Maternal and offspring characteristics
      were examined to predict obesity in childhood (ages 4-5 years), adolescence (ages
      9-14 years), and early adulthood (ages 19-20 years). The original cohort included
      802 children born to 795 women. Children who were twins, who had died, or whose
      mothers had died were excluded (n=25). Medical records of 68.5% of the remaining
      777 children documented a height and weight at childhood, adolescence, or early
      adulthood. Relative risks (RRs) to predict obesity at early adulthood were 12.3
      for childhood and 45.1 at adolescence. RRs were also significant to predict
      obesity at early adulthood between the mother's obesity at prepregnancy (RR=6.4),
      4-5 years postpregnancy (RR=6.3), and 10-15 years postpregnancy (RR=6.2).
      Excluding these variables from the multivariate models and adjusting by gender,
      birth insurance, and mother's marital status at delivery, the best model to
      predict obesity at childhood included birth weight, weight gain in infancy, and
      delivery type. At adolescence, it included maternal pregnancy smoking status,
      gestational weight gain, and weight gain in infancy, and in early adulthood,
      included maternal pregnancy smoking status, gestational weight gain, and birth
      weight. Maternal pregnancy smoking status, gestational weight gain, and weight
      gain in infancy have long-term effects on offspring. Maternal obesity is the
      strongest predictor of obesity at all times studied.

PMID- 20927644
TI  - Epilepsy and Tsc2 haploinsufficiency lead to autistic-like social deficit
      behaviors in rats.
AB  - There is a strong association between autism spectrum disorders (ASD), epilepsy
      and intellectual disability in humans, but the nature of these correlations is
      unclear. The monogenic disorder Tuberous Sclerosis Complex (TSC) has high rates
      of ASD, epilepsy and cognitive deficits. Here we used the Tsc2 (+/-) (Eker) rat
      model of TSC and an experimental epilepsy paradigm to study the causal effect of
      seizures on learning and memory and social behavior phenotypes. Status
      epilepticus was induced by kainic acid injection at P7 and P14 in wild-type and
      Tsc2 (+/-) rats. At the age of 3-6 months, adult rats were assessed in the open
      field, light/dark box, fear conditioning, Morris water maze, novel object
      recognition and social interaction tasks. Learning and memory was unimpaired in
      naive Tsc2 (+/-) rats, and experimental epilepsy did not impair any aspects of
      learning and memory in either wild-type or Tsc2 (+/-) rats. In contrast, rearing
      in the open field, novel object exploration and social exploration was reduced in
      naive Tsc2 (+/-) rats. Seizures induced anxiety and social evade, and reduced
      social exploration and social contact behavior in wild-type and Tsc2 (+/-) rats.
      Our study shows that Tsc2 haploinsufficiency and developmental status epilepticus
      in wild-type and Tsc2 (+/-) rats independently lead to autistic-like social
      deficit behaviors. The results suggest that the gene mutation may be sufficient
      to lead to some social deficits, and that seizures have a direct and additive
      effect to increase the likelihood and range of autistic-like behaviors.

PMID- 20927645
TI  - Characteristics of petroleum hydrocarbons in surficial sediments from the
      Songhuajiang River (China): spatial and temporal trends.
AB  - This paper presents the spatial and temporal characteristics of petroleum
      hydrocarbons (PH) in surficial sediments from the Songhuajiang River using the
      method of petroleum chemical fingerprinting. Twenty-four surface sediment samples
      were collected at 17 sites along the river from upstream to downstream in flood
      season (August 2005) and icebound season (December 2005) and were analyzed for PH
      including n-alkanes (C(16)-C(33)), isoprenoid alkanes (pristane and phytane), and
      unresolved complex mixture (UCM). The concentration of PH varied from 22.64 to
      91.45 MUg g( -1) dry sediment. n-alkanes with a carbon number from 16 to 33 were
      detected in all samples, and the UCM was the dominant composition for PH. The
      variability of the PH concentration was mostly influenced by external conditions,
      such as seasonal change and industrial area position, as well as internal
      sediment physicochemical properties, such as organic carbon and grain size. The
      concentration of hydrocarbons is higher in flood season than in icebound season
      and is higher upstream than downstream. The diagnostic ratios of specific
      hydrocarbons showed that the PH pollution comes from a combination of biogenic
      and petrogenic sources, and petrogenic input is dominant in icebound season
      relative to flood season. It also indicates that there is a clear terrigenous
      input of n-alkanes in flood season. Principal components analysis was used to
      study the composition and characteristics of PH in Songhuajiang River sediments
      and to assess the spatial and temporal distribution of their natural and
      anthropogenic sources.

PMID- 20927646
TI  - Lentiviral transgenesis in livestock.

PMID- 20927647
TI  - LXR-alpha genomics programmes neuronal death observed in Alzheimer's disease.
AB  - Keeping in view the fact that the most pathognomonic feature of Alzheimer's
      disease is the abnormal processing of neuronal cell membrane amyloid precursor
      protein accompanied by significantly elevated human serum and CSF levels of 24
      hydroxycholesterol recognised widely as the specific endogenous ligand of Liver X
      receptor (LXR-alpha), the present study was addressed to explore the epigenomic
      pathway (if any) that connects LXR-alpha activation with the genes recognised to
      be involved in the regulation of aberrant Abeta production leading to the
      generation of toxic and inflammatory mediators responsible for neuronal death.
      The results of such a study revealed that LXR-alpha activation by its specific
      endogenous or exogenous ligands within neuroblastoma cells resulted in the over
      expression of PAR-4 gene accompanied by suppression of AATF gene through its
      inherent capacity to regulate genes coding for SREBP and NF-kappaB. Over
      expression of PAR-4 gene was accompanied by aberrant Abeta production followed by
      ROS generation and subsequent death of neuroblastoma cells used in the present
      study as a cellular model for neurons. Further based upon these results, it was
      proposed that Abeta-induced heme oxygenase-1 can ensure cholesterol-oxidation to
      provide endogenous ligands for the sustained activation of neuronal LXR-alpha
      dependent epigenomic-pathway leading to neuronal death observed in Alzheimer's
      disease.

PMID- 20927649
TI  - Treatment of Budd-Chiari syndrome with urokinase following predilation in
      patients with old inferior vena cava thrombosis.
AB  - PURPOSE: This study was undertaken to evaluate the safety and feasibility of
      thrombolytic urokinase treatment after predilation in patients with Budd-Chiari
      syndrome (BCS) with chronic inferior vena cava (IVC) thrombosis. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: Between December 2006 and September 2009, 13 consecutive BCS patients
      with chronic IVC thrombosis were treated with continuous urokinase infusion after
      predilation and subsequent (i.e. after thrombus resolution) IVC dilation with a
      30-mm dilator. The procedural technical and angiographic, and ultrasonic results,
      as well as mortality, morbidity and the final clinical outcome, were evaluated
      immediately after the treatment or at 1 week and 1, 3, 6 and 12 months and then
      annually thereafter. RESULTS: The immediate and long-term procedural technical
      outcome was successful in all patients. Follow-up inferior vena cavagrams
      demonstrated complete resolution of the chronic IVC thrombi and full IVC patency,
      without occurrence of pulmonary embolism at any time during the study. Colour
      Doppler ultrasound (US) follow-up for 16.92 months (+/- 12.04) showed full
      patency of the IVC, without thrombosis, restenosis or reobstruction, in all
      patients and resolution of all clinical symptoms. All patients were alive at the
      time of this report. CONCLUSIONS: Our preliminary results indicate that
      thrombolysis with continuous infusion of urokinase after predilation is a safe
      and feasible approach for treating BCS patients with chronic IVC thrombosis.

PMID- 20927648
TI  - Assessing longitudinal quality of life in prostate cancer patients and their
      spouses: a multilevel modeling approach.
AB  - PURPOSE: This study aimed at examining the relationship between quality of life
      (QOL) in prostate cancer (PCa) patients and partners and how baseline
      demographics, cancer-related factors, and time-varying psychosocial and symptom
      covariates affect their QOL over time. METHODS: Guided by a modified Stress
      Coping Model, this study used multilevel modeling to analyze longitudinal data
      from a randomized clinical trial that tested a family-based intervention to
      improve QOL in couples managing PCa. Patients and partners from the usual-care
      control group (N = 134 dyads) independently completed the measurements at
      baseline, and at 4-, 8-, and 12-month follow-ups. RESULTS: Correlations of QOL
      between patients and partners over time were small to moderate. Patients' lower
      education level, partners' older age, higher family income, and localized cancer
      at baseline were associated with better QOL in couples. Over time, couples' QOL
      improved as their social support and cancer-related dyadic communication
      increased and as couples' uncertainty, general symptoms, and patients' prostate
      cancer-related sexual and hormonal symptoms decreased. CONCLUSIONS: Evidence
      indicates that couples' QOL during cancer survivorship is affected by multiple
      contextual factors (e.g., baseline demographics and time-varying psychosocial
      factors and symptoms). Intervention research is needed to explore comprehensive
      strategies to improve couples' QOL during the continuum of PCa survivorship.

PMID- 20927650
TI  - Utility of T2-weighted short-tau inversion recovery (STIR) sequences in cardiac
      MRI: an overview of clinical applications in ischaemic and non-ischaemic heart
      disease.
AB  - T2-weighted short-tau inversion recovery (T2w-STIR) imaging is the best approach
      for oedema-weighted cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), as it suppresses
      the signal from flowing blood and from fat and enhances sensitivity to tissue
      fluid. The purpose of this pictorial review is to illustrate the clinical use and
      application of this technique in various ischaemic and non-ischaemic conditions.
      In ischaemic heart disease, T2w-STIR represents the technique of choice for
      detecting oedema in patients with acute myocardial infarction (MI), allowing
      discrimination of acute and chronic injuries. Myocardial haemorrhage may also be
      depicted as a region of signal abnormality characterised by a central hypointense
      core with a peripheral hyperintense rim, presumably reflecting the presence of
      intracellular methaemoglobin within the necrotic area. In the acute setting,
      elevated T2 relaxation times in association with regional contractile dysfunction
      but no signs of delayed enhancement may also signify a reversible ischaemic
      injury without necrosis. In acute myocarditis, the distribution pattern of T2w
      hyperintensity may be focal in approximately 30% of patients or diffuse in the
      remaining 70%, and myocardial oedema may be the only marker of disease. Tissue
      oedema may also be observed in various other conditions, such as primary
      cardiomyopathies (CMP), storage disease, pulmonary hypertension and cardiac
      transplant rejection. T2w-STIR represents an appealing and versatile technique
      that can be applied in a wide variety of ischaemic and non-ischaemic conditions,
      allowing detection of segmental or global increase of myocardial free water
      content, reflecting an acute myocardial injury.

PMID- 20927651
TI  - Prognostic value of CT coronary angiography: focus on obstructive vs.
      nonobstructive disease and on the presence of left main disease.
AB  - PURPOSE: The authors investigated the prognostic value of computed tomography
      coronary angiography (CTCA) for major adverse cardiac events (MACE) in patients
      with suspected or known coronary artery disease (CAD), with particular focus on
      left main (LM) disease and obstructive vs. nonobstructive disease. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: A total of 727 consecutive patients (485 men, age 62 +/- 11 years) with
      suspected (514; 70.1%) or known (213; 29.9%) CAD underwent CTCA. Patients were
      followed up for the occurrence of MACE (i.e. cardiac death, nonfatal myocardial
      infarction, unstable angina, percutaneous/surgical revascularisation). RESULTS: A
      total of 117 MACE [five cardiac deaths, 11 acute myocardial infarctions (AMI),
      five unstable angina, 86 percutaneous coronary interventions, ten coronary artery
      bypass grafts] occurred during a mean follow-up of 20 months. Severity and
      extension of CAD was associated with a progressively worse prognosis. The event
      rate was 0% among patients with normal coronary arteries at CTCA. The presence of
      LM disease was not associated with a worse prognosis either in patients with no
      history of CAD or in those with a history of CAD. At multivariate analysis,
      presence of obstructive CAD and diabetes were the only independent predictors of
      MACE. CONCLUSIONS: Evaluation of atherosclerotic burden by CTCA provides an
      independent prognostic value for prediction of MACE. Patients with normal CTCA
      findings have an excellent prognosis at follow-up.

PMID- 20927652
TI  - Ultrasonography in lesions of the carotid vessels in HIV positive patients.
AB  - PURPOSE: This study evaluated with ultrasonography (US) the presence of epiaortic
      vessel lesions in HIV-positive individuals receiving highly active antiretroviral
      therapy (HAART) and compared them with naive patients and healthy individuals to
      highlight the differences among the different vascular damage patterns. MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: A total of 222 HIV-infected patients receiving HAART, 64 HIV
      infected patients naive to antiretroviral therapy and 135 HIV-negative control
      patients underwent US of the carotid vessels. The morphological examination
      included grey-scale and colour and power Doppler imaging to better characterise
      lesions and intima media thickness. An automated computerised software package (Q
      LAB) was used to determine intima media thickness values. Independent risk
      factors for the development of carotid lesions and, in particular,
      cholesterolaemia and triglyceridaemia were considered. Atherosclerotic plaques
      and inflammatory-type lesions were reported. Statistical analysis included the
      chi-square test, the Fisher exact test for qualitative variables and the Kruskal
      Wallis test to compare continuous variables. RESULTS: We observed a higher
      prevalence of carotid lesions in HIV-positive patients receiving HAART compared
      with HIV-positive naive patients (p<0.0000001) and HIV-negative patients
      (p<0.0001). Findings consistent with inflammatory-type lesions rather than
      classic atheroma were depicted only in five patients receiving HAART (0.02%).
      CONCLUSIONS: Our study confirms a higher prevalence of carotid lesions in HAART
      treated HIV patients. In agreement with other authors, we identified carotid
      lesions that were consistent with arteritis rather than with classic atheroma,
      but the percentage was too small to suggest any robust hypothesis. Further
      studies are warranted to define the mechanism of onset of carotid lesions in HIV
      positive individuals.

PMID- 20927653
TI  - Inflammatory breast carcinoma and locally advanced breast carcinoma:
      characterisation with MR imaging.
AB  - PURPOSE: This study was done to identify the typical magnetic resonance (MR)
      imaging findings of inflammatory breast carcinoma (IBC) in comparison with
      noninflammatory locally advanced breast carcinoma (LABC). MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      MR images of 30 patients with IBC (T4d) were compared with those of a cohort of
      30 patients with LABC (T3/T4a-c). The age distribution was approximately equal in
      the two groups. MR images were assessed for the following features: skin
      thickening (>4 mm), skin oedema, architectural distortion, enhancement pattern
      (mass-like/non-mass-like), time-signal intensity curve (continuous-persistent
      type/wash-out type), skin enhancement. Fisher's exact text was used to compare MR
      imaging appearances of IBC and LABC (significant p value <0.05). RESULTS: Skin
      involvement and enhancement pattern differed between groups: skin thickening was
      present in 16/30 IBC (53%) vs 8/30 LABC cases (27%, p=0.06), skin oedema was
      present in 26/30 IBC (87%) vs 8/30 LABC (27%, p < 0.0001), and skin enhancement
      in 10/30 IBC (33%) vs 2/30 LABC (7%, p=0.02); non-mass-like enhancement was
      present in 22/30 IBC (73%) vs 12/30 LABC (40%, p=0.02). CONCLUSIONS: IBC is a
      distinct clinical and pathological entity resulting in typical MR imaging
      features. Skin changes (thickening, oedema, enhancement) related to neoplastic
      involvement of the dermal lymphatics are suggestive of IBC and should prompt a
      skin biopsy to confirm or rule out the diagnosis.

PMID- 20927654
TI  - Preoperative imaging assessment of chronic otitis media: what does the otologist
      need to know?
AB  - The aim of this paper is to review the role of computed tomography (CT) and
      magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in managing chronic otitis media (COM), with
      special attention to the key information required by the otologist for effective
      preoperative planning.

PMID- 20927655
TI  - Quantitative ultrasound of the phalanges and DXA of the lumbar spine and proximal
      femur in evaluating the risk of osteoporotic vertebral fracture in postmenopausal
      women.
AB  - PURPOSE: This study was undertaken to compare the quantitative ultrasound (QUS)
      parameters of amplitude-dependent speed of sound (AD-SoS) and ultrasound bone
      profile index (UBPI) of the phalanges with bone mineral density (BMD) of the
      lumbar spine and proximal hip using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) in
      discriminating women with vertebral fracture. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of
      692 postmenopausal Caucasian women were included in the study. The presence of
      vertebral fracture was evaluated by radiography. AD-SoS and UBPI were measured at
      the phalangeal metaphysis using a DBM Sonic device. Multiple logistic regression
      analysis was performed to estimate the odds ratio (OR) for vertebral fractures.
      The ORs were also adjusted for the significant anthropometric variables of age,
      weight and height. Furthermore, for QUS parameters, the ORs were also adjusted
      for lumbar spine and total hip BMD. RESULTS: All measurements obtained with DXA
      and QUS significantly discriminated between women with and without fractures
      (p<0.0001). However, the OR was higher for lumbar spine BMD (OR 4.01), AD-SoS (OR
      3.81), total hip (OR 3.7) and femoral neck BMD (OR 3.62). CONCLUSIONS: The QUS
      parameter AD-SoS showed diagnostic sensitivity equal to that of lumbar DXA in
      discriminating between women with and without osteoporotic vertebral fractures.

PMID- 20927656
TI  - Atypical femoral neck stress fracture in a marathon runner: a case report and
      literature review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Femoral neck stress fractures are relatively rare and may present as
      sports-related injuries. The presentation is variable, and prompt diagnosis
      facilitates the earliest return to pre-morbid functional activity levels. Delayed
      detection may precipitate femoral non-union or avascular necrosis, resulting in
      long-term functional deficit. AIMS: We present the case of a basicervical femoral
      neck stress fracture occurring in a 23-year-old marathon runner. The
      pathophysiology and practical management issues related to this unusual injury
      pattern are discussed. CONCLUSION: The growing interest in amateur athletic
      activities should raise the index of suspicion for stress fractures of the
      femoral neck in healthy adults with atypical hip pain. Increased levels of
      patient education and physician awareness can reduce the incidence of long-term
      morbidity in cases of this unusual sports-related injury.

PMID- 20927657
TI  - The use of laryngeal mask airway for surgical tracheotomy in a neonate with
      Pierre Robin syndrome: a case report.

PMID- 20927658
TI  - Human protein reference database and human proteinpedia as discovery resources
      for molecular biotechnology.
AB  - In the recent years, research in molecular biotechnology has transformed from
      being small scale studies targeted at a single or a small set of molecule(s) into
      a combination of high throughput discovery platforms and extensive validations.
      Such a discovery platform provided an unbiased approach which resulted in the
      identification of several novel genetic and protein biomarkers. High throughput
      nature of these investigations coupled with higher sensitivity and specificity of
      Next Generation technologies provided qualitatively and quantitatively richer
      biological data. These developments have also revolutionized biological research
      and speed of data generation. However, it is becoming difficult for individual
      investigators to directly benefit from this data because they are not easily
      accessible. Data resources became necessary to assimilate, store and disseminate
      information that could allow future discoveries. We have developed two resources-
      Human Protein Reference Database (HPRD) and Human Proteinpedia, which integrate
      knowledge relevant to human proteins. A number of protein features including
      protein-protein interactions, post-translational modifications, subcellular
      localization, and tissue expression, which have been studied using different
      strategies were incorporated in these databases. Human Proteinpedia also provides
      a portal for community participation to annotate and share proteomic data and
      uses HPRD as the scaffold for data processing. Proteomic investigators can even
      share unpublished data in Human Proteinpedia, which provides a meaningful
      platform for data sharing. As proteomic information reflects a direct view of
      cellular systems, proteomics is expected to complement other areas of biology
      such as genomics, transcriptomics, molecular biology, cloning, and classical
      genetics in understanding the relationships among multiple facets of biological
      systems.

PMID- 20927660
TI  - Prognosis after cardiac arrest and hypothermia: a new paradigm.
AB  - Before the use of hypothermia as a treatment for comatose post-cardiac arrest
      patients, several prognostic variables were widely accepted as reliable and valid
      for the prediction of poor outcome. Recent studies using hypothermia have
      reported on patients with recovery of consciousness in spite of absent or
      extensor motor responses after 3 days, absent bilateral cortical N20 responses
      after 24 h, serum neuron-specific enolase levels greater than 33 MUg/L, and early
      myoclonus status epilepticus. Hypothermia and its associated use of sedative and
      paralytic agents may delay neurologic recovery and affect the optimal timing of
      prognostic variables. Recent developments in brain imaging may provide additional
      objective prognostic information and deserve further study. Pending the results
      of future validation studies in patients treated with hypothermia, we recommend
      that irreversible management decisions not be made based on a single prognostic
      parameter, and, if there is uncertainty, these decisions be delayed for several
      days to allow for repeated testing.

PMID- 20927661
TI  - Evaluation of 99(m)Tc-labeled antibiotics for infection detection.
AB  - One of the fields of research in nuclear medicine is the development of new
      radiopharmaceuticals for imaging infection and inflammation in humans. For this
      development, several antimicrobial peptides, antibiotics, antibiotic peptide and
      chemotactic peptides, etc., have been radiolabeled with different radionuclides
      (67Ga, 99(m)Tc, 111In, 18F, 131I, etc.) and their imaging potentials studied.
      Actually, it is very important to distinguish between infection and inflammation.
      In this respect, radiolabeled antibiotics have advantages because many of the
      properties of the ideal infection-specific agent through antibiotics localizes in
      infection site. In this review, only 99(m)Tc-labeled antibiotics are evaluated
      and discussed.

PMID- 20927659
TI  - Treatment of myasthenia gravis.
AB  - Myasthenia gravis (MG) is an antibody-mediated, neuromuscular transmission
      disorder, which ranges in clinical manifestations of ocular myasthenia that may
      be visually disabling to myasthenic crisis with patients suffering life
      threatening respiratory insufficiency. MG also has pathophysiologic subgroups
      based on presence or absence of acetylcholine receptor or muscle-specific kinase
      antibodies and presence of thymoma. Cholinesterase inhibitors partially improve
      weakness, but the vast majority of patients require therapies that moderate the
      autoimmune attack. Mortality of MG has been reduced over the last century, but
      adverse effects of treatment compromise patient care and rigorous evidence to
      guide the clinician are lacking.

PMID- 20927662
TI  - An electrophysiological study of visual processing in spinocerebellar ataxia type
      2 (SCA2).
AB  - Reports of visual functional impairment in spinocerebellar ataxia type 2 (SCA2)
      have been studied previously using pattern reversal visually evoked potentials
      (VEPs) with contradictory results. To provide additional evidence to this area,
      visual functions were studied using VEPs and event-related potentials (ERPs) in a
      group of ten patients with genetically verified SCA2. The electrophysiological
      examination included pattern reversal and motion-onset VEPs as well as visually
      driven oddball ERPs with an evaluation of a target and a pre-attentive response.
      In six patients, we found abnormal visual/cognitive processing that differed from
      normal values in latency, but not in the amplitude of the dominant VEP/ERP peaks.
      Among the VEPs/ERPs used, the motion-onset VEPs exhibited the highest sensitivity
      and showed a strong Spearman correlation to SCA2 duration (from r = 0.82 to r =
      0.90, p < 0.001) and clinical state assessed by Brief Ataxia Rating Scale (from r
      = 0.71 (p = 0.022) to r = 0.80 (p < 0.001)). None of the VEP/ERP latencies showed
      a correlation to the triplet repeats of the SCA2 gene. In three patients, we did
      not find any visual/cognitive pathology, and one subject showed only a single
      subtle prolongation of the VEP peak. The observed visual/cognitive deficit was
      related to the subjects' clinical state and the illness duration, but no
      relationship to the genetic marker of SCA2 was found. From the VEP/ERP types
      used, the motion-onset VEPs seems to be the most promising candidate for clinical
      state monitoring rather than a tool for early diagnostic use.

PMID- 20927664
TI  - Motor learning in children with neurofibromatosis type I.
AB  - The aim of this study was to quantify the frequently observed problems in motor
      control in Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) using three tasks on motor performance
      and motor learning. A group of 70 children with NF1 was compared to age-matched
      controls. As expected, NF1 children showed substantial problems in visuo-motor
      integration (Beery VMI). Prism-induced hand movement adaptation seemed to be
      mildly affected. However, no significant impairments in the accuracy of simple
      eye or hand movements were observed. Also, saccadic eye movement adaptation, a
      cerebellum dependent task, appeared normal. These results suggest that the motor
      problems of children with NF1 in daily life are unlikely to originate solely from
      impairments in motor learning. Our findings, therefore, do not support a general
      dysfunction of the cerebellum in children with NF1.

PMID- 20927663
TI  - Mechanisms of ethanol-induced death of cerebellar granule cells.
AB  - Maternal ethanol exposure during pregnancy may cause fetal alcohol spectrum
      disorders (FASD). FASD is the leading cause of mental retardation. The most
      deleterious effect of fetal alcohol exposure is inducing neuroapoptosis in the
      developing brain. Ethanol-induced loss of neurons in the central nervous system
      underlies many of the behavioral deficits observed in FASD. The cerebellum is one
      of the brain areas that are most susceptible to ethanol during development.
      Ethanol exposure causes a loss of both cerebellar Purkinje cells and granule
      cells. This review focuses on the toxic effect of ethanol on cerebellar granule
      cells (CGC) and the underlying mechanisms. Both in vitro and in vivo studies
      indicate that ethanol induces apoptotic death of CGC. The vulnerability of CGC to
      ethanol-induced death diminishes over time as neurons mature. Several mechanisms
      for ethanol-induced apoptosis of CGC have been suggested. These include
      inhibition of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors, interference with signaling by
      neurotrophic factors, induction of oxidative stress, modulation of retinoid acid
      signaling, disturbance of potassium channel currents, thiamine deficiency, and
      disruption of translational regulation. Cultures of CGC provide an excellent
      system to investigate cellular/molecular mechanisms of ethanol-induced
      neurodegeneration and to evaluate interventional strategies. This review will
      also discuss the approaches leading to neuroprotection against ethanol-induced
      neuroapoptosis.

PMID- 20927665
TI  - Effect of vanadium on renal Na+,K+-ATPase activity in diabetic rats: a possible
      role of leptin.
AB  - Several researches attempt to protect diabetic patients from the development of
      nephropathy. Involvement of leptin and renal Na+,K+-ATPase enzyme in diabetic
      nephropathy (DN) development is a recent field for researches. Vanadium, as a
      trace element with insulin mimetic effect, may act synergistically with insulin
      to protect against the development of DN. Sixty male Sprague Dawley rats were
      divided into six groups: control group (C), vanadium control group (CV),
      streptozotocin-induced diabetic group (D), insulin-treated diabetic group (DI),
      vanadium-treated diabetic group (DV), and combined insulin and vanadium-treated
      diabetic group. Six weeks later, systolic blood pressure (SBP) was measured and
      retro-orbital blood samples were collected to estimate glycosylated hemoglobin
      (HbA(1c)), serum sodium (Na+) and creatinine, blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and
      plasma leptin levels. Preparation of microsomal fraction of renal tissue
      homogenate for estimation of Na+,K+-ATPase activity was done. The D group showed
      a significant increase in SBP, HbA(1c), serum Na+, creatinine, and BUN levels and
      Na+,K+-ATPase activity in microsomal fraction of renal tissue homogenate while
      plasma leptin level decreased significantly compared with C and CV groups. Both
      DI and DV groups showed a significant improvement in all the above measured
      parameters compared with D group while there were no significant changes between
      the DI and DV groups. Concomitant treatment with insulin and vanadium resulted in
      a significant improvement in all the measured parameters compared to each alone.
      Vanadium in combination with insulin ameliorates DN markers and reduces renal
      Na+,K+-ATPase overactivity in diabetic rats. An effect that may be partially
      mediated through correction of hypoleptinemia observed in these animals.

PMID- 20927668
TI  - Measuring the return on our investment.

PMID- 20927669
TI  - Medical student debt and primary care specialty intentions.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: This study's purpose was to evaluate the relationship
      between medical student debt and primary care specialty choice, while examining
      the potentially confounding effects of family income and race/ethnicity. METHODS:
      A cross-sectional survey was offered to all students at three medical schools
      between 2006 and 2008. The survey assessed students' anticipated educational debt
      and intended specialty choice. The relationship between debt and primary care or
      non-primary care specialty choice was assessed for all students and also for all
      students stratified by year in medical school, family income level, and
      racial/ethnic group. RESULTS: A total of 983 students participated (response rate
      64.1%). Students from lower income families and under-represented minority
      students anticipated more educational debt. There was no relationship between
      anticipated debt and career plans when participants were analyzed as a whole.
      However, among students from middle income families, those anticipating more debt
      were less likely to plan primary care careers. CONCLUSIONS: Confounding factors,
      including income of family of origin, may mask a relationship between debt and
      specialty choice in observational studies. This study suggests that medical
      students from middle income families are sensitive to debt when making career
      choices.

PMID- 20927670
TI  - A systematic approach to diabetes mellitus care in underserved populations:
      improving care of minority and homeless persons.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Discrepancy in care of diabetes between racial and
      ethnic minority groups and Caucasians is well documented in America. System-based
      practices have been shown to improve quality of care outcomes. We implemented a
      disease registry and management system proven successful in a suburban practice
      network in four community health centers to improve diabetes process outcomes.
      METHODS: Diabetes care measures including HbA1C, LDL, microalbumin testing, and
      testing for retinopathy were compared for suburban practices and Community Health
      Center practices within the same health system. A comprehensive systems-based
      disease management process including a diabetes registry that had been successful
      with the suburban practices was implemented at the Community Health Centers.
      Diabetes care measures were followed to determine whether disparity in care could
      be improved with process-based initiatives. RESULTS: Following implementation of
      a diabetes registry and system-based disease management process, the percent of
      Community Health Center patients meeting guidelines improved significantly in all
      quality measures except the percentage of patients with HbA1C>9%. Despite this
      improvement, there remained a statistically significant discrepancy in
      performance between the Community Health Clinics and the suburban practices in
      most measures including percentage of patients with HbA1C<7%, HbA1C>9%, LDL<130,
      LDL<100, and percentage of patients with retinopathy screen or microalbumin test
      within the past year, with the Community Health Centers lagging behind in all
      comparisons. CONCLUSIONS: A structured systems-based approach to care of minority
      and at-risk populations utilizing diabetes registries resulted in significant
      improvement in clinical outcomes and helped to reduce but not eliminate
      disparities in diabetes outcome measurements between vulnerable and Caucasian
      populations.

PMID- 20927671
TI  - The association between the supply of primary care physicians and population
      health outcomes in Korea.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Several studies reported that primary care improves
      health outcomes for populations. The objective of this study was to examine the
      relationship between the supply of primary care physicians and population health
      outcomes in Korea. METHODS: Data were extracted from the 2007 report of the
      Health Insurance Review, the 2005 report from the Korean National Statistical
      Office, and the 2008 Korean Community Health Survey. The dependent variables were
      age-adjusted all-cause and disease-specific mortality rates, and independent
      variables were the supply of primary care physicians, the ratio of primary care
      physicians to specialists, the number of beds, socioeconomic factors
      (unemployment rate, local tax, education), population (population size,
      proportion of the elderly over age 65), and health behaviors (smoking, exercise,
      using seat belts rates). We used multivariate linear regression as well as ANOVA
      and t tests. RESULTS: A higher number of primary care physicians was associated
      with lower all-cause mortality, cancer mortality, and cardiovascular mortality.
      However, the ratio of primary care physicians to specialists was not related to
      all-cause mortality. In addition, the relationship between socioeconomic
      variables and mortality rates was similar in strength to the relationship between
      the supply of primary care physicians and mortality rates. Accident mortality,
      suicide mortality, infection mortality, and perinatal mortality were not related
      to the supply of primary care physicians. CONCLUSIONS: The supply of primary care
      physicians is associated with improved health outcomes, especially in chronic
      diseases and cancer. However, other variables such as the socioeconomic factors
      and population factors seem to have a more significant influence on these
      outcomes.

PMID- 20927672
TI  - Family physicians believe the placebo effect is therapeutic but often use real
      drugs as placebos.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Few national data exist on physicians' use of and
      beliefs about placebos in routine health care. METHODS: We mailed a 22-question,
      confidential survey about placebo use and beliefs to a random sample of 1,000
      members of the American Academy of Family Physicians. RESULTS: A total of 412 of
      970 (43%) eligible physicians responded, and 56% of respondents said they had
      used a placebo in clinical practice. Forty percent of respondents had used an
      antibiotic as a placebo, and 11% had used inert substances. The most common
      reason for prescribing placebos was "after unjustified demand for medication."
      Eighty-five percent of respondents believed placebos can have both psychological
      and physical benefits. The majority (61%) recommended a placebo over offering no
      treatment, while 8% said clinical placebo use should be categorically prohibited.
      Nearly all respondents believed a number of routine clinical practices promote
      the placebo effect. CONCLUSIONS: Many US family physicians use placebos and
      generally believe the placebo effect has both psychological and physical
      benefits. Physicians recognize the broader application of the placebo effect but
      they commonly use active medication as placebos. The responses to this survey
      raise important questions about the appropriate use of placebos and the
      therapeutic value of the placebo effect in clinical practice.

PMID- 20927673
TI  - Patient attitudes toward physician use of tablet computers in the exam room.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Previous research has examined patients' attitudes
      toward use of exam room computers by physicians. Our objective was to determine
      patient attitudes toward physicians' exam room use of new tablet computers.
      METHODS: A random sample of 96 patients was interviewed immediately following a
      visit to a physician at an outpatient family medicine clinic at a large academic
      medical center in central Virginia. We excluded visits to first-year residents.
      Patients were asked about their attitudes toward technology use in the exam room
      using a previously validated 16-item structured questionnaire on patient
      attitudes toward technology use in the exam room. RESULTS: The response rate was
      97%. Survey results showed mostly positive patient perceptions of the tablets
      regardless of age, gender, race, ethnicity, and income. There were differences in
      attitudes toward privacy (by race and education), use of tablets by the physician
      (by education and age), depersonalization of the office visit (by race), and
      speed of medical files overview (by age). CONCLUSIONS: The use of tablet
      computers by physicians in the examining room is perceived positively by most
      patients.

PMID- 20927674
TI  - Does structured audit and feedback improve the accuracy of residents' CPT E&M
      coding of clinic visits?
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Family physicians frequently err when applying Current
      Procedural Terminology (CPT) evaluation and management (E&M) codes to their
      office visits, but there are few published prospective studies on educational
      interventions to improve coding. METHODS: Over a 6-year intervention period, 429
      resident patient notes from return clinic visits were recoded by a faculty member
      with coding expertise. Feedback on coding accuracy and annual educational coding
      workshops were provided to the residents. Coding accuracy was calculated by
      subtracting residents' code from that of the faculty. Coding accuracy was
      analyzed cross-sectionally using all available data and longitudinally for 14
      residents with data from all 3 years of the residency. RESULTS: Analysis of
      codings by 68 residents found that residents undercoded their clinic visits by
      0.49 levels of service. Higher training year of the resident was associated with
      more accurate coding. Improvement over time was also found with the longitudinal
      analysis. However, comparison of 23 residents' coding from before the first
      feedback and didactic session to codings after starting feedback suggests that
      these improvements were not due to the intervention. CONCLUSIONS: Residents
      improved in coding accuracy over time, but our educational intervention may not
      have been responsible for the improvement.

PMID- 20927675
TI  - Primary care ride.

PMID- 20927676
TI  - Spirituality and health's most productive researchers: the role of primary care
      physicians.

PMID- 20927677
TI  - Let's break down the barriers.

PMID- 20927678
TI  - Is it possible to sustain a halt in the decline of medical students' patient
      centered beliefs?

PMID- 20927679
TI  - Leadership for change: a vital area for faculty development, continuing
      education, and resident education.

PMID- 20927680
TI  - Assessing medical decision making using human patient simulation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This pilot study describes an Objective Structured Clinical
      Examination (OSCE) developed using Human Patient Simulation (HPS). METHODS: Eight
      residents completed two iterations of this HPS OSCE containing seven stations and
      utilizing checklists, global ratings, and scoring sheets. RESULTS: The first- and
      second-year residents scored similarly with mean scores of 64/104 and 62/123,
      respectively. No statistical difference was noted between the resident scores.
      CONCLUSIONS: The HPS OSCE is feasible for small groups. A larger study will be
      needed to determine the effectiveness of this tool for evaluation.

PMID- 20927681
TI  - Career paths in physicians' postgraduate training - an eight-year follow-up
      study.
AB  - QUESTIONS UNDER STUDY: To date, there are hardly any studies on the choice of
      career path in medical school graduates. The present study aimed to investigate
      what career paths can be identified in the course of postgraduate training of
      physicians; what factors have an influence on the choice of a career path; and in
      what way the career paths are correlated with career-related factors as well as
      with work-life balance aspirations. METHODS: The data reported originates from
      five questionnaire surveys of the prospective SwissMedCareer Study, beginning in
      2001 (T1, last year of medical school). The study sample consisted of 358
      physicians (197 females, 55%; 161 males, 45%) participating at each assessment
      from T2 (2003, first year of residency) to T5 (2009, seventh year of residency),
      answering the question: What career do you aspire to have? Furthermore, personal
      characteristics, chosen specialty, career motivation, mentoring experience, work
      life balance as well as workload, career success and career satisfaction were
      assessed. Career paths were analysed with cluster analysis, and differences
      between clusters analysed with multivariate methods. RESULTS: The cluster
      analysis revealed four career clusters which discriminated distinctly between
      each other: (1) career in practice, (2) hospital career, (3) academic career, and
      (4) changing career goal. From T3 (third year of residency) to T5, respondents in
      Cluster 1-3 were rather stable in terms of their career path aspirations, while
      those assigned to Cluster 4 showed a high fluctuation in their career plans.
      Physicians in Cluster 1 showed high values in extraprofessional concerns and
      often consider part-time work. Cluster 2 and 3 were characterised by high
      instrumentality, intrinsic and extrinsic career motivation, career orientation
      and high career success. No cluster differences were seen in career satisfaction.
      In Cluster 1 and 4, females were overrepresented. CONCLUSION: Trainees should be
      supported to stay on the career path that best suits his/her personal and
      professional profile. Attention should be paid to the subgroup of physicians in
      Cluster 4 switching from one to another career goal in the course of their
      postgraduate training.

PMID- 20927682
TI  - Meniere's disease and the use of proton pump inhibitors.
AB  - PRINCIPLES: On the basis of previous observations we examined the possibility of
      a favourable effect of proton pump inhibitors (PPI) on Meniere's disease (MD). A
      preliminary step was made by retrospectively analysing the number of menieric
      crisis in group of patients suffering from MD and using PPI for other reasons as
      compared to a group of menieric subjects who had never used PPI. METHODS: Between
      January 2001 and December 2006, 42 patients affected by MD were examined in the
      tertiary referral centre at the University Hospital of Bologna, Italy and in the
      private office of an ENT specialist in Cassino, Italy. Within the study group, 18
      patients had used PPI for various reasons for at least 12 consecutive months,
      whilst 24 patients had never been prescribed them. We recorded the number of
      menieric crises reported in the observation period. The mean follow-up period was
      21.9 months. Statistical analysis was performed by means of the x2 test and
      significance was defined when p<0.05. RESULTS: Most of MD patients (72%) using
      PPI suffered less than one episode of menieric crisis/year. On the other hand
      patients who had never used a PPI, experienced considerably more episodes only
      16.7% having less than one crisis per year. This difference was statistically
      significant (p<0, 001). CONCLUSIONS: Even taking the limitations of this
      retrospective study into account the reported data nevertheless strongly suggest
      a possible role for proton pumps in the pathogenesis of MD. This could lead to
      interesting developments and contribute to a better definition of MD and the
      therapeutic possibilities.

PMID- 20927683
TI  - Association between smoking and presence of mycoplasma pneumoniae in circulating
      leukocytes.
AB  - PRINCIPLES: The morbidity and mortality of infectious diseases due to smoking are
      not widely appreciated by physicians. However, cigarette smoking appears to be a
      major risk factor for respiratory tract and other systemic infections. Only
      limited data are available on the association between smoking and Mycoplasma (M)
      pneumoniae. We raise the question of whether smoking increases the presence of M
      pneumoniae in circulating leukocytes. Furthermore we have studied whether the
      combination of smoking and M pneumoniae infection affects circulating levels of
      inflammatory biomarkers. METHODS: Prevalence of latent M pneumoniae infection was
      analysed in a total of 122 subjects by polymerase chain reaction. Smoking status
      was documented at presentation. Circulating levels of c-reactive protein,
      macrophage chemoattractant protein-1 and complement factor 5a were determined by
      commercial enzyme linked immuno-sorbent assays. RESULTS: We found a significant
      association between smoking and latent M pneumoniae infection (p = 0.009). This
      association remained significant after correction for age, gender and diabetes
      (OR 3.4; 95% CI 1.3-9.4; p = 0.017). There was no correlation between circulating
      levels of the inflammatory biomarkers studied and smoking or M pneumoniae
      infection, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Our data indicate that smoking is
      associated with the presence of M pneumoniae in circulating leukocytes. This
      could contribute to the pro-inflammatory effects of smoking. Despite the low
      number of subjects included in this study, this is an interesting finding
      demanding further investigation.

PMID- 20927684
TI  - Emergency physician intershift handover - can a dINAMO checklist speed it up and
      improve quality?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Physician intershift handover has been identified as an area of high
      risk for adverse events, representing a critical step in patient care transition.
      Due to frequent shift changes and high patient numbers, emergency departments
      offer an ideal study setting. AIM OF THE STUDY: At a tertiary care hospital
      emergency department we aimed to reduce the time needed for patient handover
      while maintaining or improving quality of information passed between shifts.
      METHODS: Between 31 March and 20 June 2008 we observed intershift handovers in
      all non-surgical patients at 8 a.m. between nightshift and dayshift. We collected
      data on handover characteristics and patient demographics. After the usual
      clinical rounds following each handover, we asked senior physicians about missing
      or wrong information and possible implications for patient management. From 31
      March to 9 May pre-interventional observation took place. On 13 May the dINAMO
      checklist with five items and a standardised feedback following each handover was
      introduced. Post-interventional observation lasted until 20 June. RESULTS: 61
      handovers totalling 23.4 hours of observation time covered 1011 patients. The
      intervention using the dINAMO checklist reduced mean handover time by 26% from 99
      +/- 3.3 to 73 +/- 2.8 seconds per individual patient (p <0.0001). This resulted
      in a reduction of morning handover duration from 30 to 20 minutes. Senior
      physicians reported insignificant improvement of quality of handover. A
      significant decline in missing or wrong information from 194 incidents in 496
      patients to 78 in 470 patients was recorded. CONCLUSIONS: An intervention
      consisting of a simple checklist of five items (dINAMO) and an immediate feedback
      on quality not only contributes to a significant shortening of time needed for
      physician intershift handover in a university hospital emergency department, but
      simultaneously helps to improve quality of information and therefore patient
      management.

PMID- 20927686
TI  - Intrathecal synthesis of specific antibodies as a marker of herpes simplex
      encephalitis in patients with negative PCR.
AB  - BACKGROUND: PCR in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) has become the sole method used
      for the diagnosis of herpes simplex encephalitis (HSE). Nevertheless, PCR results
      may sometimes be false negative, and in this situation other techniques may be
      useful. METHODS: 3 patients hospitalised for meningoencephalitis with fever
      showed a negative result for herpes simplex virus (HSV) PCR in their CSF. We then
      performed a detection of intrathecal anti-HSV immunoglobulins (IgGs) in the CSF
      and analysed their level in relation to those in the serum, compared to albumin.
      RESULTS: We confirmed that IgG synthesis was the direct consequence of an immune
      system reaction in the 3 patients' CSF. These results were consistent with
      clinical signs and neurodiagnostic procedures. They prompted us to continue the
      treatment, which would have been stopped following the negative PCR results. The
      clinical progression was favourable for all patients. CONCLUSIONS: PCR, which
      many physicians now consider the gold standard for the detection of HSV, may
      sometimes yield false negative results, i.e. when performed too early after the
      disease onset or when the viral load is too low. The method described here,
      although positive a few days after PCR, may prove helpful in the diagnosis of HSE
      for patients with negative HSV PCR in the CSF.

PMID- 20927685
TI  - Liver injury caused by drugs: an update.
AB  - Although severe idiosyncratic drug-induced liver injury (DILI) is a rare event,
      it has a large impact on the fate of affected patients and the incriminated drug.
      Hepatic metabolism of drugs, which occurs in the generation of chemically
      reactive metabolites in critical amounts, seems to underlie most instances of
      DILI. Genetic polymorphisms in activating and detoxifying enzymes determine, in
      part, the extent of cellular stress. A cascade of events, where the pathogenetic
      relevance of single steps is likely to vary from drug to drug, leads to the
      disturbance of cellular homeostasis, to mitochondrial dysfunction, to the
      activation of cell death promoting pathways and the release of drug-modified
      macromolecules and/or danger signals that initiate an innate and/or adaptive
      immune response. The patient's response to the initial drug-induced cellular
      dysfunction determines whether adaptation to the drug-induced cellular stress or
      DILI in one of its many forms of clinical presentation occurs. Although risk
      factors for developing DILI have been identified and many pathogenetic mechanisms
      have been elucidated in model systems, idiosyncratic drug reactions remain
      unpredictable.

PMID- 20927687
TI  - [Complex therapeutic procedures, their documentation and the German DRG-system].

PMID- 20927688
TI  - [Acute stroke treatment - an update].
AB  - An optimised prehospital management is important for acute stroke patients. A
      structured admittance to a stroke centre increases the rate of thrombolysis four
      fold. To achieve short door-to-needle-times (< 30 min) a multi-disciplinary
      approach is necessary. Elderly stroke patients benefit from stroke unit therapy
      as do the younger patients. Blood pressure management is important during the
      first 24 hours after thrombolysis. Systolic blood pressures between 140 - 150
      mmHg correlate with low bleeding rates. A subgroup analysis of the ECASS III
      study shows that a broad range of patients can be treated safely and efficiently
      in the 3 - 4.5 hour time window. Endovascular recanalisation therapy achieves
      high recanalisation rates. Whether these will be responsible for a significantly
      better outcome has to be shown in future randomised trials.

PMID- 20927689
TI  - [Secondary stroke prevention - an update].
AB  - Organised secondary prevention is a prerequisite for successful stroke therapy.
      One of the most relevant factors is elevated blood pressure. It has been shown
      that long-term blood pressure treatment leads to a significant reduction in
      mortality of almost 10 % over a 5-year period. Additionally, a large meta
      analysis in almost 1 million patients confirmed that blood pressure reduction
      leads to a constant reduction in secondary cerebrovascular events by 40 %, both
      in primary and secondary prevention. The preventive effect was stronger as the
      blood pressure reduction increased. Interactions between proton-pump inhibitors
      and the antiplatelet agent clopidogrel did not receive scientific confirmation.
      There is no reason to avoid this combination. Patients suffering from atrial
      fibrillation and stroke should, whenever possible, be treated by oral
      anticoagulation. In cases in which this treatment is abandoned, the combination
      of aspirin and clopidogrel offers some marginal benefits over aspirin alone
      (higher stroke risk reduction, but increase in brain haemorrhages). Dabigatran is
      a new direct oral thrombin antagonist. It has the advantage compared to the oral
      vitamin K antagonists that it acts immediately after intake and does not need
      further regular coagulation test controls. The huge RELY study revealed that
      dabigatran is safer with the same efficacy in the lower dose, but more effective
      with the same safety in the higher dose, compared to oral vitamin K antagonists.
      It will be licensed in 2010. Statins seem to be beneficial for as long as 10
      years after a cerebrovascular accident. Carotid stenosis treatment seems to be
      better done by operation as revealed by the International Carotid Stenosis
      Stenting study. A patent foramen ovale is a slight risk factor with an OR of 1.1.
      Therefore, any aggressive treatment options in patients with stroke and pfo seem
      to be unjustified.

PMID- 20927691
TI  - [Rightcoding and OPS for the new performance-based reimbursement system of German
      clinical psychiatry].

PMID- 20927690
TI  - [Antiepileptic drug-induced encephalopathy].
AB  - The clinical features of an antiepileptic drug-induced encephalopathy (ADE) are
      confusion, reduction of vigilance, neurological deficits or an increase of the
      seizure frequency. In the electroencephalogram a general slowing or epileptic
      discharges are found. Characteristic are non-toxic blood levels of the
      antiepileptic drugs. So far an ADE was reported under phenytoin, carbamazepine or
      valproatic acid (valproate) therapy. More seldom, an ADE has been described after
      the intake of vigabatrine, lamotrigine und topiramate. Potential pathogenic
      mechanisms of AED are hyperammonemia, intrinsic effects on cerebral receptors,
      drug interactions, hepatic enzyme interactions, metabolic reasons or paradoxical
      proconvulsive effects of antiepileptic drugs. The medicamentous therapy consists
      of an immediate discontinuation of the antiepileptic drug.

PMID- 20927693
TI  - [Dimensions of the therapeutic alliance from patients' view--development of the
      "Skala Therapeutische Allianz-Revised STA-R"].
AB  - Studies on the dimensionality of the therapeutic alliance had been conducted by
      Hatcher et al. factor-analyzing three widely used alliance measures (Helping
      Alliance Questionnaire, Working Alliance Inventory, California Psychotherapy
      Alliance Scales) and proposing two additional dimensions (on affects and
      interpersonal aspects). The present study intended to construct an economic
      German patient questionnaire on the basis of this preliminary work, which
      represents relevant dimensions of the therapeutic alliance in an economic way. 36
      items, purposed by Hatcher et al. were translated into German. They have been
      examined by confirmative factor analysis (sample 1: N=301 psychotherapy
      patients). As a result of further factor analysis, the "Skala Therapeutische
      Allianz - Revised STA-R" was developed. The 17-items questionnaire has 4 scales:
      "Confident Collaboration", "Bond", "Patient Fear" and "Therapist Interference",
      which correspond to Hatcher et al. The latter scales have not yet been considered
      in German questionnaires. A confirmatory factor analysis with sample 2 (N=427
      patients) showed a good model fit with these factors, too. Correlations of the
      therapeutic alliance at the end of the treatment with change in symptom load (SCL
      90-R) proved to be significant (rSTA-R, GSI=0.43**).

PMID- 20927694
TI  - Antiplasmodial constituents from the fruit pericarp of Pentadesma butyracea.
AB  - Bioassay-guided fractionation of the fruit pericarp of Pentadesma butyracea,
      using the antiplasmodial test, led to the isolation of a new xanthone, named
      pentadexanthone (1), together with six known compounds: cratoxylone (2), alpha
      mangostin (3), 1,3,5-trihydroxy-2-methoxyxanthone (4), garcinone E (5), (-)
      epicathechin (6), and lupeol (7). The structure of 1 was elucidated by
      spectroscopic data analysis. An antiplasmodial assay was performed with the
      isolates, in which compounds 1- 3 and 5 exhibited potent activity in vitro
      against Plasmodium falciparum chloroquine-resistant strain W2, with IC50 values
      below 3 uM.

PMID- 20927695
TI  - A survey of U.K. units and a suggested protocol for free flap reconstruction of
      the lower limb: follow-up and management in the first postoperative week.
AB  - A survey was performed of U.K. lower-limb reconstruction services and the
      protocol for management of free flaps to the lower limb in the first
      postoperative week. The postoperative period is of vital importance in these
      patients due to the complex nature of microsurgical tissue transfer. A range of
      answers were received in response to the questions regarding protocols, with no
      overall consensus on the postoperative plan for these patients. Patients are
      being managed differently in different units across the United Kingdom. A
      protocol that has been used successfully by the senior author is described, and
      we encourage others without a protocol to adopt this one.

PMID- 20927696
TI  - Pure muscle transfers can be monitored by use of microdialysis.
AB  - Most of the methods available for postoperative monitoring of free transfers
      depend on an accessible skin island. Monitoring of muscle transfers without skin
      islands represents a challenge. The aim of this study was to describe the
      experiences after clinical monitoring of free muscle transfers by the use of
      microdialysis. The charts of 75 free muscle transfers monitored with
      microdialysis were evaluated with special emphasis on whether or not
      complications were predicted by the monitoring system. In 16 of the 75 cases, an
      ischemic trend was seen. In five of these cases, the ischemic trend was reversed
      without surgical revascularization. In the remaining 11 cases (14.7%), further
      ischemic trends were seen, and surgical revision with revascularization was
      needed for transfer salvage. Six of the 11 transfers were subsequently saved.
      None of the remaining five transfers were lost due to neglected ischemia. The
      microdialysis system did not exhibit any negative or positive false alarms. No
      damage to the muscle flap was experienced while performing the monitoring
      procedures. Microdialysis is a reliable and safe monitoring method for
      surveillance of free muscle transfers.

PMID- 20927697
TI  - A critical analysis and discussion of the appropriateness of the schizophrenia
      consensus remission criteria in clinical pharmaceutical trials.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of this paper is to apply the proposed consensus remission
      criteria to an acutely ill inpatient sample at admission and evaluate their
      adaptability in this patient population and pharmaceutical trials. METHODS: The
      Remission in Schizophrenia Working Group's consensus criteria were applied to 272
      acutely ill schizophrenia patients. Patients were examined using the PANSS, HAMD,
      UKU and SWN-K total scales at admission as well as the GAF, SOFAS and the Strauss
      Carpenter Prognostic Scale. Sociodemographic and clinical baseline variables were
      assessed using a standardized documentation system. RESULTS: 33 patients (12%)
      fulfilled the symptom severity component of the proposed remission criteria
      already at baseline. Almost no significant differences were found when comparing
      patients with achieved and failed symptom severity component that would explain
      the hospitalization of the patients with achieved criteria despite their
      apparently mild psychopathological symptoms. The only explainable difference was
      that patients with an achieved symptom severity component had received
      significantly more antipsychotics and had suffered from significantly more life
      events before admission. CONCLUSION: The present results raise the question
      whether the symptom severity threshold is adequate to identify patients in
      remission when applied in clinical trials.

PMID- 20927700
TI  - Bilateral temporal 1 Hz rTMS (repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation)
      treatment in a left-handed patient with imperative auditory hallucinations.

PMID- 20927698
TI  - Zonisamide versus diazepam in the treatment of alcohol withdrawal syndrome.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Anticonvulsant drugs have been used in the treatment of alcohol
      detoxification. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the efficacy and
      safety of zonisamide in a sample of patients presenting alcohol withdrawal
      syndrome. METHOD: In this 3-week, randomized, flexible-dose trial, 40 inpatients
      with alcohol dependence disorder received zonisamide or diazepam for
      detoxification. Zonisamide was started at a dose of 400-600 mg/day (week 1),
      tapering to a minimum dose of 100-300 mg/day (week 3). Diazepam was administered
      using a similar regimen (from 130-50 mg/day tapering to 5-15 mg/day). Subjects
      were treated initially (weeks 1 and 2) in an inpatient unit and for the final
      week in an outpatient facility. During the inpatient period, the Clinical
      Institute Withdrawal Assessment for Alcohol (CIWA-Ar) was used to assess the
      efficacy of each substance. During the outpatient period the Clinical Institute
      Withdrawal Assessment for Alcohol (CIWA-Ar), Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale,
      Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, and a craving scale were used. RESULTS: All
      subjects completed the study. During the inpatient period both drugs reduced
      alcohol withdrawal symptoms, but the decrease was more marked in the zonisamide
      group. At the end of the study (week 3) participants treated with zonisamide
      showed lower CIWA-Ar scores than subjects receiving diazepam. Also, individuals
      in the zonisamide group had less craving for alcohol, less anxiety, and less
      daytime sedation compared with participants treated with diazepam. CONCLUSION:
      Zonisamide can be a valuable alternative to benzodiazepines in the prevention of
      alcohol withdrawal syndrome.

PMID- 20927699
TI  - Torsade de Pointes episodes under treatment with selective serotonin reuptake
      inhibitors.

PMID- 20927701
TI  - Risperidone-induced sialorrhea: dose-related?

PMID- 20927711
TI  - Switching off angiogenic signalling: creating channelled constructs for adequate
      oxygen delivery in tissue engineered constructs.
AB  - A major question in biomimetic tissue engineering is how much of the
      structure/function of native vasculature needs to be reproduced for effective
      tissue perfusion. O2 supplied to cells in 3D scaffolds in vitro is initially
      dependent upon diffusion through the scaffold and cell consumption. Low O2 (3%)
      enhances specific cell behaviours, but where O2 is critically low (pathological
      hypoxia) cell survival becomes compromised. We measured real-time O2 in 3D
      scaffolds and introduced micro-channelled architecture to controllably increase
      delivery of O2 to cells and switch off the hypoxic response. Simple static micro
      channelling gives adequate perfusion and can be used to control cell generated
      hypoxia-induced signalling.

PMID- 20927712
TI  - Reticulated vitreous carbon: a useful material for cell adhesion and tissue
      invasion.
AB  - Diverse carbon materials have been used for tissue engineering and clinical
      implant applications with varying success. In this study, commercially available
      reticulated vitreous carbon (RVC) foams were tested in vitro and in vivo for
      compatibility with primary cell adhesion and tissue repair. Pores sizes were
      determined as 279 +/- 98 MUm. No hydroxyapatite deposition was detected after
      immersion of the foams in simulated body fluid. Nonetheless, RVC provided an
      excellent support for adhesion of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) as well as
      primary chondrocytes without any surface pre-treatment. Live cell quantification
      revealed neutral behaviour of the material with plastic adhered chondrocytes but
      moderate cytotoxicity with MSCs. Yet, rabbit implanted foams exhibited good
      integration in subcutaneous pockets and most importantly, total defect repair in
      bone. Probably due to the stiffness of the material, incompatibility with
      cartilage regeneration was found. Interestingly and in contrast to several other
      carbon materials, we observed a total lack of foreign body reactions. Our results
      and its outstanding porous interconnectivity and availability within a wide range
      of pore sizes convert RVC into an attractive candidate for tissue engineering
      applications in a variety of bone models and for ex vivo cell expansion for
      regenerative medical applications.

PMID- 20927713
TI  - Soybean physiology and gene expression during drought.
AB  - Soybean genotypes MG/BR46 (Conquista) and BR16, drought-tolerant and -sensitive,
      respectively, were compared in terms of morphophysiological and gene-expression
      responses to water stress during two stages of development. Gene-expression
      analysis showed differential responses in Gmdreb1a and Gmpip1b mRNA expression
      within 30 days of water-deficit initiation in MG/BR46 (Conquista) plants. Within
      45 days of initiating stress, Gmp5cs and Gmpip1b had relatively higher
      expression. Initially, BR16 showed increased expression only for Gmdreb1a, and
      later (45 days) for Gmp5cs, Gmdefensin and Gmpip1b. Only BR16 presented down
      regulated expression of genes, such as Gmp5cs and Gmpip1b, 30 days after the
      onset of moisture stress, and Gmgols after 45 days of stress. The faster
      perception of water stress in MG/BR46 (Conquista) and the better maintenance of
      up-regulated gene expression than in the sensitive BR16 genotype imply mechanisms
      by which the former is better adapted to tolerate moisture deficiency.

PMID- 20927714
TI  - Genetic variation of Kaempferia (Zingiberaceae) in Thailand based on chloroplast
      DNA (psbA-trnH and petA-psbJ) sequences.
AB  - Genetic variation and species authentication of 71 Kaempferia accessions
      (representing 15 recognized, six new, and four unidentified species) found
      indigenously in Thailand were examined by determining chloroplast psbA-trnH and
      partial petA-psbJ spacer sequences. Ten closely related species (Boesenbergia
      rotunda, Gagnepainia godefroyi, G. thoreliana, Globba substrigosa, Smithatris
      myanmarensis, S. supraneanae, Scaphochlamys biloba, S. minutiflora, S. rubescens,
      and Stahlianthus sp) were also included. After sequence alignments, 1010 and 865
      bp in length were obtained for the respective chloroplast DNA sequences.
      Intraspecific sequence variation was not observed in Kaempferia candida, K.
      angustifolia, K. laotica, K. galanga, K. pardi sp nov., K. bambusetorum sp nov.,
      K. albomaculata sp nov., K. minuta sp nov., Kaempferia sp nov. 1, and G.
      thoreliana, for which more than one specimen was available. In contrast,
      intraspecific sequence polymorphisms were observed in various populations of K.
      fallax, K. filifolia, K. elegans, K. pulchra, K. rotunda, K. marginata, K.
      parviflora, K. larsenii, K. roscoeana, K. siamensis, and G. godefroyi. A strict
      consensus tree based on combined psbA-trnH and partial petA-psbJ sequences
      revealed four major groups of Kaempferia species. We suggest that the genus
      Kaempferia is a polyphyletic group, as K. candida was distantly related and did
      not group with other Kaempferia species. Polymorphic sites and indels of psbA
      trnH and petA-psbJ can be used as DNA barcodes for species diagnosis of most
      Kaempferia and outgroup species. Nuclear DNA polymorphism should be examined to
      determine if there has been interspecific hybridization and chloroplast DNA
      introgression in these taxa.

PMID- 20927715
TI  - Differential expression of genes in resistant versus susceptible Gyr x Holstein
      cattle challenged with the tick Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus.
AB  - The bovine tick Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus causes major losses in cattle
      production systems in tropical regions. Bos indicus breeds are more resistant to
      ticks than B. taurus breeds. Resistance genes could be an alternative to control
      this parasite. We examined the pattern of gene expression of three calcium
      binding-protein genes: translationally controlled tumor protein 1 (TPT1),
      allergen Bos d3 (S100A7), calcium channel protein transient receptor potential
      vanilloid 6 (TRPV6), and the cysteine proteinase inhibitor gene (CST6). These
      genes were selected from cDNA libraries prepared from skin biopsies taken from
      resistant and susceptible Gyr x Holstein F2 animals. These biopsies were also
      used to study the expression level of these genes through real-time PCR analysis.
      The relative expression levels of the S100A7, TPT1, TRPV6, and CST6 genes were
      2.01 +/- 0.6, 1.32 +/- 0.9, 1.53 +/- 1.2, and 2.03 +/- 0.7 times higher in the
      susceptible group, respectively. Skin lesion tissue from the susceptible animals
      showed significantly more mRNA transcripts of these genes in comparison with the
      resistant animals (P = 0.001). However, this hypersensitivity does not seem to
      protect the susceptible animals against tick infestation.

PMID- 20927716
TI  - RAPD analysis of selected local Turkish grape cultivars (Vitis vinifera).
AB  - Turkey is very rich in local grape varieties. The solution to the problem of
      identifying local cultivars, which is considered an important deficiency for the
      region, will only be possible when they can be defined with molecular markers.
      Forty-nine local grapevine cultivars from Sanliurfa (Turkey) were characterized
      with RAPD markers. Twenty-five decamer primers selected from 60 primers were used
      in this analysis. A total of 171 bands were obtained with the 25 primers, of
      which 112 were polymorphic; the level of DNA polymorphism was 65.49% in these
      local cultivars. Among the selected primers, OPA-18, OPO-07 and P-123 gave the
      maximum number of polymorphic bands (seven). Genetic relationships among these
      cultivars were determined with a similarity index and using a dendogram. Among
      the grape cultivars, the lowest similarity ratio (0.578) was observed among the
      Kulahi-Kizilbanki cultivars and the highest similarity ratio (0.908) was observed
      for the Cilorut-Dokulgen combination. The high similarity ratio among the grape
      cultivars of Sanliurfa Province was also reflected in the dendogram. In general,
      no relationships were encountered between the genetic identification of the
      cultivars and their ampelographic properties.

PMID- 20927717
TI  - Phylogenetic relationships of Malaysian monkeys, Cercopithecidae, based on
      mitochondrial cytochrome c sequences.
AB  - Mitochondrial DNA cytochrome c oxidase II (COII) gene sequences of Malaysian
      Cercopithecidae were examined to ascertain their phylogenetic relationships.
      Colobinae were represented by the genera Presbytis, Trachypithecus and Nasalis,
      while the genus Macaca represented Cercopithecinae. DNA amplification and
      sequencing of the COII gene was performed on 16 samples. Symphalangus syndactylus
      (Hylobatidae) was used as the outgroup. Data were analyzed using both character
      (maximum parsimony) and distance (neighbor-joining) methods. Tree topologies
      indicated that Colobinae and Cercopithecinae have their own distinct monophyletic
      clade. This result was well supported by bootstrap values and genetic distances
      derived from the Kimura-2-parameter algorithm. Separation of Macaca nemestrina
      from M. fascicularis was also well supported by bootstrap values. In addition,
      tree topologies indicate a good resolution of the Colobinae phylogenetic
      relationships at the intergeneric level, but with low bootstrap support. The
      position of Nasalis remained problematic in both trees. Overall, COII is a good
      gene candidate for portraying the phylogenetic relationships of Malaysian
      primates at the inter- and intra-subfamily levels.

PMID- 20927718
TI  - Percutaneous biopsy of anterior mediastinal mass guided by real-time US fused
      with CT.
AB  - We report a case of successful fused CT-sonographic imaging-guided percutaneous
      biopsy of an anterior mediastinal mass, which was visualized poorly with
      conventional sonography. Real-time sonography fused with CT can be useful for
      biopsy of anterior mediastinal masses that are not well visualized on
      conventional sonography.

PMID- 20927719
TI  - Magnesium sulphate versus phenytoin for eclampsia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Eclampsia, the occurrence of a seizure in association with pre
      eclampsia, remains a rare but serious complication of pregnancy. A number of
      different anticonvulsants have been used to control eclamptic fits and to prevent
      further seizures. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this review was to assess the
      effects of magnesium sulphate compared with phenytoin when used for the care of
      women with eclampsia. Magnesium sulphate is compared with diazepam and with lytic
      cocktail in other Cochrane reviews. SEARCH STRATEGY: We searched the Cochrane
      Pregnancy and Childbirth Group's Trials Register (30 April 2010). SELECTION
      CRITERIA: Randomised trials comparing magnesium sulphate (intravenous or
      intramuscular administration) with phenytoin for women with a clinical diagnosis
      of eclampsia. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two review authors assessed trial
      quality and extracted data. MAIN RESULTS: We have included data from seven
      trials, involving 972 women. One large trial (775 women) was of good quality.
      Magnesium sulphate was associated with a substantial reduction in the recurrence
      of seizures, when compared to phenytoin (six trials, 972 women; risk ratio (RR)
      0.34, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.24 to 0.49). The trend in maternal mortality
      favours magnesium sulphate, but the difference does not reach statistical
      significance (three trials, 847 women; RR 0.50, 95% CI 0.24 to 1.05). There were
      reductions in the risk of pneumonia (one trial, RR 0.44, 95% CI 0.24 to 0.79),
      ventilation (one trial, RR 0.68, 95% CI 0.50 to 0.91) and admission to an
      intensive care unit (one trial, RR 0.67, 95% CI 0.50 to 0.89) associated with the
      use of magnesium sulphate rather than phenytoin.For the baby, magnesium sulphate
      was associated with fewer admissions to a special care baby unit (SCBU) (one
      trial, 518 babies; RR 0.73, 95% CI 0.58 to 0.91) and fewer babies who died or
      were in SCBU for more than seven days (one trial, 643 babies; RR 0.77, 95% CI
      0.63 to 0.95) than phenytoin. There was no clear difference in perinatal deaths
      (two trials, 665 babies; (RR 0.85, 95% CI 0.67 to 1.09). AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS:
      Magnesium sulphate, rather than phenytoin, for women with eclampsia reduces the
      risk ratio of recurrence of seizures, probably reduces the risk of maternal
      death, and improves outcome for the baby. Magnesium sulphate is the drug of
      choice for women with eclampsia. The use of phenytoin should be abandoned.

PMID- 20927720
TI  - Antithrombotic drugs for carotid artery dissection.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Extracranial internal carotid artery dissection (eICAD) is a leading
      cause of stroke in younger patients. OBJECTIVES: 1. To determine whether, in
      patients with eICAD, treatment with anticoagulants, antiplatelet agents or
      control was associated with a better functional outcome. 2. To compare, among
      patients treated with either anticoagulants or antiplatelet agents, the risk of
      ischaemic strokes and major bleeding episodes. SEARCH STRATEGY: We searched the
      Cochrane Stroke Group Trials Register (last searched 3 October 2009). In
      addition, we performed comprehensive searches of the Cochrane Central Register of
      Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) (The Cochrane Library Issue 2, 2009), MEDLINE
      (January 1966 to November 2009) and EMBASE (January 1980 to November 2009),
      checked all relevant papers for additional eligible studies and contacted authors
      and researchers in the field. SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomised controlled trials,
      controlled clinical trials and non-randomised studies (if they reported on
      outcome stratified by antithrombotic treatment and included at least four
      patients) of anticoagulants or antiplatelet agents for the treatment of
      extracranial internal carotid artery dissection. Two review authors independently
      extracted data. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Primary outcomes were death (all
      causes) and death or disability. Secondary outcomes were ischaemic stroke,
      symptomatic intracranial haemorrhage, and major extracranial haemorrhage during
      the reported follow-up period. The first choice treatment was taken for analyses.
      MAIN RESULTS: We did not find any completed randomised trials. Comparing
      antiplatelets with anticoagulants across 36 observational studies (1285
      patients), there were no significant differences in the odds of death (Peto odds
      ratio (Peto OR) 2.02, 95% CI 0.62 to 6.60), or the occurrence of ischaemic stroke
      (OR 0.63, 95% CI 0.21 to 1.86) (34 studies, 1262 patients). For the outcome of
      death or disability, there was a non-significant trend in favour of
      anticoagulants (OR 1.77, 95% CI 0.98 to 3.22; P = 0.06) (26 studies, 463
      patients). Symptomatic intracranial haemorrhages (5/627; 0.8%) and major
      extracranial haemorrhages (7/425; 1.6%) occurred only in the anticoagulation
      group; however, for both these outcomes, the estimates were imprecise and
      indicated no significant difference between the two treatment modalities.
      AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: There were no randomised trials comparing either
      anticoagulants or antiplatelet drugs with control, thus there is no evidence to
      support their routine use for the treatment of extracranial internal carotid
      artery dissection. There were also no randomised trials that directly compared
      anticoagulants with antiplatelet drugs and the reported non-randomised studies
      did not show any evidence of a significant difference between the two.

PMID- 20927721
TI  - Alternative versus standard packages of antenatal care for low-risk pregnancy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The number of visits for antenatal (prenatal) care developed without
      evidence of how many visits are necessary. The content of each visit also needs
      evaluation. OBJECTIVES: To compare the effects of antenatal care programmes with
      reduced visits for low-risk women with standard care. SEARCH STRATEGY: We
      searched the Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth Group's Trials Register (April
      2010), reference lists of articles and contacted researchers in the field.
      SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomised trials comparing a reduced number of antenatal
      visits, with or without goal-oriented care, with standard care. DATA COLLECTION
      AND ANALYSIS: Two authors assessed trial quality and extracted data
      independently. MAIN RESULTS: We included seven trials (more than 60,000 women):
      four in high-income countries with individual randomisation; three in low- and
      middle-income countries with cluster randomisation (clinics as the unit of
      randomisation). The number of visits for standard care varied, with fewer visits
      in low- and middle- income country trials. In studies in high-income countries,
      women in the reduced visits groups, on average, attended between 8.2 and 12
      times. In low- and middle- income country trials, many women in the reduced
      visits group attended on fewer than five occasions, although in these trials the
      content as well as the number of visits was changed, so as to be more 'goal
      oriented'.Perinatal mortality was increased for those randomised to reduced
      visits rather than standard care, and this difference was borderline for
      statistical significance (five trials; risk ratio (RR) 1.14; 95% confidence
      interval (CI) 1.00 to 1.31). In the subgroup analysis, for high-income countries
      the number of deaths was small (32/5108), and there was no clear difference
      between the groups (2 trials; RR 0.90; 95% CI 0.45 to 1.80); for low- and middle
      income countries perinatal mortality was significantly higher in the reduced
      visits group (3 trials RR 1.15; 95% CI 1.01 to 1.32). Reduced visits were
      associated with a reduction in admission to neonatal intensive care that was
      borderline for significance (RR 0.89; 95% CI 0.79 to 1.02). There were no clear
      differences between the groups for the other reported clinical outcomes.Women in
      all settings were less satisfied with the reduced visits schedule and perceived
      the gap between visits as too long. Reduced visits may be associated with lower
      costs. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: In settings with limited resources where the number
      of visits is already low, reduced visits programmes of antenatal care are
      associated with an increase in perinatal mortality compared to standard care,
      although admission to neonatal intensive care may be reduced. Women prefer the
      standard visits schedule. Where the standard number of visits is low, visits
      should not be reduced without close monitoring of fetal and neonatal outcome.

PMID- 20927722
TI  - Vaginal misoprostol for cervical ripening and induction of labour.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Misoprostol (Cytotec, Searle) is a prostaglandin E1 analogue widely
      used for off-label indications such as induction of abortion and of labour. This
      is one of a series of reviews of methods of cervical ripening and labour
      induction using standardised methodology. OBJECTIVES: To determine the effects of
      vaginal misoprostol for third trimester cervical ripening or induction of labour.
      SEARCH STRATEGY: The Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth Group's Trials Register
      (November 2008) and bibliographies of relevant papers. We updated this search on
      30 April 2010 and added the results to the awaiting classification section.
      SELECTION CRITERIA: Clinical trials comparing vaginal misoprostol used for third
      trimester cervical ripening or labour induction with placebo/no treatment or
      other methods listed above it on a predefined list of labour induction methods.
      DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: We developed a strategy to deal with the large
      volume and complexity of trial data relating to labour induction. This involved a
      two-stage method of data extraction.We used fixed-effect Mantel-Haenszel meta
      analysis for combining dichotomous data.If we identified substantial
      heterogeneity (I2 greater than 50%), we used a random-effects method. MAIN
      RESULTS: We included 121 trials. The risk of bias must be kept in mind as only 13
      trials were double blind.Compared to placebo, misoprostol was associated with
      reduced failure to achieve vaginal delivery within 24 hours (average relative
      risk (RR) 0.51, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.37 to 0.71). Uterine
      hyperstimulation, without fetal heart rate (FHR) changes, was increased (RR 3.52
      95% CI 1.78 to 6.99).Compared with vaginal prostaglandin E2, intracervical
      prostaglandin E2 and oxytocin, vaginal misoprostol was associated with less
      epidural analgesia use, fewer failures to achieve vaginal delivery within 24
      hours and more uterine hyperstimulation. Compared with vaginal or intracervical
      prostaglandin E2, oxytocin augmentation was less common with misoprostol and
      meconium-stained liquor more common.Lower doses of misoprostol compared to higher
      doses were associated with more need for oxytocin augmentation and less uterine
      hyperstimulation, with and without FHR changes.We found no information on women's
      views. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: Vaginal misoprostol in doses above 25 mcg four
      hourly was more effective than conventional methods of labour induction, but with
      more uterine hyperstimulation. Lower doses were similar to conventional methods
      in effectiveness and risks. The authors request information on cases of uterine
      rupture known to readers. The vaginal route should not be researched further as
      another Cochrane review has shown that the oral route of administration is
      preferable to the vaginal route. Professional and governmental bodies should
      agree guidelines for the use of misoprostol, based on the best available evidence
      and local circumstances.

PMID- 20927723
TI  - Hypnotherapy for smoking cessation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hypnotherapy is widely promoted as a method for aiding smoking
      cessation. It is proposed to act on underlying impulses to weaken the desire to
      smoke or strengthen the will to stop. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the efficacy of
      hypnotherapy for smoking cessation. SEARCH STRATEGY: We searched the Cochrane
      Tobacco Addiction Group Specialized Register and the databases MEDLINE, EMBASE,
      AMED, SCI, SSCI using the terms smoking cessation and hypnotherapy or hypnosis.
      Date of most recent searches July 2010. There were no language restrictions.
      SELECTION CRITERIA: We considered randomized controlled trials of hypnotherapy
      which reported smoking cessation rates at least six months after the beginning of
      treatment. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Three authors independently extracted
      data on participant characteristics, the type and duration of the hypnotherapy,
      the nature of the control group, smoking status, method of randomization, and
      completeness of follow up. They also independently assessed the quality of the
      included studies.The main outcome measure was abstinence from smoking after at
      least six months follow up. We used the most rigorous definition of abstinence in
      each trial, and biochemically validated rates where available. Those lost to
      follow up were considered to be smoking. We summarised effects as risk ratios
      (RR). Where possible, we performed meta-analysis using a fixed-effect model. We
      also noted any adverse events reported. MAIN RESULTS: Eleven studies compared
      hypnotherapy with 18 different control interventions. There was significant
      heterogeneity between the results of the individual studies, with conflicting
      results for the effectiveness of hypnotherapy compared to no treatment, or to
      advice, or psychological treatment. We did not attempt to calculate pooled risk
      ratios for the overall effect of hypnotherapy. There was no evidence of a greater
      effect of hypnotherapy when compared to rapid smoking or psychological treatment.
      Direct comparisons of hypnotherapy with cessation treatments considered to be
      effective had confidence intervals that were too wide to infer equivalence.
      AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: We have not shown that hypnotherapy has a greater effect on
      six-month quit rates than other interventions or no treatment. There is not
      enough evidence to show whether hypnotherapy could be as effective as counselling
      treatment. The effects of hypnotherapy on smoking cessation claimed by
      uncontrolled studies were not confirmed by analysis of randomized controlled
      trials.

PMID- 20927724
TI  - Hip protectors for preventing hip fractures in older people.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hip fracture in older people usually results from a fall on the hip.
      Hip protectors have been advocated as a means to reduce the risk of hip fracture.
      OBJECTIVES: To determine if external hip protectors reduce the incidence of hip
      fractures in older people following a fall. SEARCH STRATEGY: We searched the
      Cochrane Bone, Joint and Muscle Trauma Group Specialised Register (January 2010),
      The Cochrane Library 2010, Issue 2, MEDLINE (1950 to November 2009), MEDLINE in
      process (30 December 2009), EMBASE (1988 to 2009 week 52), CINAHL (1982 to
      February 2009), BioMed Central (January 2010) and reference lists of relevant
      articles. SELECTION CRITERIA: All randomised or quasi-randomised controlled
      trials comparing the use of hip protectors with an unprotected control group.
      DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two authors independently assessed risk of bias and
      extracted data. We sought additional information from trialists. Data were pooled
      using fixed-effect or random-effects models as appropriate. MAIN RESULTS: Pooling
      of data from 13 studies (11,573 participants) conducted in nursing or residential
      care settings found a marginally significant reduction in hip fracture risk (risk
      ratio (RR) 0.81, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.66 to 0.99); statistical
      significance was lost following exclusion of five studies (3757 participants)
      assessed at high risk of bias (RR 0.93, 95% CI 0.74 to 1.18).Pooling of data from
      three trials (5135 community-dwelling participants) showed no evidence of
      reduction in hip fracture risk (RR 1.14, 95% CI 0.83 to 1.57).There was no
      evidence of a statistically significant effect on incidence of pelvic or other
      fractures, or on rate of falls. No important adverse effects of the hip
      protectors were reported but adherence, particularly in the long term, was poor.
      AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: The effectiveness of the provision of hip protectors in
      reducing the incidence of hip fracture in older people is still not clearly
      established, although they may reduce the rate of hip fractures if made available
      to frail older people in nursing care. It remains unknown from studies identified
      to date if these findings apply to all types of hip protectors. Some cluster
      randomised trials have been associated with high risk of bias. Poor acceptance
      and adherence by older people offered hip protectors have been key factors
      contributing to the continuing uncertainty.

PMID- 20927725
TI  - Laparoscopic versus open surgery for suspected appendicitis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Laparoscopic surgery for acute appendicitis has been proposed to have
      advantages over conventional surgery. OBJECTIVES: To compare the diagnostic and
      therapeutic effects of laparoscopic and conventional 'open' surgery. SEARCH
      STRATEGY: We searched the Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, EMBASE, LILACS, CNKI,
      SciSearch, study registries, and the congress proceedings of endoscopic surgical
      societies. SELECTION CRITERIA: We included randomized clinical trials comparing
      laparoscopic (LA) versus open appendectomy (OA) in adults or children. Studies
      comparing immediate OA versus diagnostic laparoscopy (followed by LA or OA if
      necessary) were separately identified. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two
      reviewers independently assessed trial quality. Missing information or data was
      requested from the authors. We used odds ratios (OR), relative risks (RR), and
      95% confidence intervals (CI) for analysis. MAIN RESULTS: We included 67 studies,
      of which 56 compared LA (with or without diagnostic laparoscopy) vs. OA in
      adults. Wound infections were less likely after LA than after OA (OR 0.43; CI
      0.34 to 0.54), but the incidence of intraabdominal abscesses was increased (OR
      1.87; CI 1.19 to 2.93). The duration of surgery was 10 minutes (CI 6 to 15)
      longer for LA. Pain on day 1 after surgery was reduced after LA by 8 mm (CI 5 to
      11 mm) on a 100 mm visual analogue scale. Hospital stay was shortened by 1.1 day
      (CI 0.7 to 1.5). Return to normal activity, work, and sport occurred earlier
      after LA than after OA. While the operation costs of LA were significantly
      higher, the costs outside hospital were reduced. Seven studies on children were
      included, but the results do not seem to be much different when compared to
      adults. Diagnostic laparoscopy reduced the risk of a negative appendectomy, but
      this effect was stronger in fertile women (RR 0.20; CI 0.11 to 0.34) as compared
      to unselected adults (RR 0.37; CI 0.13 to 1.01). AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: In those
      clinical settings where surgical expertise and equipment are available and
      affordable, diagnostic laparoscopy and LA (either in combination or separately)
      seem to have various advantages over OA. Some of the clinical effects of LA,
      however, are small and of limited clinical relevance. In spite of the mediocre
      quality of the available research data, we would generally recommend to use
      laparoscopy and LA in patients with suspected appendicitis unless laparoscopy
      itself is contraindicated or not feasible. Especially young female, obese, and
      employed patients seem to benefit from LA.

PMID- 20927726
TI  - Grommets (ventilation tubes) for hearing loss associated with otitis media with
      effusion in children.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Otitis media with effusion (OME; 'glue ear') is common in childhood
      and surgical treatment with grommets (ventilation tubes) is widespread but
      controversial. OBJECTIVES: To assess the effectiveness of grommet insertion
      compared with myringotomy or non-surgical treatment in children with OME. SEARCH
      STRATEGY: We searched the Cochrane ENT Disorders Group Trials Register, other
      electronic databases and additional sources for published and unpublished trials
      (most recent search: 22 March 2010). SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomised controlled
      trials evaluating the effect of grommets. Outcomes studied included hearing
      level, duration of middle ear effusion, language and speech development,
      cognitive development, behaviour and adverse effects. DATA COLLECTION AND
      ANALYSIS: Data from studies were extracted by two authors and checked by the
      other authors. MAIN RESULTS: We included 10 trials (1728 participants). Some
      trials randomised children (grommets versus no grommets), others ears (grommet
      one ear only). The severity of OME in children varied between trials. Only one
      'by child' study (MRC: TARGET) had particularly stringent audiometric entry
      criteria. No trial was identified that used long-term grommets.Grommets were
      mainly beneficial in the first six months by which time natural resolution lead
      to improved hearing in the non-surgically treated children also. Only one high
      quality trial that randomised children (N = 211) reported results at three
      months; the mean hearing level was 12 dB better (95% CI 10 to 14 dB) in those
      treated with grommets as compared to the controls. Meta-analyses of three high
      quality trials (N = 523) showed a benefit of 4 dB (95% CI 2 to 6 dB) at six to
      nine months. At 12 and 18 months follow up no differences in mean hearing levels
      were found.Data from three trials that randomised ears (N = 230 ears) showed
      similar effects to the trials that randomised children. At four to six months
      mean hearing level was 10 dB better in the grommet ear (95% CI 5 to 16 dB), and
      at 7 to 12 months and 18 to 24 months was 6 dB (95% CI 2 to 10 dB) and 5 dB (95%
      CI 3 to 8 dB) dB better.No effect was found on language or speech development or
      for behaviour, cognitive or quality of life outcomes.Tympanosclerosis was seen in
      about a third of ears that received grommets. Otorrhoea was common in infants,
      but in older children (three to seven years) occurred in < 2% of grommet ears
      over two years of follow up. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: In children with OME the
      effect of grommets on hearing, as measured by standard tests, appears small and
      diminishes after six to nine months by which time natural resolution also leads
      to improved hearing in the non-surgically treated children. No effect was found
      on other child outcomes but data on these were sparse. No study has been
      performed in children with established speech, language, learning or
      developmental problems so no conclusions can be made regarding treatment of such
      children.

PMID- 20927727
TI  - WITHDRAWN: Haemophilus influenzae oral whole cell vaccination for preventing
      acute exacerbations of chronic bronchitis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Acute bronchitis leading to ongoing exacerbations is a serious
      condition predisposed to by viruses, bacteria or environmental factors. It can be
      fatal. Antibiotic therapy is not particularly useful. An oral Haemophilus
      influenzae vaccine has been developed. OBJECTIVES: To assess the effects of an
      oral, monobacterial whole-cell, killed, nontypeable H. influenzae vaccine in
      protecting against recurrent acute episodes in chronic bronchitis. SEARCH
      STRATEGY: In this updated review, we searched the Cochrane Central Register of
      Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) (The Cochrane Library Issue 1, 2006), MEDLINE (1966
      to January Week 4 2006), EMBASE (1990 to September 2005) and ISI Current Contents
      (2004 to May 2006). SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomised controlled trials (RCTs)
      comparing the effects of the H. influenzae vaccine on patients with recurrent
      acute exacerbations of chronic bronchitis were included when there was overt
      matching of the vaccine and placebo groups on clinical grounds. DATA COLLECTION
      AND ANALYSIS: Three authors extracted data and assessed trial quality
      independently from original records and publications for incidence and severity
      of bronchitis episodes and carriage rate of nontypeable H. influenzae measured in
      the upper respiratory tract every three months following vaccination. MAIN
      RESULTS: Six trials were included in the study with a total of 440 participants.
      The vaccine reduced the incidence of bronchitic episodes at three months after
      vaccination (rate ratio is 0.69; 95% CI 0.41 to 1.14) and at six months after
      vaccination (rate ratio 0.82; 95% CI 0.62 to 1.09). If these results been
      statistically significant, they would have represented a reduction in acute
      bronchitic attacks for vaccinated individuals of 31% at three months, and 18% at
      six. The effect had disappeared by nine months. The severity of exacerbations in
      the treatment group, as measured by requirement to prescribe antibiotics, was
      likewise reduced by 58% at three months (Peto odds ratio = 0.42; 95% CI 0.16 to
      1.13), and by 65% at six months (Peto odds ratio = 0.35; 95% CI 0.16 to 0.75).
      AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: Vaccinating patients with recurrent acute exacerbations of
      chronic bronchitis in the autumn may reduce the number and severity of
      exacerbations over the following winter. A large clinical trial is needed.

PMID- 20927728
TI  - Transfusion thresholds and other strategies for guiding allogeneic red blood cell
      transfusion.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Most clinical practice guidelines recommend restrictive red cell
      transfusion practices, with the goal of minimising exposure to allogeneic blood
      (from an unrelated donor). The purpose of this review is to compare clinical
      outcomes in patients randomised to restrictive versus liberal transfusion
      thresholds (triggers). OBJECTIVES: To examine the evidence for the effect of
      transfusion thresholds on the use of allogeneic and/or autologous blood, and the
      evidence for any effect on clinical outcomes. SEARCH STRATEGY: Trials were
      identified by: computer searches of the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled
      Trials (the Cochrane Library Issue 3, 2009), OVID MEDLINE (1966 to August 2009),
      Current Contents (1993 to November 2004), and the Web of Science (2004 to August
      2009). References in identified trials and review articles were checked and
      experts contacted to identify any additional trials. SELECTION CRITERIA:
      Controlled trials in which patients were randomised to an intervention group or
      to a control group. Trials were included where intervention groups were assigned
      on the basis of a clear transfusion 'trigger', described as a haemoglobin (Hb) or
      haematocrit (Hct) level below which an RBC transfusion was to be administered.
      DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Relative risks of requiring allogeneic blood
      transfusion, transfused blood volumes and other clinical outcomes were pooled
      across trials, using a random effects model. The risk of bias was assessed. MAIN
      RESULTS: Seventeen trials involving a total of 3746 patients were identified.
      Restrictive transfusion strategies reduced the risk of receiving a red blood cell
      (RBC) transfusion by a relative 37% (RR=0.63; 95% CI 0.54 to 0.74). This equates
      to an average absolute risk reduction (ARR) of 33% (95% CI 21% to 45%). The
      volume of RBCs transfused was reduced on average by 0.75 units (95% CI 0.20 to
      1.30 units). However, heterogeneity between trials was statistically significant
      (P<0.001; I2>=74%) for these outcomes. Restrictive transfusion strategies did not
      appear to impact on the rate of adverse events compared to liberal transfusion
      strategies (i.e. mortality, cardiac events, myocardial infarction, stroke,
      pneumonia and thromboembolism). Restrictive transfusion strategies were
      associated with a statistically significant reduction in the rates of infection
      (RR=0.76; 95% CI 0.60 to 0.97). The use of restrictive transfusion strategies did
      not reduce hospital or intensive care length of stay. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: The
      existing evidence supports the use of restrictive transfusion triggers in
      patients who are free of serious cardiac disease. The effects of conservative
      transfusion triggers on functional status, morbidity and mortality, particularly
      in patients with cardiac disease, need to be tested in further large clinical
      trials. In countries with inadequate screening of donor blood, the data may
      constitute a stronger basis for avoiding transfusion with allogeneic red cells.

PMID- 20927729
TI  - Sedatives for opiate withdrawal in newborn infants.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) due to opiate withdrawal may
      result in disruption of the mother-infant relationship, sleep-wake abnormalities,
      feeding difficulties, weight loss and seizures. Treatments used to ameliorate
      symptoms and reduce morbidity include opiates, sedatives and non-pharmacological
      treatments. OBJECTIVES: To assess the effectiveness and safety of using a
      sedative compared to a non-opiate control for NAS due to withdrawal from opiates,
      and to determine which type of sedative is most effective and safe. SEARCH
      STRATEGY: This update included searches of the Cochrane Central Register of
      Controlled Trials (Issue 1, 2010), MEDLINE 1966 to April 2010 and abstracts of
      conference proceedings. SELECTION CRITERIA: Trials enrolling infants with NAS
      born to mothers with an opiate dependence with > 80% follow-up and using random
      or quasi-random allocation to sedative or control. Control could include another
      sedative or non-pharmacological treatment. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Each
      author assessed study quality and extracted data independently. MAIN RESULTS:
      Seven studies enrolling 385 patients were included. There were substantial
      methodological concerns for most studies including the use of quasi-random
      allocation methods and sizeable, largely unexplained differences in reported
      numbers allocated to each group.One study reported phenobarbitone compared to
      supportive care alone did not reduce treatment failure or time to regain
      birthweight, but resulted in a significant reduction in duration of supportive
      care (MD -162.1 min/day, 95% CI -249.2, -75.1). Comparing phenobarbitone to
      diazepam, meta-analysis of two studies found phenobarbitone resulted in a
      significant reduction in treatment failure (typical RR 0.39, 95% CI 0.24, 0.62).
      Comparing phenobarbitone with chlorpromazine, one study reported no significant
      difference in treatment failure.In infants treated with an opiate, one study
      reported addition of clonidine resulted in no significant difference in treatment
      failure, seizures or mortality. In infants treated with an opiate, one study
      reported addition of phenobarbitone significantly reduced the proportion of time
      infants had a high abstinence severity score, duration of hospitalisation and
      maximal daily dose of opiate. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: Infants with NAS due to
      opiate withdrawal should receive initial treatment with an opiate. Where a
      sedative is used, phenobarbitone should be used in preference to diazepam. In
      infants treated with an opiate, the addition of phenobarbitone or clonidine may
      reduce withdrawal severity. Further studies are needed to determine the role of
      sedatives in infants with NAS due to opiate withdrawal and the safety and
      efficacy of adding phenobarbitone or clonidine in infants treated with an opiate
      for NAS.

PMID- 20927730
TI  - Opiate treatment for opiate withdrawal in newborn infants.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) due to opiate withdrawal may
      result in disruption of the mother-infant relationship, sleep-wake abnormalities,
      feeding difficulties, weight loss and seizures. OBJECTIVES: To assess the
      effectiveness and safety of using an opiate compared to a sedative or non
      pharmacological treatment for treatment of NAS due to withdrawal from opiates.
      SEARCH STRATEGY: The review was updated in 2010 with additional searches CENTRAL,
      MEDLINE and EMBASE supplemented by searches of conference abstracts and citation
      lists of published articles. SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomized or quasi-randomized
      controlled trials of opiate treatment in infants with NAS born to mothers with
      opiate dependence. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Each author assessed study
      quality and extracted data independently. MAIN RESULTS: Nine studies enrolling
      645 infants met inclusion criteria. There were substantial methodological
      concerns in all studies comparing an opiate with a sedative. Two small studies
      comparing different opiates were of good methodology.Opiate (morphine) versus
      supportive care (one study): A reduction in time to regain birth weight and
      duration of supportive care and a significant increase in hospital stay was
      noted.Opiate versus phenobarbitone (four studies): Meta-analysis found no
      significant difference in treatment failure. One study reported opiate treatment
      resulted in a significant reduction in treatment failure in infants of mothers
      using only opiates. One study reported a significant reduction in days treatment
      and admission to the nursery for infants receiving morphine. One study reported a
      reduction in seizures, of borderline statistical significance, with the use of
      opiate.Opiate versus diazepam (two studies): Meta-analysis found a significant
      reduction in treatment failure with the use of opiate.Different opiates (six
      studies): there is insufficient data to determine safety or efficacy of any
      specific opiate compared to another opiate. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: Opiates
      compared to supportive care may reduce time to regain birth weight and duration
      of supportive care but increase duration of hospital stay. When compared to
      phenobarbitone, opiates may reduce the incidence of seizures but there is no
      evidence of effect on treatment failure. One study reported a reduction in
      duration of treatment and nursery admission for infants on morphine. Compared to
      diazepam, opiates reduce the incidence of treatment failure. A post-hoc analysis
      generates the hypothesis that initial opiate treatment may be restricted to
      infants of mothers who used opiates only. In view of the methodologic limitations
      of the included studies the conclusions of this review should be treated with
      caution.

PMID- 20927731
TI  - Interventions for bullous pemphigoid.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Bullous pemphigoid (BP) is the most common autoimmune blistering
      disease in the West. Oral steroids are the standard treatment.This is an update
      of the review published in 2005. OBJECTIVES: To assess treatments for bullous
      pemphigoid. SEARCH STRATEGY: In August 2010 we updated our searches of the
      Cochrane Skin Group Specialised Register, the Cochrane Central Register of
      Controlled Trials (Clinical Trials), MEDLINE, EMBASE, and the Ongoing Trials
      registers. SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomised controlled trials of treatments for
      participants with immunofluorescence-confirmed bullous pemphigoid. DATA
      COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: At least two authors evaluated the studies for the
      inclusion criteria, and extracted data independently. MAIN RESULTS: We included
      10 randomised controlled trials (with a total of 1049 participants) of moderate
      to high risk of bias. All studies involved different comparisons, none had a
      placebo group. In 1 trial plasma exchange plus prednisone gave significantly
      better disease control at 1 month (0.3 mg/kg: RR 18.78, 95% CI 1.20 to 293.70)
      than prednisone alone (1.0 mg/kg: RR 1.79, 95% CI 1.11 to 2.90), while another
      trial showed no difference in disease control at 6 months.No differences in
      disease control were seen for different doses or formulations of prednisolone
      (one trial each), for azathioprine plus prednisone compared with prednisone alone
      (one trial), for prednisolone plus azathioprine compared with prednisolone plus
      plasma exchange (one trial), for prednisolone plus mycophenolate mofetil or plus
      azathioprine (one trial), for tetracycline plus nicotinamide compared with
      prednisolone (one trial). Chinese traditional medicine plus prednisone was not
      effective in one trial.There were no significant differences in healing in a
      comparison of a standard regimen of topical steroids (clobetasol) with a milder
      regimen (RR 1.00, 95% 0.97 to 1.03) in one trial. In another trial, clobetasol
      showed significantly more disease control than oral prednisolone in people with
      extensive and moderate disease (RR 1.09, 95% CI 1.02 to 1.17), with significantly
      reduced mortality and adverse events (RR 1.06, 95% CI 1.00 to 1.12). AUTHORS'
      CONCLUSIONS: Very potent topical steroids are effective and safe treatments for
      BP, but their use in extensive disease may be limited by side-effects and
      practical factors. Milder regimens (using lower doses of steroids) are safe and
      effective in moderate BP. Starting doses of prednisolone greater than 0.75
      mg/kg/day do not give additional benefit, lower doses may be adequate to control
      disease and reduce the incidence and severity of adverse reactions. The
      effectiveness of adding plasma exchange, azathioprine or mycophenolate mofetil to
      corticosteroids, and combination treatment with tetracycline and nicotinamide
      needs further investigation.

PMID- 20927732
TI  - Autologous chondrocyte implantation for full thickness articular cartilage
      defects of the knee.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Treatments for managing articular cartilage defects of the knee,
      including drilling and abrasion arthroplasty, are not always effective. When they
      are, long-term benefits may not be maintained and osteoarthritis may develop. An
      alternative is autologous chondrocyte implantation (ACI), the surgical
      implantation of healthy cartilage cells into the damaged areas. OBJECTIVES: To
      determine the efficacy and safety of ACI in people with full thickness articular
      cartilage defects of the knee. SEARCH STRATEGY: We searched the Cochrane Bone,
      Joint and Muscle Trauma Group Specialised Register (3 December 2008), the
      Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (The Cochrane Library 2008, Issue
      4), MEDLINE (1950 to November Week 3 2008), EMBASE (1980 to Week 48 2008),
      SPORTDiscus (3 December 2008), the WHO International Clinical Trials Registry
      Platform (4 December 2008), and Current Controlled Trials (3 December 2008).
      SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomised and quasi-randomised trials comparing ACI with any
      other type of treatment (including no treatment or placebo) for symptomatic
      cartilage defects of the medial or lateral femoral condyle, femoral trochlea or
      patella. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Review authors selected studies for
      inclusion independently. We assessed risk of bias based on adequacy of the
      randomisation and allocation concealment process, potential for selection bias
      after allocation and level of masking. We did not pool data due to clinical and
      methodological heterogeneity. MAIN RESULTS: Six heterogeneous trials were
      identified with 431 participants. Methodological flaws of the included trials
      included incomplete follow-up and inadequate reporting of outcomes. Three trials
      compared ACI versus mosaicplasty. One reported statistically significant results
      in favour of ACI at one year in the numbers of people with 'good' or 'excellent'
      functional results. Conversely, another trial found significant improvement for
      the mosaicplasty group when assessed using one functional scoring system at two
      years, but no statistically significant differences based on two other scoring
      systems. A third trial found no difference between ACI and mosaicplasty, 10
      months on average after the surgery.There was no statistically significant
      difference in functional outcomes at two years in single trials comparing ACI
      with microfracture or characterised chondrocyte implantation versus
      microfracture. The results of the sixth trial comparing matrix-guided ACI versus
      microfracture were undermined by the severe loss to follow-up. AUTHORS'
      CONCLUSIONS: There is insufficient evidence to draw conclusions on the use of ACI
      for treating full thickness articular cartilage defects in the knee. Further good
      quality randomised controlled trials with long-term functional outcomes are
      required.

PMID- 20927733
TI  - WITHDRAWN: Rehabilitation after surgery for flexor tendon injuries in the hand.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Postoperative rehabilitation of the flexor tendons in the hand
      consists of a short period of immobilisation while pain and swelling diminish,
      followed by progressive mobilisation to maximize the range of motion of the
      affected fingers. By altering the time of immobilisation and the manner of
      subsequent mobilisation different rehabilitation regimes are created. OBJECTIVES:
      To determine, with evidence from randomised controlled trials, the optimal
      rehabilitation strategy after surgery for flexor tendon injuries in the hand.
      SEARCH STRATEGY: We searched the Cochrane Bone, Joint and Muscle Trauma Group
      specialised register (November 2002), the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled
      Trials (The Cochrane Library, issue 4, 2002), MEDLINE (1966 to November 2002),
      EMBASE (1988 to November 2002), CINAHL (1982 to October 2002), CURRENT CONTENTS
      (1993 to October 2002), PEDro - The Physiotherapy Evidence Database
      (http://ptwww.cchs.usyd.edu.au/pedro/ accessed 30/10/2002) and reference lists of
      articles. SELECTION CRITERIA: All randomised and quasi-randomised controlled
      trials of interventions for rehabilitation after surgery of flexor tendon
      injuries in the hand after surgery. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two reviewers
      independently assessed trial quality, using a 10 item scale, and extracted data
      where possible. Additional information was sought from trialists when required.
      Due to the lack of extractable data and the variety of interventions used,
      pooling was not attempted. Where possible relative risks and 95 per cent
      confidence intervals were calculated for dichotomous outcomes, and mean
      differences and 95 per cent confidence intervals calculated for continuous
      outcomes. MAIN RESULTS: Six trials, including three reported only in abstracts,
      with a total of 464 participants were included. Data were not pooled. One trial
      compared continuous passive motion (CPM) with controlled intermittent passive
      motion (CIPM) and found a significant difference in mean active motion favouring
      CPM (WMD 19.00 degrees, 95% CI 15.11 to 22.89). One trial compared a shortened
      passive flexion/active extension programme with a normal passive flexion/active
      extension mobilisation programme, and reported (without data) a significant
      reduction in absence from work of 2.1 weeks in favour of the shortened programme.
      Other trials compared active flexion with rubber band traction, early controlled
      active mobilisation with early controlled passive mobilisation and dynamic
      splintage versus static splintage. No trials found significant differences in
      overall functioning or complication rate. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: Controlled
      mobilisation regimens are widely employed in rehabilitation after flexor tendon
      repair in the hand. This review found insufficient evidence from randomised
      controlled trials to define the best mobilisation strategy.

PMID- 20927734
TI  - Different antibiotic treatments for group A streptococcal pharyngitis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Antibiotics provide only modest benefit in treating sore throat,
      although effectiveness increases in participants with positive throat swabs for
      group A beta-haemolytic streptococci (GABHS). It is unclear which antibiotic is
      the best choice if antibiotics are indicated. OBJECTIVES: We assessed the
      comparative efficacy of different antibiotics on clinical outcomes, relapse,
      complications and adverse events in GABHS tonsillopharyngitis. SEARCH STRATEGY:
      We searched The Cochrane Library, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials
      (CENTRAL 2010, Issue 3) which includes the Acute Respiratory Infections Group's
      Specialised Register, MEDLINE (1966 to July Week 4, 2010) and EMBASE (1974 to
      August 2010). SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomised, double-blind trials comparing
      different antibiotics reporting at least one of the following: clinical cure,
      clinical relapse, complications, adverse events. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS:
      Two authors independently screened trials for inclusion and extracted data. MAIN
      RESULTS: Seventeen trials (5352 participants) were included; 16 compared with
      penicillin (six with cephalosporins, six with macrolides, three with carbacephem
      and one with sulfonamides), one trial compared clindamycin and ampicillin.
      Randomisation reporting, allocation concealment and blinding were poor.There was
      no difference in symptom resolution between cephalosporins and penicillin
      (intention-to-treat (ITT) analysis; N = 5; n = 2018; odds ratio for absence of
      resolution of symptoms (OR) 0.79, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.55 to 1.12).
      Clinical relapse was lower with cephalosporins (N = 4; n = 1386; OR 0.55, 95% CI
      0.31 to 0.99); overall number needed to treat to benefit (NNTB) 50), but found
      only in adults (OR 0.42, 95% CI 0.20 to 0.88; NNTB 33). There were no differences
      between macrolides and penicillin. Carbacephem showed better symptom resolution
      post-treatment (N = 3; n = 795; OR 0.70, 95% CI 0.49 to 0.99; NNTB 14), but only
      in children (N = 2; n = 233; OR 0.57, 95% CI 0.33 to 0.99; NNTB 8.3). Children
      experienced more adverse events with macrolides (N = 1, n = 489; OR 2.33; 95% CI
      1.06 to 5.15). AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: Evidence is insufficient for clinically
      meaningful differences between antibiotics for GABHS tonsillopharyngitis. Limited
      evidence in adults suggests cephalosporins are more effective than penicillin for
      relapse, but the NNTB is high. Limited evidence in children suggests carbacephem
      is more effective for symptom resolution. Data on complications are too scarce to
      draw conclusions. Based on these results and considering the low cost and absence
      of resistance, penicillin can still be recommended as first choice.

PMID- 20927735
TI  - Phytomedicines (medicines derived from plants) for sickle cell disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sickle cell disease (SCD), a common recessively inherited haemoglobin
      disorder, affects people from sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, Mediterranean
      basin, Indian subcontinent, Caribbeans and South America. It is associated with
      complications and a reduced life expectancy. Phytomedicines (medicine derived
      from plants in their original state) encompass many of the plant remedies from
      traditional healers which the populations most affected would encounter. There
      has been little systematic appraisal of their benefits. OBJECTIVES: To assess the
      benefits and risks of phytomedicines in people with SCD of all types, of any age,
      in any setting. SEARCH STRATEGY: We searched the Cochrane Cystic Fibrosis and
      Genetic Disorders Group Haemoglobinopathies Trials Register and the ISRCTN
      Register for all publication years; AMED was searched by the previous authors for
      an earlier version of this review for the period 1985 to August 2003.Dates of
      most recent searches:Haemoglobinopathies Trials Register: 07 July 2010;ISRCTN: 28
      December 2009;AMED: August 2003. SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomised or quasi
      randomised trials with participants of all ages with SCD, in all settings,
      comparing the administration of phytomedicines, by any mode to placebo or
      conventional treatment, including blood transfusion and hydroxyurea. DATA
      COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Both authors independently assessed trial quality and
      extracted data. MAIN RESULTS: Two trials (182 participants) and two
      phytomedicines Niprisan((r)) (also known as Nicosan((r))) and Ciklavit((r))) were
      included. The Phase IIB (pivotal) trial suggests that Niprisan((r)) was effective
      in reducing episodes of severe painful SCD crisis over a six-month period. It did
      not affect the risk of severe complications or the level of anaemia. No serious
      adverse effects were reported. The single trial of Cajanus cajan (Ciklavit((r)))
      reported a possible benefit to individuals with painful crises, and a possible
      adverse effect (non-significant) on the level of anaemia. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS:
      While Niprisan((r)) appeared to be safe and effective in reducing severe painful
      crises over a six-month follow-up period, further trials are required to assess
      its role in the management of people with SCD and the results of its multicentre
      trials are awaited. Currently no conclusions can be made regarding the efficacy
      of Ciklavit((r)). Based on the published results for Niprisan((r)) and in view of
      the limitations in data collection and analysis of both trials, phytomedicines
      may have a potential beneficial effect in reducing painful crises in SCD. This
      needs to be further validated in future trials. More trials are required on the
      safety and efficacy of phytomedicines in managing SCD.

PMID- 20927736
TI  - Speed cameras for the prevention of road traffic injuries and deaths.
AB  - BACKGROUND: It is estimated that by 2020, road traffic crashes will have moved
      from ninth to third in the world ranking of burden of disease, as measured in
      disability adjusted life years. The prevention of road traffic injuries is of
      global public health importance. Measures aimed at reducing traffic speed are
      considered essential to preventing road injuries; the use of speed cameras is one
      such measure. OBJECTIVES: To assess whether the use of speed cameras reduces the
      incidence of speeding, road traffic crashes, injuries and deaths. SEARCH
      STRATEGY: We searched the following electronic databases covering all available
      years up to March 2010; the Cochrane Library, MEDLINE (WebSPIRS), EMBASE
      (WebSPIRS), TRANSPORT, IRRD (International Road Research Documentation), TRANSDOC
      (European Conference of Ministers of Transport databases), Web of Science
      (Science and Social Science Citation Index), PsycINFO, CINAHL, EconLit, WHO
      database, Sociological Abstracts, Dissertation Abstracts, Index to Theses.
      SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomised controlled trials, interrupted time series and
      controlled before-after studies that assessed the impact of speed cameras on
      speeding, road crashes, crashes causing injury and fatalities were eligible for
      inclusion. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: We independently screened studies for
      inclusion, extracted data, assessed methodological quality, reported study
      authors' outcomes and where possible, calculated standardised results based on
      the information available in each study. Due to considerable heterogeneity
      between and within included studies, a meta-analysis was not appropriate. MAIN
      RESULTS: Thirty five studies met the inclusion criteria. Compared with controls,
      the relative reduction in average speed ranged from 1% to 15% and the reduction
      in proportion of vehicles speeding ranged from 14% to 65%. In the vicinity of
      camera sites, the pre/post reductions ranged from 8% to 49% for all crashes and
      11% to 44% for fatal and serious injury crashes. Compared with controls, the
      relative improvement in pre/post injury crash proportions ranged from 8% to 50%.
      AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: Despite the methodological limitations and the variability
      in degree of signal to noise effect, the consistency of reported reductions in
      speed and crash outcomes across all studies show that speed cameras are a
      worthwhile intervention for reducing the number of road traffic injuries and
      deaths. However, whilst the the evidence base clearly demonstrates a positive
      direction in the effect, an overall magnitude of this effect is currently not
      deducible due to heterogeneity and lack of methodological rigour. More studies of
      a scientifically rigorous and homogenous nature are necessary, to provide the
      answer to the magnitude of effect.

PMID- 20927737
TI  - Pharmacological interventions for pain in patients with temporomandibular
      disorders.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Temporomandibular disorders (TMD) are a group of disorders affecting
      the temporomandibular joints and the muscles of mastication. TMDs are treated
      with a wide range of drugs. The extent to which the use of these drugs is based
      upon evidence is unknown. OBJECTIVES: To assess the effectiveness of
      pharmacological interventions both alone and in combination with non
      pharmacological therapy in relieving pain in patients with chronic TMD. SEARCH
      STRATEGY: Electronic searches of the Cochrane Oral Health Group's Trials Register
      (2 August 2010), CENTRAL (The Cochrane Library 2010, Issue 3), MEDLINE via OVID
      (1950 to 2 August 2010), EMBASE via OVID (1980 to 2 August 2010) and CINAHL via
      EBSCO (1981 to 2 August 2010) were conducted. Reference lists of articles and
      previous reviews were scanned for relevant articles and authors were contacted
      for further information where appropriate. SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomised
      controlled trials (RCTs) in which a pharmacological agent was compared with
      placebo for the management of pain in patients with TMD. Parenteral routes of
      administration were excluded. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Duplicate data
      extraction and assessment of risk of bias in included studies was performed. MAIN
      RESULTS: Eleven studies were included with a total of 496 participants. The
      primary outcome of most of the studies was pain. The risk of bias in the included
      studies was variable. Whilst four studies showed significant pain relief for the
      active treatment, three were of poor quality. Most adverse effects were mild to
      moderate in severity. Four studies reported withdrawals due to severe adverse
      reactions, but insufficient information was provided regarding the trial groups
      from which the withdrawals occurred. No meta-analysis was conducted due to lack
      of similarities across the included studies. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: There is
      insufficient evidence to support or not support the effectiveness of the reported
      drugs for the management of pain due to TMD. There is a need for high quality
      RCTs to derive evidence of the effectiveness of pharmacological interventions to
      treat pain associated with TMD.

PMID- 20927738
TI  - WITHDRAWN: Self-management education for adults with epilepsy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Self-management education has been shown to improve the quality of
      life of people with chronic illnesses. It has been suggested that self-management
      education may improve seizure control and other outcomes in people with epilepsy.
      OBJECTIVES: To review systematically the research literature on the effectiveness
      of self-management education in improving health outcomes for adults with
      epilepsy. SEARCH STRATEGY: We searched MEDLINE (Ovid) (1966 to April 2005),
      EMBASE (Ovid) (1980 to April 2005), CINAHL (Dialog) (1980 to April 2005),
      PsycINFO (Dialog) (1887 to April 2005), and the Cochrane Epilepsy Group's
      Specialised Register (April 2005). We also handsearched Epilepsia and conference
      abstracts and proceedings. Experts in the field were contacted to identify any
      additional trials. We did not impose any language restriction. We re-ran the
      searches in February 2007 and added the identified references to the 'Studies
      awaiting assessment' table. SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomised trials of self
      management education programmes for adults with epilepsy. DATA COLLECTION AND
      ANALYSIS: At least two review authors independently assessed the quality of each
      study and extracted data. MAIN RESULTS: Two trials evaluated the effect of self
      management education for adults with epilepsy, neither of which assessed as being
      of high quality. In total, 483 adults with epilepsy were randomised. Both trials
      showed improvements in seizure frequency and other outcomes, such as knowledge.
      However, we were not able to estimate a summary effect for seizure frequency due
      to a lack of data. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: Self-management education programmes,
      based on increasing understanding through psychosocial methods, may improve
      knowledge about epilepsy, certain behavioural outcomes, and reduce seizure
      frequency. It is, however, not clear how effective self-management programmes of
      epilepsy would be in a more general population of adults with epilepsy, as both
      trials had higher proportions of people with partial seizures than would be
      expected in a community sample.

PMID- 20927739
TI  - WITHDRAWN: Self-management education for children with epilepsy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Self-management education has been shown to improve the quality of
      life of children and young people with chronic illnesses. It has been suggested
      that self-management education may improve seizure control and other outcomes in
      children and young people with epilepsy. OBJECTIVES: To review systematically the
      research literature on the effectiveness of self-management education in
      improving health outcomes for children and young people with epilepsy. SEARCH
      STRATEGY: We searched the Cochrane Epilepsy Group's Specialised Register
      (February 2007), MEDLINE (Ovid) (1966 to February 2007), EMBASE (Ovid) (1980 to
      February 2007), CINAHL (Dialog) (1980 to February 2007), and PsycINFO (Dialog)
      (1887 to February 2007). We also handsearched Epilepsia and conference abstracts
      and proceedings. Experts in the field were contacted to identify any additional
      trials. No language restriction was imposed. SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomised
      trials of self-management education programmes for children or young people with
      epilepsy. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: At least two review authors independently
      assessed the quality of each study and extracted data. MAIN RESULTS: Only one
      trial involving 167 children was identified that evaluated the effect of a child
      centred model of training for the self-management of two chronic illnesses,
      asthma and epilepsy. The trial was not assessed as being of high quality and the
      methods used to analyse and report the data did not enable us to precisely
      determine the effect of the intervention. However, improvements were seen in
      seizure frequency and other outcomes, such as knowledge and behaviour. AUTHORS'
      CONCLUSIONS: Self-management education programmes that deliver a child-centred
      model of training, may improve knowledge about epilepsy, certain behavioural
      outcomes, and reduce seizure frequency in children and young people with
      epilepsy. However, based on the evidence reviewed, we are not able to determine
      how effective it is, or what the key components of the programme should be.

PMID- 20927740
TI  - Glucocorticoids for acute viral bronchiolitis in infants and young children.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Previous systematic reviews have not shown clear benefit of
      glucocorticoids for acute viral bronchiolitis, but their use remains
      considerable. Recent large trials add substantially to current evidence and
      suggest novel glucocorticoid-including treatment approaches. OBJECTIVES: To
      review the efficacy and safety of systemic and inhaled glucocorticoids in
      children with acute viral bronchiolitis. SEARCH STRATEGY: We searched the
      Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (The Cochrane Library 2009, issue
      4); MEDLINE (1950 to November 2009); EMBASE (1980 to Week 47 2009); LILACS (1982
      to November 2009); Scopus(r) (1823 to November 2009); and IRAN MedEx (1998 to
      November 2009). SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) comparing
      short-term systemic or inhaled glucocorticoids versus placebo or another
      intervention in children < 24 months with acute bronchiolitis (first episode with
      wheezing). Our primary outcomes were: admissions by days 1 and 7 for outpatient
      studies; and length of stay (LOS) for inpatient studies. Secondary outcomes
      included clinical severity parameters, healthcare use, pulmonary function,
      symptoms, quality of life and harms. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two authors
      independently extracted data on study and participant characteristics,
      interventions and outcomes. We assessed risk of bias and graded strength of
      evidence. Inpatient and outpatient results were meta-analysed separately using
      random-effects models. We pre-specified subgroup analyses, including the combined
      use of protocolised bronchodilators. MAIN RESULTS: We included 17 trials (2596
      participants); only two had low overall risk of bias. Baseline severity,
      glucocorticoid schemes, comparators and outcomes were heterogeneous.
      Glucocorticoids did not significantly reduce outpatient admissions by days 1 and
      7 when compared to placebo (pooled risk ratios (RRs) 0.92; 95% CI 0.78 to 1.08;
      and 0.86; 95% CI 0.7 to 1.06, respectively). There was no benefit in LOS for
      inpatients (mean difference -0.18 days; 95% CI -0.39 to 0.04). Unadjusted results
      from a large factorial low risk of bias RCT found combined high-dose systemic
      dexamethasone and inhaled epinephrine reduced admissions by day 7 (baseline risk
      of admission 26%; RR 0.65, 95% CI 0.44 to 0.95; number needed to treat 11, 95% CI
      7 to 76), with no differences in short-term adverse effects. No other comparisons
      showed relevant differences in primary outcomes. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: Current
      evidence does not support a clinically relevant effect of systemic or inhaled
      glucocorticoids on admissions or length of hospitalization. Combined
      dexamethasone and epinephrine may reduce outpatient admissions, but results are
      exploratory and safety data limited. Future research should further assess the
      efficacy, harms and applicability of combined therapy.

PMID- 20927741
TI  - Motorcycle rider training for the prevention of road traffic crashes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Riding a motorcycle (a two-wheeled vehicle that is powered by a motor
      and has no pedals) is associated with a high risk of fatal crashes, particularly
      in new riders. Motorcycle rider training has therefore been suggested as an
      important means of reducing the number of crashes, and the severity of injuries.
      OBJECTIVES: To quantify the effectiveness of pre- and post-licence motorcycle
      rider training on the reduction of traffic offences, traffic crash involvement,
      injuries and deaths of motorcycle riders. SEARCH STRATEGY: We searched the
      Cochrane Injuries Group Specialised Register, CENTRAL (The Cochrane Library 2008,
      Issue 3), TRANSPORT, MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, WHOLIS (World Health Organization
      Library Information System), PsycInfo, LILACS (Latin American and Caribbean
      Health Sciences), ISI Web of Science: Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI),
      ERIC, ZETOC and SIGLE. Database searches covered all available dates up to
      October 2008. We also checked reference lists of relevant papers and contacted
      study authors in an effort to identify published, unpublished and ongoing trials
      related to motorcycle rider training. SELECTION CRITERIA: We included all
      relevant intervention studies such as randomised and non-randomised controlled
      trials, interrupted time-series and observational studies such as cohort and case
      control studies. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two review authors independently
      analysed data about the study population, study design and methods, interventions
      and outcome measures as well as data quality from each included study, and
      compared the findings. We resolved differences by discussion with a third review
      author. MAIN RESULTS: We reviewed 23 studies: three randomised trials, two non
      randomised trials, 14 cohort studies and four case-control studies. Five examined
      mandatory pre-licence training, 14 assessed non-mandatory training, three of the
      case-control studies assessed 'any' type of rider training, and one case-control
      study assessed mandatory pre-licence training and non-mandatory training. The
      types of assessed rider training varied in duration and content.Most studies
      suffered from serious methodological weaknesses. Most studies were non-randomised
      and controlled poorly for confounders. Most studies also suffered from detection
      bias due to the poor use of outcome measurement tools such as the sole reliance
      upon police records or self-reported data. Small sample sizes and short follow-up
      time after training were also common. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: Due to the poor
      quality of studies identified, we were unable to draw any conclusions about the
      effectiveness of rider training on crash, injury, or offence rates. The findings
      suggest that mandatory pre-licence training may be an impediment to completing a
      motorcycle licensing process, possibly indirectly reducing crashes through a
      reduction in exposure. It is not clear if training (or what type) reduces the
      risk of crashes, injuries or offences in motorcyclists, and a best rider training
      practice can therefore not be recommended. As some type of rider training is
      likely to be necessary to teach motorcyclists to ride a motorcycle safely,
      rigorous research is needed.

PMID- 20927742
TI  - Symphysiotomy for feto-pelvic disproportion.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Symphysiotomy is an operation in which the fibres of the pubic
      symphysis are partially divided to allow separation of the joint and thus
      enlargement of the pelvic dimensions during childbirth. It is performed with
      local analgesia and does not require an operating theatre nor advanced surgical
      skills. It may be a lifesaving procedure for the mother or the baby, or both, in
      several clinical situations. These include: failure to progress in labour when
      caesarean section is unavailable, unsafe or declined by the mother; and
      obstructed birth of the aftercoming head of a breech presenting baby. Criticism
      of the operation because of complications, particularly pelvic instability, and
      as being a 'second best' option has resulted in its decline or disappearance from
      use in many countries. Several large observational studies have reported high
      rates of success, low rates of complications and very low mortality rates.
      OBJECTIVES: To determine, from the best available evidence, the effectiveness and
      safety of symphysiotomy versus alternative options for obstructed labour in
      various clinical situations. SEARCH STRATEGY: We searched the Cochrane Pregnancy
      and Childbirth Group's Trials Register (31 August 2010), the Cochrane Central
      Register of Controlled Trials (The Cochrane Library 2010, Issue 3) and PubMed
      (1966 to 31 August 2010). SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomized trials comparing
      symphysiotomy with alternative management, or alternative techniques of
      symphysiotomy, for obstructed labour or obstructed aftercoming head during breech
      birth. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Planned methods included evaluation of
      studies against objective quality criteria for inclusion, extraction of data, and
      analysis of data using risk ratios or mean differences with 95% confidence
      intervals. The primary outcomes were maternal death or severe morbidity, and
      perinatal death or severe morbidity. MAIN RESULTS: We found no randomized trials
      of symphysiotomy. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: Because of controversy surrounding the
      use of symphysiotomy, and the possibility that it may be a life-saving procedure
      in certain circumstances, professional and global bodies should provide
      guidelines for the use (or non-use) of symphysiotomy based on the best available
      evidence (currently evidence from observational studies). Research is needed to
      provide robust evidence of the effectiveness and safety of symphysiotomy compared
      with no symphysiotomy or comparisons of alternative symphysiotomy techniques in
      clinical situations in which caesarean section is not available; and compared
      with caesarean section in clinical situations in which the relative risks and
      benefits are uncertain (for example in women at very high risk of complications
      from caesarean section).

PMID- 20927743
TI  - Vitamin A supplementation for postpartum women.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In vitamin A deficient populations, the amount of vitamin A may be
      insufficient for maintenance of maternal health and levels in breast milk may be
      insufficient for breastfeeding infants' needs. OBJECTIVES: To assess the effects
      of postpartum maternal vitamin A supplementation on maternal and infant health.
      SEARCH STRATEGY: We searched the Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth Group's Trials
      Register (31 July 2010), LILACS (1982 to July 2010), Web of Science (1945 to July
      2010) and Biological Abstracts (1998 to July 2010). SELECTION CRITERIA:
      Randomised controlled trials evaluating the effects of postpartum maternal
      vitamin A supplementation. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two review authors
      assessed the studies independently. MAIN RESULTS: We included 12 trials at
      moderate risk of bias, enrolling 25,465 mother-baby pairs and comparing several
      postpartum doses (200,000-400,000 IU) of vitamin A or 7.8 mg daily beta-carotene,
      with placebo, iron or no supplement; or higher (400,000 IU) versus lower dose
      (200,000 IU). The majority of infants in all studies were at least partially
      breastfed for six months.Maternal: we observed no impact of vitamin A on maternal
      mortality (two trials of 9,126 women), morbidity (one trial of 50 women) or
      adverse effects (subset of 786 women in one trial). Vitamin A enhanced serum and
      breast milk retinol at three months in five trials, but these improvements were
      generally not sustained.Infant: we observed no significant differences for infant
      mortality RR 1.14 95% CI 0.84 to 1.57 (five trials (6,170 infants) or morbidity
      (three trials) except for fewer episodes of fever with vitamin A in one small
      trial. No significant differences in infant vitamin A status were seen with
      maternal vitamin A supplementation (five trials).No beneficial effects for
      maternal or infant health were associated with higher compared to lower doses of
      vitamin A in two trials. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: The lack of effect on maternal and
      infant mortality and morbidity, with exception of some improved infant morbidity
      in one small study, and the improvement in maternal vitamin A status, suggest
      that maternal postpartum vitamin A supplementation offers limited benefits.

PMID- 20927744
TI  - Interval debulking surgery for advanced epithelial ovarian cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Interval debulking surgery (IDS), following induction or neoadjuvant
      chemotherapy, may have a possible role in treating advanced epithelial ovarian
      cancer (stage III to IV) where primary debulking surgery is not an option.
      OBJECTIVES: To assess the effectiveness and complications of IDS for patients
      with advanced stage epithelial ovarian cancer. SEARCH STRATEGY: We searched the
      Cochrane Gynaecological Cancer Group's Specialised Register to July 2009, the
      Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) Issue 2, 2009, MEDLINE
      from January 1966 to June week 4 2009, and EMBASE from January 1966 to week 27
      2009. SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) comparing survival
      of women with advanced epithelial ovarian cancer, who had IDS performed between
      cycles of chemotherapy after primary surgery with survival of women who had
      conventional treatment (primary debulking surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy).
      DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two review authors independently assessed trial
      quality and extracted data. Searches for additional information from study
      authors were attempted. Meta-analysis of overall and progression-free survival
      (PFS) were performed using random-effects models. MAIN RESULTS: Three RCTs
      randomising 853 women, of whom 781 were evaluated, met the inclusion criteria.
      Meta-analysis of three trials for overall survival (OS) found no statistically
      significant difference between IDS and chemotherapy alone (hazard ratio (HR) =
      0.80, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.61 to 1.06, I(2) = 58%). Subgroup analysis
      for OS in two trials, where the primary surgery was not performed by gynaecologic
      oncologists or was less extensive, showed a benefit of IDS: HR = 0.68, 95% CI
      0.53 to 0.87, I(2) = 0%). Meta-analysis of two trials for progression-free
      survival (PFS) found no statistically significant difference between IDS and
      chemotherapy alone (HR = 0.88, 95% CI 0.57 to 1.33, I(2) = 83%). Rates of toxic
      reactions to chemotherapy were similar in both arms (risk ratio = 1.19, 95% CI
      0.53 to 2.66, I(2) = 0%), but little information was available for other adverse
      events or quality or life. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: No conclusive evidence was found
      to determine whether IDS between cycles of chemotherapy would improve or decrease
      the survival rates of women with advanced ovarian cancer, compared with
      conventional treatment of primary surgery followed by adjuvant chemotherapy. IDS
      appeared to yield benefit only in patients whose primary surgery was not
      performed by gynaecologic oncologists or was less extensive. Data on QoL and
      adverse events were inconclusive.

PMID- 20927745
TI  - Finasteride for benign prostatic hyperplasia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), a non-malignant enlargement of
      the prostate in aging men, can cause bothersome urinary symptoms (intermittency,
      weak stream, straining, urgency, frequency, incomplete emptying). Finasteride, a
      five-alpha reductase inhibitor (5ARI), blocks the conversion of testosterone to
      dihydrotestosterone, reduces prostate size, and is commonly used to treat
      symptoms associated with BPH. OBJECTIVES: To compare the clinical effectiveness
      and harms of finasteride versus placebo and active controls in the treatment of
      lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS). SEARCH STRATEGY: We searched The Cochrane
      Library (which includes CDSR (Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews), DARE
      (Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects), HTA (Heath Technology
      Assessments), and CENTRAL (Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and
      which includes EMBASE and MEDLINE), LILACS (Latin American and Caribbean Center
      on Health Sciences Information) and Google Scholar for randomized, controlled
      trials (RCTs). We also handsearched systematic reviews, references, and clinical
      practice guidelines. SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomized trials in the English
      language with placebo and/or active arms with a duration of at least 6 months.
      DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: JT extracted the data, which included patient
      characteristics, outcomes, and harms. Our primary outcome was change in a
      validated, urinary symptom-scale score, such as the AUA/IPSS. A clinically
      meaningful change was defined as 4 points. We also categorized outcomes by trial
      lengths of <= 1 year (short term) and > 1 year (long term). MAIN RESULTS:
      Finasteride consistently improved urinary symptom scores more than placebo in
      trials of > 1 year duration, and significantly lowered the risk of BPH
      progression (acute urinary retention, risk of surgical intervention, >= 4 point
      increase in the AUASI/IPSS). In comparison to alpha-blocker monotherapy,
      finasteride was less effective than either doxazosin or terazosin, but equally
      effective compared to tamsulosin. Both doxazosin and terazosin were significantly
      more likely than finasteride to improve peak urine flow and nocturia, versus
      finasteride. Versus tamsulosin, peak urine flow and QoL improved equally well
      versus finasteride. However, finasteride was associated with a lower risk of
      surgical intervention compared to doxazosin, but not to terazosin, while
      finasteride and doxazosin were no different for risk of acute urinary retention.
      Two small trials reported no difference in urinary symptom scores between
      finasteride and tamsulosin. Finasteride + doxazosin and doxazosin monotherapy
      improved urinary symptoms equally well (>= 4 point improvement).For finasteride,
      there was an increased risk of ejaculation disorder, impotence, and lowered
      libido, versus placebo. Versus doxazosin, finasteride had a lower risk of
      asthenia, dizziness, and postural hypotension, and versus terazosin, finasteride
      had a significant, lower risk of asthenia, dizziness, and postural hypotension.
      AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: Finasteride improves long-term urinary symptoms versus
      placebo, but is less effective than doxazosin. Long-term combination therapy with
      alpha blockers (doxazosin, terazosin) improves symptoms significantly better than
      finasteride monotherapy. Finasteride + doxazosin improves symptoms equally - and
      clinically - to doxazosin alone. In comparison to doxazosin, finasteride +
      doxazosin appears to improve urinary symptoms only in men with medium (25 to < 40
      mL) or large prostates (>= 40 mL), but not in men with small prostates (25
      mL).Comparing short to long-term therapy, finasteride does not improve symptoms
      significantly better than placebo at the short term, but in the long term it
      does, although the magnitude of differences was very small (from < 1.0 point to
      2.2 points). Doxazosin improves symptoms better than finasteride both short and
      long term, with the magnitude of differences ~2.0 points and 1.0 point,
      respectively. Finasteride + doxazosin improves scores versus finasteride alone at
      both short and long term, with mean differences ~2.0 points for both time points.
      Finasteride + doxazosin versus doxazosin improves scores equally for short and
      long term.Drug-related adverse effects for finasteride are rare; nevertheless,
      men taking finasteride are at increased risk for impotence, erectile dysfunction,
      decreased libido, and ejaculation disorder, versus placebo. Versus doxazosin,
      which has higher rates of dizziness, postural hypotension, and asthenia, men
      taking finasteride are at increased risk for impotence, erectile dysfunction,
      decreased libido, and ejaculation disorder. Finasteride significantly reduces
      asthenia, postural hypotension, and dizziness versus terazosin. Finasteride
      significantly lowers the risk of asthenia, dizziness, ejaculation disorder, and
      postural hypotension, versus finasteride + terazosin.

PMID- 20927746
TI  - Chromoscopy versus conventional endoscopy for the detection of polyps in the
      colon and rectum.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although conventional colonoscopy is the most sensitive test
      available for the investigation of the colorectum for polyps, there are data that
      raise concerns about its sensitivity. Chromoscopy may be one way of enhancing the
      ability for colonoscopy to detect polyps particularly diminutive flat lesions
      that may be otherwise difficult to detect. OBJECTIVES: To determine whether the
      use of chromoscopy enhances detection of polyps and neoplasia during endoscopic
      examination of the colon and rectum. SEARCH STRATEGY: MEDLINE, EMBASE and the
      Cochrane Library databases were searched (April 2010) along with a hand search of
      abstracts from relevant meetings. Search terms included randomised trials
      containing combinations of the following: 'chromoscopy' 'colonoscopy' 'dye-spray'
      'chromo-endoscopy' 'indigo-carmine' 'magnifying endoscopy'. SELECTION CRITERIA:
      All prospective randomised trials comparing chromoscopic with conventional
      endoscopic examination of the lower gastrointestinal tract were included.
      Patients with inflammatory bowel disease or polyposis syndromes were excluded.
      DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two reviewers assessed the methodological quality
      of potentially eligible trials and independently extracted data from the included
      trials. Outcome measures included the detection of polyps (neoplastic and non
      neoplastic), the detection of diminutive lesions, the number of patients with
      multiple neoplastic lesions and the extubation time. MAIN RESULTS: Five trials
      were included in this update, and although there were some methodological
      drawbacks and differences in study design, combining the results showed a
      significant difference in favour of chromoscopy for all detection outcomes. In
      particular, chromoscopy is likely to yield significantly more patients with at
      least one neoplastic lesion (OR 1.67 (CI 1.29-2.15)) and significantly more
      patients with three or more neoplastic lesions (OR 2.55 (CI 1.49-4.36)). Not
      surprisingly the withdrawal times were significantly slower for the chromoscopy
      group. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: There appears to be strong evidence that chromoscopy
      enhances the detection of neoplasia in the colon and rectum. Patients with
      neoplastic polyps, particularly those with multiple polyps, are at increased risk
      of developing colorectal cancer. Such lesions, which presumably would be missed
      with conventional colonoscopy, could contribute to the interval cancer numbers on
      any surveillance programme.

PMID- 20927747
TI  - Hand assisted laparoscopic surgery versus conventional laparoscopy for colorectal
      surgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Laparoscopic surgery for colon disease has been shown to have
      advantages over the open approach in the perioperative period in terms of shorter
      hospital stay, decreased analgesic use and a more rapid return of bowel function
      but provides these benefits at the expense of increased technical difficulty and
      operative time. Hand assisted surgery which a is a hybrid of open surgery and
      laparoscopic surgery may offer patients the perioperative advantages of minimally
      invasive surgery without the technical difficulty and increased operative time
      associated with the conventional laparoscopic approach. This review compares the
      benefits and harms of laparoscopic and hand assisted laparoscopic surgery for
      colon disease. OBJECTIVES: To estimate the perioperative outcomes of hand
      assisted laparoscopic surgery compared to conventional laparoscopic surgery in
      adult patients requiring colorectal resections. SEARCH STRATEGY: We searched
      EMBASE (1980- Feb 2010), Medline (1966- Feb 2010) and the Cochrane Central
      Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL, 2010 issue 1), references of included
      studies, relevant review articles and conference abstracts. SELECTION CRITERIA:
      Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) in which adult patients were allocated to
      either receive hand-assisted laparoscopic surgery or conventional laparoscopic
      colorectal resection for benign or malignant colorectal disease. Studies were not
      restricted by language of publication. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Reports of
      potentially relevant articles were retrieved in full text, and two reviewers
      independently assessed the eligibility of these studies. Data abstraction was
      performed independently by two reviewers. Meta-analysis of perioperative outcome
      measures was carried out using a random effects model.  MAIN RESULTS: Three
      randomised controlled studies met the inclusion criteria (n=189). One study
      focused exclusively on malignant pathology, the second study focused mostly on
      benign pathology and the third trial had a mixed variety of pathology with
      approximately a third representing malignant pathology. Conversion rates were
      significantly decreased in patients undergoing hand assisted surgery but there
      was no statistically significant difference in operative time or complication
      rates when comparing hand assisted surgery to conventional laparoscopy.  All
      studies were associated with methodological limitations.    AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS:
      Despite the limited number of trials performed, meta-analysis demonstrated a
      statistically significant decrease in conversion rates among the hand assisted
      group. There was no difference in operating time or perioperative complication
      rates.  Additional adequately powered and methodologically sound trials are
      needed to determine if there is a clinically important difference in
      perioperative outcomes.  Due to significant costs associated with the use of hand
      assist devices, economic analyses are also warranted. 

PMID- 20927748
TI  - Zotepine versus other atypical antipsychotics for schizophrenia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In many parts of the world, particularly in industrialised countries,
      second generation (atypical) antipsychotic drugs have become first line treatment
      for people suffering from schizophrenia. The question as to whether the effects
      of various second generation antipsychotic drugs differ is a matter of debate.
      OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the effects of zotepine compared with other second
      generation antipsychotic drugs for people suffering from schizophrenia and
      schizophrenia-like psychoses. SEARCH STRATEGY: We searched the Cochrane
      Schizophrenia Group Trials Register (November 2009), inspected references of all
      identified studies for further trials and contacted authors of trials for
      additional information. SELECTION CRITERIA: We included only randomised clinical
      controlled trials that compared zotepine with any forms of amisulpride,
      aripiprazole, clozapine, olanzapine, risperidone, sertindole or ziprasidone in
      people suffering from only schizophrenia or schizophrenia-like psychoses. DATA
      COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: SS and KK extracted data independently. For dichotomous
      data we calculated relative risks (RR) and their 95% confidence intervals (CI) on
      an intention-to-treat basis based on a random-effects model. For continuous data,
      we calculated weighted mean differences (MD) again based on a random-effects
      model. MAIN RESULTS: We included three studies (total n=289; 2 RCTs zotepine vs
      clozapine; 1 RCT zotepine vs clozapine vs risperidone (at 4 mg, 8 mg doses) vs
      remoxipride. All studies were of limited methodological quality. When zotepine
      was compared with clozapine, it was clozapine that was found to be more effective
      in terms of global state (n=59, 1 RCT, RR No clinically significant response 8.23
      CI 1.14 to 59.17). Mental state scores also favoured clozapine (n=59, 1 RCT, MD
      average score (BPRS total, high = poor) 6.00 CI 2.17 to 9.83) and there was less
      use of antiparkinson medication in the clozapine group (n=116, 2 RCTs, RR 20.96
      CI 2.89 to 151.90). In the comparison of zotepine and risperidone, mental state
      scoring found no significant difference between the groups (vs 4 mg: n=40, 1 RCT,
      MD average endpoint score (BPRS total, high=poor) 1.40 CI -9.82 to 12.62; vs 8
      mg: n=40, 1 RCT, MD -1.30 CI -12.95 to 10.35) and use of antiparkinson medication
      was equivocal (vs 4 mg: n=40, 1 RCT, MD 1.80 CI -0.64 to 4.24; vs 8 mg: n=40, 1
      RCT, MD 2.50 CI -0.05 to 5.05). Finally, when zotepine was compared with
      remoxipride, again no effect was found for mental state (n=58, 1 RCT, MD average
      endpoint score (BPRS total, high=poor) 5.70 CI -4.13 to 15.53) and there was no
      significant difference between the two groups in terms of use of antiparkinson
      medication (n=49, 1 RCT, RR 0.97 CI 0.41 to 2.29).Data on important other
      outcomes such as other adverse events, service use or satisfaction with care,
      quality of life were not available. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: The evidence base
      around zotepine is insufficient to provide firm conclusions on its absolute or
      relative effects. This is despite it being in use in Austria, France, Germany,
      Japan and the UK.

PMID- 20927749
TI  - Unfractionated or low-molecular weight heparin for induction of remission in
      ulcerative colitis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There are a limited number of treatment options for patients with
      ulcerative colitis (UC). An increased risk of thrombosis in UC coupled with an
      observation that UC patients being treated with anticoagulant therapy for
      thrombotic events had an improvement in their bowel symptoms led to trials
      examining the use of unfractionated heparin (UFH) and low molecular weight
      heparins (LMWH) in patients with active UC. OBJECTIVES: To review randomized
      trials examining the efficacy of unfractionated heparin (UFH) or low molecular
      weight heparins (LMWH) for remission induction in patients with ulcerative
      colitis. SEARCH STRATEGY: The MEDLINE (PUBMED), and EMBASE databases, The
      Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, the Cochrane IBD/FBD group
      specialized trials register, review papers on ulcerative colitis, and references
      from identified papers were searched up to June 2010 in an effort to identify all
      randomized trials studying UFH or LMWH use in patients with ulcerative colitis.
      Abstracts from major gastroenterological meetings were searched to identify
      research published in abstract form only. SELECTION CRITERIA: Each author
      independently reviewed potentially relevant trials to determine their eligibility
      for inclusion based on the criteria identified above. The Cochrane Risk of Bias
      tool was used to assess study quality. Studies published in abstract form only
      were included if the authors could be contacted for further information. DATA
      COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: A data extraction form was developed and used to extract
      data from included studies. At least 2 authors independently extracted data. Any
      disagreements were resolved by consensus. Data were analyzed on an intention-to
      treat basis. The primary outcome was induction of remission, as defined by the
      studies. Data were combined for analysis if they assessed the same treatments
      (UFH or LMWH versus placebo or other therapy). MAIN RESULTS: LMWH administered
      subcutaneously showed no benefit over placebo for any outcome, including clinical
      remission, and clinical, endoscopic, or histological improvement. High dose LMWH
      administered via an extended colon-release tablet demonstrated benefit over
      placebo for clinical remission (OR 2.73; 95% CI 1.32 to 5.67; P = 0.007),
      clinical improvement (OR 2.99; 95% CI 1.30 to 6.87; P = 0.01), and endoscopic
      improvement (OR 2.25; 95%CI 1.01 to 5.01; P = 0.05) but not endoscopic remission
      or histologic improvement. LMWH was not beneficial when added to standard therapy
      for clinical remission, clinical improvement, endoscopic remission or endoscopic
      improvement. LMWH was well-tolerated but provided no significant benefit for
      quality of life. One study examining UFH versus corticosteroids for the treatment
      of severe UC demonstrated the inferiority of UFH for clinical improvement. More
      patients assigned to UFH had rectal hemorrhage as an adverse event. AUTHORS'
      CONCLUSIONS: There is evidence to suggest that LMWH may be effective for the
      treatment of active UC. When administered by extended colon-release tablets, LMWH
      was more effective than placebo for treating outpatients with mild to moderate
      disease. This benefit needs to be confirmed by further randomized controlled
      studies. The same benefits were not seen when LMWH was administered
      subcutaneously at lower doses. There is no evidence to support the use of UFH for
      the treatment of active UC. A further trial of UFH in patients with mild disease
      may also be justified. Any benefit found would need to be weighed against a
      possible increased risk of rectal bleeding in patients with active UC.

PMID- 20927750
TI  - Traditional Chinese Medicine herbs for stopping bleeding from haemorrhoids.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Haemorrhoids is a common perianal disease, which often causes
      haematochezia. Besides a surgical operation or minimally invasive treatment, a
      variety of traditional Chinese medicinal herbs (TCMHs) have been used to treat
      bleeding haemorrhoids. OBJECTIVES: To assess the effectiveness of traditional
      Chinese medicinal herbs for stopping bleeding from haemorrhoids and the adverse
      effects caused by these herbs. SEARCH STRATEGY: We searched the Cochrane
      Colorectal Cancer Group Trials Register, Cochrane Central Register of Contolled
      Trials (CENTRAL) (The Cochrane Library), MEDLINE, EMBASE, CMCD (Chinese Medicine
      Conference Disc) and CBMD (Chinese Bio-Medicine Disc). SELECTION CRITERIA: All
      randomised clinical trials (RCTs) of Chinese herbs for bleeding haemorrhoids were
      included. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two authors independently extracted the
      data, which were analysed using RevMan 5.0 software. We estimated the relative
      risk for dichotomous data and calculated the weighted mean difference for
      continuous data. MAIN RESULTS: Nine trials involving 1822 patients with bleeding
      haemorrhoids were identified. The included trials were generally not of high
      quality and used one TCMH preparation compared with another TCMH preparation
      (Type I) (five trials) or western medicines (Type II) (four trials). We could not
      pool the data to perform a meta-analysis as only two of the included trials used
      the same intervention or comparison.In the nine trials, TCMHs showed a
      statistically significant difference for the improvement in the general curative
      effects or total grade of symptoms in six trials (P < 0.05; P < 0.01), of
      hematochezia in three trials (P < 0.05; P < 0.001), and of inflammation of
      perianal mucosa in one trial (P < 0.05). The adverse effects reported were not
      serious and were scarce. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: This review did not provide strong
      evidence concerning the effectiveness of TCMHs for stopping bleeding from
      haemorrhoids. Most of the included studies were of low quality and there was a
      scarcity of eligible trials and numbers of participants. Limited, weak evidence
      showed that some herbal formulae, when including Radix Sanguisorbae, Radix
      Rehmanniae, Fructus Sophorae, Radix Angelicae Sinensis, Radix Scutellariae, etc.,
      may alleviate some symptoms caused by haemorrhoids. These include hematochezia,
      congestive haemorrhoidal cushions and inflammation of perianal mucosa in the
      short term. Well-designed clinical trials are required urgently before any
      confident conclusions can be drawn about the value of TCMHs for stopping bleeding
      from haemorrhoids.At present, the evidence is not enough that clinical practice
      should be changed immediately on the basis of these results.

PMID- 20927751
TI  - Methods of cystic duct occlusion during laparoscopic cholecystectomy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: During laparoscopic cholecystectomy, it is necessary to occlude the
      cystic duct permanently. Traditionally, this has been performed through the
      application of non-absorbable metal clips. Use of absorbable materials to occlude
      the cystic duct has been suggested as an alternative for metal clips for various
      reasons. OBJECTIVES: To assess the benefits and harms of the different methods of
      occlusion of cystic duct in patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy.
      SEARCH STRATEGY: We searched The Cochrane Hepato-Biliary Group Controlled Trials
      Register, The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials in The Cochrane
      Library, MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Science Citation Index Expanded until August 2010.
      SELECTION CRITERIA: We included all randomised clinical trials comparing
      different methods of occlusion of cystic duct. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: We
      collected the data on the characteristics, methodological quality, bile duct
      injury, bile leaks, operating time, and incidence of recurrent common bile duct
      stone from each trial. We analysed the data with both the fixed-effect and the
      random-effects model using RevMan Analysis. For each outcome we calculated the
      risk ratio (RR) in the presence of more than one trial for the outcome or mean
      difference (MD) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) based on intention-to-treat
      analysis. In the presence of only one trial under a dichotomous outcome, we
      performed the Fisher's exact test. MAIN RESULTS: Three trials including 255
      patients qualified for this review. In two of the trial, a total of 150 patients
      were randomised to absorbable clips (n = 75) and non-absorbable clips (n = 75).
      In the third trial, a total of 105 patients were randomised to absorbable
      ligatures (n = 53) and non-absorbable clips (n = 52). All three trials were of
      high risk of bias. There was no difference in the morbidity between the groups.
      There was statistically significant longer operating time (MD 12.00 minutes, 95%
      CI 1.59 to 22.41) in the absorbable ligature group than non-absorbable clips. The
      duration and method of follow-up were not adequate to determine the incidence of
      long-term complications. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: We are unable to determine the
      benefits and harms of different methods of cystic duct occlusion because of the
      small sample size, short period of follow-up, and lack of reporting of important
      outcomes in the included trials. Adequately powered randomised trials with low
      risk of bias and with long periods of follow-up and assessing all of the
      important outcomes for patients and professionals are necessary.

PMID- 20927752
TI  - Droperidol for treatment of nausea and vomiting in palliative care patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Nausea and vomiting are common symptoms in patients with terminal
      illness and can be very unpleasant and distressing. There are several different
      types of antiemetic treatments which can be used to control these symptoms.
      Droperidol is an antipsychotic drug and has been used and studied as an
      antiemetic in the management of post-operative and chemotherapy nausea and
      vomiting. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the efficacy and adverse events (both minor and
      serious) associated with the use of droperidol for the treatment of nausea and
      vomiting in palliative care patients. SEARCH STRATEGY: We searched electronic
      databases including CENTRAL, MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL and AMED, using relevant
      search terms and synonyms. The basic search strategy was ("droperidol" OR
      "butyrophenone") AND ("nausea" OR "vomiting"), modified for each database. The
      search was updated on 2 December 2009. SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomised controlled
      trials (RCTs) of droperidol for the treatment of nausea or vomiting, or both, for
      adults receiving palliative care or suffering from an incurable progressive
      medical condition. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: We judged the potential
      relevance of studies based on their titles and abstracts, and obtained studies
      which we anticipated might meet the inclusion criteria. We both read these to
      assess suitability for inclusion. Discrepancies were discussed to achieve
      consensus. MAIN RESULTS: The search strategy identified 1664 abstracts (and 827
      duplicates) of which 23 studies were obtained in full as potentially meeting the
      inclusion criteria. On review of the full papers, no studies were identified
      which met the inclusion criteria, therefore, there were no included studies in
      this review. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: There is insufficient evidence to advise on
      the use of droperidol for the management of nausea and vomiting in palliative
      care. Studies of antiemetics in palliative care settings are needed to identify
      which agents are most effective with a minimum of side effects.

PMID- 20927753
TI  - Vitamin D supplementation for improving bone mineral density in children.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Results of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of vitamin D
      supplementation to improve bone density in children are inconsistent. OBJECTIVES:
      To determine the effectiveness of vitamin D supplementation for improving bone
      mineral density in children, whether any effect varies by sex, age or pubertal
      stage, the type or dose of vitamin D given or baseline vitamin D status, and if
      effects persist after cessation of supplementation. SEARCH STRATEGY: We searched
      the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL Issue 3, 2009),
      MEDLINE (1966 to present), EMBASE (1980 to present), CINAHL (1982 to present),
      AMED (1985 to present) and ISI Web of Science (1945 to present) on 9 August 2009,
      and we handsearched key journal conference abstracts. SELECTION CRITERIA: Placebo
      controlled RCTs of vitamin D supplementation for at least three months in healthy
      children and adolescents (aged from one month to < 20 years) with bone density
      outcomes. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two authors screened references for
      inclusion, assessed risk of bias, and extracted data. We conducted meta-analyses
      and calculated standardised mean differences (SMD) of the percent change from
      baseline in outcomes in treatment and control groups. We performed subgroup
      analyses by sex, pubertal stage, dose of vitamin D and baseline serum vitamin D
      and considered these as well as compliance and allocation concealment as possible
      sources of heterogeneity. MAIN RESULTS: We included six RCTs (343 participants
      receiving placebo and 541 receiving vitamin D) for meta-analyses. Vitamin D
      supplementation had no statistically significant effects on total body bone
      mineral content (BMC), hip bone mineral density (BMD) or forearm BMD. There was a
      trend to a small effect on lumbar spine BMD (SMD 0.15, 95% CI -0.01 to 0.31, P =
      0.07). There were no differences in effects between high and low serum vitamin D
      studies at any site though there was a trend towards a larger effect with low
      vitamin D for total body BMC (P = 0.09 for difference). In low serum vitamin D
      studies, significant effects on total body BMC and lumbar spine BMD were
      approximately equivalent to a 2.6% and 1.7 % percentage point greater change from
      baseline in the supplemented group. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: These results do not
      support vitamin D supplementation to improve bone density in healthy children
      with normal vitamin D levels, but suggest that supplementation of deficient
      children may be clinically useful. Further RCTs in deficient children are needed
      to confirm this.

PMID- 20927754
TI  - Early versus late pre-intensive care unit admission broad spectrum antibiotics
      for severe sepsis in adults.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Severe sepsis and septic shock have recently emerged as particularly
      acute and lethal challenges amongst critically ill patients presenting to the
      emergency department (ED). There are no existing data on the current practices of
      management of patients with severe sepsis comparing early versus late
      administration of appropriate broad spectrum antibiotics as part of the early
      goal-directed therapy that is commenced in the first few hours of presentation.
      OBJECTIVES: To assess the difference in outcomes with early compared to late
      administration of antibiotics in patients with severe sepsis in the pre-intensive
      care unit (ICU) admission period. We defined early as within one hour of
      presentation to the ED. SEARCH STRATEGY: We searched the Cochrane Central
      Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) (The Cochrane Library Issue 1, 2009);
      MEDLINE (1990 to February 2010); EMBASE (1990 to February 2010); and ISI web of
      Science (February 2010). We also searched for relevant ongoing trials in specific
      websites such as www.controlled-trials.com; www.clinicalstudyresults.org; and
      www.update-software.com. We searched the reference lists of articles. There were
      no constraints based on language or publication status. SELECTION CRITERIA: We
      planned to include randomized controlled trials of early versus late broad
      spectrum antibiotics in adult patients with severe sepsis in the ED, prior to
      admission to the intensive care unit. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two authors
      independently assessed articles for inclusion. MAIN RESULTS: We found no studies
      that satisfied the inclusion criteria. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: Based on this review
      we are unable to make a recommendation on the early or late use of broad spectrum
      antibiotics in adult patients with severe sepsis in the ED pre-ICU admission.
      There is a need to do large prospective double blinded randomized controlled
      trials on the efficacy of early (within one hour) versus late broad spectrum
      antibiotics in adult severe sepsis patients. Since it makes sense to start
      antibiotics as soon as possible in this group of seriously ill patients,
      administering such antibiotics earlier as opposed to later is based on anecdotal
      suboptimal evidence.

PMID- 20927755
TI  - Antimicrobial agents for treating uncomplicated urinary tract infection in women.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Acute uncomplicated lower urinary tract infection (UTI) is one of the
      most common problems for which young women seek medical attention. OBJECTIVES: To
      compare the efficacy, resistance development and safety of different
      antimicrobial treatments for acute uncomplicated lower UTI. SEARCH STRATEGY: We
      searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), the
      Cochrane Renal Group's Specialised Register, MEDLINE, EMBASE and bibliographies
      of included studies. SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomised controlled trials (RCTs)
      comparing different classes of antimicrobials for acute uncomplicated UTI in
      women were included. The outcomes of interest were symptomatic and
      bacteriological cure at short and long-term follow-up, resistance development,
      number of days to symptom resolution, days of work loss, adverse events and
      complications. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two authors independently extracted
      the data and assessed study quality. Statistical analyses were performed using
      the random effects model and the results expressed as risk ratios (RR) with 95%
      confidence intervals (CI). MAIN RESULTS: Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX)
      was as effective as fluoroquinolones in achieving short-term (RR 1.00, 95% CI
      0.97 to 1.03) and long-term (RR 0.99, 95% CI 0.94 to 1.05) symptomatic cure. Beta
      lactam drugs were as effective as TMP-SMX for short-term (RR 0.95' 95% CI 0.81 to
      1.12) and long-term (RR 1.06' 95% CI 0.93 to 1.21) symptomatic cure. Short-term
      cure for nitrofurantoin was similar to that of TMP-SMX (RR 0.99' 95% CI 0.95 to
      1.04) as was long-term symptomatic cure (RR 1.01' 95% CI 0.94 to
      1.09).Fluoroquinolones were more effective than beta-lactams (RR 1.22, 95% CI
      1.13 to 1.31) for short-term bacteriological cure. Rashes were more frequent in
      patients treated with TMP-SMX than with nitrofurantoin or fluoroquinolones and in
      patients treated with beta-lactam drugs compared to fluoroquinolones. Minimal
      data were available on the emergence of resistant strains during or after
      antimicrobial treatment. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: No differences were observed
      between the classes of antimicrobials included in this review for the symptomatic
      cure of acute uncomplicated UTI. Fluoroquinolones proved more effective than beta
      lactams for the short-term bacteriological outcome, probably with little clinical
      significance. Individualised treatment should take into consideration the
      predictable susceptibility of urinary pathogens in local areas, possible adverse
      events and resistance development, and patient preference.

PMID- 20927756
TI  - Effects of communicating DNA-based disease risk estimates on risk-reducing
      behaviours.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There are high expectations regarding the potential for the
      communication of DNA-based disease risk estimates to motivate behaviour change.
      OBJECTIVES: To assess the effects of communicating DNA-based disease risk
      estimates on risk-reducing behaviours and motivation to undertake such
      behaviours. SEARCH STRATEGY: We searched the following databases using keywords
      and medical subject headings: Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials
      (CENTRAL, The Cochrane Library, Issue 4 2010), MEDLINE (1950 to April 2010),
      EMBASE (1980 to April 2010), PsycINFO (1985 to April 2010) using OVID SP, and
      CINAHL (EBSCO) (1982 to April 2010). We also searched reference lists, conducted
      forward citation searches of potentially eligible articles and contacted authors
      of relevant studies for suggestions. There were no language restrictions.
      Unpublished or in press articles were eligible for inclusion. SELECTION CRITERIA:
      Randomised or quasi-randomised controlled trials involving adults (aged 18 years
      and over) in which one group received actual (clinical studies) or imagined
      (analogue studies) personalised DNA-based disease risk estimates for diseases for
      which the risk could plausibly be reduced by behavioural change. Eligible studies
      had to include a primary outcome measure of risk-reducing behaviour or motivation
      (e.g. intention) to alter such behaviour. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two
      review authors searched for studies and independently extracted data. We assessed
      risk of bias according to the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of
      Interventions. For continuous outcome measures, we report effect sizes as
      standardised mean differences (SMDs). For dichotomous outcome measures, we report
      effect sizes as odds ratios (ORs). We obtained pooled effect sizes with 95%
      confidence intervals (CIs) using the random effects model applied on the scale of
      standardised differences and log odds ratios. MAIN RESULTS: We examined 5384
      abstracts and identified 21 studies as potentially eligible. Following a full
      text analysis, we included 14 papers reporting results of 7 clinical studies (2
      papers report on the same trial) and 6 analogue studies.Of the seven clinical
      studies, five assessed smoking cessation. Meta-analyses revealed no statistically
      significant effects on either short-term (less than 6 months) smoking cessation
      (OR 1.35, 95% CI 0.76 to 2.39, P = 0.31, n = 3 studies) or cessation after six
      months (OR 1.07, 95% CI 0.64 to 1.78, P = 0.80, n = 4 studies). Two clinical
      studies assessed diet and found effects that significantly favoured DNA-based
      risk estimates (OR 2.24, 95% CI 1.17 to 4.27, P = 0.01). No statistically
      significant effects were found in the two studies assessing physical activity (OR
      1.03, 95% CI 0.59 to 1.80, P = 0.92) or the one study assessing medication or
      vitamin use aimed at reducing disease risks (OR 1.26, 95% CI 0.58 to 2.72, P =
      0.56). For the six non-clinical analogue studies, meta-analysis revealed a
      statistically significant effect of DNA-based risk on intention to change
      behaviour (SMD 0.16, 95% CI 0.04 to 0.29, P = 0.01).There was no evidence that
      communicating DNA-based disease risk estimates had any unintended adverse
      effects. Two studies that assessed fear arousal immediately after the
      presentation of risk information did, however, report greater fear arousal in the
      DNA-based disease risk estimate groups compared to comparison groups.The quality
      of included studies was generally poor. None of the clinical or analogue studies
      were considered to have a low risk of bias, due to either a lack of clarity in
      reporting, or where details were reported, evidence of a failure to sufficiently
      safeguard against the risk of bias. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: Mindful of the weak
      evidence based on a small number of studies of limited quality, the results of
      this review suggest that communicating DNA-based disease risk estimates has
      little or no effect on smoking and physical activity. It may have a small effect
      on self-reported diet and on intentions to change behaviour. Claims that
      receiving DNA-based test results motivates people to change their behaviour are
      not supported by evidence. Larger and better-quality RCTs are needed.

PMID- 20927757
TI  - Anti-vascular endothelial growth factor for macular edema secondary to central
      retinal vein occlusion.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO) is a common retinal vascular
      disorder in which macular edema (ME) may develop, with a consequent reduction in
      visual acuity. The visual prognosis in CRVO-ME is poor in a substantial
      proportion of patients, especially those with the ischemic subtype, and until
      recently there has been no treatment of proven benefit. Macular grid laser
      treatment is ineffective, and whilst a few recent randomized controlled trials
      (RCTs) suggest short-term gains in visual acuity with intravitreal steroids for
      patients with non-ischemic CRVO-ME, there is no established treatment for
      ischemic CRVO-ME. Anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) agents have
      been used to treat ME resulting from a variety of causes and may represent a
      treatment option for CRVO-ME. OBJECTIVES: To investigate the effectiveness and
      safety of intravitreal anti-VEGF agents in the treatment of CRVO-ME. SEARCH
      STRATEGY: We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials
      (CENTRAL) (which contains the Cochrane Eyes and Vision Group Trials Register)
      (The Cochrane Library 2010, Issue 8), MEDLINE (January 1950 to August 2010),
      EMBASE (January 1980 to August 2010), Latin American and Caribbean Health
      Sciences Literature Database (LILACS) (January 1982 to August 2010), Cumulative
      Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) (January 1937 to August
      2010), OpenSIGLE (January 1950 to August 2010), the metaRegister of Controlled
      Trials (mRCT) (www.controlled-trials.com) and ClinicalTrials.gov
      (www.clinicaltrials.gov). There were no language or date restrictions in the
      search for trials. The electronic databases were last searched on 10 August 2010.
      SELECTION CRITERIA: We considered RCTs that compared intravitreal anti-VEGF
      agents of any dose or duration to sham injection or no treatment. We focused on
      studies that included individuals of any age or gender with unilateral or
      bilateral disease and a minimum of six months follow up. Secondarily, we
      considered non-randomized studies with the same criteria, but did not conduct a
      separate electronic search for these. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two review
      authors independently assessed trial quality and extracted data. MAIN RESULTS: We
      found two RCTs that met the inclusion criteria after independent and duplicate
      review of the search results. These RCTs utilized different anti-VEGF agents
      which cannot be assumed to be directly comparable. We, therefore, performed no
      meta-analysis. Evidence from these trials and from other non-randomized case
      series is summarized in this review. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: Ranibizumab and
      pegaptanib sodium have shown promise in the short-term treatment of non-ischemic
      CRVO-ME. However, effectiveness and safety data from larger RCTs with follow up
      beyond six months are not yet available. There are no RCT data on anti-VEGF
      agents in ischemic CRVO-ME. The use of anti-VEGF agents to treat this condition
      therefore remains experimental.

PMID- 20927758
TI  - Antibiotic prophylaxis for patients undergoing elective endoscopic retrograde
      cholangiopancreatography.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The use of prophylactic antibiotics before endoscopic retrograde
      cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) is recommended by all major international
      gastroenterological societies, especially in the presence of an obstructed
      biliary system. Their use is intended to decrease or eliminate the incidence of
      complications following the procedure, namely cholangitis, cholecystitis,
      septicaemia, and pancreatitis. OBJECTIVES: To assess the benefits and harms of
      antibiotics before elective ERCP in patients without evidence of acute or chronic
      cholecystitis, or acute or chronic cholangitis, or severe acute pancreatitis.
      SEARCH STRATEGY: We searched The Cochrane Hepato-Biliary Group Controlled Trials
      Register, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) in The
      Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, EMBASE, Science Citation Index Expanded, and LILACS
      until March 2010. Relevant medical and surgical international conference
      proceedings were also searched. SELECTION CRITERIA: Only randomised clinical
      trials were included in the analyses, irrespective of blinding, language, or
      publication status. Participants were patients that underwent elective ERCP that
      were not on antibiotics, without evidence of acute or chronic cholecystitis,
      cholangitis, or severe acute pancreatitis before the procedure. We compared
      patients that received prophylactic antibiotics before the procedure with
      patients that were given placebo or no intervention before the procedure. DATA
      COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: The review was conducted according to the
      recommendations of The Cochrane Collaboration as well as the Cochrane Hepato
      Biliary Group. Review Manager 5 was used employing fixed-effect and random
      effects models meta-analyses. MAIN RESULTS: Nine randomised clinical trials (1573
      patients) were included in the analyses. The majority of the trials had risks of
      bias. When all patients providing data for a certain outcome were included, the
      fixed-effect meta-analyses significantly favoured the use of prophylactic
      antibiotics in preventing cholangitis (relative risk (RR) 0.54, 95% CI 0.33 to
      0.91), septicaemia (RR 0.35, 95% CI 0.11 to 1.11), bacteriaemia (RR 0.50, 95% CI
      0.33 to 0.78), and pancreatitis (RR 0.54, 95% CI 0.29 to 1.00). In random-effects
      meta-analyses, only the effect on bacteriaemia remained significant. Overall
      mortality was not reduced (RR 1.33, 95% CI 0.32 to 5.44). If one selects patients
      in whom the ERCP resolved the biliary obstruction at the first procedure, there
      seem to be no significant benefit in using prophylactic antibiotics to prevent
      cholangitis (RR 0.98, 95% CI 0.35 to 2.69, only three trials). AUTHORS'
      CONCLUSIONS: Prophylactic antibiotics reduce bacteriaemia and seem to prevent
      cholangitis and septicaemia in patients undergoing elective ERCP. In the subgroup
      of patients with uncomplicated ERCP, the effect of antibiotics may be less
      evident. Further research is required to determine whether antibiotics can be
      given during or after an ERCP if it becomes apparent that biliary obstruction
      cannot be relieved during that procedure.

PMID- 20927759
TI  - Increased versus stable doses of inhaled corticosteroids for exacerbations of
      chronic asthma in adults and children.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Written action plans providing guidance in the early treatment of
      asthma exacerbations have traditionally advocated doubling of inhaled
      corticosteroids (ICS) as one of the first steps in treatment. OBJECTIVES: To
      compare the clinical effectiveness of increasing the dose of ICS versus keeping
      the usual maintenance dose as part of a patient-initiated action plan at the
      onset of asthma exacerbations. SEARCH STRATEGY: We searched the Cochrane Airways
      Group Specialised Register (last search October 2009) which is derived from
      searches of CENTRAL, MEDLINE, EMBASE and CINAHL, as well as handsearched
      respiratory journals and meeting abstracts. SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomised
      controlled trials (RCTs) that compared the strategy of increasing the daily dose
      of ICS to continuing the same ICS dose in the home management of asthma
      exacerbations in children or adults with persistent asthma on daily maintenance
      ICS. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two review authors independently selected
      trials, assessed quality and extracted data. We contacted authors of RCTs for
      additional information. MAIN RESULTS: Five RCTs (four parallel-group and one
      cross-over) involving a total of 1250 patients (28 children and 1222 adults) with
      mild to moderate asthma were included. The mean daily baseline ICS dose was 555
      mg (range 200 mg to 795 mg) and the mean daily ICS dose achieved following
      increase was 1520 mg (range 1000 mg to 2075 mg), in CFC beclomethasone
      dipropionate equivalents. Three parallel-group studies in adults (two doubling
      and one quadrupling; mean achieved daily dose of 1695 mg with a range of 1420 to
      2075 mg), involving 1080 patients contributed data to the primary outcome. There
      was no significant reduction in the need for rescue oral corticosteroids when
      patients were randomised to the increased ICS compared to stable maintenance dose
      groups (OR 0.85, 95% CI 0.58 to 1.26). There was no significant difference in the
      overall risk of non-serious adverse events associated with the increased ICS dose
      strategy, but the wide confidence interval prevents a firm conclusion. No serious
      adverse events were reported. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: There is very little evidence
      from trials in children. In adults with asthma on daily maintenance ICS, a self
      initiated ICS increase to 1000 to 2000 mcg/day at the onset of an exacerbation is
      not associated with a statistically significant reduction in the risk of
      exacerbations requiring rescue oral corticosteroids. More research is needed to
      assess the effectiveness of increased ICS doses at the onset of asthma
      exacerbations (particularly in children).

PMID- 20927760
TI  - Alternative positions for the baby at birth before clamping the umbilical cord.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The third stage of labour is from birth of the baby until delivery of
      the placenta. Clamping the umbilical cord is one component of active management
      of the third stage. Deferring cord clamping allows blood flow between the baby
      and the placenta to continue; net transfer to the baby is called placental
      transfusion. If the cord is clamped immediately placental transfusion is
      restricted. Gravity is one of several factors that may influence the volume and
      duration of placental transfusion at both vaginal and caesarean births. Hence
      raising or lowering the baby whilst the cord is intact may influence placental
      transfusion, which in turn may affect outcome for the baby and the woman.
      OBJECTIVES: To compare the effects of alternative positions for the baby between
      birth and cord clamping on outcome for the baby, outcome for the mother and on
      use of health service resources. SEARCH STRATEGY: We searched the Cochrane
      Pregnancy and Childbirth Group's Trials Register (July 2010). SELECTION CRITERIA:
      Randomised trials comparing alternative positions for the baby at vaginal and
      caesarean birth, before clamping of the umbilical cord. DATA COLLECTION AND
      ANALYSIS: We independently assessed trial eligibility and quality. When
      necessary, we contacted study authors for additional information. MAIN RESULTS:
      Thirty-seven studies (7559 mother-infant pairs) were excluded: 33 (7296) because
      they did not compare alternative positions for the baby before clamping the
      umbilical cord and four (263) due to quasi-random allocation. No studies met the
      inclusion criteria. One additional trial is ongoing. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: No
      randomised trials have assessed the influence of gravity on placental
      transfusion. Large, well-designed randomised trials are needed to assess whether
      gravity influences placental transfusion at vaginal and caesarean births and, if
      so, whether this affects short-term and long-term outcome for the baby and for
      the mother.

PMID- 20927761
TI  - Percutaneous vascular interventions for acute ischaemic stroke.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Most disabling strokes are due to blockage of a large artery in the
      brain by a blood clot. Prompt removal of the clot with intra-arterial
      thrombolytic drugs or mechanical devices, or both, can restore blood flow before
      major brain damage has occurred, leading to improved recovery. However, these so
      called percutaneous vascular interventions can cause bleeding in the brain.
      OBJECTIVES: To assess the safety and efficacy of percutaneous vascular
      interventions in patients with acute ischaemic stroke. SEARCH STRATEGY: We
      searched the Trials Registers of the Cochrane Stroke Group and Cochrane
      Peripheral Vascular Diseases Group (last searched May 2010), the Cochrane Central
      Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) (The Cochrane Library 2010, Issue 5),
      MEDLINE (1980 to May 2010), EMBASE (1980 to May 2010) and eight additional
      databases. We also searched trials registers, screened reference lists, contacted
      researchers and equipment manufacturers, and handsearched journals and conference
      proceedings. SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomised, controlled and unconfounded trials
      of any percutaneous vascular intervention compared with control in patients with
      definite ischaemic stroke. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two review authors
      applied the inclusion criteria, extracted data and assessed trial quality. We
      obtained both published and unpublished data if available MAIN RESULTS: We
      included four trials involving 350 patients. Not all trials contributed data to
      each outcome. The trials tested either intra-arterial urokinase or recombinant
      pro-urokinase versus an open control. One trial used guidewire-mediated clot
      disruption in some patients randomised to the intervention group. Most data came
      from trials that started treatment up to six hours after stroke; one small trial
      started treatment up to a median of 12.5 hours after stroke. Most data came from
      trials of middle cerebral artery territory infarction. Compared with non
      thrombolytic standard medical treatment, the intervention administered up to six
      hours after ischaemic stroke significantly increased the proportion of patients
      with favourable outcome (modified Rankin 0 to 2) three months after stroke
      (relative risk (RR) 1.47, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.07 to 2.02). The
      intervention also significantly increased the risk of symptomatic intracranial
      haemorrhage within 24 hours of treatment (RR 3.85, 95% CI 0.91 to 16.36). There
      was no significant heterogeneity between the included trials. AUTHORS'
      CONCLUSIONS: Overall, intervention results in a significant increase in the
      proportion of patients with a favourable outcome, despite a significant increase
      in intracranial haemorrhage. Further trials are needed to confirm or refute these
      findings and, given the cost and practical difficulties, to establish whether
      percutaneous techniques are feasible and cost effective in wider clinical
      practice.

PMID- 20927762
TI  - Oral budesonide for induction of remission in ulcerative colitis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Corticosteroids remain one of the most popular medication choices for
      the induction of remission in ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. While
      corticosteroids may improve symptoms, they do not always result in mucosal
      healing and have significant adverse effects. Steroids which act topically, with
      less systemic side-effects may be more desirable. Oral budesonide, a topically
      acting corticosteroid with extensive first pass hepatic metabolism, is effective
      in Crohn's disease and in enema formulation for left-sided ulcerative colitis.
      Data are limited regarding the role of oral budesonide in ulcerative colitis.
      OBJECTIVES: To systematically review the safety and efficacy of oral budesonide
      for induction of remission in ulcerative colitis. SEARCH STRATEGY: Electronic
      searching of the MEDLINE and EMBASE databases was performed. Two authors
      independently reviewed all identified titles and abstracts. Full text articles of
      all potentially relevant studies were retrieved. Reference lists of review
      articles were searched in an attempt to identify additional studies. Abstracts of
      the major gastroenterology scientific meetings, held over the past 3 years, were
      hand searched. The ClinicalTrials.gov website as well as the Cochrane Registry of
      Controlled Trials was searched to identify any ongoing trials. Direct
      communication with pharmaceutical manufacturers was established to identify any
      ongoing or unpublished studies. SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomized controlled trials
      of oral budesonide for the induction of remission in ulcerative colitis, with
      either a parallel arm or cross-over design, were considered eligible for
      inclusion. There were no exclusions based on patient age or the type, dose or
      duration of budesonide therapy. The primary outcome was the induction of clinical
      remission in ulcerative colitis. Secondary outcomes included clinical, histologic
      and endoscopic improvement, endoscopic mucosal healing, change in disease
      activity index scores, adverse events and study withdrawals. DATA COLLECTION AND
      ANALYSIS: Studies were reviewed for eligibility, data were extracted and quality
      assessed by 2 independent investigators. It was not possible to perform a meta
      analysis of the included studies due to significant heterogeneity, with each
      study comparing budesonide to a different control medication. MAIN RESULTS: Three
      studies met the inclusion criteria. Oral budesonide was significantly less likely
      to induce clinical remission than oral mesalamine after 8 weeks of therapy (RR
      0.72, 95% CI 0.57 to 0.91). There was no significant benefit of oral budesonide
      in comparison to placebo for inducing clinical remission after 4 weeks of
      treatment (RR 1.41, 95% CI 0.59 to 3.39). A small pilot study reported no
      statistically significant difference in endoscopic remission between budesonide
      and prednisolone (RR 0.75, 95% CI 0.23 to 2.42). The study was small and not
      powered to evaluate the impact of budesonide on clinical remission. Suppression
      of plasma cortisol was significantly more common in prednisolone treated patients
      (RR 0.02, 95% CI 0.0 to 0.33). Two multicenter studies are ongoing. AUTHORS'
      CONCLUSIONS: At present, there is no evidence to recommend the clinical use of
      oral budesonide for the induction of remission in active ulcerative colitis.
      Mesalamine is superior to budesonide for the treatment of active ulcerative
      colitis.

PMID- 20927763
TI  - Telehealthcare for asthma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Healthcare systems internationally need to consider new models of
      care to cater for the increasing numbers of people with asthma. Telehealthcare
      interventions are increasingly being seen by policymakers as a potential means of
      delivering asthma care. We defined telehealthcare as being healthcare delivered
      from a distance, facilitated electronically and involving the exchange of
      information through the personalised interaction between a healthcare
      professional using their skills and judgement and the patient providing
      information. OBJECTIVES: To assess the effectiveness of telehealthcare
      interventions in people with asthma. SEARCH STRATEGY: We searched in the
      following databases: Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL),
      MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, AMED, and PsycINFO; this was supplemented by
      handsearching of respiratory journals. We also searched registers of ongoing and
      unpublished trials. SELECTION CRITERIA: We selected completed randomised
      controlled trials of telehealthcare initiatives aiming to improve asthma care.
      DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two review authors independently appraised studies
      for inclusion and extracted data and performed meta-analyses. We analysed
      dichotomous variables to produce an odds ratio (OR) and continuous variables to
      produce a mean difference. MAIN RESULTS: We included 21 trials in this review.
      The 21 included studies investigated a range of technologies aiming to support
      the provision of care from a distance. These included: telephone (n = 9); video
      conferencing (n = 2); Internet (n = 2); other networked communications (n = 6);
      text Short Messaging Service (n = 1); or a combination of text and Internet (n =
      1). Meta-analysis showed that these interventions did not result in clinically
      important improvements in asthma quality of life (minimum clinically important
      difference = 0.5): mean difference in Juniper's Asthma Quality of Life
      Questionnaire (AQLQ) 0.08 (95% CI 0.01 to 0.16). Telehealthcare for asthma
      resulted in a non-significant increase in the odds of emergency department visits
      over a 12-month period: OR 1.16 (95% CI 0.52 to 2.58). There was, however, a
      significant reduction in hospitalisations over a 12-month period: OR 0.21 (95% CI
      0.07 to 0.61), the effect being most marked in people with more severe asthma
      managed predominantly in secondary care settings. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS:
      Telehealthcare interventions are unlikely to result in clinically relevant
      improvements in health outcomes in those with relatively mild asthma, but they
      may have a role in those with more severe disease who are at high risk of
      hospital admission. Further trials evaluating the effectiveness and cost
      effectiveness of a range of telehealthcare interventions are needed.

PMID- 20927764
TI  - Oral anti-diabetic agents for women with pre-existing diabetes mellitus/impaired
      glucose tolerance or previous gestational diabetes mellitus.
AB  - BACKGROUND: While most guidelines recommend the use of insulin in women whose
      pregnancies are affected by pre-existing diabetes, oral agents have obvious
      benefits for patient acceptability and adherence. It is necessary, however, to
      assess the effects of these anti-diabetic agents on maternal and infant health
      outcomes. Additionally, women with previous gestational diabetes mellitus are
      increasingly found to be predisposed to impaired glucose tolerance and, despite
      the potential need for intervention for these women, there has been little
      evidence about the use of oral anti-diabetic agents by these women pre
      conceptionally or during a subsequent pregnancy. OBJECTIVES: To investigate the
      effect of oral anti-diabetic agents in women with pre-existing diabetes mellitus,
      impaired glucose tolerance or previous gestational diabetes planning a pregnancy
      or pregnant women with diabetes mellitus on maternal and infant health.The use of
      oral antidiabetic agents for management of gestational diabetes in a current
      pregnancy is evaluated in a separate Cochrane review. SEARCH STRATEGY: We
      searched the Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth Group's Trials Register (March
      2010). SELECTION CRITERIA: We included randomised and quasi-randomised trials.
      DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two review authors independently assessed trial
      eligibility for inclusion. MAIN RESULTS: We identified 13 trials published as 25
      papers using the Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth group literature search, and
      an additional ongoing trial. We have not included any trials in the review. One
      trial is awaiting assessment and we have excluded twelve trials because they
      evaluated treatment of women with gestational diabetes or women with polycystic
      ovary syndrome, were not randomised controlled trials or data were not available.
      AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: Little randomised evidence is available evaluating the use
      of oral anti-diabetic agents in women with diabetes mellitus, impaired glucose
      tolerance, previous gestational diabetes mellitus planning a pregnancy or
      pregnant women with pre-existing diabetes mellitus. Large trials comparing any
      combination of oral anti-diabetic agent, insulin and dietary and lifestyle advice
      in these women, reporting on maternal and infant health outcomes, glycaemic
      control, women's views on the intervention and long-term health outcomes for
      mother and child, are required to guide clinical practice.

PMID- 20927765
TI  - Levomepromazine for schizophrenia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Levomepromazine is an 'older' typical antipsychotic medication
      licensed for use in schizophrenia but sparingly prescribed in the United Kingdom.
      OBJECTIVES: To determine the clinical effects and safety of levomepromazine
      compared with placebo or antipsychotic medications for schizophrenia and
      schizophreniform psychoses. SEARCH STRATEGY: We searched the Cochrane
      Schizophrenia Group's Register (December 2008) which is based on regular searches
      of, amongst others, BIOSIS, CENTRAL CINAHL, EMBASE, MEDLINE and PsycINFO.
      References of all identified studies were inspected for further trials. We also
      contacted relevant pharmaceutical companies for additional information. SELECTION
      CRITERIA: All randomised trials comparing levomepromazine with placebo or other
      antipsychotics for schizophrenia and schizophreniform psychoses were included.
      DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Data were extracted independently. For dichotomous
      outcomes, we calculated relative risk (RR) (random-effects model), 95% confidence
      intervals (CI) and, where appropriate, number needed to treat (NNT) was
      calculated. We avoided the use of number needed to harm (NNH), as an alternative
      we used number needed to treat for an additional beneficial outcome (NNTB) and
      number needed to treat for an additional harmful outcome (NNTH) to indicate the
      direction of effect. For continuous outcomes, we calculated weighted mean
      differences (WMD). MAIN RESULTS: The review currently includes 4 RCTs with 192
      participants. For our primary outcome of leaving the study early, levomepromazine
      was not significantly different compared with other antipsychotics. The
      levomepromazine arm was significantly better on CGI severity compared with
      chlorpromazine (n=38, 1 RCT, WMD -0.80 CI -1.51 to -0.09). Risperidone was better
      for CGI endpoint scores (n=42, 1 RCT, RR 2.33 CI 1.11 to 4.89, NNT 3 CI 2 to 10)
      compared with levomepromazine. Recipients given levomepromazine had a better BPRS
      endpoint score (n=38, 1 RCT, WMD -9.00, CI -17.46 to -0.54) and PANSS total score
      (n=38, 1 RCT, WMD -15.90, CI -30.30 to -1.50) than chlorpromazine. Risperidone
      recipients noticed a significant difference for the outcome 'at least 20%
      reduction' on BPRS endpoint score (n=42, 1 RCT, RR 3.33 CI 1.07 to 10.42, NNT 3
      CI 2 to 14) compared with levomepromazine. Levomepromazine caused less tremor
      (n=41, 1 RCT RR 0.12 CI 0.02 to 0.87 NNTB 3 CI 2 to 8), less antiparkinsonian
      medication administration (n=79, 2 RCTs, RR 0.39 CI 0.17 to 0.90, NNTB 5, CI 2 to
      21) compared with haloperidol. Levomepromazine caused less akathisia compared
      with chlorpromazine, but more hypotension compared with risperidone (n=42, 1 RCT,
      RR 2.50 CI 1.21 to 5.18, NNTH 3, CI 2 to 7). Dizziness was common with
      levomepromazine compared with other antipsychotic medications. AUTHORS'
      CONCLUSIONS: Available data does not enable us to confidently comment on the
      effectiveness of levomepromazine for schizophrenia. Larger, more robust, studies
      comparing levomepromazine with other antipsychotics including clozapine are much
      needed.

PMID- 20927768
TI  - Drugs for treatment of urinary retention after surgery in adults.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Post-operative urinary retention, the inability to void following
      surgery despite a full bladder, is usually transitory but can be prolonged in
      some cases. It can lead to several complications including urinary tract
      infection, long term bladder dysfunction and kidney damage leading to chronic
      kidney disease. Catheterisation, generally regarded as the optimal management
      method, is associated with risks and so pharmacological treatment of post
      operative urinary retention that could remove or reduce the need for
      catheterisation is desirable. OBJECTIVES: To assess the effectiveness of drugs
      for treatment of post-operative urinary retention either alone or as an adjunct
      to catheterisation. SEARCH STRATEGY: We searched the Cochrane Incontinence Group
      Specialised Register (searched 10 February 2010), CENTRAL (2010, Issue 1),
      MEDLINE (January 1950 to Week 1 January 2010), EMBASE (January 1980 to 2010 Week
      5) and the reference lists of relevant articles.  SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomised
      and quasi randomised controlled trials in which at least one arm of the study
      included a drug treatment for post-operative urinary retention. DATA COLLECTION
      AND ANALYSIS: Published reports of all potentially eligible studies were
      evaluated by two reviewers independently. No language or other limitations were
      applied. Standardised data extraction forms were used by two reviewers
      independently and cross-checked. Where insufficient data were reported authors
      were contacted where possible for further information. The risk of bias in
      eligible trials was assessed independently by two reviewers using the Cochrane
      risk of bias tool. MAIN RESULTS: Seven studies including 494 participants formed
      the evidence base for this review. Drug treatments assessed in studies in the
      review included cholinergic agents, alpha-blockers, sedatives and prostaglandin
      on their own or in combinations. No statistically significant associations were
      reported between successful treatment or any other outcome and cholinergic
      agents, alpha-blockers and sedatives as monotherapies. A statistically
      significant association between intravesically administered prostaglandin and
      successful voiding was detected, Risk Ratio 3.07 (95% CI 1.22 to 7.72). A
      statistically significant association was detected between cholinergic agents
      combined with sedative and an improved likelihood of spontaneous voiding compared
      with placebo, Risk Ratio 1.39 (95% CI 1.07 to 1.82). Significant heterogeneity
      was identified between the two studies in this analysis, however. AUTHORS'
      CONCLUSIONS: Whilst it may appear that cholinergic agents and intravesically
      administered prostaglandin offer most promise in the treatment of post-operative
      urinary retention, the evidence is weak. There is a need for further research
      into pharmacological alternatives to catheterisation in the treatment of this
      common surgical complication.

PMID- 20927769
TI  - Antibiotic adjuvant therapy for pulmonary infection in cystic fibrosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cystic fibrosis is a multi-system disease characterised by the
      production of thick secretions causing recurrent pulmonary infection, often with
      unusual bacteria. This leads to lung destruction and eventually death through
      respiratory failure. There are no antibiotics in development that exert a new
      mode of action and many of the current antibiotics are ineffective in eradicating
      the bacteria once chronic infection is established. Antibiotic adjuvants -
      therapies that act by rendering the organism more susceptible to attack by
      antibiotics or the host immune system, by rendering it less virulent or killing
      it by other means, are urgently needed. OBJECTIVES: To determine if antibiotic
      adjuvants improve clinical and microbiological outcome of pulmonary infection in
      people with cystic fibrosis. SEARCH STRATEGY: We searched the Cystic Fibrosis
      Trials Register which is compiled from database searches, hand searches of
      appropriate journals and conference proceedings.Date of most recent search: 26
      August 2010.We also searched MEDLINE (all years) on 21 July 2010. SELECTION
      CRITERIA: Randomised controlled trials and quasi-randomised controlled trials of
      a therapy exerting an antibiotic adjuvant mechanism of action compared to placebo
      or no therapy for people with cystic fibrosis. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: The
      authors independently assessed and extracted data from identified studies. MAIN
      RESULTS: We identified eighteen studies of which three are included that examined
      antibiotic adjuvant therapies, five studies are ongoing. The included studies
      involve the assessment of beta-carotene, garlic and zinc supplementation. No
      therapy demonstrated a significant effect upon pulmonary function, pulmonary
      exacerbations or quality of life. The study of zinc supplementation reports a
      reduction in the requirement of oral antibiotics but not of intravenous
      antibiotics, an effect that is difficult to understand.  AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: We
      could not identify an antibiotic adjuvant therapy that could be recommended for
      the treatment of lung infection in those with cystic fibrosis. The emergence of
      increasingly resistant bacteria makes the reliance on antibiotics alone
      challenging for cystic fibrosis teams. There is a need to explore alternative
      strategies, such as the use of adjuvant therapies. Further research is required
      to provide future therapeutic options.

PMID- 20927767
TI  - Effects and safety of periconceptional folate supplementation for preventing
      birth defects.
AB  - BACKGROUND: It has been reported that neural tube defects can be prevented with
      periconceptional folic acid supplementation. The effects of different doses,
      forms and schemes of folate supplementation for the prevention of other birth
      defects and maternal and infant outcomes are unclear. OBJECTIVES: This review
      updates and expands a previous Cochrane Review assessing the effects of
      periconceptional supplementation with folic acid to reduce neural tube defects
      (NTDs). We examined whether folate supplementation before and during early
      pregnancy can reduce neural tube and other birth defects (including cleft palate)
      without causing adverse outcomes for mothers or babies. SEARCH STRATEGY: We
      searched the Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth Group's Trials Register (July
      2010). Additionally, we searched the international clinical trials registry
      platform and contacted relevant organisations to identify ongoing and unpublished
      studies. SELECTION CRITERIA: We included all randomised or quasi-randomised
      trials evaluating the effect of periconceptional folate supplementation alone, or
      in combination with other vitamins and minerals, in women independent of age and
      parity. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: We assessed trials for methodological
      quality using the standard Cochrane criteria. Two authors independently assessed
      the trials for inclusion, one author extracted data and a second checked for
      accuracy. MAIN RESULTS: Five trials involving 6105 women (1949 with a history of
      a pregnancy affected by a NTD and 4156 with no history of NTDs) were included.
      Overall, the results are consistent in showing a protective effect of daily folic
      acid supplementation (alone or in combination with other vitamins and minerals)
      in preventing NTDs compared with no interventions/placebo or vitamins and
      minerals without folic acid (risk ratio (RR) 0.28, 95% confidence interval (CI)
      0.15 to 0.52). Only one study assessed the incidence of NTDs and the effect was
      not statistically significant (RR 0.08, 95% CI 0.00 to 1.33) although no events
      were found in the group that received folic acid. Folic acid had a significant
      protective effect for reoccurrence (RR 0.32, 95% CI 0.17 to 0.60). There is no
      statistically significant evidence of any effects on prevention of cleft palate,
      cleft lip, congenital cardiovascular defects, miscarriages or any other birth
      defects. There were no included trials assessing the effects of this intervention
      on maternal blood folate or anaemia at term.We found no evidence of short-term
      side effects. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: Folic acid, alone or in combination with
      vitamins and minerals, prevents NTDs but does not have a clear effect on other
      birth defects.

PMID- 20927770
TI  - Ibuprofen with or without an antiemetic for acute migraine headaches in adults.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Migraine is a common, disabling condition and a burden for the
      individual, health services and society. Many sufferers do not seek professional
      help, relying instead on over-the-counter analgesics. Co-therapy with an
      antiemetic should help to reduce symptoms commonly associated with migraine
      headaches. OBJECTIVES: To determine efficacy and tolerability of ibuprofen, alone
      or in combination with an antiemetic, compared to placebo and other active
      interventions in the treatment of acute migraine headaches in adults. SEARCH
      STRATEGY: We searched Cochrane CENTRAL, MEDLINE, EMBASE and the Oxford Pain
      Relief Database for studies through 22 April 2010. SELECTION CRITERIA: We
      included randomised, double-blind, placebo- or active-controlled studies using
      self-administered ibuprofen to treat a migraine headache episode, with at least
      10 participants per treatment arm. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two review
      authors independently assessed trial quality and extracted data. Numbers of
      participants achieving each outcome were used to calculate relative risk and
      number needed to treat (NNT) or harm (NNH) compared to placebo or other active
      treatment. MAIN RESULTS: Nine studies (4373 participants, 5223 attacks) compared
      ibuprofen with placebo or other active comparators; none combined ibuprofen with
      a self-administered antiemetic. All studies treated attacks with single doses of
      medication. For ibuprofen 400 mg versus placebo, NNTs for 2-hour pain-free (26%
      versus 12% with placebo), 2-hour headache relief (57% versus 25%) and 24-hour
      sustained headache relief (45% versus 19%) were 7.2, 3.2 and 4.0, respectively.
      For ibuprofen 200 mg versus placebo, NNTs for 2-hour pain-free (20% versus 10%)
      and 2-hour headache relief (52% versus 37%) were 9.7 and 6.3, respectively. The
      higher dose was significantly better for 2-hour headache relief than the lower
      dose. Soluble formulations of ibuprofen 400 mg were better than standard tablets
      for 1-hour, but not 2-hour headache relief.Associated symptoms of nausea,
      vomiting, photophobia and phonophobia and functional disability were reduced
      within 2 hours, and fewer participants used rescue medication with ibuprofen
      compared with placebo. Similar numbers of participants experienced adverse
      events, which were mostly mild and transient.Ibuprofen 400 mg did not differ from
      rofecoxib 25 mg for 2-hour headache relief, 24-hour headache relief or use of
      rescue medication. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: Ibuprofen is an effective treatment for
      acute migraine headaches, providing pain relief in about half of sufferers, but
      complete relief from pain and associated symptoms for only a minority. NNTs for
      all efficacy outcomes were better with 400 mg than 200 mg in comparisons with
      placebo, and soluble formulations provided more rapid relief. Adverse events were
      mostly mild and transient, occurring at the same rate as with placebo.

PMID- 20927766
TI  - Intensive case management for severe mental illness.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Intensive Case Management (ICM) is a community based package of care,
      aiming to provide long term care for severely mentally ill people who do not
      require immediate admission. ICM evolved from two original community models of
      care, Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) and Case Management (CM), where ICM
      emphasises the importance of small caseload (less than 20) and high intensity
      input. OBJECTIVES: To assess the effects of Intensive Case Management (caseload
      <20) in comparison with non-Intensive Case Management (caseload > 20) and with
      standard community care in people with severe mental illness. To evaluate whether
      the effect of ICM on hospitalisation depends on its fidelity to the ACT model and
      on the setting. SEARCH STRATEGY: For the current update of this review we
      searched the Cochrane Schizophrenia Group Trials Register (February 2009), which
      is compiled by systematic searches of major databases, hand searches and
      conference proceedings. SELECTION CRITERIA: All relevant randomised clinical
      trials focusing on people with severe mental illness, aged 18 to 65 years and
      treated in the community-care setting, where Intensive Case Management, non
      Intensive Case Management or standard care were compared. Outcomes such as
      service use, adverse effects, global state, social functioning, mental state,
      behaviour, quality of life, satisfaction and costs were sought. DATA COLLECTION
      AND ANALYSIS: We extracted data independently. For binary outcomes we calculated
      relative risk (RR) and its 95% confidence interval (CI), on an intention-to-treat
      basis. For continuous data we estimated mean difference (MD) between groups and
      its 95% confidence interval (CI). We employed a random-effects model for
      analyses.We performed a random-effects meta-regression analysis to examine the
      association of the intervention's fidelity to the ACT model and the rate of
      hospital use in the setting where the trial was conducted with the treatment
      effect. MAIN RESULTS: We included 38 trials (7328 participants) in this review.
      The trials provided data for two comparisons: 1. ICM versus standard care, 2. ICM
      versus non-ICM.1. ICM versus standard care Twenty-four trials provided data on
      length of hospitalisation, and results favoured Intensive Case Management
      (n=3595, 24 RCTs, MD -0.86 CI -1.37 to -0.34). There was a high level of
      heterogeneity, but this significance still remained when the outlier studies were
      excluded from the analysis (n=3143, 20 RCTs, MD -0.62 CI -1.00 to -0.23). Nine
      studies found participants in the ICM group were less likely to be lost to
      psychiatric services (n=1633, 9 RCTs, RR 0.43 CI 0.30 to 0.61, I2=49%,
      p=0.05).One global state scale did show an Improvement in global state for those
      receiving ICM, the GAF scale (n=818, 5 RCTs, MD 3.41 CI 1.66 to 5.16). Results
      for mental state as measured through various rating scales, however, were
      equivocal, with no compelling evidence that ICM was really any better than
      standard care in improving mental state. No differences in mortality between ICM
      and standard care groups occurred, either due to 'all causes' (n=1456, 9 RCTs, RR
      0.84 CI 0.48 to 1.47) or to 'suicide' (n=1456, 9 RCTs, RR 0.68 CI 0.31 to
      1.51).Social functioning results varied, no differences were found in terms of
      contact with the legal system and with employment status, whereas significant
      improvement in accommodation status was found, as was the incidence of not living
      independently, which was lower in the ICM group (n=1185, 4 RCTs, RR 0.65 CI 0.49
      to 0.88).Quality of life data found no significant difference between groups, but
      data were weak. CSQ scores showed a greater participant satisfaction in the ICM
      group (n=423, 2 RCTs, MD 3.23 CI 2.31 to 4.14).2. ICM versus non-ICM The included
      studies failed to show a significant advantage of ICM in reducing the average
      length of hospitalisation (n=2220, 21 RCTs, MD -0.08 CI -0.37 to 0.21). They did
      find ICM to be more advantageous than non-ICM in reducing rate of lost to follow
      up (n=2195, 9 RCTs, RR 0.72 CI 0.52 to 0.99), although data showed a substantial
      level of heterogeneity (I2=59%, p=0.01). Overall, no significant differences were
      found in the effects of ICM compared to non-ICM for broad outcomes such as
      service use, mortality, social functioning, mental state, behaviour, quality of
      life, satisfaction and costs.3. Fidelity to ACT Within the meta-regression we
      found that i. the more ICM is adherent to the ACT model, the better it is at
      decreasing time in hospital ('organisation fidelity' variable coefficient -0.36
      CI -0.66 to -0.07); and ii. the higher the baseline hospital use in the
      population, the better ICM is at decreasing time in hospital ('baseline hospital
      use' variable coefficient -0.20 CI -0.32 to -0.10). Combining both these
      variables within the model, 'organisation fidelity' is no longer significant, but
      'baseline hospital use' result is still significantly influencing time in
      hospital (regression coefficient -0.18 CI -0.29 to -0.07, p=0.0027). AUTHORS'
      CONCLUSIONS: ICM was found effective in ameliorating many outcomes relevant to
      people with severe mental illnesses. Compared to standard care ICM was shown to
      reduce hospitalisation and increase retention in care. It also globally improved
      social functioning, although ICM's effect on mental state and quality of life
      remains unclear. ICM is of value at least to people with severe mental illnesses
      who are in the sub-group of those with a high level of hospitalisation (about 4
      days/month in past 2 years) and the intervention should be performed close to the
      original model.It is not clear, however, what gain ICM provides on top of a less
      formal non-ICM approach.We do not think that more trials comparing current ICM
      with standard care or non-ICM are justified, but currently we know of no review
      comparing non-ICM with standard care and this should be undertaken.

PMID- 20927771
TI  - Hyperbaric oxygen therapy for treating acute surgical and traumatic wounds.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) is used as a treatment for acute
      wounds (such as those arising from surgery and trauma) however the effects of
      HBOT on wound healing are unclear.  OBJECTIVES: To determine the effects of HBOT
      on the healing of acute surgical and traumatic wounds. SEARCH STRATEGY: We
      searched the Cochrane Wounds Group Specialised Register (25 August 2010), the
      Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) (The Cochrane Library
      2010, Issue 3), Ovid MEDLINE (1950 to August Week 2 2010 ), Ovid MEDLINE (In
      Process & Other Non-Indexed Citations August 24, 2010), Ovid EMBASE (1980 to
      2010, Week 33) and EBSCO CINAHL (1982 to 20 August 2010). SELECTION CRITERIA:
      Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) comparing HBOT with other interventions or
      comparisons between alternative HBOT regimens. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two
      review authors conducted selection of trials, risk of bias assessment, data
      extraction and data synthesis independently. Any disagreements were referred to a
      third review author.  MAIN RESULTS: Three trials involving 219 participants were
      included. The studies were clinically heterogeneous, therefore a meta-analysis
      was inappropriate.One trial (48 participants with burn wounds undergoing split
      skin grafts) compared HBOT with usual care and reported a significantly higher
      complete graft survival associated with HBOT (95% healthy graft area risk ratio
      (RR) 3.50; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.35 to 9.11). A second trial (36
      participants with crush injuries) reported significantly more wounds healed with
      HBOT than with sham HBOT (RR 1.70; 95% CI 1.11 to 2.61) and fewer additional
      surgical procedures required with HBOT: RR 0.25; 95% CI 0.06 to 1.02 and
      significantly less tissue necrosis: RR 0.13; 95% CI 0.02 to 0.90). A third trial
      (135 people undergoing flap grafting) reported no significant differences in
      complete graft survival with HBOT compared with dexamethasone (RR 1.14; 95% CI
      0.95 to 1.38) or heparin (RR 1.21; 95% CI 0.99 to 1.49).Many of the predefined
      secondary outcomes of the review, including mortality, pain scores, quality of
      life, patient satisfaction, activities daily living, increase in transcutaneous
      oxygen pressure (TcpO(2)), amputation, length of hospital stay and costs, were
      not reported. All three trials were at unclear or high risk of bias. AUTHORS'
      CONCLUSIONS: There is a lack of high quality, valid research evidence regarding
      the effects of HBOT on wound healing. Whilst two small trials suggested that HBOT
      may improve the outcomes of skin grafting and trauma these trials were at risk of
      bias. Further evaluation by means of high quality RCTs is needed.

PMID- 20927772
TI  - Cyanoacrylate microbial sealants for skin preparation prior to surgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Surgical site infections are a continuing concern in health care.
      Microbial sealant is a liquid applied to the skin immediately before surgery. It
      is thought to contribute to reducing surgical site infections by sealing in the
      skin flora to prevent contamination and infection of the surgical site.
      OBJECTIVES: To assess the effects of the preoperative application of microbial
      sealants (compared with no microbial sealant) on the rates of surgical site
      infection in people undergoing clean surgery. SEARCH STRATEGY: We searched the
      Cochrane Wounds Group Specialised Register (searched 10 May 2010), the Cochrane
      Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) (The Cochrane Library 2010, Issue
      2), Ovid MEDLINE (1950 to April Week 3 2010), Ovid MEDLINE - In-Process & Other
      Non-Indexed Citations (searched 10 May 2010), Ovid EMBASE (1980 to 2010 Week 18)
      and EBSCO CINAHL (1982 to 10 May 2010). We searched bibliographies and contacted
      manufacturers of microbial sealants for unpublished studies. There were no
      restrictions based on language, date or publication status. SELECTION CRITERIA:
      Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) were eligible for inclusion if they involved
      people undergoing clean surgery in an operating theatre and compared the use of
      preoperative microbial sealants with no microbial sealant. DATA COLLECTION AND
      ANALYSIS: All review authors independently extracted data on the characteristics,
      risk of bias and outcomes of the eligible trial. MAIN RESULTS: One small trial
      (177 participants undergoing hernia repair) met the inclusion criteria. There was
      no statistically significant difference in the rates of surgical site infection
      (three patients in the control group developed a surgical site infection compared
      with none in the intervention group; risk ratio (RR) 0.17, 95% CI 0.01 to 3.19, P
      = 0.23). AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: There is currently insufficient evidence as to
      whether the use of microbial sealants reduces the risk of surgical site infection
      in people undergoing clean surgery and further rigorous RCTs are required.

PMID- 20927773
TI  - Surgery for shoulder osteoarthritis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Surgical treatment including shoulder arthroplasty is a treatment
      option for patients with advanced osteoarthritis of the shoulder who have failed
      conservative treatment. OBJECTIVES: To determine the benefit and harm of surgery
      in patients with osteoarthritis of the shoulder confirmed on X-ray who do not
      respond to analgesics and NSAIDs. SEARCH STRATEGY: We searched: The Cochrane
      Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), via The Cochrane Library; OVID
      MEDLINE; CINAHL (via EBSCOHost); OVID SPORTdiscus; EMBASE; and Science Citation
      Index (Web of Science). SELECTION CRITERIA: All randomized clinical trials (RCTs)
      or quasi-randomized trials including adults with osteoarthritis of the shoulder
      joint (PICO- patients) comparing surgical techniques (total shoulder
      arthroplasty, hemiarthroplasty, implant types and fixation- intervention) versus
      placebo or sham surgery, non-surgical modalities, no treatment, or comparison of
      one type of surgical technique to another (comparison) with patient-reported
      outcomes (pain, function, quality of life etc.) or revision rates (outcomes).
      DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: We reviewed titles and abstracts for inclusion,
      extracted study and outcomes data and assessed the risk of bias of included
      studies. For categorical outcomes, we calculated the risk ratio (with 95%
      confidence interval (CI)) and for continuous outcomes, the mean difference (95%
      CI). MAIN RESULTS: Seven studies (238 patients) were included for analyses. None
      of the studies compared shoulder surgery to sham surgery, non-surgical modalities
      or placebo. Two studies compared hemiarthroplasty to total shoulder arthroplasty;
      three compared keeled and pegged humeral components; and one each compared
      navigation surgery to conventional and all-polyethylene to metal-backed implant.
      Two studies (88 patients) compared hemiarthroplasty to total shoulder
      arthroplasty. Patients who underwent hemiarthroplasty had statistically
      significantly worse functional scores on American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons
      Shoulder Scale (100 point scale; higher = better) at 24 to 34 month follow-up
      compared to those who underwent total shoulder arthroplasty (mean difference, 
      10.05; 95% CI, -18.97 to -1.13; 2 studies, 88 patients), but no statistically
      significant differences between hemiarthroplasty and TSA were noted for pain
      scores (mean difference, 7.8; 95% CI, -5.33 to 20.93; 1 study, 41 patients),
      quality of life on short-form 36 physical component summary (mean difference,
      0.80; 95% CI, -6.63 to 8.23; 1 study, 41 patients) and adverse events (Risk
      ratio, 1.19; 95% CI, 0.37 to 3.81; 1 study, 41 patients), respectively. A non
      statistically significant trend towards higher revision rate in hemiarthroplasty
      compared to total shoulder arthroplasty was noted (Risk ratio, 6.18; 95% CI, 0.77
      to 49.52; 2 studies, 88 patients; P = 0.09). AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: Total shoulder
      arthroplasty seems to offer an advantage in terms of shoulder function, with no
      other clinical benefits over hemiarthroplasty. More studies are needed to compare
      clinical outcomes of surgery using different components and techniques in
      patients with osteoarthritis of the shoulder. There is a need for studies
      comparing shoulder surgery to sham, placebo and other non-surgical treatment
      options.

PMID- 20927774
TI  - Multidisciplinary care for Guillain-Barre syndrome.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Guillain-Barre syndrome is a significant cause of new long-term
      disability, which is thought to be amenable to multidisciplinary care, but the
      evidence base for its effectiveness is unclear. OBJECTIVES: To assess the
      effectiveness of multidisciplinary care in adults with Guillain-Barre syndrome,
      especially the types of approaches that are effective (settings, intensity) and
      the outcomes that are affected. SEARCH STRATEGY: We searched the Cochrane
      Neuromuscular Disease Group Specialized Register (20 May 2010), The Cochrane
      Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL, The Cochrane Library 2010, Issue
      2), MEDLINE (1966 to May 2010), EMBASE (1980 to May 2010), CINAHL (1982 to May
      2010), AMED (1985 to May 2010), PEDro (1982 to May 2010) and LILACS (1982 to May
      2010). We checked the bibliographies of papers identified and contacted their
      authors and known experts in the field seeking published and unpublished trials.
      SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomised and controlled clinical trials that compared
      multidisciplinary care in Guillain-Barre syndrome with either routinely available
      local services or lower levels of intervention, or studies that compared
      multidisciplinary care in different settings or at different levels of
      intensity.Studies of 'other designs' (such as observational studies) were
      included only in the Discussion since such studies could only be of limited
      contribution to the best evidence synthesis. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: We
      performed a 'best evidence' synthesis based on methodological quality. MAIN
      RESULTS: No randomised controlled trials or controlled clinical trials were
      identified. We summarised the results of three observational studies in the
      Discussion section of this review. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: In the absence of
      randomised controlled trials or controlled clinical trials, the 'best' evidence
      to date comes from three 'very low quality' observational studies. These provide
      some support for improved disability in the short term (less than 6 months) with
      high intensity inpatient multidisciplinary rehabilitation; and for improved
      quality of life, as measured by a reduction in handicap (participation). These
      conclusions are tentative and the gap in current research should not be
      interpreted as proof that multidisciplinary care is ineffective. Further research
      is needed into appropriate study designs; outcome measurement; caregiver needs;
      and the evaluation of optimal settings, type, intensity or frequency and cost
      effectiveness of multidisciplinary care in the Guillain-Barre syndrome
      population.

PMID- 20927775
TI  - Prophylactic gastrojejunostomy for unresectable periampullary carcinoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The role of prophylactic gastrojejunostomy in patients with
      unresectable periampullary cancer is controversial. OBJECTIVES: To determine
      whether prophylactic gastrojejunostomy should be performed routinely in patients
      with unresectable periampullary cancer. SEARCH STRATEGY: We searched the Cochrane
      Upper Gastrointestinal and Pancreatic Diseases Group Trials Register, the
      Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) (The Cochrane Library
      2010, issue 3), MEDLINE, EMBASE and Science Citation Index Expanded until April
      2010. SELECTION CRITERIA: We included randomised controlled trials comparing
      prophylactic gastrojejunostomy versus no gastrojejunostomy in patients with
      unresectable periampullary cancer (irrespective of language or publication
      status). DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two authors independently assessed trials
      for inclusion and independently extracted data. We analysed data with both the
      fixed-effect and the random-effects models using Review Manager (RevMan). We
      calculated the hazard ratio (HR), risk ratio (RR), or mean difference (MD) with
      95% confidence intervals (CI) based on an intention-to-treat or available case
      analysis. MAIN RESULTS: We identified two trials (of high risk of bias) involving
      152 patients randomised to gastrojejunostomy (80 patients) and no
      gastrojejunostomy (72 patients). In both trials, patients were found to be
      unresectable during exploratory laparotomy. Most of the patients also underwent
      biliary-enteric drainage. There was no evidence of difference in the overall
      survival (HR 1.02; 95% CI 0.84 to 1.25), peri-operative mortality or morbidity,
      quality of life, or hospital stay (MD 0.97 days; 95%CI -0.18 to 2.12) between the
      two groups. The proportion of patients who developed long term gastric outlet
      obstruction was significantly lower in the prophylactic gastrojejunostomy group
      (2/80; 2.5%) compared with no gastrojejunostomy group (20/72; 27.8%) (RR 0.10;
      95%CI 0.03 to 0.37). The operating time was significantly longer in the
      gastrojejunostomy group compared with no gastrojejunostomy group (MD 45.00
      minutes; 95%CI 21.39 to 68.61). AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: Routine prophylactic
      gastrojejunostomy is indicated in patients with unresectable periampullary cancer
      undergoing exploratory laparotomy (with or without hepaticojejunostomy).

PMID- 20927776
TI  - Different classes of antibiotics given to women routinely for preventing
      infection at caesarean section.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Caesarean section increases the risk of postpartum infection for
      women and prophylactic antibiotics have been shown to reduce the incidence;
      however, there are adverse effects. It is important to identify the most
      effective class of antibiotics to use and those with the least adverse effects.
      OBJECTIVES: To determine, from the best available evidence, the balance of
      benefits and harms between different classes of antibiotic given prophylactically
      to women undergoing caesarean section. SEARCH STRATEGY: We searched the Cochrane
      Pregnancy and Childbirth Group's Trials Register (April 2010) and reference lists
      of retrieved papers. SELECTION CRITERIA: We included randomised controlled trials
      comparing different classes of prophylactic antibiotics given to women undergoing
      caesarean section. We excluded trials that compared drugs with placebo or drugs
      within a specific class; these are assessed in other Cochrane Reviews. DATA
      COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two review authors independently assessed the studies
      for inclusion, assessed risk of bias and carried out data extraction. MAIN
      RESULTS: We included 29 studies of which 25 provided data on 6367 women. There
      was a lack of good quality data and important outcomes often included only small
      numbers of women. This meant we could only conclude that the current evidence
      shows no overall difference between the different classes of antibiotics in terms
      of reducing maternal infections after caesarean sections. However, none of the
      studies looked at outcomes on the baby, nor did they report infections diagnosed
      after the initial postoperative hospital stay. We were unable to assess what
      impact, if any, the use of different classes of antibiotics might have on
      bacterial resistance. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: Based on the best currently available
      evidence, cephalosporins and penicillins have similar efficacy at caesarean
      section when considering immediate postoperative infections. We have no data for
      outcomes on the baby, nor on late infections (up to 30 days) in the mother.
      Clinicians need to consider bacterial resistance and women's individual
      circumstances.

PMID- 20927777
TI  - Tenofovir or zidovudine in three-drug combination therapy with one nucleoside
      reverse transcriptase inhibitor and one non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase
      inhibitor for initial treatment of HIV infection in antiretroviral-naive
      individuals.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy (ART) as
      treatment for HIV infection has greatly improved mortality and morbidity for
      adults and children living with HIV around the world. Two of the most common
      medications given in first-line ART are the nucleoside reverse transcriptase
      inhibitor (NRTI) zidovudine (AZT) and the nucleotide reverse transcriptase
      inhibitor (NtRTI) tenofovir (TDF). OBJECTIVES: To assess the efficacy, safety,
      and tolerability of TDF compared with AZT in combination with one NRTI and one
      non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI) as part of first-line ART
      for HIV-infected people in resource-limited settings SEARCH STRATEGY: Standard
      Cochrane methods were used to search electronic databases and conference
      proceedings with relevant search terms without limits to language. SELECTION
      CRITERIA: Randomised controlled trials of HIV-infected patients aged 5 years and
      older were included. Primary outcomes of interest included mortality, serious
      adverse events, virologic response to ART, and adherence/tolerance/retention.
      Secondary outcomes included immunologic response to ART, development of ART drug
      resistance, and prevention of sexual transmission of HIV. DATA COLLECTION AND
      ANALYSIS: Two authors assessed each reference for inclusion and exclusion
      criteria established a priori. Data were abstracted independently using a
      standardised abstraction form. MAIN RESULTS: Two randomised controlled trials
      contributed to this literature, enrolling 586 participants, and found no critical
      difference between TDF and AZT in regards to serious adverse events or virologic
      response. The trials did find higher rates of adherence and immunologic response
      in TDF-containing regimens compared with those containing AZT. The quality of the
      literature to support this conclusion is moderate to high. Drug resistance was
      more common for TDF than AZT, but the quality of this literature is low, with
      only one study reporting this outcome. It should be noted that the two studies
      compared two different drugs in addition to TDF and AZT; one had lamivudine (3TC)
      and nevirapine (NVP) and the other had emtricitabine (FTC) and efavirenz (EFV).
      AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that for the critical outcomes of virologic
      response and serious adverse events, initial ART regimens containing TDF are
      equivalent to those containing AZT. However, TDF is superior to AZT in terms of
      immunologic response and adherence and less frequent emergence of resistance. How
      much the other drugs in the regimens contributed to these findings is unclear,
      and true head-to-head trials are still warranted. The role of each drug in
      initial ART likely will be driven by their specific toxicities.

PMID- 20927779
TI  - Fibulin-3 is associated with tumour progression and a poor prognosis in
      nasopharyngeal carcinomas and inhibits cell migration and invasion via suppressed
      AKT activity.
AB  - Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is known for its highly metastatic character.
      Recent advances in diagnosis and treatment have not improved the high mortality
      rate that is attributable to early metastasis. Although several biomarkers
      correlate with metastasis and prognosis, the molecular mechanisms of NPC
      development and progression remain unclear. We demonstrate comprehensively that
      fibulin-3 is down-regulated in NPC. Loss of fibulin-3 expression is significantly
      correlated with advanced tumour and lymph node-metastasis stages, and indicates a
      poor 5-year survival rate. Functionally, fibulin-3 has the ability to suppress
      cell migration and invasion in NPC cancer cells by decreasing the activity of
      phospho-AKT. Conversely, its depletion by fibulin-3-mediated siRNAs may elevate
      phospho-AKT activity and significantly enhance the ability of NPC cancer cells to
      migrate and invade. Consistent with this negative association between fibulin-3
      and phospho-AKT, their expression levels are inversely correlated in NPC
      specimens by immunohistochemical analysis. Thus, lower fibulin-3 expression is an
      important indicator of poor survival. It may also contribute to the development
      of new therapeutic strategies to block the PI3K/AKT pathway in NPC cancer cells.

PMID- 20927778
TI  - Tumour-infiltrating T-cell subsets, molecular changes in colorectal cancer, and
      prognosis: cohort study and literature review.
AB  - The abundance of tumour-infiltrating T-cells has been associated with
      microsatellite instability (MSI) and a favourable prognosis in colorectal cancer.
      However, numerous molecular alterations have been associated with clinical
      outcome, and potentially confounding the biological and prognostic significance
      of tumour-infiltrating T-cells. We utilized a database of clinically and
      molecularly-annotated colon and rectal carcinoma cases (N = 768; stage I-IV) in
      two prospective cohort studies (the Nurses' Health Study and the Health
      Professionals Follow-up Study) and quantified the densities of CD3(+), CD8(+),
      CD45RO(+) (PTPRC), and FOXP3(+) cells within neoplastic epithelial areas using an
      Ariol image analysis system and tissue microarray. We used Cox proportional
      hazard models to compute the mortality hazard ratio, adjusting for clinical and
      molecular features including KRAS, BRAF, and PIK3CA mutations, MSI, CIMP, and
      LINE-1 hypomethylation. The densities of CD8(+), CD45RO(+), and FOXP3(+) cells
      were significantly associated with patient survival in univariate analyses
      (P(trend) < 0.007). In the multivariate model, tumour-infiltrating CD45RO(+)-cell
      density, but not CD3(+), CD8(+) or FOXP3(+)-cell density, was significantly
      associated with survival (p = 0.0032). In multivariate linear regression
      analysis, MSI-high (p < 0.0001) and high-level tumour LINE-1 methylation (p =
      0.0013) were independently associated with higher CD45RO(+)-cell density. The
      survival benefit associated with CD45RO(+) cells was independent of MSI and LINE
      1 status. In conclusion, tumour-infiltrating CD45RO(+)-cell density is a
      prognostic biomarker associated with longer survival of colorectal cancer
      patients, independent of clinical, pathological, and molecular features. In
      addition, MSI-high and tumour LINE-1 methylation level are independent predictors
      of CD45RO(+)-cell density. Our data offer a possible mechanism by which MSI
      confers an improved clinical outcome and support efforts to augment the host
      immune response in the tumour microenvironment as a strategy of targeted
      immunotherapy.

PMID- 20927780
TI  - In reference to Systematic review of the evidence for the etiology of adult
      sudden sensorineural hearing loss.

PMID- 20927781
TI  - Hedgehog antagonist GDC-0449 is effective in the treatment of advanced basal cell
      carcinoma.
AB  - OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: To demonstrate the efficacy of the hedgehog pathway
      inhibitor GDC-0449 in the treatment of advanced basal cell carcinoma. DESIGN
      STUDY: Case series. METHODS: Three patients treated in a referral center for
      locally advanced basal cell carcinoma, one with metastases, were referred for
      treatment in a GDC-0449 phase I clinical trial. The treatment was once per day
      continuous therapy with oral GDC-0449. RESULTS: Two patients showed complete
      clinical and radiologic resolution of disease, whereas one patient had
      significant reduction in tumor burden with radiologic evidence of slowly
      progressive local disease. Side effects were taste changes, mild to moderate hair
      loss, and muscle cramps in one patient. CONCLUSIONS: GDC-0449 showed significant
      inhibitory activity in the treatment of advanced basal cell carcinoma.

PMID- 20927782
TI  - Percutaneous closure of an aneurysmal patent ductus arteriosus in an adult.
AB  - We report a case of a 24 year old woman with an aneurysmal patent ductus
      arteriosus (PDA) that was percutaneously closed using an Amplatzer Vascular Plug
      II. This is the first report of the successful use of an Amplatzer Vascular Plug
      II for a PDA, and suggests the feasibility and safety of its utilization in
      select cases.

PMID- 20927783
TI  - Predictors for permanent pacing after transcatheter aortic valve implantation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) is a new treatment
      strategy for patients with symptomatic aortic stenosis who are high risk for
      traditional surgical aortic valve replacement. The incidence of conduction system
      abnormalities after the procedure is significant. We examine our experience with
      CoreValve TAVI focusing on electrocardiographic changes found pre-, peri-, and
      postintervention. METHODS: During 2007-08 we undertook 33 cases utilizing the
      CoreValve revalving system (CoreValve, Paris, France). Assessment of ECGs, with
      particular reference to the PR and QRS duration, was made daily during each
      patient's hospital stay. RESULTS: Patients were aged 81.7 +/- 6.7 years and the
      majority were male (57%). Baseline cardiac rhythm was sinus (n = 28, 80%); atrial
      fibrillation (n = 6, 18%) or ventricular paced (n = 1, 3%). Following CoreValve
      implantation, prolongation of both the PR interval and QRS duration was seen.
      Preprocedural PR interval was 193.5 +/- 38.7 ms and QRS interval preprocedure was
      115.3 +/- 24.8 ms. PR interval increased after the procedure by 23.5 +/- 23.9 ms
      and peaked at day 4 with a mean increase of 66.1 +/- 72.7 ms. QRS duration
      increased by a mean of 30.6 +/- 26.1 ms postprocedure and remained stable
      thereafter during the remaining hospital stay. The need for PPM insertion was
      partially predicted by pre-procedural QRS morphology: patients with pre-existing
      right bundle branch block had an 83% chance of requiring a permanent pacemaker (P
      < 0.01 OR 28 95%CI 2.4-326.7); those with LBBB had a 33% chance of requiring a
      pacemaker (P = ns OR 2.3 95%CI 0.2-34.9). Patients undergoing the procedure later
      in our experience showed a decreased incidence of pacing (P = 0.046 OR 0.36 95%
      CI 0.07-1.82). Pre-procedural annulus measurements also predicted the requirement
      for pacing with larger annulus sizes more likely to require a pacemaker (P =
      0.044 OR 3.3 95% CI 0.63-17.6). The requirement for pacing was not predicted by
      age, baseline PR interval or gender. Requirement for pacing overall was 32% with
      an additional 13% having had a pacemaker inserted prior to the TAVI. CONCLUSION:
      CoreValve insertion was associated with an increase in PR interval and QRS
      duration. PR interval continued to rise during admission, peaking on Day 4 post
      procedure, making a prolonged period of monitoring highly desirable. There was a
      significant requirement for permanent pacing, which was predicted by pre
      procedural QRS morphology, annulus measurement, and the learning curve. (c) 2010
      Wiley-Liss, Inc.

PMID- 20927784
TI  - Control of enantioselectivity with flexible biaryl axes: terpene-based alkylzinc
      catalysts in enantioselective dialkylzinc additions.
AB  - New enantiopure pyridyl alcohols are efficiently accessible through few synthetic
      steps from commercially available terpenes, that is, (+)-fenchone, (-)-menthone
      and (-)-verbenone as well as 2,6-diphenylpyridine. These chelating pyridyl
      alcohols exhibit flexible pyridyl-phenylene axes, which give rise to P and M
      conformers. Alkylzincation of the hydroxy groups eliminates equilibria of the
      conformers and generates alkylzinc complexes with adjusted biaryl axes, as it is
      demonstrated by NMR studies. These alkylzinc catalysts perform well in the
      addition of dimethylzinc or diethylzinc to benzaldehyde with yields up to 99% and
      ee's up to 95%. The adjusted pyridylphenylene conformations in the ligands now
      control enantioselectivities of the catalysts, which were also analysed by
      computations at the DFT level.

PMID- 20927785
TI  - A switch-on fluorescence assay for bacterial beta-lactamases with amyloid fibrils
      as fluorescence enhancer and visual tool.
AB  - Herein is described the development of a novel switch-on fluorescence assay for
      detecting beta-lactamases. The fluorescence assay comprises two components: solid
      beads coated with a beta-lactam antibiotic, which is linked to an environment
      sensitive fluorophore (dansylaminothiophenol, DTA), and amyloid fibrils of hen
      lysozyme (acting as fluorescence enhancer and visual tool). In the presence of
      the clinically significant TEM-1 beta-lactamase, the DTA-antibiotic complex on
      the solid beads is hydrolyzed, thus releasing the DTA dye into solution. The DTA
      dye is only weakly fluorescent in solution but gives strong green fluorescence
      upon binding to lysozyme fibrils. These strongly fluorescent DTA-bound fibrils
      can be easily visualized by the naked eye upon illumination of the sample with a
      simple UV lamp. The fluorescence assay can detect TEM-1 at low concentration
      (0.01 nM). In contrast, no observable fluorescence appears when the fluorescence
      assay is performed on samples without the TEM-1 beta-lactamase.

PMID- 20927787
TI  - Hyperhalogens: discovery of a new class of highly electronegative species.

PMID- 20927788
TI  - Oxidatively stable, aqueous europium(II) complexes through steric and electronic
      manipulation of cryptand coordination chemistry.

PMID- 20927789
TI  - Conformations of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA): the role of the n->pi*
      interaction.

PMID- 20927786
TI  - Salinosporamide natural products: Potent 20 S proteasome inhibitors as promising
      cancer chemotherapeutics.
AB  - Proteasome inhibitors are rapidly evolving as potent treatment options in cancer
      therapy. One of the most promising drug candidates of this type is
      salinosporamide A from the bacterium Salinispora tropica. This marine natural
      product possesses a complex, densely functionalized gamma-lactam-beta-lactone
      pharmacophore, which is responsible for its irreversible binding to its target,
      the beta subunit of the 20S proteasome. Salinosporamide A entered phase I
      clinical trials for the treatment of multiple myeloma only three years after its
      discovery. The strong biological activity and the challenging structure of this
      compound have fueled intense academic and industrial research in recent years,
      which has led to the development of more than ten syntheses, the elucidation of
      its biosynthetic pathway, and the generation of promising structure-activity
      relationships and oncological data. Salinosporamide A thus serves as an
      intriguing example of the successful interplay of modern drug discovery and
      biomedical research, medicinal chemistry and pharmacology, natural product
      synthesis and analysis, as well as biosynthesis and bioengineering.

PMID- 20927791
TI  - Detection of ethylene gas by fluorescence turn-on of a conjugated polymer.

PMID- 20927790
TI  - Catalytic asymmetric exo'-selective [3+2] cycloaddition of iminoesters with
      nitroalkenes.

PMID- 20927793
TI  - A molecular capsule network: guest encapsulation and control of Diels-Alder
      reactivity.

PMID- 20927792
TI  - A chiral-anion generator: application to catalytic desilylative kinetic
      resolution of silyl-protected secondary alcohols.

PMID- 20927794
TI  - Heteroatom-nucleophile-induced C-C fragmentations: synthesis of allenes and entry
      to domino reactions.

PMID- 20927795
TI  - A simple and general platform for generating stereochemically complex polyene
      frameworks by iterative cross-coupling.

PMID- 20927796
TI  - Child cancer clusters identified from spatial analysis, and the search for
      etiologic factors.

PMID- 20927798
TI  - Drug consumption and air pollution: an overview.
AB  - PURPOSE: Acute respiratory symptoms are among the health effects of air pollution
      exposure. Studies over the past decades have linked respiratory drug use
      (consumption or sales) with changes in air pollution conditions. METHODS: Twenty
      one studies were analyzed to discuss whether increased levels of air pollution
      are associated with the use of medications for respiratory diseases. RESULTS:
      Epidemiological studies agree that variation in the drug use is related to air
      pollution exposure. In panel studies, although asthmatics are more sensitive to
      air pollution effects, the increase in drug use was comparable and similar to non
      asthmatics. Ecological studies confirm a significant association in respiratory
      drug sales depending on the selected lags (that is the time elapsing between air
      pollution measurement and the resulting drug use). The results of a meta-analysis
      of two ecological studies showed an increase in risk for increase in daily mean
      concentration of some pollutant (10 ug m(-3) ). For Black Smoke RR=1.007 (95% CI
      1.004-1.011) for lag 1, and RR=1.008 (95% CI 1.005-1.010) for lag 8. For Nitrogen
      dioxide, RR=1.008 (95% CI 1.005-1.012) for lag 8 and for Sulfur dioxide, RR=1.005
      (95% CI 1.001-1.010) for lag 9. CONCLUSIONS: The analysis of drug use provides
      useful data for the evaluation of risks which derive from exposure to air
      pollution. More studies are needed to measure the effects of air pollution on
      respiratory medication use. Lags of up to 14 days have to be considered and the
      pollutants to be considered should include particulate matter and ozone.

PMID- 20927799
TI  - A multifunctional ribonuclease-A-conjugated CdTe quantum dot cluster nanosystem
      for synchronous cancer imaging and therapy.

PMID- 20927800
TI  - Sperm morphology in the Malagasy rodents (Muroidea: Nesomyinae).
AB  - The morphology of the spermatozoon of representative species of the subfamily
      Nesomyinae (Muroidea: Nesomyidae), a monophyletic group of rodents endemic to
      Madagascar, was examined by light and electron microscopy to determine the sperm
      head shape and tail length across the species. Marked interspecific differences
      were found to occur in both the form of the sperm head and length of the tail.
      The species that possess a sperm head with an apical hook, which largely contains
      acrosomal material, generally displayed longer sperm tails, and a species with a
      spatulate sperm head had the shortest tail. The association between sperm head
      shape and tail length mirrors that previously found in Eurasian and Australasian
      murine rodents. Thus, the repeated association between sperm head shape and tail
      length across these groups of muroid rodents clearly indicates a functional
      relationship between these two features. A comparison of sperm morphology of the
      nesomyines to that of related muroid rodents on the mainland of Africa suggests
      that the possession of an apical hook is the ancestral condition.

PMID- 20928827
TI  - MRI resolution enhancement: how useful are shifted images obtained by changing
      the demodulation frequency?
AB  - Super-resolution reconstruction is a process by which a set of different low
      resolution images of the same object are used to create an enhanced, higher
      resolution image of that object. Recently there has been debate amongst
      researchers whether it is possible to obtain in-plane image enhancement using a
      set of low resolution magnetic resonance images, acquired by making small,
      independent changes to the demodulation frequency. We show that shifted low
      resolution images contain different information that can be used to obtain denser
      sampling, leading to image enhancement. We conclude this from specific phantom
      experiments, applying signal processing sampling theory and taking into
      consideration the relative sampling of the point spread function with respect to
      the location of signal sources. Furthermore, the maximum achievable resolution
      for Fourier encoded MRI data at a boundary or object feature is governed by the
      effective width of the point spread function or the Fourier pixel size determined
      by the extent of k-space; this is verified experimentally.

PMID- 20928828
TI  - The role of recollection and familiarity in the functional differentiation of the
      medial temporal lobes.
AB  - The components of the medial temporal lobes (MTL) receive different kinds of
      input. The perirhinal cortex receives primarily object/item information, the
      parahippocampal cortex receives contextual information, and the hippocampus
      receives high-level inputs that include object/item, context, and other
      information. Critically, the perirhinal and parahippocampal cortices have similar
      cytoarchitectonics, which differ considerably from that of the hippocampus and
      suggest that these cortices process their inputs differently from the way that
      the hippocampus processes its inputs. Much evidence indicates that the
      hippocampus is designed to rapidly bind together pattern-separated
      representations that support recall/recollection well. In contrast, the newer MTL
      cortices rapidly create poorly pattern-separated memories that support
      familiarity well, but recall/recollection very poorly. For over a decade, there
      has been disagreement about whether recall/recollection is primarily mediated by
      the hippocampus and familiarity by the evolutionarily newer MTL cortices or
      whether the MTL mediates these kinds of memory in an integrated, homogeneous
      fashion. Common misconceptions about familiarity, recollection, item, and
      associative memory are discussed as are methodological problems with MTL lesion
      and functional imaging research. The possible confound of familiarity with weaker
      memory and recollection with stronger memory is discussed and the implications of
      the Montaldi et al. (2006) functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) study,
      which matched memory strength between strong familiarity and recollection,
      finding that only recollection activated the hippocampus, are discussed. A
      suggestion is made about how the long-running conflict of findings in the human
      hippocampal lesion literature may be resolved.

PMID- 20928829
TI  - Microfabricated high-moment micrometer-sized MRI contrast agents.
AB  - While chemically synthesized superparamagnetic microparticles have enabled much
      new research based on MRI tracking of magnetically labeled cells, signal-to-noise
      levels still limit the potential range of applications. Here it is shown how,
      through top-down microfabrication, contrast agent relaxivity can be increased
      several-fold, which should extend the sensitivity of such cell-tracking studies.
      Microfabricated agents can benefit from both higher magnetic moments and higher
      uniformity than their chemically synthesized counterparts, implying increased
      label visibility and more quantitative image analyses. To assess the performance
      of microfabricated micrometer-sized contrast agent particles, analytic models and
      numerical simulations are developed and tested against new microfabricated agents
      described in this article, as well as against results of previous imaging studies
      of traditional chemically synthesized microparticle agents. Experimental data
      showing signal effects of 500-nm thick, 2-MUm diameter, gold-coated iron and gold
      coated nickel disks verify the simulations. Additionally, it is suggested that
      measures of location better than the pixel resolution can be obtained and that
      these are aided using well-defined contrast agent particles achievable through
      microfabrication techniques.

PMID- 20928830
TI  - Microarray analysis of rat hippocampus exposed to excitotoxicity: reversal
      Na(+)/Ca(2+) exchanger NCX3 is overexpressed in glial cells.
AB  - Multiple factors are involved in the glutamate-induced excitotoxicity phenomenon,
      such as overload of ionotropic and metabotropic receptors, excess Ca(2+) influx,
      nitric oxide synthase activation, oxidative damage due to increase in free
      radicals, and release of endogenous polyamine, among others. In order to attempt
      a more integrated approach to address this issue, we established, by microarray
      analysis, the hippocampus gene expression profiles under glutamate-induced
      excitotoxicity conditions. Increased gene expression is mainly related to
      excitotoxicity (CaMKII, glypican 2, GFAP, NCX3, IL-2, and Gmeb2) or with cell
      damage response (dynactin and Ecel1). Several genes that augmented their
      expression are related to glutamatergic system modulation, in particular with
      NMDA receptor modulation and calcium homeostasis (IL-2, CaMKII, acrosin, Gmeb2,
      hAChE, Slc83a, and SP1 factor). Conversely, among genes that diminished their
      expression, we found the Syngap 1, which is downregulated by CaMKII, and the MHC
      II, which is downregulated by glutamate. Changes observed in gene expression
      induced by monosodium glutamate (MSG) neonatal treatment in the hippocampus are
      consistent with the activation of the mechanisms that modulate NMDA receptor
      function as well as with the implementation of plastic response to cell damage
      and intracellular calcium homeostasis. Regarding this aspect, we report here that
      NCX3/Slc8a3, a Na(+)/Ca(2+) membrane exchanger, is highly expressed in
      astrocytes, both in vitro and in vivo, in response to glutamate-induced
      excitotoxicity. Hence, the results of this analysis present a broad view of the
      expression profile elicited by MSG neonatal treatment, and lead us to suggest the
      possible molecular pathways of action and reaction involved under this
      experimental model of excitotoxicity.

PMID- 20928831
TI  - Predictive, interactive multiple memory systems.
AB  - Most lesion studies in animals, and neuropsychological and functional
      neuroimaging studies in humans, have focused on finding dissociations between the
      functions of different brain regions, for example in relation to different types
      of memory. While some of these dissociations can be questioned, particularly in
      the case of neuroimaging data, we start by assuming a "modal model" in which at
      least three different memory systems are distinguished: an episodic system (which
      stores associations between items and spatial/temporal contexts, and which is
      supported primarily by the hippocampus); a semantic system (which extracts
      combinations of perceptual features that define items, and which is supported
      primarily by anterior temporal cortex); and modality-specific perceptual systems
      (which represent the sensory features extracted from a stimulus, and which are
      supported by higher sensory cortices). In most situations however, behavior is
      determined by interactions between these systems. These interactions reflect the
      flow of information in both "forward" and "backward" directions between memory
      systems, where backward connections transmit predictions about the current
      item/features based on the current context/item. Importantly, it is the resulting
      "prediction error"--the difference between these predictions and the forward
      transmission of sensory evidence--that drives memory encoding and retrieval. We
      describe how this "predictive interactive multiple memory systems" (PIMMS)
      framework can be applied to human neuroimaging data acquired during encoding or
      retrieval phases of the recognition memory paradigm. Our novel emphasis is thus
      on associations rather than dissociations between activity measured in key brain
      regions; in particular, we propose that measuring the functional coupling between
      brain regions will help understand how these memory systems interact to guide
      behavior.

PMID- 20928832
TI  - Estradiol promotes spine growth and synapse formation without affecting pre
      established networks.
AB  - Estrogens regulate dendritic spine density, but the mechanism and significance of
      this effect for brain networks remain unknown. We used repetitive imaging over
      several days to investigate how 17beta-estradiol affected the turnover and long
      term behavior of dendritic spines in CA1 cells of hippocampal slice cultures. We
      find that 17beta-estradiol and serum in the culture medium tightly regulated
      spine density by promoting an increase in the rate of new spine formation and
      their transformation into synapses, without affecting spine elimination or
      stability. New spines formed during a transient 17beta-estradiol application were
      preferentially eliminated upon removal of the hormone, in contrast with pre
      existing spines that remained unaffected. Our results reveal that 17beta
      estradiol transiently regulates the complexity of hippocampal circuits without
      causing major alterations of pre-existing networks.

PMID- 20928833
TI  - A unified framework for the functional organization of the medial temporal lobes
      and the phenomenology of episodic memory.
AB  - There is currently an intense debate about the nature of recognition memory and
      about the roles of medial temporal lobe subregions in recognition memory
      processes. At a larger level, this debate has been about whether it is
      appropriate to propose unified theories to explain memory at neural, functional,
      and phenomenological levels of analysis. Here, I review findings from physiology,
      functional imaging, and lesion studies in humans, monkeys, and rodents relevant
      to the roles of medial temporal lobe subregions in recognition memory, as well as
      in short-term memory and perception. The results from these studies are
      consistent with the idea that there is functional heterogeneity in the medial
      temporal lobes, although the differences among medial temporal lobe subregions do
      not precisely correspond to different types of memory tasks, cognitive processes,
      or states of awareness. Instead, the evidence is consistent with the idea that
      medial temporal lobe subregions differ in terms of the kind of information they
      process and represent, and that these regions collectively support episodic
      memory by binding item and context information.

PMID- 20928834
TI  - The single place fields of CA3 cells: a two-stage transformation from grid cells.
AB  - Granule cells of the dentate gyrus (DG) generally have multiple place fields,
      whereas CA3 cells, which are second order, have only a single place field. Here,
      we explore the mechanisms by which the high selectivity of CA3 cells is achieved.
      Previous work showed that the multiple place fields of DG neurons could be
      quantitatively accounted for by a model based on the number and strength of grid
      cell inputs and a competitive network interaction in the DG that is mediated by
      gamma frequency feedback inhibition. We have now built a model of CA3 based on
      similar principles. CA3 cells receive input from an average of one active DG cell
      and from 1,400 cortical grid cells. Based on experimental findings, we have
      assumed a linear interaction of the two pathways. The results show that simulated
      CA3 cells generally have a single place field, as observed experimentally. Thus,
      a two-step process based on simple rules (and that can occur without learning) is
      able to explain how grid cell inputs to the hippocampus give rise to cells having
      ultimate spatial selectivity. The CA3 processes that produce a single place
      depend critically on the competitive network processes and do not require the
      direct cortical inputs to CA3, which are therefore likely to perform some other
      unknown function.

PMID- 20928835
TI  - Zinc in the treatment of idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss.
AB  - OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: The objective of this study was to investigate whether
      zinc supplementation can enhance the recovery of idiopathic sudden sensorineural
      hearing loss (SSNHL). STUDY DESIGN: Prospective, randomized study. METHODS: The
      66 SSNHL patients who participated in this study were randomly divided into two
      groups: 33 were given corticosteroid treatment (control group) and 33 were given
      oral zinc gluconate plus corticosteroid treatment (zinc group). Serum zinc levels
      were checked before treatment in both groups and after zinc supplementation in
      the zinc group. Hearing gain and percentage of recovery were analyzed and
      compared between the two groups. The correlation between the serum zinc level
      changes and hearing recovery was also analyzed. RESULTS: A significantly larger
      hearing gain, an increased percentage of recovery, and an increased rate of
      successful recovery were seen in the zinc group compared with the control group
      (all P < .05). There was a significant correlation between serum zinc level
      changes and posttreatment hearing thresholds by correlation analysis (P < .05),
      as well as between changes of serum zinc levels and percentage of recovery in the
      zinc group (P < .05). CONCLUSIONS: Zinc supplementation may enhance the hearing
      recovery of SSNHL patients. Its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects may
      help reduce the oxidative stress of the cochlea in SSNHL, implying a new
      direction in the treatment of this disease.

PMID- 20928836
TI  - Babbling, vegetative function, and language development after cricotracheal
      resection in aphonic children.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the importance of prelinguistic babbling by studying
      patterns of speech and language development after cricotracheal resection in
      aphonic children. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective review of seven previously aphonic
      children who underwent cricotracheal resection by our pediatric thoracic airway
      team. The analyzed variables include age, sex, comorbidity, grade of stenosis,
      length of resected trachea, and communication methods. METHODS: Data regarding
      the children's pre- and postsurgical communication methods, along with their
      utilization of speech therapy services, were obtained via speech-language
      pathology evaluations, clinical observations, and a standardized telephone survey
      supplemented by parental documentation. Postsurgical voice quality was assessed
      using the Pediatric Voice Outcomes Survey. RESULTS: All seven subjects underwent
      tracheostomy prior to 2 months of age when corrected for prematurity. The
      subjects remained aphonic for the entire duration of cannulation. Following
      cricotracheal resection, they experienced an initial delay in speech acquisition.
      Vegetative functions were the first laryngeal sounds to emerge. Initially, the
      children were only able to produce these sounds reflexively, but they
      subsequently gained voluntary control over these laryngeal functions. All
      subjects underwent an identifiable stage of canonical babbling that often
      occurred concomitantly with vocalizations. This was followed by the emergence of
      true speech. CONCLUSIONS: The initial delay in speech acquisition observed
      following decannulation, along with the presence of a postsurgical canonical
      stage in all study subjects, supports the hypothesis that babbling is necessary
      for speech and language development. Furthermore, the presence of babbling is
      universally evident regardless of the age at which speech develops. Finally,
      there is no demonstrable correlation between preoperative sign language and rate
      of speech development.

PMID- 20928837
TI  - Internal pudendal artery stenoses and erectile dysfunction: correlation with
      angiographic coronary artery disease.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To describe the angiographic characteristics of pelvic arterial
      disease in patients with erectile dysfunction (ED) nonresponsive to
      phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors (PDE5i) and suspected coronary artery disease
      (CAD). BACKGROUND: ED and CAD share common risk factors which can result in
      endothelial dysfunction, atherosclerosis and flow-limiting stenoses in the
      coronary and internal pudendal arteries. METHODS: Ten patients undergoing cardiac
      catheterization with ED and a history of unsatisfactory response to a PDE5i were
      studied. ED severity was quantified using the International Index of ED scoring
      system. We performed angiography and quantitative vessel analysis of the coronary
      arteries, bilateral common and internal iliac arteries, and internal pudendal
      arteries (IPAs). RESULTS: In this pilot observational study, we found a high
      correlation between the presence of angiographic CAD and IPA disease. The
      reference IPA diameters at the point of maximal stenosis were 2.7 +/- 0.4 mm
      (right IPA) and 2.7 +/- 0.5 mm (left IPA). In the nine patients with IPA disease,
      the average stenosis severity was 55 +/- 31% (right) and 66% +/- 25% (left), and
      average lesion length was 12.4 +/- 5.2 mm (right) and 10.0 +/- 3.5 mm (left).
      Four patients had unilateral IPA total occlusions, three of whom had moderate
      contralateral disease. The majority of IPA stenoses occurred in the mid to distal
      IPA and appears amenable to percutaneous revascularization. CONCLUSIONS: This
      represents the first angiographic report of CAD correlated with IPA disease in
      patients with ED. Further investigation is required to determine whether the
      development of macrovascular disease in the IPA causes ED and whether
      endovascular treatment is safe and effective in this population.

PMID- 20928838
TI  - Complications associated with left ventricular puncture.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To report complications in a consecutive series of patients undergoing
      percutaneous left ventricular apical puncture (LVAP) and sheath placement for
      diagnostic or interventional procedures. BACKGROUND: Percutaneous LVAP is only
      rarely used to provide hemodynamic data in the presence of mechanical prosthetic
      valves. Recently, LVAP has been used to facilitate complex interventional
      procedures such as paravalvular leak closures. These frequently necessitate
      placement of 4-6 F sheaths, rather than smaller needles. Optimal technique and
      outcomes are largely unknown for this uncommon procedure. METHODS: We
      retrospectively analyzed 32 patients undergoing LVAP with echocardiographic and
      fluoroscopic guidance at our institution between 2002 and 2009. These patients
      were referred to the cardiac catheterization laboratory for hemodynamic
      assessment to rule out prosthetic dysfunction and or to facilitate paravalvular
      leak closure. Sheaths ranged from 4 to 6 F were removed at the end of the
      procedure after reversing any anticoagulation. No specific closure devices were
      used for hemostasis. Frequency of access site complications associated with LVAP
      recorded. RESULTS: Apical access site related complications were higher in
      patients requiring LVAP for intervention than for diagnostic purposes (25% vs.
      12.5%). Hemothorax was the most frequent serious complication occurring in 6
      (19%) patients and frequently required intervention 5(16%). Three patients had
      local bleeding with no drop in hemoglobin or need for intervention. CONCLUSIONS:
      LVAP is associated with a significant incidence of access-related complications.
      There is a need for safe and reliable methods of closing percutaneous LVAP access
      sites.

PMID- 20928839
TI  - Transcatheter closure of perimembranous ventricular septal defect in children:
      safety and efficiency with symmetric and asymmetric occluders.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: This study was designed to determine the safety and efficiency of
      asymmetric and symmetric ventricular septal occluders (AVSDOs and SVSDOs,
      respectively) for closure perimembranous ventricular septal defect (PMVSD) in
      children. METHODS: Between January 2003 and December 2007, 142 children with
      PMVSD were treated with occluders (64 with AVSDOs and 78 with SVSDOs). RESULTS:
      The defect diameter was 5.3 +/- 1.1 mm in the AVSDO group and 5.4 +/- 1.3 mm in
      the SVSDO group (P > 0.05). The success rates were similar between two groups
      [93.8% (AVSDO) vs. 94.9% (SVSDO), P > 0.05]. Two patients in the AVSDO group were
      switched to the SVSDO group due to residual shunts, and one patient in the SVSDO
      group was switched due to aortic regurgitation after deployment of the occluder.
      After procedure, 17 patients [seven with AVSDOs and nine with SVSDOs (P > 0.05)]
      developed various types of heart block (HB). Among them, 13 patients converted to
      the normal sinus rhythm. The remaining four cases had not recovered at the end of
      the study. CONCLUSIONS: Transcatheter closure of PMVSD using both AVSDO and SVSDO
      was safe and effective. Development of HB was the main complication for both
      devices.

PMID- 20928840
TI  - Treatment of an unraveled intracerebral coil.
AB  - We describe a case of coil unraveling that occurred during stent-assisted
      cerebral aneurysm embolization. The unraveled coil was stretched and the loose
      end was fixed in the external carotid artery by the addition of other coils.
      Herniation of the loose coil end to the distal part of the vessel with potential
      vessel occlusion was prevented and no immediate or long-term complication was
      observed. (c) 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

PMID- 20928841
TI  - Emergency covered stent implantation for rupture of the ascending aorta after
      balloon angioplasty.
AB  - An acute rupture of the ascending aorta occurred in a 12-year-old boy after
      balloon angioplasty and was successfully treated by emergency covered stent
      implantation during resuscitation and preparation for support with extracorporeal
      membrane oxygenation. Neuroprotection with sedation, core temperature cooling and
      mild hyperventilation were undertaken. The boy recovered quickly. There were no
      neurological sequalae with a good interventional result at discharge and at
      follow-up after 9 months.

PMID- 20928842
TI  - Angiographic and intravascular ultrasound follow up of paclitaxel- and sirolimus
      eluting stent after poststent high-pressure balloon dilation: from the poststent
      optimal stent expansion trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aims of this study were to identify the efficacy of optimal stent
      expansion (OSE) according to the Multicenter Ultrasound Stenting in Coronaries
      Study (MUSIC Study) criteria in drug-eluting stent (DES) and compare paclitaxel
      eluting stent (PES) to sirolimus-eluting stent (SES). BACKGROUND: Although
      poststent high-pressure balloon dilatation is proposed after bare metal stent
      implantation according to OSE, defined by the criteria of the MUSIC Study, very
      little data are available in DES. METHODS: Two hundred fifty patients (M:F =
      149:101; age, 61.5 +/- 9.2 years) who underwent 9-month follow-up angiography in
      the Poststent Optimal Stent Expansion Trial (POET) were included in this study.
      We assessed angiographic in-stent restenosis (ISR) and neointima volume (NV)
      using IVUS at 9 months. RESULTS: At 9-month follow up, there were no significant
      differences in ISR and NV index (NV/stent length, mm(2) ) between patients with
      and without OSE. However, the rate of ISR and NV index were higher in PES [ISR:
      18 (13.7%) and 4 (3.4%), P = 0.004; NV index: 1.02 +/- 0.99 mm(2) and 0.21 +/-
      0.37, P < 0.001 in PES and SES]. CONCLUSIONS: OSE according to the MUSIC Study
      criteria was not related to ISR and NV in the DES era but PES had a significantly
      higher ISR rate and NV than SES after poststent high-pressure balloon dilatation.

PMID- 20928843
TI  - Echocardiographically guided catheter closure of arterial ducts in small preterm
      infants on the neonatal intensive care unit.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To describe closure of haemodynamically significant arterial ducts in
      preterm infants using an echocardiographically guided cardiac catheter technique
      in selected infants in the neonatal nursery and in preference to cardiac surgery.
      BACKGROUND: Persistently patent arterial ducts are common in preterm infants and
      are associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Cardiac catheter
      techniques continue to improve and occlusion of arterial ducts in preterm infants
      is becoming technically feasible. Closure of arterial ducts by cardiac catheter
      techniques would enable selected infants to avoid surgery and a lateral
      thoracotomy, as well as potentially obviating the need for transfer of sick
      preterm infants between units for duct closure. METHODS AND RESULTS: This brief
      report describes placement of coils or Amplatzer duct devices to occlude arterial
      ducts in small premature infants exclusively under echocardiographic guidance in
      the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. CONCLUSIONS: Closing arterial ducts in the
      neonatal nursery by an echocardiographically guided cardiac catheter technique
      with minimal morbidity is becoming achievable and is a significant advance in
      neonatal care.

PMID- 20928846
TI  - Coriolis coupling and nonadiabaticity in chemical reaction dynamics.
AB  - The nonadiabatic quantum dynamics and Coriolis coupling effect in chemical
      reaction have been reviewed, with emphasis on recent progress in using the time
      dependent wave packet approach to study the Coriolis coupling and nonadiabatic
      effects, which was done by K. L. Han and his group. Several typical chemical
      reactions, for example, H+D(2), F+H(2)/D(2)/HD, D(+)+H(2), O+H(2), and
      He+H(2)(+), have been discussed. One can find that there is a significant role of
      Coriolis coupling in reaction dynamics for the ion-molecule collisions of
      D(+)+H(2), Ne+H(2)(+), and He+H(2)(+) in both adiabatic and nonadiabatic context.

PMID- 20928844
TI  - Social peers rescue autism-relevant sociability deficits in adolescent mice.
AB  - Behavioral therapies are currently the most effective interventions for treating
      the diagnostic symptoms of autism. We employed a mouse model of autism to
      evaluate components of behavioral interventions that improve sociability in mice.
      BTBR T+tf/J (BTBR) is an inbred mouse strain that exhibits prominent behavioral
      phenotypes with face validity to all three diagnostic symptom categories of
      autism, including robust and well-replicated deficits in social approach and
      reciprocal social interactions. To investigate the role of peer interactions in
      the development of sociability, BTBR juvenile mice were reared in the same home
      cage with juvenile mice of a highly social inbred strain, C57BL/6J (B6). Subject
      mice were tested as young adults for sociability and repetitive behaviors. B6
      controls reared with B6 showed their strain-typical high sociability. BTBR
      controls reared with BTBR showed their strain-typical lack of sociability. In
      contrast, BTBR reared with B6 as juveniles showed significant sociability as
      young adults. A 20-day intervention was as effective as a 40-day intervention for
      improving social approach behavior. High levels of repetitive self-grooming in
      BTBR were not rescued by peer-rearing with B6, indicating specificity of the
      intervention to the social domain. These results from a robust mouse model of
      autism support the interpretation that social enrichment with juvenile peers is a
      beneficial intervention for improving adult outcome in the social domain. This
      novel paradigm may prove useful for discovering factors that are essential for
      effective behavioral treatments, and biological mechanisms underlying effective
      behavioral interventions.

PMID- 20928845
TI  - Far visual acuity is unremarkable in autism: do we need to focus on crowding?
AB  - Although autism presents a unique perceptual phenotype defined in part by
      atypical (often enhanced) analysis of spatial information, few biologically
      plausible hypotheses have been advanced to explain its neural underpinnings. One
      plausible explanation is functional but altered lateral connectivity mediating
      early or local mechanisms selectively responsive to different stimulus
      attributes, including spatial frequency and contrast. The goal of the present
      study was first to assess far visual acuity in autism using Landolt-C optotypes
      defined by different local stimulus attributes. Second, we investigated whether
      acuity is differentially affected in autism when target optotypes are
      simultaneously presented with flanking stimuli at different distances. This
      typical detrimental "crowding effect" of flanking stimuli on target optotype
      discrimination is attributed to lateral inhibitory interaction of neurons
      encoding for visual properties of distracters close to the target. Results failed
      to demonstrate a between-group difference in acuity to Landolt-C optotypes,
      whether defined by luminance- or texture-contrast. However, the expected crowding
      effect at one gap-size opening distance was evidenced for the control group only;
      a small effect was observed for the autism group at two gap-size opening. These
      results suggest that although far visual acuity is unremarkable in autism,
      altered local lateral connectivity within early perceptual areas underlying
      spatial information processing in autism is atypical. Altered local lateral
      connectivity in autism might originate from an imbalance in excitatory/inhibitory
      neural signaling, resulting in changes regarding elementary feature extraction
      and subsequent downstream visual integration and visuo-spatial analysis. This
      notion is discussed within the context of characteristic lower- and higher-level
      perceptual processing in autism.

PMID- 20928847
TI  - Structural, electronic, bonding, magnetic, and optical properties of bimetallic
      [Ru(n)Au(m)](0/+) (n + m <= 3) clusters.
AB  - The structural, electronic, bonding, magnetic, and optical properties of
      bimetallic [Ru(n)Au(m)](0/+) (n + m <= 3; n, m = 0-3) clusters were computed in
      the framework of the density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent DFT (TD
      DFT) using the full-range PBE0 non local hybrid GGA functional combined with the
      Def2-QZVPP basis sets. Several low-lying states have been investigated and the
      stability of the ground state spinomers was estimated with respect to all
      possible fragmentation schemes. Molecular orbital and population analysis schemes
      along with computed electronic parameters illustrated the details of the bonding
      mechanisms in the [Ru(n)Au(m)](0/+) clusters. The TD-DFT computed UV-visible
      absorption spectra of the bimetallic clusters have been fully analyzed and
      compared to those of pure gold and ruthenium clusters. Assignments of all
      principal electronic transitions are given and interpreted in terms of
      contribution from specific molecular orbital excitations.

PMID- 20928848
TI  - Time-dependent density functional theory study on excited-state dihydrogen
      bonding O-H...H-Ge of the dihydrogen-bonded phenol-triethylgermanium complex.
AB  - Intermolecular dihydrogen bond O-H...H-Ge in the electronically excited state of
      the dihydrogen-bonded phenol-triethylgermanium (TEGH) complex was studied
      theoretically using time-dependent density functional theory. Analysis of the
      frontier molecular orbitals revealed a locally excited S(1) state in which only
      the phenol moiety is electronically excited. In the predicted infrared spectrum
      of the dihydrogen-bonded phenol-TEGH complex, the O-H stretching vibrational mode
      shifts to a lower frequency in the S(1) state in comparison with that in ground
      state. The Ge-H stretching vibrational mode demonstrates a relatively smaller
      redshift than the O-H stretching vibrational mode. Upon electronic excitation to
      the S(1) state, the O-H and Ge-H bonds involved in the dihydrogen bond both get
      lengthened, whereas the C-O bond is shortened. With an increased binding energy,
      the calculated H...H distance significantly decreases in the S(1) state. Thus,
      the intermolecular dihydrogen bond O-H...H-Ge of the dihydrogen-bonded phenol
      TEGH complex becomes stronger in the electronically excited state than that in
      the ground state.

PMID- 20928849
TI  - vmdICE: a plug-in for rapid evaluation of molecular dynamics simulations using
      VMD.
AB  - Molecular dynamics (MD) is a powerful in silico method to investigate the
      interactions between biomolecules. It solves Newton's equations of motion for
      atoms over a specified period of time and yields a trajectory file, containing
      the different spatial arrangements of atoms during the simulation. The movements
      and energies of each single atom are recorded. For evaluating of these simulation
      trajectories with regard to biomedical implications, several methods are
      available. Three well-known ones are the root mean square deviation (RMSD), the
      root mean square fluctuation (RMSF) and solvent accessible surface area (SASA).
      Herein, we present a novel plug-in for the software "visual molecular dynamics"
      (VMD) that allows an interactive 3D representation of RMSD, RMSF, and SASA,
      directly on the molecule. On the one hand, our plug-in is easy to handle for
      inexperienced users, and on the other hand, it provides a fast and flexible
      graphical impression of the spatial dynamics of a system for experts in the
      field.

PMID- 20928850
TI  - Comparison of aromatic NH...pi, OH...pi, and CH...pi interactions of alanine
      using MP2, CCSD, and DFT methods.
AB  - A comparison of the performance of various density functional methods including
      long-range corrected and dispersion corrected methods [MPW1PW91, B3LYP, B3PW91,
      B97-D, B1B95, MPWB1K, M06-2X, SVWN5, omegaB97XD, long-range correction (LC)
      omegaPBE, and CAM-B3LYP using 6-31+G(d,p) basis set] in the study of CH...pi,
      OH...pi, and NH...pi interactions were done using weak complexes of neutral (A)
      and cationic (A(+)) forms of alanine with benzene by taking the Moller-Plesset
      (MP2)/6-31+G(d,p) results as the reference. Further, the binding energies of the
      neutral alanine-benzene complexes were assessed at coupled cluster (CCSD)/6
      31G(d,p) method. Analysis of the molecular geometries and interaction energies at
      density functional theory (DFT), MP2, CCSD methods and CCSD(T) single point level
      reveal that MP2 is the best overall performer for noncovalent interactions giving
      accuracy close to CCSD method. MPWB1K fared better in interaction energy
      calculations than other DFT methods. In the case of M06-2X, SVWN5, and the
      dispersion corrected B97-D, the interaction energies are significantly overrated
      for neutral systems compared to other methods. However, for cationic systems, B97
      D yields structures and interaction energies similar to MP2 and MPWB1K methods.
      Among the long-range corrected methods, LC-omegaPBE and CAM-B3LYP methods show
      close agreement with MP2 values while omegaB97XD energies are notably higher than
      MP2 values.

PMID- 20928851
TI  - Structural stability and phase transition in OsC and RuC.
AB  - The structural stability and phase transition of osmium and ruthenium carbides
      (OsC and RuC) were investigated by first principles. Nine structures were
      considered for each carbide. Zinc blende structure has the lowest energy among
      the considered structures at ambient conditions for both carbides. For OsC at
      elevated pressures, the most stable phase is zinc blende structure from 0 to 10
      GPa, FeSi from 10 to 32 GPa. In these two structures, Os atom is fourfold
      coordinated. From 32 to 40 GPa, tungsten carbide (WC) and NiAs are energetically
      competitive with Os atom sixfold coordinated. NiAs becomes energetically the most
      stable structure above 40 GPa. For RuC, zinc blende structure is the most stable
      from 0 to 20 GPa. From 20 to 100 GPa, WC structure is the most stable.

PMID- 20928852
TI  - TmoleX--a graphical user interface for TURBOMOLE.
AB  - We herein present the graphical user interface (GUI) TmoleX for the quantum
      chemical program package TURBOMOLE. TmoleX allows users to execute the complete
      workflow of a quantum chemical investigation from the initial building of a
      structure to the visualization of the results in a user friendly graphical front
      end. The purpose of TmoleX is to make TURBOMOLE easy to use and to provide a high
      degree of flexibility. Hence, it should be a valuable tool for most users from
      beginners to experts. The program is developed in Java and runs on Linux,
      Windows, and Mac platforms. It can be used to run calculations on local desktops
      as well as on remote computers.

PMID- 20928869
TI  - Depicting adoptive immunotherapy for prostate cancer in an animal model with
      magnetic resonance imaging.
AB  - Genetically modified natural killer (NK) cells that recognize tumor-associated
      surface antigens have recently shown promise as a novel approach for cancer
      immunotherapy. To determine NK cell therapy response early, a real-time,
      noninvasive method to quantify NK cell homing to the tumor is desirable. The
      purpose of this study was to evaluate if MR imaging could provide a noninvasive,
      in vivo diagnosis of NK cell accumulation in epithelial cell adhesion molecule
      (EpCAM)-positive prostate cancers in a rat xenograft model. Genetically
      engineered NK-92-scFv(MOC31)-zeta cells, which express a chimeric antigen
      receptor specific to the tumor-associated EpCAM antigen, and nontargeted NK-92
      cells were labeled with superparamagnetic particles of iron-oxides (SPIO)
      ferumoxides. Twelve athymic rats with implanted EpCAM positive DU145 prostate
      cancers received intravenous injections of 1.5*10(7) SPIO labeled NK-92 and NK-92
      scFv(MOC31)-zeta cells. EpCAM-positive prostate cancers demonstrated a
      progressive and a significant decline in contrast-to-noise-ratio data at 1 and 24
      h after injection of SPIO-labeled NK-92-scFv(MOC31)-zeta cells. Conversely, tumor
      contrast-to-noise-ratio data did not change significantly after injection of SPIO
      labeled parental NK-92 cells. Histopathology confirmed an accumulation of the
      genetically engineered NK-92-scFv(MOC31)-zeta cells in prostate cancers. Thus,
      the presence or absence of a tumor accumulation of therapeutic NK cells can be
      monitored with cellular MR imaging. EpCAM-directed, SPIO labeled NK-92
      scFv(MOC31)-zeta cells accumulate in EpCAM-positive prostate cancers.

PMID- 20928868
TI  - Automated macrovessel artifact correction in dynamic susceptibility contrast
      magnetic resonance imaging using independent component analysis.
AB  - Dynamic susceptibility contrast-MRI is the most commonly used functional MRI
      based method for studying changes in cerebral perfusion. However, several studies
      indicated a systematic overestimation of perfusion parameters compared with other
      imaging modalities related to the high sensitivity of dynamic susceptibility
      contrast-MRI for blood flow in large vessels. In this study, we therefore suggest
      an improved, automated, robust, and efficient method allowing for generating
      hemodynamic parameter maps where signal influence from large vessels is
      minimized. Based on independent component analysis, this fully automated approach
      corrects dynamic susceptibility contrast-MRI data without any user interaction,
      thus making a clinical applicability possible. The accuracy of the proposed
      method was tested in 10 patients with cerebrovascular disease. Application of our
      correction algorithm resulted in a significant reduction of the effect of
      macrovessel signal on hemodynamic parameters like the cerebral blood flow and the
      cerebral blood volume compared with uncorrected data. As desired, our method
      specifically corrected for macrovessel artifacts in cortical grey matter tissue,
      leaving white matter tissue parameters largely unaffected. This may increase
      sensitivity and reliability of detecting perfusion abnormalities in patient
      groups, in particular with regard to stroke and other cerebrovascular disorders.

PMID- 20928870
TI  - The biowaiver procedure: its application to antituberculosis products in the WHO
      prequalification programme.
AB  - In 2005, the World Health Organization (WHO) proposed that provided an active
      pharmaceutical ingredient could meet certain criteria, bioequivalence could be
      evaluated with a set of laboratory tests, obviating the need for expensive and
      time-consuming pharmacokinetic studies in humans. The aim of this work was to
      determine whether this so-called "biowaiver" procedure can be applied to
      antituberculosis products. Antituberculosis products from the WHO
      Prequalification Programme, including three ethambutol, two isoniazid and one
      pyrazinamide product, were investigated. In vitro dissolution data for these
      products were generated according to the biowaiver method stipulated in the WHO
      Guidance, and the bioequivalence decision based on these data was compared with
      that based on the corresponding in vivo pharmacokinetic data. In no case was a
      "false positive" bioequivalence decision reached using the biowaiver procedure,
      that is, all products deemed bioequivalent according to the biowaiver methods
      also proved to be bioequivalent in the corresponding pharmacokinetic study. These
      findings open the way to a simplified method of ensuring bioequivalence of
      antituberculosis drug products, thereby improving access to high quality
      antituberculosis medicines for a greater number of patients.

PMID- 20928871
TI  - Optimization of formulation variables affecting spray-dried oily core
      nanocapsules by response surface methodology.
AB  - The formulation variables required for the production of spray-dried oily core
      nanocapsules (NCs) with targeted size and drug payload were optimized using a Box
      Behnken experimental design. These NCs were characterized for size, morphology,
      encapsulation efficiency (EE%) and drug release kinetics, crystallinity, and
      density, by dynamic light scattering, electron microscopy, ultraviolet
      spectrometry, powder X-ray diffraction, and density-gradient centrifugation,
      respectively. The size of the NCs ranged from 208.6 to 504.4 nm, with EE% from
      64.7% to 94.6%. The amounts of oil and surfactant (Pluronic F127) significantly
      affected size. The amounts of polymer [polylactide (PLA)], oil, and surfactant
      significantly affected EE%. The optimum formulation parameters were set to be 300
      mg of PLA, 0.56 mL of oil, and 239.57 mg of Pluronic F127, which corresponded to
      size of 284.1 nm and EE% of 95.7%. Morphological analysis and density-gradient
      centrifugation showed the existence of an oily core and spherical nanostructure
      with no detectable drug crystals. The NCs had longer sustained drug release than
      nanosphere control, with a good fit to the Ritger-Peppas model (R(2) > 0.930).
      Spray-dried oily core NCs were successfully produced, and the Box-Behnken design
      appears to be an effective tool to predict the size and encapsulation of NCs.

PMID- 20928872
TI  - A parallel imaging technique using mutual calibration for split-blade diffusion
      weighted PROPELLER.
AB  - Split-blade diffusion-weighted periodically rotated overlapping parallel lines
      with enhanced reconstruction (DW-PROPELLER) was proposed to address the issues
      associated with diffusion-weighted echo planar imaging such as geometric
      distortion and difficulty in high-resolution imaging. The major drawbacks with DW
      PROPELLER are its high SAR (especially at 3T) and violation of the Carr-Purcell
      Meiboom-Gill condition, which leads to a long scan time and narrow blade.
      Parallel imaging can reduce scan time and increase blade width; however, it is
      very challenging to apply standard k-space-based techniques such as GeneRalized
      Autocalibrating Partially Parallel Acquisitions (GRAPPA) to split-blade DW
      PROPELLER due to its narrow blade. In this work, a new calibration scheme is
      proposed for k-space-based parallel imaging method without the need of additional
      calibration data, which results in a wider, more stable blade. The in vivo
      results show that this technique is very promising.

PMID- 20928873
TI  - Bone morphology in response to alendronate as seen by high-resolution computed
      tomography: Through a glass darkly.

PMID- 20928874
TI  - The unitary model for estrogen deficiency and the pathogenesis of osteoporosis:
      is a revision needed?
AB  - Over a decade ago, we proposed a "unitary" model for the pathogenesis of
      osteoporosis that identified estrogen deficiency as the predominant cause of both
      the early, accelerated, and late slow phases of bone loss in postmenopausal women
      and as a contributing cause of the continuous phase of bone loss in aging men.
      While this was a plausible model then, new data over the intervening years
      suggest a need to modify these concepts. Indeed, based largely on rodent studies,
      a "revisionist" view of the pathogenesis of osteoporosis has been proposed
      recently that attempts a paradigm shift from the estrogen-centric model to one in
      which bone loss is largely independent of estrogen deficiency and is driven
      instead by cell-autonomous age-related factors. However, detailed clinical
      investigative studies using quantitative computed tomography demonstrate that the
      onset of cortical bone loss in humans is closely tied to estrogen deficiency;
      thus the estrogen-centric view is likely correct for cortical bone, which
      comprises over 80% of the skeleton and is the major structural determinant of
      fracture risk at most skeletal sites. By contrast, these same studies also
      demonstrate that trabecular bone loss begins in sex hormone-replete young adults
      of both sexes. This suggests that a significant proportion of trabecular bone
      loss is either estrogen-independent or, as suggested by some studies, requires
      higher levels for its regulation. In this perspective, we critically review these
      and other findings, leading us to conclude that our original model requires
      modification but not revision.

PMID- 20928875
TI  - Reduction of artifacts in T2 -weighted PROPELLER in high-field preclinical
      imaging.
AB  - A simple technique is implemented for correction of artifacts arising from
      nonuniform T(2) -weighting of k-space data in fast spin echo-based PROPELLER
      (periodically rotated overlapping parallel lines with enhanced reconstruction).
      An additional blade with no phase-encoding gradients is acquired to generate the
      scaling factor used for the correction. Results from simulations and phantom
      experiments, as well as in vivo experiments in free-breathing mice, demonstrate
      the advantages of the proposed method. This technique is developed specifically
      for high-field imaging applications where T(2) decay is rapid.

PMID- 20928876
TI  - High resolution three-dimensional cardiac perfusion imaging using compartment
      based k-t principal component analysis.
AB  - Three-dimensional myocardial perfusion imaging requires significant acceleration
      of data acquisition to achieve whole-heart coverage with adequate spatial and
      temporal resolution. The present article introduces a compartment-based k-t
      principal component analysis reconstruction approach, which permits three
      dimensional perfusion imaging at 10-fold nominal acceleration. Using numerical
      simulations, it is shown that the compartment-based method results in accurate
      representations of dynamic signal intensity changes with significant improvements
      of temporal fidelity in comparison to conventional k-t principal component
      analysis reconstructions. Comparison of the two methods based on rest and stress
      three-dimensional perfusion data acquired with 2.3 * 2.3 * 10 mm(3) during a 225
      msec acquisition window in patients confirms the findings and demonstrates the
      potential of compartment-based k-t principal component analysis for highly
      accelerated three-dimensional perfusion imaging.

PMID- 20928877
TI  - Ex vivo high resolution magic angle spinning metabolic profiles describe
      intratumoral histopathological tissue properties in adult human gliomas.
AB  - In gliomas one can observe distinct histopathological tissue properties, such as
      viable tumor cells, necrotic tissue or regions where the tumor infiltrates normal
      brain. A first screening between the different intratumoral histopathological
      tissue properties would greatly assist in correctly diagnosing and prognosing
      gliomas. The potential of ex vivo high resolution magic angle spinning
      spectroscopy in characterizing these properties is analyzed and the biochemical
      differences between necrosis, high cellularity and border tumor regions in adult
      human gliomas are investigated. Statistical studies applied on sets of metabolite
      concentrations and metabolite ratios extracted from 52 high resolution magic
      angle spinning recordings coming from patients with different grades of glial
      tumors show a strong correlation between the histopathological tissue properties
      and the considered metabolic profiles, regardless of the malignancy grade. The
      results are in agreement with the pathology obtained by the histopathological
      examination that succeeded the high resolution magic angle spinning measurements.
      The metabolite concentration set can better differentiate between the considered
      histopathological tissue properties compared to the ratios. Representative
      reference tissue models describing the metabolic behavior are extracted for
      characterizing the intratumoral tissue properties. The proposed metabolic
      profiles reflect that the metabolites behavior is interconnected, and typical
      biochemical patterns emerge for each histopathological tissue property.

PMID- 20928878
TI  - Real-time product switching using a twin catalyst system for the hydrogenation of
      furfural in supercritical CO2.

PMID- 20928879
TI  - Antibody detection by using a FRET-based protein conformational switch.

PMID- 20928880
TI  - Diffusiophoresis of an elongated cylindrical nanoparticle along the axis of a
      nanopore.
AB  - The translation of a charged, elongated cylindrical nanoparticle along the axis
      of a nanopore driven by an imposed axial salt concentration gradient is
      investigated using a continuum theory, which consists of the ionic mass
      conservation equations for the ionic concentrations, the Poisson equation for the
      electric potential in the solution, and the modified Stokes equations for the
      hydrodynamic field. The diffusiophoretic motion is driven by the induced
      electrophoresis and chemiphoresis. The former is driven by the generated overall
      electric field arising from the difference in the ionic diffusivities and the
      double layer polarization, while the latter is generated by the induced osmotic
      pressure gradient around the charged particle. The induced diffusiophoretic
      motion is investigated as functions of the imposed salt concentration gradient,
      the ratio of the particle's radius to the double layer thickness, the cylinder's
      aspect ratio (length/radius), the ratio of the nanopore size to the particle
      size, the surface charge densities of the nanoparticle and the nanopore, and the
      type of the salt used. The induced diffusiophoretic motion of a nanorod in an
      uncharged nanopore is mainly governed by the induced electrophoresis, driven by
      the induced electric field arising from the double layer polarization. The
      induced particle motion is driven by the induced electroosmotic flow, if the
      charges of the nanorod and nanopore wall have the same sign.

PMID- 20928881
TI  - Defeating radiation damping and magnetic field inhomogeneity with spatially
      encoded noise.
AB  - A simple NMR experiment capable of providing well resolved spectra under
      conditions where either radiation damping or static magnetic field inhomogeneity
      would broaden otherwise high-resolution NMR spectra is introduced. The approach
      involves using a strong pulsed magnetic field gradient and a selective radio
      frequency pulse to encode a predetermined noise pattern into the spatial
      distribution of magnetization. Following readout in a much smaller field
      gradient, the noise sequence may be deconvolved from the acquired data and a high
      resolution spectrum is obtained, eliminating the effects of either radiation
      damping or the static field inhomogeneity. In the presence of field inhomogeneity
      a field map is also obtained from the same single transient. A quasi-two
      dimensional version of the experiment eliminates the need for deconvolution and
      produces improved results with simplified processing, but without requiring a
      full two-dimensional experiment. Example spectra are shown for both radiation
      damping and one-dimensional field inhomogeneity with improvement in linewidths of
      more than a factor of 40.

PMID- 20928882
TI  - Studies of anti-HIV transcription inhibitor quinolones: identification of potent
      N1-vinyl derivatives.
AB  - The 6-desfluoroquinolones (6-DFQs) are anti-HIV agents that target Tat-mediated
      transcription. This particular mechanism of action makes this class of compounds
      very attractive for further structural investigations. Identification of the
      pharmacophore required for inhibition will ultimately result in the design of
      more selective analogues for use in combination therapy for the treatment of HIV
      infections. We have focused on the pyridone ring of the quinolone nucleus present
      in these compounds, designing new modifications to broaden the structure-activity
      relationship knowledge base. Herein, we present novel and very potent anti-HIV
      quinolones, most notably those bearing an amino or vinyl group at the N1
      position. Attempts were made to determine the structural parameters necessary to
      impart potent anti-HIV activity to the vinyl derivatives.

PMID- 20928883
TI  - Long-term MR cell tracking of neural stem cells grafted in immunocompetent versus
      immunodeficient mice reveals distinct differences in contrast between live and
      dead cells.
AB  - Neural stem cell (NSC)-based therapy is actively being pursued in preclinical and
      clinical disease models. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) cell tracking promises
      to optimize current cell transplantation paradigms, however, it is limited by
      dilution of contrast agent during cellular proliferation, transfer of label from
      dying cells to surrounding endogenous host cells, and/or biodegradation of the
      label. Here, we evaluated the applicability of magnetic resonance imaging for
      long-term tracking of transplanted neural stem cells labeled with
      superparamagnetic iron oxide and transfected with the bioluminescence reporter
      gene luciferase. Mouse neural stem cells were transplanted into immunodeficient,
      graft-accepting Rag2 mice or immunocompetent, graft-rejecting Balb/c mice.
      Hypointense voxel signals and bioluminescence were monitored over a period of 93
      days. Unexpectedly, in mice that rejected the cells, the hypointense MR signal
      persisted throughout the entire time-course, whereas in the nonrejecting mice,
      the contrast cleared at a faster rate. In immunocompetent, graft-rejecting Balb/c
      mice, infiltrating leukocytes, and microglia were found surrounding dead cells
      and internalizing superparamagnetic iron oxide clusters. The present results
      indicate that live cell proliferation and associated label dilution may dominate
      contrast clearance as compared with cell death and subsequent transfer and
      retention of superparamagnetic iron oxide within phagocytes and brain
      interstitium. Thus, interpretation of signal changes during long-term MR cell
      tracking is complex and requires caution.

PMID- 20928884
TI  - Enhanced neurochemical profile of the rat brain using in vivo (1)H NMR
      spectroscopy at 16.4 T.
AB  - Single voxel magnetic resonance spectroscopy with ultrashort echo time was
      implemented at 16.4 T to enhance the neurochemical profile of the rat brain in
      vivo. A TE of 1.7 msec was achieved by sequence optimization and by using short
      duration asymmetric pulses. Macromolecular signal components were parameterized
      individually and included in the quantitative analysis, replacing the use of a
      metabolite-nulled spectrum. Because of the high spectral dispersion, several
      signals close to the water line could be detected, and adjacent peaks could be
      resolved. All 20 metabolites detected in this study were quantified with Cramer
      Rao lower bounds below 20%, implying reliable quantification accuracy. The signal
      of acetate was detected for the first time in rat brain in vivo with Cramer-Rao
      lower bounds of 16% and a concentration of 0.52 MUmol/g. The absolute
      concentrations of most metabolites showed close agreement with values previously
      measured using in vivo (1)H NMR spectroscopy and in vitro biochemical assay.

PMID- 20928885
TI  - Serum fibroblast growth factor-23 (FGF-23) and fracture risk in elderly men.
AB  - A normal mineral metabolism is integral for skeletal development and preservation
      of bone integrity. Fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF-23) is a bone-derived
      circulating factor that decreases serum concentrations of inorganic phosphorous
      (P(i)) and 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D(3) [1,25(OH)(2)D(3)]. Increased FGF-23
      expression is a direct or indirect culprit in several skeletal disorders;
      however, the relation between FGF-23 and fracture risk remains undetermined. We
      evaluated the prospective relation between serum intact FGF-23 (measured by a two
      site monoclonal antibody ELISA) and fracture risk employing the Swedish part of
      the population-based Osteoporotic Fractures in Men Study (MrOS; n = 2868; mean
      age 75.4 +/- 3.2 years; median follow-up period 3.35 years). The incidence of at
      least one validated fracture after baseline was 20.4 per 1000 person-years. FGF
      23 was directly related to the overall fracture risk [age-adjusted hazard ratio
      (HR) per SD increase = 1.20, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.03-1.40] and
      vertebral fracture risk (HR = 1.33, 95% CI 1.02-1.75). Spline models revealed a
      nonlinear relation between FGF-23 and fracture risk, with the strongest relation
      at FGF-23 levels above 55.7 pg/mL. FGF-23 levels above 55.7 pg/mL also were
      associated with an increased risk for hip and nonvertebral fractures (HR = 2.30,
      95% CI 1.16-4.58, and HR = 1.63, 95% CI 1.01-2.63, respectively). These relations
      remained essentially unaltered after adjustment for bodymass index (BMI), bone
      mineral density (BMD), glomerular filtration rate, 25(OH)(2)D(3), parathyroid
      hormone (PTH), and other fracture risk factors. In conclusion, FGF-23 is a novel
      predictor of fracture risk in elderly men.

PMID- 20928886
TI  - Determinants of the mechanical behavior of human lumbar vertebrae after simulated
      mild fracture.
AB  - The ability of a vertebra to carry load after an initial deformation and the
      determinants of this postfracture load-bearing capacity are critical but poorly
      understood. This study aimed to determine the mechanical behavior of vertebrae
      after simulated mild fracture and to identify the determinants of this
      postfracture behavior. Twenty-one human L(3) vertebrae were analyzed for bone
      mineral density (BMD) by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) and for
      microarchitecture by micro-computed tomography (uCT). Mechanical testing was
      performed in two phases: initial compression of vertebra to 25% deformity,
      followed, after 30 minutes of relaxation, by a similar test to failure to
      determine postfracture behavior. We assessed (1) initial and postfracture
      mechanical parameters, (2) changes in mechanical parameters, (3) postfracture
      elastic behavior by recovery of vertebral height after relaxation, and (4)
      postfracture plastic behavior by residual strength and stiffness. Postfracture
      failure load and stiffness were 11% +/- 19% and 53% +/- 18% lower than initial
      values (p = .021 and p < .0001, respectively), with 29% to 69% of the variation
      in the postfracture mechanical behavior explained by the initial values. Both
      initial and postfracture mechanical behaviors were significantly correlated with
      bone mass and microarchitecture. Vertebral deformation recovery averaged 31% +/-
      7% and was associated with trabecular and cortical thickness (r = 0.47 and r =
      0.64; p = .03 and p = .002, respectively). Residual strength and stiffness were
      independent of bone mass and initial mechanical behavior but were related to
      trabecular and cortical microarchitecture (|r| = 0.50 to 0.58; p = .02 to .006).
      In summary, we found marked variation in the postfracture load-bearing capacity
      following simulated mild vertebral fractures. Bone microarchitecture, but not
      bone mass, was associated with postfracture mechanical behavior of vertebrae.

PMID- 20928887
TI  - Growth hormone mediates pubertal skeletal development independent of hepatic IGF
      1 production.
AB  - Deficiencies in either growth hormone (GH) or insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF
      1) are associated with reductions in bone size during growth in humans and animal
      models. Liver-specific IGF-1-deficient (LID) mice, which have 75% reductions in
      serum IGF-1, were created previously to separate the effects of endocrine (serum)
      IGF-1 from autocrine/paracrine IGF-1. However, LID mice also have two- to
      threefold increases in GH, and this may contribute to the observed pubertal
      skeletal phenotype. To clarify the role of GH in skeletal development under
      conditions of significantly reduced serum IGF-1 levels (but normal tissue IGF-1
      levels), we studied the skeletal response of male LID and control mice to GH
      inhibition by pegvisomant from 4 to 8 weeks of age. Treatment of LID mice with
      pegvisomant resulted in significant reductions in body weight, femur length (Le),
      and femur total area (Tt.Ar), as well as further reductions in serum IGF-1 levels
      by 8 weeks of age, compared with the mean values of vehicle-treated LID mice.
      Reductions in both Tt.Ar and Le were proportional after treatment with
      pegvisomant. On the other hand, the relative amount of cortical tissue formed
      (RCA) in LID mice treated with pegvisomant was significantly less than that in
      both vehicle-treated LID and control mice, indicating that antagonizing GH
      action, either directly (through GH receptor signaling inhibition) or indirectly
      (through further reductions in serum/tissue IGF-1 levels), results in
      disproportionate reductions in the amount of cortical bone formed. This resulted
      in bones with significantly reduced mechanical properties (femoral whole-bone
      stiffness and work to failure were markedly decreased), suggesting that
      compensatory increases of GH in states of IGF-1 deficiency (LID mice) act to
      protect against a severe inhibition of bone modeling during growth, which
      otherwise would result in bones that are too weak for normal and/or extreme
      loading conditions.

PMID- 20928889
TI  - The effect of blood inflow and B(1)-field inhomogeneity on measurement of the
      arterial input function in axial 3D spoiled gradient echo dynamic contrast
      enhanced MRI.
AB  - A major potential confound in axial 3D dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic
      resonance imaging studies is the blood inflow effect; therefore, the choice of
      slice location for arterial input function measurement within the imaging volume
      must be considered carefully. The objective of this study was to use computer
      simulations, flow phantom, and in vivo studies to describe and understand the
      effect of blood inflow on the measurement of the arterial input function. All
      experiments were done at 1.5 T using a typical 3D dynamic contrast-enhanced
      magnetic resonance imaging sequence, and arterial input functions were extracted
      for each slice in the imaging volume. We simulated a set of arterial input
      functions based on the same imaging parameters and accounted for blood inflow and
      radiofrequency field inhomogeneities. Measured arterial input functions along the
      vessel length from both in vivo and the flow phantom agreed with simulated
      arterial input functions and show large overestimations in the arterial input
      function in the first 30 mm of the vessel, whereas arterial input functions
      measured more centrally achieve accurate contrast agent concentrations. Use of
      inflow-affected arterial input functions in tracer kinetic modeling shows
      potential errors of up to 80% in tissue microvascular parameters. These errors
      emphasize the importance of careful placement of the arterial input function
      definition location to avoid the effects of blood inflow.

PMID- 20928888
TI  - The contribution of chemical exchange to MRI frequency shifts in brain tissue.
AB  - Recent high-field MRI studies based on resonance frequency contrast have revealed
      brain structure with unprecedented detail. Although subtle magnetic
      susceptibility variations caused by iron and myelin seem to be important to this
      contrast, recent research on protein solutions suggests that chemical exchange
      between water and macromolecular protons may contribute substantially to the
      observed gray-white matter frequency contrast. To investigate this, we performed
      spectroscopic MRI experiments at 14 T on samples of fixed human visual cortex and
      fresh pig brain. To allow direct observation of any exchange-induced frequency
      shifts, these samples were soaked in reference chemicals (TSP and dioxane) that
      are assumed not to be involved in exchange. For both fresh and fixed tissues and
      with both reference chemicals, substantial negative exchange-induced gray-white
      matter frequency contrast (-6.3 to -13.5 ppb) was found, whereas intracortical
      contrast was negligible. The sign of the gray-white matter exchange-induced
      frequency difference was opposite to the overall gray-white matter frequency
      difference observed in vivo. This suggests that exchange contributes to, but is
      not sufficient to explain, the frequency contrast in vivo and tissue
      susceptibility differences may have a greater contribution than previously
      thought. The exchange-dependent contribution may report on tissue chemical
      composition and pH.

PMID- 20928890
TI  - Estimates of systolic and diastolic myocardial blood flow by dynamic contrast
      enhanced MRI.
AB  - Myocardial blood flow varies during the cardiac cycle in response to pulsatile
      changes in epicardial circulation and cyclical variation in myocardial tension.
      First-pass assessment of myocardial perfusion by dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI is
      one of the most challenging applications of MRI because of the spatial and
      temporal constraints imposed by the cardiac physiology and the nature of dynamic
      contrast-enhanced MRI signal collection. Here, we describe a dynamic contrast
      enhanced MRI method for simultaneous assessment of systolic and diastolic
      myocardial blood flow. The feasibility of this method was demonstrated in a study
      of 17 healthy volunteers at rest and under adenosine-induced vasodilatory stress.
      We found that myocardial blood flow was independent of the cardiac phase at rest.
      However, under adenosine-induced hyperemia, myocardial blood flow and myocardial
      perfusion reserve were significantly higher in diastole than in systole.
      Furthermore, the transmural distribution of myocardial blood flow and myocardial
      perfusion reserve was cardiac phase dependent, with a reversal of the typical
      subendocardial to subepicardial myocardial blood flow gradient in systole, but
      not diastole, under stress. The observed difference between systolic and
      diastolic myocardial blood flow must be taken into account when assessing
      myocardial blood flow using dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI. Furthermore, targeted
      assessment of systolic or diastolic perfusion using dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI
      may provide novel insights into the pathophysiology of ischemic and microvascular
      heart disease.

PMID- 20928891
TI  - First-pass contrast-enhanced myocardial perfusion MRI in mice on a 3-T clinical
      MR scanner.
AB  - First-pass contrast-enhanced myocardial perfusion MRI in rodents has so far not
      been possible due to the temporal and spatial resolution requirements. We
      developed a new first-pass perfusion MR method for rodent imaging on a clinical
      3.0-T scanner (Philips Healthcare, Best, The Netherlands) that employed 10-fold k
      space and time domain undersampling with constrained image reconstruction, using
      temporal basis sets (k-t principle component analysis) to achieve a spatial
      resolution of 0.2 * 0.2 * 1.5mm(3) and an acquisition window of 43 msec. The
      method was successfully tested in five healthy and four infarcted mice (C57BL/6J)
      at heart rates of 495.1 +/- 45.8 beats/min. Signal-intensity-time profiles showed
      a percentage myocardial signal increase of 141.3 +/- 38.9% in normal mice,
      compared with 44.7 +/- 32.4% in infarcted segments. Mean myocardial blood flow by
      Fermi function for constrained deconvolution in control mice was 7.3 +/- 1.5
      mL/g/min, comparable to published literature, with no significant differences
      between three myocardial segments. In infarcted segments, myocardial blood flow
      was significantly reduced to 1.2 +/- 0.8 mL/g/min (P < 0.01). This is the first
      report of first-pass myocardial perfusion MR in a mouse model on a clinical 3-T
      MR scanner and using a k-t undersampling method. Data were acquired on a 3-T
      scanner, using an approach similar to clinical acquisition protocols, thus
      facilitating translation of imaging findings between rodent and human studies.

PMID- 20928892
TI  - Mouse myocardial first-pass perfusion MR imaging.
AB  - A first-pass myocardial perfusion sequence for mouse cardiac MRI is presented. A
      segmented ECG-triggered acquisition combined with parallel imaging acceleration
      was used to capture the first pass of a Gd-DTPA bolus through the mouse heart
      with a temporal resolution of 300-400 msec. The method was applied in healthy
      mice (N = 5) and in mice with permanent occlusion of the left coronary artery (N
      = 6). Baseline semiquantitative perfusion values of healthy myocardium showed
      excellent reproducibility. Infarct regions revealed a significant decrease in the
      semiquantitative myocardial perfusion values (0.05 +/- 0.02) compared to remote
      myocardium (0.20 +/- 0.04). Myocardial areas of decreased perfusion correlated
      well to infarct areas identified on the delayed-enhancement scans. This protocol
      is a valuable addition to the mouse cardiac MRI toolbox for preclinical studies
      of ischemic heart disease.

PMID- 20928893
TI  - Diastereomerically pure nucleoside-5'-O-(2-thio-4,4-pentamethylene-1,3,2
      oxathiaphospholane)s--substrates for synthesis of P-chiral derivatives of
      nucleoside-5'-O-phosphorothioates.
AB  - A method for stereocontrolled chemical synthesis of P-substituted nucleoside 5'-O
      phosphorothioates has been elaborated. Selected 3'-O-acylated deoxyribonucleoside
      and 2',3'-O,O-diacylated ribonucleoside-5'-O-(2-thio-4,4-pentamethylene-1,3,2
      oxathiaphospholane)s were chromatographically separated into P-diastereomers.
      Their reaction with anions of phosphorus-containing acids was highly
      stereoselective (>=90%) and furnished corresponding P-chiral alpha
      thiodiphosphates and their phosphonate analogs with satisfactory yield.

PMID- 20928894
TI  - Synthesis of enantiopure trans-N-Boc-3-aminobicyclo[2.2.2]octane-2-carboxylic
      acids and their bicyclic 1,3-amino alcohol derivatives via the [4+2]
      cycloaddition of 1,3-cyclohexadiene to a chiral beta-nitroacrylate.
AB  - The chiral beta-nitroacrylate 2 derived from the (R)- or (S)-4-(3-hydroxy-4,4
      dimethyl-2-oxopyrrolidin-1-yl) benzoic acid 1 acts as a reactive dienophile in a
      diastereoselective Diels-Alder reaction with 1,3-cyclohexadiene. The major
      cycloadducts have been isolated and transformed into enantiopure trans(2S,3S)- or
      (2R,3R)-N-Boc-3-aminobicyclic[2,2,2]octane-2-carboxylic acids 5. The trans
      (2S,3S)- or (2R,3R)-N-Boc 3-(hydoxymethyl)-2-aminobicyclic[2,2,2]octane 6
      derivatives were also obtained.

PMID- 20928895
TI  - A mechanistic approach for the DNA binding of chiral enantiomeric L- and D
      tryptophan-derived metal complexes of 1,2-DACH: cleavage and antitumor activity.
AB  - A new chiral series of potential antitumor metal-based complexes 1-3(a and b) of
      L- and D-tryptophan have been synthesized and thoroughly characterized. Both
      enantiomers of 1-3 bind DNA noncovalently via phosphate interaction with slight
      preference of metal center for covalent coordination to nucleobases. The K(b)
      values of L-enantiomer, however, possess higher propensity for DNA binding in
      comparison with the D-enantiomeric analogs. The relative trend in K(b) values is
      as follows: 2(a) > 2(b) > 3(a) > 1(a) > 3(b) > 1(b). These observations together
      with the findings of circular dichoric and fluorescence studies reveal maximal
      potential of L-enantiomeric form of copper complex to bind DNA, thereby exerting
      its therapeutic effect. The complex 2a exhibits a remarkable DNA cleavage
      activity with pBR322DNA in the presence of different activators such as H(2) O(2)
      , ascorbic acid, 3-mercaptopropionic acid, and glutathione, suggesting the
      involvement of active oxygen species for the DNA scission. In vitro anticancer
      activity of complexes 1-3(a) were screened against 14 different human carcinoma
      cell lines of different histological origin, and the results reveal that 2a shows
      significant antitumor activity in comparison with both 1a and 3a and is
      particularly selective for MIAPACA2 (pancreatic cancer cell line).

PMID- 20928896
TI  - Determination of optical purity of 3,5-dimethoxybenzoyl-leucine diethylamide by
      chiral chromatography and 1H and 13C NMR spectroscopy.
AB  - (R)-N-3,5-dinitrobenzoyl (DNB) leucine derived chiral selector was used as an
      HPLC chiral stationary phase for the resolution of various racemic amino acids
      derivatives. In this study, determination of optical purity of an amino acid
      derivative was performed by chiral high performance liquid chromatography and 1H
      and 13C NMR spectroscopy by using the DNB leucine derived chiral selector. The
      accuracy and precision of each optical purity value are calculated and the data
      are compared to each other.

PMID- 20928897
TI  - Optical activity and Alfred Werner's coordination chemistry.
AB  - It is widely accepted, that Pasteur's seminal discovery of the opposite optical
      activity of ammonium sodium tartrate enantiomorphs in solution gave the spark to
      organic stereochemistry and led to the development of the tetrahedron model by
      van't Hoff and Le Bel. The proof that chirality is inherently connected to
      octahedral coordination chemistry fostered greatly Werner's spatial views of
      metal complexes and his coordination theory. The actual proof of principle was
      established via separation of diastereomeric camphor sulfonate salts of racemic
      metal complexes.

PMID- 20928898
TI  - Theoretical elucidation on the functional role of pyrrolidine-type ionic liquids
      in inducing stereoselectivity of the Michael addition of cyclohexanone with trans
      beta-nitrostyrene.
AB  - Density functional theory calculations have been carried out to elucidate the
      stereoselectivity of the Michael addition of cyclohexanone with trans-beta
      nitrostyrene, induced by a chiral ionic liquid (CIL) pyrrolidine-imidazolium
      bromide. By comparison of the C-C bond forming processes in the absence and
      presence of Br(-) anion, we found that intermolecular H-bonds between the
      imidazolium cation and the nitro group of trans-beta-nitrostyrene and the steric
      hindrance of the imidazolium cation moiety on the Si-face of enamine dominate the
      stereoselectivity of the Michael addition. The presence of Br(-) anion obviously
      reduces the barrier by increasing the polarity of the C4=C5 bond of enamine. The
      theoretical results rationalize well the early experimental finding, and reveal a
      valuable clue for the further CIL design with high catalytic efficiency.

PMID- 20928899
TI  - Conformational studies on chiral rhodium complexes by ECD and VCD spectroscopy.
AB  - This article reports vibrational circular dichroism (VCD) and electronic circular
      dichroism (ECD) spectroscopic studies in acetonitrile on the chiral Rh(2)(O-Phe
      Cbz)(1)(OAc)(3) and Rh(2)(O-Phe-Ac)(1)(OAc)(3) complexes (abbreviated Rh(2)Z(1)
      and Rh(2)Ac(1) , respectively; Phe, L-phenylalanine; Cbz, benzyloxycarbonyl; Ac,
      acetyl) supported by theoretical calculations. The ECD spectra of the complexes
      depend on temperature that indicates the conformational mobility of the chiral
      ligands. Calculations of the VCD spectra were performed at ab initio (DFT) level
      of theory using Gaussian 03 [B3LYP functional combined with the LANL2DZ basis set
      for the dirhodium core and the 6-31G(d) basis set for other atoms]. The
      population-weighted sums of the computed VCD spectra of the conformers are in
      excellent agreement with the experimental VCD spectra. The combination of the VCD
      and ECD spectroscopic methods led us to the structural characterization of the
      complexes.

PMID- 20928900
TI  - Enantiomer self-disproportionation and chiral stationary phase based selective
      chiral separation of organic compounds.
AB  - In modern chromatography, chiral stationary phase (CSP) and enantiomer self
      disproportionation (ESD) are new inventions of packing material offer a guarantee
      for a successful enantiomeric separation. All CSPs were synthesized by chemical
      bonding of the relevant organic moieties onto a porous parent silica material for
      the separation of various racemic mixtures whereas achiral silica matrix was used
      for separation of non-racemic mixtures in ESD. Our present study provides to
      establish an understanding on the entire enantio-selective profile of amino
      alcohol based CSP as well as ESD and their precise utilization for high success
      rates for selective enantiomer separation with its appropriateness.

PMID- 20928901
TI  - Apple orchard pest control strategies affect bird communities in southeastern
      France.
AB  - Birds are regarded as appropriate biological indicators of how changes in
      agricultural practices affect the environment. They are also involved in the
      biocontrol of pests. In the present study, we provide an assessment of the impact
      of pest control strategies on bird communities in apple orchards in southeastern
      France. We compared the structure (abundance, species richness, and diversity) of
      breeding bird communities in 15 orchards under conventional or organic pest
      control over a three-year period (2003-2005). Pest control strategies and their
      evolution over time were characterized by analyzing farmers' treatment schedules.
      The landscape surrounding the orchards was characterized using a Geographic
      Information System. We observed 30 bird species overall. Bird abundance, species
      richness, and diversity were all affected by pest control strategies, and were
      highest in organic orchards and lowest in conventional orchards during the three
      study years. The pest control strategy affected insectivores more than
      granivores. We further observed a tendency for bird communities in integrated
      pest management orchards to change over time and become increasingly different
      from communities in organic orchards, which also corresponded to changes in
      treatment schedules. These findings indicate that within-orchard bird communities
      may respond quickly to changes in pesticide use and may, in turn, influence
      biocontrol of pests by birds.

PMID- 20928902
TI  - Law, ethics, religion, and clinical translation in the 21st century--a
      conversation with Il-Hoan Oh. Interview by Majlinda Lako, Alan Trounson and Susan
      Daher.

PMID- 20928903
TI  - Comparison of quadriceps inactivation between nerve and muscle stimulation.
AB  - We evaluated the use of direct muscle stimulation for quantifying quadriceps
      inactivation at different contraction levels as opposed to conventional twitch
      interpolation using nerve stimulation. Fourteen healthy volunteers were tested.
      Paired stimuli were delivered to the femoral nerve or to the quadriceps muscle
      belly during voluntary contractions ranging from 20% to 100% of maximum, and the
      amplitude of the superimposed doublet was quantified to investigate inactivation.
      Superimposed doublet for muscle and nerve stimulation, respectively between the
      range of 60% to 100% of maximum (e.g., at 100%, muscle stimulation was 14 +/- 5
      Nm and nerve stimulation was 15 +/- 6 Nm). Despite higher current doses, muscle
      stimulation was associated with less discomfort than nerve stimulation (P <
      0.05). Collectively, our data suggest that direct muscle stimulation could be
      used to assess quadriceps inactivation at maximal and quasi-maximal contraction
      levels as a valid alternative to motor nerve stimulation.

PMID- 20928904
TI  - Modified C7 neurotization for the treatment of obstetrical brachial plexus palsy.
AB  - Contralateral C7 transfer is used rarely in infants with obstetrical brachial
      plexus palsy (OBPP). We aimed to determine the efficacy of contralateral C7
      transfer to two different recipient nerves in infants with OBPP. Between 2001 and
      2005, 9 infants with brachial plexus root avulsions underwent nerve
      reconstruction using a modified C7 neurotization technique. In this procedure,
      the contralateral C7 root was transferred to both the musculocutaneous nerve and
      the median nerve on the affected side. The strength of the biceps muscles
      increased to M3 or M4 in 7 patients and to M2 in 2 patients. The median nerve
      transfers led to regained motor function and strength of wrist and finger flexors
      with improvement to M3 or M4 in 5 patients. All patients showed notable gains of
      sensory function. Contralateral C7 transfer to two different recipient nerves is
      a feasible and efficient approach in infants with OBPP.

PMID- 20928905
TI  - Confirmation that the specific SSLP microsatellite allele 4qA161 segregates with
      fascioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD) in a cohort of multiplex and
      simplex FSHD families.
AB  - The molecular defect in fascioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD) has proved
      difficult to explain. Although contraction within a polymorphic tandem repeat
      located at 4q35.2 is unequivocally associated with disease expression, the
      specific biological mechanism involved in the phenotype has yet to be resolved.
      Several studies have demonstrated that a specific 4q35.2-located haplotype
      (4qA161) is also closely associated with FSHD expression. Therefore, in this
      study we analyzed the haplotype association in a large cohort of sporadic and
      familial FSHD families from the UK. In all cases the affected individuals
      displayed the 4qA161 haplotype.

PMID- 20928907
TI  - Motor unit properties of biceps brachii during dynamic contractions in chronic
      stroke patients.
AB  - The aim of this study was to investigate motor unit (MU) characteristics of the
      biceps brachii during sinusoidal contractions in chronic stroke patients using
      high-density surface electromyography. Ten sinusoidal elbow flexion and extension
      movements were performed both passively and actively by 18 stroke patients and 20
      healthy subjects. Motor unit action potentials (MUAPs) were extracted, and their
      root-mean-square value (RMS(MUAP)) was calculated. RMS(MUAP) was significantly
      larger in stroke than in healthy subjects. In both groups RMS(MUAP) was smaller
      during the stretch phase of passive movement than during active movement. The
      larger MUAPs indicate enlarged MUs, possibly as a result of reinnervation. The
      lower RMS(MUAP) values during passive stretch than during active movement
      indicates that the stretch reflex mainly activates smaller MUs, while a larger
      part of the MU pool can be recruited voluntarily. RMS(MUAP) may have added value
      for monitoring changes in peripheral MU properties after stroke.

PMID- 20928906
TI  - Effects of resistance exercise combined with essential amino acid supplementation
      and energy deficit on markers of skeletal muscle atrophy and regeneration during
      bed rest and active recovery.
AB  - Spaceflight and bed rest (BR) lead to muscle atrophy. This study assessed the
      effect of essential amino acid (EAA) supplementation and resistance training with
      decreased energy intake on molecular changes in skeletal muscle after 28-day BR
      and 14-day recovery. Thirty-one men (31-55 years) subjected to an 8 +/- 6% energy
      deficit were randomized to receive EAA without resistance training (AA, n = 7),
      or EAA 3 h after (RT, n = 12) or 5 min before (AART, n = 12) resistance training.
      During BR, myostatin transcript levels increased twofold in the AA group. During
      recovery, insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) mRNA increased in all groups,
      whereas Pax7, MyoD, myogenin, and MRF4 transcripts increased in AA only (all P <
      0.05). MAFbx transcripts decreased twofold with AA and RT. Satellite cells did
      not change during BR or recovery. This suggests that EAA alone is the least
      protective countermeasure to muscle loss, and several molecular mechanisms are
      proposed by which exercise attenuates muscle atrophy during BR with energy
      deficit.

PMID- 20928908
TI  - Acquired amyloid neuropathy in a Portuguese patient after domino liver
      transplantation.
AB  - Familial amyloid polyneuropathy (FAP) is a progressive neuropathy with autonomic
      dysfunction. Domino liver transplantation (DLT), in which the liver of an FAP
      patient is transplanted into another patient, is routinely applied to compensate
      for the shortage of available organs. We report a patient who developed a
      clinical picture of FAP 9 years after a DLT from an FAP donor.
      Electrophysiological, neuropathological, and autonomic tests were administered.
      The patient presented with typical clinical features of FAP. Electrophysiological
      investigation confirmed a moderate sensorimotor axonal and autonomic neuropathy.
      Sural nerve biopsy confirmed the presence of amyloid deposits in the endoneurium.
      Skin biopsy at the ankle showed reduced intraepidermal nerve fiber density. Our
      report shows that FAP can develop in a recipient of an FAP liver. This suggests
      that careful longitudinal study is required to evaluate the risk of FAP
      polyneuropathy in patients who undergo domino liver transplantation.

PMID- 20928909
TI  - Symmetry of phrenic nerve motor response in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
AB  - To test for interside differences and ipsilateral correlation of compound muscle
      action potentials (CMAP) from muscles of the cervical region according to El
      Escorial criteria, we stimulated the phrenic, axillary, and ulnar nerves
      bilaterally in 67 patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. The diaphragm CMAP
      was symmetric, but it did not correlate with deltoid or abductor digiti minimi
      (ADM) CMAPs. The deltoid CMAP in all groups and ADM CMAP in bulbar- and lower
      limb-onset patients showed significant interside correlation. The ADM CMAP is
      asymmetric in upper-limb-onset patients. Unilateral stimulation is sufficient to
      monitor the phrenic nerve response; its degree of CMAP decrease does not
      correlate with other cervical muscle involvement.

PMID- 20928910
TI  - Poisson distribution to analyze near-threshold motor evoked potentials.
AB  - Motor unit action potentials (MUAPs) evoked by repetitive, low-intensity
      transcranial magnetic stimulation can be modeled as a Poisson process. A
      mathematical consequence of such a model is that the ratio of the variance to the
      mean of the amplitudes of motor evoked potentials (MEPs) should provide an
      estimate of the mean size of the individual MUAPs that summate to generate each
      MEP. We found that this is, in fact, the case. Our finding thus supports the use
      of the Poisson distribution to model MEP generation and indicates that this model
      enables characterization of the motor unit population that contributes to near
      threshold MEPs.

PMID- 20928911
TI  - Experience with the Awaji Island modifications to the ALS diagnostic criteria.
AB  - Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) remains a clinical diagnosis without
      validated biomarkers. To increase diagnostic sensitivity, an expert group
      modified the Airlie House diagnostic criteria and formulated new recommendations
      at a meeting on Awaji Island. Our retrospective analysis of patients referred
      over a 6-month period to the electromyography (EMG) laboratory for suspected
      motor neuron disease (MND) showed a higher agreement of the Awaji modifications
      than the Airlie House criteria with the clinical diagnosis of ALS.

PMID- 20928912
TI  - Multifactorial causes of irritating bladder symptoms in patients with Sjogren's
      syndrome.
AB  - AIMS Patients with Sjogren's syndrome (SS) are reported to have an increased
      severity of irritating bladder symptoms, including urinary frequency and urgency.
      The mechanism remains unclear. The aim of this study is to elucidate the possible
      etiologies underlying this problem. METHODS: Data from 23 female patients with SS
      (15 primary and 8 secondary) who were treated in the urology clinic for chronic,
      irritating bladder symptoms were studied. Evaluation of each subject is composed
      of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS), bladder diary entries, and urodynamic
      studies, which also included an ice water test (IWT) to detect the presence of a
      C-fiber mediated micturition pathway. Interstitial cystitis (IC) was diagnosed
      with post-hydrodilatation cystoscopic findings of glomerulations and a KCl test.
      RESULTS: These patients complained predominantly of overactive bladder symptoms
      (OAB), including frequency (n=20, 87%), nocturia (n=16, 66%), and urgency (n=12,
      52%). Based on the aforementioned evaluations, four patients (17%) had polyuria
      with normal bladder function, nine patients (39%) had detrusor overactivity (DO),
      seven patients (32%) had bladder hypersensitivity (including two patients (9%)
      diagnosed with IC), and three patients (13%) had negative findings. Ice water
      instillation neither elicited novel involuntary contractions, both in those with
      or without DO. Five of the six patients (83%) with DO versus one of the four
      patients (25%) without DO responded to antimuscarinic therapy. CONCLUSIONS:
      Various factors contribute to the irritating bladder symptoms in patients with
      SS, with DO being predominant. The LUTS developed in patients with SS are not due
      to any specific single etiology and that each patient must be individually
      carefully evaluated.

PMID- 20928913
TI  - Intermittent catheterization with hydrophilic catheters as a treatment of chronic
      neurogenic urinary retention.
AB  - AIMS: Neurogenic bladder can be effectively managed with intermittent
      catheterization (IC) to improve or restore continence, but there is no consensus
      on which type of catheter is preferred. Hydrophilic catheters were developed to
      reduce urethral friction, thereby minimizing trauma and sticking, and making them
      more acceptable to the patient, and easier and safer to use. The objective of
      this article was to review the literature on the benefits of hydrophilic
      catheters in patients with neurogenic bladder. METHODS: A large body of
      experimental and observational evidence, including randomized controlled trials,
      was identified using PubMed. RESULTS: Compared with plastic catheters that have
      been manually lubricated with gel, hydrophilic catheters reduce urinary tract
      infection and microhematuria. Hydrophilic catheters are also associated with high
      levels of patient satisfaction because they are comfortable to use. CONCLUSIONS:
      There is a wealth of evidence, including randomized controlled trials, to support
      the benefits of hydrophilic catheters in terms of safety and quality of life,
      especially in men with spinal cord injury. More data are required for spina
      bifida, multiple sclerosis, and in women. Further research is warranted,
      especially large-scale and long-term robust comparisons of different types of
      catheter, and in well-defined and stratified populations.

PMID- 20928914
TI  - Secondary changes in bowel function after successful treatment of voiding
      symptoms with neuromodulation.
AB  - AIMS: Expanded indications for neuromodulation are continually being explored. We
      evaluated secondary changes in bowel function after successful neuromodulation
      for voiding symptoms. METHODS: Patients in our prospective neuromodulation
      database study with comorbid irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), constipation and/or
      diarrhea, or fecal incontinence (FI) at baseline were evaluated. Pre- and 3, 6,
      and 12 months post-operative measures included Interstitial Cystitis Symptom
      Index and Problem Index (ICSI-PI), bowel diaries (assessing bowel movement
      frequency; constipation, diarrhea, and FI episodes), and scaled global response
      assessments (GRA) ("markedly worse" to "markedly improved" bowel function).
      RESULTS: Most patients reporting secondary bowel problems (128/199; 64.3%) were
      female (89%; mean age 56 +/- 15.4 years). Primary voiding complaints were
      urgency/frequency (U/F) with or without urinary incontinence (n=74), interstitial
      cystitis/painful bladder syndrome (IC/PBS; n=43), and urinary retention (n=11).
      Secondary bowel complaints included constipation and/or diarrhea (49%), IBS
      (27%), and FI (23%). Urinary (ICSI-PI) scores improved after treatment (P<0.0001
      for IBS and constipation/diarrhea; P=0.0021 for FI). Bowel diary data only
      indicated that mean FI episodes/day increased over time (P = 0.0100) in the FI
      group. Only the 12-month value (1.4 +/- 2.2; n=8) was significantly different
      from baseline (0.3 +/- 0.5; n = 18). On the GRA, only the IBS group consistently
      reported bowel function improvement versus worsening at each time point. Many
      reported no change. CONCLUSIONS: Studies have indicated that neuromodulation
      improves FI in carefully selected patients. The impact on other bowel conditions,
      including IBS, is unclear. Since voiding and bowel symptoms often coexist, it is
      crucial to fully evaluate all potential treatment benefits.

PMID- 20928915
TI  - Morphological changes in Daphnia galeata induced by a crustacean terpenoid
      hormone and its analog.
AB  - Terpenoid hormones in insects (i.e., juvenile hormones) have various effects on
      physiology, morphology, and behavior, producing a wide range of phenotypic
      variation. Recent studies have shown that sex determination in cladoceran
      crustaceans is under the strong control of a major terpenoid hormone of
      crustaceans, methyl farnesoatote (MF). It can be easily conceived that MF is also
      a major determinant of other traits in cladocerans. In the present study,
      morphological changes known as antipredatory responses in a cladoceran Daphnia
      galeata in response to exposure to MF and a juvenile hormone-mimicking pesticide,
      fenoxycarb, were investigated. Morphological change was studied using neonates
      less than 24 h old, exposed either to MF at the concentrations from 1.9 to 30
      ug/L, or fenoxycarb at the concentrations from 13 to 200 ng/L, for 6 d. Animals
      developed a longer helmet at 1.9 ug/L of MF and 25 ng/L of fenoxycarb, and showed
      a concentration-dependent elongation. However, the tail spine was reduced in size
      in a concentration-dependent manner. Results of the present study not only give
      new insight into the mechanisms of inducible defenses in cladocerans, but also
      provide invaluable information to understand ecological and evolutionary
      consequences of endocrine disruption through the shift in biological interaction
      between predator and prey.

PMID- 20928916
TI  - Extraordinary stability of copper(I)-tetrathiomolybdate complexes: possible
      implications for aquatic ecosystems.
AB  - An extraordinary affinity of MoS42- for Cu accounts for Mo-induced Cu deficiency
      in ruminants (molybdenosis) and offers an approach to treating Wilson's disease
      in humans. Evidence of thiomolybdates in sulfidic natural waters, and possibly
      even as metastable traces in oxic natural waters, raises the question of how Cu
      Mo affinity might affect Cu availability or toxicity in aquatic ecosystems.
      Stabilities of inorganic Cu-MoS42- complexes are characterized and quantified
      here for the first time. Two remarkably stable Cu(I) dissolved complexes are
      identified (T = 23 degrees C +/- 2 degrees C): Cu2(HS)2MoS42- and Cu2S2MoS44-. In
      addition, the solubility constant for a precipitate (NH4CuMoS4) was measured.
      Under the extremely reducing conditions in rumen fluids, these complexes will
      greatly suppress Cu(+) activity, supporting prior conclusions about the mechanism
      of molybdenosis. In sulfidic natural waters, they help to prevent complete Cu
      impoverishment, as might otherwise occur by sulfide mineral precipitation. On the
      other hand, the complexes discovered here are HS--dependent and could not be
      important in oxic natural waters (with HS- concentrations < 10-9 M) even if
      metastable, biogenic MoS42- indeed were present as previously conjectured.

PMID- 20928917
TI  - Environmental risk assessment of three selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors in
      the aquatic environment: a case study including a cocktail scenario.
AB  - We present an environmental risk assessment of three selective serotonin reuptake
      inhibitors (SSRIs; citalopram, sertraline, and fluoxetine) in the aquatic
      environment based on two case scenarios. Abiotic and biotic degradation
      experiments and sorption estimates were used to predict environmental
      concentrations of three SSRIs from the wastewater of two psychiatric hospitals,
      the primary sector, and wastewater entering and leaving wastewater treatment
      plants (WWTPs). Assuming a sewage treatment retention time of 8 h, abiotic
      degradation was low, for all three SSRIs inhibitors, ranging between 0 and 2% for
      hydrolysis and 0 and 6% for photolysis. The biodegradation was also slow, ranging
      from 0 to 3% within an 8-h period. In untreated sewage, citalopram (CIT) and
      sertraline (SER) concentrations may be high enough to exert effects on the
      aquatic biota (CIT: 0.19-10.3 ug/L; SER: 0.14-17.1 ug/L). Removal of the
      pharmaceuticals is due primarily to sorption in the WWTP. Sertraline was
      estimated to have the highest concentrations in the sewage effluents, 4.4 and
      19.9 ng/L for the two cases, respectively. In treated wastewater, individual SSRI
      concentrations are probably too low to exert effects on biota. By using
      concentration addition, a cocktail exposure scenario was estimated. The predicted
      concentration in the biota calculated from the cocktail effect was 0.05 and 0.16
      nmol/g for the two cases, respectively, and SER was found to give the highest
      contribution to this cocktail effect. The results indicate that the
      concentrations in the wastewater effluents are one to two orders of magnitude
      lower than the concentrations likely to cause an effect in the aquatic biota.

PMID- 20928918
TI  - Isomer-specific accumulation of perfluorooctane sulfonate in the liver of chicken
      embryos exposed in ovo to a technical mixture.
AB  - Prior to its recent phaseout, perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) was produced by
      electrochemical fluorination processes, which yielded technical mixtures composed
      of linear isomer (~65-79%) and several branched isomers (~21-35%). Because PFOS
      can biomagnify in wildlife, birds that occupy higher trophic levels are at
      increased risk of exposure. We hypothesized that the pharmacokinetic properties
      of PFOS are isomer-specific in developing chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus)
      embryos exposed to technical grade PFOS (T-PFOS). In the present study, T-PFOS
      was composed of 62.7% linear isomer (L-PFOS), and 37.3% branched isomer,
      including six mono(trifluoromethyl)-branched isomers and four
      bis(trifluoromethyl)-branched isomers. Concentrations of 0.1, 5, or 100 ug/g of T
      PFOS were injected into the air cell of chicken eggs prior to incubation. After
      pipping, compared with T-PFOS, the PFOS isomer profile in embryonic liver tissue
      for the 0.1 ug/g dose group showed 21% enrichment in the proportion of L-PFOS
      with a corresponding decrease in the proportion of branched isomers. Not all
      branched isomers were discriminated against at equal rates. The proportion of two
      mono(trifluoromethyl)-branched isomers and three bis(trifluoromethyl)-branched
      isomers decreased to a greater degree than other branched isomers. In contrast,
      the mono-branched isomer, P6MHpS, was overrepresented in the low-dose group. In
      the higher dose groups, L-PFOS was still enriched but only by approximately 10%,
      which indicated a dose-dependent change in isomer composition relative to T-PFOS.
      These results show that accumulation of PFOS in chicken embryo livers is
      dependent on the presence and position of branches on the alkyl backbone. This
      supports the hypothesis that the pharmacokinetics of PFOS are isomer-specific in
      biota, and may help explain why wildlife PFOS burdens are dominated by L-PFOS
      relative to T-PFOS mixtures.

PMID- 20928919
TI  - Pulse-dose application of chelated copper to a river for Didymosphenia geminata
      control: effects on macroinvertebrates and fish.
AB  - A 1-h pulse-dose of a chelated Cu formulation (GemexTM; New Zealand) was applied
      to a river to test efficacy against the invasive mat-forming diatom Didymosphenia
      geminata (didymo) and to provide information on nontarget species effects that
      could not be adequately predicted from laboratory and experimental mesocosm
      studies. Intensive sampling allowed characterization of doses achieved at
      multiple downstream locations, and concurrent application of rhodamine dye
      allowed quantification of dispersion, adsorption, and dilution processes. The
      target dose of 10 to 20 mg Cu/L for 60 min was achieved at least 0.9 km
      downstream at sites with contrasting levels of didymo mat development. Adsorptive
      losses of Gemex were 12%/km where didymo was mostly nonvisible and approximately
      36%/km where substantial didymo mats were present. At 0.9 km downstream, Cu
      concentrations peaked at 12 mg/L, and didymo was <5% viable (down from 65-72%)
      for >=21 d posttreatment. Viability data indicate that elimination of nonvisible
      infestations is possible and that suppression of early-stage infestations (<=40%
      cover, <=4.5 mm thick) could be achieved after repeated applications. After a
      single Gemex application, no significant accumulation of Cu was noted in the
      sediments six weeks posttreatment, but Cu concentrations remained high in algal
      mats (109-367 mg/kg dry wt). Long-term effects on the nontarget algal,
      invertebrate, or fish communities were minimal, although significant localized
      trout mortalities, not predicted by prior laboratory exposures, occurred on the
      treatment day. Extended Gemex exposure in low-hardness waters might have caused
      the mortalities, although changes in chelated Cu speciation also possibly
      contributed. The present study integrates effects on resident biota with dosage
      data, including changes in pH, in a natural waterway.

PMID- 20928920
TI  - mRNA Expression and activity of ion-transporting proteins in gills of the blue
      crab Callinectes sapidus: effects of waterborne copper.
AB  - Waterborne Cu effects on the transcription of genes encoding ion-transporting
      proteins and the activities of these proteins were evaluated in gills of the blue
      crab Callinectes sapidus acclimated to diluted (20/00) and full (300/00)
      seawater. Crabs were exposed (96 h) to an environmentally relevant concentration
      of dissolved Cu (0.78 uM) and had their posterior (osmoregulating) gills
      dissected for enzymatic and molecular analysis. Endpoints analyzed were the
      activity of key enzymes involved in crab osmoregulation (sodium-potassium
      adenosine triphosphatase [Na(+)/K(+)-ATPase], hydrogen adenosine triphosphatase
      [H(+)-ATPase], and carbonic anhydrase [CA]) and the mRNA expression of genes
      encoding these enzymes and the sodium-potassium-chloride (Na(+)/K(+)/2Cl-)
      cotransporter. Copper effects were observed only in crabs acclimated to diluted
      seawater (hyperosmoregulating crabs) and were associated with an inhibition of
      the expression of mRNA of genes encoding the Na(+)/K(+)-ATPase and the
      Na(+)/K(+)/2Cl- cotransporter. However, Cu did not affect Na(+)/K(+)-ATPase
      activity, indicating that the gene transcription is downregulated before a
      significant inhibition of the enzyme activity can be observed. This also suggests
      the existence of a compensatory response of this enzyme to prevent osmoregulatory
      disturbances after short-term exposure to environmentally relevant Cu
      concentrations. These findings suggest that Cu is a potential ionoregulatory
      toxicant in blue crabs C. sapidus acclimated to low salinity. The lack of Cu
      effect on blue crabs acclimated to full seawater would be due to the reduced ion
      uptake needed for the regulation of the hemolymph osmotic concentration in full
      seawater (300/00). Also, this could be explained considering the lower
      bioavailability of toxic Cu (free ion) associated with the higher ionic content
      and dissolved organic matter concentration in high salinity (300/00) than in
      diluted seawater (20/00).

PMID- 20928921
TI  - An in situ toxicity assay with the local phytoplankton community.
AB  - The present study describes an approach for toxicity estimates based on the in
      situ exposure of the local phytoplankton community immobilized in calcium
      alginate beads. The assay was deployed in an acid mine drainage-impacted system,
      at a reference site and an impacted site. Abundances and growth rates of major
      taxonomic groups (green algae, flagellates, diatoms, and cyanobacteria) and of
      the entire community were measured. The ecological relevance of classical
      toxicity estimates was evaluated by performing in situ and laboratory assays with
      the standard species Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata and Chlorella vulgaris. Site
      waters were tested without and with nutrient enrichment, to discriminate toxic
      effects from those caused by nutrient limitations. Despite the occurrence of
      growth-limiting conditions for the local phytoplankton within the alginate
      matrix, an impact of the mine effluent on the community was detected. The growth
      of the community and of all taxonomic groups, except for the cyanobacteria, was
      less at the impacted site than at the reference site, although adding nutrients
      partially compensated for the effluent detrimental effects. Shifts in the
      community structure were also provoked by the mine effluent; decreases in the
      abundance of green algae were paralleled by increases in the abundance of
      flagellates and diatoms, but mainly of cyanobacteria. Effects on the growth of
      both standard species of green algae were in conformity with those on the local
      phytoplankton, probably because the latter was dominated by green algae. Although
      future improvements regarding the cell immobilization technique should be
      attempted, the proposed easy and inexpensive approach to assess both the growth
      and the structure of local phytoplankton communities will allow more
      environmentally realistic site-specific assessments of water quality.

PMID- 20928922
TI  - Layer-by-layer self-assembled multi-walled carbon nanotubes/silica microsphere
      composites as stationary phase for high-performance liquid chromatography.
AB  - Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were layer-by-layer assembled onto silica
      microspheres to form MWCNTs/SiO(2) composites and were characterized by surface
      analysis, elemental analysis, and contact angle. The composite was used as a
      stationary phase in HPLC for the separation of many kinds of aromatic compounds.
      The separation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) affected by the number
      of MWCNTs layers on SiO(2) was investigated. Retention times and resolutions of
      PAHs were affected by the assembled layer of MWCNTs and the type of organic
      additive in the mobile phase. When the MWCNTs layer increased to 5 (MWCNTs/SiO(2)
      5), PAHs can be completely separated. Aromatic compounds with different
      substituents can be well separated when only water was used as the eluent on the
      MWCNTs/SiO(2)-5 column. Decreasing the pH of the eluent can increase the
      retention factors of organic acids. Organic amines can also be separated with
      acetonitrile as organic additive, which were eluted in the order of the
      electronic cloud density of their aromatic rings. Comparing the MWCNTs/SiO(2)-5
      column with a commercial HPLC column, it was clearly shown that the commercial
      column exhibited the characteristic of hydrophobicity, and the MWNCTs/SiO(2)-5
      column exhibited the characteristic of a large pi-electron system.

PMID- 20928923
TI  - Carbon nanotubes-assisted polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis for enhanced
      separation of human serum proteins and application in liverish diagnosis.
AB  - The application of pore-gradient polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PG-PAGE)
      incorporated with carbon nanotube modified by Triton X-100 and carboxylation so
      as to improve the separation of human serum proteins is reported. The novel PG
      PAGE was made by adding water-soluble single-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) when
      preparing the polyacrylamide gel. Significant improvements in separation of
      complement C3 protein and haptoglobin (Hp) in human serum were achieved. It was
      estimated that the interactions between the hydrophilic groups on the proteins
      and the surface of the CNTs result in different adsorption kinetics of complement
      C3 and Hp subtype on the nanoparticles incorporated in the gel, thus enhancing
      the separation of the two proteins in serum. This new CNT matrix-assisted PG-PAGE
      method for enhanced separation of complement C3 and Hp in human serum was
      successfully applied to distinguish the samples from liverish patients and
      healthy people.

PMID- 20928924
TI  - Selectivity issues in targeted metabolomics: Separation of phosphorylated
      carbohydrate isomers by mixed-mode hydrophilic interaction/weak anion exchange
      chromatography.
AB  - Phosphorylated carbohydrates are important intracellular metabolites and thus of
      prime interest in metabolomics research. Complications in their analysis arise
      from the existence of structural isomers that do have similar fragmentation
      patterns in MS/MS and are hard to resolve chromatographically. Herein, we present
      selective methods for the liquid chromatographic separation of sugar phosphates,
      such as hexose and pentose phosphates, 2- and 3-phosphoglycerate,
      dihydroxyacetone phosphate and glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate, as well as glucosamine
      1- and 6-phosphate utilizing mixed-mode chromatography with reversed-phase/weak
      anion-exchangers and a charged aerosol detector. The best results were obtained
      when the reversed-phase/weak anion-exchanger column was operated under
      hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography elution conditions. The effects of
      various chromatographic parameters were examined and are discussed on the basis
      of a simple stoichiometric displacement model for explaining ion-exchange
      processes. Employed acidic conditions have led to the complete separation of
      alpha- and beta-anomers of glucose 6-phosphate at low temperature. The anomers
      coeluted in a single peak at elevated temperatures (>40 degrees C) (peak
      coalescence), while at intermediate temperatures on-column interconversion with a
      plateau in-between resolved anomer peaks was observed with apparent reaction rate
      constants between 0.1 and 27.8*10(-4) s(-1). Dynamic HPLC under specified
      conditions enabled to investigate mutarotation of phosphorylated carbohydrates,
      their interconversion kinetics, and energy barriers for interconversion. A
      complex mixture of six hexose phosphate structural isomers could be resolved
      almost completely.

PMID- 20928925
TI  - Surface-modified TiO(2) nanoparticles as affinity probes and as matrices for the
      rapid analysis of phosphopeptides and proteins in MALDI-TOF-MS.
AB  - We utilized three different types of TiO(2) nanoparticles (NPs) namely TiO(2)
      dopamine, TiO(2)-CdS and bare TiO(2) NPs as multifunctional nanoprobes for the
      rapid enrichment of phosphopeptides from tryptic digests of alpha- and beta
      casein, milk and egg white using a simplified procedure in MALDI-TOF-MS. Surface
      modified TiO(2) NPs serve as effective matrices for the analysis of peptides
      (gramicidin D, HW6, leucine-enkephalin and methionine-enkephalin) and proteins
      (cytochrome c and myoglobin) in MALDI-TOF-MS. In the surface-modified TiO(2) NPs
      based MALDI mass spectra of these analytes (phosphopetides, peptides and
      proteins), we found that TiO(2)-dopamine and bare TiO(2) NPs provided an
      efficient platform for the selective and rapid enrichment of phosphopeptides and
      TiO(2)-CdS NPs efficiently acted as the matrix for background-free detection of
      peptides and proteins with improved resolution in MALDI-MS. We found that the
      upper detectable mass range is 17 000 Da using TiO(2)-CdS NPs as the matrix. The
      approach is simple and straightforward for the rapid analysis of phosphopeptides,
      peptides and proteins by MALDI-MS in proteome research.

PMID- 20928926
TI  - Sol-gel synthesis, characterization and luminescence properties of SrMgAl2
      SiO7:Eu2+ as a novel nanocrystalline phosphor.
AB  - In this research, a new SrMgAl(2) SiO(7):Eu(2+) phosphor was synthesized via the
      sol-gel method. The phase-forming processes were studied by thermogravimetric
      differential thermal analysis and X-ray diffraction technique. Scanning electron
      microscopy showed that there is uniform morphology and microstructure owing to
      the sol-gel route. Spectrophotometry and colorimetry analyses illustrated that,
      under short ultraviolet excitation, the main emission peak occurred at 421 nm and
      also a relatively pure blue color was observed that was ascribed to the 4f(6)
      5d(1) ((2) D) -> 4f(7) ((8) S(7/2)) transition of Eu(2+) with color coordination
      of x = 0.187, y = 0.077. Finally, it was found that the color and phase purity of
      the synthesized powder increased as calcinations time increased.

PMID- 20928927
TI  - Muscle dysmorphia symptomatology during a period of religious fasting: a case
      report.
AB  - We present a case of muscle dysmorphia in a Muslim male, whose muscle dysmorphia
      symptomatology markedly escalated during a period of religious fasting, in which
      abstinence from food and liquid during daylight hours was endorsed. This case
      represents the first attempt to delineate the relative centrality of eating
      versus exercise practices in muscle dysmorphia presentations, and suggests that
      the maintenance of muscle dysmorphia is inclusive of a central eating component,
      irrespective of exercise status, lending support to the notion of conceptualising
      muscle dysmorphia within an eating disorder spectrum. Implications and further
      research are discussed.

PMID- 20928928
TI  - Cognitive processing of emotions in anorexia nervosa.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study attempts to explore the cognitive processing of emotions in
      anorexia nervosa (AN), based on the study of emotions felt and the assessment of
      meta-emotional abilities. METHOD: Eighty patients with AN and a control group of
      80 healthy female participants were screened for anxiety, depression and
      alexithymia and completed an experimental task designed to analyse the emotional
      experience and meta-emotional abilities. RESULTS: Despite presenting higher
      levels of alexithymia, participants with AN demonstrated they were able to
      imagine emotions in hypothetical situations and to identify and label them. The
      group of patients with AN revealed feeling more intense and internally based
      negative emotions in comparison with the control group, but this emotional
      pattern tends to occur in situations associated with food and weight.
      CONCLUSIONS: Findings on meta-emotional abilities suggested no global deficit in
      emotional processing, but rather, specific sensitivities pertaining to situations
      relevant to AN.

PMID- 20928930
TI  - Managing social difficulties: roles and responsibilities of patients and staff.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Implementation of guidance on assessment and management of
      psychosocial and supportive-care problems or needs will be successful only if
      consideration is given to existing skills, experience and expectations of staff
      and patients. This study examines the roles and responsibilities of staff,
      patients and families in relation to management of social difficulties and
      proposes a pathway for response. METHODS: A qualitative study was performed using
      staff and patient interviews. Seventeen doctors and 16 nurses were interviewed
      using patient scenarios and a support service questionnaire. Patients (n = 41)
      completed a screening questionnaire (the Social Difficulties Inventory) and were
      interviewed. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed and subjected to a
      Framework analysis. Analysis examined (1) actions taken by staff and patients in
      response to social difficulties, (2) reasons given for action taken and (3)
      perceptions of staff and patients of who was responsible for taking action.
      RESULTS: Staff were confident concerning clinically related issues (i.e.
      mobility) but more hesitant concerning difficulties related to money, work and
      family concerns. Patients liked to cope with problems on their own where
      possible, would have liked information or support from staff but were uncertain
      how to access this. Results led to development of a hierarchy of interventions in
      response to detected social difficulties. DISCUSSION: For routine assessment of
      social difficulties, patients, nurses and doctors will have to work
      collaboratively, with nurses taking a lead in discussion. For specific clinically
      related problems doctors would play a more primary role.

PMID- 20928931
TI  - Fast-track surgery.  More comfort, quicker recovery.

PMID- 20928929
TI  - Psychosocial risk profiles among black male Veterans Administration patients non
      adherent with colorectal cancer screening.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study identifies unique psychosocial characteristics among
      African American men that put the men at risk for non-adherence to colorectal
      cancer (CRC) screening (colonoscopy, sigmoidoscopy, and fecal occult blood tests
      (FOBT)). Subgroups sharing similar psychosocial characteristics may be targeted
      with specific intervention strategies aimed at increasing participation in
      screening, which could lead to increased early detection and decreased morbidity
      and mortality. METHODS: The male African American veterans in our sample (n =
      260) had a mean age of 57.3 (SD = 7.3) years. Our study employs latent class
      analysis, a quantitative-based, audience segmentation method to identify
      homogeneous subgroups of African American men with similar psychosocial
      characteristics related to CRC screening, potentially in need of different health
      information and intervention strategies. Latent class regression was used to
      examine the relationships among latent class structure and demographic
      characteristics. RESULTS: There were four psychosocial risk classes across the
      three screening tests. A significant subset of men had psychosocial
      characteristics indicative of willingness to be screened for each test
      (colonscopy = 21.8%, sigmoidoscopy = 31.5%, and FOBT = 10.8%), although they were
      currently non-adherent. Men who received a past screening test, had greater than
      a high school education, or were married were more likely to be represented in a
      latent class indicative of being prepared for getting colonoscopy or
      sigmoidoscopy. Sociodemographic variables were unrelated to FOBT latent class
      structure. CONCLUSIONS: Segmenting our sample of male African American veterans
      based on psychosocial risk characteristics can inform the development of more
      precisely targeted interventions for African American men who are non-adherent
      for CRC screening.

PMID- 20928932
TI  - Improved iron levels may help chronic heart failure.

PMID- 20928933
TI  - Ultrasound imaging.  Expanding uses for sound therapy.

PMID- 20928934
TI  - Recently, during the middle of the night, I scared my wife--and myself--when I
      fainted in the bathroom while urinating.  When I saw my doctor about the episode,
      he said I might have a problem related to urination after a deep sleep.  Would
      you please explain what causes this?

PMID- 20928935
TI  - Tolerance and B cells are hot topics at ATC.

PMID- 20928936
TI  - Development of a disposable magnetically levitated centrifugal blood pump
      (MedTech Dispo) intended for bridge-to-bridge applications--two-week in vivo
      evaluation.
AB  - Last year, we reported in vitro pump performance, low hemolytic characteristics,
      and initial in vivo evaluation of a disposable, magnetically levitated
      centrifugal blood pump, MedTech Dispo. As the first phase of the two-stage in
      vivo studies, in this study we have carried out a 2-week in vivo evaluation in
      calves. Male Holstein calves with body weight of 62.4-92.2 kg were used. Under
      general anesthesia, a left heart bypass with a MedTech Dispo pump was instituted
      between the left atrium and the descending aorta via left thoracotomy. Blood
      contacting surface of the pump was coated with a 2-methacryloyloxyethyl
      phosphorylcholine polymer. Post-operatively, with activated clotting time
      controlled at 180-220 s using heparin and bypass flow rate maintained at 50
      mL/kg/min, plasma-free hemoglobin (Hb), coagulation, and major organ functions
      were analyzed for evaluation of biocompatibility. The animals were electively
      sacrificed at the completion of the 2-week study to evaluate presence of thrombus
      inside the pump,together with an examination of major organs. To date, we have
      done 13 MedTech Dispo implantations, of which three went successfully for a 2
      week duration. In these three cases, the pump produced a fairly constant flow of
      50 mL/Kg/min. Neurological disorders and any symptoms of thromboembolism were not
      seen. Levels of plasma-free Hb were maintained very low. Major organ functions
      remained within normal ranges. Autopsy results revealed no thrombus formation
      inside the pump. In the last six cases, calves suffered from severe pneumonia and
      they were excluded from the analysis. The MedTech Dispo pump demonstrated
      sufficient pump performance and biocompatibility to meet requirements for 1-week
      circulatory support. The second phase (2-month in vivo study) is under way to
      prove the safety and efficacy of MedTech Dispo for 1-month applications.

PMID- 20928937
TI  - Hedgehog pathway activation in chronic myeloid leukemia.
AB  - Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML) is a hematopoietic stem cell malignancy that is
      driven by the oncogenic BCR-ABL fusion protein, and for which treatment with ABL
      tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) has yielded great success. While this is the
      case, BCR-ABL leukemic stem cells can persist despite TKI therapy, and efforts
      have intensified towards determining the molecular pathways that are critical for
      the maintenance of such cells. Recent studies indicate that aberrant Hedgehog
      (Hh) signaling plays a crucial role in the survival of the leukemic stem cell
      population. The Hh pathway displays crucial roles during embryonic development,
      tissue regeneration and repair in adults. Several mechanisms that lead to the
      aberrant activation of the Hh pathway have been identified in various cancers.
      Here we review in detail the discovery that Hh signaling governs the maintenance
      of the critical leukemia initiating cells or leukemic stem cells (LSCs) in BCR
      ABL-induced CML as well as discuss investigations on the role of Hh signaling in
      normal hematopoeisis. As inhibitors that directly target the positive Hh signal
      transducer Smoothened (SMO) have entered clinical trials, these findings offer a
      unique opportunity to potentially target the LSC population that is not
      eliminated with ABL tyrosine kinase inhibition therapy in CML.

PMID- 20928938
TI  - Does early (CNI) conversion lead to eternal (renal) salvation?

PMID- 20928939
TI  - A rapid and optimization-free procedure allows the in vivo detection of subtle
      cell cycle and ploidy alterations in tissues by flow cytometry.
AB  - Cell cycle alterations are fundamental to many physiological processes but their
      detection has proven difficult when cells are in the context of a tissue
      structure. Here we describe an easy, rapid and optimization-free procedure for
      obtaining high resolution cell cycle profiles from nearly all tissue types
      derived from mouse, human and sheep. Using a standardized and non-enzymatic
      procedure that is universally suitable for soft, solid and epithelial tissues
      alike, we reproducibly obtain cell cycle profiles of highest quality with half
      peak coefficients of variation below 2.0. We are able to reduce preparation
      derived debris to almost zero and efficiently exclude doublets, but retain
      multinucleated cells and apoptotic subG1-fragments. Applying this technique, we
      determine DNA-indices as small as 1.09 in tumor samples containing large necrotic
      areas and follow ploidy changes within different sections of individual tumors.
      Moreover, we examine tissue-specific cell cycle arrest and apoptosis as an in
      vivo stress response caused by radiation of mice. This method significantly
      improves the quality of DNA content analysis in tissues and extends the spectrum
      of applications. It allows assessing changes in ploidy, cell cycle distribution
      and apoptosis/necrosis in vivo and should be instrumental in all research that
      involves experimental animal models and/or patient biopsies.

PMID- 20928941
TI  - Ragging in medical colleges: call for adopting a zero-tolerance policy.

PMID- 20928940
TI  - Laterally attached kinetochores recruit the checkpoint protein Bub1, but satisfy
      the spindle checkpoint.
AB  - Kinetochore attachment to the ends of dynamic microtubules is a conserved feature
      of mitotic spindle organization that is thought to be critical for proper
      chromosome segregation. Although kinetochores have been described to transition
      from lateral to end-on attachments, the phase of lateral attachment has been
      difficult to study in yeast due to its transient nature. We have previously
      described a kinetochore mutant, DAM1-765, which exhibits lateral attachments and
      misregulation of microtubule length. Here we show that the misregulation of
      microtubule length in DAM1-765 cells occurs despite localization of microtubule
      associated proteins Bik1, Stu2, Cin8, and Kip3 to microtubules. DAM1-765
      kinetochores recruit the spindle checkpoint protein Bub1, however Bub1
      localization to DAM1-765 kinetochores is not sufficient to cause a cell cycle
      arrest. Interestingly, the DAM1-765 mutation rescues the temperature sensitivity
      of a biorientation-deficient ipl1-321 mutant, and DAM1-765 chromosome loss rates
      are similar to wild-type cells. The spindle checkpoint in DAM1-765 cells responds
      properly to unattached kinetochores created by nocodazole treatment and loss of
      tension caused by a cohesin mutant. Progression of DAM1-765 cells through mitosis
      therefore suggests that satisfaction of the checkpoint depends more highly on
      biorientation of sister kinetochores than on achievement of a specific
      interaction between kinetochores and microtubule plus ends.

PMID- 20928942
TI  - Nurse practitioners: worth considering in India?

PMID- 20928944
TI  - Weighing the options.

PMID- 20928945
TI  - Aids to the investigation of peripheral nerve injuries. Medical Research Council:
      Nerve Injuries Research Committee. His Majesty's Stationery Office: 1942; pp. 48
      (iii) and 74 figures and 7 diagrams; with aids to the examination of the
      peripheral nervous system. By Michael O'Brien for the Guarantors of Brain.
      Saunders Elsevier: 2010; pp. [8] 64 and 94 Figures.

PMID- 20928946
TI  - Intrinsic viscosity of native and single-stranded T7 DNA and its relationship to
      sedimentation coefficient.
AB  - The intrinsic viscosity and sedimentation coefficient of native and single
      stranded T7 DNA have been determined at 250C as a function of ionic strength in
      neutral and alkaline NaCl. The relationship between [eta] and S0(20,w), is well
      represented by the Mandelkern-Flory equation over the entire range of conditions
      between 0.0013 and 1M Na+. An apparent discrepancy between the two methods at
      moderate to high ionic strengths is probably due to a change in V with ionic
      strength. It appears that [eta] is a more sensitive and reliable measure of
      molecular expansion for native DNA,but S0(20,w) is a better index of
      conformational change in single strands, since [eta] becomes too small to measure
      conveniently at high ionic strengths. At moderate to high ionic strengths,
      denaturation leads to a decrease in [eta], although unfolded single strands
      retain considerable viscosity. At sufficiently low ionic strength, the intrinsic
      viscosity of the single strands becomes higher than that of native DNA, and the
      effective volume of a single strand approaches that of the native molecule.

PMID- 20928947
TI  - Education and Imaging. Gastrointestinal: large antro-duodenal ulcers following
      hepatic selective internal radiotherapy.

PMID- 20928948
TI  - Education and Imaging. Gastrointestinal: persistent vomiting after laparoscopic
      cholecystectomy.

PMID- 20928949
TI  - Education and Imaging. Hepatobiliary and pancreatic: alveolar echinococcosis
      mimicking hepatocellular carcinoma.

PMID- 20928950
TI  - Proceedings of the XVth World Congress on Gestational Trophoblastic Diseases.
      November 12-15, 2009. Kochi, India.

PMID- 20928952
TI  - Abstracts of the NASPSPA (North American Society for the Psychology of Sport and
      Physical Activity) 2010 Conference, June 10-12, 2010. Tucson, Arizona, USA.

PMID- 20928951
TI  - Proceedings of the 2nd Croatian Congress on Side Effects of Psychotropics. March
      11-14, 2010. Rovinj, Croatia.

PMID- 20928953
TI  - [Abstracts of the 40th Easter/Western Regional Meeting, Japanese Society of
      Nephrology. 2010. Japan].

PMID- 20928954
TI  - [Abstracts of the 72nd Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Hematology.
      September 24-26, 2010. Yokohama, Japan].

PMID- 20928955
TI  - [On the 50th birthday of Dr. Jindrich Spinar, CSc., FESC].

PMID- 20928956
TI  - Unintended births: patterns by race and ethnicity and relationship type.
AB  - CONTEXT: Childbearing intentions vary by race and ethnicity and by relationship
      type. However, few studies have examined whether they differ by race and
      ethnicity within relationship type. METHODS: Data from the Early Childhood
      Longitudinal Study were used to examine the childbearing intentions of 9,100
      mothers of a cohort of children born in 2001. Multivariate and multinomial
      regression analyses were conducted to examine whether relationship type (married,
      cohabiting or neither) helps explain racial and ethnic differences in
      childbearing intentions and whether associations between race and ethnicity and
      childbearing intentions vary by relationship type. RESULTS: Blacks were more
      likely than whites to have had an unintended birth (odds ratio, 2.5); the
      relationship held among married (2.6), but not unmarried, mothers. For most
      relationship types, black mothers had higher relative risks than whites of having
      had an unwanted birth, rather than an intended or a mistimed one. Asian married
      mothers were more likely than their white counterparts to have had an unwanted,
      rather than intended, birth (1.9). The odds of an unintended birth were lower
      among foreign-born Hispanic cohabiting women than among white cohabiting women
      (0.6), a finding driven by the lower risk of unwanted than of other births among
      foreign-born Hispanics (0.3-0.5). Few differences were apparent between native
      born Hispanics and white mothers. CONCLUSIONS: Racial and ethnic differences in
      childbearing intentions are frequently contingent on relationship context.
      Differences between whites and blacks are largely attributable to married women.
      Assessment of childbearing intendedness among Hispanics should take nativity into
      account.

PMID- 20928959
TI  - Material and lighting hues of object colour.
AB  - Observers can easily differentiate between a pigmented stain and the white
      surface that it lies on. The same applies for a colour shadow cast upon the same
      surface. Although the difference between these two kinds of colour appearance
      (referred to as material and lighting hues) is self-evident even for
      inexperienced observers, it is not one that has been captured by any colour
      appearance model thus far. We report here on an experiment supplying evidence for
      the dissociation of these two types of hue in the perceptual space. The stimulus
      display consisted of two identical sets of Munsell papers illuminated
      independently by yellow, neutral, and blue lights. Dissimilarities between all
      the paper/light pairs were ranked by five trichromatic observers, and then
      analysed by using non-metric multidimensional scaling (MDS). In the MDS output
      configuration, the Munsell papers lit by the same light made a closed
      configuration retaining the same order as in the Munsell book. The paper
      configurations for the yellow and blue lights were displaced transversally and in
      parallel to each other, with that of the neutral light located in between. The
      direction of the shift is interpreted as the yellow-blue lighting dimension. We
      show that the yellow-blue lighting dimension cannot be reduced to that of the
      reflected light.

PMID- 20928958
TI  - Medicaid payment for generic drugs: achieving savings and access.
AB  - Medicaid payment for generic prescription drugs has been a point of contention
      for the pharmacy industry over the past few years because of reimbursement
      formula changes contained in the Deficit Reduction Act (DRA) of 2005. The Patient
      Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) includes provisions to resolve some of
      these issues. The DRA reduced the maximum amount the federal government would pay
      state Medicaid programs for generic drugs, and the Centers for Medicare &
      Medicaid services (CMS) final regulation, to implement the DRA provisions was met
      with a lawsuit from the pharmacy industry. An injunction by the federal district
      court, followed by a congressional moratorium, kept CMS from implementing the
      regulation and kept the pre-DRA formula for the generic drug payment limit in
      place. PPACA provisions increase maximum federal reimbursement levels for
      Medicaid generic drugs, but the impact on the pharmacy industry depends on CMS
      implementation and state policies. This paper examines Medicaid payment for
      generic drugs, the DRA and PPACA changes to generic drug reimbursement, the
      concerns of the pharmacy industry, and the potential impact on access.

PMID- 20928960
TI  - Trimetazidine activates paraoxonase.

PMID- 20928961
TI  - Effect of combining extended-release carvedilol and lisinopril in hypertension:
      results of the COSMOS study.

PMID- 20928962
TI  - Randomised trial of fentanyl anaesthesia in preterm babies undergoing surgery:
      effects on the stress response.
AB  - In a randomised controlled trial, preterm babies undergoing ligation of a patent
      ductus arteriosus were given nitrous oxide and d-tubocurarine, with (n = 8) or
      without (n = 8) the addition of fentanyl (10 micrograms/kg intravenously) to the
      anaesthetic regimen. Major hormonal responses to surgery, as indicated by changes
      in plasma adrenaline, noradrenaline, glucagon, aldosterone, corticosterone, 11
      deoxycorticosterone, and 11-deoxycortisol levels, in the insulin/glucagon, molar
      ratio, and in blood glucose, lactate, and pyruvate concentrations were
      significantly greater in the non-fentanyl than in the fentanyl group. The urinary
      3-methylhistidine/creatinine ratios were significantly greater in the non
      fentanyl group on the second and third postoperative days. Compared with the
      fentanyl group, the non-fentanyl group had circulatory and metabolic
      complications postoperatively. The findings indicate that preterm babies mount a
      substantial stress response to surgery under anaesthesia with nitrous oxide and
      curare and that prevention of this response by fentanyl anaesthesia may be
      associated with an improved postoperative outcome.

PMID- 20928963
TI  - VALO light curing unit.

PMID- 20928964
TI  - Penicillin VK.

PMID- 20928965
TI  - They giveth; they taketh away.
AB  - As the government tries to help employers with healthcare costs under the reform
      law, a study reveals workers are being forced to pay more for their coverage-a
      whopping 14% more this year, and a budget-busting 47% over the past five years.
      "It's the first time that I can remember seeing employers shifting all the costs
      to workers," said Drew Altman, president and CEO of the Kaiser Family Foundation.

PMID- 20928966
TI  - Blues eye green. Some 20 plans eligible for reinsurance program.

PMID- 20928967
TI  - Uneasy in the Big Easy. Removed hospital board members sue mayor.

PMID- 20928968
TI  - Hospitable hospitals. Winning entries in annual Design Awards keep focus on the
      patients experience.

PMID- 20928969
TI  - Largest for-profit hospital chains. Ranked by 2009 operating revenue (in
      millions) from most recent CMS Medicare hospital cost report.

PMID- 20928970
TI  - The 2006-2010 National Survey of Family Growth: sample design and analysis of a
      continuous survey.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) collects data on
      pregnancy, childbearing, men's and women's health, and parenting from a national
      sample of women and men 15-44 years of age in the United States. This report
      describes the sample design for the NSFG's new continuous design and the effects
      of that design on weighting and variance estimation procedures. A working
      knowledge of this information is important for researchers who wish to use the
      data. Two data files are being released--the first covering 2.5 years (30 months)
      of data collection and the second after all data have been collected. This report
      is being released with the first data file. A later report in this Series will
      include specific results of the weighting, imputation, and variance estimation.
      METHODS: The NSFG's new design is based on an independent, national probability
      sample of women and men 15-44 years of age. Fieldwork was carried out by the
      University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research (ISR) under a contract
      with the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). In-person, face-to-face
      interviews were conducted by professional female interviewers using laptop
      computers. RESULTS: Analysis of NSFG data requires the use of sampling weights
      and estimation of sampling errors that account for the complex sample design and
      estimation features of the survey. Sampling weights are provided on the data
      files. The rate of missing data in the survey is generally low. However, missing
      data were imputed for about 600 key variables (called "recodes") that are used
      for most analyses of the survey. Imputation was accomplished using a multiple
      regression procedure with software called IVEware, available from the University
      of Michigan website.

PMID- 20928971
TI  - Antibiotics. NDM-1 how dangerous is the mutation?

PMID- 20928972
TI  - This really sucks.

PMID- 20928974
TI  - X-ray vision. How safe are airports' new low-radiation scanners?

PMID- 20928973
TI  - The womb. Your mother. Yourself.

PMID- 20928975
TI  - ["Investigacion Clinica": 50 years disseminating biomedical research].
AB  - INVESTIGACION CLINICA was founded by the initiative of Americo Negrette, who
      became its first editor, and it has been published uninterruptedly since July
      1960, with a quarterly frequency. The first issues consisted mainly of a
      collection of reviews of seminars held at the now called Instituto de
      Investigaciones Clinicas "Dr. Americo Negrette", Facultad de Medicina,
      Universidad del Zulia, its publisher. Very soon, original research results from
      this institution were included in the novel journal. In the 60's, papers on
      results obtained during the outbreaks of Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis present
      in the area, were prominent. Originally, the journal published 3-4 papers, but
      due to the increased number of contributions, in 2001, its format changed from
      1/16 to 1/8, and now each number includes 11 original articles. Currently,
      INVESTIGACION CLINICA publishes 44 papers a year, in Spanish or English on
      different biomedical topics, from contributors all around the world.
      Progressively it has been included in different renowned indexes, such as
      PubMed/MEDLINE, Science Citation Index Expanded, Excerpta Medica, Tropical
      Diseases Bulletin, Copernicus, Scopus, Periodica, and several others. Besides, it
      can be found in open access through www.Scielo.org.ve,
      www.freemedicaljournals.com and in our new Web page: https://sites.
      google.com/site/revistainvestigacionesclinicas/home. Most papers published in
      INVESTIGACION CLINICA have been cited in the regional or foreign literature
      accumulating more than 1200 citations by now. For this particular issue, to
      celebrate the 50th anniversary of INVESTIGACION CLINICA, we have invited some of
      our more recent referees or authors to contribute with Reviews in their
      respective areas of expertise.

PMID- 20928976
TI  - [Fifty years studying hiperlipidemias: the case of familial combined
      hyperlipidemia].
AB  - Familial combined hyperlipidemia (FCHL) is the most frequent primary
      dyslipidemia. Its manifestations include hypercholesterolemia,
      hypertriglyceridemia or the combination of both abnormalities. In spite of its
      high frequency, the proper diagnosis is rarely done. For this purpose, the
      measurement of a lipid profile is required in at least three first-degree
      relatives. A critical review of the current literature in this field is presented
      in this paper. Prospective studies have confirmed the atherogenicity of the
      disease. It is possible to identify the FCHL causal genes with the current
      methodology because it is an oligogenic disease. Based on the use of new
      technologies, several loci that regulate apolipoprotein B concentrations have
      been identified. In addition it was demostrated that variations of the activity
      or the expression of various nuclear factors (USF1, TCF7L2, HNF4alfa) have a
      major role in the pathophysiology of FCHL. These nuclear factors regulate the
      expression of multiple genes involved in the metabolism of lipids or
      carbohydrates.

PMID- 20928977
TI  - [Immune tolerance at 50 years from the Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology: a
      perspective as a mechanism of immune response against pathogens].
AB  - The immune system has the capability of protection against infectious disease
      which is accomplished by an enormous repertoire of receptors specifically
      reactive to foreign antigens, but it is tolerant to self-antigens, establishing
      biological identity. The ability to discriminate between self and non-self is a
      central property of the immune system, by using complex network of cellular and
      molecular mechanisms in order to prevent autoimmunity; this function is called
      immune tolerance. Thus, the Interaction between immune system and antigens is
      required for the generation of tolerance and it is critical in different
      physiological and pathological conditions in order to limit the damage to self
      tissues. Since Medawar description, who showed that the tolerance is an acquired
      property playing a central role in the homeostasis, several mechanism has been
      proposed to explain it. It is accepted today that an important group of antigen
      specific cells called regulatory T cell, both natural and induced, are critical
      as a unifying mechanism to maintain self-tolerance. These suppressor lymphocyte
      subpopulations had shown to play an important role not only by controlling
      autoimmune disease but also in the pathogenesis of many chronic infectious
      diseases, either manipulated by the microorganism to escape from the immune
      system, or induced by the host to reduce inflammatory damage. This review has the
      intention of updating about modern concepts in immune tolerance mechanisms, with
      special emphasis played by Treg cell in the tolerance which is unquestionable
      induced during the course of chronic infections diseases.

PMID- 20928978
TI  - [Human papilloma virus and cervical cancer. An historical review on the
      development of research on cancer of the cervix uteri in Venezuela].
AB  - The history on the relationship of VPH infection and cervical cancer was
      examined. Findings were initially reported in Maracaibo(1971), later in
      Mexico(1973) and thereafter several studies on the ultrastructure and
      immunohistochemistry of VPH infection and its role on cervical cancer were
      described. The ultrastructural findings of viral particles of HPV and their
      proteins, as well as their role in the incorporation of the viral genome to the
      human cervical cells were also described. Glycoproteins on the surface of
      cervical cells were reviewed and their importance on HPV infection was related to
      p16, blood group antigens and early genetic changes in the cell cycle with loss
      of heterozigocity, all of which, stimulated by the high risk HPV infection lead
      to cervical cancer.

PMID- 20928979
TI  - [Mind-body connection, parapsychological phenomena and spiritual healing. A
      review].
AB  - Evidence regarding the influence of the mind on the body is abundant. Several
      mind-body healing procedures are currently being used, among them hypnosis,
      biofeedback, meditation, visualizations, management of emotions and prayer. Since
      the Big Bang, we are entangled with everything. This interaction would let
      individuals to communicate with the minds and bodies of others. The field of
      parapsychological research has provided a lot of information about significant
      events, including apparitions, communications with the dead, near-death
      experiences and out of the body experiences. It looks apparently evident, that
      consciousness can persist in the absence of brain function. According to the
      model that assumes that it is consciousness and not matter, the base of
      everything that exists, what survives after death is the "quantum monad" or
      spirit. It is said that spiritual cures are practiced by discarnate physicians
      who diagnose and prescribe conventional treatments, but very often they use
      unknown procedures based on the management of energy fields that are currently
      being studied by many physicists. Representative examples of the practice of
      spiritual medicine were the mediums Ze Arigo, George Chapman, Barbara Guerrero
      (Pachita) and presently the Brazilian medium John of God. Case reports of
      paranormal phenomena observed and studied by honest and serious scientists are
      very important for the advancement of parapsychology, because it has not been
      clearly established which approach, the qualitative or the quantitative, is more
      useful for the development of this field.

PMID- 20928980
TI  - [Amebiasis: implications of the recognition of Entamoeba dispar and the
      identification of Entamoeba moshkovskii in humans].
AB  - The history of Entamoeba histolytica is very confuse and shows several wrong
      concepts about the parasite and its relationship with the host. The poor
      correlation between the prevalence of asymptomatic and symptomatic amebiasis
      originated the proposal of three explicative hypothesis, among them was the
      concept of Brumpt that E. histolytica comprised two morphologically identical
      species, E. dysenteriae and E. dispar. The application of modern molecular
      techniques irrefutably proved that E. histolytica was really a complex of two
      species, confirming the concept of Brumpt almost 7 decades later. Recent studies
      have identified in humans E. moshkovskii, morphologically indistinguishable from
      E. histolytica and E. dispar, a great genetic diversity within each of these
      species, and heterogeneity in virulence among E. histolytica strains. The
      redescription of E. dispar, and the recovery of E. moshkovskii from humans have
      had a major impact in our understanding of E. histolytica and amebiasis with
      important clinical and epidemiologic implications. This has led to the need of a
      reevaluation of the infection in terms of prevalence and morbidity in the global
      population and to study the geographic distribution, prevalence, and transmission
      pattern of E. histolytica strains in order to detect those with epidemiologic
      relevance and predict the risk of amebic disease in a population.

PMID- 20928981
TI  - [Role of the receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) in
      inflammation].
AB  - The receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) is a transmembrane
      protein on the cellular surface that recognizes tridimensional molecules, instead
      of aminoacid sequences, making this molecule capable of interacting with diverse
      ligands. RAGE represents an important factor in innate immunity against
      pathogens, but it also interacts with endogenous ligands, resulting in chronic
      inflammation. RAGE signaling has been implicated in multiple human illnesses,
      including diabetes, atherosclerosis, arthritis, Alzheimer's disease,
      atherosclerosis and aging associated diseases. In addition to advanced glycation
      end products (AGE), RAGE has other important ligands such as: high mobility group
      box 1 protein (HMGB1, also termed amphoterin), the group of calcium binding
      cellular factors S100 (also termed calgranulin), amiloid beta peptides and Mac-1,
      a beta-2 integrin (CD1lb/CD18). Ligation of RAGE on the cellular surface triggers
      a series of cellular signaling events, including the activation and translocation
      to the nucleus of transcription factor NF-kappaB, leading to the production of
      pro-inflammatory cytokines, chemokines, adhesion molecules and oxidative stress
      and causing inflammation. More recent work has revealed the role of RAGE in
      inflammatory cell recruitment and extravasation of leukocytes across the
      endothelial barrier with further inflammatory events. Recent therapeutic
      strategies show that RAGE is an important target to treat RAGE activation
      associated diseases.

PMID- 20928982
TI  - [Fifty years of clinical use of warfarin].
AB  - Warfarin is the most utilized oral anticoagulant for the long term prophylaxes of
      thrombosis. Its use has been increased as new clinical conditions, capable of
      leading to thrombosis, have been detected. Due to the special characteristics of
      warfarin, such as the variability of doses for each individual, the narrow margin
      between adequate and inadequate doses, interaction with multiple pharmaceutical
      products, interference of its action by vitamin K present in the diet and the
      possibility of hemorrhagic complications or thrombotic recurrence, this drug
      requires a very careful dosage and strict laboratory and clinical monitoring.
      Despite being in the market for more than de fifty years and its many
      disadvantages, warfarin has not been substituted for the new oral anticoagulants.
      In 1999, warfarin was positioned eleventh on the list of the most used medicines
      in the world.

PMID- 20928983
TI  - Early pregnancy failure: factors affecting successful medical treatment.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The results of medical treatment for early pregnancy failure are
      conflicting. OBJECTIVES: To determine whether gestational sac volume measurement
      as well as other variables can predict the success rate of medical treatment for
      early pregnancy failure. METHODS: The study group comprised 81 women diagnosed
      with missed abortion or anembryonic pregnancy who consented to medical treatment.
      Demographic data were collected and beta-human chorionic gonadotropin level was
      documented. Crown-rump length and the sac volume were measured using transvaginal
      ultrasound. TVU was performed 12-24 hours after intravaginal administration of
      800 micro g misoprostol. If the thickness of the uterine cavity was less than 30
      mm, the women were discharged. If the sac was still intact or the thickness of
      the uterine cavity exceeded 30 mm, they were offered an additional dosage of
      intravaginal misoprostol or surgical uterine evacuation. RESULTS: Medical
      treatment successfully terminated 32 pregnancies (39.5%), 30 after one dose of
      misoprostol and 2 after two doses (group A); 49 underwent surgical evacuation
      (group B), 47 following one dose of misoprostol and 2 following two doses. There
      were no significant differences between the groups in age and gestational week.
      Gestational sac volume did not differ between groups A and B (10.03 and 11.98 ml
      respectively, P = 0.283). Parity (0.87 and 1.43, P = 0.015), previous pregnancies
      (2.38 and 2.88, P = 0.037), and betahCG concentration (6961 and 28,748 mlU, P =
      0.013) differed significantly between the groups. CONCLUSIONS: Gestational sac
      volume is not a predictor of successful medical treatment for early pregnancy
      failure. Previous pregnancies and deliveries and higher betahCG concentration
      negatively affect the success rate of medical treatment.

PMID- 20928984
TI  - Fast track evaluation of patients with acute chest pain: experience in a large
      scale chest pain unit in Israel.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Many patients present to the emergency department with chest pain.
      While in most of them chest pain represents a benign complaint, in some patients
      it underlies a life-threatening illness. OBJECTIVES: To assess the routine
      evaluation of patients presenting to the ED with acute chest pain by means of a
      cardiologist-based chest pain unit using different noninvasive imaging
      modalities. METHODS: We evaluated the records of 1055 consecutive patients who
      presented to the ED with complaints of chest pain and were admitted to the CPU.
      After an observation period and according to the decision of the attending
      cardiologist, patients underwent myocardial perfusion scintigraphy, multidetector
      computed tomography, or stress echocardiography. RESULTS: The CPU attending
      cardiologist did not prescribe non-invasive evaluation for 108 of the 1055
      patients, who were either admitted (58 patients) or discharged (50 patients)
      after an observation period. Of those remaining, 444 patients underwent MDCT, 445
      MPS, and 58 stress echocardiography. Altogether, 907 patients (86%) were
      discharged from the CPU. During an average period of 236 +/- 223 days, 25
      patients (3.1%) were readmitted due to chest pain of suspected cardiac origin,
      and only 8 patients (0.9%) suffered a major adverse cardiovascular event.
      CONCLUSIONS: Utilization of the CPU enabled a rapid and thorough evaluation of
      the patients' primary complaint, thereby reducing hospitalization costs and
      occupancy on the one hand and avoiding misdiagnosis in discharged patients on the
      other.

PMID- 20928985
TI  - Measurement of electrical resistance of dermal-visceral zones as a diagnostic
      tool for gynecologic disorders.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Non-invasive screening tests may allow early diagnosis and prompt
      treatment, thereby potentially reducing morbidity and mortality and reducing
      costs for the community. This may be especially important for gynecologic
      pathologies that are difficult to promptly diagnose, such as endometriosis or
      ovarian cancer. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the reliability of measuring skin
      resistance using the Medex Test for screening and diagnosis of gynecologic
      pathologies in a blinded single-center study. METHODS: We enrolled 150 patients:
      59 with a functional disorder and 91 with an organic disease. Measurements were
      carried out in all patients and the results were analyzed separately by a second
      physician who was blinded to the patients' diagnosis. RESULTS: A high correlation
      was found between the clinical diagnosis and the results of the measurement of
      electrical skin resistance, with a specificity of 76.3% (45/59) for functional
      disorders and a sensitivity of 85.7% (78/91) for organic disorders, positive
      predictive value of 84.8% (78/92) and negative predictive value 77.6% (45/58).
      The kappa value for the results was 0.622, representing a value much better than
      expected randomly. CONCLUSIONS: The Medex Test has a good specificity and a high
      sensitivity for the diagnosis of gynecologic disorders. Further prospective
      studies are needed to validate these preliminary findings.

PMID- 20928986
TI  - Influenza vaccination coverage determinants among employees of the Nazareth
      Hospital in Israel.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Health care workers bear the risk of both contracting influenza from
      patients and transmitting it to them. Although influenza vaccine is the most
      effective and safest public health measure against influenza and its
      complications, and despite recommendations that HCWs be vaccinated, influenza
      vaccination coverage among them remains low. OBJECTIVES: To characterize
      influenza vaccination coverage and its determinants among employees in an Arab
      hospital in Israel. METHODS: An anonymous self-administered questionnaire was
      distributed among employees involved in patient care in the winter of 2004-2005
      at Nazareth Hospital in Israel. The questionnaire included items related to
      health demographic characteristics, health behaviors and attitudes, knowledge and
      attitude concerning influenza vaccination, and whether the respondent had
      received the flu shot during the previous winter or any other winter. RESULTS:
      The overall rate of questionnaire return was 66%; 256 employees participated in
      the study. The immunization coverage rate was 16.4%, similar to that reported for
      other hospitals in Israel. Logistic regression analysis demonstrated that
      influenza vaccination coverage was significantly and solely associated with the
      presence of chronic illness and influenza vaccination. CONCLUSIONS: Influenza
      vaccination coverage among Nazareth Hospital health care workers was low. They
      did not view themselves as different from the general population with regard to
      vaccination. Three years after the study, an intervention program was launched
      with the aim of increasing knowledge on the efficacy and safety of the vaccine;
      it stressed the importance of vaccinating HCWs and administering the vaccine at
      the workplace. The program led to a 50% increase in vaccination coverage.

PMID- 20928987
TI  - Efficacy of multiple micronutrient supplementations on child health: study design
      and baseline characteristics.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The rates of anemia in children in southern Israel are high despite
      the current prevention strategy. A daily dose of "Sprinkles" (SuppleForte, Heinz,
      Canada), a micronutrient home supplementation, was proven effective for the
      treatment of anemia worldwide. OBJECTIVES: To assess the efficacy of Sprinkles, a
      novel supplementation formulation, in the primary prevention of anemia in infants
      who have free access to health care services. METHODS: A two-arm open-labeled
      cluster randomized controlled clinical trial was performed in 6 month old Bedouin
      and Jewish infants. The Sprinkles arm received sachets with iron, vitamins A and
      C, folic acid and zinc, and the control arm received standard treatment (liquid
      iron and vitamins A and D). The infants were from families attending Mother and
      Child Health clinics during 2005-2007. Intervention and follow-up were conducted
      for babies aged 6-12 months. Health outcomes (hematologic and nutritional
      indicators, growth parameters, morbidity rates) were evaluated at 12 and 18
      months. RESULTS: The final study population numbered 621 infants (328 Bedouin and
      293 Jewish); of the parents approached 88.5% agreed to participate. Hemoglobin >
      11 g/dl was found in 55% of Bedouin and 40% of Jewish infants (P < 0.01). Bedouin
      infants had significantly lower serum concentration of iron, folic acid and zinc.
      All background, hematologic and micronutrient indicators were similar in the two
      study arms except for a slightly but not clinically significant difference in
      hemoglobin and hematocrit levels in Bedouins. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate
      the need to improve the micronutrient status of infants living in the Negev. A
      cluster randomized trial in MCH clinics is a feasible option.

PMID- 20928988
TI  - Peritonitis in a pediatric dialysis unit: local profile and implications.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Peritonitis is a major complication of chronic peritoneal dialysis
      therapy. It is recommended that each center monitor infection rates in order to
      define the local microbiological profile and implement an appropriate empiric
      antibiotic regimen. OBJECTIVES: To analyze the microbiologic profile of
      peritonitis in our pediatric dialysis unit and identify local predisposing
      factors. METHODS: In this retrospective study we reviewed the files of children
      treated with chronic PD during the 10 year period 1997-2007. RESULTS: Eighty
      peritonitis episodes were recorded in 29 children (20 male, 9 female) aged 0.1
      18.5 years (median 11.75) treated with peritoneal dialysis for 6-69 months
      (median 19) for a total of 578 patient-months. The annual peritonitis rate was
      1.66/patient. The main pathogens were coagulase-negative Staphyloccocus (32.5%)
      and Pseudomonas spp. (16%), which were also cultured in most cases (64-69%) from
      the exit site during the 3 months preceding peritonitis. No peritonitis occurred
      in 31% of the patients (median age 12.5 years). All patients less than 5 years
      old had at least one peritonitis episode. Contaminating conditions (gastrostomy,
      enuresis, diaper use), found in 44% of the study group, and first infection
      within 6 months from starting PD were significantly associated with an increased
      peritonitis rate (P = 0.01, P = 0.009, respectively). Recurrent peritonitis led
      to a switch to hemodialysis in 18% of patients. There were no deaths.
      CONCLUSIONS: The risk factors for peritonitis in our study were: first infection
      within less than 6 months from starting treatment, Pseudomonas exit-site
      colonization, and contaminating conditions (gastrostomies, diaper use, enuresis).
      These susceptible subgroups as well as very young age (< 5 years) at starting PD
      should be especially targeted during training of caregivers and follow-up to
      prevent later complications.

PMID- 20928989
TI  - Breast cancer HER2 equivocal cases: is there an alternative to FISH testing? A
      pilot study using two different antibodies sequentially.
AB  - BACKGROUND: HER2 is an important prognostic and predictive marker in invasive
      breast cancer. It is currently assessed by immunohistochemistry for protein over
      expression and by fluorescence in situ hybridization for gene amplification. The
      immunohistochemistry-equivocal cases (2+) are currently retested by FISH to
      determine eligibility for trastuzumab treatment. Retesting by FISH significantly
      raises the cost of patient management and sometimes delays treatment. The 4B5 is
      a new, FDA-approved, rabbit monoclonal antibody for HER2 testing. OBJECTIVES: To
      examine the reliability of 4B5 IHC HER2 testing in cases found by CB11 IHC to be
      HER2 status equivocal. METHODS: Twenty-eight invasive breast cancer cases, with
      an equivocal HER2 status by CB11 IHC, were retested by the 4B5 antibody as well
      as by FISH analysis. The scoring was performed using the same guidelines as
      HercepTest and was correlated with the FISH ratio. RESULTS: Of the original 28
      CB11 clone designated equivocal cases, 14 (50%) showed negative HER2 staining
      using the 4B5 clone (HercepTest score 0 and 1+). Five cases (18%) proved to be
      positive (HercepTest score 3+) and 9 cases (32%) remained equivocal (HercepTest
      score 2+). The corresponding FISH ratio results showed that all 4B5 negative
      cases were negative by FISH testing, with a negative predictive value of 100%; 4
      of 5 of the 4B5-positive cases were positive by FISH testing, with a positive
      predictive value of 80%. One 4B5-positive case was borderline-high (2.2 ratio) by
      FISH. The correlation between 4B5 IHC and FISH was statistically significant (P =
      0.0013) by chi-square test. CONCLUSIONS: Sequential testing by 4B5 IHC could
      greatly reduce the need for FISH testing in cases considered HER2 equivocal by
      CB11 IHC.

PMID- 20928990
TI  - Routine chest X-ray on hospital admission: does it contribute to diagnosis or
      treatment?
AB  - BACKGROUND: In many hospitals a routine chest X-ray is performed on admission.
      There are, however, scant data regarding its usefulness in contemporary patient
      populations. METHODS: We studied consecutive patients admitted during a 2 month
      period to a single department of medicine, where hospital policy mandates
      performing an admission CXR. Two senior clinicians not involved in the care of
      these patients assessed the discharge summaries for a clinical indication to
      perform CXR on admission, as well as its contribution to patient management
      (major positive, major negative, minor positive, or no contribution). RESULTS:
      There were 675 patients whose mean age was 64.5 +/- 17.2 years. In 19.6% (130
      cases) CXR was not performed. Of the 545 CXRs done, 260 (48%) were normal. In
      only 128 (23.5%) did the admission CXR make a major positive contribution to
      diagnosis or treatment. In 61 (11.2%) it provided a minor positive contribution
      and in 153 (28.1%) a major negative contribution. In 184 patients (33.8%) the CXR
      did not affect either diagnosis or management. It made a major positive
      contribution to management in patients for whom there was an indication for
      performing the X-ray (odds ratio 10.3, P < 0.0005) and in those with a relevant
      finding on physical examination (OR 1.63, P = 0.110). For the 329 patients who
      had neither a clinical indication for performing a CXR nor an abnormal chest
      examination the admission CXR contributed to patient management in only 12 cases
      (3.6%). CONCLUSIONS: A routine admission CXR has a significant impact on patient
      management only in those patients in whom there are relevant findings on physical
      examination or a clear clinical indication for performing the test. There is no
      need to routinely order CXR on admission to hospital.

PMID- 20928991
TI  - Splenic infarction: an update on William Osler's observations.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Osler taught that splenic infarction presents with left upper
      abdominal quadrant pain, tenderness and swelling accompanied by a peritoneal
      friction rub. Splenic infarction is classically associated with bacterial
      endocarditis and sickle cell disease. OBJECTIVES: To describe the contemporary
      experience of splenic infarction. METHODS: We conducted a chart review of
      inpatients diagnosed with splenic infarction in a Jerusalem hospital between 1990
      and 2003. RESULTS: We identified 26 cases with a mean age of 52 years. Common
      causes were hematologic malignancy (six cases) and intracardiac thrombus (five
      cases). Only three cases were associated with bacterial endocarditis. In 21 cases
      the splenic infarction brought a previously undiagnosed underlying disease to
      attention. Only half the subjects complained of localized left-sided abdominal
      pain, 36% had left-sided abdominal tenderness; 31% had no signs or symptoms
      localized to the splenic area, 36% had fever, 56% had leukocytosis and 71% had
      elevated lactate dehydrogenase levels. One splenectomy was performed and all
      patients survived to discharge. A post hoc analysis demonstrated that single
      infarcts were more likely to be associated with fever (20% vs. 63%, p < 0.05) and
      leukocytosis (75% vs. 33%, P = 0.06) CONCLUSIONS: The clinical presentation of
      splenic infarction in the modern era differs greatly from the classical teaching,
      regarding etiology, signs and symptoms. In patients with unexplained splenic
      infarction, investigation frequently uncovers a new underlying diagnosis.

PMID- 20928992
TI  - Attitudes of emergency department staff toward family presence during
      resuscitation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: While family presence during resuscitation has been researched
      extensively in the international and especially American medical literature, in
      Israel this subject has rarely been researched. Because such policies have become
      common practice in many countries, it is important to investigate the attitudes
      of health care staff in Israeli emergency departments to better understand the
      potential implication of adopting such policies. OBJECTIVES: To examine the
      attitudes of the physicians and nurses in the ED of Soroka Medical Center to
      FPDR. METHODS: The methods we used were both qualitative (partly structured open
      interviews of 10 ED staff members from various medical professions) and
      quantitative (an anonymous questionnaire that collected sociodemographic,
      professional, and attitude data). RESULTS: The qualitative and quantitative
      results showed that most staff members opposed FPDR. The main reasons for
      objecting to FPDR were concern about family criticism, the added pressure that
      would be put on the staff members, fear of lawsuits, fear of hurting the feelings
      of the families, and the danger of losing one's "objectivity" while treating
      patients. Physicians objected more strongly to FPDR than did nurses. CONCLUSIONS:
      More research is needed on FPDR in Israel, including an examination of its
      medical, ethical, legal and logistic aspects. In addition to the views of the
      medical staff, the attitudes of patients and their families should also be
      examined.

PMID- 20928993
TI  - Is chloramphenicol making a comeback?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Due to increasing antimicrobial resistance there has been renewed
      interest in old drugs that have fallen into disuse because of toxic side effects.
      OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the susceptibility profile, in our hospital, of
      Enterobacteriaceae and Streptococcus pneumoniae isolates to chloramphenicol and
      to compare them with the susceptibility to amoxicillin-clavulanate. METHODS: All
      isolates of Enterobacteriaceae and S. pneumoniae recovered in our lab during a
      one year period were tested for susceptibility to chloramphenicol and amoxicillin
      clavulanate or penicillin, respectively. RESULTS: Of 413 Enterobacteriaceae
      isolates, 182 (44.1%) were resistant to amoxicillin-clavulanate, but only 76
      (18.4%) were resistant to chloramphenicol. Of 189 isolates of S. pneumoniae, 4
      (2.1%) were highly resistant to penicillin and 73 (38.8%) were partially
      resistant, while only 2 (1.1%) were resistant to chloramphenicol. None of the 24
      S. pneumoniae isolates causing invasive diseases exhibited resistance to
      chloramphenicol CONCLUSIONS: In an era of increasing resistance to many
      antibiotic preparations, chloramphenicol might have a role in the treatment of
      intraabdominal and respiratory tract infections.

PMID- 20928994
TI  - Misoprostol for early pregnancy failure.

PMID- 20928995
TI  - The chest pain unit: doing it right or overdoing it?

PMID- 20928996
TI  - Patent foramen ovale: when the innocent bystander becomes a medical threat.

PMID- 20928997
TI  - Right-to-Left shunting due to a patent foramen ovate during right ventricular
      infarction.

PMID- 20928998
TI  - Mitral valve abscess due to infective endocarditis detected by computed
      tomography.

PMID- 20928999
TI  - Microaneurysms in the diabetic human heart.

PMID- 20929000
TI  - Celiac disease in Pakistan: challenges and opportunities.

PMID- 20929001
TI  - Adolescent knowledge and awareness about AIDS/HIV and factors affecting them in
      Bangladesh.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Adolescents are more vulnerable than adults of unplanned pregnancies,
      sexually transmitted diseases and HIV/AIDS. Among the adolescents, girls are more
      vulnerable to STDs including HIV/AIDS. Their knowledge about different diseases
      is very poor. This paper investigated adolescent's knowledge about sexually
      transmitted diseases including HIV/AIDS, its mode of transmission and ways of its
      prevention. METHODS: Cross sectional study design was adopted for this study. A
      multistage cluster sampling technique was used to select the sample. Data on 3362
      female adolescents irrespective of their marital status was analyzed. RESULTS:
      The study found that a large proportion of adolescents were not aware about
      sexually transmitted diseases and AIDS. More than half (54.8%) of the adolescents
      ever heard about AIDS respectively. On an average, about one tenth of them had
      better knowledge on AIDS in terms of mode of transmission and prevention. The
      multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that adolescent age, years of
      schooling and knowledge on STDs appeared to be important predictors of the
      awareness about AIDS (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Useful and fruitful media campaigns
      to educate the adolescents regarding the health consequences of STDs including
      HIV/AIDS and integrated approach is strongly suggested for creating knowledge and
      awareness to control the spread of HIV and AIDS among young people in Bangladesh.

PMID- 20929002
TI  - Gynaecomastia: management in a developing country.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Gynaecomastia is a benign enlargement of male breast. It is common in
      the general population, resulting from various pathophysiological mechanisms. The
      aim of this study was to describe the presentation and outcome of treatment for
      gynaecomastia at a University Hospital in Pakistan. METHODS: A three year
      retrospective study was carried out of one hundred men with gynaecomastia.
      Patients were evaluated in detail clinically and by appropriate investigations.
      They were counselled and kept on hormonal therapy for three months. Surgery was
      considered for patients with long standing gynaecomastia, failed medical therapy
      and for cosmetic reasons. Post operative complications and patient's satisfaction
      was assessed. RESULTS: Most (90%) cases were idiopathic. Other causes were liver
      cirrhosis in 4 cases, testicular tumour in two, thyrotoxicosis in one and drug
      induced (use of cimetidine and Kushta) in two. Carcinoma of the breast was
      diagnosed in one patient. Most of the patients had bilateral, non tender lump in
      the breast. Three cases of idiopathic gynaecomastia resolved on danazol. Eighty
      eight cases underwent surgical treatment. The mean age of patients who underwent
      surgery (n = 88) was 30.5 +/- 9.59 years. Most of the patients belonged to 21-30
      years age group. Major indications for surgery were failure of medical treatment
      (45.5%) and cosmetic reasons (34.0%). Mean operating time for subcutaneous
      mastectomy was 42.2 +/- 3.70 (36-48) minutes. Mean hospital stay after
      subcutaneous mastectomy was 5.2 +/- 2.44 (2-10) days. The only postoperative
      complication noted was wound infection (24%). Seventy-two (81.8%) were satisfied
      with the results of their surgical treatment. CONCLUSION: Gynaecomastia is the
      common condition affecting male breasts and most common cause of gynaecomastia is
      idiopathic. Secondary gynaecomastia may regress in size by treating the primary
      cause. Idiopathic gynaecomastia do not respond to danazol so they needed surgical
      treatment. Subcutaneous mastectomy through a periareolar skin incision is a valid
      procedure for treatment for gynaecomastia and provides satisfactory cosmetic
      results.

PMID- 20929003
TI  - Characteristics of infertile patients with ovulatory dysfunction and their
      relation to body mass index.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Ovulatory dysfunction is a group of disorders with variable clinical
      presentations occasionally having serious long-term adverse effects. It accounts
      for 30% of female fertility problems. Evidence suggests an association between an
      individual's weight and disorders of ovulation. The objective of our study was to
      describe the clinical and hormonal profile of subfertile women with ovulatory
      dysfunction in relation to their body mass index (BMI). METHODS: This
      prospective, descriptive study was carried out in Mother and Child Health Centre,
      PIMS, Islamabad and Railway hospital, Rawalpindi from April 2001 to March 2007.
      One hundred & thirty eight infertile patients with ovulatory dysfunction were
      included. The clinical data including BMI of each patient was recorded in
      addition to reports of investigations comprised of cervical smear, pelvic
      ultrasound and hormonal profile. RESULTS: Primary infertility was found in 61%
      while secondary in 39% of the patients. The mean age was 29 years and mean
      duration of infertility was 6 years. Menstrual pattern was normal in 56.5%. BMI
      was normal in 30.4% while most patients were overweight and obese. Prolonged
      cycles, history of systemic endocrine disorders, abnormal vaginal discharge,
      hirsutism, polycystic ovarian morphology and hormonal abnormalities were more
      frequent in patients with increased BMI. During the study period, 21.7% of the
      women conceived. CONCLUSION: Infertile patients with ovulatory dysfunction
      present more frequently with primary infertility. They usually have higher than
      required BMI. Oligomenorrhoea amenorrhoea, hirsutism and hormonal abnormalities
      are more frequent in overweight than infertile patients with ovulatory
      dysfunction having a normal BMI.

PMID- 20929004
TI  - Nutritional iron deficiency in women of child bearing age--what to do?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Iron deficiency is the most common aetiology of anaemia worldwide and
      has several risk factors. Although iron deficiency anaemia (IDA) can occur at any
      age, women from reproductive age group are particularly vulnerable to develop IDA
      due to increased nutritional demand during pregnancy. Objective was to determine
      the frequency and nutritional risk factor of iron deficiency anaemia in women of
      child bearing age. This descriptive, cross sectional study was conducted from
      October 2005 to March 2006 at the Department of Medicine, Ward-5, and out
      patients department of Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, Karachi. METHOD: Two
      hundred non-pregnant females of child bearing age were included in the study; 100
      with no previous pregnancy and remaining 100 with at least one prior history of
      pregnancy. All the relevant information, i.e., demographic and socioeconomic was
      collected through a questionnaire. RESULTS: Two hundred patients with signs and
      symptoms of anaemia were recruited. Out of them 89 patients were found to be
      having iron deficiency anaemia in various age groups. Results also showed that
      dietary habit of patients was one of the causative factors leading to iron
      deficiency anaemia. CONCLUSION: To overcome iron deficiency anaemia a thorough
      and comprehensive strategy is required, i.e., educating the subjects to consume
      food rich in iron, community based program, monitoring severely anaemic cases and
      their treatment.

PMID- 20929005
TI  - Effect of race, gender and age on thyroid and thyroid stimulating hormone levels
      in North West Frontier Province, Pakistan.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Thyroid is one of the ductless endocrine gland, which is located
      immediately below the larynx on either side of and anterior to the trachea. The
      principal hormones of thyroid gland are thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3).
      The current study was carried out to investigate the impact of race, gender and
      area on the levels of Thyroxine (T4), Triiodothyronine (T3) and Thyroid
      Stimulating Hormone (TSH) in normal healthy individuals. METHODS: Serum levels of
      T4, T3 and TSH in 498 normal healthy individuals belonging to different districts
      of North West Frontier Province, Pakistan, were examined. Serum T4 and T3 were
      analysed by Radio Immuno Assay (RIA) method whereas TSH was estimated by
      Immunoradiometric assay (IRMA) method. RESULTS: Levels of T4, T3 and TSH ranged
      from 53 to 167 etamol/L, 0.6 to 3.1 etamol/L and 0.3-4.8 microIU/L respectively.
      The levels of these hormones show significant change from the reference values
      that are used in clinical laboratories as well as in Institute of Radiotherapy
      and Nuclear Medicine (IRNUM), Peshawar, Pakistan. CONCLUSION: It is concluded
      that the age, gender, race and area, all have an appreciable effect on the levels
      T4, T3 and TSH.

PMID- 20929006
TI  - Surgical ligation of patent ductus arteriosus in a noncardiac surgical centre.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Surgery for Patent Ductus Arteriosus (PDA) is usually performed in
      specialized cardiac centres with either open surgery or percutaneous embolisation
      using different materials and devices. This involves high cost of treatment
      especially for those poor patients who have grown up to several years of age
      without seeking any treatment for their disease. The objective of this study is
      to evaluate the safety of surgery for PDA in a non cardiac paediatric surgical
      setup. METHODS: A total of 89 patients of 8 months to 12 years (mean 3 years) age
      were operated over a period of 13 years (from 1993 to 2006). Fifty-five cases
      were females and 34 were males. Investigations included x-ray chest, ECG and
      echocardiography. All patients with PDA were included in the study except those
      who had other associated cardiac anomaly and those who had a calcified ductus.
      The ductus was dissected out and ligated with non-absorbable suture (Silk No. 1
      or 2). The patients were discharged by the 5th postoperative day. RESULTS: In
      majority of the patients the recovery was smooth and uneventful. Eight patients
      had minor complications which were treated conservatively. There were 3
      mortalities in this series; 2 patients were over 10 years of age and had
      calcified ductus. They died during surgery due to primary haemorrhage and 1 died
      after 24 hours in the intensive care unit. All patients were reviewed at 1 week,
      1 month, 3 months and 1 year after surgery. In majority, the typical machinery
      murmur disappeared immediately or a soft systolic murmur persisted for up to 4
      weeks and then disappeared. CONCLUSION: With proper patient selection, the
      procedure can safely be performed in a paediatric surgical setup with facilities
      for cardiac monitoring. The surgeon needs to receive some additional training in
      the cardiac institution for safe surgery on these children. This will
      significantly reduce the cost with minimal complications especially for those
      poor patients who cannot afford the modern procedures due to monitory
      constraints. Children older than 10 years are not suitable for open surgery
      because of calcification of the duct.

PMID- 20929007
TI  - Vesico-vaginal fistula: interposition flap, a key to success.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Vesico-vaginal Fistula (VVF) is an abnormal communication between
      bladder and vagina that causes continuous discharge of urine in to vaginal vault.
      The objective of this study is to describe current trends of aetiology and repair
      of Vesico-vaginal Fistulae. This is a Descriptive Study, conducted at Armed
      Forces Institute of Urology, Rawalpindi and Combined Military Hospital, Kharian
      between May 2001 and May 2007. METHODS: All patients diagnosed as cases of vesico
      vaginal fistulae were included in the study. Their demographic profile and repair
      success was determined. RESULTS: A total of 86 patients were included in the
      study. The mean age of the patients was 35.5 years (range 25-46). Total abdominal
      hysterectomy was the most common cause (53% of the cases) followed by obstetric
      causes (43.92% of the cases). Success rate of the surgery in the study was 97.5%.
      CONCLUSION: The common causes of vesico-vaginal fistula in this study were total
      abdominal hysterectomy and obstetric causes. The success rate was high, yet the
      attempt should be made to prevent this socially distressing condition.

PMID- 20929008
TI  - Frequency and clinical outcome in conduction defects in acute myocardial
      infarction.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Conduction defects complicating acute myocardial infarction (MI) are
      frequent and associated with increased mortality and complications. Common
      conduction defects after acute MI are atrioventricular nodal blocks (1st, 2nd and
      3rd degree) and intraventricular conduction defects (right or left bundle branch
      blocks and hemiblocks). In myocardial infarction occlusion of coronary arteries
      at different levels affects the conduction system of heart leading to various
      types of blocks. Conduction defects usually reflect extensive damage to the
      myocardium. METHODS: In this descriptive case series with non-probability
      purposive sampling, 345 cases of acute ST elevation myocardial Infarction were
      studied at Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology/National Institute of Heart
      Disease, Rawalpindi from May 2007 to May 2008. ECG was continuously observed in
      CCU and daily ECGs were done. Conduction defects whether transient or persistent
      were recorded in pre-designed proforma in addition to other clinical features and
      associated complications during hospital stay. RESULTS: Out of 345 patients, 251
      (72.8%) patients received thrombolytic therapy and 61 (17.6%) developed various
      types of conduction defects (Group A) and 284 had no significant conduction
      defects (Group B). Isolated complete atrioventricular block (AVB) at the node
      level occurred in 28 patients (8.1%) mainly in inferior MI. Bundle branches
      Blocks occurred in 32 (9.2%) patients mostly in Anterior MI. One patient (0.6%)
      had complete heart block at bundle branch level. All patients with complete
      atrioventricular block reverted to sinus rhythm except one who required permanent
      pacemaker. Mortality rate and clinical complications were higher in group A as
      compared to group B. CONCLUSION: Conduction defects are common even in this
      thrombolytic era. Patients with conduction defects are at high risk of inhospital
      complications and mortality. They need close monitoring and optimum clinical care
      to reduce mortality and morbidity.

PMID- 20929009
TI  - Efficacy of immunoassay chromatography test for hepatitis-C antibodies detection.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To asses the efficacy of commercially available tests device method
      for anti HCV detection. METHODS: Total 2000 blood samples for detection of anti
      HCV were screened initially by immunochromatographic method. Those found positive
      on initial screening were re-tested by ELISA method at the Biochemistry
      Laboratory of the Pakistan Medical Research Council, Fatima Jinnah Medical
      College, Lahore. RESULTS: Out of a total of 2,000 blood samples, 177 were found
      to be initially reactive/positive for anti-HCV with immunochromatographic method.
      When these reactive/positive samples were retested for confirmation with ELISA,
      47 blood samples were found to have tested falsely positive for anti-HCV. Overall
      2.35% of blood samples were found to be tested false positive for anti-HCV by
      immunochromatographic device method. CONCLUSIONS: Immunochromatographic device
      method test is rapid and simple, which can be used in setting with limited
      facility when rapid testing is required. However it should not be used as sole
      criteria for diagnosis but should serve the purpose of initial screening only.
      Further research is required to establish the reliability of such devices for
      their specificity and sensitivity.

PMID- 20929010
TI  - Evaluation of insulin-like growth factor-1 and insulinlike growth factor binding
      protein-3 in diagnosis of growth hormone deficiency in short-stature children.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Growth Hormone Deficiency (GHD) is conventionally diagnosed and
      confirmed by diminished peak Growth Hormone (GH) levels to provocative testing.
      Serum Insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) and insulin-like growth factor binding
      protein-3 (IGFBP-3) are under the influence of GH and reflect the spontaneous
      endogenous GH secretion. Owing to the absence of a circadian rhythm, it is
      possible to take individual measurements of IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 at any time of the
      day for evaluation of GH status instead of subjecting the individual to
      cumbersome provocative tests. Objectives of this study were to compare IGF-1 and
      IGFBP-3 assays with Exercise and L-Dopa stimulation tests in the diagnosis of
      growth hormone deficiency in short stature children using ITT as gold standard.
      METHODS: This validation study was conducted at Department of Chemical Pathology
      and Endocrinology, AFIP, Rawalpindi, from November 2005 to October 2006. Fifty
      two short stature children were included in the study. Basal samples for GH
      levels and simultaneous IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 measurements were obtained and
      afterwards all children were subjected to sequential exercise and L-Dopa
      stimulation tests. Insulin Tolerance Test (ITT) was performed one week later with
      all the necessary precautionary measures. On the basis of ITT results, children
      were divided into two groups, i.e., 31 growth hormone deficient and 21 Normal
      Variant Short Stature (NVSS). RESULTS: The diagnostic value of exercise
      stimulation test remained highest with sensitivity 90.3%, specificity 76.0%,
      Positive Predictive Value (PPV) 84.84%, Negative Predictive Value (NPV) 84.2% and
      accuracy 84.6%. The conventional L-Dopa stimulation had sensitivity 96.7%,
      specificity 38.0%, PPV 69.7%, NPV 88.8 % and accuracy 73.0%. The serum IGF-1 and
      IGFBP-3 levels were positively correlated with post ITT peak GH levels (r =
      0.527, r = 0.464 respectively, both p < 0.001). The diagnostic value of IGF-1 had
      sensitivity 83.87%, specificity 76.2%, PPV 83.87%, NPV 76.2% and accuracy 80.76%.
      The diagnostic value of IGFBP-3 had sensitivity 54.83%, specificity 90.47%, PPV
      89.47%, NPV 57.57% and accuracy 69.23%. With combined use of IGF-1 and IGFBP-3
      diagnostic value had sensitivity 69.35%, specificity 83.33% PPV 86%, NPV 64.81%
      and accuracy 75%. CONCLUSION: Growth Hormones provocative tests still remain the
      most useful investigations for the diagnosis of GHD. Measurements of IGF-1 and
      IGFBP-3 have shown comparable diagnostic performance with growth hormone
      stimulation tests and are valuable for patients' convenience and ease of
      performance and can be useful in the initial workup of short stature.

PMID- 20929011
TI  - Baseline leukocyte count and acute coronary syndrome: predictor of adverse
      cardiac events, long and short-term mortality and association with traditional
      risk factors, cardiac biomarkers and C-reactive protein.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The elevated WBC count has been accepted as part of healing response
      following myocardial infarction as well as a predictor of adverse cardiovascular
      events. The study was designed to find out correlation between WBC count and
      coronary risk factors, cardiac biomarkers, C-reactive protein (CRP), incidence of
      adverse cardiac events and mortality in patients of ACS in Pakistan. METHODS: One
      hundred and thirty-three patients of ACS were stratified according to WBC
      categories, WBC1 (< 7000/mm3), WBC2 (7100-10,000/mm3) and WBC3 (> 10,000/mm3).
      The WBCs were counted on admission by Sysmex cell counter, CRP by
      immunoturbidimetric method, and CK-MB and Trop-I by enzyme immunoassay. Adverse
      cardiac events and mortality were recorded for 12 months of follow up period.
      RESULTS: Long-term mortality in patients with ACS was 6.4% in WBC1, 18.2% in WBC2
      and 40.9% in WBC3 categories, while short term mortality was 2.6%, 3.0% and 18.2%
      in WBC1, WBC2, and WBC3 categories respectively. Relative to patients in lower 2
      WBC categories, patients in the highest category were 7 times more likely to die
      during 30 days (HR 7.83, p = 0.017) and more than 9 times during the total follow
      up period (HR 9.42, p < 0.001). Cox regression analysis showed WBC3 a strong
      independent predictor of mortality (HR 6.36, p = 0.016). WBC count showed a
      positive correlation with coronary risk factors, cardiac biomarkers and CRP.
      CONCLUSION: WBC count is a strong independent predictor of mortality in patients
      with ACS and has positive correlation with coronary risk factors, cardiac
      biomarkers and CRP.

PMID- 20929012
TI  - Frequency of osteoporosis in patients with cirrhosis due to hepatitis B and
      hepatitis C: a study of 100 cases.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Osteoporosis is the disease of bone that affected King David of
      Israel 3000 years ago. This condition is no longer considered to be due to aging
      alone and is increasingly recognised as a major health concern and accounts for
      about 1.5 million fractures annually in United States. Objective of this study
      was to see the frequency of osteoporosis in patients with cirrhosis due to
      Hepatitis B and C, and any correlation between the Bone Mineral Density (BMD) and
      duration and stage of the liver disease. METHODS: The study was conducted in the
      Department of Gastroenterology, Postgraduate Medical Institute, Hayatabad Medical
      Complex, Peshawar, from January 2008 to December 2008. All patients from the OPD
      or Ward fulfilling the criteria and consenting were included. Physical
      examination, with special emphasis on any signs of chronic liver disease was
      performed. Full blood count, platelet count, prothrombin time and INR, liver
      function tests including serum albumin, and renal function tests were done on all
      patients. Viral serology was checked for those patients who were either newly
      diagnosed as cirrhotic or were cirrhotic but not screened for viral markers.
      Abdominal sonogram was recorded on all patients. The Child's score was calculated
      for each patient using the clinical and lab parameters. The BMD was calculated
      for all patients using computer based ultrasound probe. Calcaneum was used for
      evaluation of BMD. The information collected was entered on structured data
      collection sheets and was analysed using SPSS version 11. RESULTS: Osteoporosis
      was found in 26% of subject and osteopenia in 42%, while 32% had BMD in the
      normal range. The mean T score was -1.483 (+/- 1.29). The mean duration of liver
      disease was 3.77 (+/- 1.56) year. Majority of the patients (81%) were in Child's
      Class C, followed by Class B and A (16% and 3% respectively). Fifty-nine percent
      of the patients were males with a mean age of 37.65 years, while 41% were females
      with mean age of 37.76 years. CONCLUSION: Osteoporosis is a common finding in
      patients with cirrhosis due to Hepatitis B and C. Osteoporosis is more frequent
      in patients with long duration of liver disease but there is no significant
      correlation between the aetiology or severity of liver disease and osteoporosis.

PMID- 20929013
TI  - In vitro ciprofloxacin resistance patterns of gram-positive bacteria isolated
      from clinical specimens in a teaching hospital in Saudi Arabia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Over the last few decades the ever-increasing level of bacterial
      resistance to antimicrobials has been a cause of worldwide concern.
      Fluoroquinolones, particularly ciprofloxacin has been used indiscriminately for
      both gram-positive and gram-negative bacterial infections. The increased use of
      ciprofloxacin has led to a progressive loss of bacterial susceptibility to this
      antibiotic. Therefore it is necessary to have update knowledge of resistance
      pattern of bacteria to this antibiotic so that alternate appropriate antibiotics
      can be used for ciprofloxacin-resistant bacterial infections. OBJECTIVE: To
      evaluate the trends of ciprofloxacin resistance pattern in commonly isolated gram
      positive bacteria over time in a Saudi Arabian teaching hospital. METHODS: A
      retrospective analysis was carried out for ciprofloxacin susceptibility patterns
      of 5534 isolates of gram-positive bacteria isolated from clinical specimens
      submitted to microbiology laboratories at King Fahd Hospital of the University
      (KFHU), Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia during the period from January 2002 to August
      2005. RESULTS: Increase in ciprofloxacin resistance rates with some fluctuations,
      among these isolates, were observed. For Staphylococcus aureus, it varied from
      4.62, 1.83, 7.01 and 3.98%, methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)
      97.92, 97.75, 87.01 and 88.26%, Streptococcus pyogenes 5.35, 4.47, 14.44 and
      3.53% during the years 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005 respectively. Cirprofloxacin
      resistance during the years 2002, 2004 and 2005 for other isolates was as
      follows: Streptococcus pneumoniae, 30.23, 23.02 and 26.47%; enterococcus group D,
      43.05, 20.68 and 57.03% and non-enterococcus group D, 62.96, 76.92 and 87.50%
      respectively. CONCLUSION: Ciprofloxacin resistance in gram-positive bacterial
      clinical isolates particularly Staphylococcus aureus, methicillin resistant
      Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) enterococcus group D, and non-enterococcus group D,
      has greatly increased and ciprofloxacin no more remains the drug of choice for
      these infections.

PMID- 20929014
TI  - Frequency of external hernias in Ayub Teaching Hospital Abbottabad.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hernia is a protrusion of a viscous or a part of a viscous through an
      abnormal opening in wall of its containing cavity. Different external hernias
      present differently and ultimate treatment is surgical, which is most commonly
      performed elective operation in the world. The objectives were to know the age
      and gender wise frequency of external hernias in Ayub Teaching Hospital,
      Abbottabad. This retrospective study was conducted at the surgical units of Ayub
      Teaching Hospital from June 2004 to June 2005. METHODS: Records of all cases of
      hernias operated in Ayub Teaching Hospital during June 2004 to June 2005 were
      retrieved from the operation registers of the entire three surgical units
      available at the operation theatres. The data was collected on a proforma and was
      analysed by SPSS-16. RESULTS: Of the 1063 cases, 982 (92.38%) were male and 81
      (7.62%) were female. Right Inguinal Hernia (RIH) was the most frequent as
      expected, i.e., 44.12%, followed by Left Inguinal Hernias (LIH) 18.72%. Least
      common hernias were femoral hernias with a frequency of 0.85%. CONCLUSION: It is
      concluded that 85% hernias occur in the groin, with 12% incisional and only 3%
      hernias occur elsewhere. To reduce the rate of complications, health education is
      the most important intervention. For future health planning maintenance of
      disease register can not be over emphasised.

PMID- 20929015
TI  - Relationship of white blood cell counts, haemoglobin and ESR with IHD.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To find any association of white blood cells, haemoglobin and ESR
      with ischemic heart disease in high risk native population. METHODOLOGY: The
      study included 93 male patients with Ischemic heart disease, between 40 and 60
      years of age; 96 age and gender matched subjects. All study participants were non
      diabetics. Complete blood cells count, haemoglobin and ESR levels were compared
      between the patient and control groups. RESULTS: Total leukocyte counts along
      with neutrophils were significantly higher in the test group compared to the
      control population (p < 0.001) and lymphocytes were significantly lower (p <
      0.001) in the patient group as compared to the control group. Haemoglobin levels
      were significantly lower (p < 0.001) and ESR was higher (p = 0.030) in the
      patient group as compared to the control group. CONCLUSION: Although, our
      findings of the study variables extend previous reports, the prevalence and
      prognostic importance of theses variables in IHD should be assessed in future
      experimental studies. These parameters could be important in public health
      because they are routinely measured by clinicians and may be helpful to predict
      the risk of future and secondary ischemic events in a high risk population.

PMID- 20929016
TI  - Relation of hypertension with body mass index and age in male and female
      population of Peshawar, Pakistan.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hypertension, a condition developed as a result of high blood
      pressure is strongly correlated with body mass index (BMI). Obesity was noted to
      be a single best predictor of hypertension incidence, and was regarded as a major
      controllable contributor to hypertension. Overweight and obesity is conveniently
      determined from BMI. Present study was conducted in Khyber Medical College (KMC)
      Peshawar to investigate the relation of hypertension with BMI and age. The
      objective of the present investigation is to establish a relationship between
      hypertension and BMI in male and female population of Peshawar with consideration
      of age. METHODS: This study was conducted at KMC, Peshawar during 2008-2009. A
      total of 1006 adult male and female volunteers were the subject of present
      research and were categorised in terms of their ages. BMI was determined from
      weight and height; the subjects were grouped as normal, overweight and obese.
      Hypertension was determined from the measure of blood pressure. RESULTS: The
      results show a consistence relation between BMI and hypertension within age
      groups in both male and females. The figures exhibited a relation of age with BMI
      and hypertension in both males and females subjects. CONCLUSION: The results
      showed a higher trend of hypertension with increasing BMI. In young females it
      was noted that with a shift from normal BMI the incidence of hypertension was
      very high.

PMID- 20929017
TI  - Effect of chronic treatment with a cyclooxygenase inhibitor on reproductive
      parameters in male rat.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Indomethacin is a member of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs
      (NSAIDs) commonly used for treatment of gout, arthritis, and other inflammatory
      conditions. It has been shown to inhibit ovarian prostaglandins synthesis in
      mammals, birds, fish and reptiles. However, the effects of its chronic
      administration on male reproductive functions remain largely unknown. Using rat
      as a model, we studied the effect of chronic treatment with indomethacin on the
      male reproductive system. METHODS: Testosterone was measured in the serum,
      testicular tissue, and testicular interstitial fluid by radioimmunoassay.
      Moreover, we also studied the direct effect of indomethacin in vitro on
      luteinizing hormone stimulated testosterone secretion from the Leydig cells
      isolated from various treatment groups. RESULTS: Indomethacin treatment for 50
      days caused a significant but reversible decrease in prostate weight, epididymal
      sperm reserves and sperm motility score compared with control rats (p < 0.05). In
      vitro stimulation of Leydig cells isolated from treated rat's testes with
      luteinizing hormone (250 microIU) produced significantly reduced testosterone
      compared with cells from control groups (p < 0.05). Furthermore, stimulatory
      effect of luteinizing hormone on the control Leydig cells was significantly
      reduced when these cells were challenged with luteinizing hormone in the presence
      of indomethacin, (p < 0.05). Testosterone concentration in the testicular tissue
      and testicular interstitial fluid reduced after indomethacin treatment (p <
      0.05). CONCLUSION: Due to its significant inhibition of key reproductive
      hormones, indomethacin effectively inhibits reproductive functions if used on a
      long-term basis. In his study, we have identified potential risks in the long
      term use ofcyclooxygenase inhibitors.

PMID- 20929018
TI  - The frequency of old world cutaneous leishmaniasis in skin ulcers in Peshawar.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Old World Cutaneous Leishmaniasis (OWCL) is a preventable skin
      infection that leads to morbidity and social isolation. It is spreading rapidly.
      The sore of OWCL may be a non-ulcerative red papule, nodule or a large mutilating
      ulcer. The ulcer is typically painless and can leave a disfiguring scar. METHODS:
      This was a descriptive study. The diagnosis of OWCL was established by finding LD
      bodies in skin smear preparation. RESULTS: This study identified 1680 cutaneous
      leishmaniasis in 1767 skin ulcers. Children (n = 924) were infected more than
      other age groups (n = 756). There were typical skin sore of OWCL in 1512 cases
      while 168 patients had atypical presentation. The ulcers were painless in 1603
      patients. History of insect bite was present in 1366 cases, thorn prick in 156
      patients, religious visit to endemic areas in 256 patients, and 4 patients had
      post surgical non healing wound. Lesions with 4 to 6 months of age had a maximum
      yield of LD bodies. There were 498 patients from different areas of Peshawar; 688
      cases from leishmania endemic belt of FATA while 89 patients came from other
      urban and rural areas of NWFP. CONCLUSIONS: There is a tremendous increase in
      cases of OWCL and the disease became endemic in many regions of Pakistan. The
      bordering areas along Afghanistan have constituted an endemic belt that had
      invaded the neighboring urban and rural areas. Several chronic non healing ulcers
      had been diagnosed as OWCL. Many cases have been detected in Peshawar. People
      need education about the nature of the diseases and the efficacy of personal
      protective measures. Spray with suitable insecticides is required in all
      residential areas.

PMID- 20929019
TI  - Changing pattern of fabricated injuries in Larkana region.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Man has been egotist by nature and from Ancient time man has been
      endeavouring to bring under power other human beings. With the passage of time
      and growth of civilization this trend has been increased. Now there are more
      dangerous ways of violence and torture in use for twisting and turning people
      around. Inflection of fabricated injuries is one of the ways for fulfilment of
      his lust. Incidence of fabricated injuries is related with crime rate in any
      society, and this practice is carried out through out the world. Fabricated
      Injury is a major problem which forensic expert/causality medical officer face
      during their duty. Very little literature is available regarding study of
      fabricated injuries and no authentic criteria has so for been developed for
      labelling an injury as fabricated one. METHODOLOGY: The present study is about
      130 challenged medico-legal cases in Larkana Division which were studied in
      special medical board held in the Department of Urology Chandka Medical College
      Larkana. Out of 130 cases 50 were proved to be fabricated. RESULTS: The total
      number of challenged cases was 130, out of these 50 (38.46%) cases were of
      fabricated injuries. Out of 50 fabricated cases, 46 (92%) were males and 4 (8%)
      were female, thus the male to female ratio was approximately 11:1. Maximum cases
      (25) were from Larkana District, 15 cases were from Shikarpur and 10 cases from
      Jacobabad. The majority of fabricated injuries from Larkana District were nose
      injuries as out of 25 fabricated injuries from Larkana district 10 were nasal
      injuries, while from district Jacobabad and Shikarpur there was no nasal
      fabricated injury. CONCLUSION: Most of the fabricated injuries are caused on
      accessible part of the body like arms, legs, abdomen, chest etc. The pattern of
      fabricated injuries is changing in Larkana District as out of 25 fabricated
      injuries in this district 10 were nasal injuries while in District Jacobabad and
      Shikarpur there was no nasal fabricated injury.

PMID- 20929020
TI  - Maternal serum levels of adiponectin in preeclampsia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The results of the serum levels of adiponectin in preeclamptic
      patients are conflicting. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to assess
      serum levels of adiponectin in women with preeclampsia compared with healthy
      pregnant women. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was designed. The case group
      consisted of women with preeclampsia (n = 30). The control group consisted of 30
      matched normal pregnant women. Serum levels of adiponectin were assessed using
      enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method. RESULTS: Serum levels of adiponectin
      were significantly higher in the preeclamptic group than those in the normal
      control group. In the preeclamptic patients serum levels of adiponectin showed a
      significant negative correlation with body mass index while no correlation was
      found in the normal pregnant women. In women with preeclampsia, levels of
      adiponectin were decreased significantly in the overweight women compared with
      normal weight women, while in the control group no significant difference was
      observed. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, elevation of adiponectin levels might be a
      physiological feedback response to minimize endothelial dysfunction in
      preeclamptic patients.

PMID- 20929021
TI  - Prevalence of microalbuminuria with relation to glycemic control in type-2
      diabetic patients in Karachi.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Diabetes is one of the most common endocrine disorders characterized
      by hyperglycaemia. Diabetic nephropathy is a consequence of long standing
      diabetes. The prevalence of microalbuminuria predicts progression to diabetic
      nephropathy. The present study was conducted to determine the prevalence of
      microalbuminuria in relation to duration of diabetes, BMI, Serum Creatinine and
      HbA1c in an ethnic group of Type 2 diabetes mellitus residing in Karachi.
      METHODS: This cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out in a community
      diabetic centre, located at Garden East Karachi from July to December 2007. One
      hundred known Type 2 diabetic patients with age 30-70 years were included in the
      study. Informed consent and a structured questionnaire of each patient were
      recorded. Fasting venous blood and morning urine sample was collected for
      analysis of creatinine, HbA1c and microalbuminuria respectively. Statistical
      analysis was done using SPSS version 13.0. Pearson correlation was applied to
      observe association of microalbuminuria with different parameters. All p-values <
      0.05 were considered as statistically significant. RESULTS: Microalbuminuria had
      a highly significant correlation with duration of diabetes, serum creatinine (p <
      0.001), HbA1c (p < 0.05) and BMI (p < 0.024). A strong correlation exists between
      age and serum creatinine (r = 0.73). CONCLUSION: The present study found an early
      onset of microalbuminuria in the selected community which could be due to poor
      glycaemic control (high HbA1c > 7%) or heredity factors. Screening for
      microalbuminuria and HbAlc test should be done in both newly and already
      diagnosed Type 2 diabetic patients as an early marker of renal dysfunction and
      glycaemic control.

PMID- 20929022
TI  - Carcinoma cheek: regional pattern and management.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Oral cancer varies globally and regionally, and is closely linked
      with geographical, social, economical, biological, ethnic, dietary and
      environmental factors. In western countries it accounts for about 2-5% while in
      the south-east Asia for about 40% of all cancers. In Pakistan it is second
      commonest tumour after bronchogenic carcinoma in males and breast carcinoma in
      females. The objectives of this study were to find out the pattern of carcinoma
      cheek in our region, its etiological associations, management and prognosis. This
      study was conducted in the Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery Department of
      Civil Hospital, Karachi from April 1995 to December 1998. It was prospective
      study. METHODS: Forty-five cases of primary carcinoma cheek were diagnosed and
      investigations including OPG and CT scan were carried out along with other
      required investigations to evaluate the extension of tumour, bony erosion and
      metastasis. TNM staging was done. All patients were treated surgically, sent for
      post-operative radiotherapy or chemoradiation and followed up for 3 years.
      RESULT: Among 45 cases of oral cancer, 28 were females and 17 were males. Common
      presenting symptom was growth or ulcer. It was more common in 41-50 years of age.
      Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) was found in 95.5% of the cases. Most of the
      patients 31 (68%) were in T4 stage. Surgical excision was done in all cases with
      reconstructuion in 23 cases and neck dissection in 39 cases. In the follow up for
      3 years, 30 patient remained disease free. CONCLUSION: Carcinoma cheek is a
      common entity in our region and now it is seen in relatively younger patients.
      Oral cancer is a self preventable disease. What is required is to develop
      awareness of oral hygiene and discourage the habit of social carcinogens use.
      Early diagnosis and treatment offers better chance of cure whereas advance
      disease has a poor prognosis.

PMID- 20929023
TI  - Vitamin B12 deficiency--a major cause of megaloblastic anaemia in patients
      attending a tertiary care hospital.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Folate and vitamin B12 deficiencies have been known to cause
      megaloblastic anaemia. Since the deficiencies of these two vitamins are very
      common in Pakistani population, it would be imperative to investigate their role
      in causing megaloblastic anaemia. The objective of this study was to find out the
      contribution of folate and vitamin B12 deficiencies in causing megaloblastic
      anaemia in our patient population. METHODS: In this retrospective cohort study,
      clinical records of 220 patients (101 females and 119 males with an age range of
      1-80 years) who presented themselves with macrocytic anaemia at the Aga Khan
      University Hospital were collected. Data pertaining to complete blood count and
      serum levels of folate and vitamin B12 were analysed. RESULTS: The mean
      haemoglobin (Hb) level was 6.8 +/- 0.2 gm/dl. Sixty-nine percent of the patients
      had severe anaemia (Hb < 8 gm/dl). Mean +/- SEM values of haemoglobin, serum
      folate and serum B12 were not significantly different between males and females
      (Hb 6.4 +/- 0.3 gm/dl vs 6.3 +/- 0.3 gm/dl; folate 6.9 +/- 0.8 etag/ml vs 7.8 +/-
      1 etag/ml; B12 259 +/- 65 rhog/ml vs 225 +/- 45 rhog/ml, respectively). Linear
      regression analysis showed that serum folate was inversely related with the mean
      corpuscular volume (MCV, p = 0.04). Spearman's correlation analysis indicated an
      inverse mild association between MCV and serum folate (correlation coefficient = 
      0.18). Folate deficiency was 43.4%, while vitamin B12 deficiency was 78.5% in
      these patients. Seventy-one percent of folate-deficient patients had vitamin B12
      deficiency as well, while 26.1% of patients with B12 deficiency had a co
      occurrence of folate deficiency. CONCLUSION: Vitamin B12 deficiency appears to be
      the major factor leading to megaloblastic anaemia in our study population.
      Inadequate dietary intake, over-cooking of our food and poor absorption might be
      contributing to high prevalence of vitamin B12 deficiency in this population.

PMID- 20929024
TI  - Outcome of balloon pulmonic valvuloplasty with 18 months follow up.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the immediate and intermediate term outcome of balloon
      pulmonic valvuloplasty by echocardiography. METHODS: This study was conducted in
      the Department of Cardiology Postgraduate Medical Institute Lady Reading Hospital
      (LRH), Peshawar from July 1999 to January 2003. Patients with severe pulmonic
      valve stenosis who underwent balloon pulmonic valvuloplasty during this period
      were included in the study. Forty Patients fulfilling the study inclusion
      criteria were followed up to 18 months by two dimensional and Doppler
      echocardiographic examinations at 6 months interval. Patients with dysplastic
      valve leaflets or for whom 18 months follow up data was not available were
      excluded from the study. Echocardiographic data was collected prospectively.
      Echocardiographic hemodynamic data was analysed initially and at all three follow
      up visits, using descriptive statistics and paired t-test. RESULTS: Total 64
      balloon pulmonic valvuloplasty procedures were performed during this period.
      Forty patients fulfilled the study inclusion criteria and the remaining 24
      patients were excluded from the study. Mean age of the patients was 13.05 +/-
      8.22 years, ranging from 1-33 years. Pre-peak pulmonic valve gradient reduced
      from 100.9 +/- 29.20 mmHg to 31.38 +/- 15.99 mmHg (p < 0.0001) immediately after
      balloon pulmonic valvuloplasty. Pulmonic valve gradient at day 1 (31.38 +/-
      15.99) reduced significantly at 18 months (18.88 +/- 10.24) (p < 0.0001).
      Complication encountered during the procedure was transient ventricular
      tachycardia or multiple premature ventricular contractions. CONCLUSION: Balloon
      pulmonic valvuloplasty is safe and effective in reducing pulmonic valve gradient
      acutely and the benefit persists till 18 months. Further fall in pulmonic valve
      gradient is seen in intermediate term follow up.

PMID- 20929025
TI  - Determinants and pattern of health care services utilisation in post graduate
      students.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The health care utilisation of a population is dependent on their
      health seeking behaviour which is determined by their physical, political, socio
      economic and socio-cultural aspects. OBJECTIVES: This particular study is
      conducted to identify the determinants and the patterns of health services
      utilisation by the postgraduate students of Allama Iqbal Open University in
      Pakistan. It was a cross-sectional study and conducted from December 2008 to
      April 2009 in Allama Iqbal Open University Islamabad. METHODS: A non-probability
      convenience sampling was done in post graduate students who were enrolled for
      Masters Degree at Allama Iqbal Open University Islamabad. Data was collected on a
      self administered, pre-tested questionnaire to identify the pattern of
      utilisation of health care services by this educated class. Data was labelled and
      entered in SPSS version 16. Chi-square test is applied as a test of significance
      with fixing the p value at 0.05 as significant. RESULTS: Only 129 students 32
      males, 97 females) out of 250 responded to the questionnaire with the response
      rate of only 51.6%. The sociodemographic profile of the participants shows that
      71 (55%) belong to age group 20-29 years, followed by 43 (33.3%) in age group 30
      39 years. The marital status of the participants had a significant association
      with selection of health care services (p = 0.04). Twenty-four (75%) of the males
      and 67 (65%) of the females were using private sector facilities. Age, marital
      status and income of the study subjects had significant association with
      selection of the provider with p values of 0.000, 0.047 and 0.051 respectively.
      CONCLUSION: The health care system in Pakistan comprises the public as well as
      private health facilities. In Pakistan vast majority of doctors resides in urban
      area and attracts the educated class towards private sector. Utilisation of
      public health care facility is not the main priority of the educated class of the
      country. Government officials should pay attention to make it more convenient for
      general public.

PMID- 20929026
TI  - Correlation of plasma endothelin-1 levels with pulmonary hypertension after
      inhaled nitric oxide therapy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Variable response to inhaled nitric oxide (iNO) therapy in patients
      with mitral stenosis (MS) having pulmonary hypertension (PH) has been documented
      in early studies. The objectives of this study were to measure plasma Endothelin
      1 (ET-1) levels in those patients and to correlate them with pulmonary vascular
      indices after iNO therapy. It was Quesi-experimental study. METHODS: Thirty
      patients with mitral or mixed mitral and aortic valve disease with severe
      pulmonary hypertension and enrolled for valve replacement surgery were included.
      Before the replacement, baseline pulmonary vascular indices and cardiac output
      were recorded. After the surgery, 10-20 ppm iNO was administered for 1 hour and
      all the parameters were again recorded. Patients were grouped into responders and
      non responders on the basis of % reduction in Pulmonary Vascular Resistance (PVR)
      after iNO therapy. Plasma ET-1 levels were measured in both groups by ELISA
      before and after the iNO therapy. Paired sample t-test was used to compare mean
      values for significance. The correlations between variables were then calculated
      by using Pearson's coefficient. RESULTS: The plasma ET-1 levels were very high in
      all patients. They reduced in responders after iNO therapy; non-responders
      paradoxically showed significant increase in the levels of ET-1 after iNO
      therapy. Moreover, a positive correlation was observed in plasma ET-1 levels and
      post operative levels of PVR. CONCLUSION: The correlation of changes in PVR and
      plasma ET-1 levels in responders suggests that high plasma ET-1 is a key mediator
      of poor response in PH secondary to MS, after iNO therapy.

PMID- 20929027
TI  - Consanguinity among the risk factors for underweight in children under five: a
      study from rural Sindh.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Malnutrition is a common problem, especially in developing countries.
      Of the 11 million children under 5 who die each year in the developing countries
      mainly from preventable causes, the death of about 54% are either directly or
      indirectly attributable to malnutrition. The objectives of this study were to
      assess the prevalence and associated factors for underweight in rural Sindh.
      METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in Jhangara Town, located in
      District Dadu, Sindh. Eight hundred children under 5 years of age were enrolled.
      A questionnaire was used to elicit required information and anthropometric
      measurements were made. RESULTS: The overall prevalence for underweight was 54.3%
      in the study population, which was higher than the prevalence reported by PDHS
      1990-91. In multivariate analysis, various factors for underweight were
      consanguinity (OR = 1.5, 95% CI = 1.08-2.07), low birth weight (parents'
      perspective) (OR = 1.6, 95% CI = 1.08-2.16) and lack of breast-feeding (OR = 2.7,
      95% CI = 1.19-6.17). CONCLUSION: Effective strategies to discourage
      consanguineous marriages between first cousins are required. Promoting breast
      feeding is another factor that should be incorporated while designing control
      strategies to reduce morbidity and mortality due to malnutrition in children (< 5
      years).

PMID- 20929028
TI  - Intermediate and long-term outcome of patients after device closure of ASD with
      special reference to complications.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Device closure of Secundum atrial septal defect (ASD) is an accepted
      mode of treatment in selected patients with a suitable defect. The major initial
      concern over the long-term outcome has been erosions and more recently
      development of aortic regurgitation. Objective was to assess the intermediate and
      long term outcome of patients with device closure of ASD with special reference
      to complications. METHODS: Two hundred and four patients with significant
      Secundum ASD, 16 months to 55 years (median 8 years) were considered for
      transcatheter closure with the Amplatzer septal occluder from October 1999 to
      April 2009 with follow up examinations at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months and thereafter
      at yearly interval. RESULTS: Device closure of ASD was done successfully in
      202/204 patients. The immediate (first 24-hour) major complications included
      device embolization (n = 4), pericardial effusion (n = 1) and 2:1 heart block (n
      = 1). At a mean follow up of 4.9 years (90 days to 9.6 years, median 5.3 years)
      complete closure was documented in all patients. Two patients (1%) had developed
      mild aortic regurgitation. Atrial fibrillation occurred in 3 adult patients
      (1.5%) at a mean of 2 weeks post procedure with complete recovery within 6
      months. There were no late embolizations, erosions or thromboembolic events on
      long-term follow up. CONCLUSIONS: Device closure of Secundum ASD using Amplatzer
      septal occluder is safe and effective in intermediate and long-term follow up
      with extremely low mortality rate. The risk of development of aortic
      regurgitation or atrial fibrillation is also very low.

PMID- 20929029
TI  - Echocardiographic profile of rheumatic heart disease at a tertiary cardiac
      centre.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Rheumatic Heart Disease (RHD) continues to be a major public health
      problem in developing countries like Pakistan. Objective of this cross sectional
      analytical study was to analyze the severity of valvular lesions on
      echocardiography in patients pre-diagnosed with RHD. METHODS: The transthoracic
      echocardiographic records of RHD patients from 2004 to 2008 were retrospectively
      reviewed for type and degree of valvular involvement according to AHA/ACC
      guidelines. RESULTS: A total of 13,414 patients [7,219 Males (53.8%), 6,195
      Females (46.2%)] ranging from 11 to 90 years with a mean age of 42.33 +/- 18.976
      were studied. On echocardiography, 7,500 (56%) had mitral regurgitation (8.8%
      severe MR), 6,449 (48.2%) had tricuspid regurgitation (7.1% severe TR) and 5,550
      (41.4%) had aortic regurgitation (4.8% severe AR). MS was detected in 2,729
      (20.3%) patients (15.3% severe MS), AS in 102 (0.8%) and TS in 31 (0.2%)
      patients. Mixed mitral valve disease was seen in 3,185 (23.7%), mixed aortic
      valve disease in 222 (1.7%) and mixed tricuspid valve disease in 47 (0.4%)
      patients. All three valves were involved in 2,826 (21.06%) patients, combination
      of mitral and aortic valves in 3,103 (23.13%), mitral and tricuspid in 3,784
      (28.2%), and mitral only in 3,701 (27.59%) patients. There was some mitral valve
      abnormality in all patients. CONCLUSION: Mitral valve was most commonly affected,
      while regurgitant lesions were more common than stenotic lesions, and most severe
      in younger patients. All valvular lesions had almost an equal distribution among
      the sexes, except aortic regurgitation, which was more common in females.
      Therefore, echocardiography should be done routinely for patients with RHD,
      focusing on younger population, to facilitate diagnosis and definitive treatment
      before complications set in.

PMID- 20929030
TI  - Aetiological considerations of acquired aplastic anaemia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Acquired aplastic anaemia is one of the important causes of
      pancytopenia. This study was conducted to observe the mode of presentation of
      acquired aplastic anaemia and to find out its possible etiological factors.
      METHODS: It is a hospital based descriptive study of 100 patients of acquired
      aplastic anaemia. RESULTS: Out of 100 patients 60 were male and 40 female.
      Majority (44%) of the patients were between 12-20 years of age. Patient presented
      with variable symptoms majority (40%) with fever. Most of the patients had
      haemoglobin levels between 4-6 gm/dl. (53%). Seventy percent of the cases had no
      obvious cause, while in 30% some known causative factors were found.
      Chloramphenicol was found to be the most common causative drug. Mortality was
      35%. Thirty patients were partially treated and 15 were lost to follow up. Twenty
      patients showed improvement with treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Acquired aplastic
      anaemia is common among males and more prevalent in younger age group. It is
      idiopathic in 70% cases while 30% had some cause. It has very high mortality.
      Doctors need to keep in mind this fatal condition in patients presenting with
      anaemia and should properly investigate before prescribing antibiotics and
      haematinics.

PMID- 20929031
TI  - Outcome of labour in nullipara at term with unengaged vertex.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Primigravidas with unengaged foetal head at term should be regarded
      as high risk cases. It is seen that nuglliparous women with the floating foetal
      head demonstrate higher rates of caesarean section than those with dipping or
      engaged head in early labour. These cases should be regarded as high risk and
      identified early and should be referred to a tertiary care centre where good
      facilities for operative delivery are available. The present study was undertaken
      to determine the outcome of labour in nulliparous women with unengaged head and
      compare it with those who present with engaged head at term as a case control
      study. The objective of the study was to enumerate the outcome of labour in
      nulliparous women presenting with unengaged head at term and compare it with
      those who present with engaged head in early active labour. METHODS: It was a
      case control study, completed in 11 months, conducted in Department of Obstetrics
      and Gynaecology, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, Lahore. 300 women were selected by
      convenience sampling. 150 nulliparous women who presented with unengaged head in
      early active labour were taken as cases, out which 2 women left against medical
      advice with their medical records so data was missing leaving 148 patients in
      this group. While 150 nulliparous women who presented with engaged head were
      taken as controls. RESULTS: C-section rates was significantly found to be more in
      unengaged group being 16.89%, compared with 5.33% in engaged group (p = 0.000).
      Most of C-sections were carried out due to failed progress of labour (48%).
      Patients with unengaged foetal head had significantly lower APGAR scores at 1 (p
      < 0.002) and 5 min (0.003) and higher mean birth weights (p = 0.002).Cases also
      had significantly longer 1st (p = 0.0001) and 2nd stage (p = 0.004) of labour.
      CONCLUSION: Engaged vertex at the onset of active labour is associated with a
      lower risk of caesarean delivery in nulliparous women. Patients with unengaged
      vertex are at higher risk for caesarean delivery due to arrest disorders. In
      addition to the higher caesarean rate patients with unengaged vertex are at risk
      of having lower foetal APGAR scores and higher mean birth weights of newborns.

PMID- 20929032
TI  - Surgical site infection in lumbar surgeries, pre and postoperative antibiotics
      and length of stay: a case study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Postoperative wound infection also called as surgical site infection
      (SSI), is a trouble some complication of lumbar spine surgeries and they can be
      associated with serious morbidities, mortalities and increase resource
      utilization. With the improvement in diagnostic modalities, proper surgical
      techniques, antibiotic therapy and postoperative care, infectious complications
      can result in various compromises afterwards. The objective was to study the
      relation of surgical site infection in clean lumbar surgeries with the doses of
      antibiotics. This Retrospective study was conducted at Shifa International
      Hospital, from January 2006 to March 2008. METHODS: Hundred post operated cases
      of lumber disc prolapse, lumbar stenosis or both studied retrospectively by
      tracing their operated data from hospital record section for the development of
      surgical site infection (SSI). The patients were divided into three groups
      depending upon whether they received single, three or more than three doses of
      antibiotics respectively. Complete data analyses and cross tabulation done with
      SPSS version 16. RESULT: Of 100 cases, only 6% had superficial surgical site
      infection; only 1 case with co morbidity of hypertension was detected. Twenty-one
      cases had single dose of antibiotic (Group-I), 59 cases had 3 doses (Group-II)
      and 20 cases received multiple doses (Group-III). There was no infection in Group
      I. Only one patient in Group-II and 5 patients in Group-III developed superficial
      SSI. While 4 in Group-II, 3 in Group-III, and none of Group-I had > 6 days length
      of stay (LOS). CONCLUSION: The dose of antibiotic directly correlates with the
      surgical site infection in clean lumbar surgeries. When compared with multiple
      doses of antibiotics a single preoperative shot of antibiotic is equally
      effective for patients with SSI.

PMID- 20929033
TI  - Effect of glycaemic status on left ventricular diastolic function in normotensive
      type 2 diabetic patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Diabetes is associated with Left ventricular diastolic and systolic
      dysfunction known as diabetic cardiomyopathy. Echocardiography is helpful for the
      detection of diastolic dysfunction and Echocardiographic screening for
      asymptomatic diabetic cardiomyopathy should be performed in all asymptomatic
      diabetic subjects. Identification of diabetic cardiomyopathy should result in the
      initiation of therapies to prevent the progression of diabetic cardiomyopathy.
      The objectives of this Descriptive case series was to determine the effect of
      glycaemic status on left ventricular diastolic function in normotesive type 2
      diabetic patients. METHODS: This study was performed at Cardiology department,
      PGMI Lady Reading Hospital, Peshawar from March 2007 to September 2007. Sixty
      normotesive type 2 diabetic patients were enrolled, 20 well control, 20
      moderately control and 20 poorly control (Group-3). Main outcome measures was
      Left ventricular diastolic function determined by Echocardiography. RESULTS: Out
      of 60 patients there were 32 (53.3%) males and 28 (46.7%) females. Mean E/A ratio
      in Group 1 was 1.38 +/- 0.29, in Group 2 was 1.16 +/- 0.39 and in Group 3 was
      0.60 +/- 0.15 (p < 0.05). IVRT in Group-1 was 91 +/- 7.87 mSec, in Group-2 was
      100 +/- 7.83 mSec and in Group-3 was 109 +/- 6.45 mSec (p < 0.05). DT in Group 1
      was 207.2 +/- 12.6 mSec, in Group 2 was 218 +/- 11.3 mSec and in Group 3 was
      229.7 +/- 9.52 mSec (p < 0.05). Mean Em at mitral annulus in Group-1 was 0.14 +/-
      0.04 m/Sec, in Group-2 was 0.11 +/- 0.04 m/Sec and in Group-3 was 0.10 +/- 0.03
      m/Sec (p = 0.002). Left ventricular diastolic dysfunction was documented in 4
      (25%) patients in Group-1, 9 (45%) patients in Group-2 and 16 (80%) patients in
      Group-3 (p < 0.05). There was Strong correlation between HbA1c level and
      diastolic indexes (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Diastolic dysfunction is more frequent
      in poorly controlled diabetic patients and its severity is correlated with
      glycaemic control.

PMID- 20929034
TI  - Association of lipoprotein-alpha with obesity in children and adolescents in
      district Swat.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Studies have demonstrated that atherosclerosis has its silent
      beginning during childhood. Coronary artery disease, particularly when it
      presents early in adult life has been observed to have a familial tendency.
      Lipoprotein-alpha [Lp-alpha], has a strong genetic association and raised levels
      when combined with obesity increase the risk of premature coronary heart disease.
      Thus in adults, has emerged the possibility of preventing or delaying the
      coronary artery disease when appropriate measures are applied early in life. In
      our study, we assessed the prevalence of overweight and obesity and its
      association with Lp-alpha in the child population of district Swat. METHODS: The
      study was carried out in Saidu Teaching Hospital and Biochemistry Department,
      Saidu Medical College, Swat, from May to July 2007. Both boys and girls between
      10-20 years of age were included. The prevalence of obesity was detected in 200
      subjects by using body mass index. One hundred subjects were selected to compare
      the anthropometric and cardiovascular parameters of obese subjects with control
      group. Lp-alpha was measured in children of both the groups. RESULTS: The
      prevalence of obesity in adolescent boys was 6.7% and that in adolescent girls
      was 10%. The prevalence was higher in female subjects, compared to male subjects.
      Obese subjects had significantly higher weight, body mass index, blood pressure
      values and Lp-alpha levels as compared to control group. CONCLUSION: Lipoprotein
      alpha level is higher in obese children and adolescents than in non-obese.

PMID- 20929035
TI  - Assessment of amniotic fluid index in normal pregnancy at a tertiary care
      hospital setting.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Ultrasound assessment of amniotic fluid has important implication in
      obstetrics care and it has become an integral and important component of
      pregnancy assessment. Changes in amniotic fluid volume are associated with
      adverse outcome. Excess volume is associated with foetal anomalies and aneuploidy
      and less volume is associated with Intra Uterine Growth Retardation, renal
      anomalies in the second trimester. The objective of this study was to establish a
      normative scale of Amniotic Fluid Index (AFI) throughout gestation in
      uncomplicated singleton pregnancies, and to identify the lower and upper limits
      for each gestational week. METHOD: A prospective cross-sectional study conducted
      in a private tertiary care Hospital from Jan 2004 to April 2005. Amniotic fluid
      index was calculated in 400 women attending the antenatal clinic. The gestational
      age of these women range from 20-40 weeks. Women with foetal anomalies, Pregnancy
      Induced Hypertension, Diabetes Mellitus and other maternal complication were
      excluded from study. The median, mean, 5th, 50th, and 95th percentile were
      calculated for each gestation and these values are compared with other studies.
      RESULTS: The amniotic fluid index observations from regression equation curve
      were stratified in week-specific normative curves. The mean of preterm was
      significantly greater than mean of term gestation (p < 0.05). Our median reached
      peak at 27th week of gestation another peak at 30-31 week. The values then begin
      a gradual fall to 40 weeks gestation. CONCLUSION: Gestational age specific values
      of AFI were established, showing significant trends of changes in the amniotic
      fluid volume with gestation.

PMID- 20929036
TI  - Hydatid cysts of the brain.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Brain involvement with hydatid disease occurs in 1-2% of all
      Echinococcus granulosus infections. Cerebral hydatid cysts are usually
      supratentorial, whereas infratentorial lesions are quite rare. Objective of the
      study was to determine the clinical presentation and surgical outcome of cranial
      hydatidosis. METHODS: This retrospective study was performed in the department of
      neurosurgery LRH Peshawar from December 2000 to Oct 2007. Twenty one cases with
      intracranial hydatidosis were operated. The patients were either admitted through
      OPD or referred from other units. CT and/or MRI were the imaging modalities to
      reach the diagnosis in addition to serological and haematological tests. Surgery
      was the only treatment option used. Pericystic hydraulic method was the technique
      used for the excision of the hydatid cyst of brain. RESULTS: There were 9 males
      and 12 females with male to female ratio of 1:1.3. All patients belonged to
      paediatric age group with age range of 3-14 years and mean age of 7.42 +/- 3.2
      years. Headache, vomiting, papilloedema were present in all the patients while
      seizures were the present in 16 patients. The lesion was removed surgically by
      adopting pericystic hydraulic method during craniotomy in all cases. There was no
      intra-operative morbidity except that the cyst ruptured in one case. No
      postoperative complications were noted and there was no mortality. CONCLUSION:
      Hydatid cyst of the brain presents clinically as intracranial space occupying
      lesion and is more common in children. Surgery is the treatment option with
      affordable morbidity and low mortality.

PMID- 20929037
TI  - Electrical storms and their prognostic implications.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Prevention of sudden cardiac death has always been a challenge for
      electrophysiologists and to date, automatic implantable cardiovertor
      defibrillator (AICD) is found to be the only remedy. This device delivers an
      intracardiac shock whenever it senses a fatal ventricular arrhythmia in order to
      achieve sinus rhythm. If the delivery of these intracardiac shocks becomes
      frequent, the situation is declared as an electrical storm. This article deals
      with the frequency, precipitating factors and prevention of electrical storms.
      METHODS: One hundred and ten episodes of electrical storms (a total of 668
      shocks) were retrospectively analysed in 25 recipients of automatic implantable
      cardioverter defibrillators. ECG, echocardiography, serum electrolytes, urea and
      creatinine were done for all the patients, and they were hospitalized for a
      minimum of 24 hours. RESULTS: During the 3 year study period, all the 25 patients
      with an implantable cardiovertor defibrillator, on an average, received one shock
      per two years. However, 12 out of these 25 patients (50%) had more than two
      shocks within 24 hours. Most of these patients with electrical storms were having
      active ischemia, electrolytes imbalances or renal failure. CONCLUSION: Electrical
      storms are common in patients with coronary artery disease with impaired left
      ventricular functions. Ischemia, electrolytes imbalances and renal failure
      predispose to the electrical storms. Electrical Storms are predictors of poor
      prognosis.

PMID- 20929038
TI  - Attitude and knowledge of medical students of Isra University about dysmenorrhoea
      and its treatment.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Dysmenorrhoea is the term for painful menstruation. It is a common
      gynaecological complaint among female adolescent. The objective of this study was
      to assess attitude and knowledge about treatment of dysmenorrhoea among medical
      students of Isra University. METHODS: This study was conducted at Isra University
      Hyderabad. Non-probability, convenient random selection from MBBS student was
      done. Participants included were 18-25 years of ages, irrespective of marital
      status. Girls with irregular menstrual cycles, primary or secondary amenorrhea
      were excluded from the study. Pre-designed questionnaire was filled by the
      students. RESULTS: A total of 197 female medical students were recruited,
      dysmenorrhoea was reported in 76%, of these 62.43% had primary and 13.19% had
      secondary dysmenorrhoea. Majority 89 (59.70%) of the girls had mild G1 to
      moderate 48 (32.21%) G2 dysmenorrhoea and twelve 8.05% were with sever
      dysmenorrhoea. The most common symptoms observed were abdominal cramps 94 (63%),
      irritability 91 (61.07%), headache 41 (24.5%) and vomiting 34 (22.8%). Different
      attitudes of students were assessed, that 40.6% of subjects can not do their
      routine work and 19.3% remain absent from education place. Only 69.5% students
      were using commercial pads, 67% girls were not taking bath and 92.4% were not
      doing exercise during menstruation, only 15 (7.6%) were doing exercise from the
      study population. Simple analgesic was the most known drug to 49.7% of
      participants for relief of dysmenorrhoea pain. CONCLUSION: Dysmenorrhoea is a
      common problem among young girls, and it significantly affects their class
      attendance, academic performance and routine work. Even being medical students,
      strong cultural believes were observed regarding menstrual cycle. Attitudinal
      changes are necessary to develop, educational strategies, appropriate use of
      medications and consultation with physician, to empower these young girls
      regarding healthy life-style.

PMID- 20929039
TI  - Comparison of gender performance on an intelligence test among medical students.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Since the Government of Pakistan abolished the gender based system of
      admission to medical colleges, all colleges have seen a huge influx of female
      medical students, reaching up to 70-80% of all students in some colleges. This
      trend is still persisting about 15 years after the decision. The objectives of
      the current study were to assess if there is any significant difference between
      male and female medical students in scores on a structured, standard, robust test
      of intellectual ability. Exact venue of the research is withheld for
      confidentiality. The study was carried out in 2003-2005. METHODS: A cross
      sectional, comparative study with sample size of 150 students, 75 male and 75
      female students. Participants signed a consent form, were assessed on Raven's
      Standard Progressive Matrices (SPM), and data was analysed using SPSS-12.
      RESULTS: On the SPM test, the male students as a group, scored higher than the
      female students as a group, the difference was small but statistically
      significant (p = 0.015). CONCLUSION: Performance on the SPM inclines in favour of
      the male gender group. More research needs to be carried out into the other
      possible factors that could explain the gender disparity in medical colleges in
      Pakistan.

PMID- 20929040
TI  - Attitude of teaching faculty towards statistics at a medical university in
      Karachi, Pakistan.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Statistics is mainly used in biological research to verify the
      clinicians and researchers findings and feelings, and gives scientific validity
      for their inferences. In Pakistan, the educational curriculum is developed in
      such a way that the students who are interested in entering in the field of
      biological sciences do not study mathematics after grade 10. Therefore, due to
      their fragile background of mathematical skills, the Pakistani medical
      professionals feel that they do not have adequate base to understand the basic
      concepts of statistical techniques when they try to use it in their research or
      read a scientific article. The aim of the study was to assess the attitude of
      medical faculty towards statistics. METHODS: A questionnaire containing 42 close
      ended and 4 open-ended questions, related to the attitude and knowledge of
      statistics, was distributed among the teaching faculty of Dow University of
      Health Sciences (DUHS). One hundred and sixty-seven filled questionnaires were
      returned from 374 faculty members (response rate 44.7%). RESULTS: Forty-three
      percent of the respondents claimed that they had 'introductive' level of
      statistics courses, 63% of the respondents strongly agreed that a good researcher
      must have some training in statistics, 82% of the faculty was in favour (strongly
      agreed or agreed) that statistics was really useful for research. Only 17%
      correctly stated that statistics is the science of uncertainty. Half of the
      respondents accepted that they have problem of writing the statistical section of
      the article. 64% of the subjects indicated that statistical teaching methods were
      the main reasons for the impression of its difficulties. 53% of the faculty
      indicated that the co-authorship of the statistician should depend upon his/her
      contribution in the study. Gender did not show any significant difference among
      the responses. However, senior faculty showed higher level of the importance for
      the use of statistics and difficulties of writing result section of articles as
      compared to junior faculty. CONCLUSION: The study showed a low level of
      knowledge, but high level of the awareness for the use of statistical techniques
      in research and exhibited a good level of motivation for further training.

PMID- 20929041
TI  - Individual differences and stress-performance relationship.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Medicine is a high risk profession. Infectious diseases, dealing with
      difficult patients, accidents on the job, and other hazards have shortened the
      careers of many practitioners. The extent to which they experience stress turns
      into poor performance in terms of quality of patient care. Personality traits are
      often thought to affect the stress that a person perceives. Specific types of
      personalities seem to be more susceptible to the effects of stress than others.
      Job performance is associated with different levels of stress. The purpose of the
      present study was to investigate any effect of job stress on job performance and
      effect of personality type on the stress-performance relationship. METHODS: All
      55 house officers enrolled at Ayub Teaching Hospital at the time of study were
      included in the study. Primary data was gathered through questionnaire designed
      to address personality type and to gathered information about job stress and
      performance. Individual semi-structured interviews and observations were used to
      collect information in order to find out how the work patterns have been
      influenced by environmental factors. The data obtained through questionnaire was
      analysed using the statistical methods including descriptive statistics,
      Spearman's correlation and multiple regression. RESULTS: The results indicated
      that Type A individuals tend to experience more stress than Type B, however no
      major statistical differences were found. Type A individuals performed slightly
      better than Type B. CONCLUSION: Identification of house officers' personality
      traits will be helpful in assessing stress and designing different stress coping
      strategies to reduce their level of stress and improve their performance. The
      correlation between job stress and job performance among house officers with Type
      A personality characteristics is high.

PMID- 20929042
TI  - Fracture penis with complete urethral disruption during intercourse.
AB  - We present a rare case of fracture penis with complete urethral disruption in a
      38 years old male. This resulted in an erect penis during sexual intercourse. He
      presented with diffuse and tense swelling of the penis along with acute urinary
      retention and distended urinary bladder. Emergency exploration revealed complete
      urethral disruption with tears in both corpus cavernosa. Evacuation of haematoma,
      repair of corpora and primary urethral repair was performed. Post-operative
      recovery was smooth and the patient developed satisfactory erectile and voiding
      function.

PMID- 20929043
TI  - Epidermoid inclusion cyst of the perineum--a rare case report in a 50 years old
      male.
AB  - A 50 year old male presented with a history of mid line painless swelling in the
      perineum for last 4 years. The patient's only concern was a perineal swelling
      which was gradually increasing in size. Clinical examination mimics subcutaneous
      lipoma with soft lobulated surface with positive slip sign. The base line
      investigations were within normal limits. Complete surgical excision of the cyst
      performed. Histopathology confirmed epidermal inclusion cyst with no evidence of
      malignancy. Patient discharged on next day. The follow-up visits were un
      remarkable. Perineal epidermal inclusion cyst is a rare entity and only few cases
      have been reported.

PMID- 20929044
TI  - Post hysterectomy spontaneous rupture of spleen.
AB  - Spontaneous rupture of spleen is a rare entity in the world of obstetrics and
      gynaecology. The obstetricians-gynaecologist has to confront with ruptured spleen
      sometimes in their practice. Ruptured spleen is not uncommon in trauma and some
      surgical procedures in upper abdomen. Splenic rupture after hysterectomy is
      exceedingly rare occurrence. However it should be considered as part of
      diagnostic workup in any unstable post hysterectomy subject with high degree of
      suspicion along with other differential diagnosis. Early reorganisation of this
      potentially life-threatening complication is very important for the wellbeing of
      patient and carries medico legal significance as well. We are reporting fourth
      case of spontaneous rupture spleen after abdominal hysterectomy found in the
      literature along with literature review and update on the topic regarding its
      diagnostic criteria.

PMID- 20929045
TI  - Calculation of LD50 values from the method of Miller and Tainter, 1944.

PMID- 20929046
TI  - Environmental pollution and experimental pharmacological approaches. Preface.

PMID- 20929047
TI  - Idiopathic environmental intolerances (IEI): from molecular epidemiology to
      molecular medicine.
AB  - Inherited or acquired impairment of xenobiotics metabolism is a postulated
      mechanism underlying environment-associated pathologies such as multiple chemical
      sensitivity, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, dental amalgam disease, and
      others, also collectively named idiopathic environmental intolerances (IEI). In
      view of the poor current knowledge of their etiology and pathogenesis, and the
      absence of recognised genetic and metabolic markers of the diseases. They are
      often considered "medically unexplained syndromes",. These disabling conditions
      share the features of polysymptomatic multi-organ syndromes, considered by part
      of the medical community to be aberrant responses triggered by exposure to low
      dose organic and inorganic chemicals and metals, in concentrations far below
      average reference levels admitted for environmental toxicants. A genetic
      predisposition to altered biotransformation of environmental chemicals, drugs,
      and metals, and of endogenous low-molecular weight metabolites, caused by
      polymorphisms of genes coding for xenobiotic metabolizing enzymes, their
      receptors and transcription factors appears to be involved in the susceptibility
      to these environment-associated pathologies, along with epigenetic factors. Free
      radical/antioxidant homeostasis may also be heavily implicated, indirectly by
      affecting the regulation of xenobiotic metabolizing enzymes, and directly by
      causing increased levels of oxidative products, implicated in the chronic damage
      of cells and tissues, which is in part correlated with clinical symptoms. More
      systematic studies of molecular epidemiology, toxico- and pharmaco-genomics,
      elucidating the mechanisms of regulation, expression, induction, and activity of
      antioxidant/detoxifying enzymes, and the possible role of inflammatory mediators,
      promise a better understanding of this pathologically increased sensitivity to
      low-level chemical stimuli, and a solid basis for effective individualized
      antioxidant- and/or chelator-based treatments.

PMID- 20929048
TI  - Developmental exposure to lead and late life abnormalities of nervous system.
AB  - Role of developmental exposure to environmental agents in altering the disease
      process is well known. Exposure to chemical agents at critical periods of
      development may cause some permanent changes in the functioning of various vital
      systems including the nervous system in the organisms. It is not surprising to
      see an extensive response due to exposure to chemical agents early in life as the
      organ systems are more vulnerable to chemical insults during developmental
      stages. In some cases the response to low level environmental insults may not be
      obvious until adult or old age. Results from several studies have shown such
      latency in response to the nervous system leading to neurodegeneration in old
      age. Studies conducted in murine and primate models provided ample evidence for
      the association of developmental exposure to low levels of heavy metal lead (Pb)
      and Alzheimer's disease-like pathology during senescence. It is not clear about
      the reasons behind such response; however, the contribution of epigenetic
      mechanisms could explain the role of early events in life in inducing the late
      life abnormalities of nervous system. It is possible that environmental agents
      epigenetically modulate the gene regulation to persist the response silent for a
      long period of time and to result pathological outcomes significantly later in
      life. This article will summarize the association of early life exposure to
      environmental agents and late-life abnormalities with an emphasis on
      developmental exposure to Pb and neurodegeneration in old age.

PMID- 20929049
TI  - Pharmacological agents in the prophylaxis/treatment of organophosphorous
      pesticide intoxication.
AB  - Organophosphorus pesticide poisoning causes tens of thousands of deaths each year
      across the world. Poisoning includes acute cholinergic crisis as a result of AChE
      inhibition, intermediate syndrome (IMS) due to neuromuscular necrosis and
      organophosphate-induced delayed neuropathy (OPIDN) due to inhibition of
      neuropathy target esterase (NTE). Standard treatment for acute poisoning involves
      administration of intravenous atropine, oxime 2-PAM to counter AChE inhibition
      and diazepam for CNS protection. However clinical trials showed ineffectiveness
      of the standard therapy regimen. Although new oximes that can reactivate both
      peripheral and cerebral AChE and other prophylactic agents such as human serum
      butyrylcholinesterase (Hu BChE), sodium bicarbonate, huperzine A (a reversible
      ChE inhibitor) with imidazenil (a GABAA receptor modulator) have been proved
      effective in animal models, systematic clinical trials in patients are warranted.
      For IMS which is non-responsive to standard therapy, supportive therapy
      specifically artificial respiration followed by recovery is indicated. For OPIDN
      which has a different target (NTE) than AChE, standard therapy is ineffective.
      However neuroprotective drugs such as corticosteroids proved partially effective.
      Pretreatment with protease inhibitor PMSF has been shown to protect the aging of
      NTE and prevent the development of delayed symptoms in hens. Since the biology of
      NTE is being explored, new pharmacological agents should be developed in future.
      OP pesticide poisoning is a serious condition that needs rapid diagnosis and
      treatment. Since respiratory failure is the major reason for mortality,
      artificial respiration, careful monitoring, appropriate treatment and early
      recognition of OP pesticide poisoning may decrease the mortality rate among these
      patients.

PMID- 20929050
TI  - Association of functionally important polymorphisms in cytochrome P450s with
      squamous cell carcinoma of head and neck.
AB  - Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), a common malignancy that possibly
      involves a combination of exposure to the carcinogens and inherited genetic
      differences in the enzymes catalyzing their metabolism. Alcohol and tobacco
      consumption are the primary environmental risk factors, while polymorphism in
      various biotransformation enzymes such as cytochrome P450s (CYPs) and glutathione
      S-transferases, (GSTs) has been implicated as the major genetic risk factors for
      the development of HNSCC. The functionally important polymorphisms in these CYPs
      (1AI*2A, 1A1*2C, 1B1*2, 2E1*5B, 2E1*6, 2C19*2, 2D6*4, 2D6*10) and GSTs (GSTM1
      null or GSTT1-null) were found to be significantly associated with HNSCC risk.
      Significant differences in the distribution of certain haplotypes of CYPs have
      also been reported and prevalence of certain genotype combinations of CYPs and
      GSTS in cases has indicated the importance of gene-gene interactions in HNSCC
      risk. Alcohol or tobacco use (smoking and chewing) were also found to interact
      synergistically with variant genotypes of these CYPs and GSTS in significantly
      enhancing HNSCC risk. This increase in risk associated with the variant genotypes
      with tobacco or alcohol use have further demonstrated the importance of gene
      environment interactions in determining the susceptibility to HNSCC.

PMID- 20929051
TI  - Arsenic and fluoride: two major ground water pollutants.
AB  - Increasing human activities have modified the global cycle of heavy metals, non
      metals and metalloids. Both arsenic and fluoride are ubiquitous in the
      environment. Thousands of people are suffering from the toxic effects of
      arsenicals and fluorides in many countries all over the world. These two elements
      are recognized worldwide as the most serious inorganic contaminants in drinking
      water. Many studies have reported as regards to simple fluorosis and arsenicosis,
      but the knowledge of the joint action of these two elements is lacking and the
      results derived from previous studies were inconclusive. Contradictory results
      were reported in experimental studies in which different joint actions such as
      independent, synergistic and antagonistic effects were observed. This indicates
      that interaction mechanism of these two elements is considerable complicated and
      requires extensive studies. When two different types of toxicants are
      simultaneously going inside a human body they may function independently or can
      act as synergistic or antagonistic to one another. Thus there is an urge to
      resolve the question that how arsenic and fluoride act in condition of
      concomitant exposure. Although there have been reports in literature of
      individual toxicity of arsenic and fluoride however, there is very little known
      about the effects following the combined exposure to these toxicants. This review
      focused on recent developments in the research on the condition of individual
      exposure to arsenic and fluoride along with the recent updates of their combined
      exposure to better understand the joint action of these two toxicants.

PMID- 20929052
TI  - Resistance to heavy metal toxicity in organisms under chronic exposure.
AB  - The rate of changes of heavy metal ions concentrations in the organism or
      biological system will determine the choice of strategy of realization of heavy
      metal ions effect and, consequently, the biological effect itself. Which of the
      possible strategies will dominate, depend on the rate of changes of concentration
      of heavy metal ions in biological systems, functional activity of organism at the
      moment of metal action and on metals chemical properties. Keeping this view, the
      present review deals with the concept of time-based alterations of concentration
      of heavy metal ions (TACMI) in biological systems. On the basis of TACMI concept
      formation of organism resistance to metal ions action could be explained. In the
      event of slow increase of its concentration in organism, it produces induction of
      metallothioneins, other stress-proteins and relative changes in the whole
      metabolic system. This, first of all, results in formation of new specific
      epigenotypes, which provide higher resistance (hormesis effect) not only to metal
      ions that induced this effect, but also to such stress-factors as high
      temperature (at least, for micro-algae cells).

PMID- 20929053
TI  - Cellular and molecular mechanisms of dichlorvos neurotoxicity: cholinergic,
      nonchlolinergic, cell signaling, gene expression and therapeutic aspects.
AB  - Inappropriate use of toxic chemicals is common in developing countries, where it
      leads to excessive exposure and high risks of unintentional poisoning. Risks are
      particularly high with the pesticides used in agriculture, poor rural populations
      live and work in close proximity to these compounds and often store these
      compounds in and around their homes. It is estimated that most of the death from
      pesticide poisoning occur in developing countries. Organophosphate insecticides
      have been extensively used in agriculture in developing countries. Dichlorvos is
      a synthetic insecticide and belongs to a family of chemically related
      organophosphate pesticides (OP). Toxicity of dichlorvos has been documented in
      accidental human poisoning, epidemiological studies, and animal models. In this
      review, molecular mechanisms of dichlorvos neurotoxicity have been described.
      Usage, biotransformation, environmental levels, general population and
      occupational exposure, effects on cell signaling receptors, mitochondrial
      metabolism, oxidative stress and gene expression of dichlorvos have been
      reviewed. Assessment of acute and chronic exposures as well as neurotoxicity risk
      for lifetime exposures to dichlorvos have also been considered. In addition
      special emphasis has been given to describe, the role of dichlorvos in the
      chronic neurotoxicity and its molecular targets that ultimately lead to
      neurodegeneration.

PMID- 20929054
TI  - Effects of diesel exhaust, heavy metals and pesticides on various organ systems:
      possible mechanisms and strategies for prevention and treatment.
AB  - Environmental pollutants have a significant impact on the ecosystem and disrupt
      balance between environment, human and non-human components that result in
      deleterious effects to all forms of life. Identifying environmental factors for
      potential imbalance are extremely crucial for devising strategies for combating
      such toxic dysregulation. Automobile exhaust (in air), heavy metals (in food and
      water) and pesticides (in air, food, soil and water) are the most common
      environmental pollutants and their short and long-term exposures can cause
      hazardous effects in humans leading to systemic disorders involving lungs, kidney
      and immune systems. Mechanisms involved in genesis of such toxic effects have
      revealed complex, interactive pathways. Strategies for the protection of
      homeostasis and health, viz., general preventive measures, nutritional
      supplements and herbal agents have been described, to counter these pollutants
      induced damaging effects on various body systems.

PMID- 20929055
TI  - Altered glucose homeostasis in response to aluminium phosphide induced cellular
      oxygen deficit in rat.
AB  - The present study was designed to analyze the effect of acute aluminium phosphide
      (ALP) (10 mg/kg body wt.) exposure on the glucose homeostasis in rat liver and
      brain. ALP has been implicated in the inhibition of cytochrome oxidase causing
      reduced oxygen uptake and decreased ATP synthesis eventually resulting in
      cellular energy crisis. A significant decrease in plasma glucose levels in the
      ALP treated rats has been observed. Therefore, decreased ATP levels coupled with
      hypoglycemia may further intensify the cellular energy deficits. In order to meet
      the sudden increase in the local energy demand, the brain tissue utilizes its
      stored energy in the form of glycogen breakdown as observed by a decrease in the
      glycogen levels in both liver and brain which was accompanied by a marked
      increase in the activity of glycogen phosphorylase in both the tissues. The
      glycolytic rate was found to be enhanced in brain tissue as evident by increased
      activities of hexokinase and phosphofructokinase enzymes, but decreased in liver
      of ALP treated rats. Lactate levels were increased in plasma and brain, but
      decreased in liver of ALP treated rats. Pyruvate levels increased in the plasma
      and liver, but no change was observed in the brain tissue. ALP did not cause any
      change in the gluconeogenic enzymes like glucose-6-phosphatase and fructose-1,6
      bisphophatase in brain, but a significant increase was observed in the liver.
      Results of the study showed that ALP induced cellular energy deficit leads to
      compromised energy status of liver and brain coupled with substantial alterations
      in glucose homeostasis. However, the activity of glucose-6-phosphate
      dehydrogenase decreased significantly in both the tissues.

PMID- 20929056
TI  - Cyanide-induced changes in the levels of neurotransmitters in discrete brain
      regions of rats and their response to oral treatment with alpha-ketoglutarate.
AB  - Cyanide is a potential suicidal, homicidal and chemical warfare agent. It
      produces histotoxic hypoxia following inhibition of cytochrome c oxidase, a
      terminal respiratory chain enzyme. The profound metabolic changes lead to
      neurotoxicity including alterations in the levels of neurotransmitters. The
      present study addressed the effect of acute exposure of lethal and sub-lethal
      doses of potassium cyanide (KCN; 0.75 or 2.0 LD50; po) on the levels of
      neurotransmitters in discrete brain regions of rats and its response to treatment
      with alpha-ketoglutarate (alpha-KG; 0.5 g/kg; po; -10 min) alone or with sodium
      thiosulphate (STS; 1.0 g/kg; ip; -15 min). KCN significantly decreased
      norepinephrine, dopamine and 5-hydroxytryptamine levels in different brain
      regions which were resolved by alpha-KG and/or STS. Corpus striatum and
      hippocampus were more sensitive as compared to cerebral cortex and hypothalamus.
      alpha-KG, a potential cyanide antidote alone or with STS showed neuroprotective
      effects against cyanide.

PMID- 20929057
TI  - Microsomal Ca2+ flux modulation as an indicator of heavy metal toxicity.
AB  - Inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphatee (IP3), an intracellular messenger, releases Ca2+
      from microsomes. Ca2+ plays a major role in regulating various cellular events
      like neural transmission and regulation of hormones and growth factors. Aluminum
      (Al), lead (Pb) and mercury (Hg) were reported to alter Ca(2+)-regulated events
      thereby causing neurotoxicity. Hence, an attempt was made characterize IP3
      mediated Ca2+ release from rat brain microsomes under the influence of Al, Pb and
      Hg. Different concentrations of metals were tested over a designated time scale
      and their effects on IP3 mediated Ca2+ release from microsomes were monitored
      using Fura-2 technique. All the three metals inhibited IP3 mediated Ca2+ release,
      Pb being more potent. The order of potency of these three metals was Pb>Hg>Al.
      Except for Al, both Hg and Pb independently released Ca2+ from microsomes. Re
      uptake of Ca2+ into microsomes was inhibited by all the three metals, Pb being
      more potent. Microsomal Ca(2+)-ATPase activity was also inhibited by all the
      three metals. These results suggest that neurotoxicity exerted by Al, Pb and Hg
      may be due to the interference of these metals with IP3 mediated calcium release
      and also interfering with the microsomal Ca2+ sequestration mechanism.
      Differential effects of heavy metal induced changes in Ca2+ flux can be used as
      an index of relative toxicity.

PMID- 20929058
TI  - Acute and sub-acute toxicity of an insect pheromone, N-heneicosane and
      combination with insect growth regulator, diflubenzuron, for establishing no
      observed adverse effect level (NOAEL).
AB  - Aedes aegypti mosquito is one of the most notorious vectors of dangerous diseases
      like dengue hemorrhagic fever and chikangunya. One method of control of the
      vectors is by the use of semiochemicals or pheromones. The pheromone n
      heneicosane (C21) has been proved to be effective in attracting the female Aedes
      aegypti to lay eggs in the treated water and the growth of the larva is
      controlled by insect growth regulator diflubenzuron (DB). This study was planned
      to assess the safety of C21 alone and the combination with DB. Acute toxicity
      tests were carried out using two doses, viz., 1600 and 3200 mg/kg and two routes
      of exposure oral and intra-peritoneal. Dermal toxicity test was carried out in
      both male and female rats at the dose of 3200 mg/kg. Primary skin irritation test
      was carried out in rabbits. Sub-acute (90 days) dermal toxicity studies in male
      and female rats at the dose of 1 and 2 mg/kg via the per-cutaneous route were
      also studied. Sub-acute (90 days) toxicity test through the oral route was
      carried out, at doses 125, 250 and 500 mg/kg in male and female rats. The
      calculated LD50 by ip route and dermal route was more than 5 g/kg in mouse and
      rats of both the sexes. In the primary skin irritation test no significant
      changes were noted. In the sub-acute toxicity studies even 500 mg/kg dose was not
      able to produce toxic response in rats when they were dosed daily for 90 days.
      The established no observed adverse effect level (NOAEL) was more than 500 mg/kg.

PMID- 20929059
TI  - Prophylactic efficacy of combination of DRDE-07 and its analogues with amifostine
      against sulphur mustard induced systemic toxicity.
AB  - Sulphur mustard, [bis (2-chloroethyl)] sulphide (SM), is a bifunctional
      alkylating agent. SM forms sulphonium ion in the body which alkylates DNA and
      several other macromolecules, and induces oxidative stress. Although several
      antidotes have been screened for the treatment of systemic toxicity of SM in
      experimental animals none of them are recommended so far. In the search for more
      effective and less toxic antidotes, various combinations were tried against SM
      induced toxicity and skin lesions. SM exposed through percutaneous route was used
      to evaluate the prophylactic efficacy of various combinations. Low dose of DRDE
      07 (S-2(2-aminoethylamino) ethyl phenyl sulphide), DRDE-30 [S-2(2-aminoethyl
      amino) ethyl propyl sulphide], DRDE-35 [S-2(2-aminoethyl amino) ethyl butyl
      sulphide] with amifostine combinations, were given orally 30 min prior to SM
      exposure. Significant depletion was observed in body weight, organ body weight
      index and hepatic GSH and GSSG content in mice after SM exposure. Pretreatment
      with low dose of different combinations of DRDE-07, DRDE-30 and DRDE-35 with
      amifostine could recover biochemical alterations and histopathological changes
      caused by SM exposures.

PMID- 20929060
TI  - Sub-chronic arsenic exposure aggravates nephrotoxicity in experimental diabetic
      rats.
AB  - The present experiment was planned to study nephrotoxicity in experimental
      diabetic rats under sub-chronic exposure to arsenic. Alloxan induced diabetic and
      control rats were exposed to sodium arsenite (0 and 5.5 mg/kg, orally) for 30
      days. More pronounced nephrotoxic effects were noted in arsenic exposed diabetic
      group as evidenced by increased blood urea nitrogen, serum creatinine and
      relative kidney weight and decreased level of reduced glutathione and glutathione
      peroxidase activity compared to non arsenic exposed diabetic group. Increased
      level of lipid peroxidation, protein oxidation, superoxide dismutase and catalase
      activities under diabetic condition remained unchanged in arsenic exposed
      diabetic group compared to unexposed diabetic group.

PMID- 20929061
TI  - Creating patient service excellence.

PMID- 20929062
TI  - John Black: Renaissance man.

PMID- 20929063
TI  - [Warfarin therapy and hemarthrosis].
AB  - Bleeding in patients on oral anticoagulant treatment is not uncommon, but
      hemarthrosis has been described only in few patients. This is a case report of a
      patient on warfarin due to recurrent venous and arterial thromboembolism, with
      congenital thrombophilia and Behcet's disease. This report presents knee
      hemarthrosis during warfarin therapy, reviews the literature and discusses this
      issue.

PMID- 20929064
TI  - [Thrombophilia and thrombosis in children--lessons from cerebral sinus vein
      thrombosis registry of a tertiary center].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pediatric thrombosis is a rare event, and its pathophysiology is
      often associated with the presence of thrombophilic risk factors as welt as acute
      comorbid conditions. Sinus venous thrombosis [SVT] in childhood is a serious
      disease with reported annual incidence of 0.67 per 100,000 children. The etiology
      and pathophysiology of SVT in the pediatric population is stilt poorty
      understood, and the role of thrombophilic risk factors remains to be elucidated.
      METHODS: In our single tertiary center registry the authors documented all new
      acute cases of radiologically confirmed SVT from 1996 to 2008. Children were
      consecutively referred for thrombophilia work-up. Anticoagulant therapy was
      applied according to treating physicians' decision and all cases were
      prospectively followed for a median of 5 years. RESULTS: Our patient group
      included 15 males and 8 females whose median age was 2.9 years. Comorbid systemic
      illness was present in patients at diagnosis. Thrombophilia results were similar
      in comparison to pediatric controls previously collected at the said medical
      center. Short term anticoagulation was immediately initiated in most cases, and
      neurologic outcome was good. Neither clinical presentation nor acute-phase
      treatment decisions were affected by the presence of thrombophilic risk factors
      in the specified study group. Nevertheless, since SVT is a rare multifactorial
      disorder, imaging studies are recommended in sick "high-risk" children for better
      diagnosis and early initiation of anticoagulant treatment. Despite the presence
      of comorbid conditions in most cases, thrombophilia work-up is recommended to
      determine treatment length and assess potential further future risks.

PMID- 20929065
TI  - [Prevention of venous thromboembolism--what have we learned and how well are we
      doing?].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: In recent years, awareness regarding thromboprophylactic treatment
      for hospitalized patients at risk has grown significantly. Large trials
      incorporating thousands of patients published in recent years have proved that
      prophylactic treatment is effective and reduces the rates of hospital-acquired
      venous thromboembolism. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Two cross-sectional studies held in
      medical and general surgery wards have found that, similar to other medical
      centers worldwide, hospitalized patients are older, have many medical problems,
      and suffer from reduced mobility. These risk factors exist in approximately half
      of the patients in medical wards and should lead to prophylactic therapy, however
      only 22% of such high risk patients actually received treatment. In non-operated
      general surgery patients, the rate of prophylaxis use is even lower. In patients
      after surgery, the rate of use is higher but not optimal. Although in a survey
      most of the directors in medical and surgical wards claimed that prophylaxis is
      an important issue, and that they support prophylaxis regimens, the rate of
      prophylaxis was generally low and unsatisfying. CONCLUSION: Patients hospitalized
      at medical and surgical wards are at risk of acquiring venous thromboembolism,
      however rates of prophylaxis are low. Methods to improve prophylaxis rates should
      be adopted.

PMID- 20929066
TI  - [Aortic atheroma and splenic emboli].
AB  - The association between atheroma of the thoracic aorta and systemic embolization
      to the brain and other organs was discovered in the early 1990s in concordance
      with the improvement in the trans-esophageal echocardiography technique. The
      optimal treatment for secondary prevention of recurrent emboli is controversial,
      since the results of several studies differ and even contradict one another. In
      this article, the authors describe a man with splenic infarct, originating from a
      mobile descending aortic plaque. The cLinical approach for prevention of
      recurrent emboli is discussed, including the surgical and medical treatment
      options, and the literature on that subject is reviewed. Due to the absence of
      guidelines for optimal treatment in these cases and the Lack of conclusive
      randomized trials, the chosen treatment should be individualized, based on the
      characteristics of the plaque and other risk factors of each patient.

PMID- 20929067
TI  - [Von Willebrand disease: diagnostic and treatment dilemmas].
AB  - Von Willebrand disease (VWD) is the most common hereditary bleeding disorder,
      characterized by skin and mucosaL bleeding in most of the cases. In the Western
      world, the approximate number of bleeding VWD patients is 6.9 to 17 million. The
      disease is represented by several types with specific treatment for each type.
      Diagnosis can be troublesome and, therefore, n order to prevent bleeding
      complications, a professional clinical/laboratory team is required.

PMID- 20929068
TI  - [Megakaryocyte development and platelet production in normal and disease states].
AB  - Megakaryocytopoiesis involves the commitment of hematopoietic stem cell, the
      proliferation and terminal differentiation of the megakaryocytic progenitors and
      maturation to platelet producing megakaryocytes (MK). MKs align adjacent to bone
      marrow vascular endothelial cells, and form proplatelets. Platelets are released,
      or sheared from the MK directly into the circulation from the tips of
      proplatelets which protrude into the vascular lumen. The regulation of
      megakaryocytopoiesis is mediated through multiple hematopoietic growth factors,
      chemokines and cellular interactions via signal transduction pathways and
      integrated transcription factors. The primary physiological growth factor that
      regulates megakaryocytopoiesis and platelet production is thrombopoietin.
      Circulating Levels of thrombopoietin (TPO) induce concentration-dependent
      proliferation and maturation of MK progenitors by binding to the c-Mpl receptor
      and signaling induction. Increased concentration of free TPO resulting from
      decreased platelet turnover rates enables the compensatory response of marrow MKs
      to drive amplified platelet production. C-MpL signaling is orchestrated by a
      complex cascade of signaling molecules inducing the action of specific
      transcription factors to drive MK proliferation and maturation. Newly developed
      thrombopoietic agents operating via c-Mpl receptor have now been proven useful in
      supporting platelet production in thrombocytopenic states. In this article, the
      authors review the regulation of megakaryocytopoiesis and platelet production in
      normal and disease states, and new approaches of thrombopoietic therapy.

PMID- 20929069
TI  - [Inherited bleeding disorders common in Jews].
AB  - Four inherited disorders of hemostasis have been identified in Jews with a
      relatively high frequency: Factor XI deficiency, factor VII deficiency, combined
      factor V and VIII deficiency and GLanzmann thrombasthenia. During the past
      decades, the bleeding manifestations of these disorders, the diagnosis, the
      molecular-genetic basis and therapy have been discerned. Furthermore, the
      prevalence of the respective mutant genes have been delineated in various Jewish
      Communities. Each one of the disorders can serve as a model enabling better
      understanding of the pathophysioLogy of the coagulation systems. On the basis of
      data obtained from the research of Glanzmann thrombasthenia, several widely used
      drugs have been developed as effective antithrombotic agents.

PMID- 20929070
TI  - [Fat embolism syndrome following injuries and limb fractures].
AB  - Fat embolism syndrome is a clinical entity characterized by varying degrees of
      cerebral dysfunction, pulmonary changes and petechial rash that usually develop
      within 24-48 hours in a small percentage of victims after trauma and Long bone
      fractures. Deterioration can occur within a few hours Leading to unconsciousness
      or acute respiratory insufficiency, similar to adult respiratory distress
      syndrome (ARDS). The pathophysiology is still not clearly understood and there
      are two theories--the mechanical and biochemical cascade of events. It seems that
      the most significant diagnostic sign is hypoxemia with relatively normaL values
      of PaCO2 leading to development of radiographic "snow-like appearance" of the
      Lungs, resulting from the typical interstitial lung edema. Treatment consists of
      early fracture fixation, volume replacement, respiratory support and analgesia
      carefully managed since some of the patients may develop acute respiratory
      distress. The role of steroids and other drugs is still under debate. The vast
      majority of patients may heal without any complications, while 5%-10% of the
      patients may develop some neurological complications manifesting as behavior
      disturbances. The aim of this review is to update the clinical and
      pathophysiological aspects of fat embolism syndrome and to describe the various
      aspects of prevention and treatment.

PMID- 20929071
TI  - [Effect of iron deficiency and iron deficiency anemia in the first two years of
      life on cognitive and mental development during childhood].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The prevalence of iron deficiency anemia among infants and children
      over the world ranges between 2%-22.5%. Iron is essential for intact development
      of the body, and especiaLLy for the development of the central nervous system in
      the first two years of Life. OBJECTIVES: To examine, through a review of the
      literature, if there is any relation between iron deficiency and iron deficiency
      anemia (IDA), and cognitive and mental development in the first two years of
      life. METHODS: A review of 10 longitudinal and clinical trials from the last 16
      years, in which this correlation was examined. RESULTS: According to recent
      studies, the relation between iron deficiency and iron deficiency anemia to
      cognitive and mental development in childhood is stiLL unclear. Followup studies
      found poorer cognitive scores on measures of mental and cognitive functioning in
      the long run. Intervention trials in which iron supplementation was administered
      to infants with IDA, found an improvement in Language and mental deveLopmental
      test scores. However, micronutrient intervention, or zinc and iron combined or
      alone, did not improve performance on mental tests. The studies differed in the
      characteristics of the study population, definition of exposure, type of
      treatment and confounders. CONCLUSIONS: It is difficult to assess a causal
      relationship between iron deficiency and iron deficiency anemia, and cognitive
      and mental development in childhood, mainly due to methodoLogical and ethical
      reasons. However, most studies from recent years support a negative association.
      The Ministry of Health in israel recommends iron as a preventive action for iron
      deficiency in infants.

PMID- 20929072
TI  - [Splenic metastases from female genital tract malignancies].
AB  - Splenic metastases are rare. Usually, they are part of a disseminated disease and
      located on the splenic capsule. Common sources are breast cancer, lung cancer and
      malignant melanoma. SoLitary splenic metastases are rare, usuaLLy located in the
      splenic parenchyma and metastasizing via the hematogenous route. Splenic
      metastases from ovarian carcinoma are usuaLly part of a disseminated disease,
      located on the splenic capsule and metastasize via the peritoneum. Splenic
      metastases from endometriaL carcinoma are usuaLLy solitary, Located in the
      splenic parenchyma and metastasize via the hematogenous route. Splenic metastases
      from cervical carcinoma are divided equally between metastases as part of a
      disseminated disease and soLitary metastases. Less than 100 cases of solitary
      splenic metastases have been reported with half of them being metastases from
      female genital tract malignancies: 30--ovarian carcinoma; 11--endometriaL
      carcinoma; 8--cervical carcinoma; and 1--tubal carcinoma. Few cases have been
      reported of splenic rupture because of metastases from choriocarcinoma. Splenic
      metastases as part of a disseminated disease are associated with poor prognosis,
      and splenectomy--apart from cases in which it might assist in achieving optimaL
      debulking--is not effective. Solitary splenic metastases represent a more
      moderate disease and the treatment of choice is splenectomy. SoLitary splenic
      metastases may be detected after an interval from the diagnosis of the primary
      disease. Hence, patients who had been treated for female genital tract
      malignancy, even if they are asymptomatic, need a long-term follow-up, including
      serial imaging studies of the spleen.

PMID- 20929073
TI  - [Breaking the bad news--effective communication with children].

PMID- 20929074
TI  - The red reflex examination in neonates: an efficient tool for early diagnosis of
      congenital ocular diseases.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The American Academy of Pediatrics recently published recommendations
      for the red reflex assessment in the newborn period to detect and treat ocular
      disorders as early as possible, and to prevent lifelong visual impairment and
      even save lives. The test is technically simple to perform, non-invasive,
      requires minimal equipment and can detect a variety of ocular pathologies
      including cataracts and retinal abnormalities. No specific national guidelines
      exist on this issue. OBJECTIVES: To document the implementation of red reflex
      examination in routine neonatal care and present the findings. METHODS: Our
      clinical experience following inclusion of the red reflex test into the newborn
      physical examination in a single center was reviewed. In addition, an electronic
      mail questionnaire was sent to all neonatology departments in Israel regarding
      performance of the red reflex test. RESULTS: During 2007-2008, five infants were
      identified with congenital cataracts at days 2-6 of life prior to discharge from
      hospital. Surgery was performed in one infant at age 2 months and all infants
      underwent a thorough follow-up. The incidence of congenital cataract in our
      center was 1:2300. Less than half the neonatology departments have endorsed the
      AAP recommendation and perform the red reflex test routinely. CONCLUSIONS:
      Abnormal red reflex test after delivery enables a rapid ophthalmologic diagnosis,
      intervention and close followup. We recommend that red reflex screening be
      performed as part of the newborn physical examination; if abnormal, an urgent
      ophthalmologic referral should be made.

PMID- 20929075
TI  - A costly covenant: ritual circumcision and urinary tract infection.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Ritual circumcision in neonates may cause a urinary tract infection
      within 2 weeks of the procedure. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the prevalence of
      urinary tract infection among Jewish male circumcised neonates < or = 28 days
      old) evaluated for fever in the emergency room. METHODS: All available medical
      records of neonates presenting to the pediatric emergency room for evaluation of
      fever over a 10 year period were reviewed. Data included gender, ethnic
      background, age (in days) on presentation to the emergency room, age (in days)
      when circumcision was performed (in males > or = 8 days of age), and results of
      urine, blood and cerebrospinal fluid cultures. Families of males older than 8
      days of age who had a UTI were contacted by telephone to verify the circumcision
      status when the infant presented to the ER, to ascertain whether the circumcision
      had been performed ritually by a mohel* or by a physician, and, if not recorded
      in the chart, to verify the day of life on which circumcision was performed.
      RESULTS: Among neonates older than 8 days of age, 60 (24.7%) of the 243 febrile
      Jewish males had a UTI, as compared to 12 (8.4%) of 143 females (P < 0.0001). In
      39 of 54 male neonates (72%) for whom circumcision was performed ritually on the
      eighth day of life, UTI occurred within 9 days of the circumcision. For females,
      there was no such clustering of UTI cases in the second week of life, nor during
      any other time period. CONCLUSIONS: Febrile male neonates who have undergone
      ritual circumcision have a high prevalence of UTI and must be evaluated and
      treated accordingly.

PMID- 20929076
TI  - Prevalence of celiac disease in an adult Jewish population in Israel.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In the last decade the frequency of celiac disease diagnosis has
      increased in adults. OBJECTIVES: To determine disease prevalence (including
      silent and potential disease) in this population group. METHODS: We performed
      serologic screening of celiac disease in a representative and homogenous sample
      of a young adult general population in Israel, namely, 18 year old military
      conscripts, in 2003. Serologic screening was performed on serum samples randomly
      obtained from 850 healthy recruits (male/female = 1.1). Immunoglobulin A anti
      tissue transglutaminase was determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. In
      cases of IgA deficiency, lgG anti-endomysial antibodies were determined. A small
      intestinal biopsy was offered to all patients with positive serology. RESULTS:
      The prevalence of overt CD diagnosed prior to recruitment was 0.12% (0.1% in men
      and 0.14% in women). The overall prevalence based on positive serology was 1.1%.
      Six of nine subjects with positive serology agreed to undergo endoscopy and
      intestinal biopsies. In all cases, biopsies were compatible with celiac disease
      (five biopsies were graded as Marsh 3a and one as Marsh 3b). One subject
      previously reporting irritable bowel-like symptoms was diagnosed with overt
      atypical CD. The prevalence of overt CD diagnosed by screening was 0.12%. The
      ratio, of overt to silent CD was 1:8. No cases of potential CD were encountered.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that CD is highly prevalent in the young adult
      population in Israel. Serologic screening for CD is a reliable and simple method
      for diagnosing this disease before symptoms or complications develop.

PMID- 20929077
TI  - Preoperative staging using transrectal ultrasound in high and low rectal cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: An accurate preoperative definition of tumor and lymph node status is
      needed for reaching the correct decision regarding rectal cancer treatment.
      Transrectal ultrasonography is the most commonly used diagnostic modality for the
      local staging of rectal cancer. OBJECTIVES: To determine the accuracy of TRUS in
      the staging of rectal cancer. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective study on 95
      patients evaluated by TRUS. The rectum was subdivided into two parts (lower and
      upper). RESULTS: Sixty patients underwent radical surgery. Of these, 34 received
      no preoperative chemo-irradiation owing to microT1, was suggested to patients
      with adenocarcinoma that proved to be microT3). The overall accuracy rate was 80%
      for T stage. Overstaging was found in 13.3% and understaging in 6.7%. The N-stage
      was correctly assessed in 70%. The overall accuracy rate for tumors was 73.9% in
      the lower part and 90.9% in the upper. A trend towards a lower accuracy rate for
      low-lying tumors compared to high-located rectal tumors was found (P = 0.532),
      which did not reach statistical significance. CONCLUSIONS: TRUS gave better
      results for T1 and T3 stage rectal tumors but was inaccurate for stage T2,
      indicating the possible need for local excision in order to base the final
      treatment for T2 tumors on pathologic staging.

PMID- 20929078
TI  - Characterization and clinical outcomes of drug-eluting in-stent restenosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The best therapeutic alternative for patients suffering from in-stent
      restenosis after drug-eluting stent implantation remains to be elucidated.
      OBJECTIVE: To characterize the pattern, treatment and outcomes of DES-related in
      stent restenosis in patients treated at our institution. METHODS: We determined
      the incidence and major adverse clinical events in 71 consecutive patients with
      DES failure among 2473 patients who were treated with 2548 drug-eluting stents
      between 2004 and 2007. We analyzed the clinical data, procedural parameters and
      clinical outcomes. RESULTS: The type and number of stents implanted were as
      follows: Cypher (n = 1808), Endeavor (421) and Taxus (319); of these, 53 (2.9%),
      10 (2.4%), and 8 (2.5%) patients respectively presented with restenosis. The mean
      time to restenosis was 11.3 +/- 9.9 months. Patients' mean age was 65 +/- 11
      years; 75% were male, and 68% had diabetes mellitus. Unstable angina was the
      clinical presentation in 52 (73%). At 6 months, 3 patients had developed
      myocardial infarction (4.2%), repeat restenosis at follow-up was diagnosed in 8
      patients (11.3%), the overall major adverse clinical events rate was 18.3% (13
      patients), and 2 patients died (2.8%). CONCLUSIONS: Drug-eluting stent-related
      restenosis is relatively infrequent but remains a clinical challenge. It occurs
      more frequently in complex lesion subsets, but the overall intermediate-term
      prognosis is tolerable.

PMID- 20929079
TI  - Age-related immunoglobulin G seroprevalence of human parvovirus B-19 in Israeli
      children.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Human parvovirus B19 is a global and common infectious pathogen in
      humans, particularly in children. OBJECTIVES: To assess the immunoglobulin G3
      seroprevalence of B19 in children in Israel. METHODS: Overall, 128 previously
      healthy children (1.5-17 years old) hospitalized for various diseases other than
      acute human parvovirus B19 infection were assessed for IgG to the virus by enzyme
      linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS: The IgG seroprevalence increased from 22% in
      children aged 1.5-9 years to 52% in older children (P = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Our
      data suggest that most acute parvovirus B19 infections in Israel occur in the
      early school years, and that by 18 years of age 50% of Israeli children have been
      infected by the virus.

PMID- 20929080
TI  - The endless differential diagnosis of acute obstructive renal failure: unusual
      challenges for the sharp-sighted clinician.
AB  - Obstruction of urine outflow can result from mechanical blockade as well as from
      functional defects. In adults, urinary tract obstruction is due mainly to
      acquired defects, such as pelvic tumors, calculi, and urethral stricture. In
      childhood it is mostly due to congenital malformations. In this article we
      present two rare cases of acute obstructive renal failure that presented with
      hydronephrosis. These cases underline the wide range of causes that may lead to
      this clinical feature.

PMID- 20929081
TI  - A pertussis outbreak among daycare children in Northern Israel: who gets sick?
AB  - BACKGROUND: An outbreak of pertussis occurred in a daycare center with 87.5%
      vaccination coverage. OBJECTIVES: To assess the effectiveness of the acellular
      pertussis vaccine and prevention of pertussis after chemoprophylaxis with
      azithromycin. METHODS: We studied 31 daycare children aged 3-5.5 years exposed to
      a child with pertussis. Nasopharyngeal swabs were obtained for Bordetella
      pertussis culture and polymerase chain reaction initially, and at days 21 and 60
      of follow-up, in cases exhibiting symptoms. RESULTS: Of the 31 daycare children 6
      (19%) tested positive for 8. pertussis by PCR, 4 of whom had not been vaccinated
      against the disease. Of the two vaccinated children who contracted pertussis, one
      had milder symptoms and the other was asymptomatic. The incidence of pertussis
      was significantly lower in the vaccinated group (2/27) than in the unvaccinated
      group (4/4) (P = 0.000), with efficacy of the vaccine calculated to be 92.5%.
      Azithromycin chemoprophylaxis was taken only by 14 of the 25 exposed children
      (56%). On day 21 follow-up, there was no further laboratory-diagnosed B.
      pertussis cases in any of the exposed children, regardless of whether or not
      chemoprophylaxis was taken. CONCLUSIONS: Based o the children's clinical
      manifestations and PCR findings a pertussis outbreak had occurred in the daycare
      center studied. Our findings support the importance of pertussis vaccination
      since all the unvaccinated children in the daycare center contracted the
      infection.

PMID- 20929082
TI  - Neurologic evaluations in normal-tension glaucoma workups: are they worth the
      effort?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Normal-tension glaucoma is a chronic progressive optic neuropathy of
      unknown etiology. Neuro-imaging workup in these patients is controversial.
      OBJECTIVES: To determine the value of routine neurologic and neuro-ophthalmologic
      evaluations in patients with NTG. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective review of
      all patients diagnosed with NTG in our institution between 2001 and 2006.
      Neurologic and neuro-ophthalmologic data were evaluated. RESULTS: Sixty-eight
      patients were considered suitable for the study 135 males, 33 females; age range
      43-90 years). Neurologic and neuro-ophthalmologic findings were normal in all of
      them. The computed tomography brain scan was normal in 88% and duplex carotid
      Doppler scan was normal in 92%. CONCLUSIONS: Pathologic findings in neurologic
      and neuro-ophthalmologic assessments were uncommon in NTG. Therefore, contrary to
      earlier suggestions, neurologic and neuro-ophthalmologlc evaluations in typical
      normal-tension glaucoma patients appear to have no added value.

PMID- 20929083
TI  - Prognostic significance of HER-2/neu expression in patients with ductal carcinoma
      in situ.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The prognostic significance of biologic markers in women with ductal
      carcinoma in situ is not fully understood. HER2/neu is a marker of prognostic
      significance that is routinely assessed in invasive cancer but its correlation
      with clinical outcome in DCIS is still obscure. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the
      significance of HER-2/neu expression as a prognostic marker in DCIS. METHODS:
      Clinical and pathologic data from 84 patients treated for DCIS were analyzed. HER
      2/neu expression was determined by immunohistochemical staining. Histopathologic
      parameters (nuclear grade, histologic subtype, necrosis, calcifications, margins)
      were reviewed by an experienced pathologist. Local recurrence and/or metastatic
      spread were used as endpoints to determine the prognostic significance of HER
      2/neu expression. RESULTS: With a median follow-up of 94.8 months, nine
      recurrences were reported. Neither univariate nor multivariate analysis showed a
      significant correlation between HER-2/neu expression and disease recurrence or
      the time to disease recurrence. Although HER-2/neu expression demonstrated a
      significant association with high nuclear grade (P < 0.0001) and comedo subtype
      (P < 0.0001), there was no correlation between these histologic features and
      recurrence rate. The correlation between high nuclear grade and disease
      recurrence approached statistical significance (P = 0.07). CONCLUSIONS: No
      significant association was found between HER-2/neu expression in DCIS and
      disease recurrence. However, HER-2/neu correlated with negative markers such as
      nuclear grading and comedo necrosis, and its role should therefore be
      investigated in larger studies.

PMID- 20929084
TI  - The Israel National Immunization Registry.
AB  - Immunization coverage is a major health indicator. In Israel, routine childhood
      immunizations are provided at community public well-baby clinics. Immunization
      monitoring is an important cornerstone of a national health policy; however data
      obtained through sampling carries the risk of under-representation of certain
      population strata, particularly high risk groups. Despite high national average
      immunization coverage, specific subpopulations are under-immunized, as
      highlighted by outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases. The mean national
      immunization coverage at age 2 years (2006 data) was: DTaP-IPV-Hib4 (all 93%),
      HBV3 (96%), MMR1 (94%), HAV1 (90%). These reports are based on a 17% population
      based sampIe in some districts and on cumulative reports in others. A national
      immunization registry requires data completeness, protection of confidentiality,
      compulsory reporting by providers, and links to other computerized health
      records. It should provide individual immunization data from infancy to adulthood
      and be accessible to both providers and consumers. In 2008 the Israel Ministry of
      Health launched a national immunization registry based on immunization reporting
      from well-baby clinics using a web-based computerized system. As of January
      2010,120 well-baby clinics are connected to the nascent registry, which includes
      the records of some 50,000 children. The implementation of a comprehensive
      national immunization registry augurs well for the prospect of evidence-based
      assessment of the health status of children in Israel.

PMID- 20929085
TI  - Red reflex examination in neonates: the need for early screening.

PMID- 20929086
TI  - Ritual circumcision and urinary tract infection in Israel.

PMID- 20929087
TI  - An additional piece in the Israeli celiac disease puzzle.

PMID- 20929089
TI  - Mucosal small bowel metastasis from uterine leiomyosarcoma.

PMID- 20929090
TI  - Symptomatic spinal hemangioma in pregnancy.

PMID- 20929088
TI  - Molecular adsorbent recycling system therapy in the treatment of acute valproic
      acid intoxication.

PMID- 20929091
TI  - Overestimation by a hand-held glucometer of blood glucose level due to
      icodextrin.

PMID- 20929092
TI  - Should we operate on occult hip fractures?

PMID- 20929093
TI  - Metastasis of cervical carcinoma to the distal biliary system.

PMID- 20929094
TI  - One man's opinion.

PMID- 20929095
TI  - The green orthodontist.

PMID- 20929096
TI  - Clinical tips for improving 2D lingual treatment.

PMID- 20929097
TI  - Long-term stability of Class II correction with the Twin Force Bite Corrector.

PMID- 20929098
TI  - Surgical-Invisalign treatment of a patient with Class III malocclusion and
      multiple missing teeth.

PMID- 20929099
TI  - The Micro-Implant Pearl.

PMID- 20929100
TI  - The readers' corner.

PMID- 20929101
TI  - Glass ionomer cement hooks for stabilizing lingual retainer wires.

PMID- 20929102
TI  - Courage and character, leaders and legends: an interview with Sir Roy Calne, FRS.
      Interview by Linda Ohler.

PMID- 20929103
TI  - Proper analysis and interpretation of the stability of levothyroxine sodium 0.4
      microg/mL in 0.9% sodium chloride injection.

PMID- 20929104
TI  - Methadone maintenance therapy in liver transplantation.
AB  - Cirrhosis due to chronic infection with hepatitis C virus remains by far the most
      common reason for liver transplantation in North America. Currently, parenteral
      use of street drugs is the most common means of acquiring hepatitis C. Methadone
      maintenance therapy is an accepted form of treatment for chronic opiate (eg,
      heroin) addiction and, not surprisingly, a significant proportion of methadone
      treated patients have chronic hepatitis C. The feasibility of liver transplant
      candidacy in hepatitis patients who require methadone maintenance therapy is
      controversial, and some transplant centers require patients to withdraw from such
      therapy in order for the transplant process to move forward. Thus stable patients
      with end-stage cirrhosis who are receiving methadone maintenance are left in a
      most difficult situation: discontinue methadone and accept the side effects of
      withdrawal with the risk of recidivism to use of street opiates, an absolute
      contraindication for transplantation, or continue methadone therapy and risk
      exclusion from the transplant process. The issue of methadone replacement therapy
      in end-stage cirrhosis and the posttransplant literature on the subject are
      explored in this paper.

PMID- 20929105
TI  - Impact of a chronic kidney disease clinic on preemptive kidney transplantation
      and transplant wait times.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Despite the known benefits of preemptive kidney transplantation, its
      rate of use remains low. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether focused, comprehensive
      education provided at a clinic for patients with chronic kidney disease would
      improve the rate of preemptive transplantation and transplant wait times.
      METHODS: A retrospective cohort study design was used. The rate of preemptive
      transplantation and transplant wait times were compared between patients with end
      stage renal disease who had been followed in a chronic kidney disease clinic for
      more than 3 months and patients with end-stage kidney disease who had not been
      followed for chronic kidney disease care during the same period. RESULTS: More
      African Americans than others had initiated dialysis without having had previous
      care for chronic kidney disease. The rate of preemptive transplantation was 24%
      for patients followed in the clinic. For those patients without living donor
      options, mean transplant referral time was significantly different between
      patients followed at the clinic and patients who were not: 234 (SD, 392) days
      before dialysis was started versus 161 (SD, 525) days after dialysis was started
      (P = .01). CONCLUSION: A chronic kidney disease clinic can influence rates of
      preemptive kidney transplantation and transplantation referral times.

PMID- 20929106
TI  - Fatigue and sleep quality before and after liver transplantation.
AB  - CONTEXT: Recent publications suggest that fatigue and sleep disturbance are
      problems in patients with chronic liver disease and in liver transplant
      recipients. OBJECTIVES: To characterize the severity and nature of fatigue and
      sleep quality before and after liver transplantation, to examine the relationship
      between fatigue/ sleep quality and quality of life, and to identify their
      multivariate correlates. DESIGN, SETTINGS, AND PARTICIPANTS: Cross-sectional
      survey administered to 110 patients before and 95 patients after liver
      transplantation at 2 transplant centers. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Fatigue and sleep
      quality. RESULTS: Most pretransplant (86%) and posttransplant (76%) patients
      experienced high fatigue severity. Correlates of pretransplant fatigue severity
      were being female (odds ratio [OR] = 0.22, P = .04), higher body mass index (OR =
      1.07, P = .04), higher mood disturbance (OR = 1.05, P = .02), and poor sleep
      quality (OR = 0.26, P = .02). Correlates of posttransplant fatigue severity were
      use of sleep medications in the past month (OR = 0.51, P = .02) and higher mood
      disturbance (OR = 1.06, P = .004). Seventy-three percent of pretransplant and 77%
      of posttransplant patients were classified as having poor sleep quality. Higher
      body mass index (OR = 1.06, P = .05), sleep medications (OR = 0.43, P = .03), and
      more mood disturbance (OR = 1.04, P = .007) were predictive of poor sleep quality
      in pretransplant patients, whereas higher body mass index (OR = 1.07, P = .04)
      and more anxious mood (OR = 1.28, P = .03) were predictive of poor sleep quality
      in posttransplant patients. CONCLUSION: A very high proportion of both
      pretransplant and posttransplant patients experience clinically severe fatigue
      levels. Prospective research is necessary to identify causal mechanisms of these
      disorders and to evaluate strategies to reduce fatigue severity and improve sleep
      quality.

PMID- 20929107
TI  - Multiorgan transplant program in a nonacademic center: organizational structure
      and outcomes.
AB  - Given the complexity of solid organ transplantation, it is reasonable to believe
      that numerous factors are at play in achieving the enviable outcomes reported.
      The aim of this study is to examine the role of an organizational structure in
      maintaining the outcomes of a multiorgan transplant program at a nonacademic
      center. A retrospective analysis of 2378 solid organ transplants at Nazih Zuhdi
      Transplant Institute between March 1985 and December 2008 was performed. The 1
      year and 3-year patient and graft survival rates, rate of retransplantation, and
      median length of hospital stay were compared with US national data released by
      the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients in January 2009. The 1-year
      patient survival rates were 87.5% for heart, 95.1% for kidney, 75.8% for lung,
      89.6% for liver, and 100.0% for pancreas. The 3-year patient survival rates were
      73.5% for heart, 89.7% for kidney, 57.8% for lung, 87.7% for liver, and 100.0%
      for pancreas. A well-structured transplant program along with competent medical,
      administrative, and ancillary support can achieve comparable patient and graft
      survival rates independent of volume.

PMID- 20929108
TI  - Why families decline donation: the perspective of organ procurement coordinators.
AB  - CONTEXT: Current knowledge regarding the barriers to organ donation relies on 3
      data sources: potential donor families, hospital staff, and members of the
      general public. The current study complements these findings by interviewing
      organ procurement coordinators about their experiences during the familial
      consent process. OBJECTIVE: To characterize organ procurement coordinators'
      reports of barriers to obtaining familial consent for donation. DESIGN:
      Structured, face-to-face interviews. PARTICIPANTS: One hundred and two organ
      procurement coordinators recruited from a national sample of 16 organ procurement
      organizations. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Interviews were content analyzed to describe
      coordinators' experiences with families who decline donation. Manifest coding was
      used to determine the frequency with which particular barriers were identified by
      coordinators. Coordinators' reports of barriers were compared with organizational
      conversion rates to determine which barriers were associated with performance as
      an organization. RESULTS: Organ procurement coordinators revealed 16 distinct
      barriers in 4 overlying categories: concerns regarding decedents' wishes,
      structural barriers to donation, unsupportive belief systems, and lack of public
      education. Three reported barriers could be used to differentiate between high-
      and low-performance organizations: (1) familial concerns over bodily
      disfigurement, (2) failure of families to understand brain death, and (3)
      families' cultural/racial background. CONCLUSION: These results supplement
      existing reports of barriers to donation and are discussed in terms of shaping
      future public education efforts and request processes to improve conversion
      rates.

PMID- 20929109
TI  - Roles of sex and ethnicity in procurement coordinator--family communication
      during the organ donation discussion.
AB  - CONTEXT: Interpersonal relations with health care providers influence families'
      decisions to consent to solid-organ donation. However, previous research has been
      based on retrospective interviews with donation-eligible families and has not
      directly examined the interpersonal interactions between families and organ
      procurement coordinators. OBJECTIVE: To increase understanding of the
      interpersonal interaction between procurement coordinators and families during
      the organ donation discussion, with special attention to the influence of the sex
      and race of the procurement coordinator and the race of the potential donor's
      family. DESIGN: A descriptive study in which standardized patients portrayed
      family members interacting with actual procurement coordinators in simulated
      donation request scenarios. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Thirty-three videotaped
      interactions between standardized patients and 17 procurement coordinators
      involving 2 different scenarios depicting deceased donation were evaluated. MAIN
      OUTCOME MEASURES: Video recordings were rated by independent coders. Coders
      completed the Impact Message Inventory-Form C, the Participatory Style of
      Physician Scale, and the Siminoff Communication and Content and Affect Program
      Global Observer Ratings scale. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: African American
      procurement coordinators, particularly African American women, were rated as more
      controlling and work-oriented than white procurement coordinators. Male
      procurement coordinators were more affiliative with the white family than the
      African American family, whereas female procurement coordinators were slightly
      less affiliative with the white family. African American procurement coordinators
      expressed more positive affect when interacting with the African American family
      than the white family, whereas the opposite was true for white procurement
      coordinators. Research is needed to cross-validate these exploratory findings and
      further examine cultural mistrust between procurement coordinators and families
      of ethnic minorities, especially given the negative attitudes of many minorities
      toward donation.

PMID- 20929110
TI  - Hypotension after reperfusion in liver transplantation: histidine-tryptophan
      ketoglutarate versus University of Wisconsin solution.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The greatest hemodynamic instability during orthotopic liver
      transplantation occurs at graft reperfusion. Many factors have been implicated.
      PURPOSE: To compare hemodynamic changes after reperfusion in grafted livers
      preserved with histidine-tryptophan-ketoglutarate (HTK) solution versus grafted
      livers preserved with University of Wisconsin (UW) solution. METHODS: In this
      prospective study, we randomly divided 89 patients who underwent deceased donor
      liver transplantation into 2 groups: the UW group and the HTK group. The HTK
      group was further divided into 2 subgroups: flushed and not flushed before
      reperfusion. The patients were monitored with hemodynamic and metabolic
      parameters at 3 times: after the skin incision, 5 minutes before reperfusion, and
      5 minutes after reperfusion. RESULTS: Hemodynamic parameters in the UW group had
      not changed significantly at 5 minutes before reperfusion or 5 minutes after
      reperfusion (P = .45), and the incidence of hypotension after reperfusion in the
      UW group was 20%. In both HTK groups, the mean arterial pressure 5 minutes after
      reperfusion was significantly lower than at 5 minutes before reperfusion (P =
      .002); the incidence of hypotension after reperfusion in the nonflushed HTK group
      was 83.3% and in the flushed HTK group, 65.5%. CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of
      hypotension after reperfusion is greater if HTK solution rather than UW solution
      is used. Flushing of grafted livers preserved with HTK solution might eliminate
      some vasoactive substances found in HTK solution.

PMID- 20929111
TI  - Differential lung ventilation during adult donor care.
AB  - Differential lung ventilation may be required when one lung is injured or
      affected more than the other lung following, for example, aspiration, crush
      injury, or selective pneumonia, or if lung rupture results in formation of a
      bronchopleural fistula. Unilateral lung failure causes increased ventilation
      perfusion mismatching that often leads to severe hypoxemia. Treatment may include
      careful attention to ventilator parameters to avoid overdistention of the less
      affected lung or lateral decubitus positioning of the donor with the less
      affected lung down (gravitationally dependent position). Under extreme
      conditions, use of a specialized double-lumen endotracheal tube and separate
      ventilators with individualized parameters for each lung is required to provide
      adequate oxygenation and ventilation for organ preservation.

PMID- 20929112
TI  - Airway pressure release ventilation during adult donor care.
AB  - Airway pressure release ventilation is most commonly used during donor care to
      treat hypoxemia and to avoid high peak airway pressure. The traditional concept
      of cyclic inhalation/exhalation is replaced by a continuous positive airway
      inflation interspersed by brief episodes in which the positive pressure is
      reduced. The variables, Pressure-high, Pressure-low, Time-high, and Time-low, are
      manipulated to ensure adequate donor oxygenation and carbon dioxide removal.
      Organ procurement coordinators may find this method of mechanical ventilation in
      place when donor care is assumed or initiate it as a useful tool in providing
      donor support.

PMID- 20929113
TI  - Organ transplantation in Egypt.
AB  - Concern has increasingly been expressed about the growing number of reports of
      medical personnel participating in the transplantation of human organs or tissues
      taken from the bodies of executed prisoners, handicapped patients, or poor
      persons who have agreed to part with their organs for commercial purposes. Such
      behavior has been universally considered as ethically and morally reprehensible,
      yet in some parts of the world the practice continues to flourish. The concept of
      justice demands that every person have an equal right to life, and to protect
      this right, society has an obligation to ensure that every person has equal
      access to medical care. Regrettably, the Egyptian system does not legally
      recognize brain death and continues to allow the buying and selling of organs.
      For more than 30 years in Egypt, the ability to pay has determined who receives
      an organ and economic need has determined who will be the donor. As transplant
      professionals, it is important that we advocate on behalf of all patients,
      potential recipients, and donors and for those who are left out and not likely to
      receive a donor organ in an economically based system. Current issues associated
      with this debate are reviewed and recommendations about how to address them in
      Egypt are discussed.

PMID- 20929114
TI  - Significant alterations in reported clinical practice associated with increased
      oversight of organ transplant center performance.
AB  - In the past several years, emphasis on quality metrics in the field of organ
      transplantation has increased significantly, largely because of the new
      conditions of participation issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid
      Services. These regulations directly associate patients' outcomes and measured
      performance of centers with the distribution of public funding to institutions.
      Moreover, insurers and marketing ventures have used publicly available outcomes
      data from transplant centers for business decision making and advertisement
      purposes. We gave a 10-question survey to attendees of the Transplant Management
      Forum at the 2009 meeting of the United Network for Organ Sharing to ascertain
      how centers have responded to the increased oversight of performance. Of 63
      responses, 55% indicated a low or near low performance rating at their center in
      the past 3 years. Respondents from low-performing centers were significantly more
      likely to indicate increased selection criteria for candidates (81% vs 38%, P =
      .001) and donors (77% vs 31%, P < .001) as well as alterations in clinical
      protocols (84% vs 52%, P = .007). Among respondents indicating lost insurance
      contracts (31%), these differences were also highly significant. Based on
      respondents' perceptions, outcomes of performance evaluations are associated with
      significant changes in clinical practice at transplant centers. The transplant
      community and policy makers should practice vigilance that performance
      evaluations and regulatory oversight do not inadvertently lead to diminished
      access to care among viable candidates or decreased transplant volume.

PMID- 20929115
TI  - Humoral rejection after pediatric heart transplantation: a case report.
AB  - Humoral rejection was observed 2 years after heart transplantation in a 10-year
      old African American girl with sickle cell disease. Hemodynamic compromise
      developed, and the patient started treatment with extracorporeal membrane
      oxygenation within 24 hours of admission. With cellular rejection initially
      believed to be the cause, administration of thymoglobulin and high-dose steroids
      was initiated. Human leukocyte antigen antibody analysis revealed high titers of
      donor-specific class I and II antibodies. Aggressive treatment for antibody
      mediated rejection was started with plasmapheresis and administration of
      intravenous immune globulin and rituximab. The patient displayed clinical signs
      of infection and was treated with antimicrobial, antiviral, and antifungal
      agents. Computed tomography of the chest suggested asperigillous infection. The
      patient underwent a left upper lobectomy. The patient recovered and has done
      well, now 4 years after having received the heart transplant. Antibody-mediated
      rejection should be considered early in heart transplant patients presenting with
      hemodynamic compromise and may respond to aggressive antibody and B cell-directed
      therapy. Vigilance for secondary infections, especially during treatment for
      rejection, is crucial.

PMID- 20929117
TI  - Intel's cultural anthropologist.

PMID- 20929116
TI  - Probing transplant and living donor candidates about their participation in organ
      vending.
AB  - The selling of human organs for transplant is illegal in the United States and in
      most countries; however, such transactions still occur. Transplant hospitals and
      their personnel have multiple ethical duties, including (1) protecting the safety
      of their living donors and transplant recipients and (2) protecting the integrity
      of living donation and transplantation as clinical practices. To date, few
      psychosocial screening tools exist that pertain specifically to a person's risk
      or intent of pursuing organ vending (buying or selling). This article presents a
      series of transplant ethics case consultations that spawned the creation of a set
      of behavioral prompts for teams to probe with regard to organ vending when
      screening candidates about their suitability for participation as living donors
      or transplant recipients.

PMID- 20929118
TI  - The algorithm of love.

PMID- 20929119
TI  - [Problems and intervention strategies of Chinese medicine on assisted
      reproductive technology].

PMID- 20929120
TI  - [Effect of cuichan zhunsheng decoction for promoting cervical ripening in late
      pregnancy].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To observe the effect of Cuichan Zhunsheng Decoction (CZD) on the
      cervical ripening factors in late pregnancy. METHODS: Ninety women with full-term
      pregnant ready for labor inducing were equally assigned to 3 groups. The treated
      group was orally treated with CZD, the control group was with pitocin by adding 1
      U into 500 mL of 5% glucose for intravenous dripping in 6 h, and the placebo
      group was orally treated with simulator of CZD as placebo, with the medication
      lasted for 3 days. Changes of cervical length and width, and neck tube diameter
      were measured by vaginal B-ultrasonography to estimate the degree of cervical
      maturation referring to the clinical Bishop scale; meanwhile, changes in blood
      levels of prostaglandin E2alpha(PGE2alpha), interleukin-8 (IL-8) and endothelin-1
      (ET-1) were measured. RESULTS: The total effective rate on cervical ripening was
      96.7% in the treated group, which was significantly superior to those in the
      control group (83.3%) and the placebo group (26.7%, P < 0.05). The blood levels
      of PGE2alpha, IL-8, and ET-1 after treatment in the treated group were
      significantly higher than those in the placebo group (P < 0.05), and levels of
      PGE2alpha and IL-8 were higher in the control group than in the placebo group (P
      < 0.05). CONCLUSION: CZD can promote the cervical ripening through raising blood
      levels of PGE2alpha, IL-8 and ET-1, altering the structure of cervical tissue to
      reduce the cervical tension, which could increase the maturation of cervix,
      induce delivery sign, so as to elevate the vaginal delivery rate and reduce the
      percentage of caesarean birth.

PMID- 20929121
TI  - [Clinical observation on effect of shenqi guchong recipe in treating peri
      menopausal anovulatory dysfunctional uterine bleeding].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect and hemostatic mechanism of Shenqi Guchong
      Recipe (SGR) in treating peri-menopausal anovulatory dysfunctional uterine
      bleeding (ADUB) of qi deficiency blood stasis syndrome type (QDBS). METHODS:
      Patients of ADUB-QDBS were assigned to two groups, the 47 patients in the treated
      group administering orally with SGR and the 31 in the control group treated with
      Kunning Oral Liquid. The hemostatic effect, and the changes before and after
      treatment of 6-ketoprostaglandin 1alpha (6-K-PGF1 alpha), thromboxane B2(TXB2), T
      lymphocyte subsets (CD3 and CD8, CD4/CD8 ratio) in menstrual blood, and serum
      calcium level in patients were observed. RESULTS: The hemostatic effect in the
      treated group [85.1% (40/47)] was better than that in the control group [51.6%
      (16/31)], significant difference was shown between groups (P < 0.05). Changes of
      6-K-PGF1 alpha TXB2, and 6-K-PGF1 alph/TXB2 ratio in the treated group were
      significant after treatment and showed significant difference as compared with
      those in the control group (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). Meantime, serum Ca2+ level was
      increased and parameters of T-lymphocyte subsets improved significantly in the
      treated group (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01), also statistically different to those in
      the control group (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: SGR shows obvious hemostatic effect in
      treating patients with ADUB of QDBS type, and the mechanism may be related to its
      actions for improving microcirculation, enhancing immune function, and improving
      uterine local micro-environment, etc.

PMID- 20929122
TI  - [Prelimary exploration on Chinese medicine syndrome type distribution in patients
      with polycystic ovary syndrome].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To explore the Chinese medicine syndrome type distribution in patients
      with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and its relationship with sexual hormones.
      METHODS: Chinese medicine syndrome types of 212 PCOS patients were differentiated
      and sorted by adopting fuzzy mean C clustering method, and their relationship
      with the indices of sexual hormones detected on the 3rd to 5th day of menstrual
      cycle was analyzed, with the values got from 20 healthy women for controls.
      RESULTS: Intermingling syndromes were commonly seen in PCOS patients. Shen
      deficiency syndrome (presented in 64 patients) and Gan-qi stagnancy syndrome (61
      patients) were the dominance, accounting for 30.2% and 28.8% respectively,
      significantly higher than that of other syndromes (P < 0.05), which were Pi
      deficiency syndrome (41 patients, 19.3%), phlegm-dampness syndrome (33 patients,
      15.6%) and blood stasis syndrome (13 patients, 6.1%). Levels of estradiol (E2),
      testosterone (T), luteinzing hormone (LH), dehydroiso-androsterone (DHEA-S) and
      prolactin (PRL) were higher, while the level of sexual hormone binding protein
      (SHBG) was lower in PCOS patients than those in control, follicular stimulating
      hormone (FSH) level in patients of Shen-deficiency syndrome and phlegm-dampness
      syndrome was high than that in control (P < 0.05 and P < 0.01). However, no
      significant differences were found in comparing the various sexual endocrinal
      indices between patients with different syndrome types (P > 0.05). Besides, the
      level of PRL was positively correlated with LH and E2 levels in patients.
      CONCLUSION: Chinese medicine syndromes presented in patients with PCOS are mostly
      intermingling, Shen-deficiency and Gan-stagnancy are the basic syndromes, and
      there is some correlation between syndrome type and sexual hormone levels.

PMID- 20929123
TI  - [Clinical study on treatment of acute radiation oral mucositis of yin deficiency
      induced inner heat syndrome by nourishing yin and clearing heat method].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To observe the clinical effect of Chinese medicine for nourishing yin
      and clearing heat therapy (CM therapy) in treating nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC)
      patients with yin deficiency-induced inner heat syndrome, and suffered from acute
      radiation oral mucositis. METHODS: Sixty patients with NPC fitting to the
      inclusion criteria and undergoing initial dose radiotherapy were assigned to two
      groups. The 31 patients in the treatment group received CM therapy, and the 29 in
      the control group were treated with standard Western medical therapy. The
      condition of oral mucosa and epidermal growth factor (EGF) content in saliva of
      patients during the therapeutic period were observed, meanwhile the quality of
      life (QOL) of patients was estimated with the quality of life questionnaire-core
      30 (QLQ-C30) issued by European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer
      (EORTC). RESULTS: Acute radiation oral mucositis occurred in all patients, but
      the severity in the treatment group was milder than that in the control group (P
      < 0.01). Salivary EGF content decreased along with the increasing radiation
      dosage, it decreased significantly when 40 Gy radiated and down to the minimum
      when 70 Gy radiated, but the decrement in the treatment group was less than that
      in the control group (P < 0.01). Comparison of QOL by QLQ-C30 scale showed that
      after radiotherapy the global health status in the treatment group was superior
      to the control group (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Chinese medicine for nourishing yin
      and clearing heat therapy could actually postpone the occurrence of acute
      radiation oral mucositis, lessen the adverse reaction of radiotherapy and improve
      patient's QOL, show a favorable effect in prevention and treatment, and has
      definite application value for clinical spreading.

PMID- 20929125
TI  - [Comparative study on the methods of Chinese medicine and Western medicine
      therapeutic evaluation for advanced non-small cell lung cancer].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare the differences and characteristics in Chinese medicine
      (CM) and Western medicine therapeutic evaluation methods in the application of
      advanced non-small cell lung cancer. METHODS: A total of 200 cases of advanced
      non-small cell lung cancer from 3 subcenters were enrolled the study and assigned
      to two groups, 104 in the CM group treated with CM injection combined with
      treatment based on syndrome differentiation, 96 in the chemotherapy group treated
      with the international chemothearapy scheme, both the course of treatment was 6
      weeks. Their short-term therapeutic effects were observed by the "clinic efficacy
      appraisal standard of therapy for advanced lung cancer with CM" simultaneously
      and by the follow-up Western medical solid tumor's effect evaluation criterion,
      including clinical symptoms, tumor body, Karnorfsky score, body weight and immune
      function evaluation. RESULTS: According to WHO solid tumor's effect evaluation
      criterion, the efficacy of the chemotherapy group was much better than that of
      the CM group (P < 0.01). While, according to the "clinic efficacy appraisal
      standard of therapy for advanced lung cancer with CM", the efficacy of the CM
      group was better than that of the chemotherapy group without statistical
      difference (P = 0.05), however, there was a very strong trend of appearing
      difference. There was difference inult o the results of the two evaluation
      methods. CONCLUSION: Compared with WHO solid tumor's effect evaluation criterion,
      "the clinic efficacy appraisal standard of therapy for advanced lung cancer with
      CM" can reflect more features and advantages of CM for cancer treatment, having
      value for further study.

PMID- 20929124
TI  - [Effects of astragalus on cardiac function and serum tumor necrosis factor-alpha
      level in patients with chronic heart failure].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To explore the effects of Astragalus on cardiac function and serum
      tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) level in patients with chronic heart
      failure (CHF). METHODS: Forty-five patients of Xin-qi deficiency or Xin-yang
      deficiency types were assigned to the Chinese medicine (CM) group and the Western
      medicine (WM) group by a randomizing digital table. Standard treatment for
      correcting heart failure, including digoxin, diuretics, etc. was administered to
      both groups, but to the CM group oral medication of Astragalus granule was given
      additionally at the dosage of 2.25 g twice a day, the treatment for both was
      continued for two weeks. NYHA cardiac functional grading, serum TNF-alpha level,
      left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and walk distance in 6 min (WD) were
      measured before and after treatment, and a correlation analysis was carried out.
      RESULTS: After therapy, the level of TNF-alpha in the two groups decreased (P <
      0.05) and it was lower in the CM group [(54.77 +/- 9.34) microg/L] than in the WM
      group [(62.10 +/- 9.94) microg/L] (P < 0.05); LVEF in the two groups increased (P
      < 0.05) and it was higher in the CM group [(64.45 +/- 12.47)%] than that in the
      WM group [(56.03 +/- 13.33)%] (P < 0.05); both groups' WD increased (P < 0.05)
      and it was longer in the CM group [(446.97 +/- 68.82) m] than in the WM group
      [(345.40 +/- 63.62) m] (P < 0.05); the improvement of cardiac functional grading
      in the CM group was outstriper than the WM group (P < 0.05). The improvement in
      cardiac function was negatively correlated with TNF-alpha level. CONCLUSION:
      Astragalus can alleviate the calcium overload-induced myocardial damage and
      improve both systolic and diastolic functions of heart in patients with CHF.

PMID- 20929126
TI  - [Effect of combined therapy with Chinese drug and narrow broad ultraviolet B on
      Bcl-2, caspase-3 and survivin in skin lesion with psoriasis vulgaris].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To reveal the possible role of combined therapy with Chinese drug and
      narrow broad ultraviolet B (NB-UVB) on keratinocytes apoptosis in skin lesion of
      psoriasis vulgaris (PV). METHODS: Skin samples were taken from 20 healthy
      subjects and 30 PV patients before and after they received the combined therapy
      for 8 weeks. SP immunohistochemical method was used to detect the expressions of
      Bcl-2, Caspase-3 and survivin in the samples. RESULTS: As compared with those in
      the normal skin, expression of Bcl-2 in PV skin was significantly lower (7.50 +/-
      2.01 vs. 12.65 +/- 2.83), while expression of Caspase-3 (21.73 +/- 3.70 vs. 8.55
      +/- 2.16), and survivin (23.90 +/- 2.82 vs. 7.06 +/- 1.96) were higher (all P <
      0.01). After treatment, in skin of PV, Bcl-2 expression increased to 13.63 +/-
      2.14, Caspase-3 and survivin decreased to 11.70 +/- 2.44 and 12.46 +/- 1.80,
      respectively (all P < 0.01), showing a normalizing trend. Moreover, patients'
      psoriasis area and severity index (PASI) score decreased from 14.24 +/- 3.42
      before treatment to 3.52 +/- 1.07 after treatment (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: The
      curing effect of the combined therapy with Chinese drug and NB-UVB in treating PV
      is possibly realized by way of regulating Bcl-2, Caspase-3 and survivin
      expressions to adjust keratinocyte apoptosis.

PMID- 20929127
TI  - [Effect of bushen recipe on the immune effector molecules of natural killer cells
      in patients with chronic hepatitis B].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the immunoregulation mechanism of Bushen Recipe (BSR)
      in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) of Gan-Shen yin-deficiency and
      lingering damp-heat syndrome (GSS). METHODS: Thirty-five patients with positive
      HBV DNA and abnormal alanine transaminase (ALT) level were assigned to the
      treatment group (22 patients) and the control group (13 patients), they were
      treated with BSR and alpha-2b interferon for 6 months respectively. Blood levels
      of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), total
      bilirubin (TBIL) and HBV DNA were measured before and after treatment. And the
      expressions of immune effector molecules of nature killer (NK) cell, including
      perforin (PF), granzyme B (GrB), granulysin (GNLY), tumor necrosis factor-alpha
      (TNF-alpha) and gamma-interferon (gamma-IFN), were detected using flow cytometry.
      RESULTS: Levels of ALT and AST declined significantly in both groups after
      treatment (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01), showing insignificant difference between them.
      And the expressions (%) of PF and GNLY in the treatment group reduced
      significantly after treatment, from 69.62 +/- 27.58 to 34.86 +/- 31.60 for PF and
      from 64.54 +/- 25.96 to 25.72 +/- 24.98 for GNLY (both P < 0.05). In the
      treatment group and the control group, as compared with before treatment, the
      total scores of Chinese medicine symptoms were significantly declined after
      treatment (P < 0.01), and the total scores of Chinese medicine symtoms in the
      treatment group was significantly lower than that of the control group (P <
      0.05). As compared with the total effective rate of Chinese medicine syndromes in
      the control group after treatment, that in the treatment group was significantly
      increased (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The mechanism of BSR in immuneregulating on
      patients with CHB of GSS is by way of declining the expressions of relative
      immune effector molecules to promote the recovery of the damaged liver.

PMID- 20929128
TI  - [Perioperative intervention of tetramethylpyrazine on free skin flap
      transplantation].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To study the impacts of tetramethylpyrazine (TMP) intervention on
      hemorheology and blood coagulation before and after free skin flap
      transplantation, in order to provide new clues of applying Chinese drugs for
      activating blood circulation and removing stasis in microsurgery. METHODS: Sixty
      patients undergoing free skin flap transplantation were randomly and equally
      assigned to two groups, the treatment group administered with
      tetramethylpyrazine, the control group with low molecular dextran, both were
      treated for 7 days. The survival rate of transplanted flap, hemorrheologic
      parameters and four blood coagulation associated indices (prothrombin time,
      thrombin time, activated prothrombin time and fibrinogen) were detected before
      and after treatment. RESULTS: Comparisons of clinical efficacy and hemorrheologic
      indices showed no significant difference between the two groups (P > 0.05), but
      TMP showed less impacts on the four blood coagulation associated indices at the
      24, 48 and 72 h after operation (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: TMP could prevent blood
      vessel crisis after free skin flap transplantation, so it is valuable in
      microsurgical clinical application.

PMID- 20929129
TI  - [Effect of ru'ai shuhou recipe on immune response in HER2/neu tranagenic mice
      undergoing breast cancer carcinogenesis process].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To explore the immune response induced by HER2/neu oncogene in the
      breast cancer (BC) carcinogenesis process and the immunological mechanism of
      Ru'ai Shuhou Recipe (RSR) in the prevention and treatment of BC. METHODS:
      HER2/neu transgenic spontaneous breast tumor model mice were fed with RSR from 5
      weeks old, the occurrence of breast tumor in them was observed, and the changes
      of T cell-mediated immune response and associated cytokines were detected during
      the carcinogenesis process, i. e., when mice aged between 15 and 25 weeks.
      RESULTS: RSR showed significant effects in postponing and reducing the
      carcinogenesis of primary breast tumor, up-regulating the amount of T cell in
      splenic lymphocyte in tumor-bearing mice, promoting the proliferation of T
      lymphocyte, and inducing the secretion of cytokines such as interleukin-2,
      interleukin-12 and interferon-y. CONCLUSIONS: A serial immune response reveals in
      the carcinogenesis process. The immunologic function of HER-2/neu transgenic mice
      is significantly different to that of the same strain non-transgenic mice. Effect
      of RSR in preventing and postponing breast cancer carcinogenesis is possibly
      realized through enhancing the anti-tumor immune response of transgenic mice
      themselves.

PMID- 20929130
TI  - [Study on the apoptosis inducing effect of pseudolaric acid B on cervical
      carcinoma cell line HeLa cells].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the biological effect and mechanism of action of
      pseudolaric acid B (PAB) on the cultured human HeLa cells in vitro. METHODS: MTT
      and flow cytometric assays were used to detect the cells proliferation inhibitory
      rate and apoptosis of HeLa cell in exposure to PAB; the morphological changes of
      apoptosis were observed with electron microscope; and the expressions of p53/bcl
      2/bax mRNA were detected by RT-PCR. RESULTS: (1) HeLa cell proliferation was
      inhibited by PAB in a dose-dependent manner, the IC50 being about 10 micromol/L;
      (2) flow cytometry showed that the distribution of HeLa cell cycle was changed
      time-dependently by 10 micromol/L PAB-treatment, showing decrease of G0/G1 phase
      cell percentage and increase of G2/M phase cell percentage; (3) the bax mRNA
      expression elevated and bcl-2 protein expression decreased markedly after being
      treated by 10 micromol/L PAB for 12 h, 24 h, and 48 h; while the expression of
      p53 mRNA could not be detected. CONCLUSION: PAB can inhibit the proliferation and
      induce the apoptosis of Hela cells in vitro, and its molecular mechanism may be
      associated with up-regulating bax mRNA expression and down-regulating bcl-2 mRNA
      expression.

PMID- 20929131
TI  - [Inhibitory effect of matrine on proliferation of human ovary malignant teratoma
      cell line PA-1 in vitro].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To study the effect of matrine (MAT) on the proliferation of human
      ovary malignant teratoma cell line PA-1 in vitro. METHODS: PA-1 cells allocated
      in different groups were treated with different concentrations (0.25 mg/mL, 0.5
      mg/mL and 1.0 mg/mL) of MAT. The inhibitory effect of MAT and its dose- and time
      effect relationship were detected with MTT; the apoptosis rate and cell cycle
      were evaluated by flow cytometry; and the changes of bcl-2/bax mRNA expression in
      cells were measured using semi-quantitative RT-PCR. RESULTS: After being exposed
      to MAT, the PA-1 cell proliferation was decreased in a concentration- and time
      dependent manner; cell apoptosis rate raised as the increasing concentration of
      MAT and acting time; cells retarded at G1 phase in the cell cycle dose
      dependently; and the bcl-2/bax mRNA expression in cells dawn-regulated
      significantly. CONCLUSION: MAT can dose- and time-dependently inhibit the
      proliferation of PA-1 cell by reducing bcl-2/bax mRNA ratio to produce a G1 phase
      arresting in cell cycle.

PMID- 20929132
TI  - [Effect of ethanol extract from Matbuhi Aftimun on blood lipide level in rat
      hyperilpldemla model].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the acute toxicity, lipid reducing effect and mechanism
      of action of ethanol extracts of Matbuhi Aftimun (E-MA), a classic prescription
      of Uighur medicine, on hyperlipidemia rat model. METHODS: The LD50 or maximum
      tolerance of rats to E-MA was determined by simplified probit method.
      Hyperlipidemia rat model was established in SD rats by feeding high lipid
      emulsion, then E-MA at different dosages (0.80 g/kg, 1.60 g/kg and 3.20 g/kg) was
      given orally to them. The effects of E-MA on model rats' serum lipids, including
      total cholesterol (TC), low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C), high density
      lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C), triglyceride (TG), were observed. And its
      effects on malondialdehydec (MDA) content, superoxide dismutase (SOD),
      glutathione peroxidase (GSH-PX), total lipase, including lipoprotein lipase (LPL)
      and hepato-lipase (HL) activities in the liver homogenate were assayed. RESULTS:
      The maximum tolerance of rats to E-MA was 64 g (crude drug)/kg. Compared with the
      hyperlipidemia model rat, the blood TC level was lower (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01),
      and the MDA content in the liver homogenate was higher in model rat after E-MA
      treatment (at all the three specified dosages, P < 0.01), but no significant
      difference was found in comparisons of serum levels of LDL-C, HDL-C and TG (P >
      0.05), also on the levels of SOD, GSH-PX and total lipase in the liver homogenate
      (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: E-MA shows a serum TC reducing effect on hyperlipidemia
      rat model with low toxicity in mice.

PMID- 20929133
TI  - [Effect of dureping injection on T-cells function and their function in killing
      FM1 infected Mphi in vitro].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of Dureping Injection (DRP) on the T-cells
      function of mice and the function of T-cells in killing MF infected by influenza
      virus subtype A mice-lung adaptive strain FM1 in vitro. METHODS: Number of
      splenic normal and FM1 infected T-cells in mice were measured by MTT and double
      antibody sandwich ELISA, after being treated with DRP at different concentrations
      (2.1, 8.5 and 17.0 microg/mL), and the effect of DRP on interferon-gamma (IFN
      gamma) and interleukin-10 (IL-10) production as well as on splenic T-cell killing
      FM1 infected Mphi/Ana-1 function were detected. RESULTS: DRP inhibited the
      multiplication of normal spleen T cells induced by concanavalin A in vitro,
      suppressed Th2 cell factor IL-10 production, and maintained Th1 cell factor IFN-y
      at a definite level, moreover, it directly enhanced the power of T-cells in
      killing FM1 infected Mphi (P < 0.05, P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: DRP could act on mice
      T-cells to enhance the immune response for antiinfluenza viral FM1 in vitro.

PMID- 20929134
TI  - [Effects of Lignum Sappen on growth and metastases of Lewis lung carcinoma at
      different phases in C57BL/6 mice].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To observe the effects of Lignum Sappan (LS) on the growth and
      metastases of transplanted Lewis lung carcinoma (LLC) in mice and investigate its
      partial mechanism of action. METHODS: C57BL/6 mice were established in LLC model
      and divided into six groups in random: Group A was untreated; Group B was treated
      by chemotherapy (CM) only; Groups C-F were treated respectively with low-dose LS,
      high-dose LS, CM + low-dose LS and CM + high-dose LS, via intragastric
      administration for 21 successive days. Mice were sacrificed in batches at
      different time points (d 7, d 14 and d 21) to observe the tumor inhibition rate
      and the metastases suppressing rate was measured dynamically. Meantime, the CD44
      expression in tumor cells was measured by flow cytometry and serum P-selectin
      concentration was measured by ELISA assay. RESULTS: Tumor weight in all treated
      groups, except Group C, was lower than that in Group A at the three time points
      (P < 0.05, P < 0.01), and that was lower in Group F than in Group B at the
      corresponding time points (P < 0.05, P < 0.01). Comparisons of CD44+ in tumor
      cells showed that as compared with Group A, on d 7, it was lower in Groups B and
      D (P < 0.01); on d 14, it was lower in Group E (P < 0.01) and Group F (P < 0.05);
      and on d 21, it was lower in Groups E and F (P < 0.01). As for the concentration
      of P-selectin, the intergroup comparisons showed that it was lower in Groups B-F
      on d 7 and in Group F on d 21 than that in Group A (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01), but
      showed insignificant difference in comparing the Group A with all the treated
      Groups on d 14 (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: LS and CM +LS could inhibit the growth and
      metastases of LLC, and shows inhibition on CD44 expression in tumor cells and P
      selectin level in serum, which may be one of the mechanisms of LS in suppressing
      tumor metastasis.

PMID- 20929135
TI  - [Effect and mechanism of action of qingkailing on learning and memory capacity of
      SAMP8 mouse].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the influence of Qingkailing (QKL) on learning and
      memory abilities, global neurotransmitter and phosphatidylinositol 3
      kinase/protein kinase B (PI3K/AKT) signaling pathway of senescence accelerated
      mouse-prone/8 (SAMP8) mice with Alzheimer's dementia (AD). METHODS: SAMP mice
      were modeled and divided into the model group, the QKL group and the doneppezil
      hydrochloride group, all treated for 90 days. And a control group was set up with
      senescence accelerated mouse-resistance/1 (SAMR1) mice. Morris water maze was
      used to test the learning and memory abilities of mice; contents of acetylcholine
      (Ach) and monoamine neurotransmitters in brain were measured by HPLC; levels of
      Grb2-associated binder-1 (Gab1), AKT and phospho-serine/threonine protein kinase
      B (PAKT473) were evaluated by Western-blot. RESULTS: Compared with the control
      group, in the model group, the average escape latency detected by hidden platform
      trial and reverse trial on the 3rd day was higher (P < 0.01); levels of Ach, 5
      hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) and Gab1 were lower (P < 0.01, P < 0.05 and P < 0.01),
      respectively. As compared with the model group, the escape latency (within the
      2nd to 5th day) decreased (P < 0.01), levels of Ach and 5-HT increased (P <
      0.05), and Gab1 protein expression increased (P < 0.01) in the QKL treated group
      after treatment, in addition, the level of phosphorylated AKT protein
      significantly increased (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: QKL could improve the learning
      and memory ability of AD model mice, which is probably related to its function in
      increasing cerebral Ach, 5-HT and activating PI3K/AKT pathway.

PMID- 20929136
TI  - [Effects of changwelqing on nuclear translocation of Y-box binding protein-1 and
      expression of P-glycoprotein in human colon cancer cell line with drug-resistance
      induced by vincristine].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effects and molecular mechanism of action of
      Changweiqing (CWQ) in reversing multidrug resistance by observing its impacts on
      nuclear translocation of Y-box binding protein-1 (YB-1), multi-drug resistance
      gene (MDR1) expression and P-glycoprotein (P-gp) expression in human colon cancer
      cell line HCT8/V with drug-resistance induced by vincristine. METHODS: Cultured
      HCT8/V cells were exposed to the CWQ-containing rat serum prepared by drug
      perfusion. YB-1 expressions in cell plasma and nuclei were examined by Western
      blot; the binding activity of YB-1 to MDR1 gene promoter sequences was detected
      by electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA); the mRNA transcription levels of
      MDR1, YB-1 and multi-resistance related protein (MRP) were examined by RT-PCR;
      the expression of P-gp on cell membrane was determined by flow cytometry. Results
      Along with the increasing drug's concentration of CWQ-containing serum from 1.25%
      up to 2.5% and 5%, the expressions of YB-1 decreased in HCT8/V cell nuclear and
      increased in cytoplasm gradually; the binding activity of YB-1 to MDR1 gene
      promoter weakened (P < 0.01), MDR1 mRNA expression and fluorescence intensity of
      P-gp on cell membrane attenuated (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01), while YB-1 and MRP mRNA
      unchanged (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: CWQ could reverse the drug-resistance of colon
      cancer cells by influencing nuclear translocation of YB-1 and reducing the
      expression of MDR1/P-gp.

PMID- 20929137
TI  - [Effects of panax quinquefolius saponin of stem and leaf on glucose-lipid
      metabolism and insulin signal transduction in insulin resistant model
      adipocytes].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To observe the effects of panax quinquefolius saponin (PQS) of stem
      and leaf on glucose-lipid metabolism and insulin signal transduction in the
      insulin resistant model of adipocytes. METHODS: The insulin resistant model of
      differentiated 3T3-L1 adipocytes was established in vitro with free fatty acid.
      After induction of insulin resistance, cells were treated with metformin or PQS
      for 2 days. The glucose consumption in culture fluid was detected by glucose
      oxidase method; the effects of PQS on the lipolysis induced by tumor necrosis
      factor (TNF-alpha) was observed using colorimetry; and the phospholation of
      signal proteins was detected by Western-blot. RESULTS: The amount of glucose
      consumption (mmol/L) in the model group (5.250 +/- 2. 671) was significantly
      lower than that in the normal control group (14.133 +/- 1.305, P < 0.01), it
      increased in the meformin treated group (11.807 +/- 1.358), and the groups
      treated with high-, middle- and low-dose PQS dose-dependently (10.784 +/- 2.373,
      10.217 +/- 1.237 and 9.984 +/- 2.006, respectively), significantly higher than
      that in the model group (P < 0.01). Upon TNF-alpha treatment, the concentration
      of free fatty acid (FFA) (nmol/ microg) in culture medium was 2.479 +/- 0.597,
      predominantly higher than that in the control group (1.320 +/- 0.538, P < 0.01),
      while it was 1.210 +/- 0.566 in the metformin group, 1.105 +/- 0.631 in high-dose
      PQS group, 1.108 +/- 0.260 in the middle-dose PQS group, 1.201 +/- 0.593 in the
      low-dose PQS group, all were lower than that in the TNF-alpha group (P < 0.05 or
      P < 0.01), and a dose-dependent tendency of PQS's action was seen. The tyrosine
      phosphorylation of insulin receptor and IRS-1 as well as Ser473 phosphorylation
      of PKB were lower in the model group than in the control group; they were
      insignificantly changed in the low-dose PQS group, but did show significant
      difference in comparing with those in the high-and middle-dose PQS groups or
      metformin group. CONCLUSION: PQS can accelerate the glucose utilization and
      depress the lipolysis in adipocytes induced by TNF-alpha, which may be correlated
      with its promoting insulin signal transduction and improving insulin resistance
      in adipocytes.

PMID- 20929138
TI  - [Number needed to treat (NNT), an index for clinical therapeutic efficacy
      assessment--its significance and application].
AB  - Number needed to treat (NNT) is a simple and effective index for clinical
      therapeutic effect assessment worldwide accepted in recent years. By calculation
      of absolute risk reduction (ARR) of classified variables, it made the effect
      estimate reflect objectively the therapeutic effect of an intervention. However,
      clinical application of this index was introduced rarely in Chinese literature.
      With the examples from some published clinical reports, the calculation of NNT
      and its 95% confidence interval were demonstrated in this paper, and its
      application was illustrated by some relevant terms explanation and Meta-analysis
      methods introduction.

PMID- 20929139
TI  - [A literature review on the conceptual framework of sub-health].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To further articulate the conceptual framework of sub-health by way of
      literature review. METHODS: Published papers and relevant literature about sub
      health were collected, the representative publishing about theoretical
      exploration and practical surveys were focused for analyzing and assessing the
      category of sub-health, investigative objects, assessing tools, conceptual
      framework, diagnostic criteria and its operability, foundation support, etc.
      RESULTS: Sub-health conditions were categorized into three kinds in most
      documents, namely, the somatic, the mental and the social adaptative sub-health,
      and the relevant symptoms were classified into three levels. However, contents
      regarding the homogeneous issues, such as meaning and definition of sub-health,
      its diagnostic criteria and operability, in different documents were discrepant.
      CONCLUSION: Discrepancy exists between the theoretical and practical studies of
      sub-health. And detailed description is needed to articulate the problems
      respectively on specific and non-specific sub-health. The perspicuity of
      conceptual framework is the basis of sub-health researches. The authors
      recommended that to form the framework the four-level hierarchic structure should
      be adopted; in developing the assessing tool for sub-health diagnosis, besides
      the basic assessment on concrete conditions, the differential evaluation on the
      belonging of overall manifestations, subjective complain or objective symptom,
      should also be paid attention to.

PMID- 20929140
TI  - [Clinical observation on application of Bushen Tiaozhou method in in vitro
      fertilization-embryo transfer].

PMID- 20929141
TI  - [Clinical effect of xianling gubao capsule combined with baofukang suppository in
      treating atrophic vaginitis].

PMID- 20929142
TI  - [Effect of anti-thymocyte globulin combined with Chinese medicine drugs for shen
      nourishing in treating acute aplastic anemia].

PMID- 20929143
TI  - [Clinical observation on treatment of knee osteoarthritis by wangbi tablet].

PMID- 20929144
TI  - [Effect of auxiliary Chinese medicine drug therapy via percutaneous medication in
      treating 78 patients with infantile pneumonia].

PMID- 20929145
TI  - [Application of four kinds of education mode in teaching integrative medical
      pediatrics].

PMID- 20929146
TI  - [On English translation of Chinese medicine--from the perspective of polysystem
      translation theory].

PMID- 20929147
TI  - [Molecular mechanism of malignant hematological tumor cell apoptosis induction by
      active components of traditional Chinese herbs].

PMID- 20929148
TI  - Does charity also begin at home?

PMID- 20929149
TI  - Prevention of iatrogenic inferior alveolar nerve injuries in relation to dental
      procedures.
AB  - This article aims to review current hypotheses on the aetiology and prevention of
      inferior alveolar nerve (IAN) injuries in relation to dental procedures. The
      inferior alveolar nerve can be damaged during many dental procedures, including
      administration of local anaesthetic, implant bed preparation and placement,
      endodontics, third molar surgery and other surgical interventions. Damage to
      sensory nerves can result in anaesthesia, paraesthesia, pain, or a combination of
      the three. Pain is common in inferior alveolar nerve injuries, resulting in
      significant functional problems. The significant disability associated with these
      nerve injuries may also result in increasing numbers of medico-legal claims. Many
      of these iatrogenic nerve injuries can be avoided with careful patient assessment
      and planning. Furthermore, if the injury occurs there are emerging strategies
      that may facilitate recovery. The emphasis of this review is on how we may
      prevent these injuries and facilitate resolution in the early post surgical
      phase. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: It is imperative that dental practitioners are aware
      of the significant disability associated with iatrogenic nerve injuries and have
      an awareness of risk factors relating to inferior alveolar nerve injury. By
      understanding the risk factors and modification of intervention as a result, more
      of these injuries will be prevented.

PMID- 20929150
TI  - Dentinogenesis imperfecta--clinical presentation and management.
AB  - Dentinogenesis imperfecta (DI) is a hereditary condition which affects the
      development of dentine in both the primary and permanent dentitions. Three types
      of DI have been described in the literature. The presentation of DI is variable,
      depending on the type and severity of the disease. Early intervention in the
      treatment of a patient with DI is extremely important both for psycho-social and
      for functional reasons. This paper attempts to describe the clinical presentation
      and management of DI, and explores its association with certain medical
      conditions. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Recognition of DI is important, so that correct
      treatment principles may be instituted.

PMID- 20929151
TI  - Cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) in endodontics.
AB  - Cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) is an extra-oral imaging system which
      produces 3-dimensional scans of the maxillofacial skeleton. It is useful in
      overcoming the limitations of conventional radiography. CBCT is a valuable aid in
      providing additional information for diagnosis and enabling more predictable
      management of complex endodontic problems compared to using intra-oral
      radiographs alone. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: There are potential indications for the
      use of CBCT in diagnosis and treatment planning.

PMID- 20929152
TI  - Bite size oral health promotion.
AB  - Improving health is part of the Government's wider public health agenda and
      central to this theme is the requirement to help patients make informed healthy
      choices. The aim of the article is to review the basis of oral health promotion
      in primary dental care, explain why it is necessary and to give some practical
      tips on behaviour change in practice. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Understanding and
      relating well to your patients can make oral health promotion more successful,
      with communication skills being paramount in achieving this goal, along with the
      creation of a supportive health-orientated practice environment.

PMID- 20929153
TI  - Antimicrobial irrigants in endodontic therapy: 1. Root canal disinfection.
AB  - This paper highlights the importance of root canal disinfection. It discusses the
      different endodontic irrigants available and comments on how these can be used
      most effectively. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Eliminating bacteria from the root canal
      system is an essential stage in endodontic therapy. Practitioners should be
      adequately informed and skilled in this vital aspect of endodontics.

PMID- 20929154
TI  - An osteosarcoma, presenting as a loose maxillary bridge, with pain and swelling.
AB  - An osteosarcoma (OS) is the second most common primary bone malignancy, yet
      rarely presents in the jaws. This paper describes the progress of a patient, with
      osteosarcoma of the jaw (OSJ), from the initial presentation at the dental
      surgery, through to diagnosis and treatment. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: This paper
      reminds the dental practitioner to be wary of any unusual presentation or
      clinical picture. It emphasizes the benefit of a prompt and appropriate referral.

PMID- 20929155
TI  - Neurofibromatosis-1 and the provision of dental care.
AB  - The general features of Neurofibromatosis-1 are outlined and the oral and
      maxillofacial features described. Two case reports of patients treated in the
      Department of Sedation and Special Care Dentistry at King's College London Dental
      Institute are presented, and the dental management of patients with
      Neurofibromatosis discussed. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Neurofibromatosis-1 is a
      neurocutaneous genetic disease with a prevalence of one in 4000-5000. Dentists
      may be presented with these patients in their surgery and this article will help
      them to understand the condition and explain how to manage these patients.

PMID- 20929156
TI  - Physical signs for the general dental practitioner. Case 76. Deep vein thrombosis
      and cellulitis.

PMID- 20929157
TI  - Apects of human disease. Human disease. 56. Sjogren's syndrome.

PMID- 20929158
TI  - A Tennessee nurse reflects on walking Capitol Hill.

PMID- 20929159
TI  - Perception is everything.

PMID- 20929160
TI  - Being there: policymaking and nurses.

PMID- 20929161
TI  - Heart disease. Are you a type-D personality?

PMID- 20929162
TI  - The cost of happiness. A new study from a nobel-winning psychologist prices it
      out at about $75,000 a year.

PMID- 20929163
TI  - Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.

PMID- 20929164
TI  - Tales from the front. Physicians share their stories of bringing relief to
      disaster victims.

PMID- 20929165
TI  - How to protect yourself when you share care duty.

PMID- 20929166
TI  - What do we really know about consumer-driven health plans?
AB  - ABOUT CDHPs: Employers began offering consumer-driven health plans (CDHPs) in
      2001 when a handful started offering health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs).
      They then started offering health savings account (HSA)-eligible plans after the
      Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 included a
      provision to allow individuals with certain high-deductible health plans to
      contribute to an HSA. This report summarizes what is known about CDHPs, which
      include both HRAs and HSAs. OFFER RATES: Surveys show that employers offering a
      CDHP increased from less than 5 percent in 2005 to between 12-15 percent by 2009.
      Growth in offer rates can be seen across all firm sizes. Recently, the percentage
      of small firms that offered a CDHP declined while larger firms continued to add a
      CDHP as an option. ENROLLMENT: Overall, 19.1 million, or 11 percent of
      individuals with private insurance, were enrolled in a CDHP in 2009. More recent
      data suggest that by 2010, 10 million people were in an HSA-eligible plan.
      PREMIUMS: Generally, premiums for CDHPs were lower than premiums for non-CDHPs. A
      number of studies have tried to explain the differences in premiums. One found
      savings ranged from 15.5 percent to a low of -4.7 percent, with average savings
      of 4.8 percent. However, the study found that most of the savings was due to
      younger, healthier workers choosing CDHPs and concluded that once typical risk-
      and benefit-adjustment factors were taken into account, CDHPs saved only 1.5
      percent. There is strong evidence that initially CDHP enrollees will be healthier
      than non-CDHP enrollees, but that over time the CDHP population has a
      significantly higher illness burden. IMPACT OF CDHPS ON PREVENTIVE SERVICES: The
      studies agree that use of preventive services did not change (upward or downward)
      as a result of the CDHP. IMPACT OF CDHPS ON MEDICATION ADHERENCE: The studies
      found that overall use of brand-name prescription drugs fell and, while there was
      some offset from increased use of generic drugs, some enrollees stopped their use
      of prescription drugs. CDHP enrollees increased their use of the mail-order
      pharmacy option. Overall use of prescription drugs among CDHP enrollees with
      certain chronic conditions fell, or did not increase when enrollees met their
      deductible. One study found that the financial incentives of the plan are not
      sufficient in driving behavior, and that educational outreach also matters. NEED
      FOR FURTHER RESEARCH: Despite the growing body of evidence on the effect of CDHPs
      on cost and quality, there are many unanswered questions about these plans. Most
      of the research to date has focused on HRA-based plans. Little systematic
      research has been conducted on HSA-eligible enrollees. The differences between
      these plans are significant enough to warrant separate analyses. Also, most of
      the research to date has ignored the impact of the account on the use of services
      and on spending. Individuals may use health care services differently depending
      on how much money is being contributed to the account, especially relative to the
      deductible, amounts rolled over, and portability of the account.

PMID- 20929167
TI  - Phlebotomy in Japan.

PMID- 20929168
TI  - Flu 2010-2011 roundtable: Influenza insights from executive experts in the
      medical laboratory marketplace.

PMID- 20929169
TI  - The essential nature of comprehensive respiratory viral testing.

PMID- 20929170
TI  - Fused quartz, the uncompromising lab ware.

PMID- 20929171
TI  - Hospital lauds its point-of-care testing success.

PMID- 20929172
TI  - Can out-of-network labs waive coinsurance?

PMID- 20929173
TI  - Diary of the "mad" med-lab techs.

PMID- 20929174
TI  - Survey says: check the box.

PMID- 20929175
TI  - Keeping transfusion blood safe.

PMID- 20929176
TI  - Survey reveals realities of blood-collection cost-saving measures.

PMID- 20929177
TI  - Trends in blood collection and transfusion.

PMID- 20929178
TI  - Need phobics: stuck on not getting stuck.

PMID- 20929179
TI  - FDA scrutinizes LDTs.

PMID- 20929180
TI  - Rothmann offers fertility solutions for semen analysis.

PMID- 20929181
TI  - Pressure, the nervous system and ion channels: are humans too complicated?

PMID- 20929182
TI  - Hyperbaric pressure effects on voltage-dependent Ca+2 channels: relevance to
      HPNS.
AB  - Known and unpublished data regarding hyperbaric pressure (HP) effects on voltage
      dependent-Ca2+ channels (VDCCs) were reviewed in an attempt to elucidate their
      role in the development of high-pressure neurological syndrome (HPNS). Most
      postulated effects from studies performed in the last two decades (e.g.,
      depressed maximal current) rely on indirect findings, derived from extracellular
      [Ca2+] manipulation or by observing Ca(2+)-dependent processes. More recent
      experiments have tried to directly measure Ca2+ currents under high pressure
      conditions, some of which are potentially challenging previous indirect findings
      on one hand, but support findings from work done on neuronal behavior on the
      other. Additional support for some of the recent findings is provided by computer
      simulation of pressure effects on a spinal motor neuron activity. HP effect on
      different types of VDCCs seems to be selective - i.e., HP may suppress,
      facilitate or not change their activity. Thus, the specific distribution of the
      various types of the channels in each synaptic terminal or throughout the neuron
      will determine their function and will influence the neuronal network behavior
      under HP. Further research is needed in order to fully understand the HPNS
      etiology.

PMID- 20929183
TI  - Advanced instrumentation for research in diving and hyperbaric medicine.
AB  - Improving the safety of diving and increasing knowledge about the adaptation of
      the human body to underwater and hyperbaric environment require specifically
      developed underwater instrumentation for physiological measurements. In fact,
      none of the routine clinical devices for health control is suitable for in-water
      and/or under-pressure operation. The present paper addresses novel technological
      acquisitions and the development of three dedicated devices: * an underwater data
      logger for recording O2 saturation (reflective pulsoxymetry), two-channel ECG,
      depth and temperature; * an underwater blood pressure meter based on the
      oscillometric method; and * an underwater echography system. Moreover, examples
      of recordings are presented and discussed.

PMID- 20929184
TI  - Bidirectional influences of acetazolamide on central nervous system oxygen
      toxicity of rats.
AB  - Central nervous system oxygen toxicity, which occurs during diving and hyperbaric
      oxygen treatment, can lead to very dangerous situations, and it is of great
      importance to explore its mechanisms. We have speculated that cerebral blood flow
      plays a pivotal role in its occurrence. Except for acting as an anticonvulsant in
      clinical applications, acetazolamide is also a vasodilator used in both clinical
      and laboratory settings. In this study, when acetazolamide from 5 to 500 ug/kg
      body weight was administered by intracerebroventricular injection, the latency of
      central nervous system oxygen toxicity detected by electroencephalogram recording
      in rats subjected to hyperbaric oxygen at 6 atmospheres absolute was prolonged
      significantly. On the contrary, when the dose of intracerebroventricular
      injection achieved 5,000 ug/kg body weight, acetazolamide shortened the latency
      significantly. Intraperitoneal injection of acetazolamide more than 7.5 mg/kg
      body weight also shortened the latency significantly. Results also showed both
      intracerebroventricular injection of acetazolamide at a dose of 5,000 ug/kg body
      weight and intraperitoneal injection at dose of 7.5 mg/kg body weight inhibited
      the activity of carbonic anhydrase and increased the cerebral blood flow
      significantly, which helped aggravate oxidation damage and resulted in increased
      MDA and impaired glutathione peroxidase in brain tissue. But
      intracerebroventricular injection of acetazolamide at 5 ug/kg body weight had no
      effect on MDA and glutathione peroxidase, though it inhibited the activity of
      carbonic anhydrase. These observations indicated acetazolamide covers
      bidirectional influences on central nervous system oxygen toxicity. Within local
      brain tissue, especially neurons, it could exert its anticonvulsive effect on the
      central nervous system at low doses. On the other hand, under high doses, it
      would display its convulsive-hastening effect through increasing cerebral blood
      flow to aggravate the oxidation state of brain tissues and exacerbate central
      nervous system oxygen toxicity when subjected to hyperbaric oxygen. Blood flow of
      brain plays a pivotal role in central nervous system oxygen toxicity.

PMID- 20929185
TI  - Dysbaric osteonecrosis in recreational divers: a study using magnetic resonance
      imaging.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We set out to identify whether magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) would
      identify evidence of dysbaric osteonecrosis (DON) in a group of experienced
      recreational scuba divers. DESIGN: Local British Sub Aqua Club divers of at least
      Trainee Dive Leader grade were offered MRI scans (T1 and TIRM sequences) of hips,
      femora and shoulders. Anonymous images were interpreted separately by two
      radiologists, and cases not considered unequivocally normal were discussed for
      consensus opinion. RESULTS: Of 26 divers imaged, five merited discussion. Four of
      these were considered to show unrelated normal variants or incidental findings.
      Only one case (abnormalities in the right humerus and left femur) could have
      possibly represented osteonecrotic lesions. After obtaining plain radiographs and
      more detailed clinical and dive history, these lesions were considered
      "indeterminate" but probably not DON by both reviewers and after taking further
      specialist musculoskeletal MRI opinion. CONCLUSION: This study found no evidence
      that DON is a significant risk in recreational scuba diving and as such concurs
      with prevailing current opinion.

PMID- 20929186
TI  - Hyperbaric oxygen therapy and neurological disease.

PMID- 20929188
TI  - Coverage wars. As reform takes effect, insurers drop child-only policies and
      threaten more cuts.
AB  - As the first provisions of the healthcare reform law kick in, insurers are
      signaling they'll simply abandon business lines that are troublesome, such as
      child-only policies. America's Health Insurance Plans defends the moves as
      necessary in the wake of additional, mandated benefits. AHIP's "math doesn't make
      sense," says J. James Rohack, left, immediate past president of the American
      Medical Association.

PMID- 20929187
TI  - Age-related macular degeneration and hyperbaric oxygen.

PMID- 20929189
TI  - PHA's next chapter.

PMID- 20929190
TI  - At the starting line. As the first payment years are set to commence under the
      federal EHR subsidy program, providers find themselves at different stages of
      readiness.

PMID- 20929191
TI  - Proton pros and cons. Some cite dearth of studies on effectiveness; others see
      therapy's unique value.

PMID- 20929192
TI  - Largest group practices. Ranked by number of full-time-equivalent physicians,
      based on MGMA data as of September 2010.

PMID- 20929193
TI  - Reading the public mind.

PMID- 20929194
TI  - Competing on talent analytics.
AB  - Do investments in your employees actually affect workforce performance? Who are
      your top performers? How can you empower and motivate other employees to excel?
      Leading-edge companies such as Google, Best Buy, Procter & Gamble, and Sysco use
      sophisticated data-collection technology and analysis to answer these questions,
      leveraging a range of analytics to improve the way they attract and retain
      talent, connect their employee data to business performance, differentiate
      themselves from competitors, and more. The authors present the six key ways in
      which companies track, analyze, and use data about their people-ranging from a
      simple baseline of metrics to monitor the organization's overall health to custom
      modeling for predicting future head count depending on various "what if"
      scenarios. They go on to show that companies competing on talent analytics manage
      data and technology at an enterprise level, support what analytical leaders do,
      choose realistic targets for analysis, and hire analysts with strong
      interpersonal skills as well as broad expertise.

PMID- 20929195
TI  - Build the co-creative enterprise.
AB  - These days more companies are inviting customers to help them design products.
      Now a few are taking things further and including their other stakeholders-
      employees, suppliers, distributors, and even regulators--in "co-creation"
      efforts, too. By focusing on improving the experiences of everyone involved, such
      firms are achieving breakthrough insights, lower costs, new revenues, and new
      business models. Consider how this worked at France's La Poste, which wanted to
      expand package delivery and banking services in light of a decline in its mail
      business. La Poste had three obstacles: unmotivated union tellers, customers
      disgruntled by long waits, and frustrated local managers, who felt caught in
      between. The company set some high-level goals and invited all three groups to
      decide how to reach them together. To get tellers' buy-in, La Poste gave them a
      say in their schedules. In workshops, the groups figured out when each office
      should be open and how its space should be configured. THE RESULTS: a 50%
      decrease in waiting time, a jump in satisfaction for customers, soaring job
      satisfaction among tellers, and significant growth in package delivery and
      banking, despite the recession.

PMID- 20929196
TI  - Effect of cationic polyacrylamide adsorption kinetics and ionic strength on
      precipitated calcium carbonate flocculation.
AB  - The effect of polymer adsorption kinetics and ionic strength on the dynamics of
      particle flocculation was quantified using a model system consisting of
      precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC) and cationic polyacrylamide (CPAM) at a low
      shear rate. All early flocculations detectable by a photodispersion analyzer
      (PDA) happened in nonequilibrium polymer adsorption regimes. We observed
      discrepancies in flocculation rates with the surface coverage theory, which is
      based on a simple monolayer adsorption model, in both early and late flocculation
      stages. For instance, the same amount of adsorbed CPAM reached at different
      polymer doses demonstrated different flocculating capabilities. This highlighted
      the importance of polymer adsorption kinetics upon flocculation. The transient
      conformation of the adsorbed CPAM during the kinetic process sometimes even
      superceded the adsorbed amount in the determination of PCC flocculation. Both
      antagonistic and synergetic effects of increased ionic strength on the CPAM
      induced PCC aggregation were observed during early flocculation. However, late
      stage PCC flocculation shared some similarities, irrespective of polymer dose and
      ionic strength. Despite the decreased amount of adsorbed polymer from the
      increased ionic strength, the combination of CPAM and salt, at certain
      concentrations, demonstrated a synergy to promote PCC aggregation more
      efficiently than the same amount of the respective components.

PMID- 20929198
TI  - Surface instabilities in ultrathin, cross-linked poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)
      coatings.
AB  - Near-the-surface instabilities with a cusplike morphology were observed in
      ultrathin photo-cross-linked poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) coatings upon swelling
      in water. The characteristic wavelength of the instability was approximately 25
      times the dry thickness and scaled linearly with coating thickness between 30 and
      1200 nm. Above 1200 nm, slippage of the coating along the confining substrate led
      to reticulated patterns with a much larger wavelength. To help interpret the
      origin of the instability, the coatings were also exposed to a solvent slightly
      worse than water (acetone) and a solvent slightly better than water
      (isopropanol). In all cases, the characteristic wavelength scaled linearly with
      respect to the swelling induced by each solvent. Both water and isopropanol
      produced well-defined cusps or folds in the gel surface, while acetone produced
      semiordered blisters that grew into one another. The features produced in acetone
      may be a consequence of swelling being close to the threshold value for the loss
      of planar stability. Through the use of a first-order linear perturbation of the
      Flory-Rehner model, it is shown that the emergence of a characteristic wavelength
      is consistent with an inhomogeneous distribution of solvent that results from
      diffusion of solvent into a dry coating.

PMID- 20929197
TI  - Biomimetic total synthesis of meiogynin A, an inhibitor of Bcl-xL and Bak
      interaction.
AB  - A short, convergent, and selective synthesis of meiogynin A, an inhibitor of the
      antiapoptotic protein Bcl-xL, has been performed. This synthesis, based on a
      biomimetic approach, allowed the determination of its absolute configuration.
      Three isomers of meiogynin A have also been elaborated. One of these was found to
      be three times more potent than the natural compound.

PMID- 20929199
TI  - Thiolated dextran-coated gold nanorods for photothermal ablation of inflammatory
      macrophages.
AB  - Thiolated dextran-coated gold nanorods (DEX-GNRs) were synthesized for targeted
      delivery to inflammatory macrophages and their photothermal ablation under near
      infrared (NIR) light irradiation. Successful synthesis of DEX-GNRs was achieved
      using thiolated dextran, generated by applying mercaptopropionic acid to
      transform a hydroxyl group of dextran into a thiol group which has strong binding
      affinity with surfaces of GNRs. We confirmed both the existence of a thiol group
      in the functionalized dextran using Ellman's reagent in a thiol group assay and
      the characteristic band of DEX-GNRs using FT-IR spectrum. Furthermore, a cellular
      uptake study revealed that dextran showed a superior ability to bind the GNRs
      surface against macrophages compared to those of PEGylated GNRs with various
      molecular weights of polyethyleneglycol (PEG). Consequently, an in vitro
      photothermal irradiation experiment using NIR light indicated that DEX-GNRs
      exhibited a significant cell-killing efficacy, even with a lower concentration of
      Au and a low-power light source.

PMID- 20929200
TI  - Synthesis of 2',4'-propylene-bridged (carba-ENA) thymidine and its analogues: the
      engineering of electrostatic and steric effects at the bottom of the minor groove
      for nuclease and thermodynamic stabilities and elicitation of RNase H.
AB  - 2',4'-Propylene-bridged thymidine (carba-ENA-T) and five 8'-Me/NH(2)/OH modified
      carba-ENA-T analogues have been prepared through intramolecular radical addition
      to C?N of the tethered oxime-ether. These carba-ENA nucleosides have been
      subsequently incorporated into 15mer oligodeoxynucleotides (AON), and their
      affinity toward cDNA and RNA, nuclease resistance, and RNase H recruitment
      capability have been investigated in comparison with those of the native and ENA
      counterparts. These carba-ENAs modified AONs are highly RNA-selective since all
      of them led to slight thermal stabilization effect for the AON:RNA duplex, but
      quite large destabilization effect for the AON:DNA duplex. It was found that
      different C8' substituents (at the bottom of the minor groove) on carba-ENA-T
      only led to rather small variation of thermal stability of the AON:RNA duplexes.
      We, however, observed that the parent carba-ENA-T modified AONs exhibited higher
      nucleolytic stability than those of the ENA-T modified counterparts. The
      nucleolytic stability of carba-ENA-T modified AONs can be further modulated by
      C8' substituent to variable extents depending on not only the chemical nature but
      also the stereochemical orientation of the C8' substituents: Thus, (1) 8'S-Me on
      carba-ENA increases the nucleolytic stability but 8'R-Me leads to a decreased
      effect; (2) 8'R-OH on carba-ENA had little, if any, effect on nuclease resistance
      but 8'S-OH resulted in significantly decreased nucleolytic stability; and (3) 8'
      NH(2) substituted carba-ENA leads to obvious loss in the nuclease resistance. The
      RNA strand in all of the carba-ENA derivatives modified AON:RNA hybrid duplexes
      can be digested by RNase H1 with high efficiency, even at twice the rate of those
      of the native and ENA modified counterpart.

PMID- 20929201
TI  - A concise and convergent synthesis of PA-824.
AB  - An efficient four-step synthesis of PA-824, a promising antituberculosis drug
      candidate, has been developed. This concise approach offers significant
      improvements over the synthetic route currently used for large-scale production.

PMID- 20929202
TI  - Synthesis of a tetracyclic G?C scaffold for the assembly of rosette nanotubes
      with 1.7 nm inner diameter.
AB  - The synthesis of a tetracyclic self-complementary molecule 4 for self-assembly
      into rosette nanotubes is presented. This new heterocycle has a core structure
      containing two pyrido[2,3-d]pyrimidine molecules fused together and features the
      Watson-Crick hydrogen bond donor-acceptor arrays of both guanine (G) and cytosine
      (C). Current methods to synthesize pyrido[2,3-d]pyrimidines require harsh
      conditions and long reaction times and result usually in low product yields. This
      is particularly problematic for the direct incorporation of functional groups
      that cannot withstand these conditions. Here, we present an efficient approach to
      access the multifunctional pyrido[2,3-d]pyrimidine intermediate 2 under
      relatively mild conditions using three regioselective S(N)Ar reactions at C2, C4,
      and C7 on the trichloro compound 1. The electron-withdrawing group and amino
      functionalities on 2 are then used as a handle to install the third and fourth
      rings of 4 using a Friedlander-type condensation followed by mixed urea synthesis
      and cyclization.

PMID- 20929203
TI  - Size-dependent infrared phonon modes and ferroelectric phase transition in BiFeO3
      nanoparticles.
AB  - One emergent property of ferroelectric nanoparticles is the sized-induced
      structural distortion to a high-symmetry paraelectric phase at small particle
      sizes. Finite length scale effects can thus be advantageously employed to
      elucidate ferroelectric transition mechanisms. In this work, we combine infrared
      spectroscopy with group theory and lattice dynamics calculations to reveal the
      displacive nature of the ferroelectric transition in BiFeO3, a room temperature
      multiferroic. Systematic intensity and frequency trends in selected vibrational
      modes show that the paraelectric phase is Pm3m and the lowest frequency A1
      feature is the soft mode that drives the first order transition. Finite length
      scale effects are also evident in the electronic structure with a red-shifted
      band gap in nanoscale BiFeO3 compared with that of the rhombohedral film, a
      result that can impact the development of ferroelectric photovoltaics and oxide
      based electronics. Taken together, these findings demonstrate the foundational
      importance of size effects for enhancing the rich functionality and broad utility
      of transition metal oxides.

PMID- 20929204
TI  - Local nanoscale heating modulates single-asperity friction.
AB  - We demonstrate measurement and control of single-asperity friction by using
      cantilever probes featuring an in situ solid-state heater. The heater temperature
      was varied between 25 and 650  degrees C (tip temperatures from 25 +/- 2 to 120
      +/- 20  degrees C). Heating caused friction to increase by a factor of 4 in air
      at ~ 30% relative humidity, but in dry nitrogen friction decreased by ~ 40%.
      Higher velocity reduced friction in ambient with no effect in dry nitrogen. These
      trends are attributed to thermally assisted formation of capillary bridges
      between the tip and substrate in air, and thermally assisted sliding in dry
      nitrogen. Real-time friction measurements while modulating the tip temperature
      revealed an energy barrier for capillary condensation of 0.40 +/- 0.04 eV but
      with slower kinetics compared to isothermal measurements that we attribute to the
      distinct thermal environment that occurs when heating in real time. Controlling
      the presence of this nanoscale capillary and the associated control of friction
      and adhesion offers new opportunities for tip-based nanomanufacturing.

PMID- 20929205
TI  - Evans-Tishchenko coupling of heteroaryl aldehydes.
AB  - The low-temperature Evans-Tishchenko coupling of a range of functionalized
      heteroaryl aldehydes with beta-hydroxy ketones in the presence of a Sm(III)
      catalyst has been achieved with high yields (90-99%) and good to excellent
      diastereoselectivity (90:10 -> 95:5 dr). However, at room temperature a retro
      aldol aldol-Tishchenko reaction was found to compete with the desired Evans
      Tishchenko reaction. Identification of these byproducts has allowed the
      corresponding aldol-Tishchenko reaction to be optimized for several heteroaryl
      aldehydes.

PMID- 20929206
TI  - Layer-by-layer electrostatic-assembly: magnetic-field assisted ordering of
      organic molecules.
AB  - During the layer-by-layer (LbL) electrostatic assembly process, we orient organic
      molecules (nickel phthalocyanine) by an external magnetic field. Orientation of
      the magnetic moment of the molecules in a monolayer is immobilized by depositing
      a monolayer of a suitable polycation. Due to the orientation of magnetic moments,
      the electrostatic adsorption process becomes enhanced in subsequent layers. By
      cycling the deposition sequence layer after layer, we have achieved highly
      ordered and closely packed LbL films of the molecules with their magnetic moments
      oriented perpendicular to the substrate. Nonmagnetic copper phthalocyanine
      expectedly showed neither a magnetic-field assisted alignment nor an enhanced
      adsorption in LbL film deposition process.

PMID- 20929207
TI  - Nanometals induce stress and alter thyroid hormone action in amphibia at or below
      North American water quality guidelines.
AB  - Nanometals are manufactured to particle sizes with diameters in the nanometer
      range and are included in a variety of consumer and health products. There is a
      lack of information regarding potential effects of these materials on aquatic
      organisms. Amphibians are regarded as environmental sentinels and demonstrate an
      exquisite sensitivity to thyroid hormone action, a hormone that is essential for
      human health. This present study assessed the effect of exposure to nanometals on
      stress and thyroid hormone signaling in frog tissue using a cultured tail fin
      biopsy (C-fin) assay derived from Rana catesbeiana tadpoles. The C-fin assay
      maintains tissue complexity and biological replication while multiple chemical
      responses can be assessed from the same individual. We tested the ability of
      nanosilver (0.06 MUg/L-5.5 mg/L), quantum dots (0.25 MUg/L-22 mg/L), and nanozinc
      oxide (0.19-10 mg/L) to alter gene expression in the presence or absence of
      3,3',5'-triiodothyronine (T(3)) using quantitative real-time polymerase chain
      reaction. Results were compared to exposure to micrometer-silver, silver nitrate,
      and micrometer-cadmium telluride. Nanosilver (>=2.75 mg/L) and quantum dots
      (>=0.22 mg/L) altered the expression of transcripts linked to T(3)- and stress
      mediated pathways, while nanozinc oxide had no effect. Lower concentrations of
      nanosilver (0.6 to 550 MUg/L) perturbed T(3)-mediated signaling while not
      inducing cell stress. The observed effects were orders of magnitude below acute
      toxicity levels and occurred at or below the current North American water quality
      guidelines for metals, underscoring the need for evaluating nanoparticles
      separately from their constituent chemicals.

PMID- 20929208
TI  - Regioselective palladium-catalyzed arylation of 4-chloropyrazoles.
AB  - A highly regioselective Pd-catalyzed arylation of N-methylpyrazoles with aryl
      bromides is described. This transformation was studied extensively via automated
      reaction screening. A Design of Experiments (DoE) approach for optimizing the
      critical parameters was applied, resulting in excellent conditions for preparing
      selectively 5-arylpyrazoles in moderate to excellent yields under mild
      conditions.

PMID- 20929209
TI  - One-pot conditional self-assembly of multicopper metallacycles.
AB  - The self-assembly of supramolecular metallacycles via the coordination-driven
      directional bonding approach can be modified to produce some unexpected
      structural variations. The combination of a flexible ligand-capped dinuclear
      transition-metal acceptor like [Cu(2)(dppm)(2)(NCMe)(2)]X(2) (1X(2); dppm =
      Ph(2)PCH(2)PPh(2); X(-) = BF(4)(-), PF(6)(-), or BPh(4)(-)) with monodentate
      bidentate donors like 2-, 3-, and 4-pyridylcarboxylates produced oligomeric
      compounds [{Cu(2)(dppm)(2)}(MU-(2-PyCO(2)))](2)X(2) (2X(2)), [{Cu(2)(dppm)(2)}(MU
      (3-PyCO(2)))](2)X(2) (3X(2)), and [{Cu(2)(dppm)(2)}(MU-(4-PyCO(2)))](4)X(4)
      (4X(4)), respectively, as the thermodynamically stable products in one-pot
      reactions. However, the modified self-assembly is still subject to steric
      hindrance. The reaction of complex 1(BF(4))(2) with 6-Me-3-PyCO(2)H did not
      produce a polygonal dimeric metallacycle but a simple dinuclear complex,
      [Cu(2)(dppm)(2)(6-Me-3-PyCO(2))](BF(4)) (5(BF(4))). The crystal structures of
      complexes 2(PF(6))(2), 3(PF(6))(2), 4(BF(4))(4), and 5(BF(4)) were determined
      using X-ray diffraction.

PMID- 20929210
TI  - Phase behavior of an extended surfactant in water and a detailed characterization
      of the concentrated phases.
AB  - The formation of microemulsions with triglycerides at ambient conditions can be
      improved by increasing the surfactant-water and surfactant-oil interactions.
      Therefore, extended surfactants were developed, which contain
      hydrophilic/lipophilic linkers. They have the ability to stretch further into the
      oil and water phase and enhance the solubility of oil in water. In this work, the
      phase behavior of a chosen extended surfactant (C(12-14)-PO(16)-EO(2)-SO(4)Na, X
      AES) in H(2)O/D(2)O at high surfactant concentrations (30-100 wt %) and at
      temperatures between 0 and 90  degrees C is studied for the first time. The
      lyotropic liquid crystals formed were determined by optical microscopy, small
      angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), and (2)H and (23)Na NMR, and a detailed phase
      diagram of the concentrated area is given. The obtained mesophases are a
      hexagonal phase (H(1)), at low temperatures and small concentrations, a lamellar
      phase (L(alpha)) at high temperatures or concentrations, a bicontinuous cubic
      phase (V(2)) as well as a reverse hexagonal phase (H(2)). To our knowledge, this
      is the first surfactant that forms both H(1) and H(2) phases without the addition
      of a third compound. From the (2)H NMR quadrupole splittings of D(2)O, we have
      examined water binding in the L(alpha) and the H(2) phases. There is no marked
      difference in the bound water between the two phases. Where sufficient water is
      present, the number of bound water molecules per X-AES is estimated to be ca. 18
      with only small changes at different temperatures. Similar results were obtained
      from the (23)Na NMR data, which again showed little difference in the ion binding
      between the L(alpha) and the H(2) phases. The X-ray diffraction data show that X
      AES has a much smaller average length in the L(alpha) phase compared to the all
      trans length than in the case for conventional surfactants. At very high
      surfactant concentrations an inverse isotropic solution (L(2)), containing a
      small fraction of solid particles, is formed. This isotropic solution is clearly
      identified and the size of the reversed micelles was determined using (1)H NMR
      measurements. Furthermore, the solid particles within the L(2) phase and the neat
      surfactant were analyzed. The observed results were compared to common
      conventional surfactants (e.g., sodium dodecyl sulfate, sodium lauryl ether
      sulfate, and sodium dodecyl-p-benzene sulfonate), and the influence of the
      hydrophilic/lipophilic linkers on the phase behavior was discussed.

PMID- 20929211
TI  - Investigation of DNA condensing properties of amphiphilic triblock cationic
      polymers by atomic force microscopy.
AB  - Introduction of nucleic acids into cells is an important biotechnology research
      field which also holds great promise for therapeutic applications. One of the key
      steps in the gene delivery process is compaction of DNA into nanometric
      particles. The study of DNA condensing properties of three linear cationic
      triblock copolymers poly(ethylenimine-b-propylene glycol-b-ethylenimine), namely,
      LPEI(50)-PPG(36)-LPEI(50), LPEI(19)-PPG(36)-LPEI(19), and LPEI(14)-PPG(68)
      LPEI(14), indicates that proper DNA condensation is driven by both the charge and
      the size of the respective cationic hydrophilic linear polyethylenimine (LPEI)
      and neutral hydrophobic poly(propylene glycol) (PPG) parts. Atomic force
      microscopy was used to investigate the interactions of the triblock copolymers
      with plasmid DNA at the single molecule level and to enlighten the mechanism
      involved in DNA condensation.

PMID- 20929212
TI  - Functional importance of tyrosine 294 and the catalytic selectivity for the bis
      Fe(IV) state of MauG revealed by replacement of this axial heme ligand with
      histidine .
AB  - The diheme enzyme MauG catalyzes the posttranslational modification of a
      precursor protein of methylamine dehydrogenase (preMADH) to complete the
      biosynthesis of its protein-derived tryptophan tryptophylquinone (TTQ) cofactor.
      It catalyzes three sequential two-electron oxidation reactions which proceed
      through a high-valent bis-Fe(IV) redox state. Tyr294, the unusual distal axial
      ligand of one c-type heme, was mutated to His, and the crystal structure of Y294H
      MauG in complex with preMADH reveals that this heme now has His-His axial
      ligation. Y294H MauG is able to interact with preMADH and participate in
      interprotein electron transfer, but it is unable to catalyze the TTQ biosynthesis
      reactions that require the bis-Fe(IV) state. This mutation affects not only the
      redox properties of the six-coordinate heme but also the redox and CO-binding
      properties of the five-coordinate heme, despite the 21 A separation of the heme
      iron centers. This highlights the communication between the hemes which in wild
      type MauG behave as a single diheme unit. Spectroscopic data suggest that Y294H
      MauG can stabilize a high-valent redox state equivalent to Fe(V), but it appears
      to be an Fe(IV)?O/pi radical at the five-coordinate heme rather than the bis
      Fe(IV) state. This compound I-like intermediate does not catalyze TTQ
      biosynthesis, demonstrating that the bis-Fe(IV) state, which is stabilized by
      Tyr294, is specifically required for this reaction. The TTQ biosynthetic
      reactions catalyzed by wild-type MauG do not occur via direct contact with the
      Fe(IV)?O heme but via long-range electron transfer through the six-coordinate
      heme. Thus, a critical feature of the bis-Fe(IV) species may be that it shortens
      the electron transfer distance from preMADH to a high-valent heme iron.

PMID- 20929213
TI  - Asymmetric total synthesis of ent-cyclooroidin.
AB  - An enantiospecific total synthesis of the pyrrole-imidazole natural product
      cyclooroidin from histidine is described. The key N1-C9 bond is constructed
      through an intramolecular SN2-type of reaction of a chloro ester. Subsequent
      imidazole azidation at the 2-position, pyrrole bromination, azide reduction, and
      deprotection leads to the completion of the synthesis.

PMID- 20929214
TI  - Direct enantioselective Bronsted acid catalyzed N-acyliminium cyclization
      cascades of tryptamines and ketoacids.
AB  - A direct enantio- and diastereoselective N-acyliminium cyclization cascade
      through chiral phosphoric acid catalyzed condensation of tryptamines with gamma-
      and delta-ketoacid derivatives to provide architecturally complex heterocycles
      has been developed. The reaction is technically simple to perform, atom
      efficient, and broad in scope. Employing 10 mol % of (R)-BINOL derived chiral
      phosphoric acids in refluxing toluene allowed the polycyclic product materials to
      be generated in good yields (53-99%) and moderate to high enantioselectivities
      (68-98% ee).

PMID- 20929215
TI  - Photo-reversible liquid crystal alignment using azobenzene-based self-assembled
      monolayers: comparison of the bare monolayer and liquid crystal reorientation
      dynamics.
AB  - Photosensitive surfaces treated to have in-plane structural anisotropy by
      illumination with polarized light can be used to orient liquid crystals (LCs).
      Here we report a detailed study of the dynamic behavior of this process at both
      short and long times, comparing the ordering induced in the bare active surface
      with that of the LC in contact with the surface using a high-sensitivity
      polarimeter that enables detailed characterization of the anisotropy of the
      active surface. The experiments were carried out using self-assembled monolayers
      (SAMs) made from dimethylaminoazobenzene covalently bonded to a glass surface
      through a triethoxysilane terminus. This surface gives planar alignment of the
      liquid crystal director with an azimuthal orientation that can be controlled by
      the polarization of actinic light. We find a remarkable long-term collective
      interaction between the orientationally ordered SAM and the director field of the
      LC: while an azobenzene based SAM in contact with an isotropic gas or liquid
      relaxes to an azimuthally isotropic state in the absence of light due to thermal
      fluctuations, an orientationally written SAM in contact with LC in the absence of
      light can maintain the LC director twist permanently, that is, the SAM is capable
      of providing azimuthal anchoring to the LC even in the presence of a torque about
      the surface normal. We find that the short-time, transient LC reorientation is
      limited by the weak azimuthal anchoring strength of the SAM and by the LC
      viscosity.

PMID- 20929216
TI  - HOCO radical chemistry.
AB  - Free radicals are important species in atmospheric chemistry, combustion, plasma
      environments, interstellar clouds, and biochemistry. Therefore, researchers would
      like to understand the formation mechanism, structure, stability, reactivity,
      spectroscopy, and dynamics of these chemical species. However, due to the
      presence of one or more unpaired electrons, radicals are often very reactive and
      have short lifetimes, which makes it difficult to conduct experiments. The HOCO
      radical appears in the atmosphere as well as in combustion environments and plays
      an important role in the conversion of CO to CO(2). Through the interplay between
      theoretical and experimental investigations, researchers have only recently
      understood the chemical role of the HOCO radical. In this Account, we
      systematically describe the current state of knowledge of the HOCO radical based
      on recent theoretical and experimental studies. This radical's two stable
      conformers, trans- and cis-HOCO, have been identified by high-level ab initio
      calculations and experimental spectroscopy. trans-HOCO is more stable by
      approximately 1.8 kcal/mol. The heat of formation of HOCO (298 K) was determined
      to be -43.0 +/- 0.5 kcal/mol, giving a potential well depth of 30.1 +/- 0.5
      kcal/mol relative to the asymptote of the reactants OH + CO. The HOCO radical is
      very reactive. In most reactions between the HOCO radical and atoms, the HOCO
      radical acts as a hydrogen donor to reaction partners. Generally, the hydrogen is
      transferred through the formation of an association intermediate, which then
      proceeds through a molecular elimination step to produce the reaction products.
      The reaction rates of HOCO with some small radicals fall in the range of 10(-11)
      10(-10) cm(3) molecule(-1) s(-1). These results clearly illustrate important
      features in the reactivity of the HOCO radical with other molecules.

PMID- 20929217
TI  - Dissolution and dissolved state of cytochrome C in a neat, hydrophilic ionic
      liquid.
AB  - The dissolution and dissolved molecular state of cytochrome c were investigated
      in the room temperature ionic liquid ethylmethylimidazolium ethylsulfate,
      [EMIM][EtSO4], by viscometry, optical and vibrational spectroscopies, and
      peroxidase activity. In dilute mixtures, viscometry demonstrated true molecular
      dissolution of cytochrome c in the ionic liquid and uncovered a molecular size
      larger than that in aqueous buffer, suggesting altered solvation or slight
      denaturation. The protein's heme unit absorbs light outside the spectral range
      masked by [EMIM], enabling conformational assessments by UV-visible and circular
      dichroism spectroscopies. Adding trends from fluorescence and Fourier transform
      infrared spectroscopy, unchanged secondary but perturbed tertiary structures were
      determined, consistent with the appreciable peroxidase activity measured.
      Different than in aqueous buffers, denaturation is not accompanied by
      aggregation. Results are relevant to the proposed application of ionic liquids as
      media for room temperature preservation of biomacromolecules. 

PMID- 20929218
TI  - Partitioning of ssRNA molecules between preformed monolithic HII liquid
      crystalline phases of lipids and supernatant isotropic phases.
AB  - The interaction of nucleic acids with the nanoarchitectures formed by lipidic
      systems is a new area of research that may offer insights into the functioning of
      genetic materials in vivo. Here we report that ssRNA has a strong preference to
      reside in isotropic solution rather than in inverse hexagonal (HII) liquid
      crystalline phases. This is in contrast to dsDNA, which becomes localized in the
      pores of the HII phase. The RNA that does associate with the external surfaces of
      the HII phase appears to form an accretion layer, tens of molecules thick, but
      this layer still allows the transcription of dsDNA that resides within the pores
      of the phase. 

PMID- 20929219
TI  - Solution-phase synthesis of heteroatom-substituted carbon scaffolds for hydrogen
      storage.
AB  - This paper reports a bottom-up solution-phase process for the preparation of
      pristine and heteroatom (boron, phosphorus, or nitrogen)-substituted carbon
      scaffolds that show good surface areas and enhanced hydrogen adsorption
      capacities and binding energies. The synthesis method involves heating chlorine
      containing small organic molecules with metallic sodium at reflux in high-boiling
      solvents. For heteroatom incorporation, heteroatomic electrophiles are added to
      the reaction mixture. Under the reaction conditions, micrometer-sized graphitic
      sheets assembled by 3-5 nm-sized domains of graphene nanoflakes are formed, and
      when they are heteroatom-substituted, the heteroatoms are uniformly distributed.
      The substituted carbon scaffolds enriched with heteroatoms (boron ~7.3%,
      phosphorus ~8.1%, and nitrogen ~28.1%) had surface areas as high as 900 m(2) g(
      1) and enhanced reversible hydrogen physisorption capacities relative to pristine
      carbon scaffolds or common carbonaceous materials. In addition, the binding
      energies of the substituted carbon scaffolds, as measured by adsorption
      isotherms, were 8.6, 8.3, and 5.6 kJ mol(-1) for the boron-, phosphorus-, and
      nitrogen-enriched carbon scaffolds, respectively.

PMID- 20929221
TI  - Spin-dependent electron-phonon interaction in SmFeAsO by low-temperature Raman
      spectroscopy.
AB  - The interplay between spin dynamics and lattice vibration has been suggested as
      an important part of the puzzle of high-temperature superconductivity. Here, we
      report the strong interaction between spin fluctuation and phonon in SmFeAsO, a
      parent compound of the iron arsenide family of superconductors, revealed by low
      temperature Raman spectroscopy. Anomalous zone-boundary-phonon Raman scattering
      from spin superstructure was observed at temperatures below the antiferromagnetic
      ordering point, which offers compelling evidence on spin-dependent electron
      phonon coupling in pnictides.

PMID- 20929220
TI  - Two-step adsorption on jungle-gym-type porous coordination polymers: dependence
      on hydrogen-bonding capability of adsorbates, ligand-substituent effect, and
      temperature.
AB  - A preliminary study of isopropanol (IPA) adsorption/desorption isotherms on a
      jungle-gym-type porous coordination polymer, [Zn(2)(bdc)(2)(dabco)](n) (1,
      H(2)bdc = 1,4-benzenedicarboxylic acid, dabco =1,4-diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octane),
      showed unambiguous two-step profiles via a highly shrunk intermediate framework.
      The results of adsorption measurements on 1, using probing gas molecules of
      alcohol (MeOH and EtOH) for the size effect and Me(2)CO for the influence of
      hydrogen bonding, show that alcohol adsorption isotherms are gradual two-step
      profiles, whereas the Me(2)CO isotherm is a typical type-I isotherm, indicating
      that a two-step adsorption/desorption is involved with hydrogen bonds. To further
      clarify these characteristic adsorption/desorption behaviors, selecting
      nitroterephthalate (bdc-NO(2)), bromoterephthalate (bdc-Br), and 2,5
      dichloroterephthalate (bdc-Cl(2)) as substituted dicarboxylate ligands,
      isomorphous jungle-gym-type porous coordination polymers, {[Zn(2)(bdc
      NO(2))(2)(dabco)].solvents}(n) (2 ? solvents), {[Zn(2)(bdc
      Br)(2)(dabco)].solvents}(n) (3 ? solvents), and {[Zn(2)(bdc
      Cl(2))(2)(dabco)].solvents}(n) (4 ? solvents), were synthesized and characterized
      by single-crystal X-ray analyses. Thermal gravimetry, X-ray powder diffraction,
      and N(2) adsorption at 77 K measurements reveal that [Zn(2)(bdc
      NO(2))(2)(dabco)](n) (2), [Zn(2)(bdc-Br)(2)(dabco)](n) (3), and [Zn(2)(bdc
      Cl(2))(2)(dabco)](n) (4) maintain their frameworks without guest molecules with
      Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface areas of 1568 (2), 1292 (3), and 1216 (4)
      m(2) g(-1). As found in results of MeOH, EtOH, IPA, and Me(2)CO
      adsorption/desorption on 2-4, only MeOH adsorption on 2 shows an obvious two-step
      profile. Considering the substituent effects and adsorbate sizes, the hydrogen
      bonds, which are triggers for two-step adsorption, are formed between adsorbates
      and carboxylate groups at the corners in the pores, inducing wide pores to become
      narrow pores. Interestingly, such a two-step MeOH adsorption on 2 depends on the
      temperature, attributed to the small free-energy difference (DeltaF(host))
      between the two guest-free forms, wide and narrow pores.

PMID- 20929222
TI  - Highly efficient metal-free growth of nitrogen-doped single-walled carbon
      nanotubes on plasma-etched substrates for oxygen reduction.
AB  - We have for the first time developed a simple plasma-etching technology to
      effectively generate metal-free particle catalysts for efficient metal-free
      growth of undoped and/or nitrogen-doped single-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs).
      Compared with undoped CNTs, the newly produced metal-free nitrogen-containing
      CNTs were demonstrated to show relatively good electrocatalytic activity and long
      term stability toward oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in an acidic medium. Owing
      to the highly generic nature of the plasma etching technique, the methodology
      developed in this study can be applied to many other substrates for efficient
      growth of metal-free CNTs for various applications, ranging from energy related
      to electronic and to biomedical systems.

PMID- 20929223
TI  - 'Living' controlled in situ gelling systems: thiol-disulfide exchange method
      toward tailor-made biodegradable hydrogels.
AB  - A 'living' controlled hydrogel formation method was first reported to create
      loose and compact in situ biodegradable hydrogels. The method executed under mild
      reaction conditions can conveniently tailor the hydrogel properties, and it has
      the potential to develop into a powerful tool for the design, synthesis, and self
      assembly of novel tailor-made biomaterials and drug delivery systems.

PMID- 20929224
TI  - Allylic C-H acetoxylation with a 4,5-diazafluorenone-ligated palladium catalyst:
      a ligand-based strategy to achieve aerobic catalytic turnover.
AB  - Pd-catalyzed C-H oxidation reactions often require the use of oxidants other than
      O(2). Here we demonstrate a ligand-based strategy to replace benzoquinone with
      O(2) as the stoichiometric oxidant in Pd-catalyzed allylic C-H acetoxylation. Use
      of 4,5-diazafluorenone (1) as an ancillary ligand for Pd(OAc)(2) enables terminal
      alkenes to be converted to linear allylic acetoxylation products in good yields
      and selectivity under 1 atm O(2). Mechanistic studies have revealed that 1
      facilitates C-O reductive elimination from a pi-allyl-Pd(II) intermediate,
      thereby eliminating the requirement for benzoquinone in this key catalytic step.

PMID- 20929225
TI  - Hydrogen-atom abstraction from Ni(I) phosphido and amido complexes gives
      phosphinidene and imide ligands.
AB  - Hydrogen-atom abstraction from M-E(H) to generate M?E-containing complexes (E =
      PR, NR) is not well studied because only a few complexes are known to undergo
      such reactions. Hydrogen-atom abstraction from nickel(I) phosphide and amide
      complexes led to the corresponding phosphinidene and imide compounds. These
      reactions are unparalleled in the organometallic chemistry of nickel and feature
      an unusual example of a transition-metal phosphinidene synthesized by hydrogen
      atom abstraction.

PMID- 20929226
TI  - Bioconjugation of ultrabright semiconducting polymer dots for specific cellular
      targeting.
AB  - Semiconducting polymer dots (Pdots) represent a new class of ultrabright
      fluorescent probes for biological imaging. They exhibit several important
      characteristics for experimentally demanding in vitro and in vivo fluorescence
      studies, such as their high brightness, fast emission rate, excellent
      photostability, nonblinking, and nontoxic feature. However, controlling the
      surface chemistry and bioconjugation of Pdots has been a challenging problem that
      prevented their widespread applications in biological studies. Here, we report a
      facile yet powerful conjugation method that overcomes this challenge. Our
      strategy for Pdot functionalization is based on entrapping heterogeneous polymer
      chains into a single dot, driven by hydrophobic interactions during nanoparticle
      formation. A small amount of amphiphilic polymer bearing functional groups is co
      condensed with the majority of semiconducting polymers to modify and
      functionalize the nanoparticle surface for subsequent covalent conjugation to
      biomolecules, such as streptavidin and immunoglobulin G (IgG). The Pdot
      bioconjugates can effectively and specifically label cellular targets, such as
      cell surface marker in human breast cancer cells, without any detectable
      nonspecific binding. Single-particle imaging, cellular imaging, and flow
      cytometry experiments indicate a much higher fluorescence brightness of Pdots
      compared to those of Alexa dye and quantum dot probes. The successful
      bioconjugation of these ultrabright nanoparticles presents a novel opportunity to
      apply versatile semiconducting polymers to various fluorescence measurements in
      modern biology and biomedicine.

PMID- 20929227
TI  - Thermochemistry of ammonium nitrate, NH4NO3, in the gas phase.
AB  - Hildenbrand and co-workers have shown recently that the vapor above solid
      ammonium nitrate includes molecules of NH4NO3, not only NH3 and HNO3 as
      previously believed. Their measurements led to thermochemical values that imply
      an enthalpy change of D298 = 98 +/- 9 kJ mol-1 for the gas-phase dissociation of
      ammonium nitrate into NH3 and HNO3. Using updated spectroscopic information for
      the partition function leads to the revised value of D298 = 78 +/- 21 kJ mol-1
      (accompanying paper in this journal, Hildenbrand, D. L., Lau, K. H., and Chandra,
      D. J. Phys. Chem. B 2010, DOI: 10.1021/jp105773q). In contrast, high-level ab
      initio calculations, detailed in the present report, predict a dissociation
      enthalpy half as large as the original result, 50 +/- 3 kJ mol-1. These are
      frozen-core CCSD(T) calculations extrapolated to the limiting basis set aug-cc
      pVinfinityZ using an anharmonic vibrational partition function and a variational
      treatment of the NH3 rotor. The corresponding enthalpy of formation is
      Delta(f)H298 degrees (NH4NO3,g) = -230.6 +/- 3 kJ mol-1. The origin of the
      disagreement with experiment remains unexplained.

PMID- 20929228
TI  - Synthesis, structure, and dynamic properties of hybrid organic-inorganic
      rotaxanes.
AB  - The synthesis and characterization of a series of hybrid organic-inorganic
      [2]rotaxanes is described. The ring components are heterometallic octa-
      ([Cr(7)MF(8)(O(2)C(t)Bu)(16)]; M = Co, Ni, Fe, Mn, Cu, Zn, and Cd) nuclear cages
      in which the metal centers are bridged by fluoride and pivalate ((t)BuCO(2)(-))
      anions; the thread components feature dialkylammonium units that template the
      formation of the heterometallic rings about the axle to form the interlocked
      structures in up to 92% yield in conventional macrocyclization or one-pot
      'stoppering-plus-macrocyclization' strategies. The presence in the reaction
      mixture of additives (secondary or tertiary amines or quaternary ammonium salts),
      and the nature of the stoppering groups (3,5-(t)Bu(2)C(6)H(3)CO(2)- or (t)BuCONH
      ), can have a significant effect on the rotaxane yield. The X-ray crystal
      structures of 11 different [2]rotaxanes, a pseudorotaxane, and a two-station
      molecular shuttle show two distinct types of intercomponent hydrogen bond motifs
      between the ammonium groups of the organic thread and the fluoride groups of the
      inorganic ring. The different hydrogen bonding motifs account for the very
      different rates of dynamics observed for the heterometallic ring on the thread
      (shuttling slow; rotation fast).

PMID- 20929230
TI  - Effects of concentration prior to cold-stabilization on anthocyanin stability in
      concord grape juice.
AB  - The color of Concord grape juice produced by concentration before cold
      stabilization and detartration (direct-to-concentrate, DTC) was compared to juice
      produced via cold-stabilization prior to concentration (standard concentrate, SC)
      and evaluated by several metrics. Using the Boulton copigmentation assay, the
      majority of the absorbance at 520 nm in bottled SC juice (72%) was due to
      monomeric anthocyanins. Following reconstitution, DTC juice had a 63% greater
      absorbance at 520 nm than SC juice. A significant loss of anthocyanins was
      observed using a paired t test during cold-stabilization of single-strength juice
      during SC processing (mean loss: 79 mg/L as cyanidin-3-glucoside, 23% of total
      anthocyanins), while no significant loss of anthocyanins or change in other color
      metrics was observed during cold-stabilization of DTC concentrate. The
      concentration of anthocyanins in the SC bitartrate crystals was 0.80% w/w
      compared to 0.13% w/w in the DTC bitartrate crystals. Between DTC and SC, no
      difference in copigmentation was observed in cold-stabilized concentrate or
      reconstituted juice, indicating that the increased stability of anthocyanins
      could not be credited to greater copigmentation in DTC during detartration. HPLC
      analyses indicated that anthocyanin species with higher pKh and thus
      proportionally greater flavylium ion concentration at juice pH are preferentially
      lost during SC processing. The proportional changes in color metrics during shelf
      life stability testing (0-16 weeks, 2-30  degrees C) were not significantly
      different between SC and DTC juices. 

PMID- 20929229
TI  - A hot oxidant, 3-NO2Y122 radical, unmasks conformational gating in ribonucleotide
      reductase.
AB  - Escherichia coli ribonucleotide reductase is an alpha2beta2 complex that
      catalyzes the conversion of nucleotides to deoxynucleotides and requires a
      diferric-tyrosyl radical (Y(*)) cofactor to initiate catalysis. The initiation
      process requires long-range proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) over 35 A
      between the two subunits by a specific pathway (Y(122)(*)->W(48)->Y(356) within
      beta to Y(731)->Y(730)->C(439) within alpha). The rate-limiting step in
      nucleotide reduction is the conformational gating of the PCET process, which
      masks the chemistry of radical propagation. 3-Nitrotyrosine (NO(2)Y) has recently
      been incorporated site-specifically in place of Y(122) in beta2. The protein as
      isolated contained a diferric cluster but no nitrotyrosyl radical (NO(2)Y(*)) and
      was inactive. In the present paper we show that incubation of apo-Y(122)NO(2)Y
      beta2 with Fe(2+) and O(2) generates a diferric-NO(2)Y(*) that has a half-life of
      40 s at 25  degrees C. Sequential mixing experiments, in which the cofactor is
      assembled to 1.2 NO(2)Y(*)/beta2 and then mixed with alpha2, CDP, and ATP, have
      been analyzed by stopped-flow absorption spectroscopy, rapid freeze quench EPR
      spectroscopy, and rapid chemical quench methods. These studies have, for the
      first time, unmasked the conformational gating. They reveal that the NO(2)Y(*) is
      reduced to the nitrotyrosinate with biphasic kinetics (283 and 67 s(-1)), that
      dCDP is produced at 107 s(-1), and that a new Y(*) is produced at 97 s(-1).
      Studies with pathway mutants suggest that the new Y(*) is predominantly located
      at 356 in beta2. In consideration of these data and the crystal structure of
      Y(122)NO(2)Y-beta2, a mechanism for PCET uncoupling in NO(2)Y(*)-RNR is proposed.

PMID- 20929231
TI  - Effect of different enological practices on skin and seed proanthocyanidins in
      three varietal wines.
AB  - Proanthocyanidins are important for wine quality since they participate in
      astringency, bitterness and color. Given the localization of proanthocyanidins in
      the berry (skin and seeds), different methods have been developed that help to
      modulate the release of these phenolic compounds. In this study, the effect of
      two low prefermentative temperature techniques (cold soak and must freezing with
      dry ice) and the use of macerating enzymes has been studied during the
      vinification of three different varietal wines (Monastrell, Syrah and Cabernet
      Sauvignon) to assess their influence on wine proanthocyanidin concentration and
      composition. Syrah wines showed the lowest proanthocyanidin content, together
      with the lowest mDP and the highest percentage of galloylation in its
      proanthocyanidins. Monastrell and Cabernet Sauvignon wines showed similar
      proanthocyanidin concentration. The application of the low temperature
      prefermentative maceration (cold soak) was the most effective treatment,
      increasing the proanthocyanidin concentration in Monastrell and Cabernet
      Sauvignon wines although neither of the treatments had any effect on Syrah wines.
      As regards the effect of the different treatments on the proanthocyanidin
      composition, the results seem to indicate that the observed increases were mainly
      due to an increase in seed proanthocyanidins, even in the case of cold soak
      treatments, which occur in the absence of ethanol, suggesting that ethanol is not
      so crucial in the extraction of seed proanthocyanidins. 

PMID- 20929232
TI  - Identification of prenyl ethyl ether as a source of metallic, solvent-like off
      flavor in hazelnut.
AB  - In a large batch of ground hazelnuts, a metallic, solvent-like off-note was
      detected. In this investigation, the volatiles from the batch showing off-notes
      were compared to a batch without off-notes. On the basis of gas chromatography
      (GC) sniffing and instrumental analysis, a terpenoid compound, prenyl ethyl
      ether, was identified as a key contributor to the off-note. The compound was
      quantified, and its contribution to the metallic, solvent-like off-flavor was
      confirmed by spiking experiments and sensory evaluation. Analytical and sensory
      experiments found that the off-note was still present in hazelnut cakes. Fat
      oxidation did not contribute to the off-flavor. Analysis of market products
      demonstrated the correlation between the identified terpenoid and the off-flavor.
      It is assumed that fungi are involved in off-flavor formation. 

PMID- 20929233
TI  - Synthesis, fungicidal activity, and structure-activity relationship of 2-oxo- and
      2-hydroxycycloalkylsulfonamides.
AB  - To explore new potential fungicides, a series of novel compounds, including 11 2
      oxocycloalkylsulfonamide (3) and 21 2-hydroxycycloalkylsulfonamide (4)
      derivatives, were synthesized and their structures were confirmed by (1)H nuclear
      magnetic resonance (NMR), infrared (IR), and elemental analysis. The results of
      the bioassay showed that the compounds 3 and 4 possessed excellent fungicidal
      activity against Botrytis cinerea Pers. both in vitro and in vivo. The fungicidal
      activity of the compounds with 7- or 8-membered rings is better than those with 5
      , 6-, or 12-membered rings. According to the results of the mycelium growth rate
      test, the EC50 values of the compounds 3C, 4C, 3D, and 4D were 0.80, 0.85, 1.22,
      and 1.09 MUg/mL, respectively, and similar to or better than commercial fungicide
      procymidone. The bioassay results of spore germination indicated that most of the
      compounds exhibited obvious inhibitory effects against B. cinerea and the
      inhibition rates of 2-oxocycloalkylsulfonamides were higher than 2
      hydroxycycloalkylsulfonamides, among them. The EC50 values of compounds 3A, 3B17,
      3E, and 4A were 4.21, 4.21 3.24, and 5.29 MUg/mL, respectively. Those compounds
      containing 5- or 6-membered rings showed better activity than those containing 7
      , 8-, or 12-membered rings. Furthermore, the results of the pot culture test
      showed that almost all of the compounds had effective control activity in vivo
      and 2-hydroxycycloalkylsulfonamides were obviously superior to 2
      oxocycloalkylsulfonamides. The compounds 3E, 4C and 4D presented higher control
      efficacy than procymidone and pyrimethanil against gray mold disease on cucumber
      plants.

PMID- 20929234
TI  - Characterization of graininess formed in all beef tallow-based shortening.
AB  - A batch of all beef tallow (BT)-based model shortening (divided into six
      rectangular block samples) was stored under temperature fluctuation cycles of 5
      20  degrees C until granular crystals were observed. The lipid composition,
      thermal properties, and polymorphism of the granular crystals and their
      surrounding materials were evaluated. Furthermore, the isothermal crystallization
      behavior of two parts noted above was also examined by pulsed nuclear magnetic
      resonance (pNMR), rheology, and polarized light microscopy (PLM). The changes of
      nanostructure including the aggregation of high-melting triacylglycerols (TAGs)
      and transformation into the most stable beta polymorph occurred in granular
      crystals compared with surrounding materials. Concomitantly, a slower
      crystallization rate with a simultaneous increase in crystal growth led to the
      formation of large crystals and further aggregated to larger granular crystals
      when the size ultimately exceeded the sensory threshold. 

PMID- 20929236
TI  - Effects of grape pomace antioxidant extract on oxidative stress and inflammation
      in diet induced obese mice.
AB  - Norton grape is one of the most important wine grapes in Southern and Midwestern
      states and generates massive pomace byproducts. The objective of this study is to
      characterize the antioxidant compounds and activity in Norton grape pomace
      extract (GPE) and further assess the potential health promoting properties of
      Norton GPE using an animal disease model. The total phenolic content and
      anthocyanins in Norton GPE were 475.4 mg of gallic acid equiv/g and 156.9 mg of
      cyanidin 3-glucoside equiv/g, respectively. Catechin and epicatechin in GPE were
      28.6 and 24.5 mg/g, respectively. Other major antioxidants in GPE included
      quercetin (1.6 mg/g), trans-resveratrol (60 MUg/g), gallic acid (867.2 MUg/g),
      coutaric acid (511.8 MUg/g), p-hydroxybenzoic acid (408.3 MUg/g), and
      protocatechuic acid (371.5 MUg/g). The antioxidant activity of GPE was evaluated
      by oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) and was 4133 MUmol of Trolox
      equiv/g. Male diet-induced obese (DIO) mice were randomly divided to three
      treatment groups (n = 12): a normal diet (ND group), a high fat diet (HF group),
      and the high fat diet supplemented with GPE (HFGPE group). After 12-week
      treatment, mice in the high fat diet groups gained 29% more weight than the ND
      group. The GPE supplementation (estimated 250 mg/kg bw/d) lowered plasma C
      reactive protein levels by 15.5% in the high fat diet fed mice (P < 0.05),
      suggesting a potential anti-inflammatory effect by dietary GPE. However, dietary
      GPE did not improve oxidative stress in DIO mice as determined by plasma ORAC,
      glutathione peroxidase, and liver lipid peroxidation. The results showed that GPE
      contained significant antioxidants and dietary GPE exerted an anti-inflammatory
      effect in diet induced obesity. 

PMID- 20929235
TI  - Potential physiological functions of acceptor products of dextransucrase with
      cellobiose as an inhibitor of mutansucrase and fungal cell synthase.
AB  - A series of oligosaccharides (cellobio-oligosaccharides) ranging from degrees of
      polymer 3 to 6 were synthesized by Leuconostoc mesenteroides B-512 FMCM in the
      presence of cellobiose. The major oligosaccharides were the trisaccharides, alpha
      D-glucopyranosyl-(1 -> 2)-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-(1 -> 4)-D-glucopyranose and
      alpha-D-glucopyranosyl-(1 -> 6)-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-(1 -> 4)-D-glucopyranose.
      These cellobio-oligosaccharides were inhibitory on mutansucrase, an enzyme that
      causes dental caries. They were also found to be effective antifungal agents
      against Aspergillus terreus acting by inhibiting beta-(1 -> 3)-glucan synthase,
      which is required for fungal cell wall formation.

PMID- 20929237
TI  - The Fowler-Nordheim plot behavior and mechanism of field electron emission from
      ZnO tetrapod structures.
AB  - Field emission measurements of current-voltage characteristics are reported for
      tetrapod structures of ZnO. The nonlinear Fowler-Nordheim (FN) plot is analyzed
      according to a model of calculation based on saturation of conduction band
      current and predominance of valence band current at high-field values. The
      simulated FN plot exhibits similar features to those observed experimentally. The
      model of calculation suggests that the slope variation of the FN plot, in the
      high-field and low-field regions, does not depend on the magnitude of saturation.
      Instead, it is a characteristic of the energy band structure and voltage-to
      barrier-field conversion factor of the emitting material.

PMID- 20929238
TI  - Holographically directed assembly of polymer nanocomposites.
AB  - Layered polymer/nanoparticle composites have been created through the one-step
      two-beam interference lithographic exposure of a dispersion of 25 and 50 nm
      silica particles within a photopolymerizable mixture at a wavelength of 532 nm.
      The polymerizable mixture is composed of pentaerythritol triacrylate (monomer), 1
      vinyl-2-pyrrolidinone (monomer), and photoinitiator. In the areas of constructive
      interference, the monomer begins to polymerize via a free-radical process and
      concurrently the nanoparticles move into the regions of destructive interference.
      The effects of exposure time, power density, nanoparticle size, and periodicity
      on the final nanocomposite structure were measured with transmission electron
      microscopy to determine the mechanism for particle segregation. Diffraction from
      the sample was monitored as well, though its magnitude was not a good predictor
      of nanostructure in this relatively low index contrast system. Exposure time did
      not have a strong effect on the final structure. The best nanoparticle
      sequestration was observed at reduced laser power density, smaller interferogram
      periodicity, and decreased nanoparticle size, indicating that particle
      segregation is dominated by diffusion-limited nanoparticle transport directed by
      a matrix containing a gradient of polymerization kinetics.

PMID- 20929239
TI  - An ultraclean tip-wear reduction scheme for ultrahigh density scanning probe
      based data storage.
AB  - Probe-based memory devices using ferroelectric media have the potential to
      achieve ultrahigh data-storage densities under high write-read speeds. However,
      the high-speed scanning operations over a device lifetime of 5-10 years, which
      corresponds to a probe tip sliding distance of 5-10 km, can cause the probe tip
      to mechanically wear, critically affecting its write-read resolution. Here, we
      show that the long distance tip-wear endurance issue can be resolved by
      introducing a thin water layer at the tip-media interface-thin enough to form a
      liquid crystal. By modulating the force at the tip-surface contact, this water
      crystal layer can act as a viscoelastic material which reduces the stress level
      on atomic bonds taking part in the wear process. Under our optimized environment,
      a platinum-iridium probe tip can retain its write-read resolution over 5 km of
      sliding at a 5 mm/s velocity on a smooth ferroelectric film. We also demonstrate
      a 3.6 Tbit/inch(2) storage density over a 1 * 1 MUm(2) area, which is the highest
      density ever written on ferroelectric films over such a large area.

PMID- 20929240
TI  - Field electron emission characteristics and physical mechanism of individual
      single-layer graphene.
AB  - Due to its difficulty, experimental measurement of field emission from a single
      layer graphene has not been reported, although field emission from a two
      dimensional (2D) regime has been an attractive topic. The open surface and sharp
      edge of graphene are beneficial for field electron emission. A 2D geometrical
      effect, such as massless Dirac fermion, can lead to new mechanisms in field
      emission. Here, we report our findings from in situ field electron emission
      characterization on an individual singe-layer graphene and the understanding of
      the related mechanism. The measurement of field emission from the edges was done
      using a microanode probe equipped in a scanning electron microscope. We show that
      repeatable stable field emission current can be obtained after a careful
      conditioning process. This enables us to examine experimentally the typical
      features of the field emission from a 2D regime. We plot current versus applied
      field data, respectively, in ln(I/E(3/2)) ~ 1/E and ln(I/E(3)) ~ 1/E(2)
      coordinates, which have recently been proposed for field emission from graphene
      in high- and low-field regimes. It is observed that the plots all exhibit an
      upward bending feature, revealing that the field emission processes undergo from
      a low- to high-field transition. We discuss with theoretical analysis the
      physical mechanism responsible for the new phenomena.

PMID- 20929241
TI  - Nickel-assisted healing of defective graphene.
AB  - The healing of graphene grown from a metallic substrate is investigated using
      tight-binding Monte Carlo simulations. At temperatures (ranging from 1000 to 2500
      K), an isolated graphene sheet can anneal a large number of defects suggesting
      that their healings are thermally activated. We show that in the presence of a
      nickel substrate we obtain a perfect graphene layer. The nickel-carbon chemical
      bonds keep breaking and reforming around defected carbon zones, providing a
      direct interaction, necessary for the healing. Thus, the action of Ni atoms is
      found to play a key role in the reconstruction of the graphene sheet by annealing
      defects.

PMID- 20929242
TI  - pH-Sensitive breathing of clay within the polyelectrolyte matrix.
AB  - Stimuli-responsive organic-inorganic hybrid spheres were synthesized by coating
      the colloidal polystyrene spheres with polyelectrolyte-protected aminoclay, Mg
      phyllo(organo)silicate layers in a layer-by-layer method. The clay layers are
      sandwiched between the polyelectrolyte layers. The aminoclay swells in water due
      to protonation of amino groups, and the degree of swelling depends on the pH of
      the medium. As a result, the hybrid spheres undergo a size change up to 60% as
      the pH is changed from 9 to 4. The stimuli-responsive property of the hybrid
      spheres was used for the release of ibuprofen and eosin at different pH.

PMID- 20929243
TI  - Dispersion in the SERS enhancement with silver nanocube dimers.
AB  - The SERS phenomenon was studied using a large set of silver nanocube dimers
      programmed to self-assemble in preset locations of a patterned substrate. This
      SERS substrate made it possible to demonstrate the dependence of the SERS
      enhancement on the geometry of the silver nanocube dimers and to quantify the
      dispersion in the SERS enhancement obtained in an ensemble of dimers. In addition
      to the effects of the gap distance of the dimer and the orientation of the dimer
      axis relative to the laser polarization on SERS enhancement, the data reveal an
      interesting dependence of the site-to-site variations of the enhancement on the
      relative orientation of the nanocubes in the dimer. We observed the highest
      heterogeneity in the SERS signal intensity with face-to-face dimers and a more
      robust SERS enhancement with face-to-edge dimers. Numerical calculations indicate
      that the plasmon resonance frequencies of face-to-face dimers shift considerably
      with small changes in gap distance. The resonance frequency shifts make it less
      likely for many of the dimers to satisfy the matching condition between the
      photon frequencies and the plasmon resonance frequency, offering an explanation
      for the large site-to-site variations in SERS signal intensity. These results
      indicate that plasmonic nanostructure designs for SERS substrates for real-world
      applications should be selected not only to maximize the signal enhancement
      potential but also to minimize the heterogeneity of the substrate with respect to
      signal enhancement. The latter criterion poses new challenges to experimentalists
      and theorists alike.

PMID- 20929244
TI  - A natively unfolded betagamma-crystallin domain from Hahella chejuensis.
AB  - To date, very few betagamma-crystallins have been identified and structurally
      characterized. Several of them have been shown to bind Ca(2+) and thereby enhance
      their stability without any significant change in structure. Although Ca(2+)
      induced conformational changes have been reported in two putative betagamma
      crystallins from Caulobacter crescentus and Yersinia pestis, they are shown to be
      partially unstructured, and whether they acquire a betagamma-crystallin fold is
      not known. We describe here a betagamma-crystallin domain, hahellin, its Ca(2+)
      binding properties and NMR structure. Unlike any other betagamma-crystallin,
      hahellin is characterized as a pre-molten globule (PMG) type of natively unfolded
      protein domain. It undergoes drastic conformational change and acquires a typical
      betagamma-crystallin fold upon Ca(2+) binding and hence acts as a Ca(2+)
      regulated conformational switch. However, it does not bind Mg(2+). The
      intrinsically disordered Ca(2+)-free state and the close structural similarity of
      Ca(2+)-bound hahellin to a microbial betagamma-crystallin homologue, Protein S,
      which shows Ca(2+)-dependent stress response, make it a potential candidate for
      the cellular functions. This study indicates the presence of a new class of
      natively unfolded betagamma-crystallins and therefore the commencement of the
      possible functional roles of such proteins in this superfamily.

PMID- 20929245
TI  - Graphene on metallic substrates: suppression of the Kohn Anomalies in the phonon
      dispersion.
AB  - The phonon dispersion of graphene is known to display two strong Kohn Anomalies
      (kinks) in the highest optical branch (HOB) at the high-symmetry points Gamma and
      K [ Piscanec , S. ; et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 2004 , 93 , 185503 ]. The phonon
      slope around the Kohn anomalies is related to the electron-phonon-coupling (EPC)
      with the graphene pi bands. We show that this EPC, which has strong impact, for
      example, on Raman scattering and electron transport, can be strongly modified due
      to interaction with a metallic substrate. For graphene grown on a Ni(111)
      surface, a total suppression of the Kohn anomaly occurs; the HOB around Gamma and
      K becomes completely flat. This is due to the strong hybridization of the
      graphene pi-bands with the nickel d bands that lifts the linear crossing of the
      pi bands at K. In addition, the out-of-plane modes are also found to be strongly
      affected by the binding to the substrate. For other metallic substrates, where
      the distance between the graphene sheet and the substrate is larger,
      hybridization is much less pronounced and the Kohn anomaly is only weakly
      perturbed. From experimental phonon dispersions, one can therefore draw
      conclusions about the interaction strength between graphene and its different
      substrates.

PMID- 20929246
TI  - Electric field control of spin rotation in bilayer graphene.
AB  - The manipulation of the electron spin degree of freedom is at the core of the
      spintronics paradigm, which offers the perspective of reduced power consumption,
      enabled by the decoupling of information processing from net charge transfer.
      Spintronics also offers the possibility of devising hybrid devices able to
      perform logic, communication, and storage operations. Graphene, with its
      potentially long spin-coherence length, is a promising material for spin-encoded
      information transport. However, the small spin-orbit interaction is also a
      limitation for the design of conventional devices based on the canonical Datta
      Das spin field-effect transistors. An alternative solution can be found in
      magnetic doping of graphene or, as discussed in the present work, in exploiting
      the proximity effect between graphene and ferromagnetic oxides (FOs). Graphene in
      proximity to FO experiences an exchange proximity interaction, that acts as an
      effective Zeeman field for electrons in graphene, inducing a spin precession
      around the magnetization axis of the FO. Here we show that in an appropriately
      designed double-gate field-effect transistor, with a bilayer graphene channel and
      FO used as a gate dielectric, spin-precession of carriers can be turned ON and
      OFF with the application of a differential voltage to the gates. This feature is
      directly probed in the spin-resolved conductance of the bilayer.

PMID- 20929247
TI  - Label-free voltammetric detection using individually addressable oligonucleotide
      microelectrode arrays.
AB  - The utility and performance of label-free, oligonucleotide probes for reagentless
      detection of dilute target analytes was examined using a voltammetric
      transduction principle in an array format. Multistep, solid-state fabrication
      yielded preproduction arrays of 16 individually addressable, 30 MUm diameter
      microelectrodes in a 30 mm * 6.5 mm * 0.5 mm dipstick disposable device. The
      specificity of 16 nucleotide (nt) 2'-O-methylribonucleic acid and 22 nt DNA
      backbone probes bound through Mg(2+)-phosphonate bridges to polypyrrole films on
      the microelectrodes were studied using microbial target RNAs of various lengths.
      Probe-specific interactions with Escherichia coli O157 H7 23S rRNA (2907 nt) and
      Candida albicans 18S rRNA (1788 nt) were detected at 65 and 58 fmol/mL,
      respectively, in volumes as low as 0.5 mL. Specificity studies showed that, for a
      given probe, "nontarget" transcripts can contribute to changes in the
      voltammetric detection signal, though with responses that never exceed 70% of the
      detection signal acquired for specifically designed complementary targets. These
      results statistically validate the use of the voltammetric microelectrode array
      for obtaining a "yes-no" answer on complementary specific binding. The study also
      identifies challenges and pitfalls for the selection strategies of
      oligonucleotide probes. 

PMID- 20929249
TI  - Water-soluble MnO nanocolloid for a molecular T1 MR imaging: a facile one-pot
      synthesis, in vivo T1 MR images, and account for relaxivities.
AB  - A facile one-pot synthesis of a water-soluble MnO nanocolloid (i.e., D-glucuronic
      acid-coated MnO nanoparticle) is presented. The MnO nanoparticle in the MnO
      nanocolloid was coated with a biocompatible and hydrophilic D-glucuronic acid,
      and its particle diameter was nearly monodisperse and ranged from 2 to 3 nm. The
      average hydrodynamic diameter of the MnO nanocolloid was estimated to be 5 nm.
      The MnO nanoparticle was nearly paramagnetic down to T=3 K. The MnO nanocolloid
      showed a high longitudinal water proton relaxivity of r1=7.02 s(-1) mM(-1) with
      the r2/r1 ratio of 6.83 due to five unpaired S-state electrons of Mn(II) ion
      (S=5/2) as well as a high surface to volume ratio of the MnO nanoparticle. High
      contrast in vivo T1 MR images were obtained for various organs, showing the
      capability of the MnO nanocolloid as a sensitive T1 MRI contrast agent. The
      suggested three key-parameters which control the r1 and r2 relaxivities of
      nanocolloids (i.e., the S value of a metal ion, the spin structure, and the
      surface to volume ratio of a nanoparticle) successfully accounted for the
      observed r1 and r2 relaxivities of the MnO nanocolloid.

PMID- 20929250
TI  - Synthesis, crystal structure, quantum chemical calculations, DNA interactions,
      and antimicrobial activity of [Ag(2-amino-3-methylpyridine)(2)]NO(3) and
      [Ag(pyridine-2-carboxaldoxime)NO(3)].
AB  - [Ag(2-amino-3-methylpyridine)(2)]NO(3) (1) and [Ag(pyridine-2
      carboxaldoxime)NO(3)] (2) were prepared from corresponding ligands and AgNO(3) in
      water/ethanol solutions, and the products were characterized by IR, elemental
      analysis, NMR, and TGA. The X-ray crystal structures of the two compounds show
      that the geometry around the silver(I) ion is bent for complex 1 with nitrate as
      an anion and trigonal planar for complex 2 with nitrate coordinated. ESI-MS
      results of solutions of 2 indicate the independent existence in solution of the
      [Ag(pyridine-2-carboxaldoxime)](+) ion. The geometries of the complexes are well
      described by DFT calculations using the ZORA relativistic approach. The compounds
      were tested against 14 different clinically isolated and four ATCC standard
      bacteria and yeasts and also compared with 17 commonly used antibiotics. Both 1
      and 2 exhibited considerable activity against S. lutea , M. lutea , and S. aureus
      and against the yeast Candida albicans , while 2-amino-3-methylpyridine is
      slightly active and pyridine-2-carboxaldoxime shows no antimicrobial activity. In
      addition, the interaction of these metal complexes with DNA was investigated.
      Both 1 and 2 bind to DNA and reduce its electrophoretic mobility with different
      patterns of migration, while the ligands themselves induce no change.

PMID- 20929251
TI  - X-ray-induced lysis of the Fe-CO bond in carbonmonoxy-myoglobin.
AB  - By using X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) spectroscopy, we show that
      under prolonged exposure to Synchrotron X-rays, at T < 10 K, the Fe-heme in
      carbonmonoxy-myoglobin (MbCO) undergoes a slow two-state transition process. The
      final spectrum is nearly identical to that of the classical photoproduct (Mb*CO)
      obtained by UV-visible light illumination at 15 K. By increasing the temperature,
      the starting spectrum of MbCO is recovered at T > 100 K, demonstrating that the
      process is reversible and no damage occurred at the heme site in the time course
      of the experiment. Thus, the overall X-ray-induced process at low temperature is
      identical to the well-known (light-induced) photolysis of CO-hemeproteins.

PMID- 20929252
TI  - Ozonation of oil sands process-affected water accelerates microbial
      bioremediation.
AB  - Ozonation can degrade toxic naphthenic acids (NAs) in oil sands process-affected
      water (OSPW), but even after extensive treatment a residual NA fraction remains.
      Here we hypothesized that mild ozonation would selectively oxidize the most
      biopersistent NA fraction, thereby accelerating subsequent NA biodegradation and
      toxicity removal by indigenous microbes. OSPW was ozonated to achieve
      approximately 50% and 75% NA degradation, and the major ozonation byproducts
      included oxidized NAs (i.e., hydroxy- or keto-NAs). However, oxidized NAs are
      already present in untreated OSPW and were shown to be formed during the
      microbial biodegradation of NAs. Ozonation alone did not affect OSPW toxicity,
      based on Microtox; however, there was a significant acceleration of toxicity
      removal in ozonated OSPW following inoculation with native microbes. Furthermore,
      all residual NAs biodegraded significantly faster in ozonated OSPW. The opposite
      trend was found for ozonated commercial NAs, which are known to contain no
      significant biopersistent fraction. Thus, we suggest that ozonation
      preferentially degraded the most biopersistent OSPW NA fraction, and that
      ozonation is complementary to the biodegradation capacity of microbial
      populations in OSPW. The toxicity of ozonated OSPW to higher organisms needs to
      be assessed, but there is promise that this technique could be applied to
      accelerate the bioremediation of large volumes of OSPW in Northern Alberta,
      Canada.

PMID- 20929253
TI  - Identification and inhibitory properties of multifunctional peptides from pea
      protein hydrolysate.
AB  - Pea protein isolate was hydrolyzed with alcalase, and the hydrolysate passed
      through a 1 kDa cutoff ultrafiltration membrane. The permeate was freeze-dried
      and fractionated on a cationic solid-phase extraction (SPE) column. All fractions
      were tested for their inhibitory activities against angiotensin-converting enzyme
      (ACE), renin, and calmodulin-dependent phosphodiesterase 1 (CaMPDE). With the
      exception of the first eluted fraction, inhibitory properties of the SPE
      fractions against CaMPDE (but not ACE and renin) were directly related to
      cationic character (residence time on the column). However, the fraction that
      eluted with 1% ammonium hydroxide (SPE 1%) had the highest peptide yield and was
      subsequently fractionated using two consecutive rounds of reversed-phase high
      performance liquid chromatography to obtain three peaks with major peptides
      identified as IR, KF, and EF by ultra performance liquid chromatography-tandem
      mass spectrometry. The three dipeptides showed weak inhibitory properties toward
      CaMPDE but strong inhibitions (IC50 values <25 mM) of ACE and renin. In general,
      the peptides had higher potency against ACE than against renin. It is indicated
      from our results that these peptides may be used as potential ingredients to
      formulate multifunctional food products and nutraceuticals. 

PMID- 20929254
TI  - Transepithelial transport and metabolism of new lipophilic ether derivatives of
      hydroxytyrosol by enterocyte-like Caco-2/TC7 cells.
AB  - Intestinal transport and metabolism of a series of ether derivatives of the
      natural antioxidant hydroxytyrosol with differing alkyl chain lengths (methyl,
      ethyl, propyl, and butyl) were evaluated at 1, 2, and 4 h using a two-compartment
      transwell system containing human enterocyte (differentiated Caco-2/TC7)
      monolayers, which simulates the small intestinal barrier. All four ether
      derivatives were transferred across the enterocyte monolayers with Papp(apical
      basolateral) values between 32.6 and 43.5 cm/s * 10(-6). One hour after apical
      loading, the predominant forms of the compounds on the basolateral side were
      unmodified molecules. Glucuronides and methylated metabolites were also present
      in both the apical and basolateral compartments, with conjugated metabolites
      preferentially transported to the basolateral side. The rate of metabolism
      increased according to the lipohilicity of the ether derivative (butyl > propyl >
      ethyl > methyl). In conclusion, hydroxytyrosyl ethers are rapidly absorbed
      across, and partially metabolized by, Caco-2/TC7 cell monolayers, in keeping with
      their lipophilic nature.

PMID- 20929255
TI  - Oral bioaccessibility of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) through fish
      consumption, based on an in vitro digestion model.
AB  - An in vitro gastrointestinal digestion model was used to evaluate
      bioaccessibility of PAHs in 20 fish species collected from Hong Kong markets. The
      average bioaccessibilities of PAHs were 24.3 and 31.1%, respectively, in gastric
      and intestinal conditions. When bioaccessibility was taken into consideration,
      the values of potency equivalent concentrations (PEC) decreased from 0.53 to 0.18
      ng g(-1) for freshwater fish and from 1.43 to 0.35 ng g(-1) for marine fish. This
      indicated that bioaccessibility should be taken into account for health risk
      assessment with regard to PAH contamination in fish. The relative accumulation
      ratios (R(nn)) of PAH congeners were significantly correlated with their
      physicochemical parameters and their corresponding concentrations reported in
      subcutaneous fats of Hong Kong residents. The data suggest that R(nn) values
      calculated in the present study could effectively reflect the accumulations of
      PAHs in the human body.

PMID- 20929256
TI  - Rational design, synthesis, and evaluation of new selective inhibitors of
      microbial class II (zinc dependent) fructose bis-phosphate aldolases.
AB  - We report the synthesis and biochemical evaluation of several selective
      inhibitors of class II (zinc dependent) fructose bis-phosphate aldolases (Fba).
      The products were designed as transition-state analogues of the catalyzed
      reaction, structurally related to the substrate fructose bis-phosphate (or
      sedoheptulose bis-phosphate) and based on an N-substituted hydroxamic acid, as a
      chelator of the zinc ion present in active site. The compounds synthesized were
      tested on class II Fbas from various pathogenic microorganisms and, by
      comparison, on a mammalian class I Fba. The best inhibitor shows K(i) against
      class II Fbas from various pathogens in the nM range, with very high selectivity
      (up to 10(5)). Structural analyses of inhibitors in complex with aldolases
      rationalize and corroborate the enzymatic kinetics results. These inhibitors
      represent lead compounds for the preparation of new synthetic antibiotics,
      notably for tuberculosis prophylaxis.

PMID- 20929257
TI  - Quo vadis, virtual screening? A comprehensive survey of prospective applications.

PMID- 20929258
TI  - Psiguadials A and B, two novel meroterpenoids with unusual skeletons from the
      leaves of Psidium guajava.
AB  - Psiguadials A (1) and B (2), two novel sesquiterpenoid-diphenylmethane
      meroterpenoids with unusual skeletons, along with a pair of known epimers,
      psidial A (3) and guajadial (4), were isolated from the leaves of Psidium
      guajava. Their structures with absolute configurations were elucidated by means
      of NMR, X-ray diffraction, and quantum chemical CD calculation. Compounds 1, 2,
      and 4 exhibited potent inhibitory effects on the growth of human hepatoma cells.

PMID- 20929259
TI  - Coordination properties of ionic liquid-mediated chromium(II) and copper(II)
      chlorides and their complexes with glucose.
AB  - The structural and coordination properties of complexes formed upon the
      interaction of copper(II) and chromium(II) chlorides with dialkylimidazolium
      chloride (RMIm(+)Cl(-)) ionic liquids and glucose are studied by a combination of
      density functional theory (DFT) calculations and X-ray absorption spectroscopy
      (XAS). In the absence of the carbohydrate substrate, isolated mononuclear four
      coordinated MeCl(4)(2-) species (Me = Cu, Cr) dominate in the ionic liquid
      solution. The organic part of the ionic liquid does not directly interact with
      the metal centers. The interactions between the RMIm(+) cations and the anionic
      metal chloride complexes are limited to hydrogen bonding with the basic Cl(-)
      ligands and the overall electrostatic stabilization of the anionic metal
      complexes. Exchange of Cl(-) ligands by a hydroxyl group of glucose is only
      favorable for CrCl(4)(2-). For Cu(2+) complexes, the formation of hydrogen bonded
      complexes between CuCl(4)(2-) and glucose is preferred. No preference for the
      coordination of metal chloride species to specific hydroxyl group of the
      carbohydrate is found. The formation of binuclear metal chloride complexes is
      also considered. The reactivity and selectivity patterns of the Lewis acid
      catalyzed reactions of glucose are discussed in the framework of the obtained
      results.

PMID- 20929260
TI  - Ruthenium-catalyzed tertiary amine formation from nitroarenes and alcohols.
AB  - A highly selective ruthenium-catalyzed C-N bond formation was developed by using
      the hydrogen-borrowing strategy. Various tertiary amines were obtained
      efficiently from nitroarenes and primary alcohols. The reaction tolerates a wide
      range of functionalities. A tentative mechanism was proposed for this direct
      amination reaction of alcohols with nitroarenes.

PMID- 20929261
TI  - Mammea E/BB, an isoprenylated dihydroxycoumarin protonophore that potently
      uncouples mitochondrial electron transport, disrupts hypoxic signaling in tumor
      cells.
AB  - The mammea-type coumarin mammea E/BB (1) was found to inhibit both hypoxia
      induced and iron chelator-induced hypoxia-inducible factor-1 (HIF-1) activation
      in human breast tumor T47D cells with IC(50) values of 0.96 and 0.89 MUM,
      respectively. Compound 1 suppressed the hypoxic induction of secreted VEGF
      protein (T47D cells) and inhibited cell viability/proliferation in four human
      tumor cell lines. Compound 1 (at 5 and 20 MUM) inhibited human breast tumor MDA
      MB-231 cell migration. While the mechanisms that underlie their biological
      activities have remained unknown, prenylated mammea coumarins have been shown to
      be cytotoxic to human tumor cells, suppress tumor growth in animal models, and
      display a wide variety of antimicrobial effects. Mechanistic studies revealed
      that 1 appears to exert an assemblage of cellular effects by functioning as an
      anionic protonophore that potently uncouples mitochondrial electron transport and
      disrupts mitochondrial signaling in human tumor cell lines.

PMID- 20929262
TI  - Degradation of ozone-refractory organic phosphates in wastewater by ozone and
      ozone/hydrogen peroxide (peroxone): the role of ozone consumption by dissolved
      organic matter.
AB  - Ozonation is very effective in eliminating micropollutants that react fast with
      ozone (k > 10(3) M(-1) s(-1)), but there are also ozone-refractory (k < 10 M(-1)
      s(-1)) micropollutants such as X-ray contrast media, organic phosphates, and
      others. Yet, they are degraded upon ozonation to some extent, and this is due to
      (*)OH radicals generated in the reaction of ozone with organic matter in
      wastewater (DOM, determined as DOC). The elimination of tri-n-butyl phosphate
      (TnBP) and tris-2-chloroisopropyl phosphate (TCPP), added to wastewater in trace
      amounts, was studied as a function of the ozone dose and found to follow first
      order kinetics. TnBP and TCPP concentrations are halved at ozone to DOC ratios of
      ~0.25 and ~1.0, respectively. The (*)OH rate constant of TCPP was estimated at (7
      +/- 2) * 10(8) M(-1) s(-1) by pulse radiolysis. Addition of 1 mg H(2)O(2)/L for
      increasing the (*)OH yield had very little effect. This is due to the low rate of
      reaction of H(2)O(2) with ozone at wastewater conditions (pH 8) that competes
      unfavorably with the reaction of ozone with wastewater DOC. Simulations based on
      the reported (Nothe et al., ES&T 2009, 43, 5990-5995) (*)OH yield (13%) and (*)OH
      scavenger capacity of wastewater (3.2 * 10(4) (mgC/L)(-1) s(-1)) confirm the
      experimental data. Based on a typically applied molar ratio of ozone and H(2)O(2)
      of 2, the contribution of H(2)O(2) addition on the (*)OH yield is shown to become
      important only at high ozone doses.

PMID- 20929264
TI  - Cu(I)-catalyzed carboxylative coupling of terminal alkynes, allylic chlorides,
      and CO2.
AB  - A highly selective synthesis of a variety of functionalized allylic 2-alkynoates
      was realized via the carboxylative coupling of terminal alkynes, allylic
      chlorides, and CO(2) catalyzed by the N-heterocyclic carbene copper(I) complex
      (IPr)CuCl. The catalyst can be easily recovered without any loss in activity and
      product selectivity.

PMID- 20929266
TI  - Bioresponsive small molecule polyamines as noncytotoxic alternative to
      polyethylenimine.
AB  - Nonviral gene therapy continues to require novel synthetic vectors to deliver
      therapeutic nucleic acids effectively and safely. The majority of synthetic
      nonviral vectors employed in clinical trials to date have been cationic
      liposomes; however, cationic polymers are attracting increasing attention. One of
      the few cationic polymers to enter clinical trials has been polyethylenimine
      (PEI); however, doubts remain over its cytotoxicity, and in addition it displays
      lower levels of transfection than viral systems. Herein, we report on the
      development of a series of small molecule analogues of PEI that are bioresponsive
      to the presence of pDNA, forming poly(disulfide)s that are capable of efficacious
      transfection with no associated toxicity. The most effective small molecule
      developed, a cyclic disulfide based upon a spermine backbone, is shown to form
      very well-defined polyplexes (100-200 nm in diameter) that mediate murine lung
      transfection in vivo to within an order of magnitude of in vivo jetPEI, and at
      the same time display a much improved cytotoxicity profile.

PMID- 20929265
TI  - Serine side chain-linked peptidomimetic conjugates of cyclic HPMPC and HPMPA:
      synthesis and interaction with hPEPT1.
AB  - Cidofovir (HPMPC), a broad spectrum antiviral agent, cannot be administered
      orally due to ionization of its phosphonic acid group at physiological pH. One
      prodrug approach involves conversion to the cyclic form (cHPMPC, 1) and
      esterification by the side chain hydroxyl group of a peptidomimetic serine.
      Transport studies in a rat model have shown enhanced levels of total cidofovir
      species in the plasma after oral dosing with L-Val-L-Ser-OMe cHPMPC, 2a. To
      explore the possibility that 2a and its three L/D stereoisomers 2b-d undergo
      active transport mediated by the peptide-specific intestinal transporter PEPT1,
      we performed radiotracer uptake and electrophysiology experiments applying the
      two-electrode voltage clamp technique in Xenopus laevis oocytes overexpressing
      human PEPT1 (hPEPT1, SLC15A1). 2a-d did not induce inward currents, indicating
      that they are not transported, but the stereoisomers with an L-configuration at
      the N-terminal valine (2a and 2b) potently inhibited transport of the hPEPT1
      substrate glycylsarcosine (Gly-Sar). A "reversed" dipeptide conjugate, L-Ser-L
      Ala-OiPr cHPMPC (4), also did not exhibit detectable transport, but completely
      abolished the Gly-Sar signal, suggesting that affinity of the transporter for
      these prodrugs is not impaired by a proximate linkage to the drug in the N
      terminal amino acid of the dipeptide. Single amino acid conjugates of cHPMPC (3a
      and 3b) or cHPMPA (5, 6a and 6b) were not transported and only weakly inhibited
      Gly-Sar transport. The known hPEPT1 prodrug substrate valacyclovir (7) and its L
      Val-L-Val dipeptide analogue (8) were used to verify coupled transport by the
      oocyte model. The results indicate that the previously observed enhanced oral
      bioavailability of 2a relative to the parent drug is unlikely to be due to active
      transport by hPEPT1. Syntheses of the novel compounds 2b-d and 3-6 are described,
      including a convenient solid-phase method to prepare 5, 6a and 6b.

PMID- 20929267
TI  - Metabolic detoxication pathways for sterigmatocystin in primary tracheal
      epithelial cells.
AB  - Human health effects of inhaled mycotoxins remain poorly documented, despite the
      large amounts present in bioaerosols. Among these mycotoxins, sterigmatocystin is
      one of the most prevalent. Our aim was to study the metabolism and cellular
      consequences of sterigmatocystin once it is in contact with the airway
      epithelium. Metabolites were analyzed first in vitro, using recombinant P450 1A1,
      1A2, 2A6, 2A13, and 3A4 enzymes, and subsequently in porcine tracheal epithelial
      cell (PTEC) primary cultures at an air-liquid interface. Expressed enzymes and
      PTECs were exposed to sterigmatocystin, uniformly enriched with (13)C to confirm
      the relationship between sterigmatocystin and metabolites. Induction of the
      expression of xenobiotic-metabolizing enzymes upon sterigmatocystin exposure was
      examined by real-time quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction.
      Incubation of 50 MUM sterigmatocystin with recombinant P450 1A1 led to the
      formation of three metabolites: monohydroxy-sterigmatocystin (M1), dihydroxy
      sterigmatocystin (M2), and one glutathione adduct (M3), the latter after the
      formation of a transient epoxide. Recombinant P450 1A2 also led to M1 and M3.
      P450 3A4 led to only M3. In PTEC, 1 MUM sterigmatocystin metabolism resulted in a
      glucuro conjugate (M4) mainly excreted at the basal side of cells. If PTEC were
      treated with beta-naphthoflavone prior to sterigmatocystin incubation, two other
      products were detected, i.e., a sulfo conjugate (M5) and a glucoro conjugate (M6)
      of hydroxy-sterigmatocystin. Exposure of PTEC for 24 h to 1 MUM sterigmatocystin
      induced an 18-fold increase in the mRNA levels of P450 1A1, without significantly
      induced 7-ethoxyresorufin O-deethylation activity. These data suggest that
      sterigmatocystin is mainly detoxified and is unable to produce significant
      amounts of reactive epoxide metabolites in respiratory cells. However,
      sterigmatocystin increases the P450 1A1 mRNA levels with unknown long-term
      consequences. These in vitro results obtained in the porcine pulmonary tract need
      to be confirmed in human epithelial cells.

PMID- 20929268
TI  - Mechanistic insight into direct arylations with ruthenium(II) carboxylate
      catalysts.
AB  - Mechanistic studies revealed ruthenium-catalyzed direct arylations to proceed
      through reversible C-H bond activation and subsequent rate-limiting oxidative
      addition with aryl halides, which led to the development of widely applicable
      well-defined ruthenium(II) carboxylate catalysts.

PMID- 20929269
TI  - Synthesis of 6- and 7-membered cyclic enaminones: scope and mechanism.
AB  - Six- and seven-membered cyclic enaminones can be prepared using common,
      environmentally benign reagents. Amino acids are used as synthetic precursors
      allowing diversification and the incorporation of chirality. The key reaction in
      this multistep process involves deprotection of Boc-amino ynones and subsequent
      treatment with methanolic K(2)CO(3) to induce cyclization. A beta-amino
      elimination side reaction was identified in a few labile substrates that led to
      either loss of stereochemical purity or degradation. This process can be
      mitigated in specific cases using mild deprotection conditions. NMR and deuterium
      labeling experiments provided valuable insight into the workings and limitations
      of this reaction. Although disguised as a 6-endo-dig cyclization, the reagents
      employed in the transformation play a direct role in bond-making and bond
      breaking, thus changing the mode of addition to a 6-endo-trig cyclization. This
      method can be used to construct an array of monocyclic and bicyclic scaffolds,
      many of which are found in well-known natural products (e.g., indolizidine,
      quinolizidine, and Stemona alkaloids).

PMID- 20929270
TI  - Kinetic analysis of a naturally occurring bioremediation enzyme: dehaloperoxidase
      hemoglobin from Amphitrite ornata.
AB  - The temperature dependence of the rate constant for substrate oxidation by the
      dehaloperoxidase-hemoglobin (DHP) of Amphitrite ornata has been measured from 278
      to 308 K. The rate constant is observed to increase over this range by
      approximately a factor of 2 for each 10  degrees C temperature increment. An
      analysis of the initial rates using a phenomenological approach that expresses
      the peroxidase ping-pong mechanism in the form of the Michaelis-Menten equation
      leads to an interpretation of the effects in terms of the fundamental rate
      constants. The analysis of kinetic data considers a combination of diffusion rate
      constants for substrate and H(2)O(2), elementary steps involving activation and
      heterolysis of the O-O bond of H(2)O(2), and two electron transfers from the
      substrate to the iron. To complete the analysis from the perspective of turnover
      of substrate into product, density function theory (DFT) calculations were used
      to address the fate of phenoxy radical intermediates. The analysis suggests a
      dominant role for diffusion in the kinetics of DHP.

PMID- 20929271
TI  - Micropatterned polyvinyl butyral membrane for acid-base diodes.
AB  - Until now, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) gel cylinders have been used in electrolyte
      diodes as a connecting element between the acidic and alkaline reservoirs. In
      this paper, a new connecting element is reported: a breath figure templated
      polyvinyl butyral (PVB) membrane prepared with dip-coating from a dichloromethane
      solution of the polymer in a humid atmosphere. The procedure gives a 1.5-2 MUm
      thick membrane with a hexagonal pattern, the average characteristic length of
      which is 1 MUm. After an acidic etching, it was found to be a good connecting
      element. The voltage-current characteristics and dynamic properties of PVA and
      PVB were measured and compared. The PVB membrane has a faster response to voltage
      changes than the PVA gel, but in both cases, there was a slow drift in the
      current that prevented it from reaching a steady state. Reproducible
      characteristics can be obtained, however, after the current reaches a well
      defined quasi-steady state.

PMID- 20929272
TI  - Revised thermochemistry of gaseous ammonium nitrate, NH4NO3(g).
AB  - In an earlier paper (Hildenbrand, D. L., Lau, K. H., and Chandra, D. J. Phys.
      Chem. B 2010, 114, 330.), we detected the presence of NH4NO3(g) in the vapor over
      the solid nitrate and evaluated its partial pressure along with those of HNO3 and
      NH3. The molecular constants of the gaseous nitrate were estimated in the absence
      of experimental values in an attempt to derive its enthalpies of sublimation and
      formation. After publication, we became aware of the sought molecular data,
      evaluated primarily from high-level theoretical calculations, and revised the
      analysis to yield Delta(f)H298 degrees (NH4NO3(g)) = -61.8 +/- 5 kcal mol-1.

PMID- 20929273
TI  - Time-resolved spectroscopic measurements of shock-wave induced decomposition in
      cyclotrimethylene trinitramine (RDX) crystals: anisotropic response.
AB  - Plate impact experiments on the (210), (100), and (111) planes were performed to
      examine the role of crystalline anisotropy on the shock-induced decomposition of
      cyclotrimethylenetrinitramine (RDX) crystals. Time-resolved emission spectroscopy
      was used to probe the decomposition of single crystals shocked to peak stresses
      ranging between 7 and 20 GPa. Emission produced by decomposition intermediates
      was analyzed in terms of induction time to emission, emission intensity, and the
      emission spectra shapes as a function of stress and time. Utilizing these
      features, we found that the shock-induced decomposition of RDX crystals exhibits
      considerable anisotropy. Crystals shocked on the (210) and (100) planes were more
      sensitive to decomposition than crystals shocked on the (111) plane. The possible
      sources of the observed anisotropy are discussed with regard to the inelastic
      deformation mechanisms of shocked RDX. Our results suggest that, despite the
      anisotropy observed for shock initiation, decomposition pathways for all three
      orientations are similar.

PMID- 20929274
TI  - Concise and enantioselective total synthesis of 15-deoxy-Delta-(12,14)
      prostaglandin J(2).
AB  - The concise and enantioselective synthesis of 15-deoxy-Delta(12,14)-prostaglandin
      J(2) (15d-PGJ(2)) has been accomplished in 11 steps from a known alcohol. The key
      step of the synthesis involves an asymmetric Rh-catalyzed cycloisomerization of
      ene-ynone, followed by an olefin isomerization.

PMID- 20929275
TI  - Early childhood caries among Hutterite preschool children in Manitoba, Canada.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: This study investigated the prevalence of early childhood caries
      (ECC) among Hutterite preschool children from different colonies in southwestern
      Manitoba, Canada. METHODS: Following informed consent from the child's parent,
      children under 72 months of age underwent a dental screening examination.
      Approval was granted by the University of Manitoba's Health Research Ethics
      Board. RESULTS: A total of 66 children with a mean age of 40.1 +/- 20.1 months
      participated. The prevalence of ECC was 53%, while the mean decayed, extracted
      and filled teeth (deft) score was 2.8 +/- 4.0 (range 0-20). A total of 42.4% had
      severe ECC (S-ECC). There was no difference in prevalence among the 6
      participating colonies. Only 15 children had already been to the dentist, with
      the majority of these visits due to decay or dental pain. Of those, the mean age
      for a first visit was 2.7 +/- 0.6 years. Children with ECC were determined to be
      significantly older than those who were caries-free (p<.0001). Early childhood
      caries and higher caries rates were associated with lower maternal ratings of
      their child's dental health. Both ECC and increased deft scores were
      significantly associated with the number of children in the home. CONCLUSIONS:
      This is the first study to report the prevalence of primary tooth decay in
      Hutterite children. Rates were comparable with other Canadian data for rural
      dwelling children. Effective and culturally appropriate prevention and health
      promotion activities are warranted, including fluoride varnish and early dental
      visits.

PMID- 20929276
TI  - Cationic nanosystems for the delivery of small interfering ribonucleic acid
      therapeutics: a focus on toxicogenomics.
AB  - IMPORTANCE OF THE FIELD: siRNAs may serve as novel nanomedicines for sequence
      specific gene silencing in the clinic. However, delivering siRNA to targeted
      tissue or cells remains a challenge. An appropriate delivery nanosystem such as
      cationic polymers or liposomes is required for effective gene silencing with
      siRNA in vivo but the available drug delivery vectors are not all biologically
      inert. AREAS COVERED IN THIS REVIEW: A combination of highly focused and
      comprehensive literature searches to identify any relevant reports using Medline
      (from 1950 to 7 April 2010) through the OVID system. WHAT THE READER WILL GAIN:
      Using cationic delivery nanosystems as examples, this review article highlights
      the importance of undertaking toxicogenomics studies - the application of
      transcription profiling to toxicology - to acquire gene expression signatures of
      siRNA delivery systems so as to determine and/or predict their impact on gene
      silencing activity and specificity. Such nanotoxicological information will be
      important for the optimal selection of siRNA-delivery system combinations in the
      many proposed clinical applications of RNA interference. TAKE HOME MESSAGE:
      Cationic delivery nanosystems can elicit multiple gene expression changes in
      cells that may contribute to the 'off-target' effects of siRNAs and/or modulate
      their pharmacological activity. Thus, selection of delivery systems for siRNA
      applications should be based on both their delivery enhancing capability and
      toxicogenomics.

PMID- 20929277
TI  - Interleukin-1beta, C-x-C motif ligand 10, and interferon-gamma serum levels in
      mixed cryoglobulinemia with or without autoimmune thyroiditis.
AB  - The aim of this study was to evaluate serum levels of interleukin-1beta (IL
      1beta), chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand 10 (CXCL10), and interferon-gamma (IFN
      gamma) in a series of patients with "mixed cryoglobulinemia and hepatitis C virus
      chronic infection" (MC + HCV) in the presence or absence of autoimmune
      thyroiditis (AT) and to relate them to the clinical phenotype of these patients.
      Serum IL-1beta, IFN-gamma, and CXCL10 were assayed in 30 patients with MC + HCV
      without AT, in 30 patients with MC + HCV and AT, and in 30 sex- and age-matched
      controls. Cryoglobulinemic patients showed significantly higher mean IL-1beta and
      CXCL10 levels than controls (P < 0.01). Moreover, CXCL10 was significantly
      increased in patients with AT patients with respect to those without AT (P <
      0.01). Serum IFN-gamma levels were not significantly higher in MC + HCV patients
      than in controls. In conclusion, our study demonstrates significantly high serum
      levels of IL-1beta in patients with MC + HCV with and without AT compared with
      healthy controls. Further, significantly high serum levels of CXCL10 in patients
      with MC + HCV compared with healthy controls were confirmed, overall in the
      presence of AT. Moreover, a pathophysiological association between high
      circulating levels of IL-1beta and CXCL10 has been suggested. A possible
      therapeutic role of the anti-IL-1 receptor antagonist (Anakirna) in MC remains to
      be evaluated.

PMID- 20929278
TI  - Molecular characterization and antiviral analyses of porcine type III
      interferons.
AB  - Type III interferons (IFNs) are a family of recently identified antiviral
      cytokines. One to 3 paralogs have been identified in several species; however,
      little information is available about type III IFNs in pigs. We have identified 2
      porcine type III IFNs, Sus scrofa IFN-lambda1 (SsIFN-lambda1) and SsIFN-lambda3,
      and determined their tissue expression profile and antiviral activities. Open
      reading frames of SsIFN-lambda1 and SsIFN-lambda3 are 576 and 588 bp, encoding
      191 and 195 amino acid preproteins, respectively. In healthy pigs, SsIFN-lambda3
      was primarily expressed in mesenteric lymph nodes and intestine, whereas
      expression of SsIFN-lambda1 was found in all tested tissues and was high in
      mesenteric lymph nodes, intestine, and liver. Porcine cells treated with the
      viral mimic, dsRNA, robustly increased SsIFN-lambda3 expression, with epithelial
      cells generally displaying the greatest response. Conversely, dsRNA-induced mRNA
      expressions of SsIFN-lambda1, SsIFN-alpha1, and SsIFN-beta were relatively weaker
      and delayed compared with SsIFN-lambda3. SsIFN-lambda1 and SsIFN-lambda3 peptides
      exerted similar but lower antiviral potency than SsIFN-alpha1 and SsIFN-beta
      against a porcine arterivirus and an adenovirus. These findings indicate that
      pigs have 2 type III IFN paralogs, which have antiviral activity and may serve as
      targets for modulation of the porcine host-pathogen interaction.

PMID- 20929279
TI  - Nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor toxicity and mitochondrial DNA.
AB  - IMPORTANCE OF THE FIELD: HIV/AIDS is a worldwide epidemic. While there remains no
      cure for the HIV-1 infection, nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs)
      have helped transform the HIV-1 infection from a lethal disease into a chronic
      illness. Though NRTIs inhibit HIV-1 replication, they exhibit side effects in
      human tissues that appear to result from NRTI inhibition of human mitochondrial
      polymerase gamma (pol gamma). AREAS COVERED IN THIS REVIEW: this review discusses
      the current knowledge of NRTI-induced toxicity, specifically the inhibition of
      pol gamma and the mitochondrial toxicity from incorporation of NRTIs into
      mitochondrial DNA. Details are discussed about general mechanisms of NRTI
      toxicity and how specific tissue toxicities in mitochondria relate to clinical
      manifestation. WHAT THE READER WILL GAIN: a detailed knowledge of the
      mitochondrial toxicity resulting from NRTI-inclusive therapies and related tissue
      toxicities are provided. This review presents both the molecular effects of NRTI
      usage on mitochondrial genetic homeostasis and energy metabolism as well as the
      clinical manifestations associated with NRTI toxicities. TAKE HOME MESSAGE: NRTIs
      remain a critical component of current HIV-1 treatment regimens. Future NRTIs
      should provide higher specificity for HIV-RT and lower incorporation by pol gamma
      to minimize mitochondrial toxicity. Alternatively, therapeutic interventions to
      prevent or alleviate mitochondrial toxicity should be addressed.

PMID- 20929280
TI  - Xenopus laevis as a novel model to study long bone critical-size defect repair by
      growth factor-mediated regeneration.
AB  - We used the tarsus of an adult Xenopus laevis frog as an in vivo load-bearing
      model to study the regeneration of critical-size defects (CSD) in long bones. We
      found the CSD for this bone to be about 35% of the tarsus length. To promote
      regeneration, we implanted biocompatible 1,6 hexanediol diacrylate scaffolds
      soaked with bone morphogenetic proteins-4 and vascular endothelial growth
      factors. In contrast to studies that use scaffolds as templates for bone
      formation, we used scaffolds as a growth factor delivery vehicle to promote
      cartilage-to-bone regeneration. Defects in control frogs were filled with
      scaffolds lacking growth factors. The limbs were harvested at a series of time
      points ranging from 3 weeks to 6 months after implantation and evaluated using
      micro-computed tomography and histology. In frogs treated with growth factor
      loaded scaffolds, we observed a cartilage-to-bone regeneration in the skeletal
      defect. Five out of eight defects were completely filled with cartilage by 6
      weeks. Blood vessels had invaded the cartilage, and bone was beginning to form in
      ossifying centers. By 3 months, these processes were well advanced, and extensive
      ossification was observed in 6-month samples. In contrast, the defects in control
      frogs showed only formation of fibrous scar tissue. This study demonstrates the
      utility of a Xenopus model system for tissue engineering research and that the
      normal in vivo mechanism of endochondral bone development and fracture repair can
      be mimicked in the repair of CSD with scaffolds used as growth factor delivery
      mechanisms.

PMID- 20929281
TI  - Vascularization of the dermal support enhances wound re-epithelialization by in
      situ delivery of epidermal keratinocytes.
AB  - Despite significant advances in management of severe wounds such as burns and
      chronic ulcers, autologous split-thickness skin grafts are still the gold
      standard of care. The main problems with this approach include pain and
      discomfort associated with harvesting autologous tissue, limited availability of
      donor sites, and the need for multiple surgeries. Although tissue engineering has
      great potential to provide alternative approaches for tissue regeneration,
      several problems have hampered progress in translating technological advances to
      clinical reality. Specifically, engineering of skin substitutes requires long
      culture times and delayed vascularization after implantation compromises graft
      survival. To address these issues we developed a novel two-prong strategy for
      tissue regeneration in vivo: (1) vascularization of acellular dermal scaffolds by
      infiltration of angiogenic factors; and (2) generation of stratified epidermis by
      in situ delivery of epidermal keratinocytes onto the prevascularized dermal
      support. Using athymic mouse as a model system, we found that incorporation of
      angiogenic factors within acellular human dermis enhanced the density and
      diameter of infiltrating host blood vessels. Increased vascularization correlated
      with enhanced proliferation and stratification of the neoepidermis originating
      from the fibrin-keratinocyte cell suspension. This strategy promoted tissue
      regeneration in vivo with no need for engineering skin substitutes; therefore, it
      may be useful for treatment of major wounds when skin donor sites are scarce and
      rapid wound coverage is required.

PMID- 20929282
TI  - Synergistic angiogenesis promoting effects of extracellular matrix scaffolds and
      adipose-derived stem cells during wound repair.
AB  - Slow vascularization rate is considered one of the main drawbacks of scaffolds
      used in wound healing. Several efforts, including cellular and acellular
      technologies, have been made to induce vascular growth in scaffolds. However,
      thus far, there is no established technology for inducing vascular growth. The
      aim of this study was to promote the vascularization capacities of scaffolds by
      seeding adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) on them and to compare the
      vascularization capacities of different scaffolds seeded with ADSCs. Two kinds of
      extracellular matrix scaffolds (small intestinal submucosa [SIS] and acellular
      dermal matrix [ADM]) and a kind of composite scaffold (collagen-chondroitin
      sulfate-hyaluronic acid [Co-CS-HA]) were selected. Subcutaneous implantation
      analysis showed that the vascularization capacity of SIS and ADM was greater than
      that of Co-CS-HA. ADSCs seeded in SIS and ADM secreted greater amounts of
      vascular endothelial growth factor than those seeded in Co-CS-HA. In a murine
      skin injury model, ADSC-seeded scaffolds enhanced the angiogenesis and wound
      healing rate compared with the nonseeded scaffolds. Moreover, ADSC-SIS and ADSC
      ADM had greater vascularization capacity than that of ADSC-Co-CS-HA. Taken
      together, these results suggest that ADSCs could be used as a cell source to
      promote the vascularization capacities of scaffolds. The vascularization
      capacities of ADSC-seeded scaffolds were influenced by both the vascularization
      capacities of the scaffolds themselves and their effects on the angiogenic
      potential of ADSCs; the combination of extracellular matrix scaffolds and ADSCs
      exhibited synergistic angiogenesis promoting effects.

PMID- 20929284
TI  - Optimization of an in vitro three-dimensional microenvironment to reprogram
      synovium-derived stem cells for cartilage tissue engineering.
AB  - Adult stem cells gradually lose their stemness when plated in monolayer culture
      after isolation from their in vivo niche. In this study, we hypothesized that the
      in vitro microenvironment can be optimized by modulating oxygen tension and
      mitotic signal in a tissue-specific extracellular matrix (ECM) deposited by
      synovium-derived stem cells (SDSCs) to rejuvenate expanded SDSC proliferation and
      chondrogenic potential. Passage 3 SDSCs were plated on either SDSC-derived ECM or
      plastic flask and incubated in either hypoxia (5% O(2)) or normoxia (21% O(2))
      with or without the supplementation of 10 ng/mL of basic fibroblast growth factor
      2 (FGF-2) for 7 days, followed by pellet culture in a serum-free chondrogenic
      medium for 14 days. Our data showed that, compared with the mitotic effect of FGF
      2 on SDSCs, ECM expansion greatly enhanced SDSC proliferation while retaining
      SDSC stem cell characteristics. More importantly, ECM pretreatment yielded SDSC
      pellets with a comparable chondrogenic index to FGF-2 pretreatment, both of which
      were much higher than SDSC expansion on plastic flask alone. FGF-2 pretreatment
      led to the highest glycosaminoglycans and DNA content; intriguingly, it also
      contributed to the highest expression level of hypertrophic marker genes.
      Surprisingly, the hypertrophic marker genes could be downregulated if the
      pretreatment was combined with hypoxia or ECM. The combination of hypoxia, FGF-2,
      and SDSC-derived ECM contributed to the highest cell number in SDSC expansion.
      Our study indicates that the three-dimensional microenvironment for ex vivo
      expansion can be optimized to provide high-quality stem cells for stem cell-based
      cartilage defect repair.

PMID- 20929285
TI  - The porcine limbal epithelial stem cell niche as a new model for the study of
      transplanted tissue-engineered human limbal epithelial cells.
AB  - Transparency of the human cornea is dependent upon the integrity of its
      epithelium and hence a population of limbal epithelial stem cells (LESCs). We
      have previously shown that LESCs reside in limbal epithelial crypts at the
      periphery of the human cornea. In this study the anatomy and functionality of the
      porcine limbus was evaluated for the first time as a novel model of the human
      limbus. Scanning electron microscopy, confocal microscopy, and histology revealed
      common structures in the porcine and human limbus in terms of the location and
      topography of palisades of Vogt and limbal epithelial crypts. Epithelial cells
      harvested from crypt regions achieved higher colony forming efficiency than
      cultures established from the noncrypt regions and central cornea. Also,
      expression of the putative SC markers p63alpha and integrin beta1 brightness was
      higher in the basal layer of the crypt regions, as shown by immunocytochemistry.
      De-epithelialized porcine corneas were used as an in vitro organ culture model to
      study the fate of transplanted human epithelium cultured from the limbus.
      Multilayered epithelium was observed after ~1 week. Subsequently, wounds were
      inflicted on the central corneal epithelium. The wounded tissue healed within 5-7
      days, and multilayering of the central corneal epithelium was re-established. The
      transplanted epithelia were repeatedly wounded at least four times and the wounds
      healed by 1 week. Putative SC marker expression of the transplanted epithelia was
      confirmed using immunohistochemistry. These results demonstrate that the porcine
      limbus shares features with the human limbus and as such provides a suitable
      model for the study of cultured limbal epithelial cell transplantation. These
      data have significant clinical value as this model can provide information on
      LESC fate post-transplantation and their ability to respond to injury, which is
      not possible to study in patients.

PMID- 20929283
TI  - Direct comparisons of the morphology, migration, cell adhesions, and actin
      cytoskeleton of fibroblasts in four different three-dimensional extracellular
      matrices.
AB  - Interactions between cells and the extracellular matrix are at the core of tissue
      engineering and biology. However, most studies of these interactions have used
      traditional two-dimensional (2D) tissue culture, which is less physiological than
      three-dimensional (3D) tissue culture. In this study, we compared cell behavior
      in four types of commonly used extracellular matrix under 2D and 3D conditions.
      Specifically, we quantified parameters of cell adhesion and migration by human
      foreskin fibroblasts in cell-derived matrix or hydrogels of collagen type I,
      fibrin, or basement membrane extract (BME). Fibroblasts in 3D were more spindle
      shaped with fewer lateral protrusions and substantially reduced actin stress
      fibers than on 2D matrices; cells failed to spread in 3D BME. Cell-matrix
      adhesion structures were detected in all matrices. Although the shapes of these
      cell adhesions differed, the total area per cell occupied by cell-matrix
      adhesions in 2D and 3D was nearly identical. Fibroblasts migrated most rapidly in
      cell-derived 3D matrix and collagen and migrated minimally in BME, with highest
      migration directionality in cell-derived matrix. This identification of
      quantitative differences in cellular responses to different matrix composition
      and dimensionality should help guide the development of customized 3D tissue
      culture and matrix scaffolds for tissue engineering.

PMID- 20929286
TI  - Engineered three-dimensional liver mimics recapitulate critical rat-specific bile
      acid pathways.
AB  - A critical hepatic function is the maintenance of optimal bile acid (BA)
      compositions to achieve cholesterol homeostasis. BAs are rarely quantified to
      assess hepatic phenotype in vitro since existing analytical techniques have
      inadequate resolution. We report a detailed investigation into the biosynthesis
      and homeostasis of eight primary rat BAs in conventional in vitro hepatocyte
      cultures and in an engineered liver mimic. The three-dimensional (3D) liver mimic
      was assembled with layers of primary rat hepatocytes and liver sinusoidal
      endothelial cells. A high-pressure liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry
      technique was developed with a detection limit of 1 ng/mL for each BA, which is
      significantly lower than previous approaches. Over a 2-week culture, only 3D
      liver mimics exhibited the ratio of conjugated cholic acid to chenodeoxycholic
      acid that has been observed in vivo. This ratio, an important marker of BA
      homeostasis, was significantly higher in stable collagen sandwich cultures
      indicating significant deviation from physiological behavior. The biosynthesis of
      tauro-beta-muricholic acid, a key primary rat BA, doubled only in the engineered
      liver mimics while decreasing in the other systems. These trends demonstrate that
      the 3D liver mimics provide a unique platform to study hepatic metabolism.

PMID- 20929287
TI  - Tubular perfusion system for the long-term dynamic culture of human mesenchymal
      stem cells.
AB  - In vitro culture techniques must be improved to increase the feasibility of cell
      based tissue engineering strategies. To enhance nutrient transport we have
      developed a novel bioreactor, the tubular perfusion system (TPS), to culture
      human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) in three-dimensional scaffolds. This system
      utilizes an elegant design to create a more effective environment for cell
      culture. In our design, hMSCs in the TPS bioreactor are encapsulated in alginate
      beads that are tightly packed in a tubular growth chamber. The medium is perfused
      by a peristaltic pump through the growth chamber and around the tightly packed
      scaffolds enhancing nutrient transfer while exposing the cells to shear stress.
      Results demonstrate that bioreactor culture supports early osteoblastic
      differentiation of hMSCs as shown by alkaline phosphatase gene expression. After
      14 and 28 days of culture significant increases in the gene expression levels of
      osteocalcin, osteopontin, and bone morphogenetic protein-2 were observed with
      bioreactor culture, and expression of these markers was shown to increase with
      media flow rate. These results demonstrate the TPS bioreactor as an effective
      means to culture hMSCs and provide insight to the effect of long-term shear
      stresses on differentiating hMSCs.

PMID- 20929288
TI  - Organ-specific tubular and collagen-based composite scaffolds.
AB  - The body contains a number of organs characterized by a tubular shape. In this
      study, we explored several methodologies for the construction of collagenous
      tubular scaffolds and films with defined (ultra)structure, length, diameter,
      orientation, and molecular composition. Standardization of molding, casting,
      freezing, and lyophilizing techniques using inexpensive materials and methods
      resulted in controllable fabrication of a wide variety of tubular and tissue
      specific tubular scaffolds and films. Analysis included immunohistochemical and
      (ultra)structural examination. Handling and suturability were found adequate for
      tissue engineering applications.

PMID- 20929291
TI  - Systemic monoclonal antibody therapy (daclizumab) in the treatment of cicatrizing
      conjunctivitis in stevens-johnson syndrome, refractory to conventional therapy.
AB  - PURPOSE: At least one-year follow-up of a case series of young Stevens-Johnson
      syndrome (SJS) patients with cicatrizing ocular surface disease and recurrent
      inflammation (SJS-RI) treated with systemic humanized monoclonal antibody
      (daclizumab). METHODS: Five patients (median age 16 yr; range 8-34 yr) with SJS,
      with recurrent inflammation refractory to conventional immunotherapy, were
      enrolled in a prospective non-randomized case series study. Inclusion criteria
      were patients with SJS and ocular cicatrizing inflammatory disease with severe
      visual impairment, using topical or systemic anti-inflammatory and/or
      immunomodulatory drugs without clinical improvement resulting in persistent
      inflammation (SJS-RI). Treatment with Daclizumab 1 mg/Kg (intravenous) was
      scheduled in three cycles. First cycle with concomitant immunotherapy: a total of
      5 doses, with 14 days interval between them (total of this cycle: 10 weeks).
      Second cycle: interval was increased to 3 weeks; the patients received 2 doses
      (the second cycle had a total of 6 weeks). Third cycle: maintenance phase with 4
      weeks interval between each application, until at least 12 months of the total
      follow up. After the first cycle (5th dose), the patients were kept with
      preservative-free lubricants and systemic doxycycline. RESULTS: Control of ocular
      inflammation was observed at a median of 8 weeks (range 6-10 weeks) in all
      patients, with relapses in two patients at 20-36 weeks. Relapses were controlled
      with topical steroids at a median of 10 days, and within 2 weeks the steroids
      were tapered for both patients. CONCLUSION: In this small case series, daclizumab
      demonstrated to play a beneficial role in the control of the inflammatory process
      of the recurrent inflammation in SJS, refractory to conventional immunomodulatory
      therapy.

PMID- 20929292
TI  - Vascular basement membrane thickening in diabetic retinopathy.
AB  - Vascular basement membrane (BM) thickening is a fundamental structural alteration
      of small blood vessels in diabetes. Over two decades of research has established
      hyperglycemia as the primary causal factor mediating this alteration. Various
      high glucose-induced mechanisms have been investigated and excess synthesis of BM
      components has been identified as a major contributing factor to BM thickening.
      Although BM thickening has been long hailed as the histological hallmark of
      diabetic microangiopathy, the consequences of BM thickening on the functionality
      of target organs of diabetes remain elusive even today. This review presents an
      overview of our current understanding of the BM structure and function, and
      focuses on how capillary BM thickening develops, its effect on retinal vascular
      function, and potential strategies for preventing the development of BM
      thickening in diabetic retinopathy.

PMID- 20929293
TI  - Is nail fold capillaroscopy useful in normotensive and primary open angle
      glaucoma? A pilot study.
AB  - PURPOSE: Vascular dysregulation is deemed a significant risk factor in glaucoma
      occurrence and progression. Capillaroscopy of the blood vessels on the finger
      nail-fold is a method that can provide information regarding the state of the
      vascular system at the capillary level. The aim of this pilot study was to
      determine whether there are significant differences in the morphological
      characteristics of the peripheral blood vessels in normotensive glaucoma and
      primary open angle glaucoma. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An ophthalmological and
      capillaroscopic examination was conducted on 30 normotensive glaucoma patients
      and 30 primary open angle glaucoma patients. The capillaroscopic characteristics
      described were as follows: capillary row density, capillary diameter, number of
      spirally formed capillaries, permeability of the loop, and loop resistance.
      RESULTS: Statistically, significantly more intensively spiraled capillaries were
      found in normotensive glaucoma patients (chi(2) test, p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS:
      Results confirm the thesis that vascular factors play a significant role in the
      pathogenesis of the glaucoma, especially in cases where the level of intraocular
      pressure cannot be deemed responsible for the present damage of the optical
      nerve. Despite the newer, technologically more developed methods for diagnostics
      and monitoring glaucoma, it is often not easy to establish the right diagnosis
      and determine further the course of the illness, since the role the intraocular
      pressure (IOP) plays compared to the role of vascular factors is unknown; hence,
      capillaroscopy as a complementary diagnostic procedure can be of help.

PMID- 20929294
TI  - Preoperative multidetector row computed tomography for evaluation and assessment
      of resection criteria in patients with pancreatic masses.
AB  - BACKGROUND: preoperative assessment of pancreatic masses is still challenging as
      regards the characterization and assessment of irresectability. The opportunities
      of modern multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) with image postprocessing can
      be expected to enhance the diagnostic performance if accurate criteria are
      elaborated. PURPOSE: to estimate the accuracy of MDCT and multiplanar image
      reconstructions with the use of standardized imaging criteria for preoperative
      evaluation of pancreatic masses with respect to irresectability. MATERIAL AND
      METHODS: a total of 105 consecutive patients who underwent exploratory
      laparoscopy or pancreatic resection and had preoperative 3-phase MDCT (4-64 rows)
      were enrolled retrospectively. First, transverse sections and secondly additional
      3Ds were reviewed by two independent blinded observers (O1/O2). Preoperative
      imaging findings were correlated with intraoperative and histopathologic results.
      RESULTS: among all 105 patients, 70 malignant pancreatic tumors and 35 benign
      pancreatic diseases were found (accuracy of 93% for O1 and 91% for O2). For
      arterial tumor invasion, receiver operator characteristic (ROC) analysis (values
      averaged from the results of O1 and O2) revealed an area under the curve (AUC) of
      0.931 for transverse sections and 0.986 for 3Ds. Regarding irresectability,
      positive predictive values were 97% (with 3Ds, 97%) for O1/O2; negative
      predictive values were 84% (with 3Ds, 89%) for O1 and 86% (with 3Ds, 91%) for O2.
      CONCLUSION: MDCT with 3Ds was highly accurate for evaluation and assessment of
      irresectability criteria in patients with pancreatic masses. However, due to the
      limited specificity regarding arterial tumor infiltration, the indication for
      surgical exploration should be made generously in case of inconclusive findings.

PMID- 20929295
TI  - CT, MR, (18)F-FDG PET/CT, and their combined use for the assessment of mandibular
      invasion by squamous cell carcinomas of the oral cavity.
AB  - BACKGROUND: a reliable assessment of mandibular invasion is crucial for treatment
      planning to obtain both radical tumor resection and good functional results.
      PURPOSE: to retrospectively compare the diagnostic value of three different
      imaging methods - computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance (MR) imaging,
      (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET)/CT - and their
      combined use for detection of mandibular invasion by squamous cell carcinoma
      (SCC) of the oral cavity. MATERIAL AND METHODS: forty-six patients (39 men and 7
      women; mean age, 59.4 years) suspected of having mandibular invasion by SCC of
      the oral cavity underwent CT, MR, and PET/CT within 2 weeks before surgery.
      First, each study was reviewed separately for the presence of mandibular invasion
      by tumors. Then, the value of combined images was assessed based on a confidence
      rating score for each modality assigned by observers. These results were verified
      with histopathologic findings. RESULTS: HIstopathologic examination revealed
      mandibular invasion in 12 of 46 SCCs. The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy
      were 41.7%, 100%, and 84.8% for CT; 58.3%, 97.1%, and 87.0% for MR; and 58.3%,
      97.1%, and 87.0% for PET/CT, respectively. The comparison of these modalities
      showed no statistically significant difference among them (P > 0.05). The
      combination of CT, MR, and PET/CT improved sensitivity (83.3%), without loss of
      specificity (100%) and accuracy (95.7%), although the difference failed to reach
      statistical significance (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: the combined analysis of CT, MR,
      and PET/CT can improve sensitivity in the detection of mandibular invasion by SCC
      of the oral cavity.

PMID- 20929296
TI  - Grey matter volume changes over the whole brain in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis:
      A voxel-wise meta-analysis of voxel based morphometry studies.
AB  - Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease
      with selected both upper and lower motor neuron involvement. Although some
      inconsistent results exist, both pathological studies and many structural
      neuroimaging studies have revealed brain volume changes in ALS. To provide an
      objective overview of structural changes in ALS, a voxel-wise meta-analysis was
      performed in published voxel based morphometry (VBM) studies. A systematic search
      of VBM studies was applied in ALS. Five studies met the inclusion criteria,
      comprising 84 ALS patients and 81 normal controls. A voxel-wise meta-analysis was
      performed on the retrieved VBM studies using signed differential mapping.
      Descriptive analysis showed that 25% of ALS patients had right precentral gyrus
      atrophy (2373 voxels). Group analysis demonstrated regional grey matter loss over
      the whole brain in the right precentral gyrus (p = 7.96 * 10(-4)). Sensitivity
      analysis showed good sensitivity (157 voxels). In conclusion, right precentral
      grey matter atrophy was a common finding and prominent feature of brain
      structural changes in ALS.

PMID- 20929301
TI  - Electronic medical records: unintended consequences of a duplicitous default
      setting.

PMID- 20929300
TI  - Moving toward elimination of healthcare-associated infections: a call to action.

PMID- 20929302
TI  - Extrinsic contamination of liquid soap with various gram-negative bacteria in a
      hospital in Turkey.

PMID- 20929303
TI  - Hydrogen peroxide vapor is not the same as aerosolized hydrogen peroxide.

PMID- 20929304
TI  - High clonal diversity of Staphylococcus aureus isolates in nasal swab samples of
      medical students in Turkey.

PMID- 20929305
TI  - Rifampin plus metronidazole for Clostridium difficile infection.

PMID- 20929307
TI  - Morphological changes in varicocele veins: ultrastructural study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Varicocele consists of dilatation of the pampiniform venous plexus
      and the internal spermatic veins. It is present in 15% of male population and is
      a common cause of male infertility. OBJECTIVE: To describe the normal structure
      of the internal spermatic vein and the morphological changes in grade 3
      varicocele. METHODS: The authors dissected and analyzed a 2- to 3-cm tract of the
      pampiniform venous plexus of 20 patients undergoing varicocelectomy for left
      varicocele and of 10 consecutive patients undergoing surgery for left inguinal
      hernia. The histological examination was performed with hematoxylin-eosin and
      Masson trichrome stains. The ultrastructural evaluation was done using both
      scanning and transmission electron microscopy. RESULTS: Compared with normal
      internal spermatic veins, varicocele veins showed narrowing and/or obliteration
      of the lumens, destruction of the endothelial cells, invagination of the intima,
      and deposition of collagen bundles in the media (light microscopy). The
      ultrastructural changes in varicocele veins included elongation of the
      endothelial cells with features of cellular damage, loss of the internal elastic
      lamina, and the appearance of ghost bodies and degenerative vacuoles in the
      subendothelial layer. CONCLUSIONS: The authors believe this is the first report
      analyzing ultrastructual changes in normal human internal spermatic vein samples
      and in varicocele. The underlying molecular mechanisms of these changes await
      further studies.

PMID- 20929308
TI  - Electron microscopy in end stage renal disease: a case of Fabry's disease.
AB  - Fabry's disease is an X-linked error of metabolism with deficiency of the enzyme
      &#x03B1;-glycosidase A, and glycosphingolipid accumulation in multiple tissues.
      Patients may be asymptomatic and present with advanced disease. We report a case
      of a 38 year old white male who presented with end stage renal disease of unknown
      etiology. He received a living-related donor kidney transplant (mother), but lost
      the graft after 10 years to multiple episodes of rejection. Review of the native
      renal biopsy with added ultrastructural studies established the diagnosis of
      Fabry's disease. Evaluation of renal biopsies showing advanced chronic injury
      should include electron microscopic studies, which may reveal characteristic
      diagnostic features, as seen in this case of Fabry's disease. Identification of
      hereditary disorders involving the kidney is important for appropriate treatment
      and prevention of disease recurrence. Potential living related donors should be
      screened for genetic involvement.

PMID- 20929309
TI  - Biochemical and ultrastructural correlations of calreticulin and thioredoxin
      expression in breast mucinous carcinoma and infiltrating ductal carcinoma non
      special type.
AB  - Mucinous infiltrating invasive ductal adenocarcinoma consists of 2-4% invasive
      breast cancer, but is a very interesting type due to its macroscopic similarity
      to non-special-type (NST) ductal carcinoma. The macroscopic similarity of
      mucinous and infiltrating ductal carcinoma NST adenocarcinomas consists of a
      loose and edematous stroma, which is often seen in portions of NST carcinoma and
      may mimic the mucin pools of mucinous carcinoma. In this study the authors
      examined the ultrastructural differences between mucinous carcinoma and
      infiltrating ductal carcinoma NST. They also examined the protein expression of
      the tissues by 2D electrophoresis due to their belief that from the results of
      these two levels it is possible to understand the changes that take place both in
      the ultrastructural and biochemical levels in these two types of breast cancer.
      The ultrastructural results from mucinous carcinoma have shown many changes in
      cytoplasmic organelles in comparison to normal samples, depending on the grade
      and the number of metastatic lymph nodes. At the 2D elecrophoresis level the
      authors studied two interesting polypeptides, calreticulin and thioredoxin. Both
      of these proteins were found in patterns of fibroadenoma, mucinous carcinoma, and
      NST carcinoma, but with different quantitative expression among them. In the
      future the quantitative differences of these two proteins may provide specific
      tumor markers for these two types of carcinoma.

PMID- 20929310
TI  - Effect of mailed feedback on drug prescribing profiles in general practice: a
      seven-year longitudinal study in Storstrom County, Denmark.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Whether written feedback on drug prescribing in general practice
      affects prescribing habits is controversial. Most short-term studies showed no
      effect. However, the issue has not been tested in long-term studies involving the
      local general practitioner community. AIMS OF THE STUDY: To assess whether
      prescribing levels in general practice are affected by long-term, unsolicited,
      systematically repeated, mailed feedback. METHODS: Each of the 94 general
      practices in Storstrom County, Denmark, received semi-annual, mailed feedback
      about their prescribing volumes and costs within 13 major drug groups, in
      relation to the levels for all the other 93 practices over a 7-year period in a
      project initiated by the local general practitioner association. Data on the
      number of defined daily doses (DDDs) prescribed per 1000 listed patients in each
      practice per 6-months, and practice characteristics, were obtained from the
      Pharmaceutical Database at the County Health Department. RESULTS: There was a
      large variation in drug prescribing volume between practices, but little within
      practice variation over time. After adjustments for the influence of practice
      size and other potential outcome-affecting variables, there was no evidence of a
      general change of prescribing volume over time, no change among practices with a
      high or a low prescribing level, and no significant change within the various
      drug groups. CONCLUSIONS: We found no significant effects on prescribing levels
      of mailed feedback, even when repeated semi-annually during 7 years and initiated
      by the local general practitioner community.

PMID- 20929311
TI  - Enzymes, embryos, and ancestors.
AB  - In the 1950s, cellular regulatory mechanisms were newly recognized; with Arthur
      Pardee I investigated the initial enzyme of pyrimidine biosynthesis, which he
      discovered is controlled by feedback inhibition. The protein proved unusual in
      having separate but interacting sites for substrates and regulators. Howard
      Schachman and I dissociated the protein into different subunits, one binding
      regulators and one substrates. The enzyme became an early prime example of
      allostery. In developmental biology I studied the egg of the frog, Xenopus
      laevis, characterizing early processes of axis formation. My excellent students
      and I described cortical rotation, a 30&#x00B0; movement of the egg's cortex over
      tracks of parallel microtubules anchored to the underlying cytoplasmic core, and
      we perturbed it to alter Spemann's organizer and effect spectacular phenotypes.
      The entire sequence of events has been elucidated by others at the molecular
      level, making Xenopus a prime example of vertebrate axis formation. Marc
      Kirschner, Christopher Lowe, and I then compared hemichordate (half-chordate) and
      chordate early development. Despite anatomical-physiological differences, these
      groups share numerous steps of axis formation, ones that were probably already in
      use in their pre-Cambrian ancestor. I've thoroughly enjoyed exploring these areas
      during a 50-year period of great advances in biological sciences by the worldwide
      research community.

PMID- 20929312
TI  - Modulation of host cell function by Legionella pneumophila type IV effectors.
AB  - Macrophages and protozoa ingest bacteria by phagocytosis and destroy these
      microbes using a conserved pathway that mediates fusion of the phagosome with
      lysosomes. To survive within phagocytic host cells, bacterial pathogens have
      evolved a variety of strategies to avoid fusion with lysosomes. A virulence
      strategy used by the intracellular pathogen Legionella pneumophila is to
      manipulate host cellular processes using bacterial proteins that are delivered
      into the cytosolic compartment of the host cell by a specialized secretion system
      called Dot/Icm. The proteins delivered by the Dot/Icm system target host factors
      that play evolutionarily conserved roles in controlling membrane transport in
      eukaryotic cells, which enables L. pneumophila to create an endoplasmic reticulum
      like vacuole that supports intracellular replication in both protozoan and
      mammalian host cells. This review focuses on intracellular trafficking of L.
      pneumophila and describes how bacterial proteins contribute to modulation of host
      processes required for survival within host cells.

PMID- 20929313
TI  - A new wave of cellular imaging.
AB  - Fluorescence imaging methods that push or break the diffraction limit of
      resolution (approximately 200 nm) have grown explosively. These super-resolution
      nanoscopy techniques include: stimulated emission depletion (STED), Pointillism
      microscopy [(fluorescence) photoactivation localization microscopy/stochastic
      optical reconstruction microscopy, or (F)PALM/STORM], structured illumination,
      total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy (TIRFM), and those that combine
      multiple modalities. Each affords unique strengths in lateral and axial
      resolution, speed, sensitivity, and fluorophore compatibility. We examine the
      optical principles and design of these new instruments and their ability to see
      more detail with greater sensitivity--down to single molecules with tens of
      nanometers resolution. Nanoscopes have revealed transient intermediate states of
      organelles and molecules in living cells and have led to new discoveries but also
      biological controversies. We highlight common unifying principles behind
      nanoscopy such as the conversion of a subset of probes between states (ground or
      excited) and the use of scanning (ordered or stochastic). We emphasize major
      advances, biological applications, and promising new developments.

PMID- 20929314
TI  - Functioning and disability in traumatic brain injury.
AB  - PURPOSE: To describe functioning and disability in patients with traumatic brain
      injury (TBI) according to the model endorsed by the International Classification
      of Functioning Disability and Health (ICF). METHODS: Adult patients with acquired
      TBI were consecutively enrolled. The Functional Independence Measure (FIM), the
      WHO Disability Assessment Schedule II (WHO-DAS II) and the ICF checklist were
      administered in individual sessions. Descriptive analyses were performed to
      report on FIM and WHO-DAS II scores. ICF categories reported as a problem by more
      than 20% of patients were described in detail. RESULTS: One hundred patients (66
      males, mean age 36.1) were enrolled. Mean WHO-DAS II score was 16.8, mean FIM was
      116.5 and 87 ICF categories were selected: 27 Body Functions (mainly mental and
      movement-related) and Structures, 43 Activities and Participation (mainly
      connected with mobility) and 17 Environmental Factors. Negligible difference
      between capacity and performance qualifiers was observed. CONCLUSIONS: The ICF
      can be successfully implemented in clinical and rehabilitation of patients with
      TBI, because it enables to describe the variety of problems they encounter: ICF
      derived data provide a holistic view of disability and enable the impact of
      service interventions on functioning and participation, and enable clinicians to
      tailor intervention according to patient's actual needs.

PMID- 20929315
TI  - Statin use and need for therapy in chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

PMID- 20929316
TI  - Correlation between IDH2 mutations and disease status in acute myeloid leukemia.

PMID- 20929317
TI  - Numb chin syndrome as the initial manifestation of acute megakaryoblastic
      leukemia.

PMID- 20929318
TI  - Clinicopathologic features of primary lymphoma in soft tissue.
AB  - By reviewing 3725 lymphomas diagnosed in our institution from 1999 to 2010, we
      found eight cases (0.21%) of primary lymphoma in soft tissue with comprehensive
      histologic and immunohistochemical studies. Of the eight cases of primary
      lymphoma in soft tissue, two patients were male and six were female. The mean age
      was 54.8 years with range from 23 to 76 years. The greatest diameter of tumor
      ranged from 1.3 to 20 cm with an average diameter of 7.5 cm. Six cases were
      diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), subclassified as three DLBCL non-germinal
      center B-cell phenotype, one DLBCL germinal center B-cell phenotype, and two
      (Epstein-Barr Virus) EBV-positive DLBCL of the elderly; one case was anaplastic
      large cell lymphoma, ALK-positive; and one case was peripheral T cell lymphoma,
      not otherwise specified. Follow-up was available for four patients. One patient
      who refused further therapy died of the disease at 2 months after diagnosis. The
      other three patients with follow-up were alive without recurrence and metastatic
      disease at 9, 36, and 48 months, respectively, after excisional biopsy combined
      with appropriate chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy.

PMID- 20929319
TI  - Impact of genomic aberrations including chromosome 1 abnormalities on the outcome
      of patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma treated with
      lenalidomide and dexamethasone.
AB  - Previous literature suggests that cytogenetics may be used for risk-adapted
      therapy in patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma (MM) treated with
      lenalidomide and dexamethasone. However, the significance of each abnormality is
      still unclear, and chromosome 1 abnormalities have yet to be studied in this
      population. We therefore evaluated genetic risk factors including chromosome 1q
      gain and 1p loss by cIg-FISH in 143 patients with relapsed/refractory MM treated
      with lenalidomide and dexamethasone, and correlated the genomic aberrations with
      patient clinical outcomes. Patients had a median of two (range 1-7) previous
      therapies in this cohort. A total of 119 out of 143 (83%) patients had an
      objective response, with median time to progression (TTP) and overall survival
      (OS) of 11 and 28 months, respectively. Patients with del(1p21) or del(17p) (p53)
      deletions had a significantly shorter TTP. OS was shorter in patients with 1p21
      or 17p deletions, but did not reach statistical significance. Prior bortezomib or
      thalidomide treatment was associated with shorter TTP and OS. Multivariate
      analysis identified del(17p), del(1p21), and prior bortezomib or thalidomide
      therapy as independent risk factors for shorter TTP. Our data suggest that
      chromosome 17p and 1p21 deletions adversely impact the outcome of lenalidomide
      and dexamethasone treated patients with relapsed/refractory MM. Improved
      therapeutic strategies are required for these patients.

PMID- 20929320
TI  - Complete remission following treatment with bortezomib, doxorubicin,
      dexamethasone and autologous stem cell transplant in patient with immunoglobulin
      E multiple myeloma.

PMID- 20929321
TI  - Immunoglobulin heavy chain V-D-J gene rearrangement and mutational status in
      Uruguayan patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
AB  - B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is characterized by the accumulation of
      long-lived circulating clonal leukemic B-cells, although the etiopathogenesis
      remains unclear. The incidence of CLL is variable in different regions around the
      world. While it is the most frequent chronic leukemia in Western countries, it
      has a low incidence in Asia. In this work we have investigated the immunoglobulin
      heavy chain gene rearrangements and mutational status in 80 Uruguayan patients
      with CLL, and compared these results with those obtained in other geographic
      regions. Our results demonstrate that Uruguayan patients with CLL display an IGHV
      gene usage which resembles that observed in Mediterranean countries and exhibits
      certain differences compared with Brazilian and Asian series, as expected,
      considering the ethnic basis of the Uruguayan population. This suggests that
      genetic influences could be important in the development and etiopathogenesis of
      CLL, but larger studies are necessary to substantiate this possibility.

PMID- 20929322
TI  - Long-term outcome of childhood acute myeloid leukemia in a developing country:
      experience from a children's hospital in China.
AB  - Data on childhood acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in developing countries are
      limited. Herein we report the outcome of childhood AML treated with modified
      NPCLC-AML97 in our institution from 1997 to 2005. One hundred and eighty-five
      children with newly diagnosed AML were admitted. The 7-year overall survival (OS)
      and event free survival (EFS) rates for the whole cohort were 33.1 +/- 4.1% and
      31.2 +/- 3.7%, respectively. Sixty patients (32.4%) refused chemotherapy and 123
      were eligible for protocol evaluation. Among eligible patients, 111 (90.2%)
      achieved complete remission (CR). The estimated 7-year OS and EFS rates were 50.2
      +/- 5.5% and 46.9 +/- 5.1%, respectively. APL was more curable than non-APL (7
      year EFS: 63.5 +/- 7.9% vs. 35.9 +/- 6.3%, p = 0.005). Thirty-one patients
      (25.2%) relapsed, but no central nervous system leukemia was observed. Although
      the cure rate of childhood AML in China was low, the treatment outcome for
      patients who could adhere to the treatment protocol was satisfactory.

PMID- 20929323
TI  - Immunohistochemical expression profile and prognosis in patients with diffuse
      large B-cell lymphoma with or without human immunodeficiency virus infection.
AB  - Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is the most common lymphoma subtype in non
      immunosuppressed and in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive patients. The
      prognosis of DLBCL with germinal center (GC) phenotype is better than that of the
      non-germinal center (non-GC) phenotype by immunohistochemical expression profile
      (IHC) in some studies but not in others. The frequency and the prognosis of these
      phenotypic subtypes in DLBCL related to HIV infection is not well known. The
      objectives of this study were to characterize the IHC by tissue microarray in 98
      patients with DLBCL, 34 of whom were HIV-positive, and to evaluate their
      prognosis. Patients with HIV-related DLBCL with a non-GC pattern had poorer
      prognosis than patients with non-HIV-related DLBCL with the same pattern, but
      this difference disappeared when we considered only patients receiving HAART.

PMID- 20929324
TI  - Audit of fluoroquinolone prophylaxis against chemotherapy-induced febrile
      neutropenia in a hospital with highly prevalent fluoroquinolone resistance.

PMID- 20929325
TI  - A case of Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus/human herpesvirus 8-unrelated but
      Epstein-Barr virus-positive primary effusion lymphoma-like lymphoma in the
      setting of human immunodeficiency virus and hepatitis C virus infection.

PMID- 20929326
TI  - Y-box binding protein-1 expression in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma: an impact on
      prognosis in the rituximab era.
AB  - The expression of YB-1 has been reported to predict poor clinical outcome in many
      human malignancies, including hematopoietic malignancies. In this study, we
      investigated the correlations between YB-1 expression and the clinicopathological
      features of patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) in a single
      institution. The expression of YB-1 was analyzed in 168 cases by
      immunohistochemistry. Fifteen out of 168 cases (8.9%) showed cytoplasmic
      expression of YB-1. The expression of YB-1 was significantly associated with 5
      year overall survival (OS) (p = 0.023). Rituximab plus CHOP therapy (n = 94)
      improved the 5-year survival rate in both YB-1-positive and -negative patients.
      In conclusion, the data presented in this report provide evidence that the
      cytoplasmic expression of YB-1 is a poor prognosis factor in DLBCL treated with
      CHOP therapy, whereas rituximab improves the survival of both YB-1-positive and 
      negative patients with DLBCL.

PMID- 20929327
TI  - IDH2 mutations in patients with acute myeloid leukemia: missense p.R140 mutations
      are linked to disease status.

PMID- 20929329
TI  - Bortezomib, cyclophosphamide, and dexamethasone: highly effective for rapid
      reversal of myeloma-associated hyperammonemic encephalopathy.

PMID- 20929328
TI  - Decitabine in myelodysplastic syndromes and chronic myelomonocytic leukemia:
      Argentinian/South Korean multi-institutional clinical experience.
AB  - This multicenter, open-label study evaluated the efficacy and safety of
      decitabine in patients from Argentina and South Korea with myelodysplastic
      syndromes or chronic myelomonocytic leukemia. Of 106 patients who received
      decitabine 20 mg/m(2) intravenously over 1 h once daily for 5 days in 4-week
      cycles, 99 patients were evaluable after receiving at least two cycles. The
      overall improvement rate was 35% (19% complete response +4% marrow complete
      response +4% partial response +8% hematologic improvement). Overall survival at 2
      years was 71%. Treatment-related adverse events included febrile neutropenia,
      thrombocytopenia and bleeding, asthenia, fatigue, and eosinophilia. After
      complete response (CR), three patients received an allogeneic stem cell
      transplant. Four patients who relapsed after CR responded to decitabine
      retreatment. Acute myelogenous leukemia developed during follow-up in 21% of
      patients. Decitabine in a 5-day outpatient administration schedule was effective
      and well tolerated in typical clinical practice settings in South America and
      Asia.

PMID- 20929330
TI  - Extensive analysis of the T315I substitution and detection of additional ABL
      mutations in progenitors and primitive stem cell compartment in a patient with
      tyrosine kinase inhibitor-resistant chronic myeloid leukemia.
AB  - Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) have revolutionized the treatment of chronic
      myeloid leukemia (CML). However, resistance is occasionally observed, mainly due
      to mutations within the BCR-ABL kinase domain. The T315I substitution confers
      complete resistance to all TKIs commonly used in clinical practice. To date, the
      hierarchical level of stem cells in which this mutation initially appears has not
      been studied. The aim of this study was to evaluate the behavior of T315I mutated
      cells and to study the presence of potential additional mutations in progenitors
      and stem cells from a patient with CML. A comprehensive analysis of BCR-ABL(315I)
      mRNA expressing cells in mononuclear cells, in CD34+ cell populations, and in
      their primitive long-term culture-initiating cell (LTC-IC) derived progenitors
      was performed. We show that the T315I substitution arises in primitive Ph1 stem
      cells without altering their myeloid and erythroid terminal differentiation
      potential. Leukemic cells expressing a T315I mutated BCR-ABL display a
      progressive decline in LTC-IC assays as described for non-mutated CML cells at
      diagnosis. Finally, in our experiments, additional non-315 ABL mutations were
      identified in hematopoietic stem cell colonies. This observation is suggestive of
      genetic instability affecting CML progenitors.

PMID- 20929331
TI  - Rituximab-induced life-threatening coagulopathy occurring in a patient with
      Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia treated with fludarabine, cyclophosphamide, and
      rituximab combination.

PMID- 20929332
TI  - Ocular adnexal mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphomas: more clues but still
      a puzzle.

PMID- 20929333
TI  - Proteomic profile of a therapy related acute myeloid leukemia following brain
      tumor.

PMID- 20929334
TI  - T-cell large granular lymphocytic leukemia with pleomorphic nuclei and colonic
      infiltration with chronic diarrhea.

PMID- 20929335
TI  - Hypomethylating agents in acute lymphoblastic leukemia: untapped potential?

PMID- 20929336
TI  - A review of multifunctional nanoemulsion systems to overcome oral and CNS drug
      delivery barriers.
AB  - The oral and central nervous systems (CNS) present a unique set of barriers to
      the delivery of important diagnostic and therapeutic agents. Extensive research
      over the past few years has enabled a better understanding of these physical and
      biological barriers based on tight cellular junctions and expression of active
      transporters and metabolizing enzymes at the luminal surfaces of the
      gastrointestinal (GI) tract and the blood-brain barrier (BBB). This review
      focuses on the recent understanding of transport across the GI tract and BBB and
      the development of nanotechnology-based delivery strategies that can enhance
      bioavailability of drugs. Multifunctional lipid nanosystems, such as oil-in-water
      nanoemulsions, that integrate enhancement in permeability, tissue and cell
      targeting, imaging, and therapeutic functions are especially promising. Based on
      strategic choice of edible oils, surfactants and additional surface modifiers,
      and different types of payloads, rationale design of multifunctional
      nanoemulsions can serve as a safe and effective delivery vehicle across oral and
      CNS barriers.

PMID- 20929337
TI  - Intracellular uptake, transport, and processing of gold nanostructures.
AB  - The emerging field of nanomedicine requires better understanding of the interface
      between nanotechnology and medicine. Better knowledge of the nano-bio interface
      will lead to better tools for diagnostic imaging and therapy. In this review,
      recent progress in understanding of how size, shape, and surface properties of
      nanoparticles (NPs) affect intracellular fate of NPs is discussed. Gold
      nanostructures are used as a model system in this regard since their physical and
      chemical properties can be easily manipulated. The NP-uptake is dependent on the
      physiochemical properties, and once in the cell, most of the NPs are trafficked
      via an endo-lysosomal path followed by a receptor-mediated endocytosis process at
      the cell membrane. Within the size range of 2-100 nm, Gold nanoparticles (GNPs)
      of diameter 50 nm demonstrate the highest uptake. Cellular uptake studies of gold
      nanorods (GNRs) show that there is a decrease in uptake as the aspect ratio of
      GNRs increases. Theoretical models support the size- and shape-dependent NP
      uptake. The intracellular transport of targeted NPs is faster than untargeted
      NPs. The surface ligand and charge of NPs play a bigger role in their uptake,
      transport, and organelle distribution. Exocytosis of NPs is dependent on size and
      shape as well; however, the trend is different compared to endocytosis. GNPs are
      now being incorporated into polymer and lipid based NPs to build multifunctional
      devices. A multifunctional platform based on gold nanostructures, with multimodal
      imaging, targeting, and therapeutics; hold the possibility of promising
      directions in medical research.

PMID- 20929338
TI  - Nanoparticles: crossing barriers and membrane interactions.

PMID- 20929339
TI  - Multifunctionality of lipid-core micelles for drug delivery and tumour targeting.
AB  - Phospholipid micelles have proven to be the versatile pharmaceutical nanocarrier
      of choice for the delivery of poorly soluble chemotherapeutics for cancer therapy
      using various treatment modalities. Phospholipid micelles are typically expected
      to increase the accumulation of the loaded drugs in tumour tissues by taking
      advantage of the enhanced permeability and retention effect and by ligand
      mediated active targeting. Furthermore, by tailoring the composition of the
      micelles, it is possible to enhance the intracellular delivery of the cargo. This
      review highlights the important advancements in our laboratory with
      polyethyleneglycol phosphatidylethanolamine (PEG-PE)-based micellar drug delivery
      systems for improvement of the therapeutic efficacy of poorly soluble anticancer
      drugs.

PMID- 20929340
TI  - Functioning and disability in multiple sclerosis.
AB  - PURPOSE: To describe functioning and disability in patients with multiple
      sclerosis (MS) according to the model endorsed by the International
      Classification of Functioning Disability and Health (ICF). METHODS: Adult
      patients with MS were consecutively enrolled. The Expanded Disability Status
      Scale (EDSS), the WHO Disability Assessment Schedule II (WHO-DAS II) and the ICF
      checklist were administered in individual sessions. Descriptive analyses were
      performed to report on EDSS and WHO-DAS II scores. ICF categories reported as a
      problem by more than 20% of patients were described in detail. RESULTS: One
      hundred patients (70 females, mean age 41.7), 73 with relapsing-remitting MS were
      enrolled. Mean WHO-DAS II score was 10.6 and 58 ICF categories were selected: 23
      Body Functions and Structures, 21 Activities and Participation and 14
      Environmental Factors. CONCLUSIONS: The ICF can be successfully implemented in
      clinical and rehabilitation of patients with MS, because it enables to describe
      its multiple facets. Little differences between capacity and performance in ICF
      categories connected with activities of daily living, and presence of technical
      aids and other environmental factors are reported. On the contrary, in categories
      related to relationships, performance was worse than capacity thus revealing
      attitudinal barriers.

PMID- 20929344
TI  - Short communication: quantitative proteomic plasma profiling reveals activation
      of host defense to oxidative stress in chronic SIV and methamphetamine
      comorbidity.
AB  - The double epidemic of substance abuse and HIV infection is a multifaceted
      problem To investigate mechanistic clues to the effects of substance abuse on
      infected individuals we preformed quantitative proteomic profiling of plasma in a
      methamphetamine treated nonhuman primate model for AIDS. A nontargeted
      quantitative approach identified extracellular superoxide dismutase to be
      significantly upregulated by SIV and methamphetamine treatment, and targeted
      studies revealed an increase in expression in the antioxidant glutathione S
      transferase, thus pointing to a compensatory response to increased oxidative
      stress in methamphetamine-treated animals.

PMID- 20929345
TI  - HIV type 1 alters mesenchymal stem cell differentiation potential and cell
      phenotype ex vivo.
AB  - An increased incidence of bone and lipid toxicities is associated with HIV-1
      infection and its treatment. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are multipotent cells
      that can differentiate into both osteoblasts (OB) and adipocytes (AC). We
      hypothesize that the interaction of MSC and HIV-1 underlie these toxicities.
      Serum was collected from uninfected control and HIV-infected, antiviral-naive
      patients. Sera were divided into three groups: HIV-negative sera (n = 5), HIV
      positive low viral load (LVL) (VL range 120; 4000, n = 5) or high viral load
      (HVL) (VL range 100,000; 500,000, n = 5). MSCs were exposed to these sera (5%) in
      an adipogenic/osteogenic condition and in nondifferentiating conditions in acute
      and chronic exposure models. Markers of adipogenesis/osteogenesis were examined
      in both MSCs induced to differentiated and nondifferentiating cells. Sera from
      HVL HIV-1-infected individuals induced a clear proadipogenic phenotype, as
      evidenced by an increase in adipocyte formation and the induction of increased
      expression of adipogenic markers including LPL and PPARgamma. Both CD4 receptor
      blockade and treatment with the antiretroviral AZT attenuated these proadipogenic
      effects, suggesting that an infection event may underlie the observed phenomena.
      Finally, inhibition of COUP TF-1 by HIV-1 TAT was identified as a potential
      molecular mechanism for these effects. These results suggest that HIV-1 directly
      interacts with and may infect MSCs resulting in alterations of their
      differentiation potential, findings that significantly enhance our understanding
      of HIV-1-associated bone and fat toxicities.

PMID- 20929341
TI  - n-3 fatty acids and cardiovascular events after myocardial infarction.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Results from prospective cohort studies and randomized, controlled
      trials have provided evidence of a protective effect of n-3 fatty acids against
      cardiovascular diseases. We examined the effect of the marine n-3 fatty acids
      eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and of the plant
      derived alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) on the rate of cardiovascular events among
      patients who have had a myocardial infarction. METHODS: In a multicenter, double
      blind, placebo-controlled trial, we randomly assigned 4837 patients, 60 through
      80 years of age (78% men), who had had a myocardial infarction and were receiving
      state-of-the-art antihypertensive, antithrombotic, and lipid-modifying therapy to
      receive for 40 months one of four trial margarines: a margarine supplemented with
      a combination of EPA and DHA (with a targeted additional daily intake of 400 mg
      of EPA-DHA), a margarine supplemented with ALA (with a targeted additional daily
      intake of 2 g of ALA), a margarine supplemented with EPA-DHA and ALA, or a
      placebo margarine. The primary end point was the rate of major cardiovascular
      events, which comprised fatal and nonfatal cardiovascular events and cardiac
      interventions. Data were analyzed according to the intention-to-treat principle,
      with the use of Cox proportional-hazards models. RESULTS: The patients consumed,
      on average, 18.8 g of margarine per day, which resulted in additional intakes of
      226 mg of EPA combined with 150 mg of DHA, 1.9 g of ALA, or both, in the active
      treatment groups. During the follow-up period, a major cardiovascular event
      occurred in 671 patients (13.9%). Neither EPA-DHA nor ALA reduced this primary
      end point (hazard ratio with EPA-DHA, 1.01; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.87 to
      1.17; P=0.93; hazard ratio with ALA, 0.91; 95% CI, 0.78 to 1.05; P=0.20). In the
      prespecified subgroup of women, ALA, as compared with placebo and EPA-DHA alone,
      was associated with a reduction in the rate of major cardiovascular events that
      approached significance (hazard ratio, 0.73; 95% CI, 0.51 to 1.03; P=0.07). The
      rate of adverse events did not differ significantly among the study groups.
      CONCLUSIONS: Low-dose supplementation with EPA-DHA or ALA did not significantly
      reduce the rate of major cardiovascular events among patients who had had a
      myocardial infarction and who were receiving state-of-the-art antihypertensive,
      antithrombotic, and lipid-modifying therapy. (Funded by the Netherlands Heart
      Foundation and others; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00127452.).

PMID- 20929346
TI  - Short communication: intermediate prevalence of HIV type 1 primary antiretroviral
      resistance in Ceara State, Northeast Brazil.
AB  - Brazil is a large developing country where almost all FDA-licensed
      antiretrovirals are made available to more than 200,000 individuals under
      antiretroviral treatment. General primary HIV-1 resistance in Brazil is assumed
      to be low, but data are scarce, especially in the Northeast region. To evaluate
      the prevalence of primary HIV-1 antiretroviral resistance in the state of Ceara,
      Brazil, a cross-sectional prospective study of antiretroviral-naive HIV-1
      infected individuals was performed between May 2008 and May 2009. Genomic
      sequences of reverse transcriptase and protease regions of the pol gene of HIV-1
      using PCR products were obtained. Mutations related to resistance to NRTI, NNRTI,
      and PI were evaluated according to the WHO mutation list for primary resistance
      surveillance, which excludes common polymorphisms. Seventy-four individuals were
      evaluated (50% male) with a median age 30 years; 55.4% were men who have sex with
      men. Median CD4(+) T lymphocyte counts were 418 and 960 cells/mm(3) and the
      median viral loads were 4.41 and 4.46 log(10) RNA copies/ml for individuals older
      and younger that 18 years, respectively. Twenty-seven percent of patients were
      symptomatic. Five patients (6.8%) were recently infected, as detected by the BED
      test. The mutations 41L, 67N, 215D, 219Q, 101E, and 103N in the RT and 32I, 46I,
      54V, 82T, and 90M, in the PR were identified in 9.5% of samples, more frequently
      in HIV subtype B (85.1%). A significant level of primary HIV resistance was
      detected in urban Northeast Brazil, a region geographically distant from the more
      highly populated and wealthier areas of Southeast Brazil, and this emphasizes the
      need for monitoring resistance in the studied area.

PMID- 20929347
TI  - Detection of a Rare HIV Type 1 Strain CRF16_A2D in Bangladesh.
AB  - Circulating recombinant form (CRF) 16_A2D is a rare HIV strain among the most
      recently identified subsubtype A2. Samples taken from an HIV-seropositive married
      couple who attended a voluntary counseling and testing unit in Dhaka, Bangladesh
      showed two rare CRF16_A2D isolates. Further genetic analyses targeting three HIV
      genes (gag, pol, and env) showed that the two isolates from the couple were
      closely related making it likely that one of them acquired the virus and
      transferred it to the other. The husband admitted that he had contact with sex
      workers and both wife and husband had never traveled outside the country. This
      indicates that the husband might have acquired the virus from sex workers and
      that this rare strain is already circulating in the country. Detecting unusual
      isolates is important to determine the true diversity of HIV strains in the
      country. Monitoring of such strains will help in identifying transmission
      patterns and possible interventions to prevent the spread of HIV infection.

PMID- 20929348
TI  - Diversity of HIV type 1 long terminal repeat (LTR) sequences following mother-to
      child transmission in North India.
AB  - We genetically characterized the extent of variation in HIV-1 LTR sequences from
      11 mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) pairs from HIV-1-infected individuals from
      North India. Nine pairs were found to be infected with subtype C virus whereas
      two pairs were infected with subtype B virus. They harbored the characteristic
      three and two NF-kappaB sites, respectively. The analysis of intrasubtype
      divergence between B and C revealed greater diversity with subtype B LTR
      sequences than subtype C (p < 0.005). Significant evolutionary divergence of
      subtype C and subtype B was found in NFAT-III (p < 0.000001), NFAT-II (p <
      0.0001), and USF (p < 0.005) transcription factor binding sites (TFBS). NF-kappaB
      I, Sp I and II, Ets-I, AP-I and II, and TATA Box TFBS were highly conserved in
      both the subtypes. An alternate secondary structure of Tar was detected in the
      VT5 sample due to the point mutation from G to C (position +21) and T to C
      (position +38).

PMID- 20929349
TI  - Frequency of primary resistance to antiretroviral drugs and genetic variability
      of HIV-1 among infected pregnant women recently diagnosed in Luanda-Angola.
AB  - The determination of the prevalence of primary resistance to antiretroviral
      therapy in different places of the world is of extreme importance in molecular
      epidemiology monitoring, and it can guide the initial patient therapy in a given
      geographical area. The frequency of drug resistance mutations (DRM) and the
      genetic variability of HIV-1 isolates from newly diagnosed HIV-infected pregnant
      women attending the antenatal clinics of the Lucrecia Paim and Augusto N'Gangula
      maternities, Luanda-Angola, were determined. Thirty five out of 57 samples
      (61.4%) were sequenced and one mutation associated with resistance to nucleoside
      reverse transcriptase inhibitors was detected. Additionally, two mutations
      associated with resistance to non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors
      were also detected. No primary mutations associated with protease inhibitors (PI)
      were found. Subtypes A1, C, D, F1, G, H, CRF 13, CRF 37, and other mosaics were
      detected.

PMID- 20929350
TI  - Genotypic characterization of HIV type 1 in Jamaica.
AB  - This study seeks to analyze nearly full-length viral genomes for distinct genetic
      characteristics that are unique to local or regional strains and to identify
      regions that have high variability or are highly conserved. Nearly full length
      sequences of seven HIV-1 samples were obtained to ascertain the circulating
      subtype diversity in the HIV-1 epidemic in Jamaica as well as conduct detailed
      sequence analysis. The phylogenetic analysis of the seven sequences showed all
      the sequences clustering with HIV-1 pure B subtype references. The predicted
      amino acid sequenced in the V3 loop for the Jamaican samples showed that six
      samples contained the characteristic conserved tetrapeptide motif GPGR. One
      occurrence in isolate 09JM.PF09WX displayed a GQGP tetrameric motif similar to
      that found in a Korean B strain. All seven isolates (100%) were R5 viruses for
      preferential cofactor usage. These samples were collected from individuals who
      had tested positive for 1-5 years and were drug naive. The results suggested that
      the viruses were isolated from patients in the nonprogressive stage of disease.
      These are early stages in the assessment and the patient should be monitored to
      predict the progression of the disease and when HAART should begin.

PMID- 20929351
TI  - Seroprevalence and molecular epidemiology of HTLV-1 isolates from HIV-1 co
      infected women in Feira de Santana, Bahia, Brazil.
AB  - HTLV-1/HIV-1 co-infection is associated with severe clinical manifestations,
      marked immunodeficiency, and opportunistic pathogenic infections, as well as risk
      behavior. Salvador, the capital of the State of Bahia, Brazil, has the highest
      HTLV-1 prevalence (1.74%) found in Brazil. Few studies exist which describe this
      co-infection found in Salvador and its surrounding areas, much less investigate
      how these viruses circulate or assess the relationship between them. To describe
      the epidemiological and molecular features of HTLV in HIV co-infected women. To
      investigate the prevalence of HTLV/HIV co-infection in surrounding areas, as well
      as the molecular epidemiology of HTLV, a cross sectional study was carried out
      involving 107 women infected with HIV-1 from the STD/HIV/AIDS Reference Center
      located in the neighboring City of Feira de Santana. Patient samples were
      submitted to ELISA, and HTLV infection was confirmed using Western Blot and
      Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). Phylogenetic analysis using Neighbor-Joining
      (NJ) and Maximum Likelihood (ML) was performed on HTLV LTR sequences in order to
      gain further insights about molecular epidemiology and the origins of this virus
      in Bahia. Four out of five reactive samples were confirmed to be infected with
      HTLV-1, and one with HTLV-2. The seroprevalence of HTLV among HIV-1 co-infected
      women was 4.7%. Phylogenetic analysis of the LTR region from four HTLV-1
      sequences showed that all isolates were clustered into the main Latin American
      group within the Transcontinental subgroup of the Cosmopolitan subtype. The HTLV
      2 sequence was classified as the HTLV-2c subtype. It was also observed that four
      HTLV/HIV-1 co-infected women exhibited risk behavior with two having parenteral
      exposure, while another two were sex workers. This article describes the
      characteristics of co-infected patients. This co-infection is known to be severe
      and further studies should be conducted to confirm the suggestion that HTLV-1 is
      spreading from Salvador to surrounding areas.

PMID- 20929352
TI  - Measles in the United States during the postelimination era.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Measles affected entire birth cohorts in the prevaccine era but was
      declared eliminated in the United States in 2000 because of a successful measles
      vaccination program. METHODS: We reviewed US surveillance data on confirmed
      measles cases reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and data
      on national measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccination coverage during
      postelimination years 2001-2008. RESULTS: During 2001-2008, a total of 557
      confirmed cases of measles (annual median no. of cases, 56) and 38 outbreaks
      (annual median no. of outbreaks, 4) were reported in the United States; 232 (42%)
      of the cases were imported from 44 countries, including European countries. Among
      case-patients who were US residents, the highest incidences of measles were among
      infants 6-11 months of age and children 12-15 months of age (3.5 and 2.6 cases/1
      million person-years, respectively). From 2001 through 2008, national 1-dose MMR
      vaccine coverage among children 19-35 months of age ranged from 91% to 93%. From
      2001 through 2008, a total of 285 US-resident case-patients (65%) were considered
      to have preventable measles (ie, the patients were eligible for vaccination but
      unvaccinated). During 2004-2008, a total of 68% of vaccine-eligible US-resident
      case-patients claimed exemptions for personal beliefs. CONCLUSIONS: The United
      States maintained measles elimination from 2001 through 2008 because of sustained
      high vaccination coverage. Challenges to maintaining elimination include large
      outbreaks of measles in highly traveled developed countries, frequent
      international travel, and clusters of US residents who remain unvaccinated
      because of personal belief exemptions.

PMID- 20929353
TI  - A novel histological grading scheme for placental malaria applied in areas of
      high and low malaria transmission.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Plasmodium falciparum-infected erythrocytes sequester in the placenta
      and elicit an inflammatory response that is harmful to both fetus and mother.
      Histologic measurements during placental malaria might provide surrogate end
      points for interventional trials, but existing histologic schemes capture limited
      complexity and are not consistently used among study sites. METHODS: Using frozen
      section histologic evaluation in Tanzania (high-transmission area), we
      established a novel grading scheme to separately quantify inflammation and
      pigment deposition during placental malaria (n = 102). To generalize this method,
      formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded placental samples from Karen women in Thailand
      (low-transmission area) were selected from among women with documented antenatal
      parasitemia who were near term (n = 18). RESULTS: In the Tanzanian cohort, the
      inflammation and pigment-deposition scores were independently associated with
      birth weight, and the inflammation score was associated with chemokine levels. In
      the smaller cohort from Thailand, both inflammation and pigment scores were
      associated with birth weight, and the pigment score had an inverse trend with the
      number of antenatal clinic visits. CONCLUSIONS: This semiquantitative
      pathological grading scheme is simple to implement and captures information that
      is associated with outcomes in Asia and Africa; therefore, it should facilitate
      the comparison and standardization of results among clinical trials across areas
      of differing endemicity.

PMID- 20929354
TI  - A 2009 varicella outbreak in a Connecticut residential facility for adults with
      intellectual disability.
AB  - We investigated a varicella outbreak in a residential facility for adults with
      intellectual disabilities. A case of varicella was defined as a generalized
      maculopapular rash that developed in a facility resident or employee.
      Immunoglobulin M testing was conducted on serologic samples, and polymerase chain
      reaction testing was performed on environmental and skin lesion samples. Eleven
      cases were identified among 70 residents and 2 among ~145 staff. An unrecognized
      case of herpes zoster was the likely source. Case patients first entered any
      residential facility at a younger age than non-case residents (9.5 vs 15.0 years;
      P < .01). Varicella zoster virus DNA was detected 2 months after the outbreak in
      environmental samples obtained from case patients' residences. This outbreak
      exemplifies the potential for at-risk pockets of varicella-susceptible adults,
      especially among those who have lived in residential facilities from a young age.
      Evidence of immunity should be verified for all adults and healthcare staff in
      similar residential settings.

PMID- 20929355
TI  - Human haploid cells differentiated from meiotic competent clonal germ cell lines
      that originated from embryonic stem cells.
AB  - Early germ-like cells (GLCs) derived from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) have
      presented new opportunities to study germ cell differentiation in vitro. However,
      differentiation conditions that facilitate the formation of haploid cells from
      the derived GLCs have eluded the field. The inability to propagate GLCs in
      culture is a further limitation, resulting in inconsistent rederivations of GLCs
      from hESCs with relatively few GLCs in these heterogeneous populations. Here we
      found in vitro conditions that enrich for DDX4/POU5F1+ GLCs (~60%) and that has
      enabled continual propagation for >50 passages without loss of phenotype. Clonal
      isolation of single GLCs from these mixed cultures generated 3 GLC (>90%
      DDX4/POU5F1+) and 2 hESC (<0.1% DDX4+) lines that could be continually expanded
      without loss of phenotype. Differentiation of clonal GLC lines in serum resulted
      in expression of postmeiotic markers and >11% were haploid, ~5-fold higher than
      previous studies. The robust clonal meiotic competent and incompetent GLC lines
      will be used to understand the factors controlling human germ cell meiosis and
      postmeiotic maturation.

PMID- 20929356
TI  - Transfusion-transmitted malaria in countries where malaria is endemic: a review
      of the literature from sub-Saharan Africa.
AB  - Although international policies recommend that blood for transfusion should be
      screened for transfusion-transmitted infections, malaria screening is not
      performed in most malaria-endemic countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Our literature
      review identified 17 relevant studies from the period 1980-2009 and indicated
      that the median prevalence of malaria among 33,029 blood donors was 10.2% (range,
      0.7% in Kenya to 55.0% in Nigeria). Malaria screening methods, including
      microscopy (used in 16 of 17 studies), are either insensitive or impractical for
      donor screening in resource-poor countries. Even if a suitable screening method
      were available, rejection of malaria-positive donors would jeopardize the blood
      supply. Only 1 study established the prevalence of parasitemia among transfusion
      recipients. This review highlights the need for more evidence about the clinical
      impact of transfusion-transmitted malaria to justify the policy of screening for
      blood for malaria in areas of endemicity and for a critical analysis of the
      feasibility of implementing such a policy and its effect on blood supply.

PMID- 20929358
TI  - Maximizing infection prevention in the next decade: defining the unacceptable.
AB  - An important role of public health agencies is to define the unacceptable. This
      concept has particular relevance for healthcare-associated infections. Evidence
      indicates that, with focused efforts, these once-formidable infections can be
      greatly reduced in number, leading to a 'new normal' for healthcare-associated
      infections as rare, unacceptable events.

PMID- 20929357
TI  - Malaria and transfusion: a neglected subject coming back to the forefront.

PMID- 20929359
TI  - Infection prevention research in Europe: recent advances and future priorities.
AB  - During the past 2 decades, Europe has made substantial progress in the prevention
      and control of hospital-acquired infections and antimicrobial resistance (e.g.,
      through multicenter trials, international surveillance networks, and hand hygiene
      initiatives). This short overview highlights recent advances and future
      priorities in infection prevention research, including methodological challenges
      to be addressed.

PMID- 20929360
TI  - Implementation science: how to jump-start infection prevention.
AB  - Implementing evidence&#x2010;based infection prevention practices is challenging.
      Implementation science, which is the study of methods promoting the uptake of
      evidence into practice, addresses the gap between theory and practice. Just as
      healthcare epidemiology has emerged as a paradigm for patient safety, infection
      prevention may serve as a clinical model for implementation researchers.

PMID- 20929361
TI  - The past, present, and future of healthcare-associated infection prevention in
      pediatrics: multidrug-resistant organisms.
AB  - Multidrug resistant organisms (MDROs) and healthcare&#x2010;associated infections
      (HAIs) are associated with increased lengths of hospital stay, increased costs,
      and increased mortality. We explore the scope of MDRO HAIs in children, current
      MDRO HAI prevention practices and data to support these practices, and we propose
      research topics targeting MDRO HAI prevention in children.

PMID- 20929362
TI  - The past, present, and future of healthcare-associated infection prevention in
      pediatrics: viral respiratory infections.
AB  - Viral respiratory infections pose a significant challenge to pediatric infection
      prevention programs. We explore issues regarding the prevention of viral
      respiratory infections by discussing transmission of influenza A virus, isolation
      of infected patients, and hospital programs for influenza vaccination.

PMID- 20929363
TI  - The past, present, and future of healthcare-associated infection prevention in
      pediatrics: catheter-associated bloodstream infections.
AB  - Central line&#x2013;associated bloodstream infections cause morbidity and
      mortality in children. We explore the evidence for prevention of central
      line&#x2013;associated bloodstream infections in children, assess current
      practices, and propose research topics to improve prevention strategies.

PMID- 20929364
TI  - Global epidemiology of Clostridium difficile infection in 2010.
AB  - The past decade has been characterized by an epidemic of Clostridium difficile
      infection in North America and Europe that threatens to extend to the rest of the
      world. The epidemic is due in part to the emergence of a previously rare and now
      more lethal C. difficile strain variously named group BI, ribotype 027, and North
      American pulsed&#x2010;field gel electrophoresis type 1.

PMID- 20929365
TI  - Detection of Clostridium difficile infection.
AB  - There has been a recent surge of interest in Clostridium difficile infection,
      which reflects an impressive increase in the number and severity of these
      infections. This review addresses some of the newer methods for detection of C.
      difficile infection at the bedside and in the laboratory. Particularly important
      are the new rapid diagnostic tests that detect toxigenic C. difficile using
      polymerase chain reaction and the combination tests that, either simultaneously
      or sequentially, screen for C. difficile and test for toxins A and B. It is
      expected that these new testing methods will largely supplant the enzyme
      immunoassays for toxins, which are used by most laboratories, departments, and
      divisions. The present goal is to combine clinical, laboratory, and animal
      research related to C. difficile that reflects issues that are considered to be
      major contemporary challenges. Among this work is the pursuit of studies of
      immune mechanisms to better control this disease.

PMID- 20929367
TI  - Critical gaps in knowledge of the epidemiology and pathophysiology of healthcare
      associated infections.
AB  - The past decade has witnessed an intense interest in healthcare&#x2010;associated
      infections as well as increases in legislation and reporting requirements aimed
      at decreasing the number of these costly infections. In the next decade,
      healthcare epidemiology must address major gaps in understanding of the
      epidemiology and pathogenesis of healthcare&#x2010;associated infections and in
      knowledge of the efficacy of interventions for healthcare&#x2010;associated
      infections and the efficacy in implementing such interventions.

PMID- 20929366
TI  - Prevention of healthcare-associated Clostridium difficile infection: what works?
AB  - Prevention of Clostridium difficile infection has become extremely important
      because of increases in its incidence and severity. Unfortunately, efforts at C.
      difficile infection prevention are hampered by lack of data to support optimal
      prevention methods, especially for endemic C. difficile infection. Studies are
      needed to define the optimal prevention practices and to investigate novel
      prevention methods.

PMID- 20929368
TI  - Prevention of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection: is Europe
      winning the fight?
AB  - Methicillin&#x2010;resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a common cause of
      disease across Europe, except for Scandinavian countries and the Netherlands.
      Recently, MRSA incidence has decreased in many European countries following
      national interventions, including structural and regulatory changes in health
      care, promotion of hand hygiene, antibiotic stewardship, and targeted screening,
      isolation, and decolonization of hospitalized carriers of MRSA.

PMID- 20929369
TI  - Immunotherapies for Staphylococcus aureus: current challenges and future
      prospects.
AB  - Development of an effective vaccine against Staphylococcus aureus would provide
      great potential public health benefit. We present a brief overview of the current
      knowledge in this field, with emphasis on present challenges and lessons learned,
      together with a summary of vaccines and immunoglobulin preparations currently
      under investigation.

PMID- 20929370
TI  - Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and the media.
AB  - How the media communicate and how the scientific community influences the media
      are important factors to consider in the public health response to emerging
      pathogens, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Social
      representation theory suggests that the media link "the threatening" to
      commonplace "anchor representations" which can serve to educate or to create
      fear.

PMID- 20929371
TI  - Current epidemiology of multidrug-resistant gram-negative bacilli in the United
      States.
AB  - Gram&#x2010;negative bacilli are an important cause of infection in healthcare
      and community settings. Antimicrobial resistance, including resistance to
      multiple antimicrobial classes, is an ongoing problem among gram&#x2010;negative
      bacilli. This synopsis reviews the incidence of multidrug resistance among
      gram&#x2010;negative bacilli in the United States and describes emerging issues
      in their epidemiology.

PMID- 20929372
TI  - The antibiotic development pipeline for multidrug-resistant gram-negative
      bacilli: current and future landscapes.
AB  - Development of antibiotics to treat infections caused by
      multidrug&#x2010;resistant gram&#x2010;negative bacilli has lagged significantly
      behind development of antibiotics to treat infections with gram&#x2010;positive
      pathogens. Although a few promising drugs have entered early clinical
      development, more must be done to preserve the utility of currently available
      antibiotics and to ensure a pipeline of efficacious, safe antibacterials.

PMID- 20929373
TI  - The burden of healthcare-associated infections in European long-term care
      facilities.
AB  - Since 2006, several projects have been initiated in Europe to describe the
      distribution and characteristics of infection control programs in
      long&#x2010;term care facilities and to quantify the burden of infections,
      antimicrobial resistance, and antimicrobial use in long&#x2010;term care
      facilities. This article summarizes the results and activities that are underway.

PMID- 20929374
TI  - Pandemic preparedness: implementation of infection prevention emergency plans.
AB  - The H1N1 influenza pandemic provided a real&#x2010;world test of hospital
      disaster plans. Challenges to hospitals included inconsistent use of isolation
      precautions; changing and conflicting guidelines; lack of available supplies,
      including N95 respirators and medications; and overwhelming amounts of
      information that required sifting. Further research is needed regarding pandemic
      planning.

PMID- 20929375
TI  - Opportunists and opportunities: the 2010 SHEA Lecture.
AB  - My experience as a hospital epidemiologist at the National Institutes of Health
      Clinical Center has underscored the importance of aggressively managing infection
      with opportunistic pathogens and of taking advantage of opportunities as they
      arise (most often as crises). I review selected aspects of my career and use
      these as examples of the opportunists and opportunities now facing healthcare
      epidemiology.

PMID- 20929376
TI  - Progress and challenges in implementing the research on ESKAPE pathogens.
AB  - The ESKAPE pathogens (Enterococcus faecium, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella
      pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Enterobacter
      species) are responsible for a substantial percentage of nosocomial infections in
      the modern hospital and represent the vast majority of isolates whose resistance
      to antimicrobial agents presents serious therapeutic dilemmas for physicians.
      Over the years, improved molecular biology techniques have led to detailed
      information about individual resistance mechanisms in all these pathogens.
      However, there remains a lack of compelling data on the interplay between
      resistance mechanisms and between the bacteria themselves. In addition, data on
      the impact of clinical interventions to decrease the prevalence of resistance are
      also lacking. The difficulty in identifying novel antimicrobial agents with
      reliable activity against these pathogens argues for an augmentation of research
      in the basic and population science of resistance, as well as careful studies to
      identify optimal strategies for infection control and antimicrobial use.

PMID- 20929377
TI  - Influential outbreaks of healthcare-associated infections in the past decade.
AB  - Outbreaks of healthcare&#x2010;associated infections have long played a critical
      role in both identification and mitigation of emerging challenges in health care.
      This article describes some of the most influential outbreaks of
      healthcare&#x2010;associated infections in the past decade that serve as
      excellent illustrations of this point.

PMID- 20929378
TI  - Healthcare epidemiology: past and future.
AB  - Healthcare epidemiology is a robust and adaptable profession with the noble
      mission of protecting patients and their healthcare providers from infectious
      diseases and other threats. Change is the constant that links the successes of
      our field in each decade of our history. Although it is not possible to predict
      what specific challenges the next decade will bring, the themes of the Sixth
      Decennial International Conference in 2020 are likely to reflect the most
      prominent drivers of change that are affecting our profession, including
      globalization, sustainability, and consumer empowerment.

PMID- 20929381
TI  - Prevention of nosocomial pneumonia in the intensive care unit: beyond the use of
      bundles.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The occurrence of nosocomial pneumonia (NP) in the hospital setting
      is especially problematic, as it is associated with a greater risk of in-hospital
      death, longer stays on mechanical ventilation and in the intensive care unit
      (ICU), more need for tracheostomy, and significantly higher medical care costs.
      METHODS: Review of the pertinent English-language literature. RESULTS: The
      adverse effect of NP on healthcare outcomes has increased pressure on clinicians
      and hospital systems to prevent this infection. This brief review provides an
      overview of the current approaches to the prevention of NP, focusing primarily on
      ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP). CONCLUSION: Clinicians working in ICUs
      should consider the following recommendations: (1) Develop a VAP prevention
      bundle based on evidence-based guidelines; (2) monitor the rates of VAP prior to
      and during implementation of the program; (3) make adjustments according to VAP
      occurrence; and (4) integrate VAP prevention with other quality improvement
      programs.

PMID- 20929380
TI  - Pilot controlled trial of mindfulness meditation and education for dementia
      caregivers.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this study were to evaluate whether a mindfulness
      meditation intervention may be effective in caregivers of close relatives with
      dementia and to help refine the protocol for future larger trials. DESIGN: The
      design was a pilot randomized trial to evaluate the effectiveness of a
      mindfulness meditation intervention adapted from the Mindfulness-Based Cognitive
      Therapy program in relation to two comparison groups: an education class based on
      Powerful Tools for Caregivers serving as an active control group and a respite
      only group serving as a pragmatic control. SETTINGS/LOCATION: This study was
      conducted at the Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR. SUBJECTS: The
      subjects were community-dwelling caregivers aged 45-85 years of close relatives
      with dementia. INTERVENTIONS: The two active interventions lasted 7 weeks, and
      consisted of one 90-minute session per week along with at-home implementation of
      knowledge learned. The respite-only condition provided the same duration of
      respite care that was needed for the active interventions. OUTCOME MEASURES:
      Subjects were assessed prior to randomization and again after completing classes
      at 8 weeks. The primary outcome measure was a self-rated measure of caregiver
      stress, the Revised Memory and Behavior Problems Checklist (RMBPC). Secondary
      outcome measures included mood, fatigue, self-efficacy, mindfulness, salivary
      cortisols, cytokines, and cognitive function. We also evaluated self-rated stress
      in the subjects' own environment, expectancy of improvement, and credibility of
      the interventions. RESULTS: There were 31 caregivers randomized and 28
      completers. There was a significant effect on RMBPC by group covarying for
      baseline RMBPC, with both active interventions showing improvement compared with
      the respite-only group. Most of the secondary outcome measures were not
      significantly affected by the interventions. There was an intervention effect on
      the caregiver self-efficacy measure and on cognitive measures. Although
      mindfulness was not impacted by the intervention, there were significant
      correlations between mindfulness and self-rated mood and stress scores.
      CONCLUSIONS: Both mindfulness and education interventions decreased the self
      rated caregiver stress compared to the respite-only control.

PMID- 20929382
TI  - Transperitoneal laparoendoscopic single-site pyeloplasty: initial experiences.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to present our initial clinical experience
      with laparoendoscopic single-site surgery (LESS) for ureteropelvic junction (UPJ)
      obstruction. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Between May and October 2009, 14 consecutive
      patients underwent LESS-pyeloplasty (LESS-P) by the same surgeon at our
      institution. All patients underwent single port transperitoneal Anderson-Hynes
      laparoscopic dismembered pyeloplasty using the single incision laparoendoscopic
      surgery port, inserted through a transumbilical incision. Ultrasonography,
      intravenous urography (IVU) or diuretic renal scan was performed at the third
      month and semiannually thereafter. Patients were examined clinically every 3 to 6
      months, depending on the symptoms. Radiographic success was defined as
      improvement of hydronephrosis with a patent UPJ on IVU, or improved drainage on
      diuretic renal scan. RESULTS: Anterior crossing vessels, high insertion, and
      severe adhesion were found in seven (50%), five (35.7%), and two (14.3%) cases,
      respectively. The mean operating-room time, which includes cystoscopy with
      retrograde ureteral catheterization and open-end stent placement, was 204.5
      minutes (range 160-300 min), and the mean estimated blood loss, including urine,
      was 102 mL (range 80-170 mL). Mean hospital stay was 2 days (range 1-3 d). Wound
      infection occurred in one patient. The mean follow-up period was 6.2 months
      (range, 3-8 mos). The success rate was 100%. CONCLUSION: With the advent of the
      single port and laparoscopic instrument technology, the LESS-P, as minimally
      invasive surgery, would take the place of the standard laparoscopic pyeloplasty,
      and it may be a new choice for the management of UPJ obstruction.

PMID- 20929384
TI  - HIV transmission patterns among The Netherlands, Suriname, and The Netherlands
      Antilles: a molecular epidemiological study.
AB  - We aimed to study patterns of HIV transmission among Suriname, The Netherlands
      Antilles, and The Netherlands. Fragments of env, gag, and pol genes of 55 HIV
      infected Surinamese, Antillean, and Dutch heterosexuals living in The Netherlands
      and 72 HIV-infected heterosexuals living in Suriname and the Antilles were
      amplified and sequenced. We included 145 pol sequences of HIV-infected
      Surinamese, Antillean, and Dutch heterosexuals living in The Netherlands from an
      observational cohort. All sequences were phylogenetically analyzed by neighbor
      joining. Additionally, HIV-1 mobility among ethnic groups was estimated. A
      phylogenetic tree of all pol sequences showed two Surinamese and three Antillean
      clusters of related strains, but no clustering between ethnic groups. Clusters
      included sequences of individuals living in Suriname and the Antilles as well as
      those who have migrated to The Netherlands. Similar clustering patterns were
      observed in env and gag. Analysis of HIV mobility among ethnic groups showed
      significantly lower migration between groups than expected under the hypothesis
      of panmixis, apart from higher HIV migration between Antilleans in The
      Netherlands and all other groups. Our study shows that HIV transmission mainly
      occurs within the ethnic group. This suggests that cultural factors could have a
      larger impact on HIV mobility than geographic distance.

PMID- 20929385
TI  - Molecular analysis of human T cell lymphotropic virus type 1 and 2 (HTLV-1/2)
      seroindeterminate blood donors from Northeast Iran: evidence of proviral tax,
      env, and gag sequences.
AB  - Human T cell lymphotropic virus type 1 and 2 (HTLV-1/2) Western blot
      indeterminate results are a problem for blood banks in endemic areas. To
      determine the prevalence of HTLV-1/2 infection among indeterminate donors, we
      analyzed 130 cases from Mashhad, an HTLV-1/2 endemic area in Northeast Iran. The
      most frequent Western blot bands were GD21 alone (37.2%) followed by rgp46-2
      alone (32.1%). We further tested 40 available DNA samples of these cases by PCR
      for viral sequences, tax, gag, and pol, and found five cases (12.5%) to be
      positive for two or three HTLV-1 genes. There were no significant age, sex, and
      blood group differences between PCR-positive and PCR-negative cases. Among PCR
      positive individuals, the most prevalent Western blot bands were variable
      combinations of rgp46-1, GD21, and gp21. The mean of the optical density (OD) of
      the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test was significantly higher in
      PCR-positive individuals. The frequency of the rgp46-1 band was also
      significantly higher in PCR-positive cases compared to PCR-negative ones. In
      conclusion, the majority of HTLV-indeterminate donors lack the HTLV provirus and
      therefore are not considered infected. However, in some cases with higher ODs in
      the ELISA test and seroreactivity to env proteins, rgp46-1 and GD21 in particular
      may be indicative of infection and need further evaluation by molecular methods.

PMID- 20929386
TI  - Photodynamic therapy as consolidation treatment for primary cutaneous adenoid
      cystic carcinoma: a case report.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this case report was to evaluate the efficacy of
      photodynamic therapy (PDT) for a patient with primary cutaneous adenoid cystic
      carcinoma (PCACC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: A 53-year-old female patient presented
      with a lesion at the pre-auricular area. After performing a local resection along
      a margin of 0.5 cm beyond the surrounding tissue, PCACC was clearly revealed
      based on the histological features and the exclusion of differentiation of other
      metastasis in the skin. The patient was then treated repetitively with 5
      aminolevulinic acid (ALA)-PDT. After the final PDT treatment, the control
      pathological biopsy at the same location demonstrated no tumor cell in the
      specimen. RESULTS: The 40-month follow-up diagnosis showed no evidence of
      recurrence or metastasis observed on the treated area. CONCLUSION: ALA-PDT was a
      safe and effective therapy for obtaining good cosmetic results and reducing
      recurrence in this case report.

PMID- 20929387
TI  - Effects from exposure to dental amalgam on systemic mercury levels in patients
      and dental school students.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the systemic mercury levels
      in urine of patients and dental school students caused by exposure to silver
      amalgam. It is currently believed that occupational exposure shows the highest
      rate of potential for poisoning by mercury. Dental professionals are part of that
      quota, introducing concerns regarding the handling of dental amalgam. MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: The study comprised 40 urine samples from 20 subjects, which were
      divided into four sampling groups: G1A (n = 10) composed of students before their
      first occupational contact; G1B (n = 10) composed of the same G1 students after
      their first contact; G2A (n = 10) composed of patients who needed to have dental
      restorations before amalgam removal; and G2B (n = 10) composed of patients who
      needed to have dental restoration after amalgam removal. Cold-vapor atomic
      absorption spectrophotometry (CVAAS) was used as the evaluation method. RESULTS:
      A statistically significant difference was found among dependent groups 1 and 2
      (p = 0.0038), whereas mercury levels increased considerably after the first
      occupational contact of all subjects. CONCLUSIONS: Occupational exposure to
      dental amalgam poses a potential risk of increasing systemic mercury levels,
      although urine mercury levels in all the sample participants were below the
      limits of biologic tolerance.

PMID- 20929388
TI  - Raman spectroscopy validation of DIAGNOdent-assisted fluorescence readings on
      tibial fractures treated with laser phototherapy, BMPs, guided bone regeneration,
      and miniplates.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: We aimed to assess through Raman spectroscopy and fluorescence the
      levels of calcium hydroxyapatite (CHA) and lipids and proteins in complete
      fractures treated with internal rigid fixation (IRF) treated or not with laser
      phototherapy (LPT) and associated or not with bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs)
      and guided bone regeneration (GBR). BACKGROUND: Fractures have different
      etiologies and treatments and may be associated with bone losses. LPT has been
      shown to improve bone healing. METHODS: Tibial fractures were created on 15
      animals and divided into five groups. LPT started immediately after surgery,
      repeated at 48-h intervals. Animal death occurred after 30 days. RESULTS: Raman
      spectroscopy and fluorescence were performed at the surface. Fluorescence data of
      group IRF + LPT + Biomaterial showed similar readings to those of the group IRF
      no bone loss. Significant differences were seen between groups IRF + LPT +
      Biomaterial and IRF + LPT; IRF + LPT + Biomaterial; and IRF + Biomaterial; and
      between IRF + LPT + Biomaterial and IRF. CH groups of lipids and proteins
      readings showed decreased levels of organic components in subjects treated with
      the association of LPT, biomaterial, and GBR. Pearson correlation showed that
      fluorescence readings of both CHA and CH groups of lipids and proteins correlated
      negatively with the Raman data. CONCLUSIONS: The use of both methods indicates
      that the use of the biomaterials associated with infrared LPT resulted in a more
      advanced and higher quality of bone repair in fractures treated with miniplates
      and that the DIAGNOdent may be used to perform optical biopsy on bone.

PMID- 20929389
TI  - A feasible procedure in dental practice: the treatment of oral dysplastic
      hyperkeratotic lesions of the oral cavity with the CO2 laser.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of this work is to report some cases of surgical removal of
      hyperkeratotic lesions of the oral cavity with the CO(2) laser. BACKGROUND:
      Hyperkeratosis is an abnormal thickening of the stratum corneum caused by
      increased deposition of keratin, and its histopathologic features show wide
      variations. These changes are significant because they determine different
      biologic behavior. Several techniques are used to treat these lesions, including
      scalpel incision, electrosurgery, cryosurgery, photodynamic therapy, and some
      drugs. The use of surgical lasers has been proposed as an effective way of
      treating such lesions safely. The CO(2) laser is the most used laser on the oral
      cavity because of its affinity for water and high absorption by the oral mucosa.
      Several benefits of the use of the CO(2) laser are reported in the literature in
      regard to surgical procedures carried out on the oral cavity. PATIENTS AND
      METHODS: All patients had histopathologic diagnosis of hyperkeratosis and mild
      epithelial dysplasia and were routinely prepared for surgery under local
      anesthesia. The surgical procedures were carried out by using a CO(2) laser
      (Sharplan 20 C; Laser Industries, Tel Aviv, Israel, lambda10,600 nm, phi~2 mm,
      CW/RSP). The beam was focused to delimit each lesion, and then lesions were
      excised, and the removed specimens were sent for histopathology. At the end of
      the surgery, the beam was used in a defocused manner to promote better
      hemostasis. Neither sutures nor dressings were used after the surgery. No
      medication but mouthwashes was prescribed to all patients in the postoperative
      period. CONCLUSIONS: The use of the CO(2) laser does not reduce the risk of
      relapses of the lesion, but it is an easy-to-use technique and results in both a
      quick surgical procedure and trouble-free postoperative period and may be safely
      used in dental practice.

PMID- 20929390
TI  - Effect of nucleoside and nucleotide analog reverse transcriptase inhibitors on
      cell-mediated immune functions.
AB  - Nucleoside analog reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) constitute the most
      commonly used drugs in antiretroviral therapy. NRTIs differ with respect to their
      host cell toxicity. We compared the in vitro effect of zidovudine (AZT; 2
      MUg/ml), lamivudine (3TC; 5 MUg/ml), stavudine (d4T; 1 MUg/ml), and tenofovir
      (TFV; 1 MUg/ml) on Candida cell-mediated immunity (CMI) of peripheral blood
      mononuclear cells (PBMCs). The concentrations of the active derivative AZT
      triphosphate were 4-fold higher in Candida-stimulated compared with unstimulated
      PBMCs (p = 0.01), but those of 3TC-triphosphate and TFV-diphosphate did not
      differ significantly. AZT treatment decreased proliferation of unstimulated and
      Candida-stimulated PBMCs and IFN-gamma ELISPOT responses; 3TC decreased
      proliferation of unstimulated PBMCs only; d4T and TFV decreased proliferation of
      Candida-stimulated PBMCs only. AZT, but not the other NRTIs, increased
      unstimulated PBMC apoptosis measured by caspase 3 activity. All NRTIs increased
      annexin-V-measured apoptosis of Candida-stimulated PBMCs. The effect of d4T on
      apoptosis of Candida-stimulated PBMCs strongly correlated with its inhibitory
      effect on mitochondrial DNA synthesis (r2 = 0.94; p = 0.007). The other NRTIs did
      not significantly decrease the mitochondrial:nuclear DNA ratios in Candida
      stimulated or unstimulated cultures, suggesting that other mechanisms mediated
      their effect on apoptosis and CMI. In conclusion, AZT had the most pronounced
      inhibitory effect on CMI. Further studies are warranted to determine the clinical
      significance of this observation.

PMID- 20929391
TI  - Short communication: contribution of the immunovirological state and traditional
      cardiovascular risk factors to low HDL-cholesterol in HIV patients.
AB  - The prevalence of low HDL-C levels in an HIV population and its related factors
      was investigated. We undertook a multicenter, cross-sectional study of all HIV
      patients on regular follow-up in five hospitals (Southern Spain). A physical
      examination and fasting laboratory analysis were performed and a questionnaire
      about cardiovascular risk factors was provided. One thousand and seventy-two
      patients were included, 43.8% of whom had low HDL-C levels. The prevalence of low
      HDL-C was higher among patients diagnosed with AIDS, those not on antiretroviral
      therapy, those with a detectable HIV viral load, those with CD4 cell counts <=350
      cells/MUl, smokers, and those with hypertriglyceridemia. For patients on
      antiretroviral therapy, the prevalence of low HDL-C was higher for those on
      protease inhibitors than those taking nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase
      inhibitors. In the multivariate analysis, low HDL-C levels were associated with
      tobacco use (OR 1.37, 95% CI 1.04-1.8; p = 0.04), hypertriglyceridemia (OR 2.94,
      95% CI 2.2-3.8; p < 0.00001), CD4 cells count <=350 cells/MUl (OR 1.74, 95% CI
      1.2-2.3; p < 0.0001), and a detectable HIV viral load (OR 1.85, 95% CI 1.3-2.5; p
      < 0.0001). The immunological and virological conditions, in addition to
      traditional cardiovascular risk factors such as tobacco use and
      hypertriglyceridemia, affect HDL-C levels in HIV-infected patients. For patients
      on antiretroviral therapy, the use of protease inhibitors is associated with a
      higher probability of low levels of HDL-C. Although it is not clear if the higher
      HDL-C levels associated with antiretroviral use are surrogates for decreased
      cardiovascular disease risk, this may be another reason to start antiretroviral
      therapy earlier.

PMID- 20929392
TI  - Short communication: no evidence of HTLV-3 and HTLV-4 infection in New York State
      subjects at risk for retroviral infection.
AB  - The primate T-cell lymphoma viruses (PTLV) are divided into six distinct species.
      The biology and epidemiology of PTLV-1 and PTLV-2 are very well understood.
      However, that of PTLV-3, 4, 5, and 6 are not. Recently, in Cameroon, three and
      one humans were shown to be infected with HTLV-3 and HTLV-4, respectively. We
      undertook a study to ascertain whether any of these two retroviruses were present
      in the peripheral blood mononuclear cell DNA of New York State subjects deemed at
      risk for PTLV infection. Samples were analyzed by PTLV-3 and PTLV-4 specific PCR
      assays from the following human and simian subject types: African-American
      medical clinic patients; HTLV EIA+, WB indeterminate blood donors; intravenous
      drug users; patients with leukemia, lymphoma, myelopathy, polymyositis, or AIDS;
      and African chimpanzees. None of the 1200 subjects was positive for HTLV-3 or 4.
      The data indicate that, at the time of sample collection, no evidence exists for
      the dissemination of HTLV-3 or 4 to New York State. Continued epidemiological
      studies are warranted to explore the worldwide prevalence rates and dissemination
      patterns of HTLV-3 and 4 infections, and their possible disease associations.

PMID- 20929394
TI  - Estimating the extent of underreporting of mortality among HIV-infected
      individuals in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
AB  - Non-HIV-related causes of death have been increasing after the introduction of
      highly active antiretroviral therapy. Underlying and contributing causes of death
      were assessed in respect to the presence/absence of HIV/AIDS among HIV
      infected/AIDS patients in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Demographic variables (age,
      gender, ethnicity, and schooling) and CD4 cell counts closest to death were
      assessed through logistic regression models comparing those who did not have with
      those who had HIV/AIDS mentioned on the death certificate. The linkage with the
      two cohorts identified 1249 records, of which 370 (29.6%) did not have HIV/AIDS
      listed on any field of the death certificate [77 (20.8%) attributed to undefined
      and 72 (19.5%) to external causes]. After excluding external causes, 25.3% still
      did not have HIV/AIDS listed on the death certificate. Multiple logistic
      regression analysis showed that age >40 years (OR = 2.09; 95%CI = 1.49-2.93; p <
      0.001) and CD4 cell count closest to the date of death (OR = 1.15; 95% CI = 1.07
      1.23; p < 0.001 for 100 cell increase) were associated with an increased
      probability of not having HIV/AIDS mentioned on the death certificate, when
      external causes were excluded. Mortality among HIV-infected individuals is
      underreported in the Rio de Janeiro Mortality Registry, particularly among older
      individuals and those with higher CD4 counts. Physicians should be aware of the
      changing patterns of mortality among HIV individuals, and public health officials
      should regularly perform linkages between all-cause mortality and available HIV
      infected patients databases, such as AIDS registries and large cohort studies.

PMID- 20929393
TI  - Outcomes of patients on dual-boosted PI regimens: experience of the Swiss HIV
      cohort study.
AB  - Dual-boosted protease inhibitors (DBPI) are an option for salvage therapy for HIV
      1 resistant patients. Patients receiving a DBPI in the Swiss HIV Cohort Study
      between January1996 and March 2007 were studied. Outcomes of interest were viral
      suppression at 24 weeks. 295 patients (72.5%) were on DBPI for over 6 months. The
      median duration was 2.2 years. Of 287 patients who had HIV-RNA >400 copies/ml at
      the start of the regimen, 184 (64.1%) were ever suppressed while on DBPI and 156
      (54.4%) were suppressed within 24 weeks. The median time to suppression was 101
      days (95% confidence interval 90-125 days). The median number of past regimens
      was 6 (IQR, 3-8). The main reasons for discontinuing the regimen were patient's
      wish (48.3%), treatment failure (22.5%), and toxicity (15.8%). Acquisition of HIV
      through intravenous drug use and the use of lopinavir in combination with
      saquinavir or atazanavir were associated with an increased likelihood of
      suppression within 6 months. Patients on DBPI are heavily treatment experienced.
      Viral suppression within 6 months was achieved in more than half of the patients.
      There may be a place for DBPI regimens in settings where more expensive
      alternates are not available.

PMID- 20929395
TI  - Tenofovir (TDF)-selected or abacavir (ABC)-selected low-frequency HIV type 1
      subpopulations during failure with persistent viremia as detected by ultradeep
      pyrosequencing.
AB  - Detection of drug resistance is critical for determining antiretroviral treatment
      options. Ultradeep pyrosequencing (UDPS; 454 Life Sciences) is capable of
      detecting virus variant subpopulations with much greater sensitivity than
      population sequencing, which typically has a detection limit around 20%. UDPS of
      the HIV-1 reverse transcriptase (RT) (amino acids 56-120) was performed to detect
      the key mutations K65R and L74V associated with tenofovir and abacavir use.
      Plasma specimens from subjects with persistent rebound viremia following
      suppression on tenofovir (n = 8) or abacavir (n = 9)-based therapy were studied.
      Samples from a subject treated with zidovudine/lamivudine/efavirenz with a
      similar loss of virologic response served as a control. HIV-1 plasma RNA was
      >=3.68 log(10) copies/ml at all time points sequenced. The median number of UDPS
      sequences analyzed/time point was 33,246. Among the eight tenofovir-treated
      subjects, three showed high-frequency (>20%) RT K65R at the time of failure,
      whereas one showed low-frequency (<20%) L74V; no low-frequency K65R was detected
      in these subjects. Among the nine abacavir-treated subjects, three showed low
      frequency K65R; no L74V was detected in these patients. No K65R or L74V was
      detected in the samples from the control subject. At failure, other RT mutations
      were detected, including low-frequency NNRTI-resistant species detected at >=1
      time point in nine subjects; the key NNRTI mutation K103N, however, was always
      observed at >20% frequency. Although UDPS is useful in the detection of low
      frequency subpopulations with transmitted resistance in antiviral-naive patients,
      it may have less utility in treatment-experienced patients with persistent
      viremia on therapy.

PMID- 20929396
TI  - Microsporidiosis and Cryptosporidiosis in HIV/AIDS Patients in St. Petersburg,
      Russia: Serological identification of microsporidia and Cryptosporidium parvum in
      sera samples from HIV/AIDS patients.
AB  - To determine seroprevalence of the opportunistic organisms Cryptosporidium parvum
      and microsporidia (Encephalitozoon cuniculi, E. intestinalis, E. hellem, and
      Enterocytozoon bieneusi) in Russian HIV/AIDS patients, we evaluated 46 sera from
      HIV/AIDS patients from the S.P. Botkin Clinical Infectious Diseases Hospital, St.
      Petersburg, Russia. Five (10.9%) sera were seropositive for E. cuniculi and 19
      (41.3%) were positive for C. parvum by ELISA. By IFAT, 6 (13.0%) sera were
      seropositive for E. bieneusi, 4 (8.7%) for E. intestinalis, and 9 (19.6%) for E.
      hellem. This study is the first report to estimate the prevalence of infection
      with Cryptosporidium and microsporidia among Russian HIV/AIDS patients.

PMID- 20929397
TI  - Cervicovaginal shedding of HIV type 1 is related to genital tract inflammation
      independent of changes in vaginal microbiota.
AB  - We examined the relationship of proinflammatory vaginal cytokines and secretory
      leukocyte protease inhibitor (SLPI) with genital HIV-1 shedding after controlling
      for genital coinfections. Fifty-seven HIV-1-infected women in Seattle, WA (n =
      38) and Rochester, NY (n = 19) were followed every 3-4 months for a total of 391
      visits. At each visit, plasma and cervicovaginal lavage (CVL) were tested for HIV
      1 RNA using qPCR. Vaginal samples were tested for bacterial vaginosis, yeast,
      hydrogen peroxide-producing Lactobacillus colonization, Trichomonas vaginalis,
      Neisseria gonorrhea, Chlamydia trachomatis, CMV, and HSV shedding. CVL
      interleukins (IL)-1beta, IL-6, IL-8, and SLPI were measured using ELISA. Linear
      regression with generalized estimating equations examined effects of cytokine
      concentrations on CVL HIV-1 RNA, adjusted for plasma HIV RNA, and measured
      coinfections. CVL IL-1beta and IL-8 were significantly associated with CVL HIV-1
      RNA. This persisted after adjusting for plasma HIV-1 RNA. Higher levels of IL
      1beta were associated with higher concentrations of HIV-1 RNA in CVL (beta =
      0.25, 95% CI 0.09, 0.42), as were higher levels of IL-8 (beta = 0.34, 95% CI
      0.17, 0.50). Adjusting for the presence of the coinfections described, this
      relationship was attenuated for IL-1beta (beta = 0.16; 95% CI -0.01, 0.33) but
      still significant for IL-8 (beta = 0.29; 95% CI 0.13, 0.45). The proinflammatory
      cytokines IL-1beta and IL-8 are associated with higher cervicovaginal HIV-1 RNA
      concentrations, even after controlling for plasma viral load and vaginal
      microbial cofactors. This association suggests that there may be additional,
      noninfectious causes of inflammation that increase cervicovaginal HIV-1 shedding.

PMID- 20929398
TI  - Enhanced DNA binding of 9-omega-amino alkyl ether analogs from the plant alkaloid
      berberine.
AB  - To understand the structure-activity relationship of isoquinoline alkaloids,
      absorption, fluorescence, circular dichroism, and thermodynamics were employed to
      study the interaction of five C-9-omega-amino alkyl ether analogs from the plant
      alkaloid berberine with double-stranded calf thymus DNA. The C-9 derivatization
      resulted in dramatic enhancements in the fluorescence emission of these
      compounds. The most remarkable changes in the spectral and binding properties
      were in the BC4 and BC5 derivatives. Interactions of these analogs, which have an
      additional recognition motif with DNA, were evaluated through different
      spectroscopic and calorimetric titration experiments. The analogs remarkably
      enhanced the DNA binding affinity and the same was directly dependent on the
      alkyl chain length. The analog with six alkyl chains enhanced the DNA binding
      affinity by about 33 times compared with berberine. The binding became more
      entropically driven with increasing chain length. These results may be of
      potential use in the design of berberine derivatives and understanding of the
      structure-activity relationship for improved therapeutic applications.

PMID- 20929399
TI  - Lysyl oxidase 473 G>A polymorphism and breast cancer susceptibility in Chinese
      Han population.
AB  - Lysyl oxidase (LOX) is an extracellular enzyme critical for the cross-linking of
      collagens and elastin. The LOX gene has also been shown to inhibit the
      transforming activity of Ras oncogene signaling. Recently, a single-nucleotide
      polymorphism (SNP) of LOX G473A (rs1800449) has been demonstrated to be
      associated with increased risk of breast cancer in African American women. In
      this hospital-based case-control study, the association of LOX polymorphism with
      breast cancer susceptibility in Chinese Han population was investigated. In
      total, 238 female patients with breast cancer and 234 age-matched healthy
      controls recruited were genotyped. We found a significant difference in the
      frequency of the LOX G473A genotype between the breast cancer and control groups.
      Individuals with GA genotype showed a 2.79-fold (95% confidence interval = 1.87
      4.16) increased risk of breast cancer compared with subjects carrying GG genotype
      (p < 0.001). Further statistical analysis revealed that this polymorphism was an
      independent parameter with regard to other variables that are significantly
      associated with breast cancer, that is, age, menopausal status, estrogen exposure
      interval, expression status of estrogen receptor, and progesterone receptor.
      These findings suggest that the LOX 473 GA genotype is independently associated
      with increased risk of breast cancer in Chinese female population.

PMID- 20929400
TI  - New priorities in the robotic exploration of Mars: the case for in situ search
      for extant life.

PMID- 20929402
TI  - Stridor due to an unsuspected parathyroid cyst in a thirty-two-year-old woman
      with goiter.

PMID- 20929403
TI  - Tumor size and age predict the risk of malignancy in Hurthle cell neoplasm of the
      thyroid and can therefore guide the extent of initial thyroid surgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The majority of patients having a diagnosis of Hurthle cell neoplasm
      (HCN) on fine-needle aspiration (FNA) of a thyroid nodule have a diagnostic
      thyroid lobectomy to make the final diagnosis. If the nodule is malignant, they
      require a completion thyroidectomy. The objective of this study was to devise a
      simple clinical scheme capable of predicting malignancy in patients with
      cytologic diagnosis of HCN and, therefore, guide the extent of initial thyroid
      surgery. METHODS: A total of 57 patients who underwent thyroid surgery after an
      FNA diagnosis of HCN were retrospectively studied. The patients were examined for
      clinical features, preoperative imaging studies, and pathology reports. The risk
      of malignancy was calculated using a multiple logistic regression model. RESULTS:
      The overall rate of malignancy in patients with HCN was 46% (26/57). The
      predictors of malignancy based on multiple logistic regression analysis were
      tumor size >1.5 cm (odds ratio [95% confidence interval] = 8.0 [1.9-33.4]) and
      patient age >45 years (odds ratio [95% confidence interval] = 2.3 [0.6-8.6]). In
      patients with nodules larger than 1.5 cm, the predicted probability of malignancy
      was greater in patients over 45 years than in younger patients (65% for >45 years
      vs. 44% for <=45 years). In patients with a nodule 1.5 cm or less, the
      probability of malignancy was relatively low and not significantly different
      between the two age categories (18% for >45 years vs. 10% for <=45 years).
      CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that tumor size and age can be integrated into
      decision making for patients with an FNA diagnosis of HCN to facilitate patient
      selection for surgical referral and, particularly, to determine in which patients
      a thyroidectomy rather than a lobectomy should be the initial surgery.

PMID- 20929404
TI  - Metastatic colon carcinoma in a preexisting thyroid nodule.

PMID- 20929405
TI  - Percutaneous laser ablation of cold benign thyroid nodules: a 3-year follow-up
      study in 122 patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Percutaneous laser ablation (PLA) is a proposed therapeutic procedure
      for the management of benign thyroid nodules. However, long-term results are
      unknown. The aim of this study was to evaluate retrospectively the safety and
      effects of PLA treatment in patients with benign nonfunctioning thyroid nodules
      in a 3-year follow-up. METHODS: One hundred twenty-two patients (95 women and 27
      men; age 52.2 +/- 12.3 years) with benign cold thyroid solitary nodules or a
      dominant nodule within a normo-functioning multinodular goiter (volume range: 2.6
      86.4 mL) underwent thermal Nd:YAG laser ablation of thyroid nodular tissue by 1-4
      optical fibers positioned into the tissue by 21-gauge needles under ultrasound
      real-time assistance. The setting was an interventional suite and outpatient
      endocrine clinics in a community hospital in Italy. Nodule volume, ablation
      volume, side effects, serum thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), free
      triiodothyronine, free thyroxine (fT4), thyroglobulin (Tg), anti-Tg, anti
      thyroperoxidase antibodies, symptoms, and cosmetic signs were recorded. RESULTS:
      Data are mean +/- standard deviation. Energy delivered was 8522  +/- 5365 J with
      an output power of 3.1 +/- 0.5 W. Three years after PLA, nodule volume decreased
      from 23.1 +/- 21.3 to 12.5 +/- 18.8 mL (-47.8%  +/- 33.1% of initial volume, p <=
      0.001). At day 1, TSH and fT4 values significantly changed (time 0 vs. day 1: TSH
      = 1.16  +/- 1.06 vs. 0.62 +/- 0.81 MUU/mL, p <= 0.001; fT4 = 11.68 +/- 1.88 vs.
      13.20 +/- 3.32 pg/mL, p <= 0.01) and normalized within 1 month. No change in free
      triiodothyronine, thyroperoxidase antibodies, and Tg antibodies values was
      observed. Symptoms improved in 89 patients (73.0%), were unchanged in 28 (22.9%),
      and worsened in 5 (4.1%). Cosmetic signs improved in 87 patients (71.3%), were
      unchanged in 29 (23.8%), and worsened in 6 (4.9%). In 11 patients (9%), nodules
      regrew above baseline. Two patients (1.6%) experienced delayed (12-24 hours)
      laryngeal dysfunction with vocal cord motility recovery after 6-10 weeks. Two
      patients (1.6%) became hypothyroid and two patients (1.6%) hyperthyroid after
      PLA. CONCLUSIONS: After 3 years, the PLA technique achieved shrinkage of about
      50% of the initial volume in a wide size range of benign cold thyroid nodules,
      with an improvement in local symptoms and signs. Side effects and failures were
      few although not negligible. PLA may be a new option for the management of benign
      cold thyroid nodules. Long-term controlled studies are required to establish the
      eligibility of patients for routine PLA.

PMID- 20929406
TI  - Thyroid dysfunction caused by second-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitors in
      Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myeloid leukemia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Thyroid dysfunction is a well-known adverse effect of first
      generation tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), like sunitinib. The aim of this
      study was to investigate the effect of second-generation TKIs on thyroid
      function. METHODS: We retrospectively assessed the effect of the first-generation
      TKI imatinib and the second-generation TKI nilotinib and dasatinib on thyroid
      function tests in 73 Philadelphia chromosome-positive (Ph-positive) chronic
      myeloid leukemia patients. RESULTS: Overall, 33 of 73 (45%) had one or more
      thyroid function test abnormalities during follow-up. Hypothyroidism or
      hyperthyroidism were found in 18 of 73 (25%) and 21 of 73 (29%) cases after a
      median of 6 and 22 weeks, respectively. In most patients (29 of 39, 74%) thyroid
      dysfunction was transient without clinical symptoms. Therapy of hypo
      /hyperthyroidism was required in three patients. Thyroid dysfunction never
      resulted in the discontinuation of TKI therapy. Under treatment with imatinib,
      nilotinib, and dasatinib, thyroid abnormalities were detected in 25%, 55%, and
      70%, respectively. Four of 55 patients (7%) treated with nilotinib had evidence
      for an autoimmune thyroiditis (antibody positive in 3 of 4 patients) with an
      episode of hyperthyroidism preceding hypothyroidism. CONCLUSIONS: Thyroid
      dysfunction is a common adverse event with second-generation TKI therapy in
      patients with Ph-positive chronic myeloid leukemia. Although the mechanism is
      still unclear, the high frequency of thyroid abnormalities, including autoimmune
      thyroiditis, warrants regular and long-term monitoring of thyroid function in
      these patients.

PMID- 20929408
TI  - Healthcare utilization in women diagnosed with hypoactive sexual desire disorder:
      interim baseline results from the HSDD Registry for Women.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate treatment seeking and utilization of women diagnosed
      with hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD) in the clinical setting. METHODS:
      We used interim baseline data from the ongoing HSDD Registry for Women (n = 724,
      enrolled at 27 clinical sites across the United States in 2008-2009). The recent
      diagnosis of generalized, acquired HSDD was confirmed by clinician's
      administration of the validated diagnostic Decreased Sexual Desire Screener.
      Treatment-seeking behavior was categorized as formal (discussion with a
      healthcare provider or use of off-label prescription treatment for HSDD) or
      informal/none (over-the-counter products, anonymous media, or no help seeking).
      RESULTS: Over half (n = 386, 53%) of these women with clinically diagnosed HSDD
      had not sought formal healthcare for their decreased sexual desire problem. Among
      formal healthcare seekers, 36% remained untreated, whereas 64% received some form
      of treatment. The most common treatments reported were nonprescription lubricants
      or arousal creams (36%) and off-label prescription medications (20%). Women were
      more likely to have sought formal help if they were married/cohabiting, were
      postmenopausal, had private health insurance, had > 5 current prescription
      medications, had depression symptoms, had a longer duration of sexual desire
      problems, or reported that the partner relationship or sense of femininity/sexual
      self was threatened by HSDD. CONCLUSIONS: In these women with HSDD, less than
      half had sought healthcare, but of those who had sought healthcare, almost two
      thirds received some form of treatment. Regardless of treatment-seeking behavior,
      most women had a strong desire to "feel like a normal person again" regarding
      sexuality, which was the most common motivating factor for treatment seeking.

PMID- 20929407
TI  - Subclinical nonautoimmune hyperthyroidism in a family segregates with a
      thyrotropin receptor mutation with weakly increased constitutive activity.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Subclinical hyperthyroidism is usually associated with Graves'
      disease or toxic nodular goiter. Here we report a family with hereditary
      subclinical hyperthyroidism caused by a constitutively activating germline
      mutation of the thyrotropin receptor (TSHR) gene. METHODS: The proband was a 64
      year-old Japanese woman who presented with a thyroid nodule and was found to be
      euthyroid with a suppressed serum TSH. The nodule was not hot. Although
      antibodies to thyroid peroxidase and thyroglobulin antibodies were present, TSHR
      antibodies were not detected by TSH-binding inhibition or by bioassay. Two of her
      middle-aged sons, but not her daughter, also had subclinical hyperthyroidism
      without TSHR antibodies. Without therapy, the clinical condition of the affected
      individuals remained unchanged over 3 years without development of overt
      hyperthyroidism. RESULTS: A novel heterozygous TSHR point mutation causing a
      glutamic acid to lysine substitution at codon 575 (E575K) in the second
      extracellular loop was detected in the three family members with subclinical
      hyperthyroidism, but was absent in her one daughter with normal thyroid function.
      In vitro functional studies of the E575K TSHR mutation demonstrated a weak, but
      significant, increase in constitutive activation of the cAMP pathway. CONCLUSION:
      Although hereditary nonautoimmune overt hyperthyroidism is very rare, TSHR
      activating mutations as a cause of subclinical hyperthyroidism may be more common
      and should be considered in the differential diagnosis, especially if familial.

PMID- 20929409
TI  - Application of ice cold irrigation during vascular pedicle control of robot
      assisted radical prostatectomy: EnSeal instrument cooling to reduce collateral
      thermal tissue damage.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Energy-based hemostasis of the prostatic vascular
      pedicles (PVP) during robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP) may cause
      collateral thermal injury to adjacent neural tissue and has been shown to
      negatively impact sexual function recovery. The unique engineering design of the
      EnSeal((r)) (Ethicon, Cincinnati, OH) has been demonstrated to limit collateral
      thermal tissue damage to <1.0 mm. Use of tissue and instrument cooling before and
      during device activation may potentially further reduce thermal spread. As such,
      we sought to evaluate the collateral tissue effects of EnSeal with or without
      cold saline irrigation (CSI) during PVP control. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The EnSeal
      Trio device was used for PVP control in 20 consecutive men undergoing bilateral,
      non-nerve-sparing RARP. Ipsilateral vascular pedicles were randomly selected to
      EnSeal plus CSI (<4  degrees C) application to the tissue before and during
      device activation or EnSeal alone. The primary end point was the distance of
      thermal injury from the inked margin using both hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) and
      terminal transferase uridyl nick end-labeling (TUNEL) apoptosis staining. A mean
      of three measurements was taken for each pedicle. Pathologic analysis was
      performed by a single, blinded uropathologist. RESULTS: Mean distance of thermal
      injury from the inked margin using H&E staining was 0.31 mm (range 0.15-0.40 mm)
      and 0.98 mm (range 0.7-1.2 mm) for the EnSeal plus CSI and EnSeal alone,
      respectively (P < 0.0001). TUNEL staining also demonstrated lateral tissue damage
      of 0.39 mm (range 0.2-0.5 mm) and 1.12 mm (range 0.9-1.3 mm), respectively (P <
      0.001). No complications related to hemostasis or postoperative bleeding were
      observed in the study. CONCLUSIONS: The hemostatic properties of EnSeal work
      effectively when submerged in CSI. Adjacent thermal tissue damage is
      significantly minimized with the addition of CSI. This may have a beneficial
      impact on nerve preservation and sexual function outcomes after RARP.

PMID- 20929410
TI  - Conversion from pure laparoscopy to hand-assisted laparoscopy for control of
      bleeding in renal surgery: an attractive alternative to open conversion.
AB  - PURPOSE: To assess the safety and efficacy of conversion from pure laparoscopy to
      hand-assisted laparoscopy to control mild-to-moderate bleeding during renal
      surgery. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Between August 2006 and August 2008, we performed
      94 laparoscopic nephrectomies (44 partial and 50 radical). A total of three
      radical nephrectomies were converted from pure to hand-assisted laparoscopy for
      control of bleeding. The first patient was a 44-year-old man with a 14-cm cystic
      renal mass. The second patient was a 52-year-old man with a 3.8-cm renal mass,
      and the third patient was an 86-year-old woman with a 7-cm renal mass. RESULTS:
      In all three procedures, the indication for conversion was bleeding from the
      renal hilum or the kidney parenchyma during dissection. The bleeding was
      difficult to control using pure laparoscopy, and therefore a hand port was
      inserted. Time for conversion and placement of the hand port averaged less than 7
      minutes. Total estimated blood loss for the three patients was 800 mL, 2000 mL,
      and 650 mL, respectively. One patient needed a transfusion with three units of
      packed red blood cells. The postoperative course was uneventful in all patients,
      except for one patient who had prolonged ileus and stayed in the hospital for 6
      days. The remaining two patients were discharged on postoperative days 2 and 3.
      CONCLUSIONS: Conversion from pure to hand-assisted laparoscopy for bleeding
      control is feasible and effective. It adds minimal morbidity while maximizing
      cosmesis, and it should be considered as an alternative to open conversion in
      cases of mild-to-moderate bleeding.

PMID- 20929411
TI  - Right-sided transperitoneal hand-assisted laparoscopic donor nephrectomy: is
      there an issue with the renal vessels?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Short right renal vessels might complicate kidney transplantation,
      thus causing traction and difficulties during anastomosis. Single-center
      prospective comparison of right- and left-sided transperitoneal hand-assisted
      laparoscopic donor nephrectomy (HALDN) is presented. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Eighty
      two living kidney donors underwent HALDN between 2003 and 2008. Right-sided HALDN
      was performed in 46 living kidney donors. The operative technique of right-sided
      HALDN was modified to obtain the maximum length of right renal vessels. Outcome
      data in donors including quality of life as well as graft outcome in recipients
      were prospectively collected. RESULTS: All procedures were laparoscopically
      completed with no conversion. Mean operative time was 127 minutes (vs. 138
      minutes in left HALDN, p = 0.08). The mean warm ischemia time was 41 seconds (vs.
      39 seconds in left HALDN, p = 0.23). There was no renal artery or vein thrombosis
      in any of the grafts. Mean blood loss was 81 mL (vs. 92 mL in left HALDN, p =
      0.09). Hospital discharge was on an average of 3.6 days postoperative. Delayed
      graft function occurred in two recipients: one in the left group and the other in
      the right group. One-year graft survival rate was 95% in the left group versus
      96.9% in the right group (p = 0.08). Further, no statistically significant
      difference in serum levels of creatinine was seen between the groups 1 year after
      the transplantation. CONCLUSIONS: Right HALDN is technically safe and feasible
      and results in convenient extension of right renal vessels to full length with no
      increased incidence of vascular thrombosis.

PMID- 20929412
TI  - Percutaneous cystolithotripsy using self-retaining laparoscopic trocar for
      management of large bladder stones.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Percutaneous endoscopic management of bladder stones is
      not new. The ideal technique to establish suprapubic access, however, is still
      not justified. In this study, we used the 12-mm self-retaining laparoscopic
      trocar for access during management of large bladder stones. PATIENTS AND
      METHODS: With the patient in the lithotomy position, a 12-mm self-retaining
      laparoscopic trocar was inserted in a full bladder under cystoscopic visual
      control. A 28F nephroscope was used to fragment the stone using ultrasound and
      pneumoclast lithotriptors. After stone treatment, the trocar was left in place,
      and transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) was completed when indicated.
      Both urethral and suprapubic catheters were left at the end of the procedure.
      Clinical examination, urinalysis, and ultrasonographic examination were routinely
      performed during follow-up visits. RESULTS: The mean stone size was 4.07 + 0.20
      cm (2.8-6 cm). The average time for stone fragmentation was 32.78 + 2.16 minutes
      (range 8-53 min). A concomitant TURP was performed in 12 patients. The mean
      hospital stay was 2.56 + 0.15 days (range 1-4 days). All patients were stone
      free, and a total of six complications occurred, including extravasation, one
      patient; hematuria, two patients; and fever, three patients. All were treated
      conservatively. The mean follow-up time was 15.65 + 1.51 months (range 9-36 mos).
      CONCLUSIONS: Suprapubic percutaneous cystolithotripsy is a safe, minimally
      invasive alternative for management of large bladder stones. The use of a self
      retaining trocar facilitates access and allows use of a large nephroscope for
      rapid fragmentation and extraction of the stone fragments. The presence of
      specific trocars for suprapubic access into the urinary bladder will encourage
      more transvesical end-laparoscopic procedures.

PMID- 20929413
TI  - Recent FDA approvals and changes.

PMID- 20929414
TI  - First automated molecular test for assessing HBV treatment approved.

PMID- 20929415
TI  - Association of physical activity level and stroke outcomes in men and women: a
      meta-analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The protective effect of physical activity (PA) on risk of stroke
      remains controversial as a result of lack of insight into the sources of
      heterogeneity between studies. We performed a comprehensive meta-analysis of
      studies to (1) quantify the association between PA level and risk of stroke
      outcomes and (2) test the hypothesis that the association of PA level with stroke
      outcomes will be similar between men and women. The outcome measures are stroke
      incidence, stroke mortality, or both. METHODS: Cohort studies were identified by
      searching MEDLINE and EMBASE (from 1986 to 2005) and meta-analysis conducted
      according to meta-analysis of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (MOOSE) group
      recommendations. Data were reported as pooled relative risk (RR) and 95%
      confidence intervals (CI) using random-effects models to assess the association
      of stroke outcomes with PA level. Heterogeneity was investigated, and sensitivity
      analysis was performed. Stratified analysis by gender was performed. RESULTS: Of
      992 articles, 13 satisfied all eligibility criteria and were studied. Compared
      with low PA, moderate PA caused an 11% reduction in risk of stroke outcome (RR =
      0.89, 95% CI 0.86-0.93, p < 0.01) and high PA a 19% reduction (RR = 0.81, CI 0.77
      0.84, p < 0.01). Among the men, results showed a 12% reduction in risk associated
      with moderate PA (RR = 0.88, CI 0.82-0.94, p < 0.01) and 19% reduction for high
      PA (RR = 0.81, CI 0.75-0.87, p < 0.01). Among the women, results showed a 24%
      reduction in risk for high PA (RR = 0.76, CI 0.64-.89, p < 0.01). There was,
      however, no significant risk reduction associated with a moderate PA level in
      women. CONCLUSIONS: Increased PA level appears beneficial in reduction of risk of
      stroke and related outcomes. However, higher levels of PA may be required in
      women to achieve as significant a risk reduction as in men. An exercise regimen
      tailored to women to improve related physiological mechanisms will likely be
      beneficial.

PMID- 20929416
TI  - "something we'd rather not talk about": findings from CDC exploratory research on
      sexually transmitted disease communication with girls and women.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chlamydia is a leading cause of pelvic inflammatory disease (PID),
      which can lead to ectopic pregnancy, chronic pelvic pain, and infertility. Annual
      Chlamydia screening is recommended for all sexually active women aged <= 25
      years, yet only about 40% of eligible women are screened each year in the United
      States. To promote Chlamydia screening for the prevention of infertility, the
      Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is developing direct-to-consumer
      efforts for sexually active young women and key influencers. To inform this
      effort, CDC sought to explore girls'/women's understandings of sexually
      transmitted disease (STD) and Chlamydia testing and STD communications and
      information sources. METHODS: Two waves of one-on-one interviews (n = 125) were
      conducted in 10 metropolitan areas with African American, Caucasian, and Latina
      females, aged 15-25 years. RESULTS: Most participants were not knowledgeable
      about Chlamydia or its screening; their discussions about it suggested low levels
      of perceived susceptibility or relevance to Chlamydia and screening. STDs are
      rarely discussed in home or social settings or with partners or close friends;
      yet young women may turn to interpersonal sources if concerned about an STD.
      Providers are the primary and preferred source of STD information for girls and
      women, although missed opportunities for engaging young women in STD/sexual
      health discussions were identified in clinical and other settings. CONCLUSIONS:
      Providers, family members, friends, and partners may serve as important
      intermediaries for reaching young women and encouraging STD/Chlamydia screening.
      Resources are identified that could be leveraged and/or developed to facilitate
      such interactions.

PMID- 20929418
TI  - Congenital anomalies in newborns of women with type 1 diabetes: nationwide
      population-based study in Norway, 1999-2004.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To estimate the risk of congenital anomalies in offspring of women
      with type 1 diabetes in Norway during recent years. DESIGN: Nationwide population
      based study using the Medical Birth Registry of Norway and the Norwegian type 1
      Diabetes Registry. SETTING: All birth clinics in Norway. PARTICIPANTS: All births
      in Norway during 1999-2004 (N = 350,961), of which 1,583 were births by a mother
      registered with pregestational type 1 diabetes. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Congenital
      anomalies, excluding minor anomalies according to the EUROCAT system. RESULTS:
      Anomalies were registered in 5.7% of offspring of women with type 1 diabetes, and
      in 2.9% among the background population (odds ratio 2.1, 95% CI: 1.7-2.6).
      Cardiovascular anomalies were registered in 3.2% in the diabetes group and 0.94%
      in the background population (odds ratio 3.5, 95% CI: 2.7-4.7). Results were
      similar when restricted to women identified with type 1 diabetes through the
      Diabetes Registry. CONCLUSIONS: Women in Norway with type 1 diabetes experience a
      significantly higher risk of congenital anomalies in their babies compared with
      the background population.

PMID- 20929419
TI  - Functioning and disability in persons with low back pain.
AB  - PURPOSE: To demonstrate the feasibility and usefulness of using the ICF framework
      to investigate functioning and disability in persons with low back pain (LBP) and
      to study the extent to which the capacity level for various domains of
      functioning is different from the performance level. METHOD: The study was part
      of the MHADIE project and reports baseline data collected in 118 patients with
      LBP using the ICF Core Sets for LBP. The statistical analysis consisted of
      descriptive statistics. RESULTS: A total of 76 ICF categories reached the 20%
      threshold: 20 body functions, 8 structures, 28 activities and participation and
      20 environmental factors. The percentage of persons having problems in capacity
      is always higher than the percentage of persons having problems in performance.
      CONCLUSIONS: This study shows the potential value of the capacity-performance
      distinction, both as a conceptual and practical tool that can enhance clinical
      treatment and intervention planning and as a method to capture the impact of the
      environment on the lived experience of people suffering from LBP. What is needed
      are longitudinal investigations that are able to identify and track the patterns
      that such conditions exhibit and further enhance the effectiveness of treatment
      strategies.

PMID- 20929420
TI  - Overtreatment of cruciate ligament injuries.

PMID- 20929422
TI  - Developing a tool for evaluating community-based rehabilitation in Uganda.
AB  - PURPOSE: The overall purpose of this study is to use the conceptual criteria of
      the 'Joint Position Statement (JPS)' (see
      http://www.ilo.org/public/english/employment/skills/download/jointpaper.pdf )on
      Community-based rehabilitation (CBR), together with the data collected from a CBR
      programme in Uganda (Tororo) to generate a prototype CBR evaluation tool. METHOD:
      A case study approach is used to examine the Tororo CBR programme. Project
      documentation was examined to generate base line data which was used to inform
      sampling for interviews and focus group discussions. These were conducted with a
      wide range of stakeholders. The interview and focus group data are recorded,
      translated, transcribed and imported into a computer-assisted analysis programme,
      NVivo. The data was analysed in two stages: (i) data led development of themes
      (ii) allocation of the generated themes to the conceptual structure of the 'JPS'.
      A third stage uses the data to generate an outcome measurement tool for
      evaluating CBR programmes. RESULTS: Fifty different themes were identified during
      the analysis and used to construct a questionnaire framed around the concepts of
      the 'JPS'. In addition, the questionnaire reflected the words and phrases used by
      participants. The outcome is a short and feasible tool for evaluating CBR
      programmes. CONCLUSION: The 'JPS' has been used as a framework for the analysis
      of qualitative data to generate the basis of a prototype evaluative questionnaire
      which can now be piloted, amended and then used for the evaluation of other CBR
      programmes.

PMID- 20929423
TI  - Successful endoscopic therapy of postoperative duodenal fistula by lipiodol
      injection: a new therapeutic approach.
AB  - Postoperative upper gastrointestinal fistulas or anastomotic leaks with
      peritonitis are rare but serious clinical conditions. Due to severe fluid and
      electrolyte imbalance and risk of development of sepsis implementation of
      efficient and timely management is crucial. Various endoscopic interventions have
      been performed to date for postoperative upper gastrointestinal fistulas. We
      herein describe a new therapeutical approach involving lipiodol injection, which
      we performed to treat a patient who had unsuccessfully undergone surgery for a
      posttraumatic duodenal fistula. The fistula was then successfully managed by
      endoscopic lipiodol injection. We present this case due to its interesting nature
      of a postsurgical duodenal fistula without evident fistula tract, and a
      successful therapy by a new approach, lipiodol injection. We conclude that this
      new method offers an option for patients with high operation risk or for those
      with failed surgery, and this new method may decrease morbidity, mortality and
      the time required for the closure of duodenal fistulas.

PMID- 20929424
TI  - Colonic perforation after stent placement for malignant colorectal obstruction-
      causes and contributing factors.
AB  - Self-expanding metal stents (SEMS) are used to manage malignant colorectal
      obstruction. Colonic perforation is the most worrisome complication from colonic
      stenting. We reviewed causes and contributing factors of perforation with colonic
      stent placement in patients with malignant colorectal obstruction. Articles from
      both English and foreign language publications were identified from Medline. Data
      were collected on causes, timing, treatment and mortality related to perforation.
      A total of 2287 patients from 82 articles were included in this analysis, which
      showed an overall perforation rate of 4.9%. Perforation rates for palliation and
      bridge to surgery (BTS) were not significantly different (4.8% vs. 5.4%, p =
      0.66); over 80% occurred within 30 days of stent placement (half during or within
      one day of the procedure). The mortality rate related to perforation was 0.8% per
      stented patient, but the mortality of patients experiencing perforation was
      16.2%. There was no significant difference (p = 0.78) in the mortality rates
      between the palliation and the BTS group and concomitant chemotherapy, steroids,
      and radiotherapy are risk factors of perforation. The overall perforation related
      mortality is far less than that of patients undergoing emergency surgery for
      bowel obstruction.

PMID- 20929425
TI  - The impact of consumer involvement on satisfaction with and use of assistive
      technology.
AB  - PURPOSE: This exploratory study examined the relationships between consumers'
      involvement in the pre-purchase decision-making process, their perceptions of
      feeling informed, and their degree of being satisfied with and use of assistive
      technology (AT). Does consumer information and participation in decision-making
      process lead to improved satisfaction and use of AT? METHOD: A link to an project
      specific web-based survey, sent to several online disability forums and
      independent living centres, resulted in a sample of 145 individuals with a range
      of disabilities, who used a range of AT and were geographically dispersed.
      RESULTS: There is a significant relationship between being feeling informed and
      being satisfied with an AT device (F(13,278) = 27.79, p = 0.000). Feeling that
      personal needs were not assessed led to lower satisfaction (beta = -0.15, p <
      0.07), while feeling informed resulted from a number of different factors. Lack
      of consumer involvement in the pre-purchase decision-making process led to
      somewhat greater rates of abandonment in some categories of AT (some with small
      n's). CONCLUSIONS: Talking with other users, auditioning the device and searching
      the Internet are important ways for consumers to gather information. When
      consumers feel informed, they are more likely to be satisfied with the AT and
      retain it.

PMID- 20929426
TI  - Anti-inflammatory activity of ethylacetate fraction of Cliona celata.
AB  - We evaluated the ability of the ethylacetate fraction of marine sponge, Cliona
      celata (ECC), harvested from Korean seaside to regulate the expression of
      inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated
      murine macrophage-like RAW264.7 cells. ECC dose-dependently inhibited both the
      expression of iNOS protein and mRNA, resulting in decreased production of nitric
      oxide (NO), with an IC(50) of 80.5 MUg/mL. To investigate action mechanism by
      which ECC inhibits NO production and iNOS expression, we examined the activation
      of IkappaB in LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 cells. ECC clearly inhibited translocation
      of nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) p65 subunits from cytosol to nucleus, which
      correlated with its inhibitory effects on IkappaB-alpha phosphorylation and
      degradation. Furthermore, ECC potently suppressed both the reporter gene
      expression and DNA-binding activity of NF-kappaB, which was associated with
      decreased p65 protein levels in the nucleus. Here, we show for the first time
      that ECC inhibits NF-kappaB activation through the inhibition of IkappaB
      degradation.

PMID- 20929428
TI  - Paeoniflorin: a monomer from traditional Chinese medical herb ameliorates
      Schistosoma japonicum egg-induced hepatic fibrosis in mice.
AB  - Treatment of liver fibrosis associated with Schistosoma japonicum ova-induced
      granulomas remains a challenging proposition. There is a close relationship
      between high levels of interleukin-13 (IL-13) and the development of severe
      schistosome fibrosis. In contrast, IL-13 receptor (R) alpha2 has an effective
      role in attenuation of profibrosis. Several Chinese herbs have significant
      beneficial effects in liver disease. Accordingly, the purpose of the present
      study was to investigate the therapeutic effect of Paeoniflorin (PAE) on liver
      fibrosis. A mouse model for liver fibrosis was established, using infection with
      S. japonicum cercariae via the skin. Liver tissue was used to examine the effect
      of PAE on hydroxyproline, collagen I and III, and IL-13 and IL-13Ralpha2. The
      results showed that PAE has significant suppressive effect on the increase of
      both hepatic hydroxyproline and collagen I and III, which are the main components
      of extracellular matrix (ECM). Meanwhile, PAE not only inhibits IL-13 production,
      it also elevates IL-13Ralpha2 in PAE-pretreated groups compared with controls.
      These results suggested that PAE can improve liver fibrosis due to S. japonicum
      infection. The effect of PAE appears to depend on a decrease of IL-13 and an
      increase of IL-13Ralpha2.

PMID- 20929429
TI  - Effects and mechanisms of action of ionophorous antibiotics valinomycin and
      salinomycin-Na on Babesia gibsoni in vitro.
AB  - Valinomycin and salinomycin-Na, 2 ionophorous antibiotics, exhibited in vitro
      antibabesial activities against Babesia gibsoni that infected normal canine
      erythrocytes containing low potassium (LK) and high sodium concentrations, i.e.,
      LK erythrocytes, which completely lack Na,K-ATPase activity. The level of
      parasitemia of B. gibsoni was significantly decreased when the parasites were
      incubated in culture medium containing either 10(-1) ng/ml valinomycin or 10(2)
      ng/ml salinomycin-Na for 24 hr. Four-hour incubation in the culture medium
      containing 5 MUg/ml salinomycin-Na led to the destruction of most parasites. In
      contrast, when the parasites infected canine erythrocytes containing high
      potassium (HK) and low sodium concentrations, i.e., HK erythrocytes, the in vitro
      antibabesial activities of both ionophorous antibiotics seemed to be weakened,
      apparently due to the protection by the host cells. Therefore, differential
      influences of ionophorous antibiotics on LK and HK erythrocytes were observed. In
      LK erythrocytes, the intracellular concentrations of potassium, sodium, and
      adenosine triphosphate (ATP) were not modified, and hemolysis was not observed
      after incubation in the medium containing each ionophorous antibiotic. These
      results suggested that these ionophorous antibiotics did not affect cells without
      Na,K-ATPase, and directly affected B. gibsoni. In HK erythrocytes, the
      ionophorous antibiotics increased the intracellular sodium concentration, and
      decreased the intracellular potassium and ATP concentrations, causing obvious
      hemolysis. Additionally, the decrease of the intracellular ATP concentration and
      the hemolysis in HK erythrocytes caused by valinomycin disappeared when the
      activity of Na,K-ATPase was inhibited by ouabain. These results indicate that
      modification of the intracellular cation concentrations by the ionophorous
      antibiotics led to the activation of Na,K-ATPase and increased consumption of
      intracellular ATP, and that the depletion of intracellular ATP resulted in
      hemolysis in HK erythrocytes. Moreover, the antibabesial activity of valinomycin
      disappeared when B. gibsoni in LK erythrocytes were incubated in culture media
      containing high potassium concentrations. This showed that the intracellular
      cation concentration in the parasites was not modified in those media and would
      remain the same.

PMID- 20929430
TI  - A novel CYP2A26 identified in cynomolgus monkey liver metabolizes coumarin.
AB  - A novel cytochrome P450 (CYP), CYP2A26, was identified and characterized in
      cynomolgus monkey, one of the animal species used in preclinical studies. Deduced
      amino acid sequences of CYP2A26 cDNA showed high sequence identities (91-95%)
      with cynomolgus monkey CYP2A23 and CYP2A24, and human CYP2A6 and CYP2A13.
      Phylogenetic analysis showed that macaque CYP2As (CYP2A26, CYP2A23, and CYP2A24)
      were most closely clustered with human CYP2As, unlike CYP2As of dog, rat, and
      mouse (other species also used in drug metabolism). Quantitative polymerase chain
      reaction analysis showed that CYP2A26 mRNA, along with CYP2A23 and CYP2A24 mRNAs,
      was expressed predominantly in the liver, where CYP2A proteins were also detected
      by immunoblotting. Drug-metabolizing assays using the CYP2A26 protein
      heterologously expressed in Escherichia coli indicated that CYP2A26 catalyzed
      coumarin 7-hydroxylation with its apparent K(m) lower than that of CYP2A24, but
      similar to those of CYP2A6 and CYP2A23. These results suggest an evolutionary
      closeness and functional similarity of cynomolgus monkey CYP2A26 (together with
      CYP2A23 and CYP2A24) to human CYP2A6, and its functional role as a drug
      metabolizing enzyme in the liver.

PMID- 20929431
TI  - Reviewing radiographic images with patients: results of a trial on patient
      preferences, understanding, and satisfaction.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate patient preferences, understanding, and satisfaction
      regarding visual review of radiographic images during counseling. PATIENTS AND
      METHODS: 101 urologic patients who presented for counseling where images impacted
      decision making were randomized into group A, shown their images, and group B,
      shown a diagram. Both completed a satisfaction survey blinded to the study's
      purpose. A second unblinded survey evaluated patient comprehension of and
      preferences regarding images. Comparison of intervention and control groups for
      differences in satisfaction and analysis of patient self-reported preferences and
      understanding regarding radiographic images was performed. RESULTS: Group A had
      higher satisfaction scores but did not reach statistical significance. Both
      groups reported comprehension of images (100%, 97.9%), improvement in
      understanding of their condition and treatment because of viewing images (98%,
      95.8%), and felt images should be shown to all patients (92%, 89.6%).
      Multivariate analysis identified female sex to independently predict greater
      understanding of images and belief that all patients should be shown their
      images. CONCLUSIONS: Almost all patients reported comprehension of images,
      improvement in understanding because of review of images, and preference for
      being shown images. Female patients expressed greater understanding and
      preference for all patients to be shown their images. Review of radiographic
      images represents a potentially useful additional modality for patient counseling
      whose usefulness for improving satisfaction will need to be confirmed in further
      studies.

PMID- 20929432
TI  - All trans retinoic acid and cancer.
AB  - All-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) is an active metabolite of vitamin A under the
      family retinoid. Retinoids, through their cognate nuclear receptors, exert potent
      effects on cell growth, differentiation and apoptosis, and have significant
      promise for cancer therapy and chemoprevention. Differentiation therapy with ATRA
      has marked a major advance and become the first choice drug in the treatment of
      acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL). Conversions of 13-cis-retinoic acid and 9-cis
      retinoic acid to all-trans-retinoic acid is very rapid. Currently, two distinct
      families of retinoid responsive nuclear receptors have been identified and
      characterized: retinoic acid receptors (RARs) and retinoid receptors (RXRs), each
      of which include three isoforms, alpha,beta,and gamma. ATRA is being increasingly
      included in anti-tumour therapeutical schemes for the treatment of various
      tumoral diseases such as Kaposi's sarcoma, head and neck squamous cell carcinoma,
      ovarian carcinoma, bladder cancer, neuroblastoma and has shown antiangiogenic
      effects in several systems, inhibiting proliferation in vascular smooth muscle
      cells (VSMCs) and anti-inflammatory in rheumatoid arthritis. This review helps to
      understand in details about the ATRA and its role on cancer and it is predicted
      that modulating the activity of ATRA will soon provide novel prevention and
      treatment approaches for the cancer patients.

PMID- 20929433
TI  - Evaluation of second-look transurethral resection in restaging of patients with
      nonmuscle-invasive bladder cancer.
AB  - PURPOSE: Evaluation of second-look transurethral resection (TUR) in avoidance of
      staging errors, and determination of risk factors of upstaging in patients with
      nonmuscle invasive bladder cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS: An analytic prospective
      cohort study included 91 patients with stage T(1) and T(a) bladder cancer. All
      patients underwent second-look TUR within 2 to 6 weeks after the initial
      resection. Histopathologic findings of the second TUR of bladder tumor (TURBT)
      were compared with those of the initial one. RESULTS: Specimens obtained during
      the second TURBT showed no tumor in 38 (41.7%) patients; 22 (24.2%) patients had
      residual cancer of the same stage, 9 (14.8%) patients of PT(1) had a lower stage,
      and 22 (24.2%) had a higher stage. Upstaging had changed treatment strategy in 22
      (24.2%) cases. Appearance, size, grade, and stage of the tumor at the initial
      resection are all considered independent risk factors for upstaging detected at
      second-look TURBT. CONCLUSIONS: Second TURBT is a valuable procedure for accurate
      staging of nonmuscle-invasive bladder cancer. It changed the treatment strategy
      of a significant proportion of our patients. Second TURBT is indicated in T(1),
      high grade, large size (>3 cm), and nodular tumors because of the significant
      risk of detecting muscle-invasive disease.

PMID- 20929434
TI  - Epirubicin-encapsulated long-circulating thermosensitive liposome improves
      pharmacokinetics and antitumor therapeutic efficacy in animals.
AB  - In the present work, a long-circulating epirubicin hydrochloride (EPI)-containing
      thermosensitive liposome aiming at antitumor therapy, DPPC/MSPC/DSPG/DSPE
      mPEG(2000) (EPI-LTSL), was developed and evaluated. Nonthermosensitive and
      traditional liposomes, HSPC/cholesterol/DSPG/DSPE-mPEG(2000) (EPI-NTSL) and
      HSPC/cholesterol (EPI-LIP), were also prepared at the same time for comparison.
      Temperature-dependent EPI release from loaded liposomes in vitro was
      characterized by the fluorescence method. Different liposome preparations were
      administered in rats by intravenous injection at the same dosage of 12 mg.kg(-1).
      EPI and internal standard daunorubicin hydrochloride (DAU) were analyzed by high
      performance liquid chromatography and verified by LC tandem mass spectrometry. In
      the pharmacodynamics study, the EPI-LTSL was combined with local hyperthermia for
      target-specific delivery to the anesthetized and tumor-bearing mice. According to
      the in vitro results, more than 90% of loaded EPI was released from MSPC
      containing liposome (EPI-LTSL) within 4 minutes at 43 degrees C, while at 37
      degrees C, less than 5% was released beyond 60 minutes. However, less than 5% of
      drug was released at 43 degrees C for the other two liposomes without MSPC (EPI
      NTSL and EPI-LIP). The results of the pharmacokinetics study in rats showed that
      not only the circulation time of EPI was prolonged significantly, but also the
      concentration in vivo was promoted for EPI-LTSL, compared to EPI-NTSL and EPI
      solution. The mean tumor inhibitory rate for EPI-LTSL, EPI-NTSL, and EPI-solution
      were 61.1, 39.6, and 43.1%, respectively.

PMID- 20929435
TI  - Improving quality of life in hypertension management using a fixed-dose
      combination of olmesartan and amlodipine in primary care.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To assess quality of life (QoL) in unselected patients in primary
      care treated with a fixed-dose combination of olmesartan and amlodipine. Research
      design and methods. Multicenter, noninterventional, noncontrolled observational
      study in 8241 patients seen by 2187 physicians over 12 - 18 weeks. MAIN OUTCOME
      MEASURES: Changes in QoL were assessed by using the Short Form 12 (SF-12)
      questionnaire completed by 5434 patients (65.9%) at baseline and 4924 patients
      (59.8%) at the follow-up visit. RESULTS: Patients had a mean age of 62.8 +/- 11.8
      years (48.1% female), mean blood pressure [BP] at baseline was 161.8 +/-
      16.6/93.6 +/- 10.2 mmHg and 74.8% had at least one co-morbid risk factor or
      condition. All 12 items of the SF-12 improved over the observational period (p <
      0.0001) as did the physical (46.8 vs 40.4; p < 0.0001) and mental summary scores
      (52.4 vs 47.5; p < 0.0001). Correlations of changes in systolic and diastolic BP,
      pulse pressure and heart rate with scores were significant, although weak
      (maximum -0.2055 for physical health and changes in systolic blood pressure).
      CONCLUSIONS: The fixed-dose combination of olmesartan and amlodipine
      significantly improves QoL in an unselected population of patients in primary
      care practice. This might translate into improved patient compliance and improved
      long-term antihypertensive efficacy.

PMID- 20929436
TI  - Food-borne parasites and the relevant therapeutic targets.

PMID- 20929437
TI  - Concerns and hopes for stem cell therapy in cardiology: focus on endothelial
      progenitor cells.
AB  - The crucial role played by the endothelium in cardiovascular disorders has been
      repetitively recognised. Endothelium injury has been implicated in
      atherosclerosis, thrombosis, hypertension and other cardiovascular diseases.
      Recently, however, research has undertaken a new avenue. As mature endothelial
      cells posses limited regenerative capacities, the interest has been switched to
      the circulating endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs). Indeed, the scientific
      community has made progress in understanding the role of EPCs in the maintenance
      of endothelial integrity and function as well as post natal neovascularisation.
      It has been suggested that these cells are able to home in the site of heart
      injury / damage and that they might take part in angiogenesis, giving hope for
      new treatment opportunities. There is evidence that reduced availability of EPCs
      or impairment of their function is associated with more severe CV disease and to
      comorbid risk factors. Different current drug regimes are able to influence bone
      marrow production and release of EPCs and several growth factors are considered
      for possible useful new therapeutic approaches. Thus, many studies into the
      potential use of EPCs in the clinical setting have recently been conducted with
      conflicting results. The goal of this review article is to discuss current
      therapies to regenerate new vessels and therefore to enhance myocardial function.
      The article overviews the search strategy and the pathophysiological aspects
      behind this therapy, consider the target currently under investigation and set
      the stage for new ideas.

PMID- 20929438
TI  - Characterization of the xenobiotic response of Caenorhabditis elegans to the
      anthelmintic drug albendazole and the identification of novel drug glucoside
      metabolites.
AB  - Knowledge of how anthelmintics are metabolized and excreted in nematodes is an
      integral part of understanding the factors that determine their potency, spectrum
      of activity and for investigating mechanisms of resistance. Although there is
      remarkably little information on these processes in nematodes, it is often
      suggested that they are of minimal importance for the major anthelmintic drugs.
      Consequently, we have investigated how the model nematode Caenorhabditis elegans
      responds to and metabolizes albendazole, one of the most important anthelmintic
      drugs for human and animal use. Using a mutant strain lacking the beta-tubulin
      drug target to minimize generalized stress responses, we show that the
      transcriptional response is dominated by genes encoding XMEs (xenobiotic
      metabolizing enzymes), particularly cytochrome P450s and UGTs (UDP-glucuronosyl
      transferases). The most highly induced genes are predominantly expressed in the
      worm intestine, supporting their role in drug metabolism. HPLC-MS/MS revealed the
      production of two novel glucoside metabolites in C. elegans identifying a major
      difference in the biotransformation of this drug between nematodes and mammals.
      This is the first demonstration of metabolism of a therapeutic anthelmintic in C.
      elegans and provides a framework for its use to functionally investigate nematode
      anthelmintic metabolism.

PMID- 20929439
TI  - Erythropoietin and the heart: facts and perspectives.
AB  - EPO (erythropoietin) has long been identified as a primary regulator of
      erythropoiesis. Subsequently, EPO has been recognized as playing a role in a
      broad variety of processes in cardiovascular pathophysiology. In particular, the
      tight interactions of EPO with the nitric oxide pathway, apoptosis, ischaemia,
      cell proliferation and platelet activation appear of great interest. Although
      enhanced EPO synthesis is viewed as an appropriate compensatory mechanism in the
      cardio-renal syndrome, which features CHF (congestive heart failure) and CRF
      (chronic renal failure), maladaptative excessive EPO synthesis in the advanced
      stages of these diseases appears to be predictive of higher mortality. Clinical
      trials based on the use of EPO in both heart and renal failure have so far
      produced contradictory results, whereas treatment targeted to restore low Hb
      levels appears rational and is supported by regulatory authorities. New areas for
      therapeutic use of EPO, such as acute coronary syndromes, are under
      investigation, and they are discussed in the present review together with other
      clinical applications in cardiovascular diseases. The revisited concept of a
      potential use of endogenous EPO levels as a predictor of CHF severity, as well as
      in the monitoring of responses to treatment, deserves appropriate investigation,
      as this may identify EPO as a useful biomarker in the clinical management of
      cardiovascular diseases.

PMID- 20929440
TI  - The circadian clock and metabolism.
AB  - Mammals have developed an endogenous circadian clock located in the SCN
      (suprachiasmatic nuclei) of the anterior hypothalamus that responds to the
      environmental light-dark cycle. Human homoeostatic systems have adapted to daily
      changes in a way that the body anticipates the sleep and activity periods.
      Similar clocks have been found in peripheral tissues, such as the liver,
      intestine and adipose tissue. Recently it has been found that the circadian clock
      regulates cellular and physiological functions in addition to the expression
      and/or activity of enzymes and hormones involved in metabolism. In turn, key
      metabolic enzymes and transcription activators interact with and affect the core
      clock mechanism. Animals with mutations in clock genes that disrupt cellular
      rhythmicity have provided evidence to the relationship between the circadian
      clock and metabolic homoeostasis. The present review will summarize recent
      findings concerning the relationship between metabolism and circadian rhythms.

PMID- 20929441
TI  - Optimization of antioxidant potential of Aspergillus terreus through different
      statistical approaches.
AB  - A three-step optimization strategy, which includes a one-factor-at-a-time
      classical method and different statistical approaches [Plackett-Burman design and
      RSM (response surface methodology)], were applied to optimize the antioxidant
      potential of Aspergillus terreus. Antioxidant activity was assayed by different
      procedures and compared with TPC (total phenolic content). Primarily, different
      carbon and nitrogen sources were screened by classical methods, which revealed
      sucrose and NaNO3 to be the most suitable. The significance of the components of
      Czapek Dox's medium with respect to antioxidant activity was evaluated with the
      Plackett-Burman design, which supported sucrose and NaNO3 to be the most
      significant. In a second step, sucrose and NaNO3 along with temperature were
      further taken as three variables for RSM to study their interaction. Response
      surface analysis showed 4% sucrose, 0.1% NaNO3 and an incubation temperature of
      30  degrees C to be the optimal conditions. Under these conditions, the
      antioxidant potential assayed through the different procedures was 88.1, 74.9 and
      70.2% scavenging effect for DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl hydrazyl) radical,
      ferrous ion and nitric oxide ion respectively. The reducing power showed an
      absorbance of 2.0 with 71.5% activity for the FRAP (ferric reducing antioxidant
      power) assay. TPC under different physio-chemical conditions and antioxidant
      potential under various assay procedures correlated positively.

PMID- 20929442
TI  - Mycobacterium tuberculosis WhiB1 is an essential DNA-binding protein with a
      nitric oxide-sensitive iron-sulfur cluster.
AB  - Mycobacterium tuberculosis is a major pathogen that has the ability to establish,
      and emerge from, a persistent state. Wbl family proteins are associated with
      developmental processes in actinomycetes, and M. tuberculosis has seven such
      proteins. In the present study it is shown that the M. tuberculosis H37Rv whiB1
      gene is essential. The WhiB1 protein possesses a [4Fe-4S]2+ cluster that is
      stable in air but reacts rapidly with eight equivalents of nitric oxide to yield
      two dinuclear dinitrosyl-iron thiol complexes. The [4Fe-4S] form of WhiB1 did not
      bind whiB1 promoter DNA, but the reduced and oxidized apo-WhiB1, and nitric oxide
      treated holo-WhiB1 did bind to DNA. Mycobacterium smegmatis RNA polymerase
      induced transcription of whiB1 in vitro; however, in the presence of apo-WhiB1,
      transcription was severely inhibited, irrespective of the presence or absence of
      the CRP (cAMP receptor protein) Rv3676, which is known to activate whiB1
      expression. Footprinting suggested that autorepression of whiB1 is achieved by
      apo-WhiB1 binding at a region that overlaps the core promoter elements. A model
      incorporating regulation of whiB1 expression in response to nitric oxide and cAMP
      is discussed with implications for sensing two important signals in establishing
      M. tuberculosis infections.

PMID- 20929443
TI  - Enhanced expression of pro-inflammatory mediators and liver X-receptor-regulated
      lipogenic genes in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and hepatitis C.
AB  - NAFLD (non-alcoholic fatty liver disease) is one of the most frequent chronic
      liver diseases worldwide. The metabolic factors associated with NAFLD are also
      determinants of liver disease progression in chronic HCV (hepatitis C virus)
      infection. It has been reported that, besides inducing hepatic fatty acid
      biosynthesis, LXR (liver X receptor) regulates a set of inflammatory genes. We
      aimed to evaluate the hepatic expression of LXRalpha and its lipogenic and
      inflammatory targets in 43 patients with NAFLD, 44 with chronic HCV infection and
      in 22 with histologically normal liver. Real-time PCR and Western blot analysis
      were used to determine hepatic expression levels of LXRalpha and related
      lipogenic and inflammatory mediators in the study population. We found that the
      LXRalpha gene and its lipogenic targets PPAR-gamma (peroxisome-proliferator
      activated receptor-gamma), SREBP (sterol-regulatory-element-binding protein)-1c,
      SREBP-2 and FAS (fatty acid synthase) were overexpressed in the liver of NAFLD
      and HCV patients who had steatosis. Moreover, up-regulation of inflammatory
      genes, such as TNF (tumour necrosis factor)-alpha, IL (interleukin)-6, OPN
      (osteopontin), iNOS (inducible NO synthase), COX (cyclo-oxygenase)-2 and SOCS
      (suppressors of cytokine signalling)-3, was observed in NAFLD and HCV patients.
      Interestingly, TNF-alpha, IL-6 and osteopontin gene expression was lower in
      patients with steatohepatitis than in those with steatosis. In conclusion,
      hepatic expression of LXRalpha and its related lipogenic and inflammatory genes
      is abnormally increased in NAFLD and HCV patients with steatosis, suggesting a
      potential role of LXRalpha in the pathogenesis of hepatic steatosis in these
      chronic liver diseases.

PMID- 20929459
TI  - Improvement of ecdysone receptor gene switch for applications in plants: Locusta
      migratoria retinoid X receptor (LmRXR) mutagenesis and optimization of
      translation start site.
AB  - Gene switches have potential applications for the regulation of transgene
      expression in plants and animals. Recently, we have developed a two-hybrid
      ecdysone receptor (EcR) gene switch using chimera 9 [CH9, a chimera between
      helices 1-8 of Homo sapiens retinoid X receptor (HsRXR) and helices 9-12 of
      Locusta migratoria RXR (LmRXR)] as a partner for Choristoneura fumiferana EcR
      (CfEcR). As CH9 includes a region of human RXR, public acceptance of this gene
      switch for use in genetically modified crops may be an issue. The current studies
      were conducted to identify an LmRXR mutant that could replace CH9 as a partner
      for CfEcR. The amino acid identity between LmRXR and HsRXR is fairly high.
      However, there are a few amino acid residues that are different between these two
      proteins. LmRXR mutants were produced by changing the amino acids in the helices
      1-8 that are different between LmRXR and HsRXR to HsRXR residues. Screening of
      these mutants in tobacco protoplasts identified a triple mutant, A62S:T81H:V123I
      (SHILmRXR), that performed as well as CH9. The performance of the EcR gene switch
      was further improved by optimizing the translational start site (Kozak sequence,
      AACAATGG) of the transgene. The EcR gene switch containing SHILmRXR and the
      modified translation start site supported very low background activity in the
      absence of a ligand and a higher induced activity in the presence of a ligand in
      tobacco protoplasts, as well as Arabidopsis thaliana transgenic plants. At 16-80
      nm methoxyfenozide, the induction of luciferase activity was better than that
      observed with the CfEcR:CH9 switch.

PMID- 20929460
TI  - The Mycobacterium tuberculosis ORF Rv0654 encodes a carotenoid oxygenase
      mediating central and excentric cleavage of conventional and aromatic
      carotenoids.
AB  - Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the causative agent of tuberculosis, is assumed to
      lack carotenoids, which are widespread pigments fulfilling important functions as
      radical scavengers and as a source of apocarotenoids. In mammals, the synthesis
      of apocarotenoids, including retinoic acid, is initiated by the beta-carotene
      cleavage oxygenases I and II catalyzing either a central or an excentric cleavage
      of beta-carotene, respectively. The M. tuberculosis ORF Rv0654 codes for a
      putative carotenoid oxygenase conserved in other mycobacteria. In the present
      study, we investigated the corresponding enzyme, here named M. tuberculosis
      carotenoid cleavage oxygenase (MtCCO). Using heterologously expressed and
      purified protein, we show that MtCCO converts several carotenoids and
      apocarotenoids in vitro. Moreover, the identification of the products suggests
      that, in contrast to other carotenoid oxygenases, MtCCO cleaves the central C15
      C15' and an excentric double bond at the C13-C14 position, leading to retinal
      (C(20)), beta-apo-14'-carotenal (C(22)) and beta-apo-13-carotenone (C(18)) from
      beta-carotene, as well as the corresponding hydroxylated products from zeaxanthin
      and lutein. Moreover, the enzyme cleaves also 3,3'-dihydroxy-isorenieratene
      representing aromatic carotenoids synthesized by other mycobacteria.
      Quantification of the products from different substrates indicates that the
      preference for each of the cleavage positions is determined by the hydroxylation
      and the nature of the ionone ring. The data obtained in the present study reveal
      MtCCO to be a novel carotenoid oxygenase and indicate that M. tuberculosis may
      utilize carotenoids from host cells and interfere with their retinoid metabolism.

PMID- 20929444
TI  - Decoding the intrinsic mechanism that prohibits ALIX interaction with ESCRT and
      viral proteins.
AB  - The adaptor protein ALIX [ALG-2 (apoptosis-linked-gene-2 product)-interacting
      protein X] links retroviruses to ESCRT (endosomal sorting complex required for
      transport) machinery during retroviral budding. This function of ALIX requires
      its interaction with the ESCRT-III component CHMP4 (charged multivesicular body
      protein 4) at the N-terminal Bro1 domain and retroviral Gag proteins at the
      middle V domain. Since cytoplasmic or recombinant ALIX is unable to interact with
      CHMP4 or retroviral Gag proteins under non-denaturing conditions, we constructed
      ALIX truncations and mutations to define the intrinsic mechanism through which
      ALIX interactions with these partner proteins are prohibited. Our results
      demonstrate that an intramolecular interaction between Patch 2 in the Bro1 domain
      and the TSG101 (tumour susceptibility gene 101 protein)-docking site in the
      proline-rich domain locks ALIX into a closed conformation that renders ALIX
      unable to interact with CHMP4 and retroviral Gag proteins. Relieving the
      intramolecular interaction of ALIX, by ectopically expressing a binding partner
      for one of the intramolecular interaction sites or by deleting one of these
      sites, promotes ALIX interaction with these partner proteins and facilitates ALIX
      association with the membrane. Ectopic expression of a GFP (green fluorescent
      protein)-ALIX mutant with a constitutively open conformation, but not the wild
      type protein, increases EIAV (equine infectious anaemia virus) budding from HEK
      (human embryonic kidney)-293 cells. These findings predict that relieving the
      autoinhibitory intramolecular interaction of ALIX is a critical step for ALIX to
      participate in retroviral budding.

PMID- 20929461
TI  - Physician consultation, multidisciplinary care, and 1-year mortality in Medicare
      recipients hospitalized with hip and lower extremity injuries.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine whether routine surgeon consultation with medicine
      specialists and multidisciplinary care conferences-potentially modifiable
      hospital characteristics-are associated with lower 1-year mortality in older
      adults with hip and lower extremity injuries. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study.
      SETTING: Oregon hospitals. PARTICIPANTS: Two thousand five hundred thirty-eight
      Medicare recipients aged 67 and older hospitalized in Oregon hospitals in 2002
      with hip or lower extremity injuries. MEASUREMENTS: Demographic, injury,
      comorbidity, and survival information were gathered from Medicare records for
      2000 to 2003. All Oregon hospitals with a qualifying case were surveyed using a
      structured telephone interview to collect information about routine surgeon
      consultations and multidisciplinary care conferences for older adult orthopedic
      patients. Multivariable generalized estimating equation models were used to
      estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the
      associations between hospital characteristics and mortality. RESULTS: After
      adjusting for age, injury severity, comorbid conditions, trauma center status,
      and hospital annual volume of patients with hip fracture, the relative odds of
      dying in the year after injury for inpatients treated in settings with routine
      surgeon consultation with medical staff was 0.69 (95% CI 0.57-0.83) compared with
      patients not treated in such settings. Inpatient treatment in settings with
      routine multidisciplinary care conferences did not significantly affect the
      relative odds of dying in the year after injury (OR=1.06, 95% CI=0.89-1.26).
      CONCLUSION: Routine consultation by attending orthopedic surgeons with medicine
      or primary care specialists for Medicare inpatients is associated with better
      survival 1 year after injury.

PMID- 20929462
TI  - Prognostic effect of exercise capacity on mortality in older adults with diabetes
      mellitus.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate the prognostic effect of exercise capacity in older
      individuals with diabetes mellitus. DESIGN: Retrospective data review in a clinic
      based cohort. SETTING: Veterans Affairs Medical Centers in Washington, District
      of Columbia, and Palo Alto, California. PARTICIPANTS: Two thousand eight hundred
      sixty-seven men aged 50 to 87 with type 2 diabetes mellitus. MEASUREMENTS:
      Exercise tolerance testing with fitness categories based on peak metabolic
      equivalents of task (METs) achieved adjusted for age. All-cause mortality in age
      groups 50 to 65 (Group 1; n=1,658) and older than 65 (Group 2; n=1,209) was
      analyzed using adjusted Cox proportional hazards models. RESULTS: After a mean +/
      standard deviation follow-up period of 7.8 +/- 5.1 years, there were 324 deaths
      in Group 1 (20%) and 464 in Group 2 (38%). For each 1-MET increase in exercise
      capacity, mortality was 18% lower for the entire cohort (hazard ratio (HR)=0.82,
      95% confidence interval (CI)=0.79-0.86), 23% lower for Group 1 (HR=0.77, 95%
      CI=0.73-0.82), and 16% lower for Group 2 (HR=0.84, 95% CI=0.8-0.89). When fitness
      categories were considered, the mortality risk was 30% to 80% lower for those who
      achieved more than 4 METs in both age groups. CONCLUSION: Augmented exercise
      capacity is associated with lower risk of mortality in people with type 2
      diabetes mellitus aged 50 to 65 as well as in those older than 65. Thus, physical
      fitness, as represented by exercise capacity, lowers mortality risk in people
      with diabetes mellitus irrespective of age. These findings suggest that
      healthcare providers should be cognizant of the level of exercise capacity in
      individual patients and encourage a physically active lifestyle regardless of
      age.

PMID- 20929463
TI  - Morbidity and physical functioning in old age: differences according to living
      area.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To describe differences in morbidity and functional status according
      to living area. DESIGN: Community-based survey. SETTING: A community-based
      prospective cohort, the Kungsholmen-Nordanstig Project. PARTICIPANTS: Adults aged
      75 and older living in an urban area of central Stockholm (n=1,222) and in the
      rural community of Nordanstig in northern Sweden (n=919). MEASUREMENTS:
      Physicians clinically examined all participants using the same standardized
      protocols in both living areas; trained nurses directly assessed disability.
      RESULTS: Cardiovascular disease was the most common disorder in both living areas
      (39.9% in the urban area and 45.2% in the rural area). There were great area
      differences in the prevalence of stroke (7.4% and 14.0%), diabetes mellitus 6.3%
      and 16.1%), and Parkinson's disease (1.0% and 3.7%). It was more common to have
      two or more diseases than no diseases in the rural area than in the urban area
      (odds ratio=1.9, 95% confidence interval=1.4-2.4). Significant living area
      differences (urban vs rural) in population attributable risk (PAR) was found for
      disability due to stroke (5.6 vs 32.2), diabetes mellitus (1.2 vs 6.1), fractures
      (1.4 vs 10.7), and hearing impairment (8.7 vs 22.0). CONCLUSION: Differences were
      found in disability, morbidity, and disease patterns according to living area.
      The rural elderly population was more disabled and had more diseases than the
      urban elderly population, despite being slightly younger than the urban cohort.
      There were significant area differences in the PAR of how specific chronic
      conditions influenced the risk of disability.

PMID- 20929464
TI  - Sisters in motion: a randomized controlled trial of a faith-based physical
      activity intervention.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To evaluate a faith-based intervention (Sisters in Motion) intended
      to increase walking in older, sedentary African-American women. DESIGN:
      Randomized controlled trial using within-church randomization. SETTING: Three Los
      Angeles churches. PARTICIPANTS: Sixty-two African-American women aged 60 and
      older who reported being active less than 30 minutes three times per week and
      walked less than 35,000 steps per week as measured using a baseline pedometer
      reading. INTERVENTION: Intervention participants received a multicomponent
      curriculum including scripture readings, prayer, goal-setting, a community
      resource guide, and walking competitions. Intervention and control participants
      both participated in physical activity sessions. MEASUREMENTS: The primary
      outcome was change in weekly steps walked as measured using the pedometer.
      Secondary outcomes included change in systolic blood pressure (SBP). Outcomes
      were assessed at baseline and 6 months after the intervention. RESULTS: Eighty
      five percent of participants attended at least six of eight sessions.
      Intervention participants averaged 12,727 steps per week at baseline, compared
      with 13,089 steps in controls. Mean baseline SBP was 156 mmHg for intervention
      participants and 147 mmHg for controls (P=.10). At 6 months, intervention
      participants had increased their weekly steps by 9,883 on average, compared with
      an increase of 2,426 for controls (P=.02); SBP decreased on average by 12.5 mmHg
      in intervention participants and only 1.5 mmHg in controls (P=.007). CONCLUSION:
      The Sisters in Motion intervention led to an increase in walking and a decrease
      in SBP at 6 months. This is the first randomized controlled trial of a faith
      based physical activity program to increase physical activity in older African
      American women and represents an attractive approach to stimulate lifestyle
      change in this population.

PMID- 20929465
TI  - Sleep disturbances and adverse driving events in a predominantly male cohort of
      active older drivers.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the association between sleep disturbances and adverse
      driving events in active older drivers. DESIGN: Longitudinal. SETTING: Clinic and
      community sites in greater New Haven, Connecticut. PARTICIPANTS: Four hundred
      thirty older persons (mean age 78.5, 84.9% male) who drove at least once a week.
      MEASUREMENTS: Baseline measures included self-reported driving patterns and sleep
      questionnaires (Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS),
      and Sleep Apnea Clinical Score (SACS)). The primary outcome was an adverse
      driving event based on self-report and driving records and categorized as a crash
      or traffic infraction (composite I) or as a crash, traffic infraction, near
      crash, or getting lost (composite II). RESULTS: Participants reported driving a
      median of 17.0 miles per day, with 96.7% (416/430) driving daily or every other
      day. Although 26.0% (112/430) had insomnia (ISI>=8), 19.3% (83/430) had daytime
      drowsiness (ESS>=10), and 19.9% (84/422) had high sleep apnea risk (SACS>15), the
      median scores for the ISI, ESS, and SACS were normal at 3.0, 6.0, and 8.0,
      respectively, and only 5.1% reported drowsy driving. Over a period of up to 2
      years, 24.9% (104/418) and 51.4% (215/418) of participants had a composite I and
      II driving event, respectively. In unadjusted and adjusted multivariable models,
      insomnia, daytime drowsiness, and high sleep apnea risk were not associated with
      a composite I or II driving event. CONCLUSION: In a predominantly male cohort of
      active older drivers, sleep disturbances were mild and not associated with
      adverse driving events. Accordingly, and because older persons are known to self
      regulate driving practices, future studies should evaluate whether sleep
      disturbances are more important as a mechanism that underlies driving cessation
      rather than compromising driving safety.

PMID- 20929466
TI  - Receipt of influenza and pneumonia vaccinations: the dual disparity of rural
      minorities.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To examine the receipt of age-appropriate influenza and pneumococcal
      polysaccharide vaccinations (PPV), with particular attention to rural minority
      persons. DESIGN: Data were drawn from the 2005 Behavioral Risk Factor
      Surveillance System. The dependent variables were self-reported receipt of annual
      influenza immunizations in adults aged 50 and older (n=177,417) or lifetime
      pneumococcal immunizations in adults aged 65 and older (n=81,762). The main
      independent variables were residence and race. MEASUREMENTS: All data are self
      reported. Multivariate analysis controlled for selected personal and county-level
      characteristics. Analyses were conducted in 2009/10. RESULTS: Forty-two percent
      of adults aged 50 and older reported an influenza vaccination; 31.1% of rural
      African Americans reported an influenza vaccination, and 64.6% reported a PPV.
      White and African-American rural residents reported lower vaccination rates.
      Adjusted analysis indicated an interaction between race and rurality. White rural
      residents were more likely to be vaccinated than other whites, whereas rural
      African Americans were less likely to be vaccinated than urban African Americans.
      CONCLUSION: This study confirms previous findings while finding an interactive
      effect between rurality and race. The results indicated the importance of
      provider availability to delivery. Alternative delivery methods may be an
      effective solution to improve delivery rates.

PMID- 20929467
TI  - Home-based leg-strengthening exercise improves function 1 year after hip
      fracture: a randomized controlled study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To compare the effectiveness of a short-term leg-strengthening
      exercise program with that of attentional control on improving strength, walking
      abilities, and function 1 year after hip fracture. DESIGN: Randomized controlled
      pilot study. SETTING: Patients' homes. PARTICIPANTS: Community-dwelling older
      adults (n=26) 6 months after hip fracture at baseline. INTERVENTION: Exercise and
      control participants received interventions from physical therapists twice a week
      for 10 weeks. The exercise group received high-intensity leg-strengthening
      exercises. The control group received transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation
      and mental imagery. MEASUREMENTS: Isometric force production of lower extremity
      muscles, usual and fast gait speed, 6-minute walk (6-MW) distance, modified
      Physical Performance Test (mPPT), and Medical Outcomes Study 36-item Short Form
      Survey (SF-36) physical function. RESULTS: The primary endpoint was 1 year after
      fracture. Isometric force production (P=.006), usual (P=.02) and fast (P=.03)
      gait speed, 6-MW distance (P=.005), and mPPT score (P<.001) were improved 1 year
      after fracture with exercise. Effect sizes were 0.79 for strength, 0.81 for mPPT
      score, 0.56 for gait speed, 0.49 for 6-MW, and 0.30 for SF-36 score. More
      patients in the exercise group made meaningful changes in gait speed and 6-MW
      distance than control patients (chi-square P=.004). CONCLUSION: A 10-week home
      based progressive resistance exercise program was sufficient to achieve moderate
      to large effects on physical performance and quality of life and may offer an
      alternative intervention mode for patients with hip fracture who are unable to
      leave home by 6 months after the fracture. The effects were maintained at 3
      months after completion of the training program.

PMID- 20929468
TI  - Effect of new disability subtype on 3-year mortality in Chinese older adults.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To examine a new method of classifying disability subtypes by
      combining self-reported and performance-based tools to predict mortality in older
      Chinese adults. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study. SETTING: Community-dwelling
      older adults. PARTICIPANTS: Sixteen thousand twenty Chinese adults aged 65 and
      older from the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS).
      MEASUREMENTS: Self-reported activities of daily living (ADLs) and physical
      performance (PP) tests (chair standing, lifting a book from floor, turning 360
      degrees ) cross-classified to create mutually exclusive disability subtypes:
      subtype 0 (no limitations in PP or ADLs), subtype 1 (limitations in PP, no
      limitations in ADLs), subtype 2 (no limitations in PP, limitations in ADLs), and
      subtype 3 (limitations in PP and ADLs). Outcome was mortality over 3 years.
      RESULTS: Cox proportional hazard models, controlling for sociodemographic
      variables, living situation, healthcare access, social support, health status,
      and life-style, showed that older adults without any limitations in ADLs or PP
      had significantly lower mortality risk than those with other disability subtypes
      and that there was a graded pattern of greater mortality according to subtype 1
      (hazard ratio (HR)=1.31, 95% confidence interval (CI)=1.20-1.42), 2 (HR=1.39, 95%
      CI=1.23-1.59), and 3 (HR=1.88, 95% CI=1.72-2.05). When compared with the average
      survival curve in the cohort, subtypes of isolated performance deficits or self
      reported disability did not substantially discriminate risks of death over 3
      years. CONCLUSION: Combined use of self-reported and PP tools is necessary when
      screening for mutually exclusive disability subtypes that confer significantly
      higher or lower mortality risks on a population of older adults.

PMID- 20929469
TI  - Health status of older Asian Americans in California.
AB  - Given the paucity of research on differences between older adults representing
      the many Asian-American subcategories, the present study explored physical and
      mental health status in five subcategories of Asian Americans aged 60 and older:
      Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, and Filipino. Data were drawn from the
      2007 California Health Interview Survey (CHIS). Background characteristics and
      physical and mental health conditions were compared, with results showing
      differences cross the five subcategories of older Asian Americans. Specific
      patterns were identified in chronic diseases, disease comorbidity, and disability
      rates. Vietnamese and Filipinos tended to have poorer physical health than
      Chinese, Japanese, and Koreans. The poorest self-rated health and the highest
      disability rate were found in the older Vietnamese. Filipinos also exhibited the
      greatest number of chronic diseases, including the highest rates of asthma, high
      blood pressure, and heart disease. Although Koreans had the fewest self-reported
      chronic diseases and the least evidence of disease comorbidity, they also had the
      highest psychological distress. The lowest psychological distress was found in
      older Japanese. Findings suggest that generalizing findings from one particular
      Asian category or from an aggregate Asian category may be problematic and may not
      reflect an accurate picture of the burden of health in specific Asian categories.
      Being aware of these differences in background and health characteristics may
      help providers to better serve older Asian clients.

PMID- 20929470
TI  - Racial and ethnic disparities in indicators of physical health status: do they
      still exist throughout late life?
AB  - Physical health problems become more common as people age and are associated with
      a great deal of disability. Although racial and ethnic disparities have been
      reported in physical health, little is known about whether these disparities
      remain in the latest part of older adulthood. Accordingly, the current study
      sought to examine racial and ethnic differences in the physical health status of
      three age groups of older adults, using the 2005 and 2007 California Health
      Interview Survey. The sample for the current study included 40,631 individuals
      aged 55 and older: 33,488 non-Hispanic whites, 1,858 blacks, 2,872 Asians and
      Pacific Islanders, and 2,412 Latinos. Respondents were compared with regard to
      three indicators of physical health: four chronic health conditions, difficulties
      with activities of daily living, and self-rated health. Analyses were conducted
      with and without adjustment for sex, marital status, education, English-language
      proficiency, nativity, and insurance status. Results revealed that, in general,
      racial and ethnic disparities existed for physical health in late adulthood, with
      differences less pronounced for Asians and Pacific Islanders and Latinos aged 75
      and older after multivariable adjustment. Disparities between blacks and non
      Hispanic whites and disparities across all racial and ethnic minorities in self
      rated health still existed. These findings suggest that, to reduce racial and
      ethnic disparities, clinicians need to address specific sociodemographic and
      lifestyle factors related to racial and ethnic differences in health before these
      conditions are manifested in late adulthood.

PMID- 20929471
TI  - Screening in frail older people: an ounce of prevention or a pound of trouble?
AB  - Screening for subclinical disease has provided benefit to many asymptomatic
      patients, especially those who are relatively young and otherwise healthy.
      However, frail older people do not always profit from such maneuvers, for several
      reasons. First, older individuals usually have less physiological reserve and
      greater comorbidity and resultant polypharmacy than their younger counterparts.
      As such, they may tolerate the invasive interventions called for after a positive
      screening test less easily. In addition, shorter natural life expectancy shifts
      the focus to quality of life improvement after screening tests rather than simply
      offering a promise of "more years." Lack of education and cognitive decline may
      also interfere with the older person's ability to give truly informed consent to
      these maneuvers. Thus, on the whole, in this rapidly growing subpopulation,
      screening programs may tilt the balance toward the likelihood of causing more
      harm than good. For many frail older patients, an individualized approach to
      screening is recommended, adjusted to comorbidity, life expectancy, and patient
      preference. One size does not fit all.

PMID- 20929472
TI  - Outcomes of hip fracture: do medical doctors matter?

PMID- 20929473
TI  - Integrating aging into geriatric practice: an emerging orientation for health
      care.

PMID- 20929474
TI  - Midodrine hydrochloride is safe and effective in older people with
      neurocardiogenic syncope.

PMID- 20929475
TI  - Prevalence of metabolic syndrome in an elderly Chinese population: a community
      based cross-sectional study.

PMID- 20929477
TI  - Age and time spent in the emergency department of an urban teaching hospital in
      Italy.

PMID- 20929476
TI  - Feasibility of cranberry capsule administration and clean-catch urine collection
      in long-term care residents.

PMID- 20929478
TI  - Comprehensive geriatric assessment in the emergency department.

PMID- 20929479
TI  - Prevalence and predictors of fatigue in middle-aged and older adults: evidence
      from the health and retirement study.

PMID- 20929480
TI  - Tube feeding can be discontinued by taking dopamine agonists and angiotensin
      converting enzyme inhibitors in the advanced stages of dementia.

PMID- 20929481
TI  - Severe human rhinovirus outbreak associated with fatalities in a long-term care
      facility in Ontario, Canada.

PMID- 20929482
TI  - Effect of malnutrition on executive function in older Egyptians in geriatric
      homes.

PMID- 20929483
TI  - A giant intra-abdominal mass in a 68-year-old woman.

PMID- 20929484
TI  - Early physician follow-up after hospitalization for heart failure is also
      relevant.

PMID- 20929485
TI  - An atypical case of giant cell arteritis (Horton's disease) associated with
      facial swelling, confusion, and pericarditis in an elderly woman.

PMID- 20929486
TI  - Moderate resistance training program can reduce triglycerides in elderly women: a
      randomized controlled trial.

PMID- 20929487
TI  - Allopurinol-induced drug reaction with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms
      syndrome with recurrence.

PMID- 20929488
TI  - Association between anorexia of aging and disability in older community-dwelling
      Mexicans.

PMID- 20929489
TI  - Association between renal function and cognitive performance in elderly community
      dwelling men without dementia.

PMID- 20929490
TI  - Measures for enhancing the mobility of older people with dementia in Japan:
      should it be a matter of self-help?

PMID- 20929491
TI  - Medical students' longitudinal and cross-sectional attitudes toward and knowledge
      of geriatrics at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine.

PMID- 20929492
TI  - HIV and the body: a review of multidisciplinary management.
AB  - The increase in the life expectancy achieved following the introduction of more
      effective antiretroviral therapy (ART) in recent years now means that the HIV
      infected population are for the first time being exposed to the age-related
      diseases that affect the general population. Nevertheless, the prevalence of
      these diseases (which include cardiovascular disease, dyslipidaemia, glucose
      intolerance and diabetes) is higher, and their onset earlier in the HIV
      population, probably due to the complex interplay between HIV infection,
      coinfection with hepatitis B and C, and ART. As a result, HIV physicians are now
      required to adopt a new approach to the management of HIV, which involves
      screening and regular monitoring of all HIV-infected individuals for the presence
      of comorbidities and prompt referral to other clinical specialties when required.
      If this challenge to patient management is to be overcome, it is clear that
      educating physicians in the diagnosis and treatment of age-associated
      comorbidities is essential, either through ongoing programmes such as the HIV and
      the Body initiative, an overarching independent medical education programme
      established in 2007 and overseen by an independent Steering Committee, organized
      and funded by Gilead, and/or through internal training. To assist in this
      process, this article provides an overview of common comorbidities affecting HIV
      infected persons and provides practical guidance on their management.

PMID- 20929493
TI  - A meta-ethnographic synthesis of women's experience of breastfeeding.
AB  - Despite considerable evidence and effort, breastfeeding duration rates in
      resource-rich countries such as Australia remain below World Health Organization
      recommendations. The literature on the experience of breastfeeding indicates that
      women construct and experience breastfeeding differently depending upon their own
      personal circumstances and the culture within which they live. Breastfeeding has
      also been described as a deeply personal experience, which can be associated with
      'moral' decision-making. The aim of this synthesis was to better understand the
      social phenomenon of breastfeeding by making the hidden obvious. Using a meta
      ethnographic approach, we analysed the findings from 17 qualitative studies
      exploring women's experience of breastfeeding. Commonly used metaphors, ideas and
      phrases across the national and international qualitative studies were
      identified. Two overarching themes emerged. Breastfeeding was described in terms
      of 'expectation' and 'reality', while the emotional aspects of breastfeeding were
      expressed in 'connected' or 'disconnected' terms. The prevalence of health
      professionals and public health discourses in the language women use to describe
      their experience, and the subsequent impact of this on maternal confidence and
      self-assessment of breastfeeding are discussed. This synthesis provides insight
      into some of the subtle ways health professionals can build maternal confidence
      and improve the experience of early mothering.

PMID- 20929494
TI  - The Infant Feeding Intentions scale demonstrates construct validity and
      comparability in quantifying maternal breastfeeding intentions across multiple
      ethnic groups.
AB  - Research tools that are comparable across ethnic groups are needed in order to
      understand sociodemographic disparities in breastfeeding rates. The Infant
      Feeding Intentions (IFI) scale provides a quantitative measure of maternal
      breastfeeding intentions. IFI score ranges from 0 (no intention to breastfeed) to
      16 (very strong intentions to fully breastfeed for 6 months). The objective of
      this study was to examine intra- and inter-ethnic validity of the IFI scale. The
      IFI scale was administered to 218 white non-Hispanic, 75 African-American, 80
      English-speaking Hispanic, 62 Spanish-speaking Hispanic and 64 Asian expectant
      primiparae. Participants were asked their planned duration of providing breast
      milk as the sole source of milk (full breastfeeding). The IFI scale was examined
      for intra-ethnic internal consistency and construct validity and for inter-ethnic
      comparability. For all five ethnic categories, principal component analysis
      separated the scale into the same two factors: intention to initiate
      breastfeeding and intention to continue full breastfeeding. Across ethnic
      categories, the range in Cronbach's alpha was 0.70-0.85 for the initiation factor
      and 0.90-0.93 for the continuation factor. Within each ethnic category, IFI score
      increased as planned duration of full breastfeeding increased (P < 0.0001 for
      all). Within the planned duration categories of <1, 1-3, 3-6 and >=6 months, the
      median IFI score by ethnic category ranged from (low-high) 5-8, 9-10, 12-14 and
      16-16, respectively. The IFI scale provides a valid measure of breastfeeding
      intentions in diverse populations of English- and Spanish-speaking primiparae,
      and may be a useful tool when researching disparities in breastfeeding practices.

PMID- 20929495
TI  - Breastfeeding support - the importance of self-efficacy for low-income women.
AB  - Breastfeeding is a key determinant in promoting public health and reducing health
      inequality. Low-income women have a significantly lower level of breastfeeding.
      Midwives in the UK have been encouraged to implement the World Health
      Organization/United Nations Children's Fund's Ten Steps to Successful
      Breastfeeding, but to date, there has been no evaluation of the impact of the
      training initiative on the breastfeeding behaviours of low-income women. As part
      of a wider study, this qualitative component was designed to answer the question 
      what are the views and experiences of low-income women (defined by Jarman
      scores) in relation to their breastfeeding support received in the post-natal
      period? A sample of seven women was interviewed. The in-depth interviews were
      analysed using a qualitative, thematic approach based on the self-efficacy
      theory. The four themes that emerged from the data were the following:
      breastfeeding related to the woman's self-confidence, the social environment in
      which the woman lived, knowledge of breastfeeding and the influence of maternity
      services on breastfeeding outcomes. These themes were interpreted in relation to
      the self-efficacy theory. The findings suggest that the components that inform
      self-efficacy are consistent with the themes from the data, suggesting that
      midwives and other health professionals should take the psychosocial aspects of
      breastfeeding support into account. As this important feature of breastfeeding
      support is not explicitly part of the current Ten Steps to Successful
      Breastfeeding, we suggest that further research and debate could inform expansion
      of these minimum standards to include the psychosocial aspects.

PMID- 20929496
TI  - Breastfeeding practice in mothers with eating disorders.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to compare the prevalence of breastfeeding in women
      with anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder and eating
      disorders not otherwise specified - purging subtype, with mothers with no eating
      disorders during the first 6 months after birth. The study is based on the
      Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study conducted at the Norwegian Institute of
      Public Health. Questionnaire-based information on eating disorder diagnoses and
      breastfeeding in 39 355 women was used to estimate the risk of cessation of
      breastfeeding with Cox proportional hazards regression. Almost all women (98%)
      initially breastfeed their infants, with no statistically significant difference
      between the eating disorders subgroups and women with no eating disorders.
      However, the risk of early cessation before 6 months post-partum increased for
      all subgroups of mothers with eating disorders, compared with mothers with no
      eating disorders. After adjusting for maternal body mass index, age, education,
      birthweight and pre-term birth, only mothers with anorexia nervosa [hazard ratios
      (HR), 2.35; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.22-4.53] and eating disorder not
      otherwise specified-purging subtype (HR, 1.95; 95% CI 1.08-3.53) had increased
      risk for cessation of breastfeeding There were no differences in the risk of
      cessation of exclusive breastfeeding. These results show that some eating
      disorders may influence mothers' early feeding practices and indicate that
      additional support may be necessary to assist women with anorexia nervosa in
      maintaining breastfeeding.

PMID- 20929497
TI  - Acceptability and feasibility of infant-feeding options: experiences of HIV
      infected mothers in the World Health Organization Kesho Bora mother-to-child
      transmission prevention (PMTCT) trial in Burkina Faso.
AB  - In Burkina Faso, prolonged breastfeeding with introduction of ritual fluids from
      birth is a deep-seated norm. We explored HIV-infected mothers' views and
      experiences of the acceptability and feasibility of the World Health
      Organization's recommended infant-feeding options within a mother-to-child
      transmission prevention trial. A qualitative study was conducted on 17 formula
      feeding and 19 breastfeeding mothers, from a larger cohort of 51 eligible HIV
      infected women, consenting to participate in separate focus group discussions in
      early post-partum. Mothers opted for breastfeeding essentially out of fear of
      family rejection. Most of them were afraid of denigration for disrespecting
      tradition if they formula-fed or being suspected of HIV infection. Achieving
      exclusive breastfeeding remained a difficult challenge as they engaged in a
      continuous struggle with close elders to avoid fluid feeding. Additional stress
      and fatigue were fed by their perception of a high transmission risk through
      breast milk. Exclusive formula-feeding seemed easier to implement, especially as
      formula was provided free of charge. Formula-feeding mothers more frequently had
      a supportive partner, a strong personality and lived in better socio-economic
      conditions than breastfeeding mothers (76% had education and electricity supply
      vs. 42%, respectively). Exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months remains
      the most appropriate option for many HIV-infected mothers in sub-Saharan Africa.
      Its acceptability and feasibility urgently need to be improved by promoting it as
      the best feeding option for all infants. Other crucial interventions are the
      promotion of voluntary counselling and testing for couples, and greater partner
      involvement in infant-feeding counselling.

PMID- 20929498
TI  - The role of parents' romantic relationship warmth and hostility in child feeding
      practices and children's eating behaviours.
AB  - This research examined the associations between parents' reports of the quality
      of their romantic relationships with their partner/spouse, their feeding
      interactions with their children, and their children's eating behaviours. One
      hundred and fifty-six married/cohabiting mothers of young children completed self
      report measures of their romantic relationship quality, child feeding practices
      and children's eating behaviours. Reports of a less warm, more hostile romantic
      relationship were associated with children's less adaptive eating behaviours.
      More hostile relationship quality was also related to greater restriction of
      their children's food intake. The quality of parents' romantic relationships is
      associated with parental feeding practices and children's eating behaviours.
      Further work should examine the emotional tone of mealtimes in order to discover
      whether this may be the mechanism of the relationship.

PMID- 20929499
TI  - Effects of a lifestyle modification trial among phenotypically obese
      metabolically normal and phenotypically obese metabolically abnormal adolescents
      in comparison with phenotypically normal metabolically obese adolescents.
AB  - This study aimed to assess the effects of a 2-month lifestyle modification trial
      on cardio-metabolic abnormalities and C-reactive protein (CRP) among obese
      adolescents with metabolic syndrome [phenotypically obese metabolically abnormal
      (POMA)] and obese adolescents without a cardio-metabolic disorder [phenotypically
      obese metabolically normal (POMN)], as well as in normal-weight adolescents with
      at least one cardio-metabolic disorder [phenotypically normal metabolically obese
      (PNMO)]. The study comprised 360 adolescents assigned in three groups of equal
      number of POMN, POMA and PNMO. They were enrolled in a trial consisting of
      aerobic activity classes, diet and behaviour modification, and were recalled
      after 6 months. Overall, 94.7% of participants completed the 2-month trial, and
      87.3% of them returned after 6 months. The mean CRP was not significantly
      different between the POMA and PNMO groups, but was higher than in the POMN
      group. After the trial, body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC)
      decreased in obese participants, and the mean body fat mass decreased in all
      groups. At 2 months, the mean total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein
      cholesterol (LDL-C), triglycerides (TG) and CRP decreased in the POMA and PNMO
      groups. After 2 and 6 months, the decrease in mean TC, LDL-C, TG, CRP and
      systolic blood pressure was greater in the POMA than in the POMN group. The
      magnitude of decrease in CRP correlated with that of BMI, WC, fat mass, TG, TC
      and LDL-C. Lifestyle modification programmes for primordial/primary prevention of
      chronic diseases would be beneficial at the population level and should not be
      limited to obese children.

PMID- 20929501
TI  - What is the evidence base for the randomized controlled trial?

PMID- 20929500
TI  - The post-partum mid-upper arm circumference of adolescents is reduced by
      pregnancy in rural Nepal.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to examine whether changes in the mid-upper arm
      circumference (MUAC) in pregnancy and early post-partum varied by maternal age.
      The MUAC of 3359 nulliparous pregnant women <=25 years of age in rural Nepal was
      measured in early pregnancy and at 3 months post-delivery of a live-born infant.
      Regression was used to model the change in MUAC and prevalence of MUAC < 20 cm by
      maternal age, adjusted for confounders. A total of 5.2% of the pregnant women
      were under 16 years of age. The prevalence of MUAC measurements <20 cm was 11.3%
      in early pregnancy and did not differ by maternal age. The prevalence of low MUAC
      was 17.7% at post-partum, but those <16 years of age had a significantly higher
      prevalence of low post-partum MUAC [odds ratio: 2.47, 95% confidence interval
      (CI) 1.49, 4.10] compared with women 20-25 years of age, adjusted for maternal
      literacy, caste, meat consumption in early pregnancy and timing of measurements.
      All women reduced their MUAC from early pregnancy through post-partum. The
      adjusted loss of the MUAC among those under 16 years of age was 0.97 cm (95% CI: 
      1.33, -0.60), compared with 0.40 cm (95% CI: -0.70, -0.10) among women 20-25
      years of age. In an energy-restricted environment, girls under 16 years
      contributed to a half centimetre more loss of MUAC than older women of the same
      parity. Such a loss of fat, muscle or both may put younger women and their
      breastfed offspring at greater risk of other adverse health and nutritional
      outcomes.

PMID- 20929504
TI  - Intensified multifactorial treatment of patients with Type 2 diabetes: what can
      be achieved and does it pay off?
AB  - By influencing the standards of diabetes care and treatment guidelines throughout
      the world, the results of recent long-term risk factor interventions in Type 2
      diabetes (T2D) have likely contributed to the improved health outcomes and
      induced a decline in mortality in people with T2D. Although we have a need for
      even more evidence to support early, individualized, and intensive management of
      all known modifiable risk factors, we have now reached an era in T2D care where
      the critical challenges appear to be to translate the insights, knowledge and
      benefits to patients in the community setting. Current surveys show slow progress
      in achieving treatment goals and in the use of recommended drugs and adjustments
      of lifestyle for the prevention of vascular complications in diabetes. The
      resistance and barriers among medical professionals and patients likely have
      multiple causes. The present review focuses on experiences from multifactorial
      interventions in high-risk patients with T2D where it is possible to markedly
      improve their prognosis.

PMID- 20929505
TI  - Effects of systolic and diastolic blood pressures on incident coronary heart
      disease and all-cause death in Chinese women with Type 2 diabetes: the Hong Kong
      Diabetes Registry.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Elevated blood pressure (BP) is an important risk factor for the
      development of coronary heart disease (CHD), although the threshold above which
      the risk increases has not been clearly defined. The aim of the present study was
      to examine the full-range association between BP and CHD. METHODS: A prospective
      cohort of 3861 Chinese women with Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) was followed
      for a median of 5.61 years. Restricted cubic spline analysis was used to examine
      the relationship between BP and CHD. RESULTS: Subjects who developed CHD were
      older, more likely to be smokers, had a significantly longer duration of
      diabetes, higher systolic BP (SBP), glycated hemoglobin, albuminuria, low-density
      lipoprotein-cholesterol, and triglycerides, and lower estimated glomerular
      filtration rate and high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol. Mortality was higher in
      those who developed CHD compared with those who did not, with all-cause death in
      30.2% and 7.8% of patients, respectively. Over 21,641 and 22 049 person-years
      follow up, 4.4% of patients (n = 169) developed CHD and 8.8% (n = 340) died,
      respectively. The relative risk of SBP for CHD was constant up to 120 mmHg, after
      which it started to rise: from 130 mmHg, each 10-mmHg increase in SBP was
      associated with a 1.13-fold increased risk of CHD. CONCLUSIONS: We identified 130
      mmHg as the threshold of SBP for increased risk of CHD in Chinese female patients
      with T2DM. It appears that 67-77 mmHg is the optimal range for diastolic BP,
      within which the risk of CHD is lowest.

PMID- 20929506
TI  - Cinnamic acid, from the bark of Cinnamomum cassia, regulates glucose transport
      via activation of GLUT4 on L6 myotubes in a phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase
      independent manner.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cinnamomum cassia (Family: Lauraceae) is an Ayurvedic medicinal plant
      used traditionally for the treatment of a number of diseases, including diabetes.
      The hypoglycemic effect of this plant has been established in vivo. However, the
      effects of cinnamic acid, isolated from C. cassia, on the insulin signaling
      cascade in an in vitro model have not been elucidated. Hence, the aim of the
      present study was to evaluate the anti-diabetic effect of cinnamic acid on
      glucose transport by L6 myotubes. METHODS: The mechanism of action of cinnamic
      acid was determined using specific targets in the insulin signaling pathway,
      including protein tyrosine phosphatase (PTP) 1B, phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase
      (PI3-K) and the glucose transporter GLUT4. After differentiation of myoblast to
      myotubes, the cells were serum deprived for 5 h and then treated with 1 ng/mL
      cinnamic acid and 50 MUmol/L rosiglitazone for 18 h and 100 nmol/L insulin for 20
      min for gene expression studies. RESULTS: Expression of GLUT4 mRNA was increased
      following treatment of L6 myotubes with 1 ng/mL cinnamic acid. Furthermore,
      cinnamic acid inhibited PTP1B activity (by 96.5%), but had no significant effect
      on PI3-K activity. CONCLUSION: On the basis of the results of the present study,
      we postulate that cinnamic acid isolated from the hydro-alcoholic extract of
      Cinnamomum cassia activates glucose transport by a PI3-K-independent pathway.
      However, the detailed mechanism of action requires further analysis.

PMID- 20929507
TI  - Mild and severe forms of tuberculosis in diabetic and non-diabetic patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of the present study was to compare the frequency of pleural
      tuberculosis in patients with and without diabetes mellitus (DM). METHODS: Three
      hundred consecutive patients who were smear positive for pulmonary tuberculosis
      or isolated pleural tuberculosis were enrolled in the study. Patients' age and
      smoking status (pack-years) were recorded. Patients were divided into two groups:
      those with and without DM. RESULTS: All patients enrolled in the study were male.
      Mean (+/- SD) patient age was 42.4 +/- 15.9 years. Of the 300 patients in the
      study, 48 had DM. There was no significant difference in the distribution of
      pulmonary tuberculosis and isolated pleural tuberculosis between patients with
      and without DM (P > 0.05). However, there was a significant difference in mean
      pack-years of smoking between patients with pulmonary tuberculosis and those with
      isolated pleural tuberculosis for all patients; patients with isolated pleural
      tuberculosis had a significantly lower number of pack-years of smoking (P < 
      0.05). CONCLUSION: Severe pulmonary involvement in DM patients may be due to
      smoking status.

PMID- 20929508
TI  - Relevance of insulin-like growth factor 2 in the etiopathophysiology of diabetic
      nephropathy: possible roles of phosphatase and tensin homolog on chromosome 10
      and secreted protein acidic and rich in cysteine as regulators of repair.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is a devastating complication of diabetes,
      the exact molecular pathophysiology of which is not well established.
      Hyperglycemia increases insulin-like growth factors (IGFs), especially IGF2,
      which acts via the IGF1 receptor present on renal cells. Elevated glucose levels
      damage the kidney, which is repaired by modulators such as secreted protein
      acidic and rich in cysteine (SPARC). Hence, it was hypothesized that IGF2 and
      SPARC may have an important role in the etiology of DN. METHODS: Human renal
      biopsies, histopathologically categorized as normal, early Type 2 diabetes
      mellitus (T2DM), or established DN, were analyzed for the localization and
      expression of IGF2, its negative regulator phosphatase and tensin homolog on
      chromosome 10 (PTEN), and SPARC. RESULTS: Expression of IGF2, PTEN, and SPARC was
      increased in renal biopsies from T2DM patients compared with normal samples.
      Although IGF2 protein was increased in biopsies from DN patients, PTEN and SPARC
      levels were decreased. Real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction
      indicated that transcript levels of IGF2 and PTEN were greater than those of beta
      actin in all human renal biopsy samples. CONCLUSION: The results suggest the
      following molecular etiopathophysiology of DN: (i) hyperglycemia upregulates
      IGF2, which initiates PTEN, a regulator of IGF2 signaling; (ii) loss of this IGF2
      PTEN feedback loop causes changes that are characteristic of DN; and (iii)
      lowered expression of the repair modulator SPARC results in the development
      and/or progression of DN. Hence, targeting relevant modulators, such as like
      IGF2, PTEN, and SPARC, may be important in the management of DN.

PMID- 20929509
TI  - Serum retinol-binding protein 4 is associated with insulin secretion in Chinese
      people with normal glucose tolerance.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Serum levels of retinol-binding protein 4 (RBP4) are associated with
      insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and may impact on beta
      cell function. Thus, the present study investigated the relationship between
      serum RBP4 and insulin secretion in Chinese people with and without T2DM.
      METHODS: A 75 g oral glucose tolerance test was administered to all 867 subjects
      and serum RBP4 concentrations were determined. Insulin secretion was assessed by
      DeltaI/DeltaG (increment in plasma insulin concentration/plasma glucose
      concentration 30 min after the oral administration of 75 g glucose) and the total
      area under the curve for insulin over 180 min (AUC-I). Magnetic resonance imaging
      was used to measure visceral fat area (VFA) at L4-L5; subjects with VFA >=80
      cm(2) were considered to have visceral obesity (VO). RESULTS: Serum RBP4
      concentrations were significantly higher in subjects with VO than without,
      regardless of the presence of T2DM. In addition, in the entire group with normal
      glucose tolerance (NGT), serum RBP4 was positively correlated with DeltaI/DeltaG
      (r = 0.152; P < 0.01) and AUC-I (r = 0.218; P < 0.01) after adjustment for
      gender. The correlation between RBP4 and DeltaI/DeltaG (r =  0.162; P < 0.05) and
      AUC-I (r = 0.195; P < 0.01) remained in NGT non-VO subjects. No correlation was
      found between serum RBP4 and DeltaI/DeltaG or AUC-I in T2DM patients. Stepwise
      multiple regression analysis showed that serum RBP4 is an independent factor that
      contributes to DeltaI/DeltaG (beta = 0.176) and AUC-I (beta = 0.204) in NGT non
      VO subjects. CONCLUSIONS: Serum RBP4 is correlated with glucose-stimulated
      insulin secretion in NGT non-VO subjects, but not in NGT VO subjects and T2DM
      patients.

PMID- 20929510
TI  - Leading the way: guidance to quality scientific reporting.

PMID- 20929511
TI  - Expression of concern.

PMID- 20929513
TI  - Ischemic priapism and implant surgery with sharp corporal fibrosis excision.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Prolonged ischemic priapism is commonly associated with severe
      erectile dysfunction. Subsequent implant surgery is complicated by fibrosis of
      corporal tissue. AIM: In this article we review clinical practice methods for
      safe and effective use of intracavernosal injection therapy as well as management
      of erectile dysfunction that may result from inappropriate priapism treatment.
      METHODS: A case report is presented followed by a review of literature addressing
      surgical techniques for penile prosthesis implantation in the setting of corporal
      fibrosis. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Review of literature and discussion of best
      practice management. RESULTS: Erectile dysfunction should be clearly
      distinguished from premature ejaculation. Careful training and monitoring of
      patients using penile self-injection therapy is essential for preventing episodes
      of priapism. Local injection clinics that are primarily motivated by financial
      considerations threaten the safe management of men with sexual dysfunction.
      Development of corporal fibrosis occurs during prolonged ischemic priapism and is
      duration-dependent. Implant surgeons should be familiar with maneuvers to address
      fibrotic corporal tissue.

PMID- 20929516
TI  - Responses to the proposed DSM-V changes.

PMID- 20929517
TI  - The DSM diagnostic criteria for Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder in men.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder (HSDD) is one of two sexual
      desire disorders in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
      (DSM) and is defined by two criteria: A-"persistently or recurrently deficient
      (or absent) sexual fantasies and desire for sexual activity" and B-"marked
      distress or interpersonal difficulty." AIM: This paper reviews the prevalence and
      correlates of low desire in men and qualitative and quantitative research on the
      experience of sexual desire in men and women. METHODS: A literature search of
      Medline, PudMed, and PsychInfo was used to identify any publication on low desire
      in men. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: The strength of empirical findings was used as a
      basis for making proposed revisions to the diagnostic criteria for HSDD in men.
      RESULTS: The dilemma of whether desire and arousal can be reliably differentiated
      in men is discussed, and parallels to the literature in women are drawn. Finally,
      I consider three options for the diagnosis of low desire in men for DSM-5. Option
      1 proposes that the DSM-IV-TR name and criteria are preserved for men in DSM-5.
      Option 2 proposes that the recently proposed criteria for Sexual Interest/Arousal
      Disorder in women are also adopted for men, which would result in one gender
      neutral category. Option 3 proposes that the criteria for Sexual Interest/Arousal
      Disorder also be applied to men, with a minor modification to one criterion
      (i.e., that absent or reduced genital and/or nongenital physical changes not be
      included as a criterion); this diagnosis would then be applied only to men.
      CONCLUSIONS: The evidence supporting each of these proposals is presented and
      critiqued. It is concluded that the proposal for DSM-5 should be made on the
      basis of field testing of new criteria.

PMID- 20929518
TI  - Highlights from the history of sexual medicine.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Today, we have a clear concept of sexual medicine and how to define
      this medical discipline. But historically, the unification of sexuality and
      medicine was not a given condition. Medicine was mainly focused on human
      reproduction and how to prevent and treat sexually transmitted diseases. Hardly
      any other aspect would have met the interest of medical doctors for centuries.
      METHODS: Historical review that can only highlight developments and milestones of
      sexual medicine and is not intended to be encyclopedic. RESULTS: Perhaps, the
      first true medicalization of sexuality was the dreadful anti-masturbation
      campaign led by doctors, beginning with Tissot, since the middle of the 18th
      century. In the 2nd half of the 19th century, first pioneers like the physician
      Paolo Mantagazza were systematically addressing issues related to human
      sexuality. This highly developing scientific field and medical community were
      destroyed after 1933 by the political influence of the national socialists in
      Europe. After World War II, a new era started with the works of Alfred Kinsey and
      other sexologists mainly in the United States of America. CONCLUSIONS: The term
      sexual medicine was established around 1970, most likely in Europe, and
      subsequently resulted in a new worldwide academic and clinical speciality.

PMID- 20929519
TI  - Predicting delay in presentation in men with Peyronie's disease.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Many men with Peyronie's disease (PD) delay presentation to a
      urologist. The reasons for this are unclear. AIM: To define the differences in
      men who present early compared to those presenting in a delayed fashion and to
      determine predictors of delayed presentation. METHODS: A retrospective analysis
      of all patients presenting for the first medical evaluation of PD. All patients
      underwent a standard history and physical examination and had a standardized
      deformity assessment. Demographic and PD parameters were recorded. MAIN OUTCOME
      MEASURES: Statistical comparison was used to define factors that were different
      between early and delayed presenters and multivariable analysis was used to
      define predictors of presentation >12 months. RESULTS: 482 patients were
      analyzed, 61% presenting <=12 months, 39% >12 months. Mean patient age was 52 +/-
      13 years and mean duration of PD was 17 +/- 30 months. Mean measured curvature
      was 42 degrees  +/- 19 degrees . Multivariable analysis revealed that delayed
      presentation patients were significantly more likely to be older (odds ratio [OR]
      = 4.0), to be in long-term relationships (OR = 3.6), to have dorsal curvature (OR
      = 2.5), to have curvature <45 degrees  (OR = 3.3), to be heterosexual (OR = 2.0),
      and to have simple deformity (OR = 1.5). CONCLUSIONS: One-third of men with PD
      presented in a delayed fashion and they tended to be older, to be in long-term
      relationships, to have dorsal curvature, or to have simple deformity.

PMID- 20929520
TI  - A letter to the editor on the article by Burri et al.

PMID- 20929523
TI  - Penile prostheses for the treatment for erectile dysfunction.

PMID- 20929524
TI  - Automatic, context-specific generation of Gene Ontology slims.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The use of ontologies to control vocabulary and structure annotation
      has added value to genome-scale data, and contributed to the capture and re-use
      of knowledge across research domains. Gene Ontology (GO) is widely used to
      capture detailed expert knowledge in genomic-scale datasets and as a consequence
      has grown to contain many terms, making it unwieldy for many applications. To
      increase its ease of manipulation and efficiency of use, subsets called GO slims
      are often created by collapsing terms upward into more general, high-level terms
      relevant to a particular context. Creation of a GO slim currently requires
      manipulation and editing of GO by an expert (or community) familiar with both the
      ontology and the biological context. Decisions about which terms to include are
      necessarily subjective, and the creation process itself and subsequent curation
      are time-consuming and largely manual. RESULTS: Here we present an objective
      framework for generating customised ontology slims for specific annotated
      datasets, exploiting information latent in the structure of the ontology graph
      and in the annotation data. This framework combines ontology engineering
      approaches, and a data-driven algorithm that draws on graph and information
      theory. We illustrate this method by application to GO, generating GO slims at
      different information thresholds, characterising their depth of semantics and
      demonstrating the resulting gains in statistical power. CONCLUSIONS: Our GO slim
      creation pipeline is available for use in conjunction with any GO-annotated
      dataset, and creates dataset-specific, objectively defined slims. This method is
      fast and scalable for application to other biomedical ontologies.

PMID- 20929525
TI  - Activated mammalian target of rapamycin is a potential therapeutic target in
      gastric cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) plays a key role in cellular
      growth and homeostasis. The purpose of our present study is to investigate the
      expression of activated mTOR (p-mTOR) in gastric cancer patients, their
      prognostic significance and the inhibition effect of RAD001 on tumor growth and
      to determine whether targeted inhibition of mTOR could be a potential therapeutic
      strategy for gastric cancer. METHODS: The expression of p-mTOR was detected in
      specimens of 181 gastric cancers who underwent radical resection (R0) by
      immunohistochemistry. The correlation of p-mTOR expression to clinicopathologic
      features and survival of gastric cancer was studied. We also determined the
      inhibition effect of RAD001 on tumor growth using BGC823 and AGS human gastric
      cancer cell lines. RESULTS: Immunostaining for p-mTOR was positive in 93 of 181
      (51.4%) gastric cancers, closely correlated with lymph node status and pTNM
      stage. Patients with p-mTOR positive showed significantly shorter disease-free
      survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) rates than those with p-mTOR-negative
      tumors in univariable analyses, and there was a trend toward a correlation
      between p-mTOR expression and survival in multivariable analyses. RAD001 markedly
      inhibited dose-dependently proliferation of human gastric carcinoma cells by down
      regulating expression of p70s6k, p-p70s6k, C-myc, CyclinD1 and Bcl-2, up
      regulating expression of P53. CONCLUSIONS: In gastric cancer, p-mTOR is a
      potential therapeutic target and RAD001 was a promising treatment agent with
      inducing cell cycle arrest and apoptosis by down-regulating expression of C-myc,
      CyclinD1 and Bcl-2, up-regulating expression of P53.

PMID- 20929526
TI  - Epigenetic modifications as key regulators of Waldenstrom's Macroglobulinemia
      biology.
AB  - Waldenstrom's Macroglobulinemia is a low-grade B-cell lymphoma characterized by
      the presence of lymphoplasmacytic cells in the bone marrow and a monoclonal
      immunoglobulin M in the circulation. Recent evidences support the hypothesis that
      epigenetic modifications lead to Waldesntrom cell proliferation and therefore
      play a crucial role in the pathogenesis of this disease. Indeed, while
      cytogenetic and gene expression analysis have demonstrated minimal changes;
      microRNA aberrations and modification in the histone acetylation status of
      primary Waldenstrom Macroglobulinemia tumor cells have been described. These
      findings provide a better understanding of the underlying molecular changes that
      lead to the initiation and progression of this disease.

PMID- 20929527
TI  - Imperforate anus with a rectovestibular fistula and pseudotail: a case report.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Human tails and pseudotails are rare sacrococcygeal lesions that
      are associated with a wide variety of anomalies and syndromes. Anorectal
      malformations are also relatively uncommon congenital defects that often occur in
      conjunction with syndromes or other congenital abnormalities. The anomalies
      associated with both disorders determine the timing and approach to surgical
      correction. We present an unusual case of a patient with both imperforate anus
      and a pseudotail in the absence of a syndrome or other associated anomalies and
      we emphasize the necessity of a thorough preoperative evaluation. CASE
      PRESENTATION: A Caucasian girl was born at term after an uncomplicated pregnancy
      and was noted at birth to have a skin-covered posterior midline mass and
      imperforate anus with a fistula to the vaginal vestibule. Ultrasound and magnetic
      resonance imaging revealed a predominately fatty lesion without presacral
      extension and ruled out associated spinal and cord abnormalities. The patient
      underwent diversion with colostomy and a mucous fistula in the newborn period as
      a fistulogram demonstrated a long fistulous tract to normal rectum and it was
      anticipated that anoplasty and resection of the mass would require extensive
      posterior dissection. The sacrococcygeal mass was removed during posterior
      sagittal anorectoplasty at the age of six weeks which was determined to be a
      pseudotail because of the composition of brown fat and cartilage. The patient is
      now 14 months old with normal bowel function after a colostomy takedown.
      CONCLUSION: A comprehensive preoperative assessment and thoughtful operative plan
      were necessary in this unusual case because of the extensive differential
      diagnosis for sacrococcygeal masses in the newborn and the frequency of anomalies
      and syndromes associated with tail variants and imperforate anus. The
      pediatricians and neonatologists who initially evaluate such patients and the
      surgeons who correct these disorders must be aware of the potential pitfalls in
      their management.

PMID- 20929528
TI  - Expression analysis of flavonoid biosynthesis genes during Arabidopsis thaliana
      silique and seed development with a primary focus on the proanthocyanidin
      biosynthetic pathway.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The coordinated activity of different flavonoid biosynthesis genes in
      Arabidopsis thaliana results in tissue-specific accumulation of flavonols,
      anthocyanins and proanthocyanidins (PAs). These compounds possess diverse
      functions in plants including light-attenuation and oxidative stress protection.
      Flavonoids accumulate in a stimulus- and/or development-dependent manner in
      specific parts of the plant. PAs accumulate in the seed coat (testa). FINDINGS:
      We describe the biological material and the preparation of total RNA for the
      AtGenExpress developmental silique and seed series. AtGenExpress ATH1 GeneChip
      expression data from the different stages were reanalyzed and verified using
      quantitative real time PCR (qPCR). We observed organ-specific transcript
      accumulation of specific flavonoid biosynthetic genes consistent with previously
      published data and our PA compound accumulation data. In addition, we
      investigated the regulation of PA accumulation in developing A. thaliana seeds by
      correlating gene expression patterns of specific flavonoid biosynthesis genes
      with different seed embryonic developmental stages and organs and present two
      useful marker genes for isolated valve and replum organs, as well as one seed
      specific marker. CONCLUSIONS: Potential caveats of array-based expression data
      are discussed based on comparisons with qPCR data. Results from ATH1 microarray
      and qPCR experiments revealed a shift in gene activity from general flavonoid
      biosynthesis at early stages of seed development to PA synthesis at late (mature)
      stages of embryogenesis. The examined PA accumulation-associated genes, including
      biosynthetic and regulatory genes, were found to be exclusively expressed in
      immature seeds. Accumulation of PAs initiates at the early heart stage of silique
      and seed development. Our findings provide new insights for further studies
      targeting the PA pathway in seeds.

PMID- 20929529
TI  - Cardiovascular risk profile: cross-sectional analysis of motivational
      determinants, physical fitness and physical activity.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular risk factors are associated with physical fitness and,
      to a lesser extent, physical activity. Lifestyle interventions directed at
      enhancing physical fitness in order to decrease the risk of cardiovascular
      diseases should be extended. To enable the development of effective lifestyle
      interventions for people with cardiovascular risk factors, we investigated
      motivational, social-cognitive determinants derived from the Theory of Planned
      Behavior (TPB) and other relevant social psychological theories, next to physical
      activity and physical fitness. METHODS: In the cross-sectional Utrecht Police
      Lifestyle Intervention Fitness and Training (UP-LIFT) study, 1298 employees (aged
      18 to 62) were asked to complete online questionnaires regarding social-cognitive
      variables and physical activity. Cardiovascular risk factors and physical fitness
      (peak VO2) were measured. RESULTS: For people with one or more cardiovascular
      risk factors (78.7% of the total population), social-cognitive variables
      accounted for 39% (p < .001) of the variance in the intention to engage in
      physical activity for 60 minutes every day. Important correlates of intention to
      engage in physical activity were attitude (beta = .225, p < .001), self-efficacy
      (beta = .271, p < .001), descriptive norm (beta = .172, p < .001) and barriers
      (beta = -.169, p < .01). Social-cognitive variables accounted for 52% (p < .001)
      of the variance in physical active behaviour (being physical active for 60
      minutes every day). The intention to engage in physical activity (beta = .469, p
      < .001) and self-efficacy (beta = .243, p < .001) were, in turn, important
      correlates of physical active behavior.In addition to the prediction of intention
      to engage in physical activity and physical active behavior, we explored the
      impact of the intensity of physical activity. The intensity of physical activity
      was only significantly related to physical active behavior (beta = .253, p < .01,
      R2 = .06, p < .001). An important goal of our study was to investigate the
      relationship between physical fitness, the intensity of physical activity and
      social-cognitive variables. Physical fitness (R2 = .23, p < .001) was positively
      associated with physical active behavior (beta = .180, p < .01), self-efficacy
      (beta = .180, p < .01) and the intensity of physical activity (beta = .238, p <
      .01).For people with one or more cardiovascular risk factors, 39.9% had positive
      intentions to engage in physical activity and were also physically active, and
      10.5% had a low intentions but were physically active. 37.7% had low intentions
      and were physically inactive, and about 11.9% had high intentions but were
      physically inactive. CONCLUSIONS: This study contributes to our ability to
      optimize cardiovascular risk profiles by demonstrating an important association
      between physical fitness and social-cognitive variables. Physical fitness can be
      predicted by physical active behavior as well as by self-efficacy and the
      intensity of physical activity, and the latter by physical active
      behavior.Physical active behavior can be predicted by intention, self-efficacy,
      descriptive norms and barriers. Intention to engage in physical activity by
      attitude, self-efficacy, descriptive norms and barriers. An important input for
      lifestyle changes for people with one or more cardiovascular risk factors was
      that for ca. 40% of the population the intention to engage in physical activity
      was in line with their actual physical active behavior.

PMID- 20929530
TI  - Production of haploids and doubled haploids in oil palm.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Oil palm is the world's most productive oil-food crop despite
      yielding well below its theoretical maximum. This maximum could be approached
      with the introduction of elite F1 varieties. The development of such elite lines
      has thus far been prevented by difficulties in generating homozygous parental
      types for F1 generation. RESULTS: Here we present the first high-throughput
      screen to identify spontaneously-formed haploid (H) and doubled haploid (DH)
      palms. We secured over 1,000 Hs and one DH from genetically diverse material and
      derived further DH/mixoploid palms from Hs using colchicine. We demonstrated
      viability of pollen from H plants and expect to generate 100% homogeneous F1 seed
      from intercrosses between DH/mixoploids once they develop female inflorescences.
      CONCLUSIONS: This study has generated genetically diverse H/DH palms from which
      parental clones can be selected in sufficient numbers to enable the commercial
      scale breeding of F1 varieties. The anticipated step increase in productivity may
      help to relieve pressure to extend palm cultivation, and limit further expansion
      into biodiverse rainforest.

PMID- 20929531
TI  - Successful treatment of Fusarium solani ecthyma gangrenosum in a patient affected
      by leukocyte adhesion deficiency type 1 with granulocytes transfusions.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Ecthyma gangrenosum (EG) manifests as a skin lesion affecting
      patients suffering extreme neutropenia and is commonly associated with
      Pseudomonas aeruginosa in immunocompromised patients. Leukocyte adhesion
      deficiency I (LAD I) which count among primary immunodeficiency syndromes of the
      innate immunity, is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized in its severe
      phenotype by a complete defect in CD18 expression on neutrophils, delayed cord
      separation, chronic skin ulcers mainly due to recurrent bacterial and fungal
      infections, leucocytosis with high numbers of circulating neutrophils and an
      accumulation of abnormally low number of neutrophils at sites of infection. CASE
      PRESENTATION: We report at our knowledge the first case of a child affected by
      LAD-1, who experienced during her disease course a multi-bacterial and fungal EG
      lesion caused by fusarium solani. Despite targeted antibiotics and anti-fungi
      therapy, the lesion extended for as long as 18 months and only massive
      granulocytes pockets transfusions in association with G-CSF had the capacity to
      cure this lesion. CONCLUSION: We propose that granulocytes pockets transfusions
      will be beneficial to heal EG especially in severely immunocompromised patients.

PMID- 20929533
TI  - The parenting attitudes and the stress of mothers predict the asthmatic severity
      of their children: a prospective study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To examine relationships between a mother's stress-related conditions
      and parenting attitudes and their children's asthmatic status. METHODS: 274
      mothers of an asthmatic child 2 to 12 years old completed a questionnaire
      including questions about their chronic stress/coping behaviors (the "Stress
      Inventory"), parenting attitudes (the "Ta-ken Diagnostic Test for Parent-Child
      Relationship, Parent Form"), and their children's disease status. One year later,
      a follow-up questionnaire was mailed to the mothers that included questions on
      the child's disease status. RESULTS: 223 mothers (81%) responded to the follow-up
      survey. After controlling for non-psychosocial factors including disease severity
      at baseline, multiple linear regression analysis followed by multiple logistic
      regression analysis found chronic irritation/anger and emotional suppression to
      be aggravating factors for children aged < 7 years; for children aged 7 and over,
      the mothers' egocentric behavior was a mitigating factor while interference was
      an aggravating factor. CONCLUSIONS: Different types of parental stress/coping
      behaviors and parenting styles may differently predict their children's asthmatic
      status, and such associations may change as children grow.

PMID- 20929532
TI  - Nutritional and herbal supplements for anxiety and anxiety-related disorders:
      systematic review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Over the past several decades, complementary and alternative
      medications have increasingly become a part of everyday treatment. With the
      rising cost of prescription medications and their production of unwanted side
      effects, patients are exploring herbal and other natural remedies for the
      management and treatment of psychological conditions. Psychological disorders are
      one of the most frequent conditions seen by clinicians, and often require a long
      term regimen of prescription medications. Approximately 6.8 million Americans
      suffer from generalized anxiety disorder. Many also suffer from the spectrum of
      behavioural and physical side effects that often accompany its treatment. It is
      not surprising that there is universal interest in finding effective natural
      anxiolytic (anti-anxiety) treatments with a lower risk of adverse effects or
      withdrawal. METHODS: An electronic and manual search was performed through
      MEDLINE/PubMed and EBSCO. Articles were not discriminated by date of publication.
      Available clinical studies published in English that used human participants and
      examined the anxiolytic potential of dietary and herbal supplements were
      included. Data were extracted and compiled into tables that included the study
      design, sample population, intervention, control, length of treatment, outcomes,
      direction of evidence, and reported adverse events. RESULTS: A total of 24
      studies that investigated five different CAM monotherapies and eight different
      combination treatments and involved 2619 participants met the inclusion criteria
      and were analyzed. There were 21 randomized controlled trials and three open
      label, uncontrolled observational studies. Most studies involved patients who had
      been diagnosed with either an anxiety disorder or depression (n = 1786). However,
      eight studies used healthy volunteers (n = 877) who had normal levels of anxiety,
      were undergoing surgery, tested at the upper limit of the normal range of a trait
      anxiety scale, had adverse premenstrual symptoms or were peri-menopausal,
      reported anxiety and insomnia, or had one month or more of elevated generalized
      anxiety. Heterogeneity and the small number of studies for each supplement or
      combination therapy prevented a formal meta-analysis. Of the randomized
      controlled trials reviewed, 71% (15 out of 21) showed a positive direction of
      evidence. Any reported side effects were mild to moderate. CONCLUSIONS: Based on
      the available evidence, it appears that nutritional and herbal supplementation is
      an effective method for treating anxiety and anxiety-related conditions without
      the risk of serious side effects. There is the possibility that any positive
      effects seen could be due to a placebo effect, which may have a significant
      psychological impact on participants with mental disorders. However, based on
      this systematic review, strong evidence exists for the use of herbal supplements
      containing extracts of passionflower or kava and combinations of L-lysine and L
      arginine as treatments for anxiety symptoms and disorders. Magnesium-containing
      supplements and other herbal combinations may hold promise, but more research is
      needed before these products can be recommended to patients. St. John's wort
      monotherapy has insufficient evidence for use as an effective anxiolytic
      treatment.

PMID- 20929534
TI  - Rheumatoid arthritis patients receive less frequent acute reperfusion and
      secondary prevention therapy after myocardial infarction compared with the
      general population.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The 30-day case-fatality rate after acute myocardial infarction
      (MI) for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients is twice that of the general
      population. This study compared the frequency and timeliness of early reperfusion
      therapy and treatment with secondary prevention medications after acute MI in RA
      patients and controls. METHODS: We performed a structured medical chart review of
      RA patients and matched controls who had been admitted with acute MI to one of
      three hospitals in Victoria, Australia, between 1995 and 2005. The administration
      and timing of acute reperfusion therapy and in-hospital treatment with secondary
      prevention medications were compared between the two groups. Acute reperfusion
      was defined as thrombolysis or percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) within 12
      hours of the first symptom of MI. RESULTS: The medical charts of 90 RA patients
      and 90 matched controls were reviewed. The RA patients were significantly less
      likely to receive acute reperfusion compared with the controls (16% versus 37%:
      odds ratio (OR), 0.27; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.10 to 0.64)), and this
      difference persisted after adjusting for type of MI, clinical setting of MI, and
      prior MI (OR, 0.2; 95% CI, 0.05 to 0.6). The RA patients also received less
      frequent in-hospital treatment with beta blockers (71% versus 83%; OR, 0.42; 95%
      CI, 0.18 to 0.96) and lipid-lowering agents (40% versus 70%; OR, 0.21; 95% CI,
      0.09 to 0.46). CONCLUSIONS: RA patients who experience acute MI receive acute
      reperfusion and secondary prevention medications less frequently than do
      controls. This may contribute to higher case-fatality rates after MI in RA
      patients.

PMID- 20929535
TI  - The modulation of auditory novelty processing by working memory load in school
      age children and adults: a combined behavioral and event-related potential study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We investigated the processing of task-irrelevant and unexpected
      novel sounds and its modulation by working-memory load in children aged 9-10 and
      in adults. Environmental sounds (novels) were embedded amongst frequently
      presented standard sounds in an auditory-visual distraction paradigm. Each sound
      was followed by a visual target. In two conditions, participants evaluated the
      position of a visual stimulus (0-back, low load) or compared the position of the
      current stimulus with the one two trials before (2-back, high load). Processing
      of novel sounds were measured with reaction times, hit rates and the auditory
      event-related brain potentials (ERPs) Mismatch Negativity (MMN), P3a, Reorienting
      Negativity (RON) and visual P3b. RESULTS: In both memory load conditions novels
      impaired task performance in adults whereas they improved performance in
      children. Auditory ERPs reflect age-related differences in the time-window of the
      MMN as children showed a positive ERP deflection to novels whereas adults lack an
      MMN. The attention switch towards the task irrelevant novel (reflected by P3a)
      was comparable between the age groups. Adults showed more efficient reallocation
      of attention (reflected by RON) under load condition than children. Finally, the
      P3b elicited by the visual target stimuli was reduced in both age groups when the
      preceding sound was a novel. CONCLUSION: Our results give new insights in the
      development of novelty processing as they (1) reveal that task-irrelevant novel
      sounds can result in contrary effects on the performance in a visual primary task
      in children and adults, (2) show a positive ERP deflection to novels rather than
      an MMN in children, and (3) reveal effects of auditory novels on visual target
      processing.

PMID- 20929536
TI  - Rheumatoid synovial fluid interleukin-17-producing CD4 T cells have abundant
      tumor necrosis factor-alpha co-expression, but little interleukin-22 and
      interleukin-23R expression.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Th17 cells have been implicated in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid
      arthritis (RA). The aim of this study was to systematically analyse the
      phenotype, cytokine profile and frequency of interleukin-17 (IL-17) producing CD4
      positive T cells in mononuclear cells isolated from peripheral blood, synovial
      fluid and synovial tissue of RA patients with established disease, and to
      correlate cell frequencies with disease activity. METHODS: Flow cytometry was
      used to analyse the phenotype and cytokine production of mononuclear cells
      isolated from peripheral blood (PBMC) (n = 44), synovial fluid (SFMC) (n = 14)
      and synovium (SVMC) (n = 10) of RA patients and PBMC of healthy controls (n =
      13). RESULTS: The frequency of IL-17-producing CD4 T cells was elevated in RA
      SFMC compared with RA PBMC (P = 0.04). However, the frequency of this population
      in RA SVMC was comparable to that in paired RA PBMC. The percentage of IL-17
      producing CD4 T cells coexpressing tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFalpha) was
      significantly increased in SFMC (P = 0.0068). The frequency of IFNgamma-producing
      CD4 T cells was also significantly higher in SFMC than paired PBMC (P = 0.042).
      The majority of IL-17-producing CD4 T cells coexpressed IFNgamma. IL-17-producing
      CD4 T cells in RA PBMC and SFMC exhibited very little IL-22 or IL-23R
      coexpression. CONCLUSIONS: These findings demonstrate a modest enrichment of IL
      17-producing CD4 T cells in RA SFMC compared to PBMC. Th17 cells in SFMC produce
      more TNFalpha than their PBMC counterparts, but are not a significant source of
      IL-22 and do not express IL-23R. However, the percentage of CD4 T cells which
      produce IL-17 in the rheumatoid joint is low, suggesting that other cells may be
      alternative sources of IL-17 within the joints of RA patients.

PMID- 20929539
TI  - Simultaneous detection and differentiation by multiplex real time RT-PCR of
      highly pathogenic avian influenza subtype H5N1 classic (clade 2.2.1 proper) and
      escape mutant (clade 2.2.1 variant) lineages in Egypt.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The endemic status of highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAIV)
      of subtype H5N1 in Egypt continues to devastate the local poultry industry and
      poses a permanent threat for human health. Several genetically and antigenically
      distinct H5N1 lineages co-circulate in Egypt: Strains of clade 2.2.1 proper
      replicate mainly in backyard birds causing the bulk of human infections, while a
      variant lineage within 2.2.1 (2.2.1 v) appears to be perpetuated mainly in
      commercial poultry farms in Egypt. Viruses of the 2.2.1 v lineage represent drift
      variants escaping from conventional vaccine-induced immunity and some of these
      strains also escaped detection by commercial real time reverse transcriptase PCR
      (RT-qPCR) protocols due to mismatches in the primers/probe binding sites.
      RESULTS: We developed therefore a versatile, sensitive and lineage-specific
      multiplex RT-qPCR for detection and typing of H5N1 viruses in Egypt. Analytical
      characterization was carried out using 50 Egyptian HPAIV H5N1 strains isolated
      since 2006 and 45 other avian influenza viruses (AIV). A detection limit of 400
      cRNA copies per ml sample matrix was found. Higher diagnostic sensitivity of the
      multiplex assay in comparison to other generic H5 or M-gene based RT-qPCR assays
      were found by examination of 63 swab samples from experimentally infected
      chickens and 50 AIV-positive swab samples from different host species in the
      field in Egypt. CONCLUSIONS: The new multiplex RT-qPCR assay could be useful for
      rapid high-throughput monitoring for the presence of HPAIV H5N1 in commercial
      poultry in Egypt. It may also aid in prospective epidemiological studies to
      further delineate and better control spread of HPAIV H5N1 in Egypt.

PMID- 20929538
TI  - Cardiovascular magnetic resonance at 3.0 T: current state of the art.
AB  - There are advantages to conducting cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR)
      studies at a field strength of 3.0 Telsa, including the increase in bulk
      magnetization, the increase in frequency separation of off-resonance spins, and
      the increase in T1 of many tissues. However, there are significant challenges to
      routinely performing CMR at 3.0 T, including the reduction in main magnetic field
      homogeneity, the increase in RF power deposition, and the increase in
      susceptibility-based artifacts.In this review, we outline the underlying physical
      effects that occur when imaging at higher fields, examine the practical results
      these effects have on the CMR applications, and examine methods used to
      compensate for these effects. Specifically, we will review cine imaging, MR
      coronary angiography, myocardial perfusion imaging, late gadolinium enhancement,
      and vascular wall imaging.

PMID- 20929540
TI  - Prediction of global left ventricular functional recovery in patients with heart
      failure undergoing surgical revascularisation, based on late gadolinium
      enhancement cardiovascular magnetic resonance.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The new gold standard for myocardial viability assessment is late
      gadolinium enhancement-cardiovascular magnetic resonance (LGE-CMR); this
      technique has demonstrated that the transmural extent of scar predicts segmental
      functional recovery. We now asked how the number of viable and number of
      viable+normal, segments predicted recovery of global left ventricular (LV)
      function in patients undergoing CABG. Finally, we examined which segmental
      transmural threshold of scarring best predicted global LV recovery. METHODS AND
      RESULTS: Fifty patients with reduced LV ejection fraction (EF) referred for CABG
      were recruited, and 33 included in this analysis. Patients underwent CMR to
      assess LV function and viability pre-operatively at 6 days and 6 months. Mean
      LVEF 38% +/- 11, which improved to 43% +/- 12 after surgery. 21/33 patients
      improved EF by >=3% (EF before 38% +/- 13, after 47% +/- 13), 12/33 did not (EF
      before 39% +/- 6, after 37% +/- 8). The only independent predictor for global
      functional recovery after revascularisation was the number of viable+normal
      segments: Based on a segmental transmural viability cutoff of <50%, ROC analysis
      demonstrated >=10 viable+normal segments predicted >=3% improvement in LVEF with
      a sensitivity of 95% and specificity of 75% (AUC = 0.9, p < 0.001). Transmural
      viability cutoffs of <25 and <75% and a cutoff of >=4 viable segments were less
      useful predictors of global LV recovery. CONCLUSIONS: Based on a 50% transmural
      viability cutoff, patients with >=10 viable+normal segments improve global LV
      function post revascularisation, while patients with fewer such segments do not.
      LGE-CMR is a simple and powerful tool for identifying which patients with
      impaired LV function will benefit from CABG. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Research Ethics
      Committee Unique Identifier: NRES:05/Q1603/42. The study is listed on the Current
      Controlled Trials Registry: ISRCTN41388968.URL: http://www.controlled-trials.com.

PMID- 20929541
TI  - Expression and function of human hemokinin-1 in human and guinea pig airways.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Human hemokinin-1 (hHK-1) and endokinins are peptides of the
      tachykinin family encoded by the TAC4 gene. TAC4 and hHK-1 expression as well as
      effects of hHK-1 in the lung and airways remain however unknown and were explored
      in this study. METHODS: RT-PCR analysis was performed on human bronchi to assess
      expression of tachykinin and tachykinin receptors genes. Enzyme immunoassay was
      used to quantify hHK-1, and effects of hHK-1 and endokinins on contraction of
      human and guinea pig airways were then evaluated, as well as the role of hHK-1 on
      cytokines production by human lung parenchyma or bronchi explants and by lung
      macrophages. RESULTS: In human bronchi, expression of the genes that encode for
      hHK-1, tachykinin NK1-and NK2-receptors was demonstrated. hHK-1 protein was found
      in supernatants from explants of human bronchi, lung parenchyma and lung
      macrophages. Exogenous hHK-1 caused a contractile response in human bronchi
      mainly through the activation of NK2-receptors, which blockade unmasked a NK1
      receptor involvement, subject to a rapid desensitization. In the guinea pig
      trachea, hHK-1 caused a concentration-dependant contraction mainly mediated
      through the activation of NK1-receptors. Endokinin A/B exerted similar effects to
      hHK-1 on both human bronchi and guinea pig trachea, whereas endokinins C and D
      were inactive. hHK-1 had no impact on the production of cytokines by explants of
      human bronchi or lung parenchyma, or by human lung macrophages. CONCLUSIONS: We
      demonstrate endogenous expression of TAC4 in human bronchi, the encoded peptide
      hHK-1 being expressed and involved in contraction of human and guinea pig
      airways.

PMID- 20929542
TI  - Differential interleukin-6/Stat3 signaling as a function of cellular context
      mediates Ras-induced transformation.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Tyrosine phosphorylated signal transducer and activator of
      transcription 3 (pStat3) is present in numerous cancers and is required for
      mediating tumorigenesis. Autocrine and paracrine interleukin (IL)-6 signaling is
      the principal mechanism by which Stat3 is persistently phosphorylated in
      epithelial tumors including breast, lung, colon and gastric cancer. The Ras
      oncogene mediates cellular transformation without evidence of pStat3 in cultured
      cells. Recently, however non-tyrosine phosphorylated Stat3 was shown to have a
      transcriptional activating function, a role in mitochondrial function and to
      mediate cell migration.. Here we examined the role of Stat3 in Ras mediated
      transformation. METHODS: Ha-rasV12 transformed mammary epithelial cells (MCF10A)
      cells were transduced with a Stat3shRNA, IL-6shRNA and/or treated with inhibitors
      of Janus kinases (JAKs) to examine the role of the IL-6 signaling pathway in Ras
      mediated invasion and tumorigenesis. RESULTS: Cellular migration, invasion,
      anchorage independent growth and tumorigenesis were largely abrogated in the
      Stat3-reduced cells compared to control cells. Analysis of MCF10A-Ras tumors
      revealed high levels of pStat3 and interleukin-6. Tumors derived from transgenic
      MMTV-K-Ras mice were also found to express pStat3 and IL-6. MCF10A-Ras cells,
      when grown in a three-dimensional Matrigel culture system revealed the appearance
      of the junctional protein E-Cadherin as a consequence of reducing Stat3 levels or
      inhibiting Stat3 activity. Decreasing IL-6 levels in the MCF10A-Ras cells
      abrogated tumorigenesis and reduced cell migration. By isolating Ras-expressing
      primary tumors and serially passaging these cells in two-dimensional culture led
      to a decrease in IL-6 and pStat3 levels with the reappearance of E-Cadherin.
      CONCLUSIONS: The cellular and environmental context can lead to differential IL
      6/pStat3 signaling and a dependency on this cytokine and transcription factor for
      migration, invasion and tumorigenesis.

PMID- 20929543
TI  - Multi-analyte profiling of ten cytokines in South African HIV-infected patients
      with Immune Reconstitution Inflammatory Syndrome (IRIS).
AB  - BACKGROUND: Immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome (IRIS) is an important
      complication of HAART in sub-Saharan Africa, where opportunistic infections (OIs)
      including mycobacteria and cryptococcus are common. The immune system's role in
      HIV infected patients is complex with cytokine expression strongly influencing
      HIV infection and replication. METHODS: We determined the expression patterns of
      10 cytokines by Luminex multi-analyte profiling in 17 IRIS nested case-control
      pairs participating in a prospective South African cohort initiating anti
      retroviral therapy. RESULTS: Interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) expression was
      significantly elevated in IRIS cases compared to controls (median 9.88 pg/ml
      versus 2.68 pg/ml, respectively, P = 0.0057), while other cytokines displayed non
      significant differences in expression. Significant correlation was observed
      between IL-6, IL-10, and IFN-gamma expression in the IRIS patients. CONCLUSIONS:
      Significantly increased expression levels of IFN-gamma suggest that this cytokine
      possibly plays a role in IRIS pathology and is a potential diagnostic marker.

PMID- 20929544
TI  - Emergency intraosseous access in a helicopter emergency medical service: a
      retrospective study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Intraosseous access (IO) is a method for providing vascular access in
      out-of-hospital resuscitation of critically ill and injured patients when
      traditional intravenous access is difficult or impossible. Different intraosseous
      techniques have been used by our Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS)
      since 2003. Few articles document IO use by HEMS physicians. The aim of this
      study was to evaluate the use of intraosseous access in pre-hospital emergency
      situations handled by our HEMS. METHODS: We reviewed all medical records from the
      period May 2003 to April 2010, and compared three different techniques: Bone
      Injection Gun (B.I.G(r) - Waismed), manual bone marrow aspiration needle (Inter V
      - Medical Device Technologies) and EZ-IO(r) (Vidacare), used on both adults and
      paediatric patients. RESULTS: During this seven-year period, 78 insertion
      attempts were made on 70 patients. Overall success rates were 50% using the
      manual needle, 55% using the Bone Injection Gun, and 96% using the EZ-IO(r).
      Rates of success on first attempt were significantly higher using the EZ-IO(r)
      compared to the manual needle/Bone Injection Gun (p < 0.01/p < 0.001). Fifteen
      failures were due to insertion-related problems (19.2%), with four technical
      problems (5.1%) and three extravasations (3.8%) being the most frequent causes.
      Intraosseous access was primarily used in connection with 53 patients in cardiac
      arrest (75.7%), including traumatic arrest, drowning and SIDS. Other diagnoses
      were seven patients with multi-trauma (10.0%), five with seizures/epilepsy
      (7.1%), three with respiratory failure (4.3%) and two others (2.9%). Nearly one
      third of all insertions (n = 22) were made in patients younger than two years. No
      cases of osteomyelitis or other serious complications were documented on the
      follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Newer intraosseous techniques may enable faster and more
      reliable vascular access, and this can lower the threshold for intraosseous
      access on both adult and paediatric patients in critical situations. We believe
      that all emergency services that handle critically ill or injured paediatric and
      adult patients should be familiar with intraosseous techniques.

PMID- 20929545
TI  - Genetic modification of Bluetongue virus by uptake of "synthetic" genome
      segments.
AB  - Since 1998, several serotypes of Bluetongue virus (BTV) have invaded several
      southern European countries. In 2006, the unknown BTV serotype 8 (BTV8/net06)
      unexpectedly invaded North-West Europe and has resulted in the largest BT
      outbreak ever recorded. More recently, in 2008 BTV serotype 6 was reported in The
      Netherlands and Germany. This virus, BTV6/net08, is closely related to modified
      live vaccine virus serotype 6, except for genome segment S10. This genome segment
      is closer related to that of vaccine virus serotype 2, and therefore BTV6/net08
      is considered as a result of reassortment. Research on orbiviruses has been
      hampered by the lack of a genetic modification method. Recently, reverse genetics
      has been developed for BTV based on ten in vitro synthesized genomic RNAs. Here,
      we describe a targeted single-gene modification system for BTV based on the
      uptake of a single in vitro synthesized viral positive-stranded RNA. cDNAs
      corresponding to BTV8/net06 genome segments S7 and S10 were obtained by gene
      synthesis and cloned downstream of the T7 RNA-polymerase promoter and upstream of
      a unique site for a restriction enzyme at the 3'-terminus for run-off
      transcription. Monolayers of BSR cells were infected by BTV6/net08, and
      subsequently transfected with purified in vitro synthesized, capped positive
      stranded S7 or S10 RNA from BTV8/net06 origin. "Synthetic" reassortants were
      rescued by endpoint dilutions, and identified by serotype-specific PCR-assays for
      segment 2, and serogroup-specific PCRs followed by restriction enzyme analysis or
      sequencing for S7 and S10 segments. The targeted single-gene modification system
      can also be used to study functions of viral proteins by uptake of mutated genome
      segments. This method is also useful to generate mutant orbiviruses for other
      serogroups of the genus Orbivirus for which reverse genetics has not been
      developed yet.

PMID- 20929546
TI  - Phagocytosis and LPS alter the maturation state of beta-amyloid precursor protein
      and induce different Abeta peptide release signatures in human mononuclear
      phagocytes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The classic neuritic beta-amyloid plaque of Alzheimer's disease (AD)
      is typically associated with activated microglia and neuroinflammation.
      Similarly, cerebrovascular beta-amyloid (Abeta) deposits are surrounded by
      perivascular macrophages. Both observations indicate a contribution of the
      mononuclear phagocyte system to the development of beta-amyloid. METHODS: Human
      CD14-positive mononuclear phagocytes were isolated from EDTA-anticoagulated blood
      by magnetic activated cell sorting. After a cultivation period of 72 hours in
      serum-free medium we assessed the protein levels of amyloid precursor protein
      (APP) as well as the patterns and the amounts of released Abeta peptides by ELISA
      or one-dimensional and two-dimensional urea-based SDS-PAGE followed by western
      immunoblotting. RESULTS: We observed strong and significant increases in Abeta
      peptide release upon phagocytosis of acetylated low density lipoprotein (acLDL)
      or polystyrene beads and also after activation of the CD14/TLR4 pathway by
      stimulation with LPS. The proportion of released N-terminally truncated Abeta
      variants was increased after stimulation with polystyrene beads and acLDL but not
      after stimulation with LPS. Furthermore, strong shifts in the proportions of
      single Abeta1-40 and Abeta2-40 variants were detected resulting in a stimulus
      specific Abeta signature. The increased release of Abeta peptides was accompanied
      by elevated levels of full length APP in the cells. The maturation state of APP
      was correlated with the release of N-terminally truncated Abeta peptides.
      CONCLUSIONS: These findings indicate that mononuclear phagocytes potentially
      contribute to the various N-truncated Abeta variants found in AD beta-amyloid
      plaques, especially under neuroinflammatory conditions.

PMID- 20929548
TI  - The role of non-governmental organisations in the management of separated and
      unaccompanied children, following disasters in Iran.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Following disasters, separated and unaccompanied children are among
      the most vulnerable, therefore international organisations have formed guidelines
      regarding the management of these children. Guidelines include recommendations
      for identifying and registering children, tracing family members, reunification
      and arrangements for interim and durable care. There is a lack of experiential
      evidence on how these principles are put into practice at operational levels, and
      whether existing policies were useful. There is a particular lack of empirical
      evidence from the disaster prone country of Iran. The aim of this study was to
      describe the role of Non- Governmental Organisations (NGOs) in the management of
      separated and unaccompanied children, following disasters in Iran in order to
      plan for and provision of future disasters. FINDINGS: The Iranian Red Crescent
      Organisation, Committee Emdad Imam Khomeini (a national organisation unique to
      Iran that is protected by the government and supported by public contributions)
      and Behzisti (the government welfare organisation in Iran) are the main figures
      involved in the management of separated and unaccompanied children, following
      disasters in Iran. NGOs are rarely responsible for caring for unaccompanied
      children, however they provide valuable support including financial assistance,
      arrangement of educational and extra-curricular activities and psychosocial
      support. Following the initial chaos after the Bam earthquake, international
      guidelines on separated and unaccompanied children were largely followed.
      CONCLUSIONS: Systems for managing separated and unaccompanied children following
      disasters in Iran, involving NGOs, are emerging. However, most are yet to be
      formalised.

PMID- 20929547
TI  - Genome-wide analysis of host-chromosome binding sites for Epstein-Barr Virus
      Nuclear Antigen 1 (EBNA1).
AB  - The Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) Nuclear Antigen 1 (EBNA1) protein is required for
      the establishment of EBV latent infection in proliferating B-lymphocytes. EBNA1
      is a multifunctional DNA-binding protein that stimulates DNA replication at the
      viral origin of plasmid replication (OriP), regulates transcription of viral and
      cellular genes, and tethers the viral episome to the cellular chromosome. EBNA1
      also provides a survival function to B-lymphocytes, potentially through its
      ability to alter cellular gene expression. To better understand these various
      functions of EBNA1, we performed a genome-wide analysis of the viral and cellular
      DNA sites associated with EBNA1 protein in a latently infected Burkitt lymphoma B
      cell line. Chromatin-immunoprecipitation (ChIP) combined with massively parallel
      deep-sequencing (ChIP-Seq) was used to identify cellular sites bound by EBNA1.
      Sites identified by ChIP-Seq were validated by conventional real-time PCR, and
      ChIP-Seq provided quantitative, high-resolution detection of the known EBNA1
      binding sites on the EBV genome at OriP and Qp. We identified at least one
      cluster of unusually high-affinity EBNA1 binding sites on chromosome 11, between
      the divergent FAM55 D and FAM55B genes. A consensus for all cellular EBNA1
      binding sites is distinct from those derived from the known viral binding sites,
      suggesting that some of these sites are indirectly bound by EBNA1. EBNA1 also
      bound close to the transcriptional start sites of a large number of cellular
      genes, including HDAC3, CDC7, and MAP3K1, which we show are positively regulated
      by EBNA1. EBNA1 binding sites were enriched in some repetitive elements,
      especially LINE 1 retrotransposons, and had weak correlations with histone
      modifications and ORC binding. We conclude that EBNA1 can interact with a large
      number of cellular genes and chromosomal loci in latently infected cells, but
      that these sites are likely to represent a complex ensemble of direct and
      indirect EBNA1 binding sites.

PMID- 20929550
TI  - The Rg1 allele as a valuable tool for genetic transformation of the tomato 'Micro
      Tom' model system.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The cultivar Micro-Tom (MT) is regarded as a model system for tomato
      genetics due to its short life cycle and miniature size. However, efforts to
      improve tomato genetic transformation have led to protocols dependent on the
      costly hormone zeatin, combined with an excessive number of steps. RESULTS: Here
      we report the development of a MT near-isogenic genotype harboring the allele Rg1
      (MT-Rg1), which greatly improves tomato in vitro regeneration. Regeneration was
      further improved in MT by including a two-day incubation of cotyledonary explants
      onto medium containing 0.4 MUM 1-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) before cytokinin
      treatment. Both strategies allowed the use of 5 MUM 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP), a
      cytokinin 100 times less expensive than zeatin. The use of MT-Rg1 and NAA pre
      incubation, followed by BAP regeneration, resulted in high transformation
      frequencies (near 40%), in a shorter protocol with fewer steps, spanning
      approximately 40 days from Agrobacterium infection to transgenic plant
      acclimatization. CONCLUSIONS: The genetic resource and the protocol presented
      here represent invaluable tools for routine gene expression manipulation and high
      throughput functional genomics by insertional mutagenesis in tomato.

PMID- 20929549
TI  - Possible association of norepinephrine transporter -3081(A/T) polymorphism with
      methylphenidate response in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a heritable
      disorder characterized by symptoms of inattention and/or
      hyperactivity/impulsivity. Methylphenidate (MPH) has been shown to block the
      norepinephrine transporter (NET), and genetic investigations have demonstrated
      that the norepinephrine transporter gene (SLC6A2) is associated with ADHD. The
      aims of this study were to examine the association of the SLC6A2 -3081(A/T) and
      G1287A polymorphisms with MPH response in ADHD. METHODS: This study enrolled 112
      children and adolescents with ADHD. A response criterion was defined based on the
      Clinical Global Impression-Improvement (CGI-I) score, and the ADHD Rating Scale
      IV (ARS) score was also assessed at baseline and 8 weeks after MPH treatment.
      RESULTS: We found that the subjects who had the T allele as one of the alleles
      (A/T or T/T genotypes) at the -3081(A/T) polymorphism showed a better response to
      MPH treatment than those with the A/A genotype as measured by the CGI-I. We also
      found a trend towards a difference in the change of the total ARS scores and
      hyperactivity/impulsivity subscores between subjects with and without the T
      allele. No significant association was found between the genotypes of the SLC6A2
      G1287A polymorphism and response to ADHD treatment. CONCLUSION: Our findings
      provide evidence for the involvement of the -3081(A/T) polymorphism of SLC6A2 in
      the modulation of the effectiveness of MPH treatment in ADHD.

PMID- 20929551
TI  - Mucins in neoplastic spectrum of colorectal polyps: can they provide predictions?
AB  - BACKGROUND: The significance of expression of different mucins in succession of
      malignant transformation of colorectal polyps is not determined yet. The aim of
      the present study was to determine the pattern of expression of MUC1, MUC2,
      MUC5AC and MUC6 in colorectal polyps and to evaluate the applicability of using
      mucin expression in predicting the extent of malignant transformation in
      colorectal polyps. METHODS: A total of 454 polyp specimens comprising 36
      hyperplastic polyps, 15 serrated adenomas, 258 tubular adenomas, 114
      tubulovillous adenomas, and 31 villous adenomas were included in this study, and
      were immunostained for MUC1, MUC2, MUC5AC and MUC6 by using mucin specific
      antibodies. RESULTS: MUC1 and MUC6 were absent in all hyperplastic polyps and
      their expression was higher in serrated and traditional adenomas. Only 5 cases
      including 2 serrated adenomas, 1 tubulovillous adenoma, and 2 villous adenomas
      stained negative for MUC2. The highest expression of MUC5AC was observed in
      serrated adenomas followed by tubular adenomas. Binary logistic regression
      analysis indicated that positive staining for MUC1, and MUC6, and negative
      staining for MUC2 would increase the risk of invasion to mucosa or the muscularis
      mucosae in colorectal polyps. Ordinal regression analysis demonstrated a positive
      association between the level of staining for MUC1 and risk of being of high
      configuration/grade in colorectal polyps. CONCLUSIONS: MUC1, MUC2, MUC5AC, and
      MUC6 have the potential to be used as predictors of malignant transformation and
      invasion to mucosa or the muscularis mucosae in colorectal polyps. The most
      reliable predictions can be achieved by determining the level of expression of
      MUC1.

PMID- 20929552
TI  - Efficacy of labral repair, biceps tenodesis, and diagnostic arthroscopy for SLAP
      lesions of the shoulder: a randomised controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Surgery for type II SLAP (superior labral anterior posterior) lesions
      of the shoulder is a promising but unproven treatment. The procedures include
      labral repair or biceps tenodesis. Retrospective cohort studies have suggested
      that the benefits of tenodesis include pain relief and improved function, and
      higher patient satisfaction, which was reported in a prospective non-randomised
      study. There have been no completed randomised controlled trials of surgery for
      type II SLAP lesions. The aims of this participant and observer blinded
      randomised placebo-controlled trial are to compare the short-term (6 months) and
      long-term (2 years) efficacy of labral repair, biceps tenodesis, and placebo
      (diagnostic arthroscopy) for alleviating pain and improving function for type II
      SLAP lesions. METHODS/DESIGN: A double-blind randomised controlled trial are
      performed using 120 patients, aged 18 to 60 years, with a history for type II
      SLAP lesions and clinical signs suggesting type II SLAP lesion, which were
      documented by MR arthrography and arthroscopy. Exclusion criteria include
      patients who have previously undergone operations for SLAP lesions or recurrent
      shoulder dislocations, and ruptures of the rotator cuff or biceps tendon.
      Outcomes will be assessed at baseline, three, six, 12, and 24 months. Primary
      outcome measures will be the clinical Rowe Score (1988-version) and the Western
      Ontario Instability Index (WOSI) at six and 24 months. Secondary outcome measures
      will include the Shoulder Instability Questionnaire (SIQ), the generic EuroQol
      (EQ-5 D and EQ-VAS), return to work and previous sports activity, complications,
      and the number of reoperations. DISCUSSION: The results of this trial will be of
      international importance and the results will be translatable into clinical
      practice. TRIAL REGISTRATION: [ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00586742].

PMID- 20929553
TI  - Analysis of mtDNA sequence variants in colorectal adenomatous polyps.
AB  - Colorectal tumors mostly arise from sporadic adenomatous polyps. Polyps are
      defined as a mass of cells that protrudes into the lumen of the colon.
      Adenomatous polyps are benign neoplasms that, by definition display some
      characteristics of dysplasia. It has been shown that polyps were benign tumors
      which may undergo malignant transformation. Adenomatous polyps have been
      classified into three histologic types; tubular, tubulovillous, and villous with
      increasing malignant potential. The ability to differentially diagnose these
      colorectal adenomatous polyps is important for therapeutic intervention. To date,
      little efforts have been directed to identifying genetic changes involved in
      adenomatous polyps. This study was designed to examine the relevance of
      mitochondrial genome alterations in the three adenomatous polyps. Using high
      resolution restriction endonucleases and PCR-based sequencing, fifty-seven
      primary fresh frozen tissues of adenomatous polyps (37 tumors and 20 matched
      surrounding normal tissues) obtained from the southern regional Cooperative Human
      Tissue Network (CHTN) and Grady Memorial Hospital at Atlanta were screened with
      three mtDNA regional primer pairs that spanned 5.9 kbp. Results from our data
      analyses revealed the presence of forty-four variants in some of these
      mitochondrial genes that the primers spanned; COX I, II, III, ATP 6, 8, CYT b, ND
      5, 6 and tRNAs. Based on the MITODAT database as a sequence reference, 25 of the
      44 (57%) variants observed were unreported. Notably, a heteroplasmic variant
      C8515G/T in the MT-ATP 8 gene and a germline variant 8327delA in the tRNAlys was
      observed in all the tissue samples of the three adenomatous polyps in comparison
      to the referenced database sequence. A germline variant G9055A in the MT-ATP 6
      gene had a frequency of 100% (17/17) in tubular and 57% (13/23) in villous
      adenomas; no corresponding variant was in tubulovillous adenomas. Furthermore,
      A9006G variant at MT-ATP 6 gene was observed at frequency of 57% (13/23) in
      villous adenomas only. Interestingly, variants A9006G and G9055A were absent in
      the villous tissue samples that were clinicopathological designated as
      "polyvillous adenomas". Our current data provide a basis for continued
      investigation of certain mtDNA variants as predictors of the three adenomatous
      polyps in a larger number of clinicopathological specimens.

PMID- 20929554
TI  - Differential regulation of p53 function by the N-terminal DeltaNp53 and
      Delta113p53 isoforms in zebrafish embryos.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The p53 protein family coordinates stress responses of cells and
      organisms. Alternative promoter usage and/or splicing of p53 mRNA gives rise to
      at least nine mammalian p53 proteins with distinct N- and C-termini which are
      differentially expressed in normal and malignant cells. The human N-terminal p53
      variants contain either the full-length (FL), or a truncated (DeltaN/Delta40) or
      no transactivation domain (Delta133) altogether. The functional consequences of
      coexpression of the different p53 isoforms are poorly defined. Here we
      investigated functional aspects of the zebrafish DeltaNp53 ortholog in the
      context of FLp53 and the zebrafish Delta133p53 ortholog (Delta113p53) coexpressed
      in the developing embryo. RESULTS: We cloned the zebrafish DeltaNp53 isoform and
      determined that ionizing radiation increased expression of steady-state DeltaNp53
      and Delta113p53 mRNA levels in zebrafish embryos. Ectopic DeltaNp53 expression by
      mRNA injection caused hypoplasia and malformation of the head, eyes and somites,
      yet partially counteracted lethal effects caused by concomitant expression of
      FLp53. FLp53 expression was required for developmental aberrations caused by
      DeltaNp53 and for DeltaNp53-dependent expression of the cyclin-dependent kinase
      inhibitor 1A (CDKN1A, p21, Cip1, WAF1). Knockdown of p21 expression markedly
      reduced the severity of developmental malformations associated with DeltaNp53
      overexpression. By contrast, forced Delta113p53 expression had little effect on
      DeltaNp53-dependent embryonal phenotypes. These functional attributes were shared
      between zebrafish and human DeltaNp53 orthologs ectopically expressed in
      zebrafish embryos. All 3 zebrafish isoforms could be coimmunoprecipitated with
      each other after transfection into Saos2 cells. CONCLUSIONS: Both alternative N
      terminal p53 isoforms were expressed in developing zebrafish in response to cell
      stress and antagonized lethal effects of FLp53 to different degrees. However, in
      contrast to Delta113p53, forced DeltaNp53 expression itself led to developmental
      defects which depended, in part, on p21 transactivation. In contrast to FLp53,
      the developmental abnormalities caused by DeltaNp53 were not counteracted by
      concomitant expression of Delta113p53.

PMID- 20929555
TI  - Increasing walking in patients with intermittent claudication: protocol for a
      randomised controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: People with intermittent claudication are at increased risk of death
      from heart attack and stroke compared to matched controls. Surgery for
      intermittent claudication is for symptom management and does not reduce the risk
      of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Increasing physical activity can
      reduce claudication symptoms and may improve cardiovascular health. This paper
      presents the pilot study protocol for a randomised controlled trial to test
      whether a brief psychological intervention leads to increased physical activity,
      improvement in quality of life, and a reduction in the demand for surgery, for
      patients with intermittent claudication. METHODS/DESIGN: We aim to recruit 60
      patients newly diagnosed with intermittent claudication, who will be randomised
      into two groups. The control group will receive usual care, and the treatment
      group will receive usual care and a brief 2-session psychological intervention to
      modify illness and walking beliefs and develop a walking action plan. The primary
      outcome will be walking, measured by pedometer. Secondary outcomes will include
      quality of life and uptake of surgery for symptom management. Participants will
      be followed up after (a) 4 months, (b) 1 year and (c) 2 years. DISCUSSION: This
      study will assess the acceptability and efficacy of a brief psychological
      intervention to increase walking in patients with intermittent claudication, both
      in terms of the initiation, and maintenance of behaviour change. This is a pilot
      study, and the results will inform the design of a larger multi-centre trial.
      TRIAL REGISTRATION: Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN28051878.

PMID- 20929556
TI  - Patient-orientated longitudinal study of multiple sclerosis in south west England
      (The South West Impact of Multiple Sclerosis Project, SWIMS) 1: protocol and
      baseline characteristics of cohort.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is a need for greater understanding of the impact of multiple
      sclerosis (MS) from the perspective of individuals with the condition. The South
      West Impact of MS Project (SWIMS) has been designed to improve understanding of
      disease impact using a patient-centred approach. The purpose is to (1) develop
      improved measurement instruments for clinical trials, (2) evaluate longitudinal
      performance of a variety of patient-reported outcome measures, (3) develop
      prognostic predictors for use in individualising drug treatment for patients,
      particularly early on in the disease course. METHODS: This is a patient-centred,
      prospective, longitudinal study of multiple sclerosis and clinically isolated
      syndrome (CIS) in south west England. The study area comprises two counties with
      a population of approximately 1.7 million and an estimated 1,800 cases of MS.
      Self-completion questionnaires are administered to participants every six months
      (for people with MS) or 12 months (CIS). Here we present descriptive statistics
      of the baseline data provided by 967 participants with MS. RESULTS: Seventy-five
      percent of those approached consented to participate. The male:female ratio was
      1.00:3.01 (n = 967). Average (standard deviation) age at time of entry to SWIMS
      was 51.6 (11.5) years (n = 961) and median (interquartile range) time since first
      symptom was 13.3 (6.8 to 24.5) years (n = 934). Fatigue was the most commonly
      reported symptom, with 80% of participants experiencing fatigue at baseline.
      Although medication use for symptom control was common, there was little evidence
      of effectiveness, particularly for fatigue. Nineteen percent of participants were
      unable to classify their subtype of MS. When patient-reported subtype was
      compared to neurologist assessment for a sample of participants (n = 396),
      agreement in disease sub-type was achieved in 63% of cases. There were 836
      relapses, reported by 931 participants, in the twelve months prior to baseline.
      Twenty-three percent of the relapsing-remitting group and 12% of the total sample
      were receiving disease-modifying therapy at baseline. CONCLUSIONS: Demographics
      of this sample were similar to published data for the UK. Overall, the results
      broadly reflect clinical experience in confirming high symptom prevalence, with
      relatively little complete symptom relief. Participants often had difficulty in
      defining MS relapses and their own MS type.

PMID- 20929557
TI  - Screening for bovine leukocyte adhesion deficiency, deficiency of uridine
      monophosphate synthase, complex vertebral malformation, bovine citrullinaemia,
      and factor XI deficiency in Holstein cows reared in Turkey.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Bovine leukocyte adhesion deficiency (BLAD), deficiency of uridine
      monophosphate synthase (DUMPS), complex vertebral malformation (CVM), bovine
      citrullinaemia (BC) and factor XI deficiency (FXID) are autosomal recessive
      hereditary disorders, which have had significant economic impact on dairy cattle
      breeding worldwide. In this study, 350 Holstein cows reared in Turkey were
      screened for BLAD, DUMPS, CVM, BC and FXID genotypes to obtain an indication on
      the importance of these defects in Turkish Holsteins. METHODS: Genomic DNA was
      obtained from blood and the amplicons of BLAD, DUMPS, CVM, BC and FXID were
      obtained by using PCR. PCR products were digested with TaqI, AvaI and AvaII
      restriction enzymes for BLAD, DUMPS, and BC, respectively. These digested
      products and PCR product of FXID were analyzed by agarose gel electrophoresis
      stained with ethidium bromide. CVM genotypes were detected by DNA sequencing.
      Additionally, all genotypes were confirmed by DNA sequencing to determine whether
      there was a mutant allele or not. RESULTS: Fourteen BLAD, twelve CVM and four
      FXID carriers were found among the 350 Holstein cows examined, while carriers of
      DUMPS and BC were not detected. The mutant allele frequencies were calculated as
      0.02, 0.017, and 0.006 for BLAD, CVM and FXID, respectively with corresponding
      carrier prevalence of 4.0% (BLAD), 3.4% (CVM) and 1.2% (FXID). CONCLUSION: This
      study demonstrates that carriers of BLAD, CVM and FXID are present in the Turkish
      Holstein population, although at a low frequency. The actual number of clinical
      cases is unknown, but sporadic cases may appear. As artificial insemination is
      widely used in dairy cattle breeding, carriers of BLAD, CVM and FXID are likely
      present within the population of breeding sires. It is recommended to screen
      breeding sires for these defective genes in order to avoid an unwanted spread
      within the population.

PMID- 20929558
TI  - Association of FcgammaRIIa R131H polymorphism with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis
      severity and progression.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A significant genetic component has been described for idiopathic
      pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). The R131H (rs1801274) polymorphism of the IgG receptor
      FcgammaRIIa determines receptor affinity for IgG subclasses and is associated
      with several chronic inflammatory diseases. We investigated whether this
      polymorphism is associated with IPF susceptibility or progression. METHODS: In a
      case-control study, we compared the distribution of FcgammaRIIa R131H genotypes
      in 142 patients with IPF and in 218 controls using allele-specific PCR
      amplification. RESULTS: No differences in the frequency of FcgammaRIIa genotypes
      were evident between IPF patients and control subjects. However, significantly
      impaired pulmonary function at diagnosis was observed in HH compared to RR
      homozygotes, with evidence of more severe restriction (reduced forced vital
      capacity (FVC)) and lower diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide (DLCO).
      Similarly, increased frequency of the H131 allele was observed in patients with
      severe disease (DLCO < 40% predicted) (0.53 vs. 0.38; p = 0.03). Furthermore, the
      H131 allele was associated with progressive pulmonary fibrosis as determined by >
      10% drop in FVC and/or > 15% fall in DLCO at 12 months after baseline (0.48 vs.
      0.33; p = 0.023). CONCLUSIONS: These findings support an association between the
      FcgammaRIIa R131H polymorphism and IPF severity and progression, supporting the
      involvement of immunological mechanisms in IPF pathogenesis.

PMID- 20929560
TI  - The assessment of population exposure to chlorination by-products: a study on the
      influence of the water distribution system.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The relationship between chlorination by-products (CBPs) in drinking
      water and human health outcomes has been investigated in many epidemiological
      studies. In these studies, population exposure assessment to CBPs in drinking
      water is generally based on available CBP data (e.g., from regulatory monitoring,
      sampling campaigns specific to study area). Since trihalomethanes (THMs) and
      haloacetic acids (HAAs) are the most documented CBP classes in drinking water,
      they are generally used as indicators of CBP exposure. METHODS: In this paper,
      different approaches to spatially assign available THM and HAA concentrations in
      drinking water for population exposure assessment purposes are investigated. Six
      approaches integrating different considerations for spatial variability of CBP
      occurrence within different distribution systems are compared. For this purpose,
      a robust CBP database (i.e., high number of sampling locations selected according
      to system characteristics) corresponding to nine distribution systems was
      generated. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The results demonstrate the high impact of the
      structure of the distribution system (e.g., presence of intermediary water
      infrastructures such as re-chlorination stations or reservoirs) and the spatial
      variability of CBPs in the assigned levels for exposure assessment.
      Recommendations for improving the exposure assessment to CBPs in epidemiological
      studies using available CBP data from water utilities are also presented.

PMID- 20929559
TI  - Changes in deceleration capacity of heart rate and heart rate variability induced
      by ambient air pollution in individuals with coronary artery disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Exposure to ambient particles has been shown to be
      responsible for cardiovascular effects, especially in elderly with cardiovascular
      disease. The study assessed the association between deceleration capacity (DC) as
      well as heart rate variability (HRV) and ambient particulate matter (PM) in
      patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). METHODS: A prospective study with up
      to 12 repeated measurements was conducted in Erfurt, Germany, between October
      2000 and April 2001 in 56 patients with physician-diagnosed ischemic heart
      disease, stable angina pectoris or prior myocardial infarction at an age of at
      least 50 years. Twenty-minute ECG recordings were obtained every two weeks and 24
      hour ECG recordings every four weeks. Exposure to PM (size range from 10 nm to
      2.5 MUm), and elemental (EC) and organic (OC) carbon was measured. Additive mixed
      models were used to analyze the association between PM and ECG recordings.
      RESULTS: The short-term recordings showed decrements in the high-frequency
      component of HRV as well as in RMSSD (root-mean-square of successive differences
      of NN intervals) in association with increments in EC and OC 0-23 hours prior to
      the recordings. The long-term recordings revealed decreased RMSSD and pNN50 (% of
      adjacent NN intervals that differed more than 50 ms) in association with EC and
      OC 24-47 hours prior to the recordings. In addition, highly significant effects
      were found for DC which decreased in association with PM2.5, EC and OC concurrent
      with the ECG recordings as well as with a lag of up to 47 hours. CONCLUSIONS: The
      analysis showed significant effects of ambient particulate air pollution on DC
      and HRV parameters reflecting parasympathetic modulation of the heart in patients
      with CAD. An air pollution-related decrease in parasympathetic tone as well as
      impaired heart rate deceleration capacity may contribute to an increased risk for
      cardiac morbidity and sudden cardiac death in vulnerable populations.

PMID- 20929561
TI  - From pharmaco-therapy to pharmaco-prevention: trends in prescribing to older
      adults in Ontario, Canada, 1997-2006.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The developed world is undergoing a demographic transition with
      greater numbers of older adults and higher rates of chronic disease. Most elder
      care is now provided by primary care physicians, who prescribe the majority of
      medications taken by these patients. Despite these significant trends, little is
      known about population-level prescribing patterns to primary care patients aged
      65+. METHODS: We conducted a population-based retrospective cohort study to
      examine 10-year prescribing trends among family physicians providing care to
      patients aged 65+ in Ontario, Canada. RESULTS: Both crude number of prescription
      claims and prescription rates (i.e., claims per person) increased dramatically
      over the 10-year study period. The greatest change was in prescribing patterns
      for females aged 85+. Dramatic increases were observed in the prescribing of
      preventive medications, such as those to prevent osteoporosis (+2,347%) and lipid
      lowering agents (+697%). And lastly, the number of unique classes of medications
      prescribed to older persons has increased, with the proportion of older patients
      prescribed more than 10 classes of medications almost tripling during the study
      period. CONCLUSIONS: Prescribing to older adults by family physicians increased
      substantially during the study period. This raises important concerns regarding
      quality of care, patient safety, and cost sustainability. It is evident that
      further research is urgently needed on the health outcomes (both beneficial and
      harmful) associated with these dramatic increases in prescribing rates.

PMID- 20929562
TI  - Comparative biochemical analysis of recombinant reverse transcriptase enzymes of
      HIV-1 subtype B and subtype C.
AB  - BACKGROUND: HIV-1 subtype C infections account for over half of global HIV
      infections, yet the vast focus of HIV-1 research has been on subtype B viruses
      which represent less than 12% of the global pandemic. Since HIV-1 reverse
      transcriptase (RT) is a major target of antiviral therapy, and since differential
      drug resistance pathways have been observed among different HIV subtypes, it is
      important to study and compare the enzymatic activities of HIV-1 RT derived from
      each of subtypes B and C as well as to determine the susceptibilities of these
      enzymes to various RT inhibitors in biochemical assays. METHODS: Recombinant
      subtype B and C HIV-1 RTs in heterodimeric form were purified from Escherichia
      coli and enzyme activities were compared in cell-free assays. The efficiency of (
      ) ssDNA synthesis was measured using gel-based assays with HIV-1 PBS RNA template
      and tRNA3(Lys) as primer. Processivity was assayed under single-cycle conditions
      using both homopolymeric and heteropolymeric RNA templates. Intrinsic RNase H
      activity was compared using 5'-end labeled RNA template annealed to 3'-end
      recessed DNA primer in a time course study in the presence and absence of a
      heparin trap. A mis-incorporation assay was used to assess the fidelity of the
      two RT enzymes. Drug susceptibility assays were performed both in cell-free
      assays using recombinant enzymes and in cell culture phenotyping assays. RESULTS:
      The comparative biochemical analyses of recombinant subtype B and subtype C HIV-1
      reverse transcriptase indicate that the two enzymes are very similar
      biochemically in efficiency of tRNA-primed (-) ssDNA synthesis, processivity,
      fidelity and RNase H activity, and that both enzymes show similar
      susceptibilities to commonly used NRTIs and NNRTIs. Cell culture phenotyping
      assays confirmed these results. CONCLUSIONS: Overall enzyme activity and drug
      susceptibility of HIV-1 subtype C RT are comparable to those of subtype B RT. The
      use of RT inhibitors (RTIs) against these two HIV-1 enzymes should have
      comparable effects.

PMID- 20929563
TI  - Scoring function to predict solubility mutagenesis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mutagenesis is commonly used to engineer proteins with desirable
      properties not present in the wild type (WT) protein, such as increased or
      decreased stability, reactivity, or solubility. Experimentalists often have to
      choose a small subset of mutations from a large number of candidates to obtain
      the desired change, and computational techniques are invaluable to make the
      choices. While several such methods have been proposed to predict stability and
      reactivity mutagenesis, solubility has not received much attention. RESULTS: We
      use concepts from computational geometry to define a three body scoring function
      that predicts the change in protein solubility due to mutations. The scoring
      function captures both sequence and structure information. By exploring the
      literature, we have assembled a substantial database of 137 single- and multiple
      point solubility mutations. Our database is the largest such collection with
      structural information known so far. We optimize the scoring function using
      linear programming (LP) methods to derive its weights based on training. Starting
      with default values of 1, we find weights in the range [0,2] so that predictions
      of increase or decrease in solubility are optimized. We compare the LP method to
      the standard machine learning techniques of support vector machines (SVM) and the
      Lasso. Using statistics for leave-one-out (LOO), 10-fold, and 3-fold cross
      validations (CV) for training and prediction, we demonstrate that the LP method
      performs the best overall. For the LOOCV, the LP method has an overall accuracy
      of 81%. AVAILABILITY: Executables of programs, tables of weights, and datasets of
      mutants are available from the following web page:
      http://www.wsu.edu/~kbala/OptSolMut.html.

PMID- 20929565
TI  - Gastrointestinal complaints in shift-working and day-working nurses in Iran.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is evidence in the scientific literature of the adverse
      physiological and psychological effects of shift work. The work of nurses in
      hospitals is connected with shift and night work. Several publications have
      described gastrointestinal disturbances in shift workers. The aim of this study
      was to compare the frequency of gastrointestinal (GI) complaints of nurses on a
      rotating shift with that of nurses on a regular day shift. METHODS: The study
      involved 160 nurses (133 working in shifts and at night and 27 working on day
      shifts) in the Shahid Beheshti Hospital in Kashan, Iran. These nurses answered a
      Gastrointestinal Symptom Questionnaire regarding the presence of gastrointestinal
      symptoms (including heartburn, regurgitation, constipation, diarrhea and
      bloating). Positive responses required frequent symptom occurrence in the past 4
      weeks. Significance of group differences was assessed by chi-square and Fisher
      exact tests. RESULTS: Prevalence of GI symptoms was significantly higher (p =
      0.009) in rotating-shift nurses (81.9%) than in day-shift nurses (59.2%).
      Irregular meal consumption (p = 0.01) and GI medications (p = 0.002) were all
      significantly higher among the rotating shift nurses. In both groups,
      regurgitation was the most common symptom. CONCLUSION: Nurses on rotating shifts
      in Iran experience more GI disturbances than do nurses on day shifts.

PMID- 20929564
TI  - An optimized protocol for microarray validation by quantitative PCR using
      amplified amino allyl labeled RNA.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Validation of microarrays data by quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR)
      is often limited by the low amount of available RNA. This raised the possibility
      to perform validation experiments on the amplified amino allyl labeled RNA (AA
      aRNA) leftover from microarrays. To test this possibility, we used an ongoing
      study of our laboratory aiming at identifying new biomarkers of graft rejection
      by the transcriptomic analysis of blood cells from brain-dead organ donors.
      RESULTS: qPCR for ACTB performed on AA-aRNA from 15 donors provided Cq values 8
      cycles higher than when original RNA was used (P < 0.001), suggesting a strong
      inhibition of qPCR performed on AA-aRNA. When expression levels of 5 other genes
      were measured in AA-aRNA generated from a universal reference RNA, qPCR
      sensitivity and efficiency were decreased. This prevented the quantification of
      one low-abundant gene, which was readily quantified in un-amplified and un
      labeled RNA. To overcome this limitation, we modified the reverse transcription
      (RT) protocol that generates cDNA from AA-aRNA as follows: addition of a
      denaturation step and 2-min incubation at room temperature to improve random
      primers annealing, a transcription initiation step to improve RT, and a final
      treatment with RNase H to degrade remaining RNA. Tested on universal reference AA
      aRNA, these modifications provided a gain of 3.4 Cq (average from 5 genes, P <
      0.001) and an increase of qPCR efficiency (from -1.96 to -2.88; P = 0.02). They
      also allowed for the detection of a low-abundant gene that was previously
      undetectable. Tested on AA-aRNA from 15 brain-dead organ donors, RT optimization
      provided a gain of 2.7 cycles (average from 7 genes, P = 0.004). Finally, qPCR
      results significantly correlated with microarrays. CONCLUSION: We present here an
      optimized RT protocol for validation of microarrays by qPCR from AA-aRNA. This is
      particularly valuable in experiments where limited amount of RNA is available.

PMID- 20929566
TI  - Improving educational achievement and anaemia of school children: design of a
      cluster randomised trial of school-based malaria prevention and enhanced literacy
      instruction in Kenya.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Improving the health of school-aged children can yield substantial
      benefits for cognitive development and educational achievement. However, there is
      limited experimental evidence on the benefits of school-based malaria prevention
      or how health interventions interact with other efforts to improve education
      quality. This study aims to evaluate the impact of school-based malaria
      prevention and enhanced literacy instruction on the health and educational
      achievement of school children in Kenya. DESIGN: A factorial, cluster randomised
      trial is being implemented in 101 government primary schools on the coast of
      Kenya. The interventions are (i) intermittent screening and treatment of malaria
      in schools by public health workers and (ii) training workshops and support for
      teachers to promote explicit and systematic literacy instruction. Schools are
      randomised to one of four groups: receiving either (i) the malaria intervention
      alone; (ii) the literacy intervention alone; (iii) both interventions combined;
      or (iv) control group where neither intervention is implemented. Children from
      classes 1 and 5 are randomly selected and followed up for 24 months. The primary
      outcomes are educational achievement and anaemia, the hypothesised mediating
      variables through which education is affected. Secondary outcomes include malaria
      parasitaemia, school attendance and school performance. A nested process
      evaluation, using semi-structured interviews, focus group discussion and a
      stakeholder analysis will investigate the community acceptability, feasibility
      and cost-effectiveness of the interventions. DISCUSSION: Across Africa,
      governments are committed to improve health and education of school-aged
      children, but seek clear policy and technical guidance as to the optimal approach
      to address malaria and improved literacy. This evaluation will be one of the
      first to simultaneously evaluate the impact of health and education interventions
      in the improvement of educational achievement. Reflection is made on the
      practical issues encountered in conducting research in schools in Africa. TRIAL
      REGISTRATION: National Institutes of Health NCT00878007.

PMID- 20929567
TI  - A novel model of common Toll-like receptor 4- and injury-induced transcriptional
      themes in human leukocytes.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: An endotoxin challenge, sepsis, and injury/trauma, trigger
      significant changes in human peripheral blood leukocytes (PBL) gene expression.
      In this study, we have sought to test the hypothesis that the Toll-like receptor
      4 (TLR4) induced transcription patterns elicited in humans exposed to in vivo
      endotoxin would parallel gene expression patterns observed in trauma patients
      with initial non-infectious injury. In addition, we sought to identify functional
      modules that are commonly affected by these two insults of differing magnitude
      and duration. METHODS: PBL were obtained from seven adult human subject
      experimental groups. The groups included a group of healthy, hospitalized
      volunteers (n = 15), that comprised four study groups of subjects challenged with
      intravenous endotoxin, without or with cortisol, and two serial samplings of
      trauma patients (n = 5). The PBL were analyzed for gene expression using a 8,793
      probe microarray platform (Gene Chip(r) Focus, Affymetrix). The expression of a
      subset of genes was determined using qPCR. RESULTS: We describe sequential
      selection criteria of gene expression data that identifies 445 genes that are
      significantly differentially expressed (both P <= 0.05 and > 1.2 fold-change) in
      PBL derived from human subjects during the peak of systemic inflammatory
      responses induced by in vivo endotoxin, as well as in PBL obtained from trauma
      patients at 1 to 12 days after admission. We identified two functional modules
      that are commonly represented by this analysis. The first module includes more
      than 50 suppressed genes that encode ribosomal proteins or translation
      regulators. The second module includes up-regulated genes encoding key enzymes
      associated with glycolysis. Finally, we show that several circadian clock genes
      are also suppressed in PBL of surgical ICU patients. CONCLUSIONS: We identified a
      group of > 400 genes that exhibit similar expression trends in PBL derived from
      either endotoxin-challenged subjects or trauma patients. The suppressed
      translational and circadian clock modules, and the upregulated glycolytic module,
      constitute a robust and long lasting PBL gene expression signature that may
      provide a tool for monitoring systemic inflammation and injury.

PMID- 20929568
TI  - Mechanisms of transcriptional regulation and prognostic significance of activated
      leukocyte cell adhesion molecule in cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Activated leukocyte cell adhesion molecule (ALCAM) is implicated in
      the prognosis of multiple cancers with low level expression associated with
      metastasis and early death in breast cancer. Despite this significance,
      mechanisms that regulate ALCAM gene expression and ALCAM's role in adhesion of
      pre-metastatic circulating tumor cells have not been defined. We studied ALCAM
      expression in 20 tumor cell lines by real-time PCR, western blot and
      immunochemistry. Epigenetic alterations of the ALCAM promoter were assessed using
      methylation-specific PCR and bisulfite sequencing. ALCAM's role in adhesion of
      tumor cells to the vascular wall was studied in isolated perfused lungs. RESULTS:
      A common site for transcription initiation of the ALCAM gene was identified and
      the ALCAM promoter sequenced. The promoter contains multiple cis-active elements
      including a functional p65 NF-kappaB motif, and it harbors an extensive array of
      CpG residues highly methylated exclusively in ALCAM-negative tumor cells. These
      CpG residues were modestly demethylated after 5-aza-2-deoxycytidine treatment.
      Restoration of high-level ALCAM expression using an ALCAM cDNA increased
      clustering of MDA-MB-435 tumor cells perfused through the pulmonary vasculature
      of ventilated rat lungs. Anti-ALCAM antibodies reduced the number of
      intravascular tumor cell clusters. CONCLUSION: Our data suggests that loss of
      ALCAM expression, due in part to DNA methylation of extensive segments of the
      promoter, significantly impairs the ability of circulating tumor cells to adhere
      to each other, and may therefore promote metastasis. These findings offer insight
      into the mechanisms for down-regulation of ALCAM gene expression in tumor cells,
      and for the positive prognostic value of high-level ALCAM in breast cancer.

PMID- 20929570
TI  - Parent-child interactions and objectively measured child physical activity: a
      cross-sectional study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Parents influence their children's behaviors directly through
      specific parenting practices and indirectly through their parenting style. Some
      practices such as logistical and emotional support have been shown to be
      positively associated with child physical activity (PA) levels, while for others
      (e.g. monitoring) the relationship is not clear. The objectives of this study
      were to determine the relationship between parent's PA-related practices, general
      parenting style, and children's PA level. METHODS: During the spring of 2007 a
      diverse group of 99 parent-child dyads (29% White, 49% Black, 22% Hispanic; 89%
      mothers) living in low-income rural areas of the US participated in a cross
      sectional study. Using validated questionnaires, parents self-reported their
      parenting style (authoritative, authoritarian, permissive, and uninvolved) and
      activity-related parenting practices. Height and weight were measured for each
      dyad and parents reported demographic information. Child PA was measured
      objectively through accelerometers and expressed as absolute counts and minutes
      engaged in intensity-specific activity. RESULTS: Seventy-six children had valid
      accelerometer data. Children engaged in 113.4 +/- 37.0 min. of moderate-vigorous
      physical activity (MVPA) per day. Children of permissive parents accumulated more
      minutes of MVPA than those of uninvolved parents (127.5 vs. 97.1, p < 0.05),
      while parents who provided above average levels of support had children who
      participated in more minutes of MVPA (114.2 vs. 98.3, p = 0.03). While
      controlling for known covariates, an uninvolved parenting style was the only
      parenting behavior associated with child physical activity. Parenting style
      moderated the association between two parenting practices - reinforcement and
      monitoring - and child physical activity. Specifically, post-hoc analyses
      revealed that for the permissive parenting style group, higher levels of parental
      reinforcement or monitoring were associated with higher levels of child physical
      activity. CONCLUSIONS: This work extends the current literature by demonstrating
      the potential moderating role of parenting style on the relationship between
      activity-related parenting practices and children's objectively measured physical
      activity, while controlling for known covariates. Future studies in this area are
      warranted and, if confirmed, may help to identify the mechanism by which parents
      influence their child's physical activity behavior.

PMID- 20929571
TI  - Developing measures on the perceptions of the built environment for physical
      activity: a confirmatory analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Minimal validity evidence exists for scales assessing the built
      environment for physical activity. The purpose of this study was to assess the
      test-retest reliability and invariance of a three-factor model (Neighborhood
      Characteristics, Safety/Crime, and Access to Physical Activity Facilities) across
      gender, race, geographic location, and level of physical activity. METHODS: To
      assess measurement invariance, a random sample of 1,534 adults living in North
      Carolina or Mississippi completed a computer assisted telephone interview that
      included items examining perceptions of the neighborhood for physical activity.
      Construct level test-retest reliability data were collected from a purposeful
      sample of 106 participants who were administered the questionnaire twice,
      approximately two weeks apart. Fit indices, Cronbach's alpha, Mokken H and
      Spearman correlation coefficients (SCC) were used to evaluate configural and
      co/variance invarianc,e and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) were used
      to assess reliability. RESULTS: Construct test-retest reliability was strong (ICC
      0.90 to 0.93). SCC for Neighborhood Characteristics and Crime/Safety were weak
      with Access (0.21 and 0.25), but strong between Crime/Safety and Neighborhood
      Characteristics (0.62). Acceptable fit and evidence of measurement invariance was
      found for gender, race (African American and White), geographic location, and
      level of physical activity. Fit indices consistently approached or were greater
      than 0.90 for goodness of fit index, normed fit index, and comparative fit index
      which is evidence of configural invariance. There was weak support of variance
      and covariance invariance for all groups that was indicative of factorial
      validity. CONCLUSIONS: Support of the validity and reliability of the three
      factor model across groups expands the possibilities for analysis to include
      latent variable modeling, and suggests these built environment constructs may be
      used in other settings and populations.

PMID- 20929569
TI  - Signaling network of dendritic cells in response to pathogens: a community-input
      supported knowledgebase.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Dendritic cells are antigen-presenting cells that play an essential
      role in linking the innate and adaptive immune systems. Much research has focused
      on the signaling pathways triggered upon infection of dendritic cells by various
      pathogens. The high level of activity in the field makes it desirable to have a
      pathway-based resource to access the information in the literature. Current
      pathway diagrams lack either comprehensiveness, or an open-access editorial
      interface. Hence, there is a need for a dependable, expertly curated
      knowledgebase that integrates this information into a map of signaling networks.
      DESCRIPTION: We have built a detailed diagram of the dendritic cell signaling
      network, with the goal of providing researchers with a valuable resource and a
      facile method for community input. Network construction has relied on
      comprehensive review of the literature and regular updates. The diagram includes
      detailed depictions of pathways activated downstream of different pathogen
      recognition receptors such as Toll-like receptors, retinoic acid-inducible gene-I
      like receptors, C-type lectin receptors and nucleotide-binding oligomerization
      domain-like receptors. Initially assembled using CellDesigner software, it
      provides an annotated graphical representation of interactions stored in Systems
      Biology Mark-up Language. The network, which comprises 249 nodes and 213 edges,
      has been web-published through the Biological Pathway Publisher software suite.
      Nodes are annotated with PubMed references and gene-related information, and
      linked to a public wiki, providing a discussion forum for updates and
      corrections. To gain more insight into regulatory patterns of dendritic cell
      signaling, we analyzed the network using graph-theory methods: bifan, feedforward
      and multi-input convergence motifs were enriched. This emphasis on activating
      control mechanisms is consonant with a network that subserves persistent and
      coordinated responses to pathogen detection. CONCLUSIONS: This map represents a
      navigable aid for presenting a consensus view of the current knowledge on
      dendritic cell signaling that can be continuously improved through contributions
      of research community experts. Because the map is available in a machine readable
      format, it can be edited and may assist researchers in data analysis.
      Furthermore, the availability of a comprehensive knowledgebase might help further
      research in this area such as vaccine development. The dendritic cell signaling
      knowledgebase is accessible at
      http://tsb.mssm.edu/pathwayPublisher/DC_pathway/DC_pathway_index.html.

PMID- 20929573
TI  - Biting behaviour of Simulium damnosum complex and Onchocerca volvulus infection
      along the Osun River, Southwest Nigeria.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Studies on biting behaviours and infectivity status of insect vectors
      are pre-requisites in understanding the epidemiology of the vector- borne
      diseases and planning effective control measures. A longitudinal study was
      carried out to investigate the transmission index of Simulium damnosum complex
      species along Osun River, South Western Nigeria. Adult flies were collected on
      human attractants from 07:00 to 18:00 hours for two consecutive days from
      February 2008 to June 2009 at three communities: Osun Eleja, Osun Ogbere and Osun
      Budepo. The infectivity rate was determined by dissection and Polymerase Chain
      Reaction amplification (PCR) of 0-150 genes of Onchocerca parasite using the pool
      screening technique. RESULTS: The results indicated that the majority of the
      flies collected at the three sampling points were nulliparous as they accounted
      for 53.90%, 57.86% and 59.58% of the flies dissected at Osun Budepo, Osun Ogbere
      and Osun Eleja, respectively. The parous rate was higher during the dry season
      than the wet season but the difference was not statistically significant (p <
      0.05). The biting activity of the parous flies showed two peaks at Osun Budepo
      and three peaks at Osun Eleja and Osun Ogbere. Of the 1,472 flies dissected and
      1,235 flies screened by molecular method, none was infected with Onchocerca
      parasite at the three sampling points however the annual biting rates at the
      three communities were higher than 1,000 considered as tolerable value for a
      person living in an onchocerciasis zone by Word Health Organization. CONCLUSION:
      The study has provided the baseline data for further study on onchocerciasis
      transmission dynamics and the need to intercept man- simuliid vector contact at
      the study area.

PMID- 20929572
TI  - Lineage divergence detected in the malaria vector Anopheles marajoara (Diptera:
      Culicidae) in Amazonian Brazil.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cryptic species complexes are common among anophelines. Previous
      phylogenetic analysis based on the complete mtDNA COI gene sequences detected
      paraphyly in the Neotropical malaria vector Anopheles marajoara. The "Folmer
      region" detects a single taxon using a 3% divergence threshold. METHODS: To test
      the paraphyletic hypothesis and examine the utility of the Folmer region,
      genealogical trees based on a concatenated (white + 3' COI sequences) dataset and
      pairwise differentiation of COI fragments were examined. The population structure
      and demographic history were based on partial COI sequences for 294 individuals
      from 14 localities in Amazonian Brazil. 109 individuals from 12 localities were
      sequenced for the nDNA white gene, and 57 individuals from 11 localities were
      sequenced for the ribosomal DNA (rDNA) internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2).
      RESULTS: Distinct A. marajoara lineages were detected by combined genealogical
      analysis and were also supported among COI haplotypes using a median joining
      network and AMOVA, with time since divergence during the Pleistocene (<100,000
      ya). COI sequences at the 3' end were more variable, demonstrating significant
      pairwise differentiation (3.82%) compared to the more moderate 2.92% detected by
      the Folmer region. Lineage 1 was present in all localities, whereas lineage 2 was
      restricted mainly to the west. Mismatch distributions for both lineages were
      bimodal, likely due to multiple colonization events and spatial expansion (~798
      81,045 ya). There appears to be gene flow within, not between lineages, and a
      partial barrier was detected near Rio Jari in Amapa state, separating western and
      eastern populations. In contrast, both nDNA data sets (white gene sequences with
      or without the retention of the 4th intron, and ITS2 sequences and length)
      detected a single A. marajoara lineage. CONCLUSIONS: Strong support for combined
      data with significant differentiation detected in the COI and absent in the nDNA
      suggest that the divergence is recent, and detectable only by the faster evolving
      mtDNA. A within subgenus threshold of >2% may be more appropriate among sister
      taxa in cryptic anopheline complexes than the standard 3%. Differences in
      demographic history and climatic changes may have contributed to mtDNA lineage
      divergence in A. marajoara.

PMID- 20929574
TI  - Chronic immobilisation stress ameliorates clinical score and neuroinflammation in
      a MOG-induced EAE in Dark Agouti rats: mechanisms implicated.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is the endpoint of a complex and still poorly
      understood process which results in inflammation, demyelination and axonal and
      neuronal degeneration. Since the first description of MS, psychological stress
      has been suggested to be one of the trigger factors in the onset and/or relapse
      of symptoms. However, data from animal models of MS, such as experimental
      autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) are inconsistent and the effect of stress on
      EAE onset and severity depends on duration and time of application of the stress
      protocol and the underlying mechanisms. METHODS: Dark Agouti rats were inoculated
      with MOG/CFA to induce EAE, and an immobilisation stress protocol with two
      different durations (12 and 21 days, starting at the moment of MOG-inoculation)
      was applied in order to analyse the effect of stress on disease onset and
      neuroinflammation. RESULTS: Twelve days of stress exposure increased EAE clinical
      score in Dark Agouti rats. In addition, these animals presented higher levels of
      MMP-9 and proinflammatory PGE2 in spinal cord. In contrast, animals chronically
      exposed to stress (21 days) showed a significantly lower incidence of EAE
      clinical signs and reduced myelin loss, leukocyte infiltration and accumulation
      of inflammatory/oxidative mediators in spinal cord. Interestingly, chronically
      stressed animals showed a parallel increase in levels of the anti-inflammatory
      prostaglandin 15d-PGJ2, the main endogenous agonist of PPARgamma. CONCLUSIONS:
      Our results demonstrate that, depending on duration, stress exposure elicits
      opposite effects on PGE2/15d-PGJ2 ratios in spinal cord of EAE-induced Dark
      Agouti rats. Further studies are needed to elucidate if these changes in
      prostaglandin balance are sufficient to mediate the differences in clinical score
      and inflammation here reported, and to establish the potential utility of
      pharmacological intervention in MS directed toward anti-inflammatory pathways.

PMID- 20929577
TI  - Is distortion of the bioprosthesis ring a risk factor for early calcification?
AB  - BACKGROUND: As the population ages, bioprosthesis are increasingly being used in
      cardiac valve replacement. Pericardial bioprosthesis combine an excellent
      hemodynamic performance with low thrombogenicity, but valve failure associated
      with calcification remains a concern with these valves. We describe distortion of
      the bioprosthesis ring as a risk factor for early calcification. METHODS: A total
      of 510 patients over the age of 70 years underwent isolated aortic valve
      replacement with the Mitroflow (A12) pericardial bioprosthesis. Thirty two
      patients (6,2%) have undergone a second aortic valve replacement due to
      structural valve dysfunction resulting from valve calcification. In all patients
      a chest radiography and coronary angiography was performed before reoperation. A
      64 Multidetector Computed Tomography (MDCT) with retrospective ECG gating study
      was performed in four patients to evaluate the aortic bioprosthesis. RESULTS:
      Chest radiography showed in all patients an irregular bioprosthesis ring. At
      preoperative coronary angiography a distorted bioprosthesis ring was detected in
      all patients. Macroscopic findings of the explanted bioprostheses included
      extensive calcification in all specimens. CONCLUSION: There was a possible
      relationship between early bioprosthetic calcification and radiologic distortion
      of the bioprosthesis ring.

PMID- 20929575
TI  - Genome analysis and comparative genomics of a Giardia intestinalis assemblage E
      isolate.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Giardia intestinalis is a protozoan parasite that causes diarrhea in
      a wide range of mammalian species. To further understand the genetic diversity
      between the Giardia intestinalis species, we have performed genome sequencing and
      analysis of a wild-type Giardia intestinalis sample from the assemblage E group,
      isolated from a pig. RESULTS: We identified 5012 protein coding genes, the
      majority of which are conserved compared to the previously sequenced genomes of
      the WB and GS strains in terms of microsynteny and sequence identity. Despite
      this, there is an unexpectedly large number of chromosomal rearrangements and
      several smaller structural changes that are present in all chromosomes. Novel
      members of the VSP, NEK Kinase and HCMP gene families were identified, which may
      reveal possible mechanisms for host specificity and new avenues for antigenic
      variation. We used comparative genomics of the three diverse Giardia intestinalis
      isolates P15, GS and WB to define a core proteome for this species complex and to
      identify lineage-specific genes. Extensive analyses of polymorphisms in the core
      proteome of Giardia revealed differential rates of divergence among cellular
      processes. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that despite a well conserved core
      of genes there is significant genome variation between Giardia isolates, both in
      terms of gene content, gene polymorphisms, structural chromosomal variations and
      surface molecule repertoires. This study improves the annotation of the Giardia
      genomes and enables the identification of functionally important variation.

PMID- 20929576
TI  - Comparison of thromboelastometry with procalcitonin, interleukin 6, and C
      reactive protein as diagnostic tests for severe sepsis in critically ill adults.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Established biomarkers for the diagnosis of sepsis are
      procalcitonin, interleukin 6, and C-reactive protein. Although sepsis evokes
      changes of coagulation and fibrinolysis, it is unknown whether thromboelastometry
      can detect these alterations. We investigated whether thromboelastometry
      variables are suitable as biomarkers for severe sepsis in critically ill adults.
      METHODS: In the observational cohort study, blood samples were obtained from
      patients on the day of diagnosis of severe sepsis (n = 56) and from postoperative
      patients (n = 52), and clotting time, clot formation time, maximum clot firmness,
      alpha angle, and lysis index were measured with thromboelastometry. In addition,
      procalcitonin, interleukin 6, and C-reactive protein levels were determined. For
      comparison of biomarkers, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were
      used, and the optimal cut-offs and odds ratios were calculated. RESULTS: In
      comparison with postoperative controls, patients with sepsis showed an increase
      in lysis index (97% +/- 0.3 versus 92 +/- 0.5; P < 0.001; mean and SEM) and
      procalcitonin (2.5 ng/ml +/- 0.5 versus 30.6 +/- 8.7; P < 0.001). Clot-formation
      time, alpha angle, maximum clot firmness, as well as interleukin 6 and C-reactive
      protein concentrations were not different between groups; clotting time was
      slightly prolonged. ROC analysis demonstrated an area under the curve (AUC) of
      0.901 (CI 0.838-0.964) for the lysis index, and 0.756 (CI 0.666-0.846) for
      procalcitonin. The calculated cut-off for the lysis index was > 96.5%, resulting
      in a sensitivity of 84.2%, and a specificity of 94.2%, with an odds ratio of 85.3
      (CI 21.7-334.5). CONCLUSIONS: The thromboelastometry lysis index proved to be a
      more reliable biomarker of severe sepsis in critically ill adults than were
      procalcitonin, interleukin 6, and C-reactive protein. The results also
      demonstrate that early involvement of the hemostatic system is a common event in
      severe sepsis.

PMID- 20929578
TI  - Aberrant host immune response induced by highly virulent PRRSV identified by
      digital gene expression tag profiling.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There was a large scale outbreak of the highly pathogenic porcine
      reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) in China and Vietnam during 2006 and
      2007 that resulted in unusually high morbidity and mortality among pigs of all
      ages. The mechanisms underlying the molecular pathogenesis of the highly virulent
      PRRS virus (H-PRRSV) remains unknown. Therefore, the relationship between
      pulmonary gene expression profiles after H-PRRSV infection and infection
      pathology were analyzed in this study using high-throughput deep sequencing and
      histopathology. RESULTS: H-PRRSV infection resulted in severe lung pathology. The
      results indicate that aberrant host innate immune responses to H-PRRSV and
      induction of an anti-apoptotic state could be responsible for the aggressive
      replication and dissemination of H-PRRSV. Prolific rapid replication of H-PRRSV
      could have triggered aberrant sustained expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines
      and chemokines leading to a markedly robust inflammatory response compounded by
      significant cell death and increased oxidative damage. The end result was severe
      tissue damage and high pathogenicity. CONCLUSIONS: The systems analysis utilized
      in this study provides a comprehensive basis for better understanding the
      pathogenesis of H-PRRSV. Furthermore, it allows the genetic components involved
      in H-PRRSV resistance/susceptibility in swine populations to be identified.

PMID- 20929579
TI  - Epigenetic regulation of CpG promoter methylation in invasive prostate cancer
      cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Recently, much attention has been focused on gaining a better
      understanding of the different populations of cells within a tumor and their
      contribution to cancer progression. One of the most commonly used methods to
      isolate a more aggressive sub-population of cells utilizes cell sorting based on
      expression of certain cell adhesion molecules. A recently established method we
      developed is to isolate these more aggressive cells based on their properties of
      increased invasive ability. These more invasive cells have been previously
      characterized as tumor initiating cells (TICs) that have a stem-like genomic
      signature and express a number of stem cell genes including Oct3/4 and Nanog and
      are more tumorigenic compared to their 'non-invasive' counterpart. They also have
      a profile reminiscent of cells undergoing a classic pattern of epithelial to
      mesenchymal transition or EMT. Using this model of invasion, we sought to
      investigate which genes are under epigenetic control in this rare population of
      cells. Epigenetic modifications, specifically DNA methylation, are key events
      regulating the process of normal human development. To determine the specific
      methylation pattern in these invasive prostate cells, and if any developmental
      genes were being differentially regulated, we analyzed differences in global CpG
      promoter methylation. RESULTS: Differentially methylated genes were determined
      and select genes were chosen for additional analyses. The non-receptor tyrosine
      kinase BMX and transcription factor SOX1 were found to play a significant role in
      invasion. Ingenuity pathway analysis revealed the methylated gene list frequently
      displayed genes from the IL-6/STAT3 pathway. Cells which have decreased levels of
      the targets BMX and SOX1 also display loss of STAT3 activity. Finally, using
      Oncomine, it was determined that more aggressive metastatic prostate cancers in
      humans also have higher levels of both Stat3 and Sox1. CONCLUSIONS: Using this
      method we can begin to understand which genes are epigenetically regulated in the
      invasive population compared to the bulk tumor cells. These aggressive sub
      populations of cells may be linked to the cancer stem cell hypothesis, making
      their patterns of epigenetic regulation very attractive for biomarker analysis.

PMID- 20929581
TI  - Bi-directional gene set enrichment and canonical correlation analysis identify
      key diet-sensitive pathways and biomarkers of metabolic syndrome.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Currently, a number of bioinformatics methods are available to
      generate appropriate lists of genes from a microarray experiment. While these
      lists represent an accurate primary analysis of the data, fewer options exist to
      contextualise those lists. The development and validation of such methods is
      crucial to the wider application of microarray technology in the clinical
      setting. Two key challenges in clinical bioinformatics involve appropriate
      statistical modelling of dynamic transcriptomic changes, and extraction of
      clinically relevant meaning from very large datasets. RESULTS: Here, we apply an
      approach to gene set enrichment analysis that allows for detection of bi
      directional enrichment within a gene set. Furthermore, we apply canonical
      correlation analysis and Fisher's exact test, using plasma marker data with known
      clinical relevance to aid identification of the most important gene and pathway
      changes in our transcriptomic dataset. After a 28-day dietary intervention with
      high-CLA beef, a range of plasma markers indicated a marked improvement in the
      metabolic health of genetically obese mice. Tissue transcriptomic profiles
      indicated that the effects were most dramatic in liver (1270 genes significantly
      changed; p < 0.05), followed by muscle (601 genes) and adipose (16 genes).
      Results from modified GSEA showed that the high-CLA beef diet affected diverse
      biological processes across the three tissues, and that the majority of pathway
      changes reached significance only with the bi-directional test. Combining the
      liver tissue microarray results with plasma marker data revealed 110 CLA
      sensitive genes showing strong canonical correlation with one or more plasma
      markers of metabolic health, and 9 significantly overrepresented pathways among
      this set; each of these pathways was also significantly changed by the high-CLA
      diet. Closer inspection of two of these pathways--selenoamino acid metabolism and
      steroid biosynthesis--illustrated clear diet-sensitive changes in constituent
      genes, as well as strong correlations between gene expression and plasma markers
      of metabolic syndrome independent of the dietary effect. CONCLUSION: Bi
      directional gene set enrichment analysis more accurately reflects dynamic
      regulatory behaviour in biochemical pathways, and as such highlighted
      biologically relevant changes that were not detected using a traditional
      approach. In such cases where transcriptomic response to treatment is
      exceptionally large, canonical correlation analysis in conjunction with Fisher's
      exact test highlights the subset of pathways showing strongest correlation with
      the clinical markers of interest. In this case, we have identified selenoamino
      acid metabolism and steroid biosynthesis as key pathways mediating the observed
      relationship between metabolic health and high-CLA beef. These results indicate
      that this type of analysis has the potential to generate novel transcriptome
      based biomarkers of disease.

PMID- 20929582
TI  - The chondroitin/dermatan sulfate synthesizing and modifying enzymes in laryngeal
      cancer: expressional and epigenetic studies.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Significant biochemical changes are observed in glycosaminoglycans in
      squamous cell laryngeal carcinoma. The most characteristics are in
      chondroitin/dermatan sulfate fine structure and proportion, which might be due to
      differential expression of the enzymes involved in their biosynthesis. The aim of
      the present work was the investigation in expressional and epigenetic level of
      the enzymes involved in chondroitin/dermatan sulfate biosynthesis in laryngeal
      cancer. METHODS: Tissues subjected to total RNA and DNA isolation, and protein
      extraction. The techniques used in this study were RT-PCR analysis, western
      blotting and methylation specific PCR. RESULTS: We identified that many enzymes
      were expressed in the cancerous specimens intensively. Dermatan sulfate epimerase
      was expressed exclusively in the cancerous parts and in minor amounts in healthy
      tissues; in the macroscopically normal samples it was not detected. Furthermore,
      chondroitin synthase I and chondroitin polymerizing factor were strongly
      expressed in the cancerous parts compared to the corresponding normal tissues.
      Sulfotransferases, like chondroitin 6 sulfotransferase 3, were highly expressed
      mainly in healthy specimens. CONCLUSIONS: The study of the various
      chondroitin/dermatan synthesizing enzymes revealed that they were differentially
      expressed in cancer, in human laryngeal cartilage, leading to specific
      chondroitin/dermatan structures which contributed to proteoglycan formation with
      specific features. The expression of the examined enzymes correlated with the
      glycosaminoglycan profile observed in previous studies.

PMID- 20929583
TI  - The impact of CdSe/ZnS Quantum Dots in cells of Medicago sativa in suspension
      culture.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Nanotechnology has the potential to provide agriculture with new
      tools that may be used in the rapid detection and molecular treatment of diseases
      and enhancement of plant ability to absorb nutrients, among others. Data on
      nanoparticle toxicity in plants is largely heterogeneous with a diversity of
      physicochemical parameters reported, which difficult generalizations. Here a cell
      biology approach was used to evaluate the impact of Quantum Dots (QDs)
      nanocrystals on plant cells, including their effect on cell growth, cell
      viability, oxidative stress and ROS accumulation, besides their cytomobility.
      RESULTS: A plant cell suspension culture of Medicago sativa was settled for the
      assessment of the impact of the addition of mercaptopropanoic acid coated
      CdSe/ZnS QDs. Cell growth was significantly reduced when 100 mM of
      mercaptopropanoic acid -QDs was added during the exponential growth phase, with
      less than 50% of the cells viable 72 hours after mercaptopropanoic acid -QDs
      addition. They were up taken by Medicago sativa cells and accumulated in the
      cytoplasm and nucleus as revealed by optical thin confocal imaging. As part of
      the cellular response to internalization, Medicago sativa cells were found to
      increase the production of Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) in a dose and time
      dependent manner. Using the fluorescent dye H2DCFDA it was observable that
      mercaptopropanoic acid-QDs concentrations between 5-180 nM led to a progressive
      and linear increase of ROS accumulation. CONCLUSIONS: Our results showed that the
      extent of mercaptopropanoic acid coated CdSe/ZnS QDs cytotoxicity in plant cells
      is dependent upon a number of factors including QDs properties, dose and the
      environmental conditions of administration and that, for Medicago sativa cells, a
      safe range of 1-5 nM should not be exceeded for biological applications.

PMID- 20929580
TI  - Mitochondrial genome evolution in fire ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae).
AB  - BACKGROUND: Complete mitochondrial genome sequences have become important tools
      for the study of genome architecture, phylogeny, and molecular evolution. Despite
      the rapid increase in available mitogenomes, the taxonomic sampling often poorly
      reflects phylogenetic diversity and is often also biased to represent deeper
      (family-level) evolutionary relationships. RESULTS: We present the first fully
      sequenced ant (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) mitochondrial genomes. We sampled four
      mitogenomes from three species of fire ants, genus Solenopsis, which represent
      various evolutionary depths. Overall, ant mitogenomes appear to be typical of
      hymenopteran mitogenomes, displaying a general A+T-bias. The Solenopsis
      mitogenomes are slightly more compact than other hymentoperan mitogenomes (~15.5
      kb), retaining all protein coding genes, ribosomal, and transfer RNAs. We also
      present evidence of recombination between the mitogenomes of the two conspecific
      Solenopsis mitogenomes. Finally, we discuss potential ways to improve the
      estimation of phylogenies using complete mitochondrial genome sequences.
      CONCLUSIONS: The ant mitogenome presents an important addition to the continued
      efforts in studying hymenopteran mitogenome architecture, evolution, and
      phylogenetics. We provide further evidence that the sampling across many
      taxonomic levels (including conspecifics and congeners) is useful and important
      to gain detailed insights into mitogenome evolution. We also discuss ways that
      may help improve the use of mitogenomes in phylogenetic analyses by accounting
      for non-stationary and non-homogeneous evolution among branches.

PMID- 20929584
TI  - Trial Protocol: randomised controlled trial of the effects of very low calorie
      diet, modest dietary restriction, and sequential behavioural programme on hunger,
      urges to smoke, abstinence and weight gain in overweight smokers stopping
      smoking.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Weight gain accompanies smoking cessation, but dieting during
      quitting is controversial as hunger may increase urges to smoke. This is a
      feasibility trial for the investigation of a very low calorie diet (VLCD),
      individual modest energy restriction, and usual advice on hunger, ketosis, urges
      to smoke, abstinence and weight gain in overweight smokers trying to quit.
      METHODS: This is a 3 armed, unblinded, randomized controlled trial in overweight
      (BMI > 25 kg/m2), daily smokers (CO > 10 ppm); with at least 30 participants in
      each group. Each group receives identical behavioural support and NRT patches (25
      mg(8 weeks),15 mg(2 weeks),10 mg(2 weeks)). The VLCD group receive a 429-559
      kcal/day liquid formula beginning 1 week before quitting and continuing for 4
      weeks afterwards. The modest energy restricted group (termed individual dietary
      and activity planning(IDAP)) engage in goal-setting and receive an energy
      prescription based on individual basal metabolic rate(BMR) aiming for daily
      reduction of 600 kcal. The control group receive usual dietary advice that
      accompanies smoking cessation i.e. avoiding feeling hungry but eating healthy
      snacks. After this, the VLCD participants receive IDAP to provide support for
      changing eating habits in the longer term; the IDAP group continues receiving
      this support. The control group receive IDAP 8 weeks after quitting. This allows
      us to compare IDAP following a successful quit attempt with dieting concurrently
      during quitting. It also aims to prevent attrition in the unblinded, control
      group by meeting their need for weight management. Follow-up occurs at 6 and 12
      months.Outcome measures include participant acceptability, measured qualitatively
      by semi-structured interviewing and quantitatively by recruitment and attrition
      rates. Feasibility of running the trial within primary care is measured by
      interview and questionnaire of the treatment providers. Adherence to the VLCD is
      verified by the presence of urinary ketones measured weekly. Daily urges to
      smoke, hunger and withdrawal are measured using the Mood and Physical Symptoms
      Scale-Combined (MPSS-C) and a Hunger Craving Score (HCS). 24 hour, 7 day point
      prevalence and 4-week prolonged abstinence (Russell Standard) is confirmed by CO
      < 10 ppm. Weight, waist and hip circumference and percentage body fat are
      measured at each visit. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Current controlled trials
      ISRCTN83865809.

PMID- 20929585
TI  - The biochemical aftermath of anti-amyloid immunotherapy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Active and passive immunotherapy in both amyloid-beta precursor
      protein (APP) transgenic mice and Alzheimer's Disease (AD) patients have resulted
      in remarkable reductions in amyloid plaque accumulation, although the degree of
      amyloid regression has been highly variable. Nine individuals with a clinical
      diagnosis of AD dementia were actively immunized with the Abeta peptide 1-42 (AN
      1792) and subjected to detailed postmortem biochemical analyses. These patients
      were compared to 6 non-immunized AD cases and 5 non-demented control (NDC) cases.
      RESULTS: All patients were assessed for the presence of AD pathology including
      amyloid plaques, neurofibrillary tangles and vascular amyloidosis. This effort
      revealed that two immunotherapy recipients had dementia as a consequence of
      diseases other than AD. Direct neuropathological examination consistently
      demonstrated small to extensive areas in which amyloid plaques apparently were
      disrupted. Characterization of Abeta species remnants by ELISA suggested that
      total Abeta levels may have been reduced, although because the amounts of Abeta
      peptides among treated individuals were extremely variable, those data must be
      regarded as tentative. Chromatographic analysis and Western blots revealed
      abundant dimeric Abeta peptides. SELDI-TOF mass spectrometry demonstrated a
      substantive number of Abeta-related peptides, some of them with elongated C
      terminal sequences. Pro-inflammatory TNF-alpha levels were significantly
      increased in the gray matter of immunized AD cases compared to the NDC and non
      immunized AD groups. CONCLUSIONS: Immunotherapy responses were characterized by
      extreme variability. Considering the broad range of biological variation that
      characterizes aging and complicates the recognition of reliable AD biomarkers,
      such disparities will make the interpretation of outcomes derived from
      epidemiologic and therapeutic investigations challenging. Although in some cases
      the apparent removal of amyloid plaques by AN-1792 was impressive, proportionate
      alterations in the clinical progression of AD were not evident. The fact that
      plaque elimination did not alter the trajectory of decline into dementia suggests
      the likelihood that these deposits alone are not the underlying cause of
      dementia.

PMID- 20929586
TI  - A novel envelope mediated post entry restriction of murine leukaemia virus in
      human cells is Ref1/TRIM5alpha independent.
AB  - BACKGROUND: 'Intrinsic' resistance to retroviral infection was first recognised
      with the Friend virus susceptibility gene (Fv1), which determines susceptibility
      to murine leukaemia virus (MLV) infection in different murine species. Similarly,
      the tripartite motif (TRIM) family of proteins determine lentiviral restriction
      in a primate host-species specific manner. For example rhesus TRIM5alpha
      (rhTRIM5alpha) can potently restrict HIV-1 infection while human TRIM5alpha
      (huTRIM5alpha) only has a mild effect on SIVmac and HIV-1 infectivity (Lv1).
      Human TRIM5alpha is able to restrict MLV-N virus replication, but is ineffective
      against MLV-B or MLV-NB virus infection. Lv2 restriction of some HIV-2 viruses is
      seen in human cells. Like Lv1, Lv2 is a post-entry restriction factor, whose
      viral determinants have been mapped to the viral capsid (CA). Unlike Lv1,
      however, Lv2 is determined by envelope (Env) in addition to CA. Here we present
      evidence of a novel Env determined post entry restriction to infection in human
      cells of pseudotyped MLV-B and MLV-NB cores. RESULTS: We generated retroviral
      vectors pseudotyped with various gamma and lentiviral Envs on MLV-B and -NB CAs
      containing a green fluorescent protein (GFP) reporter. Flow cytometry was used to
      determine transduction efficiencies in NP2/CD4/CXCR4 (glioma cell line stably
      transduced with the HIV receptors) and HeLa/CD4 cell lines. The HeLa/CD4 cell
      line restricted both MLV CAs in an Env dependent manner, compared to
      NP2/CD4/CXCR4 cells. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (QT-PCR) analysis of
      reverse transcription (RT) transcripts demonstrates that this restriction occurs
      at a post entry and RT level. siRNA knockdown of huTRIM5alpha ruled out a direct
      role for this cellular component in mediating this restriction. We describe a
      previously unobserved Env determined restriction of MLV-B and MLV-NB CAs in
      HeLa/CD4 cells when pseudotyped with HIV-2 and RD114 Envs, but not gibbon ape
      leukaemia virus (GALV), HIV-1 or Amphotrophic (Ampho) Envs. CONCLUSIONS: Our data
      further demonstrate the variability of Env and CA mediated susceptibility to post
      entry host cell restriction. We discuss the relevance of these findings in light
      of the growing evidence supporting the complexities involved in innate host
      immunity to retroviral infection.

PMID- 20929587
TI  - Parental influences on child physical activity and screen viewing time: a
      population based study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Parents can influence their children's physical activity
      participation and screen time.This study examined the relative significance of
      perceived parental barriers and self-efficacy in relation to children's physical
      activity participation and screen time viewing. The associations between these
      factors and the behaviours were analysed. METHODS: Cross-sectional population
      survey in New South Wales, Australia of parents of pre-school (N = 764), younger
      (Kindergarten, Grades 2 and 4; N = 1557) and older children (Grades 6, 8 and 10;
      N = 1665). Parents reported barriers and self-efficacy to influence their child's
      physical activity and screen time behaviours in a range of circumstances.
      Differences were examined by child's sex and age group, household income,
      maternal education and location of residence. The duration of physical activity
      and screen viewing was measured by parental report for pre-school and younger
      children and self-report for older children. Associations between parental
      factors and children's organised, non-organised and total activity and screen
      time were analysed. RESULTS: Cost, lack of opportunities for participation and
      transport problems were the barriers most often reported, particularly by low
      income parents and those in rural areas. The number of barriers was inversely
      related to children's time spent in organised activity, but not their non
      organised activity. Higher parental self-efficacy was positively associated with
      organised physical activity in the younger and older children's groups and the
      non-organised activity of older children. School-age children (younger and older
      groups) were less likely to meet physical activity guidelines when parents
      reported >=4 barriers (OR 3.76, 95% CI 1.25-11.34 and OR 3.72, 95% CI 1.71-8.11
      respectively). Low parental self-efficacy was also associated with the likelihood
      of children exceeding screen time guidelines for each age group (pre-school OR
      0.62, 95% CI 0.43-0.87; young children OR 0.56, 95% CI 0.39-0.80; and older
      children OR 0.57, 95% CI 0.43-0.74). CONCLUSION: Parental barriers are associated
      with the time that children spend in both active and sedentary pursuits. These
      findings highlight family, economic and environmental factors that should be
      addressed in programs to promote child physical activity and tackle sedentary
      behaviour.

PMID- 20929588
TI  - Plasmodium ovale infection in Malaysia: first imported case.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Plasmodium ovale infection is rarely reported in Malaysia. This is
      the first imported case of P. ovale infection in Malaysia which was initially
      misdiagnosed as Plasmodium vivax. METHODS: Peripheral blood sample was first
      examined by Giemsa-stained microscopy examination and further confirmed using a
      patented in-house multiplex PCR followed by sequencing. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION:
      Initial results from peripheral blood smear examination diagnosed P. vivax
      infection. However further analysis using a patented in-house multiplex PCR
      followed by sequencing confirmed the presence of P. ovale. Given that Anopheles
      maculatus and Anopheles dirus, vectors of P. ovale are found in Malaysia, this
      finding has significant implication on Malaysia's public health sector.
      CONCLUSIONS: The current finding should serve as an alert to epidemiologists,
      clinicians and laboratory technicians in the possibility of finding P. ovale in
      Malaysia. P. ovale should be considered in the differential diagnosis of imported
      malaria cases in Malaysia due to the exponential increase in the number of
      visitors from P. ovale endemic regions and the long latent period of P. ovale. It
      is also timely that conventional diagnosis of malaria via microscopy should be
      coupled with more advanced molecular tools for effective diagnosis.

PMID- 20929589
TI  - What are the beliefs, attitudes and practices of front-line staff in long-term
      care (LTC) facilities related to osteoporosis awareness, management and fracture
      prevention?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Compared to the general elderly population, those institutionalized
      in LTC facilities have the highest prevalence of osteoporosis and subsequently
      have higher incidences of vertebral and hip fractures. The goal of this study is
      to determine how well nurses at LTC facilities are educated to properly
      administer bisphosphonates. A secondary question assessed was the nurse's and
      PSW's attitudes and beliefs regarding the role and benefits of vitamin D for LTC
      patients. METHODS: Eight LTC facilities in Hamilton were surveyed, and all nurses
      were offered a survey. A total 57 registered nurses were surveyed. A 21 item
      questionnaire was developed to assess existing management practices and specific
      osteoporosis knowledge areas. RESULTS: The questionnaire assessed the nurse's and
      personal support worker's (PSWs) education on how to properly administer
      bisphosphonates by having them select all applicable responses from a list of
      options. These options included administering the drug before, after or with
      meals, given with or separate from other medications, given with juice, given
      with or without water, given with the patient sitting up, or finally given with
      the patient supine. Only 52% of the nurses and 8.7% of PSWs administered the drug
      properly, where they selected the options: (given before meals, given with water,
      given separate from all other medications, and given in a sitting up position).
      If at least one incorrect option was selected, then it was scored as an
      inappropriate administration. Bisphosphonates were given before meals by 85% of
      nurses, given with water by 90%, given separately from other medication by 71%,
      and was administered in an upright position by 79%. Only 52% of the nurses and
      8.7% of PSWs surveyed were administering the drug properly. Regarding the
      secondary question, of the 57 nurses surveyed, 68% strongly felt their patients
      should be prescribed vitamin D supplements. Of the 124 PSWs who completed the
      survey, 44.4% strongly felt their patients should be prescribed vitamin D
      supplementation. CONCLUSION: Bisphosphonates are quite effective in increasing
      the bone mineral density of LTC patients, and may reduce fracture rates, but it
      is only effective if properly administered. In our study, proper administration
      of bisphosphonate therapy was less than optimal. In summary, although the
      education of health providers has improved since the mid-1990's, this area still
      requires further attention and the subject of future quality assurance research.

PMID- 20929590
TI  - Declining in efficacy of a three-day combination regimen of mefloquine-artesunate
      in a multi-drug resistance area along the Thai-Myanmar border.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Declining in clinical efficacy of artesunate-mefloquine combination
      has been documented in areas along the eastern border (Thai-Cambodian) of
      Thailand. In the present study, the clinical efficacy of the three-day
      combination regimen of artesunate-mefloquine as first-line treatment for acute
      uncomplicated falciparum malaria in Thailand was monitored in an area along the
      western border (Thai-Myanmar) of the country. METHODS: A total of 150 Burmese
      patients (85 males and 65 females) aged between 16 and 50 years who were
      attending the Mae Tao clinic, Mae-Sot, Tak Province, and presenting with
      symptomatic acute uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria were included into
      the study. Patients were treated initially (day 0) with 4 mg/kg body weight
      artesunate and 15 mg/kg body weight mefloquine. The dose regimen on day 2 was 4
      mg/kg body weight artesunate and 10 mg/kg body weight mefloquine. On day 3,
      artesunate at the dose of 4 mg/kg body weight was given with 0.6 mg/kg body
      weight primaquine. Whole blood mefloquine and plasma artesunate and
      dihydroartemisinin (active plasma metabolite of artesunate) concentrations
      following treatment were determined by high performance liquid chromatography
      (HPLC) and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LCMS), respectively. RESULTS:
      Thirty-four cases had recrudescence during days 7 and 42. Five and 5 cases,
      respectively had reinfection with P. falciparum and reappearance of Plasmodium
      vivax in their peripheral blood during follow-up. The Kaplan-Meier estimate of
      the 42-and 28-day efficacy rates of this combination regimen were 72.58% (95% CI:
      63.20-79.07%) and 83.06 (95% CI 76.14-94.40%), respectively. Parasite clearance
      time (PCT) and fever clearance time (FCT) were significantly prolonged in
      patients with treatment failure compared with those with sensitive response
      [median (95% CI) values for PCT 32.0 (20.0-48.0) vs 24.0 (14.0-32.0) hr and FCT
      30.0 (22.0-42.0) vs 26.0 (18.0-36.0) hr; p < 0.005]. Whole blood mefloquine
      concentrations on days 1, 7 and 14 in patients with sensitive and recrudescence
      response were comparable. Although plasma concentration of dihydroartemisinin at
      1 hour of treatment was significantly lower in patients with recrudescence
      compared with sensitive response [mean (95% CI) 456 (215-875) vs 525 (452-599)
      ng/ml; p < 0.001], the proportion of patients with recrudescence who had
      relatively low (compared with the lower limit of 95% CI defined in the sensitive
      group) was significantly smaller than that of the sensitive group. CONCLUSIONS:
      Although pharmacokinetic (ethnic-related) factors including resistance of P.
      falciparum to mefloquine contribute to some treatment failure following treatment
      with a three-day combination regimen of artesunate-mefloquine, results suggest
      that artesunate resistance may be emerging at the Thai-Myanmar border.

PMID- 20929591
TI  - Unique genome-wide transcriptome profiles of chicken macrophages exposed to
      Salmonella-derived endotoxin.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Macrophages play essential roles in both innate and adaptive immune
      responses. Bacteria require endotoxin, a complex lipopolysaccharide, for outer
      membrane permeability and the host interprets endotoxin as a signal to initiate
      an innate immune response. The focus of this study is kinetic and global
      transcriptional analysis of the chicken macrophage response to in vitro
      stimulation with endotoxin from Salmonella typhimurium-798. RESULTS: The 38535
      probeset Affymetrix GeneChip Chicken Genome array was used to profile
      transcriptional response to endotoxin 1, 2, 4, and 8 hours post stimulation
      (hps). Using a maximum FDR (False Discovery Rate) of 0.05 to declare genes as
      differentially expressed (DE), we found 13, 33, 1761 and 61 DE genes between
      endotoxin-stimulated versus non-stimulated cells at 1, 2, 4 and 8 hps,
      respectively. QPCR demonstrated that endotoxin exposure significantly affected
      the mRNA expression of IL1B, IL6, IL8, and TLR15, but not IL10 and IFNG in HD 11
      cells. Ingenuity Pathway Analysis showed that 10% of the total DE genes were
      involved in inflammatory response. Three, 9.7, 96.8, and 11.8% of the total DE
      inflammatory response genes were significantly differentially expressed with
      endotoxin stimulation at 1, 2, 4 and 8 hps, respectively. The NFKBIA, IL1B, IL8
      and CCL4 genes were consistently induced at all times after endotoxin treatment.
      NLRC5 (CARD domain containing, NOD-like receptor family, RCJMB04_18i2), an
      intracellular receptor, was induced in HD11 cells treated with endotoxin.
      CONCLUSIONS: As above using an in vitro model of chicken response to endotoxin,
      our data revealed the kinetics of gene networks involved in host response to
      endotoxin and extend the known complexity of networks in chicken immune response
      to Gram-negative bacteria such as Salmonella. The induction of NFKBIA, IL1B, IL8,
      CCL4 genes is a consistent signature of host response to endotoxin over time. We
      make the first report of induction of a NOD-like receptor family member in
      response to Salmonella endotoxin in chicken macrophages.

PMID- 20929592
TI  - Effectiveness of tocotrienol-rich fraction combined with tamoxifen in the
      management of women with early breast cancer: a pilot clinical trial.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Basic research has indicated that tocotrienols have potent
      antiproliferative and proapoptotic effects that would be expected to reduce the
      effect of breast cancer. METHODS: We conducted a double-blinded, placebo
      controlled pilot trial to test the effectiveness of adjuvant tocotrienol therapy
      in combination with tamoxifen for five years in women with early breast cancer.
      Two-hundred-forty women, aged between 40-60 years, with either tumor node
      metastases (TNM) Stage I or II breast cancer and estrogen receptor (ER) positive
      tumors were non-randomly assigned to two groups. The intervention group received
      tocotrienol rich fraction (TRF) plus tamoxifen whilst the control group received
      placebo plus tamoxifen, for five years. RESULTS: During the five years of study,
      8 patients died due to breast cancer while 36 patients developed local or
      systemic recurrence. Five-year breast cancer specific survival was 98.3% (95%
      confidence interval (CI): 95.9% to 100%) in the intervention group and 95%, (95%
      CI: 91.1% to 98.9%) in the control group, while 5-years disease free survival was
      86.7% (95% CI: 80.6% to 92.8%) and 83.3% (95% CI: 76.6% to 90.0%), respectively.
      Risk of mortality due to breast cancer was 60% (HR: 0.40; 95% CI: 0.08 to 2.05)
      lower in the intervention group versus the controls following adjustment for age,
      ethnicity, stage and lymph node status but this was not statistically
      significant. Adjuvant TRF therapy was not associated with breast cancer
      recurrence (HR: 0.84; 95% CI: 0.43-1.65). CONCLUSIONS: From the current study,
      there seems to be no association between adjuvant tocotrienol therapy and breast
      cancer specific survival in women with early breast cancer. TRIAL REGISTRATION:
      ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01157026.

PMID- 20929594
TI  - Translational research in oncology: key bottlenecks and new paradigms.
AB  - Translational research is about transforming progress in basic research into
      products that benefit patients. Here I discuss some of the key obstacles to
      effective translational research in oncology that have previously received
      limited attention. Basic research often does not go far enough for
      straightforward clinical translation, and long-term, high-risk endeavours to fill
      these key gaps have not been adequately addressed either by industry or by the
      culture of investigator-initiated research. These key gaps include the
      identification of causative oncogenic mutations and new approaches to regulating
      currently undruggable targets such as tumour suppressor genes. Even where an
      inhibitor of a key target has been identified, new approaches to clinical
      development are needed. The current approach of treating broad populations of
      patients based primarily on primary cancer site is not well suited to the
      development of molecularly targeted drugs. Although developing drugs with
      predictive diagnostics makes drug development more complex, it can improve the
      success rate of development, as well as provide benefit to patients and the
      economics of healthcare. I review here some prospective Phase III designs that
      have been developed for transition from the era of correlative science to one of
      reliable predictive and personalised oncology.

PMID- 20929593
TI  - The longitudinal association of common susceptibility variants for type 2
      diabetes and obesity with fasting glucose level and BMI.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Variation in the effects of genetic variants on physiological traits
      over time or with age may alter the trajectories of these traits. However, few
      studies have investigated this possibility for variants associated with type 2
      diabetes or obesity, and these show little consensus. We aimed to characterise
      the possible longitudinal associations of common diabetes-susceptibility variants
      in the KCNJ11, PPARG, TCF7L2, IGF2BP2, CDKAL1, SLC30A8 and HHEX gene loci, with
      fasting glucose level; and of an obesity-associated variant in the FTO gene, with
      body mass index (BMI). METHODS: The study analysed data from the Busselton Health
      Study (n = 4,554). Cross-sectional association analyses included family data and
      used the total association test. Longitudinal association analyses of unrelated
      participant data (n = 2,864) used linear mixed-effects models. RESULTS: In cross
      sectional analyses, we observed associations of the T allele at the IGF2BP2
      single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs4402960 with raised fasting glucose (p =
      0.045), and the A allele at the FTO SNP rs9939609 with raised BMI (p = 0.003).
      Longitudinal analyses showed no significant associations between SNPs and changes
      in fasting glucose or BMI in the same individuals, either over mean follow-up
      times of 18.7 and 21.8 years respectively, or with age during adulthood.
      CONCLUSIONS: There was no indication that the effects of common type 2 diabetes
      variants on fasting glucose varied with age during adulthood or over time.

PMID- 20929595
TI  - Metabolic imprinting, programming and epigenetics - a review of present
      priorities and future opportunities.
AB  - Metabolic programming and metabolic imprinting describe early life events, which
      impact upon on later physiological outcomes. Despite the increasing numbers of
      papers and studies, the distinction between metabolic programming and metabolic
      imprinting remains confusing. The former can be defined as a dynamic process
      whose effects are dependent upon a critical window(s) while the latter can be
      more strictly associated with imprinting at the genomic level. The clinical end
      points associated with these phenomena can sometimes be mechanistically
      explicable in terms of gene expression mediated by epigenetics. The predictivity
      of outcomes depends on determining if there is causality or association in the
      context of both early dietary exposure and future health parameters. The use of
      biomarkers is a key aspect of determining the predictability of later outcome,
      and the strengths of particular types of biomarkers need to be determined. It has
      become clear that several important health endpoints are impacted upon by
      metabolic programming/imprinting. These include the link between perinatal
      nutrition, nutritional epigenetics and programming at an early developmental
      stage and its link to a range of future health risks such as CVD and diabetes. In
      some cases, the evidence base remains patchy and associative, while in others, a
      more direct causality between early nutrition and later health is clear. In
      addition, it is also essential to acknowledge the communication to consumers,
      industry, health care providers, policy-making bodies as well as to the
      scientific community. In this way, both programming and, eventually,
      reprogramming can become effective tools to improve health through dietary
      intervention at specific developmental points.

PMID- 20929596
TI  - New-onset asthma among soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.
AB  - Since June 4, 2004, asthma diagnosed and symptomatic after the age of 12 years
      has been an exclusion criterion for military enlistment unless exempted via
      medical waiver. The Department of Defense determined that 13% of U.S. Army Medic
      visits in Iraq are for new-onset acute respiratory illness; case reports of
      veterans with asthma that began in Iraq and Afghanistan War zones have surfaced.
      This prompted our study to determine whether new asthma is diagnosed more
      frequently among Iraq/Afghanistan War troops versus stateside-based troops.
      Retrospective review of asthma diagnoses among computerized charts for military
      personnel discharged from active duty and examined between March 1, 2004 and May
      1, 2007, at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC), Northport, NY, classified
      soldiers by (1) deployment status-whether they were stationed in Iraq/Afghanistan
      for a 1-year tour of duty or stationed in the United States, and (2) VA diagnosis
      of asthma per International Classification of Disease codes. Associations between
      deployment and asthma statuses were evaluated/stratified by gender/age group.
      Eligibility criteria entailed (1) residence in Long Island, (2) aged 18-45 years,
      and (3) both U.S. military service and discharge dates between March 1, 2004 and
      May 1, 2007. Out of 6233 patients who served between 2004 and 2007 and were
      followed at the Northport VAMC, 290 new-onset/prevalent asthma cases were
      identified. Deployment to Iraq was associated with a significantly higher risk of
      asthma compared with stateside soldiers (6.6% versus 4.3%; with a crude odds
      ratio, 1.58; 95% CI, 1.18, 2.11). These associations persist when stratified by
      gender and age group. Deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan is associated with new
      onset asthma. Etiologic studies, surveillance, incidence, epidemiology, and
      assessing response to therapy are recommended.

PMID- 20929597
TI  - Comprehensive use of environmental control practices among adults with asthma.
AB  - Asthma is a common chronic illness among adults. National guidelines recommend
      comprehensive implementation of environmental control practices (ECP) for asthma
      management. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between
      preventive asthma care and comprehensive ECP use among adults with asthma. We
      used data from the Four-State National Asthma Survey, including 3727 adults with
      asthma. Comprehensive management was defined as implementing at least five of
      eight ECP: (1) air filter, (2) dehumidifier, (3) mattress cover, (4) pillow
      cover, (5) no pets, (6) no smoking, (7) no carpets, and (8) washing sheets in hot
      water. We examined the association between comprehensive implementation of ECP
      and receipt of preventive asthma care, as measured by number of routine asthma
      visits in the prior year and physician advice to modify the environment. Overall,
      13.3% (95% confidence interval [CI], 11.8-14.8%) of participants reported
      comprehensive ECP use. The most frequently implemented ECP were no smoking (80%),
      no pets (54%), and washing sheets in hot water (43%). Comprehensive ECP use was
      associated with having received physician advice (odds ratio [OR], 2.3; 95% CI,
      1.6-3.4) and increased number of routine asthma visits (1-2 visits: OR, 2.4, and
      95% CI, 1.5-4.0; 3-4 visits: OR, 2.4, and 95% CI, 1.3-4.5; 5 or more visits: OR,
      3.4, and 95% CI, 1.9-6.4). Receipt of preventive asthma care is associated with
      comprehensive implementation of ECP. Further research is needed to determine the
      factors mediating these associations to develop more effective asthma counseling.

PMID- 20929598
TI  - Comparable effect of a leukotriene receptor antagonist and long-acting beta2
      adrenergic agonist in cough variant asthma.
AB  - Cough variant asthma (CVA) is a common cause of chronic persistent cough, in
      which allergic airway inflammation may play a role. Although current guidelines
      recommend bronchodilators and anti-inflammatory drugs for the treatment,
      comparison of the efficacy of these medications has not been investigated. This
      study was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of pranlukast, a leukotriene
      receptor antagonist, and salmeterol, a long-acting beta2-adrenergic agonist, in
      the treatment of CVA. The study was a randomized, controlled, parallel-group,
      multicenter trial. After a 4-week run-in period, 49 patients with newly diagnosed
      CVA were assigned to receive oral pranlukast (225 mg, b.i.d.) or inhaled
      salmeterol (100 MUg, b.i.d.) for 4 weeks. Primary outcome measure was cough
      symptom and secondary outcome measures were pulmonary function and eosinophilic
      airway inflammation. Treatment with pranlukast and salmeterol each decreased
      cough symptom scores, where the changes from baseline values were significantly
      greater in the pranlukast group than in the salmeterol group. Forced expiratory
      volume in 1 second and peak expiratory flow (PEF) increased in the two treatment
      groups with the same magnitudes, but significant decreases in diurnal variation
      of PEF and eosinophil counts and eosinophil cationic protein contents in the
      peripheral blood and induced sputum were observed only in the pranlukast group.
      In view of antitussive and anti-inflammatory actions, the leukotriene receptor
      antagonist pranlukast seems to be more effective than the long-acting beta2
      adrenergic agonist salmeterol in the treatment of CVA.

PMID- 20929599
TI  - Both bronchial and alveolar exhaled nitric oxide are reduced with extrafine
      beclomethasone dipropionate in asthma.
AB  - Exhaled nitric oxide (NO) is a noninvasive marker of airway inflammation.
      Beclomethasone dipropionate (BDP) is the only inhaled corticosteroid (ICS)
      available as both extrafine and nonextrafine hydrofluoroalkane (HFA) pressurized
      metered-dose inhaler (pMDI) formulation. The present study was designed to
      evaluate whether the different patterns of lung deposition of two HFA BDP
      formulations are associated with a different effect on bronchial and alveolar NO.
      This was a prospective double-blind, randomized, controlled, crossover study.
      After a 2-week placebo run-in period without ICSs, asthmatic patients were
      randomized to extrafine BDP, 100 MUg, b.i.d. or nonextrafine BDP, 250 MUg, b.i.d.
      for two 2-week periods separated by a 2-week washout period. Fourteen patients (5
      men) with a mean age 37 years and mean baseline forced expiratory volume in 1
      second (FEV1) of 83% of predicted were analyzed. Exhaled bronchial NO was
      significantly (p < 0.001) reduced in both treatment groups when compared with the
      last week of run-in period, whereas alveolar NO was significantly (p < 0.001)
      reduced only with extrafine BDP. Moreover, extrafine BDP was superior to
      nonextrafine BDP in both parameters (p < 0.05). Extrafine but not nonextrafine
      BDP HFA formulation lowers both bronchial and alveolar exhaled NO in asthmatic
      patients. ICS distribution throughout the whole bronchial tree could be important
      in patients who do not gain optimal control of inflammation with conventional
      nonextrafine ICS.

PMID- 20929600
TI  - Beta(2)-adrenergic receptor haplotype/polymorphisms and asthma susceptibility and
      clinical phenotype in a Chinese Han population.
AB  - Association and linkage studies of beta2-adrenergic receptor (beta2AR)
      polymorphisms in relation to the expression of asthmatic phenotypes and immune
      regulatory mechanisms have shown inconsistent results. This study was designed to
      analyze the relationship of particular combinations of single nucleotide
      polymorphisms (SNPs) or haplotypes of the beta2AR gene with bronchial asthma,
      bronchodilator response, and total IgE. By direct DNA sequencing, five SNPs (in
      positions -47, -20, 46, 79, and 252) of beta2AR gene were determined and combined
      with haplotypes in 201 asthmatic patients and 276 normal controls recruited from
      the Chinese Han population. Significantly higher bronchodilator response was
      observed in patients with homozygotic genotype 46A/A (13.40 +/- 3.48%), compared
      with those with homo-46G/G (7.25 +/- 3.11%) and heterozygotes 46A/G (7.39 +/-
      3.14%), respectively (p < 0.0001). There was also a significant difference in
      bronchodilator response when beta2AR haplotypes were analyzed (p = 0.003). From
      two common SNPs at positions 46A/G and 79C/G, we had determined three haplotypes
      that constructed six haplotype pairs. Comparison of the mean delta forced
      expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) values for the six haplotype pairs showed
      significant difference. Subjects homozygous for 46A/79C (Arg16/Gln27) had the
      highest deltaFEV1 (13.40 +/- 3.48%) and those with 46G/79C (Gly16/Gln27)
      homozygote had the lowest (6.43 +/- 0.55%). The two SNP haplotype pairs were
      significantly associated with delta FEV1 (p < 0.0001). Significantly higher total
      IgE levels were found in patients with homozygotic carriers of 79C genotypes (p =
      0.022) and homozygotic haplotype -47 T/-20 T/46 A/79 C/252 G (p < 0.0001). These
      results indicate that the manifestation of asthma might be affected by either an
      individual beta2AR SNPs or beta2AR haplotype.

PMID- 20929601
TI  - Allergic and mixed rhinitis: Epidemiology and natural history.
AB  - Allergic rhinitis (AR) is a prevalent chronic respiratory problem in the United
      States associated with significant comorbidities and health care costs. Recent
      surveys suggest that mixed rhinitis (MR), which refers to patients with
      nonallergic AR (NAR) and AR, is a specific rhinitis subtype that may represent
      between 50 and 70% of all AR patients although the true prevalence of these
      conditions has not been confirmed. It is important to make a clear distinction
      between these chronic rhinitis (CR) phenotypes as symptom triggers; response to
      treatment and prevalence of comorbidities such as sinusitis may be significantly
      different. Incorporating patient centric questionnaires that can reliably
      characterize AR, MR, and NAR phenotypes will improve our ability to further
      investigate the natural history/epidemiology, mechanisms, and development of
      novel therapies for NAR-related CR subtypes.

PMID- 20929602
TI  - Allergic rhinitis: Pathophysiology.
AB  - The inflammatory response in the nasal mucosa in subjects with allergic rhinitis
      challenged intranasally with an allergen includes an immediate IgE-mediated mast
      cell response as well as a late-phase response characterized by recruitment of
      eosinophils, basophils, and T cells expressing Th2 cytokines including IL-4, a
      switch factor for IgE synthesis, and IL-5, an eosinophil growth factor. Recent
      advances have suggested that additional pathways may contribute to the
      pathophysiology of allergic rhinitis including local synthesis of IgE in the
      nasal mucosa, the epithelial expression of cytokines that regulate Th2 cytokine
      responses (i.e., thymic stromal lymphopoietin, IL-25, and IL-33), and the
      activation of histamine receptors other than H1 and H2 such as H4-histamine
      receptors. This review focuses on briefly reviewing well-established pathways in
      the pathophysiology of allergic rhinitis and then updating knowledge on recent
      advances in the pathophysiology of allergic rhinitis. The review references
      information obtained from original articles published and available online on
      PubMed. In vitro and in vivo studies indicate that B cells in nasal mucosa can be
      induced to express IgE. Preclinical studies show an important role for epithelial
      derived cytokines (thymic stromal lymphopoietin, IL-25, and IL-33) in regulating
      Th2 responses at mucosal surfaces, and for H4-histamine receptors in mediating
      itching. In addition, regulatory T cells may play an important role in mediating
      active tolerance to allergens. An improved understanding of the pathophysiology
      of allergic rhinitis may provide important insight into novel therapeutic
      targets.

PMID- 20929603
TI  - Allergic rhinitis: Direct and indirect costs.
AB  - Allergic rhinitis is one of the most common conditions affecting both children
      and adults. Along with the burden of the disease and decrease in quality of life
      associated with allergic rhinitis, there are high costs related to the disorder.
      Costs due to allergic rhinitis can be divided into two categories: direct costs
      that are related to monies spent on the course of managing the disease and
      indirect costs that are due to missing work and decreased productivity due to the
      illness. There are also the costs associated with the comorbidities of allergic
      rhinitis, such as sinusitis and asthma, which are classified as "hidden" direct
      costs. Management of allergic rhinitis involves allergen avoidance, proper
      pharmacologic therapies, and allergen immunotherapy. These treatments add to the
      direct cost of the condition and need to be evaluated to determine their cost
      effectiveness in the control of the patient's nasal allergies. This article
      reviews the latest data on cost issues in allergic rhinitis and information of
      cost-effectiveness of treatments for this condition.

PMID- 20929604
TI  - Pet dander and difficult-to-control asthma: The burden of illness.
AB  - There is evidence that allergy to common indoor pets, particularly cats and dogs,
      is closely associated with symptomatic asthma in the United States. Because the
      presence of pets in a home is a potentially modifiable factor, it is important to
      consider how much asthma morbidity and health care cost might be alleviated by
      the removal of pets from the homes of all persons with pet-allergic asthma. The
      percentage of pet-associated excess asthma morbidity was estimated as a
      proportion of all asthma-related health care costs for the United States.

PMID- 20929606
TI  - The role of food allergy in atopic dermatitis.
AB  - Atopic dermatitis (AD) affects ~10% of children. Food allergy is a known
      provoking cause of AD in a subset of affected children. A literature search of
      PubMed and Medline was conducted to review the epidemiology and pathophysiology
      of AD, with special focus on the role of food allergy in the development of AD,
      its management, and its long-term preventive strategies. A literature search of
      PubMed and Medline was conducted. Food allergens readily provoke AD in ~35% of
      patients, as proven through double-blind placebo-controlled food challenge
      studies. Milk, egg, wheat, soy, and peanut account for 75% of the cases of food
      induced AD. However, the positive predictive values of the parental history, skin
      prick tests, or serum tests for detecting food-specific IgE are low, making these
      unsuitable for use as single diagnostic modalities. Therefore, the use of a food
      challenge test is very helpful in objectively confirming the history or positive
      tests. Elimination diets are often helpful in challenge-proven cases, but care
      must be taken to evaluate the nutritional status of the child. There are few
      effective long-term strategies to prevent the development of food allergen
      induced AD. Early onset of AD has been shown to be a risk factor for the
      development of other allergic diseases, including other food
      allergy/sensitization, as part of the atopic march. Treatment of other causes of
      AD, such as barrier dysfunction and cutaneous infection, are of equal importance
      to food allergen avoidance. Food allergy is an important provoking cause of AD,
      but it is only relevant in ~35% of affected individuals.

PMID- 20929605
TI  - Pet dander and difficult-to-control asthma: Therapeutic options.
AB  - The prevalence of sensitization to cat and dog allergens is high in the general
      population and poses a challenge to the physician managing allergic asthma.
      Adequate allergen avoidance is difficult to achieve because of the physical
      characteristics of airborne animal allergens and patient noncompliance. Allergen
      specific high-dose subcutaneous immunotherapy has shown benefit in cat-allergic
      patients with asthma and rhinoconjunctivitis, whereas the data for dog-allergic
      patients are not as convincing. Alternative immunotherapy approaches including
      the sublingual route or allergen-derived peptide-based immunotherapy remain
      experimental. Pharmacotherapy of pet-allergic asthmatic patients requires a
      stepwise approach following established asthma management guidelines. In addition
      to short-acting beta-agonists and inhaled corticosteroids, prophylactic
      antihistamines before anticipated pet exposure, the use of intranasal steroids,
      and the use of leukotriene antagonists may also be considered as adjunctive
      therapy in pet-allergic patients with asthma and/or allergic rhinitis. Omalizumab
      appears to have particular efficacy in pet allergen-induced asthma. Novel
      therapies such as Fcgamma-Fel d 1 chimeric proteins still have to be evaluated in
      the human setting.

PMID- 20929607
TI  - Current treatment of hereditary angioedema: An update on clinical studies.
AB  - Hereditary angioedema (HAE) is a rare, potentially life-threatening disease that
      manifests as recurrent episodes of nonpruritic swelling that may affect the
      extremities, face, genitalia, gastrointestinal tract, and/or larynx. HAE is the
      result of a deficiency of functional C1-esterase inhibitor (C1-INH), a key
      regulator of the complement, coagulation, and kallikrein-kinin cascades. In HAE
      patients, overactivation of the kallikrein-kinin cascade results in excessive
      release of bradykinin, the mediator of the pain and swelling that is
      characteristic of HAE. Historically, treatment options for HAE have been limited,
      but newly approved and emerging therapies, such as C1-INH replacement products, a
      plasma kallikrein inhibitor, and a bradykinin B2-receptor antagonist, appear to
      provide safe and effective relief for a significant proportion of patients with
      HAE. Because they may have therapeutic and practical advantages over existing HAE
      therapies, the new agents have the potential to improve the overall management of
      patients with HAE. This article reviews the results from recent clinical trials
      of these drugs and considers their role in clinical practice.

PMID- 20929608
TI  - The humanistic burden of hereditary angioedema: Impact on health-related quality
      of life, productivity, and depression.
AB  - Hereditary angioedema (HAE) is a rare, autosomal dominant disorder characterized
      by recurrent acute attacks of swelling of the larynx, abdomen, and periphery.
      This study was designed to assess the humanistic burden of illness associated
      with HAE. HAE burden was assessed via a web-based survey of patients that
      solicited information on attack characterization, treatment, side effects, pain,
      and functional and emotional burden of disease management. In addition to HAE
      specific sections, the survey used three standardized instruments to compare HAE
      patient data to normative (healthy) and chronic disease populations: the 12-Item
      Short Form (SF-12) Health Survey, the Work Productivity and Activity Impairment
      General Health (WPAI-GH) questionnaire, and the Hamilton Depression Inventory
      Short Form (HDI-SF). A total of 457 HAE patients responded to the survey
      (response rate, ~19%). Patients reported significantly poorer health-related
      quality of life versus population norms, based on the SF-12 Physical Component
      Summary (mean, 43.7 versus 49.6; p < 0.001) and Mental Component Summary (mean,
      42.6 versus 49.4; p < 0.001). HAE patients also had higher mean HDI-SF scores
      than population norms (8.1 +/- 6.5 versus 3.1 +/- 3.0; p < 0.001), with 42.5% of
      HAE patients scoring >8.5, indicative of depressive symptomatology. Productivity
      was also markedly impaired in all WPAI-GH categories, including 34% overall work
      impairment. Because of their most recent HAE attack, workers lost a mean of 3.3
      days; students lost a mean of 1.9 days. HAE results in considerable humanistic
      burden to patients across physical and mental health domains; negatively impacts
      education, career, and work productivity; and compounds the substantial economic
      burdens that are reported separately.

PMID- 20929609
TI  - Effect of addition of salmeterol versus doubling the dose of fluticasone
      propionate on specific airway resistance in children with asthma.
AB  - Based primarily on extrapolation from adult studies, current pediatric asthma
      guidelines advise the addition of long-acting beta2-agonists for children
      symptomatic on low/moderate-dose inhaled corticosteroids before increasing the
      corticosteroid dose. This study was designed to compare the effect of combination
      salmeterol/fluticasone propionate (SFC) with doubling the dose of fluticasone
      propionate (FP) on specific airway resistance (sR(aw)) in moderate/severe
      persistent asthmatic children. A double-blind, randomized, controlled study was
      performed; children with asthma (4-11 years old; sR(aw) > 1.3 kPa.s) were
      randomized after a 2-week run-in (FP, 100 MUg, b.i.d.) to either SFC (50 MUg/100
      MUg b.i.d.) or FP (200 MUg b.i.d.) via Diskus (GlaxoSmithKline, Stockley Park,
      U.K.) for 6 weeks. Lung function (sR(aw)-plethysmography and forced expiratory
      volume in 1 second [FEV1]) was measured before run-in, at randomization, after 3
      weeks, at the end of 6-week treatment, and after 48-hour washout. Symptom scores
      and rescue medication use were recorded throughout. Thirty-five children entered
      run-in and 24 were randomized (mean age, 7.3 +/- 2.2 years; 50% boys). All
      children showed an improvement in sR(aw). After adjusting for age, gender, and
      baseline sR(aw,) children receiving SFC had a significantly greater improvement
      in sR(aw) compared with those receiving FP (adjusted means ratio [95% confidence
      interval {CI}], 0.81 [0.68-0.97]; p = 0.021). There was a significant interaction
      between treatment and gender (sR(aw), adjusted geometric mean [95% CI ]kPa.s, SFC
      versus FP: boys, 1.25 [1.10-1.41] [n = 7] versus 1.87 [1.61-2.17] [n = 5]; girls,
      1.29 [1.10-1.52] [n = 5] versus 1.29 [1.13-1.47] [n = 7]; p = 0.008). There were
      no differences in FEV1, symptoms, or rescue medication use between the groups.
      Addition of salmeterol provides greater improvement in sR(aw) than doubling the
      dose of FP in children with moderate/severe persistent asthma.

PMID- 20929610
TI  - Reevaluation of pollen quantitation by an automatic pollen counter.
AB  - Accurate and detailed pollen monitoring is useful for selection of medication and
      for allergen avoidance in patients with allergic rhinitis. Burkard and Durham
      pollen samplers are commonly used, but are labor and time intensive. In contrast,
      automatic pollen counters allow simple real-time pollen counting; however, these
      instruments have difficulty in distinguishing pollen from small nonpollen
      airborne particles. Misidentification and underestimation rates for an automatic
      pollen counter were examined to improve the accuracy of the pollen count. The
      characteristics of the automatic pollen counter were determined in a chamber
      study with exposure to cedar pollens or soil grains. The cedar pollen counts were
      monitored in 2006 and 2007, and compared with those from a Durham sampler. The
      pollen counts from the automatic counter showed a good correlation (r > 0.7) with
      those from the Durham sampler when pollen dispersal was high, but a poor
      correlation (r < 0.5) when pollen dispersal was low. The new correction method,
      which took into account the misidentification and underestimation, improved this
      correlation to r > 0.7 during the pollen season. The accuracy of automatic pollen
      counting can be improved using a correction to include rates of underestimation
      and misidentification in a particular geographical area.

PMID- 20929611
TI  - Acquired angioedema: Autoantibody associations and C1q utility as a diagnostic
      tool.
AB  - Acquired Angioedema (AAE) is a rare condition classified into two subtypes: Type
      I, which is associated with lymphoproliferative disorders, and Type II, which is
      linked with autoantibodies against C1-esterase inhibitor (C1-INH). Unlike Type I
      AAE, Type II has no correlation with lymphoproliferative disorders. We report the
      evaluation of angioedema that was associated with an underlying
      lymphoproliferative disorder for the purpose of discussing the relationship
      between C1q and a diagnosis of AAE. A literature review was completed for the
      purpose of assessing the diagnostic value of C1q when used in the workup of AAE.
      A PubMed/Web of Science search (1976-2010) produced 78 references (yielding 167
      individual cases of AAE) using terminology "AAE." The case described a patient
      with a depressed C1q (<3.5 mg/dL), decreased C4 (<3 mg/dL), decreased C1
      inhibitor (1 mg/dL), decreased functional C1-INH (12%), and decreased total
      complement (<10 U/mL). Autoantibodies against C1-INH (free and bound
      respectively) were normal (12.4% and 10.1% of the standard of deviation). Using
      the above figures and data collected from the literature search, we tabulated 168
      individual cases of AAE. Of the 168 cases, C1q was drawn in 104 cases, and 64
      cases have no information regarding C1q. There are 10 cases where the C1q was
      documented as normal. With these values, a correlation between C1q and a
      diagnosis of AAE was assessed: A decreased C1q correlated with a diagnosis of AAE
      approximately 56%-94% of the time. C1q is a useful tool when working up a case of
      AAE.

PMID- 20929612
TI  - [Chagas disease and the transfusional safety in Mexico].
AB  - The World Health Organization considers to the American trypanosomiasis a disease
      with priority attention that cause 45 000 deaths annually. We are celebrating a
      century of the disease description and the identification of etiologic agent and
      the transmitter. The universal screen strategy had diminished the risk of
      transmission by blood transfusion. In this number, Novelo Garza ET AL. described
      the national prevalence in Mexico through a screen test that led us watch the
      first geographical image of the disease in the country.

PMID- 20929613
TI  - [Survival pronostic factors in Mexican patients with multiforme glioblastoma].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To study the pre- and transoperative factors that influence patients'
      survival with GM. METHODS: Clinical and pathological records of all confirmed
      cases of GM diagnosed between 2000 and 2006 were included. Postoperative survival
      was divided in less or more than 8 months. chi2 test was used. RESULTS: One
      hundred and twenty patients (45 women and 75 men) were studied. Age range was
      from 7 to 85 years, 3.3% were 16 years old or younger and 12.5% were 70 years old
      or older. Headache was the most frequent complain, 40 patients developed
      hemiparesia and 6 had parestesias. Predominance of white matter hemispheric
      lesions was observed: right hemispheric tumors 65 (54%), left lesions 30 (25%)
      and bilateral tumors 7%. Histologically, 1.6% of GM had a sarcomatous component;
      35% of patients survived less than 8 months. A difference between patients
      survival was the preoperative Karnofsky Performance Scale Score and the degree of
      cerebral edema during the surgical procedure. CONCLUSIONS: Pre-operative
      Karnofsky evaluation and edema during the surgical procedure were significant
      prognostic factors for survival.

PMID- 20929614
TI  - [Perception of benefits, limit and social assistance on the elderly to accomplish
      physical activity].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Worldwide older adult (OA) population will grow from 10% to 22%
      between the year 2000 and 2050. In Mexico 8.2 millions are OA, which represents a
      worry for the governmental institutions because affect the social participation.
      OBJECTIVE: to understand the perceived benefits, barriers and social support for
      physical activity (PA) in OA in a gerontology unit. METHODS: We used a
      qualitative approach with semi structured interviews in depth. Fifteen OA from
      both sexes were included. Microanalysis line by line was conducted to get at open
      and axial encoding. Health Belief Model was used as theoretical and
      interpretative framework. RESULTS: Categories and subcategories analysis allowed
      us to understand the benefits perceived, barriers and social support for PA. The
      OA perceived that PA benefits their health. However emotional and social factors
      limit the acquisition of behavior perception. CONCLUSIONS: Health and recreation
      were the main reason for PA. The OA developed autonomy that impacts on the
      acquisition of an emotional attitude and confidence. PA retards the expression of
      functional deficiency and prevents the onset or exacerbation of chronic
      degenerative diseases.

PMID- 20929615
TI  - [Validation of an instrument to measure life quality in breast cancer patients].
AB  - BACKGROUND: There are no reliable and valid instruments in Mexico for breast
      cancer patients. Our objective was to measure reliability and validity of a
      Spanish version of the FACT-B (Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Breast)
      questionnaire in Mexican population. METHODS: The translation of the
      questionnaire was reviewed and minor changes were made. The instrument was
      applied to 142 patients recently diagnosed with breast cancer. It was applied to
      105 for the second time, and to 75 for the third time. An analysis of item
      discrimination was made. The questionnaire's reliability was determined by
      Cronbach's alpha. Concurrent validity was determined by an analysis of
      correlations between the instrument's scales and EORTC's QLQ C-30 y BR-23 scales.
      RESULTS: The five FACT-B subscales were reliable, their alpha coefficients varied
      between 0.65 and 0.82. The entire scale obtained a value of 0.87. The correlation
      analysis between FACT-B and EORTC QLQ C-30 subscales indicated that the same
      construct was being evaluated. CONCLUSIONS: FACT-B is a valid, reliable and
      sensitive instrument to measuring quality life in Mexican breast cancer patients.

PMID- 20929616
TI  - [Detection of Trypanosoma cruzi in blood donors].
AB  - BACKGROUND: The American trypanosomiasis is the second parasitic disease in
      importance after paludism and one of the main mechanism of transmission is a
      blood transfusion. Our objective was to measure the effect the Tripanosoma Cruzi
      screening test in blood banks in the Mexican Institute of Social Security.
      METHODS: Information was obtained from each unit of blood collected. The
      Tripanosoma cruzi prevalence was calculated only in samples with double
      reactivity in the blood banks. RESULTS: Of 71 blood banks, only 26 had been doing
      T. Cruzi screen; after implementation of integrated services 55 are doing the
      screening. There were 935 donors with double reactivity to the T. Cruzi test from
      230,074 samples. The national prevalence was 0.406%. The seroprevalence was
      0.013% to 3.118%. CONCLUSIONS: The screening of the T. cruzi improved the
      detection and increased the safety and the prevention of its transmission by
      blood transfusion.

PMID- 20929617
TI  - [Catheter-associated bloodstream infections. Review of five-year surveillance
      among hospitalized patients].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Catheter related infections (CRI) and bloodstream infection (BSI)
      associated to central venous catheter (CVC) is cause of frequent hospital
      acquired infection (HAI) and a major reason of morbidity and mortality among
      patients and it is itself an indicator of quality health care. OBJECTIVE: To
      determine the incidence of CRI and BSI and to identify the hospital areas where
      they occurred over a five-year period. METHODS: A prospective study from 2004 to
      2008 in a population of hospitalized patients who required the use of CVC was
      made. The HAI team detected the appearance of CRI during a daily routine
      surveillance. RESULTS: During the period of observation, 176 BSI were detected,
      accounting for 11 % of all HAI, and represented the third place in frequency.
      Incidence rate for 1000 catheter-days varied from 2.7 in 2006 to 5.4 in 2008; 57
      % of these BSI were detected in the intensive care units. Candida spp. accounted
      as the more frequently isolated microorganism with predominance of C.
      parapsilosis. CONCLUSIONS: Our results and the incidence rate found in our study
      occurred within rates established in other studies.

PMID- 20929618
TI  - [Incidence and trends of neuroblastoma in Mexican children attending at Instituto
      Mexicano del Seguro Social].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Neuroblastoma (NB) is the principal tumor of the sympathetic nervous
      system in children. OBJECTIVE: to describe the epidemiological and clinical
      characteristics of Mexican children with NB. METHODS: A population-based,
      prolective study, with data obtained from the Childhood Cancer Registry of the
      Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social. The frequencies and incidence of the
      variables of the study were obtained by age and sex. The trend was calculated
      with the annual percentage of change. RESULTS: Of a total of 2758 children with
      cancer, 72 (2.6%) were identified in the Group IV, according to the International
      Classification of Childhood Cancer. The average incidence for NB was 3.8, the
      highest incidence was found in Guerrero. NB was highest in the group under one
      year of age (18.5). The male/female ratio was 1.1 and there was no trend toward
      an increase. Stages III and IV were presented in 88% of the cases. There was no
      association between the stages, the age at the TD, or the histological pattern.
      CONCLUSIONS: It is possible that the low incidence of NB in Mexican children is
      due to the difficulty in early diagnosis due the majority of the cases was
      diagnosed in the advanced stages.

PMID- 20929619
TI  - [The teaching of clinical medicine and surgery at the end of the Colonial
      Period].
AB  - There were three schools of medicine in Mexico at the beginning of the
      Independence time where the doctors and surgeons could learn. In the Faculty of
      Medicine of the University of Mexico, the most ancient and traditional, the
      humoral model balance based on medieval knowledge and scholastic method was the
      rule. At the end of the XVIII century, the Nueva Espana enrollment in the
      Illustration movement, this led to an opening period and development of the
      scientific world. Botany was incorporated to curriculum in medicine school and
      the students could through the courses of the Surgery College approached to new
      medical theories and other teaching model without restrictions.

PMID- 20929620
TI  - [Epidemics and disease during the Revolution Period in Mexico].
AB  - The health condition in Mexico was bad around de beginning of the revolutionary
      period. The movement of troops led the development of epidemics like yellow
      fever, typhus, smallpox, and influenza that were enhance with natural disasters
      and hunger in whole country, from cost to cost and in the north big cities like
      Monterrey, Guadalajara and Saltillo. Doctor Liceaga conducted a well planned
      campaign against yellow fever eradicating water stagnant deposits in order to
      combat the vector transmission, the Aedes aegypti, mosquito with satisfactory
      results. The first smallpox epidemic in the XX Century in Mexico was in 1916. The
      Mexican physicians used the smallpox vaccine against this epidemic. An American
      physician named Howard Taylor Ricketts arrived to Mexico for studying the typhus
      transmission. Accidentally he had been infected and finally, he died from typhus.
      Definitively, the epidemics predominate along de revolutionary period in Mexico.

PMID- 20929621
TI  - [Mexican consensus on Gaucher's disease].
AB  - The lysosomal storage diseases (LSD) are a group of entities with a meaningful
      organic affectation profile and important morbidity-mortality rates, which
      considerably affect the patients' quality of life. At present, new LSD are
      regularly described because their physiopathological mechanism is recognized and
      they are susceptible to be treated with enzyme replacement therapy. During 2009,
      a cross-disciplinary group of Mexican experts on the Gaucher's disease gathered
      to develop diagnosis and treatment guidelines. This document presents the
      approach and recommendations of Mexican experts, according to the demography,
      resources, and epidemiologic reality in Mexico, a country with over 100 million
      inhabitants.

PMID- 20929622
TI  - [Schizophrenia: a public health problem of substantial size in the Mexican
      population].

PMID- 20929623
TI  - [Epilepsy and remission in primary care level].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To identify the epilepsy remission period in a primary care unit.
      METHODS: There were 330 patients with diagnosis of epilepsy in remission
      according to the international criteria treated in a Primary Care Unit of the
      Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Xalapa, Veracruz; There were 216 patients
      who were controlled (without epilepsy crisis) 150 of them were interviewed with a
      structure instrument designed for this purpose. RESULTS: The history of epilepsy
      was from five to nine years (49%). Partial crisis was identified in 54%. The age
      of diagnosis was established in 44% between one to ten years. The patients
      received drug treatment during a period of three to eight years in 51% of them.
      The monotherapy was used in 51% of the cases. CONCLUSIONS: Remission of epilepsy
      crisis can be obtained in most patients with two years drug treatment. However,
      we can not talk about definitive cure.

PMID- 20929624
TI  - [Anatomical vascular variations in renal allograft and the consequences in kidney
      transplantation].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine if the anatomical vascular variations of the renal
      allograft affect kidney function after a transplant surgery. METHODS: Patients
      that received kidney transplantation in a period of six years were included. The
      anatomical vascular variations of the allograft, techniques for reconstruction,
      outcomes in kidney function and surgical vascular complications were investigated
      and a comparison between the group with multiple renal arteries (MRA) and the
      group with a single (SRA) renal artery was performed. RESULTS: In a period of six
      years 477 kidney transplants were performed; 22.8% (109) presented MRA of the
      allograft. In these patients, an anastomosis for two, three, or four arteries was
      performed. Fifteen percent (72) presented multiple veins. The mean serum
      creatinine at day seven and three years later were 1.32 and 1.43 mg/dL
      respectively for the group with MRA; for the group with SRA 1.2 and 1.38 mg/dL
      respectively. Vascular surgical complications occurred in 2.48% (4) in the group
      with MRA and in 1.2% (2) in the group with SRA. CONCLUSIONS: There is no
      difference in kidney function and incidence of surgical vascular complications
      between both groups.

PMID- 20929625
TI  - [Cost of health care in children with haemophilia].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the cost of health care in hemophilic children. METHODS:
      A study of costs analysis of children under 16 years with haemophilia type A and
      B with different severity grade in one year period was performed.
      Sociodemographic and clinical data were included. The costs of: 1) ambulatory
      care, 2) use of emergency services, 3) hospital stay, 4) drugs, 5)
      antihaemophilic treatment, 6) laboratory and 7) image studies were estimated. We
      obtained costs for each patient during a year with micro costs technique.
      RESULTS: We found 52 children (92.3% with haemophilia type A). Mean Age was 9.1
      years. A half of them started treatment at the age of one year old, with 7.4
      years of following. They had 6.7 average visits per year and 13 emergency
      hospitalization; haemartrosis was the main cause of hospitalization. Five
      children had more than 40 hospitalization and 27 cases with 1.9 hospitalization.
      The hospital average stay was 7.4 days. Total annual cost was 116,000 pesos.
      Higher cost was for the anti hemophilic factor with 73 052 pesos. CONCLUSIONS:
      The cost was similar to others Latin American studies and lower than in developed
      countries, however, factor replacement therapy accounts for most of the costs.

PMID- 20929626
TI  - [A case of the calcifying epithelial odontogenic tumor (Pindborg's tumor).
      Reported and literature review].
AB  - The calcifying epithelial odontogenic tumor known as Pindborg's tumor, is a rare
      odontogenic neoplasm of the jaws. One of their characteristics is the cortical
      expansion and the relationship with a non erupted tooth. Since the original
      description in 1955, only 200 cases approximately have been described in the
      world literature. This article reviews the literature and describes a case of
      patient who presented calcifying epithelial odontogenic tumor in the jaw
      undergoing surgical excision treatment with an evolution without complications.

PMID- 20929627
TI  - [A right sided colon volvulus with necrosis in a young patient. A case reported].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Colon volvulus (CV) is the twisting or rotation of an intestinal
      segment over the mesenterium, which causes occlusion and vascular compromise. It
      is a frequent disease in individuals over 65 years-old. We report a young patient
      with right CV and necrosis. CLINICAL CASE: A 17 year-old male with clinical
      findings of acute abdomen presented in the emergency room. During the surgical
      procedure, a right sided was found, CV with ileocecal valve and caecum ischemia
      and right colon necrosis with mesenteric vessels thrombosis. The case presented
      begun with sudden abdominal pain, with intestinal occlusion data, and widespread
      peritoneal rebound tenderles which suggested an intestinal occlusion. A simple
      abdomen Rx showed prominent right side colon distention with air levels in small
      bowel and a "coffee bean" image, suggestive of CVA hemicolectomy with termino
      lateral ileocolic anastomosis was performed. CONCLUSIONS: Right-sided CV is
      considered as congenital in origin. They corresponded to 21% of cases in Mexico,
      with an average age of presentation at 62 years. The CV represents 10% of the
      causes of large bowel obstruction in Mexico. This is the first case in young
      people reported in Mexican literature.

PMID- 20929628
TI  - [Myxedema coma. A case reported].
AB  - Myxedema coma is a life-threatening condition; it is a complication of untreated
      hypothyroidism and an endocrine emergency. Most patients are elderly women with a
      previous history of long-standing hypothyroidism which presents during the
      winter. The myxedema coma has an insidious onset and it is very rare; its
      recognition can be quite difficult. Once suspected, treatment can be lifesaving
      and should be start promptly in anticipation of confirmation of the diagnosis by
      laboratory test. The mortality rate is high. I presented a case of an old woman
      with myxedema coma with an undiagnosed hypothyroidism, with altered mental
      status, normal temperature, pneumonia, hyponatremia and high level of creatine
      phosphokinase, who presented in the emergency room.

PMID- 20929630
TI  - [A comparative study between two academic working environments in residents of
      family medicine].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare the satisfaction level in the academic working environments
      (AWE) between the residents of two training primary care units. METHODS:
      Observational, transversal and comparative study. A previously constructed and
      validated instrument was applied, it included 30 items that evaluated the AWE
      with the following indicators: support, satisfaction, participation and respect;
      the reliability index's instrument was high (Cronbach's alpha is 0.88). The
      statistical analysis was made with the Mann-Whitney U test, and chi2 test for
      proportions. RESULTS: Regarding the AWE, 4.28% of the residents obtained a really
      inappropriate environment; 8.57% very appropriate and 14% inappropriate
      environment. However the 72% was between intermediate environments. No
      statistical significant difference was found between the three measurements.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our results are consistent with other national studies results where
      the "respect" indicator was the one with higher rank. The environment along with
      "participation," and "support," creates a favorable relationship among residents,
      teachers and the staff. However, the "imposition" and "rigidity" produces a
      decrease in the collective participation.

PMID- 20929629
TI  - [Academic performance and problem-based learning acceptance in medical students].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To measure the acceptance of problem based learning (PBL), to find out
      if they consider that spending extra-time is worthy, how they perceive their own
      learning, and how it correlated with other learning parameters. METHODS: After
      exposure to PBL during one semester, a cross sectional survey based on Likert
      type scale was conducted to measure the students' opinion about PBL acceptance
      and perception of their own learning. The sample was 268 (65%) females and 143
      (35%) males from the 3rd semester of the medical school. The Spearman's
      correlation was used for analysis. RESULTS: PBL was considered to be useful or
      very useful for their learning to 89% of the students. The PBL used longer time
      working after the classroom activities. The extra-time spent in the course was
      considered worthy by 77%. Perception of their own learning correlated with the
      marks that they obtained (rho=0.202, p<0.0001), and with the acceptance of PBL
      (rho=0.291, p<0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: Students' acceptance of PBL was corroborated.
      Perception of a better learning correlated with higher marks and, with better
      acceptance of PBL and with the perception that the additional time spent was
      worth while.

PMID- 20929631
TI  - [The preoperative and postoperative changes of T lymphocyte subsets and TNF in
      patients with locally advanced lung cancer.].
AB  - BACKGROUND: To study the immunologic significance of surgical resection for
      patients with locally advanced lung cancer. METHODS: The levels of the subsets of
      the peripheral blood T lymphocytes (CD3 , CD4 , CD8) and the serum tumor necrosis
      factor (TNF) were detected in 15 patients with locally advanced lung cancer
      before operation and on the 10th day and the 17th after operation by indirect
      immunofluorescence technique and enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)
      respectively. RESULTS: (1)The subsets of T lymphocytes in patients with lung
      cancer were remarkably abnormal before operation. The CD3 score and CD4/ CD8
      ratio in the cancer cases were significantly lower than those in the abnormal
      adults ( P < 0. 05) , but the CD8 and level of serum TNF significantly higher
      than those in the control group ( P < 0. 05) . (2)The CD3 score and CD4/ CD8
      ratio on the 17th postoperative day were significantly higher than those before
      operation in the cancer patients ( P < 0. 05) , but the CD8 significantly lower
      than that before operation ( P < 0. 05) . The level of serum TNF on the 17th
      postoperative day was significantly lower than that before operation ( P < 0. 05)
      too. CONCLUSIONS: (1)The cellular immunobalance of the patients could be
      recovered by surgical treatment. (2)From the immunologic point of view , the
      surgical resection for locally advanced lung cancer shows active significance.

PMID- 20929632
TI  - [The clinicopathologic significance of expression of mtp53, p16 and Bcl-2 protein
      in lung cancer.].
AB  - BACKGROUND: To explore the relationship between abnormal expression of mtp53 ,
      p16 and Bcl-2 protein and oncogenesis and development of lung cancer. METHODS:
      Expression of mtp53 , p16 and Bcl-2 protein was detected in 114 lung cancer
      tissues by immunohistochemistry , and 14 normal lung tissues as control. RESULTS:
      Over-expression of mtp53 protein was not related to pathological type and
      histological grade of lung cancer ( P > 0. 05) ,but correlated with lymph node
      status ( P < 0. 05) . Positive expression of p16 was closely related to
      histological grade of lung cancer and lymph node metatasis ( P < 0. 05) ,but not
      to pathological type ( P > 0. 05) . The positive rate of Bcl-2 protein expression
      in SCLC was significantly higher than that in NSCLC ( P < 0. 05) . CONCLUSIONS:
      mtp53 , p16 and Bcl-2 genes may play important roles in the oncogenesis and
      development of lung cancer.

PMID- 20929633
TI  - [A study on the correlation between P-selectin and lung cancer.].
AB  - BACKGROUND: To investigate the role of P-selectin in metastasis of lung cancer.
      METHODS: Expression of P-selectin were examined in 48 primary lung cancer
      specimens by the microware enhanced immunohistochemical staining method (SP)
      using a rat monoclonal antibody against human P-selectin , with 18 cases of
      adjacent non-cancerous tissue as control. RESULTS: The positive rate of P
      selectin expression in adenocarcinoma was significantly higher than those of
      squamous cell carcinoma and adjacent non-cancerous tissues ( P < 0. 01) . In
      adenocarcinoma , the expression of P-selectin in stage III and IV was
      significantly higher than that of stage I and II ( P < 0. 01) .But there were no
      significant correlation between the expression of P-selectin and differentiation
      grade of tumor , lymph node metastasis , size of the primary tumor. CONCLUSIONS:
      P-selectin might be associated with vascular metastasis in adenocarcinoma.

PMID- 20929634
TI  - [Investigation on differential diagnostic value of multi-index detection of
      pleural effusion.].
AB  - BACKGROUND: To study the roles of adenosine deaminase (ADA) , interferon gamma (
      IFN-gamma) and carcinoembryonic antigen(CEA) for diagnosis of tuberculous and
      neoplastic pleural effusion. METHODS: ADA , IFN-gamma and CEA activity in the
      serum and pleural fluid were detected in 67 patients with pleural effusion by the
      method of Guisti , a solid-phase enzyme-immunoassay employing the multiple
      antibody sandwich principle , and radioimmunoassay respectively. RESULTS: The
      mean ADA and IFN-gamma concentration in the tuberculous pleural effusion differed
      significantly from those in the neoplastic pleural effusion ( P < 0. 001) . The
      mean CEA concentration in the serum and pleural fluid with the neoplastic pleural
      effusion differed from those with the tuberculous pleural effusion ( P < 0. 05) .
      The sensitivity of ADA (with a diagnostic threshold of 40 U/L) and IFN
      gamma(threshold of 140 pg/ mL) for tuberculosis was 88 % and 96 % respectively ,
      the specificity was 85. 71 % and 97. 62 % , and diagnostic index was 73. 71 % and
      93. 62 %. Using the ADA (with below 40 U/L) and IFN-gamma (below 140 pg/mL) and
      CEA (above 15mug/L) , we achieved a specificity of 95. 95 %for diagnosis of
      neoplastic pleural effusion. CONCLUSIONS: ADA , IFN-gamma and CEA are useful
      parameters in differential diagnosis of tuberculous and neoplastic pleural
      effusion.

PMID- 20929635
TI  - [Study on expression of disaccharide residue and its significance in lung cancer
      tissues.].
AB  - BACKGROUND: To study the expression of disaccharide residu (D-Galactose-beta
      (1v3)-N-Acetyl- galactosamine) in lung cancer. METHODS: Surgical dissected
      samples from 109 cases of lung cancer and 87 cases of lung benign diseases were
      fixed in 4 % formaldehyde and embeded in parafin. Disaccharide residue was
      examined by galactose oxidase-Schiff's method. RESULTS: The positive rate of
      bronchial submucous glands from patients with lung cancer was 71. 76 %(61/ 85) ,
      and the positive rate of bronchial submucous gland from patients with benign
      pulmonary diseases was 71. 83 %(51/ 71) . There was no significant difference
      between two groups (Chi-Square = 0. 0026 , P > 0. 9) . Among 94 cases of lung
      cancer tissues , the positive rate of adenocarcinoma was 36. 11 %(13/ 36) , and
      the other lung cancer were negative reaction. CONCLUSIONS: The study showed that
      disaccharide residue was expressed in submucous glands of bronchial submuca in
      both patients with pulmonary benign or malignant diseases , and only expressed in
      partial adenocarcinoma tissues among the pulmonary carcinoma. It has not enough
      evidence to differentiate benign from malignant diseases of lung.

PMID- 20929636
TI  - [Combination chemotherapy with gemcitabine plus cisplatin in the treatment of
      advanced non-small cell lung cancer.].
AB  - BACKGROUND: To determine the clinical activity and toxicity of a novel
      combination chemotherapy with gemcitabine and cisplatin in the treatment of non
      small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) . METHODS: We chose 12 previously untreated
      patients with NSCLC in stages III (41. 7 %) and IV (58. 3 %) . Gemcitabine was
      given on day 1 , 8 and 15 at a dose of 1 000 mg/m(2) and cisplatin at a dose of
      100 mg/m(2) on day 1. The chemotherapy was repeated every 28 days. RESULTS:
      Eleven patients were evaluable for response. Six patients (54. 5 %) achieved
      partial response. The overall response rate was 54. 5 %. The main toxicity was
      hematological : neutropenia and thrombocytopenia at WHO-CTC grade III-IV occured
      in 33. 3 % and 41. 7 % of the patients respectively. The non-hematological
      toxicity was mild and tolerable. Only 15. 2 % of total patients were dose-reduced
      or omitted due to toxicity. Within follow-up 3 patients were still alive and 8
      died. The median overall survival period was 8 months. CONCLUSIONS: This regimen
      of gemcitabine and cisplatin is effective and well-tolerated in the treatment of
      NSCLC , especially in the elderly patients. The clinical symptoms relieve and the
      living quality improves significantly.

PMID- 20929637
TI  - [Comparison between carboplatin and cisplatin plus etoposide and carboplatin plus
      etoposide in the treatment of small cell lung cancer.].
AB  - BACKGROUND: To evaluate the effect and toxicity of combination chemotherapy with
      carboplatin and cisplatin plus etoposide (CPE regimen) and carboplatin plus
      etoposide (CE regimen) in the treatment of small cell lung cancer (SCLC) .
      METHODS: Thirty-two patients with SCLC were treated with CPE and CE regimens ,
      and each regimen had 16 cases respectively. There were 10 retreated cases in CPE
      group and 7 retreated cases in CE group. RESULTS: The total response rate (CR +
      PR) was 81. 3 %(13/ 16) in CPE group , and 87. 5 %(14/ 16) in CE group ( P > 0.
      05) respectively. The response rate of the retreated cases in CPE group was 60
      %(6/ 10) , and 42. 9 %(3/ 7) in CE group ( P < 0. 05) . The bone marrow
      suppression rate was 71. 9 % in CPE group and 93. 8 % in CE group ( P < 0. 05) .
      There were no significant differences between other toxicity in both groups ( P >
      0. 05) . CONCLUSIONS: The therapeutic effect of CPE regimen in SCLC is similar to
      that of CE regimen , but the bone marrow suppression rate of CPE regimen is less
      severe than that of CE regimen. The therapeutic effect of CPE regimen is better
      than that of CE regimen for the retreated cases.

PMID- 20929638
TI  - [Evaluation of the curative effect of combination chemotherapy with cisplatin
      plus radiotherapy in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer.].
AB  - BACKGROUND: To evaluate the curative effect of combination chemotherapy with
      cisplatin plus radiotherapy for advanced non-small cell lung cancer. METHODS:
      Fifty-eight patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer were treated by
      combination chemotherapy with cisplatin plus radiotherapy as study group , and
      another 29 patients given radiotherapy only as control group. RESULTS: CR , CR +
      PR and PD in the study group were 55. 2 %(32/58) , 65. 5 %(38/ 58) , 8. 6 %(5/
      58) , and 24. 1 %(7/ 29) , 31. 0 %(9/ 29) , 44. 8 %(13/ 29) in the control group
      respectively. There were remarkable differences between the two groups ( P < 0.
      01) . The 1 , 2 and 3 year survival rates in study group were significantly
      higher than those of control group ( P < 0. 01) . CONCLUSIONS: Combination
      chemotherapy with cisplatin plus radiotherapy is helpful to improving curative
      effects and survival rates in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer ,
      and it should be spread in clinical practice.

PMID- 20929639
TI  - [Determination of 5-FU in serumand tissues after nebulization in patients with
      lung cancer.].
AB  - BACKGROUND: To observe the distribution of 5-FU in serum and respiratory system
      after nebulization in patients with lung cancer. METHODS: Ten patients with lung
      cancer were given 40 ml of 1. 25 % 5-FU by nebulization twice every day. At the
      same time , other 10 patients with lung cancer , chosen as control group , were
      given 0. 75g of 5-FU intravenously once every day. The concentration of 5-FU in
      serum and respiratory systemwas determined by chromatography. RESULTS: The
      highest concentration of serum 5-FU was (4. 59 +/-1. 77)mg/L in nebulization
      group and (10. 46 +/-1. 46)mg/L in control group respectively ( P < 0. 001) .
      Compared with the control group , the 5-FU concentration for nebulization group
      was remarkably higher in main bronchi ( P < 0. 05) . The 5-FU concentration in
      peripheral lung and hilar lymph nodes and tumor tissue had no significant
      difference for both groups ( P > 0. 05) . CONCLUSIONS: The 5-FU concentration was
      significantly higher in respiratory system and lower in serum by nebulization
      than by injection. Nebulization can lessen the toxic reaction and offer a safe
      and effective route for chemotherapy.

PMID- 20929640
TI  - [High-dose endobronchial radiation therapy under fiberoptic bronchoscope for
      malignant airway obstruction.].
AB  - BACKGROUND: To assess the effect of endobronchial radiation guided by fiberoptic
      bronchoscope for malignant airway obstruction. METHODS: Sixty-five patients with
      lung cancer and malignant airway obstruction were investigated. After routine
      bronchoscopic examination , the brachytherapy catheter was inserted through
      biopsy channel and the tip was fixed onto the obstructing malignancies. Then
      radiotherapy was performed with 192 Ir at a dose of 628 Gy distributed among 225
      points. The treatment was rendered weekly in a sequence of 3 weeks as one course.
      The chest X-ray and bronchoscopic assessment were made 1 and 4 week after
      finishing radiation therapy. RESULTS: X-ray assessment :CR ,PR and MR were 23. 08
      %(15 cases) ,43. 08 %(28 cases) and 18. 46 %(12 cases) respectively , with 84. 62
      %of total effective rate (CR + PR +MR) . Bronchoscopic assessment : CR , PR and
      MR were 38. 46 %(25 cases) , 43. 08 (28 cases) and 13. 85 %(9 cases) respectively
      , with 95. 38 % of total effective rate. CONCLUSIONS: The endobronchial radiation
      guided by fiberoptic bronchoscope has better reopening effect and less
      complications for malignant airway obstruction in the patients with lung cancer.

PMID- 20929641
TI  - [The role of thoracoscopy in diagnosis and management of malignant pleural
      effusions.].
AB  - BACKGROUND: To assess the value of thoracoscopy in malignant pleural effusions.
      METHODS: Fifteen patients with pleural effusions of unknown causes were examined
      by thoracoscope and were treated by intrapleural spraying with talcum powder
      suspension and cisplatin under thoracoscopy. RESULTS: All patients were proved as
      malignant cases through lung biopsy. The overall diagnostic rate was 100 %.
      Fourteen cases obtained complete pleurodesis and the persistent success rate was
      93. 3 %. CONCLUSIONS: Thoracoscopy is a simple , safe , reliable , and practical
      method in the diagnosis of pleural effusions , and talc pleurodesis is an
      effective management for controlling malignant pleural effusions.

PMID- 20929642
TI  - [Surgical treatment in patients with primary bronchogenic carcinoma involving the
      chest wall.].
AB  - BACKGROUND: To sum up experience of surgical treatment for patients with
      bronchogenic carcinoma involving the chest wall. METHODS: Thirty-five patients
      with bronchogenic carcinoma invading chest wall underwent surgical treatment.
      Extra pleural-pulmonary resection for group one ( n = 16) and en bloc resection
      of chest wall-pulmonary for group two ( n = 19) were performed. RESULTS: There
      was no operative mortality. The 3 and 5 year survival rates in group one were 38.
      5 % and 18. 2 % , and 41. 2 % and 35. 7 % in group two respectively. In patients
      with N(0) disease , 3 and 5 year survival rates were 63. 2 %(12/ 19) and 42. 9
      %(6/ 14) respectively , but there was only one patient with N(1-2) disease
      surviving for over 5 years. CONCLUSIONS: The operation types and lymph node
      status play important roles in the prognosis after operation. Reconstruction of
      chest wall defect could be successful with 2-0 Prolene suture and covering with
      muscles of chest and back.

PMID- 20929643
TI  - [Bronchial sleeve resection , carinal resection and reconstruction in the
      treatment of central lung cancer.].
AB  - BACKGROUND: To review the advantages of bronchial sleeve resection , carinal
      resection and reconstruction in the treatment of central lung cancer. METHODS: We
      summarized 23 cases of central lung cancer treated with this method in our
      hospital from 1989 to 1997 and discussed the surgical effect. RESULTS: The
      incidence of complications was 34. 8 %(8/ 23) . Three cases of them had bronchial
      bleeding and two cases had pulmonary infection. The overall 1 , 3 and 5 year
      survival rate was 91. 3 %(21/ 23) , 68. 7 %(11/ 16) , and 45. 5 %(5/ 11)
      respectively. All patients were given post-operative chemotherapy and/ or
      radiotherapy. Two cases occured atelectasis complicated with infection , which
      resulted in ventilation disturbance. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that
      bronchial sleeve resection , carinal resection and reconstruction in the
      treatment of patients with central lung cancer can not only maximize preservation
      of functional pulmonary parenchyma , but also resect the tumor thoroughly. This
      method may be spread out for its lower mortality and less complications with the
      improvement of the anesthetic technology.

PMID- 20929644
TI  - Onychomadesis outbreak linked to hand, foot, and mouth disease, Spain, July 2008.
AB  - In July 2008 an onychomadesis outbreak in a nursery setting was reported in
      Saragossa (Spain). Some of the cases had previously suffered from hand, foot and
      mouth disease (HFMD). In order to study the outbreak and to determine the
      relation between the two diseases, two epidemiological studies were conducted: a
      descriptive study focused on cases and a retrospective cohort study. Samples from
      stool, pharynx and nails were obtained from cases for microbiological analysis.
      During the study period, 27 children fulfilled the case definition. The average
      age was 1.8 years. A case shed on average four nails (minimum one maximum
      twelve). Twenty-four of the 27 cases had previously presented with HFMD which
      started an average of 40 days before the onset of onychomadesis (relative risk:
      14). Unidentified non-polio enterovirus (n=10), coxsackie B1 (n=4) and coxsackie
      B2 virus (n=3) were isolated in 28 specimens obtained from 14 cases. The analysis
      showed a strong association between HMFD and onychomadesis. Microbiological
      results have not been conclusive; consequently more studies are necessary to
      determine the causal agent of infectious onychomadesis.

PMID- 20929645
TI  - Community outbreak of group B meningococcal disease in southwest France--December
      2008 to September 2009.
AB  - Between December 2008 and September 2009, 11 cases of invasive meningococcal
      disease (IMD) group B were reported in a 20 km diameter area in the Departement
      Landes, France. Two of them presented with purpura fulminans and one of them
      died. The strain responsible for this community outbreak was of the clonal
      complex ST-269.The incidence rate for IMD group B was 3 per 100,000 inhabitants
      in Landes from week 40 in 2008 to week 40 in 2009; it was the highest in France
      during that period. The number of cases observed was significantly higher than
      expected, especially in young adults (standardised incidence ratio: 23.5,
      p<0.001). A nightclub located in the 20 km diameter area was a possible place of
      transmission and a prophylaxis recommended for the staff members helped in
      decreasing the transmission. However, several cases notified later suggested that
      the bacteria circulated during several months through healthy carriers in the
      community. This situation prompted increased surveillance of IMD in Landes and
      medical practitioners were asked to remain vigilant because of the possible
      emergence of new cases within the following months.

PMID- 20929646
TI  - Hepatitis A outbreak in an Orthodox Jewish community in London, July 2010.
AB  - A cluster of hepatitis A cases in the Orthodox Jewish community in London, United
      Kingdom in July 2010 has triggered extensive contact tracing and vaccination. Two
      primary cases imported from a common source in Israel and three secondary cases
      have resulted in immunisation of over 900 contacts to date. Rapid response by
      local public health, primary care services and a dedicated community health team,
      and active hepatitis A vaccination rather than immunoglobulin treatment were used
      to avert a larger outbreak.

PMID- 20929647
TI  - Quantifying benefits and risks of vaccinating Australian children aged six months
      to four years with trivalent inactivated seasonal influenza vaccine in 2010.
AB  - Australian and New Zealand health authorities identified seasonal trivalent
      inactivated influenza vaccines manufactured by CSL Biotherapies as the probable
      cause of increased febrile convulsions in children under five within 24 hours of
      vaccination and recommended against their use in this age group. We quantified
      the benefit-risk profile of the CSL vaccines using the number needed to vaccinate
      and suggest they might have caused two to three hospital admissions due to
      febrile convulsions for every hospital admission due to influenza prevented.

PMID- 20929648
TI  - Onychomadesis and hand, foot and mouth disease--is there a connection?

PMID- 20929650
TI  - European Medicines Agency updates on the review of Pandemrix and reports of
      narcolepsy.

PMID- 20929651
TI  - Risk factors for disease severity among hospitalised patients with 2009 pandemic
      influenza A (H1N1) in Spain, April - December 2009.
AB  - We describe the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of patients
      hospitalised with confirmed 2009 pandemic influenza A(H1N1) in Spain from April
      to December 2009 and the risk factors associated with a worse outcome (admission
      to an intensive care unit or death) in adults. Case-based epidemiological
      information was collected as part of the national strategy for the surveillance
      of severe cases. Of 3,025 patients, 852 were admitted to an intensive care unit
      and overall, 200 died. The median patient age was 38 years (range: 0-94). A total
      of 662 (26%) patients had no underlying risk conditions. Antiviral therapy was
      initiated within 48 hours after symptom onset in only 35.2% (n=711); the median
      length of time before treatment was four days. In a multivariate analysis, the
      start of antiviral therapy more than 48 hours after symptom onset (odds ratio
      (OR) 2.39; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.79 to 3.2), morbid obesity (OR: 2.01;
      95% CI 1.38 to 2.94), cardiovascular disease (OR: 1.79; 95% CI: 1.2 to 2.67) and
      chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (OR: 1.51; 95% CI: 1.03 to 2.2) were
      significantly associated with a worse outcome in adults.

PMID- 20929652
TI  - Public health advice based on routine mumps surveillance in England and Wales.
AB  - In view of the increase in the number of mumps cases in 2009 and of the reports
      of mumps outbreaks in 2010, we report on the most recently available mumps
      surveillance data in England and Wales.

PMID- 20929653
TI  - Fatal and mild primary dengue virus infections imported to Norway from Africa and
      south-east Asia, 2008-2010.
AB  - Between 2008 and 2010, eight cases of viraemic dengue fever in travellers were
      diagnosed in Norway. They had returned from Eritrea, Thailand and Indonesia. All
      cases were primary dengue infections, seven non-complicated dengue fever and one
      dengue shock syndrome with a fatal outcome. Four patients were infected with
      dengue virus serotype 1, one with type 2 and three with type 3. Two cases from
      Thailand, the fatal case and the two imported from Eritrea were infected with
      type 1.

PMID- 20929654
TI  - Dengue virus infection in travellers returning from Benin to France, July -
      August, 2010.

PMID- 20929655
TI  - Hepatitis C virus infection in HIV-infected men who have sex with men: sustained
      rising incidence in Antwerp, Belgium, 2001-2009.
AB  - During the last decade, outbreaks of acute hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection have
      been reported among human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected men who have sex
      with men (MSM) in several European countries. To study this emerging infection in
      MSM in Antwerp, Belgium, we reviewed all cases of newly acquired HCV infection in
      HIV-positive MSM followed from 2001 to 2009 at the HIV/sexually transmitted
      infection (STI)reference clinic of the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp.
      Newly acquired HCV infection was considered as certain or probable according to
      local definitions. During the study period, 69 episodes of newly acquired HCV
      infection (40 certain and 29 probable) were diagnosed in 67 HIV-infected MSM. In
      only 10 episodes (14%) were the patients symptomatic. The annual incidence of HCV
      infection in our population of HIV-infected MSM rose steadily from 0.2% in 2001
      to 1.51% in 2008, and then peaked to 2.9% in 2009. For 60 episodes (87%), another
      STI (mainly syphilis and lymphogranuloma venereum) had been diagnosed within the
      six months before the diagnosis of HCV infection. All but one patient with
      available genotyping (n=54) were found to be infected with the difficult to-treat
      HCV genotypes 1 or 4. Our results therefore demonstrate the rising incidence of
      HCV infection in HIV-positive MSM in Antwerp, since 2001, which reached an
      alarming level in 2009. Targeted awareness campaigns and routine screening are
      urgently needed to limit further HCV spread and its expected long-term
      consequences.

PMID- 20929656
TI  - Decrease in number of genital chlamydia cases in Norrbotten, Sweden, October -
      November 2009: an indirect effect of pandemic influenza A(H1N1)?
AB  - A sudden reduction in the number of reported genital chlamydia cases was observed
      in Norrbotten County, Sweden, during October to November 2009. After exploring
      other possibilities, such as a reduction in the number of chlamydia tests
      analysed or a new Chlamydia trachomatis variant that had been undetected in
      standard laboratory tests, it was found likely that the decrease was an indirect
      effect of the 2009 influenza A(H1N1) pandemic due to reduced social interactions
      among young adults.

PMID- 20929657
TI  - Outbreak of Legionnaires' disease in a nursing home, Slovenia, August 2010:
      preliminary report.
AB  - We report an outbreak of Legionnaires' disease ina nursing home in Slovenia in
      August 2010 affecting 15 of 234 residents. To date, Legionnaires' disease has
      been confirmed in four patients. Further serum analyses and genotyping of
      isolates are ongoing. The building's water distribution system with dead end
      sections has been identified as the probable source of infection.

PMID- 20929658
TI  - The Hajj: communicable and non-communicable health hazards and current guidance
      for pilgrims.
AB  - The Hajj has become the epicenter of mass migration of millions of Muslims of
      enormous ethnic diversity. No other mass gathering can compare, either in scale
      or in regularity. Communicable disease outbreaks of various infectious diseases
      have been reported repeatedly, during and following the Hajj. The Hajj 2010
      starts in the first week of November 2010 and this report is a timely reminder
      that many infectious diseases can be avoided or averted by adopting appropriate
      prophylactic measures.

PMID- 20929660
TI  - [Mitochondrial dynamics: from geometry to function].

PMID- 20929659
TI  - First two autochthonous dengue virus infections in metropolitan France, September
      2010.
AB  - In September 2010, two cases of autochthonous dengue fever were diagnosed in
      metropolitan France for the first time. The cases occurring in Nice, southeast
      France, where Aedes albopictus is established, are evidence of dengue virus
      circulation in this area. This local transmission of dengue calls for further
      enhanced surveillance, active case finding and vector control measures to reduce
      the spread of the virus and the risk of an epidemic.

PMID- 20929661
TI  - [Caspase activation precedes and leads to neurodegeneration in a murine model of
      Alzheimer's disease].

PMID- 20929662
TI  - [Spikelets contribute to place cell firing during spatial exploration].

PMID- 20929663
TI  - [Nuclear reprogramming and pluripotency: the case of epiblast stem cells].

PMID- 20929664
TI  - [Role of TGF-beta in a model of abdominal aortic aneurysm in mice].

PMID- 20929665
TI  - [PICs (PW1+ interstitial cells), a new muscle stem cell population].

PMID- 20929666
TI  - [GRK6, a new therapeutic approach to alleviate L-dopa-induced dyskinesia].

PMID- 20929667
TI  - [Leptin, a new therapeutic agent for treatment of diabetes?].

PMID- 20929668
TI  - [The Japanese and us].

PMID- 20929669
TI  - [You are what you eat: the sushi factor in the Japanese gut microbiota].

PMID- 20929670
TI  - [When p53 mutants engage in trafficking!].

PMID- 20929672
TI  - [Mitochondrial morphology and dynamics: actors, mechanisms and functions].
AB  - Mitochondria are dynamic organelles that continuously move, fuse and divide.
      Their overall morphology, ranging from a filamentous network to a collection of
      isolated dots, is determined by fusion-fission equilibrium, which depends on the
      cellular and physiological context. The machineries of fusion and fission, that
      are conserved throughout evolution, include three large GTPases of the dynamin
      superfamily: Dnm1/DRP1 - involved in fission - as well as Fzo1/MFN and Mgm1/OPA1 
      required for fusion. While the activities, mecanisms and regulations of
      mitochondrial fusion and fission machineries continue to be unravelled, the
      relevance of mitochondrial dynamics is witnessed by their impact on organelle
      functions, cell survival and cell differenciation, their requirement for
      embryonic development and their involvement in neurological diseases.

PMID- 20929673
TI  - [Mitochondrial dynamics during apoptosis].
AB  - Mitochondria exist as dynamic networks that often change shape and subcellular
      distribution. The morphology of mitochondria within a cell is controlled by
      precisely regulated rates of organelle fusion and fission. Several reports have
      described dramatic alterations in mitochondrial morphology during the early
      stages of apoptosis: a fragmentation of the network and the cristae remodeling.
      However, whether this mitochondrial fragmentation is a required step for
      apoptosis is highly debated. In this review the recent progress in understanding
      the mechanisms governing mitochondrial morphology during apoptosis and the latest
      advances connecting the regulation of mitochondrial morphology with apoptosis are
      discussed.

PMID- 20929674
TI  - [From yeast to neurodegenerative diseases: ten years of exploration of
      mitochondrial dynamic disorders].
AB  - Ten years ago, OPA1 was identified as the major gene responsible for hereditary
      optic nerve degeneration, evidencing the first defect in mitochondrial network
      dynamics as the princeps pathophysiological mechanism in a mitochondriopathy.
      Later, alterations in other genes involved in mitochondrial fusion or fission,
      such as MFN2, DRP1 and GDAP1, were also associated with inherited neurological
      diseases, mainly affecting peripheral nerves. More recently, altered
      mitochondrial plasticity was also demonstrated in common age-related
      neurodegenerative disorders, as Alzheimer and Parkinson diseases, thus
      substantiating the critical role of mitochondrial dynamics in neurons as a key
      element governing the efficiency of oxidative respiration and its distribution
      along the axons.

PMID- 20929675
TI  - [Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease: an update].
AB  - Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) <<disease>> is the generic name given to a group of
      genetic disorders characterized by a relatively isolated dysfunction of
      peripheral nerves, with combined motor and sensory impairment. These CMT
      syndromes are the most frequent genetically-determined peripheral neuropathies,
      with a global prevalence between 4.7 and 36/100,000. Their clinical phenotype is
      predominantly motor, with a grossly symmetrical distal amyotrophy involving both
      lower and upper limbs. Mode of inheritance is variable: autosomal dominant,
      autosomal recessive or X-linked. Apparently sporadic forms can be a difficult
      diagnosis and they must be considered in all patients with a chronic
      polyneuropathy which is not clearly of acquired origin. During the last two
      decades, the identification of more than 25 genes mutated in CMT syndromes has
      complicated the classification of these disorders. Knowledge of the function of
      some of these genes has improved our understanding of the pathogenesis of
      myelinic or axonal dysfunction in CMT, but for some others their function remains
      elusive or unknown.

PMID- 20929676
TI  - [An overview of pluripotent stem cell lines].
AB  - More than 20 years ago, the finding of a population of cells with the ability of
      self-renewal and differentiation inside teratocarcinomas (embryonic carcinoma
      cells) would allow their direct derivation from preimplantation embryos
      (embryonic stem cells, ESC). The phenomenal pluripotency properties of those
      cells and the therapeutical potential of their human counterparts triggered a
      massive interest from the scientific community. The research on the field of
      pluripotent stem cells improved a lot and many ES-like pluripotent stem cells of
      several embryonic and adult sources were described. Next step has been the
      reprogramming of terminally differentiated cells into embryonic cells, with the
      aim to produce patient-specific stem cells. The recent breakthrough has been the
      in vitro reprogramming of adult cells into ES cell-like cells named induced
      pluripotent stem cells (iPSC), using four transcription factors (Oct4, Sox2,
      Klf4, c-Myc). Even though some challenges remain, we are now one step closer to
      the eventuality to use these cells for clinical purposes. In this review we
      propose to analyse the several pluripotent stem cells existing today.

PMID- 20929677
TI  - [Rendu-Osler disease: clinical and molecular update].
AB  - The Rendu-Osler disease, also called Hereditary Hemorrhagic Telangiectasia (HHT)
      affects 1 in -5-8000 people. A french epidemiological study pointed out that it
      was particularly high in the Haut-Jura mountains in France. This pathology is
      characterized by frequent nosebleeds, mucocutaneous and visceral telangiectasia
      and hereditary autosomal-dominant trait. The mucocutaneous telangiectasia are
      hemorrhagic while the visceral telangiectasia, less frequent, lead to
      arteriovenous fistula in the lungs, the liver and the brain. HHT disease-causing
      genes (ENG, ACVRL1 and MADH4) encode proteins that modulate TGFbeta superfamilly
      signaling in vascular endothelial cells. The recent discovery that BMP9 acts as
      the specific ligand of the receptor ALK1 and endoglin as its co-receptor shows
      that this signaling pathway is involved in the maturation phase of angiogenesis.
      Mice heterozygous for endoglin or ALK1 defects reproduce the HHT phenotype and
      further support the involvement of endothelial hyper proliferation in the
      pathogenesis of the disease. The medical management of patients remains mainly
      symptomatic, however the angiogenic trait of this disease should allow us to
      consider in the future new -therapeutic approaches using anti-angiogenic drugs.

PMID- 20929678
TI  - [Infection of semen-producing organs by HIV and role in virus dissemination].
AB  - Despite semen being the main vector of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)
      dissemination worldwide, the origin of the virus in this bodily fluid remains
      unknown. Of particular significance is the persistence of virus release in the
      semen of a subset of HIV-infected men under antiretroviral therapy, who otherwise
      show an undetectable blood viral load. It is therefore considered critical to
      identify the sources of virus shedding in semen for the more efficient control of
      HIV transmission. Our recent findings indicate HIV infection of several semen
      producing organs, including the testis (which represents a pharmacological
      sanctuary for several antiretroviral drugs). This reinforces phylogenetic
      observations suggesting that the free viral particles and infected cells
      contaminating semen are produced within the male genital tract. The fact that HIV
      replicates within the male genital organs raises several questions: Is one or
      several of the male genital tract organs responsible for the persistence of HIV
      in semen despite efficient antiviral therapies? What is the nature of HIV
      interactions with spermatozoa and testicular germ cells? Recent results
      established that semen from HIV negative men modifies HIV infectivity: does the
      seminal fluid from HIV+ men enhance or inhibit the efficiency of HIV sexual
      transmission?

PMID- 20929679
TI  - [Hepatitis C virus subverts pattern recognition receptors-mediated control of
      adaptative immunity orchestrated by dendritic cells].
AB  - Chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a liver-borne infectious disease that remains
      a major global health threat. The mechanisms whereby HCV evades the host's immune
      defences and establishes persistent infection remain elusive; but they likely
      require a complex and coordinated interruption of the interplay between innate
      and adaptive immune actors. This review discusses the concept that HCV evades the
      host's immune response to its components partly because of its ability to
      inactivate the major orchestrator of the adaptive immune response - the DCs. It
      argues that DCs constitute an immunologically relevant cellular viral host
      actively targeted by HCV. This targeting disrupts TRIF- and IPS-1-dependent but
      not MyD88-coupled pathogen recognition receptors (PRR) sensing pathways in these
      infected cells to foil the networks by which innate immunity to HCV is translated
      into virus-specific adaptive immune-mediated host resistance. Thus, as a culprit,
      this cell-specific and numerically restrained DC defect offers a promising field
      of investigation in which to study and understand the HCV-restricted nature of
      the deficit in cellular immunity in persistently infected -individuals who have
      otherwise normal immune functions to unrelated pathogens. In this model,
      protective immunity is contingent on proper processing and delivery of danger
      signals by DCs presenting HCV antigens.

PMID- 20929681
TI  - [Forward - representation in life sciences: how technical evolution influenced
      our vision of life, from organism to single cell and molecule].

PMID- 20929680
TI  - [Age-dependent oxidative stress: toward an irreversible failure in endothelial
      maintenance].
AB  - In order to maintain cellular homeostasis against endogenous and exogenous
      aggressions, different cellular mechanisms of defence, maintenance and repair are
      continuously activated throughout life. Hormesis, a concept based on the fact
      that mild stresses protect cells against subsequent stresses, amplifies the
      efficacy of the cellular mechanisms of defence and repair. Ageing, senescence and
      ultimately death, result from the exhaustion of these mechanisms maintaining
      cellular functions. One of the major sources of vascular endothelial damage is
      oxidative stress. The age-dependent shift in the redox environment towards pro
      oxidation contributes to a progressive compensatory remodelling of the
      endothelium, an accumulation of damages, and its dysfunction, the premises for
      atherosclerosis. We propose that in agreement with the concept of hormesis, a
      moderate exposure during endothelial maturation to mild physiological oxidative
      stressors determines -vascular longevity.

PMID- 20929682
TI  - [For an epigenetic approach of the biological representations].

PMID- 20929685
TI  - Dynamic obstruction of inferior vena cava flow caused by right-sided
      diaphragmatic elevation.

PMID- 20929684
TI  - Uncertainties associated with quantifying climate change impacts on human health:
      a case study for diarrhea.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Climate change is expected to have large impacts on health at low
      latitudes where droughts and malnutrition, diarrhea, and malaria are projected to
      increase. OBJECTIVES: The main objective of this study was to indicate a method
      to assess a range of plausible health impacts of climate change while handling
      uncertainties in a unambiguous manner. We illustrate this method by quantifying
      the impacts of projected regional warming on diarrhea in this century. METHODS:
      We combined a range of linear regression coefficients to compute projections of
      future climate change-induced increases in diarrhea using the results from five
      empirical studies and a 19-member climate model ensemble for which future
      greenhouse gas emissions were prescribed. Six geographical regions were analyzed.
      RESULTS: The model ensemble projected temperature increases of up to 4 degrees C
      over land in the tropics and subtropics by the end of this century. The
      associated mean projected increases of relative risk of diarrhea in the six study
      regions were 8-11% (with SDs of 3-5%) by 2010-2039 and 22-29% (SDs of 9-12%) by
      2070-2099. CONCLUSIONS: Even our most conservative estimates indicate substantial
      impacts from climate change on the incidence of diarrhea. Nevertheless, our main
      conclusion is that large uncertainties are associated with future projections of
      diarrhea and climate change. We believe that these uncertainties can be
      attributed primarily to the sparsity of empirical climate-health data. Our
      results therefore highlight the need for empirical data in the cross section
      between climate and human health.

PMID- 20929686
TI  - A bullet in the heart: an incremental value of three-dimensional
      echocardiography.

PMID- 20929687
TI  - Intrapericardial paraganglioma.

PMID- 20929688
TI  - Calcified ball-like left ventricular thrombus embolized during echocardiography
      follow-up.

PMID- 20929689
TI  - [Ventricular tachycardia related to diverticulum of right ventricular outflow
      tract].

PMID- 20929690
TI  - Thrombus entrapped in a patent foramen ovale presenting with acute pulmonary
      embolism.

PMID- 20929691
TI  - Successful surgical repair of mitral and tricuspid valves regurgitation
      associated with Behcet's disease.

PMID- 20929692
TI  - [Our peer-review practice and strategies to improve journal scientific
      performance].

PMID- 20929693
TI  - [The levels of the leptin and adiponectin according to body mass index and their
      relationship with oxidative parameters].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Obesity is an important risk factor of atherosclerosis and its
      prevalence in humans is increasing. Recent studies suggest that the leptin and
      adiponectin play important roles in obesity, and they are associated with
      complications of obesity. However, the mechanism of effects has not been
      outstandingly established. In this study, we studied leptin and adiponectin
      levels according to body mass index (BMI) and their relationship with oxidative
      parameters. METHODS: A total of 87 healthy individuals with BMI <=35 kg/m2 (n=29,
      Group 1), BMI=25-35 kg/m2 (n=29, Group 2) and BMI =25 kg/m2 (n=29, Group 3) were
      included in the cross-sectional observational study. Leptin, adiponectin levels,
      total antioxidant capacity (TAC) and total oxidant status (TOS) were measured.
      Oxidative stress index (OSI) was calculated using TAC and TOS values. Statistical
      analyses were performed using Chi-Square, Mann-Whitney U, one-way ANOVA, Kruskal
      Wallis, Pearson correlation and multiple regression analyses tests. RESULTS: Age
      and gender ratio were similar in the groups. The TAC level was the lowest in
      group 3 and the highest in group 1. The TOS level was higher in groups 2 and 3
      than in group 1 (p =0.05 for both). OSI levels were similar in groups 2 and 3,
      and it was significantly different from the group 1 (p=0.05). The trend for
      leptin levels was decreasing and for antiponectin levels was increasing from
      group 1 to group 3. Except for other parameters, levels of leptin were
      independently related to the TOS (b=-1.123, 95% CI =-12.734-0.255, p=0.040), OSI
      (b=1.689, 95% CI=1.105-12.481, p=0.018) and waist circumference (b=-0.592, 95%
      CI= -0.630-0.134, p=0.003). Adiponectin had no significant relation with these
      parameters. CONCLUSION: Findings of the present study reveal that leptin
      decreased and adiponectin increased with BMI in healthy people. These data
      support that these changes may be responsible in the increased TOS and OSI
      levels.

PMID- 20929694
TI  - [Mechanisms underlying obesity associated oxidative stress: the role of leptin
      and adiponectin].

PMID- 20929695
TI  - The influence of alpha-adducin gene polymorphism on response of blood pressure to
      exercise in patients with hypertension.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Clinical studies have indicated that an excessive response of blood
      pressure (BP) to exercise predicts risk of cardiovascular mortality. Although the
      mechanism responsible for the excessive BP response to exercise has not been
      revealed, there are some plausible mechanisms linking with underlying structural
      abnormalities in the cardiovascular system. Carriers of the Trp460 allele of the
      alpha-adducin Gly460Trp polymorphism have an increased risk of hypertension. The
      aim of the present study was to examine the influence of alpha-adducin gene
      polymorphism on response of BP to exercise in patients with hypertension.
      METHODS: The cross-sectional observational study consisted of 49 hypertensive
      patients (29 women and 20 men; mean age, 53.1+/-8.8 years). All participants
      underwent a multistage exercise treadmill test according to the Bruce protocol.
      Arterial BPs were compared at rest, peak exercise and end of the recovery phase.
      Patients were classified according to their alpha-adducin gene polymorphisms;
      Gly460Gly homozygotes - Group 1 (n=28) and Trp460Trp homozygotes and Gly460Trp
      heterozygotes - Group 2 (n=21). Statistical analysis was performed using Chi
      square, unpaired t, Mann-Whitney U and ANCOVA tests. RESULTS: Mean exercise
      duration and mean exercise capacity in metabolic equivalents were not different
      between Group 1 and 2. The major finding of the study was that systolic BP
      responses at peak exercise and recovery period (3. min) were significantly higher
      (p=0.036) in hypertensive patients carrying at least one Trp460 allele of the
      alpha-adducin gene. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that genetic variants that
      alter renal function and/or vasoreactivity are logical candidates to explain some
      of the individual variability in the BP response to exercise.

PMID- 20929696
TI  - An important role for VCAM-1, but not for ICAM-1 in restenosis following coronary
      stent implantation.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: In this study, we evaluated the possibility that, levels of
      circulating adhesion molecules following direct stent implantation may be a
      marker of restenosis. METHODS: This prospective, observational study investigated
      levels of circulating intercellular (ICAM-1), and vascular cell (VCAM-1) adhesion
      molecules in 15 patients with stable angina pectoris before and after coronary
      stent implantation for single vessel-single lesion disease in proximal left
      anterior descending artery. All patients received bare-metal stents. Patients
      underwent repeat coronary angiography for detection of restenosis at 6 month.
      Continuous data between patients with and without restenosis were compared using
      Mann-Whitney U test. Repeated measurements were compared using Wilcoxon T test.
      Categorical data were compared using Chi-square statistics. RESULTS: Baseline
      ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 concentrations before percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI)
      were 4.89+/-2.28 and 46.35+/-22.96 ng/ml respectively. Levels of ICAM and VCAM
      increased nonsignificantly 24 hours after PCI (5.01+/-2.35 ng/ml and 52.57+/
      19.40 ng/ml, respectively). Six patients (40%) developed restenosis within 6
      months. Mean stent length, mean stent diameter, and mean dilatation pressure were
      comparable in patient groups with and without restenosis. Levels of plasma VCAM-1
      measured before and after PCI did not change significantly in patients without
      restenosis. However, these levels increased significantly in the group of
      restenosis. At 6 months, patients who developed restenosis, had higher VCAM-1
      levels, as compared to baseline values (from 45.1+/-21.0 to 57.2+/-14.3 ng/ml,
      p=0.05). Plasma levels of pre and post PCI ICAM-1 did not differ significantly
      between groups with and without restenosis. CONCLUSION: These results suggest a
      more dominant role for VCAM-1, but not for ICAM-1 in development of restenosis
      following coronary stent implantation.

PMID- 20929697
TI  - Relation of homocysteine levels with patency and flow rate of infarct-related
      artery in patients receiving fibrinolytic therapy.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Elevated homocysteine levels induce a hypercoagulable state and make
      the clot more resistant to fibrinolysis. In this prospective observational study,
      we investigated the influence of homocysteine levels on infarct-related artery
      (IRA) patency and flow as determined with regard to thrombolysis in myocardial
      infraction (TIMI) flow grade and corrected TIMI frame count (CTFC). METHODS:
      Sixty-one patients who received fibrinolytic therapy for a first ST elevation
      myocardial infarction (STEMI) within 12 hours of chest pain were included.
      Coronary angiography was performed according to the Judkins technique within 72
      hours after fibrinolytic therapy. Total plasma homocysteine level was determined
      by the high-performance liquid chromatography method with fluorescence detection.
      Statistical analysis was performed using Chi-square, Student's t and Pearson
      correlation tests. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine the
      predictors of IRA occlusion. RESULTS: Of the 61 patients, 22 (36.1%) had an
      occluded IRA (group 1), 39 (63.9%) had a patent IRA (group 2). Mean plasma
      homocysteine levels were found to be significantly higher in the group 1 compared
      to the group 2 (18.5+/-9.6 umol/L vs 14.3+/-5 umol/L, p=0.04). In addition, we
      found a significant positive correlation between CTFC and plasma homocysteine
      levels (r=0.415; p=0.01). In multiple logistic regression analysis, high levels
      of plasma homocysteine (OR=1.2; 95% CI 1.1-1.25; p=0.03) and being a non-smoker
      (OR=5.9; 95% CI 1.1-31.6; p=0.03) were found to be significant independent
      predictors of having an occluded IRA. CONCLUSION: There is an inverse relation
      between plasma homocysteine levels and IRA patency and flow in patients receiving
      fibrinolytic therapy for STEMI.

PMID- 20929698
TI  - Acute phase reactants in patients with coronary slow flow phenomenon.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: In this study, we sought to investigate the serum levels of high
      sensitivity C-reactive protein (Hs-CRP), N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide
      (NT proBNP), erythrocyte sedimentation rate, leukocyte, thyroid hormone and
      fibrinogen levels in patients with coronary slow flow phenomenon (CSFP). METHODS:
      A total of 82 patients with angiographically proven normal coronary arteries and
      slow coronary flow in all three coronary vessels (45 males and 37 females, mean
      age 59+/-11 years) and 34 patients with normal coronary arteries and normal
      coronary flow (19 males and 15 females, mean age 56+/-10 years) with similar risk
      profiles were included in this cross-sectional observational study. Coronary flow
      rates of all patients and control subjects were documented by Thrombolysis In
      Myocardial Infarction (TIMI) frame count, serum level of Hs-CRP, NT proBNP,
      sedimentation, leukocyte, free triiodothyronine (FT3), free thyroxine (FT4),
      thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) and fibrinogen levels were measured.
      Statistical analysis was performed using t test for independent samples, Chi
      square test and Pearson correlation analysis. RESULTS: Hs-CRP (0.88+/-0.86 vs
      0.36+/-0.35 mg/L, p=0.001) and NT proBNP (117.83+/-163.2 vs 47.33+/-30.6 ng/ml,
      p=0.01) were found to be significantly higher in patients with coronary slow flow
      compared with normal control group. There were no significant differences
      regarding thyroid hormones, fibrinogen, sedimentation rate and leukocyte count
      between two groups. The mean TIMI frame counts were positively correlated
      (r=0.454, p=0.001 and r=0.554, p=0.001, respectively) with plasma Hs-CRP levels
      and NT-proBNP levels. CONCLUSION: Hs-CRP and NT proBNP are significantly higher
      in patients with coronary slow flow compared with normal control group. Their
      increased levels are positively correlated with TIMI frame count.

PMID- 20929699
TI  - C-reactive protein in unstable angina pectoris and its relation to coronary
      angiographic severity and diffusion scores of coronary lesions.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We aimed to assess the relationship between C-reactive protein (CRP)
      and the severity and diffusion of coronary artery lesions in patients with
      unstable angina pectoris (UAP) and the independent association of CRP with this
      clinical situation. METHODS: This cross-sectional, observational study included
      50 patients. Classification by Braunwald was used for UAP. The severity and
      diffusion of angiographic coronary disease were graded according to Reardon's
      modified scoring system. Plasma CRP levels were quantified by immunoturbidimetry.
      Nonparametric tests were used for comparison of CRP and other risk factors, and
      logistic regression analysis for evaluation of independent association between
      CRP and unstable angina pectoris. RESULTS: The severity score was 46+/-18 points
      in class IIB1 UAP, 36+/-20 points in class IIB2 and 53+/-18 points in class IIIB2
      (p=0.017, class IIIB2 vs IIB2). Respectively, CRP levels were 6.6 mg/L, 3.8 mg/L
      and 4.8 mg/L (p=0.371, class IIB1 vs IIB2 vs IIIB2). Lesions with diffusion score
      4 revealed higher CRP values than lesions with diffusion score 1 (11.1 mg/L vs
      3.1 mg/L, p=0.048). Adjusting age, sex and smoking, assessment of partial
      correlation analysis showed a positive, moderately powerful and significant
      association between CRP levels and the severity and diffusion scores of the
      coronary lesions (r=0.30; p=0.034 and r=0.31; p=0.030, respectively) in the whole
      study group. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed no appreciable
      independent association between CRP and UAP (OR: 1.63, 95%CI: 0.90-5.63,
      p=0.093). CONCLUSION: Although, CRP was correlated with the severity and
      diffusion of angiographic coronary disease in patients with UAP, there was no
      independent association between CRP and clinical severity of UAP.

PMID- 20929700
TI  - Influence of statin therapy on circadian variation of acute myocardial
      infarction.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Strong evidence has suggested that there is a circadian periodicity of
      acute coronary event. Beta-blockers, aspirin and angiotensin-converting enzyme
      inhibitors decrease the rate of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and blunt the
      peak incidence in the morning. However, such effect has not been evaluated for
      statins. Accordingly, the present study aimed to evaluate the influence of statin
      therapy on circadian variation of AMI. METHODS: This retrospective study
      consisted of 451 consecutive patients with acute ST segment elevation AMI. The
      patients were divided into two group based on prior statin usage. In statistical
      analysis t test, Chi-square test and Mann Whitney U test were used for comparison
      of groups. We used harmonic regression models to evaluate the circadian variation
      of onset of MI symptoms in patients receiving statin and patients not receiving
      statin. RESULTS: In all study participants, the highest incidence of AMI was
      between 6.00 and 12.00; the odds ratio was 1.34 (95% CI 1.20 to 1.46, p=0.001).
      In the non-statin group, the highest incidence of AMI occurred between 0:00 A.M.
      and 06.00. There was still a peak incidence between 6.00 A.M. and noon in the
      statin therapy receiving group; the odds ratio was 1.61 (95% CI 1.34 to 1.80,
      p=0.001). Accordingly, there was no statistical difference between the statin and
      non-statin groups regarding circadian variation of AMI. Prior usage of statin did
      not blunt the peak incidence of AMI in the morning. CONCLUSION: Prior usage of
      statin does not seem to play a role in the circadian periodicity of AMI.

PMID- 20929702
TI  - Evaluation of congenital heart diseases and thyroid abnormalities in children
      with Down syndrome.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Congenital heart disease (CHD) associated with thyroid disease has
      been reported in Down syndrome (DS). The purpose of this work was to assess
      abnormalities of the thyroid in relation to the frequency and type of CHD on
      admission among children with DS. METHODS: This retrospective study included 187
      children with DS between August 1993- December 2005. Karyotype analysis, thyroid
      function tests and echocardiographic studies were performed in all children with
      DS. If necessary, hemodynamic study by catheterization was carried out.
      Thyrotropin releasing hormone (TRH) stimulation test was performed in having
      elevated thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) level. Statistical analyses were
      performed using Chi-square, "t" test for independent samples or Mann-Whitney U
      test. RESULTS: It was found that 136 (72.73%) patients with DS had CHD. The age
      difference at the time of admission was statistically significant for these two
      groups (p=0.001) in children with /without CHD. There were 12 (11.88%) patients
      with congenital hypothyroidism and DS, of whom 11 had CHD. There were
      statistically significant differences in the levels of TSH and total thyroxine
      (tT4) between congenital and subclinical hypothyroid and euthyroid groups
      (p=0.001 for TSH and p= 0.001 for tT4). But, there was no significant
      relationship between having any kind of CHD and levels of TSH and tT4.
      CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that all patients with DS should be evaluated with
      careful physical and echocardiographic examination on admission. In addition,
      congenital or subclinical hypothyroidism should also be kept in mind in children
      with DS and monitored accordingly.

PMID- 20929701
TI  - Can D-dimer testing help emergency department physicians to detect acute aortic
      dissections?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the diagnostic accuracy of D-dimer testing for detection
      of acute aortic dissection. METHODS: This study is a retrospective chart review
      of patients who had been evaluated with suspicion of acute aortic dissection. All
      patients' D-dimer levels were determined prior to their further work up in the
      emergency department. The study was conducted in a tertiary care center between
      February 2006-August 2008. The D-dimer assay used was the immunoturbidimetric
      assay, with a normal range up to 0.246 ug/ml. Statistical analysis was
      accomplished using Chi-square test, Student's t-test and a receiver-operating
      characteristics (ROC) curve analysis. RESULTS: Ninety-nine patients were included
      in the study, 30 patients were diagnosed as having acute aortic dissection and 69
      patients were evaluated in non-acute aortic dissection group. In comparison of
      the two groups, positive D-dimer results were found to be significantly higher in
      acute aortic dissection group than in non-acute aortic dissection group
      (p=0.001). Sensitivity of the D-dimer test in detection of acute aortic
      dissection was found as 96.6% and the negative predictive value of the test was
      97.3%. Specificity and positive predictive value of the D-dimer test were 52.2%
      and 46.8%, respectively. The area under the ROC curve yielded an acceptable
      certainty for excluding acute aortic dissection on base of negative results (AUC:
      0.764; CI 95%: 0.674-0.855; p=0.001). CONCLUSION: D-dimer testing is helpful for
      emergency physicians in detection of patients with suspected acute aortic
      dissection in the emergency department.

PMID- 20929703
TI  - The relation between blood and tissue magnesium levels and development of atrial
      fibrillation after coronary artery bypass surgery.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a common complication of cardiovascular
      surgery and its mechanisms are not well understood. The aim of our study was a
      prospective investigation of the relationship between AF development and tissue
      or blood magnesium levels. METHODS: This prospective observational study
      evaluated 20 patients undergoing elective initial coronary artery bypass graft
      (CABG) surgery. Right atrial appendage and skeletal muscle samples were obtained
      for tissue magnesium level analysis before, during (at 60th minute) and 30
      minutes after cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) with simultaneous blood samples. Daily
      measurements of blood Mg levels and continuous monitoring for AF were performed
      for 7 postoperative days. Statistical analyses were performed using ANOVA,
      independent samples t and Chi-square tests. RESULTS: AF developed in 5 out of 20
      patients during postoperative period (25%). Patients with or without AF did not
      differ in terms of tissue and blood magnesium levels during and early after CPB
      and during 7 days after the operation. Blood magnesium levels were significantly
      higher in the whole study population on postoperative days 3 through 7 (day 3 -
      1.13+/-0.11 mmol/L; day 4-, 1.18+/-0.07 mmol/L; day 5-1.15+/-0.10 mmol/L; day 6
      1.17+/-0.08 mmol/L; and day 7, 1.22+/-0.08 mmol/L) compared to day 1 and day 2
      (day 1-0.96+/-0.13 mmol/L and day 2-1.02+/-0.12 mmol/L; p=0.002 for all
      comparisons). CONCLUSION: Although patients with and without AF did not
      significantly differ with regard to blood and tissue magnesium levels, the
      coincidence of an early postoperative reduction in magnesium levels in all
      patients and occurrence of all AF incidences at this time period suggests a
      potential association deserving further investigation.

PMID- 20929704
TI  - [Left ventricular mass regression after aortic valve replacement].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Our objective was to evaluate the degree of change in left ventricular
      mass index (LVMI) regression after aortic valve replacement (AVR) using three
      different valves. METHODS: Group 1 (n=17) included patients with bioprosthesis
      (Medtronic Hancock 2), Group 2 (n=21) included patients with mono-leaflet
      mechanical valve (Medtronic Hall), and Group 3 (n=17) included patients with bi
      leaflet mechanical valve (St Jude). The mean ages of Group 1, 2 and 3 patients
      were 70.8+/-9.1, 61.6+/-13.7 and 56.2+/-18.3 years, respectively. In this
      observational study, patients were followed-up after surgery and left ventricular
      wall thickness and valvular functions were evaluated with echocardiography. The
      findings were compared with preoperative values. Statistical analyses were
      performed using one-way variance analysis (ANOVA), Kruskal -Wallis, and Chi
      square tests. RESULTS: Statistically significant difference was observed among
      the three groups with respect to age (p=0.015). LVMI regressed in all groups;
      Group 1 from 232.74+/-53.36 g/m2 (preoperative) to 174.64+/-46.33 g/m2
      (postoperative) (p=0.0001), Group 2-from 198.49+/-40.53 g/m2 to 167.04+/-33.9
      g/m2 (p=0.0001), and Group 3-228.77+/-47.87 g/m2 to 185.44+/-37.76 g/m2
      (p=0.0001). No statistically significant difference was observed among the groups
      with respect to LVMI regression (p=0.054, p=0.363). CONCLUSION: Mid-term results
      of AVR with three different aortic valve prosthesis revealed that all groups
      showed a similar regression of left ventricular mass. However, we advocate that
      long-term results of an increased number of patients should be evaluated for
      assessment in depth.

PMID- 20929705
TI  - [Efficacy of long-term oral monotherapy and additional effect of inhaled iloprost
      in patients with severe idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension].

PMID- 20929706
TI  - Two cases of coronary vasospasm induced by 5-fluorouracil.

PMID- 20929707
TI  - Transcatheter closure of congenital coronary arteriovenous fistula using
      detachable balloon technique.

PMID- 20929708
TI  - Acute rheumatic carditis associated with Schoenlein-Henoch vasculitis.

PMID- 20929709
TI  - [Brachial artery intima-media thickness/ The relation of intima-media thickness
      with endothelial function and left ventricular mass index].

PMID- 20929710
TI  - Supranuclear ophthalmoplegia in Powassan encephalitis.

PMID- 20929711
TI  - Infantile-onset saccade initiation delay in a child with a thin intercollicular
      commissure.

PMID- 20929714
TI  - Larry Meskin: a man of his time with vision beyond his time.

PMID- 20929713
TI  - Impact of predatory threat on fear extinction in Lewis rats.
AB  - Humans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are deficient at extinguishing
      conditioned fear responses. A study of identical twins concluded that this
      extinction deficit does not predate trauma but develops as a result of trauma.
      The present study tested whether the Lewis rat model of PTSD reproduces these
      features of the human syndrome. Lewis rats were subjected to classical auditory
      fear conditioning before or after exposure to a predatory threat that mimics a
      type of traumatic stress that leads to PTSD in humans. Exploratory behavior on
      the elevated plus maze 1 wk after predatory threat exposure was used to
      distinguish resilient vs. PTSD-like rats. Properties of extinction varied
      depending on whether fear conditioning and extinction occurred before or after
      predatory threat. When fear conditioning was carried out after predatory threat,
      PTSD-like rats showed a marked extinction deficit compared with resilient rats.
      In contrast, no differences were seen between resilient and PTSD-like rats when
      fear conditioning and extinction occurred prior to predatory threat. These
      findings in Lewis rats closely match the results seen in humans with PTSD,
      thereby suggesting that studies comparing neuronal interactions in resilient vs.
      at-risk Lewis rats might shed light on the causes and pathophysiology of human
      PTSD.

PMID- 20929716
TI  - Accuracy of 3D reconstructions based on cone beam computed tomography.
AB  - Three-dimensional imaging of teeth will increase its impact in clinical practice
      if reconstructions are metrically accurate. We hypothesized that, with cone beam
      computed tomography (CBCT) data, three-dimensional images of teeth can be
      reconstructed with the same accuracy and precision as with in vitro micro
      computed tomography (micro-CT) data acquisition, the current reference standard.
      We used a sample of CBCT and micro-CT data taken of tooth germs. Volumes obtained
      with CBCT and micro-CT devices were statistically similar (n = 120, Passing
      Bablok regression). Geometric deviations between CBCT and micro-CT three
      dimensional surface reconstructions did not show any areas of important and
      systematic errors. Future investigations with the use of larger samples may also
      demonstrate that CBCT data will be helpful for a more in-depth study of other
      aspects of dental morphology--for example, assessing tooth development. With
      sufficient accuracy for clinical situations, potential future medical
      applications of such measurements with CBCT are envisaged.

PMID- 20929715
TI  - Altered ion-responsive gene expression in Mmp20 null mice.
AB  - During enamel maturation, hydroxyapatite crystallites expand in volume, releasing
      protons that acidify the developing enamel. This acidity is neutralized by the
      buffering activity of carbonic anhydrases and ion transporters. Less
      hydroxyapatite forms in matrix metalloproteinase-20 null (Mmp20(-/-)) mouse
      incisors, because enamel thickness is reduced by approximately 50%. We therefore
      asked if ion regulation was altered in Mmp20(-/-) mouse enamel. Staining of wild
      type and Mmp20(-/-) incisors with pH indicators demonstrated that wild-type mice
      had pronounced changes in enamel pH as development progressed. These pH changes
      were greatly attenuated in Mmp20(-/-) mice. Expression of 4 ion-regulatory genes
      (Atp2b4, Slc4a2, Car6, Cftr) was significantly decreased in enamel organs from
      Mmp20(-/-) mice. Notably, expression of secreted carbonic anhydrase (Car6) was
      reduced to almost undetectable levels in the null enamel organ. In contrast, Odam
      and Klk4 expression was unaffected. We concluded that a feedback mechanism
      regulates ion-responsive gene expression during enamel development.

PMID- 20929717
TI  - Bell's palsy: the answer to the riddle of Leonardo da Vinci's 'Mona Lisa'.
AB  - The smile of the famed portrait 'The Mona Lisa' has perplexed both art historians
      and researchers for the past 500 years. There has been a multitude of theories
      expounded to explain the nature of the model's enigmatic smile. The origin of the
      model's wry smile can be demonstrated through a careful analysis of both
      documented facts concerning the portrait--some gathered only recently through the
      use of modern technology--and a knowledge of the clinical presentation of Bell's
      palsy. Bell's palsy is more prevalent in women who are either pregnant or who
      have recently given birth. This paper postulates that the smile of the portrait's
      model was due to Leonardo da Vinci's anatomically precise representation of a new
      mother affected by Bell's palsy subsequent to her recent pregnancy.

PMID- 20929718
TI  - Enamel-smear compromises bonding by mild self-etch adhesives.
AB  - In light of the increased popularity of less acidic, so-called 'ultra-mild' self
      etch adhesives, adhesion to enamel is becoming more critical. It is hypothesized
      that this compromised enamel bonding should, to a certain extent, be attributed
      to interference of bur debris smeared across enamel during cavity preparation.
      High-resolution transmission electron microscopy revealed that the enamel smear
      layer differed not only in thickness, but also in crystal density and size,
      depending on the surface-preparation method used. Lab-demineralization of
      sections clearly disclosed that resin-infiltration of an ultra-mild self-etch
      adhesive progressed preferentially along micro-cracks that were abundantly
      present at and underneath the bur-cut enamel surface. The surface-preparation
      method significantly affected the nature of the smear layer and the interaction
      with the ultra-mild adhesive, being more uniform and dense for a lab-SiC-prepared
      surface vs. a clinically relevant bur-prepared surface.

PMID- 20929719
TI  - Differentiating dental pulp cells via RGD-dendrimer conjugates.
AB  - Traumatic dental injuries are often irreversible, underscoring the need for
      therapies that protect dental pulp cells and enhance their regeneration. We
      hypothesized that generation 5 poly amido amine (PAMAM) dendrimers (G5),
      functionalized with fluorescein isothiocyanate (FL) and alphaVbeta3-specific,
      cyclic arginine-glycine-aspartic acid (RGD) peptides, will bind to dental pulp
      cells (DPCs) and modulate their differentiation. Dental pulp cells and mouse
      odontoblast-like cells (MDPC-23) (+/-) treated with G5-FL-RGD were analyzed via
      Western blot, RT-PCR, and quantitative PCR. Transcription of dental
      differentiation markers was as follows: Dentin matrix protein (DMP-1), dentin
      sialoprotein (DSPP), and matrix extracellular phosphoglycoprotein (MEPE) as well
      as vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) all increased via the JNK pathway.
      Long-term G5-RGD treatment of dental pulp cells resulted in enhanced
      mineralization as examined via Von Kossa assay, suggesting that PAMAM dendrimers
      conjugated to cyclic RGD peptides can increase the odontogenic potential of these
      cells.

PMID- 20929720
TI  - Fluoride's effects on the formation of teeth and bones, and the influence of
      genetics.
AB  - Fluorides are present in the environment. Excessive systemic exposure to
      fluorides can lead to disturbances of bone homeostasis (skeletal fluorosis) and
      enamel development (dental/enamel fluorosis). The severity of dental fluorosis is
      also dependent upon fluoride dose and the timing and duration of fluoride
      exposure. Fluoride's actions on bone cells predominate as anabolic effects both
      in vitro and in vivo. More recently, fluoride has been shown to induce
      osteoclastogenesis in mice. Fluorides appear to mediate their actions through the
      MAPK signaling pathway and can lead to changes in gene expression, cell stress,
      and cell death. Different strains of inbred mice demonstrate differential
      physiological responses to ingested fluoride. Genetic studies in mice are capable
      of identifying and characterizing fluoride-responsive genetic variations.
      Ultimately, this can lead to the identification of at-risk human populations who
      are susceptible to the unwanted or potentially adverse effects of fluoride action
      and to the elucidation of fundamental mechanisms by which fluoride affects
      biomineralization.

PMID- 20929721
TI  - Stem cell-calcium phosphate constructs for bone engineering.
AB  - While human bone-marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hBMSCs) have been
      investigated, human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (hUCMSCs) are a
      relatively new cell source. Little has been reported on hUCMSC encapsulation in
      scaffolds for bone tissue engineering. The objective of this study was to
      encapsulate hBMSCs and hUCMSCs in calcium phosphate cement (CPC) scaffolds for
      dental, craniofacial, and orthopedic applications. Stem-cell-encapsulating CPC
      construct with chitosan and fiber reinforcement reached the strength of
      cancellous bone, which was much stronger than previous injectable carriers for
      cell delivery. hUCMSCs and hBMSCs inside the constructs showed excellent
      viability and osteo-differentiation. The encapsulated hUCMSCs synthesized nearly
      three-fold more bone minerals than the hBMSCs in vitro. Hence, stem-cell
      encapsulating CPC-chitosan-fiber construct may be promising for dental and
      orthopedic applications. This study indicated that the hUCMSCs were a potent
      alternative to the gold-standard hBMSCs, which may have a broad impact on
      regenerative medicine and dental tissue engineering.

PMID- 20929722
TI  - Potential of the Tannerella forsythia S-layer to delay the immune response.
AB  - The periodontal pathogen Tannerella forsythia possesses a glycosylated S-layer as
      an outermost cell decoration. While the S-layer provides a selection advantage to
      the bacterium in the natural habitat, its virulence potential remains to be
      investigated. In the present study, the immune responses of human macrophages and
      gingival fibroblasts upon stimulation with wild-type T. forsythia and an S-layer
      deficient mutant were investigated. The mRNA expression levels of the pro
      inflammatory mediators IL-1beta, TNF-alpha, and IL-8 were analyzed by qPCR, and
      the production of the corresponding cytokines was investigated by ELISA. The S
      layer-deficient T. forsythia mutant induced significantly higher levels of pro
      inflammatory mediators compared with wild-type T. forsythia, especially at the
      early phase of response. Analysis of these data suggests that the S-layer of T.
      forsythia is an important virulence factor that attenuates the host immune
      response to this pathogen by evading the bacterium's recognition by the innate
      immune system. ABBREVIATIONS: DMSO, dimethylsulfoxide; FBS, fetal bovine serum;
      GAPDH, glycerinaldehyde-3-phosphate-dehydrogenase; HGFs, human gingival
      fibroblasts; LPS, lipopolysaccharide; MEM, minimal essential medium; MTT, 3,4,5
      dimethylthiazol-2-yl-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide; OD, optical density; PBS,
      phosphate-buffered saline; qPCR, quantitative polymerase chain-reaction; SD,
      standard deviation; Tannerella forsythia ATCC 43037, Tf wt; Tannerella forsythia
      ATCC 43037 S-layer mutant, Tf DeltatfsAB.

PMID- 20929723
TI  - APF and dentifrice effect on root dentin demineralization and biofilm.
AB  - Because dentin is more caries-susceptible than enamel, its demineralization may
      be more influenced by additional fluoride (F). We hypothesized that a combination
      of professional F, applied as acidulated phosphate F (APF), and use of 1100-ppm-F
      dentifrice would provide additional protection for dentin compared with 1100-ppm
      F alone. Twelve adult volunteers wore palatal appliances containing root dentin
      slabs, which were subjected, during 4 experimental phases of 7 days each, to
      biofilm accumulation and sucrose exposure 8x/day. The volunteers were randomly
      assigned to the following treatments: placebo dentifrice (PD), 1100-ppm-F
      dentifrice (FD), APF + PD, and APF+FD. APF gel (1.23% F) was applied to the slabs
      once at the beginning of the experimental phase, and the dentifrices were used
      3x/day. APF and FD increased F concentration in biofilm fluid and reduced root
      dentin demineralization, presenting an additive effect. Analysis of the data
      suggests that the combination of APF gel application and daily regular use of
      1100-ppm-F dentifrice may provide additional protection against root caries
      compared with the dentifrice alone.

PMID- 20929724
TI  - Physiopathology of dental rickets in vitamin D receptor-ablated mice.
AB  - 1alpha25(OH)(2)vitaminD(3) and its nuclear receptor, VDR, are essential for
      normal tooth development. However, the relative contributions of the direct vs.
      indirect effects of vitamin D action on odontogenesis are unclear. The aim of
      this study was to discriminate among the specific roles of 1alpha25(OH)(2)
      vitaminD(3), calcemia/phosphatemia, and the maternal environment in mouse VDR
      null mutants. Microradiographic, histological, and molecular analyses were
      conducted on adult mice under hypocalcemic/hypophosphatemic vs.
      normocalcemic/normophosphatemic conditions, and pups of first- (VDR-/- born to
      VDR+/- dams) vs. second-generation (VDR-/- born to VDR-/- dams) mice. In VDR-/-
      mice, crown morphogenesis was affected exclusively in second-generation pups. In
      first-generation adult VDR-/- mice, both enamel and dentin were affected, and
      pathologic features of root resorption in both apical and cervical regions were
      observed. Nutritional calcium and phosphate normalization completely rescued the
      root resorption and partially rescued the dentin and enamel phenotypes (altered
      cell differentiation and matrix protein expression). Analysis of these data
      illustrates the co-existence of different pathways of vitamin D action in tooth
      differentiation and biomineralization. These targeted and cumulative effects
      would generate the diverse and wide spectrum of dental rickets phenotypes.

PMID- 20929725
TI  - Evidence for a collective intelligence factor in the performance of human groups.
AB  - Psychologists have repeatedly shown that a single statistical factor--often
      called "general intelligence"--emerges from the correlations among people's
      performance on a wide variety of cognitive tasks. But no one has systematically
      examined whether a similar kind of "collective intelligence" exists for groups of
      people. In two studies with 699 people, working in groups of two to five, we find
      converging evidence of a general collective intelligence factor that explains a
      group's performance on a wide variety of tasks. This "c factor" is not strongly
      correlated with the average or maximum individual intelligence of group members
      but is correlated with the average social sensitivity of group members, the
      equality in distribution of conversational turn-taking, and the proportion of
      females in the group.

PMID- 20929727
TI  - Gamma-secretase gene mutations in familial acne inversa.
AB  - Acne inversa (AI), also known as hidradenitis suppurativa, is a chronic,
      recurrent, inflammatory disease of hair follicles that often runs in families. We
      studied six Chinese families with features of AI as well as additional skin
      lesions on back, face, nape, and waist and found independent loss-of-function
      mutations in PSENEN, PSEN1, or NCSTN, the genes encoding essential components of
      the gamma-secretase multiprotein complex. Our results identify the gamma
      secretase component genes as the culprits for a subset of familial AI, implicate
      the gamma-secretase-Notch pathway in the molecular pathogenesis of AI, and
      demonstrate that familial AI can be an allelic disorder of early-onset familial
      Alzheimer's disease.

PMID- 20929726
TI  - Structures of the CXCR4 chemokine GPCR with small-molecule and cyclic peptide
      antagonists.
AB  - Chemokine receptors are critical regulators of cell migration in the context of
      immune surveillance, inflammation, and development. The G protein-coupled
      chemokine receptor CXCR4 is specifically implicated in cancer metastasis and HIV
      1 infection. Here we report five independent crystal structures of CXCR4 bound to
      an antagonist small molecule IT1t and a cyclic peptide CVX15 at 2.5 to 3.2
      angstrom resolution. All structures reveal a consistent homodimer with an
      interface including helices V and VI that may be involved in regulating
      signaling. The location and shape of the ligand-binding sites differ from other G
      protein-coupled receptors and are closer to the extracellular surface. These
      structures provide new clues about the interactions between CXCR4 and its natural
      ligand CXCL12, and with the HIV-1 glycoprotein gp120.

PMID- 20929728
TI  - Mcl-1 is essential for germinal center formation and B cell memory.
AB  - Lymphocyte survival during immune responses is controlled by the relative
      expression of pro- and anti-apoptotic molecules, regulating the magnitude,
      quality, and duration of the response. We investigated the consequences of
      deleting genes encoding the anti-apoptotic molecules Mcl1 and Bcl2l1 (Bcl-x(L))
      from B cells using an inducible system synchronized with expression of activation
      induced cytidine deaminase (Aicda) after immunization. This revealed Mcl1 and not
      Bcl2l1 to be indispensable for the formation and persistence of germinal centers
      (GCs). Limiting Mcl1 expression reduced the magnitude of the GC response with an
      equivalent, but not greater, effect on memory B cell formation and no effect on
      persistence. Our results identify Mcl1 as the main anti-apoptotic regulator of
      activated B cell survival and suggest distinct mechanisms controlling survival of
      GC and memory B cells.

PMID- 20929729
TI  - Zooming in on microscopic flow by remotely detected MRI.
AB  - Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can elucidate the interior structure of an
      optically opaque object in unparalleled detail but is ultimately limited by the
      need to enclose the object within a detection coil; acquiring the image with
      increasingly smaller pixels reduces the sensitivity, because each pixel occupies
      a proportionately smaller fraction of the detector's volume. We developed a
      technique that overcomes this limitation by means of remotely detected MRI.
      Images of fluids flowing in channel assemblies are encoded into the phase and
      intensity of the constituent molecules' nuclear magnetic resonance signals and
      then decoded by a volume-matched detector after the fluids flow out of the
      sample. In combination with compressive sampling, we thus obtain microscopic
      images of flow and velocity distributions ~10(6) times faster than is possible
      with conventional MRI on this hardware. Our results illustrate the facile
      integration of MRI with microfluidic assays and suggest generalizations to other
      systems involving microscopic flow.

PMID- 20929730
TI  - Channel-mediated tonic GABA release from glia.
AB  - Synaptic inhibition is based on both tonic and phasic release of the inhibitory
      transmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA). Although phasic GABA release arises
      from Ca(2+)-dependent exocytosis from neurons, the mechanism of tonic GABA
      release is unclear. Here we report that tonic inhibition in the cerebellum is due
      to GABA being released from glial cells by permeation through the Bestrophin 1
      (Best1) anion channel. We demonstrate that GABA directly permeates through Best1
      to yield GABA release and that tonic inhibition is eliminated by silencing of
      Best1. Glial cells express both GABA and Best1, and selective expression of Best1
      in glial cells, after preventing general expression of Best1, fully rescues tonic
      inhibition. Our results identify a molecular mechanism for tonic inhibition and
      establish a role for interactions between glia and neurons in mediating tonic
      inhibition.

PMID- 20929731
TI  - Lineage relationship analysis of RORgammat+ innate lymphoid cells.
AB  - Lymphoid tissue-inducer (LTi) cells initiate the development of lymphoid tissues
      through the activation of local stromal cells in a process similar to
      inflammation. LTi cells express the nuclear hormone receptor RORgammat, which
      also directs the expression of the proinflammatory cytokine interleukin-17 in T
      cells. We show here that LTi cells are part of a larger family of proinflammatory
      RORgammat(+) innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) that differentiate from distinct fetal
      liver RORgammat(+) precursors. The fate of RORgammat(+) ILCs is determined by
      mouse age, and after birth, favors the generation of cells involved in intestinal
      homeostasis and defense. Contrary to RORgammat(+) T cells, however, RORgammat(+)
      ILCs develop in the absence of microbiota. Our study indicates that RORgammat(+)
      ILCs evolve to preempt intestinal colonization by microbial symbionts.

PMID- 20929732
TI  - Particle acceleration on megaparsec scales in a merging galaxy cluster.
AB  - Galaxy clusters form through a sequence of mergers of smaller galaxy clusters and
      groups. Models of diffusive shock acceleration suggest that in shocks that occur
      during cluster mergers, particles are accelerated to relativistic energies,
      similar to conditions within supernova remnants. In the presence of magnetic
      fields, these particles emit synchrotron radiation and may form so-called radio
      relics. We detected a radio relic that displays highly aligned magnetic fields, a
      strong spectral index gradient, and a narrow relic width, giving a measure of the
      magnetic field in an unexplored site of the universe. Our observations show that
      diffusive shock acceleration also operates on scales much larger than in
      supernova remnants and that shocks in galaxy clusters are capable of producing
      extremely energetic cosmic rays.

PMID- 20929733
TI  - Intestinal stem cell replacement follows a pattern of neutral drift.
AB  - With the capacity for rapid self-renewal and regeneration, the intestinal
      epithelium is stereotypical of stem cell-supported tissues. Yet the pattern of
      stem cell turnover remains in question. Applying analytical methods from
      population dynamics and statistical physics to an inducible genetic labeling
      system, we showed that clone size distributions conform to a distinctive scaling
      behavior at short times. This result demonstrates that intestinal stem cells form
      an equipotent population in which the loss of a stem cell is compensated by the
      multiplication of a neighbor, leading to neutral drift dynamics in which clones
      expand and contract at random until they either take over the crypt or they are
      lost. Combined with long-term clonal fate data, we show that the rate of stem
      cell replacement is comparable to the cell division rate, implying that neutral
      drift and symmetrical cell divisions are central to stem cell homeostasis.

PMID- 20929734
TI  - Magnitude of the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil leak.
AB  - To fully understand the environmental and ecological impacts of the Deepwater
      Horizon disaster, an accurate estimate of the total oil released is required. We
      used optical plume velocimetry to estimate the velocity of fluids issuing from
      the damaged well both before and after the collapsed riser pipe was removed. We
      then calculated the volumetric flow rate under a range of assumptions. With a
      liquid oil fraction of 0.4, we estimated that the average flow rate from 22 April
      2010 to 3 June 2010 was 5.6 * 10(4) +/- 21% barrels/day (1.0 * 10(-1)
      meter(3)/second), excluding secondary leaks. After the riser was removed, the
      flow was 6.8 * 10(4) +/- 19% barrels/day (1.2 * 10(-1) meters(3)/second). Taking
      into account the oil collected at the seafloor, this suggests that 4.4 * 10(6) +/
      20% barrels of oil (7.0 * 10(5) meters(3)) was released into the ocean.

PMID- 20929735
TI  - Polarized myosin produces unequal-size daughters during asymmetric cell division.
AB  - Asymmetric positioning of the mitotic spindle before cytokinesis can produce
      different-sized daughter cells that have distinct fates. Here, we found an
      asymmetric division in the Caenorhabditis elegans Q neuroblast lineage that began
      with a centered spindle but generated different-sized daughters, the smaller
      (anterior) of which underwent apoptosis. During this division, more myosin II
      accumulated anteriorly, suggesting that asymmetric contractile forces might
      produce different-sized daughters. Indeed, partial inactivation of anterior
      myosin by chromophore-assisted laser inactivation created a more symmetric
      division and allowed the survival and differentiation of the anterior daughter.
      Thus, the balance of myosin activity on the two sides of a dividing cell can
      govern the size and fate of the daughters.

PMID- 20929737
TI  - Fossil evidence for evolution of the shape and color of penguin feathers.
AB  - Penguin feathers are highly modified in form and function, but there have been no
      fossils to inform their evolution. A giant penguin with feathers was recovered
      from the late Eocene (~36 million years ago) of Peru. The fossil reveals that key
      feathering features, including undifferentiated primary wing feathers and broad
      body contour feather shafts, evolved early in the penguin lineage. Analyses of
      fossilized color-imparting melanosomes reveal that their dimensions were similar
      to those of non-penguin avian taxa and that the feathering may have been
      predominantly gray and reddish-brown. In contrast, the dark black-brown color of
      extant penguin feathers is generated by large, ellipsoidal melanosomes previously
      unknown for birds. The nanostructure of penguin feathers was thus modified after
      earlier macrostructural modifications of feather shape linked to aquatic flight.

PMID- 20929738
TI  - Prepare and inspire.

PMID- 20929736
TI  - Structure of a eukaryotic CLC transporter defines an intermediate state in the
      transport cycle.
AB  - CLC proteins transport chloride (Cl(-)) ions across cell membranes to control the
      electrical potential of muscle cells, transfer electrolytes across epithelia, and
      control the pH and electrolyte composition of intracellular organelles. Some
      members of this protein family are Cl(-) ion channels, whereas others are
      secondary active transporters that exchange Cl(-) ions and protons (H(+)) with a
      2:1 stoichiometry. We have determined the structure of a eukaryotic CLC
      transporter at 3.5 angstrom resolution. Cytoplasmic cystathionine beta-synthase
      (CBS) domains are strategically positioned to regulate the ion-transport pathway,
      and many disease-causing mutations in human CLCs reside on the CBS-transmembrane
      interface. Comparison with prokaryotic CLC shows that a gating glutamate residue
      changes conformation and suggests a basis for 2:1 Cl(-)/H(+) exchange and a
      simple mechanistic connection between CLC channels and transporters.

PMID- 20929739
TI  - Nobel Prizes. Honor for test tube baby pioneer.

PMID- 20929740
TI  - Nobel Prizes. Still in its infancy, two-dimensional crystal claims prize.

PMID- 20929741
TI  - Biomedical ethics. Guatemala study from 1940s reflects a 'dark chapter' in
      medicine.

PMID- 20929742
TI  - Newsmaker interview: Kim Heung-Kwang and Park Chan-Mo. Will Korea's computer
      savvy crown prince embrace reform? Interview by Richard Stone.

PMID- 20929743
TI  - Cellular reprogramming. New technique RiPS open stem cell field.

PMID- 20929744
TI  - Court battle. What's next for stem cell research?

PMID- 20929746
TI  - Scientific exchanges. A chill in China-Japan academic relations.

PMID- 20929745
TI  - Brain research. Neuroscientists grapple with their field's big questions.

PMID- 20929748
TI  - Interview: Stephen Lekson. Giving back the bones. Interview by Keith Kloor.

PMID- 20929749
TI  - Science and native rights. Grave disputes.

PMID- 20929750
TI  - Science and native rights. Walking in two worlds.

PMID- 20929751
TI  - Science and native rights. A world of graves.

PMID- 20929752
TI  - Science and native rights. A tale of two skeletons.

PMID- 20929753
TI  - Interview: Ernie LaPointe. Honoring his ancestor by studying his DNA. Interview
      by John Travis.

PMID- 20929754
TI  - Science and native rights. In search of Sitting Bull.

PMID- 20929755
TI  - AIDS funds: undervalued.

PMID- 20929756
TI  - AIDS funds: promised.

PMID- 20929757
TI  - AIDS funds: benefits.

PMID- 20929758
TI  - AIDS funds: prevention.

PMID- 20929759
TI  - AIDS funds: Rwanda.

PMID- 20929760
TI  - Comment on "Climate, critters, and cetaceans: Cenozoic drivers of the evolution
      of modern whales".
AB  - Marx and Uhen (Reports, 19 February 2010, p. 993) suggested that correlated
      diversity changes in the fossil record of whales and diatoms reflects secular
      evolutionary signals of underlying ecological drivers. We question the meaning of
      this association and outline avenues for more complete testing of correlations
      between productivity and marine consumers through geologic time.

PMID- 20929761
TI  - Science and regulation. Regulating direct-to-consumer personal genome testing.

PMID- 20929763
TI  - Physics. Looking at how things slip.

PMID- 20929762
TI  - Molecular biology. Surfing chromosomes (and Survivin).

PMID- 20929764
TI  - Plant science. Saving the bilayer.

PMID- 20929765
TI  - Microbiology. Interacting parasites.

PMID- 20929766
TI  - Chemistry. Inorganic nanoparticles as protein mimics.

PMID- 20929767
TI  - Plant science. Communal benefits of transgenic corn.

PMID- 20929768
TI  - The evolution and future of Earth's nitrogen cycle.
AB  - Atmospheric reactions and slow geological processes controlled Earth's earliest
      nitrogen cycle, and by ~2.7 billion years ago, a linked suite of microbial
      processes evolved to form the modern nitrogen cycle with robust natural feedbacks
      and controls. Over the past century, however, the development of new agricultural
      practices to satisfy a growing global demand for food has drastically disrupted
      the nitrogen cycle. This has led to extensive eutrophication of fresh waters and
      coastal zones as well as increased inventories of the potent greenhouse gas
      nitrous oxide (N(2)O). Microbial processes will ultimately restore balance to the
      nitrogen cycle, but the damage done by humans to the nitrogen economy of the
      planet will persist for decades, possibly centuries, if active intervention and
      careful management strategies are not initiated.

PMID- 20929769
TI  - Bacteria use type IV pili to walk upright and detach from surfaces.
AB  - Bacterial biofilms are structured multicellular communities involved in a broad
      range of infections. Knowing how free-swimming bacteria adapt their motility
      mechanisms near surfaces is crucial for understanding the transition between
      planktonic and biofilm phenotypes. By translating microscopy movies into
      searchable databases of bacterial behavior, we identified fundamental type IV
      pili-driven mechanisms for Pseudomonas aeruginosa surface motility involved in
      distinct foraging strategies. Bacteria stood upright and "walked" with
      trajectories optimized for two-dimensional surface exploration. Vertical
      orientation facilitated surface detachment and could influence biofilm
      morphology.

PMID- 20929770
TI  - Nanophase transition metal oxides show large thermodynamically driven shifts in
      oxidation-reduction equilibria.
AB  - Knowing the thermodynamic stability of transition metal oxide nanoparticles is
      important for understanding and controlling their role in a variety of industrial
      and environmental systems. Using calorimetric data on surface energies for
      cobalt, iron, manganese, and nickel oxide systems, we show that surface energy
      strongly influences their redox equilibria and phase stability. Spinels
      (M(3)O(4)) commonly have lower surface energies than metals (M), rocksalt oxides
      (MO), and trivalent oxides (M(2)O(3)) of the same metal; thus, the contraction of
      the stability field of the divalent oxide and expansion of the spinel field
      appear to be general phenomena. Using tabulated thermodynamic data for bulk
      phases to calculate redox phase equilibria at the nanoscale can lead to errors of
      several orders of magnitude in oxygen fugacity and of 100 to 200 kelvin in
      temperature.

PMID- 20929771
TI  - The dynamics of the onset of frictional slip.
AB  - The way in which a frictional interface fails is critical to our fundamental
      understanding of failure processes in fields ranging from engineering to the
      study of earthquakes. Frictional motion is initiated by rupture fronts that
      propagate within the thin interface that separates two sheared bodies. By
      measuring the shear and normal stresses along the interface, together with the
      subsequent rapid real-contact-area dynamics, we find that the ratio of shear
      stress to normal stress can locally far exceed the static-friction coefficient
      without precipitating slip. Moreover, different modes of rupture selected by the
      system correspond to distinct regimes of the local stress ratio. These results
      indicate the key role of nonuniformity to frictional stability and dynamics with
      implications for the prediction, selection, and arrest of different modes of
      earthquakes.

PMID- 20929772
TI  - Block copolymer self-assembly-directed single-crystal homo- and heteroepitaxial
      nanostructures.
AB  - Epitaxy is a widely used method to grow high-quality crystals. One of the key
      challenges in the field of inorganic solids is the development of epitaxial
      single-crystal nanostructures. We describe their formation from block copolymer
      self-assembly-directed nanoporous templates on single-crystal Si backfilled with
      Si or NiSi through a laser-induced transient melt process. Depending on
      thickness, template removal leaves either an array of nanopillars or porous
      nanostructures behind. For stoichiometric NiSi deposition, the template pores
      provide confinement, enabling heteroepitaxial growth. Irradiation through a mask
      provides access to hierarchically structured materials. These results on etchable
      and non-etchable materials suggest a general strategy for growing epitaxial
      single-crystal nanostructured thin films for fundamental studies and a wide
      variety of applications, including energy conversion and storage.

PMID- 20929773
TI  - An oxidative enzyme boosting the enzymatic conversion of recalcitrant
      polysaccharides.
AB  - Efficient enzymatic conversion of crystalline polysaccharides is crucial for an
      economically and environmentally sustainable bioeconomy but remains unfavorably
      inefficient. We describe an enzyme that acts on the surface of crystalline
      chitin, where it introduces chain breaks and generates oxidized chain ends, thus
      promoting further degradation by chitinases. This enzymatic activity was
      discovered and further characterized by using mass spectrometry and
      chromatographic separation methods to detect oxidized products generated in the
      absence or presence of H(2)(18)O or (18)O(2). There are strong indications that
      similar enzymes exist that work on cellulose. Our findings not only demonstrate
      the existence of a hitherto unknown enzyme activity but also provide new avenues
      toward more efficient enzymatic conversion of biomass.

PMID- 20929774
TI  - Areawide suppression of European corn borer with Bt maize reaps savings to non-Bt
      maize growers.
AB  - Transgenic maize engineered to express insecticidal proteins from the bacterium
      Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) has become widely adopted in U.S. agriculture. In
      2009, Bt maize was planted on more than 22.2 million hectares, constituting 63%
      of the U.S. crop. Using statistical analysis of per capita growth rate estimates,
      we found that areawide suppression of the primary pest Ostrinia nubilalis
      (European corn borer) is associated with Bt maize use. Cumulative benefits over
      14 years are an estimated $3.2 billion for maize growers in Illinois, Minnesota,
      and Wisconsin, with more than $2.4 billion of this total accruing to non-Bt maize
      growers. Comparable estimates for Iowa and Nebraska are $3.6 billion in total,
      with $1.9 billion for non-Bt maize growers. These results affirm theoretical
      predictions of pest population suppression and highlight economic incentives for
      growers to maintain non-Bt maize refugia for sustainable insect resistance
      management.

PMID- 20929777
TI  - The future of Russian science.

PMID- 20929776
TI  - Species interactions in a parasite community drive infection risk in a wildlife
      population.
AB  - Most hosts, including humans, are simultaneously or sequentially infected with
      several parasites. A key question is whether patterns of coinfection arise
      because infection by one parasite species affects susceptibility to others or
      because of inherent differences between hosts. We used time-series data from
      individual hosts in natural populations to analyze patterns of infection risk for
      a microparasite community, detecting large positive and negative effects of other
      infections. Patterns remain once variations in host susceptibility and exposure
      are accounted for. Indeed, effects are typically of greater magnitude, and
      explain more variation in infection risk, than the effects associated with host
      and environmental factors more commonly considered in disease studies. We
      highlight the danger of mistaken inference when considering parasite species in
      isolation rather than parasite communities.

PMID- 20929775
TI  - Two histone marks establish the inner centromere and chromosome bi-orientation.
AB  - For proper partitioning of chromosomes in mitosis, the chromosomal passenger
      complex (CPC) including Aurora B and survivin must be localized at the center of
      paired kinetochores, at the site called the inner centromere. It is largely
      unknown what defines the inner centromere and how the CPC is targeted to this
      site. Here, we show that the phosphorylation of histone H3-threonine 3 (H3-pT3)
      mediated by Haspin cooperates with Bub1-mediated histone 2A-serine 121 (H2A-S121)
      phosphorylation in targeting the CPC to the inner centromere in fission yeast and
      human cells. H3-pT3 promotes nucleosome binding of survivin, whereas
      phosphorylated H2A-S121 facilitates the binding of shugoshin, the centromeric CPC
      adaptor. Haspin colocalizes with cohesin by associating with Pds5, whereas Bub1
      localizes at kinetochores. Thus, the inner centromere is defined by intersection
      of two histone kinases.

PMID- 20929778
TI  - U.S. graduate education. Academy rankings tell you a lot, but not who's No. 1 in
      any field.

PMID- 20929779
TI  - Infectious diseases. Rival teams identify a virus behind deaths in central China.

PMID- 20929781
TI  - Psychology. Social savvy boosts the collective intelligence of groups.

PMID- 20929782
TI  - Science policy. India's vision: from scientific pipsqueak to powerhouse.

PMID- 20929783
TI  - Conservation. Filling gaps in global biodiversity estimates.

PMID- 20929784
TI  - Newsmaker interview: Ian Poiner. Counting the ocean's creatures, great and small.
      Interview by Dennis Normile.

PMID- 20929785
TI  - Growing prospects for life on Mars divide astrobiologists.

PMID- 20929786
TI  - Archaeology. Archaeologists see big promise in going molecular.

PMID- 20929787
TI  - IEEE International Conference on Computational Intelligence and Games. Killer
      bots are getting human.

PMID- 20929788
TI  - IEEE International Conference on Computational Intelligence and Games. Game
      miners grapple with massive data.

PMID- 20929789
TI  - IEEE International Conference on Computational Intelligence and Games. Smarts for
      serious games.

PMID- 20929791
TI  - Perennial questions of hydrology and climate.

PMID- 20929792
TI  - HIV/AIDS: use existing funds effectively.

PMID- 20929793
TI  - A positive review for PLoS ONE.

PMID- 20929794
TI  - Comment on "The human K-complex represents an isolated cortical down-state".
AB  - Cash et al. (Reports, 22 May 2009, p. 1084) argue that the human K-complex, a
      defining characteristic of slow-wave sleep, is a unipolar electroencephalogram
      (EEG) wave reflecting a simple neuronal hyperpolarizing event. We disagree with
      this conclusion and point to several confounding aspects of the study.

PMID- 20929795
TI  - Education. Complex systems view of educational policy research.

PMID- 20929796
TI  - Medicine. Neutrophils find smoke attractive.

PMID- 20929797
TI  - Archaeology. When humans arrived in the New Guinea Highlands.

PMID- 20929798
TI  - Cell biology. How to STIMulate calcium channels.

PMID- 20929799
TI  - Chemistry. A balancing act for Taxol precursor pathways in E. coli.

PMID- 20929800
TI  - Genetics. Mosaicism--switch or spectrum?

PMID- 20929801
TI  - Astronomy. A dance of extrasolar planets.

PMID- 20929802
TI  - Retrospective. George C. Williams (1926-2010).

PMID- 20929803
TI  - High frequency of horizontal gene transfer in the oceans.
AB  - Oceanic bacteria perform many environmental functions, including biogeochemical
      cycling of many elements, metabolizing of greenhouse gases, functioning in
      oceanic food webs (microbial loop), and producing valuable natural products and
      viruses. We demonstrate that the widespread capability of marine bacteria to
      participate in horizontal gene transfer (HGT) in coastal and oceanic environments
      may be the result of gene transfer agents (GTAs), viral-like particles produced
      by alpha-Proteobacteria. We documented GTA-mediated gene transfer frequencies a
      thousand to a hundred million times higher than prior estimates of HGT in the
      oceans, with as high as 47% of the culturable natural microbial community
      confirmed as gene recipients. These findings suggest a plausible mechanism by
      which marine bacteria acquire novel traits, thus ensuring resilience in the face
      of environmental change.

PMID- 20929804
TI  - Multiple exciton collection in a sensitized photovoltaic system.
AB  - Multiple exciton generation, the creation of two electron-hole pairs from one
      high-energy photon, is well established in bulk semiconductors, but assessments
      of the efficiency of this effect remain controversial in quantum-confined systems
      like semiconductor nanocrystals. We used a photoelectrochemical system composed
      of PbS nanocrystals chemically bound to TiO(2) single crystals to demonstrate the
      collection of photocurrents with quantum yields greater than one electron per
      photon. The strong electronic coupling and favorable energy level alignment
      between PbS nanocrystals and bulk TiO(2) facilitate extraction of multiple
      excitons more quickly than they recombine, as well as collection of hot electrons
      from higher quantum dot excited states. Our results have implications for
      increasing the efficiency of photovoltaic devices by avoiding losses resulting
      from the thermalization of photogenerated carriers.

PMID- 20929805
TI  - Allosteric supramolecular triple-layer catalysts.
AB  - Allosteric regulation of organometallic catalysts could allow for greater control
      over reactions. We report an allosteric supramolecular structure in which a
      monometallic catalytic site has been buried in the middle layer of a triple-layer
      complex. Small molecules and elemental anions can open and close this complex and
      reversibly expose and conceal the catalytic center. The ring-opening
      polymerization of epsilon-caprolactone can be turned on by the in situ opening of
      the triple-layer complex and then completely turned off by reforming it through
      the abstraction of Cl(-), the allosteric effector agent, without appreciable loss
      of catalytic activity. This process can regulate the molecular weights of the
      resulting polymers.

PMID- 20929807
TI  - Reactivity of the gold/water interface during selective oxidation catalysis.
AB  - The selective oxidation of alcohols in aqueous phase over supported metal
      catalysts is facilitated by high-pH conditions. We have studied the mechanism of
      ethanol and glycerol oxidation to acids over various supported gold and platinum
      catalysts. Labeling experiments with (18)O(2) and H(2)(18)O demonstrate that
      oxygen atoms originating from hydroxide ions instead of molecular oxygen are
      incorporated into the alcohol during the oxidation reaction. Density functional
      theory calculations suggest that the reaction path involves both solution
      mediated and metal-catalyzed elementary steps. Molecular oxygen is proposed to
      participate in the catalytic cycle not by dissociation to atomic oxygen but by
      regenerating hydroxide ions formed via the catalytic decomposition of a peroxide
      intermediate.

PMID- 20929806
TI  - Isoprenoid pathway optimization for Taxol precursor overproduction in Escherichia
      coli.
AB  - Taxol (paclitaxel) is a potent anticancer drug first isolated from the Taxus
      brevifolia Pacific yew tree. Currently, cost-efficient production of Taxol and
      its analogs remains limited. Here, we report a multivariate-modular approach to
      metabolic-pathway engineering that succeeded in increasing titers of taxadiene-
      the first committed Taxol intermediate--approximately 1 gram per liter (~15,000
      fold) in an engineered Escherichia coli strain. Our approach partitioned the
      taxadiene metabolic pathway into two modules: a native upstream methylerythritol
      phosphate (MEP) pathway forming isopentenyl pyrophosphate and a heterologous
      downstream terpenoid-forming pathway. Systematic multivariate search identified
      conditions that optimally balance the two pathway modules so as to maximize the
      taxadiene production with minimal accumulation of indole, which is an inhibitory
      compound found here. We also engineered the next step in Taxol biosynthesis, a
      P450-mediated 5alpha-oxidation of taxadiene to taxadien-5alpha-ol. More broadly,
      the modular pathway engineering approach helped to unlock the potential of the
      MEP pathway for the engineered production of terpenoid natural products.

PMID- 20929808
TI  - Human adaptation and plant use in highland New Guinea 49,000 to 44,000 years ago.
AB  - After their emergence by 200,000 years before the present in Africa, modern
      humans colonized the globe, reaching Australia and New Guinea by 40,000 to 50,000
      years ago. Understanding how humans lived and adapted to the range of
      environments in these areas has been difficult because well-preserved settlements
      are scarce. Data from the New Guinea Highlands (at an elevation of ~2000 meters)
      demonstrate the exploitation of the endemic nut Pandanus and yams in
      archaeological sites dated to 49,000 to 36,000 years ago, which are among the
      oldest human sites in this region. The sites also contain stone tools thought to
      be used to remove trees, which suggests that the early inhabitants cleared forest
      patches to promote the growth of useful plants.

PMID- 20929809
TI  - Identifying the driver of pulsating aurora.
AB  - Pulsating aurora, a spectacular emission that appears as blinking of the upper
      atmosphere in the polar regions, is known to be excited by modulated, downward
      streaming electrons. Despite its distinctive feature, identifying the driver of
      the electron precipitation has been a long-standing problem. Using coordinated
      satellite and ground-based all-sky imager observations from the THEMIS mission,
      we provide direct evidence that a naturally occurring electromagnetic wave, lower
      band chorus, can drive pulsating aurora. Because the waves at a given equatorial
      location in space correlate with a single pulsating auroral patch in the upper
      atmosphere, our findings can also be used to constrain magnetic field models with
      much higher accuracy than has previously been possible.

PMID- 20929810
TI  - Sequencing of Culex quinquefasciatus establishes a platform for mosquito
      comparative genomics.
AB  - Culex quinquefasciatus (the southern house mosquito) is an important mosquito
      vector of viruses such as West Nile virus and St. Louis encephalitis virus, as
      well as of nematodes that cause lymphatic filariasis. C. quinquefasciatus is one
      species within the Culex pipiens species complex and can be found throughout
      tropical and temperate climates of the world. The ability of C. quinquefasciatus
      to take blood meals from birds, livestock, and humans contributes to its ability
      to vector pathogens between species. Here, we describe the genomic sequence of C.
      quinquefasciatus: Its repertoire of 18,883 protein-coding genes is 22% larger
      than that of Aedes aegypti and 52% larger than that of Anopheles gambiae with
      multiple gene-family expansions, including olfactory and gustatory receptors,
      salivary gland genes, and genes associated with xenobiotic detoxification.

PMID- 20929811
TI  - Pathogenomics of Culex quinquefasciatus and meta-analysis of infection responses
      to diverse pathogens.
AB  - The mosquito Culex quinquefasciatus poses a substantial threat to human and
      veterinary health as a primary vector of West Nile virus (WNV), the filarial worm
      Wuchereria bancrofti, and an avian malaria parasite. Comparative phylogenomics
      revealed an expanded canonical C. quinquefasciatus immune gene repertoire
      compared with those of Aedes aegypti and Anopheles gambiae. Transcriptomic
      analysis of C. quinquefasciatus genes responsive to WNV, W. bancrofti, and non
      native bacteria facilitated an unprecedented meta-analysis of 25 vector-pathogen
      interactions involving arboviruses, filarial worms, bacteria, and malaria
      parasites, revealing common and distinct responses to these pathogen types in
      three mosquito genera. Our findings provide support for the hypothesis that
      mosquito-borne pathogens have evolved to evade innate immune responses in three
      vector mosquito species of major medical importance.

PMID- 20929812
TI  - The CRAC channel activator STIM1 binds and inhibits L-type voltage-gated calcium
      channels.
AB  - Voltage- and store-operated calcium (Ca(2+)) channels are the major routes of
      Ca(2+) entry in mammalian cells, but little is known about how cells coordinate
      the activity of these channels to generate coherent calcium signals. We found
      that STIM1 (stromal interaction molecule 1), the main activator of store-operated
      Ca(2+) channels, directly suppresses depolarization-induced opening of the
      voltage-gated Ca(2+) channel Ca(V)1.2. STIM1 binds to the C terminus of Ca(V)1.2
      through its Ca(2+) release-activated Ca(2+) activation domain, acutely inhibits
      gating, and causes long-term internalization of the channel from the membrane.
      This establishes a previously unknown function for STIM1 and provides a molecular
      mechanism to explain the reciprocal regulation of these two channels in cells.

PMID- 20929813
TI  - The calcium store sensor, STIM1, reciprocally controls Orai and CaV1.2 channels.
AB  - Calcium signals, pivotal in controlling cell function, can be generated by
      calcium entry channels activated by plasma membrane depolarization or depletion
      of internal calcium stores. We reveal a regulatory link between these two channel
      subtypes mediated by the ubiquitous calcium-sensing STIM proteins. STIM1
      activation by store depletion or mutational modification strongly suppresses
      voltage-operated calcium (Ca(V)1.2) channels while activating store-operated Orai
      channels. Both actions are mediated by the short STIM-Orai activating region
      (SOAR) of STIM1. STIM1 interacts with Ca(V)1.2 channels and localizes within
      discrete endoplasmic reticulum/plasma membrane junctions containing both Ca(V)1.2
      and Orai1 channels. Hence, STIM1 interacts with and reciprocally controls two
      major calcium channels hitherto thought to operate independently. Such
      coordinated control of the widely expressed Ca(V)1.2 and Orai channels has major
      implications for Ca(2+) signal generation in excitable and nonexcitable cells.

PMID- 20929814
TI  - Science for physicians.

PMID- 20929815
TI  - Science in U.S. schools. A way to heal science education, but is there the
      political will?

PMID- 20929816
TI  - Scientific misconduct. Misconduct by postdocs leads to retraction of papers.

PMID- 20929817
TI  - Scientific publishing. Genomics researchers upset by rivals' publicity.

PMID- 20929818
TI  - Parasitology. Origin of most deadly human malaria comes out of the mist.

PMID- 20929819
TI  - Animal research. Long-fought compromise reached on European animal rules.

PMID- 20929820
TI  - Animal-rights activism. A tricky balance between activists' and researchers'
      rights.

PMID- 20929821
TI  - Astronomy. New type of cosmic dust tells of galaxy's violent history.

PMID- 20929822
TI  - Genetic resources. Parlous times for seed banks spell trouble for Australian
      agriculture.

PMID- 20929823
TI  - Conservation ecology. Home, home outside the range?

PMID- 20929824
TI  - Immunology. Mouse studies challenge rare immune cell's powers.

PMID- 20929825
TI  - Fisheries. Behind the eco-label, a debate over Antarctic toothfish.

PMID- 20929826
TI  - Science standards: value the teachers.

PMID- 20929827
TI  - Science standards: averages deceive.

PMID- 20929828
TI  - A recount of tropical tree species.

PMID- 20929829
TI  - Retraction.

PMID- 20929830
TI  - Education framework needs better foundation.

PMID- 20929831
TI  - Astronomy. More supernova surprises.

PMID- 20929832
TI  - Botany. The rise of sunflowers.

PMID- 20929833
TI  - Genetics. A bit of Texas in Florida.

PMID- 20929834
TI  - Genetics. Exposing a DUX tale.

PMID- 20929835
TI  - Physics. STM ready for the time domain.

PMID- 20929836
TI  - Developmental biology. Branching takes nerve.

PMID- 20929837
TI  - Neuroscience. Dendrites do it in sequences.

PMID- 20929838
TI  - SPORE series winner. Immunology for clinicians: a "Trojan Horse" approach.

PMID- 20929839
TI  - Reaction-diffusion model as a framework for understanding biological pattern
      formation.
AB  - The Turing, or reaction-diffusion (RD), model is one of the best-known
      theoretical models used to explain self-regulated pattern formation in the
      developing animal embryo. Although its real-world relevance was long debated, a
      number of compelling examples have gradually alleviated much of the skepticism
      surrounding the model. The RD model can generate a wide variety of spatial
      patterns, and mathematical studies have revealed the kinds of interactions
      required for each, giving this model the potential for application as an
      experimental working hypothesis in a wide variety of morphological phenomena. In
      this review, we describe the essence of this theory for experimental biologists
      unfamiliar with the model, using examples from experimental studies in which the
      RD model is effectively incorporated.

PMID- 20929840
TI  - Eocene Patagonia fossils of the daisy family.
AB  - Fossil capitula and pollen grains of Asteraceae from the Eocene of Patagonia,
      southern Argentina, exhibit morphological features recognized today in taxa, such
      as Mutisioideae and Carduoideae, that are phylogenetically close to the root of
      the asteracean tree. This fossil supports the hypothesis of a South American
      origin of Asteraceae and an Eocene age of divergence and suggests that an
      ancestral stock of Asteraceae may have formed part of a geoflora developed in
      southern Gondwana before the establishment of effective dispersal barriers within
      this landmass.

PMID- 20929841
TI  - The ubiquity of micrometer-sized dust grains in the dense interstellar medium.
AB  - Cold molecular clouds are the birthplaces of stars and planets, where dense cores
      of gas collapse to form protostars. The dust mixed in these clouds is thought to
      be made of grains of an average size of 0.1 micrometer. We report the widespread
      detection of the coreshine effect as a direct sign of the existence of grown,
      micrometer-sized dust grains. This effect is seen in half of the cores we have
      analyzed in our survey, spanning all Galactic longitudes, and is dominated by
      changes in the internal properties and local environment of the cores, implying
      that the coreshine effect can be used to constrain fundamental core properties
      such as the three-dimensional density structure and ages and also the grain
      characteristics themselves.

PMID- 20929842
TI  - Measurement of fast electron spin relaxation times with atomic resolution.
AB  - Single spins in solid-state systems are often considered prime candidates for the
      storage of quantum information, and their interaction with the environment the
      main limiting factor for the realization of such schemes. The lifetime of an
      excited spin state is a sensitive measure of this interaction, but extending the
      spatial resolution of spin relaxation measurements to the atomic scale has been a
      challenge. We show how a scanning tunneling microscope can measure electron spin
      relaxation times of individual atoms adsorbed on a surface using an all
      electronic pump-probe measurement scheme. The spin relaxation times of individual
      Fe-Cu dimers were found to vary between 50 and 250 nanoseconds. Our method can in
      principle be generalized to monitor the temporal evolution of other dynamical
      systems.

PMID- 20929843
TI  - Optical clocks and relativity.
AB  - Observers in relative motion or at different gravitational potentials measure
      disparate clock rates. These predictions of relativity have previously been
      observed with atomic clocks at high velocities and with large changes in
      elevation. We observed time dilation from relative speeds of less than 10 meters
      per second by comparing two optical atomic clocks connected by a 75-meter length
      of optical fiber. We can now also detect time dilation due to a change in height
      near Earth's surface of less than 1 meter. This technique may be extended to the
      field of geodesy, with applications in geophysics and hydrology as well as in
      space-based tests of fundamental physics.

PMID- 20929844
TI  - Alkali-stabilized Pt-OHx species catalyze low-temperature water-gas shift
      reactions.
AB  - We report that alkali ions (sodium or potassium) added in small amounts activate
      platinum adsorbed on alumina or silica for the low-temperature water-gas shift
      (WGS) reaction (H(2)O + CO -> H(2) + CO(2)) used for producing H(2). The alkali
      ion-associated surface OH groups are activated by CO at low temperatures (~100
      degrees C) in the presence of atomically dispersed platinum. Both experimental
      evidence and density functional theory calculations suggest that a partially
      oxidized Pt-alkali-O(x)(OH)(y) species is the active site for the low-temperature
      Pt-catalyzed WGS reaction. These findings are useful for the design of highly
      active and stable WGS catalysts that contain only trace amounts of a precious
      metal without the need for a reducible oxide support such as ceria.

PMID- 20929845
TI  - Graphene double-layer capacitor with ac line-filtering performance.
AB  - Electric double-layer capacitors (DLCs) can have high storage capacity, but their
      porous electrodes cause them to perform like resistors in filter circuits that
      remove ripple from rectified direct current. We have demonstrated efficient
      filtering of 120-hertz current with DLCs with electrodes made from vertically
      oriented graphene nanosheets grown directly on metal current collectors. This
      design minimized electronic and ionic resistances and produced capacitors with RC
      time constants of less than 200 microseconds, in contrast with ~1 second for
      typical DLCs. Graphene nanosheets have a preponderance of exposed edge planes
      that greatly increases charge storage as compared with that of designs that rely
      on basal plane surfaces. Capacitors constructed with these electrodes could be
      smaller than the low-voltage aluminum electrolyte capacitors that are typically
      used in electronic devices.

PMID- 20929846
TI  - Slip systems in MgSiO3 post-perovskite: implications for D'' anisotropy.
AB  - Understanding deformation of mineral phases in the lowermost mantle is important
      for interpreting seismic anisotropy in Earth's interior. Recently, there has been
      considerable controversy regarding deformation-induced slip in MgSiO(3) post
      perovskite. Here, we observe that (001) lattice planes are oriented at high
      angles to the compression direction immediately after transformation and before
      deformation. Upon compression from 148 gigapascals (GPa) to 185 GPa, this
      preferred orientation more than doubles in strength, implying slip on (001)
      lattice planes. This contrasts with a previous experiment that recorded preferred
      orientation likely generated during the phase transformation rather than
      deformation. If we use our results to model deformation and anisotropy
      development in the D'' region of the lower mantle, shear-wave splitting
      (characterized by fast horizontally polarized shear waves) is consistent with
      seismic observations.

PMID- 20929847
TI  - Genetic restoration of the Florida panther.
AB  - The rediscovery of remnant Florida panthers (Puma concolor coryi) in southern
      Florida swamplands prompted a program to protect and stabilize the population. In
      1995, conservation managers translocated eight female pumas (P. c. stanleyana)
      from Texas to increase depleted genetic diversity, improve population numbers,
      and reverse indications of inbreeding depression. We have assessed the
      demographic, population-genetic, and biomedical consequences of this restoration
      experiment and show that panther numbers increased threefold, genetic
      heterozygosity doubled, survival and fitness measures improved, and inbreeding
      correlates declined significantly. Although these results are encouraging,
      continued habitat loss, persistent inbreeding, infectious agents, and possible
      habitat saturation pose new dilemmas. This intensive management program
      illustrates the challenges of maintaining populations of large predators
      worldwide.

PMID- 20929848
TI  - Parasympathetic innervation maintains epithelial progenitor cells during salivary
      organogenesis.
AB  - The maintenance of a progenitor cell population as a reservoir of
      undifferentiated cells is required for organ development and regeneration.
      However, the mechanisms by which epithelial progenitor cells are maintained
      during organogenesis are poorly understood. We report that removal of the
      parasympathetic ganglion in mouse explant organ culture decreased the number and
      morphogenesis of keratin 5-positive epithelial progenitor cells. These effects
      were rescued with an acetylcholine analog. We demonstrate that acetylcholine
      signaling, via the muscarinic M1 receptor and epidermal growth factor receptor,
      increased epithelial morphogenesis and proliferation of the keratin 5-positive
      progenitor cells. Parasympathetic innervation maintained the epithelial
      progenitor cell population in an undifferentiated state, which was required for
      organogenesis. This mechanism for epithelial progenitor cell maintenance may be
      targeted for organ repair or regeneration.

PMID- 20929849
TI  - Olfactory plasticity is regulated by pheromonal signaling in Caenorhabditis
      elegans.
AB  - Population density-dependent dispersal is a well-characterized strategy of animal
      behavior in which dispersal rate increases when population density is higher.
      Caenorhabditis elegans shows positive chemotaxis to a set of odorants, but the
      chemotaxis switches from attraction to dispersal after prolonged exposure to the
      odorants. We show here that this plasticity of olfactory behavior is dependent on
      population density and that this regulation is mediated by pheromonal signaling.
      We show that a peptide, suppressor of NEP-2 (SNET-1), negatively regulates
      olfactory plasticity and that its expression is down-regulated by the pheromone.
      NEP-2, a homolog of the extracellular peptidase neprilysin, antagonizes SNET-1,
      and this function is essential for olfactory plasticity. These results suggest
      that population density information is transmitted through the external pheromone
      and endogenous peptide signaling to modulate chemotactic behavior.

PMID- 20929850
TI  - A general mechanism for network-dosage compensation in gene circuits.
AB  - Coping with variations in network dosage is crucial for maintaining optimal
      function in gene networks. We explored how network structure facilitates network
      level dosage compensation. By using the yeast galactose network as a model, we
      combinatorially deleted one of the two copies of its four regulatory genes and
      found that network activity was robust to the change in network dosage. A
      mathematical analysis revealed that a two-component genetic circuit with elements
      of opposite regulatory activity (activator and inhibitor) constitutes a minimal
      requirement for network-dosage invariance. Specific interaction topologies and a
      one-to-one interaction stoichiometry between the activating and inhibiting agents
      were additional essential elements facilitating dosage invariance. This mechanism
      of network-dosage invariance could represent a general design for gene network
      structure in cells.

PMID- 20929851
TI  - Stability of the regulatory T cell lineage in vivo.
AB  - Tissue maintenance and homeostasis can be achieved through the replacement of
      dying cells by differentiating precursors or self-renewal of terminally
      differentiated cells or relies heavily on cellular longevity in poorly
      regenerating tissues. Regulatory T cells (T(reg) cells) represent an actively
      dividing cell population with critical function in suppression of lethal immune
      mediated inflammation. The plasticity of T(reg) cells has been actively debated
      because it could factor importantly in protective immunity or autoimmunity. By
      using inducible labeling and tracking of T(reg) cell fate in vivo, or transfers
      of highly purified T(reg) cells, we have demonstrated notable stability of this
      cell population under physiologic and inflammatory conditions. Our results
      suggest that self-renewal of mature T(reg) cells serves as a major mechanism of
      maintenance of the T(reg) cell lineage in adult mice.

PMID- 20929852
TI  - The promoting role of a tumour-secreted chemorepellent in self-metastatic tumour
      progression.
AB  - It has been proposed that cancer cells, in particular glioma tumour cells,
      secrete a chemorepellent factor that guides cell migration away from the tumour,
      facilitating migration and invasion. We present a hybrid continuous-discrete
      mathematical model of tumour growth and the chemotropism phenomenon to show that
      such a chemorepellent factor can also act as a promoter of self-metastases, a
      mechanism for tumour expansion we have previously shown can explain several
      essential kinetic dependencies of tumour growth. A sufficient criterion for this
      expansion was found to be the passive migration of peripheral cancer stem and non
      stem cells away from the main tumour mass, where migrating cancer stem cells form
      new clusters. We show here how the introduction of an active repellent trait
      serves to accelerate peripheral migration and thus, by the self-metastases
      principle, accelerate tumour growth. These results provide a mechanistic basis
      for the proposal that chemorepellent action in gliomas may underlie their rapid
      growth.

PMID- 20929853
TI  - Beyond the neglect of psychological consequences: post-traumatic stress disorder
      increases the non-fatal burden of injury by more than 50%.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Psychological consequences such as post-traumatic stress disorder
      (PTSD) are currently neglected in burden-of-injury calculations. AIM: To assess
      the disease burden of PTSD due to unintentional injury and compare this health
      loss with physical injury consequences. METHODS: From literature sources, the
      prevalence of PTSD at four follow-up periods (<3 months, 3-6 months, 7-12 months
      and >12 months) was estimated. The uncertainty of the estimated PTSD prevalence
      was modelled by a Bayesian approach. The prevalence rates were then linked to
      national data on unintentional injury, disability weights and duration to
      estimate the incidence and disability-adjusted life years (DALY) resulting from
      PTSD in addition to physical injury consequences. RESULTS: The data suggest that
      PTSD prevalence among injury victims decreases over time. The average PTSD
      prevalence at <3 months follow-up was 21% (90% credibility interval (CI) 17% to
      24%) for patients presenting at the emergency department and 30% (90% CI 27% to
      33%) for patients who were hospitalised, tapering down after 12 months to 4% (90%
      CI 3% to 5%) and 6% (90% CI 4% to 10%), respectively. These estimates translate
      into 191,000 (90% CI 161,000 to 222,000) cases of PTSD per year in the Dutch
      population (1.2%) due to unintentional injury. Including PTSD increases the non
      fatal burden of disease of unintentional injuries by 53% (from 116,000 to 178,000
      DALYs (90% CI 150,000 to 217,000)). CONCLUSIONS: Ignoring PTSD in burden-of
      injury studies results in a considerable underestimation of the burden of injury.
      This may affect resource allocation and the identification of important
      prevention priorities.

PMID- 20929854
TI  - Changes in the state-level distribution of primary and secondary syphilis in the
      USA, 1985-2007.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To examine changes over time in the distribution of primary and
      secondary syphilis cases across states, using Lorenz curves and Gini
      coefficients. METHODS: For each year from 1985 to 2007, the Gini coefficient for
      the state-level distribution of male and female syphilis cases was calculated.
      The Gini coefficient can range from 0 (indicating equality in syphilis rates
      across states) to 1 (indicating complete inequality such that all syphilis cases
      occur in one state). RESULTS: The Gini coefficients for men are notably lower
      (indicating more equality in the distribution of syphilis across states) in
      recent years (in which men who have sex with men (MSM) account for most syphilis
      cases) than in the heterosexual epidemic of the late 1980s and early 1990s.
      Although syphilis rates in men were similar in 1995 and 2007 (6.7 and 6.6 per
      100,000, respectively), the Gini coefficient for male syphilis decreased from
      0.523 in 1995 to 0.333 in 2007. For syphilis in women, Gini coefficients have not
      shown the same degree of decline. CONCLUSIONS: The spread of MSM syphilis cases
      to urban areas across the nation is likely to be a main cause of the decreased
      concentration of male syphilis cases across states from 1995 to 2007.

PMID- 20929855
TI  - Modelling HIV epidemics in the antiretroviral era: the UNAIDS Estimation and
      Projection package 2009.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The UNAIDS Estimation and Projection Package (EPP) is a tool for
      country-level estimation and short-term projection of HIV/AIDS epidemics based on
      fitting observed HIV surveillance data on prevalence. This paper describes the
      adaptations made in EPP 2009, the latest version of this tool, as new issues have
      arisen in the global response, in particular the global expansion of
      antiretroviral therapy (ART). RESULTS: By December 2008 over 4 million people
      globally were receiving ART, substantially improving their survival. EPP 2009
      required modifications to correctly adjust for the effects of ART on incidence
      and the resulting increases in HIV prevalence in populations with high ART
      coverage. Because changing incidence is a better indicator of program impact, the
      2009 series of UNAIDS tools also focuses on calculating incidence alongside
      prevalence. Other changes made in EPP 2009 include: an improved procedure,
      incremental mixture importance sampling, for efficiently generating more accurate
      uncertainty estimates; provisions to vary the urban/rural population ratios in
      generalised epidemics over time; introduction of a modified epidemic model that
      accommodates behaviour change in low incidence settings; and improved procedures
      for calibrating models. This paper describes these changes in detail, and
      discusses anticipated future changes in the next version of EPP.

PMID- 20929856
TI  - Identification of interacting hot spots in the beta3 integrin stalk using
      comprehensive interface design.
AB  - Protein-protein interfaces are usually large and complementary surfaces, but
      specific side chains, representing energetic "hot spots," often contribute
      disproportionately to binding free energy. We used a computational method,
      comprehensive interface design, to identify hot spots in the interface between
      the stalk regions of the beta3 and the complementary alphaIIb and alphav integrin
      subunits. Using the Rosetta alanine-scanning and design algorithms to predict
      destabilizing, stabilizing, and neutral mutations in the beta3 region extending
      from residues Lys(532) through Gly(690), we predicted eight alanine mutations
      that would destabilize the alphaIIbbeta3 interface as well as nine predicted to
      destabilize the alphavbeta3 interface, by at least 0.3 kcal/mol. The mutations
      were widely and unevenly distributed, with four between residues 552 and 563 and
      five between 590 and 610, but none between 565 and 589, and 611 and 655. Further,
      mutations destabilizing the alphavbeta3 and alphaIIbbeta3 interfaces were not
      identical. The predictions were then tested by introducing selected mutations
      into the full-length integrins expressed in Chinese hamster ovary cells. Five
      mutations predicted to destabilize alphaIIb and beta3 caused fibrinogen binding
      to alphaIIbbeta3, whereas three of four predicted to be neutral or stabilizing
      did not. Conversely, a mutation predicted to destabilize alphavbeta3, but not
      alphaIIbbeta3 (D552A), caused osteopontin binding to alphavbeta3, but not
      fibrinogen binding to alphaIIbbeta3. These results indicate that stability of the
      distal stalk interface is involved in constraining integrins in stable, inactive
      conformations. Further, they demonstrate the ability of comprehensive interface
      design to identify functionally significant integrin mutations.

PMID- 20929857
TI  - Novel anti-carbohydrate antibodies reveal the cooperative function of sulfated N-
      and O-glycans in lymphocyte homing.
AB  - Cell surface glycans play pivotal roles in immune cell trafficking and immunity.
      Here we present an efficient method for generating anti-carbohydrate monoclonal
      antibodies (mAbs) using gene-targeted mice and describe critical glycans in
      lymphocyte homing. We immunized sulfotransferase GlcNAc6ST-1 and GlcNAc6ST-2
      doubly deficient mice with sulfotransferase-overexpressing Chinese hamster ovary
      cells and generated two mAbs, termed S1 and S2. Both S1 and S2 bound high
      endothelial venules (HEVs) in the lymphoid organs of humans and wild-type mice,
      but not in those of doubly deficient mice. Glycan array analysis indicated that
      both S1 and S2 specifically bound 6-sulfo sialyl Lewis X and its defucosylated
      structure. Interestingly, S2 inhibited lymphocyte homing to peripheral lymph
      nodes by 95%, whereas S1 inhibited it by only 25%. S2 also significantly
      inhibited contact hypersensitivity responses and L-selectin-dependent leukocyte
      adhesion to HEVs. Immunohistochemical and Western blot analyses indicated that S1
      preferentially bound sulfated O-glycans, whereas S2 bound both sulfated N- and O
      glycans in HEVs. Furthermore, S2 strongly inhibited the N-glycan-dependent
      residual lymphocyte homing in mutant mice lacking sulfated O-glycans, indicating
      the importance of both sulfated N- and O-glycans in lymphocyte homing. Thus, the
      two mAbs generated by a novel method revealed the cooperative function of
      sulfated N- and O-glycans in lymphocyte homing and immune surveillance.

PMID- 20929858
TI  - Both thioredoxin 2 and glutaredoxin 2 contribute to the reduction of the
      mitochondrial 2-Cys peroxiredoxin Prx3.
AB  - The proteins from the thioredoxin family are crucial actors in redox signaling
      and the cellular response to oxidative stress. The major intracellular source for
      oxygen radicals are the components of the respiratory chain in mitochondria.
      Here, we show that the mitochondrial 2-Cys peroxiredoxin (Prx3) is not only
      substrate for thioredoxin 2 (Trx2), but can also be reduced by glutaredoxin 2
      (Grx2) via the dithiol reaction mechanism. Grx2 reduces Prx3 exhibiting catalytic
      constants (K(m), 23.8 MUmol.liter(-1); V(max), 1.2 MUmol.(mg.min)(-1)) similar to
      Trx2 (K(m), 11.2 MUmol.liter(-1); V(max), 1.1 MUmol.(mg.min)(-1)). The reduction
      of the catalytic disulfide of the atypical 2-Cys Prx5 is limited to the Trx
      system. Silencing the expression of either Trx2 or Grx2 in HeLa cells using
      specific siRNAs did not change the monomer:dimer ratio of Prx3 detected by a
      specific 2-Cys Prx redox blot. Only combined silencing of the expression of both
      proteins led to an accumulation of oxidized protein. We further demonstrate that
      the distribution of Prx3 in different mouse tissues is either linked to the
      distribution of Trx2 or Grx2. These results introduce Grx2 as a novel electron
      donor for Prx3, providing further insights into pivotal cellular redox signaling
      mechanisms.

PMID- 20929859
TI  - Generation and selection of novel fully human monoclonal antibodies that
      neutralize Dickkopf-1 (DKK1) inhibitory function in vitro and increase bone mass
      in vivo.
AB  - Wnt/LRP5 signaling is a central regulatory component of bone formative and
      resorptive activities, and the pathway inhibitor DKK1 is a suppressor of bone
      formation and bone mass accrual in mice. In addition, augmented DKK1 levels are
      associated with high bone turnover in diverse low bone mass states in rodent
      models and disease etiologies in human. However, examination of the precise role
      of DKK1 in the normal skeleton and in higher species requires the development of
      refined DKK1-specific pharmacological tools. Here, we report the strategy
      resulting in isolation of a panel of fully human anti-DKK1 antibodies applicable
      to studies interrogating the roles of mouse, rhesus, and human DKK1. Selected
      anti-DKK1 antibodies bind primate and human DKK-1 with picomolar affinities yet
      do not appreciably bind to DKK2 or DKK4. Epitopes mapped within the DKK1 C
      terminal domain necessary for interaction with LRP5/6 and consequently
      effectively neutralized DKK1 function in vitro. When introduced into naive normal
      growing female mice, IgGs significantly improved trabecular bone volume and
      structure and increased both trabecular and cortical bone mineral densities in a
      dose-related fashion. Furthermore, fully human DKK1-IgG displayed favorable
      pharmacokinetic parameters in non-human primates. In summary, we demonstrate here
      a rate-limiting function of physiologic DKK1 levels in the regulation of bone
      mass in intact female mice, amendable to specific pharmacologic neutralization by
      newly identified DKK1-IgGs. Importantly the fully human IgGs display a profile of
      attributes that recommends their testing in higher species and their use in
      evaluating DKK1 function in relevant disease models.

PMID- 20929860
TI  - Perturbed amelogenin secondary structure leads to uncontrolled aggregation in
      amelogenesis imperfecta mutant proteins.
AB  - Mutations in amelogenin sequence result in defective enamel, and the diverse
      group of genetically altered conditions is collectively known as amelogenesis
      imperfecta (AI). Despite numerous studies, the detailed molecular mechanism of
      defective enamel formation is still unknown. In this study, we have examined the
      biophysical properties of a recombinant murine amelogenin (rM180) and two point
      mutations identified from human DNA sequences in two cases of AI (T21I and P41T).
      At pH 5.8 and 25  degrees C, wild type (WT) rM180 and mutant P41T existed as
      monomers, and mutant T21I formed lower order oligomers. CD, dynamic light
      scattering, and fluorescence studies indicated that rM180 and P41T can be
      classified as a premolten globule-like subclass protein at 25  degrees C. Thermal
      denaturation and refolding monitored by CD ellipticity at 224 nm indicated the
      presence of a strong hysteresis in mutants compared with WT. Variable temperature
      tryptophan fluorescence and dynamic light scattering studies showed that WT
      transformed to a partially folded conformation upon heating and remained stable.
      The partially folded conformation formed by P41T, however, readily converted into
      a heterogeneous population of aggregates. T21I existed in an oligomeric state at
      room temperature and, upon heating, rapidly formed large aggregates over a very
      narrow temperature range. Thermal denaturation and refolding studies indicated
      that the mutants are less stable and exhibit poor refolding ability compared with
      WT rM180. Our results suggest that alterations in self-assembly of amelogenin are
      a consequence of destabilization of the intrinsic disorder. Therefore, we propose
      that, like a number of other human diseases, AI appears to be due to the
      destabilization of the secondary structure as a result of amelogenin mutations.

PMID- 20929861
TI  - Proliferating cell nuclear antigen-dependent rapid recruitment of Cdt1 and
      CRL4Cdt2 at DNA-damaged sites after UV irradiation in HeLa cells.
AB  - The licensing factor Cdt1 is degraded by CRL4(Cdt2) ubiquitin ligase dependent on
      proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) during S phase and when DNA damage is
      induced in G(1) phase. Association of both Cdt2 and PCNA with chromatin was
      observed in S phase and after UV irradiation. Here we used a micropore UV
      irradiation assay to examine Cdt2 accumulation at cyclobutane pyrimidine dimer
      containing DNA-damaged sites in the process of Cdt1 degradation in HeLa cells.
      Cdt2, present in the nucleus throughout the cell cycle, accumulated rapidly at
      damaged DNA sites during G(1) phase. The recruitment of Cdt2 is dependent on
      prior PCNA chromatin binding because Cdt2 association was prevented when PCNA was
      silenced. Cdt1 was also recruited to damaged sites soon after UV irradiation
      through its PIP-box. As Cdt1 was degraded, the Cdt2 signal at damaged sites was
      reduced, but PCNA, cyclobutane pyrimidine dimer, and XPA (xeroderma pigmentosum,
      complementation group A) signals remained at the same levels. These findings
      suggest that Cdt1 degradation following UV irradiation occurs rapidly at damaged
      sites due to PCNA chromatin loading and the recruitment of Cdt1 and CRL4(Cdt2),
      before DNA damage repair is completed.

PMID- 20929862
TI  - RGD-independent cell adhesion via a tissue transglutaminase-fibronectin matrix
      promotes fibronectin fibril deposition and requires syndecan-4/2 alpha5beta1
      integrin co-signaling.
AB  - Fibronectin (FN) deposition mediated by fibroblasts is an important process in
      matrix remodeling and wound healing. By monitoring the deposition of soluble
      biotinylated FN, we show that the stress-induced TG-FN matrix, a matrix complex
      of tissue transglutaminase (TG2) with its high affinity binding partner FN, can
      increase both exogenous and cellular FN deposition and also restore it when cell
      adhesion is interrupted via the presence of RGD-containing peptides. This
      mechanism does not require the transamidase activity of TG2 but is activated
      through an RGD-independent adhesion process requiring a heterocomplex of TG2 and
      FN and is mediated by a syndecan-4 and beta1 integrin co-signaling pathway. By
      using alpha5 null cells, beta1 integrin functional blocking antibody, and a
      alpha5beta1 integrin targeting peptide A5-1, we demonstrate that the alpha5 and
      beta1 integrins are essential for TG-FN to compensate RGD-induced loss of cell
      adhesion and FN deposition. The importance of syndecan-2 in this process was
      shown using targeting siRNAs, which abolished the compensation effect of TG-FN on
      the RGD-induced loss of cell adhesion, resulting in disruption of actin skeleton
      formation and FN deposition. Unlike syndecan-4, syndecan-2 does not interact
      directly with TG2 but acts as a downstream effector in regulating actin
      cytoskeleton organization through the ROCK pathway. We demonstrate that PKCalpha
      is likely to be the important link between syndecan-4 and syndecan-2 signaling
      and that TG2 is the functional component of the TG-FN heterocomplex in mediating
      cell adhesion via its direct interaction with heparan sulfate chains.

PMID- 20929863
TI  - Interactions of STAP-2 with Brk and STAT3 participate in cell growth of human
      breast cancer cells.
AB  - STAP-2 (signal transducing adaptor protein-2) is a recently identified adaptor
      protein that contains pleckstrin homology (PH) and Src homology 2-like domains,
      as well as a STAT3-binding motif in its C-terminal region. STAP-2 is also a
      substrate of breast tumor kinase (Brk). In breast cancers, Brk expression is
      deregulated and promotes STAT3-dependent cell proliferation. In the present
      study, manipulated STAP-2 expression demonstrated essential roles of STAP-2 in
      Brk-mediated STAT3 activation. STAP-2 interacts with both Brk and STAT3. In
      addition, small interfering RNA-mediated reduction of endogenous STAP-2
      expression strongly decreased Brk-mediated STAT3 activation in T47D breast cancer
      cells. The PH domain of STAP-2 is involved in multiple steps: the binding between
      Brk and STAP-2, the activation and tyrosine phosphorylation of STAT3, and the
      activation of Brk. Notably, a STAP-2 PH-Brk fusion protein exhibited robust
      kinase activity and increased activation and tyrosine phosphorylation of STAT3.
      Finally, STAP-2 knockdown in T47D cells induced a significant decrease of
      proliferation, as strong as that of Brk or STAT3 knockdown. Taken together, our
      findings are likely to inform the development of a novel therapeutic strategy, as
      well as the determination of novel prognostic values, in breast carcinomas.

PMID- 20929864
TI  - Dna2 exhibits a unique strand end-dependent helicase function.
AB  - Dna2 endonuclease/helicase participates in eukaryotic DNA transactions including
      cleavage of long flaps generated during Okazaki fragment processing. Its unusual
      substrate interaction consists of recognition and binding of the flap base, then
      threading over the 5'-end of the flap, and cleaving periodically to produce a
      terminal product ~5 nt in length. Blocking the 5'-end prevents cleavage. The Dna2
      ATP-driven 5' to 3' DNA helicase function promotes motion of Dna2 on the flap,
      presumably aiding its nuclease function. Here we demonstrate using two different
      nuclease-dead Dna2 mutants that on substrates simulating Okazaki fragments, Dna2
      must thread onto an unblocked 5' flap to display helicase activity. This
      requirement is maintained on substrates with single-stranded regions thousands of
      nucleotides in length. To our knowledge this is the first description of a
      eukaryotic helicase that cannot load onto its tracking strand internally but
      instead must enter from the end. Biologically, the loading requirement likely
      helps the helicase to coordinate with the Dna2 nuclease function to prevent
      creation of undesirably long flaps during DNA transactions.

PMID- 20929865
TI  - Structural analysis of the conserved ubiquitin-binding motifs (UBMs) of the
      translesion polymerase iota in complex with ubiquitin.
AB  - Ubiquitin-binding domains (UBDs) provide specificity to the ubiquitin system,
      which is also involved in translesion synthesis (TLS) in eukaryotic cells. Upon
      DNA damage, the UBDs (UBM domains) of polymerase iota (Pol iota) interact with
      ubiquitinated proliferating cell nuclear antigen to regulate the interchange
      between processive DNA polymerases and TLS. We report a biophysical analysis and
      solution structures of the two conserved UBM domains located in the C-terminal
      tail of murine Pol iota in complex with ubiquitin. The 35-amino acid core folds
      into a helix-turn-helix motif, which belongs to a novel domain fold. Similar to
      other UBDs, UBMs bind to ubiquitin on the hydrophobic surface delineated by Leu
      8, Ile-44, and Val-70, however, slightly shifted toward the C terminus. In
      addition, UBMs also use electrostatic interactions to stabilize binding. NMR and
      fluorescence spectroscopy measurements revealed that UBMs bind monoubiquitin, and
      Lys-63- but not Lys-48-linked chains. Importantly, these biophysical data are
      supported by functional studies. Indeed, yeast cells expressing ubiquitin mutants
      specifically defective for UBM binding are viable but sensitive to DNA damaging
      conditions that require TLS for repair.

PMID- 20929866
TI  - Separate and combined biochemical activities of the subunits of a naturally split
      reverse gyrase.
AB  - Reverse gyrase reanneals denatured DNA and induces positive supercoils in DNA, an
      activity that is critical for life at very high temperatures. Positive
      supercoiling occurs by a poorly understood mechanism involving the coordination
      of a topoisomerase domain and a helicase-like domain. In the parasitic archaeon
      Nanoarchaeum equitans, these domains occur as separate subunits. We express the
      subunits, and characterize them both in isolation and as a heterodimer. Each
      subunit tightly associates and interacts with the other. The topoisomerase
      subunit enhances the catalytic specificity of the DNA-dependent ATPase activity
      of the helicase-like subunit, and the helicase-like subunit inhibits the
      relaxation activity of the topoisomerase subunit while promoting positive
      supercoiling. DNA binding preference for both single- and double-stranded DNA is
      partitioned between the subunits. Based on a sensitive topological shift assay,
      the binding preference of helicase-like subunit for underwound DNA is modulated
      by its binding with ATP cofactor. These results provide new insight into the
      mechanism of positive supercoil induction by reverse gyrase.

PMID- 20929867
TI  - Local sequence targeting in the AID/APOBEC family differentially impacts
      retroviral restriction and antibody diversification.
AB  - Nucleic acid cytidine deaminases of the activation-induced deaminase (AID)/APOBEC
      family are critical players in active and innate immune responses, playing roles
      as target-directed, purposeful mutators. AID specifically deaminates the host
      immunoglobulin (Ig) locus to evolve antibody specificity, whereas its close
      relative, APOBEC3G (A3G), lethally mutates the genomes of retroviral pathogens
      such as HIV. Understanding the basis for the target-specific action of these
      enzymes is essential, as mistargeting poses significant risks, potentially
      promoting oncogenesis (AID) or fostering drug resistance (A3G). AID prefers to
      deaminate cytosine in WRC (W = A/T, R = A/G) motifs, whereas A3G favors
      deamination of CCC motifs. This specificity is largely dictated by a single,
      divergent protein loop in the enzyme family that recognizes the DNA sequence.
      Through grafting of this substrate-recognition loop, we have created enzyme
      variants of A3G and AID with altered local targeting to directly evaluate the
      role of sequence specificity on immune function. We find that grafted loops
      placed in the A3G scaffold all produced efficient restriction of HIV but that
      foreign loops in the AID scaffold compromised hypermutation and class switch
      recombination. Local targeting, therefore, appears alterable for innate defense
      against retroviruses by A3G but important for adaptive antibody maturation
      catalyzed by AID. Notably, AID targeting within the Ig locus is proportionally
      correlated to its in vitro ability to target WRC sequences rather than non-WRC
      sequences. Although other mechanisms may also contribute, our results suggest
      that local sequence targeting by AID/APOBEC3 enzymes represents an elegant
      example of co-evolution of enzyme specificity with its target DNA sequence.

PMID- 20929868
TI  - DBASS3 and DBASS5: databases of aberrant 3'- and 5'-splice sites.
AB  - DBASS3 and DBASS5 provide comprehensive repositories of new exon boundaries that
      were induced by pathogenic mutations in human disease genes. Aberrant 5'- and 3'
      splice sites were activated either by mutations in the consensus sequences of
      natural exon-intron junctions (cryptic sites) or elsewhere ('de novo' sites).
      DBASS3 and DBASS5 currently contain approximately 900 records of cryptic and de
      novo 3'- and 5'-splice sites that were produced by over a thousand different
      mutations in approximately 360 genes. DBASS3 and DBASS5 data can be searched by
      disease phenotype, gene, mutation, location of aberrant splice sites in introns
      and exons and their distance from authentic counterparts, by bibliographic
      references and by the splice-site strength estimated with several prediction
      algorithms. The user can also retrieve reference sequences of both aberrant and
      authentic splice sites with the underlying mutation. These data will facilitate
      identification of introns or exons frequently involved in aberrant splicing,
      mutation analysis of human disease genes and study of germline or somatic
      mutations that impair RNA processing. Finally, this resource will be useful for
      fine-tuning splice-site prediction algorithms, better definition of auxiliary
      splicing signals and design of new reporter assays. DBASS3 and DBASS5 are freely
      available at http://www.dbass.org.uk/.

PMID- 20929869
TI  - genenames.org: the HGNC resources in 2011.
AB  - The HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC) aims to assign a unique gene symbol
      and name to every human gene. The HGNC database currently contains almost 30,000
      approved gene symbols, over 19,000 of which represent protein-coding genes. The
      public website, www.genenames.org, displays all approved nomenclature within
      Symbol Reports that contain data curated by HGNC editors and links to related
      genomic, phenotypic and proteomic information. Here we describe improvements to
      our resources, including a new Quick Gene Search, a new List Search, an
      integrated HGNC BioMart and a new Statistics and Downloads facility.

PMID- 20929871
TI  - TADB: a web-based resource for Type 2 toxin-antitoxin loci in bacteria and
      archaea.
AB  - TADB (http://bioinfo-mml.sjtu.edu.cn/TADB/) is an integrated database that
      provides comprehensive information about Type 2 toxin-antitoxin (TA) loci,
      genetic features that are richly distributed throughout bacterial and archaeal
      genomes. Two-gene and much less frequently three-gene Type 2 TA loci code for
      cognate partners that have been hypothesized or demonstrated to play key roles in
      stress response, bacterial physiology and stabilization of horizontally acquired
      genetic elements. TADB offers a unique compilation of both predicted and
      experimentally supported Type 2 TA loci-relevant data and currently contains
      10,753 Type 2 TA gene pairs identified within 1240 prokaryotic genomes, and
      details of over 240 directly relevant scientific publications. A broad range of
      similarity search, sequence alignment, genome context browser and phylogenetic
      tools are readily accessible via TADB. We propose that TADB will facilitate
      efficient, multi-disciplinary and innovative exploration of the bacteria and
      archaea Type 2 TA space, better defining presently recognized TA-related
      phenomena and potentially even leading to yet-to-be envisaged frontiers. The TADB
      database, envisaged as a one-stop shop for Type 2 TA-related research, will be
      maintained, updated and improved regularly to ensure its ongoing maximum utility
      to the research community.

PMID- 20929870
TI  - Functional regulation of FEN1 nuclease and its link to cancer.
AB  - Flap endonuclease-1 (FEN1) is a member of the Rad2 structure-specific nuclease
      family. FEN1 possesses FEN, 5'-exonuclease and gap-endonuclease activities. The
      multiple nuclease activities of FEN1 allow it to participate in numerous DNA
      metabolic pathways, including Okazaki fragment maturation, stalled replication
      fork rescue, telomere maintenance, long-patch base excision repair and apoptotic
      DNA fragmentation. Here, we summarize the distinct roles of the different
      nuclease activities of FEN1 in these pathways. Recent biochemical and genetic
      studies indicate that FEN1 interacts with more than 30 proteins and undergoes
      post-translational modifications. We discuss how FEN1 is regulated via these
      mechanisms. Moreover, FEN1 interacts with five distinct groups of DNA metabolic
      proteins, allowing the nuclease to be recruited to a specific DNA metabolic
      complex, such as the DNA replication machinery for RNA primer removal or the DNA
      degradosome for apoptotic DNA fragmentation. Some FEN1 interaction partners also
      stimulate FEN1 nuclease activities to further ensure efficient action in
      processing of different DNA structures. Post-translational modifications, on the
      other hand, may be critical to regulate protein-protein interactions and cellular
      localizations of FEN1. Lastly, we also review the biological significance of FEN1
      as a tumor suppressor, with an emphasis on studies of human mutations and mouse
      models.

PMID- 20929872
TI  - BSDB: the biomolecule stretching database.
AB  - We describe the Biomolecule Stretching Data Base that has been recently set up at
      http://www.ifpan.edu.pl/BSDB/. It provides information about mechanostability of
      proteins. Its core is based on simulations of stretching of 17 134 proteins
      within a structure-based model. The primary information is about the heights of
      the maximal force peaks, the force-displacement patterns, and the sequencing of
      the contact-rupturing events. We also summarize the possible types of the
      mechanical clamps, i.e. the motifs which are responsible for a protein's
      resistance to stretching.

PMID- 20929873
TI  - Amplification of a plasmid bearing a mammalian replication initiation region in
      chromosomal and extrachromosomal contexts.
AB  - Amplified genes in cancer cells reside on extrachromosomal double minutes (DMs)
      or chromosomal homogeneously staining regions (HSRs). We used a plasmid bearing a
      mammalian replication initiation region to model gene amplification.
      Recombination junctions in the amplified region were comprehensively identified
      and sequenced. The junctions consisted of truncated direct repeats (type 1) or
      inverted repeats (type 2) with or without spacing. All of these junctions were
      frequently detected in HSRs, whereas there were few type 1 or a unique type 2
      flanked by a short inverted repeat in DMs. The junction sequences suggested a
      model in which the inverted repeats were generated by sister chromatid fusion. We
      were consistently able to detect anaphase chromatin bridges connected by the
      plasmid repeat, which were severed in the middle during mitosis. De novo HSR
      generation was observed in live cells, and each HSR was lengthened more rapidly
      than expected from the classical breakage/fusion/bridge model. Importantly, we
      found massive DNA synthesis at the broken anaphase bridge during the G1 to S
      phase, which could explain the rapid lengthening of the HSR. This mechanism may
      not operate in acentric DMs, where most of the junctions are eliminated and only
      those junctions produced through stable intermediates remain.

PMID- 20929874
TI  - Optimizing the noise versus bias trade-off for Illumina whole genome expression
      BeadChips.
AB  - Five strategies for pre-processing intensities from Illumina expression BeadChips
      are assessed from the point of view of precision and bias. The strategies include
      a popular variance stabilizing transformation and model-based background
      corrections that either use or ignore the control probes. Four calibration data
      sets are used to evaluate precision, bias and false discovery rate (FDR). The
      original algorithms are shown to have operating characteristics that are not
      easily comparable. Some tend to minimize noise while others minimize bias. Each
      original algorithm is shown to have an innate intensity offset, by which unlogged
      intensities are bounded away from zero, and the size of this offset determines
      its position on the noise-bias spectrum. By adding extra offsets, a continuum of
      related algorithms with different noise-bias trade-offs is generated, allowing
      direct comparison of the performance of the strategies on equivalent terms.
      Adding a positive offset is shown to decrease the FDR of each original algorithm.
      The potential of each strategy to generate an algorithm with an optimal noise
      bias trade-off is explored by finding the offset that minimizes its FDR. The use
      of control probes as part of the background correction and normalization strategy
      is shown to achieve the lowest FDR for a given bias.

PMID- 20929875
TI  - The IKMC web portal: a central point of entry to data and resources from the
      International Knockout Mouse Consortium.
AB  - The International Knockout Mouse Consortium (IKMC) aims to mutate all protein
      coding genes in the mouse using a combination of gene targeting and gene trapping
      in mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells and to make the generated resources readily
      available to the research community. The IKMC database and web portal
      (www.knockoutmouse.org) serves as the central public web site for IKMC data and
      facilitates the coordination and prioritization of work within the consortium.
      Researchers can access up-to-date information on IKMC knockout vectors, ES cells
      and mice for specific genes, and follow links to the respective repositories from
      which corresponding IKMC products can be ordered. Researchers can also use the
      web site to nominate genes for targeting, or to indicate that targeting of a gene
      should receive high priority. The IKMC database provides data to, and features
      extensive interconnections with, other community databases.

PMID- 20929876
TI  - Pseudomonas Genome Database: improved comparative analysis and population
      genomics capability for Pseudomonas genomes.
AB  - Pseudomonas is a metabolically-diverse genus of bacteria known for its
      flexibility and leading free living to pathogenic lifestyles in a wide range of
      hosts. The Pseudomonas Genome Database (http://www.pseudomonas.com) integrates
      completely-sequenced Pseudomonas genome sequences and their annotations with
      genome-scale, high-precision computational predictions and manually curated
      annotation updates. The latest release implements an ability to view sequence
      polymorphisms in P. aeruginosa PAO1 versus other reference strains, incomplete
      genomes and single gene sequences. This aids analysis of phenotypic variation
      between closely related isolates and strains, as well as wider population
      genomics and evolutionary studies. The wide range of tools for comparing
      Pseudomonas annotations and sequences now includes a strain-specific access point
      for viewing high precision computational predictions including updated, more
      accurate, protein subcellular localization and genomic island predictions. Views
      link to genome-scale experimental data as well as comparative genomics analyses
      that incorporate robust genera-geared methods for predicting and clustering
      orthologs. These analyses can be exploited for identifying putative essential and
      core Pseudomonas genes or identifying large-scale evolutionary events. The
      Pseudomonas Genome Database aims to provide a continually updated, high quality
      source of genome annotations, specifically tailored for Pseudomonas researchers,
      but using an approach that may be implemented for other genera-level research
      communities.

PMID- 20929877
TI  - MiRNA-miRNA synergistic network: construction via co-regulating functional
      modules and disease miRNA topological features.
AB  - Synergistic regulations among multiple microRNAs (miRNAs) are important to
      understand the mechanisms of complex post-transcriptional regulations in humans.
      Complex diseases are affected by several miRNAs rather than a single miRNA. So,
      it is a challenge to identify miRNA synergism and thereby further determine miRNA
      functions at a system-wide level and investigate disease miRNA features in the
      miRNA-miRNA synergistic network from a new view. Here, we constructed a miRNA
      miRNA functional synergistic network (MFSN) via co-regulating functional modules
      that have three features: common targets of corresponding miRNA pairs, enriched
      in the same gene ontology category and close proximity in the protein interaction
      network. Predicted miRNA synergism is validated by significantly high co
      expression of functional modules and significantly negative regulation to
      functional modules. We found that the MFSN exhibits a scale free, small world and
      modular architecture. Furthermore, the topological features of disease miRNAs in
      the MFSN are distinct from non-disease miRNAs. They have more synergism,
      indicating their higher complexity of functions and are the global central cores
      of the MFSN. In addition, miRNAs associated with the same disease are close to
      each other. The structure of the MFSN and the features of disease miRNAs are
      validated to be robust using different miRNA target data sets.

PMID- 20929880
TI  - Integrating tools for breast cancer risk assessment, risk reduction, and early
      detection.

PMID- 20929878
TI  - Advanced computational algorithms for microbial community analysis using massive
      16S rRNA sequence data.
AB  - With the aid of next-generation sequencing technology, researchers can now obtain
      millions of microbial signature sequences for diverse applications ranging from
      human epidemiological studies to global ocean surveys. The development of
      advanced computational strategies to maximally extract pertinent information from
      massive nucleotide data has become a major focus of the bioinformatics community.
      Here, we describe a novel analytical strategy including discriminant and topology
      analyses that enables researchers to deeply investigate the hidden world of
      microbial communities, far beyond basic microbial diversity estimation. We
      demonstrate the utility of our approach through a computational study performed
      on a previously published massive human gut 16S rRNA data set. The application of
      discriminant and topology analyses enabled us to derive quantitative disease
      associated microbial signatures and describe microbial community structure in far
      more detail than previously achievable. Our approach provides rigorous
      statistical tools for sequence-based studies aimed at elucidating associations
      between known or unknown organisms and a variety of physiological or
      environmental conditions.

PMID- 20929881
TI  - Mammographic density and risk of second breast cancer after ductal carcinoma in
      situ.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We examined whether mammographic density predicts risk of second
      breast cancers among patients with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS). METHODS: The
      study included DCIS patients diagnosed during 1990 to 1997 and treated with
      breast-conserving surgery at Kaiser Permanente Northern California. Medical
      records were reviewed for clinical factors and subsequent breast cancers (DCIS
      and invasive). Ipsilateral mammograms from the index DCIS were assessed for
      density without knowledge of subsequent cancer status. Cox regression modeling
      was used to examine the association between mammographic density and risk of
      breast cancer events. RESULTS: Of the 935 eligible DCIS patients, 164 (18%) had a
      subsequent ipsilateral breast cancer, and 59 (6%) had a new primary cancer in the
      contralateral breast during follow-up (median, 103 mo). Those with the greatest
      total area of density (upper 20% of values) were at increased risk for invasive
      disease in either breast [hazard ratio (HR), 2.1; 95% confidence interval (95%
      CI), 1.2-3.8] or any cancer (DCIS or invasive) in the ipsilateral (HR, 1.7; 95%
      CI, 1.0-2.9) or contralateral (HR, 3.0; 95% CI, 1.3-6.9) breast compared with
      those with the smallest area of density (bottom 20%). HRs for these same end
      points comparing those in the highest with those in the lowest American College
      of Radiology Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System category were 1.6 (95% CI,
      0.7-3.6), 1.3 (95% CI, 0.7-2.6), and 5.0 (95% CI, 1.4-17.9), respectively. There
      was a suggestion of increasing risk of contralateral, but not ipsilateral, cancer
      with increasing percent density. CONCLUSIONS: Women with mammographically dense
      breasts may be at higher risk of subsequent breast cancer, especially in the
      contralateral breast. IMPACT: Information about mammographic density may help
      with DCIS treatment decisions.

PMID- 20929882
TI  - Fecal DNA for noninvasive diagnosis of colorectal cancer in immunochemical fecal
      occult blood test-positive individuals.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We aimed to define the potential of the fecal DNA assay as an
      alternative or in addition to the currently used immunochemical fecal occult
      blood test (iFOBT) for the early diagnosis of colorectal cancer. METHODS: A total
      of 560 individuals aged 50 to 69 years with a positive iFOBT were recruited from
      an Italian FOBT regional screening program. Twenty-six were diagnosed with
      adenocarcinoma, 264 with high-risk adenoma, and 54 with low-risk adenoma, whereas
      216 subjects did not have premalignant or malignant lesions. Fecal DNA integrity
      was analyzed blindly by the fluorescence long DNA (FL-DNA) test. RESULTS: iFOBT
      and FL-DNA were largely independent variables (rs = 0.036, P = 0.42), with values
      ranging from 101 to 5,826 ng/mL and from 0 to 515 ng, respectively. Median values
      of both variables were significantly higher in cancer patients than in patients
      with noncancerous lesions or in healthy individuals. Moreover, iFOBT and FL-DNA
      values were individually associated with a number of pathologic parameters.
      Sequential use of the diagnostic iFOBT and FL-DNA methods showed that fecal DNA
      provided more accurate diagnostic information and was able to identify subgroups
      at different risk of cancer in iFOBT-positive individuals. CONCLUSIONS: A
      combined approach based on FL-DNA and iFOBT evaluation could help to better
      identify colorectal cancers and to determine a patient's risk of harboring a
      preneoplastic or neoplastic lesion. Further evaluation in a screening setting is
      needed to confirm this hypothesis. IMPACT: Fecal DNA could be a useful tool to
      better predict cancer risk in FOBT-positive individuals.

PMID- 20929883
TI  - Dietary factors and risk of chronic lymphocytic leukemia and small lymphocytic
      lymphoma: a pooled analysis of two prospective studies.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Other than male sex, family history, advanced age, and race, risk
      factors for chronic lymphocytic leukemia and small lymphocytic lymphoma (CLL/SLL)
      are unknown. Very few studies have investigated diet in relation to these
      leukemias, and no consistent associations are known. METHODS: Using two large
      prospective population-based studies, we evaluated the relationship between diet
      and CLL/SLL risk. Among 525,982 men and women free of cancer at enrollment, we
      identified 1,129 incident CLL/SLL cases during 11.2 years of follow-up. RESULTS:
      We found no associations between total fat, saturated fat, fiber, red meat,
      processed meat, fruit, or vegetable intake and risk of CLL/SLL. We noted a
      suggestive positive association between body mass index and CLL/SLL (hazard
      ratio, 1.30; 95% confidence interval, 0.99-1.36). CONCLUSION: We did not find any
      associations between food or nutrient intake and CLL/SLL. IMPACT: Our large
      prospective study indicates that diet may not play a role in CLL/SLL development.

PMID- 20929885
TI  - Indoor tanning and risk of melanoma: a case-control study in a highly exposed
      population - letter.

PMID- 20929886
TI  - Doctors and managers: radical thinking required.

PMID- 20929887
TI  - Acupuncture - a treatment to die for?

PMID- 20929888
TI  - Pandemic H1N1 influenza at the 2009 Hajj: understanding the unexpectedly low H1N1
      burden.

PMID- 20929889
TI  - The need for an NHS Staff College.

PMID- 20929890
TI  - British psychiatry and its discontents.
AB  - Psychiatry in the UK is currently faced with serious difficulties arising from
      failure in recruiting British doctors and a high rate of early retirement from
      the specialty. To diagnose the underlying causes, account must be taken of
      government policies affecting the NHS in general and mental health services in
      particular. The latter include an excessive run-down of acute hospital beds, as
      well as projects aimed at changing the clinical role of psychiatrists and
      promoting mass treatment of milder mental disorders by non-medical personnel.
      Psychiatrists have reacted to these developments with anger and dismay, but have
      as yet reached no consensus with regard to either causal factors or appropriate
      response. Their uncertainty reflects the need for a firmer grasp of the
      historical background. Modern British psychiatry was effectively created and
      moulded as an integral part of the NHS. It flourished as long as the public
      service framework remained intact, but has suffered a decline since the whole
      structure began to buckle under the pressure of sustained political assaults. A
      clearer understanding of this vital connection would help to raise psychiatrists'
      morale and encourage them to establish common ground with medical colleagues and
      other healthcare professionals.

PMID- 20929892
TI  - An epidemiologist's journey from typhus to thalidomide, and from the Soviet Union
      to Seveso.

PMID- 20929891
TI  - The effect on mortality of antipyretics in the treatment of influenza infection:
      systematic review and meta-analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine whether antipyretic treatment for influenza infection
      influences the risk of mortality in animal models and humans. DESIGN: A
      systematic search of Medline, Embase and the Cochrane Register of Controlled
      Trials was undertaken to identify randomized placebo-controlled trials of
      antipyretic use in influenza infection in animal models or humans that reported
      mortality. A quantitative meta-analysis of the risk of death using Peto's one
      step odds ratio with calculation of the pooled risk of death and standard
      evaluation of heterogeneity was undertaken. SETTING: Not applicable.
      PARTICIPANTS: Not applicable. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Risk of mortality associated
      with antipyretic use in influenza infection. RESULTS: Eight studies from three
      publications met the inclusion criteria. No human studies were identified. The
      risk of mortality was increased by antipyretic use in influenza-infected animals
      with a fixed effects pooled odds ratio of 1.34 (95% CI 1.04-1.73). An increased
      risk was observed with aspirin, paracetamol and diclofenac. CONCLUSION: In animal
      models, treatment with antipyretics for influenza infection increases the risk of
      mortality. There are no randomized placebo-controlled trials of antipyretic use
      in influenza infection in humans that reported data on mortality and a paucity of
      clinical data by which to assess their efficacy. We suggest that randomized
      placebo-controlled trials of antipyretic use in human influenza infection are
      urgently required, and that these are sufficiently powered to investigate a
      potential effect on mortality.

PMID- 20929893
TI  - Scarless surgery: a warning for shortcut history-taking.

PMID- 20929895
TI  - A comparative analysis of leaf shape of wheat, barley and maize using an
      empirical shape model.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The phenotypes of grasses show differences depending on
      growth conditions and ontogenetic stage. Understanding these responses and
      finding suitable mathematical formalizations are an essential part of the
      development of plant and crop models. Usually, a marked change in architecture
      between juvenile and adult plants is observed, where dimension and shape of
      leaves are likely to change. In this paper, the plasticity of leaf shape is
      analysed according to growth conditions and ontogeny. METHODS: Leaf shape of
      Triticum aestivum, Hordeum vulgare and Zea mays cultivars grown under varying
      conditions was measured using digital image processing. An empirical leaf shape
      model was fitted to measured shape data of single leaves. Obtained values of
      model parameters were used to analyse the patterns in leaf shape. KEY RESULTS:
      The model was able to delineate leaf shape of all studied species. The model
      error was small. Differences in leaf shape between juvenile and adult leaves in
      T. aestivum and H. vulgare were observed. Varying growth conditions impacted leaf
      dimensions but did not impact leaf shape of the respective species. CONCLUSIONS:
      Leaf shape of the studied T. aestivum and H. vulgare cultivars was remarkably
      stable for a comparable ontogenetic stage (leaf rank), but differed between
      stages. Along with other aspects of grass architecture, leaf shape changed during
      the transition from juvenile to adult growth phase. Model-based analysis of leaf
      shape is a method to investigate these differences. Presented results can be
      integrated into architectural models of plant development to delineate leaf shape
      for different species, cultivars and environmental conditions.

PMID- 20929896
TI  - Massively parallel sequencing and analysis of expressed sequence tags in a
      successful invasive plant.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Invasive species pose a significant threat to global economies,
      agriculture and biodiversity. Despite progress towards understanding the
      ecological factors associated with plant invasions, limited genomic resources
      have made it difficult to elucidate the evolutionary and genetic factors
      responsible for invasiveness. This study presents the first expressed sequence
      tag (EST) collection for Senecio madagascariensis, a globally invasive plant
      species. METHODS: We used pyrosequencing of one normalized and two subtractive
      libraries, derived from one native and one invasive population, to generate an
      EST collection. ESTs were assembled into contigs, annotated by BLAST comparison
      with the NCBI non-redundant protein database and assigned gene ontology (GO)
      terms from the Plant GO Slim ontologies. KEY RESULTS: Assembly of the 221,746
      sequence reads resulted in 12,442 contigs. Over 50 % (6183) of 12,442 contigs
      showed significant homology to proteins in the NCBI database, representing
      approx. 4800 independent transcripts. The molecular transducer GO term was
      significantly over-represented in the native (South African) subtractive library
      compared with the invasive (Australian) library. Based on NCBI BLAST hits and
      literature searches, 40 % of the molecular transducer genes identified in the
      South African subtractive library are likely to be involved in response to biotic
      stimuli, such as fungal, bacterial and viral pathogens. CONCLUSIONS: This EST
      collection is the first representation of the S. madagascariensis transcriptome
      and provides an important resource for the discovery of candidate genes
      associated with plant invasiveness. The over-representation of molecular
      transducer genes associated with defence responses in the native subtractive
      library provides preliminary support for aspects of the enemy release and
      evolution of increased competitive ability hypotheses in this successful
      invasive. This study highlights the contribution of next-generation sequencing to
      better understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying ecological hypotheses
      that are important in successful plant invasions.

PMID- 20929897
TI  - Auxin transport in maize roots in response to localized nitrate supply.
AB  - background and aims: Roots typically respond to localized nitrate by enhancing
      lateral-root growth. Polar auxin transport has important roles in lateral-root
      formation and growth; however, it is a matter of debate whether or how auxin
      plays a role in the localized response of lateral roots to nitrate. METHODS:
      Treating maize (Zea mays) in a split-root system, auxin levels were quantified
      directly and polar transport was assayed by the movement of [(3)H]IAA. The
      effects of exogenous auxin and polar auxin transport inhibitors were also
      examined. KEY RESULTS: Auxin levels in roots decreased more in the nitrate-fed
      compartment than in the nitrate-free compartment and nitrate treatment appeared
      to inhibit shoot-to-root auxin transport. However, exogenous application of IAA
      only partially reduced the stimulatory effect of localized nitrate, and auxin
      level in the roots was similarly reduced by local applications of ammonium that
      did not stimulate lateral-root growth. CONCLUSIONS: It is concluded that local
      applications of nitrate reduced shoot-to-root auxin transport and decreased auxin
      concentration in roots to a level more suitable for lateral-root growth. However,
      alteration of root auxin level alone is not sufficient to stimulate lateral-root
      growth.

PMID- 20929898
TI  - The effects of salinity and osmotic stress on barley germination rate: sodium as
      an osmotic regulator.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Seed germination is negatively affected by salinity, which
      is thought to be due to both osmotic and ion-toxicity effects. We hypothesize
      that salt is absorbed by seeds, allowing them to generate additional osmotic
      potential, and to germinate in conditions under which they would otherwise not be
      able to germinate. METHODS: Seeds of barley, Hordeum vulgare, were germinated in
      the presence of either pure water or one of five iso-osmotic solutions of
      polyethylene-glycol (PEG) or NaCl at 5, 12, 20 or 27  degrees C. Germination time
      courses were recorded and germination indices were calculated. Dry mass, water
      content and sodium concentration of germinating and non-germinating seeds in the
      NaCl treatments at 12  degrees C were measured. Fifty supplemental seeds were
      used to evaluate the changes in seed properties with time. KEY RESULTS: Seeds
      incubated in saline conditions were able to germinate at lower osmotic potentials
      than those incubated in iso-osmotic PEG solutions and generally germinated
      faster. A positive correlation existed between external salinity and seed salt
      content in the saline-incubated seeds. Water content and sodium concentration
      increased with time for seeds incubated in NaCl. At higher temperatures,
      germination percentage and dry mass decreased whereas germination index and
      sodium concentration increased. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that barley
      seeds can take up sodium, allowing them to generate additional osmotic potential,
      absorb more water and germinate more rapidly in environments of lower water
      potential. This may have ecological implications, allowing halophytic species and
      varieties to out-compete glycophytes in saline soils.

PMID- 20929899
TI  - The infection processes of Sclerotinia sclerotiorum in cotyledon tissue of a
      resistant and a susceptible genotype of Brassica napus.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Sclerotinia sclerotiorum can attack >400 plant species
      worldwide. Very few studies have investigated host-pathogen interactions at the
      plant surface and cellular level in resistant genotypes of oilseed rape/canola
      (Brassica napus). METHODS: Infection processes of S. sclerotiorum were examined
      on two B. napus genotypes, one resistant cultivar 'Charlton' and one susceptible
      'RQ001-02M2' by light and scanning electron microscopy from 2 h to 8 d post
      inoculation (dpi). KEY RESULTS: The resistant 'Charlton' impeded fungal growth at
      1, 2 and 3 dpi, suppressed formation of appresoria and infection cushions, caused
      extrusion of protoplast from hyphal cells and produced a hypersensitive reaction.
      At 8 dpi, whilst in 'Charlton' pathogen invasion was mainly confined to the upper
      epidermis, in the susceptible 'RQ001-02M2', colonization up to the spongy
      mesophyll cells was evident. Calcium oxalate crystals were found in the upper
      epidermis and in palisade cells in susceptible 'RQ001-02M2' at 6 dpi, and
      throughout leaf tissues at 8 dpi. In resistant 'Charlton', crystals were not
      observed at 6 dpi, whereas at 8 dpi they were mainly confined to the upper
      epidermis. Starch deposits were also more prevalent in 'RQ001-02M2'. CONCLUSIONS:
      This study demonstrates for the first time at the cellular level that resistance
      to S. sclerotiorum in B. napus is a result of retardation of pathogen
      development, both on the plant surface and within host tissues. The resistance
      mechanisms identified in this study will be useful for engineering disease
      resistant genotypes and for developing markers for screening for resistance
      against this pathogen.

PMID- 20929900
TI  - Molecular phylogenetics of Ruscaceae sensu lato and related families
      (Asparagales) based on plastid and nuclear DNA sequences.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Previous phylogenetics studies of Asparagales, although extensive and
      generally well supported, have left several sets of taxa unclearly placed and
      have not addressed all relationships within certain clades thoroughly (some
      clades were relatively sparsely sampled). One of the most important of these is
      sampling within and placement of Nolinoideae (Ruscaceae s.l.) of Asparagaceae
      sensu Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (APG) III, which subfamily includes taxa
      previously referred to Convallariaceae, Dracaenaaceae, Eriospermaceae, Nolinaceae
      and Ruscaceae. METHODS: A phylogenetic analysis of a combined data set for 126
      taxa of Ruscaceae s.l. and related groups in Asparagales based on three nuclear
      and plastid DNA coding genes, 18S rDNA (1796 bp), rbcL (1338 bp) and matK (1668
      bp), representing a total of approx. 4.8 kb is presented. Parsimony and Bayesian
      inference analyses were conducted to elucidate relationships of Ruscaceae s.l.
      and related groups, and parsimony bootstrap analysis was performed to assess
      support of clades. KEY RESULTS: The combination of the three genes results in the
      most highly resolved and strongly supported topology yet obtained for Asparagales
      including Ruscaceae s.l. Asparagales relationships are nearly congruent with
      previous combined gene analyses, which were reflected in the APG III
      classification. Parsimony and Bayesian analyses yield identical relationships
      except for some slight variation among the core asparagoid families, which
      nevertheless form a strongly supported group in both types of analyses. In core
      asparagoids, five major clades are identified: (1) Alliaceae s.l. (sensu APG III,
      Amarylidaceae-Agapanthaceae-Alliaceae); (2) Asparagaceae-Laxmanniaceae-Ruscaceae
      s.l.; (3) Themidaceae; (4) Hyacinthaceae; (5) Anemarrhenaceae-Behniaceae
      Herreriaceae-Agavaceae (clades 2-5 collectively Asparagaceae s.l. sensu APG III).
      The position of Aphyllanthes is labile, but it is sister to Themidaceae in the
      combined maximum-parsimony tree and sister to Anemarrhenaceae in the Bayesian
      analysis. The highly supported clade of Xanthorrhoeaceae s.l. (sensu APG III,
      including Asphodelaceae and Hemerocallidaceae) is sister to the core asparagoids.
      Ruscaceae s.l. are a well-supported group. Asparagaceae s.s. are sister to
      Ruscaceae s.l., even though the clade of the two families is weakly supported;
      Laxmanniaceae are strongly supported as sister to Ruscaceae s.l. and
      Asparagaceae. Ruscaceae s.l. include six principal clades that often reflect
      previously named groups: (1) tribe Polygonateae (excluding Disporopsis); (2)
      tribe Ophiopogoneae; (3) tribe Convallarieae (excluding Theropogon); (4)
      Ruscaceae s.s. + Dracaenaceae + Theropogon + Disporopsis + Comospermum; (5)
      Nolinaceae, (6) Eriospermum. CONCLUSIONS: The analyses here were largely
      conducted with new data collected for the same loci as in previous studies, but
      in this case from different species/DNA accessions and greater sampling in many
      cases than in previously published analyses; nonetheless, the results largely
      mirror those of previously conducted studies. This demonstrates the robustness of
      these results and answers questions often raised about reproducibility of DNA
      results, given the often sparse sampling of taxa in some studies, particularly
      the earliest ones. The results also provide a clear set of patterns on which to
      base a new classification of the subfamilies of Asparagaceae s.l., particularly
      Ruscaceae s.l. (= Nolinoideae of Asparagaceae s.l.), and examine other putatively
      important characters of Asparagales.

PMID- 20929903
TI  - Cycling for transport and public health: a systematic review of the effect of the
      environment on cycling.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Active transport policies are being developed across Europe designed
      to have health and environmental benefits. There is little evidence of impact on
      physical activity of active transport strategies which modify the built
      environment. Cycling represents one virtually carbon-neutral form of transport
      that can help to address declining levels of exercise. METHODS: A systematic
      literature review of experimental or observational studies that objectively
      evaluated the effect of the built environment on cycling. RESULTS: A total of 21
      studies met the inclusion criteria, all of which were observational studies.
      Eleven studies identified objectively measured environmental factors with a
      significant positive association with cycling. The environmental factors
      identified as being positively associated with cycling included presence of
      dedicated cycle routes or paths, separation of cycling from other traffic, high
      population density, short trip distance, proximity of a cycle path or green space
      and for children projects promoting 'safe routes to school'. Negative
      environmental factors were perceived and objective traffic danger, long trip
      distance, steep inclines and distance from cycle paths. Of the seven studies
      which focused primarily on the impact of cycle routes, four demonstrated a
      statistically significant positive association. CONCLUSION: Although the study
      identified environmental factors with positive and negative associations with
      cycling behaviour, many other types of environmental policies and interventions
      have yet to be rigorously evaluated. Policies promoting cycle lane construction
      appear promising but the socio-demographic distribution of their effects on
      physical activity is unclear. The wider impact of active transport policies on
      health and inequalities across Europe must be explored.

PMID- 20929904
TI  - Direct health costs of environmental tobacco smoke exposure and indirect health
      benefits due to smoking ban introduction.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Introducing comprehensive smoke-free policies to public places is
      expected to reduce health costs. This includes prevented health damages by
      avoiding environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure as well as indirect health
      benefits from reduced tobacco consumption. METHODS: The aim of this study was to
      estimate direct health costs of ETS exposure in public places and indirect health
      benefits from reduced tobacco consumption. We calculated attributable hospital
      days and years of life lost (YLL), based on the observed passive smoking and
      disease rates in Switzerland. The exposure-response associations of all relevant
      health outcomes were derived by meta-analysis from prospective cohort studies in
      order to calculate the direct health costs. To assess the indirect health
      benefits, a meta-analysis of smoking ban studies on hospital admissions for acute
      myocardial infarction was conducted. RESULTS: ETS exposure in public places in
      Switzerland causes 32,000 preventable hospital days (95% CI: 10,000-61,000), 3000
      YLL (95% CI: 1000-5000), corresponding to health costs of 330 Mio CHF. The number
      of hospital days for ischaemic heart disease attributable to passive smoking is
      much larger if derived from smoking ban studies (41,000) than from prospective
      cohort studies (3200), resulting in additional health costs of 89 Mio CHF, which
      are attributed to the indirect health benefits of a smoking ban introduction.
      CONCLUSION: The example of smoking ban studies on ischaemic heart disease
      hospitalization rates suggests that total health costs that can be prevented with
      smoking bans are considerably larger than the costs arising from the direct
      health impact of ETS exposure in public places.

PMID- 20929905
TI  - Education in child neurology: the role of the International Child Neurology
      Association (ICNA).
AB  - Recent progress in pediatric neurosciences has greatly increased the divide
      between the possibilities for diagnosis and intervention among developed
      countries and resource-poor countries, where child neurologists suffer from the
      lack of adequate training, the absence of a network with professionals around the
      world, and the shortage of infrastructure. The International Child Neurology
      Association (ICNA) is the only child neurology association that can deal with
      these important issues and promote the reduction of this gap. In this article,
      the author reviews the role played by ICNA in the past 2 decades in supporting
      education worldwide, in offering teaching seminars and visits by senior members,
      and in addressing the needs of the global community of child neurologists. The
      challenges and success of ICNA in the promotion of educational resources and
      recommendations for the future are discussed.

PMID- 20929901
TI  - Prospective analysis of DNA damage and repair markers of lung cancer risk from
      the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian (PLCO) Cancer Screening Trial.
AB  - Mutagen challenge and DNA repair assays have been used in case-control studies
      for nearly three decades to assess human cancer risk. The findings still engender
      controversy because blood was drawn after cancer diagnosis so the results may be
      biased, a type called 'reverse causation'. We therefore used Epstein-Barr virus
      transformed lymphoblastoid cell lines established from prospectively collected
      peripheral blood samples to evaluate lung cancer risk in relation to three DNA
      repair assays: alkaline Comet assay, host cell reactivation (HCR) assay with the
      mutagen benzo[a]pyrene diol epoxide and the bleomycin mutagen sensitivity assay.
      Cases (n = 117) were diagnosed with lung cancer between 0.3 and 6 years after
      blood collection and controls (n = 117) were frequency matched on calendar year
      and age at blood collection, gender and smoking history; all races were included.
      Case and control status was unknown to laboratory investigators. In unconditional
      logistic regression analyses, statistically significantly increased lung cancer
      odds ratios (OR(adjusted)) were observed for bleomycin mutagen sensitivity as
      quartiles of chromatid breaks/cell [relative to the lowest quartile, OR = 1.2,
      95% confidence interval (CI): 0.5-2.5; OR = 1.4, 95% CI: 0.7-3.1; OR = 2.1, 95%
      CI: 1.0-4.4, respectively, P(trend) = 0.04]. The magnitude of the association
      between the bleomycin assay and lung cancer risk was modest compared with those
      reported in previous lung cancer studies but was strengthened when we included
      only incident cases diagnosed more than a year after blood collection (P(trend) =
      0.02), supporting the notion the assay may be a measure of cancer susceptibility.
      The Comet and HCR assays were unrelated to lung cancer risk.

PMID- 20929906
TI  - Evaluation of white matter changes in agyria-pachygyria complex using diffusion
      tensor imaging.
AB  - Associated abnormalities of the white matter in patients with agyria-pachygyria
      complex have rarely been investigated using new imaging modalities like diffusion
      tensor imaging. The present study evaluated the white matter changes of 9
      children with agyria-pachygyria complex using diffusion tensor imaging. Regions
      of interest were placed in 17 white matter tracts. Compared with normal controls,
      the axial diffusivity of the genu of the corpus callosum, corticospinal tract,
      and fornix in patients with agyria-pachygyria complex was decreased. In the
      subcortical white matter without changes in T2-weighted image, there were
      significant decreases in fractional anisotropy and axial diffusivity and
      increases in radial diffusivity, indicating significant alterations of the white
      matter. Since axial diffusivity and radial diffusivity reflect changes in the
      axon and myelin, respectively, the findings here indicate disturbance in both
      axonal and myelin development in agyria-pachygyria complex.

PMID- 20929907
TI  - Risperidone use in autism spectrum disorders: a retrospective review of a clinic
      referred patient population.
AB  - Risperidone is widely used in children with autism spectrum disorders for
      behavioral modification. In this study, the authors aimed to (1) describe a
      clinic-referred sample of patients with an autism spectrum disorder on
      risperidone, (2) identify differences between the success and nonsuccess groups,
      and (3) describe our experience with young children (< age 5 years) on
      risperidone. Eighty patients were initiated on risperidone. Indications included
      aggression (66%), impulsivity (14%), and stereotypies (4%). Sixty-six percent met
      criteria for success at 6 months and 53% at 1 year. Sixty-seven percent of the
      nonsuccess group reported side effects, compared to 47% of the success group.
      Weight gain was the most common side effect in both groups, followed by
      somnolence. Somnolence was the most robust predictor of nonsuccess. In our clinic
      referred sample, the short-term success rate of risperidone was more than 50%,
      and side effects limited its use. Although weight gain was common, somnolence
      more significantly influenced treatment discontinuation.

PMID- 20929909
TI  - Botulinum toxin a injections to the upper limbs in children with cerebral palsy:
      duration of effect.
AB  - We report our experience on the duration of effectiveness of botulinum toxin A
      injections to the upper extremities of children with cerebral palsy. A
      retrospective chart review was conducted on 30 consecutive patients (mean age,
      9.9 +/- 5.0 years) with spastic hemiparesis and quadriparesis. They received 1 to
      5 treatments, totaling 56 treatments for the entire cohort. The injected muscles
      were the pronator teres (50/56), flexor carpi radialis (39/56), biceps (38/56),
      flexor carpi ulnaris (35/56), opponens (21/56), and adductor pollicis (17/56).
      Children were assessed for muscle tone and classified according to the Manual
      Ability Classification System before and after treatment. Functional improvement
      was apparent after 42 of 56 treatments, and muscle tone decreased significantly
      (P < .001). The mean duration of the effect was 7.0 +/- 3.0 months. We conclude
      that the effect of botulinum toxin A to the upper limbs is retained for longer
      periods of time than those reported for lower limbs.

PMID- 20929908
TI  - Muscle volume estimation by magnetic resonance imaging in spinal muscular
      atrophy.
AB  - Thigh muscle volume was assessed using magnetic resonance imaging in 16 subjects
      with spinal muscular atrophy. Scans were successful for 14 of 16 subjects (1 type
      1, 6 type 2, and 7 type 3) as young as 5.7 years. Muscle volume with normal and
      abnormal signal was measured using blinded, semiautomated analysis of
      reconstructed data. Results were compared with segmental lean mass estimated by
      dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry and correlated with clinical and
      electrophysiological measures of disease severity. Muscle volume was reduced with
      abnormal signal quality. Test-retest reliability (r = .99) and correlation with
      dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (r = .91) were excellent. Type 2 subjects had
      lower volume (3.5 +/- 1.6 vs 6.3 +/- 2.8 mL/cm height; P = .06) and higher
      percentage of muscle with abnormal signal (68% +/- 20% vs 47% +/- 27%; P = .14)
      than type 3. Reproducibility, tolerability, and strong correlation with clinical
      measures make magnetic resonance imaging a candidate biomarker for clinical
      research.

PMID- 20929910
TI  - Body mass index of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
AB  - An association between overweight and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder
      (ADHD) in children was previously suggested. We examined the prevalence of
      overweight, anthropometric changes, and the effect of methylphenidate treatment
      in 275 children with ADHD without neurological comorbidities and in controls.
      Data were extracted from medical charts, for up to 17 months of follow-up.
      Height, weight, body mass index, and their z scores did not differ between the
      ADHD and control groups. Prevalence of overweight and obesity was lower in the
      ADHD group compared with controls (19% vs 35%, P = .02, and 7% vs 16%, P = .05,
      respectively). During a follow-up of up to 17 months, no significant changes in
      height or body mass index z scores were found, including in a subgroup of
      overweight children. We conclude that compared with local controls, children with
      ADHD have rates of overweight and obesity that are lower, but that are similar to
      national estimates. Methylphenidate treatment did not significantly affect
      height, weight, or overweight status.

PMID- 20929911
TI  - PyETV: a PyMOL evolutionary trace viewer to analyze functional site predictions
      in protein complexes.
AB  - SUMMARY: PyETV is a PyMOL plugin for viewing, analyzing and manipulating
      predictions of evolutionarily important residues and sites in protein structures
      and their complexes. It seamlessly captures the output of the Evolutionary Trace
      server, namely ranked importance of residues, for multiple chains of a complex.
      It then yields a high resolution graphical interface showing their distribution
      and clustering throughout a quaternary structure, including at interfaces.
      Together with other tools in the popular PyMOL viewer, PyETV thus provides a
      novel tool to integrate evolutionary forces into the design of experiments
      targeting the most functionally relevant sites of a protein. AVAILABILITY: The
      PyETV module is written in Python. Installation instructions and video
      demonstrations may be found at the URL
      http://mammoth.bcm.tmc.edu/traceview/HelpDocs/PyETVHelp/pyInstructions.html.
      CONTACT: lichtarge@bcm.tmc.edu.

PMID- 20929912
TI  - Pathway Activity Profiling (PAPi): from the metabolite profile to the metabolic
      pathway activity.
AB  - MOTIVATION: Metabolomics is one of the most recent omics-technologies and uses
      robust analytical techniques to screen low molecular mass metabolites in
      biological samples. It has evolved very quickly during the last decade. However,
      metabolomics datasets are considered highly complex when used to relate
      metabolite levels to metabolic pathway activity. Despite recent developments in
      bioinformatics, which have improved the quality of metabolomics data, there is
      still no straightforward method capable of correlating metabolite level to the
      activity of different metabolic pathways operating within the cells. Thus, this
      kind of analysis still depends on extremely laborious and time-consuming
      processes. RESULTS: Here, we present a new algorithm Pathway Activity Profiling
      (PAPi) with which we are able to compare metabolic pathway activities from
      metabolite profiles. The applicability and potential of PAPi was demonstrated
      using a previously published data from the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. PAPi
      was able to support the biological interpretations of the previously published
      observations and, in addition, generated new hypotheses in a straightforward
      manner. However, PAPi is time consuming to perform manually. Thus, we also
      present here a new R-software package (PAPi) which implements the PAPi algorithm
      and facilitates its usage to quickly compare metabolic pathways activities
      between different experimental conditions. Using the identified metabolites and
      their respective abundances as input, the PAPi package calculates pathways'
      Activity Scores, which represents the potential metabolic pathways activities and
      allows their comparison between conditions. PAPi also performs principal
      components analysis and analysis of variance or t-test to investigate differences
      in activity level between experimental conditions. In addition, PAPi generates
      comparative graphs highlighting up- and down-regulated pathway activity.
      AVAILABILITY: These datasets are available in
      http://www.4shared.com/file/hTWyndYU/extra.html and
      http://www.4shared.com/file/VbQIIDeu/intra.html. PAPi package is available in:
      http://www.4shared.com/file/s0uIYWIg/PAPi_10.html CONTACT: s.villas
      boas@auckland.ac.nz SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Supplementary data are available
      at Bioinformatics online.

PMID- 20929913
TI  - R3D Align: global pairwise alignment of RNA 3D structures using local
      superpositions.
AB  - MOTIVATION: Comparing 3D structures of homologous RNA molecules yields
      information about sequence and structural variability. To compare large RNA 3D
      structures, accurate automatic comparison tools are needed. In this article, we
      introduce a new algorithm and web server to align large homologous RNA structures
      nucleotide by nucleotide using local superpositions that accommodate the
      flexibility of RNA molecules. Local alignments are merged to form a global
      alignment by employing a maximum clique algorithm on a specially defined graph
      that we call the 'local alignment' graph. RESULTS: The algorithm is implemented
      in a program suite and web server called 'R3D Align'. The R3D Align alignment of
      homologous 3D structures of 5S, 16S and 23S rRNA was compared to a high-quality
      hand alignment. A full comparison of the 16S alignment with the other state-of
      the-art methods is also provided. The R3D Align program suite includes new
      diagnostic tools for the structural evaluation of RNA alignments. The R3D Align
      alignments were compared to those produced by other programs and were found to be
      the most accurate, in comparison with a high quality hand-crafted alignment and
      in conjunction with a series of other diagnostics presented. The number of
      aligned base pairs as well as measures of geometric similarity are used to
      evaluate the accuracy of the alignments. AVAILABILITY: R3D Align is freely
      available through a web server http://rna.bgsu.edu/R3DAlign. The MATLAB source
      code of the program suite is also freely available for download at that location.

PMID- 20929914
TI  - Cloning and characterization of a new polyol transporter (HbPLT2) in Hevea
      brasiliensis.
AB  - Quebrachitol is a cyclic polyol and, along with sucrose, is one of the main
      sugars in Hevea latex. However, in contrast to sucrose, the mechanism and
      regulation of quebrachitol absorption is still unknown. Screening a latex-derived
      cDNA library using polyol transporter-specific probes, two full-length cDNAs were
      isolated, and named HbPLT1 and HbPLT2 (for Hevea brasiliensis polyol transporter
      1 and 2, respectively). Their respective sequences exhibited close similarity
      with the previously cloned acyclic sugar polyol transporters, and shared the main
      features of the major facilitative superfamily. The functional activity of one of
      the cDNAs was determined by using an HbPLT2-complemented yeast strain. These
      strains displayed a marginal absorption of cyclic (inositol) and acyclic
      (mannitol and sorbitol) polyol but no absorption of sucrose, hexose and glycerol.
      Active absorption for xylitol was detected, and was competitively inhibited by
      quebrachitol. HbPLT1 and HbPLT2 expression patterns varied in response to
      different stimuli. Bark treatment with ethylene resulted in an early and
      significant up-regulation of HbPLT2 transcripts in laticifers as well as in inner
      bark cells, when compared with HbPLT1. Other treatments, especially mechanical
      wounding, strongly induced HbPLT2 transcripts. These data were consistent with
      the presence of ethylene and a wound-responsive regulatory cis-element on the
      sequence of the HbPLT2 promoter. All these findings together with those recently
      obtained for sucrose transporters and aquaporins are discussed in relation to the
      different roles for quebrachitol in Hevea brasiliensis.

PMID- 20929915
TI  - A randomized controlled trial comparing intravenous ferric carboxymaltose with
      oral iron for treatment of iron deficiency anaemia of non-dialysis-dependent
      chronic kidney disease patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Iron deficiency is a common cause of anaemia and hyporesponsiveness
      to erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs) in non-dialysis-dependent chronic
      kidney disease (ND-CKD) patients. Current intravenous iron agents cannot be
      administered in a single high dose because of adverse effects. Ferric
      carboxymaltose, a non-dextran parenteral iron preparation, can be rapidly
      administered in high doses. METHODS: This open-label trial randomized 255
      subjects with glomerular filtration rates <= 45 mL/min/1.73 m(2), haemoglobin <=
      11 g/dL, transferrin saturation <= 25%, ferritin <= 300 ng/mL, and stable ESA
      dose to either intravenous ferric carboxymaltose 1000 mg over 15 min (with up to
      two additional doses of 500 mg at 2-week intervals) or oral ferrous sulphate 325
      mg thrice daily for a total of 195 mg elemental iron daily for 56 days. RESULTS:
      In the modified intent-to-treat population, the proportion of subjects achieving
      a haemoglobin increase >= 1 g/dL at any time was 60.4% with ferric carboxymaltose
      and 34.7% with oral iron (P < 0.001). At Day 42, mean increase in haemoglobin was
      0.95 +/- 1.12 vs 0.50 +/- 1.23 g/dL (P = 0.005), mean increase in ferritin was
      432 +/- 189 ng/mL vs 18 +/- 45 ng/mL (P < 0.001) and mean increase in transferrin
      saturation was 13.6 +/- 11.9% vs 6.1 +/- 8.1% (P < 0.001). Treatment-related
      adverse events were significantly fewer with ferric carboxymaltose than with oral
      iron (2.7% and 26.2%, respectively; P < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that
      1000 mg ferric carboxymaltose can be rapidly administered, is more effective and
      is better tolerated than oral iron for treatment of iron deficiency in ND-CKD
      patients.

PMID- 20929916
TI  - Effects of synbiotic treatment on serum level of p-cresol in haemodialysis
      patients: a preliminary study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: para-Cresol, which is present in the blood mainly as p-cresyl
      sulphate, is a protein-bound uraemic toxin that is produced in the intestine by
      certain intestinal bacteria, and its production is affected by various intestinal
      environmental factors. Patients with end-stage renal disease who are undergoing
      haemodialysis (HD) often have defective bowel function leading to abnormal
      defecation. Since treatment with synbiotics (SYN), which are a combination of
      probiotics and prebiotics, is reported to improve bowel habit, we examined the
      effects of SYN on the serum p-cresol level in HD patients. METHODS: Nine HD
      patients received SYN (Lactobacillus casei strain Shirota and Bifidobacterium
      breve strain Yakult as probiotics and galacto-oligosaccharides as prebiotics)
      three times a day for 2 weeks. The duration of the study was 4 weeks (2 weeks of
      pretreatment observation and 2 weeks of treatment). The subjects were asked to
      complete a questionnaire about their bowel habits (defecation frequency, stool
      quantity, stool form and ease of defecation) during the study period. Serum p
      cresol levels before and after SYN treatment were determined. RESULTS: According
      to the questionnaire conducted during the pretreatment observation period, HD
      patients with a high serum p-cresol level tended to have hard stools with
      difficulty in defecation. With SYN treatment, stool quantity increased
      significantly and hard, muddy or soft stools tended to be replaced by normal
      ones. The serum p-cresol level also decreased significantly. CONCLUSIONS: It was
      found that uraemic toxin, p-cresol, was associated with constipation and that SYN
      treatment resulted in normalization of bowel habits and a decrease of serum p
      cresol levels in HD patients. Therefore, SYN treatment may be anticipated to
      reduce the toxic effect of p-cresol in HD patients.

PMID- 20929917
TI  - Countries should consider legalising cannabis in light of futility of bans.

PMID- 20929918
TI  - Prohibition of cannabis.

PMID- 20929919
TI  - Most OECD countries could save money by improving clinical guidelines and
      negotiating better drug prices.

PMID- 20929921
TI  - Apgar score and risk of cerebral palsy.

PMID- 20929920
TI  - Association of cerebral palsy with Apgar score in low and normal birthweight
      infants: population based cohort study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To assess the association of Apgar score 5 minutes after birth with
      cerebral palsy in both normal weight and low birthweight children, and also the
      association with the cerebral palsy subdiagnoses of quadriplegia, diplegia, and
      hemiplegia. DESIGN: Population based cohort study. SETTING: The Medical Birth
      Registry of Norway was used to identify all babies born between 1986 and 1995.
      These data were linked to the Norwegian Registry of Cerebral Palsy in Children
      born 1986-95, which was established on the basis of discharge diagnoses at all
      paediatric departments in Norway. POPULATION: All singletons without
      malformations born in Norway during 1986-95 and who survived the first year of
      life (n=543 064). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Cerebral palsy diagnosed before the age
      of 5 years. RESULTS: 988 children (1.8 in 1000) were diagnosed with cerebral
      palsy before the age of 5 years. In total, 11% (39/369) of the children with
      Apgar score of less than 3 at birth were diagnosed with cerebral palsy, compared
      with only 0.1% (162/179 515) of the children with Apgar score of 10 (odds ratio
      (OR) 53, 95% CI 35 to 80 after adjustment for birth weight). In children with a
      birth weight of 2500 g or more, those with an Apgar score of less than 4 were
      much more likely to have cerebral palsy than those who had an Apgar score of more
      than 8 (OR 125, 95% confidence interval 91 to 170). The corresponding OR in
      children weighing less than 1500 g was 5 (95% CI 2 to 9). Among children with
      Apgar score of less than 4, 10-17% in all birthweight groups developed cerebral
      palsy. Low Apgar score was strongly associated with each of the three subgroups
      of spastic cerebral palsy, although the association was strongest for
      quadriplegia (adjusted OR 137 for Apgar score <4 v Apgar score >8, 95% CI 77 to
      244). CONCLUSIONS: Low Apgar score was strongly associated with cerebral palsy.
      This association was high in children with normal birth weight and modest in
      children with low birth weight. The strength of the association differed between
      subgroups of spastic cerebral palsy. Given that Apgar score is a measure of
      vitality shortly after birth, our findings suggest that the causes of cerebral
      palsy are closely linked to factors that reduce infant vitality.

PMID- 20929922
TI  - Psychiatrists are concerned by rise in patients subject to compulsory mental
      health treatment.

PMID- 20929924
TI  - Asc1, a WD-repeat protein, is required for hyphal development and virulence in
      Candida albicans.
AB  - Candida albicans is a human pathogenic fungus which can undergo a morphological
      transition from yeast to hyphae in response to a variety of environmental
      stimuli. We analyzed a C. albicans Asc1 (Absence of growth Suppressor of Cyp1)
      protein which is entirely composed of seven repeats of the WD domain, and is
      conserved from fungi to metazoan. Deleting the ASC1 in C. albicans led to a
      profound defect in hyphal development under hypha-inducing conditions examined.
      Furthermore, deletion of the ASC1 attenuated virulence of C. albicans in a mouse
      model of systemic infection. These data strongly suggested that the conserved WD
      repeat protein Asc1 is required for morphogenesis and pathogenesis of C.
      albicans.

PMID- 20929925
TI  - Copy number increase of aurora kinase A in colorectal cancers: a correlation with
      tumor progression.
AB  - The centrosome-associated kinase aurora A (AURKA) is involved in genetic
      instability and is over-expressed in several human carcinomas including
      colorectal cancer (CRC). The choromosome locus of AURKA, 20q13, is frequently
      amplified in CRC, and the functional impact of such regions needs to be
      extensively investigated in large amount of clinical samples. Case-matched
      tissues of colorectal adenocarcinomas and adjacent normal epithelium (n= 134)
      were included in this study. Quantitative PCR was carried out to examine the copy
      number and mRNA level of AURKA in CRC. Our results showed that copy number gains
      of AUKRA were detected in a relative high percentage of CRC samples (32.4%, 43 of
      134). There was a positive correlation between copy number increase of AURKA and
      tumor progression. And copy number gains of AURKA also showed a positive
      correlation with mRNA over-expression in CRC. However, the expression level of
      AURKA mRNA was also enhanced in the group of CRC samples with unaltered copy
      numbers. These findings indicated that sporadic colorectal cancers exhibit
      different mechanisms of aurora A regulation and this may impact the efficacy of
      aurora-targeted therapies.

PMID- 20929926
TI  - Electrical stimulation inhibits neointimal hyperplasia after abdominal aorta
      balloon injury through the PTEN/p27Kip1 pathway.
AB  - Electric fields (EFs) exert biological effects on promoting wound healing by
      facilitating cell division, cell proliferation, and cell directional migration
      toward the wound. In this study, we examined the inhibitory effect of direct
      current (DC) EFs on the formation of neointimal hyperplasia and the possible
      mechanism in an abdominal aorta balloon injury rabbit model. Sixty rabbits were
      divided into normal, control, and experimental groups. After establishment of the
      abdominal aorta balloon injury model, electrodes were implanted into the
      bilateral psoas major muscle in control and experimental groups. Only the
      experimental group received electric stimulation (EFs applied at 3 or 4 V/cm for
      30 min/day) for 1, 2, and 4 weeks, respectively. Neointimal hyperplasia of the
      abdominal aorta and proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) were
      measured. Expressions of collagen, p27(Kip1), and phosphatase and tensin homolog
      deleted on chromosome 10 (PTEN) were detected. Results showed that the ratio of
      the tunica intima area to the tunica media area, the expression of type-I
      collagen in the neointimal, and the proliferating cell nuclear antigen index in
      experimental groups were significantly less than those in control groups 2 weeks
      post-operation (P< 0.01). Expressions of p27(Kip1) and PTEN were increased in
      experimental groups compared with control groups (P< 0.01). In conclusion, our
      results suggested that the application of DC EFs could inhibit neointimal
      hyperplasia and reduce collagen expression after abdominal aorta balloon injury.
      This was probably induced by upregulation of PTEN/p27(Kip1) expression, thereby
      inhibiting VSMC proliferation.

PMID- 20929927
TI  - Zinc induces unfolding and aggregation of dimeric arginine kinase by trapping
      reversible unfolding intermediate.
AB  - Arginine kinase plays an important role in the cellular energy metabolism of
      invertebrates. Dimeric arginine kinase (dAK) is unique in some marine
      invertebrates. The effects of Zn2(+) on the unfolding and aggregation of dAK from
      the sea cucumber Stichopus japonicus were investigated. Our results indicated
      that Zn2(+) caused dAK inactivation accompanied by conformational unfolding, the
      exposure of hydrophobic surface, and aggregation. Kinetic studies showed the
      inactivation and unfolding of dAK followed biphasic kinetic courses. Zn2(+) can
      affect unfolding and refolding of dAK by trapping the reversible intermediate.
      Our study provides important information regarding the effect of Zn2(+) on
      metabolic enzymes in marine invertebrates.

PMID- 20929928
TI  - Mitochondrially localized EGFR is independent of its endocytosis and associates
      with cell viability.
AB  - The molecular mechanism underlying epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)
      localization in mitochondria remains largely unknown. Using immune electron
      microscopy, we validated that EGFR could be localized on either the outer or the
      inner membrane of mitochondria. Mutant receptor lacked amino acids 646-660 was
      flawed in migration onto the organelles, whereas the mutated receptor with a
      defective endocytosis showed a greater capability of moving onto mitochondria
      upon stimulation of epidermal growth factor (EGF). Gefitinib, an inhibitor of
      EGFR kinase, inhibited the receptor endocytosis after short time of treatment,
      yet, only reduced cell viability as well as the amount of mitochondrial EGFR
      after longer time of exposure. Moreover, the content of mitochondrial EGFR
      transfer was decreased when the cells were exposed to the apoptotic inducer
      etoposide. EGF-induced programmed cell death usually coincided with a decline in
      mitochondrial EGFR. These data indicated that the mitochondrial-localized EGFR is
      independent of its internalization and may be correlated with cell survival and
      participate in the ligand-induced programmed cell death.

PMID- 20929929
TI  - A 2-week prognostic prediction model for terminal cancer patients in a palliative
      care unit at a Japanese general hospital.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We aimed to develop a prognostic prediction model for 2-week survival
      among patients with terminal cancer in a palliative care unit (PCU). METHODS: A
      prospective cohort study was conducted on terminal cancer patients in the PCU for
      11 months at a general hospital in Tokyo, Japan. We collected data regarding
      demographics, treatment history, performance status, symptoms, and laboratory
      results. Patients who survived more than 2 weeks were labeled 'long survivors'
      and those who died within 2 weeks were grouped as 'short survivors'. Stepwise
      logistic regression model was constructed for the model development and
      bootstrapping was used for the internal model validation. RESULTS: In 158
      subjects whose data were available for the analysis, 109 (69%) subjects were
      categorized as long survivors and 49 (31%) subjects as short survivors. A
      prognostic prediction model with a total score of 8 points was constructed as
      follows: 2 points each for anorexia, dyspnea, and edema; 1 point each for blood
      urea nitrogen >25 mg/dl and platelets <260,000/mm(3). Area under the receiver
      operating characteristic (ROC) curve of this model was 83.2% (95% CI: 75.3
      91.0%). Bootstrapped validation beta coefficients of the predictors were similar
      to the original cohort beta coefficients. CONCLUSION: Our prognostic prediction
      model for estimating 14-day survival for patients with terminal cancer on the PCU
      ward included five clinical predictors that are readily available in the clinical
      setting and showed a relatively high accuracy. External validation is needed to
      confirm the model's generalizability.

PMID- 20929930
TI  - The outcomes of palliative care day services: a systematic review.
AB  - This systematic review evaluates the evidence underpinning the provision of
      palliative day care services (PDS) to determine whether such services have a
      measurable effect on attendees' wellbeing. The majority of studies reviewed were
      qualitative and elicited individual perceptions of the benefits PDS. Although it
      was difficult to determine the quality of many studies, it would appear that
      attendance at PDS had a positive impact on attendees' quality of life. Fewer
      studies utilized validated outcome measures to determine the effect of PDS on
      attendees' wellbeing and small sample sizes combined with high attrition rates
      influenced the significance of some the results. However little quantitative
      evidence was offered to prove that PDS had an impact on attendees' quality of
      life or wellbeing. The review concludes that dying people find attending PDS a
      valuable experience that allows them to engage with others and to be supported in
      a restorative environment. However, further well-powered empirical studies are
      required to provide quality evidence to determine whether or not attendance at
      PDS does indeed have a positive impact on the wellbeing of attendees.

PMID- 20929931
TI  - Hip adduction and abduction strength profiles in elite soccer players:
      implications for clinical evaluation of hip adductor muscle recovery after
      injury.
AB  - BACKGROUND: An ipsilateral hip adduction/abduction strength ratio of more than
      90%, and hip adduction strength equal to that of the contralateral side have been
      suggested to clinically represent adequate strength recovery of hip adduction
      strength in athletes after groin injury. However, to what extent side-to-side
      symmetry in isometric hip adduction and abduction strength can be assumed in
      soccer players remains uncertain. PURPOSE: To compare isometric hip adduction and
      abduction strength on the dominant and nondominant side in injury-free soccer
      players. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional study; Level of evidence, 3. METHODS: One
      hundred elite soccer players were included. Maximal unilateral isometric hip
      adduction and abduction strength on the dominant and nondominant side were
      measured with a handheld dynamometer, using a reliable test procedure. RESULTS:
      The dominant side was stronger than the nondominant side for both isometric hip
      adduction (2.45 +/- 0.54 vs 2.37 +/- 0.48 Nm/kg, P = .02) and hip abduction (2.35
      +/- 0.33 vs 2.25 +/- 0.31 Nm/kg, P < .001), corresponding to a 3% and 4%
      difference, respectively. Isometric hip adduction was greater than isometric hip
      abduction for both the dominant (2.44 +/- 0.53 vs 2.35 +/- 0.33 Nm/kg, P = .04)
      and nondominant (2.37 +/- 0.48 vs 2.26 +/- 0.33 Nm/kg, P = .03) side. Isometric
      hip adduction/abduction ratio was not different between the dominant (1.04 +/-
      0.18) and nondominant (1.06 +/- 0.17, P = .40) side. A post hoc analysis showed
      that isometric hip adduction/abduction ratio was significantly lower in players
      with groin pain during hip adduction testing compared with players with a pain
      free test (0.80 +/- 0.14, P < .001) CONCLUSION: The marginal difference between
      the dominant and the nondominant side is within the measurement variation of the
      test procedure, and contralateral isometric hip adduction strength can therefore
      be used as a simple clinical reference point of full recovery of hip adduction
      muscle strength in soccer players. Furthermore, it is suggested that the
      ipsilateral hip adduction/abduction strength ratio is used as a guideline for
      evaluating hip adduction strength recovery in soccer players with bilateral groin
      problems.

PMID- 20929932
TI  - Outcome of ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction of the elbow in 1281
      athletes: Results in 743 athletes with minimum 2-year follow-up.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The anterior bundle of the ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) is the
      primary anatomical structure providing elbow stability in overhead sports,
      particularly baseball. Injury to the UCL in overhead athletes often leads to
      symptomatic valgus instability that requires surgical treatment. HYPOTHESIS:
      Ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction with a free tendon graft, known as Tommy
      John surgery, will allow return to the same competitive level of sports
      participation in the majority of athletes. STUDY DESIGN: Case series; Level of
      evidence, 4. METHODS: Ulnar collateral reconstruction (1266) or repair (15) was
      performed in 1281 patients over a 19-year period (1988-2006) using a modification
      of the Jobe technique. Data were collected prospectively and patients were
      surveyed retrospectively with a telephone questionnaire to determine outcomes and
      return to performance at a minimum of 2 years after surgery. RESULTS: Nine
      hundred forty-two patients were available for a minimum 2-year follow-up
      (average, 38.4 months; range, 24-130 months). Seven hundred forty-three patients
      (79%) were contacted for follow-up evaluation and/or completed a questionnaire at
      an average of 37 months postoperatively. Six hundred seventeen patients (83%)
      returned to the previous level of competition or higher, including 610 (83%)
      after reconstruction. The average time from surgery to the initiation of throwing
      was 4.4 months (range, 2.8-12 months) and the average time to full competition
      was 11.6 months (range, 3-72 months) after reconstruction. Complications occurred
      in 148 patients (20%), including 16% considered minor and 4% considered major.
      CONCLUSION: Ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction with subcutaneous ulnar
      nerve transposition was found to be effective in correcting valgus elbow
      instability in the overhead athlete and allowed most athletes (83%) to return to
      previous or higher level of competition in less than 1 year.

PMID- 20929933
TI  - Anterior laxity, slippage, and recovery of function in the first year after
      tibialis allograft anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The increase in anterior laxity and slippage is greater with metal
      interference screw fixation of a hamstring anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) graft
      than a bone-patellar tendon-bone graft. HYPOTHESIS: When slippage-resistant
      fixation is used with a soft tissue graft, early recovery of function does not
      result in a clinically important increase in anterior laxity and slippage STUDY
      DESIGN: Case series; Level of evidence, 4. METHODS: Nineteen subjects were
      treated with a single-tunnel, single-looped, tibialis allograft with slippage
      resistant, cortical fixation. An examiner, different from the treating surgeon,
      used stereophotogrammetric analysis to compute the increase in anterior laxity at
      a 150 N anterior force and slippage between the day of surgery and each monthly
      follow-up interval, and determined recovery of function and motion. RESULTS:
      Anterior laxity did not increase between the day of surgery and 1 year (P = .23).
      Total slippage plateaued after 1 month, but increased 1.5 mm between the day of
      surgery and 1 month (P < .05). Extension and flexion plateaued after 2 months (P
      < .0001 and P < .02, respectively); activity level (Tegner score) plateaued after
      3 months (P < .05), function (Lysholm score) plateaued after 4 months (P < .002),
      and subjective satisfaction (International Knee Documentation Committee score)
      plateaued after 6 months (P < .02). CONCLUSION: Early recovery of function after
      ACL reconstruction with a soft tissue allograft did not result in a clinically
      important increase in anterior laxity and slippage at 1 year. We believe the
      avoidance of an increase in anterior laxity was related to the use of a
      transtibial technique designed to place the femoral and tibial tunnels without
      roof and posterior cruciate ligament impingement, the use of cortical fixation
      devices designed to resist slippage, the use of an aseptically harvested fresh
      frozen tibialis allograft that was not irradiated or chemically processed, and
      the use of a self-administered rehabilitation program designed to encourage an
      early return of motion and function.

PMID- 20929934
TI  - Medial patellofemoral ligament reconstruction fixed with a cylindrical bone plug
      and a grafted semitendinosus tendon at the original femoral site for recurrent
      patellar dislocation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The medial patellofemoral ligament (MPFL) is the most important
      factor for stabilizing the patella and preventing lateral patellar dislocation.
      Medial patellofemoral ligament reconstruction is an accepted surgical technique
      to restore patellofemoral stability after lateral patellar dislocation. The
      authors recently developed a new anatomical MPFL reconstruction method using a
      cylindrical bone plug and grafted semitendinosus tendon at the anatomical femoral
      attachment site to mimic the native MPFL. This study evaluated the new technique
      for stabilizing recurrent patellar dislocation. HYPOTHESIS: This new MPFL
      reconstruction technique will improve knee symptoms and function with excellent
      clinical results. STUDY DESIGN: Case series; Level of evidence, 4. METHOD: Thirty
      one knees were evaluated from 29 cases of recurrent patellar dislocation that
      were surgically treated using the anatomical MPFL reconstruction technique. The
      average patient age was 22.2 years (range, 12-34 years); postsurgery follow-up
      was 2 to 5 years (average, 3.2 years). The patients were clinically evaluated
      based on the Kujala score, range of motion, and signs of apprehension. The
      Merchant view was used to measure congruence and tilting angles. RESULTS: Of the
      31 knees, 30 showed good clinical results after surgery, while 1 patient showed
      remaining signs of apprehension. The Kujala score improved from an average of 64
      points (range, 35-70) initially to an average of 94.5 points (range, 79-100) at
      the final follow-up. Range of motion improved for all patients, with an average
      knee extension of 0 degrees  +/- 2 degrees  and knee flexion of 145 degrees  +/-
      3 degrees  at final follow-up. No patellar redislocation was reported.
      Radiological assessment indicated significant improvement to the congruence angle
      from 13 degrees  +/- 4 degrees  before surgery to -5 degrees  +/- 5 degrees  at
      the final follow-up, while the tilting angle went from 8 degrees  +/- 7 degrees 
      before surgery to 7 degrees  +/- 4 degrees  at the final follow-up. CONCLUSION:
      This study demonstrated excellent results using the new procedure for recurrent
      dislocation of the patella, with instability in only 1 of 31 knees (3.2%).

PMID- 20929935
TI  - In vivo positioning analysis of medial patellofemoral ligament reconstruction.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Several techniques have been described for reconstruction of the
      medial patellofemoral ligament (MPFL). The anatomical insertion of the MPFL has
      been defined; however, there are no reports describing the accuracy of femoral
      graft positioning assessed postoperatively. PURPOSE: To analyze our femoral
      tunnel positioning for MPFL reconstruction in correlation with our clinical
      results. STUDY DESIGN: Case series; Level of evidence, 4. METHODS: The authors
      reported a prospective series of 29 MPFL reconstructions with a minimum follow-up
      of 24 months. The tunnel positioning analysis was performed using plain
      radiographs and magnetic resonance imaging at 1-year follow-up. RESULTS: Twenty
      nine femoral tunnels were analyzed; 20 femoral tunnels (69%) were considered to
      be in good position on plain radiographs. On magnetic resonance imaging, the
      authors found 19 femoral tunnels (65%) in a proper location, 5 (17.5%) in a high
      position, and 5 in an anterior and/or high position. CONCLUSION: The study
      highlights the difficulty of reproducible MPFL reconstruction. The surgical
      procedure continues to be improved and finding a reliable technique to
      anatomically place the graft remains challenging. Verifying femoral tunnel
      placement radiographically may be recommended during surgery.

PMID- 20929936
TI  - A proximal strengthening program improves pain, function, and biomechanics in
      women with patellofemoral pain syndrome.
AB  - BACKGROUND: It is hypothesized that patients with patellofemoral pain syndrome
      (PFPS) have hip and core muscle weakness leading to dynamic malalignment of the
      lower extremity. Thus, hip strengthening is a common PFPS treatment approach.
      PURPOSE: To determine changes in hip strength, core endurance, lower extremity
      biomechanics, and patient outcomes after proximally focused rehabilitation for
      PFPS patients. STUDY DESIGN: Case series; Level of evidence, 4. METHODS: Nineteen
      women (age, 22.68 +/- 7.19 years; height, 1.64 +/- 0.07 m; mass, 60.2 +/- 7.35
      kg) with PFPS participated in an 8-week program to strengthen the hip and core
      muscles and improve dynamic malalignment. Paired t tests were used to compare the
      dependent variables between prerehabilitation and postrehabilitation. The
      dependent variables were pain; functional ability; isometric hip abduction and
      external rotation strength; anterior, lateral, and posterior core endurance;
      joint range of motion (ROM; rearfoot eversion, knee abduction and internal
      rotation, and hip adduction and internal rotation); and peak internal joint
      moments (rearfoot inversion, knee abduction, and hip abduction and external
      rotation) during the stance phase of running. RESULTS: Significant improvements
      in pain, functional ability, lateral core endurance, hip abduction, and hip
      external rotation strength were observed. There was also a significant reduction
      in the knee abduction moment during running, although there were no significant
      changes in joint ROM. CONCLUSION: An 8-week rehabilitation program focusing on
      strengthening and improving neuromuscular control of the hip and core musculature
      produces positive patient outcomes, improves hip and core muscle strength, and
      reduces the knee abduction moment, which is associated with developing PFPS.

PMID- 20929937
TI  - Medial versus lateral supraspinatus tendon properties: implications for double
      row rotator cuff repair.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Rotator cuff repair retear rates range from 25% to 90%, necessitating
      methods to improve repair strength. Although numerous laboratory studies have
      compared single-row with double-row fixation properties, little is known
      regarding regional (ie, medial vs lateral) suture retention properties in intact
      and torn tendons. HYPOTHESIS: A torn supraspinatus tendon will have reduced
      suture retention properties on the lateral aspect of the tendon compared with the
      more medial musculotendinous junction. STUDY DESIGN: Controlled laboratory study.
      METHODS: Human supraspinatus tendons (torn and intact) were randomly assigned for
      suture retention mechanical testing, ultrastructural collagen fibril analysis, or
      histologic testing after suture pullout testing. For biomechanical evaluation,
      sutures were placed either at the musculotendinous junction (medial) or 10 mm
      from the free margin (lateral), and tendons were elongated to failure. Collagen
      fibril assessments were performed using transmission electron microscopy.
      RESULTS: Intact tendons showed no regional differences with respect to suture
      retention properties. In contrast, among torn tendons, the medial region
      exhibited significantly higher stiffness and work values relative to the lateral
      region. For the lateral region, work to 10-mm displacement (1592 +/- 261 N-mm)
      and maximum load (265 +/- 44 N) for intact tendons were significantly higher (P <
      .05) than that of torn tendons (1086 +/- 388 N-mm and 177 +/- 71 N,
      respectively). For medial suture placement, maximum load, stiffness, and work of
      intact and torn tendons were similar (P > .05). Regression analyses for the
      intact and torn groups revealed generally low correlations between donor age and
      the 3 biomechanical indices. For both intact and torn tendons, the mean fibril
      diameter and area density were greater in the medial region relative to the
      lateral (P <= .05). In the lateral tendon, but not the medial region, torn
      specimens showed a significantly lower fibril area fraction (48.3% +/- 3.8%) than
      intact specimens (56.7% +/- 3.6%, P < .05). CONCLUSION: Superior pullout
      resistance of medially placed sutures may provide a strain shielding effect for
      the lateral row after double-row repair. Larger diameter collagen fibrils as well
      as greater fibril area fraction in the medial supraspinatus tendon may provide
      greater resistance to suture migration. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: While clinical
      factors such as musculotendinous integrity warrant strong consideration for
      surgical decision making, the present ultrastructural and biomechanical results
      appear to provide a scientific rationale for double-row rotator cuff repair where
      sutures are placed more medially at the muscle-tendon junction.

PMID- 20929938
TI  - Apophyseolysis of the greater trochanter through excessive sports: a case report.

PMID- 20929939
TI  - A conceptual model of HIV disclosure in casual sexual encounters among men who
      have sex with men.
AB  - HIV/AIDS continues to disproportionately impact men who have sex with men (MSM).
      Advances in highly active antiretroviral therapies (HAART) have successfully
      helped HIV-infected individuals lead longer, healthier, and presumably more
      sexually active lives. Consequently, secondary prevention approaches aimed at
      reducing the rate of HIV transmission have raised important questions about the
      role of sexual communication, namely HIV disclosure, as a primary target for
      intervention. This paper proposes a conceptual model of HIV disclosure in casual
      sexual encounters among MSM informed by Goffman's work on stigma and based on
      existing empirical research. The article concludes with an agenda for research
      based in this integrative model.

PMID- 20929940
TI  - Factors from the transtheoretical model differentiating between solar water
      disinfection (SODIS) user groups.
AB  - Solar water disinfection (SODIS) is a sustainable household water treatment
      technique that could prevent millions of deaths caused by diarrhoea. The
      behaviour change process necessary to move from drinking raw water to drinking
      SODIS is analysed with the Transtheoretical Model of Change (TTM). User groups
      and psychological factors that differentiate between types of users are
      identified. Results of a 1.5 year longitudinal study in Zimbabwe reveal
      distinguishing factors between groups, from which it can be deduced that they
      drive the development of user groups. Implications are drawn for campaigns with
      the aim of bringing all user types to a regular use.

PMID- 20929941
TI  - Using mixed methods to design a web-based behavioural intervention to reduce
      transmission of colds and flu.
AB  - This mixed methods study informed the development of our web-based intervention
      to reduce the risk of transmission of respiratory infections. Two qualitative
      studies examined 28 users' responses to website materials, and elicited
      additional beliefs. A questionnaire study (N = 129) tested key intervention
      assumptions: that hand-washing is considered the most feasible preventive
      behaviour; behavioural determinants were related to behavioural intentions;
      beliefs related to hand-washing intentions and behaviour. Thematic analysis of
      the qualitative data revealed important issues, such as the belief that catching
      minor infections is beneficial to the immune system. The questionnaire results
      confirmed our assumptions, including hand-washing as the appropriate target
      behaviour.

PMID- 20929942
TI  - Personality pathology comorbidity in adult females with eating disorders.
AB  - Personality pathology is examined in 100 female in-patients diagnosed with eating
      disorders. The Eating Disorder Inventory-II and the NEO-PI-R were self
      administered and personality pathology was assessed using a structured interview.
      Clinicians additionally evaluated patients' global functioning. The results
      indicated sizeable personality disorder comorbidity, and two dimensions of
      personality pathology, for example, an internalizing and an externalizing factor,
      could be identified. Patients' global functioning was primarily associated with
      dimensions of personality pathology, but not with eating disorder symptoms.
      Assessment and therapeutic interventions should focus on this co-occurring
      pathology in order to improve patients' functioning.

PMID- 20929943
TI  - Depression may mediate the relationship between sense of coherence and quality of
      life in lung cancer patients.
AB  - Lung cancer patients generally experience high levels of physical and
      psychological distress and decreased quality of life (QOL). Sense of coherence
      (SOC) has been conceptualized as a personality orientation reflecting the degree
      to which an individual perceives their world as comprehensible, manageable and
      meaningful. The present study investigated the associations of SOC with QOL in
      lung cancer. It also examined potential psychological mediators by which SOC may
      exert its influences on QOL. Fifty-six participants with non-small cell lung
      cancer were administered self-report assessments of SOC, QOL and psychological
      distress. Results revealed that SOC was positively associated with QOL and this
      relationship may be mediated by depressive symptoms. The current study supports
      the notion that SOC may be a protective factor with regard to psychological
      adjustment and QOL in cancer survivors.

PMID- 20929944
TI  - The role of identity in adjustment among survivors of oesophageal cancer.
AB  - The study sought to contextualize the physical, social and emotional adjustments
      that are faced by oesophageal cancer patients following surgery. Semi-structured
      interviews were conducted with five survivors, guided by the principles of
      Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Participants' accounts
      encompassed descriptions of personal, social and medical relationships, illness
      and treatment experiences, eating behaviours, and spiritual and religious
      perspectives, representing myriad challenges to the self-concept. Surviving
      patients may have a role in addressing patient expectations about eating. The
      importance of attempts to nurture and maintain a sense of self should be
      recognized by those providing care.

PMID- 20929945
TI  - Better to bend than to break: coping strategies utilized by substance-abusing
      homeless youth.
AB  - This study investigated the relationship between coping styles and problem
      behaviors among a sample of substance-abusing homeless youth. Homeless youth (n =
      268) were recruited through the only drop-in center in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
      Results revealed that youth with higher task-oriented coping reported less
      delinquent behaviors while those with higher emotion-oriented coping reported
      higher levels of anxiety/ depression and higher delinquency. Contrary to
      expectations, youth utilizing higher avoidance-oriented coping skills showed
      fewer HIV risk behaviors, fewer anxiety/depressive symptoms, and less frequent
      alcohol use. Findings emphasize the need to examine coping strategies in the
      context that individuals are situated.

PMID- 20929946
TI  - Young adults' images of abstaining and drinking: prototype dimensions, correlates
      and assessment methods.
AB  - This research investigated contents of actor and abstainer prototypes with regard
      to young adults' social drinking combining quantitative and qualitative
      approaches (adjective ratings, N = 300; open answers, N = 90). Exploratory and
      confirmatory factor analyses yielded two factors (sociability/hedonism,
      responsibility) in both prototypes, confirmed by qualitative data. Given the
      importance for intention and willingness to drink alcohol, interventions should
      focus on the factor 'sociability/hedonism' of the actor and the abstainer
      prototype to reduce heavy drinking; addressing 'responsibility' may be
      ineffective. Participants' evaluations appeared to be less prone to mean
      tendencies subsequent to open answers compared with adjective scales.

PMID- 20929947
TI  - Transforming your life: an environmental modification approach to weight loss.
AB  - This investigation compared a traditional behavioral weight loss program with a
      weight loss intervention emphasizing environmental modification and habit
      formation and disruption. Fifty-four overweight and obese adults (BMI >= 27 kg/m2
      were randomly assigned to either a 14-week LEARN or TYL intervention. Forty-two
      participants completed the six-month follow-up assessment. Treatment outcomes
      between LEARN and TYL participants were equivalent. During the six-month no
      treatment follow-up period, participants evidenced a 3.3 lb (SD = 9.2) weight
      gain. The TYL intervention appears to represent an attractive option for
      individuals seeking an alternative to the traditional behavioral approach to
      weight loss.

PMID- 20929948
TI  - Endothelin receptor type A expression defines a distinct cardiac subdomain within
      the heart field and is later implicated in chamber myocardium formation.
AB  - The avian and mammalian heart originates from two distinct embryonic regions: an
      early differentiating first heart field and a dorsomedially located second heart
      field. It remains largely unknown when and how these subdivisions of the heart
      field divide into regions with different fates. Here, we identify in the mouse a
      subpopulation of the first (crescent-forming) field marked by endothelin receptor
      type A (Ednra) gene expression, which contributes to chamber myocardium through a
      unique type of cell behavior. Ednra-lacZ/EGFP-expressing cells arise in the
      ventrocaudal inflow region of the early linear heart tube, converge to the
      midline, move anteriorly along the outer curvature and give rise to chamber
      myocardium mainly of the left ventricle and both atria. This movement was
      confirmed by fluorescent dye-labeling and transplantation experiments. The Ednra
      lacZ/EGFP-expressing subpopulation is characterized by the presence of Tbx5
      expressing cells. Ednra-null embryonic hearts often demonstrate hypoplasia of the
      ventricular wall, low mitotic activity and decreased Tbx5 expression with
      reciprocal expansion of Tbx2 expression. Conversely, endothelin 1 stimulates ERK
      phosphorylation and Tbx5 expression in the early embryonic heart. These results
      indicate that early Ednra expression defines a subdomain of the first heart field
      contributing to chamber formation, in which endothelin 1/Ednra signaling is
      involved. The present finding provides an insight into how subpopulations within
      the crescent-forming (first) heart field contribute to the coordination of heart
      morphogenesis through spatiotemporally defined cell movements.

PMID- 20929949
TI  - Novel modes of localization and function of nanos in the wasp Nasonia.
AB  - Abdominal patterning in Drosophila requires the function of nanos (nos) to
      prevent translation of hunchback (hb) mRNA in the posterior of the embryo. nos
      function is restricted to the posterior by the translational repression of mRNA
      that is not incorporated into the posteriorly localized germ plasm during
      oogenesis. The wasp Nasonia vitripennis (Nv) undergoes a long germ mode of
      development very similar to Drosophila, although the molecular patterning
      mechanisms employed in these two organisms have diverged significantly,
      reflecting the independent evolution of this mode of development. Here, we report
      that although Nv nanos (Nv-nos) has a conserved function in embryonic patterning
      through translational repression of hb, the timing and mechanisms of this
      repression are significantly delayed in the wasp compared with the fly. This
      delay in Nv-nos function appears to be related to the dynamic behavior of the
      germ plasm in Nasonia, as well as to the maternal provision of Nv-Hb protein
      during oogenesis. Unlike in flies, there appears to be two functional populations
      of Nv-nos mRNA: one that is concentrated in the oosome and is taken up into the
      pole cells before evidence of Nv-hb repression is observed; another that forms a
      gradient at the posterior and plays a role in Nv-hb translational repression.
      Altogether, our results show that, although the embryonic patterning function of
      nos orthologs is broadly conserved, the mechanisms employed to achieve this
      function are distinct.

PMID- 20929950
TI  - Mechanics of head fold formation: investigating tissue-level forces during early
      development.
AB  - During its earliest stages, the avian embryo is approximately planar. Through a
      complex series of folds, this flat geometry is transformed into the intricate
      three-dimensional structure of the developing organism. Formation of the head
      fold (HF) is the first step in this cascading sequence of out-of-plane tissue
      folds. The HF establishes the anterior extent of the embryo and initiates heart,
      foregut and brain development. Here, we use a combination of computational
      modeling and experiments to determine the physical forces that drive HF
      formation. Using chick embryos cultured ex ovo, we measured: (1) changes in
      tissue morphology in living embryos using optical coherence tomography (OCT); (2)
      morphogenetic strains (deformations) through the tracking of tissue labels; and
      (3) regional tissue stresses using changes in the geometry of circular wounds
      punched through the blastoderm. To determine the physical mechanisms that
      generate the HF, we created a three-dimensional computational model of the early
      embryo, consisting of pseudoelastic plates representing the blastoderm and
      vitelline membrane. Based on previous experimental findings, we simulated the
      following morphogenetic mechanisms: (1) convergent extension in the neural plate
      (NP); (2) cell wedging along the anterior NP border; and (3) autonomous in-plane
      deformations outside the NP. Our numerical predictions agree relatively well with
      the observed morphology, as well as with our measured stress and strain
      distributions. The model also predicts the abnormal tissue geometries produced
      when development is mechanically perturbed. Taken together, the results suggest
      that the proposed morphogenetic mechanisms provide the main tissue-level forces
      that drive HF formation.

PMID- 20929951
TI  - Immunomodulatory impact of a synbiotic in T(h)1 and T(h)2 models of infection.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND METHODS: The immunomodulatory activity of a synbiotic combination
      containing three bacterial strains (Lactobacillus helveticus R0052,
      Bifidobacterium longum subsp. infantis R0033 and Bifidobacterium bifidum R0071)
      and short-chain fructooligosaccharide was examined in two distinct infectious rat
      models. In the T(h)1 model, Wistar rats were administered the synbiotic
      combination for 2 weeks prior to challenge with a single oral dose of
      enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli or vehicle. In the T(h)2 model, pretreated rats
      were challenged with a single subcutaneous dose of hook worm, Nippostrongylus
      brasiliensis. Blood samples were collected 3 hours or 4 days postchallenge and
      serum levels of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines were measured. RESULTS:
      Significant reductions in pro-inflammatory cytokines interleukin (IL)-1alpha, IL
      1beta, IL-6, and tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha were observed in both models
      suggesting a single, unifying mode of action on an upstream regulator. The N.
      brasiliensis study also compared the effect of the individual strains to
      synbiotic. For most of cytokines the combination appeared to average the effect
      of the individual strains with the exception of IL-4 and IL-10 where there was
      apparent synergy for the combination. Furthermore, the cytokine response varied
      by strain. CONCLUSIONS: It was concluded that this synbiotic combination of these
      three microbes could be beneficial in both T(h)1 and T(h)2 diseases.

PMID- 20929952
TI  - Growth of Pseudomonas putida F1 on styrene requires increased catechol-2,3
      dioxygenase activity, not a new hydrolase.
AB  - Pseudomonas putida F1 cannot grow on styrene despite being able to degrade it
      through the toluene degradation (tod) pathway. Previous work had suggested that
      this was because TodF, the meta-fission product (MFP) hydrolase, was unable to
      metabolize the styrene MFP 2-hydroxy-6-vinylhexa-2,4-dienoate. Here we
      demonstrate via kinetic and growth analyses that the substrate specificity of
      TodF is not the limiting factor preventing F1 from growing on styrene. Rather, we
      found that the metabolite 3-vinylcatechol accumulated during styrene metabolism
      and that micromolar concentrations of this intermediate inactivated TodE, the
      catechol-2,3-dioxygenase (C23O) responsible for its cleavage. Analysis of cells
      growing on styrene suggested that inactivation of TodE and the subsequent
      accumulation of 3-vinylcatechol resulted in toxicity and cell death. We found
      that simply overexpressing TodE on a plasmid (pTodE) was all that was necessary
      to allow F1 to grow on styrene. Similar results were also obtained by expressing
      a related C23O, DmpB from Pseudomonas sp. CF600, in tandem with its plant-like
      ferredoxin, DmpQ (pDmpQB). Further analysis revealed that the ability of F1
      (pDmpQB) and F1 (pTodE) to grow on styrene correlated with increased C23O
      activity as well as resistance of the enzyme to 3-vinylcatechol-mediated
      inactivation. Although TodE inactivation by 3-halocatechols has been studied
      before, to our knowledge, this is the first published report demonstrating
      inactivation by a 3-vinylcatechol. Given the ubiquity of catechol intermediates
      in aromatic hydrocarbon metabolism, our results further demonstrate the
      importance of C23O inactivation as a determinant of growth substrate specificity.

PMID- 20929953
TI  - Flexible metabolism in Metarhizium anisopliae and Beauveria bassiana: role of the
      glyoxylate cycle during insect pathogenesis.
AB  - Insect pathogenic fungi such as Metarhizium anisopliae and Beauveria bassiana
      have an increasing role in the control of agricultural insect pests and vectors
      of human diseases. Many of the virulence factors are well studied but less is
      known of the metabolism of these fungi during the course of insect infection or
      saprobic growth. Here, we assessed enzyme activity and gene expression in the
      central carbon metabolic pathway, including isocitrate dehydrogenase, aconitase,
      citrate synthase, malate synthase (MLS) and isocitrate lyase (ICL), with
      particular attention to the glyoxylate cycle when M. anisopliae and B. bassiana
      were grown under various conditions. We observed that ICL and MLS, glyoxylate
      cycle intermediates, were upregulated during growth on 2-carbon compounds
      (acetate and ethanol) as well as in insect haemolymph. We fused the promoter of
      the M. anisopliae ICL gene (Ma-icl) to a marker gene (mCherry) and showed that Ma
      icl was upregulated when M. anisopliae was grown in the presence of acetate.
      Furthermore, Ma-icl was upregulated when fungi were engulfed by insect haemocytes
      as well as during appressorium formation. Addition of the ICL inhibitor 3
      nitroproprionate delayed conidial germination and inhibited appressorium
      formation. These results show that these insect pathogenic fungi have a flexible
      metabolism that includes the glyoxylate cycle as an integral part of germination,
      pathogenesis and saprobic growth.

PMID- 20929954
TI  - Microbial communication and virulence: lessons from evolutionary theory.
AB  - At the heart of tackling the huge challenge posed by infectious micro-organisms
      is the overwhelming need to understand their nature. A major question is, why do
      some species of bacteria rapidly kill their host whilst others are relatively
      benign? For example, Yersinia pestis, the causative organism of plague, is a
      highly virulent human pathogen whilst the closely related Yersinia
      pseudotuberculosis causes a much less severe disease. Using molecular techniques
      such as mutating certain genes, microbiologists have made significant advances
      over recent decades in elucidating the mechanisms that govern the production of
      virulence factors involved in causing disease in many bacterial species. There
      are also evolutionary and ecological factors which will influence virulence. Many
      of these ideas have arisen through the development of evolutionary theory and yet
      there is strikingly little empirical evidence testing them. By applying both
      mechanistic and adaptive approaches to microbial behaviours we can begin to
      address questions such as, what factors influence cooperation and the evolution
      of virulence in microbes and can we exploit these factors to develop new
      antimicrobial strategies?

PMID- 20929955
TI  - Evidence for a non-replicative intracellular stage of nontypable Haemophilus
      influenzae in epithelial cells.
AB  - Nontypable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi) is a Gram-negative, non-capsulated human
      bacterial pathogen, a major cause of a repertoire of respiratory infections, and
      intimately associated with persistent lung bacterial colonization in patients
      suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Despite its medical
      relevance, relatively little is known about its mechanisms of pathogenicity. In
      this study, we found that NTHi invades the airway epithelium by a distinct
      mechanism, requiring microtubule assembly, lipid rafts integrity, and activation
      of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) signalling. We found that the majority of
      intracellular bacteria are located inside an acidic subcellular compartment, in a
      metabolically active and non-proliferative state. This NTHi-containing vacuole
      (NTHi-CV) is endowed with late endosome features, co-localizing with LysoTracker,
      lamp-1, lamp-2, CD63 and Rab7. The NTHi-CV does not acquire Golgi- or autophagy
      related markers. These observations were extended to immortalized and primary
      human airway epithelial cells. By using NTHi clinical isolates expressing
      different amounts of phosphocholine (PCho), a major modification of NTHi
      lipooligosaccharide, on their surfaces, and an isogenic lic1BC mutant strain
      lacking PCho, we showed that PCho is not responsible for NTHi intracellular
      location. In sum, this study indicates that NTHi can survive inside airway
      epithelial cells.

PMID- 20929956
TI  - Evolution of the capsular gene locus of Streptococcus pneumoniae serogroup 6.
AB  - Streptococcus pneumoniae expressing serogroup 6 capsules frequently causes
      pneumococcal infections and the evolutionary origins of the serogroup 6 strains
      have been extensively studied. However, these studies were performed when
      serogroup 6 had only two known members (serotypes 6A and 6B) and before the two
      new members (serotypes 6C and 6D) expressing wciN(beta) were found. We have
      therefore reinvestigated the evolutionary origins of serogroup 6 by examining the
      profiles of the capsule gene loci and the multilocus sequence types (MLSTs) of
      many serogroup 6 isolates from several continents. We confirmed that there are
      two classes of cps locus sequences for serogroup 6 isolates. In our study, class
      2 cps sequences were limited to a few serotype 6B isolates. Neighbour-joining
      analysis of cps sequence profiles showed a distinct clade for 6C and moderately
      distinct clades for class 1 6A and 6B sequences. The serotype 6D cps profile was
      found within the class 1 6B clade, suggesting that it was created by
      recombination between 6C and 6B cps loci. Interestingly, all 6C isolates also had
      a unique wzy allele with a 6 bp deletion. This suggests that serotype switching
      to 6C involves the transfer of a large (>4 kb) gene segment that includes both
      the wciN(beta) allele and the 'short' wzy allele. The MLST studies of serotype 6C
      isolates suggest that the 6C cps locus is incorporated into many different
      pneumococcal genomic backgrounds but that, interestingly, 6C cps may have
      preferentially entered strains of the same genomic backgrounds as those of
      serotype 6A.

PMID- 20929957
TI  - Gene expression under low-oxygen conditions in the cyanobacterium Synechocystis
      sp. PCC 6803 demonstrates Hik31-dependent and -independent responses.
AB  - We have investigated the response of the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC
      6803 during growth at very low O2 concentration (bubbled with 99.9 % N(2)/0.1 %
      CO2). Significant transcriptional changes upon low-O2 incubation included
      upregulation of a cluster of genes that contained psbA1 and an operon that
      includes a gene encoding the two-component regulatory histidine kinase, Hik31.
      This regulatory cluster is of particular interest, since there are virtually
      identical copies on both the chromosome and plasmid pSYSX. We used a knockout
      mutant lacking the chromosomal copy of hik31 and studied differential
      transcription during the aerobic-low-O2 transition in this DeltaHik31 strain and
      the wild-type. We observed two distinct responses to this transition, one Hik31
      dependent, the other Hik31 independent. The Hik31-independent responses included
      the psbA1 induction and genes involved in chlorophyll biosynthesis. In addition,
      there were changes in a number of genes that may be involved in assembling or
      stabilizing photosystem (PS)II, and the hox operon and the LexA-like protein
      (Sll1626) were upregulated during low-O2 growth. This family of responses mostly
      focused on PSII and overall redox control. There was also a large set of genes
      that responded differently in the absence of the chromosomal Hik31. In the vast
      majority of these cases, Hik31 functioned as a repressor and transcription was
      enhanced when Hik31 was deleted. Genes in this category encoded both core and
      peripheral proteins for PSI and PSII, the main phycobilisome proteins,
      chaperones, the ATP synthase cluster and virtually all of the ribosomal proteins.
      These findings, coupled with the fact that DeltaHik31 grew better than the wild
      type under low-O2 conditions, suggested that Hik31 helps to regulate growth and
      overall cellular homeostasis. We detected changes in the transcription of other
      regulatory genes that may compensate for the loss of Hik31. We conclude that
      Hik31 regulates an important series of genes that relate to energy production and
      growth and that help to determine how Synechocystis responds to changes in O2
      conditions.

PMID- 20929958
TI  - Longitudinal study of prepregnancy cardiometabolic risk factors and subsequent
      risk of gestational diabetes mellitus: The CARDIA study.
AB  - This study examined prepregnancy cardiometabolic risk factors and gestational
      diabetes mellitus (GDM) in subsequent pregnancies. The authors selected 1,164
      women without diabetes before pregnancy who delivered 1,809 livebirths between 5
      consecutive examinations from 1985 to 2006 in the Coronary Artery Risk
      Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) Study. The authors measured prepregnancy
      cardiometabolic risk factors and performed multivariate repeated-measures
      logistic regression to compute the odds of GDM adjusted for race, age, parity,
      birth order, and other covariates. Impaired fasting glucose (100-125 vs. <90
      mg/dL), elevated fasting insulin (>15-20 and >20 vs. <10 MUU/mL), and low levels
      of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (<40 vs. >50 mg/dL) before pregnancy were
      directly associated with GDM: The odds ratios = 4.74 (95% confidence interval
      (CI): 2.14, 10.51) for fasting glucose, 2.19 (95% CI: 1.15, 4.17) for middle
      insulin levels and 2.36 (95% CI: 1.20, 4.63) for highest insulin levels, and 3.07
      (95% CI: 1.62, 5.84) for low levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol among
      women with a negative family history of diabetes; all P < 0.01. Among overweight
      women, 26.7% with 1 or more cardiometabolic risk factors developed GDM versus
      7.4% with none. Metabolic impairment exists before GDM pregnancy in nondiabetic
      women. Interconceptual metabolic screening could be included in routine health
      assessments to identify high-risk women for GDM in a subsequent pregnancy and to
      potentially minimize fetal exposure to metabolic abnormalities that program
      future disease.

PMID- 20929959
TI  - Adolescents' emotional reactions to parental cancer: effect on emotional and
      behavioral problems.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: We examined adolescents' emotional reactions to parental cancer and
      explored relationships between emotional reactions and adolescents'
      emotional/behavioral problems. METHODS: Two studies were performed: retrospective
      and prospective. A total of 221 adolescents (105 sons) of 138 patients
      (retrospective) and 70 adolescents (31 sons) of 70 patients (prospective)
      participated. Adolescents reported on cancer-specific uncertainty, loneliness,
      helplessness and positive emotions (Situation-Specific Emotional Reactions
      Questionnaire), and filled in the Youth Self-Report once retrospectively during
      the period of 1-5 year(s) after diagnosis and three times prospectively during
      the first year (4 months post-diagnosis, 6 and 12 months after T1). RESULTS:
      Emotional reactions were similar between pro- and retrospective studies.
      Prospectively, uncertainty and helplessness decreased over time. Uncertainty and
      loneliness related significantly to adolescents' dysfunction (prospective and
      retrospective). Relationships between emotions and functioning were stronger and
      more often significant for daughters. Prospectively, adolescents' post-diagnosis
      emotional reactions were largely unrelated to later functioning. CONCLUSIONS:
      Uncertainty and loneliness related to adolescents' emotional and behavioral
      problems. Daughters' emotions seem more strongly related to functioning than
      sons'.

PMID- 20929960
TI  - Loss of striatal type 1 cannabinoid receptors is a key pathogenic factor in
      Huntington's disease.
AB  - Endocannabinoids act as neuromodulatory and neuroprotective cues by engaging type
      1 cannabinoid receptors. These receptors are highly abundant in the basal ganglia
      and play a pivotal role in the control of motor behaviour. An early
      downregulation of type 1 cannabinoid receptors has been documented in the basal
      ganglia of patients with Huntington's disease and animal models. However, the
      pathophysiological impact of this loss of receptors in Huntington's disease is as
      yet unknown. Here, we generated a double-mutant mouse model that expresses human
      mutant huntingtin exon 1 in a type 1 cannabinoid receptor-null background, and
      found that receptor deletion aggravates the symptoms, neuropathology and
      molecular pathology of the disease. Moreover, pharmacological administration of
      the cannabinoid Delta(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol to mice expressing human mutant
      huntingtin exon 1 exerted a therapeutic effect and ameliorated those parameters.
      Experiments conducted in striatal cells show that the mutant huntingtin-dependent
      downregulation of the receptors involves the control of the type 1 cannabinoid
      receptor gene promoter by repressor element 1 silencing transcription factor and
      sensitizes cells to excitotoxic damage. We also provide in vitro and in vivo
      evidence that supports type 1 cannabinoid receptor control of striatal brain
      derived neurotrophic factor expression and the decrease in brain-derived
      neurotrophic factor levels concomitant with type 1 cannabinoid receptor loss,
      which may contribute significantly to striatal damage in Huntington's disease.
      Altogether, these results support the notion that downregulation of type 1
      cannabinoid receptors is a key pathogenic event in Huntington's disease, and
      suggest that activation of these receptors in patients with Huntington's disease
      may attenuate disease progression.

PMID- 20929961
TI  - Riboflavin-responsive oxidative phosphorylation complex I deficiency caused by
      defective ACAD9: new function for an old gene.
AB  - Mitochondrial complex I deficiency is the most common oxidative phosphorylation
      defect. Mutations have been detected in mitochondrial and nuclear genes, but the
      genetics of many patients remain unresolved and new genes are probably involved.
      In a consanguineous family, patients presented easy fatigability, exercise
      intolerance and lactic acidosis in blood from early childhood. In muscle,
      subsarcolemmal mitochondrial proliferation and a severe complex I deficiency were
      observed. Exercise intolerance and complex I activity was improved by a
      supplement of riboflavin at high dosage. Homozygosity mapping revealed a
      candidate region on chromosome three containing six mitochondria-related genes.
      Four genes were screened for mutations and a homozygous substitution was
      identified in ACAD9 (c.1594 C>T), changing the highly conserved arginine-532 into
      tryptophan. This mutation was absent in 188 ethnically matched controls. Protein
      modelling suggested a functional effect due to the loss of a stabilizing hydrogen
      bond in an alpha-helix and a local flexibility change. To test whether the ACAD9
      mutation caused the complex I deficiency, we transduced fibroblasts of patients
      with wild-type and mutant ACAD9. Wild-type, but not mutant, ACAD9 restored
      complex I activity. An unrelated patient with the same phenotype was compound
      heterozygous for c.380 G>A and c.1405 C>T, changing arginine-127 into glutamine
      and arginine-469 into tryptophan, respectively. These amino acids were highly
      conserved and the substitutions were not present in controls, making them very
      probably pathogenic. Our data support a new function for ACAD9 in complex I
      function, making this gene an important new candidate for patients with complex I
      deficiency, which could be improved by riboflavin treatment.

PMID- 20929962
TI  - GPR56-related bilateral frontoparietal polymicrogyria: further evidence for an
      overlap with the cobblestone complex.
AB  - GPR56 mutations cause an autosomal recessive polymicrogyria syndrome that has
      distinctive radiological features combining bilateral frontoparietal
      polymicrogyria, white matter abnormalities and cerebellar hypoplasia. Recent
      investigations of a GPR56 knockout mouse model suggest that bilateral
      bifrontoparietal polymicrogyria shares some features of the cobblestone brain
      malformation and demonstrate that loss of GPR56 leads to a dysregulation of the
      maintenance of the pial basement membrane integrity in the forebrain and the
      rostral cerebellum. In light of these findings and other data in the literature,
      this study aimed to refine the clinical features with the first description of a
      foetopathological case and to define the range of cobblestone-like features in
      GPR56 bilateral bifrontoparietal polymicrogyria in a sample of 14 patients. We
      identified homozygous GPR56 mutations in 14 patients from eight consanguineous
      families with typical bilateral bifrontoparietal polymicrogyria and in one foetal
      case, out of 30 patients with bifrontoparietal polymicrogyria referred for
      molecular screening. The foetal case, which was terminated at 35 weeks of
      gestation in view of suspicion of Walker Warburg syndrome, showed a cobblestone
      like lissencephaly with a succession of normal, polymicrogyric and 'cobblestone
      like' cortex with ectopic neuronal overmigration, agenesis of the cerebellar
      vermis and hypoplastic cerebellar hemispheres with additional neuronal
      overmigration in the pons and the cerebellar cortex. The 14 patients with GPR56
      mutations (median 8.25 years, range 1.5-33 years) were phenotypically homogeneous
      with a distinctive clinical course characterized by pseudomyopathic behaviour at
      onset that subsequently evolved into severe mental and motor retardation.
      Generalized seizures (12/14) occurred later with onset ranging from 2.5 to 10
      years with consistent electroencephalogram findings of predominantly anterior
      bursts of low amplitude alpha-like activity. Neuroimaging demonstrated a common
      phenotype with bilateral frontoparietally predominant polymicrogyria (13/13),
      cerebellar dysplasia with cysts mainly affecting the superior vermis (11/13) and
      patchy to diffuse myelination abnormalities (13/13). Additionally, the white
      matter abnormalities showed a peculiar evolution from severe hypomyelination at 4
      months to patchy lesions later in childhood. Taken as a whole, these observations
      collectively demonstrate that GPR56 bilateral bifrontoparietal polymicrogyria
      combines all the features of a cobblestone-like lissencephaly and also suggest
      that GRP56-related defects produce a phenotypic continuum ranging from bilateral
      bifrontoparietal polymicrogyria to cobblestone-like lissencephaly.

PMID- 20929963
TI  - Survival after organ preserving treatment for T4a laryngeal squamous cell
      carcinoma.

PMID- 20929964
TI  - Long-term effects of anastrozole on bone mineral density: 7-year results from the
      ATAC trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This 'Arimidex', Tamoxifen, Alone or in Combination (ATAC) trial sub
      study examined the effects of anastrozole and tamoxifen on bone mineral density
      (BMD) following 5 years of treatment. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Lumbar spine and
      total hip BMD were assessed at years 6 and 7 in a total of 71 eligible patients.
      In total, 50 patients had evaluable data. RESULTS: Following anastrozole
      treatment, the lumbar spine median BMD increased by 2.35% (P=0.04) and 4.02%
      (P=0.0004) at years 6 and 7, while total hip median BMD increased by 0.71%
      (P=0.3) and 0.5% (P=0.8). After tamoxifen treatment, lumbar spine median BMD
      decreased by 0.79% (P=0.2) and 0.30% (P=0.9) at years 6 and 7, while total hip
      median BMD decreased by 2.09% (P=0.0003) and 2.52% (P=0.0002). Patients with a
      normal BMD or who were osteopenic at 5 years did not become osteoporotic.
      CONCLUSIONS: Anastrozole treatment-related bone loss did not continue into the
      off-treatment follow-up period. The recovery in lumbar spine BMD and absence of
      further loss at the hip is consistent with the reduction in the annual rate of
      fracture observed after treatment cessation in the main ATAC trial.

PMID- 20929965
TI  - Chemotherapy in elderly small-cell lung cancer patients: yes we can, but should
      we do it?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Twenty percent of all newly diagnosed patients with small-cell lung
      cancer (SCLC) are >75 years. Elderly patients may show more toxicity due to co
      morbidity. We evaluated motives for adherence to treatment guidelines, completion
      of treatment and toxicity. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Population-based data from
      patients aged >=75 years and diagnosed with SCLC in 1997-2004 in The Netherlands
      were used (368 limited disease and 577 extensive disease). Additional data on co
      morbidity (Adult Co-morbidity Evaluation 27), World Health Organisation
      performance status (PS), treatment, motive for no chemotherapy, adaptations and
      underlying motive and grade 3 or 4 toxicity were gathered from the medical
      records. RESULTS: Forty-eight percent did not receive chemotherapy. The most
      common motives were refusal by the patient or family, short life expectancy or a
      combination of high age, co-morbidity and poor PS. Although only relatively fit
      elderly were selected for chemotherapy, 60%-75% developed serious toxicity, and
      two-thirds of all patients could not complete the full chemotherapy. CONCLUSIONS:
      We hypothesise that a better selection by proper geriatric assessments is needed
      to achieve a more favourable balance between benefit and harm.

PMID- 20929966
TI  - Corollary discharge, hallucinations, and dreaming.

PMID- 20929967
TI  - On identifying magnocellular and parvocellular responses on the basis of contrast
      response functions.
AB  - It has been proposed that magnocellular and parvocellular sensitivity in
      schizophrenic individuals can be assessed using steady-state visually evoked
      potentials (VEPs) to either low-contrast stimuli or stimuli whose contrast is
      modulated around a high contrast "pedestal" (Green MF, Butler PD, Chen Y, et al.
      Schizophr Bull. 2009;35:163-181). This suggestion faces 2 difficulties: (1) To
      use low-contrast stimuli to activate the magnocellular system is inconsistent
      with lesion studies that have shown that under many conditions, the parvocellular
      system responds to the lowest contrasts and (2) To rely on contrast-response
      relationships to identify magnocellular and parvocellular responses is difficult
      because other neurons exist in the visual system that have contrast-response
      relationships similar to those of magnocellular and parvocellular cells.

PMID- 20929968
TI  - Progressive structural brain changes during development of psychosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Ultra-high risk (UHR) for psychosis has been associated with
      widespread structural brain changes in young adults. The onset of these changes
      and their subsequent progression over time are not well understood. METHODS: Rate
      of brain change over time was investigated in 43 adolescents at UHR for psychosis
      compared with 30 healthy controls. Brain volumes (total brain, gray matter, white
      matter [WM], cerebellum, and ventricles), cortical thickness, and voxel-based
      morphometry were measured at baseline and at follow-up (2 y after baseline) and
      compared between UHR individuals and controls. Post hoc analyses were done for
      UHR individuals who became psychotic (N = 8) and those who did not (N = 35).
      RESULTS: UHR individuals showed a smaller increase in cerebral WM over time than
      controls and more cortical thinning in the left middle temporal gyrus. Post hoc,
      a more pronounced decrease over time in total brain and WM volume was found for
      UHR individuals who became psychotic relative to controls and a greater decrease
      in total brain volume than individuals who were not psychotic. Furthermore, UHR
      individuals with subsequent psychosis displayed more thinning than controls in
      widespread areas in the left anterior cingulate, precuneus, and temporo-parieto
      occipital area. Volume loss in the individuals who developed psychosis could not
      be attributed to medication use. CONCLUSION: The development of psychosis during
      adolescence is associated with progressive structural brain changes around the
      time of onset. These changes cannot be attributed to (antipsychotic) medication
      use and are therefore likely to reflect a pathophysiological process related to
      clinical manifestation of psychosis.

PMID- 20929969
TI  - Toward new approaches to psychotic disorders: the NIMH Research Domain Criteria
      project.

PMID- 20929970
TI  - An evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of a register of newly diagnosed
      rheumatoid arthritis, 1986-2010.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of a register of management
      and outcomes of recently diagnosed RA, and allow comparisons between rheumatology
      centres on good clinical practice and guidelines. METHODS: A register of newly
      diagnosed RA was initiated in 1986 in nine different regions of England, later
      expanded to UK-wide membership in 2002. Standardized data collection includes
      disease activity, function, radiological damage, therapy, hospitalizations, major
      comorbidity and mortality. A centralized database generates individual reports
      and comparative data for each centre yearly. Aims have been compared with actual
      achievements and any changes over 25 years. RESULTS: Thirty rheumatology centres
      have recruited 2866 patients. Study outputs have included peer-reviewed
      scientific publications and contributions to the recent National Audit Office
      report on RA. Referral times into secondary care have changed little over 25
      years, but time to initiation of drug therapies has decreased. Delays between
      publication of clinical trial evidence and management guidelines and their
      implementation in normal clinical practice are illustrated by relatively
      infrequent use of combination therapies at diagnosis. Consecutive case
      recruitment, centre participation and follow-up were reportedly compromised by
      local funding issues. Centre participants report a benefit from feedback of
      actual clinical practice compared with recommended standards of care.
      CONCLUSIONS: Most of the original objectives have been achieved. Cohort studies
      based predominantly in District General Hospitals provide unique insights into
      the natural history and impact of RA, its management, the translation of research
      findings into clinical practice and provide participating centres with important
      clinical governance and professional development opportunities.

PMID- 20929971
TI  - Health-related quality of life and continuation rate on first-line anti-tumour
      necrosis factor therapy among rheumatoid arthritis patients from the Australian
      Rheumatology Association Database.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To describe changes in health-related quality of life (HRQoL) up to
      60 months after commencing anti-TNF therapy for RA patients enrolled in the
      Australian Rheumatology Association Database (ARAD), and to determine the
      continuation rate and predictors of discontinuation of first-line anti-TNF
      therapy. METHODS: Responses to the HAQ, Assessment of Quality of Life, Medical
      Outcomes Study Short Form-36 (SF-36) and European Quality of Life-5 Dimensions
      (EQ-5D) were extracted from ARAD for patients commencing anti-TNF therapy and
      analysed in 6-monthly intervals from the start date. Predictors of
      discontinuation of therapy were assessed using Cox regression. RESULTS: Since
      September 2001, 2601 RA patients have enrolled in ARAD; 1801 have used anti-TNF
      therapy. Before starting the therapy, all HRQoL scores were below the population
      norms, but showed improvements in the first 6 months. From 12 to 60 months, HRQoL
      remained stable but below population means. Data to 60 months were available for
      106 patients; 47% were still on first-line therapy at 5 years, all were using
      concurrent DMARDs and 55% were using concurrent prednisolone. Predictors of
      discontinuation of therapy were poorer HRQoL scores, a more recent therapy start
      date, concurrent prednisolone use and self-reported severe infection. Older
      patients and those with longer symptom duration were more likely to remain on
      therapy. CONCLUSIONS: In routine practice, HRQoL scores improve rapidly within 6
      months of starting anti-TNFs and then remain stable for up to 60 months. Almost
      half remain on first-line therapy.

PMID- 20929972
TI  - Meta-analysis of systemic lupus erythematosus and the risk of cervical neoplasia.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Individuals with SLE have a heightened risk of developing atypical
      cervical smears or cervical cancer. Many studies have investigated the
      association between SLE and cervical neoplasia risk. However, the risk for SLE
      associated with cervical neoplasia risk is unclear. The present meta-analysis
      clarified the risk of cervical neoplasia in patients with SLE. METHODS: A
      systematic review of English-language studies was conducted. Data on the risk of
      cervical neoplasia risk in patients with SLE were pooled using case-control
      models. Replication studies that tested the association between SLE and cervical
      neoplasia risk were reviewed for meta-analysis. The meta-analysis procedure was
      used to pool odds ratios (ORs) with 95% CIs to evaluate the association. RESULTS:
      Seven replication studies fulfilled the selection criteria for inclusion in the
      meta-analysis. Homogeneity was confirmed across the replication studies. The
      common OR was 4.17 (95% CI 3.03, 5.74; P < 0.00001) for the study. The
      association was confirmed when individuals with SLE have an increased
      susceptibility to cervical neoplasia risk. CONCLUSION: This meta-analysis
      demonstrates the positive association between SLE and cervical neoplasia risk.
      Individuals with SLE have a heightened risk of developing cervical cancer.

PMID- 20929973
TI  - The dynamics of implicit skill consolidation in young and elderly adults.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Implicit skill learning underlies not only motor but also cognitive
      and social skills; it is therefore an important aspect of life from infancy to
      old age. We studied aging effects on the time course of implicit skill
      consolidation. METHODS: Young and elderly adults performed a probabilistic
      implicit sequence-learning task before and after a 12-, a 24-hr, and a 1-week
      interval. The task enabled us to separate the components of skill learning and
      consolidation: (a) general skill and (b) sequence-specific learning (SSL).
      RESULTS: We found improvement of general skill for the young adults in all delay
      conditions. The elderly adults also showed enhancement after the 12-hr period,
      revealing brain plasticity similar to young adults. This improvement disappeared
      in the 24-hr and the 1-week delay conditions. Regarding SSL, no improvement was
      found in either age group and at either consolidation intervals. In contrast,
      sequences-specific knowledge decreased in the elderly group independently of the
      delay. DISCUSSION: These results draw attention to the fact that consolidation is
      not a single process, rather there are multiple mechanisms that are
      differentially affected by time course and by aging.

PMID- 20929974
TI  - Smelling chemosensory signals of males in anxious versus nonanxious condition
      increases state anxiety of female subjects.
AB  - The hypothesis of this experiment was that humans in an anxious state compared
      with a nonanxious state are able to increase anxiety levels in other humans via
      their body odors. Specifically, we hypothesized that male chemosensory anxiety
      signals compared with neutral chemosignals increase state anxiety of female
      subjects. Thirteen male subjects participated in 2 different sweat donation
      sessions: chemosignals were collected during participation in a high rope course
      (anxiety condition) and in an ergometer workout (neutral condition). State and
      trait anxiety were evaluated in 20 female odor recipients using Spielberger's
      state-trait anxiety inventory in a double-blind design. Comparison of state
      anxiety of odor donors between control and anxiety condition differed
      significantly indicating that our model of anxiety induction successfully led to
      the expected change in emotion. Comparison of state anxiety of odor recipients
      showed a trend toward higher state anxiety in the anxiety condition compared with
      the neutral condition after 5 min of odor exposure. After 20 min of odor
      exposure, state anxiety of female subjects was significantly higher during the
      perception of sweat collected during the anxiety condition in comparison with the
      perception of sweat collected during the neutral condition. This experiment gives
      evidence that male anxiety chemosignals compared with neutral chemosignals are
      capable of inducing an increased state anxiety in female subjects.

PMID- 20929976
TI  - Direct recruitment of insulin receptor and ERK signaling cascade to insulin
      inducible gene loci.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Insulin receptor (IR) translocates to the nucleus, but its recruitment
      to gene loci has not been demonstrated. Here, we tested the hypothesis that IR
      and its downstream mitogenic transducers are corecruited to two prototypic
      insulin-inducible genes: early growth response 1 (egr-1), involved in mitogenic
      response, and glucokinase (Gck), encoding a key metabolic enzyme. RESEARCH DESIGN
      AND METHODS: We used RNA and chromatin from insulin-treated rat hepatic tumor
      cell line expressing human insulin receptor (HTC-IR) and livers from lean and
      insulin-resistant ob/ob glucose-fed mice in quantitative RT-PCR and chromatin
      immunoprecipitation studies to determine gene expression levels and associated
      recruitment of RNA polymerase II (Pol II), insulin receptor, and cognate
      signaling proteins to gene loci, respectively. RESULTS: Insulin-induced egr-1
      mRNA in HTC-IR cells was associated with corecruitment of IR signaling cascade
      (IR, SOS, Grb2, B-Raf, MEK, and ERK) to this gene. Recruitment profiles of
      phosphorylated IR, B-Raf, MEK, and Erk along egr-1 transcribed region were
      similar to those of elongating Pol II. Glucose-feeding increased Gck mRNA
      expression in livers of lean but not ob/ob mice. In lean mice, there was glucose
      feeding-induced recruitment of IR and its transducers to Gck gene synchronized
      with elongating Pol II. In sharp contrast, in glucose-fed ob/ob mice, the Gck
      recruitment patterns of active MEK/Erk, IR, and Pol II were asynchronous.
      CONCLUSIONS: IR and its signal transducers recruited to genes coupled to
      elongating Pol II may play a role in maintaining productive mRNA synthesis of
      target genes. These studies suggest a possibility that impaired Pol II
      processivity along genes bearing aberrant levels of IR/signal transducers is a
      previously unrecognized facet of insulin resistance.

PMID- 20929977
TI  - Mitochondrial biogenesis and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma
      coactivator-1alpha (PGC-1alpha) deacetylation by physical activity: intact
      adipocytokine signaling is required.
AB  - OBJECTIVE Transcriptional peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma
      coactivator-1alpha (PGC-1alpha) plays a key role in mitochondrial biogenesis and
      energy metabolism and is suggested to be involved in the exercise-induced
      increase in mitochondrial content. PGC-1alpha activity is regulated by
      posttranslational modifications, among them acetylation or phosphorylation.
      Accordingly, the deacetylase SIRT1 and the kinase AMPK increase PGC-1alpha
      activity. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS We tested whether chronic treadmill
      exercise or a single exercise session modifies PGC-1alpha activation and
      mitochondrial biogenesis differentially in obese ob/ob mice with dysregulated
      adiponectin/leptin-mediated AMPK activation compared with C57BL/6J wild-type
      mice. RESULTS Exercise training (12 weeks) induced adiponectin and lowered plasma
      insulin and glucose, suggesting improved insulin sensitivity in wild-type mice.
      It enhanced mitochondrial biogenesis in red gastrocnemius muscle, as indicated by
      increased mRNA expression of transcriptional regulators and primary mitochondrial
      transcripts, increased mtDNA content, and citrate synthase activity. Parallel to
      this, we observed AMPK activation, PGC-1alpha deacetylation, and SIRT1 induction
      in trained wild-type mice. Although none of these exercise-induced changes were
      detected in ob/ob mice, comparable effects on mitochondrial respiration were
      observed. A single exercise session resulted in comparable changes in wild-type
      mice. These changes remained detectable 6 h after the exercise session but had
      disappeared after 24 h. Treatment of C2C12 myoblasts with leptin or adiponectin
      resulted in increased AMPK phosphorylation and PGC-1alpha deacetylation.
      CONCLUSIONS Chronic exercise induces mitochondrial biogenesis in wild-type mice,
      which may require intact AMPK activation by adipocytokines and involve SIRT1
      dependent PGC-1alpha deacetylation. Trained ob/ob mice appear to have partially
      adapted to reduced mitochondrial biogenesis by AMPK/SIRT1/PGC-1alpha-independent
      mechanisms without mtDNA replication.

PMID- 20929978
TI  - Heart failure reversal by ventricular unloading in patients with chronic
      cardiomyopathy: criteria for weaning from ventricular assist devices.
AB  - AIMS: Unloading-promoted reversal of heart failure (HF) allows long-term
      transplant-free outcome after ventricular assist device (VAD) removal. However,
      because few patients with chronic cardiomyopathy (CCM) were weaned from VADs (the
      majority only recently), the reliability of criteria used for weaning decisions
      to predict long-term post-weaning success is barely known. After 15 years of
      weaning experience, we assessed this issue. METHODS AND RESULTS: In 47 patients
      with CCM as the underlying cause for HF, who were part of a total of 90 patients
      weaned from bridge-to-transplant-designed VADs since 1995, we analysed data on
      cardiac morphology and function collected before VAD implantation,
      echocardiographic parameters recorded during 'off-pump' trials, duration of HF
      before implantation, and stability of recovery before and early after VAD
      removal. Post-weaning 5 year freedom from HF recurrence reached 66%. Only five
      patients (10.6%) died due to HF recurrence or weaning-related complications. Pre
      explantation off-pump left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) of >=50 and >=45%
      revealed predictive values for cardiac stability lasting >=5 years after VAD
      removal of 91.7 and 79.1%, respectively. With each unit of LVEF reduction, the
      risk of HF recurrence became 1.5 times higher. The predictive value of LVEF >=45%
      also became >90% if additional parameters like pre-explantation LV size and
      geometry, stability of unloading-induced cardiac improvement before VAD removal,
      and HF duration before VAD implantation were also considered. Definite cut-off
      values for certain parameters (including tissue-Doppler-derived LV wall motion
      velocity) allowed formulation of weaning criteria with high predictability for
      post-weaning stability, also in patients with incomplete cardiac recovery.
      CONCLUSIONS: Ventricular assist device removal in CCM patients is feasible and
      can be successful even after incomplete cardiac recovery. Parameters of pre
      explantation cardiac function, LV size and geometry, their stability during final
      off-pump trials, and HF duration allow detection of patients with the potential
      to remain stable for >5 post-weaning years.

PMID- 20929979
TI  - Predictors of morbidity and mortality in contemporary Fontan patients: results
      from a multicenter study including cardiopulmonary exercise testing in 321
      patients.
AB  - AIMS: previous studies have established an association between exercise
      intolerance and increased morbidity and mortality in congenital heart disease
      patients. We aimed to clarify if exercise intolerance is associated with poor
      outcome in Fontan patients and to identify risk factors for mortality,
      transplantation, and cardiac-related hospitalization. METHODS AND RESULTS: a
      total of 321 Fontan patients (57% male, mean age 20.9 +/- 8.6 years) who
      underwent cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) at four major European centres
      between 1997 and 2008 were included. During a median follow-up of 21 months, 22
      patients died and 6 patients underwent cardiac transplantation (8.7%), resulting
      in an estimated 5-year transplant-free survival of 86%. Parameters of CPET were
      strongly related to increased risk of hospitalization, but-with the exception of
      heart rate reserve-unrelated to risk of death or transplantation. In contrast,
      patients with clinically relevant arrhythmia had a 6.0-fold increased risk of
      death or transplantation (P < 0.001). Furthermore, patients with atriopulmonary/
      ventricular Fontan had a 3.7-fold increased risk of death or transplantation
      compared with total cavopulmonary connection patients (P= 0.009). The combination
      of clinically relevant arrhythmia, atriopulmonary/-ventricular Fontan, and signs
      of symptomatic or decompensated heart failure was associated with a particularly
      poor outcome (3-year mortality 25%). CONCLUSION: on short-term follow-up, most
      parameters of CPET are associated with increased risk of hospitalization but not
      death or transplantation in contemporary Fontan patients. Only decreased heart
      rate reserve and a history of clinically relevant arrhythmia, atriopulmonary/
      ventricular Fontan, and/or heart failure requiring diuretic therapy are
      associated with poor prognosis, potentially identifying patients requiring
      medical and/or surgical attention.

PMID- 20929975
TI  - Malformation syndromes caused by disorders of cholesterol synthesis.
AB  - Cholesterol homeostasis is critical for normal growth and development. In
      addition to being a major membrane lipid, cholesterol has multiple biological
      functions. These roles include being a precursor molecule for the synthesis of
      steroid hormones, neuroactive steroids, oxysterols, and bile acids. Cholesterol
      is also essential for the proper maturation and signaling of hedgehog proteins,
      and thus cholesterol is critical for embryonic development. After birth, most
      tissues can obtain cholesterol from either endogenous synthesis or exogenous
      dietary sources, but prior to birth, the human fetal tissues are dependent on
      endogenous synthesis. Due to the blood-brain barrier, brain tissue cannot utilize
      dietary or peripherally produced cholesterol. Generally, inborn errors of
      cholesterol synthesis lead to both a deficiency of cholesterol and increased
      levels of potentially bioactive or toxic precursor sterols. Over the past couple
      of decades, a number of human malformation syndromes have been shown to be due to
      inborn errors of cholesterol synthesis. Herein, we will review clinical and basic
      science aspects of Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome, desmosterolosis, lathosterolosis,
      HEM dysplasia, X-linked dominant chondrodysplasia punctata, Congenital
      Hemidysplasia with Ichthyosiform erythroderma and Limb Defects Syndrome, sterol-C
      4 methyloxidase-like deficiency, and Antley-Bixler syndrome.

PMID- 20929980
TI  - Paradoxical pulmonary embolism.

PMID- 20929981
TI  - Substrate ablation of ventricular tachycardia in structural heart disease: a new
      dimension?

PMID- 20929982
TI  - Subtotal aortic occlusion due to dehiscence of a supracoronary graft 10 years
      after surgery for acute type A dissection.

PMID- 20929983
TI  - Sleep apnoea and malignant ventricular arrhythmias in heart failure.

PMID- 20929984
TI  - Mycotoxin citrinin induced cell cycle G2/M arrest and numerical chromosomal
      aberration associated with disruption of microtubule formation in human cells.
AB  - As a nephrotoxic mycotoxin, citrinin (CTN) contaminates various foodstuffs and
      animal feed commodities. In the present study, the effects of CTN on cell cycle
      arrest and microtubule formation were investigated by applying human embryonic
      kidney (HEK293) cells as a model. Exposure of HEK293 cells to CTN resulted in an
      arrest of cell cycle G2/M in a concentration-dependent increase. Administrating
      CTN elevated the expression levels of p53 and p21 proteins, yet attenuated the
      signals of phosphorylated cell division cycle 2 (cdc2). Furthermore, treating
      HEK293 with CTN increased both the value of mitotic index and the population of
      cells recognized by antibody mitotic protein monoclonal 2, suggesting that arrest
      of CTN-induced cell cycle occurred mainly during the mitotic phase. With the
      assistance of immunocytostaining of alpha-tubulin, CTN was found to disrupt the
      stable microtubule skeleton during the interphase of cell cycle and also
      interfere with the mitotic spindle integrity during mitosis. Additionally, for
      either in vivo or in vitro assays, CTN effectively inhibited tubulin
      polymerization in a concentration-dependent manner. When human peripheral blood
      mononuclear cells were exposed to CTN, the percentage of cells with numerical
      chromosome changes was increased by 4.3-fold over that of vehicle-treated group.
      Results of this study suggest that CTN-activated G2/M arrest primarily arises
      from the inhibition of tubulin polymerization and associated mitotic spindle
      formation. Additionally, disruption of microtubule organization by CTN also
      contributes to the induction of numerical chromosome aberration in human cells.

PMID- 20929985
TI  - ASK1 overexpression accelerates paraquat-induced autophagy via endoplasmic
      reticulum stress.
AB  - Apoptosis signal-regulating kinase 1 (ASK1) is activated by various types of
      stress, including, endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress. ER stress-induced ASK1
      activation could play an important role both in neuronal apoptosis and an
      autophagic response in the pathogenesis of several neurodegenerative diseases,
      including Parkinson's disease. The mechanism by which ASK1 executes apoptosis
      and/or autophagy under ER stress is still unclear. We have addressed this
      question using SH-SY5Y cells overexpressing wild-type (WT) ASK1. We show an
      important autophagic response and an acceleration of the paraquat (PQ)-induced
      autophagy with hallmarks as accumulation of autophagic vacuoles, activation of
      beclin-1, accumulation of LC3 II, p62 degradation, and mammalian target of
      rapamycin dephosphorylation. Inhibition of autophagy caused an exacerbation of
      the apoptosis induced by WT ASK1 overexpression with or without PQ. These data
      support the idea that the autophagic response could have a protector role. We
      found also an increase in the phosphorylation of the proteins such as IRE1 and
      eIF2alpha in response to both the overexpression of WT ASK1 and pesticide
      exposure. These data suggest that the WT ASK1 overexpression-induced autophagy is
      an event that occurs in parallel with ER stress activation. The importance of ER
      stress in the autophagy induced by ASK1 and/or PQ was confirmed with salubrinal,
      a selective inhibitor of eIF2alpha dephosphorylation. In conclusion, we report
      that PQ induces an early ER stress response that is correlated with the
      activation of autophagy as a protective response, which is accelerated in cells
      that overexpress WT ASK1. However, when the toxic stimuli remain, the cell
      eventually succumbs to apoptosis.

PMID- 20929986
TI  - Physicochemical characterization and ecotoxicological assessment of CeO2
      nanoparticles using two aquatic microorganisms.
AB  - The physicochemical properties of nanoparticles determine their interaction with
      living organisms. Four different cerium oxide nanoparticles, including commercial
      materials, were characterized and compared with a micron-sized ceria. The
      formation of aggregates as well as zeta-potential, surface area, and chemical
      composition were determined. The formation of primary particle aggregates was a
      slow process that led to different particle sizes depending on the composition of
      the medium. In this paper, we describe the toxicity of cerium oxide for the self
      luminescent cyanobacterial recombinant strain Anabaena CPB4337 and the green alga
      Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata. The toxicity for Anabaena exposed to
      nanoparticles in pure water for 24 h ranged from 0.27 to 6.3 mg/l; P. subcapitata
      EC(50) (yielded effective concentration of nanoparticles that inhibits the
      cellular function of interest by 50%) values in the 2.4-29.6 mg/l range. Images
      of both organisms showed membrane disruption and highly damaged cells. Free
      cerium was highly toxic for both organisms, but the negligible amount found
      dissolved in the nanoparticle suspensions could not explain the observed toxic
      effect of nanoceria on the aquatic organisms; the dissolution of zinc could
      contribute to the toxicity of bulk material but could not explain the toxic
      effect of nanoceria either. We found no evidence of nanoparticle uptake by cells,
      but our observations suggested that their toxic mode of action required direct
      contact between nanoparticles and cells; in the case of the cyanobacterium, cells
      completely coated by layers of ceria nanoparticles were observed. Cell damage
      most probably took place by cell wall and membrane disruption; further research
      is needed to find out whether the oxidative activity of ceria could be
      responsible.

PMID- 20929987
TI  - Role of PTH1R internalization in osteoblasts and bone mass using a
      phosphorylation-deficient knock-in mouse model.
AB  - Phosphorylation, internalization, and desensitization of G protein-coupled
      receptors, such as the parathyroid hormone (PTH) and PTH-related peptide (PTHrP)
      receptor (PTH1R), are well characterized and known to regulate the cellular
      responsiveness in vitro. However, the role of PTH1R receptor phosphorylation in
      bone formation and osteoblast functions has not yet been elucidated. In previous
      studies, we demonstrated impaired internalization and sustained cAMP stimulation
      of a phosphorylation-deficient (pd) PTH1R in vitro, and exaggerated cAMP and
      calcemic responses to s.c. PTH infusion in pdPTH1R knock-in mouse model. In this
      study, we examined the impact of impaired PTH1R phosphorylation on the skeletal
      phenotype of mice maintained on normal, low, and high calcium diets. The low
      calcium diet moderately reduced (P<0.05) bone volume and trabecular number, and
      increased trabecular spacing in both wild-type (WT) and pd mice. The effects,
      however, seem to be less pronounced in the female pd compared to WT mice. In
      primary calvarial osteoblasts isolated from 2-week-old pd or WT mice, PTH and
      PTHrP decreased phosphorylated extracellular signal-regulated kinases 1/2
      (pERK1/2), a member of mitogen-activated protein kinase, and cyclin D1, a G1/S
      phase cyclin, in vitro. In contrast to WT osteoblasts, down-regulation of cyclin
      D1 was sustained for longer periods of time in osteoblasts isolated from the pd
      mice. Our results suggest that adaptive responses of intracellular signaling
      pathways in the pd mice may be important for maintaining bone homeostasis.

PMID- 20929988
TI  - Effect of adding pharmacists to primary care teams on blood pressure control in
      patients with type 2 diabetes: a randomized controlled trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of adding pharmacists to primary care teams on
      the management of hypertension and other cardiovascular risk factors in patients
      with type 2 diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: We conducted a randomized
      controlled trial with blinded ascertainment of outcomes within primary care
      clinics in Edmonton, Canada. Pharmacists performed medication assessments and
      limited history and physical examinations and provided guideline-concordant
      recommendations to optimize medication management. Follow-up contact was
      completed as necessary. Control patients received usual care. The primary outcome
      was a >=10% decrease in systolic blood pressure at 1 year. RESULTS: A total of
      260 patients were enrolled, 57% were women, the mean age was 59 years, diabetes
      duration was 6 years, and blood pressure was 129/74 mmHg. Forty-eight of 131
      (37%) intervention patients and 30 of 129 (23%) control patients achieved the
      primary outcome (odds ratio 1.9 [95% CI 1.1-3.3]; P = 0.02). Among 153 patients
      with inadequately controlled hypertension at baseline, intervention patients (n =
      82) were significantly more likely than control patients (n = 71) to achieve the
      primary outcome (41 [50%] vs. 20 [28%]; 2.6 [1.3-5.0]; P = 0.007) and recommended
      blood pressure targets (44 [54%] vs. 21 [30%]; 2.8 [1.4-5.4]; P = 0.003). The 10
      year risk of cardiovascular disease, based on changes to the UK Prospective
      Diabetes Study Risk Engine, were predicted to decrease by 3% for intervention
      patients and 1% for control patients (P = 0.005). CONCLUSIONS: Significantly more
      patients with type 2 diabetes achieved better blood pressure control when
      pharmacists were added to primary care teams, which suggests that pharmacists can
      make important contributions to the primary care of these patients.

PMID- 20929989
TI  - Five-year outcomes in high-risk participants in the Detection of Ischemia in
      Asymptomatic Diabetics (DIAD) study: a post hoc analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To estimate baseline cardiovascular risk of 1,123 participants in the
      Detection of Ischemia in Asymptomatic Diabetics (DIAD) study and to assess
      cardiac event rates and the effect of screening on outcomes in these higher-risk
      participants. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Baseline cardiovascular risk was
      assessed using four established methods: Framingham score, UK Prospective
      Diabetes Study (UKPDS) risk engine, criteria of the French-Speaking Association
      for the Study of Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases, and the presence or absence of
      metabolic syndrome. Cardiac events (cardiac death or nonfatal myocardial
      infarction) were assessed during the 4.8-year follow-up in participants with
      intermediate/high cardiovascular risk. RESULTS: By various risk-stratification
      approaches, 53-75% of participants were defined as having intermediate or high
      cardiovascular risk. The prevalence of inducible ischemia on screening in these
      individuals ranged from 21 to 24%, similar to lower-risk participants (19-23%).
      Cardiac event rates were greater in intermediate-/high-risk versus low-risk
      groups, but this was only significant for the UKPDS risk engine (4.2 vs. 1.2%, P
      = 0.002). The annual cardiac event rate was <1% in all risk groups, except in the
      high-risk UKPDS group (~2% per year). In intermediate-/high-risk participants
      randomized to screening versus no screening, 4.8-year cardiac event rates were
      similar (2.5-4.8% vs. 3.1-3.7%). CONCLUSIONS: A substantial portion of the DIAD
      population was defined as having intermediate/high baseline cardiovascular risk.
      Nevertheless, their annual cardiac event rate was low and not altered by routine
      screening for inducible ischemia.

PMID- 20929990
TI  - Pharmacological treatment of the pathogenetic defects in type 2 diabetes: the
      randomized multicenter South Danish Diabetes Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the effect of treatment with insulin aspart compared with
      NPH insulin, together with metformin/placebo and rosiglitazone/placebo. The
      hypothesis was that combined correction of major pathogenetic defects in type 2
      diabetes would result in optimal glycemic control. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS:
      This study was a 2-year investigator-driven randomized partly placebo-controlled
      multicenter trial in 371 patients with type 2 diabetes on at least oral
      antiglycemic treatment. Patients were assigned to one of eight treatment groups
      in a factorial design with insulin aspart at mealtimes versus NPH insulin once
      daily at bedtime, metformin twice daily versus placebo, and rosiglitazone twice
      daily versus placebo. The main outcome measurement was change in A1C. RESULTS:
      A1C decreased more in patients treated with insulin aspart compared with NPH (
      0.41 +/- 0.10%, P < 0.001). Metformin decreased A1C compared with placebo (-0.60
      +/- 0.10%, P < 0.001), as did rosiglitazone (-0.55 +/- 0.10%, P < 0.001). Triple
      therapy (rosiglitazone, metformin, and any insulin) resulted in a greater
      reduction in A1C than rosiglitazone plus insulin (-0.50 +/- 0.14%, P < 0.001) and
      metformin plus insulin (-0.45 +/- 0.14%, P < 0.001). Aspart was associated with a
      higher increase in body weight (1.6 +/- 0.6 kg, P < 0.01) and higher incidence of
      mild daytime hypoglycemia (4.9 +/- 7.5 vs. 1.7 +/- 5.4 number/person/year, P <
      0.001) compared with NPH. CONCLUSIONS: Insulin treatment of postprandial
      hyperglycemia results in lower A1C than treatment of fasting hyperglycemia, at
      the expense of higher body weight and hypoglycemic episodes. However, insulin
      therapy has to be combined with treatment of both peripheral and liver insulin
      resistance to normalize blood glucose, and in this case, the insulin regimen is
      less important.

PMID- 20929991
TI  - Fetuin-A levels are increased in patients with type 2 diabetes and peripheral
      arterial disease.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Low levels of fetuin-A, a systemic calcification inhibitor, are linked
      to mortality in patients on dialysis. In contrast, elevated fetuin-A is
      associated with cardiovascular events in non-renal patients. We investigated
      fetuin-A in patients with type 2 diabetes and peripheral arterial disease (PAD).
      RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: We studied fetuin-A in 76 patients with PAD and
      normal glucose metabolism (NGM-PAD) and in 129 patients with PAD and type 2
      diabetes (type 2 diabetes-PAD). Additionally, 40 patients with diabetes without
      any complications (type 2 diabetes-non-PAD) were examined. RESULTS: Type 2
      diabetes-PAD subjects (399 +/- 155 MUg/ml) had significantly higher fetuin-A
      levels than type 2 diabetes-non-PAD subjects (247 +/- 42; P < 0.001). In NGM-PAD
      subjects (376 +/- 144), fetuin-A was significantly higher than in type 2 diabetes
      non-PAD subjects (P < 0.001). Type 2 diabetes-PAD patients with mediasclerosis
      had lower fetuin-A than subjects without (P < 0.03). Regression analysis in type
      2 diabetes-PAD subjects revealed that glycated A1C (P < 0.001) and mediasclerosis
      (P = 0.004) were the strongest predictors of fetuin-A. Multivariate regression
      revealed that a 1-SD increase in fetuin-A was associated with an odds ratio (OR)
      of 2.1 (95% CI 1.1-3.3; P < 0.001) for the prevalence of PAD and an OR of 1.4
      (1.0-1.7, P = 0.039) for the prevalence of myocardial infarction. CONCLUSIONS: In
      contrast to previous findings, fetuin-A was higher in type 2 diabetes-PAD
      patients than in type 2 diabetes-non-PAD patients. In NGM-PAD patients, fetuin-A
      was also higher than in type 2 diabetes-non-PAD patients. In type 2 diabetes-PAD
      patients, fetuin-A was inversely associated with mediasclerosis-the calcification
      process pathognomonic for diabetic PAD. This association persisted in
      multivariate regression, which is in line with the calcification inhibition in
      coronary heart or renal disease.

PMID- 20929992
TI  - Association of depressive symptoms with impaired glucose regulation, screen
      detected, and previously known type 2 diabetes: findings from the Finnish D2D
      Survey.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To study the association between impaired glucose regulation (IGR),
      screen-detected type 2 diabetes, and previously known diabetes and depressive
      symptoms. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Altogether, 2,712 participants from three
      hospital districts in Finland attended a health examination. Cutoff scores >=10
      and >=16 in the 21-item Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-21) were used for
      depressive symptoms. The participants were defined as having known diabetes if
      they reported diabetes. An oral glucose tolerance test was used to detect normal
      glucose regulation (NGR), impaired fasting glucose (IFG), impaired glucose
      tolerance (IGT), and screen-detected diabetes. The participants were defined as
      having IGR if they had IFG or IGT. RESULTS: Prevalence of depressive symptoms,
      defined as a BDI-21 cutoff score >=10, was 14.4% for those with NGR, 13.7% for
      those with IGR, 14.8% for those with screen-detected diabetes, and 26.4% for
      those with previously known diabetes. The corresponding prevalences for a cutoff
      score >=16 were 3.4, 3.4, 4.2, and 7.5%, respectively. Compared with NGR and
      adjusted for demographic, lifestyle, and biological factors, the odds ratios for
      IGR, screen-detected diabetes, and previously known diabetes were 0.91 (95% CI
      0.69-1.20), 0.70 (0.45-1.08), and 1.35 (0.84-2.15), respectively, for a cutoff
      score >=10. For a cutoff score >=16, the corresponding odds ratios were 1.05
      (0.62-1.76), 0.87 (0.40-1.90), and 1.56 (0.69-3.50), respectively. CONCLUSIONS:
      Participants with diagnosed diabetes had a higher prevalence of depressive
      symptoms than participants with NGR, IGR, and previously unknown diabetes. When
      potential confounding factors were included in the analysis, previously known
      diabetes was not significantly associated with depressive symptoms.

PMID- 20929993
TI  - Human enterovirus RNA in monthly fecal samples and islet autoimmunity in
      Norwegian children with high genetic risk for type 1 diabetes: the MIDIA study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To test whether the frequency of human enterovirus RNA in fecal
      samples collected monthly from early infancy was associated with development of
      multiple islet autoantibodies in children with the highest risk HLA genotype.
      RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Individuals carrying the HLA DRB1*0401-DQA1*03
      DQB1*0302/DRB1*03-DQA1*05-DQB1*02 genotype were identified at birth and followed
      with monthly stool samples from age 3 to 35 months. Blood samples taken at age 3,
      6, 9, and 12 months and then annually were tested for autoantibodies to insulin,
      GAD 65 and IA-2. Among 911 children, 27 developed positivity for two or more
      islet autoantibodies in two or more consecutive samples (case subjects). Two
      control subjects per case subject were matched by follow-up time, date of birth,
      and county of residence. Stool samples were analyzed for enterovirus with a
      semiquantitative real-time RT-PCR. RESULTS: The frequency of human enterovirus
      RNA in stool samples from case subjects before seroconversion (43 of 339, 12.7%)
      did not differ from the frequency in control subjects (94 of 692, 13.6%) (P =
      0.97). Results remained essentially unchanged after adjustment for potential
      confounders, restriction to various time windows before seroconversion, or
      infections in the 1st year of life or after inclusion of samples collected after
      seroconversion. There was no difference in the average quantity of enterovirus
      RNA or in the frequency of repeatedly positive samples. The estimated relative
      risk for islet autoimmunity per enterovirus RNA-positive sample during follow-up
      (nested case-control analysis) was 1.12 (95% CI 0.66-1.91). CONCLUSIONS: There
      was no support for the hypothesis that fecal shedding of enteroviral RNA is a
      major predictor of advanced islet autoimmunity.

PMID- 20929994
TI  - Glutathione synthesis is diminished in patients with uncontrolled diabetes and
      restored by dietary supplementation with cysteine and glycine.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Sustained hyperglycemia is associated with low cellular levels of the
      antioxidant glutathione (GSH), which leads to tissue damage attributed to
      oxidative stress. We tested the hypothesis that diminished GSH in adult patients
      with uncontrolled type 2 diabetes is attributed to decreased synthesis and
      measured the effect of dietary supplementation with its precursors cysteine and
      glycine on GSH synthesis rate and oxidative stress. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS:
      We infused 12 diabetic patients and 12 nondiabetic control subjects with [2H2]
      glycine to measure GSH synthesis. We also measured intracellular GSH
      concentrations, reactive oxygen metabolites, and lipid peroxides. Diabetic
      patients were restudied after 2 weeks of dietary supplementation with the GSH
      precursors cysteine and glycine. RESULTS: Compared with control subjects,
      diabetic subjects had significantly higher fasting glucose (5.0 +/- 0.1 vs. 10.7
      +/- 0.5 mmol/l; P < 0.001), lower erythrocyte concentrations of glycine (514.7 +/
      33.1 vs. 403.2 +/- 18.2 MUmol/l; P < 0.01), and cysteine (25.2 +/- 1.5 vs. 17.8
      +/- 1.5 MUmol/l; P < 0.01); lower concentrations of GSH (6.75 +/- 0.47 vs. 1.65
      +/- 0.16 MUmol/g Hb; P < 0.001); diminished fractional (79.21 +/- 5.75 vs. 44.86
      +/- 2.87%/day; P < 0.001) and absolute (5.26 +/- 0.61 vs. 0.74 +/- 0.10 MUmol/g
      Hb/day; P < 0.001) GSH synthesis rates; and higher reactive oxygen metabolites
      (286 +/- 10 vs. 403 +/- 11 Carratelli units [UCarr]; P < 0.001) and lipid
      peroxides (2.6 +/- 0.4 vs. 10.8 +/- 1.2 pg/ml; P < 0.001). Following dietary
      supplementation in diabetic subjects, GSH synthesis and concentrations increased
      significantly and plasma oxidative stress and lipid peroxides decreased
      significantly. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with uncontrolled type 2 diabetes have
      severely deficient synthesis of glutathione attributed to limited precursor
      availability. Dietary supplementation with GSH precursor amino acids can restore
      GSH synthesis and lower oxidative stress and oxidant damage in the face of
      persistent hyperglycemia.

PMID- 20929995
TI  - Risk of cardiovascular disease events in patients with type 2 diabetes prescribed
      the glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist exenatide twice daily or
      other glucose-lowering therapies: a retrospective analysis of the LifeLink
      database.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To test the hypothesis that exenatide twice daily reduces the relative
      incidence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) events among patients with type 2
      diabetes compared with other glucose-lowering agent(s). RESEARCH DESIGN AND
      METHODS: A retrospective database analysis was performed of the LifeLink database
      of medical and pharmaceutical insurance claims for June 2005 through March 2009.
      Patients with no history in the preceding 9 months of myocardial infarction,
      ischemic stroke, or coronary revascularization procedure were assigned to the
      exenatide-initiated or non-exenatide-initiated cohorts based on the first new
      prescription filled and reassigned if exenatide was prescribed or discontinued.
      Incident CVD events (myocardial infarction, ischemic stroke, or coronary
      revascularization procedure) were identified by ICD-9-CM diagnosis codes. Patient
      outcomes were adjusted for differences in clinical and demographic
      characteristics and compared using propensity score-weighted discrete time
      survival analysis with time-varying exposure to exenatide. RESULTS: A total of
      39,275 patients with type 2 diabetes were treated with exenatide twice daily, and
      381,218 patients were treated with other glucose-lowering therapies. Patients who
      initiated exenatide were more likely to have prior ischemic heart disease,
      obesity, hyperlipidemia, hypertension, and/or other comorbidities at baseline.
      Exenatide-treated patients were less likely to have a CVD event than non
      exenatide-treated patients (hazard ratio 0.81; 95% CI 0.68-0.95; P = 0.01) and
      lower rates of CVD-related hospitalization (0.88; 0.79-0.98; P = 0.02) and all
      cause hospitalization (0.94; 0.91-0.97; P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Exenatide twice
      daily treatment was associated with a lower risk of CVD events and
      hospitalizations than treatment with other glucose-lowering therapies.

PMID- 20929996
TI  - Repeated episodes of hypoglycemia as a potential aggravating factor for
      preclinical atherosclerosis in subjects with type 1 diabetes.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate through early preclinical atherosclerosis assessment
      whether repeated episodes of hypoglycemia represent an aggravating factor for
      macrovascular disease in type 1 diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: After
      sample-size calculation, a case-control study of 25 patients with type 1 diabetes
      and repeated severe/nonsevere hypoglycemia (H-group) compared with 20 age- and
      sex-matched type 1 diabetes control subjects (C-group) was designed. Assessment
      of preclinical atherosclerosis consisted of flow-mediated brachial dilatation
      (FMD) and carotid and femoral intima-media thickness (IMT) studies. To consider
      hypoglycemia awareness, two different questionnaires and symptomatic response to
      an acute induction to hypoglycemia were used. Evaluation of the glycemic profile
      was obtained from continuous glucose monitoring. Endothelial
      function/inflammation markers were measured in euglycemia/hypoglycemia. A
      multivariate linear regression analysis was performed to test whether repeated
      hypoglycemia was independently associated with atherosclerosis. RESULTS: H-group
      subjects displayed hypoglycemia unawareness and presented a higher percentage of
      continuous glucose values and area under the curve <70 mg/dl compared with the C
      group (14.2 +/- 8.9 vs. 6.3 +/- 7.1%, P < 0.02 and 2.4 +/- 1.8 vs. 0.6 +/- 1.0
      mg/dl/day, P < 0.01). The percentage of maximal FMD was lower in the H-group than
      in the C-group (6.52 +/- 2.92 vs. 8.62 +/- 3.13%, P < 0.05). A significantly
      higher IMT was observed at both carotid and femoral sites in the H-group (carotid
      0.53 +/- 0.09 vs. 0.47 +/- 0.08 mm, P < 0.05 and femoral 0.51 +/- 0.17 vs. 0.39
      +/- 0.09 mm, P < 0.05). Baseline inflammation and endothelial function markers
      were higher in the H-group (leukocytes 7.0 +/- 1.8 vs. 5.6 +/- 1.4 * 103/ml, von
      Willebrand factor 119 +/- 29 vs. 93 +/- 26%, fibrinogen 2.82 +/- 0.64 vs. 2.29 +/
      0.44 g/l, and soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 408 +/- 224 vs. 296 +/-
      95 ng/ml; P < 0.05 for all). CONCLUSIONS: In addition to the induction of
      hypoglycemia unawareness and an increased risk for severe hypoglycemia, repeated
      hypoglycemia could be related to and considered an aggravating factor for
      preclinical atherosclerosis in type 1 diabetes. The precise mechanisms explaining
      this association remain to be clarified.

PMID- 20929997
TI  - Osteoprotegerin and mortality in type 2 diabetic patients.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Plasma osteoprotegerin (OPG) is an emerging strong and independent
      predictor of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in high-risk populations. OPG is a bone
      related glycopeptide produced by vascular smooth muscle cells, and increased
      plasma OPG levels may reflect arterial vascular damage. We aimed to investigate
      the prognostic value of OPG in relation to all-cause and cardiovascular mortality
      in a cohort of type 2 diabetic patients. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: In a
      prospective observational follow-up study, 283 type 2 diabetic patients (172 men;
      aged 53.9 +/- 8.8 years) were followed for a median of 16.8 years (range 0.2
      23.0). Baseline plasma OPG concentrations were determined by immunoassay.
      RESULTS: During follow-up, 193 (68%) patients died. High versus low levels of OPG
      predicted all-cause mortality (covariate-adjusted for urinary albumin excretion
      rate [UAER], estimated glomerular filtration rate, and conventional risk
      factors); hazard ratio (HR) 1.81 [95% CI 1.21-2.69]. The all-cause predictive
      effect of OPG was independent of NH(2)-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT
      proBNP) and was also useful within groups divided according to level of UAER. In
      total, 103 (73%) patients died because of CVD. High and medium versus low levels
      of OPG predicted cardiovascular mortality (unadjusted HR 1.86 [95% CI 1.07-3.23]
      and 3.51 [2.10-5.85], respectively). However, after adjustment for the
      covariates, HRs were no longer significant. CONCLUSIONS: Elevated plasma OPG is a
      strong predictor of all-cause mortality in type 2 diabetic patients. The effect
      of OPG on all-cause mortality was independent of conventional cardiovascular risk
      factors, UAER, and NT-proBNP levels.

PMID- 20929998
TI  - Reduction in the incidence of type 2 diabetes with the Mediterranean diet:
      results of the PREDIMED-Reus nutrition intervention randomized trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To test the effects of two Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) interventions
      versus a low-fat diet on incidence of diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: This
      was a three-arm randomized trial in 418 nondiabetic subjects aged 55-80 years
      recruited in one center (PREDIMED-Reus, northeastern Spain) of the Prevencion con
      Dieta Mediterranea [PREDIMED] study, a large nutrition intervention trial for
      primary cardiovascular prevention in individuals at high cardiovascular risk.
      Participants were randomly assigned to education on a low-fat diet (control
      group) or to one of two MedDiets, supplemented with either free virgin olive oil
      (1 liter/week) or nuts (30 g/day). Diets were ad libitum, and no advice on
      physical activity was given. The main outcome was diabetes incidence diagnosed by
      the 2009 American Diabetes Association criteria. RESULTS: After a median follow
      up of 4.0 years, diabetes incidence was 10.1% (95% CI 5.1-15.1), 11.0% (5.9
      16.1), and 17.9% (11.4-24.4) in the MedDiet with olive oil group, the MedDiet
      with nuts group, and the control group, respectively. Multivariable adjusted
      hazard ratios of diabetes were 0.49 (0.25-0.97) and 0.48 (0.24-0.96) in the
      MedDiet supplemented with olive oil and nuts groups, respectively, compared with
      the control group. When the two MedDiet groups were pooled and compared with the
      control group, diabetes incidence was reduced by 52% (27-86). In all study arms,
      increased adherence to the MedDiet was inversely associated with diabetes
      incidence. Diabetes risk reduction occurred in the absence of significant changes
      in body weight or physical activity. CONCLUSIONS: MedDiets without calorie
      restriction seem to be effective in the prevention of diabetes in subjects at
      high cardiovascular risk.

PMID- 20929999
TI  - Improving epinephrine responses in hypoglycemia unawareness with real-time
      continuous glucose monitoring in adolescents with type 1 diabetes.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine whether real-time continuous glucose monitoring (CGM)
      with preset alarms at specific glucose levels would prove a useful tool to
      achieve avoidance of hypoglycemia and improve the counterregulatory response to
      hypoglycemia in adolescents with type 1 diabetes with hypoglycemia unawareness.
      RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Adolescents with type 1 diabetes with hypoglycemia
      unawareness underwent hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemic clamp studies at baseline to
      determine their counterregulatory hormone responses to hypoglycemia. Subjects
      were then randomized to either standard therapy or real-time CGM for 4 weeks. The
      clamp study was then repeated. RESULTS: The epinephrine response during
      hypoglycemia after the intervention was greater in the CGM group than in the
      standard therapy group. CONCLUSIONS: A greater epinephrine response during
      hypoglycemia suggests that real-time CGM is a useful clinical tool to improve
      hypoglycemia unawareness in adolescents with type 1 diabetes.

PMID- 20930000
TI  - Relationship between right ventricular volumes measured by cardiac magnetic
      resonance imaging and prognosis in patients with chronic heart failure.
AB  - AIMS: The aim of this study was to investigate the prognostic impact of right
      ventricular (RV) size in patients with chronic heart failure. METHODS AND
      RESULTS: Normal volunteers (n = 80) and patients (n = 380) with left ventricular
      (LV) ejection fraction <45% on echocardiography and on optimal treatment for
      heart failure underwent cardiac magnetic resonance imaging with measurement of LV
      and RV volumes, mass and ejection fraction. The mean and the standard deviation
      (SD) of the RV end-systolic volume index in normal subjects were used to define
      the normal range as: mean RV end-systolic volume index +2 SD. Patients with
      dilated RV (>2 SD beyond the mean) (25%) had more frequent evidence of fluid
      overload in clinical examination and greater LV dimensions (P < 0.0001). During
      follow-up (median 45, interquartile range: 28-66 months), 37% of patients with
      and 24% without RV dilation died (log-rank test = 8.4; P = 0.004). In a
      multivariable Cox regression model, including 13 other clinical variables, RV
      (HR: 1.08/10 mL/m(2), 95% CI: 1.00-1.18, P = 0.044), but not LV, end-systolic
      volume index predicted a worse outcome. CONCLUSION: Twenty-five per cent of
      patients with heart failure due to LV systolic dysfunction have a dilated right
      ventricle. Greater RV dimensions predict mortality in patients with chronic heart
      failure. Treatments aimed at preserving or enhancing RV structure and function,
      possibly by unloading the RV by reducing pulmonary vascular resistance or left
      atrial pressure, should be investigated.

PMID- 20930001
TI  - Absence of obesity paradox in patients with chronic heart failure and diabetes
      mellitus: a propensity-matched study.
AB  - AIMS: Obesity is paradoxically associated with survival benefit in patients with
      chronic heart failure (HF). However, obesity complicates the management of
      diabetes mellitus (DM), which is common in HF. Yet, little is known about the
      impact of obesity in HF patients with DM. Therefore, we examined the association
      between obesity and outcomes in propensity-matched cohorts of HF patient with and
      without DM. METHODS AND RESULTS: Of the 7788 participants with chronic mild to
      moderate HF in the Digitalis Investigation Group trial, 7379 were non-cachectic
      [body mass index (BMI) >= 20 kg/m2] at baseline. Of these, 2153 (29%) had DM, of
      whom 798 (37%) were obese (BMI >= 30 kg/m2). Of the 5226 patients without DM,
      1162 (22%) were obese. Propensity scores for obesity were used to separately
      assemble 636 pairs of obese and non-obese patients with DM and 770 pairs of obese
      and non-obese patients without DM, who were balanced on 32 baseline
      characteristics. Among matched patients with DM, all-cause mortality occurred in
      38 and 39% of obese and non-obese patients, respectively [hazard ratio (HR) when
      obesity was compared with no obesity 0.99; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.80
      1.22; P = 0.915]. Among matched patients without DM, all-cause mortality occurred
      in 23 and 27% obese and non-obese patients, respectively (HR associated with
      obesity 0.77; 95% CI 0.61-0.97; P = 0.025). CONCLUSION: In patients with chronic
      mild to moderate HF and DM, obesity confers no paradoxical survival benefit.
      Whether intentional weight loss may improve outcomes in these patients needs to
      be investigated in future prospective studies.

PMID- 20930002
TI  - The value of dynamic radiographs in diagnosing painful vertebrae in osteoporotic
      compression fractures.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Many authors have reported the increase in vertebral body
      height after vertebroplasty; if the fractured vertebrae are mobile, we should be
      able to demonstrate their mobility in radiographs. The purpose of this study was
      to discover the diagnostic value of dynamic radiographs and the percentage of
      mobile vertebrae in painful VCFs. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From September 2005 to
      September 2008, 105 patients underwent surgery to treat 144 painful osteoporotic
      VCFs. The indications for surgery were severe pain and MR imaging-confirmed
      active edematous lesions. Preoperative sitting lateral radiographs of the
      fractured vertebrae were compared with supine cross-table (with a bolster
      beneath) lateral radiographs to determine the presence or absence of dynamic
      mobility. Kyphotic angle and anterior vertebral body height were measured.
      RESULTS: The patients' ages ranged from 62 to 90 years. There were 19 men and 86
      women. The total number of mobile VCFs was 126 (87.5%). One hundred four (99%)
      patients had at least 1 mobile VCF. The average anterior vertebral height in
      sitting lateral radiographs was 13.53 +/- 6.80 mm and increased to 22.01 +/- 6.13
      mm in supine cross-table with bolster lateral radiographs. The average vertebral
      body height increase was 8.48 +/- 5.36 mm. CONCLUSIONS: Dynamic (sitting and
      supine with bolster) radiographs can be valuable in diagnosing painful vertebrae
      in VCFs. The sensitivity was 0.88 in this study.

PMID- 20930003
TI  - Abnormal microstructure of the atrophic thalamus in preterm survivors with
      periventricular leukomalacia.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The neuroanatomic substrate of cognitive deficits in long
      term survivors of prematurity with PVL is poorly understood. The thalamus is
      critically involved in cognition via extensive interconnections with the cerebral
      cortex. We hypothesized that the thalamus is atrophic (reduced in volume) in
      childhood survivors of prematurity with neuroimaging evidence of PVL and that the
      atrophy is associated with selective microstructural abnormalities within its
      subdivisions. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We performed quantitative volumetric and DTI
      measurements of the thalamus in 17 children with neuroimaging evidence of PVL
      (mean postconceptional age, 5.6 +/- 4.0 years) who were born prematurely and
      compared these with 74 term control children (5.7 +/- 3.4 years). RESULTS: The
      major findings were the following: 1) a significant reduction in the overall
      volume of the thalamus in patients with PVL compared with controls (P < .0001),
      which also correlated with the severity of PVL (P = .001); 2) significantly
      decreased FA (P = .003) and increased lambda(?) (P = .02) in the thalamus overall
      and increased axial, radial, and mean diffusivities in the pulvinar (P < .03),
      suggesting injury to afferent and efferent myelinated axons; and 3) a positive
      correlation of pulvinar abnormalities with those of the parieto-occipital white
      matter in periventricular leukomalacia, suggesting that the pulvinar
      abnormalities reflect secondary effects of damaged interconnections between the
      pulvinar and parieto-occipital cortices in the cognitive visual network.
      CONCLUSIONS: There are volumetric and microstructural abnormalities of the
      thalamus in preterm children with PVL, very likely reflecting neuronal loss and
      myelinated axonal injury. The selective microstructural damage in the pulvinar
      very likely contributes to abnormal cognitive visual processing known to occur in
      such survivors.

PMID- 20930004
TI  - Maximal flow at functional residual capacity in healthy children from birth to 7
      years, and beyond.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Reference values for maximal expiratory flows throughout childhood
      have been developed for each age group, but it remains a challenge to find a
      single outcome measure that can be tracked from birth to childhood. We believe
      that maximal flow at functional residual capacity (FRC) (VmaxFRC) may be a good
      candidate. The aim of this article was to explore the possible use of VmaxFRC as
      a continuous measure in healthy infants and children of preschool age. METHODS:
      Original spirometric data from healthy infants and preschool children in
      previously published studies from four centers around the world were reanalyzed
      (N = 242; ages 0-7 years). In preschool children, VmaxFRC was extracted by
      reanalysis of available records. Multiple regression analysis was applied to find
      the best correlation between VmaxFRC and height, weight, and/or age. VmaxFRC
      values were also compared with previously published data from healthy populations
      of similar ages. RESULTS: VmaxFRC highly correlated with height from infancy to
      childhood: Ln{VmaxFRC [L/s]} = -11.99 + (2.561 * Ln{Length[cm]}), where Ln is
      natural logarithm; r = 0.90; SE = 0.355; P < .0001. Adding weight but not age
      improved the correlation slightly (r = 0.91). VmaxFRC values were not affected by
      sex, maneuver modality (passive or voluntary), body posture, or degree of
      sedation. We found very good agreement between our calculated VmaxFRC values and
      the extrapolated VmaxFRC values from reference data of similar and older
      populations. CONCLUSIONS: VmaxFRC can be easily extracted from spirometry and can
      potentially serve as a continuous spirometric parameter for describing maximal
      flow at low lung volumes. Further studies are needed to confirm VmaxFRC values in
      a wider age range in health and disease.

PMID- 20930005
TI  - Early and long-term validation of an algorithm assessing fitness for surgery in
      patients with postoperative FEV1 and diffusing capacity of the lung for carbon
      monoxide < 40%.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is evidence in the literature that the incidence of pulmonary
      complications and mortality is fair enough in patients with lower pulmonary
      function than conventionally accepted. In this article, we validate in patients
      with low baseline lung function (ie, FEV(1) or diffusing capacity of the lung for
      carbon monoxide [DLCO] < 80%) an algorithm to evaluate anatomic lung surgery in
      patients with low predicted postoperative lung function (ie, either FEV(1)
      postoperative estimated [ppo] or DLCO-ppo < 40% or both between 30% and 40%
      predicted) if peak oxygen uptake (VO(2)peak)-ppo > 10 mL/kg/min. METHODS: We
      prospectively studied 126 consecutive patients evaluated for anatomic resection
      of lung tumors by thoracotomy. RESULTS: Ninety-two patients were operated on: age
      67 (8 SD) years; FEV(1) 63 (14)% pp; DLCO 71 (19)% pp; VO(2)peak 71 (19)%
      predicted; and 2-year Kaplan-Meier conditional probability of survival (CPS) 0.62
      (0.06). Thirty-day perioperative mortality was 6.4%. Thirty-four patients were
      not functionally fit, or rejected the procedure: age 69 (8) years; FEV(1) 58
      (16)% predicted; DLCO 67 (26)% predicted; VO(2)peak 66 (16)% predicted. In this
      group, 2-year CPS was 0.18 (0.08), P < .01. Subgroups A (FEV(1)-ppo and DLCO-ppo
      > 40% predicted) and B (either FEV(1)-ppo or DLCO-ppo < 40% predicted or both
      between 30% and 40% predicted) were comparable in terms of perioperative
      morbidity; however, they were different in terms of 30-day mortality (A, 1/53
      [1.9%]; B, 5/37 [13.5%]; P = .047; relative risk, 7.2; 95% CI 1.1-27.7). The
      survival functions of both subgroups were significantly different (P < .01) from
      nonsurgical subjects. CONCLUSIONS: Adherence to the proposed algorithm results in
      a reasonable preoperative mortality in patients with low preoperative lung
      function. Although perioperative mortality is significantly higher when predicted
      postoperative lung function is low, 2-year survival of patients is better than if
      such patients had not undergone surgery.

PMID- 20930006
TI  - Rapid pleurodesis for malignant pleural effusions: a pilot study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Malignant pleural effusions (MPEs) affect > 150,000 people each year
      in the United States. Current palliative options include pleurodesis and
      placement of an indwelling catheter, each with its own associated benefits. This
      study was conducted to determine the safety, efficacy, and feasibility of a rapid
      pleurodesis protocol by combining medical thoracoscopy with talc pleurodesis and
      simultaneous placement of a tunneled pleural catheter (TPC) in patients with
      symptomatic MPE. METHODS: Patients with recurrent, symptomatic MPEs underwent
      medical thoracoscopy with placement of a TPC and talc poudrage. The TPC was
      drained per protocol until the output was < 150 mL/d on two consecutive drainage
      attempts and then removed. Patients were followed for up to 6 months. RESULTS:
      Between October 2005 and September 2009, 30 patients underwent the procedure. The
      median duration of hospitalization following the procedure was 1.79 days. All
      patients showed an improvement in dyspnea and quality of life. Pleurodesis was
      successful in 92% of patients, and the TPC was removed at a median of 7.54 days.
      Complications included fever (two patients), the need for TPC replacement (one
      patient), and empyema (one patient). CONCLUSION: Rapid pleurodesis can be
      achieved safely by combining medical thoracoscopy and talc poudrage with
      simultaneous TPC placement. Both hospital length of stay and duration of TPC use
      can be reduced significantly as compared with historical controls of either
      procedure alone. Future randomized trials are needed to confirm these results.

PMID- 20930007
TI  - Community-acquired respiratory coinfection in critically ill patients with
      pandemic 2009 influenza A(H1N1) virus.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Little is known about the impact of community-acquired respiratory
      coinfection in patients with pandemic 2009 influenza A(H1N1) virus infection.
      METHODS: This was a prospective, observational, multicenter study conducted in
      148 Spanish ICUs. RESULTS: Severe respiratory syndrome was present in 645 ICU
      patients. Coinfection occurred in 113 (17.5%) of patients. Streptococcus
      pneumoniae (in 62 patients [54.8%]) was identified as the most prevalent
      bacteria. Patients with coinfection at ICU admission were older (47.5+/-15.7 vs
      43.8+/-14.2 years, P<.05) and presented a higher APACHE (Acute Physiology and
      Chronic Health Evaluation) II score (16.1+/-7.3 vs 13.3+/-7.1, P<.05) and
      Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score (7.0+/-3.8 vs 5.2+/-3.5, P<.05).
      No differences in comorbidities were observed. Patients who had coinfection
      required vasopressors (63.7% vs 39.3%, P<.05) and invasive mechanical ventilation
      (69% vs 58.5%, P<.05) more frequently. ICU length of stay was 3 days longer in
      patients who had coinfection than in patients who did not (11 [interquartile
      range, 5-23] vs 8 [interquartile range 4-17], P=.01). Coinfection was associated
      with increased ICU mortality (26.2% vs 15.5%; OR, 1.94; 95% CI, 1.21-3.09), but
      Cox regression analysis adjusted by potential confounders did not confirm a
      significant association between coinfection and ICU mortality. CONCLUSIONS:
      During the 2009 pandemics, the role played by bacterial coinfection in bringing
      patients to the ICU was not clear, S pneumoniae being the most common pathogen.
      This work provides clear evidence that bacterial coinfection is a contributor to
      increased consumption of health resources by critical patients infected with the
      virus and is the virus that causes critical illness in the vast majority of
      cases.

PMID- 20930008
TI  - Monitoring asthma control in children with allergies by soft computing of lung
      function and exhaled nitric oxide.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Asthma control is emphasized by new guidelines but remains poor in
      many children. Evaluation of control relies on subjective patient recall and may
      be overestimated by health-care professionals. This study assessed the value of
      spirometry and fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) measurements, used alone or
      in combination, in models developed by a machine learning approach in the
      objective classification of asthma control according to Global Initiative for
      Asthma guidelines and tested the model in a second group of children with asthma.
      METHODS: Fifty-three children with persistent atopic asthma underwent two to six
      evaluations of asthma control, including spirometry and FeNO. Soft computing
      evaluation was performed by means of artificial neural networks and principal
      component analysis. The model was then tested in a cross-sectional study in an
      additional 77 children with allergic asthma. RESULTS: The machine learning method
      was not able to distinguish different levels of control using either spirometry
      or FeNO values alone. However, their use in combination modeled by soft computing
      was able to discriminate levels of asthma control. In particular, the model is
      able to recognize all children with uncontrolled asthma and correctly identify
      99.0% of children with totally controlled asthma. In the cross-sectional study,
      the model prospectively identified correctly all the uncontrolled children and
      79.6% of the controlled children. CONCLUSIONS: Soft computing analysis of
      spirometry and FeNO allows objective categorization of asthma control status.

PMID- 20930009
TI  - Twenty-two years' experience with childhood-onset SLE in a developing country:
      are outcomes similar to developed countries?
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The outcome of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) has dramatically
      improved since the introduction of corticosteroids; however, although many
      regimens of treatment have been supplemented, the mortality has not improved
      further. OBJECTIVE: To describe the severity and outcome in patients diagnosed
      with SLE aged <=18 years in a group of Thai children, compare gender and age
      differences, and our outcomes with those from developed countries. METHODS: The
      authors retrospectively reviewed the files of patients aged <=18 years diagnosed
      with SLE admitted to Songklanagarind University Hospital in southern Thailand,
      for the period 1985-2007. Patient survival rates were calculated. RESULTS: There
      were 213 SLE patients, 41 males and 172 females, average age 11.6+/-2.6 years,
      with a median follow-up of 3.6 years. Outcomes were alive (109), lost to follow
      up (22), referred (31) or deceased (51). Of the patients who were alive, 23 were
      not on any treatment, 59 were on prednisolone alone while 27 were on prednisolone
      plus some other immunosuppressive drug. Total survival rates were 88%, 76% and
      64% at 2, 5 and 10 years, respectively. Males had significantly worse survival
      than females at 2 and 5 years (78% vs 91% and 58% vs 80%, respectively, p=0.018).
      There were no differences in mortality between age groups. The 5-year survival
      rates in the periods 1985-1993, 1994-2000 and 2001-2007 were not significantly
      different. CONCLUSION: This retrospective study of patients with SLE in southern
      Thailand showed different outcomes compared to some studies and similar survival
      rates and treatment status to other studies, with one-fourth of surviving
      patients being free of medication.

PMID- 20930010
TI  - Bronchoalveolar lavage in children with cystic fibrosis: how many lobes should be
      sampled?
AB  - BACKGROUND: The European Respiratory Society guidance on bronchoalveolar lavage
      (BAL) in children was published in 2000. It recommended taking one BAL specimen
      from the most affected lobe or from the right middle lobe in diffuse disease. In
      2007, the European Respiratory Society modified the recommendations for children
      with cystic fibrosis (CF), suggesting two BAL specimens (right middle lobe and
      the lingula or the most affected lobe). OBJECTIVE: To determine if BAL samples
      from one or two lobes give the full picture of lower airway infection in children
      with CF. DESIGN, SETTING AND PATIENTS: A retrospective review of all paediatric
      patients with CF who underwent flexible bronchoscopy between May 2007 and May
      2009 was undertaken. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: As BAL specimens from all six lobes
      were collected, the BAL results were reviewed to identify if positive cultures
      would have been missed if only one lobe (right middle or most affected) or two
      lobes (right middle plus the lingula or most affected) had been sampled. RESULTS:
      The results of 39 bronchoscopic procedures in 31 children were reviewed. The BAL
      samples were taken from 6 lobes in all 39 procedures. Had only one lobe been
      used, 26 positive cultures (14 organisms) would have been missed in 11 patients.
      Had two lobes been used, 12 positive cultures (8 organisms) would have been
      missed in 7 patients. CONCLUSION: A single-lobe BAL is insufficient in assessing
      patients with CF for lower airway infection. Even when BAL specimens are taken
      from two lobes, a number of infections may be missed.

PMID- 20930011
TI  - When the mother is a child: the impact of child marriage on the health and human
      rights of girls.

PMID- 20930012
TI  - Treatment of severe childhood constipation with restorative proctocolectomy: the
      surgeon's view.

PMID- 20930013
TI  - Pubertal development in daughters of women with pre-eclampsia.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare clinical signs of puberty onset in daughters of pre
      eclampsia and normotensive pregnancies. DESIGN: Population based follow-up study.
      METHODS: In a cohort of 120 daughters of pre-eclampsia pregnancies and 203
      daughters of pregnancies without pre-eclampsia, pubic hair growth and breast
      development were assessed at 11, 12 and 13 years of age by Tanner scores and by
      self-assessment. RESULTS: Compared to the normotensive group, pubic hair growth
      (pubarche) more often preceded breast development (thelarche) (risk ratio (RR)
      2.3, 95% CI 1.3 to 4.1) and thelarche less often preceded pubarche (RR 0.8, 95%
      CI 0.7 to 1.0) in daughters of pre-eclampsia pregnancies. Adjustment for birth
      weight and body mass index in early adolescence did not substantially influence
      these results, but increasing severity of pre-eclampsia strengthened the
      differences. CONCLUSIONS: Pubarche tends to precede thelarche in daughters of pre
      eclampsia pregnancies compared to daughters of normotensive pregnancies. This may
      reflect a stronger androgenic influence in daughters of pre-eclampsia pregnancies
      at the beginning of puberty.

PMID- 20930014
TI  - Managing anorexia nervosa.
AB  - Clinical confidence and coordinated multidisciplinary care can influence the
      course of anorexia nervosa in children and adolescents. Sicker and younger
      patients with anorexia nervosa often present first to a paediatrician, requiring
      early recognition and appropriate management. Paediatric knowledge and skills are
      also needed to manage the impact of eating disorders on growth and development.
      This review provides practical guidance on the management of anorexia nervosa for
      paediatricians, in the areas of assessment, acute management and re-feeding, and
      long-term monitoring. In the absence of a strong evidence base for some of these
      recommendations, local protocols based on best practice guidelines can reduce
      anxiety, increase cooperation and reduce risk.

PMID- 20930015
TI  - Seizure relapse following medication withdrawal in childhood epilepsy.

PMID- 20930016
TI  - Comparison of 6-min walk test distance and cardiopulmonary exercise test
      performance in children with pulmonary hypertension.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the relationship between 6-min walk test (6MWT) distance and
      variables of cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) in children with pulmonary
      arterial hypertension (PAH). DESIGN: Retrospective study. SETTING: Tertiary
      hospital. PATIENTS: Children with PAH. INTERVENTIONS: CPETs and 6MWTs. MAIN
      OUTCOME MEASURES: Correlations between variables of CPET and 6MWT distance.
      RESULTS: 41 exercise studies were included: 15 in children with idiopathic PAH
      (mean age 13.0+/-3.0 years; 9 female), 18 in children with PAH associated with
      congenital heart disease (age 14.8+/-2.8 years; 7 female) and 8 in children with
      Eisenmenger syndrome (age 11.8+/-2.9 years; 4 female). All underwent a CPET and
      6MWT. Peak oxygen consumption (pVO(2)) and 6MWT distance were reduced to 31.5+/
      12.2% and 47.7+/-16.7% of the predicted value, respectively (p<0.0001 for both).
      pVO(2) and oxygen consumption at anaerobic threshold showed correlation with 6MWT
      distance (r=0.49; p=0.001 and r=0.40, p=0.01, respectively), while an inverse
      correlation was found between measures of ventilatory efficiency (eg, VE/VCO(2))
      at anaerobic threshold and 6MWT distance (r=-0.43; p=0.005). There was a
      significant linear relationship between pVO(2) and 6MWT up to a distance of 300
      m, with the 6MWT distance accounting for 71% of the variation in pVO(2) but there
      was hardly any association when the 6MWT distance was >300 m. CONCLUSIONS: The
      6MWT reflects maximal exercise capacity in patients with a 6MWT distance below
      300 m. A CPET should therefore be considered as a complimentary test in children
      with an exercise tolerance above this threshold. These findings may have
      implications for assessing response to drug therapy and for consideration as an
      end point in future PAH trials.

PMID- 20930017
TI  - Routine educational outcome measures in health studies: Key Stage 1 in the ORACLE
      Children Study follow-up of randomised trial cohorts.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Statutory educational attainment measures are rarely used as health
      study outcomes, but Key Stage 1 (KS1) data formed secondary outcomes in the long
      term follow-up to age 7 years of the ORACLE II trial of antibiotic use in preterm
      babies. This paper describes the approach, compares different approaches to
      analysis of the KS1 data and compares use of summary KS1 (level) data with use of
      individual question scores. PARTICIPANTS: 3394 children born to women in the
      ORACLE Children Study and resident in England at age 7. METHODS: Analysis of
      educational achievement measured by national end of KS1 data (KS1) using Poisson
      regression modelling and anchoring of the KS1 data using external standards.
      RESULTS: KS1 summary level data were obtained for 3239 (95%) eligible children;
      raw individual question scores were obtained for 1899 (54%). Use of individual
      question scores where available did not change the conclusion of no evidence of
      treatment effects based on summary KS1 outcome data. CONCLUSIONS: When accessible
      for medical research purposes, routinely collected educational outcome data may
      have advantages of low cost and standardised definition. Here, summary scores
      lead to similar conclusions to raw (individual question) scores and so are
      attractive and cost-effective alternatives.

PMID- 20930018
TI  - Diplopia as a presenting symptom in a gastric gastrointestinal stromal tumor.
AB  - Gastrointestinal stromal tumors are the most common mesenchymal neoplasm of the
      gastrointestinal tract. Distant metastasis of gastrotintestinal stromal tumors
      occurs in ~50% of the cases and is usually found in the liver and peritoneum. We
      present a patient with diplopia which was due to a metastatic gastrointestinal
      stromal tumor of the clivus. Transsphenoidal resection of the tumor was performed
      and post-operative treatment with oral imatinib mesylate was done. One month
      after the surgery, treatment was started with imatinib and the patient's diplopia
      improved within 15 days. Follow-up computed tomography was taken 2 months after
      the initiation of oral imatinib, and the size of the main gastric mass has
      decreased. To our knowledge, this is an extremely rare case of gastrointestinal
      stromal tumor with metastasis to the clivus with diplopia as the presenting
      symptom. We report our clinical findings along with a review of the relevant
      literature.

PMID- 20930020
TI  - Antenatal testing and the subsequent birth of a child with Down syndrome: a
      phenomenological study of parents' experiences.
AB  - The objective was to gain a deeper insight into the lived experiences of parents
      during antenatal testing for Down syndrome and the subsequent birth of their
      baby. A phenomenological research inquiry used unstructured interviews and
      thematic framework analysis. Conversations between parents and midwives about
      Down syndrome, when they occurred, were brief, functional and had a biomedical
      problem orientation. Antenatal screening failed to meet parents' expectations of
      better preparation for birth. After birth, children's 'differentness' rather than
      health needs was the main focus of care interventions. The inquiry revealed the
      'invisibility' of the potential child with Down syndrome. Professionals in
      maternity care services must be equipped with appropriate knowledge about Down
      syndrome in order to better support parents. Such preparation must include a
      balanced view of the future of the child, consistent with the principle of
      reproductive autonomy. Appropriate support after birth is also essential in
      helping parents to adapt to their new situation.

PMID- 20930021
TI  - The adult day care workforce in England at a time of policy change: implications
      for learning disability support services.
AB  - More people will receive personal budgets to pay for social care services in
      England. Such people may or may not continue using services such as adult day
      care centres. Many day centres are under threat of closure. These trends will
      affect those working in adult day care. This article examines the profile of this
      workforce, using recent NMDS-SC data and applying multinomial statistical
      modelling. We identified nearly 6000 adult day care workers, over half supporting
      adults with learning disability. The results of the analysis show significant
      variations between the adult day care, residential care and domiciliary
      workforces. At the personal level, day care workers are significantly older and
      less ethnically diverse than other workers. They tend to have been working in the
      sector for longer, and their work patterns are more stable. The findings are
      discussed within the context of policy changes affecting learning disabilities
      and social care workforce strategies.

PMID- 20930022
TI  - Developing a person-centred support service for families caring for children with
      severe learning disabilities in rural and urban areas.
AB  - The article describes an innovative, person-centred service provided to families
      who had a child or teenager with severe learning (intellectual) disabilities. It
      was delivered in three areas within Northern Ireland: two urban and one rural.
      The service promoted the social inclusion of young people in volunteer-run
      community activities, based around a person-centred plan developed with the
      child's family. A three-year formative evaluation of the service was undertaken
      (2006-2008) via interviews and focus groups with parents (N = 48), young people
      (N = 19), volunteers (N = 7), community workers (N = 4) and referring social
      services staff (N = 14). The service was successfully implemented in all three
      areas. In particular, it helped parents to clarify their individual support needs
      and engaged their child in ordinary community activities. The distinctive
      features of the service and the changed ethos it represents are discussed.

PMID- 20930023
TI  - Focus groups with people with learning disabilities.
AB  - Focus groups are a widely accepted method in qualitative research. While there is
      a burgeoning literature on the methodology of focus groups, using focus groups
      with people with learning disabilities has received less attention so far. The
      article serves two purposes: (1) to review the current literature on focus groups
      in learning disability research and (2) to sketch four aspects that may impact on
      the usefulness of the focus group method with respondents with learning
      disabilities. Some comments on the role of focus groups in qualitative research
      start the article before we outline the emancipatory and participatory context of
      research with people with learning disabilities.

PMID- 20930024
TI  - Assessing motivation for work in people with developmental disabilities.
AB  - Factors that might influence motivation for work have been neglected in previous
      investigations in the process of people with intellectual disabilities finding
      employment. This article describes the development of The Work Readiness Scale
      which was largely adapted from The Readiness to Change Questionnaire. A
      structured interview was conducted with 69 participants who had developmental and
      intellectual disabilities while at the supported employment agency or vocational
      training centre in a large city in England. A subgroup of 43 individuals
      completed the questionnaire again about two weeks later. A member of staff who
      knew the person well was asked to independently rate the motivational level of
      the individual. The questionnaire seems to have reasonable psychometric
      properties and may have utility in assessing individuals for work and designing
      appropriate training to find work.

PMID- 20930025
TI  - An unusual syncope cause in the ED: favism.
AB  - Favism is an acute hemolytic syndrome occurring in glucose-6-phosphate
      dehydrogenase (G6PD)-deficient individuals after the consumption of fava beans.
      The highest incidence is in boys aged 2-6 years. We report a 56-year-old man
      presented to the emergency department (ED) with recurrent syncope attacks due to
      favism. In our knowledge, this is the first report of favism-caused syncope in an
      adult patient without a G6PD deficiency diagnosis in the past and diagnosed in
      ED.

PMID- 20930026
TI  - Protective role of Vernonia cinerea L. against gamma radiation--induced
      immunosupression and oxidative stress in mice.
AB  - The radioprotective effect of Vernonia cinerea extract was studied in balb/c
      mice. Whole-body irradiation of gamma-rays (6 Gy) given to animals reduced the
      white blood cell count, bone marrow cellularity and alpha-esterase positive cells
      in control animals, which were elevated by the administration of V. cinerea
      extract (20 mg/kg body weight [b.wt.], intraperitoneally [i.p.]). The elevated
      levels of serum enzymes alkaline phosphatase (ALP), glutamate pyruvate
      transferases (GPT) and lipid peroxidation (LPO) after irradiation were also
      reduced with V. cineria extract administration. V. cinerea treatment also
      significantly enhanced the animal's antioxidant status by enhancing the
      activities superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase
      (GPx) and reduced glutathione (GSH) level in irradiated animals.
      Histopathological analysis of liver and small intestine also suggests that V.
      cinerea could reduce the tissue damages induced by radiation. The level of pro
      inflammatory cytokines such as interleukin 1beta (IL-1beta), tumour necrosis
      factor alpha (TNF-alpha) and C-reactive protein (CRP) elevated after irradiation,
      which were significantly reduced by V. cinerea extract administration. On the
      other hand, the extract stimulated the production of other cytokines such as
      granulocyte monocyte-colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and interferon-gamma (IFN
      gamma) in animals exposed to radiation. Agarose gel electrophoresis of DNA
      isolated from bone marrow of control animals showed heavy DNA damage, but a
      reduced DNA damage was seen in animals treated with V. cinerea extract.
      Administration of V. cinerea did not compromise the anti-neoplastic efficiency of
      radiation. In fact, there was a synergistic action of radiation and V. cinerea in
      reducing the solid tumours in mice. Methanolic extract of V. cinerea given i.p.
      showed a significant radioprotective activity without compromising the
      radiotherapeutic efficacy of radiation, indicating its possible use as an
      adjuvant during radiotherapy.

PMID- 20930027
TI  - Acute toxicity and synergism of binary mixtures of antifouling biocides with
      heavy metals to embryos of sea urchin Glyptocidaris crenularis.
AB  - Acute toxicity and synergism of four antifouling biocides (Irgarol 1051,
      dichlofluanid, tolylfluanid and Sea-Nine 211) and five heavy metals (Ni, Pb, Zn,
      Cd and Cu) are investigated using the sea urchin embryos of Glyptocidaris
      crenularis (G. crenularis) at six typical developmental stages, that is, 2-cell,
      4-cell, 8-cell, blastula, gastrula and 4-arm pluteus. Our results show that the
      toxicity of the four biocides is in an order of Sea-Nine 211 > tolylfluanid >
      dichlofluanid > Irgarol 1051 and their -log EC(50) values at all stages are
      strongly linearly correlated with the 1-octanol/water partition coefficient (log
      P) values (correlation coefficients R > 0.72) indicating the importance of
      hydrophobicity for the embryonic toxicity. For the five heavy metals, the EC(50)
      ranges from 0.36 to 30.78 MUM and the toxicity follows an order of Cu > Pb > Zn >
      Cd >Ni. The significant correlation (R > 0.79) between the -log EC50 and the
      bioconcentration factor (log BCF) values of metals also indicate that the
      bioaccumulation property of metals contributes to their aquatic toxicity. In
      addition, the joint effects of the biocides with the heavy metals in embryonic
      development are assessed by using a concentration addition model. Synergistic
      effects are observed in almost all 25 mixtures, showing that Cu yields the
      strongest while Ni the weakest synergistic toxic effects on the embryos
      development.

PMID- 20930028
TI  - 2-(3-Methoxyphenyl)-6, 7-methylenedioxoquinolin-4-one, a novel synthetic
      compound, inhibited migration and invasion in TSGH8301 human bladder cancer
      cells.
AB  - Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) play an important role in the invasion,
      metastasis and angiogenesis of cancer cells. Many agents have been shown to
      inhibit the cancer cell migration and invasion by suppression of MMPs. 2-(3
      Methoxyphenyl)-6,7-methylenedioxoquinolin-4-one (MMEQ) is a derivative compound
      synthesized from quinolin and the purpose of this study is to determine whether
      or not cell migration would be reduced in human bladder cancer TSGH8301 cells
      after MMEQ treatment. Wound healing assay and boyden chamber assay were used in
      cell migration and invasion determinations. Cell migration and invasion inhibited
      by MMEQ exerted an inhibitory effect on the sevenless homolog-1 (SOS-1), protein
      kinase c (PKC), extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) and Rho A for causing
      the inhibitions of MMP-2 and -9, and then followed by the inhibitions of invasion
      and migration. MMEQ also affected FAK, PI3K or inhibited growth factor receptor
      bound protein 2 (GRB2), nuclear factor kappaB (NF-kappaB), inducible nitric oxide
      synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) for cell proliferation inhibition.
      Therefore, MMEQ may serve as a drug in the prevention of tumor metastasis of
      bladder cancer in the future.

PMID- 20930029
TI  - Protective effect of Cassia fistula fruit extract against bromobenzene-induced
      liver injury in mice.
AB  - In the present study, hepatoprotective effect of Cassia fistula fruit extract was
      investigated in mice. Animals were divided into six groups receiving normal
      saline (1), bromobenzene (460 mg/kg) alone (2) and together with increasing doses
      (200, 400, 600, 800 mg/kg) of a crude hydro-alcoholic extract of Cassia fistula
      fruit (3-6, respectively). All administrations were carried out orally, daily,
      for 10 days. On the 11th day, animals were sacrificed. Serum activities of
      aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), alkaline
      phosphatase (ALP) and gamma glutamyl transpeptidase (gammaGT) were determined;
      serum levels of direct and total bilirubin were measured; furthermore, livers
      were prepared for histological examination. Our results showed that bromobenzene
      treatment alone elicited a significant increase in activities of AST, ALT, ALP
      (but not gammaGT), and it significantly elevated the levels of direct and total
      bilirubin. Co-treatment with Cassia fistula fruit extract, however, significantly
      and dose-dependently decreased the above-mentioned enzyme activities (with
      exception of gammaGT) and bilirubin levels, producing a recovery to the naive
      state. The protective effect of Cassia fistula fruit extract against liver injury
      evoked by bromobenzene was confirmed by histological examination as well. In
      conclusion, the Cassia fistula fruit extract has significant hepatoprotective
      effect in our murine model.

PMID- 20930030
TI  - SMG6 interacts with the exon junction complex via two conserved EJC-binding
      motifs (EBMs) required for nonsense-mediated mRNA decay.
AB  - Nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) is a quality control mechanism that detects
      and degrades mRNAs containing premature stop codons (PTCs). In vertebrates, PTCs
      trigger efficient NMD when located upstream of an exon junction complex (EJC).
      Degradation of PTC-containing mRNAs requires the endonucleolytic activity of
      SMG6, a conserved NMD factor; nevertheless, the precise role for the EJC in NMD
      and how the SMG6 endonuclease is recruited to NMD targets have been unclear. Here
      we show that SMG6 interacts directly with the EJC via two conserved EJC-binding
      motifs (EBMs). We further show that the SMG6-EJC interaction is required for NMD.
      Our results reveal an unprecedented role for the EJC in recruiting the SMG6
      endonuclease to NMD targets. More generally, our findings identify the EBM as a
      protein motif present in a handful of proteins, and suggest that EJCs establish
      multiple and mutually exclusive interactions with various protein partners,
      providing a plausible explanation for the myriad functions performed by this
      complex in post-transcriptional mRNA regulation.

PMID- 20930031
TI  - Monoclonal free light chains can be found in heavy chain diseases.
AB  - Heavy chain diseases (HCDs) are rare B-cell lymphoproliferative neoplasias
      characterized by the production of a monoclonal component consisting of a
      truncated monoclonal Ig heavy chain without the associated light chain. Among
      them, patients with gamma-HCD are so rare that no more than 150 cases can be
      found in the literature. In this paper, we report one additional case: an 83-year
      old man with a gamma-HCD, in whom a kappa light chain component was detected in
      the serum by using the serum free light-chain assessment and in addition
      monoclonal kappa cytoplasmic expression was detected in bone marrow plasma cells
      by flow cytometric analysis. In the work-up of the patient, the underlying
      anatomopathological lymphoproliferative disease corresponded to a
      lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma, as it is stated in the current World Health
      Organization classification (2008), with both lymphadenopathic and bone marrow
      infiltration. As in other cases, several autoimmune manifestations
      (antiphospholipidic syndrome and immune thrombocytopenia) were present during the
      course of the disease in this patient. This case report illustrates a new case of
      gamma-HCD, in which serum free light-chain analysis and flow cytometry
      represented a valuable tool for diagnosis, a finding that could be very important
      for the future management of these patients.

PMID- 20930032
TI  - Effect of recipient-derived cells on the progression of familial amyloidotic
      polyneuropathy after liver transplantation: a retrospective study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Some familial amyloidotic polyneuropathy (FAP) patients show the post
      transplant progression of the clinical symptoms. Although the presence of
      recipient-derived cells in transplanted livers has been reported, no studies
      investigating the functional significance of this post-transplant chimerism in
      transplanted FAP patients were performed. The aims of this study were to evaluate
      amyloidogenic transthyretin (ATTR) production of recipient-derived cells and the
      relationship between the protein from recipient-derived cells and the progression
      of FAP symptoms after liver transplantation (LT). METHODS: Seven FAP ATTR
      Val30Met patients who underwent LT were included in this study. In one male
      patient with sex-mismatched donor, fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH)
      method was performed on a liver biopsy sample using DNA probes for visualizing X
      and Y chromosomes to detect the recipient-derived cells. In three patients
      including the FISH-analysed patient, ATTR mRNA expression in transplanted livers
      was evaluated by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-restriction fragment length
      polymorphism method and realtime quantitative reverse transcription-PCR. In five
      of the seven patients, ATTR in serum protein expression was measured by mass
      spectrometry. RESULTS: One FAP patient has 3.1% recipient-derived cells in the
      transplanted liver. The ATTR mRNA was not expressed in any of the three
      transplanted livers. The ATTR was not detected in any sera of the sampled
      patients. CONCLUSION: Although the FAP patient had recipient-derived cells in the
      transplanted liver, the recipient-derived cells did not contribute to the
      production of ATTR in our specific case. The effect of recipient-derived cells on
      the post-transplant progression of FAP symptoms may be negligible.

PMID- 20930033
TI  - The measurement, definition, aetiology and clinical consequences of neonatal
      transient hypothyroxinaemia.
AB  - This review focuses on neonatal transient hypothyroxinaemia, a condition
      characterized by temporary postnatal reductions in concentrations of Total T4 or
      Free T4, with normal or low concentrations of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH).
      There is neither an agreed quantitative definition, nor an agreed mode of
      measurement for the condition. Transient hypothyroxinaemia is not routinely
      monitored yet it is thought to affect about 50% of preterm infants; it was
      thought to be without long-term sequelae but observational studies indicate that
      neurodevelopment may be compromised. The aetiology of transient hypothyroxinaemia
      is complex. There are significant contributions from the withdrawal of maternal
      placental thyroxine transfer, hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid immaturity,
      developmental constraints on the synthesis and peripheral metabolism of
      iodothyronines and iodine deficiency. It is not possible to distinguish
      clinically, or from laboratory measurements, whether transient hypothyroxinaemia
      is an independent condition or simply a consequence of non-thyroidal illness
      and/or drug usage. An answer to this question is important because studies of
      thyroid hormone replacement have been instigated, with mixed results. Until the
      aetiology of transient hypothyroxinaemia is better understood it would seem
      prudent not to routinely supplement preterm infants with thyroid hormones. Iodine
      deficiency, non-thyroidal illness and drug usage are the most modifiable risk
      factors for transient hypothyroxinaemia and are the clear choices for attempts at
      reducing its incidence. We suggest that transient hypothyroxinaemia in preterm
      infants is defined as a normal or low TSH concentration in conjunction with a
      concentration of Total T4, that is <=10th percentile of cord Total T4 of the
      equivalent gestational age had the infant remained in utero.

PMID- 20930034
TI  - Structure, assembly and homeostatic regulation of the 26S proteasome.
AB  - The 26S proteasome is the major protease responsible for degradation of
      regulatory and abnormal proteins in the cell. Proteasomal degradation controls
      many cellular processes including, but not limited to, cell cycle control,
      transcription, DNA repair, apoptosis, quality control and antigen presentation.
      To elucidate how the proteasome is regulated is crucial to our understanding of
      the molecular details of proteasomal degradation and its functions in diverse
      biological pathways. In this article, I will highlight recent advances in
      understanding the proteasome structure and assembly and the regulation of
      proteasome gene expression. The implications of these new developments in cancer
      therapy will also be discussed.

PMID- 20930035
TI  - Combining phylogenomics and fossils in higher-level squamate reptile phylogeny:
      molecular data change the placement of fossil taxa.
AB  - Molecular data offer great potential to resolve the phylogeny of living taxa but
      can molecular data improve our understanding of relationships of fossil taxa?
      Simulations suggest that this is possible, but few empirical examples have
      demonstrated the ability of molecular data to change the placement of fossil
      taxa. We offer such an example here. We analyze the placement of snakes among
      squamate reptiles, combining published morphological data (363 characters) and
      new DNA sequence data (15,794 characters, 22 nuclear loci) for 45 living and 19
      fossil taxa. We find several intriguing results. First, some fossil taxa undergo
      major changes in their phylogenetic position when molecular data are added.
      Second, most fossil taxa are placed with strong support in the expected clades by
      the combined data Bayesian analyses, despite each having >98% missing cells and
      despite recent suggestions that extensive missing data are problematic for
      Bayesian phylogenetics. Third, morphological data can change the placement of
      living taxa in combined analyses, even when there is an overwhelming majority of
      molecular characters. Finally, we find strong but apparently misleading signal in
      the morphological data, seemingly associated with a burrowing lifestyle in
      snakes, amphisbaenians, and dibamids. Overall, our results suggest promise for an
      integrated and comprehensive Tree of Life by combining molecular and
      morphological data for living and fossil taxa.

PMID- 20930036
TI  - What changes in survival rates tell us about us health care.
AB  - Many advocates of US health reform point to the nation's relatively low life
      expectancy rankings as evidence that the health care system is performing poorly.
      Others say that poor US health outcomes are largely due not to health care but to
      high rates of smoking, obesity, traffic fatalities, and homicides. We used cross
      national data on the fifteen-year survival of men and women over three decades to
      examine the validity of these arguments. We found that the risk profiles of
      Americans generally improved relative to those for citizens of many other
      nations, but Americans' relative fifteen-year survival has nevertheless been
      declining. For example, by 2005, fifteen-year survival rates for forty-five-year
      old US white women were lower than in twelve comparison countries with
      populations of at least seven million and per capita gross domestic product (GDP)
      of at least 60 percent of US per capita GDP in 1975. The findings undercut
      critics who might argue that the US health care system is not in need of major
      changes.

PMID- 20930040
TI  - Can a community-based 'smoke-free homes' intervention persuade families to apply
      smoking restrictions at homes?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Children are commonly exposed to second-hand smoke (SHS). The aim of
      this study is to evaluate the feasibility, acceptability and outcome of Smoke
      Free Homes (SFH), a community-based intervention; and assess potential evaluation
      methods. METHODS: SFH, designed to encourage families to implement smoking
      restrictions at home, was delivered over a period of 6 months through schools,
      healthcare settings and community events in Beeston, South Leeds, UK. It was
      evaluated using baseline and post-implementation surveys, focus group discussions
      and promise forms follow-up. RESULTS: We surveyed 318 households before, and 217
      households after, the intervention. The proportion of all surveyed households
      reporting being completely smoke free significantly increased from 35% [95%
      confidence interval (CI) 30, 40] at baseline to 68% (95% CI: 61, 74) 6 months
      post-implementation (P < 0.0001). Ninety per cent of people, followed-up by
      telephone 3 months after signing SFH promise form, said they were still keeping
      their promise. Focus group discussions with children and parents conveyed
      acceptability of the intervention, in particular, the schools element, where
      children are encouraged to discuss the concept of SFH with the adults in their
      households. CONCLUSIONS: Our study shows that SFH can be implemented effectively
      and has the potential to improve children's health through preventing exposure to
      SHS in the home.

PMID- 20930037
TI  - Uncovering the human methyltransferasome.
AB  - We present a comprehensive analysis of the human methyltransferasome. Primary
      sequences, predicted secondary structures, and solved crystal structures of known
      methyltransferases were analyzed by hidden Markov models, Fisher-based
      statistical matrices, and fold recognition prediction-based threading algorithms
      to create a model, or profile, of each methyltransferase superfamily. These
      profiles were used to scan the human proteome database and detect novel
      methyltransferases. 208 proteins in the human genome are now identified as known
      or putative methyltransferases, including 38 proteins that were not annotated
      previously. To date, 30% of these proteins have been linked to disease states.
      Possible substrates of methylation for all of the SET domain and SPOUT
      methyltransferases as well as 100 of the 131 seven-beta-strand methyltransferases
      were surmised from sequence similarity clusters based on alignments of the
      substrate-specific domains.

PMID- 20930041
TI  - Targeting RET receptor tyrosine kinase activation in cancer.
AB  - After ligand binding induces dimerization, the RET receptor tyrosine kinase
      activates multiple signal transduction pathways. Constitutively activating
      mutations and chromosomal rearrangements are the primary oncogenic event in a
      significant number of medullary thyroid cancers (MTC) and papillary thyroid
      cancers (PTC), respectively. When specific germline mutations in RET are
      identified early, prophylactic thyroidectomy can be timed to remove at-risk
      tissue in patients with multiple endocrine neoplasia 2 (MEN2) syndromes who would
      otherwise develop MTC. Conventional therapy for progressive metastatic MTC is
      limited. Small-molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitors can target multiple kinases at
      nanomolar concentrations, including RET, and have shown efficacy against a
      variety of malignancies. Initial clinical evidence suggests that several of these
      inhibitors, including sorafenib, vandetanib, motesanib, sunitinib, and XL-184,
      may have some benefit in treating progressive MTC. Although initial success seen
      in these trials seems to be modest, it represents a major breakthrough in the
      treatment of patients with widespread metastatic MTC.

PMID- 20930042
TI  - Prognostic significance of RNA-dependent protein kinase on non-small cell lung
      cancer patients.
AB  - PURPOSE: The role of RNA-dependent protein kinase (PKR) in antiviral defense
      mechanisms and in cellular differentiation, growth, and apoptosis is well known,
      but the role of PKR in human lung cancer remains poorly understood. To explore
      the role of PKR in human lung cancer, we evaluated the expression of PKR in
      tissue microarray (TMA) specimens from both non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)
      and normal human bronchial epithelium tissue. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: TMA samples
      (TMA-1) from 231 lung cancers were stained with PKR antibody and validated on TMA
      2 from 224 lung cancers. Immunohistochemical expression score was quantified by
      three pathologists independently. Survival probability was computed by the Kaplan
      Meier method. RESULTS: The NSCLC cells showed lower levels of PKR expression than
      normal bronchial epithelium cells did. We also found a significant association
      between lower levels of PKR expression and lymph node metastasis. We found that
      loss of PKR expression is correlated with a more aggressive behavior, and that a
      high PKR expression predicts a subgroup of patients with a favorable outcome.
      Univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression models showed
      that a lower level of PKR expression was significantly associated with shorter
      survival in NSCLC patients. We further validated and confirmed PKR to be a
      powerful prognostic factor in TMA-2 lung cancer (hazard ratio, 0.22; P < 0.0001).
      CONCLUSIONS: Our findings first indicate that PKR expression is an independent
      prognostic variable in NSCLC patients.

PMID- 20930043
TI  - Tigecycline activity: low resistance rates but problematic disc breakpoints
      revealed by a multicentre sentinel survey in the UK.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: A multicentre surveillance of tigecycline activity against relevant
      pathogens in the UK. METHODS: Forty-three representative UK hospitals were each
      asked to test 150 consecutive, clinically significant isolates from hospitalized
      patients, excluding those from urine or faeces. The sentinel laboratories tested
      all these isolates against a panel of antibiotics by the BSAC disc method and a
      selection of isolates were retested centrally by the BSAC agar dilution method.
      RESULTS: The isolates collected comprised Staphylococcus aureus (39.9%),
      Escherichia coli (13.3%), streptococci (11.9%), enterococci (6.3%), Klebsiella
      (6.1%), coagulase-negative staphylococci (6.1%), Enterobacter spp. (3.9%),
      Proteus spp. (2.2%) and other Gram-negative species (10.3%). The laboratories'
      disc susceptibility testing found that 4% of isolates were resistant to
      tigecycline, using the zone breakpoints in place at that time. However,
      centralized retesting by agar dilution showed that many of these 'resistant'
      isolates were susceptible, with resistance only confirmed in a range of Gram
      negative isolates and one S. aureus. These findings reduced the estimated
      resistance rate to 2.4%, or to 0.8% if Proteus spp. were ignored as intrinsically
      resistant to tigecycline. Sixty-two percent of the isolates found resistant by
      the disc method but susceptible by agar dilution had zones of inhibition within
      experimental error (4 mm) of the published breakpoints. CONCLUSIONS: Tigecycline
      resistance was rare in isolates causing clinically significant infections in the
      UK and was overestimated ~2-fold by the BSAC disc method. Adjustment of the
      breakpoints might overcome this problem but at the risk of increasing the false
      susceptibility rate. The best advice is to perform dilution tests, e.g. by
      gradient strip test on isolates with borderline results, especially in severe
      infection and when tigecycline use is intended.

PMID- 20930044
TI  - Prevalence and impact of a chronic total occlusion in a non-infarct-related
      artery on long-term mortality in diabetic patients with ST elevation myocardial
      infarction.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Recently, a chronic total occlusion (CTO) in a non-infarct-related
      artery (non-IRA) and not multivessel disease (MVD) alone was identified as an
      independent predictor of mortality after ST elevation myocardial infarction
      (STEMI). Patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) constitute a patient group with a
      high prevalence of MVD and high mortality after STEMI. The prevalence of CTO in a
      non-IRA was studied and its impact on long-term mortality in STEMI patients with
      DM was investigated. METHODS: Between 1997 and 2007 4506 patients with STEMI were
      admitted and treated with primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).
      Patients with DM were identified. The patients were categorised as having single
      vessel disease (SVD), MVD without CTO and CTO based on the angiogram before PCI.
      RESULTS: A total of 539 patients (12%) had DM. MVD with or without a CTO was
      present in 33% of non-diabetic patients and in 51% of diabetic patients. The
      prevalence of a CTO in a non-IRA was 21% in STEMI patients with DM and 12% in
      STEMI patients without DM (p<0.01). Kaplan-Meier estimates for 5-year mortality
      in STEMI patients with DM were 25%, 21% and 47% in patients with SVD, MVD without
      a CTO and MVD with a CTO in a non-IRA, respectively. A CTO in a non-IRA was an
      independent predictor of 5-year mortality (HR 2.2, 95% CI 1.3 to 3.5, p<0.01).
      CONCLUSION: The prevalence of a CTO in a non-IRA was increased in STEMI patients
      with DM. The presence of a CTO in a non-IRA was a strong and independent
      predictor of 5-year mortality. These results suggest that, particularly in the
      high-risk subgroup of STEMI patients with DM, MVD has prognostic implications
      only if a concurrent CTO is present.

PMID- 20930045
TI  - Prolonged right ventricular post-systolic isovolumic period in pulmonary arterial
      hypertension is not a reflection of diastolic dysfunction.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) a prolonged time interval
      between pulmonary valve closure and tricuspid valve opening is found. This period
      is interpreted as prolonged right ventricular (RV) relaxation, and thus a
      reflection of diastolic dysfunction. This concept recently has been questioned,
      since it was shown that RV contraction continues after pulmonary valve closure
      causing a post-systolic contraction period. OBJECTIVES: To investigate in PAH
      whether the increased RV post-systolic isovolumic period is caused by either an
      additional post-systolic contraction period, or an increased relaxation period
      (diastolic dysfunction). METHODS: 23 patients with PAH (mean pulmonary arterial
      pressure 54 +/- 12 mm Hg), and 18 healthy subjects were studied using cardiac
      MRI. In a RV two-chamber view, times of pulmonary valve closure (T(PVC)) and
      tricuspid valve opening (T(TVO)) were measured, defining the total post-systolic
      isovolumic period. Time to peak of RV free wall contraction (T(peak)RV) was
      determined with myocardial tagging. Post-systolic contraction and relaxation
      periods were defined as the time intervals between T(PVC) and T(peak)RV and
      between T(peak)RV and T(TVO), respectively. These periods were normalised to an
      RR interval. RESULTS: The total post-systolic isovolumic period was longer in
      patients than in healthy subjects (0.15 +/- 0.04 vs 0.04 +/- 0.02, p < 0.001),
      but the relaxation period was not different (0.06 +/- 0.02 vs 0.05 +/- 0.02, p =
      0.09). The post-systolic contraction period in patients was strongly related to
      the total post-systolic isovolumic period (y = 0.98x-0.05; r = 0.89, p < 0.001),
      and was associated with disease severity. CONCLUSION: In PAH, the prolonged post
      systolic isovolumic period is caused by an additional post-systolic contraction
      period, rather than by an increased relaxation period.

PMID- 20930047
TI  - Molecular biology and clinical management of arrhythmogenic right ventricular
      cardiomyopathy/dysplasia.
AB  - In the last two decades the extraordinary advances in molecular biology of
      arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy/dysplasia (ARVC/D) have provided
      significant insights into our understanding of the disease aetiology by showing
      that it is a genetic disorder of the cardiac desmosomes and that interactions
      between mechanical disruption of cell-cell adhesion and defects of desmosomal
      mediated intracellular signalling are likely to be involved in the pathogenesis
      of the ARVC/D phenotype. The discovery of the causative genes for ARVC/D offers
      the possibility of identifying genetically-affected individuals before
      potentially malignant clinical phenotype occurs. Moreover, the evaluation of
      abnormal localisation of desmosomal proteins by immunohistochemical analysis on
      endomyocardial biopsy samples represents a promising test for ARVC/D diagnosis.
      Early detection of ARVC/D and preventive therapy of young individuals at highest
      risk of experiencing sudden cardiac death may be improved by molecular genetic
      screening within affected families and may alter the clinical management of
      patients. At present, however, the clinical use of genotyping is limited by the
      incomplete knowledge of causative mutations and the complex genetic background of
      the disease, which accounts for the incomplete penetrance and the marked
      variability of the phenotype expression. This review addresses the advances in
      the molecular biology of ARVC/D, with particular reference to the genetic basis
      of the disease, and how these advances have impacted on understanding the disease
      pathogenesis, on diagnosis and in establishing management strategies.

PMID- 20930046
TI  - Changes in anxiety and depression over 2 years in medically stable patients after
      myocardial infarction and their spouses in the Home Automatic External
      Defibrillator Trial (HAT): a longitudinal observational study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare the long-term effects of cardiopulmonary resuscitation
      (CPR) training and CPR/automatic external defibrillator (AED) training on anxiety
      and depression of patients who were medically stable after myocardial infarction
      (MI) and of their spouses/companions. DESIGN: Longitudinal. PARTICIPANTS: Post-MI
      patients (N=460) and their spouses/companions from the Home Automatic External
      Defibrillator Trial. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Depression (Beck Depression Inventory
      II scores) and anxiety (State Trait Anxiety Inventory scores). RESULTS: At study
      entry, 25% of the patients and 15% of their spouses were depressed and 21% of the
      patients and 19% of the spouses were anxious. The prevalence of depression and
      anxiety did not change over time in the patients or their spouses. Average
      depression and anxiety decreased for patients but not for spouses. An
      intervention group did not contribute significantly to these changes.
      Psychological distress, indicated by depression or anxiety of the spouse or the
      patient, occurred in 191 couples. Among psychologically distressed patients
      (N=128), depression and anxiety decreased over time; the intervention group did
      not contribute to these changes. The reduction in anxiety among male patients was
      greater than in female patients (p=0.012, 95% CI 0.002 to 0.018). Among
      psychologically distressed spouses (N=118), depression decreased over time
      independently of the intervention. Changes in spouse anxiety depended on the
      intervention group (p=0.012, 95% CI 0.001 to 0.012); anxiety decreased
      significantly in the CPR and remained high in the CPR/AED group. CONCLUSION:
      There was no evidence that home AEDs caused psychological distress among
      patients. Even among those who were psychologically distressed when they were
      assigned to receive either CPR training or CPR/AEDs, home AEDs did not influence
      changes in patients' depression or anxiety or spouses' depression in comparison
      with CPR training. Among psychologically distressed spouses, AEDs may keep
      anxiety higher than it would be otherwise. Interventions to reduce anxiety of
      spouses who are psychologically distressed may be indicated when their partners
      receive an AED.

PMID- 20930048
TI  - Transcription factor Nrf2 regulates SHP and lipogenic gene expression in hepatic
      lipid metabolism.
AB  - Nuclear factor erythroid-2 related factor 2 (Nrf2) plays a pivotal role in
      cytoprotection against both endogenous and exogenous stresses. Here, we establish
      a novel molecular link between Nrf2, nuclear receptor small heterodimer partner
      (SHP; NROB2), lipogenic genes, and hepatic lipid homeostasis. Deletion of Nrf2
      (Nrf2-(/)-) in mice resulted in a reduced liver weight, a decrease in fatty acid
      content of hepatic triacylglycerol, as well as concomitant increases in the
      levels of serum VLDL-triglyceride (TG), HDL cholesterol, and ketone bodies at 6
      mo of age. Liver weight and hepatic TG content were consistently lower in Nrf2
      (/)- mice upon a high-fat challenge. This phenotype was accompanied by
      downregulation of genes in lipid synthesis and uptake and upregulation of genes
      in lipid oxidation in older Nrf2-(/)- mice. Interestingly, SHP expression was
      induced with age in Nrf2(+/+) mice but decreased by Nrf2 deficiency. Forced
      expression and activation of Nrf2 by Nrf2 activators consistently induced SHP
      expression, and Nrf2 was identified as a novel activator of the SHP gene
      transcription. We also identified PPAR-gamma, Fas, Scd1, and Srebp-1 as direct
      targets of Nrf2 activation. These findings provide evidence for a role of Nrf2 in
      the modulation of hepatic lipid homeostasis through transcriptional activation of
      SHP and lipogenic gene expression.

PMID- 20930049
TI  - The steroid glycoside H.g.-12 from Hoodia gordonii activates the human bitter
      receptor TAS2R14 and induces CCK release from HuTu-80 cells.
AB  - Steroid glycosides extracted from the succulent plant Hoodia gordonii are
      suggested to have appetite-suppressant effects both in animals and humans. Yet,
      the mechanisms underlying the putative satiety action of Hoodia steroid
      glycosides are not fully understood. We found that H.g.-12, a steroid glycoside
      purified from H. gordonii extract, initiated cholecystokinin (CCK) secretion both
      ex vivo in rat intestine and in vitro in the human enteroendocrine (EC) cell line
      HuTu-80. CCK is known to exert central effects on appetite suppression via the
      vagus nerve which afferents terminate in the gut wall. Recent data show that G
      protein-coupled receptors signaling bitter taste (T2Rs) are expressed in both
      rodent and human gastrointestinal tract. It was further demonstrated that bitter
      sensing is functional in mouse STC-1 EC cells and leads to CCK secretion via
      increased intracellular Ca2(+) concentrations. Based on the bitter taste of H.
      gordonii purified extracts, we assessed whether H.g.-12 could activate human
      bitter receptors. The steroid glycoside activated selectively TAS2R7 and TAS2R14,
      both heterologously expressed in HEK 293 cells. Removing an essential structural
      feature from the steroid glycoside inhibited H.g.-12-induced Ca2(+) increase in
      TAS2R14-expressing HEK cells and abolished H.g.-12-induced CCK secretion from
      human EC cells. Similarly, a nonspecific bitter receptor antagonist abolished
      H.g.-12-induced CCK secretion in HuTu-80 cells. These results point to a
      potential route of action by which components of Hoodia might influence appetite
      control. Our data also provide additional evidence that bitter taste-sensing
      mechanisms are coupled to hormone release from EC cells in the intestine.
      Moreover, we identified a natural agonist of TAS2R7 and TAS2R14 for further
      studies on the role of bitter receptors in satiety control and food intake.

PMID- 20930050
TI  - The first year of practice: an investigation of the professional learning and
      development of promising novice physical therapists.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The goal in studying expertise is not merely to describe ways in
      which experts excel but also to understand how experts develop in order to better
      facilitate the development of novices. The study of novice progression helps us
      to understand what successful versus unsuccessful learning looks like. This
      understanding is critical, as autonomous practice places increased demands for
      advanced clinical judgments and the ability to assume professional
      responsibilities. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to explore the
      experiences, learning, and development of promising novice therapists throughout
      their first year of practice in the United States. DESIGN AND METHODS: A
      longitudinal, multiple-site qualitative case study method was used for within
      case and across-case analysis. A purposive sample of 11 promising new graduates
      from 4 physical therapist education programs participated. Investigators followed
      the graduates throughout their first year of practice. Data sources included: (1)
      semistructured interviews conducted at baseline and every 3 months thereafter for
      1 year, (2) reflective journals completed at regular intervals, and (3) review of
      academic and clinical education records and resumes. RESULTS: Four themes
      emerged: (1) the clinical environment influenced the novice physical therapists'
      performance, (2) participants learned through experience and social interaction
      and learning was primarily directed toward self, (3) growing confidence was
      directly related to developing communication skills, and (4) therapists were
      engaged in professional identity formation and role transitions. CONCLUSIONS: The
      findings suggest there are common experiences and themes that emerge as novice
      physical therapists develop. Although research has been conducted on expertise in
      physical therapy, few longitudinal investigations have explored the development
      of therapists across transitions from graduate to novice to expert practitioner.
      This study explored and described the learning and development of graduates
      during their first year of practice.

PMID- 20930051
TI  - Determinants of social participation--with friends and others who are not family
      members--for youths with cerebral palsy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Social participation provides youths with opportunities to develop
      their self-concept, friendships, and meaning in life. Youths with cerebral palsy
      (CP) have been reported to participate more in home-based leisure activities and
      to have fewer social experiences with friends and others than youths without
      disabilities. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to identify youth,
      family, and service determinants of the participation of youths with CP in
      leisure activities with friends and others who are not family members. DESIGN:
      The study design was a cross-sectional analysis. METHODS: The participants were
      209 youths who were 13 to 21 years old (52% male), had CP, and were classified in
      Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) levels I to V as well as their
      parents. The participants were recruited from 7 children's hospitals in 6
      different states. Youths completed the Children's Assessment of Participation and
      Enjoyment in structured interviews. Parents completed the Coping Inventory,
      Pediatric Outcomes Data Collection Instrument, Family Environment Scale, Measure
      of Processes of Care, and demographic and service questionnaires. Researchers
      determined GMFCS levels. A sequential multiple regression analysis was used to
      determine the youth, family, and service variables that predicted participation
      with friends and with others who were not family members. RESULTS: Sports and
      physical function, communication or speech problems, educational program, and the
      extent to which the desired community recreational activities were obtained
      explained 45.8% of the variance in the number of activities engaged in with
      friends. A higher level of parental education explained 6.3% of the variance in
      the number of activities engaged in with others who were not family members.
      Limitations The youths' activity preferences and intensity of participation were
      not examined. CONCLUSIONS: /b> Youth and service characteristics were
      determinants of participation with friends but not others who were not family
      members. The findings have implications for the role of physical therapists in
      promoting sports and physical and communication abilities and enhancing community
      opportunities to optimize the social participation of youths with CP.

PMID- 20930052
TI  - Molecular characterization and antimicrobial susceptibility of extended-spectrum
      {beta}-lactamase-producing Enterobacteriaceae isolates at a tertiary-care centre
      in Monterrey, Mexico.
AB  - Our objective was to analyse phenotypic and genetic data of extended-spectrum
      beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae, Enterobacter cloacae,
      Escherichia coli and Serratia marcescens that cause infections in our hospital.
      Over a 3 year period, 342 randomly selected clinical Enterobacteriaceae isolates
      were tested for ESBL production and evaluated for the presence of the beta
      lactamase genes bla(SHV), bla(TEM,) bla(CTX-M) and bla(TLA-1). The antibiotic
      susceptibilities of these isolates were also determined, and the clonality of the
      isolates was assessed by PFGE. Based on our analyses, 33/92 (35.9 %) K.
      pneumoniae, 31/87 (35.6 %) Enterobacter cloacae, 24/80 (30 %) E. coli and 17/83
      (20.5 %) S. marcescens were identified as ESBL producers. The presence of TEM,
      SHV or CTX ESBL types was detected in 99/105 (94 %) of the isolates. TLA-1 was
      not detected in any of the 105 isolates. The dominant ESBL types were bla(SHV-5)
      (n=33), bla(SHV12) (n=31) and bla(CTX-M-15) (n=30). The predominant ESBL
      identified in E. coli and Enterobacter cloacae isolates was CTX-M-15, whereas in
      K. pneumoniae and S. marcescens the predominant types were SHV-12 and SHV-5,
      respectively. PFGE genotyping revealed two main genetic patterns in the K.
      pneumoniae isolates, types SHV-12 and TEM-1+SHV-5. An outbreak caused by
      Enterobacter cloacae SHV-5+CTX-M-15 was detected. In contrast, most ESBL
      producing isolates of E. coli and S. marcescens did not have similar PFGE banding
      patterns and thus were not genetically similar. Enterobacteriaceae are a concern
      in our hospital, especially K. pneumoniae and Enterobacter cloacae. Our results
      confirm that the CTX-M-15 ESBL type has spread rapidly in the hospital, and thus
      requires careful monitoring.

PMID- 20930053
TI  - Selection and application of peptide mimotopes of MPT64 protein in Mycobacterium
      tuberculosis.
AB  - Antibody responses can be useful markers of tuberculosis (TB) infection,
      especially in the screening of extra-pulmonary TB. MPT64 is an important antigen
      in Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) infection and is used in serological
      diagnosis. However, large variability in the diagnostic accuracy of MPT64 as a
      serological tool has limited its application. Phage-displayed random peptide
      libraries have emerged as a powerful technique to select peptides (epitopes) or
      mimotopes that may serve as surrogate diagnostic markers in serological tests. In
      the present study, this method was employed to identify mimotopes of the MPT64
      protein of MTB by screening a linear heptapeptide library with rabbit antibodies
      raised against MPT64 protein. Two antigenic mimotopes (M2 and M6) resembling B
      cell epitopes of MPT64 were identified that bound the affinity purified anti
      MPT64 polyclonal antibodies and competed with MPT64 for antibody binding. From
      the results of sequence alignment and a structure modelling figure of MPT64, the
      sequence of the 2nd to 5th amino acids (DSML) of M2 was totally consistent with
      the sequence of the 224th to 227th amino acids of MPT64 and the peptide is
      located on the surface of the space structure of MPT64, suggesting that it might
      be a linear epitope of MPT64. The recognition of both phage-displayed and
      synthetic peptides of M2 by the anti-MPT64 polyclonal antibodies also supported
      this. Although no recurring sequence and no analogue to MPT64 of M6 were found
      for sequence alignment, the recognition of both phage-displayed and synthetic
      peptides of M6 by the anti-MPT64 polyclonal antibodies indicated that it might be
      a mimotope of a conformational epitope of MPT64. According to the results of the
      reactivity of human sera with synthetic M2 and M6 peptides and MPT64, M2 showed a
      significantly higher AUC and sensitivity than M6 and MPT64, especially for the
      sera from sputum-negative TB patients, suggesting that the M2 mimotope may be
      useful in serological diagnostic testing for TB.

PMID- 20930054
TI  - Deep divergences of human gene trees and models of human origins.
AB  - Two competing hypotheses are at the forefront of the debate on modern human
      origins. In the first scenario, known as the recent Out-of-Africa hypothesis,
      modern humans arose in Africa about 100,000-200,000 years ago and spread
      throughout the world by replacing the local archaic human populations. By
      contrast, the second hypothesis posits substantial gene flow between archaic and
      emerging modern humans. In the last two decades, the young time estimates-
      between 100,000 and 200,000 years--of the most recent common ancestors for the
      mitochondrion and the Y chromosome provided evidence in favor of a recent African
      origin of modern humans. However, the presence of very old lineages for autosomal
      and X-linked genes has often been claimed to be incompatible with a simple,
      single origin of modern humans. Through the analysis of a public DNA sequence
      database, we find, similar to previous estimates, that the common ancestors of
      autosomal and X-linked genes are indeed very old, living, on average,
      respectively, 1,500,000 and 1,000,000 years ago. However, contrary to previous
      conclusions, we find that these deep gene genealogies are consistent with the Out
      of-Africa scenario provided that the ancestral effective population size was
      approximately 14,000 individuals. We show that an ancient bottleneck in the
      Middle Pleistocene, possibly arising from an ancestral structured population, can
      reconcile the contradictory findings from the mitochondrion on the one hand, with
      the autosomes and the X chromosome on the other hand.

PMID- 20930055
TI  - Germline SMARCB1 mutation and somatic NF2 mutations in familial multiple
      meningiomas.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Multiple meningiomas occur in <10% of meningioma patients. Their
      development may be caused by the presence of a predisposing germline mutation in
      the neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2) gene. The predisposing gene in patients with
      non-NF2 associated multiple meningiomas remains to be identified. Recently,
      SMARCB1 was reported to be a potential predisposing gene for multiple meningiomas
      in a family with schwannomatosis and multiple meningiomas. However, involvement
      of this gene in the development of the meningiomas was not demonstrated. RESULTS:
      Five affected members of a large family with multiple meningiomas were
      investigated for the presence of mutations in SMARCB1 and NF2. A missense
      mutation was identified in exon 2 of SMARCB1 as the causative germline mutation
      predisposing to multiple meningiomas; furthermore, it was demonstrated that, in
      accordance with the two-hit hypothesis for tumourigenesis, the mutant allele was
      retained and the wild-type allele lost in all four investigated meningiomas. In
      addition, independent somatically acquired NF2 mutations were identified in two
      meningiomas of one patient with concomitant losses of the wild-type NF2 allele.
      CONCLUSION: It is concluded that, analogous to the genetic events in a subset of
      schwannomatosis associated schwannomas, a four-hit mechanism of tumour suppressor
      gene inactivation, involving SMARCB1 and NF2, might be operative in familial
      multiple meningiomas associated meningiomas.

PMID- 20930056
TI  - Multiexon deletions account for 15% of congenital myasthenic syndromes with RAPSN
      mutations after negative DNA sequencing.
AB  - Congenital myasthenic syndromes (CMS) are a heterogeneous group of genetic
      disorders that give rise to a defect in neuromuscular transmission. We described
      here three patients with a characteristic phenotype of recessive CMS and
      presenting mutation in the gene encoding rapsyn (RAPSN). Familial analysis showed
      that one allelic mutation failed to be detected by direct sequencing. An allelic
      quantification on patient's DNA identified three novel multi-exon deletions of
      RAPSN. These three genomic rearrangements in RAPSN represent 15% of our CMS
      patients with RAPSN mutations and we emphasize that single-nucleotide
      polymorphism markers and a gene dosage method should be performed in addition to
      DNA direct sequencing analysis particularly when there is a genetic counselling
      issue.

PMID- 20930057
TI  - Secondhand tobacco smoke exposure in selected public places (PM2.5 and air
      nicotine) and non-smoking employees (hair nicotine) in Ghana.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Secondhand tobacco smoke (SHS) exposure is a global public health
      problem. Ghana currently has no legislation to prevent smoking in public places.
      To provide data on SHS levels in hospitality venues in Ghana the authors measured
      (1) airborne particulate matter <2.5 MUm (PM(2.5)) and nicotine concentrations
      and (2) hair nicotine concentrations in non-smoking employees. Quantifying SHS
      exposure will provide evidence needed to develop tobacco control legislation.
      METHOD: PM(2.5) was measured for 30 min in 75 smoking and 13 non-smoking venues.
      Air nicotine concentrations were measured for 7 days in 8 smoking and 2 non
      smoking venues. Additionally, 63 non-smoking employees provided hair samples for
      nicotine analysis. RESULT: Compared to non-smoking venues, smoking venues had
      markedly elevated PM(2.5) (median 553 [IQR 259-1038] vs 16.0 [14.0-17.0]MUg/m(3))
      and air nicotine (1.83 [0.91-4.25] vs 0.03 [0.02-0.04]MUg/m(3)) concentrations.
      Hair nicotine concentrations were also higher in non-smoking employees working in
      smoking venues (median 2.49 [0.46-6.84] ng/mg) compared to those working in non
      smoking venues (median 0.16 [0.08-0.79]ng/mg). Hair nicotine concentrations
      correlated with self-reported hours of SHS exposure (r=0.35), indoor air PM(2.5)
      concentrations (r=0.47) and air nicotine concentrations (r=0.63). CONCLUSION: SHS
      levels were unacceptably high in public places in Ghana where smoking is allowed,
      despite a relatively low-smoking prevalence in the country. This is one of the
      first studies to ascertain SHS and hair nicotine in Africa. Levels were
      comparable to those measured in American, Asian and European countries without or
      before smoking bans. Implementing a comprehensive smoke-free legislation that
      protects workers and customers from exposure to secondhand smoke is urgently
      needed in Ghana.

PMID- 20930058
TI  - Major tobacco companies have technology to reduce carcinogen levels but do not
      apply it to popular smokeless tobacco products.

PMID- 20930059
TI  - Swedish Match marketing on YouTube.

PMID- 20930060
TI  - Electronic cigarettes: a new 'tobacco' industry?

PMID- 20930061
TI  - The effect of GH replacement therapy on different fat compartments: a whole-body
      magnetic resonance imaging study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Patients with GH deficiency (GHD) are insulin resistant with an
      increase in visceral fat mass (FM). Whether this holds true when sedentary
      control subjects (CS) are matched for waist has not been documented. GH
      replacement therapy (GHRT) results in a decrease in FM. Whether the decrease in
      FM is mainly related to a reduction in visceral FM remains to be proven. The aim
      was to separately assess visceral and subcutaneous FM in relation to insulin
      resistance (IR) in GHD patients before and after GHRT and in sedentary CS.
      METHODS: Ten patients with GHD were investigated before and 6 months after GHRT.
      Sedentary CS matched for age, gender, body mass index, and waist were assessed.
      Exercise capacity was measured as VO(2max) using an incremental work load on a
      treadmill. Visceral and subcutaneous FM were measured using whole-body magnetic
      resonance imaging and IR by the homeostasis model assessment of IR (HOMA-IR)
      index. RESULTS: GHD patients had a non-significantly lower VO(2max) but did not
      have increased subcutaneous and visceral FM compared with CS. GHRT resulted in a
      similar relative decrease in subcutaneous and visceral FM. Compared with CS, GHD
      patients showed a lower HOMA-IR. GHRT tended to increase HOMA-IR. CONCLUSION:
      Matching for waist and separate assessment of visceral and subcutaneous FM may be
      critical in the evaluation of body composition and IR in GHD patients before and
      after GHRT.

PMID- 20930062
TI  - Association of thyroid function with estimated glomerular filtration rate in a
      population-based study: the HUNT study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Low thyroid function may be associated with reduced glomerular
      filtration rate (GFR). We therefore studied the association of thyroid function
      with estimated GFR (eGFR) in a population-based study. DESIGN: A cross-sectional,
      population-based study of 29 480 individuals above 40 years of age, without
      previously known thyroid disease. METHODS: We calculated geometric mean eGFR and
      odds ratio (OR) of chronic kidney disease (CKD; eGFR <60 ml/min per 1.73 m(2))
      according to categories of thyroid function, using people with TSH in the lower
      third of the reference range (0.50-1.4 mU/l) as the comparison group. RESULTS:
      TSH within the reference range (0.50-3.5 mU/l) was negatively associated with
      eGFR (P for trend <0.001). Compared with people with TSH in the lower third of
      the reference range (83.0 ml/min per 1.73 m(2)), eGFR was lower in people with
      TSH in the middle (81.6 ml/min per 1.73 m(2)) and highest third (80.3 ml/min per
      1.73 m(2)) of the reference range, and in people with subclinical (79.3 ml/min
      per 1.73 m(2), P<0.001) or overt hypothyroidism (76.5 ml/min per 1.73 m(2),
      P<0.001). The prevalence of CKD was higher in people with TSH in the middle (OR
      1.20, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.07-1.35) or highest third (OR 1.31, 95% CI
      1.13-1.52) of the reference range, compared with people in the reference group.
      Also, CKD was more common in people with subclinical (OR 1.63, 95% CI 1.38-1.93)
      or overt (OR 1.98, 95% CI 1.22-3.20) hypothyroidism. CONCLUSIONS: These findings
      suggest that low thyroid function, also within the clinically normal range, is
      associated with reduced GFR.

PMID- 20930063
TI  - Impairment of insulin receptor signal transduction in placentas of intra-uterine
      growth-restricted newborns and its relationship with fetal growth.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Intra-uterine growth restriction (IUGR) is related to a higher
      incidence of type 2 diabetes mellitus. We previously reported reduced adiponectin
      and increased interleukin 6 (IL6) concentrations in IUGR placentas, which are
      features of insulin resistance. We aimed to investigate placental insulin
      receptor (IR) function and activation in human placenta and subsequently the
      relationships of insulin signalling peptides with placental protein content in
      IL6, insulin, resistin and adiponectin, and with parameters of fetal growth.
      DESIGN AND METHODS: Whole villous tissue was collected from 18 IUGR and 24
      appropriate for gestational age (AGA) placentas of comparable gestational age.
      Insulin signalling peptides, suppressors of cytokine signalling-2 (SOCS2),
      insulin, adiponectin, resistin, and IL6 concentrations were determined by using
      western immunoblotting or specific research kits. RESULTS: The amount of total IR
      was similar in both groups but activated IR significantly higher in IUGR. Total
      IR substrate-1 (IRS1) was increased in IUGR, whereas total IRS2 and activated
      IRS1 were similar. AKT content was reduced and activated AKT was undetectable in
      IUGR placentas. c-Jun N-terminal kinase content was reduced in IUGR. Total and
      activated ERK1/2 was similar in IUGR and AGA groups, and total SOCS2 was
      increased in IUGR. IL6 lysate concentrations correlated with AKT content and
      activated IR. Correlations were found also with adiponectin and resistin. SOCS2
      correlated negatively with all growth parameters at birth. CONCLUSIONS: IR was
      more activated in placentas of IUGR compared with AGA; however, signal
      transduction downstream of the receptor was impaired. The increase in activated
      IR could be in favour of a compensatory mechanism to increase insulin
      sensitivity. Close relationships of insulin action in placenta with fetal growth
      were shown.

PMID- 20930064
TI  - Back to school: why the speech-language pathologist belongs in the classroom.

PMID- 20930065
TI  - An emerging role for SPAK in NCC, NKCC, and blood pressure regulation.

PMID- 20930066
TI  - Epigenetic histone methylation modulates fibrotic gene expression.
AB  - TGF-beta1-induced expression of extracellular matrix (ECM) genes plays a major
      role in the development of chronic renal diseases such as diabetic nephropathy.
      Although many key transcription factors are known, mechanisms involving the
      nuclear chromatin that modulate ECM gene expression remain unclear. Here, we
      examined the role of epigenetic chromatin marks such as histone H3 lysine
      methylation (H3Kme) in TGF-beta1-induced gene expression in rat mesangial cells
      under normal and high-glucose (HG) conditions. TGF-beta1 increased the expression
      of the ECM-associated genes connective tissue growth factor, collagen
      alpha1[Iota], and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1. Increased levels of
      chromatin marks associated with active genes (H3K4me1, H3K4me2, and H3K4me3), and
      decreased levels of repressive marks (H3K9me2 and H3K9me3) at these gene
      promoters accompanied these changes in expression. TGF-beta1 also increased
      expression of the H3K4 methyltransferase SET7/9 and recruitment to these
      promoters. SET7/9 gene silencing with siRNAs significantly attenuated TGF-beta1
      induced ECM gene expression. Furthermore, a TGF-beta1 antibody not only blocked
      HG-induced ECM gene expression but also reversed HG-induced changes in promoter
      H3Kme levels and SET7/9 occupancy. Taken together, these results show the
      functional role of epigenetic chromatin histone H3Kme in TGF-beta1-mediated ECM
      gene expression in mesangial cells under normal and HG conditions. Pharmacologic
      and other therapies that reverse these modifications could have potential
      renoprotective effects for diabetic nephropathy.

PMID- 20930067
TI  - The chemokine CXCL12 regulates monocyte-macrophage differentiation and RUNX3
      expression.
AB  - Monocytes are versatile cells that can express different functional programs in
      response to microenvironmental signals. We show that primary blood monocytes
      secrete the CXCL12 chemokine, and express the CXCR4 and CXCR7 receptors, leading
      to an autocrine/paracrine loop that contribute to shape monocyte differentiation
      to a distinct type of macrophages, with an enhanced expression of CD4, CD14, and
      CD163, or dendritic cells, with a reduced functional ability to stimulate antigen
      specific T-lymphocyte responses. The in vivo relevance of CXCL12 production by
      mononuclear phagocytes was studied in metastatic melanoma tissues by a thoroughly
      immunofluorescence phenotyping of CXCL12(high) expressing cells, which were
      CD45(+), coexpressed the macrophage antigens CD68, CD163, and CD209 and
      constituted the 60%-90% of tumor-associated macrophages. Microarray analysis of
      primary monocytes revealed that the vascular endothelial growth factor and the
      angiogenic chemokine CCL1 mRNA levels were up-regulated in response to CXCL12,
      leading to enhanced expression of both proteins. In addition, we found that
      CXCL12 autocrine/paracrine signaling down-regulates the expression of the
      transcription factor RUNX3 and contributes to maintain the long-term CD4 and CD14
      expression in monocytes/macrophages. Together, these results suggest that
      autocrine CXCL12 production modulates differentiation of monocytes toward a
      distinct program with proangiogenic and immunosuppressive functions.

PMID- 20930068
TI  - Distinct molecular mechanisms responsible for bortezomib-induced death of therapy
      resistant versus -sensitive B-NHL cells.
AB  - Resistance to currently available therapies is a major impediment to the
      successful treatment of hematological malignancies. Here, we used a model of
      therapy-resistant B-cell non Hodgkin lymphoma (B-NHL) developed in our laboratory
      along with primary B-NHL cells to study basic mechanisms of bortezomib activity.
      In resistant cells and a subset of primary B-NHLs, bortezomib treatment led to
      stabilization of Bak and subsequent Bak-dependent activation of apoptosis. In
      contrast to sensitive cells that die strictly by apoptosis, bortezomib was
      capable of killing resistant cells through activation of apoptosis or caspase
      independent mechanism(s) when caspases were pharmacologically inhibited. Our data
      demonstrate that bortezomib is capable of killing B-NHL cells via multiple
      mechanisms, regardless of their basal apoptotic potential, and contributes to
      growing evidence that proteasome inhibitors can act via modulation of B-cell
      lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2) family proteins. The capacity of bortezomib to act
      independently of the intrinsic apoptotic threshold of a given B-NHL cell suggests
      that bortezomib-based therapies could potentially overcome resistance and result
      in relevant clinical activity in a relapsed/refractory setting.

PMID- 20930069
TI  - IL-6 in human cytomegalovirus secretome promotes angiogenesis and survival of
      endothelial cells through the stimulation of survivin.
AB  - Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is linked to the acceleration of vascular diseases
      such as atherosclerosis and transplant vasculopathy. One of the hallmarks of
      these diseases is angiogenesis (AG) and neovessel formation. Endothelial cells
      (ECs) are an integral part of AG and are sites of HCMV persistence. AG requires
      multiple synchronous processes that include EC proliferation, migration, and
      vessel stabilization. Virus-free supernatant (secretome) from HCMV-infected ECs
      induces AG. To identify factor(s) involved in this process, we performed a human
      cytokine array. Several cytokines were significantly induced in the HCMV
      secretomes including interleukin-6 (IL-6), granulocyte macrophage colony
      stimulating factor, and IL-8/CXCL8. Using in vitro AG assays, neutralization of
      IL-6 significantly reduced neovessel formation. Addition of the HCMV secretome to
      preformed vessels extended neovessel survival, but this effect was blocked by
      neutralization of IL-6. In these cells, IL-6 prevented apoptosis by blocking
      caspase-3 and -7 activation through the induction of survivin. Neutralization of
      IL-6 receptor on ECs abolished the ability of HCMV secretome to increase survivin
      expression and activated effector caspases. Moreover, survivin shRNA expression
      induced rapid regression of tubule capillary networks in ECs stimulated with HCMV
      secretome and activated effector caspases. These observations may explain how CMV
      accelerates vascular disease despite limited infection in tissues.

PMID- 20930070
TI  - Antiviral drug resistance of human cytomegalovirus.
AB  - The study of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) antiviral drug resistance has enhanced
      knowledge of the virological targets and the mechanisms of antiviral activity.
      The currently approved drugs, ganciclovir (GCV), foscarnet (FOS), and cidofovir
      (CDV), target the viral DNA polymerase. GCV anabolism also requires
      phosphorylation by the virus-encoded UL97 kinase. GCV resistance mutations have
      been identified in both genes, while FOS and CDV mutations occur only in the DNA
      polymerase gene. Confirmation of resistance mutations requires phenotypic
      analysis; however, phenotypic assays are too time-consuming for diagnostic
      purposes. Genotypic assays based on sequencing provide more rapid results but are
      dependent on prior validation by phenotypic methods. Reports from many
      laboratories have produced an evolving list of confirmed resistance mutations,
      although differences in interpretation have led to some confusion. Recombinant
      phenotyping methods performed in a few research laboratories have resolved some
      of the conflicting results. Treatment options for drug-resistant HCMV infections
      are complex and have not been subjected to controlled clinical trials, although
      consensus guidelines have been proposed. This review summarizes the virological
      and clinical data pertaining to HCMV antiviral drug resistance.

PMID- 20930071
TI  - Helicobacter pylori and gastric cancer: factors that modulate disease risk.
AB  - Helicobacter pylori is a gastric pathogen that colonizes approximately 50% of the
      world's population. Infection with H. pylori causes chronic inflammation and
      significantly increases the risk of developing duodenal and gastric ulcer disease
      and gastric cancer. Infection with H. pylori is the strongest known risk factor
      for gastric cancer, which is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths
      worldwide. Once H. pylori colonizes the gastric environment, it persists for the
      lifetime of the host, suggesting that the host immune response is ineffective in
      clearing this bacterium. In this review, we discuss the host immune response and
      examine other host factors that increase the pathogenic potential of this
      bacterium, including host polymorphisms, alterations to the apical-junctional
      complex, and the effects of environmental factors. In addition to host effects
      and responses, H. pylori strains are genetically diverse. We discuss the main
      virulence determinants in H. pylori strains and the correlation between these and
      the diverse clinical outcomes following H. pylori infection. Since H. pylori
      inhibits the gastric epithelium of half of the world, it is crucial that we
      continue to gain understanding of host and microbial factors that increase the
      risk of developing more severe clinical outcomes.

PMID- 20930073
TI  - Perspectives on clinical and preclinical testing of new tuberculosis vaccines.
AB  - This review hopes to improve the selection of new tuberculosis (TB) vaccines by
      providing several perspectives on the immunization of humans, mice, guinea pigs,
      rabbits, and monkeys which have not usually been considered. (i) In human TB
      vaccine trials, the low rate of healing of Mycobacterium bovis BCG lesions (used
      as the control group) would distinguish individuals who might be helped by
      vaccination from the 95% who do not need it and would make these trials more
      conclusive. (ii) The rabbit immune response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis is much
      more effective in arresting tuberculosis than those of other laboratory animals,
      so pulmonary tubercle counting in rabbits should be included in all preclinical
      TB vaccine testing. (iii) Both delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) and cell
      mediated immunity (CMI) are necessary to control the growth of M. tuberculosis.
      The testing of new TB vaccines in mice or in guinea pigs may not detect important
      antigens needed for human immunization. Mice respond poorly to tuberculin-like
      antigens that cause DTH. Guinea pigs respond poorly to antigens that cause CMI.
      Rabbits and humans respond well to both DTH and CMI antigens. Since monkeys are
      very susceptible to M. tuberculosis, they may not be as useful as rabbits for
      preclinical vaccine evaluation. (iv) Critical antigens (possibly ESAT-6 or CFP
      10) might increase the immunity of the host to a greater extent than that
      produced by a natural M. tuberculosis infection and therefore would be useful in
      both prophylaxis and immunotherapy. Such critical antigens would increase the
      host's ability to neutralize key components of M. tuberculosis that enable it to
      survive in both laboratory animals and humans.

PMID- 20930072
TI  - Infections of people with complement deficiencies and patients who have undergone
      splenectomy.
AB  - The complement system comprises several fluid-phase and membrane-associated
      proteins. Under physiological conditions, activation of the fluid-phase
      components of complement is maintained under tight control and complement
      activation occurs primarily on surfaces recognized as "nonself" in an attempt to
      minimize damage to bystander host cells. Membrane complement components act to
      limit complement activation on host cells or to facilitate uptake of antigens or
      microbes "tagged" with complement fragments. While this review focuses on the
      role of complement in infectious diseases, work over the past couple of decades
      has defined several important functions of complement distinct from that of
      combating infections. Activation of complement in the fluid phase can occur
      through the classical, lectin, or alternative pathway. Deficiencies of components
      of the classical pathway lead to the development of autoimmune disorders and
      predispose individuals to recurrent respiratory infections and infections caused
      by encapsulated organisms, including Streptococcus pneumoniae, Neisseria
      meningitidis, and Haemophilus influenzae. While no individual with complete
      mannan-binding lectin (MBL) deficiency has been identified, low MBL levels have
      been linked to predisposition to, or severity of, several diseases. It appears
      that MBL may play an important role in children, who have a relatively immature
      adaptive immune response. C3 is the point at which all complement pathways
      converge, and complete deficiency of C3 invariably leads to severe infections,
      including those caused by meningococci and pneumococci. Deficiencies of the
      alternative and terminal complement pathways result in an almost exclusive
      predisposition to invasive meningococcal disease. The spleen plays an important
      role in antigen processing and the production of antibodies. Splenic macrophages
      are critical in clearing opsonized encapsulated bacteria (such as pneumococci,
      meningococci, and Escherichia coli) and intraerythrocytic parasites such as those
      causing malaria and babesiosis, which explains the fulminant nature of these
      infections in persons with anatomic or functional asplenia. Paramount to the
      management of patients with complement deficiencies and asplenia is educating
      patients about their predisposition to infection and the importance of preventive
      immunizations and seeking prompt medical attention.

PMID- 20930075
TI  - Role of bacteria in oncogenesis.
AB  - Although scientific knowledge in viral oncology has exploded in the 20th century,
      the role of bacteria as mediators of oncogenesis has been less well elucidated.
      Understanding bacterial carcinogenesis has become increasingly important as a
      possible means of cancer prevention. This review summarizes clinical,
      epidemiological, and experimental evidence as well as possible mechanisms of
      bacterial induction of or protection from malignancy.

PMID- 20930078
TI  - Impressions of the myeloma landscape.

PMID- 20930079
TI  - PTEN: not just a tumor suppressor.

PMID- 20930076
TI  - Penetration of drugs through the blood-cerebrospinal fluid/blood-brain barrier
      for treatment of central nervous system infections.
AB  - The entry of anti-infectives into the central nervous system (CNS) depends on the
      compartment studied, molecular size, electric charge, lipophilicity, plasma
      protein binding, affinity to active transport systems at the blood-brain/blood
      cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) barrier, and host factors such as meningeal
      inflammation and CSF flow. Since concentrations in microdialysates and abscesses
      are not frequently available for humans, this review focuses on drug CSF
      concentrations. The ideal compound to treat CNS infections is of small molecular
      size, is moderately lipophilic, has a low level of plasma protein binding, has a
      volume of distribution of around 1 liter/kg, and is not a strong ligand of an
      efflux pump at the blood-brain or blood-CSF barrier. When several equally active
      compounds are available, a drug which comes close to these physicochemical and
      pharmacokinetic properties should be preferred. Several anti-infectives (e.g.,
      isoniazid, pyrazinamide, linezolid, metronidazole, fluconazole, and some
      fluoroquinolones) reach a CSF-to-serum ratio of the areas under the curves close
      to 1.0 and, therefore, are extremely valuable for the treatment of CNS
      infections. In many cases, however, pharmacokinetics have to be balanced against
      in vitro activity. Direct injection of drugs, which do not readily penetrate into
      the CNS, into the ventricular or lumbar CSF is indicated when other effective
      therapeutic options are unavailable.

PMID- 20930080
TI  - Iron, bone, and marrow.

PMID- 20930074
TI  - Importance of nonenteric protozoan infections in immunocompromised people.
AB  - There are many neglected nonenteric protozoa able to cause serious morbidity and
      mortality in humans, particularly in the developing world. Diseases caused by
      certain protozoa are often more severe in the presence of HIV. While information
      regarding neglected tropical diseases caused by trypanosomatids and Plasmodium is
      abundant, these protozoa are often not a first consideration in Western countries
      where they are not endemic. As such, diagnostics may not be available in these
      regions. Due to global travel and immigration, this has become an increasing
      problem. Inversely, in certain parts of the world (particularly sub-Saharan
      Africa), the HIV problem is so severe that diseases like microsporidiosis and
      toxoplasmosis are common. In Western countries, due to the availability of highly
      active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), these diseases are infrequently
      encountered. While free-living amoebae are rarely encountered in a clinical
      setting, when infections do occur, they are often fatal. Rapid diagnosis and
      treatment are essential to the survival of patients infected with these
      organisms. This paper reviews information on the diagnosis and treatment of
      nonenteric protozoal diseases in immunocompromised people, with a focus on
      patients infected with HIV. The nonenteric microsporidia, some trypanosomatids,
      Toxoplasma spp., Neospora spp., some free-living amoebae, Plasmodium spp., and
      Babesia spp. are discussed.

PMID- 20930081
TI  - "Capping": necessary for graduation.

PMID- 20930082
TI  - Donor selection for AML: do the KIR.

PMID- 20930083
TI  - Sex-related efficiency in NSG mouse engraftment.

PMID- 20930084
TI  - Dasatinib induces complete remission in a patient with primary cerebral
      involvement of B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia failing chemotherapy.

PMID- 20930085
TI  - Gemtuzumab ozogamicin: is there room for salvage?

PMID- 20930086
TI  - Autologous mesenchymal stromal cells and kidney transplantation: a pilot study of
      safety and clinical feasibility.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) abrogate alloimmune
      response in vitro, suggesting a novel cell-based approach in transplantation.
      Moving this concept toward clinical application in organ transplantation should
      be critically assessed. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS & MEASUREMENTS: A safety
      and clinical feasibility study (ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT00752479) of autologous
      MSC infusion was conducted in two recipients of kidneys from living-related
      donors. Patients were given T cell-depleting induction therapy and maintenance
      immunosuppression with cyclosporine and mycophenolate mofetil. On day 7
      posttransplant, MSCs were administered intravenously. Clinical and
      immunomonitoring of MSC-treated patients was performed up to day 360 postsurgery.
      RESULTS: Serum creatinine levels increased 7 to 14 days after cell infusion in
      both MSC-treated patients. A graft biopsy in patient 2 excluded acute graft
      rejection, but showed a focal inflammatory infiltrate, mostly granulocytes. In
      patient 1 protocol biopsy at 1-year posttransplant showed a normal graft. Both
      MSC-treated patients are in good health with stable graft function. A progressive
      increase of the percentage of CD4+CD25highFoxP3+CD127- Treg and a marked
      inhibition of memory CD45RO+RA-CD8+ T cell expansion were observed
      posttransplant. Patient T cells showed a profound reduction of CD8+ T cell
      activity. CONCLUSIONS: Findings from this study in the two patients show that MSC
      infusion in kidney transplant recipients is feasible, allows enlargement of Treg
      in the peripheral blood, and controls memory CD8+ T cell function. Future
      clinical trials with MSCs to look with the greatest care for unwanted side
      effects is advised.

PMID- 20930088
TI  - CMS 2728: what good is it?

PMID- 20930087
TI  - Vascular risk factors and cognitive impairment in chronic kidney disease: the
      Chronic Renal Insufficiency Cohort (CRIC) study.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Cognitive impairment is common among persons with
      chronic kidney disease, but the extent to which nontraditional vascular risk
      factors mediate this association is unclear. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, &
      MEASUREMENTS: We conducted cross-sectional analyses of baseline data collected
      from adults with chronic kidney disease participating in the Chronic Renal
      Insufficiency Cohort study. Cognitive impairment was defined as a Modified Mini
      Mental State Exam score>1 SD below the mean score. RESULTS: Among 3591
      participants, the mean age was 58.2+/-11.0 years, and the mean estimated GFR
      (eGFR) was 43.4+/-13.5 ml/min per 1.73 m2. Cognitive impairment was present in
      13%. After adjustment for demographic characteristics, prevalent vascular disease
      (stroke, coronary artery disease, and peripheral arterial disease) and
      traditional vascular risk factors (diabetes, hypertension, smoking, and elevated
      cholesterol), an eGFR<30 ml/min per 1.73 m2 was associated with a 47% increased
      odds of cognitive impairment (odds ratio 1.47, 95% confidence interval 1.05,
      2.05) relative to those with an eGFR 45 to 59 ml/min per 1.73 m2. This
      association was attenuated and no longer significant after adjustment for
      hemoglobin concentration. While other nontraditional vascular risk factors
      including C-reactive protein, homocysteine, serum albumin, and albuminuria were
      correlated with cognitive impairment in unadjusted analyses, they were not
      significantly associated with cognitive impairment after adjustment for eGFR and
      other confounders. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of cognitive impairment was higher
      among those with lower eGFR, independent of traditional vascular risk factors.
      This association may be explained in part by anemia.

PMID- 20930089
TI  - Successful models of interventional nephrology at academic medical centers.
AB  - The foundation of endovascular procedures by nephrologists was laid in the
      private practice arena. Because of political issues such as training,
      credentialing, space and equipment expenses, and co-management concerns
      surrounding the performance of dialysis-access procedures, the majority of these
      programs provided care in an outpatient vascular access center. On the basis of
      the improvement of patient care demonstrated by these centers, several nephrology
      programs at academic medical centers have also embraced this approach. In
      addition to providing interventional care on an outpatient basis, academic
      medical centers have taken a step further to expand collaboration with other
      specialties with similar expertise (such as with interventional radiologists and
      cardiologists) to enhance patient care and research. The enthusiastic initiative,
      cooperative, and mutually collaborative efforts used by academic medical centers
      have resulted in the successful establishment of interventional nephrology
      programs. This article describes various models of interventional nephrology
      programs at academic medical centers across the United States.

PMID- 20930090
TI  - Copeptin, a surrogate marker of vasopressin, is associated with disease severity
      in autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Experimental studies suggest a detrimental role for
      vasopressin in the pathogenesis of autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease
      (ADPKD). However, it is unknown whether endogenous vasopressin concentration is
      associated with disease severity in patients with ADPKD. DESIGN, SETTING,
      PARTICIPANTS, & MEASUREMENTS: Plasma copeptin concentration (a marker of
      endogenous vasopressin levels) was measured in 102 ADPKD patients (diagnosis
      based on Ravine criteria) by an immunoassay. Plasma and urinary osmolarity were
      also measured. To assess disease severity, GFR and effective renal blood flow
      were measured by continuous infusion of 125I-iothalamate and 131I-hippuran, total
      renal volume by magnetic resonance imaging, and 24-hour urinary albumin excretion
      by nephelometry. RESULTS: In these ADPKD patients, copeptin was associated with
      the various markers of disease severity in ADPKD (positively with total renal
      volume [R=0.47] and albuminuria [R=0.39] and negatively with GFR [R=-0.58] and
      effective renal blood flow [R=-0.52], all P<0.001). These associations were
      independent of age, gender, and use of diuretics. Copeptin was furthermore
      associated with plasma osmolarity (P<0.001) but not with 24-hour urinary volume,
      24-hour urinary osmolarity or fractional urea excretion (P=0.7, 0.9, and 0.3,
      respectively). CONCLUSIONS: On cross-sectional analysis, copeptin is associated
      with disease severity in ADPKD patients, supporting the results of experimental
      studies that suggest that vasopressin antagonists have a renoprotective effect in
      ADPKD and offering a good prospect for clinical studies with these agents.

PMID- 20930077
TI  - Melanized fungi in human disease.
AB  - Melanized or dematiaceous fungi are associated with a wide variety of infectious
      syndromes, including chromoblastomycosis, mycetoma, and phaeohyphomycosis.
      [corrected]. Many are soil organisms and are generally distributed worldwide,
      though certain species appear to have restricted geographic ranges. Though they
      are uncommon causes of disease, melanized fungi have been increasingly recognized
      as important pathogens, with most reports occurring in the past 20 years. The
      spectrum of diseases with which they are associated has also broadened and
      includes allergic disease, superficial and deep local infections, pneumonia,
      brain abscess, and disseminated infection. For some infections in immunocompetent
      individuals, such as allergic fungal sinusitis and brain abscess, they are among
      the most common etiologic fungi. Melanin is a likely virulence factor for these
      fungi. Diagnosis relies on careful microscopic and pathological examination, as
      well as clinical assessment of the patient, as these fungi are often considered
      contaminants. Therapy varies depending upon the clinical syndrome. Local
      infection may be cured with excision alone, while systemic disease is often
      refractory to therapy. Triazoles such as voriconazole, posaconazole, and
      itraconazole have the most consistent in vitro activity. Further studies are
      needed to better understand the pathogenesis and optimal treatment of these
      uncommon infections.

PMID- 20930091
TI  - Large artery calcification on dialysis patients is located in the intima and
      related to atherosclerosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Vascular calcification (VC) has a significant effect
      in cardiovascular diseases on dialysis patients. However, VC is assessed with x
      ray-based techniques, which do not inform about calcium localization (intima,
      media, atherosclerosis-related). The aim of this work is to study VC and its
      related factors using arterial ultrasound to report the exact location of
      calcium. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, & MEASUREMENTS: This was an
      observational, cross-sectional, case-control study that included 232 patients in
      dialysis and 208 age- and sex-matched controls with normal kidney function.
      Demographic data and laboratory values were collated. Carotid, femoral, and
      brachial ultrasounds were performed to assess VC and atherosclerosis burden using
      a standardized protocol. RESULTS: Cardiovascular risk factors were predominantly
      found in controls, although the burden of atherosclerosis was higher in the
      dialysis group. VC was significantly more prevalent in the group of patients on
      dialysis than control subjects, and in both groups the most prevalent pattern of
      VC was linear calcification located in the intima of the artery wall. Age and
      undergoing dialysis (with or without previous cardiovascular diseases) were
      positively and significantly associated with linear calcification. Conversely,
      the absence of atherosclerosis and low levels of C-reactive protein and
      phosphorus significantly impeded the development of linear calcification.
      CONCLUSIONS: VC in large, conduit arteries is more prevalent in patients on
      dialysis than controls and is predominantly located in a linear fashion in the
      intima of the arteries.

PMID- 20930092
TI  - Life stage and sex specificity in relationships between the built and
      socioeconomic environments and physical activity.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In the largely cross-sectional literature, built environment
      characteristics such as walkability and recreation centres are variably related
      to physical activity. Subgroup-specific effects could help explain inconsistent
      findings, yet few studies have compared built environment associations by key
      characteristics such as sex or life stage. METHODS: Using data from the National
      Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (wave I 1994-5, wave III 2001-2; n=12
      701) and a linked geographic information system, cross-sectional relationships
      between moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) bouts and built and
      socioeconomic environment measures were estimated. Negative binomial generalised
      estimating equation regression modelled MVPA as a function of log-transformed
      environment measures, controlling for individual sociodemographics and testing
      for interactions with sex and life stage (waves I and III, when respondents were
      adolescents and young adults, respectively). RESULTS: Higher landscape diversity
      (coefficient 0.040; 95% CI 0.019 to 0.062) and lower crime (coefficient -0.047;
      95% CI -0.071 to -0.022) were related to greater weekly MVPA regardless of sex or
      life stage. Higher street connectivity was marginally related to lower MVPA
      (coefficient -0.176; 95% CI -0.357 to 0.005) in females but not males. Pay
      facilities and public facilities per 10 000 population and median household
      income were unrelated to MVPA. CONCLUSIONS: Similar relationships between higher
      MVPA and higher landscape diversity and lower crime rate across sex and life
      stage suggest that application of these environment features may benefit broad
      populations. Sex-specific associations for street connectivity may partly account
      for the variation in findings across studies and have implications for targeting
      physical activity promotion strategies.

PMID- 20930093
TI  - Effects of mannose-binding lectin polymorphisms on irinotecan-induced febrile
      neutropenia.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Mannose-binding lectin (MBL) is important in the innate immune
      response. MBL2 gene polymorphisms affect MBL expression, and genotypes yielding
      low MBL levels have been associated with an elevated risk for infections in
      hematological cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. However, these reported
      associations are inconsistent, and data on patients with solid tumors are
      lacking. Here, we investigated the effects of MBL2 genotypes on irinotecan
      induced febrile neutropenia in patients with solid tumors. PATIENTS AND METHODS:
      Irinotecan-treated patients were genotyped for the MBL2 gene. Two promoter (-550
      H/L and -221 X/Y) and three exon polymorphisms (52 A/D, 54 A/B, and 57 A/C) were
      determined, together with known risk factors for irinotecan-induced toxicity.
      Neutropenia and febrile neutropenia were recorded during the first course.
      RESULTS: Of the 133 patients, 28% experienced severe neutropenia and 10%
      experienced febrile neutropenia. No associations were found between exon
      polymorphisms and febrile neutropenia. However, patients with the H/H promoter
      genotype, associated with high MBL levels, experienced significantly more febrile
      neutropenia than patients with the H/L and L/L genotypes (20% versus 13% versus
      5%). Moreover, patients with the HYA haplotype encountered significantly more
      febrile neutropenia than patients without this high MBL-producing haplotype (16%
      versus 4%). In the subgroup with wild-type exon polymorphisms (A/A), patients
      with the high MBL promoter phenotype had the highest incidence of febrile
      neutropenia, regardless of known risk factors. CONCLUSION: Patients with high
      MBL2 promoter genotypes and haplotypes seem more at risk for developing febrile
      neutropenia. If confirmed, these preliminary findings may contribute to more
      individualized approaches of irinotecan treatment.

PMID- 20930094
TI  - Age and axillary lymph node ratio in postmenopausal women with T1-T2 node
      positive breast cancer.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this article was to examine the relationship between age
      and lymph node ratio (LNR, number of positive nodes divided by number of examined
      nodes), and to determine their effects on breast cancer (BC) and overall
      mortality. METHODS: Women aged >=50 years, diagnosed in 1988-1997 with a
      unilateral histologically confirmed T1-T2 node positive surgically treated
      primary nonmetastatic BC, were selected from the National Cancer Institute's
      Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER). Generalized Additive Models
      for Location Scale and Shape (GAMLSS) were used to evaluate the age-LNR
      relationship. Cumulative incidence functions and multivariate competing risks
      analysis based on model selection by the Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC)
      were used to examine the effect of age and LNR on mortality. Low LNR was defined
      as <=0.20, mid-LNR 0.21-0.65, and high LNR >0.65. RESULTS: GAMLSS showed a
      nonlinear LNR-age relationship, increasing from mean LNR 0.26-0.28 at age 50-70
      years to 0.30 at 80 years and 0.40 at 90 years. Compared with a 9.8% [95%
      confidence interval (CI) 8.8%-10.8%] risk of BC death at 5 years in women aged 50
      59 years with low LNR, the risk in women >=80 years with low LNR was 12.6% [95%
      CI 10.1%-15.0%], mid-LNR 18.1% [13.9%-22.1%], high LNR 29.8% [22.7%-36.1%]. Five
      years overall risk of death increased from 40.8% [37.5%-43.9%] by low LNR to
      67.4% [61.4%-72.4%] by high LNR. The overall mortality hazard ratio for age >=80
      years with high LNR was 7.49 [6.54-8.59], as compared with women aged 50-59 years
      with low LNR. CONCLUSION: High LNR combined with older age was associated with a
      threefold increased risk of BC death and a sevenfold increased hazard ratio of
      overall mortality.

PMID- 20930095
TI  - Obesity and the risk for a hematological malignancy: leukemia, lymphoma, or
      myeloma.
AB  - The aggregate of epidemiological studies indicates a significantly elevated risk
      for cancer in people with a high body mass index (BMI); a "dose-response" effect
      exists with increasing risk as BMI increases from the normal to overweight to
      obese categories. Successful sustained weight loss decreases future risk. The
      relationship of being overweight to the risk for leukemia in the aggregate has
      been supported in several large cohort studies and two meta-analyses of cohort
      and case-control studies. One meta-analysis found an elevated risk for each of
      the four major subtypes of leukemia. A significant association between the risk
      for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and elevated BMI was supported by a meta-analysis of
      13 cohort and nine case-control studies. The risk for diffuse large B-cell
      lymphoma may be especially significant. A high BMI increases the risk for
      myeloma, as judged by a meta-analysis of 11 cohort and four case-control studies.
      The biological relationship of obesity to the risk for cancer (biological
      plausibility) is unresolved. The two major causal final pathways could be
      "inductive" or "selective." The metabolic, endocrinologic, immunologic, and
      inflammatory-like changes resulting from obesity may increase the cell mutation
      rate, dysregulate gene function, disturb DNA repair, or induce epigenetic
      changes, favoring the induction of neoplastic transformation (inductive).
      Alternatively, obesity may create an environment in which pre-existing clones
      that are dormant are permitted (selected) to emerge.

PMID- 20930096
TI  - New results will change the paradigm for phase I trials and drug approval.

PMID- 20930097
TI  - Prognosis and outcome of small (<=1 cm), node-negative breast cancer on the basis
      of hormonal and HER-2 status.
AB  - Long-term outcomes and hence the role of adjuvant therapy in patients with small
      (<=1 cm), node-negative breast cancer remain unclear. This study's objective was
      to evaluate whether human epidermal growth factor receptor (HER)-2 status is an
      independent, poor prognostic marker in patients with these tumors and to identify
      a subgroup of patients with these small tumors who might benefit from adjuvant
      systemic therapy. All patients with a diagnosis of a node-negative breast tumor
      measuring <=1 cm and available HER-2 test results between January 1, 2001, and
      December 31, 2005, at the three Mayo Clinic sites were identified.
      Clinicopathologic data were compared in three groups: HER-2(-), HER-2(+), and
      triple-negative (TN) tumors. Of the 421 tumors identified, 364 (86.5%) were HER
      2(-), 28 (6.7%) were HER-2(+), and 29 (6.9%) were TN. The median follow-up time
      was 1,015 days (range, 1-2,549 days). Groups were balanced in terms of patient
      age and tumor histology. Eleven patients with HER-2(-) tumors (3.0%), seven with
      HER-2(+) tumors (25.0%), and eight with TN tumors (27.6%) received adjuvant
      chemotherapy. Follow-up data were available for 357, 28, and 28 patients in the
      three groups, respectively. Death rates in the three groups were 6.4% (23 of 357)
      (one recurrence-related death), 0% (0 of 28), and 7.1% (2 of 28) (one recurrence
      related death), respectively. During follow-up, the tumor recurred in nine
      patients: four were HER-2(-) tumors (1.1%), two were HER-2(+) tumors (7.1%), and
      three were TN tumors (10.7%). Patients with small, node-negative breast tumors
      have an excellent prognosis, but HER-2(+) and TN tumors appear to have a higher
      recurrence rate, warranting consideration for broad use and optimization of
      systemic adjuvant treatments.

PMID- 20930098
TI  - Maintenance and consolidation therapy in patients with unresectable stage III/IV
      non-small cell lung cancer.
AB  - Globally, lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related mortality. Current
      chemotherapy combinations for the first-line treatment of advanced disease (stage
      IIIB with malignant pleural effusion/stage IV) and chemoradiotherapy regimens for
      the treatment of unresectable locally advanced disease (stage IIIA and IIIB
      without malignant pleural effusion) appear to have reached an efficacy plateau.
      The addition of new compounds including targeted agents to standard first-line
      cytotoxic doublets, administered concurrently and/or as maintenance therapy in
      patients who have not experienced disease progression after such treatment, has
      been shown to improve efficacy beyond this plateau in patients with advanced
      disease. However, to date, such approaches have been less successful in the
      treatment of patients with unresectable locally advanced stage III disease. The
      purpose of this review is to summarize the data from recent randomized phase III
      studies involving agents administered as maintenance or consolidation therapy in
      the treatment of unresectable stage III/IV non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). A
      possible alternative approach to the use of cytotoxic or molecularly targeted
      agents in this setting is the administration of therapeutic anticancer vaccines,
      which are designed to stimulate a host immunological response against the tumor.
      Current data in relation to the potential of vaccine therapy for NSCLC are
      therefore also reviewed, with a particular focus on belagenpumatucel-L and L
      BLP25 vaccines, which are currently undergoing phase III evaluation as
      maintenance therapies in patients with unresectable stage III/IV NSCLC who have
      tumor control following first-line therapy.

PMID- 20930099
TI  - Hepatitis B reactivation and rituximab in the oncology practice.
AB  - Rituximab use in hematology and oncology practice has significantly and
      positively improved the clinical outcomes in patients with a wide variety of B
      cell lymphoproliferative disorders. However, emerging data reveal that there is a
      risk of viral hepatitis B reactivation in some patients treated with rituximab.
      Many of these cases result in treatment delays, inferior oncologic outcomes,
      increased morbidity, and more rarely fulminant hepatic decompensation and death.
      Indeed, the rituximab package insert and many clinical practice guidelines have
      been modified to reflect these concerns. The true incidence and mechanism of
      reactivation are still being elucidated. This article focuses on the current
      evidence that supports these recently revised clinical recommendations along with
      a review of the risk factors for reactivation, suggested monitoring, and
      preventative interventions.

PMID- 20930100
TI  - Is increasing physical activity necessary to diminish fatigue during cancer
      treatment? Comparing cognitive behavior therapy and a brief nursing intervention
      with usual care in a multicenter randomized controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Two interventions for fatigue were given during curative cancer
      treatment. The aim of this multicenter randomized controlled trial (RCT) with
      three conditions was to demonstrate the efficacy and to determine the
      contribution of physical activity. METHODS: Recruited from seven hospitals, 220
      patients with various malignancies participated in a RCT. The brief nursing
      intervention (BNI) consisted of two 1-hour sessions, 3 months apart, given by 12
      trained nurses, focusing only on physical activity. Cognitive behavior therapy
      (CBT) consisted of up to ten 1-hour sessions, within 6 months, provided by two
      therapists, focusing on physical activity and psychosocial elements. The control
      group received only usual care (UC). Assessments took place before and at least 2
      months after cancer treatment, when patients had recovered from acute fatigue.
      Fatigue was the primary outcome. Efficacy was tested using analyses of
      covariance. A nonparametric bootstrap approach was used to test whether the
      effect on fatigue was mediated by physical activity. RESULTS: The CBT group was
      significantly less fatigued than the UC group. Between the BNI and the UC groups,
      no significant difference was found in fatigue. The mediation hypothesis was
      rejected. DISCUSSION: CBT given during curative cancer treatment proved to be an
      effective intervention to reduce fatigue at least 2 months after cancer
      treatment. The BNI was not effective. Contrary to what was expected, physical
      activity did not mediate the effect of CBT on fatigue. Thus, the reduction in
      fatigue elicited by CBT was realized without a lasting increase in physical
      activity.

PMID- 20930101
TI  - Endometrial carcinoma: a review of chemotherapy, drug resistance, and the search
      for new agents.
AB  - Adenocarcinoma of the endometrium represents the most common gynecologic
      malignancy in developed countries. Although early-stage cancers are effectively
      treated surgically, commonly without adjuvant therapy, the treatment of high-risk
      and advanced disease is more complex. Chemotherapy has evolved into an important
      modality in high-risk early-stage and advanced-stage disease, and in recurrent
      endometrial cancer. Taxane-based therapy consistently demonstrates the highest
      response rates in the first-line and salvage settings of endometrial cancer.
      Unfortunately, response to chemotherapy is modest and strategies are needed to
      predict chemotherapy-responsive and chemotherapy-resistant populations.
      Chemotherapy resistance mediated by overexpression of drug efflux pump proteins
      and mutations in beta-tubulin isoforms in both primary and recurrent disease
      represent unique treatment challenges and highlight the need for new agents that
      are less susceptible to these known resistance pathways. Epothilone B analogs are
      novel cytotoxic agents with activity in solid tumors, including
      advanced/recurrent endometrial carcinoma, and may have unique properties that can
      overcome resistance in some settings. These agents alone and in combination
      represent a new therapeutic opportunity in endometrial carcinoma.

PMID- 20930102
TI  - Future scenarios for the treatment of advanced non-small cell lung cancer: focus
      on taxane-containing regimens.
AB  - Despite recent progress in the development of new molecularly targeted agents,
      the chemotherapy regimens considered standard at the end of the last century-
      that is, two-drug combinations consisting of either cisplatin or carboplatin plus
      a third-generation agent (docetaxel, paclitaxel, gemcitabine, or vinorelbine)-
      remain the primary treatment option for advanced non-small cell lung cancer
      (NSCLC) patients. Most recently, the existing standard of care has been amended
      to reflect the significant survival advantage of cisplatin-pemetrexed over
      cisplatin-gemcitabine as first-line treatment of nonsquamous NSCLC. The addition
      of a biological drug (bevacizumab, cetuximab) or the use of a single-agent
      epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitor may further improve outcomes in
      selected patients. It has become increasingly clear, primarily through recent
      meta-analyses, that although the therapeutic equivalence of any combination of a
      platinum agent plus either gemcitabine, vinorelbine, docetaxel, or paclitaxel has
      been long accepted, each regimen has different side effects and therapeutic
      outcomes that allow clinicians to select the most appropriate treatment for
      chemotherapy-naive patients with stage IIIB/IV NSCLC. In this review, we evaluate
      the available evidence and explore the role and importance of various modern
      chemotherapy regimens, with the aim of optimizing treatment selection and
      combination with biological agents. Emphasis is placed on the role of taxanes
      (docetaxel versus paclitaxel) in this changing landscape.

PMID- 20930103
TI  - Tolerability, efficacy, and safety of pegylated liposomal Doxorubicin in
      combination with Carboplatin versus gemcitabine-Carboplatin for the treatment of
      platinum-sensitive recurrent ovarian cancer: a systematic review.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare the tolerability, efficacy, and safety profiles of
      pegylated liposomal doxorubicin in combination with carboplatin (PLD-Carbo) with
      those of gemcitabine-carboplatin (Gem-Carbo) for the treatment of patients with
      platinum-sensitive recurrent ovarian cancer (PSROC) by reviewing the published
      literature. METHODS: Using the PubMed database, a systematic review of peer
      reviewed literature published between January 2000 and September 2009 was
      undertaken to identify studies related to the treatment of patients with PSROC
      with PLD-Carbo or Gem-Carbo. Studies reporting either response rate, progression
      free survival (PFS), and/or overall survival (OS) were included. Treatment
      regimens, efficacy endpoints, and safety profiles were compared between the two
      combination therapies. RESULTS: Ten studies evaluating 608 patients (PLD-Carbo: 5
      studies, 278 patients; Gem-Carbo: 5 studies, 330 patients) were identified. The
      mean planned doses were: PLD, 34.8 mg/m(2) and Gem, 993 mg/m(2). The dose
      intensity reported in Gem trials was lower (75% of the planned dose) than the
      dose intensity reported in PLD trials (93.7% of the planned dose), suggesting
      better tolerability for the PLD-Carbo regimen. Among patients receiving PLD
      Carbo, 60.2% achieved a response (complete, 27.0%; partial, 33.2%), versus 51.4%
      of patients treated with Gem-Carbo (complete, 19.2%; partial, 32.2%). The median
      PFS times were 10.6 months and 8.9 months in the PLD-Carbo and the Gem-Carbo
      populations, respectively. The median OS was longer for the PLD-Carbo regimen
      (27.1 months) than for the Gem-Carbo regimen (19.7 months). The hematological
      safety profiles were comparable in the two groups, although grade III or IV
      anemia (PLD-Carbo, 13.6%; Gem-Carbo, 24.5%) and neutropenia (PLD-Carbo, 45.5%;
      Gem-Carbo, 62.9%) were more common in patients receiving Gem-Carbo. CONCLUSION:
      Results from this systematic analysis of peer-reviewed literature suggest that
      PLD-Carbo therapy is a rational alternative to Gem-Carbo for the treatment of
      patients with PSROC.

PMID- 20930104
TI  - Spermatocytic seminoma with neuroectodermal differentiation and sertoli cell
      tumor in a dog.
AB  - Two distinct nodules developed in a cryptorchid testis of an 8-year-old male West
      Highland White Terrier. One nodule was a Sertoli cell tumor. The other was a
      spermatocytic seminoma with focal primitive neuroectodermal differentiation:
      formation of Homer-Wright rosettes and perivascular pseudorosettes, with
      immunoreactivity for S-100 protein, neuron-specific enolase, synaptophysin,
      neurofilament-68 kDa, microtubule-associated protein 2, and vimentin. The dog was
      alive and healthy 2 years after castration.

PMID- 20930105
TI  - Direct inoculation of Mycobacterium avium subspecies Paratuberculosis into
      ileocecal Peyer's patches results in colonization of the intestine in a calf
      model.
AB  - The objective of this study was to develop an intestinal model of Mycobacterium
      avium subspecies paratuberculosis (Map) infection in the calf for evaluation of
      mucosal pathology and local and systemic immunologic responses. Map was
      inoculated into Peyer's patches of young calves using a right flank surgical
      approach in standing calves to exteriorize the ileocecal junction. Inoculum doses
      ranging from 10(3) to 10(9) colony-forming units of strain K10 Map were injected
      through the serosal surface into Peyer's patches of the distal ileum near the
      ileocecal valve. Fecal samples were collected for culture from each calf weekly
      until termination of the study. Calves were necropsied at 7, 30, 60, and 90 days
      after infection, when inoculation sites, lymph nodes, spleen, and peripheral
      blood were collected for evaluation. Ileocecal lymph nodes were consistently
      colonized by Map in the 10(5) to 10(9) groups. The ileocecal valve was also
      colonized in 10(7) and 10(9) groups. This correlated with fecal culture results
      as infected calves intermittently shed Map in their feces throughout the study.
      Granulomatous lesions with giant cells and acid-fast bacilli at the ileocecal
      junction, ileocecal lymph nodes, and lamina propria of high-dose animals (10(7)
      and 10(9)) were identified from each time point. Flow cytometry was used to
      detect antigen-specific production of interferon-gamma and interleukin-4 locally
      (ileocecal lymph node) and systemically (peripheral blood mononuclear cells),
      which defined distinct immunologic profiles in low-dose and high-dose calves.
      This study demonstrates intestinal Map infection via Peyer's patch inoculation, a
      novel model with many shared features of natural Map infection.

PMID- 20930106
TI  - Histopathologic changes of the ear in canine models of mucopolysaccharidosis
      types I and VII.
AB  - Mucopolysaccharidosis (MPS) types I and VII are inborn errors of metabolism
      caused by mutation of enzymes involved in glycosaminoglycan catabolism, which
      leads to intralysosomal accumulation of glycosaminoglycans. In children, severe
      forms of MPS I and VII are characterized by somatic and neurologic
      manifestations, including a poorly understood hearing loss. The purpose of this
      study is to describe the age-related histopathologic changes of the ear in
      spontaneous canine models of MPS I and VII. Pathologic changes in the ear were
      assessed in MPS I and VII dogs ranging from 1.6 to 9.3 months of age. Paraffin
      embedded sections of the whole ear and Epon-embedded semithin sections of the
      cochlea were examined. The following lesions were blindly scored in the middle
      and inner ear: inflammation, cells vacuolization, thickening of osseous and
      membranous structures, perivascular vacuolated macrophages infiltration, and bone
      resorption. All dogs had lysosomal storage within cells of tympanic membrane,
      ossicles, tympanic bone and mucosa, cochlear bone, spiral ligament, limbus, and
      stria vascularis. The MPS I dogs mainly had progressive cochlear lesions. The MPS
      VII dogs had severe and early middle ear lesions, including chronic otitis media
      and bone resorption. The MPS I dog only partially recapitulates the pathology
      seen in humans; specifically, the dog model lacks inflammatory middle ear
      disease. In contrast, the MPS VII dog has severe inflammatory middle ear disease
      similar to that reported in the human. In conclusion, the canine MPS VII model
      appears to be a good model to study MPS VII-related deafness.

PMID- 20930107
TI  - T-lymphocyte predominance in lesions of canine coccidioidomycosis.
AB  - Coccidioidomycosis is a systemic fungal infection endemic to the southwestern
      United States. Although cell-mediated immunity is considered critical in control
      of the infection, little is known of the cellular population in naturally
      occurring lesions. To characterize the lymphocytic infiltration, archived
      formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues (subcutis, pericardium/heart, lung,
      bone, and synovium) from 18 dogs with coccidioidomycosis were studied with
      immunohistochemistry for CD3 and CD79a. In nearly all lesions, T lymphocytes were
      more numerous than B lymphocytes and were distributed throughout the lesion with
      concentration in the periphery of granulomas, whereas B lymphocytes were mostly
      confined to the periphery of granulomas. The predominance of T lymphocytes in
      lesions of canine coccidioidomycosis was independent of the tissue evaluated, the
      number of intralesional organisms, and the nature or severity of the inflammatory
      response.

PMID- 20930108
TI  - The clinical presentation and histopathologic-immunohistochemical classification
      of histiocytic sarcomas in the Flat Coated Retriever.
AB  - The Flat Coated Retriever is a breed at risk of development of histiocytic
      sarcoma (HS), but in contrast to the disseminated form of disease recognized in
      the Bernese Mountain Dog, most reports of HS in Flat Coated Retrievers describe a
      localized lesion affecting the musculature or fascia of limbs. The purpose of
      this study was to review data and material received though an ongoing Flat Coated
      Retriever tumor survey to better define the presentation of HS in the breed and
      to determine the utility of subclassification of tumors arising at different
      sites by histology and immunohistologic phenotyping. Data on 180 dogs bearing HS
      like tumors were available for review, which showed that although the majority
      (101 lesions, 57%) were primary limb lesions, 47 dogs (26%) had visceral, mainly
      splenic lesions with no peripheral primary tumor. A detailed histologic and
      immunohistologic review of 20 limb tumors and 20 splenic tumors showed that 2
      distinct phenotypic subtypes could be identified: a histiocytic subtype, most
      prevalent in the splenic tumors, and a histiocytic-spindle-pleomorphic subtype,
      mainly seen in the limb tumors. Despite their variable morphology, all tumors
      expressed major histocompatibility complex class II and the leukocyte antigen
      CD18, but only those tumors in the spleen consistently expressed CD11d. The
      majority of tumors also contained a mild to moderate infiltrate of T lymphocytes.

PMID- 20930109
TI  - Copper transporter 2 regulates endocytosis and controls tumor growth and
      sensitivity to cisplatin in vivo.
AB  - Copper transporter 2 (CTR2) is one of the four copper transporters in mammalian
      cells that influence the cellular pharmacology of cisplatin and carboplatin. CTR2
      was knocked down using a short hairpin RNA interference. Robust expression of
      CTR2 was observed in parental tumors grown in vivo, whereas no staining was found
      in the tumors formed from cells in which CTR2 had been knocked down. Knockdown of
      CTR2 reduced growth rate by 5.8-fold, increased the frequency of apoptotic cells,
      and decreased the vascular density, but it did not change copper content.
      Knockdown of CTR2 increased the tumor accumulation of cis
      diamminedichloroplatinum(II) [cisplatin (cDDP)] by 9.1-fold and greatly increased
      its therapeutic efficacy. Because altered endocytosis has been implicated in cDDP
      resistance, uptake of dextran was used to quantify the rate of macropinocytosis.
      Knockdown of CTR2 increased dextran uptake 2.5-fold without reducing exocytosis.
      Inhibition of macropinocytosis with either amiloride or wortmannin blocked the
      increase in macropinocytosis mediated by CTR2 knockdown. Stimulation of
      macropinocytosis by platelet-derived growth factor coordinately increased dextran
      and cDDP uptake. Knockdown of CTR2 was associated with activation of the Rac1 and
      cdc42 GTPases that control macropinocytosis but not activation of the
      phosphoinositide-3 kinase pathway. We conclude that CTR2 is required for optimal
      tumor growth and that it is an unusually strong regulator of cisplatin
      accumulation and cytotoxicity. CTR2 regulates the transport of cDDP in part
      through control of the rate of macropinocytosis via activation of Rac1 and cdc42.
      Selective knockdown of CTR2 in tumors offers a strategy for enhancing the
      efficacy of cDDP.

PMID- 20930110
TI  - A novel pentamethoxyflavone down-regulates tumor cell survival and proliferative
      and angiogenic gene products through inhibition of IkappaB kinase activation and
      sensitizes tumor cells to apoptosis by cytokines and chemotherapeutic agents.
AB  - Most anticancer drugs have their origin in traditional medicinal plants. We
      describe here a flavone, 5,3'-dihydroxy-3,6,7,8,4'-pentamethoxyflavone (PMF),
      from the leaves of the Thai plant Gardenia obtusifolia, that has anti
      inflammatory and anticancer potential. Because the nuclear factor-kappaB (NF
      kappaB) pathway is linked to inflammation and tumorigenesis, we investigated the
      effect of PMF on this pathway. We found that PMF suppressed NF-kappaB activation
      induced by inflammatory agents, tumor promoters, and carcinogens. This
      suppression was not specific to the cell type. Although PMF did not directly
      modify the ability of NF-kappaB proteins to bind to DNA, it inhibited
      IkappaBalpha (inhibitory subunit of NF-kappaB) kinase, leading to suppression of
      phosphorylation and degradation of IkappaBalpha, and suppressed consequent p65
      nuclear translocation, thus abrogating NF-kappaB-dependent reporter gene
      expression. Suppression of the NF-kappaB cell signaling pathway by the flavone
      led to the inhibition of expression of NF-kappaB-regulated gene products that
      mediate inflammation (cyclooxygenase-2), survival (XIAP, survivin, Bcl-xL, and
      cFLIP), proliferation (cyclin D1), invasion (matrix metalloproteinase-9), and
      angiogenesis (vascular endothelial growth factor). Suppression of antiapoptotic
      gene products by PMF correlated with the enhancement of apoptosis induced by
      tumor necrosis factor-alpha and the chemotherapeutic agents cisplatin,
      paclitaxel, and 5-flurouracil. Overall, our results indicate that PMF suppresses
      the activation of NF-kappaB and NF-kappaB-regulated gene expression, leading to
      the enhancement of apoptosis. This is the first report to demonstrate that this
      novel flavone has anti-inflammatory and anticancer effects by targeting the IKK
      complex.

PMID- 20930113
TI  - Zona occludens proteins modulate podosome formation and function.
AB  - Podosomes are highly dynamic structures that are involved in cell adhesion and
      extracellular matrix remodeling. They present as intracellular columns composed
      of an actin-rich core region and a surrounding ring-like structure containing
      focal adhesion proteins, actin binders as well as cell signaling molecules. A key
      player in podosome biogenesis is the scaffolding protein cortactin, which is
      thought to control actin assembly at the core region. We show that the zona
      occludens protein 1 (ZO-1), a pivotal tight junction protein and known binding
      partner of cortactin, is a component of podosomes. In the smooth muscle cell line
      A7r5, phorbol ester treatment induced a rapid relocation of ZO-1 from the cell
      cortex and cytosolic pools toward newly formed podosomes. Podosomal localization
      was also observed for the known ZO-1-binding proteins l-afadin, alpha-catenin,
      and phospho-connexin 43. Truncation studies revealed that the actin-binding
      domain but not the association with cortactin is necessary for ZO-1 recruitment
      to podosomes. Moreover, impaired ZO-1 expression leads to significantly reduced
      podosome formation and concomitant decreased matrix degradation at podosomes. Our
      findings demonstrate that besides their known function in tight junction assembly
      and intercellular communication, zona occludens proteins and their binding
      partners may play a novel role in podosome formation and associated function,
      thus regulating cell adhesion and matrix remodeling.

PMID- 20930114
TI  - Manipulating the permeation of charged compounds through the MscL nanovalve.
AB  - MscL is a bacterial mechanosensor that serves as a biological emergency release
      valve, releasing cytoplasmic solutes to the environment on osmotic downshock.
      Previous studies have recognized that this channel has properties that make it
      ideal for use as a triggered nanovalve for vesicular-based targeted drug-release
      devices. One can even change the modality of the sensor. Briefly, the
      introduction of charges into the MscL pore lumen gates the channel in the absence
      of membrane tension; thus, by inserting compounds that acquire a charge on
      exposure to an alternative stimulus, such as light or pH, into the pore of the
      channel, controllable nanoswitches that detect these alternative modalities have
      been engineered. However, a charge in the pore lumen could not only encourage
      actuation of the nanopore but also have a significant influence on the permeation
      of large charged compounds, which would thus have important implications for the
      efficiency of drug-release devices. In this study, we used in vivo and
      electrophysiological approaches to demonstrate that the introduction of a charge
      into pore lumen of MscL does indeed influence the permeation of charged
      molecules. These effects were more drastic for larger compounds and,
      surprisingly, were related to the orientation of the MscL channel in the
      membrane.

PMID- 20930115
TI  - Annexin-1 signals mitogen-stimulated breast tumor cell proliferation by
      activation of the formyl peptide receptors (FPRs) 1 and 2.
AB  - The role of the calcium- and phospholipid-binding protein annexin I (ANXA1) in
      cell cycle regulation has been investigated in estrogen receptor (ER)-positive
      MCF-7 and ER-negative MDA-MB-231 breast tumor cell lines. In MCF-7 cells, ANXA1
      targeting small interfering RNA (siRNA) reduced ANXA1 mRNA and protein levels and
      attenuated cell proliferation induced by FCS, estradiol, or epidermal growth
      factor. Well-characterized agonists for the known ANXA1 receptor, FPR2, including
      the ANXA1 N-terminal proteolytic product ANXA1(2-26), lipoxin A(4) (LXA(4)), and
      the synthetic peptide, Trp-Lys-Tyr-Met-Val-D-Met (WKYMVm), stimulated
      proliferation of MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells that was attenuated by incubation
      with FPR2 antagonists WRW(4) (1 MUM) or Boc2 (100 nM) or by siRNA against FPR2.
      FCS-induced mitogenic responses were attenuated by each of the FPR antagonists
      and by siRNA against FPR2 and, to a lesser extent, FPR1. LXA(4) increased
      phosphorylation of Akt, p70(S6K) but not ERK1/2. Increases in cyclin D1 protein
      induced by FCS or LXA(4) were blocked by the PI3 kinase inhibitor, LY294002, and
      attenuated by FPR2 antagonism using Boc2. In invasive breast cancer,
      immunohistochemistry revealed the presence of ANXA1 and its receptor, FPR2, in
      both tumor epithelium and stromal cells. These observations suggest a novel
      signaling role for ANXA1 in mitogen-activated proliferation of breast tumor
      epithelial cells that is mediated via activation of FPR1 and FPR2.

PMID- 20930116
TI  - Tocochromanols: rancid lipids, seed longevity, and beyond.

PMID- 20930117
TI  - Signaling by olfactory receptor neurons near threshold.
AB  - An important contributing factor for the high sensitivity of sensory systems is
      the exquisite sensitivity of the sensory receptor cells. We report here the
      signaling threshold of the olfactory receptor neuron (ORN). We first obtained a
      best estimate of the size of the physiological electrical response successfully
      triggered by a single odorant-binding event on a frog ORN, which was ~0.034 pA
      and had an associated transduction domain spanning only a tiny fraction of the
      length of an ORN cilium. We also estimated the receptor-current threshold for an
      ORN to fire action potentials in response to an odorant pulse, which was ~1.2 pA.
      Thus, it takes about 35 odorant-binding events successfully triggering
      transduction during a brief odorant pulse in order for an ORN to signal to the
      brain.

PMID- 20930118
TI  - Mitochondrial Lon protease regulates mitochondrial DNA copy number and
      transcription by selective degradation of mitochondrial transcription factor A
      (TFAM).
AB  - Lon is the major protease in the mitochondrial matrix in eukaryotes, and is well
      conserved among species. Although a role for Lon in mitochondrial biogenesis has
      been proposed, the mechanistic basis is unclear. Here, we demonstrate a role for
      Lon in mtDNA metabolism. An RNA interference (RNAi) construct was designed that
      reduces Lon to less than 10% of its normal level in Drosophila Schneider cells.
      RNAi knockdown of Lon results in increased abundance of mitochondrial
      transcription factor A (TFAM) and mtDNA copy number. In a corollary manner,
      overexpression of Lon reduces TFAM levels and mtDNA copy number. Notably,
      induction of mtDNA depletion in Lon knockdown cells does not result in
      degradation of TFAM, thereby causing a dramatic increase in the TFAMmtDNA ratio.
      The increased TFAMmtDNA ratio in turn causes inhibition of mitochondrial
      transcription. We conclude that Lon regulates mitochondrial transcription by
      stabilizing the mitochondrial TFAMmtDNA ratio via selective degradation of TFAM.

PMID- 20930119
TI  - Isolation of circulating tumor cells using a microvortex-generating herringbone
      chip.
AB  - Rare circulating tumor cells (CTCs) present in the bloodstream of patients with
      cancer provide a potentially accessible source for detection, characterization,
      and monitoring of nonhematological cancers. We previously demonstrated the
      effectiveness of a microfluidic device, the CTC-Chip, in capturing these
      epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM)-expressing cells using antibody-coated
      microposts. Here, we describe a high-throughput microfluidic mixing device, the
      herringbone-chip, or "HB-Chip," which provides an enhanced platform for CTC
      isolation. The HB-Chip design applies passive mixing of blood cells through the
      generation of microvortices to significantly increase the number of interactions
      between target CTCs and the antibody-coated chip surface. Efficient cell capture
      was validated using defined numbers of cancer cells spiked into control blood,
      and clinical utility was demonstrated in specimens from patients with prostate
      cancer. CTCs were detected in 14 of 15 (93%) patients with metastatic disease
      (median = 63 CTCs/mL, mean = 386 +/- 238 CTCs/mL), and the tumor-specific TMPRSS2
      ERG translocation was readily identified following RNA isolation and RT-PCR
      analysis. The use of transparent materials allowed for imaging of the captured
      CTCs using standard clinical histopathological stains, in addition to
      immunofluorescence-conjugated antibodies. In a subset of patient samples, the low
      shear design of the HB-Chip revealed microclusters of CTCs, previously
      unappreciated tumor cell aggregates that may contribute to the hematogenous
      dissemination of cancer.

PMID- 20930120
TI  - Roles and interactions among protease-activated receptors and P2ry12 in
      hemostasis and thrombosis.
AB  - Toward understanding their redundancies and interactions in hemostasis and
      thrombosis, we examined the roles of thrombin receptors (protease-activated
      receptors, PARs) and the ADP receptor P2RY12 (purinergic receptor P2Y G protein
      coupled 12) in human and mouse platelets ex vivo and in mouse models. Par3(-/-)
      and Par4(+/-) mouse platelets showed partially decreased responses to thrombin,
      resembling those in PAR1 antagonist-treated human platelets. P2ry12(+/-) mouse
      platelets showed partially decreased responses to ADP, resembling those in
      clopidogrel-treated human platelets. Par3(-/-) mice showed nearly complete
      protection against carotid artery thrombosis caused by low FeCl(3) injury.
      Par4(+/-) and P2ry12(+/-) mice showed partial protection. Increasing FeCl(3)
      injury abolished such protection; combining partial attenuation of thrombin and
      ADP signaling, as in Par3(-/-):P2ry12(+/-) mice, restored it. Par4(-/-) mice,
      which lack platelet thrombin responses, showed still better protection. Our data
      suggest that (i) the level of thrombin driving platelet activation and carotid
      thrombosis was low at low levels of arterial injury and increased along with the
      contribution of thrombin-independent pathways of platelet activation with
      increasing levels of injury; (ii) although P2ry12 acts downstream of PARs to
      amplify platelet responses to thrombin ex vivo, P2ry12 functioned in thrombin/PAR
      independent pathways in our in vivo models; and (iii) P2ry12 signaling was more
      important than PAR signaling in hemostasis models; the converse was noted for
      arterial thrombosis models. These results make predictions being tested by
      ongoing human trials and suggest hypotheses for new antithrombotic strategies.

PMID- 20930121
TI  - Geography and Indonesian oil-palm expansion.

PMID- 20930122
TI  - Silencing of hsa-miR-124 by EVI1 in cell lines and patients with acute myeloid
      leukemia.

PMID- 20930123
TI  - Drug efflux transporter multidrug resistance-associated protein 5 affects
      sensitivity of pancreatic cancer cell lines to the nucleoside anticancer drug 5
      fluorouracil.
AB  - Pancreatic adenocarcinoma is one of the malignancies that is highly resistant to
      therapy and among the leading causes of cancer-related death. Several factors may
      influence pancreatic cancer resistance, and expression of ATP-binding cassette
      transport proteins is one of the major mechanisms of drug resistance. Members of
      this family's C-branch, also referred to as multidrug resistance-associated
      proteins (MRPs), might be of particular interest because they are able to efflux
      nucleoside analogs used in the treatment of pancreatic cancer. Expression of
      MRP1, MRP3, MRP4, and MRP5 in human pancreas and pancreatic carcinoma has been
      reported. However, contributions of MRPs to chemoresistance of pancreatic cancer
      are not fully understood. MRP5 mRNA expression in pancreatic adenocarcinoma cell
      lines correlated significantly with cellular sensitivity to 5-fluorouracil (5-FU)
      (r = 0.738, p < 0.05). Long-term treatment with 5-FU increased expression of MRP5
      by 2.4-fold and was associated with significant drug resistance [IC(50) values
      for control and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU)-resistant Patu-T cell lines were 11.3 +/-
      5.3 and 33.2 +/- 6.9 MUM, respectively (p < 0.05)]. Consequently, overexpression
      of MRP5 in Colo-357 cells resulted in significantly reduced accumulation of 5-FU
      related radioactivity and 5-FU cytotoxicity. Knockdown of MRP5 significantly
      increased cellular cytotoxicity of 5-FU to Patu-02 cells and enhanced
      accumulation of radioactivity related to 5-FU and its metabolites. Our results
      suggest that MRP5 is expressed and functionally active and contributes to
      variable sensitivities of pancreatic adenocarcinoma cell lines to 5-FU. Further
      investigations using models that resemble human pancreas tumors are necessary to
      prove a causative relation between expression and activity of MRP5 and tumor
      resistance to 5-FU.

PMID- 20930124
TI  - Distribution of myogenic progenitor cells and myonuclei is altered in women with
      vs. those without chronically painful trapezius muscle.
AB  - It is hypothesized that repeated recruitment of low-threshold motor units is an
      underlying cause of chronic pain in trapezius myalgia. This study investigated
      the distribution of satellite cells (SCs), myonuclei, and macrophages in muscle
      biopsies from the trapezius muscle of 42 women performing repetitive manual work,
      diagnosed with trapezius myalgia (MYA; 44 +/- 8 yr; mean +/- SD) and 20 matched
      healthy controls (CON; 45 +/- 9 yr). Our hypothesis was that muscle of MYA, in
      particular type I fibers, would demonstrate higher numbers of SCs, myonuclei, and
      macrophages compared with CON. SCs were identified on muscle cross sections by
      combined immunohistochemical staining for Pax7, type I myosin, and laminin,
      allowing the number of SCs associated with type I and II fibers to be determined.
      We observed a pattern of SC distribution in MYA previously only reported for
      individuals above 70 yr of age. Compared with CON, MYA demonstrated 19% more SCs
      per fiber associated with type I fibers (MYA 0.098 +/- 0.039 vs. CON 0.079 +/-
      0.031; P < 0.05) and 40% fewer SCs associated with type II fibers (MYA 0.047 +/-
      0.017 vs. CON 0.066 +/- 0.035; P < 0.05). The finding of similar numbers of
      macrophages between the two groups was not in line with our hypothesis and
      suggests that the elevated SC content of MYA was not due to heightened
      inflammatory cell contents, but rather to provide new myonuclei. The findings of
      greater numbers of SCs in type I fibers of muscle subjected to repeated low
      intensity work support our hypothesis and provide new insight into stimuli
      capable of regulating SC content.

PMID- 20930125
TI  - A transcriptional map of the impact of endurance exercise training on skeletal
      muscle phenotype.
AB  - The molecular pathways that are activated and contribute to physiological
      remodeling of skeletal muscle in response to endurance exercise have not been
      fully characterized. We previously reported that ~800 gene transcripts are
      regulated following 6 wk of supervised endurance training in young sedentary
      males, referred to as the training-responsive transcriptome (TRT) (Timmons JA et
      al. J Appl Physiol 108: 1487-1496, 2010). Here we utilized this database together
      with data on biological variation in muscle adaptation to aerobic endurance
      training in both humans and a novel out-bred rodent model to study the potential
      regulatory molecules that coordinate this complex network of genes. We identified
      three DNA sequences representing RUNX1, SOX9, and PAX3 transcription factor
      binding sites as overrepresented in the TRT. In turn, miRNA profiling indicated
      that several miRNAs targeting RUNX1, SOX9, and PAX3 were downregulated by
      endurance training. The TRT was then examined by contrasting subjects who
      demonstrated the least vs. the greatest improvement in aerobic capacity (low vs.
      high responders), and at least 100 of the 800 TRT genes were differentially
      regulated, thus suggesting regulation of these genes may be important for
      improving aerobic capacity. In high responders, proangiogenic and tissue
      developmental networks emerged as key candidates for coordinating tissue aerobic
      adaptation. Beyond RNA-level validation there were several DNA variants that
      associated with maximal aerobic capacity (Vo(2max)) trainability in the HERITAGE
      Family Study but these did not pass conservative Bonferroni adjustment. In
      addition, in a rat model selected across 10 generations for high aerobic training
      responsiveness, we found that both the TRT and a homologous subset of the human
      high responder genes were regulated to a greater degree in high responder rodent
      skeletal muscle. This analysis provides a comprehensive map of the transcriptomic
      features important for aerobic exercise-induced improvements in maximal oxygen
      consumption.

PMID- 20930126
TI  - Reversible blunting of arousal from sleep in response to intermittent hypoxia in
      the developing rat.
AB  - Arousal is an important survival mechanism when infants are confronted with
      hypoxia during sleep. Many sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) infants are
      exposed to repeated episodes of hypoxia before death and have impaired arousal
      mechanisms. We hypothesized that repeated exposures to hypoxia would cause a
      progressive blunting of arousal, and that a reversal of this process would occur
      if the hypoxia was terminated at the time of arousal. P5 (postnatal age of 5
      days), P15, and P25 rat pups were exposed to either eight trials of hypoxia (3
      min 5% O(2) alternating with room air) (group A), or three hypoxia trials as in
      group A, followed by five trials in which hypoxia was terminated at arousal
      (group B). In both groups A and B, latency increased over the first four trials
      of hypoxia, but reversed in group B animals during trials 5-8. Progressive
      arousal blunting was more pronounced in the older pups. The effects of
      intermittent hypoxia on heart rate also depended on age. In the older pups, heart
      rate increased with each hypoxia exposure. In the P5 pups, however, heart rate
      decreased during hypoxia and did not return to baseline between exposures,
      resulting in a progressive fall of baseline values over successive hypoxia
      exposures. In the group B animals, heart rate changes during trials 1-4 also
      reversed during trials 5-8. We conclude that exposure to repeated episodes of
      hypoxia can cause progressive blunting of arousal, which is reversible by
      altering the exposure times to hypoxia and the period of recovery between hypoxia
      exposures.

PMID- 20930128
TI  - Increased training loads do not magnify cancellous bone gains with rodent jump
      resistance exercise.
AB  - This study sought to elucidate the effects of a low- and high-load jump
      resistance exercise (RE) training protocol on cancellous bone of the proximal
      tibia metaphysis (PTM) and femoral neck (FN). Sprague-Dawley rats (male, 6 mo
      old) were randomly assigned to high-load RE (HRE; n = 16), low-load RE (LRE; n =
      15), or sedentary cage control (CC; n = 11) groups. Animals in the HRE and LRE
      groups performed 15 sessions of jump RE during 5 wk of training. PTM cancellous
      volumetric bone mineral density (vBMD), assessed by in vivo peripheral
      quantitative computed tomography scans, significantly increased in both exercise
      groups (+9%; P < 0.001), resulting in part from 130% (HRE; P = 0.003) and 213%
      (LRE; P < 0.0001) greater bone formation (measured by standard histomorphometry)
      vs. CC. Additionally, mineralizing surface (%MS/BS) and mineral apposition rate
      were higher (50-90%) in HRE and LRE animals compared with controls. PTM bone
      microarchitecture was enhanced with LRE, resulting in greater trabecular
      thickness (P = 0.03) and bone volume fraction (BV/TV; P = 0.04) vs. CC.
      Resorption surface was reduced by nearly 50% in both exercise paradigms.
      Increased PTM bone mass in the LRE group translated into a 161% greater elastic
      modulus (P = 0.04) vs. CC. LRE and HRE increased FN vBMD (10%; P < 0.0001) and
      bone mineral content (~ 20%; P < 0.0001) and resulted in significantly greater FN
      strength vs. CC. For the vast majority of variables, there was no difference in
      the cancellous bone response between the two exercise groups, although LRE
      resulted in significantly greater body mass accrual and bone formation response.
      These results suggest that jumping at minimal resistance provides a similar
      anabolic stimulus to cancellous bone as jumping at loads exceeding body mass.

PMID- 20930127
TI  - Exercise mitigates the stunting effect of cold temperature on limb elongation in
      mice by increasing solute delivery to the growth plate.
AB  - Ambient temperature and physical activity modulate bone elongation in mammals,
      but mechanisms underlying this plasticity are a century-old enigma. Longitudinal
      bone growth occurs in cartilaginous plates, which receive nutritional support via
      delivery of solutes from the vasculature. We tested the hypothesis that chronic
      exercise and warm temperature promote bone lengthening by increasing solute
      delivery to the growth plate, measured in real time using in vivo multiphoton
      microscopy. We housed 68 weanling female mice at cold (16 degrees C) or warm (25
      degrees C) temperatures and allowed some groups voluntary access to a running
      wheel. We show that exercise mitigates the stunting effect of cold temperature on
      limb elongation after 11 days of wheel running. All runners had significantly
      lengthened limbs, regardless of temperature, while nonrunning mice had shorter
      limbs that correlated with housing temperature. Tail length was impacted only by
      temperature, indicating that the exercise effect was localized to limb bones and
      was not a systemic endocrine reaction. In vivo multiphoton imaging of
      fluoresceinated tracers revealed enhanced solute delivery to tibial growth plates
      in wheel-running mice, measured under anesthesia at rest. There was a minimal
      effect of rearing temperature on solute delivery when measured at an intermediate
      room temperature (20 degrees C), suggesting that a lasting increase in solute
      delivery is an important factor in exercise-mediated limb lengthening but may not
      play a role in temperature-mediated limb lengthening. These results are relevant
      to the study of skeletal evolution in mammals from varying environments and have
      the potential to fundamentally advance our understanding of bone elongation
      processes.

PMID- 20930129
TI  - Vertical distribution of specific ventilation in normal supine humans measured by
      oxygen-enhanced proton MRI.
AB  - Specific ventilation (SV) is the ratio of fresh gas entering a lung region
      divided by its end-expiratory volume. To quantify the vertical (gravitationally
      dependent) gradient of SV in eight healthy supine subjects, we implemented a
      novel proton magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) method. Oxygen is used as a
      contrast agent, which in solution changes the longitudinal relaxation time (T1)
      in lung tissue. Thus alterations in the MR signal resulting from the regional
      rise in O(2) concentration following a sudden change in inspired O(2) reflect SV
      lung units with higher SV reach a new equilibrium faster than those with lower
      SV. We acquired T1-weighted inversion recovery images of a sagittal slice of the
      supine right lung with a 1.5-T MRI system. Images were voluntarily respiratory
      gated at functional residual capacity; 20 images were acquired with the subject
      breathing air and 20 breathing 100% O(2), and this cycle was repeated five times.
      Expired tidal volume was measured simultaneously. The SV maps presented an
      average spatial fractal dimension of 1.13 +/- 0.03. There was a vertical gradient
      in SV of 0.029 +/- 0.012 cm(-1), with SV being highest in the dependent lung.
      Dividing the lung vertically into thirds showed a statistically significant
      difference in SV, with SV of 0.42 +/- 0.14 (mean +/- SD), 0.29 +/- 0.10, and 0.24
      +/- 0.08 in the dependent, intermediate, and nondependent regions, respectively
      (all differences, P < 0.05). This vertical gradient in SV is consistent with the
      known gravitationally induced deformation of the lung resulting in greater lung
      expansion in the dependent lung with inspiration. This SV imaging technique can
      be used to quantify regional SV in the lung with proton MRI.

PMID- 20930131
TI  - Falsely decreased human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) results due to increased
      concentrations of the free beta subunit and the beta core fragment in
      quantitative hCG assays.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Earlier studies have shown that increased concentrations of certain
      human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) variants can cause false-negative results in
      some qualitative hCG devices. The objective of this study was to determine if
      increased concentrations of hCGbeta and hCGbeta core fragment (hCGbetacf) cause
      falsely decreased results on 9 commercially available quantitative hCG assays.
      METHODS: Several concentrations of purified hCGbeta and hCGbetacf were added to 2
      sets of 6 serum samples with and without a fixed concentration of intact hCG. We
      examined 9 widely used immunoassays to measure immunoreactive hCG. Falsely
      decreased results were defined as those in which the measured hCG concentration
      was <=50% of expected. RESULTS: High concentrations of hCGbeta (>=240 000 pmol/L)
      produced falsely decreased hCG measurements in 2 assays known to detect this
      variant. Similarly, high concentrations of hCGbetacf (>=63 000 pmol/L) produced
      falsely decreased hCG measurements in 3 assays that do not detect purified
      hCGbetacf. Two assays were identified that detected both hCGbeta and hCGbetacf,
      and neither produced falsely decreased results in the presence of high
      concentrations of these variants. CONCLUSIONS: Extremely high concentrations of
      hCG variants can cause falsely decreased results in certain quantitative hCG
      assays. Of the 9 assays examined, none exhibited falsely decreased results in the
      presence of hCGbeta concentrations typically associated with hCGbeta-producing
      malignancies. Two assays exhibited decreased (>50%) hCG results in the presence
      of hCGbetacf concentrations found during normal pregnancy.

PMID- 20930130
TI  - Plasma microRNA-122 as a biomarker for viral-, alcohol-, and chemical-related
      hepatic diseases.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The liver is frequently subject to insult because of viral infection,
      alcohol abuse, or toxic chemical exposure. Extensive research has been conducted
      to identify blood markers that can better discern liver damage, but little
      progress has been achieved in clinical practice. Recently, circulating microRNAs
      (miRNAs) have been reported as potential biomarkers for the noninvasive diagnosis
      of cancer. In this study, we investigated whether plasma miRNAs have diagnostic
      utility in identifying liver disease. METHODS: The study was divided into 2
      phases: marker selection by real-time quantitative PCR analysis of a small set of
      plasma samples, and marker validation with a large set of plasma samples from 83
      patients with chronic hepatitis B viral infections, 15 patients with skeletal
      muscle disease, and 40 healthy controls. Two mouse model systems, d-galactosamine
      and alcohol-induced liver injury, were also developed to evaluate whether
      differences in miRNA concentration were associated with various liver diseases.
      RESULTS: Among the miRNA candidates identified, miR-122 presented a disease
      severity-dependent change in plasma concentration in the patients and animal
      models. Compared with an increase in aminotransferase activity in the blood, the
      change in miR-122 concentration appeared earlier. Furthermore, this change was
      more specific for liver injury than for other organ damage and was more reliable,
      because the change was correlated with liver histologic stage. CONCLUSIONS: Our
      findings suggest that circulating miR-122 has potential as a novel, predictive,
      and reliable blood marker for viral-, alcohol-, and chemical-induced liver
      injury.

PMID- 20930132
TI  - Targeting African American nonsmokers to motivate smokers to quit: a qualitative
      inquiry.
AB  - African Americans bear a disproportionate health burden from smoking but are less
      likely than other populations to engage in cessation treatment. Intervening on
      adult nonsmokers residing with a smoker might represent an innovative approach to
      motivate smokers to engage in smoking behavior change. Twelve focus groups were
      conducted with African American smokers (four groups, n = 27), nonsmokers (four
      groups, n = 26) and pairs of cohabitating smokers and nonsmokers (four groups, n
      = 22) to assess attitudes and/or beliefs regarding engaging a nonsmoker in the
      home in smoking behavior change efforts. Participants ( N = 75) were middle-aged
      (45.1 +/-3.7 years) females (68.0%) with 11.8 +/-1.5 years of education. Smokers
      smoked 14.9 +/-11.3 cigarettes per day, made 3.0 +/-4.4 quit attempts in the past
      year, and are interested in receiving cessation assistance from a nonsmoker in
      their home. African American nonsmokers living with a smoker may be an
      appropriate target group to motivate smoking behavior change in the smoker.
      Suggestions for future research considerations are provided.

PMID- 20930133
TI  - Social integration and health behavioral change in San Luis, Honduras.
AB  - This study explores the effects of social integration on behavioral change in the
      course of an intensive, community-based public health intervention. The
      intervention trained volunteers and mobilized local organizations to promote 16
      key family health practices in rural San Luis, Honduras, during 2004 to 2006. A
      mixed methods approach is used. Standard household sample surveys were performed
      in 22 villages before and after the intervention. Eight villages were then
      resurveyed. A household survey, focus groups, and key informant interviews
      measured health behaviors and several social structural and psychosocial
      variables. The villages were then ranked on their mean behavioral and social
      integration scores. The quantitative and qualitative rankings were in close
      agreement (Kendall's coefficient of concordance = .707, p < .001). Behaviors
      changed most markedly in the villages where respondents participated in local
      organizations, observed that others performed those behaviors, and depended on
      their neighbors for support. The results show that social integration conditions
      health behavioral change. Health interventions can be made more effective by
      analyzing these features a priori.

PMID- 20930134
TI  - Cross-cultural validation of the preventive health model for colorectal cancer
      screening: an Australian study.
AB  - We investigated whether the five-factor structure of the Preventive Health Model
      for colorectal cancer screening, developed in the United States, has validity in
      Australia. We also tested extending the model with the addition of the factor
      Self-Efficacy to Screen using Fecal Occult Blood Test (SESFOBT). Randomly
      selected men and women aged between 50 and 76 years (n = 414) responded to a
      survey. Confirmatory factor analyses indicated that the U.S. model provided
      adequate fit for the group as a whole and for men and women separately, thereby
      demonstrating cross-cultural validity for measuring factors influencing the
      decision to screen. The inclusion of SESFOBT in the model resulted in a
      comparable, but less parsimonious, fit. However, self-efficacy is a demonstrated
      mediator of intention and action, and it is argued that the addition of SESFOBT
      as a sixth factor may have utility for the design of strategies to increase
      actual uptake of FOBT.

PMID- 20930135
TI  - The role of leadership and management in six southern public health partnerships:
      a study of member involvement and satisfaction.
AB  - Research has led to greater understanding of what is needed to create and sustain
      well-functioning public health partnerships. However, a partnership's ability to
      foster an environment that encourages broad member involvement in discussions,
      decision making, and activities has received scant empirical attention. This
      study examined the relationship between partnership members' perceptions of how
      well leadership and management facilitated their involvement, and their
      satisfaction with their role and influence within the partnership. Data came from
      60 individuals who participated in two waves of a quantitative process evaluation
      of six southern interorganizational partnerships, formed as part of a national
      pilot project to increase cervical and breast cancer screening rates. Results
      suggested that environments fostering broad partner involvement were associated
      with measures of member satisfaction, controlling for other partnership
      characteristics. Findings indicated that facilitation of member involvement
      deserves increased consideration from researchers and practitioners as an
      indicator of the quality of partnership functioning.

PMID- 20930136
TI  - Microtubule +TIPs at a glance.

PMID- 20930137
TI  - Kinesins at a glance.

PMID- 20930138
TI  - Tubulin depolymerization may be an ancient biological motor.
AB  - The motions of mitotic chromosomes are complex and show considerable variety
      across species. A wealth of evidence supports the idea that microtubule-dependent
      motor enzymes contribute to this variation and are important both for spindle
      formation and for the accurate completion of chromosome segregation. Motors that
      walk towards the spindle pole are, however, dispensable for at least some
      poleward movements of chromosomes in yeasts, suggesting that depolymerizing
      spindle microtubules can generate mitotic forces in vivo. Tubulin protofilaments
      that flare outward in association with microtubule shortening may be the origin
      of such forces, because they can move objects that are appropriately attached to
      a microtubule wall. For example, some kinetochore-associated proteins can couple
      experimental objects, such as microspheres, to shortening microtubules in vitro,
      moving them over many micrometers. Here, we review recent evidence about such
      phenomena, highlighting the force-generation mechanisms and different coupling
      strategies. We also consider bending filaments of the tubulin-like protein FtsZ,
      which form rings girding bacteria at their sites of cytokinesis. Mechanical
      similarities between these force-generation systems suggest a deep phylogenetic
      relationship between tubulin depolymerization in eukaryotic mitosis and FtsZ
      mediated ring contraction in bacteria.

PMID- 20930139
TI  - Towards a quantitative understanding of mitotic spindle assembly and mechanics.
AB  - The 'simple' view of the mitotic spindle is that it self-assembles as a result of
      microtubules (MTs) randomly searching for chromosomes, after which the spindle
      length is maintained by a balance of outward tension exerted by molecular motors
      on the MTs connecting centrosomes and chromosomes, and compression generated by
      other motors on the MTs connecting the spindle poles. This picture is being
      challenged now by mounting evidence indicating that spindle assembly and
      maintenance rely on much more complex interconnected networks of microtubules,
      molecular motors, chromosomes and regulatory proteins. From an engineering point
      of view, three design principles of this molecular machine are especially
      important: the spindle assembles quickly, it assembles accurately, and it is
      mechanically robust--yet malleable. How is this design achieved with randomly
      interacting and impermanent molecular parts? Here, we review recent
      interdisciplinary studies that have started to shed light on this question. We
      discuss cooperative mechanisms of spindle self-assembly, error correction and
      maintenance of its mechanical properties, speculate on analogy between spindle
      and lamellipodial dynamics, and highlight the role of quantitative approaches in
      understanding the mitotic spindle design.

PMID- 20930141
TI  - Snail1 suppresses TGF-beta-induced apoptosis and is sufficient to trigger EMT in
      hepatocytes.
AB  - Although TGF-beta suppresses early stages of tumour development, it later
      contributes to tumour progression when cells become resistant to its suppressive
      effects. In addition to circumventing TGF-beta-induced growth arrest and
      apoptosis, malignant tumour cells become capable of undergoing epithelial-to
      mesenchymal transition (EMT), favouring invasion and metastasis. Therefore,
      defining the mechanisms that allow cancer cells to escape from the suppressive
      effects of TGF-beta is fundamental to understand tumour progression and to design
      specific therapies. Here, we have examined the role of Snail1 as a suppressor of
      TGF-beta-induced apoptosis in murine non-transformed hepatocytes, rat and human
      hepatocarcinoma cell lines and transgenic mice. We show that Snail1 confers
      resistance to TGF-beta-induced cell death and that it is sufficient to induce EMT
      in adult hepatocytes, cells otherwise refractory to this transition upon exposure
      to TGF-beta. Furthermore, we show that Snail1 silencing prevents EMT and restores
      the cell death response induced by TGF-beta. As Snail1 is a known target of TGF
      beta signalling, our data indicate that Snail1 might transduce the tumour
      promoting effects of TGF-beta, namely the EMT concomitant with the resistance to
      cell death.

PMID- 20930142
TI  - PtdIns(3,4,5)P3 is a regulator of myosin-X localization and filopodia formation.
AB  - Phosphatidylinositol (3,4,5)-trisphosphate [PtdIns(3,4,5)P3] is a key regulator
      of cell signaling that acts by recruiting proteins to the cell membrane, such as
      at the leading edge during cell migration. Here, we show that PtdIns (3,4,5)P3
      plays a central role in filopodia formation via the binding of myosin-X (Myo10),
      a potent promoter of filopodia. We found that the second pleckstrin homology
      domain (Myo10-PH2) of Myo10 specifically binds to PtdIns(3,4,5)P3, and that
      disruption of this binding led to impairment of filopodia and partial re
      localization of Myo10 to microtubule-associated Rab7-positive endosomal vesicles.
      Given that the localization of Myo10 was dynamically restored to filopodia upon
      reinstatement of PtdIns(3,4,5)P3-binding, our results indicate that
      PtdIns(3,4,5)P3 binding to the Myo10-PH2 domain is involved in Myo10 trafficking
      and regulation of filopodia dynamics.

PMID- 20930140
TI  - Post-translational modifications of microtubules.
AB  - Microtubules--polymers of tubulin--perform essential functions, including
      regulation of cell shape, intracellular transport and cell motility. How
      microtubules are adapted to perform multiple diverse functions is not well
      understood. Post-translational modifications of tubulin subunits diversify the
      outer and luminal surfaces of microtubules and provide a potential mechanism for
      their functional specialization. Recent identification of a number of tubulin
      modifying and -demodifying enzymes has revealed key roles of tubulin
      modifications in the regulation of motors and factors that affect the
      organization and dynamics of microtubules.

PMID- 20930143
TI  - Coactivation of the CLOCK-BMAL1 complex by CBP mediates resetting of the
      circadian clock.
AB  - The transcription factor CLOCK-BMAL1 is a core component of the molecular clock
      machinery that drives circadian gene expression and physiology in mammals.
      Recently, we reported that this heterodimeric transcription factor functions as a
      signaling molecule in response to the resetting stimuli via the Ca2+-dependent
      protein kinase C pathway. Here, we demonstrate that the CREB-binding protein
      (CBP) plays a key role in rapid activation of the CLOCK-BMAL1 heterodimer that
      leads to phase resetting of the circadian clock. Under physiological conditions,
      a bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC) assay revealed that CLOCK and
      BMAL1 dimerize in the cytoplasm and subsequently translocate into the nucleus in
      response to serum stimuli (mean time duration was 29.2 minutes and mean velocity
      0.7 MUm/minute). Concomitantly, BMAL1 rapidly recruited CBP on Per1 promoter E
      box, but not p300 (a functional analog of CBP), in the discrete nuclear foci.
      However, recruitment of CBP by cAMP/Ca2+ response element-binding (CREB) protein
      on CRE was not markedly increased upon delivery of the resetting stimuli.
      Furthermore, overexpression of CBP greatly potentiated the CLOCK-BMAL1-mediated
      Per1 transcription, and this effect was completely abolished by site-directed
      mutation of E-box elements, but not by the mutation of CRE in the Per1 promoter.
      Furthermore, molecular knockdown of CBP severely dampened circadian oscillation
      of clock gene expression triggered by the resetting stimuli. These findings
      suggest that CBP recruitment by BMAL1 mediates acute transactivation of CLOCK
      BMAL1, thereby inducing immediate-early Per1 transcription and phase resetting of
      the circadian clock.

PMID- 20930144
TI  - ATF3, an adaptive-response gene, enhances TGF{beta} signaling and cancer
      initiating cell features in breast cancer cells.
AB  - The activating transcription factor 3 (ATF3) gene is induced by a variety of
      signals, including many of those encountered by cancer cells. We present evidence
      that ATF3 is induced by TGFbeta in the MCF10CA1a breast cancer cells and plays an
      integral role for TGFbeta to upregulate its target genes snail, slug and twist,
      and to enhance cell motility. Furthermore, ATF3 upregulates the expression of the
      TGFb gene itself, forming a positive-feedback loop for TGFbeta signaling.
      Functionally, ectopic expression of ATF3 leads to morphological changes and
      alterations of markers consistent with epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition
      (EMT). It also leads to features associated with breast-cancer-initiating cells:
      increased CD24(low)-CD44(high) population of cells, mammosphere formation and
      tumorigenesis. Conversely, knockdown of ATF3 reduces EMT, CD24(low)-CD44(high)
      cells and mammosphere formation. Importantly, knocking down twist, a downstream
      target, reduces the ability of ATF3 to enhance mammosphere formation, indicating
      the functional significance of twist in ATF3 action. To our knowledge, this is
      the first report demonstrating the ability of ATF3 to enhance breast cancer
      initiating cell features and to feedback on TGFbeta. Because ATF3 is an adaptive
      response gene and is induced by various stromal signals, these findings have
      significant implications for how the tumor microenvironment might affect cancer
      development.

PMID- 20930146
TI  - Neuronal connexin-36 can functionally replace connexin-45 in mouse retina but not
      in the developing heart.
AB  - The gap junction protein connexin-45 (Cx45) is expressed in the conduction system
      of the heart and in certain neurons of the retina and brain. General and
      cardiomyocyte-directed deficiencies of Cx45 in mice lead to lethality on
      embryonic day 10.5 as a result of cardiovascular defects. Neuron-directed
      deletion of Cx45 leads to defects in transmission of visual signals. Connexin-36
      (Cx36) is co-expressed with Cx45 in certain types of retinal interneurons. To
      determine whether these two connexins have similar functions and whether Cx36 can
      compensate for Cx45, we generated knock-in mice in which DNA encoding Cx45 was
      replaced with that encoding Cx36. Neuron-directed replacement of Cx45 with Cx36
      resulted in viable animals. Electroretinographic and neurotransmitter coupling
      analyses demonstrated functional compensation in the retina. By contrast, general
      and cardiomyocyte-directed gene replacement led to lethality on embryonic day
      11.5. Mutant embryos displayed defects in cardiac morphogenesis and conduction.
      Thus, functional compensation of Cx45 by Cx36 did not occur during embryonic
      heart development. These data suggest that Cx45 and Cx36 have similar functions
      in the retina, whereas Cx45 fulfills special functions in the developing heart
      that cannot be compensated by Cx36.

PMID- 20930145
TI  - Ets1 blocks terminal differentiation of keratinocytes and induces expression of
      matrix metalloproteases and innate immune mediators.
AB  - The transcription factor Ets1 is normally expressed in the proliferative layer of
      stratified epithelium, but expression of Ets1 is significantly upregulated in
      squamous cell carcinomas. How elevated levels of Ets1 impact tumor initiation and
      progression is not well understood. To determine the biological consequences of
      overexpression of Ets1, we developed a transgenic mouse model that allows
      induction of Ets1 expression in keratinocytes of stratified epithelium in a
      regulatable fashion. Induction of Ets1 during embryonic development results in a
      dramatic alteration in epidermal structure and function by suppressing the
      expression of multiple stratum corneum constituents, while at the same time
      inducing expression of EGF ligands, AP1 transcription factors and matrix
      metalloproteases. Interestingly, expression of certain immune-related genes,
      including defensins, chemokines and cytokines was increased as well, suggesting a
      possible role for immune dysregulation in the promotion of squamous dysplasia.
      Experiments using cultured mouse keratinocytes indicate that Ets1 can induce
      expression of some of these mediators in a cell-intrinsic fashion. Collectively,
      our data reveal that elevated expression of Ets1 has a much broader array of pro
      tumorigenic effects on epithelial cells than previously appreciated.

PMID- 20930147
TI  - Role of PECAM-1 in arteriogenesis and specification of preexisting collaterals.
AB  - RATIONALE: Hemodynamic forces caused by the altered blood flow in response to an
      occlusion lead to the induction of collateral remodeling and arteriogenesis.
      Previous work showed that platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule (PECAM)-1
      is a component of a mechanosensory complex that mediates endothelial cell
      responses to shear stress. OBJECTIVE: We hypothesized that PECAM-1 plays an
      important role in arteriogenesis and collateral remodeling. METHODS AND RESULTS:
      PECAM-1 knockout (KO) and wild-type littermates underwent femoral artery
      ligation. Surprisingly, tissue perfusion and collateral-dependent blood flow were
      significantly increased in the KO mice immediately after surgery. Histology
      confirmed larger caliber of preexisting collaterals in the KO mice. Additionally,
      KO mice showed blunted recovery of perfusion from hindlimb ischemia and reduced
      collateral remodeling, because of deficits in shear stress-induced signaling,
      including activation of the nuclear factor kappaB pathway and inflammatory cell
      accumulation. Partial recovery was associated with normal responses to
      circumferential wall tension in the absence of PECAM-1, as evidenced by the
      upregulation of ephrin B2 and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1, which are 2
      stretch-induced regulators of arteriogenesis, both in vitro and in vivo.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest a novel role for PECAM-1 in arteriogenesis and
      collateral remodeling. Furthermore, we identify PECAM-1 as the first molecule
      that determines preexisting collateral diameter.

PMID- 20930149
TI  - The neuropeptide catestatin acts as a novel angiogenic cytokine via a basic
      fibroblast growth factor-dependent mechanism.
AB  - RATIONALE: The neuropeptide catestatin is an endogenous nicotinic cholinergic
      antagonist that acts as a pleiotropic hormone. OBJECTIVE: Catestatin shares
      several functions with angiogenic factors. We therefore reasoned that catestatin
      induces growth of new blood vessels. METHODS AND RESULTS: Catestatin induced
      migration, proliferation, and antiapoptosis in endothelial cells and exerted
      capillary tube formation in vitro in a Matrigel assay, and such effects were
      mediated via G protein, mitogen-activated protein kinase, and Akt. Catestatin
      induced endothelial cell functions are further mediated by basic fibroblast
      growth factor, as shown by blockade of effects by a neutralizing fibroblast
      growth factor antibody. Furthermore, catestatin released basic fibroblast growth
      factor from endothelial cells and stimulated fibroblast growth factor signaling.
      In addition to its function on endothelial cells, catestatin also exerted effects
      on endothelial progenitor cells and vascular smooth muscle cells. In vivo,
      catestatin induced angiogenesis in the mouse cornea neovascularization assay and
      increased blood perfusion and number of capillaries in the hindlimb ischemia
      model. In addition to angiogenesis, catestatin increased density of
      arterioles/arteries and incorporation of endothelial progenitor cells in the
      hindlimb ischemia model, indicating induction of arteriogenesis and postnatal
      vasculogenesis. CONCLUSION: We conclude that catestatin acts as a novel
      angiogenic cytokine via a basic fibroblast growth factor-dependent mechanism.

PMID- 20930148
TI  - Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibition prevents the release of monocytes from
      their splenic reservoir in mice with myocardial infarction.
AB  - RATIONALE: Monocytes recruited to ischemic myocardium originate from a reservoir
      in the spleen, and the release from their splenic niche relies on angiotensin
      (Ang) II signaling. OBJECTIVE: Because monocytes are centrally involved in tissue
      repair after ischemia, we hypothesized that early angiotensin-converting enzyme
      (ACE) inhibitor therapy impacts healing after myocardial infarction partly via
      effects on monocyte traffic. METHODS AND RESULTS: In a mouse model of permanent
      coronary ligation, enalapril arrested the release of monocytes from the splenic
      reservoir and consequently reduced their recruitment into the healing infarct by
      45%, as quantified by flow cytometry of digested infarcts. Time-lapse intravital
      microscopy revealed that enalapril reduces monocyte motility in the spleen. In
      vitro migration assays and Western blotting showed that this was caused by
      reduced signaling through the Ang II type 1 receptor. We then studied the long
      term consequences of blocked splenic monocyte release in atherosclerotic
      apolipoprotein (apo)E(-/-) mice, in which infarct healing is impaired because of
      excessive inflammation in the cardiac wound. Enalapril improved histologic
      healing biomarkers and reduced inflammation in infarcts measured by FMT-CT
      (fluorescence molecular tomography in conjunction with x-ray computed tomography)
      of proteolytic activity. ACE inhibition improved MRI-derived ejection fraction by
      14% on day 21, despite initially comparable infarct size. In apoE(-/-) mice,
      ischemia/reperfusion injury resulted in larger infarct size and enhanced monocyte
      recruitment and was reversible by enalapril treatment. Splenectomy reproduced
      antiinflammatory effects of enalapril. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that
      benefits of early ACE inhibition after myocardial infarction can partially be
      attributed to its potent antiinflammatory impact on the splenic monocyte
      reservoir.

PMID- 20930150
TI  - Predictors of hospital readmission after stroke: a systematic review.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Risk-standardized hospital readmission rates are used as
      publicly reported measures reflecting quality of care. Valid risk-standardized
      models adjust for differences in patient-level factors across hospitals. We
      conducted a systematic review of peer-reviewed literature to identify models that
      compare hospital-level poststroke readmission rates, evaluate patient-level risk
      scores predicting readmission, or describe patient and process-of-care predictors
      of readmission after stroke. METHODS: Relevant studies in English published from
      January 1989 to July 2010 were identified using MEDLINE, PubMed, Scopus,
      PsycINFO, and all Ovid Evidence-Based Medicine Reviews. Authors of eligible
      publications reported readmission within 1 year after stroke hospitalization and
      identified >= 1 predictors of readmission in risk-adjusted statistical models.
      Publications were excluded if they lacked primary data or quantitative outcomes,
      reported only composite outcomes, or had < 100 patients. RESULTS: Of 374
      identified publications, 16 met the inclusion criteria for this review. No model
      was specifically designed to compare risk-adjusted readmission rates at the
      hospital level or calculate scores predicting a patient's risk of readmission.
      The studies providing multivariable models of patient-level and/or process-of
      care factors associated with readmission varied in stroke definitions, data
      sources, outcomes (all-cause and/or stroke-related readmission), durations of
      follow-up, and model covariates. Few characteristics were consistently associated
      with readmission. CONCLUSIONS: This review identified no risk-standardized models
      for comparing hospital readmission performance or predicting readmission risk
      after stroke. Patient-level and system-level factors associated with readmission
      were inconsistent across studies. The current literature provides little guidance
      for the development of risk-standardized models suitable for the public reporting
      of hospital-level stroke readmission performance.

PMID- 20930152
TI  - The Acute STroke Registry and Analysis of Lausanne (ASTRAL): design and baseline
      analysis of an ischemic stroke registry including acute multimodal imaging.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Stroke registries are valuable tools for obtaining
      information about stroke epidemiology and management. The Acute STroke Registry
      and Analysis of Lausanne (ASTRAL) prospectively collects epidemiological,
      clinical, laboratory and multimodal brain imaging data of acute ischemic stroke
      patients in the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois (CHUV). Here, we provide
      design and methods used to create ASTRAL and present baseline data of our
      patients (2003 to 2008). METHODS: All consecutive patients admitted to CHUV
      between January 1, 2003 and December 31, 2008 with acute ischemic stroke within
      24 hours of symptom onset were included in ASTRAL. Patients arriving beyond 24
      hours, with transient ischemic attack, intracerebral hemorrhage, subarachnoidal
      hemorrhage, or cerebral sinus venous thrombosis, were excluded. Recurrent
      ischemic strokes were registered as new events. RESULTS: Between 2003 and 2008,
      1633 patients and 1742 events were registered in ASTRAL. There was a
      preponderance of males, even in the elderly. Cardioembolic stroke was the most
      frequent type of stroke. Most strokes were of minor severity (National Institute
      of Health Stroke Scale [NIHSS] score <= 4 in 40.8% of patients). Cardioembolic
      stroke and dissections presented with the most severe clinical picture. There was
      a significant number of patients with unknown onset stroke, including wake-up
      stroke (n=568, 33.1%). Median time from last-well time to hospital arrival was
      142 minutes for known onset and 759 minutes for unknown-onset stroke. The rate of
      intravenous or intraarterial thrombolysis between 2003 and 2008 increased from
      10.8% to 20.8% in patients admitted within 24 hours of last-well time. Acute
      brain imaging was performed in 1695 patients (97.3%) within 24 hours. In 1358
      patients (78%) who underwent acute computed tomography angiography, 717 patients
      (52.8%) had significant abnormalities. Of the 1068 supratentorial stroke patients
      who underwent acute perfusion computed tomography (61.3%), focal hypoperfusion
      was demonstrated in 786 patients (73.6%). CONCLUSIONS: This hospital-based
      prospective registry of consecutive acute ischemic strokes incorporates
      demographic, clinical, metabolic, acute perfusion, and arterial imaging. It is
      characterized by a high proportion of minor and unknown-onset strokes, short
      onset-to-admission time for known-onset patients, rapidly increasing thrombolysis
      rates, and significant vascular and perfusion imaging abnormalities in the
      majority of patients.

PMID- 20930153
TI  - Local is better than general anesthesia during endovascular acute stroke
      interventions.

PMID- 20930154
TI  - General or local anesthesia during endovascular procedures: sailing quiet in the
      darkness or fast under a daylight storm.

PMID- 20930151
TI  - Discarding heparins as treatment for progressive stroke in Sweden 2001 to 2008.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: High-dose heparin has been used extensively to treat
      patients with progressive ischemic stroke, but the scientific support is poor and
      the current stroke guidelines advise against its use. We studied how heparin
      treatment for progressive stroke has been discarded in Sweden. METHODS: All 78
      hospitals in Sweden that admit acute stroke patients participate in Riks-Stroke,
      the Swedish Stroke Register. During 2001 to 2008, information on the use of high
      dose heparin was available for 155,344 patients with acute ischemic stroke. The
      determinants as to region, patient characteristics, and stroke service settings
      were analyzed. RESULTS: Use of heparin for progressive stroke declined from 7.5%
      (2001) to 1.6% (2008) of all patients with ischemic stroke. The marked regional
      differences present in 2001 were reduced over time. The use of heparin declined
      at a similar rate in all types of hospital settings, in stroke units vs nonstroke
      units, and in neurological vs medical wards. Independent predictors of use of
      heparin included younger age, first-ever stroke, independence in activities of
      daily living before stroke, atrial fibrillation, no aspirin treatment, and
      lowered consciousness on admission. CONCLUSIONS: There is no immediate, stepwise
      effect of new scientific information and national guidelines on clinical
      practice. Rather, the phasing out of heparin has followed a linear course over
      several years, with less variation between hospitals. We speculate that open
      comparisons between hospitals in a national stroke register may have helped to
      reduce the variations in clinical practice.

PMID- 20930155
TI  - Detection of intracranial in-stent restenosis using quantitative magnetic
      resonance angiography.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: In-stent restenosis (ISR) after angioplasty/stenting for
      intracranial stenosis has been reported in up to 25% to 30% of patients.
      Detection and monitoring of ISR relies primarily on serial catheter angiography,
      because noninvasive imaging methods are typically hampered by stent-related
      artifact. We examined the value of serial vessel flow measurements using
      quantitative magnetic resonance angiography (QMRA) in detection of ISR. MATERIAL
      AND METHODS: Records of patients undergoing stenting for intracranial symptomatic
      stenosis >50% between 2005 and 2009 were retrospectively reviewed. Angiographic
      images were graded by a blinded neurointerventionalist for stenosis pretreatment,
      immediately after treatment, and during follow-up. Flow in the affected vessel
      measured by QMRA was recorded; > 25% reduction in flow was considered indicative
      of an adverse change. Clinical data regarding neurological outcome were also
      collected. RESULTS: Twenty-eight patients underwent stenting during the time
      interval studied. Of these, 12 patients (mean age, 55.5 years; 8 female) had
      contemporaneous angiography and QMRA and were analyzed. Median follow-up was 9
      months. Six patients (50%) demonstrated angiographic restenosis 2 to 12 months
      after treatment; all had an analogous decrease in flow in the vessel of interest.
      Of 3 patients with more severe flow decrement (> 50%), 2 experienced stroke. None
      of the patients without angiographic ISR demonstrated a flow decrease on QMRA.
      CONCLUSIONS: In this preliminary series, flow decrease on QMRA is highly
      predictive of angiographic ISR. Additionally, the degree of flow decrement
      correlates with symptomatic ISR. QMRA may provide a useful noninvasive tool for
      serial monitoring after intracranial stenting.

PMID- 20930156
TI  - General is better than local anesthesia during endovascular procedures.

PMID- 20930157
TI  - An epidemiological study of stroke hospitalizations in Maputo, Mozambique: a high
      burden of disease in a resource-poor country.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Already a major cause of death and disability in high
      income countries, the burden of stroke in sub-Saharan Africa is also expected to
      be high. However, specific stroke data are scarce from resource-poor countries.
      We studied the incidence, characteristics, and short-term consequences of
      hospitalizations for stroke in Maputo, Mozambique. METHODS: Over 12 months,
      comprehensive data from all local patients admitted to any hospital in Maputo
      with a new stroke event were prospectively captured according to the World Health
      Organization's STEPwise approach to stroke surveillance program. Disability
      levels (pre- and posthospital discharge) and short-term case-fatality (in
      hospital and 28 days) were also studied. RESULTS: Overall, 651 new stroke events
      (mean age 59.1 +/- 13.2 years and 53% men) were captured by the registry with 601
      confirmed by CT scan (83.4%) or necropsy (8.9%). Crude and adjusted (world
      reference population) annual incidence rates of stroke were 148.7 per 100,000 and
      260.1 per 100,000 aged >= 25 years, respectively. Of these, 531 (81.6%)
      represented a first-ever stroke event comprising 254 ischemic (42.0%) and 217
      (36.1%) an intracerebral hemorrhage. Before admission, 561 patients (86.2%) had
      hypertension and 271 (41.6%) had symptoms for > 24 hours. In-hospital and 28-day
      case-fatality were 33.3% and 49.6% (72.3% for hemorrhagic stroke), respectively.
      From almost no preadmission disability, 64.4% of 370 survivors at 28 days had
      moderate-to-severe disability. CONCLUSIONS: The burden of disease associated with
      stroke is high in Maputo, emphasizing the importance of primary prevention and
      improvement of the standards of care in a developing country under
      epidemiological transition.

PMID- 20930158
TI  - Cerebral autoregulation in stroke: a review of transcranial Doppler studies.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Cerebral autoregulation may become impaired after stroke.
      To provide a review of the nature and extent of any autoregulation impairment
      after stroke and its course over time, a technique allowing repeated bedside
      measurements with good temporal resolution is required. Transcranial Doppler
      (TCD) in combination with continuous blood pressure measurements allows
      noninvasive continuous bedside investigation with high temporal resolution of the
      dynamic and the steady-state components of cerebral autoregulation. Therefore,
      this review focuses on all TCD studies on cerebral autoregulation in the setting
      of documented ischemic stroke. METHODS: PubMed and EMBASE were searched for
      studies of stroke, autoregulation, and TCD. Studies were either acute phase (<96
      hours after index stroke) or chronic phase (>96 hours after index stroke)
      autoregulation studies. Quality of studies was studied in a standardized fashion.
      RESULTS: Twenty-three studies met the inclusion criteria. General agreement
      existed on cerebral autoregulation being impaired, even after minor stroke.
      Bilateral impairment of autoregulation was documented, particularly after lacunar
      stroke. Studies showed progressive deterioration of cerebral autoregulation in
      the first 5 days after stroke and recovery over the next 3 months. Impaired
      cerebral autoregulation as assessed by TCD was related to neurological
      deterioration, the necessity for decompressive surgery, and poor outcome.
      Synthesis of the data of various studies was, however, limited by studies not
      meeting key methodological criteria for observational studies. CONCLUSIONS: TCD
      in combination with continuous blood pressure measurement offers a method with a
      high temporal resolution feasible for bedside evaluation of cerebral
      autoregulation in the stroke unit. TCD studies have shown impairment of cerebral
      autoregulation in various subtypes of ischemic stroke. To improve the synthesis
      of data from various research groups, there is urgent need for standardization of
      methodology of TCD studies in cerebral autoregulation.

PMID- 20930160
TI  - Stroke risk and antithrombotic strategies in atrial fibrillation.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Although the stroke rate associated with atrial
      fibrillation has declined over the last 10 years, the emerging atrial
      fibrillation epidemic threatens to increase the incidence of cardioembolic
      stroke. Summary of Review-Oral anticoagulants are superior antithrombotic agents
      but are underused due to fear of bleeding and uncertainty about which patients
      will benefit. Individualized decisions on antithrombotic therapy require
      balancing the competing risks of thromboembolism and bleeding. The CHADS2
      (Congestive heart failure, Hypertension, Age > 75 years, and Diabetes mellitus,
      and 2 points for prior Stroke/transient ischemic attack) score and other schemes
      provide an estimate of thromboembolic risk; however, the external validity of
      these estimates in the context of well-controlled risk factors, or a
      hypercoagulable state, is uncertain. Moreover, it is very difficult to estimate
      bleeding risk. Recent studies highlight the need for meticulous international
      normalized ratio control to achieve optimal outcomes hampered by the high
      bleeding risk during oral anticoagulant inception and other limitations of
      warfarin. Dabigatran is at least as efficacious as warfarin in preventing stroke
      and systemic embolism for patients in whom the risk of thromboembolism outweighs
      bleeding risk. In addition, the results of ongoing trials evaluating alternative
      anticoagulants such as oral anti-Xa agents are awaited. In this review, we
      discuss emerging therapies including available and completed trials of direct
      antithrombins and anti-Xa agents, including ximelagatran, idraparinaux, and
      dabigatran; and new device therapies including left atrial appendage occlusion
      devices. CONCLUSIONS: In light of these promising new therapies, it is likely
      that atrial fibrillation thromboembolism guidelines will need to be rewritten and
      frequently updated.

PMID- 20930159
TI  - Tumor necrosis factor-alpha enhances microvascular tone and reduces blood flow in
      the cochlea via enhanced sphingosine-1-phosphate signaling.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: We sought to demonstrate that tumor necrosis factor (TNF)
      alpha, via sphingosine-1-phosphate signaling, has the potential to alter cochlear
      blood flow and thus, cause ischemic hearing loss. METHODS: We performed
      intravital fluorescence microscopy to measure blood flow and capillary diameter
      in anesthetized guinea pigs. To measure capillary diameter ex vivo, capillary
      beds from the gerbil spiral ligament were isolated from the cochlear lateral wall
      and maintained in an organ bath. Isolated gerbil spiral modiolar arteries,
      maintained and transfected in organ culture, were used to measure calcium
      sensitivity (calcium-tone relationship). In a clinical study, a total of 12 adult
      patients presenting with typical symptoms of sudden hearing loss who were not
      responsive or only partially responsive to prednisolone treatment were identified
      and selected for etanercept treatment. Etanercept (25 mg s.c.) was self
      administered twice a week for 12 weeks. RESULTS: TNF-alpha induced a
      proconstrictive state throughout the cochlear microvasculature, which reduced
      capillary diameter and cochlear blood flow in vivo. In vitro isolated
      preparations of the spiral modiolar artery and spiral ligament capillaries
      confirmed these observations. Antagonizing sphingosine-1-phosphate receptor 2
      subtype signaling (by 1 MUmol/L JTE013) attenuated the effects of TNF-alpha in
      all models. TNF-alpha activated sphingosine kinase 1 (Sk1) and induced its
      translocation to the smooth muscle cell membrane. Expression of a dominant
      negative Sk1 mutant (Sk1(G82D)) eliminated both baseline spiral modiolar artery
      calcium sensitivity and TNF-alpha effects, whereas a nonphosphorylatable Sk1
      mutant (Sk1(S225A)) blocked the effects of TNF-alpha only. A small group of
      etanercept-treated, hearing loss patients recovered according to a 1-phase
      exponential decay (half-life=1.56 +/- 0.20 weeks), which matched the kinetics
      predicted for a vascular origin. CONCLUSIONS: TNF-alpha indeed reduces cochlear
      blood flow via activation of vascular sphingosine-1-phosphate signaling. This
      integrates hearing loss into the family of ischemic microvascular pathologies,
      with implications for risk stratification, diagnosis, and treatment.

PMID- 20930161
TI  - Unfractionated or low-molecular weight heparin for the treatment of cerebral
      venous thrombosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: There is no consensus whether to use unfractionated
      heparin or low-molecular weight heparin for the treatment of cerebral venous
      thrombosis. We examined the effect on clinical outcome of each type of heparin.
      METHODS: A nonrandomized comparison of a prospective cohort study (the
      International Study on Cerebral Vein and Dural Sinus Thrombosis) of 624 patients
      with cerebral venous thrombosis. Patients not treated with heparin (n = 107) and
      those who sequentially received both types of heparin (n = 99) were excluded from
      the primary analysis. The latter were included in a secondary analysis, allocated
      according to the type of heparin given first. The primary end point was
      functional independency at 6 months (modified Rankin scale score <= 2). Secondary
      end points were complete recovery (modified Rankin scale score 0 to 1),
      mortality, and new intracranial hemorrhages. RESULTS: A total of 119 patients
      received low-molecular weight heparin (28%) and 302 received unfractionated
      heparin (72%). Significantly more patients treated with low-molecular weight
      heparin were functionally independent after 6 months, both in univariate analysis
      (odds ratio, 2.1; CI, 1.0 to 4.2) and after adjustment for prognostic factors and
      imbalances (odds ratio, 2.4; CI, 1.0 to 5.7). In the secondary analysis, there
      was a similar, nonsignificant trend (odds ratio, 1.7; CI, 0.80 to 3.6). Low
      molecular weight heparin was associated with less new intracerebral hemorrhages
      (adjusted odds ratio, 0.29; CI, 0.07 to 1.3), especially in patients with
      intracerebral lesions at baseline (adjusted odds ratio, 0.19; CI, 0.04 to 0.99).
      There was no difference in complete recovery and mortality. CONCLUSIONS: This
      nonrandomized study in patients with cerebral venous thrombosis suggests a better
      efficacy and safety of low-molecular weight heparin over unfractionated heparin.
      Low-molecular weight heparin seems preferable above unfractionated heparin for
      the initial treatment of cerebral venous thrombosis.

PMID- 20930162
TI  - Relative energy index to detect malignant microemboli.

PMID- 20930163
TI  - Intravenous alteplase for stroke in those older than 80 years old.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Risks and benefits of intravenous thrombolysis for
      patients with stroke > 80 years of age are unclear. We examined outcomes and
      symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage rates in <= 80- and > 80-year-old patients
      in the Safe Implementation of Treatment in Stroke International Stroke
      Thrombolysis Register. METHODS: We compared mortality and independence (modified
      Rankin Scale 0 to 2) at 3 months and symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage (per
      Safe Implementation of Treatment in Stroke >= 4-point deterioration in National
      Institutes of Health Stroke Scale within 36 hours and Type 2 parenchymal
      hemorrhage and per National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke [any
      increase in National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale and any hemorrhage]) of
      1831 patients > 80 years of age with 19 411 patients <= 80 years of age compliant
      with other European licensing criteria. RESULTS: The > 80-year-old group (median,
      83 years) had more severe strokes (median National Institutes of Health Stroke
      Scale 14 versus 12), lower levels of prestroke independence (modified Rankin
      Scale 0 to 1, 82% versus 93%), and a larger proportion of females (59% versus
      39%) compared with the younger group (68 years). Symptomatic intracerebral
      hemorrhage was not significantly increased after adjustment for other risk
      factors in those >80 years of age compared with those <= 80 years of age (per
      Safe Implementation of Treatment in Stroke 1.8% versus 1.7%, P = 0.70, adjusted
      OR, 0.90, 95% CI, 0.73 to 1.09; P = 0.28; per National Institute of Neurological
      Disorders and Stroke 9.5% versus 7.8%, P < 0.005, adjusted OR, 0.96, 95% CI, 0.87
      to 1.06, P = 0.42). The patients >80 years of age had a higher mortality rate
      (30% versus 12%; P < 0.005; adjusted OR, 1.53; 95% CI, 1.43 to 1.65; P < 0.005)
      and reduced independence (35% versus 57%; P < 0.005; adjusted OR, 0.73; 95% CI,
      0.68 to 0.78; P < 0.005). CONCLUSIONS: Selected patients with acute ischemic
      stroke > 80 years of age otherwise fulfilling the intravenous alteplase license
      criteria have a similar rate of symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage compared
      with younger patients and are appropriate candidates for thrombolysis. The higher
      mortality and the poorer functional outcome are consistent with the overall worse
      prognosis seen in the natural history of this age group.

PMID- 20930164
TI  - Impact of microalbuminuria on incident stroke: a meta-analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Microalbuminuria, a marker of both kidney disease and
      endothelial dysfunction, may be associated with global vascular risk, but the
      nature and magnitude of the link between microalbuminuria and incident stroke has
      not been clearly defined. The purpose of this study was to assess the consistency
      and strength of the association of microalbuminuria with risk of stroke in
      prospective studies using meta-analysis. METHODS: We conducted a systematic
      search of electronic databases and bibliographies for studies reporting a
      multivariate-adjusted estimate, represented as relative risk with 95% CI, of the
      association between microalbuminuria and stroke risk. Studies were excluded if a
      majority of study participants had established kidney disease or pre-eclampsia.
      Estimates were combined using a random-effect model. RESULTS: We identified 12
      studies, with a total of 48 596 participants and 1263 stroke events. Overall,
      presence of microalbuminuria was associated with greater stroke risk (relative
      risk, 1.92; 95% CI, 1.61 to 2.28; P < 0.001) after adjustment for established
      cardiovascular risk factors. There was evidence of significant heterogeneity in
      the magnitude of the association across studies (P for heterogeneity < 0.001, I2
      = 68%), which was partially explained by differences in study population,
      microalbuminuria definition, and different microalbuminuria-related risk among
      stroke subtypes. However, in stratified analyses, microalbuminuria was associated
      with increased risk of subsequent stroke in all subgroups (general population,
      diabetics, those with known stroke). CONCLUSIONS: Microalbuminuria is strongly
      and independently associated with incident stroke risk. Future studies should
      explore whether microalbuminuria is just a risk marker or a modifiable risk
      factor for stroke.

PMID- 20930165
TI  - Aspirin in Alzheimer's disease: increased risk of intracerebral hemorrhage: cause
      for concern?
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: In a randomized controlled trial in Alzheimer's disease
      (AD), we found a higher number of intracerebral hemorrhages (ICHs) in patients
      randomized to aspirin treatment. Here, we evaluate the literature on the risk of
      ICH as a complication in patients with AD treated with aspirin. METHODS:
      Systematic review and comparison of the occurrence of events over time between
      the aspirin and control group in each trial using Cox regression analysis.
      Estimated hazard ratios (HRs) were combined in a pooled HR. RESULTS: Two
      randomized controlled trials on aspirin for AD were found. In the Evaluation of
      Vascular Care in Alzheimer's Disease (EVA) trial (conducted in our center), 4.6%
      of patients in the group receiving a multicomponent treatment that included
      aspirin had an ICH (3/65; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.0 to 12.9) versus 0% in
      the control group (0/58; 95% CI, 0 to 6.2). In the Aspirin in Alzheimer's Disease
      (AD2000) trial, these proportions were, respectively, 2.6% (4/156; 95% CI, 0.7 to
      6.4) and 0% (0/154; 95% CI, 0 to 2.4). The pooled proportion of ICHs in the
      aspirin group is 3.2% (7/221; 95% CI, 1.3 to 6.4) versus 0% in the control group
      (0/212; 95% CI, 0 to 1.7). The pooled HR for an ICH in AD patients using aspirin
      is 7.63 (95% CI, 0.72 to 81.00; P=0.09). CONCLUSIONS: Although the number of
      cases in both trials is small, our findings suggest that aspirin use in AD might
      pose an increased risk of ICH, whereas it has no effect on cognition. If there is
      an unequivocal cardiovascular indication for aspirin, it should not be withheld
      in AD patients.

PMID- 20930166
TI  - Intra-arterial thrombolysis within 3 hours: where is the evidence?

PMID- 20930167
TI  - n-3 Fatty acids decrease arterial low-density lipoprotein cholesterol delivery
      and lipoprotein lipase levels in insulin-resistant mice.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine whether n-3 fatty acids (n-3) influence arterial
      cholesterol delivery and lipoprotein lipase (LpL) levels in insulin-resistant
      mice. METHODS AND RESULTS: Insulin resistance contributes to risk of
      cardiovascular disease. It was previously reported that saturated fat (SAT) diets
      increased, but n-3 diets decreased, arterial low-density lipoprotein (LDL)
      cholesterol deposition from LDL total and selective uptake; this was associated
      with increased or decreased arterial LpL, respectively. Insulin receptor
      transgenic knockout mice (L1) were fed a chow, SAT, or n-3 diet for 12 weeks.
      Double-fluorescent boron dipyrromethene (BODIPY)-cholesteryl ester (CE) and Alexa
      dye-labeled human LDL were injected to separately trace LDL-CE and LDL
      apolipoprotein B whole particle uptake. In contrast to SAT, n-3 diets markedly
      reduced all plasma lipids, ameliorating progression of insulin resistance. As
      opposed to SAT, n-3 reduced arterial LDL uptake, CE deposition, and selective
      uptake. Disparate patterns of CE deposition between diets were comparable with
      arterial LpL distribution; SAT induced high LpL levels throughout aortic media;
      LpL was limited only to intima in n-3-fed mice. CONCLUSIONS: n-3 diets diminish
      arterial LDL-cholesterol deposition in mice with insulin resistance, and this is
      associated with changes in arterial LpL levels and distribution.

PMID- 20930168
TI  - Alcohol inhibits smooth muscle cell proliferation via regulation of the Notch
      signaling pathway.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the role of Notch signaling in mediating alcohol's
      inhibition of smooth muscle cell (SMC) proliferation. METHODS AND RESULTS:
      Treatment of human coronary artery SMCs with ethanol (EtOH) decreased Notch 1
      mRNA and Notch 1 intracellular domain protein levels, in the absence of any
      effect on Notch 3. EtOH treatment also decreased C-promoter binding factor-1 (CBF
      1)/recombination signal-binding protein (RBP)-jk promoter activity and Notch
      target gene (hairy related transcription factor [HRT-1] or HRT-2) expression.
      These effects were concomitant with an inhibitory effect of EtOH on SMC
      proliferation. Overexpression of constitutively active Notch 1 intracellular
      domain or human hairy related transcription factor-1 (hHRT-1) prevented the EtOH
      induced inhibition of SMC proliferation. In vivo, Notch 1 and HRT-1 mRNA
      expression was increased after ligation-induced carotid artery remodeling. The
      vessel remodeling response was inhibited in mice that received "moderate" amounts
      of alcohol by gavage daily; intimal-medial thickening was markedly reduced, and
      medial and neointimal SMC proliferating cell nuclear antigen expression was
      decreased. Moreover, Notch 1 and HRT-1 expression, induced after ligation injury,
      was inhibited by moderate alcohol consumption. CONCLUSIONS: EtOH inhibits Notch
      signaling and, subsequently, SMC proliferation, in vitro and in vivo. The
      modulation of Notch signaling in SMCs by EtOH may be relevant to the
      cardiovascular protective effects of moderate alcohol consumption purported by
      epidemiological studies.

PMID- 20930169
TI  - The I{kappa}B kinase inhibitor nuclear factor-{kappa}B essential modulator
      binding domain peptide for inhibition of injury-induced neointimal formation.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The activation of nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) is a crucial step
      in the arterial wall's response to injury. The identification and
      characterization of the NF-kappaB essential modulator-binding domain (NBD)
      peptide, which can block the activation of the IkappaB kinase complex, have
      provided an opportunity to selectively abrogate the inflammation-induced
      activation of NF-kappaB. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect
      of the NBD peptide on neointimal formation. METHODS AND RESULTS: In the rat
      carotid artery balloon angioplasty model, local treatment with the NBD peptide
      (300 MUg/site) significantly reduced the number of proliferating cells at day 7
      (by 40%; P<0.01) and reduced injury-induced neointimal formation (by 50%; P<0.01)
      at day 14. These effects were associated with a significant reduction of NF
      kappaB activation and monocyte chemotactic protein-1 expression in the carotid
      arteries of rats treated with the peptide. In addition, the NBD peptide (0.01 to
      1 MUmol/L) reduced rat smooth muscle cell proliferation, migration, and invasion
      in vitro. Similar results were observed in apolipoprotein E(-/-) mice in which
      the NBD peptide (150 MUg/site) reduced wire-induced neointimal formation at day
      28 (by 47%; P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: The NBD peptide reduces neointimal formation
      and smooth muscle cell proliferation/migration, both effects associated with the
      inhibition of NF-kappaB activation.

PMID- 20930170
TI  - Oral administration of an active form of vitamin D3 (calcitriol) decreases
      atherosclerosis in mice by inducing regulatory T cells and immature dendritic
      cells with tolerogenic functions.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine whether the administration of an active form of vitamin
      D(3) (calcitriol) could prevent atherosclerosis through anti-inflammatory
      actions. METHODS AND RESULTS: Recent clinical studies have shown that lack of
      vitamin D(3) is a risk factor for cardiovascular events. Oral calcitriol
      administration decreased atherosclerotic lesions, macrophage accumulation, and
      CD4(+) T-cell infiltration at the aortic sinus, when compared with the
      corresponding observations in control mice. We observed a significant increase in
      Foxp3(+) regulatory T cells and a decrease in CD80(+)CD86(+) dendritic cells
      (DCs) in the mesenteric lymph nodes, spleen, and atherosclerotic lesions in oral
      calcitriol-treated mice in association with increased interleukin 10 and
      decreased interleukin 12 mRNA expression. CD11c(+) DCs from the calcitriol group
      showed reduced proliferative activity of T lymphocytes, suggesting the
      suppression of DC maturation. Neutralization of CD25 in vivo revealed that
      calcitriol inhibited atherosclerosis mainly in a regulatory T cell-dependent
      manner but also partly because of a decrease in DC maturation. CONCLUSIONS: Oral
      calcitriol treatment could prevent the development of atherosclerosis by changing
      the function or differentiation of DCs and regulatory T cells. These findings
      suggest that intestinal and systemic immune modulation by calcitriol may be a
      potentially valuable therapeutic approach against atherosclerosis.

PMID- 20930171
TI  - Hypoxia and upregulation of hypoxia-inducible factor 1{alpha} stimulate venous
      thrombus recanalization.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Angiogenic factors are expressed within thrombus during resolution,
      but the primary stimulus for neovascularization is unknown. Our aims were to
      determine whether (1) hypoxia and hypoxia-inducible factor 1alpha (HIF1alpha) are
      induced in resolving thrombus, (2) this stimulates angiogenic factor production,
      and (3) upregulating HIF1alpha enhances thrombus resolution and vein
      recanalization. METHODS AND RESULTS: Oxygen tension in the thrombus was
      negatively correlated with HIF1alpha levels (Spearman correlation [RS] = -0.77,
      P<0.0001), whereas HIF1alpha levels positively correlated with vascular
      endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression (Pearson correlation [R] = 0.85,
      P<0.0005), during resolution in a murine model. HIF1alpha (P<0.005), VEGF
      (P<0.005), and VEGF receptor 1 (VEGFR1) (P<0.05) expression was 2-fold greater in
      the thrombus of mice treated with the prolyl hydroxylase domain inhibitor L
      mimosine compared with controls. The levels of 13 other HIF1-mediated angiogenic
      factors were also increased. Thrombus weight (P<0.001) and volume (P<0.05) were
      reduced by a third in l-mimosine-treated mice compared with controls, whereas
      vein recanalization (P<0.005) and thrombus neovascularization (P<0.001) were 2
      fold greater, and this was associated with increased inflammatory cell content.
      CONCLUSIONS: Hypoxia and HIF1alpha are induced in the naturally resolving
      thrombus and correlate with increased angiogenic factor expression. Upregulation
      of HIF1alpha enhances thrombus resolution and vein recanalization. HIF1alpha may
      represent a novel target for treatments that promote resolution and
      recanalization and reduce the incidence of post-thrombotic syndrome.

PMID- 20930172
TI  - Activation of protease-activated receptors 3 and 4 accelerates tissue factor
      induced thrombin generation on the surface of vascular smooth muscle cells.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine factors regulating human aortic smooth muscle cells
      (HASMC) supported tissue factor-induced thrombin generation. METHODS AND RESULTS:
      The addition of nonlipidated tissue factor and Ca(2+) to HASMCs maintained in
      reptilase-treated platelet-poor plasma resulted in the robust formation of
      thrombin after a lag phase of approximately 6 minutes. Pretreatment with low
      concentrations of alpha-thrombin before the addition of tissue factor and Ca(2+)
      accelerated the rate of thrombin generation (time to reach half of peak thrombin
      was reduced by [mean +/- SD] 42.0 +/- 2.2%; P<0.05) but had no effect on the
      amount of peak thrombin generated. Protease-activated receptor (PAR) 3 activating
      peptides (APs) or PAR-4 APs accelerated thrombin generation without affecting
      peak thrombin levels (time to half of peak thrombin decreased by 17.4 +/- 5.6%
      and 21.7 +/- 3.5%; P<0.05 with PAR-3 AP and PAR-4 AP, respectively). The addition
      of PAR-3 AP and PAR-4 AP together had an additive effect, with a reduction in
      time to half of peak thrombin of 43.9 +/- 4.0%. PAR-3 AP or PAR-4 AP enhanced
      tissue factor-induced factor Xa production and phosphatidylserine exposure on the
      surface of HASMCs. PAR-1 activation had no effect on thrombin generation, factor
      Xa production, or phosphatidylserine exposure. CONCLUSIONS: Low concentrations of
      alpha-thrombin accelerate tissue factor-induced thrombin generation on the
      surface of HASMCs, and this effect is mediated by PAR-3 and PAR-4.

PMID- 20930173
TI  - CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ regulatory T cells protect the proinflammatory activation of
      human umbilical vein endothelial cells.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the role of CD4(+)CD25(+)forkhead box P 3 (Foxp3)(+) T
      regulatory cells (Tregs) in protecting the activation and function of human
      umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) induced by proinflammatory stimulus and
      the mechanisms of it. METHODS AND RESULTS: ECs play a major role in atherogenic
      initiation, changing their quiescence into activated phenotypes to support every
      phase of the inflammatory process. HUVECs were incubated alone, with Tregs or
      CD4(+)CD25(-) T cells in the presence of anti-CD3 monoclonal antibodies for 48
      hours, and then were stimulated with or without oxidized low-density
      lipoprotein/lipopolysaccharide for an additional 24 hours. Tregs are able to
      induce alternative expression of immune phenotypic markers of activated HUVECs by
      down modulating CD86 and to inhibit the adhesion molecule, such as vascular cell
      adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) and proinflammatory cytokine (eg, monocyte
      chemoattractant protein-1 and interleukin 6), response of HUVECs to oxidized low
      density lipoprotein/lipopolysaccharide. Moreover, Tregs downregulate
      proinflammatory factor nuclear factor-kappaB activation and induce resistance to
      suppression of anti-inflammatory factor Kruppellike factor 2 in HUVECs induced by
      a proinflammatory stimulus. Mechanism studies reveal that Treg-mediated
      suppression of HUVEC proinflammatory cytokines and adhesion molecule expression
      impaired by oxidized low-density lipoprotein/lipopolysaccharide require cell
      contact by cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen-4 and CD86 and by soluble factors
      (mainly interleukin 10 and transforming growth factor [TGF]-beta). CONCLUSIONS:
      Tregs may exert their protective effects against atherogenesis in part through
      inducing an immune-inhibitory phenotype of ECs involving cytotoxic T-lymphocyte
      antigen-4-dependent cell-to-cell contact and also requiring soluble factors
      (mainly interleukin 10 and TGF-beta).

PMID- 20930174
TI  - Psychometric testing of the Gordon Facial Muscle Weakness Assessment Tool.
AB  - School nurses may be the first health professionals to assess the onset of facial
      paralysis/muscle weakness in school-age children. The purpose of this study was
      to test the psychometric properties of the Gordon Facial Muscle Weakness
      Assessment Tool (GFMWT) developed by Gordon. Data were collected in two phases.
      In Phase 1, 4 content experts independently rated each of the 22 items on the
      GFMWT for content relevance. The ratings were used to generate Item and Scale
      Content Validity Index (CVI) scores. In Phase 2, school nurses (N = 74) attending
      a state conference independently rated referral urgency on a set of 10 clinical
      scenarios using the GFMWT. The GFMWT had an item and scale CVI of 1.0. Overall,
      the interrater reliability was .602 (p < .001). When used by school nurses, the
      GFMWT was shown to be both a reliable and a valid tool to assess facial muscle
      weakness in school-age children.

PMID- 20930176
TI  - Uptake of prenatal HIV testing in Hai Phong Province, Vietnam.
AB  - The objective of the study is to describe the uptake of prenatal HIV testing
      among Vietnamese women. Exit interviews were conducted among 300 women who had
      delivered at Hai Phong obstetrical hospital. Information about socioeconomic
      characteristics and HIV testing was obtained through structured questionnaire
      interviews. It was found that 45% of the women were tested for HIV before the end
      of 34 weeks of gestation, 5% in 35 to 40 weeks of gestation, and 55% at labor.
      Low educational levels, being a farmer or worker, having a low income, and living
      close to the hospital were associated with being tested at labor. When adjusting
      for possible confounders, however, living more than 15 km from the hospital was
      the only factor, which remained significantly associated with HIV testing during
      labor (odds ratio = 2.15; confidence interval = 1.14-4.04). The results suggest
      that many Vietnamese women are not tested for HIV during prenatal care and that a
      relationship exists between distance to the hospital and lack of HIV testing
      during pregnancy.

PMID- 20930177
TI  - The Bahasa Melayu version of the Nursing Stress Scale among nurses: a reliability
      study in Malaysia.
AB  - The Nursing Stress Scale (NSS) has been shown to be a valid and reliable
      instrument to assess occupational stressors among nurses. The NSS, which was
      previously used in the English version, was translated and back-translated into
      Bahasa Melayu. This study was conducted to assess the reliability of the Bahasa
      Melayu version of the NSS among nurses for future studies in this country. The
      reliability of the NSS was assessed after its readministration to 30 nurses with
      a 2-week interval. The Spearman coefficient was calculated to assess its
      stability. The internal consistency was measured through 4 measures: Cronbach's
      alpha, Spearman-Brown, Guttman split-half, and standardized item alpha
      coefficients. The total response rate was 70%. Test-retest reliability showed
      remarkable stability (Spearman's rho exceeded .70). All 4 measures of internal
      consistency among items indicated a satisfactory level (coefficients in the range
      of .68 to .87). In conclusion, the Bahasa Melayu version of the NSS is a reliable
      and useful instrument for measuring the possible stressors at the workplace among
      nurses.

PMID- 20930179
TI  - Trauma-related symptoms in neglected preschoolers and affective quality of mother
      child communication.
AB  - This study (a) assessed whether child neglect is associated with posttraumatic
      stress disorder (PTSD) and dissociative symptoms in the preschool period and (b)
      examined the role of quality of mother-child affective communication in the
      development of trauma-related symptoms among neglected children. Participants
      were 33 neglected and 72 non-neglected preschoolers (mean age = 60 months).
      Neglected children were recruited from the Child Protection Agencies. Neglected
      and non-neglected children victims of other form of abuse were excluded from the
      study. Trauma symptoms were evaluated through mother and preschool teacher
      reports. Quality of mother-child affective communication was assessed in a lab
      visit during an unstructured task. According to teachers, neglected children
      displayed more PTSD and dissociative symptoms than non-neglected children.
      Quality of mother-child communication was lower in neglected dyads. Mother-child
      affective communication predicted teacher-reported child trauma symptomatology,
      over and above child neglect. Discussion focuses on the traumatic nature of child
      neglect and the underlying parent-child relational processes.

PMID- 20930180
TI  - No follow-up after positive newborn screening: medical neglect?
AB  - The current study examined medical professionals' behaviors related to reporting
      medical neglect when a family is noncompliant with follow-up services after a
      positive newborn screening result. Pediatric medical professionals within an
      urban medical campus were provided with five case vignettes in relation to
      different diseases. Medical professionals rated the severity of family
      noncompliance with follow-up services and indicated whether they would report
      suspected medical neglect to Child Protective Services (CPS). Physicians were
      more likely to report medical neglect than the other mandated reporters in the
      study. Logistic regression analyses found that medical professionals' perceptions
      of the severity of family noncompliance with services were significantly
      predictive of decisions to report medical neglect. Respondent gender and the
      method by which families were notified of screening results also significantly
      affected reporting behaviors in certain instances. Although all vignettes
      included information that met legal statutes for reporting neglect, medical
      professionals indicated that they would only report neglect 40-61% of the time
      across vignettes. Continued investigation of the rationale behind medical
      professionals' decision-making process and training protocols designed to improve
      mandated reporter knowledge and reporting behaviors are needed to further reduce
      bias and improve objectivity when considering ethical and professional
      obligations to report medical neglect.

PMID- 20930181
TI  - Child maltreatment and women's adult sexual risk behavior: childhood sexual abuse
      as a unique risk factor.
AB  - This study investigated (a) whether childhood sexual abuse (CSA) was uniquely
      associated with adult sexual risk behavior, after controlling for other types of
      childhood maltreatment and (b) whether there were additive or interactive effects
      of different types of maltreatment on adult sexual risk behavior. Participants
      were 414 women (M age = 28 years) attending a publicly funded STD clinic. All
      women completed a computerized survey assessing childhood maltreatment (sexual,
      physical, psychological abuse, and neglect) and sexual risk behavior. Analyses
      showed that sexual abuse, physical abuse, psychological abuse, and neglect were
      associated with adult sexual risk behavior. Multivariate analyses that controlled
      for all other forms of child maltreatment showed that only CSA was uniquely
      associated with adult sexual risk behavior (i.e., percentage of episodes of
      unprotected sex in the past 3 months and number of lifetime partners). The
      authors found little support for an additive or an interactive model of the
      effects of different types of childhood maltreatment on adult sexual risk
      behavior; CSA alone was the best predictor of adult sexual risk behavior. Sexual
      risk reduction interventions are needed for women who were sexually abused as
      children. Continued research on the effects of multitype maltreatment on adult
      sexual risk behavior is needed.

PMID- 20930185
TI  - Ten steps in training volunteer support group facilitators.
AB  - Caregiver support groups are often led by volunteer lay leaders who might have
      personal experiences with Alzheimer's disease. This article offers 10 steps in
      what to consider and how to conduct training for these lay leaders so that the
      success of the support groups can be maximized. Steps include helping trainees
      understand their own feelings and the feelings of their group members as well as
      teaching about the stages that groups typically experience from beginning to
      termination and the role of the leader at each stage.

PMID- 20930186
TI  - Effects of prescribed medications on cognition and behavior in frontotemporal
      lobar degeneration.
AB  - A retrospective chart review of 21 patients meeting core clinical criteria for
      behavioral or aphasic variants of frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) was
      conducted. Data recorded included Folstein Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE)
      scores, medications prescribed, and subjective reports of behavioral symptoms
      from each visit. Behaviors were graded on a scale from 1 to 3 and totaled for
      each visit. Changes in MMSE and behavior scores between visits 1 month and 6
      months apart where a new medication was started were analyzed using a paired t
      test and were compared between medication classes using an unpaired t test.
      Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors (AChEIs) were associated with a decrease in MMSE
      scores by 1.6 (P = .02) and an increase in total behavior scores by 1.0 (P =
      .03). Mean MMSE and behavior scores were statistically more improved by selective
      serotonin reuptake inhibitors than AChEIs (P = .04). This data suggest a
      potential worsening of objective measures of cognitive and behavioral symptoms in
      FTLD with AChEI treatment.

PMID- 20930187
TI  - The generation effect in patients with mild cognitive impairment.
AB  - The generation effect (GE) has been proven as an effective technique to improve
      learning and memory in healthy and clinical populations. However, it has not been
      found with meaningless materials such as pseudowords. Several hypotheses
      postulate the participation of semantic memory in the information-generating
      process. There is indeed a clear decrease in the effect in patients with serious
      semantic memory disorders, such as Alzheimer's disease (AD) but, if this is
      correct, other patients whose memory disorders are not so serious, such as mild
      cognitive impairment (MCI), should show GE to some extent. To test this
      hypothesis, we examined 54 participants (18 healthy adults, 18 patients with AD,
      and 18 with MCI) in a task involving reading and completion of phrases. Results
      show a decreased (although obvious) GE in patients with MCI. Likewise, results
      indicate that greater semantic damage will lead to poorer performance with less
      familiar stimuli or low-frequency words.

PMID- 20930189
TI  - An examination of the predictive validity of the risk matrix 2000 in England and
      wales.
AB  - This study examined the predictive validity of an actuarial risk-assessment tool
      with convicted sexual offenders in England and Wales. A modified version of the
      RM2000/s scale and the RM2000 v and c scales (Thornton et al., 2003) were
      examined for accuracy in predicting proven sexual violent, nonsexual violent, and
      combined sexual and/or nonsexual violent reoffending in a sample of sexual
      offenders who had either started a community sentence or been released from
      prison into the community by March 2007. Rates of proven reoffending were
      examined at 2 years for the majority of the sample (n = 4,946), and 4 years ( n =
      578) for those for whom these data were available. The predictive validity of the
      RM2000 scales was also explored for different subgroups of sexual offenders to
      assess the robustness of the tool. Both the modified RM2000/s and the complete v
      and c scales effectively classified offenders into distinct risk categories that
      differed significantly in rates of proven sexual and/or nonsexual violent
      reoffending. Survival analyses on the RM2000/s and v scales (N = 9,284) indicated
      that the higher risk groups offended more quickly and at a higher rate than lower
      risk groups. The relative predictive validity of the RM2000/s, v, and c, as
      calculated using Receiver Operating Characteristics (ROC) analyses, were moderate
      (.68) for RM2000/s and large for both the RM2000/c (.73) and RM2000/v (.80), at
      the 2-year follow-up. RM2000/s was moderately accurate in predicting relative
      risk of proven sexual reoffending for a variety of subgroups of sexual offenders.

PMID- 20930190
TI  - Men with ED also report changes in orgasmic sensations.

PMID- 20930191
TI  - Genetic regulation of prostate development.
AB  - Prostatic development is a dynamic process in which basic mechanisms of
      epithelial outgrowth and epithelial-mesenchymal interaction are initiated by
      androgens and androgen receptor signaling. Even in adulthood, the prostate's
      function remains tightly regulated by androgens--without them, pathologic
      diseases, including hyperplastic and malignant growth that together plague nearly
      50% of aging males, do not occur. Unraveling the etiology of these pathologic
      processes is a complex and important goal. In fact, many insights into these
      processes have come from an intimate understanding of the complex signaling
      networks that regulate physiologic prostatic growth in development. This review
      aims to highlight important key molecules such as Nkx3.1, sonic hedgehog, and Sry
      box 9, as well as key signaling pathways including the fibroblast growth factor
      and wingless pathways. These molecules and pathways are critical for prostate
      development with both known and postulated roles in prostatic pathology.

PMID- 20930193
TI  - Development of bovine fetal testis tissue after ectopic xenografting in mice.
AB  - Testis tissue xenografting represents a versatile model to study testis biology,
      and to preserve fertility in immature animals. To evaluate whether bovine fetal
      testes can mature when grafted into mouse hosts, small fragments of testes from
      midgestation (125 to 145 days of gestation) bovine fetuses were grafted
      ectopically into immunodeficient castrated male mice. At grafting, donor tissue
      displayed the typical seminiferous cords composed of gonocytes and primitive
      Sertoli cells. At 5 or 10 months after grafting, weight of the seminal vesicles
      in recipient mice was indicative of production of bioactive testosterone by
      xenografts. Xenografts showed similar development regardless of donor age. At 5
      months, tubule formation occurred but germ cell differentiation had not proceeded
      beyond the spermatogonia stage. At 10 months, an increase in tubule size was
      evident and pachytene spermatocytes were observed as the most advanced type of
      germ cells in the xenografts of 2 donors. The number of tubules with germ cells
      was reduced in xenografts compared to donor tissue, but at 10 months the number
      of germ cells per tubule was higher than in donors. Germ cell proliferation was
      similar in donor tissue and xenografts. However, Sertoli cells showed a higher
      proliferation rate in xenografts collected at 5 months than in donor fetal testes
      and xenografts collected at 10 months. Sertoli cells in xenografts showed a
      progressive but incomplete loss of expression of Mullerian inhibiting substance
      and weak androgen receptor expression, indicating an incomplete Sertoli cell
      maturation. In conclusion, fetal testis tissue developed partially, qualitatively
      similar to pubertal testes in situ.

PMID- 20930192
TI  - Genetically induced estrogen receptor alpha mRNA (Esr1) overexpression does not
      adversely affect fertility or penile development in male mice.
AB  - Previously, we reported that estrogen receptor alpha mRNA (Esr1) or protein
      (ESR1) overexpression resulting from neonatal exposure to estrogens in rats was
      associated with infertility and maldeveloped penis characterized by reduced
      length and weight and abnormal accumulation of fat cells. The objective of this
      study was to determine if mutant male mice overexpressing Esr1 are naturally
      infertile or have reduced fertility and/or develop abnormal penis. The fertility
      parameters, including fertility and fecundity indices, numbers of days from the
      day of cohabitation to the day of delivery, and numbers of pups per female, were
      not altered from controls as a result of Esr1 overexpression. Likewise, penile
      morphology, including the length, weight, and diameter and os penis development,
      was not altered from controls. Conversely, weights of the seminal vesicles and
      bulbospongiosus and levator ani (BS/LA) muscles were significantly (P < .05)
      lower as compared with controls; however, the weight of the testis, the
      morphology of the testis and epididymis, and the plasma and testicular
      testosterone concentration were not different from controls. Hence, genetically
      induced Esr1 overexpression alone, without an exogenous estrogen exposure during
      the neonatal period, is unable to adversely affect the development of the penis
      as well as other male reproductive organs, except for limited, but significant,
      reductions in weights of the seminal vesicles and BS/LA muscles.

PMID- 20930195
TI  - Thoracic surgery and lung transplantation: Thoracic Surgery Assembly contribution
      to the celebration of 20 years of the ERS.

PMID- 20930194
TI  - Distribution of alpha- and delta-tocopherols in seminal plasma and sperm
      fractions of men with normal and abnormal semen parameters.
AB  - The aim of this study was to investigate the presence of the different isoforms
      of tocopherol (T) in seminal plasma (P) and in the sperm fractions of individuals
      with abnormal (group 1) and normal (group 2) sperm parameters; the relationships
      between these isoforms and conventional sperm parameters were also explored. Two
      vitamin E homologues, alpha-T and delta-T, were identified in the semen of all
      participants. Although alpha-T and delta-T concentrations were similar in the
      semen of the 2 groups, group 1 showed a lower alpha-T ratio (S/P) (0.90 vs. 1.20,
      P < .001) and delta-T ratio (0.86 vs 1.13, P = .007) than group 2. In addition,
      both T ratios were correlated with the percentage of viable cells, detected by
      eosin staining. These results suggested that alpha-T and delta-T are not
      homogeneously distributed in the semen fractions; in normal semen they are more
      concentrated in the sperm membrane, whereas in abnormal semen the damaged sperm
      cells may release both Ts in the plasma. To verify whether sperm membrane
      breakage could alter alpha-T and delta-T distribution between the seminal plasma
      and the spermatozoa, normal sperm samples were sonicated; after sonication a
      consistent sperm plasma membrane fragmentation, highlighted by transmission
      electron microscopy, and a concomitant release of alpha-T and delta-T were
      observed. In conclusion, the Ts coupled directly with the sperm membrane seem to
      play the main protective role in the semen, and the release of alpha-T and delta
      T in the P fraction is probably an index of lower antioxidant power and sperm
      quality.

PMID- 20930196
TI  - Slaying the CVD dragon with steroids.

PMID- 20930197
TI  - Do bacteria have a role in asthma development?

PMID- 20930198
TI  - Use of cluster analysis to define COPD phenotypes.

PMID- 20930199
TI  - Extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis: back to the future.

PMID- 20930200
TI  - European Curriculum Recommendations for Training in Paediatric Respiratory
      Medicine: one step further.

PMID- 20930201
TI  - Comorbidities of asthma during childhood: possibly important, yet poorly studied.
AB  - Asthma in adults is associated with comorbidities such as obesity, gastro
      oesophageal reflux, dysfunctional breathing and mental disorders. Herein, we
      provide an overview of the current state of evidence on these comorbidities in
      childhood asthma. The prevalence, known mechanisms and possible treatment options
      for each comorbid condition will be discussed. Obesity is an increasing health
      problem in children, but its relationship with asthma remains unclear. Allergic
      rhinitis is a very common comorbidity in asthma, both in children and in adults,
      but its effect on childhood asthma severity has not been studied. The prevalence
      and treatment options of dysfunctional breathing, a known comorbidity in adult
      asthma, have not yet been studied in paediatric asthma. Food allergies appear to
      cause more severe reactions in patients with asthma. Depressive disorders are
      more prevalent in childhood asthma than in healthy children, but seem to be
      poorly recognised and treated in children. Although gastro-oesophageal reflux is
      commonly thought to be a comorbid disease complicating asthma, it remains
      uncertain whether treatment improves asthma control. In conclusion, knowledge of
      asthma comorbidities in childhood is sparse. Further studies are urgently needed
      to identify the prevalence, and, more importantly, the effects of these
      comorbidities and their treatment on the degree of asthma control in children.

PMID- 20930202
TI  - Using a whole-blood interferon-{gamma} assay to improve diagnosis of tuberculous
      pleural effusion.

PMID- 20930203
TI  - Endogenous and nitrovasodilator-induced release of NO in the airways of end-stage
      cystic fibrosis patients.

PMID- 20930204
TI  - A role for ITPA variants in the clinical course of pulmonary Langerhans' cell
      histiocytosis?

PMID- 20930205
TI  - Quadriceps myostatin expression in COPD.

PMID- 20930206
TI  - Exposure at high altitude and exercise altered membrane diffusion capacity of the
      lung.

PMID- 20930207
TI  - Exhaled nitric oxide and COPD.

PMID- 20930208
TI  - New concepts for expressing forced expiratory volume in 1 s: conclusions need
      nuances.

PMID- 20930209
TI  - Pirfenidone in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

PMID- 20930211
TI  - Improved functional recovery after facial nerve reconstruction by temporary
      denervation of the contralateral mimic musculature with botulinum toxin in rats.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Even optimal nerve reconstruction after facial nerve damage leads to
      defective reinnervation because of misdirected axonal sprouting and
      polyinnervation of the end plates of the facial muscles. OBJECTIVE: The authors
      studied whether temporary chemical denervation of the contralateral nonlesioned
      hemiface with botulinum toxin (BTX) would increase regeneration of the lesioned
      buccal branch of the facial nerve and improve functional recovery of the whisker
      pad. METHODS: The experiments were performed in 65 adult rats distributed in 4
      interventions: (1) buccal-buccal nerve anastomosis (BBA), (2) BBA plus
      ipsilateral injection of BTX into the whisker pad, (3) BBA plus contralateral BTX
      injection, or (4) BTX injection without any surgery. Sequential preoperative and
      postoperative retrograde fluorescence tracing at 4 weeks after surgery quantified
      the accuracy of reinnervation. Functional recovery was measured by biometrical
      image analysis of whisking behavior at 12 weeks after surgery. RESULTS: After BTX
      injection without any surgery, muscle paralysis was transient, and the animals
      restored normal nerve terminals and normal vibrissal function at 8 weeks after
      treatment. After BBA and ipsilateral or contralateral BTX injection, the degree
      of correct reinnervation increased significantly to 61% in comparison to 27%
      after BBA without any other intervention. Enhanced correct reinnervation was
      accompanied by a significant improvement of whisking after contralateral but not
      after ipsilateral injection of BTX. CONCLUSIONS: These results provide evidence
      that transient contralateral muscle paralysis helps improve the morphological and
      functional regeneration after facial nerve repair.

PMID- 20930213
TI  - A high-throughput, homogeneous, fluorescence polarization assay for inhibitors of
      hedgehog protein autoprocessing.
AB  - Hedgehog (Hh) signaling plays an important role in embryonic patterning and adult
      stem cell renewal but has recently been found also to be involved in certain stem
      cell cancers. One of the first steps in Hh signaling is the autoprocessing of Hh
      protein, in which the C-terminal domain (Hh-C) catalyzes a cholesterol-dependent
      autocleavage reaction that leads to the production of the cholesterol ester of
      the N-terminal Hh domain (Hh-N), thereby yielding a signaling molecule that
      activates the Hh pathway by binding to the Patched receptor. This article
      describes an in vitro, homogeneous assay system that measures changes in
      fluorescence polarization that accompany the cholesterol-dependent autocleavage
      of Hh protein. The assay system makes use of a modified Hh protein in which Hh-N,
      which is not essential for autocleavage, is replaced by a 25-residue peptide
      containing a tetracysteine motif, complexed with a bisarsenical fluorophore. The
      assay is quite robust and easily adapted to high-throughput screening in 384-well
      plates with Z' factors above 0.8. It has been used to screen the National
      Institutes of Health Clinical Collection, which has led to the identification of
      2 compounds that inhibit the cholesterol-dependent autocleavage of Hh protein at
      micromolar concentrations.

PMID- 20930212
TI  - Bilateral and unilateral arm training improve motor function through differing
      neuroplastic mechanisms: a single-blinded randomized controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: This randomized controlled trial tests the efficacy of
      bilateral arm training with rhythmic auditory cueing (BATRAC) versus dose-matched
      therapeutic exercises (DMTEs) on upper-extremity (UE) function in stroke
      survivors and uses functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine
      effects on cortical reorganization. METHODS: A total of 111 adults with chronic
      UE paresis were randomized to 6 weeks (3*/week) of BATRAC or DMTE. Primary end
      points of UE assessments of Fugl-Meyer UE Test (FM) and modified Wolf Motor
      Function Test Time (WT) were performed 6 weeks prior to and at baseline, after
      training, and 4 months later. Pretraining and posttraining, fMRI for UE movement
      was evaluated in 17 BATRAC and 21 DMTE participants. RESULTS: The improvements in
      UE function (BATRAC: FM Delta = 1.1 + 0.5, P = .03; WT Delta = -2.6 + 0.8, P <
      .00; DMTE: FM Delta = 1.9 + 0.4, P < .00; WT Delta = -1.6 + 0.7; P = .04) were
      comparable between groups and retained after 4 months. Satisfaction was higher
      after BATRAC than DMTE (P = .003). BATRAC led to significantly higher increase in
      activation in ipsilesional precentral, anterior cingulate and postcentral gyri,
      and supplementary motor area and contralesional superior frontal gyrus (P < .05).
      Activation change in the latter was correlated with improvement in the WMFT (P =
      .01). CONCLUSIONS: BATRAC is not superior to DMTE, but both rehabilitation
      programs durably improve motor function for individuals with chronic UE
      hemiparesis and with varied deficit severity. Adaptations in brain activation are
      greater after BATRAC than DMTE, suggesting that given similar benefits to motor
      function, these therapies operate through different mechanisms.

PMID- 20930214
TI  - A homogeneous, high-throughput fluorescence anisotropy-based DNA supercoiling
      assay.
AB  - The degree of supercoiling of DNA is vital for cellular processes, such as
      replication and transcription. DNA topology is controlled by the action of DNA
      topoisomerase enzymes. Topoisomerases, because of their importance in cellular
      replication, are the targets of several anticancer and antibacterial drugs. In
      the search for new drugs targeting topoisomerases, a biochemical assay compatible
      with automated high-throughput screening (HTS) would be valuable. Gel
      electrophoresis is the standard method for measuring changes in the extent of
      supercoiling of plasmid DNA when acted upon by topoisomerases, but this is a low
      throughput and laborious method. A medium-throughput method was described
      previously that quantitatively distinguishes relaxed and supercoiled plasmids by
      the difference in their abilities to form triplex structures with an immobilized
      oligonucleotide. In this article, the authors describe a homogeneous supercoiling
      assay based on triplex formation in which the oligonucleotide strand is labeled
      with a fluorescent dye and the readout is fluorescence anisotropy. The new assay
      requires no immobilization, filtration, or plate washing steps and is therefore
      well suited to HTS for inhibitors of topoisomerases. The utility of this assay is
      demonstrated with relaxation of supercoiled plasmid by Escherichia coli
      topoisomerase I, supercoiling of relaxed plasmid by E. coli DNA gyrase, and
      inhibition of gyrase by fluoroquinolones and nalidixic acid.

PMID- 20930215
TI  - Development of a high-throughput screen for inhibitors of Epstein-Barr virus
      EBNA1.
AB  - Latent infection with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is a carcinogenic cofactor in
      several lymphoid and epithelial cell malignancies. At present, there are no small
      molecule inhibitors that specifically target EBV latent infection or latency
      associated oncoproteins. EBNA1 is an EBV-encoded sequence-specific DNA binding
      protein that is consistently expressed in EBV-associated tumors and required for
      stable maintenance of the viral genome in proliferating cells. EBNA1 is also
      thought to provide cell survival function in latently infected cells. In this
      work, the authors describe the development of a biochemical high-throughput
      screening (HTS) method using a homogeneous fluorescence polarization (FP) assay
      monitoring EBNA1 binding to its cognate DNA binding site. An FP-based
      counterscreen was developed using another EBV-encoded DNA binding protein, Zta,
      and its cognate DNA binding site. The authors demonstrate that EBNA1 binding to a
      fluorescent-labeled DNA probe provides a robust assay with a Z factor
      consistently greater than 0.6. A pilot screen of a small-molecule library of
      ~14,000 compounds identified 3 structurally related molecules that selectively
      inhibit EBNA1 but not Zta. All 3 compounds had activity in a cell-based assay
      specific for the disruption of EBNA1 transcription repression function. One of
      the compounds was effective in reducing EBV genome copy number in Raji Burkitt
      lymphoma cells. These experiments provide a proof of concept that small-molecule
      inhibitors of EBNA1 can be identified by biochemical HTS of compound libraries.
      Further screening in conjunction with medicinal chemistry optimization may
      provide a selective inhibitor of EBNA1 and EBV latent infection.

PMID- 20930216
TI  - An automated high-content assay for tumor cell migration through 3-dimensional
      matrices.
AB  - High-content tumor cell migration assays in 3-dimensional (3D) extracellular
      matrix are a powerful tool for modeling and understanding the biology of this
      critical step in the process of metastasis. Currently available methods offer
      very limited throughput and are not amenable to studies of comparative
      pharmacology or small-scale screening. The authors present an automated approach
      to high-content tumor cell migration assays. A standard screening-sized plate
      with an array of microchannels was designed and constructed from common
      thermoplastics. After filling the channels with 3D matrix, cells were placed at
      one end of the channel, and migration into the channel was monitored via an
      imaging system. All liquid-handling steps were performed by standard liquid
      handling robotics. Tumor cell migration in the channel was truly 3D and
      correlated with metastatic potential. The information-rich data from these assays
      were used to rank the potency of compounds inhibiting migration through 3D
      collagen as well as to gain additional insights into the compounds' activities
      related to cell health. This approach is compatible with a variety of
      multiparametric, morphological, and/or kinetic readouts.

PMID- 20930217
TI  - A high-throughput analysis method to detect regions of interest and quantify
      zebrafish embryo images.
AB  - Zebrafish is widely used to understand neural development and model various
      neurodegenerative diseases. Zebrafish embryos are optically transparent, have a
      short development period, and can be kept alive in microplates for days, making
      them amenable to high-throughput microscopic imaging. As a result of high
      throughput experiments, a large number of images can be generated in a single
      experiment, posing a challenge to researchers to analyze them efficiently and
      quantitatively. In this work, we develop an image processing focused on detecting
      and quantifying pigments in zebrafish embryos. The algorithm automatically
      detects a region of interest (ROI) enclosing an area around the pigments and then
      segment the pigments for quantification. In this process, the algorithm
      identifies the head and torso at first, and then finds the boundaries
      corresponding to the back and abdomen by taking advantage of a priori information
      about the anatomy of zebrafish embryos. The method is robust in terms that it can
      detect and quantify pigments even when the embryos have different orientations
      and curvatures. We used real data to demonstrate the performance of the method to
      extract phenotypic information from zebrafish embryo images and compared its
      results with manual analysis for verification.

PMID- 20930218
TI  - The missing men: high risk of disease in men of Mexican origin.
AB  - The present study sought to determine gender- and age-specific prevalences of
      chronic diseases in an urban Mexican American border community. The Cameron
      County Hispanic Cohort (CCHC; n = 2,000) was selected using a multistaged cluster
      design. Sociodemographics, anthropometric measures, and blood samples were
      collected on each participant. More women were obese (55.1%) than men (44.8%).
      Men had significantly higher rates of diabetes (20.4% for men vs. 15.8% for
      women, p < .05) and undiagnosed diabetes (6.2% for men vs. 2.4% for women, p <
      .01); the prevalence of diabetes rose steeply between the ages of 40 and 49
      years. Men were significantly more likely to have serum cholesterol levels of 200
      mg/dL and elevated low-density lipoprotein levels (22.6% vs. 26.1%, p < .01).
      Mexican American males in the U.S./Mexico border region have a high prevalence of
      obesity in younger men and higher overall rates of diabetes, including
      undiagnosed diabetes, and significantly higher serum cholesterol levels than
      women.

PMID- 20930219
TI  - Breast milk expression and maintenance in mothers of very low birth weight
      infants: supports and barriers.
AB  - The study objective was to identify patterns of factors that supported or
      hindered initiation of breast milk expression and maintenance of breast milk
      production after the birth of a very low birth weight (VLBW) infant in a sample
      of US women with varied prenatal infant feeding intentions. In-depth interviews
      were conducted 1 to 6 months after delivery in 32 women who initiated breast milk
      expression after encouragement from hospital staff. Pregnancy complications,
      anxiety regarding their infant's health, and lack of privacy interfered with
      initiation of milk expression. After hospital discharge, using manual or small
      electric breast pumps, travel to the neonatal intensive care unit, return to
      work, and difficulty with time management interfered with maintenance of breast
      milk production. Family support, positive attitudes toward pumping, and
      anticipation of breastfeeding supported maintenance of breast milk production.
      From these data emerge points of intervention where additional support could
      improve mothers' experiences and increase duration of breast milk feeding.

PMID- 20930220
TI  - The role of enrichment programs in strengthening the academic Pipeline to dental
      education.
AB  - Academic enrichment programs can be essential to efforts by dental schools to
      recruit and enroll underrepresented minority students (URM). Many summer academic
      enrichment programs provide additional preparation and support to URM students in
      the sciences. They often address barriers to student achievement such as
      unevenness in academic preparation, less rigorous educational background, family
      influence on preparation aspiration and success, unease in a new setting, and
      lack of professional role models. To be successful, these programs must address
      both the academic and social complexities of URM students and often require a
      range of programs to meet the specific needs of different student groups.

PMID- 20930221
TI  - Reflections on the dental Pipeline program's efforts regarding underrepresented
      minority dental students.

PMID- 20930222
TI  - Suggestions for further reading.

PMID- 20930223
TI  - Infrastructure for a community-based dental education program: students and
      clinics.
AB  - The infrastructure of a community-based dental education program is important to
      its success. Thorough preparation of students for the community experience and
      careful selection of community clinical sites are indispensable. Student training
      in cultural competence, early community exposure, third-year clinical training,
      assignment of students to rotations, transportation, and housing all need careful
      attention. When selecting sites for the community rotation, it is important to
      have detailed site criteria or a wish list, a memorandum of understanding, and
      awareness of legal liability issues.

PMID- 20930224
TI  - Management of experiences in community-based dental education.
AB  - The successful management of community-based service-learning relies on
      developing and maintaining community partnerships that meet both the educational
      mission of the dental school and the service mission of the community clinic. The
      partnership enhances the dental curriculum by introducing students to a wide
      variety of practice models, patient populations, and perspectives on health care
      delivery systems. The partnership enhances the service mission of the community
      sites by providing them with a university affiliation, a window into the state-of
      the-art techniques that students bring with them from the dental school, and a
      pool of future graduates who may choose to practice in that clinic setting. This
      "win-win" scenario is not automatic, but rather relies on carefully matching,
      maintaining, and evaluating the service-learning partnerships. This article
      describes the development and implementation of the community-based service
      learning curriculum in the College of Dentistry, University of Illinois at
      Chicago.

PMID- 20930225
TI  - Financial impact of community-based dental education.
AB  - The financial impact of community-based dental education on dental school and
      community clinic budgets is a major issue. The evidence suggests that community
      experiences for dental students of fifty or more days, if effectively managed,
      can increase school net revenues due to the following factors: 1) the community
      rotations increase student productivity, approximating the loss of dental school
      clinical income; 2) the reallocation of unused clinical resources at the dental
      school reduces student clinic deficits; 3) schools and federally qualified health
      centers (FQHCs) that share surplus student patient revenues generate additional
      net income; and 4) enrollment of more students without additional new facilities
      and faculty increases total school tuition revenues. For FQHC dental clinics,
      student rotations increase the number of patients treated and may generate
      surplus revenues. Community-based dental education also provides schools and
      clinics important non-financial advantages.

PMID- 20930226
TI  - The impact of community-based dental education on students.
AB  - Community-based dental education (CBDE) shifts a substantial portion of dental
      clinical education from dental school clinics to mainly public health settings.
      For dental students to learn effectively in community settings they need
      preparatory education in cultural awareness, communication skills, and the social
      and behavioral sciences. The effective integration of CBDE into a dental
      curriculum requires reflective components, evaluation, and highly organized
      community-based experiences. This chapter reviews organizational principles and
      specific strategies to ensure that CBDE is conducted in a fashion that enables
      student learning and community oral health service. CBDE has substantial
      potential for affecting the values and behaviors of dental students relative to
      health care access for underserved populations and for attracting diverse
      students to dental education. CBDE also provides dentistry with an opportunity to
      guide dental faculty and student values and orientation towards public service,
      engagement, ethics, and the health of the public.

PMID- 20930227
TI  - Preface: about the dental Pipeline program.

PMID- 20930228
TI  - The experiences of community dental clinic directors with dental students and
      dental school collaborations.

PMID- 20930229
TI  - Reflections on the dental Pipeline program's efforts regarding community-based
      dental education.
AB  - Although many changes are being made, many are still needed in educating future
      dental professionals about prevention programs, ethics, professionalism,
      communication, cultural competence, and access to care. It is not yet clear if
      producing more dentists will put these professionals into underserved areas where
      they are needed, with the skills they need. The achievements of the Pipeline,
      Profession, and Practice: Community-Based Dental Education program schools in
      increasing the amount of time students spend in community-based education and
      service-learning programs result from a widespread, national effort to meet this
      challenge. This article is a personal reflection and review of these programs,
      considering what has been learned and still needs to be learned about student
      educational impact and quality, faculty issues, program management,
      infrastructure and logistics, and financial impact, with suggestions for future
      study that can help dental schools design the most effective programs.

PMID- 20930230
TI  - Underrepresented minority dental student recruitment and enrollment programs: an
      overview from the dental Pipeline program.
AB  - By now, all dental schools should understand the need to increase the enrollment
      of underrepresented minority (URM) students. While there has been a major
      increase in the number of Hispanic/Latino, African American/Black, and Native
      American applicants to dental schools over the past decade, there has not been a
      major percent increase in the enrollment of URM students except in the schools
      participating in the Pipeline, Profession, and Practice: Community-Based Dental
      Education program, which have far exceeded the percent increase in enrollment of
      URM students in other U.S. dental schools during Phase I of the program (2002
      07). Assuming that all dental schools wish to improve the diversity of their
      student bodies, chapters 9-12 of this report--for which this chapter serves as an
      introduction--provide strategies learned from the Pipeline schools to increase
      the applications and enrollment of URM students. Some of the changes that the
      Pipeline schools put into place were the result of two focus group studies of
      college and dental students of color. These studies provided guidance on some of
      the barriers and challenges students of color face when considering dentistry as
      a career. New accreditation standards make it clear that the field of dentistry
      expects dental schools to re-energize their commitment to diversity.

PMID- 20930231
TI  - Pipeline program. Foreword.

PMID- 20930232
TI  - Components of effective outreach and recruitment programs for underrepresented
      minority and low-income dental students.
AB  - Dental schools in the Pipeline, Profession, and Practice: Community-Based Dental
      Education program that increased the number of underrepresented minority (URM)
      and low-income (LI) students in their predoctoral programs used focused
      approaches in their outreach, recruitment, and retention initiatives. Various
      combinations of approaches were used by the fifteen schools that received funding
      during Phase I of the program, which spanned 2003 to 2007. URM enrollment in the
      Pipeline schools increased from 184 students in 2003 to 246 in 2007. These
      enrollment numbers represent 16 and 20 percent of the first-year class in the
      Pipeline schools in 2003 and 2007, respectively. If the historically minority
      serving institutions--Howard University College of Dentistry and Meharry Medical
      College School of Dentistry--are removed from these totals, the numbers changed
      from 100 in 2003 to 144 in 2007, representing 10 and 13 percent of the first-year
      classes. This chapter describes the approaches used by the fifteen Pipeline
      schools to increase the number of URM and LI students recruited to and enrolled
      in their predoctoral programs. It describes the internal infrastructural and
      organizational approaches these dental schools used to increase awareness about
      oral health careers among URM and LI students and to recruit applicants from
      these populations to their educational programs. The effective partnerships and
      collaborations these dental schools established with each other and external
      stakeholders to bolster their career outreach and recruitment efforts and some of
      the informal efforts that supported increased diversity are also examined.

PMID- 20930233
TI  - Effective admissions practices to achieve greater student diversity in dental
      schools.
AB  - In this chapter we describe the institutional and policy-level strategies that
      dental schools in the Pipeline, Profession, and Practice: Community-Based Dental
      Education program used to modify their admissions practices to increase the
      diversity of their student bodies. Schools developed and used clear statements
      recognizing the value of diversity. They incorporated recent U.S. Supreme Court
      rulings regarding educational diversity into their revised admissions practices;
      these rulings cited diversity as both a "compelling interest" and its use in only
      "narrowly tailored" circumstances. We make a case for admissions decisions based
      on a comprehensive evaluation that balances the quantitative and qualitative
      qualities of a candidate. It refutes the practice of overreliance on standardized
      tests by detailing the whole-file review process to measure merit and
      professional promise. Also described is a range of noncognitive variables (e.g.,
      leadership, ability to sustain academic achievement with competing priorities,
      volunteerism, communication, social background, and disadvantaged status) that
      schools can take into consideration in admissions decisions. Admissions
      committees can tie this comprehensive review of candidates into the case for
      promoting cross-cultural understanding and enhanced competence to provide care to
      patients from diverse backgrounds. In addition, the chapter reviews the
      challenges schools face in developing admissions policies and procedures that
      reflect the university's mission for diversity. It addresses the importance of a
      diverse composition of the admissions committee. It also describes how tailored
      workshops and technical assistance for admissions committees can help schools
      improve their student diversity and how admissions committees can engage in a
      process of periodic review of their diversity objectives in relationship to the
      school's mission.

PMID- 20930234
TI  - Organization and management of community-based dental education programs: an
      overview from the dental Pipeline program.
AB  - Disparities in access to dental care are a major problem in the United States.
      Effectively run community-based dental education programs can make a significant
      contribution to reducing access disparities and at the same time enrich the
      educational experiences of dental students and residents. For complex historical
      reasons, dental schools did not base their clinical training programs in
      community hospitals and clinics like the other health professions. Now, because
      of trends in school finances, changes in societal values, and limitations in
      current educational experiences, schools are increasing the time students spend
      in community clinics. This is likely to continue. The chapters in the first
      section of the report on the Pipeline, Profession, and Practice: Community-Based
      Dental Education program--for which this chapter serves as an introduction
      provide detailed information on the operation of community-based education
      programs.

PMID- 20930235
TI  - The role of the dental school environment in promoting greater student diversity.
AB  - This chapter describes the strategies implemented by one dental school during the
      past decade to establish an environment that supports a culture of diversity. The
      school audited its initial diversity milieu, authored a strategic plan for
      diversity, fully participated in university-wide diversity initiatives, and
      created an administrative infrastructure for underrepresented minority (URM)
      student support. Mentoring and counseling programs were established for URM
      students, and a schoolwide diversity committee was formed to make cultural
      competence a high priority for all students, faculty, and staff. URM faculty
      members were recruited and retained through a minority faculty development
      program. Student professional organizations were established and supported by
      mentoring partnerships with members of the corresponding organizations in the
      practicing community. The school's diversity culture is continuously evaluated
      and nurtured within the context of evolving human interactions in society, dental
      education, and dental practice.

PMID- 20930237
TI  - Assessment of tobacco dependence curricula in U.S. dental hygiene programs.
AB  - Tobacco dependence education (TDE) continues to be a vital component of dental
      hygiene curricula-made even more important by the fact that tobacco cessation in
      adults in the United States has stagnated over the past ten years. This study was
      undertaken to assess the salient characteristics of TDE in U.S. dental hygiene
      programs. A fifty-one question survey was mailed to the program directors of all
      283 accredited dental hygiene programs during the 2007-08 school year (this
      number does not include the programs in Illinois, which were excluded since they
      had participated in a previous study). A total of 187 schools returned the survey
      for a return rate of 66 percent. Curricular content, minutes spent on each topic,
      existing level of clinical competence measured, expected level of clinical
      competence, and resources used were assessed. Respondents reported an average of
      6.7 hours spent on all identified components of tobacco education. While 77
      percent of respondents reported formally assessing whether a student asked if a
      patient used tobacco, only 26 percent indicated having a formal competency
      utilizing all of the U.S. Public Health Service's Clinical Practice Guideline 5
      As and 5 Rs. In contrast, 72 percent of program directors reported expecting
      their graduates to be competent in a moderate intervention that included all 5
      As. Though there is a clear commitment to TDE among dental hygiene programs in
      the United States, we recommend training to a more intensive level of TDE in
      order to facilitate broader adoption of comprehensive, evidence-based guidelines.

PMID- 20930238
TI  - Fourth-year dental students' perceived barriers to providing tobacco intervention
      services.
AB  - In order to facilitate effective tobacco cessation services within dental school
      clinics, it is necessary to understand the perceived barriers encountered by
      dental students while providing these services. The aim of this study was to
      identify which factors fourth-year dental students perceive to be associated with
      barriers to providing tobacco intervention services. A written survey was
      developed and completed by incoming fourth-year dental students (a convenience
      sample of seventy students) at the University of Iowa College of Dentistry in
      2008. The survey assessed the perceived barriers to providing tobacco
      intervention services and related factors. Descriptive, bivariate, and linear
      regression analyses were conducted. The response rate was 97 percent. The most
      frequently reported barriers were patients' resistance to tobacco intervention
      services (96 percent), inadequate time available for tobacco intervention
      services (96 percent), and forgetting to give tobacco intervention advice (91
      percent). The following variables were significantly (p<0.05) related to greater
      perceived barriers in providing tobacco intervention services: lower "adequacy of
      tobacco intervention curriculum coverage of specific topics covered over the
      previous three years" and greater "perceived importance of incorporating
      objective structured clinical examination teaching method for learning tobacco
      intervention." Students probably could benefit from additional didactic training,
      but most important may be enhanced clinical experiences and faculty reinforcement
      to facilitate effective practical student learning and adaptation for future
      delivery of intervention services in private practice settings.

PMID- 20930236
TI  - Consortium for oral health-related informatics: improving dental research,
      education, and treatment.
AB  - Advances in informatics, particularly the implementation of electronic health
      records (EHR), in dentistry have facilitated the exchange of information. The
      majority of dental schools in North America use the same EHR system, providing an
      unprecedented opportunity to integrate these data into a repository that can be
      used for oral health education and research. In 2007, fourteen dental schools
      formed the Consortium for Oral Health-Related Informatics (COHRI). Since its
      inception, COHRI has established structural and operational processes, governance
      and bylaws, and a number of work groups organized in two divisions: one focused
      on research (data standardization, integration, and analysis), and one focused on
      education (performance evaluations, virtual standardized patients, and objective
      structured clinical examinations). To date, COHRI (which now includes twenty
      dental schools) has been successful in developing a data repository, pilot
      testing data integration, and sharing EHR enhancements among the group. This
      consortium has collaborated on standardizing medical and dental histories,
      developing diagnostic terminology, and promoting the utilization of informatics
      in dental education. The consortium is in the process of assembling the largest
      oral health database ever created. This will be an invaluable resource for
      research and provide a foundation for evidence-based dentistry for years to come.

PMID- 20930239
TI  - Preparing the dental workforce for oral disease prevention in an aging
      population.
AB  - The growing proportion of older adults in the U.S. population, as well as
      escalating dental expenditures, is leading to major changes in the demands on
      oral health care delivery. Researchers over the years have clearly demonstrated
      the shortcomings of traditional restorative treatment and the cycle of repeat
      interventional care. Oral health care professionals are constantly seeking
      advances in technology, protocols, methodologies, and materials to meet the needs
      of the growing, diverse older population. Early stages of oral diseases such as
      caries and periodontal disease are vigorous, preventable, and reversible.
      Assessment of social, systemic, and oral risk factors that emphasize patient
      counseling to facilitate risk reduction, along with individualized evidence-based
      disease prevention planning, is more cost-effective than traditional restorative
      treatment and will improve overall outcome. The purposes of this article are to
      briefly describe current issues and challenges related to oral health promotion
      for older adults and to examine strategies for disease prevention and health
      promotion in health and dental care settings.

PMID- 20930240
TI  - The influence of industry on dental education.
AB  - Academic dental institutions face the growing challenge of securing the resources
      needed to develop a curriculum that incorporates current innovation and
      technology to ensure that students' learning experiences are relevant to current
      dental practice. As a result, university-industry relationships are becoming
      increasingly common in academe. While these relationships facilitate curriculum
      relevance, they also expose students to external market forces. The purpose of
      this study was to explore the influence of industry on dental education using a
      qualitative research study design. Analysis of semistructured interviews with
      thirteen Dalhousie University dental faculty members revealed two primary themes
      that suggest a tension between the traditional hierarchical organizational
      structures guiding curriculum (i.e., authoritarianism) and industry's quest for
      profit (i.e., entrepreneurialism). Additional themes demonstrate a belief that
      industry directly influences students' knowledge and understanding of evidence as
      well as their experience with both the formal and informal curricula. Industry's
      presence in academe is a concern. Dental educators, as stewards of the
      profession, must be nimble in brokering industry's presence without compromising
      the integrity of both the educational program and the teaching institution as a
      whole.

PMID- 20930241
TI  - A content analysis of dental education research as reported in two journals.
AB  - Little systematic information has been collected about the nature and types of
      studies published in dental education journals. The goals of this study were to
      conduct a content analysis of articles published in dental education journals in
      two recent years, describe the type of research published, identify possible
      gaps, and propose future agendas. A content analysis of articles published in two
      leading dental education journals was performed for the years 2003 and 2008 with
      253 articles reviewed. Most articles were descriptive and observational in
      nature. Curriculum was the most common topic of study addressed. The mean number
      of authors per article increased slightly over time, and authors held mostly a
      combination of D.D.S. and M.S. degrees or Ph.D. degrees. A review of the
      literature was present and critically discussed in almost three-quarters of the
      articles studied. One-third of the articles mentioned ethics review or approval.
      Most of the studies were conducted in North America, followed by Europe. About
      one-third of the articles reported a source of funding. A plea is made for more
      systematic studies of the effectiveness of instructional and curricular
      innovations and more clarification studies to better understand why certain
      initiatives or interventions work or not.

PMID- 20930242
TI  - Application of basic science to clinical problems: traditional vs. hybrid problem
      based learning.
AB  - It is widely acknowledged that clinical problem-solving is a key skill for dental
      practitioners. The aim of this study was to determine if students in a hybrid
      problem-based learning curriculum (h-PBL) were better at integrating basic
      science knowledge with clinical cases than students in a traditional, lecture
      based curriculum (TC). The performance of TC students (n=40) was compared to that
      of h-PBL students (n=31). Participants read two clinical scenarios and answered a
      series of questions regarding each. To control for differences in ability, Dental
      Admission Test (DAT) Academic Average scores and predental grade point averages
      (GPAs) were compared, and an ANCOVA was used to adjust for the significant
      differences in DAT (t-test, p=0.002). Results showed that h-PBL students were
      better at applying basic science knowledge to a clinical case (ANCOVA, p=0.022)
      based on overall scores on one case. TC students' overall scores were better than
      h-PBL students on a separate case; however, it was not statistically significant
      (p=0.107). The h-PBL students also demonstrated greater skills in the areas of
      hypothesis generation (Mann-Whitney U, p=0.016) and communication (p=0.006).
      Basic science comprehension (p=0.01) and neurology (p<0.001) were two areas in
      which the TC students did score significantly higher than h-PBL students.

PMID- 20930243
TI  - Comparison of clinical productivity of senior dental students in a dental school
      teaching clinic versus community externship rotations.
AB  - The aim of this study was to report on the clinical and monetary productivity of
      fourth-year dental students at community-based clinical sites and school-based
      clinics at the Harvard School of Dental Medicine (HSDM). This study included
      forty-seven students from the graduating classes of 2006, 2007, and 2008. These
      fourth-year students were required to spend twelve weeks at one of several
      participating community health centers throughout Massachusetts and New
      Hampshire. Students also treated their patient pool in the teaching practice at
      HSDM in the fourth year. The most common sixty American Dental Association
      procedure codes were compared, and variables were created by grouping them by
      specialty or type of service. HSDM dental students completed 8,365 procedures at
      an externship site during their community experience. An average of 178
      procedures was completed per student, and mean revenue of $17,486 was produced.
      In comparison, the same students completed 3,640 procedures during an equal
      amount of time spent (normalized for this study) at the school teaching practice
      clinic, where each student completed an average of seventy-seven procedures and
      generated $16,802 in revenue. The results of this study show that fourth-year
      dental students at the community health centers, working under the supervision of
      adjunct faculty, completed more than double the number of procedures they did in
      the HSDM teaching practice clinic. However, the revenue generated was very
      similar at the two sites. In addition, the types of procedures performed by
      students at externship sites were simpler than the complex and specialized
      procedures performed at the HSDM clinic, which include fixed and removable
      prosthetics, periodontal surgery, and implantology.

PMID- 20930244
TI  - Introducing and evaluating MorphoDent, a Web-based learning program in dental
      morphology.
AB  - MorphoDent, a computer-assisted learning program designed to teach the anatomy of
      the adult dentition, was introduced into the curriculum of dentistry at the
      University of Saarland in Homburg, Germany. Thirty-six second-year students of
      the School of Dentistry were introduced to morphoDent alongside the traditional
      lectures of dental anatomy. Questionnaires that evaluated the students'
      perceptions of virtual learning as well as aspects of the functionality of the
      program educational objectives were developed and distributed to the students.
      Online tests were performed and compared with a traditional examination. All
      questionnaires were returned. A wide variety of aspects dealing the pedagogic
      implications of e-learning were evaluated by the students, with the overall
      result being that students are aware of the needed hardware and technical skills
      and expect the quality of their studies to improve by implementation of e
      learning. All sophomores except one felt that morphoDent had helped them in
      learning dental morphology and reported enjoying the virtual anatomical
      examination. One-third reported technical difficulties in operating the program.
      The average exam score was 2.53 (SD: 0.66) for the traditional and 2.23 (SD:
      0.59) for the online dental anatomy test. Students expressed their positive
      attitude towards e-learning in general and indicated that the use of
      photorealistic 3D models of human teeth supported the process of individual
      learning of dental anatomy. The online test could be rated as a good option for
      students' self-performance rating.

PMID- 20930245
TI  - Alternative careers in pediatric dentistry: a survey of pediatric dental
      residents.
AB  - Pediatric dentistry has enjoyed growing popularity in recent years, yet there
      remains a need for leadership in academe, research, and public health. In
      November 2008, the first Maternal and Child Health Bureau-sponsored regional
      Leadership in Pediatric Dentistry convocation was held at the Columbia University
      College of Dental Medicine. Seventy-two pediatric dentistry trainees from
      thirteen programs in the New York City area participated in interactive
      presentations and exercises. Of the sixty- seven participants who completed a pre
      event survey, 93 percent stated they would likely or very likely pursue careers
      that involved, at least in part, private practice, 55 percent in care of children
      in Medicaid, 51 percent academics, 36 percent dental public health, and 12
      percent research. Barriers related to finances, competence, or work
      environment/location were perceived by 83 percent for careers involving research,
      73 percent for dental public health, 66 percent for providing care to children in
      Medicaid, 46 percent for academics, and 9 percent for private practice. Results
      of a pair of pre-event and post-event surveys completed by sixty-three attendees
      showed no change in reported likelihood to pursue a career alternative except for
      an increase in the likelihood of working in a practice that accepts Medicaid. The
      challenge before dental educators is to provide consistent and meaningful
      opportunities throughout training that encourage residents to consider all career
      options and to discover how their individual interests mesh with their clinical
      learning.

PMID- 20930246
TI  - Evaluation of a U.K. community-based clinical teaching/outreach program by former
      dental students two and five years after graduation.
AB  - Over the past few years, community-based clinical teaching/outreach teaching
      programs have been established in many dental schools in the United Kingdom. One
      such program was developed by Cardiff University at the local St. David's
      Hospital in 2002. Students visit this unit throughout their dental school program
      -as an assistant/observer initially, but gaining a significant amount of clinical
      operating experience within the unit during their final year of studies. While
      contemporaneous feedback from current dental students at this and other programs
      has been positive, very little information exists on the impact of this form of
      training on the subsequent clinical careers and working practices of qualified
      dentists. In autumn 2009, a postal questionnaire was distributed to dentists who
      graduated from the School of Dentistry at Cardiff in 2004 (n=41) and 2007 (n=51).
      Fifty-eight responses were returned, for a response rate of 63 percent: 2004 (66
      percent), 2007 (61 percent). Forty-seven respondents (81 percent) reported that
      their learning experience at the St. David's outreach teaching program had been
      of significant assistance in their professional development in their subsequent
      clinical careers. Positive features of the program included the availability of a
      suitably trained dental nurse for all procedures (n=26, 45 percent), ready access
      to helpful/approachable teaching staff (n=24, 41 percent), and a good working
      atmosphere (n=23, 40 percent). Overwhelmingly, former dental students reported
      that the educational experiences they gained were positive and have had a
      beneficial effect on their subsequent clinical careers. Further development of
      community-based clinical teaching/outreach training as part of dental school
      training programs is encouraged.

PMID- 20930247
TI  - Mobile phone hygiene: potential risks posed by use in the clinics of an Indian
      dental school.
AB  - The objectives of this cross-sectional study were to determine the level and type
      of bacterial contamination of the mobile phones of dental personnel involved in
      direct patient care and to determine the usefulness of cleaning with 70 percent
      isopropyl alcohol for decontamination. Dental faculty and trainees in an Indian
      dental school were asked to participate in a study in which a questionnaire
      concerning patterns of mobile phone use and disinfection was administered. Swabs
      from mobile phones of the participants were taken using moist sterile swabs and
      plated on blood agar plates. The bacteria isolated were identified by biochemical
      tests. Eighteen percent of the participants (n=9) reported using their phones
      while attending patients. Nearly 64 percent (n=32) used their mobiles for
      checking time, and 64 percent (n=42) reported never cleaning their phones. In
      total, fifty mobile phones were cultured for microorganisms: 98 percent (n=49)
      were culture-positive, and 34 percent (n=17) grew potentially pathogenic
      bacteria. There was significant reduction in the mean number of colony-forming
      units after decontamination with alcohol (p<0.001). The bacterial load was
      reduced by around 87 percent. The results of this study show that mobile phones
      may act as an important source of nosocomial pathogens in the dental setting.
      Therefore, it is important for dental school administrators to encourage higher
      compliance with hand-washing practices and routine surface disinfection through
      framing of strict protocols to reduce the chances of occurrence of nosocomial
      infections.

PMID- 20930248
TI  - Jordanian dental students' knowledge and attitudes in regard to child physical
      abuse.
AB  - The aim of this study was to investigate Jordanian dental students' educational
      experience, attitudes, and knowledge regarding child physical abuse. Data were
      collected from a self-administered questionnaire completed by 441 undergraduate
      and postgraduate dental students in both dental schools in Jordan. Descriptive
      statistics were used to report responses to each question. The chi-square test
      was used to analyze the relationship between students' responses and level of
      education; the difference was considered significant if the probability of the
      difference was less than 5 percent. Results indicated major lack of knowledge of
      social indicators, signs of physical abuse, and reporting procedure among all
      respondents with no significant difference between postgraduate and undergraduate
      students. Most students indicated that their dental school was the main source of
      information on this topic; however, more postgraduates reported benefit from
      extracurricular sources. We conclude that dental students in Jordan are not
      sufficiently prepared to undergo their role in protection of children from abuse.
      Dental curricula in both dental schools include information on the topic of child
      abuse; however, the content should be expanded to better prepare the students.

PMID- 20930249
TI  - Key concepts in a rights-based approach to health. From the publisher.

PMID- 20930250
TI  - Our place in the world: Conceptualizing obligations beyond borders in human
      rights-based approaches to health.
AB  - The case of Haiti's devastating earthquake and the reactions it has elicited
      sharply illustrate an array of seemingly dichotomous ways of understanding
      obligations of "international assistance and cooperation," which are taken up by
      authors in this issue. First, there is a tension between dealing with immediate
      humanitarian needs and addressing underlying structural causes. Second, there is
      the related dichotomy between compassion/charity and the accountability for legal
      obligations that a human rights approach to health and development demands.
      Third, within a framework for accountability, there is a tension between an
      ahistorical understanding of international responsibility - based purely on the
      self-evident need of fellow human beings - and a contextually-rooted
      accountability. Finally, the situation of Haiti begs the question of whether we
      can address immense human suffering in the world through a strongly statist model
      or whether we require a more cosmopolitan understanding of ethical and legal
      obligations across borders. Drawing on the Critical Concepts articles in this
      issue, this essay briefly explores some of these tensions, and the potential
      contributions and limitations of applying a human rights framework to advance
      global health.

PMID- 20930251
TI  - Informed consent: Enforcing pharmaceutical companies' obligations abroad.
AB  - The past several years have seen an evolution in the obligations of
      pharmaceutical companies conducting clinical trials abroad. Key players, such as
      international human rights organizations, multinational pharmaceutical companies,
      the United States government and courts, and the media, have played a significant
      role in defining these obligations. This article examines how such obligations
      have developed through the lens of past, present, and future recommendations for
      informed consent protections. In doing so, this article suggests that, no matter
      how robust obligations appear, they will continue to fall short of providing
      meaningful protection until they are accompanied by a substantive enforcement
      mechanism that holds multinational pharmaceutical companies accountable for their
      conduct. Issues of national sovereignty, particularly in the United States, will
      continue to prevent meaningful enforcement by an international tribunal or
      through one universally adopted code of ethics. This article argues that, rather
      than continuing to pursue an untenable international approach, the Alien Torts
      Statute (ATS) offers a viable enforcement mechanism, at least for US-based
      pharmaceutical companies. Recent federal appellate court precedent interpreting
      the ATS provides the mechanism for granting victims redress and enforcing
      accountability of sponsors (usually pharmaceutical companies and research and
      academic institutions) for informed consent misconduct. Substantive human rights
      protections are vital in order to ensure that every person can realize the "right
      to health." This article concludes that by building on the federal appellate
      court's ATS analysis, which grants foreign trial participants the right to pursue
      claims of human rights violations in US courts, a mechanism can be created for
      enforcing not only substantive informed consent, but also human rights
      protections.

PMID- 20930252
TI  - Taking up Daniels' challenge: The case for global health justice.
AB  - In "Just Health", Norman Daniels makes a strong argument for obligations of
      mutual assistance to fulfill the right to health at the national level and
      challenges readers to develop arguments supporting obligations of mutual
      assistance at the global level. In this paper, we argue that there is global
      responsibility for global health and that there are obligations of justice
      (beyond charity) to help fulfill (not merely respect or even protect) the right
      to health in other countries; these we call obligations of global health justice.
      We show how international human rights law affirms obligations of global health
      justice - beyond national obligations and beyond obligations of charity - and
      assert that the human rights approach provides guidance on delineating the
      relationship between national and global responsibility for fulfilling the core
      obligations that arise from socioeconomic human rights and addressing global
      health inequities. We further argue that new ways of providing international
      assistance, originating from the global HIV/AIDS response, demonstrate the
      feasibility of improving health outcomes through exogenous efforts and that
      obligations of global health justice thus carry much weight: the weight of lives
      not saved. The global response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic has led to the emergence
      of a new international health assistance paradigm, and the Global Fund to fight
      AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is, we suggest, an embryonic form of this new
      paradigm. We conclude that agreements on several common parameters delineating
      global and national responsibility for global health can advance the movement
      towards a global institution for the distribution of health-related goods.

PMID- 20930253
TI  - Making health an imperative of foreign policy: The value of a human rights
      approach.
AB  - Health is increasingly seen as relevant to foreign policy; nevertheless, it
      remains subordinate to other interests. In particular, the interests of security
      and economics are often presented as more critical than health. This is due to a
      failure to sufficiently recognize the legal obligations that states have
      undertaken to ensure the human right to health. This article argues that health
      should be an imperative of foreign policy, equally valid, and prioritized in
      resource allocation. We suggest application of the human rights approach with
      attention to the legal duty of cooperation and the necessity of ensuring broad
      participation. We suggest that the human rights approach to health can contribute
      to achieving this result and is compatible with, and beneficial to, other foreign
      policy concerns. Finally, we conclude that the human rights approach to health
      requires that health be an imperative in foreign policymaking processes.

PMID- 20930254
TI  - International obligations through collective rights: Moving from foreign health
      assistance to global health governance.
AB  - This article analyzes the growing chasm between international power and state
      responsibility in health rights, proposing an international legal framework for
      collective rights - rights that can reform international institutions and empower
      developing states to realize the determinants of health structured by global
      forces. With longstanding recognition that many developing state governments
      cannot realize the health of their peoples without international cooperation,
      scholars have increasingly sought to codify international obligations under the
      purview of an evolving human right to health, applying this rights-based approach
      as a foundational framework for reducing global health inequalities through
      foreign assistance. Yet the inherent limitations of the individual human rights
      framework stymie the right to health in impacting the global institutions that
      are most crucial for realizing underlying determinants of health through the
      strengthening of primary health care systems. Whereas the right to health has
      been advanced as an individual right to be realized by a state duty-bearer, the
      authors find that this limited, atomized right has proven insufficient to create
      accountability for international obligations in global health policy, enabling
      the deterioration of primary health care systems that lack the ability to address
      an expanding set of public health claims. For rights scholars to advance disease
      protection and health promotion through national primary health care systems -
      creating the international legal obligations necessary to spur development
      supportive of the public's health - the authors conclude that scholars must look
      beyond the individual right to health to create collective international legal
      obligations commensurate with a public health-centered approach to primary health
      care. Through the development and implementation of these collective health
      rights, states can address interconnected determinants of health within and
      across countries, obligating the international community to scale-up primary
      health care systems in the developing world and thereby reduce public health
      inequities through global health governance.

PMID- 20930255
TI  - International assistance and cooperation for access to essential medicines.
AB  - Access to essential medicines is a critical problem that plagues many developing
      countries. With a daunting number of domestic constraints - technologically,
      economically, and otherwise - developing countries are faced with a steep uphill
      battle to meet the human rights obligation of providing essential medicines
      immediately. To meet these challenges, the international human rights obligations
      of international assistance and cooperation can play a key role to help
      developing countries fulfill the need for access to essential medicines. This
      article seeks to highlight and expand upon the current understanding of
      international assistance and cooperation for access to essential medicines
      through a review of obligations identified in international human rights law and
      a synthesis of official guidance provided on the matter.

PMID- 20930256
TI  - Allies unknown: Social accountability and legal empowerment.
AB  - This essay suggests that two strands of social action which have hitherto
      developed separately - legal empowerment and social accountability - ought to
      learn from one another. Legal empowerment efforts grow out of the tradition of
      legal aid for the poor; they assist citizens in seeking remedies to breaches of
      rights. Social accountability interventions employ information and participation
      to demand fairer, more effective public services. The two approaches share a
      focus on the interface between communities and local institutions. The legal
      empowerment approach includes, in addition, the pursuit of redress from the wider
      network of state authority. The essay suggests that social accountability
      interventions should couple local community pressure with legal empowerment
      strategies for seeking remedies from the broader institutional landscape. Legal
      empowerment programs, for their part, often under-emphasize injustices related to
      essential public services such as health and education, perhaps in part because
      they tend to wait for communities and individuals to raise problems. Instead,
      legal empowerment programs should learn from social accountability practitioners'
      use of aggregate data as a catalyst for community action. Legal empowerment
      organizations would also benefit from adopting the attention to empirical impact
      evaluation that has characterized experimentation in social accountability.

PMID- 20930257
TI  - Holding the World Bank accountable for leakage of funds from Africa's health
      sector.
AB  - This article explores the accountability of international financial institutions
      (IFIs), such as the World Bank, for human rights violations related to the
      massive leakage of funds from sub-Saharan Africa's health sector. The article
      begins by summarizing the quantitative results of Public Expenditure Tracking
      Surveys performed in six African countries, all showing disturbingly high levels
      of leakage in the health sector. It then addresses the inadequacy of good
      governance and anticorruption programs in remedying this problem. After
      explaining how the World Bank's Inspection Panel may serve as an accountability
      mechanism for addressing the leakage of funds, discussing violations of specific
      Bank policies and procedures that would support a claim related to leakage and
      examining the relevance of human rights concerns to such as claim, the article
      explores some of the Panel's limitations and the positive steps taken to address
      these concerns.

PMID- 20930258
TI  - A one-time-only combination: Emergency medicine exports and the TRIPS agreement
      under Canada's access to medicines regime.
AB  - In 2008, a Canadian generic pharmaceutical firm, Apotex Inc. (Apotex), shipped 7
      million doses of antiretroviral drugs to Rwanda for the treatment of HIV/AIDS.
      While this event may be seen as a positive outcome of international patent
      changes that facilitate the fulfillment of health as a human right, the fact that
      there has been only one shipment of medication in response to these changes
      highlights the difficulties with both the Canadian legislation and with the
      international decisions that it implements. The shipment was authorized under
      Canada's Access to Medicines Regime (CAMR), which implements the World Trade
      Organization (WTO) General Council Decision (the Decision), made in 2003, to
      permit someone other than the patent holder to manufacture a lower-cost version
      of a patented drug or medical device for export to developing countries that do
      not have the capacity to manufacture such products. The Decision requires that
      the developing country announce its intention to use this mechanism, to specify
      the expected quantity of drugs to be supplied, and to issue a compulsory license
      for the drugs. The requirement of notification in particular may render
      developing countries vulnerable to pressure from pharmaceutical firms. Neither
      the mechanism created by the Decision nor Canadian legislation implementing it
      have facilitated the export of generic medicines to developing countries. To
      date, the Canadian shipment is the only one to have occurred using the WTO
      mechanism.

PMID- 20930259
TI  - Partnership, sex, and marginalization: Moving the Global Fund sexual orientation
      and gender identities agenda.
AB  - After almost three decades of work to address HIV and AIDS, resources are still
      failing to adequately address the needs of the most affected and marginalized
      groups in many societies. In recognition of this ongoing failure, the Global Fund
      to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (the Global Fund) has approved a sexual
      orientation and gender identities (SOGI) Strategy. The Strategy is designed to
      help its investments more effectively reach men who have sex with men;
      transgender populations; male, female, and transgender sex workers; and women who
      have sex with women. The Global Fund financing model is unique and based on ideas
      of broad partnership. It emphasizes the importance of country-ownership while
      ensuring that work is appropriately targeted, evidence-based, and rooted in
      principles of human rights. The classic international development tension of
      pursuing a rights-based agenda, while also supporting strong country ownership,
      has moved the Global Fund into a more substantive technical, advocacy, and policy
      arena, resulting in the creation of the SOGI Strategy, which emphasizes the needs
      of marginalized groups. A strong commitment to participation and consultation was
      crucial during the development stages of the Strategy. Now, as the Strategy goes
      live, it is clear that progress will only be achieved through continued and
      strengthened partnership. The diverse partners - in particular the governments
      and other stakeholders in recipient countries that helped develop the Strategy -
      must now commit to stronger collaboration on this agenda and must demonstrate
      bold leadership in overcoming the considerable technical and political challenges
      of implementation that lie ahead.

PMID- 20930260
TI  - Essential surgery: Integral to the right to health.
AB  - In a rights-based approach to health, the provision of essential surgical
      services is not a luxury, but a critical component of the "highest attainable
      standard of health." Yet while access to select basic health care interventions
      has increasingly been discussed as part of the human right to health, essential
      surgical services have generally not been part of this discussion. This is
      despite the substantial global burden of surgical conditions in low- and middle
      income countries, extreme global disparities in access to surgical care, and the
      fact that relatively simple, cost-effective, and curative surgical procedures can
      avert disability and premature death from many life-threatening emergencies and
      other conditions. Many barriers, both supply and demand-related, such as
      constraints in human resources, infrastructure, and access to care, have limited
      the ability of health systems to deliver surgical services. In this paper, the
      authors share their experience - as a group of surgeons, anesthesiologists,
      emergency physicians, and public health experts working with colleagues in varied
      resource-constrained settings to provide basic surgical care - in addressing the
      challenge of realizing the right to surgery in resource-poor settings. We argue
      that essential surgical care should be included in the basic human right to
      health, and that the current emphasis on "vertical" disease-specific models of
      health service delivery should be broadened to include systems needed to provide
      surgical services. We outline the global burden of surgical conditions, discuss
      the public health importance of surgery, identify the most significant global
      disparities in access to surgical care, and provide economic arguments for
      surgical delivery.

PMID- 20930261
TI  - Cellular senescence controls fibrosis in wound healing.
AB  - Mammalian wound healing involves the rapid synthesis and deposition of
      extracellular matrix (ECM) to maintain tissue integrity during repair. This
      process must be tightly controlled, as its deregulation may result in fibrosis,
      scarring, and loss of tissue function. Recent studies have uncovered an efficient
      and parsimonious mechanism for rendering fibrogenesis self-limiting in wound
      healing: in such diverse organs as the liver and skin, the myofibroblasts that
      initially proliferate and produce ECM are themselves eventually driven into
      senescence, blocking their further proliferation and converting them into matrix
      degrading cells. Myofibroblast senescence in skin wounds is triggered by a
      dynamically expressed matricellular protein, CCN1/CYR61, which acts through
      integrin-mediated induction of oxidative stress. We propose that the onset of
      myofibroblast senescence is a programmed wound healing response that functions as
      a self-limiting mechanism for fibrogenesis, and this process may be regulated by
      the ECM microenvironment through the expression of CCN1/CYR61.

PMID- 20930264
TI  - A gene expression pattern in blood for the early detection of Alzheimer's
      disease.
AB  - A whole genome screen was performed using oligonucleotide microarray analysis on
      blood from a large clinical cohort of Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients and
      control subjects as clinical sample. Blood samples for total RNA extraction were
      collected in PAXgene tubes, and gene expression analysis performed on the AB1700
      Whole Genome Survey Microarrays. When comparing the gene expression of 94 AD
      patients and 94 cognitive healthy controls, a Jackknife gene selection based
      method and Partial Least Square Regression (PLSR) was used to develop a disease
      classifier algorithm, which gives a test score indicating the presence (positive)
      or absence (negative) of AD. This algorithm, based on 1239 probes, was validated
      in an independent test set of 63 subjects comprising 31 AD patients, 25 age
      matched cognitively healthy controls, and 7 young controls. This algorithm
      correctly predicted the class of 55/63 (accuracy 87%), including 26/31 AD samples
      (sensitivity 84%) and 29/32 controls (specificity 91%). The positive likelihood
      ratio was 8.9 and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC
      AUC) was 0.94. Furthermore, the algorithm also discriminated AD from Parkinson's
      disease in 24/27 patients (accuracy 89%). We have identified and validated a gene
      expression signature in blood that classifies AD patients and cognitively healthy
      controls with high accuracy and show that alterations specific for AD can be
      detected distant from the primary site of the disease.

PMID- 20930262
TI  - Trichostatin A accentuates doxorubicin-induced hypertrophy in cardiac myocytes.
AB  - Histone deacetylase inhibitors represent a new class of anticancer therapeutics
      and the expectation is that they will be most effective when used in combination
      with conventional cancer therapies, such as the anthracycline, doxorubicin. The
      dose-limiting side effect of doxorubicin is severe cardiotoxicity and evaluation
      of the effects of combinations of the anthracycline with histone deacetylase
      inhibitors in relevant models is important. We used a well-established in vitro
      model of doxorubicin-induced hypertrophy to examine the effects of the
      prototypical histone deacetylase inhibitor, Trichostatin A. Our findings indicate
      that doxorubicin modulates the expression of the hypertrophy-associated genes,
      ventricular myosin light chain-2, the alpha isoform of myosin heavy chain and
      atrial natriuretic peptide, an effect which is augmented by Trichostatin A.
      Furthermore, we show that Trichostatin A amplifies doxorubicin-induced DNA double
      strand breaks, as assessed by gammaH2AX formation. More generally, our findings
      highlight the importance of investigating potential side effects that may be
      associated with emerging combination therapies for cancer.

PMID- 20930265
TI  - A novel blood test for the early detection of Alzheimer's disease.
AB  - Despite a variety of testing approaches, it is often difficult to make an
      accurate diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD), especially at an early stage of
      the disease. Diagnosis is based on clinical criteria as well as exclusion of
      other causes of dementia but a definitive diagnosis can only be made at autopsy.
      We have investigated the diagnostic value of a 96-gene expression array for
      detection of early AD. Gene expression analysis was performed on blood RNA from a
      cohort of 203 probable AD and 209 cognitively healthy age matched controls. A
      disease classification algorithm was developed on samples from 208 individuals
      (AD = 103; controls = 105) and was validated in two steps using an independent
      initial test set (n = 74; AD = 32; controls = 42) and another second test set (n
      = 130; AD = 68; controls = 62). In the initial analysis, diagnostic accuracy was
      71.6 +/- 10.3%, with sensitivity 71.9 +/- 15.6% and specificity 71.4 +/- 13.7%.
      Essentially the same level of agreement was achieved in the two independent test
      sets. High agreement (24/30; 80%) between algorithm prediction and subjects with
      available cerebrospinal fluid biomarker was found. Assuming a clinical accuracy
      of 80%, calculations indicate that the agreement with underlying true pathology
      is in the range 85%-90%. These findings suggest that the gene expression blood
      test can aid in the diagnosis of mild to moderate AD, but further studies are
      needed to confirm these findings.

PMID- 20930266
TI  - Mapping the altered patterns of cerebellar resting-state function in longitudinal
      amnestic mild cognitive impairment patients.
AB  - The cerebellum is known to be a relatively well preserved structure, but subtle
      alterations may occur early in the evolution of Alzheimer's disease (AD).
      Amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) patients appear to be particularly
      vulnerable to AD. However, little is currently known whether altered patterns of
      cerebellar function occur in aMCI patients. 26 aMCI patients and 18 well-matched
      healthy controls underwent a baseline resting-state functional magnetic resonance
      imaging (fMRI) scan. After a mean follow-up period of 20 months, the subjects who
      successfully completed baseline fMRI scans underwent a further follow-up scan,
      while spontaneous activation and functional connectivity of the cerebellum were
      explored by using resting-state fMRI. Compared to controls, increased amplitude
      of low frequency fluctuation of the posterior cerebellar lobe may contribute to
      the underlying mechanisms affected, while greater decreased functional
      connections to the posterior cerebellar lobe were identified in the longitudinal
      study of aMCI patients. This suggests that abnormal functional connectivity of
      the cerebellum may offer a more sensitive and possibly preferred index of
      functional disturbance than regional activity measures in aMCI patients. The
      cerebellum may be partly related to the underlying mechanisms of aMCI, and it
      could help guide subsequent investigations designed to specify the precise
      functional role of cerebellum in aMCI patients.

PMID- 20930267
TI  - Secretase-independent and RhoGTPase/PAK/ERK-dependent regulation of cytoskeleton
      dynamics in astrocytes by NSAIDs and derivatives.
AB  - Profens like ibuprofen, R-flurbiprofen, or CHF5074 are being considered for the
      treatment of Alzheimer's disease because epidemiological data indicates that non
      steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are protective against neurodegeneration. Rho
      GTPases are small G proteins, including RhoA, Cdc42, and Rac1, which control
      cytoskeleton dynamics. Because ibuprofen promotes axon growth via RhoA in
      neurons, we examined whether profens modulate astrocyte plasticity via Rho
      GTPases. We report that ibuprofen (100-500 MUM), R-flurbiprofen (100-500 MUM),
      and CHF5074 (10-30 MUM) caused a concentration-dependent stellation of astrocytes
      in primary cultures, associated with the reorganization of GFAP and actin
      filaments. The stellation was independent of COX2, alpha-, beta- or gamma
      secretase as judged by the lack of effect of inhibitors of these enzymes. RhoA,
      PAK, and Cdc42, but not Rac1, accounted for the profen-mediated stellation, as
      concluded from the joint analyses of activities and reversal experiments with
      adenoviral or pharmacological manipulations. Ibuprofen accelerated migration in a
      scratch-wound assay, while R-flurbiprofen had no effect and CHF5074 caused
      deceleration. Cell polarity regulation by Cdc42 and ERK1/2 may underlie the
      paradoxical effects of profens on migration. We conclude that profens regulate
      cytoskeleton dynamics in astrocytes via Rho-GTPases, PAK, and ERK1/2. Since
      migration is a hallmark of astrocyte response during inflammation we propose
      that, in addition to (or instead of) lowering amyloid-beta42 via secretases,
      ibuprofen and its derivatives may prevent Alzheimer's disease instead of AD by
      modulating astrocyte reactivity through Rho-GTPase/PAK/ERK-dependent signaling.

PMID- 20930269
TI  - Intra-familial clinical heterogeneity due to FTLD-U with TDP-43 proteinopathy
      caused by a novel deletion in progranulin gene (PGRN).
AB  - Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is one of the commonest forms of early-onset
      dementia, accounting for up to 20% of all dementia patients. Recently, it has
      been shown that mutations in progranulin gene (PGRN) cause many familial cases of
      FTD. Members of a family affected by FTD spectrum disorders were ascertained in
      Poland and Canada. Clinical, radiological, molecular, genetic, and pathological
      studies were performed. A sequencing analysis of PGRN exons 1-13 was performed in
      the proband. Genotyping of the identified PGRN mutation and pathological analysis
      was carried out in the proband's brother. The onset of symptoms of FTD in the
      proband included bradykinesia, apathy, and somnolence followed by changes in
      personality, cognitive deficits, and psychotic features. The proband's clinical
      diagnosis was FTD and parkinsonism (FTDP). DNA sequence analysis of PGRN revealed
      a novel, heterozygous mutation in exon 11 (g.2988_2989delCA, P439_R440fsX6). The
      mutation introduced a premature stop codon at position 444. The proband's brother
      with the same mutation had a different course first presenting as progressive non
      fluent aphasia, and later evolving symptoms of behavioral variant of FTD. He also
      developed parkinsonism late in the disease course evolving into corticobasal
      syndrome. Pathological analysis in the brother revealed Frontotemporal Lobar
      Degeneration-Ubiquitin (FTLD-U)/TDP-43 positive pathology. The novel PGRN
      mutation is a disease-causing mutation and is associated with substantial intra
      familial clinical heterogeneity. Although presenting features were different,
      rapid and substantial deterioration in the disease course was observed in both
      family members.

PMID- 20930270
TI  - Neuroprotective and neurorescue effects of a novel polymeric nanoparticle
      formulation of curcumin (NanoCurcTM) in the neuronal cell culture and animal
      model: implications for Alzheimer's disease.
AB  - Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by deposition of amyloid-beta (Abeta)
      plaques within the brain parenchyma followed by synaptic loss and neuronal death.
      Deposited Abeta reacts with activated microglia to produce reactive oxygen
      species (ROS) and cytochemokines, which lead to severe neuroinflammation.
      Curcumin is a yellow polyphenol compound found in turmeric, a widely used
      culinary ingredient that possesses anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer properties
      and may show efficacy as a potential therapeutic agent in several neuro
      inflammatory diseases including AD. However, poor aqueous solubility and sub
      optimal systemic absorption from the gastrointestinal tract may represent factors
      contributing to its failure in clinical trials. To increase curcumin's
      bioavailability, a polymeric nanoparticle encapsulated curcumin (NanoCurcTM) was
      formulated which is completely water soluble. NanoCurcTM treatment protects
      neuronally differentiated human SK-N-SH cells from ROS (H2O2) mediated insults.
      NanoCurcTM also rescues differentiated human SK-N-SH cells, which were previously
      insulted with H2O2. In vivo, intraperitoneal (IP) NanoCurcTM injection at a dose
      of 25mg/kg twice daily in athymic mice resulted in significant curcumin levels in
      the brain (0.32 MUg/g). Biochemical study of NanoCurcTM-treated athymic mice
      revealed decreased levels of H2O2 as well as caspase 3 and caspase 7 activities
      in the brain, accompanied by increased glutathione (GSH) concentrations.
      Increased free to oxidized glutathione (GSH:GSSH) ratio in athymic mice brain
      versus controls also indicated a favorable redox intracellular environment. Taken
      together, these results suggest that NanoCurcTM represents an optimized
      formulation worthy of assessing the therapeutic value of curcumin in AD.

PMID- 20930271
TI  - A novel progranulin mutation causing frontotemporal lobar degeneration with
      heterogeneous phenotypic expression.
AB  - Frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) is a neurodegenerative disorder
      characterized by behavioural disturbances and cognitive decline. Here we describe
      an Italian family with FTLD showing remarkable phenotypic heterogeneity. Based on
      low plasma levels of progranulin, we analyzed the progranulin gene (GRN) in two
      patients with early onset and found the novel frame-shift mutation T278SfsX7.
      mRNA analysis confirmed the null effect of the mutation. The patients were
      homozygous for H1 MAPT haplotype, a disease modifier factor that can account for
      early age at onset. Being predictive for GRN null mutations, plasma progranulin
      dosage should be included in diagnostic work-up of dementia.

PMID- 20930272
TI  - Oxidative balance in Alzheimer's disease: relationship to APOE, Braak tangle
      stage, and the concentrations of soluble and insoluble amyloid-beta.
AB  - Oxidative damage is greater in brain tissue from patients with Alzheimer's
      disease (AD) than age-matched controls. The timing of this damage in relation to
      other pathogenic processes in AD remains unclear. We have examined the
      relationship of lipid peroxidation (thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances;
      TBARS) and antioxidant capacity (Trolox-equivalent) to APOE status, Braak tangle
      stage, amyloid-beta (Abeta) plaque load, and the concentration of soluble and
      insoluble forms of Abeta, post-synaptic and dendritic spine proteins PSD95 and
      drebrin, beta-secretase and Abeta-degrading enzymes neprilysin (NEP), insulin
      degrading enzyme (IDE), and angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE), in frontal,
      temporal, and parietal cortex from AD and control brains. Antioxidant capacity
      was significantly elevated in AD and directly related to disease severity as
      indicated by Braak tangle stage and the amount of insoluble Abeta. APOE epsilon4
      was associated with increased antioxidant capacity in AD but not controls. In
      contrast, apart from a reduction in TBARS in Braak stages III-IV in frontal
      cortex, this measure of oxidative damage did not change significantly with any
      indicator of disease severity. It was, however, higher in APOE epsilon4-positive
      than epsilon4-negative AD patients and correlated with beta-secretase activity.
      Neither antioxidant capacity nor oxidative damage was related to the level of
      PSD95 or drebin or the activity of NEP, IDE, or ACE. Antioxidant capacity in AD
      is closely related to the level of insoluble Abeta and increases with
      pathological progression of the disease. Increased beta-secretase activity
      associated with oxidative stress is likely to contribute to the accumulation of
      Abeta and this, in turn, to induce antioxidant capacity.

PMID- 20930273
TI  - Linkage to the 8p21.1 region Including the CLU gene in age at onset stratified
      alzheimer's disease families.
AB  - Two powerful genome-wide association studies have recently reported significant
      association between sporadic late-onset Alzheimer's disease (AD) and markers at
      the CLU locus in chromosome 8p. In this study, we have stratified our previously
      analyzed 109 Swedish AD families according to range in age at onset and performed
      whole-genome linkage analysis and subsequent fine-mapping in 8p21. The subgroup
      analyzed in the fine-mapping consisted of 28 families with AD, having a within
      family onset-range not exceeding 8 years and an age at onset between 49 <= 70
      years. A maximum non-parametric linkage peak (LOD = 3.5) was found between
      markers D8S1809 and 236c6-1. Intriguingly this linked 9.5cM region contains
      clusterin (CLU), which is one of the two top susceptibility genes for AD. Our
      finding may be a reflection of linkage to the CLU susceptibility gene, in the
      same way as familial AD has previously been linked to the APOE locus.

PMID- 20930268
TI  - Heritability of different forms of memory in the Late Onset Alzheimer's Disease
      Family Study.
AB  - The study aim was to estimate the genetic contribution to individual differences
      in different forms of memory in a large family-based group of older adults. As
      part of the Late Onset Alzheimer's Disease Family Study, 899 persons (277 with
      Alzheimer's disease, 622 unaffected) from 325 families completed a battery of
      memory tests from which previously established composite measures of episodic
      memory, semantic memory, and working memory were derived. Heritability in these
      measures was estimated using the maximum likelihood variance component method,
      controlling for age, gender, and education. In analyses of unaffected family
      members, the adjusted heritability estimates were 0.62 for episodic memory, 0.49
      for semantic memory, and 0.72 for working memory, where a heritability estimate
      of 1 indicates that genetic factors explain all of the phenotypic variance and a
      heritability of 0 indicates that genetic factors explain none. Adjustment for
      APOE genotype had little effect on these estimates. When analyses included
      affected and unaffected family members, adjusted heritability estimates were
      lower (0.47 for episodic memory, 0.32 for semantic memory, 0.42 for working
      memory). Adjusting for APOE slightly reduced the estimate for episodic memory
      (0.40) but had no effect on the remaining estimates. The results indicate that
      memory functions are under strong genetic influence in older persons with and
      without AD, and are only partly attributable to APOE. This suggests that genetic
      analyses of memory endophenotypes may help to identify genetic variants
      associated with AD.

PMID- 20930274
TI  - Proteome-based plasma markers of brain amyloid-beta deposition in non-demented
      older individuals.
AB  - Blood-based markers reflecting core pathological features of Alzheimer's disease
      (AD) in pre-symptomatic individuals are likely to accelerate the development of
      disease-modifying treatments. Our aim was to discover plasma proteins associated
      with brain amyloid-beta (Abeta) burden in non-demented older individuals. We
      performed discovery-phase experiments using two dimensional gel electrophoresis
      (2DGE) and mass spectrometry-based proteomic analysis of plasma in combination
      with 11C-PiB PET imaging of the brain in samples collected 10 years prior to the
      PET scans. Confirmatory studies used ELISA assays in a separate set of blood
      samples obtained within a year of the PET scans. We observed that a panel of 18
      2DGE plasma protein spots effectively discriminated between individuals with high
      and low brain Abeta. Mass spectrometry identified these proteins, many of which
      have established roles in Abeta clearance, including a strong signal from
      apolipoprotein-E (ApoE). In validation-phase studies, we observed a strong
      association between plasma ApoE concentration and Abeta burden in the medial
      temporal lobe. Targeted voxel-based analysis localized this association to the
      hippocampus and entorhinal cortex. APOE epsilon4 carriers also showed greater
      Abeta levels in several brain regions relative to epsilon4 non-carriers. These
      results suggest that both peripheral concentration of ApoE protein and APOE
      genotype are related to early neuropathological changes in brain regions
      vulnerable to AD pathology even in the non-demented elderly. Our strategy
      combining proteomics with in vivo brain amyloid imaging holds promise for the
      discovery of biologically relevant peripheral markers in those at risk for AD.

PMID- 20930275
TI  - Accumulation of insoluble amyloid-beta in down's syndrome is associated with
      increased BACE-1 and neprilysin activities.
AB  - We previously reported age- and Alzheimer's disease (AD)-related increases in the
      activities of beta-secretase (BACE-1) and Abeta-degrading enzymes including
      neprilysin (NEP) and angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) in the frontal cortex.
      We suggested that these increases were secondary to the accumulation of insoluble
      amyloid-beta (Abeta) and a decline in soluble Abeta. We have further tested this
      hypothesis by examination of frontal cortex obtained postmortem from individuals
      with Down's syndrome (DS), in whom AD-like neuropathological changes occur in
      association with early-onset dementia. We measured total soluble and insoluble
      (guanidine-extractable) Abeta, BACE-1 activity, and the concentrations and
      activities of NEP and ACE in two independent DS cohorts: an initial, Bristol
      cohort (9 DS cases, 8 controls matched for age-at-death) and a validation
      Newcastle cohort (20 DS, 18 controls with a wider spectrum of age-at-death). In
      both cohorts the level of insoluble (but not soluble) Abeta was significantly
      higher in DS than controls and was comparable to previously measured levels in
      AD. NEP protein concentration and activity were significantly increased in DS; a
      trend towards increased BACE-1 activity was observed in DS but did not reach
      statistical significance. Both NEP and BACE-1 correlated with the level of
      insoluble Abeta. The concentration of ACE in DS was elevated in the pilot cohort
      only and ACE activity was unchanged. These findings provide strong support that
      BACE-1 and NEP activities, but not ACE, increase in response to the accumulation
      of insoluble Abeta within the brain.

PMID- 20930276
TI  - PLA2G3, a gene involved in oxidative stress induced death, is associated with
      Alzheimer's disease.
AB  - Oxidative stress, which plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of
      neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease (AD), is intimately linked
      to aging, the best established risk factor for AD. Studies in neuronal cells
      subjected to oxidative stress, mimicking such stress in AD brains, are therefore
      of great interest. PLA2G3 is the most overexpressed gene in a human neuronal
      model of oxidative stress induced by the free radical-generating
      xanthine/xanthine oxidase (X-XOD) system, which provokes apoptotic cell death. In
      this work, we describe that PLA2G3 gene silencing produced a marked inhibition of
      X-XOD induced cell death, and that PLA2G3 polymorphisms are associated with AD in
      a Spanish case-control sample. The capacity to respond to oxidative stress may
      therefore modulate the risk of AD, and PLA2G3 is a potential target to regulate
      neuronal damage induced by free radicals.

PMID- 20930277
TI  - Endolysosome mechanisms associated with Alzheimer's disease-like pathology in
      rabbits ingesting cholesterol-enriched diet.
AB  - Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized clinically by progressive disturbances
      in memory, judgment, reasoning, and olfaction, and pathologically by loss of
      synaptic integrity, extracellular accumulations of amyloid-beta (Abeta)
      containing plaques, and intraneuronal tangles composed of hyperphosphorylated
      tau. Endolysosome dysfunction is one of the earliest pathological features of AD
      and cholesterol, a known risk factor for sporadic AD, is up-taken into neurons
      via receptor-mediated endocytosis. Accordingly, we determined the extent to which
      endolysosome dysfunction is associated with pathological features observed in
      rabbits fed cholesterol-enriched diet; a well-characterized model of sporadic AD.
      Olfactory bulbs were taken from rabbits fed for 12 weeks a diet enriched with 2%
      cholesterol and endolysosome morphology and function as well as AD-like pathology
      were investigated using enzyme activity measurements, immunoblotting and
      immunostaining techniques. In olfactory bulbs of rabbits fed cholesterol-enriched
      diet, we observed enlarged endolysosomes containing increased accumulations of
      ApoB containing cholesterol and increased accumulations of synaptophysin, Abeta,
      and phosphorylated tau. The cholesterol-enriched diet also significantly
      decreased specific enzyme activities of the endolysosome enzymes acid phosphatase
      and cathepsin D. Decreased synaptic area was present in olfactory bulbs of
      cholesterol-fed rabbits as indicated by significant decreases in protein
      expression levels of the synaptic area marker protein synaptophysin. Our results
      suggest strongly that elevated circulating cholesterol plays an important role in
      the pathogenesis of AD, and that alterations in endolysosome structure and
      function are associated with cholesterol diet-induced AD-like pathology.

PMID- 20930278
TI  - Phytic acid as a potential treatment for alzheimer's pathology: evidence from
      animal and in vitro models.
AB  - Alzheimer's disease (AD) causes progressive, age-dependent cortical and
      hippocampal dysfunction leading to abnormal intellectual capacity and memory. We
      propose a novel protective treatment for AD pathology with phytic acid (inositol
      hexakisphosphate), a phytochemical found in food grains and a key signaling
      molecule in mammalian cells. We evaluated the protective and beneficial effects
      of phytic acid against amyloid-beta (Abeta) pathology in MC65 cells and the
      Tg2576 mouse model. In MC65 cells, 48-72-hour treatment with phytic acid provided
      complete protection against amyloid precursor protein-C-terminal fragment-induced
      cytotoxicity by attenuating levels of increased intracellular calcium, hydrogen
      peroxide, superoxide, Abeta oligomers, and moderately upregulated the expression
      of autophagy (beclin-1) protein. In a tolerance paradigm, wild type mice were
      treated with 2% phytic acid in drinking water for 70 days. Phytic acid was well
      tolerated. Ceruloplasmin activity, brain copper and iron levels, and brain
      superoxide dismutase and ATP levels were unaffected by the treatment. There was a
      significant increase in brain levels of cytochrome oxidase and a decrease in
      lipid peroxidation with phytic acid administration. In a treatment paradigm, 12
      month old Tg2576 and wild type mice were treated with 2% phytic acid or vehicle
      for 6 months. Brain levels of copper, iron, and zinc were unaffected. The effects
      of phytic acid were modest on the expression of AbetaPP trafficking-associated
      protein AP180, autophagy-associated proteins (beclin-1, LC3B), sirtuin 1, the
      ratio of phosphorylated AMP-activated protein kinase (PAMPK) to AMPK, soluble
      Abeta1-40, and insoluble Abeta1-42. These results suggest that phytic acid may
      provide a viable treatment option for AD.

PMID- 20930279
TI  - Phenserine efficacy in Alzheimer's disease.
AB  - To gather preliminary evidence in Alzheimer's disease (AD) for the efficacy of
      phenserine, a non-competitive acetylcholinesterase inhibitor that has independent
      modulatory effects on amyloid-beta generation, a 12-week comparison of patients
      receiving phenserine (10 and 15 mg BID) or placebo was conducted under double
      blind conditions. Patients who completed 12 weeks of the double-blind before
      others were continued in the double-blind to determine longer-term treatment
      effects. At 12 weeks, mean ADAS-cog (AD assessment scale-cognitive) changes from
      baseline were -2.5 and -1.9 for high-dose phenserine (n=83) and placebo (n=81)
      groups, respectively, a non-statistically significant improvement for the high
      dose phenserine group relative to placebo. CIBIC+ (clinician's interview based
      impression of change + caregiver's input) values for the high-dose and placebo
      groups were similar at 12 weeks. For patients who received more than 12 weeks of
      therapy, the ADAS-cog changes were -3.18 and -0.66 for the high-dose phenserine
      (n=52) and placebo (n=63) groups, respectively, a difference achieving
      statistical significance (p=0.0286). After 12 weeks, CIBIC+ values were 3.59 and
      3.95 for the high-dose (n=54) and placebo (n=66) groups respectively (p=0.0568).
      These results from this short-term study are consistent with phenserine
      potentially benefiting mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease symptomatically but
      do not address possible amyloid metabolic mediated effects on disease processes
      in AD.

PMID- 20930280
TI  - Ghrelin ameliorates cognitive dysfunction and neurodegeneration in
      intrahippocampal amyloid-beta1-42 oligomer-injected mice.
AB  - Alzheimer's disease (AD) is an age-related neurodegenerative disorder
      characterized by cognitive deficits, neuroinflammation, and loss of neurons.
      Recently, it has been shown that ghrelin, a 28 amino acid peptide hormone
      produced from the stomach and hypothalamus, has been reported as a potential
      therapeutic agent for several neurological disorders, including Parkinson's
      disease (PD), stroke, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, and spinal cord injury. Here
      we determined the effects of ghrelin on memory impairments and neuropathological
      changes in an AD mouse model induced by intrahippocampal injection of amyloid
      beta oligomers (AbetaO). We report that ghrelin: 1) rescues memory deficits in
      mice injected with AbetaO in the hippocampus; 2) decreases AbetaO-induced
      microgliosis in hippocampus; 3) attenuates hippocampal neuronal loss mediated by
      AbetaO; 4) prevents AbetaO-associated synaptic degeneration including cholinergic
      fiber loss. Taken together, our findings demonstrate that ghrelin can ameliorate
      AbetaO-induced cognitive impairment associated with neuroinflammation and
      neuronal loss. These results suggest that ghrelin may be a promising therapeutic
      agent for the treatment of AD.

PMID- 20930281
TI  - Impaired visual recognition memory in amnestic mild cognitive impairment is
      associated with mesiotemporal metabolic changes on magnetic resonance
      spectroscopic imaging.
AB  - In the early stages of Alzheimer's disease (AD), neurofibrillary tangles develop
      in the mesial temporal lobe (MTL), first in the anterior subhippocampal
      (perirhinal/entorhinal) cortex and then in the hippocampal formation. This region
      plays a key role in visualrecognition memory (VRM). VRM has been reported to be
      impaired in patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI). The aim of
      the present study was to determine if an impairment of VRM is associated with
      metabolic changes in the MTL using magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging and
      if evaluating VRM can contribute to the early diagnosis of AD. 28 patients with
      aMCI and 28 controls underwent a full neuropsychological assessment including an
      evaluation of VRM using the DMS48. NAA/mIno ratios, reduced in patients with AD
      and associated with the severity of pathological changes, were determined in the
      MTL. aMCI-patients were further divided into two subgroups according to their VRM
      performance. aMCI-patients showed decreased NAA/mIno levels in the right
      hippocampus compared with controls. aMCI-patients with impaired VRM showed
      decreased NAA/mIno ratios in the MTL bilaterally, including a region that sampled
      the left anterior subhippocampal cortex, compared to controls. No changes were
      found in aMCI patients with normal VRM. Performance on the DMS48 correlated with
      NAA/mIno levels in the anterior MTL. Clinical 6-year follow-up data (available
      for 78.6% of the aMCI-patients) indicates that impaired performance on the DMS48
      could predict conversion to AD with a sensitivity and specificity of 81.8%. These
      findings provide further evidence that impaired VRM, as a hallmark of MTL
      dysfunction, may contribute to the early diagnosis of AD.

PMID- 20930282
TI  - CSF levels of heart fatty acid binding protein are altered during early phases of
      Alzheimer's disease.
AB  - Heart fatty acid binding protein (HFABP) has been proposed as a putative marker
      for dementia disorders. To evaluate the value of this protein as an early marker
      of Alzheimer's disease (AD), we analyzed HFABP level and the classical biomarkers
      amyloid-beta (Abeta)1-42, total tau (t-tau), and phosphorylated tau (p-tau) in
      cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI)
      followed up for four years (n=41), AD (n=32), and subjects with other
      neurological diseases without dementia (OND, n=25). HFABP levels were higher in
      AD patients and in MCI converting to AD (MCI-AD) with respect to OND and to
      cognitively stable MCI patients (MCI-MCI). The receiver operator characteristics
      analysis for HFABP alone showed a sensitivity of 87% and a specificity of 81% for
      AD versus OND (area under the curve, AUC=0.83); sensitivity and specificity were
      46% and 94%, respectively, when comparing MCI-MCI versus MCI-AD. CSF HFABP levels
      showed a strong positive correlation with both t-tau and p-tau. Interestingly,
      the ratio between HFABP and Abeta1-42 improved the performance in distinguishing
      AD from OND (sensitivity: 90%; specificity 82%, AUC=0.89), and gave the best
      accuracy in discriminating MCI-AD from MCI-MCI (sensitivity: 80%; specificity
      100%, AUC=0.90). Survival analysis by means of Kaplan-Meier curve showed a
      significantly higher proportion of MCI patients converting to AD in the group
      with higher values of HFABP/Abeta1-42 ratio (cut-off=0.7). A significant
      correlation between HFABP/Abeta1-42 ratio and MMSE annual decrease rate was also
      documented (p<0.0001). HFABP /Abeta1-42 ratio might be a useful predictor of
      conversion in MCI patients.

PMID- 20930283
TI  - Peri-operative risk management in patients with Alzheimer's disease.
AB  - The aim of this review is to identify an evidence-based perioperative management
      for patients affected by Alzheimer's disease (AD) that are scheduled to undergo
      surgery. This will minimize the negative effects of anesthesia and postoperative
      sedation and correct those perioperative variables possibly responsible for a
      decline in cognitive status and a worsening of AD. We here gather evidence on the
      importance of correct preoperative assessment regarding cognitive and functional
      status and the presence of preoperative delirium. The potential role of
      anesthesia, surgery, and postoperative analgosedation as risk factors for
      development of delirium are herein outlined. Finally, pain assessment
      instruments, as well as principles of management strategies for postoperative
      delirium in subjects with AD, are suggested.

PMID- 20930284
TI  - MAPT isoforms: differential transcriptional profiles related to 3R and 4R splice
      variants.
AB  - Tau aggregation in neurofibrillary tangles is a pathological hallmark in
      tauopathies including Alzheimer's disease (AD). The predominant aggregation of
      certain MAPT (tau gene) isoforms, either the 4-repeat (4R tau) or the 3-repeat
      (3R tau) isoform has been widely described in tauopathies. Alterations of the 4R
      tau to 3R tau ratio may be a key for tau-related neurodegeneration. To study the
      biological consequences in expression between tau splicing isoforms 4R and 3R, we
      analyzed the main neurobiological effects of inclusion of the repeat region coded
      by exon 10 in MAPT. We compared the transcriptional profiles of the 4R tau
      isoforms to 3R tau isoforms using whole-genome gene expression profiling
      microarrays using human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cell lines overexpressing either
      human 4R tau or 3R tau isoforms. We identified 68 transcripts that differed
      significantly (at p < 0.001) between 4R and 3R isoforms as conditioned on a
      second variant, the so-called 2N inclusion. We extended these findings in a 2 * 2
      ANOVA to examine interaction effects of these variants. Transcripts involved in
      embryonic development were downregulated when exon 10 was present, while
      transcripts related to outgrowth of neurites were generally upregulated. An
      important pathway implicated in AD also differed between the 3R and 4R cell
      lines, Wnt signaling. These studies demonstrate expression differences between
      MAPT isoforms 4R tau and 3R tau due to the inclusion/exclusion of the repeat
      region coded for by exon 10. Our data add to complex findings on the role of
      3R/4R in normal and abnormal neuronal function and highlight several molecular
      mechanisms that might drive neurodegeneration, or perhaps, set the stage for it.

PMID- 20930285
TI  - Anesthetics and Alzheimer's disease. Editorial.

PMID- 20930286
TI  - BACE1 mRNA expression in Alzheimer's disease postmortem brain tissue.
AB  - beta-site AbetaPP cleaving enzyme 1 (BACE1) catalyses the rate-limiting step for
      production of amyloid-beta (Abeta) peptides, involved in the pathological cascade
      underlying Alzheimer's disease (AD). Elevated BACE1 protein levels and activity
      have been reported in AD postmortem brains. Our study explored whether this was
      due to elevated BACE1 mRNA expression. RNA was prepared from five brain regions
      in three study groups: controls, individuals with AD, and another
      neurodegenerative disease group affected by either Parkinson's disease (PD) or
      dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB). BACE1 mRNA levels were measured using
      quantitative realtime PCR (qPCR) and analyzed by qbasePLUS using validated stably
      expressed reference genes. Expression of glial and neuronal markers (glial
      fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and neuron-specific enolase (NSE), respectively)
      were also analyzed to quantify the changing activities of these cell populations
      in the tissue. BACE1 mRNA levels were significantly elevated in medial temporal
      and superior parietal gyri, compared to the PD/DLB and/or control groups.
      Superior frontal gryus BACE1 mRNA levels were significantly increased in the
      PD/DLB group, compared to AD and control groups. For the AD group, BACE1 mRNA
      changes were analyzed in the context of the reduced NSE mRNA, and strongly
      increased GFAP mRNA levels apparent as AD progressed (indicated by Braak stage).
      This analysis suggested that increased BACE1 mRNA expression in remaining
      neuronal cells may contribute to the increased BACE1 protein levels and activity
      found in brain regions affected by AD.

PMID- 20930287
TI  - Grouping and trajectories of neuropsychiatric symptoms in patients with
      Alzheimer's disease. Part II: two-year patient trajectories.
AB  - Behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) are characterized by
      fluctuations in their frequency and severity as well as by differences in the
      concurrent presentation of different symptoms. The goal of the current study was
      to identify groups of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) that had similar
      trajectories in the expression of BPSD. Over a 24-month period, an observational
      study was conducted using a population of ambulatory patients with AD of mild or
      moderate severity. The Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) was administered every 6
      months to the patient's caregiver. To classify patients according to changes in
      the frequency and severity of BPSD, growth mixture models were fitted to the
      applied to the grouping of NPI subscales in the following three categories:
      psychotic syndrome (hallucinations and delusions), affective syndrome
      (depression, anxiety, irritability, and agitation), and behavioral syndrome
      (disinhibition, euphoria, apathy, and aberrant motor behavior). The sample
      population consisted of 491 patients (70.9% women) that had an average age of
      75.2 years (SD=6.6). Different trajectory patterns were identified based on
      differences in changes over the time in the frequency (stable, increasing,
      decreasing, or fluctuating in course) and severity (low, moderate, or elevated
      severity) for psychotic syndrome, emotional syndrome, and behavior syndrome.
      Patients with AD display a high degree of variability in the evolutionary course
      of BPSD. It is possible to identify groups of patients with similar evolutionary
      trajectories in terms of changes in the frequency and severity of BPSD.

PMID- 20930288
TI  - Cortical changes in incipient Alzheimer's disease.
AB  - Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is defined by memory impairment with no impact on
      daily activities. 10 to 15% of MCI convert to Alzheimer's disease (AD) per year.
      While structural changes in the cortex of AD patients have been extensively
      investigated, fewer studies analyzed changes in the years preceding conversion.
      46 MCI patients and 20 healthy controls underwent structural 1.0T-weighted high
      resolution MR scans at baseline and after 1.4 (SD 0.3) years. All subjects were
      assessed yearly for up to 4 years with a comprehensive neuropsychological
      battery. Sixteen of the 46 patients converted to AD (cMCI) while 30 remained
      stable (sMCI). An accurate voxel-based statistical mesh-model technique (cortical
      pattern matching) with a related region-of-interest analysis based on networks
      defined from a Brodmann area atlas (BAs) were used to map gray matter changes
      over time. At baseline, cMCI patients had 10 to 30% less cortical gray matter
      volume than healthy controls in regions known to be affected by AD pathology
      (entorhinal, temporoparietal, posterior cingulate, and orbitofrontal cortex,
      p=0.0001). Over time, cMCI patients lost more gray matter than sMCI in all brain
      areas but mainly in the olfactory and in the polysynaptic hippocampal network
      (more than 8% gray matter loss, p<0.024). sMCI patients had 10 to 20% less volume
      than controls in the posterior cingulate and orbitofrontal cortex (p<0.008)
      although their progression over time was significantly slower than cMCI. AD
      patients in the MCI stage show greater gray matter loss in the olfactory and
      polysynaptic hippocampal network. These findings are in line with
      neuropathological knowledge.

PMID- 20930289
TI  - Grouping and trajectories of the neuropsychiatric symptoms in patients with
      Alzheimer's disease, part I: symptom clusters.
AB  - Behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) are frequently observed
      in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and affect more than 80% of patients over the course
      of AD. The goal of this study was to establish a model for grouping the symptoms
      of BPSD into clinical syndromes. Over a 24-month period, an observational study
      was conducted using a population of ambulatory patients with AD of mild to
      moderate severity. The Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) was administered to the
      patients' caregivers every 6 months. BPSD were grouped using exploratory factor
      analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) of the NPI scores of each
      assessment. The sample population consisted of 491 patients (70.9% women) with an
      average age of 75.2 years (SD=6.6). The five EFA suggested that there was a
      stable three-factor structure. According to the results of the EFA, three models
      of symptom grouping were adjusted using CFA methodology. The CFA model that
      satisfactorily grouped the NPI scores into three factors included a psychotic
      syndrome (hallucinations, delusions), an affective syndrome (depression, anxiety,
      irritability, agitation) and a behavior syndrome (euphoria, disinhibition,
      apathy, aberrant motor behavior). Based on our findings, we propose a model for
      grouping the BDSD in which there are core nuclear syndromes (psychotic and
      affective) as well as an unspecified behavior syndrome comprising satellite
      symptoms that may be related to the presence of the nuclear syndromes.

PMID- 20930290
TI  - Mild cognitive impairment is associated with mild parkinsonian signs in a door-to
      door study.
AB  - Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and healthy aging have been shown to be
      associated with mild parkinsonian signs (MPS). We performed a door-to-door
      observational and follow-up study amongst consenting residents of Wadi Ara Arab
      villages in northern Israel aged >=65 years (n=687) to examine whether MPS
      represent a risk factor for MCI and/or conversion from MCI to Alzheimer's disease
      (AD). In Phase 1, 223 cognitively normal (CN) and 173 MCI subjects were assessed
      by interview for medical history, neurological examination, motor part of the
      Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale (mUPDRS) (divided into item-clusters:
      axial, limb bradykinesia, tremor and rigidity) and cognitive tests. MCI subjects
      (n=111) were re-evaluated in Phase 2 for conversion to AD at least one year after
      initial assessment. MCI subjects had a higher frequency of axial dysfunction
      (8.7% vs. 1.3%) and limb bradykinesia (10.4% vs. 1.3%) than CN subjects (p<0.001,
      both). Stepwise logistic regression analysis estimating the probability of MCI
      vs. CN revealed higher mUPDRS (OR =1.19, 95% CI, 1.05 to 1.35, p=0.006) and
      higher limb bradykinesia scores (OR=1.75, 95% CI, 1.2 to 2.56, p=0.003) and not
      age as explanatory variables. Presence of MPS did not predict conversion to AD
      after adjustment for age and time-interval. These results suggest that axial and
      bradykinetic parkinsonian signs represent risk factors for MCI but MPS may not
      predict conversion from MCI to AD.

PMID- 20930291
TI  - Intensity of recreational physical activity throughout life and later life
      cognitive functioning in women.
AB  - Long-term physical activity may affect risk of cognitive impairment but few
      studies have examined later life cognition in relation to intensity of life-long
      physical activity. We examined the associations between the intensity of long
      term recreational physical activity and neuropsychological functioning in 90
      healthy postmenopausal women on tests found to be useful in the early
      identification of dementia. Information was collected about their participation
      in strenuous and moderate activities between high school and menopause. Summary
      measures of long-term strenuous and moderate activity were constructed for each
      participant. All analyses were adjusted for relevant covariates. The six linear
      regression analyses showed significant positive associations between moderate
      activity and Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale Revised (WAIS-R), Digit Span
      backward, WAIS-R Digit Symbol, and Trail Making Test Part B. Significant negative
      relationships were found between strenuous activity and Rey Auditory Verbal
      Learning Test delayed verbal recall, Complex Figure Test delayed visual memory,
      WAIS-R Digit Span backward, category fluency, and WAIS-R Digit Symbol. The
      associations found in the present study suggest that while moderate activity may
      be protective, long-term strenuous activity before menopause may lower cognitive
      performance later in life. These results support further investigation of the
      effects of life-long exercise intensity on cognition in later life.

PMID- 20930292
TI  - Information and communication technology systems to improve quality of life and
      safety of Alzheimer's disease patients: a multicenter international survey.
AB  - Within the frame of the European Commission funded Smart Home for Elderly People
      (HOPE) Project, relatives/caregivers of 223 Alzheimer's Disease (AD) patients
      were recruited in Italy, Spain, and Greece for a multicenter international survey
      on the potential role of Information and Communication Technology system (ICT
      systems) for AD patients. A five-minute video on HOPE ICT-systems was shown, and
      all relatives/caregivers completed a 13-item questionnaire that evaluated the
      potential role of: A) ICT-systems in improving quality of life, care, and safety;
      B) devices for monitoring personal movements, medication use, and ambient
      environmental conditions; C) devices to improve communication, home-based
      rehabilitation, and reduction of specific risks; and D) possible agreement in
      using ICT-systems by AD patients. Relatives/caregivers reported that ICT-systems
      could be very useful to improve: A) quality of life (66.4%), care (56.1%), and
      safety (87.0%); B) monitoring bed rest and movements (80.7%), medication use
      (87.4%), and ambient environmental conditions (85.2%); and C) emergency
      communication (83.4%). Relatives/caregivers reported that ICT-systems could be
      significantly more useful for AD patients aged 75-84 than patients aged <75 or
      >=85 years (p < 0.0001) and with moderate than mild or severe dementia (p <
      0.0001). Relatives/caregivers aged >=50 years and with low educational level
      considered ICT-systems more useful than relatives/caregivers aged <50 years (p <
      0.0001) and with high educational level (p < 0.0001). In conclusion,
      relatives/caregivers considered that the HOPE ICT-system could be useful to
      improve the management of AD patients.

PMID- 20930293
TI  - The Alzheimer's questionnaire: a proof of concept study for a new informant-based
      dementia assessment.
AB  - The aim of this pilot study is to determine the feasibility and clinical utility
      of a brief, informant-based screening questionnaire for Alzheimer's disease (AD)
      that can be administered in a primary care setting. The Alzheimer's Questionnaire
      (AQ) was administered to the informants of 188 patients in 3 dementia clinics (50
      cognitively normal, 69 mild cognitive impairment (MCI), 69 AD). Total score for
      the AQ is based upon the sum of clinical symptom items in which the informant
      responds as being present. Clinical symptoms which are known to be highly
      predictive of the clinical AD diagnosis are given greater weight in the total AQ
      score. The mean time of administration of the AQ was 2.6 +/- 0.6 minutes.
      Sensitivity and specificity were found to be high for detecting both AD (98.55,
      96.00) and MCI (86.96, 94.00) with ROC curves yielding AUC values of 0.99 and
      0.95, respectively. This pilot study indicates that the AQ is a brief, sensitive
      measure for detecting both MCI and AD and could be easily implemented in a
      primary care setting.

PMID- 20930294
TI  - Redox proteomics analysis of brains from subjects with amnestic mild cognitive
      impairment compared to brains from subjects with preclinical Alzheimer's disease:
      insights into memory loss in MCI.
AB  - Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a central nervous system disorder pathologically
      characterized by senile plaques, neurofibrillary tangles, and synapse loss. A
      small percentage of individuals with normal antemortem psychometric scores, after
      adjustments for age and education, meet the neuropathological criteria for
      amnestic mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or AD; these individuals have been
      termed 'preclinical' or 'asymptomatic' AD (PCAD). In this study, we employed the
      immunochemical slot-blot method and two-dimensional gel-based redox proteomics to
      observe differences in protein levels and oxidative modifications between groups
      with equal levels of AD pathology who differ in regards to clinical symptoms of
      memory impairment. Results of global oxidative stress measurements revealed
      significantly higher levels of protein carbonyls in the MCI inferior parietal
      lobule (IPL) relative to PCAD (and controls), despite equal levels of
      neuropathology. Proteomics analysis of the IPL revealed differences in protein
      levels and specific carbonylation that are consistent with preservation of memory
      in PCAD and apparent memory decline in MCI. Our data suggest that marked changes
      occur at the protein level in MCI that may cause or reflect memory loss and other
      AD symptoms.

PMID- 20930295
TI  - Ultrafiltrate of blood plasma modulates amyloid-beta aggregation.
AB  - Several neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's disease (AD), have
      etiology connected to abnormal protein self association. Copper-induced striking
      differences in amyloid-beta40 aggregation, distinct from spontaneous self
      association, prompted us to study whether amyloid-beta40 aggregation could be
      applied to differentiate between platelet poor plasma ultrafiltrates obtained
      from AD and control samples. We report, based on 20 AD and 18 age-matched
      controls, a significant difference in the concentration of short fibers induced
      by ultrafiltrated plasma from AD compared to control samples. The observed effect
      was independent of copper and other EDTA chelatable ions.

PMID- 20930296
TI  - One-carbon metabolism alteration affects brain proteome profile in a mouse model
      of Alzheimer's disease.
AB  - Late Onset Alzheimer's Disease (LOAD) can be associated to high homocysteine
      level and alteration of one-carbon metabolism. We previously demonstrated in the
      TgCRND8 mice strain, over-expressing human amyloid-beta protein precursor, that B
      vitamin deficiency causes alteration of one-carbon metabolism, together with
      unbalance of S-adenosylmethionine/S-adenosylhomocysteine levels, and is
      associated with AD like hallmarks as increased amyloid-beta plaque deposition,
      hyperhomocysteinemia, and oxidative stress. The same model of nutritional deficit
      was used here to study the variation of the brain protein expression profile
      associated to B vitamin deficiency. A group of proteins mainly involved in
      neuronal plasticity and mitochondrial functions was identified as modulated by
      one-carbon metabolism. These findings are consistent with increasing data about
      the pivotal role of mitochondrial abnormalities in AD patho-physiology. The
      identified proteins might represent new potential biomarkers of LOAD to be
      further investigated.

PMID- 20930297
TI  - Free copper distinguishes mild cognitive impairment subjects from healthy elderly
      individuals.
AB  - In patients affected by Alzheimer's disease (AD), serum copper not bound to
      ceruloplasmin ('free' copper) appears elevated, slightly but significantly enough
      to distinguish AD patients from healthy elderly subjects. In this paper we tested
      the hypothesis that this is also the case for individuals affected by mild
      cognitive impairment (MCI). A sample of 83 MCI subjects were compared with 100
      elderly control subjects in terms of levels of serum copper, free copper,
      ceruloplasmin, apolipoprotein E4 genotype (APOE4), iron, transferrin, and total
      antioxidant capacity (TRAP). The groups were also compared in terms of
      demographic and cardiovascular risk factors. The comparison with an additional
      group of 105 mild to moderate AD patients was also evaluated. The possible
      effects of copper dysfunction on cognitive decline were evaluated by multinomial
      logistic regression analysis. A linear regression model was applied to define the
      role of metals and antioxidant dysfunction in explaining Mini-Mental Status
      Examination (MMSE) variations. APOE4 and free copper differentiated the MCI group
      from the healthy control group. The probability of acquiring MCI increased by
      about 24% for each free copper unit (MUmol/L) increment. APOE4 and free copper
      differentiated the MCI group also from the AD group. APOE4 and free copper
      appeared associated to MMSE worsening, as did age and gender. These results
      suggest that free copper can help in discriminating MCI subjects from healthy
      controls, but not on an individual basis.

PMID- 20930298
TI  - Shape abnormalities of the striatum in Alzheimer's disease.
AB  - Postmortem studies show pathological changes in the striatum in Alzheimer's
      disease (AD). Here, we examine the surface of the striatum in AD and assess
      whether changes of the surface are associated with impaired cognitive
      functioning. The shape of the striatum (n. accumbens, caudate nucleus, and
      putamen) was compared between 35 AD patients and 35 individuals without cognitive
      impairment. The striatum was automatically segmented from 3D T1 magnetic
      resonance images and automatic shape modeling tools (Growing Adaptive Meshes)
      were applied for morphometrical analysis. Repeated permutation tests were used to
      identify locations of consistent shape deformities of the striatal surface in AD.
      Linear regression models, corrected for age, gender, educational level, head
      size, and total brain parenchymal volume were used to assess the relation between
      cognitive performance and local surface deformities. In AD patients, differences
      of shape were observed on the medial head of the caudate nucleus and on the
      ventral lateral putamen, but not on the accumbens. The head of the caudate
      nucleus and ventral lateral putamen are characterized by extensive connections
      with the orbitofrontal and medial temporal cortices. Severity of cognitive
      impairment was associated with the degree of deformity of the surfaces of the
      accumbens, rostral medial caudate nucleus, and ventral lateral putamen. These
      findings provide evidence for the hypothesis that in AD primarily associative and
      limbic cerebral networks are affected.

PMID- 20930299
TI  - Prion protein is reduced in aging and in sporadic but not in familial Alzheimer's
      disease.
AB  - The cellular form of the prion protein (PrPC) has been shown to inhibit the
      production of amyloid-beta which is critically involved in the pathogenesis of
      Alzheimer's disease (AD). We examined the expression of PrPC by immunoblot
      analysis in the hippocampus and temporal cortex in sporadic AD, familial AD, and
      appropriate age-matched controls, and in an aging series (age 20 to 88 years) of
      brains. PrPC was reduced by 53% (p=0.032) in the hippocampus in sporadic AD as
      compared to the age-matched controls. No such reduction in PrPC was seen in
      familial AD. PrPC was reduced in the hippocampus with aging (rs=0.03). The
      reduction in PrPC in sporadic but not familial AD suggests that reduced PrPC
      expression reflects a primary mechanism of disease and is not merely a secondary
      consequence of other AD-associated changes. The reduction of PrPC in the brain
      with aging suggests that age-related decreases in PrPC may contribute to the
      increased incidence of AD in older people.

PMID- 20930300
TI  - A multi-center randomized proof-of-concept clinical trial applying [18F]FDG-PET
      for evaluation of metabolic therapy with rosiglitazone XR in mild to moderate
      Alzheimer's disease.
AB  - Here we report the first multi-center clinical trial in Alzheimer's disease (AD)
      using fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography ([18F]FDG-PET) measures of
      brain glucose metabolism as the primary outcome. We contrasted effects of 12
      months treatment with the PPARgamma agonist Rosiglitazone XR versus placebo in 80
      mild to moderate AD patients. Secondary objectives included testing for reduction
      in the progression of brain atrophy and improvement in cognition. Active
      treatment was associated with a sustained but not statistically significant trend
      from the first month for higher mean values in Kiindex and CMRgluindex, novel
      quantitative indices related to the combined forward rate constant for [18F]FDG
      uptake and to the rate of cerebral glucose utilization, respectively. However,
      neither these nor another analytical approach recently validated using data from
      the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative indicated that active treatment
      decreased the progression of decline in brain glucose metabolism. Rates of brain
      atrophy were similar between active and placebo groups and measures of cognition
      also did not suggest clear group differences. Our study demonstrates the
      feasibility of using [18F]FDG-PET as part of a multi-center therapeutics trial.
      It suggests that Rosiglitazone is associated with an early increase in whole
      brain glucose metabolism, but not with any biological or clinical evidence for
      slowing progression over a 1 year follow up in the symptomatic stages of AD.

PMID- 20930301
TI  - The effect of MAPT H1 and APOE epsilon4 on transition from mild cognitive
      impairment to dementia.
AB  - Microtubule-associated protein tau (MAPT) and apolipoprotein E (APOE) are
      involved in the pathogenic mechanisms of Alzheimer's disease (AD). We
      prospectively followed three longitudinal independent samples (total n=319) with
      amnestic mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and analyzed whether MAPT H1/H2
      haplotypes and APOE epsilon4 polymorphisms accelerated the rate of progression
      from MCI to dementia. At the end of the study, 172 subjects remained cognitively
      stable, whereas 147 progressed to dementia. APOE epsilon4 and MAPT H1/H1 were
      independently associated with an increased rate of progression to dementia in the
      combined sample. Cox regression models of the combined MCI sample showed that
      MAPT H1/H1 carriers had an increased rate of progression to dementia compared
      with non carriers (Hazard Ratio =1.45; 95% CI=1.04-2.02; p=0.028) and time-to
      progression was shortened by 1.37 years. APOE epsilon4 allele also accelerated
      progression to dementia (Hazard Ratio=1.47; 95% CI= 1.06-2.04; p=0.020) and
      reduced the time-to-progression by 0.87 years. Additionally, MAPT H1/H1 genotype
      and APOE epsilon4 allele had an additive effect in progression to dementia,
      increasing progression rate to dementia (Hazard Ratio=2.24, 95% CI =1.40-3.58;
      p=0.001) and shortening time-to-progression to dementia by 2.92 years. Similar
      results were obtained when only considering progression to AD-type dementia. Our
      results suggest that both MAPT H1/H1 genotype and APOE epsilon4 allele lead to a
      more rapid progression to dementia among MCI subjects, probably mediating an
      increased rate of amyloid-beta and tau brain deposition.

PMID- 20930302
TI  - Hydrogen sulfide protects amyloid-beta induced cell toxicity in microglia.
AB  - Alzheimer's disease (AD) is pathologically characterized by the accumulation of
      senile plaques, containing activated microglia and amyloid-beta peptides (Abeta).
      We found that aggregated Abeta1-40 peptide (25 MUM, 24 h) significantly decreased
      viability of BV-2 microglial cells. This was concentration-dependently attenuated
      by NaHS (a hydrogen sulfide (H2S) donor, 25-500 MUM). NaHS also significantly
      attenuated Abeta-induced LDH release and the up-regulation of protein expression
      of growth arrest DNA damage (GADD 153). These data suggest that H2S may attenuate
      Abeta-induced cell toxicity and cell cycle re-entry. Pretreatment with NaHS also
      suppressed the release of nitric oxide and the upregulation of inducible nitric
      oxide synthase. These effects were attenuated by exogenous application of NaHS or
      stimulation of endogenous generation of H2S with S-adenosyl-L-methionine, a
      cystathionine beta synthase activator. NaHS also decreased the releases of TNF
      alpha and suppressed the up-regulation of protein expression of cyclooxygenase 2,
      which were mimicked by blockade of p38 and JNK-MAPK. In addition, Abeta induced
      loss of mitochondrial member potential (DeltaPsim) and activation of p38-, JNK-,
      and ERK-MAPKs. Application of NaHS attenuated these effects but failed to affect
      the activation of ERK. In conclusion, we demonstrated for the first time that H2S
      may protect cell against Abeta-induced cell injury by inhibition of inflammation,
      promotion of cell growth and preservation of mitochondrial function in a p38- and
      JNK-MAPK dependent manner. Our results suggest that H2S may have potential
      therapeutic value for treatment of AD.

PMID- 20930303
TI  - Higher cathepsin B levels in plasma in Alzheimer's disease compared to healthy
      controls.
AB  - Cathepsin B is suggested to be involved in amyloid-beta (Abeta) processing and
      Alzheimer's disease (AD). Studies of cathepsin B levels in plasma and
      cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) have not been previously performed. We examined
      cathepsin B levels in plasma and CSF samples in persons with AD, mild cognitive
      impairment (MCI), and healthy controls in order to test the hypothesis that
      cathepsin B levels can discriminate persons with AD or MCI from healthy controls.
      Cathepsin B, Cystatin C, Abeta1-40 and Abeta1-42, total tau, phosphorylated tau,
      and albumin levels in plasma and CSF were analyzed by ELISA (Cathepsin B)
      turbidimetry (cystatin C), xMAP Luminex technology (Abeta1-40 and Abeta1-42 and
      tau), and Cobas C501 analyzer (albumin) in persons with AD (n=101), MCI (n=84),
      and healthy control subjects (n=28). Plasma cathepsin B levels were higher in
      persons with AD compared to healthy controls, both in unadjusted models and in
      multivariable models adjusting for age, gender, APOE genotype, cystatin C, and
      albumin levels: Odds ratio (OR) for AD per 1 SD of plasma cathepsin B; 2.04, 95%
      confidence interval (CI); 1.01-4.14, p= 0.05. There was no difference between
      diagnostic groups in cathepsin B levels in CSF: OR for AD per 1 SD of CSF
      cathepsin B; 0.93, 95% CI; 0.37-2.30, p= 0.87. Plasma cathepsin B levels were
      higher in persons with AD compared to healthy controls whereas there was no
      difference between diagnostic groups in cathepsin B levels in CSF. Further
      investigation of cathepsin B as a predictor of AD is warranted.

PMID- 20930304
TI  - Assessment of non-viral amyloid-beta DNA vaccines on amyloid-beta reduction and
      safety in rhesus monkeys.
AB  - We recently demonstrated that newly developed non-viral amyloid-beta (Abeta) DNA
      vaccines are safe and effective in reducing Abeta burdens in the brains of
      Alzheimer's disease (AD) model mice. The present study was undertaken to examine
      whether DNA vaccines effectively and safely reduce Abeta deposition in the brain
      of rhesus monkeys. For this purpose, DNA vaccines or empty vector at a dose of 3
      mg were injected intramuscularly on a biweekly basis into rhesus monkeys (15-18
      years old). Before and during vaccination, blood was drawn once a month and used
      for hematological and biochemical examinations. Six months after the first
      vaccination, it was demonstrated that anti-Abeta antibodies in plasma of
      vaccinated monkeys were significantly elevated than that of control monkeys.
      Immunohistochemical examinations revealed that DNA vaccination reduced the Abeta
      burden to approximately 50% of that found in control monkeys (p=0.026). There was
      neither inflammation nor microhemorrhage in the brain and no significant changes
      in cytokine and chemokine levels in the blood throughout the observation period.
      Taken together, DNA vaccination to monkeys is safe and effective in Abeta
      reduction and provides useful information for performing preclinical and clinical
      trials.

PMID- 20930305
TI  - Impact of executive dysfunction on verbal memory performance in patients with
      Alzheimer's disease.
AB  - It is currently accepted that there is a subset of patients diagnosed with
      Alzheimer's disease (AD) who show executive functioning (EF) impairments even in
      the earlier stages. These patients have been shown to present distinct
      psychiatric, behavioral, occupational, and even histopathological profiles. We
      assessed thirty patients with AD on two tasks of verbal memory (Logical Memory -
      LM, and the Rey Auditory-Verbal Learning Task - RAVLT), as well as classical
      tests of EF. AD patients were classified into either a spared EF (SEF) group if
      they showed impaired performance (z < -1.5 SD) in none or only one of the
      executive tests, or into an impaired EF (IEF) group if they showed impaired
      performance on two or more tasks of EF. Their performance was compared with
      fourteen healthy controls. SEF showed significantly more years of education than
      IEF, but the groups did not differ significantly on age, gender, mood symptoms,
      or performance on general screening tests or attentional tasks. With education as
      a covariate, both AD groups differed from controls on all measures of memory, but
      a significant difference was found between SEF and IEF patients only on the
      recognition phases of both logical memory (p < 0.01) and RAVLT (p = 0.02).
      Recognition scores significantly correlated with performance on executive tasks.
      Early AD patients who preserve their EF seem to have an advantage in their
      ability to recognize information that has been previously presented over patients
      with impaired EF. Such advantage seems to be strongly associated with executive
      performance.

PMID- 20930306
TI  - Reactivity of cortical alpha rhythms to eye opening in mild cognitive impairment
      and Alzheimer's disease: an EEG study.
AB  - Cortical sources of resting eyes-closed alpha rhythms are typically abnormal in
      mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) subjects. Here we
      tested the hypothesis of a progressive impairment of cortical alpha reactivity to
      eye-opening across amnesic MCI and mild AD subjects, reflecting another aspect of
      the impairment of cortical neural synchronization. Resting electroencephalography
      (EEG) data were recorded in 36 normal elderly subjects (Nold), 91 amnesic MCI,
      and 31 mild AD subjects during eyes-closed and -open conditions. EEG sources were
      estimated by LORETA software. In the eye-closed condition, posterior alpha 1 (8
      10.5 Hz) sources were lower in MCI and AD than Nold subjects. The opposite was
      true for occipital delta sources (2-4 Hz). Reactivity to the eyes-open condition
      showed posterior alpha 1 and alpha 2 (10.5-13 Hz) sources was high in the Nold,
      intermediate in the MCI, and low in the AD subjects. Furthermore, occipital alpha
      1 reactivity across MCI and AD subjects was correlated to the cognitive
      impairment as revealed by Mini-Mental State Examination score. In conclusion, at
      least at group level, the continuum across amnesic MCI and mild AD status is
      related to an impaired reactivity of cortical neuronal synchronization to eyes
      opening at alpha rhythms.

PMID- 20930307
TI  - Enhanced expression of the voltage-dependent anion channel 1 (VDAC1) in
      Alzheimer's disease transgenic mice: an insight into the pathogenic effects of
      amyloid-beta.
AB  - The mitochondrial voltage-dependent anion channel 1 (VDAC1) is involved in the
      release of apoptotic proteins with possible relevance in Alzheimer's disease (AD)
      neuropathology. Through proteomic analysis followed by Western blotting and
      immunohistochemical techniques, we have found that VDAC1 is overexpressed in the
      hippocampus from amyloidogenic AD transgenic mice models. VDAC1 was also
      overexpressed in postmortem brain tissue from AD patients at an advanced stage of
      the disease. Interestingly, amyloid-beta (Abeta) soluble oligomers were able to
      induce upregulation of VDAC1 in a human neuroblastoma cell line, further
      supporting a correlation between Abeta levels and VDAC1 expression. In
      hippocampal extracts from transgenic mice, a significant increase was observed in
      the levels of VDAC1 phosphorylated at an epitope that is susceptible to
      phosphorylation by glycogen synthase kinase-3beta, whose activity was also
      increased. The levels of hexokinase I (HXKI), which interacts with VDAC1 and
      affects its function, were decreased in mitochondrial samples from AD models.
      Since phospho-VDAC and reduced HXKI levels favors a VDAC1 conformational state
      more prone to the release proapoptotic factors, regulation of the function of
      this channel may be a promising therapeutic approach to combat AD.

PMID- 20930308
TI  - Postoperative cognitive dysfunction: toward the Alzheimer's disease
      pathomechanism hypothesis.
AB  - Alzheimer's disease (AD), a chronic and progressive deterioration of memory and
      other cognitive domains, is the most common form of dementia. Because of related
      health and social impact, there is growing interest in assessing potential
      relationship between anesthesia and the onset and progression of chronic
      neurodegenerative disorders, including AD. Currently, preclinical and clinical
      research is addressed to identify underlying pathomechanisms, patient risk
      factors, and the use of the least provocative drugs and techniques, to minimize
      the incidence of chronic neurodegenerative disorders. Preclinical studies are
      providing an increasing body of evidences on some of the mechanisms that link
      anesthetics to neuronal programmed cell death (apoptosis) and accumulation of
      misfolded proteins in the aging brain. Therefore, risk factors and
      pathomechanisms of chronic neurodegenerative disorders, including AD, and
      persistent postoperative-postanesthesia cognitive dysfunction may overlap.

PMID- 20930309
TI  - Evaluation of intrathecal serum amyloid P (SAP) and C-reactive protein (CRP)
      synthesis in Alzheimer's disease with the use of index values.
AB  - Serum amyloid P (SAP) and C-reactive protein (CRP) are proteins involved in
      innate immunity. The expression of SAP and CRP is increased in Alzheimer's
      disease (AD) brain tissue, compared to healthy controls. Although both proteins
      are found in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), their origin is unclear. We investigated
      if increased local production of SAP and CRP in AD brain results in higher levels
      in CSF with the use of index values. To study this, SAP, CRP, and albumin levels
      were determined in CSF and serum samples of 30 control (65 +/- 11 years; 57%
      female) and 140 AD subjects (65 +/- 9 years; 53% female). To correct for inter
      individual differences in protein diffusion from blood to CSF, quotients (Q
      =CSF/serum) of SAP, CRP, and albumin and index values (Qprotein/Qalb) were
      calculated. The results showed no significant differences in SAP and CRP index
      values between control and AD subjects, although eight percent of individual AD
      patients showed evidence of intrathecal SAP or CRP production using the Reiber
      hyperbolic model. Interestingly, the SAP index value was much lower than
      expected, based on its molecular size. In conclusion, these data suggest that
      local production of SAP and CRP in the AD brain does not substantially contribute
      to the CSF levels.

PMID- 20930310
TI  - Higher serum sTNFR1 level predicts conversion from mild cognitive impairment to
      Alzheimer's disease.
AB  - The activation of inflammatory cascades has been consistently demonstrated in the
      pathophysiology of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Among several putative
      neuroinflammatory mechanisms, the tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha)
      signaling system has a central role in this process. Recent evidence indicates
      that the abnormal production of inflammatory factors may accompany the
      progression from mild cognitive impairment (MCI) to dementia. We aimed to examine
      serum levels of TNF-alpha and its soluble receptors (sTNFR1 and sTNFR2) in
      patients with MCI and AD as compared to cognitively unimpaired elderly subjects.
      We further aimed to investigate whether abnormal levels of these cytokines
      predict the progression from MCI to AD upon follow-up. We utilized cross
      sectional determination of serum levels of TNF-alpha, sTNFR1, and sTNFR2 (ELISA
      method) in a test group comprising 167 older adults (31 AD, 72 MCI, and 64
      healthy controls), and longitudinal reassessment of clinical status after 18.9 +/
      10.0 months. At baseline, there were no statistically significant differences in
      serum TNF-alpha, sTNFR1, and sTNFR2 between patients with MCI and AD as compared
      to controls. Nevertheless, patients with MCI who progressed to AD had
      significantly higher serum sTNFR1 levels as opposed to patients who retained the
      diagnosis of MCI upon follow-up (p = 0.03). Cox regression analysis showed that
      high serum sTNFR1 levels predicted the conversion from MCI to AD (p = 0.003),
      whereas no significant differences were found with respect to serum levels of TNF
      alpha and sTNFR2. Abnormal activation of TNF-alpha signaling system, represented
      by increased expression of sTNFR1, is associated with a higher risk of
      progression from MCI to AD.

PMID- 20930311
TI  - Unusual risk factors for cognitive decline.
AB  - The evaluation and management of patients with cognitive decline pose many
      diagnostic and therapeutic challenges. While most cognitive disorders need a
      standard screening for common reversible causes, the diagnosis of 'not so usual'
      causes are delayed and often missed. It is important to be aware of such clinical
      scenarios, especially since a lot of these are reversible. Many coexisting
      metabolic, nutritional, endocrinal, toxic, and infectious causes mask the subtle
      and progressive cognitive changes that become apparent with stress and in the
      post operative period, often after a major surgery. Many more metabolic,
      nutritional, endocrinal, toxic, post operative, autoimmune, cerebrovascular,
      genetic, infectious, and hemorheological factors are now emerging as unusual
      causes. This review deals with the recognition and evaluation of these unusual
      causes of cognitive decline.

PMID- 20930312
TI  - Chromatin-modifying agents increase transcription of CYP46A1, a key player in
      brain cholesterol elimination.
AB  - The major mechanism of brain cholesterol elimination is the conversion of
      cholesterol into 24S-hydroxycholesterol by CYP46A1, a neuron-specific cytochrome
      P450. Since increasing evidence suggests that upregulation of CYP46A1 may be
      relevant for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, we aim to identify the
      molecular mechanisms involved in CYP46A1 transcription. Our previous studies
      demonstrated the role of Sp transcription factors in basal expression and histone
      deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor-dependent derepression of CYP46A1. Here, we show
      that the demethylating agent 5'-Aza-2'-deoxycytidine (DAC) is a CYP46A1 inducer
      and that pre-treatment with DAC causes a marked synergistic activation of CYP46A1
      transcription by trichostatin A. Surprisingly, bisulfite sequencing analysis
      revealed that the CYP46A1 core promoter is completely unmethylated in both human
      brain and non-neuronal human tissues where CYP46A1 is not expressed. Therefore,
      we have investigated Sp expression levels by western blot and real-time PCR, and
      their binding patterns to the CYP46A1 promoter, by electrophoretic mobility shift
      assay and chromatin immunoprecipitation assays, after DAC treatment. Our results
      showed that DAC decreases not only Sp1 and Sp3 protein levels, but also the
      binding activity of Sp3 to the +1 region of the CYP46A1 locus. Concomitantly,
      HDAC1 and HDAC2 were also significantly dissociated from the promoter. In
      conclusion, DAC induces CYP46A1 gene expression, in a DNA methylation-independent
      mechanism, decreasing Sp3/HDAC binding to the proximal promoter. Furthermore, by
      affecting the expression of the Sp3 transcription factor in neuronal cells, DAC
      might affect not only brain cholesterol metabolism, but also the expression of
      many other neuronal genes.

PMID- 20930313
TI  - In vivo detection of amyloid plaques in the mouse brain using the near-infrared
      fluorescence probe THK-265.
AB  - Noninvasive detection of amyloid-beta (Abeta) deposits in the brain would be
      beneficial for an early and presymptomatic diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD).
      We developed THK-265 as a candidate near-infrared fluorescence (NIRF) probe for
      the in vivo detection of amyloid deposits in the brain. The maximal emission
      wavelength of THK-265 was greater than 650nm and it showed high quantum yield and
      molar absorption coefficients. A fluorescence binding assay showed its high
      binding affinity to Abeta fibrils (Kd = 97 nM). THK-265 clearly stained amyloid
      plaques in AD neocortical brain sections and showed a moderate log p value (1.8).
      After intravenous administration of THK-265 in amyloid-beta protein precursor
      (AbetaPP) transgenic mice, amyloid deposits in the brain were clearly labeled
      with THK-265. Furthermore, in vivo NIRF imaging demonstrated significantly higher
      fluorescence intensity in the brains of AbetaPP transgenic mice than in those of
      wild-type mice. As THK-265 showed profound hyperchromic effect upon binding to
      Abeta fibrils, good discrimination between AbetaPP transgenic and wild-type mice
      was demonstrated even early after THK-265 administration. Furthermore, the
      fluorescence intensity of THK-265 correlated with amyloid plaque burden in the
      brains of AbetaPP transgenic mice. These findings strongly support the usefulness
      of THK-265 as an NIRF imaging probe for the noninvasive measurement of brain
      amyloid load.

PMID- 20930314
TI  - CERAD neuropsychological battery total score in multinational mild cognitive
      impairment and control populations: the AddNeuroMed study.
AB  - An important focus in Alzheimer's disease (AD) research is the development of
      methods for early diagnosis. Despite progress with some other biomarkers,
      sensitive and specific neuropsychological measures for identifying subjects in
      the prodromal phase of AD remain the most promising early diagnostic tool. We
      evaluated the value of the composite score for the Consortium to Establish a
      Registry for Alzheimer's disease Neuropsychological Battery (CERAD-NB) in
      Europeans with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and in control populations.
      Baseline clinical data were analyzed from 223 healthy elderly and 224 subjects
      with MCI from the prospective AddNeuroMed study carried out in Finland, France,
      Greece, Italy, Poland, and the United Kingdom. The total score for CERAD-NB was
      calculated by the subtest addition method. The CERAD total score, adjusted for
      age, gender, education, and country, clearly differentiated the control and MCI
      groups (p < 0.001). The optimal between-groups cut-off point for the CERAD total
      score derived from ROC analysis yielded 81.5% sensitivity and 75.4% specificity
      (AUC = 0.848, p < 0.001). The CERAD total score was superior to the Mini-Mental
      Status Examination, or any single CERAD subtest in discriminating between the
      control and MCI groups. While the overall level of the CERAD total score varied
      between the different countries, it remained accurate in differentiating controls
      and MCI subjects within each country. We conclude that the CERAD total score is
      an accurate measure for detecting mild cognitive impairment, but implementing
      specific cut-off points needs to be based upon country specific normative data.

PMID- 20930315
TI  - Prediction of all-cause dementia using neuropsychological tests within 10 and 5
      years of diagnosis in a community-based sample.
AB  - While neuropsychological tests have been identified for the early prediction of
      Alzheimer's disease, this has not been established for prediction of all-cause
      dementia. This would be helpful for clinicians concerned about the risk of
      progression to dementia in patients who may present with a variety of medical and
      neurological conditions. We wanted to determine whether neuropsychological tests
      could accurately predict incident dementia within 10 and five years of diagnosis
      in a community-based sample. The Canadian Study of Health and Aging was conducted
      in three waves over a 10-year period (1991-2002). We studied 1472 non-demented
      participants who completed neuropsychological testing in 1991 and received a
      diagnostic assessment for dementia in 2001 (n = 284). We also studied 1231 non
      demented participants who completed neuropsychological testing in 1996 and
      received a diagnostic assessment in 2001 (n = 634). Diagnosticians were blinded
      to performance on the predictive tests. Age, education, and sex were included as
      covariates in all regression analysis. Ten-year prediction: 2 tests, Rey Auditory
      Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT) short delayed verbal recall and Wechsler Adult
      Intelligence Test Revised (WAIS-R) Digit Symbol, were significant predictors of
      dementia (sensitivity = 78%, specificity = 72%, positive likelihood ratio =
      2.81). Five-year prediction: 4 tests, Wechsler Memory Scale Information, RAVLT
      short delayed verbal recall, animal fluency, and WAIS-R Digit Symbol,
      significantly predicted incident dementia (sensitivity = 75%, specificity = 74%,
      positive likelihood ratio = 2.90). Regression models were supported with
      bootstrapping estimates. Neuropsychological tests can accurately predict
      progression to all-cause dementia within 10 years of diagnosis in a large
      community-based sample of non-demented participants.

PMID- 20930317
TI  - Anesthetics and Alzheimer's disease: background and research. Preface.

PMID- 20930316
TI  - Olfactory deficits and amyloid-beta burden in Alzheimer's disease, mild cognitive
      impairment, and healthy aging: a PiB PET study.
AB  - Olfactory deficits and increased amyloid-beta (Abeta) burden are observed in
      people with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI); both factors may be
      predictive of Alzheimer's disease (AD). We explored whether olfactory
      identification is related to in vivo measures of Abeta burden using Pittsburgh
      Compound B (PiB) PET. Nineteen control, 24 aMCI, and 20 AD participants completed
      an olfactory identification task and underwent PiB PET scanning. Control
      participants performed better on olfactory identification and showed lower PiB
      binding than aMCI patients. There was a significant correlation between both
      factors when pooling all groups together but not when considering each group
      separately. In addition, the olfactory identification score did not differ
      between aMCI participants who were PiB-positive and those who were PiB-negative.
      We conclude that AD-related olfactory identification deficits are not directly
      related to Abeta burden.

PMID- 20930318
TI  - Papers from the 5th Scientific Meeting on Cartilage Engineering, February 2010,
      Nancy, France. Foreword.

PMID- 20930319
TI  - Regulatory enablers and regulatory challenges for the development of tissue
      engineered products in the EU.
AB  - The EU Regulation on Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products (ATMP) bridges a
      regulatory gap and is expected to act as an enabler for the regenerative medicine
      sector in the EU by setting a centralised and harmonised regulatory framework for
      tissue-engineered products. Some of its key features are a workable and
      comprehensive scope, a new committee allowing for a pooling of expertise and
      tailored yet flexible requirements meant to keep pace with technology
      development. However, while providing a much needed regulatory framework, the new
      regulation still has potential shortfalls with regard to facilitating the
      research and commercialisation of tissue-engineered products in the future.

PMID- 20930320
TI  - Introduction to tissue engineering and application for cartilage engineering.
AB  - Tissue engineering is a multidisciplinary field that applies the principles of
      engineering, life sciences, cell and molecular biology toward the development of
      biological substitutes that restore, maintain, and improve tissue function. In
      Western Countries, tissues or cells management for clinical uses is a medical
      activity governed by different laws. Three general components are involved in
      tissue engineering: (1) reparative cells that can form a functional matrix; (2)
      an appropriate scaffold for transplantation and support; and (3) bioreactive
      molecules, such as cytokines and growth factors that will support and choreograph
      formation of the desired tissue. These three components may be used individually
      or in combination to regenerate organs or tissues. Thus the growing development
      of tissue engineering needs to solve four main problems: cells, engineering
      development, grafting and safety studies.

PMID- 20930321
TI  - Genetic modification of mesenchymal stem cells for cartilage repair.
AB  - Reproduction of a native, functional architecture in articular cartilage defects
      is a major problem in orthopaedic surgery. The elaboration of workable options to
      heal damaged cartilage might necessitate to involve cellular, molecular and
      environmental components to allow for the formation of an adequate and stable
      repair tissue in sites of injury. Strategies based on the transfer of candidate
      sequences to progenitor cells offer powerful tools to achieve this goal. The aim
      of this report is to provide an overview of the most recent therapeutic
      approaches developed in experimental orthopaedic research.

PMID- 20930322
TI  - Chondrogenic potential of bone marrow- and adipose tissue-derived adult human
      mesenchymal stem cells.
AB  - Regarding cartilage repair, tissue engineering is currently focusing on the use
      of adult mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) as an alternative to autologous
      chondrocytes. The potential of stem cells from various tissues to differentiate
      towards the chondrogenic phenotype has been investigated and it appears that the
      most common and studied sources are bone marrow (BM) and adipose tissue (AT) for
      historical and easy access reasons. In addition to three dimensional environment,
      the presence of member(s) of the transforming growth factor (TGF-beta family and
      low oxygen tension have been reported to promote the in vitro differentiation of
      MSCs. Our work aimed at characterizing and comparing the degree of chondrogenic
      differentiation of MSCs isolated from BM and AT cultured in the same conditions.
      We also further aimed at and at determining whether hypoxia (2% oxygen) could
      affect the chondrogenic potential of AT-MSCs. Cells were first expanded in the
      presence of FGF-2, then harvested and centrifuged to allow formation of cell
      pellets, which were cultured in the presence of TGF-beta3 and/or Bone
      Morphogenetic Protein-2 (BMP-2) and with 2 or 20% oxygen tension, for 24 days.
      Markers of the chondrocyte (COL2A1, AGC1, Sox9) and hypertrophic chondrocyte
      (COL10A1, MMP-13) were monitored by real-time PCR and/or by immunohistological
      staining. Our data show that BMP-2/TGF-beta3 combination is the best culture
      condition to induce the chondrocyte phenotype in pellet cultures of BM and AT
      MSCs. Particularly, a switch in the expression of the pre-chondrogenic type IIA
      form to the cartilage-specific type IIB form of COL2A1 was observed. A parallel
      increase in gene expression of COL10A1 and MMP-13 was also recorded. However when
      AT-MSCs were cultured in hypoxia, the expression of markers of hypertrophic
      chondrocytes decreased when BMP-2/TGF-beta3 were present in the medium. Thus it
      seems that hypoxia participates to the control of AT-MSCs chondrogenesis.
      Altogether, these cellular model systems will help us to investigate further the
      potential of different adult stem cells for cartilage engineering.

PMID- 20930323
TI  - Cartilage tissue engineering: From hydrogel to mesenchymal stem cells.
AB  - Articular cartilage does not repair itself spontaneously. To promote its repair,
      the transfer of stem cells from adipose tissue (ATSC) using an injectable self
      setting cellulosic-hydrogel (Si-HPMC) appears promising. In this context, the
      objective of this work was to investigate the influence of in vitro chondrogenic
      differentiation of ATSC on the in vivo cartilage formation when combined with Si
      HPMC. In a first set of experiments, we characterized ATSC for their ability to
      proliferate, self renew and express typical mesenchymal stem cell surface
      markers. Then, the potential of ATSC to differentiate towards the chondrogenic
      lineage and the optimal culture conditions to drive this differentiation were
      evaluated. Real-time RT-PCR and histological analysis for sulphated
      glycosaminoglycans and type II collagen revealed that 3-dimensional culture and
      hypoxic condition favored ATSC chondrogenesis regarding mRNA expression level and
      the corresponding proteins production. In order to assess the phenotypic
      stability of chondrogenically-differentiated ATSC, real-time RT-PCR for specific
      terminal chondrogenic markers and alkaline phosphatase activity assay were
      performed. In addition to promote chondrogenesis, our culture conditions seem to
      prevent the terminal differentiation of ATSC. Histological examination of ATSC/Si
      HPMC implants suggested that the in vitro chondrogenic pre-commitment of ATSC in
      monolayer is sufficient to obtain cartilaginous tissue in vivo.

PMID- 20930324
TI  - Original approach for cartilage tissue engineering with mesenchymal stem cells.
AB  - Cartilage tissue engineering gives the ability to product adaptable neocartilage
      to lesion with autologous cells. Our work aimed to develop a stratified scaffold
      with a simple and progressive spraying build-up to mimic articular cartilage
      environment. An Alginate/Hyaluronic Acid (Alg/HA) hydrogel seeded with human
      Mesenchymal Stem Cells (hMSC) was construct by spray. First, cells repartition
      and actin organization were study with confocal microscopy. Then, we analyzed
      cells viability and finally, metabolic activity. Our results indicated a
      homogenous cells repartition in the hydrogel and a pericellular actin
      repartition. After 3 days of culture, we observed about 52% of viable cells in
      the scaffold. Then, from day 7 until the end of culture (D28), the proportion of
      living cells and their metabolic activity increased, what indicates that culture
      conditions are not harmful for the cells. We report here that sprayed method
      allowed to product a scaffold with hMSCs that confer a favorable environment for
      neocartilage construction: 3D conformation and ability of cells to increase their
      metabolic activity, therefore with few impact on hMSCs.

PMID- 20930325
TI  - Expression of chondrogenic genes by undifferentiated vs. differentiated human
      mesenchymal stem cells using array technology.
AB  - This study investigated the gene expression profile of human mesenchymal stem
      cells seeded in collagen sponge for 28 days in three different mediums: (1) basal
      medium as control containing ITS alone, (2) ITS+TGF-beta1 alone or (3) ITS 1%
      supplemented sequentially by TGF-beta1 (D3-D14) followed by BMP-2 (D15-D28).
      Differential expression of 84 genes implicated in chondrogenic and osteogenic
      differentiation of MSCs was analyzed at D28 by real-time RT-PCR array technology.
      TGF-beta1 alone down-regulated two genes, CD36 and cathepsin K. Sixteen genes
      were significantly up-regulated, notably type 2 and type 10 collagens, COMP and
      Sox9. The sequential combination of TGF-beta1 and BMP-2 produced a similar
      profile with prominent expression of type 2 collagen and the alkaline phosphatase
      gene. Interestingly, in this in vitro condition, RUNX2 was not up-regulated,
      suggesting that the sequential combination of TGF-beta1/BMP2 enhances the
      hypertrophic chondrogenic profile without turning towards the osteoblastic
      pathway.

PMID- 20930326
TI  - Innovative TCSPC-SHG microscopy imaging to monitor matrix collagen neo
      synthetized in bioscaffolds.
AB  - We propose an innovative invasiveless technique in the field of nonlinear optical
      imaging to facilitate monitoring of cell/scaffold combinations for tissue repair.
      By using a near infrared (NIR) femtosecond excitation, we were able to introduce
      a new index based on decay time response for fluorescence (F) and Second Harmonic
      Generation (SHG) obtained with Time Correlated Single Photon Counting (TCSPC)
      microscopy to monitor structural information on the state of the matrix collagen.
      Some human Mesenchymal Stem Cells (hMSCs) seeded in 3D scaffolds were tested with
      different culture times (from D7 to D56) to analyze the effect of Tumor Growth
      Factor beta 1 (TGF-beta1) on type-2 collagen expression in the matrix. After 14
      days in the presence of TGF-beta1, our results showed an increase in the
      expression of type-2 collagen synthesized by hMSCs, and a change in collagen
      conformation, as an indication of its ability to be detected as a harmonophore by
      TCSPC-SHG without the need for an exogenous probe.

PMID- 20930327
TI  - New trends in MRI of cartilage: Advances and limitations in small animal studies.
AB  - Due to the actual interest for bioengineering in the osteoarthritis (OA) healing
      context, researchers need accurate qualitative and quantitative methodologies to
      evaluate in vivo the integration and functionality of their cartilage-like
      biomaterials. As in clinical diagnostic strategies, advances in Magnetic
      Resonance Imaging (MRI) seem promising for non-vulnerant assessments of articular
      cartilage bio-architecture and morphology in small animal models. These
      experimental models are commonly used to monitor the physiopathology of OA and to
      evaluate therapeutic responses mediated by chondroprotective drugs or tissue
      engineering. Nowadays, the application of MR protocols to in vivo small animal
      cartilage imaging is achievable with the development of high magnetic fields and
      the adaptation of methodologies to reach the required spatial resolution and
      contrast. The purpose of this article is to summarize these current MRI
      strategies used for in vivo small animal articular cartilage assessments.

PMID- 20930328
TI  - Evaluation of a rat knee mono-arthritis using microPET.
AB  - AIM: Assessing the activity of synovitis, which is characterized by an increase
      in cell metabolism, is important for the prediction of future articular
      destruction in clinical and preclinical studies. To evaluate the correlation
      between 18F-FDG accumulation and arthritis pathology during its establishment, we
      used microPET to evaluted 18F-FDG accumulation in vivo during rat Mycobacterium
      wall-induced knee arthritis. METHODS: 18F-FDG PET images of arthritic rats were
      acquired on days 1, 2, 3 and 7 after arthritis induction. The subjects (n=2/time)
      were subsequently subjected to macro-autoradiography, and 18F-FDG accumulation
      was compared with histological findings. RESULTS: 18F-FDG PET images depicted
      swollen joints, and 18F-FDG accumulation increased with the progression of
      arthritis. Histologically, increased 18F-FDG accumulation correlated with the
      pannus rather than the infiltration of inflammatory cells around the joints.
      CONCLUSION: 18F-FDG accumulation in arthritis reflects proliferating pannus and
      inflammatory activity enhanced by inflammatory cytokines. 18F-FDG microPET should
      be effective for quantifying the inflammatory activity of arthritis and/or its
      therapeutic response.

PMID- 20930329
TI  - Post-translational proteolytic events influence LRP-1 functions.
AB  - The low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein (LRP-1) is a membrane
      receptor displaying both endocytic scavenging and signaling functions. In this
      review, we briefly present post-translational proteolytic processes targeting
      this receptor and speculate on their possible influence on LRP-1 biological
      functions.

PMID- 20930330
TI  - Inorganic phosphate (Pi) modulates the expression of key regulatory proteins of
      the inorganic pyrophosphate (PPi) metabolism in TGF-beta1-stimulated
      chondrocytes.
AB  - The balance between extracellular inorganic phosphate (ePi) and extracellular
      inorganic pyrophosphate (ePPi) is controlled by four membrane proteins: the
      transporters ANK (exporting PPi outside the cells) and PiT-1 (importing ePi into
      the cells), and the enzymes PC-1 (generating ePPi from nucleotides) and Tissue
      Non-specific Alkaline Phosphatase (TNAP, hydrolyzing ePPi into ePi). TGF-beta1
      was shown to stimulate ANK and PC-1 expression in articular chondrocytes, and
      subsequent ePPi level, as well as to increase ePi uptake by inducing PiT-1
      expression in a chondrogenic cell line. Thus, we investigated the ability of ePi
      to modulate the effect of TGF-beta1 on the regulatory proteins of the ePi/ePPi
      balance in chondrocytes. In the pathophysiological range of 0.01-1 mM, ePi was
      inactive by itself but potentiated the stimulatory effects of TGF-beta1 on ANK,
      PC-1 or PiT-1 mRNA (RT-qPCR) and protein (Western blot) levels. PC-1 activity was
      also increased by TGF-beta1 and further potentiated by ePi supplementation. TNAP
      mRNA and activity became undetectable in response to TGF-beta1. These data
      suggest that ePi could increase ePPi level by changing the control of ANK and PC
      1 expression by TGF-beta1, further highlighting an adaptative regulation of the
      Pi/PPi balance to prevent basic calcium phosphate deposition into the joints.

PMID- 20930331
TI  - Polyelectrolyte multilayer films: A sponge for insulin?
AB  - Considering restrictive diabetes treatments, new insulin administration
      strategies constitute a huge medical challenge. This study aimed at developing a
      new support for insulin reservoirs, using polyelectrolyte multilayer films (PEM
      films), and thus studying this hormone release in a progressive manner. At first,
      insulin was loaded in (PDADMAC-PAA)n films, by immerging them for various periods
      of time (2, 14 and 24 h) in a solution containing this protein. Confocal laser
      scanning microscopy (CLSM) revealed that insulin-FITC could diffuse inside the
      film with a bigger concentration in the upper part of the film (after 2 and 14 h
      in contact with the polypeptide solution), and then in the whole film (after 24
      h) from a solution at pH=4.3 (below insulin's isolelectric point). Environmental
      scanning electron microscopy (ESEM) and CLSM showed that the film swells upon
      insulin loading. We finally investigated the insulin release by ATR-FTIR
      spectroscopy. It revealed that a loaded (PDADMAC-PAA)15 film, immerged in
      distilled water, showed no measurable insulin release. In contrast, a slow
      unloading was observed in the presence of a NaCl 0.15 M solution (salinity close
      to physiological serum). This study could open the route for a new way of insulin
      delivery.

PMID- 20930332
TI  - Are FoxO transcription factors implicated in osteoarthritis? Influence of
      Diacerhein.
AB  - The FoxO family of Forkhead transcription factors functions at the interface of
      tumor suppression, energy metabolism and organismal longevity. FoxO factors are
      key downstream targets of insulin, growth factor, nutrient and oxidative stress
      stimuli that coordinate a wide-range of cellular outputs. These transcription
      factors could participate in the regulation of different phenomena found in the
      osteoarthritis pathology, like apoptosis, chondrocyte proliferation, cell
      dedifferentiation or resistance to oxidative stress. Moreover, we found recently
      that FoxO transcription factors could be involved on Diacerhein mode of action, a
      drug that reduces the IL-1beta deleterious effects on osteoarthritis cartilage
      through inhibition of the expression of degrading enzymes. It could explain the
      downregulated proliferation and the increased p27 expression observed on human
      osteoarthritic chondrocytes in the presence of Diacerhein.

PMID- 20930333
TI  - Evaluation of intra-articular delivery of hyaluronic acid functionalized
      biopolymeric nanoparticles in healthy rat knees.
AB  - The aim of this study is to evaluate the toxicity of nanoparticles of poly(D,L
      lactic acid) (PLA) or poly(D,L-lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) covered by
      chemically esterified amphiphilic hyaluronate (HA) which will be used for intra
      articular injection as a drug carrier for the treatment of arthritis (RA) and/or
      osteoarthritis (OA). PLA and PLGA are FDA approved polymers that are already used
      for the preparation of nano or microparticles. HA is a natural polysaccharide
      already present in the articulations known to interact with the CD44 receptors of
      the cells (especially chondrocytes). Therefore, we can envisage that the HA
      covering can improve the interactions between the cells and the nanoparticles,
      leading to better targeting or biodistribution. The knee of healthy male rats was
      injected one to two times weekly, with various concentrations of nanoparticles
      encapsulating Dextran-FITC. The synovial membranes and the patellae were
      collected aseptically and histologically analyzed to assess the effects and
      localization of the nanocapsules in the knee joint. We did not observe
      significant modifications in the synovial membranes (weak hyperplasia) or
      patellae integrity after local administration of nanodevices into the rats. While
      we found some nanoparticles in the synovial membrane, none were detected in the
      patellae. Moreover, the histological observations for patellae were confirmed by
      radiosulfate intake, which depicted no decrease in proteoglycans biosynthesis in
      nanoparticles treated animals. Concerning the safety towards synovial membranes,
      we also had a look at the inflammatory response after injections of nanoparticles
      covered by amphiphilic HA or polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) by monitoring the mRNA
      expression levels of some specific early cytokines (IL-1beta and TNF-alpha). Once
      again, no differences were observed between the control rats and the rats treated
      with nanoparticles. Considering these preliminary results obtained in healthy
      rats, we can establish that neither the amphiphilic HA-covered PLGA nanoparticles
      nor their degradation products induce major modifications of articular tissues
      functions, while injected into the knee of healthy rats. These results should be
      confirmed in OA or RA rat models, in order to confirm that nanoparticles do not
      worsen already altered (degenerative or inflamed) articular tissues. Once
      confirmed, such tuneable nanoparticles could be proposed as a safe drug delivery
      system for the treatment of articular disease, allowing a wide range of
      encapsulating molecules.

PMID- 20930334
TI  - Ethical guidelines deciding the authorship.

PMID- 20930335
TI  - Trends in the epidemiology of oral squamous cell carcinoma in Western UP: an
      institutional study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the study was to identify trends in incidence rates of
      oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) at specific anatomic sites or within specific
      age or sex groups in the Western Uttar Pradesh population. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      The study covers the period from January 2004 through April 2009. OSCC cases were
      retrospectively analysed for site, age, gender and habits and the findings were
      formulated to chart the trends in Western U.P. RESULTS: The study revealed a male
      to female ratio of 2.2:1 with the largest number of OSCCs developing in the
      fourth and fifth decades of life. Overall, the most common site was the buccal
      mucosa (63.75%), followed by retromolar area (15%), floor of the mouth (11.25%),
      lateral border of the tongue (3.75%), labial mucosa (3.75%), and palate (2.5%).
      Smokeless tobacco habit was more prevalent than smoking tobacco in both men as
      well as women. Karl - Pearson's correlation coefficient was calculated to find
      the degree of association between the two variables i.e. between gender to buccal
      mucosa and gender to smokeless and smoking tobacco habits, which were found to be
      positively correlated with respect to the age. CONCLUSION: Oral cancer is an
      important cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide with an incidence rate that
      varies widely by geographic location. Even within one geographic location, the
      incidence varies among groups categorized by age, sex, site or habit.

PMID- 20930336
TI  - Matrix metalloproteinase-1 expression in oral submucous fibrosis: an
      immunohistochemical study.
AB  - CONTEXT: Oral submucous fibrosis (OSF) is a form of pathological fibrosis
      affecting the oral mucosa. There is compelling evidence to implicate the habitual
      chewing of areca nut with the development of OSF. Because collagens are the major
      structural components of connective tissues, including oral submucosa, the
      composition of collagen within each tissue needs to be precisely regulated to
      maintain tissue integrity. Arecoline stimulates fibroblasts to increase the
      production of collagen by 150%. AIM: As the role of collagenase is implicated in
      cleaving the collagen under physical conditions, this study was carried out to
      evaluate the role of collagenase-1 (matrix metalloproteinase [MMP]-1) in a
      pathologic condition like OSF. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: A total of 40 patients were
      included in the study, comprising of 30 OSF as Group 1 and 10 normal buccal
      mucosa tissue as Group 2. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Both the groups were stained for
      MMP-1 by the immunohistochemical method using the streptavidin HRP-biotin
      labeling technique. MMP-1 expression intensity in the epithelium and connective
      tissue was decreased in Group 1 when compared to Group 2. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS
      USED: Chi-square test of association was used to determine the difference in the
      expression of MMP-1 between OSF and normal buccal mucosa and among different
      histological gradings of OSF. RESULTS: The results were statistically
      significant. However, there was no statistically significant difference between
      the expression of MMP-1 among different histological grades of OSF in Group 1.

PMID- 20930337
TI  - Evaluation of the C-reactive protein serum levels in periodontitis patients with
      or without atherosclerosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Several studies suggested an association between periodontal disease
      and cardiovascular disease (CVD). C- reactive protein is elevated in
      periodontitis patients and has been found to be a predictor of increased risk for
      cardiovascular disease. Since, CRP is known to play a role in pathogenesis of
      atherosclerosis, the present study was undertaken to evaluate the serum levels of
      CRP in periodontitis patients with or without atherosclerosis. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: A total of 45 patients, 15 chronic periodontitis patients with
      atherosclerosis (Group A), 15 chronic periodontitis patients with no history of
      any systemic disease (Group B), and 15 clinically healthy individuals with no
      history of periodontal or systemic disease (Group C) within age range of 30 to 55
      years were selected for the study. PI, PBI, PPD, CAL and radiographic marginal
      alveolar bone level were assessed in all the three groups. CRP levels were
      assessed with 'Turbi-latex' kit using turbidimetric analysis. RESULTS: The mean
      CAL recorded was 4.9mm in group A, 4.6mm in group B and 1.9 mm in group C. The
      mean radiographic marginal bone level was 45 to 50% in group A, 45 to 50% in
      group B and 90 to 95% in group C. Mean serum C-reactive protein level was
      significantly higher in group A (8.9 mg/l), as compared to group B (4.9 mg/l) as
      well as group C (0.9 mg/l). CONCLUSION: Within the limits of this study it was
      concluded that periodontitis may add to the inflammatory burden of the individual
      and may result in increased risk of atherosclerosis based on serum C-reactive
      protein concentrations.

PMID- 20930338
TI  - Effect of carbonated drink on excisional palatal wound healing: a study on Wistar
      rats.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Millions of people worldwide consume carbonated drinks every day. The
      effects of these drinks on hard tissues in the mouth have been proved beyond
      doubt. Only a little has been done so far to assess the effects of carbonated
      drinks on oral soft tissues. This study was an attempt to assess the effect of
      carbonated drinks on oral wound healing. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty female
      Wistar rats were considered for the study. A circular wound was created on the
      palate and the animals were divided into two groups (experimental and control
      group). The experimental group animals were fed with a commercially available
      carbonated drink instead of water, and two animals from each group were
      euthanized at 3, 7, 14 and 21 days. Wound site was assessed morphometrically and
      histologically. RESULTS: There was a marked difference in the healing pattern
      between the experimental group and control group animals. Control group animals
      showed a normal healing pattern with formation of a fibrous connective tissue at
      the end of 21 days. In the experimental group, healing was delayed and disrupted.
      The wound site showed a definite palatal perforation in experimental group
      animals after 14 days, but osteoclasts were not noticed in the histological
      sections. CONCLUSION: Consumption of carbonated drinks can disrupt oral wound
      healing. Results suggest that the bone changes seen in experimental group samples
      are not mediated by osteoclasts, and acidity of the carbonated drinks could be
      one of the reasons for these changes.

PMID- 20930339
TI  - Antifungal efficacy of Punica granatum, Acacia nilotica, Cuminum cyminum and
      Foeniculum vulgare on Candida albicans: an in vitro study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The establishment and maintenance of oral microbiota is related not
      only to interbacterial coaggregations but also to interactions of these bacteria
      with yeasts. Hence, it is important for agents used in the treatment of oral
      diseases to have antifungal properties for effective therapy. OBJECTIVE: The main
      purpose of this study was to evaluate the in vitro antifungal efficacy of Punica
      granatum, Acacia nilotica, Cuminum cyminum and Foeniculum vulgare on Candida
      albicans. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The pomegranate peel is separated, dried and
      powdered. Fennel, cumin and acacia bark obtained from the tree are powdered.
      Candida is inoculated at 37C and seeded on Sabourauds agar medium. Sterilized
      filter papers saturated with 30 MUl of the extracts are placed on the seeded
      plates and inoculated at 24 and 48 h. Zones of inhibition on all four sides are
      measured around the filter paper with a vernier caliper. The experiments were
      repeated on four plates, with four samples of each extract on one plate for all
      of the extracts. RESULTS: All the above-mentioned ingredients showed antifungal
      property, with Punica granatum showing the highest inhibition of Candida albicans
      with a mean zone of inhibition of 22 mm. P-values <0.05 were obtained for Punica
      granatum when compared with the other extracts. CONCLUSION: The results showed
      the potential use of these products as cheap and convenient adjuvants to
      pharmaceutical antifungal products.

PMID- 20930340
TI  - Mucocele--a study of 36 cases.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mucocele is one of the most common benign soft tissue tumor present
      in the oral cavity. They are of two types - one is extravasation and second one
      is retention type but the majority are extravasation type. AIMS: The objective is
      to determine various factors related to mucocele such as role of trauma due to
      nearby teeth, recurrence, duration, and to find out whether there is any role of
      psychological stress which initiates trauma like lip or cheek biting. MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: 36 cases of mucocele diagnosed at the Department of the Oral
      Pathology, Govt. Dental College and Hospital, Ahmedabad, between 2004 and 2008
      were reviewed. The clinical data were recorded and histopathologic diagnosis was
      made. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Data analysis tool, Microsoft Office Excel 2007.
      RESULTS: A diagnosis of mucocele was established in 36 cases with male-to-female
      ratio of 1.77:1. Most common type was extravasation in 30 (83.33%) cases. The
      peak age of occurrence was between 1st and 3rd decade. Lateral side of the lower
      labial mucosa was the most affected site in 34 (94.44%) cases. The history of
      trauma appeared the major etiological factor seen in 28 (77.77%) cases.
      CONCLUSION: We conclude that there was male predominance and they were more
      affected in 2nd and 3rd decade. The lateral side of lower labial mucosa was the
      commonest site and the trauma due to teeth or lip biting was the major
      etiological factor for the occurrence of the mucocele. The article highlights
      role of psychological stress in occurrence of mucocele. The reader should
      understand the importance of histopathology examination and should try to control
      the psychological stress in such mucocele patients.

PMID- 20930341
TI  - The use of ozonated water and 0.2% chlorhexidine in the treatment of
      periodontitis patients: a clinical and microbiologic study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The development of periodontal disease has been thought to be
      associated with several restricted members of the oral anaerobic species, such as
      black-pigmented Porphyromonas species and Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans
      (Aa), in the subgingival environment. Apart from bacteria, certain viruses and
      fungi that are associated with periodontal disease are also present in the
      subgingival plaque . MATERIALS AND METHODS: A randomized, double-blind, crossover
      split-mouth design was performed. A total of 16 patients suffering from
      generalized chronic periodontitis were selected for the study. The study period
      of 18 days was divided into two time-intervals, i.e. baseline (0 days) to 7 th
      day, with a washout period of 4 days followed by a second time interval of 7
      days. The use of ozone and chlorhexidine gluconate (CHX) irrigation was
      randomized. Both the patient and the clinician evaluating the clinical parameters
      were blinded regarding the type of irrigation used. RESULTS: The interpretation
      of clinical and microbial data is from baseline to 7 th day. A higher percentage
      of plaque index (12%), gingival index (29%) and bleeding index (26%) reduction
      was observed using ozone irrigation as compared to chlorhexidine. The percentile
      reduction of Aa (25%) using ozone was appreciable as compared to no change in Aa
      occurrence using chlorhexidine. By using O 3 and chlorhexidine, there was no
      antibacterial effect on Porphyromonas gingivalis (Pg) and Tannerella
      forsythensis. The antifungal effect of ozone from baseline (37%) to 7 th day
      (12.5%) was pronounced during the study period, unlike CHX, which did not
      demonstrate any antifungal effect. CONCLUSION: Ozone may be considered as an
      alternative management strategy due to its powerful ability to inactivate
      microorganisms. Also, there is growing evidence that ozone can be employed as a
      useful therapeutic agent in both dentistry and medicine.

PMID- 20930342
TI  - Titanium implants: a removal torque study in osteopenic rabbits.
AB  - CONTEXT: Osteoporosis is a skeletal disorder characterized by low bone mass and
      microarchitectural deterioration of bone tissue. It may affect the
      craniomaxillofacial complex and result in less bone-implant contact. AIMS: The
      objective of this study was to measure the endosseous integration of titanium
      implants using the removal torque test in low-mineral density experimental animal
      models. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty female New Zealand white rabbits were
      divided into two groups: control (n=14), sham-operated; and test (n=16),
      ovariectomized. All animals received 2.2 mm Chi 4.0 mm titanium implants in the
      right tibia, 120 days after ovariectomy or sham surgery. Animals were killed at 7
      and 14 weeks of postimplant insertion, when implants were removed by reverse
      torque rotation using a digital torque meter. Statistical analysis used was
      Student's t-test. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: At the 7-week period, the mean torque
      values for the control and test groups were 11.6 Ncm and 10.4 Ncm, respectively,
      with no statistical significance. Implant removal torque analysis showed
      statistically lower values (P < 0.05) for the test group at the 14-week period
      (control=16.7 Ncm and test=9.7 Ncm). The results of this study indicate that
      hormonal privacy compromise implants biomechanical performance.

PMID- 20930343
TI  - A microbiological evaluation of the use of denture cleansers in combination with
      an oral rinse in complete denture patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIM: Patients with complete dentures more occasionally neglect
      their denture and oral health by improper maintenance of dentures, resulting in
      bad oral and denture hygiene. This may lead to a host of multiple local and
      systemic problems such as stomatitis, bacterial and fungal infections, reservoirs
      for distant infections, denture stains and bad breath. Most denture wearers
      maintain their dentures with simple manual cleansing methods, which are not
      adequate to effectively sanitize the reservoir of microorganisms inhabiting the
      denture surfaces. The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of the use of
      a denture cleanser and compare it with an adjunct use of chlorhexidine mouth
      rinse along with the denture cleanser and possibly suggest it as a suitable
      protocol. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two groups of complete denture patients were
      selected for the study. The total number of patients in each group was 12 and the
      total period of the study was 21 days. Three sets of microbiological samples were
      collected from each patient: before the start of the study, on day 8 and on day
      21 of the study. The first sample was collected after an initial washover period
      (7 days) with plain water before the start of the study and the second set after
      1 week of study initiation, where group-1 followed protocol-I (denture cleanser
      only) and group-2 followed protocol-II (denture cleanser and mouth rinse). A
      second washout period of 7 days followed and a crossover of the protocol was
      performed for the groups and followed for 1 week. Then, a third set of samples
      were collected. The colony-forming units were calculated for each patient for
      each sample and statistically analyzed. Friedman test for non-parametric analysis
      was employed for the comparison within the groups and a Mann-Whitney test was
      used for the statistical comparison between the groups. RESULTS: There was a
      definite reduction in the bacterial numbers and a significant statistical
      difference after administering the protocols in both the groups (P < 0.001).
      However, there was little significance on comparing the samples between the
      groups (P=0.026) in the initial study period, and there was no statistical
      significance when comparing the groups after the crossover (P=0.140). CONCLUSION:
      The use of denture cleansers definitely reduced the microbial numbers as compared
      to plain manual cleansing methods in complete dentures. Although there was a
      substantial decrease in the bacterial colonies after the use of the mouthwash, it
      was not statistically significant.

PMID- 20930344
TI  - Evaluation of the antimicrobial activity of various concentrations of Tulsi
      (Ocimum sanctum) extract against Streptococcus mutans: an in vitro study.
AB  - AIM: To determine if Tulsi (Ocimum sanctum) extract has an antimicrobial activity
      against Streptococcus mutans and to determine which concentration of Tulsi
      (Ocimum sanctum) extract among the 15 concentrations investigated has the maximum
      antimicrobial activity. SETTING AND DESIGN: Experimental design, in vitro study,
      Lab setting. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ethanolic extract of Tulsi was prepared by
      the cold extraction method. The extract was then diluted with an inert solvent,
      dimethyl formamide, to obtain 15 different concentrations (0.5%, 1%, 1.5%, 2%,
      2.5%, 3%, 3.5%, 4%, 4.5%, 5%, 6%, 7% 8%, 9%, 10%) of the extract. 0.2%
      chlorhexidine was used as a positive control and dimethyl formamide was used as a
      negative control. The extract, along with the controls, was then subjected to
      microbiological investigation to determine which concentration among the 15
      different concentrations of the extract gave a wider inhibition zone against
      Streptococcus mutans. The zones of inhibition were measured in millimeters using
      a vernier caliper. RESULTS: At the 4% concentration of Tulsi extract, a zone of
      inhibition of 22 mm was obtained. This was the widest zone of inhibition observed
      among all the 15 different concentrations of Tulsi that were investigated.
      CONCLUSION: Tulsi extract demonstrated an antimicrobial property against
      Streptococcus mutans.

PMID- 20930345
TI  - Folic acid in cleft lip, alveolus and palate prevention: awareness among dental
      professionals.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine the awareness amongst dental students, practitioners and
      maxillofacial surgeons the role of folic acid in the prevention of CLAP and its
      clinical use. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Questionnaire based study involving a sample
      base of 1100, comprising of dental students, practitioners and specialist
      maxillofacial surgeons. RESULTS: hundred percent of the sample population were
      aware of CLAP disorders, of which 9.5 % believed that CLAP could be prevented.
      3.8 % of the population were able to correlate folic acid to CLAP while a
      negligible 0.03 % could provide the dosage. CONCLUSION: Educating healthcare
      providers and, in turn, the prospective parents on benefits folic acid would not
      only help in reducing the incidence of CLAP but also significantly influence the
      economics of the patients afflicted with CLAP disorders.

PMID- 20930346
TI  - ABO blood groups and Rhesus factor: an exploring link to periodontal diseases.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The presence or absence of blood group antigens has been associated
      with various diseases, with antigens also acting as receptors for infectious
      agents. Scanty literature is available in assessing the relative liability of
      blood group phenotypes to periodontal diseases. This research was conducted to
      determine the association of the ABO blood group and Rhesus (Rh) factor to
      periodontal diseases to assess whether they could be the predictors of
      periodontal diseases. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 1,220 subjects aged
      between 20 and 55 years were selected on a random basis. The study populations
      were segregated into three groups according to Ramfjord's periodontal disease
      index: Healthy, Gingivitis and Periodontitis. Blood samples were collected to
      identify the ABO blood groups and the Rh factor by the slide method. RESULTS:
      Blood group A showed a significantly higher percentage in the gingivitis group
      and blood group O showed a higher percentage in the periodontitis group. The
      blood group AB showed the least percentage of periodontal diseases. The
      distribution of Rh factor in all groups showed a significantly higher
      distribution of Rh-positive. CONCLUSION: The genetic factors may alter the oral
      ecology and the process of periodontal disease. These data are suggestive of a
      broad correlation between periodontal diseases and blood groups, which may act as
      risk predictors for periodontal diseases. This will make it possible to better
      understand the risk factors of diseases of the periodontal tissues and to predict
      the effective methods of prevention and treatment of periodontal diseases.

PMID- 20930347
TI  - A radiographic correlation between systemic disorders and pulp stones.
AB  - AIM: The purpose of this study was to determine the correlation between pulp
      stones and cardiovascular disorders, Type II diabetes mellitus, autoimmune
      disorders and dental wear defects. This study also aims to evaluate the frequency
      of pulp stone in population of Dakshina Kannada district (Karnataka, India) and
      to determine association of pulp stones in different sexes, tooth type, dental
      arches and sides. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 1432 teeth of five groups were
      examined, comprising of patients with C.V.S. disorders; Type II diabetes
      mellitus, autoimmune disorders, dental wear defects and control group. Teeth were
      examined under 2Chi magnification on radio visiograph (RVG) and conventional
      intra-oral periapical radiograph. The presence or absence of pulp stones were
      recorded. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Chi-square analysis was used to compare the
      frequency of occurrence of pulp stones between sexes, tooth type, dental arches
      and sides. RESULTS: Pulp stones were found in 134 (9.35%) of 1432 teeth detected.
      Significantly, higher numbers of pulp stones were recorded in patients with
      cardiovascular disorder (15.86%) than other groups. The occurrence of pulp stones
      were significantly higher in molars (18.29%) than premolars (6.6%) and in
      maxillary arch (12.36%) than in mandibular arch (5.95%). No significant
      difference was found between sexes and sides. CONCLUSION: Positive correlation
      was found between systemic disorder and pulp stones. Cardiovascular patients had
      maximum number of pulp stones followed by dental-wear defects and least number of
      pulp stones were evident in control group.

PMID- 20930348
TI  - An evaluation of the mechanical properties of Type III and Type IV gypsum mixed
      with two disinfectant solutions.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: This in-vitro study was conducted to evaluate the
      strength and properties of Type III and Type IV gypsum mixed with disinfectant
      solutions. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Type III and Type IV gypsum were used for the
      study. Three different mixing solutions namely waterqueous solutions of 0.525%
      sodium hypochlorite and 2% glutaraldehyde were used. Gypsum materials were
      subjected to further modification by adding a mixture of 1.0% gum arabic and
      0.132% calcium hydroxide before mixing with the disinfectant solutions, at two
      different liquid/powder (L/P) ratios for each. Both, the unmodified and the
      modified gypsum were tested for compressive and tensile strength after one hour
      and one week from the start of the mix. The crystalline configuration of the
      fracture fragments of the unmodified and modified set gypsum were studied under
      the scanning electron microscope. RESULTS: The disinfectant solutions reduced the
      strength of both Type III and Type IV gypsum. Water showed higher-strength, which
      was followed by 0.525% sodium hypochlorite and 2% glutaraldehyde. The modified
      Type III and Type IV gypsum with reduced L/P ratio also showed strength values
      less than that of the control groups. INTERPRETATION AND CONCLUSION: Chemical
      disinfectants reduced the strength of gypsum when used as water substitutes. Gum
      Arabic and calcium hydroxide additives permitted lower L/P ratio, however, there
      was still excess water retained in the set gypsum that lowered the strength
      values of Type III and Type IV gypsum. Hence, further reduction of L/P ratio may
      increase the properties of the modified Type III and Type IV gypsum.

PMID- 20930349
TI  - Chitosan-based polyherbal toothpaste: as novel oral hygiene product.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The objective of the present work was to develop chitosan-based
      polyherbal toothpaste and evaluate its plaque-reducing potential and efficacy in
      reduction of dental pathogens. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Antimicrobial activity of
      herbal extracts against dental pathogens were performed by using disk diffusion
      method. The pharmaceutical evaluation of toothpaste was carried out as per the US
      Government Tooth Paste Specifications. A 4-week clinical study was conducted in
      patients with oro-dental problems to evaluate the plaque removing efficacy of
      chitosan-based polyherbal toothpaste with commercially available chlorhexidine
      gluconate (0.2% w/v) mouthwash as positive control. Total microbial count was
      carried out to determine the percentage decrease in the oral bacterial count over
      the period of treatment. RESULT: Herbal extracts were found to possess
      satisfactory antimicrobial activity against most of the dental pathogens.
      Chitosan-containing polyherbal toothpaste significantly reduces the plaque index
      by 70.47% and bacterial count by 85.29%, and thus fulfills the majority of
      esthetic and medicinal requirements of oral hygiene products. CONCLUSION:
      Chitosan-based polyherbal toothpaste proves itself as a promising novel oral
      hygiene product as compared with currently available oral hygiene products. A
      further study to confirm the exact mechanism and active constituents behind
      antiplaque and antimicrobial activity of chitosan-based polyherbal toothpaste and
      its efficacy in large number of patient population is on high demand.

PMID- 20930350
TI  - Histopathologic changes in soft tissue associated with radiographically normal
      impacted third molars.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The incidence of impacted or embedded third molars accounts for
      approximately 98%. Since 1948, there are studies reporting pathological changes
      in an asymptomatic dental follicle. Controversy still exists for removal of
      asmptomatic impacted teeth. Hence, this study was performed to histologically
      evaluate soft tissue pathosis in the pericoronal tissues of impacted third molars
      with pericoronal radiolucency measuring up to 2.5 mm on orthopantomographs.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty-one asymptomatic impacted third molars with
      follicular space of up to 2.5 mm on radiographs were included. The disimpacted
      teeth and the follicular tissues were obtained for histological examination.
      RESULTS: Age of the patients ranged from 14 to 25 years. Of 41 tissues evaluated,
      histopathological reports of 18 follicles were suggestive of dentigerous cyst,
      two follicles showed odontogenic keratocyst, one follicle each of calcifying
      epithelial odontogenic cyst, ameloblastoma-like proliferation, odontogenic myxoma
      and odontogenic fibroma. CONCLUSION: This study showed 58.5% of asymptomatic
      cases with definite pathological changes. Hence, thorough clinical and
      radiographic examination should be carried out for all impacted third molars and
      the dental follicular tissue should be submitted for histopathological
      evaluation.

PMID- 20930351
TI  - Influence of the processing technique on the flexural fatigue strength of denture
      base resins: an in vitro investigation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Though acrylic resins possess many desirable properties, denture
      fracture due to flexural fatigue or impact failure is a common problem. One major
      factor influencing the flexural fatigue strength of denture base resins is the
      processing technique used. AIM: To measure the flexural fatigue strength of
      denture base resins polymerized using short and long curing cycles using water
      bath, pressure cooker, and microwave polymerization techniques. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: Flexural fatigue strength of 60 samples (n=10) were measured using a
      cyclic 3-point loading method on a dynamic universal testing machine. Data were
      analyzed using a Student 't' test. RESULTS: Comparative evaluation using
      Student's 't' test of mean flexural fatigue strength of samples processed by
      water bath processing (660.6) and the microwave technique (893.6) showed
      statistically significant (P < 0.01) result with microwave processing being
      higher. Comparison of water bath (660.6) and pressure cooker (740.6) processing
      and microwave (893.6) and pressure cooker (740.6) processing using Student's 't'
      test was not statistically significant (P > 0.05). In the intra-group analysis,
      it was found that there was statistically significant difference in samples
      processed using the short and long curing cycle, the latter being better in all
      groups, P-values being < 0.05, < 0.001, and < 0.001 for water bath, microwave,
      and pressure cooker polymerization techniques, respectively. CONCLUSION: The
      polymerization procedure plays an important role in influencing the flexural
      fatigue strength of denture base resins, and the microwave long curing processing
      technique produced denture bases with highest flexural fatigue strength.

PMID- 20930352
TI  - E-cadherin and CD1a expression in gingival epithelium in periodontal health,
      disease and post-treatment.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Epithelial integrity is important for maintenance of periodontal
      health. It is not fully known if non-surgical periodontal therapy is capable of
      recreating the epithelial barrier in its functional state. PATIENTS AND METHODS:
      Sixty-five patients (31 males and 34 females) were included in the study. They
      were divided into group A (healthy gingiva 16 patients), group B (gingivitis 17
      patients), group C (periodontitis 17 patients), and group D (post-treatment 15
      patients). Gingival samples were collected and immunohistochemical study was done
      using E-cadherin and CD1a antibody. Statistical analysis was done using analysis
      of variance (ANOVA), followed by Tukey-Kramer multiple comparison test for CD1a
      and Tukey's highly significant difference (HSD) test for E-cadherin. RESULT:
      There was a statistically significant difference (P < 0.001) in the expression of
      E-cadherin between healthy (1.846+/-0.555), gingivitis (1.100+/-0.994), and
      periodontitis group (0.700+/-0.483). Similarly, there was a statistically
      significant difference (P < 0.001) in the expression of CD1a between healthy
      (75.70+/-3.09), gingivitis (42.53+/-3.09), and periodontitis group (29.07+/
      3.08). However, the expression of E-cadherin (1.242+/-0.653) and CD1a in post
      treatment samples (52.18+/-2.90) was lower with no statistically significant
      difference when compared to health. DISCUSSION: The significant reduction in E
      cadherin and CD1a levels in periodontal disease when compared to health could
      possibly be a result of invasion by the periodontopathogens and its subsequent
      sequel. Although, the post-treatment samples showed significant improvement when
      compared to disease, the reduction in E-cadherin and CD1a levels when compared to
      gingival health suggests that the epithelial barrier was not yet fully
      established in its functional state.

PMID- 20930353
TI  - Masseter muscle thickness in different skeletal morphology: an ultrasonographic
      study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The thickness of the masseter muscle during relaxation and
      contraction states was measured by ultrasonography. Subjects were classified
      according to their sagittal skeletal relationships. The association between
      muscle thickness and facial morphology was studied. CONTEXT: Masseter muscle
      thickness influences the skeletal patterns. AIM: To measure and compare the
      thickness of the masseter muscle in individuals with skeletal class I occlusion
      and skeletal class II malocclusions and to correlate its relationship with
      craniofacial morphology. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: The study was conducted in a
      hospital setup and was designed to study the thickness of the masseter muscle in
      different skeletal morphologies. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Seventy two individuals
      between the ages of 18 and 25 years were divided into Group I, Group IIA and
      Group IIB according to their skeletal relationships. Masseter muscle thickness
      was measured by ultrasonography. Eight linear and six angular cephalometric
      measurements were assessed. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Analysis of variance and
      Pearson's correlation analysis. RESULTS: There was a statistically significant
      difference in muscle thickness between subjects of different skeletal patterns.
      Significant positive correlation between masseter muscle thickness and posterior
      total face height, jarabak ratio, ramus height, mandibular length and significant
      negative correlations with mandibular plane angle, gonial angle and PP-MP angle
      were observed. CONCLUSION: This study indicates the strong association between
      the masseter muscle and skeletal morphology.

PMID- 20930354
TI  - Efficacy and acceptability of 0.074% diclofenac-containing mouthwash after
      periodontal surgery: a clinical study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The systemic use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are
      associated with various side-effects like hepatotoxicity, blood dyscrasias,
      nephrotoxicity and gastric irritability. Among these, gastric irritability is the
      most common and the most important one, which should be taken care of. Therefore,
      it may be preferable to use a local formulation such as a mouthwash to treat the
      inflammatory conditions of the oral cavity. AIM: To determine the efficacy and
      acceptability of 0.074% diclofenac mouthwash in relieving pain and inflammation
      of post-periodontal surgery patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was
      designed as a double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial. Twenty chronic
      periodontitis patients who were scheduled for full-mouth periodontal flap surgery
      were randomized to receive either diclofenac mouthwash or placebo to rinse with
      15 ml of solution daily for a period of 7 days. Modified gingival index (Lobene
      1986) was used to verify gingival inflammation and visual analog scale was used
      to assess pain. After the baseline measurements for all the parameters were
      recorded, spontaneous pain and burning were evaluated daily while redness and
      edema were recorded on the 3 rd and 7 th day from the day of treatment. RESULTS:
      Data obtained were analyzed statistically using paired " t" test for intragroup
      comparison and unpaired " t"-test for intergroup comparison. Spontaneous pain was
      significantly reduced by diclofenac mouthwash. Other parameters, i.e. gingival
      inflammation and swelling, had not shown significant reduction in scores in
      either group, although the reduction was higher in the test group. CONCLUSION:
      The new 0.074% diclofenac mouthwash is an effective and tolerable medicinal
      product for post-surgical symptomatic relief.

PMID- 20930355
TI  - Transforming growth factor-beta-1 polymorphisms are infrequent but exist at
      selected loci in oral submucous fibrosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Oral submucous fibrosis (OSF) may be considered a collagen metabolic
      disorder resulting from areca-nut alkaloid exposure and individual variation in
      collagen metabolism. Due to the complexity of OSF pathogenesis, it is important
      to elucidate independent and interactive effects of polymorphisms of collagen
      related genes on OSF risk. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study is focused on seven
      polymorphisms (SNPs) of transforming growth factor-beta-1 (TGF-beta-1) gene in
      patients with oral submucous fibrosis (OSF), belonging to south Indian ethnic
      extraction. The mean age at presentation was 43.9 years, range 23-72 years (n=50,
      M:F ratio, 2.6:1). DNA samples from 50 subjects of the same ethnic group and
      comparable demographic features who have had practiced the habit of areca-chewing
      of almost equal duration, but remained free of disease constituted the controls.
      All DNA samples were collected progressively and purified from peripheral blood
      employing standard protocols and tested for SNPs. They included two polymorphisms
      in the promoter region (C-509T and G-800A), three polymorphisms in exon-1
      (Arg25Pro(G915C), Leu10Pro(T869C), Glu47Gly(A979G) and two in 5 cUTR regions (C
      >T(rs13306708) and G->A (rs9282871). The extracted DNA samples along with the
      primers underwent PCR amplification and the genotypic and allelic frequencies
      were calculated. All calculations were performed using the SPSS software. The PCR
      products were purified and subsequently sequenced using Flour STM multi-imager
      system (Biorad). The sequenced data were analyzed using the BioEdit sequence
      analysis software. RESULTS: Out of the seven polymorphisms analyzed, six such as
      two in the promoter region, three in exon-1 and one in 5cUTR were found to have a
      " P" value above 0.05 and hence were not significant. The C->T transition
      (rs13306708) in the 5cUTR region recorded a " P" value of 0.03 on comparison and
      hence was found to be significant. The allelic frequencies for this C->T
      transition in patients were 68.7% C and 31.2% T (27CC, 15CT, 8TT) and that in
      controls were 89.5% C and 10.4% T (42CC, 6CT, 2TT). CONCLUSIONS: The polymorphism
      in 5cUTR C-T in TGF beta 1 gene has a significant association with OSF, being a
      prime determinant in the pro-angiogenic pathway which has got direct bearing with
      the pathophysiology of the disease. The proximity of this polymorphism to the
      transcription site and the associated risk involved is discussed.

PMID- 20930356
TI  - Histological and radiographic evaluation of the muscle tissue of rats after
      implantation of bone morphogenic protein (rhBMP-2) in a scaffold of inorganic
      bone and after stimulation with low-power laser light.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The present study histologically and radiologically evaluates the
      muscle tissue of rats after implantation of bone morphogenic protein (rhBMP-2) in
      a natural inorganic bone mineral scaffold from a bull calf femur and irradiation
      with low-power light laser. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The right and left hind limbs
      of 16 rats were shaved and an incision was made in the muscle on the face
      corresponding to the median portion of the tibia, into which rhBMP-2 in a
      scaffold of inorganic bone was implanted. Two groups of limbs were formed:
      control (G1) and laser irradiation (G2). G2 received diode laser light applied in
      the direction of the implant, at a dose of 8 J/cm2 for three minutes. On the 7th,
      21st, 40th and 112th days after implantation, hind limbs of 4 animals were
      radiographed and their implants removed together with the surrounding tissue for
      study under the microscope. The histological results were graded as 0=absence,
      1=slight presence, 2=representative and 3=very representative, with regard to the
      following events: formation of osteoid structure, acute inflammation, chronic
      inflammation, fibrin deposition, neovascularization, foreign-body granuloma and
      fibrosis. RESULTS: There were no statistically significant differences in these
      events at each evaluation times, between the two groups (P > 0.05; Mann-Whitney
      test). Nevertheless, it could be concluded that the natural inorganic bone matrix
      with rhBMP-2, from the femur of a bull calf, is a biocompatible combination.
      CONCLUSIONS: Under these conditions, the inductive capacity of rhBMP-2 for cell
      differentiation was inhibited. There was a slight acceleration in tissue healing
      in the group that received irradiation with low-power laser light.

PMID- 20930357
TI  - Infinite to finite: an overview of finite element analysis.
AB  - The method of finite elements was developed at perfectly right times; growing
      computer capacities, growing human skills and industry demands for ever faster
      and cost effective product development providing unlimited possibilities for the
      researching community. This paper reviews the basic concept, current status,
      advances, advantages, limitations and applications of finite element method (FEM)
      in restorative dentistry and endodontics. Finite element method is able to reveal
      the otherwise inaccessible stress distribution within the tooth-restoration
      complex and it has proven to be a useful tool in the thinking process for the
      understanding of tooth biomechanics and the biomimetic approach in restorative
      dentistry. Further improvement of the non-linear FEM solutions should be
      encouraged to widen the range of applications in dental and oral health science.

PMID- 20930358
TI  - Status of surface treatment in endosseous implant: a literary overview.
AB  - The attachment of cells to titanium surfaces is an important phenomenon in the
      area of clinical implant dentistry. A major consideration in designing implants
      has been to produce surfaces that promote desirable responses in the cells and
      tissues. To achieve these requirements, the titanium implant surface can be
      modified in various ways. This review mainly focuses on the surface topography of
      dental implants currently in use, emphasizing the association of reported
      variables with biological outcome.

PMID- 20930359
TI  - Cowden syndrome.
AB  - Cowden syndrome or multiple hamartoma syndrome is an autosomal dominant condition
      with variable expressions that result mainly from mutation in the PTEN gene on
      arm 10q. It is characterized by multiple hamartomatous neoplasms of the skin,
      oral mucosa, gastrointestinal tract, bones, CNS, eyes, and genitourinary tract.
      Mucocutaneous features include trichilemmomas, oral mucosal papillomatosis, acral
      keratosis, and palmoplantar keratosis. Here we present a case of Cowden syndrome
      in a 14-year-old female patient with the chief complaint of multiple oral
      papillomatous lesions.

PMID- 20930360
TI  - Spiral CT diagnosis and endodontic management of an anatomically variant palatal
      root with two canals in a maxillary first molar.
AB  - This case report presents the endodontic management of an anatomically variant
      palatal root with 2 canals (Vertucci type II) in a maxillary first molar, which
      was confirmed with the help of spiral computed tomography (SCT). This serves to
      remind clinicians that such anatomic variations should be taken into account
      during the endodontic treatment of maxillary molars and highlights the invaluable
      aid of the SCT in accurate diagnosis and in negotiating the complex morphologic
      variations in root canals, thus enabling successful endodontic management.

PMID- 20930361
TI  - Toothbrush injury in an adult.
AB  - Tooth brushing is an oral hygiene measure. Keeping the toothbrush in the mouth
      and doing other works with both arms may lead to injury of the oral tissues. We
      hereby report a case of severe injury to the oral mucosal tissues caused by the
      toothbrush, which was treated surgically.

PMID- 20930362
TI  - Metastatic lung malignancy to mandibular gingiva.
AB  - Metastatic tumors of oral cavity are uncommon and may occur in oral soft tissues
      or jaw bones. Because of their rarity, metastasis to oral cavity are challenging
      to diagnose and difficult to treat. They often have vague symptoms that mimic
      dental infections. These lesions generally show poorly differentiated
      histopathologic picture and have poor prognosis. We reported a case of a 40-year
      old male patient of metastatic lesion to the oral cavity and brain with primary
      tumor, diagnosed as an undifferentiated epithelial malignancy of lung.

PMID- 20930363
TI  - Modified measuring compass as an intraoral paralleling device.
AB  - This article describes a simple technique of useful modification of measuring
      compass, procured from a school compass box, to make an intraoral paralleling
      device. This device is useful in examining parallelism of tooth or implant
      abutment preparations for a common path of placement in fixed dental prostheses.
      It can be used to examine the parallelism of guiding planes in removable partial
      denture patients as well.

PMID- 20930364
TI  - Restoration of the maxillary anterior tooth using immediate implantation with
      simultaneous ridge augmentation.
AB  - Atrophy is most severe during the first month of post-extraction in the anterior
      maxilla with the degree of horizontal bone resorption being nearly twice as high
      as that of vertical bone resorption. The loss of the buccal alveolar plate
      following tooth extraction may lead to palatal implant positioning of the
      implants. Thus, immediate or early implant placement in the extraction socket has
      been suggested, because it would reduce the time period and the number of
      surgical intervention and yield higher patient satisfaction compared with delayed
      placed implants. However, placement of an implant immediately after tooth
      extraction may result in a gap between the occlusal portion of the implant and
      the surrounding alveolar bone crest. In this case report, an implant-supported
      restoration which is in harmony with the surrounding hard and soft tissue was
      created by the immediate implant placement with ridge augmentation in anterior
      region with high satisfaction from the patient.

PMID- 20930365
TI  - Schwannoma of the tongue: an unusual presentation in a child.
AB  - Schwannomas are benign tumors of nerve sheath and quite uncommon in the oral
      cavity. In contrast to the earlier reports in the literature, a confounding case
      of a lingual schwannoma presenting as a symptomatic and exophytic growth on the
      ventral surface of the tongue in a 12-year-old boy is discussed here.

PMID- 20930366
TI  - Gingival plasma cell granuloma.
AB  - Plasma cell granuloma is a rare reactive lesion composed of polyclonal plasma
      cells. It manifests primarily in the lungs, but may occur in various other
      anatomic locations like the oral cavity. Intraoral plasma cell granulomas
      involving the tongue, lip, oral mucosa and gingiva have been reported in the
      past. This case presents a 54-year-old female with chronic periodontitis and
      mandibular anterior gingival overgrowth treated by Phase I therapy (scaling and
      root planing) and excisional biopsy. Histological examination revealed
      inflammatory cell infiltrate containing sheets of plasma cells.
      Immunohistochemistry for kappa and lambda light chains showed a polyclonal
      staining pattern confirming a diagnosis of plasma cell granuloma. This case
      highlights the need to biopsy for unusual lesions to rule out potential
      neoplasms.

PMID- 20930367
TI  - Why tooth carving?

PMID- 20930368
TI  - Invited comment: " letter to the editor on tooth morphology".

PMID- 20930369
TI  - Computational study of the three-dimensional structure of N-acetyltransferase 2
      acetyl coenzyme a complex.
AB  - N-Acetyltransferase 2 (NAT2) is one of the most important polymorphic drug
      metabolizing enzymes and plays a significant role in individual differences of
      drug efficacies and/or side effects. Coenzyme A (CoA) is a cofactor in the
      experimentally determined crystal structure of NAT2, although the acetyl source
      of acetylation reactions catalyzed by NAT is not CoA, but rather acetyl CoA. In
      this study, the three-dimensional structure of NAT2, including acetyl CoA, was
      calculated using molecular dynamics simulation. By substituting acetyl CoA for
      CoA the amino acid residue Gly286, which is known to transform into a glutamate
      residue by NAT2*7A and NAT2*7B, comes close to the cofactor binding site. In
      addition, the binding pocket around the sulfur atom of acetyl CoA expanded in the
      NAT2-acetyl CoA complex.

PMID- 20930370
TI  - Berberine-induced apoptosis in human glioblastoma T98G cells is mediated by
      endoplasmic reticulum stress accompanying reactive oxygen species and
      mitochondrial dysfunction.
AB  - Berberine has a wide range of biochemical and pharmacologic effects, including
      antitumor activity, but the mechanisms involved in berberine-induced apoptosis
      remain unclear. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the changes
      in oxidative stress and endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-related molecules, which are
      closely associated with cell death-signaling transduction pathways, in human
      glioblastoma T98G cells treated with berberine. Berberine significantly decreased
      the cell viability of T98G cells in a dose-dependent manner. Berberine increased
      the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and level of intracellular
      Ca(2+). Berberine induced ER stress as evidenced by the detection of ER stress
      associated molecules such as phosphorylated protein kinase-like ER kinase,
      eukaryotic translation initiation factor-2alpha, glucose-regulated protein
      78/immunoglobulin heavy chain-binding protein, and CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein
      (C/EBP)-homologous protein/growth arrest and DNA damage-inducible gene 153, which
      was associated with the activation of caspase-3. Furthermore, the administration
      of the antioxidants, N-acetylcysteine and glutathione, reversed berberine-induced
      apoptosis. Berberine also markedly enhanced apoptosis in T98G cells through the
      induction of a higher ratio of Bax/Bcl-2 proteins, disruption of the
      mitochondrial membrane potential, activation of caspase-9 and -3, and cleavage of
      the poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP). The inhibition of ER stress using
      salubrinal led to an increased the level of Bcl-2, whereas the level of Bax,
      cleavage of procaspase-9 and -3, and PARP were decreased when compared with cells
      treated with berberine alone, indicating that berberine-induced apoptosis is
      associated with mitochondrial dysfunction. These results demonstrate that
      berberine induces apoptosis via ER stress through the elevation of ROS and
      mitochondrial-dependent pathway in human glioblastoma T98G cells.

PMID- 20930371
TI  - Bi-functional induction of the quinone reductase and cytochrome P450 1A1 by
      youngiasides via Nrf2-ARE and AhR-XRE pathways.
AB  - Many phytochemicals are known to exert cancer chemopreventive activity by
      eliminating chemical carcinogens or toxic xenobiotics through the action of
      detoxification enzymes. In this study, we investigated the cancer chemopreventive
      effects of youngiasides isolated from Crepidiastrum denticulatum. These
      youngiasides significantly induced quinone reductase (QR) activity in mouse
      hepatoma Hepa-1c1c7 cells, and showed a relatively high chemoprevention index
      (CI; divided IC(50) value with CD value). The youngiasides also significantly
      induced transcriptional activation of QR in Hepa-QR-secreted alkaline phosphatase
      (SEAP) cells, which is a stable cell line containing the intact promoter region
      of QR. In order to determine if upregulation of QR by the youngiasides was
      mediated through a mono-functional or bi-functional mechanism, we examined the
      nuclear factor-E2 p45-related factor 2(Nrf2)-antioxidant response element (ARE)
      and aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR)-xenobiotic response element (XRE) pathways,
      which are two major pathways, involved in regulation of Phase I and/or Phase II
      detoxification enzymes. The youngiasides increased the cytochrome P450 1A1
      (CYP1A1) mRNA and protein levels in human colorectal cancer Caco-2 cells and also
      increased the QR mRNA and protein levels in Caco-2 cells through ARE and XRE
      activation which resulted from translocation of Nrf2 and AhR into the nucleus.
      These results suggest that regulation of QR by the youngiasides was due to bi
      functional induction through the Nrf2-ARE and AhR-XRE pathways. Thus, these
      youngiasides as bi-functional inducers of QR have potential as cancer
      chemopreventive agents.

PMID- 20930372
TI  - The effect of different species aminopeptidase N structure on the activity
      screening of aminopeptidase N inhibitor.
AB  - Aminopeptidase N (APN) is a transmembrane metallopeptidase, which participates in
      the tumor progress such as proliferation, attachment, angiogenesis and tumor
      invasion. All of this makes APN as a good chemical therapeutic anti-tumor target.
      In the present study, we got a novel compound 16l which markedly inhibited the
      enzyme activity of porcine APN, and the inhibition constant, K(i), of 16l are
      similar to the positive medicine Bestatin determined using porcine APN. However,
      when tested using human tumor cells, 16l couldn't effectively inhibit the enzyme
      activity, cell viability, cell migration and invasion. Computer aided drug design
      verified that because of the difference in structure, the binding pattern of 16l
      in the active site of homo sapien and porcine APN was different. The compound 16l
      could effectively inhibit the enzyme activity of porcine APN, but not homo sapien
      APN located on the surface of tumor cells. Therefore, the activity screening of
      APN inhibitor using aminopeptidase N from porcine should be only preliminary
      determination. The real activity screening should be determined using homo sapien
      aminopeptidase N.

PMID- 20930373
TI  - Doxorubicin induces apoptosis in H9c2 cardiomyocytes: role of overexpressed
      eukaryotic translation initiation factor 5A.
AB  - The cardiotoxicity of doxorubicin limits its clinical use in the treatment of a
      variety of solid tumors and malignant hematologic disease. Although the mechanism
      by which it causes cardiac injury is not yet known, apoptosis has been regarded
      as one of mechanisms underlying the cardiotoxic effects of doxorubicin.
      Eukaryotic translation initiation factor 5A (eIF5A) is a ubiquitously expressed
      multifunctional protein that interacts with a range of ligands and is implicated
      in cell signaling. However, there has been no direct evidence for the critical
      involvement of eIF5A in doxorubicin-induced apoptosis. Overexpression of eIF5A
      induced by doxorubicin in cardiomyocyte leads to growth perturbation along with
      initiation of apoptosis. Overexpression of eIF5A results in a gradual increase in
      reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation. This mitochondrial dysfunction is due
      to a gradual increase in ROS generation in eIF5A-overexpressing H9c2 cells. Along
      with ROS generation, increased Ca(2+) influx in mitochondria leads to loss of the
      mitochondrial transmembrane potential, release of cytochrome-c, and caspase
      activation. However, small interfering RNA (siRNA)-mediated suppression of eIF5A
      results in inhibition of apoptosis. Interestingly, upon overexpression of eIF5A
      induced by doxorubicin, cell apoptosis was shown to be significantly inhibited
      when cells were treated with SB202190 (p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase
      inhibitor) and SP600125 (anti-c-Jun N-terminal kinase inhibitor) for 18 h. The
      reduction in oxidant generation and reduction in the apoptotic cell population
      were the results of the disruption of eIF5A expression, corroborating the
      hypothesis that excess ROS generation with overexpression of eIF5A induced by
      doxorubicin leads to apoptosis due to the accumulation of eIF5A.

PMID- 20930374
TI  - Establishment of an efficient fermentation system of gamma-aminobutyric acid by a
      lactic acid bacterium, Enterococcus avium G-15, isolated from carrot leaves.
AB  - In the present study, we successfully isolated a carrot leaf-derived lactic acid
      bacterium that produces gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) from monosodium L
      glutamate (L-MSG) at a hyper conversion rate. The GABA-producing bacterium,
      identified as Enterococcus (E.) avium G-15, produced 115.7+/-6.4 g/l GABA at a
      conversion rate of 86.0+/-5.0% from the added L-MSG under the optimum culture
      condition by a continuous L-MSG feeding method using a jar-fermentor, suggesting
      that the bacterium displays a great potential ability for the commercial-level
      fermentation production of GABA. Using the reverse transcription polymerase chain
      reaction (RT-PCR) method, we analyzed the expression of genes for the GABA
      transporter and glutamate decarboxylase, designated gadT and gadG, respectively,
      which were cloned from the E. avium G-15 chromosome. Both genes were expressed
      even without the added L-MSG, but their expression was enhanced by the addition
      of L-MSG.

PMID- 20930375
TI  - Enzymic synthesis of gastrodin through microbial transformation and purification
      of gastrodin biosynthesis enzyme.
AB  - Gastrodin, a major bioactive component of a famous Chinese herb Gastrodia elata
      B1., has diverse pharmaceutical functions. It is usually obtained by extraction
      from a plant or through chemical synthesis. However, traditional extraction from
      Gastrodia elata B1. is time and money consuming, while chemical synthesis is a
      complicated procedure and always leads to very serious environmental pollution.
      Thus it is urgent to explore a new gastrodin source which is more economical and
      environmental. The present study reports a novel approach to the production of
      gastrodin through biosynthesis and microbial transformation. Rhizopus chinensis
      SAITO AS3.1165 was screened from about 50 fungal and bacterial strains and found
      capable of biotransforming p-hydroxybenzaldehyde into gastrodin for use in
      gastrodin production. A series of purification steps including (NH(4))(2)SO(4)
      precipitation, ion exchange chromatography and gel filtration column
      chromatography was successfully used for purification of the gastrodin
      biosynthesis enzyme (GBE). The purity of GBE was above 95% and its molecular
      weight was about 63.2 kDa. We further characterized GBE's function condition, and
      found that the optimal temperature was 50  degrees C and the optimum pH 6.0. The
      enzyme was stable at a temperature lower than 50  degrees C and a pH between 6.0
      and 9.0. The result indicated that gastrodin could be successfully synthesized by
      microbial transformation, providing a new approach for gastrodin production.

PMID- 20930376
TI  - alpha-Solanine inhibits human melanoma cell migration and invasion by reducing
      matrix metalloproteinase-2/9 activities.
AB  - alpha-Solanine, a naturally occurring steroidal glycoalkaloid in potato sprouts,
      was found to possess anti-carcinogenic properties, such as inhibiting
      proliferation and inducing apoptosis of tumor cells. However, the effect of alpha
      solanine on cancer metastasis remains unclear. In the present study, we examined
      the effect of alpha-solanine on metastasis in vitro. Data demonstrated that alpha
      solanine inhibited proliferation of human melanoma cell line A2058 in a dose
      dependent manner. When treated with non-toxic doses of alpha-solanine, cell
      migration and invasion were markedly suppressed. Furthermore, alpha-solanine
      reduced the activity of matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) and MMP-9, which are
      involved in the migration and invasion of cancer cells. Our biochemical assays
      indicated that alpha-solanine potently suppressed the phosphorylation of c-Jun N
      terminal kinase (JNK), phosphatidylinositide-3 kinase (PI3K) and Akt, while it
      did not affect phosphorylation of extracellular signal regulating kinase (ERK).
      In addition, alpha-solanine significantly decreased the nuclear level of nuclear
      factor kappa B (NF-kappaB), suggesting that alpha-solanine inhibited NF-kappaB
      activity. Taken together, the results suggested that alpha-solanine inhibited
      migration and invasion of A2058 cells by reducing MMP-2/9 activities. It also
      inhibited JNK and PI3K/Akt signaling pathways as well as NF-kappaB activity.
      These findings reveal new therapeutic potential for alpha-solanine in anti
      metastatic therapy.

PMID- 20930377
TI  - Gender differences in vascular reactivity of aortas from streptozotocin-induced
      diabetic mice.
AB  - The aim of the present study was to assess gender differences in diabetes-related
      vascular reactivity in murine aortas. Diabetes is a risk factor for ischemic
      heart disease, cerebral ischemia, and atherosclerosis, conditions in which
      endothelial dysfunction plays a pathogenetic role. We examined vascular responses
      in aortas isolated from streptozotocin (STZ)-induced type 1 diabetic mice and age
      matched control mice, and looked for gender differences in the diabetes-induced
      changes in these responses. For each gender, the plasma adiponectin levels were
      lower in diabetic mice than in the controls, and they were significantly higher
      in females than in males. The acetylcholine (ACh)-induced endothelium-dependent
      relaxation of aortic rings was impaired (vs. that in the age-matched controls) in
      diabetic male mice, but not in diabetic female mice. The sodium nitroprusside
      induced endothelium-independent aortic relaxation was not altered by diabetes in
      either male or female mice. The norepinephrine-induced aortic contraction was
      enhanced (vs. that in the control group) in diabetic female mice, but not in
      diabetic male mice, whereas in the presence of N(G)-nitro-L-arginine neither
      gender exhibited a significant diabetes-induced change in this contraction. The
      clonidine-induced and insulin-induced endothelium-dependent aortic relaxations
      were impaired only in the diabetic female group (vs. the age-matched controls).
      These results suggest that: a) in male diabetic mice, which exhibited low
      adiponectin levels, these were impairments of both the aortic relaxation and
      nitric oxide (NO) production induced by ACh, whereas b) in female diabetic mice,
      there were impairments of the aortic relaxations induced by both insulin and
      clonidine.

PMID- 20930378
TI  - Potent modification of inducible CYP1A1 expression by flavonoids.
AB  - The present study examined modifications of beta-naphthoflavone (beta-NF)-induced
      cytochrome P450 1A1 (CYP1A1) expression by flavonoids in mouse hepatocytes in
      primary culture. Some flavonoids (apigenin, chrysin, flavone, flavanone,
      galangin, luteolin, and naringenin) by themselves induced CYP1A1 mRNA expression,
      especially flavone which was even more effective than beta-NF. The effect on beta
      NF-induced CYP1A1 mRNA expression was varied, namely additive, suppressive, or
      both. An additive effect was observed after combined treatment with flavanone,
      naringenin, and chrysin, whereas kaempferol, myricetin, and quercetin decreased
      CYP1A1 levels. Apigenin, chrysin, galangin, luteolin, and morin synergistically
      enhanced beta-NF-induced CYP1A1 expression at 24 h, but considerably suppressed
      it at 9 h. The structure-activity relationship of flavonoids affecting CYP1A1
      expression as inducers or inhibitors is discussed. The present observations
      suggest the need to reveal the mechanism by which CYP1A1 expression is modified
      by flavonoids for risk assessment, since CYP1A1 activates environmental
      carcinogenic polycyclic hydrocarbons and flavonoids are major constituents in
      food.

PMID- 20930379
TI  - Synthesis and biological properties of benzo-annulated rutaecarpines.
AB  - A series of benzo-annulated rutaecarpines were prepared from anthranilic acid and
      3-aminonaphthalene-2-carboxylic acid by Fischer indole synthesis as key reaction.
      Cytotoxicity was somewhat increased by the introduction of benzo-annulation,
      which was not directly related to the inhibitory activity against topoisomerases
      (topo) I and II. Benzo-annulation on ring A led to significant increase of
      inhibitory activity against topo II while annulations on ring E increased
      inhibitory activity against topo I.

PMID- 20930380
TI  - Effect of TJN-331 on anti-Thy1 nephritis in rats via inhibition of transforming
      growth factor-beta1 production.
AB  - This study was performed to examine the effects of the antifibrotic agents TJN
      331 and tranilast on mesangial expansion in a rat model of anti-Thy1 nephritis.
      We first investigated the effects of TJN-331 and tranilast on mesangial expansion
      induced by anti-Thy1 serum in rats, and determined the counts of glomerular cells
      and proliferative cell nuclear antigen (PCNA)-positive cells. The effects of TJN
      331 and tranilast on production of transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1)
      by isolated glomeruli incubated for 48 h were then examined. The TGF-beta1
      staining score, the number of TGF-beta1-positive cells and the TGF-beta1 receptor
      positive area in the anti-Thy1 nephritis model were also measured using
      immunohistochemistry. TJN-331 administered from day 1 (the day after anti-Thy1
      serum injection) blocked an increase in mesangial matrix accumulation on days 4
      and 8, compared to untreated anti-Thy1 nephritic rats. TJN-331 also inhibited
      both the increase in the number of glomerular cells on day 8 and the decrease in
      this cell count on day 2 observed in untreated nephritic rats, and TJN-331 and
      tranilast inhibited an increase in PCNA-positive cells in the glomerular cross
      section on days 4 and 8. Both TJN-331 and tranilast inhibited increases in the
      TGF-beta1 protein content from nephritic glomeruli, the TGF-beta1-positive area,
      and the number of TGF-beta1-positive cells/cross section in anti-Thy1 nephritic
      glomeruli. These results suggest that TJN-331 and tranilast prevent expansion of
      the mesangial area by suppression of TGF-beta1 secretion from inflamed glomeruli.

PMID- 20930381
TI  - Isofraxidin, a coumarin component from Acanthopanax senticosus, inhibits matrix
      metalloproteinase-7 expression and cell invasion of human hepatoma cells.
AB  - 7-Hydroxy-6,8-dimethoxy-2H-1-benzopyran-2-one (isofraxidin) is a major coumarin
      component isolated from the stem bark of Acanthopanax senticosus, a widely used
      Chinese medicinal herb. We investigated isofraxidin in its anti-tumor effects on
      human hepatoma cell lines HuH-7 and HepG2. Isofraxidin significantly inhibited
      hepatoma cell invasion, without affecting cell attachment or growth. Expression
      of 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA)-induced matrix metalloproteinase-7
      (MMP-7) in hepatoma cells was inhibited by isofraxidin at the both mRNA and
      protein levels. This inhibition tended to be greater in cells inoculated at low
      density than in those at high density. Isofraxidin showed an inhibitory effect on
      the phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2) in
      hepatoma cells, whereas activator protein-1 (AP-1) DNA binding activity, nuclear
      factor-kappa B (NF-kappaB) nuclear translocation, and inhibitory kappa B
      (IkappaB) degradation were affected very little. These results indicate that
      isofraxidin inhibits expression of MMP-7 and in vitro cell invasion at a non
      toxic level through inhibiting ERK1/2 phosphorylation in hepatoma cell lines,
      which suggest isofraxidin might become an effective agent for suppressing
      hepatoma cell invasion.

PMID- 20930382
TI  - Molecular phylogenetic analysis of Phyllanthus species in Thailand and the
      application of polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism
      for Phyllanthus amarus identification.
AB  - The genus Phyllanthus (Phyllanthaceae) is distributed in tropical and subtropical
      regions, and its members are widely used as medicinal plants in many countries.
      We analyzed the nucleotide sequences of the internal transcribed spacers of
      ribosomal DNA of 56 plant samples covering 23 Phyllanthus species collected from
      various habitats in Thailand. Based on the sequence alignment, we constructed
      phylogenetic trees of all Phyllanthus species distributed in Thailand.
      Furthermore, a simple protocol to discriminate three important medicinal
      Phyllanthus species, P. amarus, P. debilis, and P. urinaria, was developed using
      a Polymerase Chain Reaction-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism method and
      successfully applied to the crude drug samples obtained in Thai markets.

PMID- 20930383
TI  - Anti-hepatitis B virus activities of cinobufacini and its active components
      bufalin and cinobufagin in HepG2.2.15 cells.
AB  - Cinobufacini (Huachansu) is a Chinese medicine prepared from the skin of Bufo
      bufo gargarizans Cantor (Bufonidae), which has long been used in traditional
      Chinese medicine (TCM). The aim of present study was to examine the anti
      hepatitis B virus (HBV) activities of cinobufacini and its active components
      bufalin and cinobufagin in the human HBV-transfected cell line HepG2.2.15. The
      hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg), and hepatitis
      B core-related antigen (HBcrAg) concentrations in cell culture medium were
      determined by chemiluminescent enzyme immunoassay after HepG2.2.15 cells were
      respectively treated with different concentrations of cinobufacini, bufalin, and
      cinobufagin for 3 or 6 d. HBV DNA and mRNA were determined using transcription
      mediated amplification and real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR),
      respectively. On d 3, cinobufacini at a concentration of 1 ug/ml had no activity
      against HBV virological markers. However, on d 6, cinobufacini at 1 ug/ml
      effectively inhibited the secretion of HBsAg, HBeAg, and HBcrAg by 29.58, 32.87,
      and 42.52%. It was more potent than the positive control lamivudine (100 ug/ml).
      Bufalin and cinobufagin slightly inhibited HBV antigen secretion. Treatment with
      cinobufacini, bufalin, or cinobufagin had no anti-HBV effect on DNA in cell
      culture medium. Consistent with the HBV antigen reduction, HBV mRNA expression
      was markedly inhibited in comparison to the control when HepG2.2.15 cells were
      treated with cinobufacini, bufalin, or cinobufagin. Results suggested that
      cinobufacini had more potent activity against HBV antigen secretion than its
      components bufalin and cinobufagin and this inhibitory role was attributed to the
      specific inhibition of HBV mRNA expression.

PMID- 20930384
TI  - Palmatine attenuates osteoclast differentiation and function through inhibition
      of receptor activator of nuclear factor-kappab ligand expression in osteoblast
      cells.
AB  - Osteoclasts are the only cell type capable of resorbing mineralized bone, and
      they act under the control of numerous cytokines produced by supporting cells
      such as osteoblasts and stromal cells. Among cytokines, receptor activator of
      nuclear factor-kappaB ligand (RANKL) was found to be a key osteoclastogenetic
      molecule that directly binds to its cognate receptor, RANK, on osteoclast
      precursor cells. In turn, RANKL, which is an essential factor for differentiation
      and activation of osteoclasts, is one of the major targets of anti-resorptive
      agents. In this study, we found that palmatine, an isoquinoline alkaloid
      originally isolated from Coptis chinensis, had an inhibitory effect on osteoclast
      differentiation and function in vitro. Palmatine inhibited osteoclast formation
      in the co-culture system with mouse bone marrow cells (BMC) and osteoblasts in
      the presence of 10 nM 1alpha,25-(OH)(2)D(3). Palmatine did not affect osteoclast
      formation induced by RANKL in the BMC cultures. Reverse-transcription polymerase
      chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis showed that palmatine significantly inhibited
      the expression of 1alpha,25-(OH)(2)D(3)-induced expression of RANKL mRNAs in
      stromal cells without loss of cell viability. Moreover, palmatine suppressed
      resorption pit formation by mature osteoclasts on dentin slices and induced
      disruption of actin ring formation in mature osteoclasts with an impact on cell
      viability. Taken together, these results suggest that palmatine attenuates
      osteoclast differentiation through inhibition of RANKL expression in osteoblast
      cells, and its inhibitory effect on bone resorption is due to its disruptive
      effect on actin rings in mature osteoclasts. Therefore, palmatine might be an
      ideal candidate as an anti-resorptive agent for the prevention and treatment of
      bone disorders such as osteoporosis.

PMID- 20930385
TI  - Matrine inhibits proliferation and induces apoptosis of pancreatic cancer cells
      in vitro and in vivo.
AB  - Matrine, an alkaloid extracted from a Chinese herb, Sophora flavescens AIT., has
      exhibited anti-proliferative and pro-apoptotic abilities against various types of
      cancer cells. This study aims to investigate its anti-cancer activity and
      underlying mechanisms in human pancreatic cancer cells in vitro and in vivo.
      Human BxPC-3 and PANC-1 pancreatic cancer cells, and human HL-7702 liver cells
      were incubated with matrine at different concentrations. Cell viability was
      assessed by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT)
      assay, and cell apoptosis, by flow cytometry. Subcutaneous BxPC-3 xenograft
      tumors were established in nude BALB/c mice, and matrine was intraperitoneally
      (i.p.) administered. The tumors were monitored and harvested. Tumor sections were
      immunostained with an anti-Ki-67 antibody (Ab) to examine cell proliferation, or
      stained with terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase mediated deoxyuridine
      triphosphate (dUTP) nick-end labeling (TUNEL) to evaluate in situ cell apoptosis.
      The expression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and several apoptosis
      related proteins in cells and tumor tissues were evaluated by Western blot
      analysis. In in vitro assays, matrine inhibited cell viability by downregulating
      the expression of PCNA, and induced cell apoptosis by reducing the ratio of Bcl
      2/Bax, upregulating Fas, and increasing activation of caspases-8,-3 and -9, in a
      dose-dependent manner. Administration of matrine inhibited tumor growth in a dose
      dependent manner, and regulated tumoral gene expression consistent with the in
      vitro results. But matrine had no significant effects on the viability of HL-7702
      cells or the bodyweight of mice compared to controls. These results indicate
      matrine may be a potential and promising agent of natural resource to treat
      pancreatic cancer.

PMID- 20930386
TI  - Fluorescence polarization analysis for revealing molecular mechanism of
      nucleotide-dependent phospholipid membrane binding of MinD adenosine 5'
      triphosphate, adenosine triphosphatase.
AB  - Membrane binding of Walker type adenosine 5'-triphosphate, adenosine
      triphosphatase (ATPase), MinD, is a key step in regulating the site of cell
      division in Escherichia coli. Two lysine residues (K11, K16) in the Walker A
      motif of MinD have been suggested to be essential for both membrane binding and
      ATPase activity, but the relationship between the membrane binding of MinD and
      its ATPase activity is still unclear. To reveal the role of K11 and K16 in MinD
      membrane interaction and ATP-binding, we compared the functionality of wild-type
      MinD (WT) and two MinD mutants that lack ATPase activity, where alanine was
      substituted for lysine at positions 11 and 16 (K11A, K16A), using liposomes and
      fluorescent-labeled ATP. The ATP dissociation constant (K(d)) of wild-type MinD
      was 4.9 uM. Unexpectedly, the K(d) values of the two lysine mutants were almost
      the same as that of wild type, indicating that ATP can bind to MinD mutants, even
      though these mutants showed no ATPase activity and membrane binding ability. Our
      results presumed that K11 and K16 residues might play an important role in dimmer
      formation of MinD, but not ATP binding step, for recruiting to membrane.

PMID- 20930387
TI  - Association of the A-1438G polymorphism in serotonin 2A receptor in migraine with
      aura among Japanese patients.
AB  - We investigated the possible association of serotonin (5-HT) 2A receptor gene A
      1438G polymorphism in Japanese patients with migraine. Genotyping of 5-HT(2A) A
      1438G polymorphism was performed by polymerase chain reaction-restriction
      fragment length polymorphism in patients with migraine (male 17 : 3 with aura and
      14 without aura, female 65 : 17 with aura and 48 without aura) and controls (male
      31, female 84). The distribution of 5-HT(2A) A-1438G genotype frequency between
      migraine patients and controls did not differ. These results suggest that the A
      1438G polymorphism of the 5-HT(2A) receptor gene is not a direct risk factor for
      migraine; however, the incidence of the A/A genotype between migraine with aura
      (MA) and without aura (MO) was significantly different. The 5-HT(2A) A-1438G
      polymorphism may be involved in determining the subtypes of migraine in Japanese.

PMID- 20930388
TI  - Involvement of Kv4.1 K(+) channels in gastric cancer cell proliferation.
AB  - Voltage-gated potassium (Kv) channels are expressed not only in excitable cells
      but also in non-excitable cells such as epithelial cells. Recent studies have
      demonstrated that several subtypes of Kv channels are expressed in epithelial
      tumor cells, including human gastric cancer cells, and are associated with cell
      proliferation. In the present study, we examined the expression of Kv4.1 in human
      gastric cancer cell lines and the effects of suppressed expression of Kv4.1 on
      cell proliferation and cell cycle distribution. We found that Kv4.1 mRNA and
      protein are expressed in the human gastric cancer cell lines MKN-45 and SNU-638.
      Moreover, Kv4.1-targeted small interference RNA (siRNA) treatment inhibited
      gastric cancer cell proliferation. Flow cytometric analysis revealed that
      suppressed expression of Kv4.1 induced a G1-S transition block of cell cycle
      progression. These results reveal that Kv4.1 plays a role in the proliferation of
      the human gastric cancer cell lines MKN-45 and SNU-638 and can be considered as a
      therapeutic target for human gastric cancer.

PMID- 20930389
TI  - Human trial of liposomal lactoferrin supplementation for periodontal disease.
AB  - New approaches to periodontal health have been in strong demand in addition to
      conventional local plaque control. In this study, liposomal bovine lactoferrin (L
      bLF) was orally administered to subjects with periodontal disease to investigate
      whether it could be a useful treatment. L-bLF composed of soy phosphatidylcholine
      was given as a supplement for four weeks in tablet form (180 mg bLF/d) to twelve
      subjects with multiple sites of more than 3 mm probing depth (PD). PD, bleeding
      on probing (BOP), gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) volume and the levels of tumor
      necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha, interleukin (IL)-1beta, IL-6, and monocyte
      chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) in GCF were evaluated for 51 sites with more
      than 4 mm PD in five subjects. Blood samples of all subjects were collected 0, 2
      and 4 weeks after supplementation. Isolated peripheral blood mononuclear cells
      (PBMCs) were incubated for 24 h with or without lipopolysaccharide (LPS) (100
      ng/ml) from Porphyromonas gingivalis, and TNF-alpha, IL-1beta, IL-6 and MCP-1 in
      the culture media were measured. Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) and TLR4 mRNA
      expressions of isolated PBMCs were also quantitatively analyzed using real-time
      reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The PD was
      significantly reduced by L-bLF supplementation, but the BOP and GCF volume were
      not significantly changed. The MCP-1 level in GCF was significantly reduced,
      while levels of other cytokines were not changed. Four-week L-bLF supplementation
      also showed significant decreases of LPS-induced cytokine production from PBMCs.
      Relative gene expressions of TLR2 and TLR4 did not change. These results suggest
      that L-bLF supplementation can be effective in the treatment of periodontal
      disease, although prospective controlled large-scale studies are required.

PMID- 20930390
TI  - Comparative study of skin permeation profiles between brand and generic
      tulobuterol patches.
AB  - Tulobuterol patches are long-acting bronchodilators for percutaneous absorption
      including the beta(2)-adrenoreceptor agonist tulobuterol, as a main ingredient,
      used for long-term management of pediatric asthma. Since patients who have
      pediatric asthma often also have atopic dermatitis in which the skin barrier is
      impaired, we compared the skin penetration profiles of the brand and generic
      patches using a skin barrier-impaired rat model. Skin penetration was
      significantly (p<0.001) higher in the generic patches compared with the brand
      patch, suggesting that it is important to understand the pharmaceutical
      properties of available products by giving careful consideration not only to the
      patient's asthma control but also to their skin condition before using
      tulobuterol patches.

PMID- 20930391
TI  - Preparation and characterization of laminin-derived peptide AG73-coated liposomes
      as a selective gene delivery tool.
AB  - Targeted gene delivery to cancer cells is considered as a promising strategy for
      cancer therapy. Since, several targeting ligands have been studied for cancer
      gene therapy, such as transferrin, folate, anisamide, RGD-peptide, and
      antibodies. We have focused on AG73 peptide, which is derived from the globular
      domain of the laminin alpha1 chain. AG73 peptide is known as a ligand for
      syndecans, one of the major heparin sulfate-containing transmembrane
      proteoglycans. Syndecan-2 is highly expressed in various cancer cells and plays a
      role in angiogenesis. In this study, we prepared AG73-labeled polyethyleneglycol
      modified liposomes (AG73-PEG liposomes) for gene delivery tool to syndecan-2
      overexpressing cancer cells, and assessed the characterization of AG73-PEG
      liposomes. We confirmed the conjugation of AG73 peptide to PEG liposomes by
      reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography analysis. Electron
      microscopy analysis showed that monodiseperse AG73-labeled lipsomes were
      prepared. We also assessed the gene transfection efficiency of AG73-PEG liposomes
      in syndecan-2 overexpressing cancer cells or syndecan-2 less expressing cancer
      cells. As a result, AG73-mediated liposomal gene transfection efficiency was
      increased by 100-fold in syndecan-2 overexpressing cancer cells compared to
      syndecan-2 less expressing cancer cells. These results suggested that AG73-PEG
      liposomes were successfully prepared from a point of view of the modification of
      AG73 peptide to PEG-liposomes and the particle size of liposomes, which presented
      nano size. Furthermore, our results suggest that AG73-PEG liposomes can be a
      useful targeted gene delivery vehicle for syndecan-2 overexpressing cancer cells.

PMID- 20930392
TI  - Development of responsive lanthanide-based magnetic resonance imaging and
      luminescent probes for biological applications.
AB  - Lanthanide complexes have unique chemical characteristics compared with typical
      organic complexes, and have recently attracted much interest because of the
      expanding need for new bioanalytical sensors. For example, magnetic resonance
      imaging (MRI) permits noninvasive three-dimensional imaging inside opaque
      organisms, and gadolinium ion (Gd(3+)) complexes have become important tools as
      MRI contrast agents. However, most of them are nonspecific, and report solely on
      anatomy. Therefore, responsive MRI contrast agents, so-called "smart" MRI
      contrast agents whose ability to relax water protons is greatly enhanced by
      recognition of a particular biomolecule, have great potential for elucidating
      biological phenomena. On the other hand, lanthanide complexes such as europium
      (Eu(3+)) and terbium (Tb(3+)) complexes have excellent luminescence properties
      for biological applications, i.e., long luminescence lifetime of the order of
      milliseconds and a large Stoke's shift of >200 nm. Their long-lived luminescence
      is especially suitable for time-resolved measurements, because the interference
      from short-lived background fluorescence and scattered light rapidly decays to a
      negligible level after a pulse of excitation light is applied, and the emitted
      light can be collected after an appropriate delay time. These luminescent
      lanthanide complexes have already found commercial use as highly sensitive
      luminescent probes in heterogeneous and homogeneous assays. This paper reviews
      our research on the design and synthesis of responsive lanthanide-based MRI and
      luminescent probes for advanced bioimaging.

PMID- 20930393
TI  - The relationship between the drug concentration profiles in plasma and the drug
      doses in the colon.
AB  - After the dosing of an extended-release (ER) formulation, compounds may exist in
      solutions at various concentrations in the colon because the drugs are released
      at various speeds from the ER dosage form. The aim of this study was to
      investigate the relationship between the drug concentration profiles in plasma
      and the drug doses in the colon. Several drug solutions of different
      concentrations were directly administered into the ascending colon of dogs using
      a lubricated endoscope, and the effects of the drug dose on colonic absorption
      were estimated. As a result, dose-dependency of colonic absorption varied from
      compound to compound. Although the relative bioavailability of colonic
      administration of diclofenac, metformin and cevimeline compared to oral
      administration was similar regardless of the drug doses in the colon, colonic
      absorption of diltiazem varied according to the doses. From the results of the co
      administration of verapamil and fexofenadine, it was clear that diltiazem
      underwent extensive hepatic and gastrointestinal first-pass metabolism, resulting
      in a low area under the curves (AUC) at a low drug dose. During the design of
      oral ER delivery systems, a colonic absorption study of candidate compounds
      should be carried out at several solutions of different drug concentrations and
      assessed carefully.

PMID- 20930394
TI  - Effects of pathological conditions on ocular pharmacokinetics of antimicrobial
      drugs.
AB  - A diffusion model of ocular pharmacokinetics was used to estimate the effects of
      pathological conditions on ocular pharmacokinetics. In vivo rabbit data after
      topical instillation of ciprofloxacin and ofloxacin were compared with the
      simulated concentrations in the aqueous and vitreous humors. The barrier capacity
      of the surrounding membranes such as the retina/choroid/sclera (RCS) membrane and
      the cornea was characterized by dimensionless Sherwood number derived by the
      pseudo-steady state approach (PSSA). We assumed the barrier capacity decreased by
      inflammation; when the barrier capacity of the RCS membrane and the cornea was
      assumed to be one-tenth for the RCS membrane and a half for the cornea
      respectively, the in vivo data agreed with the simulated profile without
      contradiction. The drug concentration gradient simulated in the vitreous body
      near the RCS membrane was more significant in the inflamed eyes than in the
      normal eyes, suggesting that the elimination of the drugs from the RCS membrane
      was enhanced by inflammation. The present diffusion model can better describe the
      ocular pharmacokinetics in both normal and diseased conditions.

PMID- 20930395
TI  - Synthesis, characterization, antioxidant activities, and DNA-binding studies of
      (E)-N'-[1-(pyridin-2-yl)ethylidene]isonicotinohydrazide and its Pr(III) and
      Nd(III) complexes.
AB  - A new ligand, (E)-N'-[1-(pyridin-2-yl)ethylidene]isonicotinohydrazide (HL), was
      prepared by condensation of 2-acetylpyridine and isonicotinohydrazide in ethanol.
      Its two lanthanide(III) complexes,
      [Nd(III)(L)(2)(NO(3))(CH(3)OH)(2)].CH(3)CH(2)OH (1), and
      [Pr(III)(L)(2)(NO(3))(CH(3)OH)(2)].CH(3)CH(2)OH (2), have been synthesized and
      characterized on the basis of element analyses, molar conductivities and IR
      spectra. The structure of complex 2 has been confirmed by X-ray diffraction. In
      addition, the DNA-binding properties of the two complexes have been investigated
      by electronic absorption spectroscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy, circular
      dichroic (CD) spectroscopy and viscosity measurements. The experimental results
      suggest that the two complexes bind to DNA via a groove binding mode, and the
      binding affinity of complex 2 is higher than that of complex 1. Furthermore, the
      antioxidant activities (superoxide and hydroxyl radical) of the ligand and its
      metal complexes were determined by spectrophotometry methods in vitro. These
      complexes were found to possess potent antioxidant activity and be superior to
      standard antioxidant like mannitol.

PMID- 20930396
TI  - Preparation and characterization of hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin inclusion
      complex of eugenol: differential pulse voltammetry and (1)H-NMR.
AB  - The objective of present investigation was to improve the solubility of Eugenol
      by preparing the inclusion complex of Eugenol with hydroxypropyl-beta
      cyclodextrin (Hp-beta-CD) and characterize the prepared complex by using NMR and
      differential pulse voltammetry (DPV). Phase solubility curve was plotted using Hp
      beta-CD in ranging from 0-40 mM of Hp-beta-CD and found to be linear. Therefore,
      inclusion complex was prepared in equimolar ratio of Eugenol and Hp-beta-CD by
      lyophilization method. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), (1)H-NMR
      and DPV were performed for Eugenol, Hp-beta-CD and prepared inclusion complex of
      Eugenol. 2D (two dimensional) NMR was also performed for prepared inclusion
      complex. The proton of phenol moiety of Eugenol experienced a pronounced chemical
      shift variation in (1)H-NMR. The positive sign of the variation for proton in
      (1)H-NMR indicated that the proton was located near to an oxygen atom in the Hp
      beta-CD cavity and its magnitude showed a strong interaction between -OH proton
      of Eugenol and Hp-beta-CD. 2D NMR confirms the interaction between phenolic group
      and hydrogen atoms of Hp-beta-CD. A well defined anodic peak current
      corresponding to oxidation of Eugenol in non-encapsulated and Hp-beta-CD-Eugenol
      inclusion complex in phosphate buffer (pH 6.8) was obtained at about 0.35 V and
      0.40 V, respectively. The positive shift in oxidation potential indicated the
      formation of complex via hydrophobic interactions. The oxidant power of Eugenol
      was retained in complex form as indicated by DPV results. Thus, its oxidation
      dependent pharmacological property such as antimicrobial activity is not affected
      after complexation with Hp-beta-CD. Thus, (1)H-NMR, 2D-NMR and DPV techniques can
      be used as valuable tools to determine the mechanism of complexation and state of
      electrochemical active drug in inclusion complex.

PMID- 20930397
TI  - Synthesis of 2-oxo/thioxooctahydroquinazolin-5-one derivatives and their
      evaluation as anticancer agents.
AB  - An environment friendly method for the synthesis of 2
      oxo/thioxooctahydroquinazolin-5-one derivatives has been devised using Ceric
      ammonium nitrate (CAN) as catalyst and polyethylene glycol (PEG) as solvent. The
      cytotoxic effect of these compounds was studied on U87 human glioma cells,
      compounds 4c, 4d and 4e are found to exhibit excellent activity at a
      concentration as low as 0.06 ug/ml.

PMID- 20930398
TI  - Synthesis, cytotoxicity and pro-apoptosis of novel benzoisoindolin hydrazones as
      anticancer agents.
AB  - A series of benzoisoindolin hydrazones as analogues of natural lignan diphyllin
      were synthesized and the structures of these compounds were established by (1)H
      NMR, (13)C-NMR, Mass and high resolution (HR)-MS. The compounds were evaluated
      for in vitro cytotoxicity against KB, A549 and HCT-116 cancer cell lines by 3
      (4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. Compound
      4 possessed the highest growth inhibitory effect. Significant apoptosis of HCT
      116 cells treated with compound 4 was observed by Hoechst33342-propidium iodide
      (PI) and acridine orange (AO)-ethidium bromide (EB) staining assay. Western blot
      analysis disclosed that compound 4 induced apoptosis via the mitochondrial
      pathway accompanied by an increased expression of Bax and a decreased expression
      of Bcl-2.

PMID- 20930399
TI  - Synthesis of new 1,2,4-triazole[3,4-b][1,3,4]thiadiazoles bearing pyrazole as
      potent antimicrobial agents.
AB  - A new series of 6-(aryl/heteryl)-3-(5-methyl-1-phenyl-1H-4
      pyrazolyl)[1,2,4]triazolo[3,4-b][1,3,4]thiadiazoles (7a-j) has been synthesized
      by the reaction of 4-amino-5-(5-methyl-1-phenyl-1H-4-pyrazolyl)-4H-1,2,4-triazol
      3-yl-hydrosulfide (6) with POCl(3) and the corresponding aryl/heteryl carboxylic
      acid, in ethanol at reflux temperature for 12 h. All the synthesized compounds
      were tested for in vitro activities against certain strains of bacteria such as
      Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli and fungi such as
      Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus nodulans, Alternaria alternate. Compounds having 4
      chlorophenyl (7d), 4-aminophenyl (7f), 4-nitrophenyl (7h) and 3-pyridyl (7i)
      substituents at 6-position of thiadiazole ring, showed marked inhibition of
      bacterial and fungal growth nearly equal to the standards. The other new
      compounds also showed appreciable activity against the test bacteria and fungi.

PMID- 20930400
TI  - Formulation and physicochemical characterization of imwitor 308 based self
      microemulsifying drug delivery systems.
AB  - Self Microemulsifying Drug Delivery Systems (SMEDDS) are a novel alternative to
      the conventional transdermal delivery systems. SMEDDS are water-free systems,
      made up of oils and surfactants that can readily form a microemulsion upon
      dilution within an aqueous medium. Before SMEDDS can be used as a drug delivery
      system it is necessary to investigate the internal microstructure of the
      resulting microemulsion. Novel Imwitor 308 based SMEDDS were prepared and
      investigated. Phase behaviour of the comprising components was investigated
      through the construction of pseudoternary phase diagrams. The formed systems were
      characterized using visual inspection, measurement of electrical conductivity,
      viscosity and droplet size. Amongst the pseudoternary systems investigated,
      IPM/Cremophor EL (50% w/w)/Imwitor (50% w/w) and Myritol 318/Tween 85 (64% w/w)/
      Transcutol P (20% w/w)/Imwitor (16% w/w) possessed the largest microemulsion
      area. Electrical conductivity and viscosity studies depict structural transitions
      from w/o microemulsion to bicontinuous or o/w microemulsion around 20-35% water.
      This was further supported by the droplet size and Fourier transform (FT)-IR
      measurements. The FT-IR data suggests that below the percolation threshold
      (psi(C)) the water molecules are mainly bounded to the surfactant head group
      (bound water). Above this value, water molecule move to the outer phase of the
      microemulsion mainly interacting with each other though hydrogen bounding (free
      water). It was also found that pseudoternary systems with water content of less
      than 30% were stable at 32 degrees C. Such systems may form stable microemulsion
      upon contact with the skin. Absorption of water may also result in a
      supersaturated solution with enhanced transdermal flux.

PMID- 20930401
TI  - Isolation of four new flavonoids from Melicope triphylla.
AB  - Four new flavonoids, 3,5-dihydroxy-7,8-dimethoxy-3',4'-methylenedioxyflavone (1),
      3,5-dihydroxy-7-methoxy-3',4'-methylenedioxyflavone (2), 3,5-dihydroxy-7
      isopentenyloxy-8-methoxy-3',4'-methylenedioxyflavone (3) and 5-hydroxy-3
      isopentenyloxy-7-methoxy-3',4'-methylenedioxyflavone (4), were isolated from the
      leaves of Melicope triphylla. In addition, two known flavonoids were detected
      including 5-hydroxy-3,7-dimethoxy-3',4'-methylenedioxyflavone (5) and 5-hydroxy-7
      isopentenyloxy-3,8-dimethoxy-3',4'-methylenedioxyflavone (6). The structures of
      the new compounds were established by spectroscopic methods.

PMID- 20930402
TI  - Schefflerins A-G, new triterpene glucosides from the leaves of Schefflera
      arboricola.
AB  - From the 1-BuOH-soluble fraction of a MeOH extract of leaves of Schefflera
      arboricola, collected in Okinawa, six new lupane glucosides, named schefflerins A
      F (1-6) and one new dammarane glucoside, named schefflerin G (7), were isolated
      together with three known compounds, citroside A (8), and oleanane saponins,
      oleanolic acid (9) and echinocystic acid (10) 3-O-alpha-L-rhamnopyranosyl(1->4')
      O-beta-D-glucuronopynosides. Their structures were elucidated through a
      combination of spectroscopic analyses and the structure of schefflerin F (6) was
      determined by X-ray crystallographic method using SPring-8 synchrotron radiation.

PMID- 20930403
TI  - Rhodium-catalyzed organothio exchange reaction of alpha-organothioketones with
      disulfides.
AB  - RhH(PPh(3))(4) and 1,2-bis(diphenylphosphino)ethane (dppe) catalyzed the
      organothio exchange reaction of alpha-organothioketones and organic disulfides.
      The reaction was affected by the structure of the substrate: alpha-phenylthio and
      alpha-alkylthio aryl ketones reacted effectively with diaryl and dialkyl
      disulfides; alpha-phenylthio dialkyl ketones reacted with diaryl disulfides but
      not with dialkyl disulfides; diaryl disulfides with electron-donating p
      substituents were more reactive than those with electron-withdrawing p
      substituents.

PMID- 20930404
TI  - Kojic acid derivatives as histamine H(3) receptor ligands.
AB  - The histamine H(3) receptor (H(3)R) is a promising target in the development of
      new compounds for the treatment of mainly centrally occurring diseases. However,
      emerging novel therapeutic concepts have been introduced and some indications in
      the H(3)R field, e.g. migraine, pain or allergic rhinitis, might take advantage
      of peripherally acting ligands. In this work, kojic acid-derived structural
      elements were inserted into a well established H(3)R antagonist/inverse agonist
      scaffold to investigate the bioisosteric potential of gamma-pyranones with
      respect to the different moieties of the H(3)R pharmacophore. The most affine
      compounds showed receptor binding in the low nanomolar concentration range.
      Evaluation and comparison of kojic acid-containing ligands and their
      corresponding phenyl analogues (3-7) revealed that the newly integrated scaffold
      greatly influences chemical properties (S Log P, topological polar surface area
      (tPSA)) and hence, potentially modifies the pharmacokinetic profile of the
      different derivatives. Benzyl-1-(4-(3-(piperidin-1-yl)propoxy)phenyl)methanamine
      ligands 3 and 4 belong to the centrally acting diamine-based class of H(3)R
      antagonist/inverse agonist, whereas kojic acid analogues 6 and 7 might act
      peripherally. The latter compounds state promising lead structures in the
      development of H(3)R ligands with a modified profile of action.

PMID- 20930405
TI  - Carotenoids and related polyenes, part 12. First total synthesis and absolute
      configuration of 3'-deoxycapsanthin and 3,4-didehydroxy-3'-deoxycapsanthin.
AB  - The synthesis of 3'-deoxycapsanthin (1) and 3,4-didehydroxy-3'-deoxycapsanthin
      (2), carotenoids of paprika, has been achieved by employing Lewis acid-promoted
      regio- and stereoselective rearrangement of the C(15)-epoxy dienal 5a. The
      absolute stereochemistry of the newly formed C-5 chiral center of rearrangement
      product 6a was determined to be (R) from its alternative synthesis derived from
      (+)-(R)-camphonanic acid (11).

PMID- 20930406
TI  - Calculating critical relative humidity from solubility according to Pitzer ion
      interaction model.
AB  - The solubility and the critical relative humidity (H(cr)) of 14 drugs and
      inorganic salts were determined, the relationship between the H(cr) and the
      solubility was explored theoretically, and the H(cr) was calculated in the light
      of Raoult's law and Pitzer ion interaction model from their solubility. The
      results indicate that the H(cr) values calculated by Raoult's law in high
      humidity (H(cr)>80%) and by Pitzer ion interaction model in low humidity
      (H(cr)<80%) are comparable to the measured ones.

PMID- 20930407
TI  - Chemical constituents in the leaves of Vateria indica.
AB  - Comprehensive re-investigation of the chemical constituents in the leaves of
      Vateria indica (Dipterocarpaceae) resulted in the isolation of a novel
      resveratrol dimeric dimer having a C(2)-symmetric structure, vateriaphenol F (1),
      and two new O-glucosides of resveratrol oligomers, vateriosides A (2)
      (resveratrol dimer) and B (4) (resveratrol tetramer), along with a new natural
      compound (3) and 33 known compounds including 26 resveratrol derivatives. The
      absolute structures were elucidated by spectroscopic analysis, including two
      dimensional NMR and circular dichroism (CD) spectra.

PMID- 20930408
TI  - Structures of novel norstilbene dimer, longusone A, and three new stilbene
      dimers, longusols A, B, and C, with antiallergic and radical scavenging
      activities from Egyptian natural medicine Cyperus longus.
AB  - The methanolic extract of the whole plant of Cyperus longus originating in Egypt
      was found to show antiallergic effect on ear passive cutaneous anaphylaxis
      reactions in mice. By bioassay-guided separation, 11 stilbenes and stilbene
      dimers including a novel norstilbene dimer, longusone A, and three new stilbene
      dimers, longusols A, B, and C, were isolated. Their structures were elucidated on
      the basis of chemical and physicochemical evidence. Among the isolates, longusol
      B (IC(50)=96 uM), luteolin (3.0 uM), resveratrol (17 uM), piceatannol (24 uM),
      and cassigarols E (84 uM) and G (84 uM) were found to inhibit the release of beta
      hexosaminidase, as a marker of antigen-induced degranulations, in rat basophilic
      leukemia (RBL-2H3) cells. In addition, the methanolic extract and the
      constituents showed 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging
      activity (SC(50)=22 ug/ml and 2.8-29 uM, respectively).

PMID- 20930409
TI  - Conformational analysis of beta-1,2-linked mannobiose to mannoheptaose, specific
      antigen of pathogenic yeast Candida albicans.
AB  - Candida albicans contains characteristic beta-1,2-linked oligomannosyl moieties
      in the cell wall mannan. Reduction of the reducing termini of these
      oligosaccharides by NaBH(4) causes a significant downfield shift in the NMR
      signals for the second and third mannose units and upfield shift of the fourth
      mannose unit. To show the correlation between the shift in the NMR signals and
      the conformations of the beta-1,2-linked mannooligosaccharides, we performed
      molecular mechanics calculations. Six energy minima of the beta-1,2-linked
      mannobiose were found in the relaxed map computed using the AMBER force field.
      Five of the six energy minima could also be generated by a simulated annealing
      from a 900 K molecular dynamics. Similarly, the solution conformation of the beta
      1,2-linked mannotriose to mannoheptaose was identified by the high temperature
      simulated annealing. In the mannotetraose, the nonreducing terminal mannose unit
      was located near the reducing terminal one and formed a folded conformation. This
      result suggests that a mannose unit affects the H-1 chemical shifts of not only
      the second mannose unit, but also the third and fourth mannose units.

PMID- 20930410
TI  - A novel cyclopentene derivative and a polyhydroxylated steroid from a South China
      Sea gorgonian Menella sp.
AB  - A chemical investigation on a South China Sea gorgonian, Menella sp. resulted in
      the isolation and elucidation of menellin A (1), a highly oxygenated racemate
      with C(8) skeleton, and a polyhydroxylated steroid, menellsteroid C (2), along
      with eight known compounds (3-10). The structures of the new compounds were
      elucidated by means of MS, 1D and 2D NMR spectra, and the relative
      stereochemistry of 1 was determined by X-ray single-crystal diffraction analysis.
      In addition, compound 7 was isolated as a new natural product. Compounds 1-3 and
      7 were selected to test the anti-inflammatory inhibition against
      lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced nitric oxide (NO) production in RAW264.7
      macrophages. 1 and 3 exhibited modest inhibitory effects with IC(50) of 71.3,
      33.9 uM, respectively, compared to the positive control aminoguanidine (IC(50)
      25.0 uM).

PMID- 20930411
TI  - Two new flavan-flavanones from Sarcandra hainanensis.
AB  - Chemical study of the whole plants of Sarcandra hainanensis yielded two new
      biflavonoids with a flavan-flavanone skeleton, sarcandrone C (1), D (2) and 6
      known compounds (3-8). Structures were elucidated on the basis of NMR
      spectroscopic methods.

PMID- 20930412
TI  - Reinvestigation of the absolute stereochemistry of megastigmane glucoside,
      icariside B(5).
AB  - Icariside B(5) is one of the widely distributed megastigmane glucosides among
      plant sources. The absolute structure of icariside B(5) was reinvestigated by
      chemical conversion from the related compound and the application of the modified
      Mosher's method. As a result, the structure of icariside B(5) was revised to be
      (6S,9S)-6,9-dihydroxymegastigman-4-en-3-one 9-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside.

PMID- 20930413
TI  - Iridoid and acyclic monoterpene glycosides, kankanosides L, M, N, O, and P from
      Cistanche tubulosa.
AB  - Three iridoid glycosides, kankanosides L, M, and N, and two acyclic monoterpene
      glycosides, kankanosides O and P, were isolated from fresh stems of Cistanche
      tubulosa (Orobanchaceae) together with eight iridoid glycosides, five acyclic
      monoterpene glycosides, three phenylpropanoid glycosides, and four lignan
      glycosides. Their structures were elucidated on the basis of chemical and
      physicochemical evidence.

PMID- 20930414
TI  - A new monoterpenoid glycoside from Myrica esculenta and the inhibition of
      angiotensin I-converting enzyme.
AB  - One new monoterpenoid glycoside, myresculoside (1), and eleven known compounds,
      were isolated from methanol extract of Myrica esculenta leaves by repeated column
      chromatography. The effects of these compounds on angiotensin I-converting enzyme
      (ACE) inhibition were investigated. Compounds 3 and 4 showed the most potent ACE
      inhibition with rates of 29.97% and 25.63% at concentration of 100 uM,
      respectively. Compounds 5, 6, and 11 showed weak activity with inhibitory rates
      of 0.07-1.41% at concentration of 100 uM.

PMID- 20930415
TI  - Nucleophilic addition to 2,3-disubstituted butanal derivatives and their
      application to natural product synthesis.
AB  - The reaction of 2,3-anti-2-tert-butyldimethylsiloxy-3-substituted butanal
      derivative [anti-B, (+/-)-10 and (+/-)-16] derived from trans-(2,3)-epoxy
      butanoate (1) with carbon nucleophiles [alpha-furyl anion, acetate anion, and
      indium (In)-assisted allyl anion] has been investigated to give selectively the
      anti-, anti-adduct D. This anti-stereoselection could be explained by the Felkin
      Anh transition state model. Thus obtained anti-, anti-adducts (+/-)-17 and (+/-)
      38 were formally converted to natural products, (+/-)-asperlin (2) and (+/-)
      olivose (4), respectively. The major anti-, anti-adduct (+/-)-26 was converted to
      (+/-)-digitoxose (3), while the minor anti-, syn-adduct (+/-)-27 was also
      converted to (+/-)-olivose (4). The reaction of (+/-)-10 with tert-butyl acetate
      anion gave predominantly afforded the anti-, anti-adduct (+/-)-23, which was
      converted to (+/-)-1,5-dideoxyhexitol (25). Alternately, the reaction of 2,3-syn
      2-tert-butyldimethylsiloxy-3-p-methoxyphenoxy butanal derivative [syn-B, (+/-)
      14] derived from trans-(2,3)-epoxy butanoate (1) with carbon nucleophile (In
      assisted allyl anion) afforded a ca. 1 : 1 mixture of the syn-, anti-adduct E
      [(+/-)-32 or (+/-)-34] and syn-, syn-adduct F [(+/-)-33 or (+/-)-35]. After
      separation of this mixture, (+/-)-34 and (+/-)-35 were separately converted to
      (+/-)-oliose (5) and (+/-)-boivinose (6), respectively.

PMID- 20930416
TI  - Sterically congested, "roofed" beta-iminodisulfides as new chiral ligands for
      palladium-catalyzed, asymmetric allylic alkylation.
AB  - The preparation of a new class of "roofed" beta-iminodisulfides from sterically
      congested, conformationally rigid chiral 2-thiazolidinones is described. A
      functional survey of palladium-catalyzed asymmetric allylic alkylation of 1,3
      diphenyl-2-propenyl acetate with dimethyl malonate proved that symmetrical
      "roofed" beta-iminodisulfides are efficient chiral ligands, showing
      enantioselectivity opposite that associated with chiral "roofed" beta
      iminothioether ligands.

PMID- 20930417
TI  - Pharmacogenetics of CYP1A2, novel polymorphisms and haplotypes in three distinct
      Asian populations.
AB  - CYP1A2 play an important role in the metabolism of many carcinogens and
      clinically important drugs. CYP1A2 activity has been found to be influenced by
      the presence of polymorphic variants which were reported to display wide
      interethnic variation. This study investigates the frequency distribution and
      linkage disequilibrium patterns of CYP1A2 genetic polymorphisms, and characterize
      their haplotype structures in three healthy Asian populations in Singapore
      (Chinese, Malay, and Indian). The entire CYP1A2 gene was screened in 126 healthy
      subjects from all three ethnic groups (N=42 each). A total of 25 polymorphisms
      was identified, of which nine were novel. The polymorphisms, -2467delT and 
      163C>A were detected at high frequencies in all Asian ethnic groups. Significant
      interethnic differences were observed in the genotypic frequency distribution of
      IVS2-99G>A (P<0.01) and 1548C>T (P=0.05) across the three ethnic groups while 
      163C>A (P=0.02) was found to differ between Chinese and Malays. Haplotype
      analyses revealed four to six major haplotypes in each ethnic population which
      accounted for more than 60% of the cumulative haplotype frequencies. Future
      studies should be done to investigate the functional roles of these haplotypes.

PMID- 20930418
TI  - Genetic polymorphisms of FCGRT encoding FcRn in a Japanese population and their
      functional analysis.
AB  - Neonatal Fc receptor (FcRn) plays an important role in regulating IgG homeostasis
      in the body. Changes in FcRn expression levels or activity caused by genetic
      polymorphisms of FCGRT, which encodes FcRn, may lead to interindividual
      differences in pharmacokinetics of therapeutic antibodies. In this study, we
      sequenced the 5'-flanking region, all exons and their flanking regions of FCGRT
      from 126 Japanese subjects. Thirty-three genetic variations, including 17 novel
      ones, were found. Of these, two novel non-synonymous variations, 629G>A (R210Q)
      and 889T>A (S297T), were found as heterozygous variations. We next assessed the
      functional significance of the two novel non-synonymous variations by expressing
      wild-type and variant proteins in HeLa cells. Both variant proteins showed
      similar intracellular localization as well as antibody recycling efficiencies.
      These results suggested that at least no common functional polymorphic site with
      amino acid change was present in the FCGRT of our Japanese population.

PMID- 20930419
TI  - Pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic variation associated with VKORC1 and CYP2C9
      polymorphisms in Thai patients taking warfarin.
AB  - We investigated the influence of genetic polymorphisms of CYP2C9 and VKORC1
      genotypes on the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of warfarin and
      established an equation for predicting the maintenance dose of warfarin in the
      Thai population using genetic and non-genetic factors. The CYP2C9*2, CYP2C9*3,
      VKORC1 C1173T and VKORC1 G-1639A genotypes were detected by realtime PCR using
      fluorogenic hybridization probes. The associations between genetic and
      demographic factors with respect to warfarin dosage were analyzed. CYP2C9
      polymorphisms affect warfarin metabolism as shown by a significant difference in
      warfarin clearance, whereas VKORC1 genotypes cause a significant difference in
      warfarin sensitivity index (INR:Cp). The mean weekly warfarin dose was
      significantly different among different VKORC1 and CYP2C9 genotypes. Patients
      with the VKORC1 BB haplotype and CYP2C9*1/*1 required about twice the warfarin
      dose compared to those with the VKORC1 AA haplotype and CYP2C9*1/*1. Using
      stepwise multiple linear regression, clinical factors (age and weight) and
      genetic factors (CYP2C9 and VKORC1) could explain about 53.8% of the variance of
      the warfarin maintenance dose. CYP2C9 and VKORC1 genotypes played an important
      role in the inter-individual variation in warfarin maintenance dose in a Thai
      population.

PMID- 20930420
TI  - Induction of hepatic cytochrome P450s by the herbal medicine Sophora flavescens
      extract in rats: impact on the elimination of theophylline.
AB  - The roots of Sophora flavescens (Sf) have been widely used as a herbal medicine
      for the treatment of diarrhea, gastrointestinal hemorrhage, and eczema.
      Cytochrome P450 (P450) forms including CYP1A2, CYP2B, CYP2E1, and CYP3A
      participate in the oxidative metabolism of theophylline, which is an important
      bronchodilation agent with a narrow therapeutic index. To assess the interaction
      of Sf with theophylline, the effects of Sf extract on theophylline-metabolizing
      P450s and on the pharmacokinetic profile of theophylline were investigated in
      male Sprague-Dawley rats. Oral treatment of rats with the Sf extract caused dose
      dependent increases of liver microsomal oxidation activities toward 7
      ethoxyresorufin, 7-pentoxyresorufin, and nifedipine. However,
      nitrosodimethylamine N-demethylation activity was not affected. The ingestion of
      Sf extract stimulated theophylline 8-oxidation and N-demethylation activities.
      The increases of oxidative activities were in consensus with the elevation of the
      protein levels of CYP1A2, CYP2B1/2, CYP2C11, and CYP3A. Sf-treatment increased
      the clearance of theophylline and decreased the area under the concentration-time
      curve (AUC) and the area under the moment curve (AUMC). These results demonstrate
      that Sf reduces blood theophylline concentration through facilitating the
      elimination of theophylline. In patients taking Sf, possible P450 induction
      induced drug interaction should be noted to decrease the risk of therapeutic
      failure or adverse effects resulting from the use of additional therapeutic
      agents.

PMID- 20930421
TI  - Garlic flavonoids and organosulfur compounds: impact on the hepatic
      pharmacokinetics of saquinavir and darunavir.
AB  - The therapeutic efficacy of saquinavir and darunavir is affected by the presence
      of xenobiotics (such as garlic compounds) capable of modifying transporter-enzyme
      interplay. To ascertain the mechanism of interactions between antiretroviral
      drugs and garlic supplements and to identify the garlic constituents responsible,
      the hepatic pharmacokinetics of two antiretroviral drugs was investigated in the
      presence of garlic phytochemicals and aged garlic extract. For this purpose, rat
      liver slices and isolated rat hepatocytes were used. Aged garlic extract
      significantly inhibited saquinavir efflux from rat hepatocytes, while the efflux
      of darunavir significantly increased. Phytochemicals inducing distribution
      changes of saquinavir and darunavir were most probably flavonoids and lipophilic
      organosulfur compounds, respectively. All tested phytochemicals (except S-allyl L
      cysteine) and aged garlic extract inhibited CYP3A4 metabolism of both drugs and
      modulated hepatic distribution of the corresponding saquinavir and darunavir
      metabolites. The competition between saquinavir and garlic constituent(s) for the
      same binding site on the efflux transporter and the positive cooperative effect
      between darunavir and garlic phytochemical(s), which bind to separate binding
      places on transporter, are the most probable mechanisms explaining the plasma
      profile changes, which could occur in vivo during concomitant consumption of
      antiretrovirals and garlic supplements.

PMID- 20930422
TI  - In vitro evaluation of cytochrome P450 and glucuronidation activities in
      hepatocytes isolated from liver-humanized mice.
AB  - Cryopreserved human (h-) hepatocytes are currently regarded as the best in vitro
      model for predicting human intrinsic clearance of xenobiotics. Although fresh h
      hepatocytes have greater plating efficiency on dishes and greater metabolic
      activities than cryopreserved cells, performing reproducible studies using fresh
      hepatocytes from the same donor and having an "on demand" supply of fresh
      hepatocytes are not possible. In this study, cryopreserved h-hepatocytes were
      transplanted into albumin enhancer/promoter-driven, urokinase-type plasminogen
      activator, transgenic/severe combined immunodeficient (uPA/SCID) mice to produce
      chimeric mice, the livers of which were largely replaced with h-hepatocytes. We
      determined whether the chimeric mouse could serve as a novel source of fresh h
      hepatocytes for in vitro studies. h-Hepatocytes were isolated from chimeric mice
      (chimeric hepatocytes), and cytochrome P450 (P450) activities were determined.
      Compared with cryopreserved cells, the P450 (1A2, 2C9, 2C19, 2D6, 2E1, 3A)
      activities of fresh chimeric hepatocytes were similar or greater. Moreover,
      ketoprofen was more actively metabolized through glucuronide conjugates by fresh
      chimeric hepatocytes than by cryopreserved cells. We conclude that chimeric mice
      may be a useful tool for supplying fresh h-hepatocytes on demand that provide
      high and stable phase I enzyme and glucuronidation activities.

PMID- 20930423
TI  - Metabolism of parabens (4-hydroxybenzoic acid esters) by hepatic esterases and
      UDP-glucuronosyltransferases in man.
AB  - Parabens (alkyl esters of 4-hydroxybenzoic acid) are widely used as preservatives
      in drugs, cosmetic products, and foodstuffs. Safety concerns have recently
      increased due to the potential health risks associated to exposure to large
      amounts of these substances. Biotransformation of parabens mainly includes
      hydrolysis of the ester bond and glucuronidation reactions. The hydrolysis and
      glucuronidation of a series of six parabens differing by the nature of the alkyl
      group were investigated in human liver microsomes and plasma, and the major human
      UDP-glucuronosyltransferase (UGT) isoforms involved in the reaction were
      identified. Methyl- and ethylparaben were stable in human plasma, with 95% of the
      initial concentration remaining after 24 h. On the other hand, propyl-, butyl-
      and benzylparaben concentrations decreased by 50% under similar conditions. In
      contrast, rapid hydrolysis was measured with human liver microsomes depending on
      the alkyl chain length, with t(1/2) varying from 22 min for methylparaben to 87
      min for butylparaben. All parabens were actively glucuronidated by liver
      microsomes, in comparison to 4-hydroxybenzoic acid. They were mainly substrates
      of human recombinant UGT1A1, UGT1A8, UGT1A9, UGT2B7, UGT2B15 and UGT2B17. In
      conclusion, the parabens were readily metabolized in human liver through esterase
      hydrolysis and glucuronidation by several UGT isoforms. These results suggest
      that these parabens do not accumulate in human tissue.

PMID- 20930424
TI  - Hypertonicity enhances GABA uptake by cultured rat retinal capillary endothelial
      cells.
AB  - We have reported previously that taurine transporter (TauT) mediates gamma
      aminobutyric acid (GABA) as a substrate in a conditionally immortalized rat
      retinal capillary endothelial cell line (TR-iBRB2 cells). This study investigates
      how TauT-mediated GABA transport is regulated in TR-iBRB2 cells under hypertonic
      conditions. [3H]GABA uptake by TR-iBRB2 cells exposed to 12 h- to 24 h-hypertonic
      culture medium was significantly greater than that of isotonic culture medium.
      [3H]GABA uptake by TR-iBRB2 cells was Na(+)-, Cl(-)-, and concentration-dependent
      with a Michaelis-Menten (K(m)) constant of 3.5 mM under isotonic conditions and
      K(m) of 0.324 and 5.48 mM under hypertonic conditions. Under hypertonic
      conditions, [3H]GABA uptake by TR-iBRB2 cells was more potently inhibited by
      substrates of TauT, such as taurine and beta-alanine, than those of GABA
      transporters such as GABA, nipecotic acid, and betaine. These results suggest
      that an unknown high-affinity GABA transport process and TauT-mediated GABA
      transport are enhanced under hypertonic conditions. In conclusion, hypertonicity
      enhances GABA uptake by cultured rat retinal capillary endothelial cells.

PMID- 20930425
TI  - Functional characterization of genetic polymorphisms identified in the promoter
      region of the xanthine oxidase gene.
AB  - Xanthine oxidase (XO) catalyzes the oxidation of endogenous and exogenous purines
      and pyrimidines. In the present study, we investigated polymorphisms in the
      promoter region of the XO gene. Sequence variations in the 5'-flanking region
      were screened using denaturing high-performance liquid chromatography (DHPLC) on
      DNA samples from 196 unrelated Japanese individuals. Thirteen polymorphisms were
      identified and 13 haplotypes were classified by haplotype analysis. The promoter
      activities of these polymorphisms were measured by luciferase assay in the human
      hepatoma cell lines HepG2 and Huh-7. Transcriptional activity was significantly
      lower in cell lines transfected with the reporter construct containing 5-kb
      upstream fragments with -1756T than in those with wild-type -1756C. Our results
      indicate that genetic variation in the promoter region of XO may determine
      interindividual differences in XO gene expression.

PMID- 20930426
TI  - Electromechanical activation time in the prediction of discharge outcomes in
      patients hospitalized with acute heart failure syndrome.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Left ventricular systolic time intervals, including pre-ejection
      period (PEP), ejection time (ET), and their ratio (PEP/ET), is determined by
      systolic and diastolic function and ventriculo-arterial coupling. We investigated
      the usefulness of the electromechanical activation time [(EMAT) PEP minus
      isovolumic contraction time] in the prediction of cardiac mortality or re
      hospitalization for heart failure in patients with the acute heart failure
      syndrome (AHFS). PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 45 patients (71.9+/-16.1 years
      old) hospitalized for AHFS were enrolled. Systolic time intervals and EMAT
      normalized by cardiac cycle length (%) were measured separately by separate
      automated acoustic devices. All parameters were assessed within 24 hours of
      admission, before discharge, and 2 weeks after discharge. RESULTS: During a mean
      follow-up of 242+/-156 days, 20 patients (44%) incurred adverse cardiovascular
      events including 18 re-hospitalizations for heart failure and 2 cardiovascular
      deaths. Using uni-variate Cox regression analysis, at admission %EMAT and %PEP,
      pre-discharge %EMAT, and post-discharge %EMAT significantly predicted post
      discharge cardiovascular events with hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals
      of 1.75 (1.13-2.70), 1.67 (1.02-2.70), 1.87 (1.10-3.17) and 2.50 (1.58-3.97) per
      1-SD increment, respectively. The predictions remained significant after
      adjustment for age, sex, left ventricular ejection fraction, E/E' by Doppler
      echocardiography, and serum N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide. CONCLUSION:
      EMAT measured during the hospitalization course is useful in the prediction of
      cardiovascular outcomes in patients with AHFS independent of left ventricular
      ejection fraction, E/E', and serum N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide.

PMID- 20930427
TI  - A NADH dehydrogenase ubiquinone flavoprotein is decreased in patients with
      dilated cardiomyopathy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: It is known that patients with myocarditis of unknown etiology and
      with dilated cardiomyopathy show a high incidence of serum autoantibodies (M7)
      directed against mitochondrial flavoproteins. The tissue concentration of
      mitochondrial flavoproteins in the myocardium obtained from patients with dilated
      cardiomyopathy (DCM) was examined to further investigate the immunopathological
      mechanism of cardiomyopathy. METHODS AND RESULTS: Myocardial tissue specimens
      were obtained from patients who underwent cardiac catheterization and a
      subendomyocardial biopsy for the diagnosis of cardiomyopathy. All samples were
      analyzed by Western blotting. NADH dehydrogenase ubiquinone flavoprotein (NDUFV1)
      production in the myocardium decreased significantly with DCM, in comparison to
      fumarate hydratase and flavoprotein SDHA. There was a significant negative
      correlation between the left ventricular end-diastolic dimension and NDUFV1
      production (R(2)=0.291, p value<0.05). CONCLUSION: NDUFV1 may be involved in the
      pathogenesis of DCM. A defect of mitochondrial NDUFV1 may reduce complex I, which
      produces most of the superoxide, which is then scavenged by the mitochondrial
      enzyme Mn-superoxide dismutase to produce H(2)O(2). Exploring the nature of the
      candidate protein found in the myocardium in this study will provide further
      insight into the immunological mechanism of DCM.

PMID- 20930428
TI  - Positive effect of baclofen on body weight reduction in obese subjects: a pilot
      study.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: We previously reported that baclofen, a GABA(B)
      agonist, reduces body weight in obese mice. In this clinical study, we examined
      the possibility that baclofen might serve as an effective therapeutic agent for
      obesity in humans. METHODS: Seven women and three men ranging from 25-51 years of
      age and 31.3-41.0 kg/m(2) body mass index were included in the study. Baclofen,
      which was started at a dose of 15 mg/day and increased to 30 mg/day in 10 days,
      was administered for 12 weeks. RESULTS: Administration of baclofen for 12 weeks
      significantly decreased both body weight (baseline: 93.30 +/- 9.80 kg, 12 weeks:
      91.70 +/- 10.30 kg) and waist circumference (baseline: 107.9 +/- 9.0 cm, 12
      weeks: 105.6 +/- 10.0 cm). Serum leptin levels, which possibly reflect the amount
      of adipose stores, were also decreased significantly by the treatment. On the
      other hand, there were no significant changes in the blood pressure or metabolism
      of glucose and lipid. No adverse effects were observed. CONCLUSION: Although the
      anti-obesity effects of baclofen in the present study were mild, this pilot study
      suggests the possibility that baclofen might serve as a new anti-obesity drug in
      humans.

PMID- 20930429
TI  - Meta-analysis of Tripterygium wilfordii Hook F in the immunosuppressive treatment
      of IgA nephropathy.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Numerous Chinese patients with IgA nephropathy (IgAN) have benefited
      from Tripterygium wilfordii Hook F (TwHF) from two decades ago. However, to date
      there is no systematic evaluation of this remedy for IgAN. METHODS: We conducted
      a meta-analysis of all eligible randomized clinical trials (RCTs) to assess the
      effect of TwHF on IgAN for the first time. In August 2009 a systematic search was
      performed among eight electronic databases. Review Manager (RevMan) version 5.0
      was used. RESULTS: (i) Four eligible RCTs with 188 participants were included;
      (ii) The validities of included RCTs were generally acceptable; (iii) TwHF
      brought about a favorable increase in complete remission (CR) (RR 1.53, 95%CI
      1.09 to 2.16, I(2)=12%) and total remission (TR) (RR 1.27, 95%CI 1.08 to 1.48,
      I(2)=0%) compared with non-TwHF treatment; and this result was further confirmed
      by intention-to-treat analysis; (iv) Exploiting subgroup meta-analysis, TwHF led
      to significantly greater improvements of IgAN with non-nephrotic proteinuria with
      regard to the increase of CR (RR 1.80, 95%CI 1.21 to 2.68, I(2)=0%) and TR (RR
      1.32, 95%CI 1.11 to 1.57, I(2)=0%), and decrease of urinary proteinuria excretion
      (UPE) (MD -467.41 mg/24h, 95%CI -633.99 to -300.82, I(2)=0%). Meanwhile, the
      renal function was well preserved (MD -2.66 umol/L, 95%CI -9.26 to 3.94,
      I(2)=0%). Conclusion Although the results of this meta-analysis should be
      interpreted with caution and warrant further investigation, TwHF was certainly a
      valuable and promising immunosuppressive remedy for IgAN, which was in accordance
      with the accruing evidence from numerous large clinical and experimental studies.

PMID- 20930430
TI  - Low serum acylated ghrelin levels are associated with the development of
      cardiovascular disease in hemodialysis patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Ghrelin has a protective effect on endothelial cells. Endothelial
      cell dysfunction is associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD) and CVD remains
      the leading cause of morbidity in hemodialysis (HD) patients. Acylated ghrelin (A
      Ghr) is the functional form of ghrelin, so we hypothesized that A-Ghr is
      associated with the occurrence of CVD in HD patients. METHODS: We conducted a
      prospective cohort study in 412 HD patients. The cohort was sub-grouped into low
      and high A-Ghr groups according to the median A-Ghr level of 4.88 pg/mL. The
      association between the low/high A-Ghr groups and the incidence of CVD were
      analyzed. RESULTS: The HD patients in a low A-Ghr group had a greater risk of
      incidental CVD than those in a high A-Ghr ghrelin. This association remained
      significant after the adjustment for possible confounding factors, including age,
      gender, HD duration, BMI, diabetes, albumin, nPCR and Charlson's comorbidity
      index score. CONCLUSION: It appears that a low serum A-Ghr level is associated
      with the development of CVD in HD patients.

PMID- 20930431
TI  - Risedronate therapy for the prevention of steroid-induced osteoporosis in
      patients with minimal-change nephrotic syndrome.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Minimal-change nephrotic syndrome (MCNS) is treated by the
      administration of prednisolone (PSL) at high doses. Steroid-induced osteoporosis
      is a serious adverse effect of this drug. METHODS: Patients with MCNS were
      randomly assigned to two groups, the risedronate (2.5 mg/day) + alfacalcidol
      (0.25 ug/day) group (n=20) and the alfacalcidol (0.25 ug/day)-alone group (n=20).
      All the patients had received PSL and the clinical characteristics were compared
      between the two groups at baseline and at 12 months. RESULTS: A significant
      decrease of the mean bone mineral density (BMD) of the lumbar spine from 0.710+/
      0.162 (g/cm(2)) to 0.588+/-0.125 was observed in the alfacalcidol-alone group
      (p=0.02), while no such decrease of the bone mineral density was found in the
      risedronate + alfacalcidol group (0.663+/-0.169 at baseline and 0.626+/-0.129 at
      12 months). No significant differences in the results of other biochemical tests
      performed at the baseline and at 12 months were observed between the two groups.
      The likelihood of development of steroid-induced osteoporosis was influenced by
      the cumulative dose of PSL, the mean BMD at the baseline, occurrence of disease
      relapse, and risedronate therapy. CONCLUSION: Risedronate appears to be effective
      in preventing steroid-induced osteoporosis. It is necessary to use
      bisphosphonates to maintain the BMD in patients with MCNS receiving prolonged
      steroid therapy.

PMID- 20930432
TI  - Improved assessment of aortic calcification in Japanese patients undergoing
      maintenance hemodialysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Vascular calcification is a feature of arteriosclerosis and in
      hemodialysis (HD) patients it may be severe, even at a relatively young age, and
      is closely related to the overall prognosis. We used the aortic calcification
      area index (ACAI), derived from the aortic calcification index (ACI), to evaluate
      and analyze the risk factors for abdominal aortic calcification in HD patients.
      PATIENTS AND METHODS: Subjects comprised 137 patients on maintenance HD. ACAI was
      measured on abdominal plain computed tomography: 10 slices of the abdominal aorta
      were obtained at 1-cm intervals from the bifurcation of the common iliac artery
      and the area of the aortic cross-section and calcification was measured using
      image software. The calcification area was divided by the cross-sectional area
      and expressed as a percentage (%). The mean value for the 10 slices was also
      calculated. Patients were divided into 2 groups according to ACAI being lower or
      higher than the mean value and the risk factors in each group were compared by
      multivariate analysis. Results Group comparison showed significant differences in
      age, systolic blood pressure, serum calcium, and lipoprotein(a). On multiple
      regression analysis, age, systolic blood pressure, and serum calcium were
      independent risk factors. On logistic regression analysis, age, duration of
      dialysis, systolic blood pressure, and serum calcium were independent risk
      factors. CONCLUSION: Risk factors for abdominal aortic calcification in HD
      patients include age, systolic blood pressure, and serum calcium, according to
      ACAI evaluation. The ACAI was accurate and useful for evaluating abdominal
      calcification.

PMID- 20930433
TI  - Noninvasive ventilation in patients with acute exacerbation of pulmonary
      tuberculosis sequelae.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The efficacy of noninvasive ventilation (NIV) in acute exacerbation
      of pulmonary tuberculosis sequelae has not been fully studied. METHODS: We
      retrospectively reviewed 58 patients with acute exacerbation of pulmonary
      tuberculosis sequelae who were admitted to Tosei General Hospital and treated
      with NIV over a 9-year period. RESULTS: The 58 patients (mean age: 76.2+/-8.0)
      consisted of 39 males and 19 females. Arterial blood gas analysis on admission
      showed a mean pH of 7.28+/-0.07 and a mean PaCO(2) of 72.6+/-14.2 mmHg. After the
      start of NIV, significant improvement occurred in pH, to 7.32+/-0.06 after 2 h
      and 7.36+/-0.06 after 24 h, and in PaCO(2), to 66.4+/-11.2 mmHg after 2 h and
      61.6+/-11.3 mmHg after 24 h. The success rate in weaning from NIV was 86.2%.
      There were statistically significant differences in pH, body mass index (BMI),
      blood leukocyte count and serum potassium between patients successfully and
      unsuccessfully weaned from NIV. CONCLUSION: We conclude that patients with acute
      exacerbation of pulmonary tuberculosis sequelae can be treated successfully with
      NIV. Lower pH, BMI, and serum potassium, and higher blood leukocyte count are
      related to NIV failure.

PMID- 20930434
TI  - Resting energy expenditure and substrate metabolism in Chinese patients with
      acute or chronic hepatitis B or liver cirrhosis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Patients with liver disease usually have an imbalanced nutrient and
      energy metabolism that leads to malnutrition and seriously affects their
      prognosis. Therefore, it is of great clinical interest to understand the resting
      energy expenditure (REE) and oxidation rates of glucose, fat, and protein in
      these patients. METHODS: A total of 315 patients with liver diseases caused by
      hepatitis B virus were categorized into three groups: 20 acute hepatitis
      patients, 142 chronic hepatitis patients and 153 liver cirrhosis patients. The
      REE and the oxidation rates of glucose, fat and protein were assessed by indirect
      heat measurement. Energy intake data were also collected which were compared with
      the REE results. RESULTS: The REE per kg (REE/kg) were 27.34 +/- 5.46 kJ/kg,
      21.67 +/- 5.01 kJ/kg and 19.07 +/- 4.45 kJ/kg in acute, chronic hepatitis and
      liver cirrhosis patients (p=0.000), respectively. Respiratory quotient (RQ)
      tended to be lower in patients with chronic hepatitis and liver cirrhosis than
      that in acute hepatitis patients (p=0.023). Energy, protein and carbohydrate
      intakes were lower in liver cirrhosis patients. CONCLUSION: These data
      demonstrated that Chinese patients with chronic hepatitis B and liver cirrhosis
      had lower energy expenditure and abnormal substrate metabolism. Patients with
      chronic hepatitis and cirrhosis had a higher protein oxidation rate and a lower
      carbohydrate oxidation rate compared with acute hepatitis patients.

PMID- 20930435
TI  - Association between airflow obstruction and the metabolic syndrome or its
      components in Japanese men.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of this cross-sectional study was to investigate the
      association between airflow obstruction and the metabolic syndrome (MS) or its
      components in Japanese men. METHODS: The study included 7,189 male subjects, aged
      45-88 years, who underwent spirometric lung function tests at a medical check-up.
      The spirometric criteria for diagnosis of airflow obstruction were forced
      expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV(1))/forced vital capacity (FVC) <70%. The
      severity of airflow obstruction was defined according to the Global Initiative
      for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) guideline. RESULTS: The prevalence of
      airflow obstruction was 9.0% and the frequency of MS was 25.6%. In logistic
      regression models adjusting for age, body mass index, smoking, and alcohol, the
      risk of MS was higher in subjects with airflow obstruction of GOLD stage II-IV
      compared to those with normal lung function [odds radio (OR), 1.33; 95%
      confidence interval (95% CI), 1.01-1.76)]. Of the MS components, waist
      circumference (OR, 1.76; 95% CI, 1.24-2.50) and blood pressure (OR, 1.37; 95% CI,
      1.08-1.74) were associated with airflow obstruction of GOLD stage II-IV, after
      controlling for potential confounders. CONCLUSION: Airflow obstruction of GOLD
      stage II-IV might be associated with MS, waist circumference and blood pressure
      components in Japanese men.

PMID- 20930436
TI  - Gastritis associated with Epstein-Barr virus infection.
AB  - Infectious mononucleosis is a self-limiting clinical syndrome caused by primary
      Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection. EBV-associated gastritis, however, has rarely
      been documented. We report a case of a 17-year-old woman who presented with
      fever, sore throat, and epigastric pain. Upper endoscopy revealed diffuse
      granular mucosae and elevated lesions in the stomach. Histologically, the
      biopsied mucosa was infiltrated by numerous atypical lymphocytes. From clinical,
      histopathologic, immunohistochemical, and in situ hybridization analyses, we
      diagnosed EBV-associated gastritis. Her symptoms spontaneously resolved, and
      follow-up endoscopy revealed improvement and no atypical lymphocytes. To prevent
      misdiagnosis and unnecessary treatment, the possibility of EBV-associated
      gastritis should be considered.

PMID- 20930437
TI  - Paroxysmal atrial fibrillation due to bronchogenic cyst.
AB  - A 62-year-old man presented newly developed tachyarrhythmia diagnosed as
      paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (PAF) and was treated with flecainide and
      enalapril. He underwent a whole-body F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron
      emission tomography (PET) scan for cancer screening. The FDG-PET images showed a
      FDG non-avid lesion in the mid mediastinum. He was referred to our hospital for
      further examination under suspicion of a cardiac tumor in the left atrium. A
      chest computed tomography scan and magnetic resonance imaging revealed a
      bronchogenic cyst just under the carina and also compressed left atrium and
      pulmonary vein from its cranial portion. The cyst was completely excised. After
      the operation, PAF was stopped and sinus rhythm was preserved. PAF was thought to
      be due to compression by the bronchogenic cyst.

PMID- 20930438
TI  - Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis associated with meningitis due to
      Mycobacterium intracellulare.
AB  - A 73-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital because of persistent fever,
      headache and fatigue for several weeks. On admission, she was diagnosed as having
      meningitis due to Mycobacterium intracellulare (M. intracellulare) detected in
      her cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) by polymerase chain reaction. Even though anti
      tuberculous therapy improved her CSF findings, her condition was not restored.
      Brain MRI showed multifocal and asymmetrical increases in T2 signals involving
      white matter and cortical gray-white junction of cerebral hemispheres, cerebellum
      and brainstem. Based on the progression of clinical symptoms and radiological
      features, we diagnosed her illness as acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM)
      associated with meningitis due to M. intracellulare. Steroid therapy dramatically
      improved her condition. This is the first report of ADEM following meningitis due
      to M. intracellulare in a non-immunocompromized host.

PMID- 20930439
TI  - A case of juvenile acromegaly that was initially diagnosed as severe congestive
      heart failure from acromegaly-induced dilated cardiomyopathy.
AB  - Acromegaly is characterized by chronic hypersecretion of growth hormone (GH) and
      is associated with increased mortality rate because of the potential
      complications such as cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, or malignancy,
      which are probably caused by the long-term exposure of tissues to excess GH, for
      at least 10 years, before diagnosis and treatment. A 22-year-old man with a 2
      month history of fatigue was admitted to our hospital because of chest
      discomfort, dyspnea, and pitting edema of the lower limbs experienced over a 1
      month period. On admission, his height and body weight were 186 cm and 138.5 kg,
      respectively, with a BMI of 39.8 kg/m(2). He showed acromegalic features and
      elevated serum GH and IGF-1 levels, which were 11.5 ng/mL and 960 ng/mL,
      respectively. There was no GH suppression in the 75-g oral glucose tolerance
      test. Pituitary magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed microadenoma. Chest X
      ray revealed cardiomegaly, and echocardiogram showed dilated left ventricular
      (LV) cavity and diffuse hypokinesis with extremely decreased ejection fraction
      (EF). He was diagnosed as having acromegaly with congestive heart failure from
      diastolic cardiomyopathy. After the successful transsphenoidal resection of the
      pituitary adenoma, the level of GH was normalized. However, the cardiac
      dysfunction did not show any improvement even after the administration of beta
      blockers, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor (ACE-I), or diuretics. The
      patient was re-hospitalized, and he died of cardiac failure at the age of 25
      years. Patients with acromegaly have been reported to have about 30% higher
      mortality rate, and cardiovascular disease accounts for 60% of the deaths. We
      report a case of a patient with juvenile acromegaly who was diagnosed with severe
      cardiac failure at the time of diagnosis and failed to recover cardiac function
      even after the successful resection of the pituitary adenoma. Immediate diagnosis
      and treatment are required for better control of acromegalic cardiomyopathy.

PMID- 20930440
TI  - Glucose-responsive insulinoma in a patient with postprandial hypoglycemia in the
      morning.
AB  - We report the case of an obese 79-year-old woman who experienced postprandial
      hypoglycemia in the morning. The serum immunoreactive insulin (IRI) and C-peptide
      levels responded in parallel with her serum glucose level during a 75-g oral
      glucose tolerance test. A prolonged fast test lowered her serum glucose level to
      30 mg/dL, but serum IRI was not fully suppressed. Abdominal computed tomography
      revealed a tumor in the uncinate process of the pancreas. The tumor was
      histologically diagnosed as benign insulinoma after surgery. Therefore, glucose
      responsive insulinoma as well as reactive hypoglycemia should be considered in
      patients who exhibit postprandial hypoglycemia.

PMID- 20930441
TI  - A case of AL amyloidosis with renal rupture.
AB  - We report a 59-year-old woman with AL amyloidosis who presented with massive
      bleeding from the right kidney, in whom emergency surgery proved to be life
      saving. The patient had been diagnosed as having AL amyloidosis 16 years
      previously. After 5 years, hemodialysis had been initiated. In 2007, a large
      right-sided perinephric, intracapsular hematoma was detected. Right nephrectomy
      was performed and the patient recovered with no sequelae. Histopathological
      examination revealed a greater degree of amyloid deposition in the resected
      kidney than that at the time of diagnosis. Amyloid angiopathy may promote
      bleeding.

PMID- 20930442
TI  - A rare masquerader of lung cancer: nonsecretory multiple myeloma with
      plasmacytoma of bone presenting as acute kidney injury.
AB  - Multiple myeloma (MM) is a neoplasm of B cell lineage characterized by excessive
      proliferation of abnormal plasma cells which produce immunglobulins. If a
      monoclonal spike is not found in serum or urine but the patient has clinical
      findings and bone marrow plasma cell infiltration suggestive of MM, then the
      patient may have a rare subtype known as nonsecretory multiple myeloma (NSMM).
      Here, we describe a rare case of NSMM with plasmacytoma of bone who presented
      with severe hypercalcemia, acute kidney injury and a large thoracal mass on chest
      X-ray masquerading as lung cancer.

PMID- 20930443
TI  - Birt-Hogg-Dube syndrome with multiple cysts and recurrent pneumothorax:
      pathological findings.
AB  - A 39-year-old woman presented with right-sided pneumothorax. Partial lung
      resection was done via thoracoscopy. Five years later, left-sided pneumothorax
      occurred, and she underwent thoracoscopy again. However, air leakage continued,
      and pleurodesis was performed. Although she had no skin eruptions or renal
      tumors, Birt-Hogg-Dube (BHD) syndrome was suggested by radiographic findings. BHD
      gene analysis was performed, which revealed the BHD gene mutation. Reevaluation
      of pathological findings showed elastic fibers in the alveolar walls with fine
      granular changes and accumulation of macrophages. BHD syndrome should be
      considered in patients presenting with multiple pulmonary cysts with or without
      skin eruption, or kidney tumor.

PMID- 20930444
TI  - Upper lobe-dominant pulmonary fibrosis showing deposits of hard metal component
      in the fibrotic lesions.
AB  - We present a 54-year-old man employed in the field of hard metal manufacturing
      who complained of progressive dyspnea and weight loss. His chest radiograph
      showed bilateral fibrosis predominantly distributed in the upper lobes with
      bilateral pleural effusions, and a strong reduction in lung volume. Lung
      histopathology showed apical cap-like fibrosis but no giant cell interstitial
      pneumonia. Electron probe microanalysis detected tungsten deposits in the
      fibrotic region: we therefore considered this to be a case of hard metal disease.
      Hard metal disease should be considered as one possibility in the differential
      diagnosis of upper lobe-dominant pulmonary fibrosis.

PMID- 20930445
TI  - Mediastinal follicular lymphoma diagnosed with multidirectional analysis using
      tissue samples obtained by EBUS-TBNA.
AB  - Endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) has
      been developed as a useful tool for the diagnosis of diseases adjacent to the
      airway to be used in place of open surgery or mediastinoscopy. In this report, we
      present a 46-year-old man with a solid tumor in the mediastinum. Since no other
      pathological sites were identified, EBUS-TBNA was employed for tumor sampling.
      Sufficient tissue specimens were collected and the diagnosis of follicular
      lymphoma was established based on the combination of immunohistochemistry, flow
      cytometry and FISH analysis. This report demonstrates the advantage of EBUS-TBNA
      even for the diagnosis of hematological disease.

PMID- 20930446
TI  - A case of afebrile miliary tuberculosis that progressed from tuberculous
      spondylitis with iliopsoas abscess.
AB  - We present a case of a 78-year-old woman who visited our hospital for chronic
      atrial fibrillation. She consulted an orthopedic surgeon for lumbar pain in
      August 2009 and has been followed up for osteoporosis. However, her lumbar pain
      became exacerbated. In December 2009, clinical examination revealed that the pain
      was caused by tuberculous spondylitis and iliopsoas abscess. Diffuse miliary
      shadow, which was undetected earlier, was noted on chest roentgenogram; she was
      diagnosed with miliary tuberculosis. Lumbar pain is common in elderly individuals
      and should be regarded as one of the tuberculosis symptoms, considering its
      atypical course in elderly patients.

PMID- 20930447
TI  - Successful treatment of refractory enteropathy-associated T-cell lymphoma using
      high-dose chemotherapy and autologous stem cell transplantation.
AB  - A 65-year-old woman presented with a 6-month history of abdominal pain and watery
      diarrhea. Type II enteropathy-associated T-cell lymphoma (EATL) was diagnosed
      based on the clinical presentation and pathological examination of the tumor. The
      patient received combination chemotherapy but did not achieve remission.
      Subsequently, high-dose therapy (HDT) and autologous stem cell transplantation
      (ASCT) were performed. After these therapies, she achieved complete remission,
      which has been sustained for 18 months. Although the role of HDT-ASCT for EATL is
      still controversial, the clinical course of this patient suggests that ASCT can
      improve the prognosis in some patients with EATL.

PMID- 20930448
TI  - Efficacy of rituximab monotherapy for an elderly hemodialysis patient with
      primary cardiac lymphoma.
AB  - We report a case of primary cardiac lymphoma (PCL) occurring in a 76-year-old man
      during maintenance hemodialysis. Chest computed tomography (CT) revealed a tumor
      with pericardial effusion in the left ventricular posterior wall. Cytological
      examination of the pericardial fluid revealed monotonous lymphoid cells positive
      for B-cell markers, and clonal immunoglobulin heavy chain gene rearrangement was
      detected, indicating B-cell lymphoma. Rituximab monotherapy was administered
      biweekly at the therapeutic level on hemodialysis. The follow-up chest CT showed
      tumor disappearance with pericardial fluid after two courses of therapy.
      Rituximab monotherapy was effective for an elderly hemodialysis patient with PCL.

PMID- 20930449
TI  - Expression of various glutamate receptors including N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor
      (NMDAR) in an ovarian teratoma removed from a young woman with anti-NMDAR
      encephalitis.
AB  - A 21-year-old woman developed psychiatric symptoms, progressive unresponsiveness,
      generalized seizures, severe dyskinesia, marked fluctuation of blood pressure,
      and hypersalivation after a flu-like episode. Anti-glutamate receptor
      (GluR)epsilon2 and anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) antibodies were
      positive in both her serum and CSF. After she recovered five months later she
      underwent surgery to remove a right ovarian teratoma. Immunohistochemical
      examinations of her teratoma disclosed abundant expression of various GluRs
      including NR2B subunit of NMDAR, GluR1, and GluR2/3. These immunoreactivities of
      GluRs were seen not only in small areas of neural tissue identified as anti-glial
      fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP)-immunoreactive areas but also in other large
      areas of undifferentiated neuroepithelial tissue without GFAP immunoreactivity.
      Our findings strongly support the recent idea that neural elements in ovarian
      teratoma play an important role in the production of antibodies to NMDARs in anti
      NMDAR encephalitis. Additionally, the study of control ovaries clearly showed
      NR2B-related immunoreactivity in the cytoplasm of oocytes, indicating that the
      normal ovary itself has expression of NMDARs. This finding might provide a clue
      to understand the pathogenesis of this disease in female patients without ovarian
      teratoma.

PMID- 20930450
TI  - Intestinal angina due to atherosclerosis in a 45-year-old systemic lupus
      erythematosus patient.
AB  - We report a patient with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) who developed
      progressive emaciation and postprandial abdominal pain with a 27-year history of
      corticosteroid treatment. The patient was diagnosed as having intestinal angina
      based on computed tomography that showed severe stenosis of the superior
      mesenteric artery (SMA) in addition to complete occlusion of the celiac and
      inferior mesenteric arteries. Histopathology of the SMA and abdominal aorta
      showed atherosclerosis with no vasculitis or thrombus formation. Intestinal
      angina should actively be considered as a possible cause of recurrent abdominal
      pain in SLE patients, particularly in those with a long history of disease.

PMID- 20930451
TI  - Three cases of fungemia in HIV-infected patients diagnosed through the use of
      mycobacterial blood culture bottles.
AB  - We treated three cases of fungemia in HIV-infected patients. These cases were
      caused by Candida albicans, Cryptococcus neoformans, and Penicillium marneffei,
      respectively, and all were diagnosed through the use of mycobacterial blood
      culture bottles. Although the detection of the etiologic agents of fungal
      infection is difficult, it has been shown that blood culture media for
      mycobacteria are more effective for the detection of fungemia than media for
      aerobes and anaerobes. Some reports have shown that Bactec Myco/F lytic bottles
      were useful for the diagnosis of fungemia in clinical samples. Here, we report
      the successful use of BacT MB bottles.

PMID- 20930452
TI  - Cytomegalovirus in the kidney allograft.

PMID- 20930453
TI  - Cutaneous vasculitis following influenza vaccination.

PMID- 20930454
TI  - Spontaneous perinephric hemorrhage from a hemorrhagic renal cyst.

PMID- 20930455
TI  - Telmisartan and obesity.

PMID- 20930457
TI  - Improvement of the embryonic stem cell test endpoint analysis by use of field
      potential detection.
AB  - The embryonic stem cell test (EST) is a validated in vitro method to assess the
      embryotoxic potential of compounds and is a promising tool for drug screening.
      EST requires microscopic observation of beating cardiomyocytes differentiated
      from embryonic stem cells as a toxicological endpoint. However, this process is
      time-consuming and lacks throughput performance. To improve the analysis, we
      introduced an electrophysiological method with a microelectrode array system for
      the evaluation of differentiated cardiomyocytes. Embryotoxic (valproic acid,
      verapamil, and 5-fluorouracil) and non-embryotoxic (penicillin G, d-camphor, and
      isoniazid) compounds were assessed with the system. Mouse embryonic stem cells
      were differentiated into cardiomyocytes and treated with each compound during the
      differentiation process. The embryotoxicity of each compound was then assessed by
      measuring the field potentials of differentiated cardiomyocytes using the
      microelectrode array system, as well as by microscopic evaluation. All the
      embryotoxic compounds dose-dependently inhibited the field potential formation
      and the myocardial beating of differentiated cells, while the non-embryotoxic
      compounds did not affect either endpoint. The detection capabilities of the two
      assay methods were similar. These results indicated that the field potential
      measurements can be used as an alternative endpoint of EST. Moreover, the field
      potential can be measured automatically, introducing a high throughput
      performance compared to the conventional microscopic observation. We therefore
      concluded that the endpoint analysis with the microelectrode array system
      improves the original EST and can be useful for the assessment of the embryotoxic
      potential of compounds.

PMID- 20930458
TI  - Cell proliferative activity in the kidney of young growing rat analyzed using
      flash and cumulative labeling with bromodeoxyuridine.
AB  - We examined the cell proliferation activity of kidney in young growing rats using
      flash and cumulative labeling with bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU). Rats were subjected
      to the study at the age of 6 weeks, and cumulative labeling was carried out for
      periods of 7 to 28 days. BrdU-positive cells were observed after flash labeling
      and were increased by cumulative labeling. The positive epithelia were mainly
      distributed in the cortex and the outer stripe of the outer medulla and were
      scarce in the inner stripe of the outer medulla and inner medulla throughout all
      labeling periods. In the tubular epithelium, the majority of positive cells were
      found in the proximal tubule. In the proximal tubule, positive epithelia were
      abundant in the medullary rays and in the outer stripe of the outer medulla. In
      the intermediate tubule to collecting duct, positive epithelia were rare. In the
      renal corpuscle, positive nuclei were mainly found in the endothelial cells and
      the mesangial cells and were scarce in the parietal cells of the Bowman's
      capsule. BrdU-positive nuclei were not observed in podocytes. These results
      indicate that renal tubules actively grow relative to epithelial proliferation,
      and that the endothelial cells, the mesangial cells and the parietal cells in the
      renal corpuscle also proliferate at the age of 6 to 10 weeks in rats. For
      assessment of renal toxicity using young growing rats, not only the morphologic
      and physiologic features unique to the kidney but also the growing process of the
      kidney should be taken into account.

PMID- 20930459
TI  - Relationships between plasma and tissue transaminase activities in rats
      maintained under different feeding conditions.
AB  - In order to verify the nutritional aspect of alterations of the plasma and tissue
      transaminase activities, rats were fed 4 hr per day for 35 days (the spaced-fed
      (SF) rats) and the time course of the alterations in plasma and tissue
      transaminase activity was compared with those in the ad libitum fed (ALF) rats.
      Plasma transaminase activities were stable throughout the experiment period in
      the ALF rats. In the SF rats there were alterations in the plasma alanine
      aminotransferase (ALT) activities, the direction of which was different between
      the early phase and late phase of the experiment period; plasma ALT activities
      decreased in the early phase and gradually increased in the late phase. Plasma
      aspartate aminotransferase (AST) activities were stable in the SF rats throughout
      the experiment period as well as the ALF rats. The decreases in plasma ALT
      activities in the early phase were considered to be related to decreases in ALT
      activities in the small intestinal mucosa (SI mucosa). On the other hand, the
      increases in plasma ALT activities in the late phase were considered to be
      related to increases in ALT activities in the liver. Multiple regression analyses
      (MRAs) revealed that plasma ALT activities in the SF rats could be estimated by
      the ALT activities in the SI mucosa and liver. From these results, the
      alterations of the plasma ALT activities in the SF rats could be explained by
      those in the SI mucosa and liver under the conditions in our study.

PMID- 20930460
TI  - Induction of pulmonary fibrosis by methotrexate treatment in mice lung in vivo
      and in vitro.
AB  - Methotrexate (MTX) has been used as the first-line disease-modifying
      antirheumatic drug (DMARD) in patients with early progressive rheumatoid
      arthritis (RA). Several severe side effects such as myelosuppression, hepato-,
      nephro-, and pulmonary toxicities have been reported. However, the pathogenic
      mechanism of MTX-induced pulmonary fibrosis is still unknown. Here, we evaluated
      the morphological and biological changes of the pulmonary fibrosis in mice
      treated with MTX. Three, four and five weeks after consecutive administration of
      MTX (3 mg/kg/day), hydroxyproline content in the lung tissues increased
      significantly to about 2 times higher that of the control level. This result
      closely reflected to the results of hematoxylin and eosin (HE) and Azan stains.
      Immunohistochemical analysis revealed that MTX treatment resulted in a decrease
      of alveolar epithelial cells and an increase of fibroblast cells in the mouse
      lung tissues. When we examined the effects of MTX on primary mouse alveolar
      epithelial cell (MAEC) and mouse lung fibroblast (MLF) survival in vitro, the
      efficiency of MTX-induced cytotoxicity and apoptosis in MAEC was more sensitive
      than MLF cells. Thus, our results indicate that the administration of MTX by an
      oral route could induce a fibrotic response with cell dysfunction of the alveolar
      epithelium by which MTX-induced apoptosis. Our results thus suggest that MTX
      could induce alveolar epithelial cell injury and resulted in the loss of
      integrity of the alveolar-capillary barrier basement membranes followed by the
      recruitment and proliferation of myofibroblasts with the deposition of collagens.

PMID- 20930461
TI  - Protective effect of Etlingera elatior (torch ginger) extract on lead acetate-
      induced hepatotoxicity in rats.
AB  - Lead is known to disrupt the biological systems by altering the molecular
      interactions, cell signaling, and cellular function. Exposure to even low levels
      of lead may have potential hazardous effects on brain, liver, kidneys and testes.
      The efficacy of Etlingera elatior (torch ginger) to protect hepatotoxicity
      induced by lead acetate was evaluated experimentally in male Sprague - Dawley
      rats. Rats were exposed to lead acetate in drinking water (500 ppm) for 21 days
      and the effects of concurrent treatment with extract of E. elatior on hepatic
      lipid hydroperoxides (LPO), protein carbonyl content (PCC), total antioxidants
      (TA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPX) and glutathione S-
      Transferase (GST) levels and histopathological changes in liver were evaluated.
      There was a significant decrease in TA and other antioxidant enzymes (p < 0.05)
      and increase in LPO and PCC (p < 0.05) with lead acetate ingestion. Concurrent
      treatment with E. elatior extract significantly reduced the LPO and PCC (p <
      0.05) in serum and increased the antioxidant enzyme levels (p < 0.05) in the
      liver. Significant histopathological changes were seen in hepatic tissue with
      chronic lead ingestion. Treatment with E. elatior significantly reduced these
      lead-induced changes in hepatic architecture. E. elatior has also reduced the
      blood lead levels (BLL). Thus, there has been extensive biochemical and
      structural alterations indicative of liver toxicity with exposure to lead and E.
      elatior treatment significantly reduced these oxidative damage. Our results
      suggest that E. elatior has a powerful antioxidant effect against lead-induced
      hepatotoxicity.

PMID- 20930462
TI  - Circadian modulation of hepatic transcriptome in transgenic rats expressing human
      growth hormone.
AB  - The secretory profile of growth hormone (GH) is sexually dimorphic in rats. In
      male transgenic (TG) rats expressing human GH (hGH) that we generated, the
      circulating levels of both hGH and endogenous GH are flattened with no male-type
      pulsatility. To elucidate the regulatory role of episodic GH profile on the
      liver, the hepatic transcriptome of male TG rats at the middle of the light and
      dark phases was characterized by genome-wide analyses as compared with that of
      male wild-type (WT) rats. Transcripts commonly up- or down-regulated regardless
      of the lighting conditions in TG rats were mainly enriched in the metabolism of
      xenobiotics. In TG rats, the gene expression profile was functionally feminized,
      verifying that the sexually dimorphic profile of GH rather than genetic sexuality
      is a stronger sex-determining factor on the hepatic transcriptome. The common
      transcripts which fluctuated during the day in both TG and WT rats were enriched
      in circadian rhythm signaling, and physiological rhythmicity was considered to be
      finely interconnected with liver metabolism via sexually dimorphic GH secretion.
      In contrast, some genes were differentially regulated in TG rats at only one of
      two time points measured, and others were fluctuated daily in only one genotype.
      In particular, some genes involved in the GH signaling pathway were included,
      suggesting the signal transduction is circadian-modulated depending upon the GH
      profile. Our transcriptome analyses clarified the regulatory role of episodic GH
      profile on the liver and strengthen the functional link between sexually
      dimorphic GH secretion, liver metabolism, and its circadian regulation.

PMID- 20930463
TI  - Accurate detection of drug-induced delayed ventricular repolarization with a
      suitable correction formula in Langendorff guinea pig heart.
AB  - The aims of this study were to determine a suitable method to correct the
      ventricular repolarization period against the RR interval in isolated perfused
      Langendorff guinea pig heart and to clarify the reliability of this model using
      several drugs. QT and RR intervals from an electrocardiogram and the epicardial
      monophasic action potential duration (MAP(90)) were measured. Two drugs
      clinically known to be QT-prolonging (E-4031, moxifloxacin) and two known to be
      non-QT-prolonging (verapamil, zatebradine) were used for the study. To determine
      a method of correcting the ventricular repolarization period against RR interval,
      heart rates were slowed with 0.3 uM zatebradine, a specific bradycardiac agent,
      and then accelerated with atrial pacing to obtain a wide range of MAP(90)/RR
      relationships. An exponential rate-correction model elicited the most appropriate
      algorithm for the relationship among the four models tested. Based on linear
      regression analysis, the exponential showed superior dissociation of corrected
      MAP(90)s against RR intervals than generic Bazett's and Fridericia's formulae. E
      4031 and moxifloxacin prolonged the corrected QT (QTc) intervals and MAP(90)
      under atrial pacing at a cycle length of 0.25 sec (MAP(90(pacing))) dose
      dependently; verapamil and zatebradine failed to prolong them, indicating that
      the reliability of this model was excellent. MAP(90(pacing)) prolongation by
      moxifloxacin, the positive compound in the clinical "Thorough QT/QTc Study", was
      seen at around QTc-prolonging concentrations in clinic, suggesting that the
      sensitivity would be appropriate for QT evaluation. We therefore concluded that
      the isolated guinea pig heart model is sufficiently sensitive and useful for
      assessing the potential QT prolongation of drugs.

PMID- 20930464
TI  - Enhancement of immediate allergic reactions by trichloroethylene ingestion via
      drinking water in mice.
AB  - The prevalence of allergic disorders is increasing in industrial areas and
      countries. Recent reports suggest that some environmental pollutants are related
      to the increase in allergic diseases, and we reported that trichloroethylene
      (TCE) is a candidate chemical for causing the increase of allergic diseases, as
      TCE ingestion is associated with allergic reaction enhancement. TCE is widely
      used in many industries, and it is commonly detected as an environmental
      contaminant. This study aimed to clarify the immunotoxicity of TCE in detail.
      BALB/c mice were treated with TCE dissolved in drinking water for 2 and 4 weeks,
      and the mice were immunized with ovalbumin (OVA)/aluminum hydroxide (alum) twice.
      On the final day of the TCE exposure period, we measured the active cutaneous
      anaphylaxis (ACA) reaction and the antigen- specific IgE level in serum as well
      as the histamine level at the allergic reaction site and assayed the
      proliferation rates of splenocytes collected from the animals. The ACA reaction
      was enhanced by TCE ingestion. The OVA specific IgE level in mice was enhanced by
      TCE exposure for 4 weeks. The proliferation rate of the splenocytes was enhanced
      by TCE ingestion for 2 and 4 weeks. The enhancement of the ACA reaction by TCE
      ingestion via drinking water may be related to the increase in splenocyte
      proliferation. On the other hand, it may be weakly related to antigen-specific
      IgE production.

PMID- 20930466
TI  - Early changes to oxidative stress levels following exposure to formaldehyde in
      ICR mice.
AB  - Formaldehyde (FA) is a commonly used chemical in everyday life and can react with
      many molecules in the human body. Although toxicity has been reported, exposure
      to FA has also been shown to have beneficial effects or no effect at all. In the
      present study, we examined the effect of FA inhalation on oxidative stress and
      inflammation in mice. Male adult ICR mice were exposed FA in gaseous form (0.1
      ppm), and blood, urine, brain, lung and liver were obtained for 24 hr. Levels of
      8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8OHdG) and NO(3)(-) were then determined by HPLC. A
      second group of mice were injected with 5 mg/kg lipopolysaccharide (LPS) after 24
      hr of FA (3 ppm) inhalation and blood and organs were assayed for NO(3)(-) level
      and SOD activity. After exposure to a low dose of FA (0.1 ppm), the 8OHdG/dG
      ratio significantly increased in plasma. However, the ratio in urine and organs
      significantly decreased during 24 hr of FA exposure. The NO(3)(-) levels mirrored
      the 8OHdG/dG ratio. After 24 hr exposure to a high dose of FA (3 ppm), NO(3)(-)
      levels in plasma and liver were significantly lower than in control mice exposed
      to air only. The SOD activity of blood and urine were conversely increased in FA
      exposed animals. In the present study, we suggest that inhalation of FA at low
      doses influences the oxidative stress response in a tissue-specific manner. The
      FA may partially alleviate in some tissues like preconditioning in oxidative
      stress.

PMID- 20930465
TI  - Enhancing effects of carbon tetrachloride on in vivo mutagenicity in the liver of
      mice fed 2-amino-3,8-dimethylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoxaline (MeIQx).
AB  - Chronic stimulus subsequent to cell injury plays an important role in cancer
      development, but the precise mechanisms remain unknown partly because appropriate
      animal models are lacking. In the present study, the effects of hepatotoxicant
      carbon tetrachloride (CCl(4)) on in vivo mutagenicity were investigated using gpt
      delta mice with or without p53. Female B6C3F(1) p53-proficient or -deficient gpt
      delta mice were given a diet containing 300 ppm of 2-amino-3,8
      dimethylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoxaline (MeIQx) for 13 weeks, concurrently with
      intraperitoneal injection of 1 ml/kg CCl(4) solution once a week. Mutant
      frequencies of gpt and red/gam in p53-proficient mice fed MeIQx were both
      significantly elevated by CCl(4)co-treatment. Enhancing effects of CCl(4)
      treatment were also noted in p53-deficient mice. In the mutation spectra analysis
      of gpt mutant colonies, G:C to T:A transversions were predominantly observed
      regardless of CCl(4) injection, and clonal expansion of gpt colonies were
      increased in the co-treated group as compared with MeIQx alone group. The present
      data showing no significant changes in mRNA expression levels of CYP1A2 and GSTa4
      between MeIQx-treated groups with and without CCl(4). In the Western blotting
      analysis, CYP1A2 protein levels were significantly decreased in the co-treated
      group as compared to MeIQx alone group, and GSTalpha protein levels were not
      changed among any groups. It is suggested that the mutant frequency by co
      treatment with CCl(4) might result from some factors other than p53 or MeIQx
      metabolism/excretion. Thus, our data clearly demonstrate that this model could be
      a powerful tool for identifying the mechanisms underlying combinatorial effects
      on carcinogenesis.

PMID- 20930467
TI  - Effects of co-treatment of dextran sulfate sodium and MeIQx on genotoxicity and
      possible carcinogenicity in the colon of p53-deficient mice.
AB  - To investigate the effects of dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) and/or 2-amino-3,8
      dimethylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoxaline (MeIQx) on in vivo genotoxicity in the colon,
      male C57BL/6 p53 (+/+), p53 (+/-) or p53 (-/-) gpt delta mice were twice given 1
      week treatment with DSS, 2 weeks apart, and then sacrificed after 2 and 14 weeks.
      Although colon length was significantly shortened after DSS treatment in all
      genotypes at each time point, no significant difference in gpt mutant frequency
      (MF) and tumorigenicity was found between DSS and control groups regardless of
      genotype. Then, male B6C3F(1) p53 (+/+) or p53 (+/-) gpt delta mice were given
      DSS as described above and/or fed 300 ppm MeIQx for 7 weeks. Colon length was
      significantly shortened with DSS in either genotype at weeks 7 and 26, but no
      effects of co-treatment with MeIQx or p53 deficiency were evident. MeIQx showed a
      tendency to increase gpt MF in the colon of mice with either genotype, but co
      treatment with DSS did not affect these increments. Appreciable incidences of
      colonic aberrant crypt foci (ACFs) were reported in DSS as well as co-treatment
      groups of each genotype. Colonic adenomas were observed in co-treatment groups of
      both genotypes as well as the DSS-only group of p53 (+/+). No effects of the
      combination of DSS and MeIQx on colon pre- and neoplastic lesions were reported.
      Our results indicate that MeIQx may take more than 7 weeks to induce genotoxicity
      in the colon and that the co-treatment of mice did not enhance colon
      tumorigenicity even in p53-deficient mice.

PMID- 20930468
TI  - Testosterone-lowering activity of canola and hydrogenated soybean oil in the
      stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rat.
AB  - Canola and some other types of oil unusually shorten the survival of stroke-prone
      spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRSP), compared with soybean oil, perilla oil
      and animal fats. Since differential effects of canola and soybean oil on steroid
      hormone metabolism were suggested by a preliminary DNA microarray analysis as a
      reason for this, the steroid hormone levels in the serum and tissues of SHRSP fed
      different oils were investigated. The testosterone levels in the serum and the
      testes were found to be significantly lower in the canola oil group than in the
      soybean oil group, while no significant differences were detected in the
      corticosterone and estradiol levels in tissues. In a second experiment, it was
      found that hydrogenated soybean oil, with a survival-shortening activity
      comparable to that of canola oil, also decreased the testosterone level in testes
      to a similar degree. The testosterone-lowering activity of canola and
      hydrogenated soybean oil observed in SHRSP was considered in relation to other
      factors possibly affecting the physiology of SHRSP.

PMID- 20930469
TI  - Prenatal exposure to titanium dioxide nanoparticles increases dopamine levels in
      the prefrontal cortex and neostriatum of mice.
AB  - Titanium dioxide (TiO(2)) nanoparticles are widely used in cosmetics, sunscreen
      and as a photocatalyst. However, little is known about the biological effect of
      TiO(2) nanoparticles in humans and other animals. Here, we investigated whether
      prenatal exposure to TiO(2) nanoparticles impacted the central nervous system in
      mice. We measured the levels of dopamine (DA) and its metabolites in several
      regions of the brain in mice using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC).
      HPLC analysis showed that DA and its metabolites were increased in the prefrontal
      cortex and the neostriatum following prenatal exposure to TiO(2) nanoparticles.
      The present study highlights the possibility that maternal exposure to TiO(2)
      nanoparticles might influence the development of the central dopaminergic system
      in offspring.

PMID- 20930470
TI  - Testicular spermiation failure in rats exposed prenatally to 3,3',4,4',5
      pentachlorobiphenyl.
AB  - Testicular spermatogenesis was studied in 7-, 10-, 13- and 17-week-old Sprague
      Dawley rats whose dams had been administered intragastrically with 2.5, 25, or
      250 ng of 3,3',4,4',5-pentachlorobiphenyl (PCB126) or vehicle on days 13-19 of
      gestation. The 250 ng groups among the 7-, 10- and 13-week-old offspring showed
      significant inhibition of mature spermatid release (spermiation), but 17-week-old
      offspring did not show this. These alterations were not observed in other PCB126
      and vehicle groups, and no germ cell or Sertoli cell degeneration were observed
      in any group. Spermiation failure at puberty appeared in those rats born to dams
      exposed 250 ng/kg PCB126 on days 13-19 of gestation was reversible change that
      recovered at adulthood. Because the serum testosterone, luteinizing hormone and
      follicle-stimulating hormone concentrations were similar in the PCB126 and
      vehicle groups, a direct endocrine cause for the observed effects was unlikely.

PMID- 20930471
TI  - Neurotoxic action of inorganic mercury injected in the intraventricular space of
      mouse cerebrum.
AB  - To examine the neurotoxic action of inorganic mercury, HgCl(2) was injected in
      the intraventricular space of a mouse brain as a mimic for an Hg(0) vapor-exposed
      model, and the Hg distribution in the brain and behavioral changes were compared
      with those of Hg(0)-exposed mice. Although no difference was found in the Hg
      accumulation and its localization in the brains of two model mice at 3 weeks
      after Hg treatment, the turnover rate of the brain Hg in the Hg(0)-exposed mice
      was higher than in the Hg(II)-injected mouse. Despite a similar Hg level in the
      cerebrum at 3 weeks, behavioral alterations, hyper-activity in an open field test
      and shortening of latency in a passive avoidance test, were significant only in
      Hg(II)-injected mice. Considered together with the differences in the turnover
      rate and the effectiveness of neurotoxic action of the brain Hg, the
      microenvironment of Hg, such as biomolecules with which Hg interacts, might not
      be the same in both model mice. Inorganic Hg-induced neurotoxic action could be
      observed with a minimum dose of Hg(II) without any effects on the other organs,
      such as the kidney and lung. The present study demonstrated that intraventricular
      injection of HgCl(2) might be a convenient method to study the neurotoxic action
      of inorganic Hg, and, at least partly, to represent an animal model of Hg(0)
      vapor exposure.

PMID- 20930472
TI  - Changes in blood parameters in pregnant Japanese White rabbits.
AB  - Changes in blood parameters, especially those related to blood coagulations, were
      examined on gestational days (GDs) 6, 18 and 28 in Japanese White rabbits. As
      compared with the non-pregnant group, the following changes were observed in the
      pregnant group. For blood coagulation-related parameters, fibrinogen, platelets
      and antithrombin time III (ATIII) was significantly increased on GD 18 and/or GD
      28, and activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) was significantly prolonged
      on GDs 18 and 28. For the other hematological and blood chemical parameters,
      hemoglobin and hematocrit values were significantly decreased on GDs 18 and 28.
      Reticulocyte counts significantly and prominently increased on GD 18 and then
      decreased to significantly lower levels than those in the non-pregnant group on
      GD 28. Eosinophils and basophil showed significant decreases on GD 18 and/or GD
      28. The serum progesterone concentration reached its highest level on GD 18.
      Total protein (TP), albumin, alkaline phosphatase (ALP), alanine aminotransferase
      (ALT), cholesterol, calcium, glucose and blood urea nitrogen were significantly
      decreased on GD 18 and/or GD 28. These results were almost similar to those in
      the pregnant New Zealand White rabbits (Mizoguchi et al., 2010).

PMID- 20930473
TI  - beta3-adrenoceptor-mediated increased circulating transaminase levels in mice
      treated with its agonist BRL 37344.
AB  - Treatment with the selective beta(3)-adrenoceptor agonist BRL 37344 increased
      circulating levels of alanine transaminase (ALT) and aspartate transaminase (AST)
      in mice without causing hepatocellular injury. To clarify whether this was a
      beta(3)-adrenoceptor-mediated effect, the inhibitory effect of the selective
      beta(3)-adrenoceptor antagonist SR 59230A on the increase in circulating
      transaminase levels induced by BRL 37344 was examined. A single intraperitoneal
      dose of BRL 37344 alone initially increased insulin and non-esterified fatty acid
      (NEFA) dose-proportionally at 0.5 hr post-dose, findings considered attributable
      to beta(3)-adrenoceptor-stimulating effects. Levels of the gluconeogenic
      precursors pyruvate (PA) and lactate (LA) were increased corresponding to the
      change in insulin. Thereafter, glucose (GLU) level was decreased at 4 and 8 hr
      post-dose, suggesting disruption of glucose homeostasis. In association with
      these changes in glucose metabolism, transaminase levels were increased maximally
      at 4 hr post-dose. The transaminase changes were not accompanied by increases in
      circulating levels of other hepatocellular enzymes, including guanine deaminase
      (GUA), glutamate dehydrogenase (GLDH), and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), or any
      morphological hepatocellular injury. Intraperitoneal pre-treatment with SR 59230A
      partly inhibited the effects of BRL 37344 alone, indicating that the increase in
      levels of circulating ALT by BRL 37344 was attributable to a beta(3)-adrenoceptor
      stimulating effect. In conclusion, the beta(3)-adrenoceptor agonist BRL 37344 was
      shown to increase circulating transaminase levels in mice accompanied with
      dynamic changes in glucose metabolism. These findings suggest the possibility
      that circulating transaminase levels are increased as pharmacological effects of
      drugs disrupting glucose metabolism, and that hepatotoxic markers should be
      selected considering these effects to distinguish between acceptable pharmacology
      and toxicity.

PMID- 20930474
TI  - A repeated dose 28-day oral toxicity study of extract from cultured Lentinula
      edodes mycelia in Wistar rats.
AB  - To evaluate the toxicological safety of extract from cultured Lentinula edodes
      mycelia (L.E.M.), repeated doses (2,000 mg/kg/day) were administered to male and
      female Wistar rats for 28 days. No mortality or abnormality in the general status
      or appearance was observed in rats administered L.E.M extract. Body weight and
      food consumption decreased slightly, particularly in the case of male rats,
      although the degree of decrease was not as prominent toward the end of
      administration. Examination of hematology, serum biochemistry, absolute and
      relative organ weights, autopsy and histopathology revealed only a few
      statistically significant differences between the treatment and control groups;
      these differences suggested no clinically significant changes related to
      toxicity. Consequently, the no observed adverse effect level (NOAEL) of L.E.M.
      extract was considered to be more than 2,000 mg/kg/day under the conditions of
      the present study.

PMID- 20930475
TI  - [Measurements of the ascending velocity of CO2 arc welding fume plumes].

PMID- 20930476
TI  - [On the occasion of retirement from Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences,
      Hokkaido University].
AB  - I have devoted my life to NMR research for nearly 40 years since I graduated from
      Tokyo University. Owing to innovative technical developments such as introduction
      of superconductive magnets into NMR, and development of FT-NMR and two
      dimensional NMR, I have spent an interesting and inspired research life. When I
      look back on my life, I found myself starting from structural chemistry and doing
      research from the beginning of and all the way to the maturation of structural
      biology. I have been enjoying scientific challenges with my students and
      collaborators and I am proud that many young scientists grew up in my laboratory.

PMID- 20930477
TI  - [Dopaminergic neuroprotection and reconstruction of neural network tiara].
AB  - Parkinson's disease (PD) is an age-related neurodegenerative disorder in whose
      brain massive loss of dopaminergic neurons and formation of Lewy bodies occur in
      the substantia nigra (SN). L-Dihydroxyphenylamine (L-DOPA) substitution is still
      considered the gold standard of antiparkinsonian drug therapy. However, there has
      been little information available on neuroprotective and regenerative therapies.
      Recently, we have found that pramipexole and talipexole (D(2)/D(3)-dopaminergic
      agonists) inhibit dopaminergic neurotoxin-induced production of reactive oxygen
      species and apoptotic cell death. In addition, treatment with these drugs induces
      enhancement of anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 expression and inhibition of alpha-synuclein
      aggregation. Interestingly, recent study suggests that pramipexole treatment
      delays the progression of early PD symptom. On the other hand, we investigated
      the transplantation strategy for PD by assessing whether double-transplants of
      mouse embryonic stem (ES) cell-derived neurons in the striatum (ST) and SN, or
      subthalamic nucleus (STN), induce functional recovery in rat hemi-parkinsonian
      model. The study indicates that both the involvement of ST as a place of
      transplantation and the number of ES cell-derived neurons are essential factors
      for efficacy on PD animal model. Interestingly, an invertebrate planarian can
      regenerate complete organs, including a well-organized central nervous system
      (brain), within about 7 days. The regeneration process of the planarian
      dopaminergic neural network (tiara) may be divided into five steps: 1) anterior
      blastema formation, 2) brain rudiment formation, 3) brain pattern formation, 4)
      the formation of dopaminergic tiara, and 5) functional recovery of dopaminergic
      motor regulation, with several kinds of genes and molecular cascades acting at
      each step.

PMID- 20930478
TI  - [Study on natural products for drug development].
AB  - The ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) plays a major role in selective protein
      degradation and regulates various cellular events. Approval of bortezomib for the
      treatment of multiple myeloma validated the proteasome as an anticancer target.
      In order to find drug candidates targeting the ubiquitin-dependent protein
      degradation, we paid an attention to inhibitors against three enzymes, ubiquitin
      activating enzyme (E1), ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme (E2), and ubiquitin-protein
      ligase (E3), which are required for polyubiquitination of proteins and
      prerequisite to proteasome-mediated protein degradation. We succeeded in
      isolating various compounds with three distinct inhibitory activities against an
      E1 enzyme reaction, Ubc13 (E2)-Uev1A interaction, and p53-HDM2 (E3) interaction
      as well as the proteasome inhibitors. We also isolated new alkaloids, notoamides,
      from a marine-derived Aspergillus sp. Among them, notoamide B and stephacidin A
      contain a bicyclo[2.2.2]diazaoctane ring in their structures. We proposed this
      ring is constructed from notoamide E by the intramolecular Diels-Alder (IMDA)
      reaction. Recently, the isolation of the antipodes of notoamides from the
      terrestrial Aspergillus has been reported. We propose that each enantiomer is
      generated by a distinct face-selective IMDA.

PMID- 20930479
TI  - [Highly emissive pyrene-based fluorophores and highly sensitive fluorescent
      sensors using pyrene emission switching].
AB  - In this review, I report highly emissive pyrene-based fluorophores and highly
      sensitive fluorescent sensors using pyrene emission switching. Alkynylpyrene
      derivatives show fruitful photophysical properties, as compared with pyrene
      itself: longer absorption and emission wavelengths and high fluorescence quantum
      yields in the presence of O(2). Alkynylpyrene-based fluorescent probes allow the
      highly sensitive detection of biomolecules such as proteins. Additionally, a
      rotaxane-based fluorophore, consisting of an alkynylpyrene derivative and two
      cyclodextrins, is highly stable upon irradiation with a UV/vis illuminator. On
      the other hand, I and my colleagues have developed a variety of fluorescent
      sensors using pyrene emission switching. One of them is DNA probes in which two
      pyrenes are connected both at 3' and 5' ends of a single-stranded
      oligonucleotide. Emission switching occurs from excimer to monomer when the
      probes hybridized with target DNAs. The DNA probes met antibody structures to
      produce the following fluorescent sensors. The sensors consist of three
      functional regions, crown ether (or cyclodextrin), DNA, and pyrene as guest
      binding, dimerizing, and sensing sites, respectively. These sensors can detect
      potassium cation, porphyrin, unsaturated fatty acid by pyrene monomer-excimer
      switching.

PMID- 20930480
TI  - [Three-dimensional structure of membrane protein stomatin and function of
      stomatin-specific protease].
AB  - Stomatin is a major integral membrane protein of human erythrocytes, the absence
      of which is associated with a form of hemolytic anemia known as hereditary
      stomatocytosis. It is reported that stomatin regulates the gating of acid-sensing
      ion channels in mammalian neurons. However, the function of stomatin is not fully
      understood. In the genomic sequence of the hyperthermophilic archaeon Pyrococcus
      horikoshii, the putative operon-forming genes PH1511 and PH1510 encode stomatin
      and its partner protein, respectively. The N-terminal region of PH1510p (1510-N)
      is a serine protease, and specifically cleaves the C-terminal hydrophobic region
      of stomatin PH1511p. We have determined the first crystal structure of the core
      domain of stomatin PH1511p (residues 56-234, designated as PhSto(CD)). This
      review focuses on the three-dimensional structure of PhSto(CD), and discusses the
      function of stomatin and its specific protease 1510-N. PhSto(CD) forms a novel
      homotrimeric structure. Three alpha/beta domains form a triangle of about 50 A on
      each side, and three alpha-helical segments about 60 A in length extend from the
      apexes of the triangle. The alpha/beta domain of PhSto(CD) is partly similar in
      structure to the band-7 domain of mouse flotillin-2. While the alpha/beta domain
      is relatively rigid, the alpha-helical segment shows a conformational
      flexibility, adapting to the neighboring environment. One alpha-helical segment
      forms an anti-parallel coiled-coil with another alpha-helical segment from a
      symmetry-related molecule. The alpha-helical segment shows a heptad repeat
      pattern, and mainly hydrophobic residues form a coiled-coil interface. The coiled
      coil fold observed in the crystal probably contributes to the self-association.

PMID- 20930481
TI  - [Visualization of amyloid formation processes on cell membranes: gangliosides as
      key molecules for the onset of amyloidosis].
AB  - Deposition of insoluble amyloid fibrils in tissues is a common hallmark of a wide
      range of human diseases referred to as amyloidoses, including Alzheimer's
      disease, type II diabetes mellitus. The amyloid deposits cause cell dysfunction,
      death, and subsequently severe impairment in tissues. Elucidation of amyloid
      formation mechanisms is essential for prevention of the onset and development of
      amyloidoses. Accumulated experimental evidence demonstrates that membrane lipids
      enhance the fibril formation of amyloidogenic proteins. Our group demonstrated
      that amyloid formation by amyloid beta-protein (Abeta) was facilitated by
      gangliosides in lipid raft-like model membranes. Phosphatidylserine and
      phosphatidylglycerol were also reported to trigger fibril formation by human
      islet amyloid polypeptide (hIAPP). However, it is not verified whether the
      proposed lipid-protein interactions can occur on plasma membranes of live cells.
      The author developed a method for visualizing amyloid fibrils on live cell
      membranes and investigated the roles of gangliosides and cholesterol in lipid
      rafts for amyloid formation. Congo red, an amyloid-specific dye, was found to be
      a promising compound for staining amyloids in live cells. Abeta was accumulated
      on cholesterol-dependent ganglioside-rich domains in PC12 neuronal cells in a
      time- and concentration-dependent manner, leading to cell death. Nerve growth
      factor-induced differentiation of PC12 cells increased both gangliosides and
      cholesterol and thereby greatly potentiated the accumulation and cytotoxic effect
      of Abeta. Amyloid formation by hIAPP was also facilitated by gangliosides in
      lipid rafts. Membrane lipid compositions, in this case, gangliosides in lipid
      rafts, actually caused striking change in amyloid formation on cell membranes.

PMID- 20930482
TI  - [Beneficial effect of galantamine on sensory information-processing deficits].
AB  - Clinical studies show that galantamine, a weak acetylcholine (ACh) esterase
      inhibitor and allosteric potentiator of nicotinic ACh receptors (nAChRs),
      improves negative and cognitive symptoms in schizophrenia, while donepezil, a
      potent ACh esterase inhibitor, does not. We have recently found that galantamine,
      but not donepezil, reversed isolation rearing-induced deficits of prepulse
      inhibition (PPI), sensory information-processing deficits, in mice. In addition,
      we unexpectedly found that the galantamine-induced improvements in PPI deficits
      were prevented by the muscarinic ACh receptor (mAChR) antagonists scopolamine and
      telenzepine (preferential for M(1) subtype), but not by the nAChR antagonists.
      Galantamine, like donepezil, increased extracellular ACh levels in the prefrontal
      cortex. However, donepezil, unlike galantamine, inhibited M(1)-mAChR-mediated
      Ca(2+) signal in human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y. These results suggest that
      galantamine improves isolation rearing-induced PPI deficits via an activation of
      mAChRs and the difference in the effect on the PPI deficits between galantamine
      and donepezil is due to that in their action on M(1)-mAChRs. The possible
      mechanisms for the beneficial effect of galantamine are discussed in a model of
      isolation rearing-induced PPI deficits.

PMID- 20930483
TI  - [Development of tissue pressure-mediated transfection method aimed at organ
      specific gene expression control].
AB  - A mechanism-based logical approach is a mainstream of current novel drug therapy
      development in the context of these trends and, therefore, the elucidation of
      gene function and the molecular level mechanism analysis of diseases at an
      individual level in mammals are essential in addition to that in cultured cells.
      In vivo gene transfection techniques are also indispensable for these purposes as
      well as the evaluation of gene therapy and nucleic acid-based therapy approaches
      and clinical applications during the process of development of novel drug
      therapies. Various recombinant virus and synthetic carrier-mediated transfection
      methods have been reported, however, above all, naked plasmid DNA transfection
      without virus vectors, synthetic carriers and special physical devices has
      attracted much attention, because of its advantages including convenience of
      preparation and handling and lack of toxicity associated with the transfection
      agents. In this review, I collect the information of these naked plasmid DNA
      transfection methods involving tissue pressure-mediated transfection from the
      comprehensive view point including side effects. Additively, the key
      physiological phenomena affecting transgene expression, especially activation of
      transcriptional factors, are reviewed. Combined with conventional approach based
      with biodistribution control, regulation of physiological change in transfected
      cells will provide spatial- and temporal-controlled transgene expression at
      various organs, which leads us to elucidate mechanism of diseases and to develop
      novel drug therapy in near future.

PMID- 20930484
TI  - [Development of selective determination methods for quinones with fluorescence
      and chemiluminescence detection and their application to environmental and
      biological samples].
AB  - Quinones are compounds that have various characteristics such as a biological
      electron transporter, an industrial product and a harmful environmental
      pollutant. Therefore, an effective determination method for quinones is required
      in many fields. This review describes the development of sensitive and selective
      determination methods for quinones based on some detection principles and their
      application to analyses in environmental, pharmaceutical and biological samples.
      Firstly, a fluorescence method was developed based on fluorogenic derivatization
      of quinones and applied to environmental analysis. Secondly, a luminol
      chemiluminescence method was developed based on generation of reactive oxygen
      species through the redox cycle of quinone and applied to pharmaceutical
      analysis. Thirdly, a photo-induced chemiluminescence method was developed based
      on formation of reactive oxygen species and fluorophore or chemiluminescence
      enhancer by the photoreaction of quinones and applied to biological and
      environmental analyses.

PMID- 20930485
TI  - Pharmacologically active metabolites of currently marketed drugs: potential
      resources for new drug discovery and development.
AB  - Biotransformation is the major clearance mechanism of therapeutic agents from the
      body. Biotransformation is known not only to facilitate the elimination of drugs
      by changing the molecular structure to more hydrophilic, but also lead to
      pharmacological inactivation of therapeutic compounds. However, in some cases,
      the biotransformation of drugs can lead to the generation of pharmacologically
      active metabolites, responsible for the pharmacological actions. This review
      provides an update of the kinds of pharmacologically active metabolites and some
      of their individual pharmacological and pharmacokinetic aspects, and describes
      their importance as resources for drug discovery and development.

PMID- 20930486
TI  - [Synthesis of a strain molecule, 1-azabicyclo [1.1.0] butane].
AB  - 1-Azabicyclo [1.1.0] butane (ABB) bearing the highly strained bicyclic structure,
      which is synthetically useful for the preparation of 3-substituted azetidines,
      was obtained by the cyclization of 2,3-dibromopropylamine hydrobromide derived
      from inexpensive allylamine only with organolithium compounds and lithium amides.
      When other bases were employed, such as potassium, sodium, and magnesium species,
      the reaction yielded almost no ABB. It was speculated that a lithium cation
      played an important role in the cyclization. Thus, we proposed that this reaction
      proceeded by the consecutive cyclization to aziridines via the SN2 process
      involving the activation of the C-Br bond based on the intermolecular Br...Li(+)
      coordination, as a result of studies of reaction mechanisms.

PMID- 20930487
TI  - Acceptable incremental cost effectiveness ratio for use of new drugs, cases in
      statin therapies.
AB  - As it is an urgent issue to contain increasing healthcare expenditures, unlimited
      reimbursement of pharmaceuticals continues to be controversial. The objective of
      this study is to identify acceptable incremental cost effectiveness ratios
      between new and conventional therapies. Clinical study data for five statin
      therapies were used to indicate treatment effectiveness and incremental costs
      were indicated by price premiums at price listing. The incremental cost
      effectiveness ratios to pravastatin were 0 yen/patient with response, 1,475.1
      yen/patient with response, 3,033.3 yen/patient with response, and 3,032.4
      yen/patient with response. By conducting further analyses in various
      pharmaceuticals and categorizing acceptable incremental cost effectiveness ratios
      based on the disease severity and expected level of improvement in disease
      condition, drug prices that reflect the value of new pharmaceuticals and that are
      reasonable to be reimbursed can be suggested.

PMID- 20930488
TI  - Preparation, characterization and evaluation of docetaxel-loaded, folate
      conjugated PEG-liposomes.
AB  - For the purpose of enhancing the anticancer potency of docetaxel, a novel
      excipient, cholesterol-PEG-folate (alpha-(3.beta) cholest-5-en-3-omega-folic acid
      poly (oxy-1, 2-ethanediyl)), was synthesized and used for the preparation of
      liposomes (folate-conjugated PEG-liposomes). The in vitro release properties, in
      vitro cytotoxicity, in vivo pharmacokinetics and distribution, as well as in vivo
      potency of the liposomes were evaluated. These liposomes were able to control the
      release of the loaded drug. Docetaxel-loaded, folate-conjugated PEG-liposomes
      were more cytotoxic to MCF-7 cells than ordinary PEG-liposomes. The
      pharmacokinetic parameters of folate-conjugated PEG-liposomes were studied in
      rats. Compared to docetaxel solution, the folate-conjugated PEG-liposomes
      enhanced the t(1/2) of docetaxel by 6.74-fold. The biodistributions of docetaxel
      in the heart, brain and kidneys decreased when delivered in liposomes. The folate
      conjugated PEG-liposomes could significantly enhance tumor accumulation of
      docetaxel and antitumor activity in tumor-bearing mice (p<0.05). The precent
      results indicate that these folate-conjugated PEG-liposomes might enhance the
      potency while preventing the side effects of docetaxel.

PMID- 20930489
TI  - [Clinical evaluation of drug information provided by the pharmacists in the
      intensive care unit].
AB  - Pharmacists working in the intensive care unit (ICU) in Saiseikai Yokohamashi
      Tobu Hospital are mainly responsible for managing the stock of drugs, providing
      drug information to other medical staff, educating them for rational drug
      therapy, and providing pharmaceutical care to the patients. In order to evaluate
      the contribution to the rational drug therapy, we investigated the acceptance
      rate of the drug information that the pharmacists in the ICU provided to the
      physicians from February to May in 2009. The number of cases in which drug
      information was provided by the pharmacists to the physicians during the period
      was 288. It was suggested that more than half of the information could optimize
      the drug dosage regimens and correct the inadequate prescriptions. Furthermore,
      98.9% of the information provided by pharmacists was accepted by physicians. We
      questioned 5 intensivists to evaluate the information with a 5 point scale
      (maximum score was 4, minimum score was 0) and then the average of score was 3.3.
      In addition, their evaluation of the information about optimizing the drug dosage
      regimens marked the highest point (over 3.5). Meanwhile, providing drug
      information which led the physicians to correct the inadequate prescriptions
      contributed to reduce the cost of the drug therapy by 900000 yen during the
      period. As a result, it was suggested that the intensivists highly appreciated
      the information offered by the pharmacists and the information contributed to
      enhance high-quality drug therapy. Additionally, the economic impact was
      identified through the cost reduction in drug therapy.

PMID- 20930490
TI  - Light-induced deterioration test of carboplatin under clinical settings.
AB  - Chemotherapeutic drug dosages are calculated precisely based on the patient's
      height, body weight, and renal function, etc. To ensure safe and favorable
      outcomes of treatment, dosing solutions are prepared by appropriate mixing of the
      drug solutions based on such calculations. The package inserts for many
      injectable preparations include a warning for storing the product "shielded from
      light." However, there are no reports of stability assessment of a mixed product
      against light exposure or the residual amount of active ingredient in the dosing
      solution during or at the end of treatment. We evaluated the stability of
      carboplatin from the time of mixing of the dosing solution until the end of drug
      infusion in a clinical-like setting. With 4-hour exposure to outdoor scattered
      light, the dosing solution began to show discoloration by 1 hour, becoming dark
      yellow by 4 hours, with reduction of the percent residual carboplatin to about
      23%. To identify the optimal light-shielding shade, the dosing solution was
      shielded from outdoor scattered light with 1 of 3 protective covers: aluminum
      foil, yellow plastic shade, and brown plastic shade. The yellow plastic shade
      prevented any changes of the appearance of the dosing solution during the 4-hour
      exposure period. The percent residual carboplatin, determined by HPLC, in the
      dosing solution shielded with a yellow plastic shade was about 85.2% at 2 hours
      and 78.6% at 4 hours. Thus carboplatin dosing solution should be completely
      shielded from light until infusion is completed.

PMID- 20930491
TI  - Side chain orientation of the amino acid substituted by a cysteine residue is
      important for successful crosslinking of galectin to its glycoprotein ligand
      using a photoactivatable sulfhydryl reagent.
AB  - We have employed a combination of cysteine mutagenesis and chemical crosslinking
      using a photoactivatable sulfhydryl reagent, benzophenone-4-maleimide, to obtain
      a covalent complex between human galectin-1 and a model glycoprotein ligand,
      asialofetuin. We previously obtained a crosslinked product when Lys(28) of the
      cysteine-less form of human galectin-1 was mutated to cysteine. To investigate
      whether substituting either of the two flanking amino acid residues in the same
      beta-strand, Ala(27) and Ser(29), to cysteine could result in crosslinking to the
      bound asialofetuin, two cysteine-containing mutants were generated. Although both
      the mutants adsorbed to asialofetuin-agarose and were eluted with 0.1 M lactose,
      confirming their ability to interact with asialofetuin, these mutants did not
      crosslink to the bound glycoprotein ligand following treatment with benzophenone
      4-maleimide. Therefore the orientation of the side chain of the introduced
      cysteine residue apparently plays an important role in the crosslinking reaction.

PMID- 20930492
TI  - [Survey on the attitudes of pregnant and lactating women about the use of drugs].
AB  - The purposes of this survey were to determine the attitudes and the extent of
      anxiety of pregnant and lactating women about drug use, and to research priority
      issues for pharmacists' intervention. Postpartum lactating women and mothers with
      children in a Growing Care Unit (GCU) in hospitals certified as Baby Friendly
      Hospital (BFH) were surveyed. The questions included the images the respondents
      had of drugs before pregnancy, the extent of anxiety about drug use, and ways to
      relieve it. The highest number of respondents (49.1%) did not want to use drugs
      often before pregnancy, but said "physician-prescribed drugs are fine". 24.5% had
      no negative images, and they "take drugs when necessary without worrying". An
      additional 14.2% did not like drugs, and "avoid them whenever possible", followed
      by 9.4% who did not want to use drugs, but were willing to take health food and
      other over-the-counter items. The respondents reported that the extent of anxiety
      about drug use was 79.3% during pregnancy, which was higher than 71.7% during
      lactation. It was not influenced by birth experience and age. "The images of
      drugs before pregnancy" and "the extent to which the anxiety was relieved during
      pregnancy" were extracted as factors related to the extent of anxiety, verifying
      that negative images of drugs and low degrees of relief from anxiety raise the
      anxiety of pregnant women. The above shows that pharmacists need to understand
      the anxiety of pregnant and lactating women about drug use, and the images they
      had of drugs before pregnancy, thereby they are expected to work actively to
      determine and relieve the anxiety.

PMID- 20930493
TI  - [Microarray analysis of the effects of serum-free medium on gene expression
      changes in human mesenchymal stem cells during the in vitro culture].
AB  - We examined the effects of serum-free medium on the gene expression changes in
      human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) during the in vitro culture using a DNA
      microarray analysis. In this study, we cultured hMSCs with two kinds of medium;
      1) MSCGM (contain 10% fetal bovine serum) or 2) STK2 (serum-free medium developed
      for mesechymal stem cells multiplication), and compared hMSCs proliferation, cell
      morphology, and gene expression changes until 50 days culture. Expression
      analysis was performed with Affymetrix GeneChip Human Genome U133 Plus 2.0 Array.
      hMSC proliferation was significantly higher in STK2 medium than in MSCGM medium.
      The cell morphology of hMSC cultured with STK2 was not significantly changed in
      50 days culture. The gene expression changes in hMSCs during the in vitro culture
      were significantly higher in STK2 than in MSCGM. After 50 days culture, 1991
      genes were significantly changed the expression levels compared with 3 days in
      STK2 but not MSCGM. The expressions of genes related to cell cycle, cancer,
      proliferation, and cell growth were significantly changed by STK2 for 50 days
      culture. It was also changed by STK2 that the expressions of genes related to the
      signaling pathways contain various growth factors, such as IGF-1, FGF, TGF-beta,
      EGF, proliferation, and cell cycle. These results suggest that STK2 may be useful
      to obtain an enough number of hMSC cells for tissue engineered medical devices in
      short-term, however, it should be recognized that STK2 would alter the
      expressions of genes related to a variety of signaling pathways in hMSC if the
      culture period would be extended to obtain a large number of cells.

PMID- 20930495
TI  - N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide in newly diagnosed acromegaly.
AB  - INTRODUCTION AND AIM: The mechanisms of acromegalic cardiomyopathy are not
      clearly understood. Brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) and N-terminal fragment of
      its pro-hormone (NT-proBNP) are released by the cardiac ventricles and increase
      in heart failure. In the present study, we aimed to evaluate serum NT-proBNP
      levels in acromegalic patients and determine a relationship between NT-proBNP
      levels and echocardiographic parameters. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Twenty-two newly
      diagnosed acromegalic patients [mean age 38.85 +/- 11.06 yr; body mass index
      (BMI): 28.51 +/- 3.48 kg/m2] and 26 age- and BMI-matched healthy control subjects
      (mean age 32.9 +/- 12.6 yr; BMI: 26.2 +/- 5.3 kg/m2) were included in the study.
      Standard oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) was performed. Serum NT-proBNP and GH
      were measured at the beginning of the OGTT (0 min). Body fat analyses were
      measured by bioelectrical impedance. Echocardiography was used in cardiac
      evaluations. RESULTS: The mean NT-proBNP level in the acromegalic group was not
      significantly different from the control subjects (55.89 +/- 46.64 pg/ml in
      acromegaly vs 28.76 +/- 22.13 pg/ml in control subjects). There were no
      correlations between the serum NTproBNP, GH, and IGF-I levels. Echocardiography
      revealed significantly increased left ventricular end-diastolic diameter
      (p=0.008), interventricular septum thickness (p=0.009), left atrium (p=0.029),
      and right ventricle diameter (p=0.027) in the acromegalic group. CONCLUSION: NT
      proBNP levels were found to be slightly higher in acromegalic patients as an
      indicator of heart failure, but the increase was not statistically significant.
      Although these cardiac structural changes in newly diagnosed acromegalic patients
      are present, the normal level of NT-proBNP shows that NT-proBNP may not be a good
      indicator in acromegaly.

PMID- 20930496
TI  - Search for genetic mutations in cytological samples from thyroid nodules as a
      diagnostic tool: reality, hope or myth?

PMID- 20930497
TI  - Growth hormone/insulin-like growth factor I axis in neurodegenerative diseases.
AB  - Neurodegenerative diseases (ND) are a group of heterogeneous disorders
      characterized by unknown etiology, subtle onset, and progressive involvement of
      neuronal systems leading to degeneration and dysfunction. They represent a
      challenge for basic science and clinical medicine because of increasing
      prevalence, social cost, complex biochemistry and pathology, and lack of
      mechanism-based treatments. Endocrine modifications may accompany the progression
      of ND, due to the intimate connections between central nervous and endocrine
      systems. Reported data on endocrine changes in different ND have often been non
      conclusive or conflicting. GH/IGF-I axis is involved in the regulation of brain
      growth, development, and metabolism. Dysfunctions in GH/IGF-I axis in most of ND
      are therefore reviewed. Whether GH deficiency, when present, may act as a
      contributory factor in the pathogenesis of these diseases, or might represent a
      consequence of it is presently unknown. A thorough effort in investigating every
      possible involvement of GH/IGF-I axis is warranted, in the light of future
      possible therapeutic strategies.

PMID- 20930498
TI  - Medical therapy of acromegaly in Turkey.
AB  - Acromegaly is associated with multiple co-morbidities and risk of premature
      mortality. Mortality rate of acromegalic patients is similar to that of the
      general population when normal GH levels are achieved. Surgery is the mainstay of
      acromegaly but when surgery fails to achieve disease control, or when surgery is
      impossible or contraindicated, patients are offered medical therapy and/or
      radiotherapy. Current medical therapy modalities were revised in this short
      review.

PMID- 20930499
TI  - Efficiency and applicability of comprehensive geriatric assessment in the
      emergency department: a systematic review.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) may benefit frail
      or chronically ill patients in the emergency department (ED), but take too much
      time to be performed routinely in ED. An alternative approach is to use first a
      screening tool to detect high-risk patients and then perform CGA in these
      patients only. This systematic review focuses on the use and value of CGA in ED
      for evaluation of older patients and its influence on adverse outcomes. This
      approach is compared with an alternative one using existing screening tools,
      validated in ED, to detect high-risk patients needing subsequent CGA. This review
      ends by suggesting a short assessment of CGA to be used in ED and ways to improve
      home discharge management from ED. METHODS: A systematic English Medline
      literature search was conducted in December 2009, with no date limit with the
      following Medical Subject Heading (MeSH) terms: "Frail Elderly", "Health Services
      for Aged", "Community Health Nursing", "Emergency Service, Hospital", "Geriatric
      Assessment", "Patient Discharge", "Risk Assessment" and "Triage". RESULTS: We
      selected 8 studies on CGA efficiency and 14 on screening tools. CGA in ED is
      efficient for decreasing functional decline, ED readmission and possibly nursing
      home admission in high-risk patients. As CGA takes too much time to be performed
      routinely in ED, validated screening tools can be applied to detect high-risk
      patients who will benefit most from CGA. CONCLUSIONS: The selected studies
      demonstrated that screening of high-risk patients is more efficient than age
      based screening, and that CGA performed in ED, followed by appropriate
      interventions, improves outcomes.

PMID- 20930500
TI  - Relationship between whole body oxygen consumption and skeletal muscle glucose
      metabolism during walking in older adults: FDG PET study.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship
      between whole body energy metabolism measured as oxygen consumption (VO2) and
      local muscle activity measured by positron emission tomography (PET) and
      [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG). METHODS: Ten community- dwelling older women (73
      83 yrs) had FDG PET and VO2 measured while walking at a comfortable speed.
      RESULTS: A significant positive correlation was found between VO2 and FDG uptake
      in the biceps femoris (r=0.83), gluteus minimus (r=0.67), gluteus medius (r=0.77)
      and pelvis section muscles (r=0.76). The subjects who showed high FDG uptake in
      the hip muscle group had significantly higher VO2 while walking, compared with
      subjects without high FDG uptake in the hip muscles. CONCLUSIONS: These results
      indicate that FDG PET provides an index which reflects whole body energy
      metabolism during walking, and revealed that excess muscle activity in the hip
      muscles during walking plays a key role in increasing VO2 in older adults.

PMID- 20930501
TI  - Forecasting dengue vaccine demand in disease endemic and non-endemic countries.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A dengue vaccine in large-scale clinical trials could be licensed in
      several years. We estimated the potential vaccine demand for different
      introduction strategies in 54 dengue-endemic countries and for travelers from non
      endemic countries to enable vaccine producers and public health agencies to
      better prepare for timely utilization of the vaccine. RESULTS: Under our
      assumptions, 2.4-3.5 billion dengue vaccine doses would be needed in the first
      five years after introduction with >75% delivered in the public sector. Among 20
      potential 'early-adopter' countries, an estimated 0.9-1.4 billion doses would be
      needed for the same introduction approach. For the private sector, covering 10%
      of children and 30% of adults an estimated 443-664 million doses would be
      required. In non-endemic countries, travelers could use an estimated 59-89
      million vaccine doses, although the present product profile would make it
      unlikely to be able to administer vaccine in a timely manner. METHODS:
      Calculations were based on 2015-2020 population projections for endemic countries
      in Asia and the Americas with populations >100,000. For dengue-endemic countries
      we assumed country-wide routine 12-23 month-old vaccination and catch-up
      vaccination among 2-14 year-old children employing a 2 or 3-dose schedule.
      Assumptions on expected vaccination coverage were based on country-specific
      public, private and travelers' sectors immunization performance. CONCLUSIONS: Our
      results project an upper-limit estimate of vaccine demand, with actual demand
      depending on country priorities, cost and product profile. Given the potential
      for a dengue vaccine, policymakers in endemic and nonendemic countries should
      consider appropriate implementation strategies in advance of licensure.

PMID- 20930502
TI  - The role of p53 in nutrients levels.

PMID- 20930503
TI  - A screen for deubiquitinating enzymes involved in the G2/M checkpoint identifies
      USP50 as a regulator of HSP90-dependent Wee1 stability.
AB  - Tight regulation of cell cycle progression is essential for the maintenance of
      genomic integrity in response to DNA injury. The aim of this study was to
      identify new deubiquitinating enzymes (DUBs) involved in the regulation of the
      G2/M checkpoint. By using an siRNA-based screen to identify DUBs with an inherent
      ability to enhance a CDC25B-dependent G2/M checkpoint bypass, we have identified
      11 candidates whose invalidation compromises checkpoint stringency. We
      subsequently focused our attention on one of these, the previously
      uncharacterized USP50. Using a TAP-tag approach associated to mass spectrometry,
      in addition to a yeast-two-hybrid screen, we identified HSP90 as a major
      interacting partner for USP50. We also demonstrate USP50 depletion causes a loss
      in accumulation of the HSP90 client Wee1, which is an essential component of the
      G2/M cell cycle arrest. Finally, we show that in response to DNA damaging agents,
      USP50 accumulates in the nucleus. We propose that USP50 may act through a HSP90
      dependent mechanism to counteract CDC25B mitotic inducing activity and prevent
      Wee1 degradation, thereby repressing entry into mitosis following activation of
      the DNA damage checkpoint.

PMID- 20930504
TI  - Anticancer function of polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid.
AB  - Polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid (polyi:c) is a synthetic analog of double
      stranded RNA and an agonist of toll-like receptor (TLR) 3 and retinoic acid
      inducible gene I (RIG-I)-like receptors (RLRs), including RIG-I and melanoma
      differentiation-associated gene 5 (MDA5). The effect of polyi:c on tumor
      immunotherapy has been well explored for several decades. The accumulated
      evidence suggests that polyi:c could be used as a vaccine adjuvant to enhance
      innate and adaptive immune responses, and to alter the tumor microenvironment.
      Recent studies have also shown that activation of TLR3 and RLR signaling by
      polyi:c can directly trigger apoptosis in some cancer cells. This review focuses
      on polyi:c-induced signaling pathways and the applications of polyi:c in cancer
      treatment.

PMID- 20930505
TI  - Cyclin E and histone H3 levels are regulated by 5-fluorouracil in a DNA mismatch
      repair-dependent manner.
AB  - Several studies indicate that the DNA mismatch repair (MMR) system may trigger
      cytotoxicity upon 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) recognition, but signaling pathways
      regulated by MMR in response to 5-FU are unknown. We hypothesize that recognition
      of 5-FU in DNA by MMR proteins trigger specific signaling cascades that results
      in slowing of the cell cycle and cell death. Whole human genome cDNA microarrays
      were used to examine relative signaling responses induced in MMR-proficient cells
      after 5-FU (5 MUM) treatment for 24 hours. Analysis revealed 43 pathways
      differentially affected by 5-FU compared to control (P 1.4-fold) and
      downregulated cdc25C, cyclins B1 and B2, histone H2A, H2B, and H3 (< -1.4-fold)
      over control. Cell cycle analysis revealed a G1/S arrest by 5-FU that was
      congruent with increased cyclin E and decreased cdc25C protein expression.
      Importantly, with knockdown of hMLH1 and hMSH2, we observed that decreased
      histone H3 expression by 5-FU was dependent on hMLH1. Additionally, 5-FU
      treatment dramatically decreased levels of several histone H3 modifications. Our
      data suggest that 5-FU induces a G1/S arrest by regulating cyclin E and cdc25C
      expression, and MMR recognition of 5-FU in DNA may modulate cyclin E to affect
      the cell cycle. Furthermore, MMR recognition of 5-FU reduces histone H3 levels
      that could be related to DNA access by proteins and/or cell death during the G1/S
      phase of the cell cycle.

PMID- 20930506
TI  - A new layer of regulation is required to silence the DNA damage checkpoint.

PMID- 20930507
TI  - Additional proof for the importance of Eco1 for DNA double strand break repair.

PMID- 20930508
TI  - Incapacitating CtBP to kill cancer.

PMID- 20930509
TI  - Carbon-iron magnetic nanoparticles for agronomic use in plants: promising but
      still a long way to go.
AB  - In the recent years, multiple ways of interaction between the fields of
      nanotechnology and biology have been opened, mainly in the biomedical research,
      with the development of tools for diagnosis and controlled delivery of
      substances. (1,2) On the other hand, in the field of plant biology, the
      interaction between both disciplines has been less frequent. Most of the
      published work on this field has focus in the environmental impact of
      nanoparticles on crop growth and development; (3,4) and also on the bio
      production of nanoparticles using plant extracts (reviewed in (5) , as an example
      see also (6,7,8)). Much less attention has taken other possible aspects of the
      interrelationship between nanotechnology and plant biology, such as the
      development of nanodevices for controlled delivery of drugs or different kind of
      substances, (9,10) in a similar way to that already developed in the medical
      research.

PMID- 20930511
TI  - Price as a double-edged sword in the golden era of vaccines.
AB  - As a child, I reluctantly submitted to routine vaccinations at my pediatrician's
      office, much as my own patients do today. 

PMID- 20930510
TI  - Damage-specific modification of PCNA.
AB  - Okazaki fragment processing is an integral part of DNA replication. For a long
      time, we assumed that the maturation of these small RNA-primed DNA fragments did
      not necessarily have to occur during S phase, but could be postponed to late in S
      phase after the bulk of DNA synthesis had been completed. This view was primarily
      based on the arrest phenotype of temperature-sensitive DNA ligase I mutants in
      yeast, which accumulated with an almost fully duplicated set of chromosomes.
      However, many temperature-sensitive alleles can be leaky and the re-evaluation of
      DNA ligase I-deficient cells has offered new and unexpected insights into how
      cells keep track of lagging strand synthesis. It turns out that if Okazaki
      fragment joining goes awry, cells have their own alarm system in the form of
      ubiquitin that is conjugated to the replication clamp PCNA. Although this
      modification results in mono- and poly-ubiquitination of PCNA, it is genetically
      distinct from the known post-replicative repair mark at lysine 164. In this Extra
      View, we discuss the possibility that eukaryotic cells utilize different
      enzymatic pathways and ubiquitin attachment sites on PCNA to alert the
      replication machinery to the accumulation of single-stranded gaps or nicks behind
      the fork.

PMID- 20930512
TI  - A sliding scale: the many faces of Ctf7/Eco1 cohesion establishment factor in DNA
      repair.

PMID- 20930513
TI  - Biological and clinical relevance of quantitative global methylation of
      repetitive DNA sequences in chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
AB  - Global DNA hypomethylation affecting repeat sequences has been reported in
      different cancer types. Herein, we investigated the methylation levels of
      repetitive DNA elements in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), their correlation
      with the major cytogenetic and molecular features, and clinical relevance in
      predicting therapy-free survival (TFS). A quantitative bisulfite-PCR
      Pyrosequencing method was used to evaluate methylation of Alu, long interspersed
      nuclear elements-1 (LINE-1) and satellite-alpha (SAT-alpha) sequences in 77
      untreated early-stage (Binet A) CLL patients. Peripheral B-cells from 7 healthy
      donors were used as controls. Methylation levels (median %5mC) were lower in B
      CLLs compared with controls (21.4 vs. 25.9; 66.8 vs. 85.7; 84.0, vs. 88.2 for
      Alu, LINE-1 and SAT-alpha, respectively) (p < 0.001). Among CLL patients, a
      significant association was observed with 17p13.1 deletion (16.8 vs. 22.4; 51.2
      vs. 68.5; 52.6 vs. 85.0, for Alu, LINE-1 and SAT-alpha) but not with other major
      genetic lesions, IgVH mutation status, CD38 or ZAP-70 expression. Follow-up
      analyses showed that lower SAT-alpha methylation levels appeared to be an
      independent prognostic marker significantly associated with shorter TFS. Our
      study extended previous limited evidences in methylation of repetitive sequences
      in CLL suggesting an important biological and clinical relevance in the disease.

PMID- 20930514
TI  - Unsuccessful high dose IL-2 therapy followed immediately by near continuous low
      dose temozolomide can result in rapid durable complete and near-complete
      remissions in metastatic melanoma.
AB  - Metastatic melanoma remains a disease with a very poor prognosis. High dose
      Interleukin-2 (HD IL-2) and temozolomide (TMZ) are both approved treatments for
      this malignancy but response rates remain poor. HD IL-2 is the only approved
      therapy that has been shown to induce durable complete responses albeit in a very
      small percentage of patients. The combination of TMZ followed by HD IL-2 as
      biochemotherapy has been studied previously but did not improve responses over
      what had been observed for HD IL-2 alone. In our clinical practice, we noted
      surprising rapid and dramatic responses to TMZ when given as therapy at 75 mg/m2
      for 21 days per one month cycles in 6/9 (67%) sequentially treated patients who
      had just completed a full course of HD IL-2 and either had failed to respond
      (11%) or frankly progressed (89%). The TMZ therapy began on average within 6
      weeks of stopping the IL-2. All responding patients had complete or near complete
      responses (CR and nearCR) to TMZ. The responses became evident rapidly, typically
      within 1 or 2 cycles of TMZ. Three patients remain alive and completely disease
      free, two are off of all therapy to date. Two patients recurred after initial CR
      and nearCR. One patient died from an acute myocardial infarction while in a CR.
      One patient had prolonged stable disease and 2 patients progressed. These were
      much better responses than what is typically observed for single agent TMZ;
      indeed, durable CR to TMZ that persists off therapy is an unrecognized phenomenon
      to our knowledge. TMZ is an oral atypical alkylating agent that in addition to
      having cytotoxic activity against melanoma has also been shown to decrease the T
      regulatory population of lymphocytes (T-regs). We hypothesize that the TMZ may be
      synergistic with HD IL-2 in a sequence-specific fashion by allowing the immune
      activation induced by the HD IL-2 to proceed without negative feedback applied by
      the T-reg population of cells whose major function is to inhibit an exuberant
      immune response. This postulated mechanism would result in the sequence-specific
      activity noted in our patients. Of interest, 3/6 responding patients and 1/3
      stable/ non-responding patients also exhibited persistent polyarthralgias that
      began on TMZ suggesting the induction of autoimmunity which may be related to
      anti-melanoma effects. The durable CRs that persist after the cessation of
      treatment suggest that this sequence-specific combination should be studied
      further, ideally in a prospective trial of repeated courses of HD IL-2 followed
      strategically by continuous TMZ.

PMID- 20930515
TI  - Anti-TNFalpha domain antibody construct CEP-37247: Full antibody functionality at
      half the size.
AB  - We report preclinical data for CEP-37247, the first human framework domain
      antibody construct to enter the clinic. At approximately 11 - 13kDa, domain
      antibodies or dAbs are the smallest antibody domain able to demonstrate the
      antigen-recognition function of an antibody, e.g. high selectivity and affinity
      for target antigen. CEP-37247 is a bivalent anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF)alpha
      domain antibody protein construct combining the antigen-recognition function of a
      dAb with the pharmacological advantages of an antibody Fc region. As a homodimer,
      with each chain comprising VL dAb, truncated CH1, hinge, CH2 and CH3 domains, CEP
      37247 has a molecular mass of approximately 78kDa, which is about half the size
      of a conventional IgG molecule. Surface plasmon resonance data demonstrate that
      CEP-37247 possesses high selectivity and affinity for TNFalpha. CEP-37247 is a
      potent neutralizer of TNFalpha activity in vitro in the L929 TNF-mediated
      cytotoxicity assay. In a human TNFalpha-over-expressing mouse model of
      polyarthritis, CEP-37247 prevents development of disease, and is at least as
      effective as the marketed product etanercept. Fc functionality is intact - CEP
      37247 is capable of mediating antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity and
      has a circulating half-life of approximately 4.5 days in cynomolgus macaques.
      Given the favorable properties outlined above, and its high expression levels
      (approaching 7 g/L) in a CHOK1 based-expression system, CEP-37247 is progressing
      into the clinic, where other potential advantages such as enhanced efficacy due
      to improved tissue distribution, and beneficial immunogenicity profile, will be
      evaluated.

PMID- 20930516
TI  - E. coli 6S RNA: a universal transcriptional regulator within the centre of growth
      adaptation.
AB  - Bacterial 6S RNA has been shown to bind with high affinity to sigma(70)
      containing RNA polymerase, suppressing sigma(70)-dependent transcription during
      stationary phase, when 6S RNA concentrations are highest. We recently reported a
      genome-wide transcriptional comparison of wild-type and 6S RNA deficient E. coli
      strains. Contrary to the expected sigma(70)- and stationary phase-specific
      regulatory effect of 6S RNA it turned out that mRNA levels derived from many
      alternative sigma factors, including sigma(38) or sigma(32), were affected during
      exponential and stationary growth. Among the most noticeably down-regulated genes
      at stationary growth are ribosomal proteins and factors involved in translation.
      In addition, a striking number of mRNA levels coding for enzymes involved in the
      purine metabolism, for transporters and stress regulators are altered both during
      log- and stationary phase. During the study we discovered a link between 6S RNA
      and the general stress alarmone ppGpp, which has a higher basal level in cells
      deficient in 6S RNA. This finding points to a functional interrelation of 6S RNA
      and the global network of stress and growth adaptation.

PMID- 20930517
TI  - How calmodulin binding transcription activators (CAMTAs) mediate auxin responses.
AB  - Phenotypic plasticity is an adaptive feature of all organisms, which, in land
      plants, entails changes in orientation of growth (tropism), patterns of
      development, organ architecture, timing of developmental processes, and resource
      allocation. However, little is known about the molecular components that
      integrate exogenous environmental cues with internal hormonal signaling pathways.
      This addendum describes a role for calcium-regulated calmodulin-binding
      transcription 1 (CAMTA1) in auxin signaling and stress responses. We discuss
      possible mechanisms that may underlie this role of CAMTA1, and speculate on the
      more general roles of CAMTAs in auxin responses and phenotypic plasticity.

PMID- 20930518
TI  - Re-examining the role of ABA as the primary long-distance signal produced by
      water-stressed roots.
AB  - The role of ABA as the primary long-distance signal produced by water-stressed
      roots and transported to stomata continues to be challenged. We have recently
      reported that expression of ABA biosynthetic genes in roots only increases in the
      later stage of water stress. Our results support the hypothesis that in early
      water stress, increased levels of ABA in xylem sap are due to leaf biosynthesis
      and translocation to roots and from there to xylem. If so, other xylem-borne
      chemicals may be the primary stress signal(s) inducing ABA biosynthesis in
      leaves. We found that apart from ABA, sulfate was the only xylem-borne chemical
      that consistently showed higher concentrations from early to later water stress.
      We also found increased expression of a sulfate transporter gene in roots from
      early water stress onwards. Moreover, using bioassays we found an interactive
      effect of ABA and sulfate in decreasing maize transpiration rate, as compared to
      ABA alone. While ABA is undoubtedly the key mediator of water stress responses
      such as stomatal closure, it may not be the primary signal produced by roots
      perceiving water stress.

PMID- 20930519
TI  - Allosteric inhibition of BCR-ABL.
AB  - Impaired regulation of kinase activity can lead to a variety of diseases,
      including cancer. Inhibition of kinase activity has, therefore, been considered
      an attractive anti-cancer therapeutic strategy. The success of targeted therapy
      with kinase inhibitors has been well documented with BCR-ABL, where imatinib
      specifically inhibits kinase activity with impressive pharmacological responses
      in chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). However, the success of kinase inhibitors
      as cancer therapeutics is being challenged clinically by the emergence of
      acquired resistance. Most kinase inhibitors available today are ATP-competitive.
      There have been efforts to develop kinase inhibitors with new modes of action. In
      this review, we highlight the development of 'allosteric kinase inhibitors' that
      inhibit kinase activity by binding to a site remote from the active site of the
      kinase. We focus on recent efforts directed towards BCR-ABL, for which,
      significant progress has been made to develop allosteric inhibitors with
      promising therapeutic activity, especially in the context of overcoming
      clinically acquired resistance mutations to the first generation of ATP
      competitive kinase inhibitors.

PMID- 20930520
TI  - Long noncoding RNA in genome regulation: prospects and mechanisms.
AB  - Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are pervasively transcribed and critical regulators
      of the epigenome[1, 2]. These long, polyadenylated RNAs do not code for proteins,
      but function directly as RNAs, recruiting chromatin modifiers to mediate
      transcriptional changes in processes ranging from X-inactivation (XIST) to
      imprinting (H19)[3]. The recent discovery that lncRNA HOTAIR can link chromatin
      changes to cancer metastasis[4] furthers the relevance of lncRNAs to human
      disease. Here, we discuss lncRNAs as regulatory modules and explore the
      implications for disease pathogenesis. Although large-scale analyses of mammalian
      transcriptomes have revealed that more than 50% of transcripts have no protein
      coding potential[2, 5, 6], the functions of these putative transcripts are
      largely unknown. A subset of these noncoding transcripts are termed long
      noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), based on an arbitrary minimum length of 200
      nucleotides. LncRNAs are roughly classified based on their position relative to
      protein-coding genes: intergenic (between genes), intragenic/intronic (within
      genes), and antisense[2]. Initial efforts to characterize these molecules
      demonstrated that they function in cis, regulating their immediate genomic
      neighbors. Examples include AIR, XIST, and Kcnq1ot (reviewed in [1, 7, 8]), which
      recruit chromatin modifying complexes to silence adjacent sites. The scope of
      lncRNAs in gene regulation was advanced with the finding that lncRNA HOTAIR
      exhibited trans regulatory capacities. HOTAIR is transcribed at the intersection
      of opposing chromatin domains in the HOXC locus, but targets Polycomb Repressive
      Complex 2 (PRC2) to silence 40 kilobases of HOXD[9], a locus involved in
      developmental patterning. A subsequent study revealed that HOTAIR is
      overexpressed in approximately one quarter of human breast cancers, directing
      PRC2 to approximately 800 ectopic sites in the genome, which leads to histone H3
      lysine 27 trimethylation and changes in gene expression[4]. The impacts of lncRNA
      mediated chromatin changes are noteworthy: not only did HOTAIR drive metastasis
      in a mouse model, but HOTAIR expression in human breast cancer was found to be an
      independent prognostic marker for death and metastasis[4]. The fact that HOTAIR
      drives chromatin reprogramming genome-wide suggests that long-range regulation by
      lncRNAs may be a widespread mechanism. This is supported by a study showing that
      > 20% of tested lncRNAs are bound by PRC2 and other chromatin modifiers[10].
      Furthermore, this is an underestimate of the total RNAs involved in chromatin
      modification, as PRC2 target genes also transcribe smaller 50-200 nt RNAs that
      interact with SUZ12 to mediate gene repression[11]. These findings provoke
      questions regarding the initial triggers for HOTAIR overexpression and whether
      understanding of lncRNA mechanics may have clinical relevance.

PMID- 20930522
TI  - Fibronectin 1 is a potential biomarker for radioresistance in head and neck
      squamous cell carcinoma.
AB  - Radiotherapy remains the backbone of head and neck cancer therapy but response is
      sometimes impeded by tumor radioresistance. Identifying predictive biomarkers of
      radiotherapy response is a crucial step towards personalized therapy. The aim of
      this study was to explore gene expression data in search of biomarkers predictive
      of the response to radiotherapy in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC).
      Microarray analysis was performed on five cell lines with various intrinsic
      radiosensitivity, selected from a panel of 29 HNSCC cell lines. The
      bioinformatics approach included Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment profiling and
      Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA). The GO-analysis detected 16 deregulated
      categories from which development, receptor activity, and extracellular region
      represented the largest groups. Fourteen hub genes (CEBPA, CEBPB, CTNNB1, FN1,
      MYC, MYCN, PLAU, SDC4, SERPINE1, SP1, TAF4B, THBS1, TP53 and VLDLR) were
      identified from the IPA network analysis. The hub genes in the highest ranked
      network, (FN1, SERPINE1, THBS1 and VLDLR) were further subjected to qPCR analysis
      in the complete panel of 29 cell lines. Of these genes, high FN1 expression
      associated to high intrinsic radiosensitivity (p=0.047). In conclusion, gene
      ontologies and hub genes of importance for intrinsic radiosensitivity were
      defined. The overall results suggest that FN1 should be explored as a potential
      novel biomarker for radioresistance.

PMID- 20930521
TI  - Making sense of ubiquitin ligases that regulate p53.
AB  - The functions of p53 most highly associated with the well-studied tumor
      suppressor are its abilities to induce cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in
      response to cellular stresses. Recent progress underscores that p53 is a multi
      functional protein with activities that range beyond tumor suppression to normal
      homeostasis, metabolism, fertility and differentiation. A unifying theme of these
      studies is that p53 is first and foremost a transcription factor; and control of
      p53 protein stability determines its ability to carry out this task. There are an
      expanding number of E3-ubiquitin ligase proteins that target p53 for ubiquitin
      tagging and protein degradation. This review discusses these many effectors of
      p53 protein degradation, and our task is to provide some level of understanding
      as to their differences and their similarities. Further, we propose how some
      degree of specialization may be assigned to the E3-ligases, in their navigation
      toward a common goal of regulating p53 protein levels, and emphasize that better
      understanding of the mechanisms involved in E3-ligase functions is needed to
      further their potential as therapeutic targets.

PMID- 20930523
TI  - HDAC1 in axonal degeneration: A matter of subcellular localization.
AB  - Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a disease characterized by inflammatory demyelination
      and a strong neurodegenerative component. Axonal damage is characteristically
      detected in MS brains, although the pathogenic mechanisms are not clearly
      understood. Here, we discuss the importance of HDAC1 localization as one of the
      potential mechanisms initiating damage in demyelinating conditions. We suggest
      the occurrence of a two-stage mechanism of damage. The first event is a calcium
      dependent HDAC1 nuclear export in a CRM1-dependent manner and the second event is
      the interruption of mitochondrial transport resulting from the cytoplasmic
      localization of HDAC1. In the cytosol of neurons challenged by cytokines and
      excitatory aminoacids, HDAC1 formed complexes with motor-protein and microtubules
      and this resulted in blockade of axonal transport and release of cargo from motor
      proteins. We suggest that these findings might be the framework for future
      studies and for the development of novel therapeutic targets for axonal damage in
      demyelinating conditions.

PMID- 20930524
TI  - Ectopic expression of RhoBTB2 inhibits migration and invasion of human breast
      cancer cells.
AB  - RhoBTB2, or Deleted in Breast Cancer 2 (DBC2), identified as a candidate tumor
      suppressor gene for breast cancer and other human malignancies, is an atypical
      member of a novel gene family encoding small GTPases. In this study, we found
      that ectopic expression of RhoBTB2 inhibits the migration and invasion of the
      human metastatic breast cancer cell lines MDA-MB-231 and MDA-MB-435 in a dose
      dependent manner. Western blotting analysis revealed that ectopic expression of
      RhoBTB2 induces a significant increase in the breast cancer metastasis
      suppressor, BRMS1. siRNA suppression of BRMS1 expression markedly reversed the
      inhibitory effects of RhoBTB2 on the migration and invasion abilities of both
      cell lines. Ezrin is a member of the ezrin-radixin-moesin cytoskeleton-associated
      protein family and is a key signaling molecule that regulates cancer migration
      and invasion. Western blotting analysis demonstrated that ectopic expression of
      RhoBTB2 results in decreased phosphorylation of ezrin and Akt2 in both MDA-MB-231
      and MDA-MB-435 cells. Therefore, we conclude that up-regulation of the breast
      cancer metastasis suppressor BRMS1 and down-regulation of the phosphorylation of
      the cancer metastasis-related gene, ezrin, contributed to RhoBTB2-induced
      inhibition of metastatic breast carcinoma cell migration and invasion. Our
      findings suggest that understanding RhoBTB2-mediated migration and suppression of
      invasion is critical to the development of new therapies designed to prevent and
      treat patients with breast cancer metastasis.

PMID- 20930526
TI  - Sporadic human cases of swine-origin influenza before 2009 share the Sa epitope.

PMID- 20930525
TI  - New insights into the regulation of greening and carbon-nitrogen balance by sugar
      metabolism through a plastidic invertase.
AB  - Since the photosynthetic apparatus of plants contains a massive amount of
      nitrogen, the regulation of its development by sugar signals is important to the
      maintenance of the carbon-nitrogen balance. Recently, we isolated a new
      Arabidopsis mutant, sicy (sugar-inducible cotyledon yellow)-192, whose cotyledons
      were prevented from greening by treatment with sucrose. On treatment with
      sucrose, the expression of photosynthesis- and nitrogen assimilation-related
      genes was respectively weaker and stronger in the mutant seedlings than the wild
      type seedlings. In the mutants, the gene encoding plastidic alkaline/neutral
      (A/N) invertase (INV-E) was point-mutated at codon 294, with Tyr substituted for
      Cys (C294Y). These findings provide new insights into the regulation of greening
      and carbon-nitrogen balance by sugar metabolism through INV-E in plastids. In
      this addendum, we describe the phenotypes of sicy-192 on treatment with sucrose
      in more detail, and propose a possible relationship among sugar metabolism
      through INV-E, plastid-to-nucleus retrograde signaling, and ethylene, a plant
      hormone, in the regulation of plant development and metabolism.

PMID- 20930527
TI  - Biosynthesis of anther cuticle and pollen exine in rice.
AB  - The lipidic structures, anther cuticle (outer anther surface) and pollen exine
      (outer pollen wall), play a key protective role for the male gametophyte and
      pollen grain development. We recently identified ancient cytochrome P450 family
      member CYP704B2 in rice, and proposed a common fatty acid omega-hydroxylation
      pathway for synthesizing anther cuticle and pollen exine during plant male
      reproductive development. Furthermore, we propose developmental model of pollen
      exine formation and discuss key genes required for pollen exine synthesis in the
      important crop plant rice.

PMID- 20930530
TI  - HPV vaccine protects against pre-cancerous growths.

PMID- 20930528
TI  - A conserved G1 regulatory circuit promotes asynchronous behavior of nuclei
      sharing a common cytoplasm.
AB  - Synthesis and accumulation of conserved cell cycle regulators such as cyclins are
      thought to promote G1/S and G2/M transitions in most eukaryotes. When cells at
      different stages of the cell cycle are fused to form heterokaryons, the shared
      complement of regulators in the cytoplasm induces the nuclei to become
      synchronized. However, multinucleate fungi often display asynchronous nuclear
      division cycles, even though the nuclei inhabit a shared cytoplasm. Similarly,
      checkpoints can induce nuclear asynchrony in multinucleate cells by arresting
      only the nucleus that receives damage. The cell biological basis for nuclear
      autonomy in a common cytoplasm is not known. Here we show that in the filamentous
      fungus Ashbya gossypii, sister nuclei born from one mitosis immediately lose
      synchrony in the subsequent G1 interval. A conserved G1 transcriptional
      regulatory circuit involving the Rb-analogue Whi5p promotes the asynchronous
      behavior yet Whi5 protein is uniformly distributed among nuclei throughout the
      cell cycle. The homologous Whi5p circuit in S. cerevisiae employs positive
      feedback to promote robust and coherent entry into the cell cycle. We propose
      that positive feedback in this same circuit generates timing variability in a
      multinucleate cell. These unexpected findings indicate that a regulatory program
      whose products (mRNA transcripts) are translated in a common cytoplasm can
      nevertheless promote variability in the individual behavior of sister nuclei.

PMID- 20930531
TI  - One vaccine for a range of cancers.

PMID- 20930529
TI  - NANOG promoter methylation and expression correlation during normal and malignant
      human germ cell development.
AB  - Testicular germ cell tumors are the most frequent malignant tumors in young
      Caucasian males, with increasing incidence. The actual model of tumorigenesis is
      based on the theory that a block in maturation of fetal germ cells lead to
      formation of the intratubular germ cell neoplasia unclassified. Early fetal germ
      cells and undifferentiated germ cell tumors express pluripotency markers such as
      the transcription factor NANOG. It has been demonstrated, that epigenetic
      modifications such as promoter DNA-methylation is able to silence gene expression
      in normal and cancer cells. Here we show, that OCT3/4-SOX2 mediated expression of
      NANOG can be silenced by methylation of promoter CpG-sites. We found that global
      methylation of DNA decreased from fetal spermatogonia to mature sperm. In
      contrast, CpGs in the NANOG promoter were found hypomethylated in spermatogonia
      and hypermethylated in sperm. This selective repression might reflect the cells
      need to suppress pluripotency in order to prevent malignant transformation.
      Finally, methylation of CpGs in the NANOG promoter in germ cell tumors and
      derived cell lines correlated to differentiation state.

PMID- 20930532
TI  - Vaccine to combat chronic stress.

PMID- 20930533
TI  - Pertussis outbreak in California.

PMID- 20930534
TI  - Seasonal flu vaccines on the way.

PMID- 20930535
TI  - Computer-aided design of live viral vaccine.

PMID- 20930536
TI  - HIV vaccine research: Hope for renaissance.

PMID- 20930538
TI  - 2010 albert B. Sabin gold medal award.

PMID- 20930537
TI  - Questions for biotechs: genocea biosciences.

PMID- 20930539
TI  - The role of jasmonic acid and ethylene crosstalk in direct defense of Nicotiana
      attenuata plants against chewing herbivores.
AB  - We examined performance of herbivores on plants lacking either jasmonate (JA,
      asLOX3) or ethylene (ET, mETR1) signaling, or both (mETR1asLOX3). Plant defenses
      against Manduca sexta caterpillars were strongly impaired in JA-deficient asLOX3
      plants; however, making asLOX3 plants ethylene insensitive did not further
      increase the performance of the larvae on a mETR1asLOX3 genetic cross. This
      result demonstrates the dominant role of JA over ET in the regulation of plant
      defenses against herbivores. However, ET-insensitivity combined with otherwise
      normal levels of JA in mETR1 plants promoted faster caterpillar growth, which
      correlated with reduced accumulation of the alkaloidal direct defense nicotine in
      mETR1 compared to WT plants. Our data points to an important accessory function
      of ET in the activation of JA-regulated plant defenses against herbivores at the
      level of alkaloid biosynthesis in the roots and/or accumulation in the leaves.

PMID- 20930540
TI  - Therapeutic implications of autophagy-mediated cell survival in gastrointestinal
      stromal tumor after treatment with imatinib mesylate.

PMID- 20930541
TI  - In the beginning: Generating neural crest cell diversity.
AB  - Neural crest cells (NCCs) are migratory cells that delaminate from the neural
      tube early in development and then disseminate throughout the embryo to give rise
      to a wide variety of cell types that are key to the vertebrate body plan. During
      their journey from the neural tube to their peripheral targets, NCCs
      progressively differentiate, raising the question when the fate of an individual
      NCC is sealed. One hypothesis suggests that the fate of a NCC is specified by
      target-derived signals emanating from the environment they migrate through, while
      another hypothesis proposes that NCCs are already specified to differentiate
      along select lineages at the time they are born in the neural tube, with
      environmental signals helping them to realize their prespecified fate potential.
      Alternatively, both mechanisms may cooperate to drive NCC diversity. This review
      highlights recent advances in our understanding of prespecification during trunk
      NCC development.

PMID- 20930543
TI  - Hypoxia induced upregulation and function of the thiamine transporter, SLC19A3 in
      a breast cancer cell line.
AB  - Adaptive responses within hypoxic tumor microenvironments require the altered
      expression of Solute Carrier (SLC) transporters to maintain nutrient uptake in
      support of cellular metabolism and biosynthesis. Using a real time PCR array
      strategy to further characterize changes in transporter expression within a
      chronic hypoxia breast cancer cell line model (BT474), we have found a 31 fold
      increase in the expression of the thiamine transporter, SLC19A3. Thus, further
      investigations into the expression changes of the thiamine transporters, SLC19A2
      and SLC19A3, and the role of hypoxia inducible factor-1 alpha (HIF-1alpha)
      regulating their expression were conducted. Chronic culturing of BT474 cells in
      1% O2 up to 142 days consistently demonstrated a high level of SLC19A3 expression
      with a mean of approximately 40 fold with no change in SLC19A2. A corresponding 2
      fold increase in thiamine uptake over 15 min was measured in chronic hypoxic
      BT474 cells compared to normoxia. Acute 1% O2 exposure of BT474 cells up to 72 h
      demonstrated a 7.5 fold increase in SLC19A3 expression. The chemical hypoxia
      mimetic deferoxamine, resulted in an approximately 70 fold increase in SLC19A3
      expression. Stable shRNA knockdown of HIF-1alpha reduced hypoxia mediated SLC19A3
      up-regulation by approximately 3 fold compared to scrambled construct. In
      conclusion, SLC19A3 transporter expression was observed to be up-regulated under
      acute, chronic and DFO induced hypoxia. The attenuated increase in SLC19A3
      expression after HIF-1alpha knockdown suggests a role for HIF-1alpha mediated
      pathways regulating SLC19A3 gene expression.

PMID- 20930542
TI  - Ubiquitin becomes ubiquitous in cancer: emerging roles of ubiquitin ligases and
      deubiquitinases in tumorigenesis and as therapeutic targets.
AB  - By virtue of its ability to regulate both protein turnover and non-proteolytic
      signalling functions, ubiquitin protein conjugation has been implicated in the
      control of multiple cellular processes, including protein localization, cell
      cycle control, transcription regulation, DNA damage repair, and endocytosis.
      Ubiquitin metabolism enzymes have been identified as either oncogenes or tumor
      suppressors in a variety of cancers. Given that ubiquitin metabolism is governed
      by enzymes--E1, E2, E3, E4, deubiquitinases (DUBs), and the proteasome- the
      system as a whole is ripe for target and drug discovery in cancer. Of the
      ubiquitin/proteasome system components, the E3's and DUBs can recognize
      substrates with the most specificity, and are thus of key interest as drug
      targets in cancer. This review examines the molecular role in cancer, relevant
      substrates, and potential for pharmacologic development, of E3's and DUBs that
      have been associated thus far with human malignancies as oncogenes or tumor
      suppressors.

PMID- 20930544
TI  - Therapeutic targeting of C-terminal binding protein in human cancer.
AB  - The CtBP transcriptional corepressors promote cancer cell survival and
      migration/invasion. CtBP senses cellular metabolism via a regulatory
      dehydrogenase domain, and is antagonized by p14/p19(ARF) tumor suppressors. The
      CtBP dehydrogenase substrate 4-methylthio-2-oxobutyric acid (MTOB) can act as a
      CtBP inhibitor at high concentrations, and is cytotoxic to cancer cells. MTOB
      induced apoptosis was p53-independent, correlated with the derepression of the
      proapoptotic CtBP repression target Bik, and was rescued by CtBP overexpression
      or Bik silencing. MTOB did not induce apoptosis in mouse embryonic fibroblasts
      (MEFs), but was increasingly cytotoxic to immortalized and transformed MEFs,
      suggesting that CtBP inhibition may provide a suitable therapeutic index for
      cancer therapy. In human colon cancer cell peritoneal xenografts, MTOB treatment
      decreased tumor burden and induced tumor cell apoptosis. To verify the potential
      utility of CtBP as a therapeutic target in human cancer, the expression of CtBP
      and its negative regulator ARF was studied in a series of resected human colon
      adenocarcinomas. CtBP and ARF levels were inversely-correlated, with elevated
      CtBP levels (compared with adjacent normal tissue) observed in greater than 60%
      of specimens, with ARF absent in nearly all specimens exhibiting elevated CtBP
      levels. Targeting CtBP may represent a useful therapeutic strategy in human
      malignancies.

PMID- 20930546
TI  - Global DNA methylation levels in girls with and without a family history of
      breast cancer.
AB  - Lower levels of global DNA methylation in white blood cell (WBC) DNA have been
      associated with adult cancers. It is unknown whether individuals with a family
      history of cancer also have lower levels of global DNA methylation early in life.
      We examined global DNA methylation in WBC (measured in three repetitive elements,
      LINE1, Sat2 and Alu, by MethyLight and in LINE1 by pyrosequencing) in 51 girls
      ages 6-17. Compared to girls without a family history of breast cancer,
      methylation levels were lower for all assays in girls with a family history of
      breast cancer, and statistically significantly lower for Alu and LINE1
      pyrosequencing. After adjusting for age, body mass index (BMI), and Tanner stage,
      only methylation in Alu was associated with family history of breast cancer. If
      these findings are replicated in larger studies, they suggest that lower levels
      of global WBC DNA methylation observed later in life in adults with cancer may
      also be present early in life in children with a family history of cancer.

PMID- 20930545
TI  - The various roles of ubiquitin in Wnt pathway regulation.
AB  - Wnt signaling mediates key developmental and homeostatic processes including stem
      cell maintenance, growth and cell fate specification, cell polarity and
      migration. Inappropriate activation of Wnt signaling is linked to a range of
      human disorders, most notably cancer and neurodegenerative diseases. In the
      Wnt/beta-catenin cascade, signaling events converge on the regulation of
      ubiquitin-mediated degradation of the crucial transcriptional regulator beta
      catenin. The emerging mechanisms by which ubiquitin modification of proteins
      controls cellular pathways comprise both proteolytic and nonproteolytic
      functions. In nonproteolytic functions, ubiquitin acts as a signaling device in
      the control of protein activity, subcellular localization and complex formation.
      Here, we review and discuss recent developments that implicate ubiquitin-mediated
      mechanisms at multiple steps of Wnt pathway activation.

PMID- 20930547
TI  - DNA methylation of IGF2, GNASAS, INSIGF and LEP and being born small for
      gestational age.
AB  - Being born small for gestational age (SGA), a proxy for intrauterine growth
      restriction (IUGR), and prenatal famine exposure are both associated with a
      greater risk of metabolic disease. Both associations have been hypothesized to
      involve epigenetic mechanisms. We investigated whether prenatal growth
      restriction early in pregnancy was associated with changes in DNA methylation at
      loci that were previously shown to be sensitive to early gestational famine
      exposure. We compared 38 individuals born preterm (< 32 weeks) and with a birth
      weight too low for their gestational age (-1SDS) and a normal postnatal growth (>
      1SDS at 3 months post term; AGA). The SGA individuals were not only lighter at
      birth, but also had a smaller length (P=3.3x10 (-13) ) and head circumference at
      birth (P=4.1x10 (-13) ). The DNA methylation levels of IGF2, GNASAS, INSIGF and
      LEP were 48.5%, 47.5%, 79.4% and 25.7% respectively. This was not significantly
      different between SGA and AGA individuals. Risk factors for being born SGA,
      including preeclampsia and maternal smoking, were also not associated with DNA
      methylation at these loci. Growth restriction early in development is not
      associated with DNA methylation at loci shown to be affected by prenatal famine
      exposure. Our and previous results by others indicate that prenatal growth
      restriction and famine exposure may be associated with different epigenetic
      changes or non epigenetic mechanisms that may lead to similar later health
      outcomes.

PMID- 20930548
TI  - Integrin alphaIIbbeta3: a novel effector of Galpha13.
AB  - Under physiological conditions, circulating platelets are discoid in shape. On
      these platelets, the fibrinogen receptor (integrin alphaIIbbeta3) is in a low
      affinity state, unable to bind soluble fibrinogen (Fg). Activation by agonists
      such as ADP and thrombin leads to a change in the conformation of the integrin
      alphaIIbbeta3 through a process known as inside-out signaling. This enables the
      integrin to bind soluble Fg, which initiates a cascade of events referred to as
      outside-in signaling. Outside-in signaling control processes such as platelet
      spreading and clot retraction by regulating small G-proteins such as RhoA, Rac
      and cdc42.

PMID- 20930549
TI  - Using peripheral blood mRNA signature to distinguish between breast cancer and
      benign breast disease in non-conclusive mammography patients.
AB  - Due to the small volume and high density of breast tissue in Asian women,
      particularly younger women, mammographic diagnosis is sometimes non-conclusive,
      with a Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS) result of 0. No
      alternative based on blood biomarkers has yet succeeded in discriminating between
      patients with breast cancer (BC) and those with benign breast disease (BBD) among
      BI-RADS 0 patients. In our study, 84 BC and 94 BBD patients with mammographic
      results and confirmed pathologic information were enrolled and categorized into
      two groups, namely, 79 BC and 73 BBD patients with BI-RADS 1-5 and 5 BC and 21
      BBD patients with BI-RADS 0. RNA extracted from peripheral blood samples
      collected in PAXgene (TM) tubes was analyzed after NuGEN WT-Ovation (TM) RNA
      amplification using Affymetrix GeneChip.

PMID- 20930550
TI  - STAT3 transcriptional factor activated by reactive oxygen species induces IL6 in
      starvation-induced autophagy of cancer cells.
AB  - Autophagy is one of the survival processes of cancer cells, especially in
      stressful conditions such as starvation, hypoxia and chemotherapeutic agents.
      However, its roles in tumor survival have not yet been fully elucidated. Here, we
      found for the first time that JAK2/STAT3 was activated in HeLa cells when they
      were starved or treated with rapamycin. STAT3 activation was associated with
      autophagic processes, because it was completely inhibited by 3-methyladenine,
      partially inhibited by knockdown of molecules associated with autophagic
      processes and blocked by antioxidants, DPI, a Nox inhibitor and knockdown of p22
      phox, indicating that ROS generated by Nox that was activated during autophagic
      processes activated JAK2/STAT3 pathway. Activated STAT3 directly bound to IL6
      promoter and increased IL6 mRNA and protein secretion. Finally, the conditioned
      media, which included IL6, from starved HeLa cells promoted cancer cell survival
      in both normal and starved conditions, confirmed by clonogenic, proliferation and
      cell death assays. These data together indicate that the autophagic process in
      cancer cells can contribute to their survival by JAk2/STAT3 activation and
      subsequent secretion of growth factors.

PMID- 20930551
TI  - Prognostic signatures, cancer metastasis and MYC.

PMID- 20930552
TI  - Plant-produced microbial vaccines: Alexander V. Karasev, editor: Current topics
      in microbiology and immunology 2009; v. 332.

PMID- 20930553
TI  - Maternal protein restriction during pregnancy induces CCAAT/enhancer-binding
      protein (C/EBPbeta) expression through the regulation of histone modification at
      its promoter region in female offspring rat skeletal muscle.
AB  - Maternal nutrition during pregnancy is an important intrauterine environmental
      factor that can cause persistent alterations of the offspring genome and is
      associated with potential disease risk later in life. In the present study, we
      investigated the impact of a maternal low protein diet (LP) on the expression of
      the transcription factor CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein (C/EBPbeta) in offspring
      skeletal muscle. C/EBPbeta belongs to a family of transcription factors that
      regulates the expression of genes involved in energy homeostasis and muscle
      development. We investigated C/EBPbeta transcriptional regulation from an
      epigenetic aspect. We observed sex-dependent differences in C/EBPbeta expression
      in offspring skeletal muscle subjected to a maternal protein-restricted diet. In
      female offspring skeletal muscle, both C/EBPbeta mRNA and protein levels were
      increased by maternal protein restriction. However, C/EBPbeta expression was not
      altered in other tissues or male offspring. Analysis of transcriptional and
      epigenetic regulation showed acetylated histone 3 and acetylated histone 4 at
      significantly increased levels at the C/EBPbeta promoter region in female LP
      pup's muscle. Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) gene transcription was
      also up-regulated in female LP pups through the increased binding of C/EBPbeta at
      its promoter. The induction of C/EBPbeta expression in female offspring skeletal
      muscle by maternal protein restriction during pregnancy may indicate C/EBPbeta
      involvement in signaling response in energy metabolism to a low maternal protein
      diet.

PMID- 20930554
TI  - Auxins upregulate nif and fix genes.
AB  - In a recent publication we analyzed the global effects triggered by IAA
      overproduction in S. meliloti RD64 under free-living conditions by comparing the
      gene expression pattern of wild type 1021 with that of RD64 and 1021 treated with
      IAA and other four chemically or functionally related molecules. Among the genes
      differentially expressed in RD64 and IAA-treated 1021 cells we found two genes of
      pho operon, phoT and phoC. Based on this finding we examined the mechanisms for
      mineral P solubilization in RD64 and the potential ability of this strain to
      improve Medicago growth under P-starved conditions. Here, we further analyze the
      expression profiles obtained in microarray analysis and evaluate the specificity
      and the extent of overlap between all treatments. Venn diagrams indicated that
      IAA- and 2,4-D-regulated genes were closely related. Furthermore, most
      differentially expressed genes from pSymA were induced in 1021 cells treated with
      2,4-D, ICA, IND and Trp as compared to the untreated 1021 cells. RT-PCR analysis
      was employed to analyze the differential expression patterns of nitrogen fixation
      genes under free-living and symbiotic conditions. Under symbiotic condition, the
      relative expression levels of nif and fix genes were significantly induced in Mt-
      RD64 plants and in Mt-1021 plants treated with IAA and 2,4-D whereas they were
      unchanged or repressed in Mt-1021 plants treated with the other selected
      compounds when compared to the untreated Mt-1021 plants.

PMID- 20930555
TI  - Metrics for antibody therapeutics development.
AB  - A wide variety of full-size monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) and therapeutics derived
      from alternative antibody formats can be produced through genetic and biological
      engineering techniques. These molecules are now filling the preclinical and
      clinical pipelines of every major pharmaceutical company and many biotechnology
      firms. Metrics for the development of antibody therapeutics, including averages
      for the number of candidates entering clinical study and development phase
      lengths for mAbs approved in the United States, were derived from analysis of a
      dataset of over 600 therapeutic mAbs that entered clinical study sponsored, at
      least in part, by commercial firms. The results presented provide an overview of
      the field and context for the evaluation of on-going and prospective mAb
      development programs. The expansion of therapeutic antibody use through
      supplemental marketing approvals and the increase in the study of therapeutics
      derived from alternative antibody formats are discussed.

PMID- 20930556
TI  - Identification of small molecules enhancing autophagic function from drug network
      analysis.
AB  - Enhancing autophagy is a potentially effective strategy for the treatment of
      several human disorders. Therefore, there is a great effort in developing drugs
      modulating autophagy, and various approaches have been taken towards this goal.
      Gene expression has been considered an important biomarker for drug activity for
      prediction of drug mode of action. However, the lack of efficient method of
      analysis has hampered recognition of drug mode of action based on the analysis of
      gene expression profiles. A novel and robust tool for prediction of drug mode of
      action and drug repositioning overcomes the limitations of previously available
      methods. This novel tool is based on a data set of expression profiles derived
      from a large number of drugs integrated into a "drug network" constructed by
      comparing the transcriptional responses induced in human cell lines. Automatic
      analysis of the topology of the drug network makes it possible to classify
      compounds and to predict unreported effects of well-known drugs. Using this tool,
      it was possible to identify fasudil as a new enhancer of autophagy.

PMID- 20930557
TI  - Role of histone deacetylases HDA6 and HDA19 in ABA and abiotic stress response.
AB  - Our recent study revealed the involvement of the Arabidopsis histone deacetylase
      HDA6 in modulating ABA and salt stress responses. In this report, we further
      investigated the role of HDA19 in ABA and salt stress responses. The Arabidopsis
      HDA19 T-DNA insertion mutant, hda19-1, displayed a phenotype that was
      hypersensitive to ABA and salt stress. Compared with wild-type plants, the
      expression of ABA responsive genes, ABI1, ABI2, KAT1, KAT2, and RD29B, was
      decreased in hda19-1 plants when treated with ABA. Our study indicates that HDA6
      and HDA19 may play a redundant role in modulating seed germination and salt
      stress response, as well as ABA- and salt stress-induced gene expression in
      Arabidopsis.

PMID- 20930558
TI  - A member of a new plant gene family encoding a meprin and TRAF homology (MATH)
      domain-containing protein is involved in restriction of long distance movement of
      plant viruses.
AB  - Restriction of long distance movement of several potyviruses in Arabidopsis
      thaliana is controlled by at least three dominant restricted TEV movement (RTM)
      genes, named RTM1, RTM2 and RTM3 and acts as a non conventional resistance. RTM1
      encodes a protein belonging to the jacalin family and RTM2 encodes a protein
      which has similarities to small heat shock proteins. The recent cloning of RTM3
      which encodes a protein belonging to an unknown protein family of 29 members
      which has a meprin and TRAF homology (MATH) domain in its N-terminal region and a
      coiled-coil (CC) domain at its C-terminal end is an important breakthrough for a
      better understanding of this resistance process. Not only the third gene involved
      in this resistance has been identified and has allowed revealing a new gene
      family in plant but the discovery that the RTM3 protein interacts directly with
      RTM1 strongly suggests that the RTM proteins form a multimeric complex. However,
      these data also highlight striking similarities of the RTM resistance with the
      well known R-gene mediated resistance.

PMID- 20930559
TI  - A new approach to estimate vaccine efficacy based on immunogenicity data applied
      to influenza vaccines administered by the intradermal or intramuscular routes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Despite their pivotal role in the assessment of influenza vaccines,
      limited attempts have been made to use haemagglutination inhibition (HI) titers
      for predicting vaccine efficacy against laboratory-confirmed influenza. We
      present here the second step of a two-step approach allowing performing such
      predictions and use it to compare a new trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine
      administered by the intradermal (ID) route (INTANZA(r) /IDFlu(r)) with the
      vaccine administered by the classical intramuscular (IM) route. METHODS: The
      first step corresponding to the estimation of the level of protection against
      laboratory-confirmed influenza that can be linked to each HI titer, referred to
      as the HI protection curve, was achieved by using a meta-analytical approach
      based on published information. Vaccine efficacy and differences in vaccine
      efficacy are predicted in a second step using this HI protection curve alongside
      the results of two randomized clinical trials providing comparative information
      on the immunogenicity of trivalent inactivated influenza vaccines administered ID
      or IM in 3503 & 1645 elderly participants, respectively. RESULTS: Pooling all
      available immunogenicity data, the predicted vaccine efficacy was 63.3% [CI:
      58.1; 68.7] for ID route and 54.4% [CI: 49.4; 59.2] for IM route. The
      corresponding relative increase in efficacy that is of 16.5% [CI: 12.7; 20.1].
      Predicted vaccine efficacies decreased with age for both vaccines, but the
      decrease was less marked by ID route: the relative increase in efficacy for
      subjects aged 70 years and above is of 18.0% [CI:12;24]. CONCLUSION: The analysis
      performed confirmed that the superior immune response provided by the vaccine
      using the ID route should translate into a higher vaccine efficacy against
      laboratory-confirmed influenza.

PMID- 20930560
TI  - Neural crest cells and motor axons in avians: Common and distinct migratory
      molecules.
AB  - It has long been thought that the same molecules guide both trunk neural crest
      cells and motor axons as these cell types grow and extend to their target regions
      in developing embryos. There are common territories that are navigated by these
      cell types: both cells grow through the rostral portion of the somitic
      sclerotomes and avoid the caudal half of the sclerotomes. However, these cell
      types seem to use different molecules to guide them to their target regions. In
      this review, I will talk about the common and distinct methods of migration taken
      by trunk neural crest cells and motor axons as they grow and populate their
      target regions through chick embryos at the level of the trunk.

PMID- 20930561
TI  - The Bcl-2-Beclin 1 interaction in (-)-gossypol-induced autophagy versus apoptosis
      in prostate cancer cells.
AB  - Bcl-2 is a key dual regulator of autophagy and apoptosis, but how the level of
      Bcl-2 influences the cellular decision between autophagy and apoptosis is
      unclear. The natural BH3-mimetic (-)-gossypol preferentially induces autophagy in
      androgen-independent (AI) prostate cancer cells that have high levels of Bcl-2
      and are resistant to apoptosis, whereas apoptosis is preferentially induced in
      androgen-dependent or -independent cells with low Bcl-2. (-)-Gossypol induces
      autophagy via blocking Bcl-2-Beclin 1 interaction at the endoplasmic reticulum
      (ER), together with downregulating Bcl-2, upregulating Beclin 1 and activating
      the autophagic pathway. Furthermore, (-)-gossypol-induced autophagy is Beclin 1-
      and Atg5-dependent. These results provide new insights into the mode of cell
      death induced by Bcl-2 inhibitors, which could facilitate the rational design of
      clinical trials by selecting patients who are most likely to benefit from the Bcl
      2-targeted molecular therapy.

PMID- 20930562
TI  - Factors affecting Varicella vaccine uptake among children 1-17 years old in the
      Haifa District in 2007.
AB  - The Israeli National Vaccination Program (INVP) is aimed mainly at the pediatric
      age group. Till 2008 the program did not include routine administration of
      vaccine against Varicella (chickenpox). For the past 7 years, however, vaccine
      against Varicella has been available to the public and subsidized through the
      health maintenance organizations (HMOs). On the eve of probable introduction of
      the Varicella Zoster Vaccine (VZ-V) into the INVP a study was conducted to
      examine factors postulated to be of importance in vaccination uptake. These
      factors can be assessed while the vaccine is only administered through active
      choice, as opposed to administration by default as part of INVP. The study group
      comprised the communities in the District of Haifa. The aim of the study was to
      assess vaccination rates and contributing factors in the decision to vaccinate or
      not vaccinate against VZ. The study showed that uptake of VZ-V was in correlation
      with: 1. Population group (i.e. religious denomination)--Jews were more likely to
      vaccinate (OR=3.88). 2. Level of education--parents with higher level of
      education were more likely to vaccinate. (OR=1.91). 3. Level of religious
      observance--non-observant parents were more likely to vaccinate (OR=2.7) 4.
      Complementary insurance (reimbursement of cost)--parents with complementary
      insurance were more likely to vaccinate (OR=3.41). 5. A physician's
      recommendation to vaccinate--when a physician recommendation was given for
      vaccination the likelihood of vaccination was increased (OR=2.94).

PMID- 20930563
TI  - Pandemic influenza A 2009 (H1N1) vaccination in high risk children with chronic
      renal diseases: acceptance and perceptions.
AB  - We aimed to evaluate the acceptance of pandemic influenza A 2009 vaccination in
      our high risk children with chronic renal diseases. A total of 64
      children/parents of pediatric nephrology department were approached to fill in a
      standardised questionnaire on influenza immunization profile. The H1N1
      vaccination rates were 57.1% for transplant recipients, 61.5% for patients on
      peritoneal dialysis (PD), 36.4% for patients with various stages of chronic renal
      disease (CRD) and 26.7% for patients with glomerulonephritis (GN) on
      immunosuppressive therapy. Children on renal transplantation or PD had a fourfold
      higher rate of being vaccinated than children with GN (p=0.04). Causes of denying
      vaccination included fear of adverse effects (48.9%), lack of sufficient data on
      the new vaccine (31.9%) and others (19.2%). Patients being vaccinated were all
      urged by their pediatric nephrologist (100%), while patients not vaccinated were
      negatively influenced by media (41.4%), friends (24.1%), pediatrician (20.7%) and
      others (13.8%). Regarding parents education, higher level was associated with
      increased rate of children vaccination (p=0.04). It seems that patients with
      severe renal disease had better compliance with vaccination. The pediatric
      nephrologists had the most significant positive influence in contrast to the
      media which had the most negative influence.

PMID- 20930565
TI  - Dried influenza vaccines: over the counter vaccines.
AB  - Since last year influenza pandemic has struck again after 40 years, this is the
      right moment to discuss the different available formulation options for influenza
      vaccine. Looking back to the last 4 decades, most vaccines are still formulated
      as liquid solution. These vaccines have shown a poor stability profile and are
      limited in their potential route of administration. An ideal solution to these
      problems can be to convert vaccines into a dry and stable powder formulation.
      Recently, drying and delivery technologies have shown promising results regarding
      the vaccine stability. Therefore, in future we can envisage a stable dry
      influenza vaccine. Also with regard to the route of administration developments
      are accelerating and the potential of non-invasive administration has been
      demonstrated.

PMID- 20930564
TI  - Proteomic consequences of expression and pathological conversion of the prion
      protein in inducible neuroblastoma N2a cells.
AB  - Neurodegenerative diseases are often associated with misfolding and deposition of
      specific proteins in the nervous system. The prion protein, which is associated
      with transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs), is one of them. The normal
      function of the cellular form of the prion protein (PrP(C)) is mediated through
      specific signal transduction pathways and is linked to resistance to oxidative
      stress, neuronal outgrowth and cell survival. In TSEs, PrP(C) is converted into
      an abnormally folded isoform, called PrP(Sc), that may impair the normal function
      of the protein and/or generate toxic aggregates. To investigate these molecular
      events we performed a two-dimensional gel electrophoresis comparison of
      neuroblastoma N2a cells expressing different amounts of PrP(C) and eventually
      infected with the 22L prion strain. Mass spectrometry and peptide mass
      fingerprint analysis identified a series of proteins with modified expression.
      They included the chaperones Grp78/BiP, protein disulfide-isomerase A6, Grp75 and
      Hsp60 which had an opposite expression upon PrPC expression and PrP(Sc)
      production. The detection of these proteins was coherent with the idea that
      protein misfolding plays an important role in TSEs. Other proteins, such as
      calreticulin, tubulin, vimentin or the laminin receptor had their expression
      modified in infected cells, which was reminiscent of previous results. Altogether
      our data provide molecular information linking PrP expression and misfolding,
      which could be the basis of further therapeutic and pathophysiological research
      in this field.

PMID- 20930566
TI  - BROTHER OF FT AND TFL1 (BFT), a member of the FT/TFL1 family, shows distinct
      pattern of expression during the vegetative growth of Arabidopsis.
AB  - Transition to the flowering stage is precisely controlled by a few classes of
      regulatory molecules. BROTHER OF FT AND TFL1 (BFT) is a member of FLOWERING LOCUS
      T (FT)/TERMINAL FLOWER 1 (TFL1) family, an important class of flower development
      regulators with unidentified biochemical function. BFT has a TFL1-like activity
      and plays a role in axillary inflorescence development. To elucidate the
      expression pattern of BFT, we analyzed the subcellular localization and
      conditional expression of BFT in this study. We generated 35S::BFT:GFP plants to
      investigate the subcellular localization of BFT protein. 35S::BFT:GFP plants
      showed late flowering, similarly as did 35S::BFT plants. BFT:GFP fusion protein
      was localized in the nucleus and the plasma membrane, which was different from
      the localization pattern of FT and TFL1. BFT expression was induced by abiotic
      stress conditions. ABA, drought, and osmotic stress treatments induced BFT
      expression, whereas cold, salt, and heat stress conditions did not, suggesting
      that BFT plays a role in regulating flowering time and inflorescence structure
      under drought conditions. The induction pattern of BFT was different from those
      of other FT/TFL1 family genes. Our studies indicated that BFT showed a distinct
      expression pattern from its homologous genes during the vegetative growth in
      Arabidopsis.

PMID- 20930567
TI  - Seeds of Arabidopsis plants expressing dominant-negative AtSKD1 under control of
      the GL2 promoter show a transparent testa phenotype and a mucilage defect.
AB  - We have recently shown that overexpression of dominant-negative AtSKD1 versions
      under control of the trichome and non-root-hair-cell specific GL2 promoter
      (GL2pro) blocks trafficking of soluble cargo to the vacuole, resulting in its
      fragmentation and ultimately cell death. GL2pro is also active in the Arabidopsis
      seeds. When we inspected seeds of the dominant-negative AtSKD1 variants we found
      two phenotypes. The seeds display a transparent testa phenotype caused by a lack
      of proanthocyanidin (PA) and do not possess seed coat mucilage. Both phenotypes
      could be connected by cell death induced by the overexpression of dominant
      negative AtSKD1.

PMID- 20930568
TI  - Significance of light-induced hook exaggeration as reinforced by the concomitant
      anatomical change of germinating tomato seeds.
AB  - Progression of the apical hook of tomato, Solanum lycopersicum, exaggerated by
      phytochrome mediation at the early germination stage is followed in detail
      macroscopically and anatomically, and its proposed significance, i.e. survival by
      securing the seed coat release in the field, is reinforced by new findings.
      Furthermore, after self-release or artificial removal of the seed coat and the
      endosperm, no hook exaggeration occurs any more. Similar light-induced hook
      exaggeration (LIHE) is also found in carrot, parsley, and Cryptotaenia japonica,
      which share some seed characteristics with tomato. These findings also support
      the above-stated significance.

PMID- 20930569
TI  - A new view on development of a Staphylococcus aureus vaccine: insights from mice
      and men.

PMID- 20930572
TI  - Current Opinion in Neurology. Current world literature.

PMID- 20930576
TI  - Retinopathy of prematurity.

PMID- 20930570
TI  - In vivo imaging of autophagy in a mouse stroke model.
AB  - Recent studies have suggested that autophagy is involved in a neural death
      pathway following cerebral ischemia. In vivo detection of autophagy could be
      important for evaluating ischemic neural cell damage for human stroke patients.
      Using novel green fluorescent protein (GFP)-fused microtubule-associated protein
      1 light chain 3 (LC3) transgenic (Tg) mice, in vivo imaging of autophagy was
      performed at 1, 3 and 6 d after 60 min transient middle cerebral artery occlusion
      (tMCAO). Ex vivo imaging of autophagy, testing of the autophagy inhibitor 3
      methyladenine (3-MA), estern blot analysis, immunohistochemistry, terminal
      deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP-digoxigenin nick end labeling (TUNEL)
      and fluorescent analyses were performed on brain sections following tMCAO. In
      vivo fluorescent signals were detected above the ischemic hemisphere through the
      skull bone at 1, 3 and 6 d after tMCAO, with a peak at 1 d. Similar results were
      obtained with ex vivo fluorescence imaging. western blot analysis revealed
      maximum LC3-I and LC3-II expression at 1 d after tMCAO and fluorescence
      immunohistochemistry demonstrated that GFP-LC3-positive cells were primarily
      neuronal, not astroglial or microglial, cells. The number of GFP-LC3/TUNEL double
      positive cells was greater in the periischemic area than in the core. These
      results provided evidence of in vivo autophagy detection, with a peak at 1 d, in
      a live animal model following cerebral ischemia. This novel technique could be
      valuable for monitoring autophagic processes in vivo in live stroke patients, as
      well as for clarifying the detailed role of autophagy in the ischemic brain, as
      well as in other neurological diseases.

PMID- 20930577
TI  - Periocular infantile hemangioma.

PMID- 20930578
TI  - Ophthalmologic manifestations of systemic disease.

PMID- 20930579
TI  - Inherited retinal degenerations.

PMID- 20930580
TI  - Primary infantile glaucoma.

PMID- 20930581
TI  - Update on pediatric lacrimal disorders.

PMID- 20930582
TI  - Pediatric uveitis.

PMID- 20930583
TI  - Update on myopia and myopic progression in children.

PMID- 20930584
TI  - Pediatric excimer refractive surgery.

PMID- 20930585
TI  - Update on pediatric cataracts and cataract surgery.

PMID- 20930586
TI  - Choosing IOL power in pediatric cataract surgery.

PMID- 20930587
TI  - Strabismus surgery complications.

PMID- 20930588
TI  - Pediatric eye disease in Tanzania.

PMID- 20930589
TI  - Pediatric ophthalmologic infectious diseases in the developing world.

PMID- 20930592
TI  - Cooperative cardioprotection through adenosine A1 and A2A receptor agonism in
      ischemia-reperfused isolated mouse heart.
AB  - Recent reports have shown that adenosine A1 receptor-mediated cardioprotection
      requires concomitant A2 receptor activation, but no study thus far has shown that
      this phenomenon occurs using A1 agonists at reperfusion. Thus, we compared
      adenosine A2A receptor knockout (A2AKO) and wild-type mouse hearts (n = 9-11)
      subjected to global ischemia (30 minutes) and reperfusion (60 minutes) in the
      presence and absence of the A1 agonist N-cyclopentlyadenosine (CPA). We also
      determined the effects of selective antagonists at A2A and A2B receptors on CPA
      induced protection. In wild-type hearts, CPA (100 nM) significantly (P < 0.05)
      improved contractility (52.7 +/- 6.2% versus 23.9 +/- 4.9% of preischemia), left
      ventricular developed pressure, end diastolic pressure; reduced infarct size (7.9
      +/- 1.7% versus 23.9 +/- 6.6% area at risk); decreased lactate dehydrogenase
      efflux; and increased ERK1/2 phosphorylation at 60 minutes of reperfusion.
      Adenosine A2A (ZM241385, 50 nM) and A2B (MRS1754, 100 nM) receptor antagonists
      abolished CPA-mediated cardioprotection in wild-type groups as did the A1
      receptor antagonist DPCPX (P < 0.05). In A2AKO hearts, CPA did not improve
      functional parameters and protective signaling with the exception of end
      diastolic pressure. In this model, using a clinically relevant mode of
      pharmacologic intervention, pERK 1/2-dependent A1-mediated cardioprotection
      requires a cooperative activation of A2 receptors, presumably through endogenous
      adenosine.

PMID- 20930593
TI  - The first clinical pilot study of intravenous adrenomedullin administration in
      patients with acute myocardial infarction.
AB  - Adrenomedullin (AM) is a 52-amino-acid vasodilator peptide that was originally
      isolated from human pheochromocytoma. In the previous experimental study with rat
      ischemia/reperfusion model, AM reduced infarct size and inhibited myocyte
      apoptosis. AM also suppressed the production of oxygen-free radicals. The present
      study was designed to evaluate the feasibility of intravenous administration of
      AM in patients with acute myocardial infarction. We studied 10 patients with
      first acute myocardial infarction [male to female ratio: 9 to 1, age: 65 +/- 9
      (mean +/- SD) years, peak creatine phosphokinase level: 4215 +/- 1933 (SD) U/L],
      who were hospitalized within 12 hours of symptom onset. Proceeding reperfusion
      therapy, AM infusion was initiated and continued at concentration of 0.0125-0.025
      MUg.kg.min for 12 hours. Follow-up coronary angiography and left ventriculography
      were performed at 3 months. Cardiac magnetic resonance was examined at 1 month
      and 3 months after AM therapy. During infusion of AM, hemodynamics kept stable
      except 2 patients. Wall motion index in the infarct area at 3 months was
      significantly improved compared with that at baseline, and infarct size evaluated
      by cardiac magnetic resonance was significantly decreased at 3 months. In
      conclusion, intravenous administration of AM, which possesses a variety of
      potential cardiovascular protective actions, can be adjunctive to percutaneous
      coronary intervention.

PMID- 20930591
TI  - 20-hydroxyeicosatetraeonic acid: a new target for the treatment of hypertension.
AB  - Arachidonic acid is metabolized by enzymes of the CYP4A and 4F families to 20
      hydroxyeicosatetraeonic acid (20-HETE), which plays an important role in the
      regulation of renal function, vascular tone, and the long-term control of
      arterial pressure. In the vasculature, 20-HETE is a potent vasoconstrictor, and
      upregulation of the production of this compound contributes to the elevation in
      oxidative stress and endothelial dysfunction and the increase in peripheral
      vascular resistance associated with some forms of hypertension. In kidney, 20
      HETE inhibits Na transport in the proximal tubule and thick ascending loop of
      Henle, and deficiencies in the renal formation of 20-HETE contributes to sodium
      retention and development of some salt-sensitive forms of hypertension. 20-HETE
      also has renoprotective actions and opposes the effects of transforming growth
      factor beta to promote proteinuria and renal end organ damage in hypertension.
      Several new inhibitors of the synthesis of 20-HETE and 20-HETE agonists and
      antagonists have recently been developed. These compounds along with peroxisome
      proliferator-activated receptor-alpha agonists that induce the renal formation of
      20-HETE seem to have promise as antihypertensive agents. This review summarizes
      the rationale for the development of drugs that target the 20-HETE pathway for
      the treatment of hypertension and associated cardiovascular complications.

PMID- 20930594
TI  - Increased cardiac risk in concomitant methadone and diazepam treatment:
      pharmacodynamic interactions in cardiac ion channels.
AB  - Methadone, a synthetic opioid for treatment of chronic pain and withdrawal from
      opioid dependence, has been linked to QT prolongation, potentially fatal torsades
      de pointes, and sudden cardiac death. Concomitant use of diazepam or other
      benzodiazepines in methadone maintenance treatment can increase the risk of
      sudden death. Therefore, we determined the effects of methadone and diazepam
      singly and in combination on cardiac action potentials (APs) and on the major ion
      channels responsible for cardiac repolarization. Using patch clamp recording in
      human stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes and stably transfected mammalian cells, we
      found that methadone produced concentration-dependent AP prolongation and ion
      channel block at low micromolar concentrations: hERG (IC50 = 1.7 MUM), hNav1.5
      (11.2 MUM tonic block; 5.5 MUM phasic block), and hCav1.2 (26.7 MUM tonic block;
      7.7 MUM phasic block). Methadone was less potent in hKv4.3/hKChIP2.2 (IC50 = 39.0
      MUM) and hKvLQT1/hminK (53.3 MUM). In contrast, diazepam blocked channels only at
      much higher concentrations and had no effect on AP duration at 1 MUM. However,
      coadministration of 1-MUM diazepam with methadone caused a statistically
      significant increase in AP duration and a 4-fold attenuation of hNav1.5 block
      (IC50 values were 44.2 MUM and 26.6 MUM, respectively, for tonic and phasic
      block), with no significant effect on methadone-induced block of hERG, hCav1.2,
      hKv4.3/hKChIP2.2, and hKvLQT1/hminK channels. Thus, although diazepam alone does
      not prolong the QT interval, the relief of methadone-induced Na channel block may
      leave hERG K channel block uncompensated, thereby increasing cardiac risk.

PMID- 20930595
TI  - Inhibition of atherosclerotic lesion development in the ApoE-/- mouse by a novel
      beta-oxa polyunsaturated fatty acid.
AB  - Recent findings that a novel polyunsaturated fatty acid, beta-oxa 23:4n-6,
      inhibits adhesion molecule expression on vascular endothelial cells and leukocyte
      adhesion led us to examine its ability to inhibit the development of
      atherosclerosis in the apoE-deficient (apoE) mouse. The mice were kept on normal
      chow or a high-fat/high-cholesterol diet for various periods and treated with
      either vehicle or beta-oxa 23:4n-6 by the intraperitoneal route. The hearts and
      aortae were isolated and lesion development at the aortic root was determined.
      Morphometric assessment revealed that lesion development was a function of
      compensatory aortic enlargement, suggesting that measurement of plaque size per
      se is the appropriate assessment of lesion size. Using this criterion, we found
      that atherosclerosis development was reduced in response to beta-oxa 23:4n-6,
      plaque size by 74% and aortic cross-sectional area by 62%, under an optimized
      regime. The number of foam cells per unit tissue area in the lesions of beta-oxa
      23:4n-6-treated mice was significantly reduced by 37.5%. The blood levels of beta
      oxa23:4n-6 in these mice exceeded the concentrations previously found to inhibit
      adhesion molecule expression in cultured endothelial cells. These data show that
      beta-oxa23:4n-6 protects against experimental atherosclerosis, most likely by
      reducing the number of infiltrating monocytes.

PMID- 20930596
TI  - Apparent desaturation on pulse oximetry because of hemoglobinopathy.
AB  - Hemoglobinopathies are an uncommon cause of cyanosis and low oxygen saturation on
      pulse oximetry. However, when they do occur, they can present a complex clinical
      scenario for the emergency physician. We report the index case of a previously
      undescribed hemoglobinopathy that presented to the pediatric emergency
      department. The evaluation and management of the cyanotic/hypoxic child and
      review of hemoglobinopathies are presented here.

PMID- 20930597
TI  - Multiple ecthyma gangrenosum in a healthy infant with community-acquired
      Pseudomonas aeruginosa sepsis.
AB  - We report the case of a previously healthy 8-month-old infant girl with
      Pseudomonas aeruginosa sepsis who presented to a pediatric emergency department
      with multiple ecthyma gangrenosum. Skin manifestations are uncommon in
      Pseudomonas infection. Ecthyma gangrenosum is a rare, distinct skin disorder
      associated with potentially fatal underlying Pseudomonas sepsis. Although
      typically occurring in immunocompromised or neutropenic patients, it can
      occasionally affect otherwise healthy children. This case demonstrates the
      critical importance of the pediatrician's identification of ecthyma gangrenosum
      to give directed antipseudomonal therapy.

PMID- 20930598
TI  - Respiratory alkalosis and metabolic acidosis in a child treated with sulthiame.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To report on severe acid-base disturbance in a child with symptomatic
      epilepsy treated with sulthiame. RESULTS: A 9.5-year-old boy with chronic
      generalized tonic-clonic seizures was treated with carbamazepine and valproic
      acid. Because of poor seizure control, sulthiame was added to the treatment. Two
      months later, he presented at the emergency department with severe weakness,
      headache, dizziness, dyspnea, anorexia, and confusional state. Arterial blood gas
      analysis showed mixed respiratory alkalosis with high anion gap metabolic
      acidosis. Sulthiame-induced acid-base disturbance was suspected. The drug was
      withheld for the first 24 hours and then restarted at a reduced dosage. The
      arterial blood gases gradually normalized, the confusion disappeared, and the
      patient was discharged home.Three months later, 4 weeks after an increase in
      sulthiame dosage, the patient was once again admitted with the same clinical
      picture. Improvement was noted after the drug dosage was reduced. CONCLUSIONS:
      This is the first report of mixed respiratory alkalosis and metabolic acidosis in
      a child treated with sulthiame. Monitoring of the acid-base status should be
      considered in patients treated with sulthiame.

PMID- 20930599
TI  - Prolonged delirium after quetiapine overdose.
AB  - Quetiapine is an atypical antipsychotic agent increasingly used to treat
      schizophrenia and bipolar disorder in pediatric patients. Few published data
      exist concerning quetiapine's effects in therapeutic settings or short-term
      overdose in pediatric and adolescent populations. In this report, we describe a
      15-year-old adolescent girl who experienced continued delirium 5 days after an
      overdose of quetiapine, trazodone, and clonidine. The patient initially presented
      with sedation and stable vital signs. After 3 days of gradual improvement, she
      experienced episodes of delirium coinciding with an increase in resting heart
      rate. On the basis of suspicion for quetiapine-associated antimuscarinic effects,
      the patient was administered intravenously with physostigmine on the fifth day
      after ingestion. Treatment resulted in a brief resolution of symptoms. Serum
      quetiapine levels measured 1 day and 5 days after ingestion were 3400 and 4800
      ng/mL, respectively. The use of physostigmine and interpretation of serum levels
      are discussed further.

PMID- 20930601
TI  - Haemophilus influenzae type B meningitis in a previously healthy child.
AB  - Vaccines have proven successful in virtually eradicating certain infectious
      diseases that typically attack the pediatric population. Since 1988, when the
      conjugate vaccine was introduced, the incidence of invasive Haemophilus
      influenzae type B disease was reduced dramatically. However, immunization rates
      have decreased in certain parts of the country because of a combination of
      vaccine shortage and widespread parental perception that vaccines are harmful. We
      present the case of a previous healthy child, who ultimately succumbed to H.
      influenzae type B meningitis where multiple factors were likely responsible for
      his acquisition of the disease.

PMID- 20930600
TI  - An uncommon late complication of appendicitis.
AB  - A 10-year-old boy presented with a 2.5-week history of right leg pain and limp. A
      right flank mass was noted by a parent on the day of presentation. The child's
      past medical history was remarkable for perforated appendicitis treated with an
      interval laparoscopic appendectomy 2 years before this presentation. Abdominal
      and pelvic computed tomography revealed a retroperitoneal mass with
      calcifications, suggestive of a retained appendicolith with abscess formation.
      This case illustrates the importance of considering very late complications of
      appendicitis in patients presenting with fever and abdominal or flank pain or
      masses.

PMID- 20930602
TI  - Facial nerve palsy: etiology and approach to diagnosis and treatment.
AB  - Facial nerve palsy has a broad differential diagnosis and possible psychological
      and anatomical consequences. A thorough investigation must be performed to
      determine the cause of the palsy and to direct treatment. If no cause can be
      found, therapy with prednisone with or without an antiviral medication can be
      considered and begun as early as possible after onset of symptoms. Resolution and
      time to recovery vary with etiology, but overall prognosis is good.

PMID- 20930605
TI  - Pediatric emergency medicine: legal briefs.

PMID- 20930606
TI  - ECGs in the ED.

PMID- 20930604
TI  - Priorities for pediatric prehospital research.
AB  - Up to 3 million US children are cared for by emergency medical services (EMSs)
      annually. Limited research exists on pediatric prehospital care. The Pediatric
      Emergency Care Applied Research Network (PECARN) mission is to perform high
      quality research for children, including prehospital research. Our objective was
      to develop a pediatric-specific prehospital research agenda. METHODS:
      Representatives from all 4 PECARN nodes and from EMS agency partners participated
      in a 3-step process. First, participants ranked potential research priorities and
      suggested others. Second, participants reranked the list in order of importance
      and scored each priority using a modified Hanlon method (prevalence, seriousness,
      and practicality of each research area were assessed). Finally, the revised
      priority list was presented at a PECARN EMS summit, and consensus was sought.
      RESULTS: Forty-two representatives participated, including PECARN
      representatives, EMS agency leaders, and nationally recognized prehospital
      researchers. Consensus was reached on the priority ranking. The prioritization
      processes resulted in 2 ranked lists: 15 clinical topics and 5 EMS system topics.
      The top 10 clinical priorities included (1) airway management, (2) respiratory
      distress, (3) trauma, (4) asthma, (5) head trauma, (6) shock, (7) pain, (8)
      seizures, (9) respiratory arrest, and (10) C-spine immobilization. The 5 EMS
      system topics identify methods to improve prehospital care on the system level.
      CONCLUSIONS: PECARN has identified high-priority EMS research topics for children
      using a consensus-derived method. These research priorities include novel EMS
      system topics. The PECARN EMS pediatric research priority list will help focus
      future pediatric prehospital research both within and outside the network.

PMID- 20930607
TI  - Cervical neurofibroma in a child without neurofibromatosis.

PMID- 20930608
TI  - Birth of a new publication in pediatric emergency medicine.

PMID- 20930609
TI  - Transverse fracture of the distal femoral metadiaphysis.

PMID- 20930611
TI  - Effect of anesthetic technique on serum vascular endothelial growth factor C and
      transforming growth factor beta in women undergoing anesthesia and surgery for
      breast cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In breast cancer, vascular endothelial growth factor C, transforming
      growth factor beta, placental growth factor, and fibroblast growth factor (acidic
      and basic) promote angiogenesis and metastases. We tested the hypothesis that a
      propofol-paravertebral anesthetic (PPA) technique would attenuate postoperative
      changes in these angiogenic factors to a greater extent than balanced general
      anesthesia (GA) and morphine analgesia in women undergoing surgery for primary
      breast cancer. METHOD: Forty women with primary breast cancer undergoing surgical
      excision were randomized to receive either standard GA or PPA technique. Venous
      blood was sampled before and at 24 h after surgery and serum analyzed. The
      primary endpoint was a preoperative versus postoperative change in vascular
      endothelial growth factor C and transforming growth factor beta concentrations.
      RESULTS: Using a visual analog scale (median [25-75% interquartile range]), PPA
      patients (1 [0-2]) had less pain at 2 h (P = 0.02) than did GA patients (3 [2
      5]). The mean postoperative change in vascular endothelial growth factor C
      concentrations among GA patients was 733 versus 27 pg/ml for PPA patients
      (difference, 706 [97.5% CI, 280-1,130] pg/ml, P = 0.001). In contrast, the mean
      postoperative change in transforming growth factor beta concentration among GA
      patients was -163 versus 146 pg/ml for PPA patients (difference, 309 [97.5% CI, 
      474 to -143] pg/ml, P = 0.005). Concentrations of placental growth factor and
      fibroblast growth factor, both acidic and basic, were undetectable in serum.
      CONCLUSION: Anesthetic technique influences serum concentrations of factors
      associated with angiogenesis in primary breast cancer surgery.

PMID- 20930612
TI  - Intrathecal injection of hepatocyte growth factor gene-modified marrow stromal
      cells attenuates neurologic injury induced by transient spinal cord ischemia in
      rabbits.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Our previous studies showed that transfer of hepatocyte growth factor
      (HGF) gene or transplantation of marrow stromal cells (MSCs) remarkably
      attenuated neurologic injuries after spinal cord ischemia. We sought to
      investigate a novel neuroprotective strategy of transplantation of human HGF gene
      modified MSCs on ischemic spinal cords. METHODS: Human HGF gene was transferred
      into MSCs in vitro. The HGF gene-modified MSCs were transplanted by means of
      intrathecal injection. Two days later, spinal cord ischemia was induced by
      occlusion of the infrarenal aorta with a balloon catheter for 40 or 50 min. Hind
      limb motor function was assessed during a 14-day recovery period with Tarlov
      criteria, and then histologic examination was performed. RESULTS: Human HGF was
      detected in the cerebrospinal fluid from 2 to 16 days after transplantation of
      HGF gene-modified MSCs. Compared with the controls, transplantation of HGF gene
      modified MSCs or MSCs alone significantly improved the Tarlov scores 1, 2, 7, and
      14 days after spinal cord ischemia of 40 or 50 min (P < 0.01, respectively) and
      increased the number of intact motor neurons in the lumbar spinal cord (P < 0.01,
      respectively). When the ischemic period was extended to 50 min, the Tarlov scores
      and the number of intact motor neurons of rabbits transplanted with HGF gene
      modified MSCs were markedly higher than those of the rabbits transplanted with
      MSCs only (P < 0.05, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Transplantation of HGF gene
      modified MSCs induces powerful neuroprotection on spinal cords against ischemia
      reperfusion injury and is more therapeutically efficient than transplantation of
      MSCs only.

PMID- 20930613
TI  - Hydroxyethyl starch 6% (130/0.4) ameliorates acute lung injury in swine
      hemorrhagic shock.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Traumatic hemorrhage induces acute lung injury. The aim of this study
      was to assess whether lactated Ringer's solution or 6% hydroxyethyl starch
      130/0.4 would have different effects on acute lung injury following hemorrhagic
      shock. METHODS: Twenty healthy pigs (19 +/- 2 kg) were subjected to hemorrhage
      and were randomly allocated to two groups: Group A (10 pigs) who received
      lactated Ringer's solution and Group B (10 pigs) who received hydroxyethyl starch
      130/0.4. Hemodynamic response and serum lactate were measured at predetermined
      phases. Four hours after fluid resuscitation animals were euthanized. Lungs were
      harvested, and tissue samples were collected. Focal thickening of the alveolar
      membranes, vascular congestion, number of activated neutrophils, alveolar edema,
      interstitial neutrophil infiltration, intraalveolar infiltration, and alveolar
      hemorrhage were assessed. Each feature was given a score from 0 to 3 (0 =
      absence, 3 = severe). The wet/dry ratio was also calculated, and with the use of
      Evans blue dye extravasation method, capillary permeability was assessed.
      RESULTS: The total histology score of Group A differed significantly from that of
      Group B, being significantly lower in Group B animals P = 0.048. The wet/dry
      weight ratio was significantly higher in the lactated Ringer's group (median
      [range]) (Group A, 5.1 [0.5]; Group B, 4.9 [0.3]; P = 0.009). The Evans blue dye
      extravasation method was utilized to study the lung capillary permeability. The
      animals in Group B showed a marked reduction in microvascular capillary
      permeability compared with the animals in Group A (Group A, 58.5 [21] mg/g; Group
      B, 51.5 [14] mg/g; P = 0.017). CONCLUSIONS: Our study indicates that
      resuscitation after hemorrhagic shock with hydroxyethyl starch 130/0.4 led to
      less lung edema and less microvascular permeability in this swine model.

PMID- 20930614
TI  - A robust immunohistochemical assay for detecting PTEN expression in human tumors.
AB  - Phosphatase and tensin homolog deleted on chromosome 10 (PTEN) is a negative
      regulator of the phosphoinositol-3-kinase (PI3K)/AKT signaling pathway that
      controls cell cycle progression, growth and inhibition of apoptosis. Loss of PTEN
      protein expression has been associated with tumorigenesis, cancer progression and
      drug resistance, but conflicting results exist which may be due in part to
      difficulties inherent in PTEN immunohistochemistry (IHC). We sought a robust PTEN
      IHC assay. Human tumor cell lines with PTEN status verified by copy number
      analysis were formalin fixed and paraffin embedded for use as positive and
      negative controls. PTEN antibodies were optimized on tumor cell lines. Five
      optimized antibodies were analyzed on 10 molecularly characterized endometrial
      carcinoma samples. Four antibodies (CST, Millipore, Abcam, Novus) stained 3/10
      positive and 7/10 negative, however, all but CST exhibited nonspecific nucleolar
      staining of negative controls. One antibody (Dako) stained 5/10 positive and 5/10
      negative but with areas (<=10%) of positivity. The 4 samples predicted to be
      negative by sequencing were negative with the CST antibody, however, one was
      positive with Dako; as a result we chose the CST antibody for our assay. The
      assay was validated on an automated platform using 50 formalin fixed and paraffin
      embedded colon, lung, prostate and breast adenocarcinoma cases. Tumor cell lines
      served as external controls; endothelial cells and peripheral nerves served as
      internal positive controls. Dichotomous scoring achieved 100% concordance between
      three independent pathologists. This reproducible PTEN assay (PREZEON) has been
      implemented in a CLIA certified laboratory.

PMID- 20930615
TI  - Immunohistochemistry of breast tumor markers on archived bouin-fixed paraffin
      embedded tissues.
AB  - Neutral-buffered formalin is the most commonly used tissue fixative in pathology
      laboratory. Among other fixatives, Bouin's solution has been used in several
      laboratories and is still in use for particular tissues. In this project, we
      determine if we can study breast clinical markers on archived Bouin-fixed tissue
      samples with immunohistochemistry (IHC) protocols optimized for tissue fixed in
      neutral-buffered formalin. To evaluate the concordance of IHC results between
      formalin-fixed and Bouin-fixed tissues, we calculated the concordance percentage
      and the kappa statistic of 12 clinical IHC markers quantified by an automated
      system on breast cancer tissues fixed in neutral-buffered formalin and their
      corresponding tissues fixed in Bouin's solution. When positivity threshold of
      immunostaining was setup at >=10% for both fixation conditions, we observed a
      concordance percentage of 83.9% (kappa=0.65). However, when positivity threshold
      of immunostaining was lowered to 3% to 4% for Bouin-fixed tissues, concordance
      percentage was then of 96.8% (kappa=0.92). Our data demonstrate that we can study
      IHC markers on archived Bouin-fixed tissue from patients with long clinical
      follow-up using IHC protocols optimized for formalin-fixed tissues after an
      adjustment of the positivity threshold of immunostaining quantified by an
      automated system.

PMID- 20930616
TI  - HER2 testing in breast carcinoma: very low concordance rate between reference and
      local laboratories in Brazil.
AB  - Breast cancer accounts for approximately one quarter of all cancers in females.
      HER2 gene amplification or HER2 protein overexpression, detected in about 20% of
      breast carcinomas, predicts a more aggressive clinical course and determines
      eligibility for targeted therapy with trastuzumab. HER2 testing has become an
      essential part of the clinical evaluation of all breast carcinoma patients, and
      accurate HER2 results are critical in identifying patients who may be benefited
      from targeted therapy. This study investigated the concordance in the results of
      HER2 immunohistochemistry assays performed in 500 invasive breast carcinomas
      between a reference laboratory and 149 local laboratories from all geographic
      regions of Brazil. Our results showed an overall poor concordance (171 of 500
      cases, 34.2%) regarding HER2 results between local and reference laboratories,
      which may be related to the low-volume load of HER2 assays, inexperience with
      HER2 scoring system, and/or technical issues related to immunohistochemistry in
      local laboratories. Standardization of HER2 testing with rigorous quality control
      measures by local laboratories is highly recommended to avoid erroneous treatment
      of breast cancer patients.

PMID- 20930617
TI  - Increased urothelial cell detection in the primary bladder smooth muscle cell
      cultures with dual MACS/qRT-PCR approach.
AB  - Bladder tissue has been regenerated in humans with neurogenic bladder using an
      implant produced from autologous urothelial (UC) and smooth muscle cells (SMC)
      expanded from bladder biopsies seeded onto a biodegradable synthetic scaffold. As
      the majority of bladder cancers are urothelial carcinomas (aka, transitional cell
      carcinoma), this 2-cell type autologous sourcing strategy presents significant
      challenges to product development. Entire bladders have been regenerated in
      cystectomized animals using a single-cell-type sourcing strategy: implants were
      seeded with bladder-derived SMC-only. Applying the bladder SMC-only sourcing
      strategy to produce clinical implants for bladder replacement or urinary
      diversion in bladder cancer patients requires methods for screening SMC cultures
      for the presence of potentially cancerous UC cells to provide evidence of SMC
      culture purity before seeding the scaffold. In this report, we show a 10-fold to
      100-fold improvement in the sensitivity of qualitative and quantitative reverse
      transcription PCR (qRT-PCR)-based assays for detecting UC positive for
      Cytokeratin 5 (CK5) in mixed SMC/UC cultures when the cell population was first
      subjected to magnetic activated cell sorting to enrich for cells expressing the
      epithelial cell adhesion molecule (known as EPCAM or CD326), a marker known to be
      present in normal UC and upregulated in the cancerous UC.

PMID- 20930618
TI  - Thrombogenic potential of Innovia polymer valves versus Carpentier-Edwards
      Perimount Magna aortic bioprosthetic valves.
AB  - Trileaflet polymeric prosthetic aortic valves (AVs) produce hemodynamic
      characteristics akin to the natural AV and may be most suitable for applications
      such as transcatheter implantation and mechanical circulatory support (MCS)
      devices. Their success has not yet been realized due to problems of
      calcification, durability, and thrombosis. We address the latter by comparing the
      platelet activation rates (PARs) of an improved polymer valve design (Innovia
      LLC) made from poly(styrene-block-isobutylene-block-styrene) (SIBS) with the
      commercially available Carpentier-Edwards Perimount Magna Aortic Bioprosthetic
      Valve. We used our modified prothrombinase platelet activity state (PAS) assay
      and flow cytometry methods to measure platelet activation of a pair of 19 mm
      valves mounted inside a pulsatile Berlin left ventricular assist device (LVAD).
      The PAR of the polymer valve measured with the PAS assay was fivefold lower than
      that of the tissue valve (p = 0.005) and fourfold lower with flow cytometry
      measurements (p = 0.007). In vitro hydrodynamic tests showed clinically similar
      performance of the Innovia and Magna valves. These results demonstrate a
      significant improvement in thrombogenic performance of the polymer valve compared
      with our previous study of the former valve design and encourage further
      development of SIBS for use in heart valve prostheses.

PMID- 20930619
TI  - Monitoring of brain function in anesthesia and intensive care.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Despite its obvious importance, the brain is inconsistently
      the focus of monitoring in anesthesia and intensive care settings. However, there
      are multiple modalities available to address cerebral monitoring that when acted
      upon, may improve perioperative outcomes. This review addresses the various brain
      monitoring options that can be integrated in anesthetic and intensive care
      practice in order to optimize perioperative outcomes. RECENT FINDINGS: Although
      numerous monitoring modalities are available, the level of evidence supporting
      each application is somewhat limited with few of the available monitors having
      been subjected to large-scale randomized trials. Despite this, they each may have
      a potential role to play in providing information that can be integrated to
      optimize care. SUMMARY: Using a comprehensive cerebral monitoring strategy may
      optimize outcomes in anesthetic and intensive care.

PMID- 20930620
TI  - Is it time to re-evaluate the routines about stopping/keeping platelet inhibitors
      in conjunction to ambulatory surgery?
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: To assess the influence of antiplatelet drugs (APDs) in
      outpatients' perioperative care and to propose up-to-date management of those
      patients. RECENT FINDINGS: Evidence is spreading on the risk of adverse
      cardiovascular events (ACEs) when APD therapy is discontinued, specifically in
      patients with coronary stents. Conversely, maintaining such treatments throughout
      the operative period appears usually safe. Bridging with low-molecular-weight
      heparins poorly protects against ACEs. In outpatients, major surgical bleeding is
      rare, but sometimes a minor hemorrhage may jeopardize the success of a surgical
      procedure. Despite the paucity of properly sized randomized trials in this
      setting, recommendations have been issued by scientific societies and can be used
      as guidelines. Variability in APD efficiency is now better appraised, and
      research on versatile bedside testing of platelet function is active. New drugs
      are expected to be launched in the near future, all this aiming at improving
      individualized drug dosage and therefore both safety and efficiency of APD
      therapies. SUMMARY: In surgical patients APD therapy should be maintained in all
      situations in which the risk of surgical bleeding is low, which is usually the
      case in the ambulatory setting. In clearly identified cases in which bleeding
      might threaten either the patient's life or the success of the surgical procedure
      in patients at high risk of ACE, the discontinuation protocol must be established
      in conjunction with the cardiologist and the APD therapy resumed as soon as
      possible. Bridging with low-molecular-weight heparins is not recommended.

PMID- 20930621
TI  - Anaesthesia for the elderly outpatient: preoperative assessment and evaluation,
      anaesthetic technique and postoperative pain management.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Epidemiological data show a continuous expansion of elderly
      population, associated with an increased demand for surgical treatments by older
      patients. Geriatric anaesthesia is emerging as a new subspecialty. Outpatient
      anaesthesia for elderly patients requires greater specific knowledge and skills.
      Given the high economic and social pressure, anaesthetists will be requested to
      treat an increasing number of elderly as outpatients. RECENT FINDINGS: Functional
      status as a criterion for preoperative assessment of older patients has been
      introduced in the last years. In comparison to inpatient, outpatient setting
      seems to reduce the risk of postoperative cognitive disorders after surgery.
      Heart failure has shown to be an important risk factor of perioperative
      complication and death in the elderly; when more than mild, it contraindicates
      day surgery. Drug-eluting stents, which require a double antiaggregative therapy
      for 12 months after positioning, formally exclude patients from day surgery for
      that period. Sedation as a part of Monitored Anaesthesia Care (MAC) has shown to
      be potentially dangerous, due to increased risk of hypoxic complications and
      increased likelihood of cognitive disturbances. Effective postoperative pain
      treatment after geriatric day surgery requires careful pain assessment and drug
      titration. In the future, the development of telematic communication systems will
      extend indications. SUMMARY: Recent findings contribute to a better comprehension
      of the most important specificities of elderly patients undergoing day surgery
      and provide basic elements for a safe perioperative management in the outpatient
      setting.

PMID- 20930622
TI  - Patient safety during anaesthesia: incorporation of the WHO safe surgery
      guidelines into clinical practice.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: WHO makes clear recommendations on how to improve patient
      safety during surgical procedures by using the WHO Surgical Safety Checklist. We
      will review the scientific basis of these recommendations and the practical
      problems encountered during introduction. RECENT FINDINGS: Perioperative severe
      complications and death are a major health issue in both developed and developing
      countries. Nearly half of these complications can be avoided. The systematic use
      of checklists and structured preprocedural and postprocedural briefings like a
      time-out procedure reduces perioperative morbidity and mortality. A broader use
      of checklists to cover the whole surgical pathway gives additional benefit,
      further reducing perioperative morbidity and mortality.Introducing patient safety
      procedures can be met with some resistance from healthcare workers and is helped
      by an organization-wide safety policy and a systematic approach. SUMMARY: There
      is sufficient scientific evidence to make the use of checklists and structured
      perioperative briefings and debriefings mandatory for the broad spectrum of
      operative procedures.

PMID- 20930623
TI  - Conflicts and communication gaps in the intensive care unit.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Conflicts occur frequently in the ICU. Research on ICU
      conflicts is an emerging field, with only few recent studies being available on
      intrateam and team-family conflicts. Research on communication in the ICU is
      developing at a faster pace. RECENT FINDINGS: Recent findings come from one
      multinational epidemiological survey on intrateam conflicts and one qualitative
      study on the causes and consequences of conflicts. Advances in research on
      communication with families in the ICU have improved our understanding of team
      family and intrateam conflicts, thus suggesting targets for improvement. SUMMARY:
      Data about ICU conflicts depend on conflict definition, study designs
      (qualitative versus quantitative), patient case-mix, and detection bias.
      Conflicts perceived by caregivers are frequent and consist mainly in intrateam
      conflicts. The two main sources of conflicts in the ICU are end-of-life decisions
      and communication issues. Conflicts negatively impact patient safety,
      patient/family-centered care, and team welfare and cohesion. They generate staff
      burnout and increase healthcare costs. Further qualitative studies rooted in
      social-science theories about workplace conflicts are needed to better understand
      the typology of ICU conflicts (sources and consequences) and to address complex
      ICU conflicts that involve systems as opposed to people. Conflict prevention and
      resolution are complex issues requiring multimodal interventions. Clinical
      research in this field is insufficiently developed, and no guidelines are
      available so far. Prevention strategies need to be developed along two axes:
      improved understanding of family experience, preferences, and values, as well as
      evidence-based communication may reduce team-family conflicts and organizational
      measures including restoring leadership, multidisciplinary teamwork, and improved
      communication within the team may prevent intrateam conflicts in the ICU.

PMID- 20930624
TI  - Critical incident monitoring in paediatric and adult critical care: from
      reporting to improved patient outcomes?
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Critical incident reporting alone does not necessarily improve
      patient safety or even patient outcomes. Substantial improvement has been made by
      focusing on the further two steps of critical incident monitoring, that is, the
      analysis of critical incidents and implementation of system changes. The system
      approach to patient safety had an impact on the view about the patient's role in
      safety. This review aims to analyse recent advances in the technique of
      reporting, the analysis of reported incidents, and the implementation of actual
      system improvements. It also explores how families should be approached about
      safety issues. RECENT FINDINGS: It is essential to make as many critical
      incidents as possible known to the intensive care team. Several factors have been
      shown to increase the reporting rate: anonymity, regular feedback about the
      errors reported, and the existence of a safety climate. Risk scoring of critical
      incident reports and root cause analysis may help in the analysis of incidents.
      Research suggests that patients can be successfully involved in safety. SUMMARY:
      A persisting high number of reported incidents is anticipated and regarded as
      continuing good safety culture. However, only the implementation of system
      changes, based on incident reports, and also involving the expertise of patients
      and their families, has the potential to improve patient outcome. Hard outcome
      criteria, such as standardized mortality ratio, have not yet been shown to
      improve as a result of critical incident monitoring.

PMID- 20930625
TI  - Management of pelvic fractures.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The management of patients with pelvic fractures can be
      demanding. Severe pelvic fractures pose a great challenge for physicians and can
      greatly contribute to significant patient morbidity and mortality. The purpose of
      this review is to highlight recent, positive changes in the management of
      patients with pelvic fractures. RECENT FINDINGS: The current status of pelvic
      fracture management is presented, including a recently proposed algorithm for
      management, an evaluation of roles of angioembolization and preperitoneal
      packing. Additionally, the approach of bilateral internal iliac artery ligation
      as a salvage procedure is reviewed, and the outcome of acute (<24 h) pelvic
      fracture operative fixation. Regardless of the strategy adopted, a
      multidisciplinary approach is required for the proper management of
      hemodynamically unstable patients with pelvic fractures. SUMMARY: The key
      elements in managing patients with pelvic fractures are swift and adequate
      resuscitation, reversal of shock and acidosis, and rapid control of hemorrhage to
      facilitate survival of these patients. Multimodality therapies including external
      pelvic stabilization, angioembolization and preperitoneal pelvic packing are
      useful adjuncts that require appropriately trained and immediately available
      personnel. A multidisciplinary approach has been shown to be beneficial for
      patient outcomes.

PMID- 20930626
TI  - Kidney injury molecule-1.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: To review the new findings about the physiological roles of
      kidney injury molecule-1 (KIM-1) and the rapidly expanding evidence for this
      molecule as a promising biomarker in preclinical kidney toxicity evaluation and
      various human kidney diseases. RECENT FINDINGS: KIM-1 has attracted increasing
      interest because of its possible pathophysiological role in modulating tubular
      damage and repair. There is rapidly accumulating evidence from both animal models
      and clinical studies that urinary KIM-1 is a sensitive and specific urinary
      biomarker for various forms of nephrotoxic injury, cardiac surgery-induced kidney
      injury, transplant rejection, and chronic kidney diseases. SUMMARY: KIM-1
      mediates epithelial phagocytosis in the injured kidney converting the proximal
      epithelial cell into a phagocyte, with potentially important pathophysiological
      implications for modulation of the immune response and repair process after
      injury. KIM-1 serves as a highly sensitive and specific urinary biomarker for
      kidney injury and may also be a therapeutic target for various kidney diseases.

PMID- 20930627
TI  - Urinary glutathione S-transferases in the pathogenesis and diagnostic evaluation
      of acute kidney injury following cardiac surgery: a critical review.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: A focused review of the nature, source, physiological role and
      rapidly expanding evidence for glutathione S-transferase (GST) subtypes pi and
      alpha as biomarkers of acute kidney injury (AKI) in patients undergoing cardiac
      surgery. Expanded insights into the site-specific expression of the GSTs in
      defined parts of the nephron during renal damage are presented, with particular
      emphasis on the pathogenesis of cardiac surgery and cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB)
      associated AKI and the role of GSTs in oxygen radical disposal. RECENT FINDINGS:
      Recent developments have highlighted a potential role of urinary alpha-GST and pi
      GST in the diagnostic evaluation of cardiac surgery-associated AKI. Both urinary
      alpha-GST and pi-GST are detected in the postoperative period. pi-GST performed
      best at predicting AKI severity at the time of the initial diagnosis of AKI.
      alpha-GST was able to predict the future development of both stage 1 and stage 3
      AKI. SUMMARY: The current data from a small number of patients suggest a
      potential role of urinary GSTs in the clinical diagnostic evaluation of AKI
      following cardiac surgery. The performance of the GSTs for the early diagnosis of
      AKI needs to be validated in larger multicentre studies and in other patient
      populations at increased risk of AKI (e.g. patients with acute transplant
      rejection, septic patients). Comparison with other emerging AKI biomarkers is
      required to continue the development of pi-GST and alpha-GST. Finally, additional
      studies examining the pathophysiological role of the GSTs in minimizing oxygen
      free radical exposure in the renal tubules during CPB may shed further light into
      their role as promising biomarkers of cardiac surgery-associated AKI.

PMID- 20930628
TI  - Indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase and immune tolerance in ovarian cancer.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Ovarian cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among
      gynecologic malignancies despite significant advances in cytoreductive surgery
      and chemotherapy, and novel therapeutic approaches are urgently needed.
      Immunotherapy is one of these strategies; however, its clinical applications have
      shown limited efficacy. This may be attributed to tumor-induced immune tolerance,
      and much attention has been paid to overcoming these immune resistance
      mechanisms. This review focuses on the immunoregulatory enzyme indoleamine 2,3
      dioxygenase (IDO) and shows the role of IDO and its clinical potential in ovarian
      cancer. RECENT FINDINGS: IDO suppresses the proliferation of effector T cells or
      natural killer cells and their killer functions. In ovarian cancer, high IDO
      expression in tumor cells was correlated with a reduced number of tumor
      infiltrating lymphocytes. The IDO expression was also correlated with advanced
      surgical stage and impaired survival. Preclinical studies in mice demonstrated
      that oral administration of IDO inhibitors suppressed peritoneal dissemination
      and potentiated the antitumor efficacy of chemotherapeutic agents. SUMMARY: IDO
      induces immune tolerance and promotes ovarian cancer progression. Tumoral IDO
      expression is correlated with impaired clinical outcome. IDO inhibition may
      therefore be a promising strategy to restore host antitumor immunity and to
      enhance the antitumor potential of current chemotherapy or immunotherapy for
      advanced ovarian cancer.

PMID- 20930629
TI  - Pregnancy and spinal problems.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: To review recent publications in spinal problems during
      pregnancy, diagnosis, and management. RECENT FINDINGS: Pregnancy-related low back
      pain (LBP) is the most common problem which can occur during pregnancy. Among the
      various factors of pregnancy-related LBP, previous LBP and LBP during
      menstruation seem to be significant risk factors of pregnancy-related LBP.
      Patient counseling and wearing of a nonelastic pelvic belt are effective for the
      control of pelvic girdle pain. Lumbar pain can be treated with exercise such as
      water gymnastics during the second and third trimesters. Although rare, pregnancy
      can cause osteoporotic compression fractures and symptoms in spinal tumors,
      especially in vertebral hemangiomas. Lumbar disc herniation is the most common
      spinal disorder during pregnancy and can cause permanent neurologic deficit in
      pregnant women. Most cases can be treated by conservative management, but
      operation can also be safely performed maintaining a healthy pregnancy. SUMMARY:
      Recent concern about spinal problems in pregnancy is still pregnancy-related LBP.
      The further studies about its prevalence, risk factors, and treatment will be
      expected to continue. In both general spinal diseases and pregnancy-induced
      spinal diseases, there is no significant difference in treatment between pregnant
      women and ordinary people. Therefore, if consideration of possible spinal
      problems, exact diagnosis and adequate treatment are performed, good prognosis
      may be enough achieved in pregnant women.

PMID- 20930630
TI  - Obstetric outcome after early placental complications.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: To evaluate the impact of early pregnancy complications
      involving placentation and early placental development on adverse obstetric
      outcome in ongoing and subsequent pregnancies. RECENT FINDINGS: We found an
      increased risk of adverse outcome (odds ratio >2.0) in ongoing pregnancies of
      preterm delivery (PTD), very preterm delivery (VPTD), placental abruption, small
      for gestational age (SGA), low birth weight (LBW) and very LBW (VLBW) after a
      threatened miscarriage episode; pregnancy-induced hypertension, preeclampsia,
      placental abruption, PTD, SGA and low 5-min Apgar score following the detection
      of an intrauterine haematoma; and VPTD, VLBW and perinatal death after a
      vanishing twin phenomenon. In subsequent pregnancies, the risk of perinatal death
      was increased (odds ratio >2.0) after a single miscarriage, the risk of VPTD
      after two or more miscarriages, the risk of placenta previa, premature preterm
      rupture of membranes, PTD, VPTD and LBW after recurrent miscarriage and the risk
      of VPTD after two or more terminations of pregnancy. SUMMARY: Our analysis of the
      literature review indicates a link between early pregnancy complications
      involving the placenta and subsequent adverse obstetric and perinatal outcomes.
      Some of these associations are based on limited or small uncontrolled studies.
      Larger population-based prospective controlled studies have recently been
      published confirming most of these findings. This suggests that the early
      detection of these risk factors could improve the screening of women at high risk
      of specific obstetric complications in ongoing and subsequent pregnancies.

PMID- 20930631
TI  - Improving research, policy and practice to promote paternal involvement in
      pregnancy outcomes: the roles of obstetricians-gynecologists.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: To review current research, policy, and practice on paternal
      involvement in pregnancy outcomes and suggest recommendations to improve paternal
      involvement in pregnancy and childbirth. RECENT FINDINGS: Although much has been
      written about fathers' influence on child health and development, little is known
      about the expectant father's role in pregnancy and childbirth. Recent studies
      have demonstrated the importance of paternal involvement during pregnancy, but
      more research is needed to identify specific contributions expectant fathers make
      and their impact on reducing infant mortality and associated risk factors during
      pregnancy and childbirth. SUMMARY: Obstetricians-gynecologists can play a greater
      role in promoting research, policy and practice to improve paternal involvement
      in pregnancy and childbirth.

PMID- 20930632
TI  - Contemporary management of migrainous disorders in pregnancy.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Migraine is a frequent event among women of reproductive age.
      It is difficult to predict the course and severity of disease that migraineurs
      will endure during pregnancy. Treatment is often compromised during pregnancy
      because of concerns regarding pharmacotherapy and fetal well being. RECENT
      FINDINGS: The majority of women with migraine during pregnancy will not require
      ongoing pharmacotherapy or prophylaxis. Nonpharmacologic strategies should be the
      first-line treatment of migraines. For severe migraines, recent cohort studies
      documenting the use of triptans for treatment during pregnancy have shown no
      increase in adverse pregnancy and fetal outcomes above the average rate. High
      dose valproate is the only antiepileptic drug available for migraine prophylaxis
      that has been shown to cause long-term cognitive effects in infants exposed
      during gestation. Congenital syndromes have been described for most of the older
      antiepileptic drugs but less so for many of the newer drugs. These newer
      medications appear to have improved safety profiles for use in pregnancy but
      there is still information lacking from larger patient cohorts and longitudinal
      studies of neurodevelopmental outcomes. There is also evidence to support use of
      beta-blockers and calcium-channel blockers for migraine prevention during
      pregnancy. SUMMARY: For those patients who develop debilitating migraine or whose
      migraines interfere with activities of daily living, there are several options
      for treatment and headache prevention that have a low likelihood of compromising
      fetal well being.

PMID- 20930633
TI  - A review of obstetric anesthesia in the new millennium: where we are and where is
      it heading?
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The present article is an update on the state-of-the-art
      practice of obstetric anesthesia in the new millennium. It explores a number of
      important issues in this relatively new and still evolving subspecialty of
      anesthesiology. RECENT FINDINGS: Obstetric anesthesia is a subspecialty of
      anesthesiology dedicated to peripartum, perioperative pain and anesthetic
      management of women during pregnancy and the puerperium. In the new millennium an
      obstetric anesthesiologist has become an essential member of the peripartum care
      team, who closely works with the obstetrician, perinatologist, midwife,
      neonatologist, and labor and delivery nurse to ensure the highest quality care
      for the pregnant woman and her child. SUMMARY: Changes in maternal-fetal and
      neonatal medicine and obstetric anesthesia have been developing rapidly during
      the recent years and will continue to do so in the years to come. Obstetric
      anesthesia is art and science combined. An obstetric anesthesiologist is
      concerned simultaneously with the lives of at least two patients - the mother and
      her child. Exchange of information and communication skills in the ever changing
      environment of labor and delivery is essential for perfect outcome, which is
      always expected when providing passage for the mother and her baby from the
      antepartum to postpartum period.

PMID- 20930634
TI  - State of the art on the research for biomarkers allowing individual, tailor-made
      minimization of immunosuppression.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: In order to avoid toxic side effects by long-term
      immunosuppressive treatment, transplant research therefore focuses on new
      strategies to either induce tolerance or allow partial or complete
      immunosuppressive weaning whenever possible. This can be only safely achieved
      when guided by biomarkers reflecting the individual immune reactivity. Here we
      summarize the recent efforts to identify biomarkers and functional assays which
      allow an individualized minimization or complete weaning of immunosuppression in
      stable or 'operational' tolerant transplant patients, respectively. RECENT
      FINDINGS: Data obtained by two main collaborative networks, 'RISET' and 'Immune
      Tolerance Network' have provided a better characterization of operational
      tolerant kidney patients. In both studies an increased numbers of B cells and a B
      cell-associated peripheral gene signature were discovered. Long-term observation
      of tolerant liver transplant patients undergoing immunosuppressive minimization
      highlight the importance of surveillance or protocol biopsies. Additionally,
      functional assays such as IFN-gamma ELISPOT or urine markers have been shown to
      predict long-term graft outcome. SUMMARY: With the recent findings we have gained
      a better understanding of operational tolerant patients and have identified
      biomarkers and assays which will be very helpful when guiding partial or complete
      immunosuppressive minimization. For the future, collaborative efforts are needed
      to design and perform prospective multicenter trials to validate the identified
      biomarkers across different laboratories and laboratory platforms.

PMID- 20930635
TI  - Cell therapy approaches aiming at minimization of immunosuppression in solid
      organ transplantation.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Cell transplantation or administration of cellular products
      has escaped preclinical experimental status and will be integrated as a
      substantial component of future individualized treatment modalities for a broad
      scope of medical fields, including transplantation tolerance, cancer
      immunotherapies and auto-immune diseases. RECENT FINDINGS: Renal allograft
      tolerance has been successfully demonstrated using bone marrow transplantation
      with nonmyeloablative conditioning to induce transient hematopoietic chimerism,
      hereby exemplifying the immunomodulatory potential of living cells to reprogram
      an existing immune system to recognize and accept nonself major
      histocompatibility antigens expressed on the allogeneic donor organ. Strong
      efforts are currently undertaken to circumvent the necessity of hematopoietic
      chimerism induction by harnessing peripheral regulatory mechanisms. Potential
      candidate cell populations that bear immunomodulating and regulatory properties
      comprise regulatory T cells, dendritic cells and deactivated macrophages as well
      as stem cells of various origins, currently tested in different clinical
      transplantation tolerance trials. SUMMARY: Although transplantation tolerance is
      still on its way to be reliably accomplished in clinical settings, use of well
      specified and functionally characterized cellular therapeutics with regulatory
      properties is now entering the field of personalized medicine for transplanted
      patients to benefit from minimization protocols and less severe side affects
      related to conventional immunosuppressive drug treatment.

PMID- 20930636
TI  - Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae and Acinetobacter baumannii: assessing
      their impact on organ transplantation.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: This review highlights the impact of carbapenem-resistant
      Enterobacteriaceae and carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii on patients
      who have undergone organ transplantation and explores both available and
      potential agents to treat infections caused by these multidrug-resistant (MDR)
      pathogens. RECENT FINDINGS: Few antimicrobials exist to treat carbapenem
      resistant Gram-negative infections, and resistance to salvage therapies is
      escalating. Organ transplantation appears to be a risk factor for infections with
      Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae. Isolation of
      these MDR bacteria is increasing and may be associated with allograft failure and
      mortality. In the majority of cases, aminoglycosides, polymyxins, and tigecycline
      have been employed to treat these infections. Anecdotal successes exist but these
      antibiotics may be unreliable. Few novel agents are in development. SUMMARY:
      Bacterial infections remain a leading cause of posttransplantation morbidity and
      mortality. Carbapenem resistance is a significant threat to allograft and patient
      survival. With few antimicrobials being developed, transplant centers may be
      forced to make decisions regarding surveillance, empiric antimicrobial regimens,
      and transplant candidacy in the setting of carriage of MDR pathogens. There is an
      urgent need for collaborative studies to address the clinical impact of these
      infections on transplantation.

PMID- 20930637
TI  - Targeting B cells in sensitized kidney transplant patients: state of the art and
      future perspectives.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: In sensitized kidney transplant recipients, whose number is
      continuously growing, the negative impact of antibody-mediated rejection is being
      increasingly recognized. The purpose of this review is to summarize the state of
      knowledge about the mechanisms of alloantibody production. We will also report
      the most recent clinical results of current immunosuppressive protocols - either
      preventive or curative - in this population. RECENT FINDINGS: Even if progress in
      access to transplantation and short-term graft survival has been made in
      sensitized patients using therapeutic strategies targeting both alloantibodies
      (plasmapheresis and/or intravenous globulins) and B cells (CD20 antibodies),
      antibody-mediated rejection remains a critical issue frequently compromising
      renal function and middle-term graft survival. The partial efficacy of such
      strategies and the presence in sensitized patients of both peripheral memory B
      cells and bone marrow plasma cells capable of alloantibody synthesis in vitro
      suggest that, in vivo, alloantibody production most likely involves both cell
      types, not equally targeted by CD20 antibody-based therapies. SUMMARY: The need
      for improved strategies of prevention/treatment of antibody-mediated rejection,
      have led, based on the actual understanding of alloantibody synthesis, to the use
      of drugs targeting plasma cells, that is proteasome inhibitors. Preliminary
      results are contrasted and highlight the necessity for controlled studies in the
      field of antihumoral therapies.

PMID- 20930638
TI  - How the development of new biological agents may help minimize immunosuppression
      in kidney transplantation: the impact of belatacept.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The purpose of this review is to discuss the use of belatacept
      as part of an immunosuppression regimen in renal transplant recipients to avoid
      the renal and nonrenal toxicities associated with calcineurin inhibitors (CNIs).
      RECENT FINDINGS: Current immunosuppression protocols utilize CNIs that are
      associated with renal and cardiovascular/metabolic toxicities. Belatacept, a
      selective costimulation blocker, is designed to provide effective
      immunosuppression while avoiding the toxicities associated with CNIs. Phase III
      trial data have demonstrated that belatacept is noninferior to cyclosporine in 1
      year patient and allograft survival. Two-year data demonstrate up to a 17
      ml/min/1.73 m improvement in mean measured glomerular filtration rate in
      belatacept-treated versus cyclosporine-treated patients. Belatacept-treated
      patients had better blood pressure control and lipid profiles compared to
      cyclosporine-treated patients. There were more cases of posttransplant
      lymphoproliferative disease in belatacept-treated patients, especially in Epstein
      Barr virus-negative recipients or patients treated with lymphocyte-depleting
      agents. In a conversion trial from a CNI to belatacept, the mean increase in
      renal function was 7.0 and 2.1 ml/min/1.73 m in the belatacept and cyclosporine
      groups, respectively. SUMMARY: Belatacept provides effective immunosuppression
      while avoiding or minimizing the untoward side effects seen with CNIs. Conversion
      from a CNI to belatacept posttransplantation appears to be safe and effective and
      results in improved renal allograft function. Data suggest that belatacept use
      may eventually lead to improved long-term allograft survival and decrease the
      overall long-term mortality by improving the cardiovascular and metabolic profile
      of renal transplant recipients.

PMID- 20930639
TI  - T-cell therapy for cytomegalovirus infection.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Human cytomegalovirus (CMV) reactivation and disease remains
      one of the major complications after allogeneic haemopoietic stem cell
      transplantation. Cell-mediated immunity is essential in counteracting CMV
      infection as evident by detection of high frequencies of CMV-specific CD8 and CD4
      lymphocytes among the healthy CMV-seropositive individuals. Adoptive transfer of
      CMV-specific T cells to speed up reconstitution of CMV-specific immunity
      potentially offers clinical protection and reduces drug toxicities as well as
      outgrowth of drug-resistant strains from prolonged antiviral therapy. RECENT
      FINDINGS: Different strategies to generate CMV-specific T cell have been
      explored. Similarly, vast diversities in term of cell dose and composition of the
      cellular product have been infused into small cohorts of patients. To date, a
      number of phase I/II clinical trials have demonstrated the feasibility of
      adoptive transferred CMV-specific T cells as prophylaxis, pre-emptive or
      therapeutic measure. In general, all these strategies showed variable degrees of
      efficacy without obvious adverse event particularly with regard to the induction
      of graft-versus-host disease. SUMMARY: In this review, we would like to give a
      comprehensive synopsis regarding therapeutic application of CMV-specific T cells
      in fighting CMV infection.

PMID- 20930641
TI  - Complicated peptic ulcer disease in three patients with familial dysautonomia.
AB  - Familial dysautonomia (FD) is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by
      autonomic and sensory neuropathy. Owing to pervasive dysfunction, the disease has
      protean clinical manifestations, affecting the ocular, gastrointestinal,
      pulmonary, orthopedic, vasomotor, and neurologic systems. The gastrointestinal
      perturbations, including dysphagia, gastroesophageal dysmotility,
      gastroesophageal reflux, and vomiting crises, are among the earliest signs. Here,
      we present the first 3 instances of gastric ulcers in patients with FD and
      discuss their common presenting features and the special management that was
      required.

PMID- 20930640
TI  - Changes in inflammatory and coagulation biomarkers: a randomized comparison of
      immediate versus deferred antiretroviral therapy in patients with HIV infection.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Among a subgroup of participants in the Strategies for Management of
      Antiretroviral Therapy (SMART) Trial that were naive to antiretroviral therapy
      (ART) or off ART (6 months or longer) at study entry, risk of AIDS and serious
      non-AIDS events were increased for participants who deferred ART compared with
      those randomized to (re)initiate ART immediately. Our objective was to determine
      whether ART initiation in this group reduced markers of inflammation and
      coagulation that have been associated with increased mortality risk in SMART.
      Changes in these biomarkers have been described after stopping ART, but not after
      starting ART in SMART. METHODS: Stored specimens for 254 participants (126 drug
      conservation [DC] and 128 viral suppression [VS]) who were naive to ART or off
      ART (6 months or longer) were analyzed for interleukin-6, high sensitivity C
      reactive protein, and D-dimer at baseline and Months 2 and 6. RESULTS: At Month
      6, 62% of the VS group had HIV RNA less than 400 copies/mL and median CD4 count
      was 190 cells/mm3 higher than for the DC group (590 versus 400 cells/mm3).
      Compared with DC, the VS group had 32% (95% confidence interval, 19%-43%) lower D
      dimer levels at Month 6 (P < 0.001); differences were not significant for high
      sensitivity C-reactive protein or interleukin-6 levels. CONCLUSIONS: In this
      randomized comparison of immediate versus delayed ART initiation, D-dimer, but
      not interleukin-6 and high sensitivity C-reactive protein, declined significantly
      after starting ART. Further studies are needed to determine whether improvements
      in D-dimer are associated with reduced risk of clinical disease and whether
      adjunct treatments used in combination with ART can reduce inflammation among
      individuals with HIV infection.

PMID- 20930642
TI  - Clinical management and case reports for the treatment of hepatocellular
      carcinoma with sorafenib.
AB  - Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common solid organ malignancies
      worldwide, and its incidence is rising in industrialized nations. Sorafenib, an
      oral multikinase inhibitor, is effective for the treatment of advanced HCC, and
      is the only systemic drug indicated for the treatment of unresectable HCC.
      Patients with HCC often have cirrhosis due to viral infection, chronic alcohol
      consumption, or other causes of liver damage, resulting in reduced liver function
      of variable severity. Because of the heterogeneity of HCC cases, physicians must
      consider the benefits and risks associated with sorafenib treatment on a patient
      by-patient basis. California Pacific Medical Center (PMC) has established a
      clinical protocol, discussed here, for treatment of HCC with sorafenib, and for
      management of treatment-associated adverse effects. In addition, 3 case reports
      are presented as examples of the use of sorafenib in patient populations not
      represented in the phase 3 trials: as an adjuvant treatment after a surgical
      procedure and as effective treatment for stabilizing recurrent and metastatic
      HCC.

PMID- 20930643
TI  - Seizures during pegylated interferon and ribavirin therapy for chronic Hepatitis
      C: observations from the WIN-R trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Seizures are reported as an uncommon side effect of interferon
      therapy. AIM: To determine the frequency and presentation of seizures occurring
      during pegylated interferon-alpha (PEG-IFNalpha) and ribavirin therapy for
      chronic hepatitis C. METHODS: Patients were identified using data from the WIN-R
      trial database, a US multicenter study comparing fixed (800 mg) versus weight
      based (800 to 1400 mg) daily dosing of ribavirin in combination with PEG-IFNalpha
      2b (1.5 MUg/kg/wk). RESULTS: Of the 4913 enrolled patients, 8 (0.16%) had a
      seizure. Three patients had a grand mal seizure and the seizure type was unknown
      in 5 patients. At the time of seizure, 6 patients were taking antidepressants
      (including 3 on bupropion), 1 was hyponatremic, and 1 had consumed a significant
      amount of alcohol. One patient had a history of seizures. Neuroimaging and
      electroencephalographic studies were negative. Antiepileptic medications were
      continued in the patient with a history of seizures and initiated in 1 patient.
      PEG-IFNalpha-2b plus ribavirin therapy was continued in 2 patients following
      seizure and neither experienced a recurrent seizure. CONCLUSIONS: Seizures occur
      infrequently in patients receiving PEG-IFNalpha-2b plus ribavirin, and appear to
      be associated with other risk factors including antidepressant use.

PMID- 20930644
TI  - Airway platelet activation is associated with airway eosinophilic inflammation in
      asthma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Allergic asthma is characterized by airway inflammation associated
      with recruitment and activation of eosinophils. In mice, allergen exposure
      induces platelet migration to the airways that is necessary for eosinophil
      recruitment and activation. We therefore hypothesized that in the airways of
      human subjects with asthma, platelet activation would be positively associated
      with eosinophil activation and platelet and eosinophil activation would both be
      associated with clinical asthma characteristics. METHODS: Nasal wash levels of P
      selectin (a measure of platelet activation) and eosinophil cationic protein (ECP)
      (a measure of eosinophil activation) were compared with each other and with
      clinical asthma characteristics in a cross-sectional study of urban children and
      adolescents (age range, 6-20 years) with asthma. RESULTS: Regression analysis
      revealed a significantly positive association between log10 P-selectin levels and
      log10 ECP levels (beta = 0.50 ng/mL [95% confidence interval, 0.05-0.94 ng/mL]; P
      = 0.029). Additionally, ECP was significantly and negatively associated with 2
      asthma-related quality of life measurements, and P-selectin was associated with
      one of these. CONCLUSIONS: Our study shows the first significant association
      between platelet and eosinophil activation in airways of human subjects with
      asthma. These data provide a first step toward delineating what seems to be an
      important role for platelets in airway eosinophilia.

PMID- 20930645
TI  - "Senobi" stretch ameliorates asthma symptoms by restoring autonomic nervous
      system balance.
AB  - The number of asthmatic patients is increasing in Japan. It is conceivable that
      changes in lifestyle (eg, lack of exercise and high-energy diet) may be
      associated with this phenomenon. The resulting factor seems to be altered
      activity of autonomic nervous system of these patients. When this activity was
      estimated by the measurement of heart rate variability, asthmatic patients (n =
      11) showed a tendency for parasympathetic nerve dominance in comparison with
      healthy controls (n = 10). We recommend the patients engage in the "Senobi"
      stretch exercise, which involves stretching the arms and body upward while
      standing. After 1 month of regularly performing this exercise, most patients
      showed a decrease in the frequency of asthma rescue medication use. They also
      showed a recovery of forced expiratory volume in 1 second. These results suggest
      that the Senobi stretch is a useful exercise for asthmatic patients to perform to
      achieve a desirable improvement in symptoms.

PMID- 20930647
TI  - Progressive postoperative visual loss in idiopathic intracranial hypertension
      with extremely elevated ICP.

PMID- 20930646
TI  - Procalcitonin, C-reactive protein, and cell counts in the diagnosis of
      parapneumonic pleural effusions.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Pleural effusion is relatively common in pneumonia.
      Because traditional methods for its diagnosis are not always effective, there is
      a need for new biomarkers to make its differential diagnosis easier. METHODS: A
      total of 233 patients with pleural effusion were admitted to our hospital between
      2005 and 2008. Total and differential leukocyte counts, along with blood and
      pleural fluid procalcitonin and C-reactive protein (CRP) were performed on all of
      them. The patients were classified into 5 groups depending on the cause of their
      effusion: (1) parapneumonic, n = 28; (2) tuberculous, n = 49; (3) neoplastic, n =
      57; (4) miscellaneous, n = 46; and (5) transudates, n = 53. RESULTS:
      Procalcitonin levels were higher in the pleural fluid of the parapneumonic group
      (PAR, 0.15 ng/mL) compared with those of the rest of the groups, but
      statistically significant differences were only observed with the miscellaneous
      and tuberculous groups (P < 0.001). Levels of CRP were also higher in the PAR
      (0.67 mg/L) compared with those of the rest of the groups, with statistically
      significant differences observed (P < 0.001-0.004) in all of them. The parameter
      with the largest area under the receiver operator characteristics curve was the
      product of the total neutrophil count and the CRP in the pleural fluid, in which
      an area of 0.836 had a sensitivity of 64.3% and a specificity of 93.4%.
      CONCLUSIONS: Determination of procalcitonin and CRP, in the pleural fluid and
      blood, does not seem to provide great value to the diagnosis of PAR. However,
      calculating the product of the total neutrophil count and the CRP may be useful
      in the diagnosis of these effusions because increased values have a high
      specificity and predictive values.

PMID- 20930648
TI  - Multiplex reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction as diagnostic molecular
      screening of 4 common fusion chimeric genes in Taiwanese children with acute
      lymphoblastic leukemia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The classification of B-lineage acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) by
      specific chromosomal translocations has prognostic implications for risk-directed
      therapy. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay is a
      useful tool for detecting fusion transcripts from common chromosomal
      translocations of ALL cells. METHODS: Multiplex RT-PCR and nested-PCR assays were
      used to detect ALL-type BCR-ABL1 transcripts of the t(9;22), TCF-PBX1 transcripts
      of t(1;19), the MLL-AF4 transcripts of t(4;11), and 2 variants of ETV6-RUNX1 of
      the cryptic t(12;21) in 148 leukemic samples upon diagnosis. The patients
      received risk-directed protocols of the Taiwan Pediatric Oncology Group-ALL-2002
      that consisted of multiple chemotherapeutic agents of different intensities.
      Event-free survival (EFS) and overall survival (OS) rates were analyzed for
      genetic abnormalities detected by multiplex PCR and conventional cytogenetic
      analysis by the Kaplan-Meier method, and compared with the Mantel-Haenszel test.
      The Cox proportional hazards model was implemented to identify independent
      prognostic factors for EFS and OS. RESULTS: In this cohort of Taiwanese children,
      the relative frequencies of the 4 translocations of B-lineage ALL were 8% with
      ALL-type t(9;22)/BCR-ABL1, 4% with (1;19)/TCF-PBX1, 2% with t(4;11)/MLL-AF4, and
      17.6% with t(12;21)/ETV6-RUNX1. Patients with t(12;21)/ETV6-RUNX1 fusion,
      hyperdiploidy, and t(1;19)/TCF-PBX1 fusion had the most favorable outcomes,
      whereas those with the t(9;22)/BCR-ABL1 fusion or t(4;11) and other MLL gene
      rearrangement had poor prognosis (P<0.001 for EFS and OS). BCR-ABL1, MLL gene
      rearrangement, and very high-risk group were independent prognostic factors after
      Cox regression analysis. CONCLUSIONS: The biological factors of leukemia cells
      are associated with treatment outcomes in childhood ALL. Multiplex RT-PCR assay
      is an efficient and sensitive diagnostic tool that may improve the ability to
      accurately and rapidly risk-stratify children with ALL.

PMID- 20930650
TI  - Burkitt lymphoma with pancreatic involvement.
AB  - A 10-year-old boy was referred to our clinic for tonsillectomy and was found to
      have a large mass within his oropharynx. Intraoperative biopsies confirmed
      Burkitt lymphoma. Further imaging and biopsy revealed pancreatic involvement. He
      was treated with multiagent chemotherapy. He remains disease-free 6 years later.
      Review of the literature demonstrates other cases of non-Hodgkin lymphoma with
      pancreatic involvement with good outcomes. Pancreatic involvement is a relatively
      rare occurrence in childhood lymphoma.

PMID- 20930649
TI  - Childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia in Turkey: factors influencing treatment
      and outcome: a single center experience.
AB  - There is limited data about the long-term treatment outcome and prognosis of
      childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in developing countries. Our study
      was designed to assess survival data and identify risk factors. Data of 142
      children with ALL who were treated with a modified BFM 95 protocol between 1997
      and 2007 were evaluated. The median age was 4.3 years. Complete remission (CR)
      rate after induction phase was 93.5%; with 2.1% induction-related mortality and
      0.7% having resistance disease. Of complete responders, 67.1% are in continuous
      CR with a median follow-up of 63 months (range: 24 to 153 mo). Treatment-related
      mortality was 17.7% and the total rate of treatment abandonment was 3.5%. The
      probability of event-free survival was 67.3% (95% confidence interval 59.3-75.3)
      at 4 years and 63.2% (95% confidence interval 54.4-72.0) at 8 years. This report
      examines children with ALL treated with a modified ALL-BFM 95 protocol in a
      tertiary care center in Turkey with adequate follow up and demonstrates the need
      for improvements especially for patients with unfavorable risk group and
      strategies to reduce deaths from infection in CR to keep pace with cure rates in
      developed countries.

PMID- 20930651
TI  - Growth in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia during treatment.
AB  - Obesity is increasingly prevalent in affluent societies and portends considerable
      morbidity. This is especially true in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia
      (ALL) in whom the metabolic syndrome may begin during therapy, demanding
      clarification of the trajectory of weight gain so that effective interventions
      may be developed. In this retrospective study of body mass index from a single
      institution over a 20-year period, almost 15% of children with ALL were at risk
      of overweight or frankly overweight (body mass index >85th centile) at diagnosis.
      This proportion increased steadily, reaching 40% at the end of treatment.
      Strategies to limit weight gain will have to be instituted early in the
      management of children with ALL, and will probably have to be maintained
      throughout and after the completion of active treatment.

PMID- 20930652
TI  - Iron polymaltose versus ferrous gluconate in the prevention of iron deficiency
      anemia of infancy.
AB  - We prospectively compared the efficacy and safety of iron deficiency anemia
      prophylaxis with iron gluconate (IG) or iron polymaltose complex (IPC) in healthy
      infants attending a community pediatric center. Participants were randomly
      assigned to receive one of the test drugs from age 4 to 6 months to age 12
      months. Parents/guardians were given extensive information on iron-rich diets and
      anemia prevention. Main outcome measures were blood levels of hemoglobin,
      hematocrit, mean corpuscular volume, red blood cell distribution width, and serum
      iron, ferritin, and transferrin, in addition to adverse effects. One hundred five
      children completed the study: 53 in the IG group and 52 in the IPC group Mean
      hemoglobin levels at study end were significantly higher in the IG group (12.04+/
      0.09 g/dL vs. 11.68+/-0.11, P<0.014). A hemoglobin level <11 g/dL was detected in
      3 infants of the IG group, and in 10 infants of the IPC group (P<0.04). Adverse
      effects (spitting, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, discolored teeth) were
      significantly more common in the IG group (47% vs. 25%, P>0.025). In conclusion,
      both oral IG and IPC prevent iron deficiency anemia in infants. Iron gluconate
      seems to be more effective but less tolerable.

PMID- 20930653
TI  - Gamma knife surgery of vestibular schwannomas: volumetric dosimetry correlations
      to hearing loss suggest stria vascularis devascularization as the mechanism of
      early hearing loss.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Determine which variables are correlated with early hearing changes
      after gamma knife surgery of vestibular schwannomas (VSs). STUDY DESIGN:
      Prospective clinical study of hearing outcomes, radiation dosimetry, conformity,
      and tumor size of all sporadic unilateral VS patients treated between June 2000
      and July 2009. SETTING: Tertiary referral center. PATIENTS: : Fifty-nine VS
      patients with at least 6 months of follow-up data were studied. INTERVENTIONS:
      Audiometry and imaging were performed to determine auditory thresholds, speech
      discrimination, and tumor size. Radiation doses to 5 volumes were measured. MAIN
      OUTCOME MEASURES: Pretreatment and posttreatment comparisons were performed with
      regard to change in tumor size; radiation dose to specific volumes including the
      internal auditory canal, cochlea, basal turn of the cochlea, and modiolus; and
      conformity of the treatment. RESULTS: The mean follow-up was 63.76 months
      (standard deviation, +/-29.02 mo; range, 9-109 mo). The median follow-up was 65.5
      months. A statistically significant association between maximum radiation dose to
      the cochlea volume and 3-frequency pure-tone average in patients starting with 50
      dB or lesser PTA3 was demonstrated using linear regression analysis. CONCLUSION:
      Longitudinal changes in hearing occur over time, with the largest changes seen in
      the first 12 months after treatment. With our study outcomes as basis, limiting
      the dose of radiation to the cochlea to no more than 4 Gy would likely reduce
      vascular injury to the stria vascularis and improve hearing outcomes. Shielding
      the cochlea during the treatment planning process would be one mechanism to
      accomplish this goal.

PMID- 20930654
TI  - The floating mass transducer on the round window versus attachment to an
      ossicular replacement prosthesis.
AB  - HYPOTHESIS: The Vibrant Soundbridge floating mass transducer (FMT) is part of a
      commercially available implantable hearing device in which the FMT can be placed
      in the round window (RW) niche or attached to a partial (V-PORP) or total
      ossicular replacement prosthesis (V-TORP) contacting the stapes head or
      footplate. The goal is to provide efficient transfer of sound vibration into the
      cochlea. The hypothesis is that the FMT location on the prosthesis is superior to
      the RW location. BACKGROUND: No direct comparisons of the 3 FMT sites have been
      performed using the same measurement location. METHODS: A new measurement method
      called the third window method was used in eleven fresh human temporal bones to
      compare the sites. A small hole was made into the scala tympani of the temporal
      bones preserving the endosteum. A reflective target was placed on the third
      window endosteum and displacement of the cochlear fluid was measured using a
      Polytec HLV-1000 laser Doppler vibrometer. The input to the FMT at all locations
      was a constant 316 millivolts (mV); the frequency range was 0.5 to 8.0 kHz.
      RESULTS: The V-PORP and V-TORP FMT locations both provided statistically
      significant better performance above 1.0 kHz than the RW site but not below that
      frequency. The V-PORP and V-TORP responses were similar at all test frequencies.
      CONCLUSION: In this temporal bone model, the FMT provided better higher frequency
      performance when attached to a PORP or TORP than in the RW niche.

PMID- 20930655
TI  - The role of facial palsy in staging squamous cell carcinoma of the temporal bone
      and external auditory canal: a comparative survival analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The role for facial palsy in the Pittsburgh staging system for
      squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the external auditory canal (EAC) is unclear.
      The objective of this study was to conduct a systematic review of published
      studies to determine the impact of facial palsy on survival outcomes. DATA
      SOURCES: A search of MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Central Register of Clinical
      Trials, Cochrane, clinicaltrials.gov, and the National Guideline Clearinghouse
      databases was supplemented by hand searching. STUDY SELECTION: Articles selected
      for final analysis had individual subject data on staging and/or facial nerve
      function, outcome, and follow-up period. DATA EXTRACTION: Data extracted included
      demographics, type and stage of cancer, survival, and facial nerve status. DATA
      SYNTHESIS: Of 3,046 citations identified by a systematic literature search, 21
      case series including 348 subjects with SCC of the EAC met criteria for analysis.
      The overall and disease-specific survival for subjects with facial palsy were
      significantly worse than subjects without facial palsy, regardless of stage (p =
      0.006 and p = 0.002, respectively). The overall survival outcome for subjects
      with facial palsy was significantly worse than subjects with stage PITT-2000 T3
      designated cancer (p = 0.027) and demonstrated no statistically significant
      difference from stage PITT-2000 T4-designated cancer (p = 0.897). CONCLUSION:
      This pooled-data survival analysis for SCC of the EAC demonstrates that facial
      nerve involvement is associated with a poor outcome and that the survival
      outcomes for subjects with facial palsy more closely parallel the survival curves
      of advanced stage T4 disease. Disease with facial palsy should be classified as
      stage T4, in accordance with the PITT-2000 system.

PMID- 20930656
TI  - Selective retinal therapy with microsecond exposures using a continuous line
      scanning laser.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the safety, selectivity, and healing of retinal lesions
      created using a continuous line scanning laser. METHODS: A 532-nm Nd:YAG laser
      (PASCAL) with retinal beam diameters of 40 MUm and 66 MUm was applied to 60 eyes
      of 30 Dutch-belted rabbits. Retinal exposure duration varied from 15 MUs to 60
      MUs. Lesions were acutely assessed by ophthalmoscopy and fluorescein angiography.
      Retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) flatmounts were evaluated with live-dead
      fluorescent assay. Histological analysis was performed at 7 time points from 1
      hour to 2 months. RESULTS: The ratios of the threshold of rupture and of
      ophthalmoscopic visibility to fluorescein angiography visibility (measures of
      safety and selectivity) increased with decreasing duration and beam diameter.
      Fluorescein angiography and live-dead fluorescent assay yielded similar
      thresholds of RPE damage. Above the ophthalmoscopic visibility threshold,
      histology showed focal RPE damage and photoreceptor loss at 1 day, without inner
      retinal effects. By 1 week, photoreceptor and RPE continuity was restored. By 1
      month, photoreceptors appeared normal. CONCLUSION: : Retinal therapy with a fast
      scanning continuous laser achieves selective targeting of the RPE and, at higher
      power, of the photoreceptors without permanent scarring or inner retinal damage.
      Continuous scanning laser can treat large retinal areas within standard eye
      fixation time.

PMID- 20930657
TI  - CABG for patients on hemodialysis: comments at present.

PMID- 20930658
TI  - Surgical remodeling of the left ventricle in heart failure.

PMID- 20930659
TI  - The in vitro effects of iloprost with other vasodilators on the human internal
      thoracic artery.
AB  - PURPOSE: We aimed (a) to analyze the effects of iloprost as a vasodilator on the
      human internal thoracic artery (ITA) and (b) to compare these effects with the
      effects of other vasodilators now being used in the clinic. METHODS: Following
      transfer into only Krebs solution or into Krebs solution containing papaverine or
      iloprost, human ITA strips were then incubated only in Krebs or in Krebs with
      vasodilators that are generally used in clinical practice, such as diltiazem or
      glyceryl trinitrate. Cumulative concentration-contraction curves for
      noradrenaline (NA) and KCl were then established for these strips. Student's t
      test and one-way analysis of variance followed by Tukey-Kramer tests were used to
      compare differences between groups. A p <0.05 was used to indicate significance.
      RESULTS: Among the transfer solutions, papaverine (6.50 +/- 0.20) and iloprost
      (7.33 +/- 0.13) were significantly more potent than Krebs (8.46 +/- 0.75, p
      <0.001 and p <0.05) with regard to preventive effect on precontracted ITA with
      NA. Iloprost significantly relaxed the NA-induced precontracted ITA strips in the
      Krebs, papaverine, and iloprost groups. Diltiazem significantly relaxed the
      precontracted ITA with KCl in all storage groups. CONCLUSION: Iloprost may also
      prevent perioperative ITA spasm, but should be tested in the clinical setting.

PMID- 20930660
TI  - Postoperative serum C-reactive protein levels in non-small cell lung cancer
      patients.
AB  - PURPOSE: The significance of the postoperative serum C-reactive protein (CRP)
      level as a prognosis indicator was evaluated in patients with non-small cell lung
      cancer (NSCLC). PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 276 patients who had undergone a
      curative resection of NSCLC were retrospectively reviewed. RESULTS: The overall
      and disease-specific survival rates in the postoperative CRP/high group (>= 0.5
      mg/dL at 30 days postoperation: n = 130) were significantly lower than those in
      the postoperative CRP/low group (< 0.5 mg/dL at 30 days postoperation: n = 146).
      However, based on a multivariate analysis, the postoperative CRP level was not
      among the unfavorable indicators regarding survival. The patients were divided
      into two groups, namely, the preoperative CRP/low group (n = 231) and the
      CRP/high group (n = 45). The proportion of the postoperative CRP/low group
      (60.2%) in the preoperative CRP/low group was significantly lower than that in
      the preoperative CRP/low group (15.6%; p <0.0001). No significant difference was
      observed in the disease-specific survival rates in the postoperative CRP/high
      group and the postoperative CRP/low group in either the preoperative high/group
      or low/group. CONCLUSIONS: The overall and disease-specific survival rates in the
      postoperative CRP/high group were significantly lower than that in the
      postoperative CRP/low group. This difference may be associated with the
      relationship between the pre- and postoperative CRP levels.

PMID- 20930661
TI  - Electron beam cine CT-based evaluation of left atrial function after the maze
      procedure for mitral valve regurgitation.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: There has been little investigation of whether atrial function is
      equally restored by surgery in patients with mitral regurgitation (MR) and atrial
      fibrillation (AF) compared to patients in sinus rhythm (SR). PATIENTS AND
      METHODS: We evaluated left atrium (LA) volume-time curves obtained from electron
      beam tomography. The study involved 33 patients who had surgical treatment for MR
      with or without AF and 11 control patients. RESULTS: (1) In patients with SR, LA
      volume decreased significantly along with a resolution of early regurgitation
      postoperatively, and the reserve function was well maintained. The LA booster
      pump function was also well maintained before and after surgery. (2) In patients
      with AF that resolved after maze surgery, the LA volume was larger than that of
      the sinus group immediately after surgery, and it did not improve in
      postoperative periods. These patients had a lower reserve function and a much
      lower booster pump function despite restoration of SR. CONCLUSIONS: The maze
      procedure is suggested to be unlikely to achieve restoration of atrial function
      in patients with MR accompanied by AF, even if SR returns postoperatively.
      Because patients with SR demonstrated the same LA function as the control
      postoperatively, surgical indication should be considered for patients with
      severe MR while their atrial function and SR are maintained.

PMID- 20930662
TI  - The influence of previous percutaneous coronary intervention in patients
      undergoing off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of the present study was to compare the early outcomes of
      patients undergoing off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting (OPCAB) with and
      without previous percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). PATIENTS AND METHODS:
      We retrospectively reviewed the records of 545 patients who underwent first-time
      isolated OPCAB from September 2004 to June 2007. Overall, 154 had previous PCIs,
      including 99 with stents. The number of diseased vessels was higher in patients
      without a PCI than in those with a PCI (2.8 vs. 2.7; p = 0.0311). Postoperative
      angiography was performed to assess the graft patency in 430 patients (78.9%).
      RESULTS: The number of anastomoses per patient was lower in PCI patients than in
      non-PCI patients (3.8 vs. 4.2; p = 0.0066). The operative mortality rates did not
      differ between these groups (0% vs. 1.8%; p = 0.1995); neither did the major
      morbidity rates. Similar results were obtained for the comparison of patients
      with stents and patients without PCIs. There was no significant difference in the
      graft patency rates between PCI patients and non-PCI patients (97.1% vs. 97.9%; p
      = 0.4976). CONCLUSIONS: A previous PCI is not a predictor of early morbidity or
      mortality in patients undergoing OPCAB. Furthermore, the graft patency is not
      affected by a previous PCI.

PMID- 20930663
TI  - Effect of cryopreservation on cell proliferation and immunogenicity of
      transplanted human heart cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cell preservation is essential for successful cell transplantation
      and/or tissue engineering. We examined the effects of cryopreservation on the
      transplantation of human heart cells. METHODS: Cells isolated from human atrial
      tissues were cultured for 15 days (control group), cryopreserved for 1 week, and
      rapidly thawed and cultured for 15 days. Proliferation was compared among control
      and cryopreserved cells or tissues by constructing growth curves. Growth factors,
      cytokines, biochemical features, and cell cycle phase were measured immediately
      before and after cryopreservation, and immunogenicity was evaluated from growth
      curves generated from heart cells after 7 days in mixed-lymphocyte culture.
      Control or cryopreserved cells were transplanted into rat connective tissues and
      evaluated histologically 2 weeks later. RESULTS: Cryopreserved cells proliferated
      more effectively than control cells. Levels of basic fibroblast growth factor and
      transforming growth factor-beta1 were significantly higher, and those of
      interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-8 were significantly lower after cryopreservation.
      Fewer peripheral blood lymphocytes were produced in cryopreserved cells than in
      noncryopreserved cells, and the cell cycle phase of cryopreserved heart cells
      shifted primarily to G2 + M from G1 + G0. Noncryopreserved and cryopreserved
      cells both survived in connective tissue. CONCLUSION: Human atrial cells can be
      cultured, cryopreserved, and transplanted. Cryopreservation might increase the
      proliferation of human cells and tissues and also reduce the immunogenicity of
      heart cells.

PMID- 20930664
TI  - Locally infiltrative glomus tumor of the bronchus: a case report.
AB  - We report a glomus tumor of the bronchus that showed invasion of the neural area
      and extrabronchial extension without significant histological malignancy. The
      patient was a male in his late 30s with the chief complaint being hemosputum. CT
      revealed a nodal shadow 15 mm in diameter in the right bronchus intermedius. An
      irregularly protruding lesion on the tumor surface was observed by bronchoscopy
      immediately under the second carina in the right truncus intermedius, but could
      not be diagnosed because of bleeding. Sleeve lobectomy of the right upper lobe
      was performed, since carcinoid tumor was suspected in open chest biopsy and
      intraoperative frozen section diagnosis. A solid growth of spherical and cubic
      uniform cells with a clear eosinophilic cytoplasm and spherical nuclei was
      observed. Immunohistochemistry was positive for alpha-smooth muscle actin and
      type IV collagen, weakly positive for synaptophysin, and negative for keratin,
      neural cell adhesion molecule, chromogranin A, desmin, CD34, and S100, leading to
      a diagnosis of glomus tumor. Neuroinvasion and extrabronchial tumor extension
      were observed, but an atypical cytology, bleeding, or necrosis was found
      histologically. This is the first description of infiltrative glomus tumor of the
      bronchus.

PMID- 20930665
TI  - Resection of a chondrosarcoma arising in the right first rib: a case report.
AB  - Primary chest wall tumors are relatively rare, and in individual cases the
      biological properties and onset site of the tumor must be considered before
      surgery, and the chest wall defect must be reconstructed. The case of a patient
      with a chondrosarcoma arising in the right first rib who underwent resection and
      reconstruction is reported. The patient was a 56-year-old man with a 6 * 7 cm
      tumor in the anterior chest wall side of the right first rib; biopsy confirmed a
      grade I chondrosarcoma. During surgery, a safe surgical field was prepared by
      severing the clavicle inside the periosteum and resecting the tumor with the
      anterior side of the first and second ribs. The chest wall defect measured about
      10 cm, and reconstruction was performed, using the greater pectoral muscle and a
      polypropylene mesh as covers. In the treatment of chondrosarcoma, chemotherapy
      and radiotherapy are less effective, and appropriate surgery is needed. In the
      present patient it was useful to prepare a safe surgical field for resecting the
      first rib tumor by severing the clavicle and then reconstructing the chest wall,
      using the greater pectoral muscle and a polypropylene mesh.

PMID- 20930666
TI  - Pulmonary apical mass, the so-called pulmonary apical cap, in a 43-year-old
      woman.
AB  - A 43-year-old woman had a pulmonary tumor detected by a computed tomographic (CT)
      scan during follow-up for breast cancer 15 years previously. The tumor showed a
      solid mass measuring 42 * 32 * 12 mm in extensive contact with the pleura of the
      apex of the left upper lobe. The edge of the tumor was relatively well-defined
      with an irregular shape, and a bubblelike area was seen within it. The
      longitudinal slice high-resolution CT findings showed a flat and thick mass, and
      its inferior border was distinct and horizontal. The pathological findings by a
      thoracoscopic lung biopsy showed a localized pulmonary fibrosis of the apex, a so
      called pulmonary apical cap (PAC). With the recent advances in CT scan
      technology, the detection of PACs is very likely to increase, and they must be
      differentiated from superior sulcus tumors.

PMID- 20930667
TI  - Off-pump coronary bypass via left thoracotomy resulting from sternoclavicular
      arthritis.
AB  - We report a case of coronary artery bypass grafting through the left thoracotomy
      in a patient who suffered from sternoclavicular joint infection with methicillin
      resistance Staphylococcus aureus. We performed off-pump coronary bypass surgery,
      using the left internal thoracic artery to the left anterior descending coronary
      artery and a saphenous vein graft from the aorta to the circumflex artery, with a
      successful outcome. This approach seems to be safe and effective for coronary
      bypass grafting in situations where median sternotomy is not favorable, as in the
      described patient.

PMID- 20930668
TI  - Delayed closure of postinfarction ventricular septal rupture.
AB  - We present the case of a patient with postinfarction ventricular septal rupture
      (VSR) who underwent delayed repair using a modified infarction exclusion
      technique. The patient was taken to the operating room 21 days after the first
      incidence of acute myocardial infarction because the intra-aortic balloon pump
      maintained a stable circulatory condition without cardiogenic shock. In our
      procedure, a Dacron patch was sutured to the healthy endocardium to exclude the
      infarcted septum, and the VSR was subsequently closed with another Dacron patch.
      After three years of postoperation, the patient's condition remains normal with
      good ventricular kinesis and no residual shunt. We describe herein a novel
      procedure for repairing postinfarction VSR by using two Dacron patches.

PMID- 20930669
TI  - Efficacy of a heparin-coated closed circuit for intractable bleeding in adult
      cardiac surgery.
AB  - Hemostatic procedures and control of blood pressure concomitant with rapid
      transfusion of blood products aimed at recovery of coagulability are necessary
      for intractable bleeding during cardiac surgery. However, when the bleeding is
      massive and hemostasis is prolonged for several hours, operative maneuvers such
      as manual compression of the heart can affect hemodynamics, decrease cardiac
      output, and elevate atrial and venous pressure, with consequent hepatic, renal,
      and pulmonary dysfunction over time. Herein we present three cases of potentially
      fatal bleeding during open-heart surgery, in which we used a heparin-coated
      closed circuit for circulatory support after standard cardiopulmonary bypass. We
      achieved stable hemodynamics following surgical hemostatic maneuvers and avoided
      the postoperative multiple organ failure by using a cardiopulmonary support
      system.

PMID- 20930670
TI  - Three surgical cases of isolated tricuspid valve infective endocarditis.
AB  - Tricuspid valve infective endocarditis (TVIE) is rare in Japan, though many
      reports of it in intravenous drug users are found in other countries. We
      experienced 3 surgical cases of isolated TVIE in 2 nonintravenous drug users and
      1 intravenous user, and we presented successful results. The surgical options for
      TVIE are vegetectomy and valvulectomy, valve repair, and valve replacement, which
      are controversial in regard to hemodynamic consequences in right-sided low
      pressure system and long-term prognosis. We report the 3 surgical cases of
      isolated TVIE.

PMID- 20930671
TI  - A presumed mechanism of mitral regurgitation after left ventriculoplasty.
AB  - After isolated left ventriculoplasty, the mechanism of mitral regurgitation (MR)
      remains unclear. A 68-year-old male with ischemic cardiomyopathy presented with a
      new onset of severe MR after left ventriculoplasty without a mitral procedure. He
      needed a second operation for heart failure because of the MR. We speculate about
      its mechanism and express caution about the procedure.

PMID- 20930672
TI  - Aortic valve destruction and pseudoaneurysm of the sinus of Valsalva associated
      with infective endocarditis.
AB  - We report the successful surgical treatment of a case of aortic valve destruction
      and pseudoaneurysm of the sinus of Valsalva associated with infective
      endocarditis (IE) in an 80-year-old woman. Multidetector-row computed tomography
      revealed an abnormal cavity in the left posterior aortic root. We had made the
      diagnosis of the aortic valve destruction and saccular pseudoaneurysm of the
      sinus of Valsalva associated with IE. Aortic valve replacement and patch plasty
      of the left sinus of Valsalva was performed successfully. A histopathologic
      examination of the resected aortic valve leaflet revealed inflammatory changes
      consistent with IE. We describe the surgical technique used in this rare case of
      pseudoaneurysm of the sinus of Valsalva resulting from IE.

PMID- 20930673
TI  - Resecting an unresectable tumor?

PMID- 20930674
TI  - Additional lung-protective perfusion techniques during cardiopulmonary bypass.
AB  - Postoperative cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB)-induced lung dysfunction still remains
      as a serious complication that could lead to life-threatening problems. CPB is
      associated with a whole-body inflammatory response. The contact of blood
      components with the artificial surface of the bypass circuit causes activation of
      complements, upregulation of cytokines and adhesion molecules, and induction of
      oxygen-free radicals. The pathogenic consequences are adhesions of complement
      activated neutrophils to endothelial cells, neutrophil migration into the
      extravascular spaces, and free-radical mediated pulmonary damage. Injured
      endothelial cells are vulnerable to the cytokine-mediated inflammatory cascade.
      Moreover, CPB renders the lung being at risk for ischemic insults because lung
      perfusion is maintained solely by the bronchial arterial system. Postischemic
      reperfusion of the lung upregulates adhesion molecules and enhances neutrophil
      endothelial cell adhesion and extravascular neutrophil sequestration, thereby
      aggravating further structural and functional abnormalities of pulmonary
      endothelial cells. Thus the systemic inflammatory response and ischemia
      reperfusion during CPB constitute a vicious network in the pathogenesis of CPB
      derived lung injury. Accordingly, it is postulated that additional pulmonary
      perfusion could alleviate CPB-induced lung damage. This review article summarizes
      recent literature on the mechanisms involved in lung dysfunction after CPB, and
      it also summarizes current reports on lung-protective perfusion techniques.

PMID- 20930675
TI  - Evaluation of prognosis in patients with respiratory failure requiring venovenous
      extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO).
AB  - PURPOSE: In this study, we analyzed the respiratory status and the prognosis of
      patients, including adults with acute respiratory failure requiring venovenous
      extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VV ECMO) to maintain respiratory status. We
      then evaluated the differences between patients who could be removed from VV ECMO
      and those who could not. PATIENTS AND METHODS: From January 2003 to December
      2008, eleven patients in our hospital required VV ECMO for severe acute
      respiratory failure. All 11 had severe acute respiratory distress syndrome. The
      age of the patients was 52 +/- 24 (range; 8-86) years, and the male/female ratio
      was 8/3. The acute physiology and chronic health evaluation II (APACHE II) score,
      ECMO flow, and respiratory parameters, such as PaO2/FiO2 (P/F ratio), pulmonary
      compliance, and Lung Injury Score (LIS) before and after the introduction of
      ECMO, were compared among patients in whom ECMO could or could not be removed.
      RESULTS: ECMO could be removed from six patients (55%, group A), but in five
      (45%, group B) could not. The duration of ECMO support was significantly shorter
      in group A than in group B (111 +/- 68 hr vs. 380 +/- 233 hr, p = 0.011). The pre
      ECMO ventilator time was shorter in group A than in group B. Significant
      differences were found between the two groups in the P/F ratio and LIS from pre
      ECMO introduction to 72 hours after. ECMO flow in group A could be weaned for 48
      hours after introduction, significantly different compared with group B.
      CONCLUSION: The early introduction of ECMO may be desirable if the causes of
      respiratory failure are recoverable. It is presumed that VV ECMO removal will be
      difficult if the ECMO flow cannot be weaned within 48 hours after ECMO
      introduction in patients with severe respiratory failure.

PMID- 20930676
TI  - Does patient-prosthesis mismatch affect long-term results after mitral valve
      replacement?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Recently, some articles about patient-prosthesis mismatch (PPM) of
      the mitral valve have been published. However, the outcome of PPM of the mitral
      valve remains controversial. The objective of this study was to determine the
      impact of mitral valve PPM on clinical results after mitral valve replacement
      (MVR). METHODS AND RESULTS: Eighty-four patients underwent MVR from 1992 to 2005.
      They were divided into a PPM group and a non-PPM group. Preoperative,
      perioperative, and postoperative variables were analyzed retrospectively. The
      indexed effective orifice area (IEOA) was provided by postoperative
      echocardiography and body surface area. PPM was defined as an IEOA of 1.2 cm2/m2
      or less, and 25 patients had PPM. Thirty-day mortality was 0% in both groups.
      Postoperative pulmonary artery pressure and residual mitral valve pressure
      gradient had no significant differences. There was no significant difference in
      freedom from recurrence of heart failure or from cardiac death between the two
      groups. CONCLUSION: The present study revealed that PPM does not affect the short
      or long-term outcome after MVR. But the clinical result when the definition of
      PPM is made more severe, such as IEOA of 1.0 cm2/m2 or less, was not examined.
      Further research is required to establish the allowable range of IEOA.

PMID- 20930677
TI  - Results and treatment strategy for patients undergoing emergent coronary artery
      bypass grafting.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Emergent coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) remains a high-risk
      procedure in cardiac surgery. Therefore we performed this study to evaluate its
      current results. METHODS: From 2001 to 2007, fifty-seven patients with an acute
      coronary syndrome underwent an isolated CABG procedure emergently. Data were
      collected retrospectively from the patients' charts. RESULTS: The mean age of the
      patients, 45 males (79%) and 12 females (21%), was 64.5 +/- 11.5 years.
      Operations were performed on 40 patients (70%) with cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB)
      and cardioplegic cardiac arrest and on 6 without CPB. Eleven patients (11%)
      underwent on-pump beating heart procedures (19%). The operating times (minutes)
      were duration of surgery 215.2 +/- 64.2; duration of CPB 116.9 +/- 51.5; and X
      clamp time 57.3 +/- 19.9. The mean number of grafts per patient was 2.95 +/-
      0.97. Postoperative durations of mechanical ventilation (hours), Intensive Care
      Unit stay (days), and normal ward stay (days) were 45.8 +/- 75.3, 8.9 +/- 23.1,
      and 9.6 +/- 8.0, respectively. The total number of complications was 57, and
      postoperative confusion (29.8%), revision for bleeding (22.8%), and renal
      insufficiency (21%) occurred most frequently. Seven of the 57 patients died: 5
      succumbed to multiorgan failures, 1 to cardiac decompensation, and 1 to bleeding
      complications. CONCLUSION: Emergent CABG is associated with an enhanced
      perioperative risk, and further developments are absolutely necessary to improve
      its results.

PMID- 20930678
TI  - The value of angiogenic therapy with intramyocardial administration of basic
      fibroblast growth factor to treat severe coronary artery disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) was administered
      intramyocardially together with CABG to induce myocardial neovascularizaton and
      collateral growth in patients with ungraftable coronary arteries. Coronary
      angiographic and myocardial scintigraphic findings revealed that the effects of
      CABG were potentially confounding. METHODS AND RESULTS: Patients in the bFGF
      group (n = 16) underwent angiogenic therapy using bFGF for ungraftable territory,
      and incomplete revascularization (IR) patients (n = 22) underwent only CABG. The
      magnitude of collateral development was assessed by the Rentrop score and
      collateral connection (CC) grade. Rentrop scores tended to increase among
      patients in the bFGF group (before vs. after surgery, 1.9 +/- 1.2 vs. 2.3 +/-
      1.2, p = 0.05), but not in the IR group. The CC grade significantly increased
      among patients in the bFGF group (before vs. after surgery, 1.0 +/- 0.9 vs. 1.4
      +/- 0.5, p <0.05), but not in the IR group. Myocardial perfusion in territories
      injected with bFGF improved in 13 patients (81%) of the bFGF group, and also in
      the nonbypassed territory in 4 IR patients (25%) (p <0.05). CONCLUSION:
      Angiogenic therapy with bFGF induced collateral development and improved
      myocardial perfusion in territories injected with bFGF.

PMID- 20930679
TI  - Aortic valve replacement by ministernotomy in redo patients with previous left
      internal mammary artery patent grafts.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Aortic valve surgery with a patent left internal mammary artery (LIMA)
      on the left anterior descending (LAD) coronary artery is challenging in terms of
      myocardial protection and graft injury. Minimally invasive techniques may require
      minimal dissection of adhesions and may eventually decrease the risk of injuries.
      METHODS: Since 1997, more than 1000 ministernotomies have been performed by our
      surgical unit. Of these, 16 patients (14 males, 2 females, mean age: 68.7 years)
      had a patent LIMA graft on LAD. Fourteen underwent native aortic valve
      replacement, and in 2 a previously implanted prosthesis was replaced. A
      miniresternotomy was performed using either a "J" (15 patients) or a "reversed-T"
      method (1 patient). RESULTS: Cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) was achieved by either
      femoral vein (12 patients) or right atrium (4 patients); arterial inflow was
      achieved either by ascending aorta (12 patients) or by femoral artery (4
      patients). Mean CPB time was 119.7 +/- 38.1 minutes (range: 50-235). Mean cooling
      body temperature was 27.4  degrees C. Antegrade cold crystalloid cardioplegia was
      delivered to all the patients. Mean aortic cross-clamp time was 72 +/- 20 minutes
      (range: 45-125). No damage to LIMA occurred in any of the patients. No intra- or
      perioperative myocardial infarction (MI) occurred. Neither a conversion to full
      sternotomy nor a reoperation for bleeding was needed. Mean postoperative bleeding
      was 426 +/- 474 ml (range: 120-1950). A blood transfusion was necessary in 7
      patients. Mean postoperative ICU stay was 1.6 +/- 1.1 days. Mean postoperative
      hospital stay was 7.5 +/- 2.6 days. Postoperative course was totally uneventful
      in 10 patients (58.8%). Follow-up was complete for a total of 928 patient/months
      (range: 11-124), and there were four late deaths, two of which were related to
      cardiac problems. Nine of the 12 survivors are in NYHA CLASS I . II. Prosthesis
      related morbidity did not occur either early or late during follow-up.
      CONCLUSIONS: This experience may represent the feasibility of an alternative
      surgical approach to a standard full-length median sternotomy in patients with
      previous coronary revascularization and with a patent LIMA on the LAD, requiring
      new surgery on the aortic valve.

PMID- 20930680
TI  - Necessity of lung resection in neglected cases of pulmonary hydatidosis.
AB  - In pulmonary hydatid disease, lung resection is not a desirable treatment. Two
      young boys, aged 9 and 15, presented at our institution, the 9-year-old with a
      destroyed lung as the result of a delayed diagnosis of a giant cyst; the second
      with a massive hemoptysis as the result of preoperative albendazole use. Both
      children underwent a lobectomy for the treatment of pulmonary hydatidosis.
      Delayed diagnosis and use of albendazole, respectively, were considered the
      causes necessitating lung resection in these cases of giant and complicated
      pulmonary hydatid disease.

PMID- 20930681
TI  - A resected case of pulmonary carcinosarcoma.
AB  - The patient was a 78-year-old man with a history of smoking 5 or 6 cigarettes per
      day for 40 years. A chest X-ray taken during a medical checkup demonstrated a
      mass shadow in the right lower lung field. The patient was diagnosed with
      squamous cell carcinoma by bronchoscopic brushing cytology. A right lower
      lobectomy and a lymph node dissection were performed under a diagnosis of
      squamous cell carcinoma of the lung (cT2N0M0, stage IB). Gross examination of the
      resected specimen demonstrated an ovoid, irregularly bordered, yellowish-white
      tumor, 8 cm in diameter, containing a necrotic cavity. Histopathological
      examination showed diffuse proliferation of spindle-shaped tumor cells
      intermingled with areas of well-differentiated squamous cell carcinoma with
      definite keratinization. Areas of cartilage and bone were observed in the spindle
      cell components of the tumor. These findings led to a diagnosis of carcinosarcoma
      (pT2N0M0, stage IB). The patient developed multiple intrapulmonary metastases 5
      months after surgery and died of respiratory failure 10 months later. Herein we
      report a rare surgical case of lung carcinosarcoma.

PMID- 20930682
TI  - Progressive growth of primary synovial sarcoma of the lung.
AB  - An 80-year-old male was admitted because of a giant mass in the left lower lobe
      of the lung on a routine chest X-ray. Chest computed tomography verified this to
      be a well-defined heterogeneous mass as described with no associated
      lymphadenopathy. FDG-PET depicted moderately marginal FDG uptake. The patient
      underwent a left lower lobectomy and lymphadenectomy. Grossly, the tumor measured
      60 * 50 mm and was uniformly filled with a pure white, pudding-like friable
      substance. No lymph node metastasis was observed microscopically. Histologically,
      the tumor showed a dense proliferation of rounded or spindled malignant cells
      with a frequent mitotic activity and an increased nuclear-to-cytoplasmic ratio.
      The immunohistochemical staining was positive for vimentin, negative for
      cytokeratin, keratin-wide, EMA, CD34. A SYT-SSX2 fusion gene transcript was
      detected as a result of RT-PCR analysis. Because of these results, the tumor was
      diagnosed as a monophasic synovial sarcoma.

PMID- 20930683
TI  - Management of descending mediastinal infections with an unusual cause: a report
      of 3 cases.
AB  - Mediastinal infections are a life-threatening and distinctly rare event,
      especially when they are caused by a dental abscess or by a foreign body that has
      not perforated the esophagus. We evaluated how best to treat descending
      mediastinal infections occurring from an unusual cause. We report 3 female
      patients with mediastinal infections: two aged 45 and 80 years, each with a
      dental abscess, and one 62 with a foreign-body injury of the retropharyngeal
      wall. A retropharyngeal abscess and descending necrotizing mediastinitis
      developed in two of these patients. The mediastinal abscess was detected by
      computed tomographic scanning. All patients were successfully treated by drainage
      of their abscesses via cervicotomy or thoracotomy. A mediastinal abscess can be a
      serious complication. Mediastinitis is associated with a high mortality rate if
      the diagnosis is not quickly established and adequate therapy is not provided. In
      this report, we discuss the management and possible pathophysiological mechanisms
      of descending mediastinal infections that have an unusual cause. Clinicians
      should be aware of the possibility of descending mediastinal infections in
      patients with a retropharyngeal abscess or a dental abscess associated with
      persistent signs, such as fever. Imaging modalities must be used as soon as
      possible to enable early diagnosis. Aggressive treatment includes surgical
      drainage, and medical management in an intensive care unit may prevent a
      catastrophic outcome.

PMID- 20930684
TI  - Congenital systemic and coronary-to-pulmonary artery fistulas.
AB  - Congenital systemic-to-pulmonary artery fistulas are very rare, with the
      exception of congenital heart disease and pulmonary sequestration. We describe
      the first reported case of left internal mammary and bronchial artery to
      pulmonary artery fistulas associated with bilateral coronary arteries to
      pulmonary artery fistulas.

PMID- 20930685
TI  - Successful surgical treatment of tricuspid valve endocarditis associated with
      vertebral osteomyelitis.
AB  - Right-sided endocarditis is relatively rare and can occasionally be complicated
      by vertebral osteomyelitis (VO). We describe successful treatment, including
      valve repair for tricuspid endocarditis associated with VO. A 77-year-old man
      presented with back pain and high fever. Magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated
      VO. Despite 2 months of intravenous antibiotics, the infectious signs persisted
      and both legs became edematous. Enterococcus faecalis was isolated from blood
      cultures, and echocardiography showed severe tricuspid regurgitation with large
      vegetations attached to the anterior leaflet (AL). A series of echocardiographic
      assessments revealed that the antibiotic therapy did not affect the tricuspid
      lesions. In surgery, the infection was extended to some chordae and over half of
      the AL was resected. The AL was repaired with autologous pericardium and
      artificial chordae. Antibiotic therapy was continued for 2 months after surgery,
      and the infections did not reoccur. Follow-up echocardiography showed mild
      regurgitation of the tricuspid valve. The patient remains free from endocarditis
      at 2 years after surgery.

PMID- 20930686
TI  - Redo an aortic valve replacement for bioprosthetic valve destruction in a patient
      developing Streptococcus bacteremia three years after the initial operation.
AB  - A 66-year-old man with a bioprosthetic aortic valve developed Streptococcus
      bacteremia and was treated with antibiotics. He responded well to this therapy,
      and no evidence of bioprosthetic valve endocarditis (BVE) was detected at this
      time. One-and-a-half years after the antibiotic therapy for bacteremia, the
      patient was referred to our department with a diagnosis of acute cardiac failure.
      Transthoracic echocardiography revealed torn bioprosthetic valve leaflets with
      severe aortic regurgitation. A redo aortic valve replacement was undertaken,
      followed by antibiotic therapy for 6 weeks after the surgery. A histopathological
      examination of the surgically resected valve suggested a healed infective BVE. No
      recurrence of bacteremia has been noted since the reoperation.

PMID- 20930687
TI  - Surgical treatment of aortic valve papillary fibroelastoma with neurofibromatosis
      (von Recklinghausen's disease).
AB  - A 69-year-old man with a medical history of neurofibromatosis was transferred to
      our hospital for the treatment of an aortic valve mass. His workup identified an
      aortic valve papillary fibroelastoma based on the absence of signs of infection,
      thrombus in the left atrium, and valvular destruction or abnormal valvular
      function. A tumor was excised under cardiopulmonary bypass. The pathology of the
      mass was a papillary fibroelastoma. Neurofibromatosis with cardiac tumor is
      extremely rare. This is the first report of a case of papillary fibroelastoma
      associated with neurofibromatosis.

PMID- 20930688
TI  - Total arch replacement with associated anomaly of the left vertebral artery.
AB  - We describe total arch replacement after ascending aortic replacement for acute
      type II dissecting aneurysm with associated anomaly of the left vertebral artery.
      A female patient was recommended at 10 years of age after the initial operation
      because of an enlargement of the distal ascending aorta. Magnetic resonance
      angiography revealed an isolated left vertebral artery that arises distal to the
      left subclavian artery. Total arch replacement was proceeding using selective
      cerebral perfusion. The isolated artery was reconstructed with a saphenous vein
      graft interposed between the native left vertebral artery and the side of the
      graft branch anastomosed to the left subclavian artery. The patient recovered
      uneventfully after extensive surgical replacement of the thoracic aorta and
      remains asymptomatic at 1 year after the procedure. To prevent possible
      neurological complications, we find it critical to assess vascularization in this
      region prior to conducting surgical procedure. Careful examination and correct
      identification of the vessels are essential to avoid major complications.

PMID- 20930689
TI  - Selective digestive decontamination to prevent pneumonia after esophageal
      surgery.

PMID- 20930690
TI  - Alternative approaches for redo aortic arch surgery.

PMID- 20930691
TI  - The role of transcription factor FoxO1 in the pathogenesis of acne vulgaris and
      the mode of isotretinoin action.
AB  - It is the purpose of this review to demonstrate that oral isotretinoin treatment
      restores all major pathogenetic factors of acne vulgaris by upregulation of the
      nuclear transcription factor FoxO1, which will be shown to be the major target of
      retinoid action. Nuclear FoxO1 deficiency is the result of increased growth
      factor signaling with activated phosphoinositol-3-kinase (PI3K) and Akt kinase
      during growth hormone signaling of puberty and increased insulin/IGF-1 signaling
      due to consumption of insulinotropic milk/dairy products as well as hyperglycemic
      carbohydrates of Western diet. Nuclear FoxO1 deficiency increases androgen
      receptor transactivation and modifies the activity of important nuclear receptors
      and key genes involved in pilosebaceous keratinocyte proliferation, sebaceous
      lipogenesis and expression of perifollicular inflammatory cytokines. Isotretinoin
      induced upregulation of nuclear FoxO1 is proposed to be responsible for the mode
      of action of isotretinoin on all major pathogenetic factors in acne. Acne
      pathogenesis can be explained at the genomic level of transcriptional regulation.
      All major events in acne pathogenesis as well as all major effects of
      isotretinoin treatment appear to be related to modifications of the
      PI3K/Akt/FoxO1 signaling pathway, the well-known oncogenic pathway. These
      insights extend our understanding of FoxO1-mediated retinoid action in acne and
      other hyperproliferative skin diseases, cancer chemoprevention and cutaneous
      immune regulation. Understanding FoxO's pivotal regulatory role in acne allows
      the development of novel treatment strategies and dietary interventions in acne
      which focus on the restoration of growth factor- and diet-induced imbalances of
      nuclear FoxO protein levels.

PMID- 20930692
TI  - Cost-effectiveness analysis of topical treatments for actinic keratosis in the
      perspective of the Italian health care system.
AB  - Actinic keratosis (AK) is the most common cutaneous malignant neoplasm and its
      prevalence continues to increase. According to the most recent findings, AK is
      currently considered the initial stage, in situ, of squamous cell carcinoma.
      Field-directed therapies for AKs are the preferred treatment since they have the
      advantage to clear the clinically visible lesions and also subclinical lesions
      within the cancerous field. We assessed the cost-effectiveness of topical
      treatments for AKs including 3% diclofenac in 2.5% hyaluronic acid (HA) gel,
      imiquimod 5% cream and photodynamic therapy with methyl aminolevulinate (MAL-PDT)
      in the perspective of the Italian Health Care System (SSN). We used a decision
      tree analytical approach and efficacy data were drawn from published clinical
      trials. Cost was evaluated from the SSN perspective during a time horizon of 3
      months. A responder was defined as a patient with all lesions clinically cleared
      and showing an excellent cosmetic result. Based on the applied model, the cost
      per complete responder was calculated. Diclofenac 3% in HA was less expensive
      (Euro 256) than MAL-PDT (Euro 320) and imiquimod (Euro 342). Effectiveness was
      similar and better for diclofenac 3% in HA and MAL-PDT (0.813%) in comparison to
      0.734% of imiquimod, respectively. The one-way and probabilistic sensitivity
      analyses confirmed the results of base case scenario. Based on this cost
      effectiveness model, diclofenac 3% in HA can be considered the treatment of
      choice for AK lesions and surrounding field under a pharmacoeconomic point of
      view.

PMID- 20930693
TI  - What's new in skin resurfacing and rejuvenation?
AB  - Skin resurfacing and rejuvenation techniques have experienced significant
      advances in the last few decades, and new devices are continuously being
      introduced into the marketplace. The large number of available modalities such as
      fractional lasers, radiofrequency systems, microdermabrasion, laser-assisted
      lipolysis, and ultrasound provides practitioners with a wide array of choices to
      address the needs of cosmetic patients. Many of the newer technologies, such as
      devices that integrate a fractional delivery system, provide excellent results
      with few adverse side effects. However, proper perioperative management is
      essential to achieving the desired effects. Furthermore, practitioners must be
      fluent with the operation and expected complications of these new technologies.
      While there are many overlapping treatment indications for each of the devices
      mentioned above, some modalities offer distinct advantages making proper patient
      selection essential. In certain cases, utilizing various combinations of
      mechanical, optic, acoustic, and electrical energies may be necessary to achieve
      the desired outcomes. This review discusses the application of new and existing
      skin rejuvenation techniques to clinical practice. A particular emphasis is
      placed on the use of fractional, radiofrequency, microdermabrasion, laser
      assisted lipolysis, and ultrasound devices.

PMID- 20930694
TI  - Molecular patterns in melanoma and therapeutic targets.
AB  - Malignant melanoma is one of the most lethal cancers whose treatment options are
      limited once it has metastasized. Recent advances in molecular technology have
      improved our understanding of the underlying mechanisms of melanoma pathogenesis.
      In this article, we highlight several pathways that have been implicated in
      melanoma-genesis. While a cure is not yet within grasp, the picture on the
      horizon is less hazy and the next decade promises to yield exciting new
      therapeutic discoveries.

PMID- 20930695
TI  - Melanocyte photobiology, ultraviolet radiation and melanoma.
AB  - Of all the organs of the human body, the skin is most commonly affected by
      malignancy, and ultraviolet radiation has long been implicated as the primary
      mutagenic exposure leading to the development of many cutaneous cancers. However,
      as research in this field has continued, it has become clear that the effect of
      ultraviolet radiation on the skin is quite complex. Distinct cell types within
      the skin exhibit differing responses to ultraviolet radiation, and even within
      the same cell type, divergent effects may be observed; depending on the dose or
      wavelength of the radiation, or the maturational state of the affected cell,
      unique responses can be elicited. Melanocytes form a minor component of the
      outermost layer of skin, but they have an enormous impact on not only the
      appearance of the skin, but also the ability of the skin to withstand exposure to
      ultraviolet radiation. In addition, melanocytes give rise to melanoma, one of the
      most deadly types of skin cancer. Clearly, it is critical that we achieve a
      better understanding of the effect of ultraviolet radiation on melanocytes, and
      that we clarify its role in the oncogenesis of melanoma. Although the picture is
      far from complete, the mechanisms by which melanocytes respond to ultraviolet
      radiation are beginning to be elucidated, and, as these pathways emerge, they
      offer new targets for chemopreventive and chemotherapeutic intervention.

PMID- 20930696
TI  - The use of photodynamic therapy in dermatology.
AB  - In dermatology, topical photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a well established
      treatment modality which has mainly shown to be effective for dermato-oncologic
      conditions like actinic keratosis, Bowen's disease, in-situ squamous cell
      carcinoma and superficial basal cell carcinoma. However, a therapeutical benefit
      of PDT is also evident for inflammatory dermatoses like localized scleroderma,
      acne vulgaris and granuloma annulare as well as for aesthetic indications like
      photo aged skin or sebaceous gland hyperplasia. Recent work has been focused on
      the development and evaluation of topical photosensitizers like the hem precursor
      5-aminolevulinic acid or its methyl ester inducing photosensitizing porphyrins.
      These drugs do not induce strong generalized cutaneous photosensitization like
      the systemically applied porphyrins or their derivatives. For dermatological
      purposes incoherent lamps or LED arrays can be used for light activation.
      Depending on the applied light dose and the concentration of the photosensitizer
      either cytotoxic effects resulting in tumor destruction or immunomodulatory
      effects improving the inflammatory conditions occur. Treating superficial
      oncologic lesions (tumor thickness < 2-3 mm) cure rates achieved by PDT are equal
      to the cure rates of the respective standard therapeutic procedure. The benefits
      of PDT are the low level of invasiveness and the excellent cosmetic results after
      treatment.

PMID- 20930697
TI  - Photoprotection in moisturizers and daily-care products.
AB  - During usual daily activities, an appropriate protection against solar UV
      exposure should prevent clinical, cellular and molecular changes potentially
      leading to photoaging. In skin areas regularly exposed to sun, UV-damage is
      superimposed to tissue degeneration resulting from chronological aging. It is,
      therefore, important to know if moisturizers and daily-care products containing
      UVA absorbers combined with UVB ones are able to prevent these skin damages. This
      review will summarize clinical studies evaluating this topic. These studies
      demonstrate that broad-spectrum protection in moisturizers or daily-care products
      can prevent the "silent" sub-erythemal cumulative effects of UVR from inadvertent
      sun exposure.

PMID- 20930698
TI  - Skin substitutes in dermatosurgery.
AB  - Skin substitutes are a growing market since technical advancements have allowed a
      substantial progress in treating extensive defects of the skin. A variety of skin
      substitutes with different properties and thus resulting different indications is
      offered on the market. Important benefits of skin substitutes are their ready
      availability in almost any quantity and the predictable product properties
      concerning implantation, incorporation, resorption and long-term outcome.
      Although, most skin substitutes still need skin grafts at a later date which is
      disadvantageous. Nevertheless dermal substitutes have reduced the need for thick
      skin grafts allowing the donor site and the patient to heal faster with fewer
      surgeries. The use of skin substitutes in dermatologic surgery is widespread and
      new fields of application are emerging. The variety of artificial skin has
      definitely changed the reconstructive ladder helping to cover larger defects with
      less time and effort which is an important issue especially in elderly and
      multimorbid patients. In the last years a growing number of studies in the
      literature report the use of artificial skin substitutes to secure a rapid
      reconstruction with reliable cosmetic and functional results after oncological
      resections. Furthermore, skin substitutes are used to cover chronic wounds like
      diabetic foot ulcers or venous leg ulcers to promote healing. Congenital diseases
      like giant hairy nevi, aplasia cutis congenital or epidermolysis bullosa are
      conditions in children where skin substitutes play a role. But even in tissue
      augmentation or in cosmetic surgery skin substitutes come into vogue. The latest
      advance are cultured autologous or allogenic substitutes some even in combination
      with alloplastic material. Besides of medical questions that arise from the use
      of these materials in reconstructive surgery legal and economic aspects have to
      be taken into account. This article is giving an overview over the most common
      skin substitutes and their use in dermatosurgery.

PMID- 20930699
TI  - What's new in cosmetic procedures.
AB  - Innovative technology and product advancements in cosmetic procedures have been
      developing at a rapid pace. Advances in neuromodulators and fillers as well as
      new technology in skin tightening, body contouring and skin resurfacing have been
      profound over the past few years. This article will discuss the most current and
      promising cosmetic procedures available today as well as those soon to be
      available.

PMID- 20930700
TI  - Sporotrichosis: an update.
AB  - Sporotrichosis is the most frequent and worldwide distributed subcutaneous
      mycoses. The aim of this article is to review the most recent aspects of
      sporotrichosis about its epidemiology, etiologic agents, mycologic
      characteristics, clinical features, diagnosis and treatment. The causative agents
      of sporotrichosis belong to five well defined species of dimorphic fungi of the
      called Sporothrix schenckii complex. Sporotrichosis and its etiologic agents have
      specific endemic areas, but it is possible to find epidemics of the disease in
      practically every continent, the entrance via is cutaneous due to the inoculation
      of the fungi into the skin after a traumatism and less frequent due to
      respiratory way. Clinical manifestations are widely variable, with important
      involvement of the skin and the superficial lymphatic system, but also with
      affection of the mucosa and some organs like lungs, bones and joints. Nowadays
      sporotrichosis is considered a true zoonosis with important changes related to
      the endemic areas and the ecologic features of the causative pathogens. The
      therapy of choice is the potassium iodide (KI), but other alternatives are
      itraconazole, terbinafine, thermotherapy and in severe cases amphotericin B. The
      importance of the recognition of the clinical manifestations of the disease in
      some non-endemic areas helps to challenge the diagnosis and give an accurate
      therapy.

PMID- 20930701
TI  - Advances in pemphigus research, signaling, and acantholysis.
AB  - Pemphigus is a family of human autoimmune blistering diseases in which pathogenic
      autoantibodies induce blistering in skin and mucosa. The mechanisms by which
      pemphigus autoantibodies induce disease in the skin is under active
      investigation. A large number of cellular events induced in the target
      keratinocytes by pemphigus IgG have been described and suggest that pemphigus IgG
      binding to desmogleins trigger a complicated cascade of intracellular signaling
      and regulatory events. Targeting these intracellular events may prove useful
      therapeutically.

PMID- 20930702
TI  - The actual management of pemphigus.
AB  - Pemphigus is usually treated with systemic prednisone in combination with
      adjuvant immunosuppressants. Though the mortality associated with pemphigus has
      been reduced with the use of systemic corticosteroids, the iatrogenic
      complications have warranted the development of newer therapies. This review
      discusses the different treatments, therapies and procedures.

PMID- 20930703
TI  - Prevalence of doctor-diagnosed arthritis and arthritis-attributable activity
      limitation --- United States, 2007-2009.
AB  - Arthritis is a large and growing public health problem in the United States,
      resulting in costs of $128 billion annually, and continues to be the most common
      cause of disability. With the aging of the U.S. population, even assuming that
      the prevalence of obesity and other risk factors remain unchanged, the prevalence
      of doctor-diagnosed arthritis and arthritis-attributable activity limitation
      (AAAL) is expected to increase significantly by 2030. To update previous U.S.
      estimates of doctor-diagnosed arthritis and AAAL, CDC analyzed National Health
      Interview Survey (NHIS) data from 2007--2009. This report summarizes the results
      of that analysis, which found that 22.2% (49.9 million) of adults aged >=18 years
      had self-reported doctor-diagnosed arthritis, and 9.4% (21.1 million or 42.4% of
      those with arthritis) had AAAL. Among persons who are obese, an age-adjusted
      33.8% of women and 25.2% of men reported doctor-diagnosed arthritis. Arthritis
      and AAAL represent a major public health problem in the United States that can be
      addressed, at least in part, by implementing proven obesity prevention strategies
      and increasing availability of effective physical activity programs and self
      management education courses in local communities.

PMID- 20930704
TI  - Seasonal influenza vaccination coverage among children aged 6 months-18 years ---
      eight immunization information system sentinel sites, United States, 2009-10
      influenza season.
AB  - Annual influenza vaccination was first recommended for children aged 6-23 months
      and 2-4 years by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) in 2004
      and 2006, respectively. In August 2008, ACIP expanded its seasonal influenza
      vaccination recommendations to also include all children aged 5-18 years no later
      than the 2009-10 season. To update previous estimates of seasonal influenza
      vaccination coverage among children aged 6 months-18 years, CDC analyzed data
      from the eight immunization information system (IIS) sentinel sites for the 2009
      10 influenza season. Vaccination coverage with influenza A (H1N1) 2009 monovalent
      vaccine is not included in this report. Average (unweighted) vaccination coverage
      with >=1 seasonal influenza vaccine doses was 26.3%, a 5.5 percentage point
      increase from the 2008-09 season (20.8%). Increases varied by age group, ranging
      from almost no increase among children aged 6-23 months (55.2% during the 2008-09
      season to 55.7% during the 2009-10 season) to notable increases among children
      aged 2--4 years (from 33.0% to 38.4%), 5-12 years (19.0% to 27.1%), and 13-18
      years (10.9% to 15.3%). Full vaccination coverage was low during the 2009-10
      season, ranging from 34.7% among children aged 6-23 months to 15.3% among
      children aged 13-18 years. These findings highlight the need to identify varied
      strategies and venues for delivering influenza vaccine to different age groups of
      children to increase vaccination coverage.

PMID- 20930705
TI  - Influenza activity --- United States and worldwide, June 13-September 25, 2010.
AB  - From June 13 to September 25, 2010, the United States experienced low levels of
      influenza activity. During this period, typical seasonal patterns of influenza
      activity occurred in the Southern Hemisphere; in addition, influenza activity was
      observed in the tropical regions, with a mix of 2009 influenza A (H1N1),
      influenza A (H3N2), and influenza B viruses cocirculating. This report summarizes
      influenza activity in the United States and worldwide since the update published
      on July 30, 2010.

PMID- 20930706
TI  - Vital signs: binge drinking among high school students and adults --- United
      States, 2009.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Binge drinking was responsible for more than half of the estimated
      79,000 deaths and two thirds of the estimated 2.3 million years of potential life
      lost as a result of excessive drinking each year in the United States during 2001
      2005. METHODS: CDC analyzed data from the 2009 Behavioral Risk Factor
      Surveillance System (BRFSS) on the prevalence of binge drinking (defined as
      consuming four or more alcoholic drinks per occasion for women and five or more
      for men during the past 30 days) among U.S. adults aged >=18 years who responded
      to the BRFSS survey by landline or cellular telephone. Data also were analyzed
      from the 2009 National Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) on the prevalence of
      current alcohol use (consuming at least one alcoholic drink during the 30 days
      before the survey), and binge drinking (consuming five or more alcoholic drinks
      within a couple of hours during the 30 days before the survey) among U.S. high
      school students, and on the prevalence of binge drinking among high school
      students who reported current alcohol use. RESULTS: Among U.S. adults, the
      prevalence of reported binge drinking was 15.2% among landline respondents. Binge
      drinking was more common among men (20.7%), persons aged 18-24 years (25.6%) and
      25-34 years (22.5%), whites (16.0%), and persons with annual household incomes of
      $75,000 or more (19.3%). Among cellular telephone respondents, the overall
      prevalence of binge drinking (20.6%) was higher than among landline respondents,
      although the demographic patterns of binge drinking were similar. Prevalence
      among high school students was 41.8% for current alcohol use, 24.2% for binge
      drinking, and 60.9% for binge drinking among students who reported current
      alcohol use. CONCLUSIONS: Binge drinking is common among U.S. adults,
      particularly those with higher household incomes, and among high school students.
      Binge drinking estimates for adults were higher in the cellular telephone sample
      than in the landline sample. Most youths who reported current alcohol use also
      reported binge drinking. IMPLICATIONS FOR PUBLIC HEALTH PRACTICE: Binge drinking
      is a serious problem among adults and youths that can be reduced by
      implementation of evidence-based interventions.

PMID- 20930707
TI  - Adiponectin and hypertension.
AB  - Adipose tissue secretes a variety of bioactive molecules, also known as
      adipocytokines or adipokines. Obesity, in particular, visceral fat accumulation,
      is implicated in the dysregulated secretion of adipocytokines, which can
      contribute to the development of metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular diseases.
      Adiponectin is an adipocytokine that is exclusively secreted from adipose tissue,
      but its plasma levels are reduced in obese subjects, especially those with
      visceral fat accumulation. Adiponectin has a variety of protective properties
      against obesity-linked complications, such as hypertension, metabolic
      dysfunction, atherosclerosis, and ischemic heart disease. Adiponectin exerts the
      beneficial effects on vascular disorders by directly affecting components of
      vascular tissue. This review will discuss clinical and experimental findings that
      examine the role of adiponectin in regulation of hypertension and vascular
      function.

PMID- 20930708
TI  - Circadian rhythms in blood pressure regulation and optimization of hypertension
      treatment with ACE inhibitor and ARB medications.
AB  - Specific features of the 24 h-blood pressure (BP) pattern are linked to the
      progressive injury of target tissues and risk of cardiac and cerebrovascular
      events. Studies have consistently shown an association between blunted asleep BP
      decline and increased incidence of fatal and nonfatal cardiovascular events.
      Thus, there is growing interest in how to achieve better BP control during
      nighttime sleep in addition to during daytime activity, according to the
      particular requirements of each hypertension patient. One approach takes into
      consideration the endogenous circadian rhythm-determinants of the 24-h BP
      pattern, especially, the prominent day-night variation of the renin-angiotensin
      aldosterone system, which activates during nighttime sleep. A series of clinical
      studies have demonstrated a different effect of the angiotensin-converting enzyme
      (ACE) inhibitors benazepril, captopril, enalapril, lisinopril, perindopril,
      quinapril, ramipril, spirapril, and trandolapril when routinely ingested in the
      morning vs. the evening. In most cases, the evening schedule exerts a more marked
      effect on the asleep than awake BP means. Similarly, a once-daily evening, in
      comparison to morning, ingestion schedule of the angiotensin receptor blockers
      (ARBs) irbesartan, olmesartan, telmisartan, and valsartan exerts greater
      therapeutic effect on asleep BP, plus significant increase in the sleep-time
      relative BP decline, with normalization of the circadian BP profile toward a more
      dipping pattern, independent of drug terminal half-life. Chronotherapy, the
      timing of treatment to body rhythms, is a cost-effective means of both
      individualizing and optimizing the treatment of hypertension through
      normalization of the 24-h BP level and profile, and it may constitute an
      effective option to reduce cardiovascular risk.

PMID- 20930712
TI  - Systemic effects of white adipose tissue dysregulation and obesity-related
      inflammation.

PMID- 20930711
TI  - Pregravid obesity associates with increased maternal endotoxemia and metabolic
      inflammation.
AB  - Obese pregnant women develop severe insulin resistance and enhanced systemic and
      placental inflammation, suggesting associated modifications of endocrine and
      immune functions. Activation of innate immunity by endotoxins/lipopolysaccharides
      (LPS) has been proposed as a mechanism for enhancing metabolic alterations in
      disorders with insulin resistance. The aim of this study was to characterize the
      immune responses developed by the adipose tissue (AT) and their potential links
      to maternal endotoxemia in pregnancy with obesity. Blood and subcutaneous
      abdominal AT were obtained from 120 lean and obese women (term pregnancy)
      recruited at delivery. Gene expression was assessed in AT and stromal vascular
      cells isolated from a subset of 24 subjects from the same cohort. Doubling of
      plasma endotoxin concentrations indicated subclinical endotoxemia in obese
      compared with lean women. This was associated with significant increase in
      systemic C-reactive protein and interleukin-6 (IL-6) but not tumor necrosis
      factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) concentrations. AT inflammation was characterized by
      accumulation of CD68(+) macrophages with a threefold increased gene expression of
      the macrophage markers CD68, EMR1, and CD14. Gene expression for cytokines IL-6,
      TNF-alpha, IL-8, and monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP1) and for LPS-sensing
      CD14, toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), translocating chain-associated membrane
      protein 2 was 2.5-5-fold higher in stromal cells of obese compared to lean. LPS
      treated cultured stromal cells of obese women expressed a 5-16-fold stimulation
      of the same cytokines upregulated in vivo. Our data demonstrate that subclinical
      endotoxemia is associated with systemic and AT inflammation in obese pregnant
      women. Recognition of bacterial pathogens may contribute to the combined
      dysfunction of innate immunity and the metabolic systems in AT.

PMID- 20930713
TI  - Associations of SNPs in ADIPOQ and subclinical cardiovascular disease in the
      multi-ethnic study of atherosclerosis (MESA).
AB  - Circulating adiponectin is associated with both clinical and subclinical
      cardiovascular disease (CVD). Variants of the adiponectin gene (ADIPOQ) are
      associated with clinical CVD, but little is known about associations with
      subclinical CVD. We studied the association of 11 ADIPOQ single-nucleotide
      polymorphisms (SNPs) with common and internal carotid intima media thickness
      (cIMT), presence of coronary artery calcification (CAC), and CAC scores (in those
      with CAC) in 2,847 participants in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis
      (MESA). Participants were white (n = 712), African American (n = 712), Chinese (n
      = 718), and Hispanic (n = 705). All models were adjusted for age, sex, and field
      site, and stratified by race/ethnic group. African Americans with genotypes AG/GG
      of rs2241767 had 36% greater (95% confidence interval (CI; 16%, 59%), P = 0.0001)
      CAC prevalence; they also had a larger common cIMT (P = 0.0043). Also in African
      Americans, genotypes AG/AA of rs1063537 were associated with a 35% (95% CI (14%,
      59%), P = 0.0005) greater CAC prevalence. Hispanics with the AA genotype of
      rs11711353 had a 37% (95% CI (14%, 66%), P = 0.0011), greater CAC prevalence
      compared to those with the GG genotype. Additional adjustment for ancestry in
      African-American and Hispanic participants did not change the results. No single
      SNP was associated with subclinical CVD phenotypes in Chinese or white
      participants. There appears to be an association between ADIPOQ SNPs and
      subclinical CVD in African Americans and Hispanics. Replication as well as
      assessment of other ADIPOQ SNPs is warranted.

PMID- 20930714
TI  - Water turnover assessment in overweight adolescents.
AB  - Adequate intake (AI) standards for water in adolescents range between 2.4-3.3
      l/day for males and 2.1-2.3 l/day for females, independent of obesity status.
      Water intakes and excretions of this population are not well documented. The
      purposes of this study were to assess water turnover, inputs, and outputs in
      overweight adolescents, compare these parameters between males and females, and
      evaluate the reproducibility of water turnover. Eighteen girls (BMI 31.7 +/- 4
      kg/m(2); mean +/- s.d.) and nine boys (BMI 26.3 +/- 3 kg/m(2)) aged 12-15 years
      completed two 3-week metabolic balance trials. Rate of water turnover (rH(2)O)
      was measured by tracking the decline of deuterated water from the body over 14
      days. Water inputs (diet*, ad libitum(#), metabolic(#)) and outputs (urine*,
      feces*, insensible(#)) were assessed (*measured, #estimated). rH(2)O was lower (P
      = 0.002) in girls vs. boys (3,742 +/- 536 vs. 4,537 +/- 623 g/day). Per kg body
      weight, rH(2)O was 28% lower in girls vs. boys (46 +/- 7 vs. 64 +/- 9 g.kg(
      1).day(-1)). Water input from food and beverages provided and metabolic
      production were 44 and 28% lower, respectively, in girls vs. boys. Urine and
      insensible water losses were 21 and 17% lower in girls vs. boys. BMI was
      positively associated with water turnover in both sexes (girls P = 0.037; boys P
      = 0.014). The intraclass correlation of rH(2)O between trials was 0.981 (P <
      0.001). In conclusion, these overweight adolescents consumed water well in excess
      of sex-specific AI standards. The lower rH(2)O in girls compared to boys is
      consistent with adult females and males.

PMID- 20930715
TI  - Overexpression of constitutively active PKG-I protects female, but not male mice
      from diet-induced obesity.
AB  - Cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP)-dependent protein kinase I (PKG-I) is a
      multifunctional protein. The direct effects of PKG-I activation on energy
      homeostasis and obesity development are not well understood. Herein, we generated
      transgenic mice with expression of the constitutively active PKG-I in adipose
      tissue as well as in other tissues. Male and female PKG-I overexpressing mice
      were fed a low-fat (LF) or high-fat (HF) diet for 16 weeks. HF-fed female PKG-I
      transgenic mice had decreased body weight gain, lower percentage of body fat, and
      improved glucose tolerance compared to HF-fed wild-type (WT) controls. In
      contrast, male transgenic PKG-I mice were not resistant to the development of HF
      diet-induced obesity, and exhibited similar levels of adiposity and glucose
      intolerance as HF-fed WT controls. Furthermore, we found that HF-fed female
      transgenic PKG-I mice had increased energy expenditure and cold-induced adaptive
      thermogenesis compared to HF-fed WT controls, which was associated with increased
      expression of uncoupling protein-1 (UCP1) in brown adipose tissue (BAT). In
      addition, the rates of lipolysis in white adipose tissue (WAT) were also
      increased in female transgenic PKG-I mice compared to WT controls due to
      increased phosphorylation of hormone-sensitive lipase (HSL). However, in male
      mice, adaptive thermogenesis or WAT lipolysis was similar between transgenic PKG
      I mice and WT controls. Together, these data demonstrate sex differences in
      effects of PKG-I activation on the regulation of adipose tissue function and its
      contribution to diet induced obesity.

PMID- 20930717
TI  - D2 Thr92Ala and PPARgamma2 Pro12Ala polymorphisms interact in the modulation of
      insulin resistance in type 2 diabetic patients.
AB  - Type 2 deiodinase (D2) converts T4 into its active metabolite T3, an essential
      step in thyroid metabolism. A Thr92Ala polymorphism in the gene encoding D2 has
      been inconsistently associated with insulin resistance (IR). Recently, it was
      reported that the D2 Thr92Ala (rs225014) and the peroxisome proliferator
      activated receptor (PPAR) gamma2 Pro12Ala (rs1801282) polymorphisms interact in
      the modulation of metabolic syndrome in nondiabetic subjects. Here, we
      investigated the effect of both polymorphisms, isolated or in combination, on IR
      in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2). The D2 Thr92Ala and PPARgamma2
      Pro12Ala polymorphisms were genotyped in 721 DM2 patients. IR was evaluated using
      the homeostasis model assessment-IR (HOMA(IR)) index in a subgroup of 246 DM2
      subjects. The frequencies of D2 Ala92 and PPARgamma2 Ala12 variants were 0.390
      and 0.074, respectively. Patients carrying D2 Ala/Ala genotype had a higher
      fasting plasma insulin and HOMA(IR) index as compared to patients carrying
      Thr/Ala or Thr/Thr genotypes (P = 0.022 and P = 0.001, respectively). A
      significant synergistic effect was observed between D2 Thr92Ala and PPARgamma2
      Pro12Ala polymorphisms on HOMA(IR) index, with carriers of both D2 Ala/Ala
      genotype and PPARgamma2 Ala12 allele showing the highest HOMA(IR) values, after
      adjusting for age, gender, BMI, and use of medication for DM2 (P = 0.010). In
      conclusion, DM2 patients harboring both D2 Ala/Ala genotype and PPARgamma2 Ala12
      allele seem to present more severe IR than those with other D2/PPARgamma2
      genotype combinations. These findings suggest that these polymorphisms interact
      in the IR modulation, which may constitute a potential therapeutic target.

PMID- 20930716
TI  - Lifestyle and socioeconomic-status modify the effects of ADRB2 and NOS3 on
      adiposity in European-American and African-American adolescents.
AB  - The aim of the study is to investigate the influence of and interaction between
      lifestyle behaviors (diet and physical activity (PA)) and single-nucleotide
      polymorphisms (SNPs) in obesity-candidate genes (ADRB2, APOB and NOS3) on general
      and central adiposity. Six-hundred-and-twenty-one European-American (EA) and
      African-American (AA) youths aged 13-19 years were classified by ethnicity (49%
      AA), gender (45% male), and socioeconomic status (SES). PA and dietary intake
      with up to seven 24-h recalls were reported for all subjects. Percent body fat
      (%BF) was measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, visceral adipose tissue
      (VAT), and subcutaneous abdominal adipose tissue (SAAT) by magnetic resonance
      imaging. Reported energy intake (EI) and vigorous PA (VPA) were negative
      predictors of %BF and SAAT. Carriers of the NOS3 Asp298 allele had higher %BF
      only in the presence of an adverse environment (low SES). Compared to the most
      common NOS3 haplotype, homozygotes for haplotype A-non4r-Asp had 6.1% higher %BF.
      Significant interactions were revealed between the ADRB2 Arg16Gly SNP and VPA on
      VAT, SAAT and waist circumference (WC) such that Gly16 homozygotes may benefit
      less from increased VPA to reduce their weight. Genetic susceptibility to
      increased general and central adiposity is dependent on several factors, such as
      SES and vigorous exercise. Improved understanding of the joint effect of genes
      and lifestyle on adiposity will offer new insights into obesity and may provide
      new avenues for personalized prevention and treatment.

PMID- 20930718
TI  - Identifying patterns of eating and physical activity in children: a latent class
      analysis of obesity risk.
AB  - We used latent class analysis (LCA) to identify heterogeneous subgroups with
      respect to behavioral obesity risk factors in a sample of 4th grade children (n =
      997) residing in Southern California. Multiple dimensions assessing physical
      activity, eating and sedentary behavior, and weight perceptions were explored. A
      set of 11 latent class indicators were used in the analysis. The final model
      yielded a five-class solution: "High-sedentary, high-fat/high-sugar (HF/HS)
      snacks, not weight conscious," "dieting without exercise, weight conscious,"
      "high-sedentary, HF/HS snacks, weight conscious," "active, healthy eating," and
      "low healthy, snack food, inactive, not weight conscious." The results suggested
      distinct subtypes of children with respect to obesity-related risk behaviors.
      Ethnicity, gender, and a socioeconomic status proxy variable significantly
      predicted the above latent classes. Overweight or obese weight status was
      determined based on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention BMI (kg/m2)
      for-age-and-sex percentile (overweight, 85th percentile <= BMI < 95th percentile;
      obese, 95th percentile <= BMI). The identified latent subgroup membership, in
      turn, was associated with the children's weight categories. The results suggest
      that intervention programs could be refined or targeted based on children's
      characteristics to promote effective pediatric obesity interventions.

PMID- 20930719
TI  - Critical comparisons.

PMID- 20930720
TI  - Pooled studies can raise misleading alarm bells, regulators say.

PMID- 20930721
TI  - 'Pay-for-delay' decision may be left to lawmakers.

PMID- 20930722
TI  - Sugar treatment doesn't pacify those concerned about preemies.

PMID- 20930723
TI  - Talkin' 'bout my (third) generation.

PMID- 20930724
TI  - Fluctuating baseline pain implicated in failure of clinical trials.

PMID- 20930725
TI  - Sequencing of superbugs seen as key to combating their spread.

PMID- 20930726
TI  - Genomics uncovers microbe resistance.

PMID- 20930727
TI  - Targeting hotspots of transmission promises to reduce malaria.

PMID- 20930728
TI  - Companies hope to bring DNA storage in from the cold.

PMID- 20930729
TI  - As pediatric trials go global, some worry who really benefits.

PMID- 20930731
TI  - Following Europe's lead, Congress moves to ban ape research.

PMID- 20930732
TI  - Call for renewed focus on rare mutations grows more common.

PMID- 20930733
TI  - In season, atmospheric conditions can drive disease.

PMID- 20930734
TI  - A disease--or gene--by any other name would cause a stink.

PMID- 20930736
TI  - Straight talk with...Jules Hirsch. Interview by Roxanne Palmer.

PMID- 20930737
TI  - Nothing to sneeze at.

PMID- 20930738
TI  - A timeline of histamine and its receptors.

PMID- 20930739
TI  - Sunshine biomedicine.

PMID- 20930740
TI  - Advocates deserve room at the decision-making table.

PMID- 20930742
TI  - Stem cells on the move.

PMID- 20930743
TI  - High glucose, no cry.

PMID- 20930744
TI  - A sweet path toward tolerance in the gut.

PMID- 20930746
TI  - A small kiss of death for cancer.

PMID- 20930745
TI  - Good and bad lipids in the lung.

PMID- 20930747
TI  - The persistence of memory.

PMID- 20930748
TI  - Peering into the aftermath: The inhospitable host?

PMID- 20930751
TI  - How to win a Lasker? Take a close look at Bathers and Bulls.

PMID- 20930749
TI  - Peering into the aftermath: JAKi rips STAT3 in cancer.

PMID- 20930752
TI  - A historical perspective on leptin.

PMID- 20930753
TI  - A tale of two hormones.

PMID- 20930755
TI  - Thalassemia: the long road from the bedside through the laboratory to the
      community.

PMID- 20930754
TI  - Vascular endothelial growth factor and age-related macular degeneration: from
      basic science to therapy.

PMID- 20930756
TI  - The wider dental team.

PMID- 20930757
TI  - Out of the bottle.

PMID- 20930758
TI  - NCAS continues.

PMID- 20930759
TI  - A reasoned approach.

PMID- 20930760
TI  - Masochistic pleasure.

PMID- 20930761
TI  - Redeploying resources.

PMID- 20930773
TI  - Why dentists should take a greater interest in sex and gender.
AB  - This brief review highlights the lack of evidence relating to sex and gender
      differences in oral health as well as the widespread conceptual confusion and
      conflation that often underlies them. A broader biomedical understanding of these
      issues will offer a valuable framework within which differences in oral health
      between women and men can be further explored. This in turn would facilitate the
      development of the evidence base necessary to optimise the efficacy of dental
      practice in meeting the needs of both women and men patients.

PMID- 20930774
TI  - Risk management in clinical practice. Part 6b. Identifying and avoiding medico
      legal risks in removable dentures.
AB  - The most likely cause of complaint with prosthodontics is a denture that in some
      way fails to be accepted. A denture that does not perform as the patient expects
      can give rise to great disappointment and anger. The problem is that acceptance
      of a denture is not just a technical issue. Success depends on the individual's
      ability to tolerate and adapt to the denture. It is therefore essential to make
      the right assessment for the patient from the outset. This includes discovering
      the patient's priorities and establishing realistic expectations. With the aim of
      assisting the dental profession in identifying and avoiding medico-legal risks in
      removable dentures, this article sets out a systematic, diagnostic and
      collaborative approach to complete and partial denture assessment and treatment.

PMID- 20930779
TI  - Summary of: an audit improves the quality of water within the dental unit water
      lines of general dental practices across the East of England.

PMID- 20930795
TI  - Stem-cell laws in China fall short.

PMID- 20930796
TI  - Transgenic harvest.

PMID- 20930797
TI  - Garage biology.

PMID- 20930798
TI  - Scientists need a shorter path to research freedom.

PMID- 20930810
TI  - The spread of postdoc unions.

PMID- 20930811
TI  - Baby boom bags Nobel prize.

PMID- 20930812
TI  - Graphene speeds pair to Stockholm win.

PMID- 20930813
TI  - Plan for addiction institute splits NIH.

PMID- 20930814
TI  - NASA privacy case goes to highest court.

PMID- 20930815
TI  - A shocking discovery.

PMID- 20930816
TI  - Epigenome effort makes its mark.

PMID- 20930819
TI  - Earth science: Weighing the world.

PMID- 20930817
TI  - Safety authority rebuts conflict claim.

PMID- 20930820
TI  - Garage biotech: Life hackers.

PMID- 20930821
TI  - Altruism researchers must cooperate.

PMID- 20930826
TI  - Call for a return to rigour in models.

PMID- 20930827
TI  - Better living through physics.

PMID- 20930828
TI  - Ground truth is the test that counts.

PMID- 20930829
TI  - Inclusive fitness is just bookkeeping.

PMID- 20930830
TI  - Surface science: Seeing the spin through.

PMID- 20930831
TI  - Medical microbiology: A toxin contest.

PMID- 20930832
TI  - Nanofluidics: Tiny electrostatic traps.

PMID- 20930833
TI  - DNA repair: A protein giant in its entirety.

PMID- 20930834
TI  - Atmospheric physics: Solar surprise?

PMID- 20930835
TI  - Mycology: Spores ride a cooperative wind.

PMID- 20930837
TI  - Vision: Neurons show their true colours.

PMID- 20930838
TI  - Functional connectivity in the retina at the resolution of photoreceptors.
AB  - To understand a neural circuit requires knowledge of its connectivity. Here we
      report measurements of functional connectivity between the input and ouput layers
      of the macaque retina at single-cell resolution and the implications of these for
      colour vision. Multi-electrode technology was used to record simultaneously from
      complete populations of the retinal ganglion cell types (midget, parasol and
      small bistratified) that transmit high-resolution visual signals to the brain.
      Fine-grained visual stimulation was used to identify the location, type and
      strength of the functional input of each cone photoreceptor to each ganglion
      cell. The populations of ON and OFF midget and parasol cells each sampled the
      complete population of long- and middle-wavelength-sensitive cones. However, only
      OFF midget cells frequently received strong input from short-wavelength-sensitive
      cones. ON and OFF midget cells showed a small non-random tendency to selectively
      sample from either long- or middle-wavelength-sensitive cones to a degree not
      explained by clumping in the cone mosaic. These measurements reveal computations
      in a neural circuit at the elementary resolution of individual neurons.

PMID- 20930839
TI  - High star formation rates as the origin of turbulence in early and modern disk
      galaxies.
AB  - Observations of star formation and kinematics in early galaxies at high spatial
      and spectral resolution have shown that two-thirds are massive rotating disk
      galaxies, with the remainder being less massive non-rotating objects. The line-of
      sight-averaged velocity dispersions are typically five times higher than in
      today's disk galaxies. This suggests that gravitationally unstable, gas-rich
      disks in the early Universe are fuelled by cold, dense accreting gas flowing
      along cosmic filaments and penetrating hot galactic gas halos. These accreting
      flows, however, have not been observed, and cosmic accretion cannot power the
      observed level of turbulence. Here we report observations of a sample of rare,
      high-velocity-dispersion disk galaxies in the nearby Universe where cold
      accretion is unlikely to drive their high star formation rates. We find that
      their velocity dispersions are correlated with their star formation rates, but
      not their masses or gas fractions, which suggests that star formation is the
      energetic driver of galaxy disk turbulence at all cosmic epochs.

PMID- 20930840
TI  - Geometry-induced electrostatic trapping of nanometric objects in a fluid.
AB  - The ability to trap an object-whether a single atom or a macroscopic entity
      affects fields as diverse as quantum optics, soft condensed-matter physics,
      biophysics and clinical medicine. Many sophisticated methodologies have been
      developed to counter the randomizing effect of Brownian motion in solution, but
      stable trapping of nanometre-sized objects remains challenging. Optical tweezers
      are widely used traps, but require sufficiently polarizable objects and thus are
      unable to manipulate small macromolecules. Confinement of single molecules has
      been achieved using electrokinetic feedback guided by tracking of a fluorescent
      label, but photophysical constraints limit the trap stiffness and lifetime. Here
      we show that a fluidic slit with appropriately tailored topography has a
      spatially modulated electrostatic potential that can trap and levitate charged
      objects in solution for up to several hours. We illustrate this principle with
      gold particles, polymer beads and lipid vesicles with diameters of tens of
      nanometres, which are all trapped without external intervention and independently
      of their mass and dielectric function. The stiffness and stability of our
      electrostatic trap is easily tuned by adjusting the system geometry and the ionic
      strength of the solution, and it lends itself to integration with other
      manipulation mechanisms. We anticipate that these features will allow its use for
      contact-free confinement of single proteins and macromolecules, and the sorting
      and fractionation of nanometre-sized objects or their assembly into high-density
      arrays.

PMID- 20930841
TI  - An influence of solar spectral variations on radiative forcing of climate.
AB  - The thermal structure and composition of the atmosphere is determined
      fundamentally by the incoming solar irradiance. Radiation at ultraviolet
      wavelengths dissociates atmospheric molecules, initiating chains of chemical
      reactions-specifically those producing stratospheric ozone-and providing the
      major source of heating for the middle atmosphere, while radiation at visible and
      near-infrared wavelengths mainly reaches and warms the lower atmosphere and the
      Earth's surface. Thus the spectral composition of solar radiation is crucial in
      determining atmospheric structure, as well as surface temperature, and it follows
      that the response of the atmosphere to variations in solar irradiance depends on
      the spectrum. Daily measurements of the solar spectrum between 0.2 um and 2.4 um,
      made by the Spectral Irradiance Monitor (SIM) instrument on the Solar Radiation
      and Climate Experiment (SORCE) satellite since April 2004, have revealed that
      over this declining phase of the solar cycle there was a four to six times larger
      decline in ultraviolet than would have been predicted on the basis of our
      previous understanding. This reduction was partially compensated in the total
      solar output by an increase in radiation at visible wavelengths. Here we show
      that these spectral changes appear to have led to a significant decline from 2004
      to 2007 in stratospheric ozone below an altitude of 45 km, with an increase above
      this altitude. Our results, simulated with a radiative-photochemical model, are
      consistent with contemporaneous measurements of ozone from the Aura-MLS
      satellite, although the short time period makes precise attribution to solar
      effects difficult. We also show, using the SIM data, that solar radiative forcing
      of surface climate is out of phase with solar activity. Currently there is
      insufficient observational evidence to validate the spectral variations observed
      by SIM, or to fully characterize other solar cycles, but our findings raise the
      possibility that the effects of solar variability on temperature throughout the
      atmosphere may be contrary to current expectations.

PMID- 20930842
TI  - Melting above the anhydrous solidus controls the location of volcanic arcs.
AB  - Segregation of magma from the mantle in subduction zones is one of the principal
      mechanisms for chemical differentiation of the Earth. Fundamental aspects of this
      system, in particular the processes by which melt forms and travels to the
      Earth's surface, remain obscure. Systematics in the location of volcanic arcs,
      the surface expression of this melting, are widely considered to be a clue to
      processes taking place at depth, but many mutually incompatible interpretations
      of this clue exist (for example, see refs 1-6). We discriminate between those
      interpretations by the use of a simple scaling argument derived from a realistic
      mathematical model of heat transfer in subduction zones. The locations of the
      arcs cannot be explained by the release of fluids in reactions taking place near
      the top of the slab. Instead, the sharpness of the volcanic fronts, together with
      the systematics of their locations, requires that arcs must be located above the
      place where the boundary defined by the anhydrous solidus makes its closest
      approach to the trench. We show that heat carried by magma rising from this
      region is sufficient to modify the thermal structure of the wedge and determine
      the pathway through which both wet and dry melts reach the surface.

PMID- 20930843
TI  - Global metabolic impacts of recent climate warming.
AB  - Documented shifts in geographical ranges, seasonal phenology, community
      interactions, genetics and extinctions have been attributed to recent global
      warming. Many such biotic shifts have been detected at mid- to high latitudes in
      the Northern Hemisphere-a latitudinal pattern that is expected because warming is
      fastest in these regions. In contrast, shifts in tropical regions are expected to
      be less marked because warming is less pronounced there. However, biotic impacts
      of warming are mediated through physiology, and metabolic rate, which is a
      fundamental measure of physiological activity and ecological impact, increases
      exponentially rather than linearly with temperature in ectotherms. Therefore,
      tropical ectotherms (with warm baseline temperatures) should experience larger
      absolute shifts in metabolic rate than the magnitude of tropical temperature
      change itself would suggest, but the impact of climate warming on metabolic rate
      has never been quantified on a global scale. Here we show that estimated changes
      in terrestrial metabolic rates in the tropics are large, are equivalent in
      magnitude to those in the north temperate-zone regions, and are in fact far
      greater than those in the Arctic, even though tropical temperature change has
      been relatively small. Because of temperature's nonlinear effects on metabolism,
      tropical organisms, which constitute much of Earth's biodiversity, should be
      profoundly affected by recent and projected climate warming.

PMID- 20930845
TI  - Maternal phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase signalling is crucial for embryonic genome
      activation and preimplantation embryogenesis.
AB  - Maternal effect factors derived from oocytes are important for sustaining early
      embryonic development before the major wave of embryonic genome activation (EGA).
      In this study, we report a two-cell-stage arrest of embryos lacking maternal 3
      phosphoinositide-dependent protein kinase 1 as a result of suppressed EGA.
      Concurrent deletion of maternal Pten completely rescued the suppressed EGA and
      embryonic progression through restored AKT signalling, which fully restored the
      fertility of double-mutant females. Our study identifies maternal
      phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase signalling as a new maternal effect factor that
      regulates EGA and preimplantation embryogenesis in mice.

PMID- 20930846
TI  - MAPK signalling in cellular metabolism: stress or wellness?
AB  - Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signalling occurs in response to almost
      any change in the extracellular or intracellular milieu that affects the
      metabolism of the cell, organ or the entire organism. MAPK-dependent signal
      transduction is required for physiological metabolic adaptation, but
      inappropriate MAPK signalling contributes to the development of several
      interdependent pathological traits, collectively known as metabolic syndrome.
      Metabolic syndrome leads to life-threatening clinical consequences, such as type
      2 diabetes. This Review provides an overview of the MAPK-signalling mechanisms
      that underly basic cellular metabolism, discussing their link to disease.

PMID- 20930847
TI  - Trichoplein/mitostatin regulates endoplasmic reticulum-mitochondria
      juxtaposition.
AB  - Trichoplein/mitostatin (TpMs) is a keratin-binding protein that partly
      colocalizes with mitochondria and is often downregulated in epithelial cancers,
      but its function remains unclear. In this study, we report that TpMs regulates
      the tethering between mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) in a Mitofusin
      2 (Mfn2)-dependent manner. Subcellular fractionation and immunostaining show that
      TpMs is present at the interface between mitochondria and ER. The expression of
      TpMs leads to mitochondrial fragmentation and loosens tethering with ER, whereas
      its silencing has opposite effects. Functionally, the reduced tethering by TpMs
      inhibits apoptosis by Ca(2+)-dependent stimuli that require ER-mitochondria
      juxtaposition. Biochemical and genetic evidence support a model in which TpMs
      requires Mfn2 to modulate mitochondrial shape and tethering. Thus, TpMs is a new
      regulator of mitochondria-ER juxtaposition.

PMID- 20930848
TI  - The history of p53. A perfect example of the drawbacks of scientific paradigms.

PMID- 20930850
TI  - Short-chain fatty acids induced autophagy serves as an adaptive strategy for
      retarding mitochondria-mediated apoptotic cell death.
AB  - Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) are the major by-products of bacterial
      fermentation of undigested dietary fibers in the large intestine. SCFAs, mostly
      propionate and butyrate, inhibit proliferation and induce apoptosis in colon
      cancer cells, but clinical trials had mixed results regarding the anti-tumor
      activities of SCFAs. Herein we demonstrate that propionate and butyrate induced
      autophagy in human colon cancer cells to dampen apoptosis whereas inhibition of
      autophagy potentiated SCFA induced apoptosis. Colon cancer cells, after
      propionate treatment, exhibited extensive characteristics of autophagic
      proteolysis: increased LC3-I to LC3-II conversion, acidic vesicular organelle
      development, and reduced p62/SQSTM1 expression. Propionate-induced autophagy was
      associated with decreased mTOR activity and enhanced AMP kinase activity. The
      elevated AMPKalpha phosphorylation was associated with cellular ATP depletion and
      overproduction of reactive oxygen species due to mitochondrial dysfunction
      involving the induction of MPT and loss of Deltapsi. In this context,
      mitochondria biogenesis was initiated to recover cellular energy homeostasis.
      Importantly, when autophagy was prevented either pharmacologically (3-MA or
      chloroquine) or genetically (knockdown of ATG5 or ATG7), the colon cancer cells
      became sensitized toward propionate-induced apoptosis through activation of
      caspase-7 and caspase-3. The observations indicate that propionate-triggered
      autophagy serves as an adaptive strategy for retarding mitochondria-mediated
      apoptotic cell death, whereas application of an autophagy inhibitor (Chloroquine)
      is expected to enhance the therapeutic efficacy of SCFAs in inducing colon tumor
      cell apoptosis.

PMID- 20930849
TI  - Cyclin-dependent kinase 9-cyclin K functions in the replication stress response.
AB  - Cyclin-dependent kinase 9 (CDK9) is a well-characterized subunit of the positive
      transcription elongation factor b complex in which it regulates transcription
      elongation in cooperation with cyclin T. However, CDK9 also forms a complex with
      cyclin K, the function of which is less clear. Using a synthetic lethal RNA
      interference screen in human cells, we identified CDK9 as a component of the
      replication stress response. Loss of CDK9 activity causes an increase in
      spontaneous levels of DNA damage signalling in replicating cells and a decreased
      ability to recover from a transient replication arrest. This activity is
      restricted to CDK9-cyclin K complexes and is independent of CDK9-cyclin T
      complex. CDK9 accumulates on chromatin in response to replication stress and
      limits the amount of single-stranded DNA in cells under stress. Furthermore, we
      show that CDK9 and cyclin K interact with ataxia telangiectasia and Rad3-related
      protein and other checkpoint signalling proteins. These results reveal an
      unexpectedly direct role for CDK9-cyclin K in checkpoint pathways that maintain
      genome integrity in response to replication stress.

PMID- 20930851
TI  - Cyclophilin A release as a biomarker of necrotic cell death.

PMID- 20930852
TI  - Central serous chorioretinopathy: an update on pathogenesis and treatment.
AB  - Central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC) is a chorioretinal disease, incompletely
      understood with systemic associations, a multifactorial aetiology, and a complex
      pathogenesis. Increased permeability from the choriocapillaris leads to focal or
      diffuse dysfunction of the retinal pigment epithelium causing a detachment of the
      neurosensory retina. CSC has been described in patients with endogenously high
      levels of corticosteroids as well as in patients with hypercortisolism due to the
      treatment of ocular or systemic diseases. It is therefore the only 'inflammatory'
      choroiditis, not proven to be associated with infection that is precipitated or
      worsened by glucocorticoids. Foveal attenuation, chronic macular oedema, and
      damage of the foveal photoreceptor layer have been reported as causes of visual
      loss in CSC. Photoreceptor atrophy in the fovea, despite successful retinal
      reattachment, typically occurs after a duration of symptoms of approximately 4
      months. Treatment should therefore be considered after 3 months if there is
      angiographic evidence of ongoing foveal leakage in recurrent chronic CSC or in a
      single CSC episode accompanied by signs of chronic CSC alterations. Based on
      results of trials conducted so far, it appears that photodynamic therapy with
      verteporfin is effective and safer than argon laser treatment and should be
      considered as the treatment of choice, whereas micropulse diode laser
      photocoagulation seems to be an effective alternative. Glucocorticoid inhibitors
      are an interesting alternative treatment. Clinical trials are ongoing to test
      their efficacy. In addition, it is important, where possible, to discontinue any
      corticosteroid treatment. The possible association of CSC with stress should also
      be discussed with patients.

PMID- 20930853
TI  - Glaucoma surgery: trainee outcomes and implications for future training:
      southeast Scotland.
AB  - AIM: Postoperative outcome of trainee glaucoma surgery compared with glaucoma
      specialist consultant surgery. Survey of Scottish consultant ophthalmologists'
      views on trainee surgery. METHOD: Retrospective analysis of 128 trainee and 176
      consultant trabeculectomies, with minimum postoperative follow-up of 2 years.
      Prospective postal survey of 80 Scottish consultant ophthalmologists. RESULTS:
      Trainees operated mainly on cases of chronic open angle glaucoma, while
      consultants operated on significantly more complicated glaucomas (P=0.0004).
      Trainee cases had more bleb leaks (P=0.01), hypotony (P=0.05), early (P=0.01) and
      late (P=0.03) return to theatre, and bleb interventions (P=0.01). Trainee
      mitomycin trabeculectomies were associated with higher rates of return to theatre
      (P=0.002), and cataract extraction within the first postoperative year (P=0.002).
      Trainee cases of pseudoexfoliation had more early complications (P=0.024), and
      trainee cases of low tension required more bleb interventions (P=0.05). There was
      no significant difference (P>0.05) between average intra-ocular pressure control
      (IOP) at postoperative visit year 1 between consultant (14.3 mm Hg) and trainee
      (13.9 mm Hg) cases. More than 50% of the 80 Scottish ophthalmology consultants
      surveyed, indicated that glaucoma surgery training requirements should be
      retained. CONCLUSIONS: Trainee trabeculectomy cases showed significantly higher
      rates of early complications, return to theatres, and bleb interventions compared
      with consultant cases. Satisfactory IOP control was achieved in both groups at
      postoperative year 1. Trainee cases require careful preoperative selection,
      avoiding complicated glaucomas including pseudoexfoliation and low tension, and
      those that require mitomycin. The majority of Scottish consultants wish to retain
      glaucoma surgery within the remit of generic training.

PMID- 20930854
TI  - Longitudinal changes in refractive error of children with infantile esotropia.
AB  - AIM: the aim of this study was to quantify changes in refractive status over time
      in children with infantile esotropia (ET) and to analyse a number of clinical
      factors associated with infantile ET to determine how they may affect
      emmetropisation. METHODS: longitudinal cycloplegic refraction data were collected
      for 5-12 years from 143 consecutive children enroled in a prospective study of
      infantile ET by 6 months of age. Changes in refractive error with age were
      summarised with descriptive statistics and the influence of amblyopia,
      undercorrection of hypermetropia, accommodation, and binocular factors on
      emmetropisation were evaluated by analysis of variance and t-tests. RESULTS: most
      had low to moderate hypermetropia on the initial visit (55% had <+3.00 D).
      Although the initial refractive error is similar to normative data, the rapid
      decrease in hypermetropia that characterises normal development during the first
      9 months of life is absent in children with infantile ET. After 9 months of age,
      children with infantile ET follow a developmental course, which is similar to the
      normative course; there is little change in hypermetropia during years 1-7,
      followed by a decline of approximately -0.5 D/year beginning at age 8 years. None
      of the clinical factors examined had a statistically significant effect on the
      course of refractive changes with age. CONCLUSION: children with infantile ET
      exhibit a different pattern of refractive development than that seen in normative
      cohorts. The long-term changes in refraction observed in children with infantile
      ET suggest that there is a need for long-term clinical follow-up of these
      children.

PMID- 20930855
TI  - Spontaneous sub-conjunctival haemorrhage in patients using long-term topical
      corticosteroids.
AB  - PURPOSE: to investigate the observed high prevalence of spontaneous sub
      conjunctival haemorrhage (SCH) in patients using long-term topical steroid
      treatment. PATIENTS AND METHODS: a cross sectional survey of the occurrence of
      SCH was carried out in 248 patients using steroid eye drops and in a comparison
      group of 113 patients using topical glaucoma medication. RESULTS: twenty-four
      patients with uveitis (10% of total) experienced single or recurrent SCH. Of
      these 71% used prednisolone acetate 1% (compared with 75% for those unaffected).
      None of 113 glaucoma patients were affected. CONCLUSIONS: the long-term use of
      topical steroid for chronic uveitis substantially increases the prevalence of
      spontaneous or minimal-trauma SCH. Steroid-induced vascular fragility is the
      likely cause.

PMID- 20930856
TI  - Intraocular filarial infection.

PMID- 20930857
TI  - Intravitreal Ranibizumab in the treatment of choroidal neovascularisation
      secondary to ocular toxocariasis in a 13-year-old boy.

PMID- 20930858
TI  - Morning glory with serous macular detachment responds to oral acetazolamide.

PMID- 20930859
TI  - Diagnostic accuracy of nerve fibre layer, macular thickness and optic disc
      measurements made with the RTVue-100 optical coherence tomograph to detect
      glaucoma.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of retinal nerve fibre layer
      thickness (RNFLT), ganglion cell complex (GCC), and optic disc measurements made
      with the RTVue-100 Fourier-domain optical coherence tomography (OCT) to detect
      glaucoma in a Caucasian referral population. METHODS: One randomly selected eye
      of 286 Caucasian patients (93 healthy, 36 ocular hypertensive, 46 preperimetric
      glaucoma, and 111 perimetric glaucoma eyes) was evaluated. RESULTS: Using the
      software-provided classification, for the total population sensitivity did not
      exceed 73.6% for the optic nerve head parameters, and 62.7% for the other
      parameters. Specificity was high (94.6-100%) for most RNFLT and GCC parameters,
      but low (72.0-76.3%) for the optic disc parameters. Positive predictive value
      varied between 98.1 and 100% for the main RNFLT parameters, 92.6 and 100% for the
      16 RNFLT sectors, 92.4 and 99.0% for the GCC parameters, but did not exceed 86.3%
      for any of the optic disc parameters. Positive likelihood ratio (PLR) was higher
      than 10 for average, inferior and superior RNFLT (25.5 to infinite), 12 of the 16
      RNFLT sectors (12.6 to infinite), and three of the four GCC parameters (40.0 to
      48.6). No optic disc parameter had a PLR higher than 3.0. CONCLUSIONS: RNFLT and
      GCC parameters of the RTVue-100 Fourier-domain OCT showed moderate sensitive but
      high specificity, positive predictive value and PLR for detection of glaucoma.
      The optic disc parameters had lower diagnostic accuracy than the RNFLT and GCC
      parameters.

PMID- 20930861
TI  - Modified polyethyleneimine with histidine-lysine short peptides as gene carrier.
AB  - There are several strategies that can be utilized to improve transfection
      efficiency while reducing the cytotoxicity of polyethyleneimine (PEI) as a
      promising non-viral gene delivery vector. In this study, we evaluated the
      potential use of lysine-histidine (KH) peptides in modifying the PEI 10 kDa
      structure and enhancing its efficiency while maintaining low toxicity of PEI. PEI
      10 kDa was modified with 6-bromohexanoic acid (alkyl) to increase its
      lipophilicity. Then, ethylenediamine (EDA) was attached to the carboxylic groups
      of PEI-hexanoate to restore the primary amines of PEI. Subsequently, six
      different KH short peptides were conjugated to PEIs and evaluated for the effect
      of the KH sequence on vector transfection efficiency and cytotoxicity. The
      transfection efficiency of PEI-peptides complexed with a luciferase reporter gene
      (pRLCMV) in Neuro-2A murine neuroblastoma cells showed that the PEI conjugated to
      KHHHKKHHHK peptide had a significantly higher rate of gene transfection
      efficiency in comparison with other KH peptides. This peptide was conjugated to
      PEI-alkyl and PEI-alkyl-EDA and significant improvement in efficiency with
      minimal cytotoxicity was observed. The results obtained suggest that the sequence
      and content of KH peptides will have a significant impact on the transfection
      efficiency of modified PEI 10 kDa.

PMID- 20930860
TI  - Development of an oncolytic herpes simplex virus using a tumor-specific HIF
      responsive promoter.
AB  - We exploited the differential activation of hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)
      dependent gene expression in tumors versus normal tissue for the design of a
      targeted oncolytic herpes simplex virus type-1 (HSV-1). A gene that is essential
      for viral replication, infected cell polypeptide 4 (ICP4), was placed under the
      regulation of an HIF-responsive promoter and then introduced into the thymidine
      kinase locus (U(L)23) of HSV d120, which contains partial deletions in the two
      endogenous ICP4 genes. Recombinant HIF-HSV was isolated and their derivation from
      d120 was verified by expression of a truncated, non-functional form of ICP4
      protein. Disruption of the U(L)23 locus was confirmed by loss of thymidine kinase
      expression and resistance to acyclovir. Unexpectedly, HIF-HSV expressed ICP4 and
      induced tumor cell lysis at similar levels under normoxia and hypoxia. The lack
      of HIF-dependent ICP4 transgene expression by HIF-HSV was due to two factors that
      have not previously been reported-reversion of the ICP4 gene region to its wild
      type configuration and increased HIF-transcriptional activity under normoxia when
      cells were infected with any strain of HSV-1. The findings that an oncolytic HSV
      1 is genetically unstable and can activate a tumor-related promoter in a non
      specific manner have important implications for any proposed use of this virus in
      cancer therapy.

PMID- 20930862
TI  - Prostate cancer: A closer look at the initial results from the REDUCE trial.

PMID- 20930864
TI  - Surgery: Does laparoscopic adrenalectomy have a role in suspected ACC?

PMID- 20930863
TI  - Prostate cancer: Patient-reported functional outcomes with radiation therapy.

PMID- 20930865
TI  - Incontinence: Evaluation of a midurethral single incision sling.

PMID- 20930866
TI  - Health policy: All-or-none compliance is the best determinant of quality of care.

PMID- 20930867
TI  - MRI for men undergoing active surveillance or with rising PSA and negative
      biopsies.
AB  - The role of imaging in treatment decision-making for patients with prostate
      cancer is to characterize the cancer already diagnosed on biopsy, to determine
      tumor location, to assess tumor volume, and to exclude more-extensive disease.
      MRI is currently the most established imaging modality for this purpose, with the
      highest sensitivity and specificity for detection and staging of prostate tumors.
      The development and wider adoption of active surveillance and focal treatment
      approaches would also benefit from accurate localization of cancer. As such, 3 T
      MRI and multiparametric approaches are being developed as tools for the
      localization and staging of prostate cancer. Men wishing to commence or remain on
      active surveillance might benefit by having larger cancers identified before
      embarking on this management strategy. MRI might have its greatest role in
      patients where there is a discrepancy between PSA and biopsy results suggesting a
      potential missed prostate tumor.

PMID- 20930869
TI  - [Iron deficiency anemia in Southeastern Asia].

PMID- 20930870
TI  - [Competence and authorization].

PMID- 20930868
TI  - Management of overactive bladder.
AB  - Many people are affected by urinary urgency, which can be highly bothersome.
      Urgency is the cornerstone symptom of overactive bladder (OAB), commonly
      occurring in conjunction with urinary frequency and nocturia. Once other medical
      causes of similar symptoms have been excluded, first-line OAB management
      comprises fluid intake advice and bladder training, supplemented by
      antimuscarinic drugs if necessary. Urodynamic confirmation of the diagnosis is
      required for OAB patients whose symptoms are refractory to first-line
      interventions. If patients are severely bothered by OAB despite optimization of
      medical treatment, they may proceed to invasive treatments, including
      neuromodulation, enterocystoplasty, detrusor myectomy, or urinary diversion. Our
      burgeoning understanding of the complex cellular, neural and integrative
      physiology of the bladder offers new insights into the causative mechanisms of
      OAB, and reasons why patients sometimes fail to respond to treatment. Study of
      sensory information pathways in the lower urinary tract has led to identification
      of the urothelium, afferent nerves and interstitial cells as key cellular
      elements in OAB. In-depth knowledge of the hierarchy of central nervous system
      control is lacking, but functional imaging is beginning to elucidate the
      challenges that lie ahead. New treatments under investigation include botulinum
      neurotoxin-A injection, oral beta(3)-adrenergic agonists, and novel modalities
      for nerve stimulation. The subjective nature of urinary urgency, the lack of
      animal models and the multifactorial pathophysiology of OAB present significant
      challenges to effective clinical management.

PMID- 20930871
TI  - [Sex without borders?].

PMID- 20930872
TI  - [Soft tissue injuries following low speed collisions].

PMID- 20930874
TI  - [Placing medical historical events in time].

PMID- 20930875
TI  - [The power of unclear citations].

PMID- 20930876
TI  - [What happened with influenza A(H1N1) serology?].

PMID- 20930877
TI  - [Cryopreservation of ovarian tissue is used too seldom!].

PMID- 20930878
TI  - [Unwanted sexual experiences and health complaints among adolescents].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Strong indicators support a causal relationship between sexual
      assaults and impaired emotional health. The aim of this study was to investigate
      the prevalence of unwanted sexual experiences among adolescents and potential
      associations between such experiences and other health problems. MATERIAL AND
      METHODS: The study is based on a survey among senior high school students in
      Forde in 2001. Linear regression analyses were used to examine the association
      between negative sexual experiences and emotional and somatic impairment.
      RESULTS: 837 students participated, representing 93 % of the student mass. 7.5 %
      of the girls and 1.4 % of the boys had experienced a sexual assault. Students
      with such experiences reported earlier sexual debut and more alcohol intoxication
      in association with their sexual debut than students without negative
      experiences. They also had more depression, anxiety and somatic complaints than
      students without a sexual debut (beta values 0.15-0.18, p < 0.001 in the
      multivariable analyses). The associations were partly mediated by reduced
      parental support and lack of self-confidence. INTERPRETATION: Health impairment
      is associated with earlier unwanted sexual experiences. The study indicates that
      such experiences may be prevented by consumption of less alcohol in association
      with the sexual debut, sexual debut at a higher age, and that the health
      consequences can be alleviated by parental support and the promotion of self
      confidence.

PMID- 20930879
TI  - [Age limit for authorization and licensing of doctors].
AB  - BACKGROUND: As outlined in the Norwegian Act relating to medical practitioners
      (of 1980), doctors practising in Norway loose their authorization automatically
      at age 75, but have the possibility of applying for a continued license. Such a
      regulation is rather unique from an international point of view. We have
      investigated doctors' attitude towards this regulation. MATERIAL AND METHOD: The
      article is based on two postal questionnaire surveys; one sent to 1400 practising
      doctors in 2006 and one sent to 900 retired doctors in 2007. RESULTS: 69%
      (969/1400) of the practising and 92 % (829/900) of the retired doctors responded.
      80 % (772/969) of the practising and 34 % (284/829) of the retired doctors agreed
      with the requirement to apply for an extended licence at age 75. 25 % (97/389) of
      the respondents over 74 years had retained their license at the time of the
      investigation. INTERPRETATION: Most doctors under age 70 accept automatic
      discontinuation of authorization at age 75, but support of the regulation
      decreases with increasing age.

PMID- 20930880
TI  - [Mechanisms for pain inhibiton in the central nervous system].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Several endogenous factors regulate the perception of pain.
      Understanding of pain-alleviating mechanisms is increasing, which is useful both
      for doctors who treat pain-ridden patients and for researchers interested in the
      physiology of pain. This article provides an overview of such mechanisms.
      MATERIAL AND METHODS: This review article is based on literature identified
      through a non-systematic search in PubMed. RESULTS: Endogenous pain-alleviating
      mechanisms are mainly controlled by different parts of the reticular substance,
      and are normally activated by painful stimulation. Expectation of pain reduction
      (placebo analgesic effect), painful stimulation in other sites and high blood
      pressure are examples of factors which may increase the body's endogenous pain
      alleviating mechanisms. Opioid-sensitive cells in the brain stem are important
      for endogenous pain alleviation. Reduced endogenous pain alleviation is found in
      a number of painful conditions, but it has not been clarified whether reduced
      endogenous pain inhibition is a cause of or a result of chronic pain.
      INTERPRETATION: Strengthening of the body's own mechanisms for pain alleviation
      is possible and potentially useful in treatment of pain-ridden patients.

PMID- 20930881
TI  - [Addictive drugs prescription practice among general practitioners].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Rogaland A-senter, Norway has investigated prescription and cessation
      of benzodiazepine and minor opiates among GPs, and examined their need for
      external help to deal with this issue. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A questionnaire, to
      be completed anonymously, was sent to all GPs in Rogaland county in spring 2008.
      RESULTS: 44% (134) of GPs responded to the survey. All GPs who responded had
      patients who seemed to use (based on renewal frequency of prescriptions)
      benzodiazepines or minor opiates on a daily basis. 94% (126) of GPs had patients
      for whom they doubted the treatment's usefulness. 99% (132) of GPs had attempted
      cessation, but their patients often lacked motivation. 70% of GPs responded that
      external help would be useful, both for patients (treatment possibilities) and
      themselves (guidance, support and knowledge). INTERPRETATION: The results
      indicate that treatment of patients using benzodiazepine and minor opiates
      requires a closer cooperation between different levels of health services
      (primary and specialist).

PMID- 20930882
TI  - [Sexual dysfunction induced by antidepressants].
AB  - Sexual dysfunction is often concurrent with depressive disorders. Antidepressants
      may induce or augment sexual dysfunction as an adverse effect. About 40% of all
      patients treated with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or other
      serotonergic agents, report such effects. If sexual dysfunction is not adequately
      dealt with it may contribute to noncompliance and thus compromise treatment. For
      the norepinephrine and dopamine reuptake inhibitor bupropion, the incidence of
      sexual adverse effects is equal to that for placebo. Additional treatment with
      bupropion, or switching to mirtazapin or bupropion, may be effective. Studies in
      men have documented positive effects of concomitant treatment with sildenafil or
      tadalafil.

PMID- 20930883
TI  - [Does rhinovirus inhibit influenza A(H1N1) pandemic?].

PMID- 20930884
TI  - [Right-sided aortic arch].

PMID- 20930885
TI  - [Jungle Nirvana].

PMID- 20930887
TI  - Driving disease emergence: will land-use changes beat climate change to the
      punch?

PMID- 20930888
TI  - Classification of 'healthier' and 'less healthy' supermarket foods by two
      Australasian nutrient profiling models.
AB  - AIM: To determine whether a modified version of the Heart Foundation Tick (MHFT)
      nutrient profiling model appropriately classifies supermarket foods to endorse
      its use for identifying 'healthier' products eligible for promotion in a
      supermarket intervention trial. METHODS: Top-selling products (n=550) were
      selected from an existing supermarket nutrient composition database. Percentage
      of products classified as 'healthier' by the MHFT and a modified comparator model
      (Food Standards Australia New Zealand; MFSANZ) were calculated. Percentage
      agreement, consistency (kappa statistic), and average nutrient values were
      assessed overall, and across seven food groups. RESULTS: The MHFT model
      categorised 16% fewer products as 'healthier' than the MFSANZ model. Agreement
      and consistency between models were 72% and kappa=0.46 (P=0.00), respectively.
      For both models, 'healthier' products were on average lower in energy, protein,
      saturated fat, sugar, and sodium than their 'less healthy' counterparts.
      CONCLUSION: The MHFT nutrient profiling model categorised regularly purchased
      supermarket foods similarly to the MFSANZ model, and both appear to distinguish
      appropriately between 'healthier' and 'less healthy' options. Therefore, both
      models have the potential to appropriately identify 'healthier' foods for
      promotion and positively influence food choices.

PMID- 20930889
TI  - Human myiasis in New Zealand: imported and indigenously-acquired cases: the
      species of concern and clinical aspects.
AB  - Reports of myiasis in humans in New Zealand are somewhat rare, and little
      attention has been paid to this issue in the local medical literature. A number
      of Diptera (fly) families present in New Zealand have been associated with cases
      of human myiasis: Calliphoridae (7 species), Fanniidae (2 species), Muscidae (3
      species), Oestridae (4 species), Phoridae (3 species), Psychodidae (1 species),
      Sarcophagidae (2 species), Stratiomyidae (1 species) and Syrphidae (1 species).
      Despite these numbers, there have only been 6 published records and we obtained
      further 16 unpublished reports of myiasis acquired in New Zealand. Records of
      imported myiasis in humans are also rare, with only 2 published and 6 unpublished
      cases obtained. As many medical practitioners are unaware of myiasis or encounter
      it rarely, we provide a brief discussion of the clinical features and treatment.

PMID- 20930890
TI  - An outbreak of Salmonella typhimurium phage type 1 associated with watermelon in
      Gisborne, January 2009.
AB  - AIM: To investigate an increase in Salmonella typhimurium phage type 1 (STM1)
      cases identified in the Gisborne region (eastern North Island, New Zealand) in
      January 2009. METHODS: Initial investigations found that ham and watermelon were
      both consumed by a high proportion of cases. A case control study was conducted
      to determine if there was an association between cases of STM1 in Gisborne and
      consumption of ham or watermelon. Environmental investigations were conducted and
      included testing of ham and watermelon samples, as well as trace back of
      suppliers of these foods. RESULTS: The case control study included 15 cases and
      40 controls and found that cases were seven times more likely to have eaten
      watermelon compared with controls (p=0.026). Cases were one and a half times more
      likely to have eaten ham compared with controls (p=0.620). Pulsed field gel
      electrophoresis analysis determined that cases were caused by indistinguishable
      STM1 isolates. Salmonella was not recovered from any food samples. Trace back
      found watermelons were purchased from roadside stalls and came from one grower.
      CONCLUSIONS: This outbreak was associated with watermelon consumption from a
      grower in the Gisborne region. The outbreak was most likely controlled by the
      implementation of chlorine washing of watermelons at the grower's pack house.

PMID- 20930891
TI  - Prevalence of sexually transmitted infections in men who have sex with men
      presenting to Auckland Sexual Health Service.
AB  - AIM: Reported incidence of HIV infection and infectious syphilis in New Zealand
      has been increasing in recent years in men who have sex with men (MSM) but there
      is no recent published data about prevalence of other sexually transmitted
      infections (STIs) in this group. Therefore we decided to collect data on
      prevalent STIs and possible risk factors in a sample of MSM presenting to
      Auckland Sexual Health Service (ASHS). METHOD: All MSM presenting to ASHS during
      the study period were eligible for enrollment. Data on demographics, sexual
      behaviour, use of recreational drugs and STI diagnoses was collected and entered
      into a data collection form after verbal consent was obtained. RESULTS: Eighty
      seven men participated in the survey. A third of the men were symptomatic (n=26)
      and 44% (n=38) were diagnosed with a new STI including 2 with infectious syphilis
      and 3 with HIV. The Internet (65%) was the most common method used for meeting
      sex partners (n=55) and 46% of men (n=37) reported use of recreational drugs
      within the previous 6 months. Sixty percent (n=52) of men reported more than 5
      sexual partners within the previous 6 months and 52% were engaging in concurrent
      sexual partnerships with both casual and regular partners(n=45). Participants
      were more likely to use condoms for insertive and receptive anal sex with casual
      than with regular partners (p=0.0004, p=0.005), however a history of consistent
      condom use did not rule out diagnosis with a new STI or HIV. CONCLUSION: There
      was a high prevalence of STIs (44%) in this sample of MSM presenting to a sexual
      health clinic. Many were presenting with problems rather than attending for
      routine screening. Possible explanations for the high STI rate include high rates
      of concurrent sexual partnerships (52%), lower rates of consistent condom use
      within relationships and use of recreational drugs. Internet use was a common
      method for meeting sex partners and offers future potential for health promotion
      interventions for MSM. STI screening should be regularly offered to sexually
      active MSM regardless of whether they report consistent condom use.

PMID- 20930892
TI  - Land-use change and emerging public health risks in New Zealand: assessing
      Giardia risks.
AB  - Agriculture is key to New Zealand's economy with land-use conversions in response
      to market forces occurring regularly, like that of recent dairy intensification
      throughout the country. However, land-use conversion can occasionally result in
      unexpected and significant consequences for public health that need to be
      accurately estimated and subsequently managed accordingly. For example, dairy
      cattle have high Giardia prevalence in New Zealand and identical strains from
      infected humans and cattle located in the same geographical region have recently
      been reported. Thus, the high rates of human infections in New Zealand compared
      to similar socioeconomic countries caused by the waterborne pathogen Giardia are
      particularly concerning given the increasing dairy cattle populations on the
      landscape. However, the ability of traditional, evidence-based, epidemiological
      approaches to detect such causal relationships between land-use and Giardia
      infections is limited given the many possible indirect links between the two, in
      turn highlighting the need to develop appropriate risk assessment techniques. As
      such, the general requirements for and development of risk assessment frameworks
      to evaluate the likelihood of public health risks from waterborne pathogens are
      introduced and explored using Giardia in New Zealand as an example. Specifically,
      the importance of recent advances in Giardia-based knowledge, the incorporation
      of such data into existing risk assessment frameworks and the influence of
      remaining research gaps are each discussed for expanding currently available risk
      assessment tools. Not surprisingly, the availability of appropriate risk
      assessment tools for agencies responsible for public health and environmental
      management would ensure the public health risks for Giardia resulting from land
      use change could be quantified holistically and strategies subsequently developed
      through active agency communication to minimise such risks.

PMID- 20930893
TI  - Anti-NMDA-receptor autoimmune encephalitis without neoplasm: a rare condition?

PMID- 20930894
TI  - Atypical gastric ulcer with characteristic eschar appearance.
AB  - Cocaine is a known potent vasoconstrictor known to cause various complications
      ranging from nasal septum perforations to myocardial ischemia. Many
      gastrointestinal effects of cocaine are reported, including bowel ischemia and
      gangrene. The knowledge on endoscopic appearance of cocaine-induced gastric
      ulcers is limited, mainly due to presentation of patients with frank
      perforations. We report a case of 48 year old male, a non-smoker but chronic
      substance abuser, who presented with abdominal pain, mainly epigastric with
      radiation to the back. Abdominal CT scan was normal, and endoscopy showing a
      single chronic non-bleeding ulcer at the incisura. The ulcer due to large sized,
      round in shape with irregular borders and thick eschar appearance is
      characteristic of cocaine-induced ulcer. It is important for physicians to remain
      cognisant of gastrointestinal complications of cocaine, recognise these ulcers
      endoscopically and prevent perforations in these subsets of patients.

PMID- 20930895
TI  - Medical image. Kidney solitaire: pearls to share.

PMID- 20930896
TI  - Medical image. Delayed puberty--an occult systemic cause.

PMID- 20930897
TI  - Defendants of the Cartwright Inquiry are unable to provide a description of
      'adequate care' for cervical carcinoma in situ.

PMID- 20930898
TI  - Clare Matheson protests too much.

PMID- 20930899
TI  - Clare Matheson's inaccurate reporting.

PMID- 20930900
TI  - A farsighted energy strategy would benefit health in New Zealand.

PMID- 20930902
TI  - Response to letters by Paul and Bunkle.

PMID- 20930901
TI  - The doctor's dilemma.

PMID- 20930903
TI  - A particular relationship: part 2.

PMID- 20930904
TI  - The New Zealand Medical Journal, Thomson Reuters ISI, and the impact factor.

PMID- 20930905
TI  - Net-based information on varicose vein treatments: a tangled web.
AB  - AIMS: 30-40% of individuals will be affected by varicose veins during their
      lifetime. Many will contemplate treatment and will access the (Inter)net for
      information. The aim of this study is to determine whether New Zealand-based
      websites are an accurate source of information for the public. METHODS: Inclusion
      criteria were New Zealand based websites that contained information on varicose
      vein treatments. These websites were identified using the search-engines Google
      and Yahoo. The first 60 websites from each were evaluated and subdivided into 4
      groups based on web-site ownership: (1) Vein clinic/hospital; (2) Appearance
      medicine; (3) Online stores; (4) Health editorials; and (5) Medical resources.
      RESULTS: 46 of the 120 websites satisfied the inclusion criteria. 18 websites
      (39%) explained what varicose veins were. Information about treatment options was
      most comprehensive in the "Vein clinic/hospital" group. The "Appearance medicine"
      group mostly contained information on outpatient interventional therapies.
      "Health editorial" sites had lifestyle modification options. All the online
      herbal/health stores mentioned herbal treatment options. CONCLUSION: Few websites
      fully informed patients about treatment options while some simply advertised non
      evidence based treatments. This study suggests that the Internet is not a
      reliable source of information and does not accurately inform patients about
      varicose veins and the treatment options.

PMID- 20930906
TI  - Development of the Rural Immersion Programme for 5th-year medical students at the
      University Of Otago.
AB  - AIMS: To report the development of the first Rural Medical Immersion Programme
      (RMIP) of the University of Otago in New Zealand. METHOD: We review medical
      education trends and challenges for educating New Zealand's doctors and
      recruiting them to careers in rural practice. We describe key features of the
      RMIP developed in response to these challenges. RESULTS: Medical education is
      evolving from discipline and hospital-based teaching to using more integrated,
      community-based teaching. The RMIP aims to immerse 5th-year medical students in
      an integrated, patient-centred, community-based, parallel learning environment
      where learners' experiences in primary, secondary, and tertiary settings are
      always based on patient care. Government funding for the RMIP pilot was granted
      in November 2006 and the first 6 students started in the programme in 2007.
      Experiences of the programme from 2007-2009 are reported. CONCLUSION: The RMIP
      remains true to the principles underpinning its establishment and has to date
      delivered successful medical education outcomes for the first 18 students of the
      2007 and 2008 cohorts. We cannot yet assess its role in future recruitment to
      rural medical careers.

PMID- 20930907
TI  - Completing an intercalated research degree during medical undergraduate training:
      barriers, benefits and postgraduate career profiles.
AB  - AIM: To undertake a comprehensive evaluation of the intercalated research degree
      at the School of Medicine, University of Auckland, New Zealand and to ascertain
      the career profiles of Auckland medical graduates who completed the intercalated
      degree programme. METHOD: A questionnaire was devised and mailed to all Auckland
      MBChB graduates (1972-2005) who completed an intercalated research degree during
      the undergraduate medical course. RESULTS: Among 50 graduates who met the
      inclusion criteria (mean of 1.5 per annum), 30 (60%) completed the questionnaire.
      An interest in a career in research and academic medicine was the most commonly
      cited reason for undertaking an intercalated degree. Eighty percent of
      respondents encountered some problems during the intercalated year, with the most
      common reported being loss of contact with friends in the medical course. The
      satisfaction associated with an intercalated degree was generally high, with 90%
      giving an affirmative response to the statement that 'it was a worthwhile
      endeavour.' However, a majority of respondents were reluctant to do the
      intercalated degree again if given time over as a medical student in the current
      environment (33% affirmative versus 43% negative). Only one respondent was in
      general practice, whereas 73% of the respondents were either consultants or
      trainees in other specialties. Ninety percent of the respondents had been
      involved with research since graduation and 33% already possessed a higher
      research degree, such as MD or PhD. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the extremely low uptake
      rate of the intercalated degree option, the graduates who took the intercalated
      degree option were generally satisfied with their experience. However, although
      the majority of respondents reported that the intercalated degree was worthwhile
      and 90% had also completed further research since graduation, 43% would be
      reluctant to pursue an intercalated degree in the current environment.

PMID- 20930908
TI  - Medical students' attitudes towards research and a career in research: an
      Auckland, New Zealand study.
AB  - AIM: To determine the attitudes towards research and research careers among
      students at a New Zealand medical school. METHODS: A questionnaire was devised
      and distributed during compulsory lecture sessions to all medical students
      enrolled at the School of Medicine, University of Auckland during the 2007
      academic year. RESULTS: Among the 756 students enrolled for the 2007 academic
      year, 558 responded, with an overall response rate of 74%. Twenty-five percent of
      students had participated in some form of research activity during medical
      school, with summer studentships being the most common type of research
      experience. Seventy percent of all students surveyed expressed interest in
      participating in research during medical school. Although 68% of respondents were
      aware of the intercalated research degree option at the School of Medicine, only
      8.6% expressed interest in undertaking this option. The most common reasons for
      not pursuing an intercalated degree option were lack of interest in this format
      of research experience (46%), social reasons (29%), and financial reasons (27%).
      There was no widespread support from the students for having research training as
      a compulsory part of medical school curriculum. With respect to long-term career
      plan, 35% of respondents planned to be involved in research throughout their
      medical career, and 22% were interested in pursuing higher degrees (MD or PhD)
      following graduation. However, more students rated lifestyle (84% affirmative)
      and earning potential (43% affirmative) as more important factors than
      opportunity for research (23% affirmative) when choosing a career specialty.
      CONCLUSIONS: The New Zealand medical students sampled reported a significant
      interest in research, with a majority of the students planning to participate in
      extracurricular research activities during medical school, and many hoping to be
      involved in research throughout their medical careers. However, only a small
      number of students were interested in pursuing research through an intercalated
      undergraduate degree option. Ultimately, the opportunity for research was deemed
      to be a less important consideration when choosing a specialty, compared to
      lifestyle and earning potential.

PMID- 20930909
TI  - Using the asthma control test to improve asthma outcomes.
AB  - There is a major gap between what can be achieved with modern asthma management
      and what is currently being achieved. One of the main reasons for this is a lack
      of recognition of asthma control and the requirement for more effective treatment
      it is only through identifying those patients with uncontrolled asthma that
      appropriate treatment will be prescribed. In part, the difficulty in the
      assessment of control relates to the lack of a clear therapeutic target in
      asthma. This contrasts with other chronic diseases such as hypertension or
      diabetes where treatment is prescribed in order to achieve a definite therapeutic
      target. One approach to this difficulty is to develop a simple test which is a
      screening tool to identify patients with poorly controlled asthma. The Asthma
      Control Test (ACT) has been developed and validated for this purpose. It involves
      patients completing a simple written questionnaire of 5 questions, from which a
      score (out of 25) is obtained. It has been shown that the ACT is a simple, quick
      and accurate tool for assessing asthma control and it has been shown to be
      responsive to changes in asthma control over time. It can easily be incorporated
      into the routine assessment of patients with asthma and enable busy healthcare
      professionals to more easily identify patients whose asthma control can be
      improved, enabling changes to their management to be made and thereby improve
      outcomes.

PMID- 20930910
TI  - Dr Nathan Tucker's Asthma Specific--a treatment for asthma preceding inhaled
      steroids and beta-agonists.
AB  - We present the case of an 83-year-old woman who was diagnosed with bronchial
      asthma in 1929 and had been treated in her childhood with "Dr Nathan Tucker
      Asthma Specific", a cocaine-based aerosolised asthma treatment.

PMID- 20930911
TI  - Zolendronate associated inflammatory orbital disease.
AB  - Bisphosphonate infusions are associated with adverse events in approximately a
      third of patients. Ocular complications are rare and even more so, inflammatory
      orbital disease. Bisphosphonate-induced orbital inflammation is not a well
      recognised complication and there have been only a few published case reports of
      this. We present a case of orbital inflammatory disease associated with
      zolendronate infusion.

PMID- 20930912
TI  - Medical image: A case of five fingers and a murmur.

PMID- 20930913
TI  - Carotid endarterectomy: a Southern North Island regional consensus statement.
AB  - AIMS: The aim of this project was to employ interdepartmental and cross district
      health board collaboration to reach a regional consensus on the management of
      patients who may benefit from carotid endarterectomy. METHODS: All regional
      stroke physicians, neurologists, and vascular surgeons met to review relevant
      literature and local audits and to discuss best management strategies suited to
      the region. RESULTS: A consensus statement was agreed upon and is presented here
      along with a summary of the supporting scientific evidence. DISCUSSION: Regional
      interdisciplinary collaboration proved an effective way to reach a carotid
      endarterectomy management consensus across a wider geographical area that is
      served by a single vascular surgery department. This approach could serve as a
      model for other regional initiatives.

PMID- 20930914
TI  - NZMJ's impact factor.

PMID- 20930915
TI  - Response to Ron Paterson's editorial on the Cartwright legacy.

PMID- 20930916
TI  - Revisiting the Cartwright report.

PMID- 20930917
TI  - Correcting an error but inadequate treatment of cervical cancer still occurred.

PMID- 20930918
TI  - Confusion surrounding the unfortunate experiment.

PMID- 20930919
TI  - A particular relationship: part 3.

PMID- 20930920
TI  - GP training.

PMID- 20930921
TI  - Hydrophobic Proteome Analysis of Triple Negative and Hormone-Receptor-Positive
      Her2-Negative Breast Cancer by Mass Spectrometer.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: It is widely believed that discovery of specific, sensitive, and
      reliable tumor biomarkers can improve the treatment of cancer. Currently, there
      are no obvious targets that can be used in treating triple-negative breast cancer
      (TNBC). METHODS: To better understand TNBC and find potential biomarkers for
      targeted treatment, we combined a novel hydrophobic fractionation protocol with
      mass spectrometry LTQ-orbitrap to explore and compare the hydrophobic sub
      proteome of TNBC with another subtype of breast cancer, hormone-receptor-positive
      Her2-negative breast cancer (non-TNBC). RESULTS: Hydrophobic sub-proteome of
      breast cancer is rich in membrane proteins. Hundreds of proteins with various
      defined key cellular functions were identified from TNBC and non-TNBC tumors. In
      this study, protein profiles of TNBC and non-TNBC were systematically examined,
      compared, and validated. We have found that nine keratins are down-regulated and
      several heat shock proteins are up-regulated in TNBC tissues. Our study may
      provide insights of molecules that are responsible for the aggressiveness of
      TNBC. CONCLUSION: The initial results obtained using a combination of hydrophobic
      fractionation and nano-LC mass spectrometry analysis of these proteins appear
      promising in the discovery of potential cancer biomarkers and bio-signatures.
      When sufficiently refined, this approach may prove useful in improving breast
      cancer treatment.

PMID- 20930922
TI  - Novel In Situ Collection of Tumor Interstitial Fluid from a Head and Neck
      Squamous Carcinoma Reveals a Unique Proteome with Diagnostic Potential.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Tumors lack normal drainage of secreted fluids and consequently
      build up tumor interstitial fluid (TIF). Unlike other bodily fluids, TIF likely
      contains a high proportion of tumor-specific proteins with potential as
      biomarkers. METHODS: Here, we evaluated a novel technique using a unique
      ultrafiltration catheter for in situ collection of TIF and used it to generate
      the first catalog of TIF proteins from a head and neck squamous cell carcinoma
      (HNSCC). To maximize proteomic coverage, TIF was immunodepleted for high
      abundance proteins and digested with trypsin, and peptides were fractionated in
      three dimensions prior to mass spectrometry. RESULTS: We identified 525 proteins
      with high confidence. The HNSCC TIF proteome was distinct compared to proteomes
      of other bodily fluids. It contained a relatively high proportion of proteins
      annotated by Gene Ontology as "extracellular" compared to other secreted fluid
      and cellular proteomes, indicating minimal cell lysis from our in situ collection
      technique. Several proteins identified are putative biomarkers of HNSCC,
      supporting our catalog's value as a source of potential biomarkers. CONCLUSIONS:
      In all, we demonstrate a reliable new technique for in situ TIF collection and
      provide the first HNSCC TIF protein catalog with value as a guide for others
      seeking to develop tumor biomarkers. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The
      online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s12014-010-9050-3) contains
      supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

PMID- 20930923
TI  - Explaining Underrepresentation: A Theory of Precluded Interest.
AB  - What processes best explain women's underrepresentation in science, math, and
      engineering fields in the U.S.? Do they also explain men's underrepresentation in
      the humanities? Two survey studies across two U.S. West Coast universities (N =
      62; N = 614) addressed these questions in the context of two fields: one male
      dominated (computer science) and the other female-dominated (English). Among a
      set of social predictors-including perceived similarity to the people in the
      field, social identity threats, and expectations of success-the best mediator of
      women's lower interest in computer science and men's lower interest in English
      was perceived similarity. Thus, changing students' social perceptions of how they
      relate to those in the field may help to diversify academic fields.

PMID- 20930924
TI  - Measuring Negative and Positive Thoughts in Children: An Adaptation of the
      Children's Automatic Thoughts Scale (CATS).
AB  - The aim of this study is to describe the factor structure and psychometric
      properties of an extended version of the Children's Automatic Thoughts Scale
      (CATS), the CATS-Negative/Positive (CATS-N/P). The CATS was originally designed
      to assess negative self-statements in children and adolescents. However, positive
      thoughts also play a major role in childhood disorders such as anxiety and
      depression. Therefore, positive self-statements were added to the CATS. The CATS
      N/P was administered to a community sample of 554 children aged 8-18 years. The
      results of a confirmatory factor analysis revealed that the positive self
      statements formed a separate and psychometrically sound factor. Internal and
      short-term test-retest reliability was good. Boys reported more hostile and
      positive thoughts than girls; and younger children reported more negative
      thoughts concerning physical threat, social threat, and failure than older
      children. In conclusion, the results of the current study support the use of the
      CATS-N/P for the measurement of positive and negative thoughts in children. The
      application of the CATS-N/P can facilitate further research on cognitive factors
      in different childhood disorders.

PMID- 20930925
TI  - The Relationship Between Homework Compliance and Therapy Outcomes: An Updated
      Meta-Analysis.
AB  - The current study was an updated meta-analysis of manuscripts since the year 2000
      examining the effects of homework compliance on treatment outcome. A total of 23
      studies encompassing 2,183 subjects were included. Results indicated a
      significant relationship between homework compliance and treatment outcome
      suggesting a small to medium effect (r = .26; 95% CI = .19-.33). Moderator
      analyses were conducted to determine the differential effect size of homework on
      treatment outcome by target symptoms (e.g., depression; anxiety), source of
      homework rating (e.g., client; therapist), timing of homework rating (e.g.,
      retroactive vs. contemporaneous), and type of homework rating (e.g., Likert;
      total homeworks completed). Results indicated that effect sizes were robust
      across target symptoms, but differed by source of homework rating, timing of
      homework rating, and type of homework rating. Specifically, studies utilizing
      combined client and therapist ratings of compliance had significantly higher mean
      effect size relative to those using therapist only assessments and those using
      objective assessments. Further, studies that rated the percentage of homeworks
      completed had a significantly lower mean effect size compared to studies using
      Likert ratings, and retroactive assessments had higher effect size than
      contemporaneous assessments.

PMID- 20930926
TI  - An efficient gene deletion procedure for the mushroom-forming basidiomycete
      Schizophyllum commune.
AB  - Gene deletion in Schizophyllum commune is hampered by a low incidence of
      homologous integration. As a consequence, extensive screening is required to
      identify a transformant with the desired genotype. To alleviate this and to
      facilitate the assembly of deletion plasmids, vector pDelcas was constructed.
      This construct has a set of restriction sites, which allows for directional
      cloning of the flanking sequences at both sides of a nourseothricin resistance
      cassette. Moreover, it contains a phleomycin resistance cassette elsewhere in the
      plasmid, which is used to screen for transformants with an ectopic integration of
      the pDelcas derivative. The use of pDelcas derivatives in combination with an
      improved PCR screening protocol permitted the efficient identification of S.
      commune deletion strains. This procedure may also function in other
      basidiomycetes. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this
      article (doi:10.1007/s11274-010-0356-0) contains supplementary material, which is
      available to authorized users.

PMID- 20930927
TI  - Health-related quality of life in adolescents and young adults with high
      functioning autism-spectrum disorder.
AB  - AIM: Over the last years, health-related quality of life (HRQOL) has emerged as
      an important measure not only in somatic medicine but also in psychiatry. To
      date, there are only few reports on HRQOL in patients with autism-spectrum
      disorder (ASD). This study aimed at studying HRQOL in ASD patients with an IQ
      >70, using a self-report HRQOL questionnaire with cross-cultural validity.
      METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, twenty-six male adolescents and young
      adults with the diagnosis of Asperger Syndrome, high functioning autism and
      atypical autism were evaluated, using the German version of the WHOQOL-BREF HRQOL
      questionnaire. RESULTS: Mean WHOQOL-BREF global scores were 60.6 (SD +/-26.1),
      mean WHOQOL-BREF subscale scores were 70.1 (SD +/-19.1) for the domain "physical
      health", 61.5 (SD +/-21.9) for the domain "psychological health", 53.8 (SD +/
      23.5) for the domain "social relationships" and 67.9 (SD +/-17.4) for the domain
      "environment". Compared to a reference population of healthy controls, our sample
      scored significantly lower in three of four WHOQOL-BREF domains. In comparison to
      a reference sample of individuals with schizophrenia spectrum disorder (SSD),
      HRQOL of our sample was significantly better in all domains except for the
      "social relations" domain. There was a significant association between HRQOL and
      the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales domain "daily living skills", but not with
      age, IQ, or ADOS-G summary scores. CONCLUSION: Overall self-reported HRQOL in
      patients with high functioning ASD seems to be lower than in healthy individuals,
      but better than in patients with SSD. Also, higher HRQOL was associated with
      better daily living skills. This interrelationship should especially be accounted
      for in the design and application of treatment programmes for individuals with
      ASD, as it is of importance for the level of self-perceived HRQOL.

PMID- 20930928
TI  - Psychodynamic mechanism and weight reduction in obesity group therapy - first
      observations with different attachment styles.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Successful long-term results are extremely rare in non-surgical
      obesity treatment. Interactional difficulties with the attending physicians and
      the limited compliance of obese patients are a frequently described dilemma in
      repeated psychotherapeutic group treatment attempts. The type of relationship
      initiation and the attachment behavior probably play a central role in this
      connection but have not yet been systematically investigated. METHODS: This paper
      focuses on the attachment styles of obese subjects and their effects on
      psychodynamic group therapy within the context of a weight-reduction program.
      RESULTS: The attachment styles are characterized in 107 pre-obese and obese
      patients, and their effects on patients and therapists in group therapy are
      described. CONCLUSION: The paper surveys the motivational situation, clinical
      pictures, and repeated group topics.

PMID- 20930929
TI  - A case of gastric polyposis in antral area of stomach following prolonged proton
      pump therapy.
AB  - We describe the clinical scenario of a young male with history of non ulcer
      dyspepsia who had endoscopic evidence of gastric polyposis in antral area. The
      polyps disappeared four months after proton pump inhibitors were stopped. Proton
      pump inhibitors have been linked to gastric fundal polyposis and not antral gland
      polyposis. This is the first report originating from an Asian country describing
      antral gland polyposis (AGPs) in a patient on long-term PPI therapy with no
      evidence of Helicobacter pylori. A case report with brief review is presented.

PMID- 20930930
TI  - Epithelioid finger-sarcoma in an 11 year old girl--a case report.
AB  - Malignant tumors of pediatric hand are very rare. This case report describes an
      epithelioid sarcoma at the finger of an 11 year old girl and discusses general
      treatment options in this rare patient population.

PMID- 20930932
TI  - New approach to breast tumor detection based on fluorescence x-ray analysis.
AB  - A new technical approach to breast-tumor detection is proposed. The technique is
      based on fluorescence x-ray analysis, and can identify a miniature malignant
      tumor within the breast. The primary beam intensity needed in fluorescence x-ray
      analysis is on a lower order of magnitude than that used in mammography. Thus,
      the newly-proposed technique would enable detection of a still tiny breast cancer
      while dramatically lowering the radiation dose. Field-emission x-ray sources
      might be a key for translating this concept into a medical technique.

PMID- 20930931
TI  - Role of the complement components C5 and C3a in a mouse model of myocardial
      ischemia and reperfusion injury.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Ischemic heart disease is the leading cause of death worldwide. The
      complement system plays a major role in inflammation and tissue injury following
      myocardial ischemia and reperfusion (MI/R) injury. Systemic C5 inhibition in
      clinical studies has resulted in mixed results and the role of earlier complement
      components (e.g., C3a), upstream from C5 cleavage, has not been elucidated for
      MI/R injury. Therefore, we evaluated the role of C5 or C3a in a mouse model of
      MI/R injury. METHODS: We performed experimental MI/R with 30 min of ischemia and
      4 hr of reperfusion in 8-12 wk old C57BL/6 (WT) mice. Systemic C5 or C3a
      inhibition was performed with an anti-C5 monoclonal antibody (BB5.1) 30 min prior
      to reperfusion or with a C3a receptor antagonist (C3aRA). Since the C3aRA induces
      neutropenia that resolves within 120 min, we administered C3aRA at two different
      time points in two separate groups: 30 min prior to reperfusion within the
      neutropenic time frame and 120 min prior to reperfusion, when the neutropenia had
      resolved, but C3aRA remained active. Following MI/R, cardiac function was
      assessed via echocardiography, serum troponin I concentrations were measured as
      an index of myocardial cell death and myocardial inflammation was determined via
      myocardial polymorphonuclear leukocyte (PMN) infiltration. RESULTS: In wild type
      mice, MI/R significantly decrease myocardial ejection fraction and increased
      serum troponin I levels and myocardial PMN infiltration compared to sham-operated
      animals. Systemic C5 inhibition, 30 min prior to reperfusion, significantly
      protected mice from MI/R injury, confirming an important role for C5 in murine
      MI/R injury.Treatment with the C3aRA, 30 min prior to reperfusion (i.e., within
      the neutropenic time frame), protected mice significantly from MI/R related
      injury. In contrast, administration of the C3aRA 120 min prior to reperfusion,
      when the neutropenia had resolved, but C3aRA remained active, did not prevent
      MI/R injury. CONCLUSIONS: These results confirm an important role for C5 cleavage
      in murine MI/R injury. At the same time, they suggest a minimal role for C3a,
      since neutropenia rather than C3a receptor antagonism appears to be responsible
      for C3aRA related amelioration in MI/R injury. While C5 inhibition in the
      clinical setting of MI/R does not appear to be therapeutic, our results raise the
      possibility that inhibition of either C5a or C5b-9 may be more advantageous than
      inhibition of C3a or complete inhibition of C5 in humans.

PMID- 20930933
TI  - Microfluidic device for robust generation of two-component liquid-in-air slugs
      with individually controlled composition.
AB  - Using liquid slugs as microreactors and microvessels enable precise control over
      the conditions of their contents on short-time scales for a wide variety of
      applications. Particularly for screening applications, there is a need for
      control of slug parameters such as size and composition. We describe a new
      microfluidic approach for creating slugs in air, each comprising a size and
      composition that can be selected individually for each slug. Two-component slugs
      are formed by first metering the desired volume of each reagent, merging the two
      volumes into an end-to-end slug, and propelling the slug to induce mixing. Volume
      control is achieved by a novel mechanism: two closed chambers on the chip are
      initially filled with air, and a valve in each is briefly opened to admit one of
      the reagents. The pressure of each reagent can be individually selected and
      determines the amount of air compression, and thus the amount of liquid that is
      admitted into each chamber. We describe the theory of operation, characterize the
      slug generation chip, and demonstrate the creation of slugs of different
      compositions. The use of microvalves in this approach enables robust operation
      with different liquids, and also enables one to work with extremely small
      samples, even down to a few slug volumes. The latter is important for
      applications involving precious reagents such as optimizing the reaction
      conditions for radiolabeling biological molecules as tracers for positron
      emission tomography. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of
      this article (doi:10.1007/s10404-010-0617-0) contains supplementary material,
      which is available to authorized users.

PMID- 20930934
TI  - Alteration of microRNAs regulated by c-Myc in Burkitt lymphoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Burkitt lymphoma (BL) is an aggressive B-cell lymphoma, with a
      characteristic clinical presentation, morphology and immunophenotype. Over the
      past years, the typical translocation t(8;14) and its variants have been
      considered the molecular hallmark of this tumor. However, BL cases with no
      detectable MYC rearrangement have been identified. Intriguingly, these cases
      express MYC at levels comparable with cases carrying the translocation. In normal
      cells c-Myc expression is tightly regulated through a complex feedback loop
      mechanism. In cancer, MYC is often dysregulated, commonly due to genomic
      abnormalities. It has recently emerged that this phenomenon may rely on an
      alteration of post-transcriptional regulation mediated by microRNAs (miRNAs),
      whose functional alterations are associated with neoplastic transformation. It is
      also emerging that c-Myc modulates miRNA expression, revealing an intriguing
      crosstalk between c-Myc and miRNAs. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Here, we investigated the
      expression of miRNAs possibly regulated by c-Myc in BL cases positive or negative
      for the translocation. A common trend of miRNA expression, with the exception of
      hsa-miR-9*, was observed in all of the cases. Intriguingly, down-regulation of
      this miRNA seems to specifically identify a particular subset of BL cases,
      lacking MYC translocation. Here, we provided evidence that hsa-miR-9-1 gene is
      heavily methylated in those cases. Finally, we showed that hsa-miR-9* is able to
      modulate E2F1 and c-Myc expression. CONCLUSIONS: Particularly, this study
      identifies hsa-miR-9* as potentially relevant for malignant transformation in BL
      cases with no detectable MYC translocation. Deregulation of hsa-miR-9* may
      therefore be useful as a diagnostic tool, suggesting it as a promising novel
      candidate for tumor cell marker.

PMID- 20930939
TI  - Ganglioside metabolism in a transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer's disease:
      expression of Chol-1alpha antigens in the brain.
AB  - The accumulation of Abeta (amyloid beta-protein) is one of the major pathological
      hallmarks in AD (Alzheimer's disease). Gangliosides, sialic acid-containing
      glycosphingolipids enriched in the nervous system and frequently used as
      biomarkers associated with the biochemical pathology of neurological disorders,
      have been suggested to be involved in the initial aggregation of Abeta. In the
      present study, we have examined ganglioside metabolism in the brain of a double
      Tg (transgenic) mouse model of AD that co-expresses mouse/human chimaeric APP
      (amyloid precursor protein) with the Swedish mutation and human presenilin-1 with
      a deletion of exon 9. Although accumulation of Abeta was confirmed in the double
      Tg mouse brains and sera, no statistically significant change was detected in the
      concentration and composition of major ganglio-N-tetraosyl-series gangliosides in
      the double-Tg brain. Most interestingly, Chol-1alpha antigens (cholinergic neuron
      specific gangliosides), such as GT1aalpha and GQ1balpha, which are minor species
      in the brain, were found to be increased in the double-Tg mouse brain. We
      interpret that the occurrence of these gangliosides may represent evidence for
      generation of cholinergic neurons in the AD brain, as a result of compensatory
      neurogenesis activated by the presence of Abeta.

PMID- 20930941
TI  - Feasibility of Using Modified Adaptive Conjoint Analysis Importance Questions.
AB  - PURPOSE: Prior practical experience in conducting ACA surveys has demonstrated
      that many subjects have difficulty understanding the "importance" questions. The
      objective of this study was to develop a modified version of ACA's importance
      questions. METHODS: Modified ACA importance questions composed of two tasks were
      developed and tested in a pilot study of patients with knee pain. In the first,
      respondents were presented with the list of attributes and asked to choose which
      they consider to be the most important. In the second, they were asked to rate
      the importance of the remaining attributes relative to the most important one on
      an 11-point numeric rating scale. Consecutive patients, followed at a hospital
      based Bone and Joint Clinic with knee pain, were randomized to complete the
      original or modified version of the ACA survey. The two versions were identical
      except for the importance questions. The ACA survey included six attributes:
      pain, energy, route of administration, stomach upset, bleeding ulcer and cost.
      Each attribute contained three levels, all of which had a natural order except
      for route of administration. As this was a pilot study, we present descriptive
      statistics only. RESULTS: 49 patients were recruited; 24 completed the original
      version and 25 completed the modified version. Subjects felt that bar graphs
      illustrating the relative importances were more accurate for the modified version
      of ACA. The proportion of subjects for which the most important attribute chosen
      on a card sorting task matched that generated by ACA was greater for the modified
      compare to original version (48% vs 29%). The proportion of subjects for which
      the treatment option chosen on a card sorting task matched that predicted by ACA
      was also greater for the modified compare to original version (80% versus 75%).
      Subjects used a greater number of points to rate the importance of attributes on
      the modified version of ACA (3.4 +/- 0.9) compared to the original version (2.7
      +/- 1.0). CONCLUSIONS: The modified version of the ACA importance questions
      appears to perform as well or better then the original version. Use of a
      simplified set of ACA importance questions is a reasonable alternative for
      investigators interested in using ACA as a decision support tool in clinical
      practice.

PMID- 20930942
TI  - Anticancer Drug-Phospholipid Conjugate for Enhancement of Intracellular Drug
      Delivery.
AB  - Tumor specific delivery of anti-cancer drugs is one of the major challenges faced
      by drug development processes. In this study, we prepared a doxorubicin (DOX)
      conjugated liposome (DCL) by incorporating the newly synthesized DSPE-PEG2000-DOX
      (DPD) into liposomes as a lipid component and tested its anti-tumor activity in
      vivo. DPD was synthesized by coupling DOX to DSPE-PEG2000-COOH via amide linkage
      and the chemical structure of resulting DPD was confirmed by (1)H-NMR analysis.
      DCL having liposome size of 130 nm was prepared through thin film cast-hydration
      method. DCL was found to have significantly higher cellular uptake than
      conventional liposomes as confirmed by flow cytometry analysis. Anti-tumor
      activity of DCL against murine B16F10 melanoma tumor-bearing mice revealed that
      DCL inhibits tumor growth more efficiently than the conventional liposomes,
      presumably attributed to DOX mediated endocytosis process.

PMID- 20930940
TI  - Variation in the biological properties of HIV-1 R5 envelopes: implications of
      envelope structure, transmission and pathogenesis.
AB  - HIV-1 R5 viruses predominantly use CCR5 as a coreceptor to infect CD4(+) T cells
      and macrophages. While R5 viruses generally infect CD4(+) T cells, research over
      the past few years has demonstrated that they vary extensively in their capacity
      to infect macrophages. Thus, R5 variants that are highly macrophage tropic have
      been detected in late disease and are prominent in brain tissue of subjects with
      neurological complications. Other R5 variants that are less sensitive to CCR5
      antagonists and use CCR5 differently have also been identified in late disease.
      These latter variants have faster replication kinetics and may contribute to CD4
      T-cell depletion. In addition, R5 viruses are highly variable in many other
      properties, including sensitivity to neutralizing antibodies and inhibitors that
      block HIV-1 entry into cells. Here, we review what is currently known about how
      HIV-1 R5 viruses vary in cell tropism and other properties, and discuss the
      implications of this variation on transmission, pathogenesis, therapy and
      vaccines.

PMID- 20930944
TI  - Two-Dimensional Modeling of Nanomechanical Strains in Healthy and Diseased Single
      Cells During Microfluidic Stress Applications.
AB  - Investigations in cellular and molecular engineering have explored the impact of
      nanotechnology and the potential for monitoring and control of human diseases. In
      a recent analysis, the dynamic fluid-induced stresses were characterized during
      microfluidic applications of an instrument with nanometer and picoNewton
      resolution as developed for single-cell biomechanics (Kohles, S. S., Neve, N.,
      Zimmerman, J. D., and Tretheway, D. C., 2009, "Stress Analysis of Microfluidic
      Environments Designed for Isolated Biological Cell Investigations," ASME J.
      Biomech. Eng., 131(12), p. 121006). The results described the limited stress
      levels available in laminar, creeping-flow environments, as well as the
      qualitative cellular strain response to such stress applications. In this study,
      we present a two-dimensional computational model exploring the physical
      application of normal and shear stress profiles (with 0.1, 1.0, and 10.0 Pa peak
      amplitudes) potentially available within uniform and extensional flow states. The
      corresponding cellular strains and strain patterns were determined within cells
      modeled with healthy and diseased mechanical properties (5.0-0.1 kPa moduli,
      respectively). Strain energy density results integrated over the volume of the
      planar section indicated a strong mechanical sensitivity involving cells with
      disease-like properties. In addition, ex vivo microfluidic environments creating
      in vivo stress states would require freestream flow velocities of 2-7 mm/s.
      Knowledge of the nanomechanical stresses-strains necessary to illicit a biologic
      response in the cytoskeleton and cellular membrane will ultimately lead to
      refined mechanotransduction relationships.

PMID- 20930943
TI  - Biomedical Nanomagnetics: A Spin Through Possibilities in Imaging, Diagnostics,
      and Therapy.
AB  - Biomedical nanomagnetics is a multidisciplinary area of research in science,
      engineering and medicine with broad applications in imaging, diagnostics and
      therapy. Recent developments offer exciting possibilities in personalized
      medicine provided a truly integrated approach, combining chemistry, materials
      science, physics, engineering, biology and medicine, is implemented. Emphasizing
      this perspective, here we address important issues for the rapid development of
      the field, i.e., magnetic behavior at the nanoscale with emphasis on the
      relaxation dynamics, synthesis and surface functionalization of nanoparticles and
      core-shell structures, biocompatibility and toxicity studies, biological
      constraints and opportunities, and in vivo and in vitro applications.
      Specifically, we discuss targeted drug delivery and triggered release, novel
      contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging, cancer therapy using magnetic
      fluid hyperthermia, in vitro diagnostics and the emerging magnetic particle
      imaging technique, that is quantitative and sensitive enough to compete with
      established imaging methods. In addition, the physics of self-assembly, which is
      fundamental to both biology and the future development of nanoscience, is
      illustrated with magnetic nanoparticles. It is shown that various competing
      energies associated with self-assembly converge on the nanometer length scale and
      different assemblies can be tailored by varying particle size and size
      distribution. Throughout this paper, while we discuss our recent research in the
      broad context of the multidisciplinary literature, we hope to bridge the gap
      between related work in physics/chemistry/engineering and biology/medicine and,
      at the same time, present the essential concepts in the individual disciplines.
      This approach is essential as biomedical nanomagnetics moves into the next phase
      of innovative translational research with emphasis on development of quantitative
      in vivo imaging, targeted and triggered drug release, and image guided therapy
      including validation of delivery and therapy response.

PMID- 20930945
TI  - Design of a dynamic model of genes with multiple autonomous regulatory modules by
      evolutionary computations.
AB  - A new approach to design a dynamic model of genes with multiple autonomous
      regulatory modules by evolutionary computations is proposed. The approach is
      based on Genetic Algorithms (GA), with new crossover operators especially
      designed for these purposes. The new operators use local homology between
      parental strings to preserve building blocks found by the algorithm. The approach
      exploits the subbasin-portal architecture of the fitness functions suitable for
      this kind of evolutionary modeling. This architecture is significant for Royal
      Road class fitness functions. Two real-life Systems Biology problems with such
      fitness functions are implemented here: evolution of the bacterial promoter rrnPl
      and of the enhancer of the Drosophila even-skipped gene. The effectiveness of the
      approach compared to standard GA is demonstrated on several benchmark and real
      life tasks.

PMID- 20930947
TI  - Identification of novel cellular targets for therapeutic intervention against
      Ebola virus infection by siRNA screening.
AB  - While much progress has been made in developing drugs against a few prominent
      viruses such as HIV, few examples exist for emerging infectious agents. In some
      cases broad spectrum anti-viral drugs, such as ribavirin, are effective, but for
      some groups of viruses, these show little efficacy in animal models. Traditional
      methods focus on screening small molecule libraries to identify drugs that target
      virus factors, with the intention that side-effects to the host can be minimized.
      However, this greatly limits potential drug targets and virus genes can rapidly
      mutate to avoid drug action. Recent advances in siRNA gene targeting technologies
      have provided a powerful tool to specifically target and suppress the expression
      of cell genes. Since viruses are completely dependent upon host cell proteins for
      propagation, siRNA screening promises to reveal novel cell proteins and signaling
      pathways that may be viable targets for drug therapy regimens. Here we used an
      siRNA screening approach to identify gene products that play critical roles in
      Ebola virus infection. By gene cluster analysis, proteins in phosphatidylinositol
      3-kinase and calcium/calmodulin kinase related networks were identified as
      important for Zaire Ebola virus infection and prioritized for further evaluation.
      Key roles of each were confirmed by testing available drugs specific for members
      of each pathway. Interestingly, both sets of proteins are also important in
      cancer and subject to intense investigation. Thus development of new drugs
      against these cancer targets may also prove useful in combating Ebola virus.

PMID- 20930948
TI  - Parenting by lying.
AB  - The present set of studies identifies the phenomenon of 'parenting by lying', in
      which parents lie to their children as a means of influencing their emotional
      states and behaviour. In Study 1, undergraduates (n = 127) reported that their
      parents had lied to them while maintaining a concurrent emphasis on the
      importance of honesty. In Study 2 (n = 127), parents reported lying to their
      children and considered doing so to be acceptable under some circumstances, even
      though they also reported teaching their children that lying is unacceptable. As
      compared to European American parents, Asian American parents tended to hold a
      more favourable view of lying to children for the purpose of promoting
      behavioural compliance.

PMID- 20930946
TI  - Over-expression of CKS1B activates both MEK/ERK and JAK/STAT3 signaling pathways
      and promotes myeloma cell drug-resistance.
AB  - Here we demonstrate the crucial role of CKS1B in multiple myeloma (MM)
      progression and define CKS1B-mediated SKP2/p27(Kip1)-independent down-stream
      signaling pathways. Forced-expression of CKS1B in MM cells increased cell
      multidrug-resistance. CKS1B activates STAT3 and MEK/ERK pathways. In contrast,
      SKP2 knockdown or p27(Kip1) over-expression resulted in activation of the STAT3
      and MEK/ERK pathways. Further investigations showed that BCL2 is a downstream
      target of MEK/ERK signaling. Stimulation of STAT3 and MEK/ERK signaling pathways
      partially abrogated CKS1B knockdown induced MM cell death and growth inhibition.
      Targeting STAT3 and MEK/ERK signaling pathways by specific inhibitors induced
      significant MM cell death and growth inhibition in CKS1B-overexpressing MM cells
      and their combinations resulted in synergy. Thus, our findings provide a
      rationale for targeting STAT3 and MEK/ERK/BCL2 signaling in aggressive CKS1B
      overexpressing MM.

PMID- 20930949
TI  - Religious and Spiritual Dimensions of the Vietnamese Dementia Caregiving
      Experience.
AB  - This paper focuses on the role of religion and spirituality in dementia
      caregiving among Vietnamese refugee families. In-depth qualitative interviews
      were conducted with nine Vietnamese caregivers of persons with dementia, then
      tape-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed for emergent themes. Caregivers related
      their spirituality/religion to three aspects of caregiving: (1) their own
      suffering, (2) their motivations for providing care, and (3) their understanding
      of the nature of the illness. Key terms or idioms were used to articulate
      spiritual/religious dimensions of the caregivers' experience, which included
      sacrifice, compassion, karma, blessings, grace and peace of mind. In their
      narratives, the caregivers often combined multiple strands of different religions
      and/or spiritualities: Animism, Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism and Catholicism.
      Case studies are presented to illustrate the relationship between
      religion/spirituality and the domains of caregiving. These findings have
      relevance for psychotherapeutic interventions with ethnically diverse
      populations.

PMID- 20930950
TI  - The Fragility of Healing.
AB  - This article explores a paradox-the simultaneous cultivation and suppression of
      "healing dramas" by pediatric rehabilitation therapists. Dramatic moments are
      defined as ones in which the routine exercises and treatment activities of
      therapeutic practice are transformed into narrative plots. These improvisational
      plots involve multiple characters, risks, suspense, and above all, a heightened
      sense that something is at stake. Experience itself becomes the focus of
      attention for the patient. Based upon ethnographic research in Chicago and Los
      Angeles, this article offers an anatomy of two such moments, investigating not
      only how healing dramas are constructed between patients and healers but how and
      why institutional discourses and practices invite their abandonment.

PMID- 20930951
TI  - Seeing The World Through Rose-colored Glasses? Neglect of Consensus Information
      in Young Children's Personality Judgments.
AB  - The present study examined the use of consensus information in early childhood.
      Ninety-six three- to six-year-olds watched a demonstration that depicted the
      positive or negative behavior of one or several actors toward a recipient (low
      vs. high consensus, respectively). Subsequently, participants made behavioral
      predictions and personality judgments about the actors and recipients.
      Participants viewed all story characters favorably and were reluctant to assign
      blame for negative outcomes, although the appropriate use of consensus
      information increased with age for behavioral predictions. These findings suggest
      that there is a positivity bias in young children's personality judgments even in
      the face of explicit contradictory behavioral evidence. Children's early 'theory
      of personality' is apparently driven by a baseline assumption that people are
      nice.

PMID- 20930952
TI  - A Method for Identifying Small-Molecule Aggregators Using Photonic Crystal
      Biosensor Microplates.
AB  - Small molecules identified through high-throughput screens are an essential
      element in pharmaceutical discovery programs. It is now recognized that a
      substantial fraction of small molecules exhibit aggregating behavior leading to
      false positive results in many screening assays, typically due to nonspecific
      attachment to target proteins. Therefore, the ability to efficiently identify
      compounds within a screening library that aggregate can streamline the screening
      process by eliminating unsuitable molecules from further consideration. In this
      work, we show that photonic crystal (PC) optical biosensor microplate technology
      can be used to identify and quantify small-molecule aggregation. A group of
      aggregators and nonaggregators were tested using the PC technology, and
      measurements were compared with those gathered by three alternative methods:
      dynamic light scattering (DLS), an alpha-chymotrypsin colorimetric assay, and
      scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The PC biosensor measurements of aggregation
      were confirmed by visual observation using SEM, and were in general agreement
      with the alpha-chymotrypsin assay. DLS measurements, in contrast, demonstrated
      inconsistent readings for many compounds that are found to form aggregates in
      shapes, very different from the classical spherical particles assumed in DLS
      modeling. As a label-free detection method, the PC biosensor aggregation assay is
      simple to implement and provides a quantitative direct measurement of the mass
      density of material adsorbed to the transducer surface, whereas the microplate
      based sensor format enables compatibility with high-throughput automated liquid
      handling methods used in pharmaceutical screening.

PMID- 20930953
TI  - Configurational asymmetry in vernier offset detection.
AB  - Two psychophysical experiments were conducted at the horizontal and vertical
      orientations respectively, demonstrating substantial main effect of
      configuration, but no effect of offset direction on vernier acuity. In Experiment
      1, a pair of horizontal bars were arranged side by side with a large gap between
      them. The observers were, on average, significantly better at discriminating a
      vertical offset if the right-hand bar was below the left-hand bar than vice
      versa, regardless of which bar they experienced as displaced and which as
      constant. A similar asymmetry was evident in Experiment 2 where observers judged
      horizontal offset for a pair of vertically oriented bars, where one was placed
      above the other. In this case average performance was better if the upper bar was
      on the right of the lower bar rather than on its left. There were large
      individual variations in the asymmetrical trend, but the effect could not be
      explained by subjective response bias. Furthermore, vernier acuity improved
      significantly and the asymmetry decreased more or less as a function of training.
      The average asymmetrical trend was consistent across training days and across two
      orientations, which indicates that the processing of line vernier stimuli is
      possibly configuration-specific in the cardinal orientation.

PMID- 20930954
TI  - Frontocerebellar Connectivity: Climbing through the Inferior Olive.

PMID- 20930955
TI  - AV Interval Optimization - A Step Towards Physiological Pacing in Patients with
      Normal Left Ventricular Function.

PMID- 20930956
TI  - Utilization of Electrocardiographic P-wave Duration for AV Interval Optimization
      in Dual-Chamber Pacemakers.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Empiric programming of the atrio-ventricular (AV) delay is commonly
      performed during pacemaker implantation. Transmitral flow assessment by Doppler
      echocardiography can be used to find the optimal AV delay by Ritter's method, but
      this cannot easily be performed during pacemaker implantation. We sought to
      determine a non-invasive surrogate for this assessment. Since
      electrocardiographic P-wave duration estimates atrial activation time, we
      hypothesized this measurement may provide a more appropriate basis for
      programming AV intervals. METHODS: A total of 19 patients were examined at the
      time of dual chamber pacemaker implantation, 13 (68%) being male with a mean age
      of 77. Each patient had the optimal AV interval determined by Ritter's method.
      The P-wave duration was measured independently on electrocardiograms using
      MUSE(r) Cardiology Information System (version 7.1.1). The relationship between P
      wave duration and the optimal AV interval was analyzed. RESULTS: The P-wave
      duration and optimal AV delay were related by a correlation coefficient of 0.815
      and a correction factor of 1.26. The mean BMI was 27. The presence of
      hypertension, atrial fibrillation, and valvular heart disease was 13 (68%), 3
      (16%), and 2 (11%) respectively. Mean echocardiographic parameters included an
      ejection fraction of 58%, left atrial index of 32 ml/m(2), and diastolic
      dysfunction grade 1 (out of 4). CONCLUSIONS: In patients with dual chamber
      pacemakers in AV sequentially paced mode and normal EF, electrocardiographic P
      wave duration correlates to the optimal AV delay by Ritter's method by a factor
      of 1.26.

PMID- 20930957
TI  - Cryoballoon ablation for paroxysmal atrial fibrillation in septuagenarians: a
      prospective study.
AB  - AIMS: To evaluate the effects of pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) in terms of
      feasibility, safety and success rate on a midterm follow-up period in
      septuagenarians undergoing ablation with the Arctic Front Cryoballoon for atrial
      fibrillation (AF). METHODS AND RESULTS: We prospectively enrolled 21 patients
      aged 70 years or older (14 male; age 73 +/- 2.5 years) elected to circumferential
      PVI with the 28mm cryoballoon for symptomatic drug resistant paroxysmal AF. A
      total number of 82 pulmonary veins (PV) were evidenced. Successful isolation
      could be obtained in all 82 (100%) PV ostia at the end of procedure. No major
      complication occurred during procedure. At a mean follow-up of 11.5 +/- 4.7
      months following ablation, 62% of patients did not present recurrence of atrial
      arrhythmias. CONCLUSION: Cryoballoon ablation may be feasible and safe in older
      patients. Moreover a large proportion of the latter did not present AF recurrence
      during follow-up.

PMID- 20930958
TI  - Brugada syndrome: Controversies in Risk stratification and Management.
AB  - In the 18 years since the first description of Brugada Syndrome in a small series
      of cardiac arrest survivors it has become evident that there is a marked spectrum
      in phenotype and prognosis. An internal cardiac defibrillator (ICD) is the only
      established therapy but is associated with significant morbidity. A number of
      registries have published their data, but risk stratification, particularly in
      asymptomatic patients, remains controversial. This article summarises the
      evidence to enable the clinician to make informed management decisions on an
      individual basis.

PMID- 20930960
TI  - Uncommon presentation of a common tachycardia.
AB  - We describe a patient with an implanted pacemaker for impaired AV conduction who
      presented with an incessant tachycardia. EP study showed that the tachycardia was
      atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia (AVNRT) with repeated spontaneous
      initiation because of poor or absent antegrade fast pathway conduction. Slow
      pathway ablation was successful in terminating the tachycardia and making it non
      inducible.

PMID- 20930959
TI  - A review of the mechanisms of ventricular arrhythmia in brugada syndrome.
AB  - Brugada syndrome (BrS) is characterised by the triad of coved ST elevation,
      lethal ventricular arrhythmia in an apparently structurally normal heart. The
      precise mechanisms responsible for the coved ST elevation and ventricular
      arrhythmias in this disease have been debated since its initial description in
      1992. Indeed the recent recognition of early repolarisation J wave disorders
      linked to primary VF broadens the mechanistic importance of BrS in sudden cardiac
      death. It may lie on a spectrum of early repolarisation pathology which is
      becoming increasingly recognised as a marker of premature cardiovascular death.
      Mechanistically, abnormalities of both depolarisation and repolarisation in the
      right ventricular outflow tract, and heterogeneities of conduction between the
      endocardium and epicardium have been implicated in the electrographic
      manifestations of BrS and arrhythmogenesis.The initial belief of BrS as a single
      autosomal dominant ion channel disorder has been challenged. It has become
      apparent that sodium channel mutations only account for a maximum of 30% of cases
      and structural myocardial abnormalities have now been described in what was
      previously thought to be a purely functional condition. It is highly probable
      that BrS is an umbrella diagnosis for a number of conduction and repolarisation
      abnormalities which manifest as this syndrome and the coved ST elevation
      represents the final common pathway of both ion channel and structural
      derangements. This review will discuss the issues surrounding the mechanisms of
      lethal arrhythmia in BrS and summarise both basic science and clinical research
      findings.

PMID- 20930961
TI  - The lightning heart: a case report and brief review of the cardiovascular
      complications of lightning injury.
AB  - Lightning strike is a rare natural phenomenon, which carries a risk of dramatic
      medical complications to multiple organ systems and a high risk of fatality. The
      known complications include but are not limited to: myocardial infarction,
      arrhythmia, cardiac contusion, stroke, cutaneous burns, respiratory disorders,
      neurological disorders, acute kidney injury and death. We report a case of a
      healthy young man who suffered a lightning injury and discuss the cardiovascular
      complications of lightning injury, ranging from ECG changes to death. The patient
      in our case, a 27-year old previously healthy male, developed a syndrome of
      rhabdomyolysis and symptomatic cardiogenic pulmonary edema. Electrocardiographic
      findings included transient T-wave inversions, late transition shift and long QT.
      His clinical condition improved with supportive measures.Early recognition of
      lightning injury syndromes and anticipation of complications may help us improve
      outcomes for these patients. Evaluation of patients having experienced a
      lightning injury should include a minimum of a detailed history and physical
      examination, 12-lead ECG and drawing of baseline troponins. Prolonged
      electrocardiographical monitoring (for monitoring of ventricular arrhythmias) and
      assessment for signs and symptoms of hemodynamic compromise may be warranted.

PMID- 20930962
TI  - What's new in Emergencies, Trauma, and Shock? Developing predictor models for
      infectious diseases.

PMID- 20930963
TI  - Developing a clinically relevant classification to predict mortality in severe
      leptospirosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Severe leptospirosis requires critical care and has a high mortality.
      We reviewed the literature to identify factors predicting mortality, and such
      predictors were classified according to the predisposition, infection, response,
      organ dysfunction (PIRO) concept, which is a risk stratification model used in
      severe sepsis. MATERIAL AND METHODS: PUBMED was searched for all articles
      (English), with the key word leptospirosis in any field, within the last 20
      years. Data were collected from 45 relevant papers and grouped into each
      component of the PIRO model. RESULTS: THE FOLLOWING CORRELATED WITH INCREASED
      MORTALITY: predisposition - increasing age and chronic alcoholism; infection -
      leptospiraemic burden; response - hemodynamic disturbances, leukocytosis; organ
      dysfunction - multiple organ dysfunction syndrome, pulmonary involvement and
      acute renal failure. CONCLUSIONS: Further research is needed to identify the role
      of infecting serovars, clinical signs, inflammatory markers, cytokines and
      evidence of hepatic dysfunction as prognostic indicators. It is hoped that this
      paper will be an initiative to create a staging system for severity of
      leptospirosis based on the PIRO model with an added component for treatment
      related predictors.

PMID- 20930964
TI  - Acute febrile encephalopathy in adults from Northwest India.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Acute onset fever with altered mentation is a common problem
      encountered by the physician practicing in tropical countries. Central nervous
      system (CNS) infections are the most common cause resulting in fever with altered
      mentation in children. AIM: In this study, we have tried to analyze the cause of
      encephalopathy following short febrile illness in adults presenting to a tertiary
      care center in Northwestern part of India. SETTING AND DESIGN: A prospective
      observational study carried out in a tertiary care center in the Northwestern
      India over a period of 1 year. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total of 127 patients with
      fever of less than 2 weeks duration along with alteration in mentation were
      studied prospectively over a period of 12 months. The demographic variables were
      recorded in detail. In addition to routine investigations, cerebrospinal fluid
      analysis, noncontrast- and contrast-enhanced computed tomography, along with
      magnetic resonance imaging were performed in all the subjects. STATISTICAL
      ANALYSIS: The results were analyzed using SPSS statistical software. The values
      were expressed as mean with standard deviation for contiguous variable as
      percentage for the others. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Out of these, 70% had primary
      CNS infection as the etiology. A total of 33% patients had meningitis, 29.9% had
      evidence of meningoencephalitis, and 12.7% were diagnosed as sepsis-associated
      encephalopathy. These were followed by cerebral malaria, leptospirosis, and brain
      abscess as the cause of febrile encephalopathy in adults. Among the noninfectious
      causes, acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, cortical venous thrombosis, and
      neuroleptic malignant syndrome were documented in 2.36% each. In 11% of the
      patients, the final diagnosis could not be made in spite of the extensive
      investigations. Our study demonstrates that acute febrile encephalopathy in
      adults is a heterogeneous syndrome with primary CNS infections being the
      commonest etiology.

PMID- 20930965
TI  - Reviewing the blood ordering schedule for elective orthopedic surgeries at a
      level one trauma care center.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Patients undergoing elective orthopedic surgeries often incur excess
      blood loss necessitating transfusion. The preoperative placement of blood
      requests frequently overshoots the actual need resulting in unnecessary
      crossmatching. AIMS: Our primary goal was to audit the blood utilization in
      elective orthopedic surgeries in our hospital over a 1-year period and recommend
      a blood ordering schedule. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective analysis of
      patients who underwent elective orthopedic surgeries over a period of 1 year was
      done. The data collected include patients' age, sex, type of surgical procedure,
      pre- and postoperative hemoglobin (Hb) levels, number of units crossmatched,
      returned, transfused, crossmatch to transfusion ratio (C:T), transfusion indices,
      estimated blood loss for each surgical procedure, and the actual and predicted
      fall in Hb. We propose a blood ordering schedule based on surgical blood ordering
      equation. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: A total of 487 patients with a median age of
      37+/-17 years (mean +/- standard deviation) were evaluated. One thousand three
      hundred and seventy-seven units of blood were crossmatched and only 564 units
      were transfused to 260 patients. Fifty-nine percent of the units crossmatched
      were not transfused. Six of the 12 elective procedures had a C:T ratio higher
      than 2.5. Ten of the 12 procedures (83.3%) had a low transfusion index (TI <
      0.5). The calculated red blood cell units were less than 0.5 in 5 of the 12
      elective procedures, and hence we recommend a group and save policy for these
      procedures. Blood ordering schedule based on patient and surgical variables would
      provide an efficient way of blood utilization and management of resources.

PMID- 20930966
TI  - Comparing the efficacy and safety of two regimens of sequential systemic
      corticosteroids in the treatment of acute exacerbation of bronchial asthma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Corticosteroids are commonly used in the management of acute asthma.
      However, studies comparing various steroids in the management of acute asthma are
      lacking. OBJECTIVE: To compare the efficacy and safety of two treatment regimens 
      intravenous (IV) methylprednisolone (MP) followed by oral MP and IV
      hydrocortisone (HC) followed by oral prednisolone in acute bronchial asthma
      patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a randomized, prospective study
      performed in the emergency department (ED) of a tertiary care hospital in North
      India. A total of 94 patients with acute asthma were randomly allocated to either
      of the two treatment groups: Group A (n = 49) or Group B (n = 45). Patients in
      Group A were administered HC 200 mg IV 6-hourly until discharge from the ED,
      followed by oral prednisolone 0.75 mg/kg daily for 2 weeks. Patients in Group B
      were administered MP 125 mg IV bolus, followed by 40 mg MP IV 6-hourly until
      discharge, and then oral MP 0.6 mg/kg daily for 2 weeks. All clinical variables,
      peak expiratory flow (PEF) and forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV(1))
      were assessed at baseline, at 1, 3 and 6 h and at every 6 h thereafter until
      discharge from the ED. The patients were followed-up after 2 weeks of discharge.
      The response to treatment was assessed by clinical and spirometric evaluation.
      Independent t-tests and chi-square tests were used to compare the two treatment
      regimens. RESULTS: The baseline characteristics were comparable in the two
      groups. There was a significant improvement in PEF and FEV(1) within the groups
      at 2 weeks of treatment when compared to the baseline. At 2 weeks of follow-up,
      Group B showed significant improvement over Group A in PEF (P < 0.0001), FEV(1)
      (P < 0.0001) and asthma score (P = 0.034). There was a significant increase in
      the blood sugar value at 2 weeks in both the groups. However, the increase was
      greater in Group A as compared to Group B (P < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: This study
      suggests that in acute asthma patients, IV MP followed by oral MP is a more
      efficacious and safer treatment regimen than IV HC followed by oral prednisolone.

PMID- 20930967
TI  - Using inverted autogenous veins to substitute arteries in a canine model.
AB  - AIMS: Rapid harvesting of autogenous graft over a wire is an optional way in
      trauma surgery and it places the inverted conduit so that its adventitial layer
      is within the lumen of the graft. Our aim of this study was to compare the
      patency of inverted autogenous graft vs noninverted graft in dogs. SETTINGS AND
      DESIGN: Experimental animal models. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this experimental
      study, 12 dogs were anesthetized and 10 cm of the external jugular vein was
      excised. The vein was equally divided into two 5-cm sections. One section was
      inverted and the other was left intact. Afterward, 5 cm of both the femoral
      arteries were removed and the right (inverted) and the left (not inverted)
      arteries were grafted, respectively. The patency of the arteries was evaluated by
      Color Doppler ultrasonography immediately postoperation and up to 6 months
      thereafter. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Data were analyzed with Fisher's exact test
      using SPSS version 15. P value below 0.05 was significant. RESULTS: None of the
      12 inverted vein grafts were patent at 3(rd) to 14(th) days follow-up with
      Doppler ultrasonography. All of them were completely obstructed by thrombosis.
      However, 11 (92%) of the noninverted vein grafts were patent both at 3 and 6
      months follow-up. One of the noninverted grafts was almost completely obstructed
      with thrombosis (90%) and the other 2 were incompletely obstructed with intimal
      thickening. CONCLUSIONS: Despite many favorable results in the previous studies
      with regard to excellent patency of inverted vein graft, our results were
      disappointing and we recommend using the graft in the right direction and taking
      care to preserve the intima intact.

PMID- 20930968
TI  - Better outcome after pediatric resuscitation is still a dilemma.
AB  - Pediatric cardiac arrest is not a single problem. Although most episodes of
      pediatric cardiac arrest occur as complications and progression of respiratory
      failure and shock. Sudden cardiac arrest may result from abrupt and unexpected
      arrhythmias. With a better-tailored therapy, we can optimize the outcome. In the
      hospital, cardiac arrest often develops as a progression of respiratory failure
      and shock. Typically half or more of pediatric victims of in-hospital arrest have
      pre-existing respiratory failure and one-third or more have shock, although these
      figures vary somewhat among reporting hospitals. When in-hospital respiratory
      arrest or failure is treated before the development of cardiac arrest, survival
      ranges from 60% to 97%. Bradyarrthmia, asystole or pulseless electric activity
      (PEA) were recorded as an initial rhythm in half or more of the recent reports of
      in-hospital cardiac arrest, with survival to hospital discharge ranging from 22%
      to 40%. Data allowing characterization of out of hospital pediatric arrest are
      limited, although existing data support the long-held belief that as with
      hospitalized children, cardiac arrest most often occurs as a progression of
      respiratory failure or shock to cardiac arrest with bradyasystole rhythm.
      Although VF (Ventricular fibrillation, is a very rapid, uncoordinated,
      ineffective series of contractions throughout the lower chambers of the heart.
      Unless stopped, these chaotic impulses are fatal) and VT (Ventricular tachycardia
      is a rapid heartbeat that originates in one of the ventricles of the heart. To be
      classified as tachycardia, the heart rate is usually at least 100 beats per
      minute) are not common out-of-cardiac arrest in children, they are more likely to
      be present with sudden, witnessed collapse, particularly among adolescents. Pre
      hospital care till the late 1980s was mainly concerned with adult care, and the
      initial focus for pediatric resuscitation was provision of oxygen and
      ventilation, with initial rhythm at the time of emergency medical services
      arrival being infrequently recorded. In the 1987 series, pre-hospital pediatric
      cardiac arrest demonstrated asystole in 80%, PEA in 10.5% and VF or VT in 9.6%.
      Only 29% arrests were witnessed, however, and death in many victims was caused by
      sudden infant death syndrome.

PMID- 20930969
TI  - Emergency diagnosis and management of pediatric arrhythmias.
AB  - True emergencies due to unstable arrhythmias in children are rare, as most rhythm
      disturbances in this age group are well-tolerated. However, presentation to an
      emergency department with symptoms of palpitations, fatigue and/or syncope is
      much more common. Sinus tachycardia is by far the most commonly reported
      arrhythmia, followed by supraventricular tachycardia. Emergency physicians should
      be prepared for diagnosis and to acutely manage various types of arrhythmias seen
      in children, to assess the need for further diagnostic testing, and to determine
      whether cardiology evaluation and follow-up are needed. This article is intended
      to provide diagnostic and management guidelines of the most common types of
      arrhythmias seen in children with structurally normal hearts as well as those
      associated with congenital heart disease and cardiomyopathies.

PMID- 20930970
TI  - Defibrillation in children.
AB  - Defibrillation is the only effective treatment for ventricular fibrillation (VF).
      Optimal methods for defibrillation in children are derived and extrapolated from
      adult data. VF occurs as the initial rhythm in 8-20% of pediatric cardiac
      arrests. This has fostered a new interest in determining the optimal technique
      for pediatric defibrillation. This review will provide a brief background of the
      history of defibrillation and a review of the current literature on pediatric
      defibrillation. The literature search was performed through PubMed, using the
      MeSH headings of cardiopulmonary resuscitation, defibrillation and electric
      countershock. The authors' personal bibliographic files were also searched. Only
      published articles were chosen. The recommended energy dose has been 2 J/kg for
      30 years, but recent reports may indicate that higher dosages may be more
      effective and safe. In 2005, the European Resuscitation Council recommended 4
      J/kg as the initial dose, without escalation for subsequent shocks. Automated
      external defibrillators are increasingly used for pediatric cardiac arrest, and
      available reports indicate high success rates. Additional research on pediatric
      defibrillation is critical in order to be able to provide an equivalent standard
      of care for children in cardiac arrest and improve outcomes.

PMID- 20930971
TI  - Cardiac arrest in children.
AB  - Major advances in the field of pediatric cardiac arrest (CA) were made during the
      last decade, starting with the publication of pediatric Utstein guidelines, the
      2005 recommendations by the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation, and
      culminating in multicenter collaborations. The epidemiology and pathophysiology
      of in-hospital and out-of-hospital CA are now well described. Four phases of CA
      are described and the term "post-cardiac arrest syndrome" has been proposed,
      along with treatment goals for each of its four phases: immediate post-arrest,
      early post-arrest, intermediate and recovery phase. Hypothermia is recommended to
      be considered as a therapy for post-CA syndrome in comatose patients after CA,
      and large multicenter prospective studies are underway. We reviewed landmark
      articles related to pediatric CA published during the last decade. We present the
      current knowledge of epidemiology, pathophysiology and treatment of CA relevant
      to pre-hospital and acute care health practitioners.

PMID- 20930972
TI  - Out-of-hospital cardiac arrests in children.
AB  - Prehospital pediatric cardiac arrest is a rare event compared with adult cardiac
      arrest. Despite the recent advancements in postresuscitation care improving the
      outcome of adult patients, similar evidence is lacking in pediatric victims of
      cardiac arrest. In this brief article, the current data on pediatric cardiac
      arrest occurring in the prehospital setting are reviewed. The annual incidence of
      pediatric out-of-hospital cardiac arrest is approximately 8-10 cases per 100,000
      persons. The outcome is generally poor, as only 2-9.6% of patients survive to
      hospital discharge. The neurologic outcome of survivors is good in 24-31% of
      patients. Current evidence is insufficient to strongly support or refute the use
      of mild therapeutic hypothermia during the postresuscitation phase in pediatric
      patients. The application of a goal-directed treatment protocol for pediatric
      cardiac arrest and postresuscitation syndrome needs to be evaluated.

PMID- 20930973
TI  - Hypothermia and pediatric cardiac arrest.
AB  - The survival outcome following pediatric cardiac arrest still remains poor.
      Survival to hospital discharge ranges anywhere from 0 to 38% when considering
      both out-of-hospital and in-hospital arrests, with up to 50% of the survivors
      having neurologic injury. The use of mild induced hypothermia has not been
      definitively proven to improve outcomes following pediatric cardiac arrest. This
      may be due to the lack of consensus regarding target temperature, best method of
      cooling, optimal duration of cooling and identifying the patient population who
      will receive the greatest benefit. We review the current applications of induced
      hypothermia in pediatric patients following cardiac arrest after searching the
      current literature through Pubmed and Ovid journal databases. We put forth
      compiled recommendations/guidelines for initiating hypothermia therapy, its
      maintenance, associated monitoring and suggested adjunctive therapies to produce
      favorable neurologic and survival outcomes.

PMID- 20930975
TI  - An unusual presentation of an atypical hangman's fracture.

PMID- 20930974
TI  - Bedside emergency cardiac ultrasound in children.
AB  - Bedside emergency ultrasound has rapidly developed over the past several years
      and has now become part of the standard of care for several applications. While
      it has only recently been applied to critically ill pediatric patients, several
      of the well-established adult indications may be applied to pediatric patients.
      One of the most important and life-saving applications is bedside
      echocardiography. While bedside emergency ultrasonography does not serve to
      replace formal comprehensive studies, it serves as an extension of the physical
      examination. It is especially useful as a rapid and effective tool in the
      diagnosis of pericardial effusions, tamponade and in distinguishing potentially
      reversible causes of pulseless electrical activity from asystole. Most recently,
      left ventricular function and inferior vena cava measurements have proven helpful
      in the assessment of undifferentiated hypotension and shock in adults and
      children. Future research remains to be carried out in determining the efficacy
      of bedside ultrasonography in pediatric-specific pathology such as congenital
      heart disease. This article serves as a comprehensive review of the adult
      literature and a review of the recent applications in the pediatric emergency
      department. It also highlights the techniques of bedside ultrasonography with
      examples of normal and pathologic images.

PMID- 20930976
TI  - A nosy fish.

PMID- 20930977
TI  - Near-fatal subdural empyema complicating a rapidly progressive orbital
      cellulites.

PMID- 20930978
TI  - Hyperreactio luteinalis with preeclampsia.
AB  - Hyperreactio luteinalis (HL) is a condition associated with bilateral and, in
      rare cases, unilateral ovarian enlargement due to theca lutein cysts. HL is a
      benign condition, usually found incidentally at cesarean section, which can
      appear anaplastic and lead to unnecessary ovarian resection. A 24-year-old woman
      with 35 weeks of gestation attended with bilaterally enlarged ovaries. She had
      preeclampsia and preterm contractions. Due to breech presentation of baby and
      nulliparity and possible severe preeclampsia, she delivered by cesarean section.
      The ovaries had an anaplastic appearance and a biopsy was taken during cesarean
      section. Pathology revealed multiple benign theca lutein cysts. There are 51
      reported cases of HL associated with a normal pregnancy in the literature. It is
      estimated that approximately 60% of the cases of HL is not associated with
      trophoblastic disease and occurs with normal singleton pregnancy. Only three of
      them were found to be associated with preeclampsia and this is the fourth case.
      HL may help explain the underlying cause of preeclampsia in these cases. There
      are multiple benign ovarian lesions in HL, which can mimic ovarian neoplasms.
      Accordingly, it is important to exclude these from the differential diagnosis via
      a wedge biopsy and frozen section to avoid unnecessary surgical excision.

PMID- 20930979
TI  - Strangulation injury from indigenous rocking cradle.
AB  - Indigenously made rocking cradle is frequently used in rural India. We report
      strangulation from an indigenously made rocking cradle in an 11-month-old female
      child. The unique mode of injury and its mechanism have been discussed.
      Strangulation is an important cause of homicidal and suicidal injury in adults
      but in children it is usually accidental leading to death due to asphyxia as a
      result of partial hanging. In western countries, it is the third most common
      cause of accidental childhood deaths, 17% of them being due to ropes and cords.
      It ranks fourth amongst the causes of unintentional injury in children less than
      1 year of age following roadside accidents, drowning and burns. However, in
      India, strangulation injury is under reported although indigenous rocking cradles
      are very commonly used in rural India, and they are even more dangerous than the
      cribs and adult beds as there are no safety mechanisms therein. We report a case
      of accidental strangulation following suspension from an indigenously made
      rocking cradle. The unique mode of injury has prompted us to report this case.

PMID- 20930980
TI  - A newborn with cardiomegaly.
AB  - An infant with Down's syndrome was noted to have hypoxemia and tachypnea at
      birth. The clinical examination, electrocardiogram (ECG) and the chest X-ray
      findings suggested a specific diagnosis that is not usually associated with
      Down's syndrome. Despite the extremely rare association of Ebstein's anomaly with
      Down's syndrome, this diagnosis was highly suspected from the initial evaluation.
      An echocardiogram confirmed the diagnosis of Ebstein's anomaly in this neonate.
      So far, only about seven cases of Ebstein's anomaly associated with Down's
      syndrome have been reported in the literature. This case is discussed for its
      rarity; it also highlights the importance of clinical examination and initial
      investigations that had suggested the diagnosis well prior to that of the
      echocardiogram.

PMID- 20930981
TI  - Postcoital vaginoperitoneal fistula after hysterectomy for gynecological
      malignancy.
AB  - A true incidence of postcoital fistula is not known as it is seldom suspected. It
      presents as acute pneumoperitoneum with signs and symptoms same as that of
      perforation of a hollow viscus. A 38-year-old parous woman presented with
      postcoital fistula 10 weeks after panhysterectomy for carcinoma ovary stage IIIc.
      Pneumoperitoneum was detected, with large amount of gas under the diaphragm on
      radiograph of the abdomen. A breach was found in the vaginal vault. All other
      causes of fistula were excluded. Fistula healed spontaneously on follow-up.

PMID- 20930982
TI  - Fatal spontaneous rectus sheath hematoma in a patient with cirrhosis.
AB  - Rectus sheath hematoma (RSH) is an uncommon and often misdiagnosed condition.
      This well-described entity is typically self-limited. In rare cases, the
      condition may be fatal. We report a case of a patient with cirrhosis who died of
      progressive RSH and its subsequent complications.

PMID- 20930983
TI  - Traumatic hemorrhage of occult phaeochromocytoma in a patient with septic shock.
AB  - Phaeochromocytoma can have a variety of presentations; however, traumatic
      hemorrhage into a phaeochromocytoma is a very rare presentation. Diagnosing and
      managing a critically ill, septic patient with a Phaeochromocytoma can be very
      challenging. We report a case of 53 years old man with a previously undiagnosed
      Phaeochromocytoma, who presented initially with bowel perforation following an
      assault. Following a laparotomy for bowel resection and anastomosis, whilst on
      the intensive care unit, he developed paroxysmal severe hypertension overlying
      septic shock. Phaeochromocytoma was confirmed using a computed tomography scan
      and urinary assay of metanephrine and catecholamines. We managed the haemodynamic
      instability using labetalol and noradrenaline infusions. As his septic state
      improved he was convention therapy and following control of his symptoms over the
      next few weeks, he underwent an uncomplicated right sided adrenalectomy. He made
      a full recovery.

PMID- 20930984
TI  - Fatal dialysis disequilibrium syndrome: A tale of two patients.
AB  - Dialysis disequilibrium syndrome (DDS) is a central nervous system disorder,
      which occurs during hemodialysis (HD) or within 24 h following the first HD. DDS
      commonly occurs in patients suffering from end-stage renal failure undergoing HD
      for the first time. In a critically ill patient suffering from severe sepsis or
      septic shock, the combined effects of post-HD brain edema and changes in the
      brain due to septic encephalopathy, may become amplified leading to DDS. Here we
      report 2 cases with acute renal failure (ARF), undergoing HD for more than a week
      and being ventilated and who developed DDS. DDS might have contributed to the
      sudden deterioration and death in these septic patients. The first case was a 31
      year-old male, involved in a motor vehicle accident and had a severe abdominal
      injury. Underwent laparotomy and hemostasis was achieved. On day 4, the patient
      developed hemorrhagic shock associated with ARF, which prompted daily HD. On day
      8, he went into septic shock. On day 16, 1 h after his daily HD, he became
      unresponsive and his pupils became dilated and fixed and he expired 2 days later.
      The second case was a young male who suffered severe abdominal and chest injury
      after a fall from a height. He developed ARF on day 3 and required HD. On day 9,
      he had septic shock. Three days later, during his daily HD, he became unconscious
      and his pupils were not reacting to light and the patient died on day 12.
      CONCLUSION: In patients with severe sepsis/septic shock, DDS may occur even after
      repeated sessions of HD. The acute care physicians, intensivists, and
      nephrologists should be aware of the risks of DDS.

PMID- 20930985
TI  - Asymptomatic diaphragmatic rupture with retroperitoneal opening as a result of
      blunt trauma.
AB  - Blunt traumas of the abdomen and thorax are important clinical problems in
      pediatric ages. Severity of trauma may not always be compatible with the
      patients' clinical situation. A 2-year-old male child was admitted to our
      emergency clinic as a result of tractor crash accident. Physical examination of
      the child was normal. The abdominal and thoracic ultrasonography (USG)
      examination performed in the emergency clinic was normal. In thoracic computed
      tomography (CT) scan of the patient, there was irregularity of the right
      diaphragmatic contour that was described as micro perforation-rupture (the free
      air was just in the perihepatic and retroperitoneal area, which was not passing
      through the abdomen). The patient was followed-up for 1 week in the hospital with
      a diagnosis of retroperitoneal diaphragmatic rupture. It is not appropriate to
      decide the severity of trauma in childhood on the basis of clinical findings.
      Although severe trauma and sustaining radiological examinations, the patients'
      clinical pictures may be surprisingly normal, as in our patient. In such cases,
      there may not be any clinical symptom. CT scan examination must be preferred to
      USG for both primary diagnosis and follow-up of these patients. According to the
      current literature, there is no reported case with retroperitoneal rupture of the
      diaphragm.

PMID- 20930986
TI  - A case of renal artery thrombosis with renal infarction.
AB  - Renal artery thrombosis is a rare, but serious and often misdiagnosed, condition.
      Emergency physicians and other physicians need to consider this diagnosis in
      unexplained flank pain, especially in patients with risk factors for this
      disease. In this case report, the authors review a case of renal infarction
      caused by renal artery thrombosis in a patient with risk factors for thrombosis
      but no previous history of thromboembolism. A review of scholarly articles was
      performed and the case is discussed in the context of the current knowledge of
      this condition. Common presenting symptoms, features of the history and risk
      factors will all be discussed herein. Diagnostic evaluation of flank pain in the
      setting of the suspicion of renal infarction will be discussed, including the
      modalities of high-resolution computed tomography, renal angiography,
      scintography and ultrasound. Acute management and prognosis will also be
      discussed.

PMID- 20930987
TI  - Post exercise ice water immersion: Is it a form of active recovery?
AB  - Ice water immersion and contrast temperature water immersion therapy post
      exercise is fast becoming a common practice among athletes involved in a variety
      of sports. Several mechanisms have been put forth to explain the rationale for
      its use. However, there is still a lack of evidence from a sufficiently large
      scale trial to support the routine practice and formal incorporation into certain
      sporting guidelines. We describe here two athletes who applied the therapy post
      exercise and presented to the Emergency Department with delayed onset muscle
      pain.

PMID- 20930988
TI  - Anticholinergic delirium following Datura stramonium ingestion: Implications for
      the Internet age.
AB  - Recreational use of Datura to deliberately induce an anticholinergic delirium is
      not uncommon. We present a case of Datura intoxication in a young adult who
      learned about the recreational use of Datura on the Internet and subsequently
      purchased Datura stramonium seeds from an online vendor. Using the Google search
      engine, we conducted searches for "Datura," "jimson weed" and "Datura seeds" and
      reviewed the first 200 search results for each search term. We found 16 websites
      recommending the recreational use of Datura, 12 vendors selling seeds of genus
      Datura and one website that both promoted the recreational use of Datura and also
      sold Datura stramonium leaves. The promotion of recreational use of Datura on the
      Internet represents a danger to public health and the ability to purchase Datura
      seeds from Internet vendors may increase the prevalence of Datura abuse.

PMID- 20930989
TI  - Successful removal of an impacted metallic arrowhead penetrating up to the
      brainstem.
AB  - A case of impacted metallic arrowhead in the brain through an unusual route of
      the neck and behind the external carotid artery to the base of the skull up to
      the brainstem is reported. Review of the literature reveals no previous reports
      of this type of injury. A 35-year-old man was admitted to the hospital after 36 h
      of injury, being fully conscious and with partial facial palsy. The arrowhead was
      successfully removed by exploration of the entry wound, without any neurovascular
      complications. The patient not only survived the operation but was also
      discharged in an improved neurological condition.

PMID- 20930990
TI  - Acute idiopathic gastric necrosis, perforation and shock.

PMID- 20930991
TI  - Maxillomandibular impalement due to a gardening hoe strike to the face.

PMID- 20930992
TI  - Heterotopic pregnancy: A diagnosis we should suspect more often.

PMID- 20930993
TI  - A case of quadriplegia with gastric perforation.

PMID- 20930994
TI  - Double-lumen endobronchial tube in the emergency management of massive
      hemoptysis.

PMID- 20930995
TI  - Surgical field fire and skin burns caused by alcohol-based skin preparation.

PMID- 20930996
TI  - Collapse of left lung after endotracheal intubation: Is it always due to
      misplacement of tube?

PMID- 20930997
TI  - Bedside sonography to diagnose bladder trauma in the emergency department.

PMID- 20930998
TI  - Traumatic diaphragmatic rupture with delayed gastric incarceration.

PMID- 20930999
TI  - Cardiac tamponade mimicking septic shock diagnosed by early echocardiography.

PMID- 20931000
TI  - Shock: A presentation of enteric fever.

PMID- 20931001
TI  - Foreign body of the rectum: An unusual case.

PMID- 20931002
TI  - Unusual malignant cause of adult intussusception: Stromal tumor of the small
      bowel.

PMID- 20931003
TI  - Paradoxical reaction to midazolam reversed with flumazenil.

PMID- 20931004
TI  - Management of acute ischemic stroke.

PMID- 20931005
TI  - Chest pain in young people: Is cannabis a risk factor?

PMID- 20931006
TI  - Role of clinical parameters and early noncontrast magnetic resonance imaging scan
      of brain in prediction of final neurologic outcome of hanging victims.

PMID- 20931007
TI  - Author's Reply.

PMID- 20931008
TI  - Authors's reply.

PMID- 20931009
TI  - An in-flight respiratory emergency and survival in the sky.

PMID- 20931010
TI  - Posterior dislocation of elbow with brachial artery injury.

PMID- 20931011
TI  - Commenting on biomarkers for differentiating between SIRS and sepsis.

PMID- 20931012
TI  - Oral systemic therapy: Not all "win-win".

PMID- 20931013
TI  - Comparison of vinorelbine with cisplatin in concomitant chemoradiotherapy in head
      and neck carcinoma.
AB  - AIM: Head and neck cancer is one of the most commonly occurring malignancies in
      the world. In India, the most commonly occurring head and neck cancers are those
      of the oral cavity and the pharynx. The majority of these cancers present with
      stage III/IV disease. Surgery and radiation therapy are the main treatment
      modalities. Concomitant chemoradiation is being investigated with the goal of
      improved local control that translates into improved survival. In this
      background, we have started this prospective randomized trial to ascertain the
      dose, schedule and sequence of therapy and to note whether Vinorelbine as
      radiosensitizer is equally effective as Cisplatin, comparing compliance, local
      control and toxicity. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Forty patients of advanced head and
      neck cancer were randomized into two arms. Arm A received weekly injection
      Cisplatin 40mg/m(2) along with radiation. Arm B received weekly injection of
      Vinorelbine 6mg/m(2) along with radiation. Radiotherapy was delivered at a dose
      of 6,600-7,000 Gy in conventional fractionation in a telecobalt machine. RESULTS:
      The complete response (CR) rate was higher in arm B (90%) than in arm A (70%).
      Major toxicities included neutropenia, anemia, mucositis and nausea. CONCLUSION:
      Concomitant chemoradiation with Vinorelbine produced more CR than chemoradiation
      with Cisplatin in advanced head and neck cancer. Toxicities were more in the
      Cisplatin arm, but they were manageable. Although a majority of the study was
      performed using Cisplatin as the radiosensitizer, Vinorelbine can be recommended
      as radiosensitizer in advanced head and neck malignancy.

PMID- 20931015
TI  - An unusual case of primary osteosarcoma of the rib in an adult.
AB  - Primary osteosarcomas are one of the most common malignant bone tumors
      principally affecting the long bones in children and adolescents. An unusual case
      of a primary osteoblastic osteosarcoma of the rib in a 42-year-old male is
      presented here. The patient underwent a wide excision of the tumor and chest wall
      reconstruction. Although clinically unsuspected in this unusual site, the classic
      microscopic feature of a ramifying osteoid matrix amidst the tumor cells was
      diagnostic of an osteosarcoma.

PMID- 20931014
TI  - NEO adjuvant chemotherapy in breast cancer: What have we learned so far?
AB  - Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) in breast cancer has undergone continuous
      evolution over the last few decades to establish its role in the combined
      modality management of these tumors. The process of evolution is still far from
      over. Many questions are still lurking in the minds of oncologists treating
      breast cancer. This review analyzes the evidence from metaanlyses, major
      multiinstitutional prospective trials, retrospective institutional series and
      systematic reviews in breast cancer to determine the current standards and
      controversies in NACT. The most effective drugs, their advantages, issues and
      controversies in delivery as well as the criteria for response are reviewed. A
      summary of evidence-based consensus is presented and unresolved aspects are
      discussed.

PMID- 20931016
TI  - Endometrial stromal sarcoma.
AB  - Endometrial stromal sarcoma (ESS) is a rare malignant tumor of the endometrium,
      occurring in the age group of 40-50 years. This is a case of low-grade ESS
      presenting as rapid enlargement of a fibroid uterus. Because of her secondary
      infertility, she was planned for myomectomy. However, due to the high degree of
      suspicion of a sarcomatous change in the fibroid, in view of rapid enlargement of
      uterus within the last 4 months, we planned for a preoperative endometrial
      aspiration. It showed low-grade ESS, which was later confirmed by histopathology
      examination of total hysterectomy specimen. As surgery was the main treatment for
      ESS, because of the proper preoperative diagnosis, we could plan the treatment
      accordingly. Despite the rarity of the tumor, one has to consider the possibility
      of ESS in cases with presentation of rapid enlargement of a fibroid uterus.

PMID- 20931017
TI  - Intra-abdominal desmoplastic small round cell tumor: Presentation of four cases
      and review of the literature.
AB  - Desmoplastic small round cell tumor (DSRCT) of the abdomen is a recently
      identified aggressive neoplasm. Very few cases have been reported in the
      literature. Thus, the treatment guidelines are yet to be defined. The role of
      chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgery is evolving. We treated four cases of
      DSRCT involving the abdomen using combination chemotherapy and/or tumor
      cytoreductive surgery. There were two men and two women. The chemotherapy drugs
      consisted of cisplatin, adriamycin, etoposide, ifosphamide, vincristine and
      cyclophsophamide. All patients achieved meaningful partial response to
      chemotherapy, which maintained for 6-9 months. There were very minimal
      chemotherapy-related complications. At the time of reporting, the median survival
      time was 15 months. Thus, DSRCT is an aggressive intra-abdominal tumor with
      excellent chemoresponsiveness, but relapse is frequent.

PMID- 20931018
TI  - Multiple cystic swelling: Initial presentation of multiple myeloma.
AB  - Multiple myeloma, a disease allied to malignancy of reticuloendothelial cells, is
      not an uncommon condition. However, the diagnosis is often made quite late
      because the disease has multiple modes of presentation. We are reporting a case
      of multiple myeloma in a 55-year-old male who presented with multiple cystic
      swellings on the chest.

PMID- 20931019
TI  - Virilizing adrenal carcinoma in a 3-year-old boy: A rarity.
AB  - A 3-year-old boy presented with iso-sexual precocious puberty for 18 months.
      Radiological images revealed left suprarenal mass and hormonal profile showed
      markedly increased testosterone and dehydroepiandrosterone-sulfate. The child
      underwent open adrenalectomy and histopathology revealed adrenocortical
      carcinoma. At 3 months follow-up, the child is doing well.

PMID- 20931020
TI  - Secondary acute myeloid leukemia after successful treatment for osteosarcoma.
AB  - Secondary acute myeloid leukemia (sAML) is a rare complication following
      chemotherapy for osteogenic sarcoma. However, the exact offending drug is
      difficult to prove as there is no consistent data. It usually develops 2 years
      after completion of therapy. We report a case of sAML that developed within 8
      months of completing the treatment. The patient was treated with cisplatin,
      doxorubicin and high-dose methotreaxate followed by surgery (amputation). Eight
      months after completion of therapy, while on follow-up, he presented with
      leukocytosis and thrombocytopenia and confirmed to have AML.

PMID- 20931021
TI  - Florid plasmacytosis in a case of acute myeloid leukemia: A diagnostic dilemma.
AB  - The association of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with plasmacytosis is a known,
      although rare event. There are very few case reports documenting an increase in
      the number of plasma cells at the time of AML diagnosis. Here, we present the
      case of a 65-year-old male diagnosed as acute myelomonocytic leukemia with
      exuberant plasmacytosis, which posed a difficulty in diagnosis. Paracrine
      interleukin-6 production by leukemic blast cells is thought to contribute to this
      associated reactive plasma cell proliferation.

PMID- 20931022
TI  - Lymphoma in HIV patients: Varied presentations.
AB  - Although lymphomas have been reported in patients with acquired immunodeficiency
      syndrome, it has rarely been reported from the Indian subcontinent. We present
      three human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients (two adults and one child)
      who had non-Hodgkin's lymphoma - plasmablastic variety, Hodgkin's lymphoma -
      nodular sclerosis type II and B cell lymphoma, respectively.

PMID- 20931023
TI  - From the Editor's desk.

PMID- 20931024
TI  - RNTCP and tuberculosis control - High time to act.

PMID- 20931025
TI  - Why do tuberculosis suspects bypass local services to attend tuberculosis
      sanatorium?
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Government Hospital of Thoracic Medicine (GHTM), Tambaram, in
      Kanchipuram district (formerly known as tuberculosis [TB] sanatorium), Tamil
      Nadu, draws patients from all over India although RNTCP services have been in
      place country-wide for a number of years. OBJECTIVE: To document the reasons for
      patients with chest symptoms attending GHTM, Tambaram. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In
      a prospective observational study, on a simple random sample basis, TB suspects
      attending the out-patient department of GHTM during the period January-March,
      2006, were interviewed using a semi-structured interview schedule. Information on
      demographic, socio-economic characteristics and reasons for attending GHTM for
      health care was collected. RESULTS: A total of 2,023 respondents attended GHTM
      during the study period; 56% were males, 67% were aged <45 years, 63% were
      literates and the average annual family income was Rs 25,000. Multiple reasons
      for attending GHTM were given: popularity of the centre (82%), perceived
      availability of good treatment (52%), referral by earlier treated patients (36%),
      expectation of specialized care (22%), referred by treating physicians (13%), and
      came for inpatient care (11%). CONCLUSION: Despite the availability of local
      RNTCP health services, many patients with chest symptoms made use of GHTM
      services due to the reputation of the former "TB sanatorium" in the community.
      The findings suggest that there is a need to improve community awareness of the
      availability of free diagnostic and treatment facilities locally under RNTCP.

PMID- 20931026
TI  - Outcomes of category III and I in immunocompetent patients of tuberculous
      lymphadenopathy treated in revised national tuberculosis control programme.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Retrospective observation analysis to evaluate the outcome of six
      month treatment regimen, CAT-III and CAT-I, for all patients diagnosed with
      tubercular lymphadenopathy at M.G.M. Medical College and M.Y. Hospital, Indore,
      India from January 2006 to December 2008. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Out of 3158
      cases of tuberculosis, there were 337 (10.67%) lymphnode cases; 31 (9.19%) HIV
      positive and 11(3.26 %) defaulters were excluded from the study. Of the remaining
      295 cases of lymphadenopathy enrolled, 240 were on CAT-III and 55 cases of
      complicated lymphadenopathy were on CAT-I. All patients were followed for six
      months, to monitor response and complications. Patients with abscess formation or
      sinus formation underwent aspiration, AFB smear and culture sensitivity. In
      patients with persistent lymphadenopathy, repeat FNAC of the gland and in cases
      of hard lymphnode excision biopsy was done before receiving re-treatment regimen
      category -II or reserved drugs. RESULT: Out of 295 patients, 212 (71.86%)
      responded to treatment, however, 83 (28.14%) did not show response at the end of
      treatment. Of the 83 patients, 54 (65.06%) responded to re-treatment regimen CAT
      II, while 29 (34.93%) were found to be drug resistant and were given second line
      anti tubercular drugs. In the follow-up at six months and later after the end of
      treatment, 11 (5.18%) relapse was seen. CONCLUSION: In our study, success rate of
      currently recommended regimens, category III and I under the revised national
      tuberculosis control programme in tubercular lymphadenopathy was 71.86%; with
      28.34% of patients requiring re-treatment regimen. This requires a lager study
      involving more number of patients to prove adequacy of regimen.

PMID- 20931027
TI  - Utility of fiberoptic bronchoscopy in diagnosis of various lung conditions: Our
      experience at rural medical college.
AB  - AIM: To evaluate the utility of fiberoptic bronchoscopy in order to find out the
      etiology in various lung conditions. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fiberoptic
      bronchoscopy was performed in 120 adult patients who had persistent opacities on
      chest radiography in the form of collapse, consolidation, hilar mass and cavity
      with proper antibiotic course of 1 to 3 months. Bronchoscopic aspirates, brushing
      and biopsy (as and when required) were taken. Patient with known lung cancer,
      sputum positive pulmonary TB, recent myocardial infarction, allergic diseases and
      blood dyscrasias were excluded. RESULTS: Fiberoptic bronchoscopy was diagnostic
      in 90 (75%) patients. Bacterial pneumonias were found in 32 (26.66%), malignancy
      in 28(23.33%), pulmonary TB in 20 (16.66%), fungal pneumonia in 6(5%) and foreign
      bodies in 4(3.33%) patients. In 30(25%) patients no specific diagnosis was made.
      CONCLUSION: We conclude that fiberoptic bronchoscopy was found to be extremely
      useful in finding specific etiology of various lung diseases.

PMID- 20931028
TI  - Study of bronchoalveolar lavage in clinically and radiologically suspected cases
      of pulmonary tuberculosis.
AB  - CONTEXT: About 30 to 50 % of pulmonary tuberculosis patients have sputum report
      negative for acid fast bacilli or present with no expectoration. A lot of
      research is going on to find methods to establish early and accurate diagnosis of
      pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) as institutions of early treatment can have
      significant effects on morbidity and mortality of patients and also the
      development of MDR-TB. Samples other than sputum play an important role in the
      diagnosis of disease in such patients. AIMS: To assess the significance of
      bronchoalveolar lavage samples and fiberoptic bronchoscopy (FOB) in the early
      diagnosis of occult sputum smear negative pulmonary tuberculosis. SETTINGS AND
      DESIGN: Study was conducted in a tertiary care hospital. FOB was performed in
      patients with three consecutive sputum smear negative acid fast bacilli to obtain
      bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) samples. Written informed consent was obtained from
      these patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: BAL samples were subjected to Z-N staining
      and culture on L-J slopes for acid fast bacilli. Sputum samples from the same
      patients were also cultured. RESULTS: BAL samples were positive in 82.2% of
      sputum smear negative samples. Culture positivity of BAL samples was 90.9% as
      compared to sputum culture positivity which was 26.4%. Overall diagnosis could be
      established in 86.6% of patients with the help of fiber optic bronchoscopy.
      CONCLUSIONS: BAL samples are very useful in early sputum smear negative pulmonary
      tuberculosis and FOB can play an important role in diagnosis of lower respiratory
      tract infections with minimal complications in hands of an expert.

PMID- 20931029
TI  - Non-invasive ventilation for acute exacerbation of COPD with very high PaCO(2): A
      randomized controlled trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the role of non-invasive positive pressure ventilation
      (NIPPV) for management of Indian patients with acute exacerbation of chronic
      obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty patients
      (mean age 57.6 +/- 10.8 years; M:F 31:9) with AECOPD with pH <7.35, admitted to
      the intensive care unit were included. Patients were randomized to receive NIPPV
      (N, n = 20) with conventional therapy or conventional therapy (C, n = 20) alone
      at admission. NIPPV was given through the nasal mask. Incidence of need of
      endotracheal intubation (ETI) was the primary efficacy variable. Hospital
      mortality, duration of hospital stay and change in clinical and blood gas
      parameters were the secondary outcome variables. RESULTS: Mean pH at baseline for
      N and C groups were similar (7.23 +/- 0.07) whereas PaCO(2) was 85.4 +/- 14.8 and
      81.1 +/- 11.6 mm of Hg, respectively. At one hour, patients in N group had
      greater improvement in pH (P = 0.017) as well as PaCO(2) (P = 0.04) which
      corroborated with clinical improvement. Whereas need of ETI was reduced in
      patients who received NIPPV (3/20 vs 12/20, P = 0.003), in-hospital mortality was
      similar (3/20 and 2/20, P = NS). The mean duration of hospital stay was
      significantly shorter in N group (9.4 +/- 4.3 days) as compared to C group (17.8
      +/- 2.6 days); P = 0.001. CONCLUSIONS: In patients with AECOPD, NIPPV leads to
      rapid improvement in blood gas parameters and reduces the need for ETI.

PMID- 20931030
TI  - Lung cancer in the Kashmir valley.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Lung cancer has been found to be the second commonest cancer
      according to a hospital-based data from Kashmir, India. However, no incidence
      studies are available. OBJECTIVE: To ascertain the incidence of lung cancer in
      Kashmir. MATERIALS AND METHODS: All newly histologically diagnosed cases of lung
      cancer seen in various hospital and private laboratories of the Kashmir valley
      were registered over a period of two years (January 1, 2004 to December 31,
      2005). Also included were patients attending the various oncological service
      areas of the institute and those diagnosed from any other laboratory outside the
      state. The incidence rate was calculated using the January 2005 population as the
      reference population estimated using the census-based projected populations.
      RESULTS: Four hundred and sixty-two incident cases of lung cancer were seen
      during the study period. The crude incidence rate, age standardized (world) and
      truncated age adjusted (40-69 years, world) incidence rates for lung cancer per
      100 000 population were 4.01, 6.48 and 15.28 respectively (males 6.55, 10.09 and
      23.94 respectively and females 1.19, 2.14 and 4.65). The age adjusted rates for
      males in district Srinagar was 19.34 per 100 000. One hundred and fifty nine
      (69.8%) of the 221 had a history of Hukkah smoking. CONCLUSIONS: Even though
      Kashmir as a whole is a low incidence area for lung cancer (ASR of < 15),
      Srinagar district has the highest incidence of lung cancer among the males in
      Kashmir. The data presented is assumed to be the closest approximation to a
      population-based data registry and the geographical incidence maps of ICMR need
      appropriate updating.

PMID- 20931031
TI  - Evaluation of serum immunoglobulin E levels in bronchial asthma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Immunoglobulin E and associated cellular responses are responsible
      for allergic airway diseases. A hypersensitivity reaction initiated by
      immunologic mechanisms, mediated by IgE antibodies occurs in allergic asthma AIM:
      To estimate and compare serum IgE levels in mild, moderate, and severe asthmatics
      and in normal subjects and to obtain a mathematical model describing the
      relationship between serum IgE levels and severity of asthma. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: A stratified sample of 60 patients within age group of 18-60 years and
      31 male and 29 female asthmatic patients and 13 healthy controls within 18-60
      years were included in this study and classified according to GINA
      classification. Serum IgE levels were estimated by using ELISA kit. RESULTS: Mean
      IgE levels ranged from 151.95 IU/ml in normal subjects to 1045.32 IU/ml in severe
      asthmatics. The model developed was 27% efficient. CONCLUSION: Serum
      Immunoglobulin E levels were high in asthmatics as compared to normal subjects.
      On an average, the levels increased as the severity of asthma increased. However,
      there was no statistically significant correlation since the variability in each
      level of asthma was very large.

PMID- 20931032
TI  - Treatment of asthma: Identification of the practice behavior and the deviation
      from the guideline recommendations.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Despite an exponential development of the understanding of the
      disease with availability of good therapy and feasibility of good control along
      with availability of globally accepted guidelines, there remains a significant
      gap between the guidelines and prevailing practice behavior for treating asthma
      all over the globe. This perhaps stands as the single most deterrent factor for
      good asthma care worldwide. The objective of the study is to analyze the asthma
      prescriptions to find out the available status of the practice behaviour and the
      deviations from the guideline in asthma practice. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The
      asthma prescriptions of the referred patients presenting to the OPD services of
      the IPCR, Kolkata were photocopied and collected. They were further analyzed
      based on the available information upon a format being prepared on four major
      areas as qualifications, clinical recording habit, practice of evaluating
      patients, and treatment habit that stands apparent from the prescribed
      medications. The doctors were divided into three categories as a) MBBS, b) MD/DNB
      (medicine and respiratory medicine), and c) DM (non respiratory sub-specialities)
      and statistical analysis has been performed comparing the three groups as per the
      performance in the four pre-decided areas. RESULTS: All the groups fall short of
      any guideline or text of asthma care in all the areas involved. CONCLUSION: The
      practice behaviour of our doctors for asthma care appears deficient in several
      areas and seems far from guideline recommendations. This needs further evaluation
      and adoption of appropriate interventions.

PMID- 20931033
TI  - Pulmonary function test in healthy school children of 8 to 14 years age in south
      Gujarat region, India.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To obtain reference values for FEV(1), FVC, FEV(1)% and PEFR among
      children aged 8-14 years in south Gujarat region of India. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      This cross-sectional study was conducted among 655 normal healthy school children
      (408 boys and 247 girls) of Surat city aged 8 to 14 years studying in V to VII
      standard during November 2007 to April 2008. Height, weight, body surface area
      were measured. All included children were tested in a sitting position with the
      head straight after taking written consent from parents. Spirometry was done
      using the spirometer "Spirolab II" MIR 010. Spirometer used in the study
      facilitates the total valuation of lung function including forced vital capacity
      (FVC), forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV(1)), forced expiratory volume
      ratio in one second (FEV(1)%) and peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR). RESULTS: FVC,
      FEV(1) and PEFR were found to be statistically significant in the study groups.
      For FVC and FEV(1), highest correlation was found with age in girls and height in
      boys. For FEV(1)%, significant negative correlation was found with age and height
      in both sexes, but positive correlation was found with surface area. Similarly,
      PEFR showed highest correlation with surface area in boys and girls. CONCLUSION:
      Variables such as FVC, FEV(1) and PEFR show good positive correlation with
      height, age and body surface area in both sexes. There is a need to have regional
      values for the prediction of normal spirometric parameters in a country like
      India with considerable diversity.

PMID- 20931034
TI  - Nosocomial pneumonia in critically ill patients.
AB  - The care of critically ill patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) is a primary
      component of modern medicine. ICUs create potential for recovery in patients who
      otherwise may not have survived. However, they may suffer from problems
      associated with of nosocomial infections. Nosocomial infections are those which
      manifest in patients 48 hours after admission to hospital. Nosocomial infections
      are directly related to diagnostic, interventional or therapeutic procedures a
      patient undergoes in hospital, and are also influenced by the bacteriological
      flora prevailing within a particular unit or hospital. Urinary tract infections
      are the most frequent nosocomial infection, accounting for more than 40% of all
      nosocomial infections. Critical care units increasingly use high technology
      medicine for patient care, hemodynamic monitoring, ventilator support,
      hemodialysis, parenteral nutrition, and a large battery of powerful drugs,
      particularly antibiotics to counter infection. It is indeed a paradox that the
      use of high-tech medicine has brought in its wake the dangerous and all too
      frequent complication of nosocomial infections.

PMID- 20931035
TI  - Three cases of ARDS: An emerging complication of Plasmodium vivax malaria.
AB  - Plasmodium (P.) vivax malaria is rarely associated with severe complications like
      acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). We report three cases of ARDS, which
      occurred as a complication of vivax malaria, from the city of Kolkata. A middle
      aged man who developed ARDS along with hepatic and renal dysfunction on the day 7
      after completion of antimalarial treatment; a 36-year-old man who developed ARDS
      on the day 5 after completion of antimalarial treatment and a 15-year-old boy who
      developed ARDS on day 2, before starting anti-malarial drug. In all cases, vivax
      malaria was diagnosed by peripheral blood film (PBF) examination. Associated
      falciparum infection was excluded by repeated PBF examination, and by negative P.
      falciparum malaria antigen tests. In all cases, ARDS was diagnosed by the
      presence of hypoxia with PaO(2) / FiO(2) ratio < 200 and bilateral pulmonary
      infiltration, and by excluding cardiac disease by echocardiography. All cases
      typically had dramatic onset of ARDS, and required immediate (within hour of
      onset of dyspnea) institution of mechanical ventilation with high positive end
      expiratory pressure. All three cases recovered completely, and early ventilator
      support was life-saving.

PMID- 20931036
TI  - Non-small cell lung carcinoma presenting as carcinomatous meningitis.
AB  - Meningeal carcinomatosis is a diffuse infiltration of leptomeninges and sub
      arachnoid space by malignant cells metastasizing from systemic cancer. Primary
      bronchogenic carcinoma presenting as carcinomatous meningitis is a very rare
      occurrence in clinical practice, often occurring during the treatment course of
      the underlying malignancy. We present this rare presentation in a young non
      smoker male.

PMID- 20931037
TI  - Diagnostic role of magnetic resonance angiography in Swyer James syndrome: Case
      series of two cases.
AB  - Swyer James syndrome is a rare syndrome which occurs due to viral illness in
      early childhood. The post infective obliterative bronchiolitis results in arrest
      of lung growth and alveolarization with reduced vascularity resulting in
      classical radiological features. We describe two cases of patients fulfilling all
      the criteria of the syndrome - 1) Unilateral hyperlucent small lung in chest
      radiograph with air trapping on expiration, small ipsilateral hila and pulmonary
      artery. 2) Diffuse decrease in attenuation of lung parenchyma with bronchiectasis
      and reduction in vascularity. 3) Unilateral pruned tree appearance on angiography
      (MRA). The clinical presentation was recurrent chest infection in a child and
      infrequent bouts of hemoptysis in a middle aged female. The study demonstrates
      the role of magnetic resonance angiography in diagnosing the condition.

PMID- 20931038
TI  - It's easy to miss complicated hydatid cyst of lung.
AB  - A 60-year-old female presented with pneumonitis of right lower zone. CT scan
      revealed mass like lesion with multiple air pockets. FNAC and ultrasound
      confirmed the diagnosis as isolated active pulmonary hydatid cyst, which is not
      common finding in adult population.

PMID- 20931039
TI  - Primary adenoid cystic carcinoma of trachea presenting as midline neck swelling
      and mimicking thyroid tumor: A case report and review of literature.
AB  - We report an extremely rare case of primary adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC)
      trachea presenting as midline swelling neck and mimicking thyroid tumor. A 44
      year-old female presented with painless midline swelling neck without any
      respiratory complaints, hoarseness of voice or dysphagia etc. Fine needle
      aspiration cytology (FNAC) from swelling reveal features of papillary carcinoma
      thyroid. Subsequently the operative findings, bronchoscopy and histological
      diagnosis of excised mass, along with review of FNAC, revealed features of ACC of
      trachea with exra tracheal extension anteriorly into the soft tissue neck,
      without actual invasion of the thyroid gland. The world literature on extension
      of an ACC arising in the laryngotracheal complex to thyroid or soft tissue neck
      and clinical manifestation as a thyroid nodule or mass is reviewed. The
      cytological differential diagnosis of ACC and CT findings are also briefly
      discussed.

PMID- 20931040
TI  - Laser resection of endobronchial hamartoma via fiberoptic bronchoscopy.
AB  - Endobronchial hamartoma is a rare benign tumor of lung that may present with
      symptoms of airway obstruction with wheezing, stridor, recurrent pneumonia or
      atelectasis. We report a case of a patient with endobronchial hamartoma,
      recurrent pneumonia, who presented to us with sputum smear and culture positive
      pulmonary tuberculosis. He was treated with antitubercular treatment and
      endobronchial hamartoma was resected completely by diode laser through fiberoptic
      bronchoscope.

PMID- 20931041
TI  - Silicosis with bilateral spontaneous pneumothorax.
AB  - Presentation with simultaneous bilateral pneumothorax is uncommon and usually in
      the context of secondary spontaneous pneumothorax. The association of
      pneumothorax and silicosis is infrequent and most cases are unilateral. Bilateral
      pneumothorax in silicosis is very rare with just a few reports in medical
      literature.

PMID- 20931042
TI  - Cleidocranial dysplasia.
AB  - Cleidocranial dysplasia is a rare autosomal dominant condition with generalized
      dysplasia of bone, characterized by delayed closer of cranial sutures,
      hypoplastic or aplastic clavicles, short stature, dental abnormalities and a
      variety of other skeletal abnormalities. We present a seven-year-old female child
      presenting with classical features of cleidocranial dysplasia.

PMID- 20931043
TI  - Late recurrence of malignant melanoma presenting with hemoptysis.
AB  - After a disease-free period of 10 years, a surgically treated case of cutaneous
      malignant melanoma is usually not followed up further and there is a tendency to
      assume that the disease is cured. Late recurrence (after 10 years) of cutaneous
      malignant melanoma, though infrequent, has been documented well in Western
      countries. In our country, the malignant melanoma is still considered uncommon
      and there is no data regarding its late recurrence. We report a case of pulmonary
      malignant melanoma as a late metastatic manifestation of primary plantar
      malignant melanoma in a 61-year-old man who presented with hemoptysis; metastatic
      malignant melanoma of the lung occurred 12 years after resection of primary
      malignant melanoma of sole of the right foot.

PMID- 20931044
TI  - Erythema nodosum: Atypical presentation of common disease.
AB  - Tuberculosis is a very common disease often presenting in an uncommon form. High
      level of suspicion is required to diagnose it, thereby preventing its morbidity
      and mortality. We present a case of young female with multiple tuberculo-protein
      hypersensitivity reactions without any evidence of active tuberculosis in the
      body.

PMID- 20931045
TI  - Benign fibrous histiocytoma of larynx: A rare cause of acute airway obstruction.
AB  - Fibrous histiocytoma of larynx is a rare entity. We herein present a 35-year-old
      femaleof benign fibrous histiocytoma oflarynx with severe airway obstruction that
      requiring urgent endotracheal intubation followed by tracheostomy. We also report
      the good long-term survival of this case after such a critical condition.

PMID- 20931046
TI  - Diagnosis of three cases of endobronchial tuberculosis presenting as unresolved
      pneumonia, following fiberoptic bronchoscopic biopsy.
AB  - Nowadays, endobronchial tuberculosis is of rare occurrence. This article presents
      three such cases. All of them presented as unresolved pneumonia with collapse
      consolidation in chest X-ray. All the three patients were sputum smear negative
      for acid fast bacilli. Diagnosis was possible only with fiberoptic bronchoscopy
      and bronchial biopsy.

PMID- 20931047
TI  - Periodontitis: A risk factor to respiratory diseases.

PMID- 20931048
TI  - Chilaiditi sign.

PMID- 20931050
TI  - Maternal deaths drop by one-third from 1990 to 2008: a United Nations analysis.

PMID- 20931051
TI  - National and global responsibilities for health.

PMID- 20931052
TI  - Implications of the adelaide statement on health in all policies.

PMID- 20931053
TI  - Life-saving learning around the drinking pot.

PMID- 20931054
TI  - New Zealand cuts health spending to control costs.

PMID- 20931055
TI  - Sierra Leone's long recovery from the scars of war.

PMID- 20931057
TI  - Retrospective comparative evaluation of the lasting impact of a community-based
      primary health care programme on under-5 mortality in villages around Jamkhed,
      India.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To conduct the first rigorous evaluation of the long-term effect of
      the Comprehensive Rural Health Project on childhood mortality in rural
      Maharashtra. METHODS: Background information and full birth histories were
      collected by conducting household surveys and interviewing women. Control
      villages resembling project villages in terms of population size were randomly
      selected from an area enclosed by two ellipses centred around, but not including,
      the project area. An equal number of villages and approximately equal numbers of
      households and women were randomly sampled from both areas. Cox models with
      robust standard errors were used to compare the hazard of death among children
      under 5 years of age in project and control villages. FINDINGS: The hazard of
      death was reduced by 30% (95% confidence interval, CI: 6% to 48%) after the
      neonatal period in the project villages compared with control villages after
      adjustment for caste and religion of subjects and for availability of irrigation
      in the villages. During the neonatal period there was an increase of 3% in the
      hazard of death, but it was not statistically significant (95% CI: -18% to 29%).
      CONCLUSION: Our methods provide useful tools for evaluating long-running
      community-based primary health care programmes. Our findings add to the growing
      debate on the long-term sustainability of community-based interventions designed
      to reduce child mortality.

PMID- 20931058
TI  - Common perinatal mental disorders in northern Viet Nam: community prevalence and
      health care use.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To establish the prevalence of common perinatal mental disorders their
      determinants, and their association with preventive health care use among women
      in one rural and one urban province in northern Viet Nam. METHODS: We conducted a
      cross-sectional survey of cohorts of pregnant women and mothers of infants
      recruited systematically in 10 randomly-selected communes. The women participated
      in psychiatrist-administered structured clinical interviews and separate
      structured interviews to assess sociodemographic factors, reproductive health,
      the intimate partner relationship, family violence and the use of preventive and
      psychiatric health care. Associations between these variables and perinatal
      mental disorders were explored through univariate analyses and multivariable
      logistic regression. FINDINGS: Among women eligible for the study (392), 364
      (93%) were recruited. Of these, 29.9% (95% confidence interval, CI: 25.20-34.70)
      were diagnosed with a common perinatal mental disorder (CPMD). The frequency of
      such disorders during pregnancy and in the postpartum period was the same. Their
      prevalence was higher among women in rural provinces (odds ratio, OR: 2.17; 95%
      CI: 1.19-3.93); exposed to intimate partner violence (OR: 2.11; 95% CI: 1.12
      3.96); fearful of other family members (OR: 3.36; 95% CI: 1.05-10.71) or exposed
      to coincidental life adversity (OR: 4.40; 95% CI: 2.44-7.93). Fewer women with a
      CPMD used iron supplements than women without a CPMD, but the results were not
      statistically significant (P = 0.05). None of the women studied had ever received
      mental health care. CONCLUSION: Perinatal depression and anxiety are prevalent in
      women in northern Viet Nam. These conditions are predominantly determined by
      social factors, including rural residence, poverty and exposure to family
      violence. At present the needs of women with common perinatal mental disorders
      are unrecognized and not attended to and their participation in essential
      antenatal preventive care appears to be compromised.

PMID- 20931059
TI  - Declining child mortality in northern Malawi despite high rates of infection with
      HIV.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine whether routine surveys, such as the Demographic and
      Health Surveys (DHS), have underestimated child mortality in Malawi. METHODS:
      Rates and causes of child mortality were obtained from a continuous-registration
      demographic surveillance system (DSS) in Malawi for a population of 32 000. After
      initial census, births and deaths were reported by village informants and updated
      monthly by project enumerators. Cause of death was established by verbal autopsy
      whenever possible. The likely impact of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)
      infection on child mortality was also estimated from antenatal clinic
      surveillance data. Overall and age-specific mortality rates were compared with
      those from the 2004 Malawi DHS. FINDINGS: Between August 2002 and February 2006,
      38 617 person-years of observation were recorded for 20 388 children aged < 15
      years. There were 342 deaths. Re-census data, follow-up visits at 12 months of
      age and the ratio of stillbirths to neonatal deaths suggested that death
      registration by the DSS was nearly complete. Infant mortality was 52.7 per 1000
      live births, under-5 mortality was 84.8 per 1000 and under-15 mortality was 99.1
      per 1000. One-fifth of deaths by age 15 were attributable to HIV infection. Child
      mortality rates estimated with the DSS were approximately 30% lower than those
      from national estimates as determined by routine surveys. CONCLUSION: The fact
      that child mortality rates based on the DSS were relatively low in the study
      population is encouraging and suggests that the low mortality rates estimated
      nationally are an accurate reflection of decreasing rates.

PMID- 20931060
TI  - Effectiveness of zinc supplementation plus oral rehydration salts for diarrhoea
      in infants aged less than 6 months in Haryana state, India.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine if educating caregivers in providing zinc supplements to
      infants < 6 months old with acute diarrhoea is effective in treating diarrhoea
      and preventing acute lower respiratory infections (ALRIs), and whether it leads
      to a decrease in the use of oral rehydration salts (ORS). METHODS: In this
      retrospective subgroup analysis of infants aged < 6 months, six clusters were
      randomly assigned to intervention or control sites. Care providers were trained
      to give zinc and ORS to children with acute diarrhoea at intervention sites, and
      only ORS at control sites. Surveys were conducted at 3 and 6 months to assess
      outcomes. Differences between intervention and control sites in episodes of
      diarrhoea and ALRI in the preceding 24 hours or 14 days and of hospitalizations
      in the preceding 3 months were analysed by logistic regression. FINDINGS:
      Compared with control sites, intervention sites had lower rates of acute
      diarrhoea in the preceding 14 days at 3 months (odds ratio, OR: 0.60; 95%
      confidence interval, CI: 0.43-0.84) and 6 months (OR: 0.72; 95% CI: 0.54-0.94);
      lower rates of acute diarrhoea in the preceding 24 hours at 3 months (0.66; 95%
      CI: 0.50-0.87) and of ALRI in the preceding 24 hours at 6 months (OR: 0.59; 95%
      CI: 0.37-0.93); and lower rates of hospitalization at 6 months for all causes
      (OR: 0.40; 95% CI: 0.34-0.49), diarrhoea (OR: 0.34; 0.18-0.63) and pasli chalna
      or pneumonia (OR: 0.36; 95% CI: 0.24-0.55). CONCLUSION: Educating caregivers in
      zinc supplementation and providing zinc to infants < 6 months old can reduce
      diarrhoea and ALRI. More studies are needed to confirm these findings as these
      data are from a subgroup analysis.

PMID- 20931061
TI  - Measuring and correcting biased child mortality statistics in countries with
      generalized epidemics of HIV infection.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Under Millennium Development Goal 4, countries are required to reduce
      child mortality by two-thirds between 1990 and 2015. In countries with
      generalized epidemics of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, standard
      statistics based on fertility history may misrepresent progress towards this
      target owing to the correlation between deaths among mothers and early childhood
      deaths from acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. METHODS: To empirically estimate
      this bias, child mortality data and fertility history, including births to
      deceased women, were collected through prospective household surveys in eastern
      Zimbabwe during 1998-2005. A mathematical model was then used to investigate the
      determinants and temporal dynamics of the bias, first in Zimbabwe and then in
      other countries with different background mortality rates and HIV-related
      epidemic profiles. FINDINGS: According to the empirical data, standard cross
      sectional survey statistics underestimated true infant and under-5 mortality by
      6.7% and 9.8%, respectively. These estimates were in agreement with the output
      from the model, in which the bias varied according to the magnitude and stage of
      the epidemic of HIV infection and background mortality rates. The bias was
      greater the longer the period elapsed before the survey and in later stages of
      the epidemic. Bias could substantially distort the measured effect of
      interventions to reduce non-HIV-related mortality and of programmes to prevent
      mother-to-child transmission, especially when trends are based on data from a
      single survey. CONCLUSION: The correlation between the HIV-related deaths of
      mothers and their children can bias survey estimates of early child mortality. A
      mathematical model with a user-friendly interface is available to correct for
      this bias when measuring progress towards Millennium Development Goal 4 in
      countries with generalized epidemics of HIV infection.

PMID- 20931062
TI  - Trends in smoking and quitting in China from 1993 to 2003: National Health
      Service Survey data.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: China has about 350 million smokers, more commonly men. Using data
      from National Health Service Surveys conducted in 1993, 1998 and 2003, we (i)
      estimated trends in smoking prevalence and cessation according to
      sociodemographic variables and (ii) analysed cessation rates, quitting
      intentions, reasons for quitting and reasons for relapsing. METHODS: Data were
      collected from approximately 57 000 households and 200 000 individuals in each
      survey year. Household members > 15 years of age were interviewed about their
      smoking habits, quitting intentions and attitudes towards smoking. We present
      descriptive data stratified by age, sex, income level and rural versus urban
      residence. FINDINGS: In China, current smoking in those > 15 years old declined
      60-49% in men and 5-3.2% in women over 1993-2003. The decline was more marked in
      urban areas. However, heavy smoking (>= 20 cigarettes daily) increased
      substantially overall and doubled in men. The average age of uptake also dropped
      by about 3 years. In 2003, 7.9% of smokers reported intending to quit, and 6% of
      people who had ever smoked reported having quit. Of former smokers, 40.6% quit
      because of illness, 26.9% to prevent disease and 10.9% for financial reasons.
      CONCLUSION: Smoking prevalence declined in China over the study period, perhaps
      due to the combined effect of smoking cessation, reduced uptake in women and
      selective mortality among men over 40 years of age. However, heavy smoking
      increased. People in China rarely quit or intend to quit smoking, except at older
      ages. Further tobacco control efforts are urgently needed, especially in rural
      areas.

PMID- 20931063
TI  - Context counts: training health workers in and for rural and remote areas.
AB  - Access to well trained and motivated health workers is the major rural health
      issue. Without local access, it is unlikely that people in rural and remote
      communities will be able to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. Studies in
      many countries have shown that the three factors most strongly associated with
      entering rural practice are: (i) a rural background; (ii) positive clinical and
      educational experiences in rural settings as part of undergraduate medical
      education; and (iii) targeted training for rural practice at the postgraduate
      level. This paper presents evidence for policy initiatives involving the training
      of medical students from, in and for rural and remote areas. We give examples of
      medical schools in different regions of the world that are using an evidence
      based and context-driven educational approach to producing skilled and motivated
      health workers. We demonstrate how context influences the design and
      implementation of different rural education programmes. Successful programmes
      have overcome major obstacles including negative assumptions and attitudes, and
      limitations of human, physical, educational and financial resources. Training
      rural health workers in the rural setting is likely to result in greatly improved
      recruitment and retention of skilled health-care providers in rural underserved
      areas with consequent improvement in access to health care for the local
      communities.

PMID- 20931064
TI  - The formulation and implementation of a national helmet law: a case study from
      Viet Nam.
AB  - PROBLEM: Road traffic injuries are a leading cause of death and disability in
      Viet Nam. In 2008, official data reported 11 243 deaths and 7771 serious injuries
      on the roads, of which an estimated 60% of fatalities occur in motorcycle riders
      and passengers. In recognition of this problem, Viet Nam has had partial
      motorcycle helmet legislation since 1995. However, for a variety of reasons,
      implementation and enforcement have been limited. APPROACH: On 15 December 2007,
      Viet Nam's first comprehensive mandatory helmet law came into effect, covering
      all riders and passengers on all roads nationwide. Penalties increased ten-fold
      and cohorts of police were mobilized for enforcement. LOCAL SETTING: The Viet Nam
      national helmet legislation was developed and implemented by the National Traffic
      Safety Committee. RELEVANT CHANGES: Despite past barriers to enforcement,
      increased policing in 2008 led to 680 000 infringements being issued for non
      helmet wearing. While changes in helmet wearing were not nationally observed,
      significant increases were documented in selected provinces in the first six
      months of the law's introduction. In Da Nang, helmet wearing increased from 27 to
      99%. In the first three months after the law took effect, surveillance data from
      20 urban and rural hospitals, found the risk of road traffic head injuries and
      deaths decreased by 16% and 18% respectively. LESSONS LEARNT: Political
      leadership, intensive advanced public education and stringent enforcement have
      contributed to the successful implementation of the new law. Through continual
      monitoring of the legislation, loopholes detrimental to the effectiveness of the
      law have been identified and addressed.

PMID- 20931065
TI  - Expansion of antiretroviral treatment to rural health centre level by a mobile
      service in Mumbwa district, Zambia.
AB  - PROBLEM: Despite the Government's effort to expand services to district level, it
      is still hard for people living with HIV to access antiretroviral treatment (ART)
      in rural Zambia. Strong demands for expanding ART services at the rural health
      centre level face challenges of resource shortages. APPROACH: The Mumbwa district
      health management team introduced mobile ART services using human resources and
      technical support from district hospitals, and community involvement at four
      rural health centres in the first quarter of 2007. This paper discusses the
      uptake of the mobile ART services in rural Mumbwa. LOCAL SETTING: Mumbwa is a
      rural district with an area of 23 000 km2 and a population of 167 000. Before the
      introduction of mobile services, ART services were provided only at Mumbwa
      District Hospital. RELEVANT CHANGES: The mobile services improved accessibility
      to ART, especially for clients in better functional status, i.e. still able to
      work. In addition, these mobile services may reduce the number of cases "lost to
      follow-up". This might be due to the closer involvement of the community and the
      better support offered by these services to rural clients. LESSONS LEARNT: These
      mobile ART services helped expand services to rural health facilities where
      resources are limited, bringing them as close as possible to where clients live.

PMID- 20931066
TI  - A standardized health information system for refugee settings: rationale,
      challenges and the way forward.

PMID- 20931067
TI  - Suicide research and prevention in developing countries in Asia and the Pacific.

PMID- 20931069
TI  - Pharmacognosy and technology.

PMID- 20931070
TI  - Protective effects of bioactive phytochemicals from Mentha piperita with multiple
      health potentials.
AB  - Mentha piperita essential oil was bactericidal in order of E. coli> S. aureus >
      Pseudomonas aeruginosa > S. faecalis > Klebsiella pneumoniae. The oil with total
      phenolics of 89.43 +/- 0.58 ug GAE/mg had 63.82 +/- 0.05% DPPH inhibition
      activity with an IC (50) = 3.9 ug/ml. Lipid peroxidation inhibition was
      comparable to BHT and BHA. A 127% hike was noted in serum ferric-reducing
      antioxidant power. There was 38.3% decrease in WBCs count, while platelet count
      showed increased levels of 214.12%. Significant decrease in uric acid level and
      cholesterol/HDL and LDL/HDL ratios were recorded. The volatile oil displayed high
      cytotoxic action toward the human tumor cell line. The results of this study
      deserve attention with regard to antioxidative and possible anti-neoplastic
      chemotherapy that form a basis for future research. The essential oil of mint may
      be exploited as a natural source of bioactive phytopchemicals bearing
      antimicrobial and antioxidant potentials that could be supplemented for both
      nutritional purposes and preservation of foods.

PMID- 20931071
TI  - A validated high performance liquid chromatography method for the analysis of
      thymol and carvacrol in Thymus vulgaris L. volatile oil.
AB  - Thymus vulgaris L. (Lamiaceae) is a well-known medicinal plant that contains
      important compounds such as thymol and carvacrol and it has been used in many
      pharmaceutical dosage forms. Thymol and carvacrol in essential oils are often
      quantified by gas chromatography (GC) technique but in this work, a validated and
      reliable high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method has been developed
      for the analysis of these two components in T. vulgaris essential oil. The
      essential oil of the plant was analyzed by HPLC and GC techniques. The HPLC
      system consisted of ACE C(18) column and an isocratic acetonitrile:water (50:50)
      as the mobile phase which was kept at a flow rate of 1 ml/min. The method was
      validated for selectivity, linearity (r(2) > 0.997 for both thymol and
      carvacrol), precision (intra-day 0.8-1.9, 1.7-2.6; and inter-day 3.5-4.5, 3.6
      4.7) and recovery (97.7%, 97.6%) for thymol and carvacrol, respectively. The
      limits of detection (LODs) and limits of quantization (LOQs) were calculated to
      be 2.8, 0.6 ug/ml and 8.6, 1.8 ug/ml for thymol and carvacrol, respectively. The
      GC system consisted of flame ionization detector (FID) and CP-SIL 8 column. The
      concentrations of thymol and carvacrol in essential oil obtained by HPLC (41.2%,
      4.3%) and GC (40.7%, 4.2%) were compared by statistical methods and they showed
      good agreement.

PMID- 20931072
TI  - Screening of molluscicidal strain against Oncomelania hupensis from the
      rhizosphere of medicinal plant Phytolacca acinosa Roxb.
AB  - The research aimed to screen and exploit molluscicidal microorganisms against
      Oncomelania hupensis, from the rhizosphere of medicinal plant, Phytolacca acinosa
      Roxb., and one strain named as SL-30 was obtained with excellent molluscicidal
      activity. The freeze-dried powder of exocellular broth (EXB) of SL-30 could kill
      100% of snails at a concentration of 48 mg/l for a submerged period of 24 h, with
      stabile molluscicidal activity at a temperature lower than 60 degrees C;
      furthermore, it could be gradually degraded after exposure to illumination for 15
      days. The freeze-dried powder of SL-30's EXB was safe to fresh fish and shrimp,
      even at a concentration beyond LC(90) of 24-h exposure period. The glycogen and
      total protein content of soft tissues of snails decreased after treating with SL
      30's EXB, and glycogen content's decreasing rate had a linear relationship with
      molluscicidal activity. Finally, phylogenetic analysis based on ITS sequence
      showed that strain SL-30 had a higher similarity to Aspergillus fumigatus with
      bootstrap value 98%; accordingly, it was identified as a species of Aspergillus.

PMID- 20931073
TI  - Toxicity evaluation of Xanthorrhoea johnsonii leaf methanolic extract using the
      Artemia franciscana bioassay.
AB  - The toxicity of Xanthorrhoea johnsonii methanolic leaf extract was investigated
      using the Artemia franciscana nauplii bioassay. At 24 h, the extract produced an
      EC(50) of 361.0 +/- 41.8 MUg/ml, indicating that it was substantially more toxic
      than the pesticide Mevinphos (1346.2 +/- 80.1 MUg/ml) and approximately 4 fold
      less toxic than potassium dichromate (87.1 +/- 5.2 MUg/ml). Whilst potassium
      dichromate LC(50) values remained constant across the 72-h test period, these
      values decreased for the extract and Mevinphos to similar values (199.8 +/- 60.5
      and 114 +/- 12.8 MUg/ml, respectively), indicating their similar level of
      efficacy. Noteworthy was the apparent anesthetic effect of X. johnsonii leaf
      extract. Although the extract initially appeared to kill the A. franciscana
      nauplii, they were seen to temporarily recover by 48 h only to die by 72 h.

PMID- 20931074
TI  - Antimicrobial and antifungal properties of the essential oil and methanol
      extracts of Eucalyptus largiflorens and Eucalyptus intertexta.
AB  - This study was conducted to evaluate the in vitro antimicrobial properties of
      essential oil, its major component, 1,8-cineole, and extracts of two Eucalyptus
      species, Eucalyptus intertexta and Eucalyptus largiflorens. Minimum inhibitory
      concentration (MIC) of the extracts was calculated by broth dilution method and
      the zone of inhibition was studied by agar disk diffusion method. Gentamicin (10
      ug/disk) and rifampin (5 ug/disk) were used as reference controls for
      antibacterial studies and nystatin (100 ug/disk) for antifungal studies. The
      results of MIC study revealed that the essential oil has a stronger activity and
      broader spectrum than those of methanol extracts. It is interesting to point out
      that the oils had even greater potential of antimicrobial activities than those
      of 1,8-cineole as their main component.

PMID- 20931075
TI  - Cytotoxicity of hydro-alcoholic extracts of Cucurbitapepo and Solanum nigrum on
      HepG2 and CT26 cancer cell lines.
AB  - Plants are used worldwide for the treatment of diseases, and novel drugs continue
      to be developed through research from plants. There are more than 20,000 species
      of plants used in traditional medicines, and these are all potential reservoirs
      for new drugs. Cucurbitapepo has been used in traditional folk medicine to treat
      cold and alleviate ache. Previous pharmacological tests have shown that it
      possesses antiviral, anti-inflammatory, and analgesic effects. Also, Solanum
      nigrum has been used as a diuretic and an antipyretic agent and it has also been
      used to cure inflammation, edema, mastitis and hepatic cancer. In this
      investigation, cytotoxicity of specific concentrations of hydro-alcoholic
      extracts of C. pepo and S. nigrum was studied on normal [Chinese hamster ovarian
      cells (CHO) and rat fibroblast] and cancer (HepG2 and CT26) cell lines. The
      cytotoxic effects and IC(50) of the extracts on the selected cell lines were
      studied followed by colonogenic assay method. The results showed that IC(50) of
      S. nigrum extract was significantly lower than that of the C. pepo extract on all
      four cell lines (P < 0.05). On the other hand, IC(50) of S. nigrum extract was
      significantly higher than the extract of Taxus baccata and Cisplatin, herbal and
      chemical control positive anticancer compounds, respectively, on all four cell
      lines (P < 0.05). As a result, it is concluded that the extract of S. nigrum has
      almost similar cytotoxicity to the extract of T. baccata on cancer cells.

PMID- 20931076
TI  - Production of podophyllotoxin in Linum linearifolium in vitro cultures.
AB  - For the first time, callus and suspension cultures of Linum linearifolium were
      initiated. Podophyllotoxin (PTOX), a strong antitumor precursor, was isolated
      from the calli and suspension, as a main lignan besides smaller amount of 6
      methoxypodophyllotoxin (6MPTOX). L. linearifolium is now the third Linum species
      of section Syllinum, with PTOX as the main lignan. The amounts of lignans,
      especially PTOX, found in L. linearifolium cell cultures are quite high within
      the studied Linum species until now. The antiproliferative effects of extracts
      were tested in a panel of human tumor cell lines, using the MTT [3-(4,5
      dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide]-dye reduction assay. The
      lignan mixtures caused concentration-dependent inhibition of malignant cell
      proliferation and showed moderate cytotoxic activity. The results clearly
      demonstrate that the lignan mixture of L. linearifolium exerts inhibitory effects
      against malignant cells.

PMID- 20931077
TI  - Evaluation of the hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic effects of an ethylacetate
      fraction of Artocarpus heterophyllus (jak) leaves in streptozotocin-induced
      diabetic rats.
AB  - Aqueous extracts of mature leaves of Artocarpus heterophyllus (jak) are used by
      traditional medical practitioners in Sri Lanka and India for the treatment of
      diabetes. This study was conducted to investigate the hypoglycemic and
      hypolipidemic effects of an ethylacetate (EA) fraction of the mature leaves of A.
      heterophyllus in a streptozotocin (STZ) induced diabetic rat model. In
      normoglycemic rats, administration of a single dose (20 mg/kg) of the EA fraction
      resulted in a significant (P < 0.05) reduction in the fasting blood glucose
      concentration and a significant improvement in glucose tolerance (P < 0.05),
      compared to the controls. In STZ-induced diabetic rats, chronic administration of
      the EA fraction of A. heterophyllus leaves daily for 5 weeks resulted in a
      significant lowering of serum glucose, cholesterol and triglyceride (TG) levels.
      Compared to control diabetic rats, the extract-treated rats had 39% less serum
      glucose, 23% lower serum total cholesterol and 40% lower serum TG levels and 11%
      higher body weight at the end of the fifth week. The percentage reductions in the
      serum parameters mediated by the test fraction were comparable with those
      produced by glibenclamide (0.6 mg/kg), the reference drug used in this study. It
      can be concluded that the EA fraction of A. heterophyllus leaves contains one or
      more hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic principles which have the potential to be
      developed further for the treatment of diabetes specifically associated with a
      hyperlipidemic state.

PMID- 20931079
TI  - Total phenolic, anthocyanin contents and antioxidant capacity of selected
      elderberry (Sambucus canadensis L.) accessions.
AB  - Fourteen purple-black American elderberry accessions (Sambucus canadensis L.)
      obtained from various sites in midwestern USA and then grown at a single Ohio
      production site in USA were analyzed for their total phenolic (TP) and total
      monomeric anthocyanin (TMA) contents and for their antioxidant capacity by the
      ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and DPPH radical scavenging assays.
      Total phenolic and anthocyanin contents were measured using the Folin-Ciocalteu
      reagent and the pH differential methods, respectively. Overall, the phytonutrient
      contents and antioxidant capacity of our elderberry accessions were similar to
      those typically reported for black raspberries, blackberries and other dark
      fleshed small fruits. Variability among accessions was greatest for TMA content
      (CV 37.5%); individuals ranged nearly threefold from 1308 to 4004 MUg cy3-GE/g on
      a fresh weight basis. Variation among accessions was also evident for TP, FRAP
      and DPPH values (CV 14.4, 21.7 and 26.8%, respectively). TP and TMA values were
      very highly correlated (r = 0.93), although individuals differed in the estimated
      proportion of total phenolics attributable to anthocyanins. Both TP and TMA also
      highly correlated to antioxidant capacity values (r = 0.70-0.85). Within this
      limited study of 14 accessions, variability for phytonutrient content and
      antioxidant capacity suggested the employment of wild germplasm within an
      elderberry improvement program to incorporate an array of superior horticultural,
      post-harvest or processing traits into new or existing cultivars with superior
      phytonutrient profiles.

PMID- 20931078
TI  - Preservation on calcium homeostasis is involved in mitochondrial protection of
      Limonium sinense against liver damage in mice.
AB  - Mechanisms underlying the mitochondrial protection of Limonium sinense extracts
      (LSE) was studied in lipopolysaccharide and D-galactosamine (LPS/D-GalN)
      intoxicated mice. It was found that increased activities of serum aspartate
      aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase induced by LPS/D-GalN were
      significantly inhibited by pretreatment with LSE. The obvious disruption of
      membrane potential, intramitochondrial Ca (2+) overload and suppression in
      mitochondrial Ca (2+) -ATPase activity induced by LPS/D-GalN were significantly
      blocked by pretreatment with LSE. It was concluded that mechanisms underlying
      protection of LSE against liver mitochondria damage might be related to the
      preservation on mitochondrial Ca (2+) homeostasis through the preservation on
      mitochondrial Ca (2+) -ATPase activity.

PMID- 20931080
TI  - Antimicrobial activity of Bauhinia tomentosa and Bauhinia vahlii roots.
AB  - The hexane, ethylacetate and methanol extracts from Bauhinia tomentosa and
      Bauhinia vahlii roots were tested for their antimicrobial activity against Gram
      positive bacteria (four strains), Gram-negative bacteria (three strains) and
      three fungi strains using microdilution methods, for the determination of minimal
      inhibition concentration (MIC) and the minimal microbicidal concentration (MMC).
      The MIC values of hexane extracts of B. tomentosa and B. vahlii roots were more
      than 250 ug/ml. The MIC values of ethylacetate and methanol extracts of B.
      tomentosa roots varied from 7.81 to 31.25 ug/ml and 31.25 to 62.50 ug/ml,
      respectively. The MIC values of ethylacetate and methanol extracts of B. vahlii
      roots varied from 15.63 to 62.5 ug/ml and 62.5 to 250 ug/ml, respectively. MMC
      values obtained are two times greater than the corresponding MIC values. The
      activities of ethylacetate extracts are attributed to the presence of flavonoids
      and that of methanol extracts are attributed to the presence of tannins.

PMID- 20931081
TI  - Essential oil constituents of Illicium griffithii and its antimicrobial activity.
AB  - The essential oil of the fruit of Illicium griffithii Hook f. et Thoms. was
      extracted using Clevenger's apparatus. Forty-one compounds were characterized by
      gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (GC-MS). 4-Methyl-6-(2-propenyl)-1,3
      benzodioxole was characterized as the major constituent, followed by linalool
      amongst the volatile constituents. The essential oil was found to be effective
      against Aspergillus niger, Penicillium spp. and Saccharomyces cerevisiae and
      possessed considerable activity against Staphylococcus aureus and was inactive
      against Klebsiella pnemoniae, Pseudomonas aureginosae, Proteus vulgaris and
      Escherichia coli.

PMID- 20931082
TI  - Phytochemical investigation and antimicrobial activity of Psidium guajava L.
      leaves.
AB  - Psidium guajava L. leaves were subjected to extraction, fractionation and
      isolation of the flavonoidal compounds. Five flavonoidal compounds were isolated
      which are quercetin, quercetin-3-O-alpha-L-arabinofuranoside, quercetin-3-O-beta
      D-arabinopyranoside, quercetin-3-O-beta-D-glucoside and quercetin-3-O-beta-D
      galactoside. Quercetin-3-O-beta-D-arabinopyranoside was isolated for the first
      time from the leaves. Fractions together with the isolates were tested for their
      antimicrobial activity. The antimicrobial studies showed good activities for the
      extracts and the isolated compounds.

PMID- 20931083
TI  - Effect of Phlomis persica on glucose levels and hepatic enzymatic antioxidants in
      streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats.
AB  - Methanol extract of the aerial parts of Phlomis persica Boiss. (Lamiaceae) (PPE)
      was studied to evaluate the effects of antidiabetic potential, by measuring
      fasting blood glucose, insulin, total antioxidant power (TAP), using ferric
      reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), lipid peroxidation (using thiobarbituric acid
      reactive substances, TBARS), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and
      glutathione peroxidase (GPx) on streptozotocin-induced diabetes in rats. Male
      Wistar rats were randomly divided into five groups of six animals each. Oral
      administration of PPE at doses of 100 and 200 mg/kg once a day for 10 days
      resulted in a significant reduction in fasting blood glucose and an increase in
      serum insulin levels, in comparison with diabetic control group. It also
      prevented diabetes-induced loss in body weight. Hepatic TAP increased and TBARS
      decreased following PPE treatments. The extract at 100 and 200 mg/kg increased
      the activity of hepatic SOD, CAT, and GPx in diabetic rats. It is concluded that
      PPE has antidiabetic potential that is comparable with glibenclamide. In
      conclusion, the results of the present study show positive effects of P. persica
      on experimental diabetes and thus the antidiabetic effect of PPE is related to
      its potential to inhibit hepatocellular oxidative stress.

PMID- 20931084
TI  - Cissus quadrangularis L. extract attenuates chronic ulcer by possible involvement
      of polyamines and proliferating cell nuclear antigen.
AB  - The present study was designed to investigate whether Cissus quandrangularis
      extract (CQE) had healing effects on gastric ulcer, through modulation of
      polyamines and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) in rats. Administration
      of acetic acid (AA) was accompanied by reduced PCNA which was determined by
      immunohistochemical staining, (3)H-thymidine incorporation using liquid
      scintillation spectrometry, mitochondrial marker enzymes, polyamine contents and
      transforming growth factor-alpha (TGF-alpha) expression in gastric mucosa of
      rats. Administration of CQE after the application of AA to the stomach enhanced
      the reduction of ulcer area in a dose-dependent manner which was confirmed by
      histoarchitecture. Moreover, CQE significantly increased the (3)H-thymidine
      incorporation and the levels of polyamines such as putrescine, spermine and
      spermidine in ulcerated rats. In addition, the extract offers gastroprotection in
      the ulcerated area by increased expression of TGF-alpha and also reversed the
      changes in the gastric mucosa of ulcerated rats with significant elevation in
      mitochondrial tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle enzymes and PCNA levels. Based on
      these results, the healing effect of CQE on AA induced gastric mucosal injury in
      rats may be attributed to its growth promoting and cytoprotective actions,
      possibly involving an increase in tissue polyamine contents and cell
      proliferation.

PMID- 20931085
TI  - Ultrasound-assisted extraction of alantolactone and isoalantolactone from Inula
      helenium roots.
AB  - This work deals with ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) of alantolactone and
      isoalantolactone from the roots of Inula helenium L., a well-known medicinal
      plant. The effects of ethanol concentration, extraction time, temperature and
      number of extraction steps on the extraction yields of both sesquiterpene
      lactones were investigated. Gas chromatographic (GC) method was used for
      simultaneous determination of their contents in the corresponding extracts. A
      comparison with classical extraction methods [maceration, infusion and micro
      steam distillation-extraction (MSDE)] showed that the amounts of alantolactone
      and isoalantolactone achieved by UAE with 70 and 96% EtOH for 30 min at room
      temperature were higher or almost equal to those obtained by maceration for 24
      hours.

PMID- 20931086
TI  - Correlation between antioxidant effect mechanisms and polyphenol content of Rosa
      canina.
AB  - Rosa canina L. is a member of Rosaceae family, which is well-known for its high
      phenolic contents. These compounds are known to possess antioxidant,
      antimutagenic and anticarcinogenic effects. However, they have yet to pass
      controlled clinical trials for efficacy, and their potential for prooxidant
      activity is an understudied field of research. In order to estimate the
      correlations between phenolic contents and antioxidant/proxidant effect
      mechanisms, different concentrations of R. canina fruit extracts were examined in
      this study. R. canina showed antioxidant activities at all concentrations with
      respect to the reducing power, hydrogen peroxide scavenging activity and
      superoxide anion radical scavenging (O2(?-)) activity assays, whereas a negative
      correlation was observed with the metal ion chelating activity and free radical
      scavenging activity [1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazil (DPPH) % inhibition] assays
      at higher concentrations with the phenolic content of R. canina. These results
      suggest that R. canina may act not only as an antioxidant, but also as a
      prooxidant with the effects depending on its concentrations.

PMID- 20931087
TI  - Antimicrobial activity of extracts from Tamarindus indica L. leaves.
AB  - Tamarindus indica L. leaves are reported worldwide as antibacterial and
      antifungal agents; however, this observation is not completely accurate in the
      case of Cuba. In this article, decoctions from fresh and sun dried leaves, as
      well as fluid extracts prepared with 30 and 70% ethanol-water and the pure
      essential oil from tamarind leaves were microbiologically tested against Bacillus
      subtilis, Enterococcus faecalis, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli,
      Salmonella typhimurium, Pseudomona aeruginosa and Candida albicans. Aqueous and
      fluid extracts were previously characterized by spectrophotometric determination
      of their total phenols and flavonoids, while the essential oil was chemically
      evaluated by gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy (GC/MS). Experimental data
      suggest phenols as active compounds against B. subtilis cultures, but not against
      other microorganisms. On the other hand, the essential oil exhibited a good
      antimicrobial spectrum when pure, but its relative low concentrations in common
      folk preparations do not allow for any good activity in these extracts.

PMID- 20931088
TI  - Phenolic content and antioxidant activity of Pereskia grandifolia Haw.
      (Cactaceae) extracts.
AB  - The leaves of Pereskia grandifolia Haw. (Cactaceae), commonly known as "Jarum
      Tujuh Bilah" in Malaysia, have been traditionally used as natural remedy in folk
      medicine by the locals. In the present study, the antioxidant potential of P.
      grandifolia crude methanol and its fractionated extracts (hexane, ethyl acetate
      and water) have been investigated, employing three different established testing
      systems, such as scavenging activity on 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH)
      radicals, reducing power assay and beta-carotene method. The total phenolic
      content of the P. grandifolia extracts was also assessed by the Folin
      Ciocalteau's method. The ethyl acetate extract showed significantly the highest
      total phenolic content, DPPH scavenging ability and antioxidant activity in beta
      carotene bleaching assay while the hexane extract possessed significantly
      strongest reducing power. The data obtained in these testing systems clearly
      establish the antioxidant potency of P. grandifolia. As such, this is the first
      report on the antioxidant activities of P. grandifolia.

PMID- 20931089
TI  - Isolation and functional expression of a novel lipase gene isolated directly from
      oil-contaminated soil.
AB  - A lipase gene SR1 encoding an extracellular lipase was isolated from oil
      contaminated soil and expressed in Escherichia coli. The gene contained a 1845-bp
      reading frame and encoded a 615-amino-acid lipase protein. The mature part of the
      lipase was expressed with an N-terminal histidine tag in E. coli BL21, purified
      and characterized biochemically. The results showed that the purified lipase
      combines the properties of Pseudomonas chlororaphis and other Serratia lipases
      characterized so far. Its optimum pH and temperature for hydrolysis activity was
      pH 5.5-8.0 and 37 degrees C respectively. The enzyme showed high preference for
      short chain substrates (556.3+/-2.8 U/ug for C10 fatty acid oil) and surprisingly
      it also displayed high activity for long-chain fatty acid. The deduced lipase SR1
      protein is probably from Serratia, and is organized as a prepro-protein and
      belongs to the GXSXG lipase family.

PMID- 20931090
TI  - Salivary aldehyde dehydrogenase - temporal and population variability,
      correlations with drinking and smoking habits and activity towards aldehydes
      contained in food.
AB  - Fluorimetric method based on oxidation of the fluorogenic 6-methoxy-2
      naphthaldehyde was applied to evaluate temporal and population variability of the
      specific activity of salivary aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) and the degree of its
      inactivation in healthy human population. Analyzed was also its dependence on
      drinking and smoking habits, coffee consumption, and its sensitivity to N
      acetylcysteine. Both the specific activity of salivary ALDH and the degree of its
      inactivation were highly variable during the day, with the highest activities
      recorded in the morning hours. The activities were also highly variable both
      intra- and interpersonally, and negatively correlated with age, and this
      correlation was stronger for the subgroup of volunteers declaring abstinence from
      alcohol and tobacco. Moderately positive correlations of salivary ALDH specific
      activity with alcohol consumption and tobacco smoking were also recorded (r(s)
      ~0.27; p=0.004 and r(s) =0.30; p=0.001, respectively). Moderate coffee
      consumption correlated positively with the inactivation of salivary ALDH,
      particularly in the subgroup of non-drinking and non-smoking volunteers. It was
      found that mechanical stimulation of the saliva flow increases the specific
      activity of salivary ALDH. The specific activity of the salivary ALDH was
      strongly and positively correlated with that of superoxide dismutase, and
      somewhat less with salivary peroxidase. The antioxidant-containing drug N
      acetylcysteine increased activity of salivary ALDH presumably by preventing its
      inactivation in the oral cavity. Some food-related aldehydes, mainly cinnamic
      aldehyde and anisaldehyde, were excellent substrates of the salivary ALDH3A1
      enzyme, while alkenals, particularly those with short chain, were characterized
      by lower affinity towards this enzyme but high catalytic constants. The
      protective role of salivary ALDH against aldehydes in food and those found in the
      cigarette smoke is discussed, as well as its participation in diminishing the
      effects of alcohol- and smoking-related oxidative stress.

PMID- 20931091
TI  - Benefits and expected outcomes of the Pan-Canadian Data Definitions and Quality
      Indicators projects.

PMID- 20931092
TI  - Regional variations in not treating diagnosed hypertension in Canada.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Improvements in the diagnosis and treatment of hypertension have been
      documented in Canada following implementation of a national program to improve
      hypertension management. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether there are regional
      variations in not treating diagnosed hypertension with drugs in Canada. METHODS:
      Using data from the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) cycle 3.1 (2005),
      regional variation in drug treatment of diagnosed hypertension was examined.
      Also, national drug data from the Intercontinental Medical Statistics CompuScript
      database were analyzed to determine regional trends in total antihypertensive
      prescriptions in the period before and following the CCHS cycle 3.1. RESULTS: The
      overall rate of untreated hypertension among those diagnosed with hypertension in
      Canada was 12.7%. The highest untreated rate among those diagnosed with
      hypertension was in the Northern region (29.2%) and the lowest was in the
      Atlantic region (8.8%). Alberta (16.5%) and British Columbia (BC) (15.4%) also
      had higher untreated rates, while Ontario (13.2%) was similar to Canada overall.
      Younger age, single/never married status, larger household size, lack of access
      to a family physician and daily smoking were all associated with a higher
      likelihood of not receiving antihypertensive treatment. Adjusting for demographic
      characteristics, diagnosed hypertensive patients in Alberta (adjusted OR 1.35
      [95% CI 1.14 to 1.61]) and BC (adjusted OR 1.64 [95% CI 1.40 to 1.91]) were more
      likely to be untreated than those in Ontario. The largest overall percentage
      increase in total antihypertensive prescriptions following the CCHS (ie, 2006)
      occurred in BC and Ontario. In Alberta, it remained almost unchanged and declined
      in Manitoba. CONCLUSIONS: Among adult Canadians diagnosed with hypertension,
      there were regional variations in the likelihood of not receiving
      antihypertensive therapy. Further research is required to understand the reasons
      for these variations to regionally target interventions and improve hypertension
      management in Canada.

PMID- 20931093
TI  - Management of hypertension: Regional variations in a greatly improved landscape.

PMID- 20931094
TI  - Novel characteristics of a trafficking-defective G572R-hERG channel linked to
      hereditary long QT syndrome.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The congenital long QT syndrome is a heterogeneous genetic disease
      associated with delayed cardiac repolarization, prolonged QT intervals, the
      development of ventricular arrhythmias and sudden death. Type 2 congenital long
      QT syndrome (LQT2) results from KCNH2 or hERG gene mutations. hERG encodes the
      K(v)11.1 alpha subunit of the rapidly activating delayed rectifier K(+) current
      in the heart. Studies of mutant hERG channels indicate that most LQT2 missense
      mutations generate trafficking-deficient K(v)11.1 channels. OBJECTIVE: To
      identify the mechanism underlying G572R-hERG by using molecular and
      electrophysiological analyses. METHODS AND RESULTS: To elucidate the
      electrophysiological properties of the G572R-hERG mutant channels, mutant hERG
      subunits were heterologously expressed in HEK293 cells alone or in combination
      with wild-type (WT)-hERG subunits. Patch-clamp techniques were used to record
      currents, and double immunofluorescence protein tagging and Western blotting were
      performed to examine the cellular trafficking of mutant subunits. When expressed
      alone, G572R-hERG subunits were not present in the cell membrane and did not
      produce detectable currents. When coexpressed with WT-hERG subunits, G572R-hERG
      decreased current density and altered gating properties of the WT-hERG channel.
      CONCLUSION: The hERG-associated missense mutation G572R, like most LQT2 missense
      mutations, generates a trafficking-deficient phenotype. Furthermore, G572R-hERG
      causes a loss of function in hERG by a strong dominant negative effect on the WT
      hERG channel.

PMID- 20931095
TI  - Cardiac remodeling in a rat model of diet-induced obesity.
AB  - The mechanisms by which diet-induced obesity cause remodeling and cardiac
      dysfunction are still unknown. Interstitial collagen and myocardial
      ultrastructure are important in the development of left ventricular hypertrophy,
      and are essential to the adaptive and maladaptive changes associated with
      obesity. Thus, the accumulation of collagen and ultrastructural damage may
      contribute to cardiac dysfunction in obesity. The purpose of the present study
      was to investigate cardiac function in a rat model of diet-induced obesity and to
      test the hypothesis that cardiac dysfunction induced by obesity is related to
      myocardial collagen deposition and ultrastructural damage. Thirty-day-old male
      Wistar rats were fed standard (control [C]) and hypercaloric diets (obese [Ob])
      for 15 weeks. Cardiac function was evaluated by echocardiogram and isolated left
      ventricle papillary muscle. Cardiac morphology was assessed by histology and
      electron microscopy. Compared with C rats, Ob rats had increased body fat,
      systolic blood pressure and area under the curve for glucose, leptin and insulin
      plasma concentrations. Echocardiographic indexes indicated that Ob rats had
      increased left ventricular mass, increased systolic stress and depressed systolic
      function. Analysis of the isolated papillary muscle was consistent with higher
      myocardial stiffness in Ob compared with C rats. The Ob rats had an increase in
      myocardial collagen and marked ultrastructural changes compared with C rats.
      Obesity promotes pathological cardiac remodeling with systolic dysfunction and an
      increase in myocardial stiffness, which, in turn, is probably related to
      afterload elevation and cardiac fibrosis. Obesity also causes damage to
      myocardial ultrastructure, but its effect on myocardial function needs to be
      further clarified.

PMID- 20931096
TI  - Safety and effectiveness of enoxaparin following fibrinolytic therapy: Results of
      the Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI)-QUEBEC registry.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Previous randomized controlled trials and meta-analyses demonstrated
      the superior efficacy of enoxaparin (ENOX) over unfractionated heparin (UFH) in
      patients with ST segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). The external
      validity of randomized controlled trials may be limited by selective inclusion of
      patients who are younger and healthier than the 'real-life' population.
      OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the safety and effectiveness of ENOX compared with UFH in
      unselected STEMI patients. METHODS: The safety and effectiveness of ENOX and UFH
      were compared in STEMI patients who received fibrinolytic therapy at 17 Quebec
      hospitals in 2003. RESULTS: A total of 498 STEMI patients received systemic
      anticoagulation, with ENOX and UFH administered in 114 and 384 patients,
      respectively. There were no differences in baseline characteristics between the
      two patient groups. The rates of in-hospital major adverse cardiac or cerebral
      events were 11.4% in the ENOX group compared with 14.0% in the UFH group
      (P=0.51). In-hospital death or nonfatal reinfarction occurred in 7.9% of patients
      who received ENOX compared with 9.9% of patients who received UFH (P=0.52). Major
      bleeding occurred in 4.4% of patients who received ENOX versus 6.0% in patients
      who received UFH (P=0.51). INTERPRETATION: There was no significant difference in
      the rates of in-hospital adverse events in the ENOX group compared with the UFH
      group, when used in the real-life context. Larger observational studies may
      further confirm the safety, effectiveness and optimal duration of the
      administration of ENOX in unselected STEMI patients treated with fibrinolysis.

PMID- 20931097
TI  - Referrals in acute coronary events for CARdiac catheterization: The RACE CAR
      trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Women with acute coronary syndromes have lower rates of cardiac
      catheterization (CC) than men. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether sex/gender, age,
      risk level and patient preference influence physician decision making to refer
      patients for CC. METHODS: Twelve clinical scenarios controlling for sex/gender,
      age (55 or 75 years of age), Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction risk score
      (low, moderate or high) and patient preference for CC (agreeable or refused/no
      preference expressed) were designed. Scenarios were administered to specialists
      across Canada using a web-based computerized survey instrument. Questions were
      standardized using a five-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (very unlikely to
      benefit from CC) to 5 (very likely to benefit from CC). Outcomes were assessed
      using a two-tailed mixed linear regression model. RESULTS: Of 237 scenarios,
      physicians rated men as more likely to benefit from CC than women (mean [+/- SE]
      4.44+/-0.07 versus 4.25+/-0.07, P=0.03), adjusted for age, risk and patient
      preference. Low-risk men were perceived to benefit more than low-risk women
      (4.20+/-0.13 versus 3.54+/-0.14, P<0.01), and low-risk younger patients were
      perceived to benefit more than low-risk older patients (4.52+/-0.17 versus 3.22+/
      0.16, P<0.01). Regardless of risk, patients who agreed to CC were perceived as
      more likely to benefit from CC than patients who were disagreeable or made no
      comment at all (5.0+/-0.23, 3.67+/-0.21, 2.95+/-0.14, respectively, P<0.01).
      CONCLUSION: Canadian specialists' decisions to refer patients for CC appear to be
      influenced by sex/gender, age and patient preference in clinical scenarios in
      which cardiac risk is held constant. Future investigation of possible age and
      sex/gender biases as proxies for risk is warranted.

PMID- 20931098
TI  - One-year costs associated with cardiovascular disease in Canada: Insights from
      the REduction of Atherothrombosis for Continued Health (REACH) registry.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: To provide a contemporary estimate of the economic
      burden of atherothrombosis in Canada, annual cardiovascular-related
      hospitalizations, medication use and associated costs across the entire spectrum
      of atherothrombotic disease were examined. METHODS: The REduction of
      Atherothrombosis for Continued Health (REACH) registry enrolled 1964 Canadian
      outpatients with coronary artery disease, cerebrovascular disease or peripheral
      arterial disease (PAD), or three or more cardiovascular risk factors. Baseline
      data on cardiovascular risk factors and associated medication use, and one-year
      follow-up data on cardiovascular events, hospitalizations, procedures and
      medication use were collected. Annual hospitalization and medication costs
      (Canadian dollars) were derived and compared among patients according to the
      presence of established atherothrombotic disease at baseline, specific arterial
      beds affected and the number of affected arterial beds. RESULTS: Average
      annualized medication costs were $1,683, $1,523 and $1,776 for patients with
      zero, one, and two or three symptomatic arterial beds, respectively. Average
      annual hospitalization costs increased significantly with the number of beds
      affected ($380, $1,403 and $3,465, respectively; P<0.0001 for overall linear
      trend). Mean hospitalization costs for patients with any coronary artery disease,
      any cerebrovascular disease and any PAD were $1,743, $1,823 and $4,677,
      respectively. After adjusting for other clinical factors, PAD at baseline was
      independently associated with a significant increase in hospitalization costs.
      CONCLUSION: Costs associated with vascular-related hospitalizations and
      interventions for Canadian patients increased with the number of affected
      arterial beds, and were particularly high for patients with PAD and/or
      polyvascular disease. These contemporary data provide insight into the economic
      burden associated with atherothrombotic disease in Canada, and highlight the need
      for increased preventive strategies to lessen the burden for patients and
      society.

PMID- 20931099
TI  - Administrative data have high variation in validity for recording heart failure.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Many studies have relied on administrative data to identify patients
      with heart failure (HF). OBJECTIVE: To systematically review studies that
      assessed the validity of administrative data for recording HF. METHODS: English
      peer-reviewed articles (1990 to 2008) validating International Classification of
      Diseases (ICD)-8, -9 and -10 codes from administrative data were included. An
      expert panel determined which ICD codes should be included to define HF.
      Frequencies of ICD codes for HF were calculated using up to the 16 diagnostic
      coding fields available in the Canadian hospital discharge abstract during fiscal
      years 2000/2001 and 2005/2006. RESULTS: Between 1992 and 2008, more than 70
      different ICD codes for defining HF were used in 25 published studies. Twenty-one
      studies validated hospital discharge abstract data; three studies validated
      physician claims and two studies validated ambulatory care data. Eighteen studies
      reported sensitivity (range 29% to 89%). Specificity and negative predictive
      value were greater than 70% across 17 studies. Nineteen studies reported positive
      predictive values (range 12% to 100%). Ten studies reported kappa values (range
      0.39 to 0.84). For Canadian hospital discharge data, ICD-9 and -10 codes 428 and
      I50 identified HF in 5.50% and 4.80% of discharge records, respectively.
      Additional HF-related ICD-9 and -10 codes did not impact HF prevalence.
      CONCLUSION: The ICD-9 and -10 codes 428 and I50 were the most commonly used to
      define HF in hospital discharge data. Validity of administrative data in
      recording HF varied across the studies and data sources that were assessed.

PMID- 20931100
TI  - Increasing the doses of both diuretics and angiotensin receptor blockers is
      beneficial in subjects with uncontrolled systolic hypertension.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Blood pressure (BP) control is frequently difficult to achieve in
      patients with predominantly elevated systolic BP. Consequently, these patients
      frequently require combination therapy including a thiazide diuretic such as
      hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) and an agent blocking the renin-angiotensin
      aldosterone system. Current clinical practice usually limits the daily dose of
      HCTZ to 25 mg. This often leads to the necessity of using additional
      antihypertensive agents to control BP in a high proportion of patients.
      OBJECTIVES: To compare the efficacy of two doses of losartan (LOS)/HCTZ
      combinations in patients with uncontrolled ambulatory systolic hypertension after
      six weeks of treatment with LOS 100 mg/HCTZ 25 mg (LOS100/HCTZ25). METHODS:
      Following a two- to four-week washout period, subjects with a mean clinic sitting
      systolic BP of 160 mmHg or higher and a mean ambulatory daytime systolic BP
      (MDSBP) of 135 mmHg or higher on LOS100/HCTZ25 (n=105; 33 women and 72 men) were
      randomly assigned to receive LOS 150 mg/HCTZ 25 mg (group 1; n=53) or LOS 150
      mg/HCTZ 37.5 mg (LOS150/HCTZ37.5, group 2; n=52). The primary end point was the
      difference in MDSBP reductions. RESULTS: At the end of the six-week treatment
      period, the respective additional decreases in MDSBP were 1.2 mmHg (P=0.335) on
      LOS 150 mg/HCTZ 25 mg and 5.6 mmHg (P<0.0001) on LOS150/HCTZ37.5 (difference of
      4.4 mmHg; P=0.011). Daytime systolic ambulatory BP goal (lower than 130 mmHg)
      achievement tended to be higher (25% versus 17%; P=0.313) with LOS150/HCTZ37.5,
      while it was significantly higher (65% versus 43%; P=0.024) for mean daytime
      diastolic BP (lower than 80 mmHg). No deleterious metabolic changes were
      observed. CONCLUSIONS: In patients with uncontrolled systolic ambulatory
      hypertension receiving LOS100/HCTZ25, increasing both HCTZ and LOS dosages
      simultaneously to LOS150/HCTZ37.5 may be an effective strategy that does not
      affect metabolic parameters.

PMID- 20931101
TI  - Interprovincial spoke-to-hub transport using the Impella Recover LP 5.0 left
      ventricular assist device as a bridge to long-term circulatory support.
AB  - Current hospital administrative practices categorize health care centres in a
      network of  'spokes' (primary care centres) and 'hubs' (tertiary care centres).
      For the treatment of cardiogenic shock, long-term left ventricular assist devices
      (LVADs) and transplant therapies are only used at a few hub centres nationwide
      and are, thus, only available to patients living in close proximity to these
      centres. The relatively lower technical requirements of the Impella Recover LP
      5.0 LVAD (ABIOMED Inc, USA) translate into greater use by spoke centres for the
      short-term treatment of cardiogenic shock, and facilitate appropriate
      stabilization and subsequent transportation to a suitable hub centre. Based on a
      review of the literature, the present report describes the first case
      demonstrating successful use of the Impella Recover LP 5.0 LVAD, implanted under
      local anesthetic, for the purposes of interprovincial spoke-to-hub transport in a
      bridge-to-bridge-to-transplant procedure. By providing an economical and
      technically straightforward alternative to traditional extracorporeal membrane
      oxygenation, the present case demonstrates that less invasive LVADs are valuable
      to the spoke-and-hub model for delivery of specialized cardiac care.

PMID- 20931102
TI  - Cardiovascular complications of Salmonella enteritidis infection.
AB  - Salmonella has the ability to adhere to damaged endothelium, predisposing
      individuals to complications rarely seen with other Gram-negative organisms.
      Potential complications include endocarditis, infected atheroma or aneurysms,
      myocarditis and pericarditis. The present report describes two cases of
      Salmonella enteritidis-associated cardiovascular disease. Patient 1 is a young
      adult who presented with myopericarditis complicated by recurrent cardiac arrests
      following return from a tropical climate. This patient was successfully treated
      with a 14-day course of ciprofloxacin. Patient 2 is an elderly man who developed
      a pseudoaneurysm of the ascending aorta complicating S enteritidis bacteremia,
      and died of this complication. Recognition of potential complications of
      salmonellosis, especially in individuals with risk factors, is paramount in
      correctly diagnosing and managing these patients.

PMID- 20931103
TI  - Robotic coronary artery bypass for aberrant right coronary artery stenosis.
AB  - Anomalous coronary arteries that course between the aorta and pulmonary artery
      are subject to compressive forces and can manifest angina, myocardial infarction
      and sudden death. The current report presents a young, female patient who
      presented with a short duration of severe, rapidly progressive angina despite
      optimal medical therapy. Combined computed tomography and myocardial perfusion
      scanning identified an anomalous dominant right coronary artery that appeared
      kinked at its origin between the aorta and main pulmonary artery. A robot
      assisted right internal thoracic artery to right coronary artery bypass was
      performed, which was confirmed to be widely patent (FitzGibbon grade A) on
      routine intraoperative angiography. The procedure completely resolved the
      patient's angina symptoms.

PMID- 20931104
TI  - An unusual presentation of left ventricular free wall rupture.
AB  - Left ventricular free wall rupture (LVFWR) is one of the most lethal
      complications following myocardial infarction. It accounts for approximately 12%
      to 21% of all in-hospital deaths following myocardial infarction. The majority of
      patients die shortly after LVFWR from instantaneous pericardial tamponade and
      hemodynamic collapse. However, up to one-third of cases are subacute in nature,
      allowing limited time for emergent surgical repair to prevent sudden death. A
      high index of suspicion and timely use of diagnostic tests are important in
      recognizing cases. The present report describes the case of a 69-year-old man who
      initially presented with acute pericardial tamponade and was subsequently
      diagnosed with LVFWR in the operating room as the cause of his hemopericardium.
      The pathology, diagnosis and management of LVFWR are reviewed.

PMID- 20931105
TI  - Synthesis and characterization of nanogels of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) by a
      combination of light and small-angle X-ray scattering.
AB  - Thermo-responsive crosslinked nanogels of N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAM) were
      synthesized by emulsion polymerization and the size was varied using different
      concentrations of surfactant (sodium dodecyl sulfate, SDS) in the polymerization
      process. The collapse behavior of the nanogels at the lower critical solution
      temperature at around 32  degrees C was investigated by dynamic light scattering,
      and by combined static light scattering (SLS) and small-angle X-ray scattering
      (SAXS). The combined data from SLS and SAXS were analyzed by a model for the
      nanogels which at intermediate temperatures included a central core and a more
      diffuse outer layer describing pending polymer chains with a low degree of cross
      linking. In the expanded state, the particles were modeled with a single
      component with a broad graded surface. In the collapsed state the nanogels were
      modeled as homogeneous and relatively compact particles. The amount of surfactant
      used had a profound effect on the final size of the nanogels owing to the
      phenomenon of colloidal stabilization of the emulsion droplets during
      polymerization. The combination of SLS and SAXS as applied to the nanogels is an
      attractive method for particle characterization as it spans a very large range of
      scattering vector from q = 0.0004 to 0.22 A(-1).

PMID- 20931106
TI  - Anti-aggregation of gold nanoparticle-based colorimetric sensor for glutathione
      with excellent selectivity and sensitivity.
AB  - For the widely used Au nanoparticles (AuNPs)-based colorimetric probe, AuNPs
      generally change from the dispersion to the aggregation state and corresponding
      colors turn from red to blue concomitantly. In previous studies, there are few
      probes based on the anti-aggregation of AuNPs though anti-aggregation of AuNPs is
      preferable to aggregation to achieve higher selectivity. In this manuscript, a
      fast and simple but sensitive and selective sensor suitable for on-site and real
      time detection of glutathione (GSH) has been developed based on the anti
      aggregation of AuNPs. The sensor has a LOD of 8 nM and excellent selectivity
      toward GSH by a factor of 200-fold or more relative to natural amino acids as
      well as homocysteine (Hcys) and glutathione disulfide (GSSG). The dynamic range
      of the sensor can be tuned simply by adjusting the amount of aggregation agent
      used.

PMID- 20931107
TI  - Diatoms: self assembled silica nanostructures, and templates for bio/chemical
      sensors and biomimetic membranes.
AB  - In this review we highlight recent advances in the understanding of biosilica
      production, biomodification of diatom frustules and their subsequent applications
      in bio/chemical sensors, and as a model membrane for filtration and separation.

PMID- 20931109
TI  - Borylnitrenes: electrophilic reactive intermediates with high reactivity towards
      C-H bonds.
AB  - Borylnitrenes (catBN 3a and pinBN 3b; cat = catecholato, pin = pinacolato) are
      reactive intermediates that show high tendency towards insertion into the C-H
      bonds of unactivated hydrocarbons. The present article summarizes the matrix
      isolation investigations that were aimed at identifying, characterizing and
      investigating the chemical behaviour of 3a by spectroscopic means, and of the
      experiments in solution and in the gas phase that were performed with 3b.
      Comparison with the reactivity reported for difluorovinylidene 1a in solid argon
      indicates that 3a shows by and large similar reactivity, but only after
      photochemical excitation. The derivative 3b inserts into the C-H bonds of
      hydrocarbon solvents in high yields and thus allows the formation of primary
      amines, secondary amines, or amides from "unreactive" hydrocarbons. It can also
      be used for generation of methylamine or methylamide from methane in the gas
      phase at room temperature. Remaining challenges in the chemistry of borylnitrenes
      are briefly summarized.

PMID- 20931108
TI  - "Click" synthesis of small molecule-peptide conjugates for organelle-specific
      delivery and inhibition of lysosomal cysteine proteases.
AB  - A click chemistry approach for the synthesis of small molecule inhibitor-peptide
      conjugates to achieve organelle-specific delivery has been developed. Biological
      testing showed that the inhibitor-Tat conjugate was successfully delivered to the
      lysosomes, leading to potent inhibition of lysosomal cysteine proteases in
      cultured cells.

PMID- 20931110
TI  - Tracking infrared signatures of drugs in cancer cells by Fourier transform
      microspectroscopy.
AB  - Aimed at developing accurate, reliable and cost-saving analytical techniques for
      drugs screening we evaluated the potential of Fourier Transform (FT) InfraRed
      (IR) microspectroscopy (microFTIR) as a quantitative pre-diagnostic approach for
      the rapid identification of IR signatures of drugs targeting specific molecular
      pathways causing Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML). To obtain reproducible FTIR
      absorbance spectra at the necessary spatial resolution we optimized sample
      preparation and acquisition parameters on a single channel Mercury-Cadmium
      Telluride (MCT) detector in the spectral interval of frequencies from 4000 to 800
      cm(-1). Single K562 cells were illuminated by Synchrotron Radiation (SR) and a
      number of ~15 K562 cells spread in monolayer were illuminated by a conventional
      IR source (Globar), respectively. Combining IR spectral data with the results of
      complementary biochemical investigations carried out in samples by different
      analytical methods we identified and cross-validated IR signatures of drugs
      targeting the oncogenic protein BCR/ABL and its associated abnormal tyrosine
      kinase activity in K562 cell line. Unsupervised pattern recognition performed by
      Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (HCA) clustered the spectra of single K562 cells in
      two distinct groups roughly corresponding to living and to apoptotic cells,
      respectively. The corresponding IR spectral profiles were assumed to represent
      drug-resistant and drug-sensitive cells. Significant variations with increasing
      percentages of apoptotic cells were observed after the treatment of K562 cells
      with drugs that directly or indirectly target BCR/ABL. In conclusion, we suggest
      that microFTIR associated with multivariate data analysis may be useful to assess
      drug compounds in ex vivo cancer cell models and possibly peripheral blast cells
      from CML patients.

PMID- 20931111
TI  - Depuration kinetics of paralytic shellfish toxins in Mytilus galloprovincialis
      exposed to Gymnodinium catenatum: laboratory and field experiments.
AB  - The kinetics of paralytic shellfish toxins in Mytilus galloprovincialis,
      previously exposed to Gymnodinium catenatum, was studied under depuration
      laboratory conditions and over a declining bloom of the dinoflagellate in the
      field. The variation of the levels observed throughout the laboratory experiment
      was characterized by a fast depuration of B1, C1 + 2, dcSTX and dcGTX2 + 3,
      possibly due to the gut evacuation of unassimilated toxins or microalgae cells,
      or loss during digestive mechanisms. Subsequent enhancements were observed for
      all compounds with emphasis to dcSTX and dcGTX2 + 3, pointing to
      biotransformation of the assimilated toxins. Then levels decreased gradually. A
      first-order depuration kinetic model fitted well to the decrease of B1, C1 + 2
      and dcGTX2 + 3 concentrations, but not for dcSTX. Mussels exposed to a declining
      bloom of Gymnodinium catenatum exhibited a loss of toxins following the same
      pattern. Despite the low abundance of this dinoflagellate, a similar kinetic
      model was applied to the field data. The depuration rate of dcGTX2 + 3 in the
      field experiment (0.153 +/- 0.03 day(-1)) significantly exceeded the value
      calculated in the laboratory (0.053 +/- 0.01 day(-1)), while smaller differences
      were obtained for B1 (0.071 +/- 0.02 and 0.048 +/- 0.01 day(-1)) and similar
      values for C1 + 2 (0.082 +/- 0.03 and 0.080 +/- 0.03 day(-1)). The slower
      depuration rate of dcGTX2 + 3 in the heavily contaminated mussels at the
      laboratory may be related to a more effective contribution of C1 + 2
      biotransformation.

PMID- 20931112
TI  - Evaluation of the potential of Raman microspectroscopy for prediction of
      chemotherapeutic response to cisplatin in lung adenocarcinoma.
AB  - The study of the interaction of anticancer drugs with mammalian cells in vitro is
      important to elucidate the mechanisms of action of the drug on its biological
      targets. In this context, Raman spectroscopy is a potential candidate for high
      throughput, non-invasive analysis. To explore this potential, the interaction of
      cis-diamminedichloroplatinum(II) (cisplatin) with a human lung adenocarcinoma
      cell line (A549) was investigated using Raman microspectroscopy. The results were
      correlated with parallel measurements from the MTT cytotoxicity assay, which
      yielded an IC(50) value of 1.2 +/- 0.2 uM. To further confirm the spectral
      results, Raman spectra were also acquired from DNA extracted from A549 cells
      exposed to cisplatin and from unexposed controls. Partial least squares (PLS)
      multivariate regression and PLS Jackknifing were employed to highlight spectral
      regions which varied in a statistically significant manner with exposure to
      cisplatin and with the resultant changes in cellular physiology measured by the
      MTT assay. The results demonstrate the potential of the cellular Raman spectrum
      to non-invasively elucidate spectral changes that have their origin either in the
      biochemical interaction of external agents with the cell or its physiological
      response, allowing the prediction of the cellular response and the identification
      of the origin of the chemotherapeutic response at a molecular level in the cell.

PMID- 20931113
TI  - Model catalysts of supported Au nanoparticles and mass-selected clusters.
AB  - In surface science, much effort has gone into obtaining a deeper understanding of
      the size-selectivity of nanocatalysts. In this article, electronic and chemical
      properties of various model catalysts consisting of Au are reported. Au supported
      by oxide surfaces becomes inert towards chemisorption and oxidation as the
      particle size became smaller than a critical size (2-3 nm). The inertness of
      these small Au nanoparticles is due to the electron-deficient nature of smaller
      Au nanoparticles, which is a result of metal-substrate charge transfer.
      Properties of Au clusters smaller than ~20 atoms were shown to be non-scalable,
      i.e., every atom can drastically change the chemical properties of the clusters.
      Moreover, clusters with the same size can show dissimilar properties on various
      substrates. These recent endeavours show that the activity of a catalyst can be
      tuned by varying the substrate or by varying the cluster size on an atom-by-atom
      basis.

PMID- 20931114
TI  - Ion association and solvation behavior of tetraalkylammonium iodides in binary
      mixtures of dichloromethane + N,N-dimethylformamide probed by a conductometric
      study.
AB  - Precise measurements on electrical conductances of tetraalkylammonium iodides,
      R(4)NI (R = n-butyl to n-heptyl), in different mass% (0-100) of dichloromethane
      (DCM) + N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) at 298.15 K have been performed. Limiting
      molar conductances (Lambda(0)), association constants (K(A)) and co-sphere
      diameter (R) for ion-pair formation in the mixed solvent mixtures have been
      evaluated using the Fuoss conductance-concentration equation. However, the
      deviation of the conductometric curves (Lambda versus ?c) from linearity for the
      electrolytes in 100 mass% of DCM indicated triple ion formation, and therefore
      corresponding conductance data have been analyzed by the Fuoss-Kraus theory of
      triple ions. Limiting ionic molar conductances lambda have been calculated by the
      reference electrolyte method along with a numerical evaluation of ion pair and
      triple ion formation constants (K(P)~K(A) and K(T)). The results have been
      interpreted in terms of ion-solvent interactions and structural changes in the
      mixed solvents.

PMID- 20931115
TI  - Electrostatic attraction between a hydrophilic solid and a bubble.
AB  - The contact between fine hydrophilic alpha-Al(2)O(3) particles and nitrogen
      bubbles was studied as a function of solution composition in single bubble
      capture experiments, where the bubble collection efficiency was measured. The
      surface charges of both bubble and particle were controlled by varying the
      electrolyte concentration and pH of the solution. In all experiments the bubbles
      were negatively charged while the alpha-Al(2)O(3) particles were either
      negatively (above pH of the isoelectric point, pH(IEP)) or positively (below
      pH(IEP)) charged. The collection efficiency was found to be strongly influenced
      by the surface charge of the particles. The maximum collection efficiency
      occurred when the bubble and particle were oppositely charged (at low pH values)
      and at low salt concentration, i.e. when a long range attractive electrostatic
      interaction is present. In the case where both bubble and particle were of the
      same charge, the collection efficiency was near to zero within experimental error
      and was not influenced by either salt concentration or pH. This is the first
      experimental proof of the concept of 'contactless flotation', first proposed by
      Derjaguin and Dukhin in 1960, with far reaching implications from minerals
      processing to biology.

PMID- 20931116
TI  - Implications of citrate concentration during the seeded growth synthesis of gold
      nanoparticles.
AB  - Increasing the citrate concentration during the seeded growth synthesis of gold
      nanoparticles yields materials with decreased aspect ratios and increased defect
      densities. The stability of these nanoparticles is attributed to variations in
      their overall Gibb's free energy.

PMID- 20931117
TI  - Stability and transformation mechanism of weddellite nanocrystals studied by X
      ray diffraction and infrared spectroscopy.
AB  - This study is focused on the stability of weddellite, the dihydrate phase of
      calcium oxalate [CaC(2)O(4).(2 + x)H(2)O], mainly detected in kidney stones and
      in oxalate films found on the surfaces of several ancient monuments. Its
      occurrence is a critical issue since, at environmental conditions, weddellite is
      unstable and quickly changes into whewellite, the monohydrate phase of calcium
      oxalate (CaC(2)O(4).H(2)O). New single crystal X-ray diffraction experiments have
      been carried out, which confirm the structural model of weddellite previously
      published. Synthesised nanocrystals of weddellite have been kept under different
      hygrometric conditions in order to study, by X-ray powder diffraction, the
      influence of humidity on their stability. Moreover, the mechanism of
      transformation of weddellite nanocrystals has been investigated by infrared
      spectroscopy using D(2)O as a structural probe.

PMID- 20931118
TI  - Predicting water uptake in poly(perfluorosulfonic acids) using force field
      simulation methods.
AB  - Free energy perturbation methods were applied to predict water contents in
      hydrated poly(perfluorosulfonic acids) (PPFSA). The simulations were based on the
      TEAM force field which was derived from quantum mechanical data calculated for
      small molecules using density functional theory (DFT) and thermodynamic data of
      molecular liquids and crystal. The equilibrium water contents in three PPFSA
      polymers (Nafion-117, Nafion-115 and Hyflon) were predicted by evaluating excess
      chemical potentials of water in hydrated polymers and in pure water. High level
      of precision measured by average uncertainty of ca. 0.1 kcal mol(-1), and
      accuracy in terms of deviation from experimental data by ca. 0.2 kcal mol(-1)
      were obtained in the predicted excess chemical potentials. The predicted amounts
      of water uptake agree well with experimental values. In addition, the equilibrium
      and dynamic properties of hydrated Nafion-117 were calculated and the results
      agree well with the existing experimental and computational data. The entropy and
      enthalpy contributions in the calculated excess chemical potentials are analyzed
      and the results are consistent with intuition. A linear correlation between the
      entropies and enthalpies is identified for the systems studied, which indicates
      that just increasing the interaction energies between water and host materials
      does not guarantee enhancement of the water uptake.

PMID- 20931119
TI  - Insertion of indigo molecules in the sepiolite structure as evidenced by 1H-29Si
      heteronuclear correlation spectroscopy.
AB  - Despite the numerous studies of the famous indigo-based pigment Maya Blue, there
      are still many questions regarding the elucidation of its structure. Here, two
      dimensional (2D) (1)H-(29)Si heteronuclear correlation (HETCOR) spectroscopy with
      frequency-switched Lee-Goldburg (FSLG) homonuclear decoupling is applied to
      sepiolite and sepiolite-indigo complexes. Owing to the high resolution in the
      (1)H dimension of the 2D (1)H-(29)Si HETCOR spectrum obtained by FSLG homonuclear
      decoupling, the assignment of the (29)Si cross-polarization magic-angle spinning
      (CPMAS) spectrum of sepiolite is clearly confirmed. Moreover, 2D (1)H-(29)Si FSLG
      HETCOR spectroscopy gives the first direct evidence that some indigo molecules
      are inserted in the sepiolite structure whereas no interaction between indigo and
      the external side surface (silanol groups) is observed in the (29)Si CPMAS
      spectra. These results are consistent with the fact that indigo molecules
      interact with water coordinated to magnesium and suggest that Maya Blue made from
      sepiolite is not a surface complex.

PMID- 20931120
TI  - Ionic physisorption on bubbles induced by pulsed ultra-sound.
AB  - Ion flotation processes involve the use of bubbles in order to separate ionic
      species from a mixed solution. Due to bubble interfaces we may assume null
      curvature at the molecular scale, where selective ion adsorption might be more
      easily investigated than with liquid-liquid extraction. In contrast to a
      classical flotation set-up, where bubbles are introduced via a glass frit, we use
      here a controlled sono-device generating cavitation bubbles which are initially
      absolutely clean. Moreover we have a faster process with a smaller device. The
      liquid phase resulting from the coalescence of the overflowing foam is enriched
      in some ions versus the initial brine. We show here that this effect follows the
      Hofmeister series and can be attributed to a weak adsorption of hydrated ions at
      the surfactant-water interface. The selectivity of alkali metals physisorbed at
      interfaces is analysed through the concentrations of competing ions remaining in
      solution by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry. Cationic
      selectivity, which is independent of the method for obtaining a foam, is
      discussed via the Gibbs free energy difference for bulk to hydrated surfactant
      monolayer. Relative values of effective adsorption energies are determined versus
      sodium ions taken as reference and correspond to 1-3% of the total hydration free
      energy.

PMID- 20931121
TI  - The influence of pi-pi-stacking on the light-harvesting properties of perylene
      bisimide antennas that are covalently linked to a [60]fullerene.
AB  - A flexible organic triad consisting of two perylene bisimide antennas covalently
      linked to a [60]fullerene by flexible spacers has been synthesized and studied by
      electrochemistry, steady-state and time-resolved spectroscopy. We found that pi
      pi-stacking of the two antenna subunits has considerable impact on the
      photophysics of the system and leads to a reduction of the effective light
      harvesting efficiency of the assembly. This finding is important for light
      harvesting in flexible materials based on the dye antenna-fullerene concept.

PMID- 20931122
TI  - Characteristics and transport of organochlorine pesticides in urban environment:
      air, dust, rain, canopy throughfall, and runoff.
AB  - Characteristics and transport of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) in urban
      multiple environments, including air, dust, rain, canopy throughfall, and runoff
      water, are explored in this study. Hexachlorocyclohexanes (HCHs) dominated in
      both air and rain water, and dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) related
      substances showed a higher affinity to dust. Relatively high concentrations of
      DDT and dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE) in air, rain and dust imply that
      technical DDT in the environment has been degrading, and there may be unknown
      local or regional emission sources that contain DDTs in the study area. Source
      identification showed that DDTs in Beijing urban environments with a fresh
      signature may originate from the atmospheric transport from remote areas. The
      ratio of alpha-/gamma-HCH in dust, rain, canopy throughfall and runoff were close
      to 1, indicating the possible use of lindane. OCPs in runoff were transported
      from various sources including rain, dust, and canopy throughfall. In runoff,
      DDTs and hexachlorobenzene (HCB) were mainly transported from dust, and HCHs were
      mainly from rain and canopy throughfall.

PMID- 20931123
TI  - Three-dimensional surface microfluidics enabled by spatiotemporal control of
      elastic fluidic interface.
AB  - As an emerging alternative to the conventional counterpart, surface microfluidics
      incorporates both intrinsic resistive solid-liquid and elastic frictionless gas
      liquid interfaces, leading to unique flow-pressure characteristics. Furthermore,
      the open-surface microfluidic platforms can be fabricated on a monolithic
      substrate with high wettability contrast by the previously reported one-step
      lithographic process of a photosensitive superhydrophobic nanocomposite material,
      which permits flexible fluidic operations and direct surface modifications. In
      the paper, we first present three-dimensional microfluidic manipulations
      utilizing the unconventional gas-liquid interfaces of surface microfluidics,
      outlined by the micropatterned wetting boundaries (also known as the triple
      lines). In contrast to the primary linear (resistive) nature of the conventional
      closed-channel microfluidics, the distinct elastic interface of surface
      microfluidics enables remarkable three-dimensional (deformable) and time
      dependent (capacitive) operations of the flow. Specifically, spatiotemporal
      dependence of microflow patterns on the planar fluidic surfaces has been
      theoretically analyzed and experimentally characterized. Utilizing the
      unconventional interface-enabled flow-pressure relationship, novel surface
      fluidic operations, including microflow regulation and flow-controlled switching,
      have been demonstrated and fully investigated. Furthermore, three-dimensional
      surface microfluidic networks together with analog-to-digital stereo-flow
      activations have been established, in which miniature capillary bridges form
      fluidic connections between two independent surface microfluidic circuits.

PMID- 20931124
TI  - Rapid and efficient screening of Alzheimer's disease beta-amyloid inhibitors
      using label-free gold nanoparticles.
AB  - Herein we report that a visual, label-free gold nanoparticle-based assay for
      rapid and efficient screening of Alzheimer's disease beta-amyloid inhibitors.

PMID- 20931125
TI  - The impact of erbium incorporation on the structure and photophysics of silicon
      germanium nanowires.
AB  - In this paper, we report multi-step processes for the fabrication of Er3+-doped
      SiGe nanowires (NWs) and characterization of their emissive properties. Three
      different alloyed architectures are obtained by altering the deposition sequences
      of Si and Er3+ on a Ge core NW, each involving a fixed concentration of these
      three elements. The deposition of Si onto the Ge NW core, followed by an Er3+
      rich layer on the outermost surface, permits facile formation of a SiGe alloy
      given the lack of an erbium diffusion barrier; yet clustering of the erbium
      centers on the NW surface produces the weakest emitter. For nanowires prepared by
      co-depositing Si and Er3+ on top of the Ge core, the presence of impurity Er3+
      ions greatly reduces the alloying rate of Si and Ge such that less Si can diffuse
      into the Ge core. For this structure, the reduction of Er-Er interactions by a
      polycrystalline Si shell results in the strongest emission at 1540 nm. If an Er3+
      layer is inserted between the Ge and Si layers (a sandwich structure), it is
      found that Er3+ ions diffuse preferentially into the SiGe core instead of the
      silicon-rich shell, with a correspondingly weaker luminescence intensity. A
      combination of high resolution transmission electron microscopy, energy
      dispersive X-ray mapping, micro-Raman spectroscopy, and photoluminescence
      spectroscopy are employed to derive these conclusions.

PMID- 20931126
TI  - Nanoscale patterning controls inorganic-membrane interface structure.
AB  - The ability to non-destructively integrate inorganic structures into or through
      biological membranes is essential to realizing full bio-inorganic integration,
      including arrayed on-chip patch-clamps, drug delivery, and biosensors. Here we
      explore the role of nanoscale patterning on the strength of biomembrane-inorganic
      interfaces. AFM measurements show that inorganic probes functionalized with
      hydrophobic bands with thicknesses complimentary to the hydrophobic lipid bilayer
      core exhibit strong attachment in the bilayer. As hydrophobic band thickness
      increases to 2-3 times the bilayer core the interfacial strength decreases,
      comparable to homogeneously hydrophobic probes. Analytical calculations and
      molecular dynamics simulations predict a transition between a 'fused' interface
      and a 'T-junction' that matches the experimental results, showing lipid disorder
      and defect formation for thicker bands. These results show that matching
      biological length scales leads to more intimate bio-inorganic junctions, enabling
      rational design of non-destructive membrane interfaces.

PMID- 20931127
TI  - Modification of bone-like apatite nanoparticle size and growth kinetics by
      alizarin red S.
AB  - The formation of nanocrystals in biomineralization such as in bone occurs under
      the influence of organic molecules. Prompted by this fact, the effect of alizarin
      red S, a dye used in in vivo bone labeling methods, on bone-like carbonated
      apatite nanocrystal formation was investigated as a function of alizarin red S
      additive concentration. The obtained nanoparticles were investigated by powder X
      ray diffraction (XRD), FTIR as well thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and
      differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) while the kinetics of nanoparticle
      formation was investigated by in situ pH and synchrotron XRD measurements.
      Increasing alizarin red S concentration lead to amorphous particles over a
      threshold concentration and to smaller crystallites in a dose-dependent fashion.
      Alizarin red S induced a macroscopic lattice strain that scaled linearly with the
      alizarin red S concentration; this effect is reminiscent of that seen in biogenic
      calcium carbonates. TGA showed that the amorphous particles contained
      significantly more water than the crystalline samples and the DSC data showed
      that crystallization occurs after loss of most of the included organic material.
      The in situ studies showed that the formation of apatite goes via the very rapid
      formation of an amorphous precursor that after a certain nucleation time
      crystallizes into apatite. This nucleation time increased exponentially with
      alizarin red S concentration showing that this additive strongly stabilizes the
      amorphous precursor phase.

PMID- 20931128
TI  - Studies in catalytic C-H amination involving nitrene C-H insertion.
AB  - Stereoselective catalytic intermolecular C-H amination of complex molecules is
      reported. Site-selective functionalizations occur with very good yields up to 91%
      and excellent d.e.s up to 99%. However, the precise nature of the nitrene C-H
      insertion remains a matter of debate despite several physical organic
      experiments.

PMID- 20931129
TI  - Importance of palladium-carbon bond energies in direct arylation of
      polyfluorinated benzenes.
AB  - Fagnou et al. reported direct arylation reactions that use palladium catalysts to
      couple Ar(1)-X to Ar(2)-H with the aid of a coordinated base. These reactions are
      particularly favourable for polyfluorinated arenes Ar(2)-H (see S. I. Gorelsky,
      D. Lapointe and K. Fagnou, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2008, 130, 10848). In this paper, we
      show by means of a DFT analysis how the energetics and activation energies vary
      with fluorine substitution and examine the structures of intermediates and
      transition states. The reactant is modelled by Pd(OAc)(Ph)(PMe(3))(DMA) (DMA =
      dimethylacetamide). The sequence consists of (a) replacement of DMA by arene, (b)
      Concerted Deprotonation Metallation (CMD), (c) decoordination of AcOH, (d)
      reductive elimination of biaryl. Many of the variations are dominated by the
      number of fluorine substituents ortho to the C-H bond and fall into three groups
      labelled accordingly: Set0Fo, Set1Fo, and Set2Fo. In the first step a coordinated
      solvent is replaced by the arene. The arenes of Set0Fo and Set1Fo coordinate in a
      conventional eta(2)-CH=CH mode, whereas the arenes of Set2Fo coordinate in an
      eta(1)-CH mode assisted by an OH-C hydrogen bond from the coordinated acetate.
      Both the energy barriers to CMD and the product energies fall into the three
      typical sets with the highest barrier and highest product energy being for
      Set0Fo. They correlate more satisfactorily with the variations in Pd-C bond
      energies than with the C-H acidities. The barriers to reductive elimination from
      Pd(Ph)(Ar(F))(PMe(3))(AcOH) increase systematically from Set0Fo to Set2Fo as the
      Pd-C bond becomes stronger in a regular fashion from Set0Fo to Set2Fo. Again
      there is a strong correlation between the energy barriers to reductive
      elimination and the Pd-C bond energies. It is found overall that the key aspects
      of the reactions are: (a) the lowering of the energy of the CMD step by the ortho
      fluorine substituents, (b) the regioselective activation of C-H bonds ortho to
      fluorine which is also determined at the CMD step, (c) the decoordination of
      AcOH, which maintains the transition state for reductive elimination at low Gibbs
      free energy. The presence of fluorine increases the effectiveness of the reaction
      in the sense of points a and b via the increasing strength of the palladium
      carbon bond.

PMID- 20931130
TI  - Solvent-free aromatic C-H functionalisation/halogenation reactions.
AB  - The solvent-free, palladium-catalysed reaction of anilides with CuCl(2) in the
      presence or absence of copper acetate yields ortho-chlorinated anilides in good
      to excellent yields, even on a large scale (100 mmol). By contrast, the
      equivalent reactions with copper bromide, either solvent free or in 1,2
      dichloroethane, in the presence or absence of palladium, under air or inert
      conditions, gave the products of simple electrophilic bromination. Mechanistic
      studies highlighted the involvement of palladacyclic intermediates, one of which
      was characterised crystallographically, which undergo subsequent reaction with
      copper(II) chloride to yield the chlorinated anilide products.

PMID- 20931131
TI  - Measurement of the cellular deacetylase activity of SIRT1 on p53 via
      LanthaScreen(r) technology.
AB  - Upon genomic insult, the tumor suppressor p53 is phosphorylated and acetylated at
      specific serine and lysine residues, increasing its stability and transactivation
      function. Deacetylases, including the type III histone deacetylase SIRT1, remove
      acetyl groups from p53 and counterbalance acetyltransferase activity during a DNA
      damage response. This report describes a series of high-throughput
      LanthaScreen(r) time-resolved Forster resonance energy transfer (TR-FRET)
      immunoassays for detection of intracellular p53 phosphorylation of Ser15 and
      acetylation of Lys382 upon treatment with DNA damage agents, such as etoposide.
      These assays were used to measure the deacetylase activity of SIRT1 and/or Type
      I/II Histone deacetylases (HDACs). First, BacMam-mediated overexpression of SIRT1
      resulted in dose-dependent deacetylation of GFP-p53 following etoposide treatment
      of U-2 OS cells, confirming that GFP-p53 serves as a SIRT1 substrate in this
      assay format. Further, overexpression of the acetyltransferase p300 via BacMam
      increased the acetylation of GFP-p53 at Lys382. Next, siRNA-mediated knockdown of
      SIRT1 resulted in increased GFP-p53 acetylation, indicating that endogenous SIRT1
      activity can also be measured in U-2 OS cells. Consistent with these results, GFP
      p53 acetylation was also increased upon treatment of cells with a small-molecule
      inhibitor of SIRT1, EX-527. The effect of this compound was dramatically
      increased when used in combination with chemotherapeutic drug and/or the HDAC
      inhibitor Trichostatin A, confirming a proposed synergistic mechanism of p53
      deacetylation by SIRT1 and Type I/II HDACs. Taken together, the cellular assays
      described here can be used as high-throughput alternatives to traditional
      immunoassays such as western blotting for identifying pharmacological modulators
      of specific p53-modifying enzymes.

PMID- 20931132
TI  - Mechanistic understanding of Pyrococcus horikoshii Dph2, a [4Fe-4S] enzyme
      required for diphthamide biosynthesis.
AB  - Diphthamide, the target of diphtheria toxin, is a unique posttranslational
      modification on eukaryotic and archaeal translation elongation factor 2 (EF2).
      The proposed biosynthesis of diphthamide involves three steps and we have
      recently found that in Pyrococcus horikoshii (P. horikoshii), the first step uses
      an S-adenosyl-L-methionine (SAM)-dependent [4Fe-4S] enzyme, PhDph2, to catalyze
      the formation of a C-C bond. Crystal structure shows that PhDph2 is a homodimer
      and each monomer contains three conserved cysteine residues that can bind a [4Fe
      4S] cluster. In the reduced state, the [4Fe-4S] cluster can provide one electron
      to reductively cleave the bound SAM molecule. However, different from classical
      radical SAM family of enzymes, biochemical evidence suggest that a 3-amino-3
      carboxypropyl radical is generated in PhDph2. Here we present evidence supporting
      that the 3-amino-3-carboxypropyl radical does not undergo hydrogen abstraction
      reaction, which is observed for the deoxyadenosyl radical in classical radical
      SAM enzymes. Instead, the 3-amino-3-carboxypropyl radical is added to the
      imidazole ring in the pathway towards the formation of the product. Furthermore,
      our data suggest that the chemistry requires only one [4Fe-4S] cluster to be
      present in the PhDph2 dimer.

PMID- 20931133
TI  - Effect of intracellular photosensitized singlet oxygen production on the
      electrophysiological properties of cultured rat hippocampal neurons.
AB  - Whole-cell patch-clamp recordings from single cultured mammalian neurons have
      been used to provide insight into early membrane-dependent events that result
      upon the intracellular photosensitized production of singlet molecular oxygen,
      O(2)(a(1)Delta(g)). The singlet oxygen sensitizers used, pyropheophorbide a (PPa)
      and protoporphyrin IX (PpIX), locate mainly in cell membranes and mitochondria,
      respectively. Irradiation of these sensitizers altered both passive and dynamic
      electrophysiological properties of the neurons in a dose-dependent manner, though
      the response threshold was much lower with PPa than with PpIX. In particular,
      notable decreases were observed in the rising and falling rates of action
      potentials and, at higher light fluences, plateau potentials consistent with
      activation of Ca(2+) channels also developed. The data suggest that singlet
      oxygen production specifically influences Na(+), K(+) and Ca(2+) ionophores in
      the cell membrane. Upon terminating sensitizer irradiation, responses evoked by
      PPa stabilized immediately whereas those evoked by PpIX continued to develop.
      These data are consistent with a spatially-resolved sphere of intracellular
      singlet oxygen activity. While the response to PPa irradiation appears to be
      membrane specific, the response to PpIX irradiation appears to be systemic and
      possibly part of a cascade of apoptotic events. These results should contribute
      to a better understanding of membrane-dependent events pertinent to cell death
      mediated by singlet oxygen.

PMID- 20931134
TI  - Effective photoinactivation of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial strains
      using an HIV-1 Tat peptide-porphyrin conjugate.
AB  - Given that cell-penetrating peptides (CPP) are cationic and often amphipathic,
      similar to membrane-active antimicrobial peptides, it may be possible to use CPP
      conjugation to improve the delivery of photosensitisers for antimicrobial
      photodynamic therapy (antimicrobial PDT). We investigated the possibility of
      using a Tat peptide to deliver the photosensitiser, tetrakis(phenyl)porphyrin
      (TPP) and kill bacteria. The Tat peptide is a positively-charged mammalian cell
      penetrating peptide with potent antimicrobial activity but no haemolytic
      activity. Fluorescence spectroscopy revealed that the bioconjugate can bind to
      and/or be incorporated into all bacterial species tested. All species were
      susceptible to the Tat-porphyrin, with the bactericidal effect being dependent on
      both the concentration and the light dose. Using the highest light dose,
      treatment with the Tat-porphyrin achieved reductions of 6.6 log(10) and 6.37
      log(10) in the viable counts of Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pyogenes,
      and reductions of 5.74 log(10) and 6.6 log(10) in the viable counts of
      Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli. Moreover, the Tat moiety appears to
      confer antimicrobial properties to the conjugate, particularly for the Gram
      positive strains, based on the observation of dark toxicity using 1 MUM of Tat
      porphyrin. Finally, the conjugate induced membrane destabilization by synergistic
      action of the peptide and PDT, resulting in carboxyfluorescein leakage from
      bacterial membrane-mimicking liposomes. These findings demonstrate that the use
      of CPP to deliver a photosensitiser is an effective way of improving the uptake
      and the treatment efficacy of antimicrobial PDT.

PMID- 20931135
TI  - Photosensitized addition of isopropanol to furanones in a 365 nm UV-LED
      microchip.
AB  - The DMBP-sensitized addition of isopropanol to furanones was studied in a novel
      LED-driven microchip reactor. Complete conversions were achieved after just 2.5
      to 5 min of irradiation with 6 * 365 nm high-power LEDs. The results were
      compared to analogous experiments using a conventional batch reactor.

PMID- 20931136
TI  - Mass spectrometry provides accurate and sensitive quantitation of A2E.
AB  - Orange autofluorescence from lipofuscin in the lysosomes of the retinal pigment
      epithelium (RPE) is a hallmark of aging in the eye. One of the major components
      of lipofuscin is A2E, the levels of which increase with age and in pathologic
      conditions, such as Stargardt disease or age-related macular degeneration. In
      vitro studies have suggested that A2E is highly phototoxic and, more
      specifically, that A2E and its oxidized derivatives contribute to RPE damage and
      subsequent photoreceptor cell death. To date, absorption spectroscopy has been
      the primary method to identify and quantitate A2E. Here, a new mass spectrometric
      method was developed for the specific detection of low levels of A2E and compared
      to a traditional method of analysis. The new mass spectrometric method allows the
      detection and quantitation of approximately 10,000-fold less A2E than absorption
      spectroscopy and the detection and quantitation of low levels of oxidized A2E,
      with localization of the oxidation sites. This study suggests that identification
      and quantitation of A2E from tissue extracts by chromatographic absorption
      spectroscopy overestimates the amount of A2E. This mass spectrometric approach
      makes it possible to detect low levels of A2E and its oxidized metabolites with
      greater accuracy than traditional methods, thereby facilitating a more exact
      analysis of bis-retinoids in animal models of inherited retinal degeneration as
      well as in normal and diseased human eyes.

PMID- 20931137
TI  - Phototoxicity of Hoechst 33342 in time-lapse fluorescence microscopy.
AB  - Dyes that bind to DNA, such as Hoechst 33342, are commonly used to visualize
      chromatin in live cells by fluorescence microscopy. A caveat is that the probes
      themselves should not perturb cellular responses and under normal conditions the
      dyes are generally non-toxic. However, researchers are increasingly using
      computerized time-lapse microscopy (CTLM), where cells stained with fluorescent
      dyes are often imaged frequently over a period of several days, to follow
      cellular responses in real time. Little is currently known about possible
      toxicity of fluorescent DNA dyes under CTLM conditions. In this study we
      demonstrate that the common live-cell DNA stain Hoechst 33342 can cause apoptosis
      under CTLM conditions. Although toxicity is evident at long times in the absence
      of imaging at high dye concentrations, phototoxicity from repeated excitation of
      the dye in the imaging process is dominant. We show that phototoxicity is a
      function of the product of light fluence and dye concentration, irrespective of
      irradiance, frequency and total number of scans. Thus, phototoxicity can be
      prevented by a combination of dye concentration and imaging procedure that is
      below this threshold. These quantitative data can be used as a guide to others
      performing time-lapse microscopy studies with this common live-cell DNA stain and
      serves as a caution for researchers when using other fluorescent stains under
      CTLM conditions.

PMID- 20931138
TI  - Structural divergence and functional versatility of the rhodopsin superfamily.
AB  - Seven-transmembrane-helix retinylidene proteins, which constitute the rhodopsin
      superfamily, have been discovered in diverse species, including Archaea,
      Eubacteria, fungi, algae and animals. Some members of this super-family were
      specialized to function as light-driven proton pumps, light-driven chloride
      pumps, photoisomerases, or light-gated ion channels, where the photochemical
      reactions are self-completed without interactions with other proteins. Other
      members evolved to acquire the ability to modulate soluble cytoplasmic or
      membrane-embedded signal transducers. During the last decade, high-resolution
      crystal structures were reported for ten members of the rhodopsin superfamily;
      viz., four proton pumps, two chloride pumps, two microbial photosensors and two
      visual pigments. Comparison of these structures provides us with a hint to
      elucidate the common structural motif that is utilized to stabilize their
      tertiary structures as well as unique architectures that are relevant to specific
      functions.

PMID- 20931140
TI  - The effect of tetramethylammonium ion on the voltammetric behavior of polycyclic
      aromatic hydrocarbons: computations explain a long-standing anomaly.
AB  - Cyclic voltammograms of several polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH's) in
      highly purified N,N-dimethylformamide are known to exhibit two reversible
      reduction waves. To a good approximation, the potential of the first wave is
      independent of the nature of the supporting electrolyte, but the potential of the
      second wave is highly dependent upon the nature of the electrolyte. The spacing
      DeltaE degrees  between the first and second waves increases as the size of the
      cation of the electrolyte is increased from Et(4)N(+) through Pr(4)N(+) to
      Bu(4)N(+). This is typically interpreted as due to decreasing strength of ion
      pairing between the cation and the dianion of the PAH with increasing size of the
      electrolyte cation. However, it has been known for many years that Me(4)N(+)
      exhibits anomalous behavior: even though Me(4)N(+) is much smaller than
      Et(4)N(+), DeltaE degrees  is greater with Me(4)N(+) than with Et(4)N(+) for
      anthracene and in fact greater than any of the larger electrolytes with perylene.
      It is now shown that this behavior arises out of the fact that Me(4)N(+) ion is
      present in solution as a tetrasolvate [Me(4)N(+)/(DMF)(4)]. The PAH dianion (Ar(
      2)) reacts with Me(4)N(+)/(DMF)(4) to displace a molecule of DMF and produce the
      species Me(4)N(+)/(DMF)(3)/Ar(-2). The computed pairing association constant
      K(ion-pairing) for the anthracene species is 35 M(-1), compared with a value of
      50,000 M(-1) for association of the bare Me(4)N(+) ion with the dianion; the
      corresponding values for perylene are computed to be 4400 and 3.5 M(-1),
      respectively.

PMID- 20931139
TI  - UVB-Induced p21 degradation promotes apoptosis of human keratinocytes.
AB  - Skin cancer is the most common cancer in the United States. Ultraviolet B (UVB)
      radiation in sunlight is the major environmental factor causing skin cancer. p21,
      a p53-inducible protein, plays an important role in cell cycle, DNA repair, and
      apoptosis. Here we have investigated the effect of UVB radiation on p21 and its
      molecular mechanisms and function in human HaCaT keratinocytes, which we used as
      a premalignant cellular model because normal skin harbors numerous clones of p53
      mutated keratinocytes. We found that in human HaCaT keratinocytes UVB induces
      rapid p21 down-regulation via a proteasomal degradation mechanism. In p53
      defective HaCaT cells, the p21 protein levels remain decreased at a later time
      post-UVB, but in normal human and mouse epidermal keratinocytes with wild-type
      p53 the p21 levels are initially reduced but later increase post-UVB. These
      findings indicate that loss of p53 function leads to sustained p21 down
      regulation in response to UVB damage. Degradation of p21 following UVB radiation
      does not require ATR, ATM, or both, because either the ATR/ATM inhibitor caffeine
      or siRNA knockdown of ATR, ATM, or both failed to reverse p21 degradation.
      However, inhibiting MDM2 or GSK3beta partially reduced UVB-induced p21
      degradation, while inhibiting both enzymes completely prevented it. Restoring the
      p21 protein levels in UVB-irradiated keratinocytes reduced apoptosis. Although at
      the molecular level increasing p21 expression has no effect on the protein levels
      of the Bcl-2 family members, it enhances the activation of AKT, a critical
      survival pathway to protect cells from apoptosis. Our results suggest a distinct
      mechanism of p21 degradation in keratinocytes by UVB, and this p21 degradation
      may significantly enhance UVB-induced apoptosis of premalignant keratinocytes
      with a p53 defect to eliminate damaged cells and therefore prevent skin cancer
      development.

PMID- 20931141
TI  - Vibrational properties of the trinuclear spin crossover complex [Fe3(4-(2'
      hydroxy-ethyl)-1,2,4-triazole)6(H2O)6](CF3SO3)6: a nuclear inelastic scattering,
      IR, Raman and DFT study.
AB  - The vibrational properties of the trimeric iron complex [Fe(3)(4-(2'-hydroxy
      ethyl)-1,2,4-triazole)(6)(H(2)O)(6)](CF(3)SO(3))(6) which serves as a model of
      the 1D iron coordination polymers based on 1,2,4-triazoles have been investigated
      by nuclear inelastic scattering of synchrotron radiation (NIS), as well as by
      Raman and infrared (IR) spectroscopy. The system reveals a soft spin crossover
      involving only the central iron atom with its FeN(6) core, while the terminal
      FeN(3)O(3) units show no spin transition. The NIS spectra of the central low-spin
      isomer exhibit a number of marker bands in the 350-450 cm(-1) region which have
      not been detected in the Raman spectra. The density functional theory (DFT)
      calculations allowed the assignment of these bands to Fe-N bending and stretching
      modes. A characteristic high-spin marker mode has been identified and
      discriminated from the iron-ligand modes of the terminal iron atoms. This
      characteristic central Fe-N mode has been observed experimentally at 245 cm(-1)
      and theoretically at 255 cm(-1). Contrary to mononuclear centrosymmetric Fe
      complexes, some of the symmetric vibrations of the trimeric complex involving
      iron movements are observed by NIS. Furthermore the DFT calculations displayed
      the importance of the coulombic repulsion between metal ions for the geometry and
      stability of a given spin isomer.

PMID- 20931142
TI  - Enhancement of antimicrobial activity by synthetic ion channel synergy.
AB  - Hydraphile synthetic ion channels were found to enhance the cytotoxicity to E.
      coli and B. subtilis of erythromycin, kanamycin, rifampicin, and tetracycline
      when co-administered with the antibiotic at sublethal concentrations of channel.

PMID- 20931143
TI  - Artificial frustule prepared through a single-templating approach.
AB  - An "artificial frustule" was prepared through a single-templating approach, where
      the self-assembled architecture undergoes a transition from cocoons with pore
      channels parallel to the surface, to hollow spheres with perpendicular pore
      channels.

PMID- 20931144
TI  - Modulation of intramolecular heterodimer-induced fluorescence quenching of
      tricarbocyanine dye for the development of fluorescent sensor.
AB  - Various approaches have been used to modulate the fluorescence changes of sensors
      in the presence of target analytes, including intramolecular interaction between
      fluorophores or between fluorophore and other molecular species, like resonance
      energy transfer (RET). Here, we focus on fluorescence quenching by intramolecular
      heterodimer complex formation, which can be modulated over a shorter distance
      range than RET. We synthesized several conjugates of tricarbocyanine, which is a
      near-infrared fluorophore, with several quencher candidates via flexible short
      linker structure, and examined their fluorescence properties. Of our synthesized
      compounds, the dabcyl group proved to be the best quencher via heterodimer
      complex formation. The fluorescence of tricarbocyanine-dabcyl conjugates in
      aqueous media was almost completely quenched, and there was a dramatic
      fluorescence enhancement when heterodimer formation was blocked. These results
      suggested a design approach to develop fluorescence sensors for probing proximity
      relationships and structural transitions.

PMID- 20931147
TI  - Polyelectrolyte and carbon nanotube multilayers made from ionic liquid solutions.
AB  - The inevitable contact of substrates with water during the traditional practice
      of layer-by-layer assembly (LBL) creates problems for multiple potential
      applications of LBL films in electronics. To resolve this issue, we demonstrate
      here the possibility of a LBL process using ionic liquids (ILs), which
      potentially eliminates corrosion and hydration processes related to aqueous media
      and opens additional possibilities in structural control of LBL films. ILs are
      also considered to be one of the best "green" processing solvents, and hence, are
      advantageous in respect to traditional organic solvents. Poly(ethyleneimine)
      (PEI) and poly(sodium styrenesulfonate) (PSS) were dispersed in a hydrophilic IL
      and successfully deposited in the LBL fashion. To produce electroactive thin
      films with significance to electronics, a similar process was realized for PSS
      modified single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNT-PSS) and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA).
      Characterization of the coating using standard spectroscopy and microscopy
      techniques typical of the multilayer field indicated that there are both
      similarities and differences in the structure and properties of LBL films build
      from ILs and aqueous solutions. The films exhibited electrical conductivity of
      10(2) S m(-1) with transparency as high as 98% for visible light, which is
      comparable to similar parameters for many carbon nanotube and graphene films
      prepared by both aqueous LBL and other methods.

PMID- 20931151
TI  - [Care of thyroid carcinoma in pregnancy: Thyroglobulin content].

PMID- 20931150
TI  - Advanced inoperable type B3 thymoma: monitoring of a novel therapeutic approach
      with radio-chemotherapy and sorafenib by FDG-PET and CT.

PMID- 20931152
TI  - Obesity in school-aged children: Interpretation of the Body Mass Index in a
      sample of children and adolescents in Rome.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To evaluate overweight and obesity in a sample of children of school
      age in the city of Rome (Italy). MATERIALS AND METHODS: A sample of 18.299 school
      children (9.531 males and 8.768 females) aged between 3 and 15 years was studied.
      Height and weight have been measured in order to calculate the BMI. The
      percentile distribution of BMI has been determined and then subdivided according
      to the categories proposed by Cole. The analysis has been done using the program
      "Statistica" produced by StatSoft, Italia. RESULTS: The prevalence of overweight
      exceeded 20% in all age groups with the exception of the two extremes 3 years old
      and 15 years old in which the prevalence was 11.8% and 15.4% respectively.
      Children between 5 and 10 years old have the highest rates of obesity. The
      prevalence of obesity was highest in females between 4 and 8 years, while for the
      males it was 8 to 15 years. However the difference in the prevalence between
      males and females was statistically significantly different only in ages 9 and
      10. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of overweight rises to a peak at age 9, reaching
      30%, but declines at older ages. The prevalence of obesity peaks at an earlier
      age reaching between 12% and 15% at ages 5-8 years. The prevalence of obesity
      declines as the children get older.

PMID- 20931153
TI  - First clinical case of effective medical treatment of the vitreoretinal traction
      with recovery of the visual acuity.
AB  - This case-report evaluates the effectiveness of the medical treatment on
      vitreomacular traction through the use of palmitoylethanolamide (PEA), orally
      administered. Our 69 year-old patient reported a significant eyesight reduction,
      metamorphopsia and photopsia. He underwent the following investigations, before
      and after medical treatment: visual acuity evaluation, dilated fundus
      examination, OCT. The treatment consisted of the administration of two tablets of
      PEA per day over 7 days. We observed that, while the visual acuity in the right
      eye was 2/10 compared to the initial 11/10, the dilated fundus examination
      highlighted a foveal hole. Moreover, the OCT confirmed the presence of a
      vitreomacular traction due to the incomplete posterior vitreous detachment. At
      the end of the treatment with PEA, the visual acuity was equal to 8/10 and the
      OCT showed a disappearance of the hyperreflective streak with recovery of the
      physiological retinal and foveal profile. The therapy was eventually carried on
      for 10 more days with a final visual acuity of 10/10. In conclusion, PEA orally
      administered, beyond a rare possibility of a spontaneous resolution of the
      vitreomacular traction, probably contributed, by anti inflammatory action, to the
      vitreolysis and thus to the disappearance of the vitreomacular traction and
      foveal hole with a subsequent recovery of the eyesight and of the metamorphopsia.

PMID- 20931154
TI  - Duloxetine versus venlafaxine in the treatment of unipolar and bipolar
      depression.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Both duloxetine and venlafaxine are efficacious in treating patients
      with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), even though the advantages in treatment
      patients with bipolar disorder is unclear. This study aimed to evaluate the
      efficacy of duloxetine vs venlafaxine in the acute treatment of unipolar and
      bipolar depression. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was a non randomized
      controlled trial. The participants were 62 consecutive outpatients (41 men; 21
      women) affected by unipolar and bipolar depression treated either with duloxetine
      and venlafaxine. RESULTS: More patients treated with duloxetine had a positive
      response to treatment and remission both for depression (HAMD17 response: 90.3%
      vs 0.0%; p < .001; HAM-D17 remission: 48.4% vs 0.0%; p < .001), and anxiety (HAM
      A response: 90.3% vs 6.5%; p < .001; HAM-A remission: 71.0% vs 6.5%; p < .001)
      than controls. Patients treated with duloxetine were also more likely to show a
      decrease in HAM-D17 suicidality (100% vs 45.2%; p less than .001) and an increase
      in the quality of life (SF-36 percentage of improvement: 6.35 [SD=9.66 vs -2.58
      [9.98]; p less than .001) than controls. CONCLUSIONS: Duloxetine is more
      effective in reducing anxiety and suicidal ideation. Both treatments were safe
      and tolerated, and both may be successfully used in unipolar and bipolar
      depression.

PMID- 20931155
TI  - [Psychopathology, quality of life and social functioning in dialysis treatment
      and kidney transplantation patients].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Psychiatric evaluation of organ transplant candidates is now
      routinely proposed also in Italy. This study purposed to assess the psychological
      status in patients on hemo-dialysis, peritoneal dialysis and renal
      transplantation; moreover other purpose is to investigate the possible
      differences among the three groups. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 157 subjects were
      consecutively enrolled, to the service of U.O. Trapianti d'Organo of San
      Salvatore Hospital in L'Aquila (Italy), between October 2007 and August 2009; 127
      were in dialysis (80.9%), of which 101 were in hemodialysis (64.3%) (HD group)
      and 26 in peritoneal dialysis (16.6%) (PD group) and 30 (19.1%) Kidney transplant
      (PT group). The subjects were examined with clinical evaluation and through the
      following psychometric instruments: HAM-D, HAM-A, Jalowiec Coping Scale, STAI-Y1,
      STAI-Y2, DISS, SF-36. RESULTS: 30% out of our sample showed the presence of some
      psychopathological signs and symptoms, especially depression and anxiety. At HAM
      D there were no differences between HD group (6.73; DS + 5.58) and PD group
      (5.27, DS + 5.63); the mean value at HAM-D in PT group was 4.4 (DS + 3.16) (p <
      0.05). At HAM-A there were no differences between three groups. The HD group
      showed an higher value at STAI-Y1 (38.61; DS + 10.64) than PD (34.95; DS + 6.75)
      and PT (33.89; DS + 6.14) groups (p < 0.05). The quality of life (physical role,
      general health, vitality and role emotional) was lower in HD and PD groups,
      higher in group PT. The HD e PD groups showed a higher level of disability than
      PT group (p < 0.05). All subjects used "positive: coping styles. CONCLUSIONS: We
      consider essential to investigate the issues observed in this study, with the
      need to integrate psychosocial and functional needs assessment within a course of
      diagnosis and treatment for people who are undergoing dialysis procedures, or
      after waiting for a transplantation. Dialysis affects the quality of life,
      leading to limitations in activities and high level of disability. The PT group
      showed better quality of life and less impairment in functioning in the
      investigated areas. If the impact of psychological and/or psychiatric aid remains
      difficult to appraise, these results emphasize the impact of psychological status
      and the appropriateness of psychosocial support intervention on patients facing
      the transplant process or in dialysis treatments.

PMID- 20931156
TI  - Pain assessment in fibromyalgia and rheumatoid arthritis: influence of physical
      activity and illness perception.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Pain visual analog scales (VAS) have been validated for clinical use
      in fibromyalgia (FM) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. There are potential
      limitations, however, not only considering their use as a continuous measurement,
      but also with regard to the influence of personal illness perceptions, habitual
      physical activity and other life-style features. The aim of the study was to
      ascertain whether different illness perception, physical activity and clinical
      and laboratory characteristics can predict the severity of perceived pain
      assessed by VAS. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is an observational comparative
      study of forty consecutive out-patients, 20 of them with fibromyalgia and 20 with
      rheumatoid arthritis, treated by medical and physical therapy. Patients were
      assessed also by Pain VAS, Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) disability
      index, Ritchie index, Baecke questionnaire for physical activity, Illness
      Perception Questionnaire (IPQr) and SF36. RESULTS: Pain VAS is explained
      differently by some of the studied variables: in the total group HAQ and Ritchie
      index explain 29.8% of the variance; in the RA patients number of joints with
      pain and Ritchie index explain 52.7% of the variance; in FM patients total SF36
      score and IPQr personal control dimension explains 44.7% of the variance. No
      definite role of anxiety and/or depression was found as predictor of perceived
      pain and disability. CONCLUSION: Pain perception and complaint are explained by
      belief in FM patients: This seems to suggest the need for a more articulated
      cognitive approach; addressing both diagnostic and therapeutic interventions to
      anxiety/depression issues is not supported by our results.

PMID- 20931157
TI  - Impact of a metabolic stone clinic on management of patients with cystinuria: 5
      years follow-up.
AB  - PURPOSE: Cystinuric patients develop new stones and exhibit stone growth despite
      conservative measures and often require surgical intervention. There have been
      reports of better outcome both in surgical intervention rates and compliance when
      patients were referred to dedicated metabolic stone clinics. We wish to report
      our experience in the running of a metabolic stone disease clinic and to compare
      our intervention rates to the pre-metabolic stone clinic period in our
      department. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We reviewed retrospectively our cystinuria
      patients' database between the years of 1992 and 2008. Patients were divided into
      two groups. Group A patients (n=28) were treated before the introduction of a
      dedicated stone clinic (years 1992-2002) and group B patients (n=28) after the
      establishment of the metabolic stone clinic but every group B patient had a
      minimum follow up of 5 years. 21 patients were common between the two groups.
      Main therapy included hyperdiuresis and alkalization. Parameters recorded
      included the number of clinic visits, whether the patients were stone free or
      asymptomatic at the time of our review and the nature and frequency of surgical
      intervention. RESULTS: A total number of 145 procedures were carried out in group
      A including 89 ESWL, 27 PCNL, 24 ureteroscopy retrograde lithotripsies and 5 open
      procedures. In group B, a total of 54 procedures were carried out and included 6
      ESWL, 5 PCNL and 43 ureteroscopy laser lithotripsies. The average number of
      surgical interventions per patient per year was 0.74 and 0.34 in group A and B
      respectively. The number of clinic attendances increased in group B to 279 from
      188 in group A. Stone free rates were 46% for group A and 50% for group B
      patients but all group B patients were asymptomatic at the time of our review.
      CONCLUSIONS: The introduction of a dedicated cystinuria clinic halved the
      intervention rate in this complicated group of patients. The majority of surgical
      procedures shifted towards ureteroscopies (both as inpatients and as day case
      procedures). We believe that cystine stone patients should be managed in a
      devoted metabolic stone clinic. With this approach, compliance is better achieved
      and surgical intervention is less, resulting in better clinical outcome, and less
      burden both for the patient and the urological services.

PMID- 20931158
TI  - Laparoscopic deroofing of hepatic cysts: The most effective treatment option.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: With advances in laparoscopic surgery, laparoscopic deroofing has
      gained wide acceptance in the surgical community to treat symptomatic non
      parasitic hepatic cysts. Published non-surgical data still favour aspiration and
      sclerotherapy as treatment in these cases, though morbidity is higher and
      recurrence rates are not acceptable. We reviewed all patients that had been
      treated by laparoscopic deroofing in our department over a period of 6 years in
      order to find out if the surgical approach should be considered the standard
      treatment. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Over a 6 year period, 34 laparoscopic
      deroofings were performed in 21 patients with symptomatic cysts. Patients
      underwent laparoscopy followed by radical deroofing using an Ultracision device.
      RESULTS: All cases were completed laparoscopically, no intraoperative adverse
      events were recorded. Mean operation time was 101 +/- 22.7 min. The mean size of
      treated cysts was 9.7 +/- 2.18 cm. Follow up showed only one symptomatic
      recurrence (3.3%) two months after surgery. CONCLUSION: Laparoscopic deroofing of
      hepatic cysts is a safe and effective treatment option. Recurrence rates are
      unprecedentedly low. Our data suggest that the risk of operation is justified and
      that the method is superior to sclerotherapy.

PMID- 20931159
TI  - An interesting case of Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia Type 2A.
AB  - We report the case of a 37-year-old Chinese man who came with a history of
      bilateral adrenalectomy and was admitted for recurrent phaeochromocytoma. Further
      investigations of an incidental finding of persistently raised carcinoembryonic
      antigen (CEA), fi rst observed four years ago, revealed medullary thyroid
      carcinoma (MTC). As such, a provisional diagnosis of Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia
      2A (MEN 2A) was made. In this case, it seemed like the long-standing elevation of
      CEA was ignored until it was noted in a post-clinical discussion among several
      physicians. The present case illustrates the significance of considering a single
      abnormal biochemical test in an asymptomatic patient and also discusses the
      importance of life-long follow-up of a patient with a history of
      phaeochromocytoma.

PMID- 20931160
TI  - Unduly extensive mandibular insertion of temporalis muscle: A case report.
AB  - PURPOSE: Anomalous extensive attachment of temporalis muscle covering the
      mandibular incisure is rarely reported in literature. Such variations of
      temporalis muscle are of immense significance in operative procedures of maxillo
      facial region, utilization of temporalis muscle fl ap and accurate interpretation
      of radiographs. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Dissection of the head and neck region
      during the course of undergraduate teaching programme revealed unduly extensive
      attachment of temporalis muscle fibres in the left side in an adult Indian male
      cadaver. The temporal and infra-temporal regions were carefully dissected to
      delineate the temporalis muscle with special emphasis on the branches of
      maxillary artery and mandibular nerve. The morphological details of the
      temporalis muscle were recorded and appropriate photographs taken. RESULTS: The
      mandibular notch was 3.1 cm wide. The extra fleshy fibres of the temporalis
      muscle completely occupied the mandibular notch and further descended for
      insertion onto the coronoid process, and external and internal surfaces of the
      ramus of mandible. The masseteric nerves and vessels pierced the anomalous fibres
      of temporalis muscle in the mandibular notch. CONCLUSION: The present study
      highlights the morphological details of an unduly extensive attachment of
      temporalis muscle and discusses its importance in reconstructive procedures of
      maxillo-facial region. Detailed information of the variations of temporalis
      muscle is also important in accurate interpretation of modern imaging procedures.

PMID- 20931161
TI  - Wound healing in diabetes mellitus: traditional treatment modalities.
AB  - The healing of wound is a complex process which requires the interactions of
      different cells and extracellular molecules. The normal wound healing process can
      be divided into four overlapping phases i.e. haemostasis, inflammation,
      proliferation and remodeling. In diseased condition like diabetes mellitus, the
      wound healing process is grossly impaired, resulting in chronic wounds which fail
      to heal. In the past decades, several researchers have tested various traditional
      medicines obtained from the plants for their wound healing properties. Such
      traditional plants are Aloe vera, Calotropis procera, Portulaca oleracea,
      Acalypha langiana, Plagiochasma appendiculatum and Momordica charantia. Perhaps
      one of the most popular and easily available plant is Momordica charantia (bitter
      gourd). The present article presents an extensive review on the impaired wound
      healing process in diabetes mellitus and highlights the use of traditional
      medicines in diabetic wounds.

PMID- 20931162
TI  - Clinical trials with mentally disabled subjects: ethical issues in national and
      international documents.
AB  - This article summarises the key ethical considerations involved in performing
      clinical trials involving persons who cannot conscious, free and informed
      consensus. Criteria are considered, which are drawn from ethical codes,
      declarations, treaties, conventions, regulations and other documents and
      published by national, international, and supranational institutions and
      authorities. The article focuses on the evolution of attitudes regarding the
      evolution of participation of incapacitate people in clinical research--from
      their almost complete exclusion in the mid-twentieth century, partly because of
      serious historical violations of human rights, to a gradually acceptance that
      these "vulnerable" people could be involved in trials, provided that certain
      conditions were met. In particular, the problem of including incapacitated people
      in clinical trials during emergencies is also addressed.

PMID- 20931163
TI  - [Pulmonary rehabilitation: pathophysiology, indications, and clinical efficacy].
AB  - Pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) is a non pharmacologic treatment of demonstrated
      efficacy indicated for symptomatic patients with chronic lung diseases. In the
      pulmonary rehabilitation programs (PRPs), exercise training is a cornerstone
      component, recommended for improving muscle function. Its aim is to address the
      disability, intended as the reduction in functional performance and quality of
      life, derived from muscle deconditioning caused by physical inactivity due to
      chronic breathlessness, fatigue, and impairment of daily activities claimed by
      patients with chronic pulmonary diseases. Other components of PRPs are
      educational, psychosocial and nutritional interventions. Moreover, any PRP should
      include an outcome assessment, needed for an objective evaluation of program
      effectiveness, and of patient progress through the time. Although its pivotal
      role is now accepted worldwide, this was not the prevailing thought during the
      1980's and the 1990's, when the pathophysiologic rationale of PR was still not
      demonstrated, condemning it to be an ancillary treatment to add to standard COPD
      treatment. The following ascent of PR was mainly due to the number of studies
      providing its effectiveness, overcoming skepticism and convincing physicians and
      institutions about its efficacy. Today PR clearly improves exercise tolerance,
      dyspnea, and quality of life, but despite such demonstration, it is mostly
      overlooked by health professionals, and only about 2% of patients with COPD
      undergo to PRPs. A proper consideration of the capability of PR is warranted to
      ensure optimal management of COPD when the disease causes symptoms and a decrease
      in physical capacity.

PMID- 20931164
TI  - Microscopic colitis: a concise review.
AB  - Microscopic colitis is an increasingly common cause of chronic watery diarrhoea,
      and often a causes of abdominal pain of unknown origins. The increase of interest
      for this clinical entity is due to a misdiagnosis of any symptoms that have been
      frequently attributed to diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome, often for
      many years before diagnosis. Presumably, most estimates of incidence and
      prevalence understate the true frequency of microscopic colitis for this reason.
      The aim of this paper is to evaluate the importance of microscopic colitis as
      cause of chronic non bloody diarrhoea, on the basis of literature review. These
      kind of colitis are characterized by normal colonic mucosa at endoscopy or barium
      enema but with increased inflammation in colonic biopsies. Microscopic colitis
      consists of two main subtypes, collagenous colitis and lymphocytic colitis,
      distinguished by the presence of absence of a thickened subepithelial collagen
      band. Several models of pathogenesis has been proposed but no convincing
      mechanism has been identified, although is difficult to characterize this
      clinical entity as an independent phenomenon or a simple manifestation or related
      factors active to induce microscopic changing in the colonic mucosa. A rational
      approach to therapy does not exist and was conduct with several types of drugs
      after the exclusion of other causes, commonly characterized by this symptoms and
      the definitive histological assessment in the biopsies specimens. In the majority
      of cases this condition tends to follow a self-limited course but potentially can
      assume the characteristics of relapsing course with the necessity to a chronic
      therapy. Several long-term follow-up studies excluded a possible progression to
      neoplastic malignancies of microscopic colitis.

PMID- 20931165
TI  - Efficacy and safety of duloxetine in fibromyalgia.
AB  - Fibromyalgia is a chronic disorder of uncertain aetiology, more common in women
      than in man, characterized by widespread pain, muscle tenderness and decreased
      pain threshold to pressure and other stimuli. The pathophysiology of fibromyalgia
      is still unknown, but some evidences suggest that abnormalities in central
      monoaminergic transmission might play an important role. These abnormalities
      include dysfunction in both serotonin (5-HT) and norepinephrine (NE) systems. In
      addition, fibromyalgia frequently presents in comorbidity with depression and
      anxiety disorders. On these basis antidepressants are the most widely studied
      drugs and, probably the most effective therapy of fibromyalgia. Until now
      amitriptyline, a tricyclic antidepressant, was considered the most effective,
      with some evidence of efficacy for other antidepressant such as the SSRI
      fluoxetine and sertraline. Here we review the efficacy and safety of duloxetine,
      a SNRI antidepressant, in the management of fibromyalgia.

PMID- 20931166
TI  - Informed consent.
AB  - Informed consent (IC) in clinical experimentation is a process by which a subject
      voluntarily and freely confirms his/her willingness to participate in a trial,
      after having been informed of all involved aspects. IC is a concept enough recent
      within medical tradition. Unquestionably, Nuremberg trials (1945-1947) influenced
      thought about consent in Medicine. When the idea of IC evolved, discussion for
      appropriate guidelines moved increasingly from a narrow focus on the
      physician's/researcher's obligation. IC shall be obtained in writing and
      documented before a subject is enrolled into clinical investigation. ,
      Particularly in the case of medical devices, it is necessary an adequate
      information to the patient on possible incidents occurring following placing of
      devices.

PMID- 20931167
TI  - Observational protocol.
AB  - An observational study (OS) is a non-interventional/non-experimental survey. In
      the OSs, the investigator observes and evaluates results of ongoing medical care
      without 'controlling' the therapy beyond normal medical practice. An OS is aimed:
      1. to the evaluation of the safety profile of any medical procedure (drug,
      device, surgical procedure, radiotherapy, diagnostics, etc.) under the normal
      conditions of use and on great numbers of patients, 2. for close examinations on
      the effectiveness in the clinical practice, 3. for the verification of the
      prescriptive appropriateness and 4. for pharmacoeconomic evaluations. For their
      characteristics OPs don't involve additional risks for the patients to which the
      best conditions of clinical assistance are offered. Consequently they do not need
      further or different ethical procedures/ requirements in comparison to the
      experimental clinical studies Particularly it is necessary to avoid that an
      interventional trial could be introduced as an OP.

PMID- 20931168
TI  - Diversity of Mesozoic semionotiform fishes and the origin of gars
      (Lepisosteidae).
AB  - Gars (Lepisosteidae) are ray-finned fishes with controversial relationships to
      other actinopterygian lineages. When fossil taxa are considered, gars are grouped
      with Mesozoic macrosemiids and 'semionotids' in the Semionotiformes, but the
      intra-relationships within this order are still elusive. Here, the evolutionary
      history of gars is reinvestigated using a set of well-preserved extinct
      semionotiform taxa in a phylogenetic analysis. Results indicate that the gar
      lineage roots in a clade of Late Jurassic-Cretaceous semionotiform fishes. The
      closest relatives to gars were plant-eating and detritivorous freshwater fishes.
      The occurrence of semionotiform remains in Early and early Late Cretaceous
      continental deposits worldwide possibly reflects an important radiation of this
      group, comparable to the present-day diversification of cypriniforms. Other Late
      Triassic to Early Cretaceous semionotiform taxa are gathered in a single clade
      with weakly supported internal nodes, pointing out the necessity to better
      understand the osteology of these fishes.

PMID- 20931169
TI  - [Somatoform disorders and functional somatic syndromes].
AB  - Somatoform symptoms occur in the absence of clear organic pathology. Typically,
      such symptoms are long-lasting and disabling. Somatoform symptoms and disorders
      are highly prevalent in primary care. The course of somatoform disorders is
      mostly chronic, and remission rates are low. Multiple factors influence the
      development and perpetuation of somatoform disorders. Currently, there is strong
      debate about the classification of somatoform disorders, and it is very likely
      that there will be significant changes in the classification of somatoform
      disorders in the upcoming DSM-V. With regard to the psychotherapeutic treatment
      of somatoform disorders, there is empirical evidence for the efficacy of
      cognitive-behavioral as well as psychodynamic-interpersonal strategies.
      Pharmacotherapy plays a minor role, but it can be useful mainly in cases of
      comorbid depression or anxiety.

PMID- 20931170
TI  - Multiplex single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) assay for detection of soybean
      mosaic virus resistance genes in soybean.
AB  - Soybean mosaic virus (SMV) is one of the most destructive viral diseases in
      soybean (Glycine max). Three independent loci for SMV resistance have been
      identified in soybean germplasm. The use of genetic resistance is the most
      effective method of controlling this disease. Marker assisted selection (MAS) has
      become very important and useful in the effort of selecting genes for SMV
      resistance. Single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), because of its abundance and
      high-throughput potential, is a powerful tool in genome mapping, association
      studies, diversity analysis, and tagging of important genes in plant genomics. In
      this study, a 10 SNPs plus one insert/deletion (InDel) multiplex assay was
      developed for SMV resistance: two SNPs were developed from the candidate gene
      3gG2 at Rsv1 locus, two SNPs selected from the clone N11PF linked to Rsv1, one
      'BARC' SNP screened from soybean chromosome 13 [linkage group (LG) F] near Rsv1,
      two 'BARC' SNPs from probe A519 linked to Rsv3, one 'BARC' SNP from chromosome 14
      (LG B2) near Rsv3, and two 'BARC' SNPs from chromosome 2 (LG D1b) near Rsv4, plus
      one InDel marker from expressed sequence tag (EST) AW307114 linked to Rsv4. This
      11 SNP/InDel multiplex assay showed polymorphism among 47 diverse soybean
      germplasm, indicating this assay can be used to investigate the mode of
      inheritance in a SMV resistant soybean line carrying Rsv1, Rsv3, and/or Rsv4
      through a segregating population with phenotypic data, and to select a specific
      gene or pyramid two or three genes for SMV resistance through MAS in soybean
      breeding program. The presence of two SMV resistance genes (Rsv1 and Rsv3) in J05
      soybean was confirmed by the SNP assay.

PMID- 20931171
TI  - Coordination in phenanthrene biodegradation: pyruvate as microbial demarcation.
AB  - The principle involved in the phenanthrene degradation is regarded as the key to
      unlock the mechanisms governing the pathway of other polycyclic aromatic
      hydrocarbons. Past studies have made some pathway proposals via metabolite
      analysis. In this study, two dominating species (phn01 and phn02) were isolated
      from oil contaminated soil and were used in lab-scale experiment of phenanthrene
      degradation. The GC/MS results revealed the metabolites of pyruvate, phthalate, 1
      hydroxy-2-naphthaldehyde and 9-phenanthrol at retention time of 12.01, 15.34,
      16.82 and 18.16 min, respectively. A new proposal of pathway was derived.
      Selective degradation indicated the relationship of coordination between these
      two species, one of which was mainly responsible for pyruvate production and the
      other for pyruvate consumption. Pyruvate played a role of microbial demarcation
      which might be closely associated with invoking signal for microbial community
      during biodegradation.

PMID- 20931172
TI  - Sudden cadmium increases in the digestive gland of scallop, Nodipecten nodosus
      L., farmed in the tropics.
AB  - Cadmium bioaccumulation in Nodipecten nodosus reared on a marine farm in a
      tropical bay was measured in muscle tissue and the digestive glands in animals
      ranging from 6 to 16 months. No bioaccumulation tendencies regarding Cd
      concentration were observed in muscle tissue (below 1 MUg g-1), while in the
      digestive gland concentrations remained below 5 MUg g-1 until the organisms
      reached 10 months, and reached levels above 10 MUg g-1 from 12 months onwards
      (reaching 27 MUg g-1). This is the same bioaccumulation pattern noted in animals
      transplanted to a different Cd exposure. Allometry and environmental factors
      cannot explain this sudden increase.

PMID- 20931173
TI  - Transobturator adjustable tape for severe stress urinary incontinence and stress
      urinary incontinence with voiding dysfunction.
AB  - INTRODUCTION AND HYPOTHESIS: This prospective multicenter study was conducted to
      evaluate the efficacy and safety of an adjustable mid-urethral sling (MUS) using
      transobturator adjustable tape (TOA) in women with severe stress urinary
      incontinence or combined stress urinary incontinence (SUI) and voiding
      dysfunction (VD). METHODS: One day after placement of TOA, the tension was
      adjusted. Six months after surgery, changes in several questionnaires and
      uroflowmetry (UFM) parameters were evaluated. RESULTS: Among the 65 women
      enrolled in the study, 27 (41.5%) required postoperative tension readjustments.
      At 6 months, the complete cure rate of SUI was 84.4%, and patient satisfaction
      with the operation was 86.2%. There was improvement in the total scores on
      several questionnaires. There were no significant changes in postoperative UFM
      parameters. CONCLUSION: Our results support the use of TOA as an effective
      modality for the treatment of SUI in women at risk for persistent postoperative
      SUI or obstructive symptoms.

PMID- 20931174
TI  - Characterization of toxins from the broad-banded water snake Helicops angulatus
      (Linnaeus, 1758): isolation of a cysteine-rich secretory protein, Helicopsin.
AB  - Helicops angulatus (broad-banded water snake) according to recent proposals is
      presently cited in the family Dipsadidae, subfamily Xenodontinae, forming the
      tribe Hydropsini along with the genera Hydrops and Pseudoeryx. The current work
      characterizes the proteolytic and neurotoxic activities of H. angulatus crude
      toxins from salivary excretion (SE) and describes the isolation and
      identification of a cysteine-rich secretory protein (CRISP) called helicopsin.
      The SE lethal dose (LD50) was 5.3 mg/kg; however, the SE did not contain
      hemorrhagic activity. Helicopsin was purified using activity-guided, Superose 12
      10/300 GL molecular exclusion, Mono Q10 ion exchange, and Protein Pak 60
      molecular exclusion. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis
      (SDS-PAGE) showed a highly purified band of approximately 20 kDa. The minimal
      lethal dose for helicopsin was 0.4 mg/kg. Liquid chromatography mass spectrometry
      (LC-MS/MS) analysis identified 2 unique peptides MEWYPEAAANAER and YTQIVWYK,
      representing a protein sequence (deleted homology) belonging to cysteine-rich
      secretory proteins, which are conserved in snake venoms (CRISPs). CRISPs are a
      large family of cysteine-rich secretory proteins found in various organisms and
      participate in diverse biological processes. Helicopsin exhibited robust
      neurotoxic activity as evidenced by immediate death (~8 min) due to respiratory
      paralysis in NIH mice. These observations for helicopsin purified from H.
      angulatus provide further evidence of the extensive distribution of highly potent
      neurotoxins in the Colubroidea superfamily of snakes than previously described.

PMID- 20931175
TI  - New developments in quantitative polymerase chain reaction applied to control the
      quality of heparins.
AB  - Heparin is a widely used intravenous anticoagulant comprised of a very complex
      mixture of glucosaminoglycan chains, mainly derived from porcine intestinal
      mucosa. Recent contamination of heparin with oversulfated (OS) chondroitin
      sulfate resulted in a significant number of deaths, triggering a rapid revision
      of product monographs and the introduction of new analytical methods to limit as
      far as possible the chances of another occurrence of such a phenomenon. The
      distribution of heparin-processing units across the globe prevents their complete
      fool-proof auditing. Therefore, the implementation of additional orthogonal
      analytical techniques for quality control (QC) of heparin batches is highly
      important. We perform routine quantitative polymerase chain reaction (Q-PCR)
      release tests to confirm the quality of all crude heparin batches received by
      sanofi-aventis. The routine test used provides information on the animal species
      of origin as requested by the US Pharmacopoeia (USP) and European Pharmacopoiea
      monographs. Here, we demonstrate that the Q-PCR test is inhibited by OS
      glycosaminoglycans at concentrations as low as 0.5% (w/w versus heparin) and can
      be used as an additional safeguard to monitor levels of potentially harmful
      contaminants without any increased workload. In response to a request from the
      USP, we also describe the development of a Q-PCR method for monitoring
      nucleotidic impurities in pure heparin, which is able to detect amplifiable DNA
      at concentrations lower than 0.1 ng DNA per milligram of heparin. This increased
      sensitivity makes this modified Q-PCR method a potential candidate for inclusion
      as a QC requirement in future monographs.

PMID- 20931176
TI  - Unilateral NMR, 13C CPMAS NMR spectroscopy and micro-analytical techniques for
      studying the materials and state of conservation of an ancient Egyptian wooden
      sarcophagus.
AB  - A multi-technique approach was employed to study a decorated Egyptian wooden
      sarcophagus (XXV-XXVI dynasty, Third Intermediate Period), belonging to the Museo
      del Vicino Oriente of the Sapienza University of Rome. Portable non-invasive
      unilateral NMR was applied to evaluate the conservation state of the sarcophagus.
      Moreover, using unilateral NMR, a non-invasive analytical protocol was
      established to detect the presence of organic substances on the surface and/or
      embedded in the wooden matrix. This protocol allowed for an educated sampling
      campaign aimed at further investigating the state of degradation of the wood and
      the presence of organic substances by (13)C cross polarization magic angle
      spinning (CPMAS) NMR spectroscopy. The composition of the painted layer was
      analysed by optical microscopy (OM), scanning electron microscopy-energy
      dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), Raman and surface enhanced (resonance) Raman
      spectroscopy (SERS/SERRS), infrared and GC-MS techniques, evidencing original
      components such as clay minerals, Egyptian green, indigo, natural gums, and also
      highlighting restoration pigments and alteration compounds. The identification of
      the wood, of great value for the reconstruction of the history of the artwork,
      was achieved by means of optical microscopy.

PMID- 20931177
TI  - Where does an object trigger an action? An investigation about affordances in
      space.
AB  - A series of experiments provide evidence that affordances rely not only on the
      mutual appropriateness of the features of an object and the abilities of an
      individual, but also on the fact that those features fall within her own
      reachable space, thus being really ready-to-her-own-hand. We used a spatial
      alignment effect paradigm and systematically examined this effect when the
      visually presented object was located either within or outside the peripersonal
      space of the participants, both from a metric (Experiment 1) and from a
      functional point of view (Experiment 2). We found that objectual features evoke
      actions only when the object is presented within the portion of the peripersonal
      space that is effectively reachable by the participants. Experiments 3 and 4
      ruled out that our results could be merely accounted for by differences in the
      visual salience of the presented objects. Our data suggest that the power of an
      object to automatically trigger an action is strictly linked to the effective
      possibility that an individual has to interact with it.

PMID- 20931178
TI  - Extending Fitts' Law to three-dimensional obstacle-avoidance movements: support
      for the posture-based motion planning model.
AB  - According to Fitts' Law, the time (MT) to move to a target is a linear function
      of the logarithm of the ratio between the target's distance and width. Although
      Fitts' Law accurately predicts MTs for direct movements, it does not accurately
      predict MTs for indirect movements, as when an obstacle intrudes on the direct
      movement path. To address this limitation, Jax et al. (2007) added an obstacle
      intrusion term to Fitts' Law. They accurately predicted MTs around obstacles in
      two-dimensional (2-D) workspaces, but their model had one more parameter than
      Fitts' Law did and was merely descriptive. In this study, we addressed these
      concerns by turning to the mechanistic, posture-based (PB) movement planning
      model. The PB-based model accounted for almost as much MT variance in a 3-D
      movement task as the model of Jax et al., with only two parameters, the same
      number of parameters as in Fitts' Law.

PMID- 20931179
TI  - Structure-activity relationships on the odor detectability of homologous
      carboxylic acids by humans.
AB  - We measured concentration detection functions for the odor detectability of the
      homologs: formic, acetic, butyric, hexanoic, and octanoic acids. Subjects (14 <=
      n <= 18) comprised young (19-37 years), healthy, nonsmoker, and normosmic
      participants from both genders. Vapors were delivered by air dilution
      olfactometry, using a three-alternative forced-choice procedure against carbon
      filtered air, and an ascending concentration approach. Delivered concentrations
      were established by gas chromatography (flame ionization detector) in parallel
      with testing. Group and individual olfactory functions were modeled by a sigmoid
      (logistic) equation from which two parameters are calculated: C, the odor
      detection threshold (ODT) and D, the steepness of the function. Thresholds
      declined with carbon chain length along formic, acetic, and butyric acid where
      they reached a minimum (ODTs = 514, 5.2, and 0.26 ppb by volume, respectively).
      Then, they increased for hexanoic (1.0 ppb) and octanoic (0.86 ppb) acid. Odor
      thresholds and interindividual differences in olfactory acuity among these young,
      normosmic participants were lower than traditionally thought and reported. No
      significant effects of gender on odor detectability were observed. The finding of
      an optimum molecular size for odor potency along homologs confirms a prediction
      made by a model of ODTs based on a solvation equation. We discuss the mechanistic
      implications of this model for the process of olfactory detection.

PMID- 20931180
TI  - Effects of instructed focus and task difficulty on concurrent walking and
      cognitive task performance in healthy young adults.
AB  - Dual task paradigms can be used to examine the interactions between cognition and
      the control of posture and gait. Measuring and interpreting changes in dual task
      performance is challenging, however, because many factors can influence
      performance. This study examined the effects of instructed focus and walking task
      difficulty, and the interaction between these factors, on dual task performance
      in healthy young adults. Fifteen participants performed a cognitive task while
      walking with either a usual base or a narrow base of support. Participants were
      instructed to focus on either the cognitive task or walking. Trade-offs both
      within and between tasks were assessed using the modified attention allocation
      index and the performance operating characteristic. Instructed focus influenced
      both the cognitive task and walking. Performance on the cognitive task was faster
      with instructions to focus on the cognitive task, and walking was faster (and
      more accurate in the narrow-base condition) with instructions to focus on
      walking. Walking task difficulty did not affect cognitive performance but did
      affect walking, with faster walking in the usual-base versus narrow-base
      condition. There was evidence of an interaction, with greater effects of
      instructed focus on the cognitive task during usual versus narrow-base walking.
      These results support the idea that the ability to flexibly shift attention
      allocation and task performance in response to instructions depends on the
      difficulty of the postural control task. The modified attention allocation index
      and the performance operating characteristic were instrumental in fully
      characterizing trade-offs between and within tasks in order to understand dual
      task performance changes. A clearer understanding of the factors that affect dual
      task walking and the interactions between these factors has important
      implications for the assessment of dual task performance in both clinical and
      research settings.

PMID- 20931181
TI  - Phase dependence of transport-aperture coordination variability reveals control
      strategy of reach-to-grasp movements.
AB  - Based on an assumption of movement control optimality in reach-to-grasp
      movements, we have recently developed a mathematical model of transport-aperture
      coordination (TAC), according to which the hand-target distance is a function of
      hand velocity and acceleration, aperture magnitude, and aperture velocity and
      acceleration (Rand et al. in Exp Brain Res 188:263-274, 2008). Reach-to-grasp
      movements were performed by young adults under four different reaching speeds and
      two different transport distances. The residual error magnitude of fitting the
      above model to data across different trials and subjects was minimal for the
      aperture-closure phase, but relatively much greater for the aperture-opening
      phase, indicating considerable difference in TAC variability between those
      phases. This study's goal is to identify the main reasons for that difference and
      obtain insights into the control strategy of reach-to-grasp movements. TAC
      variability within the aperture-opening phase of a single trial was found
      minimal, indicating that TAC variability between trials was not due to execution
      noise, but rather a result of inter-trial and inter-subject variability of motor
      plan. At the same time, the dependence of the extent of trial-to-trial
      variability of TAC in that phase on the speed of hand transport was sharply
      inconsistent with the concept of speed-accuracy trade-off: the lower the speed,
      the larger the variability. Conversely, the dependence of the extent of TAC
      variability in the aperture-closure phase on hand transport speed was consistent
      with that concept. Taking into account recent evidence that the cost of neural
      information processing is substantial for movement planning, the dependence of
      TAC variability in the aperture-opening phase on task performance conditions
      suggests that it is not the movement time that the CNS saves in that phase, but
      the cost of neuro-computational resources and metabolic energy required for TAC
      regulation in that phase. Thus, the CNS performs a trade-off between that cost
      and TAC regulation accuracy. It is further discussed that such trade-off is
      possible because, due to a special control law that governs optimal switching
      from aperture opening to aperture closure, the inter-trial variability of the end
      of aperture opening does not affect the high accuracy of TAC regulation in the
      subsequent aperture-closure phase.

PMID- 20931182
TI  - Biophysical properties of human medulloblastoma cells.
AB  - Medulloblastoma is a pediatric high-grade cerebellar malignancy derived from
      neuronal precursors. Although electrophysiologic characteristics of cerebellar
      granule neurons at all stages of cell development have been well described, such
      characterization has not been reported for medulloblastoma. In this study we
      attempt to characterize important electrophysiologic features of medulloblastoma
      that may distinguish it from the surrounding cerebellum. Using patient-derived
      cell lines and tumor tissues, we show that medulloblastoma cells have no inward
      Na+ current or transient K+ current involved in action potential generation and
      propagation, typically seen in granule neurons. Expression and function of
      calcium-activated, large-conductance K+ channels are diminished in
      medulloblastoma, judged by electrophysiology and Western analysis. The resting
      membrane potential of medulloblastoma cells in culture is quite depolarized
      compared to granule neurons. Interestingly, medulloblastoma cells express small,
      fast-inactivating calcium currents consistent with T-type calcium channels, but
      these channels are activated only from hyperpolarized potentials, which are
      unlikely to occur. Additionally, a background acid-sensitive K+ current is
      present with features characteristic of TASK1 or TASK3 channels, such as
      inhibition by ruthenium red. Western analysis confirms expression of TASK1 and
      TASK3. In describing the electrophysiologic characteristics of medulloblastoma,
      one can see features that resemble other high-grade malignancies as opposed to
      normal cerebellar granule neurons. This supports the notion that the malignant
      phenotype of medulloblastoma is characterized by unique changes in ion channel
      expression.

PMID- 20931183
TI  - Primary angioplasty for a subtype of symptomatic middle cerebral artery stenosis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The purpose of this study was to assess the long-term efficacy of
      middle cerebral artery revascularisation by primary balloon angioplasty for the
      prevention of stroke in a certain subtype of patients. METHOD: A retrospective
      study was performed to evaluate 33 patients with symptomatic middle cerebral
      artery stenoses who underwent primary balloon angioplasty; the selection criteria
      were: greater than 70% stenosis measured by digital subtraction angiography,
      lesions equal to or shorter than 5 mm, lesions near or across a bifurcation, and
      lesions with very tortuous proximal vessels that increase the risk of stenting.
      All patients were available for follow-up ranging from 6 to 60 months. The
      technical success rate, periprocedural complications, and long-term outcome were
      retrospectively reviewed. RESULT: The mean stenosis degree was reduced from 87.12
      +/- 7.40 to 23.03 +/- 9.84 after angioplasty. The periprocedural complication
      rate was 18.18% (six dissections without an ischemic event). Two patients had
      strokes in the territory of the angioplasty at 6 and 32 months after angioplasty,
      and the stroke-free survival at 5 years was 90.04% (mean survival time, 56.42 +/-
      2.43 months; 95% CI, 51.66-61.19 months). CONCLUSION: These results suggest that
      this treatment is safe and could provide a durable clinical result at long-term
      follow-up in this subtype of patients, but the high rate of dissection remains a
      major technical drawback.

PMID- 20931184
TI  - Comparative genomics of marine mussels (Mytilus spp.) gender associated mtDNA:
      rapidly evolving atp8.
AB  - The unusual mode of mitochondrial DNA inheritance, with two separate: maternal
      (F) and paternal (M) lineages, gives unique opportunities to study the evolution
      of the mitochondrial genome. This system was first discovered in the marine
      mussels Mytilus. The three related species: Mytilus edulis, Mytilus
      galloprovincialis and Mytilus trossulus form a complex in which the divergence of
      M and F lineages pre-dates the speciation. The complete mitochondrial genomes of
      both lineages were known for all species except Pacific M. trossulus. Here we
      report, for the first time, the complete sequences of both mitochondrial genomes
      of Pacific M. trossulus, filling the gap. While the reported M and F genomes are
      highly diverged (26%), they have similar organisation. The only difference is the
      translocation of one tRNA gene into the long, mosaic control region of the F
      genome. Consistent presence of an ORF which most likely represents the atp8 gene
      was confirmed in both genomes. The predicted protein has characteristics expected
      of the functional atp8 even though the M and F versions are markedly different in
      length. Comparative analysis involving all three species led to the conclusion
      that the cause of a faster evolution of atp8 and Mytilus mtDNA in general is most
      likely the Compensation-Draft Feedback process coupled with relatively relaxed
      selection in the M lineage. Thus, we postulate that the adaptive changes may have
      played a role in the emergence of highly diverged, barely recognizable atp8 in
      Mytilus mussels.

PMID- 20931186
TI  - The impact of acetate metabolism on yeast fermentative performance and wine
      quality: reduction of volatile acidity of grape musts and wines.
AB  - Acetic acid is the main component of the volatile acidity of grape musts and
      wines. It can be formed as a by-product of alcoholic fermentation or as a product
      of the metabolism of acetic and lactic acid bacteria, which can metabolize
      residual sugars to increase volatile acidity. Acetic acid has a negative impact
      on yeast fermentative performance and affects the quality of certain types of
      wine when present above a given concentration. In this mini-review, we present an
      overview of fermentation conditions and grape-must composition favoring acetic
      acid formation, as well the metabolic pathways leading to its formation and
      degradation by yeast. The negative effect of acetic acid on the fermentative
      performance of Saccharomyces cerevisiae will also be covered, including its role
      as a physiological inducer of apoptosis. Finally, currently available wine
      deacidification processes and new proposed solutions based on zymological
      deacidification by select S. cerevisiae strains will be discussed.

PMID- 20931187
TI  - Microbial fuel cells for energy self-sufficient domestic wastewater treatment-a
      review and discussion from energetic consideration.
AB  - As the microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology is getting nearer to practical
      applications such as wastewater treatment, it is crucial to consider the
      different aspects that will make this technology viable in the future. In this
      paper, we provide information about the specifications of an energy self
      sufficient MFC system as a basis to extrapolate on the potential benefits and
      limits of a future MFC-based wastewater treatment plant. We particularly
      emphasize on the importance of two crucial parameters that characterize an MFC:
      its electromotive force (E (emf)) and its internal resistance (R (int)). A
      numerical projection using state-of-art values (E (emf) = 0.8 V and R (int) = 5
      Omega) emphasized on the difficulty at this moment to reach self-sufficiency
      using a reasonable number of MFCs at the laboratory scale. We found that a
      realistic number of MFCs to provide enough voltage (=5 V) at a sufficient current
      (=0.8 A) to power a pump requiring 4 W would be of 13 MFCs in series and 10
      stacks of MFCs in parallel, resulting in a total number of 130 MFCs. That would
      result in a treatment capacity of 144 L of domestic wastewater (0.5 g-COD L(-1))
      per day. The total MFC system would be characterized by an internal resistance of
      6.5 Omega.

PMID- 20931188
TI  - US imaging of the musculocutaneous nerve.
AB  - PURPOSE: To describe the potential value of high-resolution sonography for
      evaluation of the musculocutaneous nerve (MCN). MATERIALS AND METHODS: The normal
      anatomy of the MCN was evaluated on three cadaveric limbs and correlated with the
      US images obtained in 15 healthy subjects. Seven consecutive patients with MCN
      neuropathy were then evaluated with sonography using 17.5 and 12.5-MHz broadband
      linear array transducers. All patients had abnormal nerve conduction studies and
      underwent correlative MR imaging on a 1.5-T system. RESULTS: One-to-one
      comparison between cadaveric specimens and sonographic images showed that the MCN
      can be reliably identified from the axilla through the elbow, including the
      lateral antebrachial cutaneous (LAbC) nerve. In the patients group with MCN
      neuropathy, sonography allowed detection of a wide spectrum of abnormalities. In
      5/7 cases, a spindle neuroma was depicted in continuity with the nerve. In one
      case, US identified focal swelling of the nerve and in another case US was
      negative. The neuroma was hyperintense on T2-weighted sequences in 75% of cases.
      In one patient, the nerve showed Gd-enhancement on fat-suppressed T1-weighted
      sequences. The nerve was never detected on unenhanced T1-scans. Owing to its
      small-size and out-of-plane course, the MCN may be more reliably depicted with
      sonography rather than with MR imaging. CONCLUSIONS: US is promising for
      evaluating traumatic injuries of the MCN. By providing unique information on the
      entire course of the nerve, US can be used as a valuable complement of clinical
      and electrophysiologic findings.

PMID- 20931185
TI  - Laser capture microdissection and metagenomic analysis of intact mucosa
      associated microbial communities of human colon.
AB  - Metagenomic analysis of colonic mucosa-associated microbes has been complicated
      by technical challenges that disrupt or alter community structure and function.
      In the present study, we determined the feasibility of laser capture
      microdissection (LCM) of intact regional human colonic mucosa-associated microbes
      followed by phi29 multiple displacement amplification (MDA) and massively
      parallel sequencing for metagenomic analysis. Samples were obtained from the
      healthy human subject without bowel preparation and frozen sections immediately
      prepared. Regional mucosa-associated microbes were successfully dissected using
      LCM with minimal contamination by host cells, their DNA extracted and subjected
      to phi29 MDA with a high fidelity, prior to shotgun sequencing using the GS-FLX
      DNA sequencer. Metagenomic analysis of approximately 67 million base pairs of DNA
      sequences from two samples revealed that the metabolic functional profiles in
      mucosa-associated microbes were as diverse as those reported in feces,
      specifically the representation of functional genes associated with carbohydrate,
      protein, and nucleic acid utilization. In summary, these studies demonstrate the
      feasibility of the approach to study the structure and metagenomic profiles of
      human intestinal mucosa-associated microbial communities at small spatial scales.

PMID- 20931189
TI  - CT-guided corticosteroid injection for solitary eosinophilic granuloma of the
      spine.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the clinical and imaging outcome of patients with
      symptomatic eosinophilic granuloma of the spine treated with CT-guided
      intralesional methylprednisolone injection after biopsy. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      Patients (n =19) with symptomatic solitary eosinophilic granuloma of the spine
      treated by CT-guided intralesional methylprednisolone injection were
      retrospectively studied. There were 12 males and seven females with a mean age of
      17 years (range, 3-43 years). The mean follow-up was 6 years (median, 4 years;
      range, 0.5-19 years). Spinal location included the cervical (two patients),
      thoracic (seven patients), lumbar spine (eight patients), and the sacrum (two
      patients). Vertebra plana was observed in two patients. All patients had biopsies
      before treatment. RESULTS: Complete resolution of pain and healing of the lesion
      was observed in 17 patients (89.5%); none of these patients had recurrence at the
      latest examination. Reconstitution of the T1 and L1 vertebra plana was observed
      in both patients. Two patients initially diagnosed and treated for a solitary
      eosinophilic granuloma had constant pain after the procedure; in these patients,
      6 and 12 months after the procedure, respectively, imaging showed multifocal
      disease and systemic therapy was administered. Complications related to the
      procedure were not observed. General anesthesia was administered in two patients
      because of intolerable pain during the procedure. CONCLUSIONS: In view of the
      benign clinical course of eosinophilic granuloma, in patients with symptomatic
      lesions, CT-guided intralesional corticosteroid injection is a safe and effective
      outpatient treatment with a low complication rate.

PMID- 20931190
TI  - Three tesla magnetic resonance imaging of the anterior cruciate ligament of the
      knee: can we differentiate complete from partial tears?
AB  - PURPOSE: To determine the ability of 3.0T magnetic resonance (MR) imaging to
      identify partial tears of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and to allow
      distinction of complete from partial ACL tears. MATERIALS AND METHODS: One
      hundred seventy-two patients were prospectively studied by 3.0T MR imaging and
      arthroscopy in our institution. MR images were interpreted in consensus by two
      experienced reviewers, and the ACL was diagnosed as being normal, partially torn,
      or completely torn. Diagnostic accuracy of 3.0T MR for the detection of both
      complete and partial tears of the ACL was calculated using arthroscopy as the
      standard of reference. RESULTS: There were 132 patients with an intact ACL, 17
      had a partial, and 23 had a complete tear of the ACL seen at arthroscopy.
      Sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of 3.0T MR for complete ACL tears were 83,
      99, and 97%, respectively, and, for partial ACL tears, 77, 97, and 95%,
      respectively. Five of 40 ACL lesions (13%) could not correctly be identified as
      complete or partial ACL tears. CONCLUSION: MR imaging at 3.0T represents a highly
      accurate method for identifying tears of the ACL. However, differentiation
      between complete and partial ACL tears and identification of partial tears of
      this ligament remains difficult, even at 3.0T.

PMID- 20931191
TI  - Percutaneous selective myoablation in plastic surgery.
AB  - A new technique in aesthetic plastic surgery termed "myoablation" is described.
      Thermal energy is applied via the percutaneous route for ablation of selected
      facial muscles to modify the facial dynamics. Myoablation was found to be useful
      in ameliorating noticeable frown wrinkles caused by muscular hyperactivity. A
      series of 30 patients underwent myoablation as the sole procedure with
      encouraging results. In 80% of the cases, good to excellent aesthetic results
      were achieved. This report presents the electrophysiologic bases, technique,
      animal experiments, and initial clinical experience of myoablation.

PMID- 20931192
TI  - Reduction mammaplasty using the free-nipple-graft vertical technique for severe
      breast hypertrophy: improved outcomes with the superior dermaglandular flap.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Management of severe mammary hypertrophy is a challenge. The
      limitations of most dermal pedicle techniques include insufficient breast
      projection with severe hypertrophy. The authors have designed a free-nipple-graft
      vertical technique with a superior demaglandular flap to provide acceptable
      breast projection and an attractive, smooth breast contour for patients with
      severe hypertrophy and gigantomastia who are not suitable for pedicle breast
      reduction techniques. METHODS: Reduction was performed for 24 patients with
      severe mammary hypertrophy between 2003 and 2009. This study evaluated patient
      age, cup size, mean distances from sternal notch to nipple and from nipple to
      inframammary fold, amount of resection, complications, and postoperative breast
      shape. RESULTS: All 24 patients were followed regularly to 1 year
      postoperatively. The inclusion criteria for the reported technique specified
      gigantomastia larger than 1,000 g per side, grade 4 breast ptosis, and increased
      sternal notch-to-nipple distance. The mean distance from the sternal notch to the
      nipple was 48.5 cm, and the mean distance from the nipple to the inframammary
      fold was 19.5 cm. The new nipple was positioned at a mean of 23.5 cm. The tissue
      excised per breast was 1,670 g. All the patients had long-lasting, pronounced
      nipple and adequate breast mound projection with attractive, smooth breast
      contours. CONCLUSION: A free-nipple graft with a superior dermaglandular flap
      yields a conical breast with adequate projection and fullness. Parenchyma sutures
      to the pectoral fascia provide long lasting results. Plastic surgeons experienced
      in superior pedicle breast reduction can adopt this technique easily.

PMID- 20931193
TI  - The high-superior-tension technique: evolution of lipoabdominoplasty.
AB  - Because abdominoplasty is associated with complications such as seroma and
      necrosis as well as epigastric bulging and a suprapubic scar located too high,
      the demand for this procedure is not as high as it otherwise might be. However,
      although these negative effects were common many years ago, their incidence has
      decreased dramatically with modern abdominoplastic techniques. One approach using
      a combination of abdominoplasty and liposuction or lipoabdominoplasty has
      resolved many of the problems faced with earlier techniques, offering
      aesthetically pleasing results and excellent reliability. The keys to successful
      lipoabdominoplasty, first developed as the high-superior-tension technique, are
      extensive liposuction, preservation of lymphatic trunks, preaponeurotic
      epigastric dissection, major muscle fascia plication, two high-tension
      paraumbilical sutures, hypogastric tension sutures, and closure of the dead
      spaces. The most recent updates to this technique are described in this article.

PMID- 20931194
TI  - The usefulness of a threat and disturbance categorization developed for
      Queensland wetlands to environmental management, monitoring, and evaluation.
AB  - There is no comprehensive system of describing threats and disturbances currently
      used in Australia, despite the widespread impacts of human activities on natural
      ecosystems. Yet a detailed categorization would facilitate the collation of
      threatening process information into information systems; enable standardized
      collection and availability of data; and enable comparative analyses of ecosystem
      condition between stakeholders, agencies, states, and nations, particularly for
      environmental reporting and evaluation mechanisms such as State of the
      Environment. As part of the Queensland Wetlands Programme (QWP), a threat and
      disturbance framework was developed, focused on the pressure and impacts
      components of the DPSIR (driver-pressure-state-impacts-response) framework. A
      wetland inventory database was developed also that included a detailed threat and
      disturbance categorization using the QWP framework. The categorization
      encompasses a broad range of anthropogenic and natural processes, and is
      hierarchical to accommodate varying levels of detail or knowledge. By
      incorporating detailed qualitative and quantitative information, a comprehensive
      threats and disturbances categorization can contribute to conceptual or spatially
      explicit knowledge and management assessments. The application of the framework
      and categorization to several threatening processes is demonstrated, and its
      relationship to current natural resource condition indicators is discussed.
      Threat evaluation is an essential component of ecological assessment and
      environmental management, and a standardized categorization enables consistency
      in attributing processes, impacts and their short- to long-term consequences.
      Such a systematic framework and categorization demonstrates the importance and
      usefulness of comprehensive approaches, and this approach can be readily adapted
      to management, monitoring and evaluation of other target ecosystems and biota.

PMID- 20931195
TI  - Comparison of early and late complications after various bariatric procedures:
      incidence and treatment during 15 years at a single institution.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Bariatric procedures are effective in the life-long treatment of
      clinically severe obesity, but they are technically demanding and have known
      complications. The present study presents mortality and morbidity with different
      procedures from the prospective 15-year bariatric database of the University
      Hospital of Patras in Greece. METHODS: From June 1994 through December 2008,
      1,162 morbidly obese patients underwent various bariatric procedures at our
      institution (35 vertical banded gastroplasties, 151 laparoscopic sleeve
      gastrectomies, 90 open and 137 laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypasses, 699
      biliopancreatic diversions with long limbs, and 50 reoperations). Postoperative
      metabolic deficiencies and causes of early and late morbidity for various
      bariatric procedures were compared by using the z-test for the comparison of
      proportions. Logistic regression analysis was used to model the occurrence of
      early and late death and complications. RESULTS: Total mortality was 1.81% (early
      0.6%, intermediate 0.26%, late 0.95%). No significant predictors for early death
      were found, but age (odds ratio (OR), 1.077; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.024
      1.133; P = 0.004) and BMI (OR, 1.156; 95% CI, 1.023-1.306; P = 0.02) were
      predictors for late death. Early and late morbidity were 8% and 27.71%,
      respectively. The total leakage incidence was 1.98% and was significantly higher
      (P < 0.05) after reoperation. Fifteen of the 23 leaks were successfully treated
      conservatively. Most late complications were incisional hernias (18.85%)--almost
      all after open procedures. Hypoalbuminemia incidence was significantly higher
      after biliopancreatic diversion with long limbs (3.58%) and reoperation (8%).
      CONCLUSIONS: Bariatric procedures, even in specialized centers, may have serious
      complications because of their technical complexity in a high-risk population.
      Almost all can be managed successfully.

PMID- 20931196
TI  - Closure of the cystic duct during laparoscopic cholecystectomy in children using
      the LigaSure Vessel Sealing System.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The goal of the present study was to evaluate the efficacy of the
      LigaSure(TM) Vessel Sealing System (LVSS) when used for cystic duct closure
      during laparoscopic cholecystectomy in children and adolescents. METHODS: The
      laparoscopic cholecystectomy was performed beginning with visualization of
      Calot's triangle, and dissection of Calot's triangle was achieved using a
      monopolar cautery device. Once the cystic duct was exposed, sealing was performed
      proximally and distally, and the cystic duct was divided midway using the LVSS.
      The procedure was completed in the standard fashion. RESULTS: The closure of the
      cystic duct was performed in seven cases of simultaneous cholecystectomy and
      splenectomy and in 15 cases of microlaparoscopic cholecystectomy. The patients'
      ages ranged from 7 to 21 years (average = 14.5 years), and body weight ranged
      from 42 to 83 kg (average = 58 kg). There was no bile leakage noted, and the
      closure of the cystic duct was sufficient in all cases. We noted one case of
      common bile duct obstruction on postoperative day 1. In this case, an exploration
      of the biliary tree was performed by laparotomy. No direct injury to the common
      bile duct was found during exploration, but thermal changes were detected in the
      surrounding tissues as a result of transmitted thermal energy caused by bipolar
      cautery device. CONCLUSION: The closure of the cystic duct using the LVSS is
      feasible and effective in laparoscopic cholecystectomy in children. However, it
      is important to keep a safe distance from other intra-abdominal structures when
      using thermal energy devices to prevent thermal collateral damage.

PMID- 20931197
TI  - Wound infection after excision and primary midline closure for pilonidal disease:
      risk factor analysis to improve patient selection.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Excision and primary midline closure for pilonidal disease (PD) is a
      simple procedure; however, it is frequently complicated by infection and
      prolonged healing. The aim of this study was to analyze risk factors for surgical
      site infection (SSI) in this context. METHODS: All consecutive patients
      undergoing excision and primary closure for PD from January 2002 through October
      2008 were retrospectively assessed. The end points were SSI, as defined by the
      Center for Disease Control, and time to healing. Univariable and multivariable
      risk factor analyses were performed. RESULTS: One hundred thirty-one patients
      were included [97 men (74%), median age = 24 (range 15-66) years]. SSI occurred
      in 41 (31%) patients. Median time to healing was 20 days (range 12-76) in
      patients without SSI and 62 days (range 20-176) in patients with SSI (P <
      0.0001). In univariable and multivariable analyses, smoking [OR = 2.6 (95% CI
      1.02, 6.8), P = 0.046] and lack of antibiotic prophylaxis [OR = 5.6 (95% CI 2.5,
      14.3), P = 0.001] were significant predictors for SSI. Adjusted for SSI, age over
      25 was a significant predictor of prolonged healing. CONCLUSION: This study
      suggests that the rate of SSI after excision and primary closure of PD is higher
      in smokers and could be reduced by antibiotic prophylaxis. SSI significantly
      prolongs healing time, particularly in patients over 25 years.

PMID- 20931198
TI  - A novel approach for sentinel lymph node identification using fluorescence
      imaging and image overlay navigation surgery in patients with breast cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We reported a novel technique of sentinel lymph node (SLN)
      identification using fluorescence imaging of indocyanine green injection.
      Furthermore, to obtain safe and accurate identification of SLN during surgery, we
      introduce the image overlay navigation surgery and evaluate its efficacy.
      METHODS: This study enrolled 50 patients with a tumors <2 cm in diameter.
      Initially, we obtained three-dimensional (3-D) imaging from multidetector-row
      computed tomography (MD-CT) by volume rendering. It was projected on the
      patient's operative field with the clear visualization of lymph node (LN) through
      projector. Then, the dye of indocyanine green (ICG) was injected subdermally in
      the areola. Subcutaneous lymphatic channels draining from the areola to the
      axilla were visible by fluorescence imaging immediately. Lymphatic flow was
      reached after LN revealed on 3-D imaging. After incising the axillary skin on the
      point of LN mapping, SLN was then dissected under the guidance of fluorescence
      imaging with adequate adjustment of sensitivity and 3-D imaging. RESULTS:
      Lymphatic channels and SLN were successfully identified by Photodynamic eye (PDE)
      in all patients. And the sites of skin incision also were identical with the LN
      being demonstrated by 3-D imaging in all patients. The mean number of SLN was
      3.7. The image overlay navigation surgery was visually easy to identify the
      location of SLN from the axillary skin. There were no intra- or postoperative
      complications associated with SLN identification. CONCLUSIONS: This combined
      navigations of fluorescence and 3-D imaging revealed more easy and effective to
      detect SLN intraoperatively than fluorescence imaging alone.

PMID- 20931199
TI  - Risk adjustment as basis for rational benchmarking: the example of colon
      carcinoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The results of resection of colorectal carcinoma can vary greatly
      from one hospital to another. However, this does not necessarily reflect
      differences in the quality of treatment. The purpose of this study was to compare
      various tools for the risk-adjusted assessment of treatment results after
      resection of colorectal carcinoma within the context of hospital benchmarking.
      METHODS: On the basis of a data pool provided by a multicentric observation study
      of patients with colon cancer, the postoperative in-hospital mortality rates at
      two high-volume hospitals ("A" and "B") were compared. After univariate
      comparison, risk-adjusted comparison of postoperative mortality was performed by
      logistic regression analysis (LReA), propensity-score analysis (PScA), and the CR
      POSSUM score. Postoperative complications were compared by LReA and PScA.
      RESULTS: Although postoperative mortality differed significantly (P = 0.041) in
      univariate comparison of hospitals A and B (2.9% vs. 6.4%), no significant
      difference was found by LReA or PScA. Similarly, the observed mortality at these
      did not differ significantly from the mortality estimated by the CR-POSSUM score
      (hospital A, 2.9%/4.9%, P = 0.298; hospital B, 6.4%/6.5%, P = 1.000). Significant
      differences were seen in risk-adjusted comparison of most postoperative
      complications (by both LReA and PScA), but there were no differences in the rates
      of relaparotomy or anastomotic leakage that required surgery. CONCLUSIONS: For
      the hard outcome variable "postoperative mortality," none of the three risk
      adjustment procedures showed any difference between the hospitals. The CR-POSSUM
      score can be regarded as the most practicable tool for risk-adjusted comparison
      of the outcome of colon-carcinoma resection in clinical benchmarking.

PMID- 20931200
TI  - Recommended nomenclature for five mammalian carboxylesterase gene families:
      human, mouse, and rat genes and proteins.
AB  - Mammalian carboxylesterase (CES or Ces) genes encode enzymes that participate in
      xenobiotic, drug, and lipid metabolism in the body and are members of at least
      five gene families. Tandem duplications have added more genes for some families,
      particularly for mouse and rat genomes, which has caused confusion in naming
      rodent Ces genes. This article describes a new nomenclature system for human,
      mouse, and rat carboxylesterase genes that identifies homolog gene families and
      allocates a unique name for each gene. The guidelines of human, mouse, and rat
      gene nomenclature committees were followed and "CES" (human) and "Ces" (mouse and
      rat) root symbols were used followed by the family number (e.g., human CES1).
      Where multiple genes were identified for a family or where a clash occurred with
      an existing gene name, a letter was added (e.g., human CES4A; mouse and rat
      Ces1a) that reflected gene relatedness among rodent species (e.g., mouse and rat
      Ces1a). Pseudogenes were named by adding "P" and a number to the human gene name
      (e.g., human CES1P1) or by using a new letter followed by ps for mouse and rat
      Ces pseudogenes (e.g., Ces2d-ps). Gene transcript isoforms were named by adding
      the GenBank accession ID to the gene symbol (e.g., human CES1_AB119995 or mouse
      Ces1e_BC019208). This nomenclature improves our understanding of human, mouse,
      and rat CES/Ces gene families and facilitates research into the structure,
      function, and evolution of these gene families. It also serves as a model for
      naming CES genes from other mammalian species.

PMID- 20931201
TI  - A phylogenetic approach to test for evidence of parental conflict or gene
      duplications associated with protein-encoding imprinted orthologous genes in
      placental mammals.
AB  - There are multiple theories on the evolution of genomic imprinting. We
      investigated whether the molecular evolution of true orthologs of known imprinted
      genes provides support for theories based on gene duplication or parental
      conflicts (where mediated by amino-acid changes). Our analysis of 34 orthologous
      genes demonstrates that the vast majority of mammalian imprinted genes have not
      undergone any subsequent significant gene duplication within placental species,
      suggesting that selection pressures against gene duplication events could be
      operating for imprinted loci. As antagonistic co-evolution between imprinted
      genes can regulate offspring growth, proteins mediating this interaction could be
      subject to rapid evolution via positive selection. Supporting this, we detect
      evidence of site specific positive selection for the imprinted genes OSBPL5 (and
      GNASXL), and detect lineage-specific positive selection for 14 imprinted genes
      where it is known that the gene is imprinted in a specific lineage, namely for:
      PLAGL1, IGF2, SLC22A18, OSBPL5, DCN, DLK1, RASGRF1, IGF2R, IMPACT, GRB10, NAPIL4,
      UBE3A, GATM and GABRG3. However, there is an overall lack of concordance between
      the known imprinting status of each gene (i.e. whether the gene is imprinted or
      biallelically expressed in a particular mammalian lineage) and positive
      selection. While only a small number of orthologs of imprinted loci display
      evidence of positive selection, we observe that the majority of orthologs of
      imprinted loci display high levels of micro-synteny conservation and have
      undergone very few cis- or trans-duplications in placental mammalian lineages.

PMID- 20931202
TI  - [Tuberculosis-associated posterior uveitis].
AB  - The commercially available interferon gamma release assays T-SPOT.TB and
      QuantiFERON-TB Gold/QuantiFERON-TB Gold In-Tube may be important, besides the
      direct detection with culturing, PCR or the Mantoux skin test, for the diagnosis
      of tuberculosis as a possible cause of uveitis. It is important to know the
      limitations of these tests to get a fast and reliable diagnosis which may
      necessitate initiation of causative treatment of the tuberculosis to prevent
      further damage to the eye and to avoid multi-drug resistant tuberculosis strains.

PMID- 20931203
TI  - [Documentation of ophthalmological findings in contact lens wearers: software
      based symbol library of the Efron grading scale].
AB  - BACKGROUND: To prevent complications through the use of contact lenses the
      efforts spent on documentation will have to be increased to meet the demands of
      quality management. How can ophthalmologists benefit from the use of software
      based graphical documentation? METHODS: To make a standardized documentation of
      contact lens complications possible a software module with a graphically
      intuitive visualization scheme of the Efron grading scale was developed. The
      Efron grading scale defines 16 different classes of findings scaled to 5 grades.
      RESULTS: The software module shows a schematic view of the eye which allows an
      easy sectoral assignment of all 16 Efron findings. The designated sector can
      simply be marked with a mouse click. A subsequently appearing context menu offers
      all 16 Efron findings together with the corresponding 5 grades. Finally the
      chosen Efron grade is graphically visualized in the corresponding sector.
      CONCLUSION: The software module supplies a feasible way for high quality
      documentation in the clinical routine with illustrative visualization. The
      practical application of software tools to assist clinical documentation can help
      to meet the challenges of quality management in contact lens utilization.

PMID- 20931204
TI  - Cognitive and social functioning in children and adolescents after the removal of
      craniopharyngioma.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of this study is to assess cognitive, emotional and social
      functioning in children and adolescents after the removal of craniopharyngioma.
      METHODS: Twenty-seven children operated for craniopharyngioma and their parents
      participated in the study. Cognitive functions were assessed with WISC-R/WAIS-R
      PL and Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Test. Parents completed Achenbach's Child
      Behaviour Checklist (CBCL) questionnaires on problems in functioning and
      psychopathological symptoms and took part in an interview on children coping in
      everyday life. RESULTS: Eighty-two percent of patients were diagnosed with an
      average level of intellectual functioning. No child received results indicating
      mental disability. In half of the children, effectiveness of visual memory was
      reduced, despite normal visual-spatial abilities. The results in the CBCL scale
      indicated more frequent presence of psychopathological symptoms-especially social
      problems, depression, anxiety and withdrawal. The most frequent problems in
      children's everyday functioning included inability to control emotions,
      difficulties in learning, unsatisfactory peer relationships, and unattractive
      appearance resulting from hormonal disorders (short height and obesity). One
      third of parents also reported problems with pathological appetite in their
      children. CONCLUSIONS: Despite normal intellectual abilities and relatively good
      physical condition, children after removal of craniopharyngioma experience many
      difficulties in everyday life regarding social relationships, emotion control and
      learning. The analogy between the above-mentioned symptoms and symptoms observed
      in patients after infantile damage in the frontal area leads to an observation
      that, apart from endocrine disorders, damage to the frontal lobe caused by the
      growth of tumour and operational intervention is of crucial importance to the
      further development of children with craniopharyngioma.

PMID- 20931205
TI  - Carboplatin and ototoxicity: hearing loss rates among survivors of childhood
      medulloblastoma.
AB  - PURPOSE: Patients with medulloblastoma are exposed to ototoxic treatments
      including radiation therapy and platinum chemotherapy. The favorable toxicity
      profile of carboplatin led us to substitute this chemotherapeutic agent for
      cisplatin in the HIT-1991, HIT-MED-1999, and HIT-2000 chemotherapy protocols. We
      retrospectively investigated its consequences in terms of overall survival and
      ototoxicity rates. METHODS: Twenty-four medulloblastoma patients were treated
      according to HIT protocols with carboplatin substitution between April 1999 and
      June 2006. Nineteen (79%) patients had adequate baseline and post-treatment
      audiological data. Mean age at diagnosis was 9.3 (range 3.5-18.9) years with a
      mean follow-up time of 30.8 (8.1-111.3) months. Patients received a mean
      carboplatin cumulative dose of 2,131 (830-4312) mg/m(2). RESULTS: Twenty-three
      patients were alive at the time of assessment. Hearing loss greater than 20 dB
      was observed in two (10.5%) of 19 patients. Both had grade 2 ototoxicity
      according to Brock's scale. There were no significant differences between the
      patients' baseline and post-treatment audiograms at any frequency. The observed
      hearing loss was significantly correlated to younger age at diagnosis and
      cumulative carboplatin dose (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The encouraging overall
      survival and low hearing loss rates in this medulloblastoma patient cohort
      suggest that protocols containing carboplatin may offer a viable alternative to
      standard cisplatin protocols and warrant further investigation.

PMID- 20931206
TI  - Intracranial tumors in infants: a single institution experience of 22 patients.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The prognosis in infants with brain tumors has hitherto been very
      poor. The purpose of the study was to collect and analyze information regarding
      the clinical presentation, diagnosis, and management of these patients and to
      assess the eventual prognosis regarding survival and response to treatment.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study retrospectively reviewed the records of 22
      infants with brain tumors at our institution between November 1995 and October
      2009. Their medical records were retrieved for age at diagnosis, presenting
      features, location, histology, surgical procedures, adjuvant treatment,
      recurrence, and survival. RESULTS: The patients included 18 boys and four girls.
      The median age at diagnosis was 3 months with a range of antenatal diagnosis at
      36 weeks of gestation up to 11.9 months. The group included four patients with
      definite congenital tumors presented in the perinatal period. The common
      presenting signs included increased head circumference, seizure, and vomiting.
      Over half of the tumors were histologically benign; however,
      medulloblastoma/primitive neuroectodermal tumor is the most frequent tumor type,
      accounting for six patients. Surgical resection was attempted in 18 patients, and
      three of them died in early postoperative period. Cerebrospinal fluid diversion
      was required in 11 patients, and seven of these patients needed VP shunting. Four
      patients received adjuvant chemotherapy, but one of them subsequently received
      salvage radiotherapy. CONCLUSION: Because of the expandability of the skull,
      brain tumors in infants may have protean manifestations. Although pathology
      categorization was quite a variable in our study, three quarters have tangibly
      survived after current therapeutic modalities.

PMID- 20931208
TI  - Clinicopathological characteristics and survival analysis of primary duodenal
      cancers: a 14-year experience in a tertiary centre in South China.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Primary duodenal cancer (PDC) is rare and few studies have addressed
      it adequately, especially in China. The present study is to evaluate the
      clinicopathological features and prognosis of PDC in Chinese patients. PATIENTS
      AND METHODS: All the consecutive cases confirmed as PDC by histopathological
      analysis in The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University between 1995
      and 2008 were included. Clinicopathological details were retrospectively analysed
      and prognostic factors influencing survival were evaluated. RESULTS: The patient
      cohort included 53 men and 38 women, accounting for only 0.02% of all in-patients
      during this period. Esophagogastroduodenoscopy and gastrointestinal barium
      radiography were mainstay diagnostic tests for PDC; they detected 88.6% and 83.3%
      of the tumours, respectively. Tumours mainly occurred in the descending portion
      of the duodenum (67.0%). Abdominal pain was the most frequent symptom (56.0%).
      Histologically, adenocarcinoma was the most common type (74.7%). The overall 1-,
      3- and 5-year survival rates were 62.6%, 43.7% and 33.1%, respectively. Patients
      survived longer in the curative surgery group (median survival time of 45 months)
      than those in the palliative group (6 months) (P < 0.001). Nodal metastasis and
      positive resection margin had a significant negative impact on survival in
      patients undergoing potentially curative surgery in a univariate and multivariate
      model (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Patients with PDC are rare and lack specific
      presentations. Esophagogastroduodenoscopy and gastrointestinal barium radiography
      are effective in screening this rare tumour. Nodal metastasis and positive
      resection margins are associated with a poor prognosis. A curative surgery that
      achieves complete resection with negative margin should be pursued.

PMID- 20931211
TI  - Pregnancy and postpartum specifics in women with schizophrenia: a meta-study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This meta-study intends to elucidate schizophrenia-pregnancy
      inferences. METHODS: A total of 63 quasi-randomized, case-control, linkage
      studies on outcomes of singleton pregnancies in women with schizophrenia are
      identified through PubMed, ACOG, and SCOPUS. A sample of 216 pregnant and
      puerperal women with schizophrenia, allocated from studies of level I-IIA
      evidence, is compared with a sample of 487 births to unaffected women.
      Calculations use births as unit of analysis. Poisson regression model is used in
      exchangeable correlation structure. RESULTS: Older age (2.13), excessive smoking
      (1.85) and less antenatal care (1.92) in women with schizophrenia determine high
      risk for prematurity (2.08), including miscarriages (2.04) and preterm birth
      (1.98). Neonates to mothers with schizophrenia are profiled with twice likelihood
      of low Apgar scores (2.22), intrauterine growth retardation (2.16), and
      congenital defects (2.1). Poor maternal-fetal attachment and preoccupation about
      fetus are related to negative symptoms of schizophrenia (-0.518), length of
      antipsychotic treatment (-0.304) and are not associated with maternal age
      (0.216). Postpartum period is eventful with psychotic relapse (7.86), and
      parenting difficulties (11.2). CONCLUSIONS: After adjusting for age, parity,
      unhealthy behaviors, length of antipsychotic treatment, and maternal-fetal
      attachment, maternal schizophrenia remains predictive to prematurity and
      postpartum psychosis.

PMID- 20931210
TI  - Hakim Esmail Jorjani (1042-1137 AD: ): Persian physician and jurist.
AB  - The great 11th-12th century Persian physician Seyed Esmail Jorjani (known as
      Hakim Jorjani) is known for his 750,000 word encyclopedia of medicine, the
      Treasure of King Khwarazm, which has been ranked along with Avicenna's Canon and
      the works of Haly Abbas. Translations of this work provide modern readers with a
      detailed insight into medical practice in medieval Persia. Parts of the Treasure
      are devoted to guidance about midwifery and perinatal care. In this article we
      present translations of excerpts from this part of the work.

PMID- 20931209
TI  - The plasminogen activator inhibitor system in colon cancer cell lines is
      influenced by the CO2 pneumoperitoneum.
AB  - PURPOSE: Laparoscopic surgery in the treatment of colon carcinoma causes pH value
      alterations as well as changes in fibrinolytic activity. This results in enhanced
      proliferation of colon carcinoma cells in vitro and also in enhanced growth of
      liver metastasis when compared to isobaric (gasless) laparoscopy in vivo. So far,
      the direct influence of CO(2) pneumoperitoneum on the invasiveness and metastatic
      capabilities of colon cancer cells remains unclear. We therefore evaluated
      transcripts of the uPA system. METHODS: The influence of CO(2) pneumoperitoneum
      on the gene expression of plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1), urokinase
      type plasminogen activator (uPA), and tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA) was
      investigated in colon carcinoma cell lines (HT116, SW48, and WiDr) and
      mesothelial cells employing a pneumoperitoneum chamber in vitro. Quantitative
      gene expression data were collected using real-time RT-PCR and statistical
      analysis was performed by means of analysis of variance and Bonferroni
      correction. RESULTS: The expression of uPA and PAI-1 was increased in colon
      carcinoma cell lines when cultivated at pH 6.1, a value corresponding to
      intraabdominal pH values during CO(2) insufflation. Elevated PAI-1 mRNA levels
      were also observed when CO(2) was simultaneously applied with a pressure of 10
      mmHg. In contrast, there were no significant changes in mesothelial cells in the
      investigated parameter. CONCLUSION: The conditions of CO(2) pneumoperitoneum
      cause changes in the expression of genes controlling the fibrinolytic activity.
      The increase of PAI-1 and uPA can contribute to the enhancement of metastasis and
      invasive potential of tumour cells. Therefore, changes in the conditions of
      laparoscopy may well optimise laparoscopic therapy in colon cancer.

PMID- 20931212
TI  - Pelvic mass-like florid cystic endosalpingiosis of the uterus: a case report and
      a review of literature.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Endosalpingiosis is a disorder of Mullerian system characterized by
      benign glands lined by tubal type epithelium and involves the peritoneum,
      subperitoneal tissues, and retroperitoneal lymph nodes. Endosalpingiosis is
      almost an incidental finding on microscopic examination. Seldom it appears as a
      cyst and it can be confused clinically for an ovarian tumor. DESIGN: A case
      report and a systematic review about pelvic mass-like florid endosalpingiosis of
      the uterus from PUB MED database were performed. PATIENT(S): We describe a case
      report of a 50-year-old woman with a pedunculated uterine neoformation, for which
      the preoperative exams could be compatible with an adnexal mass. Twelve patients
      with similar clinical history were discussed in the review. TREATMENT:
      Laparoscopy with radical exeresis was performed. RESULTS: Microscopic exam
      revealed florid cystic endosalpingiosis of the uterus. CONCLUSIONS:
      Endosalpingiosis is a rare mullerian disorder and the main problem is that the
      symptomatology is not specific and it may be initially misinterpreted. In
      relation to the papillary aspect of the lesion and focal calcifications, the
      histological differential diagnosis could include serous adenocarcinoma, but the
      lack of cellular stratification in absence of mitotic activity, and the presence
      of slight nuclear atypia contradict the diagnosis of carcinoma. The differential
      diagnosis for endosalpingiosis also includes multiple peritoneal inclusion cysts
      (benign cystic mesothelioma). The aim of this case report has not been only to
      describe the rarity of this pathology, but it contributes to consider
      endosalpingiosis as a possible diagnostic hypothesis for which may be indicated a
      conservative surgical treatment.

PMID- 20931213
TI  - Anti-Yo positive dorsal root ganglionopathy.

PMID- 20931214
TI  - A survey of the role of virtual surgery simulators in ophthalmic graduate medical
      education.

PMID- 20931215
TI  - Primary intravitreal ranibizumab for adult-onset foveomacular vitelliform
      dystrophy.
AB  - AIM: To evaluate the efficacy of intravitreal injections of ranibizumab in adult
      onset foveomacular vitelliform dystrophy (AOFVD). METHODS: Six female patients
      were misdiagnosed in the office as occult choroidal neovascularization due to
      AMD, and scheduled for 3-monthly intravitreal injections of ranibizumab. One
      month after the third injection, all patients underwent further examinations
      consisting of visual acuity, optical coherence tomography, Indocyanine Green
      angiography, electrophysiological tests (electroretinogram and electrooculogram),
      and an exhaustive familial history of macular diseases. Cases were followed-up
      every 6 weeks since the formal diagnose of AOFVD was evidenced. RESULTS: The mean
      BCVA improved from 0.36 +/- 0.1 at baseline to 0.56 +/- 0.1 (p = 0.038). No
      significant change was evidence in the SD-OCT thickness analysis. Metamorphopsia
      disappeared completely in all cases after the first injection. No familial
      history was evidenced. CONCLUSIONS: Ranibizumab intravitreal injections are
      effective in the short-term BCVA improvement in patients with AOFVD.

PMID- 20931216
TI  - Sliding macular fold following retinal detachment surgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Retinal folds (RF) following retinal detachment (RD) surgery are
      infrequent complications and their management is controversial. Spontaneous
      resolution of RF has been reported. METHODS: An observational case report of a
      surgical complication of RD surgery was done. The progressive migration of a
      postoperative macular fold away from the center of the fovea was documented by
      optical coherence tomography (OCT) and retinography. RESULTS: A macular fold was
      detected following 23G vitrectomy with liquid perfluorocarbon injection,
      photocoagulation, and SF6 injection to treat a bullous rhegmatogenous retinal
      detachment. In the following year, visual acuity remained stable at 20/25 while
      the macular fold migrated 1 mm away from the center of the fovea. CONCLUSIONS: A
      conservative approach may be appropriate in cases of macular fold following
      retinal detachment surgery, provided that good visual acuity is present and OCT
      shows a trend towards migration of the macular fold.

PMID- 20931217
TI  - Influence of alcohol consumption on incidence and severity of open-globe eye
      injuries in adults.
AB  - AIM: To investigate the influence of alcohol consumption on the occurrence of
      open-globe injuries in adults. METHODS: A retrospective study was made of 100
      consecutive patients (81 male, 19 female) with open-globe injuries. Of these
      patients, 18 exhibited alcohol intoxication (group Ai), and 82 exhibited no
      alcohol intoxication (group nAi). Investigated parameters were best-corrected
      visual acuity at day of admission and last examination (logMAR), type of injury
      according to BETT-classification, extraocular injuries, cause of injury, time and
      setting of injury, in relation to alcohol consumption and tested for statistical
      significance with Fisher's exact test or the Mann-Whitney U test, respectively.
      RESULTS: In group Ai, 83.3% of the patients were male, and in group nAi, 80.5%.
      Mean logMAR at day of admission was 1.06 +/- 0.63 (20/250) in group Ai and 1.08
      +/- 0.59 (20/250) in group nAi. At last examination, mean logMAR in group Ai was
      1.11 +/- 0.59 (20/250), in group nAi 0.75 +/- 0.60 (20/125). This difference was
      statistically significant (p = 0.02). In group Ai, significantly more ruptures
      according to BETT classification occurred (p = 0.05). In group Ai, significantly
      more additional extraocular injuries occurred compared to group nAi (38.9% versus
      6.1%; p = 0.0009). In group Ai, the cause of injury was significantly more often
      glass (44.4% versus 2.4%; p = 0.0000), in group nAi the injury was more often
      directly or indirectly caused by tools (74.4% versus 33.3%; p = 0.001). In group
      Ai, the injury was significantly more often inflicted by others (50.0% versus
      9.8%; p = 0.0003). The settings in which the injuries occurred were significantly
      more often the street in group Ai (44.4% versus 6.1%; p = 0.0002), in group nAi
      the garden or tool shed (31.7% versus 5.6%; p = 0.02) or the workplace (34.2 %
      versus 11.1 %; p = 0.04). In group Ai, the injuries occurred significantly more
      often at night (p = 0.0001) and on weekends (p = 0.0000). CONCLUSIONS: Open-globe
      eye injuries under alcohol intoxication are more often caused by a third party
      and have a worse prognosis. Open-globe injuries under alcohol intoxication occur
      in a different spatio-temporal setting and exhibit a more severe type of injury.
      Risk behavior combined with alcohol consumption therefore seems to be an
      independent factor for the incidence of open-globe eye injuries.

PMID- 20931218
TI  - Effect of submaximal isometric wrist extension training on grip strength.
AB  - Gripping force is produced by co-contraction of forearm flexors and extensors.
      Activation of extensors is important for stabilizing the wrist during gripping.
      However, forearm muscle function is complicated and the neurophysiological
      mechanism responsible for the gain in gripping force is unclear. Therefore, the
      purpose of this study was to investigate whether increasing forearm extensor
      activation with isometric wrist extension training has an effect on gripping
      force. Thirteen healthy subjects participated in this study. Maximal voluntary
      contraction of gripping was measured using a piezosensor (MVC(grip)) and EMG of
      forearm muscles at every wrist angle (from 70 degrees  flexion to 80 degrees 
      extension with 10 degrees  intervals) were measured simultaneously at baseline, 4
      weeks, and 8 weeks after training. Training consisted of 30 repetitions equal to
      70% MVC of isometric wrist extension for 8 weeks (5/week) on the right side.
      Gripping force was measured on both sides using a grip dynamometer without wrist
      angle restriction. Gripping force, EMG, maximal wrist extension force, and wrist
      angle-gripping force curve were investigated after training. After training,
      maximal wrist extension force increased significantly. Gripping force on the
      trained side also increased significantly. The training changed wrist angle at
      peak of MVC(grip). EMG activation of forearm extensors increased and that of
      flexors decreased during gripping. These results suggest that wrist extension
      training leads to an increase in gripping force and changes the balance of EMG
      activation between forearm flexors and extensors during gripping. Therefore, this
      training method should be useful as a therapeutic strategy for increasing grip
      strength.

PMID- 20931219
TI  - Modulation of circulating purines and pyrimidines by physical exercise in the
      horse.
AB  - This study was designed to examine the influence of sub-maximal exercise on
      purine and pyrimidine catabolism in horses. Ten horses were initially trained for
      12 weeks at the end of which they underwent a standardized exercise test (SET);
      venous blood samples were taken at rest, 5 and 30 min after the SET. Six
      untrained healthy horses, from which a blood withdrawal was taken at rest, were
      used as the control group. Samples were analyzed by HPLC for the simultaneous
      determination of uric acid, uridine, beta-pseudouridine and creatinine in plasma.
      Glucose and lactate were measured in blood. Trained horses had basal uridine
      levels significantly lower than sedentary horses. The SET caused significant
      increase in plasma uric acid, uridine, beta-pseudouridine and creatinine.
      Following the SET, a significant negative correlation was found between plasma
      uridine and glucose, whilst a significant positive correlation was observed
      between plasma uric acid and creatinine. These results indicate that increase in
      energy demand during exercise in the horse causes not only the degradation of
      purine but also of pyrimidine compounds, the latter possibly exerting a control
      on glucose uptake as also demonstrated in human beings.

PMID- 20931220
TI  - Effects of plyometric training on both active and passive parts of the
      plantarflexors series elastic component stiffness of muscle-tendon complex.
AB  - The aims of this study were to determine the effects of plyometric training on
      both active and passive parts of the series elastic component (SEC) stiffness,
      and on geometrical parameters [i.e., muscle architecture, muscle and tendon cross
      sectional area (CSA)] of the plantarflexors muscle-tendon complex to assess
      possible specific adaptations of the elastic properties. Nineteen subjects were
      randomly divided into a trained group and a control group. Active and passive
      components of the SEC stiffness were determined using a fast stretch during
      submaximal voluntary isometric plantarflexor activity. Geometrical parameters of
      the triceps surae muscles and the Achilles tendon were determined using
      ultrasonography. A significant increase in the passive component of the SEC
      stiffness was found (p < 0.05). In contrast, a significant decrease in the active
      part of the SEC stiffness was observed (p < 0.05). No significant changes in
      plantarflexor muscles CSA, architecture and Achilles tendon CSA were seen (p >
      0.05). Thus, plyometric training led to specific adaptations within each part of
      the SEC. Theses adaptations could increase both the efficiency of the energy
      storage-recoil process and muscular tension transmission leading to an increase
      in jump performances.

PMID- 20931221
TI  - Are the parameters of VO2, heart rate and muscle deoxygenation kinetics affected
      by serial moderate-intensity exercise transitions in a single day?
AB  - This study compared the parameter estimates of pulmonary oxygen uptake (VO(2p)),
      heart rate (HR) and muscle deoxygenation (Delta[HHb]) kinetics when several
      moderate-intensity exercise transitions (MODs) were performed during a single
      visit versus several MODs performed during separate visits. Nine subjects (24 +/-
      5 years, mean +/- SD) each completed two successive cycling MODs on six occasions
      (1-6A and 1-6B) from 20 W to a work rate corresponding to 80% estimated lactate
      threshold with 6 min recovery at 20 W. During one visit, subjects completed two
      series of three MODs (6A-F), separated by 20 min rest. VO(2p) time constants
      (tauVO(2p); 27 +/- 10 s, 25 +/- 12 s, 25 +/- 11 s) were similar (p > 0.05) for
      MODs 1-6A, 1-6B and 6A-F, respectively. tauVO(2p) had reproducibility 95%
      confidence intervals (CI(95)) of 8.3, 8.2, 4.7, 4.9 and 4.7 s when comparing
      single (1A vs. 2A), the average of two (1-2A vs. 3-4A), three (1-3A vs. 4-6A),
      four (1-2AB vs. 3-4AB) and six (1-3AB vs. 4-6AB) MODs, respectively. The
      effective Delta[HHb] response time (tau'Delta[HHb]) was unaffected across
      conditions (1-6A: 19 +/- 2 s, 1-6B: 19 +/- 3 s, 6A-F: 17 +/- 4 s) with
      reproducibility CI(95) of 5.3, 4.5, 3.1, 2.9 and 3.3 s when a single, two, three,
      four and six MODs were compared, respectively. tauHR was reduced in MODs 6A-F
      compared to 1-6A and 1-6B (23 +/- 5 s, 25 +/- 5 s, 27 +/- 6 s, respectively).
      This study showed that parameter estimates of VO(2p), HR and Delta[HHb] kinetics
      are largely unaffected by data collection sequence, and the day-to-day
      reproducibility of tauVO(2p) and tau'Delta[HHb] estimates, as determined by the
      CI(95), was appreciably improved by averaging of at least three MODs.

PMID- 20931222
TI  - Brassinolide-improved development of Brassica napus microspore-derived embryos is
      associated with increased activities of purine and pyrimidine salvage pathways.
AB  - Cellular brassinolide (BL) levels regulate the development of Brassica napus
      microspore-derived embryos (MDEs). Synthesis and degradation of nucleotides were
      measured on developing MDEs treated with BL or brassinazole (BrZ), a biosynthetic
      inhibitor of BL. Purine metabolism was investigated by following the metabolic
      fate of (14)C-labelled adenine and adenosine, substrates of the salvage pathway,
      and inosine, an intermediate of both salvage and degradation pathways. For
      pyrimidine, orotic acid, uridine and uracil were employed as markers for the de
      novo (orotic acid), salvage (uridine and uracil), and degradation (uracil)
      pathways. Our results indicate that utilization of adenine, adenosine, and
      uridine for nucleotides and nucleic acids increased significantly in BL-treated
      embryos at day 15 and remained high throughout the culture period. These
      metabolic changes were ascribed to the activities of the respective salvage
      enzymes: adenine phosphoribosyltransferase (EC 2.4.2.7), adenosine kinase (EC
      2.7.1.20), and uridine kinase (EC 2.7.1.48), which were induced by BL
      applications. The BL promotion of salvage synthesis was accompanied by a
      reduction in the activities of the degradation pathways, suggesting the presence
      of competitive anabolic and catabolic mechanisms utilizing the labelled
      precursors. In BrZ-treated embryos, with depleted BL levels, the salvage activity
      of both purine and pyrimidine nucleotides was reduced and this was associated to
      structural abnormalities and poor embryonic performance. In these embryos, the
      activities of major salvage enzymes were consistently lower to those measured in
      their control (untreated) counterparts.

PMID- 20931224
TI  - Temporal and spatial diversities of the immunolabeling of mannan and xylan
      polysaccharides in differentiating earlywood ray cells and pits of Cryptomeria
      japonica.
AB  - Wood is composed of various types of cells and each type of cell has different
      structural and functional properties. However, the temporal and spatial
      diversities of cell wall components in the cell wall between different cell types
      are rarely understood. To extend our understanding of distributional diversities
      of cell wall components among cells, we investigated the immunolabeling of
      mannans (O-acetyl-galactoglucomannans, GGMs) and xylans (arabino-4-O
      methylglucuronoxylans, AGXs) in ray cells and pits. The labeling of GGMs and AGXs
      was temporally different in ray cells. GGM labeling began to be detected in ray
      cells at early stages of S(1) formation in tracheids, whereas AGX labeling began
      to be detected in ray cells at the S(2) formation stage in tracheids. The
      occurrence of GGM and AGX labeling in ray cells was also temporally different
      from that of tracheids. AGX labeling began to be detected much later in ray cells
      than in tracheids. GGM labeling also began to be detected in ray cells either
      slightly earlier or later than in tracheids. In pits, GGM labeling was detected
      in bordered and cross-field pit membranes at early stages of pit formation, but
      not observed in mature pits, indicating that enzymes capable of GGM degradation
      may be involved in pit membrane formation. In contrast to GGMs, AGXs were not
      detected in pit membranes during the entire developmental process of bordered and
      cross-field pits. AGXs showed structural and depositional variations in pit
      borders depending on the developmental stage of bordered and cross-field pits.

PMID- 20931223
TI  - Molecular characterization of a miraculin-like gene differentially expressed
      during coffee development and coffee leaf miner infestation.
AB  - The characterization of a coffee gene encoding a protein similar to miraculin
      like proteins, which are members of the plant Kunitz serine trypsin inhibitor
      (STI) family of proteinase inhibitors (PIs), is described. PIs are important
      proteins in plant defence against insects and in the regulation of proteolysis
      during plant development. This gene has high identity with the Richadella
      dulcifica taste-modifying protein miraculin and with the tomato protein LeMir;
      and was named as CoMir (Coffea miraculin). Structural protein modelling indicated
      that CoMir had structural similarities with the Kunitz STI proteins, but
      suggested specific folding structures. CoMir was up-regulated after coffee leaf
      miner (Leucoptera coffella) oviposition in resistant plants of a progeny derived
      from crosses between C. racemosa (resistant) and C. arabica (susceptible).
      Interestingly, this gene was down-regulated during coffee leaf miner herbivory in
      susceptible plants. CoMir expression was up-regulated after abscisic acid
      application and wounding stress and was prominent during the early stages of
      flower and fruit development. In situ hybridization revealed that CoMir
      transcripts accumulated in the anther tissues that display programmed cell death
      (tapetum, endothecium and stomium) and in the metaxylem vessels of the petals,
      stigma and leaves. In addition, the recombinant protein CoMir shows inhibitory
      activity against trypsin. According to the present results CoMir may act in
      proteolytic regulation during coffee development and in the defence against L.
      coffeella. The similarity of CoMir with other Kunitz STI proteins and the role of
      CoMir in plant development and plant stress are discussed.

PMID- 20931225
TI  - Vacuolated cell pattern of pancreatobiliary adenocarcinoma: a clinicopathological
      analysis of 24 cases of a poorly recognized distinctive morphologic variant
      important in the differential diagnosis.
AB  - Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDCA) is characterized by well-defined tubular
      units in the vast majority of the cases; however, variations in this theme do
      occur. It is important to recognize the morphologic spectrum of PDCA to avoid
      misdiagnosis especially in small specimens and also in metastatic foci. Here, we
      document a morphologic variant of PDCA that is characterized by a distinctive
      pattern of infiltrating cribriform nests in a distinctive "microcystic" or
      "secretory" pattern. Twenty-four cases of PDCA have been identified in a review
      of 505 cases diagnosed with PDCA. Histologically, this pattern was characterized
      by infiltrating nests of tumor cells with large vacuoles and "signet-ring" like
      appearance imparting a cribriform growth pattern. The vacuoles were one to five
      cells in size, often merging to form multilocular spaces separated by a thin rim
      of cell membrane. Many of these spaces contained CA19.9 positive granular
      secretory material. The nuclei were often pushed to the periphery and compressed
      in a pattern resembling adipocytes, although the nuclei were often densely
      hyperchromatic and displayed significant atypia. Especially in biopsies from the
      peripancreatic fat and peritoneum, these neoplastic cells had been misdiagnosed
      as degenerating adipocytes, and in the lymph nodes, they had been misinterpreted
      as lipogranulomas. Clinical findings of the patients were similar to that of
      conventional PDCA, except higher incidence of history of smoking (83% vs. 60%;
      p=0.034). In conclusion, vacuolated cell adenocarcinoma is a distinct morphologic
      variant of PDCA, and the presence of this peculiar pattern in a metastatic site,
      although not specific, should raise the suspicion of a PDCA.

PMID- 20931226
TI  - Inhaled corticosteroids in childhood asthma: the story continues.
AB  - Inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) are the most effective anti-inflammatory drugs for
      the treatment of persistent asthma in children. Treatment with ICS decreases
      asthma mortality and morbidity, reduces symptoms, improves lung function, reduces
      bronchial hyperresponsiveness and reduces the number of exacerbations. The
      efficacy of ICS in preschool wheezing is controversial. A recent task force from
      the European Respiratory Society on preschool wheeze defined two different
      phenotypes: episodic viral wheeze, wheeze that occurs only during respiratory
      viral infections, and multiple-trigger wheeze, where wheeze also occurs in
      between viral episodes. Treatment with ICS appears to be more efficacious in the
      latter phenotype. Small particle ICS may offer a potential benefit in preschool
      children because of the favourable spray characteristics. However, the efficacy
      of small particle ICS in preschool children has not yet been evaluated in
      prospective clinical trials. The use of ICS in school children with asthma is
      safe with regard to systemic side effects on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal
      axis, growth and bone metabolism, when used in low to medium doses. Although
      safety data in wheezing preschoolers is limited, the data are reassuring. Also
      for this age group, adverse events tend to be minimal when the ICS is used in
      appropriate doses.

PMID- 20931227
TI  - Two siblings with triple A syndrome and novel mutation presenting as hereditary
      polyneuropathy.
AB  - The clinical and molecular data on triple A syndrome in two siblings (girl 3.5
      years and boy 5.5 years at presentation) with early onset of neurological
      dysfunction are described. Both patients showed delayed developmental milestones
      and neurological dysfunctions (motor and sensory demyelinating neuropathy, marked
      hyperreflexia, calves hypothrophy, pes cavus, gait disturbance) in early
      childhood, when erroneously diagnosed with hereditary polyneuropathy, most likely
      Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease. After a severe adrenal crisis in the younger sister
      at the age of 3 years, the older brother aged 5.5 years was also evaluated and
      latent adrenal insufficiency was discovered. As both of the siblings had
      alacrima, hyperkeratosis of palms, cutis anserina, and nasal speech, diagnosis of
      triple A syndrome was considered. Sequencing of the AAAS gene detected a compound
      heterozygous mutation consisting of a novel mutation p.Ser296Tyr (c.887C>A) in
      exon 9 and a previously described p.Ser263Pro (c.787T>C) missense mutation in
      exon 8 in both siblings. In conclusion, triple A syndrome should be considered in
      patients presenting with early neurological dysfunction and developmental delay.
      Alacrima as the earliest and most consistent clinical sign should be investigated
      by Schirmer test. Patients should be regularly tested for adrenal dysfunction to
      prevent life-threatening adrenal crises.

PMID- 20931229
TI  - Adenovirus infection mimics the cerebellitis caused by rotavirus infection.

PMID- 20931230
TI  - Sperm rates of 7q11.23, 15q11q13 and 22q11.2 deletions and duplications: a FISH
      approach.
AB  - Genomic disorders are human diseases caused by meiotic chromosomal rearrangements
      of unstable regions flanked by Low Copy Repeats (LCRs). LCRs act as substrates
      for Non-Allelic Homologous Recombination (NAHR) leading to deletions and
      duplications. The aim of this study was to assess the basal frequency of
      deletions and duplications of the 7q11.23, 15q11-q13 and 22q11.2 regions in
      spermatozoa from control donors to check differences in the susceptibility to
      generate anomalies and to assess the contribution of intra- and inter-chromatid
      NAHR events. Semen samples from ten control donors were processed by FISH. A
      customized combination of probes was used to discriminate among normal, deleted
      and duplicated sperm genotypes. A minimum of 10,000 sperm were assessed per
      sample and region. There were no differences in the mean frequency of deletions
      and duplications (del + dup) among the 7q11.23, 15q11-q13 and 22q11.2 regions
      (frequency +/- SEM, 0.37 +/- 0.02; 0.46 +/- 0.07 and 0.27 +/- 0.07%,
      respectively) (P = 0.122). Nevertheless, hierarchical cluster analysis reveals
      interindividual differences suggesting that particular haplotypes could be the
      main source of variability in NAHR rates. The mean frequency of deletions was not
      different from the mean frequency of duplications in the 7q11.23 (P = 0.202) and
      15q11-q13 (P = 0.609) regions, indicating a predominant inter-chromatid NAHR. By
      contrast, in the 22q11.2 region the frequency of deletions slightly exceed
      duplications (P = 0.032), although at the individual level any donor showed
      differences. Altogether, our results support the inter-chromatid NAHR as the
      predominant mechanism involved in the generation of sperm deletions and
      duplications.

PMID- 20931232
TI  - Relative importance of top-down and bottom-up forces in food webs of Sarracenia
      pitcher communities at a northern and a southern site.
AB  - The relative importance of resources (bottom-up forces) and natural enemies (top
      down forces) for regulating food web dynamics has been debated, and both forces
      have been found to be critical for determining food web structure. How the
      relative importance of top-down and bottom-up forces varies between sites with
      different abiotic conditions is not well understood. Using the pitcher plant
      inquiline community as a model system, I examine how the relative importance of
      top-down and bottom-up effects differs between two disparate sites. Resources
      (ant carcasses) and top predators (mosquito larvae) were manipulated in two
      identical 4 * 4 factorial press experiments, conducted at two geographically
      distant sites (Michigan and Florida) within the range of the purple pitcher
      plant, Sarracenia purpurea, and the aquatic community that resides in its leaves.
      Overall, top predators reduced the density of prey populations while additional
      resources bolstered them, and the relative importance of top-down and bottom-up
      forces varied between sites and for different trophic levels. Specifically, top
      down effects on protozoa were stronger in Florida than in Michigan, while the
      opposite pattern was found for rotifers. These findings experimentally
      demonstrate that the strength of predator-prey interactions, even those involving
      the same species, vary across space. While only two sites are compared in this
      study, I hypothesize that site differences in temperature, which influences
      metabolic rate, may be responsible for variation in consumer-resource
      interactions. These findings warrant further investigation into the specific
      factors that modify the relative importance of top-down and bottom-up effects.

PMID- 20931231
TI  - Partial correlation network analyses to detect altered gene interactions in human
      disease: using preeclampsia as a model.
AB  - Differences in gene expression between cases and controls have been identified
      for a number of human diseases. However, the underlying mechanisms of
      transcriptional regulation remain largely unknown. Beyond comparisons of absolute
      or relative expression levels, disease states may be associated with alterations
      in the observed correlational patterns among sets of genes. Here we use partial
      correlation networks aiming to compare the transcriptional co-regulation for 222
      genes that are differentially expressed in decidual tissues between preeclampsia
      (PE) cases and non-PE controls. Partial correlation coefficients (PCCs) have been
      calculated in cases (N = 37) and controls (N = 58) separately. For all PCCs, we
      tested if they were significant non-zero in the cases and controls separately. In
      addition, to examine if a given PCC is different between the cases and controls,
      we tested if the difference between two PCCs were significant non-zero. In the
      group with PE cases, only five PCCs were significant (FDR p value <= 0.05), of
      which none were significantly different from the PCCs in the controls. However,
      in the controls we identified a total of 56 statistically significant PCCs (FDR p
      value <= 0.05), of which 31 were also significantly different (FDR p value <=
      0.05) from the PCCs in the PE cases. The identified partial correlation networks
      included genes that are potentially relevant for developing PE, including both
      known susceptibility genes (EGFL7, HES1) and novel candidate genes (CFH, NADSYN1,
      DBP, FIGLA). Our results might suggest that disturbed interactions, or higher
      order relationships between these genes play an important role in developing the
      disease.

PMID- 20931233
TI  - Density affects mating mode and large male mating advantage in a fiddler crab.
AB  - Fiddler crabs show two different mating modes: either females search and crabs
      mate underground in male burrows, or males search and crabs mate on the surface
      near female burrows. We explored the relationship between crab density, body
      size, the searching behavior of both sexes, and the occurrence of both mating
      modes in the fiddler crab Uca uruguayensis. We found that crabs change their
      mating mode depending on their size and crab density. Crabs mated mostly on the
      surface at low densities, and underground at high densities. The proportion of
      wandering receptive females but not courting males accounted for the variation in
      mating modes. This suggests that whether crabs mate underground (or on the
      surface) is determined by the presence (or absence) of searching females. We
      found that the change in the mating mode affected the level of assortative
      mating; males mating underground were bigger than those mating on the surface,
      suggesting active female choice. Given that fiddler crabs experience multiple
      reproductive cycles, they are prone to showing behavioral plasticity in their
      mating strategy whenever the payoffs of using different mating modes differ
      between reproductive events. Our results suggest that the incorporation of
      different levels of environmental variability may be important in theoretical
      models aimed at improving our understanding of the evolution of alternative
      mating tactics and strategies.

PMID- 20931234
TI  - Defensive effects of extrafloral nectaries in quaking aspen differ with scale.
AB  - The effects of plant defenses on herbivory can differ among spatial scales. This
      may be particularly common with indirect defenses, such as extrafloral nectaries
      (EFNs), that attract predatory arthropods and are dependent on predator
      distribution, abundance, and behavior. We tested the defensive effects of EFNs in
      quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.) against damage by a specialist
      herbivore, the aspen leaf miner (Phyllocnistis populiella Cham.), at the scale of
      individual leaves and entire ramets (i.e., stems). Experiments excluding crawling
      arthropods revealed that the effects of aspen EFNs differed at the leaf and ramet
      scales. Crawling predators caused similar reductions in the percent leaf area
      mined on individual leaves with and without EFNs. However, the extent to which
      crawling predators increased leaf miner mortality and, consequently, reduced
      mining damage increased with EFN expression at the ramet scale. Thus, aspen EFNs
      provided a diffuse defense, reducing damage to leaves across a ramet regardless
      of leaf-scale EFN expression. We detected lower leaf miner damage and survival
      unassociated with crawling predators on EFN-bearing leaves, suggesting that
      direct defenses (e.g., chemical defenses) were stronger on leaves with than
      without EFNs. Greater direct defenses on EFN-bearing leaves may reduce the
      probability of losing these leaves and thus weakening ramet-scale EFN defense.
      Aspen growth was not related to EFN expression or the presence of crawling
      predators over the course of a single season. Different effects of aspen EFNs at
      the leaf and ramet scales suggest that future studies may benefit from examining
      indirect defenses simultaneously at multiple scales.

PMID- 20931235
TI  - Geographic host use variability and host range evolutionary dynamics in the
      phytophagous insect Apagomerella versicolor (Cerambycidae).
AB  - The high diversity of phytophagous insects has been explained by the tendency of
      the group towards specialization; however, generalism may be advantageous in some
      environments. The cerambycid Apagomerella versicolor exhibits intraspecific
      geographical variation in host use. In northern Argentina it is highly
      specialized on the herb Pluchea sagittalis (Asteraceae), while in central and
      southern areas it uses seven Asteraceae species. To study host species
      geographical variation from ecological and evolutionary perspectives, we
      investigated field host availability and use across a wide latitudinal range, and
      performed laboratory studies on insect oviposition preference and larval
      performance and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) variation in a phylogeographical
      framework. Geographic variation in host use was unrelated to host availability
      but was highly associated with laboratory oviposition preference, larval
      performance, and mtDNA variation. Genetic studies revealed three geographic races
      of A. versicolor with gene flow restriction and recent geographic expansion.
      Trophic generalism and oligophagy within A. versicolor seem to have evolved as
      adaptations to seasonal and spatial unavailability of the preferred host P.
      sagittalis in cooler areas of the species' geographic range. No single genotype
      is successful in all environments; specialization may be advantageous in
      environments with uniform temporal and spatial host availability, while being a
      trophic generalist may provide an adaptive advantage in host-constrained
      environments.

PMID- 20931236
TI  - Process performance of parallel bioreactors for batch cultivation of Streptomyces
      tendae.
AB  - Batch cultivations of the nikkomycin Z producer Streptomyces tendae were
      performed in three different parallel bioreactor systems (milliliter-scale
      stirred-tank reactors, shake flasks and shaken microtiter plate) in comparison to
      a standard liter-scale stirred-tank reactor as reference. Similar dry cell weight
      concentrations were measured as function of process time in stirred-tank reactors
      and shake flasks, whereas only poor growth was observed in the shaken microtiter
      plate. In contrast, the nikkomycin Z production differed significantly between
      the stirred and shaken bioreactors. The measured product concentrations and
      product formation kinetics were almost the same in the stirred-tank bioreactors
      of different scale. Much less nikkomycin Z was formed in the shake flasks and MTP
      cultivations, most probably due to oxygen limitations. To investigate the non
      Newtonian shear-thinning behavior of the culture broth in small-scale
      bioreactors, a new and simple method was applied to estimate the rheological
      behavior. The apparent viscosities were found to be very similar in the stirred
      tank bioreactors, whereas the apparent viscosity was up to two times increased in
      the shake flask cultivations due to a lower average shear rate of this reactor
      system. These data illustrate that different engineering characteristics of
      parallel bioreactors applied for process development can have major implications
      for scale-up of bioprocesses with non-Newtonian viscous culture broths.

PMID- 20931237
TI  - Clinical factors predicting bacteremia in low-risk febrile neutropenia after anti
      cancer chemotherapy.
AB  - PURPOSE: Bacteremia is an important clinical condition in febrile neutropenia
      that can cause clinical failure of antimicrobial therapy. The purpose of this
      study was to investigate the clinical factors predictive of bacteremia in low
      risk febrile neutropenia at initial patient evaluation. METHODS: We performed a
      retrospective cohort study in a university hospital in Seoul, Korea, between May
      1995 and May 2007. Patients who met the criteria of low-risk febrile neutropenia
      at the time of visit to emergency department after anti-cancer chemotherapy were
      included in the analysis. RESULTS: During the study period, 102 episodes of
      bacteremia were documented among the 993 episodes of low-risk febrile
      neutropenia. Single gram-negative bacteremia was most frequent. In multivariate
      regression analysis, initial body temperature >=39 degrees C, initial
      hypotension, presence of clinical sites of infection, presence of central venous
      catheter, initial absolute neutrophil count <50/mm(3), and the CRP >=10 mg/dL
      were statistically significant predictors for bacteremia. A scoring system using
      these variables was derived and the likelihood of bacteremia was well correlated
      with the score points with AUC under ROC curve of 0.785. Patients with low score
      points had low rate of bacteremia, thus, would be candidates for outpatient-based
      or oral antibiotic therapy. CONCLUSIONS: We identified major clinical factors
      that can predict bacteremia in low-risk febrile neutropenia.

PMID- 20931238
TI  - Intermediate segment degeneration after noncontiguous anterior cervical fusion.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Studies suggest that the annual incidence of symptomatic adjacent
      segment disease is 2-3%. Because biomechanical studies have shown increased
      stress at levels adjacent to a fusion mass, some surgeons have advocated
      including the normal level in the fusion construct in patients presenting with
      noncontiguous cervical spondylosis requiring surgical intervention. Our objective
      was to evaluate the incidence of adjacent segment disease (ASD) in intermediate
      segments in noncontiguous anterior cervical fusion. METHOD: We reviewed patients
      who underwent noncontiguous anterior cervical arthrodesis between 1985 and 2007.
      The primary outcome was the presence of symptomatic degeneration at the
      intermediate segment in noncontiguous fusions. Secondary outcomes were visual
      analog scale (VAS) scores and overall neurologic outcome. RESULTS: Seventeen
      cases of noncontiguous anterior cervical fusion were included. None had
      symptomatic ASD at the intervening level during mean follow-up of 26 months.
      Thirteen of 17 patients demonstrated postoperative neurological improvement; four
      had no change. Overall symptomatic outcome was judged as significantly improved,
      moderately improved, and unchanged in 11, two, and four patients, respectively. A
      mean five-point improvement in the VAS score was seen at 3-month follow-up, with
      continued improvement at 24 months. Among the 37 levels fused, three levels in
      two patients showed evidence of pseudarthrosis, one of which remained
      asymptomatic during the follow-up period. CONCLUSIONS: We observed neurological
      and clinical overall improvement in our series of patients after noncontiguous
      fusions without evidence of increased degeneration requiring treatment at the
      intermediate segment. We believe this technique is safe and effective without
      increased postoperative or long-term morbidity.

PMID- 20931239
TI  - Clinicopathological study on chronic encapsulated expanding hematoma associated
      with incompletely obliterated AVM after stereotactic radiosurgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chronic encapsulated expanding hematoma is a rare, but highly morbid,
      severe complication after stereotactic radiosurgery for intracerebral
      arteriovenous malformations (AVMs). The aim of this study was to clarify the
      clinical features and possible mechanisms of formation and expansion of this type
      of hematoma based on histopathological findings. METHODS: The patients were
      comprised of three males and one female. Three of these patients had AVMs in the
      basal ganglia, while the remaining one in the frontal lobe. RESULTS: Cerebral
      angiograms performed 6 months to 11 years after radiosurgery demonstrated major,
      but incomplete, obliteration of the nidi. Each patient developed localized
      enhancing mass lesions at 2, 3, 5, and 11 years after radiosurgery. The lesions
      expanded slowly, but progressively over time in association with marked perifocal
      edema. The perifocal edema disappeared immediately after removal of the hematoma;
      their neurological symptoms improved partially or completely.
      Histopathologically, the hematomas were well-encapsulated and the capsule walls
      uniformly consisted of an outer fibrocollagenous layer and an inner granulation
      layer. Immunohistochemistry revealed vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)
      expression in the endothelium of newly formed blood vessels and myofibroblasts in
      the hematoma capsule inner layer. Myofibroblasts also expressed VEGFR-1.
      CONCLUSIONS: The activation of VEGF pathway may lead to neovascularization in the
      granulation layer of the hematoma capsule that serves as a continual source of
      bleeding and perifocal edema. Thus, radical resection of the capsule and residual
      nidus is strongly recommended for the management of both bleeding and edema.

PMID- 20931240
TI  - Arachnoid cysts of the middle cranial fossa accompanied by subdural effusions-
      experience with 60 consecutive cases.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Subdural effusions (SDEs) can complicate arachnoid cysts of the
      middle cranial fossa (ACMFs). While there is a consensus that at least in adults
      asymptomatic ACMFs should not be operated, those with concomitant subdural and/or
      intracystic effusions are clinically apparent in the majority of cases and should
      be surgically treated. But it remains unclear, which surgical procedure is best.
      METHODS: Since 1980, 60 out of 343 patients with an ACMF presented with
      accompanying SDEs. Four categories of SDEs were differentiated radiologically.
      This collective was controlled in a follow-up study up to 60 months after
      conservative or operative treatment by clinical and radiological means. RESULTS:
      In 54 of the 60 patients, we saw an indication for surgical treatment. Twenty
      nine patients received a burr hole, 13 cases were treated by craniotomy, seven by
      endoscopical means, three patients underwent shunting and two combined
      procedures. Six patients were treated conservatively. An excellent final clinical
      outcome was observed in 55 cases. While craniotomy succeeded best to reduce the
      cyst volume in postoperative CT, the final clinical outcome did not differ
      significantly compared with burr hole trepanation. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with
      small effusions can be treated conservatively in selected cases. Based on our
      experience, we prefer a differentiated therapy. As first procedure, burr hole and
      subdural drainage were performed, leaving the cyst alone, seeming sufficient for
      the majority of cases. Craniotomy or endoscopical means should be reserved as
      treatment of choice for special cases, depending on category and acuteness of SDE
      and size/localisation of the ACMF.

PMID- 20931241
TI  - Multidisciplinary management of giant functional petrous bone paraganglioma.
AB  - Giant and functional paragangliomas of the skull base are rare. Their
      endocrinological and surgical management is challenging. We report the case of an
      aggressive giant noradrenalin-secreting paraganglioma of the right temporal bone.
      Three procedures of embolisation were performed. The second one was complicated
      by a hypertensive crisis due to catecholamine release. The tumour was resected
      via a widened transcochlear approach. Tumour residue was treated by gamma knife
      radiosurgery, without additional growth at the last follow-up. This case
      illustrates the interest of multidisciplinary management of giant skull base
      paragangliomas.

PMID- 20931242
TI  - NIR-labeled nanoparticles engineered for brain targeting: in vivo optical imaging
      application and fluorescent microscopy evidences.
AB  - The presence of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) makes extremely difficult to
      develop efficacious strategies for targeting contrast agents and delivering drugs
      inside the Central Nervous System (CNS). To overcome this drawback, several kinds
      of CNS-targeted nanoparticles (NPs) have been developed. In particular, we
      proposed poly-lactide-co-glycolide (PLGA) NPs engineered with a simil-opioid
      glycopeptide (g7), which have already proved to be a promising tool for achieving
      a successful brain targeting after i.v. administration in rats. In order to
      obtain CNS-targeted NPs to use for in vivo imaging, we synthesized and
      administrated in mice PLGA NPs with double coverage: near-infrared (NIR) probe
      (DY-675) and g7. The optical imaging clearly showed a brain localization of these
      novel NPs. Thus, a novel kind of NIR-labeled NPs were obtained, providing a new,
      in vivo detectable nanotechnology tool. Besides, the confocal and fluorescence
      microscopy evidences allowed to further confirm the ability of g7 to promote not
      only the rat, but also the mouse BBB crossing.

PMID- 20931243
TI  - Combination of intracortically administered VEGF and environmental enrichment
      enhances brain protection in developing rats.
AB  - Postnatal development of the visual cortex is modulated by experience, especially
      during the critical period. In rats, a stable neuronal population is only
      acquired after this relatively prolonged period. Vascular endothelial growth
      factor (VEGF) is the most important angiogenic factor and also has strong
      neuroprotective, neurotrophic and neurogenic properties. Similar effects have
      been described for rearing in enriched environments. Our aim is to investigate
      the vascular and neuronal effects of combining VEGF infusion and environmental
      enrichment on the visual cortex during the initial days of the critical period.
      Results showed that a small percentage of Cleaved Caspase-3 positive cells
      colocalized with neuronal markers. The lesion produced by the cannula
      implantation resulted in decreased vascular, neuronal and Caspase-3 positive cell
      densities. Rearing under enriched environment was unable to reverse these effects
      in any group, whereas VEGF infusion alone partially corrected those effects. A
      higher effectiveness was reached by combining both the procedures, the most
      effective combination being when enriched-environment rearing was introduced only
      after minipump implantation. In addition to the angiogenic effect of VEGF,
      applied strategies also had synergic neuroprotective effects, and the combination
      of the two strategies had more remarkable effects than those achieved by each
      strategy applied individually.

PMID- 20931244
TI  - Association of polymorphisms in genes involved in the dopaminergic pathway with
      blood pressure and uric acid levels in Chinese females.
AB  - Since the high degree of heritability of physiological traits was demonstrated by
      twin and adoption studies, contemporary researchers in the fields of clinical
      medicine, behavioral science, and genetics have acknowledged the crucial role of
      genetic factors in human physiology. The study described herein explores the
      association between physiological parameters and the dopaminergic system using
      molecular genetic techniques. A total of 558 Taiwanese female volunteers, ranging
      from 16 to 17 years, were recruited. Single nucleotide polymorphisms in genes
      involved in the dopaminergic pathway were selected for analysis. Systolic blood
      pressure and diastolic blood pressure were associated significantly with the
      catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) Val158Met polymorphism and the dopamine beta
      hydroxylase (DBH) C1021T polymorphism. Furthermore, plasma uric acid was
      associated significantly with the COMT Val158Met polymorphism. Our study suggests
      the possible involvement of genetic polymorphisms in COMT and DBH in the
      regulation of blood pressure and plasma uric acid.

PMID- 20931245
TI  - Comparative EEG mapping studies in Huntington's disease patients and controls.
AB  - Huntington's disease (HD) is a devastating neurodegenerative disorder with
      prominent motor and cognitive decline. Previous studies with small sample sizes
      and methodological limitations have described abnormal electroencephalograms
      (EEG) in this cohort. The aim of the present study was to investigate objectively
      and quantitatively the neurophysiological basis of the disease in HD patients as
      compared to normal controls, utilizing EEG mapping. In 55 HD patients and 55
      healthy controls, a 3-min vigilance-controlled EEG (V-EEG) was recorded during
      midmorning hours. Evaluation of 36 EEG variables was carried out by spectral
      analysis and visualized by EEG mapping techniques. To elucidate drug
      interference, the analysis was performed for the total group, unmedicated
      patients only and between treated and untreated patients. Statistical overall
      analysis by the omnibus significance test demonstrated significant (p < 0.01 and
      p < 0.05) EEG differences between HD patients and controls. Subsequent univariate
      analysis revealed a general decrease in total power and absolute alpha and beta
      power, an increase in delta/theta power, and a slowing of the centroids of
      delta/theta, beta and total power. The slowing of the EEG in HD reflects a
      disturbed brain function in the sense of a vigilance decrement,
      electrophysiologically characterized by inhibited cortical areas (increased
      delta/theta power) and a lack of normal routine and excitatory activity
      (decreased alpha and beta power). The results are similar to those found in other
      dementing disorders. Medication did not affect the overall interpretation of the
      quantitative EEG analysis, but certain differences might be due to drug
      interaction, predominantly with antipsychotics. Spearman rank correlations
      revealed significant correlations between EEG mapping and cognitive and motor
      impairment in HD patients.

PMID- 20931246
TI  - Expression of heat shock protein (HSP 72 kDa) during acute methamphetamine
      intoxication depends on brain hyperthermia: neurotoxicity or neuroprotection?
AB  - In the present study, light and electron microscopy were used to examine heat
      shock protein (HSP 72 kD) expression during acute methamphetamine (METH)
      intoxication in rats and evaluate its relationships with brain temperature and
      alterations in a number of other histochemical and morphological parameters.
      Freely moving rats received METH at the same dose (9 mg/kg, sc) but at different
      ambient temperatures (23 and 29 degrees C), showing a wide range of brain
      temperature elevations (37.6-42.5 degrees C); brains were taken for histochemical
      and morphological evaluations at peak of brain temperature increase. We found
      that acute METH intoxication induces massive and wide-spread HSP expression in
      neural and glial cells examined in detail in the cortex, hippocampus, thalamus,
      and hypothalamus. In each of these structures, the number of HSP-positive cells
      tightly correlated with brain temperature elevation. The changes in HSP
      immunoreactivity were also tightly related to alterations in permeability of the
      blood-brain barrier, acute glial activation, and brain edema assessed by albumin
      and GFAP immunoreactivity and measuring tissue water content, respectively. While
      robust and generalized HSP production normally appears to be the part of an
      adaptive brain response associated with METH-induced metabolic activation,
      activation of this protective mechanism has its natural limits and could not
      counteract the damaging effects of oxidative stress, high temperature, and edema-
      the leading factors of METH-induced neurotoxicity.

PMID- 20931249
TI  - Molecular identification of human enteroviruses in children with neurological
      infections from the central region of Argentina.
AB  - In the central area of Argentina, epidemiological and molecular characteristics
      of human enterovirus infections are still unknown. RT-nested PCR of the highly
      conserved 5'NCR was used to detect enteroviruses in 168 samples of cerebrospinal
      fluid from hospitalized patients with suspected infection of the central nervous
      system (2007-2008), and 13 (7.7%) were positive. Molecular typing was performed
      by sequencing of the 3'-half VP1 region. Echovirus 30 was the predominant type
      detected, followed by coxsackie viruses A9 and B4. All echovirus 30 strains of
      2007 clustered in lineage H, whereas the echovirus 30 isolate obtained in 2008
      was more distantly related, possibly representing a new lineage.

PMID- 20931248
TI  - Proanthocyanidin-rich fraction from Croton celtidifolius Baill confers
      neuroprotection in the intranasal 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine
      rat model of Parkinson's disease.
AB  - We have recently demonstrated that rodents treated intranasally with 1-methyl-4
      phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) suffered impairments in olfactory,
      cognitive and motor functions associated with time-dependent disruption of
      dopaminergic neurotransmission in different brain structures conceivably
      analogous to those observed during different stages of Parkinson's disease (PD).
      On the other hand, the proanthocyanidin-rich fraction (PRF) obtained from the
      bark of Croton celtidifolius Baill (Euphorbiaceae), a tree frequently found in
      the Atlantic forest in south Brazil, has been described to have several
      neurobiological activities including antioxidant and anti-inflammatory
      properties, which may be of interest in the treatment of PD. The present data
      indicated that the pretreatment with PRF (10 mg/kg, i.p.) during five consecutive
      days was able to prevent mitochondrial complex-I inhibition in the striatum and
      olfactory bulb, as well as a decrease of the enzyme tyrosine hydroxylase
      expression in the olfactory bulb and substantia nigra of rats infused with a
      single intranasal administration of MPTP (1 mg/nostril). Moreover, pretreatment
      with PRF was found to attenuate the short-term social memory deficits, depressive
      like behavior and reduction of locomotor activity observed at different periods
      after intranasal MPTP administration in rats. Altogether, the present findings
      provide strong evidence that PRF from C. celtidifolius may represent a promising
      therapeutic tool in PD, thus being able to prevent both motor and non-motor early
      symptoms of PD, together with its neuroprotective potential.

PMID- 20931250
TI  - Identification of a novel astrovirus in a domestic pig in Hungary.
AB  - The family Astroviridae consists of two genera, Avastrovirus and Mamastrovirus,
      whose members are associated with gastroenteritis in avian and mammalian hosts,
      respectively. We serendipitously identified a novel porcine astrovirus in a fecal
      specimen from a domestic pig (Sus scrofa domestica) in Hungary. Sequencing of a
      fragment indicated that it was an ORF1b/ORF2/3'UTR sequence, and it has been
      submitted to the database as porcine astrovirus type 2 (PAstV-2/Hungary/2007)
      with accession number GU562296. Its unique sequence characteristics and its
      phylogenetic position suggest that PAstV-2 could be an important link between
      previously reported astroviruses and that a genetically divergent lineage of
      astroviruses exist in piglets.

PMID- 20931247
TI  - Transgenic animal models of neurodegeneration based on human genetic studies.
AB  - The identification of genes linked to neurodegenerative diseases such as
      Alzheimer's disease (AD), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Huntington's
      disease (HD) and Parkinson's disease (PD) has led to the development of animal
      models for studying mechanism and evaluating potential therapies. None of the
      transgenic models developed based on disease-associated genes have been able to
      fully recapitulate the behavioral and pathological features of the corresponding
      disease. However, there has been enormous progress made in identifying potential
      therapeutic targets and understanding some of the common mechanisms of
      neurodegeneration. In this review, we will discuss transgenic animal models for
      AD, ALS, HD and PD that are based on human genetic studies. All of the diseases
      discussed have active or complete clinical trials for experimental treatments
      that benefited from transgenic models of the disease.

PMID- 20931251
TI  - Phylogenetic analysis of pandemic 2009 influenza A virus circulating in the South
      American region: genetic relationships and vaccine strain match.
AB  - The first influenza pandemic of this century was declared in April of 2009, with
      the emergence of a novel H1N1 influenza A virus strain (H1N1pdm). Understanding
      the evolution of H1N1pdm strains within the South American region is essential
      for studying global diversification, emergence and resistance, as well as
      determining vaccine efficacy. In order to gain insight into these matters,
      phylogenetic analysis was performed using 29 hemagglutinin (HA) gene sequences
      from H1N1pdm strains isolated in South America. The results of these studies
      revealed that clade 7 was the dominant H1N1pdm lineage in South America. None of
      the strains isolated in South America clustered together with the 2010 H1 vaccine
      strain. Amino acid substitutions P100S, S220T and I338V were found in almost all
      HAs of South American H1N1pdm strains.

PMID- 20931252
TI  - A 13-year clinical evaluation of two three-step etch-and-rinse adhesives in non
      carious class-V lesions.
AB  - This 13-year randomized clinical trial compared the clinical effectiveness of two
      three-step etch-and-rinse adhesives in combination with a hybrid, stiffer
      composite versus a micro-filled, more flexible composite. The influence of
      composite stiffness on the clinical performance of one of the adhesives was
      assessed as well. One hundred and forty-two non-carious cervical lesions were
      restored with composites with contrasting stiffness. Seventy-one patients
      randomly received two cervical restorations placed following two out of three
      adhesive procedures: (1) the three-step etch-and-rinse adhesive Permaquick
      applied with the stiff micro-hybrid composite Amelogen Hybrid (PMQ-H, Ultradent),
      (2) Permaquick applied with the more flexible micro-filled Amelogen Microfill
      (PMQ-M, Ultradent), or (3) the "gold-standard" three-step etch-and-rinse adhesive
      Optibond FL applied with the micro-hybrid composite Prodigy (OFL-P, Kerr). The
      restorations were evaluated after 6 months, 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, and 13 years of
      clinical service regarding their retention, marginal integrity and discoloration,
      caries occurrence, preservation of tooth vitality, and post-operative
      sensitivity. Retention loss, severe marginal defects, and/or discoloration that
      needed intervention (repair or replacement) and the occurrence of caries were
      considered as clinical failures. The recall rate at 13 years was 77%. Bond
      degradation after 13 years was mainly characterized by a further increase in the
      presence of small but clinically acceptable marginal defects and superficial
      marginal discoloration. Twelve percent of the OFL-P restorations were clinically
      unacceptable. In the PMQ group, 22% of the PMQ-M restorations and 26% of the PMQ
      H restorations needed repair or replacement. Regarding the clinical failure rate,
      Optibond FL scored significantly better than Permaquick (McNemar; p = 0.015). No
      statistically significant differences were found between the micro-filled and the
      hybrid composite for each of the parameters evaluated (McNemar, p > 0.05). After
      13 years of clinical functioning, the clinical effectiveness of the three
      adhesive/composite combinations remained highly acceptable.

PMID- 20931253
TI  - Emotional symptoms from kindergarten to middle childhood: associations with self-
      and other-oriented social skills.
AB  - The study investigated the interactive impact of different dimensions of social
      skills on children's emotional symptoms. We differentiate between self-oriented
      social skills which focus on considering own goals and needs in social
      interactions (assertiveness, social participation) and other-oriented social
      skills which focus on considering other's goals and needs (pro-social and
      cooperative behavior). 167 children participated in the study at the ages of 5,
      6, and 9 years. A multi-informant approach (parents, teacher, and child) was
      employed to assess children's psychopathology. Teachers rated children's social
      skills. The study demonstrated the importance of deficits in self-oriented social
      skills for the development of emotional symptoms. Low levels of assertiveness
      predicted later emotional symptoms. In children with low levels of pro-social
      behavior, high assertiveness protected from emotional problems. In contrast, high
      levels of pro-social behavior emerged as a risk factor for later emotional
      symptoms, especially when is goes along with low levels of social participation.

PMID- 20931254
TI  - Microbial diversity of supra- and subgingival biofilms on freshly colonized
      titanium implant abutments in the human mouth.
AB  - Supra- and subgingival biofilm formation is considered to be mainly responsible
      for early implant failure caused by inflammations of periimplant tissues.
      Nevertheless, little is known about the complex microbial diversity and
      interindividual similarities around dental implants. An atraumatic assessment was
      made of the diversity of microbial communities around titanium implants by single
      strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analysis of the 16S rRNA gene amplicons
      as well as subsequent sequence analysis. Samples of adherent supra- and
      subgingival periimplant biofilms were collected from ten patients. Additionally,
      samples of sulcusfluid were taken at titanium implant abutments and remaining
      teeth. The bacteria in the samples were characterized by SSCP and sequence
      analysis. A high diversity of bacteria varying between patients and within one
      patient at different locations was found. Bacteria characteristic for sulcusfluid
      and supra- and subgingival biofilm communities were identified. Sulcusfluid of
      the abutments showed higher abundance of Streptococcus species than from residual
      teeth. Prevotella and Rothia species frequently reported from the oral cavity
      were not detected at the abutments suggesting a role as late colonizers.
      Different niches in the human mouth are characterized by specific groups of
      bacteria. Implant abutments are a very valuable approach to study dental biofilm
      development in vivo.

PMID- 20931255
TI  - The effectiveness of local anesthetics in preventing postoperative adhesions in
      rat models.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Intra-abdominal adhesions are fibrous bands that develop after
      abdominal surgery or inflammation and cause significant surgical morbidity and
      mortality. In this study, the effectiveness of lidocaine, prilocaine and
      bupivacaine in preventing experimental intra-abdominal adhesions in rats was
      studied. METHODS: After obtaining the approval of our local institutional review
      board, 50 female Wistar-Albino rats weighing 250-320 g underwent laparotomy via a
      standard 5-cm midline incision under intramuscular anesthesia with ketamine (40
      mg/kg) and xylazine (10 mg/kg). The cecal serosa and adjacent abdominal wall were
      superficially injured using sterile gauze. The laparotomy incision was closed
      after irrigation of the peritoneal cavity with the following: 5 ml saline in
      Group II, (the sham group), 7 mg/kg prilocaine in Group III, 3 mg/kg lidocaine in
      Group IV or 2 mg/kg bupivacaine in Group V. No irrigation was performed in Group
      I rats (the control group). After laparotomy closure, all rats were allowed to
      wake spontaneously. Two weeks after the initial experimental procedure, all rats
      underwent a second laparotomy, and adhesions were scored using the Linsky scale.
      RESULTS: The adhesion quantity and quality were comparable among all groups (P >
      0.05); however, adhesion severity scores were significantly lower in the
      prilocaine and bupivacaine groups vs. the other groups (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS:
      Prilocaine and bupivacaine were found to decrease the severity of intra
      peritoneal adhesions.

PMID- 20931256
TI  - Characteristics and disease severity of healthcare-associated pneumonia among
      patients in a hospital in Kitakyushu, Japan.
AB  - Healthcare-associated pneumonia (HCAP) is a newly identified condition, and
      epidemiologic studies in Japan are still limited. We retrospectively observed
      patients with HCAP and community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) who were hospitalized
      between December 2004 and March 2005, and compared their disease characteristics.
      A total of 34 patients (14 with HCAP and 20 with CAP) were evaluated. Of the
      patients with HCAP, seven (50%) were hospitalized for at least 2 days in the
      preceding 90 days and five (35.7%) resided in a nursing home or extended care
      facility. Compared with patients with CAP, patients with HCAP were older, had
      more complications, including central nerve diseases, had greater disease
      severity, but lower serum albumin level. More methicillin-resistant
      Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas spp., and anaerobes were isolated from
      patients with HCAP than from those with CAP. Conversely, more Streptococcus
      pneumoniae was detected and more penicillin was used in patients with CAP. This
      study provides additional evidence that HCAP should be distinguished from CAP and
      suggests the pathogenesis and therapeutic strategy for HCAP may be similar to
      those for hospital-acquired pneumonia.

PMID- 20931257
TI  - Erratum to: NCL-CD30 staining of epithelial cells in the basal germinative layer
      of the epidermis and epithelial buds during foetal skin development.

PMID- 20931258
TI  - Surgical wound infection, tuboovarian abscess, and sepsis caused by Edwardsiella
      tarda: case reports and literature review.
AB  - Edwardsiella tarda is a freshwater pathogen that may cause mild to invasive
      infections with high mortality in humans. We describe two patients with serious
      E. tarda infections. The first patient was a woman with a tuboovarian abscess
      (TOA) and bilateral salpingitis requiring surgical resection and drainage. Her
      hospital course was complicated by a postoperative wound infection. TOA fluid as
      well as surgical wound culture revealed pure growth of E. tarda resistant to
      several antibiotics. The second patient was a man with a bloodstream E. tarda
      infection and cholangitis who recently traveled to Ecuador. He presented with
      hypoxia and further workup revealed choledocholithiasis and common bile duct
      benign polyps. Both patients made a full recovery.

PMID- 20931259
TI  - Mediastinitis as a complication of central venous catheterization.

PMID- 20931260
TI  - Current approaches to exploit actinomycetes as a source of novel natural
      products.
AB  - For decades, microbial natural products have been one of the major sources of
      novel drugs for pharmaceutical companies, and today all evidence suggests that
      novel molecules with potential therapeutic applications are still waiting to be
      discovered from these natural sources, especially from actinomycetes. Any
      appropriate exploitation of the chemical diversity of these microbial sources
      relies on proper understanding of their biological diversity and other related
      key factors that maximize the possibility of successful identification of novel
      molecules. Without doubt, the discovery of platensimycin has shown that microbial
      natural products can continue to deliver novel scaffolds if appropriate tools are
      put in place to reveal them in a cost-effective manner. Whereas today innovative
      technologies involving exploitation of uncultivated environmental diversity,
      together with chemical biology and in silico approaches, are seeing rapid
      development in natural products research, maximization of the chances of
      exploiting chemical diversity from microbial collections is still essential for
      novel drug discovery. This work provides an overview of the integrated approaches
      developed at the former Basic Research Center of Merck Sharp and Dohme in Spain
      to exploit the diversity and biosynthetic potential of actinomycetes, and
      includes some examples of those that were successfully applied to the discovery
      of novel antibiotics.

PMID- 20931261
TI  - Improving the Clostridium acetobutylicum butanol fermentation by engineering the
      strain for co-production of riboflavin.
AB  - Solvent-producing clostridia are well known for their capacity to use a wide
      variety of renewable biomass and agricultural waste materials for biobutanol
      production. To investigate the possibility of co-production of a high value
      chemical during biobutanol production, the Clostridium acetobutylicum riboflavin
      operon ribGBAH was over-expressed in C. acetobutylicum on Escherichia coli
      Clostridium shuttle vector pJIR750. Constructs that either maintained the
      original C. acetobutylicum translational start codon or modified the start codons
      of ribG and ribB from TTG to ATG were designed. Riboflavin was successfully
      produced in both E. coli and C. acetobutylicum using these plasmids, and
      riboflavin could accumulate up to 27 mg/l in Clostridium culture. Furthermore,
      the C. acetobutylicum purine pathway was modified by over-expression of the
      Clostridium purF gene, which encodes the enzyme PRPP amidotransferase. The
      function of the plasmid pJaF bearing C. acetobutylicum purF was verified by its
      ability to complement an E. coli purF mutation. However, co-production of
      riboflavin with biobutanol by use of the purF over-expression plasmid was not
      improved under the experimental conditions examined. Further rational mutation of
      the purF gene was conducted by replacement of amino acid codons D302 V and K325Q
      to make it similar to the feedback-resistant enzymes of other species. However,
      the co-expression of ribGBAH and purFC in C. acetobutylicum also did not improve
      riboflavin production. By buffering the culture pH, C. acetobutylicum ATCC
      824(pJpGN) could accumulate more than 70 mg/l riboflavin while producing 190 mM
      butanol in static cultures. Riboflavin production was shown to exert no effect on
      solvent production at these levels.

PMID- 20931262
TI  - Adding a combination of hydroxycitrate and lipoic acid (METABLOCTM) to
      chemotherapy improves effectiveness against tumor development: experimental
      results and case report.
AB  - Altered metabolism of cancer first highlighted by Otto Warburg has a long
      history. Although ignored for a considerable amount of time, it is now receiving
      substantial attention. We recently published results obtained with a combination
      of two drugs, lipoic acid and hydroxycitrate, targeting metabolic enzymes
      particularly affected in cancer: ATP citrate lyase and pyruvate dehydrogenase
      kinase. This treatment was as efficient as chemotherapy in the three mouse cancer
      models that were tested. In this work, we asked if our drug combination could be
      used in conjunction with standard cytotoxic chemotherapy, in particular
      cisplatin, to improve basic protocol efficacy. A combination of lipoic acid and
      hydroxycitrate was administered to mice implanted with syngeneic cancer cells,
      LL/2 lung carcinoma and MBT-2 bladder carcinoma, concommitantly with classical
      chemotherapy (cisplatin or methotrexate). We demonstrate that the triple
      combination lipoic acid + hydroxycitrate + cisplatin or methotrexate is more
      efficient than cisplatin or methotrexate used individually or the combination of
      lipoic acid and hydroxycitrate administered alone. Of particular note are the
      results obtained in the treatment of an 80 year-old female who presented with
      ductal adenocarcinoma of the pancreas accompanied by liver metastases. A
      treatment course using gemcitabine plus alpha-lipoic acid and hydroxycitrate gave
      highly promising results. The in vivo data, coupled with the case study results,
      suggest a possible advantage in using a treatment targeted at cancer metabolism
      in association with classical chemotherapy.

PMID- 20931263
TI  - Cytomegalovirus retinitis after low-dose intravitreous triamcinolone acetonide in
      an immunocompetent patient: a warning for the widespread use of intravitreous
      corticosteroids.
AB  - We report the case of an immunocompetent 78-year-old woman who developed
      cytomegalovirus (CMV) retinitis after a single intravitreous injection of
      triamcinolone acetonide (IVTA). Review of medical records. The patient with
      macular edema secondary to branch retinal vein occlusion developed peripheral
      retinitis with hemorrhagic and inflammatory vascular sheathing 3 months after
      IVTA. A presumptive diagnosis of viral retinitis was confirmed by polymerase
      chain reaction (PCR) of the aqueous humor tap. The PCR test was positive for CMV
      DNA. The patient slowly responded to intravenous ganciclovir and oral
      valganciclovir. After therapeutic vitrectomy for intercurrent vitreous
      hemorrhage, and while still under treatment, the retinitis resolved completely
      with final visual acuity of 20/25. CMV retinitis can occur after local
      immunosuppression with IVTA in an immunocompetent patient with no other systemic
      risk factors.

PMID- 20931264
TI  - Automated protein resonance assignments of magic angle spinning solid-state NMR
      spectra of beta1 immunoglobulin binding domain of protein G (GB1).
AB  - Magic-angle spinning solid-state NMR (MAS SSNMR) represents a fast developing
      experimental technique with great potential to provide structural and dynamics
      information for proteins not amenable to other methods. However, few automated
      analysis tools are currently available for MAS SSNMR. We present a methodology
      for automating protein resonance assignments of MAS SSNMR spectral data and its
      application to experimental peak lists of the beta1 immunoglobulin binding domain
      of protein G (GB1) derived from a uniformly 13C- and 15N-labeled sample. This
      application to the 56 amino acid GB1 produced an overall 84.1% assignment of the
      N, CO, CA, and CB resonances with no errors using peak lists from NCACX 3D,
      CANcoCA 3D, and CANCOCX 4D experiments. This proof of concept demonstrates the
      tractability of this problem.

PMID- 20931265
TI  - Cell cycle arrest in cultured neuroblastoma cells exposed to a
      bis(thiosemicarbazonato) metal complex.
AB  - Brain tumors such as neuroblastomas and gliomas are often refractory to current
      treatments. Development of metal-based drugs may offer an alternative approach
      due to the ability to deliver radionuclides or cytotoxic metals to the tumor.
      Previous studies have shown that diacetyl-bis(N(4)-methylthiosemicarbazonato)
      copper(II) (Cu(II)(atsm)) can selectively target hypoxic tumors and this feature
      has been utilized for development of imaging and radiotherapy. However, we have
      recently shown that glyoxal-bis(N(4)-methylthiosemicarbazonato)-copper(II)
      (Cu(II)(gtsm)) can target the brain in animal models of neurodegeneration. Unlike
      Cu(II)(atsm), Cu(II)(gtsm) is able to release Cu intracellularly under normoxic
      conditions. Glyoxal-bis(thiosemicarbazones) have reported anticancer effects but
      little is known about the cellular mechanisms involved. Therefore, in this study,
      we used protein microarray analysis to investigate the effect of Cu(II)(gtsm) on
      neuroblastoma cell growth in vitro. Treatment of the human neuroblastoma cell
      line BE(2)-M17, resulted in cell cycle arrest as assessed by fluorescent
      activated cell sorting (FACS) analysis. Rapidly arrested growth was not
      associated with onset of apoptosis. Instead, protein microarray analysis revealed
      that Cu(II)(gtsm) rapidly and potently reduced cyclin D1 expression, while
      increasing Kip2 expression. Other changes observed were decreased Cdk7 expression
      and activation of CHK2. These changes may be associated with the cell cycle
      arrest. We also observed a potent decrease of total and phosphorylated insulin
      like growth factor receptor (IGF-IR) by Cu(II)(gtsm) which is associated with
      modulation of cyclin D1 expression. Our studies reveal important insights into
      the potential anticancer activity of Cu(II)(gtsm). Further studies are needed to
      examine the therapeutic potential of Cu(II)(gtsm) and other
      bis(thiosemicarbazonato) metal complexes as metallo-drugs for treatment of
      systemic or brain tumors.

PMID- 20931266
TI  - Delivery of an angiogenic gene into ischemic muscle by novel bubble liposomes
      followed by ultrasound exposure.
AB  - PURPOSE: To develop a safe and efficient gene delivery system into skeletal
      muscle using the combination of Bubble liposomes (BL) and ultrasound (US)
      exposure, and to assess the feasibility and the effectiveness of BL for
      angiogenic gene delivery in clinical use. METHODS: A solution of luciferase
      expressing plasmid DNA (pDNA) and BL was injected into the tibialis (TA) muscle,
      and US was immediately applied to the injection site. The transfection efficiency
      was estimated by a luciferase assay. The ischemic hindlimb was also treated with
      BL and US-mediated intramuscular gene transfer of bFGF-expressing plasmid DNA.
      Capillary vessels were assessed using immunostaining. The blood flow was
      determined using a laser Doppler blood flow meter. RESULTS: Highly efficient gene
      transfer could be achieved in the muscle transfected with BLs, and US mediated
      the gene transfer. Capillary vessels were enhanced in the treatment groups with
      this gene transfer method. The blood flow in the treated groups with this gene
      transfer method quickly recovered compared to other treatment groups (non
      treated, bFGF alone, or bFGF+US). CONCLUSION: The gene transfer system into
      skeletal muscle using the combination of BL and US exposure could be an effective
      means for angiogenic gene therapy in limb ischemia.

PMID- 20931267
TI  - Tissue distribution and expression of paraoxonases and chemokines in mouse: the
      ubiquitous and joint localisation suggest a systemic and coordinated role.
AB  - A vicious cycle between oxidation and inflammation leads to complications in a
      growing number of disease states. Knowledge on tissue distribution of chemokines,
      mediators of inflammatory response, and paraoxonases, with antioxidant and anti
      inflammatory actions, may be relevant. Using immunohistochemistry and
      quantitative real-time PCR we have investigated the distribution of PON1, 2 and
      3, CCL2, 7, 8 and 12 and the chemokine receptor CCR2 protein and mRNA in 23
      tissues from C57BL/6J mice. As expected, PON1, 2 and 3, CCL2, 7, 8 and 12 and
      CCR2 proteins were present in the vast majority of tissues investigated.
      Surprisingly, mRNA for these proteins was also expressed in most of these tissues
      suggesting local production and the ability to respond in situ to inflammatory
      stimuli. The wide distribution and expression of mRNA for paraoxonases and CC
      chemokines suggest a systemic, probably coordinated, role in the overall
      inflammatory response.

PMID- 20931268
TI  - Synthesis, characterization, DNA binding properties, fluorescence studies and
      toxic activity of cobalt(III) and ruthenium(II) polypyridyl complexes.
AB  - The new ligand 4-(isopropylbenzaldehyde)imidazo[4,5-f ][1,10]phenanthroline
      (ippip) and its complexes
      [Ru(phen)(2)(ippip)](2+)(1),[Co(phen)(2)(ippip)](3+)(2),[Ru(bpy)(2)(ippip)](2+)(3
      ,[Co(bpy)(2)(ippip)](3+)(4)(bpy=2,2-bipyridine) and (phen=1,10-phenanthroline)
      were synthesized and characterized by ES(+)-MS, (1)H and (13)C NMR. The DNA
      binding properties of the four complexes were investigated by different
      spectrophotometric methods and viscosity measurements. The results suggest that
      complexes bind to calf thymus DNA (CT-DNA) through intercalation. When irradiated
      at 365 nm, the complexes promote the photocleavage of pBR322 DNA, and complex 1
      cleaves DNA more effectively than 2, 3, 4 complexes under comparable experimental
      conditions. Furthermore, photocleavage studies reveal that singlet oxygen
      ((1)O(2)) plays a significant role in the photocleavage.

PMID- 20931269
TI  - Gd3+ sensitized enhanced green luminescence in Gd:Tb(Sal)3Phen complex in PVA.
AB  - Ternary and tertiary complexes of Tb(Sal)(3)Phen and Gd:Tb(Sal)(3)Phen were
      synthesized and characterized in PVA polymer. The structural properties of these
      systems were evaluated on the basis of NMR and FT-IR techniques. The absorption,
      excitation and emissive properties of the Tb(3+) ion were improved when
      coordinated with Sal and Phen ligands. Photoluminescence properties of the
      complexes in solution, crystals and dispersed in PVA film were explored in steady
      state and in time domain. Selective excitations (487, 355, 310 and 266 nm) of
      Tb(3+), Sal and Gd(3+) ions reveal an intramolecular energy transfer process. The
      emission of Gd:Tb(Sal)(3)Phen complex in PVA indicates the contribution of Gd(3+)
      ion to enhance the emission intensity of Tb(3+) ion. On the basis of these
      investigations, photophysics was widely discussed in terms of energy transfer and
      encapsulation effect.

PMID- 20931270
TI  - Divergent models of diabetes among American Indian elders.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to examine belief systems about diabetes in
      American Indian elders, and the effects of culture on care-seeking, adherence,
      and diabetes self-care. Health belief theory predicts that care-seeking and
      medical adherence are a function of culturally mediated beliefs that result in
      behaviors that effect health status. In order to elicit cultural meanings of
      diabetes, in-depth interviews were conducted with an intensity sample of 30
      American Indian diabetic elders (55+). Two models of diabetes were identified,
      divergent in terms of 1) health behaviors, and 2) cultural identification. One
      model was characterized by delayed care-seeking, and a non-valuing of adherence
      to diabetes self-care. Non-adherence to medical recommendations was perceived as
      being socially desirable, because adherence placed the elder outside their peer
      group. The second model was characterized by early care-seeking and improved
      adherence to diabetes self-care. These divergent models of diabetes, in which
      care-seeking, diabetes self-care, and adherence vary as a function of cultural
      immersion, has implications for health education and disease management and may
      contribute substantially to health disparities.

PMID- 20931271
TI  - Hypersexual disorder: just more muddled thinking.

PMID- 20931272
TI  - Successful tocilizumab treatment in a patient with adult-onset Still's disease
      complicated by chronic active hepatitis B and amyloid A amyloidosis.
AB  - We report successful tocilizumab (TCZ) use in a patient with adult-onset Still's
      disease (AOSD) complicated by chronic hepatitis B (CHB) and AA amyloidosis (AAA).
      Treatments with corticosteroid and various types of immunosuppressants were
      unsuccessful. Aggravation of CHB ensued, and entecavir was started. Normalisation
      of liver function and hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA were confirmed. TCZ was then
      started. His arthritis and AAA improved dramatically. TCZ is an excellent
      treatment for refractory AOSD and is feasible in an HBV-infected patient.

PMID- 20931273
TI  - A patient with intravascular lymphoma presenting with cerebral infarction and a
      high serum MPO-ANCA level.
AB  - A 74-year-old woman presented with multiple brain infarctions, an inflammatory
      reaction, and a high serum titer (414 U/ml) of myeloperoxidase-specific
      antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (MPO-ANCA) with no hematological
      abnormalities. After the inflammation and ANCA titers were resolved with steroid
      therapy for suspected microscopic polyangiitis, hemophagocytic syndrome
      developed. Biopsies revealed non-Hodgkin's intravascular lymphoma (IVL). The
      flare of IVL with negative serum ANCA suggested that the initial high serum MPO
      ANCA had not originated from tumor cells.

PMID- 20931274
TI  - Cytogenetic abnormalities in 1162 couples with recurrent miscarriages in southern
      region of India: report and review.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of the present study was to investigate the contribution of
      chromosomal anomalies and the frequency of a particular type of aberration in
      couples with recurrent miscarriages. METHODS: A total of 1,162 couples with
      recurrent miscarriages were analyzed using G-banding and Fluorescence in situ
      hybridization where ever necessary. RESULTS: Chromosomal anomalies were detected
      in 78 cases. This study describes majority of the cases with balanced reciprocal
      translocations. Among the abnormal karyotypes we also report for the first time
      three unique translocations involving (3;14), (18;22) and (X;22) chromosomes
      which were confirmed by molecular cytogenetic methods. CONCLUSIONS: The review of
      literature and the overall incidence of the abnormalities suggest that
      chromosomal analysis in couples with recurrent miscarriages should be taken up by
      all the practioners at all levels. This not only helps to check the cytological
      abnormalities but also helps to correlate the recurrent abnormalities in a given
      population. Thus establishing and correlating the environmental and genetic
      condition of that particular phenotype and genotype.

PMID- 20931275
TI  - The role of maternal and child ADHD symptoms in shaping interpersonal
      relationships.
AB  - The current study investigated the influence of maternal ADHD symptoms on: (a)
      mothers' own social functioning; (b) their child's social functioning; and (c)
      parent-child interactions following a lab-based playgroup involving children and
      their peers. Participants were 103 biological mothers of children ages 6-10.
      Approximately half of the children had ADHD, and the remainder were comparison
      youth. After statistical control of children's ADHD diagnostic status and
      mothers' educational attainment, mothers' own inattentive ADHD symptoms predicted
      poorer self-reported social skills. Children with ADHD were reported to have more
      social problems by parents and teachers, as well as received fewer positive
      sociometric nominations from playgroup peers relative to children without ADHD.
      After control of child ADHD status, higher maternal inattention and
      hyperactivity/impulsivity each predicted children having more parent-reported
      social problems; maternal inattention predicted children receiving more negative
      sociometric nominations from playgroup peers. There were interactions between
      maternal ADHD symptoms and children's ADHD diagnostic status in predicting some
      child behaviors and parent-child relationship measures. Specifically, maternal
      inattention was associated with decreased prosocial behavior for children without
      ADHD, but did not influence the prosocial behavior of children with ADHD.
      Maternal inattention was associated with mothers' decreased corrective feedback
      and, at a trend level, decreased irritability toward their children with ADHD,
      but there was no relationship between maternal inattention and maternal behaviors
      for children without ADHD. A similar pattern was observed for maternal
      hyperactivity/impulsivity and mothers' observed irritability towards their
      children. Treatment implications of findings are discussed.

PMID- 20931276
TI  - Ductal carcinoma in situ: trends in treatment over time in the US.
AB  - To describe therapy and changes in therapy over time for women diagnosed with
      ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) and treated in the community setting. Women aged
      20 or older diagnosed with DCIS in this study were sampled from the population
      based Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results Program. A total of 770, 1055,
      480, and 404 women with DCIS were selected in 1991, 1995, 2000, or 2005,
      respectively. Most women do not have nodal sampling, but between 2000 and 2005
      there was an increase in the use of sentinel node biopsy, 9 and 22%,
      respectively. Of the DCIS patients, 80% had no or unknown HER-2 assays, 12% were
      postitive, 7% negative, and 1% equivocal. After adjusting for tumor size, age,
      race, marital status, and insurance there has been a decrease in mastectomy since
      1991. Of women with DCIS 36% were given tamoxifen in 2000; in 2005 this decreased
      to about 21%. However, in 2005 we see the use of aromatase inhibitors in nearly
      4% of patients. HER-2 testing is increasingly performed for women with DCIS.
      Despite positive HER-2 tests no women received trastuzumab as of 2005. Despite
      the lack of clinical trials evidence, aromatase inhibitors are being prescribed
      for women with DCIS.

PMID- 20931277
TI  - Invasive ductal breast cancer associated polymyositis causing respiratory
      failure.
AB  - Polymyositis (PM) is a very rare paraneoplastic syndrome in association with
      breast cancer, here we present a breast cancer patient with a sudden onset of
      respiratory failure caused by PM. A 47-year-old woman, with a history of a lump
      in her right breast for 3 months, weakness and anorexia for about 1 month,
      suddenly presented with respiratory failure and elevated muscle enzymes. Muscle
      biopsy revealed myositis and breast biopsy was consistent with invasive ductal
      breast cancer. Decreases of muscle enzyme levels were observed after
      corticosteroid therapy and the lumpectomy, but the patient died from respiratory
      failure. A case of respiratory failure caused by breast cancer associated
      polymyositis was presented. This case server to remind that breast cancer
      patients with muscle weakness or muscle enzyme elevation may be involved with PM.

PMID- 20931278
TI  - QSAR study of C allosteric binding site of HCV NS5B polymerase inhibitors by
      support vector machine.
AB  - Multiple linear regressions (MLR) and support vector machine (SVM) were used to
      develop quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) models of novel
      Hepatitis C virus (HCV) NS5B polymerase inhibitors. Various kinds of molecular
      descriptors were calculated to represent the molecular structures of compounds,
      such as chemical, topological, geometrical, and quantum descriptors. Principal
      component analysis (PCA) was used to select the training set. A variable
      selection method utilizing a genetic algorithm (GA) was employed to select from
      the large pool of calculated descriptors, an optimal subset of descriptors which
      have significant contribution to the overall inhibitory activity. The models were
      validated using Leave-One-Out (LOO) and Leave-Group-Out (LGO) crossvalidation,
      and Y-randomization test. Results demonstrated the SVM model offers powerful
      prediction capabilities.

PMID- 20931279
TI  - Ultrasonic assisted Fischer glycosylation: generating diversity for
      glycochemistry.
AB  - In this study ultrasound has been utilised for the Fischer glycosylation using
      free sugars and sulphuric acid immobilized on silica as catalyst. N-acetyl-D
      glucosamine, N-acetyl-D-galactosamine, D-glucose, D-galactose, D-mannose, L
      fucose, and lactose were glycosylated with propargyl alcohol or 2-azidoethanol
      affording the corresponding glycosides, with the production of the alpha
      glycopyranoside as the dominant product. Remarkable acceleration of the
      glycosylation reactions (15 min-2 h compared to several hours) over reported
      procedures together with good yields were always observed.

PMID- 20931280
TI  - First computational chemistry multi-target model for anti-Alzheimer, anti
      parasitic, anti-fungi, and anti-bacterial activity of GSK-3 inhibitors in vitro,
      in vivo, and in different cellular lines.
AB  - In the work described here, we developed the first multi-target quantitative
      structure-activity relationship (QSAR) model able to predict the results of 42
      different experimental tests for GSK-3 inhibitors with heterogeneous structural
      patterns. GSK-3beta inhibitors are interesting candidates for developing anti
      Alzheimer compounds. GSK-3beta are also of interest as anti-parasitic compounds
      active against Plasmodium falciparum, Trypanosoma brucei, and Leishmania
      donovani; the causative agents for Malaria, African Trypanosomiasis and
      Leishmaniosis. The MARCH-INSIDE technique was used to quickly calculate total and
      local polarizability, n-octanol/water partition coefficients, refractivity, van
      der Waals area and electronegativity values to 4,508 active/non-active compounds
      as well as the average values of these indexes for active compounds in 42
      different biological assays. Both the individual molecular descriptors and the
      average values for each test were used as input for a linear discriminant
      analysis (LDA). We discovered a classification function which used in training
      series correctly classifies 873 out of 1,218 GSK-3 cases of inhibitors (97.4%)
      and 2,140 out of 2,163 cases of non-active compounds (86.1%) in the 42 different
      tests. In addition, the model correctly classifies 285 out of 406 GSK-3
      inhibitors (96.3%) and 710 out of 721 cases of non-active compounds (85.4%) in
      external validation series. The result is important because, for the first time,
      we can use a single equation to predict the results of heterogeneous series of
      organic compounds in 42 different experimental tests instead of developing,
      validating, and using 42 different QSAR models. Lastly, a double ordinate
      Cartesian plot of cross-validated residuals (first ordinate), standard residuals
      (second ordinate), and leverages (abscissa) defined the domain of applicability
      of the model as a squared area within +/- 2 band for residuals and a leverage
      threshold of h = 0.0044.

PMID- 20931281
TI  - Gitelman syndrome due to p.A204T mutation in CLCNKB gene.
AB  - A 45-year-old woman presented with phenotypical features suggestive of Gitelman
      syndrome (adult age at diagnosis, normal-low blood pressure, hypokalaemia,
      metabolic alkalosis, hypomagnesaemia, and hypocalciuria). Mutational analysis
      revealed no significant abnormality in SLC12A3 gene, but homozygous p.A204T
      mutation was found in the CLCNKB gene. This is a founder effect mutation
      described in Spanish patients with classic and atypical Bartter syndrome. This
      report confirms previous descriptions and expands the clinical spectrum of this
      mutation.

PMID- 20931282
TI  - The long-term outcomes and unmet needs of a cohort of former long-stay patients
      in Melbourne, Australia.
AB  - Former long-stay patients with psychotic disorders have significant unmet needs.
      This study assessed the long-term outcomes for the original cohort of 18
      residents of the Footbridge Community Care Unit (CCU), a residential psychiatric
      rehabilitation unit at St Vincent's Mental Health Melbourne. A review of case
      records and interviews were conducted for each member of the cohort 8 years after
      admission to the CCU. Members of the cohort were living in a variety of settings
      after discharge from the CCU. Despite significant gains during the period of
      residential rehabilitation in the CCU after hospital discharge, by the time of
      follow-up individuals were in general leading restricted lives characterised by a
      lack of stable residential and social supports. Most reported positively on the
      support provided in the CCU although later experiences of moving repeatedly from
      one setting to another were adverse. Five key unmet needs were identified:
      promotion of independence; stability in accommodation; stability in social
      networks; consistency of care; and addressing the theme of loss. A longitudinal
      perspective in management that focuses on stability in residential care is
      required for long-stay patients.

PMID- 20931283
TI  - Subclinical intestinal inflammation in siblings of children with Crohn's disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Intestinal permeability and altered inflammatory responses, along
      with genetic and environmental factors, likely contribute to the pathogenesis of
      Crohn's disease. AIMS: This study aimed to assess the presence and prevalence of
      subclinical intestinal inflammation among apparently healthy, first-degree
      relatives of pediatric patients with Crohn's disease, using non-invasive fecal
      markers. METHODS: Stool samples were collected from 13 patients with Crohn's
      disease, 36 siblings and 41 parents. S100A12 levels were measured using an in
      house ELISA assay and calprotectin levels were determined using the PhiCal test,
      with levels compared to normal healthy population controls. RESULTS: Fecal
      S100A12 levels in siblings (median, 14 mg/kg; 95% confidence interval [CI], 9-32
      mg/kg) and patients (71 mg/kg; CI 4-286 mg/kg) differed significantly from
      pediatric controls (1 mg/kg; CI 1-5 mg/kg; p < 0.001). In contrast, fecal
      calprotectin levels in siblings (22 mg/kg; CI 15-31 mg/kg) were lower than that
      of pediatric controls (31 mg/kg; CI 19-52 mg/kg; p = 0.03). Fecal markers were
      not elevated in parents compared to adult controls. CONCLUSIONS: This study
      provides further evidence of subclinical intestinal inflammation amongst first
      degree relatives of patients with Crohn's disease. The presence of sub-clinical
      gut inflammation may be a risk factor for the subsequent development of Crohn's
      disease.

PMID- 20931284
TI  - Altered gut flora are associated with septic complications and death in
      critically ill patients with systemic inflammatory response syndrome.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Gut under severe insult is considered to have an important role in
      promoting infection and multiple organ dysfunction syndrome from the viewpoint of
      altered intestinal epithelium, immune system and commensal bacteria. There are
      few reports, however, about the relationship between gut flora and septic
      complications. METHODS: We analyzed gut flora in patients with systemic
      inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) and evaluated key bacteria and their cutoff
      values for infectious complications and mortality by using classification and
      regression trees (CART). Eighty-one SIRS patients with a serum C-reactive protein
      level higher than 10 mg/dL treated in the intensive care unit (ICU) for more than
      2 days were included for the study. We quantitatively evaluated nine types of
      bacteria in fecal samples by plate or tube technique. Two hundred seventy-one
      samples were analyzed using CART and logistic regression. RESULTS: The dominant
      factors for complication of enteritis were the minimum number of total obligate
      anaerobes and the maximum number of Staphylococcus and Enterococcus. The dominant
      factors for complication of bacteremia were the minimum numbers of total obligate
      anaerobes and total facultative anaerobes. The dominant factors for mortality
      were the numbers of total obligate anaerobes and total facultative anaerobes and
      age. CONCLUSIONS: A decrease in total obligate anaerobes and an increase in
      pathogenic bacteria in the gut are associated with septic complications and
      mortality in patients with SIRS. The altered gut flora may be a potential
      prognostic marker in SIRS patients.

PMID- 20931285
TI  - Prevalence and impact of hepatic steatosis on the response to antiviral therapy
      in Saudi patients with genotypes 1 and 4 chronic hepatitis C.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hepatic steatosis in hepatitis C virus (HCV)-infected patients has
      been shown to enhance the progression of liver fibrosis and decrease the response
      to antiviral therapy. AIMS: We aimed to determine the role of HCV genotype 4 (HCV
      G4) in the prevalence of hepatic steatosis, its impact on antiviral therapy, and
      its associations and predictive factors in comparison to HCV-G1-infected
      patients. METHODS: Treatment-naive HCV patients who were started on pegylated
      interferon a-2b plus ribavirin therapy in two centers in Saudi Arabia were
      included. The severity of steatosis was assessed using the METAVIR and NAS (non
      alcoholic fatty liver disease [NAFLD] activity score) scoring systems. Sustained
      virological response (SVR) was studied in relation to the degree of steatosis.
      Associations between steatosis and multiple demographic, laboratory, and
      virological factors were examined. HCV-G1 and HCV-G4 patients were compared.
      RESULTS: A total of 116 patients (HCV-G4 85 [73.3%]; HCV-G1 31 [26.7%]) were
      included. The mean age was 50.4+/-10.7 years and 56.9% were males. In terms of
      steatosis grading using the NAS scoring system, 50% had steatosis grade 0, 26.7%
      grade 1, 14.7% grade 2, and 8.6% grade 3, while the overall staging of steatosis
      revealed that 43.1% had mild steatosis, 42.2% moderate, and 14.7% severe. Gamma
      glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT), platelet count, body mass index (BMI), cholesterol
      level, presence of hyperlipidemia, liver histology stage, and grade were
      significantly correlated with hepatic steatosis in one or more of the statistical
      analyses. Twenty-two out of 55 patients (40.0%) had an SVR in the mild steatosis
      group, compared to 52.7% in the moderate group and 7.3% in the severe group
      (P=0.03). The HCV genotype did not correlate with steatosis or SVR. CONCLUSION:
      Our study confirms the high prevalence of steatosis in HCV-G4 and HCV-G1
      patients, but with no difference in the grade or score of steatosis between the
      two genotypes. The grade of steatosis correlates with GGT, platelet count, and
      BMI, while the NAS score of steatosis correlates with response to antiviral
      therapy.

PMID- 20931286
TI  - Problematic situations associated with dating experiences and relationships among
      urban African American adolescents: a qualitative study.
AB  - This qualitative study focused on the identification of problem situations
      associated with adolescent dating experiences and relationships, including those
      that placed youth at risk for dating violence perpetration or victimization.
      Interviews were conducted with 44 African American middle and high school
      students in an urban school system. Qualitative analysis identified 18 individual
      themes representing six categories of problem situations: (a) approach and
      initiation; (b) conflict, conflict resolution, and break-ups; (c) communication,
      connection, and emotion; (d) aggression and victimization; (e) the role of
      others; and (f) media and technology. Identification of these problem situation
      themes has important implications for developing and evaluating prevention
      efforts designed to foster healthy adolescent dating relationships.

PMID- 20931287
TI  - Relationship of myocardial mechanics and regional volume change in patients with
      left ventricular systolic dysfunction.
AB  - The contraction and rotation of left ventricular (LV) segments in a synchronous
      fashion is vital for cardiac pump function. However, no data exist regarding the
      relationship of LV segmental mechanics and regional volume change in patients
      with LV systolic dysfunction. Thirty-two patients with EF < 50% and fifty-two
      normal subjects were enrolled. The radius strain and rotation were assessed in
      six segments at three short axis views using speckle tracking imaging. The mean
      and standard deviation (SD) of the strain peak time index (SPTI%) and the
      rotation peak time index (RPTI%) for each view were calculated as representing
      myocardial segmental synchrony. The mean and the SD of the 4-D mini-volume time
      index (VMTI, %) from 16 regions were calculated as representing regional volume
      change using real-time three-dimensional echocardiography (RT-3DE). The SD for
      each time index was averaged as the systolic dyssynchrony index (SDI) in both
      groups. The differences of the SPTI and the RPTI to the VMTI (T(sv) and T(rv))
      were calculated as dyssynchrony between myocardial segmental mechanics and
      regional volume change. The time interval of the RPTI between apical and basal
      rotation (T(abrot)) was also calculated. The relationship of T(sv), T(rv) and
      T(abrot) to LV ejection fraction (EF) was then analyzed. In patients with LV
      systolic dysfunction, both peak strain and peak rotation occurred later than the
      regional minimum volume (55.3 +/- 11.1% vs. 45.9 + 5.5%; 50.4 +/- 8.7% vs. 45.9
      +/- 5.5% (both P < 0.05) as compared with normal subjects (41.1 +/- 6.6% vs. 40.3
      +/- 3.8%; 44.1 +/- 7.5% vs. 40.3 +/- 3.8%). The SDI in each time index is also
      significantly wider than in normal subjects (P < 0.001). In addition, there was a
      negative correlation between T(sv), T(rv) and T(abrot) with EF, respectively (P <
      0.05). In patients with abnormal LV systolic function the rotation occurs
      significantly later than regional volume change as compared with normal subjects.
      There is a negative correlation between this time delay and LVEF. Thus, the
      relationship of myocardial segmental change and regional volume change could
      provide insight into intraventricular dyssynchrony in patients with LV systolic
      dysfunction.

PMID- 20931288
TI  - Impact of CT attenuation correction on the viability pattern assessed by 99mTc
      tetrofosmin SPECT/ 18F-FDG PET.
AB  - SPECT myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) is commonly used for comprehensive
      interpretation of metabolic PET FDG imaging in ischemic dysfunctional myocardium.
      We evaluated the difference in scan interpretation introduced by CT attenuation
      correction (CTAC) of SPECT MPI in patients undergoing viability characterization
      by (99m)Tc SPECT MPI/PET FDG. In 46 consecutive patients (mean age 64, range 36
      83 years) with dysfunctional myocardium, we analyzed viability from combined
      SPECT MPI and PET FDG scanning without attenuation correction (NC) and with CTAC
      for SPECT MPI. FDG uptake was classified in groups of percent uptake using the
      segment with maximum tracer in SPECT perfusion uptake as reference. Viability
      patterns were categorized as normal, mismatch, mild match and scar by relative
      comparison of SPECT and PET. Applying CTAC introduced a different reference
      segment for the normalization of PET FDG study in 57% of cases. As a result, the
      flow-metabolism pattern changed in 28% of segments, yielding a normal, mismatch,
      mild match and scar pattern in 462, 150, 123, and 47 segments with NC and 553,
      86, 108, and 35 with CTAC, respectively (P = 0.001). Thus, by introducing CTAC
      for SPECT MPI 25% of segments originally classified as scar were reclassified and
      the number of normal segments increased by 20%. Introducing CTAC decreased by 54%
      the number of patients with possible indication for revascularization, from 26/46
      to 12/46 (P < 0.001). Different interpretation of myocardial viability can be
      observed when using CTAC instead of NC SPECT MPI as reference for PET FDG scans.

PMID- 20931289
TI  - ASCI 2010 contrast media guideline for cardiac imaging: a report of the Asian
      Society of Cardiovascular Imaging cardiac computed tomography and cardiac
      magnetic resonance imaging guideline working group.
AB  - The use of contrast media for cardiac imaging becomes increasing as the
      widespread of cardiac CT and cardiac MR. A radiologist needs to carefully
      consider the indication and the injection protocol of contrast media to be used
      as well as the possibility of adverse effect. There are several guidelines for
      contrast media in western countries. However, these are focusing the adverse
      effect of contrast media. The Asian Society of Cardiovascular Imaging, the only
      society dedicated to cardiovascular imaging in Asia, formed a Working Group and
      created a guideline, which summarizes the integrated knowledge of contrast media
      for cardiac imaging. In cardiac imaging, coronary artery evaluation is feasible
      by non-contrast MR angiography, which can be an alternative examination in high
      risk patients for the use of iodine contrast media. Furthermore, the body habitus
      of Asian patients is usually smaller than that of their western counterparts.
      This necessitates modifications in the injection protocol and in the formula for
      calculation of estimated glomerular filtration rate. This guideline provided
      fundamental information for the use of contrast media for Asian patients in
      cardiac imaging.

PMID- 20931290
TI  - HLA genes in Amerindian immigrants to Madrid (Spain): epidemiology and a virtual
      transplantation waiting list: Amerindians in Madrid (Spain).
AB  - Amerindians immigrated to Madrid (Spain) region are about 10% of the present day
      population. Amerindians are believed to be the first American inhabitants, before
      Na-Dene speakers, Aleuts and Eskimo. They may initially have arrived to America
      from Siberia and also from other parts of Pacific Sea (South Asia, Polynesia and
      Australia). Nowadays, they populate America from Canada to Tierra del Fuego
      (South America tip South). Most Amerindian immigrants to Madrid have come from
      Andean Countries in the last 10 years (mainly Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru and
      Colombia). They show an HLA profile with "quasi-specific alleles", which makes
      them different to the rest of the World. In the present work, we have aimed to
      determine the immigrants HLA profile in order to establish a virtual
      transplantation waiting list which may be useful for their therapeutic
      transplants, particularly bone marrow transplantation. This would be carried out
      together with Amerindian immigrants to other parts of Spain and with their own
      countries in order to build up transplantation programs. Specific epidemiology
      programs on HLA linked disease will also be established. Immigrant volunteer
      unrelated blood donors contributed to the present study. HLA typing was performed
      by standard methods and their HLA profile obtained and obtained and compared with
      15,108 HLA chromosomes from the rest of the World, including Spaniards. The
      immigrants showed a typical Amerindian profile similar to isolated Amerindian
      ethnic groups and altogether different to other World inhabitants (including
      Spaniards). These are the first bases to set up transplantation and epidemiology
      studies in collaboration with their original population in America. Finally, the
      HLA profile found in these Amerindians does not indicate their American specific
      original area, as it is expected from previous studies, i.e.: they do not relate
      more with Andean than with other Amerindians in Neighbour Joining dendrograms or
      correspondence analyses.

PMID- 20931291
TI  - A natural process of cirrhosis resolution and deceleration of liver regeneration
      after thioacetamide withdrawal in a rat model.
AB  - Characteristics of thioacetamide (TAA)-induced liver cirrhosis in rat was
      observed for 120 days after TAA withdrawal as part of the radiobiological study
      of partial liver irradiation on TAA-induced cirrhotic rats. The natural process
      focused on cirrhosis and regeneration was recorded as a baseline condition for
      the interpretation of the outcome of the partial liver irradiation study.
      Cirrhosis in rats was successfully induced by drinking 0.03% TAA water orally for
      29 weeks with a modeling rate of 96%. After establishment of the cirrhosis model,
      the rats were observed for 120 days upon TAA withdrawal to investigate the
      dynamic changes of cirrhosis and regeneration. The following characteristics were
      observed: (1) Histological changes; (2) Liver functions; (3) Cirrhosis: trichrome
      stain, quantification of hydroxyproline in hydrolysed liver tissue and TGF-beta1;
      (4) Liver regeneration: liver index, hepatocyte mitotic index (MI), hepatocyte
      proliferation index (PI) by flow cytometry, PCNA labeling index (LI) by IHC and
      expression of PCNA mRNA; and (5) Growth factors: serum HGF, VEGF, TGF-alpha, and
      IL-6. After TAA withdrawal, gradual improvement in liver functions was noted with
      decreases of ALT, AST, and ALP, and increase of PA. The resolution of cirrhosis
      was evident by histological improvement with attenuation of collagen fiber and
      decrease of TGF-beta1 IHC index, and also decrease of trichrome stain and
      hydroxyproline content. However, cirrhosis was still existed on 120 days after
      TAA withdrawal. Significant deceleration of liver regeneration was demonstrated
      with TAA withdrawal, evidenced by decrease of MI and PI, reduced expression of
      PCNA mRNA and PCNA LI. In conclusion, upon TAA withdrawal hepatic cirrhosis was
      continuously resolved, but persisted up to 120 days, and liver regeneration was
      significantly decelerated.

PMID- 20931292
TI  - Congenital hyperinsulinism due to mutations in HNF4A and HADH.
AB  - Mutations in the HADH and HNF4A genes are rare causes of diazoxide responsive
      congenital hyperinsulinism (CHI). This chapter details the phenotype known to be
      associated with mutations in these genes. Additionally, the authors give a brief
      overview of the role of these genes in glucose physiology and the possible
      mechanisms of CHI in patients with mutations in these genes.

PMID- 20931293
TI  - On the inference of large phylogenies with long branches: how long is too long?
AB  - The accurate reconstruction of phylogenies from short molecular sequences is an
      important problem in computational biology. Recent work has highlighted deep
      connections between sequence-length requirements for high-probability phylogeny
      reconstruction and the related problem of the estimation of ancestral sequences.
      In Daskalakis et al. (in Probab. Theory Relat. Fields 2010), building on the work
      of Mossel (Trans. Am. Math. Soc. 356(6):2379-2404, 2004), a tight sequence-length
      requirement was obtained for the simple CFN model of substitution, that is, the
      case of a two-state symmetric rate matrix Q. In particular the required sequence
      length for high-probability reconstruction was shown to undergo a sharp
      transition (from O(log n) to poly(n), where n is the number of leaves) at the
      "critical" branch length g (ML)(Q) (if it exists) of the ancestral reconstruction
      problem defined roughly as follows: below g (ML)(Q) the sequence at the root can
      be accurately estimated from sequences at the leaves on deep trees, whereas above
      g (ML)(Q) information decays exponentially quickly down the tree.Here, we
      consider a more general evolutionary model, the GTR model, where the q*q rate
      matrix Q is reversible with q>=2. For this model, recent results of Roch
      (Preprint, 2009) show that the tree can be accurately reconstructed with
      sequences of length O(log (n)) when the branch lengths are below g (Lin)(Q),
      known as the Kesten-Stigum (KS) bound, up to which ancestral sequences can be
      accurately estimated using simple linear estimators. Although for the CFN model g
      (ML)(Q)=g (Lin)(Q) (in other words, linear ancestral estimators are in some sense
      best possible), it is known that for the more general GTR models one has g
      (ML)(Q)>=g (Lin)(Q) with a strict inequality in many cases. Here, we show that
      this phenomenon also holds for phylogenetic reconstruction by exhibiting a family
      of symmetric models Q and a phylogenetic reconstruction algorithm which recovers
      the tree from O(log n)-length sequences for some branch lengths in the range (g
      (Lin)(Q),g (ML)(Q)). Second, we prove that phylogenetic reconstruction under GTR
      models requires a polynomial sequence-length for branch lengths above g (ML)(Q).

PMID- 20931294
TI  - Patient navigation to increase mammography screening among inner city women.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Lower mammography screening rates among minority and low income women
      contribute to increased morbidity and mortality from breast cancer. OBJECTIVE: To
      evaluate the effect of a patient navigation intervention on adherence rates to
      biennial screening mammography among women engaged in primary care at an inner
      city academic medical center. DESIGN: Quality improvement intervention with a
      concurrent control group, conducted from February to November of 2008. STUDY
      SUBJECTS: All women in a hospital-based primary care practice aged 51-70 years.
      Subjects were randomized at the level of their primary care provider, such that
      half of the patients in the practice received the intervention, while the other
      half received usual care. INTERVENTIONS: Intervention subjects whose last
      mammogram was >18 months prior received a combination of telephone calls and
      reminder letters from patient navigators trained to identify barriers to care.
      Navigators were integrated into primary care teams and interacted directly with
      patients, providers, and radiology to coordinate care. Navigators utilized an
      electronic report to track subjects. Adherence rates to biennial mammography were
      assessed in intervention and control groups at baseline and post-intervention.
      KEY RESULTS: A total of 3,895 women were randomized to intervention (n = 1,817)
      and control (n = 2,078) groups. Mean age was 60, 71% were racial/ethnic
      minorities, 23% were non-English speaking, and 63% had public or no health
      insurance. At baseline, there was no difference in mammography adherence between
      the control and intervention groups (78%, respectively, p = 0.55). After the 9
      month intervention, mammogram adherence was higher in the intervention group
      compared with the control group (87% vs. 76%, respectively, p < 0.001). Except
      among Hispanic women who demonstrated high rates in both the intervention and
      control groups (85% and 83%, respectively), all racial/ethnic and insurance
      groups demonstrated higher adherence in the intervention group. CONCLUSIONS:
      Patient navigation improves biennial mammography rates for inner city, low
      income, minority populations.

PMID- 20931295
TI  - On the logic of restrictive recognition of peptide by the T-cell antigen
      receptor.
AB  - This essay provides an analysis of the inadequacy of the current view of
      restrictive recognition of peptide by the T-cell antigen receptor. A competing
      model is developed, and the experimental evidence for the prevailing model is
      reinterpreted in the new framework. The goal is to contrast the two models with
      respect to their consistency, coverage of the data, explanatory power, and
      predictability.

PMID- 20931297
TI  - Clozapine associated cardiomyopathy: a cluster of 3 cases.

PMID- 20931296
TI  - Inhibition of axonal transport caused by tert-butyl hydroperoxide in cultured
      mouse dorsal root ganglion neurons.
AB  - Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are capable of affecting neuronal cell function and
      structure. Here, we investigated the direct effects of hydrogen peroxide
      (H(2)O(2)), one of the ROS, on axonal transport in cultured mouse dorsal root
      ganglion neurons using video-enhanced microscopy. Treatment of neurons with the
      H(2)O(2) donor tert-butyl hydroperoxide (TBHP; 10 nM-1 mM) inhibited anterograde
      and retrograde movement of organelles in a time- and concentration-dependent
      manner. Mitochondria and lysosomes were clearly swollen by TBHP at 100 MUM and 1
      mM in association with complete and irreversible cessation of axonal transport.
      In contrast, cytoskeletal structures were apparently unchanged even at the
      highest TBHP concentration (1 mM). Lipid peroxides, detected by swallow-tailed
      perylene derivative fluorescence, were produced by TBHP in plasma membranes and
      more highly in organelle membranes. The TBHP-induced inhibition of axonal
      transport, lipid peroxide production, and organelle swelling were blocked by
      pretreatment with alpha-tocopherol (vitamin E, 1 mM). These results suggest that
      H(2)O(2) inhibited axonal transport via lipid peroxidation along with
      degenerative changes in organelles.

PMID- 20931298
TI  - Bleeding ileal varices: a rare cause of chronic anemia in liver cirrhosis.

PMID- 20931299
TI  - A double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized phase III trial of chemotherapy
      plus epigenetic therapy with hydralazine valproate for advanced cervical cancer.
      Preliminary results.
AB  - The reversing of epigenetic aberrations using the inhibitors of DNA methylation
      and histone deacetylases may have therapeutic value in cervical cancer. This is a
      randomized phase III, placebo-controlled study of hydralazine and valproate (HV)
      added to cisplatin topotecan in advanced cervical cancer. Patients received
      hydralazine at 182 mg for rapid, or 83 mg for slow acetylators, and valproate at
      30 mg/kg, beginning a week before chemotherapy and continued until disease
      progression. Response, toxicity, and PFS were evaluated, and 36 patients (17 CT +
      HV and 19 CT + PLA) were included. The median number of cycles was 6. There were
      four PRs to CT + HV and one in CT + PLA. Stable disease in five (29%) and six
      (32%) patients, respectively, whereas eight (47%) and 12 (63%) showed progression
      (P = 0.27). At a median follow-up time of 7 months (1-22), the median PFS is 6
      months for CT + PLA and 10 months for CT + HV (P = 0.0384, two tailed). Although
      preliminary, this study represents the first randomized clinical trial to
      demonstrate a significant advantage in progression-free survival for epigenetic
      therapy over one of the current standard combination chemotherapy in cervical
      cancer. Molecular correlates with response and survival from this trial are
      pending to analyze.

PMID- 20931300
TI  - Prognostic factors and outcome of resected patients with gastrointestinal stromal
      tumors of small intestine.
AB  - We document the clinical behavior of gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) of
      the small intestine and identify predictors for long-term disease-free survival
      (DFS) for small intestine GIST patients. From December 2001 to 2008, 114
      consecutive patients with mesenchymal tumors involving the small intestine were
      enrolled. There were 54 male and 60 female (50.6%) patients. After a median
      follow-up period of 36 months (ranging from 12 to 96 months), recurrence was
      noted in 19 patients (16.7%) with a median time of 20 months (ranging from 7 to
      50 months). There were 12 patients (10.5%) who died of GISTs with a median time
      from recurrence to death of 14 months (ranging from 8 to 22 months). Univariate
      analysis by log-rank test indicated that tumor size and mitotic activity were
      statistically significant for DFS (P = 0.001 and 0.036, respectively). Tumor size
      was the only significant predictive factor for DFS according to multivariate
      analysis (P = 0.006). Small tumor size, indicating low risk, predicted more
      favorable DFS of small intestine GIST patients who underwent curative resection.

PMID- 20931301
TI  - Pandemic H1N1 2009 in neonates.

PMID- 20931302
TI  - Isolated ventricular septal rupture caused by non-penetrating trauma to the
      chest.
AB  - Cardiac injury following blunt trauma is an important cause of morbidity and
      mortality and is often unsuspected. Isolated chamber rupture and valvular injury
      are infrequent but recognized consequences of non-penetrating trauma. The
      diagnosis is generally based on clinical and ECG findings and is further
      confirmed on echocardiography. This report describes imaging findings of isolated
      ventricular septal rupture as seen on MDCT.

PMID- 20931303
TI  - Hemophagocytic syndrome in a child with brucellosis.
AB  - The authors report case of a two and half years old female child presented with
      fever for one month with hepatosplenomegaly. Though the child had been
      symptomatic for a prolonged period, she did not appear very unwell at
      presentation. However, after admission there was sudden rapid deterioration of
      her clinical status. Investigations revealed hemophagocytosis with brucella
      infection.

PMID- 20931304
TI  - 1H, 15N chemical shift assignments of the imino groups in the base pairs of
      Escherichia coli tRNA(Leu) (CAG).
AB  - tRNA molecules are the adaptors in ribosome-based protein biosynthesis and are
      stabilized by Mg(2+). However, the detailed mechanism for the Mg(2+) mediated
      stability is not fully understood. To study the effects of Mg(2+) on
      conformational flexibility of Escherichia coli tRNA(Leu) (CAG) at millisecond
      timescale, we applied NMR spectroscopic approach to measure proton exchange rates
      of imino groups in the presence of different concentration of Mg(2+) and
      correlated them with the corresponding aminoacylation activity of tRNA(Leu).
      Here, we report the first part of the above mentioned study, the (1)H, (15)N
      chemical shift assignments of the imino groups in all base pairs of Escherichia
      coli tRNA(Leu) (CAG) based on 2D (1)H-(15)N TROSY, 2D NOESY and 3D NOESY-HMQC
      experiments. This work laid the foundation for the NMR study of tRNA(Leu) (BMRB
      deposits with accession number 17078).

PMID- 20931305
TI  - The potential of FDG-PET/CT for detecting prostate cancer in patients with an
      elevated serum PSA level.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of this study is to evaluate the potential and limitation of FDG
      PET/CT for detecting prostate cancer in subjects with an elevated serum prostate
      specific antigen (PSA) level. Although [18F]-2-fluoro-2-deoxyglucose positron
      emission tomography (FDG-PET) has limited value in detecting prostate cancer, the
      potential of PET/CT has not been precisely evaluated, since positron emission
      tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) provides accurate localization of
      functional findings obtained by PET. METHODS: Subjects with an increasing PSA
      level suggestive of prostate cancer were enrolled in this study. FDG-PET/CT was
      performed prior to prostate biopsy and the findings were compared with the
      pathological results. RESULTS: Fifty subjects with an elevated serum PSA level
      took part in this study. The sensitivity, specificity and positive predictive
      value (PPV) of FDG-PET/CT in the prostate were 51.9% (27/52 areas), 75.7%
      (112/148 areas) and 42.9% (27/63 areas), respectively; those in the peripheral
      zone were 73.3% (22/30 areas), 64.3% (45/70 areas) and 46.8% (22/47 areas),
      respectively; and those in the central gland were 22.7% (5/22 areas), 85.9%
      (67/78 areas) and 31.3% (5/16 areas), respectively. The estimated cut-off values
      according to the highest odds ratio (OR) were age of 70 years [OR: 7.00, 95%
      confidence interval (CI): 1.89-25.93] and a PSA value of 12.0 ng/ml (OR: 10.77,
      95% CI: 2.78-41.74). The FDG-PET/CT could potentially detect cancer with 80.0%
      sensitivity and 87.0% PPV in cases with a Gleason score of 7 or greater.
      CONCLUSION: FDG-PET/CT was appropriate for detecting peripheral zone prostate
      cancer in patients at more than an intermediate risk.

PMID- 20931306
TI  - Predictors of abnormal heart rate response to dipyridamole in patients undergoing
      myocardial perfusion SPECT.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To identify predictors of abnormal HR response to dipyridamole (DIP)
      in patients undergoing myocardial perfusion SPECT (MPS). BACKGROUND: Patients
      with a reduced heart rate (HR) response to DIP have higher cardiac mortality, but
      the mechanism is unknown. METHODS: We studied 432 patients who underwent dual
      isotope gated MPS. DIP (0.56 mg/kg) was infused over 4 min, and Tc-99m
      tetrofosmin was injected 3 min after the end of the infusion. MPS was
      semiquantitatively interpreted. Left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and
      volumes were automatically calculated. The population was categorized into
      quartiles according to HR ratio, and characteristics in each quartile were
      compared. Logistic regression analysis was performed to identify predictors of
      abnormal HR response, using the lowest quartile as the independent variable.
      RESULTS: Patients with abnormal HR response were more frequently without chest
      pain, with a history of chronic renal failure and taking digoxin. Baseline HR was
      higher and had fewer symptoms during stress. The stress and rest perfusion
      defects were greater, but reversibility was not; in addition, LVEF was lower.
      Multivariable logistic regression analysis demonstrated that the independent
      predictors of abnormal HR response were baseline HR and low LVEF. CONCLUSIONS: LV
      dysfunction is an independent predictor of abnormal HR response to DIP, and the
      association between low LVEF and low HR ratio may explain the link between
      abnormal HR ratio and increased mortality.

PMID- 20931307
TI  - Enteric micro-particles for targeted oral drug delivery.
AB  - This work is focused on production of enteric-coated micro-particles for oral
      administration, using a water-in-oil-in-water solvent evaporation technique. The
      active agent theophylline was first encapsulated in cellulose acetate phthalate
      (CAP), a pH-sensitive well-known polymer, which is insoluble in acid media but
      dissolves at neutral pH (above pH 6). In this first step, CAP was chosen with the
      aim optimizing the preparation and characterization methods. The desired release
      pattern has been obtained (low release at low pH, higher release at neutral pH)
      but in presence of a low encapsulation efficiency. Then, the CAP was replaced by
      a novel-synthesized pH-sensitive poly(methyl methacrylate-acrylic acid)
      copolymer, poly(MMA-AA). In this second step, the role of two process parameters
      was investigated, i.e., the percentage of emulsion stabilizer (polyvinyl alcohol,
      PVA) and the stirring power for the double emulsion on the encapsulation
      efficiency. The encapsulation efficiency was found to increase with PVA
      percentage and to decrease with the stirring power. By increasing the PVA content
      and by decreasing the stirring power, a high stable double emulsion was obtained,
      and this explains the increase in encapsulation efficiency found.

PMID- 20931308
TI  - Revisions of extensive acetabular defects with impaction grafting and a cement
      cup.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Loosening of acetabular components often leads to bony defects.
      Management of extensive acetabular bone loss in hip revision arthroplasty can be
      a tremendous challenge. QUESTIONS/PURPOSES: We asked whether a reconstruction
      with impacted bone grafts will provide a durable and pain-free function in
      extensive acetabular defects. We specifically determined the (1) survival rates
      with the end point of revision for any reason, aseptic revision, and radiographic
      loosening; (2) visual analog scale (VAS) pain score, Harris hip score (HHS), and
      the Oxford Hip Questionnaire score (OHQS); (3) number of repeat revisions; (4)
      complications; and (5) radiographic loosening, wear, and radiolucencies. PATIENTS
      AND METHODS: We retrospectively followed 25 patients (27 hips) with extensive
      acetabular defects. No patient was lost to followup. Two patients died during
      followup. Minimum followup was 3 years (mean, 8.8 years; range, 3-14.1 years).
      RESULTS: Three patients (three hips) underwent repeat revision surgery and
      another two patients (two hips) had radiographically loose hips. The 10-year
      survival rate was 88% (95% confidence interval, 74.2%-100%) with the end point
      acetabular revision for any reason and 95% (95% confidence interval, 86.0%-100%)
      with the end point acetabular revision for aseptic loosening. The mean HHSs were
      55 points before surgery and 72 points postoperatively. CONCLUSIONS: Acetabular
      reconstruction with impaction bone grafting and a cemented cup is a reliable
      technique with a 10-year survival rate of 88% in patients with extensive
      acetabular deficiencies. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level IV, case series. See the
      Guidelines for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.

PMID- 20931310
TI  - Remote at-home detection and monitoring of functional chronotropic incompetence
      in heart failure patients.
AB  - Chronotropic incompetence (CI) is common in heart failure (HF) patients and is
      associated with worsening outcome. Detecting and tracking functional CI during
      activities of daily living could provide insight into its contribution to HF
      symptoms and facilitate effective HF patient management. HF patients (n = 180,
      NYHA Class III/IV, ejection fraction (EF) <=40%) were enrolled in a multi-center
      prospective monitoring study and had an external multi-sensor system applied to
      the chest and replaced weekly during a 90-day study. Medical information was
      collected at baseline and study close. Heart rate, respiration, activity, and
      body fluid data from the system were transmitted at regular intervals and used
      for offline analysis. Patients were primarily male (70%), with 61 +/- 13 years
      mean age, 25 +/- 5 kg/m(2) BMI, and 28 +/- 7% EF. By correlating age-adjusted
      activity level and heart rate adaptation with a proprietary algorithm, functional
      CI was detected in 45% and ruled out in 29% of patients under conditions of daily
      living. In the remaining patients (26%), functional CI assessment was
      indeterminate due to insufficient age-adjusted activity level. Functional CI and
      No-CI groups were not significantly different in terms of baseline demographics,
      characteristics or HF outcome over the study period. beta-blocker use was 16% in
      the CI group and 82% in the no-CI group (p < 0.001), and therefore, could not
      explain the manifestation of functional CI. This proof-of-concept study suggests
      that a chronotropic response that may be functionally debilitating during
      activities of daily living in HF patients can be detected and tracked in a point
      of-care telemonitoring approach using a non-invasive, adherent device.

PMID- 20931309
TI  - Exercise interventions for cancer survivors: a meta-analysis of quality of life
      outcomes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Exercise improves quality of life (QOL) in cancer survivors, although
      characteristics of efficacious exercise interventions for this population have
      not been identified. PURPOSE: The present meta-analysis examines the efficacy of
      exercise interventions in improving QOL in cancer survivors, as well as features
      that may moderate such effects. METHOD: Studies were identified and coded, and
      QOL effect sizes were calculated and analyzed for trends. RESULTS: Overall,
      exercise interventions increased QOL, but this tendency depended to some extent
      on exercise and patient features. Although several features were associated with
      effect sizes, models revealed that interventions were particularly successful if
      they targeted more intense aerobic exercise and addressed women. These tendencies
      emerged over longer periods of time and were more prominent in studies with
      higher methodological quality. CONCLUSION: Appropriately designed exercise
      interventions enhance QOL for cancer survivors and this pattern is especially
      evident for women. Limitations are discussed.

PMID- 20931311
TI  - Review article: Renal support in critical illness.
AB  - PURPOSE: This review provides a focused and comprehensive update on established
      and emerging evidence in acute renal replacement therapy (RRT) for critically ill
      patients with acute kidney injury (AKI). PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: There have been
      considerable technological innovations in the methods and techniques for
      provision of extracorporeal RRT in critical illness. These have greatly expanded
      our capability to provide both renal and non-renal life-sustaining organ support
      for critically ill patients. Recent data suggest earlier initiation of RRT in AKI
      may confer an advantage for survival and renal recovery. Two large trials have
      recently shown no added benefit to augmented RRT dose delivery in AKI.
      Observational data have also suggested that fluid accumulation in critically ill
      patients with AKI is associated with worse clinical outcome. However, several
      fundamental clinical questions remain to be answered, including issues regarding
      the time to ideally initiate/discontinue RRT, the role of high-volume
      hemofiltration or other blood purification techniques in sepsis, and
      extracorporeal support for combined liver-kidney failure. Extracorporeal support
      with RRT in sepsis, rhabdomyolysis, and liver failure are discussed, along with
      strategies for drug dosing and management of RRT in sodium disorders.
      CONCLUSIONS: We anticipate that this field will continue to expand to promote
      research and innovation, hopefully for the benefit of sick critically ill
      patients.

PMID- 20931312
TI  - [Review article: Acute kidney injury in critical illness].
AB  - PURPOSE: This review provides a focused and comprehensive update on emerging
      evidence related to acute kidney injury (AKI). PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Acute kidney
      injury is a significant clinical problem that increasingly complicates the course
      of hospitalization and portends worse clinical outcome for sick hospitalized
      patients. The recent introduction of consensus criteria for the diagnosis of AKI
      (i.e., RIFLE/AKIN classification) have greatly improved our capacity not only to
      standardize the diagnosis and classification of severity of AKI, but also to
      facilitate conducting comparative epidemiologic studies in an effort to better
      understand the burden of adult and pediatric AKI and its syndromes (i.e., septic,
      cardio-renal, hepato-renal). The characterization of several novel AKI-specific
      biomarkers (i.e., neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin, kidney injury
      molecule-1, and interleukin-18) is extending our understanding of the
      pathophysiology of AKI. Moreover, these biomarkers appear to have clinical
      relevance for early detection and they provide prognostic value. These
      innovations are aiding in the design of epidemiologic surveys and randomized
      trials of therapeutic interventions. Strategies for prevention and conservative
      management of AKI across a range of clinical settings are discussed, including
      sepsis, hepato-renal syndrome, cardio-renal syndrome, rhabdomyolysis and in the
      perioperative setting. CONCLUSIONS: Acute kidney injury is an escalating clinical
      problem in hospitalized patients. Recent advances in AKI have improved knowledge
      of its pathogenesis, diagnosis, and prognosis; however, considerable research
      effort is needed. There are still relatively few interventions proven to alter
      the natural history of established AKI in hospitalized settings, and its
      development foretells less favourable outcomes.

PMID- 20931313
TI  - [Conjonctival human myiasis by Oestrus ovis in southern Tunisia].
AB  - Conjunctival myiasis is the most frequent expression of ocular myiasis. It
      results from infestation of the conjunctiva by the larval form of flies. We
      report 11 cases of conjunctival myiasis to encourage ophthalmologists to be aware
      of the diagnosis of external ophthalmomyiasis, its complications, and its
      treatment. Most of the cases occurred amongst males during summer and autumn.
      Symptoms are related to the foreign body with a sudden evolution. We diagnosed
      this affection by direct observation of the larva on conjunctiva. The number of
      larvae ranged from 2 to 30. The larvae were identified as first-instars of
      Oestrus ovis. The treatment was performed by removal of the larvae which resulted
      in rapid improvement. In conclusion, early diagnosis and management are important
      in preventing complications of internal ophthalmomyiasis.

PMID- 20931314
TI  - [Editorial on the main topic posterior cruciate ligament].

PMID- 20931315
TI  - [Refixation of tibial bony avulsions of the posterior cruciate ligament with a
      hook plate].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Posteromedial approach to the knee. Exact reduction and fixation of
      avulsed tibial attachment of posterior cruciate ligament with small-fragment
      plate. INDICATIONS: Avulsed tibial attachment of posterior cruciate ligament.
      CONTRAINDICATIONS: Ligamentous rupture of the posterior cruciate ligament. Local
      soft-tissue problems. SURGICAL TECHNIQUE: Posteromedial approach with
      mobilization and retraction of the medial gastrocnemius muscle. Subperiosteal
      detachment of the popliteal muscle. Identification of fracture site. Longitudinal
      incision of the posterior capsule of the knee. Debridement of the fracture site,
      reposition and stabilization with small-fragment plate. POSTOPERATIVE MANAGEMENT:
      Partial weight bearing with 15 kg for 6 weeks, limitation of knee flexion to 90
      degrees  for 6 weeks. A special joint orthesis is not necessary. The use of an
      EMT unit is recommended to prevent muscular atrophy. RESULTS: Six patients (four
      female, two male) with avulsed tibial attachment of posterior cruciate ligament
      were treated using the posteromedial approach.

PMID- 20931316
TI  - [Arthroscopic reconstruction of the anterolateral bundle of the posterior
      cruciate ligament in single-bundle technique with autologous hamstring grafts].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Restoration of the function of the posterior cruciate ligament (PCL).
      INDICATIONS: Chronic posterior instability with posterior tibial translation of
      >10 mm. CONTRAINDICATIONS: Fixed posterior drawer, local infections at the knee
      joint, local soft-tissue damage, poor compliance of the patient. SURGICAL
      TECHNIQUE: Surgery starts with arthroscopic examination of the knee joint and
      therapy of associated injuries (meniscus and cartilage injuries). Harvesting of
      the semitendinosus and gracilis tendons is performed via a 3 cm long skin
      incision 1 cm distally and medially of the tibial tuberosity. The tendons are
      folded to a four- or five-stranded graft with a minimum length of 10 cm. The
      femoral tunnel for the graft is drilled via a deep anterolateral portal under
      arthroscopic control. For drilling of the tibial tunnel, a posteromedial portal
      is needed. The tibial insertion of the PCL is debrided with a shaver and a
      specific raspatory. For tibial tunnel placement, a specific closed aimer is used
      and a Kirschner wire is placed in the center of the tibial insertion. This
      Kirschner wire is overdrilled using a cannulated drill with a diameter according
      to the graft size. After femoral fixation, the graft is tensioned in 90 degrees 
      flexion with 80 N. At the femoral and tibial side, a hybrid fixation is performed
      with a button (flipp tack) and a resorbable interference screw. If there are any
      signs of posterolateral instability, a posterolateral corner reconstruction is
      performed before tensioning and fixation of the PCL graft. POSTOPERATIVE
      MANAGEMENT: For 6 weeks, the knee is immobilized in extension with a posterior
      tibial support (PTS) brace (Medi, Bayreuth, Germany). Passive range of motion
      exercises should be performed in prone position (first 2 weeks 0-0-30 degrees ,
      3rd to 4th week 0-0-60 degrees , 5th to 6th week 0-0-90 degrees ). After the
      first 6 weeks, a movable brace is needed at daytime. At nighttime, the patient
      has to wear the PTS brace. RESULTS: Between 2003 and 2006, a PCL reconstruction
      in singlebundle technique was performed in 58 patients. In 42 cases, a
      simultaneous reconstruction of the posterolateral corner was done. The Lysholm
      Score improved from 62.2 to 88.4 points, the Tegner Activity Score from 3.3 to
      5.4 points.

PMID- 20931317
TI  - [Modified Larson technique for posterolateral corner reconstruction of the knee].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Posterolateral soft-tissue reconstruction to restore knee kinematics
      in isolated or combined posterolateral instabilities. INDICATIONS: Isolated or
      multiligament knee injuries with posterolateral insufficiency (popliteus tendon,
      lateral collateral ligament [LCL], popliteofibular ligament). CONTRAINDICATIONS:
      Arthrofibrosis. Severe varus deformity. Fixed posterior drawer. Doubts about
      compliance. SURGICAL TECHNIQUE: Graft harvest of semitendinosus tendon. In cases
      with multiligament reconstruction or associated posterior cruciate ligament (PCL)
      reconstruction contralateral graft harvest. Suture at 24 cm with baseball
      stitches using biodegradable material. Two-incision technique: one over the
      fibular head, one over the lateral epicondyle. Dissection along the biceps
      femoris to identify and free the peroneal nerve. Kirschner wire-guided creation
      of a 4.5-mm tunnel through the fibular head. Longitudinal incision of tensor
      fasciae latae and Kirschner wire drilling at the insertion of the LCL and the
      politeus tendon. Isometric testing. Overdrilling with an appropriately sized
      drill (6-7 mm, depth 40 mm). Graft passage through the fibular head and
      underneath biceps muscle and tensor fasciae latae into the femoral tunnel.
      Fixation with a biodegradable interference screw at 70 degrees  knee flexion in
      slight internal rotation. POSTOPERATIVE MANAGEMENT: Defensive rehabilitation due
      to associated PCL reconstruction using a Posterior Tibial Support (PTS) brace for
      6 weeks (day and night). PCL brace with limited range of motion for the next 6
      weeks and PTS brace at night. Rehabilitation in a prone position. RESULTS: 42
      patients (10/2003-10/2006) with posterolateral reconstruction according to
      Larson. All patients received combined PCL and posterolateral reconstruction. No
      intraoperative complications, one patient with hematoma in the popliteal fossa
      (conservative treatment), two patients with hematoma following contralateral
      graft harvest. At followup after 2.6 years, 40 patients were enrolled showing
      high improvement according to IKDC (International Knee Documentation Committee)
      and Lysholm Scores.

PMID- 20931318
TI  - [Double-bundle technique--anatomic reconstruction of the posterior cruciate
      ligament].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To improve the posterior translational stability of the knee joint by
      anatomic reconstruction of the posterior cruciate ligament in double-bundle
      technique. The functional bundles are reconstructed by native grafts from
      semitendinosus and gracilis muscles. The grafts are fixed with bioabsorbable
      screws in aperture technique. INDICATIONS: Symptomatic tears of the posterior
      cruciate ligament (classification by Harner) or chronic posterior or
      posterolateral instabilities; combined instabilities may need extended operative
      procedure. CONTRAINDICATIONS: Open growth plate. Fixed posterior drawer position.
      Nonjustifiable operative risks. Decline of the operation by the patient.
      Noncompliance. SURGICAL TECHNIQUE: Graft harvest of the semitendinosus and
      gracilis tendons via a 3-cm skin incision parallel to pes anserinus. Preparation,
      multilooping and arming of the tendons with sutures, arthroscopy, resection of
      the stump of the posterior cruciate ligament and clearing of its origin and
      insertion (using an additional posteromedial portal). Tunnel placement by means
      of aiming devices in the following order: femoral anterolateral, femoral
      posteromedial, and tibial (by accurate protection of the popliteal structures).
      Passing in the bundles, fixation in biomechanical functional positions in the
      following order: posteromedial bundle femoral (90 degrees  flexion), tibial
      (extension 0 degrees ), and anterolateral bundle femoral (90 degrees  flexion)
      with bioabsorbable interference screws. POSTOPERATIVE MANAGEMENT: 6 weeks PTS
      orthesis for 24 h/7 days with partial weight bearing (20 kg). Increased weight
      bearing from 7th postoperative week with PCL support orthesis during daytime and
      PTS orthesis during nighttime for further 6 weeks. Return to sports after 6
      months at the earliest, no contact sports and competition for at least 9 months.
      RESULTS: First studies show positive results after reconstruction of the
      posterior cruciate ligament in double-bundle technique. A comparison with the
      single-bundle technique with a sufficient number of cases has not been published
      yet.

PMID- 20931320
TI  - Percutaneous Gigli saw osteotomy.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To perform minimally invasive periosteum-preserving osteotomy using a
      Gigli saw. INDICATIONS: Lengthening and deformity correction of any long bone.
      CONTRAINDICATIONS: Local sepsis or very poor soft-tissue condition at the desired
      site of osteotomy. SURGICAL TECHNIQUE: The desired site is selected, and two 1-2
      cm long longitudinal incisions opposite to each other are made. After
      subperiosteal dissection, two curved Kocher forceps are passed. The Gigli saw is
      held with one of them and then taken out from the opposite site with the help of
      the other forceps. Osteotomy is performed with back and forth reciprocal
      movements, taking care of the soft-tissue sleeve surrounding the osteotomy site.
      RESULTS: Since 1980, the authors have performed thousands of procedures using
      this technique without facing any serious problems. Therefore, it is recommended
      as a valid alternative to other osteotomy techniques.

PMID- 20931319
TI  - [Computer-assisted surgery-(CAS-)guided correction arthrodesis of the subtalar
      joint].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Restoration of a stable and plantigrade foot in deformities at the
      hindfoot and concomitant degenerative changes at the subtalar joint. INDICATIONS:
      Deformities at the hindfoot and concomitant degenerative changes at the subtalar
      joint. CONTRAINDICATIONS: Active local infection or relevant vascular
      insufficiency. SURGICAL TECHNIQUE: Prone position and posterolateral approach to
      the subtalar joint. Placement of dynamic reference bases in talus and calcaneus
      through stab incisions. Two-dimensional image acquisition for navigation.
      Definition of the axes of talus and calcaneus, and of the extent of correction.
      Exposure of the subtalar joint and removal of remaining cartilage. Computer-
      assisted surgery-(CAS-)guided correction and transfixation of the corrected
      position with two 2.5-mm Kirschner wires. Transplantation of autologous
      cancellous and cortical bone, if necessary. Three-dimensional (3-D) image
      acquisition for analysis of the accuracy of the correction and planning of the
      drillings for the screws. CAS-guided drilling and insertion of the screws. 3-D
      image acquisition for analysis of the accuracy of the correction implant
      position. Wound closure in layers. POSTOPERATIVE MANAGEMENT: 15 kg partial weight
      bearing in an orthosis (e.g. Vacuped TM, OPED Inc., Valley, Germany) for 6 weeks,
      followed by full weight bearing in a stable standard shoe. RESULTS: From
      September 1, 2006 to August 31, 2008, 26 correction arthrodeses were performed.
      The accuracy was assessed by intraoperative 3-D imaging. All achieved
      angles/translations were within a maximum deviation of 2 degrees /2 mm when
      compared to the planned correction. Complications that were associated with CAS
      were not observed. In all 25 cases that completed 2-year follow-up, timely fusion
      was registered.

PMID- 20931321
TI  - [Minimally invasive anterolateral approach for total hip replacement (OCM
      technique)].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Hip replacement with reduction of operative trauma. Thereby earlier
      mobilization and faster rehabilitation time compared with conventional
      techniques. No restrictions with regard to exposure of femur and acetabulum.
      INDICATIONS: Primary total hip arthroplasty. With experience also applicable in
      revisions. CONTRAINDICATIONS: None. SURGICAL TECHNIQUE: Patient in lateral
      position with fixed pelvis. Leg support for the leg being operated and modified
      leg support for the contralateral side on the operating table. Special retractors
      and instruments are advisable. Skin incision over the anterior portion of the
      greater trochanter slightly curved then over the muscular interval between
      gluteus medius and tensor fasciae latae. Fascia incision. Preparation of
      anterolateral muscular interval. Exposure and incision of capsule. Leg
      positioning for neck osteotomy in external rotation and hyperextension. For
      preparation of acetabulum leg again on support. Preparation of acetabulum and cup
      implantation. For femoral preparation leg in external rotation, hyperextension,
      and adduction. Capsular release nearby greater trochanter. Capsular release and
      stem implantation. Repositioning. Capsule and wound closure. POSTOPERATIVE
      MANAGEMENT: Early mobilization. Physical therapy and lymph drainage. Loading of
      the leg according to tolerance; if patient is pain-free, full weight bearing
      allowed. Thrombosis prophylaxis for at least 3 weeks postoperatively. RESULTS:
      Currently, the experience comprises over 3,500 patients operated on using the
      minimally invasive anterolateral approach since March 2003. Restrictions
      regarding indications are not known. In experienced hands, the technique can even
      be used for revision surgery. The clinical results show significant differences
      with improved clinical results as compared to patients after standard approaches,
      especially in terms of skin-to-skin time, blood loss, use of analgesics,
      rehabilitation time, and functional outcome. The accuracy of implant placement is
      not compromised. After a fundamental learning curve, there is no evidence of
      increased complications.

PMID- 20931322
TI  - [Cup & cone reamers for arthrodesis of the first metatarsophalangeal joint].
AB  - THE PROBLEM: Individual optimized positioning of arthrodesis of the first
      metatarsophalangeal joint (fusion of MTP1 joint) as well as presumable shortage
      of the first ray using precalculated osteotomies often unpredictable. THE
      SOLUTION: Preparation of accurately fitting broad contact surfaces for MTP1 joint
      fusion with maximum flexibility of intraoperative decision-making for an
      optimized position. ADVANTAGES OF THE INSTRUMENTS: Semi-open or open systems of
      motor powered Cup & Cone reamers allow removal of remaining cartilage intended
      for MTP1 joint fusion with checkable shortage of the first ray, creation of
      exactly congruent concave-convex surfaces for an optimized position of MTP1 joint
      fusion. SURGICAL TECHNIQUE: Medial longitudinal incision for exposure of MTP1
      joint. Removal of osteoarthrophytes, cartilage, and sclerotic bone from the first
      metatarsal head and the base of proximal phalanx, using a motorized Cup & Cone
      reamer set over axially directed guide wires to cancellous bone. Provisional
      positioning of the fragments in an optimized position. Clinical and fluoroscopic
      control. Definite internal fixation using a plantar lag screw and superelastic
      bone staples or a locking-plate system. PERSONAL EXPERIENCE: Allows the surgeon
      to prepare congruent and broad metatarsal and phalangeal cancellous bone surfaces
      for an optimized position of MTP1 joint fusion. Reamer-induced thermal damage and
      osteonecrosis were not encountered.

PMID- 20931323
TI  - [The pedicled groin flap for defect closure of the hand].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Soft-tissue defect closure of the volar and dorsal aspect of the hand
      and lower arm with a maximum defect size of 10 * 25 cm. INDICATIONS: Soft-tissue
      defects of the entire palm and dorsum of the hand and lower arm with a maximum
      defect size of 10 * 25 cm. CONTRAINDICATIONS: Polytraumatized patients presenting
      with concomitant life-threatening injuries. In these cases one should perform the
      definite defect closure secondary after cardiovascular stabilization. Scars and
      vascular injury at the donor site. Lack of vascularity and necrosis of
      implantation site. Poorly vascularized recipient site (e.g. after radiation)
      Infection and necrosis at the donor and/or recipient site. Prior operations of
      the groin with impairment of the vasculature. Noncompliant patient. SURGICAL
      TECHNIQUE: Landmarks are the femoral artery, inguinal ligament, anterior superior
      iliac spine, and sartorius muscle. The superior and inferior border of the flap
      should be orientated parallel to the inguinal ligament. The longitudinal axis of
      the flap is parallel to the superficial circumflex iliac artery, which is
      partially located superior to the inguinal ligament. One third of the flap is
      located superior, and two thirds inferior, to the inguinal ligament. Flap
      dissection starts at the lateral border without including the fascia.
      Identification of the lateral border of the sartorius muscle, incision of its
      fascia and inclusion of the fascia into flap dissection in order to preserve the
      vessel. If a long flap pedicle is favored, flap dissection is continued to the
      source of the superficial circumflex iliac artery. Primary closure of the donor
      site and, finally, inset of the flap. A tubed pedicle protects the vessels and
      simplifies the ischemic preconditioning during the postoperative phase. According
      to the flap size, the donor site closure is either primary or split-thickness
      skin grafting is necessary at the lateral aspect of the donor site. The mean
      duration of the procedure is 120 min in a teaching hospital (own data).
      POSTOPERATIVE MANAGEMENT: The patient should be mobilized as early as possible.
      Dressings and flap monitoring should be performed daily. Ischemic preconditioning
      by applying a tourniquet starts after 10-14 days. The ischemic period is
      increased continuously from 3 * 5 min/d in the beginning to 3 * 1 h/d before flap
      dissection. Flap dissection of the pedicle is performed after 3 weeks. The
      residual donor site is closed, while the distal pedicle is left untrimmed and
      closed secondarily a few days later to allow for sufficient venous drainage.
      Finally, defect closure can be completed after demarcation of the pedicle.
      RESULTS: In a 3-year period, defect closure with a pedicled groin flap was
      performed in 14 patients. Indications for this procedure were the following:
      thumb reconstruction for lengthening and defect closure after amputation and burn
      injury, soft-tissue reconstruction of the dorsum of the hand after decollement
      and infection, soft-tissue reconstruction of the distal part of the lower arm,
      wrist and palm after complex and combined trauma, and plastic reconstructive
      preservation of multiple fingers with subsequent phalangealization and syndactyly
      release, respectively. In all patients, complete soft-tissue coverage and flap
      survival could be achieved. The functional and aesthetic result was satisfactory
      in all cases.

PMID- 20931325
TI  - Childhood adversity and hallucinations: a community-based study using the
      National Comorbidity Survey Replication.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Numerous studies of both clinical and large-scale population based
      samples have demonstrated that adverse childhood events are risk factors for
      subsequent psychosis. This study assessed the relationships between adverse
      childhood events and auditory and visual hallucinatory experiences. METHOD: The
      study analysed data from the National Comorbidity Survey Replication conducted in
      the US that assessed (all before age 16) rape, sexual assault and physical
      assault. Psychosis symptomatology was represented by lifetime experience of
      auditory and visual hallucinations. Control variables included gender, age,
      urbanity, ethnicity, marital status, education, employment status, alcohol
      dependence and drug dependence. RESULTS: All three adverse events were
      significantly related to both types of hallucinations. Those who had been raped
      as children were 3.3 times more likely to have experienced visual hallucinations
      and 3.5 times more likely to have experienced auditory hallucinations compared to
      those who had not been raped in childhood. Both rape and physical assault
      significantly predicted visual and auditory hallucinations. A significant dose
      response relationship was also found. CONCLUSIONS: Previous findings indicating
      that adverse events in childhood may be causally related to subsequent psychosis
      are supported. The psychological and biological mechanisms underlying the
      relationship are already the subject of investigation. Repeated recommendations
      concerning routine enquiry about adverse experiences in childhood in order to
      facilitate comprehensive formulations and appropriate treatment, also receive
      support from these findings.

PMID- 20931326
TI  - Psychopathology and subjective burden amongst primary caregivers of people with
      mental illness in South-Western Nigeria.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Most mentally ill persons reside with family members in sub-Saharan
      Africa with the primary caregiver having to cater for the patients' needs. The
      burden of this care giving may be associated with psychopathology in the carer.
      AIMS: To examine the rate and correlates of psychopathology and subjective burden
      amongst primary caregivers of people with mental illness in South-Western
      Nigeria. METHOD: Adult psychiatric outpatients (n = 338) from three centres were
      assessed for clinical and functioning status, while their adult primary
      caregivers (n = 338) were assessed for psychopathology (using the General Health
      Questionnaire-GHQ-12) and level of burden (using the Zarit's caregiver burden
      scale-ZCBS). RESULTS: The mean caregivers' GHQ-12 score was 3.11 (SD 2.57) and
      mean ZBCS score was 42.85 (SD = 19.31) with a significant correlation between the
      two (r = 0.638, P < 0.001). 118 (34.9%) caregivers had significant
      psychopathology and 205 (60.7%) had significant (moderate/severe) burden. The
      independent associate of psychopathology was poor patient functioning either
      measured objectively (OR 6.43, 95% CI 3.12-13.29) or subjectively perceived by
      the carers (OR 6.28, 95% CI 2.46-17.94). Caregivers burden was independently
      associated with patients' poor functioning (OR 5.97, 95% CI 2.56-15.45),
      caregivers' being employed (OR 5.40, 95% CI 3.02-9.64) and being male (OR 2.62,
      95% CI 1.50-4.59). CONCLUSION: With the high level of psychopathology and burden
      amongst caregivers in this region, clinicians should be sensitive and review them
      periodically and to pick up signs of psychopathology which may necessitate
      attention. Caregivers should be encouraged to meet regularly to share their
      experiences and ventilate their emotions.

PMID- 20931327
TI  - Environmental factors associated with adolescent antisocial behavior in a poor
      urban community in Brazil.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Investigating risk factors for anti-social behavior (ASB) is
      particularly relevant in a poor urban and violent community of a developing
      country where homicide is the primary cause of death among 15-24-year olds.
      OBJECTIVES: To identify individual and environmental factors associated with ASB
      in adolescents from an urban poor community in the outskirts of Sao Paulo City,
      Brazil. METHOD: This cross-sectional study was based on a probabilistic sample of
      clusters that included all eligible households (women aged 15-49 years with a son
      or daughter <18 years of age). One mother-child pair was randomly selected per
      household (n = 813; response rate: 82.4%). This study is focused on the age group
      11-17 years (n = 248). ASB was identified by externalizing scores in the clinical
      range on the Child Behavior Checklist and/or the Youth Self Report. Potential
      correlates included individual, maternal, paternal, and familial characteristics.
      Backward logistic regression analysis identified independent correlates and
      significant interactions. FINDINGS: Youths with high ASB scores were more likely
      to be victims of severe physical punishment and have an absent father/substitute.
      Maternal anxiety/depression was a risk factor only among older adolescents (15-17
      years), while the presence of internalizing problems was a risk factor only among
      younger adolescents (11-14 years). Having a non-working mother increased the risk
      for ASB only among low-income adolescents. CONCLUSION: The recognition that
      certain environmental factors may have harmful effects on adolescents' mental
      health, and the identification of more vulnerable groups can contribute to the
      development of effective strategies for prevention and treatment of ASB.

PMID- 20931328
TI  - Disruption of opioid-induced placebo responses by activation of cholecystokinin
      type-2 receptors.
AB  - RATIONALE: Placebos are known to induce analgesia through the activation of MU
      opioid receptors in some circumstances, such as after morphine pre-conditioning,
      an effect that is blocked by opioid antagonists. OBJECTIVES: On the basis of the
      anti-opioid action of cholecystokinin, here we tested whether the activation of
      the cholecystokinin type-2 receptors abolishes opioid-induced placebo responses.
      METHODS: The activation of the cholecystokinin type-2 receptors was performed by
      means of the agonist pentagastrin, and placebo responses were obtained after
      morphine pre-conditioning in an experimental human model of pain (tourniquet
      technique). RESULTS: Opioid-induced placebo responses were completely disrupted
      by pentagastrin administration. In addition, a high correlation between the
      response to morphine and the response to placebo was found, and this correlation
      was completely abolished by pentagastrin. CONCLUSION: These results show that the
      cholecystokinin-2 receptor agonist, pentagastrin, has the same effect as the MU
      opioid receptor antagonist, naloxone, on placebo analgesia induced by morphine
      pre-conditioning, which suggests that the balance between cholecystokinergic and
      opioidergic systems is crucial in placebo responsiveness in pain. These findings
      also suggest that cholecystokinin type-2 receptor hyperactivity might be present
      in placebo non-responders.

PMID- 20931329
TI  - The CYP2C8 inhibitor gemfibrozil does not affect the pharmacokinetics of
      zafirlukast.
AB  - PURPOSE: Gemfibrozil, a strong inhibitor of cytochrome P450 (CYP) 2C8 in vivo,
      was recently found to markedly increase the plasma concentrations of montelukast
      in humans. Like montelukast, zafirlukast is a substrate of CYP2C9 and CYP3A4 and
      a potent inhibitor of CYP2C8 in vitro. To investigate the contribution of CYP2C8
      to the metabolism of zafirlukast in vivo, we studied the effect of gemfibrozil on
      the pharmacokinetics of zafirlukast. METHODS: Ten healthy subjects in a
      randomized cross-over study took gemfibrozil 600 mg or placebo twice daily for 5
      days, and on day 3, a single oral dose of 20 mg zafirlukast. The plasma
      concentrations of zafirlukast were measured for 72 h postdose. RESULTS: The mean
      total area under the plasma concentration-time curve of zafirlukast during the
      gemfibrozil phase was 102% (geometric mean ratio; 95% confidence interval 89
      116%) of that during the placebo phase. Furthermore, there were no statistically
      significant differences in the peak plasma concentration, time of peak
      concentration, or elimination half-life of zafirlukast between the phases.
      CONCLUSIONS: Gemfibrozil has no effect on the pharmacokinetics of zafirlukast,
      indicating that CYP2C8 does not play a significant role in the elimination of
      zafirlukast.

PMID- 20931331
TI  - Vigabatrin-associated diffusion MRI abnormalities in tuberous sclerosis.

PMID- 20931330
TI  - Do CYP3A and ABCB1 genotypes influence the plasma concentration and clinical
      outcome of donepezil treatment?
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of our study was to evaluate the impact of CYP3A4, CYP3A5, and
      ABCB1 polymorphisms on donepezil disposition and clinical outcome. METHODS: Fifty
      four Italian patients diagnosed with probable mild to moderate Alzheimer's
      disease, treated with donepezil (37 patients 5 mg/day, 17 patients 10 mg/day)
      were genotyped for CYP3A4 (*1B, *3, and *4), CYP3A5 (*2, *3, and *6) and ABCB1
      (3435C>T, 2677G>T/A, and 1236C>T) polymorphisms. All patients were evaluated for
      the degree of cognitive impairment with Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE)
      screening test at baseline (before treatment) and after at least 3 months of
      donepezil treatment at stable dose, when the drug plasma levels were measured.
      RESULTS: Three patients carried one detrimental CYP3A4 allelic variant, and 12
      carried one functional CYP3A5*1 allele. No statistically significant association
      was found between CYP3A4 or CYP3A5 genotypes and plasma donepezil concentrations,
      or between genotypes and clinical response (as measured by change in MMSE score).
      Nine ABCB1 haplotypes were observed, the most common being 1236C/2677G/3435C
      (46%) and 1236T/2677T/3435T (41%). Patients homozygous for the T/T/T haplotype
      had slightly though not significantly lower plasma donepezil concentration-to
      dose ratios than those carrying other genotypes [median (95% CI) 0.18 (0.13-0.45)
      vs. 0.31 (0.30-0.44) mg/l/mg/kg, respectively]. These patients also showed a
      slightly better clinical response (as measured by change in MMSE score) than the
      other genotype groups [median (95% CI) 0 (-1.3 to 3.3) vs. -1.0 (-2.1 to 0.0),
      respectively]. CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that the CYP3A4 and CYP3A5
      polymorphisms are unlikely to influence donepezil metabolism and/or clinical
      outcome. On the other hand, the ABCB1 polymorphisms may play a role in donepezil
      disposition and clinical outcome.

PMID- 20931332
TI  - Computed tomographic features of two cases of acute gastric anisakiasis.
AB  - Little is known about the detailed computed tomography (CT) features of acute
      gastric anisakiasis. Our two cases showed transiently swollen gastric folds
      comprised of the remarkably thickened contrast little-enhanced submucosal layer
      with little-thickened contrast-enhanced mucosal and muscular-serosal layers on
      multi-detector row CT. When CT demonstrates the swollen gastric folds in acute
      abdomen, acute gastric anisakiasis should be included in the differential
      diagnosis.

PMID- 20931334
TI  - MIRO1 influences the morphology and intracellular distribution of mitochondria
      during embryonic cell division in Arabidopsis.
AB  - Regulating the morphology and intracellular distribution of mitochondria is
      essential for embryo development in animals. However, the importance of such
      regulation is not clearly defined in plants. The evolutionarily conserved Miro
      proteins are known to be involved in the regulation of mitochondrial morphology
      and motility. We previously demonstrated that MIRO1, an Arabidopsis thaliana
      orthologue of the Miro protein, is required for embryogenesis. An insertional
      mutation in the MIRO1 gene causes arrest of embryonic cell division, leading to
      abortion of the embryo at an early stage. Here we investigated the role of MIRO1
      in the regulation of mitochondrial behaviour in egg cells and early-stage embryos
      using GFP-labeled mitochondria. Two-photon laser scanning microscopy revealed
      that, in miro1 mutant egg cells, mitochondria are abnormally enlarged, although
      egg cell formation is nearly unaffected. After fertilization and subsequent
      zygotic cell division, the homozygous miro1 mutant two-celled embryo contained a
      significantly reduced number of mitochondria in its apical cell compared with the
      wild type, suggesting that the miro1 mutation inhibits proper intracellular
      distribution of mitochondria, leading to an arrest of embryonic cell division.
      Our findings suggest that proper mitochondrial morphology and intracellular
      distribution are maintained by MIRO1 and are vital for embryonic cell division.

PMID- 20931335
TI  - Interval-counting neurons in the anuran auditory midbrain: factors underlying
      diversity of interval tuning.
AB  - In anurans, the temporal patterning of sound pulses is the primary information
      used for differentiating between spectrally similar calls. One class of midbrain
      neurons, referred to as 'interval-counting' cells, appears to be particularly
      important for discriminating among calls that differ in pulse repetition rate
      (PRR). These cells only respond after several pulses are presented with
      appropriate interpulse intervals. Here we show that the range of selectivity and
      sharpness of interval tuning vary considerably across neurons. Whole-cell
      recordings revealed that neurons showing temporally summating excitatory
      postsynaptic potentials (EPSPs) with little or no inhibition or activity
      dependent enhancement of excitation exhibited low-pass or band-pass tuning to
      slow PRRs. Neurons that showed inhibition and rate-dependent enhancement of
      excitation, however, were band-pass or high-pass to intermediate or fast PRRs.
      Surprisingly, across cells, interval tuning based on membrane depolarization and
      spike rate measures were not significantly correlated. Neurons that lacked
      inhibition showed the greatest disparities between these two measures of interval
      tuning. Cells that showed broad membrane potential-based tuning, for example,
      varied considerably in their spike rate-based tuning; narrow spike rate-based
      tuning resulted from 'thresholding' processes, whereby only the largest
      depolarizations triggered spikes. The potential constraints associated with
      generating interval tuning in this manner are discussed.

PMID- 20931336
TI  - Multi-model inference of adult and childhood leukaemia excess relative risks
      based on the Japanese A-bomb survivors mortality data (1950-2000).
AB  - Some relatively new issues that augment the usual practice of ignoring model
      uncertainty, when making inference about parameters of a specific model, are
      brought to the attention of the radiation protection community here. Nine
      recently published leukaemia risk models, developed with the Japanese A-bomb
      epidemiological mortality data, have been included in a model-averaging procedure
      so that the main conclusions do not depend on just one type of model or
      statistical test. The models have been centred here at various adult and young
      ages at exposure, for some short times since exposure, in order to obtain
      specially computed childhood Excess Relative Risks (ERR) with uncertainties that
      account for correlations in the fitted parameters associated with the ERR dose
      response. The model-averaged ERR at 1 Sv was not found to be statistically
      significant for attained ages of 7 and 12 years but was statistically significant
      for attained ages of 17, 22 and 55 years. Consequently, such risks when applied
      to other situations, such as children in the vicinity of nuclear installations or
      in estimates of the proportion of childhood leukaemia incidence attributable to
      background radiation (i.e. low doses for young ages and short times since
      exposure), are only of very limited value, with uncertainty ranges that include
      zero risk. For example, assuming a total radiation dose to a 5-year-old child of
      10 mSv and applying the model-averaged risk at 10 mSv for a 7-year-old exposed at
      2 years of age would result in an ERR=0.33, 95% CI: -0.51 to 1.22. One model
      (United Nations scientific committee on the effects of atomic radiation report.
      Volume 1. Annex A: epidemiological studies of radiation and cancer, United
      Nations, New York, 2006) weighted model-averaged risks of leukaemia most strongly
      by half of the total unity weighting and is recommended for application in future
      leukaemia risk assessments that continue to ignore model uncertainty. However, on
      the basis of the analysis presented here, it is generally recommended to take
      model uncertainty into account in future risk analyses.

PMID- 20931337
TI  - Whole-body to tissue concentration ratios for use in biota dose assessments for
      animals.
AB  - Environmental monitoring programs often measure contaminant concentrations in
      animal tissues consumed by humans (e.g., muscle). By comparison, demonstration of
      the protection of biota from the potential effects of radionuclides involves a
      comparison of whole-body doses to radiological dose benchmarks. Consequently,
      methods for deriving whole-body concentration ratios based on tissue-specific
      data are required to make best use of the available information. This paper
      provides a series of look-up tables with whole-body:tissue-specific concentration
      ratios for non-human biota. Focus was placed on relatively broad animal
      categories (including molluscs, crustaceans, freshwater fishes, marine fishes,
      amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals) and commonly measured tissues
      (specifically, bone, muscle, liver and kidney). Depending upon organism, whole
      body to tissue concentration ratios were derived for between 12 and 47 elements.
      The whole-body to tissue concentration ratios can be used to estimate whole-body
      concentrations from tissue-specific measurements. However, we recommend that any
      given whole-body to tissue concentration ratio should not be used if the value
      falls between 0.75 and 1.5. Instead, a value of one should be assumed.

PMID- 20931338
TI  - Extra cellular matrix remodelling after heterotopic rat heart transplantation:
      gene expression profiling and involvement of ED-A+ fibronectin, alpha-smooth
      muscle actin and B+ tenascin-C in chronic cardiac allograft rejection.
AB  - Chronic cardiac rejection is represented by cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV)
      and cardiac interstitial fibrosis (CIF) known to cause severe complications.
      These processes are accompanied by remarkable changes in the cardiac extra
      cellular matrix (cECM). The aim of our study was to analyse the cECM remodelling
      in chronic rejection and to elucidate a potential role of ED-A domain containing
      fibronectin (ED-A(+) Fn), alpha smooth muscle actin (ASMA) and B domain
      containing tenascin-C (B(+) Tn-C). A model of chronic rejection after heterotopic
      rat heart transplantation was used. Allografts, recipient and control hearts were
      subjected to histological assessment of rejection grade, to real-time PCR based
      analysis of 84 genes of ECM and adhesion molecules and to immunofluorescence
      labelling procedures, including ED-A(+) Fn, ASMA and B(+) Tn-C antibodies.
      Histological analysis revealed different grades of chronic rejection. By gene
      expression analysis, a relevant up-regulation of the majority of ECM genes in
      association with chronic rejection could be shown. For 8 genes, there was a
      relevant up-regulation in allografts as well as in the corresponding recipient
      hearts. Association of ASMA positive cells with the grade of chronic rejection
      could be proven. In CAV and also in CIF there were extensive co-depositions of ED
      A(+) Fn, ASMA and B(+) Tn-C. In conclusion, chronic cardiac allograft rejection
      is associated with a cECM remodelling. ASMA protein deposition in CAV, and CIF is
      a valuable marker to detect chronic rejection. Interactions of VSMCs and Fibro
      /Myofibroblasts with ED-A(+) Fn and B(+) Tn-C might functionally contribute to
      the development of chronic cardiac rejection.

PMID- 20931339
TI  - Autophagy in myocardium of murine hearts subjected to ischemia followed by
      reperfusion.
AB  - Autophagy in myocardium has been thought to be cardioprotective, but its extent
      after transient or prolonged myocardial ischemia remains unclear. Accordingly, we
      characterized its magnitude in myocardium of murine hearts subjected to ischemia
      with or without reperfusion. Ten-week-old transgenic GFP-LC3 mice and C57Bl6 mice
      were subjected to coronary ligation for 1 or 4 h followed by 24 h of reperfusion
      (1HTL, 4HTL) or to 24 h of persistent ligation (24HPL). Their hearts were
      analyzed by fluorescence microscopy, electron microscopy, and by Western
      blotting. Fluorescent GFP-LC3 dots indicative of autophagy were absent in infarct
      zones and reduced markedly in the peri-infarct zones compared with dots in sham
      controls (p <= 0.05). The LC3-II/LC3-I ratio indicative of autophagy did not
      increase in LV homogenates from hearts following ischemia. Phosphorylation of
      ribosomal protein S6 increased in LV homogenates in hearts from mice subjected to
      4HTL and 24HPL (p <= 0.05). Virtually no autophagic cells recognizable by
      electron microscopy were evident in infarct or peri-infarct zones. Autophagy is
      virtually absent within 24 h in the center of zones of infarction and is
      decreased significantly in the peri-infarct zones compared with that in normal
      hearts.

PMID- 20931340
TI  - Characterisation of the epitope for a herpes simplex virus glycoprotein B
      specific monoclonal antibody with high protective capacity.
AB  - Monoclonal antibody (MAb) 2c, specific for glycoprotein B of herpes simplex virus
      (HSV), had been shown to mediate clearance of infection from the mucous membranes
      of mice, thereby completely inhibiting mucocutaneous inflammation and lethality,
      even in mice depleted of both CD4(+) and CD8(+) cells. Additionally, ganglionic
      infection was highly restricted. In vitro, MAb 2c exhibits a potent complement
      independent neutralising activity against HSV type 1 and 2, completely inhibits
      the viral cell-to-cell spread as well as the syncytium formation induced by
      syncytial HSV strains (Eis-Hubinger et al. in Intervirology 32:351-360, 1991; Eis
      Hubinger et al. in J Gen Virol 74:379-385, 1993). Here, we describe the mapping
      of the epitope for MAb 2c. The antibody was found to recognise a discontinuous
      epitope comprised of the HSV type 1 glycoprotein B residues 299 to 305 and one or
      more additional discontinuous regions that can be mimicked by the sequence FEDF.
      Identification of the epitope was confirmed by loss of antibody binding to
      mutated glycoprotein B with replacement of the epitopic key residues, expressed
      in COS-1 cells. Similarly, MAb 2c was not able to neutralise HSV mutants with
      altered key residues, and MAb 2c was ineffective in mice inoculated with such
      mutants. Interestingly, identification and fine-mapping of the discontinuous
      epitope was not achieved by binding studies with truncated glycoprotein B
      variants expressed in COS cells but by peptide scanning with synthetic
      overlapping peptides and peptide key motif analysis. Reactivity of MAb 2c was
      immensely increased towards a peptide composed of the glycoprotein B residues 299
      to 305, a glycine linker, and a C-terminal FEDF motif. If it could be
      demonstrated that antibodies of the specificity and bioactivity of MAb 2c can be
      induced by the epitope or a peptide mimicking the epitope, strategies for active
      immunisation might be conceivable.

PMID- 20931341
TI  - Effects of TGF-beta1 on the proliferation and differentiation of human
      periodontal ligament cells and a human periodontal ligament stem/progenitor cell
      line.
AB  - Periodontal ligament (PDL) is a specialized connective tissue that influences the
      lifespan of the tooth. Transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1) is a
      multifunctional cytokine, but little is known about the effects of TGF-beta1 on
      PDL cells. Our aim has been to demonstrate the expression of TGF-beta1 in rat PDL
      tissues and to evaluate its effects on the proliferation and gene expression in
      human PDL cells (HPLCs) and a human PDL stem/progenitor cell line, line 1-11,
      that we have recently developed. The expression of TGF-beta1 in the entire PDL
      tissue was confirmed immunohistochemically, and both HPLCs and cell line 1-11
      expressed mRNA from the TGF-beta1, TGF-beta type I receptor, and TGF-beta type II
      receptor genes. Although exogenous TGF-beta1 stimulated the proliferation of
      HPLCs, it did not upregulate the expression of alpha-smooth muscle actin (alpha
      SMA), type I collagen (Col I), or fibrillin-1 (FBN1) mRNA or of alpha-SMA protein
      in HPLCs, whereas expression for these genes was attenuated by an anti-TGF-beta1
      neutralizing antibody. In contrast, exogenous TGF-beta1 reduced the proliferation
      of cell line 1-11, although it upregulated the expression of alpha-SMA, Col I,
      and FBN1 mRNA and of alpha-SMA protein in this cell line. In addition,
      interleukin-1 beta stimulation significantly reduced the expression of TGF-beta1
      mRNA and protein in HPLCs. Thus, TGF-beta1 seems to play an important role in
      inducing fibroblastic differentiation of PDL stem/progenitor cells and in
      maintaining the PDL apparatus under physiological conditions.

PMID- 20931342
TI  - Clinical significance of bile cytology via an endoscopic nasobiliary drainage
      tube for pathological diagnosis of malignant biliary strictures.
AB  - BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: In patients in whom there is a suspicion of malignant biliary
      strictures, bile cytology via an endoscopic nasobiliary drainage tube (ENBD
      cytology) is often performed, in addition to aspirated bile cytology, brush
      cytology, and forceps biopsy, during the initial endoscopic retrograde
      cholangiopancreatography (ERCP). We aimed to reveal the significance of ENBD
      cytology for the pathological diagnosis of malignant biliary strictures. METHODS:
      We studied 214 patients with malignant biliary strictures. We performed aspirated
      bile cytology, brush cytology, and forceps biopsy in 93, 130, and 114 patients,
      respectively. ENBD cytology was performed one or more times in 79 patients. We
      examined the sensitivity of each sampling method, and analyzed the utility of
      ENBD cytology. RESULTS: The sensitivities of each sample acquisition method were
      as follows: 30% (28/93) for aspirated bile cytology, 48% (62/130) for brush
      cytology, 41% (47/114) for forceps biopsy, and 24% (19/79) for ENBD cytology. In
      19 patients who showed positive ENBD cytology, other methods were performed in
      11. Aspirated bile cytology, brush cytology, and forceps biopsy, were performed
      in 7, 5, and 6 patients, and the results were negative in 3 (43%), 2 (40%), and 1
      (17%) patient, respectively. Three patients showed positive results only on ENBD
      cytology. CONCLUSIONS: Although the sensitivity of ENBD cytology was inferior to
      that of the other methods used, ENBD cytology may contribute to the improvement
      of the total diagnostic sensitivity for malignancy.

PMID- 20931344
TI  - Reduced expression of intestinal N-acetylglutamate synthase in suckling piglets:
      a novel molecular mechanism for arginine as a nutritionally essential amino acid
      for neonates.
AB  - The objective of this study was to determine developmental changes in mRNA and
      protein levels for N-acetylglutamate synthase (NAGS; a key enzyme in synthesis of
      citrulline and arginine from glutamine/glutamate and proline) in the small
      intestine of suckling piglets. The porcine NAGS gene was cloned using the real
      time polymerase-chain reaction (RT-PCR) method. The porcine NAGS gene encoded 368
      amino acid residues and had a high degree of sequence similarity to the
      "conserved domain" of human and mouse NAGS genes. The porcine NAGS gene was
      expressed in E. coli BL21 and a polyclonal antibody against the porcine NAGS
      protein was developed. Real-time RT-PCR and western-blot analyses were performed
      to quantify NAGS mRNA and protein, respectively, in the jejunum and ileum of 1-
      to 28-day-old pigs. Results indicated that intestinal NAGS mRNA levels were lower
      in 7- to 28-day-old than in 1-day-old pigs. Immunochemical analysis revealed that
      NAGS protein was localized in enterocytes of the gut. Notably, intestinal NAGS
      protein abundance declined progressively during the 28-day suckling period. The
      postnatal decrease in NAGS protein levels was consistent with the previous report
      of reduced NAGS enzymatic activity as well as reduced synthesis of citrulline and
      arginine in the small intestine of 7- to 28-day-old pigs. Collectively, these
      results suggest that intestinal NAGS expression is regulated primarily at the
      post-transcriptional level. The findings also provide a new molecular basis to
      explain that endogenous synthesis of arginine is impaired in sow-reared piglets
      and arginine is a nutritionally essential amino acid for the neonates.

PMID- 20931343
TI  - Superoxide dismutase type 1 in monocytes of chronic kidney disease patients.
AB  - We analyzed proteomic profiles in monocytes of chronic kidney disease (CKD)
      patients and healthy control subjects. Two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) and
      silver staining indicated differences in protein pattern. Among the analyzed
      proteins, superoxide dismutase type 1 (SOD1), which was identified both by MS/MS
      mass-spectrometry and immunoblotting, was reduced in kidney disease. We
      characterized SOD1 protein amount, using quantitative in-cell Western assay and
      immunostaining of 2-DE gel blots, and SOD1 gene expression, using quantitative
      real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR), in 98 chronic hemodialysis (HD) and
      211 CKD patients, and 34 control subjects. Furthermore, we showed that different
      SOD1 protein species exist in human monocytes. SOD1 protein amount was
      significantly lower in HD (normalized SOD1 protein, 27.2 +/- 2.8) compared to CKD
      patients (34.3 +/- 2.8), or control subjects (48.0 +/- 8.6; mean +/- SEM; P <
      0.05). Analysis of SOD1 immunostaining showed significantly more SOD1 protein in
      control subjects compared to patients with CKD or HD (P < 0.0001, analysis of
      main immunoreactive protein spot). SOD1 gene expression was significantly higher
      in HD (normalized SOD1 gene expression, 17.8 +/- 2.3) compared to CKD patients
      (9.0 +/- 0.7), or control subjects (5.5 +/- 1.0; P < 0.0001). An increased SOD1
      gene expression may indicate increased protein degradation in patients with CKD
      and compensatory increase of SOD1 gene expression. Taken together, we show
      reduced SOD1 protein amount in monocytes of CKD, most pronounced in HD patients,
      accompanied by increased SOD1 gene expression.

PMID- 20931345
TI  - Liver autoantibodies in patients with scleroderma.
AB  - Association between autoimmune liver diseases and scleroderma has been described.
      The purpose of this study was to study the prevalence of antimithocondrial
      antibody (AMA), antismooth muscle antibodies (SMA), and liver-kidney-microsomal
      (LKM-1) autoantibody in a cohort of 63 scleroderma patients and 100 healthy
      controls. The autoantibodies AMA, SMA, and LKM were determined by indirect
      immunofluorescence. Patients' charts were reviewed for demographic data,
      scleroderma form, and clinical and anti-nuclear antibody profile, aiming a
      comparison between patients with and without liver autoantibodies. Nine patients
      (14.3%) were positive for at least one of the liver autoantibodies; only one
      patient had both AMA and SMA positive. Antibody SMA was positive in 6.4% (4/63)
      patients; AMA was present in 9.52% (6/63) of them; none were positive to LKM-1.
      In the control group just one patient (1%) was SMA positive; the other
      autoantibodies were negative. There is an increased prevalence of liver
      autoantibodies in patients with scleroderma than in control population. These
      patients should be carefully followed for liver dysfunction.

PMID- 20931346
TI  - The effects of strength and endurance training in patients with rheumatoid
      arthritis.
AB  - Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) suffer from muscle loss, causing reduced
      muscle strength and endurance. The current study aimed to: (1) evaluate the
      effects of combined strength and endurance training (CT) on disease activity and
      functional ability in patients with RA and (2) investigate the benefits of a 6
      month supervised CT program on muscle strength, cardio-respiratory fitness, and
      body composition of RA patients. Forty patients with RA, aged 41-73 years, were
      recruited for the current study. Twenty of these patients (19 females, one male)
      were randomly assigned to a 6-month supervised CT program; 20 patients (17
      females, three males) served as controls. Within the CT program, strength
      training consisted of sets of weight bearing exercises for all major muscle
      groups. In addition to strength training, systematic endurance training was
      performed on a cycle ergometer two times per week. For RA patients involved in
      CT, disease activity (p = 0.06) and pain (p = 0.05) were reduced after the 6
      month training period while general health (p = 0.04) and functional ability (p =
      0.06) improved. Cardio-respiratory endurance was found to have improved
      significantly (by 10%) after 6 months of CT (p < 0.001). The overall strength of
      patients undertaking CT increased by an average of 14%. Lean body mass increased,
      and the percentage of body fat was found to decrease significantly (p < 0.05). A
      combination of strength and endurance training resulted in considerable
      improvements in RA patients' muscle strength and cardio-respiratory endurance,
      accompanied by positive changes in body composition and functional ability. Long
      term training appears to be effective in reducing disease activity and associated
      pain and was found to have no deleterious effects.

PMID- 20931347
TI  - Neurogenic inflammation: a study of rat trigeminal ganglion.
AB  - Calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) is linked to neurogenic inflammation and
      to migraine. Activation of the trigeminovascular system plays a prominent role
      during migraine attacks with the release of CGRP. The trigeminal ganglion (TG)
      contains three main cell types: neurons, satellite glial cells (SGC) and Schwann
      cells; the first two have before been studied in vitro separately. Culture of rat
      TG provides a method to induce inflammation and the possibility to evaluate the
      different cell types in the TG simultaneously. We investigated expression levels
      of various inflammatory cytokines on mRNA level using RT-PCR arrays and qRT-PCR;
      furthermore expression at protein level was studied using immunohistochemistry.
      We report that (1) organ culture of the TG is possible with preserved morphology,
      (2) organ culture is associated with enhanced expression of cytokines and mitogen
      activated protein kinases (MAPKs) primarily in neurons, (3) CGRP can induce
      expression of some cytokines and (4) cytokine expression is still upregulated
      following MAPK pathway inhibition by MEK inhibitor U0126 and pp38 inhibitor
      SB202192, but the cytokine expression is abolished when co-incubating with the
      JNK inhibitor SP600125. This method may be of value to examine local TG
      inflammation, putatively involved in the pathophysiology of some forms of primary
      headaches.

PMID- 20931349
TI  - Marginal Structural Models: unbiased estimation for longitudinal studies.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: In this article, we introduce Marginal Structural Models, which
      yield unbiased estimates of causal effects of exposures in the presence of time
      varying confounding variables that also act as mediators. OBJECTIVES: We describe
      estimation via inverse probability weighting; estimation may also be accomplished
      by g-computation (Robins in Latent Variable Modeling and Applications to
      Causality, Springer, New York, pp 69-117, 1997; van der Wal et al. in Stat Med
      28:2325-2337, 2009) or targeted maximum likelihood (Rosenblum and van der Laan in
      Int J Biostat 6, 2010). CONCLUSIONS: When both time-varying confounding and
      mediation are present in a longitudinal setting data, Marginal Structural Models
      are a useful tool that provides unbiased estimates.

PMID- 20931350
TI  - Heterologous expression of human interleukin-6 in Streptomyces lividans TK24
      using novel secretory expression vectors.
AB  - Streptomyces is an attractive host for heterologous protein secretion. To further
      optimize its expression capacity, better expression vectors will be helpful.
      Here, based on pSGL1, a high copy number plasmid present in Streptomyces
      globisporus C-1027, we constructed a series of novel E. coli-Streptomyces shuttle
      expression vectors pIMB2-4. These vectors, which are compatible with pIJ-derived
      vectors, contain the strong promoter ermE*p and signal sequence SP (MelC1) of the
      first ORF of melanin operon in S. antibiotics (pIMB2), SP (CagA) of C-1027
      apoprotein in S. globisporus C-1027 (pIMB3 and pIMB4). Using these vectors, human
      interleukin-6 (IL-6) could successfully be expressed and secreted using S.
      lividans TK24 as host. Furthermore, replacement of a rare leucine codon TTA with
      CTG in SP (CagA) enhanced IL-6 production.

PMID- 20931351
TI  - Specific inhibition of the halogenase for radicicol biosynthesis by bromide at
      the transcriptional level in Pochonia chlamydosporia.
AB  - Pochonia chlamydosporia produces radicicol (1), a potent antifungal and
      anticancer product. NaBr, but not NaF, NaCl or NaI, inhibited the biosynthesis of
      1 in P. chlamydosporia in a dose-dependent manner, accompanied by the formation
      chlorine-lacking monocillins II-V (2-5), indicating that the dedicated
      halogenase, Rdc2 had been inhibited. RT-PCR analysis confirmed that transcription
      of rdc2 was selectively inhibited by Br(-), whereas the putative P450 epoxidase
      gene, rdc4, was not affected.

PMID- 20931348
TI  - Are the current IHS guidelines for migraine drug trials being followed?
AB  - In 2000, the Clinical Trials Subcommittee of the International Headache Society
      (IHS) published the second edition of its guidelines for controlled trials of
      drugs in migraine. The purpose of this publication was to improve the quality of
      such trials by increasing the awareness amongst investigators of the
      methodological issues specific to this particular illness. Until now the
      adherence to these guidelines has not been systematically assessed. We reviewed
      all published controlled trials of drugs in migraine from 2002 to 2008. Eligible
      trials were scored for compliance with the IHS guidelines by using grading scales
      based on the most essential recommendations of the guidelines. The primary
      efficacy measure of each trial was also recorded. A total of 145 trials of acute
      treatment and 52 trials of prophylactic treatment were eligible for review. Of
      the randomized, double-blind trials, acute trials scored an average of 4.7 out of
      7 while prophylactic trials scored an average of 5.6 out of 9 for compliance.
      Thirty-one percent of acute trials and 72% of prophylactic trials used the
      recommended primary efficacy measure. Fourteen percent of the reviewed trials
      were either not randomized or not double-blinded. Adherence to international
      guidelines like these of IHS is important to ensure that only high-quality trials
      are performed, and to provide the consensus that is required for meta analyses.
      The primary efficacy measure for trials of acute treatment should be "pain free"
      and not "headache relief". Open-label or non-randomized trials generally have no
      place in the study of migraine drugs.

PMID- 20931352
TI  - A loop-controlled rrnB P1 promoter for high-level expression of heterologous
      proteins in Escherichia coli.
AB  - An effective protein expression system was constructed in Escherichia coli
      utilizing the rRNA rrnB P1 promoter and the regulatory element of the lac operon
      (lacO). To regulate the transcriptional activity of the rrnB P1 promoter, we
      designed two lacO sites with an intervening loop structure; expression was
      verified by measuring the levels of the beta-1,4-glucanase gene, cel5G. Basal
      expression from the looped promoter construct was reduced by 92% when compared to
      expression from the T7 promoter. We also found that the host cell type had a
      significant effect on the regulation of the rrnB P1 promoter: E. coli DH5alpha
      and DH10B had high expression levels, whereas the expression in BL21(DE3) was
      more stringent.

PMID- 20931353
TI  - Production of human metabolites of the anti-cancer drug flutamide via
      biotransformation in Cunninghamella species.
AB  - Fungi belonging to the genus Cunninghamella have enzymes similar to those
      employed by mammals for the detoxification of xenobiotics, thus they are useful
      as models of mammalian drug metabolism, and as a source for drug metabolites. We
      report the transformation of the anti-cancer drug flutamide in Cunninghamella sp.
      The most predominant phase I metabolites present in the plasma of humans, 2
      hydroxyflutamide and 4-nitro-3-(trifluoromethyl)aniline, were also produced in
      Cunninghamella cultures. Other phase I and phase II metabolites were also
      detected using a combination of HPLC, GC-MS and (19)F-NMR.

PMID- 20931354
TI  - Fatty acylation enhances cellular localization of dansylated phenylalanines.
AB  - Two series of fluorescent molecules were synthesized by acylation of dansyl
      ethylenediamine and phenylalanine dansyl ethylenediamine with one of either
      acetyl (C(2)), hexanyl (C(6)), cyclohexanecarbonyl (C(7)), myristyl (C(14)), or
      palmityl (C(16)) groups and examined for entry and localization in Chinese
      Hamster Ovary (CHO) cells in tissue culture. Gross total fluorescence retention
      and cellular microscopic fluorescence patterns were analyzed. In both series,
      molecules with myristyl or palmityl groups entered cells. Only in the
      phenylalanine series did hexyl and cyclohexanecarbonyl modification enable entry.
      Consistent with a mechanism of passive diffusion, entry of compounds into cells
      was neither energy dependent nor endocytosis linked. Acylated molecules were
      observed to localize in cytoplasm and not enter nuclei or associate with
      lipophilic plasma membranes.

PMID- 20931356
TI  - PER2 variation is associated with diurnal preference in a Korean young
      population.
AB  - The PER2 gene has been reported to influence diurnal preference. In this study,
      we have attempted to characterize the associations between the PER2 gene
      polymorphisms and diurnal preference in a population of healthy young subjects,
      controlling for the social and environmental confounding factors. Subjects were
      299 students in a college, carefully selected to be mentally and physically
      healthy. All subjects completed the 13-item composite scale for morningness
      (CSM). PER2 gene polymorphisms were genotyped by PCR-based methods. Genotype and
      allele carrier status of a PER2 G3853A polymorphism (rs934945) were associated
      with CSM scores. Carriers of the 3853G allele showed significantly higher CSM
      scores (P = 0.004, P = 0.009, and P = 0.001; total, morningness, and activity
      plan, respectively). There were no significant differences on CSM scores among
      genotypes and allele status of PER2 rs2304672. This result indicates that
      rs934945 of PER2 may be associated with diurnal preference in a Korean healthy
      population.

PMID- 20931355
TI  - Genetic counseling considerations in the evaluation of families for Lynch
      syndrome--a review.
AB  - Lynch syndrome is the most common hereditary colorectal cancer syndrome and the
      most common cause of hereditary endometrial cancer. Identifying and evaluating
      families for Lynch syndrome is increasing in complexity due to the recognition
      that: family history-based clinical criteria lack sensitivity and specificity;
      genetic testing for Lynch syndrome continues to evolve as understanding of the
      molecular mechanisms underlying it evolves; and the Lynch syndrome phenotype
      encompasses multiple organ systems and demonstrates overlap with other hereditary
      cancer syndromes. This document is a summary of considerations when evaluating
      individuals and families for Lynch syndrome, including information on cancer
      risks, diagnostic criteria, tumor and genetic testing strategies, and the
      management of individuals with this condition.

PMID- 20931358
TI  - Polymorphism in exons of the myostatin gene and its relationship with body weight
      traits in the Bian chicken.
AB  - In our research, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of exon regions of the
      myostatin gene were detected by PCR-SSCP in the Bian chicken and three reference
      chicken populations (Jinghai, Youxi, and Arbor Acre). Four novel SNPs (G2283A,
      C7552T, C7638T, and T7661A) were detected. The findings from the least square
      means showed that Bian chickens with EE and DE genotypes had significantly higher
      body weight, at 6-18 weeks of age, than those of the DD genotype (P < 0.05). The
      results suggest that the mutation G2283A, detected in exon 1, has potential as a
      genetic marker for body weight traits in the Bian chicken.

PMID- 20931357
TI  - Lack of association of the N-acetyltransferase NAT1*10 allele with prostate
      cancer incidence, grade, or stage among smokers in Finland.
AB  - Genetic variations in xenobiotic metabolizing genes can influence susceptibility
      to many environmentally induced cancers. Inheritance of the N-acetyltransferase 1
      allele (NAT1*10), linked with increased metabolic activation of pro-carcinogens,
      is associated with an increased susceptibility to many cancers in which cigarette
      or meat-derived carcinogens have been implicated in their etiology. The role of
      NAT1*10 in prostate cancer is under studied. Although cigarette smoking is not
      considered a risk factor for prostate cancer, a recent review suggests it may
      play a role in disease progression. Consequently, we examined the association of
      NAT1*10 with prostate cancer risk, grade, and stage among 400 Finnish male
      smokers using a case-control study design. Following genotyping of 206 patients
      and 196 healthy controls, our results do not support the role of NAT1*10 in
      relation to prostate cancer risk (OR = 1.28; 95% CI, 0.66-2.47), aggressive
      disease (OR = 0.58; 95% CI, 0.13-2.67), or advanced disease (OR = 1.19; 95% CI,
      0.49-2.91).

PMID- 20931359
TI  - Diagnosing infections: a qualitative view on prescription decisions in general
      practice over time.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Antibiotics may frequently be prescribed on the basis of vague
      diagnoses, possibly resulting in unnecessary antimicrobial resistance. Our aim is
      to map general practitioners' (GPs') decision-making for common infections,
      exploring their diagnostic basis for antibiotic prescriptions. SETTING: General
      practice in Iceland. METHOD: Ten in-depth qualitative interviews with, and three
      observations of, GPs in 1995. Diagnostic issues extracted and analysed. In 2006,
      eight GPs commented on analysis and updated (email/telephone). MAIN OUTCOME
      MEASURE: Diagnostic variability and reasons for prescribing antibiotics,
      consistency or changes over time. RESULTS: Wide variations were uncovered in
      diagnostic procedures, although each GP remained consistent through time. Some
      GPs had developed "rules-of-thumb". They often balanced risks against issues like
      money, time, need for the workforce (perceived importance of the patient's job),
      client's need for job/earnings (perceived ability to afford a sick day) and
      doctor-patient relationship (risk of refusal adversely affecting the
      relationship). Perceptions of risk varied from focusing on resistance development
      to focusing on possible harm from untreated infections, also ranging between
      considering both to worrying about neither. Changes over time were not prominent
      but included increased point-of-care testing and the perception by GPs that
      patients were increasingly willing to "wait and see". CONCLUSIONS: Large
      variability and individuality characterized the GPs' diagnostic procedures,
      contrasted by consistency through time. If modification of diagnostic routines is
      needed, provision of "scientific facts" and technological aids is insufficient. A
      prerequisite for changing practice is GPs' acceptance of accuracy of information
      and of reliability, applicability, and relevance of technology, for physician
      and/or patient.

PMID- 20931360
TI  - Free will and mental disorder: exploring the relationship.
AB  - A link between mental disorder and freedom is clearly present in the introduction
      of the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental
      Disorders (DSM-IV). It mentions "an important loss of freedom" as one of the
      possible defining features of mental disorder. Meanwhile, it remains unclear how
      "an important loss of freedom" should be understood. In order to get a clearer
      view on the relationship between mental disorder and (a loss of) freedom, in this
      article, I will explore the link between mental disorder and free will. I examine
      two domains in which a connection between mental disorder and free will is
      present: the philosophy of free will and forensic psychiatry. As it turns out,
      philosophers of free will frequently refer to mental disorders as conditions that
      compromise free will and reduce moral responsibility. In addition, in forensic
      psychiatry, the rationale for the assessment of criminal responsibility is often
      explained by referring to the fact that mental disorders can compromise free
      will. Yet, in both domains, it remains unclear in what way free will is
      compromised by mental disorders. Based on the philosophical debate, I discuss
      three senses of free will and explore their relevance to mental disorders. I
      conclude that in order to further clarify the relationship between free will and
      mental disorder, the accounts of people who have actually experienced the impact
      of a mental disorder should be included in future research.

PMID- 20931361
TI  - Complete fully automatic model-based segmentation of normal and pathological
      lymph nodes in CT data.
AB  - PURPOSE: Exact and reproducible knowledge regarding the position, size, and type
      of the lymph nodes is often needed for tumor computer-aided diagnosis, treatment
      planning, and follow-up. An automatic segmentation method for CT data was
      developed that can identify and delineate normal as well as pathologically
      altered lymph nodes to satisfy this requirement. METHODS: A semi-automatic lymph
      node segmentation method was developed using a 3D Stable Mass-Spring Model
      (SMSM), based on parallel simulation of the shape model on CT scan images. The
      models are started across the whole dataset at all potential lymph node positions
      but will only adapt to the data where a lymph node is found. The node positions
      can be determined by an evaluation of the model's quality of fit. RESULTS:
      Systematically chosen lymph nodes in 5 CT datasets, including enlarged, necrotic,
      fuzzy-bounded, and deformed lymph nodes, were used to evaluate the segmentation
      algorithm performance. A test set of 29 lymph nodes taken from 4 typical lymph
      node regions were included. All lymph nodes were detected automatically, while an
      additional 31% false-positive (n = 9) candidates were detected. The average
      calculation time was 2 min per dataset. The segmentation accuracy was comparable
      to the inter-observer variance of human experts. CONCLUSIONS: Clinically relevant
      lymph nodes were detected within a few minutes and provided sufficient accuracy
      to demonstrate the feasibility of a new segmentation method. The test data were
      diverse, and the robust results suggest potential applicability to many kinds of
      lymph node abnormalities, except for extremely degenerated lymph nodes.

PMID- 20931362
TI  - Serial MRI changes in comatose cardiac arrest patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Neuroimaging may prove useful in identifying cardiac arrest patients
      destined for a poor recovery, as certain patterns have been associated with a
      poor outcome. However, MRI changes evolve temporally and spatially, which may
      lead to misinterpretation and misclassification of patients. METHODS: Eight
      comatose patients following cardiac arrest underwent diffusion-weighted imaging
      (DWI) at two time points, and one patient underwent DWI at three time points.
      Each of the prespecified areas of each study were read as either "normal" or
      "abnormal" by two stroke neurologists. Neurological examinations, including GCS
      scores, were recorded on days 0, 1, 3, and 7. Outcomes were determined by the
      modified Rankin Scale (mRS), with poor outcome defined as mRS score >=4 at 6
      months. RESULTS: In the acute (<24 h) period, two patients exhibited changes on
      DWI and FLAIR in the cerebellum and basal ganglia. In the early subacute period
      (days 1-5), cortical abnormalities predominated, with a shift to more white
      matter changes in the late subacute period (days 6-12). We observed more
      widespread imaging abnormalities in patients with poor outcomes, and partial or
      full resolution of DWI abnormalities in the two patients with good outcomes.
      CONCLUSIONS: MRI patterns after global hypoxic-ischemic injury follow a
      characteristic pattern with variable acute changes in the cortex, basal ganglia,
      and cerebellum, followed by predominantly cortical and white matter changes in
      the early and late subacute periods. Diffuse, persistent widespread changes on
      MRI may help to predict poor outcome.

PMID- 20931363
TI  - The genetics of obesity.
AB  - Obesity is a result of excess body fat accumulation. This excess is associated
      with adverse health effects such as CVD, type 2 diabetes, and cancer. The
      development of obesity has an evident environmental contribution, but as shown by
      heritability estimates of 40% to 70%, a genetic susceptibility component is also
      needed. Progress in understanding the etiology has been slow, with findings
      largely restricted to monogenic, severe forms of obesity. However, technological
      and analytical advances have enabled detection of more than 20 obesity
      susceptibility loci. These contain genes suggested to be involved in the
      regulation of food intake through action in the central nervous system as well as
      in adipocyte function. These results provide plausible biological pathways that
      may, in the future, be targeted as part of treatment or prevention strategies.
      Although the proportion of heritability explained by these genes is small, their
      detection heralds a new phase in understanding the etiology of common obesity.

PMID- 20931365
TI  - Broadening the perspective when assessing evidence on boosted protease inhibitor
      based regimens for initial antiretroviral therapy.
AB  - Several national and international guidelines recommend the use of antiretroviral
      therapy containing a protease inhibitor (PI) with ritonavir (RTV) boosting for
      human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected treatment-naive patients. RTV-boosted
      PIs such as lopinavir (LPV/r), atazanavir (ATV + RTV), darunavir (DRV + RTV),
      fosamprenavir (FPV + RTV), and saquinavir (SQV + RTV) are usually recommended in
      regimens for initial therapy. The guideline recommendations are generally based
      on the clinical efficacy of the regimens. A broadened perspective of assessing
      the evidence related to selection of a PI for optimal first-line therapy might
      consider additional factors for evaluation, such as effectiveness in actual
      clinical practice and cost-effectiveness of individual drugs in formulating
      recommendations. Among the guideline-recommended PIs, LPV/r is one of the
      earliest PIs approved, has been a well-recognized boosted PI for treatment-naive
      patients in all guidelines, and demonstrates the most evidence on long-term
      clinical and economic effectiveness. Studies have shown its efficacy in various
      controlled and real-world settings in different populations, the relationship of
      adherence to virologic efficacy, and the implications of resistance when used in
      sequence with other PI regimens. In the absence of published evidence for other
      guideline-recommended PIs that will greatly facilitate a fully transparent,
      comparative effectiveness evaluation, the cumulative evidence from this broader
      perspective indicates all PIs should not be viewed as equally safe and effective
      across all patients for initial therapy, nor should any single PI within the
      class be considered preferred for all treatment-naive patients.

PMID- 20931364
TI  - Interleukin-33 in asthma: how big of a role does it play?
AB  - In complex disorders such as asthma and allergic disease, the goal for developing
      disease-modifying biotherapeutics is to find a target that is a central
      instigator of immunologic activity. Interleukin (IL)-33 seems to be such a
      molecule, as it is one of the earliest-released signaling molecules following
      epithelial damage and can orchestrate the recruitment and activation of the cells
      responsible for disease. Unregulated IL-33 activity leads to activation of T
      helper type 2 cells, mast cells, dendritic cells, eosinophils, and basophils,
      ultimately leading to increased expression of cytokines and chemokines that
      define the disease. As such, IL-33 is an attractive candidate for therapeutic
      intervention with the goal of ameliorating disease. This review focuses on the
      role of IL-33 in promoting and maintaining the asthma phenotype.

PMID- 20931366
TI  - Effects of benzalkonium chloride-preserved, polyquad-preserved, and sofZia
      preserved topical glaucoma medications on human ocular epithelial cells.
AB  - INTRODUCTION|: To investigate potentially adverse effects of different topical
      glaucoma medications and preservatives on cultured ocular epithelial cells.
      METHODS|: Confluent cultures of human corneal (10.014 pRSV-T) and conjunctival
      cells (1-5c-4) were assayed with 100 MUL of different glaucoma medications for 25
      minutes at 37 degrees C and 5% CO2. We also tested the preservative sofZia(r)
      (Alcon Laboratories, Fort Worth, TX, USA), as well as a range of concentrations
      of the preservative benzalkonium chloride (BAK; 0.001% to 0.050%). Balanced salt
      solution was used as the "live" control and a solution containing 70% methanol
      and 0.2% saponin was used as a "dead" control. The LIVE/DEAD
      viability/cytotoxicity kit (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA, USA) was used to determine
      the percentage of dead and live cells via ethidium homodimer and calcein
      fluorescence, respectively. RESULTS|: The toxicity of the prostaglandin analogs
      latanoprost, tafluprost and travoprost preserved with BAK was similar to the
      toxicity observed in their respective BAK concentrations. The prostaglandin
      analog travoprost (0.004%) preserved with the oxidizing preservative sofZia had
      much greater corneal and conjunctival cell survival than travoprost preserved
      with BAK. Travoprost (0.004%) containing polyquad also performed statistically
      better than its BAK-preserved formulation. CONCLUSION|: Ocular surface side
      effects have previously been demonstrated with chronic, long-term exposure to
      intraocular pressure-lowering medications containing the common preservative BAK.
      BAK alone has significant in-vitro cytotoxicity to cultured ocular epithelial
      cells. Substitution of BAK with polyquad or sofZia resulted in significantly
      higher percentages of live conjunctival and corneal cells. Further studies are
      needed to understand the- clinical implications of these findings.

PMID- 20931367
TI  - The styrene metabolite, phenylglyoxylic acid, induces striatal-motor toxicity in
      the rat: influence of dose escalation/reduction over time.
AB  - Exposure to the industrial solvent, styrene, induces locomotor and cognitive
      dysfunction in rats, and parkinsonian-like manifestations in man. The
      antipsychotic, haloperidol (HP), well known to induce striatal toxicity in man
      and animals, and styrene share a common metabolic pathway yielding p-fluoro
      phenylglyoxylic acid and phenylglyoxylic acid (PGA), respectively. Using an
      exposure period of 30 days and the vacous chewing movement (VCM) model as an
      expression of striatal-motor toxicity, we found that incremental PGA dosing (220
      400 mg/kg) significantly increased VCMs up to day 25, but decreased to control
      levels shortly after reaching maximum dose. However, a diminishing dose of PGA
      (400-200 mg/kg) did not evoke an immediate worsening of VCMs but precipitated a
      significant increase in VCMs following dosage reduction to 200 mg/kg on day 22.
      PGA exposure, therefore, compromises striatal-motor function that is especially
      sensitive to changes in exposure dose. Longer alternating dose exposure studies
      are needed to establish whether motor dysfunction is progressive in severity or
      longevity. These findings are of significance for the environmental toxicology of
      styrene in the chemical industry.

PMID- 20931368
TI  - Analysis of high-throughput sequencing data.
AB  - Next-generation sequencing has revolutionized biology by exponentially increasing
      sequencing output while dramatically lowering costs. High-throughput sequence
      data with shorter reads has opened up new applications such as whole genome
      resequencing, indel and SNP detection, transcriptome sequencing, etc. Several
      tools are available for the analysis of high-throughput sequencing data. In this
      chapter, we describe the use of an ultrafast alignment program, Bowtie, to align
      short-read sequence (SRS) data against the Arabidopsis reference genome. The
      alignment files generated from Bowtie will be used to identify SNPs and indels
      using Maq.

PMID- 20931369
TI  - Identification of plant microRNAs using expressed sequence tag analysis.
AB  - microRNAs (miRNAs) are a new class of small endogenous noncoding regulatory RNAs,
      which play an important function in plant growth, development, phase change, and
      response to environmental stress. Identifying miRNAs is the first step for
      investigating miRNA-mediated gene regulation and miRNA function. In this chapter,
      we describe a comprehensive comparative genomics-based expressed sequence tag
      (EST) analysis for identifying miRNAs from a wide range of plant species. EST
      analysis is based on the conservation of miRNA sequences and the stem-loop
      hairpin secondary structures of miRNAs. In this method, potential miRNAs will
      first be identified by EST analysis followed by confirmation using TaqMan((r))
      MicroRNA qRT-PCR. This method is simple and reliable with high efficiency. This
      method has also been widely adopted by many scientists around the world and
      several hundreds of miRNAs have been identified in many plant species using this
      method.

PMID- 20931370
TI  - Microarray data analysis.
AB  - Gene expression profiling has revolutionized functional genomics research by
      providing a quick handle on all the transcriptional changes that occur in the
      cell in response to internal or external perturbations or developmental programs.
      Microarrays have become the most popular technology for recording gene expression
      profiles. This chapter describes all the necessary steps for analyzing Affymetrix
      microarray data using the open-source statistical tools (R and bioconductor). The
      reader is walked through all the basic steps of data analysis: reading raw data,
      assessing quality, preprocessing/normalization, discovery of differentially
      expressed genes, comparison of gene lists, functional enrichment analysis, and
      saving results to files for future reference. Some familiarity with computer is
      assumed. This chapter is self-contained with installation instructions for R and
      bioconductor packages along with links to downloadable data and code for
      reproducing the examples.

PMID- 20931371
TI  - Setting up reverse transcription quantitative-PCR experiments.
AB  - Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR), in conjunction with reverse transcriptase,
      has been used for the systematic measurement of plant physiological changes in
      gene expression. In the present paper, we describe a qRT-PCR protocol that
      illustrates the essential technical steps required to generate quantitative data
      that are reliable and reproducible. To demonstrate the methods used, we evaluated
      the expression stability of five [actin (ACT), actin1 (ACT1), beta-glyceraldehyde
      3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH), cyclophilin (CYC), and elongation factor
      1alpha (EF-1alpha)] frequently used housekeeping genes in rice. The expression
      stability of the five selected housekeeping genes varied considerably in
      different tissues (seedlings, vegetative and reproductive stages) in a given
      stress condition. The analysis allowed us to choose a set of two candidates (ACT1
      and EF-1alpha) that showed more uniform expression and are also suitable for the
      validation of weakly expressed genes (>=0.5 fold), identified through microarray
      analysis.

PMID- 20931372
TI  - Virus-induced gene silencing in nicotiana benthamiana and other plant species.
AB  - Virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) is an efficient tool for high throughput
      reverse genetic screens. VIGS engages the endogenous RNA-silencing machinery of
      the plant host, and can yield an 85-95% reduction of target transcripts. Gene
      silencing is rapid, target-specific, and does not require the creation of stable
      transformants. The technique has been used successfully in numerous Solanaceae
      species as well as in Arabidopsis, maize, and rice. Here we describe a protocol
      for conducting a VIGS screen in Nicotiana benthamiana using Tobacco Rattle Virus
      (TRV) based silencing vectors. This protocol can readily be adapted to many other
      model plant species.

PMID- 20931373
TI  - Agroinoculation and agroinfiltration: simple tools for complex gene function
      analyses.
AB  - Agroinoculation, first developed as a simple tool to study plant-virus
      interactions, is a popular method of choice for functional gene analysis of viral
      genomes. With the explosive growth of genomic information and the development of
      advanced vectors to dissect plant gene function, this reliable method of viral
      gene delivery in plants, has been recruited and morphed into a technique
      popularly known as agroinfiltration. This technique was developed to examine the
      effects of transient gene expression, with applications ranging from studies of
      plant-pathogen interactions, abiotic stresses, a variety of transient expression
      assays to study protein localization, and protein-protein interactions. We
      present a brief overview of literature which document both these applications,
      and then provide simple agroinoculation and agroinfiltration methods being used
      in our laboratory for functional gene analysis, as well as for fast-forward and
      reverse genetic screens using virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS).

PMID- 20931374
TI  - Full-length cDNA overexpressor gene hunting system (FOX hunting system).
AB  - Full-length cDNAs (fl-cDNAs) are important resources for the characterization of
      gene function, since they contain all the information required for the production
      of functional RNAs and proteins. Large sets of fl-cDNA clones have been collected
      from several plant species and have become available for functional genomic
      analysis. We have developed a system for the identification of gene function by
      screening for transgenic plants ectopically expressing fl-cDNAs and named it the
      FOX (fl-cDNA overexpressor gene) hunting system. This system can be applied to
      almost all plant species without prior knowledge of their genome sequences
      because only fl-cDNAs are required. For utilization of the FOX hunting system,
      Agrobacterium libraries and Arabidopsis seeds carrying rice and Arabidopsis fl
      cDNAs are available. Here, we will describe the procedure followed in the FOX
      hunting system from the generation of expression vectors carrying fl-cDNAs to the
      confirmation of phenotype in retransformed plants.

PMID- 20931375
TI  - Activation tagging with En/Spm-I /dSpm transposons in Arabidopsis.
AB  - Activation tagging is a powerful strategy to find new gene functions, especially
      from genes that are redundant or show lethal knock-out phenotypes. It has been
      applied using T-DNA or transposons. En/Spm-I/dSpm engineered transposons are
      efficient Activation tags in Arabidopsis. An immobilized transposase source and
      an enhancer-bearing non-autonomous element are used in combination with positive
      and negative selectable markers to generate a population of single or low copy,
      stable insertions. This method describes the steps required to select the best
      parental lines, generate a population of stable insertions, and gene
      identification.

PMID- 20931376
TI  - Activation tagging and insertional mutagenesis in barley.
AB  - The process of activation tagging in plants involves the random distribution of
      plant regulatory sequences throughout the genome. The insertion of a regulatory
      sequence in the vicinity of an endogenous gene can alter the transcriptional
      pattern of this gene resulting in a mutant phenotype that arises from excess
      functional gene product. Activation tagging has been undertaken extensively in a
      number of dicot plants and also in rice. This has been achieved primarily by high
      throughput plant transformation using T-DNA sequences that encode regulatory
      elements. Apart from rice, most cereals do not have a suitably efficient
      transformation system for high-throughput transformation. In this article, we
      detail an activation tagging system in barley that exploits the mobility of the
      maize Ac/Ds transposable element system to distribute a highly expressed promoter
      throughout the barley genome. The advantage of this approach in this species is
      that a relatively small number of primary transgenics are required to generate an
      activation tagging population. Insertion of this transposable element into genes
      can also generate insertional inactivation mutants enabling both gene
      overexpression and gene knockout mutants to be identified in the same population.

PMID- 20931377
TI  - Methods for rice phenomics studies.
AB  - With the completion of the rice genome sequencing project, the next major
      challenge is the large-scale determination of gene function. A systematic
      phenotypic profiling of mutant collections will provide major insights into gene
      functions important for crop growth or production. Thus, detailed phenomics
      analysis is the key to functional genomics. Currently, the two major types of
      rice mutant collections are insertional mutants and chemical or irradiation
      induced mutants. Here we describe how to manipulate a rice mutant population,
      including conducting phenomics studies and the subsequent propagation and seed
      storage. We list the phenotypes screened and also describe how to collect data
      systematically for a database of the qualitative and quantitative phenotypic
      traits. Thus, data on mutant lines, phenotypes, and segregation rate for all
      kinds of mutant populations, as well as integration sites for insertional mutant
      populations, would be searchable, and the collection would be a good resource for
      rice functional genomics study.

PMID- 20931378
TI  - Development of an efficient inverse PCR method for isolating gene tags from T-DNA
      insertional mutants in rice.
AB  - The central goal of current genomics research in plants, as in other organisms,
      is to elucidate the functions of every gene. Insertional mutagenesis using known
      DNA sequences such as T-DNA is a powerful tool in functional genomics.
      Development of efficient methods for isolating the genomic sequences flanking
      insertion elements accelerates the systematic cataloging of insertional mutants,
      and thus allows functions to be assigned to uncharacterized genes via reverse
      genetic approaches. In our current study, we report a rapid and efficient inverse
      PCR (iPCR) method for the isolation of gene tags in T-DNA mutant lines of rice
      (Oryza sativa), a model monocot plant.

PMID- 20931379
TI  - Transposon insertional mutagenesis in rice.
AB  - Insertion mutants offer one of the direct ways to relate a gene to its function
      by employing forward or reverse genetics approaches. Both T-DNA and transposon
      insertional mutants are being produced in several crops, including rice, the
      first cereal with its complete genome sequenced. Transposons have several
      advantages over T-DNA including the ability to produce multiple independent
      insertion lines from individual starter lines, as well as producing revertants by
      remobilization. With our new gene constructs, and a two-component transposon
      iAc/Ds mutagenesis protocol, we have improved both gene trapping and screening
      efficiencies in rice.

PMID- 20931380
TI  - Reverse genetics in medicago truncatula using Tnt1 insertion mutants.
AB  - Medicago truncatula has been chosen as one of the two model species for legume
      molecular genetics and functional genomics studies. With the imminent completion
      of M. truncatula genome sequencing, availability of large-scale mutant
      populations becomes a priority. Over the last 5 years, nearly 12,000 insertion
      lines, which represent approximately 300,000 insertions, have been generated at
      the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation using the tobacco retrotransposon Tnt1.
      Individual genomic DNA was isolated from each insertion line and pooled into four
      levels with the super-pool containing 500 lines. Using Tnt1-specific and gene
      specific primers, a PCR-based efficient reverse screening strategy has been
      developed. Amplified PCR products are purified and sequenced to identify the
      exact insertion locations. Overall, approximately 90% of genes screened were
      found to have one or more Tnt1 insertions. Therefore, this PCR-based reverse
      screening is a rapid way of identifying knock-out mutants for specific genes in
      Tnt1-tagged population of M. truncatula. In addition to the DNA pool screening, a
      web-based database with more than 13,000 flanking sequence tags (FSTs) has also
      been set up. One can search the database to find an insertion line for the gene
      of interest.

PMID- 20931381
TI  - Screening Arabidopsis genotypes for drought stress resistance.
AB  - A high throughput drought screen is described for Arabidopsis that is based on a
      gravimetric method to monitor and control water content of the soil. To screen
      for plant growth under mild drought conditions, 30% of field capacity can be
      used, which is equal to 2 g H(2)O/g dry soil. The screen allows the testing of a
      large number of plants of different sizes to the same level of soil water.
      Therefore, response to drought of different genotypes can be compared. This
      method can be used for knockout or overexpression genotypes, which are evaluated
      for their drought response in terms of their growth measured by change in
      biomass.

PMID- 20931382
TI  - Protein tagging for chromatin immunoprecipitation from Arabidopsis.
AB  - A powerful method to identify binding sites in target genes is chromatin
      immunoprecipitation (ChIP), which allows the purification of in vivo formed
      complexes of a DNA-binding protein and associated DNA. Briefly, the method
      involves the fixation of plant tissue and the isolation of the total protein-DNA
      mixture, followed by an immunoprecipitation step with an antibody directed
      against the protein of interest and, subsequently, the DNA can be purified.
      Finally, the DNA can be analyzed by PCR for the enrichment of specific regions. A
      drawback of ChIP is that for each protein another antibody is needed. To overcome
      this, a generic strategy is possible using tags fused to the protein of interest.
      In this case, only antibody is needed against the tag. This protocol describes
      the tagging of proteins and how to perform ChIP.

PMID- 20931383
TI  - Yeast one-hybrid screens for detection of transcription factor DNA interactions.
AB  - The yeast one-hybrid system is widely recognized as a valuable and
      straightforward technique to study interactions between transcription factors and
      DNA. By means of one-hybrid screens, transcription factors or other DNA-binding
      proteins, expressed from cDNA expression libraries, can be identified due to the
      interactions with a DNA sequence-of-interest that is linked to a reporter gene,
      such as the yeast HIS3 gene. Usually, the library is constructed in an E. coli
      yeast shuttle vector designed for production of hybrid proteins consisting of a
      library protein and the trans-activating domain (AD) from the yeast GAL4
      transcription factor. Here, we describe an optimized system of vectors for one
      hybrid screenings together with detailed step-wise protocols, an elaborate
      trouble-shooting guide and many technical tips to conduct successful screenings.
      This system and other yeast genetic selection procedures derived from one-hybrid
      methodology proved highly useful to help understanding the regulatory networks
      controlling expression of the genome.

PMID- 20931384
TI  - Plant metabolomics by GC-MS and differential analysis.
AB  - Metabolomics is a new genomics approach that aims at measuring all or a subset of
      metabolites in the cell. Several approaches to plant metabolomics are currently
      used in plant research. These include targeted analysis, metabolite profiling,
      and metabolic fingerprinting. Metabolic fingerprinting, unlike metabolite
      profiling, does not aim at separating or identifying all the metabolites present
      in the sample, but rather generates a fingerprint that characterizes a specific
      metabolic state of the plant system under investigation. This chapter describes
      the implementation of metabolic fingerprinting approach using gas chromatography
      coupled to mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and discriminant function analysis combined
      with genetic algorithm (GA-DFA). This approach enables the identification of
      specific metabolites that are biologically relevant, and which may go undetected
      if direct infusion-based fingerprinting approaches were used due to the sample
      complexity and matrix suppression effects.

PMID- 20931385
TI  - Gramene database: a hub for comparative plant genomics.
AB  - The rich collection of known genetic information and the recent completion of
      rice genome sequencing project provided the cereal plant researchers a useful
      tool to investigate the roles of genes and genomic organization that contribute
      to numerous agronomic traits. Gramene ( http://www.gramene.org ) is a unique
      database where users are allowed to query and explore the power of genomic
      colinearity and comparative genomics for genetic and genomic studies on plant
      genomes. Gramene presents a wholesome perspective by assimilating data from a
      broad range of publicly available data sources for cereals like rice, sorghum,
      maize, wild rice, wheat, oats, barley, and other agronomically important crop
      plants such as poplar and grape, and the model plant Arabidopsis. As part of the
      process, it preserves the original data, but also reanalyzes for integration into
      several knowledge domains of maps, markers, genes, proteins, pathways,
      phenotypes, including Quantitative Trait Loci (QTL) and genetic diversity/natural
      variation. This allows researchers to use this information resource to decipher
      the known and predicted interactions between the components of biological
      systems, and how these interactions regulate plant development. Using examples
      from rice, this article describes how the database can be helpful to researchers
      representing an array of knowledge domains ranging from plant biology, plant
      breeding, molecular biology, genomics, biochemistry, genetics, bioinformatics,
      and phylogenomics.

PMID- 20931386
TI  - MicroRNA biogenesis and cancer.
AB  - MicroRNAs are short non-coding RNA molecules that are involved in diverse
      physiological and developmental processes by controlling the gene expression of
      target mRNAs. They play important roles in almost all kinds of cancer where they
      modulate key processes during tumorigenesis such as metastasis, apoptosis,
      proliferation, or angiogenesis. Depending on the mRNA targets they regulate, they
      can act as oncogenes or as tumor suppressor genes. Multiple links between
      microRNA biogenesis and cancer highlight its significance for tumor diseases.
      However, mechanisms of their own regulation on the transcriptional and
      posttranscriptional level in health and disease are only beginning to emerge.
      Here, we review the microRNA-processing pathway as well as recent insights into
      posttranscriptional regulation of microRNA expression.

PMID- 20931387
TI  - Computational identification of miRNAs involved in cancer.
AB  - Changes in the structure and/or the expression of protein-coding genes were
      thought to be the major cause of cancer for many decades. However, the recent
      discovery of non-coding RNA (ncRNA) transcripts suggests that the molecular
      biology of cancer is far more complex. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are key players of the
      family of ncRNAs and they have been under extensive investigation because of
      their involvement in carcinogenesis, often taking up roles of tumor suppressors
      or oncogenes. Owing to the slow nature of experimental identification of miRNA
      genes, computational procedures have been applied as a valuable complement to
      cloning. Numerous computational tools, implemented to recognize the
      characteristic features of miRNA biogenesis, have resulted in the prediction of
      multiple novel miRNA genes. Computational approaches provide valuable clues as to
      which are the dominant features that characterize these regulatory units and
      furthermore act by narrowing down the search space making experimental
      verification faster and significantly cheaper. Moreover, in combination with
      large-scale, high-throughput methods, such as deep sequencing and tilling arrays,
      computational methods have aided in the discovery of putative molecular
      signatures of miRNA deregulation in human tumors. This chapter focuses on
      existing computational methods for identifying miRNA genes, provides an overview
      of the methodology undertaken by these tools, and underlies their contribution
      toward unraveling the role of miRNAs in cancer.

PMID- 20931388
TI  - The principles of MiRNA-masking antisense oligonucleotides technology.
AB  - MiRNA-masking antisense oligonucleotides technology (miR-mask) is an anti
      microRNA antisense oligodeoxyribonucleotide (AMO) approach of a different sort. A
      standard miR-mask is single-stranded 2'-O-methyl-modified oligoribonucleotide (or
      other chemically modified) that is a 22-nt antisense to a protein-coding mRNA as
      a target for an endogenous miRNA of interest. Instead of binding to the target
      miRNA like an AMO, an miR-mask does not directly interact with its target miRNA
      but binds to the binding site of that miRNA in the 3' UTR of the target mRNA by
      fully complementary mechanism. In this way, the miR-mask covers up the access of
      its target miRNA to the binding site so as to derepress its target gene (mRNA)
      via blocking the action of its target miRNA. The anti-miRNA action of an miR-mask
      is gene-specific because it is designed to be fully complementary to the target
      mRNA sequence of an miRNA. The anti-miRNA action of an miR-mask is miRNA-specific
      as well because it is designed to target the binding site of that particular
      miRNA. The miR-mask approach is a valuable supplement to the AMO technique; while
      AMO is indispensable for studying the overall function of an miRNA, the miR-mask
      might be more appropriate for studying the specific outcome of regulation of the
      target gene by the miRNA. This technology was first established by my research
      group in 2007 (Xiao et al., J Cell Physiol 212:285-292; Wang et al., J Mol Med
      86:772-783, 2008) and a similar approach with the same concept was subsequently
      reported by Schier's laboratory (Choi et al., Science 318:271-274, 2007).

PMID- 20931389
TI  - The concept of multiple-target anti-miRNA antisense oligonucleotide technology.
AB  - The multiple-target AMO technology or MT-AMO technology is an innovative
      strategy, which confers on a single AMO fragment the capability of targeting
      multiple miRNAs. This modified AMO is single-stranded 2'-O-methyl-modified
      oligoribonucleotides carrying multiple AMO units, which are engineered into a
      single unit and are able to simultaneously silence multiple-target miRNAs or
      multiple miRNA seed families. Studies suggest that the MT-AMO is an improved
      approach for miRNA target finding and miRNA function validation; it not only
      enhances the effectiveness of targeting miRNAs but also confers diversity of
      actions. It has been successfully used to identify target genes and cellular
      function of several oncogenic miRNAs and of the muscle-specific miRNAs (Lu et
      al., Nucleic Acids Res 37:e24-e33, 2009). This novel strategy may find its broad
      application as a useful tool in miRNA research for exploring biological processes
      involving multiple miRNAs and multiple genes, and the potential as an miRNA
      therapy for human disease such as cancer and cardiac disorders. This technology
      was developed by my research laboratory in collaboration with Yang's group (Lu et
      al., Nucleic Acids Res 37:e24-e33, 2009), and it is similar but distinct from the
      miRNA Sponge technology developed by Sharp's laboratory in 2007 (Ebert et al.,
      Nat Methods 4:721-726, 2007) and modified by Gentner et al. (Nat Methods 6:63-66,
      2009).

PMID- 20931390
TI  - Modulation of microRNAs for potential cancer therapeutics.
AB  - MicroRNA (miRNA) is a nonprotein coding small RNA molecule that negatively
      regulates gene expression by degradation of mRNA or suppression of mRNA
      translation. MiRNA plays important roles in physiological processes such as
      cellular development, differentiation, proliferation, apoptosis, and stem cell
      self-renewal. Studies show that the deregulation of miRNA expression is closely
      associated with tumorigenicity, invasion, and metastasis. The functionality of
      miRNAs may act as oncogenes or tumor suppressors during tumor initiation and
      progression. miRNomes in almost all types of cancers started to develop the
      regulatory network of miRNA::mRNA interaction in the view of systems biology.
      Experimental evidence demonstrates that the modulation of specific miRNA
      alterations in cancer cells using miRNA replacement or anti-miRNA technologies
      can restore miRNA activities and repair the gene regulatory network and signaling
      pathways, in turn, reverse the phenotype of cancerous cells. Numerous animal
      studies for miRNA-based therapy offer the hope of targeting miRNAs as alternative
      cancer treatment. Developing the small molecules to interfere with miRNAs could
      be of great pharmaceutical interest in the future. Interestingly, specific miRNA
      is capable of reprogramming the cancer cells into a pluriopotent embryonic stem
      cell-like state (mirPS), which could be induced into tissue-specific mature cell
      types. This chapter will present the various strategies of modulation of miRNAs
      in vitro and in vivo.

PMID- 20931391
TI  - Detection of microRNAs in cultured cells and paraffin-embedded tissue specimens
      by in situ hybridization.
AB  - Determination of gene expression is essential for understanding the role of a
      given gene in normal cell growth or disease processes. Recently, newly described
      microRNAs have been shown to play a key role in the regulation of gene
      expression; in particular, deregulation of microRNAs is often associated with a
      variety of human disorders including cancer. Although microRNAs are small RNA
      molecules with about 20-23 nucleotides in length and detection of their
      expression is believed to be challenging, with the introduction of modified
      nucleotides such as locked nucleic acid, the specificity and sensitivity of
      detection have been greatly improved. There are many methods developed for
      microRNA detection, but our focus in this chapter is on in situ hybridization
      (ISH) detection of microRNAs. We have successfully used ISH to detect several
      microRNAs in paraffin-embedded tumor specimens or cells-cultured in vitro.

PMID- 20931392
TI  - MicroRNA Northern blotting, precursor cloning, and Ago2-improved RNA
      interference.
AB  - Aberrant expression of microRNAs (miRNAs) and processing defects in their
      biogenesis pathway are a widespread phenomenon in tumors, conveying great
      importance to the analysis of miRNA expression, regulation, and biogenesis to
      gain knowledge about their role in cancer. Besides Drosha and Dicer, Argonaute
      proteins are key players in miRNA processing. In addition to their role as
      components of the RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC) executing target
      silencing, Argonautes mediate posttranscriptional regulation of miRNA maturation
      by creating an additional intermediate processing step, the Ago2-cleaved
      precursor miRNA (ac-pre-miRNA), and enhancing the production or stability of
      mature miRNAs. Here, we describe the detection of miRNA levels by Northern
      blotting and the identification of the 3' end of miRNAs by precursor cloning to
      accentuate two of the many roles of Argonaute proteins. In addition, we describe
      a method to optimize RNAi experiments by increasing the efficacy and specificity
      of target silencing via Ago2 cotransfection.

PMID- 20931393
TI  - miRNA profiling on high-throughput OpenArrayTM system.
AB  - Micro RNA (miRNAs) are a class of 17-25 nucleotides noncoding RNAs that have been
      shown to have critical functions in a wide variety of biological processes.
      Measuring quantity of miRNAs in tissues of different physiological and
      pathological conditions is an important first step to investigate the functions
      of miRNAs. To this date, the number of identified miRNA consists of around 850
      different species, and more sequence-predicted miRNA genes are awaiting
      experimental confirmation. The need for high-throughput technologies allowing to
      profile all known miRNAs with power similar to microarray and
      precision/specificity of qPCR is evident. The example of such system based on
      high-density array of nanoliter PCR assays is described here. Functionally
      equivalent to a microtiter plate, a single OpenArrayTM nanoplate makes possible
      to do up to 3,072 real-time PCRs at a single experiment. Methods for miRNA
      profiling using the dual-label probe chemistry (Taqman((r))) are outlined in this
      chapter, and experimental data illustrating system performance are provided.

PMID- 20931394
TI  - Silicon nanowire biosensor for ultrasensitive and label-free direct detection of
      miRNAs.
AB  - MicroRNA (miRNA), a large and growing class of 18-24-nucleotide long, noncoding
      RNA molecules in all known animal and plant genomes, is a key player in gene
      regulation. The functions of miRNA are yet to be understood with respect to how
      and where it is produced and the changes within an organism associated with
      variations in miRNA expression level. The expression profiles serve as molecular
      diagnostics for diseases and new targets in drug discovery. Consequently, highly
      sensitive and selective detection of miRNA is playing a significant role in
      understanding miRNA functions. Existing major methods of detecting miRNA are
      dependent on hybridization, in which a target miRNA molecule is hybridized to a
      complementary probe molecule. Recently developed detection methods introduce
      nanomaterials to the hybridized duplex to enhance the sensitivity. However, all
      of them are indirect, involving labeling or conjugating process. To overcome the
      above-mentioned issues, we have demonstrated a highly sensitive and label-free
      direct detection method for miRNA by using peptide nucleic acids (PNAs)
      functionalized silicon nanowires (SiNWs) biosensor. The sensor is capable of
      detecting target miRNA as low as 1 fM (10(-15) M), as well as identifying fully
      matched versus mismatched miRNA sequences. More importantly, the SiNW biosensor
      enables miRNA detection in total RNA extracted from HeLa cells. The developed
      detection method shows potential applications in label-free, early detection of
      miRNA as a biomarker in cancer diagnostics with very high sensitivity and good
      specificity.

PMID- 20931395
TI  - High-throughput and reliable protocols for animal microRNA library cloning.
AB  - MicroRNAs are short single-stranded RNA molecules (18-25 nucleotides). Because of
      their ability to silence gene expressions, they can be used to diagnose and treat
      tumors. Experimental construction of microRNA libraries was the most important
      step to identify microRNAs from animal tissues. Although there are many
      commercial kits with special protocols to construct microRNA libraries, this
      chapter provides the most reliable, high-throughput, and affordable protocols for
      microRNA library construction. The high-throughput capability of our protocols
      came from a double concentration (3 and 15%, thickness 1.5 mm) polyacrylamide gel
      electrophoresis (PAGE), which could directly extract microRNA-size RNAs from up
      to 400 MUg total RNA (enough for two microRNA libraries). The reliability of our
      protocols was assured by a third PAGE, which selected PCR products of microRNA
      size RNAs ligated with 5' and 3' linkers by a miRCatTM kit. Also, a MathCAD
      program was provided to automatically search short RNAs inserted between 5' and
      3' linkers from thousands of sequencing text files.

PMID- 20931396
TI  - MicroRNA regulation of growth factor receptor signaling in human cancer cells.
AB  - Aberrant expression of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and/or human
      epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) is a feature of many human tumors and
      is associated with disease progression, treatment resistance, and poor prognosis.
      Protein kinase B/Akt, an important downstream effector of these receptor tyrosine
      kinases, induces signaling pathways that control cancer cell proliferation,
      invasion, angiogenesis, and apoptosis resistance. MicroRNAs (miRNAs), small
      noncoding RNAs that bind to the 3'-untranslated region of target mRNAs, are now
      recognized to play key roles in the regulation of gene expression, particularly
      in tumor development and metastasis. We have shown that miRNA-7 (miR-7) and miRNA
      331-3p (miR-331-3p) directly regulate expression of EGFR and HER2, respectively,
      in glioblastoma and prostate cancer cell lines. As a consequence, miR-7 and miR
      331-3p reduce Akt activity and thus have the capacity to regulate a signaling
      pathway critical to the development and progression of glioblastoma and prostate
      cancer. This chapter provides a detailed approach outlining how to confirm that a
      putative target of a miRNA is a direct target, and subsequent assessment of
      downstream signaling mediators.

PMID- 20931397
TI  - Epigenetic regulation of microRNA expression in cancer.
AB  - Epigenetic gene regulation is important in human cancer. Both functional and
      observational data implicate alterations of histone modifications, DNA promoter
      methylation, and non-coding RNA expression in carcinogenic roles. We sought to
      explore the role of aberrant DNA hypermethylation in the regulation of microRNA
      (miR) expression in human cancer. From human genome databases we calculated that
      13 and 28% of human miR genes are located within 3 and 10 kb of a CpG island,
      respectively. To identify miRs that are regulated by epigenetic mechanisms in
      cancer, we performed expression profiling prior to and following treatment of
      cell lines with 5-azacytidine. We used oligonucleotide microarrays to determine
      miR expression. For miRs whose expression changed following 5-azacytidine
      treatment, we sequenced the adjacent CpG island and promoter using bisulphite
      treated DNA. Here, we describe these methods to enable other researchers to use
      this approach.

PMID- 20931398
TI  - In vitro functional study of miR-126 in leukemia.
AB  - MicroRNAs (miRNAs, miRs) are postulated to be important regulators in various
      cancers, including leukemia. In a large-scale miRNA expression profiling analysis
      of 435 human miRNAs in 52 acute myeloid leukemia (AML) samples, we found that miR
      126 and its minor counterpart in biogenesis, namely, miR-126*, were specifically
      aberrantly overexpressed in core binding factor (CBF) AMLs including both
      t(8;21)/AML1-ETO and inv(16)/CBFB-MYH11 samples. Our in vitro gain- and loss-of
      function experiments showed that forced expression of miR-126 inhibited apoptosis
      and increased the viability of AML cells, whereas the opposite effect was
      observed when endogenous expression of miR-126 was knocked down. In addition,
      through in vitro colony-forming/replating assays, we demonstrated that forced
      expression of miR-126 enhanced proliferation and colony-forming/replating
      capacity of mouse normal bone marrow progenitor cells alone and particularly, in
      cooperation with AML1-ETO, a fusion gene resulting from t(8;21). Thus, our data
      shows that miR-126 may play a critical role in the development of CBF leukemias.
      In the present chapter, the materials and protocols for the study of miR-126 in
      leukemia are described.

PMID- 20931399
TI  - Prediction of the biological effect of polymorphisms within microRNA binding
      sites.
AB  - MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are negative gene regulators acting at the 3'UTR level,
      modulating the translation of cancer-related genes. Single-nucleotide
      polymorphisms (SNPs) within the 3'UTRs could impact the miRNA-dependent gene
      regulation either by weakening or by reinforcing the binding sites. Thus, the
      alteration of the normal regulation of a given gene could affect the individual's
      risk of cancer. Therefore, it is helpful to develop a tool enabling the
      researchers to predict which of the many SNPs could really impact the regulation
      of a target gene. At present, there are several available databases and
      algorithms able to predict potential binding sites in the 3'UTR of genes.
      However, each algorithm gives different predictions and none of them gives, for
      each polymorphism, a direct measurement of the biological impact. We propose an
      approach allowing the assignment to each polymorphism a ranking of its biological
      impact. The method is based on a simple elaboration of predictions from
      preexisting well-established algorithms. As an example, we show the application
      of this approach to 140 genes candidate for colorectal cancer (CRC). These genes
      were identified following a genome-wide sequencing of 20,857 transcripts from
      18,191 genes in 11 CRC specimens and were found somatically mutated and thought
      to be crucial for the development of cancer.

PMID- 20931400
TI  - The guideline of the design and validation of MiRNA mimics.
AB  - The miRNA mimic technology (miR-Mimic) is an innovative approach for gene
      silencing. This approach is to generate nonnatural double-stranded miRNA-like RNA
      fragments. Such an RNA fragment is designed to have its 5'-end bearing a
      partially complementary motif to the selected sequence in the 3'UTR unique to the
      target gene. Once introduced into cells, this RNA fragment, mimicking an
      endogenous miRNA, can bind specifically to its target gene and produce
      posttranscriptional repression, more specifically translational inhibition, of
      the gene. Unlike endogenous miRNAs, miR-Mimics act in a gene-specific fashion.
      The miR-Mimic approach belongs to the "miRNA-targeting" and "miRNA-gain-of
      function" strategy and is primarily used as an exogenous tool to study gene
      function by targeting mRNA through miRNA-like actions in mammalian cells. The
      technology was developed by my research group (Department of Medicine, Montreal
      Heart Institute, University of Montreal) in 2007 (Xiao, et al. J Cell Physiol
      212:285-292, 2007; Xiao et al. Nat Cell Biol, in review).

PMID- 20931401
TI  - Analysis of targets and functions coregulated by microRNAs.
AB  - MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small, nonprotein-coding RNAs that negatively regulate
      their mRNA target genes in a sequence-specific manner. While their specific
      impact on biological processes and cellular functions remain largely unknown,
      dysregulated miRNAs have been implicated in numerous diseases, including cancers.
      Several large-scale profiling studies using tissue samples have revealed a
      consistent yet complex pattern of miRNA dysregulation in human cancer. In
      particular, global alteration of multiple miRNAs is common in human
      tumorigenesis. Systemic analysis of pathways and functions coregulated by these
      dysregulated miRNAs is a crucial step to understand the role of miRNAs in
      tumorigenesis. This chapter provides an integrated pipeline to identify cellular
      pathways and functions specifically regulated by multiple dysregulated miRNAs.
      Protocols described in this chapter include (1) miRNA target prediction using
      TargetScan algorithm, (2) data compilation to identify target genes coregulated
      by multiple miRNAs, and (3) pathway enrichment analysis of coregulated targets
      using MetaCore pathway and network database.

PMID- 20931402
TI  - Utilization of SSCprofiler to predict a new miRNA gene.
AB  - Experimental identification provides a valuable yet slow and expensive method for
      predicting novel miRNA genes. With the advent of computational procedures, it is
      now possible to capture characteristic features of miRNA biogenesis in an in
      silico model, resulting thereafter in the fast and inexpensive prediction of
      multiple novel miRNA gene candidates. These computational tools provide valuable
      clues to experimentalists, allowing them to narrow down their search space,
      making experimental verification less time consuming and less costly.
      Furthermore, the computational model itself can provide biological information as
      to which are the dominant features that characterize these regulatory units.
      Moreover, large-scale, high-throughput techniques, such as deep sequencing and
      tiling arrays, require computational methods to analyze this vast amount of data.
      Computational miRNA gene prediction tools are often used in synergy with high
      throughput methods, aiding in the discovery of putative miRNA genes. This chapter
      focuses on a recently developed computational tool (SSCprofiler) for identifying
      miRNA genes and provides an overview of the methodology undertaken by this tool,
      and defines a stepwise guideline on how to utilize SSCprofiler to predict novel
      miRNAs in the human genome.

PMID- 20931403
TI  - MicroRNA profiling using fluorescence-labeled beads: data acquisition and
      processing.
AB  - The discovery of small regulatory RNA molecules during the last years has changed
      our understanding of many biological and pathological processes. The most
      prominent and best analyzed class of these small regulatory noncoding RNAs is
      composed of the microRNAs. The analysis of microRNA expression patterns is now
      widely used in biology and pathology employing a range of methodologies. However,
      procedures for data processing and calculations are far from standardized and
      differ considerably between published studies. This makes comparisons and meta
      analyses still quite difficult. In this chapter, we describe a modified method
      for normalization and processing of raw data obtained if utilizing fluorescence
      labeled bead technology from Luminex. Inc.

PMID- 20931404
TI  - Schizophrenia, language and evolution (or the schizophrenias as logopathies).
AB  - Ever since the distinction between praecox dementia and manic-depressive illness
      made by Kraepelin in 1899, many changes have occurred in the way these conditions
      and especially their boundaries are conceived. The clearest example is the
      extraordinary increase in the diagnoses of bipolar disease with respect to those
      of schizophrenia. But there have also been important changes within each one of
      these categories. In the first case, the separation of schizo- affective and
      cycloid psychoses, and in the second, the distinction between mono and bipolar
      disease. Then there is the description of innumerable forms of monopolar
      depression1 or, on the contrary, the postulation of the existence of only one
      endogenous-melancholic syndrome by Tellenbach, an idea which is shall come up
      again, although from another methodological perspective, in the concept of major
      depression of DSM III. The present author thinks that this state of nosological
      confusion has to do, on one hand, with the improper combination of descriptive
      and etiological criteria,and on the other, with the application of categorical
      criteria to complex realities, without an organic basis supporting them.The
      present author proposes a logopathies/thymopathies dichotomy. The first would
      include all forms of schizophrenia,paraphrenias and paranoias. The second would
      correspond to the affective disorders and also to a great part of the so called
      "anxiety disorders". In this first part he develops the subject of the
      logopathies, trying to demonstrate the legitimacy of the concept upon the basis
      of three fundamental arguments: (i) Alteration of the thought/language as a
      nucleus of schizophrenic suffering. (ii) Schizophrenia is a constitutive element
      of the human condition. And (iii)Schizophrenia appears as a perturbation of
      Verstehen (understanding),as described by Heidegger in Being and Time as one of
      the ways Dasein (human being) is present in the world, together with
      Befindlichkeit (attunement or state-of mind),which is precisely what would be
      altered in thymopathies.

PMID- 20931405
TI  - Topiramate in the treatment of alcohol dependence: a meta-analysis.
AB  - Several controlled clinical trials have studied the efficacy of topiramate in the
      treatment of alcoholism. In this paper, we have performed a meta-analysis of
      those trials in which topiramate was compared with placebo and then we reviewed
      its efficacy in trials in which it was compared with other drugs. METHOD: A
      quantitative synthesis of data was per-formed using inverse variance weighting in
      a random effects model. RESULTS: Based on three placebo-controlled trials,
      topiramate is more efficacious than placebo in reducing the percentage of heavy
      drinking days (23.2%, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 15.7 to 34.4), increasing the
      number of days of abstinence (mean difference: 2.9 days, 95% CI: 2.5 to 3.3),and
      lowering the logarithm of g-GT levels (mean difference:0.075 95% CI: 0.048 to
      0.118). Two trials suggested that topiramate is also more efficacious than
      naltrexone, and one open-label study reported better results for disulfiram than
      for topiramate. CONCLUSION: Topiramate can be used in alcohol dependence. Adverse
      effects such as paresthesia or insomnia should be taken into account when
      prescribing topiramate.Its optimal dosage requires further research.

PMID- 20931406
TI  - Observational, open-label, prospective multicenter study of sexual function in
      patients starting treatment with aripiprazole.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Treatment with neuroleptics may be associated with secondary sexual
      dysfunction. Studies of sexual dysfunction induced by antipsychotic are important
      to establish the effectiveness of these agents in patients taking chronic
      treatments. The main objective of this study was to evaluate prospectively
      whether a 3 month course ofaripiprazole produces changes in the sexual function
      of patients with schizophrenia. METHODS: The efficacy analysis was performed in
      the intention-to-treat population (41 patients) and the per protocol population
      (36 patients). The safety analysis was based on the total sample (42 patients).
      RESULTS: The incidence of sexual dysfunction after 3 months of treatment with
      aripiprazole was zero both in patients who switched therapy due to lack of
      efficacy and in those taking aripiprazole as a first antipsychotic. Aripiprazole
      led to an improvement in the symptoms of psychosis (score on the BPRS) and lower
      scores on the SALSEX questionnaire.The most remarkable improvement was in delayed
      eyaculation/orgasm. CONCLUSION: During the 3 months of treatment, we observed an
      overall improvement in sexual performance, with a quicker recovery in men than in
      women, although recovery was similar in both at the end of treatment.

PMID- 20931407
TI  - Neurobiological bases of quetiapine antidepresant effect in the bipolar disorder.
AB  - Bipolar disorder is considered an important public health problem in the world.
      The depressive phase is the most important in terms of frequency, duration, and
      impairment of the quality of life. Common treatment of bipolar depression usually
      includes antidepressants, mood stabilizers and antipsychotics in different
      combinations, despite not having a specific indication for that. Quetiapine is
      the first drug in Europe that has obtained a specific indication for the
      treatment of bipolar depression, due to a pharmacologic profile that makes it to
      act on the three neurotransmitter systems involved in bipolar depression
      neurobiology. Regarding the dopaminergic pathway, quetiapine leads to an
      increasing of prefrontal dopamine release by antagonism of5-HT2A receptors,
      partial agonist of 5-HT1A and antagonism of a2 adrenoceptors. Quetiapine also
      enhances the serotoninergic transmission by increasing the density of receptors5
      HT1A in the prefrontal cortex and by antagonism of 5-HT2A receptors and a2
      adrenoceptors. On the other hand, norquetiapine, the main active metabolite of
      quetiapine, actsas a 5-HT2C antagonist and is a potent inhibitor of
      norepinephrine transporter (NET). NET inhibition leads to an increase of
      noerpinephrine in the synapse, and together with the increase of prefrontal
      dopamine and serotonin, could explain the antidepressive effect demonstrated by
      quetiapine in several clinical trials. Quetiapine's action on glutamatergicand
      GABAergic receptors represents an interesting object of research, together with a
      potential neuroprotective effect that have already been observed in animal
      models.

PMID- 20931408
TI  - Adaptation of the wisconsin scales of psychosis proneness to Spanish.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Nowadays the study of vulnerability to psychosis and early
      intervention is an area of great clinical impact and research. The aim of this
      study was to adapt the Wisconsin Scales of Vulnerability to Psychosis from
      English to Spanish. A set of five scales (Magical Ideation, Perceptual
      Aberration, Physical Anhedonia, Revised Social Anhedonia and Ambivalence) assess
      schizotypal traits in the general population and the possible risk of developing
      disorders embedded in the psychotic spectrum. Additionally, this tool contains a
      scale of Hypomaniac Personality to detect risk of affective spectrum psychosis.
      METHODOLOGY: The Wisconsin Scales of Vulnerability to Psychosis have been adapted
      following the back-translation method. The scales were translated to an original
      Spanish version, which was then translated again into English in order to assess
      the conceptual and semantic overlap with the original items. RESULTS: All the
      items were back-translated and evaluated in respect to the original ones by an
      expert in the scales, and all of them were rated with a perfect equivalence (Type
      A) or satisfactory (Type B). CONCLUSIONS: The Spanish version of the Wisconsin
      Scales of Vulnerability to Psychosis shows good equivalence with the English one,
      thus allowing to measure affective and schizotypal traits in samples of Spanish
      speaking individuals properly. Future studies should test the reliability and
      validity of these scales in our environment.

PMID- 20931409
TI  - The axial diagnostic and sensitive-to-change for depression index: diagnostic
      utility and use in studies of therapeutic evaluation.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The authors develop a new rating scale for to measure its
      sensibility to the change of the intensity of the depressive symptoms under the
      effects of antidepressants drugs, and for to analyze the predictive validity of
      its total score. Designate it: The Axial Diagnostic and Sensitive-to-Change for
      Depression Index (ADSCDI). For this, use only seven nuclear items for the
      depression diagnosis (mood, interest, impulse/drive, pleasure, energy, daily job
      and different quality) without vegetative symptoms or anxious. METHODOLOGY: The
      authors interview to 111 psychiatric outpatients attended consecutively in a
      Mental Health Center. Sixty were fulfilling the criteria for depressive episode
      of the ICD-10 and fifty and one were forming part of the group of control:
      psychiatric outpatients not depressed. They use for this a protocol of collection
      of data that contains the ADSCDI, where the patients indicate how are found on a
      Visual Analogical Scale in the one which quantify their answers in each item, the
      Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression of 17 articles (HRSD-17) and an Global
      Clinical Impression scale (GCI). Each depressed patient receipt the
      antidepressant treatment that better were adjusted to his clinical profile
      according to the psychiatrist that was trying to him. The depressed patients were
      evaluated a second time after thirty days of treatment. RESULTS: All the items of
      the ADSCDI perceive a change statistically significant in the intensity of the
      depressive symptoms (p=0.00). The total score of the ADSCDI, also, at same level
      of statistical significance that the total scores of the HRSD-17 and of the GCI
      p=0.000). The ADSCDI interrelates high and significatively with the HRSD-17 as
      with the GCI (r=0.77 and r=0.73 respectively; p=0.00). Equally makes it with the
      average of the "proportion of improvement" that evaluates, with the one evaluated
      by the HRSD-17 and the GCI (r=0.74 and r=0.68 respectively; p=0.000). A cut-off
      of 39 offers the best predictive values for the ADSCDI respect to the clinical
      and the ICD-10 criteria for depression. With a sensibility of 0.97, a specificity
      of 0.76 (of 0.88 with psychiatric patients free of symptoms), a total probability
      of guessing right of 93% and a kappa reliability of 0.74. The results improve
      when the ADSCDI is used as external criterion. For this new operative diagnostic
      criteria (ADCD), a cut-off of 40 offers a sensibility of 1.00, a specificity of
      0.96 a probability of guessing right of 99% and a kappa reliability of 0.96.
      CONCLUSIONS: The ADSCDI offers sufficient concurrent validity with the HRSD-17
      and the GCI. It can be considered a sensitive instrument to the change, with the
      advantage of containing, only, items that have shown be frequent, discriminant
      and predictives. The ADSCDI also is a good instrument to establish diagnostic of
      depression in the system ADCD/ADSCDI or in the ICD-10 one.

PMID- 20931410
TI  - Emergency psychiatric condition, mental illness behavior and lunar cycles: is
      there a real or an imaginary association?
AB  - There is a fairly widespread belief regarding the influence of the moon phases on
      the psychological behavior in humans. This relationship could be more pronounced
      among patients with mental disorders. OBJECTIVE: To study the possible
      association between the incidence of psychiatric emergencies and moon phases and
      between the behaviors of psychiatric patients and moon phases. METHODS: Daily
      series of cases seen in psychiatric emergencies were established according to the
      condition, typical behaviors manifested and treatments received by patients
      admitted to the short-term in-patient psychiatric unit, and the brightness of the
      moon, from 11-1-2006 to 10-31-2007. The possible association between the first
      two with the second was examined by making cross-correlations in the tuning fork
      of delays from 0 to 7 days. RESULTS: No association appeared between moon phases
      and characteristics of psychiatric emergencies. In hospitalized patients, a
      correlation was observed between the moon phases and the bed occupancy rate,
      which was direct, weak but significant, decreasing until the third day after
      admission (0.20, 0.18, 0.16 and 0.11), while hypnotic medication intake increased
      with moon brightness moon until the second day after, also declining and
      significantly weakness (0.22, 0.19 and 0.15). CONCLUSIONS: The only empirical
      relationship of the moon phases with psychiatric behavior of the mentally ill in
      our sample was manifested as an increase in the incidence of cases and greater
      disruption of sleep patterns.

PMID- 20931411
TI  - Attitudes of the family toward the mentally ill patient?
AB  - INTRODUCTION: In this article the attitudes towards mental illness in those
      families who have mentally ill members is presented in order to compare them with
      those found 25 years before in a similar research. METHODOLOGY: In order to carry
      out the survey we used Struening and Cohen's Opinion about Mental Illness (OMI)
      questionnaire. adapted for use in Spain by Ylla and Guimon (1979). The population
      studied were the families associations of the mentally ill persons suffering from
      sychotic and affective disturbance. alcoholism and Alzheimer's dementia; the
      control group was made up of a number of Civil Servants and another section of
      health care workers. The samples were collected at random among the associated
      members. For the study we undertook a factorial analysis of the answers. RESULTS:
      The first five factors contain the greater part of the accumulated variation.
      that is to say 34.2%. 19 factors explain the whole 100% of the variation. The
      five principle factors are: (i) Mental hygiene (14% of the variation). (ii)
      therapeutic negativism (7% of the variation). (iii) Social reinsertion (4.87% of
      the variation). which was also similar to the following factor. (iv) social
      rehabilitation. and (v) authoritarism (3.62% of the variation). CONCLUSION: The
      extensive knowledge of these illnesses and a close relationship with those who
      are ill could be the cause of the large and diverse opinions and that some
      attitudes are more complex nowadays. According to these five principle factors we
      can see that the controls are appreciably less authoritarian and restrictive than
      that of the families of these ill people and that the attitudes vary depending on
      the age. profession and diagnosis of the illness.

PMID- 20931412
TI  - Mothers' Adult Attachment Interview ratings predict preschool children's IQ
      following domestic violence exposure.
AB  - This study examined links between mothers' Adult Attachment Interview ratings
      (AAI; Main, Goldwyn, & Hesse, 2003) and their preschool children's IQ among 70
      families who had experienced domestic violence. As predicted, children displayed
      significantly stronger verbal and perceptual-organizational abilities when their
      mothers exhibited more secure, i.e. coherent, states of mind regarding
      attachment. Mothers' coherence of mind on the AAI explained 18% of the variance
      in children's Verbal IQ and 12% of the variance in children's Performance IQ,
      after controlling for maternal education. Mothers' attachment security also was
      related to children's total IQ score, but this association was accounted for by
      effects on children's Verbal IQ. Children whose mothers were rated as
      unclassifiable on the AAI and those whose mothers were unresolved/insecure had
      lower IQ scores. Although mothers who appeared more secure on the AAI were more
      sensitively responsive toward their children, mediational analyses suggested that
      there was a direct link between mothers' security and children's IQ that was not
      explained by sensitive parenting. This suggests that clinical interventions for
      children exposed to domestic violence should include helping their mothers
      achieve coherent ways of thinking about their own childhood experiences,
      including past trauma.

PMID- 20931413
TI  - Finnish mother's and father's attachment representations during child's first
      year predict psychosocial adjustment in preadolescence.
AB  - The aim of the longitudinal study was to examine, for the first time in a Nordic
      country, whether autonomous parenting in infancy affects psychosocial adjustment
      in preadolescence. Attachment representations of mothers and fathers were
      investigated with the Adult Attachment Interview in a community sample of two
      parent Finnish families. Most mothers and fathers were classified as autonomous,
      a finding which is in line with normative Western distributions. Moreover, the
      ratio of dismissing versus preoccupied adults was similar to Western norms.
      Demographic characteristics such as family structure and years of education
      differentiated autonomous from non-autonomous mothers. In preadolescence, the
      children who had experienced at least one autonomous parent were more empathic
      and had fewer problems in social relationships and thought processes compared to
      children of two non-autonomous parents. The findings suggest that autonomous
      parenting has long-term parent gender specific influences on children's
      psychosocial adjustment.

PMID- 20931414
TI  - Growing up in foster families or institutions: attachment representation and
      psychological adjustment of young adults.
AB  - This study considers whether type of placement (foster care versus institutional
      care) is related to patterns of attachment representation and the quality of
      psychological adjustment in a sample of 48 young adults, who grew up either in
      foster care or in institutions. The subjects were interviewed using the Adult
      Attachment Interview (George, Kaplan, & Main, 1996, [2001]) and their
      psychological adjustment was assessed by using the Brief Symptom Inventory
      (Derogatis, 1993; German version by Franke, 2000). The results show significantly
      more positive effects of foster care when compared with institutional upbringing.
      These findings support the possibility of a beneficial effect of an alternative
      stable (foster) family relationship for children's psychological development.
      Implications for assessing placement options for children following severe
      traumatization are discussed.

PMID- 20931415
TI  - Reflective functioning in mothers with drug use disorders: implications for
      dyadic interactions with infants and toddlers.
AB  - In this study, we examined maternal reflective functioning as a bi-dimensional
      construct in a sample of 47 mothers with drug use disorders caring for infants
      and toddlers. We first tested a two-factor solution with scale items from the
      Parent Development Interview and confirmed the presence of two related but
      distinct dimensions: self-mentalization and child-mentalization. We then tested
      predictions that (a) self-mentalization would be associated with overall quality
      of maternal caregiving and that (b) child-mentalization would be associated with
      (i) maternal contingent behavior and (ii) child communication. Results partially
      supported hypotheses (a) and (bii). Unexpectedly, self-mentalization alone was
      associated with maternal contingent behavior. Findings suggest that self
      mentalization may be a critical first step in improving mother-child relations
      involving mothers with drug use disorders. Implications for theory and practice
      are discussed.

PMID- 20931416
TI  - Assessment of the potential suitability of selected commercially available
      enzymes for cleaning-in-place (CIP) in the dairy industry.
AB  - The potential suitability of 10 commercial protease and lipase products for
      cleaning-in-place (CIP) application in the dairy industry was investigated on a
      laboratory scale. Assessment was based primarily on the ability of the enzymes to
      remove an experimentally generated milk fouling deposit from stainless steel (SS)
      panels. Three protease products were identified as being most suitable for this
      application on the basis of their cleaning performance at 40  degrees C, which
      was comparable to that of the commonly used cleaning agent, 1% NaOH at 60 
      degrees C. This was judged by quantification of residual organic matter and
      protein on the SS surface after cleaning and analysis by laser scanning confocal
      microscopy (LSCM). Enzyme activity was removed/inactivated under conditions
      simulating those normally undertaken after cleaning (rinsing with water, acid
      circulation, sanitation). Preliminary process-scale studies strongly suggest that
      enzyme-based CIP achieves satisfactory cleaning at an industrial scale. Cost
      analysis indicates that replacing caustic-based cleaning procedures with
      biodegradable enzymes operating at lower temperatures would be economically
      viable. Additional potential benefits include decreased energy and water
      consumption, improved safety, reduced waste generation, greater compatibility
      with wastewater treatment processes and a reduction in the environmental impact
      of the cleaning process.

PMID- 20931417
TI  - Levels of synthetic antioxidants (ethoxyquin, butylated hydroxytoluene and
      butylated hydroxyanisole) in fish feed and commercially farmed fish.
AB  - Several synthetic antioxidants are authorized for use as feed additives in the
      European Union. Ethoxyquin (EQ) and butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) are generally
      added to fish meal and fish oil, respectively, to limit lipid oxidation. The
      study was conducted to examine the concentrations of EQ, BHT and butylated
      hydroxyanisole (BHA) in several commercially important species of farmed fish,
      namely Atlantic salmon, halibut and cod and rainbow trout, as well as
      concentrations in fish feed. The highest levels of BHT, EQ and BHA were found in
      farmed Atlantic salmon fillets, and were 7.60, 0.17 and 0.07 mg kg(-1),
      respectively. The lowest concentrations of the synthetic antioxidants found were
      in cod. The concentration of the oxidation product ethoxyquin dimer (EQDM) was
      more than ten-fold higher than the concentration of parent EQ in Atlantic salmon
      halibut and rainbow trout, whereas this dimer was not detected in cod fillets.
      The theoretical consumer exposure to the synthetic antioxidants EQ, BHA and BHT
      from the consumption of farmed fish was calculated. The contribution of EQ from a
      single portion (300 g) of skinned fillets of the different species of farmed fish
      would contribute at most 15% of the acceptable daily intake (ADI) for a 60 kg
      adult. The consumption of farmed fish would not contribute measurably to the
      intake of BHA; however, a 300 g portion of farmed Atlantic salmon would
      contribute up to 75% of the ADI for BHT.

PMID- 20931418
TI  - Comparison of the migration of melamine from melamine-formaldehyde plastics
      ('melaware') into various food simulants and foods themselves.
AB  - A variety of melaware articles were tested for the migration of melamine into the
      food simulant 3% w/v acetic acid as a benchmark, and into other food simulants,
      beverages and foods for comparison. The results indicate that the acidity of the
      food simulant plays a role in promoting migration, but not by as much as might
      have been anticipated, since 3% acetic acid gave migration values about double
      those obtained using water under the same time and temperature test conditions.
      In contrast, migration into the fatty food simulant olive oil was not detectable
      and at least 20-fold lower than with the aqueous food simulants. This was
      expected given the solubility properties of melamine and the characteristics of
      the melaware plastic. Migration levels into hot acidic beverages (apple juice,
      tomato juice, red-fruit tea and black coffee) were rather similar to the acetic
      acid simulant when the same time and temperature test conditions are used, e.g. 2
      h at 70 degrees C. However, migration levels into foods that were placed hot into
      melaware articles and then allowed to cool on standing were much lower (6-14
      times lower) than if pre-heated food was placed into the articles and then
      maintained (artificially) at that high temperature in the same way that a
      controlled time-temperature test using simulants would be conducted. This very
      strong influence of time and especially temperature was manifest in the effects
      seen of microwave heating of food or beverage in the melaware articles. Here,
      despite the short duration of hot contact, migration levels were similar to
      simulants used for longer periods, e.g. 70 degrees C for 2 h. This is
      rationalized in terms of the peak temperature achieved on microwave heating,
      which may exceed 70 degrees C, counterbalancing the shorter time period held hot.
      There was also evidence that when using melaware utensils in boiling liquids, as
      for stovetop use of spatulas, the boiling action of circulating food/simulant can
      have an additional effect in promoting surface erosion, increasing the plastic
      decomposition and so elevating the melamine release.

PMID- 20931419
TI  - Investigating the nature and time-course of the modality shift effect between
      vision and touch.
AB  - It is well known that stimuli grab attention to their location, but do they also
      grab attention to their sensory modality? The modality shift effect (MSE), the
      observation that responding to a stimulus leads to reaction time benefits for
      subsequent stimuli in the same modality, suggests that this may be the case. If
      noninformative cue stimuli, which do not require a response, also lead to
      benefits for their modality, this would suggest that the effect is automatic. We
      investigated the time-course of the visuotactile MSE and the difference between
      the effects of cues and targets. In Experiment 1, when visual and tactile tasks
      and stimulus locations were matched, uninformative cues did not lead to reaction
      time benefits for targets in the same modality. However, the modality of the
      previous target led to a significant MSE. Only stimuli that require a response,
      therefore, appear to lead to reaction time benefits for their modality. In
      Experiment 2, increasing attention to the cue stimuli attenuated the effect of
      the previous target, but the cues still did not lead to a MSE. In Experiment 3, a
      MSE was demonstrated between successive targets, and this effect decreased with
      increasing intertrial intervals. Overall, these studies demonstrate how cue- and
      target-induced effects interact and suggest that modalities do not automatically
      capture attention as locations do; rather, the MSE is more similar to other task
      repetition effects.

PMID- 20931420
TI  - Immunohistochemical analysis of Ki-67, p53 and Bcl-2 expression related to
      histological features in gastroesophageal reflux disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: The endoscopic and histologic findings of gastroesophageal
      reflux disease are usually indistinct. The current study was designed to define
      accurately the histology in gastroesophageal reflux disease and to develop a
      hypothesis that reflux produces immunohistochemical changes. METHODS: The study
      was based on the examination of endoscopic esophageal biopsy specimens obtained
      from 20 patients with evidence of reflux with 24-hour pH-meter monitoring and
      from 20 control subjects without clinical or endoscopic reflux. The pathogenesis
      of reflux esophagitis was discussed by comparing the histopathologic changes with
      determined Ki-67, p53 and Bcl-2 immunoreactivity. RESULTS: In this study, the
      presence of esophagitis was determined endoscopically in only 55% of the patients
      with gastroesophageal reflux disease, while microscopic esophagitis was detected
      in 60% of them. No correlation was found between presence of endoscopic
      esophagitis and microscopic esophagitis in the patients with gastroesophageal
      reflux disease. There was a significant difference between control cases and the
      patients according to histological parameters, which included basal activity
      (p=0.006), height of papillae (p=0.006), intraepithelial neutrophils (p=0.000),
      intraepithelial eosinophils (p=0.006), congestion (p=0.001), and dilated
      intercellular spaces (p=0.006). Immunohistochemically, there was a significant
      difference in the expression of p53 and Ki-67 between the three study groups
      (patients with/without microscopic esophagitis, controls) (p<0.05). However,
      there was no difference in Bcl-2 between the patients with reflux and control
      cases. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, we considered that microscopic esophagitis
      does not always accompany reflux, and the lack of reliable diagnostic histologic
      criteria is still a serious problem for pathologists. Immunohistochemically, an
      increase in cell proliferative activity and p53 protein accumulation to repair
      oxidative DNA damage related to reflux were observed. However, the close Bcl-2
      immunoreactivity in all groups that was indicated by a weak positivity suggests
      that the inhibition of apoptosis may not be involved in reflux esophagitis.

PMID- 20931421
TI  - Sequential therapy for Helicobacter pylori eradication.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The success of Helicobacter pylori eradication using triple
      eradication therapy declines over time. In this prospective study, we have
      compared a group of naive H. pylori-positive patients receiving sequential
      therapy with our previously published naive H. pylori-positive control group who
      received ranitidine bismuth citrate-clarithromycin-amoxicillin eradication
      treatment. Moreover, the eradication success of these two treatment protocols was
      compared with that of recent standard triple eradication treatment results for
      the naive patients in our country and western communities. METHODS: We performed
      invasive tests for H. pylori in naive patients who underwent gastroduodenoscopy
      in the Endoscopy Unit, Ankara University, Faculty of Medicine, and patients who
      were diagnosed as H. pylori-positive by these tests were rechecked by the same
      invasive tests one month after the completion of eradication treatment. The group
      receiving sequential therapy was given pantoprazole + amoxicillin during the
      first seven days and pantoprazole + metronidazole + tetracycline during the
      second seven days. These patients were compared with the H. pylori-positive naive
      control group patients, who were given ranitidine bismuth citrate +
      clarithromycin + amoxicillin. The patients in whom eradication was achieved in
      the 4th week with sequential therapy were reevaluated one year later regarding
      the success of eradication with the H. pylori stool antigen test. RESULTS: The
      average age of the 108 patients who received the sequential therapy was 45.2+/
      12.5 years. The average age of the 75 patients who received ranitidine bismuth
      citrate treatment was 41.2+/-12.6 years. Six (5%) patients in the consecutive
      treatment group developed deterioration in taste in the mouth and 10 (9%)
      developed diarrhea. However, no side effects severe enough to require
      discontinuation of the treatments were observed in either treatment group. The
      results of the invasive tests were evaluated by the end of the first month, and
      revealed an eradication rate of 88% in the sequential treatment group versus 95%
      in the ranitidine bismuth citrate treatment group. Sixty-eight of 94 patients in
      whom eradication was achieved by sequential therapy were reevaluated with H.
      pylori stool antigen test in one year, and eradication was found to persist in 52
      (77%) of these 68 patients. CONCLUSIONS: High rates of eradication were achieved
      in both groups in the 4th week evaluation. It was observed at the follow-up
      performed one year later that the eradication achieved with sequential therapy
      persisted in 77% of the patients treated.

PMID- 20931423
TI  - Effectiveness of different treatment regimens in helicobacter pylori eradication:
      ten-year experience of a single institution.
AB  - AIM: We aimed to report the outcomes of different H. pylori eradication regimens
      used in our institution over the last 10 years. METHOD: Retrospectively, H.
      pylori-positive patients who were referred for upper gastrointestinal endoscopy
      with dyspeptic symptoms and who started eradication treatment and returned for a
      follow-up visit were included in the study. Subjects were allocated into six
      groups according to their treatment regimens as follows: Group 1) Proton pump
      inhibitor, clarithromycin and amoxicillin for 2 weeks; Group 2) Colloidal bismuth
      subcitrate, metronidazole and tetracycline for 2 weeks; Group 3) ranitidine
      bismuth citrate, clarithromycin and amoxicillin for 2 weeks; Group 4) Proton pump
      inhibitor, colloidal bismuth subcitrate, clarithromycin and amoxicillin for 2
      weeks; Group 5) Proton pump inhibitor, tetracycline and amoxicillin for 2 weeks;
      and Group 6) Proton pump inhibitor and amoxicillin for 5 days, followed
      consecutively by Proton pump inhibitor, clarithromycin and metronidazole for 5
      days. A follow-up visit to determine eradication was scheduled a minimum of 6
      weeks after completion of the treatment. RESULTS: In this study, 400 patients
      were included. Eradication rates were 74.7%, 92.3%, 81.2%, 81.5%, 70.5%, and
      66.6% in Groups 1-6, respectively. CONCLUSION: In Group 1, the eradication rate
      was lower than 80%. In Groups 34, the eradication rate increased to over 80%. The
      colloidal bismuth subcitrate, metronidazole and tetracycline regimen (Group 2)
      was the most successful, with a rate of 92.3%. The eradication rate in the
      consecutive regimen group (Group 6) did not reach the recommended level (higher
      than 80-85%).

PMID- 20931422
TI  - Efficacy of probiotics in Helicobacter pylori eradication therapy.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: Triple therapy with a proton pump inhibitor, amoxicillin and
      clarithromycin in Helicobacter pylori eradication is widely accepted, but this
      combination fails in a considerable number of cases. Our aim was to evaluate
      whether probiotic-containing yogurt affects the success of eradication. The
      second aim was to investigate the efficacy of probiotics in the prevention of the
      side effects related to eradication therapy. METHODS: A total of 76
      histopathologically proven H. pylori-positive patients enrolled in this study
      were randomized into two groups. The following regimens were recommended: Group
      A: pantoprazole (40 mg, b.i.d.), amoxicillin (1000 mg b.i.d.), clarithromycin
      (500 mg b.i.d.), and 125 ml of probiotic-containing yogurt (Bifidobacterium DN
      173 010-1010 cfu/g) before breakfast for 14 days; and Group B: pantoprazole (40
      mg, b.i.d.), amoxicillin (1000 mg b.i.d.) and clarithromycin (500 mg b.i.d.) for
      14 days. Subjects were asked to report any side effects of therapy during the
      treatment period. H. pylori status was rechecked four weeks after the completion
      of the eradication therapy by 13C-urea breath test. RESULTS: H. pylori
      eradication was achieved in 25 of the 38 patients in Group A (66%) and in 20 of
      the 38 patients (53%) in Group B. Although the success rate was higher in Group A
      than in Group B, the difference was not significant (p=0.350). The addition of
      probiotics to the triple therapy significantly lessened the frequency of
      stomatitis and constipation (p=0.037 and p=0.046, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: The
      addition of probiotic-containing yogurt to the triple therapy did not increase
      the H. pylori eradication rates for the evaluated dosage and model; however, it
      decreased the frequency of stomatitis and constipation.

PMID- 20931424
TI  - beta-Catenin-independent noncanonical Wnt pathway might be induced in gastric
      cancers.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: Abnormal Wnt signaling is often observed in human cancers. Wnt5a
      is a representative Wnt ligand that can activate both beta-catenin-dependent
      canonical and beta-catenin-independent noncanonical Wnt pathways. However, the
      role of Wnt5a in carcinogenesis is controversial. This study was designed to
      understand whether Wnt5a in the Wnt pathway and its key downstream molecules such
      as MMP-7 and beta-catenin are involved in gastric cancers. METHODS: We analyzed
      the expressions of Wnt5a, MMP-7 and beta-catenin genes in 40 primary gastric
      normal and tumor biopsies by RT-PCR and the subcellular localization of beta
      catenin by immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: Our results showed a specific
      combination of genes expressed significantly in the gastric tumor tissues: 65% of
      the tumor samples containing non-nuclear beta-catenin were Wnt5a-positive, 42.5%
      were MMP-7-positive, and 35% of the samples involved both. Interestingly, normal
      samples did not show any relevant coexpression of Wnt5a and MMP-7 in the beta
      catenin-containing samples. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that the
      noncanonical Wnt pathway might be critically important in gastric carcinogenesis.

PMID- 20931425
TI  - Seroprevalence of autoimmune thyroiditis and celiac disease in children with
      insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus in the Thrace region of Turkey.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: We aimed to estimate the seroprevalence of celiac disease, a
      gluten-sensitive enteropathy, and autoimmune thyroiditis in children with insulin
      dependent diabetes mellitus in the Thrace region of Turkey. METHODS: The
      population studied consisted of 33 children with insulin-dependent diabetes
      mellitus and 41 healthy children with demographic features similar to the study
      subjects. Free triiodothyronine, free thyroxine, thyroid-stimulating hormone,
      anti-thyroid peroxidase antibody, anti-thyroglobulin antibody, IgA, anti
      endomysium IgA, and anti-gliadin IgA were measured in all cases and controls.
      RESULTS: The serum levels of free triiodothyronine and free thyroxine were within
      the normal range in all cases. However, in one patient who had anti-thyroid
      peroxidase and antithyroglobulin antibodies, the thyroid-stimulating hormone
      level was high despite a normal free triiodothyronine and free thyroxine value.
      Ultrasonographic findings confirmed thyroiditis in this patient. Anti-thyroid
      peroxidase antibodies, anti-thyroglobulin antibodies, anti-endomysium IgA and
      anti-gliadin IgA were detected in 15.4%, 6%, 9.1% and 3% of the diabetic cases,
      respectively. None of these antibodies was detected in the control group. In the
      diabetic group, the seroprevalences of the antithyroid peroxidase antibodies and
      the anti-endomysium IgA were statistically higher than in the control group
      (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Children with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus in our
      region should undergo periodic screenings for autoimmune thyroiditis and celiac
      disease.

PMID- 20931426
TI  - The effects of oral liquid and intravenous glutamine on bowel adaptation in a
      rabbit short bowel syndrome model.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: The aim of this study was to examine whether liquid glutamine
      given to rabbits after resection is as effective as intravenous (i.v.) glutamine
      and to study the positive effects of glutamine on mucosal atrophy that occurs
      after bowel resection. METHODS: Thirty rabbits with an average weight of 2500 g
      were used. On the third day, 30 rabbits were divided into three groups as
      follows: Group I (controls): bowel resection + oral total parenteral nutrition,
      Group II (oral liquid L-glutamine): Bowel resection + oral total parenteral
      nutrition + oral liquid L-glutamine, and Group III (i.v. L-glutamine): bowel
      resection + oral total parenteral nutrition + i.v. L-glutamine. On the
      postoperative 7th day, all subjects were sacrificed to examine intestinal
      adaptation indicators. RESULTS: There was an increase in average villus height
      and crypt depth in Group III compared to the other groups (p=0.0001). In Group
      II, the villus height and crypt depth increased more than in Group I, but the
      difference was less significant (p=0.038). There was no significant difference
      between groups in terms of average goblet cell proliferation. CONCLUSIONS: In our
      experimental study, it was observed that the orally given L-glutamine liquid in
      the rabbit intestinal adaptation model prevented mucosal atrophy after 50% bowel
      resection and even increased mucosa mass. However, i.v. glutamine led to similar
      and even better results. Neither route of glutamine administration was determined
      to have an effect on goblet cell proliferation.

PMID- 20931427
TI  - Anti-allergic effects of probiotic Dahi through modulation of the gut immune
      system.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: The alarming increase in allergy in the last few decades demands
      the development of new anti-allergic prevention strategies, and consumption of
      functional foods (i.e. probiotic Dahi, which has already been proven to enhance
      immunity by modulation of the gut mucosal immune system) may be one of them. In
      the present study, we evaluated anti-allergic effects of a Dahi (yogurt)
      containing probiotic Lactobacillus acidophilus, L. casei and normal Dahi culture
      Lactococcus lactis biovar diacetylactis (named probiotic Dahi) on ovalbumin
      induced allergy in mice. METHODS: Allergy was induced by injecting (i.p.)
      ovalbumin at 0 and 14 days. Animals were fed with standard diet (control), milk,
      control Dahi or probiotic Dahi for 21 days. Total and ovalbumin-specific IgE,
      cytokines and lymphocyte proliferation index were examined after 7, 14 and 21
      days. RESULTS: Feeding of probiotic Dahi completely suppressed the elevation of
      total and ovalbumin-specific IgE in the serum of ovalbumin-injected mice.
      Similarly, splenocytes collected from mice fed with probiotic Dahi entirely lost
      the total and ovalbumin-specific IgE production property during in-vitro culture.
      Production of T helper (Th)-1 cell-specific cytokines, i.e. interferon -gamma and
      interleukin (IL)-2, increased, while Th2-specific cytokines, i.e. IL-4 and IL-6,
      decreased in the supernatant of cultured splenocytes collected from mice fed with
      probiotic Dahi compared to the other groups. Moreover, ovalbumin-stimulated
      lymphocyte proliferation was strongly suppressed by feeding of probiotic Dahi in
      comparison to milk and control Dahi. CONCLUSIONS: Results of the present study
      indicate that probiotic Dahi suppressed ovalbumin-induced allergic consequences
      characterized by decreasing levels of total and ovalbumin-specific IgE and
      lymphocyte proliferation and skewed ovalbumin-induced Th2-specific immune
      response towards Th1-specific response.

PMID- 20931428
TI  - Is the prevalence of intestinal metaplasia at the squamocolumnar junction
      different in patients with progressive systemic sclerosis?
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: Gastroesophageal reflux disease is seen frequently in patients
      with progressive systemic sclerosis. The aim of the present study was to
      determine the prevalence of intestinal metaplasia-squamocolumnar junction in
      patients with progressive systemic sclerosis and to investigate the association
      with gastroesophageal reflux disease. METHODS: Thirty-one patients with
      progressive systemic sclerosis (Group A), 58 patients with gastroesophageal
      reflux disease--without progressive systemic sclerosis (Group B) and 36 patients
      without progressive systemic sclerosis or gastroesophageal reflux disease (Group
      C) were prospectively enrolled into this study. Biopsies were taken from the
      antrum, body, squamocolumnar junction (Z-line), and from the esophagus (3 cm
      above the Z-line). All biopsies were independently evaluated by two pathologists
      who were unaware of the diagnosis. RESULTS: We found that grade C-D esophagitis,
      esophageal stricture and Barrett's esophagus were statistically significantly
      higher in Group A (p<0.05). Intestinal metaplasia at squamocolumnar junction was
      detected in 31% of Group A, in 32% of Group B and in 29% of Group C patients
      (p>0.05), and prevalence of Helicobacter pylori was 61%, 67% and 38% in Groups A,
      B and C, respectively. Prevalence of Helicobacter pylori was similar in Group B
      and Group A, and significantly higher in Group B than Group C. Within each group,
      no significant relationship was detected between intestinal metaplasia at
      squamocolumnar junction and gender, age, smoking, alcohol consumption, body mass
      index, gastric atrophy, and prevalence of Helicobacter pylori. CONCLUSIONS:
      Patients with progressive systemic sclerosis have a higher tendency to the more
      severe forms and complications of gastroesophageal reflux disease including
      Barrett's esophagus than in those without progressive systemic sclerosis.
      However, there was no difference in the prevalence of intestinal metaplasia at
      squamocolumnar junction between groups, and it can be pointed out that intestinal
      metaplasia at squamocolumnar junction might not be related with gastroesophageal
      reflux disease.

PMID- 20931429
TI  - Short-term outcomes after surgery for colorectal cancer in Turkish patients aged
      70 and above.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: We aimed to evaluate the impact of age on short-term surgical
      outcomes and to investigate the risk factors for postoperative mortality in 660
      Turkish colorectal cancer patients. METHODS: Between January 2002 and January
      2007, 660 consecutive patients who were operated for colorectal cancer at our
      institution were enrolled in this study. The patients were divided into two
      groups as: a younger group (<70 years) and an older group (>=70 years). Patient
      data were recorded prospectively with the use of specially designed forms.
      Variables and short-term patient results were compared. RESULTS: American Society
      of Anesthesiologists (ASA) scores were significantly higher and albumin levels
      were lower in the older group compared with the younger group (p<0.05). Morbidity
      and mortality rates were 16.8% (83/494) and 2.6% (13/494) in the younger group
      and 22.9% (38/166) and 3.0% (5/166) in the older group, respectively. These
      differences in rates were not statistically significant. ASA score (ASA 4) and
      non-resective procedures were found to be independent risk factors for mortality.
      CONCLUSIONS: Age should not be regarded as a reason for limited surgery. Elderly
      patients should undergo the same standard surgical approach as younger patients.
      The patient's general state of health is more effective on postoperative
      mortality.

PMID- 20931430
TI  - Protective role of Urtica dioica L. (Urticaceae) extract on hepatocytes
      morphometric changes in STZ diabetic Wistar rats.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: The present investigation was carried out to evaluate the
      protective effect of the hydroalcoholic extract of Urtica dioica leaves on the
      quantitative morphometric changes in the liver of streptozotocin-induced diabetic
      rats. METHODS: Thirty male Wistar rats were divided into control (G1), diabetic
      (G2), diabetic + Urtica dioica (G3) groups. The control group received only sham
      injections of intraperitoneal saline; the diabetic group received intraperitoneal
      saline for 5 days followed by streptozotocin (80 mg/kg) on the 6th day; and the
      diabetic + Urtica dioica group received 100 mg/kg Urtica dioica intraperitoneal
      (7) injections for 5 days and streptozotocin injection on the 6th day. After five
      weeks, the animals were sacrificed and whole livers removed. Liver specimens were
      used for quantitative morphometric analysis after hematoxylin and eosin staining.
      All data were statistically analyzed by one-way ANOVA and expressed as the mean
      with standard error of means. RESULTS: In the G3 (diabetic + Urtica diocia)
      group, the mean surface area of hepatocytes in the periportal zone (Z1) was
      greater than in G2 (diabetic) and G1 (control) groups, but this difference was
      not significant. No alteration was observed in the surface area of hepatocytes in
      the perivenous zone (Z3) in the diabetic + Urtica dioica (G3) group compared to
      the diabetic (G2) group. The mean nuclear area of hepatocytes of the rats in the
      diabetic + Urtica dioica (G3) group was higher in Z1 and lower in Z3 than that of
      rats in the diabetic (G2) group. The mean diameter of hepatocyte nuclei in the
      diabetic + Urtica dioica (G3) group was lower than that of diabetic (G2) and
      control (G1) groups in both Z1 and Z3. CONCLUSIONS: This study revealed that the
      administration of extract of Urtica dioica leaves before induction of diabetic
      with streptozotocin has a protective effect on the morphometric alterations of
      hepatocytes in the periportal and perivenous zones of the liver lobule in rats.

PMID- 20931431
TI  - Fulminant hepatic failure and serum phosphorus levels in children from the
      western part of Turkey.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: Clinical and laboratory predictors of recovery in children with
      fulminant hepatic failure are limited. Recently, hypophosphatemia has been
      reported as a laboratory indicator of recovering liver function in children with
      fulminant hepatic failure . We aimed to determine the incidence of
      hypophosphatemia and its association with clinical outcome in children in our
      center with fulminant hepatic failure. METHODS: We analyzed 21 children who had
      been diagnosed with fulminant hepatic failure. Laboratory findings were recorded
      from admission date until the patient spontaneously recovered, underwent
      orthotopic liver transplantation or died. RESULTS: Eight patients (38%) died, 6
      (28.6%) underwent orthotopic liver transplantation, and 7 (33.3%) recovered
      without orthotopic liver transplantation. We identified hypophosphatemia in 57.1%
      of children with fulminant hepatic failure. Serum phosphorus levels were
      significantly lower in patients who recovered than in the orthotopic liver
      transplantation+death group. The presence of encephalopathy was determined at a
      much lower rate in the recovery group than in the orthotopic liver
      transplantation+death group. Serum phosphorus concentration >=2.9 mg/dl and
      presence of encephalopathy were identified as independent risk factors for
      mortality. CONCLUSIONS: Hypophosphatemia can be identified as a marker of
      recovery in children with fulminant hepatic failure. Presence of encephalopathy
      and a serum phosphorus level >=2.9 mg/dl appear to indicate a poor prognosis in
      children with fulminant hepatic failure.

PMID- 20931433
TI  - Utilization of impedance cardiography in noninvasive assessment of hemodynamic
      status in cirrhotic patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: This study aimed to assess hemodynamic alterations noninvasively
      using a dedicated device Task Force(r) Monitor providing various hemodynamic data
      utilizing impedance cardiography and beat-to-beat blood pressure analysis via a
      vascular unloading unit. METHODS: Forty-seven patients with cirrhosis awaiting
      hepatic transplantation and 26 healthy volunteers matched for age and gender were
      enrolled. Basic hemodynamic status of these patients (following temporary
      interruption of any drugs affecting the cardiovascular system) was evaluated
      noninvasively by Task Force(r) Monitor with patients in the supine position.
      RESULTS: Mean age of the patients was 46 years and 74.5% were male. The etiology
      of cirrhosis was viral hepatitis in 59.5% and alcoholic cirrhosis in 19.1% of
      cases, whereas 17% had cryptogenic cirrhosis. 38.3%, 25.5%, and 36.1% of the
      patients were stratified into groups A, B and C according to the Child-Pugh
      classification, respectively. Heart rate, cardiac output and cardiac index were
      significantly higher in patients with cirrhosis compared to the control group.
      However, diastolic blood pressure, total peripheral resistance and total
      peripheral resistance index were significantly lower in the cirrhosis group. This
      situation representing a hyperdynamic circulatory state became more prominent in
      conjunction with advanced disease severity. CONCLUSIONS: The present study
      demonstrates that the Task Force(r) Monitor device is capable of delineating the
      hyperdynamic circulatory state in cirrhotic patients and satisfactorily indicates
      differences between controls and patients at diverse levels of severity.
      Regarding potential applications in clinical practice and research, noninvasive
      hemodynamic monitoring by Task Force(r) Monitor may be a reliable and reasonable
      alternative tool to invasive procedures.

PMID- 20931432
TI  - MR angiography of esophageal mural veins in portal hypertension: a correlation
      with endoscopic grades of esophageal varices.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: The esophageal mural veins are important for providing blood to
      the esophageal submucosal varices. The purpose of this study was to investigate
      any correlation between the diameters of esophageal mural veins as observed on
      routine contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance angiography and the endoscopic
      grades of esophageal varices in patients with portal hypertension. METHODS: The
      images of 57 patients with portal hypertension in whom magnetic resonance
      portography was performed were evaluated retrospectively. The correlation between
      the diameter of the esophageal mural veins and the endoscopic grade of the
      esophageal varices was investigated with Spearman's correlation test. This test
      was also used to assess the correlation between the grade of esophageal varices
      and the diameters of the paraesophageal veins. A p value less than 0.05 was
      considered to be statistically significant. RESULTS: A positive correlation was
      determined between the diameter of mural veins and the endoscopic grade of the
      esophageal varices (p=0.022; r=0.363). There was no correlation, however, between
      the endoscopic grade of the esophageal varices and the diameter of the
      paraesophageal veins. CONCLUSIONS: A correlation exists between the diameters of
      the esophageal mural veins and the endoscopic grades of the esophageal varices.
      Magnetic resonance angiography may give information about the status of the
      esophageal varices in portal hypertensive patients.

PMID- 20931434
TI  - Effects of a long-acting somatostatin analogue, lanreotide, on bile duct ligation
      induced liver fibrosis in rats.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: Somatostatin receptors have been shown on hepatic stellate
      cells, and somatostatin infusion has been shown to inhibit hepatic stellate cells
      activation. We aimed to test the effects of a long-acting somatostatin analogue,
      lanreotide, on bile duct ligation-induced liver fibrosis in rats. METHODS: Thirty
      seven Wistar rats were divided into 5 groups as follows: Group 1, bile duct
      ligation+lanreotide; Group 2, bile duct ligation; Group 3, sham+lanreotide; Group
      4, sham; and Group 5, control group. Lanreotide-autogel (20 mg/kg/month) or
      saline in intraperitoneal doses was administered. Serum biochemical parameters,
      liver collagen level, and oxidative stress and histological parameters were
      determined after 28 days. RESULTS: The tissue collagen level, biochemical
      parameters (AST, ALT, bilirubins, alkaline phosphatase, gamma-glutamyl
      transpeptidase) and oxidative stress parameters (malondialdehyde, luminal,
      lucigenin) in the bile duct ligation groups were higher than in the sham-operated
      and control groups (p<0.001 for all). Lanreotide improved malondialdehyde and
      glutathione levels in the bile duct ligation+lanreotide group. In
      histopathological examination, bile duct ligation groups showed stage-3 liver
      fibrosis, while all the controls were normal. Lanreotide did not improve the
      liver fibrosis histologically or biochemically. CONCLUSIONS: A monthly active
      somatostatin analogue, lanreotide, improved malondialdehyde and glutathione;
      however, it was not able to improve bile duct ligation-induced liver fibrosis in
      rats. Although lanreotide is a long-acting medication, it did not show anti
      fibrotic effects in the model.

PMID- 20931435
TI  - Double Dieulafoy's lesions of the stomach in a patient with chronic renal failure
      on long-term hemodialysis.
AB  - Dieulafoy's lesions are an uncommon cause of major gastrointestinal hemorrhage;
      they occur after rupture of an exposed submucosal artery. Despite widespread
      awareness of this entity, the lesion remains a diagnostic challenge because of
      its small size and hidden location. Dieulafoy's lesions may be associated with
      immunosuppression, hemodynamic disorders and the vascular compromise that occurs
      after long-term hemodialysis. However, there are no data comparing the incidence
      of Dieulafoy's lesions in patients with chronic renal failure to that in
      controls. Dieulafoy's lesions have been reported in patients with chronic renal
      failure, but are extremely rare. Furthermore, there are no prior reports on
      double lesions in the stomach. This is the first report of simultaneous double
      Dieulafoy's lesions of the stomach diagnosed after the seventh upper
      gastrointestinal endoscopy and massive transfusions in a 70-year-old woman with
      chronic renal failure on long-term hemodialysis. These lesions were successfully
      treated by successive endoscopic band ligations.

PMID- 20931436
TI  - Gastroscopic removal of a migrated adjustable gastric band: a case report.
AB  - Laparoscopic gastric banding is a popular method for treating morbid obesity.
      Band migration is a well-known late complication and the treatment is usually
      reoperation. In this case report, we show that a band penetrating the gastric
      wall can be treated by gastroscopic operation with the Gastric Band Cutter device
      without complication. It seems that this technique is simpler than reoperation
      and is beneficial even when the intraluminal migration is partial.

PMID- 20931438
TI  - Mitochondrial neurogastrointestinal encephalomyopathy: case report.
AB  - Mitochondrial neurogastrointestinal encephalomyopathy is an autosomal recessive
      multisystem disorder caused by thymidine phosphorylase deficiency. The disease is
      characterized clinically by ptosis, progressive external ophthalmoparesis, severe
      gastrointestinal dysmotility, peripheral neuropathy, leukoencephalopathy, and
      mitochondrial abnormalities. Herein, we describe a patient with mitochondrial
      neurogastrointestinal encephalomyopathy who presented intestinal
      pseudoobstruction.

PMID- 20931437
TI  - Coexistence of gastric cancer and gastrointestinal stromal tumor: report of two
      cases.
AB  - Gastrointestinal stromal tumors and adenocancers are distinct neoplasms
      originating from different cell layers. Though adenocancers constitute the most
      common type of gastric tumors, synchronous development of a gastrointestinal
      stromal tumor is extremely rare. Case 1: A 63-year-old male patient underwent a
      radical total gastrectomy with D2 lymphadenectomy and Rouxen-Y reconstruction.
      Histopathologic and immunohistochemical examination of the specimen disclosed an
      advanced stage, intestinal type adenocancer intermixing with a distinct lesion of
      gastrointestinal stromal tumor. The early postoperative course was uneventful;
      however, recurrence was seen and he survived only 13 months. Case 2: A 60-year
      old male patient underwent a distal subtotal gastrectomy with D2 lymphadenectomy,
      and reconstruction was provided with Billroth 2 procedure. Intraoperatively, a
      0.5 cm vegetating lesion was detected on the gastric body and resected.
      Histopathologic and immunohistochemical examination disclosed an intestinal type
      adenocancer, and the incidental lesion was reported as gastrointestinal stromal
      tumor. His postoperative course was uneventful, and the patient is free of
      disease after one year. The conditions under which the synchronous tumors develop
      away from each other or collide are vague. Currently, the stage of the
      adenocancer and the size and mitotic manner of the gastrointestinal stromal
      tumors are the leading prognostic factors.

PMID- 20931439
TI  - Inflammatory pseudotumor of the liver diagnosed by needle biopsy: report of three
      cases (one with neuroendocrine tumor of the rectum and lung).
AB  - Inflammatory pseudotumor of the liver is a rare disorder that can histologically
      and radiologically resemble malignant neoplasms. The prognosis of the patients
      with hepatic inflammatory pseudotumor is usually good with conservative therapy.
      Most of the reported cases are diagnosed in the surgical resection specimens;
      only very few reported cases have been diagnosed by needle biopsy. We report
      three additional cases of inflammatory pseudotumor of the liver diagnosed by
      liver biopsy. Two of these cases were treated successfully with antibiotics. The
      other case, who was resistant to medical treatment, had coexisting neuroendocrine
      neoplasms of the rectum and the lung. Since her general condition did not allow
      an extensive surgery, the mass of the liver could not be resected and she died
      approximately five months after she was voluntarily discharged from the hospital.
      Many of the inflammatory pseudotumor of the liver are found to be associated with
      variable neoplasms, but to our knowledge, the latter case is the first case of
      inflammatory pseudotumor associated with a neuroendocrine tumor.

PMID- 20931440
TI  - A case of gynecomastia due to entecavir.
AB  - Hepatitis B is an important health problem all over the world as well as in our
      country. Entecavir is a nucleoside analog used in the treatment of chronic
      hepatitis B. We present a case of a 55-year-old male patient who developed
      unilateral gynecomastia while under treatment with entecavir. Physical
      examination was unremarkable except for minimal hepatomegaly. Laboratory
      examination revealed: HbsAg: positive, HBeAg: negative, anti-HBe: positive, HBV
      DNA: 800,000 copies/ml, total anti-HDV: negative, and alanine aminotransferase:
      105 U/L (normal range: 0-41). The treatment was started with pegylated
      interferon. During the follow-up, transaminases did not regress and HBV DNA was
      found to still be highly positive at the sixth month evaluation. Pegylated
      interferon treatment was stopped and entecavir was started at a dose of 0.5
      mg/day. Six months after the initiation of entecavir treatment, the patient
      presented with a painful swelling in the right breast. On physical examination,
      there was painful gynecomastia on the right side, which was confirmed with
      mammography and ultrasound of the breast tissue. The patient was not taking any
      drug that may have caused gynecomastia. Hormonal status of the patient was
      normal. Laboratory values were normal. We considered that this unilateral
      gynecomastia might be an adverse effect of entecavir. Since the patient had a
      rapid viral and biochemical response to entecavir, the drug was continued under
      close follow-up and there was no further progression of the gynecomastia.

PMID- 20931441
TI  - Splenic hydatic cyst as a cause of sinistral portal hypertension and isolated
      gastric variceal bleeding.
AB  - A 60-year-old male, living in a rural area, presented with recurrent upper
      gastrointestinal bleeding. Isolated fundal varices were seen on endoscopy. A
      lesion similar to cyst hydatid was seen in the spleen on abdominal
      ultrasonography and computerized tomography scanning. Also, sinistral (left
      sided) portal hypertension and collaterals were seen due to the compression of
      the splenic vein by the cyst. Indirect hemagglutination antibody test for
      Echinococcus granulosus was positive. By screening, no other cyst was found in
      any other site of the body. The patient underwent open abdominal surgery, and the
      anterior wall of the cyst was resected partially; within it were multiple
      daughter cysts and hydatid fluid. After decontamination of the daughter cysts and
      hydatid fluid, germinative membrane omentoplasty was performed with a part of the
      omentum. However, the patient suffered from recurrent gastrointestinal bleeding
      postoperatively and he was re-evaluated. Later, splenectomy was performed in
      order to relieve left-sided portal hypertension. The patient did not experience
      further bleeding and gastric varices disappeared following splenectomy.

PMID- 20931442
TI  - Esophageal melanocytosis.

PMID- 20931443
TI  - Stomach full of ingested foreign bodies: more than a "metallic taste".

PMID- 20931444
TI  - A case of Behcet's disease with multiple colon perforations.

PMID- 20931445
TI  - A case of severe acute hepatitis due to oral intake of firecrackers.

PMID- 20931446
TI  - Unusal presentation of liver dysfunction in the later stages of pregnancy.

PMID- 20931447
TI  - A rare cause of cholangitis: Fasciola hepatica.

PMID- 20931448
TI  - A rare cause of acute abdomen in children: an intrabiliary rupture of hydatid
      cyst.

PMID- 20931449
TI  - ALA-induced porphyrin accumulation in medulloblastoma and its use for
      fluorescence-guided surgery.

PMID- 20931450
TI  - Postcolonic polypectomy pancreatitis.

PMID- 20931451
TI  - Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) for intradiverticular
      papilla: endoclip-assisted biliary cannulation.

PMID- 20931452
TI  - Transnasal flexible bronchoscopic implantation of a nickel titanium (NiTi)
      bronchial occlusive device for a bronchobiliary fistula.

PMID- 20931453
TI  - Chronic pancreatitis and cholangitis caused by absence of the duodenal papilla.

PMID- 20931454
TI  - All that is red is not blood!

PMID- 20931455
TI  - Gastric inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor masquerading as a pancreatic cystic
      neoplasm.

PMID- 20931456
TI  - Lipiodol as a marker for hepatocellular carcinoma migrating into the bile duct.

PMID- 20931457
TI  - Panendoscopic characterization of Peutz-Jeghers syndrome.

PMID- 20931458
TI  - Early mucinous colorectal adenocarcinoma--mucosal type.

PMID- 20931459
TI  - Endoscopic removal of a large rectal foreign body using a large balloon dilator:
      report of a case and description of the technique.

PMID- 20931460
TI  - An unusual cause of hemosuccus pancreaticus diagnosed by endoscopic
      ultrasonography: splenic arterial fistula due to a pancreatic stent (with video).

PMID- 20931461
TI  - Endoscopic removal of the Padlock-G clip.

PMID- 20931462
TI  - Pseudomelanosis ilei associated with ingestion of oral iron therapy.

PMID- 20931463
TI  - Endoscopic retrieval of a migrated esophageal stent in the cecum.

PMID- 20931464
TI  - Microcystic reticular schwannoma of the colon.

PMID- 20931465
TI  - Regurgitation of a mass into the mouth: a fibrovascular polyp of the esophagus.

PMID- 20931466
TI  - Cholangiocarcinoma metastasis to the esophagus.

PMID- 20931467
TI  - Esophageal lesions herald widely metastatic disease.

PMID- 20931468
TI  - Endoscopic removal of migrating silastic band after vertical banding
      gastroplasty.

PMID- 20931469
TI  - Endoscopic diagnosis of secondary rectal teratoma in a young woman with
      constipation and positive fecal occult blood test.

PMID- 20931470
TI  - Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS)-guided ethanol injection in hepatic metastatic
      carcinoma: a case report.

PMID- 20931471
TI  - Suture material in the common bile duct causing recurrent post-cholecystectomy
      pain.

PMID- 20931473
TI  - Early oncocytic adenocarcinoma of the transverse colon.

PMID- 20931472
TI  - Iodine-125 biliary stent for palliative treatment of locally advanced gallbladder
      cancer.

PMID- 20931474
TI  - Pancreatic head mass of unusual etiology: multiple myeloma diagnosed by
      endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration.

PMID- 20931475
TI  - Primary lymphoma of the common bile duct presenting with acute pancreatitis and
      cholangitis.

PMID- 20931476
TI  - Massive pneumoperitoneum after argon plasma coagulation.

PMID- 20931477
TI  - Removal of a migrated covered metallic stent through an esophageal stricture,
      with multiple endoloops.

PMID- 20931478
TI  - Endoscopic hemostasis through gastrostomy.

PMID- 20931479
TI  - No prolonged effect of Ankaferd Blood Stopper on chronic radiation proctitis.

PMID- 20931480
TI  - Gastric penetration of epicardial pacemaker leads 8 years after cardiac surgery.

PMID- 20931481
TI  - [Outpatient if possible, outreaching if necessary].

PMID- 20931482
TI  - [Rehabilitation research in the Netherlands; research review and synthesis of
      recent findings].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Interventions aimed at encouraging people with severe mental
      illnesses (including drug addiction) to participate in social activities are on
      the increase. Over the last few years the Netherlands has increased its research
      into the effectiveness of these interventions. However, there are considerable
      gaps in our knowledge and the research results need to be synthesised. AIM: To
      synthesise the information collected in recent years concerning the results of
      these rehabilitation programmes and interventions. METHOD: We performed a
      systematic review of research databases, focusing on Dutch research (2000 to
      2007). With regard to the interventions, we evaluated whether an ideal 'knowledge
      cycle' had been established (i.e. problem exploration, intervention development,
      evaluation, systematic implementation and wider dissemination). RESULTS: We found
      29 studies of interventions that aimed primarily at societal participation by
      people with severe mental illness; 23 of these studies were complete. According
      to a longitudinal comparative controlled study, the most effective interventions
      were the Boston psychiatric rehabilitation approach, individual placement and
      support and 'guided peer support'. However, the required 'knowledge cycle' as
      specified in the Method section, had not been completed in the case of any of the
      interventions. CONCLUSION: Both the range and the quality of research info the
      effectiveness of rehabilitation programmes have improved tremendously. In the
      Netherlands over the last decade, in order to complete the above-mentioned
      knowledge cycle, a new research agenda needs to be established. We propose some
      items for this agenda.

PMID- 20931484
TI  - [Loss of sense and meaning, a neglected topic in psychiatry].
AB  - Inherent in human existence is one's need to give sense to one's life. It is this
      need that drives life forward. In this paper the terms 'giving sense' and 'giving
      meaning' are used more or less interchangeably. A life acquires meaning when
      goals are set and attempts are made to achieve them. Giving meaning to one's
      existence often involves engaging in altruistic activity. The need to give sense
      to one's life can be felt to be 'self generated' or metaphysically inspired, in
      other words inspired by a supernatural authority. Sense-deficiency is a mental
      condition which is barely recognised in psychiatry and hardly ever treated.
      Thorough research is needed to find the causes and the appropriate treatment and,
      in particular, to discover to what extent the spiritual domain is able to perform
      therapeutic functions. A discussion of certain aspects of this domain should be
      given a definitive place in the curriculum of trainee psychiatrists.

PMID- 20931483
TI  - [The cenesthesiopathies].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Up till a century ago the classic concepts of cenesthesis and
      cenesthesiopathy played a major role in the conceptualisation of aberrant
      somatosensory sensations and disturbances in the sensation of physical existence.
      Although these concepts are considered obsolete by a number of authors, the
      conceptual work of the German psychiatrist Gert Huber and the results of modern
      neuroimaging studies point to the need for a re-evaluation of the concepts
      cenesthesis and cenesthesiopathy. METHOD: Background information was obtained
      from PubMed, Embase and the medical historical literature. By way of
      illustration, two cases are presented: the first is a female patient with a
      strongly diminished sense of physical existence (hypocenesthesiopathy) and the
      second is a male patient with such pronounced somatosensory sensations that he
      believed he was being transformed into a werewolf (hypercenesthesiopathy,
      clinical lycanthropy). RESULTS: On the basis of the literature and the two case
      studies, it is shown that the concepts of cenesthesis and cenesthesiopathy may be
      helpful in the conceptualisation of disorders of the sensation of bodily
      existence brought about by aberrant somatosensory sensations. CONCLUSION: In the
      cases of peculiar and unexplained physical symptoms, the cenesthesiopathies
      should be part of the differential diagnosis. Particularly if patients have
      longlasting, medication-resistant forms of cenesthesiopathy, it is strongly
      recommended that such patients undergo neuroimaging and are given an EEG so that
      treatable somatic conditions can either be demonstrated or ruled out.

PMID- 20931485
TI  - [Update of the multidisciplinary guidelines for anxiety and depression].
AB  - The multidisciplinary guidelines for depression, panic disorder and post
      traumatic stress disorder have been revised. They incorporate some important
      changes: algorithms are now based on the severity of the disorders, a 'stepped
      care' approach is promoted, so-called basic interventions are required for each
      algorithm and so-called first-step interventions are advocated for mild
      disorders. Antidepressants are no longer indicated for mild disorders.

PMID- 20931486
TI  - [Sleep disturbances in Smith-Magenis syndrome: treatment with melatonin and beta
      adrenergic antagonists].
AB  - Smith-Magenis syndrome is a generic disorder, characterised by physical,
      neurological and behavioural features and caused by a 17p11.2 deletion. Patients
      with this syndrome typically display an inversion of the sleep-wake cycle. In
      this article we describe clinical developments in a two-year-old girl with Smith
      Magenis syndrome whose sleep problems were successfully treated with melatonin
      and beta-adrenergic blockers. We also mention relevant data obtained in our
      literature search.

PMID- 20931487
TI  - [Reaction on 'Myocarditis and cardiomyopathy underestimated complications
      resulting from clozapine therapy'].

PMID- 20931488
TI  - [Reaction on 'Protocol for complementary and alternative medicine within the
      Dutch mental health services'].

PMID- 20931489
TI  - [Reaction on 'Conscience development: a review of theory and research'].

PMID- 20931490
TI  - Endo180 and MT1-MMP are involved in the phagocytosis of collagen scaffolds by
      macrophages and is regulated by interferon-gamma.
AB  - Subcutaneously implanted disks of hexamethylenediisocyanate or glutaraldehyde
      cross-linked sheep collagen (referred to as HDSC and GDSC, respectively) in mice
      show large differences in degradation rate. Although comparable numbers of
      macrophages are seen in HDSC and GDSC, phagocytosis of collagen by macrophages
      occurred only in GDSC. The molecular mechanisms involved in the phagocytosis of
      collagen by macrophages are essentially unknown. Immunofluorescence and RT-PCR
      showed that Endo180 was expressed in GDSC only. TissueFaxs showed that Endo180 co
      localized with MT1-MMP on F4/80 positive cells, which is likely responsible for
      the phagocytosis in GDSC. RT-PCR further showed that Endo180 expression
      correlated with high levels of IFN-gamma mRNA. In vitro, IFN-gamma induced the
      expression Endo180 and MT1-MMP in murine macrophages cultured on collagen type I
      (although too high levels of IFN-gamma dampened the expression of Endo180 and MT1
      MMP). Moreover, the expression of Endo180 and MT1-MMP induced by IFN-gamma can be
      inhibited through IL-10. The differences in microenvironment between GDSC and
      HDSC (high IFN-gamma and low IL-10 levels in GDSC, low IFN-gamma and high IL-10
      levels in HDSC) provide an explanation why phagocytosis of collagen by
      macrophages is only seen in GDSC. In summary, we show for the first time that the
      IFN-gamma dependent co-expression of Endo180 and MT1-MMP on macrophages coincides
      with collagen phagocytosis, thus providing evidence that the mechanism of
      collagen phagocytosis operating in the foreign body reaction by macrophages is
      comparable with the mechanism of intracellular collagen degradation by
      fibroblasts seen under physiological conditions.

PMID- 20931491
TI  - Ecto-mesenchymal stem cells from dental pulp are committed to differentiate into
      active melanocytes.
AB  - Dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) are multipotent stem cells derived from neural
      crest and mesenchyme and have the capacity to differentiate into multiple cell
      lineages. It has already been demonstrated that DPSCs differentiate into
      melanocyte-like cells but only when cultivated in a specific melanocyte
      differentiating medium. In this study we have shown, for the first time, that
      DPSCs are capable of spontaneously differentiating into mature melanocytes, which
      display molecular and ultrastructural features of full development, including the
      expression of melanocyte specific markers and the presence of melanosomes up to
      the terminal stage of maturation. We have also compared the differentiating
      features of DPSCs grown in different culture conditions, following the timing of
      differentiation at molecular and cytochemical levels and found that in all
      culture conditions full development of these cells was obtained, although at
      different times. The spontaneous differentiating potential of these cells
      strongly suggests their possible applications in regenerative medicine.

PMID- 20931492
TI  - [Dementia 1: Definition/ causes/strategy of diagnostic assessment].

PMID- 20931494
TI  - [What is your diagnosis? Pneumatosis intestinalis coli].

PMID- 20931495
TI  - [Chronic venous insufficiency in postthrombotic syndrome and varicose veins].
AB  - Venous disorders have a high prevalence and require approximately 1% of health
      budgets of industrialized countries. The postthrombotic syndrome (PTS) is defined
      by subjective symptoms and morphologic trophical skin changes following deep
      venous thrombosis. Prevention of venous thromboembolism in risk situations, easy
      availability of diagnostic tools (D-dimers, colour-coded duplex sonography) and
      early detection of deep venous thrombosis, as well as immediate therapeutic
      anticoagulation along with leg compression during the acute phase and over a two
      year period of time significantly reduce the incidence of PTS. Chronic venous
      insufficiency (CVI) includes trophical skin and soft tissue pathologies of the
      lower leg due to venous hypertension in the distal venous system of the lower
      extremity. Roughly, two main causes can be distinguished. (A) Deep venous
      insufficiency (A1 in postthrombotic syndrome; A2 in primary deep venous
      insufficiency) and (B) superficial venous reflux, usually varicose veins.
      Compression therapy, surgical ablation of superficial venous reflux, and
      tangential ablation with split skin graft (shave treatment) of refractory venous
      ulcers are the mainstays in the treatment of CVI.

PMID- 20931496
TI  - [Interventional closure of persistent foramen ovale in patients after crytogenic
      stroke].
AB  - A persistent foramen ovale can be a possible cause of paradoxical cerebral
      embolism. Thranscatheter closure by transcatheter technique has a high success
      rate and is a recurrence prevention measure. This paper reviews of patent foramen
      ovale anatomy, pathophysiology, and clinical impact and discusses current
      therapeutic options.

PMID- 20931497
TI  - [Commentary from the viewpoint of an advocate. "Breast cancer mortality in
      organized mammography screening in Denmark--a comparative Study"].

PMID- 20931498
TI  - [Critical comment. "Breast cancer mortality in organized mammography screening in
      Denmark--a comparative Study"].

PMID- 20931499
TI  - [Hoarseness].

PMID- 20931500
TI  - [Tiredness, hyperpigmentation, weight loss, nausea and vomiting. Polyglandular
      autoimmune syndrome (PAS) type 2].
AB  - In this patient with tiredness, hyperpigmentation, weight loss, nausea and
      vomiting, chronic primary adrenal insufficiency (M. Addison) was diagnosed based
      on the clinical features, the typical electrolyte abnormalities and the reduced
      morning cortisol together with increased adrenocorticotropic hormone. The
      detection of autoantibodies against adrenal tissue and 21-hydroxylase revealed an
      auto-immune adrenalitis as the cause. The additional primary hypothyroidism (with
      positive thyreoperoxidase-anti-bodies, anti-TPO-antibodies) and the coeliac
      disease argued for a polyglandular autoimmune syndrome type 2. Treatment with
      hydrocortisone and with mineralocorticoid and thyroxine later on showed a rapid
      improvement of clinical symptoms. In patients with Morbus Addison, a screening
      for associated endocrine disorders is warranted.

PMID- 20931501
TI  - [Breast cancer mortality in organised mammography screening in Denmark].

PMID- 20931502
TI  - [Timely care after an abnormal mammogram among low-income women in a public
      breast cancer screening program].

PMID- 20931505
TI  - [The physician's art column. Tea Makipaas: World of Plenty (2008)].

PMID- 20931506
TI  - [The physician's literature puzzle. Roland Barthes (Diary of Grief)].

PMID- 20931507
TI  - Adverse event monitoring of artemesinin combination therapy in Nigeria: the
      challenges and limitations of the study.
AB  - Artemesinin combination therapies (ACTs) are first line antimalarial drugs in
      malaria endemic regions of the world as recommended by the World Health
      Organization. ACTs are relatively new in Nigeria and there is little experience
      with their use. The pharmacovigilance of ACT drugs has been advocated in African
      countries so as to establish their safety in the African population. There is an
      on-going adverse event monitoring of the ACT drugs in Nigeria and a preliminary
      result has been published by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration
      and Control. This commentary aims to discuss the challenges and limitations of
      the on-going pharmacovigilance of ACT drugs in Nigeria and proffer useful
      suggestions on how to overcome the problems.

PMID- 20931508
TI  - Left ventricular diastolic function in a predialysis patient population.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Diastolic dysfunction is common in chronic kidney disease (CKD)
      accounting for 40%-66% of cardiovascular complications. OBJECTIVE: To determine
      the prevalence of and factors associated with left ventricular diastolic
      dysfunction (LVDD) in adult Nigerians with CKD at presentation and to compare
      findings with those of hypertensive patients with normal renal function. METHODS:
      Eighty-six consecutive patients with CKD were studied, comprising 43
      hypertensives and 43 age- and sex-matched healthy subjects as controls. Clinical,
      laboratory, and echocardiographic variables were measured. RESULTS: Left
      ventricular diastolic dysfunction was present in 62.8% of CKD patients, 79.1% of
      hypertensive patients and 25.6% of normal controls (p<0.001). There was a
      positive correlation between left ventricular diastolic function (LVDF) and
      systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), mean arterial
      pressure (MAP), severity of SBP, severity of DBP in CKD patients but not in
      hypertensive patients. There was a negative correlation between LVDF and age in
      CKD patients and hypertensive patients. Linear multiple regression analysis
      showed age as the only predictor of LVDD. CONCLUSION: There is a high prevalence
      of diastolic dysfunction in CKD patients at first presentation to a nephrologist
      in Nigeria.

PMID- 20931509
TI  - Surgical anatomy of the vertebrobasilar territory and posterior circle of Willis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In the present era of microscopic and neuroendoscopic procedures, the
      surgical anatomy of the skull base vessels has gained increased significance. The
      pattern of the vertebrobasilar arterial complex and the posterior circle of
      Willis (COW) in Nigerians has not been previously reported despite various
      variants of these complexes existing in different populations. OBJECTIVE: To
      review and document the size, distribution and anomalies of the vertebrobasilar
      territory and posterior COW pattern in a Nigerian set of brains. METHODS: The
      target population for this study was a group of Nigerian adults 18 years and
      above. Specimens from patients with an ante-mortem or post-mortem evidence of
      meningitis or atherosclerosis were excluded. The size, distribution and anomalies
      of the vertebrobasilar artery, its branches, and the posterior COW were defined
      in 50 brains. RESULTS: The male: female ratio was 1.9:1 and a mean age of 44
      years. Statistical analysis showed significant differences between the sizes of
      posterior inferior cerebellar arteries and anterior inferior cerebellar arteries
      (Student's t=-30.189; p-value= 0.000). Fifty-six percent of the brains had no
      anomalies. Thirty anomalies were noted in posterior COW compared with six in the
      vertebrobasilar territory. There were no aneurysms in all the specimens studied.
      CONCLUSION: Anomalies in the region of the posterior COW are commoner than the
      vertebrobasilar territory and the region of the posterior communicating artery is
      the most common site of anomalies in the posterior COW territory. These
      variations should be taken into account during skull base and carotid surgeries,
      and cerebral angiography.

PMID- 20931510
TI  - Urinary tract infections in children with primary nephrotic syndrome and acute
      glomerulonephritis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The occurrence of urinary tract infection (UTI) in children with
      nephrotic syndrome (NS) has been widely reported by various workers, but not much
      has been documented about its occurrence among children with acute
      glomerulonephritis (AGN). Hence, the level of susceptibility to UTI by both
      diseases has not been compared. OBJECTIVE: To determine and compare the
      prevalence of UTI in children newly diagnosed of AGN or NS. METHODS: Urinary
      microscopy, culture and sensitivity of all children admitted with a diagnosis of
      NS and AGN between 1996-2004 were reviewed. Children with NS who had a relapse or
      were commenced on steroids, cytotoxic agents or antibiotics before admission were
      excluded from the study. RESULTS: A total of 35 and 32 children diagnosed of AGN
      and NS respectively met the study criteria. Urinary tract infection occurred in
      three (9%) children with AGN and one (3%) of the children with NS. The organisms
      isolated among the AGN patients included Coliforms, Klebsiella, and
      Staphylococcus aureus while Coliform was isolated in the only NS patient with
      UTI. CONCLUSION: There is a low prevalence of UTI in children newly diagnosed of
      AGN and NS.

PMID- 20931511
TI  - The role of echocardiography in the management of stroke.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Echocardiography is increasingly being used as a screening test to
      identify sources of cardiogenic embolism in patients with ischemic stroke or
      transient ischaemic attack (TIA). However, no consensus exists presently on the
      utilization of this imaging facility in individuals with stroke. OBJECTIVE: To
      evaluate the yield of transthoracic echocardiography in patients with ischaemic
      stroke with a view to providing guidance in its use in clinical management of
      stroke. METHODS: One hundred and twenty-six consecutive stroke patients with 90
      controls were recruited prospectively. Patients were examined
      echocardiographically for evidence of intramural thrombus, congenital defects,
      valvular heart disease, wall motion abnormalities and intra-cardiac masses using
      two-dimensional, m-Mode and Doppler facilities. RESULTS: Potential cardiac source
      of emboli (CSE) was identified in 23.0% of the stroke patients. Those who had CSE
      identified aged 53.0(20.8) years were younger (p=0.0001) than those who did not
      have CSE, 57.2 (13.5) years. Five (4.0%) patients had rheumatic valvular heart
      disease with demonstrable clots in the left atrium. On the other hand, four(3.2%)
      patients had RHD without thrombi seen. Two patients had biventricular thrombi.
      One of these patients had giant clots within the ventricles and multiple freely
      mobile thrombi in right ventricle without obvious cardiac structural defect.
      CONCLUSION: Young stroke or transient ischaemic attacks patients who have
      clinical signs suggesting the heart as the potential CSE should have low
      threshold for echocardiography. However, there is a need for rationalisation of
      request for echocardiography where such clinical signs are absent.

PMID- 20931512
TI  - Liver enzymes and trace elements in the acute phase of sickle cell anaemia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Trace elements are required for the performance of numerous functions
      of immune cells. It is not clear whether levels of trace elements are elevated
      and whether there is a relationship between the levels of liver enzymes and trace
      elements in patients with sickle cell anaemia in crisis. OBJECTIVE: To compare
      the plasma levels of liver enzymes and trace elements in non sickle cell anaemia
      (NSCA), sickle cell anaemia subjects in the steady state (SCASS) and sickle cell
      anaemia patients in crisis (SCAC). METHODS: Haematological parameters, liver
      enzymes and trace elements were determined in 20 NSCA subjects, 20 SCASS subjects
      and 18 SCAC subjects. Variables studied included aspartate aminotransferase (AST)
      , alanine aminotransaminase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), and the trace
      elements copper, zinc, and manganese. RESULTS: Levels of liver enzymes were
      higher in the SCAC subjects than in the NSCA or SCASS subjects (p<0.001). Plasma
      Cu++, Zn++ and Mn++ were also higher in the SCAC subjects than in the NSCA or
      SCASS subjects (p<0.001). Correlationships were high and strong between AST and
      ALT (r=+0.7; p=0.03), AST and ALP (r=+0.9; p=0.001), Zn++ and Fe++ (r=+0.9;
      p=0.001) in SCAC. CONCLUSION: During crisis in sickle cell anaemia, liver
      enzymes, as well as the trace elements of Cu++, Zn++ and Mn++ are increased;
      levels of aspartate aminotransaminase are strongly correlated with those of ALT
      and ALP. Levels of liver enzymes do not appear to be related to those of the
      trace elements in painful sickle cell crisis.

PMID- 20931513
TI  - Mortality pattern within twenty-four hours of emergency paediatric admission in a
      resource-poor nation health facility.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mortality among emergency paediatric admissions within the first 24
      hours is high in resource- poor nations. Measures to reduce the childhood
      mortality rate can only be effectively planned and implemented when the causes
      and magnitude of this problem are well defined. OBJECTIVE: To determine the
      mortality pattern among emergency paediatric admissions within the first 24 hours
      in a health facility in Nigeria. METHODS: The clinical state and progress of post
      neonatal patients who presented alive and were admitted into the emergency
      paediatric room of the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, Ilorin, Nigeria
      were monitored over a period of six months. The monitoring included records of
      diagnosis and outcome of management. RESULTS: A total of 606 children were
      admitted during the period of study out of which 51(8.4%) died. Twenty-nine (57%)
      of the deaths occurred within the first 24 hours of admission comprising 15
      (51.7%) males and 14 (48.3%) females giving M:F ratio of about of 1:1. Majority
      of the deaths were among patients who reported late to the hospital. Loss of
      consciousness was a strong risk factor for mortality within 24 hours of
      admission. The highest mortality within the first 24 hours of admission was
      recorded among patients with malaria (89.0%) followed by protein energy
      malnutrition. CONCLUSION: Majority of deaths among emergency paediatric admission
      occur within the first 24 hours of admission and are associated with clinical
      conditions such as malaria and protein-energy malnutrition for which sustained
      intervention strategies must be developed.

PMID- 20931514
TI  - Diagnostic accuracy of fine needle aspiration cytology of palpable breast masses
      in Benin City, Nigeria.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Beast cancer is the commonest malignancy afflicting women. It
      accounts for 18.4% of all female cancers worldwide. OBJECTIVE: To determine the
      diagnostic accuracy of fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) of palpable breast
      masses at a Nigerian University Teaching Hospital.. METHODS: Fine Needle
      Aspiration Cytology was done on all consecutive cases of palpable breast masses
      referred from the surgical outpatient clinic of the University of Benin Teaching
      Hospital between January 2005 and March 2006. Comparison was made with subsequent
      histological diagnoses in order to ascertain the diagnostic accuracy of the
      procedure. RESULTS: One hundred and three fine needle aspirates of breast masses
      were performed during the study period. Subsequent biopsies were done on 43 of
      these cases yielding a biopsy rate of 41.8%. The absolute and complete
      sensitivities of this study were 84.6% and 97.4% respectively. The full
      specificity was 64% while the specificity for biopsy cases was 75%. The positive
      predictive value for malignancies was 100% with a false positive rate of 0%;
      however the false negative rate was 2.6% with a suspicious rate of 9.7%. The
      inadequacy rate was 19.4%. CONCLUSION: These results show that FNAC of palpable
      breast masses in UBTH is an accurate procedure with results comparable to those
      from other centres and well above the minimum standards recommended
      internationally. It is, therefore, recommended that FNAC be done on all palpable
      breast masses.

PMID- 20931515
TI  - Paediatric tuberculosis at the national teaching hospital CNHU-HKM of Cotonou,
      Benin: a retrospective study.
AB  - BACKGROIUND: Tuberculosis (TB) is a public health problem. Knowing its patterns
      could help address it more efficiently. OBJECTIVE: To determine the hospital
      incidence, presentation, management, and outcome of TB in our setting. METHODS:
      We conducted a chart review of children with TB during a five-year period at the
      University Hospital CNHU-HKM, Cotonou, Benin. RESULTS: Hospital prevalence of TB
      among hospitalised children was 0.2%. The mean age was six years, with a
      male:female ratio of 1.4:1. The common clinical features were: cough (78.1%),
      long standing fever (81.2%), growth retardation (65.6%), pulmonary consolidation
      (53.1%) and hepatosplenomegaly (34.4%). The skin tuberculin test was positive in
      only 40.6% of cases. Co-infection with HIV was present in 51.8% of cases.
      Mycobacterium tuberculosis could be identified in only 21.8% of cases. Twenty-six
      (81.2%) pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) cases were diagnosed, eight (25%) of which
      were associated with extra pulmonary TB. Six (18.7%) presumed isolated extra PTB
      were also diagnosed. Eight-month treatment regimen was used in most patients,
      with mortality rate of 9.3%. CONCLUSION: Although TB hospital prevalence seems
      low in our setting, management needs to be improved according to guidelines.

PMID- 20931516
TI  - Superficial fungal infections seen at a tertiary health centre: clinical and
      mycological studies.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Superficial fungal infections are common in the tropics, partly due
      to the climate, relatively poor hygiene, and lifestyle of the people. OBJECTIVE:
      To determine the clinical forms and aetiological agents of superficial fungal
      infections as seen among skin cases in the north- central part of Nigeria.
      METHODS: All consecutive new patients seen at the skin clinic of the General Out
      patient Department of the Federal Medical Centre, Bida from July 2006 to December
      2007 were included in this prospective study. Participants were examined for
      superficial fungal lesions. Samples of skin scrapings for microbiological
      investigations were obtained from suspicious lesions. RESULTS: A total of 381
      patients attended the Skin Clinic during the period of study. Superficial fungal
      infections constituted 89(23.4%) of all skin cases seen. The commonest clinical
      type of fungal infection was Tinea corporis, followed by Tinea unguium. Male to
      female ratio of clinical lesions was 1: 1.5. A total of 41 samples grew fungal
      organisms on Sabouraud Dextrose Agar culture, of which dermatophytes were the
      isolates in 22(53.7%), while non-dermatophytes accounted for the rest. Seven
      species of dermatophytes, dominated by Trichophyton spp. 15 (68.2%), followed by
      Microsporum gypseum 4(18.2%), and Epidermophyton floccosum 3(13.6%) were the main
      isolates. The most commonly recovered species were T. mentagrophytes (36.4%).
      CONCLUSION: These data show the continued predominance of dermatophytes as the
      principal pathogen in superficial fungal infection. Trichophyton spp. is the
      predominant class of which T. mentagrophyte is the most prevalent.

PMID- 20931517
TI  - Familial hypophosphataemic rickets affecting a father and his two daughters: a
      case report.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hypophosphataemic rickets (HR) is a rare cause of short stature
      associated with limb deformities. OBJECTIVE: To report the clinical and
      laboratory features of HR in two siblings and their father. METHODS: Following
      the diagnosis of HR in a 4-year-old girl, her siblings and parents were screened
      using clinical, laboratory, and radiological parameters. RESULTS: Short stature,
      lower limb deformities, frontal bossing and hypophosphataemia were present in all
      three patients. Serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP) was markedly elevated in both
      siblings who were aged two and 11 years but only minimally raised in their 43
      year-old father. While spontaneous mutation is the presumed aetiology in the
      father, X linked dominant inheritance is the likely cause in both daughters.
      CONCLUSIONS: Hypophosphataemic rickets should be considered in the differential
      diagnosis of short stature associated with limb deformities regardless of a
      family history of HR. Serum ALP may not be remarkably elevated when the diagnosis
      is made in adulthood.

PMID- 20931518
TI  - Haemophilus meningitis in an African neonate: time for active surveillance and
      institution of appropriate control measure.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Childhood routine immunization in Nigeria, like most developing
      nations, do not include vaccination against Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib)
      infection. This is probably because infection with Hib is uncommon in children
      younger than two months due to passive acquisition of maternal antibodies which
      protects newborn till about four to six months of life. OBJECTIVE: To illustrate
      a case of neonatal meningitis caused by Haemophilus influenzae and to highlight
      its other peculiarities. METHODS: A 22-day old baby presented with excessive
      crying, refusal of feed, progressive abdominal distension, fever and vomiting.
      Besides clinical assessment, body fluids were cultured. RESULTS: The baby had
      tachypnoea (90 bpm), tachycardia (182 bpm), and tympanitic and hypoactive
      abdomen. The musculoskeletal and central nervous systems appeared clinically
      normal. Haemophilus influenzae was isolated by culture from the cerebrospinal
      fluid. The baby responded well to treatment with ceftriaxone and gentamycin.
      Neurological examination has remained normal after discharge for up to three
      months at follow-up visit. CONCLUSION: There is the need to provide serological
      and molecular facilities for typing Nigerian Haemophilus infulenzae strain(s) to
      enhance the development of appropriate vaccine that will be most suitable for
      prevention of infection due to this organism in Nigeria. However, presently
      available Haemophilus influenzae vaccine needs to be listed in the National
      Programme for Immunization (NPI) for the control of infections associated with
      this organism especially in childhood.

PMID- 20931519
TI  - Medicine turned poison for children in Nigeria.

PMID- 20931520
TI  - [Analysis of the phenotype-genotype relationship of Hb Constant Spring].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To analyze the genotype-phenotype correlations in the Hb Constant
      Spring (HbCS) carriers, and to investigate the effect of HbCS on hematologic
      parameters. METHODS: Complete blood cell count and hemoglobin electrophoresis
      analyses were performed in 125 HbCS cases. The alpha-and beta-thalassemia
      mutations were determined by reverse dot-blotting and Gap-PCR. RESULTS: The
      presence of the SEA deletion or Hb Quong Sze (HbQS) with HbCS leads to HbH-CS
      disease. There was significant difference between HbH-CS and alphaCSalpha/-alpha,
      HbH-CS and alphaCSalpha/alphaalpha in the hematological parameters. The genotype
      of alphaCSalpha/-alpha or alphaalpha/alphaCSalpha had slight effect on
      hematological parameters. When the Hb Constant Spring mutation co-existed with
      heterozygous beta-thalassemia, the hematological characteristics of beta
      thalassemia was presented. Only 57.6% of carriers with HbCS were detected by
      hemoglobin electrophoresis. CONCLUSION: The cases with co-existence of HbCS trait
      and other alpha-thalassemia trait, or beta-thalassemia trait, showed variation in
      their red blood cell parameters. For such compound heterozygotes for HbCS and
      other alpha- or beta-thalassaemia mutations, which were usually misdiagnosed in
      clinical screening by hemoglobin electrophoresis, accurate diagnose can be made
      by molecular diagnosis.

PMID- 20931521
TI  - [Effect of bone morphogenetic protein 4 on glioma stem cell proliferation and
      apoptosis in vitro].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the role of bone morphogenetic protein 4 (BMP4) on the
      proliferation and apoptosis in glioma stem cells. METHODS: Stem cells were
      isolated from a human glioma cell line U87 by using vincristine and characterized
      by immunofluorescence assay. Proliferation and apoptosis were determined by soft
      agar colony assay and flow cytometry; Cyclin D1, Bcl-2 and Bax were detected by
      Western blot analysis. RESULTS: BMP4 inhibited cell proliferation and promoted
      apoptosis in U87 glioma stem cells. Moreover, Bcl-2 and Cyclin D1 expression were
      decreased by BMP4, while Bax level was elevated. CONCLUSION: BMP4 can inhibit U87
      glioma stem cells proliferation through downregulating Cyclin D1 level, and
      promote apoptosis through induction of Bax expression and inhibition of Bcl-2
      level. It suggests that BMP4 plays an important role in human glioma stem cell
      biology.

PMID- 20931522
TI  - [Founder effect of two families with TGFBI related Thiel-Behnke corneal
      dystrophy].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the transforming growth factor beta induced (TGFBI;
      BIGH3) gene mutation and founder effect of two large Chinese families clinically
      diagnosed as Thiel-Behnke corneal dystrophy. METHODS: Fifteen members including
      13 affected and 2 healthy in family A, 14 members including 6 affected and 8
      healthy in family B, as well as 20 other unrelated healthy individuals were
      tested for TGFBI gene mutation. Haplotype analysis and clinical examination were
      also carried out in the two families. RESULTS: In exon 12 of the TGFBI gene,
      1664G to A change was detected in all the patients, which leads to an amino acid
      replacement of arginine with glutamine (p.Arg555Gln). Members of the two families
      share some similar haplotypes. CONCLUSION: Genetic analysis is helpful in the
      diagnosis of corneal dystrophy. The two families may come from a same ancestor.

PMID- 20931523
TI  - [Mutation analysis of the GLUD1 gene in patients with glutamate dehydrogenase
      congenital hyperinsulinism].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the glutamate dehydrogenase 1 (GLUD1) gene mutation of
      three patients diagnosed as glutamate dehydrogenase congenital hyperinsulinism
      (GDH-HI). METHODS: Three patients diagnosed as GDH-HI and their parents were
      involved in the study. PCR-DNA direct sequencing was used to analyze the exons
      6,7,10,11 and 12 of the GLUD1 gene. RESULTS: In the first case, an R269H
      heterozygous mutation was found in the GLUD1 gene, with autosomal dominant
      inheritance. In the second case, there was a de novo S445L heterozygous mutation
      of the GLUD1 gene. No mutation was detected in the third case. CONCLUSION: In
      Chinese, R269H, S445L heterozygous mutation of the GLUD1 gene can lead to GDH-HI.
      Genetic analysis is necessary in making genetic diagnosis of congenital
      hyperinsulinsm.

PMID- 20931524
TI  - [A new mutation in the GJB1 gene of a Chinese family with Charcot-Marie-Tooth
      disease associated with vocal cord paresis].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To report an X-linked dominant Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMTX)
      Chinese family with vocal cord paresis and to identify the mutation of gap
      junction protein beta 1 gene (GJB1). METHODS: Part of the family members with
      dysphagia, dysphonia and lethal respiratory failure were studied through flexible
      laryngoscope, clinical, brain MRI and electrophysiological examinations. After
      excluding large fragment tandem duplication containing peripheral myelin protein
      22 gene (PMP22), direct sequencing was performed to analyze the mutation of the
      GJB1 gene in 5 patients including the proband, 5 unaffected family members and 50
      unrelated healthy individuals. RESULTS: Eight members spanning 3 generations in
      this family were affected with CMTX characterized by progressive atrophy and
      weakness of the anterior tibial and peroneal muscles, especially in the proband.
      Vocal cord paresis was observed through flexible laryngoscope in total of 4
      affected members with dysarthria and dysphagia, 2 of them died of severe
      respiratory failure due to complete bilateral vocal cord involvement. Normal
      brain MRI was observed in the proband. The electrophysiological data showed
      predominant demyelization involving the motor and sensory nerves in the proband.
      DNA sequencing revealed a de novo c.186 C>G missense mutation in exon 2 of the
      GJB1 gene, the mutation cosegregated with phenotype. CONCLUSION: Respiratory
      failure associated with vocal cord involvement may be a rare and severe symptom
      in CMTX. The present report provides further evidence for clinical and genetic
      heterogeneity in the X-linked Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease.

PMID- 20931525
TI  - [Polynucleotide repeat expansion of nine spinocerebellar ataxia subtypes and
      dentatorubral-pallidoluysian atrophy in healthy Chinese Han population].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assist the establishment of platform and provide the reference
      standard for mutation detection in spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA) subtypes 1, 2, 3,
      6, 7, 8, 10, 12, 17 and dentatorubral-pallidoluysian atrophy (DRPLA) in Chinese
      Han population. METHODS: The nucleotide repeat numbers of the 9 SCA subtypes and
      DRPLA were detected using fluorescence-PCR and capillary gel electrophoresis
      technique in 300 healthy Chinese Han individuals. RESULTS: Among the 300 healthy
      controls, the range of the CAG trinucleotide repeat number was 17 to 35 in SCA1,
      14-28 in SCA2, 13-41 in SCA3/MJD, 4-16 in SCA6, 5-17 in SCA7, 5-21 in SCA12, 23
      41 in SCA17, and 12-33 in DRPLA; and the range of CTA/CTG trinucleotide repeat
      number on SCA8 locus was 12-43 and the range of ATTCT pentanucleotide repeat
      number on SCA10 locus was 9-32. Of which, the 12 CTA/CTG repeats of SCA8, 9 ATTCT
      repeats of SCA10, 23 CAG repeats of SCA17 were the shortest normal repeat number,
      while the 41 CAG repeats of SCA3/MJD, 32 CAG repeats of SCA10 were the largest
      normal number that have not been reported. CONCLUSION: The normal ranges of
      polynucleotide repeats of different subtypes of SCA vary with geographical areas
      and ethnicities. It might be associated with the genetic and ethnic backgrounds.
      This is the first normal reference standard of polynucleotide repeat number of
      these ten SCA subtypes in Chinese Han.

PMID- 20931526
TI  - [Association of the ABCG1 gene polymorphism with the susceptibility and severity
      of coronary atherosclerotic disease].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association of the ATP-binding cassette sub-family
      G member 1 (ABCG1) gene polymorphisms with coronary atherosclerotic disease (CAD)
      in Chinese Han population. METHODS: A population based case-control association
      study was carried out in 541 patients with CAD and 649 healthy controls from
      Chinese Han population. Two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the ABCG1
      gene were genotyped using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length
      polymorphism. Logistic regression was used to compare the genotypic and allelic
      frequency difference. RESULTS: The frequency of allele C of rs225374 was
      significantly higher in the CAD patients than that in the healthy controls
      (OR=1.186, 95%CI: 1.009-1.394, P=0.039), while the difference was also
      significant in the male subgroup (OR=1.236, 95%CI: 1.014-1.506, P=0.036). A
      statistically higher frequency of rs1044317 allele A was found in the CAD
      patients in comparison to the healthy controls (OR=1.187, 95%CI: 1.009-1.397,
      P=0.039). In case-only association study, rs225374 showed significant association
      in the high Gensini score group compared with the low Gensini score group
      (OR=1.303, 95%CI: 1.024-1.657, P=0.031). CONCLUSION: The two SNPs of the ABCG1
      gene might be associated with the susceptibility and severity of CAD in Chinese
      Han population.

PMID- 20931527
TI  - [A novel GATA4 mutation leading to congenital ventricular septal defect].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To identify the GATA4 gene mutation of congenital ventricular septal
      defect (VSD) and study the molecular mechanism of a novel mutation. METHODS: The
      clinical data and blood samples from 185 unrelated subjects with congenital VSD
      were collected and evaluated together with 200 healthy individuals. The coding
      exons and the flanking intron regions of the GATA4 gene were amplified by PCR and
      sequenced using the di-deoxynucleotide chain termination approach. The GATA4 gene
      was cloned and the corresponding mutant was acquired by site directed
      mutagenesis. The recombinant plasmid expressing GATA4 and the reporter vector
      expressing enhanced green fluorescence protein (EGFP) driven by the promoter of
      atrial natrium peptide (ANP) gene were transfected into HeLa cells with
      Lipofectamine. The effect of mutated GATA4 gene on the transcriptional activity
      of encoded transcriptional factor was analyzed by reverse transcription (RT)-PCR.
      RESULTS: A novel heterozygous missense GATA4 mutation, c.191G>A was identified in
      1 VSD patient. The mutation leads to glycine to glutamic acid change at amino
      acid residue 64 (G64E) in the GATA4 protein. Functional analysis showed that
      GATA4 G64E mutation decreased the transcriptional activity of GATA4
      transcriptional factor. CONCLUSION: A novel heterozygous missense GATA4 mutation,
      G64E, was identified in 1 VSD patient. The mutation might cause VSD by impairing
      the transcriptional activity of GATA4 transcriptional factor.

PMID- 20931528
TI  - [Progress in research on susceptibility gene mapping of Tic disorder].
AB  - Tic disorder (TD) is a chronic neuropsychiatric disorder with childhood onset.
      Previous research has demonstrated that genetic factors play an important role in
      the pathogenesis of TD, and TD is a complex disease affected by multiple genes.
      Many susceptibility genes have been identified and the relationship between these
      genes and the etiology of TD was investigated in the past few years. These
      researches have yielded large valuable information as well as provided a
      reference for understanding the pathogenesis and further research of this
      disease. In this paper we reviewed the recent progress in the study on the
      susceptibility gene mapping of TD.

PMID- 20931529
TI  - [Molecular genetics of autoimmune diabetes].
AB  - Autoimmune diabetes is a T cell-mediated disease characterized by the autoimmune
      destruction of pancreatic beta-cells and insulin deficiency. It is related to
      multiple genes. The IDDM1 locus, which lies within the human leukocyte antigen
      (HLA) and the IDDM2 locus, which is located to the insulin gene region, are two
      major genetic contributors of susceptibility. Many other loci conferring
      susceptibility to autoimmune diabetes are being discovered, including PTPN22,
      CTLA4, IL2RA and IFIH1. In this article, these loci and their possible
      immunologic mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of this disease will be
      reviewed.

PMID- 20931530
TI  - [Identification of a cryptic 1p36.3 microdeletion in a patient with Prader-Willi
      like syndrome features].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the karyotype of a patient with Prader-Willi-like
      syndrome features. METHODS: Chromosomal high resolution banding was carried out
      to analyze the karyotype of the patient, and methylation-specific PCR was used to
      analyze the imprinting region of chromosome 15. Subtelomeric region was screened
      by multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA), and fluorescent in
      situ hybridization (FISH) and real-time quantitative PCR were further performed
      to identify the deleted region. RESULTS: No abnormality was discovered by high
      resolution karyotype analysis and methylation-specific PCR studies. MLPA analysis
      showed that the patient had a deletion of 1p subtelomeric area, which was
      confirmed by FISH analysis. The deleted region was shown within a 4.2 Mb in the
      distal 1p by 3 BAC FISH probes of 1p36 combined with real-time PCR technique.
      Family pedigree investigation showed the chromosome abnormality was de novo.
      Therefore, partial monosomy 1p36 was likely responsible for the mental
      retardation of the patient. CONCLUSION: Molecular cytogenetic techniques should
      be performed to those patients with Prader-Willi-like syndrome features, to
      determine their karyotypes.

PMID- 20931531
TI  - [Establishment of the multiplex quantitative ligase chain reaction for detecting
      mutations of deafness genes].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To establish a low-cost, convenient and accurate multiplex
      quantitative ligase chain reaction (MQ-LCR) technique to detect the five common
      mutations in Chinese patients with deafness. METHODS: Primers and probes for 5
      common mutations of deafness genes, i.e., GJB2 gene 235delC and 299-300delAT,
      mtDNA A1555G, SLC26A4 gene IVS7-2 A>G and 2168A>G, were designed and synthesized.
      The technique for those mutations was established, and the reliability of the
      technique was tested in 98 patients with impaired hearing and 30 children with
      normal hearing, who were randomly selected from the ENT in Children's Hospital of
      Fudan University. The subjects were detected by MQ-LCR and direct DNA sequencing
      of PCR products, following a double-blind approach. Finally the results from the
      two methods were compared. RESULTS: The results revealed 48 cases carried two
      mutations, 31 cases carried heterozygous mutations in the 98 deaf children, and 3
      had heterozygous mutation in 30 normal controls. These results were consistent
      with that from DNA sequencing. No false positive and false negative result was
      obtained. CONCLUSION: The MQ-LCR technique established in this study is of low
      cost, convenience, accuracy, high sensitivity and high specificity. It is
      suitable for large-scale detection and preventive diagnosis of mutations in
      deafness.

PMID- 20931532
TI  - [Association of the Pro1770Leu polymorphism in CYP5A1 gene with myocardial
      infarction in Uigur population of Xinjiang].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association between the polymorphism of the
      thromboxane synthase gene and Uigur patients with myocardial infarction (MI) in
      Xinjiang. METHODS: Three hundred and fifteen patients with MI and 218 healthy
      control subjects were detected by polymerase chain reaction and restriction
      fragment length polymorphism. The serum thromboxane B2 (TXB2) in all subjects was
      detected with radioimmunoassay kit. RESULTS: The genotype distributions of the MI
      group and control group were in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (Chi
      square=0.375,0.029, P>0.05). The frequencies of CC and TC were 0.933 and 0.067 in
      MI group while they were 0.977 and 0.023 in controls. There was significant
      difference in frequencies of the TC genotype and T allele but no difference in
      frequencies of CC genotype between controls and MI cases. There was significant
      difference in serum TXB2 level between the MI and control group (P<0.05), and
      between individuals of the TC and CC genotypes (P<0.05). The serum TXB2 level in
      the MI cases with TC genotype was increased compared with that of other genotypes
      (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: The TC genotype and T allele of thromboxane synthase gene
      might be risk factors of MI in Uigur population in Xinjiang, which might result
      from the increased serum TXB2 level.

PMID- 20931533
TI  - [Association of HER2 genetic heterogeneity with clinicopathological
      characteristics in breast cancer].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To introduce the College of American Pathologists/American College of
      Medical Genetics Cytogenetics Resource Committee criteria for genetic
      heterogeneity (GH) in HER2 testing, and investigate the clinicopathological
      significance of HER2 genetic heterogeneity in invasive breast cancer. METHODS:
      The clinical parameters of 100 cases of invasive breast carcinomas were
      collected. HER2 expression level and HER2 gene copy number in formalin-fixed and
      paraffin embedded tumor samples were detected by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and
      fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), and the relationship between HER2 gene
      GH and clinicopathological characteristics were analyzed. RESULTS: Among the 100
      patients, HER2 gene GH was observed in 20 (20%) cases. When the number of HER2
      amplified cells was more than 25%, the frequencies of FISH positive were higher
      than those cases with less than 25% HER2 amplified cells. The results showed that
      HER2 gene GH was associated with the degree of HER2 protein expression (P=0.004),
      and ER expression (P=0.002). CONCLUSION: HER2 gene GH may be correlated with the
      HER2 protein IHC 1+/2+, and ER expression in breast carcinoma. It is important
      for doctors to avoid ignoring or only counting FISH positive cells leading to
      incorrect diagnosis for these patients.

PMID- 20931534
TI  - [Association of the C1155547T polymorphism in WNK4 gene with essential
      hypertension in Xinjiang Kazakhs].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether the WNK lysine deficient protein kinase 4
      (WNK4) gene C1155547T polymorphism is associated with essential hypertension (EH)
      in Xinjiang Kazakhs and to assess the effect of the interaction between this
      polymorphism and environment factors on EH. METHODS: The study covered 556
      hypertension patients and 341 normotensive controls. The C1155547T was determined
      by Taqman probe real-time PCR method. Some biochemical index such as glucose,
      triglyceride and total cholesterol were also measured. All of these results were
      analyzed with Logistic regression analysis. Additive model was applied to assess
      the effect of interaction between the WNK4 gene C1155547T polymorphism and
      environment factors on hypertension. RESULTS: The C1155547T polymorphism was
      consistent with Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium in both the case and control groups.
      There was significant difference in the genotype frequencies (P=0.003). The T
      allele frequency was significantly higher in the patient group (P=0.002).
      Logistic regression analysis revealed that the age, body mass index (BMI), total
      cholesterol as well as the CT+TT genotype frequency conferred increased risks for
      EH. Positive interaction between the C1155547T polymorphism and gender, BMI,
      glucose was observed. The ORs were 3.85 (95%CI:1.23-12.04), 5.91 (95%CI:1.99
      17.57) and 8.77 (95%CI:1.04-73.93), respectively. CONCLUSION: The result
      suggested that the exon 7 C1155547T polymorphism in WNK4 gene might be associated
      with EH in Xinjiang Kazakhs, the T allele might be the risk factor of essential
      hypertension. There were interactive effects between the WNK4 gene C1155547T
      polymorphism and gender, BMI and glucose.

PMID- 20931535
TI  - [PPARGC1A gene Thr394Thr G/A polymorphism and its association with type 2
      diabetes mellitus and insulin resistance in a Chinese population].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To examine the association of the Thr394Thr polymorphism of PPARGC1A
      gene with type 2 diabetes (T2DM), insulin resistance (IR) and other metabolic
      disorders in a Chinese population. METHODS: Three hundred and seven subjects
      including 151 T2DM patients and 156 normal glucose tolerant controls (NC) were
      enrolled in this study. The Thr394Thr G/A polymorphism was genotyped using
      polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP).
      Glucose, insulin, lipids levels were determined in all subjects. Body mass index
      (BMI), waist circumferences, index of homeostasis model assessment-insulin
      resistance (HOMA-IR) and blood pressure were also measured. RESULTS: The diabetic
      subjects had higher levels of BMI, waist circumferences, blood systolic pressure,
      triglycerides and lower levels of high density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C)
      compared with those of control subjects (P<0.05). About 43.7% (66/151) of the
      T2DM subjects had the AG genotype, while 37.2% (58/156) in the NC group. The
      frequency of the A allele was 0.225 in T2DM, and 0.186 in the NC subjects. There
      were no significant differences either in genotype or allelic distribution of G/A
      polymorphism between the two groups. In the T2DM group, subjects with AA and GA
      genotypes had significantly higher levels of HOMA-IR, waist circumferences and
      lower levels of HDL-C (P<0.05) than those carrying GG genotype. HOMA-IR in
      subjects with AA and AG were significantly higher than those with GG genotype in
      both groups. CONCLUSION: The A allele of the Thr394Thr (G-->A) polymorphism of
      the PPARGC1A gene was associated with insulin resistance, and may be related to
      central obesity and decreased HDL-C levels in Chinese population. The
      relationship between this polymorphism and T2DM needs further investigation.

PMID- 20931536
TI  - [Mutation analysis of PTPN11 gene in Noonan syndrome].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the mutations in protein tyrosine phosphatase,
      nonreceptor-type 11 (PTPN11) gene in patients with Noonan syndrome (NS). METHODS:
      Three sporadic patients with NS were studied. Genomic DNAs were extracted from
      peripheral blood leukocytes. All 15 coding exons and their flanking intronic
      boundaries of the PTPN11 gene were amplified by polymerase chain reaction and
      followed by direct sequencing. DNAs from parents were sequenced in the
      corresponding region when the mutation was detected in their affected child. The
      identified mutation was screened in 100 healthy individuals for exclusion of
      polymorphism by restriction endonuclease digestion of the PCR products. Protein
      conservation analysis was performed among 10 species using an online ClustalW
      tool. RESULTS: Direct DNA sequence analysis identified a heterozygous 181G to A
      change in exon 3 of the PTPN11 gene in one patient, which resulted in the
      substitution of an aspartic acid residue by an asparagine at codon 61. The
      mutation was absent in his parents and 100 controls, and is located in a highly
      conserved amino acid site. No mutation in the coding region of PTPN11 gene was
      observed in the other two patients. CONCLUSION: The p.D61N mutation was reported
      previously in Caucasians and is a de-novo mutation in this patient. Our study
      further confirmed that the p.D61N is a pathogenic mutation for NS and consistent
      with the clinical diagnosis. Additional genes may be involved in the other two
      patients with NS, indicating high genetic heterogeneity of this disease.

PMID- 20931537
TI  - [Analysis of ring chromosome 9 syndrome with fluorescence in situ hybridization].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the mechanism of the ring chromosome 9 formation by
      cytogenetic analysis of one case affected with ring chromosome 9 syndrome.
      METHODS: Routine chromosome GTG-binding analysis and dual-color fluorescence in
      situ hybridization (FISH) with TelVision 9p and 9q probes were applied to
      characterize the case. RESULTS: The G-binding revealed that the patient had ring
      chromosome 9 with the following karyotype: 45,X,
      9/46,XX,r(9)(p24q34)/46,XX,r(9;9)(p24q34;p24q34)[4/92/4]. The dual-color FISH
      analysis with TelVision 9p and TelVision 9q probes failed to detect a
      hybridization signal on the ring chromosome in the case, which indicated that at
      least 115 kb were deleted on the terminal 9p and 95 kb were deleted on the
      terminal 9q. Comparing to the cases reported in the literatures, our patient
      shared some common features of the 9p- and 9q- syndrome. CONCLUSION: The clinical
      features of patients with identical r(9) breakpoints present variable phenotypes.
      The possible cause might be the submicroscopic variation in the deletion
      breakpoints, variation in the ring stability, the modification of the expression
      of the deleted by the individual's genetic background, or the effect of changes
      in the fetal environment. The haploinsufficiency of genes located in the deleted
      regions may play critical roles in the patient phenotype as well.

PMID- 20931538
TI  - [Application of fluorescence in situ hybridization technique in diagnosis of
      variant Ph chromosome translocation and Ph-negative chronic myelocytic leukemia].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To explore the value of fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH)
      technique in diagnosis of variant Ph chromosome translocation (VT) and Ph
      chromosome-negative chronic myelocytic leukemia (CML). METHODS: Nine CML patients
      with VT and 2 Ph chromosome-negative CML patients confirmed by R banding were
      assayed with dual color-dual fusion BCR/ABL probe by FISH. RESULTS: The 9
      patients with VT involved chromosomes 1, 3, 5, 12, 13, 15, 17 and 21 besides
      chromosomes 9 and 22, and some of them showed recurrent aberrations; FISH results
      were positive and the signal feature was 2R2G1Y. The 2 Ph-negative CML patients
      had normal karyotypes; FISH was positive and the signal feature was 1R1G2Y and
      1R1G1Y respectively. CONCLUSION: FISH can provide better diagnosis for CML with
      VT and Ph-negative CML. Abnormal karyotype and marker gene changes can be
      assessed based on the signal feature of the positive cell. So FISH is a
      complementary method to banding technique in diagnosis of CML.

PMID- 20931539
TI  - [Investigation of the molecular changes in patients with multiple myeloma by
      fluorescence in situ hybridization].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the incidence and prognosis of 1q21 amplification,
      13q14 deletion, TP53 gene deletion and IgH translocation in patients with
      multiple myeloma (MM). METHODS: Interphase fluorescence in situ hybridization (I
      FISH) with four different specific probes for the regions containing 1q21,
      13q14.3 (D13S319), 14q32 and TP53 gene were performed in 43 MM patients. RESULTS:
      Among the 43 MM patients, 1q21 amplification was observed in 28 (65.1%) cases,
      13q14 deletion in 30 (69.7%) cases, TP53 gene deletion in 8 (18.6%) cases, and
      IgH translocation in 29 (67.4%) cases. The mortality of MM patients with 1q21
      amplification, 13q14 deletion or TP53 gene deletion was higher than those without
      them. CONCLUSION: There is high frequency of 1q21 amplification, 13q14 deletion,
      TP53 gene deletion and IgH translocation in multiple myeloma, and 1q21
      amplification, 13q14 deletion and TP53 gene deletion are poor prognosis factors
      for MM patients.

PMID- 20931540
TI  - [22q11 microdeletion test in patients with congenital heart defects by
      quantitative fluorescent PCR].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To establish an assay for screening chromosome 22q11 microdeletion
      efficiently, and apply it for detecting del22q11 in patients with non-syndromic
      congenital heart defects (CHD). METHODS: Seventy nine patients with non-syndromic
      CHD and 84 normal controls were genotyped for 8 short tandem repeat (STR) markers
      located in 22q11 region, by using quantitative fluorescence polymerase chain
      reaction (QF-PCR). RESULTS: The average heterozygosity of the STR markers in
      patients and controls was 0.76 and 0.79, respectively. One patient with Tetralogy
      of Fallot (TOF) from the 79 CHD cases (1.3%) was found to have a deletion within
      chromosome 22q11.2, which was confirmed by multiplex ligation-dependent probe
      amplification (MLPA). CONCLUSION: The QF-PCR assay developed in this study was a
      reliable and an efficient alterative approach to screen for 22q11 microdeletion
      in clinical diagnosis and genetic counseling.

PMID- 20931541
TI  - [The c.3463C>T mutation of the ADAR1 gene in patients with dyschromatosis
      symmetrical hereditaria].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To analyze the mutation of the adenosine deaminase acting on RNA 1
      (ADAR1) gene in a pedigree with dyschromatosis symmetrical hereditaria (DSH).
      METHODS: Mutation analysis of the ADAR1 gene was carried out by PCR and direct
      DNA sequencing in the DSH family, as well as in 50 unrelated healthy controls.
      RESULTS: A missense mutation of c.3463C>T, which results in p.R1155W in the ADAR1
      protein, was found in the 2 patients, but was absent in the 2 healthy members in
      the family and 50 unrelated individuals. CONCLUSION: A missense mutation of
      c.3463C>T in the ADAR1 gene was detected in the DSH family, which is likely
      responsible for the pathogenesis of the disease.

PMID- 20931542
TI  - [Association of IVS10+12G>A polymorphism in hMSH2 gene with colorectal cancer in
      Chinese].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association of the single-nucleotide polymorphism
      (SNP) IVS10+12 G>A in hMSH2 gene with colorectal cancer in a Chinese population
      of Jiangsu province. METHODS: A case-control study to investigate whether this
      SNP affects the risk of developing colorectal cancer was conducted. Subjects
      included 108 colorectal cancer patients and 180 healthy individuals. Peripheral
      white blood cell DNA was obtained from all subjects. The hMSH2 gene IVS10+12 G>A
      was genotyped using a PCR-based DHPLC, the existence of IVS10+12 G>A was verified
      by DNA sequencing. RESULTS: The allele frequency of the IVS10+12 G>A in the hMSH2
      gene in the healthy individuals was 51.7%. There was significant difference in
      the frequency of the IVS10+12 G>A between patients and healthy controls (P<0.05),
      and between familial patients and healthy controls (P<0.05). There was also
      significant difference of the frequency of the IVS10+12 G>A between patients
      younger than 50 years, and patients with high consumption of fried food and
      pickled vegetable and healthy controls respectively (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: This
      SNP may be associated with colorectal cancers in Chinese. Further investigation
      with larger sample size is needed.

PMID- 20931543
TI  - [Study of nine single nucleotide polymorphism loci of human HIF1A gene in three
      Tibetan groups].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of hypoxia environment induced by altitude
      on hypoxia inducible factor 1alpha (HIF1A) gene. METHODS: Nine single nucleotide
      polymorphism (SNP) loci of the HIF1A gene from three Tibetan groups (Tibet,
      Qinghai Province and Yunnan Province) were genotyped using PCR-restriction
      fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method. RESULTS: For non-synonymous
      mutation SNP site, there was no significant difference among the three Tibetan
      groups, except for SNP rs11549465 between Tibet Tibetan and Yunnan Tibetan, as
      well as between Qinghai Tibetan and Yunnan Tibetan. Frequencies of genotypes and
      alleles in rs4899056, rs1957757, rs10873142 and rs3783752 had significant
      differences between Tibet Tibetan and Yunnan Tibetan, and between Qinghai Tibetan
      and Yunnan Tibetan (all P<0.05). We also observed that the difference was
      negatively correlated with the altitude. CONCLUSION: The results suggested that
      the HIF1A gene might be under hypoxic selection induced by high altitude in the
      three groups.

PMID- 20931544
TI  - [Radical prostatectomy: local recurrence and persistence of disease. Is it
      possible to hypothesize any responsibility of the surgeon?].
AB  - Radical prostatectomy (RP) represents the most frequently chosen therapeutic
      option for treating newly diagnosed localized prostate cancer. Cancer recurrence
      after surgery is linked to biologic variables. But are these the only ones that
      must be considered to give an explanation of a possible local or distal
      recurrence, or can it also admit the possibility that an incorrectly conducted
      surgery has a negative role in the unfavorable evolution after PR? Prostate
      cancer recurrence, as a matter of fact, is related also to surgical technique.
      The PR, by definition is a surgical, potentially complicated act. Surgery
      outcomes depend on a whole series of factors: the surgeon's ability, and the way
      the surgical procedure is conducted, play an essential role. Here we evaluate the
      role of biological and surgical factors on biochemical recurrence.

PMID- 20931545
TI  - [Interstitial cystitis: minimal diagnostic criteria].
AB  - Any article reporting on Interstitial Cystitis (IC) will list numerous
      investigations. This paper presents a review of the minimum investigations needed
      and their significance for the initial evaluation and diagnosis of patients with
      Interstitial Cystitis. To optimize patient?s early diagnosis and disease
      monitoring, a comprehensive algorithm for the diagnosis of IC has been proposed.
      The paper defines interstitial cystitis (IC) as a disease of the urinary bladder
      diagnosed by at least one of the following 3 requirements: 1) endoscopic criteria
      (cystoscopy findings); 2) pathologic criteria of bladder biopsy; and 3) clinical
      criteria including pain and lower urinary tract symptoms evaluation. Furthermore,
      the exclusion of confusable diseases is mandatory in all cases. These are
      recommendations, mostly based on expert opinions and literature review. Where
      possible, a level of recommendation was developed according to a 3-grade scale:
      mandatory (grade 1), recommended (grade 2), and optional (grade 3). By using a
      stepwise approach and an evidence-based thought process, the diagnosis of IC is
      made easier and reliable.

PMID- 20931546
TI  - [Safety and tolerability of local treatment with Iloprost in patients with
      Peyronie's disease. A phase 1 pilot study and proposal of a new symptom
      questionnaire].
AB  - PURPOSE: Intralesional therapy is a less invasive method for the treatment of
      Peyronie's disease. The objective of this study was to evaluate safety and
      tolerability of intralesional injections of Iloprost (I2 Prostacyclin analogue)
      for its property to suppress in fibroblasts CTFG (Connective tissue growth
      factor) production, which acts in concert with TGF-beta to stimulate the fibrotic
      process. METHODS: Nineteen patients with Peyronie's disease were preliminarily
      evaluated by considering the degree of penile curvature, plaque size and local
      and systemic symptoms. Each patient then received weekly intralesional injections
      of 200 ng of Iloprost in 1 ml of normal saline for 4-5 weeks. If tolerated, the
      single dose increased weekly to the maximum of 400 ng (2 mL). RESULTS: The
      treatment has shown that all patients seem to well tolerate a 200 ng Iloprost
      dose; 7 of them reached a 300 ng dose and 6 tolerate a 400 ng dose without
      showing side effects. There was no placebo control group in this study. To
      evaluate the efficacy of the treatment, the absence of objective parameters
      (except for the auto-photograph of penis in erection) led us to develop a
      subjective questionnaire that was given to all patients to assess sexual
      function, pain reduction, ecc. CONCLUSIONS: Due to the relatively small size of
      the sample, the efficacy evaluation has been restricted to check the
      questionnaire reliability. Iloprost is well tolerated to a dose of 400 ng in the
      local treatment of Peyronie's disease.

PMID- 20931547
TI  - Analysis of the results obtained with a new phytotherapeutic association for LUTS
      versus control. [corrected].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH) is a common disease whose
      frequency has risen throughout the world in concomitance with the increase in
      life expectancy. BPH causes voiding disturbances known by the acronym LUTS (lower
      urinary tract symptoms), which heavily influence the quality of life in the
      elderly. The treatment for LUTS is mainly divided into medical and surgical, the
      latter usually represented by prostate ablation. Medical therapy includes
      synthetic molecules that interfere with the hormonal control of BPH or act on the
      bladder neck tonus, as well as natural remedies based on plant extracts from
      Serenoa Repens and/or Urtica Dioica. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Two groups of patients
      who were candidates for surgery for BPH-induced LUTS, were randomly recruited in
      a six-month trial aimed at comparing outcome of treatment with a new combination
      of plants extracts (Pluvio(r)), which differs from the previous ones in that it
      also contains avocado and soya oil, as well as a high dose of Urtica Dioica, with
      no therapy. Age, IPSS score, maximal uroflow, prostate volume, PSA, free-to-total
      PSA ratio, post voiding residual urine and number of nocturia episodes were
      recorded and statistically evaluated using a NCSS 60(r) program. RESULT: A marked
      benefit in terms of quality of life, measured by IPSS score, uroflow, residual
      urine and nocturia, was observed in the treated group compared to controls. PSA
      and prostate volume were not significantly affected. No noteworthy adverse events
      were observed. CONCLUSIONS: The new phytotherapeutic combination evaluated in the
      present study would seem to be highly effective for the treatment of LUTS in BPH
      patients and does not have negative side effects. Its use could therefore be
      strongly advocated in this setting.

PMID- 20931548
TI  - [Treatment of acute iatrogenic cystitis secondary to bladder chemo-immuno
      instillation or pelvic radiotherapy].
AB  - The onset of cystitis during intravesical chemo-immunotherapy for the treatment
      of non-muscle invasive transitional cell bladder tumor, or after pelvic
      radiotherapy mainly for prostate cancer, is a frequent clinical situation, not
      easily manageable due to the lack of responsiveness to symptomatic drugs, often
      resulting in discontinuation of cancer treatment in many cases.?The similarity of
      symptoms with those of the painful bladder syndrome, otherwise called
      interstitial cystitis, has led us to use the same treatment with intravesical
      sodium hyaluronate in order to obtain an improvement of symptomatology. We
      therefore performed a prospective study on 55 consecutive male symptomatic
      patients, aged from 54 to 81 years: 11 after radiotherapy, 17 after BCG and 27
      after Mitomicyn C bladder instillations ,12 of whom in combination with bladder
      hyperthermia.?All subjects underwent bladder instillations with sodium
      hyaluronate 40 mg in 50 mL weekly for 8 to 24 weeks depending on the time needed
      to the resolution of the symptoms.?During the first 4 weeks 32 mg of
      dexamethasone were also instilled intravesically, mixed with hyaluronate, in
      order to obtain a stronger anti-inflammatory activity due also to its higher
      capacity of penetration in the bladder mucosa. The symptoms intensity was
      evaluated through a Visual Analogue Score (VAS) of the discomfort and pain
      perceived from 0 to 10, and bladder capacity was recorded with micturition diary
      before and after the treatment.?After 16 weeks VAS improved in every case of
      chemical cystitis from an initial mean value of 8.6 to a final mean value of
      1(with 3 as a maximum value recorded). The difference was highly significant (p
      <0.001). Bladder capacity increased in all cases of chemical cystitis from a mean
      value of 56 to 276 mL with a highly significant improvement (p <0.001) and in all
      cases of post-actinic cystitis from a mean bladder capacity of 89 to a final mean
      value of 239 mL, with a significant improvement (p= 0.05). We did not observe any
      side effect due to our treatment. Therefore, we can conclude that bladder
      instillation with sodium hyaluronate for at least 8 weeks and dexamethasone in
      the first 4 weeks can solve the symptoms of iatrogenic cystitis secondary to
      chemo-immunotherapy or pelvic radiotherapy, without incurring in side effects. To
      our knowledge this treatment has never been published before in scientific
      medical literature.

PMID- 20931549
TI  - [Wunderlich syndrome. Clinical and therapeutic aspects of a long-term
      experience].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Wunderlich's syndrome is defined as a clinical manifestation
      secondary to sudden spontaneous rupture of renal parenchyma in the absence of
      injury, resulting in hemoretroperitoneum. This syndrome may occur in patients
      with benign or malignant neoplasm of the kidney, arterial venous fistulae,
      immunovasculitis and other phlogosis of the kidney. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We
      present 19 cases of acute spontaneous hemoretroperitoneum or Wunderlich's
      syndrome diagnosed from 1996 to 2009, related to the following conditions: 7
      renal carcinomas, 4 angiomyolipomas, 2 adrenal hemorrhages, 1 bleeding polycystic
      kidney, 2 hemorrhagic renal cysts and three cases of immunovasculitis. Overall, 6
      patients were treated with acetylsalicylic acid and 4 with dicumarolics for
      cardiovascular disease, while 13 patients were suffering from hypertension?
      RESULTS: In 19 cases there was no mortality and the following treatment was
      performed: 11 nephrectomy, 4 partial nephrectomy, 2 adrenalectomy, 2 selective
      embolization of intrarenal branches as single treatment, while in three other
      cases, the embolization was carried out from a surgical procedure, conservative
      (partial nephrectomy) in one case, ablative (nephrectomy) in two other cases.
      CONCLUSIONS: The spontaneous hemoretroperitoneum is a rare syndrome associated
      with acute kidney disease often unknown to the patient and only in selected cases
      with small hematoma; it is possible to perform arteriography with selective
      embolization of branches avoiding renal access surgery. So far, it is unknown to
      which extent anti-platelet and anticoagulant drug treatment contributes to this
      syndrome but, in our experience, they have increased the morbidity of the
      clinical condition.

PMID- 20931550
TI  - [Conservative treatment of persistent calyceal fistula after tumor excision. Case
      report and clinical remarks].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Nowadays, ultrasounds allow to discover accidentally a large number
      of renal small tumors. So, radical nephrectomy, which years ago was considered as
      the gold standard, is rarely required. Today, nephron sparing surgery is often
      prescribed for renal masses smaller than 4 cm. Its most frequent complication is
      calyceal fistula. It can be prevented exploring carefully the surgical surface,
      and suturing any opening. It can heal over within a few days or some weeks, so it
      can be a trouble for both the patient and the surgeon. A complete urinary
      drainage, obtained with an ureteral stent and an open bladder catheter, helps
      heal. Recently, it has become common practice to spread synthetic or biological
      tissue sealants over the surgical surface, to improve hemostasis. These surgical
      glues have also been used to repair calyceal openings, with conflicting results.
      METHODS: We performed left renal tumor excision (3.5 x 3 cm) in a 72-years-old
      man, during temporary renal artery occlusion with surface hypothermia. We placed
      intraoperatively an ureteral stent. The visual examination of the surgical cavity
      did not reveal any calyceal opening. We electrocauterized it and stuffed it with
      FloSeal. Surgical edges were free from illness. After 5 days urinary leakage from
      the drainage tube increased. Pyelography showed a calyceal fistula. A further
      stent was placed, with no results. Bladder catheter was kept open for about 2
      months. Urinary leakage stopped 34 days after surgery. RESULTS: Urinary leakage
      increased when the catheter was removed, and stopped only after many days of
      complete urinary drainage. CONCLUSIONS: The conservative treatment of a calyceal
      fistula must be considered a still effective therapy, also in difficult cases,
      provided that a complete and long-lasting urinary drainage is carried out.

PMID- 20931551
TI  - Different clinical presentations of pelvic ectopic kidneys: report of two cases
      and review of the literature.
AB  - Pelvic kidney is the most common type of renal ectopia. These abnormally
      positioned kidneys are often clinically asymptomatic. However, they are prone to
      urinary infection, stone formation and trauma. Admitted patients often complain
      of lower abdominal pain and urinary infection. Pelvic kidneys may also lead to
      misdiagnosis when it is associated with hydronephrosis or large cystic
      structures. Thus, it is rather difficult to pinpoint the origin of the problem.
      We reported here different clinical presentations of our two patients with pelvic
      kidneys.

PMID- 20931552
TI  - [Hydronephrosis caused by inferior vena cava penetration by a mobin-uddin
      filter].
AB  - The inferior vena cava (IVC) filter placement represents an excellent protection
      from significant pulmonary embolism in at-risk patients. Perforation of the wall
      of the IVC by components of caval filters is a recognized complication. We report
      a case of asymptomatic hydronephrosis caused by transcaval penetration of a Mobin
      Uddin filter.

PMID- 20931553
TI  - Does timing of biochemistry in first-trimester aneuploidy risk assessment affect
      the gestational age at prenatal diagnosis and pregnancy termination?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the relationship between the timing of chemistry and
      timing of prenatal diagnosis and pregnancy termination in pregnancies with
      chromosomal abnormalities. METHOD: Singleton pregnancies with chromosomal
      abnormalities from 2005 to 2009 were identified. Records were reviewed to
      identify timing of chemistry, nuchal translucency (NT), prenatal diagnosis and
      pregnancy termination. Mann-Whitney U and Fisher's exact test were used for
      statistical analysis. RESULTS: A total of 110 pregnancies were included. Seventy
      eight had biochemistry performed at the time of NT and 32 had biochemistry a
      median of 9 days prior. Aneuploidy risks were similar between the two groups.
      Although the timing of NT was similar, those having biochemistry before NT had
      prenatal diagnosis and pregnancy termination at significantly earlier gestational
      ages. Those with early biochemistry were more likely to have chorionic villus
      sampling (CVS) (69% vs 37%; p = 0.003) compared to those who had biochemistry at
      the time of NT. CONCLUSION: There was a strong correlation between the timing of
      biochemistry and prenatal diagnosis and pregnancy termination.

PMID- 20931554
TI  - Mutation analysis and characterization of alternative splice variants of the
      Wilson disease gene ATP7B.
AB  - Wilson disease is a copper metabolism disorder caused by mutations in ATP7B, a
      copper-transporting adenosine triphosphatase. A molecular diagnosis was performed
      on 135 patients with Wilson disease in Taiwan. We identified 36 different
      mutations, eight of which were novel: five missense mutations (Ser986Phe,
      Ile1348Asn, Gly1355Asp, Met1392Lys, and Ala1445Pro), one deletion (2810delT) in
      the coding region, and two nucleotide substitutions (-133A->C and -215A->T) in
      the promoter region. These mutations were not observed in 100 control subjects
      and reduced the activity of the mutated protein by at least 50% when compared
      with wild-type ATP7B. In addition to exon 8, our data indicate another mutation
      hotspot in exon 12 where 9.62% of all mutations occurred. An alternative splice
      variant of ATP7B lacking exon 12 was observed in one patient who had a homozygous
      2810delT mutation and very mild clinical symptoms. Clinical examination and
      functional characterization of alternative splice variants of ATP7B lacking exon
      12 showed that they retained 80% of their biological activity. The 2810delT
      mutation increased the expression of these variants, which may have explained the
      mild symptoms in the patient with the 2810delT mutation. We also discovered that
      treating liver cancer cells with a Na(+)/H(+) exchanger inhibitor, 5-(N-ethyl-N
      isopropyl)-amiloride, significantly enhanced the expression of the alternative
      splice variant of ATP7B lacking exon 12. CONCLUSION: This study suggests a novel
      therapeutic strategy for patients with mutations in exon 12.

PMID- 20931555
TI  - Hyponatremia in patients treated with terlipressin for severe gastrointestinal
      bleeding due to portal hypertension.
AB  - Terlipressin is frequently used in acute variceal bleeding due to its powerful
      effect on vasopressin V1 receptors. Although terlipressin is also a partial
      agonist of renal vasopressin V2 receptors, its effects on serum sodium
      concentration have not been specifically investigated. To examine the effects of
      terlipressin on serum sodium concentration in patients with acute portal
      hypertensive bleeding, 58 consecutive patients with severe portal-hypertensive
      bleeding treated with terlipressin were investigated. In the whole population,
      serum sodium decreased from 134.9 +/- 6.6 mEq/L to 130.5 +/- 7.7 mEq/L (P =
      0.002). Thirty-nine patients (67%) had a decrease in serum sodium >= 5 mEq/L
      during treatment: in 18 patients (31%), between 5 and 10 mEq/L and in 21 patients
      (36%), greater than 10 mEq/L. In this latter group, serum sodium decreased from
      137.2 +/- 5 to 120.5 +/- 5 mEq/L (P < 0.001). In multivariate analysis, the
      reduction in serum sodium was related to baseline serum sodium and Model for End
      Stage Liver Disease (MELD) score; patients with low MELD and normal or near
      normal baseline serum sodium had the highest risk of hyponatremia. Serum sodium
      returned to baseline values in most patients shortly after cessation of therapy.
      Three of the 21 patients with marked reduction in serum sodium developed
      neurological manifestations, including osmotic demyelination syndrome in one
      patient due to a rapid recovery of serum sodium (serum sodium in these three
      patients decreased from 135, 130, and 136 to 117, 114, and 109 mEq/L,
      respectively). CONCLUSION: An acute reduction in serum sodium concentration is
      common during treatment with terlipressin for severe portal-hypertensive
      bleeding. It develops rapidly after start of therapy, may be severe in some
      patients and is associated with neurological complications, and is usually
      reversible after terlipressin withdrawal.

PMID- 20931556
TI  - Kinetics of hepatitis B surface antigen decline during 3 years of telbivudine
      treatment in hepatitis B e antigen-positive patients.
AB  - The impact of prolonged direct antiviral therapy on hepatitis B surface antigen
      (HBsAg) levels in patients with chronic hepatitis B is poorly understood. We
      quantitatively assessed serum HBsAg levels during 3 years of telbivudine
      treatment, as well as their relationship with virologic and biochemical
      characteristics in 162 hepatitis B e antigen-positive patients who maintained
      undetectable serum hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA long-term. Telbivudine treatment
      progressively reduced serum HBsAg levels (mean +/- SD) from baseline (3.8 +/- 0.6
      log10 IU/mL) to treatment week 24 (3.4 +/- 0.7 log10 IU/mL), treatment year 1
      (3.3 +/- 0.8 log10 IU/mL), and treatment year 3 (3.0 +/- 1.4 log10 IU/mL) (P
      <0.0001). In this patient population, HBsAg loss was observed in nine (6%) of 162
      patients through year 3. During the first year of treatment, three patterns of
      HBsAg decline were observed: rapid (>= 1 log10 IU/mL) in 32 patients, slow (0-1
      log10 IU/mL) in 74 patients, and steady levels in 56 patients. These findings
      were associated with different likelihoods of HBsAg loss during long-term
      telbivudine therapy. Eight of 32 patients with rapid HBsAg decline versus none of
      56 patients with steady HBsAg levels achieved HBsAg loss at year 3 (P = 0.0024).
      HBV genotype was a significant determinant for HBsAg kinetics, with the fastest
      decline in genotype A patients. In patients with subsequent HBsAg loss, viral
      antigens were already undetectable in liver biopsy samples after 1 year of
      treatment. This was associated with markedly enhanced antiviral T cell
      reactivity. CONCLUSION: In patients who have effective suppression of viral
      replication during telbivudine treatment, a rapid decline in serum HBsAg levels
      during the first year may identify those with a greater likelihood of achieving
      HBsAg clearance.

PMID- 20931557
TI  - Inhibition of hepatitis C virus replication using adeno-associated virus vector
      delivery of an exogenous anti-hepatitis C virus microRNA cluster.
AB  - RNA interference (RNAi) is being evaluated as an alternative therapeutic strategy
      for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. The use of viral vectors encoding short
      hairpin RNAs (shRNAs) has been the most common strategy employed to provide
      sustained expression of RNAi effectors. However, overexpression and incomplete
      processing of shRNAs has led to saturation of the endogenous miRNA pathway,
      resulting in toxicity. The use of endogenous microRNAs (miRNAs) as scaffolds for
      short interfering (siRNAs) may avoid these problems, and miRNA clusters can be
      engineered to express multiple RNAi effectors, a feature that may prevent RNAi
      resistant HCV mutant generation. We exploited the endogenous miRNA-17-92 cluster
      to generate a polycistronic primary miRNA that is processed into five mature
      miRNAs that target different regions of the HCV genome. All five anti-HCV miRNAs
      were active, achieving up to 97% inhibition of Renilla luciferase (RLuc) HCV
      reporter plasmids. Self-complementary recombinant adeno-associated virus (scAAV)
      vectors were chosen for therapeutic delivery of the miRNA cluster. Expression of
      the miRNAs from scAAV inhibited the replication of cell culture-propagated HCV
      (HCVcc) by 98%, and resulted in up to 93% gene silencing of RLuc-HCV reporter
      plasmids in mouse liver. No hepatocellular toxicity was observed at scAAV doses
      as high as 5 * 10(11) vector genomes per mouse, a dose that is approximately five
      fold higher than doses of scAAV-shRNA vectors that others have shown previously
      to be toxic in mouse liver. CONCLUSION: We have demonstrated that exogenous anti
      HCV miRNAs induce gene silencing, and when expressed from scAAV vectors inhibit
      the replication of HCVcc without inducing toxicity. The combination of an AAV
      vector delivery system and exploitation of the endogenous RNAi pathway is a
      potentially viable alternative to current HCV treatment regimens.

PMID- 20931558
TI  - Interleukin-6 is an important mediator for mitochondrial DNA repair after
      alcoholic liver injury in mice.
AB  - We investigated the hypothesis that a prominent effect of chronic ethanol
      consumption is mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) injury and compared this injury in IL-6
      knockout (KO) and wild-type (WT) mice. Ethanol feeding for 4 weeks resulted in
      steatosis and oxidative mtDNA damage (8-OHdG) in both IL-6KO and WT mice.
      However, the WT mice were able to repair the injury by increased production of
      mtDNA repair enzymes (OGG-1, Neil 1) and check point (p21, p53) proteins and
      avoid the mtDNA mutations. By contrast the IL-6 KO mice were unable to repair
      mtDNA resulting in deletions and diminished transcription of the mtDNA encoded
      protein cytochrome c oxidase subunit-I (COI). The mitochondrial injury was
      reflected by decreased membrane potential, reduced levels of ATP, and apoptosis
      inducing factor (AIF)-induced apoptosis. CONCLUSION: IL-6 plays a critical role
      in allowing the liver to recover from significant mtDNA oxidation caused by
      alcohol. The data suggests that IL-6 activates mtDNA repair enzymes and induces
      cell cycle arrest allowing time for mtDNA repair.

PMID- 20931560
TI  - Application of the 2010 American Association for the study of liver diseases
      criteria of remission to a cohort of Italian patients with autoimmune hepatitis.

PMID- 20931559
TI  - IL28B genotype is associated with differential expression of intrahepatic
      interferon-stimulated genes in patients with chronic hepatitis C.
AB  - Genetic variation in the IL28B (interleukin 28B; interferon lambda 3) region has
      been associated with sustained virological response (SVR) rates in patients with
      chronic hepatitis C (CHC) who were treated with peginterferon-alpha and
      ribavirin. We hypothesized that IL28B polymorphism is associated with
      intrahepatic expression of interferon-stimulated genes (ISGs), known to influence
      treatment outcome. IL28B genotyping (rs12979860) and whole-genome RNA expression
      were performed using liver biopsies from 61 North American patients with CHC.
      After correction for multiple testing (false discovery rate < 0.10), 164
      transcripts were found to be differentially expressed by IL28B-type. The
      interferon signaling pathway was the most enriched canonical pathway
      differentially expressed by IL28B-type (P < 10(-5)), with most genes showing
      higher expression in livers of individuals carrying the poor-response IL28B-type.
      In 25 patients for which treatment response data were available, IL28B-type was
      associated with SVR (P = 0.0054). ISG expression was also associated with SVR;
      however, this was not independent of IL28B-type. Analysis of miR-122 expression
      in liver biopsies showed reduced miR-122 levels associated with poorer treatment
      outcome, independently of IL28B-type. No association was observed between IL28B
      type and levels of liver IL28B or IL28A messenger RNA expression. IL28B protein
      sequence variants associated with rs12979860 were therefore investigated in
      vitro: no differences in ISG induction or inhibition of HCV replication were
      observed in Huh7.5 cells. CONCLUSION: The good response IL28B variant was
      strongly associated with lower level ISG expression. The results suggest that
      IL28B genotype may explain the relationship between hepatic ISG expression and
      HCV treatment outcome, and this is independent of miR-122 expression. IL28B-type
      was not associated with intrahepatic IL28B messenger RNA expression in vivo.
      Further investigation of the precise molecular mechanism(s) by which IL28B
      genetic variation influences HCV outcomes is warranted.

PMID- 20931561
TI  - Tuning the threshold voltage in organic thin-film transistors by local channel
      doping using photoreactive interfacial layers.

PMID- 20931562
TI  - Superstrong low-resistant carbon nanotube-carbide-metal nanocontacts.

PMID- 20931563
TI  - In vivo viscoelastic properties of the brain in normal pressure hydrocephalus.
AB  - Nearly half a century after the first report of normal pressure hydrocephalus
      (NPH), the pathophysiological cause of the disease still remains unclear. Several
      theories about the cause and development of NPH emphasize disease-related
      alterations of the mechanical properties of the brain. MR elastography (MRE)
      uniquely allows the measurement of viscoelastic constants of the living brain
      without intervention. In this study, 20 patients (mean age, 69.1 years; nine men,
      11 women) with idiopathic (n = 15) and secondary (n = 5) NPH were examined by
      cerebral multifrequency MRE and compared with 25 healthy volunteers (mean age,
      62.1 years; 10 men, 15 women). Viscoelastic constants related to the stiffness
      (u) and micromechanical connectivity (alpha) of brain tissue were derived from
      the dynamics of storage and loss moduli within the experimentally achieved
      frequency range of 25-62.5 Hz. In patients with NPH, both storage and loss moduli
      decreased, corresponding to a softening of brain tissue of about 20% compared
      with healthy volunteers (p < 0.001). This loss of rigidity was accompanied by a
      decreasing alpha parameter (9%, p < 0.001), indicating an alteration in the
      microstructural connectivity of brain tissue during NPH. This disease-related
      decrease in viscoelastic constants was even more pronounced in the
      periventricular region of the brain. The results demonstrate distinct tissue
      degradation associated with NPH. Further studies are required to investigate the
      source of mechanical tissue damage as a potential cause of NPH-related
      ventricular expansions and clinical symptoms.

PMID- 20931564
TI  - On the mechanism of ruthenium-catalyzed formation of hydrogen from alcohols: a
      DFT study.
AB  - The mechanism of the ruthenium-catalyzed dehydrogenation of methanol has been
      investigated by using three DFT-based methods. Three pathways were considered in
      which the ruthenium catalyst was ligated by either two or three phosphine
      ligands. Dispersion interactions, which are not described by the popular B3LYP
      functional, were taken into account by using the dispersion-corrected B3LYP-D and
      M06 density functionals. These interactions were found to be important in the
      description of reaction steps that involved ligand/substrate/product association
      with or dissociation from the catalyst. In line with experimental results, the
      resting state of the catalyst was predicted to be a ruthenium trihydride complex.
      It is shown that the dehydrogenation reaction preferentially proceeds through
      pathways in which the catalyst is ligated by two phosphine ligands. The catalytic
      cycle of the dehydrogenation process involves an intermolecular proton transfer
      from the methanol substrate to the catalyst followed by the release of
      dihydrogen. Rate-determining beta-hydride elimination from the resulting
      methoxide species then regenerates the resting state of the catalyst and
      completes the catalytic cycle. The overall free-energy barriers of 29.6-31.4 kcal
      mol(-1) predicted by the three density functionals are in good agreement with the
      experimentally observed reaction rate of 6 h(-1) at 423 K.

PMID- 20931565
TI  - Competitive and selective Csp3-Br versus Csp2-Br bond activation in palladium
      catalysed Suzuki cross-coupling: an experimental and theoretical study of the
      role of phosphine ligands.
AB  - Phosphine ligands have been demonstrated to have an effect on reactivity and
      selectivity in the competitive intramolecular palladium-catalysed Suzuki-Miyaura
      coupling of dibromo sulfoxide 1a possessing two different hybridised
      electrophilic carbons. It was found that the bromine bond to the sp(3)-hybridised
      carbon is selectively replaced in the presence of unhindered phosphines such as
      PPh(3) or xantphos. The use of hindered phosphine ligands such as P(o-tol)(3) and
      P(1-naphthyl)(3) reversed the selectivity, conducting the cross-coupling at the
      Csp(2)-Br. Identical trends were observed in external competition experiments
      carried out with bromomethyl sulfoxide and different substituted bromoarenes. DFT
      and DFT/MM calculations showed that the selectivity observed is mainly due to the
      different facility of the ligands to dissociate. Bisphosphine catalysts favour
      coupling at the sp(3) carbon, whereas monophosphine catalysts prefer the sp(2)
      carbon.

PMID- 20931566
TI  - Titanosilicate beads with hierarchical porosity: synthesis and application as
      epoxidation catalysts.
AB  - Porous titanosilicate beads with a diameter of 0.5-1.5 mm (TiSil-HPB-60) were
      synthesized from a preformed titanosilicate solution with a porous anion-exchange
      resin as template. The bead format of this material enables its straightforward
      separation from the reaction mixture in its application as a liquid-phase
      heterogeneous catalyst. The material displays hierarchical porosity
      (micro/mesopores) and incipient TS-1 structure building units. The titanium
      species are predominantly located in tetrahedral framework positions. TiSil-HPB
      60 is a highly active catalyst for the epoxidation of cyclohexene with t-butyl
      hydroperoxide (TBHP) and aqueous H(2)O(2). With both oxidants, TiSil-HPB-60 gave
      higher epoxide yields than Ti-MCM-41 and TS-1. The improved catalytic performance
      of TiSil-HPB-60 is mainly ascribed to the large mesopores favoring the diffusion
      of reagents and products to and from the titanium active sites. The epoxide yield
      and selectivity could be further improved by silylation of the titanosilicate
      beads. Importantly, TiSil-HPB-60 is a stable catalyst immune to titanium
      leaching, and can be easily recovered and reused in successive catalytic cycles
      without significant loss of activity. Moreover, TiSil-HPB-60 is active and
      selective in the epoxidation of a wide range of bulky alkenes.

PMID- 20931568
TI  - Structural topology and chemical bonding in Laves phases.

PMID- 20931567
TI  - Hybrid-increased radical-scavenging activity of resveratrol derivatives by
      incorporating a chroman moiety of vitamin E.

PMID- 20931569
TI  - Positive contrast technique for the detection and quantification of
      superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles in MRI.
AB  - In vivo detection and quantification of cells labeled with superparamagnetic iron
      oxide (SPIO) nanoparticles has been attracting increasing attention. In
      particular, positive contrast methods, such as susceptibility gradient mapping
      (SGM) and phase gradient mapping (PGM), have been proposed for the improved
      detection of SPIO nanoparticles. In this study, a different implementation of the
      PGM method is introduced; it calculates the phase gradient in the image space
      using a fast Fourier transform without the need for phase unwrapping. We first
      compared positive contrast generation between the PGM and SGM methods, which
      estimates the susceptibility gradient in k space through echo shift measurements.
      Next, PGM was applied to quantify SPIO concentrations by fitting the resulting
      phase gradient maps to those of a theoretical model. MR experiments were
      conducted using a 3-T magnet scanner to acquire two datasets: the first was
      acquired from a gelatin phantom with three SPIO-doped vials of different
      concentrations, and the second was obtained in vivo from a nude rat with SPIO
      labeled C6 glioma cells implanted in the flanks. The sensitivity of the PGM and
      SGM methods was compared using various factors, including different SPIO
      concentrations, TEs and signal-to-noise ratios. Based on the theoretical model of
      an infinite cylinder, the results demonstrated that, without loss of spatial
      resolution, the PGM method presents positive contrast maps with a higher
      sensitivity than SGM at medium and low SPIO concentrations, whereas SGM is more
      sensitive than PGM at longer TEs. The quantification of SPIO concentrations using
      the phantom dataset was also reported. On the basis of the same infinite cylinder
      model, it was shown that the PGM method provides an accurate estimation of SPIO
      concentration.

PMID- 20931571
TI  - Sb2S3 with various nanostructures: controllable synthesis, formation mechanism,
      and electrochemical performance toward lithium storage.
AB  - The size- and shape-controlled synthesis of Sb(2)S(3) nanostructures has been
      successfully realized by a facile hydrothermal route. A range of dimensional
      nanostructures, such as one-dimensional nanorods, two-dimensional nanowire
      bundles, three dimensional sheaf-like superstructures, dumbbell-shaped
      superstructures, and urchin-like microspheres, could be obtained through
      introducing different organic complex reagents or ionic liquids to the reaction
      system. The formation mechanisms of various Sb(2)S(3) nanostructures have been
      rationally proposed based on the crystal structure and the nature of the complex
      reagents and the ionic liquid. The effects of experimental parameters on the
      final product are also discussed in detail. In addition, electrochemical
      measurements demonstrate that the as-synthesized Sb(2)S(3) nanostructures have
      higher initial Li intercalation capacity and excellent cyclic performances, which
      indicates that the as-synthesized Sb(2)S(3) nanostructures could have potential
      applications in commercial batteries.

PMID- 20931570
TI  - In vivo diffusion tensor MRI of the mouse retina: a noninvasive visualization of
      tissue organization.
AB  - Diffusion tensor MRI (DTI) is a method for the noninvasive assessment of cellular
      organization and integrity in vivo. In this study, in vivo DTI was performed to
      demonstrate its ability to reflect photoreceptor cell alignment in adult C57BL/6
      wild-type mice. Age-matched retinal degeneration 1 (rd1) mice were employed as a
      negative control, i.e. loss of the photoreceptor cell layer. In wild-type mice,
      DTI-estimated cell alignment suggests that the MR-detected outer retinal layer
      comprises cells aligning perpendicular to the retinal surface, consistent with
      the known organization of photoreceptor cells. The MR-detected outer retinal
      layer exhibits a lower apparent diffusion coefficient and higher fractional
      anisotropy than the other two MR-detected retinal layers (p < 0.05 for all
      comparisons). In rd1 mice, the remaining MR-detected retinal layer exhibits
      different cell alignment, apparent diffusion coefficient and fractional
      anisotropy from that of the MR-detected outer retinal layer in wild-type mice (p
      < 0.05 for all comparisons), reflecting the degeneration of photoreceptor cells
      in rd1 mouse retina. Overall, our findings suggest that in vivo DTI assessment of
      mouse retina with normal physiology or degenerative pathology is feasible.

PMID- 20931572
TI  - Metal-molecule-metal junctions in Langmuir-Blodgett films using a new linker:
      trimethylsilane.
AB  - Herein trimethylsilane (TMS) is demonstrated to be an efficient binding group
      suitable for construction of metal-molecule-metal (M-mol-M') junctions, in which
      one of the metal contacts is an atomically flat gold surface and the other a
      scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) tip. The molecular component of the M-mol-M'
      devices is an oligomeric phenylene ethynylene (OPE) derivative Me(3)Si
      C=C{C(6)H(4)C=C}(2)C(6)H(4)NH(2), featuring both Me(3)SiC=C and NH(2) metal
      contacting groups. This compound can be assembled into Langmuir-Blodgett (LB)
      films on Au--substrates by surface binding through the amine groups.
      Alternatively, low coverage (sub-monolayer) films are formed by adsorption from
      solution. In the case of condensed monolayers top electrical contacts are formed
      to STM tips through the TMS end group. In low coverage films, single molecular
      bridges can be formed between the gold surface and a gold STM tip. The similarity
      in the I-V response of a one-layer LB film and the single molecule conductance
      experiments reveals several points of critical importance to the design of
      molecular components for use in the construction of M-mol-M' junctions. Firstly,
      the presence of neighbouring pi systems does not have a significant effect on the
      conductance of the M-mol-M' junction. Secondly, in the STM configuration,
      intermolecular electron hopping does not significantly enhance the junction
      transport characteristics. Thirdly, the symmetric behaviour of the I-V curves
      obtained, despite the different metal-molecule contacts, indicates that the
      molecule is simply an amphiphilic electron-donating wire and not a molecular
      diode with strong rectifying characteristics. Finally, the conductance values
      obtained from the amine/TMS-contacted OPE described here are of the same order of
      magnitude as thiol anchored OPEs, making them attractive alternatives to the more
      conventionally used thiol-contacting chemistry for OPE molecular wires.

PMID- 20931573
TI  - Oxidative spirocyclization of phenolic sulfonamides: scope and applications.
AB  - A full account of the oxidative dearomatization of para- and ortho-phenolic
      sulfonamides is provided together with an overview of the chemistry of the
      products and their elaboration to building blocks for spirocyclic alkaloids. A
      concise total synthesis of putative lepadiformine complements the discussion.

PMID- 20931574
TI  - On/off switching of perylene tetracarboxylic bisimide luminescence by means of
      substitution at the N-position by electron-rich mono-, di-, and
      trimethoxybenzenes.
AB  - A series of perylene tetracarboxylic bisimides, substituted at the N-position
      with methoxyphenyl groups, have been synthesized together with model compounds
      and their photophysical properties have been investigated by means of steady
      state and time-resolved spectroscopic techniques. The luminescence properties of
      the examined compounds vary remarkably with the substitution pattern, with
      emission quantum yields ranging from 1 to 10(-2)-10(-3). The observed quenching
      of the luminescence is assigned to a photoinduced electron transfer (PET) from
      the electron-rich methoxybenzene unit to the perylene bisimide moiety. The
      radical anion of perylene bisimide has been detected by transient-absorption
      spectroscopy. The results could satisfactorily be explained by taking into
      consideration the redox potentials of the partners and the electron-releasing
      ability of each methoxy group in relation to its position with respect to N.
      Quantum-chemical calculations were also performed.

PMID- 20931575
TI  - Weapons in disguise--activating mechanisms and protecting group chemistry in
      nature.
AB  - Bioactive natural products often possess uniquely functionalized structures with
      unusual modes of action; however, the natural product itself is not always the
      active species. We discuss molecules that draw on protecting group chemistry or
      else require activation to unmask reactive centers, illustrating that nature is
      not only a source of complex structures but also a guide for elegant chemical
      transformations which provides ingenious chemical solutions for drug delivery.

PMID- 20931576
TI  - New iridium catalysts for the efficient alkylation of anilines by alcohols under
      mild conditions.
AB  - The synthesis of eight new iridium complexes containing anionic P,N ligands is
      described. These complexes have been investigated as catalysts for amine
      alkylation reactions, resulting in a highly active catalyst for the selective
      monoalkylation of anilines with primary alcohols, under mild reaction conditions.
      Nearly quantitative conversion was observed at 70  degrees C with a catalyst
      loading as low as 0.05 mol% iridium.

PMID- 20931577
TI  - Activation and deactivation by temperature: behavior of Ph2PN(iPr)P(Ph)N(iPr)H in
      the presence of alkylaluminum compounds relevant to catalytic selective ethene
      trimerization.
AB  - Coordination, deprotonation, rearrangement, and cleavage of
      Ph(2)PN(iPr)P(Ph)N(iPr)H (1) by trialkylaluminum compounds R(3)Al (R=Me, Et) are
      reported that are relevant to the selective ethene trimerization system
      consisting of the ligand 1, CrCl(3)(THF)(3) and Et(3)Al that produces 1-hexene in
      more than 90% yield and highest purity. With increasing temperature and residence
      time first the formation of an adduct [Ph(2)PN(iPr)P(Ph)N(iPr)H][AlR(3)] (2),
      second the aluminum amide [Ph(2)PN(iPr)P(Ph)(AlR(3))N(iPr)][AlR(2)] (3) and third
      its rearrangement to the cyclic compound [N(iPr)P(Ph)P(Ph(2))N(iPr)][AlR(2)] (4)
      were observed. The cleavage of 3 by an excess of R(3)Al into an amidophosphane
      and an iminophosphane could be the reason for its rearrangement to complex 4, as
      well as to the cyclic dimer [R(2)AlN(iPr)P(Ph)(2)](2) (5). The chemistry of
      ligand 1 in the presence of alkylaluminum compounds gives hints on possible
      activation and deactivation mechanisms of 1 in trimerization catalysis.

PMID- 20931578
TI  - The development of a general strategy for the synthesis of tyramine-based natural
      products by using continuous flow techniques.

PMID- 20931579
TI  - Direct three-dimensional imaging of the buried interfaces between water and
      superhydrophobic surfaces.

PMID- 20931581
TI  - The next generation of advanced spectroscopy: surface enhanced Raman scattering
      from metal nanoparticles.

PMID- 20931580
TI  - Prins-type macrocyclizations as an efficient ring-closing strategy in natural
      product synthesis.
AB  - Prins-type macrocyclizations have recently emerged as a successful strategy in
      the synthesis of polyketide-derived natural products. This reaction provides a
      concise and selective means to form tetrahydropyran-containing macrocyclic rings
      of varying size. A high degree of functionality within the macrocycle is
      tolerated and the yields for these transformations are typically good to
      excellent. Since the initial report of a Prins macrocyclization reaction in 1979,
      examples of this approach did not re-emerge until 2008. However, the use of this
      method in natural product synthesis has rapidly gained momentum in the synthetic
      community, with multiple examples of this macrocyclization tactic reported in the
      recent literature.

PMID- 20931582
TI  - Nanoparticle-mediated delivery of bleomycin.

PMID- 20931583
TI  - Temporary restraints to overcome steric obstacles: an efficient strategy for the
      synthesis of mycalamide B.

PMID- 20931584
TI  - Hydridoboranes as modifiers for single-site organochromium catalysts: from low-
      to ultrahigh-molecular-weight polyethylene.

PMID- 20931585
TI  - Enantioselective intramolecular aza-Michael additions of indoles catalyzed by
      chiral phosphoric acids.

PMID- 20931586
TI  - Insights into the dealumination of zeolite HY revealed by sensitivity-enhanced
      27Al DQ-MAS NMR spectroscopy at high field.

PMID- 20931587
TI  - Core-protected platinum monolayer shell high-stability electrocatalysts for fuel
      cell cathodes.

PMID- 20931588
TI  - Organocatalytic asymmetric sulfa-michael/michael addition reactions: a strategy
      for the synthesis of highly substituted chromans with a quaternary stereocenter.

PMID- 20931589
TI  - Regioselective nickel-catalyzed reductive couplings of enones and allenes.

PMID- 20931590
TI  - Dehydrosilylation of ArNHSiH3 with ytterbium(II) amide: formation of a dimeric
      ytterbium(II) silanimine complex.

PMID- 20931591
TI  - Probing enzyme promiscuity of SGNH hydrolases.
AB  - Several hydrolases of the SGNH superfamily, including the lipase SrLip from
      Streptomyces rimosus (Q93MW7), the acyl-CoA thioesterase I TesA from Pseudomonas
      aeruginosa (Q9HZY8) and the two lipolytic enzymes EstA (from P. aeruginosa,
      O33407) and EstP (from Pseudomonas putida, Q88QS0), were examined for
      promiscuity. These enzymes were tested against four chemically different classes
      of a total of 34 substrates known to be hydrolysed by esterases, thioesterases,
      lipases, phospholipases, Tweenases and proteases. Furthermore, they were also
      analysed with respect to their amino acid sequences and structural homology, and
      their phylogenetic relationship was determined. The Pseudomonas esterases EstA
      and EstP each have an N-terminal domain with catalytic activity together with a C
      terminal autotransporter domain, and so the hybrid enzymes EstA(N)-EstP(C) and
      EstP(N)-EstA(C) were constructed by swapping the corresponding N- and C-terminal
      domains, and their hydrolytic activities were compared. Interestingly, substrate
      specificity and kinetic measurements indicated a significant influence of the
      autotransporter domains on the catalytic activities of these enzymes in solution.
      TesA, EstA and EstP were shown to function as esterases with different affinities
      and catalytic efficacies towards p-nitrophenyl butyrate. Of all the enzymes
      tested, only SrLip revealed lipase, phospholipase, esterase, thioesterase and
      Tweenase activities.

PMID- 20931592
TI  - Probing functional groups at the gas-aerosol interface using heterogeneous
      titration reactions: a tool for predicting aerosol health effects?
AB  - The complex chemical and physical nature of combustion and secondary organic
      aerosols (SOAs) in general precludes the complete characterization of both bulk
      and interfacial components. The bulk composition reveals the history of the
      growth process and therefore the source region, whereas the interface controls-
      to a large extent--the interaction with gases, biological membranes, and solid
      supports. We summarize the development of a soft interrogation technique, using
      heterogeneous chemistry, for the interfacial functional groups of selected probe
      gases [N(CH(3))(3), NH(2)OH, CF(3)COOH, HCl, O(3), NO(2)] of different
      reactivity. The technique reveals the identity and density of surface functional
      groups. Examples include acidic and basic sites, olefinic and polycyclic aromatic
      hydrocarbon (PAH) sites, and partially and completely oxidized surface sites. We
      report on the surface composition and oxidation states of laboratory-generated
      aerosols and of aerosols sampled in several bus depots. In the latter case, the
      biomarker 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine, signaling oxidative stress caused by
      aerosol exposure, was isolated. The increase in biomarker levels over a working
      day is correlated with the surface density N(i)(O3) of olefinic and/or PAH sites
      obtained from O(3) uptakes as well as with the initial uptake coefficient,
      gamma(0), of five probe gases used in the field. This correlation with gamma(0)
      suggests the idea of competing pathways occurring at the interface of the aerosol
      particles between the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) responsible for
      oxidative stress and cellular antioxidants.

PMID- 20931593
TI  - Prescriptions from general practitioners and in hospital physicians requiring
      pharmacists' interventions.
AB  - PURPOSE: To study prescribing errors requiring pharmacists' interventions and to
      evaluate the potential clinical significance of the errors and omissions
      detected. METHODS: The pharmacists at ten community pharmacies and two out
      patient hospital pharmacies recorded prescribing errors and corresponding
      interventions using a modified version of a previously developed registration
      scheme. Prescription errors with potential clinical significance were scored
      according to a modified version of Safety Assessment Code (SAC)-score RESULTS:
      During the study period 85,475 prescriptions were dispensed. A total of 2385
      prescribing errors were detected on 2226 (2.6%) prescriptions. The proportion of
      prescriptions with errors and omissions was more than four times higher on
      prescriptions from hospital physicians (7.1%) than on prescriptions from general
      practitioners (1.5%). The information on the majority (62.2%) of the
      prescriptions with inaccuracies had to be clarified before the drug could be
      dispensed. About 1/4 of the errors and omissions were of potential importance for
      the drug therapy. An expert panel of physicians and pharmacists judged 85% of
      these errors and omissions to be clinically significant. Individual physicians
      and pharmacists judged the clinical importance of the detected prescribing errors
      somewhat differently. CONCLUSIONS: Pharmacists intervened on 2.6% of
      prescriptions, and the majority of the potentially clinically significant
      prescribing errors were judged as significant to the patient's drug therapy and
      safety.

PMID- 20931596
TI  - Editorial: Biocommodities for day-to-day life.

PMID- 20931598
TI  - Enhanced cell viability and cell adhesion using low conductivity medium for
      negative dielectrophoretic cell patterning.
AB  - Negative dielectrophoretic (n-DEP) cell manipulation is an efficient way to
      pattern human liver cells on micro-electrode arrays. Maintaining cell viability
      is an important objective for this approach. This study investigates the effect
      of low conductivity medium and the optimally designed microchip on cell viability
      and cell adhesion. To explore the influence of conductivity on cell viability and
      cell adhesion, we have used earlier reported dielectrophoresis (DEP) buffer with
      a conductivity of 10.2 mS/m and three formulated media with conductivity of 9.02
      (M1), 8.14 (M2), 9.55 (M3) mS/m. The earlier reported isotonic sucrose/dextrose
      buffer (DEP buffer) used for DEP manipulation has the drawback of poor cell
      adhesion and cell viability. A microchip prototype with well-defined positioning
      of titanium electrode arrays was designed and fabricated on a glass substrate.
      The gap between the radial electrodes was accurately determined to achieve good
      cell patterning performance. Parameters such as dimension of positioning
      electrode, amplitude, and frequency of voltage signal were investigated to
      optimize the performance of the microchip.

PMID- 20931599
TI  - Apolipoprotein A-I(Milano) anion exchange chromatography: Self association and
      adsorption equilibrium.
AB  - The self-associative properties of apolipoprotein A-I(Milano) (apoA-I(M)) were
      investigated in relationship to its anion exchange behavior on Q-Sepharose-HP
      with and without the addition of urea as a denaturant. Self-association was
      dependent on protein and urea concentration and both influenced interactions of
      the protein with the chromatographic surface. In the absence of urea, apoA-I(M)
      was highly associated and existed primarily as a mixture of homodimer, tetramer
      and hexamer forms. Under these conditions, since the binding strength was greater
      for the oligomer forms, broad, asymmetrical peaks were obtained in both isocratic
      and gradient elution. Adding urea depressed self-association and caused
      unfolding. This resulted in sharper peaks but also decreased the binding
      strength. Thus, under these conditions chromatographic elution occurred at lower
      salt concentrations. The adsorption isotherms obtained at high protein loadings
      were also influenced by self-association and by the varying binding strength of
      the differently associated and unfolded forms. The isotherms were thus dependent
      on protein, urea, and salt concentration. Maximum binding capacity was obtained
      in the absence of urea, where adsorption of oligomers was shown to be dominant.
      Adding urea reduced the apparent binding capacity and weakened the apparent
      binding strength. A steric mass action model accounting for competitive binding
      of the multiple associated forms was used to successfully describe the
      equilibrium binding behavior using parameters determined from isocratic elution
      and isotherm experiments.

PMID- 20931600
TI  - Apolipoprotein A-I(Milano) anion exchange chromatography: mass transfer and
      adsorption kinetics.
AB  - The mass transfer and adsorption kinetics of self-associating apolipoprotein A
      I(Milano) (apoA-I(M)) was investigated for the two anion exchangers Q-Sepharose
      HP and Macro-Prep-HQ. At high salt where no protein binding occurs and without
      urea, mass transfer was controlled by hindered pore diffusion of multiple
      associated forms for both materials. Adding urea suppressed self-association, but
      resulted in higher viscosity and caused unfolding. As a consequence, the
      effective diffusivity decreased as urea was added and was greater for the larger
      pore Macro-Prep-HQ resin. At low salt, under strong binding conditions, the
      adsorption kinetics followed a more complex mechanism. In this case, the kinetics
      was very slow for both stationary phases up to 2 M urea. However, at higher urea
      concentrations, the adsorption kinetics for the smaller pore Q-Sepharose-HP
      matrix became much faster, suggesting a transition from pore- to surface
      dominated diffusion. Microscopic observations confirmed that different transport
      mechanisms were in play below and above 2 M urea, which marked the approximate
      boundary above which self-association was suppressed and unfolding occurred. The
      net result was enhanced uptake kinetics at high urea concentrations (e.g., 4 M)
      where protein unfolding is thought to lead to a more flexible structure that can
      reptate along the pore surface. Although the observed enhancement was dependent
      on the pore size and, thus, the surface area of the resin, it was not limited to
      apoA-I(M). BSA showed a similar trend as a function of urea when its disulfide
      bonds were reduced.

PMID- 20931601
TI  - Metabolism of green tea catechins by the human small intestine.
AB  - Numerous studies have shown that green tea polyphenols can be degraded in the
      colon, and there is abundant knowledge about the metabolites of these substances
      that appear in urine and plasma after green tea ingestion. However, there is very
      little information on the extent and nature of intestinal degradation of green
      tea catechins in humans. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine in
      detail the microbial metabolism and chemical stability of these polyphenols in
      the small intestine using a well-established ex vivo model. For this purpose,
      fresh ileostomy fluids from two probands were incubated for 24 h under anaerobic
      conditions with (+)-catechin (C), (-)-epicatechin (EC), (-)-epicatechin 3-O
      gallate (ECG), (-)-epigallocatechin (EGC), (-)-epigallocatchin 3-O-gallate (EGCG)
      and gallic acid (GA). After lyophilisation and extraction, metabolites were
      separated, identified and quantified by high performance liquid chromatography
      photodiode array detection (HPLC-DAD) and HPLC-ESI-tandem mass spectrometry. Two
      metabolites of EC and C (3', 4', 5'-trihydroxyphenyl-gamma-valerolactone and 3',
      4'-dihydroxyphenyl-gamma-valerolactone) were identified. In addition, 3', 4', 5'
      trihydroxyphenyl-gamma-valerolactone was detected as a metabolite of EGC, and
      (after 24-h incubation) pyrogallol as a degradation product of GA. Cleavage of
      the GA esters of EGCG and ECG was also observed, with variations dependent on the
      sources (probands) of the ileal fluids, which differed substantially
      microbiotically. The results provide new information about the degradation of
      green tea catechins in the gastrointestinal tract, notably that microbiota
      dependent liberation of GA esters may occur before these compounds reach the
      colon.

PMID- 20931602
TI  - Biosurfactant production and growth kinetics of bacteria in a designer marine
      medium: improved physiochemical properties.
AB  - A combinatorial screening strategy was adopted for the development of a suitable
      medium for enhanced biosurfactant production by a marine strain. As a result, a
      modified marine medium (MMM) was developed, which contained urea and strontium
      chloride besides other salts important for the growth of marine bacteria. This
      medium supported growth, evident from a higher maximum growth rate value of 0.42
      h(-1) and an enhanced biosurfactant production of 2.58 g/L. The critical micelle
      concentration (CMC) was determined for the biosurfactants obtained from all
      tested media combinations. The biosurfactant produced with this medium was stable
      at high temperature (100  degrees C), a wide range of pH (5-11) and salt
      concentration of 5-35%. The emulsifying activity and stability of the
      biosurfactant obtained using MMM was better than the biosurfactant obtained using
      conventional media. This biosurfactant with improved physiochemical properties is
      suitable for a wide range of applications in industry and for marine
      environmental cleaning.

PMID- 20931603
TI  - CHO-K1 host cells adapted to growth in glutamine-free medium by FACS-assisted
      evolution.
AB  - During the process of recombinant cell line optimisation for production of
      biopharmaceuticals, multiple cellular properties like robustness against stress,
      the attainment of high cell concentrations and maintenance of high viability must
      be considered to maximize protein yield. To improve growth and viability,
      glutamine is supplemented as an alternative energy source for rapidly dividing
      cells that oxidize glucose inefficiently. However, the resulting by-product
      ammonia is toxic at high concentrations and has a negative impact on protein
      glycosylation, a major quality-determining parameter of biopharmaceuticals. In
      this work, the CHO-K1 cell line was adapted to a chemically defined medium and
      suspension growth within 3 weeks. Subsequently, the glutamine concentration was
      stepwise reduced from 8 to 4 and 2 mM. After each reduction, both the final cell
      concentration in the batch and the viability decreased. To force a rapid
      evolution of cells to achieve high final cell concentrations, cells were seeded
      at high densities (10(7) cells/mL) and surviving cells were sorted by FACS or
      MACS when viability declined to 10% (typically after 24 h). Sorted cells were
      grown in batch until viability declined to 10% and viable cells recovered again.
      The final sorted population was able to reach comparable or even better viable
      cell concentrations and showed a significantly improved viability compared to
      their ancestors. The 2 mM glutamine-adapted cell line was directly transferred
      into glutamine-free medium and was able to grow at comparable rates without
      requiring further adaptation. Cells compensated the lack of glutamine by
      increasing their consumption of glutamate and aspartate.

PMID- 20931605
TI  - Assessing contaminated sediments in the context of multiple stressors.
AB  - Sediments have a major role in ecosystem functioning but can also act as physical
      or chemical stressors. Anthropogenic activities may change the chemical
      constituency of sediments and the rate, frequency, and extent of sediment
      transport, deposition, and resuspension. The importance of sediments as stressors
      will depend on site ecosystem attributes and the magnitude and preponderance of
      co-occurring stressors. Contaminants are usually of greater ecological
      consequence in human-modified, depositional environments, where other
      anthropogenic stressors often co-occur. Risk assessments and restoration
      strategies should better consider the role of chemical contamination in the
      context of multiple stressors. There have been numerous advances in the temporal
      and spatial characterization of stressor exposures and quantification of
      biological responses. Contaminated sediments causing biological impairment tend
      to be patchy, whereas more pervasive anthropogenic stressors, such as alterations
      to habitat and flow, physical disturbance, and nutrient addition, may drive large
      scale ecosystem responses. A systematic assessment of relevant ecosystem
      attributes and reference conditions can assist in understanding the importance of
      sediments in the context of other stressors. Experimental manipulations then
      allow for the controlled study of dominant stressors and the establishment of
      causal links. This approach will result in more effective management of
      watersheds and waterways.

PMID- 20931606
TI  - Effects of ferrous sulfate, inoculum history, and anionic form on lead, zinc, and
      copper toxicity to Acidithiobacillus caldus strain BC13.
AB  - The current study reports the single and combined toxicities of Pb, Zn, and Cu to
      Acidithiobacillus caldus strain BC13. The observed half-maximal inhibitory
      concentrations (IC50), +/- 95% confidence intervals, for Pb, Zn, and Cu were 0.9
      +/- 0.1 mM, 39 +/- 0.5 mM, and 120 +/- 8 mM, respectively. The observed minimum
      inhibitory concentrations (MIC) for Pb, Zn, and Cu were 7.5 mM, 75 mM, and 250
      mM, respectively. When metals were presented in binary mixtures, the toxicities
      were less than additive. For example, when 50% of the Pb MIC and 50% of the Cu
      MIC were presented together, the specific growth rate was inhibited by only 59 +/
      3%, rather than 100%. In addition, the presence of ferrous iron in the growth
      media decreased Pb and Zn toxicity to A. caldus strain BC13. The importance of
      inoculum history was evaluated by pre-adapting cultures through subsequent
      transfers in the presence of Pb, Zn, and Cu at their respective IC50s. After pre
      adaptation, cultures had specific growth rates 39 +/- 11, 32 +/- 7, and 28 +/-
      12% higher in the presence of Pb, Zn, and Cu IC50s, respectively, compared with
      cultures that had not been pre-adapted. In addition, when cells exposed to the
      MICs of Pb, Zn, and Cu were harvested, washed, and re-inoculated into fresh,
      metal-free medium, they grew, showing that the cells remained viable with little
      residual toxicity. Finally, metal chlorides showed more toxicity than metal
      sulfates, and studies using sodium chloride or a mixture of metal sulfates and
      sodium chloride suggested that this was attributable to an additive combination
      of the metal and chloride toxicities.

PMID- 20931607
TI  - Zinc oxide-engineered nanoparticles: dissolution and toxicity to marine
      phytoplankton.
AB  - It is now widely recognized that dissolution plays an important role in metallic
      nanoparticle toxicity, but to what extent remains unclear. In the present study,
      it was found that ZnO-engineered nanoparticle (ZnO-EN) toxicity to the marine
      diatom Thalassiosira pseudonana could be solely explained by zinc ion (Zn(2+) )
      release. This is based on comparable inhibitive effects from ZnO-EN addition
      media, with or without the ultrafiltration through a 3-kD membrane, and from the
      media in which only Zn(2+) was added. Considering the importance of dissolution
      in ZnO-EN toxicity, Zn(2+) release kinetics was systematically examined under
      different conditions for the first time. It was found to be mainly influenced by
      pH as well as the specific surface area of the nanoparticles. In contrast,
      natural organic compounds either enhance or reduce Zn(2+) release, depending on
      their chemical composition and concentration. Compared with deionized water, ZnO
      EN dissolution rates were accelerated in seawater, whereas ZnO-EN concentration
      itself only had a very small effect on Zn(2+) release. Therefore, dissolution as
      affected by several physicochemical factors should not be neglected in the
      effects, behavior, and fate of ENs in the environment.

PMID- 20931608
TI  - Ecotoxicological effects of diuron and chlorotoluron nitrate-induced
      photodegradation products: monospecific and aquatic mesocosm-integrated studies.
AB  - The ecotoxicological impact of nitrate-induced photodegradation products of
      diuron and chlorotoluron was studied through monospecific biotests conducted in
      conjunction with experiments in outdoor aquatic mesocosms. Organisms representing
      three trophic levels were used: two heterotrophic microorganisms, the luminescent
      bacterium Vibrio fischeri and the ciliated protozoa Tetrahymena pyriformis, and
      one metazoa, the gastropod Lymnaea stagnalis. Among the variety of the phenylurea
      photoproducts, the N-formylated ones appeared clearly more toxic than the parent
      compounds towards the microorganisms, whereas the nitroderivatives showed a
      similar toxicity. Using photodegraded solutions of diuron, toxicity was
      maintained or even increased during disappearance of the initial herbicide,
      demonstrating that some of the photoproducts may have an impact additively or in
      synergy. Enzymatic biomarker assays performed on Lymnaea stagnalis exposed under
      monospecific conditions showed significant effects, due to the combination of
      nitrate with the pesticide and its photoproducts. A positive impact on snail
      fecundity was observed with chlorotoluron both under monospecific laboratory and
      integrated mesocosm conditions. Oviposition stimulation took place when first-
      and second-generation photoproducts were predominant.

PMID- 20931609
TI  - Growth, abnormalities, and mortality of tadpoles of American toad exposed to
      combinations of malathion and nitrate.
AB  - American toad tadpoles (Bufo americanus) were exposed to malathion and nitrate in
      a fully factorial experiment that crossed four concentrations of malathion
      ranging between 0 and 1,000 ug malathion/L, and five concentrations of nitrate
      ranging from 0 to 16 mg NO(3) -N/L to identify single and interactive effects. In
      this 21-d experiment, we recorded tadpole length, mass, survivorship, and
      frequencies of diamond-shaped and stiff-tail abnormalities. Malathion increased
      frequency of diamond-shaped and stiff-tail abnormalities, and negatively affected
      survivorship, but did not affect tadpole size. Nitrate did not affect
      survivorship but did have sublethal effects, including effects on tadpole length
      and the frequency of both abnormalities. The interaction of malathion and nitrate
      has no effect on survivorship or tadpole size but did affect the frequency of
      abnormalities, with nitrate reducing malathion's effect. Results of the present
      study suggest that at the environmentally realistic concentrations used in our
      experiment, malathion has both lethal and sublethal effects, but nitrate had only
      sublethal effects on American toad tadpoles. The combination of malathion and
      nitrate had limited effects at the tested concentrations under laboratory
      conditions. However, the effect of the combined treatments on the frequency of
      tadpole developmental abnormalities suggests that such interactions may play a
      role under field conditions, in which pesticide and nitrate fertilizers are
      typically applied simultaneously.

PMID- 20931611
TI  - Preparation and characterization of molecularly imprinted microspheres for
      dibutyl phthalate recognition in aqueous environment.
AB  - Molecularly imprinted microspheres (MIMs) were prepared by suspension
      polymerization for the binding and recognition of dibutyl phthalate (DBP). DBP
      was used as the template molecule, methacrylic acid as the functional monomer,
      ethylene dimethacrylate (EDMA) as the linking agent, PVA as the dispersing agent,
      and Span 60 as the surfactant. The MIMs were characterized with electron
      microscope scanning and rebinding experiments. The Scatchard plot revealed that
      the template-polymer system has a two-site binding behavior with dissociation
      constants of 4.05 and 0.515 mmol/L. The MIMs exhibited the highest selective
      rebinding to DBP at 736.85 MUg/g. The recoveries of the MIM-SPE column for DBP
      extraction was 94.75-101.9% with the RSD of 1.5-7.3%, indicating the feasibility
      of the prepared MIMs for DBP extraction. Finally, the method developed was used
      to analyze the trace levels of phthalate in aqueous environment samples.

PMID- 20931610
TI  - CMV in critically ill patients: pathogen or bystander?
AB  - Despite broad variability in study populations, methodologies for CMV detection,
      and analytic methods used, multiple studies have documented frequent CMV
      infection in non-immunocompromised adults with critical illness due to a variety
      of causes. Higher rates of CMV infection in studies of seropositive patients
      suggest that reactivation of latent infection rather than primary infection is
      the main mechanism in this setting. Risk factors for CMV reactivation (other than
      seropositivity) have not been clearly defined and there does not appear to be a
      consistent association with severity of illness. Furthermore, CMV reactivation in
      this setting has been associated with important adverse clinical outcomes,
      including increased duration of mechanical ventilation, longer length of stay and
      all-cause mortality. There are several biologically plausible mechanisms that
      could link CMV reactivation with adverse outcomes, including: direct lung injury
      (CMV pneumonia), amplification of inflammation systemically and within the lung,
      or predisposition to other nosocomial infections, but clinical data in the ICU
      setting are limited. Further observational studies are unlikely to significantly
      advance our understanding of the role of CMV in critically ill patients. Given
      the significant impact of critical illness, limited current therapeutic options,
      the availability of generally well-tolerated antiviral options for CMV, and the
      clinical data supporting a possible pathogenic role for CMV, there is a strong
      rationale for a randomised controlled trial of CMV prevention as a novel means of
      improving the outcomes of critically ill patients.

PMID- 20931612
TI  - Application of liquid chromatography in polymer non-ionic antistatic additives
      analysis.
AB  - This article investigates the applicability of HPLC-UV, ultra performance LC
      evaporative light-scattering detection (UPLC-ELSD), HPLC-ESI(+)-MS and HPLC
      hybrid linear ion trap (LTQ) Orbitrap MS for the analysis of different non-ionic
      antistatic additives, Span 20, Span 60, Span 65, Span 80, Span 85 (sorbitan fatty
      acid esters), Atmer 129 (glycerol fatty acid ester) and Atmer 163 (ethoxylated
      alkylamine). Several alkyl chain length or different degrees of esterification of
      polyol derivatives can be present in commercial mixtures of these polymer
      additives. Therefore, their identification and quantification is complicated.
      Qualitative composition of the studied compounds was analysed by MS. HPLC-UV,
      UPLC-ELSD and HPLC-LTQ Orbitrap MS methods were applied to the quantitative
      determination of the different Spans, Atmer 129 and Atmer 163, respectively.
      Quality parameters of these methods were established and no derivatization was
      necessary.

PMID- 20931613
TI  - Characterisation of blends of polyisoprene and polystyrene by on-line hyphenation
      of HPLC and (1) H-NMR: LC-CC-NMR at critical conditions of both homopolymers.
AB  - Blends of polystyrene (PS) and polyisoprene (PI) were analysed by on-line
      hyphenation of LC at critical conditions and (1) H-NMR. Chromatography at
      critical conditions was established for both PS and PI. At both critical
      conditions, a perfect separation into the blend components was achieved. By
      operating at critical conditions of one blend component and size exclusion mode
      for the other it is possible to determine the molar mass using a suitable
      calibration. By using NMR as a detector, the microstructure of PI can be
      identified, quantified and the chemical composition of the blends can be
      calculated by monitoring the signal intensities of the olefinic protons of
      isoprene and the aromatic protons of PS.

PMID- 20931614
TI  - Sicilian lemon oil: Composition of volatile and oxygen heterocyclic fractions and
      enantiomeric distribution of volatile components.
AB  - A total of 92 samples of Sicilian lemon oils (Citrus limon (L.) Burm. f.)
      produced from September 2008 to June 2009, industrially cold-pressed by different
      extraction techniques (Brown Oil Extractor and Food Machinery Corporation), were
      analyzed by GC-flame ionization detector (FID) and GC/MS-LRI to investigate the
      volatile fraction; by RP-HPLC/PDA to determine the non-volatile components and by
      enantio-GC-FID to determine the enantiomeric ratios of 12 volatile components.
      This study provides a detailed investigation on the composition of Sicilian lemon
      essential oils industrially produced during a productive season, with the aim to
      recognize quality parameters for the characterization of this product. The
      results obtained are discussed to evaluate seasonal variation, influence of the
      extraction techniques, and are compared with those obtained for samples produced
      during different seasons.

PMID- 20931615
TI  - Do abnormalities in regional cerebral blood flow in anorexia nervosa resolve
      after weight restoration?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Previous studies have demonstrated localised abnormalities of cerebral
      blood flow in anorexia nervosa, suggesting reduction of cerebral activity and
      function in specific regions. There is debate as to whether such findings are
      secondary to starvation or indicative of a primary abnormality predating the
      illness, representing an underlying biological substrate. This small study, the
      first in early onset anorexia nervosa, reports findings of regional cerebral
      blood flow (rCBF) at both baseline and follow up. METHOD: Nine participants who
      had previously undergone rCBF studies at the start of treatment, had a repeat
      scan at an average of 4.2 years later. RESULTS: Seven out of the nine had
      persisting reduced cerebral blood flow in one area of the brain, predominantly
      the medial temporal region. DISCUSSION: These data suggest that in the majority
      of cases rCBF does not return to normal following weight restoration. The
      implications for future research are explored.

PMID- 20931616
TI  - Acetic acid denaturing pulsed field capillary electrophoresis for RNA separation.
AB  - Based on our previous work of in-capillary denaturing polymer electrophoresis, we
      present a study of RNA molecular separation up to 6.0 kilo nucleotide by pulsed
      field CE. This is the first systematic investigation of electrophoresis of a
      larger molecular mass RNA in linear hydroxyethylcellulose (HEC) under pulsed
      field conditions. The parameters that may influence the separation performance,
      e.g. gel polymer concentration, modulation depth and pulse frequency, are
      analyzed in terms of resolution and mobility. For denaturing and separating RNA
      in the capillary simultaneously, 2 M acetic acid was added into the HEC polymer
      to serve as separation buffer. Result shows that (i) in pulsed field conditions,
      RNA separation can be achieved in a wide range of concentration of HEC polymer,
      and RNA fragments between 0.3 and 0.6 kilo nucleotide are sensitive to the
      polymer concentration; (ii) under certain pulsed field conditions, RNA fragments
      move linearly as the modulation depth increases; (iii) 12.5 Hz is the resonance
      frequency for RNA reorientation time and applied frequency.

PMID- 20931617
TI  - New method for prefractionation of plasma for proteomic analysis.
AB  - The depth of proteome analysis is severely limited in complex samples with a wide
      dynamic range of protein abundance such as plasma. Removal of high-abundance
      proteins should reveal the signal of lower abundance plasma proteins. However,
      smaller proteins may be part of larger protein complexes and hence the removal of
      proteins involved in complexes with high-abundance proteins such as albumin may
      inhibit the search for disease biomarkers. Prefractionation of a sample divides
      it into fractions of reduced complexity, allowing improved detection of lower
      abundance proteins. Using a prefractionation device, which employs GradiflowTM
      technology, we were able to separate small volume plasma samples into multiple
      fractions based on the molecular weight and/or charge. The resulting samples of
      reduced complexity were directly compatible with 2-DE. The use of this
      prefractionation machine may therefore be useful in the hunt for disease
      biomarkers.

PMID- 20931618
TI  - An automated instrument for human STR identification: design, characterization,
      and experimental validation.
AB  - The microfluidic integration of an entire DNA analysis workflow on a fully
      integrated miniaturized instrument is reported using lab-on-a-chip automation to
      perform DNA fingerprinting compatible with CODIS standard relevant to the
      forensic community. The instrument aims to improve the cost, duration, and ease
      of use to perform a "sample-to-profile" analysis with no need for human
      intervention. The present publication describes the operation of the three major
      components of the system: the electronic control components, the microfluidic
      cartridge and CE microchip, and the optical excitation/detection module.
      Experimental details are given to characterize the level of performance,
      stability, reliability, accuracy, and sensitivity of the prototype system. A
      typical temperature profile from a PCR amplification process and an
      electropherogram of a commercial size standard (GeneScan 500TM, Applied
      Biosystems) separation are shown to assess the relevance of the instrument to
      forensic applications. Finally, we present a profile from an automated integrated
      run where lysed cells from a buccal swab were introduced in the system and no
      further human intervention was required to complete the analysis.

PMID- 20931619
TI  - Capillary electrophoresis for analysis of microheterogeneous glutelin subunits in
      rice (Oryza sativa L.).
AB  - Glutelin, the major storage protein of rice seed, consists of microheterogenous
      subunits and partially exists in a macromolecular form that is polymerized by
      intersubunit disulfide bonds. In order to analyze the glutelin subunits using
      high-throughput CE, we first identified a sample preparation procedure suitable
      for CE. The polymerized glutelin treated with a reductant could not dissociate
      into its constituent monomer subunits when it was dissolved in an acidic
      solution. However, the glutelin dissociated into its subunits and component alpha
      and beta polypeptides when it was denatured and reduced by an appropriate amount
      of urea and 2-mercaptoethanol at a specific incubation time and temperature. The
      molecular species of the completely dissociated alpha and beta polypeptides were
      identified and quantitatively analyzed by CE using glutelin mutants. The CE
      analysis also demonstrated that the actual subunit variation in terms of the
      charge and/or size of the beta polypeptides is much smaller than predicted when
      compared with that of alpha polypeptides, even under denaturing and reducing
      condition. Thus, the combined analytical system described here will be useful for
      basic and applied research, such as the kinetic characterization of higher-order
      structure and the quantitative evaluation of glutelin in a large number of
      diverse rice varieties.

PMID- 20931620
TI  - Immunonutrition in gastrointestinal surgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Patients undergoing major gastrointestinal surgery are at increased
      risk of developing complications. The use of immunonutrition (IN) in such
      patients is not widespread because the available data are heterogeneous, and some
      show contradictory results with regard to complications, mortality and length of
      hospital stay. METHODS: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published between
      January 1985 and September 2009 that assessed the clinical impact of
      perioperative enteral IN in major gastrointestinal elective surgery were included
      in a meta-analysis. RESULTS: Twenty-one RCTs enrolling a total of 2730 patients
      were included in the meta-analysis. Twelve were considered as high-quality
      studies. The included studies showed significant heterogeneity with respect to
      patients, control groups, timing and duration of IN, which limited group
      analysis. IN significantly reduced overall complications when used before surgery
      (odds ratio (OR) 0.48, 95 per cent confidence interval (c.i.) 0.34 to 0.69), both
      before and after operation (OR 0.39, 0.28 to 0.54) or after surgery (OR 0.46,
      0.25 to 0.84). For these three timings of IN administration, ORs of postoperative
      infection were 0.36 (0.24 to 0.56), 0.41 (0.28 to 0.58) and 0.53 (0.40 to 0.71)
      respectively. Use of IN led to a shorter hospital stay: mean difference -2.12 (95
      per cent c.i. -2.97 to -1.26) days. Beneficial effects of IN were confirmed when
      low-quality trials were excluded. Perioperative IN had no influence on mortality
      (OR 0.90, 0.46 to 1.76). CONCLUSION: Perioperative enteral IN decreases morbidity
      and hospital stay but not mortality after major gastrointestinal surgery; its
      routine use can be recommended.

PMID- 20931621
TI  - In vivo and in vitro antibacterial activity of acanthospermal B, a sesquiterpene
      lactone isolated from Acanthospermum hispidum.
AB  - Acanthospermal B (AcB), the major sesquiterpene lactone (SL) of Acanthospermum
      hispidum, an herb widely spread in Argentina, is a selective antibacterial agent
      against Enterococcus faecalis and Staphylococcus aureus, but inactive on Gram
      negative and Lactobacillus. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is
      one of the main microorganisms involved in human chronic infection. A balb?c
      mouse skin infection model was developed to reproduce the lesions caused by acute
      and chronic infections produced by MRSA. After determination of the maximum
      concentration of AcB unable to produce tissular injury after intradermal
      injection, the anti-MRSA effect of AcB was evaluated on skin, liver and spleen
      tissues of infected mice. AcB, at doses of 2.5 mg/kg, produced a ten times
      decrease of MRSA growth in skin infection. In addition, the same dose prevented
      the dissemination to liver and/or spleen. AcB also displayed a bacteriostatic
      effect, in vitro, on MRSA cultures at 50 ug/mL that seems to be caused by partial
      denaturation of total bacterial DNA and/or inhibition of the PCR reaction in not
      denaturized DNA. Finally, total MRSA cell wall lysis occurred at a concentration
      of 100 ug/mL of AcB after 2 h of exposure.

PMID- 20931622
TI  - Changes in activity and interest in the third and fourth age: associations with
      health, functioning and depressive symptoms.
AB  - This study examines the changes in activity investment among older adults and the
      role of these changes in the relationship between health limitations and
      depression. Residents of six senior living facilities (N = 178) completed
      questionnaires including the Geriatric Depression Scale, health and functioning
      measures and the Revised Change in Activity and Interest Index (CAII-R) which
      measures self-perceived changes in the level of investment in social and leisure
      activities among older adults. Respondents indicated more disengagement from CAII
      R subscales Active Instrumental (AI) and Active Social (AS) and increased
      engagement in Passive Social Spiritual. Fourth Age adults (age 80+) reported
      greater reductions in AI than Third Age adults (age 64-79). Reduced AS investment
      had the strongest association with depression and mediated the relationship
      between poor health or functioning and depression. These categories of activity
      may guide occupational therapy practitioners and other health providers in
      selecting the focus of intervention for older clients according to their
      identified life stage. The study provides evidence of distinct differences in
      interests within the parameters of normal aging and a baseline from which to
      assess the impact of illness and disability on the activity choices for clients
      in different life stages.

PMID- 20931623
TI  - Simultaneous determination of three naphthoquinones in the leaves of Impatiens
      balsamina L. by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Naphthoquinones; lawsone (1), lawsone methyl ether (2) and
      methylene-3,3'-bilawsone (3) are the main active compounds of Impatiens balsamina
      leaves. OBJECTIVE: To develop and validate an HPLC method for simultaneous
      quantitative determination of 1-3 in I. balsamina leaf extracts. METHODOLOGY: The
      method utilised a Supelco(r) C(18) column (5 um, 4.6 * 150 mm) at 25 degrees C
      with the mixture of 2% aqueous acetic acid : methanol (gradient elution as
      follows: 0-10 min, 25 : 75; 10-20 min, 32 : 68; 20-35 min, 55 : 45) as the mobile
      phase at a flow-rate of 1 mL/min, and UV detection at 280 nm. The parameters of
      linearity, repeatability, reproducibility, accuracy specificity and sensitivity
      of the method were evaluated. RESULTS: The recovery of the method was 96-101% and
      linearity (r(2) >= 0.9995) was obtained for all naphthoquinones. A high degree of
      specificity, as well as repeatability and reproducibility (RSD less than 5%),
      were also achieved.

PMID- 20931624
TI  - An efficient strategy based on MAE, HPLC-DAD-ESI-MS/MS and 2D-prep-HPLC-DAD for
      the rapid extraction, separation, identification and purification of five active
      coumarin components from Radix Angelicae Dahuricae.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Further studies of active coumarin components in Radix Angelicae
      Dahuricae (AE) are absolutely essential to provide data on pharmacology,
      toxicology and quality for innovative drug candidates. Thus, the preparation of
      active component standards and the administration of coumarin monomers should be
      carried out. The isolation of the low-level active components from complex
      Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) samples necessitates the development of rapid,
      simple and economical modern extraction, separation, identification and
      purification methods. OBJECTIVE: To develop an efficient strategy for the rapid
      extraction, separation, identification and purification of coumarins from AE.
      METHODOLOGY: First, active coumarins in AE were extracted with microwave-assisted
      extraction (MAE) after the extraction conditions were optimised. Second, gradient
      extraction methods with MAE were used to partially purify AE. Third, a high
      performance liquid chromatography-diode array detection-electrospray ionisation
      tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-DAD-ESI-MS/MS) method was applied for the
      preliminary on-line identification and screening of the main coumarins in AE
      extract. Finally, a two-dimensional preparative high-performance liquid
      chromatography-diode array detection (2D-prep-HPLC-DAD) system was developed for
      further preparative separation of those target components. RESULTS: Altogether 10
      coumarins have been identified and five of them including xanthotoxol, osthenol,
      oxypeucedanin hydrate, byakangelicin and imperatorin were deemed as target
      components for the preparative isolation. All of the five isolated coumarins were
      at high purities of over 99% and the production rate was much higher than the
      traditional methods. CONCLUSION: The present paper demonstrates that these
      consecutive approaches are very useful for to isolate chemical constituents from
      TCM.

PMID- 20931625
TI  - An alternative method for irones quantification in iris rhizomes using headspace
      solid-phase microextraction.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The essential oil obtained from iris rhizomes is one of the most
      precious raw materials for the perfume industry. Its fragrance is due to irones
      that are gradually formed by oxidative degradation of iridals during rhizome
      ageing. OBJECTIVE: The development of an alternative method allowing irone
      quantification in iris rhizomes using HS-SPME-GC. METHODOLOGY: The development of
      the method using HS-SPME-GC was achieved using the results obtained from a
      conventional method, i.e. a solid-liquid extraction (SLE) followed by irone
      quantification by CG. RESULTS: Among several calibration methods tested, internal
      calibration gave the best results and was the least sensitive to the matrix
      effect. The proposed method using HS-SPME-GC is as accurate and reproducible as
      the conventional one using SLE. These two methods were used to monitor and
      compare irone concentrations in iris rhizomes that had been stored for 6 months
      to 9 years. CONCLUSION: Irone quantification in iris rhizome can be achieved
      using HS-SPME-GC. This method can thus be used for the quality control of the
      iris rhizomes. It offers the advantage of combining extraction and analysis with
      an automated device and thus allows a large number of rhizome batches to be
      analysed and compared in a limited amount of time.

PMID- 20931626
TI  - Solid-phase extraction of liquiritin and glycyrrhizin from licorice using porous
      alkyl-pyridinium polymer sorbent.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Liquiritin and glycyrrhizin are valuable components of licorice. An
      effective separation and determination procedure is needed to separate the
      liquiritin and glycyrrhizin from the licorice extract. METHODOLOGY: A polymer
      confined, ionic liquid sorbent was developed using a process involving
      polymerisation and modification. The obtained porous particles were used as a
      sorbent in a solid-phase extraction process to isolate liquiritin and
      glycyrrhizin from licorice with different washing and elution solvents. The
      porous alkyl-pyridinium polymer sorbent was compared with the C(18) sorbent.
      RESULTS: A simple and convenient method was established to the selectively
      separate and determinate of liquiritin and glycyrrhizin using a porous ionic
      liquid-based polymer coupled with HPLC. Additionally, this study evaluated the
      application of this sorbent for the detection of these two compounds in
      commercial medicines. CONCLUSION: This method was a viable tool that was
      compatible with the existing HPLC methods and was used to separate and analyse
      the content of liquiritin and glycyrrhizin in licorice.

PMID- 20931627
TI  - Atherosclerosis in systemic lupus: the role of antiphospholipid antibodies needs
      strict diagnostic criteria to be evaluated. Comment on the article by Urowitz et
      al.

PMID- 20931628
TI  - Seawater spray injury to Quercus acutissima leaves: crystal deposition, stomatal
      clogging, and chloroplast degeneration.
AB  - Effects of seawater spray on leaf structure were investigated in Quercus
      acutissima by electron microscopy and X-ray microanalysis. Two-year-old seedlings
      of Q. acutissima were sprayed with seawater and kept in a greenhouse maintained
      at 25 degrees C. The most recognizable symptoms of seawater-sprayed seedlings
      included leaf necrosis, crystal deposition, stomatal clogging, and chloroplast
      degeneration. Field emission scanning electron microscopy revealed that the leaf
      surface was covered with additional layers of remnants of seawater spray.
      Composed of sodium and chloride, cube-shaped crystals (halite) were prevalently
      found on trichomes and epidermis, and formed aggregates. Meanwhile, wedge-shaped
      crystals were deposited on epidermis and consisted of calcium and sulfur. As a
      result of stomatal clogging by crystal deposition on the abaxial surface, it was
      conceivable that plant respiration became severely hampered. Transmission
      electron microscopy showed degenerated cytoplasm of seawater-sprayed leaves. It
      was common to observe severe plasmolysis and disrupted chloroplasts with a
      reduced number of thylakoids in grana. These results indicate that foliar
      applications of seawater were sufficient to induce necrosis of Q. acutissima
      seedlings as an abiotic disturbance factor.

PMID- 20931629
TI  - Solution-based in situ synthesis and fabrication of ultrasensitive CdSe
      photoconductors.

PMID- 20931630
TI  - Silicon nanowires for photovoltaic solar energy conversion.
AB  - Semiconductor nanowires are attracting intense interest as a promising material
      for solar energy conversion for the new-generation photovoltaic (PV) technology.
      In particular, silicon nanowires (SiNWs) are under active investigation for PV
      applications because they offer novel approaches for solar-to-electric energy
      conversion leading to high-efficiency devices via simple manufacturing. This
      article reviews the recent developments in the utilization of SiNWs for PV
      applications, the relationship between SiNW-based PV device structure and
      performance, and the challenges to obtaining high-performance cost-effective
      solar cells.

PMID- 20931631
TI  - Scales to assess sleep impairment in Parkinson's disease: critique and
      recommendations.
AB  - There is a broad spectrum of sleep disturbances observed in Parkinson's disease
      (PD). A variety of scales have been applied to the evaluation of PD sleep and
      wakefulness, but only a small number have been assessed specifically for
      clinimetric properties in the PD population. The movement disorder society has
      commissioned this task force to examine these scales and to assess their use in
      PD. A systematic literature review was conducted to explore the use of sleep
      scales in PD and to determine which scales qualified for a detailed critique. The
      task force members, all of whom have extensive experience in assessing sleep in
      PD reviewed each of the scales using a structured proforma. Scales were
      categorized into recommended, suggested and listed according to predefined
      criteria. A total of 48 potential scales were identified from the search and
      reviewed. Twenty-nine were excluded because they did not meet review criteria or
      were variations of scales already included, leaving 19 scales that were critiqued
      and rated by the task force based on the rating criteria. Only six were found to
      meet criteria for recommendation or suggestion by the task force: the PD sleep
      scale (PDSS) and the Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI) are recommended for
      rating overall sleep problems to screen and to measure severity, the SCOPA-sleep
      (SCOPA) is recommended for rating overall sleep problems both to screen and to
      measure severity, and for rating daytime sleepiness; the Epworth sleepiness scale
      (ESS) is recommended for rating daytime sleepiness to screen and to measure
      severity; the inappropriate sleep composite score (ISCS) is suggested for rating
      severe daytime sleepiness or sleep attacks to screen and to measure severity; and
      the Stanford sleepiness scale (SSS) is suggested for rating sleepiness and to
      measure severity at a specific moment. The task force does not recommend the
      development of new scales, but emphasizes the need for educational efforts to
      train physicians in sleep interview techniques and polysomnography.

PMID- 20931632
TI  - Motor complications in Parkinson's disease: ten year follow-up study.
AB  - Parkinson's disease (PD) can be symptomatically controlled with standard
      treatments; however, after a few years, this response typically declines and most
      patients develop motor complications. We carried out a prospective practice-based
      study to evaluate the evolution appearance and evolution of motor complications
      in 64 de novo PD patients over 5 years and in 38 PD patients over 10 years. We
      studied untreated patients from initial assessment at basal conditions and
      evaluated every 6 months thereafter with treatment (levodopa versus other drugs).
      The follow-up assessments were performed with the Unified Parkinson's Disease
      Rating Scale (UPDRS). At each assessment, patients were monitored regarding the
      development of dyskinesias, motor fluctuations, freezing, loss of postural
      reflexes, and cognitive impairment. We observed a significant improvement in
      UPDRS scores during the first year, then a progressive decline, more evident
      after the third year. Motor complications increased after the third year, and at
      the end of the survey (tenth year); drug-induced dyskinesias and motor
      fluctuations were experienced (71.1 and 94.7%, respectively). After the first
      decade, many complications arose from the non-levodopa-responsive features of the
      disease (cognitive impairment was present in 52.6% and gait freezing in 71.1%).
      Initial medication may influence medium-term complications but not long-term
      problems. Most long-term disabling problems of PD were related to non-levodopa
      responsive features.

PMID- 20931633
TI  - Low anaerobic threshold and increased skeletal muscle lactate production in
      subjects with Huntington's disease.
AB  - Mitochondrial defects that affect cellular energy metabolism have long been
      implicated in the etiology of Huntington's disease (HD). Indeed, several studies
      have found defects in the mitochondrial functions of the central nervous system
      and peripheral tissues of HD patients. In this study, we investigated the in vivo
      oxidative metabolism of exercising muscle in HD patients. Ventilatory and
      cardiometabolic parameters and plasma lactate concentrations were monitored
      during incremental cardiopulmonary exercise in twenty-five HD subjects and twenty
      five healthy subjects. The total exercise capacity was normal in HD subjects but
      notably the HD patients and presymptomatic mutation carriers had a lower
      anaerobic threshold than the control subjects. The low anaerobic threshold of HD
      patients was associated with an increase in the concentration of plasma lactate.
      We also analyzed in vitro muscular cell cultures and found that HD cells produce
      more lactate than the cells of healthy subjects. Finally, we analyzed skeletal
      muscle samples by electron microscopy and we observed striking mitochondrial
      structural abnormalities in two out of seven HD subjects. Our findings confirm
      mitochondrial abnormalities in HD patients' skeletal muscle and suggest that the
      mitochondrial dysfunction is reflected functionally in a low anaerobic threshold
      and an increased lactate synthesis during intense physical exercise.

PMID- 20931634
TI  - Amino acid starvation sensitizes cancer cells to proteasome inhibition.
AB  - We explored the crosstalk between protein degradation and synthesis in cancer
      cells. The tumorigenic cell line, MCF7, showed enhanced proteasome activity
      compared to the nontumorigenic line, MCF10A. Although there was no difference in
      the sensitivity of MCF7 and MCF10A cells to proteasome inhibition in complete
      growth medium, combining proteasome inhibition with amino acid deprivation led to
      reduced protein synthesis and survival of MCF7 cells, with a lesser effect on
      MCF10A cells. Additional cancer cell lines (including CAG and A431) could be
      strongly sensitized to proteasome inhibition by concomitant amino acid
      deprivation, whereas others were completely resistant to proteasome inhibition.
      We hypothesize that protein catabolism contributes to the pool of free amino
      acids available for protein synthesis, leading to a crucial role of the
      proteasome in cell survival during amino acid depletion, in some tumor cell
      lines.

PMID- 20931635
TI  - Identification of targets of specific miRNAs by selective amplification of Ago2
      associated mRNA.
AB  - To study the function of a miRNA, it is necessary to identify its target genes.
      The most common methods to reveal miRNA target genes rely on ectopically
      expressed tagged Ago2 and nonphysiological overexpression or inhibition of the
      miRNA of interest. To uncover the natural association between miRNAs and their
      target genes, we isolated endogenous Ago2 protein followed by a selective
      strategy, which only amplified target genes of the selected miRNA from the
      purified RNA-induced silencing complex by miRNA specific primers. This enabled us
      to identify the mRNAs regulated by miRNAs of interest. Our data demonstrated that
      this strategy is effective and highly credible. Moreover, our results showed the
      evidence of efficient miRNA target sites in 5' untranslated regions and open
      reading frames of target mRNAs.

PMID- 20931636
TI  - Integrating replication-based selection strategies in dynamic covalent systems.
AB  - In the past 15 years, the chemistry of reversible covalent bond formation
      (dynamic covalent chemistry (DCC)) has been exploited to engineer networks of
      interconverting compounds known as dynamic combinatorial libraries (DCLs).
      Classically, the distribution of library components is governed by their relative
      free energies, and so, processes that manipulate the free energy landscape of the
      DCL can influence the distribution of library members. Within the same time
      frame, the design and implementation of molecules capable of copying themselves-
      so-called replicators--has emerged from the field of template-directed synthesis.
      Harnessing the nonlinear kinetics inherent in replicator behavior offers an
      attractive strategy for amplification of a target structure within a DCL and,
      hence, engendering high levels of selectivity within that library. The
      instructional nature of replicating templates also renders the combination of
      replication and DCC a potential vehicle for developing complex reaction networks;
      a prerequisite for the development of the emerging field of systems chemistry.
      This Concept article explores the role of kinetically and thermodynamically
      controlled processes within different DCC frameworks. The effects of embedding a
      replicating system within these DCC frameworks is explored and the consequences
      of the different topologies of the reaction network for amplification and
      selectivity within DCLs is highlighted.

PMID- 20931637
TI  - Postoperative magnetic resonance imaging characterization of slings for female
      stress urinary incontinence.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim was to characterize different types of slings such as autologous
      rectus fascia (ARF), porcine dermis (PD) and tension-free vaginal tape (TVT) in
      the early postoperative period with regard to its visibility and location by
      using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between October
      2003 and June 2007, total of 60 patients underwent MRI after a sling procedure.
      Thirty-six patients had ARF slings. Twelve patients had a PD sling and 12 had a
      TVT. All patients had pelvic MRI 6-8 hr postoperatively. Six patients in the ARF
      sling group had both preoperative and postoperative images at 6 hr and 3 months.
      MRI images were analyzed with regard to visibility and location. All data were
      collected prospectively. RESULTS: ARF slings were clearly visible in both T1W and
      T2W images. ARF appeared as low signal intensity area with surrounding high
      signal intensity due to fat attached to the rectus fascia in the MRI images
      obtained 6 hr after the procedure. Although the fatty component of the sling was
      diminished but was still visible on MRI scan 3 months postoperatively. On the
      other hand PD and TVT sling materials were not visible by MRI. Most of the ARF
      slings were located just below the bladder neck. CONCLUSIONS: The ARF sling is
      easily identifiable on MRI in the early postoperative period primarily because of
      the fat attached to the autologous rectus fascia. However, depiction of the PD
      and TVT slings in the early postoperative period is very poor.

PMID- 20931638
TI  - High-grade atypical epithelial cells in pancreatic mucinous cysts are a more
      accurate predictor of malignancy than "positive" cytology.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Sendai guidelines for risk assessment of malignancy in patients
      with mucinous cysts lists "positive" cytology as a high-risk feature. In the
      current study, the authors hypothesized that a cytological threshold of high
      grade atypical epithelial cells (AEC) is a more accurate predictor of malignancy.
      METHODS: The clinical, radiological, and cytological data of 112 patients with
      histologically confirmed mucinous cysts of the pancreas were reviewed. Cytology
      slides were blindly reviewed and cells were classified as benign, AEC, or
      malignant. On histology, neoplasms were grouped as benign (low-grade and moderate
      dysplasia) and malignant (high-grade dysplasia/carcinoma in situ and invasive
      carcinoma). RESULTS: There were 92 patients with an intraductal papillary
      mucinous neoplasm (IPMN) and 20 with a mucinous cystic neoplasm; 39 were
      malignant and 73 were benign (42 with low-grade dysplasia and 31 with moderate
      dysplasia). Only 28% (11 of 39) of the malignant cysts were cytologically
      malignant with a sensitivity of 29%, a specificity of 100%, and an accuracy of
      75%. AEC detected 17 additional cancers (44% of all malignant cysts; 16% more
      than detected on the basis of "positive" cytology). By using AEC as a surgical
      triage threshold, the sensitivity was 72%, the specificity was 85%, and the
      accuracy was 80%, with similar values for small (<= 3 cm) branch duct IPMN. Nine
      of 73 (12%) benign cysts were identified with AEC, 4 of which had moderate
      dysplasia. AEC had a positive predictive value of 87% for the detection of a
      mucinous cyst with moderate dysplasia or worse. CONCLUSIONS: AEC are a more
      accurate predictor of malignancy than "positive" cytology in aspirates of
      pancreatic mucinous cysts, including small branch duct IPMN. AEC warrant a
      "suspicious" interpretation for appropriate surgical triage.

PMID- 20931639
TI  - Unexpected hydrobromic acid-catalyzed C-C bond-forming reactions and facile
      synthesis of coumarins and benzofurans based on ketene dithioacetals.
AB  - Hydrobromic acid was found to be a unique catalyst in C-C bond-forming reactions
      with ketene dithioacetals. Distinctly different from other acids (including Lewis
      and Bronsted acids), the remarkable catalytic performance of hydrobromic acid in
      catalytic amounts was observed in the "acid"-catalyzed reactions of readily
      available functionalized ketene dithioacetals 1 with various electrophiles. Under
      the catalysis of 0.1 equivalents of hydrobromic acid, the reaction of 1 with
      carbonyl compounds 2a-l gave polyfunctionalized penta-1,4-dienes 3 or conjugated
      dienes 4 in good to excellent yields. The reaction tolerated a broad range of
      substituents on both the ketene dithioacetals 1 and the carbonyl compounds 2.
      Application of this efficient C-C bond-forming method generated coumarins 5 and
      benzofurans 7 under mild, metal-free conditions by hydrobromic acid-catalyzed
      reactions of 1 with salicylaldehydes 2m-o and p-quinones 6a-d, respectively. A
      new reactive species, a sulfur-stabilized carbonium ylide, formed depending on
      the nature of the counterion, and this was proposed as the key intermediate in
      the unique catalysis of hydrobromic acid.

PMID- 20931640
TI  - Noble gas matrices may change the electronic structure of trapped molecules: the
      UO(2)(Ng)(4) [Ng=Ne, Ar] case.

PMID- 20931641
TI  - Palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling of aryl chlorides and tosylates with
      hydrazine.

PMID- 20931642
TI  - Oxidation of alkyl trifluoroborates: an opportunity for tin-free radical
      chemistry.

PMID- 20931644
TI  - The x-ray structure of the adduct between NAMI-A and carbonic anhydrase provides
      insights into the reactivity of this metallodrug with proteins.

PMID- 20931643
TI  - Cooperative, heparan sulfate-dependent cellular uptake of dimeric
      guanidinoglycosides.
AB  - Oligoarginine and guanidinium-rich molecular transporters have been shown to
      facilitate the intracellular delivery of a diverse range of biologically relevant
      cargos. Several such transporters have been suggested to interact with cell
      surface heparan sulfate proteoglycans as part of their cell-entry pathway. Unlike
      for other guanidinium-rich transporters, the cellular uptake of
      guanidinoglycosides at nanomolar concentrations is exclusively heparan sulfate
      dependent. As distinct cells differ in their expression levels and/or the
      composition of cell-surface heparan sulfate proteoglycans, one might be able to
      exploit such differences to selectively target certain cell types. To
      systematically investigate the nature of their cell-surface interactions,
      monomeric and dimeric guanidinoglycosides were synthesized by using neomycin,
      paromomycin, and tobramycin as scaffolds. These transporters differ in the number
      and 3D arrangement of their guanidinium groups. Their cellular uptake was
      measured by flow cytometry in wild-type and mutant Chinese hamster ovary cells
      after the corresponding fluorescent streptavidin-phycoerythrin-Cy5 conjugates had
      been generated. All derivatives showed negligible uptake in mutant cells lacking
      heparan sulfate. Decreasing the number of guanidinium groups diminished uptake,
      but the three dimensional arrangement of these groups was less important for
      cellular delivery. Whereas conjugates prepared with the monomeric carriers showed
      significantly reduced uptake in mutant cells expressing heparan sulfate chains
      with altered patterns of sulfation, conjugates prepared with the dimeric
      guanidinoglycosides could overcome this deficiency and maintain high levels of
      uptake in such deficient cells. This finding suggests that cellular uptake
      depends on the valency of the transporter and both the content and arrangement of
      the sulfate groups on the cell-surface receptors. Competition studies with
      chemically desulfated or carboxy-reduced heparin derivatives corroborated these
      observations. Taken together, these findings show that increasing the valency of
      the transporters retains heparan sulfate specificity and provides reagents that
      could distinguish different cell types based on the specific composition of their
      cell-surface heparan sulfate proteoglycans.

PMID- 20931645
TI  - C12orf48, termed PARP-1 binding protein, enhances poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase-1
      (PARP-1) activity and protects pancreatic cancer cells from DNA damage.
AB  - To identify novel therapeutic targets for aggressive and therapy-resistant
      pancreatic cancer, we had previously performed expression profile analysis of
      pancreatic cancers using microarrays and found dozens of genes trans-activated in
      pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) cells. Among them, this study focused on
      the characterization of a novel gene C12orf48 whose overexpression in PDAC cells
      was validated by Northern blot and immunohistochemical analysis. Its
      overexpression was observed in other aggressive and therapy-resistant
      malignancies as well. Knockdown of C12orf48 by siRNA in PDAC cells significantly
      suppressed their growth. Importantly, we demonstrated that C12orf48 protein could
      directly interact with Poly(ADP-ribose) Polymerase-1 (PARP-1), one of the
      essential proteins in the repair of DNA damage, and positively regulate the
      poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation activity of PARP-1. Depletion of C12orf48 sensitized PDAC
      cells to agents causing DNA damage and also enhanced DNA damage-induced G2/M
      arrest through reduction of PARP-1 enzymatic activities. Hence, our findings
      implicate C12orf48, termed PARP-1 binding protein (PARPBP), or its interaction
      with PARP-1 to be a potential molecular target for development of selective
      therapy for pancreatic cancer.

PMID- 20931646
TI  - Lipidomics era: accomplishments and challenges.
AB  - Lipid mediators participate in signal transduction pathways, proliferation,
      apoptosis, and membrane trafficking in the cell. Lipids are highly complex and
      diverse owing to the various combinations of polar headgroups, fatty acyl chains,
      and backbone structures. This structural diversity continues to pose a challenge
      for lipid analysis. Here we review the current state of the art in lipidomics
      research and discuss the challenges facing this field. The latest technological
      developments in mass spectrometry, the role of bioinformatics, and the
      applications of lipidomics in lipid metabolism and cellular physiology and
      pathology are also discussed.

PMID- 20931647
TI  - Transitin is required for the differentiation of avian QM7 myoblasts into
      myotubes.
AB  - Transitin is a nestin-like intermediate filament protein co-expressed with
      vimentin in the precursor cells of the myogenic and neurogenic lineages of the
      avian embryo. To understand its role in myogenesis, stable cell lines expressing
      transitin-targeted siRNAs were derived from the quail muscle cell line QM7. When
      cells were cultured in differentiation medium, we found that transitin knockdown
      prevented myoblast fusion and myotube formation. MyoD mRNA could be detected in
      transitin siRNA-transfected cells, but upregulation of myogenin and desmin
      expression was impaired compared to control cells. In addition, transitin siRNA
      cells maintain high levels of Pax7 expression suggesting that QM7 myoblasts into
      which transitin expression has been attenuated display a muscle progenitor cell
      phenotype (Pax7(+)/MyoD(+)/myogenin(-)/desmin(-)). These observations indicate
      that transitin plays an important role in the initiation of the myogenic program
      in avian muscle progenitor cells in acting downstream of MyoD and upstream of
      myogenin during the lineage progression.

PMID- 20931649
TI  - Fluorescent whole-mount method for visualizing three-dimensional relationships in
      intact and regenerating adult newt spinal cords.
AB  - Adult newts have the remarkable ability to regenerate their spinal cords after a
      complete transection injury. To understand this process, we have developed a
      method for visualizing the cellular and molecular events during regeneration in
      whole-mount preparations using fluorescent probes (streptavidins and antibodies)
      and confocal microscopy. This method was optimized by varying parameters
      associated with fixation, tissue trimming, fluorescent probe penetration, and
      clearing and represents a significant advance in our ability to observe the
      intact and regenerating newt spinal cord. These methods should also be widely
      applicable to the study of other newt tissues and adult tissues from other model
      systems.

PMID- 20931648
TI  - Dermoskeleton morphogenesis in zebrafish fins.
AB  - Zebrafish fins have a proximal skeleton of endochondral bones and a distal
      skeleton of dermal bones. Recent experimental and genetic studies are discovering
      mechanisms to control fin skeleton morphogenesis. Whereas the endochondral
      skeleton has been extensively studied, the formation of the dermal skeleton
      requires further revision. The shape of the dermal skeleton of the fin is
      generated in its distal growing margin and along a proximal growing domain. In
      these positions, dermoskeletal fin morphogenesis can be explained by intertissue
      interactions and the function of several genetic pathways. These pathways
      regulate patterning, size, and cell differentiation along three axes. Finally, a
      common genetic control of late development, regeneration, and tissue homeostasis
      of the fin dermoskeleton is currently being analyzed. These pathways may be
      responsible for the similar shape obtained after each morphogenetic process. This
      provides an interesting conceptual framework for future studies on this topic.

PMID- 20931650
TI  - Ultrasound demonstration of Struthers' ligament.
AB  - The supracondylar process is a bony spur at the anteromedial surface of the
      distal humerus. It is associated with the Struthers' ligament, running from its
      apex to the medial epicondyle. Symptoms may occur due to fracture and entrapment
      of nerves (most frequently the median nerve) and/or blood vessels underneath the
      structures. We report a case in which we used MRI and high-frequency ultrasound
      to investigate the supracondylar process, the Struthers' ligament, and its
      surrounding structures. Ultrasound is a useful alternative to MRI during the
      workup of potential entrapment syndromes.

PMID- 20931651
TI  - Bilateral round ligament varicosities mimicking an inguinal hernia in pregnancy:
      case report.
AB  - A 22-year-old pregnant woman presented with a painful swelling in the right
      groin. Sonography was performed to confirm a presumptive diagnosis of inguinal
      hernia based on physical examination. Gray-scale sonography examination revealed
      bilateral inguinal cystic lesion expanding with the Valsalva maneuver. Color
      Doppler imaging demonstrated multiple prominent vessels with retrograde venous
      flow during Valsalva maneuver. Bilateral round ligament varicosities were
      diagnosed and inguinal hernia was excluded by sonographic findings. Round
      ligament varicosities should be considered in the differential diagnosis of groin
      swelling during pregnancy.

PMID- 20931654
TI  - Monoclonal anti-CD8 therapy induces disease amelioration in the K/BxN mouse model
      of spontaneous chronic polyarthritis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: CD8+ T cells are part of the T cell pool infiltrating the synovium in
      rheumatoid arthritis (RA). However, their role in the pathogenesis of RA has not
      been fully delineated. Using the K/BxN mouse model of spontaneous chronic
      arthritis, which shares many similarities with RA, we studied the potential of
      CD8+ T cell depletion with monoclonal antibodies (mAb) to stop and reverse the
      progression of experimental arthritis. METHODS: CD8+ T cells from the blood and
      articular infiltrate of K/BxN mice were characterized for cell surface phenotypic
      markers and for cytokine production. Additionally, mice were treated with
      specific anti-CD8 mAb (YTS105 and YTS169.4), with and without thymectomy.
      RESULTS: CD8+ T cells from the peripheral blood and joints of K/BxN mice were
      mainly CD69+ and CD62L-CD27+ T cells expressing proinflammatory cytokines
      (interferon-gamma [IFNgamma], tumor necrosis factor alpha [TNFalpha], interleukin
      17a [IL-17A], and IL-4), and granzyme B. In mice receiving anti-CD8 mAb, the
      arthritis score improved 5 days after treatment. Recovery of the CD8+ T cells was
      associated with a new increase in the arthritis score after 20 days. In
      thymectomized and anti-CD8 mAb-treated mice, the arthritis score improved
      permanently. Histologic analysis showed an absence of inflammatory infiltrate in
      the anti-CD8 mAb-treated mice. In anti-CD8 mAb-treated mice, the serologic levels
      of TNFalpha, IFNgamma, IL-6, and IL-5 normalized. The levels of the disease
      related anti-glucose-6-phosphate isomerase antibodies did not change. CONCLUSION:
      These results indicate that synovial activated effector CD8+ T cells locally
      synthesize proinflammatory cytokines (IFNgamma, TNFalpha, IL-17, IL-6) and
      granzyme B in the arthritic joint, thus playing a pivotal role in maintaining
      chronic synovitis in the K/BxN mouse model of arthritis.

PMID- 20931657
TI  - Cellular response after crush injury in adult zebrafish spinal cord.
AB  - Zebrafish proves to be an excellent model system to study spinal cord
      regeneration because it can repair its disengaged axons and replace lost cells
      after injury, allowing the animal to make functional recovery. We have
      characterized injury response following crush injury, which is comparable to the
      mammalian mode of injury. Infiltrations of blood cells during early phases
      involve macrophages that are important in debris clearance and probably in
      suppression of inflammatory response. Unlike mammals where secondary injury
      mechanisms lead to apoptotic death of both neurons and glia, here we observe a
      beneficial role of apoptotic cell death. Injury-induced proliferation, presence
      of radial glia cells, and their role as progenitor all contribute to cellular
      replacement and successful neurogenesis after injury in adult zebrafish. Together
      with cell replacement phenomenon, there is creation of a permissive environment
      that includes the absence or clearance of myelin debris, presence of Schwann
      cells, and absence of inflammatory response.

PMID- 20931658
TI  - Subcellular phosphoproteomics.
AB  - Protein phosphorylation represents one of the most extensively studied post
      translational modifications, primarily due to the emergence of sensitive methods
      enabling the detection of this modification both in vitro and in vivo. The
      availability of enrichment methods combined with sensitive mass spectrometry
      instrumentation has played a crucial role in uncovering the dynamic changes and
      the large expanding repertoire of this reversible modification. The structural
      changes imparted by the phosphorylation of specific residues afford exquisite
      mechanisms for the regulation of protein functions by modulating new binding
      sites on scaffold proteins or by abrogating protein-protein interactions.
      However, the dynamic interplay of protein phosphorylation is not occurring
      randomly within the cell but is rather finely orchestrated by specific kinases
      and phosphatases that are unevenly distributed across subcellular compartments.
      This spatial separation not only regulates protein phosphorylation but can also
      control the activity of other enzymes and the transfer of other post
      translational modifications. While numerous large-scale phosphoproteomics studies
      highlighted the extent and diversity of phosphoproteins present in total cell
      lysates, the further understanding of their regulation and biological activities
      require a spatio-temporal resolution only achievable through subcellular
      fractionation. This review presents a first account of the emerging field of
      subcellular phosphoproteomics where cell fractionation approaches are combined
      with sensitive mass spectrometry methods to facilitate the identification of low
      abundance proteins and to unravel the intricate regulation of protein
      phosphorylation.

PMID- 20931659
TI  - Xenopus sonic hedgehog guides retinal axons along the optic tract.
AB  - The role of classic morphogens such as Sonic hedgehog (Shh) as axon guidance cues
      has been reported in a variety of vertebrate organisms (Charron and Tessier
      Lavigne [2005] Development 132:2251-2262). In this work, we provide the first
      evidence that Xenopus sonic hedgehog (Xshh) signaling is involved in guiding
      retinal ganglion cell (RGC) axons along the optic tract. Xshh is expressed in the
      brain during retinal axon extension, adjacent to these axons in the ventral
      diencephalon. Retinal axons themselves express Patched 1 and Smoothened co
      receptors during RGC axon growth. Blocking Shh signaling causes abnormal ventral
      pathfinding, and targeting errors at the optic tectum. Misexpression of exogenous
      N-Shh peptide in vivo also causes pathfinding errors. Retinal axons grown in
      culture respond to N-Shh in a dose-dependent manner, either by decreasing
      extension at lower concentrations, or retracting axons in the presence of higher
      doses. These data suggest that Shh signaling is required for normal RGC axon
      pathfinding and tectal targeting in the developing visual system of Xenopus. We
      propose that Shh serves as a ventral optic tract repellent that helps to define
      the caudal boundary for retinal axons in the diencephalon, and that this
      signaling is also required for initial target recognition at the optic tectum.

PMID- 20931661
TI  - Underdiagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder in at risk youth.
AB  - Three studies examined the diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in
      agencies treating at risk youth. Studies 1 and 2 (1999) found that baseline PTSD
      diagnosis was rare in a residential and an outpatient agency (2.3% and 5.4%,
      respectively) whereas trauma-focused interviews identified PTSD in 47.7% and
      44.6% of these clients. Subsequent training efforts increased awareness of PTSD
      and recognition of unique issues in assessing at risk youth. Study 3 (2009)
      reexamined PTSD diagnosis rates in these agencies 10 years later and found that
      the residential agency had an increased rate of PTSD diagnosis (10.8%), whereas
      PTSD diagnosis remained rare in the outpatient agency (4.0%). Suggestions are
      offered for increased accuracy in the diagnosis of PTSD and complex PTSD with at
      risk youth.

PMID- 20931662
TI  - Prazosin treatment of trauma nightmares and sleep disturbance in soldiers
      deployed in Iraq.
AB  - Trauma nightmares and sleep disturbance impair combat soldiers' functioning. The
      alpha-1 adrenoreceptor antagonist prazosin has been demonstrated effective for
      these symptoms in Vietnam veterans. Thirteen soldiers seeking relief from
      distressing trauma nightmares impairing military function in northern Iraq in
      2006 received prazosin alone or in combination with other psychotropics. Mean
      prazosin dose was 4.1 (SD = 2.2) mg before bed. Six soldiers improved markedly
      and 3 moderately on the Clinical Global Impression of Change Ratings of
      distressing dreams decreased from an average of 7.0 (SD = 0.7) to 2.9 (SD = 3.0,
      p < .001) and those of disturbed sleep from 6.7 (SD = 0.9) to 3.7 (SD = 2.4, p <
      .001). Prazosin appears effective and well tolerated in the desert warfare
      environment.

PMID- 20931663
TI  - The relationship between somatization and posttraumatic symptoms among immigrants
      receiving primary care services.
AB  - Traumatic experiences and somatization are related in studies on complex trauma,
      though this relation is rarely studied in immigrants. The relationship between
      somatization and self-reported traumatic experiences and posttraumatic symptoms
      in patients attending a primary care service for immigrants was studied. The
      sample consisted of 101 patients attending a primary healthcare service dedicated
      to immigrants. Participants completed two self-assessment questionnaires
      specifically designed for use in transcultural research: the Bradford Somatic
      Inventory and the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire. Both were translated and back
      translated into eight languages. Somatization was significantly related to
      traumatic events and posttraumatic symptoms. In primary care centers for
      immigrants, physicians should give particular attention to somatization as a
      possible sign of unreported posttraumatic symptoms.

PMID- 20931660
TI  - Somatic cell nuclear transfer efficiency: how can it be improved through nuclear
      remodeling and reprogramming?
AB  - Fertile offspring from somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) is the goal of most
      cloning laboratories. For this process to be successful, a number of events must
      occur correctly. First the donor nucleus must be in a state that is amenable to
      remodeling and subsequent genomic reprogramming. The nucleus must be introduced
      into an oocyte cytoplasm that is capable of facilitating the nuclear remodeling.
      The oocyte must then be adequately stimulated to initiate development. Finally
      the resulting embryo must be cultured in an environment that is compatible with
      the development of that particular embryo. Much has been learned about the
      incredible changes that occur to a nucleus after it is placed in the cytoplasm of
      an oocyte. While we think that we are gaining an understanding of the
      reorganization that occurs to proteins in the donor nucleus, the process of
      cloning is still very inefficient. Below we will introduce the procedures for
      SCNT, discuss nuclear remodeling and reprogramming, and review techniques that
      may improve reprogramming. Finally we will briefly touch on other aspects of SCNT
      that may improve the development of cloned embryos.

PMID- 20931664
TI  - Impact of drug interactions, dosage, and duration of therapy on the risk of hip
      fracture associated with benzodiazepine use in older adults.
AB  - PURPOSE: To determine how concomitant use of potentially interacting drugs, drug
      dosage, and duration of therapy modify the risk of hip fracture associated with
      use of benzodiazepines and benzodiazepine-related drugs (BDZ) in older adults.
      METHODS: A nested case-control study was conducted in Medicare patients 65 years
      or older, enrolled in the Pennsylvania drug assistance program (PACE) between
      1994 and 2005. We included 17,198 patients with a hip fracture leading to
      hospitalization and 85,990 controls matched on hospitalization (index date). BDZ
      and interacting drug use within 2 weeks preceding the index date was determined
      using information on date of drug dispensing, days supplied, quantity dispensed,
      and strength. Date of the first BDZ prescription within the year preceding the
      index date was used as surrogate for duration of therapy. RESULTS: While the
      adjusted relative risk (RR) for overall BDZ use and hip fracture was 1.2 (95%
      confidence interval 1.1, 1.2), the RRs for concomitant use of alprazolam,
      lorazepam, and zolpidem and their interacting drugs were 1.5 (1.3, 1.7), 1.9
      (1.7, 2.2), and 1.7 (1.4, 2.0), and 2.1 (1.5, 2.8) for BDZ use initiated within
      14 days preceding the index date. RR increased with increasing BDZ dose and was
      highest for defined daily BDZ doses >1 [RR: 1.3 (1.2, 1.5)]. CONCLUSIONS: BDZ
      associated hip fracture risk increases with concomitant use of interacting drugs,
      higher doses, and is highest at initiation. Clinicians should avoid concomitant
      use of BDZ and interacting drugs, because their impact on hip fracture risk is at
      least additive.

PMID- 20931665
TI  - Figulla PFO occluder versus Amplatzer PFO occluder for percutaneous closure of
      patent foramen ovale.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Percutaneous closure of patent foramen ovale (PFO) has been shown
      safe and feasible using several devices. The Occlutech Figulla single layer PFO
      Occluder (FPO) constitutes an alternative to the Amplatzer PFO Occluder (APFO).
      OBJECTIVES: We report our experience with both devices in a single-center case
      control study. METHODS: Twenty patients undergoing percutaneous PFO closure using
      an FPO for secondary prevention of paradoxical embolism or diving were blindly
      matched with 20 patients receiving an APFO during the same time period. Contrast
      transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) was performed 6 months after device
      implantation to assess for residual shunting and device-associated thrombus.
      RESULTS: Patient baseline characteristics were well matched by study design.
      Procedural success was 95% with FPO vs. 100% for APFO (P = 1.0), with 3 (15%)
      peri-procedural complications with FPO vs. none with APFO (P = 0.24). These
      comprised one asymptomatic device embolization in the descending aorta with
      percutaneous retrieval, one transient ischemic attacks, and one suspected device
      endocarditis. Contrast TEE at 6 months showed significantly more residual shunts
      in the FPO-group (39% vs. 0%; P = 0.01). Two FPO patients with a moderate
      residual shunt underwent implantation of a second device (APFO 25 mm) vs. none in
      the APFO group (P = 0.48). No thrombi were observed in either group. During 1.7
      +/- 0.7 years of follow-up, no death or recurrent embolic event occurred.
      CONCLUSIONS: According to this single-center case-control study, PFO closure with
      the FPO appears less efficacious than with the APFO.

PMID- 20931666
TI  - Physiological assessment of renal artery stenosis: comparisons of resting with
      hyperemic renal pressure measurements.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: We compared resting and hyperemic pressure gradients induced by
      intrarenal papaverine for the assessment of renal artery stenosis (RAS). We also
      investigated the incidence of the QT interval prolongation and ventricular
      arrhythmias. BACKGROUND: In the coronary circulation, maximal hyperemia is
      essential in determining the significance of a stenosis. In the renal
      circulation, the role of maximal hyperemia for the assessment of RAS has not been
      established. METHODS: In 55 patients with RAS (67 RAS), resting P(d)/P(a) ratio
      (the ratio between distal renal pressure to the aortic pressure), renal
      fractional flow reserve (FFR), and resting and hyperemic systolic gradients (RSG
      and HSG, respectively) were measured with a pressure guidewire. In a subset of 16
      patients, renal vein renin activity (RVRA) was measured. RESULTS: HSG was
      significantly greater than RSG (20 +/- 14 mm Hg vs. 9.0 +/- 13 mm Hg,
      respectively; P < 0.001). Renal FFR was significantly lower than baseline
      P(d)/P(a) ratio (0.91 +/- 0.06 vs. 0.94 +/- 0.06 vs. respectively; P < 0.001).
      RVRA increased from 50 +/- 66% at rest to 122 +/- 112% at hyperemia, P < 0.01. At
      HSG of 21 mm Hg or renal FFR of 0.90, RVRA increased markedly (120%), but RVRA
      increased modestly (18%) when RSG was 16 mm Hg or resting P(d)/P(a) ratio was
      0.93. The corrected QT intervals at baseline vs. hyperemia were not significantly
      different (433 +/- 26 vs. 436 +/- 25 msec, respectively; P = NS); no episodes of
      ventricular arrhythmias were noted. CONCLUSIONS: Renin production, an index of
      renal ischemia, was markedly greater at hyperemia than at rest, suggesting that
      RAS, with either an HSG of 21 mm Hg or a renal FFR of 0.90, can be considered a
      hemodynamically significant stenosis. Intrarenal papaverine neither prolonged the
      QT interval nor induced ventricular arrhythmias and the safety of which will need
      to be corroborated in a large study. (c) 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

PMID- 20931667
TI  - Oral sirolimus after bare metal stent implantation: a glimpse to the future.

PMID- 20931668
TI  - Large sample inference for an assay quality measure used in high-throughput
      screening.

PMID- 20931669
TI  - In vitro antimicrobial susceptibility of Propionibacterium  acnes isolated from
      acne patients in northern Mexico.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Antimicrobials are essential in acne therapy. In the last decades,
      Propionibacterium acnes has become resistant to different antibiotics. OBJECTIVE:
      To determine antimicrobial susceptibility patterns of P. acnes to frequently used
      drugs. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Cutaneous lesion samples were obtained from 50
      patients with acne vulgaris, which were cultured in anaerobic media to
      demonstrate the presence of P. acnes. After that, antimicrobial susceptibility
      tests to tetracycline, minocycline, doxycycline, erythromycin, azithromycin,
      clindamycin, trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (SXT) and levofloxacin were performed.
      RESULTS: In the general study group, resistance to azithromycin was 82%, the most
      prevalent one (P < 0.05), followed by trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (68%) and
      erythromycin (46%). On the other hand, all strains isolated were susceptible to
      minocycline. Resistance bias were similar when subgroups with and without the
      previous antimicrobial therapy were performed, finding a low prevalence of
      resistance to tetracyclines and levofloxacin in both groups. CONCLUSIONS: In our
      region, P. acnes is highly resistant to azithromycin, SXT, erythromycin and
      clindamycin; and being very susceptible to minocycline, levofloxacin and
      tetracycline, in vitro in both groups: with and without the previous antibiotic
      use. To our knowledge, high resistance prevalence to azithromycin and SXT has
      never been reported.

PMID- 20931670
TI  - Clear cell acanthoma: a rare clinical diagnosis prior to biopsy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Clear cell acanthoma is a rare, benign epidermal tumor with a
      clinical hybrid appearance and a distinct histological one. It is frequently
      mistaken for other clinical lesions. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the frequency that
      clear cell acanthoma was listed in the clinical differential diagnosis of
      histologically confirmed specimens. METHODS: A regional dermatopathology lab
      database was evaluated from January 1998 through March 2008 for histologically
      diagnosed cases of clear cell acanthoma. Clinical data that was submitted with
      these cases including differential diagnoses was analyzed. RESULTS: During this
      time period of review, 411 histologically confirmed cases of clear cell acanthoma
      were identified. This entity was listed as a diagnostic possibility in 11 (2.7%)
      of the cases. CONCLUSION: Clear cell acanthoma was rarely listed amongst the
      differential diagnosis of biopsy proven specimens. This may be due to a variable
      clinical appearance with overlapping features of several other lesions making it
      difficult to distinguish, or an entity that is rare and not frequently suspected.
      Additional studies with dermatoscopy may help to further delineate the reasons
      for the low diagnostic sensitivity.

PMID- 20931671
TI  - Analysis of epidemiology, clinical features and management  of erysipelas.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Erysipelas is a superficial form of cellulitis affecting the upper
      dermis and superficial lymphatics. The widespread use of antibiotics may affect
      clinical findings and response to therapy of infectious disorders. The purpose of
      the study was to investigate the epidemiological, clinical, and laboratory
      features of erysipelas and to compare the results of treatment with penicillin
      vs. other antibiotic regimens. METHODS: All charts of erysipelas patients treated
      at the University Hospital of Heraklion, Crete, Greece from 1994 to 2002 were
      retrospectively studied. RESULTS: Median age of the 99 patients was 54.5 years;
      59% were females. The most frequent site involved was the lower extremity (76%),
      followed by the face (17%) and upper extremity (6%). In 61 patients (62%), a
      possible entry portal was identified. The most common manifestation of erysipelas
      was local symptoms and signs (pain, erythema, and swelling) in all patients,
      together with elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) (60%). Fever was
      present in 25% of patients. The most commonly used antibiotic was intravenous
      penicillin G (64%). In the penicillin group, mean duration of fever after
      treatment initiation was shorter than in the nonpenicillin group (1.7 vs. 4.5
      days, P = 0.002). Both treatment failures and recurrences were the same between
      the two groups. DISCUSSION: The diagnosis of erysipelas can be based on careful
      examination for local signs and symptoms. The role of ESR in primary diagnosis
      needs further investigation. Penicillin seems to preserve its fundamental role in
      the treatment of disease.

PMID- 20931672
TI  - Dermoscopy as a diagnostic tool in demodicidosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The in vivo demonstration of Demodex infestation is traditionally
      based on the microscopic identification of Demodex mites, which is time consuming
      and requires specific equipment and a trained observer. OBJECTIVE: The aim of
      this study was to describe for the first time the use of polarized-light
      dermoscopy for the diagnosis of demodicidosis in patients with variable clinical
      presentations. METHODS: A total of 72 patients with variable facial eruptions
      were examined clinically, microscopically, and dermoscopically for the presence
      of Demodex mites. RESULTS: Of the 72 patients, 55 were found to have
      demodicidosis. In 54 patients, the dermoscopy examination yielded a specific
      picture consisting of Demodex "tails" and Demodex follicular openings. In
      patients with an inflammatory variant of demodicidosis, reticular horizontal
      dilated blood vessels were also visualized. Microscopically, skin scrapings
      demonstrated Demodex in 52 patients. Overall, the dermoscopy findings showed
      excellent agreement with the microscopy findings (kappa value 0.86, 95% CI 0.72
      0.99, P < 0.001). In the remaining 17 patients, there was no evidence of Demodex
      infestation either microscopically or dermoscopically. LIMITATIONS: The study was
      not blinded. As there are no standards for the diagnosis of demodicidosis, our
      results were based on criteria developed by our research group. CONCLUSIONS: This
      is the first description of the specific dermoscopic findings associated with
      variable clinical presentations of demodicidosis. Dermoscopy may serve as a
      valuable tool for the real-time validation of Demodex infestation and the
      evaluation and follow-up of affected patients.

PMID- 20931673
TI  - Cutaneous disorders in uremic patients on hemodialysis:  an Egyptian case
      controlled study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We studied the prevalence of mucocutaneous disorders in uremic adults
      and children on hemodialysis (HD) vs. controls, in Egypt. METHODS: A total of 206
      Egyptians with uremia (163 adults and 43 children) undergoing HD, and 199 healthy
      controls (161 adults and 38 children), were examined for mucocutaneous
      abnormalities. RESULTS: Specific cutaneous diseases associated with renal
      insufficiency were found in five adults, including acquired perforating
      dermatosis and pseudo-porphyria. Non-specific abnormalities included xerosis
      (54%), pallor (42.2%), nail changes (34.9%), hair changes (34%), pruritus (32%),
      hyper-pigmentation (22.2%), coated tongue (14.1%), ecchymosis (1.5%), and
      gingival hypertrophy (1.5%). Disorders found significantly more often in uremics
      than controls included pallor, nail changes, hair changes, pruritus,
      hyperpigmentation and coated tongue in adults (P < 0.05), and nail changes, hair
      changes, and hyper-pigmentation in children (P < 0.05). The prevalence of each
      mucocutaneous abnormality was similar in uremic adults and children except for
      pallor [more common in adults (P = 0.001)], and hyper-pigmentation [more common
      in children (P = 0.003)]. A greater number of hepatitis C virus-positive than 
      negative adult uremics had hyper-pigmentation (P < 0.05), and more diabetic
      uremics had pruritus than did non-diabetics (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Mucocutaneous
      disorders occur in adults and children with uremia, some of which are specific
      associations with the underlying renal disease. Occurrence of some of the non
      specific abnormalities, such as xerosis, ecchymosis, and gingival hypertrophy,
      may be coincidental or associated with factors other than renal insufficiency.

PMID- 20931674
TI  - [The French-speaking Society of Pneumology recommendations on the management of
      COPD].

PMID- 20931675
TI  - Proceedings of the 9th International Symposium on Chromosomal Aberrations: New
      insights into chromosomal aberrations. July11-12, 2009. St Goar, Germany.

PMID- 20931677
TI  - [Abstracts of the 57th Meeting of the Japanese Society of Clinical Pathology.
      September 9-12, 2010. Tokyo, Japan].

PMID- 20931676
TI  - Regulatory Control and Standardization of Allergenic Extracts. Proceedings of the
      12th International Paul-Ehrich-Seminar. September 24-27, 2008. Bad Homburg,
      Germany.

PMID- 20931678
TI  - [Abstracts of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Animal
      Reproduction. September 2-4, 2010. Aomori, Japan].

PMID- 20931679
TI  - Abstracts of the 2010 Triological Society Combined Section Meetings. April 30-May
      1, 2010. Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.

PMID- 20931680
TI  - [Symposium on Asbestos and Asbestos-related Diseases. Split, 6 December 2008].

PMID- 20931681
TI  - Endovascular repair of abdominal aortic aneurysm.

PMID- 20931682
TI  - Hospital-acquired infections due to gram-negative bacteria.

PMID- 20931683
TI  - CardioPulse.  The first European Society of Cardiology Association is born.
AB  - Jen Taylor reports on the European Association of Echocardiography now in its
      18th year.

PMID- 20931684
TI  - Clinical, pathologic, and ultrastructural studies of progressive macular
      hypomelanosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Progressive macular hypomelanosis (PMH), a condition of uncertain
      etiology, is characterized by asymptomatic hypopigmented macules, predominantly
      located on the trunk. To date, the study of this disease has been sporadic and
      there are still no clinical diagnostic criteria. The aim of this study was to
      investigate the histopathologic and ultrastructural characteristics of PMH, and
      propose the clinical diagnostic criteria of PMH. METHODS: The Wood's lamp and
      Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy were used to observe the lesions' features.
      Skin biopsies were used for hematoxylin and eosin staining, melanin staining,
      antibodies staining of S-100 protein, tyrosinase-related protein-1(TRP-1) and
      tyrosinase (T311), and also for ultra-structural study. Melanocytes were isolated
      and cultured from the lesions. RESULTS: Under Wood's lamp examination, the
      lesions of PMH showed punctiform red fluorescence. Confocal Laser Scanning
      Microscopy observation of the lesion showed that its "pigmented ring" around the
      dermal papillae was intact, but its melanin content was decreased compared with
      the surrounding normal skin. Ferrous sulfate staining showed that melanin content
      in the lesion of PMH was significantly decreased compared with the normal skin (P
      < 0.05). S-100 staining showed that the number of positive cells in the basal
      layer had no statistical significance (P > 0.05) between the lesion areas (8.25
      +/- 0.96) and the surrounding normal skin (8.75 +/- 1.71). TRP-1 staining showed
      no significant difference between lesion areas (4.25 +/- 0.96) and the
      surrounding normal skin (4.50 +/- 1.29) (P > 0.05), and T311 staining also showed
      no difference between lesion areas (4.01 +/- 0.87) and the surrounding normal
      skin (4.30 +/- 1.05) (P > 0.05). Ultra-structural studies revealed a large
      reduction in the number of mature melanosome from PMH lesions. There were many
      membrane-bound groups in PMH lesions with normal appearance the margin, which
      contained a number of smaller type II-IV melanosomes, which were distributed in
      clusters. No degradation of melanosomes was present in the lysosomal compartments
      of PMH lesions. When melanocytes from the PMH lesions were cultured in vitro, the
      morphology of those melanocytes showed no difference compared with normal
      melanocytes. CONCLUSION: As a result of the above findings, we discussed and
      summarized the PMH's clinical diagnostic criteria.

PMID- 20931685
TI  - Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) tumor
      necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha -238 and -308 as genetic markers of susceptibility to
      psoriasis and severity of the disease in a long-term follow-up Brazilian study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The strongest genetic marker for psoriasis is Cw*06. Polymorphisms in
      the tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha promoter region, especially replacement of
      guanine with adenine in positions -238 and -308 are related to higher TNF-alpha
      production and higher risk for psoriasis in Caucasoid populations, not found in
      Asians. We performed a case-control study of 69 patients with psoriasis type I
      and 70 controls, characterized clinical progression along 10-years of follow-up
      in mild or severe disease and determined HLA class I, II, and TNF single
      nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) -238 and -308 polymorphisms to demonstrate
      whether these polymorphisms may be genetic risk for susceptibility to psoriasis
      or severity of the disease in Brazilians. METHODS: Polymorphisms were identified
      using PCR/SSP. Alleles, genotypes, and haplotypes frequencies were compared using
      Fisher's test. RESULTS: More severe disease was found in male patients. It may be
      suggested that alleles B*37, Cw*06, Cw*12, and DRB1*07 were associated with
      severe disease course, while B*57 with mild disease. No statistical difference
      was found between the patients and controls regarding polymorphisms frequencies
      in TNF SNPs. This study pointed to a higher TNF-238 G/G genotype frequency (OR:
      3.21; CI: 1.06-9.71; P = 0.04) in the group with severe disease. CONCLUSIONS:
      Polymorphisms in the TNF-alpha SNPs do not seem to be a more important genetic
      risk factor for psoriasis than the already known Cw*06 in Brazilian patients, but
      these markers may be related to clinical manifestations.

PMID- 20931686
TI  - Beliefs and perceptions of Arab vitiligo patients regarding their condition.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Patients' beliefs about their illness can result in positive and/or
      negative implications for the management of their disease. To examine the beliefs
      held by vitiligo patients about their condition and to explore the potential
      factors that might influence such beliefs. METHODS: The illness perception
      questionnaire (IPQ) was translated into the particular regional language (Arabic)
      and administered to adult vitiligo patients visiting our Dermatology Department,
      from 2006 to 2008. Demographic and illness details were obtained. RESULTS: We
      recruited 164 vitiligo patients (91 male subjects). The mean age was 27 years (SD
      = 13, range 15-57 years). It was believed that stress, altered immunity, and
      heredity were the cause of vitiligo by 33%, 26%, and 24% of the respondents
      respectively. Eighty-four percent and 28% believed in fate and evil eye as a
      cause of their illness respectively. Forty-two percent believed that their
      illness had a major effect on their lives and 44% believed that vitiligo had
      strongly affected the way others see them. For both beliefs, this was independent
      of the gender. Thirty-seven percent reported that they do not understand their
      illness. Six percent believed that their disease was contagious while 12% were
      not sure. Fifty-four and 57% reported feeling depressed and anxious respectively,
      because of their disease. This was more common in female patients (P = 0.019 and
      0.031 respectively). CONCLUSION: Misconceptions and negative attitudes are
      widespread among vitiligo patients. The lack of disease-related understanding and
      the existence of anxiety and depression require targeted health education and
      psychosocial support.

PMID- 20931687
TI  - Professionalism.

PMID- 20931688
TI  - AABB and FDA: a shared history of patient safety.

PMID- 20931689
TI  - Transfusion med illustrated: Ceftriaxone-induced acute hemolytic anemia.

PMID- 20931690
TI  - Abstracts of the AWHONN (Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal
      Nurses) National Meeting. September 25-29, 2010. Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.

PMID- 20931691
TI  - How does sipuleucel-T alter our clinical practice?

PMID- 20931692
TI  - Walter Clement Noel-first patient described with sickle cell disease.

PMID- 20931693
TI  - Pandemic influenza-a timeline.

PMID- 20931694
TI  - The quality of health insurance service delivery for kidney transplant
      recipients: a patient perspective.
AB  - Increased attention has been devoted to improving quality care in kidney
      transplantation. The discourse on quality care has focused on transplant center
      metrics and other clinical parameters. However, there has been little discussion
      on the quality of health insurance service delivery, which may be critical to
      kidney recipients' access to transplantation and immunosuppression. This paper
      describes and provides a framework for characterizing kidney transplant
      recipients' positive and negative interactions with their insurers. A consecutive
      cohort of kidney recipients (n = 87) participated in semistructured interviews on
      their interactions with insurance agencies. Patients reported negative (37%)
      and/or neutral or positive (79%) interactions with their insurer (a subset [16%]
      reported both). Perceived negative experiences included: poor service, logistical
      difficulties with confusing and time-consuming paperwork, poor communication,
      rude behavior and concerns about adequate coverage. Positive experiences related
      to: having good coverage, a simple application process, straightforward
      transactions and helpful communication. Findings suggest that even when patients
      have insurance coverage, difficult interactions with insurers and limited skills
      in navigating insurance options may limit their access to needed medications and
      health services. Future research is needed to test this hypothesis in a larger
      population.

PMID- 20931695
TI  - The molecular phenotype of kidney transplants.
AB  - Microarray studies of kidney transplant biopsies provide an opportunity to define
      the molecular phenotype. To facilitate this process, we used experimental systems
      to annotate transcripts as members of pathogenesis-based transcript sets (PBTs)
      representing biological processes in injured or diseased tissue. Applying this
      annotation to microarray results revealed that changes in single molecules and
      PBTs reflected a large-scale coordinate disturbance, stereotyped across various
      diseases and injuries, without absolute specificity of individual molecules or
      PBTs for rejection. Nevertheless, expression of molecules and PBTs was
      quantitatively specific: IFNG effects for rejection; T cell and macrophage
      transcripts for T cell-mediated rejection; endothelial and NK transcripts for
      antibody-mediated rejection. Various diseases and injuries induced the same
      injury-repair response, undetectable by histopathology, involving epithelium,
      stroma and endothelium, with increased expression of developmental, cell cycle
      and apoptosis genes and decreased expression of differentiated epithelial
      features. Transcripts reflecting this injury-repair response were the best
      correlates of functional disturbance and risk of future graft loss. Late biopsies
      with atrophy-fibrosis, reflecting their cumulative burden of injury, displayed
      more transcripts for B cells, plasma cells and mast cells. Thus the molecular
      phenotype is best described in terms of three elements: specific diseases,
      including rejection; the injury-repair response and the cumulative burden of
      injury.

PMID- 20931696
TI  - An integrated view of molecular changes, histopathology and outcomes in kidney
      transplants.
AB  - Data-driven approaches to deteriorating kidney transplants, incorporating
      histologic, molecular and HLA antibody findings, have created a new understanding
      of transplant pathology and why transplants fail. Transplant dysfunction is best
      understood in terms of three elements: diseases, the active injury-repair
      response and the cumulative burden of injury. Progression to failure is mainly
      attributable to antibody-mediated rejection, nonadherence and glomerular disease.
      Antibody-mediated rejection usually develops late due to de novo HLA antibodies,
      particularly anti-class II, and is often C4d negative. Pure treated T cell
      mediated rejection does not predispose to graft loss because it responds well,
      even with endothelialitis, but it may indicate nonadherence. The cumulative
      burden of injury results in atrophy-fibrosis (nephron loss), arterial fibrous
      intimal thickening and arteriolar hyalinosis, but these are not progressive
      without ongoing disease/injury, and do not explain progression. Calcineurin
      inhibitor toxicity has been overestimated because burden-of-injury lesions invite
      this default diagnosis when diseases such as antibody-mediated rejection are
      missed. Disease/injury triggers a stereotyped active injury-repair response,
      including de-differentiation, cell cycling and apoptosis. The active injury
      repair response is the strongest correlate of organ function and future
      progression to failure, but should always prompt a search for the initiating
      injury or disease.

PMID- 20931697
TI  - [Biceps tendon in rotator cuff lesions - the surgeon may decide].

PMID- 20931698
TI  - Markets or incentives: terminology is critical.

PMID- 20931699
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 20931700
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 20931702
TI  - Retraction:   Intron-1 rs3761548 is related to the defective transcription of
      Foxp3 in psoriasis through abrogating E47/c-Myb binding.

PMID- 20931701
TI  - [Not Available].

PMID- 20931703
TI  - One step closer. HHS announces two EHR certification bodies.

PMID- 20931704
TI  - They're in the money--now. Some IT projects are getting stimulus funds faster.

PMID- 20931705
TI  - Deadly trend. Arkansas accident was eighth air medical crash in '10.

PMID- 20931706
TI  - Going global. Two architecture firms announce consolidation deals.

PMID- 20931707
TI  - Uncertain future for MedCath.

PMID- 20931708
TI  - When compromise was allowed. Despite his faults, Rosty knew how to reach out and
      make a deal.

PMID- 20931709
TI  - More, but possibly less. Medicaid expansion will add revenue, but state budget
      woes could force cuts.

PMID- 20931710
TI  - Obesity. How colds can make kids fat.

PMID- 20931711
TI  - Surefil SDR Flow.

PMID- 20931712
TI  - Dietary fluoride supplements.

PMID- 20931713
TI  - Sustaining shared hope for breast cancer survivors.

PMID- 20931714
TI  - CLR 2010-2011 needs a "fix".

PMID- 20931716
TI  - Refinancing time. Investor-owned companies look for cheaper debt.

PMID- 20931715
TI  - Cracking down. Agencies unveil new fraud-detection procedures.

PMID- 20931717
TI  - More advanced degrees ... but not enough to ease nursing faculty shortage.

PMID- 20931718
TI  - As the recession recedes. Data show extent of the damage, but the public safety
      net has done its job.

PMID- 20931719
TI  - Prevention through intervention. Programs use training, patient education to help
      head off suicide attempts.

PMID- 20931720
TI  - Kaiser tries to explain it all for you with new site.

PMID- 20931721
TI  - Endovascular repair of abdominal aortic aneurysm.

PMID- 20931722
TI  - Endovascular repair of abdominal aortic aneurysm.

PMID- 20931723
TI  - Hospital-acquired infections due to gram-negative bacteria.

PMID- 20931724
TI  - CardioPulse. Climbing the academic ladder in the UK is structured to ensure that
      trainees learn everything within the cardiology curriculum and yet still have
      time for research.

PMID- 20931726
TI  - CardioPulse. Company success stories: Medtronic: From a garage workshop to a
      billion-dollar enterprise.
AB  - Freelance medical journalist, Emma Wilkinson, MA, talks to Rob ten Hoedt, vice
      president of Medtronic's cardiovascular business in Western Europe, about the
      growth of the world's largest medical device company.

PMID- 20931727
TI  - Charges billed to third parties for prescription drugs furnished by VA to a
      veteran for a nonservice-connected disability. Final rule.
AB  - This document amends the medical regulations of the Department of Veterans
      Affairs (VA) concerning ''reasonable charges'' for medical care or services
      provided or furnished by VA to a veteran for a nonservice-connected disability.
      More specifically, VA amends the regulations regarding charges billed for
      prescription drugs not administered during treatment by changing the billing
      formula to reflect VA's actual drug costs for each drug rather than using a
      national average drug cost for all prescriptions dispensed. The revised formula
      for calculating reasonable charges for prescription drug costs will also continue
      to include an average administrative cost for each prescription. The purpose is
      to provide VA with a more accurate billing methodology for prescription drugs.

PMID- 20931728
TI  - [History of combined modality therapy for esophageal cancer in Japan].

PMID- 20931729
TI  - [Endoscopic surgical procedures for gastric cancer-EMR and ESD-].

PMID- 20931730
TI  - [Current topics on molecular targeting drugs for gastric cancer].

PMID- 20931731
TI  - [Itching behind the eyelid].

PMID- 20931732
TI  - Recent case developments in health law. "Willful modulation of brain activity in
      disorders of consciousness": legal and ethical ramifications.

PMID- 20931733
TI  - [Rosiglitazone].

PMID- 20931734
TI  - [Should functional disorders be treated in psychiatric services?].

PMID- 20931735
TI  - [Depression and fatigue in chronic disease].

PMID- 20931736
TI  - Oncologic drugs advisory committee recommends withdrawing approval for
      bevacizumab use in breast cancer treatment.

PMID- 20931737
TI  - Young adults and the Affordable Care Act of 2010.
AB  - The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act includes several provisions that
      promise to stem the rapidly rising tide of uninsured young adults, one of the
      largest uninsured segments of the population. These include the ability to enroll
      in a parent's health plan up to age 26, beginning in September 2010; significant
      expansion in eligibility for Medicaid, beginning in 2014; and the creation of
      health insurance exchanges with subsidized private insurance for people with low
      and moderate incomes, also beginning in 2014. Of the 14.8 million uninsured young
      adults, up to 12.1 million may gain subsidized insurance once all the law's
      provisions go into effect in 2014: 7.2 million may gain coverage under Medicaid
      and 4.9 million may gain subsidized private coverage through the insurance
      exchanges. In addition, about 1 million uninsured young adults are expected to
      join their parents' policies over the next three years.

PMID- 20931738
TI  - The long and winding road to clinical success in gene therapy.

PMID- 20931739
TI  - Paul Dudley White: "Our Hearts Were Young and Gay".

PMID- 20931740
TI  - Young policies to an elder population: challenges for the Health Sector.

PMID- 20931741
TI  - Clinical practice.

PMID- 20931742
TI  - [Long non-coding RNA and inhibition of the immune system].

PMID- 20931743
TI  - Chemotherapy-related delayed bilateral spontaneous pneumothorax and lung
      fibrosis: methotrexate or cyclophosphamide, or both?

PMID- 20931744
TI  - Acute respiratory distress following intravenous injection of trichloroethylene.

PMID- 20931745
TI  - Subcutaneous emphysema of the lower eyelid as a complication of nasal continuous
      positive airway pressure.

PMID- 20931746
TI  - Complementary and  alternative medicine.

PMID- 20931747
TI  - Patient information about options for treatment: Methods of a national audit of
      information provision in chronic kidney disease.
AB  - The new CARI guidelines for 'Acceptance onto dialysis' suggest patients with
      chronic kidney disease are referred to a nephrologist at an estimated glomerular
      filtration rate of <30 ml/min per 1.73 m2, to allow 3-6 months for pre-dialysis
      education, creation of dialysis access, and planned initiation of renal
      replacement therapy or conservative management. Similarly, international
      guidelines recommend education for patients and their families occurs 6 to 12
      months prior to the predicted onset of end stage kidney disease or during Stage 4
      or Stage 5 chronic kidney disease. However, some patients commencing treatment
      may not receive information about their options at a time that facilitates
      effective and informed decision making or that enables consideration of treatment
      other than centre-based haemodialysis. Implementation of chronic kidney disease
      education guidelines has not been widely reported and there are few published
      studies that assess the provision and delivery of information about all treatment
      options. Patient INformation about Options for Treatment (PINOT) is a prospective
      national audit of the type and timing of information provided by renal units to
      incident pre-emptive transplant, dialysis and conservatively managed patients
      over a 3-month period. PINOT will assess the patient and unit characteristics
      associated with timely information provision and highlight any regional variation
      in treatments offered.

PMID- 20931748
TI  - Anti-inflammatory treatment for post-diarrhoeal haemolytic-uraemic syndrome with
      central nervous system involvement.

PMID- 20931749
TI  - End-stage kidney disease after mushroom poisoning and abo-incompatible liver
      transplantation.

PMID- 20931750
TI  - Transhepatic placement of haemodialysis catheter: A solution for vascular access
      exhaustion.

PMID- 20931752
TI  - [Strategy of molecular drug design: activity and druggability].
AB  - Intrinsic activity and druggability represent two essences of innovative drugs.
      Activity is the fundamental and core virtue of a drug, whereas druggability is
      essential to translate activity to therapeutic usefulness. Activity and
      druggability are interconnected natures residing in molecular structure. The
      pharmaceutical, pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic phases in vivo can be
      conceived as an overall exhibition of activity and druggability. Druggability
      actually involves all properties, except for intrinsic activity, of a drug. It
      embraces physico-chemical, bio-chemical, pharmacokinetic and toxicological
      characteristics, which are intertwined properties determining the attributes and
      behaviors of a drug in different aspects. Activity and druggability of a drug are
      endowed in the chemical structure and reflected in the microscopic structure and
      macroscopic property of a drug molecule. The lead optimization implicates
      molecular manipulation in multidimensional space covering activity,
      physicochemistry, biochemistry, pharmacokinetics and safety, and embodies
      abundant contents of medicinal chemistry.

PMID- 20931753
TI  - [The action of p38 MAP kinase and its inhibitors on endometriosis].
AB  - Endometriosis, an oestrogen-dependent disorder, is related to inflammation, p38
      Mitogen activated protein kinases (p38 MAPK) can be activated by sex hormone and
      inflammatory factors, which plays an important role in many cellular reactions
      such as apoptosis, proliferation, inflammation and stresses, etc. Many studies
      showed that p38 MAPK was participated directly in regulating the pathogenesis of
      endometriosis. The special regulatory action of p38 MAPK on sex hormone and
      inflammation may help us to understand the intricate endometriosis pathological
      hypothesis. p38 MAPK inhibitors play a key role in the the study of
      endometriosis, and show great promise for the future. Blocking and regulating the
      expression of p38 MAPK on the signal transduction pathway level may hope to be a
      new strategy to prevent and treat endometriosis.

PMID- 20931754
TI  - [Theory of selectivity of RP-LC C18 column and its application].
AB  - In recent years, more and more researchers focus on the selectivity of RP-HPLC
      columns. Among these columns, C18 column is the most commonly used the column.
      Yet even the same filler can not give us the same separation effect with the
      columns of different brands and different types, therefore, it is important to
      choose the suitable HPLC column for carrying out an experiment. After study in
      recent years, some column classification, selection methods (e.g.: column
      parameter method, F value method) have been achieved and contributed to the
      finding of suitable columns and reducing the blindness of column selection. This
      paper summarizes the advantages of these methods and their limitations in the
      application process, and gives some advice and expectations to pharmaceutical
      analysis works based on the works of other researchers.

PMID- 20931755
TI  - [Advances in the study of polymeric micelles used in oral administration].
AB  - Polymeric micelles which are self-assembled from amphiphilic copolymers are
      thermodynamically stable, and they can solubilize hydrophobic drugs by the
      hydrophilic core. Many excellent active compounds are confined because of general
      low oral bioavailability due to poor solubility. Take into account from the two
      points above, polymeric micelles may be used as proper oral carrier to improve
      the dissolubility of hydrophobic drugs, and enhance the permeation though
      gastrointestinal tract, therefore, the pharmacodynamics is elevated. Meanwhile,
      the segments in copolymers are multivariate, so many kinds of micelles can be
      obtained, such as, pH- or thermo- sensitive as well as mucoadhesive ones. The
      modified micelles can alter drug release profiles while solubilizing them, that
      is why the oral bioavailability increase further. In this review, recent progress
      of polymeric micelles used in oral administration is summarized, and the prospect
      of polymeric micelles' application in this field is also evaluated.

PMID- 20931756
TI  - [Effects of oligomeric grape seed proanthocyanidins on isoproterenol-induced
      cardiac remodeling in rats].
AB  - The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of oligomeric grape seed
      proanthocyanidins (GSP) on isoproterenol (ISO)-induced cardiac remodeling in
      rats. ISO was given subcutaneously (5 mg x kg(-1), sc, 7 days) to induce cardiac
      remodeling in rats. Therapeutic groups were given GSP (50, 100, and 150 mg x kg(
      1)) after ISO treatment. After 2 weeks intervention, heart rate (HR), left
      ventricular systolic pressure (LVSP), left ventricular end-diastolic pressure
      (LVEDP), rate of rise of left ventricular pressure (+/- dp/dt(max)) were
      examined. The myocardial hypertrophy index was expressed as heart weight/body
      weight (HW/BW) and left ventricle weight/body weight (LVW/BW), the histological
      changes were investigated by HE and Van Gieson stain. SOD activity and MDA
      content in serum, contents of hydroxyproline (Hyp) in the left ventricular tissue
      were assayed by xanthinoxidase method, thiobarbituric acid (TBA) method and
      alkaline hydrolysis method, respectively. After the onset of ISO-treatment, GSP
      therapy potently improved cardiac function, inhibited myocardial hypertrophy,
      improved cardiac pathology change, decreased the myocardial cross-section area
      (CSA), collagen volume fraction (CVF) and perivascular circumferential collagen
      area (PVCA), reduced the content of Hyp in the left ventricular tissue, inhibited
      the decrease of SOD activity and increase of MDA content in serum. GSP possess
      protective effect against ISO induced cardiac remodeling in rats, this may be
      related to reducing the oxidative stress and improving antioxidant capacity.

PMID- 20931757
TI  - [Comparison of the antitumor activities of immunoconjugates composed of lidamycin
      and monoclonal antibody fab' fragment with different linkers].
AB  - To investigate the antitumor activities of the immunoconjugates composed of anti
      type IV collagenase monoclonal antibody Fab' fragment and lidamycin (LDM)
      prepared with different linkers. The immunoconjugates were prepared by linking
      Fab' to lysine-69 of LDM apoprotein by SPDP, LCSPDP, SMBS or SSMPB as the
      intermediate drug linkers. Immunoreactivities of the conjugates were determined
      by ELISA. The cytotoxicities of the conjugates were examined by clonogenic assay.
      In vivo antitumor effects of the conjugates were evaluated in nude mice bearing
      subcutaneously implanted HT-1080 tumor. ELISA assay showed that the conjugates
      retained part of the immunoreactivity of 3G11 against the antigen. The
      cytotoxicities of the Fab'-SMBS-LDM and Fab'-SSMPB-LDM to HT-1080 cells were
      significantly potent, compared with Fab'-SPDP-LDM, Fab'-LCSPDP-LDM and free LDM.
      In animal models at the same condition, free LDM, Fab'-SPDP-LDM and Fab'-LCSPDP
      LDM inhibited the growth of HT-1080 tumor by 70.9%, 74.8% and 72.3%, while Fab'
      SMBS-LDM and Fab'-SSMPB-LDM reached 78.0% and 87.7%, respectively. The median
      survival time of the mice treated with free LDM, Fab'-SPDP-LDM and Fab'-LCSPDP
      LDM were prolonged by 71.9%, 82.2% and 107.5%, respectively, compared with that
      of untreated group. Whereas, the median survival time of Fab'-SMBS-LDM and Fab'
      SSMPB-LDM were prolonged by 145.2% and 165.8%, respectively, indicating that Fab'
      SSMPB-LDM was more effective than Fab'-SMBS-LDM in tumor suppression and life
      span prolongation. Fab'-SSMPB-LDM has more marked selective antitumor efficacy
      and lower toxicity, and might be a novel candidate for cancer therapy.

PMID- 20931758
TI  - [Silence of VEGFR2 expression mediated by PEI/siRNA complexes].
AB  - The aim of this paper is to report the study on gene silencing efficiency of
      siRNA targeted against mouse VEGFR2 (siVEGFR2) in vitro mediated by
      polyethyleneimine (PEI) and its anti-tumor effect in vivo. CY3-labeled siRNA was
      compounded into PEI and transfected into MS1 cells. Confocal microscopy was used
      to image the subcellular distribution of siRNA in MS1 cells. Semi-quantitative RT
      PCR and Western blotting were used to evaluate VEGFR2 gene silencing induced by
      siVEGFR2/PEI complexes. A tumor-bearing nude mice model was established to
      compare the anti-tumor effect after delivered by local and systemic routes.
      siVEGFR2/PEI complex-transfected cells exhibited much fluorescence in cytoplasm
      with no evidence of nuclear accumulation. The expression levels of VEGFR2 mRNA
      and protein in PEI-transfected cells were significantly down-regulated compared
      with that in blank group, the silencing efficiency were 28.2% and 23.6%
      respectively. The tumor sizes in mice intratumorally injected with siVEGFR2/PEI
      complexes (189.429 +/- 17.562 mm3) were reduced definitely compared to that in
      mice injected with siVEGFR2/PEI complexes via vein route (315.507 +/- 20.491
      mm3), or to saline groups (365.844 +/- 20.713 mm3). The study demonstrated that
      PEI could effectively transfect siRNA into cells and silence the VEGFR2 gene
      expression. Intratumoral delivery is more suitable for non-targeted modified
      PEI/siRNA complexes to inhibit the tumor growth in vivo. The present data lay a
      solid foundation to further study on the gene silencing mechanism for PEI
      medicated RNAi and its anti-tumor efficiency in vivo.

PMID- 20931759
TI  - [Binding capability of lidamycin apoprotein to human breast cancer detected by
      tissue microarrays].
AB  - This study is to investigate the binding capability of lidamycin apoprotein
      (LDP), an enediyne-associated apoprotein of the chromoprotein antitumor
      antibiotic family, to human breast cancer and normal tissues, the correlation of
      LDP binding capability to human breast cancer tissues and the expression of tumor
      therapeutic targets such as VEGF and HER2. In this study, the binding capability
      of LDP to human breast cancer tissues was detected with tissue microarray. The
      correlation study of LDP binding capability to human breast tumor tissues and
      relevant therapeutic targets was performed on breast cancer tissue microarrays.
      Immunocytochemical examination was used to detect the binding capability of LDP
      to human breast carcinoma MCF-7 cells. As a result, tissue microarray showed that
      LDP staining of 73.2% (30/41) of breast cancer tissues was positive, whereas that
      of 48.3% (15/31) of the adjacent normal breast specimens was positive. The
      difference between the tumor and normal samples was significant (Chi2 = 4.63, P <
      0.05). LDP immunoreactivity in breast cancer correlated significantly with the
      overexpression of VEGF and HER2 (P < 0.001 and < 0.01, r = 0.389 and 0.287,
      respectively). Determined with confocal immunofluorescent analysis, LDP showed
      the binding capability to mammary carcinoma MCF-7 cells. It is demonstrated that
      LDP can bind to human breast cancer tissues and there is significant difference
      between the breast cancer tissues and the corresponding normal tissues. Notably,
      the binding reactivity shows positive correlation with the expression of VEGF and
      HER2 in breast carcinoma tissues. The results imply that LDP may have a potential
      use as targeting drug carrier in the research and development of new anticancer
      therapeutics. This study may provide reference for drug combination of LDM and
      other therapeutic agents.

PMID- 20931760
TI  - [Characteristics of boningmycin induced cellular senescence of human tumor
      cells].
AB  - Cellular senescence is one of the important steps against tumor. This study was
      to observe the characteristics of boningmycin induced senescence of human tumor
      cells. MIT method and clone formation assay were used to detect the growth
      inhibitory effect. Cellular senescence was detected with senescence-associated
      beta-galactosidase staining. Cell cycle distribution and accumulation of
      intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) were analyzed with flow cytometry.
      Protein expression was detected by Western blotting. The results showed that the
      growth-inhibitory effect of boningmycin was obviously stronger on human oral
      epithelial carcinoma KB cells than that on non-small cell lung cancer A549 cells.
      Comparison to the similar action of doxorubicin, that boningmycin induced the
      features of cellular senescence in both cell lines, its due to the arrest at G2/M
      phase and an increase of ROS level. The molecular senescence marker P21 increased
      significantly after boningmycin treatment at a dosage of 0.1 micromol x L(-1),
      whereas a higher concentration of it induced apoptosis. The results indicated
      that cellular senescence induced by boningmycin was one of its mechanisms in
      tumor suppression.

PMID- 20931761
TI  - [vWF improves secretion and activity of intein spliced BDD-FVIII].
AB  - As synthesized by vascular endothelial cells and megakaryocytes, the von
      Willebrand factor (vWF) plays an important hemostatic role in the binding to and
      stabilizing blood coagulation factor VIII (FVIII) and preventing its enzymatic
      degradation. Our recent work demonstrated intein can efficiently ligate BDD-FVIII
      (B-domaim deleted FVIII) posttranslationally by protein trans-splicing after
      transfer of split BDD-FVIII gene by a dual-vector system. In this study we
      investigated the effect of vWF on secretion and activity of intein-ligated BDD
      FVIII. We observed the levels of full-length BDD-FVIII antigen secreted into
      culture supernatant by ELISA and their activity by Coatest assay after
      transfection of cultured 293 cells with intein-fused BDD-FVIII heavy- and light
      chain genes simultaneously with the vWF gene co-transfected. The data showed that
      the amount of full-length BDD-FVIII protein and their bioactivity in vWF gene co
      transfected cell supernatant were 235 +/- 21 ng x mL(-1) and 1.98 +/- 0.2 u x mL(
      1), respectively, greater than that of non-vWF co-transfected cell (110 +/- 18)
      ng x mL(-1) and 1.10 +/- 0.15 u x nL(-1)) or just BDD-FVIII gene transfected
      control cell (131 +/- 25 ng x mL(-1) and 1.22 +/- 0.18 u x mL(-1)) indicating the
      benefit of vWF gene co-transfection in the secretion and activity of intein
      spliced BDD-FVIII protein. It provided evidence that vWF gene co-transfer may be
      useful to improve efficacy of gene therapy for hemophilia A in protein splicing
      based split FVIII gene transfer.

PMID- 20931762
TI  - [Three different drug interaction mathematical models used to evaluate the
      cytotoxicity of SAHA and arsenic trioxide in combination].
AB  - To clarify the source of deviations of drug combination effects evaluated with
      different drug interaction mathematical models, the cytotoxicity of SAHA and
      arsenic trioxide and their combinations were observed in a series of human cancer
      cell lines and a normal cell line. The combined effects were evaluated with three
      drug interaction models: Loewe Additivity (LA), Bliss Independence (BI) and
      Chou's Median Effect Model. The evaluations with three different models were
      further compared with each other. We demonstrated that when dose-response curves
      were fitted with the same method, similar evaluated results for drug combinations
      would be derived with different models. The deviations of evaluated effects of
      drug combinations were attributed to different curve fitting methods used rather
      than the models themselves. The effects of drug combinations showed discrepancies
      on different cell lines, and at different combined drug concentrations on same
      cell line.

PMID- 20931763
TI  - [The characterization on the site of vindoline binding to human serum albumin].
AB  - In this paper, the fluorogenic property of vindoline was exploited and, as a
      probe, used to analyze the interaction of vindoline with HSA by fluorescence and
      absorption spectra in combination with molecular modeling under a simulated
      physiological conditions. The evidences from synchronous fluorescence and
      absorption spectroscopes showed the effect of vindoline on the microenvironment
      around HSA in aqueous solution. Data obtained by the fluorescence spectroscopy
      indicated that binding of vindoline with HSA leads to dramatic enhancement of the
      fluorescence emission intensity. The binding constants and the number of binding
      sites between vindoline and HSA at different temperatures (303, 310 and 317 K)
      were calculated according to the data obtained from fluorescence titration.
      Molecular docking was performed to reveal the possible binding mode or mechanism
      and suggested that vindoline can bind strongly to HSA. It is considered that
      vindoline binds to HSA mainly by a hydrophobic interaction and there are four
      hydrogen bonds interactions between the drug and the residues Ala291, Arg222,
      Arg218 and Lys195, separately. Fluorescent displacement measurements confirmed
      that vindoline bind HSA on site II. The thermodynamic parameters obtained (the
      enthalpy change deltaH0 and the entropy change deltaS0 were calculated to be 
      10.30 kJ x mol(-1) and 79.98 J x mol(-1) x K(-1), respectively, according to the
      Van't Hoff equation) suggested that hydrophobic and electrostatic interaction is
      the predominant intermolecular forces stabilizing the complex.

PMID- 20931764
TI  - QSAR, docking studies and pharmacophore identification of phenylmethyl phenoxy
      propyl amino propanoic acid derivatives as leukotriene A4 hydrolase inhibitors.
AB  - The enzyme leukotriene A4 (LTA4) plays an important role as precursor of slow
      reactive substances as LTC4, LTD4, and LTE4. It is an attractive target for
      molecular modeling and QSAR study. Our effort is mainly focused on exploring the
      SAR for inhibitors of the LTA4 hydrolase through docking study, pharmacophore
      modeling and molecular descriptor study. The binding of these small molecules on
      LTA4 hydrolase enzyme was described by the models developed on 2D molecular
      descriptors, with good predictive power (39 compounds, 6 descriptors, r2 0.98,
      SEE 0.167, F-value 268.53, q2 0.90, r2 adj 0.97, P-value < 0.0001, SD of
      residuals 0.15). Docking studies were employed to presume the probable binding
      conformation of these analogues and exploring the SAR for the compounds. The
      novel pharmacophore represents the ligand features that are involved in
      interactions with the target protein, as well as the space around the ligand
      occupied by the protein. The efforts are aimed to discover the SAR for the
      inhibitors of LTA4 hydrolase through techniques of QSAR, docking and
      pharmacophore.

PMID- 20931765
TI  - Sulfur-containing amides from Entada phaseoloides.
AB  - To study the chemical constituents of the Entada phaseoloides (L.) Merr., seeds
      of Entada phaseoloides were extracted with 70% ethanol at room temperature.
      Isolation and purification were performed by silica gel, reversed-phase silica
      gel column chromatography and semi-preparative HPLC. Structures of the pure
      compounds were established on the basis of spectral analysis. Four sulfur
      containing amide compounds were isolated from the n-BuOH-soluble fraction and
      identified as entadamide A-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-(1-->3)-beta-D-glucopyranoside
      (1), entadamide A (2), entadamide A-beta-D-glucopyranoside (3) and clinacoside C
      (4). Compound 1 is a new compound. Compound 4 is isolated from the genus Entada
      for the first time.

PMID- 20931766
TI  - [LC-MSn analysis of metabolites of 1,2-[bis (1,2-benzisoselenazolone-3(2H)
      ketone)]-ethane, a novel anti-cancer agent in rat].
AB  - This study is to elucidate the metabolic pathway of 1,2-[bis (1,2
      benzisoselenazolone-3 (2H)-ketone)]-ethane (BBSKE) in rats. Rats were
      administrated with a single dose of BBSKE 200 mg x kg(-1). The metabolites in rat
      urine, feces, bile and plasma were identified by LC-MSn analysis. The
      characterization of fragment ions from LC-MSn chromatography and mass
      spectrometry was applied to the investigation of structures of metabolites. Three
      phase I metabolites were detected in rat urine and feces. Two of them were also
      found in plasma and one existed in bile. These products were derived from
      oxidized, methylated and S-methylated BBSKE, separately. One phase II glucuronide
      of BBSKE was also found in bile. Therefore, it is possible that BBSKE was
      metabolized by oxidization, methylation and glucuronidation.

PMID- 20931767
TI  - [Internal standard method to determine the recovery of nicotine in
      microdialysis].
AB  - The paper reports the evaluation of the feasibility of using internal standard
      method for the determination of nicotine recovery in microdialysis in vitro. This
      in vitro experiment included two conditions. Nicotine and codeine phosphate were
      dissolved in Ringer's solution. Nicotine, codeine phosphate and the mixture of
      them were perfused through the CMA30 linear probe separately to calculate the
      proportion of the recovery (or delivery) of nicotine to that of codeine
      phosphate. And then codeine was perfused through the probe which was immersed in
      nicotine solution with different concentrations to calculate the proportion, too.
      In another condition nicotine was dissolved in rat plasma. The rat plasma protein
      binding rate was determined by using retrodialysis and internal standard method
      in vitro. The results are as follows: the proportion of the recovery (or
      delivery) of nicotine to that of codeine phosphate was fairly stable. The
      delivery of codeine was independent of nicotine concentration in the external
      medium. Protein binding rate determined by retrodialysis was almost the same as
      that determined by internal standard method. It suggests that the internal
      standard method is an effective way in the determination of nicotine recovery and
      codeine phosphate can be used as the internal standard.

PMID- 20931768
TI  - [Pharmacokinetics of ginsenosides Rg1 and its metabolites in rats].
AB  - To study the pharmacokinetics of ginsenosides Rg1 and its metabolites after iv
      and oral administration in Wistar rats, the LC-MS/MS method was selected to
      determine ginsenosides Rg1 and its metabolites in plasma and their
      pharmacokinetic parameters were calculated. After oral administration of
      ginsenosides Rg1 to rats, ginsenosides Rg1, Rh1, F1 and protopanaxatriol (Ppt)
      could be detected in plasma. Their Tmax were 0.92, 3.64, 5.17, and 7.30 h,
      respectively; MRT were 2.68, 5.06, 6.65, and 5.33 h, respectively; AUC(o-t), were
      2 363.5, 4 185.5, 3 774.3, and 396.2 ng x mL(-1) x h, respectively. After iv
      administration of ginsenosides Rg1 to rats, ginsenosides Rg1, Rh1 and FI could be
      detected in plasma. Their T1/2betaS were 3.12, 5.87, and 6.87 h, respectively;
      MRTs were 1.92, 5.99, and 7.13 h, respectively; AUCo-tS were 1 454.7, 597.5, and
      805.6 ng x mL(-1) x h, respectively. So, it can be concluded that after oral
      administration, the amounts of metabolites were higher than the prototype in
      vivo, and the distribution and elimination of the metabolites were relatively
      slow. After iv administration, the amount of prototype were higher than that of
      the metabolites in vivo, and the distribution and elimination of the metabolites
      were relatively slow.

PMID- 20931769
TI  - [Identification of main related substances in potassium sodium
      dehydroandrographolide succinate].
AB  - To identify the structure of three related substances in potassium sodium
      dehydroandrographolide succinate (PSDS), an HPLC preparation method was used to
      separate the impurities. These main impurities were identified using LC
      ESI/TOFMS, LC-ESI/MSn, NMR, UV and IR. One of the main impurities was a
      hydrolyzed and oxidized product of PSDS, which has not been reported previouely.
      The other two impurities were hydrolyzed products of PSDS after losing different
      succinic acids. The results indicate that PSDS can be easily hydrolyzed and
      oxidized. It should be stored at cool and dry places.

PMID- 20931770
TI  - Using extended Wilson model to study the relationship between critical relative
      humidity and solubility of electrolytes.
AB  - Based on thermodynamic principle, the critical relative humidity of electrolytes
      is closely related to their solubility. The authors explored the relationship
      theoretically and calculated critical relative humidity of 21 electrolytes from
      their solubility in the light of Raoult's law and extended Wilson model. The
      results indicate that the critical relative humidity values calculated by
      Raoult's law can not accord with the reported ones and there is a systematic
      error in the high concentration range; while these calculated by extended Wilson
      model are comparable to the reported ones.

PMID- 20931771
TI  - [Intestinal absorption of the effective components of Schisandra chinensis Baill
      by rats single-pass perfusion in situ].
AB  - The aim of the study is to investigate rat intestinal absorption behavior of
      three main active components, schisandrol A, schisandrin A and schisandrin B in
      Schisandra chinensis Baill extracts in intestine of rats. With phenol red as the
      indicator, in situ single pass intestinal perfusion (SPIP) model was used and the
      concentrations of three main active components in perfusion solution of different
      intestinal segments (duodenum, jejunum, ileum, and colon) were determined by HPLC
      in combination with diode array detection. The results showed that the absorption
      rate constant (Ka) and effective permeability values (Peff) of three main active
      components in Schisandra chinensis Baill extracts had significant difference (P <
      0.05) at different concentrations of perfusion solution, the Ka and Peff first
      increased and then decreased with the increase of drug concentration, the middle
      concentration was higher than those of the other two concentrations. The saturate
      absorption phenomena were observed, and it suggested that the transport
      mechanisms of three main active components in vivo were similar to active
      transport or facilitated diffusion. Three active components can be well absorbed
      in all of the intestinal segments, while duodenum is the best absorption region.
      The Ka and Peff of three active components in jejunum and ileum had no
      significant difference (P > 0.05). The absorption of the three active components
      displayed significant difference (P < 0.05) at different intestinal segments of
      rats. Schisandrin A had the best absorption in duodenum. The Ka and Peff among
      three active components were sequenced as follows: schisandrin A > schisandrin B
      > schisandrol A in other intestinal segments, and there is significant difference
      (P < 0.05) between them.

PMID- 20931772
TI  - [Gene transfer system mediated by PEI-cholesterol lipopolymer with lipid
      microbubbles].
AB  - The properties of polyethyleneimine-cholesterol cationic lipopolymer (PEI-Chol)
      as gene carries and its gene transfer efficiency in vitro with lipid microbubbles
      were presented in this paper. PEI-Chol lipopolymer was synthesized by linking
      cholesterol chloroformate to the amino groups of branched poly(ethyleneimine)
      (PEI) of 1 800. The structure and molecular weight of PEI-Chol were confirmed by
      IR, 1H NMR and MADI-TOF-MS (matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of
      flight tandem mass spectrometry), respectively. The average molecular weight of
      PEI-Chol was approximately 2 000. The gene delivery system of bubble/PEI-Chol/DNA
      was constructed by mixed PEI-Chol/pDNA (N/P 10:1) complexes with lipid
      microbubbles (2-8 microm) which were prepared by DPPC, DSPE-PEG2000 and
      perfluoropropane with the reverse phase evaporation technique. pEGFP-Cl (enhanced
      green fluorescent protein) was used as report gene to investigate the DNA
      condensing ability of PEI-Chol lipopolymer by agarose gel electrophoresis. And
      their cytotoxicity and in vitro transfer efficiency of different complexes were
      compared with each other in A549 and MCF-7. The results indicated PEI-Chol
      lipopolymer can condense plasmid DNA when N/P ratio upto 4, PEI-Chol complexes
      and bubble/PEI-Chol/DNA complexes were nontoxic to A549 and MCF-7 when formulated
      at the N/P ratio of 10/1 as determined by MTT assay. This bubble/PEI-Chol/DNA
      delivery system provided good transfer efficiency with other desirable
      characteristics such as against-precipitation of plasma proteins. In conclusion,
      bubble/PEI-Chol/DNA complex is a novel non-viral gene delivery system.

PMID- 20931773
TI  - [Development of microsatellites of Dendrobium officinale and its application in
      purity identification of germplasm].
AB  - Simple sequence repeat (SSR) was used to investigate the genetic diversity and
      structure of Dendrobium officinale. A total of 15 primer pairs with stable and
      repeatable polymorphism were screened out from 60 SSR primer pairs developed by
      the method of microsatellite enrichment by magnetic beads. Forty-eight samples of
      Dendrobium officinale were analyzed in genetic polymorphism. These loci were
      polymorphic and displayed 3 to 9 alleles per locus with a mean number of 6.1. The
      observed and expected heterozygosities ranged from 0.60 to 0.85 and from 0.49 to
      0.85 respectively. The polymorphic information content (PIC) of each SSR locus
      varied from 0.437 to 0.829 with an average of 0.702. Fifteen primer pairs were
      used in Dendrobium cross-species amplification and totally 13 primer pairs were
      proved to have the transferability in D. officinale related species. In addition,
      500 tissue culture plantlets of D. officinale were tested for purity
      identification by means of PCR amplification with four SSR primer pairs. The
      results showed that SSR technique is a feasible, simple and inexpensive method
      for determining adulterants in germplasm identification.

PMID- 20931774
TI  - [A quantitation method for andrographolide and dehydroandrographolide by X-ray
      powder diffraction Fourier fingerprint pattern technique].
AB  - The powder X-ray diffraction Fourier fingerprint pattern technique was used to
      develop a new quantitation method for the analysis of andrographolide and
      dehydroandrographolide. And the high performance liquid chromatography method was
      used to evaluate the quantity of andrographolide and dehydroandrographolide. The
      relationship of diffraction peak intensity and content of andrographolide and
      dehydroandrographolide was investigated. The powder X-ray diffraction Fourier
      fingerprint pattern analysis technique can be used to evaluate the quantity of
      andrographolide and dehydroandrographolide in the herb simultaneously.

PMID- 20931775
TI  - [Strategies of the study on herb genome program].
AB  - Herb Genome Program (HerbGP) includes a series of projects on whole genome
      sequencing (WGS) and post-genomics research of medicinal plants with unique
      secondary metabolism pathways or/and those of great medical and pharmaceutical
      importance. In this paper, we systematically discussed the strategy of HerbGP,
      from species selection, whole-genome sequencing, assembly and bioinformatics
      analysis, to postgenomics research. HerbGP will push study on Chinese traditional
      medicines into the front field of life science, by selecting a series of plants
      with unique secondary metabolism pathways as models and introducing "omics"
      methods into the research of these medicinal plants. HerbGP will provide great
      opportunities for China to be the leader in the basic research field of
      traditional Chinese medicine. HerbGP shall also have significant impacts on the
      R&D of natural medicines and the development of medicinal farming by analysis of
      secondary metabolic pathways and selection of cultivars with good agricultural
      traits.

PMID- 20931776
TI  - [Progress in the study of heat shock protein 90 inhibitors].
AB  - Heat shock protein 90 is a new target of antitumor drug, the inhibitor of Hsp90
      fight against tumor by destroy and degrade the structure of protein. In recent
      years, looking for Hsp90 inhibitor is not only via structure modifying of natural
      products, but also via high throughput screening and computer aided drug design
      to find and synthesize new kinds of Hsp90 inhibitor. Anyway, Hsp90 inhibitor has
      considered as an important biology target and to pay more and more attention.
      This review describes recent developments of small molecule Hsp90 inhibitors.

PMID- 20931777
TI  - [Advances in the study of Candida albicans gene mutation on azole drug
      resistance].
AB  - Gene mutation of Candida albicans is one of the main causes for azole drug
      resistance. Different types of variation play different roles in promoting the
      process of drug resistance. ERG series of gene mutations primarily affect the
      ergosterol synthesis pathway. When the regulatory factors TAC1 for CDR1 gene and
      Mrr1 for MDR1 gene generate mutations, the expression level of drug efflux pump
      protein in Candida albicans may be changed. In addition, gene copy number
      variation is also gaining attention. Therefore, the research of mutation
      resistance-associated genes has a positive meaning to explore the mechanism of
      drug resistance in Candida albicans.

PMID- 20931778
TI  - [Mechanisms and strategies for targeting drugs to myocardial ischemic regions].
AB  - The ischemic heart disease has been endangering human health seriously. Although
      there are many kinds of anti-ischemic drugs, most of them are lacking in tissue
      specificity, which together with a remarkably reduced blood circulation in the
      ischemic zone often lead to a quite low drug distribution in the targets.
      Myocardial ischemia can cause a lot of pathophysiological changes, such as the
      enhanced permeability of the endothelial cell membrane, the up-regulated
      expression of various cell adhesion molecules on endothelium, the exposure of
      intracellular antigenic components, the decrease of pH within the ischemic zone,
      and so on. To date, some of these changes have been exploited with limited
      success to gain the passive, active and physicochemical targeting of diagnostic
      or therapeutic drugs to myocardial ischemic regions. However, more effective
      delivery strategies are still eagerly needed. Here, we reviewed and discussed the
      potential targeting-delivery mechanisms and strategies, used or may be used in
      the future, for myocardial ischemic regions.

PMID- 20931779
TI  - [Effects of alcohol exposure during pregnancy on dendritic spine and synapse of
      visual cortex in filial mice].
AB  - The prenatal ethanol exposure induced the alterations of dendritic spine and
      synapse in visual cortex and their long-term effect would be investigated in mice
      from P0 to P30. Pregnant mice were intubated ethanol daily from E5 through the
      pup's birth to establish mode of prenatal alcohol abuse. The dendritic spines of
      pyramidal cells in visual cortex of pups were labeled with DiI diolistic assay,
      and the synaptic ultrastructure was observed under transmission electron
      microscope. Prenatal alcohol exposure was associated with a significant decrease
      in the number of dendritic spines of pyramidal neurons in the visual cortex and
      an increase in their mean length; ultrastructural changes were also observed,
      with decreased numbers of synaptic vesicles, narrowing of the synaptic cleft and
      thickening of the postsynaptic density compared to controls. Prenatal alcohol
      exposure is associated with long-term changes in dendritic spines and synaptic
      ultrastructure. The changes were dose-dependent with long term effect even at
      postnatal 30.

PMID- 20931780
TI  - Protective effect of edaravone against renal ischemia/reperfusion injury and
      compared with ischemic postconditioning in rats.
AB  - The aim of this study is to clarify whether edaravone postconditioning had
      protective effect against renal ischemia/reperfusion injury and to compare the
      protective effect between ischemic postconditioning and edaravone
      postconditioning. Rats were subjected to 45 min ischemia followed by 24 h
      reperfusion. The rats were randomly assigned to seven groups: a sham-operated
      control group, an ischemia/reperfusion group, an ischemic postconditioning group,
      a normal saline vehicle postconditioning group and an edaravone postconditioning
      (1, 3, and 6 mg x kg(-1)) group. Renal function was assessed by serum creatinine
      and BUN concentration, while histological damage of renal tissue was assessed
      with HE staining. MDA content and SOD activity of renal tissue were determined.
      TUNEL staining was performed to analyze the apoptosis of the tubular epithelial
      cells, the protein level of Bcl-2 and Bax in renal tissue was examined by Western
      blotting. Compared to the ischemia/reperfusion group, edaravone postconditioning
      significantly decreased serum creatinine and BUN concentration, and ameliorated
      histological damage of renal tissue. MDA was less after 24 h reperfusion in the
      edaravone postconditioning group than that in the ischemia/reperfusion group,
      consistent with an increase in SOD activity. In addition, edaravone
      postconditioning decreased TUNEL-positive cells and Bax expression, and increased
      Bcl-2 expression. Results detected in the edaravone postconditioning group showed
      no significant difference from the ischemic postconditioning group. Edaravone
      administered during the last 3 min of ischemia, prior to reperfusion induces a
      pharmacological postconditioning in vivo against renal ischemia/reperfusion
      injury in rats. This protection is similar to that observed with ischemic
      postconditioning.

PMID- 20931781
TI  - [Effect of ketamine on transient outward potassium current of isolated human
      atrial myocytes].
AB  - The effects of ketamine on transient outward potassium current (I(to)) of
      isolated human atrial myocytes were investigated to understand the mechanism of
      part of its effects by whole-cell patch-clamp. Atrial myocytes were enzymatically
      isolated from specimens of human atrial appendage obtained from patients under
      going cardiac valve displacing. Ito is recorded in voltage-clamp modes using the
      patch-clamp technique at room temperature. Currents signals were recorded by an
      Axopatch 200B amplifier with the Digidata 1322A-pClamp 9.0 data acquisition
      system. Ketamine decreased I(to) of human atrial myocytes in a dose-dependent
      manner. The current-voltage curve was significantly lowered, 30, 100, 300, and
      1000 micromol x L(-1) ketamine decreased respectively I(to) current density about
      (13.62 +/- 0.04)%, (38.92 +/- 0.05)%, (72.24 +/- 0.10)% and (83.84 +/- 0.05)% at
      the potential of 50 mV, with an IC50 of 121 micromol x L(-1). The I(to)
      activation curve, inactivation curve and the recovery curve were not altered by
      ketamine. So, ketamine concentration-dependently decreased I(to) of human atrial
      myocytes.

PMID- 20931782
TI  - [Involvement of Wnt/beta-catenin signaling in tripchlorolide protecting against
      oligomeric beta-amyloid-(1-42)-induced neuronal apoptosis].
AB  - This study is to explore whether the Wnt/beta-catenin signaling pathway is
      involved in the process of tripchlorolide (T4) protecting against oligomeric
      Abeta(1-42)-induced neuronal apoptosis. Primary cultured cortical neurons were
      used for the experiments on day 6 or 7. The oligomeric Abeta(1-42) (5 micromol x
      L(-1) for 24 h) was applied to induce neuronal apoptosis. Prior to treatment with
      Abeta(1-42) for 24 h, the cultured neurons were pre-incubated with T4 (2.5, 10,
      and 40 nmol x L(-1)), Wnt3a (Wnt signaling agonists) and Dkk1 (inhibitors) for
      indicated time. Then the cell viability, neuronal apoptosis, and protein levels
      of Wnt, glycogen synthase kinase 3beta (GSK3beta), beta-catenin and phospho-beta
      catenin were measured by MTT assay, TUNEL staining and Western blotting,
      respectively. The result demonstrated that oligomeric Abeta(1-42) induced
      apoptotic neuronal cell death in a time- and dose-dependent manner. Pretreatment
      with T4 significantly increased the neuronal cell survival and attenuated
      neuronal apoptosis. Moreover, oligomeric Abeta(1-42)-induced phosphorylation of
      beta-catenin and GSK3beta was markedly inhibited by T4. Additionally, T4
      stabilized cytoplasmic beta-catenin. These results indicate that tripchlorolide
      protects against the neurotoxicity of Abeta by regulating Wnt/beta-catenin
      signaling pathway. This may provide insight into the clinical application of
      tripchlorolide to Alzheimer's disease.

PMID- 20931783
TI  - Synthesis and in vitro antibacterial activity of 7-(4-alkoxyimino-3-methyl-3
      methylaminopiperidin-1-yl)quinolones.
AB  - To explore new agents of quinolone derivatives with high antibacterial activity,
      7-(4-alkoxyimino-3-methyl-3-methylaminopiperidin-1-yl)quinolones were designed
      and synthesized, and their activity against gram-positive and gram-negative
      strains was tested in vitro. Sixteen target compounds were obtained. Their
      structures were established by 1H NMR, HRMS and X-ray crystallographic analysis.
      Compounds 14k and 14m-14o show good antibacterial activity against the tested
      five gram-positive strains and five gram-negative strains (MIC: 0.25-16 micromg x
      mL(-1)), of which the most active compound 14o is 8-fold more potent than
      levofloxacin against S. pneumoniae (MIC: 4 microg x mL(-1)), and comparable to
      levofloxacin against S. aureus, S. epidermidis, E. faecalis and E. coli (MIC:
      0.25-1 microg x mL(-1)), but generally less potent than gemifloxacin.

PMID- 20931784
TI  - [Design, synthesis and antidepressive activity of duloxetine derivatives].
AB  - In this paper, duloxetine was chosen as the lead compound. The pharmacophores
      with 5-HT(1A) antagonism activity were used to replace the naphthyl of
      duloxetine. A series of duloxetine derivatives had been designed and synthesized
      and whose structures were confirmed with elemental analysis, MS and H NMR. All
      synthesized compounds were tested by tail suspension test and forced swimming
      test in vivo. The test results revealed that most of the compounds have shown
      better activity than duloxetine at the same dosage. Some of them are worth to be
      studied further.

PMID- 20931785
TI  - [Two new phenolic acids from Drynariae rhizoma].
AB  - To study the chemical constituents of Drynariae Rhizoma, nine phenolic acids were
      isolated from a 70% ethanol extract by using a combination of various
      chromatographic techniques including column chromatography over silica gel, ODS,
      Sephadex LH-20, and semi-preparative HPLC. By spectroscopic techniques including
      1H NMR, 13C NMR, 2D NMR, and HR-ESI-MS, these compounds were identified as 4, 4'
      dihydroxy-3, 3'-imino-di-benzoic acid (1), protocatechuic acid (2), gallic acid
      (3), p-hydroxybenzoic acid (4), (E)-caffeic acid (5), ethyl trans-3, 4
      dihydroxycinnamate (6), caffeic acid 4-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside (7), p-coumaric
      acid 4-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside (8), and 23(S)-12-O-caffeoyl-12-hydroxyllauric
      acid glycerol ester (9), separately. Among them, 1 and 9 are new compounds, and
      3, 4, and 6 were isolated from Drynaria species for the first time.

PMID- 20931786
TI  - A new phenylpropanoid glycoside from Cirsium setosum.
AB  - To study the chemical constituents of Cirsium setosum (Willd.) MB., 70% ethanol
      extract of the aerial parts was subjected to column chromatography. One new
      phenylpropanoid glycoside, sinapyl alcohol 9-O-(E)-p-coumaroyl-4-O-beta-D
      glucopyanoside (1) was isolated, along with three known compounds: lycoperodine-1
      (2), apigenin-7-O-(6"-(E)-p-coumaroyl)-beta-D-galactopyranoside (3) and quercetin
      (4). The structures were elucidated on the basis of spectral and chemical
      evidence. Compound 2 was obtained from Cirsium genus for the first time,
      compounds 3 and 4 were obtained from this plant for the first time.

PMID- 20931787
TI  - [Application of Fourier amplitude sensitivity test in Chinese healthy volunteer
      population pharmacokinetic model of tacrolimus].
AB  - In this study, we evaluated the influence of different variance from each of the
      parameters on the output of tacrolimus population pharmacokinetic (PopPK) model
      in Chinese healthy volunteers, using Fourier amplitude sensitivity test (FAST).
      Besides, we estimated the index of sensitivity within whole course of blood
      sampling, designed different sampling times, and evaluated the quality of
      parameters' and the efficiency of prediction. It was observed that besides CL1/F,
      the index of sensitivity for all of the other four parameters (V1/F, V2/F, CL2/F
      and k(a)) in tacrolimus PopPK model showed relatively high level and changed fast
      with the time passing. With the increase of the variance of k(a), its indices of
      sensitivity increased obviously, associated with significant decrease in
      sensitivity index for the other parameters, and obvious change in peak time as
      well. According to the simulation of NONMEM and the comparison among different
      fitting results, we found that the sampling time points designed according to
      FAST surpassed the other time points. It suggests that FAST can access the
      sensitivities of model parameters effectively, and assist the design of clinical
      sampling times and the construction of PopPK model.

PMID- 20931788
TI  - [Simultaneous determination of peimine and peiminine in rat plasma by LC-MS/MS
      and its application in the pharmacokinetic study].
AB  - To establish an LC-MS/MS method for simultaneous determination of peimine and
      peiminine in rat plasma after oral and intravenous administration of Fritillaria
      thunbergii Miq. extract, the pharmacokinetic parameters were calculated as well.
      Peimine, peiminine and internal standard carbamazepine were extracted from plasma
      with liquid-liquid extraction by ethyl acetate, then separated on a Luna C18
      column by using acetonitrile-water containing 10 mmol x L(-1) ammonium formate
      (35:65), as mobile phase. The electrospray ionization (ESI) source was applied
      and operated in positive ion mode. Peimine was detected at m/z 432.4 --> 414.4,
      peiminine at m/z 430.4 --> 412.4 and carbamazepine (IS) at 237.1 --> 194.2. The
      linear calibration curves were obtained at the concentration range of 0.8-800 ng
      x mL(-1) for peimine and peiminine. The extraction recoveries were 94.1%-105.3%
      and 85.8%-98.6%, respectively. The precisions, accuracy and stability of the
      analytes meet the requirements. The method was shown to be effective, convenient,
      and suitable for simultaneous pharmacokinetic study of peimine and peiminine in
      rat.

PMID- 20931789
TI  - [Multidimensional spatial triangular area as an index for the evaluation of the
      release-absorption correlation of multiple component traditional Chinese
      medicines].
AB  - The paper is aimed to provide a novel index, named as multidimensional spatial
      triangular area, for the evaluation of the release-absorption correlation of
      multiple component traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs). The applicability of the
      method was demonstrated by the example data. The method and standard practice for
      evaluation of the release-absorption correlation for western medicines with
      single compound could not be applied to TCMs with multiple components. The
      release percentage or absorption percentage of the multiple components for TCMs
      at the sampling time was a point in the multidimensional space. The area of the
      triangle formed byt the sequential three points represented the changing
      characteristics of the components' release and absorption kinetics. The side
      lengths of the triangle could be calculated from the spatial distances between
      each two of the sequential three points. Then the triangle area could be obtained
      by the side lengths. The in vitro release-in vivo absorption correlation of the
      multiple components could be represented by the correlation between the
      integrating values of the release triangle areas and that of the absorption
      triangle areas. The results of the examples indicated that the multidimensional
      spatial triangular area method could treat the multiple components in a holistic
      way, in line with the holism the hi he TCMs. Therefore, the multidimensional
      spatial triangular area method provided new methodology for the release
      absorption correlation of the TCMs with multiple components.

PMID- 20931790
TI  - Disposition and tissue distribution of imatinib in a liposome formulation after
      intravenous bolus dose to mice.
AB  - Imatinib is an efficacious anticancer drug with a spectrum of potential
      antitumour applications limited by poor biodistribution at therapeutic
      concentrations to the tissues of interest. We assess the pharmacokinetic and
      tissue distribution profile of imatinib in a liposome formulation. Its single
      dose (6.25 mg x kg(-1)) in a liposome formulation was administered iv to male
      mice. Imatinib concentration was measured in plasma, spleen, liver, kidney and
      brain using a HPLC assay. Non-compartmental pharmacokinetic approach was used to
      assess the disposition parameters. The plasma disposition profile was biphasic
      with a plateau-like second phase. The AUC(0-->infinity) was 11.24 microg x h x
      mL(-1), the elimination rate constant (k(el)) was 0.348 h(-1) and the elimination
      half life (t(1/2)) was 2.0 h. The mean residence time (MRT) was 2.59 h, V(SS) was
      1.44 L x kg(-1) and clearance was 0.56 L x h x kg(-1). Liver achieved the highest
      tissue exposure: CMAX = 18.72 microg x mL(-1); AUC(0-->infinity)= 58.18 microg x
      h x mL(-1) and longest t(1/2) (4.29 h) and MRT (5.31 h). Kidney and spleen AUC(0-
      >infinity) were 47.98 microg x h x mL(-1) and 23.46 microg x h x mL(-1),
      respectively. Half-life was 1.83 h for the kidney and 3.37 h for the spleen.
      Imatinib penetrated into the brain reaching approximately 1 microg x g(-1). Upon
      correction by organ blood flow the spleen showed the largest uptake efficiency.
      Liposomal imatinib presented extensive biodistribution. The drug uptake kinetics
      showed mechanism differences amongst the tissues. These findings encourage the
      development of novel imatinib formulations to treat other cancers.

PMID- 20931791
TI  - [Kinetic study on dissociation of amylose/salicylic acid compound using non
      isothermal method].
AB  - The inclusion compound of amylose and salicylic acid (SA) was prepared by a
      sealed temperature control method, and the formation of the inclusion compound
      was confirmed by IR spectrum and powder X-ray diffraction. The kinetic parameters
      of dissociation of amylose/SA compound were studied by the nonisothermal method
      which was defined as a relationship between the dissociation ratio and time. The
      values of activation energy (Ea) and frequency factors (InA) were calculated by a
      nonlinear least-square method. In this study, the formation of the inclusion
      compound of amylose/SA was confirmed by IR spectrum powder X-ray diffraction. SA
      existed in a molecule form in the spiral stouction of amylose. The dissociation
      of amylose/SA compound was attributed to first order reaction. The values of Ea
      calculated by the nor-isothermal method were 21.71 and 22.41 kJ x mol(-1) at
      heating rate 5 and 10 degrees C x h(-1), respectively. The corresponding
      isothermal method value of Ea was 22.17 kJ x mol(-1); the calculated InA values
      were 9.32 and 10.08 at heating rate 5 and 10 degrees C x h(-1), respectively. The
      corresponding isothermal method lnA value was 9.26. The results were in good
      agreement with Ea values and lnA values by isothermal method. These results
      indicated that the non-isothermal method described in this study could be
      adequately used for the stability study of inclusion compound and was a rapid and
      accurate method for the determination of kinetic parameters.

PMID- 20931792
TI  - [Preparation of scopolamine hydrobromide nanoparticles-in-microsphere system].
AB  - This study is to prepare scopolamine hydrobromide nanoparticles-in-microsphere
      system (SH-NiMS) and evaluate its drug release characteristics in vitro. SH
      nanoparticles were prepared by ionic crosslinking method with tripolyphosphate
      (TPP) as crosslinker and chitosan as carrier. Orthogonal design was used to
      optimize the formulation of SH nanoparticles, which took the property of
      encapsulation efficiency and drug loading as evaluation parameters. With HPMC as
      carrier, adjusted the parameters of spray drying technique and sprayed the SH
      nanoparticles in microspheres encaposulated by HPMC was formed and which is
      called nanoparticles-in-microsphere system (NiMS). SH-NiMS appearances were
      observed by SEM, structure was obsearved by FT-IR and the release characteristics
      in vitro were evaluated. The optimized formulation of SH nanoparticles was TPP/CS
      1:3 (w/w), HPMC 0.3%, SH 0.2%. The solution peristaltic speed of the spray drying
      technique was adjusted to 15%, and the temperature of inlet was 110 degrees C.
      The encapsulation product yeild, drug loading and particle sizes of SH-NiMS were
      94.2%, 20.4%, and 1256.5 nm, respectively. The appearances and the structure of
      SH-NiMS were good. The preparation method of SH-NiMS is stable and reliable to
      use, which provide a new way to develop new dosage form.

PMID- 20931793
TI  - [Synthesis of polyrotaxane-camptothecin conjugates and evaluation of its anti
      tumor effect].
AB  - To prepare polyrotaxane-camptothecin conjugates and evaluate its anti-tumor
      effect, polyrotaxane-camptothecin conjugates were successfully synthesized, and
      the release behavior was performed; MTT assay and cell morphology were used to
      examine the inhibition of cells' proliferation effect in vitro. The experimental
      study of the antitumor effect on S180 mice in vivo was also performed to further
      evaluate the anti-tumor effect of conjugate. The result showed polyrotaxane
      camptothecin conjugates can effectively inhibit the proliferation in a dose
      dependent effect. In vivo study and cell morphology observation of S180 mice
      showed significant decrease in growth of tumor, degree of tumor infiltration and
      blood vessel number. The result indicated anti-tumor mechanism may be through
      affect the angiogenesis and reduced blood supply to tumor cells and then leading
      to necrosis.

PMID- 20931794
TI  - Authentication of Curcuma species (Zingiberaceae) based on nuclear 18S rDNA and
      plastid trnK sequences.
AB  - Curcuma drugs have been used discriminatingly for invigorating blood circulation,
      promoting digestion, and as a cholagogic in China. However, there is confusion
      about the drug's botanical origins and clinical uses because of morphological
      similarity of Curcuma plants and drugs. Comparative sequencing of the 18S rRNA
      gene in nuclear ribosomal DNA (rDNA) and trnK gene in chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) was
      carried out in order to examine interspecies phylogeny and to identify ultimately
      Curcuma species. A total of a hundred of accessions of eighteen species were
      analyzed. This resulted in an aligned matrix of 1810 bp for 18S rDNA and 2 800 bp
      for trnK. 18S rDNA sequence divergence within the ingroup ranged from 0-0.05%,
      trnK ranged from 0-0.19%. One base transversion-substituted site (from cytosine
      to thymine) was observed from the upstream of 18S rDNA at nucleotide position 234
      in C. kwangsiensis and Japanese population of C. zedoaria which have separated
      genetic distance to other Curcuma taxa. Two noncoding regions embedded in trnK
      intron showed higher variability, including nucleotide substitutions, repeat
      insertion and deletions. Based on consensus of relationship, eighteen major
      lineages within Curcuma are recognized at the species level. The results suggest
      that Curcuma is monophyletic with 100% bootstrap support and sister to the genera
      Hedychium and Zingiber. The trnK sequences showed considerable variations between
      Curcuma species and thus were revealed as a promising candidate for barcoding of
      Curcuma species, which provide valuable characters for inferring relationship
      within species but are insufficient to resolve relationships among closely
      related taxa.

PMID- 20931795
TI  - In-silico study of 4-methylsulfinyl-3-butenyl isothiocyanate binding to tubulin
      induces A549 cells apoptosis.

PMID- 20931796
TI  - [Protective effect of hydroxysafflor yellow A against acute lung injury induced
      by oleic acid and lipopolysaccharide in rats].
AB  - This study is to investigate the pharmacological effect and mechanism of action
      of hydroxysafflor yellow A (HSYA) on acute lung injury (ALI). The rat ALI was
      induced by oleic acid and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) injection. The incidence of
      acidosis, PaO2 (arterial blood oxygen pressure), W/D (wet weight/dry weight) and
      lung index (LI) were measured. Electron microscope and optical microscope were
      applied to observe lung morphological changes in rat. RT-PCR was used to
      determine TNF-alpha and ICAM-1 mRNA level. Inhibition effect of HSYA on plasma
      inflammatory cytokine expression was measured by ELISA. HSYA could alleviate
      pulmonary edema, reduce acidosis, keep PaO2 from descending, inhibit inflammatory
      cell infiltration, inhibit rat lung TNF-alpha and ICAM-1 mRNA expression and
      plasma IL-6 and IL-1beta level elevation. HSYA is an effective ingredient to
      remit ALI induced by oleic acid and LPS in rat.

PMID- 20931797
TI  - [Work report of the President of the Federacion Mexicana de Ginecologia y
      Obstetricia 2007-2009].

PMID- 20931798
TI  - [Impact of office hysteroscopy in patients with a history of two or more failed
      cycles of IVF-ET and pre-ICSI in assisted an reproduction center].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Many couples fail to achieve pregnancy instead repeated FIV-TE-ICSI
      cycles. Good quality embryos for successful pregnancy rates should not be count
      apart over endometrial receptivity. OBJECTIVE: To assess the impact of office
      hysteroscopy in a group of patients with two or more previous failed cycles of
      FIV-TE-ICSI in an assisted reproduction center. MATERIAL AND METHOD:
      Retrospective case control study in patients with problems to conceive in two or
      more previous failed FIV-TE-ICSI cycles instead good quality embryos and an
      apparently normal uterine cavity. They were divided in two groups: A with no
      hysteroscopy perfomed, and 8 with hysteroscopy. Second group was divided in 81
      (without pathologic findings) and 82 (with intrauterine abnormalities).
      Demographic variables were analized, hysteroscopic findings, good quality embryos
      transferred, biochemical and clinical pregnancies and perinatal results in all
      groups. RESULTS: No significant differences were found in demographic variables
      analyzed among patient with or without office hysteroscopy. Intrauterine
      abnormalities were found in 16 (64%) patients of group 82. No significant
      statistical differences were found respect biochemical, clinical pregnancies or
      live birth new born. CONCLUSIONS: Instead previous diagnosis of an apparently
      normal uterine cavity, pathologic abnormalities were found in a significant
      number of patients. We observed an improvement in pregnancy rates in patients in
      with HC was realized previous to FIV-TE-ICSI, particularly on those were
      endometrial pathology was found and corrected, even though the study sample did
      not allowed to reach results with statistical difference.

PMID- 20931799
TI  - [Differing response to GnRH antagonists in cycles of ovarian hyperstimulation
      plus intrauterine insemination].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare two flexible protocols of GnRHant in OH plus IUI vs a
      control group without GnRHant. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Randomized controlled trial
      90 infertile patients were analyzed in 116 cycles of IUI. Cycles were randomized
      in 3 groups; group 1: started GnRHant when the leading follicle reached 14mm,
      group 2: when it reached 16mm and group 3: without GnRHant hormonal
      determinations were done during OH. Main outcomes were: premature LH raise
      incidence, premature luteinization (PL) and pregnancy rate per cycle. RESULTS:
      Premature LH rise incidence was 2.6% (3 cycles) and PL 6% (7 cycles). Group 1
      didn't present cycles with LH rise or PL, groups 2 and 3 presented LH rise in
      3.1% and 1.8% and PL in 12.5% and 5.4% respectively. Pregnancy rate with GnRHant
      was 16.4% (95% IC 8.1-28.1) vs. 7.2% (95% le 2.0-17.5%) without GnRHant (group 3)
      (p = 0.16): groups 1 and 2 represented a pregnancy rate of 20.6% (95% IC 7.9
      39.7) and 12.5% (95% IC 3.5-28.9%) respectively (p = 0.49). Mature follicles
      number reached meaning difference between all groups (p = 0.04) specially between
      groups 1 and 2 (p = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: A trend to elevate pregnancy rates was
      observed with GnRHant specially with when it was started when leading follicle
      reached 14 mm (p > 0.05). Starting GnRHant with 16 mm was not totally usefully to
      prevent PL.

PMID- 20931800
TI  - [Potential treatment of infertility with second ejaculate].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare the changes that occurs in the spermatic parameters when a
      second ejaculate is obtained in the first 60 minutes in patients with a different
      seminal quality. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Infertile patient from andrology service
      were asked to provide a second sample within 1 hours of the first. All the
      patients had poor semen characteristics in volumen, density, motility or total
      motile cells. RESULTS: The patients were divided in subgroup; hipospermia (n =
      75), oligospermic (n = 46), asthenospermic (n = 111) and teratospermic (n = 157).
      A benefic effect from a second ejaculate sample was observed in patients with
      asthenosperia, oligospermic and a total motile sperm count less than 10 million
      (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The second ejaculate must be considered as an
      alternative in some infertile patients that are looking for an spontaneous
      pregnancy or in patients that will require an assisted reproductive techniques
      and have poor seminal parameters.

PMID- 20931801
TI  - [Combined hormonal contraception in cycles artificially extended].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare the bleeding patterns, satisfaction and tolerability of 3
      different contraceptive in an extended regimens in the service of Family Planning
      of the North Central Hospital of PEMEX. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Healthy, adult
      women with desire of contraception for one year (N 120) were randomly assigned to
      receive oral contraceptive drospirenone/ethinyl E2 (group1), the
      norelgestromin/ethinyl E2 transdermal patch (group 2) and vaginal ring
      etonogestrel/ ethinyl E2 (group 3) in an extended regimen (42 consecutive days, 1
      hormone-free week). Study assessments were conducted at scheduled visits at the
      time of initial screening, at baseline after 1, 3, 6, and 12 months. Subjects
      recorded menstrual associated symptoms bleeding data and completed satisfaction
      questionnaires. Subjects and investigators provided overall assessments of the
      regimens. RESULTS: Extended use of 3 different contraceptive resulted in fewer
      bleeding days in every group (66.6%, 55% and 58.3% P 0.0024), and less mastalgia
      and menstrual pain. Subjects were highly satisfied with three regimens (93.3%,
      96.6% and 91.6% P 0.00421). Although not mayor adverse events were reported with
      this regimen, there was an increase in spotting days; it decreased with each
      successive cycle of therapy. Efficacy and safety were similar to those reported
      for traditional cycle. CONCLUSION: Extended-contraceptive regimen delays menses
      and reduces bleeding, a profile that may be preferred by women who seek
      flexibility with their contraceptive method.

PMID- 20931802
TI  - [Effect of post-abortion interpregnancy interval on obstetric and perinatal
      outcomes].
AB  - BACKGROUND: The interval between pregnancies is important because it allows the
      mother to recover after an obstetric event. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate if
      postabortion short interpregnancy intervals affect the obstetrics and perinatal
      outcome. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A cases and controls study was carried out. We
      studied 858 patients with a history of early pregnancy loss in the previous
      pregnancy, of which 286 were cases (interval postabortion < or = 6 months) and
      572 controls (interval postabortion > 6 months). Abortion, preterm birth and
      perinatal outcomes: apgar < or = 7, morbidity, mortality, and weight of newborns
      were analyzed. RESULTS: The risk of abortion was similar in both groups (14.68%
      and 13.28%, for the cases and controls respectively (OR: 1.12; IC 95%: 0.75
      1.69), and there were no differences in preterm birth (5.59% vs 8.21%; OR: 0.66;
      IC 95%: 0.37-1.19). Apgar was similar between the groups; there were not
      differences in the perinatal morbidity (RM: 0.77; IV 95%: 0.27-2.17; p = 0.8005),
      mortality (RM: 1.14; IC 95%: 0.33-3.94; p = 0.9145) and weight of the newborns
      between cases and control group. CONCLUSIONS: A short interpregnancy interval
      less than or equal to six months is not a risk factor for adverse obstetrical and
      perinatal outcome.

PMID- 20931803
TI  - [Prevalence of maternal sadness and its associated factors].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Frequently occur emotional changes during pregnancy and postpartum.
      These changes can produce feelings of sadness, anxiety, or fear. In most women,
      these feelings called "maternity blues" or "baby blues" disappear quickly, if
      they do not disappear or worsen, they are catalogued as postpartum depression.
      OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of maternity blues and the associated
      factors. MATERIAL AND METHOD: In a cross-sectional study, women at immediate
      postpartum were recruited. It was applied face-to face the Edinburgh test for
      determining maternity blues. Other registered data were: maternal age, education
      level, parity, death sons, history of depressive episodes, sleeping disorders,
      and if the pregnancy was planned or unplanned. The statistical analysis included
      arithmetic mean, percentages, Chi2, Student t test; and logistic regression
      analysis for determining the associated factors with the maternity blues. An
      alpha value was set at 0.05. RESULTS: Overall 1,134 women, 21 of them (1.8%) were
      diagnosed as maternity blues. The significant factors associated with maternity
      blues were: the history of death sons, p < 0.002; depressive episodes, p < 0.001;
      and sleeping disorders, p < 0.003. CONCLUSION: The frequency of maternity blues
      is low in our population. The associated factors with this disease should be
      identified during antenatal care in order to offer special care to these women,
      in order to avoid the complications associated with this entity.

PMID- 20931805
TI  - [Critical assessment of current therapy of threatened abortion. 1954].

PMID- 20931806
TI  - [Third revision of the National Consensus on Diagnosis and Treatment of Breast
      Cancer (first of three parts)].

PMID- 20931804
TI  - [Sonographic ovarian vascularization and volume in women with polycystic ovary
      syndrome treated with clomiphene citrate and metformin].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To measure the vascularization and ovarian volume with three
      dimensional sonography in patients diagnosed of polycystic ovary syndrome with
      stimulated ovulation treatment, and to analyse the differences between the
      patients treated with clomiphen citrate versus clomiphen citrate and metformin.
      MATERIAL AND METHOD: Therty patients were studied. Twenty ovulation cycles were
      obtained with clomiphen citrate and 17 with clomiphen citrate plus merformin
      (added in case of obesity or hyperglucemy/hyperinsulinemia). Ovarian volumes and
      vascular indexes were studied with 3D-sonography and results were analysed by
      treatment. RESULTS: There were no statistical differences of ovarian volume by
      treatment along the cycles, although bigger volume were found in ovulatory cycles
      compared to non-ovulatory ones (20,36 versus 13,89 ml, p = 0,026). No statistical
      differences were also found concerning vascular indexes, neither by treatment nor
      by the obtention of ovulation in the cycle. CONCLUSIONS: Ovarian volume and
      vascular indexes measured with three-dimensional sonography in patients diagnosed
      of polycystic ovary syndrome do not show differents values in patients treated
      with clomiphen citrate alone versus clomiphen citrate plus metformin.

PMID- 20931807
TI  - [Clinical practice guideline. Female sexual dysfunctions: intervention and
      treatment. Colegio Mexicano de Especialistas en Ginecologia y Obstetricia].

PMID- 20931809
TI  - [Ultrastructural aspects of the HIV-1 infection in human placental villi with
      zidovudine treatment].
AB  - BACKGROUND: HIV patients with normal placental villi can suffer degenerative
      changes, the hormones that maintain pregnancy (HCG and progesterone) are
      diminishing, the pH of blood and oxygen tensions lower. OBJECTIVE: To demonstrate
      ultrastructural degenerative changes in placental villi at term of pregnant women
      infected by HIV-1 with zidovudine treatment. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Four placentas
      at term from seropositive mothers were analyzed; three specimens of each one were
      processed with conventional transmission electron microscopy. The results were
      compared with four control cases. RESULTS: Particles belonging to the viral
      structure associated with the microvilli of the syncytium and cytoplasmic regions
      were found. Were observed: interruptions of syncytial plasma membrane, syncytial
      edema; loss of ribosomes at level of RER, disappearance of mitochondria, Golgi
      complex, RER, lysosomes and cytoplasmic filaments, dissolution of hyaloplasmic
      matrix, filopodiums of syncytial membrane, aggregated nuclear heterochromatin and
      dilated perinuclear cistern. Macrophagues had numerous particles into cytoplasm,
      probably pertaining to electron dense material contained in the viral
      nucleocapsid, also observed in the stromal region close to the endothelium of the
      villus. Some myofibroblasts were detected suffering a process of cellular death
      with cariorexis event. CONCLUSIONS: These changes indicate that the cytopathic
      effect spreads from peripheral syncytium to stromal zone suggesting that the
      damaged placental barrier don't have the better conditions for the transmission
      of gases, nutrients and metabolites toward fetal circulation.

PMID- 20931810
TI  - [Laparoscopic radical hysterectomy with lymphatic mapping and sentinel lymph node
      biopsy in early cervical cancer].
AB  - BACKGROUND: in patients with early-stage cervical cancer (FIGO IA, IB2 and IIA),
      the incidence of lymph node metastases is up to 15%; the majority of early
      cervical cancer patients with pelvic and para-aortic lymphadenectomy does not
      benefit with the procedure and are at risk of associated morbidity (linfocyst,
      lymphedema, vascular or nerve damage). OBJECTIVE: To describe the experience and
      usefulness of lymphatic mapping and sentinel lymph node with total laparoscopic
      radical hysterectomy in early stage cervical cancer. PATIENTS AND METHOD:
      Retrospective study in patients with diagnosis of cervical cancer in early stage,
      submitted to laparoscopic radical hysterectomy with lymphatic mapping and
      sentinel lymph node biopsy. We analyzed sentinel lymph node identification, false
      negative rate and surgical variables. RESULTS: in 36 months 15 patients were
      included, two in IA2 FIGO stage, twelve IB1 and one IIA; thirteen patients were
      mapping with combined technique and two only with dye. The sentinel lymph node
      identification rate was 87% (two failures in the patients using only blue dye);
      the false negative rate was 0%. CONCLUSION: Laparoscopic radical hysterectomy
      with lymphatic mapping is a secure technique for patients with early stage
      cervical cancer; it allows the correct identification of lymph node status as the
      principal prognostic factor. We recommend the use of combined technique
      (radiocolloid tracer and blue dye) for best rate sentinel lymph node
      identification.

PMID- 20931811
TI  - [Impact of perinatal mortality in multiple pregnancies over total perinatal
      mortality in a hospital in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon].
AB  - BACKGROUND: The incidence of multiple pregnancies has increased on the last
      decade resulting in a rise of premature and underweight newborns infants, with
      increase of the perinatal morbidity and mortality. OBJECTIVE: To determine the
      impact of perinatal mortality of multiple pregnancies in the total perinatal
      mortality. PATIENTS AND METHOD: perinatal mortality rate of multiple pregnancies
      treated in the Unidad Medica de Alta Especialidad No. 23, Monterrey, Nuevo Leon
      (Mexico) were analized, from 2002 to 2008. The prevalence of multiple
      pregnancies, the rate of premature births, the incidence of low-birth weight
      products and perinatal mortality was estimated. The difference between overall
      mortality and multiple pregnancy rate was measured by chi2. RESULTS: Of the
      144,114 births, there were 1076 (0.8%) fetal deaths and 1,617 (1.10%) neonatal
      deaths. There were 110 high-order fetal pregnancies (more than three fetuses): 92
      triplets, 14 quadruplets, 3 quintuplets and 1 sextuplet, producing a total of 353
      newborns. Multiple pregnancies represent 2.8% (59/2093) of the total perinatal
      mortality (p = 0.3). 79.9% (1674/2093) of the total perinatal mortality were
      newborns weighing less than 2500 g. In the group of multiple pregnancies, all
      perinatal deaths occurred in products weighing less than 2500 g. CONCLUSIONS: The
      perinatal mortality of multiple pregnancies does not impact significantly overall
      perinatal mortality.

PMID- 20931812
TI  - [Risk factors associated with maternal mortality in the State of Morelos,
      Mexico].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Maternal mortality is a public health issue. The causes of maternal
      mortality are directly related to accessibility, opportunity, costs and quality
      of obstetric and perinatal services. OBJECTIVE: To describe the characteristics
      of maternal deaths and analyze the risk factors associated with these deaths in
      the State of Morelos (Mexico). MATERIAL AND METHOD: a cross-sectional
      epidemiological, observational, descriptive, retrospective study of 94 cases of
      maternal deaths registered in the Morelos health services, from 2000 to 2004.
      Hospitalized and non-hospitalized maternal deaths characteristics were compared.
      RESULTS: Of 94 maternal deaths, 81.9% were classified as hospitalized (66.7% in
      public hospitals) and 13.8% as non-hospitalized. 73 (77.6%) deaths occurred
      during the postpartum period. Most women did not have any medical service
      (76.7%). There were 77 cases (81.9%) of direct maternal death and 12 (18.1%)
      indirect. The risk of non-hospitalized maternal death in women 35 to 40 years old
      was three times higher, with incomplete primary education or none 10.9 and
      without medical service 3.6 times. CONCLUSIONS: Most deaths were in hospitals,
      the main causes were hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, childbirth and
      postpartum and obstetric hemorrhage, events related to the quality of health
      services. It is necessary to develop more efficient prenatal programs, with focus
      in maternal and child risk.

PMID- 20931813
TI  - [Genetic and hormonal effects on sexual differentiation. Paradoxically women
      require androgens and men estrogens].
AB  - It had been established that the sexual structure of a person was determined by
      the type of hormonal production, what gave biological specificity of the
      estrogens to women and androgens to men, but recently this functional specificity
      has lost base due to the biological activity described in different tissues of
      men and women, today known as endocrine paradox. There are hormonal events that
      show the need of estrogens to correct development in men and androgens to women.
      In men the absence of effect of the estrogens produces deficient ossification of
      skeleton, persistence of the growth cartilage and osteoporosis in adult men. In
      women the production of androgens by suprarenal glandules is required to obtain
      the complete feminization. In women with chirurgic-induced menopause, the
      relation between androgens and the stimulation of sexual response has been
      established. It has been described a hormone called kisspeptin, that it is
      attributed the potential to initiate the puberty because stimulates the
      hypothalamus; in absence of this hormone the women do not present their secondary
      sex characters, remaining immature sexually. The understanding of individuals
      needs of androgens and estrogens contribute to improve the control and care of
      the patient with hormonal deficiencies in any phase of the life.

PMID- 20931814
TI  - [Assessment of current procedures in the treatment of preeclampsia. 1955].

PMID- 20931816
TI  - New accountability measures could mean sea change for QI.
AB  - Research, evidence-based practices are emphasized. Measures should address a
      process proximate to desired outcome. Changes should strengthen the hand of
      quality managers.

PMID- 20931815
TI  - [Clinical practice guideline. Female sexual dysfunctions: sexual pain disorders.
      Colegio Mexicano de Especialistas en Ginecologla y Obstetricia].

PMID- 20931817
TI  - Electronic tablets help provide information.
AB  - Opportunities for improvement discovered through questionnaires. Use of e-tablets
      boosts patient satisfaction, say leaders. Color-coding of symptoms quickly alerts
      staff to any problems.

PMID- 20931818
TI  - Hospital uses service for follow-up calls.
AB  - San Juan Regional Medical Center contracted nurses to make discharge follow-up
      calls 24/7. Hospital identifies trends through calls. Calls escalated to hospital
      nurse if there are medication or clinical problems.

PMID- 20931819
TI  - Provide better ED discharge planning.
AB  - Hospitals need to look more closely at an integration of community resources and
      mental health resources. Extend hospital/ED discharge planning to environmental
      assessments. One of the most common medication problems in therapeutic
      duplication.

PMID- 20931820
TI  - Collaboration on capacity management.
AB  - Representatives from two hospitals developed a systematic approach to capacity
      management that allows for each hospital to create variances to meet its needs.
      Huddles vary by hospitals. The hospitals track time frames at different points of
      care.

PMID- 20931821
TI  - [Neurohormonal effects following treatment with dopamine. More advantages or
      disadvantages?].
AB  - Due to a big amount of dopaminergic receptors set in the vertebrate central
      nervous system (CNS), endogenously freed dopamine determines motor and cognitive
      activities of an organism. It influences neurohormonal regulation of the body,
      among all, other catecholamines' production; it also regulates kidney's
      functioning, the cardiovascular system and alimentary canal. Dopamine (a natural
      catecholamine) containing specimens are often used for the sake of intensive
      medical care. A particular effect, which is natriuretic, inotropic and
      vasopressive, is expected under inpatient treatment conditions depending on a
      selected dose. In practice, however, a potential influence of such treatment on
      neurohormonal processes, among all, an impact on hypothalamo-hypophyseal-adrenal
      axis is rarely taken into account. Considering numerous adverse events, a risk of
      renal failure development and blood redistribution disorders in the mucous
      membrane of the gastrointestinal tract, a negative impact on the respiratory
      system, as well as in the event of insufficient evidence for dopamine's
      effectiveness in both prevention and acute renal failure) treatment, dopamine's
      implementation in so called diuretic doses is controversial. Its implementation
      as a drug with the vasopressor effect must be reconsidered and individualised.

PMID- 20931822
TI  - [Comparison of treatment effectiveness of implantable cardioverter defibrillator
      in patients undergoing defibrillation threshold testing at the time of
      implantation versus no defibrillation threshold testing].
AB  - Inability to perform defibrillation threshold (DFT) testing during implantable
      cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) implantation due to comorbidities may influence
      long-term survival. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Retrospective review (2005-2007)
      identified 142 patients undergoing ICD implantation without DFT testing (No-DFT
      group). A control group consisting of 290 patients undergoing standard DFT
      testing (DFT group) was compared to the first group in terms of appropriate
      shocks, clinical shock efficacy and all-cause mortality. The primary and
      secondary prophylactic therapy were performed to the estimation. RESULTS: DFT
      testing was withheld due to atrial fibrillation with inability to exclude left
      atrial thrombus, left ventricular thrombus, congestive heart disease and(or)
      ischemia, hypotension and absent of anesthesiologist. The No-DFTgroup had a
      similar appropriate shock rate, but lower total survival (79.1% vs. 91.2%, p =
      0.01) than the DFT group. In secondary prophylactic therapy, the No-DFT group had
      a higher incidence of sudden death (7.6% vs. 4.3%, p = 0.03) compared to the DFT
      group. CONCLUSIONS: The overall mortality was higher in the No-DFT group and
      number of sudden death in secondary prophylactic therapy. DFT testing should
      therefore remain the standard of care. Nevertheless, ICD therapy should not be
      withheld in patients who meet appropriate implant criteria simply on the basis of
      clinical scenarios that preclude routine DFT testing.

PMID- 20931823
TI  - [Influence of low-molecular-weight heparin on the life quality of patients after
      intravascular medical procedures in comparison to patients who were treated with
      oral anticoagulants].
AB  - Atherosclerosis is the illness of arteries which causes changes in vessels
      leading to their narrowing and then to their closure. Men are mainly attacked by
      illnesses of arteries. There are several factors which can intensify these
      illnesses such as: diabetes, smoking cigarettes, diet rich in cholesterol,
      arterial hypertension. Chronic ischemia of lower extremities is the most frequent
      illness with which patients notify. Patients with long-standing atherosclerotic
      process are usually afflicted with thrombotic ischemia. The life quality is the
      term that can have many meanings. It can be treated objectively or subjectively.
      In the first case we deal with the quality of life and in the second one with the
      feeling of life quality. Considering the problem we can base on the level of
      fulfilling the norm or on riches of obtained experience. The term life quality is
      significantly connected with the process of cognitive assessment of the
      individual. The quality of life of patients who were subjected to intravascular
      medical procedures considerably changes. The continuation of surgical treatment
      is pharmacotherapy which is connected with administering to patients low
      molecular-weight heparin or oral antithrombotic medicine. The aim of the study
      was an evaluation of quality of life of patient after intravascular medical
      procedures, at which continued treatment was low-molecular-weight heparin and
      comparison of received results with subjective feeling of quality of life among
      ill across passing, treated oral anticoagulants medicines. MATERIAL AND METHODS:
      A number of 50 patients participated in the research. The most numerous group was
      made up of people aged 51-60 (20 people, 40%), 15 patients (30%) were over 61
      years old, 7 ill (14%) were aged 41-50, 5 people (10%) were aged 31-40 and 3
      patients (6%) were aged 20-30. Tested patients were selected randomly. The
      largest number of people (54%) came from the cities with more than 50 thousand
      inhabitants. People living in the towns with less than 50 thousand inhabitants
      made up a bit smaller group (30%). A questionnaire of pain assessment according
      to the NRS scale was used in the research (from 1 to 10; 1 means: "I do not feel
      pain", 10: "unbearable pain") as well as EuroQol 4D--a questionnaire of health
      state and quality of life assessment. The questionnaire consisted of 20 questions
      and was filled in voluntarily. RESULTS: Conducted research has shown that the
      life quality of patients who were treated with low-molecular-weight heparin
      changed for better in higher degree than patients who were treated with oral
      antithrombotic medicine.

PMID- 20931824
TI  - [Diagnostic significance of tuberculin skin test in BCG vaccinated population].
AB  - There is some data on the influence of the BCG vaccination on the TST (tuberculin
      skin test) but most of them are focused on the population vaccinated only one
      time. The aim of the study was to describe the relation between vaccination
      scheme and TST in polish population. MATERIAL AND METHODS: TST was performed in
      114 patient with active, culture confirmed tuberculosis and 100 medical student
      at the beginning of the study as a control group. RESULTS: In our investigation
      there was no statistically important differences of the TST size between Tb
      patients and control group. CONCLUSION: In polish population it is not possible
      to estimate the cutoff value of TST size that could be used to differentiate
      between TB infection and reaction to vaccination.

PMID- 20931825
TI  - [Anxiety, depression and polymorphism of the gene encoding superoxide dismutase
      in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease].
AB  - Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a severe systemic disease leading
      to circulatory and respiratory failure. COPD is also a risk factor for the onset
      of anxiety and mood disturbances. Identification of the correlates of emotional
      disturbances in the course of COPD can make it possible, on the one hand, to
      prevent mental and behavioral disorders early in the course of this serious
      somatic disease, and on the other hand, to institute appropriate treatment. The
      aim of the study was to determine the correlation between the polymorphism of
      manganese superoxide dismutase signal peptide and the severity of anxiety and
      depression in COPD patients. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study group consisted of
      57 patients with grade I, II and III COPD according to GOLD criteria. The control
      group consisted of 63 healthy nicotine addicts. In all the subjects, the genotype
      of position 9 of manganese superoxide dismutase signal peptide was determined,
      depression severity was measured with Beck Depression Scale, and anxiety as a
      trait and as a state was measured with Spielberg State/Trait Anxiety Inventory
      (STAI). RESULTS: Among COPT patients, 16 subjects were found to have Ala/Ala
      genotype, 23 Val/Ala and 18 Val/Val. In the smokers' group Ala/Ala genotype was
      found in 29 cases, Val/Ala in 27 and Val/Val in 7. The distribution of genotype
      frequencies differed between the groups. In COPD patients, the mean depression
      severity assessed according to Beck Scale amounted to (16.52 +/- 5.63) and was
      higher than in smokers without COPD (13.85 +/- 4.24, p = 0.003828). The average
      severity of anxiety as a trait and as a state did not differ significantly in
      both groups. Among COPD patients, the mean severity of depressive disorders in
      subjects with Val/ Val genotype was 21.27 +/- 4.32 and was significantly higher
      than in those with Val/Ala (15.22 +/- 5.29) and Ala/Ala (12.87 +/- 3.72)
      genotypes. The severity of anxiety as a trait in COPD patients reached 7.72 +/-
      1.21 in the subgroup with Val/Val genotype and was also higher than in those with
      Val/Ala genotype (6.69 +/- 1.48) and with Ala/Ala genotype (5.87 +/- 1.14). A
      similar correlation was observed for anxiety as a state (subjects with Val/Val
      genotype 6.78 +/- 1.06, with Val/Ala genotype 6.18 +/- 1.01 and with Ala/ Ala
      genotype 5.88 +/- 1.41). Among healthy smokers, the mean severities of
      depression, anxiety as a trait and anxiety as a state did not differ in subjects
      with different genotypes. CONCLUSIONS: The study has demonstrated that the
      severity of depression is higher in COPD patients than in the group of healthy
      smokers. In the group of patients with COPD, Val/Val genotype at position 9 of
      MnSOD signal peptide is associated with more severe depression, anxiety as a
      trait and anxiety as a state in comparison with patients who have Val/Ala and
      Ala/Ala genotypes. No similar correlations were found in healthy smokers.

PMID- 20931826
TI  - [Significance of serum concentrations of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines in
      identification of patients with Crohn's disease].
AB  - A simple, non-invasive examination separating patients with irritable bowel
      syndrome from those affected by Crohn's disease (CD) has not been found, so far.
      Immune disturbances associated with release of various cytokines play an
      important role in CD pathogenesis. The aim of the study was to investigate the
      diagnostic efficacy of serum levels of broad panel of pro- and anti-inflammatory
      cytokines in differentiation between patients with CD and intact bowel. MATERIAL
      AND METHODS: To the study were included 57 patients with established diagnosis of
      ileo-coecal CD (according to endoscopic, radiologic and histopathologic criteria)
      and 21 subjects with no organic bowel pathology. Serum concentrations of CRP and
      proinflammatory (IL-1beta, IL-6, TNF-alpha) and anti-inflammatory (IL-10, IL-1,
      IL-1RA, IL-6sR, TNF-alpha R2) cytokines were measured by immunoenzymatic method
      in both groups. RESULTS: Serum levels of IL-1beta, IL-6, IL-10, TNF-alpha and TNF
      alpha R2 were significantly different in CD patients than in control group. Among
      these cytokines TNF-alpha serum level showed the highest discriminative
      diagnostic efficacy between both groups. The diagnostic efficacies of CRP (cut
      off value was 4.25 mg/dl) and TNF-alpha (cut-off value 2.5 microg/ml) were
      similar, showing respectively an accuracy of 81% and 74%, sensitivity of 79% and
      65% and specificity of 89% and 100%. CONCLUSION: TNF-alpha showed the highest
      diagnostic efficacy in differentiating patients with CD from healthy subjects,
      however, the TNF-alpha does not exceed diagnostic value of CRP.

PMID- 20931827
TI  - [Is autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease associated with asymptomatic
      bacteriuria?].
AB  - Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are a common complication in patients with
      autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD). Asymptomatic bacteriuria
      (AB) is a factor predisposing to UTI in other populations. The aim of the study
      was to determine whether AB is more frequent in a group of ADPKD patients with
      normal kidney function and no diabetes than in a healthy control group. MATERIAL
      AND METHODS: A group of 49 ADPKD patients (19 men and 30 women) with normal
      kidney function (creatinine level < 1.35 mg/dl) and no diabetes, with an average
      age of 35.9 +/- 11.1 years was compared with a group of 50 healthy controls (22
      men, 28 women) with similar age (36.7 +/- 9.2 years). All subject were evaluated
      using medical history and physical examination, urine culture, urinalysis
      (biochemical and morphological), kidney ultrasonography, oral glucose tolerance
      test (with 75 g of glucose) and serum creatinine testing. RESULTS: UTIs were
      significantly more frequent in medical history of ADPKD patients than in control
      group (26% vs. 0%, p < 0.001). Asymptomatic bacteriuria was found in 2% of ADPKD
      patients and in 4% of control group (p = 0.69). The presence of protein in
      urinalysis was observed in 6% of ADPKD and in none of the control patients. Other
      urine measurements like pH, specific gravity, and morphological examination were
      normal and did not substantially differ between groups. The kidneys of ADPKD
      patients were significantly longer than in control group (p < 0.001).
      CONCLUSIONS: Asymptomatic bacteriuria is not present more frequently in ADPKD
      patients with normal kidney function and no diabetes, than in healthy people.

PMID- 20931828
TI  - [Influence of vegetarian diet on serum values of homocysteine and total
      antioxidant status in children].
AB  - The vegetarian diet may play a preventive role in the development of chronic
      diseases such as coronary heart and cardiovascular disease. However increase of
      homocysteine (Hcy) concentration in peoples avoiding animal products may
      contribute to an increased atherosclerotic risk in these subjects. Recent
      evidence has suggested that role of hyperhomocysteinemia in atherogenesis is
      associated with process of autooxidation, which can promote the production of
      hydroxyl radicals, resulting in oxidative modification of low density lipoprotein
      and endothelium injury. The oxidant-antioxidant imbalance depends not only on the
      amount of enhanced free oxygen species but also insufficiency of antioxidant
      defence system. Total antioxidant status (TAS) expresses capacity for scavenging
      of free radicals minimizes oxidative damage. The aim of this study was to asses
      concentrations of homocysteine and total antioxidant status in serum of children
      on vegetarian and omnivorous diet. We also studied levels of vitamin A (retinol)
      and vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol) particular components of TAS. MATERIAL AND
      METHODS: The study included 35 children, aged 5-16 who had been referred to
      Institute of Mother and Child for dietary consultation. From those, 17 were lacto
      ovo-vegetarians and 18 omnivores. Dietary constituents were analyzed using the
      nutritional programme Dietetyk2 and completed with supplementation data.
      Concentration of homocysteine was estimated in serum with fluorescence
      polarization immunoassay and TAS by colorimetric method. Levels of vitamin A and
      E were determined using high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC). RESULTS: The
      mean concentration of homocysteine was similar in both studied groups
      (vegetarians: 6.13 +/- 1.01 micromol/l vs. omnivores: 5.45 +/- 0.98 micromol/l).
      In vegetarian children serum level of TAS was significantly lower (1.21 +/- 0.06
      mmol/I) as compared to those in non-vegetarian ones (1.30 +/- 0.05 mmol/l, p <
      0.0001), but remained within the physiological range (1.16-1.40 mmol/l). The mean
      concentrations of vitamins A and E in serum of vegetarians were lower than
      observed in omnivores group, but only in case of alpha-tocopherol the difference
      was statistically significant (vegetarians: 15.58 +/- 4.12 vs. omnivores: 18.41
      +/- 3.10; p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: In studied group of children on lacto-ovo
      vegetarian diet, serum concentrations of homocysteine are normal and daily food
      intake of antioxidants and their level in blood are sufficient for preserving
      adequate total antioxidant status.

PMID- 20931829
TI  - [Morphological conditions of dysphonia in patients with vocal folds edema].
AB  - Disorders of voice quality are mostly influenced by organic changes in larynx. In
      the assessment of ultrastructure of vocal fold mucosa the most useful is the
      technique of transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The organic dysphonia is
      diagnosed by the perceptual, endoscopic (VLS) and stroboscopic (VLSS) assessment
      of larynx and acoustic assessment. The aim of the study was to determine
      morphological changes and voice quality disorders in patients with edema of
      larynx. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 40 patients with vocal folds edema (I group) and 10
      patients with no pathological changes of larynx (II group) were included in the
      study. The morphological assessment of vocal folds mucosa was carried out with
      the usage of transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The voice quality was
      examined by the subjective and objective methods. The endoscopic and stroboscopic
      (VLS and VLSS) examination of larynx and acoustic analysis of voice were carried
      out. RESULTS: Morphological changes of vocal folds mucosa were observed.
      Epithelial cells showed features of vacuolar degeneration. Moreover enlargement
      of intercellular spaces, small rugosity of basal membrane and inflammatory
      infiltration of stroma, a large number of blood vessels and a cumulation of
      elastic and collagenous fibers were observed. CONCLUSIONS: Stillness of vocal
      folds influenced disorders of voice quality with features of dysphonia. The
      endoscopic and stroboscopic examination of larynx clinically shows the
      morphological changes of vocal folds mucosa. Simple and non-invasive acoustic
      examination of voice in patients with edema of larynx objectively confirms the
      subjectively registered dysphonia.

PMID- 20931830
TI  - [Assessment of speech and linguistic disorders in patients with cochlear implant-
      preliminary results].
AB  - Cochlear Implant (CI) is the most advanced technical solution in the treatment of
      profound hearing loss and deafness in patients of all age groups. The aim of the
      study was to analyse the speech and linguistic disorders in adults with pre- and
      postlingual deafness rehabilitated with Cochlear implant (CI). MATERIAL AND
      METHODS: 21 adults with pre- (I group) and postlingual (II group) deafness
      deriving no benefit from hearing aids participated in this study. Phonatory organ
      was examined by endoscopy (VLS) and stroboscopy (VLSS). Test of Auditory
      Perception (TSS) was conducted directly after the activation of speech processor
      and after rehabilitation. The logopedic assessment before and after CI was based
      on the examination of motoric activity of articulatory organs, type of
      respiration, loudness of speech and the assessment of articulation. The
      linguistic assessment of grammatical and lexical aspect was carried out. The
      prosodic elements of speech were also analysed. RESULTS: Stroboscopic examination
      pointed to hypofunction of larynx in patients with prelingual deafness and
      hyperfunction--in postlingual deafness. The values of TSS were improved after CI,
      especially in patients with postlingual deafness. The most severe disorders of
      the efficiency of articulatory organs were observed in patients with prelingual
      deafness before CI. In the group of prelingually deaf patients disorders of the
      articulation of vowels and consonants as well as the lexical and grammatical
      aspect of speech were improved after CI. The correctness of syntax and
      inflection, development of active vocabulary, improvement of prosodic elements of
      speech were noticed in patients with postlingual deafness after CI. CONCLUSIONS.
      Patients with postlingual deafness achieved better results of rehabilitation in
      auditory perception than prelingually deaf patients. The linguistic improvement
      of grammatical and lexical aspect was noticed especially in prelingually deaf
      patients after implantation. This group of patients achieved also the significant
      progress in prosodic elements of speech in comparison with the results before
      implantation.

PMID- 20931831
TI  - [Radiological evaluation of elongated styloid process].
AB  - It is commonly forgotten that the osseous link between the tympanie and styloid
      part of the styloid process occurs in the fourth decade of life, and only then,
      the exact full lenght of the styloid process can be evaluated. Orthopantomography
      is a allowing to investigate the length of the process and to define it's
      relation to the other parts of the skull. The aim of the study was the length of
      the styloid process after it's complete ossification by means of
      orthopantomographs. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A group of 200 patients, 119 female and
      81 male, aged 40 and more (mean age 53.5 years) was investigated by means of
      orthopantomographs taken with Kodak 8000 digital camera. The length of the
      process was defined by considering it's ratio to the mandibular foramen and to
      the angle of the mandible. RESULTS: Ortopantomographs of 35.5% of the patients
      presented the process projecting above the mandibular foramen. In 8.5% of those
      cases, the process was not visible, being partly covered by the images of other
      skeletal structures. In 58% of the cases, the apex of the process was situated
      between the mandibular foramen and the angle of the mandible, and in 6.5% of the
      cases, it was placed below the mandibular angle. In most of the cases, the
      styloid processes on both sides of the skull were symmetrical. CONCLUSIONS: In
      the patients studies, 93.5% of the cases were considered physiological; they fell
      into the first two categories described above. It was concluded that the range of
      the length of the styloid process below the mandibular angle may be regarded as
      elongated, thus favouring the incidence of the Eagle Syndrome.

PMID- 20931832
TI  - [Transient left ventricular dysfunction syndrome or an aborted myocardial
      infarction? Analysis of six cases].
AB  - Transient left ventricular dysfunction (LVDS) is a syndrome of unknown etiology
      resembling acute coronary syndrome (ACS). The aim of this study was to
      prospectively assess the course of the acute phase of illness, recovery and
      prognosis after LVDS. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We prospectively evaluated six women
      hospitalized due to suspected ACS who have had: elevated levels of troponin T the
      absence of critical stenoses of coronary arteries in coronary angiography, and
      akinesis of apical and adjacent segments in ventriculography and/or
      echocardiography. We analyzed: the clinical course of acute phase, the level of
      markers of myocardial necrosis and the parameters of electrocardiogram,
      echocardiography, angiography and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
      RESULTS: LVSD was diagnosed in six women out of the 1768 patients (0.3%)
      hospitalized in our department from 2007 to 2009 with an initial diagnosis of
      ACS. These were women aged 52 to 68 years (average 58 +/- 6 years), without
      typical risk factors for coronary disease, admitted due to retrosternal pain,
      preceded by a strong stress. Symmetrical, negative T waves were observed in the
      ECG in most cases and the troponin T level was elevated in all (from 0.06 to 0.8
      ng/ml, mean 0.35 +/- 0.3 ng/ml). Wall motion abnormalities with a reduced
      ejection fraction (EF) to 20-40% (mean 32 +/- 8%) were observed on
      echocardiography and/or ventriculography. Coronary angiography showed no
      hemodynamically significant stenoses of the coronary arteries in any patient.
      During a mean follow-up period of 12 +/- 1 months (range from 5 to 24 months) all
      patients recovered completely. Left ventricular contractility had normalized in a
      few weeks (mean EF 62 +/- 2.5%). A resolution of ECG changes was observed in each
      case but delayed up to several months MRI performed several months after the
      acute event showed no scarring within the left ventricular walls. There were no
      relapses or deaths. CONCLUSIONS: LVDS is a rare clinical entity, which resemble
      the symptoms of ACS, occurring in postmenopausal women, with a good long-term
      prognosis. Similar diagnostic criteria cause difficulties--in some cases it is
      difficult to clearly distinguish LVDS from an aborted myocardial infarction.

PMID- 20931833
TI  - [The use of human immunoglobulins--adverse reactions].
AB  - The primary immunodeficiency, mainly humoral immunity, secondary immunodeficiency
      and autoimmune diseases are the indications for immunoglobulins substitution. The
      prolonged substitution in primary immunodeficiency includes regular intravenous
      infusion of immunoglobulins in 0.4-0.6 g/kg of body weight every 21-28 days. The
      purpose of such substitution is decrease of frequency and diminishes the clinical
      course of infections. The high-dose use of immunoglobulins (1-2 g/kg body weight)
      is preferred in autoimmune diseases based on suppressive and anti-inflammatory
      activity of immunoglobulins. The subcutaneous administration of immunoglobulins
      is an alternative to intravenous way, but the singular dose (0.1 g/kg body
      weight) is too low for suppressive and anti-inflammatory activity of
      immunoglobulins, so this substitution is indicated in primary immunodeficiency
      only. The adverse events of immunoglobulins differentiate because of time of
      occurrence and clinical character. The rapid symptoms occurred just after
      beginning of infusion and often present the clinical features of anaphylactoid
      reaction. During the infusion the occurring adverse symptoms are mild and the
      life-threatening situations are very rare. The next periods of typical adverse
      reaction are 24-48 hrs after infusion, 72 hrs and later. The mechanisms leading
      to adverse reaction to immunoglobulins are based on presence of IgG dimmers,
      stimulating high production of pro-inflammatory cytokines by immunocompetent
      cells. High level of cytokines is associated with high fever, chills, flu-like
      symptoms, feeling malaise and sick. The reaction of anti-IgA antibodies present
      in patient serum with IgA in immunoglobulins preparation is responsible for
      moderate and severe adverse clinical symptoms. The late adverse events present
      the symptoms of aseptic meningo-encephalitis. In case of adverse events the
      stopping of infusion, additions saline/ glucose infusion, anti-histaminic drugs
      of I and II generation and steroids are used. Severe adverse events are
      indication for withdraw the immunoglobulins intravenous infusions. In these
      patients the subcutaneous way of immunoglobulins substitution is an alternative
      with hope that low singular dose and slow uptake may be better tolerated.

PMID- 20931834
TI  - [Genotyping of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. An overview of the major research
      techniques (Part I)].
AB  - The recent development of molecular biology methods has substantially improved
      the identification of many bacterial pathogens, both at the species and strain
      level. Microbial strain genotyping refers to the process of discriminating among
      individuals within particular species based on the detection of genomic DNA
      polymorphisms by means of different molecular markers. Genetic variability arises
      mainly from genetic recombinations and spontaneous mutations. Each genotyping
      assay yields strain-specific genetic profiles, allowing assessment of inter
      strain relationships. The ability to differentiate between strains, the so-called
      discriminatory power of particular genotyping methods depends heavily on the type
      and level of polymorphism detected. In the case of tuberculosis, a wide variety
      of methods have already been implemented to genotype its causative agent
      Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Most of these methods are based on the polymorphic
      repetitive DNA sequences in tubercle bacilli genome. This review briefly
      recapitulates the major research techniques used for genotyping of M.
      tuberculosis.

PMID- 20931835
TI  - [Genotyping of Mycobacterlum tuberculosis. An overview of the major research
      techniques (Part II)].
AB  - At present, molecular typing methods of Mycobacterium tuberculosis have become
      increasingly integrated into the epidemiological studies of tuberculosis.
      Molecular typing is a process of discriminating between strains of tubercle
      bacilli, based on the detection of genomic DNA polymorphisms, most frequently
      associated with repetitive DNA elements. The ability to assess the inter-strain
      genetic relationships provides a powerful means of resolving a number of
      epidemiological issues, such as tracing of chains of transmission, determining
      sources of infection, differentiating recent transmission from reactivation and
      reinfection from relapse or treatment failure, detecting laboratory cross
      contaminations, monitoring the geographic distribution and spread of particular
      genetic strains (including those of special epidemiological importance), or
      investigating the evolution of M. tuberculosis. In this review, some major
      techniques used for genotyping of M. tuberculosis were summarized, as well as
      selected examples of the application of molecular epidemiological studies to the
      clinical practice.

PMID- 20931836
TI  - [Rehabilitation of patients following subarachnoid haemorrhage as a result of
      ruptured intracranial aneurysms].
AB  - The aim of the present paper is to discuss how neuropsychological impairments
      affect the functioning of patients in the aftermath of aneurysmal SAH and to
      highlight the need for complex professional rehabilitation services for this
      group of patients. Following the acute stage of illness, when treatment efforts
      are focused on life-saving measures, a significant proportion of patients are
      left with long-term consequences of cerebral damage in the form of specific
      cognitive impairments or emotional changes. The resultant functional deficits
      require specialist treatment, but few patients have sufficient knowledge in this
      regard to allow them to seek help and the availability of specialist services is
      frequently restricted only to large centres of population. Patients and their
      families usually do not know where to turn in the face of a sudden, life
      threatening illness, which changes their lives diametrically, still less, what
      kind of specialist help might be available to them. Bearing in mind the needs of
      patients and their families, there are but few centers offering cognitive therapy
      or other forms of psychotherapeutic intervention, that are funded under the
      auspices of the National Health Fund (NFZ). Furthermore, healthcare policies do
      not place high priority on employing adequately trained psychological therapists
      in neurosurgical or neurological departments, and the lack of effective
      cooperation between specialists from different disciplines places significant
      limitations on the effective rehabilitation of patients who have undergone SAH.
      In the following article we review the opportunities for effective rehabilitation
      in order to optimize the functioning of patients with brain damage following SAH.

PMID- 20931837
TI  - [Responses of medicinal plant to drought stress and controlled experiment].
AB  - Progress in the studies on responses of medicinal plants to drought stress
      including changes of appearance, physiological adaptation, biochemistry response
      and molecular mechanisms were summarized. Committed steps of controlled
      experiment of medicinal plants to drought stress were proposed considering the
      characteristics of medicinal plants, which will provide rationale basis for clear
      elaboration of the responses of medicinal plant to the drought stress.

PMID- 20931838
TI  - [Cloning and expression of fibrinolytic enzyme cDNA sequence from Eupolyphaga
      sinensis].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To obtain the cDNA sequence encoding fibrinolytic enzyme from
      Eupolyphaga sinensis and express it in prokaryotic and eukaryotic expression
      system. METHOD: The primers were designed according to the cDNA of other
      animals'fibrinolytic enzyme. The cDNA sequence was cloned by RT-PCR and 3 RACE.
      RESULT: Sequence analysis revealed that the length of the cDNA fragment was 672
      bp and encoded a protein of 224 amino acid residues, the N end amino acid
      sequence residues was IVGG in accordance with other fibrinolytic enzyme. The cDNA
      sequence was expressed in E. coli, inactive protein was obtained. While expressed
      in Pichia pastoris, recombinant protein had fibrinolytic activity. CONCLUSION:
      The cDNA sequence of fibrinolytic enzyme from E. sinensis Walker was cloned and
      expressed for the first time and it proved a good basis for further functional
      study of the enzyme.

PMID- 20931839
TI  - [Breeding of new varieties "zhongchai no. 2" and "zhongchai no. 3" of Bupleurum
      chinense].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To breed new varieties with better uniformity and commercial quality
      as well as higher saikosaponin contents. METHOD: The excellent germplasm
      resources were selected from "zhongchai no. 1" population. Single plant method
      was applied to get better varieties. All the breeding material was investigated
      according to morphological characters, agronomic characters and the contents of
      saikosaponin a and saikosaponin d. The experiments of comparative test and
      varieties regional test were carried out. RESULT: The bred new varieties of
      "zhongchai No. 2" and "zhongchai No. 3" had better uniformity. The dark brown
      roots ratios of the two varieties were 83.2%, 89.9%, respectively. The contents
      of saikosaponins (a + d) of the two varieties reached 1.31%, 1.02%, respectively.
      CONCLUSION: "zhongchai No. 2" and " zhongchai No. 3" both had the advantages of
      better uniformity, darker brown roots and higher saikosaponin contents.

PMID- 20931840
TI  - [Principal component analysis and cluster analysis of inorganic elements in
      Erodium stephanianum from different areas].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To explore the characteristics of inorganic elements in Erodium
      stephanianum. METHOD: The content of elements such as Li, B, Na, Mg, Al, Si, K,
      Ca, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, Ga, Br, Rb, Sr, Ba, La, Ce and Rb in ten E.
      stephanianum samples were determined by means of ICP/MS. The results were used
      for the development of element distribution diagram. The principal component
      analysis of SPSS and Q-type cluster analysis were applied for the study of
      characteristic elements in E. stephanianum. RESULT: Five principal components
      which accounted for over 91% of the total variance were extracted from the
      original data. The analysis results showed that Al, Ti, V, Fe, La, Ce, Li, Ga and
      Ba may be the characteristic elements in E. stephanianum; The results of Q-type
      cluster analysis showed that the samples could be clustered reasonably into two
      groups, and the elemental distribution characteristics were related to the
      ecology and origins of E. stephanianum. CONCLUSION: The principal component
      analysis and Q-type cluster analysis could be used in data processing in
      inorganic elements.

PMID- 20931841
TI  - [Cultural characteristics of mycelia of Ganoderma gibbosum].
AB  - To study the cultural characteristics of mycelia of Ganoderma gibbosum, a
      medicinal fungus used in China. The growth rate and biomass of G. gibbosum
      mycelia were measured under different temperature, lightning carbon and nitrogen
      sources conditions. It showed that the optimal growth temperature for mycelia was
      25 degrees C. Darkness was beneficial for mycelium growth. The initial pH 5.5 was
      suitable. The sucrose was the best carbon source and yeast extract the best
      nitrogen source, the optimal carbon-nitrogen ratio 60:2. These conclusions will
      offer references for further artificial cultivation and liquid fermentation.

PMID- 20931842
TI  - [Study on stability and degradation kinetics of ketoprofen-paeonol conjugate].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To study the stability and degradation kinetics of Ketoprofen-Paeonol
      conjugate (Ket-Pae). METHOD: RP-HPLC method was used to determine the solubility
      and partition coefficient of Ket-Pae. Stability test was carried out to
      investigate the factors affecting Ket-Pae. The kinetic studies of Ket-Pae
      degradation were conducted in different pH buffer solutions and 80% rat plasma at
      37 degrees C. RESULT: Ket-Pae showed significant degradation phenomenon at high
      temperature. The solubility of Ket-Pae was decreased about 200 to 300 times
      compared with parent drugs in water while the lnP increased about 4 times. The
      degradation curve displayed a V-shape, and kept maximum stability at week acidic
      (pH 5.0, t(1/2) = 11.4 d). Ket-Pae degraded quickly with very short half life of
      1.3 min in plasma, therefore easily released ketoprofen and paeonol. CONCLUSION:
      The lipophilicity of Ket-Pae is increased, its stability is affected by
      temperature and pH value.

PMID- 20931843
TI  - [Studies on changes of in vitro and in vivo material base of Shaoyao Gancao
      decoction based on HPLC-DAD-ESI-MS].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To study the changes of the in vitro and in vivo material base of
      Shaoyao Gancao decoction (SGD) based on HPLC-DAD-ESI-MS, and confirm the
      migrational constituents in plasma. METHOD: Kormasil C18, (4.6 mm x 250 mm, 5
      microm with protection column) was employed; acetonitrile and 0.5% acetic
      acid/water was used as mobile phase for gradient elution, flow rate was set at
      0.8 mL x m min(-1), column temperature was 25 degrees C, and methanol was used to
      remove the protein. A LCQdeca mass spectrometer system equipped with an
      electrospray ionization iontrap source was used as the detector and operated in
      the positive ion mode. Ions was scanned from the m/z 100 to m/z 1000, and
      characteristic ion were secondary schizolysised to obtain data of second order
      MS. RESULT: The main constitutes of SGD were peoniflorin, Catechin-5-O-glucoside,
      albiflorin, liquiritin and glycyrrhizic acid etc, and glucosides were found in
      the plasma samples of rats administered with SGD, which were glucuronide
      conjunctions of liquiritigenin and isoliquiritigenin. CONCLUSION: Liquid
      chromatography-mass spectrometry technology provides a convenient and high speed
      method to analyze the migrational constituents of plasma of rats administered
      with SGD, therefore, it has a good value in studies on the changes in the
      material base of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM).

PMID- 20931844
TI  - [Researches on relationships between main active ingredients and physical and
      chemical parameters of dangguibuxue decoction].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To study relationships between the main active ingredients and
      physical and chemical parameters of dangguibuxue decoction, and to explore the
      feasibility of characterization the quality of decoction by physical and chemical
      parameters. METHOD: Solutions of ferulic acid and astragaloside with different
      concentrations were prepared, of which physical and chemical parameters such as
      surface tension, pH value and conductivity, etc were determined at 25 degrees C.
      And polynomial regression analysis was used to analyze these data. RESULT: With
      the increase of concentration of ferulic acid, pH value was decreased and
      conductivity was increased. And surface tension was decreased in the aqueous
      solution of astragaloside. In the combined solution of ferulic acid and
      astragaloside, ferulic acid was the main influencing pH value and conductivity,
      while astragaloside was the main factor influencing surface tension. CONCLUSION:
      On one hand, astragaloside concentration has a significant correlation with
      surface tension, but almost no correlation with pH value and conductivity. On the
      other hand, ferulic acid concentration has a strong correlation with pH value and
      conductivity, but almost no correlation with surface tension. In addition, each
      parameter has strong anti-interference ability and almost didn't change with the
      addition of another material. These preliminary results suggested that such
      characteristic parameters could be used to characterize the decoction quality.

PMID- 20931845
TI  - [Simultaneous isolation and purification of gallic acid and brevifolincarboxylic
      acid from Polygonum capitatum by high-speed counter-current chromatography].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To isolate and purify gallic acid and brevifolincarboxylic acid
      simultaneously by high-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) from a crude
      extract of Polygonum capitatum. METHOD: The biphasic solvent system composed of
      ethyl acetate-n-butanol-0.44% acetic acid (3:1:5) was used at a flow rate of 2.0
      mL x min(-1), while the aqueous phase was selected as the mobile phase and the
      apparatus was rotated at 860 r x min(-1). The effluent was detected at 272 nm.
      RESULT: 51.5 mg of gallic acid and 5.9 mg of brevifolincarboxylic acid were
      separated from 1.07 g of the crude extract with the purities of 99.7% and 97.5%,
      respectively, while brevifolincarboxylic acid was obtained firstly from the genus
      Polygonum. The structures of the compounds were identified by ultraviolet
      spectrometry (UV), infra-red spectrometry (IR), liquid chromatography/mass
      spectrometry (LC/MS), time-of-flight mass spectrometry( TOF-MS), 1H-nuclear
      magnetic resonance (NMR) and 13C-NMR. CONCLUSION: This method is feasible and
      rapid for isolation and purification of gallice acid and brevifolincarboxylil
      acid.

PMID- 20931846
TI  - [Extraction, isolation and purification for ginkgolide B].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To establish a simple extraction, isolation and purification method
      for ginkgolide B from ginkgo leaf. METHOD: The optimum conditions of extraction,
      isolation and purification were studied by taking the transfer rate of ginkgolide
      B as index. RESULT: Ginkgo leaf was extracted with 70% ethanol for three times,
      the extracts were concentrated to remove ethanol and diluted by water till the
      crude drug density reached 0.1 g x mL(-1). The dilution was adsorbed with HPD-450
      macroporous resin. The impurities were eluted with 20% ethanol and ginkgolide B
      was eluted with 80% ethanol. Then the 80% ethanol eluant was concentrated and
      crystallized. Finally the crude crystals were recrystallized with isopropanol.
      The purity of the ginkgolide B recrystallization was 95%. CONCLUSION: The process
      was stable and easy to operate, which was suited to industrialized production.

PMID- 20931847
TI  - [Detection of bacterial endotoxin content in eight kinds of injection by cytokine
      revulsion].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: By using RAW 264.7 macrophage cell line, we studied the dose-effect
      relationship of endotoxin induced RAW 264.7 cells to release TNF-alpha, and then
      detected the content of endotoxin in 8 kinds of injections, so that we can
      investigate the feasibility and the interference factors of the novel test.
      METHOD: By using endotoxin of different concentrations to induce RAW 264. 7 cells
      to release TNF-a, we drew the curve of dose-effect relationship between endotoxin
      and generated TNF-alpha. Then we detected the content of TNF-alpha in yuxingcao,
      shuanghuanglian, qingkailing, gegensu, xiangdan, qianrongmei and jiangxianmei
      injections and shuanghuanglian powder injection, and calculated their content of
      endotoxin. RESULT: The endotoxin could induce the cells to release TNF-alpha in a
      good dose-dependent manner, even at a very low concentration. In the range of
      maximum available dilution multiple, the content of endotoxin in the rest 7 kinds
      of injections was less than 1.0 EU x mL(-1) except qingkailing injection of two
      batch. CONCLUSION: Cytokine revulsion has the advantage of wide detection range,
      high sensitivity, simple operation, and the detected endotoxin is of bioactivity.
      This method provides another technical mean for pyrogen test of injections.

PMID- 20931848
TI  - [A novel lignan dimer from stems of Kadsura heteroclita].
AB  - As a part of our search for bioactive material, the chemical investigation of the
      stems of Kadsura heteroclita led up to the isolation of a new lignan,
      heteroclitin R. The structure was elucidated on the basis of nuclear magnetic
      resonance spectroscopic data. Heteroclitin R was a new compound as a lignan dimer
      obtained from Schisandraceae family for the first time.

PMID- 20931849
TI  - [Hasubanan type alkaloids in Stephania hernandifolia].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To study the hasubanan type alkaloids in Stephania hernandifolia.
      METHOD: The dried herbs of S. hernandifolia. were extracted with 95% ethanol.
      After removal of the solvent, the residue was first partitioned between acid
      water and petroleum ether, then the aqueous layer was basified and extracted with
      chloroform to obtain crude alkaloids. Column chromatograghic methods with on
      silica gel, Rp-18, MCI CHP 20P, Sephadex LH-20 were applied for the isolation and
      purification of the crude alkaloid fraction. The structures were elucidated by
      their physicochemical properties and spectral data. RESULT: Nine hasubanan type
      alkaloids were obtained and identified as aknadinine(1), longanone(2),
      stephasunoline (3), N-methylstephuline(4), epistephamiersine(5),
      prostephabyssine(6), aknadilactam(7), dihydroepistephamiersine(8),
      hasubanonine(9). CONCLUSION: Compounds 2-8 were isolated from this plant for the
      first time.

PMID- 20931850
TI  - [Chemical constituents from root barks of Morus atropurpurea].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To study the chemical constituents from the root barks of Morus
      atropurpurea. METHOD: The chemical constituents from the 70% ethanol extract of
      M. atropurpurea were isolated and purified by column chromatographic methods.
      Their structures were identified by physico-chemical properties as well as
      spectral data. RESULT: Fifteen compounds were isolated and identified as
      sanggenol O(1), kuwanon S(2), moracin C(3), mulberrofuran A(4), mulberrofuran
      B(5), mulberrofuran C(6), mulberrofuran G(7), mulberroside A(8), mulberroside
      C(9), 1-deoxynojirimycin(10), 2-O-alpha-D-galactopyranosyl-1
      deoxynojirimycin(11), fagomine(12), betulinic acid(13), ursolic acid(14) and beta
      sitosterol(15). CONCLUSION: Compounds 1-6 and 8-13 were isolated from M.
      atropurpurea for the first time.

PMID- 20931851
TI  - [Investigation on relationship between flavonoid content and inhibitory ability
      to nitrosamine synthesis for eleven Chinese herbal medicines].
AB  - The eleven Chinese herbal medicine containing flavonoids are applied as raw
      materials to explore the relationship between the inhibitory ratio of nitrosamine
      synthesis, the scavenging ratio of nitrite and the flavonoid content in the
      samples. The inhibitory ratio of nitrosamine synthesis and the scavenging ratio
      of nitrite of the 11 herbal medicines, Vit C and rutin were determined in intro
      compare with Vit C and the standard ample of rutin. The results indicate that
      each sample exhibits certain ability to inhibitiory nitrosamine synthesis. Among
      these samples, Honeysuckle flower is found to be of best effects, its inhibitory
      ratio and scavenging ratio reaches 78.5% and 60.5%, respectively. Except
      kudzuvine root, the other samples with higher content of flavonoid result in a
      higher inhibitory or scavenging ratio, and the relative coefficient reaches a
      value of 0.9338 and 0.9272, respectively, displaying notable positive
      correlation. The concentrations of IC50 (g x L(-1)) of flavonoid extracted from
      honeysuckle, rutin and VC were 0.013, 0.022 and 0.187, respectively. While the
      inhibitory ratio of synthesis of nitrosamines reached 50%, and those were 0.042,
      0.024 and 0.041, respectively. While scavenging ratio of nitrite reaches 50%. The
      inhibitory ratio of synthesis of nitrosamine of flavonoids extracted from
      honeysuckle flower is higher than that of Vit C and rutin, and the scavenging
      ratio of nitrite is similar to that of Vit C.

PMID- 20931852
TI  - [Determination of methyl nonyl ketone in volatile oil from herbs of Houttuynia
      cordata by GC-MS].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To develop a GC-MS method for the determination of methyl nonyl ketone
      in the volatile oil from the herbs of Houttuynia cordata. METHOD: The sample was
      split in the 240 degrees C injection port, with 20:1 split ratio, and separated
      on a DB-5 (30 m x 0.25 mm, 0.25 microm film thickness) fused silica column with
      helium as the carrier gas. The temperature program was as follows: 100 degrees C
      for 2 min, the 5 degrees C x min(-1) to 150 degrees C, then 15 degrees C x min(
      1) to 200 degrees C, and kept for 10 min. The MS transfer line temperature was
      set to 250 degrees C, the MS source temperature was set to 200 degrees C. The
      ionization mode was electron ionization (EI) and the selective ion monitor mode
      was used. RESULT: A good linear relationship was constructed over the injection
      amount range of 5.5-110 ng of methyl nonyl ketone. The average recovery was
      98.9%, and RSD was 2. 2%. CONCLUSION: The developed method was sensitive,
      accurate, and can be used for the determination of methyl nonyl ketone in the
      volatile oil and for the quality control of H. cordata.

PMID- 20931853
TI  - [Determination of biological activity of extract from hirudo by N-benzoyl-L
      arginine ethyl ester].
AB  - As a potent anticoagulant, leech a traditional Chinese medicine, has become
      increasing topics. Hirudin, which is the primary effective component in leech, is
      a specific and efficient inhibitor of thrombin, mainly used in prevention and
      treatment of thrombus on the clinic practice. However, there is still no accurate
      and convenient method reported about the determination of it's biological
      activity. This paper reported a method for the determination of the biological
      activity the of extract from hirudo. The extra thrombin, which was not inhibited
      by hirudin in the extract from hirudo, reacted with N-benzoyl-L-arginine ethyl
      ester and was determined. The biological activity of the hirudo extract was
      determined, indirectly. The linear of calibration curve and accuracy were both
      perfect, the method was accurate and reliable.

PMID- 20931854
TI  - [Dracorhodin perchlorate inhibit high glucose induce serum and glucocorticoid
      induced protein kinase 1 and fibronectin expression in human mesangial cells].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of dracorhodin perchlorate (DP) on
      inhibiting high glucose-induced serum and glucocorticoid induced protein kinase 1
      (SGK1) and fibronectin (FN) expression in human mesangial cells (HMC), and its
      mechanism of prevention and treatment on renal fibrosis in diabetic nephropathy
      (DN) . METHOD: The HMC were divided into normal glucose group (NG group, 5.5 mmol
      x L(-1) D-glucose), normal glucose +low DP group (NG + LDP group, 5.5 mmol x L(
      1) D-glucose +7.5 micromol x L(-1) DP), normal glucose +high DP group (NG + HDP
      group, 5.5 mmol x L(-1) D-glucose + 15 micromol x L(-1) DP), high glucose group
      (HG group,25 mmol x L(-1) D-glucose), high glucose +low DP group (HG + LDP group,
      25 mmol x L(-1) D-glucose + 7.5 micromol x L(-1) DP)and high glucose +high DP
      group (HG +HDP group, 25 mmol x L(-1) D-glucose + 15 micromol x L(-1) DP). Each
      group was examined at 24 hours. The levels of SGK1 and FN mRNA was detected by
      real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR,and the expression of SGK1 and FN protein
      was detected by Western blot or indirect immunofluorescence. RESULT: A basal
      level of SGK1 and FN in HMC were detected in NG group, and the level of SGK1 and
      FN mRNA and protein were not evidently different compared to that of NG group
      adding 7.5 micromol x L(-1) DP for 24 hours. On the other hand, the levels of
      SGK1 and FN mRNA and protein were obviously decreased by adding 15 micromol x L(
      1) DP for 24 hours. Compared to NG group, the levels of SGK1 and FN mRNA and
      protein were increased in HG group after stimulating for 24 hours (P < 0.01).
      Compared to HG group, the level of SGK1 and FN mRNA and protein were evidently
      reduced in HG + LDP and HG + HDP groups by adding 7.5 micromol x L(-1) DP and 15
      micromol x L(-1) DP for 24 hours (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Dracorhodin perchlorate
      can inhibit high glucose-induced serum and glucocorticoid induced protein kinase
      1 (SGK1) and fibronectin(FN) expression in human mesangial cells, and this may be
      part of the mechanism of preventing and treating renal fibrosis of DN.

PMID- 20931855
TI  - [Effect of tectorigenin on MCP-1 and ICAM-1 mRNA expression in injured vascular
      endothelial cells].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To observe the protective effect of tectorigenin on the vascular
      endothelial cells(VEC) injured by oxidant low density lipoprotein-cholesterol and
      the expression of MCP-1 and ICAM-1 mRNA, and explore the mechanism of anti
      atherosclerosis. METHOD: The VEC of rat was cultured in vitro and the 100 mg x L(
      1) ox-LDL inducing oxidant injured model was used in this study. Different dosage
      tectorigenin was added into VEC and the activity of VEC was observed by MTT
      colorimetry. The expression of MCP-1 and ICAM-1 mRNA in VEC was detected by RT
      PCR. RESULT: Tectorigenin had significantly protective effect on the VEC injured
      by ox-LDL and obviously inhibited the excessive expression of MCP-1 and ICAM-1
      mRNA in VEC. CONCLUSION: It was the critical mechanism of anti-atherosclerosis
      that tectorigenin prevented the VEC oxidant injured and inhibited the excessive
      expression of MCP-1 and ICAM-1.

PMID- 20931856
TI  - [Comparative study on acute toxicity and pharmacological effect of huoxiang
      zhengqi microemulsion and huoxiang zhengqi tincture].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare the acute toxicity and the pharmacological effect of
      Huoxiang Zhengqi microemulsion and Huoxiang Zhengqi tincture. METHOD: The acute
      toxicities of Huoxiang Zhengqi microemulsion and Huoxiang Zhengqi tincture were
      observed by the test of maximum dose in mice and the antidiarrheal effects of
      them were evaluated by ED50 values of the diarrhea index, the serum levels of
      gastrin and motilin in the mice diarrhea model induced by senna. RESULT: The
      acute toxicity of Huoxiang Zhengqi tincture was much higher than that of Huoxiang
      Zhengqi microemulsion and the ED50 values of the two formulations were similar.
      CONCLUSION: The microemulsion of Huoxiang Zhengqi prescription was much safer
      than that of tincture, but the antidiarrheal effects of them in diarrhea model
      induced by senna were similar.

PMID- 20931857
TI  - [Difference of hypaconitine concentration in serum between cold-deficiency and
      normal mice].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the difference of hypaconitine concentration in serum
      between normal and cold-deficiency mice after administration of aconite
      decoction. To analyze how the toxic dose of aconite decoction correlate to the
      metabolic environment. METHOD: Prepared cold-deficiency mice model, treated
      normal and cold-deficiency mice with aconite decoction for 14 days continuously,
      and then detected hypaconitine concentration in serum by HPLC along with survival
      ratio of mice on the first, seventh and fourteenth day. RESULT: After
      administration of aconite decoction for 14 days, the hypaconitine concentration
      in serum of cold-deficiency mice is close to that in normal mice. It showed
      aconite decoction has the ability of regulating metabolism environment, the
      hypaconitine concentration in serum of normal mice was higher on the seventh and
      fourteenth day than that on first day. It showed that aconite decoction can
      disturb metabolism environment of normal mice. It was also been observed that the
      range of variation of hypaconitine concentration in cold-deficiency mice was
      minor than that in normal mice during the fourteen days' administration.
      CONCLUSION: The difference of serum concentration in normal and cold-deficiency
      mice showed that there were different metabolic environments in two mice models,
      and the metabolic environment changed during administration. These results showed
      that the different toxic doses of aconite decoction were partially due to the
      different metabolic environments.

PMID- 20931858
TI  - [Influence of tongxie prescription on CRF expression in spinal cord and brain of
      hypersensitive viscera rats].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the distribution and expression of corticotropin
      releasing factor (CRF) in spinal cord, hypothalamus and third ventricle of
      cerebrum, of the hypersensitive viscera rats, and to research on the mechanism of
      CRF in the hypersensitive vicera signal conduction pathway in IBS (irritable
      bowel syndrome) and to investigate possible active mechanisms of tongxie
      prescription on IBS. METHOD: Forty SD rats were divided randomly into three
      groups. The rats of model No. 1 were sensitized by injecting egg albumin into
      abdominal cavity. The rats of model No. 2 were sensitised by conditional stimulus
      and unconditional stimulus. The two model groups were both divided randomly into
      two groups. The five groups were given intragastric administration with Tongxie
      prescription or normal saline for four weeks. Then quantitative analysis of CRF
      in the lumbosacral spinal cord and brain of rats were achieved by
      immunohistochemical method and computerized image system. RESULT: The sensitivity
      of the groups being treated with tongxie prescription were much lower than the
      model groups (P < 0.01). The immunohistochemical method showed that CRF was
      expressed in the lumbar intumescentia of spinal cord, hypothalamus and the
      diaphragmatic surface of third ventricle of cerebrum. The CRF positive index of
      the model groups was higher than that of the blank group (P < 0.01). The CRF
      positive index of the healing groups was lower than that of the model groups (P <
      0.01). The CRF positive index of the healing groups was higher than that of the
      blank group (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: The two model rats evoked by two different
      stimulation both appeared visceral hypersensitivity state. CRF is related to
      stress. The increase of CRF expression in the lumbar intumescentia of spinal
      cord, hypothalamus and the diaphragmatic surface of third ventricle of cerebrum
      showed that CRF is critical to the introduce of stimulus signal of vicera.
      Tongxie prescription can significantly decrease CRF expression. This is one
      mechanism to decrease sensitivity of hypersensitive viscera rats.

PMID- 20931859
TI  - [Metabolism, transformation and distribution of Coptis chinensis total alkaloids
      in rat].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the pharmacokinetics, distribution and mutual
      transformation of the total alkaloids, jatrorrhizine, coptisine, berberine and
      palmatine from Coptis chinensis in rats. METHOD: After the total alkaloids and
      berberine were fed into rats, their contents in plasma, tissues and
      gastrointestinal tract were determined by reversed-phase HPLC. RESULT: The peak
      times of berberine in blood were 2.0 h (Cmax 3.7 mg x L(-1)) and 5.0 h Cmax 2.8
      mg x L(-1)), respectively. Berberine in rat blood can be transformed into
      jatrorrhizine. After the rats were fed with the total alkaloids by gavage, the
      content of berberine was decreased monotonously, while coptisine, palmatine and
      jatrorrhizine contents were increased gradually in the stomach, it speculated
      that berberine may be transformed into jatrorrhizine in the stomach. Animal
      experiments showed that berberine and palmatine were mainly distributed in the
      lungs of animals, followed by the distribution in the liver, while jatrorrhizine
      and coptisine was mainly in the liver, then in the lungs. CONCLUSION: Berberine
      could transform into jatrorrhizine. The mechanism on the appearance of two
      maximum blood concentration of berberine in blood could be explained with the
      propulsion of the gastrointestinal tract partly.

PMID- 20931860
TI  - Protective effect of effective part of Acanthopanacis senticosus on damage of
      PC12 cells induced by MPP+.
AB  - The purpose of our research was to evaluate the protective effect of the
      effective part of Acanthopanacis senticosus (AS) on the damage of PC12 cells
      induced by MPP+, an in vitro cell model for Parkinson's disease. Cell viability
      and apoptosis of PC12 cells induced by MPP' were assayed by MTT and flow
      cytometry respectively in the presence or absence of the effective part of AS.
      The contents of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), nitric oxide (NO), nitric oxide
      synthase (NOS) and malondialdehyde (MDA) were determined by UV spectrophotometer.
      Our study showed that the survival rate of PC12 cells was markedly increased
      while cell apoptosis was decreased in the range of 200 to 400 mg x L(-1) of the
      effective part of AS. The contents of LDH, NO, NOS, MDA were reduced. Our
      experimental results indicated that the effective part of AS had the protective
      effect on the damage of PC12 cells induced by MPP+. The underlying mechanisms
      might be the combination of reduction of LDH leakage and decreases in the
      contents of NO, NOS and MDA, and finally prevent the apoptosis in PC12 cells and
      increase the cell survival rate.

PMID- 20931861
TI  - [Present status and sustainable development of Dendrobium officinale industry].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To understand the present status and characteristics of Dendrobium
      officinale industry and to provide a rationale for the sustainable industrial
      development. METHOD: Based on references and an on-site investigation of main
      Dendrobium officinale-producing enterprises and market, to analyze main existing
      problems and to propose suggestions for sustainable development. RESULT: More
      than 10 provinces and regions are involved in the production around the center of
      Zhejiang and Yunnan provinces. These two provinces are different from each other
      in development pattern. Yunnan adopts a mode of companies minus farmer households
      but Zhejiang mainly employs a mode that a leading company establishes a
      production base with production, processing and marketing combined together.
      Zhejiang mode is characterized by high tech, high investment, high risk and high
      return. Existence of non-genuine species, stagnancy in development and
      application of varieties and techniques for quality control and a narrow channel
      for marketing are the key problems limiting sustainable development of the
      industry. CONCLUSION: The key to sustainable development of the industry is to
      establish a technological alliance to speed up development of common techniques
      and application of integrated innovations, to strengthen self-discipline and
      monitoring of production, and to expand sales market.

PMID- 20931862
TI  - [Rationality analysis on current validity period of preparations in medical
      institutions].
AB  - The rationality of current validity period of the preparations in medical
      institutions was analyzed. Based on the discussion of the main functions of the
      validity period in administration admission and the essential principles for the
      reasonable enactment of the validity period, author suggested that the validity
      period should be amended as 5 years in order to exert more effectively on
      administration admission of the preparation of medical institution.

PMID- 20931863
TI  - [Lignocellulose degrading bacteria and their genes encoding
      cellulase/hemicellulase in rumen--a review].
AB  - Rumen of ruminant animals is known as a natural reactor involved in highly
      efficient lignocelluloses degradation. Rumen fibrolytic microbes have attracted
      an increasing attention for their potential value in biofuel research. Studies on
      rumen microbes have traditionally entailed the isolation of fibrolytic bacteria
      and subsequent analysis of fibrolytic enzymes. Developments in genomic and
      metagenomic approaches have made it possible to isolate directly genes and gene
      clusters encoding fibrolytic activities from rumen samples, permitting a global
      analysis of mechanisms of degradation of lignocellulose in rumen. Research in
      this field shows that lignocellulose degradation in rumen is a complex process
      involving a number of different microbes and is effected by a huge array of
      hydrolytic enzymes in a concerted fashion. This review briefly summarizes results
      from recent studies, especially metagenomic studies, on lignocellulose
      degradation in rumen.

PMID- 20931864
TI  - [Advances in lactamases from microbes--a review].
AB  - gamma-Lactamase belongs to the amidase. The (+) gamma-lactamses can be applied in
      the kinetic resolution of racemic gamma-lactam, which can produce (-) gamma
      lactam efficiently. The (-) gamma-lactam enantiomer is an important synthon for
      the synthesis of carbocyclic nucleosides. Up to now seven strains of microbes
      were reported that produced gamma-lactamses. The crystal structure of (-)
      lactamase from Aureoacterium sp. was resoluted, and the catalytic mechanism based
      on the structure data analysis was alike with the alpha/beta hydrolase family.
      However, no structure data and mechanism theory is available for (+) lactamase
      till now. The future works focus on protein engineering of the gamma-lactamase to
      improve the catalysis of the protein, elucidation of the catalytic mechanism of
      the gamma-lactamase and the functions of the gamma-lactamase in vivo.

PMID- 20931865
TI  - [Diversity and bioactivity of cultured actinomycetes in Sichuan and Yunnan area].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: In order to discover new leader compounds, the diversity and some
      bioactivities of cultured actinomycetes from Sichuan and Yunnan were studied.
      METHODS: In total 250 soil samples were collected from forest of Huangjin, Emei
      and Qingcheng Mountains, Jiuzhaigou in Sichuan, and Xishuangbanna in Yunnan.
      Actinomycetes in these samples were isolated and identified. Bioactivities of
      isolated strains were determined. RESULTS: In total 2676 strains of actinomycetes
      were isolated from these samples. The 16S rRNA gene sequences of 98 selected
      strains were determined, and the phylogenetic analysis was carried out. 13, 5, 9
      and 20 genera were identified from Forest of Huangjin, Emei and Qingcheng
      Mountains (one sample area), Jiuzhaigou, and Xishuangbanna respectively. The
      diversity of Xishuangbanna was the richest. That of Emei and Qingcheng Mountains
      was monotone, and only five genera were isolated. Antimicrobial activities of 169
      selected strains against 11 bacteria and fungi were tested using agar well
      diffusion method, and genes of type I and II polyketide synthases (PKS I, PKS
      II), non-ribosomal peptide synthase (NRPS) and polygene cytochrome P450
      hydroxylase (CYP) were detected by PCR. High rate of antimicrobial activity and
      the synthesis genes of four antibiotic existed in these actinomyctes. CONCLUSION:
      In sample-collecting areas, the poorer human beings disturbance, the richer the
      diversity of actinomycetes. For isolation of actinomycetes, author advocate using
      of " extreme" conditions, although it may got small number of actinomycetes, but
      the proportion of unknown actinomycetes was greater. Gram-negative bacteria and
      fungi could be inhibited by adding inhibitors in media.

PMID- 20931866
TI  - [Screening of harmine tolerance/degrading bacteria from camel rumen].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Peganum harmala, a famous traditional Chinese drug, contains a variety
      of alkaloids and toxic for many animals. Camels mainly live in desert or semi
      desert areas, with the robust gastrointestine system in digesting various feed
      including toxic plants without disease symptoms. METHODS: Camel rumen content was
      used as the inoculant to inoculate medium M98-5 which contains 100 mg x L(-1)
      harmin and cultivated for 5 days. Upto 5 subculturings, strains that could
      degrading or tolerant harmine were isolated. Their conversion activity was
      determined by thin-layer chromatography. The taxonomic position of the strains
      were identified based on 16S rRNA sequences analysis. RESULTS: 15 out of the 29
      isolates have harmine degrading activity. Most of the isolates are identified as
      the members of the Genera Lactobacillus (16 strains, 55%), Shigella (7 strains,
      24%) and Bacillus (4 strains, 13.8%). Only one strain belong to genus
      Enterococcus and one belong to genus Megasphaera. CONCLUSION: The results
      indicated that the harmine tolerance/degrading communities of camel rumen are
      limited and only Lactobacillus have harmine-degrading activity.

PMID- 20931867
TI  - [Cloning and analysis of the telomeres of five Streptomyces linear plasmids].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Streptomyces strains were isolated from soil samples of Tibet, five
      small linear plasmids were detected by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis.
      OBJECTIVE: Cloning, sequencing and analysis of telomeres of these plasmids.
      METHODS: The telomeres were cloned by a modified procedure--"alkaline treatment
      and enzyme digestion in gels". RESULTS: Telomeres of five linear plasmids were
      cloned and sequenced. Compared with the typical Streptomyces telomeres, the newly
      identified telomeres contained multiple palindromes, but some could not "fold
      back" of their first conserved palindrome I with the internal palindromes to form
      a "super-hairpin", and palindromes of some telomeres did not contain the 3-nt
      "loop". CONCLUSION: New telomere sequences were cloned by a modified procedure.
      Both folding-back of the telomere palindromes and 3-nt loop of palindromes varied
      among telomeres.

PMID- 20931868
TI  - [Genetic manipulation system for tiacumicin producer Dactylosporangium
      aurantiacum NRRL 18085].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To optimize the production of tiacumicin B in Dactylosporangium
      aurantiacum NRRL 18085, we developed a genetic manipulation system for disrupting
      genes involved in tiacumicin biosynthesis. METHODS: We developed a method of
      conjugation to transfer exotic DNA pSET152 into D. aurantiacum NRRL 18085. Using
      the PCR-targeting system, we disrupted a putative tiacumicin halogenase gene in
      vitro by "in-frame deletion" in E. coli, and then the resulting cosmid was
      transferred into D. aurantiacum NRRL 18085 by conjugation. RESULTS: The putative
      tiacumicin halogenase gene in D. aurantiacum NRRL 18085 was disrupted by in-frame
      deletion from a double-crossover recombination event. The resulting mutant strain
      lost the ability to produce tiacumicin B. CONCLUSION: We developed a genetic
      manipulation system for D. aurantiacum NRRL 18085, enabling the functional
      characterization of tiacumicin biosynthetic genes in vivo, and we offered a
      positive example for other Actinobacteria lacking an appropriate genetic
      manipulation system.

PMID- 20931869
TI  - [Effects of environmental stress on secondary metabolites of Aspergillus
      ochraceus LCJ11-102 associated with the coral Dichotella gemmacea].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To explore the secondary metabolites of fungus Aspergillus ochraceus
      LCJ11-102 associated with the coral Dichotella gemmacea under environmental
      stress and to obtain characteristic compounds with biological activities.
      METHODS: A nutrient-deprived culture medium (biomimetic culture) and a high salt
      culture medium were used for fermentation. Fingerprints of HPLC of the
      fermentation broth were used to investigate the diversity of secondary
      metabolites. Compounds were isolated by column chromatography on silica gel,
      Sephadex LH-20, and preparative HPLC. Their structures were identified by
      spectroscopic analyses and the modified Mosher's method. RESULTS: Different
      secondary metabolites were produced by A. ochraceus LCJ11-102 under two different
      culture conditions. (R)-mellein (1), (5,6-trans, 8,9-threo-) -9-chloro-8-hydroxy
      8, 9-deoxyaspyrone (2), (5,6-erythro-, 8,9-threo-) -9-chloro-8-hydroxy-8, 9
      deoxyasperlactone (3), and (5S, 6R, 9S)-dihydroaspyrone (4) were identified from
      the biomimetic cultures, and R (+) -semi-vioxanthin (5) was identified from the
      high salt cultures, respectively. CONCLUSION: Environmental stress obviously
      induces microbes to produce different secondary metabolites. And biomimetic
      culture is an effective approach to obtain active chloro compounds from marine
      microorganisms.

PMID- 20931870
TI  - [Effect of YDL080C gene deletion on higher alcohols production in Saccharomyces
      cerevisiae haploids].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The deletion of pyruvate decarboxylase-like enzyme gene (YDL080C gene)
      in industrial Saccharomyces cerevisiae haploids a-8 and alpha-22 were
      respectively constructed, and the effect of YDL080C gene deletion on the
      production of higher alcohols, especially isoamyl alcohol, was investigated in
      high gravity ethanol fermentation. METHODS: Upper and down stream fragments YA
      (460 bp) and YB (630 bp) of YDL080C gene were amplified by PCR using the genomic
      DNA of S. cerevisiae haploids a-8 and alpha-22, respectively; KanMX marker for
      G418 resistance from plasmid pUG6 was cloned by PCR. Fragments YA, YB and KanMX
      were respectively inserted into the same plasmid pUC19 using EcoRI and KpnI, KpnI
      and BamHI, and KpnI sites in the order of YA-KanMX-YB to construct the recombined
      vector pUC-YABK. The recombinant cassette YA-KanMX-YB was cloned from plasmid pUC
      YABK by PCR and respectively transformed into industrial yeast haploid a-8 and
      alpha-22. By the double homologous recombination, YDL080C gene deletion mutants
      were constructed and selected by the growth extent on YEPD agar plates containing
      600 microg/mL G418. At the end of high gravity ethanol fermentation, fermentation
      performance and higher alcohols production of parental haploids and their mutants
      were determined. RESULTS: YDL080C deletion mutants were respectively selected
      from their corresponding parental haploid a-8 and alpha-22. The alcohol
      fermentation results showed that higher alcohols, especially isoamyl alcohol,
      were almost invariable among the mutants and their corresponding parental
      haploids. However, mutants yielded more amount of ethanol of 0.6 (%, v/v) and 0.4
      (%, v/v) over its parental haploid, respectively. CONCLUSION: Deletion of YDL080C
      gene in S. cerevisiae haploids has no noticeable effect on decreasing the
      production of higher alcohols, especially isoamyl alcohol, but it seems to
      somehow increase the production of ethanol.

PMID- 20931871
TI  - [Isolation and identification of an endophytic fungus of Polygonatum cyrtonema
      and its antifungal metabolites].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Endophytic fungi in medicinal plants produce a variety of bioactivity
      compounds. In this study, an endophytic fungus zjqy610 with antifungal activity
      was isolated from Polygonatum cyrtonema in Zhejiang Qingyuan Baishanzu Mountain
      nature reserve. METHODS: Strain zjqy610 was identified as Penicillium canescens
      based on the morphology and its rDNA sequence analysis. Three antifungal
      compounds were isolated from the fermentation broth of zjqy610 through normal
      phase silica gel column chromatography and gel (Sephadex LH-20) column
      chromatography, traced by ultraviolet light or iodine vapor with bioassay-guided
      fractionation. RESULTS: These three compounds were elucidated as o
      acetylbenzeneamidinocarboxylic acid (zjqy610B-g-3), griseofulvin (zjqy610D-4) and
      naphtho [1,2-b] furan-3-carboxylic acid, 4-hydroxy-5-methoxy-2-methyl-(zjqy610F
      2) based on mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The
      antifungal activity assays showed that the three compounds had inhibitory to
      variety of plant pathogenic fungi. Compound zjqy610D-4 had strong antifungal
      activity against Botrytis cinerea, Colletotrichum orbiculare, Didymella bryoniae
      and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. EC50 was 0.68, 0.38, 0.91 and 0.61 mg/L,
      respectively. CONCLUSION: Zjqy610D-4 is deserved to develop an agricultural
      antibiotics.

PMID- 20931873
TI  - [Identification of almA genes involved in long-chain alkane degradation by
      Alcanivorax hongdengensis A-11-3].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to identify of genes involved in long-chain
      (LC) alkane degradation in Alcanivorax hongdengensis A-11-3. METHODS: PCR was
      applied to obtain Flavin-binding monooxygenase genes, then quantitative real-time
      polymerase chain reaction (Q-RT-PCR) and RT-PCR were applied to analyze gene
      expression in response to different LC-alkanes and pristane. RESULTS: Two
      homologues, almA1 and almA2, were obtained. They showed 58.6% and 53.2%
      similarities with almA of Acinetobacter sp. Strain DSM 17874, respectively, at
      amino acid level. Enhanced expression of almA1 genes was observed when strain A
      11-3 grew with long chain alkanes (C28 to C32), in sodium acetate medium.
      However, the induction expression was not observed in the case of C9-C22 alkanes.
      Similarly, almA2 was induced by long chain alkanes (C24 to C34). In addition, it
      was also induced by the branched alkane pristane. CONCLUSION: AlmA genes were
      mostly responsible for the degradation of long-chain alkanes and pristane in
      strain A-11-3.

PMID- 20931872
TI  - [Screening and characterization of antibacterial and cytotoxic marine bacteria
      associated with Karlodinium micrum].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Antibacterial and cytotoxic activities were screened for marine
      bacteria which have been isolated from Karlodinium micrum, in order to obtain
      potential strains with antibacterial and cytotoxic activities. METHODS: In total
      38 bacteria isolated from Karlodinium micrum were screened by agar-screening and
      MTT methods. The 16S rRNA genes were amplified from the genome DNA of those
      bacteria positive for both antibacterial and cytotoxic activities, which were
      cloned into pMD18-T vector for sequencing analysis. RESULTS: Twenty-five isolates
      had antimicrobial activity and 5 isolates (W-14-2, W-2-2, W-12, E-8-2 and W-4)
      had cytotoxicity. Molecular phylogenetic analysis of marine bacteria with
      cytotoxicity based on 16S rRNA sequences indicated that they exhibited the
      highest similarity (98%, 99%, 99%, 98% and 99%, respectively) to the 16S rRNA
      fragments of Alteromonas alvinellae, Stappia aggregata, Pelagibaca bermudensis,
      Marinobacter kribbensis and Maribacter dokdonensis. CONCLUSION: The bacteria with
      bioactivity in Karlodinium micrum were abundant. We obtained five strains
      positive for both antibacterial and cytotoxic activities, which provide a clue to
      understanding the mechanism of toxin biosynthesis in Karlodinium micrum based on
      epiphytic and endophytic bacteria.

PMID- 20931874
TI  - [Purification and characterization of ferulic acid esterase from Penicillium
      citrinum].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Extracellular feruloyl esterase (EC 3.1.1.73) from Penicillium
      citrinum culture filtrates was studied. The effect of feruloyl esterases on the
      enzymatic hydrolysis of brewer's spent grain was also investigated. METHODS:
      Feruloyl esterase was purified to homogeneity by ammonium sulfate precipitation,
      ion-exchange chromatography with a DEAE-Sepharose Fast Flow column, and column
      chromatography with a Phenyl-Sepharose 6 Fast Flow column. RESULTS: The purified
      homogeneous preparation of native feruloyl esterase had a molecular mass of 58
      kDa by native-PAGE and a subunit molecular mass of 31 kDa by SDS-PAGE. The
      optimum enzymatic activity was achieved at pH 6.0 and 45 - 65 degrees C. The
      enzyme was stable at pH from 5.0 to 6.0 and temperature from 25 to 55 degrees C.
      The enzymatic activity was slightly enhanced by Mg2+, Fe2+, Mn2+, Ca2+, and Na+,
      whereas it was slightly inhibited by Zn2+, strongly inhibited by Cu2+, and
      completely inhibited by Hg2+ and phenylmethanesulfonyl fluoride. EDTA had a
      slight influence on the enzymatic activity. The determination of k(cat)/K(m)
      revealed that the enzyme hydrolyzed methyl p-coumarate, methyl sinapate, methyl
      ferulate, methyl caffeate, and the values were 823, 416, 103, and 0,
      respectively. The k(cat)/K(m) values showed that the enzyme hydrolyzed MpCA
      faster and more efficiently than all the other substrates. When the crude
      feruloyl esterase was used to hydrolyze the brewer's spent grain, about 7.2% of
      the alkaline-extractable ferulic acid could be released, with the concentration
      of 5 u feruloyl esterase /g. CONCLUSION: A feruloyl esterase was discovered. Its
      biochemical characteristics were different from what has been reported in
      literature. This provided an important basis for the exploitation of a feruloyl
      esterase.

PMID- 20931875
TI  - [Effect of environmental factors on bacterial community in Lake Dongping
      sediment].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: In order to investigate the effect of environmental factors on the
      bacterial composition of Lake Dongping sediment. METHODS: We set six sampling
      points in Lake Dongping and sampled once in July and once October. Terminal
      Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (T-RFLP) method was used to analyze the
      bacterial diversity. Ammonium nitrogen (NH4(+)-N) , nitrate nitrogen (NO3(-)-N) ,
      total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), total organic carbon (TOC) and water
      depth were measured. RESULTS: T-RFLP profiles showed high similarity among
      samples. However, bacterial diversity indices were significant difference in
      various samples. The richness, diversity, and evenness in samples which were
      collected in dry season (October) were generally higher than those in wet season
      (July), and the bacterial species dominance was higher in wet season than that in
      dry season. Principal Component Analysis showed that the structure of bacterial
      communities in sample 2B was marked different from the other samples. The results
      of Canonical Correspondence Analysis suggested that the abundance of 558 bp T-RF
      was negatively correlated with NH4(+)-N, NO3(-)-N, TN, TP and TOC, but positively
      correlated with TOC/TN and the water depth; the abundance of 64.5, 164, 509, and
      543 bp T-RFs were positively correlated with NH4(+)-N, NO3(-)-N, TN, TOC, TOC/TN
      and the water depth. The dominant bacteria in Lake Dongping sediments were
      Firmicutes and Proteobacteria. CONCLUSION: Environmental factors affect bacterial
      diversity of Lake Dongping sediments, although affect less on indigenous
      bacteria.

PMID- 20931876
TI  - [Construction of microbial metagenomic library and screening of a nematicidal
      protease gene in greenhouse cucumber soil infested with root-knot nematodes].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: In order to search novel nematicidal protease genes, a metagenomic
      fosmid library was constructed and screened by uncultured method. METHODS:
      Density gradient centrifugation was used to extract and purify total greenhouse
      soil microbial DNA. After end-repair, ligation, packing and transformation,
      metagenomic fosmid library was constructed. At the same time, in order to screen
      the library, function-driven screening was used as a potential strategy, skim
      milk was served as substrate and root-knot nematodes as targets. RESULTS: The
      library contained 31,008 clones with the average insert fragment of 36.5 kb,
      including 1.13 Gbp microbial genetic information, so it was suitable for large
      scale microbial functional gene screening. By the function-driven screening,
      fosmid clone pro12 which contained the nematicidal protease gene was screened.
      Then, subclones were constructed and screened. A subclone named espro124a5 was
      screened. After analysis of gene structure, espro124a5 is a secreted
      extracellular protease and a database search for homologies revealed it possessed
      45% identities with peptidase S15 from Maricaulis maris MCS10 (accession no. YP_
      756822 at NCBI). It is a novel serine protease. Besides these, it has the serine
      protease-conserved catalytic triad residues, Asp469, His541 and the catalytic
      nucleophile Ser348. CONCLUSION: DNA obtained from the method of Nycodenz density
      gradient centrifugation had high purity, long fragment, and can meet the
      requirements of constructing metagenomic fosmid library. At the same time, the
      metagenomic fosmid library contains a lot of microbial genetic information, which
      is suitable for the screening of the other microbial genetic resources.

PMID- 20931877
TI  - [Establishment and application of a high-throughput model for screening alpha
      glucosidase inhibitors].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Targeted at the important enzyme in human glucose metabolic pathway,
      the purpose of this paper is to establish alpha-glucosidase inhibitors high
      throughput screening model. METHODS: Pichia pastoris expression system was used
      to clone and express the human alpha-maltase glucosidase. Using the catalytic
      properties of enzyme to establish alpha-glucosidase inhibitor screening model.
      This model was applied in screening of actinomycete metabolites library. The
      taxonomic status of positive strains were analyzed by constructing 16S rRNA
      phylogenetic tree. RESULTS: The N-terminal catalytic domain of human alpha
      maltase glucosidase was successfully cloned and expressed for the first time. The
      high-throughput screening model of alpha-glucosidase inhibitors was established.
      A natural product library containing metabolites from nearly 2000 actinomycetes
      was screened, 20 alpha-maltase glucosidase inhibitor producing strains were
      obtained finally, of which, 19 strains initially identified as Streptomyces, and
      showed taxonomically rich diversity. CONCLUSION: The alpha-glucosidase inhibitor
      high-throughput screening model has high practical value, this work laid the
      foundation for developing new hypoglycemic drugs.

PMID- 20931878
TI  - [Comparison of six detection methods for classical swine fever virus].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We investigated the advantages and disadvantages of six methods to
      detect classical swine fever virus (CSFV). METHODS: We used six methods,
      including the virus isolation, colloidal gold immunochromatographic assay (CGIA),
      antigen-capture ELISA (AC-ELISA), reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction
      (RT-PCR), TaqMan real-time RT-PCR (RT-qPCR) and reverse transcription-loop
      mediated isothermal amplification assay (RT-LAMP), to detect CSFV in 50 samples
      parallelly. RESULTS: The results showed that 13 samples were detected positive by
      RT-qPCR and RT-LAMP, 11 by PCR, 10 by virus isolation, 9 by AC-ELISA and 8 by
      CGIA, and 8 samples were detected positive and 37 samples negative by the six
      methods. CONCLUSION: These results indicated that the 3 RNA-amplification assays
      could be used as the first choice for detection of CSFV due to the high
      sensitivity, while they were vulnerable to false positive results arising from
      sample to sample contaminations or from other contaminated sources. Although the
      virus isolation was time-consuming, it was still considered the "gold standard"
      and was indispensable for confirming CSF outbreaks. The rest two methods, AC
      ELISA and CGIA, yielded the results in a short time yet their performance was
      hampered by a low sensitivity. Therefore, they were mainly used for herd
      diagnosis and not suitable for individual test for CSFV infection.

PMID- 20931879
TI  - [Ultrasonic treatment of soil samples for actinomycete isolation].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We used ultrasonic to treat soil samples to isolate rare actinomycetes
      strains. METHODS: We collected and suspended soil samples from mix tropical-rain
      forest in Xishuangbanna. Farther, we treated the soil suspension with ultrasound
      for 10 to 120 s and used the plate dilution method to isolate actinomycetes.
      After got pure colonies, we sequenced their 16S rRNA gene sequences and
      calculated to put in phylogenetic analysis. The isolates were identified to the
      genus. We treated 10 kinds of common and identified Streptomyces with 1 - 5 min
      using ultrasonic, and then were cultured to measure their survival rate. RESULTS:
      The soil suspensions treated with different times by the ultrasonic,
      actinomycetes gradual increased in the number and types. Ultrasonic treating of
      known Streptomyces with 0-5 min, there was no significant effect on the survival
      number of Streptomyces. CONCLUSION: The ultrasonic treating with soil suspensions
      for 40 s can significantly increase the total number of actinomycetes and the
      types of rare actinomycetes. Thereby, it is an economic and simple method to
      apparently increase the types of rare actinomycetes in the isolation.

PMID- 20931880
TI  - [Cloning, sequencing and identification of replication origin of Rhodococcus
      linear plasmid pNSL1].
AB  - Two linear plasmids, pNSL1 and pNSL1, were detected from Rhodocuccus sp. NS1.
      OBJECTIVE: Cloning, sequencing and identification of replication origin of the
      Rhodococcus linear plasmid pNSL1. METHODS: Large amount of linear plasmid DNA was
      recovered from pulsed-field gels for shotgun-cloning and sequencing, and
      identification of its replication locus. RESULTS: The complete nucleotide
      sequence of pNSL1 consisted of 117252 bp, including the conserved 1282-bp
      telomere sequences among Rhodococcus linear plasmids. pNSL1 encoded 103 open
      reading frames, including functions of replication, maintenance and transfer etc.
      A locus, pNSL1. 038 and upstream 767-bp non-coding sequence, was identified for
      autonomous replication by cloning in an E. coli vector and introduced by
      electroporation into Nocardia coralline 4. 1037. CONCLUSION: Cloning and
      sequencing of Rhodococcus linear plasmid pNSL1, and identification of its
      replication origin.

PMID- 20931881
TI  - [Isolation PQQ biosynthesis gene cluster from Gluconobacter oxydans based on
      sorbose-dehydrogenase activity].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To isolate PQQ biosynthesis gene cluster from Gluconobacter oxydans
      H24 based on sorbose-dehydrogenase activity. METHODS: A library of Gluconobacter
      oxydans H24 genomic DNA was constructed with host strains Escherichia coli
      JM109s, which was integrated of sdh gene at the ptsG site on the chromosome of
      JM109. By detecting sorbose-dehydrogenase activity, clone of PQQ biosynthesis was
      isolated and subcloned. RESULTS: A positive clone was isolated from Gluconobacter
      oxydans H24 genomic DNA library. Within the 5,400-base-pair DNA fragment five
      reading frames are presented, corresponding to five of the pqq genes (pqqABCDE).
      The nucleotide and amino acid sequence showed highly homology to pqq genes of
      other bacteria. CONCLUSION: The pqqABCDE gene cluster was successfully isolated
      from Gluconobacter oxydans H24 by sorbose dehydrogenase activity.

PMID- 20931882
TI  - [Preparation and characterization of monoclonal antibodies specific for FlaA
      protein of Campylobacter jejuni].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We expressed and purified Campylobacter jejuni flagellin FlaA protein
      to develop monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against this protein. METHODS: The C.
      jejuni flaA gene was amplified and inserted into the expression plasmids, pET30a
      (+) and pGEX-6p-1. The purified rHis-FlaA protein was used as an immunogen in 8
      week-old BALB/c mice, and injected subcutaneously. The purified rGST-FlaA protein
      used as a detecting antigen for screening mAbs against FlaA was prepared by using
      a denaturation and renaturation technique. The specificity of mAbs was
      characterized by Dot-ELISA and Western blot assays. RESULTS: The recombinant
      expression plasmids, pET30a (+)-flaA and pGEX-6p-1-flaA were obtained. The sizes
      of the recombinant proteins, rHis-FlaA and rGST-FlaA, were consistent with their
      predicted size. Specific reaction was found between FlaA positive serum and
      expressed protein by Western-blot assay, confirming its identification as a
      Campylobacter jejuni immunogen. Three hybridoma cell lines, designated 2D12, 5A12
      and 6A9, secreting mAbs against FlaA were obtained. Their immunoglobulin
      subclasses were IgG2a, IgG1 and IgG1, respectively. The ELISA titers of the
      ascites fluid were 1:102 400, 1:102 400 and 1:51 200, respectively. Western blot
      analysis confirmed that the three mAbs reacted with the rHis-FlaA fusion protein
      but not the His tag. The Dot-ELISA results demonstrated that the three mAbs only
      with FlaA and not the tags for the expression vectors. CONCLUSION: The successful
      preparation of three mAbs specific for the FlaA protein lays the foundation for
      further study regarding the biological characteristics of FlaA and the
      pathogenesis of C. jejuni.

PMID- 20931883
TI  - Coverage, recission reviews to get tougher in some states under reform.

PMID- 20931884
TI  - Pay raises in store for clinical executives.

PMID- 20931885
TI  - Defined contribution. Magic bullet?

PMID- 20931886
TI  - When is a brand a generic? In a contract with a PBM.

PMID- 20931887
TI  - $10B to study payment systems.

PMID- 20931888
TI  - Provenge approval means sensitive coverage decisions.

PMID- 20931889
TI  - Interim federal high-risk groups may far exceed $5B allocation.

PMID- 20931890
TI  - Social media are your friends. Interview by John Marcille.

PMID- 20931891
TI  - Helping Hispanics means improving preventive care.

PMID- 20931892
TI  - Holistic care management requires IT integration.

PMID- 20931893
TI  - Strengthening diuretics' role in hypertension.

PMID- 20931894
TI  - Program keeps dually-eligible adults out of nursing home.

PMID- 20931895
TI  - New players enter field of regenerative medicine.

PMID- 20931896
TI  - PPACA causes short-term increases in costs.

PMID- 20931897
TI  - Uphill battle. As number of uninsured rises, effort to repeal healthcare overhaul
      gets tougher.
AB  - The latest Census Bureau figures on the number of uninsured Americans gave more
      fuel to those behind the new healthcare law. The statistics show 50.7 million had
      no health insurance in 2009. "The economic downturn has affected everyone so it
      is not surprising that more people are without insurance," says Richard
      Umbdenstock, left, of the AHA.

PMID- 20931898
TI  - Bumpy ride for stocks. But hospital investors see reform as positive.

PMID- 20931899
TI  - Privacy, please. AHIMA voices concern over proposed privacy rule changes.

PMID- 20931900
TI  - Outsourcing sees stimulus effect. Health reform, ailing economy prompt a closer
      look at use of contractors.

PMID- 20931901
TI  - Who says it's hyperbolic? Midterm campaigns are bringing out the healthcare crazy
      talk.

PMID- 20931902
TI  - More than words. Hospital culture must change at its core to truly improve
      safety.

PMID- 20931903
TI  - Physician disciplinary actions by state. Ranked by total board actions in 2009.

PMID- 20931904
TI  - Domestic violence: its prevalence and profile.

PMID- 20931905
TI  - Acute toxicity and diuretic studies of the roots of Asparagus racemosus Willd in
      rats.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Asparagus racemosus Willd has been used as diuretic in Ayurveda but
      has not been validated by a suitable experimental model. Hence the present study
      was undertaken. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was carried out with an aqueous
      extract of the roots of Asparagus racemosus utilizing three doses viz 800 mg/kg,
      1600 mg/kg and 3200 mg/kg for its diuretic activity in comparison with standard
      drug (furosemide) and control (normal saline) rats after doing acute toxicity
      study. RESULTS: Acute toxicity study showed no fatality even with the highest
      dose and the diuretic study revealed significant diuretic activity (p < 0.05) in
      the dose of 3200 mg/kg. CONCLUSION: Asparagus racemosus showed diuretic activity
      at a 3200 mg/kg dose without acute toxicity.

PMID- 20931906
TI  - The Jamaica Injury Surveillance System: a profile of the intentional and
      unintentional injuries in Jamaican hospitals.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Injuries in Jamaica are a major public health problem as demonstrated
      by a hospital based computerized injury surveillance system established in 1999
      that provides a risk profile for injuries. SUBJECTS AND METHOD: Injury data from
      2004 were selected to provide an annual profile, as comprehensive injury data
      were available from nine public hospitals. These nine public hospitals provide
      care for 70% of the Jamaicans admitted to hospitals annually. RESULTS: Data are
      presented on unintentional injuries where falls caused 44%, lacerations 27% and
      accidental blunt injuries were 17% of these. For motor vehicle related injuries,
      55% were sustained while commuting by motorcars, 17% while riding
      motorbikes/bicycles and 16% of those injured were pedestrians. Most violence
      related injuries were due to fights (76%) with acquaintances (47%) who used sharp
      objects (40%) to inflict the injury. CONCLUSION: The Jamaica Injury Surveillance
      System (JISS) data, augmented by data collected on injuries from the health
      centres and the sentinel surveillance system, give a measure of the magnitude of
      the impact of injuries on the health services. The JISS provides data on the
      profile of injuries seen and treated at health facilities in Jamaica. In
      collaboration with police data and community-based surveys, it can be used to
      complete the risk profiles for different types of injuries. The data generated at
      the parish, regional and national levels form the basis for the design and
      monitoring of prevention programmes, as well as serve to support and evaluate
      policy, legislative control measures and measures that impact on interventions.

PMID- 20931907
TI  - Seroprevalence of toxoplasmosis, leptospirosis and brucellosis in sugarcane field
      workers in Trinidad and Tobago.
AB  - Sugarcane field-workers, like rice field-workers, livestock farmers and abattoir
      workers are known to be occupationally exposed to zoonotic agents. The study
      determined the seroprevalence of immunoglobulins to Toxoplasma gondii (IgM),
      Leptospira spp (IgM) and Brucella abortus (IgG) in sugarcane field-workers across
      weighing stations in the island of Trinidad. In addition, the association of risk
      factors to infections by the three zoonoses was investigated. Blood samples were
      collected from consenting apparently healthy sugarcane field-workers across the
      island of Trinidad. Current/acute infection in individuals was determined in the
      sera of individuals using the enzyme immunoassay (EIA) for T gondii IgM
      antibodies, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for Leptospira spp IgM
      immunoglobulins and both buffered plate agglutination test (BPAT) and competitive
      ELISA for B abortus IgG antibodies. The seroprevalence of IgM immunoglobulins to
      T gondii was 15.7% (64 of 407) and to Leptospira spp was 0.7% (5 of 704) and the
      difference was statistically significant (p 0 < 0.05; chi2). All 704 samples
      tested for B abortus IgG immunoglobulins were negative. All risk factors (age,
      gender race and type of work done) were not statistically significantly (p >
      0.05; chi2) associated with infections by T gondii and Leptospira spp. It was
      concluded that sugarcane field-workers in Trinidad were at high risk of acute
      toxoplasmosis and, to a lesser extent, to leptospirosis. The fact that the four
      risk factors studied were not significantly associated with T gondii and
      Leptospira spp infections suggests that they may not be important in the
      epidemiology of both diseases in the population studied.

PMID- 20931908
TI  - The prevalence of domestic violence within different socio-economic classes in
      Central Trinidad.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Domestic violence is a medical and social issue that often leads to
      negative consequences for society. This paper examines the association between
      the prevalence of domestic violence in relation to the different socio-economic
      classes in Central Trinidad. The paper also explores the major perceived causes
      of physical abuse in Central Trinidad. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Participants were
      selected using a two-stage stratified sampling method within the Couva district.
      Households, each contributing one participant, were stratified into different
      socioeconomic classes (SES Class) and each stratum size (or its share in the
      sample) was determined by the portion of its size in the sampling frame to the
      total sample; then its members were randomly selected. The sampling method
      attempted to balance and then minimize racial, age, cultural biases and
      confounding factors. The participant chosen had to be older than 16-years of age,
      female and a resident of the household. If more than one female was at home, the
      most senior was interviewed. RESULTS: The study found a statistically significant
      relationship between verbal abuse (p = 0.0017), physical abuse (p = 0.0012) and
      financial abuse (p = 0.001) and socio-economic class. For all the socio-economic
      classes considered, the highest prevalence of domestic violence occurred amongst
      the working class and lower middle socio-economic classes. The most prominent
      reasons cited for the physical violence was drug and alcohol abuse (37%) and
      communication differences (16.3%). These were the other two main perceived causes
      of the violence. The power of the study was 0.78 and the all strata prevalence of
      domestic violence was 41%. CONCLUSIONS: Domestic violence was reported within all
      socio-economic class groupings but it was most prevalent within the working class
      and lower middle socio-economic classes. The major perceived cause of domestic
      violence was alcohol/drug abuse.

PMID- 20931909
TI  - Trauma: the burden of a preventable problem.
AB  - Trauma is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in developing countries and
      we reviewed the demographics and cost of trauma in a Jamaican population. This is
      a retrospective, descriptive analytical study of all trauma patients aged 25 to
      29-years who presented to the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI)
      during the study period, January 2001 to December 2005. Data were extracted from
      the Trauma Registry and analysed. Seven hundred and fifteen patients were
      included in the specified age group over the five-year period. The median age of
      the patients was 27 years and the median hospital stay was 3 days. There was a
      4:1 ratio of males to females and 49.7% of injuries were caused by penetrating
      wounds. Motor vehicle accidents occurred in 22.4% of cases. Head injuries
      occurred in 13.6% of cases, long bone fractures in 16.5% and internal injury to
      chest or abdominal organs in 15.9% of cases. Craniotomy or thoracotomy was
      undertaken in 4% of cases, Open Reduction Internal Fixation (ORIF) or bone
      immobilization in 11% and laparotomy in 8% of cases. The mean injury severity
      scores (ISS) was 4 while 5% of patients had ISS greater than 15. More than 60% of
      patients underwent diagnostic X-rays, 8% had abdominal imaging (CT scan or
      ultrasound) and 9.5% underwent head CT scan. The in-hospital mortality was 4.2%.
      The median hospital bill charged was US$320.00 and the median amount paid by the
      patients was US$50.00. At the start of the new millennium, penetrating trauma
      accounted for almost 50% of cases at UHWI with the majority of costs associated
      with trauma-care being state funded.

PMID- 20931910
TI  - Small babies on a small island: survival of very low birthweight infants in
      Antigua and Barbuda 1986 to 2006.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Recent attention has been focussed on pregnancy outcomes in
      developing countries, with the publication of the World Health Organization
      Report 2005, Make Every Mother and Child Count and the Neonatal Survival Series
      from the Lancet in 2005. Scant outcome data from the smaller islands of the
      Caribbean exist for very low birthweight (VLBW) babies (birthweight < 1500 g).
      PATIENTS AND METHODS: A retrospective review of mortality data on VLBW babies in
      Antigua and Barbuda was performed. Antigua and Barbuda had a population of 71 500
      with per capita income of (US) $6054 dollars in 1998. In November 1985, a
      neonatal Special Care Nursery (SCN) was established. The survival to discharge
      from SCN for VLBW babies was reviewed from January 1986 to December 2006.
      RESULTS: There were 26 455 babies born from 1986 to 2006; 344 (1.3%) were VLBW
      babies. Survival to SCN discharge was 45% from 1986 to 1992, 46% from 1993 to
      1999, and increased to 60% from 2000 to 2006 (p < 0.05 compared with the first
      two time-periods). Babies from 1000 to 1499 g accounted for 64% of VLBW babies
      and survival to SCN discharge was 60% from 1986 to 1992, 58% from 1993 to 1999,
      and increased to 83% from 2000 to 2006 (p < 0.01 compared with the first time
      period; p < 0.001 compared with the second). Babies < 1000g accounted for 36% of
      VLBW babies and survival to SCN discharge was 10% from 1986 to 1992, increased to
      25% from 1993 to 1999 and to 28% from 2000 to 2006 (trend of p < 0.10 compared
      with first time period). Conservative newborn care only was available. Antenatal
      steroids were given from 2000 to 2006. CONCLUSION: The outlook for VLBW babies
      using conservative newborn care techniques has significantly improved over 21
      years in Antigua and Barbuda.

PMID- 20931911
TI  - HTLV-1 related knowledge, attitude and behaviour patterns among mothers who
      participated in the Jamaica Breastfeeding Intervention Study (1996-2000).
AB  - Human T-cell Lymphotropic Virus type-1 (HTLV-1), the first human retrovirus
      associated with a malignant disease, is endemic in Jamaica. Vertical transmission
      and sexual intercourse are the major routes of transmission. Women are at greater
      risk of contracting the virus as it is more efficiently transmitted from male to
      female than in the reverse. Prevention of transmission is best achieved by health
      education on safe practices. The study aims to document the knowledge, attitude
      and behaviour pattern (KABP) of a group of women five years after they had
      participated in a mother-to-child transmission of HTLV-1 risk reduction study. A
      cross-sectional study was conducted using a 46-point structured interviewer
      administered questionnaire to capture data from 88 mothers. Overall knowledge
      scores were computed and four rating categories created. There were large
      deficiencies in the knowledge and practice of women at risk of being infected
      with HTLV-1. Only 58% knew that HTLV-1 is sexually transmitted. A minority was
      aware of HTLV-1 associated diseases: Adult T-cell lymphoma/leukaemia (ATL) 
      30.7%; Tropical Spastic Paraparesis (TSP) -42%; Infective dermatitis -42%). Ten
      (11.4%) believed that HTLV-1 infection can cause HIV/AIDS and only 33% knew that
      there was no cure for the virus. Most women (88.6%) continued to have unprotected
      sex. Controlling HTLV-1 spread must be based on interrupting transmission. In
      Jamaica, donated blood is screened for HTLV-1 and sharing of infected needle is
      an insignificant mode of transmission. However although safe practices in
      breastfeeding and sexual intercourse are proven ways to reduce HTLV-1
      transmission, these data show that knowledge and safe practices among those at
      risk may not be retained and health education will need to be sustained.

PMID- 20931912
TI  - What does the medical student know about eye donation/corneal transplant? The
      University of Nigeria scenario.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The study was designed to determine the knowledge of eye donation and
      corneal transplant among final year medical students of The University of
      Nigeria, Enugu Campus (UNEC). METHODS: Self-administered structured
      questionnaires were distributed to the members of the final year (graduating)
      class of the Medical College of UNEC in June 2007. Responses were obtained to
      questions bordering on eye donation and corneal transplant. RESULTS: One hundred
      and thirty-one students out of 183 eligible students participated in the study
      (response rate = 71.6%). One hundred and four students (79.4%) were aware of eye
      donation/corneal transplant. However 95 students (72.5%) were not aware that the
      eyes can only be removed from a dead donor. Eighty-four students (64.1%) were not
      aware that eyes with cataract could be donated. Eighty-seven (66.4%) students
      were not willing to pledge their eyes for donation. CONCLUSION: Medical students
      lack adequate knowledge about some aspects of eye donation and corneal
      transplantation. This may be a predictor of the level of awareness among the
      general public. Concerted innovative education and information dissemination
      strategies are required at this stage of national development to address the
      misconceptions surrounding eye donation and corneal transplant. There is a need
      to target medical students as future motivators, counsellors and eye donors. This
      should help advance the eye donation rates in Nigeria whenever the plans for the
      establishment of an eye-bank are finalized.

PMID- 20931913
TI  - Students' perception of the 'educational climate' at the Faculty of Medical
      Sciences, The University of the West Indies, Jamaica.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In 2001, the Faculty of Medical Sciences at the Mona Campus of The
      University of the West Indies (UWI) introduced a restructured curriculum in
      keeping with advances in the philosophy of medical education. OBJECTIVES: To
      explore the quality of the educational environment in the Undergraduate Medical
      Programme at the Mona campus of the UWI to identify areas for improvement and
      examine for any differences in student perception in a transitional medical
      curriculum. METHODS: The Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure (DREEM) was
      self-administered and completed anonymously during April 2004 by 278 (70%)
      undergraduate medical students (cohorts 2004 - 2007) registered in the Faculty of
      Medical Sciences, Mona Campus, Jamaica. RESULTS: The overall mean DREEM score was
      102.80 +/- 21.88 (maximum score 200; the higher the score, the more favourable
      the perception) and there was no significant difference by year of study. Teacher
      knowledge was highly rated by students but this was overshadowed by concerns
      about attitudes and behaviour toward students. The quality of the learning
      atmosphere was poorly rated with general concerns of an overcrowded curriculum,
      time-table issues and lack of adequate support systems to deal with student
      stress. CONCLUSIONS: Curriculum managers must identify strategies to improve the
      student-centredness and student-friendliness of the school's educational
      environment.

PMID- 20931914
TI  - Client characteristics associated with failure to complete residential treatment
      at a multicultural drug and alcohol treatment facility in Antigua, West Indies.
AB  - The purpose of this study is to compare the demographic and clinical
      characteristics of clients leaving treatment prior to completion of the 29-day
      residential stay at a multicultural addiction treatment centre. The charts of 446
      clients (62% from the United States of America, 29% from the Caribbean region, 9%
      European) were reviewed. The mean age was 39.7 years, 33% female, with 91% using
      alcohol, 49% using cocaine, 25% using opioids (single drug 27%, poly-drug use
      73%), with mean 13.1 years of harmful use, 33% using prescribed mental health
      medications and 46% having had prior residential treatment. Of 446 clients, 76
      (17%) did not complete treatment stay. A comparison of clients leaving early and
      those completing stay revealed no difference in age (38.6 vs 39.9 years) or years
      of harmful use (11.7 vs 13.4 years). There were trends toward those leaving to be
      more often female (42 vs 31%, p < 0.10) and non-Caribbean (20% American or
      European vs 12% Caribbean, p < 0.10). Clients who left early were more likely to
      use opioids (41 vs 22%, p < 0.001) and less likely to use alcohol/sedative (83 vs
      1%, p < 0.02). Cocaine/stimulant use did not differ (49 vs 49%). Those leaving
      treatment early had greater use of mental health medications (50 vs 29%, p <
      0.001). Prior treatment was not significantly different (53 vs 44%). An analysis
      of the 128 clients from the Caribbean region showed 15 clients (12%) failed to
      complete treatment. Those leaving treatment early were more likely to be female
      (53 vs 26%, p < 0.05), had a trend toward being younger (35.6 vs 39.9 years, p =
      0.19) and had fewer years of harmful use (8.1 vs 13.1, p < 0.02). Ethnicity (73
      vs 74% African) and alcohol/sedative (87 vs 94%), cocaine/stimulant (53 vs 65%),
      and opioid use (0 vs 4%) did not differ. Those leaving were more likely to use
      mental health medication (47 vs 12%, p < 0.001) and there was a trend toward
      prior treatment (40 vs 23%, p < 0.10).

PMID- 20931915
TI  - Pathology and therapeutic results in patients with intraosseous ganglia of the
      carpal bone.
AB  - This study evaluated the pathology and therapeutic results of seven patients with
      intraosseous ganglia of the carpal bone. The mean age at the time of surgery was
      27.6 years. The lesions were localized in the proximal carpal row in six patients
      and in the distal carpal row in only one. Surgical treatment was performed in all
      patients with good bone union. None had pain during activity or at rest and no
      recurrence had occurred. The intraosseous ganglia in four patients was of the
      idiopathic type, and in the other three patients was of the penetrating type.
      Although intraosseous ganglia of the carpal bone is reported as a rare disease,
      there were 159 cases in the literature. The pathology was intra- or extraosseous
      development, showing variation, but most cases were localized in the proximal
      carpal row.

PMID- 20931916
TI  - Supporting cancer patients in Jamaica--a needs assessment survey.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Global cancer incidence is rising rapidly particularly in the
      developing world where a majority of people present with advanced disease. In the
      English-speaking Caribbean, there is very little published data on the needs of
      cancer patients, their caregivers or those of allied health professionals. The
      research team sought to redress this balance by undertaking a needs assessment
      survey in the South Eastern Health Region of Jamaica to identify unmet needs and
      to make recommendations for improved service delivery. METHODS: A mixed methods,
      cross-sectional study design was used involving formal and semi-formal interviews
      and focus group discussions. RESULTS: The study results indicated that there were
      significant barriers to accessing healthcare. These included prohibitive costs of
      diagnosis and treatment, a mistrust of and poor communication with doctors,
      compounded by people's fears, belief in folk wisdom and lack of knowledge about
      cancer. Recommendations offered by the study participants focussed on a community
      based model of support to address the multiple needs of people facing life
      limiting illness and their caregivers. Healthcare practitioners recommended the
      development of specific policies, targeting, in particular improved drug
      availability and palliative care education in order to guide development of
      appropriate services for the large numbers of cancer patients in need.
      CONCLUSION: A multiplicity of unmet needs was identified by cancer patients,
      their caregivers and allied health professionals. Recommendations by study
      participants and the authors echoed the guidelines as set out by the World Health
      Organization (WHO) in its 1990 Public Health Model for the integration of
      palliative care into existing healthcare systems.

PMID- 20931917
TI  - Red cell transfusion practices and the impact of phlebotomy in an adult intensive
      care unit in Trinidad--a prospective observational study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine the pattern of current red cell transfusion practices in
      an adult intensive care unit (ICU) in Trinidad and the impact of phlebotomy on
      transfusions. METHODS: A prospective observational study was conducted over a six
      month period to include all patients who received transfusions in the ICU of Port
      of-Spain General Hospital, Trinidad. Demographic data including age, gender and
      weight were recorded. Clinical data recorded were the admission APACHE II scores,
      daily phlebotomy volumes, haemoglobin levels, transfusions and outcome during the
      first thirty days following ICU admission. Patients were grouped according to
      diagnoses and transfusion patterns. RESULTS: Of 134 patients admitted, 40 (29.8%)
      were transfused packed red cells 18 (29%) of the requests were for single unit
      transfusion. The mean phlebotomy volume was 13.5 +/- 4.3 (SD) mL day. The
      adjusted phlebotomy volume to body weight did not correlate with the amount of
      transfusions. The mean haemoglobin level for triggering blood transfusion was
      6.73 g dL. The mean transfusion rate was 2.9 +/- 1.8 (SD) units per patient. Ten
      per cent of the patients received more than 5 units. Twenty nine per cent of the
      units were transfused on the first day of ICU admission and 69% were transfused
      during the first week of LCU stay. CONCLUSIONS: Transfusion practices in the
      study ICU pointed towards a restrictive strategy, although there were some
      inappropriate transfusions. The phlebotomy volumes did not contribute towards
      transfusion requirements.

PMID- 20931918
TI  - Pharmacovigilance: healthcare professionals' role in benefits versus harm
      analysis of drugs use.
AB  - Monitoring the negative effect of drugs is a concept that all healthcare
      professionals would be aware of as part of their professional responsibility.
      However since 1968, it has evolved into a structured science called
      'Pharmacovigilance'. This review aims to sensitize Caribbean healthcare
      professionals to the global pharmacovigilance network of the World Health
      Organization and how their active involvement at the national level is imperative
      to the benefit versus harm evaluation of drugs.

PMID- 20931919
TI  - An intense influenza pandemic--possible subtype of H5N1: its implications for
      Jamaica.
AB  - Using two different attack rates, 20% and 30%, the paper attempts to project
      several possible outcomes for the Jamaican economy in the event of a severe
      pandemic. In addition to forecasting the possible loss in man hours for the
      economy, the study uses the Monte Carlo modelling technique to provide estimates
      of the death and hospitalization rates among the 0-19, 20-64 and 65(+)-year age
      cohorts while extra-polating the demand for healthcare providers.

PMID- 20931920
TI  - Substance abuse treatment--the special needs populations.

PMID- 20931921
TI  - Duodenal fibrosarcoma mimicking Franz tumour complicated by post-resection
      chylous ascites.
AB  - This case report presents a young woman who underwent a Whipples resection for a
      large pan-creato-duodenal tumour. Pathology and immunohistochemical analysis of
      the tumour suggest duodenal fibrosarcoma. The patient's postoperative management
      was complicated by chylous ascites. A brief literature review is given to
      highlight this unusual case.

PMID- 20931922
TI  - Jaundice post laparoscopic cholecystectomy.
AB  - In just over 20 years, laparoscopic cholecystectomy has emerged as the standard
      therapy for cholelithiasis and is now being performed with increased safety.
      However an uncommon complication of this technique has been jaundice even in
      patients without iatrogenic bile duct injury. We report on two cases where this
      complication occurred and review the literature on this topic.

PMID- 20931923
TI  - Childhood bruxism: a clinical review and case report.
AB  - The present case report refers to a patient who reported to the department with
      the complaint of teeth grinding (Bruxism). A brief review of the literature is
      reported concerning the aetiology, clinical diagnosis and the therapeutic
      approach of the disease.

PMID- 20931924
TI  - Keratosis palmoplantaris associated with early-onset periodontitis: a case
      report.
AB  - Keratosis palmoplantaris associated with periodontopathy or Papillon Lefevre
      syndrome is a very rare genetic disorder with autosomal recessive mode of
      inheritance and is characterized by hyperkeratosis of the palms and soles and
      early onset of a severe destructive periodontitis. The clinical presentation,
      differential diagnosis, therapeutic and periodontal management of an 8-year old
      male child diagnosed with this syndrome is discussed.

PMID- 20931925
TI  - Citalopram related euprolactinaemic galactorrhoea: a case report.

PMID- 20931926
TI  - Skin eruption and thrombocytopaenia in a woman with glaucoma: a case report.
AB  - Antibiotic and non-antibiotic sulphonamides are often prescribed. Although
      chemical differences make cross-reactivity rare, reactions may be severe in
      patients allergic to sulphur. Adverse reactions are common with sulphonamides but
      low platelets and skin changes are rarely associated with eye-drops for glaucoma.
      A woman treated with dorzolamide and timolol presented with disseminated
      eruption. On admission, her physical examination was unremarkable except for the
      skin changes and severe thrombocytopaenia was detected. Skin biopsy showed
      hyperkeratosis, acanthosis, perivascular and periadnexal infiltrates with no
      vasculitis. After discontinuation of eye-drops, the eruption improved but low
      platelets persisted. Skin changes reappeared with use of dapsone which suggested
      sulphonamide cross-reactivity.

PMID- 20931927
TI  - The usefulness of latissimus dorsi transfer for reconstruction for malignant
      fibrous histiocytoma in the infraspinatus muscle region: a case report.
AB  - Malignant fibrous histiocytoma (MFH) is a type of highly malignant soft tissue
      sarcoma with a predilection for the extremities of adults. We report a patient
      with MFH in the infraspinatus muscle for which wide resection including total
      resection of the infraspinatus muscle was performed, followed by transfer of the
      latissimus dorsi muscle for shoulder reconstruction in a one-stage operation with
      good postoperative function.

PMID- 20931928
TI  - Solitary metastasis of the patella in the differential diagnosis of anterior knee
      pain.

PMID- 20931929
TI  - A case of pulmonary oedema induced by suffocation.
AB  - A 57-year old female civilian was suffocated by an intruder The victim
      (experienced severe dyspnoea) but violently resisted the assault. Two hours after
      this event, on admission to a Trauma Centre, she demonstrated left facial
      swelling with low percutaneous oxygen saturation. Chest X-ray and computed
      tomography demonstrated pulmonary oedema. This improved dramatically within a
      short time and she was discharged on the 5th hospital day. Pulmonary oedema
      induced by suffocation has been reported only rarely. The possible mechanisms by
      which pulmonary oedema might form after the relief of airway obstruction are
      discussed.

PMID- 20931930
TI  - A comparison of cisplatin and carboplatin: a short review.

PMID- 20931931
TI  - A short review summarizing literature on immediate measures to prevent sexually
      transmitted diseases: focusing on current conditions in Japan.

PMID- 20931932
TI  - Improvement of total health measures in Mie Prefecture, Japan Mie.

PMID- 20931933
TI  - First steps along the road to meaningful use.

PMID- 20931934
TI  - Meaningful use: the long road. CIOs prepare for ramped-up requirements in later
      stages.

PMID- 20931935
TI  - Meaningful use: front-runners. On the long road toward meaningful use, these four
      organization all gave themselves a head start.

PMID- 20931936
TI  - Split screen: CIOs help their physicians with meaningful use. Limited resources
      and crunched timeframes mean more attention on the needs of employed physicians.

PMID- 20931937
TI  - Is ICD-10 a quality initiative? Innovators will use ICD-10 to further their
      business models and clinical capabilities.

PMID- 20931938
TI  - Taking it to the clouds. The image movement of Montana starts sharing images via
      cloud-based solution.

PMID- 20931940
TI  - Evidence-based Order sets and CPOE. Interview by Mark Hagland.

PMID- 20931939
TI  - KLAS 2010 mid-term performance review: beyond the numbers. Under the gun.

PMID- 20931941
TI  - Benefits of an early start with EMR. The early roll-out of an EMR system was met
      with skepticism, but has resulted in higher performance and patient care quality.

PMID- 20931942
TI  - Meaningful use anxiety. Interview by Mark Hagland.

PMID- 20931943
TI  - Tracking the evolution of HIEs. Interview by Mark Hagland.

PMID- 20931944
TI  - Where healthcare reform Meets HIE. Interview by Mark Hagland.

PMID- 20931945
TI  - Oklahoma to build statewide HIE. Interview by Jennifer Prestigiacomo.

PMID- 20931946
TI  - Hiring your replacement. Finding senior-level talent who will one day step into
      your shoes is the most important hiring decision you can make.

PMID- 20931948
TI  - Ab initio study of hydrazinyl radical: toward a DMBE potential energy surface.
AB  - A series of stationary structures of the hydrazinyl radical have been
      characterized by optimization at the CCSD(T)/cc-pVTZ level of theory. CCSD(T)/aug
      cc-pVXZ single-point calculations have also been carried out at the optimized
      geometries with basis sets of different cardinal numbers (X = T, Q), which were
      used to obtain accurate energies via extrapolation to the complete basis set
      limit. A discussion on the analytical modeling of the potential energy surface of
      hydrazinyl is also presented.

PMID- 20931949
TI  - Ab initio study of the VUV-induced multistate photodynamics of formaldehyde.
AB  - Although formaldehyde, H2CO, has been extensively studied there are still several
      issues not-well understood, specially regarding its dynamics in the VUV energy
      range, mainly due to the amount of nonadiabatic effects governing its dynamics.
      Most of the theoretical work on this molecule has focused on vertical excitation
      energies of Rydberg and valence states. In contrast to photodissociation
      processes involving the lowest-lying electronic states below 4.0 eV, there is
      little known about the photodynamics of the high-lying electronic states of
      formaldehyde (7-10 eV). One question of particular interest is why the (pi, pi*)
      electronic state is invisible experimentally even though it corresponds to a
      strongly dipole-allowed transition. In this work we present a coupled
      multisurface 2D photodynamics study of formaldehyde along the CO stretching and
      the symmetric HCH bending motion, using a quantum time-dependent approach.
      Potential energy curves along all the vibrational normal modes of formaldehyde
      have been computed using equation-of-motion coupled cluster including single and
      double excitations with a quadruply augmented basis set. In the case of the CO
      stretching coordinate, state-averaged complete active space self-consistent field
      followed by multireference configuration interaction was used for large values of
      this coordinate. 2D (for the CO stretching coordinate and the HCH angle) and 3D
      (including the out-of-plane distortion) potential energy surfaces have been
      computed for several Rydberg and valence states. Several conical intersections
      (crossings between potential energy surfaces of the same multiplicity) have been
      characterized and analyzed and a 2D 5 * 5 diabatic model Hamiltonian has been
      constructed. Based on this Hamiltonian, electronic absorption spectra, adiabatic
      and diabatic electronic populations and vibrational densities have been obtained
      and analyzed. The experimental VUV absorption spectrum in the 7-10 eV energy
      range is well reproduced, including the vibrational structure and the high
      irregularity in the regime of strong interaction between the (pi, pi*) electronic
      state and neighboring Rydberg states.

PMID- 20931950
TI  - Mechanistic aspects of radiation-induced oligomerization of 3,4
      ethylenedioxythiophene in ionic liquids.
AB  - Thiophene and its disubstituted derivatives, such as 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene
      (EDOT), 3,4-dimethoxythiophene (DMT), 3,4-propylenedioxythiophene (PDOT), and 3,4
      butylenedioxythiophene (BuDOT) were oxidized in organic solvents and in ionic
      liquid 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate (BMIM(+)PF6-) at RT and
      under cryogenic conditions. Their radical cations were spectrally characterized
      at 77 K. Annealing of the irradiated matrix, which triggers the diffusion
      processes, led to spontaneous oligomerization. The oxidative coupling between a
      radical cation and a neutral monomer was identified as the first step of the
      oligomerization process. The scale of oligomerization could be extended by the
      addition of chloroform, which acts as a dissociative electron scavenger, whereas
      the dichloromethylperoxyl radicals formed in the reaction with the dissolved
      oxygen act as secondary oxidizing agents.

PMID- 20931951
TI  - Correlated ab initio spin densities for larger molecules: orbital-optimized spin
      component-scaled MP2 method.
AB  - The performance of the orbital-optimized MP2 method (OO-MP2) and its spin
      component-scaled variant is investigated for the prediction of atomic and
      molecular hyperfine coupling constants (hfccs). The calculated hfccs are compared
      to experimental as well as to CCSD(T) reference results. The OO-MP2 isotropic
      hfccs for a series of small radicals are almost of CCSD quality but are obtained
      with iterative O (N5) effort. The dipolar hfccs are less well predicted by the OO
      MP2 methods, whereas spin-component scaling improves the description of the
      hyperfine structure. The spin contamination in the OO-MP2 wave function is
      drastically reduced compared to the standard unrestricted Hartree-Fock wave
      function. The applicability of the OO-MP2 to fairly large systems is demonstrated
      for the solvated p-benzosemiquinone radical anion, where calculations with almost
      2000 basis functions have been performed.

PMID- 20931952
TI  - Theoretical study on the thermodynamic properties and self-decomposition of
      methylbenzenediol isomers.
AB  - Alkylated hydroxylated aromatics are major constituents of various types of
      fuels, including biomass and low-rank coal. In this study, thermochemical
      parameters are obtained for the various isomeric forms of methylbenzenediol
      isomers in terms of their enthalpies of formation, entropies, and heat
      capacities. Isodesmic work reactions are used in quantum chemical computations of
      the reaction enthalpies for O-H and H2C-H bond fissions and the formation of
      phenoxy- and benzyl-type radicals. A reaction potential energy on the singlet
      state surface surface is mapped out for the unimolecular decomposition of the 3
      methylbenzene-1,2-diol isomer. According to the calculated high pressure-limit
      reaction rate constants, concerted hydrogen molecule elimination from the methyl
      group and the hydroxyl group, in addition to intermolecular H migration from the
      hydroxyl group, dominates the unimolecular decomposition at low to intermediate
      temperatures (T <= 1200 K). At higher temperatures, O-H bond fission and
      concerted water elimination are expected to become the sole decomposition
      pathways.

PMID- 20931953
TI  - The quadrupole moment of substituted cyclopentadienyl anions.
AB  - Previous work in our group on the cation binding of substituted cyclopentadienyl
      anions (Cp) showed the curious result that Cp traceless electric quadrupole
      moments (Theta(zz)) are almost all positive. Probing this issue further here we
      show that substituted Cp Theta(zz) values are always significantly more positive
      than the analogous substituted benzenes. Given the nature of aromatic Theta(zz)
      values, this is the opposite of what would be predicted. Furthermore, we show
      that the quadrupole moments of Cp anions do not behave as one would expect based
      on Cp substitutions. Unlike the quadrupole moments of substituted benzenes, which
      generally become more negative with the addition of electron-donating groups and
      more positive with the addition of electron-withdrawing groups, Cp quadrupole
      moments become more positive when any substituent is added, regardless of the
      electron-donating/withdrawing nature of the substituent. To explain these results
      we propose a model where the anionic Cp pi-electron density repels the
      substituent electron density toward the molecular periphery and AIM calculations
      support this view.

PMID- 20931954
TI  - Intramolecular vibrational energy redistribution in aromatic molecules of type
      C6H5X (X = H, D, F, Cl, CH3, CF3).
AB  - Femtosecond IR pump UV probe spectroscopy was employed in the gas phase to study
      intramolecular vibrational energy redistribution (IVR) in benzene and five
      monosubstituted derivatives thereof. After selective excitation of the first
      overtone of the ring CH-stretch vibration, all molecules showed the same two-step
      redistribution dynamics characteristic for nonstatistical IVR. The nature of the
      substituent influences mainly the second, slower IVR component. The presence of
      an internal rotor does not alter the redistribution rate or pathway compared to
      that of a monatomic substituent of equal mass. Coupling order model calculations
      reflect the experimental trends well if the polyatomic substituents are regarded
      as decoupled from the intra-ring dynamics and modeled as point masses.

PMID- 20931955
TI  - Nonadiabatic reaction of energetic molecules.
AB  - Energetic materials store a large amount of chemical energy that can be readily
      converted into mechanical energy via decomposition. A number of different
      ignition processes such as sparks, shocks, heat, or arcs can initiate the excited
      electronic state decomposition of energetic materials. Experiments have
      demonstrated the essential role of excited electronic state decomposition in the
      energy conversion process. A full understanding of the mechanisms for the
      decomposition of energetic materials from excited electronic states will require
      the investigation and analysis of the specific topography of the excited
      electronic potential energy surfaces (PESs) of these molecules. The crossing of
      multidimensional electronic PESs creates a funnel-like topography, known as
      conical intersections (CIs). CIs are well established as a controlling factor in
      the excited electronic state decomposition of polyatomic molecules. This Account
      summarizes our current understanding of the nonadiabatic unimolecular chemistry
      of energetic materials through CIs and presents the essential role of CIs in the
      determination of decomposition pathways of these energetic systems. Because of
      the involvement of more than one PES, a decomposition process involving CIs is an
      electronically nonadiabatic mechanism. Based on our experimental observations and
      theoretical calculations, we find that a nonadiabatic reaction through CIs
      dominates the initial decomposition process of energetic materials from excited
      electronic states. Although the nonadiabatic behavior of some polyatomic
      molecules has been well studied, the role of nonadiabatic reactions in the
      excited electronic state decomposition of energetic molecules has not been well
      investigated. We use both nanosecond energy-resolved and femtosecond time
      resolved spectroscopic techniques to determine the decomposition mechanism and
      dynamics of energetic species experimentally. Subsequently, we employ
      multiconfigurational methodologies (such as, CASSCF, CASMP2) to model
      nonadiabatic molecular processes of energetic molecules computationally.
      Synergism between experiment and theory establishes a coherent description of the
      nonadiabatic reactivity of energetic materials at a molecular level. Energetic
      systems discussed in this Account are nitramine- and furazan-based species. Both
      energetic species and their respective model systems, which are not energetic,
      are studied and discussed in detail. The model systems have similar molecular
      structures to those of the energetic species and help significantly in
      understanding the decomposition behavior of the larger and more complex energetic
      molecules. Our results for the above systems of interest confirm the existence of
      CIs and energy barriers on the PESs of interest. The presence of the CIs and
      barriers along the various reaction coordinates control the nonadiabatic behavior
      of the decomposition process. The detailed nature of the PESs and their CIs
      consequently differentiate the energetic systems from model systems. Energy
      barriers to the chemically relevant low-lying CIs of a molecule determine whether
      that molecule is more or less "energetic".

PMID- 20931956
TI  - Infrared optical activity: electric field approaches in time domain.
AB  - Vibrational circular dichroism (VCD) spectroscopy provides detailed information
      about the absolute configurations of chiral molecules including biomolecules and
      synthetic drugs. This method is the infrared (IR) analogue of the more popular
      electronic CD spectroscopy that uses the ultraviolet and visible ranges of the
      electromagnetic spectrum. Because conventional electronic CD spectroscopy
      measures the difference in signal intensity, problems such as weak signal and low
      time-resolution can limit its utility. To overcome the difficulties associated
      with that approach, we have recently developed femtosecond IR optical activity
      (IOA) spectrometry, which directly measures the IOA free-induction-decay (FID),
      the impulsive chiroptical IR response that occurs over time. In this Account, we
      review the time-domain electric field measurement and calculation methods used to
      simultaneously characterize VCD and related vibrational optical rotatory
      dispersion (VORD) spectra. Although conventional methods measure the electric
      field intensity, this vibrational technique is based on a direct phase-and
      amplitude measurement of the electric field of the chiroptical signal over time.
      This method uses a cross-polarization analyzer to carry out heterodyned spectral
      interferometry. The cross-polarization scheme enables us to selectively remove
      the achiral background signal, which is the dominant noise component present in
      differential intensity measurement techniques. Because we can detect the IOA FID
      signal in a phase-amplitude-sensitive manner, we can directly characterize the
      time-dependent electric dipole/magnetic dipole response function and the complex
      chiral susceptibility that contain information about the angular oscillations of
      charged particles. These parameters yield information about the VCD and VORD
      spectra. In parallel with such experimental developments, we have also calculated
      the IOA FID signal and the resulting VCD spectrum. These simulations use a
      quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical molecular dynamics (QM/MM MD) method and
      calculate the electric dipole/magnetic dipole cross-correlation function in the
      time domain. Although many quantum chemistry calculation approaches can only
      consider a limited number of geometry-optimized conformations of chiral molecules
      in a gas phase, this computational method includes the solute-solvent
      interactions and the inhomogeneous distributions of solute conformers in
      condensed phases. A subsequent Fourier transformation of the chiral response
      function produced a theoretical VCD spectrum in the entire mid-IR frequency
      range. Directly comparing theory and experiment, we demonstrate quantitative
      agreement between frequency-tunable femtosecond IOA measurements and QM/MM MD
      simulations of (1S)-beta-pinene in CCl(4) solution. We anticipate that these
      direct IOA measurement and calculation methods will be applied to the studies of
      equilibrium chiroptical properties and structure determinations. These methods
      provide tools to investigate ultrafast structural dynamics of chiral systems with
      unprecedented time resolution.

PMID- 20931957
TI  - Self-assembled terplexes for targeted gene delivery with improved transfection.
AB  - To improve transfection efficiency and to incorporate target ligands to the gene
      delivery systems, heparin and heparin-biotin were introduced to complexes of
      polyamidoamine dendrimer and DNA (PAMAM/DNA) via electrostatic interactions to
      form self-assembled PAMAM/DNA/heparin and PAMAM/DNA/heparin-biotin terplexes,
      respectively. The self-assembled terplexes were characterized by agarose gel
      electrophoresis and particle size analysis. The MTT assay indicated that, after
      incorporation of heparin and heparin-biotin, the terplexes exhibited decreased
      cytotoxicity. In addition, as compared with PAMAM/DNA and PAMAM/DNA/heparin
      complexes, the PAMAM/DNA/heparin-biotin complexes exhibited much higher cellular
      uptake into HeLa cells due to the specific interactions between biotin and biotin
      receptors on HeLa cells, which led to the enhanced transfection activity. The
      PAMAM/DNA/heparin-biotin complexes would be a promising targeting gene delivery
      system.

PMID- 20931958
TI  - Cold gelation of alginates induced by monovalent cations.
AB  - A new reversible gelation pathway is described for alginates in aqueous media.
      From various samples differing by their mannuronic/guluronic content (M/G), both
      enthalpic and viscoelastic experiments demonstrate that alginates having a high M
      content are able to form thermoreversible assemblies in the presence of potassium
      salts. The aggregation behavior is driven by the low solubility of M-blocks at
      low temperature and high ionic strength. In semidilute solutions, responsive
      assemblies induce a strong increase of the viscosity below a critical
      temperature. A true physical gel is obtained in the entangled regime, although
      the length scale of specific interactions between M-blocks decreases with
      increasing density of entanglements. Cold setting takes place at low
      temperatures, below 0  degrees C for potassium concentrations lower than 0.2
      mol/kg, but the aggregation process can be easily shifted to higher temperatures
      by increasing the salt concentration. The self-assembling process of alginates in
      solution of potassium salts is characterized by a sharp gelation exotherm and a
      broad melting endotherm with a large hysteresis of 20-30  degrees C between the
      transition temperatures. The viscoelastic properties of alginate gels in
      potassium salts closely depend on thermal treatment (rate of cooling, time, and
      temperature of storage), polymer and salt concentrations, and monomer composition
      as well. In the case of alginates with a high G content, a similar aggregation
      behavior is also evidenced at higher salt concentrations, but the extent of the
      self-assembling process remains too weak to develop a true gelation behavior in
      solution. 

PMID- 20931959
TI  - Microfluidic immunosensor with micromagnetic beads coupled to carbon-based screen
      printed electrodes (SPCEs) for determination of Botrytis cinerea in tissue of
      fruits.
AB  - A wide range of plant species, including economically important crops such as
      vegetables, ornamentals, bulbs, and fundamentally fruits, can be affected by gray
      mold caused by the fungal pathogen Botrytis cinerea . This paper describes the
      development of a microfluidic immunosensor with micromagnetic beads (MMBs)
      coupled to carbon-based screen-printed electrodes (SPCEs) for the rapid and
      sensitive quantification of B. cinerea in apple (Red Delicious), table grape
      (pink Moscatel), and pear (William's) tissues. The detection of B. cinerea was
      carried out using a competitive immunoassay method based on the use of purified
      B. cinerea antigens immobilized on 3-aminopropyl-modified MMBs. The total assay
      time was 40 min, and the calculated detection limit was 0.008 MUg mL(-1).
      Moreover, the intra- and interassay coefficients of variation were below 7%. The
      developed method allowed detects B. cinerea even in asymptomatic fruits and
      promises to be particularly useful for application in the agricultural industry. 

PMID- 20931960
TI  - Multialkylation of aqueous ammonia with alcohols catalyzed by water-soluble Cp*Ir
      ammine complexes.
AB  - Novel water-soluble Cp*Ir-ammine complexes have been synthesized, and a new and
      highly atom-economical system for the synthesis of organic amines using aqueous
      ammonia as a nitrogen source has been developed. With a water-soluble and air
      stable Cp*Ir-ammine catalyst, [Cp*Ir(NH(3))(3)][I](2), a variety of tertiary and
      secondary amines were synthesized by the multialkylation of aqueous ammonia with
      theoretical equivalents of primary and secondary alcohols. The catalyst could be
      recycled by a facile procedure maintaining high activity. A one-flask synthesis
      of quinolizidine starting with 1,5,9-nonanetriol was also demonstrated. This new
      catalytic system would provide a practical and environmentally benign methodology
      for the synthesis of various organic amines.

PMID- 20931961
TI  - Effects of deamidation on structure and functional properties of barley hordein.
AB  - Deamidated hordeins of various deamidation degree (DD) ranging from 0.7 to 40%
      were prepared using an alkaline method. The hordein peptide bond cleavage,
      secondary structure, surface charge and hydrophobicity as well as their
      solubility, emusifying and foaming properties were studied as a function of DD
      value. SDS-PAGE, size exclusion chromatography (SEC) and Fourier transform
      infrared (FTIR) results suggest that limited deamidation (<= 4.7%) could
      dissociate hordein aggregates, leading to great increase of the protein
      solubility and surface hydrophobicty. A further increase of the DD value greater
      than 4.7% resulted in extensive protein hydrolysis and a marked change of protein
      secondary structure. The optimal functionalities were obtained at a narrow DD
      range (2.4-4.7%), where hordein samples demonstrated significantly improved
      solubility and the emulsifying and foaming properties at both acidic and neutral
      pHs. These results suggest that deamidated hordein would be an excellent
      candidate to be developed as an emulsifying and foaming ingredient.

PMID- 20931962
TI  - Simple combustion production and characterization of octahydro[60]fullerene with
      a non-IPR C60 cage.
AB  - For the first time an easier, operable combustion method is employed for the
      synthesis of non-IPR fullerene, and an octahydro[60]fullerene with a non-IPR
      C(60) cage (C(60) isomer (#1809)C(60)) produced by combustion is isolated and
      characterized by MS, UV-vis, IR, and NMR spectroscopies in combination with DFT
      calculations. This finding shows that, in addition to chlorine, hydrogen can be
      an ample cataloreactant for the production of non-IPR fullerene derivatives under
      such conditions as arc-burning and diffusion combustion.

PMID- 20931963
TI  - Discovery of a novel 5-HT(3) antagonist/5-HT(1A) agonist 3-amino-5,6,7,8
      tetrahydro-2-{4-[4-(quinolin-2-yl)piperazin-1-yl]butyl}quinazolin-4(3H)-one (TZB
      30878) as an orally bioavailable agent for irritable bowel syndrome.
AB  - We have prepared a series of quinazolinone derivatives linked with
      piperazinylquinoline for the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Using
      pharmacophore analysis, we designed and synthesized compounds which bind to both
      serotonin receptor subtype 1A (5-HT(1A)) and subtype 3 (5-HT(3)). Quinazolinone
      derivatives with a sulfur atom in the linker showed high affinity in in vitro
      assays, but low in vivo activity. Focusing on the linker to improve the
      pharmacokinetic profile, the sulfur atom in the linker was replaced with a
      methylene group. Further optimization led to the discovery of compound 17m (TZB
      30878) ( J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther. 2007 , 322 , 1315 - 1323 , Patent WO2005082887
      (A1), 2005 ), a novel 5-HT(1A) agonist/5-HT(3) antagonist in the 3
      aminoquinazolinone series. In in vivo functional assays, 17m dose dependently
      inhibited the Bezold-Jarisch reflex and induced 5-HT(1A)-mediated behaviors, and
      in an IBS animal model, 17m significantly inhibited stress-induced defecation.
      Pretreatment by WAY-100635 (5-HT(1A) antagonist) significantly attenuated but did
      not abolish the inhibitory effects of 17m. These results suggested that 17m
      exerted inhibitory effects via both 5-HT(1A) agonistic and 5-HT(3) antagonistic
      activities and that 17m would be useful as a therapeutic agent for IBS.

PMID- 20931964
TI  - Remarkable effect of bimetallic nanocluster catalysts for aerobic oxidation of
      alcohols: combining metals changes the activities and the reaction pathways to
      aldehydes/carboxylic acids or esters.
AB  - Selective oxidation of alcohols catalyzed by novel carbon-stabilized polymer
      incarcerated bimetallic nanocluster catalysts using molecular oxygen has been
      developed. The reactivity and the selectivity were strongly dependent on the
      combination of metals and solvent systems; aldehydes and ketones were obtained by
      the gold/platinum catalyst in benzotrifluoride, and esters were formed by the
      gold/palladium catalyst in methanol. To the best of our knowledge, this is the
      first example that the reaction pathway has been changed dramatically in gold
      catalysis by combining with a second metal. The differences in the activity and
      the selectivity are considered to be derived from the difference in the structure
      of the bimetallic clusters.

PMID- 20931965
TI  - Nanopod formation through gold nanoparticle templated and catalyzed cross-linking
      of polymers bearing pendant propargyl ethers.
AB  - A novel method for synthesizing polymer nanopods from a linear polymer bearing
      pendant propargyl ether groups, using gold nanoparticles as both the template and
      the catalyst for the cross-linking reaction, is reported. The transformations
      involved in the cross-linking process are unprecedented on the surface of a gold
      particle. A tentative cross-linking mechanism is proposed.

PMID- 20931967
TI  - Quantitative characterization of multicomponent polymers by sample-controlled
      thermal analysis.
AB  - This paper explores the potential of sample-controlled thermal analysis (SCTA) in
      order to perform compositional analysis of multicomponent polymeric materials by
      means of thermogravimetric experiments. In SCTA experiments, the response of the
      sample to the temperature determines the evolution of the temperature by means of
      a feedback system; thus, what is controlled is not the temperature-time profile,
      as in conventional analysis, but rather the evolution of the reaction rate with
      time. The higher resolving power provided by the technique has been used for
      determining the composition of polymer blends composed of polyvinyl chloride
      (PVC) and different commercial plasticizers, a system where the individual
      components have very similar thermal stabilities, thereby rendering useless
      thermogravimetric experiments run under conventional conditions. Different SCTA
      procedures, such as constant rate thermal analysis (CRTA), which has received
      special attention, and high-resolution and stepwise isothermal analysis have been
      tested, and the results obtained have been compared with linear heating rate
      technique. It has been proven that CRTA can be used to effectively determine the
      exact composition of the blend. 

PMID- 20931966
TI  - Ribozymes and riboswitches: modulation of RNA function by small molecules.
AB  - Diverse small molecules interact with catalytic RNAs (ribozymes) as substrates
      and cofactors, and their intracellular concentrations are sensed by gene
      regulatory mRNA domains (riboswitches) that modulate transcription, splicing,
      translation, or RNA stability. Although recognition mechanisms vary from RNA to
      RNA, structural analyses reveal recurring strategies that arise from the
      intrinsic properties of RNA such as base pairing and stacking with conjugated
      heterocycles, and cation-dependent recognition of anionic functional groups.
      These studies also suggest that, to a first approximation, the magnitude of
      ligand-induced reorganization of an RNA is inversely proportional to the
      complexity of the riboswitch or ribozyme. How these small molecule binding
      induced changes in RNA lead to alteration in gene expression is less well
      understood. While different riboswitches have been proposed to be under either
      kinetic or thermodynamic control, the biochemical and structural mechanisms that
      give rise to regulatory consequences downstream of small molecule recognition by
      RNAs mostly remain to be elucidated.

PMID- 20931968
TI  - Field-free remobilization of proteins after isoelectric focusing in packed
      capillaries.
AB  - Pressure-driven remobilization without an applied electric field is shown to be
      possible with capillary isoelectric focusing using packed capillaries. The
      capillary dimensions are 100 MUm i.d. and 2 cm in length, and the packing is made
      of 0.9 MUm nonporous silica particles that are chemically modified with a brush
      layer of polyacrylamide. Both reversible and irreversible adsorption are shown to
      be negligible. The packed capillaries eliminate the problem of unwanted
      hydrodynamic flow between reservoirs. Three proteins are focused: trypsin
      inhibitor, carbonic anhydrase II, and myoglobin. The time required for focusing
      in the packed capillaries is increased by only a factor of 2 compared to the open
      capillary, giving complete focusing in less than 15 min at 200 V/cm. The packed
      capillaries allow the use of higher electric fields, with resolution continually
      increasing up to at least 1500 V/cm. The packing obstructs diffusional broadening
      after the field is turned off: for trypsin inhibitor, D = 6.1(+/-0.3) * 10(-8)
      cm(2)/s for the packed capillary vs D = 28.8(+/-0.3) * 10(-8) cm(2)/s for the
      open capillary. The broadening contributed by the packing during remobilization
      is from eddy diffusion, and it is described by its plate height, H, which is the
      variance per unit length: H = sigma(2)/L = 0.64 MUm. This limits the resolution
      to 0.1 pH units for the 2 cm capillary having a pH range of 3-10, giving a
      theoretical peak capacity of 47. 

PMID- 20931969
TI  - Circular dichroism and voltammetry, assisted by multivariate curve resolution,
      and mass spectrometry of the competitive metal binding by phytochelatin PC5.
AB  - The competitive binding of Cd(2+) and Pb(2+) by the phytochelatin (gammaGlu-Cys)5
      Gly (PC5) has been examined by several analytical techniques. Positive-mode
      electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) is used to determine the
      stoichiometries of the complexes, while voltammetric and spectroscopic data are
      analyzed by multivariate curve resolution with alternating least-squares (MCR
      ALS) and some recently developed chemometric tools, which allows one to follow
      the displacement induced by Cd(2+) or Pb(2+) in the binding of Pb(2+) or Cd(2+),
      respectively, by PC5, and to obtain a complete overview of the processes
      involved. Differential pulse polarography (DPP) signals of these systems present,
      besides overlapping peaks due to free metal ion and metal complexes, interference
      of mercury anodic signals. Circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy is a useful
      complementary technique due to the absence of these types of signals and its
      selective response to different species. A tentative complexation/electrochemical
      model is proposed for Cd(2+) and Pb(2+) competition toward PC5 complexation. The
      formation of the previously unreported ternary CdPb(PC5) complex was suggested by
      DPP and CD spectroscopy experiments and confirmed by ESI-MS. 

PMID- 20931970
TI  - Sterols as anticancer agents: synthesis of ring-B oxygenated steroids, cytotoxic
      profile, and comprehensive SAR analysis.
AB  - The cytotoxicity of oxysterols was systematically studied in tumor and normal
      cells. Synthetic strategies to prepare this library included oxidations at ring B
      and a new method to yield 6beta-hemiphthalates directly from Delta(5)-steroids.
      Most oxysterols were cytotoxic and showed selectivity toward cancer cells, LAMA
      84 cells (leukemia) being particularly sensitive to 4, 8, 22, and 27 (IC(50) <
      5.6 MUM). The structural requirements to induce selective toxicity are discussed
      to shed light on the development of new anticancer drugs.

PMID- 20931971
TI  - Discovery of dual inducible/neuronal nitric oxide synthase (iNOS/nNOS) inhibitor
      development candidate 4-((2-cyclobutyl-1H-imidazo[4,5-b]pyrazin-1-yl)methyl)-7,8
      difluoroquinolin-2(1H)-one (KD7332) part 2: identification of a novel, potent,
      and selective series of benzimidazole-quinolinone iNOS/nNOS dimerization
      inhibitors that are orally active in pain models.
AB  - Three isoforms of nitric oxide synthase (NOS), dimeric enzymes that catalyze the
      formation of nitric oxide (NO) from arginine, have been identified. Inappropriate
      or excessive NO produced by iNOS and/or nNOS is associated with inflammatory and
      neuropathic pain. Previously, we described the identification of a series of
      amide-quinolinone iNOS dimerization inhibitors that although potent, suffered
      from high clearance and limited exposure in vivo. By conformationally restricting
      the amide of this progenitor series, we describe the identification of a novel
      series of benzimidazole-quinolinone dual iNOS/nNOS inhibitors with low clearance
      and sustained exposure in vivo. Compounds were triaged utilizing an LPS challenge
      assay coupled with mouse and rhesus pharmacokinetics and led to the
      identification of 4,7-imidazopyrazine 42 as the lead compound. 42 (KD7332) (J.
      Med. Chem. 2009, 52, 3047 - 3062) was confirmed as an iNOS dimerization inhibitor
      and was efficacious in the mouse formalin model of nociception and Chung model of
      neuropathic pain, without showing tolerance after repeat dosing. Further 42 did
      not affect motor coordination up to doses of 1000 mg/kg, demonstrating a wide
      therapeutic margin.

PMID- 20931972
TI  - Anti-obesity effect of phosphatidylinositol on diet-induced obesity in mice.
AB  - The aim of this study is to investigate the biodistribution of
      phosphatidylinositol (PI) after oral administration and its anti-obesity effect.
      When a suspension of radiolabeled PI was orally administered to mice and the
      biodistribution was examined, PI radioactivity accumulated in the liver compared
      to myo-inositol radioactivity at 48 h or later after administration. Then, a PI
      suspension was orally administered to diet-induced obesity (DIO) mice every 4
      days, and the anti-obesity effect of PI was examined. As a result, PI suppressed
      the body weight increase of DIO mice and significantly reduced the plasma levels
      of aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and cholesterol. Furthermore, PI regulated
      the expression of some genes in the liver involved in lipid synthesis and
      metabolism. The present study demonstrated that PI accumulated in the liver after
      oral administration and exerted its anti-obesity effect on DIO by regulating the
      expression of certain genes involved in lipid metabolism in the liver. 

PMID- 20931973
TI  - Structural stability of carbon nanotube films: the role of bending buckling.
AB  - In films, mats, buckypaper, and other materials composed of carbon nanotubes
      (CNTs), individual CNTs are bound together by van der Waals forces and form
      entangled networks of bundles. Mesoscopic dynamic simulations reproduce the
      spontaneous self-assembly of CNTs into continuous networks of bundles and reveal
      that the bending buckling and the length of CNTs are the two main factors
      responsible for the stability of the network structures formed by defect-free
      CNTs. Bending buckling of CNTs reduces the bending energy of interconnections
      between bundles and stabilizes the interconnections by creating effective
      barriers for CNT sliding. The length of the nanotubes is affecting the ability of
      van der Waals forces of intertube interactions to counterbalance the internal
      straightening forces acting on curved nanotubes present in the continuous
      networks. The critical length for the formation of stable network structures is
      found to be ~120 nm for (10,10) single-walled CNTs. In the simulations where the
      bending buckling is artificially switched off, the network structures are found
      to be unstable against disintegration into individual bundles even for micrometer
      long CNTs.

PMID- 20931974
TI  - Particle lithography from colloidal self-assembly at liquid-liquid interfaces.
AB  - Particle lithography has been extensively used as a robust and cost-effective
      method to produce large-area, close-packed arrays of nanometer scale features.
      Many technological applications, including biosensing, require instead non-close
      packed patterns in order to avoid cross-talk between the features. We present a
      simple, scalable, single-step particle lithography process that employs colloidal
      self-assembly at liquid-liquid interfaces (SALI) to fabricate regular, open
      particle lithography masks, where the size of the features (40 to 500 nm) and
      their separation can be independently controlled between 3 and 10 particle
      diameters. Finally we show how the process can be practically employed to produce
      diverse biosensing structures.

PMID- 20931976
TI  - Spray-dried oil powder with ultrahigh oil content.
AB  - We report a new facile route to the production of solid oil powders with an oil
      weight content of as high as 90% or beyond. The proposed method starts from a
      standard protein-stabilized oil-in-water emulsion in which a protein monolayer
      absorbed at the oil-water interface is successively cross linked by a thermal
      treatment. The emulsion is then spray dried as for ordinary emulsions, however
      without the addition of hydrocolloids typically needed when spray drying liquid
      oil dispersions. This leads to a final solid oil powder in which the total mass
      is constituted of oil, proteins, and eventual buffer salts and in which the
      elasticity of the cross-linked protein monolayer is alone sufficient to stabilize
      the powder and to limit any oil leakage. To best illustrate the potential in food
      applications and to preserve the food-grade nature of the constituents, we have
      used thermal denaturation at 80  degrees C for 15 min to cross link a beta
      lactoglobulin-stabilized olive oil-in-water emulsion and to produce the
      corresponding solid oil powder. Because of the simplicity and flexibility of the
      proposed pathway, the present method can be used inexpensively to convert any
      type of hydrophobic liquid into the corresponding solid powder and is then
      particularly suitable for cosmetic, pharmaceutical, medical, biotechnological,
      and food applications.

PMID- 20931977
TI  - Hydride ion transfer from ruthenium(II) complexes in water: kinetics and
      mechanism.
AB  - Reactions of hydride complexes of ruthenium(II) with hydride acceptors have been
      examined for Ru(terpy)(bpy)H(+), Ru(terpy)(dmb)H(+), and Ru(eta(6)
      C(6)Me(6))(bpy)(H)(+) in aqueous media at 25  degrees C (terpy = 2,2';6',2''
      terpyridine, bpy = 2,2'-bipyridine, dmb = 4,4'-dimethyl-2,2'-bipyridine). The
      acceptors include CO(2), CO, CH(2)O, and H(3)O(+). CO reacts with
      Ru(terpy)(dmb)H(+) with a rate constant of 1.2 (0.2) * 10(1) M(-1) s(-1), but for
      Ru(eta(6)-C(6)Me(6))(bpy)(H)(+), the reaction was very slow, k <= 0.1 M(-1) s(
      1). Ru(terpy)(bpy)H(+) and Ru(eta(6)-C(6)Me(6))(bpy)(H)(+) react with CH(2)O with
      rate constants of (6 +/- 4) * 10(6) and 1.1 * 10(3) M(-1) s(-1), respectively.
      The reaction of Ru(eta(6)-C(6)Me(6))(bpy)(H)(+) with acid exhibits
      straightforward, second-order kinetics, with the rate proportional to [Ru(eta(6)
      C(6)Me(6))(bpy)(H)(+)] and [H(3)O(+)] and k = 2.2 * 10(1) M(-1) s(-1) (MU = 0.1
      M, Na(2)SO(4) medium). However, for the case of Ru(terpy)(bpy)H(+), the
      protonation step is very rapid, and only the formation of the product
      Ru(terpy)(bpy)(H(2)O)(2+) (presumably via a dihydrogen or dihydride complex) is
      observed with a k(obs) of ca. 4 s(-1). The hydricities of HCO(2)(-), HCO(-), and
      H(3)CO(-) in water are estimated as +1.48, -0.76, and +1.57 eV/molecule (+34, 
      17.5, +36 kcal/mol), respectively. Theoretical studies of the reactions with
      CO(2) reveal a "product-like" transition state with short C-H and long M-H
      distances. (Reactant) Ru-H stretched 0.68 A; (product) C-H stretched only 0.04 A.
      The role of water solvent was explored by including one, two, or three water
      molecules in the calculation.

PMID- 20931978
TI  - Importance of equilibrium fluctuations between most stable conformers in the
      control of the reaction mechanism.
AB  - Hydrolysis of closely related compounds show how subtle structural differences
      markedly change reaction mechanisms. While in the hydrolysis of 3-acetoxy-2
      naphthoic acid (3AC2NA) the reacting groups rotate freely, favoring
      intramolecular general base catalysis, the 1-acetoxy-2-naphthoic acid (1AC2NA)
      isomer is caged in an energy wall that freezes a conformation suitable for
      intramolecular nucleophilic attack, in contrast to the results expected for
      reactions governed largely by electronic effects. The results highlight the
      importance of the dynamics of equilibrium fluctuations between most stable
      conformers in the control of the reaction mechanism, (i) promoting the
      nucleophilic attack in 1AC2NA by allowing the most stable conformers to
      equilibrate only via rotation in a direction that intercepts the reaction
      coordinate and (ii) favoring a general base-catalyzed water attack in 3AC2NA by
      favoring equilibration via rotation that allows inclusion of a water molecule in
      a proper position for reaction.

PMID- 20931979
TI  - Regulation of local structure and composition of binary disulfide and thiol self
      assembled monolayers using nanografting.
AB  - Nanografting is used to create spatial confinement, which enables regulation of
      self-assembly reaction pathways and outcome. The degree and outcome of this
      regulation is revealed using binary self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of
      organothiols and disulfides. In naturally grown systems, these SAMs have more
      complex morphology when compared with corresponding binary alkanethiol SAMs.
      Taller molecules form nanodomains of ellipsoidal cap in shape. These domains
      arrange in various irregular geometries, including 1D worm-like and 2D branches.
      This observation differs from binary alkanethiol SAMs, where nanodomains are
      separated and randomly dispersed. During nanografting, more homogeneous
      morphology was observed compared with naturally grown layers. By varying
      nanoshaving speed, the nanodomain structure can be regulated from randomly
      dispersed to more heterogeneous and, finally, to near natural growth. This trend
      is very similar to mixed alkanethiol systems, where the domain size and
      separation increase with increasing speed. Different from the alkanethiol
      systems, the observed structural variations are due to the changes in surface
      composition, in addition to domain size, shape, and arrangement.

PMID- 20931981
TI  - Self-assembly of a hexameric aggregate of a lipophilic calix[4]pyrrole
      resorcinarene hybrid in solution: a diffusion NMR study.
AB  - The lipophilic calix[4]pyrrole-resorcinarene hybrid 1b, the extended analogue of
      resorcin[4]arene 2b, was synthesized for the first time, and its self-assembly in
      solution was studied using (1)H and diffusion NMR. It was found that 1b self
      assembles to hexameric aggregates in CDCl(3) solution. The interaction of
      trialkylamine guests with the hexameric aggregate of 1b was explored, and it
      appears that under the conditions used in the present study these guests interact
      with the external faces of the hexameric aggregate of 1b.

PMID- 20931980
TI  - Identification of non-peptide malignant brain tumor (MBT) repeat antagonists by
      virtual screening of commercially available compounds.
AB  - The malignant brain tumor (MBT) repeat is an important epigenetic-code "reader"
      and is functionally associated with differentiation, gene silencing, and tumor
      suppression. (1-3) Small molecule probes of MBT domains should enable a
      systematic study of MBT-containing proteins and potentially reveal novel
      druggable targets. We designed and applied a virtual screening strategy that
      identified potential MBT antagonists in a large database of commercially
      available compounds. A small set of virtual hits was purchased and submitted to
      experimental testing. Nineteen of the purchased compounds showed a specific dose
      dependent protein binding and will provide critical structure-activity
      information for subsequent lead generation and optimization.

PMID- 20931984
TI  - Cost of wind energy: comparing distant wind resources to local resources in the
      midwestern United States.
AB  - The best wind sites in the United States are often located far from electricity
      demand centers and lack transmission access. Local sites that have lower quality
      wind resources but do not require as much power transmission capacity are an
      alternative to distant wind resources. In this paper, we explore the trade-offs
      between developing new wind generation at local sites and installing wind farms
      at remote sites. We first examine the general relationship between the high
      capital costs required for local wind development and the relatively lower
      capital costs required to install a wind farm capable of generating the same
      electrical output at a remote site,with the results representing the maximum
      amount an investor should be willing to pay for transmission access. We suggest
      that this analysis can be used as a first step in comparing potential wind
      resources to meet a state renewable portfolio standard (RPS). To illustrate, we
      compare the cost of local wind (~50 km from the load) to the cost of distant wind
      requiring new transmission (~550-750 km from the load) to meet the Illinois RPS.
      We find that local, lower capacity factor wind sites are the lowest cost option
      for meeting the Illinois RPS if new long distance transmission is required to
      access distant, higher capacity factor wind resources. If higher capacity wind
      sites can be connected to the existing grid at minimal cost, in many cases they
      will have lower costs.

PMID- 20931982
TI  - Lung cancer serum biomarker discovery using glycoprotein capture and liquid
      chromatography mass spectrometry.
AB  - Targeted glycoproteomics represents an attractive approach for conducting
      peripheral blood based cancer biomarker discovery due to the well-known altered
      pattern of protein glycosylation in cancer and the reduced complexity of the
      resultant glycoproteome. Here we report its application to a set of pooled
      nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC) case sera (9 adenocarcinoma and 6 squamous cell
      carcinoma pools from 54 patients) and matched controls pools, including 8
      clinical control pools with computed tomography detected nodules but being
      nonmalignant as determined by biopsy from 54 patients, and 8 matched healthy
      control pools from 106 cancer-free subjects. The goal of the study is to discover
      biomarkers that may enable improved early detection and diagnosis of lung cancer.
      Immunoaffinity subtraction was used to first deplete the topmost abundant serum
      proteins; the remaining serum proteins were then subjected to hydrazide chemistry
      based glycoprotein capture and enrichment. Hydrazide resin in situ trypsin
      digestion was used to release nonglycosylated peptides. Formerly N-linked
      glycosylated peptides were released by peptide-N-glycosidase F (PNGase F)
      treatment and were subsequently analyzed by liquid chromatography (LC)-tandem
      mass spectrometry (MS/MS). A MATLAB based in-house tool was developed to
      facilitate retention time alignment across different LC-MS/MS runs, determination
      of precursor ion m/z values and elution profiles, and the integration of mass
      chromatograms based on determined parameters for identified peptides. A total of
      38 glycopeptides from 22 different proteins were significantly differentially
      abundant across the case/control pools (P < 0.01, Student's t test) and their
      abundances led to a near complete separation of case and control pools based on
      hierarchical clustering. The differential abundances of three of these candidate
      proteins were verified by commercially available ELISAs applied in the pools.
      Strong positive correlations between glycopeptide mass chromatograms and ELISA
      measured protein abundance was observed for all of the selected glycoproteins.

PMID- 20931986
TI  - Influence of beta-substituents in aldol reactions of boron enolates of beta
      alkoxy methylketones.
AB  - Moderate to good levels of substrate-based 1,5-syn-stereocontrol could be
      achieved in the boron-mediated aldol reactions of beta-tert-butyl methylketones
      with achiral aldehydes, independent of the nature of the beta-alkoxy protecting
      group (P = PMB or TBS). The analysis of the relative energies of the transition
      structures by theoretical calculations using the density functional B3LYP shows
      relative energies favoring the corresponding OUT-1,5-SYN transition structures,
      explaining the observed 1,5-syn stereoinduction.

PMID- 20931985
TI  - Efficient microwave-assisted synthesis of human islet amyloid polypeptide
      designed to facilitate the specific incorporation of labeled amino acids.
AB  - A cost-efficient, time-reducing solid-phase synthesis of the amyloidogenic, 37
      residue islet amyloid polypeptide (IAPP) is developed using two pseudoprolines
      (highlighted blue in sequence) in combination with microwave technology. A yield
      twice that obtained with conventional syntheses is realized. The utility of this
      protocol is demonstrated by the synthesis of a (13)C(18)O-labeled Ser-20 IAPP
      variant, a prohibitively expensive and chemically challenging site to label via
      other protocols. TEM analysis shows the peptide forms normal amyloid (abstract
      image).

PMID- 20931987
TI  - Efficient synthesis of 1-sulfonyl-1,2,3-triazoles.
AB  - An efficient room-temperature method for the synthesis of 1-sulfonyl-1,2,3
      triazoles from in situ generated copper(I) acetylides and sulfonyl azides is
      described. The copper(I) thiophene-2-carboxylate (CuTC) catalyst produces the
      title compounds under both nonbasic anhydrous and aqueous conditions in good
      yields.

PMID- 20931988
TI  - Measurements of the absolute absorption cross sections of the A<-X transition in
      organic peroxy radicals by dual-wavelength cavity ring-down spectroscopy.
AB  - We demonstrate an experimental method for the accurate measurement of the
      absorption cross section of transient species, such as organic peroxy radicals in
      which the concentration of the radicals is determined via the absorption of a
      stable coproduct that is produced stochiometrically. The requirements for the
      experimental apparatus, a dual-wavelength cavity ring-down spectrometer, and the
      chemical protocol for transient species generation are discussed. The capability
      of this approach is demonstrated by measuring the peak absorption cross section
      of the ethyl peroxy radical, C22H5O2, whose value for the A<-X electronic
      transition at 7596 cm-1 (lambda = 1316.5 nm) is found to be sigma(p)(EP) =
      5.29(20) * 10-21 cm2. These present results are compared to those obtained from
      other methods of measurement of sigma(p)(EP). Possible random and systematic
      errors are discussed.

PMID- 20931989
TI  - Simulation studies on hydrogen sorption and its thermodynamics in covalently
      linked carbon nanotube scaffold.
AB  - Carbon nanotubes are potential hydrogen storage materials because of their large
      surface area and high sorbate-surface interaction energy due to the curvature
      effect. However, single walled carbon nanotubes bundle up tightly, so most of
      their surface areas become inaccessible for adsorption. As a solution, spacer
      molecules can be used to hold the tubes at a distance from each other in a
      scaffolded structure. Here, using grand canonical Monte Carlo simulation, we show
      that scaffolds can achieve high sorption capacity. We analyze the sorption
      capacity of (6, 6), (9, 9), (12, 12), (15, 15), (18, 18), and (21, 0) tube
      scaffolds with linker distances along the c-axis ranging from 8.14 to 24.4 A, as
      a function of tube diameter and spacer density, for various temperatures and
      pressures. In order to explore additional avenues to further improve the sorption
      capacity, we studied surface functionalized and Li(+) ion decorated nanotube
      scaffolds. We also report the thermodynamics of sorption based on isosteric heat.

PMID- 20931990
TI  - Nucleation pathways of clathrate hydrates: effect of guest size and solubility.
AB  - Understanding the microscopic mechanism of nucleation of clathrate hydrates is
      important for their use in hydrogen storage, CO(2) sequestration, storage and
      transport of natural gas, and the prevention of the formation of hydrate plugs in
      oil and gas pipelines. These applications involve hydrate guests of varied sizes
      and solubility in water that form different hydrate crystal structures.
      Nevertheless, molecular studies of the mechanism of nucleation of hydrates have
      focused on the single class of small hydrophobic guests that stabilize the sI
      crystal. In this work, we use molecular dynamics simulations with a very
      efficient coarse-grained model to elucidate the mechanisms of nucleation of
      clathrate hydrates of four model guests that span a 2 orders of magnitude range
      in solubility in water and that encompass sizes which stabilize each one a
      different hydrate structure (sI and sII, with and without occupancy of the
      dodecahedral cages). We find that the overall mechanism of clathrate nucleation
      is similar for all guests and involves a first step of formation of blobs, dense
      clusters of solvent-separated guest molecules that are the birthplace of the
      clathrate cages. Blobs of hydrophobic guests are rarer and longer-lived than
      those for soluble guests. For each guest, we find multiple competing channels to
      form the critical nuclei, filled dodecahedral (5(12)) cages, empty 5(12) cages,
      and a variety of filled large (5(12)6(n) with n = 2, 3, and 4) clathrate cages.
      Formation of empty dodecahedra is an important nucleation channel for all but the
      smallest guest. The empty 5(12) cages are stabilized by the presence of guests
      from the blob in their first solvation shell. Under conditions of high
      supercooling, the structure of the critical and subcritical nuclei is mainly
      determined by the size of the guest and does not reflect the cage composition or
      ordering of the stable or metastable clathrate crystals.

PMID- 20931992
TI  - Photoactivated antimicrobial activity of carbon nanotube-porphyrin conjugates.
AB  - We report the design of antimicrobial nanocomposite films based on conjugates of
      multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNT) and protoporphyrin IX (PPIX) that are highly
      effective against Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) upon irradiation with visible
      light. S. aureus infections can lead to life-threatening situations, especially
      when caused by antibiotic-resistant strains. While the light-activated
      antimicrobial activity of porphyrins against such pathogens is well-known, a
      facile way to incorporate porphyrins into coatings may lead to their more
      effective use. To that end, we decided to synthesize and characterize MWNT-PPIX
      conjugates which combine the biocidal capacity of porphyrins with the mechanical
      strength of MWNTs. The conjugates could effectively deactivate S. aureus cells in
      solution upon irradiation with visible light. We also designed large area
      nanocomposite films comprised of the MWNT-PPIX conjugates that showed potent
      antimicrobial activity. These MWNT-PPIX conjugates represent a facile strategy
      for the design of antimicrobial and antifouling coatings.

PMID- 20931991
TI  - Paraoxon-induced protein expression changes to SH-SY5Y cells.
AB  - SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells were examined to determine changes in protein
      expression following exposure to the organophosphate paraoxon (O,O-diethyl-p
      nitrophenoxy phosphate). Exposure of SH-SY5Y cells to paraoxon (20 MUM) for 48 h
      showed no significant change in cell viability as established using an MTT assay.
      Protein expression changes from the paraoxon-treated SH-SY5Y cells were
      determined using a comparative, subproteome approach by fractionation into
      cytosolic, membrane, nuclear, and cytoskeletal fractions. The fractionated
      proteins were separated by 2D-PAGE, identified by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry,
      and expression changes determined by densitometry. Over 400 proteins were
      separated from the four fractions, and 16 proteins were identified with altered
      expression >=1.3-fold including heat shock protein 90 (-1.3-fold), heterogeneous
      nuclear ribonucleoprotein C (+2.8-fold), and H(+) transporting ATP synthase beta
      chain (-3.1-fold). Western blot analysis conducted on total protein isolates
      confirmed the expression changes in these three proteins.

PMID- 20931993
TI  - Ultradense, deep subwavelength nanowire array photovoltaics as engineered optical
      thin films.
AB  - A photovoltaic device comprised of an array of 20 nm wide, 32 nm pitch array of
      silicon nanowires is modeled as an optical material. The nanowire array (NWA) has
      characteristic device features that are deep in the subwavelength regime for
      light, which permits a number of simplifying approximations. Using photocurrent
      measurements as a probe of the absorptance, we show that the NWA optical
      properties can be accurately modeled with rigorous coupled-wave analysis. The
      densely structured NWAs behave as homogeneous birefringent materials into the
      ultraviolet with effective optical properties that are accurately modeled using
      the dielectric functions of bulk Si and SiO2, coupled with a physical model for
      the NWA derived from ellipsometry and transmission electron microscopy.

PMID- 20931994
TI  - Energy loss of the electron system in individual single-walled carbon nanotubes.
AB  - We characterize the energy loss of the nonequilibrium electron system in
      individual metallic single-walled carbon nanotubes at low temperature. Using
      Johnson noise thermometry, we demonstrate that, for a nanotube with Ohmic
      contacts, the dc resistance at finite bias current directly reflects the average
      electron temperature. This enables a straightforward determination of the thermal
      conductance associated with cooling of the nanotube electron system. In analyzing
      the temperature- and length-dependence of the thermal conductance, we consider
      contributions from acoustic phonon emission, optical phonon emission, and hot
      electron outdiffusion.

PMID- 20931995
TI  - The influence of strong electron and hole doping on the Raman intensity of
      chemical vapor-deposition graphene.
AB  - Electrochemical charging has been applied to study the influence of doping on the
      intensity of the various Raman features observed in chemical vapor-deposition
      grown graphene. Three different laser excitation energies have been used to probe
      the influence of the excitation energy on the behavior of both the G and G' modes
      regarding their dependence on doping. The intensities of both the G and G' modes
      exhibit a significant but different dependence on doping. While the intensity of
      the G' band monotonically decreases with increasing magnitude of the electrode
      potential (positive or negative), for the G band a more complex behavior has been
      found. The striking feature is an increase of the Raman intensity of the G mode
      at a high value of the positive electrode potential. Furthermore, the observed
      increase of the Raman intensity of the G mode is found to be a function of laser
      excitation energy.

PMID- 20931996
TI  - Synthesis of nitrogen-doped graphene films for lithium battery application.
AB  - We demonstrate a controlled growth of nitrogen-doped graphene layers by liquid
      precursor based chemical vapor deposition (CVD) technique. Nitrogen-doped
      graphene was grown directly on Cu current collectors and studied for its
      reversible Li-ion intercalation properties. Reversible discharge capacity of N
      doped graphene is almost double compared to pristine graphene due to the large
      number of surface defects induced due to N-doping. All the graphene films were
      characterized by Raman spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and X-ray
      photoemission spectroscopy. Direct growth of active electrode material on current
      collector substrates makes this a feasible and efficient process for integration
      into current battery manufacture technology.

PMID- 20931997
TI  - Enantioselective synthesis of alpha-fluoro-beta(3)-amino esters: synthesis of
      enantiopure, orthogonally protected alpha-fluoro-beta(3)-lysine.
AB  - The scope of a tandem conjugate addition-fluorination sequence performed on
      alpha,beta-unsaturated esters using the enantiopure lithium amide derived from
      (S)-N-benzyl-N-(alpha-methylbenzyl)amine, and the electrophilic fluorinating
      agent N-fluorobenzenesulfonimide has been investigated. Using this method, alpha
      fluoro-beta(3)-amino esters can be obtained in up to quantitative yield and 80:20
      to >99:1 dr. This simple methodology does not rely on the use of alpha-amino
      acids from the chiral pool and thus provides the potential for the preparation of
      enantiopure alpha-fluoro-beta(3)-amino acids with a wide variety of side chains.
      Its utility was demonstrated through the synthesis of orthogonally protected
      (2S,3S)-alpha-fluoro-beta(3)-lysine.

PMID- 20931998
TI  - Self-assembled 1-octadecanethiol monolayers on graphene for mercury detection.
AB  - We report studies on surface modification of graphene with 1-octadecanethiol and
      its application as heavy metal sensors. The alkanethiol molecules can self
      assemble into large-scale highly ordered monolayers on single-layer graphene
      regardless of the roughness of graphene surfaces inherited from the underlying
      amorphorous silicon oxide (SiO2) dielectric substrates. Atomically resolved
      scanning tunneling microscopy imaging of modified graphene sheets on SiO2 was
      conducted to reveal configuration details of the self-assembled structure.
      Functionalization of graphene field effect transistors (Gra-FETs) with 1
      octadecanethiol was realized and successfully explored for mercury(II) (Hg2+)
      detection at 10 ppm.

PMID- 20932000
TI  - HER2/neu antibody conjugated poly(amino acid)-coated iron oxide nanoparticles for
      breast cancer MR imaging.
AB  - Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles are widely used as nanoprobes for
      magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Water-soluble iron oxide nanoparticles were
      synthesized by coating iron oxide nanoparticles with a hydrophilic,
      biocompatible, biodegradable poly(amino acid) derivative, poly(2-hydroxyethyl
      aspartamide) graft copolymer for negative contrast enhancement on T2 weighted
      MRI. HER2/neu antibodies were conjugated on the surface of poly(amino acid)
      coated iron oxide nanoparticles for the detection of breast cancer. The antibody
      grafted iron oxide nanoparticles (PAION-Ab) were about 31.1 nm in diameter. The
      T2 relaxivity of PAION-Ab was 246 L.mmol(-1).sec(-1) greater than that of the
      commercial product such as Feridex. PAION-Ab showed low cytotoxicity even at
      relatively high concentrations. Furthermore, Prussian blue staining and in vitro
      MRI study with SKBR-3, breast cancer cells overexpressing HER2/neu receptors
      indicated that PAION-Ab exhibited excellent cancer cell detection ability and
      enhanced signal intensities in the T2-weighted image. 

PMID- 20932001
TI  - Time trend analysis of atmospheric POPs concentrations in the Great Lakes region
      since 1990.
AB  - Using a multiple linear regression model of the concentrations of several
      persistent organic pollutants in the atmospheric vapor and particle phases and in
      precipitation, we have analyzed a data set of about 700,000 values to determine
      the rate at which these concentrations are decreasing. These concentrations were
      measured as part of the Integrated Atmospheric Deposition Network (IADN), which
      has operated several sites near the North American Great Lakes since 1991. The
      pollutants measured include 83 polychlorinated biphenyl congeners, 17 polycyclic
      aromatic hydrocarbons, and 24 organochlorine pesticides. In the approach used
      here, for each of the three phases, the concentrations of a specific chemical at
      all the sites were combined and fitted with a regression incorporating the sine
      and cosine of the Julian Day (relative to 1 January 1990 and with a periodicity
      of one year) and the population living and working within a 25-km radius of the
      sampling site. Partial residuals were then calculated for each datum, all of the
      residuals for the three phases were combined, and an overall halving time was
      calculated from them. This relatively simple approach indicated that the
      concentrations of PCBs in air around the Great Lakes are decreasing with an
      overall halving time of 17 +/- 2 years, which is slow for a substance that was
      banned about 35 years ago. Phenanthrene, chrysene, and endosulfan showed halving
      times on the order of 10 years. The concentrations of several organochlorine
      pesticides were decreasing more rapidly; for example alpha- and gamma-HCH
      (lindane) have halving times of about 3.5 years.

PMID- 20932002
TI  - N-nitrosodimethylamine occurrence, formation and cycling in clouds and fogs.
AB  - The occurrence, source, and sink processes of N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) have
      been explored by means of combined laboratory, field, and model studies.
      Observations have shown the occurrence of NDMA in fogs and clouds at substantial
      concentrations (7.5-397 ng L(-1)). Laboratory studies were conducted to
      investigate the formation of NDMA from nitrous acid and dimethylamine in the
      homogeneous aqueous phase. While NDMA was produced in the aqueous phase, the low
      yields (<1%) observed could not explain observational concentrations. Therefore
      gaseous formation of NDMA with partitioning to droplets likely dominates aqueous
      NDMA formation. Box-model calculations confirmed the predominant contributions
      from gas phase formation followed by partitioning into the cloud droplets.
      Measurements and model calculations showed that while NDMA is eventually
      photolyzed, it might persist in the atmosphere for hours after sunrise and before
      sunset since the photolysis in the aqueous phase might be much less efficient
      than in the gas phase.

PMID- 20932003
TI  - p38 MAPK activation, DNA damage, cell cycle arrest and apoptosis as mechanisms of
      toxicity of silver nanoparticles in Jurkat T cells.
AB  - To identify potential harmful effects of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) on human
      health, a comprehensive toxicity assay was conducted on human Jurkat T cells,
      using oxidative stress-related endpoint. The effect of Ag ions was also
      investigated and compared with that of AgNPs, as it is anticipated that Ag ions
      will be released from AgNPs, which may be responsible for their toxicity. Cell
      viability tests indicated high sensitivity of Jurkat T cells when exposed to
      AgNPs compared to Ag ions; however, both AgNPs and Ag ions induce similar levels
      of cellular reactive oxygen species during the initial exposure period and; after
      24 h, they were increased on exposure to AgNPs compared to Ag ions, which suggest
      that oxidative stress may be an indirect cause of the observed cytotoxicity of
      AgNPs. AgNPs exposure activates p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase through
      nuclear factor-E2-related factor-2 and nuclear factor-kappaB signaling pathways,
      subsequently inducing DNA damage, cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. Selective
      toxicity of AgNPs on Jurkat T cells suggests that rigorous toxicity evaluation
      should be conducted using various different cell types and biological systems
      prior to the widespread use of AgNPs.

PMID- 20932004
TI  - In situ observations of nanoparticle early development kinetics at mineral-water
      interfaces.
AB  - The early development of nanoparticles at mineral-water interfaces exerts crucial
      influences on the sequestration and transport of aqueous toxic species
      originating from both natural and anthropogenic sources. Homogeneous and
      heterogeneous nucleation often occur simultaneously, making it difficult to sort
      out whether toxic species are transported as free species, sorbed on nanoparticle
      surfaces, or trapped between aggregated nanoparticles. Here, using a newly
      developed X-ray scattering setup, we show how homogeneous nucleation and growth
      can be quantitatively separated from heterogeneous processes under aqueous
      conditions in real-time. Under conditions found in acid-mine-drainage (at pH 3.6
      and [Fe(3+)] = 10(-4) M), heterogeneous nucleation of iron oxide nanoparticles on
      quartz dominated homogeneous nucleation by a factor of 192 (by particle volume).
      The smallest heterogeneously formed nanoparticles had radii of 1.7 +/- 0.5 nm,
      significantly smaller than the size estimated using classical nucleation theory
      (CNT). Based on the data, the dominant nucleation and growth mechanisms of iron
      oxide nanoparticles depending on ionic strength were presented. Our findings have
      implications for the formation and transport of nanoparticles, and thus toxins,
      in both environmental and biological systems.

PMID- 20932005
TI  - Aromaticity and relative stabilities of azines.
AB  - The most refined nucleus-independent chemical shift index (NICS(0)(pizz)) and the
      extra cyclic resonance energies (ECREs), based on the block localized wave
      function (BLW) method, show that the aromaticity of all azines is like that of
      benzene. The same is true for aza-naphthalenes relative to naphthalene. The lower
      relative energies of isomers with vicinal N's are due to the weakness of NN bonds
      rather than to reduced aromaticity.

PMID- 20932006
TI  - Electronic structures of single-walled carbon nanotubes encapsulating ellipsoidal
      C70.
AB  - The molecular orientation of ellipsoidal C(70) in single-walled carbon nanotubes
      (SWCNTs) depends on the tube diameter (d(t)). Photoluminescence (PL) studies
      reveal that the fullerene encapsulation effects on the optical transition energy
      of SWCNTs are significantly different for C(70) and C(60) at d(t) = 1.405-1.431
      nm. This indicates that the transition from the "lying" alignment to the
      "standing" alignment occurs at d(t) ~ 1.41 nm and the electronic states of SWCNTs
      are very sensitive to the interspacing between the encapsulated molecules and the
      SWCNTs. The present findings suggest that the electronic structure of SWCNTs is
      tunable not only by alternating the encapsulated molecules but also by
      controlling their molecular orientations, thus paving the way for development of
      novel SWCNT-based devices.

PMID- 20932007
TI  - Synthesis of redox active ferrocene-modified phospholipids by
      transphosphatidylation reaction and chronoamperometry study of the corresponding
      redox sensitive liposome.
AB  - The design of stable redox active liposomes where the organometallic
      electroactive pendent was covalently bound to the phospholipid headgroup through
      a phospholipase D (PLD)-catalyzed transphosphatidylation reaction between a
      choline-bearing phospholipid and a primary alcohol containing a ferrocene
      derivative is reported. The functionalization of a liposome surface with this
      organometallic redox phospholipid allowed the study of membrane-bound
      electrochemical reactions, which are important in the design of redox-sensitive
      liposome delivery systems.

PMID- 20932008
TI  - Detection of telomerase activity in high concentration of cell lysates using
      primer-modified gold nanoparticles.
AB  - Although the telomeric repeat amplification protocol (TRAP) has served as a
      powerful assay for detecting telomerase activity, its use has been significantly
      limited when performed directly in complex, interferant-laced samples. In this
      work, we report a modification of the TRAP assay that allows the detection of
      high-fidelity amplification of telomerase products directly from concentrated
      cell lysates. Briefly, we covalently attached 12 nm gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) to
      the telomere strand (TS) primer, which is used as a substrate for telomerase
      elongation. These TS-modified AuNPs significantly reduce polymerase chain
      reaction (PCR) artifacts (such as primer dimers) and improve the yield of
      amplified telomerase products relative to the traditional TRAP assay when
      amplification is performed in concentrated cell lysates. Specifically, because
      the TS-modified AuNPs eliminate most of the primer-dimer artifacts normally
      visible at the same position as the shortest amplified telomerase PCR product
      apparent on agarose gels, the AuNP-modified TRAP assay exhibits excellent
      sensitivity. Consequently, we observed a 10-fold increase in sensitivity for
      cancer cells diluted 1000-fold with somatic cells. It thus appears that the use
      of AuNP-modified primers significantly improves the sensitivity and specificity
      of the traditional TRAP assay and may be an effective method by which PCR can be
      performed directly in concentrated cell lysates.

PMID- 20932009
TI  - 5-Piperazinyl-3-sulfonylindazoles as potent and selective 5-hydroxytryptamine-6
      antagonists.
AB  - As part of our efforts to develop agents for CNS diseases, we have been focused
      on the 5-HT(6) receptor in order to identify potent and selective ligands for
      cognitive enhancement. Herein we report the identification of a novel series of 5
      piperazinyl-3-sulfonylindazoles as potent and selective 5-HT(6) antagonists. The
      synthesis, SAR, and pharmacokinetic and pharmacological activities of some of the
      compounds including 3-(naphthalen-1-ylsulfonyl)-5-(piperazin-1-yl)-1H-indazole
      (WAY-255315 or SAM-315) will be described.

PMID- 20932010
TI  - Design and synthesis of 2-arylbenzimidazoles and evaluation of their inhibitory
      effect against Chlamydia pneumoniae.
AB  - Chlamydia pneumoniae is an intracellular bacterium that responds poorly to
      antibiotic treatment. Insufficient antibiotic usage leads to chronic infection,
      which is linked to disease processes of asthma, atherosclerosis, and Alzheimer's
      disease. The Chlamydia research lacks genetic tools exploited by other
      antimicrobial research, and thus other approaches to drug discovery must be
      applied. A set of 2-arylbenzimidazoles was designed based on our earlier
      findings, and 33 derivatives were synthesized. Derivatives were assayed against
      C. pneumoniae strain CWL-029 in an acute infection model using TR-FIA method at a
      concentration of 10 MUM, and the effects of the derivatives on the host cell
      viability were evaluated at the same concentration. Fourteen compounds showed at
      least 80% inhibition, with only minor changes in host cell viability. Nine most
      potential compounds were evaluated using immunofluorescence microscopy on two
      different strains of C. pneumoniae CWL-029 and CV-6. The N-[3-(1H-benzimidazol-2
      yl)phenyl]-3-methylbenzamide (42) had minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of
      10 MUM against CWL-029 and 6.3 MUM against the clinical strain CV-6. This study
      shows the high antichlamydial potential of 2-arylbenzimidazoles, which also seem
      to have good characteristics for lead compounds.

PMID- 20932011
TI  - Probing the spontaneous membrane insertion of a tail-anchored membrane protein by
      sum frequency generation spectroscopy.
AB  - In addition to providing a semipermeable barrier that protects a cell from
      harmful stimuli, lipid membranes occupy a central role in hosting a variety of
      biological processes, including cellular communications and membrane protein
      functions. Most importantly, protein-membrane interactions are implicated in a
      variety of diseases and therefore many analytical techniques were developed to
      study the basis of these interactions and their influence on the molecular
      architecture of the cell membrane. In this study, sum frequency generation (SFG)
      vibrational spectroscopy is used to investigate the spontaneous membrane
      insertion process of cytochrome b(5) and its mutants. Experimental results show a
      significant difference in the membrane insertion and orientation properties of
      these proteins, which can be correlated with their functional differences. In
      particular, our results correlate the nonfunctional property of a mutant
      cytochrome b(5) with its inability to insert into the lipid bilayer. The approach
      reported in this study could be used as a potential rapid screening tool in
      measuring the topology of membrane proteins as well as interactions of
      biomolecules with lipid bilayers in situ.

PMID- 20932012
TI  - Structural phase control in self-catalyzed growth of GaAs nanowires on silicon
      (111).
AB  - Au free GaAs nanowires with zinc blende structure, free of twin planes and with
      remarkable aspect ratios, have been grown on (111) Si substrates by molecular
      beam epitaxy. Nanowires with diameters down to 20 nm are obtained using a thin
      native oxide layer on the Si substrates. We discuss how the structural phase
      distribution along the wire length is controlled by the effective V/III ratio and
      temperature at the growth interface and explain how to obtain a pure twin plane
      free zinc blende structure.

PMID- 20932014
TI  - Total synthesis of (-)-callipeltoside A.
AB  - A total synthesis of (-)-callipeltoside A (1) has been achieved. The core
      macrocycle was made via a dual macrolactonization/pyran hemiketal formation
      reaction, developed to circumvent issues related to the reversible nature of
      acylketene formation from beta-keto lactone substrates. Initial approaches to the
      core of the natural product that revolved around ring-closing metathesis (RCM)
      and relay ring-closing metathesis (RRCM) reactions are also described.

PMID- 20932015
TI  - Oxygen atom transfer reactions from isolated (oxo)manganese(V) corroles to
      sulfides.
AB  - A series of five free-base corroles were metalated and brominated to form 10
      manganese(III) corroles. Two of the free-base corroles and six manganese(III)
      corroles were analyzed by X-ray crystallography, including one complex that may
      be considered a transition-state analogue of oxygen atom transfer (OAT) from
      (oxo)manganese(V) to thioansisole. Oxidation by ozone allowed for isolation of
      the 10 corresponding (oxo)manganese(V) corroles, whose characterization by (1)H
      and (19)F NMR spectroscopy and electrochemistry revealed a low-spin and triply
      bound manganese-oxygen moiety. Mechanistic insight was obtained by investigating
      their reactivity regarding stoichiometric OAT to a series of p-thioanisoles,
      revealing a magnitude difference on the order of 5 between the beta-pyrrole
      brominated (oxo)manganese(V) corroles relative to the nonbrominated analogues.
      The main conclusion is that the (oxo)manganese(V) corroles are legitimate OAT
      agents under conditions where proposed oxidant-coordinated reaction intermediates
      are irrelevant. Large negative Hammett rho constants are obtained for the more
      reactive (oxo)manganese(V) corroles, consistent with expectation for such
      electrophilic species. The least reactive complexes display very little
      selectivity to the electron-richness of the sulfides, as well as a non-first
      order dependence on the concentration of (oxo)manganese(V) corrole. This suggests
      that disproportionation of the original (oxo)manganese(V) corrole to
      (oxo)manganese(IV) and (oxo)manganese(VI) corroles, followed by substrate
      oxidation by the latter complex, gains importance when the direct OAT process
      becomes progressively less favorable.

PMID- 20932013
TI  - Highly stereoselective and scalable anti-aldol reactions using N-(p
      dodecylphenylsulfonyl)-2-pyrrolidinecarboxamide: scope and origins of
      stereoselectivities.
AB  - A highly enantio- and diastereoselective anti-aldol process (up to >99% ee, >99:1
      dr) catalyzed by a proline mimetic-N-(p-dodecylphenylsulfonyl)-2
      pyrrolidinecarboxamide-has been developed. Catalyst loading as low as 2 mol % can
      be employed. Use of industry-friendly solvents for this transformation as well as
      neat reaction conditions have been demonstrated. The scope of this transformation
      on a range of aldehydes and ketones is explored. Density functional theory
      computations reveal that the origins of enhanced diastereoselectivity are due to
      the presence of nonclassical hydrogen bonds between the sulfonamide, the
      electrophile, and the catalyst enamine that favor the major anti-Re aldol TS in
      the Houk-List model.

PMID- 20932016
TI  - Visible-light-driven Cu(II)-(Sr(1-y)Na(y))(Ti(1-x)Mo(x))O3 photocatalysts based
      on conduction band control and surface ion modification.
AB  - Band-gap narrowing is generally considered to be a primary method in the design
      of visible-light-active photocatalysts because it can decrease the photo
      threshold to lower energies. However, controlling the valence band by up-shifting
      the top of the band or inducing localized levels above the band results in
      quantum efficiencies under visible light much lower than those under UV
      irradiation (such as those reported for N-doped TiO(2): Science 2001, 293, 269.
      J. Phys. Chem. B 2003, 107, 5483). Herein, we report a systematic study on a
      novel, visible-light-driven photocatalyst based on conduction band control and
      surface ion modification. Cu(II)-(Sr(1-y)Na(y))(Ti(1-x)Mo(x))O(3) photocatalysts
      were prepared by a soft chemical method in combination with an impregnation
      technique. It is found that Mo(6+) as well as Na(+) doping in the SrTiO(3) can
      lower the bottom of the conduction band and effectively extend the absorption
      edge to the visible light region. The Cu(II) clusters grafted on the surface act
      as a co-catalyst to efficiently reduce the oxygen molecules, thus consuming the
      excited electrons. Consequently, photocatalytic decomposition of gaseous 2
      propanol into CO(2) is achieved, that is, CH(3)CHOHCH(3) + (9)/(2)O(2) -> 3CO(2)
      + H(2)O. For Cu(II)-(Sr(1-y)Na(y))(Ti(1-x)Mo(x))O(3) at x = 2.0% under visible
      light irradiation, the maximum CO(2) generation rate can reach 0.148 MUmol/h; the
      quantum efficiency under visible light is calculated to be 14.5%, while it is 10%
      under UV light irradiation. Our results suggest that high visible light
      photocatalytic efficiency can be achieved by combining conduction band control
      and surface ion modification, which provides a new approach for rational design
      and development of high-performance photocatalysts.

PMID- 20932017
TI  - Discovery of biphasic thermal unfolding of ompc with implications for surface
      loop stability.
AB  - Escherichia coli outer membrane protein C (osmoporin) is a close homologue of
      OmpF or matrix porin, expressed under conditions of high osmolarity or ionic
      strength. Despite the fact that the proteins display very similar structures
      (rmsd = 0.78 A), the channel activities (gating or selectivity) of the two
      proteins are markedly different, and compared to OmpF, there is much less
      published information about the stability and folding of OmpC. In this paper, we
      report a structural study of nine OmpC mutations that affect channel size and
      voltage gating. The secondary and tertiary structural analysis by circular
      dichroism (CD) indicated that the single-amino acid substitutions have little
      impact on the protein fold. However, a thermal denaturation study using CD and
      differential scanning calorimetry shows that different mutations lead to varied
      levels of destabilization, with the largest showing a 15  degrees C lower T(m)
      than the wild type and a 40% reduction in DeltaH(cal). CD thermal denaturation
      measurements revealed that OmpC unfolds in a biphasic process, in which only the
      second phase is affected by the known mutations. The first stage of unfolding was
      shown to be reversible and separate from the main unfolding and loss of trimeric
      structure occurring in the second phase, leaving the flexible extracellular loops
      as the likely site of unfolding. The first phase is abolished as OmpC becomes
      more stable at lower pH.

PMID- 20932018
TI  - Volume-based thermoelasticity: consequences of the (near) proportionality of
      isothermal compressibility to formula-unit volume.
AB  - Groups of structurally related materials, including the alkali halides, exhibit a
      proportionality of isothermal compressibility to formula-unit volume. The
      relationship has recently been explored by Glasser and by Recio et al. In this
      paper, we present the consequences of such proportionality on the relationships
      of Born-Lande and Born-Mayer parameters to the formula-unit volume. These
      relationships have then been tested separately on (i) alkali (excluding cesium)
      halides and (ii) cesium halides. We conclude that the equations fit the NaCl-type
      materials satisfactorily, but less well for the CsCl-type materials, and that the
      Born-Mayer equation is more applicable. These results confirm the conclusion that
      volume is intimately linked to thermodynamic quantities, as already demonstrated
      by our development of volume-based thermodynamics (VBT).

PMID- 20932019
TI  - Aluminosilicate relatives: Chalcogenoaluminogermanates
      Rb(3)(AlQ(2))(3)(GeQ(2))(7) (Q = S, Se).
AB  - The new compounds Rb(3)(AlQ(2))(3)(GeQ(2))(7) [Q = S (1), Se (2)] feature the 3D
      anionic open framework [(AlQ(2))(3)(GeQ(2))(7)](3-) in which aluminum and
      germanium share tetrahedral coordination sites. Rb ions are located in channels
      formed by the connection of 8, 10, and 16 (Ge/Al)S(4) tetrahedra. The
      isostructural sulfur and selenium derivatives crystallize in the space group
      P2(1)/c. 1: a = 6.7537(3) A, b = 37.7825(19) A, c = 6.7515(3) A, and beta =
      90.655(4) degrees . 2: a = 7.0580(5) A, b = 39.419(2) A, c = 7.0412(4) A, beta =
      90.360(5) degrees , and Z = 2 at 190(2) K. The band gaps of the congruently
      melting chalcogenogermanates are 3.1 eV (1) and 2.4 eV (2).

PMID- 20932020
TI  - Facile syntheses of silylene nickel carbonyl complexes from Lewis base stabilized
      chlorosilylenes.
AB  - Two silylene nickel carbonyl complexes of composition L.Ni(CO)(3) (1) {L =
      PhC(NtBu)(2)SiCl} and L'(2).Ni(CO)(2) (2) { L' = RSiCl(2), R = (1,3-bis-(2,6
      diisopropylphenyl)imidazol-2-ylidene)} were prepared by reacting 1 equivalent of
      Ni(CO)(4) with 1 equivalent of heteroleptic chlorosilylene L for 1 and with 2
      equivalents of carbene stabilized dichlorosilylene L' for 2 in toluene at room
      temperature. Both complexes 1 and 2 were characterized by single-crystal X-ray
      analysis, NMR and IR spectroscopy, EI-MS spectrometry, and elemental analysis.

PMID- 20932021
TI  - Asymmetric synthesis of 3,4-diaminocyclohexanol and endo-7
      azabicyclo[2.2.1]heptan-2-amine.
AB  - Hydroboration of (1R,2R)-bis[(S)-1-phenylethylamino]cyclohex-4-ene and its
      derivatives with several borane reagents gave diastereomeric mixtures of the 3,4
      diaminocyclohexanol derivatives. Cyclization of the prevalent diastereomer with
      the R configuration of the newly formed stereocenter under Mitsunobu conditions,
      followed by reductive removal of the N-substituents, gave the optically pure endo
      7-azabicyclo[2.2.1]heptane-2-amine.

PMID- 20932022
TI  - Total synthesis of (-)-nakadomarin A.
AB  - A concise diastereoselective total synthesis of (-)-nakadomarin A has been
      completed in 21 steps from D-pyroglutamic acid. Key steps include an enecarbamate
      Michael addition/furan-N-acyliminium ion cascade cyclization to provide the
      tetracyclic core and ring-closing alkyne and alkene metatheses to construct the
      fifteen- and eight-membered azacycles, respectively.

PMID- 20932023
TI  - Lithium salts of [1,12-dialkyl-CB11Me10]- anions.
AB  - We report the syntheses of several [1-R-CB(11)-Me(11)](-) and [1-R-12-R'-CB(11)
      Me(10)](-) anions (R, R' = alkyl) and the solubilities of their lithium salts in
      cyclohexane. These solutions are of interest as Lewis acid catalysts. The new
      anions are not directly accessible by methylation with methyl triflate because of
      intervening triflyloxy substitution on one or more boron vertices. The difficulty
      has been circumvented in two ways. Either (i) an iodo substituent is first
      introduced into position 12, permitting a clean decamethylation, and then
      replaced with a methyl by reaction with trimethylaluminum or (ii) the offending
      triflyloxy substituents are replaced with methyls by reaction with
      trimethylaluminum.

PMID- 20932024
TI  - Iridium metal complexes containing N-heterocyclic carbene ligands for blue-light
      emitting electrochemical cells.
AB  - A new series of cationic blue-emitting, heteroleptic iridium(III)-based metal
      complexes were systematically synthesized using two 4,6-difluorophenylpyridine
      ligands as well as one methyl- or n-butyl-substituted bisimidazolium salt carbene
      type ligand. In degassed CH(2)Cl(2), all complexes display highly efficient, blue
      phosphorescence (lambda(max) ~ 452 nm; emission quantum yield ~ 0.30) at room
      temperature and also show blue emission in a thin film. The measured
      photophysical properties of the complexes have been rationalized with the help of
      quantum-chemical calculations. Because of the high solubility of the complexes,
      solution-processed devices, light-emitting electrochemical cells (LEECs), were
      made. The results showed that true blue emission and short turn-on time is
      achieved when an ionic conductor, tetrabutylammonium trifluoromethanesulfonate,
      was used as the matrix for the film containing the emitters. These iridium
      complexes and the described devices are the bluest materials ever reported and
      the first case of LEECs based on carbene ligands.

PMID- 20932026
TI  - Ferromagnetically coupled cobalt-benzene-cobalt: the smallest molecular spin
      filter with unprecedented spin injection coefficient.
AB  - Here, we predict that the ferromagnetically coupled cobalt-benzene-cobalt system
      will act as the smallest molecular spin filter with unprecedented spin injection
      coefficient. To validate our in-silico observation, we have performed state-of
      the-art nonequilibrium Green's function calculations and analyzed the density of
      states of cobalt at the relativistic and nonrelativistic level of theory.
      Remarkably, we found that unpaired 3d electrons of cobalt are not participating
      in the spin transport process like other transition metal containing multidecker
      complexes. Instead, an admixture of the outer-sphere 4s and 4p orbitals of cobalt
      along with the 2p orbital of carbon of the benzene moiety is contributing to the
      singly occupied highest molecular orbital in the majority spin channel that
      creates a path for coherent spin transport leading to the extremely high spin
      injection coefficient of the system. The absence of the 3d electrons of cobalt in
      the spin transport process has been carefully examined, and it was found that the
      nodal structure of the 3d orbital of cobalt is not at all suitable for bonding in
      the cobalt-benzene-cobalt system. The whole study indicates that the underlying
      mechanism of the spin filter action in cobalt-benzene-cobalt is completely
      distinctive from the other known materials.

PMID- 20932025
TI  - High-affinity glycopolymer binding to human DC-SIGN and disruption of DC-SIGN
      interactions with HIV envelope glycoprotein.
AB  - Noncovalent interactions between complex carbohydrates and proteins drive many
      fundamental processes within biological systems, including human immunity. In
      this report we aimed to investigate the potential of mannose-containing
      glycopolymers to interact with human DC-SIGN and the ability of these
      glycopolymers to inhibit the interactions between DC-SIGN and the HIV envelope
      glycoprotein gp120. We used a library of glycopolymers that are prepared via
      combination of copper-mediated living radical polymerization and azide-alkyne
      [3+2] Huisgen cycloaddition reaction. We demonstrate that a relatively simple
      glycopolymer can effectively prevent the interactions between a human dendritic
      cell associated lectin (DC-SIGN) and the viral envelope glycoprotein gp120. This
      approach may give rise to novel insights into the mechanisms of HIV infection and
      provide potential new therapeutics.

PMID- 20932027
TI  - Thermochemistry of Lewis adducts of BH3 and nucleophilic substitution of
      triethylamine on NH3BH3 in tetrahydrofuran.
AB  - The thermochemistry of the formation of Lewis base adducts of BH(3) in
      tetrahydrofuran (THF) solution and the gas phase and the kinetics of substitution
      on ammonia borane by triethylamine are reported. The dative bond energy of Lewis
      adducts were predicted using density functional theory at the B3LYP/DZVP2 and
      B3LYP/6-311+G** levels and correlated ab initio molecular orbital theories,
      including MP2, G3(MP2), and G3(MP2)B3LYP, and compared with available
      experimental data and accurate CCSD(T)/CBS theory results. The analysis showed
      that the G3 methods using either the MP2 or the B3LYP geometries reproduce the
      benchmark results usually to within ~1 kcal/mol. Energies calculated at the
      MP2/aug-cc-pVTZ level for geometries optimized at the B3LYP/DZVP2 or B3LYP/6
      311+G** levels give dative bond energies 2-4 kcal/mol larger than benchmark
      values. The enthalpies for forming adducts in THF were determined by calorimetry
      and compared with the calculated energies for the gas phase reaction: THFBH(3) +
      L -> LBH(3) + THF. The formation of NH(3)BH(3) in THF was observed to yield
      significantly more heat than gas phase dative bond energies predict, consistent
      with strong solvation of NH(3)BH(3). Substitution of NEt(3) on NH(3)BH(3) is an
      equilibrium process in THF solution (K ~ 0.2 at 25  degrees C). The reaction
      obeys a reversible bimolecular kinetic rate law with the Arrhenius parameters:
      log A = 14.7 +/- 1.1 and E(a) = 28.1 +/- 1.5 kcal/mol. Simulation of the
      mechanism using the SM8 continuum solvation model shows the reaction most likely
      proceeds primarily by a classical S(N)2 mechanism.

PMID- 20932028
TI  - Supramolecular interactions probed by 13C-13C solid-state NMR spectroscopy.
AB  - We present a robust solid-state NMR approach for the accurate determination of
      molecular interfaces in insoluble and noncrystalline protein-protein complexes.
      The method relies on the measurement of intermolecular (13)C-(13)C distances in
      mixtures of [1-(13)C]glucose- and [2-(13)C]glucose-labeled proteins. We have
      applied this method to Parkinson's disease-associated alpha-synuclein fibrils and
      found that they are stacked in a parallel in-register arrangement. Additionally,
      intermolecular distance restraints for the structure determination of the fibrils
      at atomic resolution were measured.

PMID- 20932029
TI  - Molecular detection of targeted major histocompatibility complex I-bound peptides
      using a probabilistic measure and nanospray MS3 on a hybrid quadrupole-linear ion
      trap.
AB  - A nanospray MS(3) method deployed on a quadrupole linear ion trap hybrid can
      detect targeted peptides with high dynamic range and high sensitivity from
      complex mixtures without separations. The method uses a recognition algorithm
      that is a modification of the relative (Kullback-Leibler, KL) entropy
      characterization of probabilistic distance to detect if reference MS(3)
      fragmentation patterns are components of acquired MS(3) spectra. The recognition
      reflects the probabilistic structure of physical MS measurements unlike the
      Euclidean or inner product metrics widely used for comparing spectra. It capably
      handles spectra with a significant chemical ion background in contrast to the
      Euclidean metric or the direct relative entropy. The full nanospray MS(3) method
      allows both the detection and quantitation of targets without the need to obtain
      isotopically labeled standards. By avoiding chromatographic separations and its
      associated surface losses, the detection can be applied to complex samples on a
      very limited material scale. The methodology is illustrated by applications to
      the medically important problem of detecting targeted major histocompatibility
      complex (MHC) I associated peptides extracted from limited cell numbers. 

PMID- 20932032
TI  - Functional comparison of esterified and free forms of conjugated linoleic acid in
      high-fat-diet-induced obese C57BL/6J mice.
AB  - This study investigated the effects of dietary conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), in
      the form of free fatty acid (FFA-CLA) or triacylglycerol (TG-CLA), on serum and
      liver lipid composition and gene expression associated with lipogenesis and beta
      oxidation in high-fat-diet (HFD)-induced obese C57BL/6J mice. Animals were fed a
      control diet, HFD, HFD supplemented with 2% FFA-CLA, or HFD supplemented with 2%
      TG-CLA for 8 weeks. Supplementation with both forms of CLA significantly reduced
      the weights of whole body and adipose tissue and was positively associated with
      significant liver enlargement. Both forms of CLA significantly decreased serum TG
      concentration, but had no effect on total cholesterol levels, which were
      increased in mice fed HFD. There was a prominent increase in serum alanine
      aminotransferase (ALT) levels in mice that received either form of CLA. TG
      accumulation and lipogenic gene expression, including the expression of genes for
      fatty acid synthase (FAS), acetyl-coenzyme A carboxylase (ACC), and malic enzyme,
      were significantly lower in the livers of mice that received TG-CLA as compared
      to FFA-CLA. The gene expressions of sterol regulatory element binding protein-1c
      (SREBP-1c) in both liver and adipose tissue were suppressed in mice that were fed
      either form of CLA as compared to the mice fed HFD alone, whereas there were no
      increases in the levels of expression of beta-oxidation-related genes. These
      findings demonstrated that free and esterified forms of CLA have differing
      effects on liver and adipose tissue lipogenesis. 

PMID- 20932033
TI  - Urinary excretion of (Epi)catechins in rats fed different berries or berry
      products.
AB  - (Epi)catechins are associated with many health benefits in humans. However, their
      bioavailability, excretory pattern, and extent of conjugation in animals fed
      different sources or levels in the diet are not well documented. Two experiments
      were conducted to investigate the urinary excretion of (epi)catechins after
      feeding of different types of berries or different levels of the same berry
      source to rats. Experiment 1 investigated the effects of feeding a commercially
      available concentrated cranberry powder (CCP) at three different levels, 3.3,
      6.6, and 33 g/kg of diet, whereas experiment 2 investigated the effect of feeding
      freeze-dried whole cranberry (CB), blueberry (BB), or black raspberry (BRB)
      powder at 50 g/kg of diet. Both experiments had an AIN-93-based control and a
      high-fructose diet (53-65% of the diet) to which was added three levels of CCP in
      experiment 1 and CB, BB, and BRB in experiment 2. (Epi)catechins were excreted as
      free and conjugated in both intact and methylated forms. Excretion of conjugated
      (epi)catechins was as high as 60% of the total consumed in some cases. A majority
      of both catechins and epicatechins excreted in the urine was in a methylated
      form. Excretion of epicatechins, including their methylated forms, ranged from 30
      to 47% of the ingested amount, whereas that of catechins, including their
      methylated forms, ranged from 9 to 31%. Urinary excretion of (epi)catechins was
      dose dependent and increased with the amount of (epi)catechins present in the
      diet. On the basis of the excretory pattern of (epi)catechins in the urine, data
      suggested that the bioavailability of epicatechins may be higher than that of
      catechins and that (epi)catechins may be more available from blueberries compared
      to cranberries. 

PMID- 20932034
TI  - Homogeneous esterification of poplar wood in an ionic liquid under mild
      conditions: characterization and properties.
AB  - Wood meal was completely dissolved under constant conditions (130  degrees C, 6
      h) in the ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride ([C4mim]Cl), and the
      various factors and potential mechanism of the homogeneous esterification of wood
      in this reaction medium were mainly studied. The physicochemical properties of
      the esterified wood were also investigated. It has been shown that highly
      substituted wood esters could be obtained by reacting wood dissolved in
      [C(4)mim]Cl with octanoyl chloride in the presence of triethylamine as a
      neutralizer. The weight percent gain was arranged from 121.5% to 297.4%. All
      reactions were performed under mild conditions, low excess of reagent, and a
      short reaction time compared to the heterogeneous chemical modification.
      Meanwhile, characterization of the derivatives confirmed that the homogeneous
      esterification was successfully processed. It was also found that thermal
      stability and morphological properties of the esterified wood were significantly
      different from those in previous reports. Octanoylation of wood meal in the
      [C(4)mim]Cl homogeneous system reduced the initial temperature of their thermal
      degradation and decreased the thermal stability compared to those in unmodified
      wood meal. Furthermore, the fibrillar appearance of wood meal changed into a
      relatively more homogeneous macrostructure of the esterfied wood. All these
      results suggested that homogeneous esterification of poplar wood in [C(4)mim]Cl
      would enhance the compatibility and improve the processability of wood with
      synthetic polymers.

PMID- 20932035
TI  - Intramolecular NH...Pt interactions of platinum(II) diimine complexes with phenyl
      ligands.
AB  - Pt(pipNC)(2)(phen) [pipNC(-) = 1-(piperidylmethyl)phenyl anion; phen = 1,10
      phenanthroline] was prepared by the reaction of cis-Pt(pipNC)(2) with phen.
      Crystallographic and (1)H NMR data establish that the phen ligand is bidentate,
      whereas each piperidyl ligand is monodentate and bonded to the platinum at the
      ortho position of the phenyl group. Acidic conditions allowed for isolation of
      the salts of diprotonated Pt(pipNHC)(2)(diimine)(2+) adducts (diimine = phen,
      2,2'-bipyridine, or 5,5'-ditrifluoromethyl-2,2'-bipyridine). Crystallographic and
      spectroscopic data for the diprotonated complexes are consistent with H...Pt
      interactions (2.32-2.51 A) involving the piperidinium groups, suggesting that the
      metal center behaves as a Bronsted base. Metal-to-ligand (diimine) charge
      transfer states of Pt(pipNHC)(2)(phen)(2+) in solution are strongly destabilized
      (>2500 cm(-1)) relative to Pt(pipNC)(2)(phen), in keeping with the notion that
      NH...Pt interactions effectively reduce the electron density at the metal center.
      Though N...Pt interactions in Pt(pipNC)(2)(phen) appear to be weaker than those
      found for outer-sphere two-electron reagents, such as Pt(pip(2)NCN)(tpy)(+)
      [pip(2)NCN(-) = 1,3-bis(piperidylmethylphenyl anion; tpy = 2,2':6',2'
      terpyridine], each of the Pt(pipNC)(2)(diimine) complexes undergoes diimine
      ligand dissociation to give back cis-Pt(pipNC)(2) and free diimine ligand.
      Electrochemical measurements on the deprotonated complexes suggest that the
      piperidyl groups help to stabilize higher oxidation states of the metal center,
      whereas protonation of the piperidyl groups has a destabilizing influence.

PMID- 20932036
TI  - Charged states of alpha,omega-dicyano beta,beta'-dibutylquaterthiophene as
      studied by in situ ESR UV-vis NIR spectroelectrochemistry.
AB  - The influence of the molecular structure on the stabilization of charged states
      was studied in detail by in situ ESR UV-vis NIR spectroelectrochemistry at a
      novel alpha,omega-dicyano substituted beta,beta'-dibutylquaterthiophene (DCNDBQT)
      and the electrochemically generated cation and anion radicals have been proved
      for the first time. The voltammetry of DCNDBQT results in two separate oxidation
      steps with the reversible first one. The experimental absorption maxima at 646
      and 1052 nm together with the calculated ones (by DFT method) as well as an ESR
      signal at the first anodic step prove the presence of a radical cation. Three
      additional optical bands (554, 906, and 1294 nm for CT-transition) can be
      attributed to the formation of cation radical dimer. The dicationic structure
      formed in the second oxidation step is not stable. The stabilization proceeds via
      a dimer formation in two chemical follow-up reactions. The existence of the
      dimeric structures was proved by ex situ MALDI TOF mass spectrometry. As the
      substitution by cyano groups opens the route to cathodic reductions, DCNDBQT
      shows a single quasi-reversible reduction step. Here, the in situ ESR UV-vis NIR
      spectroelectrochemical measurements and theoretical calculations let us confirm
      the electrochemical generation of an anion radical. As we found a low number of
      anion radicals by quantitative ESR spectroelectrochemistry and an appearance of
      additional bands in the UV-vis NIR absorption spectra, the formation of dimeric
      structures must be considered and was corroborated by mass spectrometry. The role
      of dimerization in the reaction mechanism of the DCNDBQT oxidation and reduction
      are discussed in general. The experimental results were interpreted using the
      quantum chemical calculations based on density functional theory.

PMID- 20932037
TI  - Synthesis, structure, and binding property of pentiptycene-based rigid tweezer
      like molecules.
AB  - A series of pentiptycene-derived rigid tweezer-like molecules have been
      efficiently synthesized, and their structures have been determined by NMR, MS
      spectra, and X-ray analysis. Moreover, it was also found that molecular tweezer
      15 showed efficient binding ability toward C(60).

PMID- 20932038
TI  - Comment on "Atomic and molecular parity nonconservation and sum frequency
      generation solutions to the Ozma problem".

PMID- 20932039
TI  - Effects of surface properties of different substrates on fine structure of plasma
      polymerized SiOCH films prepared from hexamethyldisiloxane (HMDSO).
AB  - In this study, Doppler broadening energy spectroscopy (DBES) combined with slow
      positron beam was used to discuss the effect of substrate types on the fine
      structure of a plasma-polymerized SiOCH layer as a function of depth. From the
      SEM pictures, the SiOCH films formed on different substrates showed hemispherical
      macrostructures, and the deposition rate was dependent on the mean pore size. It
      appears that the morphology of the plasma-polymerized SiOCH films was associated
      with the porosity-related characteristics of the substrate such as the size/shape
      of pores. As deposited on the MCE-022 substrate (mixed cellulose esters membrane
      with a mean pore size of 0.22 MUm) with a nodular structure, the SiOCH films had
      pillar-like structures and high gas permeabilities. DBES results showed that the
      SiOCH films deposited on different substrates were composed of three layers: the
      SiOCH bulk layer, the transition layer, and the substrate. It was observed that
      the microstructure of the SiOCH films was affected layer by layer; a higher
      surface pore size in the substrates induced thicker transition layers with higher
      microporosities and led to thinner bulk layers having higher S parameter values
      during the plasma polymerization. It was also observed that the change in
      O(2)/N(2) selectivity was consistent with the DBES analysis results. The gas
      separation performance and DBES analysis results agreed with each other.

PMID- 20932040
TI  - Imaging ice-like structures formed on HOPG at room temperature.
AB  - In this work, ice was viewed at the nanoscale by scanning an atomic force
      microscopy tip over a highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) surface in air.
      At low scan velocities, the tip exhibited stick-slip motion with a period of 0.13
      nm corresponding to the scanner step; at higher velocities, the HOPG lattice and
      the periodicity of the ice were visible. A hexagonal structure with a 0.45 +/-
      0.04 nm periodicity was observed in which the distance between the second
      neighbors of the HOPG coincided with the distance of the first neighbors for the
      ice-like arrangement. Small water clusters were also nucleated with an ice-Ic
      structure (0.34 +/- 0.03 nm), and thus, the ice layers consisted of extensive
      sets composed of arrangements of hexamers and tetramers.

PMID- 20932041
TI  - Reversible pH-controlled switching of poly(methacrylic acid) grafts for
      functional biointerfaces.
AB  - Responsive polymeric brushes of poly(methacrylic acid) (PMAA) were grafted from
      silicon surfaces using controlled surface-initiated atom-transfer radical
      polymerization (SI-ATRP). The growth kinetics of PMAA was investigated with
      respect to the composition of the ATRP medium by grafting the polymer in mixtures
      of water and methanol with different ratios. The dissociation behavior of the
      polymer layers was characterized by FTIR titration after incubating the polymer
      grafted substrates in PBS buffer solutions with different pH values. PMAA layers
      show a strong pH-dependent behavior with an effective pK(a) of the bulk polymer
      brush of 6.5 +/- 0.2, which is independent of the polymer brush thickness and
      methanol content of the ATRP grafting medium. The pH-induced swelling and
      collapse of the grafted polymer layers were quantified in real time by in situ
      ellipsometry in liquid environment. Switching between polymer conformations at pH
      values of 4 and 8 is rapid and reversible, and it is characterized by swelling
      factors (maximum thickness/minimum thickness) that increase with decreasing the
      methanol content of the SI-ATRP medium.

PMID- 20932042
TI  - Hydrated cation speciation at the muscovite (001)-water interface.
AB  - Charged materials in aqueous systems interact according to their interfacial
      properties, typically described by the electrical double layer (EDL).
      Distributions of divalent metal cations at the muscovite (001)-solution interface
      observed using resonant anomalous X-ray reflectivity demonstrate an unexpected
      complexity with respect to the EDL structure. Three forms of adsorbed cations can
      coexist: the classical inner-sphere and outer-sphere complexes and a third
      "extended" outer-sphere complex located farther from the surface. Their relative
      proportions are controlled by the energy balance among cation hydration,
      interface hydration, and electrostatic attraction. Systematic trends in coverage
      and position establish the defining role of cation hydration in stabilizing the
      multiple coexisting species.

PMID- 20932043
TI  - Domino imino-aldol-aza-Michael reaction: one-pot diastereo- and enantioselective
      synthesis of piperidines.
AB  - Addition of alpha-arylmethylidene- or alpha-alkylidene-beta-keto ester enolate to
      N-activated aldimines via the imino aldol pathway followed by intramolecular aza
      Michael reaction in a domino fashion has been developed, and a highly
      diastereoselective route to substituted piperidines is reported. Enantiopure
      piperidines are synthesized from chiral sulfinyl imines. Formation and the
      observed stereoselectivity of the products have been rationalized by mechanistic
      and computational studies.

PMID- 20932044
TI  - Band alignment tuning in twin-plane superlattices of semiconductor nanowires.
AB  - The band alignments of twin-plane superlattices in semiconductor nanowires are
      systematically investigated on the basis of density functional calculations. Our
      calculations demonstrate that for nanowires with small diameters the quantum
      confinement effect is prominent within wurtzite structure regions and the energy
      gap in wurtzite-structured nanowires is remarkably larger than that including
      zinc-blende structure. This results in the straddling band alignment, in which
      both electrons and holes are confined in zinc-blende structure region. The
      analysis using a simple tight-binding methods also clarifies that the straddling
      band alignments can be realized when the diameters of nanowires are less than 4-8
      nm, leading to full control of band alignments by varying the nanowire diameter.
      Our results provide the ability of band-alignment tuning and open new
      possibilities for band engineering.

PMID- 20932045
TI  - Vesicle adsorption on mesoporous silica and titania.
AB  - Lipid bilayer formation via vesicle fusion on mesoporous silica and mesoporous
      titania was investigated using quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation
      monitoring (QCM-D) and fluorescent recovery after photobleaching (FRAP). Results
      showed that lipid bilayers were formed on mesoporous silica and that intact
      vesicle adsorption was obtained on mesoporous titania. From the FRAP results, it
      could be concluded that the lipid bilayer was fluid; however, it had a smaller
      diffusivity constant compared to bilayers supported on a nonporous silica.

PMID- 20932046
TI  - Wafer scale homogeneous bilayer graphene films by chemical vapor deposition.
AB  - The discovery of electric field induced band gap opening in bilayer graphene
      opens a new door for making semiconducting graphene without aggressive size
      scaling or using expensive substrates. However, bilayer graphene samples have
      been limited to MUm(2) size scale thus far, and synthesis of wafer scale bilayer
      graphene poses a tremendous challenge. Here we report homogeneous bilayer
      graphene films over at least a 2 in. * 2 in. area, synthesized by chemical vapor
      deposition on copper foil and subsequently transferred to arbitrary substrates.
      The bilayer nature of graphene film is verified by Raman spectroscopy, atomic
      force microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. Importantly, spatially
      resolved Raman spectroscopy confirms a bilayer coverage of over 99%. The
      homogeneity of the film is further supported by electrical transport measurements
      on dual-gate bilayer graphene transistors, in which a band gap opening is
      observed in 98% of the devices.

PMID- 20932047
TI  - Conductive path formation in the Ta2O5 atomic switch: first-principles analyses.
AB  - The conductive path formed by the interstitial Cu or oxygen vacancies in the
      Ta(2)O(5) atomic switch were investigated in detail by first-principles methods.
      The calculated results indicated that the defect state induced by the
      interstitial Cu is located just at the Fermi level of the Cu and Pt electrodes in
      the Cu/Ta(2)O(5)/Pt heterostructure and that a conduction channel is formed in
      the Ta(2)O(5) film via the interstitial Cu. On the other hand, oxygen vacancies
      in Ta(2)O(5) do not form such a conduction channel because of the lower energy
      positions of their defect states. The above results suggest that the conductive
      path could be formed by interstitial Cu in the Ta(2)O(5) atomic switch, whereas
      the oxygen vacancies do not contribute to the formation of the conductive path.

PMID- 20932048
TI  - Hexaazaphenalene derivatives: one-pot synthesis, hydrogen-bonded chiral helix,
      and fluorescence properties.
AB  - Symmetric hexaazaphenalenes (R = phenyl and tert-butyl) have been synthesized by
      one-pot condensations of corresponding amidine hydrochlorides with
      tricyanomethanide. The hexaazaphenalenes are linked with each other by a N-H...N
      hydrogen-bonding interaction in the crystalline states. Interestingly, a planar
      and achiral tert-butylated derivative was crystallized in a chiral space group
      with assembly of one-handed helical hydrogen-bonded chains. Hexaazaphenalenyl
      anions were isolated as air- and water-stable tetraethyl ammonium salts.

PMID- 20932049
TI  - Dynamical friction effects on the photoisomerization of a model protonated Schiff
      base in solution.
AB  - Photoisomerization involving a conical intersection (CI) for a model protonated
      Schiff base (PSB) in modeled water and acetonitrile solvents is examined with the
      inclusion of energy- and momentum-transfer effects described via a generalized
      Langevin equation (GLE) frictional approach and surface-hopping dynamics. Short
      time GLE frictional effects on the model's three coordinates, the intramolecular
      bond length alternation and torsional PSB coordinates and a solvent coordinate,
      eliminate several unphysical features associated with a no-friction inertial
      description and have the general feature of accelerating nonadiabatic transitions
      to the ground electronic state. The inertial prediction of equal probability
      formation of ground-state trans and cis isomer products subsequent to the Franck
      Condon excitation of the ground cis isomer is replaced by the GLE prediction of a
      preferential higher proportion of ground-state trans isomer, that is, a
      successful cis to trans photoreaction. This preference is solvent-dependent and
      is enhanced in water solvent with its higher friction intensity and short time
      scales. For the fast water solvent motion, the nonadiabatic transitions to the
      S(0) ground state are centered around the CI seam (which is due to the solvent
      coordinate's role as a tuning coordinate), facilitating direct transitions to the
      ground-state trans isomer. In contrast, for the slower acetonitrile solvent
      motion, the decay occurs, on average, away from the CI seam in regions with a
      finite free-energy gap between the excited and ground states, resulting in
      reduced trans isomer production. Some directions for the extension of the model
      description are also discussed.

PMID- 20932050
TI  - Organocatalytic preparation of simple beta-hydroxy and beta-amino esters: low
      catalyst loadings and gram-scale synthesis.
AB  - A combined amino- and N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC)-catalyzed one-pot reaction
      sequence for the synthesis of simple enantioenriched beta-hydroxy and beta-amino
      esters using commercially available catalysts at low catalyst loadings has been
      developed. The desired products were obtained in high yield and excellent
      enantiopurity. The generation of quaternary stereocenters and application in gram
      scale synthesis were also realized, with no requirements of inert or anhydrous
      reaction conditions, thus making this transformation a highly practical protocol.

PMID- 20932051
TI  - Molecular dynamics simulations and instantaneous normal-mode analysis of the
      vibrational relaxation of the C-H stretching modes of N-methylacetamide-d in
      liquid deuterated water.
AB  - Nonequilibrium molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and instantaneous normal mode
      (INMs) analyses are used to study the vibrational relaxation of the C-H
      stretching modes (nu(s)(CH3)) of deuterated N-methylacetamide (NMAD) in aqueous
      (D2O) solution. The INMs are identified unequivocally in terms of the equilibrium
      normal modes (ENMs), or groups of them, using a restricted version of the
      recently proposed Min-Cost assignment method. After excitation of the parent
      nu(s)(CH3) modes with one vibrational quantum, the vibrational energy is shown to
      dissipate through both intramolecular vibrational redistribution (IVR) and
      intermolecular vibrational energy transfer (VET). The decay of the vibrational
      energy of the nu(s)(CH3) modes is well fitted to a triple exponential function,
      with each characterizing a well-defined stage of the entire relaxation process.
      The first, and major, relaxation stage corresponds to a coherent ultrashort
      (tau(rel) = 0.07 ps) energy transfer from the parent nu(s)(CH3) modes to the
      methyl bending modes delta(CH3), so that the initially excited state rapidly
      evolves into a mixed stretch-bend state. In the second stage, characterized by a
      time of 0.92 ps, the vibrational energy flows through IVR to a number of mid
      range-energy vibrations of the solute. In the third stage, the vibrational energy
      accumulated in the excited modes dissipates into the bath through an indirect VET
      process mediated by lower-energy modes, on a time scale of 10.6 ps. All the
      specific relaxation channels participating in the whole relaxation process are
      properly identified. The results from the simulations are finally compared with
      the recent experimental measurements of the nu(s)(CH3) vibrational energy
      relaxation in NMAD/D2O(l) reported by Dlott et al. (J. Phys. Chem. A 2009, 113,
      75.) using ultrafast infrared-Raman spectroscopy.

PMID- 20932052
TI  - Scanning tunneling microscopy, spectroscopy, and nanolithography of epitaxial
      graphene chemically modified with aryl moieties.
AB  - The reduction of diazonium salts has recently been proposed as a robust covalent
      modification scheme for graphene surfaces. While preliminary studies have
      provided indirect evidence that this strategy decorates graphene with aryl
      moieties, the molecular ordering and conformation of the resulting adlayer have
      not been directly measured. In this Article, we report molecular-resolution
      characterization of the adlayer formed via the spontaneous reduction of 4
      nitrophenyl diazonium (4-NPD) tetrafluoroborate on epitaxial graphene on
      SiC(0001) using ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and
      spectroscopy (STS). An atomically flat inhomogeneous layer of covalently bonded
      organic molecules is observed after annealing the chemically treated surface at
      ~500  degrees C in UHV. STM and STS results indicate that the adlayer consists
      predominantly of aryl oligomers that sterically prevent uniform and complete
      covalent modification of the graphene surface. The adsorbed species can be
      selectively desorbed by the STM tip above a threshold sample bias of -5 V and
      tunneling current of 1 nA, thus enabling the fabrication of a diverse range of
      graphene nanopatterns at the sub-5 nm length scale.

PMID- 20932053
TI  - Strontium nitrate extraction to ionic liquids by a crown ether: a molecular
      dynamics study of aqueous interfaces with C4mim+- vs C8mim+-based ionic liquids.
AB  - In order to gain microscopic insights into the extraction mechanism of strontium
      cations by 18-crown-6 (18C6) to room temperature ionic liquids (ILs), we
      simulated by molecular dynamics (MD) strontium complexes in neat ionic liquids
      and at their interfaces with water. We compared two ILs, based on the PF(6)(-)
      anion and either 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium (C(4)mim(+)) or 1-octyl-3
      methylimidazolium (C(8)mim(+)) cations. Regarding the complexes, two states were
      considered: charged [Sr?18C6](2+) vs neutral [Sr?18C6,(NO(3))(2)], where the
      nitrates are either fully dissociated or coordinated to Sr. In "dry" or "humid"
      [C(4)mim][PF(6)] and in "dry" [C(8)mim][PF(6)] IL, the neutral complex is found
      to be the most stable one. In the binary IL/water solutions, the charged
      complexes mostly partition to the aqueous phase, whereas the neutral
      [Sr?18C6,(NO(3))(2)] complexes are more concentrated in the interfacial domain.
      The aqueous solutions in contact with the ionic liquids contain C(4)mim(+), but
      almost no C(8)mim(+) ions, supporting a classical extraction mechanism to
      [C(8)mim][PF(6)] and an ion exchange mechanism to [C(4)mim][PF(6)]. Furthermore,
      remarkable events occurred during the dynamics, where complexes were extracted to
      the IL phases. When compared to the interfacial landscapes obtained with the same
      solutes at a classical organic liquid (chloroform)/water interface, those with
      ILs allow us to better understand specific features of liquid-liquid extraction
      to ILs.

PMID- 20932054
TI  - Steady-state kinetic mechanism and reductive half-reaction of D-arginine
      dehydrogenase from Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
AB  - D-arginine dehydrogenase from Pseudomonas aeruginosa catalyzes the oxidation of D
      arginine to iminoarginine, which is hydrolyzed in solution to ketoarginine and
      ammonia. In the present study, we have genetically engineered an untagged form of
      the enzyme that was purified to high levels and characterized in its kinetic
      properties. The enzyme is a true dehydrogenase that does not react with molecular
      oxygen. Steady-state kinetic studies with D-arginine or D-histidine as substrate
      and PMS as the electron acceptor established a ping-pong bi-bi kinetic mechanism.
      With the fast substrate D-arginine a dead-end complex of the reduced enzyme and
      the substrate occurs at high concentrations of D-arginine yielding substrate
      inhibition, while the overall turnover is partially limited by the release of the
      iminoarginine product. With the slow substrate D-histidine the initial Michaelis
      complex undergoes an isomerization involving multiple conformations that are not
      all equally catalytically competent for the subsequent oxidation reaction, while
      the overall turnover is at least partially limited by flavin reduction. The
      kinetic data are interpreted in view of the high-resolution crystal structures of
      the iminoarginine--and iminohistidine--enzyme complexes.

PMID- 20932055
TI  - DNA-directed self-assembly of gold nanoparticles onto nanopatterned surfaces:
      controlled placement of individual nanoparticles into regular arrays.
AB  - A method for the templated DNA-directed self-assembly of individual gold
      nanoparticles (AuNPs) into discrete nanostructures is described. The templating
      nanostructures consisted of a linear configuration of six metal dots with a
      center-to-center dot distance of 55 nm, fabricated by means of electron beam
      lithography. The 40 nm DNA-capped AuNPs were immobilized onto this templating
      nanostructure to produce a linear configuration of six adjacent AuNPs. The
      geometry of the templating nanostructure was found to be critically important for
      the successful direction of a single nanoparticle onto individual adsorption
      sites. For optimized template structures the immobilization efficiency of
      nanoparticles onto the individual adsorption sites was found to be 80%. The
      nonspecific association of nanoparticles with specifically adsorbed nanoparticles
      and the between adsorption of nanoparticles, bridging two individual adsorption
      sites, were the two main defects observed in the immobilized assemblies. Less
      than 1% of all surface confined AuNPs adsorbed nonspecifically in the areas
      between the self-assembled regular arrays.

PMID- 20932056
TI  - Efficient subfractionation of gram-negative bacteria for proteomics studies.
AB  - Proteomics studies of pathogenic bacteria are an important basis for biomarker
      discovery and for the development of antimicrobial drugs and vaccines. Especially
      where vaccines are concerned, it is of great interest to explore which bacterial
      factors are exposed on the bacterial cell surface and thus can be directly
      accessed by the immune system. One crucial step in proteomics studies of bacteria
      is an efficient subfractionation of their cellular compartments. We set out to
      compare and improve different protocols for the fractionation of proteins from
      Gram-negative bacteria into outer membrane, cytoplasmic membrane, periplasmic,
      and cytosolic fractions, with a focus on the outer membrane. Overall, five
      methods were compared, three methods for the fast isolation of outer membrane
      proteins and two methods for the fractionation of each cellular compartment,
      using Escherichia coli BL21 as a model organism. Proteins from the different
      fractions were prepared for further mass spectrometric analysis by SDS gel
      electrophoresis and consecutive in-gel tryptic digestion. Most published
      subfractionation protocols were not explicitly developed for proteomics
      applications. Thus, we evaluated not only the separation quality of the five
      methods but also the suitability of the samples for mass spectrometric analysis.
      We could obtain high quality mass spectrometry data from one-dimensional SDS
      PAGE, which greatly reduces experimental time and sample amount compared to two
      dimensional electrophoresis methods. We then applied the most specific
      fractionation technique to different Gram-negative pathogens, showing that it is
      efficient in separating the subcellular proteomes independent of the species and
      that it is capable of producing high-quality proteomics data in electrospray
      ionization mass spectrometry.

PMID- 20932057
TI  - Population proteomics of the European Hake (Merluccius merluccius).
AB  - We report the novel use of proteomics to investigate protein variation among
      populations of the European hake (Merluccius merluccius). The liver and brain
      extracts of 18 hake (N = 36) captured in the Mediterranean Sea, Cantabrian Sea,
      and Atlantic Ocean were examined by 2D/DIGE and mass spectrometry. Significant
      differences in protein expression among populations were revealed by 84 spots
      obtained in the gels for the liver and 145 spots for the brain. Population groups
      of samples were defined by multivariate analysis (PCA and hierarchical
      clustering). According to protein expression levels and the functions of the 55
      candidate protein spots identified, which showed significant expression
      differences, highest population discrimination was rendered by brain proteins
      involved in cell signaling and metabolism/energy and by liver proteins involved
      in protein fate. Finally, we present a statistically robust framework to
      accurately classify individuals according to their population of origin. Thus,
      purposely identified protein isoforms were found to be competent at
      discriminating populations. These results suggest the possibility of identifying
      protein biomarkers related to environmental changes in a nonmodel species such as
      the hake and pave the way for more extensive research on protein variation among
      populations of marine fishes.

PMID- 20932058
TI  - (1)H NMR-based metabonomic investigation of the effect of two different exercise
      sessions on the metabolic fingerprint of human urine.
AB  - Physical exercise modifies animal metabolism profoundly. Until recently,
      biochemical investigations related to exercise focused on a small number of
      biomolecules. In the present study, we used a holistic analytical approach to
      investigate changes in the human urine metabolome elicited by two exercise
      sessions differing in the duration of the rest interval between repeated efforts.
      Twelve men performed three sets of two 80 m maximal runs separated by either 10 s
      or 1 min of rest. Analysis of pre- and postexercise urine samples by (1)H NMR
      spectroscopy and subsequent multivariate statistical analysis revealed
      alterations in the levels of 22 metabolites. Urine samples were safely classified
      according to exercise protocol even when applying unsupervised methods of
      statistical analysis. Separation of pre- from postexercise samples was mainly due
      to lactate, pyruvate, hypoxanthine, compounds of the Krebs cycle, amino acids,
      and products of branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) catabolism. Separation of the
      two rest intervals was mainly due to lactate, pyruvate, alanine, compounds of the
      Krebs cycle, and 2-oxoacids of BCAA, all of which increased more with the shorter
      interval. Metabonomics provides a powerful methodology to gain insight in
      metabolic changes induced by specific training protocols and may thus advance our
      knowledge of exercise biochemistry.

PMID- 20932059
TI  - Intermolecular interaction in water hexamer.
AB  - The origin of the intermolecular interaction, especially the many-body
      interaction, in eight low-lying water hexamer structures (prism, cage, book-1,
      book-2, cyclic-chair, bag, cyclic-boat-1, and cyclic-boat-2) is unraveled using
      the localized molecular orbital energy decomposition analysis (LMO-EDA) method at
      the second-order Moller-Plesset perturbation (MP2) level of theory with a large
      basis set. It is found that the relative stabilities of these hexamer structures
      are determined by delicate balances between different types of interaction.
      According to LMO-EDA, electrostatic and exchange interactions are strictly
      pairwise additive. Dispersion interaction in these water hexamer structures is
      almost pairwise additive, with many-body effects varying from -0.13 to +0.05
      kcal/mol. Repulsion interaction is roughly pairwise additive, with many-body
      effects varying from -0.84 to -0.62 kcal/mol. Polarization interaction is not
      pairwise additive, with many-body effects varying from -13.10 to -8.85 kcal/mol.

PMID- 20932060
TI  - Proteome of metastatic canine mammary carcinomas: similarities to and differences
      from human breast cancer.
AB  - Mammary tumors are a major health threat to women and female dogs. In both,
      metastasis of the primary tumor to distant organs is the most common cause of
      tumor-related death. Nevertheless, the molecular mechanisms of tumor metastasis
      are far from being understood, and it is still unknown why some human and canine
      carcinomas metastasize and others do not. Using 2D-DIGE and MALDI-TOF-MS we
      identified 21 proteins with significant changes (fold change >1.5; p < 0.05) in
      protein expression between metastasizing (n = 6) and nonmetastasizing (n = 6)
      canine mammary carcinomas. Quantitative RT-PCR was used to identify
      transcriptional or post-transcriptional regulation of protein expression. Up
      regulated proteins in metastatic carcinomas included proliferating cell nuclear
      antigen, ferritin light chain, bomapin, tropomyosin 3, thioredoxin-containing
      domain C5, adenosin, ornithine aminotransferase, coronin 1A, RAN-binding protein
      1,3-phosphoglycerate dehydrogenase, and eukaryotic translation elongation factor
      1. Down-regulated proteins in metastatic carcinomas included calretinin, myosin,
      light chain 2, peroxiredoxin 6, maspin, ibrinogen beta chain, vinculin,
      isocitrate dehydrogenase 1, tropomyosin 1, annexin A5, and Rho GTPase activating
      protein 1. Interestingly, 19 of these 21 proteins have been described with a
      malignancy-associated expression in human breast cancer and other human cancer
      types before. Further investigations are now necessary to test whether these
      markers are of prognostic value for canine mammary carcinomas and whether their
      expression is directly involved in canine mammary carcinogenesis or represent
      solely a secondary reactive phenotype.

PMID- 20932061
TI  - The C-terminus of nucleolin promotes the formation of the c-MYC G-quadruplex and
      inhibits c-MYC promoter activity.
AB  - Nucleolin, the most abundant nucleolar phosphoprotein of eukaryotic cells, is
      known primarily for its role in ribosome biogenesis and cell proliferation. It
      is, however, a multifunctional protein that, depending on the cellular context,
      can drive either cell proliferation or apoptosis. Our laboratory recently
      demonstrated that nucleolin can function as a repressor of c-MYC transcription by
      binding to and stabilizing the formation of a G-quadruplex structure in a region
      of the c-MYC promoter responsible for controlling 85-90% of c-MYC's
      transcriptional activity. In this study, we investigate the structural elements
      of nucleolin that are required for c-MYC repression. The effect of nucleolin
      deletion mutants on the formation and stability of the c-MYC G-quadruplex, as
      well as c-MYC transcriptional activity, was assessed by circular dichroism
      spectropolarimetry, thermal stability, and in vitro transcription. Here we report
      that nucleolin's RNA binding domains 3 and 4, as well as the arginine-glycine
      glycine (RGG) domain, are required to repress c-MYC transcription.

PMID- 20932062
TI  - Binding of reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate destabilizes the
      iron-sulfur clusters of human mitoNEET.
AB  - The outer mitochondrial membrane protein mitoNEET is a cellular target of the
      antidiabetic drug pioglitazone. Binding of pioglitazone stabilizes the protein
      against [2Fe-2S] cluster release. Here, we report that reduced nicotinamide
      adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) can bind to homodimeric mitoNEET,
      influencing the stability of the [2Fe-2S] cluster that is bound within a loop
      region (Y71-H87) in each subunit. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and isothermal
      titration calorimetry experiments demonstrated that NADPH binds weakly to
      mitoNEET(44-108), a soluble domain of mitoNEET containing residues 44-108.
      Visible-UV absorption measurements revealed the destabilizing effect of NADP
      binding on the [2Fe-2S] clusters. Disruption of the three-dimensional structure
      of mitoNEET(44-108) as a result of decomposition of the iron-sulfur clusters was
      observed by NMR and circular dichroism experiments. Binding of NADPH facilitated
      release of the iron-sulfur clusters from the protein at pH<=7.0. Residues K55 and
      H58 of each subunit of mitoNEET were shown to be involved in NADPH binding. NADPH
      binding may perturb the interactions of K55 and H58 from one subunit with H87'
      and R73', respectively, from the other subunit, thereby interfering with [2Fe-2S]
      cluster binding. This may account for the destabilization effect of NADPH binding
      on the [2Fe-2S] clusters.

PMID- 20932063
TI  - Anaesthetic-related neuroprotection: intravenous or inhalational agents?
AB  - In designing the anaesthetic plan for patients undergoing surgery, the choice of
      anaesthetic agent may often appear irrelevant and the best results obtained by
      the use of a technique or a drug with which the anaesthesia care provider is
      familiar. Nevertheless, in those surgical procedures (cardiopulmonary bypass,
      carotid surgery and cerebral aneurysm surgery) and clinical situations
      (subarachnoid haemorrhage, stroke, brain trauma and post-cardiac arrest
      resuscitation) where protecting the CNS is a priority, the choice of anaesthetic
      drug assumes a fundamental role. Treating patients with a neuroprotective agent
      may be a consideration in improving overall neurological outcome. Therefore, a
      clear understanding of the relative degree of protection provided by various
      agents becomes essential in deciding on the most appropriate anaesthetic
      treatment geared to these objectives. This article surveys the current literature
      on the effects of the most commonly used anaesthetic drugs (volatile and gaseous
      inhalation, and intravenous agents) with regard to their role in neuroprotection.
      A systematic search was performed in the MEDLINE, Cumulative Index to Nursing and
      Allied Health Literature (CINHAL(r)) and Cochrane Library databases using the
      following keywords: 'brain' (with the limits 'newborn' or 'infant' or 'child' or
      'neonate' or 'neonatal' or 'animals') AND 'neurodegeneration' or 'apoptosis' or
      'toxicity' or 'neuroprotection' in combination with individual drug names
      ('halothane', 'isoflurane', 'desflurane', 'sevoflurane', 'nitrous oxide',
      'xenon', 'barbiturates', 'thiopental', 'propofol', 'ketamine'). Over 600
      abstracts for articles published from January 1980 to April 2010, including
      studies in animals, humans and in vitro, were examined, but just over 100 of them
      were considered and reviewed for quality. Taken as a whole, the available data
      appear to indicate that anaesthetic drugs such as barbiturates, propofol, xenon
      and most volatile anaesthetics (halothane, isoflurane, desflurane, sevoflurane)
      show neuroprotective effects that protect cerebral tissue from adverse events-
      such as apoptosis, degeneration, inflammation and energy failure--caused by
      chronic neurodegenerative diseases, ischaemia, stroke or nervous system trauma.
      Nevertheless, in several studies, the administration of gaseous, volatile and
      intravenous anaesthetics (especially isoflurane and ketamine) was also associated
      with dose-dependent and exposure time-dependent neurodegenerative effects in the
      developing animal brain. At present, available experimental data do not support
      the selection of any one anaesthetic agent over the others. Furthermore, the
      relative benefit of one anaesthetic versus another, with regard to
      neuroprotective potential, is unlikely to form a rational basis for choice. Each
      drug has some undesirable adverse effects that, together with the patient's
      medical and surgical history, appear to be decisive in choosing the most suitable
      anaesthetic agent for a specific situation. Moreover, it is important to
      highlight that many of the studies in the literature have been conducted in
      animals or in vitro; hence, results and conclusions of most of them may not be
      directly applied to the clinical setting. For these reasons, and given the
      serious implications for public health, we believe that further investigation-
      geared mainly to clarifying the complex interactions between anaesthetic drug
      actions and specific mechanisms involved in brain injury, within a setting as
      close as possible to the clinical situation--is imperative.

PMID- 20932064
TI  - The pharmacoeconomics of cognitive enhancers in moderate to severe Alzheimer's
      disease.
AB  - Alzheimer's disease is associated with a substantial economic impact on patients,
      their caregivers and society. Due to the current rise in the aging population,
      the prevalence and impact of Alzheimer's disease are expected to increase
      greatly. The cost of caring for someone with Alzheimer's disease is magnified in
      the more severe stages of the disease. There are four cognitive enhancers
      commonly used for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease: three cholinesterase
      inhibitors (donepezil, rivastigmine and galantamine) and one NMDA receptor
      antagonist (memantine). Of these, donepezil and memantine have been approved in
      many countries as pharmacological treatments for moderate to severe Alzheimer's
      disease, while donepezil, rivastigmine and galantamine are approved treatments
      for mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease. While cost effectiveness has been well
      studied in mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease, the cost-benefit information for
      drug therapy in moderate to severe Alzheimer's disease is less clear. This
      article reviews the pharmacoeconomic data available on these four drugs, with a
      specific focus on moderate to severe Alzheimer's disease, including economic
      burden, cost drivers, clinical outcomes and pharmacoeconomic studies. A key
      driver of the cost of Alzheimer's disease is the severity of the disease,
      indicating that the ability to stabilize the disease state is a potential source
      of cost savings. Drug therapies that can limit increases in behavioural problems
      and cognitive and functional impairment, and postpone institutionalization
      without an increase in longevity may serve to reduce the economic burden on
      Alzheimer's disease patients. The data suggest that, while the available,
      approved agents offer only modest improvements in clinical outcomes, they could
      be cost-effective treatments for moderate to severe Alzheimer's disease when
      viewed from the societal perspective. For memantine and donepezil, data are
      available that suggest that the cost of these drugs is offset by the clinical and
      societal benefits provided by slowing the progression of Alzheimer's disease.
      While there are few head-to-head comparison trials, the similarity in costs of
      the treatments and efficacy against placebo suggest that cost effectiveness will
      not be substantially different among treatments. More studies that examine
      longitudinal resource utilization and its relationship to drug treatment in the
      moderate to severe stages are needed to clarify cost benefit in this population
      and possibly differentiate between individual medications.

PMID- 20932065
TI  - Innovative delivery systems for migraine: the clinical utility of a transdermal
      patch for the acute treatment of migraine.
AB  - Migraine is a disabling, painful primary headache disorder that is associated
      with various combinations of neurological, gastrointestinal, autonomic and pain
      symptoms. Gastrointestinal disturbances associated with migraine, including
      nausea and vomiting, affect a majority of migraineurs and often result in a delay
      in taking or avoidance of pharmacological intervention. Gastric stasis and
      vomiting may lead to delayed or inconsistent absorption of orally administered
      medications. Many migraineurs awake early in the morning with their attack
      progressing and already associated with nausea and vomiting. As a result, there
      is a need for a novel, non-invasive, non-oral delivery system for fast and
      effective acute treatment of migraine. There are two non-oral delivery systems
      currently available in the US for the acute treatment of migraine: three nasal
      sprays and two injectable formulations. Although nasal sprays depend partially on
      nasal mucosal absorption, a significant amount of drug is swallowed, transits the
      stomach and is absorbed in the small intestine, which is not as rapid or
      effective a route of delivery for those migraineurs with gastric stasis.
      Sumatriptan is rapidly absorbed by subcutaneous injection with or without a
      needle, but the invasiveness and discomfort of the delivery, the high incidence
      of adverse events and the high recurrence rate all limit its use for many
      patients. Iontophoretic delivery of medication is a non-invasive transdermal
      approach that uses small amounts of electrical current to promote rapid movement
      of the ionized drug through the skin and into the systemic circulation. This
      delivery bypasses hepatic first-pass metabolism and also avoids gastric transit
      delay and slowing of small intestinal absorption associated with gastrointestinal
      stasis in migraineurs. Two pharmacokinetic studies have demonstrated that
      iontophoretic transdermal delivery of sumatriptan results in rapid and consistent
      achievement of therapeutic plasma concentrations. These studies also suggest
      that, by avoiding patient exposure to a rapid rise in and high plasma
      concentrations of sumatriptan as seen with injectable sumatriptan, transdermal
      delivery using iontophoresis may significantly reduce typical triptan-related
      adverse events. A large, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled,
      multicentre clinical trial showed statistically significant efficacy, good
      tolerability and virtually no triptan-related adverse events. Iontophoretic
      delivery of sumatriptan, with a novel transdermal patch device, offers patients a
      migraine-specific medication that is non-invasive and non-oral. Clinically,
      transdermal delivery provides rapid and effective relief of migraine while
      bypassing the gastrointestinal tract, with minimal classic triptan-related
      adverse effects. This unique approach facilitates the rapid absorption of this
      migraine-specific triptan, which should improve the chances of consistently
      achieving a therapeutic plasma concentration of sumatriptan, resulting in
      effective migraine relief.

PMID- 20932068
TI  - Ocular adverse effects of common psychotropic agents: a review.

PMID- 20932069
TI  - Effects of two administration schemes of intramuscular clodronic acid on bone
      mineral density: a randomized, open-label, parallel-group study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Clodronic acid is a bisphosphonate used in the prevention and
      treatment of postmenopausal bone loss. Previous evidence suggests a direct dose
      response relationship for the densitometric effect of clodronic acid. Therefore,
      as it is widely accepted that a reduction in the dosing frequency of
      bisphosphonates may improve adherence and therefore therapeutic outcomes, an
      increase in the interval between consecutive administrations of clodronic acid
      might be associated with a concomitant increase in the overall bisphosphonate
      dose received. However, to our knowledge, a direct comparison of the effects of
      intramuscular clodronic acid 100 mg once weekly with a regimen consisting of a
      higher dose and a longer interval between two consecutive administrations is
      still lacking. OBJECTIVE: This study compared the increase in bone mineral
      density (BMD) achieved with two different administration schemes of intramuscular
      clodronic acid (100 mg once weekly and 200 mg every 2 weeks) in patients with
      postmenopausal osteoporosis. STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING: This randomized, open
      label, parallel-group trial was conducted in the Osteoporosis and Instrumental
      Diagnosis Center 'OsteoArticolar' (University of Siena, Siena, Italy) between
      January 2007 and December 2009. PATIENTS: Consecutive women aged 50-80 years with
      postmenopausal osteoporosis, diagnosed >=5 years prior to inclusion in the study,
      were eligible for participation in this study. INTERVENTION: Patients were
      randomized to receive either intramuscular clodronic acid (Clasteon(r)) 100 mg
      (group A) + lidocaine (lignocaine) once weekly or intramuscular clodronic acid
      100 mg + lidocaine for two consecutive days every 2 weeks (group B), for 2 years.
      RESULTS: In total, 30 patients were randomized to group A and 30 patients to
      group B. Significant increases in mean +/- SD BMD of the lumbar spine versus
      baseline values were observed in both groups at 1 and 2 year(s) from treatment
      initiation (group A - year 1: +2.8% +/- 1.7%, p < 0.05; year 2: +3.5% +/- 2.2%, p
      < 0.01; group B - year 1: +2.7% +/- 2.1%, p < 0.05; year 2: +3.9% +/- 2.2%, p <
      0.01). Mean +/- SD BMD at the femoral neck also significantly increased versus
      baseline in group A at both timepoints (year 1: +2.3% +/- 1.9%, p < 0.05; year 2:
      +2.5% +/- 1.9%, p < 0.05), while the increase reported in group B was significant
      only after 2 years of treatment (year 1: +1.9% +/- 2.2%; year 2: +2.8% +/- 1.8%;
      p < 0.05). Significant mean +/- SD increases in total femur BMD were observed
      only in group A at 2 years (+2.4% +/- 1.9, p < 0.05). No differences between
      study groups were reported. Two non-traumatic vertebral fractures were observed
      in group A (6.6%) and three in group B (10.0%). Treatment was well tolerated;
      mild pain at injection site was observed in three patients (one in group A, 3.3%;
      two in group B, 6.6%). CONCLUSION: This randomized study suggests, for the first
      time to the author's knowledge, a similar effect of intramuscular clodronic acid
      100 mg once weekly and 200 mg every 2 weeks (two 100 mg administrations on two
      consecutive days) on BMD in women with postmenopausal osteoporosis. The
      administration of intramuscular clodronic acid 200 mg every 2 weeks may therefore
      represent a new therapeutic option in the treatment of postmenopausal
      osteoporosis.

PMID- 20932066
TI  - Dopamine receptor agonists for the treatment of early or advanced Parkinson's
      disease.
AB  - Dopamine receptor agonists are indicated for the symptomatic treatment of early,
      moderate or advanced Parkinson's disease as well as for the reduction of levodopa
      related motor complications. Ergolinic dopamine agonists, such as bromocriptine
      or pergolide, were initially developed and marketed, and then non-ergolinic
      dopamine agonists, such as pramipexole and ropinirole, were introduced, reducing
      the risk of drug-induced fibrotic reactions. Once-daily, controlled-release oral
      and transdermal formulations have been developed aiming at providing more stable
      24-hour plasma drug concentrations and more convenient administration. A disease
      modifying effect of dopamine agonists has not been demonstrated clinically. As
      with any other drug, dopamine agonists can also cause adverse drug reactions,
      which can be related or unrelated to dopaminergic hyperactivation. Dopaminergic
      reactions include nausea, hallucinations, confusion and orthostatic hypotension,
      among others, which were readily identified in pre-marketing clinical trials.
      During post-marketing surveillance, important adverse reactions were identified,
      such as daytime somnolence, impulse-control disorders and heart valve fibrosis.
      Other issues, including the efficacy of dopamine agonists for the treatment of
      non-motor symptoms, remain under evaluation.

PMID- 20932070
TI  - Effects of adalimumab versus placebo on risk of symptom worsening in psoriasis
      and subsequent impacts on health-related quality-of-life: analysis of pooled data
      from two randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicentre clinical
      trials.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Rates and impacts of worsening symptoms in patients with psoriasis
      have not been well characterized. OBJECTIVES: To assess the risk of clinically
      relevant worsening of psoriasis symptoms in patients treated with adalimumab
      versus placebo and to determine the health-related quality-of-life (HRQOL)
      impacts of such worsening. METHODS: The cumulative incidence of worsening was
      compared for adalimumab (40 mg every other week following an 80 mg induction
      dose) versus placebo using data from two phase III randomized, placebo-controlled
      trials (CHAMPION and REVEAL). Clinically relevant worsening of psoriasis was
      defined as a follow-up visit with a >=25% increase in the Psoriasis Area and
      Severity Index (PASI) from baseline or a >=5-unit increase in the Dermatology
      Life Quality Index from baseline during the initial 16-week double-blind
      treatment periods. Patients with versus without worsening were compared in terms
      of pain, work productivity and activity impairment (WPAI) and the mental and
      physical component summary (MCS and PCS) scores of the Short-Form 36 Health
      Survey. A subgroup analysis was performed for patients with PASI 10-20 at
      baseline. RESULTS: The 17-week risk of clinically relevant worsening was 37.0%
      (95% CI 26.1, 46.3) for placebo (n = 445) and 4.2% (95% CI 2.0, 6.3) for
      adalimumab-treated patients (n = 914) [p < 0.0001]. Patients with versus without
      worsening experienced substantially increased pain, increased WPAI and greater
      impairment in MCS and PCS. Results were similar for patients with PASI 10-20 at
      baseline. LIMITATIONS: The short study duration may not reflect long-term
      outcomes. CONCLUSION: Clinically relevant worsening of psoriasis symptoms was
      associated with substantial worsening of HRQOL. Adalimumab treatment was
      associated with a substantially reduced risk of clinically relevant worsening.

PMID- 20932073
TI  - Consortium for Blood Group Genes (CBGG): 2009 report.
AB  - Consortium for Blood Group Genes is a worldwide organization whose goal is to
      have a vehicle to interact, establish guidelines, operate a proficiency program,
      and provide education for laboratories involved in DNA and RNA testing for the
      prediction of blood group, platelet, and neutrophil antigens. Currently, the
      consortium operates with representatives from Brazil, Canada, and the United
      States. Membership is voluntary with the expectation that members actively
      contribute to discussions involving blood group genetics. This year witnessed a
      change in the standing committee membership and the institution of a
      representative for the human platelet antigens group. Looking forward, the
      consortium sees challenges for the nomenclature of blood group alleles and user
      required specifications for laboratory information systems to store genotype
      information.

PMID- 20932071
TI  - Aspirin and antiplatelet agent resistance: implications for prevention of
      secondary stroke.
AB  - Oral antiplatelet drugs, including aspirin, clopidogrel and extended-release
      dipyridamole, are widely prescribed for the secondary prevention of vascular
      events, including stroke. Despite the benefits of antiplatelet therapy, 10-20% of
      patients experience a recurrent vascular event while taking antiplatelet
      medication. This article discusses the concept of antiplatelet resistance in
      general, focusing on aspirin resistance in particular, as a poorly defined cause
      of recurrent vascular events. Factors such as the lack of a standardized method
      to diagnose aspirin resistance and a poor clinical correlation with laboratory
      assays make the treatment of aspirin nonresponders difficult. In addition, there
      are confounding conditions such as diabetes mellitus that can affect aspirin
      resistance and determine a different course of treatment for these patients.
      Other antiplatelet options may also have resistant subpopulations; thus,
      alternative strategies for the secondary stroke patient must be explored.

PMID- 20932074
TI  - The Duffy blood group system: a review.
AB  - Duffy was the first blood group mapped to an autosome (chromosome 1) using
      cytogenetic studies. Duffy antigens are located on a glycoprotein that can be
      found on erythrocytes and other cells throughout the body. Fy(a) and Fy(b) are
      products of their respective alleles (FY*A, FY*B). Fy(x) characterized by weak
      Fy(b) expression, is a result of an additional mutation in FY*B. The Fy(a-b-)
      phenotype, most commonly found in Blacks, occurs primarily as a result of GATA
      promoter region mutation upstream of the FY allele. This mutation prevents
      expression of Duffy glycoprotein on erythrocytes only, while permitting
      expression of nonerythroid cells. Other antigens include Fy3, Fy5, and Fy6.
      Antibodies to Duffy antigens are usually clinically significant and have been
      reported to cause hemolytic disease of the fetus and newborn. This review
      provides a general overview of the Duffy blood group system, including the role
      of the Duffy glycoprotein as a chemokine receptor (Duffy antigen receptor for
      chemokines) and in malarial infection.

PMID- 20932075
TI  - RHCE*ceAR encodes a partial c (RH4) antigen.
AB  - Thr Rh blood group system is highly complex both in the number of discreet
      antigens and in the existence of partial antigens, especially D and e. Recently,
      several partial c antigens have been reported. Here we report findings on an
      African American man with sickle cell disease whose RBCs typed C+c+ and whose
      plasma contained anti-c. Hemagglutination tests, DNA extraction, PCR-RFLP,
      reticulocyte RNA isolation, RT-PCR cDNA analyses, cloning, and sequencing were
      performed by standard procedures. RBCs from the patient typed C+c+ but his plasma
      contained alloanti-c. DNA analyses showed the presence of RHCE*Ce in trans to
      RHCE*ceAR with RHD*D and RHD*Weak D type 4.2.2. The amino acid changes on RhceAR
      are such that C+c+ patient made alloanti-c. This case shows that RhceAR carries a
      partial c antigen and illustrates the value of DNA testing as an adjunct to
      hemagglutination to aid in antibody identification in unusual cases.

PMID- 20932076
TI  - The Gerbich blood group system: a review.
AB  - Antigens in the Gebrich blood group system are expressed on glycophorin C (GPC)
      and glycophorin D (GPD), which are both encoded by a single gene, GYPC. The GYPC
      gene is located on the long arm of chromosome 2, and Gebrich antigens are
      inherited as autosomal dominant traits. There are 11 antigens in the Gebrich
      blood group system, six of high prevalence (Ge2, Ge3, Ge4, GEPL [Ge10*], GEAT
      [Ge11*], GETI [Ge12*]) and five of low prevalence (Wb [Ge5], Ls(a) [Ge6], An(a)
      [Ge7], Dh(a) [Ge8], GEIS [Ge9]). GPC and GPD interact with protein 4.1R,
      contributing stability to RBC membrane. Reduced levels of GPC and GPD are
      associated with hereditary elliptocytosis, and Gebrich antigens act as receptors
      for the malarial parasite Plasmodium falciparum. Anti-Ge2 and anti-Ge3 have
      caused hemolytic transfusion reactions, and anti-Ge3 has produced hemolytic
      disease of the fetus and newborn (HDFN).

PMID- 20932077
TI  - Application of real-time PCR and melting curve analysis in rapid Diego blood
      group genotyping.
AB  - The paucity of appropriate reagents for serologic typing of the Diego blood group
      antigens has prompted the development of a real-time PCR and melting curve
      analysis for Diego blood group genotyping. In this study, we phenotyped 4326
      donor blood samples for Di(a) using semiautomated equipment. All 157 Di(a+)
      samples were then genotyped by PCR using sequence-specific primers (PCR-SSP) for
      DI*02 because of anti-Di(b) scarcity. Of the 4326 samples, we simultaneously
      tested 160 samples for Di(a) and Di(b) serology, and DI*01 and DI*02 by PCR-SSP
      and by real-time PCR. We used the same primers for Diego genotyping by real-time
      PCR and PCR-SSP. Melting curve profiles obtained using the dissociation software
      of the real-time PCR apparatus enabled the discrimination of Diego alleles. Of
      the total samples tested, 4169 blood donors, 96.4 percent (95% confidence
      interval [CI], 95.8-96.9%), were homozygous for DI*02 and 157, 3.6 percent (95%
      CI, 3.1%-4.2%), were heterozygous DI*01/02. No blood donor was found to be
      homozygous for DI*01 in this study. The calculated DI*01 and DI*02 allele
      frequencies were 0.0181 (95% CI, 0.0173-0.0189) and 0.9819 (95% CI, 0.9791
      0.9847), respectively, showing a good fit for the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium.
      There was full concordance among Diego phenotype results by PCR-SSP and real-time
      PCR. DI*01 and DI*02 allele determination with SYBR Green I and thermal cycler
      technology are useful methods for Diego determination. The real-time PCR with
      SYBR Green I melting temperature protocol can be used as a rapid screening tool
      for DI*01 and DI*02 blood group genotyping.

PMID- 20932078
TI  - The Dombrock blood group system: a review.
AB  - The Dombrock blood group system (Do) consists of two antithetical antigens (Do(a)
      and Do(b)) and five antigens of high prevalence (Gy(a), Hy, Jo(a), DOYA, and
      DOMR). Do antigens are carried on the Dombrock glycoprotein, which is attached to
      the RBC membrane via glycosylphosphatidylinositol linkage. The gene (DO, ART4)
      encoding the Do glycoprotein, located on the short arm of chromosome 12, has been
      cloned and sequenced, allowing the molecular basis of the various Do phenotypes
      to be determined. Do(a) and Do(b) have a prevalence that makes them useful as
      genetic markers; however, the paucity of reliable anti-Do(a) and anti-Do(b) has
      prevented this potential from being realized. The ease with which these antigens
      can be predicted by analysis of DNA opens the door for such studies to be carried
      out. Anti-Do(a) and anti-Do(b) are rarely found as a single specificity, but they
      have been implicated in causing hemolytic transfusion reactions. This review is a
      synthesis of our current knowledge of he Dombrock blood group system.

PMID- 20932079
TI  - Rural mental health workforce difficulties: a management perspective.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The recruitment, retention and training of mental health workers is
      of major concern in rural Australia, and the Gippsland region of Victoria is no
      exception. Previous studies have identified a number of common factors in these
      workforce difficulties, including rurality, difficulties of access to
      professional development and training, and professional and personal isolation.
      However, those previous studies have often focused on medicine and been based on
      the perspectives of practitioners, and have almost ignored the perspectives of
      managers of rural mental health services. The study reported in this article
      sought to contribute to the development of a more sustainable and effective
      regional mental health workforce by complementing earlier insights with those of
      leading administrators, managers and senior clinicians in the field. METHODS: The
      study took a qualitative approach. It conducted semi-structured in-person
      interviews with 24 managers of health/mental-health services and senior
      administrators and clinicians working in organisations of varying sizes in the
      public and private sectors. Thematic content analysis of the transcribed
      interviews identified core difficulties these managers experienced in the
      recruitment, retention and training of employees. RESULTS: The study found that
      some of the issues commonly resulting in difficulties in recruiting, retaining
      and developing a trained workforce in rural areas, such as rurality (implying
      personal and professional isolation, distances to deliver service and small
      organisations) and a general shortage of trained personnel, are significant in
      Gippsland. Through its focus on the perspectives of leaders in the management of
      rural mental health services, however, the study found other key issues that
      contribute to workforce difficulties. Many, including the unattractive nature of
      mental health work, the fragmented administration of the mental health system,
      short-term and tied funding, and shortcomings in training are external to
      organisations. Interviewees indicated that these issues make it difficult for
      organisations to support personnel in ways that enhance personal and professional
      satisfaction and so retention and, in turn, the capacity to recruit new
      employees. Participants also highlighted issues internal to the organisation. The
      tensions that flow from the systemic forces require highly creative leadership to
      negotiate the numerous policy changes, diverse sources of funding, training
      regimens, worker cohorts and models of care. Managers must nurture the capacity
      of their own organisation to respond flexibly to the demands, by establishing a
      responsive culture and structure. They must also encourage the collaboration of
      their other organisations in their sub-regional grouping and the development of a
      regional sensibility. CONCLUSION: The approach taken by the study, particularly
      its focus on a management perspective, revealed that the difficulties experienced
      are the product of a core tension between a growing demand for mental health
      care, emerging specialities and technological advances in the field, and a
      diminished systemic capacity to support organisations in meeting the demand.
      Resolving this core tension is a key to the maintenance of a sustainable and
      effective workforce in Gippsland, and the role of management is crucial to that
      resolution.

PMID- 20932080
TI  - Initial experience with retroperitoneoscopic microwave ablation of clinical T(1a)
      renal tumors.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the feasibility, safety, and efficacy of
      retroperitoneoscopic microwave ablation (MWA) for clinical stage T(1a) (cT(1a))
      renal tumors. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Consecutive renal cell carcinomas (RCCs)
      managed since April 2006 with a minimal follow-up of 12 months were included. A
      total of 23 tumors in 22 patients were managed with laparoscopic MWA. A cooled
      shaft needle antenna was inserted into the tumor under direct visual guidance.
      Microwaves were emitted at 50 W for 8 minutes and prolonged as necessary to
      ensure complete tumor kill. Short-term efficacy was assessed by contrast-enhanced
      CT at 1, 3, and 6 months, and every 6 months thereafter. RESULTS: Pathologic
      analysis revealed low-grade clear-cell RCC in all patients. Mean tumor size was
      2.8 cm (range 0.9-4.0 cm). Excluding 5 lost patients, the initial ablation was
      successful in 17 (94.4%) of 18 tumors. One patient with an incomplete ablation
      lesion under strict surveillance had no evidence of disease progression at 31
      months of follow-up. No recurrence was observed at a median follow-up of 20
      months (range 12-45 mos). All 17 remaining patients had no clinical or
      radiographic evidence of disease at last follow-up. In addition, complications
      were mild and tolerable (18.2%), and there was no significant deterioration of
      renal function. CONCLUSIONS: Retroperitoneoscopic MWA appears to be a safe and
      effective technique for cT(1a) RCC in selected patients. Additional follow-up is
      needed to assess long-term effectiveness.

PMID- 20932081
TI  - Coculture of osteoblasts and endothelial cells: optimization of culture medium
      and cell ratio.
AB  - Vascularization strategies in cell-based bone tissue engineering depend on
      optimal culture conditions. The present study aimed to determine optimal cell
      culture medium and cell ratio for cocultures of human marrow stromal cells
      (HMSCs) and human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) in view of both
      osteogenic and angiogenic outcome parameters upon two-dimensional and three
      dimensional culture conditions. Cultures were performed in four different media:
      osteoblastic cell proliferation medium, osteogenic medium (OM), endothelial
      medium, and a 1:1 mixture of the latter two media. Mineralization within the
      cocultures was observed only in OM. Subsequent experiments in OM showed that
      alkaline phosphatase activity, mineralization, and CD31(+) staining were highest
      for cocultures at a 50:50 HMSC/HUVEC ratio. Therefore, the results from the
      present study show that a HMSC/HUVEC coculture ratio of 50:50 in OM is the best
      combination to obtain both osteogenic and angiogenic differentiation.

PMID- 20932082
TI  - Improved detection of nonmuscle invasive urothelial carcinoma of the bladder
      using pirarubicin endoscopy: a prospective, single-center preliminary study.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Fluorescence cystoscopy (FC) with intravesical
      instillation of a photosensitizing agent has emerged as an adjunctive and safe
      diagnostic tool with high sensitivity and reasonable specificity; however, it has
      not been widely accepted, because it is time-consuming and expensive. The aim of
      the present study was to determine whether the use of the fluorescent dye
      pirarubicin [(2"R)-4'-O-tetrahydropyranyl doxorubicin] (THP) in endoscopy can
      improve detection of nonmuscle invasive urothelial carcinoma of the bladder.
      PATIENTS AND METHODS: Forty-eight patients with known or suspected bladder
      urothelial carcinoma were enrolled in this prospective study between January 2008
      and April 2009. The Storz D-light system was used to detect fluorescence 15
      minutes after intravesical instillation with 30 mg THP. Endoscopic findings,
      histopathologic evaluation of biopsy lesions, and adverse effects of THP were
      recorded. RESULTS: After THP uptake, the lesions appear bright orange under white
      light, and produce bright red fluorescence under blue light. Among 238 biopsies
      evaluated (84 malignant, 20 dysplasia, and 134 benign), sensitivity of overall
      tumors, carcinoma in situ (CIS), and dysplasia detection using FC was 96%
      (81/84), 100% (6/6), and 90% (18/20), respectively. The specificity of FC was
      74.7% (115/154), and its false-positive rate was 32.5% (39/120). No significant
      systemic side effects or allergic reactions were observed other than a few cases
      of mild cystitis. CONCLUSION: THP endoscopy may improve the detection of
      nonmuscle invasive urothelial carcinoma of the bladder, especially CIS and flat
      lesions. Results indicate that THP is a promising fluorescent dye for diagnosis
      and follow-up of nonmuscle invasive bladder carcinoma. Moreover, it is
      inexpensive, easily available, simple to administer, and is associated with few
      side effects.

PMID- 20932083
TI  - Public knowledge and beliefs about diarrheal disease.
AB  - Sixty percent of the U.S. population experiences acute diarrheal illness each
      year, but little is understood regarding public knowledge and beliefs about the
      causes and treatment of these diseases. We performed a telephone survey of 2117
      Tennessee residents regarding knowledge and practices associated with diarrheal
      illness. Bloody stool, dehydration, and persistent symptoms were the most common
      reasons for which the respondents would seek medical care. Although most acute
      diarrheal disease is self-limited, overuse of antimicrobials for treatment is
      common. Few people believed that stool cultures (4.5%) or antibiotics (6.9%) are
      routinely necessary for diarrhea. Over 60% of respondents believed that food is
      the most common source of diarrhea. Three-fourths believed that it is normal for
      uncooked meat to contain bacteria, and 45% believed it is legal to sell such
      products. These results have implications for medical providers, regulators, and
      public health in the management and prevention of diarrheal disease.

PMID- 20932084
TI  - Differentiation of Salmonella enteritidis isolates by fluorescent amplified
      fragment length polymorphism.
AB  - Salmonella Enteritidis is responsible for human gastroenteritis outbreaks
      worldwide, and the molecular characterization of isolates is an important tool
      for epidemiological studies. Fluorescent amplified fragment length polymorphism
      (FAFLP) analysis was performed on 31 Salmonella Enteritidis strains from South
      Brazil isolated from human, foods, swine, broiler carcasses, and other poultry
      related samples to subtype isolates in comparison to pulsed-field gel
      electrophoresis (PFGE) analysis. Five strains of Salmonella Enteritidis from
      different geographical regions, Salmonella Enteritidis ATCC 13076, and four
      isolates of different Salmonella serovars were also tested. Among the 41 isolates
      tested, 96 polymorphic AFs and 40 distinct profiles were obtained, displaying a
      Simpson's index of diversity of 0.99; whereas the PFGE analysis presented 13
      patterns and the resulting Simpson's index was 0.55. Nine FAFLP and seven PFGE
      clusters could be inferred based in Dice similarity coefficient. FAFLP clustering
      readily identified different serotypes of Salmonella but did not distinguish
      isolates epidemiologically nonrelated or distinct phage types. Therefore, these
      results indicate that FAFLP is a rapid method for epidemiological investigations
      of Salmonella outbreaks, presenting a high discriminatory power for subtyping of
      Salmonella Enteritidis.

PMID- 20932085
TI  - A new and preliminary three-dimensional perspective: proteomes of optimization
      between OSCC and OLK.
AB  - BACKGROUND: principally 80 percent of the malignant oral tumors are the Oral
      Squamous Cell Carcinoma (OSCC), which require quantities of such sacrifices as
      deformity, malfunction, recurrence, metastasis, deterioration, and mortality in
      common cases of failing to antedate diagnosis. Similarly critical is the Oral
      Leukoplakia (OLK) among precancerous lesions of oral mucosa. It would also be of
      interest for scholars and clinicians to target the discrimination as seizing up
      OLK intimate to OSCC. OBJECTIVE: through bioinformatics technology, the research
      in narration worked to establish a three-dimensional discriminate database from
      high throughput data of protein fingerprints from serum, saliva, and tissue
      samples of OSCC and OLK patients as a preliminary step towards integrated group
      proteins biomarker discovery and to further understanding of corresponding
      tumorgenesis and proteomics. METHODS: differential proteomic patterns in serum,
      saliva, and tissue between OSCC patients or OSCC tissues and OLK were detected by
      SELDI-TOF-MS technology, and discriminatively analyzed by ZUCI-PDAS (Zhejiang
      University Cancer Institute ProteinChip Data Analysis System) with Support Vector
      Machines (SVM) and cross validation. Additionally, Laser Capture Micro-dissection
      technology was utilized in the tissue research. RESULTS: mass/charge proteomes of
      optimization obtained from the samples were, respectively, 4162 with 6886 of
      87.82%, 92.86%, 66.67% as the sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy for serum
      difference; m/z 5818, 4617 with 3884 of all 100% as the sensitivity, specificity,
      and accuracy for saliva difference; and m/z 3738, 11366 of 96.29%, 100.00%,
      85.71% as the sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy for tissue difference
      between OSCC and OLK patients. CONCLUSIONS: within the fields of clinical
      biomarker application and bioinformatics utilization, as well as the exploitation
      and popularization of modern discriminate analysis technology, to determine
      preventative and therapeutic stage and prognosis of OSCC and OLK, the proteomes
      of optimization for discrepancy are suggested to be directly enrolled in clinical
      application without protein identification.

PMID- 20932086
TI  - Comparison of probabilistic and deterministic predictions of time to growth of
      Listeria monocytogenes as affected by pH and temperature in food.
AB  - Stochastic models are useful for estimating the risk of foodborne illness and
      they can be integrated, besides other sources of variability, into microbial risk
      assessment. A stochastic approach to evaluate growth of two strains of Listeria
      monocytogenes influenced by different factors affecting microbial growth (pH and
      storage temperature) was performed. An individual-based approach of growth
      through optical density measurements was used. From results obtained, histograms
      of the lag phase were generated and distributions were fitted. Histograms
      presented increased variation when the factors applied were suboptimal for L.
      monocytogenes and they were combined. The extreme value distribution was ranked
      as the best one in most cases, whereas normal was the poorest fitting
      distribution. To evaluate the influence of pH and storage temperature on L.
      monocytogenes CECT 5672 in real food, commercial samples of courgette and carrot
      soup were inoculated with this pathogen. It was able to grow in both soups at
      storage temperatures from 4 degrees C to 20 degrees C. Using the distributions
      adjusted, predictions of time to growth (102 cfu/g) of L. monocytogenes were
      established by Monte Carlo simulation and they were compared with deterministic
      predictions and observations in foods.

PMID- 20932087
TI  - Viable but nonculturable state of foodborne pathogens in grapefruit juice: a
      study of laboratory.
AB  - Several foodborne human pathogens, when exposed to harsh conditions, enter viable
      but nonculturable (VBNC) state; however, still open is the question whether VBNC
      pathogens could be a risk for public health, because, potentially, they can
      resuscitate. Moreover, cultural methods for food safety control were not able to
      detect VBNC forms of foodborne bacteria. Particularly, it has not been
      established whether food chemophysical characteristics can induce VBNC state in
      contaminating pathogen bacterial populations, especially in food, such as salads
      and fresh fruit juices, not subjected to any decontamination treatment. In this
      preliminary study, we intentionally contaminated grapefruit juice to determine
      whether pathogen bacteria could enter VNBC state. In fact, grapefruit juice
      contains natural antimicrobial compounds, has an average pH of about 3 and low
      content in carbohydrates. Such characteristics make grapefruit juice a harsh
      environment for microbial survival. For this purpose, Escherichia coli O157:H7,
      Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium ATCC 14028, Listeria monocytogenes ATCC
      7644, and Shigella flexneri ATCC 12022, at two different inoculum sizes, have
      been used. Viability by the LIVE/DEAD BacLight Bacterial Viability kit and
      culturability by plate counts assay were monitored, whereas "resuscitation" of
      nonculturable populations was attempted by inoculation in nutrient-rich media.
      The data showed that L. monocytogenes lost both culturability and viability and
      did not resuscitate within 24 h independently on inoculum size, whereas E. coli
      O157:H7 was able to resuscitate after 24 h but did not after 48 h. Salmonella
      Typhimurium and S. flexneri, depending on inoculum size, lost culturability but
      maintained viability and were able to resuscitate; moreover, S. flexneri was
      still able to form colonies after 48 h at high inoculum size. In conclusion,
      entry into VBNC state differs on the species, depending, in turn, on inoculum
      size and time of incubation.

PMID- 20932088
TI  - Efficacy of high-intensity pulsed light for the microbiological decontamination
      of chicken, associated packaging, and contact surfaces.
AB  - The efficacy of high-intensity light pulse (HILP) technology (3 Hz, maximum of
      505 J/pulse, and a pulse duration of 360 MUs) for the decontamination of raw
      chicken and associated packaging and surface materials was investigated. Its
      ability to reduce microbial counts on raw chicken through plastic films was also
      examined. Complete inactivation of Campylobacter spp., Escherichia coli, and
      Salmonella Enteritidis in liquid was achieved after 30 sec HILP treatment.
      Reductions of 3.56, 4.69, and 4.60 log10 cfu/cm2) were observed after 5 sec HILP
      treatment of Campylobacter jejuni, E. coli, and Salmonella Enteritidis inoculated
      onto packaging materials and contact surfaces, respectively. The greatest
      reductions on inoculated chicken skin were 1.22, 1.69, and 1.27 log10 cfu/g for
      C. jejuni, E. coli, and Salmonella Enteritidis, respectively. Corresponding
      reductions on inoculated skinless breast meat were 0.96, 1.13, and 1.35 log10
      cfu/g. The effectiveness of HILP treatment for reducing microbial levels on
      chicken increased as the film thickness decreased. HILP treatments of 2 sec did
      not significantly affect the color of raw chicken although treatments of 30 sec
      impacted color. This study has shown HILP to be an effective method for the
      decontamination of packaging and surface materials. Additionally, it has
      demonstrated the potential of HILP to be used as a decontamination method for
      packaged chicken.

PMID- 20932089
TI  - Antibacterial activity of the essential oil of Satureja wiedemanniana against
      Bacillus species isolated from chicken meat.
AB  - The antimicrobial activity of the essential oil (EO) of Satureja wiedemanniana
      against Bacillus spp. isolated from chicken meat was investigated. Thirty-seven
      Bacillus strains were isolated from 15 chicken meat samples and examined for
      proteolytic and lipolytic activities by agar well diffusion assay. Of 37 Bacillus
      isolated from raw chicken samples, which based on a clear zone diameter of >= 6
      mm in agar well diffusion assays for proteolytic activity, 19 Bacillus strains
      were selected for this study. Bacillus licheniformis T11(1) and Bacillus lentus
      T10(14) have high proteolytic activity (14.0 mm zone diameter), whereas B.
      licheniformis T4(2) and Bacillus mycoides T 5(5) have high lipolytic activity
      (12.0 mm zone diameter). Thirty-two components representing 98.10% of the
      composition of the S. wiedemanniana EO were identified using gas
      chromatography/mass spectrometry. Both S. wiedemanniana EO and its main component
      p-cymene exhibited strong antimicrobial activity against some Bacillus strains.
      The results of this study confirmed the possibility of using S. wiedemanniana EO
      as a protective agent to chicken meat. But, detail studies are still needed to
      elucidate the effects of S. wiedemanniana EO against other spoilage
      microorganisms.

PMID- 20932090
TI  - Effect of chlorine dioxide gas on Salmonella enterica inoculated on navel orange
      surfaces and its impact on the quality attributes of treated oranges.
AB  - Microorganisms, including pathogens of public health significance, have been
      shown to contaminate orange juice during the mechanical extraction of juice. The
      problem gets exacerbated when washed oranges have high initial microbial load,
      due to an insufficient postharvest treatment. The objective of this study was to
      investigate the reduction of Salmonella enterica on orange surfaces using ClO2
      gas treatments to achieve a 5 log reduction, consistent with the recommendations
      of the U.S. Department of Agriculture-National Advisory Committee on
      Microbiological Criteria for Foods. A mixed culture of four Salmonella strains,
      isolated from previous orange juice outbreaks, was spot inoculated onto orange
      skin surface areas. The oranges were then treated with 0.1, 0.3, and 0.5 mg/L
      ClO2 gas for 2-14 minutes at 22 degrees C and 90%-95% relative humidity.
      Surviving bacteria on treated areas were recovered and enumerated over treatment
      time on a nonselective medium, tryptic soy agar, followed by culturing onto a
      selective medium, xylose lysine deoxycholate agar. A >5 log reduction of
      Salmonella per sample of orange surface was observed with 0.1 and 0.3 mg/L ClO2
      gas treatments at 14 minutes and a similar log reduction was observed at 0.5 mg/L
      ClO2 gas at 10 minutes. This result demonstrates that the treatment of oranges
      with ClO2 gas is a promising technology that could be successfully employed for
      the treatment of whole oranges to reduce the risk of Salmonella outbreaks in
      orange juice.

PMID- 20932091
TI  - Minimally invasive repair of spontaneous intracranial hypotension.
AB  - Spontaneous spinal CSF leakage with the development of intracranial hypotension
      is a well-described entity. Cerebrospinal fluid leaks, mostly from the thoracic
      spine, are the major cause of spontaneous intracranial hypotension (SIH).
      Conservative treatment options include hydration, oral caffeine, and epidural
      blood patching. Alternatively, open surgical correction of meningeal diverticula
      is a therapeutic option. The authors describe 4 cases of spontaneous spinal CSF
      leakage producing symptoms of intracranial hypotension. All patients had multiple
      spinal diverticula with an identified leaking level. The patients were treated
      using a minimally invasive approach via surgical correction of the meningeal
      diverticulum.

PMID- 20932092
TI  - Dr. Henry Head and lessons learned from his self-experiment on radial nerve
      transection.
AB  - In this paper the authors aim to review Dr. Henry Head's famous and dramatic
      nerve sectioning experiment. They discuss the implications of his experimental
      approach as well as the effect his experiment had on the field of neurology.
      Henry Head was a prominent British neurologist who contributed greatly to the
      understanding of the sensory examination through an experiment in which he had
      his own radial nerve transected. Head carefully documented the sensory changes
      following the sectioning. He hypothesized the existence of two separate sensory
      systems: protopathic and epicritic. Head was one of the first scientists to
      speculate on sensory dissociation, and his writings generated both enthusiasm and
      controversy. Although the ethical issue of self-experimentation was raised by his
      bold experiment and many aspects of his investigations and conclusions have been
      criticized, Head undoubtedly contributed important clinical lessons to neurology.
      Arguably, Henry Head's greatest contribution was the realization that the
      neurological portion of the sensory examination was anything but straightforward.

PMID- 20932093
TI  - Impact of individual intracranial arterial aneurysm morphology on initial
      obliteration and recurrence rates of endovascular treatments: a multivariate
      analysis.
AB  - OBJECT: The goal was to investigate whether morphological features of aneurysms
      can be identified that determine initial success and recurrence rates of coiled
      aneurysms of the basilar artery tip, the posterior communicating artery (PCoA),
      and the anterior communicating artery. METHODS: The authors evaluated 202
      aneurysms in connection with their pretreatment morphological features including
      size, neck-to-dome ratio, angulation of the aneurysm in relation to the parent
      artery, orientation of the aneurysm dome, and associated anatomical variations.
      The mean follow-up was 19 months (range 6-96 months) after endovascular coil
      occlusion. Using multivariate logistic regression, probabilities for initial
      complete occlusion and long-term stability of the treatment were calculated.
      RESULTS: Recanalization occurred in 49 of 202 cases. Favorable factors for long
      term stability included small aneurysms with small necks. However, additional
      factors related to local hemodynamic forces could be identified for the different
      aneurysm locations, which may influence initial success rates and long-term
      stability of aneurysm treatment with endovascular coiling. These factors were a
      medial dome orientation and a symmetrical disposition of both A(1) segments (for
      the anterior communicating artery), a posteroinferior dome orientation and a
      small-size PCoA (for the PCoA), and a cranial symmetrical fusion (for the basilar
      artery tip). CONCLUSIONS: A detailed pretreatment analysis of morphological
      features of aneurysms may help to determine those aneurysms that are more prone
      to recurrence, which could add to the treatment decision and the follow-up
      algorithm.

PMID- 20932094
TI  - Schwannomatosis, sporadic schwannomatosis, and familial schwannomatosis: a
      surgical series with long-term follow-up. Clinical article.
AB  - OBJECT: The aim of this study was to provide disease-specific information about
      schwannomatosis in its different forms and to present 2 particular cases of
      malignant schwannomas in the context of familial schwannomatosis (FS). METHODS:
      The authors analyzed patients with pathologically defined schwannomas and
      identified those with varied forms of schwannomatosis. Each case was
      retrospectively analyzed for patient sex and age, number of operations and tumors
      excised, symptoms, location and size of tumors, extent of resection, nerve
      function pre- and postoperatively, complications, other nonsurgically treated
      tumors, malignancy, results of brain MR imaging, and follow-up data. RESULTS: One
      hundred fifty-eight patients underwent the excision of 216 schwannomas. One
      hundred forty-two patients presented with solitary schwannomas, 2 had
      neurofibromatosis Type 2 (NF2), and 14 presented with schwannomatosis. The
      average follow-up was 52 months. Six individuals had sporadic schwannomatosis,
      whereas 8 had the familial form of the disease. These 14 patients had an average
      age of 28.3 years at the time of disease onset (median 27.5 years) and 35.4 years
      at the time of the first operation (median 37 years) Thirteen of the 14 patients
      with schwannomatosis experienced pain as the first symptom. Eight (57%) of the 14
      patients presented with at least 1 tumor in the spinal canal or attached to the
      spinal nerve roots. Malignant schwannomas developed in 2 patients from the same
      family during the follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Patients suffering from schwannomatosis
      tend to be younger than those presenting with solitary schwannomas. Therefore,
      individuals presenting at a young age with multiple schwannomas but not meeting
      the criteria for NF2 should prompt the physician to suspect schwannomatosis.
      Patients with schwannomatosis who report pain should be exhaustively examined.
      The spine is affected in the majority of patients, and MR imaging of the spine
      should be part of the routine evaluation. Rapid enlargement of schwannomas in the
      context of FS should raise suspicion of malignant transformation.

PMID- 20932095
TI  - A 3-tier classification of cerebral arteriovenous malformations. Clinical
      article.
AB  - OBJECT: The authors propose a 3-tier classification for cerebral arteriovenous
      malformations (AVMs). The classification is based on the original 5-tier Spetzler
      Martin grading system, and reflects the treatment paradigm for these lesions. The
      implications of this modification in the literature are explored. METHODS: Class
      A combines Grades I and II AVMs, Class B are Grade III AVMs, and Class C combines
      Grades IV and V AVMs. Recommended management is surgery for Class A AVMs,
      multimodality treatment for Class B, and observation for Class C, with exceptions
      to the latter including recurrent hemorrhages and progressive neurological
      deficits. To evaluate whether combining grades is warranted from the perspective
      of surgical outcomes, the 3-tier system was applied to 1476 patients from 7
      surgical series in which results were stratified according to Spetzler-Martin
      grades. RESULTS: Pairwise comparisons of individual Spetzler-Martin grades in the
      series analyzed showed the fewest significant differences (p < 0.05) in outcomes
      between Grades I and II AVMs and between Grades IV and V AVMs. In the pooled data
      analysis, significant differences in outcomes were found between all grades
      except IV and V (p = 0.38), and the lowest relative risks were found between
      Grades I and II (1.066) and between Grades IV and V (1.095). Using the pooled
      data, the predictive accuracies for surgical outcomes of the 5-tier and 3-tier
      systems were equivalent (receiver operating characteristic curve area 0.711 and
      0.713, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Combining Grades I and II AVMs and combining
      Grades IV and V AVMs is justified in part because the differences in surgical
      results between these respective pairs are small. The proposed 3-tier
      classification of AVMs offers simplification of the Spetzler-Martin system,
      provides a guide to treatment, and is predictive of outcome. The revised
      classification not only simplifies treatment recommendations; by placing patients
      into 3 as opposed to 5 groups, statistical power is markedly increased for series
      comparisons.

PMID- 20932096
TI  - Extensive craniocervical pneumocranium.
AB  - The authors report the first case of extensive craniocervical pneumocranium
      causing mass effect, without any associated extradural pneumatocele. The patient
      presented with frontal headaches and unusual sensations in his left ear. He was
      found to have large pneumocranium involving his left frontal, temporal, parietal,
      and occipital bones as well as the atlas. He underwent a craniectomy with
      replacement of the pneumatized bone with titanium mesh, and mastoidectomy with
      obliteration of the mastoid air cells. This case is discussed in the context of
      the literature to date. A review of the literature shows that trauma is not a
      common cause of pneumocranium, with most cases occurring spontaneously. The
      authors believe that a combined neurosurgical-otological approach is beneficial
      in such cases.

PMID- 20932097
TI  - Successful obliteration and shrinkage of giant partially thrombosed basilar
      artery aneurysms through a tailored flow reduction strategy with bypass surgery.
AB  - OBJECT: The authors evaluated the efficacy of a new flow reduction strategy for
      giant partially thrombosed upper basilar artery (BA) aneurysms, for which
      proximal parent artery occlusion is not always effective. METHODS: Eight
      consecutive patients with severely symptomatic, partially thrombosed, giant upper
      BA aneurysms were treated with a tailored flow reduction strategy, or received
      conservative therapies. The flow reduction strategy comprised isolation of
      several branches from the upper BA at their origins with bypasses in addition to
      parent artery occlusion. RESULTS: The median follow-up period of all 8 patients
      was 15.0 months (range 4-31 months). In 6 patients treated with flow reduction,
      the mean decrease in residual blood lumen was -10.7 mm (95% CI -19.7 to -1.7 mm;
      p = 0.029) and the mean decrease in diameter of the aneurysms was -11.5 mm (95%
      CI -25.1 to 2.1 mm; p = 0.082). Complete or virtually complete thrombosis was
      achieved in all but 1 aneurysm (83%) and shrinkage was observed in 4 (67%). In
      those in whom complete or virtually complete thrombosis was achieved, significant
      shrinkage of the aneurysm was observed (mean decrease in diameter -14.8 mm; 95%
      CI -28.8 to -0.8 mm; p = 0.043). Improvement or stabilization of symptoms
      occurred in 67% of the patients who received flow reduction treatment. Both
      patients who received conservative treatment had unfavorable outcomes.
      CONCLUSIONS: The flow reduction strategy is effective at promoting complete
      thrombosis of the aneurysm. This strategy can also induce shrinkage of the
      aneurysm if successful thrombosis is achieved. Although the neurological outcome
      of the treatment appears favorable considering its intractable nature, further
      study of the treatment is necessary to confirm its clinical efficacy and safety.

PMID- 20932098
TI  - Assessment of morbidity following resection of cingulate gyrus gliomas. Clinical
      article.
AB  - OBJECT: The morbidity associated with resection of tumors in the cingulate gyrus
      (CG) is not well established. The goal of the present study is to define the
      short- and long-term morbidity profile associated with resection of gliomas
      within this region. METHODS: Ninety consecutive patients with gliomas involving
      the CG were analyzed. Resections were classified by zones corresponding to
      functionally defined regions of the CG as follows: Zone I (perigenual, anterior),
      Zone II (midcingulate), Zone III (posterior), and Zone IV (retrosplenial). Basic
      demographic, imaging, operative details, and pre- and postoperative neurological
      examinations were recorded for each patient. Patients in whom neurological
      morbidity was documented during their initial postoperative examination who did
      not completely improve by the 6-month follow-up examination were considered to
      have a permanent deficit. For each patient with surgery-related morbidity,
      postoperative MR imaging and operative notes were reviewed, and the cortical
      regions incorporated in the surgical trajectory were recorded. The analysis was
      carried out for tumors confined to the CG (> 90% of tumor contained within the
      CG) as well as those involving the CG but extending into adjacent cortical
      structures. RESULTS: Analysis of the entire patient cohort demonstrated that 29%
      of patients experienced a new or worsened neurological deficit immediately after
      surgery. The most common deficits were supplementary motor area (SMA) syndrome
      (20%), weakness (6%), and sensory changes (2%). All patients with an SMA syndrome
      in our series had intentional resection of SMA as part of the surgical approach.
      Patients with resections including Zone II or III had a higher rate of total
      morbidity and SMA syndrome than patients with Zone I resections (p < 0.05). Only
      4% of patients had a persistent neurological deficit at 6 months postoperatively.
      A similar morbidity profile was observed in the subset analysis of patients with
      tumors confined to the CG, with no additional morbidity related to known
      cingulate-specific functions. CONCLUSIONS: Resection of gliomas involving the CG
      can be performed with minimal, predictable long-term morbidity (< 5%). Surgical
      morbidity is primarily a function of surgical trajectory rather than the
      particular cingulate region resected.

PMID- 20932099
TI  - The intracranial denticulate ligament: anatomical study with neurosurgical
      significance.
AB  - OBJECT: Knowledge of the detailed anatomy of the craniocervical junction is
      important to neurosurgeons. To the authors' knowledge, no study has addressed the
      detailed anatomy of the intracranial (first) denticulate ligament and its
      intracranial course and relationships. METHODS: In 10 embalmed and 5 unembalmed
      adult cadavers, the authors performed posterior dissection of the craniocervical
      junction to expose the intracranial denticulate ligament. Rotation of the
      spinomedullary junction was documented before and after transection of unilateral
      ligaments. RESULTS: The first denticulate ligament was found on all but one left
      side and attached to the dura of the marginal sinus superior to the vertebral
      artery as it pierced the dura mater. The ligament always traveled between the
      vertebral artery and spinal accessory nerve. On 20% of sides, it also attached to
      the intracranial vertebral artery and, histologically, blended with its
      adventitia. In general, this ligament tended to be thicker laterally and was
      often cribriform in nature medially. The hypoglossal nerve was always superior to
      the ligament, which always concealed the ventral roots of the C-1 spinal nerve.
      The posterior spinal artery traveled posterior to this ligament on 93% of sides.
      On one left side, the ascending branch of the posterior spinal artery traveled
      anterior to the ligament and the descending branch traveled posterior to it.
      Following unilateral transection of the intracranial denticulate ligament,
      rotation of the spinomedullary junction was increased by approximately 25%.
      CONCLUSIONS: Knowledge of the relationships of the first denticulate ligament may
      prove useful to the neurosurgeon during procedures at the craniocervical
      junction.

PMID- 20932100
TI  - Long-term outcome after resection of brainstem hemangioblastomas in von Hippel
      Lindau disease.
AB  - OBJECT: Brainstem hemangioblastomas are frequently encountered in patients with
      von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) disease. These tumors can cause significant morbidity,
      and their optimal management has not been defined. To better define the outcome
      and management of these tumors, the authors analyzed the long-term results in
      patients who underwent resection of brainstem hemangioblastomas. METHODS:
      Consecutive patients with VHL disease who underwent resection of brainstem
      hemangioblastomas with a follow-up of 12 months or more were included in this
      study. Serial functional assessments, radiographic examinations, and operative
      records were analyzed. RESULTS: Forty-four patients (17 male and 27 female)
      underwent 51 operations for resection of 71 brainstem hemangioblastomas. The most
      common presenting symptoms were headache, swallowing difficulties, singultus,
      gait difficulties, and sensory abnormalities. The mean follow-up was 5.9 +/- 5.0
      years (range 1.0-20.8 years). Immediately after 34 operations (66.7%), the
      patients remained at their preoperative functional status; they improved after 8
      operations (15.7%) and worsened after 9 operations (17.6%) as measured by the
      McCormick scale. Eight (88.9%) of the 9 patients who were worse immediately after
      resection returned to their preoperative status within 6 months. Two patients
      experienced functional decline during long-term follow-up (beginning at 2.5 and 5
      years postoperatively) caused by extensive VHL disease-associated CNS disease.
      CONCLUSIONS: Generally, resection of symptomatic brainstem hemangioblastomas is a
      safe and effective management strategy in patients with VHL disease. Most
      patients maintain their preoperative functional status, although long-term
      decline in functional status may occur due to VHL disease-associated progression.

PMID- 20932101
TI  - Combined paracetamol and amitriptyline adsorption to activated charcoal.
AB  - Objectives. High-gram drug doses seen in multiple-drug poisonings might be close
      to the adsorption capacity of activated charcoal (AC). The aim was to determine
      the maximum adsorption capacities (Q(m)) of amitriptyline and paracetamol,
      separately and in combination, to AC. Methods. ACs (Carbomix(r) and Norit Ready
      To-Use) were tested in vitro. At pH 1.2 and pH 7.2, 0.250 g AC and paracetamol
      and/or amitriptyline were mixed and incubated. The AC: drug ratios were 10:1,
      5:1, 3:1, 2:1, and 1:1. The mixed-drug adsorption vials contained the same AC:
      paracetamol ratios, but amitriptyline was added as fixed dose (0.080 g) to all
      samples. Drug concentrations in the liquid phase were analyzed using high
      performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)/UV-detection. Results. Q(m),
      amitriptyline, were 0.49 g/g Carbomix(r) and 0.70 g/g Norit Ready-To-Use, and
      Q(m), paracetamol, were 0.63 g/g Carbomix(r) and 0.72 g/g Norit Ready-To-Use. The
      tested pH differences had minor effect on the adsorption. The mixed-drug
      adsorption showed about 40% Q(m) reduction of each drug with increasing amounts
      of drug/g AC, but the total gram of drug adsorbed to AC was increased compared to
      one-drug conditions. Conclusion. The adsorption of the two compounds to AC seems
      to compete resulting in lower maximum adsorption capacity for both drugs when
      mixed. However, a great adsorptive capacity was noted and might be explained by
      adsorption of the drugs to different AC surface sites. Furthermore, the Norit
      Ready-To-Use preparation, with less volume and total weight for the same AC dose
      as Carbomix(r), showed a higher Q(m). This might be clinically significant in
      terms of preventing nausea, vomiting, and subsequent aspiration.

PMID- 20932102
TI  - Azadirachtin poisoning: a case report.
AB  - The use of neem-based products is widespread in the Indian Subcontinent. Neem
      based pesticides obtained from neem kernels are considered natural and safe. The
      toxic effects of ingestion and overdose of this pesticide in adults have not been
      described in this literature. We report the case of a 35-year-old lady who had
      consumed Azadirachtin in an attempt of deliberate self-harm. The patient had
      features of neurotoxicity because of Azadirachtin requiring intensive medical
      care with mechanical ventilation. The patient survived the overdose with no long
      lasting side effects of the toxin.

PMID- 20932103
TI  - Multiplying the serum aminotransferase by the acetaminophen concentration to
      predict toxicity following overdose.
AB  - CONTEXT: The first available predictors of hepatic injury following acetaminophen
      (APAP) overdose are the serum APAP and aminotransferases [AT, i.e., aspartate
      (AST) aminotransferase or alanine (ALT) aminotransferase]. OBJECTIVE: We describe
      the initial value, rate of change, and interrelationship between these biomarkers
      in patients who develop hepatotoxicity despite treatment following acute
      overdose. A new parameter, the APAP * AT multiplication product, is proposed for
      early risk stratification. METHODS: We conducted a descriptive study of
      individuals selected from a multicenter retrospective cohort of patients
      hospitalized for APAP poisoning. We selected those acute APAP overdose patients
      who subsequently developed AT  > 1,000 IU/L. Rising serum AT values were compared
      to simultaneously measured (or estimated) falling serum APAP. The APAP * AT was
      expressed relative to initiation of acetylcysteine therapy and grouped by time to
      meeting hepatotoxicity criteria. RESULTS: In the 94 cases studied, serum APAP
      concentrations were still appreciable [median 570 (interquartile range (IQR) 314
      983) MUmol/L] at the time of the first measured AT [211 (77-511) IU/L at 15.3
      (12.1-19.2) h post-ingestion], yielding an initial APAP * AT of 99,000 (52,000
      240,000) MUmol * IU/L(2). Because serum AT rose rapidly (doubling time 9.5 h )
      and APAP fell slowly (half-life 4.8 h), the multiplication product remained
      elevated during the first 12-24 h of antidotal therapy, especially among patients
      who developed earlier hepatotoxicity (AT > 1,000 IU/L). DISCUSSION AND
      CONCLUSIONS: The APAP * AT multiplication product, calculated at the time of
      presentation and after several h of antidotal therapy, holds promise as a new
      risk predictor following APAP overdose. It requires neither graphical
      interpretation nor accurate time of ingestion, two limitations to current risk
      stratification.

PMID- 20932104
TI  - Public awareness of heart attack symptoms: what should we look for and how will
      it help?

PMID- 20932105
TI  - Back to the future: of fevers and failures.

PMID- 20932107
TI  - Is allopurinol a potential new treatment for angina pectoris?

PMID- 20932108
TI  - Statin loading before percutaneous coronary intervention: proposed mechanisms and
      applications.
AB  - Statin therapy reduces the risk of cardiovascular events in patients with
      coronary artery disease. Recent in vitro and in vivo studies demonstrated a LDL
      independent action of these class of drugs, which appears in modulating
      endothelial function, inflammation and thrombosis. Periprocedural myocardial
      infarction and contrast-induced nephropathy after percutaneous coronary
      intervention (PCI), associated with worse outcome on long-term follow-up, are
      both complications related to inflammatory pathogenetic mechanisms. Randomized
      studies demonstrated a beneficial effect of short-term statin pretreatment in
      reducing periprocedural cardiac marker release in patients undergoing PCI. Statin
      therapy before elective PCI reduces periprocedural myocardial infarction in
      patients with stable angina. Furthermore, an acute loading with a high dose of
      atorvastatin prevents myocardial damage in patients with acute coronary syndromes
      undergoing early PCI (<48 h). In patients already on chronic statin therapy, a
      reload with high-dose statins was associated with a significant improvement on 30
      day major adverse cardiac event rates. Furthermore, statin therapy at the time of
      PCI significantly decreased the incidence of contrast-induced nephropathy. This
      evidence suggests an 'upstream administration' of short-term, high-dose statins
      in all patients undergoing PCI.

PMID- 20932109
TI  - Hemodynamically complicated ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction:
      presentation and treatment.
AB  - When ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction is complicated by hemodynamic
      instability, clinical evaluation alone cannot be relied upon for accurate
      assessment. Invasive hemodynamic monitoring with a pulmonary artery catheter and
      intra-arterial catheter should, therefore, be performed to gauge impaired
      hemodynamics in such patients and make necessary changes in therapy. There are
      several hemodynamic disturbances that can occur after ST-segment elevation
      myocardial infarction including pulmonary congestion, cardiogenic shock and
      mechanical complications such as left-ventricular free-wall rupture, ventricular
      septal defect or papillary muscle rupture. Patients with hemodynamic compromise
      should be admitted to the coronary care unit and therapy should be initiated with
      drugs such as vasodilators, diuretics and positive-inotropic agents, based on
      hemodynamic data provided by the invasive catheter. Intra-aortic balloon
      counterpulsation should be used for those who fail to achieve hemodynamic
      stability with medical therapy. Coronary angiography should be considered for all
      patients who are hemodynamically unstable provided they are candidates for
      aggressive care, followed by coronary revascularization in those with suitable
      anatomy. Operative repair should be performed promptly when a surgically
      correctable mechanical lesion is identified.

PMID- 20932110
TI  - Screening value of N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide as a predictor of
      perioperative cardiac events after noncardiac surgery.
AB  - Preoperative cardiac risk assessment is the cornerstone of rationale
      perioperative management that guides invasive surgical interventions. In addition
      to clinical risk factors, a simple screening biomarker would be useful for
      identifying those surgical patients who might benefit from additional cardiac
      testing or therapeutic interventions. Preoperative plasma levels of N-terminal
      pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) are predictors of cardiac events after
      noncardiac surgery. NT&#x2013;proBNP is synthesized in the ventricular myocardium
      in response to ventricular wall stress. To further increase the diagnostic
      accuracy of NT-proBNP for preoperative screening, it is important to identify
      confounding factors that influence NT-proBNP levels and their interaction with
      identifying risks for adverse cardiac events. Moreover, until now the available
      data from previous studies has been unable to consistently recognize the optimal
      discriminatory threshold for NT-proBNP. Currently, the ongoing DECREASE-VI study
      is conducted to evaluate whether current preoperative risk stratification can be
      improved by incorporating NT-proBNP measurements.

PMID- 20932111
TI  - Stress Doppler echocardiography in valvular heart diseases: utility and
      assessment.
AB  - This article is a review on the role of stress echocardiography in valvular heart
      diseases, describing what the validated indications are, how to perform the test
      and the utility of performing this examination. Most valve diseases are
      characteristically dynamic and this dynamic component is best appreciated by
      exercise Doppler echocardiography. Dobutamine stress echocardiography is also
      useful in patients with severe aortic stenosis and left ventricular dysfunction.
      The main advantage of stress echocardiography is to concomitantly allow the
      evaluation of symptoms, exercise capacity and the hemodynamic consequences of
      valve diseases, especially in patients with severe valve diseases who deny
      symptoms or present equivocal symptoms. It also provides important prognostic
      information and may help to optimize surgical timing in difficult cases. Whether
      these data should be integrated in the management of patients needs further
      validation.

PMID- 20932112
TI  - An overview of surgery options for congenital coronary artery anomalies.
AB  - Congenital and acquired coronary artery anomalies are associated with significant
      morbidity and mortality and can be sudden in onset. The spectrum of congenital
      lesions include anomalous origin from the pulmonary artery, critical left main
      stenosis/atresia, coronary artery fistulas, anomalous aortic origin and
      intramyocardial courses. The spectrum of acquired lesions include Kawasaki
      disease, late postoperative obstructions in patients who had coronary artery
      surgical manipulations and iatrogenic injuries that can occur in the
      catheterization laboratory or the operating room. Surgical therapies for ischemic
      syndromes associated over the long term of these anomalies are presented herein.

PMID- 20932113
TI  - Surgery for carcinoid heart disease: current outcomes, concerns and
      controversies.
AB  - Cardiac involvement in patients with carcinoid disease is a well-recognized
      pathology. Early reports described right-sided heart involvement. More recently,
      both right- and left-sided heart disease have been reported. Progress of the
      treatment of carcinoid disease is leading to an increase in the number of
      patients presenting for surgery to treat valvular dysfunction. owing to
      improvements in the prognosis of the basic disease, valve replacement surgery is
      now a reasonable option in patients with severe valvular dysfunction. This
      article provides an overview of carcinoid heart disease with an emphasis on
      current outcomes, concerns and controversies associated with the surgical
      management of this disease.

PMID- 20932115
TI  - Role of myeloperoxidase in cardiology.
AB  - Myeloperoxidase (MPO) is an enzyme found in myeloid cells, particularly in
      neutrophils, and to a lesser extent in monocytes and tissue macrophages. MPO
      plays an important role in the host defense against bacteria and viruses. Since
      MPO is also an important enzyme in the inflammatory process, and inflammation is
      a key component in the development and progression of atherosclerotic and other
      forms of cardiovascular disease, there is ongoing interest in the use of MPO as a
      biomarker in different fields of cardiology. We aimed to review the current state
      of literature regarding the role of MPO in cardiovascular disease, especially
      highlighting the practical implications of the fast growing data from clinical
      studies.

PMID- 20932116
TI  - Headache and cardiovascular disease: old symptoms, new proposals.
AB  - Evidence of a link between headache symptoms and cardiovascular disease has
      rapidly grown in recent years and it is of utmost importance for the cardiologist
      and neurologist to be aware of this intimate connection. A brief overview of
      different cardiovascular diseases (namely hypertension, stroke, coronary heart
      disease, patent foramen ovale, atrial septal defects, atrial septal aneurisms,
      mitral valve prolapse, and aortic and carotid disease) that may be related to
      headache is presented in this article. Proposed pathophysiological mechanisms for
      this association and landmark studies are reviewed and discussed.

PMID- 20932117
TI  - Acute coronary syndrome cohort definition: troponin versus ICD-9-CM codes.
AB  - AIM: To determine the accuracy of troponin laboratory results versus
      International Classification of Diseases clinical modification codes (ICD-9-CM)
      in identifying acute coronary syndrome (ACS) rule-out (R/O) patients who present
      to emergency departments (EDs). MATERIALS & METHODS: Retrospective data analysis
      and chart review (to establish gold standard) were conducted on ED patients. Data
      retrieved from a clinical data warehouse were reviewed to identify patients with
      two or more troponins within 24 h of ED registration and ICD-9-CM codes
      consistent with ACS R/O. RESULTS: Of 329 charts reviewed, 17 were determined to
      be ACS R/O. A total of 31 out of 329 (9.42%, 95% CI: 6.26-12.58%) had two or more
      troponins with a sensitivity of 100% (95% CI: 77.08-100%) and specificity of
      95.51% (95% CI: 92.42-97.43%). A total of 32 out of 329 patients (9.73%, 95% CI:
      6.53-12.93%) had R/O ICD-9-CM codes with a sensitivity of 76.47% (95% CI: 49.76
      83.00%) and specificity of 93.91% (95% CI: 90.50-96.19%). All 17 gold-standard
      ACS R/O patients were identified using troponins while ICD-9-CM identified 13 out
      of 17. CONCLUSION: Clinical data (two troponins) availability is timelier and
      compares well with billing data (ICD-9-CM codes) in ACS R/O patient
      identification. Clinical data use may be generalized to identify other disease
      specific cohorts for clinical research.

PMID- 20932119
TI  - An evaluation of biocompatibility of indigenously produced pure titanium: an
      experimental study in rabbits.
AB  - The indigenously produced pure titanium dental implants are economical and useful
      for common human use in India. The aim of this study is to test the
      biocompatibility of the indigenously produced pure titanium dental implant
      material obtained from the Defense Metallurgical Research Laboratory, Hyderabad,
      India, and the Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Science, Delhi, India. An
      experimental study in rabbits was done to study the amount of ordered bone
      formation around the screw and cylinder type of indigenously produced pure
      titanium metal implant specimens. The experimental animals were killed at 4, 6,
      8, 12, and 16 weeks from the date of implantation. The histopathological
      examination of the animals killed at 16 weeks demonstrates the presence of
      osteoblastic cell proliferation and early ordered bone formation toward the
      implant site, indicating signs of osseointegration of both screw- and cylinder
      type indigenously produced pure titanium specimens.

PMID- 20932114
TI  - Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors, metabolic syndrome and
      cardiovascular disease.
AB  - Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a constellation of risk factors including insulin
      resistance, central obesity, dyslipidemia and hypertension that markedly increase
      the risk of Type 2 diabetes (T2DM) and cardiovascular disease (CVD). The
      peroxisome proliferators-activated receptor (PPAR) isotypes, PPARalpha,
      PPARdelta/beta and PPARgamma are ligand-activated nuclear transcription factors,
      which modulate the expression of an array of genes that play a central role in
      regulating glucose, lipid and cholesterol metabolism, where imbalance can lead to
      obesity, T2DM and CVD. They are also drug targets, and currently, PPARalpha
      (fibrates) and PPARgamma (thiazolodinediones) agonists are in clinical use for
      treating dyslipidemia and T2DM, respectively. These metabolic characteristics of
      the PPARs, coupled with their involvement in metabolic diseases, mean extensive
      efforts are underway worldwide to develop new and efficacious PPAR-based
      therapies for the treatment of additional maladies associated with the MetS. This
      article presents an overview of the functional characteristics of three PPAR
      isotypes, discusses recent advances in our understanding of the diverse
      biological actions of PPARs, particularly in the vascular system, and summarizes
      the developmental status of new single, dual, pan (multiple) and partial PPAR
      agonists for the clinical management of key components of MetS, T2DM and CVD. It
      also summarizes the clinical outcomes from various clinical trials aimed at
      evaluating the atheroprotective actions of currently used fibrates and
      thiazolodinediones.

PMID- 20932120
TI  - Edentulous maxillary arch fixed implant rehabilitation using a hybrid prosthesis
      made of micro-ceramic-composite: case report.
AB  - The prosthetic treatment of patients with an edentulous maxilla opposing
      mandibular natural teeth is one of the most challenging endeavors that face
      clinicians. Occlusal forces from the opposing natural teeth may cause fractures
      in the maxillary prosthesis and also result in advanced bone loss of the
      edentulous maxilla. With the presence of extreme gagging reflex, the treatment
      may become more complicated. This article describes and illustrates the 2-stage
      surgical and prosthetic treatment of a patient with an edentulous maxilla
      opposing natural teeth. In the beginning, the patient was treated with 4 implants
      and a maxillary implant-supported overdenture. The extreme gagging reflex and the
      occlusal forces from the mandibular natural teeth obligated the team a second
      stage surgical and prosthetic treatment, which included increasing the number of
      implants after bilateral sinus lifting in the posterior maxilla and fabricating a
      maxillary fixed hybrid prosthesis made of micro-ceramic composite that yielded a
      satisfactory result.

PMID- 20932121
TI  - Stress analysis in platform-switching implants: a 3-dimensional finite element
      study.
AB  - The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of the platform-switching
      technique on stress distribution in implant, abutment, and peri-implant tissues,
      through a 3-dimensional finite element study. Three 3-dimensional mandibular
      models were fabricated using the SolidWorks 2006 and InVesalius software. Each
      model was composed of a bone block with one implant 10 mm long and of different
      diameters (3.75 and 5.00 mm). The UCLA abutments also ranged in diameter from
      5.00 mm to 4.1 mm. After obtaining the geometries, the models were transferred to
      the software FEMAP 10.0 for pre- and postprocessing of finite elements to
      generate the mesh, loading, and boundary conditions. A total load of 200 N was
      applied in axial (0 degrees ), oblique (45 degrees ), and lateral (90 degrees )
      directions. The models were solved by the software NeiNastran 9.0 and transferred
      to the software FEMAP 10.0 to obtain the results that were visualized through von
      Mises and maximum principal stress maps. Model A (implants with 3.75 mm/abutment
      with 4.1 mm) exhibited the highest area of stress concentration with all loadings
      (axial, oblique, and lateral) for the implant and the abutment. All models
      presented the stress areas at the abutment level and at the implant/abutment
      interface. Models B (implant with 5.0 mm/abutment with 5.0 mm) and C (implant
      with 5.0 mm/abutment with 4.1 mm) presented minor areas of stress concentration
      and similar distribution pattern. For the cortical bone, low stress concentration
      was observed in the peri-implant region for models B and C in comparison to model
      A. The trabecular bone exhibited low stress that was well distributed in models B
      and C. Model A presented the highest stress concentration. Model B exhibited
      better stress distribution. There was no significant difference between the large
      diameter implants (models B and C).

PMID- 20932122
TI  - Influence of prognostic risk indicators on osseointegrated dental implant
      failure: a matched case-control analysis.
AB  - Dental implant treatment is an important therapeutic modality with documented
      long-term success for replacement of missing teeth. However, dental implants can
      be susceptible to disease conditions or healing complications that may lead to
      implant loss. This case-control study identified several risk indicators
      associated with failure such as smoking and alcohol consumption. The use of
      postoperative antibiotics or wide-diameter implants may significantly reduce
      implant failure. Knowledge of patient-related risk factors may assist the
      clinician in proper case selection and treatment planning.

PMID- 20932123
TI  - Acrylic resin polymerization in direct contact to the abutment and the
      temperature at bone-implant interface: a pilot in vitro study.
AB  - Three autopolymerizing acrylic resins were applied to a titanium alloy abutment
      connected to 2 different diameters of an implant. The implants were embedded in
      fresh iliac bone of sheep in a 37 degrees C water bath. Temperature changes were
      recorded via embedded thermocouples at the cervical (T1) and apical (T2) regions
      of the implant surface. Polymerization temperature of acrylic resins did not seem
      to exceed the critical threshold of 47 degrees C.

PMID- 20932124
TI  - Maintenance requirements associated with mandibular implant overdentures:
      clinical results after first year of service.
AB  - The aim of this clinical study was to evaluate the prosthodontic maintenance
      requirements during the first year of service of mandibular overdentures
      supported by interforaminal implants and to assess the influence of attachment
      type, implant number, and bite force on these requirements. Fifty-nine patients
      treated with mandibular implant overdentures between the years 2004 and 2009 and
      appearing in the 12th-month recall were included in this study. The overdentures
      constituted 4 groups: 2 single interforaminal implants (1 group with locator and
      1 group with ball attachments), 3 single interforaminal implants, 3 splinted
      interforaminal implants (bar), and 4 splinted interforaminal implants (bar).
      During the examination, prosthetic parameters such as occlusion, tissue
      adaptation, condition of the retentive mechanism (matrice and patrice), and the
      condition of the denture-bearing tissues were evaluated and recorded. No
      statistically significant relation was found between attachment type, bite force
      values, implant number, and the occurring complications except the need for
      relining, which was found significantly more in the ball attachments than in
      other attachment groups (P  =  .03). After 12 months following the overdenture
      insertion, there seems to be no relation between occurring complications and
      patient-related factors, such as maximum bite force, age, and gender, as well as
      factors related to the overdentures such as number and type of attachments.

PMID- 20932125
TI  - Implant-supported prosthesis misalignment related to the dental arch: a 14-year
      clinical follow-up.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to warn the dental community about a possible
      problem in function with partial implant-supported prostheses used for long
      periods. The misalignment between natural teeth and the implant-supported
      prosthesis on teeth 11 and 12, observed in a 14-year clinical follow-up,
      illustrates the fact. The metal-ceramic crowns were placed in 1995 after a
      rigorous occlusal adjustment. Evaluations were made at 4, 6, 9, and 14 years,
      when it was noticed that the restorations were positioned palatally and extruded
      in comparison with the natural teeth. After 9 years, a greater discrepancy was
      noticed, with anterior occlusion and esthetic changes. The possible causes have
      been discussed: occlusal problems, parafunctional habits, and natural movement.
      The first 2 options were discarded after clinical analysis and diagnosis.
      Therefore, the natural movement probably deriving from an interaction of
      mechanical and genetic factors might have been the cause. The implants do not
      have periodontal ligaments but rather ankylosis, so they do not suffer those
      movements. This case emphasizes the need to inform patients that implants can
      last more than 10 years in function, but this is not the case with restorations,
      which lose function and esthetics and must be replaced.

PMID- 20932126
TI  - Nasopalatine canal position relative to the maxillary central incisors: a cone
      beam computed tomography assessment.
AB  - The aim of this study was to determine the proximity of the nasopalatine canal
      (NPC) to the maxillary central incisor root (MCIR). The study included 120 cone
      beam computed tomography scans obtained from the Center for Implant Dentistry,
      Loma Linda University, between June 2006 and September 2009. They were equally
      distributed into six groups: (1) 21- to 40-year-old men, (2) 21- to 40-year-old
      women, (3) 41- to 60-year-old men, (4) 41- to 60-year-old women, (5) 61- to 80
      year-old men, and (6) 61- to 80-year-old women. The closest distances between the
      NPC and the MCIR (NPC-to-MCIR) were measured at the midroot (bisecting palatal
      cementoenamel junction to root apex) and the apex levels. Differences between the
      groups were analyzed using a t test and 1-way analysis of variance at a
      significance level of alpha = .05. The overall mean NPC-to-MCIR distances at the
      midroot and apex levels were 3.05 +/- 1.64 and 5.22 +/- 1.56 mm, respectively.
      The modes of the NPC-to-MCIR distances at the midroot and apex levels were in the
      range of 1.01-2.00 mm and 4.01-5.00 mm, respectively. The mean NPC-to-MCIR
      distance was significantly greater in men than in women at the midroot level (P <
      .05) but not at the apex level (P > .05). The mean NPC-to-MCIR distance was
      significantly shorter for the youngest age group than the other two age groups at
      the midroot level (P < .05). However, at the apex level, the youngest age group
      had a significantly shorter distance compared with the oldest age group (P < .05)
      but not the middle age group (P > .05). The results of this study suggest that,
      to avoid NPC penetration, more care must be exercised during immediate implant
      placement at the midroot level of a maxillary central incisor in women and
      younger patients because of the root proximity to the NPC. Tapered implants may
      also be beneficial in such situations.

PMID- 20932128
TI  - Ultrasound scan and magnetic resonance imaging for the diagnosis of adenomyosis:
      systematic review comparing test accuracy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Adenomyosis is a common condition that causes substantial morbidity.
      Until recently, the reference standard for a definitive diagnosis was histology
      of hysterectomy specimens. Ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may
      allow accurate non-invasive diagnosis. OBJECTIVE: To compare the diagnostic
      accuracy of these techniques. DESIGN: Systematic review with meta-analysis.
      POPULATION: Women who had ultrasound and/or MRI, and whose results were compared
      with a reference standard. METHODS: Electronic searches were conducted in
      literature databases from database inception to 2010. The reference lists of
      known relevant articles were searched for further articles. Selected studies
      reported data on ultrasound and/or MRI with histological confirmation of
      diagnosis. Two reviewers independently selected articles without language
      restrictions, and extracted data in the form of 2 * 2 tables. We computed
      sensitivity and specificity for individual studies and pooled these results in a
      meta-analysis. We also performed meta-regression to examine how the index tests
      compared on diagnostic accuracy. RESULTS: Twenty-three articles (involving 2,312
      women) satisfied the inclusion criteria. Transvaginal ultrasound had a pooled
      sensitivity of 72% (95% CI 65-79%), specificity of 81% (95% CI 77-85%), positive
      likelihood ratio of 3.7 (95% CI 2.1-6.4) and negative likelihood ratio of 0.3
      (95% CI 0.1-0.5). MRI had a pooled sensitivity of 77% (95% CI 67-85%),
      specificity of 89% (95% CI 84-92%), positive likelihood ratio of 6.5 (95% CI 4.5
      9.3), and negative likelihood ratio of 0.2 (95% CI 0.1-0.4). The results show
      that a correct diagnosis was obtained more often with MRI. CONCLUSION:
      Transvaginal ultrasound and MRI show high levels of accuracy for the non-invasive
      diagnosis of adenomyosis.

PMID- 20932129
TI  - The effect of laser preexposure on seeding endothelial cells to a biomaterial
      surface.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: In this study, the possible effect of low-level laser (LLL) on
      improving the adhesion of endothelial cells (ECs) to a biomaterial substrate was
      evaluated. BACKGROUND DATA: Despite the numerous studies regarding the effects of
      LLL on biologic systems, the influence of LLL on the binding between cells and
      materials was rarely investigated. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A low-power He-Ne laser
      apparatus with a continuous wavelength of 632.8 nm (a maximum power output of 50
      mW) was used. The average irradiation energy on cells was 1.18 J/cm(2). Cell
      morphology and the concentrations of nitric oxide and calcium after laser
      exposure were measured. Biomedical grade poly(carbonate)urethane (PU) was
      synthesized and used to prepare microporous vascular grafts. ECs exposed to laser
      were harvested and seeded on the PU grafts. No further exposure was given.
      RESULTS: LLL could change the morphology and increase the matrix secretion of
      ECs, and such effects persisted when preexposed cells were harvested and seeded
      to another substrate. The number of ECs attached on the biomaterial substrate was
      not affected. Preexposed ECs on the PU graft, however, were, on average, more
      resistant to flushing (i.e., greater cell retention). CONCLUSION: ECs were
      pretreated with LLL before being seeded onto the PU biomaterial vascular grafts.
      The retention of LLL-preexposed ECs on the graft surface was enhanced, but not as
      significantly as that of ECs preexposed to low-intensity ultrasound.

PMID- 20932130
TI  - Clinical evaluation of Er:YAG, Nd:YAG, and diode laser therapy for
      desensitization of teeth with gingival recession.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of three
      types of lasers, Er:YAG, Nd:YAG, and GaAlAs (Diode), as dentin desensitizers, as
      well as to determine both the immediate and late therapeutic effects on teeth
      with gingival recessions. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was conducted on 24
      patients with 96 teeth with Miller's class I or class II gingival recessions with
      clinically elicitable dentin hypersensitivity (DH) divided into three test
      groups: (A) Er:YAG, 2,940 nm, 60 mJ/pulse, 2 Hz, 20 s; (B) Nd:YAG, 1,064 nm, 100
      mJ/pulse, 15 Hz, 100 s, (C) diode; 808 nm, 100 mW, 20s; and one control group (d)
      control not irradiated. DH was assessed by means of air stimulus. A visual
      analogue scale (VAS) was used to measure DH. The selected teeth in three groups
      received laser therapy for three sessions. The measurements were performed before
      each treatment session and at 30 min after the laser application (immediate
      effect), and additional measurements were also performed at 15, 30, and 60 days
      after the conclusion of treatment (late effect) to assess the extent of
      desensitization obtained with the different laser devices. RESULTS: Significant
      reduction of DH occurred at all times measured during the three treatment
      sessions in groups treated with Er:YAG, Nd:YAG, and diode lasers. Comparing the
      means of the responses in the three treatment sessions of the four groups, Group
      b showed a higher degree of desensitization in teeth with gingival recession
      compared with the other groups (p < 0.001). The immediate and late therapeutic
      effects of group b were more evident compared with the other groups. CONCLUSIONS:
      The Er:YAG, Nd:YAG, and diode lasers can be used to reduce DH. Nd:YAG laser
      irradiation is more effective in the treatment of DH than are Er:YAG and diode
      laser. Within the limitations of the present study, the Nd:YAG laser seems to be
      a suitable tool for successful reduction of DH, especially because the 3-month
      results of this treatment modality are promising.

PMID- 20932131
TI  - Two rovers to the same site on Mars, 2018: possibilities for cooperative science.

PMID- 20932132
TI  - A call for intervention research to overcome barriers to women's enrollment in
      outpatient cardiac rehabilitation programs.

PMID- 20932133
TI  - The unique role of U.S. foundations in international family planning and
      reproductive health.
AB  - This article reviews the unique historic and contemporary role of U.S.
      philanthropies in supporting international family planning and reproductive
      health (FPRH) programs, including how priorities are set, strategies developed,
      and activities funded. We then discuss the FPRH situation in sub-Saharan Africa
      today, where needs are the most urgent and where, increasingly, foundations are
      focusing their resources. We describe one case study exhibiting good
      philanthropic practice and conclude with thoughts about what the future holds for
      foundations in international FPRH. We find that as leaders in the field of FPRH,
      foundations have the ability to stay committed to their goals of championing the
      reproductive health and rights of individuals under dynamic circumstances.
      Although every policy environment offers opportunities and constraints,
      foundations, with their grantee partners, have a range of tools to foster and
      guide social change. As circumstances change, foundations have to be willing and
      able both to reassess where they provide added value and to take risks through
      innovative strategies.

PMID- 20932134
TI  - 3rd Annual Symposium on Self Monitoring of Blood Glucose (SMBG) Applications and
      Beyond, May 7-8, 2010, London, UK.

PMID- 20932135
TI  - VoiceRelease.
AB  - VoiceRelease is a progressively structured treatment system that aims to release
      the voice through muscle tension reduction by manual therapy, thereby
      facilitating healthy voice production. The VoiceRelease treatment should closely
      interact with functional voice training and should therefore be carried out by
      the speech-language therapist (SLT). The aim of this paper is not to present the
      treatment in detail, but to describe the benefits of using the techniques in the
      voice clinic and to argue that laryngeal manual therapy complements the skills of
      the SLT and that it in a natural and integrated way applies to the treatment of
      voice problems. In order to comply with the present skills of the SLT,
      VoiceRelease is progressively structured in four levels.

PMID- 20932136
TI  - Colorectal cancer: cetuximab, KRAS, BRAF, PIK3CA mutations and beyond.

PMID- 20932138
TI  - Antiviral therapy for hepatitis C is associated with improved clinical outcomes
      in patients with advanced fibrosis.
AB  - End-stage liver disease from hepatitis C is a leading cause of decompensated
      cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma, liver transplantation and liver-related
      deaths. The goals of antiviral therapy are to prevent these sequelae and prolong
      life. Clinical trials of alpha-interferons and ribavirin have used sustained
      viral response as an outcome because it is considered synonymous with cure and is
      assumed to be associated with decreasing complications caused by cirrhosis.
      However, it is only recently that data has emerged supporting this assumption.
      This study demonstrates that meaningful clinical end points are seen in patients
      who achieve a sustained virologic response (SVR) with a reduction in liver
      related deaths, rates of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and liver-related
      complications. None of the patients who achieved SVR developed variceal bleeding.
      The rates of HCC were significantly lower in the SVR group, but six cases of HCC
      occurred in the SVR group, underscoring the importance of continued surveillance
      in hepatitis C virus patients with SVR who have advanced fibrosis or cirrhosis.

PMID- 20932139
TI  - Advances and challenges in studying hepatitis C virus in its native environment.
AB  - Approximately 2% of the worldwide population is infected with hepatitis C virus
      (HCV), the major causative agent of non-A, non-B hepatitis. Although substantial
      progress has been made in developing tools to dissect the viral life cycle, most
      in vitro studies rely on hepatoma cell lines, which are functionally disparate
      from the natural in vivo target of the virus - hepatocytes. To gain insights into
      virus-host interactions, there is a need for HCV-model systems that more closely
      mimic the physiological environment of the liver. Here, we discuss recent
      advances in culture and detection systems that facilitate the study of HCV in
      primary cells. Use of these new models may help bridge the gap between in vitro
      studies and clinical research.

PMID- 20932140
TI  - Developing better treatments in hepatocellular carcinoma.
AB  - The marked heterogeneity of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), particularly with
      regard to the etiology and severity of the underlying cirrhosis, makes clinical
      trial design in this disease very challenging. In addition, despite the global
      burden of HCC, there have been relatively few randomized studies. The major
      advance in medical therapy in HCC has been the benefit of sorafenib, as
      demonstrated in two Phase III studies. However, the benefit is small, and new
      therapies to augment or replace sorafenib are urgently needed. These newer
      therapies, as well as the progress made in two important areas - clinical trial
      design and molecular characterization - are the subject of this article.

PMID- 20932141
TI  - Defining primary bile acid diarrhea: making the diagnosis and recognizing the
      disorder.
AB  - Chronic diarrhea due to bile acid malabsorption may be considered as contributing
      to the diagnosis when it results from secondary causes, such as ileal resection
      affecting the enterohepatic circulation. However, the primary form (also known as
      idiopathic bile acid malabsorption) is not well recognized as a common condition
      and patients are left undiagnosed. Primary bile acid diarrhea can be diagnosed by
      the nuclear medicine 75Se-homocholyltaurine (SeHCAT) test, although this is
      unavailable or underutilized in many settings. A systematic review suggests that
      approximately 30% of patients who would otherwise be diagnosed with diarrhea
      predominant irritable bowel syndrome or functional diarrhea have abnormal SeHCAT
      retention. Serum 7alpha-hydroxy-4-cholesten-3-one can also be measured to show
      increased bile acid synthesis. The reasons for the lack of recognition of primary
      bile acid diarrhea are discussed, and these are compared with the other common
      cause of malabsorption, celiac disease. The lack of a clear pathophysiological
      mechanism has been a problem, but recent evidence suggests that impaired feedback
      control of hepatic bile acid synthesis by the ileal hormone FGF19 results in
      overproduction of bile acids. The identification of FGF19 as the central
      mechanism opens up new areas for development in the diagnosis and treatment of
      primary bile acid diarrhea.

PMID- 20932142
TI  - The Duke Abdominal Assessment Scale: initial experience.
AB  - Plain abdominal radiographs are the current standard imaging modality of choice
      in the evaluation of patients with clinically suspected necrotizing
      enterocolitis. The time interval between radiographic exams varies with the
      severity of disease and may range from every 6 h to every 24 h. Radiographs are
      often also obtained at any point of acute clinical deterioration. Evaluation of
      the abdominal radiographic series is critical as the findings may alter patient
      management and can be an indication for surgical intervention. For these reasons,
      it is essential that the radiographic findings are communicated to the referring
      neonatologist in a clear and consistent manner. Inherent variability and lack of
      consistency in radiology reporting makes it difficult for the referring clinician
      to incorporate radiographic reports into his/her treatment algorithm. Assigning
      abdominal radiographic findings in necrotizing enterocolitis to a numerical scale
      that increases as the disease progresses provides objective terminology in lieu
      of subjective descriptors and may facilitate communication to our clinical
      colleagues. With this task in mind, the Duke Abdominal Assessment Scale was
      created as a 10-point numerical scale of plain film bowel gas pattern findings
      designed to reflect progressive disease and increased certainty of the diagnosis
      of necrotizing enterocolitis.

PMID- 20932143
TI  - Thiopurine therapy in inflammatory bowel disease.
AB  - The thiopurines azathioprine and 6-mercaptopurine have been used in the treatment
      of Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis for over 40 years. Randomized
      controlled trials have supported their use in the treatment of active disease, as
      well as for the maintenance of disease remission. Presently, the most debated
      issues surrounding the thiopurines include: the role of thiopurine
      methyltransferase and metabolite-adjusted dosing in enhancing efficacy and
      minimizing toxicity; the timing of thiopurine use, that is, earlier versus later
      use during the course of the disease; the selection of thiopurine monotherapy
      versus combination therapy with an anti-TNF-alpha; agent; and the safety profile
      of thiopurines. Accumulated evidence has supported the safety of 6
      mercaptopurine/azathioprine use in pregnancy and lactation. Thiopurine therapy in
      inflammatory bowel diseases is associated with an increased risk of
      lymphoproliferative disorders. Factoring their proven efficacy over a broad range
      of clinical scenarios within Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis together with
      their overall safety profile and convenient and inexpensive once-daily oral
      administration, azathioprine and 6-mercaptopurine remain among the mainstays of
      Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis therapy.

PMID- 20932144
TI  - Impact of Clostridium difficile on inflammatory bowel disease.
AB  - Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) has been increasing in incidence among
      those with underlying inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and is associated with
      substantial morbidity, the need for surgery and even mortality. The similar
      clinical presentation between CDI and a flare of underlying IBD makes prompt
      diagnosis essential to prevent deterioration which would accompany an escalation
      of immunosuppression in the absence of appropriate antibiotic therapy. Classical
      risk factors (antibiotic or healthcare exposure) or clinical findings
      (pseudomembranes) may not be found in many IBD patients with CDI and should not
      be considered essential for entertaining the diagnosis. Enzyme immunoassays
      detecting both toxins A and B remain the most widely used test for diagnosis and
      have acceptable sensitivity, but may require testing of multiple samples in
      select situations. Both vancomycin and metronidazole appear to be effective and
      treatment with oral vancomycin is preferred in those with severe disease,
      including those who require hospitalization. Appropriate infection control
      measures are essential to restrict patient-to-patient spread within healthcare
      environments and to prevent recurrences. Several novel therapies are currently
      under study, including new antibiotic agents and monoclonal antibodies targeted
      against the toxins. There is a need to broaden these studies to the IBD
      population. There is also the need to prospectively examine whether CDI has long
      term disease-modifying consequences in those with underlying IBD.

PMID- 20932145
TI  - Cholangiocarcinoma: an endoscopist's perspective.
AB  - The incidence of cholangiocarcinoma is on the rise. This may be related in part
      to higher detection rates secondary to sophisticated endoscopic modalities. These
      tumors pose a significant diagnostic dilemma. High index of suspicion, careful
      interpretation of serum markers and utilization of endoscopic techniques,
      including endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography and endoscopic
      ultrasound, help to establish the diagnosis. Imaging modalities are crucial in
      the evaluation of these tumors. They help to define the extent of the native
      lesion, which may dictate its resectability, as well as evaluate for metastasis.
      Therapeutic options are somewhat limited, short of surgical resection. Newer
      chemotherapeutic agents, as well as endoscopy-targeted therapy, may improve the
      overall treatment success rate, although experience is somewhat limited at this
      time. Endoscopic intervention is essential for palliation.

PMID- 20932146
TI  - Recent advances in liver imaging.
AB  - Liver surgery remains a difficult challenge in which preoperative data analysis
      and strategy definition may play a significant role in the success of the
      procedure. Medical image processing led to a major improvement of patient care by
      guiding the surgical gesture. From this initial data, new technologies of virtual
      reality and augmented reality can increase the potential of such images. The 3D
      modeling of the liver of patients from their CT scan or MRI thus allows an
      improved surgical planning. Simulation allows the procedure to be simulated
      preoperatively and offers the opportunity to train the surgical gesture before
      carrying it out. These three preoperative steps can be used intraoperatively
      thanks to the development of augmented reality, which consists of superimposing
      the preoperative 3D modeling of the patient onto the real intraoperative view of
      the patient and his/her organs. Augmented reality provides surgeons with a
      transparent view of the patient. This facilitated the intraoperative
      identification of the vascular anatomy and the control of the segmental arteries
      and veins in liver surgery, thus preventing intraoperative bleeding. It can also
      offer guidance due to the virtual improvement of their real surgical tools, which
      are tracked in real-time during the procedure. During the surgical procedure,
      augmented reality, therefore, offers surgeons a transparent view of their
      patient, which will lead to the automation of the most complex maneuvers. The new
      ways of processing and analyzing liver images have dramatically changed the
      approach to liver surgery.

PMID- 20932147
TI  - Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis: risk factors and diagnosis.
AB  - Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) represents the progressive form of
      nonalcoholic fatty liver disease with greater potential to lead to liver-related
      morbidity and mortality. Diagnosing NASH mandates more intensive clinical
      management and consideration for clinical trials. Currently, the diagnosis of
      NASH requires a liver biopsy, which is invasive, with drawbacks in sampling and
      interpretation error. Clinical risk factors for NASH include diabetes and the
      metabolic syndrome; however, these are not sufficiently predictive of the
      condition by themselves. Routine liver aminotransaminase levels are not reliable;
      however, novel plasma hepatocyte apoptosis markers, either alone or in
      combination with clinical risk factors, are potential noninvasive diagnostic
      tools for the future.

PMID- 20932148
TI  - The enteric nervous system as a regulator of intestinal epithelial barrier
      function in health and disease.
AB  - The intestinal epithelia proliferate and differentiate along the crypt villus
      axis to constitute a barrier cell layer separating some 1013 potentially harmful
      bacteria from a sterile mucosal compartment. Strict regulatory mechanisms are
      required to maintain a balance between the appropriate uptake of luminal food
      components and proteins, while constraining the exposure of the mucosal
      compartment to luminal antigens and microbes. The enteric nervous system is
      increasingly recognized as such a regulatory housekeeper of the epithelial
      barrier integrity, in addition to its ascribed immunomodulatory potential.
      Inflammation affects both epithelial integrity and barrier function and, in turn,
      loss of barrier function perpetuates inflammatory conditions. The observation
      that inflammatory conditions affect enteric neurons may add to the dysregulated
      barrier function in chronic disease. Here, we review the current understanding of
      the regulatory role of the nervous system in the maintenance of barrier function
      in healthy state, or during pathological conditions of, for instance, stress
      induced colitis, surgical trauma or inflammation. We will discuss the clinical
      potential for advances in understanding the role of the enteric nervous system in
      this important phenomenon.

PMID- 20932150
TI  - Use of intraoral welding to stabilize dental implants in augmented sites for
      immediate provisionalization: a case report.
AB  - Immediate implant rehabilitation of edentulous arches may be somewhat problematic
      because of anatomic situations involving insufficient bone thickness or height
      and tooth position. The aim of this report was to present a retrospective case
      series of dental implants placed into augmented sites (split crest or sinus
      augmentation) that were stabilized with an intraorally welded framework at the
      time of immediate provisionalization. An intraoral welding unit was used to join
      and stabilize implants as an orthopedic splint to break down forces applied on
      provisional restorations during healing and osseointegration. This approach
      allows for the immediate provisionalization of implants in bone-defective areas
      where multiple implant systems have been enacted. Forty-eight implants in 16
      patients were inserted, welded together to a titanium framework, and immediately
      provisionalized during the same surgery in which split-crest or sinus
      augmentation procedures were performed. After removing the welded frameworks, 1
      of 48 implants failed; the failed implant was associated with a sinus
      augmentation procedure. Intraoral welding stabilization may be a predictable
      procedure to allow immediate loading in augmented areas during healing time and
      to stabilize implants against nonaxial forces, thereby reducing the number of
      surgical and prosthetic sessions and making patients comfortable and accustomed
      to immediate fixed provisional and definitive restorations.

PMID- 20932151
TI  - Metal-ceramic screw-retained implant fixed partial denture with intraoral luted
      framework to improve passive fit.
AB  - Passive fit of a long-span screw-retained implant prosthesis is an important
      criteria for the success of the restoration. This article describes a technique
      for fabricating a ceramometal implant fixed dental prosthesis (FDP) for a long
      span partially edentulous situation by altering the conventional screw-retained
      design. The possibility of a passive fit is maximized by intraoral luting of the
      cast frame to milled abutments, and the potential framework distortion during
      fabrication is compensated to a major extent. Retrievability is ensured by screw
      retention of the prosthesis to the implants. Compared with conventional porcelain
      fused to metal screw-retained FDP, this prosthesis is relatively inexpensive to
      fabricate.

PMID- 20932152
TI  - Tooth movement after infrared laser phototherapy: clinical study in rodents.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of this research was to investigate the influence of low
      power laser on tooth movement in rats. BACKGROUND: Tooth movement is closely
      related to the process of bone remodeling. The biologic result, with the
      application of a force to the tooth, is bone absorption on the pressure side and
      neoformation on the traction side of the alveolar bone. The laser
      photobiomodulation is capable of providing an increase in cellular metabolism,
      blood flow, and lymphatic drainage. METHODS: Thirty young-adult male Wistar rats
      weighing between 250 and 300 g were divided into two groups, control and
      experimental, containing 15 animals each. The animals received orthodontic
      devices calibrated to release a force of 40 g/F, with the purpose of moving the
      first upper molar mesially. Low-intensity laser, wavelength 790 nm, was used in
      the experimental group; the dose was 4.5 J/cm(2) per point, mesial and distal, on
      the palatal side, 11 J/cm(2) on the buccal side, and this procedure was repeated
      every 48 h, totaling nine applications. The active movement was clinically
      evaluated after 7, 13, and 19 days. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The results showed no
      statistically significant difference, p = 0.079 (T0-T7), p = 0.597 (T7-T13), and
      p = 0.550 (T13-T19) between the laser and control groups on the amount of tooth
      movement in the different times evaluated. It may be concluded that laser
      phototherapy, with the parameters in the present study, did not significantly
      increase the amount of tooth displacement during induced orthodontic movement in
      rodents.

PMID- 20932153
TI  - Clarithromycin accumulation by phagocytes and its effect on killing of
      Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Clarithromycin inhibits several periodontal pathogens and is
      concentrated inside gingival fibroblasts and epithelial cells by an active
      transporter. We hypothesized that polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs) and less
      mature myeloid cells possess a similar transporter for clarithromycin. It is
      feasible that clarithromycin accumulation inside PMNs could enhance their ability
      to kill Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans (previously Actinobacillus
      actinomycetemcomitans). METHODS: To test the first hypothesis, purified PMNs and
      cultured HL-60 cells were incubated with [(3)H]-clarithromycin. Clarithromycin
      transport was assayed by measuring changes in cell-associated radioactivity over
      time. The second hypothesis was examined with PMNs loaded by incubation with
      clarithromycin (5 MUg/ml). Opsonized bacteria were incubated at 37 degrees C with
      control and clarithromycin-loaded PMNs. RESULTS: Mature human PMNs, HL-60 cells
      differentiated into granulocytes, and undifferentiated HL-60 cells all took up
      clarithromycin in a saturable manner. The kinetics of uptake by all yielded
      linear Lineweaver-Burk plots. HL-60 granulocytes transported clarithromycin with
      a K(m) of ~250 MUg/ml and a V(max) of 473 ng/min/10(6) cells, which were not
      significantly different from the values obtained with PMNs. At steady state,
      clarithromycin levels inside HL-60 granulocytes and PMNs were 28- to 71-fold
      higher than extracellular levels. Clarithromycin-loaded PMNs killed significantly
      more A. actinomycetemcomitans and achieved shorter half-times for killing than
      control PMNs when assayed at a bacteria-to-PMN ratio of 100:1 (P <0.04). At a
      ratio of 30:1, these differences were not consistently significant. CONCLUSIONS:
      PMNs and less mature myeloid cells possess a transporter that takes up and
      concentrates clarithromycin. This system could help PMNs cope with an
      overwhelming infection by A. actinomycetemcomitans.

PMID- 20932154
TI  - Implant stability and peri-implant parameters in free vascularized iliac graft
      transplantation patients: report of three ameloblastoma cases.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Ameloblastoma, a benign but locally aggressive tumor, accounts for 9%
      to 11% of all odontogenic tumors. Radical procedures, including resection, are
      performed. To restore functions after resection, free vascularized iliac grafts
      followed by a dental implant-supported prosthesis are used as a successful
      treatment option. The aim of this case report is to evaluate the peri-implant
      clinical status and stability of dental implants placed in patients with advanced
      stage mandibular ameloblastomas. METHODS: Examinations of three patients revealed
      extensive ameloblastomas, and hemimandibulectomies were performed. Six months
      after surgeries, two to four dental implants were placed. After 6 months of
      healing, one fixed prosthesis and two removable prostheses were delivered. The
      stability of implants was evaluated at the surgical baseline and 1, 3, 6, 9, and
      12 months after surgery by resonance-frequency (RF) analysis. Peri-implant
      clinical parameters (i.e., plaque index [PI], gingival index [GI], gingival
      bleeding time index [GBTI], and peri-implant probing depth [PD]) were recorded at
      the delivery of the prosthesis and at follow-ups at 1, 3, and 6 months. RESULTS:
      Nine implants that supported one removable prosthesis and two fixed prostheses
      were placed. RF analysis revealed no significant changes in implant stability
      during 12 months of follow-up. Peri-implant clinical parameters (PI, GI, and
      GBTI) showed slight improvements during follow-up. Although advancements were
      observed in 6 months, PDs were found to be deeper than optimal measurements for
      the whole observation time. CONCLUSION: The implant-supported prosthetic
      rehabilitation of patients with ameloblastomas reconstructed with free
      vascularized iliac crest grafts can be a predictive alternative for improving the
      quality of life of patients in which a high implant stability and acceptable peri
      implant health may be achieved.

PMID- 20932155
TI  - Subantimicrobial-dose doxycycline and cytokine-chemokine levels in gingival
      crevicular fluid.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The present randomized, double-masked, placebo-controlled, parallel
      arm study examines the impact of adjunctive subantimicrobial-dose doxycycline
      (SDD) on the local inflammatory response through cytokine and chemokine levels in
      gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) samples from patients with chronic periodontitis.
      METHODS: Forty-six patients with chronic periodontitis received scaling and root
      planing with or without adjunctive SDD. GCF samples were collected and clinical
      parameters including probing depth, clinical attachment level, gingival index,
      and plaque index were recorded every 3 months for 12 months. GCF tumor necrosis
      factor-alpha, interleukin (IL)-6, IL-4, IL-10, IL-13, IL-17, macrophage
      inhibitory protein 1alpha, macrophage inhibitory protein 1beta, monocyte
      chemoattractant protein 1, and regulated on activated normal T-cell expressed and
      secreted protein levels were determined by xMAP multiplex immunoassay. RESULTS:
      Significant improvements were observed in all clinical parameters in both groups
      over 12 months (P <0.0125), whereas the SDD group showed significantly better
      reduction in gingival index, probing depth, and gain in clinical attachment
      compared to the placebo group (P <0.05). Decrease in IL-6 in the SDD group was
      significantly higher compared to the placebo group at 6 and 9 months in deep
      pockets (P <0.05), whereas tumor necrosis factor-alpha was significantly reduced
      in moderately deep pockets (P <0.05). SDD resulted in a stable IL-4 and IL-10
      response while reducing the monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 levels at 3 months
      (P <0.05). CONCLUSIONS: These results show that SDD, as an adjunct to non
      surgical periodontal therapy, stabilizes the inflammatory response by promoting
      the suppression of proinflammatory cytokines and increasing the anti-inflammatory
      cytokines. The chemokine activity would account for the regulation of the
      inflammatory response to SDD therapy.

PMID- 20932156
TI  - Periodontitis prevalence and severity in Indonesians with type 2 diabetes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The prevalence of diabetes mellitus type 2 (DM2) in Indonesia is high
      and still rising. Periodontitis is associated with DM2. No study has investigated
      this association in Indonesia, nor has any study investigated this association
      using a variety of methods to operationalize periodontitis. The present study
      compares prevalence and severity of periodontitis in patients with DM2 to healthy
      controls, using different methods to operationalize periodontitis. METHODS: A
      total of 78 subjects with DM2 and 65 healthy control subjects underwent a full
      mouth periodontal screening assessing probing depth, gingival recession, plaque
      index, and bleeding on probing. Using these measurements, the prevalence and
      severity of periodontitis was operationalized in various ways. Differences in the
      prevalence and severity of periodontitis between subjects with DM2 and healthy
      subjects were analyzed using univariate analyses. In regression analyses, the
      prevalence and severity of periodontitis were predicted on the basis of DM2
      presence, controlling for confounders and effect modification. RESULTS:
      Prevalence of periodontitis was significantly higher in subjects with DM2
      compared to healthy subjects, showing odds ratios of 5.0 and 6.1. Likewise,
      periodontitis severity was significantly higher in subjects with DM2. CONCLUSION:
      Indonesian subjects with DM2 had more prevalent and more severe periodontitis
      than healthy Indonesian subjects, independent of confounding factors or the
      methods used to operationalize periodontitis.

PMID- 20932157
TI  - The effect of low-level laser therapy as an adjunct to non-surgical periodontal
      treatment.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of low-level laser
      therapy (LLLT) as an adjunct to non-surgical periodontal therapy of smoking and
      non-smoking patients with moderate to advanced chronic periodontitis. METHODS:
      All 36 systemically healthy patients who were included in the study initially
      received non-surgical periodontal therapy. The LLLT group (n = 18) received
      GaAlAs diode laser therapy as an adjunct to non-surgical periodontal therapy. A
      diode laser with a wavelength of 808 nm was used for the LLLT. Energy density of
      4 J/cm(2) was applied to the gingival surface after periodontal treatment on the
      first, second, and seventh days. Each of the LLLT and control groups was divided
      into two groups as smoking and non-smoking patients to investigate the effect of
      smoking on treatment. Gingival crevicular fluid samples were collected from all
      patients and clinical parameters were recorded on baseline, the first, third, and
      sixth months after treatment. Matrix metalloproteinase-1, tissue inhibitor matrix
      metalloproteinase-1, transforming growth factor-beta1, and basic-fibroblast
      growth factor levels in the collected gingival crevicular fluid were measured.
      RESULTS: The primary outcome variable in this study was change in gingival
      bleeding and inflammation. At all time points, the LLLT group showed
      significantly more improvement in sulcus bleeding index (SBI), clinical
      attachment level, and probing depth (PD) levels compared to the control group (P
      <0.001). There were clinically significant improvements in the laser-applied
      smokers' PD and SBI levels compared to smokers to whom a laser was not applied,
      between the baseline and all time points (P <0.001) (SBI score: control group
      1.12, LLLT group 1.49; PD: control group 1.21 mm, LLLT group 1.46 mm, between
      baseline and 6 months). Transforming growth factor-beta1 levels and the ratio of
      matrix metalloproteinase-1 to tissue inhibitor matrix metalloproteinase-1
      decreased significantly in both groups at 1, 3, and 6 months after periodontal
      therapy (P <0.001). Basic-fibroblast growth factor levels significantly decreased
      in both groups in the first month after the treatment, then increased in the
      third and sixth months (P <0.005). No marker level change showed significant
      differences between the groups (P <0.05). CONCLUSION: LLLT as an adjunctive
      therapy to non-surgical periodontal treatment improves periodontal healing.

PMID- 20932158
TI  - Clinical and histologic evaluation of a granular bovine bone biomaterial used as
      an adjunct to GTR with a bioresorbable bovine pericardium collagen membrane in
      the treatment of intrabony defects.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of the present study is to evaluate the clinical and
      histologic healing of deep intrabony defects treated with guided tissue
      regeneration (GTR) with a collagen membrane from bovine pericardium and
      implantation of granular bovine bone biomaterial. METHODS: Thirty patients with
      one deep, combined 1- and 2-wall intrabony defect exhibiting a probing depth >=6
      mm and an associated intrabony defect >=3 mm were treated with GTR with a
      bioresorbable collagen membrane from bovine pericardium and adjunct implantation
      of a granular bovine bone biomaterial. The clinical results were evaluated 1 and
      3 years after surgery. In addition, five teeth fulfilling the inclusion criteria
      but scheduled for extraction because of advanced periodontitis or restorative
      considerations were treated similarly and then extracted along with a portion of
      their surrounding periodontal tissues for histologic evaluation 6 months after
      surgery. RESULTS: Healing was uneventful in all patients. Significant clinical
      improvements were observed at 1 and 3 years postoperatively (P <0.01; probing
      depth averaged 4.4 +/- 1.6 and 4.7 +/- 1.4 mm and clinical attachment level gain
      was 3.9 +/- 1.4 and 3.5 +/- 1.3 mm, respectively). The histologic evaluation
      revealed formation of new cellular cementum and new periodontal ligament in four
      of the five cases. In general, the xenograft particles seemed to be mostly
      embedded in connective tissue without any evidence of new bone formation.
      CONCLUSION: GTR treatment of intrabony defects with the collagen membrane from
      bovine pericardium and adjunct implantation of the new bovine bone biomaterial
      may result in significant clinical improvements that can be maintained over a
      period of 3 years, and regeneration of cementum and periodontal ligament, but
      without bone formation.

PMID- 20932159
TI  - Enhanced ridge preservation by bone mineral bound with collagen-binding synthetic
      oligopeptide: a clinical and histologic study in humans.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The ridge-preservation technique has been applied with membrane alone
      or membrane plus graft. Synthetic peptides, mimicking bioactive growth factor or
      extracellular matrix protein, have been attempted to provide an active surface of
      the biomaterials in inducing bone formation while alleviating the limitations of
      whole protein such as short half-life, immunologic responses. The aim of the
      present clinical study is to examine the osteogenic effect of synthetic
      oligopeptide-coated bone mineral compared to bone graft without peptide when
      applied with collagen membrane in a ridge-preservation technique. METHODS:
      Synthetic oligopeptide from the collagen-binding domain of osteopontin was
      chemically synthesized and coated onto the surface of bone mineral particulates.
      Ridge preservations were performed at 44 extraction sites in 42 patients (20
      males and 22 females). Analyses of clinical parameters and histomorphometric
      evaluations were conducted to compare the osteogenic effects of the grafts
      between baseline and 6 months. RESULTS: In the bone grafts of the control group
      treated without synthetic peptide, new bone formation was only seen around
      borders and basal areas. However, new bone was observed broadly in the defects of
      the test group treated with synthetic peptide-coated bone mineral, as seen not
      only at peripheries but also in the central and coronal parts of bone cores in
      the defects. The average percentage of new bone formation was significantly
      higher in the test group (5.3% +/- 8.3% versus 10.4% +/- 4.6%). The contact
      percentages between the graft particles and the new bone were 8.2% +/- 11.3% for
      the control group and 20.4% +/- 7.5% for the test group (P <0.05). CONCLUSIONS:
      The ridge-preservation approach using synthetic oligopeptide-coated bone mineral
      with collagen membrane effectively prevented the resorption of hard tissue with
      higher bone-to-graft contact, and the oligopeptide-coated bone may be a choice
      for ridge-preservation procedures while assuring new bone formation.

PMID- 20932160
TI  - Seasonal carryover effects following the administration of cortisol to a wild
      teleost fish.
AB  - Stress can have sublethal effects that are manifested either immediately or at
      spatial or temporal scales that are removed from the stress event (i.e.,
      carryover effects). We tested whether a short-term elevation of plasma cortisol
      would result in seasonal carryover effects in wild largemouth bass Micropterus
      salmoides. Using exogenous hormone implants, we raised circulating cortisol
      concentrations in a group of wild fish for approximately 5 d in October 2007. We
      then compared activity (velocity, distance traveled) of cortisol-treated animals
      with that of sham-treated and control animals throughout the winter using an
      automated acoustic telemetry array. Immediately following treatment, the cortisol
      treated fish showed increased activity relative to controls. However, this
      difference disappeared following the cessation of the elevation of circulating
      cortisol. During the winter of 2007 to 2008, the lake experienced a nearly
      complete winterkill event, providing insight into how a transient stress response
      can influence the response of wild animals to subsequent challenges. Most fish
      carrying acoustic transmitters succumbed during this winterkill event, but
      cortisol-treated fish died earlier than fish in other groups and showed a
      decrease in activity relative to controls and sham-treated fish before mortality.
      This study provides preliminary evidence of seasonal carryover effects in wild
      fish and yields insight into the ecological consequences of stress across broad
      temporal scales.

PMID- 20932161
TI  - Maxillofacial anatomy: the mandibular symphysis.
AB  - Placement of dental implants in the anterior mandible is considered by many
      clinicians to be a relatively low-risk procedure. However, hemorrhagic episodes
      following implant placement in the mandibular symphysis are regularly reported
      and can have serious consequences. The use of high-resolution focused cone beam
      scanners has given us the ability to visualize the intricate neurovascular
      network of the intraforaminal region without distortion and in greater detail.
      Knowledge of the arterial supply and navigated implant placement in the
      mandibular symphysis can help to avoid these potentially life-threatening
      emergencies.

PMID- 20932162
TI  - Downward vascular translocation of a green fluorescent protein-tagged strain of
      Dickeya sp. (Biovar 3) from stem and leaf inoculation sites on potato.
AB  - Translocation of a green fluorescent protein (GFP)-tagged Dickeya sp. from stems
      or from leaves to underground parts of potato plants was studied in greenhouse
      experiments. Thirty days after stem inoculation, 90% of plants expressed symptoms
      at the stem base and 95% of plants showed browning of internal stem tissue. The
      GFP-tagged Dickeya sp. was detected by dilution plating in extracts of the stem
      interiors (100%), stem bases (90%), roots (80%), stolons (55%), and progeny
      tubers (24%). In roots, the GFP-tagged Dickeya sp. was found inside and between
      parenchyma cells whereas, in stems and stolons, the GFP-tagged Dickeya sp. was
      found in the xylem vessels and protoxylem cells. In progeny tubers, this strain
      was detected in the stolon end. Thirty days after leaf inoculation, the GFP
      tagged Dickeya sp. was detected in extracts of 75% of the leaves, 88% of the
      petioles, 63% of the axils, and inside 25% of the stems taken 15 cm above the
      ground level. UV microscopy confirmed the presence of the GFP-tagged Dickeya sp.
      inside petioles and in the main leaf veins. No blackleg or aerial stem rot and no
      translocation of the GFP-tagged Dickeya sp. to underground plant parts was
      observed. The implications for contamination of progeny tubers are discussed.

PMID- 20932163
TI  - Invasion of Phytophthora infestans at the landscape level: how do spatial scale
      and weather modulate the consequences of spatial heterogeneity in host
      resistance?
AB  - Strategic spatial patterning of crop species and cultivars could make
      agricultural landscapes less vulnerable to plant disease epidemics, but
      experimentation to explore effective disease-suppressive landscape designs is
      problematic. Here, we present a realistic, multiscale, spatiotemporal,
      integrodifference equation model of potato late blight epidemics to determine the
      relationship between spatial heterogeneity and disease spread, and determine the
      effectiveness of mixing resistant and susceptible cultivars at different spatial
      scales under the influence of weather. The model framework comprised a landscape
      generator, a potato late blight model that includes host and pathogen life cycles
      and fungicide management at the field scale, and an atmospheric dispersion model
      that calculates spore dispersal at the landscape scale. Landscapes consisted of
      one or two distinct potato-growing regions (6.4-by-6.4-km) embedded within a
      nonhost matrix. The characteristics of fields and growing regions and the
      separation distance between two growing regions were investigated for their
      effects on disease incidence, measured as the proportion of fields with >=1%
      severity, after inoculation of a single potato grid cell with a low initial level
      of disease. The most effective spatial strategies for suppressing disease spread
      in a region were those that reduced the acreage of potato or increased the
      proportion of a resistant potato cultivar. Clustering potato cultivation in some
      parts of a region, either by planting in large fields or clustering small fields,
      enhanced the spread within such a cluster while it delayed spread from one
      cluster to another; however, the net effect of clustering was an increase in
      disease at the landscape scale. The planting of mixtures of a resistant and
      susceptible cultivar was a consistently effective option for creating potato
      growing regions that suppressed disease spread. It was more effective to mix
      susceptible and resistant cultivars within fields than plant some fields entirely
      with a susceptible cultivar and other fields with a resistant cultivar, at the
      same ratio of susceptible to resistant potato plants at the landscape level.
      Separation distances of at least 16 km were needed to completely prevent epidemic
      spread from one potato-growing region to another. Effects of spatial placement of
      resistant and susceptible potato cultivars depended strongly on meteorological
      conditions, indicating that landscape connectivity for the spread of plant
      disease depends on the particular coincidence between direction of spread,
      location of fields, distance between the fields, and survival of the spores
      depending on the weather. Therefore, in the simulation of (airborne) pathogen
      invasions, it is important to consider the large variability of atmospheric
      dispersion conditions.

PMID- 20932164
TI  - Baseline sensitivity and resistance-risk assessment of Phytophthora capsici to
      iprovalicarb.
AB  - Iprovalicarb has been used to control Phytophthora capsici, a devastating
      pathogen of many economically important crops. To evaluate the risk of fungicide
      resistance, 158 isolates of P. capsici were examined for sensitivity to
      iprovalicarb by measuring mycelial growth. Values of effective concentrations for
      50% mycelial growth inhibition varied from 0.2042 to 0.5540 MUg/ml and averaged
      0.3923 (&#x00B1;0.0552) MUg/ml, with a unimodal distribution. This is the first
      report of P. capsici isolates highly resistant to iprovalicarb (resistance factor
      >100). Resistance of the isolates was stable through 10 transfers on iprovalicarb
      free medium, and most resistant isolates had the same level of fitness (mycelial
      growth, zoospore production, and virulence) as their corresponding parents,
      indicating that iprovalicarb resistance was independent from other general growth
      characters. There was cross-resistance among all tested carboxylic acid amide
      (CAA) fungicides, including iprovalicarb, flumorph, dimethomorph, and
      mandipropamid, but not with non-CAA fungicides, including azoxystrobin,
      chlorothalonil, cymoxanil, etridiazole, metalaxyl, and zoxamide. Based on the
      present results, resistance risk of P. capsici to CAAs could be moderate and
      resistance management should be considered.

PMID- 20932165
TI  - Periodicity in host availability does not account for evolutionary branching as
      observed in many plant pathogens: an application to Gaeumannomyces graminis var.
      tritici.
AB  - Periodicity in host availability is common in agricultural systems. Although it
      is known to have profound effects on plant pathogen abundance, the evolutionary
      consequences of periodicity for the pathogen population have not previously been
      analyzed. An epidemiological model incorporating periodic absence of the host
      crop is combined with the theory of adaptive dynamics to determine whether or not
      seasonality in host presence plays a role in the occurrence of evolutionary
      branching, leading to coexisting yet genetically distinct pathogen phenotypes.
      The study is motivated and illustrated by the specific example of take-all
      disease of wheat, caused by the pathogen Gaeumannomyces graminis var. tritici,
      for which two coexisting but genetically distinct types and a trade-off related
      to seasonality in host presence have been identified. Numerical simulations are
      used to show that a trade-off between the pathogen transmission rate and the
      survival of the pathogen between cropping seasons cannot account for the
      evolutionary branching observed in many pathogens. Model elaborations show that
      this conclusion holds for a broad range of putative mechanisms. Although the
      analysis is motivated and illustrated by the specific example of take-all of
      wheat, the results apply to a broad range of pathogens.

PMID- 20932166
TI  - Identification and characterization of a novel etiological agent of mango
      malformation disease in Mexico, Fusarium mexicanum sp. nov.
AB  - The primary objective of this study was to characterize Fusarium spp. associated
      with the economically devastating mango malformation disease (MMD) in Mexico. In
      all, 142 Fusarium strains were isolated from symptomatic mango inflorescences and
      vegetative tissues in eight geographically diverse Mexican states from 2002
      through 2007. Initially, all the Mexican isolates were screened for genetic
      diversity using appolymerase chain reaction and random amplified polymorphic DNA
      markers and were grouped into seven distinct genotypes. Based on results of these
      analyses, evolutionary relationships and species limits of the genetically
      diverse MMD-associated Fusarium spp. were investigated using multilocus DNA
      sequence data and phylogenetic species recognition. Maximum parsimony analyses of
      a five-locus data set comprising 5.8 kb of aligned DNA sequence data indicated
      that at least nine phylogenetically distinct Fusarium spp. within the Gibberella
      fujikuroi species complex are associated with MMD, including one species within
      the African clade (Fusarium pseudocircinatum), two species within the Asian clade
      (F. mangiferae and F. proliferatum), and at least six species within the American
      clade (F. sterilihyphosum and five undescribed Fusarium spp.). Molecular
      phylogenetic analyses indicate that a novel genealogically exclusive lineage
      within the American clade was the predominant MMD associate in Mexico. This new
      Fusarium sp. caused MMD and could be distinguished from all other known species
      morphologically by the production of mostly sterile, coiled hyphae which are
      typically associated with sporodochial conidiophores together with unbranched or
      sparsely branched aerial conidiophores. Koch's postulates were completed for
      isolates of the new species on nucellar seedlings of mango cv. Ataulfo. This
      pathogen is formally described herein as F. mexicanum.

PMID- 20932167
TI  - Variation in pathogenicity and aggressiveness of Erysiphe necator from different
      Vitis spp. and geographic origins in the eastern United States.
AB  - Eastern North America is considered the center of diversity for many Vitis spp.
      and for the grape powdery mildew pathogen, Erysiphe necator. However, little is
      known about populations of E. necator from wild Vitis spp. We determined the
      phenotypic variation in pathogenicity and aggressiveness of E. necator among
      isolates from wild and domesticated Vitis spp. from diverse geographic regions in
      the eastern United States. To test pathogenicity, we inoculated 38 E. necator
      isolates on three wild Vitis spp., two commercially grown hybrids and the
      European wine grape, Vitis vinifera. V. rotundifolia (muscadine grape) was the
      only host species on which complete host specialization was evident; it was only
      susceptible to isolates collected from V. rotundifolia. All isolates, regardless
      of source host, were pathogenic on the other Vitis spp. We found no differences
      in components of aggressiveness latent period and lesion size among isolates from
      different source hosts when inoculated on V. vinifera, which is highly
      susceptible to powdery mildew. However significant variation was evident among
      isolates on the more resistant V. labruscana 'Niagara'. Isolates from the wild
      species V. aestivalis were the most aggressive, whereas isolates from V. vinifera
      were not more aggressive than isolates from other source hosts. Greater
      aggressiveness was also detected among isolates from the southeastern United
      States compared with isolates from the northeastern United States.

PMID- 20932168
TI  - Mitochondrial haplotype analysis as a tool for differentiating isolates of
      Verticillium dahliae.
AB  - The ability to monitor mitochondrial background in Verticillium dahliae may
      provide an additional tool for population studies and monitoring clonal
      populations. Published mitochondrial genome sequences of V. dahliae (DQ351941)
      were used to design primers for amplification of spacer regions for assessment of
      mitochondrial haplotype differences among isolates. Five regions were examined
      (5,229 bp, or 19% of the total genome size) for 30 isolates representing a range
      in vegetative compatibility group (VCG), host, and geographic origin. Observed
      differences among isolates were due to single nucleotide polymorphisms, different
      numbers of bases in specific homopolymeric regions, and copies of subrepeated
      sequences. When the differences observed for each locus were totaled there were
      28 total groupings; when the results of each locus for individual isolates were
      combined there were 15 mitochondrial haplotypes. Some of the observed groupings
      correlated with VCG. For example, five VCG-1A and VCG-1B isolates from
      California, Spain, and Greece had identical haplotypes; however, this was not
      observed for VCG-2 or VCG-4 isolates. While some VCG-2 isolates also were
      identical and fell into a single haplotype, five haplotypes were found for this
      group (five other haplotypes were observed for other isolates that had not been
      characterized to VCG but grouped with VCG-2 isolates in the phylogenetic
      analysis). Likewise, five VCG-4 isolates fell into four mitochondrial haplotypes,
      one of which was identical to the largest VCG-2 grouping. A heterokaryon self
      incompatible isolate that was reported in the literature to cluster with VCG-2
      isolates by amplified fragment length polymorphism analysis was identical with
      VCG-1 isolates for four of the five loci, but was intermediate between VCG-1 and
      VCG-2 in the haplotype analysis. Phylogenetic analysis with these regions
      revealed the mitochondrial background of VCG-1 and VCG2-B to be monophyletic but
      VCG-2A and VCG-4 could not be separated. The results obtained indicate that there
      is variation in mitochondrial haplotypes and this type of analysis may be a
      useful for characterization of isolates. While data from all five regions was
      used for the haplotype separation in this study, depending on the VCG or the
      level of variability observed within a population it is possible to use fewer
      loci.

PMID- 20932169
TI  - A statistical model to detect asymptomatic infectious individuals with an
      application in the Phytophthora alni-induced alder decline.
AB  - In some diseases-in particular, tree root infection-stages of infection and
      inoculum production level and timing are not readily observable because of
      uncertainty or time lags in symptom appearance. Here, we pose a criterion, based
      on relative hazard of disease symptoms, to discriminate between healthy and
      asymptomatic infected individuals. We design a statistical procedure to estimate
      the criterion for a 6-year survey of alder decline along a northeastern French
      river. Individual tree symptom hazard was modeled with Cox's regression model,
      taking estimation of local infection pressure as a risk factor. From an inoculum
      production experiment, we thereafter assessed the inoculum production level of
      target trees, including symptomatic and asymptomatic trees ranked according to
      their symptoms hazard. Using receiver operating characteristic methods, we first
      evaluated the criterion performance and determined the discrimination threshold
      to sort out asymptomatic individuals into healthy and infected. Then, we
      highlighted the fact that the infected asymptomatic trees were among the major
      inoculum producers whereas severely declining and dead trees were found to be
      poor inoculum sources.

PMID- 20932171
TI  - Tolerance and safety of nifurtimox in patients with chronic chagas disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Nifurtimox has been used to treat Chagas disease for 40 years, but
      tolerance and safety data in adults are scarce. We aimed to evaluate nifurtimox
      tolerance and safety in a cohort of Trypanosoma cruzi-infected adult patients in
      a country of nonendemicity. METHODS: This observational study included all
      consecutive adults patients who were given a diagnosis of T. cruzi infection from
      June through December 2008. Eligible patients received nifurtimox at 10 mg/kg/day
      for 60 days, with regular medical and biological follow-up. Adverse events (AEs)
      were recorded according to Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events,
      version 3.0. RESULTS: Eighty-one patients received nifurtimox. Eight were lost to
      follow-up during treatment, and 41 (56.2%) completed the 60-day course. All
      premature treatment terminations were caused by AEs; 97.5% of patients suffered
      from AEs, mostly expected (90.5%) and not severe. Gastrointestinal symptoms
      predominated. Six (7.4%) patients presented with a suspected unexpected serious
      adverse reaction: drug reaction with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms (n = 3),
      Quincke edema (n = 1), acute myocarditis (n = 1), and anaphylaxis (n = 1).
      Patients with 3 or more AEs had an increased risk of premature treatment
      termination (hazard ratio, 8.42; 95% confidence interval, 1.6-45.5). CONCLUSION:
      Nifurtimox is poorly tolerated among adults with chronic Chagas disease,
      resulting in a low treatment completion rate. Considering the significant risk of
      serious AEs, close monitoring is required, which may be difficult to implement in
      poor rural areas of countries of endemicity. The safety and efficacy of
      nifurtimox and benznidazole should be compared to improve current therapeutic
      recommendations, and pharmacovigilance systems should be enhanced.

PMID- 20932170
TI  - Poor clinical outcome for meningitis caused by Haemophilus influenzae serotype A
      strains containing the IS1016-bexA deletion.
AB  - Since the introduction of Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) conjugate vaccines,
      meningitis caused by serotypes other than Hib has gained in importance. We
      conducted active hospital-based surveillance for meningitis over an 11-year
      period in Salvador, Brazil. H. influenzae isolates were serotyped and analyzed by
      polymerase chain reaction, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, and DNA sequencing
      to identify strains with a specific deletion (IS1016) in the bexA gene (IS1016
      bexA). We identified 43 meningitis cases caused by non-type b H. influenzae: 28
      (65%) were caused by type a (Hia), 9 (21%) were caused by noncapsulated strains,
      and 3 (7%) each were caused by types e and f. Hia isolates clustered in 2 clonal
      groups; clonal group A strains (n = 9) had the IS1016-bexA deletion. Among
      children <5 years of age, meningitis caused by Hia from clonal group A had higher
      case-fatality than meningitis caused by clonal group B. Despite small numbers,
      these results indicate that the presence of the IS1016-bexA deletion is
      associated with enhanced virulence in non-type b H. influenzae.

PMID- 20932172
TI  - Kinematic analysis of lingual movements during consonant productions in
      dysarthric speakers with Friedreich's ataxia: A case-by-case analysis.
AB  - Articulatory kinematics were investigated using electromagnetic articulography
      (EMA) in four dysarthric speakers with Friedreich's ataxia (FRDA). Specifically,
      tongue-tip and tongue-back movements were recorded by the AG-200 EMA system
      during production of the consonants /t/ and /k/ as produced within a sentence
      utterance and during a rapid syllable repetition task. The results obtained for
      each of the participants with FRDA were individually compared to those obtained
      by a control group (n = 10). Results revealed significantly greater movement
      durations and increased articulatory distances, most predominantly during the
      approach phase of consonant production. A task difference was observed with
      lingual kinematics more disturbed during the syllable repetition task than during
      the sentence utterance. Despite expectations of slowed articulatory movements in
      FRDA dysarthria, the EMA data indicated that the observed prolongation of
      consonant phase durations was generally associated with greater articulatory
      distances, rather than slowed movement execution.

PMID- 20932173
TI  - TGF-beta1 promoted MMP-2 mediated wound healing of anterior cruciate ligament
      fibroblasts through NF-kappaB.
AB  - The adult human anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) has poor functional healing
      response. Transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta1 enhances the wound repair by
      stimulating matrix proteins deposition as well as the proliferation and migration
      of cells. However, the function of the TGF-beta1-induced matrix
      metalloproteinases' (MMPs) activities in the wound healing process is poorly
      understood. In this study, exogenous MMP-2 is added to mimic the TGF-beta1
      induced MMP-2 expression. Role of NF-kappaB pathway is further examined. Our
      results show that TGF-beta1 induces dramatic elevation of MMP-2 activities and
      the MMP-2/tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases ratio. Furthermore, the
      exogenous MMP-2 significantly promoted in vitro wound healing abilities of ACL
      fibroblasts that are significantly blocked with the addition of its inhibitors.
      TGF-beta1 also increases the proliferation of ACL fibroblasts whereas MMP-2 alone
      does not, indicating that MMP-2 activities are not involved in the proliferation.
      TGF-beta1-induced MMP-2 activity is inhibited by Bay11-7082 and Bay11-7085 (NF
      kappaB inhibitors). Our results demonstrate that increased TGF-beta1 facilitates
      the ACL healing process by promoting the fibroblasts migration and proliferation.
      The migration process is mediated by MMP-2 and NF-kappaB pathway is involved in
      TGF-beta1-mediated MMP-2 release.

PMID- 20932175
TI  - Fate of vena saphena magna stump after endovenous laser ablation with 980-nm
      diode laser: 12-month follow-up.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the fate of VSM stump and its
      relation to the incidence of thrombosis during a-12 mo follow-up. BACKGROUND
      DATA: Varicose veins are a common problem. There are several treatment
      alternatives available. Conventional surgical treatment is associated with high
      recurrence and complications. However, with the recent development of minimal
      invasive surgery, various techniques have been developed. Endovenous laser
      ablation (EVLA) is one of these techniques, which has proven to be safe and
      effective. Since EVLA is safe and has minor adverse reactions, residual VSM stump
      and its association with thrombosis after EVLA has not been well studied in
      literature. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sixty-nine patients underwent EVLA with a 980
      nm diode laser (Ceralas D, Biolitec AG, Jena, Germany), and retrospectively
      obtained data were analyzed over a 12-mo period. Twenty-six patients were
      excluded due to the lack of follow-up. All EVLA procedures were performed by the
      same surgeon, who has experience of EVLA. Laser power was set at 10-15 W
      depending on the size of targeted vein. The saphenous vein was percutaneously
      punctured with an 18-gauge needle under ultrasonography guidance. Patients were
      reassessed at 1 wk, and at 3, 6, and 12 mo after the procedure. RESULTS:
      Technical success was accomplished in all patients. One patient had flow signals
      with patent segment of the VSM visualized by venous duplex ultrasonography at 1
      mo, which persisted until the 12-mo follow-up. None of the patients developed
      acute deep-venous thrombosis. CONCLUSIONS: The present study shows that residual
      VSM stump-length measurement differences at 7 d and 12 mo were statistically
      significant. In future, large-scale studies are needed, focusing on the proper
      position of the catheter tip to the saphenofemoral junction and timing the
      intervals of follow-up after EVLA.

PMID- 20932176
TI  - The use of the 308-nm excimer laser for the treatment of psoriasis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The objective was to study the effectiveness of the 308-nm excimer
      laser for the treatment of various forms of localized stable psoriasis.
      BACKGROUND: Recent reports show that 308-nm excimer laser may be an effective and
      safe method for the treatment of localized stable psoriasis. METHODS: A
      retrospective chart review was performed of a population-based group of 98
      patients with various forms of localized stable psoriasis treated with excimer
      laser. Of these, 41 were male, and 57 were female patients. Ages ranged from 10
      to 84 years (mean, 51.4 years). Patients who completed at least 10 sessions were
      included unless they had achieved >70% improvement in PASI scores before 10
      treatments. The initial dose was determined by the MED (minimal erythema dose),
      and the dose was raised gradually in a stepwise fashion. RESULTS: Significant
      improvement (>=70%) was achieved by 59 (60.2%) patients; they needed an average
      cumulative dose of 6.46 J/cm(2), and an average of 17 sessions. Twenty-four
      (24.5%) patients achieved good improvement (50% to 70%); the average cumulative
      dose needed was 5.36 J/cm(2), and the average number of sessions required was 12.
      Side effects were limited to sunburn-like reaction. CONCLUSION: The 308-nm
      excimer laser is an effective and safe modality for the treatment of psoriasis,
      with good results achieved in a relatively short time.

PMID- 20932177
TI  - Getting it right.

PMID- 20932174
TI  - Cyclin-dependent kinases (cdks) and the DNA damage response: rationale for cdk
      inhibitor-chemotherapy combinations as an anticancer strategy for solid tumors.
AB  - IMPORTANCE OF THE FIELD: The eukaryotic cell division cycle is a tightly
      regulated series of events coordinated by the periodic activation of multiple
      cyclin-dependent kinases (cdks). Small-molecule cdk-inhibitory compounds have
      demonstrated preclinical synergism with DNA-damaging agents in solid tumor
      models. An improved understanding of how cdks regulate the DNA damage response
      now provides an opportunity for optimization of combinations of cdk inhibitors
      and DNA damaging chemotherapy agents that can be translated to clinical settings.
      AREAS COVERED IN THIS REVIEW: Here, we discuss novel work uncovering multiple
      roles for cdks in the DNA-damage-response network. First, they activate DNA
      damage checkpoint and repair pathways. Later their activity is turned off,
      resulting in cell cycle arrest, allowing time for DNA repair to occur. Recent
      clinical data on cdk inhibitor-DNA-damaging agent combinations are also
      discussed. WHAT THE READER WILL GAIN: Readers will learn about novel areas of cdk
      biology, the complexity of DNA damage signaling networks and clinical
      implications. TAKE HOME MESSAGE: New data demonstrate that cdks are 'master'
      regulators of DNA damage checkpoint and repair pathways. Cdk inhibition may
      therefore provide a means of potentiating the clinical activity of DNA-damaging
      chemotherapeutic agents for the treatment of cancer.

PMID- 20932178
TI  - Zenker's diverticulum: the diagnostic power of ultrasound.

PMID- 20932179
TI  - Evaluation of iodine nutritional status in Tehran, Iran: iodine deficiency within
      iodine sufficiency.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Production of iodized salt in Iran for household consumption began in
      1990. Previous studies have reported sustainable elimination of iodine deficiency
      disorders in Iran. The aim of this study was to evaluate the iodine nutritional
      status in Tehran in 2009. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, 383 Tehranian
      households were enrolled through randomized cluster sampling and a total of 639
      adult subjects (242 men and 397 women), aged 19 and over, participated. A 24-hour
      urine sample was collected for measurement of urinary iodine, sodium, and
      creatinine concentrations using the digestion method, flame photometry, and
      autoanalyzer assay, respectively. Salt intake was estimated and iodine content of
      household salt was measured by titration. RESULTS: Median (interquartile range)
      iodine content of household salt and urinary iodine concentration (UIC) in Tehran
      were 21.2 (3.2-31.7) parts per million and 70.0 (34.0-131.2) MUg/L, respectively.
      There was no statistically significant difference in 24-hour UICs between men and
      women. Median (interquartile range) daily salt intake was 7.6 (5.5-9.8) g, which
      was not different in the two genders. According to the WHO/ICCIDD/UNICEF
      classification, 11.2%, 25.9%, 26.7%, 25.1%, 8.0%, and 3.2% of participants had
      UIC <20, 20-49, 50-99, 100-199, 200-299, and >300 MUg/L, respectively.
      CONCLUSIONS: Mild iodine deficiency has recurred in Tehranians. The results
      emphasize the need for continuous monitoring in all regions, even in a country
      with iodine sufficiency.

PMID- 20932181
TI  - Pooled analysis of two case-control studies in New Caledonia and French Polynesia
      of body mass index and differentiated thyroid cancer: the importance of body
      surface area.
AB  - BACKGROUND: New Caledonia and French Polynesia have among of the world highest
      thyroid cancer incidence rates. Studies have demonstrated a relationship between
      anthropometric parameters and the prevalence of cancer. In this study we
      evaluated further the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and other
      anthropometric parameters on the incidence of thyroid cancer in the New Caledonia
      and French Polynesia populations. METHODS: We performed a pooled analysis of two
      case-control studies in New Caledonia and French Polynesia. We included a total
      of 554 cases (65 men and 489 women) of differentiated thyroid cancers and 776
      population control subjects matched on sex, age, and study. Anthropometric
      factors (height, weight, BMI, body fat percentage [BF%], and body surface area
      [BSA]), at age 18 and before diagnosis, were analyzed by conditional logistic
      regression, adjusting for other independent risk factors. RESULTS: A high
      proportion of cases (73%) were overweight (25-29.9 kg/m(2)) or obese (>=30
      kg/m(2)) before diagnosis of thyroid cancer (against 57% of control subjects). An
      increased risk of thyroid cancer was observed with greater height, weight, BMI,
      BF%, and BSA. The association of thyroid cancer risk with height, weight, BMI,
      and BF% did not remain when adjustment was made for BSA. By comparison, the odds
      ratios for the highest versus the lowest quartile of BSA at age 18 were 3.97 (95%
      confidence interval, 2.57-6.15; p < 0.001) for women and 4.06 (95% confidence
      interval, 1.03-16.06; p = 0.04) for men. The association between thyroid cancer
      risk and each of anthropometric factors did not depend on tumor size or
      menopausal status before diagnosis. CONCLUSION: Among anthropometric factors, BSA
      plays a dominant role in thyroid cancer risk and explains the apparent role of
      BMI.

PMID- 20932180
TI  - Prevalence of malignant tumors and adenomatous lesions detected by
      ultrasonographic screening in patients with autoimmune thyroid diseases.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Thyroid ultrasonography (US) is the most sensitive method for
      detecting thyroid nodules, and US-guided aspiration biopsy is the most accurate
      diagnostic procedure for thyroid nodules. We performed this retrospective study
      to establish the prevalence of thyroid nodules in Graves' disease and patients
      with Hashimoto's thyroiditis at the time of their initial visit. METHODS: We
      performed thyroid US as routine screening in 1652 patients with Graves' disease
      and 2036 Hashimoto's thyroiditis and performed US-guided fine-needle aspiration
      biopsy when the diameter of a nodule >1 cm or a nodule was suspected of being
      malignant. RESULTS: The prevalence of papillary carcinoma in the patients with
      Hashimoto's thyroiditis was higher than in the patients with Graves' disease
      (1.77% vs. 0.97%), and two patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis (0.098%) were
      found to have malignant lymphoma. Adenomatous lesions were observed more
      frequently in the patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis than in the patients with
      Graves' disease. The prevalence of adenomatous lesions increased in an age
      dependent manner in both the patients with Graves' disease and those with
      Hashimoto disease; and adenomatous lesions were more frequent in younger patients
      with Hashimoto' s thyroiditis than in those with Graves' disease. CONCLUSIONS:
      The prevalence of both thyroid papillary cancer and adenomatous lesions was
      greater in the patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis than in those with Graves'
      disease; and adenomatous lesions were more frequent in younger patients with
      Hashimoto's thyroiditis. We recommend performing US at the time of the initial
      visit in patients with autoimmune thyroid disease, who have a high prevalence of
      thyroid papillary carcinoma, to detect malignant thyroid tumors and adenomatous
      lesions.

PMID- 20932182
TI  - Enhanced liver regeneration following acute hepatectomy by low-level laser
      therapy.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of low
      level laser therapy (LLLT) on liver regeneration following hepatectomy.
      BACKGROUND: LLLT has been found to modulate various biological processes.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twelve mature male rats were used. The liver was exposed,
      and 70% of it was excised. The rats were assigned randomly to two groups:
      control, non-laser treated, and experimental, laser-treated (diode [Ga-Al-As]
      laser 804 nm) group. For determination of newly formed blood vessels and
      proliferating cells, 5-Bromo-2'deoxyuridine (BrdU) was injected
      intraperitoneally. The rats were sacrificed 2 d post hepatectomy, and
      histological sections from each liver were processed for analysis of new blood
      vessel formation using BrdU immunostaining kit. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs)
      were assessed using c-kit immunostaining. BrdU-labeled cells were counted as for
      estimation of newly formed hepatic cells. RESULTS: It was found that the number
      of proliferating cells (BrdU positive cells) per area in the regenerating regions
      of the livers were significantly (p < 0.01) 2.6-fold higher in the laser-treated
      rats than in the control non-laser-treated rats. The density of the newly formed
      blood vessels and c-kit immunopositive cells in the regenerating area of the
      laser-treated livers was significantly (p < 0.01) 3.3- and 2.3-fold respectively
      higher than the control non-laser treated livers. CONCLUSION: It is concluded
      that LLLT following acute hepatectomy most probably stimulates a significant
      enhancement of liver regeneration conducive to both the formation of new
      hepatocytes and MSCs and angiogenesis in the regenerating liver.

PMID- 20932183
TI  - Influence of laser (lambda670 nm) and dexamethasone on the chronology of
      cutaneous repair.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to assess the effect of LLLT associated with and
      without dexamethasone on inflammation and wound healing in cutaneous surgical
      wounds. BACKGROUND: Limited studies are directed at the possible interference of
      laser photobiomodulation on the formation of myofibroblasts, associated with an
      antiinflammatory drug. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Standard skin wounds were performed
      on 80 Wistar rats, distributed into four groups: no treatment (sham group), laser
      only (lambda670 nm, 9 mW, 0.031 W/cm(2), 4 J/cm(2), single dose after surgery),
      dexamethasone only (2 mg/kg 1 h before surgery), and laser with dexamethasone.
      Tissue was examined histologically to evaluate edema, presence of
      polymorphonuclear, mononuclear cells, and collagen. The analysis of
      myofibroblasts was assessed by immunohistochemistry and transmission electron
      microscopy. The intensity was rated semiquantitatively. RESULTS: The results
      showed that laser and dexamethasone acted in a similar pattern to reduce acute
      inflammation. Collagen synthesis and myofibroblasts were more intense in the
      laser group (p = 0.048), whereas animals treated with dexamethasone showed lower
      results for these variables. In a combination of therapies, the synthesis of
      collagen and actin and desmin-positive cells was less than laser group.
      CONCLUSIONS: Laser was effective in reducing swelling and polymorphonuclear cells
      and accelerated tissue repair, even in the presence of dexamethasone.

PMID- 20932184
TI  - Effectiveness of non-ablative three dimensional (3D) skin rejuvenation: a
      retrospective study involving 46 patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Three dimensional (3D) skin rejuvenation is proposed to be effective
      for all skin layers. The aim of this concept is to treat sun spots with broad
      band pulse light; large pores, fine lines and vascular lesions with a long-pulsed
      1064 nm neodymium-yttrium-aluminum-garnet (Nd:YAG) laser system and skin ptosis
      and laxity with a 1100-1800 nm infrared light source. OBJECTIVE: In this study,
      46 patients treated with the 3D skin rejuvenation procedure were retrospectively
      evaluated to assess the effectiveness of the 3D procedure according to both
      patient and doctor satisfaction. METHODS: The 3D procedure was carried out over
      the course of five sessions with 15 day intervals between sessions. Results were
      judged by an experienced laser dermatologist both by direct patient examination
      and by comparison of "before" and "after" photographs. Results were ranked into
      five categories ranging from 0 to 4. At the final control, the patients were also
      asked to rate their satisfaction with the procedure in five categories, ranging
      from 0 to 4. RESULTS: All of our patients showed improvement, with an overall
      patient satisfaction score of 2.65. Female patients were more satisfied than male
      patients. Patient and doctor satisfaction scores were generally correlated.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our clinical results indicate that the 3D procedure is an effective
      nonsurgical skin rejuvenation method.

PMID- 20932185
TI  - Effect of laser (670 nm) on healing of wounds covered with occlusive dressing: a
      histologic and biomechanical analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To analyze the effects of low-level laser therapy (LLLT), 670 nm,
      with doses of 4 and 7 J/cm(2), on the repair of surgical wounds covered by
      occlusive dressings. BACKGROUND DATA: The effect of LLLT on the healing process
      of covered wounds is not well defined. MATERIALS AND METHODS: For the histologic
      analysis with HE staining, 50 male Wistar rats were submitted to surgical
      incisions and divided into 10 groups (n = 5): control; stimulated with 4 and 7
      J/cm(2) daily, for 7 and 14 days, with or without occlusion. Reepithelization and
      the number of leukocytes, fibroblasts, and fibrocytes were obtained with an image
      processor. For the biomechanical analysis, 25 rats were submitted to a surgical
      incision and divided into five groups (n = 5): treated for 14 days with and
      without occlusive dressing, and the sham group. Samples of the lesions were
      collected and submitted to the tensile test. One-way analysis of variance was
      performed, followed by post hoc analysis. A Tukey test was used on the
      biomechanical data, and the Tamhane test on the histologic data. A significance
      level of 5% was chosen (p <= 0.05). RESULTS: The 4 and 7J/cm(2) laser with and
      without occlusive dressing did not alter significantly the reepithelization rate
      of the wounds. The 7 J/cm(2) laser reduced the number of leukocytes
      significantly. The number of fibroblasts was higher in the groups treated with
      laser for 7 days, and was significant in the covered 4 J/cm(2) laser group.
      CONCLUSIONS: Greater interference of the laser-treatment procedure was noted with
      7 days of stimulation, and the occlusive dressing did not alter its
      biostimulatory effects.

PMID- 20932186
TI  - Low-level laser intensity application in masseter muscle for treatment purposes.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study evaluated with histochemical analysis how the number of
      laser applications can affect the masseter muscle. BACKGROUND: In dentistry
      today, the laser is used in patients with temporomandibular disorders (TMDs),
      mainly for radiating pain in the masticatory muscles, whose origins may be
      associated with malocclusion, although the laser effects are not well understood
      on the cellular level. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty mice (HRS/J lineage) were
      randomly distributed into groups according to the number of laser applications
      (three, six, and 10). For each group of laser applications (experimental, n = 5),
      it was considered the control group (n = 5), which was not irradiated. All
      animals inhaled halothane (2-bromo-2-chloro-1, 1, 1-trifluoroethane, minimum 99%,
      Sigma Aldrich, India) before each laser irradiation performed on the left
      masseter muscle region, on alternate days with 20 J/cm(2), 40 mW, for 20 sec. The
      muscle samples were collected for histochemical analysis with succinate
      dehydrogenase (SDH) enzyme 72 h after the last application. RESULTS: (a) A
      decrease in area of light fibers type (35.91% +/- 6.9%; 32.08% +/- 6.3%, and
      27.88% +/- 6.3%), according to the increase of laser applications (p < 0.05); (b)
      significant increase (p < 0.05) in the area of intermediate fibers, with an
      increase of laser application (11.08% +/- 3.9%; 16.52% +/- 5.7%, and 15.96% +/-
      3.9%), although the increase with 10 applications was small; (c) area increase of
      dark fibers in the group with three laser applications (0.16% +/- 0.3%) (p <
      0.05), and in groups with six and 10 laser applications, respectively (9.68% +/-
      6.0% and 9.60% +/- 4.0%). CONCLUSIONS: The SDH enzyme activity revealed that the
      number of laser applications increases the metabolic pattern of the muscle
      fibers. A minimal difference in metabolic activity between six and 10
      applications of a laser suggests that further analyses should be done to confirm
      that six applications are enough to produce the same clinical effects, thereby
      contributing data to professionals from different fields in regard to the cost
      benefit ratio of this therapy.

PMID- 20932187
TI  - Effects of ozone and ND:YAG laser pretreatment on bond strength of self-etch
      adhesives to coronal and root dentin.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of two different
      disinfection treatments--ozone and Nd:YAG laser application--on shear-bond
      strength (SBS) of self-etch adhesives to coronal and root dentin. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: Sixty extracted human canines were ground flat, exposing the coronal and
      root dentin surfaces, and randomly divided into three groups. The surfaces were
      untreated (Control) or treated with ozone (HealOzone, KaVo) or Nd:YAG laser
      (Fidelis III, Fotona). Coronal and root dentins of 10 teeth of each group were
      treated with a two-step self-etch adhesive (Clearfil SE Bond, Kuraray Medical;
      SE), whereas the remaining 10 teeth were treated with a one-step self-etch
      adhesive (Clearfil Tri-S Bond, Kuraray Medical; S3). A resin composite (Clearfil
      Majesty Esthetics, Kuraray Medical) was then placed, and SBS was tested with a
      universal testing machine. Failure modes were determined under a
      stereomicroscope. The mean SBS values of each group were calculated, and data
      were subjected to statistical analysis (p = 0.05). RESULTS: For the coronal
      dentin, Control/SE showed significantly higher values than Control/S3, Ozone/S3,
      and Nd:YAG/S3. Although Ozone/SE showed significantly higher values than
      Nd:YAG/S3 (p < 0.05), the differences within the other groups were not
      significant for the root dentin (p > 0.05). Comparison of two dentin substrates
      in each group did not show any significant difference except for Control/SE, in
      which coronal dentin showed higher SBS. The failure modes of all groups were
      mainly adhesive. CONCLUSION: Pretreatments with Ozone or Nd:YAG laser did not
      impair the SBS of both of the self-etch adhesives used to coronal and root
      dentin.

PMID- 20932188
TI  - Stem cell research Italy: genesis of a society.

PMID- 20932189
TI  - Immediate effect of acupuncture at Sanyinjiao (SP6) and Xuanzhong (GB39) on
      uterine arterial blood flow in primary dysmenorrhea.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to compare immediate effect of
      acupuncture at SP6 on uterine arterial blood flow in primary dysmenorrhea with
      that of GB39. DESIGN: This was a prospective, randomized clinical trial. SETTING:
      Sixty-six (66) patients with primary dysmenorrhea from the Affiliated Hospital of
      Shangdong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine were recruited.
      INTERVENTIONS: The SP6 group (n =32) was treated with manual acupuncture at
      bilateral SP6 for 5 minutes after obtaining needling sensation (de qi) during the
      period of menstrual pain, whereas the control group (n = 34) was needled at GB39
      of both sides for 5 minutes when they suffered menstrual pain. MAIN OUTCOME
      MEASURES: Differences in pulsatility index (PI), resistance index (RI), and ratio
      of systolic peak and diastolic peak (A/B) in uterine arteries were the main
      outcome measures. RESULTS: Highly significant reductions were observed in the SP6
      treatment group 5 minutes after treatment in menstrual pain scores (8.17 +/- 1.90
      versus 11.20 +/- 2.66; p < 0.001), values of PI (1.75 +/- 0.48 versus 2.32 +/-
      0.70; p < 0.001), RI (0.72 +/- 0.11 versus 0.78 +/- 0.07; p < 0.001), and A/B
      (4.33 +/- 1.37 versus 5.23 +/- 1.67; p < 0.001). Compared with the GB39 control
      group, patients in the SP6 treatment group showed significant reductions in 5
      minutes after treatment in the changes of menstrual pain scores (3.03 +/- 2.36
      versus 0.00 +/- 0.29; p < 0.001), values of PI (0.57 +/- 0.42 versus -0.10 +/-
      0.58; p < 0.001), RI (0.06 +/- 0.08 versus -0.03 +/- 0.15; p < 0.01), and A/B
      (0.90 +/- 0.87 versus 0.23 +/- 1.02; p < 0.01). There were no significant changes
      in menstrual pain scores, values of PI, RI, or A/B before and after treatment in
      the GB39 control group (p > 0.05). No adverse events from treatment were
      reported. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that needling at SP6 can immediately
      improve uterine arterial blood flow of patients with primary dysmenorrhea, while
      GB39 does not have these effects.

PMID- 20932190
TI  - Robot-assisted laparoscopic sacral colpopexy: initial experience in a high-volume
      laparoscopic reference center.
AB  - PURPOSE: To describe the surgical technique of robot-assisted sacral colpopexy
      (RASCP) and to assess its feasibility and safety in a high-volume laparoscopic
      center. PATIENT AND METHODS: 12 women with symptomatic urogenital prolapse with
      or without concomitant urinary stress incontinence were treated with RASCP by one
      surgeon at our institution. The preoperative workup involved a detailed urologica
      and gynecologic history and physical examination to determine the type, the
      degree of the prolapse and the presence of concomitant stress urinary
      incontinence. RESULTS: Mean operative time was 144 minutes (range 120-180 min).
      No conversion to a laparoscopic or open procedure was necessary. The mean patient
      age was 57.1 years old (range 44-79). The mean estimated blood loss was 60 mL
      (range 20-200 mL). The mean catheterization time was 2 days, and the mean
      hospital stay was 3.4 days (range 3-4 d). At a mean follow-up of 19.1 months
      (range 8-28 mos), no recurrence of the prolapse occurred. CONCLUSION: RASCP for
      treatment of patients with urogenital prolapse is a feasible alternative to open
      and laparoscopic procedures. It procures an anatomic repositioning of the pelvic
      organs. The short-term results and the complication rates are similar with gold
      standard techniques.

PMID- 20932191
TI  - The influence of ultrasound probe orientation on prostate cancer detection rate
      during transrectal ultrasonography-guided prostate biopsy.
AB  - PURPOSE: We aim to determine whether end-fire probe orientation (and therefore
      image orientation and biopsy needle direction) during transrectal ultrasonography
      guided prostate biopsy has an effect on the prostate cancer (PCa) detection rate,
      the number of positive biopsy cores, the proportion of diseased tissue in the
      samples obtained, and the Gleason score. We compared two different axial image
      protocols and a sagittal image protocol for PCa yield. We hypothesize that axial
      probe methods direct more of the biopsy needle through the peripheral zone, the
      principal site for PCa, and therefore improve PCa yield. PATIENTS AND MATERIALS:
      A total of 441 patients underwent systematic 12-core biopsy using three different
      methods by six radiologists at our institution. An axial method using probe
      angulation, an axial method using probe rotation, and a sagittal method were
      compared. RESULTS: The axial-angulation method was used in 166 men, the axial
      rotation method was used in 125 men, and the sagittal method was used in 150 men.
      Overall, 58.3% had PCa detected. Axial-rotation techniques showed a 17% greater
      PCa yield and significantly increased the number of positive biopsy cores
      relative to the sagittal method (P < 0.001) for all patients and for those with a
      prostate-specific antigen level <10 ng/mL. Of those with PCa, the number of
      positive cores, proportion of diseased tissue, and Gleason score were also
      significantly elevated using this technique (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: This study
      suggests that axial techniques have the potential to increase carcinoma yield and
      Gleason score, through a greater yield in positive core number and proportion of
      diseased tissue in the samples obtained.

PMID- 20932192
TI  - Microsomal epoxide hydrolase gene polymorphisms and susceptibility to chronic
      obstructive pulmonary disease in the Tunisian population.
AB  - It is well known that cigarette smoking is the major risk factor for chronic
      obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However, only 10%-20% of chronic heavy
      cigarette smokers develop symptomatic disease, which suggests the presence of
      genetic susceptibility. Microsomal epoxide hydrolase (EPHX1) is an enzyme
      involved in the protective mechanism against oxidative stress. It has been
      reported that gene polymorphisms of this enzyme may be associated with variations
      in EPHX1 activity. In this study, we aimed at investigating the relationship
      between EPHX1 polymorphisms and susceptibility to COPD in the Tunisian
      population. EPHX1 exon 3 (rs1051740, Tyr113His) and exon 4 (rs2234922, His139Arg)
      polymorphisms were genotyped by polymerase chain reaction followed by restriction
      fragment length polymorphism analysis. These techniques were used to examine a
      total of 416 Tunisian individuals, including 182 blood donors and a group of 234
      COPD patients. All subjects were not related. An increased risk for COPD was
      observed in subjects with EPHX1 His113-His113 genotype (odds ratio = 2.168;
      confidence interval 1.098-4.283; p = 0.02386). However, multivariate logistic
      regression analysis showed no significant relationship between the mutant
      genotype and the disease after adjustment for sex, age, body mass index, smoking
      status, and pack-year smoking (odds ratio = 1.524; confidence interval, 0.991
      6.058; p = 0.06137). Regarding the two subtypes of COPD, our investigations
      demonstrated that there is no significant correlation between exon 3 polymorphism
      and the chronic bronchitis subgroup (p = 0.09034). The relation between exon 3
      polymorphism and emphysema was significant in the univariate analysis (p =
      0.02257), but no association was found after controlling for classic risk factors
      (p = 0.06273). In conclusion, our results showed that there is a weak relation
      between 113His genotype and COPD, and no apparent relation between 139Arg and
      COPD in the studied Tunisian population.

PMID- 20932193
TI  - An Internet misadventure: bloodroot salve toxicity.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) is a perennial flowering plant
      native to North America. Sanguinarine, a benzylisoquinoline alkaloid, is a
      powerful escharotic contained in the root. Herbalists prescribe bloodroot for
      multiple conditions including skin lesions and sore throats. We report 2 patients
      who treated skin lesions with bloodroot to untoward effect. CASE REPORT 1: A 53
      year-old man with unremarkable medical history developed a 5-mm papule on his
      chest that gradually blackened. The patient searched the Internet for "herbal
      cures" and found bloodroot salve as a therapy for skin lesions. The patient
      applied bloodroot black salve for 10 days. After 6 months the remaining lesion
      resumed increasing in size. The patient restarted bloodroot treatments despite
      intense pain. After 6 weeks the lesion doubled, became ulcerated and purulent,
      prompting presentation to the Emergency Department. Pathological examination of
      the lesion revealed malignant melanoma. CASE REPORT 2: A 42-year-old man with a
      history of metastatic colon cancer developed palpable subcutaneous nodules on the
      anterior abdominal wall. The patient's mother searched the Internet for cancer
      salves and purchased black and yellow bloodroot salve. After 8 days, feces were
      noted discharging from an ulcer where the salve was applied. The patient was
      admitted for total parenteral nutrition until the enterocutaneous fistula healed.
      DISCUSSION: Bloodroot is widely available on the Internet and easily purchased.
      Web sites discuss the efficacy of bloodroot in treating skin cancer. The cases
      describe attempts to self-treat skin lesions with unregulated Internet therapy.
      Lack of regulation of information on the Internet allows alternative therapies to
      be promoted without full consideration of potential toxicity. Greater awareness
      of agents with such potential for danger needs to be available to health care
      providers, and the taking of such remedies should always be discussed with the
      supervising physician.

PMID- 20932194
TI  - Radioprotective effects of Aegle marmelos (L.) Correa (Bael): a concise review.
AB  - The effective use of radiotherapy in cancer cure and palliation is compromised by
      the side-effects resulting from radiosensitivity of bordering normal tissues,
      which are invariably exposed to the cytotoxic effects of ionizing radiation
      during treatment. In this situation, use of radioprotective compounds that can
      protect normal tissues against radiation injury are of immense use. In addition
      to protecting normal tissue these compounds will also permit use of higher
      radiation doses to obtain better cancer control and possible cure. However, to
      date, no ideal radioprotectors are available as most synthetic compounds are
      toxic at their optimal concentrations and have produced little success in
      clinics. Radiation ill-effects are principally the result of generation of free
      radicals, and the antioxidant compounds that counter them are supposed to be of
      immense use in preventing them. In Ayurveda, the traditional Indian system of
      medicine, several plants have been observed to avert/ameliorate free radical
      mediated ailments--an effect that has been documented--and such plants have
      recently been the focus of attention. Aegle marmelos (L.) Correa (Bael), commonly
      known as bael, has been used since antiquity for treating various ailments, some
      of which are now known to be the result of oxidative stress. In studies spanning
      nearly a decade, it has been observed that bael prevented radiation-induced ill
      effects, and the results of these studies indicate that it has the potential to
      be an effective, nontoxic radioprotective agent. In this current review, for the
      first time, an attempt is made to summarize these observations and to discuss the
      plausible reasons responsible for bael's radioprotective effects.

PMID- 20932195
TI  - A systematic review of randomized controlled trials using music therapy for
      children.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Music therapy is a promising approach widening the potential
      applications of psychotherapy. Music influences both, psychologic and physiologic
      parameters, and children are especially responsive to this form of therapy. Many
      aspects of its action mechanisms remain to be elucidated, underscoring the need
      for evidence-based medicine (EBM) for clinical use of music therapy. AIMS: This
      review seeks to highlight some of the issues of music therapy research and to
      initiate a discussion about the need for international multicenter cooperation to
      bring scientifically sound evidence of the benefits of music therapy in pediatric
      patients. METHODS: Scientific bibliographic databases were searched for
      randomized controlled trials on use of music therapy for children. Identified
      articles were evaluated according to criteria for scientific quality. RESULTS:
      Twenty-eight studies were identified. Most of the trials were biased by the
      number of participants, and some trials showed the need to improve design of
      control groups. Indeed, the novelty of this area of study has produced a large
      number of different studies (with variability in diagnoses, interventions,
      control groups, duration, and/or outcome parameters), and there is a need for a
      more homogeneous and systematic approach. Available studies highlight the need to
      address reproducibility issues. CONCLUSIONS: This analysis identifies the need
      for a subsequent series of clinical studies on the efficacy of music in the
      pediatric population, with more focus on eligibility criteria with respect to EBM
      and reproducibility.

PMID- 20932196
TI  - Bilateral posterior scleritis: an idiopathic painless presentation.
AB  - PURPOSE: To describe a presentation of painless posterior scleritis. METHODS:
      This study was an interventional case report. An 18-year-old boy was admitted to
      the authors' clinic with symptoms of low degree of vision and no ocular pain.
      Ophthalmologic examination, ocular ultrasonography, magnetic resonance imaging,
      fundus fluorescein angiography (FFA), optical coherence tomography (OCT),
      thoracic radiography, abdominal sonography, and laboratory testing were carried
      out and the results were evaluated. RESULTS: OCT revealed bilateral exudative
      retinal detachment. Diffuse bilateral posterior scleral thickening and serous
      retinal detachment were found in B-scan ultrasonography, suggesting posterior
      scleritis. Laboratory findings and imaging disclosed no systemic disease. The
      patient responded to oral prednisolone 60 mg once daily. CONCLUSIONS: The case
      reported here indicates that pain is not always present in posterior scleritis.

PMID- 20932197
TI  - Acute superior mesenteric artery syndrome and pancreatitis in anorexia nervosa.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this paper is to describe the presentation and clinical
      management of a patient with anorexia nervosa complicated by superior mesenteric
      artery syndrome and pancreatitis, and discuss the association between these
      conditions. METHOD: We present a case report and briefly review the relevant
      literature. RESULTS: A 17-year-old girl with undiagnosed anorexia nervosa
      presented acutely with abdominal symptoms and vomiting. After numerous
      investigations, she was diagnosed with the rare condition of superior mesenteric
      artery syndrome and pancreatitis, leading to a prolonged hospital admission and
      management on both an acute medical/surgical ward and an eating disorders unit.
      CONCLUSIONS: Anorexia nervosa has been associated with superior mesenteric artery
      syndrome and pancreatitis. Clinical awareness of these conditions can result in
      prompt diagnosis and optimal management of these patients.

PMID- 20932198
TI  - Mind the evidence gap: do we have any idea about how to integrate the treatment
      of anorexia nervosa into the Australian mental health context?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this paper is to review recent developments in the
      treatment of anorexia nervosa (AN) and how this translates to clinical and
      population-based care in the Australian context. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, there is a
      paucity of high-quality research into treatments for AN, albeit that a number of
      biological and psychological interventions show promise as avenues for further
      research. There are significant impediments to the provision of comprehensive
      longitudinal care for people with AN within Australian mental health services.
      Evaluation of novel strategies, such as home-based support, is required as part
      of enhancing options for Australians suffering with AN and their families.

PMID- 20932199
TI  - Dementia in Aboriginal Australians.

PMID- 20932200
TI  - Young rural people at risk for schizophrenia: time for mental health services to
      translate research evidence into best practice of care.
AB  - Early intervention into prodromal schizophrenia has shown promise, but
      controversy continues regarding the ethical acceptability of identifying a group
      of 'ultra high risk' individuals of whom only 30 to 50% will develop a psychotic
      disorder. With well developed early intervention services this group faces the
      possibility of being labelled as 'pre-psychotic', a condition for which the well
      known stigma associated with the diagnosis of schizophrenia or bipolar disorder
      is likely to be associated. In addition, the use of potent antipsychotic and
      other medications (albeit usually at lower doses than those used for those with
      manifest psychosis) mandates consideration of the risks associated with their use
      and neurological and metabolic side effects. The potential for iatrogenic
      morbidity in the 'false positive' group must be weighed against the need of the
      'true positives' identified through screening and assessment. Current evidence
      for the concept of 'at-risk mental state' was reviewed within a
      neurodevelopmental framework, including emerging data on the effectiveness of
      early intervention for the purpose of providing recommendations for community
      mental health services. The review suggests that different treatment strategies
      may be appropriate depending on the clinical stage of the condition as long as
      the benefits of intervention outweigh its risk burden. It further suggests that
      the severity of psychoses and the evidence of its early onset in utero and its
      acceleration in adolescence positions 'ultra high risk' intervention as a core
      model for early intervention for young people by teasing apart the symptomatic
      components of the 'prepsychotic state' and ensuring the population is reaching
      targeted mental health services for screening. The model is not restricted to the
      delivery of intervention for 'pre-psychotic' young people but is applicable for
      targeted programmes for a number of clinical groups considered at 'ultra high
      risk'. However, only further research in naturalistic populations embedded in
      clinical practice and ideally conducted in partnership of mental health services
      with academic research institutions will help clarify potential risks of early
      identification and intervention and assist in updating and making more explicit
      the clinical guidelines services will use in approaching those in the 'ultra high
      risk' group.

PMID- 20932201
TI  - Organ transplantation and magical thinking.
AB  - Organ transplantation can provide important treatment benefits in a variety of
      situations. While a number of live donor procedures are now possible, procurement
      of organs from dead donors remains the mainstay of transplant programmes.
      However, cadaveric donation rates remain much lower than anticipated, and some
      patients who receive organs struggle to adapt to their new body. The reasons for
      this are not entirely explained by rational or logical means. This paper uses
      concepts drawn from magical thinking to try to explain some of the less apparent
      issues at play within the process of cadaveric organ transplantation, including
      both the donation and receiving of organs. Three themes are explored as
      potentially relevant: superstitions and rituals around death and the dead body,
      incorporation and the meanings attached to the transplanted organ, and survivor
      guilt. All three are shown to be relevant for some part of the transplantation
      process in at least a minority of cases. It is therefore suggested that focusing
      not only on the logical and scientific, but also on the ambiguous and magical may
      enhance the organ donation process and thus increase donation rates and the
      psychological adjustment of transplant recipients.

PMID- 20932202
TI  - Factors associated with dementia in Aboriginal Australians.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Although the prevalence of dementia in remote living Aboriginal
      Australians is one of the highest in the world, the factors associated with
      dementia in this population are yet to be examined. This study was designed to
      determine the demographic, lifestyle and clinical factors associated with
      dementia in Aboriginal Australians living in the Kimberley region of Western
      Australia. METHOD: A total of 363 Aboriginal Australians aged over 45 years from
      the Kimberley region were selected by semi-purposeful sampling. The factors
      analysed for association with dementia were age, sex, education, smoking, chewing
      tobacco, alcohol, head injury, heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, previous
      stroke, epilepsy, falls, mobility, incontinence, urinary problems, vision and
      hearing. This exposure data was collected from participants' and informants'
      reports using the Kimberley Indigenous Cognitive Assessment and specialist
      review, and medical records. RESULTS: Factors associated with dementia included
      older age, male gender (OR 3.1, 95%CI 1.4, 6.8) and no formal education (OR 2.7,
      95%CI 1.1, 6.7) and after adjusting for age, sex and education, dementia was
      associated with current smoking (OR 4.5, 95%CI 1.1, 18.6), previous stroke (OR
      17.9, 95%CI 5.9, 49.7), epilepsy (OR 33.5, 95%CI 4.8, 232.3), head injury (OR
      4.0, 95%CI 1.7, 9.4), and poor mobility, incontinence and falls. CONCLUSIONS:
      Interventions aimed at better management or prevention of the modifiable factors
      identified could reduce dementia risk in Aboriginal populations.

PMID- 20932203
TI  - Acceptability of an emotional and behavioural screening tool for children in
      Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services in urban NSW.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the acceptability and face validity of the Strengths and
      Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) in Aboriginal community controlled health
      services (ACCHOs) located in the greater Sydney region. METHODS: A qualitative
      study was conducted in three ACCHOs located within the greater Sydney region in
      2008-2009. A semi-structured approach was used in focus groups and small group
      interviews (n = 47) to elicit participants' views on the appropriateness of the
      SDQ and any additional issues of importance to Aboriginal child and adolescent
      mental health. RESULTS: The SDQ was found to cover many important aspects of
      Aboriginal child and adolescent mental health, however, the wording of some
      questions was considered ambiguous and some critical issues are not explored. The
      peer relationships subscale did not appear to fit well with Aboriginal concepts
      of the relative importance of different interpersonal relationships. CONCLUSION:
      Overall the SDQ was acceptable in ACCHOs in Sydney; however, changes to the
      wording of some questions and the response scale may be indicated to improve
      cultural appropriateness and clarity. A further set of issues which are not
      covered by any commonly used screening tools but are of critical importance to
      Aboriginal child and adolescent mental health should also be considered by
      clinicians.

PMID- 20932204
TI  - Changes in the prevalence of major depression in an Australian community sample
      between 1998 and 2008.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To identify changes in the prevalence of major depression between
      1998, 2004 and 2008 in South Australia. METHODS: Face-to-face Health Omnibus
      surveys were conducted in 1998, 2004 and 2008 with approximately 3000
      participants aged 15 years and over, who were random and representative samples
      of the South Australian population. Each survey used the same methodology.
      Outcome measures were: major depression as detected by the Mood module of the
      Primary Care Evaluation of Mental Disorders instrument; mental health literacy by
      recognition and exposure to classical symptoms of depression; and health status
      using the SF-36 Physical and Mental Component summaries. RESULTS: There was a
      significant increase in the prevalence of major depression from 6.8% (95%CI: 5.9%
      7.7%) to 10.3% (95%CI: 9.2%-11.4%; chi2 24.59, p < 0.001) between 1998 and 2008.
      Significant increases were observed in males aged 15-29 and females aged 30-49
      years. There was no significant increase in any other sub-group. The strongest
      predictor of major depression was health status. Participants with poor/fair
      mental health literacy were 37% less likely to be classified with major
      depression. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of major depression increased
      significantly in South Australia over the last decade and there was a reduction
      in mental health status and an increase in persons reporting poor health.
      Unexpectedly, having poor or fair mental health literacy was significantly
      protective for major depression. Ideally, public health initiatives should result
      in an improvement in health, but this did not appear to have occurred here.

PMID- 20932205
TI  - Treatment outcomes and predictors of drop out for problem gamblers in South
      Australia: a cohort study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Recent prevalence studies in Australia, the USA and Canada have
      estimated 1-2% of the adult population meet the diagnostic criteria for problem
      or pathological gambling. The Statewide Gambling Therapy Service (SGTS) provides
      treatment for problem gamblers in key metropolitan and rural regions in South
      Australia. The aims of this study were two-fold: to analyse the short and mid
      term outcomes following treatment provided by SGTS and to identify factors
      associated with treatment drop-out. METHOD: A cohort of treatment seeking problem
      gamblers was recruited through SGTS in 2008. Repeated outcome measures included
      problem gambling screening, gambling related cognitions and urge. Treatment drop
      out was defined as participants attending three or less treatment sessions,
      whilst potential predictors of drop-out included perceived social support ,
      anxiety and sensation-seeking traits. RESULTS: Of 127 problem gamblers who
      participated in the study, 69 (54%) were males with a mean age of 43.09 years (SD
      = 12.65 years) and with 65 (52%) reporting a duration of problem gambling greater
      than 5 years. Follow up time for 50% of participants was greater than 8.9 months
      and, overall, 41 (32%) participants were classified as treatment drop-outs.
      Results indicated significant improvement over time on all outcome measures
      except alcohol use for both treatment completers and drop-outs, although to a
      lesser extent for the treatment drop-out group. A significant predictor of
      treatment drop-out was sensation-seeking traits. CONCLUSION: These results will
      inform future treatment planning and service delivery, and guide research into
      problem gambling including aspects of treatment drop-out.

PMID- 20932206
TI  - Factors associated with medication non-adherence in patients suffering from
      schizophrenia: a cross-sectional study in a universal coverage health-care
      system.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To quantify the factors associated with non-adherence to medication
      among stable patients suffering from schizophrenia in the context of universal
      access to care. METHODS: This naturalistic, multicentric study was conducted in
      15 French public hospitals in a region of south-eastern France during a 1 week
      period in 2008. All consecutive outpatients with stable schizophrenia were
      recruited. Adherence was assessed with the 10-item Drug Attitude Inventory (DAI).
      Measures included socio-demographic characteristics, clinical characteristics,
      insight using the Scale to assess Unawareness of Mental Disease (SUMD), and
      therapeutic alliance using the Patient Session Questionnaire (PSQ). Regression
      models were used to identify the risk factors associated with non-adherence.
      RESULTS: The study included 291 patients, 30% of whom were considered to be non
      adherent. Non-adherence increased with duration of untreated psychosis (DUP) (OR
      = 1.12, 95%CI = 1.03-1.22), lack of insight only for the dimension 'effect of
      medication' (OR = 3.23, 95%CI = 1.05-9.89), and a low level of therapeutic
      alliance (OR = 0.45, 95%CI = 0.32-0.64). Individuals prescribed atypical
      antipsychotic drugs were more likely to be adherent than those prescribed typical
      antipsychotics (OR = 0.37, 95%CI = 0.13-1.0). CONCLUSIONS: DUP, prescription of
      typical antipsychotics, therapeutic alliance and insight were the most important
      features associated with non-adherence. This study also suggests that economic
      factors such as the service delivery system should not be neglected in public
      strategies aimed at addressing problems of non-adherence in non-universal
      coverage health systems.

PMID- 20932207
TI  - Who cares? A profile of people who care for relatives with a mental disorder.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To profile the Australian adults who are caring for a relative with a
      mental disorder. METHOD: Data came from the 2007 National Survey of Mental Health
      and Wellbeing 2007 (NSMHWB), a nationally representative household survey of 8841
      individuals aged between 16 and 85 years. RESULTS: Many people act as carers: 15%
      of the Australian adult population, or nearly 2.4 million individuals. The
      strongest predictors of being a carer are being female and being in a relatively
      older age bracket. Carers provide a range of emotional and practical supports to
      close relatives with a range of mental disorders, most notably high prevalence
      disorders. Their relatives' health problems cause them considerable worry,
      anxiety and depression, and their caring role can be associated with high
      financial costs. CONCLUSIONS: Carers are significant stakeholders in the mental
      health system. Providing support for carers is crucial, particularly because
      their own mental health and well-being may be affected by their care-giving role.
      The nature of this support should take into account their large numbers, their
      profile and the role they perform.

PMID- 20932208
TI  - Randomized controlled trial of Internet cognitive behavioural treatment for
      social phobia with and without motivational enhancement strategies.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The present study (Shyness 7) has two aims: Firstly, to replicate an
      earlier trial showing that a self-guided Internet treatment for social phobia is
      efficacious, and secondly, to examine whether the addition of self-guided
      motivational enhancement strategies improves completion rates and clinical
      outcomes. METHOD: Randomized controlled trial (RCT) of self-guided Internet-based
      cognitive behavioural treatment (iCBT), or iCBT plus self-guided motivational
      enhancement strategies (iCBT+MS), was conducted. An intention-to-treat and last
      observation carried forward model was used for data analyses. The participants
      consisted of 108 volunteers with social phobia. The iCBT intervention consisted
      of two online lessons about symptoms and treatment of anxiety disorders and six
      lessons about management of social phobia (the Shyness programme) with complex
      automated reminders. The motivational intervention was based on traditional
      techniques including understanding and exploring ambivalence about change using a
      cost-benefit analysis, developing and resolving discrepancy between values and
      symptoms, and enhancing self-efficacy for change. The main outcome measures were
      the Social Interaction Anxiety Scale and Social Phobia Scale. RESULTS: More
      iCBT+MS group participants completed the eight lessons than iCBT group
      participants (75% versus 56%, respectively), but there were no between-group
      differences in outcome measures at post-treatment or at 3 month follow up. Large
      mean within-groups effect sizes (Cohen's d) for the two social phobia measures
      were found for both the iCBT and iCBT+ MS groups (1.1 and 0.95, respectively),
      which were sustained at 3 month follow up (1.06 and 1.07, respectively). Both
      iCBT and iCBT+MS group participants reported that the procedures were highly
      acceptable. CONCLUSIONS: Both self-guided versions of the Shyness programme were
      reliably efficacious, confirming that people with social phobia may significantly
      benefit from a highly structured self-guided intervention. The addition of
      motivational techniques increased completion rates but did not improve clinical
      outcomes or acceptability.

PMID- 20932209
TI  - Patterns of alcohol use and associated physical and lifestyle characteristics
      according to new Australian guidelines.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To describe the pattern of alcohol consumption and associated physical
      and lifestyle characteristics in a population-based sample of Australian men.
      METHOD: A community-based age-stratified random sample of 1420 men (median age 56
      years, range 20-93) participating in the Geelong Osteoporosis Study, an
      epidemiological study set in south-eastern Australia. Daily alcohol intake was
      ascertained from a detailed food frequency questionnaire and categorized
      according to the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council 2009
      guidelines (non-drinkers, greater than zero but <= 2 drinks per day, > 2 drinks
      per day), with a standard drink equivalent to 10 g of ethanol. Anthropometry was
      measured and lifestyle factors self-reported. Body composition was determined
      using dual energy absorptiometry. Socio-economic status was categorized according
      to the Australian Bureau of Statistics data. Results were age standardized to the
      Australian male population figures. RESULTS: The median daily ethanol consumption
      was 12 g (IQR 2-29) per day with a range of 0-117 g/day. The age-standardized
      proportion of non-drinkers was 8.7%, 51.5% consumed up to two drinks per day (<=
      20 g ethanol/day), and 39.9% exceeded 2 standard drinks per day (> 20 g
      ethanol/day). Alcohol consumption was positively associated with cigarette
      smoking, weight, higher SES and inversely with age and physical activity.
      CONCLUSIONS: Approximately, 40% of Australian men consume alcohol at levels in
      excess of current recommendations, which in combination with other risk factors
      may adversely impact upon health.

PMID- 20932210
TI  - Relationship between subjective experiences and psychopathological dimensions in
      schizophrenia.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Subjective experiences are subtle, self-experienced disturbances, a
      thorough description of which is provided within the framework of the concept of
      basic symptoms. Recent studies have shown that subjective experiences have
      important diagnostic implications for schizophrenia and related disorders. The
      purpose of the present study was to examine the relationship between subjective
      experiences and psychopathological dimensions in schizophrenia. METHOD: Sixty
      seven outpatients with schizophrenia were evaluated. Subjective experiences were
      comprehensively assessed using the Frankfurt Complaint Questionnaire (FCQ).
      Symptoms of schizophrenia were evaluated using the Manchester Scale (MS).
      Pearson's partial correlation analysis was performed between the FCQ and the MS
      scores, controlling for the influence of extrapyramidal adverse effects. RESULTS:
      The analysis revealed that the MS positive symptom score had significant positive
      correlations with the FCQ total score and subscales scores. The MS negative
      symptom score did not have significant correlations with the FCQ scores.
      CONCLUSIONS: The results of our study suggest that subjective experiences are
      significantly associated with positive symptomatology in schizophrenia,
      suggesting that they may share a common underlying neural basis. Future
      prospective studies are necessary to confirm the stability of these relationships
      and to explore the diagnostic and therapeutic implications of subjective
      experiences in a diverse group of patients at different stages of illness.

PMID- 20932211
TI  - Mobile phones, suicide and prognostication.

PMID- 20932212
TI  - Khat concerns in Australia: hyperbole or understated?

PMID- 20932214
TI  - News from CROES: time for acknowledgment.

PMID- 20932213
TI  - Mortality, prescribing patterns and intensive case management in community mental
      health care.

PMID- 20932215
TI  - Laparoscopic radical versus laparoscopic partial nephrectomy for clinical T1bN0M0
      renal tumors: comparison of perioperative, pathological, and functional outcomes.
AB  - AIM: To compare outcomes in patients treated with laparoscopic partial
      nephrectomy (LPN) and laparoscopic radical nephrectomy (LRN) for clinical T1bN0M0
      renal masses. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between 2002 and 2008, 33 and 52 consecutive
      patients who underwent LPN and LRN, respectively, for clinical stage T1bN0M0
      tumors were retrospectively identified from a prospectively maintained database
      of 450 patients undergoing laparoscopic renal surgery. Perioperative,
      pathological, and postoperative outcomes were compared. RESULTS: The two groups
      of patients were similar in age, sex, and body-mass index. Mean radiographic
      tumor size was smaller (4.8 vs. 5.2 cm, p = 0.04) in the LPN group. Mean
      operative time (228 vs. 175 minutes, p < 0.0001) and mean estimated blood loss
      (233 vs. 112 mL, p = 0.003) were higher in the LPN group. Intraoperative
      complication rates of 15.2% versus 5.7% (p = 0.28) and postoperative complication
      rates of 24.2% versus 13.5% (p = 0.20) were observed in the LPN and LRN groups,
      respectively. Overall median follow-up was 15 and 21 months for the LPN and LRN
      cohorts, respectively. A 12.5% and 29.3% decline in estimated glomerular
      filtration rate was observed (p = 0.002), and 30.3% compared with 55.7% of
      patients developed an estimated creatinine clearance (eCrCl) < 60 mL/minutes
      after treatment (p = 0.04) for LPN and LRN, respectively. There were no
      differences in pathological stage distribution between the two groups. In the LPN
      group there were no local or systemic recurrences, and one positive surgical
      margin was observed. One patient developed metastatic disease in the LRN group.
      CONCLUSIONS: LPN for T1b renal tumors provides superior intermediate-term
      preservation of renal function compared with LRN. Continued follow-up of these
      patients is required to evaluate oncological outcomes.

PMID- 20932221
TI  - Prevention of breast cancer (Part II): risk reduction strategies.
AB  - Until recently, the best protection against breast cancer mortality was early
      diagnosis through mammographic screening. However, the possibility that breast
      cancer in some cases can be prevented has come to light over the past 30 years.
      Various risk reduction strategies of breast cancer have been explored including
      lifestyle modification, prophylactic surgeries, and the use of chemopreventive
      agents. This article is the second portion of a two-part series on breast cancer
      prevention, and will focus its discussion on the available risk reduction
      interventions that have been shown to prevent breast cancer in women considered
      high risk for the disease. (See Part I in Cancer Investigation, 28:743-750, 2010)

PMID- 20932222
TI  - Long-term safety of duloxetine during open-label compassionate use treatment of
      patients who completed previous duloxetine clinical trials.
AB  - PURPOSE: To provide duloxetine for the treatment of major depressive disorder
      (MDD), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), fibromyalgia (FM) and diabetic
      peripheral neuropathic pain (DPNP) to patients who had previously completed a
      duloxetine clinical study and for whom, in the opinion of the investigator, no
      effective alternative therapy was available. METHODS: Adult outpatients who had
      previously completed a duloxetine study for the treatment of MDD, GAD, DPNP, or
      FM received duloxetine 30 mg to 120 mg daily up until its local commercial
      availability. Safety analyses included treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs),
      serious adverse events (SAEs), AEs reported as reason for discontinuation, and
      vital signs. No efficacy measures were collected. RESULTS: Of 667 patients
      enrolled, 282 (42.3%) were still participating at the time the drug was made
      commercially available in their countries. Most patients had previously
      participated in a duloxetine MDD study (76.2%); were female (68.1%) and Caucasian
      (94.9%). The median duration of exposure was 328 days (range 3-1718 days). The
      most common reasons for discontinuation were patient decision (25.3%), adverse
      event (8.4%), and lack of efficacy (8.4%). Of the 86 SAEs experienced by 46
      patients, most (including one death) were judged by the investigator to be
      unrelated to duloxetine treatment. The most common TEAEs were in the System Organ
      Class of gastrointestinal (28.3%), nervous system (28.0%), and psychiatric
      (25.8%) and were predominantly mild to moderate in severity. Increases of
      systolic blood pressure (1.9 mm Hg) and pulse rate (2.2 bpm) at endpoint were
      reported. CONCLUSION: The safety data from this long-term compassionate use study
      of duloxetine were consistent with previous experience and revealed no new safety
      signals. LIMITATIONS: The limitations include: lack of a control arm, no efficacy
      data were collected to assess the long-term efficacy, the results may not
      necessarily generalize to other ethnic groups as most patients were Caucasians,
      and lack of consistency in regard to duration of exposure at study entry as
      patients came from different trials with different study designs. CLINICAL TRIAL
      REGISTRY ID: www.clinicaltrials.gov--NCT00071708.

PMID- 20932223
TI  - A prospective, observational study describing the haematological response in
      patients undergoing chemotherapy treated by tri-weekly darbepoetin alfa for
      anaemia.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This prospective, observational study investigated the haematological
      response to darbepoetin alfa (DA) administered every three weeks for the
      treatment of anaemia. Response was also assessed according to baseline
      characteristics including iron, folate and vitamin B12 status. RESEARCH DESIGN
      AND METHODS: Anaemic adult patients with malignant non-myeloid cancer, starting
      or having already undergone chemotherapy received DA on day of inclusionand were
      followed up for up to 24 weeks. Concentration of haemoglobin (Hb), as well as
      iron, vitamin B12 and folate status where available, were recorded at inclusion,
      after a treatment period of 9 weeks and up to a maximum of 24 weeks or cessation
      of DA treatment, whichever was sooner. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The main outcome
      measure assessed in this study was the percentage of patients reaching a Hb
      concentration of at least 11 g/dL at least once at any time during the study.
      RESULTS: A total of 2912 patients were included. The mean Hb concentration
      increased from 10.0 g/dL at inclusion to 11.4 g/dL at 9 weeks and 11.8 g/dL at 24
      weeks. In 74.6% of patients the target Hb level of 11.0 g/dL or above was
      reached. After initiation of DA treatment, 9.5% of patients required a blood
      transfusion by week 9, and 5.6% thereafter. Vitamin B12 and folate status were
      unknown for 80.3% of patients and the iron status for 73.2% of patients. Compared
      with patients who remained untreated for vitamin B12 or folate deficiency, a
      higher percentage of patients with vitamin status within normal limits achieved
      the target Hb concentration. However, achievement of target Hb level appeared not
      to be affected by iron status. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, the mean Hb level
      increased in anaemic cancer patients treated with DA and the majority of patients
      achieved the target Hb level. In contrast to the recommendations of guidelines
      (EORTC) encouraging the measurement of iron and vitamin levels, the present study
      demonstrated that data were not routinely collected for these factors.

PMID- 20932224
TI  - Oral salmon calcitonin--pharmacology in osteoporosis.
AB  - IMPORTANCE OF THE FIELD: Osteoporosis is a slow progressive disease with develops
      over decades, and where intervention is needed for an extended number of years.
      This highlights the need for safe intervention possibilities, which have
      sustained beneficial effects post-treatment. AREAS COVERED IN THIS REVIEW:
      Articles on salmon calcitonin appearing on Pubmed from 1960 until today, with
      focus on a newly developed oral formulation showing increased exposure and
      efficacy compared with nasal formulation is reviewed. The second half focuses on
      long-term phenomena, such as bone quality and resolution effects. The final part
      discusses potential additional benefits of salmon calcitonin. WHAT THE READER
      WILL GAIN: Insight into the clinical development of an orally formulated peptide,
      as well as a detailed understanding of why this approach could revive salmon
      calcitonin as a treatment for osteoporosis. TAKE HOME MESSAGE: The oral
      formulation of salmon calcitonin provides additional benefits and increased
      efficacy on bone based on Phase I and II clinical trials data, as compared with
      the nasal formulation. Hence, the results on the ongoing Phase III fracture trial
      are awaited with great interest.

PMID- 20932225
TI  - CD133(+) cells isolated from various sources and their role in future clinical
      perspectives.
AB  - BACKGROUND: CD133 is a member of a novel family of cell surface glycoproteins.
      Initially, the expression of CD133 antigen was seen only in the hematopoietic
      derived CD34(+) stem cells. At present, CD133 expression is demonstrated in
      undifferentiated epithelium, different types of tumors and myogenic cells.
      CD133(+) neurosphere cells isolated from brain are able to differentiate into
      both neurons and glial cells. These data suggested that CD133 could be a specific
      marker for various stem and progenitor cell populations. OBJECTIVES: The main
      goal would be to describe the role for CD133 as a marker of stem cells able to
      engraft and differentiate, to form functional non-hematopoietic adult lineages
      and contribute to disease amelioration via tissue regeneration.
      RESULTS/CONCLUSION: In conclusion, since the rise of CD133 antigen as a suitable
      stem cell marker, the possible use of CD133(+) stem cells in therapeutic
      applications has opened a new promising field in the treatment of degenerating
      diseases. The human circulating cells expressing the CD133 antigen behave as a
      stem cell population capable of commitment to hematopoietic, endothelial and
      myogenic lineages. CD133 cell therapy may represent a promising treatment for
      many diseases.

PMID- 20932226
TI  - Regulatory T cells in HBV and HCV liver diseases: implication of regulatory T
      lymphocytes in the control of immune response.
AB  - IMPORTANCE OF THE FIELD: Hepatic cirrhosis is a frequent consequence of chronic
      hepatitis infection (HBV and HCV) or alcohol abuse and the most common cause of
      hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Currently, liver transplantation remains the only
      effective therapeutic approach for cirrhosis-related HCC patients. The evolution
      of the pathology strongly depends on immunological mechanisms. AREAS COVERED IN
      THIS REVIEW: Despite the presence of specific T cells, viral chronic infection
      and continuous tumor growth suggest a failure of immune control. It appears that
      direct suppression of antiviral or antitumor effector cells by regulatory T cells
      plays a pivotal role in the impairment of immune response. Several types of
      regulatory T cells have been described, natural regulatory T cells (nTreg) and
      induced-type 1 regulatory T cells (Tr1) being the best characterized. WHAT THE
      READER WILL GAIN: Currently, there is no evidence for a direct implication of
      regulatory T cells in the evolution of hepatitis, especially concerning chronic
      infection, cirrhosis late stage and HCC progress. However, recent studies show
      that regulatory T cells are implicated in the modulation of HBV- and HCV
      associated immune response, thus, promoting HCC progress. TAKE HOME MESSAGE:
      Therefore, nTreg and Tr1 cells seem to play an important role in the control of
      immune response leading to chronic hepatitis infection and progression of the
      pathology to cirrhosis and HCC.

PMID- 20932227
TI  - The P413L chromogranin B variation in French patients with sporadic amyotrophic
      lateral sclerosis.
AB  - Chromogranins interact with mutant forms of superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1)
      responsible for a portion of familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). A
      particular variation (P413L) in the chromogranin B gene, CHGB, has been recently
      associated with an earlier age at onset in both familial and sporadic ALS. The
      aim of our study was to evaluate the P413L chromogranin variation in French
      patients with sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. We developed a High
      Resolution DNA Melting (HRM) protocol to analyse the P413L variation in the CHGB
      gene in 540 French patients with sporadic ALS and 504 controls. The clinical
      characteristics of patients were analysed in relation to their genotype. Results
      showed that our study on a large cohort of French-Caucasian patients with SALS
      and controls failed to confirm an increased frequency of the 413L variant in SALS
      patients. This frequency was 5.3% in the SALS population and 5.5% in the control
      group. Moreover, we did not observe a previous observation of a difference of age
      at onset between T-allele carriers and non-carriers (median age of onset 60.4 vs.
      62.0 years of age, respectively). Thus, our findings do not support the 413L
      variant of rs742710 as a risk factor for sporadic ALS in the French population.

PMID- 20932228
TI  - Acute starvation in C57BL/6J mice increases myocardial UCP2 and UCP3 protein
      expression levels and decreases mitochondrial bio-energetic function.
AB  - Associations between uncoupling protein (UCP) expression and functional changes
      in myocardial mitochondrial bio-energetics have not been well studied during
      periods of starvation stress. Our aim was to study the effects of acute
      starvation, for 24 or 48 h, on combined cardiac mitochondrial function and UCP
      expression in mice. Isolated heart mitochondria from female mice starved for 48 h
      compared to that from mice fed revealed a significantly (p < 0.05) decreased
      adenosine diphosphate-to-oxygen ratio, a significantly increased proton leak and
      an increased GTP inhibition on palmitic acid-induced state 4 oxygen consumption
      (p < 0.05). These bio-energetic functional changes were associated with increases
      in mitochondrial UCP2 and UCP3 protein expression. In conclusion, our findings
      suggest that increased UCP2 and UCP3 levels may contribute to decreased
      myocardial mitochondrial bio-energetic function due to starvation.

PMID- 20932229
TI  - Personal care products and endocrine disruption: A critical review of the
      literature.
AB  - This article reviews laboratory and epidemiological research into the endocrine
      disruptive effects of components of personal care products, namely, phthalate
      esters, parabens, ultraviolet (UV) filters, polycyclic musks, and antimicrobials.
      High doses of phthalates in utero can produce &#x201C;phthalate syndrome,&#x201D;
      demasculinizing effects in male rat offspring due to impaired testosterone
      production by fetal testes. However, evidence linking phthalate exposure to
      similar effects in humans appears inconclusive. Furthermore, phthalate exposure
      derived from personal care products is within safe limits and its principal
      bioavailable phthalate, diethyl phthalate (DEP), does not produce
      &#x201C;phthalate syndrome.&#x201D; Parabens exhibit very weak estrogen activity
      in vitro and in vivo, but evidence of paraben-induced developmental and
      reproductive toxicity in vivo lacks consistency and physiological coherence.
      Evidence attempting to link paraben exposure with human breast cancer is
      nonexistent. Select UV filters at high doses produce estrogenic, antithyroid, and
      other effects in rats in vivo. Again, no evidence links UV filter exposure to
      endocrine disruptive effects in humans. Some polycyclic musks weakly bind to
      estrogen, androgen, or progestin receptors and exhibit primarily antagonistic
      activity in vitro, which for the most part, has yet to be confirmed in vivo in
      mammals. The antimicrobials triclocarban and triclosan evoke weak responses
      mediated by aryl hydrocarbon, estrogen, and androgen receptors in vitro, which
      require confirmation in vivo. Preliminary observations suggest a novel
      interaction between triclocarban and testosterone. In conclusion, although select
      constituents exhibit interactions with the endocrine system in the laboratory,
      the evidence linking personal care products to endocrine disruptive effects in
      humans is for the most part lacking.

PMID- 20932230
TI  - Biphasic interactions between a cationic dendrimer and actin.
AB  - Gene delivery systems face the problem not only of the route toward the cell and
      tissues in question, but also of the molecularly crowded environment of both the
      cytoplasm and the nucleus itself. One of the physical barriers in the cytoplasm
      for diffusing nanoparticles is an actin network. Here, we describe the finding
      that a self-fluorescent sixth generation cationic dendrimer (6 nm in diameter)
      interacts reversibly and possibly electrostatically with actin filaments in
      vitro. Not only does this interaction slow the diffusion of the dendrimer but it
      also affects actin polymerization in a biphasic manner. At low concentrations the
      dendrimer behaves like a G-binding actin protein, retarding actin polymerization,
      whereas at high concentrations the dendrimer acts as a nucleating protein
      accelerating the polymerization. Thus in vivo the diffusion of a dendrimer
      carrier such as this has both physical and chemical elements: by decreasing
      polymerization it might accelerate its own transport, and by enhancing actin
      polymerization retard it. This finding suggests that such a dendrimer may have a
      role as an anticancer agent through its inhibitory effect on actin
      polymerization.

PMID- 20932231
TI  - Targeted delivery of large fusion protein into hippocampal neurons by systemic
      administration.
AB  - Targeted delivery of proteins into the hippocampus has not yet been achieved.
      Here, we show that systemic administration of the beta-galactosidase, fused to a
      43-amino-acid peptide derived from rabies virus glycoprotein (RVG), results in
      targeted delivery of the fusion protein into the hippocampal neurons. This
      approach may enable the development of protein therapy for neurodegenerative
      diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease. This result may open new possibilities in
      using neurotropic virus glycoprotein-derived peptides for targeted delivery of
      therapeutic molecules into local brain regions.

PMID- 20932232
TI  - Wheelchair propulsion biomechanics and wheelers' quality of life: an exploratory
      review.
AB  - PURPOSE. To provide an overview of associations between wheelchair propulsion
      biomechanics for both everyday and racing wheelchairs, wheeling-related upper
      limb injuries, and quality of life of manual wheelchair users through a synthesis
      of the available information. METHODS. A search of publications was carried out
      in PubMed and SportsDiscus databases. Studies on wheelchair propulsion
      biomechanics, upper limb injuries associated with wheelchair propulsion and
      quality of life of wheelchair users were identified. Relevant articles cited in
      identified articles but not cited in PubMed or SportsDiscus were also included.
      RESULTS. Wheelchair sports participation has positive impact on quality of life
      and research in racing wheelchair biomechanics can indirectly promote the
      visibility of wheelchair sports. The impact of pushrim-activated power-assisted
      wheelchairs (a hybrid between manual and battery-powered wheelchairs) and geared
      manual wheels on wheelers' everyday life were discussed. CONCLUSIONS. The study
      of wheelchair propulsion biomechanics focuses on how a wheelchair user imparts
      power to the wheels to achieve mobility and the accumulated knowledge can help to
      improve wheelchair users' mobility, reduce physical stress associated with
      wheelchair propulsion, and as a result, enhance quality of life.

PMID- 20932233
TI  - Functioning and disability in stroke.
AB  - PURPOSE: To describe functioning and disability in patients with stroke according
      to the model endorsed by the International Classification of Functioning
      Disability and Health (ICF) in a rehabilitation hospital. METHODS: Adult patients
      with stroke were consecutively enrolled. The Functional Independence Measure
      (FIM) and the WHO Disability Assessment Schedule II (WHO-DAS II) were
      administered in individual sessions. ICF checklist was applied on the basis of
      medical documentation and rehabilitation team meetings. Descriptive analyses were
      performed to report on FIM and WHO-DAS II scores. ICF categories reported as a
      problem by more than 20% of patients were described in detail. RESULTS: Patients
      (197 in total) were mainly men, aged about 60, with average FIM score of 75.
      Within ICF Body Functions component 32 categories were applied in at least 20% of
      the patients, 5 within Body Structures, 27 within Activities and Participation
      and 7 within Environmental Factors. CONCLUSIONS: ICF represents a new integrative
      tool to help professionals dealing with stroke. The checklist captures the
      various sequels of stroke in terms of impairments, activity limitations and
      participation restrictions. It shows the extensive need for rehabilitation,
      whereby it facilitates consideration of the patient' needs.

PMID- 20932234
TI  - Bioengineering assessment of acupuncture, part 8: innovative moxibustion.
AB  - The actual Chinese character for acupuncture, translated literally, means
      "acupuncture-moxibustion." This shows the enormous importance of moxibustion in
      Asia for thousands of years. In this review article, the history of the burning
      of mugwort (moxatherapy) is briefly described. In addition, new technical methods
      such as new infrared-moxa or laser-moxa devices, electrobian stone moxibustion,
      and the investigations of a new needle-moxa system using high-tech methods such
      as thermography, laser Doppler flowmetry, and laser Doppler imaging are
      presented.

PMID- 20932235
TI  - Quality assessment in magnetic resonance images.
AB  - Assessing quality of medical images is critical because the subsequent course of
      actions depend on it. Extensive use of clinical magnetic resonance (MR) imaging
      warrants a study in image indices used for MR images. The quality of MR images
      assumes particular significance in the determination of their reliability for
      diagnostics, response to therapies, synchronization across different imaging
      cycles, optimization of interventional imaging, and image restoration. In this
      paper, we review various techniques developed for the assessment of MR image
      quality. The reported quality indices can be broadly classified as
      subjective/objective, automatic/semi-automatic, region-of-interest/non-region-of
      interest-based, full-reference/no-reference and HVS incorporated/non-HVS
      incorporated. The trade-of across the various indices lies in the computational
      complexity, assumptions, repeatability, and resemblance to human perception.
      Because images are eventually viewed by the human eye, it is found that it is
      important to incorporate aspects of human visual response, sensitivity, and
      characteristics in computing quality indices. Additionally, no-reference metrics
      are the most relevant due to the lack of availability of a golden standard
      against which images could be compared. Techniques that are objective and
      automatic are preferred for their repeatability and to eliminate avoidable errors
      due to factors like stress, which arise in human intervention.

PMID- 20932237
TI  - Classical approaches and intelligent systems in ventilation management: a survey.
AB  - Ventilation management is the ongoing process of adjusting ventilator support
      according to patients' needs. The present article is a review of the published
      work on the modeling of respiration physiology or the ventilation management
      process for supporting the critical task of ventilation. The focus of the survey
      is the application of soft computing--intelligent methods for the development of
      clinical decision support systems (CDSS). The necessity of CDSS in critical care
      and more specifically in ventilation management is discussed, and important
      characteristics are highlighted.

PMID- 20932236
TI  - Molecular networks in drug discovery.
AB  - Despite the dramatic increase of global spending on drug discovery and
      development, the approval rate for new drugs is declining, due chiefly to
      toxicity and undesirable side effects. Simultaneously, the growth of available
      biomedical data in the postgenomic era has provided fresh insight into the nature
      of redundant and compensatory drug-target pathways. This stagnation in drug
      approval can be overcome by the novel concept of polypharmacology, which is built
      on the fundamental concept that drugs modulate multiple targets. Polypharmacology
      can be studied with molecular networks that integrate multidisciplinary concepts
      including cheminformatics, bioinformatics, and systems biology. In silico
      techniques such as structure- and ligand-based approaches can be employed to
      study molecular networks and reduce costs by predicting adverse drug reactions
      and toxicity in the early stage of drug development. By amalgamating strides in
      this informatics-driven era, designing polypharmacological drugs with molecular
      network technology exemplifies the next generation of therapeutics with less of
      target properties and toxicity. In this review, we will first describe the
      challenges in drug discovery, and showcase successes using multitarget drugs
      toward diseases such as cancer and mood disorders. We will then focus on recent
      development of in silico polypharmacology predictions. Finally, our technologies
      in molecular network analysis will be presented.

PMID- 20932238
TI  - Are microfluidics-based blood viscometers ready for point-of-care applications? A
      review.
AB  - In recent years, the engineering of blood viscometers for the diagnosis,
      prognosis, and prevention of cardiovascular and other diseases has been the
      subject of significant research interest. Conventional blood viscometers such as
      rotational viscometers and capillary viscometers typically rely on mechanical
      techniques in quantifying whole-blood viscosity, a process in which resistance to
      blood flow is measured in response to an applied force. The direct applicability
      of conventional viscometers as point-of-care diagnostic and clinical tools is
      subject to several limitations mainly related to their macro-structural features
      that augment the sampling size and reduce portability. The development of new
      fabrication technologies to scale down experimental processes has opened up the
      reality of miniaturizing existing concepts of blood viscometers into microchips,
      and paves the road for future development of blood viscometers. These micro-blood
      viscometers are advantageous because they use very small sample volumes for
      quick, routine clinical purposes. The easy fabrication of microsystems and large
      scale production not only result in a lower cost, but also render these devices
      portable and disposable, both of which are highly desirable for clinical
      applications. The underlying challenges of these devices are associated with red
      blood cell clogging, measurement stability, reliability, and reproducibility. The
      present review discusses the state-of-the-art and emerging trends in the field of
      microfluidics to provide elegant solutions for quantifying blood viscosity with
      vastly improved efficacy and with the potential for use at the patient's bedside.

PMID- 20932239
TI  - Computer-aided diagnosis of knee-joint disorders via vibroarthrographic signal
      analysis: a review.
AB  - The knee is the lower-extremity joint that supports nearly the entire weight of
      the human body. It is susceptible to osteoarthritis and other knee-joint
      disorders caused by degeneration or loss of articular cartilage. The detection of
      a knee-joint abnormality at an early stage is important, because it helps
      increase therapeutic options that may slow down the degenerative process. Imaging
      based arthrographic modalities can provide anatomical images of the joint
      cartilage surfaces, but fail to demonstrate the functional integrity of the
      cartilage. Knee-joint auscultation, by means of recording the vibroarthrographic
      (VAG) signal during bending motion of a knee, could be used to develop a
      noninvasive diagnostic tool. Computer-aided analysis of VAG signals could provide
      quantitative indices for screening of degenerative conditions of the cartilage
      surface and staging of osteoarthritis. In addition, the diagnosis of knee-joint
      pathology by means of VAG signal analysis may reduce the number of semi-invasive
      diagnostic arthroscopic examinations. This article reviews studies related to VAG
      signal analysis, first summarizing the pilot studies that demonstrated the
      diagnostic potential of knee-joint auscultation for the detection of degenerative
      diseases, and then describing the details of recent progress in analysis of VAG
      signals using temporal analysis, frequency-domain analysis, time-frequency
      analysis, and statistical modeling. The decision-making methods used in the
      related studies are summarized, followed by a comparison of the diagnostic
      performance achieved by different pattern classifiers. The final section is a
      perspective on the future and further development of VAG signal analysis.

PMID- 20932240
TI  - Conundrum and therapeutic potential of curcumin in drug delivery.
AB  - Turmeric, the source of the polyphenolic active compound curcumin
      (diferuloylmethane), has been used extensively in traditional medicine since
      ancient times as a household remedy against various diseases, including hepatic
      disorders, cough, sinusitis, rheumatism, and biliary disorders. In the past few
      decades, a number of studies have been done on curcumin showing its potential
      role in treating inflammatory disorders, cardiovascular disease, cancer, AIDS,
      and neurological disorders. However, the main drawback associated with curcumin
      is its poor aqueous solubility and stability in gastrointestinal fluids, which
      leads to poor bioavailability. Multifarious novel drug-delivery approaches,
      including microemulsions, nanoemulsions, liposomes, solid lipid nanoparticles,
      microspheres, solid dispersion, polymeric nanoparticles, and self
      microemulsifying drug-delivery systems have been used to enhance the
      bioavailability and tissue-targeting ability of curcumin. These attempts have
      revealed promising results for enhanced bioavailability and targeting to disease
      such as cancer, but more extensive research on tissue-targeting and stability
      related issues is needed. Tissue targeting and enhanced bioavailability of
      curcumin using novel drug-delivery methods with minimum side effects will in the
      near future bring this promising natural product to the forefront of therapy for
      the treatment of human diseases such as cancer and cardiovascular ailments. We
      provide a detailed analysis of prominent research in the field of curcumin drug
      delivery with special emphasis on bioavailability-enhancement approaches and
      novel drug-delivery system approaches.

PMID- 20932241
TI  - Inhalational therapy for pulmonary arterial hypertension: current status and
      future prospects.
AB  - This review summarizes the pathophysiology and current therapeutic and drug
      delivery strategies for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), a rare but
      devastating disorder of the pulmonary circulation affecting 50,000 to 100,000
      persons in the United States. Chief clinical features of PAH include increased
      mean pulmonary arterial pressure (>25 mm Hg) and right ventricular and smooth
      muscle hypertrophy. A wide variety of agents have been studied for use as anti
      PAH drugs, including prostacyclin analogues, endothelin receptor antagonists, and
      phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors, to name a few. However, a major shortcoming of
      anti-PAH medications is their short half-lives, requiring them to be administered
      via parenteral routes, which lead to undesirable side effects, including systemic
      vasodilation. Inhalational delivery of anti-PAH drugs provides an attractive
      alternative to conventional routes, with ease of administration and minimal
      systemic vasodilation. Recently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved
      inhalable iloprost (Ventavis(r)), a prostacyclin analogue, for PAH treatment.
      Other drugs being studied for their potential in inhalable PAH therapy include
      PGE1, treprostinil, vasoactive intestinal peptide, and fasudil. Controlled
      release inhalable delivery systems for anti-PAH medications have also been
      proposed to facilitate long-term and selective vasodilation of pulmonary
      arteries. Extensive studies are warranted to develop safe and effective drug
      delivery systems that will provide a better quality of life to patients.

PMID- 20932242
TI  - A need for reorganization of the Food and Drug Administration.
AB  - The associate director for science and medicine in the Office of Drug Safety at
      the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Dr. David Graham, reported that the FDA
      was incapable of protecting Americans from unsafe drugs. In testimony to the
      Senate Finance Committee, he stated that the FDA has let the American people down
      and betrayed public trust. Drastic changes and measures within the FDA must be
      made to ensure the safety of American consumers of drugs, products, and medical
      devices. Efforts such as the introduction of the Grassley-Dodd Bill, allowing the
      FDA to order immediate drug recall or increased risk warnings, followed by the
      FDA Safety Act of 2007, are still not enough to ensure the safety and efficacy of
      drugs, biological products, and medical devices that the American public use
      every day. In this report, we describe past and present efforts by congressional
      leaders, FDA representatives, and American citizens to effect changes within the
      FDA in order to protect America from unsafe drugs and medical devices. We
      describe our own struggles in passing a citizen?s petition to ban cornstarch in
      medical gloves, and the lack of response and responsibility that the FDA has
      displayed.

PMID- 20932243
TI  - Revolutionary advances in the diagnosis of vitamin D deficiency.
AB  - Vitamin D deficiency has bee associated with bone diseases, cardiovascular
      diseases, cancer, and multiple sclerosis. Recent clinical studies have pointed
      out that these diseases could be prevented by either adequate sun exposure or
      oral vitamin D3 supplementation. In an effort to prevent these illnesses,
      emergency physicians and other clinicians must be aware of technological advances
      in the measurement of serum concentrations of 25-hydroxyvitamin D. Realizing the
      importance of diagnosing vitamin D deficiency, we reviewed the following advanced
      diagnostic techniques: liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry,
      radioimmunoassay, and DiaSorin's immunochemiluminometric automated analyzer
      LIASION(r). On the basis of this review, we have found that each of these
      diagnostic tests has documented limitations, and therefore we recommend an
      international standardization of these assays to accurately diagnose vitamin D
      deficiency.

PMID- 20932244
TI  - Protective role of zinc in ameliorating arsenic-induced oxidative stress and
      histological changes in rat liver.
AB  - The aim of present work was to gain insight into the role of dietary zinc in
      ameliorating the adverse effects caused by arsenic on rat liver. Male Wistar rats
      received arsenic alone in the form of sodium arsenite in drinking water at a dose
      level of 100 ppm, zinc alone in the form of zinc sulfate in drinking water at a
      dose level of 227 mg/L, or arsenic + zinc treatments in the combined group for a
      total duration of 3 months. Arsenic treatment resulted in a significant increase
      in lipid peroxidase (LPO); however, glutathione (GSH) levels and the activities
      of superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), glutathione
      reductase (GR), and catalase (CAT) were found to be significantly decreased
      following arsenic treatment. Furthermore, arsenic treatment resulted in a
      significant decrease in hepatic zinc levels. Histological studies showed well
      differentiated signs of focal hepatitis, lobular inflammation, prominent
      hepatocyte degeneration, and severe periportal necrosis. Administration of zinc
      to arsenic-treated rats significantly decreased the level of LPO but increased
      the level of GSH compared with arsenic-treated rats. Further, the zinc level and
      activities of SOD, GPx, GR, and CAT were found to be significantly increased
      following zinc treatment. The administration of zinc to arsenic-treated rats
      caused signs of improvement in liver histoarchitecture, but a few focal areas of
      degeneration and necrosis were still occasionally seen. In conclusion, the
      results of this study suggest that zinc can be beneficial against arsenic-induced
      hepatotoxicity in rats.

PMID- 20932245
TI  - Protective effect of Alstonia scholaris against radiation-induced clastogenic and
      biochemical alterations in mice.
AB  - We studied the radioprotective effect of Alstonia scholaris bark extract (ASE) on
      cytogenetic alterations in the form of chromosomal aberrations and micronuclei
      induction in bone marrow. For this purpose, one group of male Swiss albino mice
      was exposed to 2.5 Gy gamma radiation to serve as the irradiated control, while
      the other group received ASE (100 mg/kg bwt/d) orally for 5 consecutive days 30
      min before irradiation to serve as the experimental group. Results indicated that
      dicentrics and chromosomal exchanges were increased at 12 h post-exposure in both
      groups, followed by a gradual decline and then disappearance by d 15 and 7,
      respectively. However, the occurrence of chromatid breaks and acentric fragments
      was also maximum at 12 h, and later decreased without attaining the normal value,
      even up to the last necropsy interval. The percentage of such aberrations was
      significantly less in the ASE-pretreated irradiated animals. The incidence of
      chromosome breaks and centric rings kept increasing up to d 1, but then declined
      gradually and reached zero beginning at d 7; they were significantly lower in the
      ASE-treated irradiated group at the early intervals. A significant decrease in
      glutathione (GSH) and an increase in lipid peroxidation were observed after
      radiation exposure in untreated controls, whereas ASE-pretreated irradiated
      animals exhibited a significant increase in GSH and a decrease in lipid
      peroxidation; however, the values remained below normal. The results from the
      present study suggest that ASE pretreatment provides protection against radiation
      induced chromosomal damage and micronuclei induction in the bone marrow of mice.

PMID- 20932246
TI  - Diallyl disulfide induces caspase-dependent apoptosis via mitochondria-mediated
      intrinsic pathway in B16F-10 melanoma cells by up-regulating p53, caspase-3 and
      down-regulating pro-inflammatory cytokines and nuclear factor-kappabeta-mediated
      Bcl-2 activation.
AB  - Diallyl disulfide (DADS) is a major organo-sulfur compound derived from garlic
      (Allium sativum), which inhibits the proliferation of various types of cancer
      cells. In this study we investigated the effect of DADS on the induction of
      apoptosis, as well as its regulatory effect on the activation of transcription
      factors in B16F-10 melanoma cells. Treatment of B16F-10 cells with nontoxic
      concentrations of DADS resulted in the presence of apoptotic bodies and induced
      DNA fragmentation in a dose-dependent manner. Cell-cycle analysis revealed that
      the occurrence of the sub-G1 peak was significantly elevated in DADS-treated
      cells. DADS treatment also down-reguated Bcl-2 expression and up-regulated p53,
      caspase-9, and caspase-3 expression in B16F-10 melanoma cells. The study also
      reveals that DADS inhibited the activation and nuclear translocation of p65, p50,
      and c-Rel subunits of nuclear factor (NF)-B and other transcription factors, such
      as c-fos, activated transcription factor-2, and cyclic adenosine monophosphate
      response element-binding protein, in B16F-10 melanoma cells The pro-inflammatory
      cytokine production and gene expression of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha,
      interleukin (IL)-1beta, IL-6, and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating
      factor (GM-CSF) were down-regulated in DADS-treated cells compared with control
      B16F-10 metastatic melanoma cells. DADS induces caspase-dependent apoptosis
      through a mitochondria-mediated intrinsic pathway in B16F-10 melanoma cells by
      activating p53 and caspase-3 gene expression and suppressing pro-inflammatory
      cytokines and NF-B-mediated Bcl-2 activation.

PMID- 20932247
TI  - Anti-tumor activity of Aloe vera against DMBA/croton oil-induced skin
      papillomagenesis in Swiss albino mice.
AB  - Human populations are increasingly exposed to various carcinogens such as
      chemicals, radiation, and viruses in the environment. Chemopreventive drugs of
      plant origin are a promising strategy for cancer control because they are
      generally nontoxic or less toxic than synthetic che-mopreventive agents, and can
      be effective at different stages of carcinogenesis. The present investigation was
      undertaken to explore the antitumor activity of topical treatment with aloe vera
      (Aloe vera) gel, oral treatment with aloe vera extract, and topical and oral
      treatment with both gel and extract in stage-2 skin carcinogenesis in Swiss
      albino mice induced by 7,12-dim ethylbenz(a)anthracene (DMBA) and promoted croton
      (Croton tiglium) oil. The animals were randomly divided into 4 groups and treated
      as follows: Group I, DMBA + croton oil only (controls); Group II, DMBA + croton
      oil + topical aloe vera gel; Group III, DMBA + croton oil + oral aloe vera
      extract; Group I V, DMBA + croton oil + topical aloe vera gel + oral aloe vera
      extract. Results showed that body weight was significantly increased from 78.6%
      in the control group (Group I) to 92.5%, 87.5%, and 90.0% in Groups II, III, and
      I V, respectively. A 100% incidence of tumor development was noted in Group I,
      which was decreased to 50%, 60%, and 40% in Groups II, III, and I V,
      respectively. Also in Groups II, III, and IV, the cumulative number of papillomas
      was reduced significantly from 36 to 12, 15, and 11; tumor yield from 3.6 to 1.2,
      1.5, and 1.1; and tumor burden from 3.6 to 2.4, 2.50, and 2.75, respectively,
      after treatment with aloe vera. Conversely, the average latent period increased
      significantly from 4.9 (Group I) to 5.23, 5.0, and 6.01 weeks in Groups II, III,
      and I V, respectively. We conclude that aloe vera protects mice against
      DMBA/croton oil-induced skin papillomagenesis, likely due to the chemopreventive
      activity of high concentrations of antioxidants such as vitamins A, C, and E;
      glutathione peroxidase; several isozymes of superoxide dismutase; the minerals
      selenium and zinc; and polysaccharides in aloe vera.

PMID- 20932248
TI  - Regulation and gene expression of heme synthesis under heavy metal exposure-
      review.
AB  - Environmental pollution of heavy metals is very abundant nowadays from industry,
      chemicals, old paints, and pipes or resulting from previous contaminants
      accumulating in the food chain. Most of the iron demands of the body are needed
      for heme synthesis and assembly, but iron is also required for Fe-S cluster
      proteins and other redox enzymes. Heme is an essential, iron-binding molecule
      used as a prosthetic group of hemoproteins or as a regulator in multiple cellular
      pathways. In this review, we focused on the effect of exposure to heavy metals,
      such as Pb, Ga, Cu, Kd, Hg and Al, on heme synthesis as the main iron
      sequestering process of the human body. These metals compete with iron on
      transporters, reduce the cellular iron pool and moreover, bind to proteins, and
      cause physical and mental disturbances. Heavy metals mainly impair various
      aspects of the heme synthesis pathway: gene expression, enzyme activity, and iron
      integration into protoporphyrin IX. Main risk factors are described as well as
      effects on iron dependent processes in order to increase public awareness to the
      distribution of heavy metals in our close environment and the harsh consequences
      of exposure, even in low doses.

PMID- 20932249
TI  - Endotoxin contamination of Agaricus blazei Murrill extract enhances murine
      immunologic responses and inhibits the growth of sarcoma 180 implants in vivo.
AB  - Agaricus blazei Murrill, a native mushroom of Brazil, has been reported to be an
      immunoreactant with anti-tumor effect. There are many reports on the anti-tumor
      effect of Agaricus blazei Murrill; however, the precise mechanism of its effect
      is not fully understood. In this study, we tried to confirm the anti-tumor effect
      of Agaricus blazei Murrill against Sarcoma 180 cells in a mouse model and found
      that an inhibitory effect on tumor growth was induced by peritoneal injection of
      a freeze-dried, hot water extract of Agaricus blazei Murrill (FAG). We noted that
      there were differences among each sample in terms of anti-tumor activity. We
      hypothesized that this was because some contaminants of FAG were affecting the
      anti-tumor activity. We evaluated cytokine secretion from mouse peritoneal cells
      incubated with FAG. While high interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha
      secretions were observed in response to crude FAG, they were dramatically
      decreased by the removal of endotoxin from the FAG using an endotoxin-specific
      polymyxin B-conjugated affinity column. The reductions were synergistically
      recovered by adding an amount of lipopolysaccharide equivalent to the amount of
      contaminated endotoxin. Thus, these data suggest that the contaminated endotoxin
      of Agaricus blazei Murrill may act as an immunomodulator of anti-tumor activity.

PMID- 20932250
TI  - Molecular structure of transient receptor potential vanilloid type 1 ion channel
      (TRPV1).
AB  - Elaboration of the structure of TRPV1 and its functional relationship with
      channel activity is a work in progress, with much remaining to be done before the
      structure-function relationship of TRPV1 is comprehensively elicited. The result
      is that the present state of knowledge can reasonably be described as a patch
      work of insightful data where major deficits in knowledge remain and where
      meaningful general conclusions cannot be reliably drawn. This is unfortunate,
      given that this ion channel has been convincingly implicated in a wide range of
      physiological functions and pathological conditions. Moreover, the development of
      therapeutic strategies which target TRPV1 depends on the knowledge of this
      receptor's structure and its relationship with channel function. Here, we offer a
      description of the present state of knowledge in relation to this complex
      subject.

PMID- 20932251
TI  - A "cute" desensitization of TRPV1.
AB  - Capsaicin and other vanilloids selectively excite and subsequently desensitize
      pain-conducting nerve fibers (nociceptors) and this process contributes to the
      analgesic (and thus therapeutically relevant) effects of these compounds. Such a
      desensitization process is triggered by the activation of the transient receptor
      potential vanilloid subtype 1 receptor channels (TRPV1) that open their cationic
      pores, permeable to sodium, potassium and calcium (Ca(2+)) ions. Depending on the
      duration of capsaicin exposure and the external calcium concentration, the Ca(2+)
      influx via TRPV1 channels desensitizes the channels themselves, which, from the
      cellular point of view, represents a feedback mechanism protecting the
      nociceptive neuron from toxic Ca(2+) overload. The 'acute desensitization'
      accounts for most of the reduction in responsiveness occurring within the first
      few (~20) seconds after the vanilloids are administered to the cell for the first
      time. Another form of desensitization is 'tachyphylaxis', which is a reduction in
      the response to repeated applications of vanilloid. The wealth of pathways
      following TRPV1 activation that lead to increased intracellular Ca(2+) levels and
      both forms of desensitization is huge and they might utilise just about every
      known type of signalling molecule. This review will not attempt to cover all
      historical aspects of research into all these processes. Instead, it will try to
      highlight some new challenging thoughts on the important phenomenon of TRPV1
      desensitization and will focus on the putative mechanisms that are thought to
      account for the acute phase of this process.

PMID- 20932252
TI  - Possible consequences of blocking transient receptor potential vanilloid.
AB  - The cloning of the first sensory Transient Receptor Potential (TRP) channel,
      TRPVanilloid 1 (TRPV1) in 1997, initiated a new era of pain research and
      coincided with the Decade of Pain Control and Research promulgated by the United
      States Congress. When cloned, TRPV1 channel was shown to be predominantly
      expressed in nociceptors (C- and Adelta-fibers) and are activated by physical and
      chemical stimuli. Channel function can be amplified by transcriptional
      upregulation and posttranslational modification by proinflammatory agents.
      Indeed, TRPV1 gene disruption confirms that it is involved in transmitting
      inflammatory thermal hypersensitivity, but not acute thermal or mechanical pain
      sensitivity. Based on its distribution and functions, TRPV1 is considered as an
      ideal target for developing small molecule antagonists. Now, there is a growing
      body of evidence that TRPV1 is expressed in non-sensory neurons and non-neuronal
      cells. This raises the possibility of unwanted effects that may result from
      targeting TRPV1. A major consequence of TRPV1 blockade that has come to light in
      clinical trials following administration of antagonists is hyperthermia. This
      observation has threatened the abandonment of TRPV1 antagonists, although they
      are proven to be useful in certain modalities of pain. In this review, we will
      discuss the expression and functions of TRPV1 in various organ systems and
      highlight the consequences that might be associated with blocking the receptor.

PMID- 20932253
TI  - TRPV1 function in health and disease.
AB  - The transient receptor potential vanilloid type 1 ion channel (TRPV1) was
      identified as a receptor responsible for mediating the intense burning sensation
      following exposure to heat greater than approximately 43 degrees C., or
      capsaicin, the pungent ingredient of hot chilli peppers. More importantly,
      however, it has been shown that TRPV1 plays a pivotal role in the development of
      the burning pain sensation associated with inflammation in peripheral tissues.
      More recently, there has been a virtual avalanche of sightings of TRPV1 on the
      anatomical landscape, coupled with association of TRPV1 with a wide range of non
      pain-related physiological and pathological conditions. Here, we consider the
      continuously expanding set of functions in both health and disease which TRPV1 is
      understood to subserve at present. The widespread expression of TRPV1 in the
      human suggests that, in addition to the development of burning pain associated
      with acute exposure to heat or capsaicin, and with inflammation, TRPV1 may also
      be involved in an array of vitally important functions, such as those of the
      urinary tract, the respiratory and auditory systems. Moreover, TRPV1 could also
      be involved in the maintenance of body and cell homeostasis, metabolism,
      regulation of hair growth, and development of cancer. Thus, controlling TRPV1
      function may possess the potential of providing exciting opportunities for
      therapeutic interventions. At the same time, however, the widespread distribution
      of these ion channels introduces a tremendous complication in developing a drug
      to serve in one disease context which may have profound implications for normal
      TRPV1 functioning in other non-pathological contexts.

PMID- 20932254
TI  - TRPV1 and synaptic transmission.
AB  - Transient Receptor Potential Vanilloid Type 1 is a prominent "pain" receptor
      expressed in sensory afferent neurons. TRPV1 on peripheral nerve terminals
      detects a variety of noxious stimuli generated at sites of injury and
      inflammation, and in turn, drives the excitation and sensitization of C-fibers
      neurons. Significantly, TRPV1 is also located on the central terminals of sensory
      neurons projecting to the spinal cord and brainstem. These TRPV1 channels appear
      to stimulate the secretion of glutamate. Further, TRPV1 is expressed diffusely in
      the brain and there is emerging evidence for TRPV1 modulating transmission at
      various brain synapses. Here we discuss our current understanding of the
      potential roles for TRPV1 in synaptic transmission.

PMID- 20932255
TI  - Regulation of nociceptive transmission at the periphery via TRPA1-TRPV1
      interactions.
AB  - TRPV1 and TRPA1 have traditionally been considered to function independently from
      each other as homomers, but their extensive co-expression in sensory neurons and
      recent evidence suggest that these channels can functionally interact and may
      form a complex as part of their normal function. Although TRPA1 and TRPV1 do not
      absolutely require interaction to maintain function in expression systems or even
      sensory neurons, their heteromerization may still result in dramatic effects on
      channel biophysical properties, pharmacology, signaling, regulation, and
      ultimately function. Understanding the regulation and functional significance of
      TRPA1-TRPV1 interaction is of tremendous clinical importance since first, both
      channels are the potential molecular targets for numerous therapeutic drugs; and
      second, TRPA1-TRPV1 co-expression is far more specific for nociceptive sensory
      neurons than expression patterns of TRPA1 or TRPV1 considered separately.

PMID- 20932256
TI  - TRPM8, a sensor for mild cooling in mammalian sensory nerve endings.
AB  - Temperature sensing is a crucial feature of the nervous system, enabling
      organisms to avoid physical danger and choose optimal environments for survival.
      TRPM8 (Transient Receptor Potential Melastatin type 8) belongs to a select group
      of ion channels which are gated by changes in temperature, are expressed in
      sensory nerves and/or skin cells and may be involved in temperature sensing. This
      channel is activated by a moderate decrease in temperature, with a threshold of
      approximately 25  degrees C in heterologous expression systems, and by a variety
      of natural and synthetic compounds, including menthol. While the physiological
      role of TRPM8 as a transducer of gentle cooling is widely accepted, its
      involvement in acute noxious cold sensing in healthy tissues is still under
      debate. Although accumulating evidence indicates that TRPM8 is involved in
      neuropathic cold allodynia, in some animal models of nerve injury peripheral and
      central activation of TRPM8 is followed by analgesia. A variety of inflammatory
      mediators, including bradykinin and prostaglandin E(2), modulate TRPM8 by
      inhibiting the channel and shifting its activation threshold to colder
      temperatures, most likely counteracting the analgesic action of TRPM8. While
      important progress has been made in unraveling the biophysical features of TRPM8,
      including the revelation of its voltage dependence, the precise mechanism
      involved in temperature sensing by this channel is still not completely
      understood. This article will review the current status of knowledge regarding
      the (patho)physiological role(s) of TRPM8, its modulation by inflammatory
      mediators, the signaling pathways involved in this regulation, and the
      biophysical properties of the channel.

PMID- 20932257
TI  - TRPM8: from cold to cancer, peppermint to pain.
AB  - Temperature perception is vital for cellular and metabolic homeostasis,
      avoidance, and survival. In the primary afferent nerve terminal, select members
      of the transient receptor potential (TRP) family of ion channels reside and
      convert thermal stimuli into neuronal activity. The cold and menthol receptor,
      TRPM8, is the predominant thermoceptor for cellular and behavioral responses to
      cold temperatures. Remarkably, this single molecular sensor of cold, that
      responds at a discrete thermal threshold in vitro (approximately 28 degrees C),
      enables sensory afferents to respond to distinct, yet varied thermal thresholds
      (approximately 28 to <5 degrees C). Thus, unlike other thermally-gated TRP
      channels which are activated at either innocuous or noxious temperatures, TRPM8
      provides perception of both pleasantly cool and painfully cold. In addition to
      this diversity in sensory signaling, TRPM8 has an emerging role in a variety of
      biological systems, including thermoregulation, cancer, bladder function, and
      asthma. Here we summarize some key points related to TRPM8 and its potential as a
      drug target to treat a wide variety of physiological conditions. Nonetheless, it
      remains to be seen how this single "cool" molecule can serve in such a multitude
      of biological processes.

PMID- 20932258
TI  - The emerging pharmacology of TRPM8 channels: hidden therapeutic potential
      underneath a cold surface.
AB  - Transient receptor potential melastatin 8 (TRPM8) is a non-selective cation
      channel activated by cold temperature and cooling agents. TRPM8 is expressed in a
      subpopulation of cold-sensitive sensory neurons, as well as in the male
      urogenital system. TRPM8 is markedly upregulated in prostate cancer and in other
      tumors such as breast adenocarcinoma and melanoma. Moreover, recent studies
      suggest the potential involvement of TRPM8 channels in the pathophysiology of
      cold nociception and cold allodynia. This has led to a strong interest in the
      pursuit of novel modulators of TRPM8 channels. This review highlights our current
      knowledge of TRPM8 pharmacology and modulation mechanisms, detailing structural
      features important for TRPM8 gating by different agonists, the mechanism of
      antagonism by different compounds and the potential relevance of TRPM8 for
      treatment of various pathological conditions.

PMID- 20932259
TI  - TRPM6 and TRPM7: A Mul-TRP-PLIK-cation of channel functions.
AB  - Unique among ion channels, TRPM6 and TRPM7 garnered much interest upon their
      discovery as the first ion channels to possess their own kinase domain. Soon
      after their identification, the two proteins were quickly linked to the
      regulation of magnesium homeostasis. However, study of their physiological
      functions in mouse and zebrafish have revealed expanding roles for these channel
      kinases that include skeletogenesis and melanopore formation, thymopoiesis, cell
      adhesion, and neural fold closure during early development. In addition,
      mutations in the TRPM6 gene constitute the underlying genetic defect in
      hypomagnesemia with secondary hypocalcemia, a rare autosomal-recessive disease
      characterized by low serum magnesium accompanied by hypocalcemia. Depletion of
      TRPM7 expression in brain, on the other hand, proved successful in mitigating
      much of the cellular devastation that accompanies oxygen-glucose deprivation
      during ischemia. The aim of this review is to summarize the data emerging from
      molecular genetic, biochemical, electrophysiological, and pharmacological studies
      of these unique channel-kinases.

PMID- 20932260
TI  - TRP channels in the digestive system.
AB  - Several of the 28 mammalian transient receptor potential (TRP) channel subunits
      are expressed throughout the alimentary canal where they play important roles in
      taste, chemo- and mechanosensation, thermoregulation, pain and hyperalgesia,
      mucosal function and homeostasis, control of motility by neurons, interstitial
      cells of Cajal and muscle cells, and vascular function. While the implications of
      some TRP channels, notably TRPA1, TRPC4, TRPM5, TRPM6, TRPM7, TRPV1, TRPV4, and
      TRPV6, have been investigated in much detail, the understanding of other TRP
      channels in their relevance to digestive function lags behind. The polymodal
      chemo- and mechanosensory function of TRPA1, TRPM5, TRPV1 and TRPV4 is
      particularly relevant to the alimentary canal whose digestive and absorptive
      function depends on the surveillance and integration of many chemical and
      physical stimuli. TRPV5 and TRPV6 as well as TRPM6 and TRPM7 appear to be
      essential for the absorption of Ca(2+) and Mg(2+), respectively, while TRPM7
      appears to contribute to the pacemaker activity of the interstitial cells of
      Cajal, and TRPC4 transduces smooth muscle contraction evoked by muscarinic
      acetylcholine receptor activation. The implication of some TRP channels in
      pathological processes has raised enormous interest in exploiting them as a
      therapeutic target. This is particularly true for TRPV1, TRPV4 and TRPA1, which
      may be targeted for the treatment of several conditions of chronic abdominal
      pain. Consequently, blockers of these TRP channels have been developed, and their
      clinical usefulness has yet to be established.

PMID- 20932262
TI  - Sub-cellular distribution and translocation of TRP channels.
AB  - Cellular electrical activity is the result of a highly complex processes that
      involve the activation of ion channel proteins. Ion channels make pores on cell
      membranes that rapidly transit between conductive and non-conductive states,
      allowing different ions to flow down their electrochemical gradients across cell
      membranes. In the case of neuronal cells, ion channel activity orchestrates
      action potentials traveling through axons, enabling electrical communication
      between cells in distant parts of the body. Somatic sensation -our ability to
      feel touch, temperature and noxious stimuli- require ion channels able to sense
      and respond to our peripheral environment. Sensory integration involves the
      summing of various environmental cues and their conversion into electrical
      signals. Members of the Transient Receptor Potential (TRP) family of ion channels
      have emerged as important mediators of both cellular sensing and sensory
      integration. The regulation of the spatial and temporal distribution of membrane
      receptors is recognized as an important mechanism for controlling the magnitude
      of the cellular response and the time scale on which cellular signaling occurs.
      Several studies have shown that this mechanism is also used by TRP channels to
      modulate cellular response and ultimately fulfill their physiological function as
      sensors. However, the inner-working of this mode of control for TRP channels
      remains poorly understood. The question of whether TRPs intrinsically regulate
      their own vesicular trafficking or weather the dynamic regulation of TRP channel
      residence on the cell surface is caused by extrinsic changes in the rates of
      vesicle insertion or retrieval remain open. This review will examine the evidence
      that sub-cellular redistribution of TRP channels plays an important role in
      regulating their activity and explore the mechanisms that control the trafficking
      of vesicles containing TRP channels.

PMID- 20932261
TI  - Pharmacological modulation of diacylglycerol-sensitive TRPC3/6/7 channels.
AB  - Members of the classic type of transient receptor potential channels (TRPC)
      represent important molecules involved in hormonal signal transduction. TRPC3/6/7
      channels are of particular interest as they are components of phospholipase C
      driven signalling pathways. Upon receptor-activation, G-protein-mediated
      stimulation of phospholipase C results in breakdown of phosphatidylinositides
      leading to increased intracellular diacylglycerol and inositol-trisphosphate
      levels. Diacylglycerol activates protein kinase C, but more interestingly
      diacylglycerol directly activates TRPC2/3/6/7 channels. Molecular cloning,
      expression and characterization of TRP channels enabled reassignment of
      traditional inhibitors of receptor-dependent calcium entry such as SKF-96365 and
      2-APB as blockers of TRPC3/6/7 and several members of non-classic TRP channels.
      Furthermore, several enzyme inhibitors have also been identified as TRP channel
      blockers, such as ACA, a phospholipase A(2) inhibitor, and W-7, a calmodulin
      antagonist. Finally, the naturally occurring secondary plant compound hyperforin
      has been identified as TRPC6-selective drug, providing an exciting proof of
      concept that it is possible to generate TRPC-selective channel modulators. The
      description of Pyr3 as the first TRPC3-selective inhibitor shows that not only
      nature but also man is able to generate TRP-selective modulators. The review
      summarizes the data on pharmacological modification of TRPC3/6/7. Sheds lights on
      the current knowledge and historical development of pharmacological modulators of
      TRPC3/6/7. Our analysis indicates that Pyr3 and hyperforin provide promising core
      structures for the development of new, skeletive and more potent modulators of
      TRPC3/6/7 activity.

PMID- 20932263
TI  - Methodological considerations to understand the sensory function of TRP channels.
AB  - Transient Receptor Potential channels are exquisite molecular transducers of
      multiple physical and chemical stimuli, hence the raising interest to study their
      relevance to Sensory Biology. Here we discuss a number of aspects of the
      biophysical and pharmacological properties of TRP channels, which we consider
      essential for a clear understanding of their sensory function in vivo. By
      examining concrete examples extracted from recent literature we illustrate that
      TRP channel research is a field in motion, and that many established dogmas on
      biophysical properties, drug specificity and physiological role are continuously
      reshaped, and sometimes even dismantled.

PMID- 20932264
TI  - Exercise and cardiovascular disease.
AB  - Cardiovascular disease is the main cause of death in the United States. Although
      it is recognized that moderate intensity long-term exercise can decrease the
      chances of dying from cardiovascular disease by favorably modifying risk factors
      such as hypertension, obesity, hyperlipidemia, and insulin resistance, physical
      activity also enhances longevity by mechanisms independent of these risk factors.
      This review briefly summarizes what is known about the inflammatory nature of
      atherosclerosis and how long-term aerobic exercise can reduce the atherogenic
      activity of endothelial cells, blood mononuclear cells, and adipose tissue.

PMID- 20932265
TI  - Atherosclerotic coronary heart disease-epidemiology, classification and
      management.
AB  - Atherosclerotic coronary heart disease (CHD) is a major health problem worldwide.
      Epidemiological studies have identified the role of several modifiable and non
      modifiable risk factors in the pathogenesis of CHD. Aggressive risk modification
      has led to a significant improvement in the morbidity and mortality from CHD.
      However, there is a growing need to identify better modalities of risk prediction
      in CHD. Many of these newer risk markers, currently under evaluation, are based
      on the newer concept that atherosclerosis is more than merely a problem of lipid
      imbalance. There has been a recent shift in the paradigm towards inflammation and
      oxidative stress as the key drivers in the pathophysiology of atherosclerosis and
      its complications. Further understanding of this complex interplay of lipid and
      inflammatory factors is likely to pave way to a better understanding of this
      disease and its myriad complications.

PMID- 20932266
TI  - Atrial fibrillation: the emerging role of inflammation and oxidative stress.
AB  - Atrial fibrillation (AF) remains the most commonly encountered sustained
      arrhythmia in clinical practice and contributes to increased morbidity and
      mortality. Management of AF poses a challenge due to the refractory nature of the
      arrhythmia and the associated thromboembolic complications. Recent studies have
      implicated both systemic and local cardiac inflammation in the development as
      well as persistence of AF. This has been validated by the occurrence of high
      levels of systemic markers of inflammation in patients with post operative as
      well as chronic AF. High levels of markers of oxidative stress have also been
      found in patients with chronic AF when compared with controls, indicating a role
      of systemic reactive oxidative species in the perpetuation of this arrhythmia.
      Renin angiotension system (RAS) is believed to be unregulated in AF and may
      contribute to the pathogenesis of AF by producing a state of cardiac or systemic
      oxidative stress and /or inflammation. In this review, we aim to discuss the
      emerging evidence linking inflammation, and oxidative stress with AF.

PMID- 20932267
TI  - The inflammation paradigm and coronary artery disease: What Celsus, Virchow and
      gene knock outs have taught us.
AB  - Atherosclerotic vascular disease is a major cause of morbidity and mortality
      throughout the world. The clinical manifestations include coronary artery disease
      and myocardial infarction, cerebrovascular disease, renovascular disease and
      peripheral vascular disease. Initially considered a bland occlusive disease
      mediated to a great extent by lipids, atherosclerosis can now be considered an
      inflammatory disease, in its own right. This has led to a paradigm shift in
      disease management. We have come a long way since the time of Celsus, Galen,
      Virchow, Rokitansky and others when the components of the inflammatory cascade
      were first described. The development of mouse knock out models, improved
      molecular approaches to studying atheromatous blood vessels and development of
      sophisticated imaging and biomarker studies have enhanced our understanding of
      the molecular pathways in atherosclerosis. This brief review will attempt to
      weave together the historical, biochemical, immunological and molecular
      developments that have led to our current understanding of a deadly but treatable
      and potentially preventable disease.

PMID- 20932268
TI  - Homocysteine, cardiovascular inflammation, and myocardial remodeling.
AB  - Chronic heart failure is a major public health problem causing considerable
      morbidity and mortality. Recent studies have shown that an elevated plasma level
      of homocysteine is a strong independent risk factor for heart failure, in
      addition to atherosclerotic disease. Preclinical studies have demonstrated that
      induced hyperhomocysteinemia acts via multiple pathogenic mechanisms, including
      inflammation and oxidative stress, to promote adverse cardiac remodeling and
      failure. However, clinical studies have not conclusively shown a causative
      relation between hyperhomocysteinemia and cardiovascular disease. This article
      will review current data concerning homocysteine and its pathogenic relationship
      to heart failure.

PMID- 20932270
TI  - Neurology residency training in Europe--the current situation.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Little is known about neurological training curricula in Europe. A
      joint approach by the European Federation of Neurological Societies (EFNS), the
      Union of European Medical Specialists/European Board of Neurology and the
      European Association of Young Neurologist and Trainees was established to explore
      the spectrum of neurology training in Europe. METHODS: In 2006, a questionnaire
      based survey on neurology curricula as well as demographic data was designed by
      WS and WG and distributed by the EFNS to the national delegates of the EFNS,
      which comprises all European countries and Israel. RESULTS: By 2009, delegates
      from 31 of 41 countries (representing 76% of 505 million) had returned the
      questionnaire. A total of 24,165 specialists (46% women) were registered in the
      31 countries. This corresponds to an average of 6.6 neurologists per 100,000
      inhabitants (range 0.9-17.4/100,000 inhabitants). Duration of training in Europe
      was on average 4.9,years, ranging from 3 to 6,years. The number of residents
      interested in neurological training exceeded the amount of available training
      positions. Performance of neurological trainees was regularly assessed in 26
      countries (84%), usually by recurrent clinical evaluation. Board examinations
      were held in 23 countries (74%). Interim examinations were performed in three
      countries, exit examinations in 14 and both interim and exit examination in 6.
      Considerable differences were also found in manpower (0.9-17.4
      neurologists/100,000 inhabitants) and working conditions (e.g. average weekly
      working hours ranging from 30-80 h/month). We found a significant positive
      correlation between manpower and theoretical training hours. CONCLUSION:
      Considerable differences exist in training curricula of European countries. These
      data might provide the basis for European training and quality assurance
      initiatives.

PMID- 20932269
TI  - Atherosclerosis-related functions of C-reactive protein.
AB  - C-reactive protein (CRP) is secreted by hepatocytes as a pentameric molecule made
      up of identical monomers, circulates in the plasma as pentamers, and localizes in
      atherosclerotic lesions. In some cases, localized CRP was detected by using
      monoclonal antibodies that did not react with native pentameric CRP but were
      specific for isolated monomeric CRP. It has been reported that, once CRP is bound
      to certain ligands, the pentameric structure of CRP is altered so that it can
      dissociate into monomers. Accordingly, the monomeric CRP found in atherosclerotic
      lesions may be a stationary, ligand-bound, by-product of a ligand-binding
      function of CRP. CRP binds to modified forms of low-density lipoprotein (LDL).
      The binding of CRP to oxidized LDL requires acidic pH conditions; the binding at
      physiological pH is controversial. The binding of CRP to enzymatically-modified
      LDL occurs at physiological pH; however, the binding is enhanced at acidic pH.
      Using enzymatically-modified LDL, CRP has been shown to prevent the formation of
      enzymatically-modified LDL-loaded macrophage foam cells. CRP is neither pro
      atherogenic nor atheroprotective in ApoE-(/)- and ApoB100(/)100Ldlr -(/)- murine
      models of atherosclerosis, except in one study where CRP was found to be slightly
      atheroprotective in ApoB100(/)100Ldlr -(/)- mice. The reasons for the
      ineffectiveness of human CRP in murine models of atherosclerosis are not defined.
      It is possible that an inflammatory environment, such as those characterized by
      acidic pH, is needed for efficient interaction between CRP and atherogenic LDL
      during the development of atherosclerosis and to observe the possible
      atheroprotective function of CRP in animal models.

PMID- 20932271
TI  - Do-it-yourself genetic testing.
AB  - We developed a computational screen that tests an individual's genome for
      mutations in the BRCA genes, despite the fact that both are currently protected
      by patents.

PMID- 20932272
TI  - Improved healing response in delayed unions of the tibia with low-intensity
      pulsed ultrasound: results of a randomized sham-controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We compared the healing response of tibial delayed unions between
      subjects treated with low-intensity pulsed ultrasound (LIPUS) (n = 51) and
      subjects treated with a sham device (n = 50). Fracture age was >= 4 months in all
      cases. Study personnel and participants were blinded to random treatment
      assignment throughout the study. METHODS: This multi-center randomized sham
      controlled trial was undertaken at six hospitals in Germany. Adult patients who
      had sustained a tibial shaft fracture that subsequently showed inadequate
      progress toward healing (i.e., delayed union) were enrolled and randomized to
      receive either LIPUS (Exogen 2000/2000+, Smith & Nephew GmbH, Schenefeld,
      Germany) or an identical nonoperative sham device. The daily treatment duration
      was 20 minutes, for a period of 16 weeks. Subjects randomly assigned to active
      treatment had the ultrasound pressure wave signal set at the following
      parameters: 1.5 MHz frequency, 1 kHz repetition rate, 200 MUs pulse duration, 30
      mW/cm2 spatial intensity. Progress toward healing was estimated from changes in
      bone mineral density (BMD) and gap area as determined from computed tomography
      scans. Intention-to-treat analysis was conducted using a multiple imputation
      methodology. RESULTS: Based on log-transformed data, mean improvement in BMD was
      1.34 (90% confidence interval (CI) 1.14 to 1.57) times greater for LIPUS-treated
      subjects compared to sham (p = 0.002). A mean reduction in bone gap area also
      favored LIPUS treatment (p = 0.014). CONCLUSIONS: These findings demonstrate
      significantly greater progress toward bone healing after LIPUS treatment compared
      to no LIPUS treatment in subjects with established delayed unions of the tibia.

PMID- 20932273
TI  - Male mate choice scales female ornament allometry in a cichlid fish.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Studies addressing the adaptive significance of female ornamentation
      have gained ground recently. However, the expression of female ornaments in
      relation to body size, known as trait allometry, still remains unexplored. Here,
      we investigated the allometry of a conspicuous female ornament in Pelvicachromis
      taeniatus, a biparental cichlid that shows mutual mate choice and ornamentation.
      Females feature an eye-catching pelvic fin greatly differing from that of males.
      RESULTS: We show that allometry of the female pelvic fin is scaled more
      positively in comparison to other fins. The pelvic fin exhibits isometry, whereas
      the other fins (except the caudal fin) show negative allometry. The size of the
      pelvic fin might be exaggerated by male choice because males prefer female
      stimuli that show a larger extension of the trait. Female pelvic fin size is
      correlated with individual condition, suggesting that males can assess direct and
      indirect benefits. CONCLUSIONS: The absence of positive ornament allometry might
      be a result of sexual selection constricted by natural selection: fins are
      related to locomotion and thus may be subject to viability selection. Our study
      provides evidence that male mate choice might scale the expression of a female
      sexual ornament, and therefore has implications for the understanding of the
      relationship of female sexual traits with body size in species with conventional
      sex-roles.

PMID- 20932274
TI  - Financing the Millennium Development Goals for health and beyond: sustaining the
      'Big Push'.
AB  - Many of the Millennium Development Goals are not being achieved in the world's
      poorest countries, yet only five years remain until the target date. The
      financing of these Goals is not merely insufficient; current evidence indicates
      that the temporary nature of the financing, as well as challenges to coordinating
      its delivery and directing it to the most needy recipients, hinder achievement of
      the Goals in countries that may benefit most. Traditional approaches to providing
      development assistance for health have not been able to address both prevalent
      and emergent public health challenges captured in the Goals; these challenges
      demand sustained forms of financial redistribution through a coordinated
      mechanism. A global social health protection fund is proposed to address
      recurring failures in the modern aid distribution mechanism. Such a Fund could
      use established and effective strategies for aid delivery to mitigate many
      financial problems currently undermining the Millennium Development Goals
      initiative.

PMID- 20932275
TI  - Decisions at the end of life: have we come of age?
AB  - Decision making is a complex process and it is particularly challenging to make
      decisions with, or for, patients who are near the end of their life. Some of
      those challenges will not be resolved - due to our human inability to foresee the
      future precisely and the human proclivity to change stated preferences when faced
      with reality. Other challenges of the decision-making process are manageable.
      This commentary offers a set of approaches which may lead to progress in this
      field. One clearly desirable approach can and should be used more often than it
      is: the routine inclusion of discussions about the goals of care and
      documentation with all patients who have a poor prognosis. The match between a
      patient's goals and the care received should be the gold standard for quality
      palliative care.Planning for future situations is necessary but hard. In order to
      achieve efficient elicitation and documentation of advance care planning,
      research is needed on each individual's thresholds for transitioning from
      curative to palliative intent and on the trajectory of changed preferences when
      illness occurs. Another clearly desirable approach is the documentation and use
      of community preferences, so that proxies making decisions without guidance from
      the patient can at least know what the majority of people considering similar
      situations chose to do.Part of the challenge of achieving 'quality dying' may
      have to do with the still current (mainly Western) tendency to a death-denying
      culture and the inability of dying people to enter into the dying role. Awareness
      of the tasks of the dying role and the provision of time and space for those
      tasks during the delivery of medical care is essential. Medicine needs to
      continue to enhance the existential maturity of our profession, our patients and
      the cultures in which we practice. This state of mind should provide for
      decisions made with a more settled acceptance of mortality and with more
      awareness of the necessary connection to our survivors and next generation that
      mortality creates. Specific interventions, such as Dignity Therapy and advance
      care planning, may aid this state of mind.

PMID- 20932276
TI  - LATS2 is de-methylated and overexpressed in nasopharyngeal carcinoma and predicts
      poor prognosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: LATS2, which encodes a novel serine/threonine kinase, is known to be
      important in centrosome duplication and in the maintenance of genomic stability.
      Recently, a potential role for LATS2 in cancer has been reported. In breast
      cancer and acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), LATS2 mRNA is downregulated and
      has been suggested to be a tumor suppressor. However, the role of LATS2 in
      nasopharyngeal carcinoma has not been investigated. In this study, we aimed to
      investigate the expression pattern of LATS2 and its clinicopathological
      involvement in nasopharyngeal carcinoma to understand its effect on cell
      survival. METHODS: Using quantitative real time PCR and immunoblotting, the
      expression of LATS2 was detected in nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell lines and in
      the immortalized nasopharyngeal epithelial cell line NP69. Using
      immunohistochemistry, we analyzed LATS2 protein expression in 220 nasopharyngeal
      carcinoma cases. The association of LATS2 protein expression with the
      clinicopathological characteristics and the prognosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma
      were subsequently assessed. Using methylation specific PCR, we detected the
      methylation status of the LATS2 promoter. RNA interference was performed by
      transfecting siRNA to specifically knock down LATS2 expression in 5-8F and CNE2.
      RESULTS: LATS2 protein was detected in 178 of 220 (80.91%) cases of
      nasopharyngeal carcinoma. LATS2 overexpression was a significant, independent
      prognosis predictor (P = 0.037) in nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients. Methylation
      specific PCR revealed that 36.7% (11/30) of nasopharyngeal carcinoma tissues and
      all of the chronic nasopharyngeal inflammation samples were methylated.
      Functional studies showed that the suppression of LATS2 expression in
      nasopharyngeal carcinoma (5-8F and CNE2) cell lines by using specific small
      interfering (siRNA) resulted in the inhibition of growth, induction of apoptosis
      and S-phase cell cycle increase. Overexpression of LATS2 in NP69 stimulated cell
      proliferation. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that LATS2 might play a role in
      the tumorigenesis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma by promoting the growth of
      nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells. Transfection with specific siRNA might be
      feasible for the inhibition of growth, induction of apoptosis and S phase
      increase in nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

PMID- 20932277
TI  - Global Health Education: a cross-sectional study among German medical students to
      identify needs, deficits and potential benefits (Part 1 of 2: Mobility patterns &
      educational needs and demands).
AB  - BACKGROUND: In recent years, education and training in global health has been the
      subject of recurring debate in many countries. However, in Germany, there has
      been no analysis of the educational needs or demands of medical students, or the
      educational deficits or potential benefits involved in global health education.
      Our purpose is to analyse international health elective patterns of medical
      students enrolled at German universities and assess whether or how they prepare
      for their electives abroad. We examine the exposure of medical students enrolled
      at German universities to training courses in tropical medicine or global health
      and assess students' perceived needs and demands for education in global health.
      METHODS: Cross-sectional study among medical students in Germany including all 36
      medical schools during the second half of the year 2007. All registered medical
      students were eligible to participate in the study. Recruitment occurred via
      electronic mailing-lists of students' unions. We developed a web-based, semi
      structured questionnaire to capture students' international mobility patterns,
      preparation before electives, destination countries, exposure to and demand for
      global health learning opportunities. RESULTS: 1126 online-replies were received
      and analysed from all registered medical students in Germany (N = 78.067). 33.0%
      of all respondents (370/1126) declared at least one international health elective
      and of these, 36.0% (133/370) completed their electives in developing countries.
      36.0% (131/363) did not prepare specifically at all, 59.0% (214/363) prepared
      either by self-study or declared a participation in specific preparation
      programmes. 87.8% of 5th and 6th year students had never participated in a global
      health course and 72.6% (209/288) had not completed a course in tropical
      medicine. 94.0% (861/916) endorsed the idea of introducing global health into
      medical education. CONCLUSION: Students in our sample are highly mobile during
      their studies. International health electives are common, also in developing
      countries. Formal preparation beyond self-study is virtually non-existent amongst
      our sample and the participation rate in courses of tropical medicine or global
      health is appallingly low. We have identified unmet perceived needs and the
      demand for more learning opportunities in global health in our sample, urging for
      reforms to adjust curricula to a globalising world.

PMID- 20932278
TI  - Global Health Education: a cross-sectional study among German medical students to
      identify needs, deficits and potential benefits (Part 2 of 2: Knowledge gaps and
      potential benefits).
AB  - BACKGROUND: In Germany, educational deficits or potential benefits involved in
      global health education have not been analysed till now. OBJECTIVE: We assess the
      importance medical students place on learning about social determinants of health
      (SDH) and assess their knowledge of global health topics in relation to (i)
      mobility patterns, their education in (ii) tropical medicine or (iii) global
      health. METHODS: Cross-sectional study among medical students from all 36 medical
      schools in Germany using a web-based, semi-structured questionnaire. Participants
      were recruited via mailing-lists of students' unions, all medical students
      registered in 2007 were eligible to participate in the study. We captured
      international mobility patterns, exposure to global health learning opportunities
      and attitudes to learning about SDH. Both an objective and subjective knowledge
      assessment were performed. RESULTS: 1126 online-replies were received and
      analysed. International health electives in developing countries correlated
      significantly with a higher importance placed on all provided SDH (p <= 0.006).
      Participation in tropical medicine (p < 0.03) and global health courses (p <
      0.02) were significantly associated with a higher rating of 'culture, language
      and religion' and the 'economic system'. Global health trainings correlated with
      significantly higher ratings of the 'educational system' (p = 0.007) and the
      'health system structure' (p = 0.007), while the item 'politics' was marginally
      significant (p = 0.053).In the knowledge assessment students achieved an average
      score of 3.6 (SD 1.5; Mdn 4.0), 75% achieved a score of 4.0 or less (Q25 = 3.0;
      Q75 = 4.0) from a maximum achievable score of 8.0. A better performance was
      associated with international health electives (p = 0.032), participation in
      tropical medicine (p = 0.038) and global health (p = 0.258) courses. CONCLUSION:
      The importance medical students in our sample placed on learning about SDH
      strongly interacts with students' mobility, and participation in tropical
      medicine and global health courses. The knowledge assessment revealed deficits
      and outlined needs to further analyse education gaps in global health. Developing
      concerted educational interventions aimed at fostering students' engagement with
      SDH could make full use of synergy effects inherent in student mobility, tropical
      medicine and global health education.

PMID- 20932279
TI  - Gene expression profiling in the stress control brain region hypothalamic
      paraventricular nucleus reveals a novel gene network including amyloid beta
      precursor protein.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The pivotal role of stress in the precipitation of psychiatric
      diseases such as depression is generally accepted. This study aims at the
      identification of genes that are directly or indirectly responding to stress.
      Inbred mouse strains that had been evidenced to differ in their stress response
      as well as in their response to antidepressant treatment were chosen for RNA
      profiling after stress exposure. Gene expression and regulation was determined by
      microarray analyses and further evaluated by bioinformatics tools including
      pathway and cluster analyses. RESULTS: Forced swimming as acute stressor was
      applied to C57BL/6J and DBA/2J mice and resulted in sets of regulated genes in
      the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVN), 4 h or 8 h after stress.
      Although the expression changes between the mouse strains were quite different,
      they unfolded in phases over time in both strains. Our search for connections
      between the regulated genes resulted in potential novel signalling pathways in
      stress. In particular, Guanine nucleotide binding protein, alpha inhibiting 2
      (GNAi2) and amyloid beta (A4) precursor protein (APP) were detected as stress
      regulated genes, and together with other genes, seem to be integrated into stress
      responsive pathways and gene networks in the PVN. CONCLUSIONS: This search for
      stress-regulated genes in the PVN revealed its impact on interesting genes (GNAi2
      and APP) and a novel gene network. In particular the expression of APP in the PVN
      that is governing stress hormone balance, is of great interest. The reported
      neuroprotective role of this molecule in the CNS supports the idea that a short
      acute stress can elicit positive adaptational effects in the brain.

PMID- 20932280
TI  - Association between actual weight status, perceived weight and depressive,
      anxious symptoms in Chinese adolescents: a cross-sectional study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to describe actual measured weight and
      perceived weight and to explore associations with depressive, anxiety symptoms in
      school adolescents in China. METHODS: A sample of 1144 Chinese adolescents was
      randomly selected from four schools in Wuhan, China, including 665 boys and 479
      girls with ages ranging between 10 and 17 years. Actual measured weight and
      height and perceived weight status were compared to anxiety and depressive
      symptoms measured using the revised Self-Rating Anxiety Scale and Children's
      Depression Inventory. A general linear model was used to compare differences in
      psychological symptoms among the teenagers with different measured and perceived
      weights. RESULTS: When compared with standardized weight tables (WHO age- and
      gender-specific body mass index (BMI) cutoffs (2007 reference)), girls were more
      likely to mis-perceive themselves as overweight, whereas more boys misclassified
      their weight status as underweight. The adolescents who perceived themselves as
      overweight were more likely to experience depressive and anxiety symptoms (except
      girls) than those who perceived themselves as normal and/or underweight. However,
      no significant association was found between depressive and anxiety symptoms
      actual measured weight status. CONCLUSIONS: Perceived weight status, but not the
      actual weight status, was associated with psychological symptoms.

PMID- 20932281
TI  - Analysis of X-ray structures of matrix metalloproteinases via chaotic map
      clustering.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are well-known biological targets
      implicated in tumour progression, homeostatic regulation, innate immunity,
      impaired delivery of pro-apoptotic ligands, and the release and cleavage of cell
      surface receptors. With this in mind, the perception of the intimate
      relationships among diverse MMPs could be a solid basis for accelerated learning
      in designing new selective MMP inhibitors. In this regard, decrypting the latent
      molecular reasons in order to elucidate similarity among MMPs is a key challenge.
      RESULTS: We describe a pairwise variant of the non-parametric chaotic map
      clustering (CMC) algorithm and its application to 104 X-ray MMP structures. In
      this analysis electrostatic potentials are computed and used as input for the CMC
      algorithm. It was shown that differences between proteins reflect genuine
      variation of their electrostatic potentials. In addition, the analysis has been
      also extended to analyze the protein primary structures and the molecular shapes
      of the MMP co-crystallised ligands. CONCLUSIONS: The CMC algorithm was shown to
      be a valuable tool in knowledge acquisition and transfer from MMP structures.
      Based on the variation of electrostatic potentials, CMC was successful in
      analysing the MMP target family landscape and different subsites. The first
      investigation resulted in rational figure interpretation of both domain
      organization as well as of substrate specificity classifications. The second made
      it possible to distinguish the MMP classes, demonstrating the high specificity of
      the S1' pocket, to detect both the occurrence of punctual mutations of ionisable
      residues and different side-chain conformations that likely account for induced
      fit phenomena. In addition, CMC demonstrated a potential comparable to the most
      popular UPGMA (Unweighted Pair Group Method with Arithmetic mean) method that, at
      present, represents a standard clustering bioinformatics approach. Interestingly,
      CMC and UPGMA resulted in closely comparable outcomes, but often CMC produced
      more informative and more easy interpretable dendrograms. Finally, CMC was
      successful for standard pairwise analysis (i.e., Smith-Waterman algorithm) of
      protein sequences and was used to convincingly explain the complementarity
      existing between the molecular shapes of the co-crystallised ligand molecules and
      the accessible MMP void volumes.

PMID- 20932282
TI  - Effect of dietary intervention on serum lignan levels in pregnant women - a
      controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mother's diet during pregnancy is important, since plant lignans and
      their metabolites, converted by the intestinal microflora to enterolignans, are
      proposed to possess multiple health benefits. Aim of our study was to investigate
      whether a dietary intervention affects lignan concentrations in the serum of
      pregnant women. METHODS: A controlled dietary intervention trial including 105
      first-time pregnant women was conducted in three intervention and three control
      maternity health clinics. The intervention included individual counseling on diet
      and on physical activity, while the controls received conventional care. Blood
      samples were collected on gestation weeks 8-9 (baseline) and 36-37 (end of
      intervention). The serum levels of the plant lignans 7-hydroxymatairesinol,
      secoisolariciresinol, matairesinol, lariciresinol, cyclolariciresinol, and
      pinoresinol, and of the enterolignans 7-hydroxyenterolactone, enterodiol, and
      enterolactone, were measured using a validated method. RESULTS: The baseline
      levels of enterolactone, enterodiol and the sum of lignans were higher in the
      control group, whereas at the end of the trial their levels were higher in the
      intervention group. The adjusted mean differences between the baseline and end of
      the intervention for enterolactone and the total lignan intake were 1.6 ng/ml (p
      = 0.018, 95% CI 1.1-2.3) and 1.4 ng/mg (p = 0.08, 95% CI 1.0-1.9) higher in the
      intervention group than in the controls. Further adjustment for dietary
      components did not change these associations. CONCLUSION: The dietary
      intervention was successful in increasing the intake of lignan-rich food
      products, the fiber consumption and consequently the plasma levels of lignans in
      pregnant women. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN21512277, http://www.isrctn.org.

PMID- 20932283
TI  - Mutational spectrum of the SPG4 (SPAST) and SPG3A (ATL1) genes in Spanish
      patients with hereditary spastic paraplegia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hereditary Spastic Paraplegias (HSP) are characterized by progressive
      spasticity and weakness of the lower limbs. At least 45 loci have been identified
      in families with autosomal dominant (AD), autosomal recessive (AR), or X-linked
      hereditary patterns. Mutations in the SPAST (SPG4) and ATL1 (SPG3A) genes would
      account for about 50% of the ADHSP cases. METHODS: We defined the SPAST and ATL1
      mutational spectrum in a total of 370 unrelated HSP index cases from Spain (83%
      with a pure phenotype). RESULTS: We found 50 SPAST mutations (including two large
      deletions) in 54 patients and 7 ATL1 mutations in 11 patients. A total of 33 of
      the SPAST and 3 of the ATL1 were new mutations. A total of 141 (31%) were
      familial cases, and we found a higher frequency of mutation carriers among these
      compared to apparently sporadic cases (38% vs. 5%). Five of the SPAST mutations
      were predicted to affect the pre-mRNA splicing, and in 4 of them we demonstrated
      this effect at the cDNA level. In addition to large deletions, splicing,
      frameshifting, and missense mutations, we also found a nucleotide change in the
      stop codon that would result in a larger ORF. CONCLUSIONS: In a large cohort of
      Spanish patients with spastic paraplegia, SPAST and ATL1 mutations were found in
      15% of the cases. These mutations were more frequent in familial cases (compared
      to sporadic), and were associated with heterogeneous clinical manifestations.

PMID- 20932284
TI  - Predicting enzyme targets for cancer drugs by profiling human metabolic reactions
      in NCI-60 cell lines.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Drugs can influence the whole metabolic system by targeting enzymes
      which catalyze metabolic reactions. The existence of interactions between drugs
      and metabolic reactions suggests a potential way to discover drug targets.
      RESULTS: In this paper, we present a computational method to predict new targets
      for approved anti-cancer drugs by exploring drug-reaction interactions. We
      construct a Drug-Reaction Network to provide a global view of drug-reaction
      interactions and drug-pathway interactions. The recent reconstruction of the
      human metabolic network and development of flux analysis approaches make it
      possible to predict each metabolic reaction's cell line-specific flux state based
      on the cell line-specific gene expressions. We first profile each reaction by its
      flux states in NCI-60 cancer cell lines, and then propose a kernel k-nearest
      neighbor model to predict related metabolic reactions and enzyme targets for
      approved cancer drugs. We also integrate the target structure data with reaction
      flux profiles to predict drug targets and the area under curves can reach 0.92.
      CONCLUSIONS: The cross validations using the methods with and without metabolic
      network indicate that the former method is significantly better than the latter.
      Further experiments show the synergism of reaction flux profiles and target
      structure for drug target prediction. It also implies the significant
      contribution of metabolic network to predict drug targets. Finally, we apply our
      method to predict new reactions and possible enzyme targets for cancer drugs.

PMID- 20932286
TI  - The quest for universal access to effective malaria treatment: how can the AMFm
      contribute?
AB  - Access to quality assured artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) has
      remained very low in most malaria endemic countries. A number of reasons,
      including unaffordable prices, have contributed to the low accessibility to these
      life-saving medicines. The Affordable Medicines Facility-Malaria (AMFm) is a
      mechanism to increase access to quality assured ACT. The AMFm will use price
      signals and a combination of public and private sector channels to achieve
      multiple public health objectives: replacing older and increasingly ineffective
      anti-malarial medicines, such as chloroquine and sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine with
      ACT, displacing oral artemisinin monotherapies from the market, and prolonging
      the lifespan of ACT by reducing the likelihood of resistance to
      artemisinin.Access to medicines frameworks paint a broad picture of dimensions of
      access to medicines and juxtapose components that enhance or hinder access to
      medicines. Access requires various activities--funding, institutions,
      interventions, and thinking--from public and private actors at global, national,
      and local levels. This paper examines, within access to medicines frameworks, the
      role of the AMFm across and within each dimension and discusses how the AMFm can
      help to solve access bottlenecks.

PMID- 20932285
TI  - Circulating retinol binding protein 4 in critically ill patients before specific
      treatment: prognostic impact and correlation with organ function, metabolism and
      inflammation.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Hyperglycemia and insulin resistance are well-known features of
      critical illness and impact the mortality rate, especially in sepsis. Retinol
      binding protein 4 (RBP4) promotes insulin resistance in mice and is systemically
      elevated in patients with obesity and type 2 diabetes. We investigated the
      potential role of RBP4 in critically ill patients. METHODS: We conducted a
      prospective single-center study of serum RBP4 concentrations in critically ill
      patients. One hundred twenty-three patients (85 with sepsis, 38 without sepsis)
      were studied at admission to a medical intensive care unit (ICU) before
      initiation of specific intensive care treatment measures and compared to 42
      healthy nondiabetic controls. Clinical data, various laboratory parameters and
      metabolic and endocrine functions were assessed. Patients were followed for
      approximately 3 years. RESULTS: Serum RBP4 was significantly reduced in ICU
      patients, independently of sepsis, as compared to healthy controls (P < 0.001).
      Patients with liver cirrhosis as the primary underlying diagnosis for ICU
      admission had significantly lower RBP4 levels as compared with other ICU
      patients. Accordingly, in all ICU patients, serum RBP4 closely correlated with
      liver function and increased with renal failure. No significant differences of
      serum RBP4 concentrations in septic patients with pulmonary or other origins of
      sepsis or nonseptic patients could be revealed. Acute phase proteins were
      inversely correlated with RBP4 in sepsis patients. RBP4 did not differ between
      patients with or without obesity or preexisting diabetes. However, serum RBP4
      levels correlated with endogenous insulin secretion (C-peptide) and insulin
      resistance (HOMA index). Low serum RBP4 upon admission was an adverse predictor
      of short-term survival in the ICU, but was not associated with overall survival
      during long-term follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Serum RBP4 concentrations are
      significantly reduced in critically ill patients. The strong associations with
      hepatic and renal function, insulin resistance and acute mortality collectively
      suggest a role of RBP4 in the pathogenesis of critical illness, possibly as a
      negative acute phase reactant, and allow a proposition as a potential novel
      biomarker for ICU patients.

PMID- 20932287
TI  - Gene expression in a paleopolyploid: a transcriptome resource for the ciliate
      Paramecium tetraurelia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The genome of Paramecium tetraurelia, a unicellular model that
      belongs to the ciliate phylum, has been shaped by at least 3 successive whole
      genome duplications (WGD). These dramatic events, which have also been documented
      in plants, animals and fungi, are resolved over evolutionary time by the loss of
      one duplicate for the majority of genes. Thanks to a low rate of large scale
      genome rearrangement in Paramecium, an unprecedented large number of gene
      duplicates of different ages have been identified, making this organism an
      outstanding model to investigate the evolutionary consequences of
      polyploidization. The most recent WGD, with 51% of pre-duplication genes still in
      2 copies, provides a snapshot of a phase of rapid gene loss that is not
      accessible in more ancient polyploids such as yeast. RESULTS: We designed a
      custom oligonucleotide microarray platform for P. tetraurelia genome-wide
      expression profiling and used the platform to measure gene expression during 1)
      the sexual cycle of autogamy, 2) growth of new cilia in response to deciliation
      and 3) biogenesis of secretory granules after massive exocytosis. Genes that are
      differentially expressed during these time course experiments have expression
      patterns consistent with a very low rate of subfunctionalization (partition of
      ancestral functions between duplicated genes) in particular since the most recent
      polyploidization event. CONCLUSIONS: A public transcriptome resource is now
      available for Paramecium tetraurelia. The resource has been integrated into the
      ParameciumDB model organism database, providing searchable access to the data.
      The microarray platform, freely available through NimbleGen Systems, provides a
      robust, cost-effective approach for genome-wide expression profiling in P.
      tetraurelia. The expression data support previous studies showing that at short
      evolutionary times after a whole genome duplication, gene dosage balance
      constraints and not functional change are the major determinants of gene
      retention.

PMID- 20932288
TI  - A systematic review of PET and PET/CT in oncology: a way to personalize cancer
      treatment in a cost-effective manner?
AB  - BACKGROUND: A number of diagnostic tests are required for the detection and
      management of cancer. Most imaging modalities such as computerized tomography
      (CT) are anatomical. However, positron emission tomography (PET) is a functional
      diagnostic imaging technique using compounds labelled with positron-emitting
      radioisotopes to measure cell metabolism. It has been a useful tool in studying
      soft tissues such as the brain, cardiovascular system, and cancer. The aim of
      this systematic review is to critically summarize the health economic evidence of
      oncologic PET in the literature. METHODS: Eight electronic databases were
      searched from 2005 until February 2010 to identify economic evaluation studies
      not included in previous Health Technology Assessment (HTA) reports. Only full
      health economic evaluations in English, French, or German were considered for
      inclusion. Economic evaluations were appraised using published quality criteria
      for assessing the quality of decision-analytic models. Given the variety of
      methods used in the health economic evaluations, the economic evidence has been
      summarized in qualitative form. RESULTS: From this new search, 14 publications
      were identified that met the inclusion criteria. All publications were decision
      analytic models and evaluated PET using Fluorodeoxyglucose F18 (FDG-PET). Eight
      publications were cost-effectiveness analyses; six were cost-utility analyses.
      The studies were from Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Italy, Taiwan, Japan,
      the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In the base case
      analyses of these studies, cost-effectiveness results ranged from dominated to
      dominant. The methodology of the economic evaluations was of varying quality.
      Cost-effectiveness was primarily influenced by the cost of PET, the specificity
      of PET, and the risk of malignancy. CONCLUSIONS: Owing to improved care and less
      exposure to ineffective treatments, personalized medicine using PET may be cost
      effective. However, the strongest evidence for the cost-effectiveness of PET is
      still in the staging of non-small cell lung cancer. Management decisions relating
      to the assessment of treatment response or radiotherapy treatment planning
      require further research to show the impact of PET on patient management and its
      cost-effectiveness. Because of the potential for increased patient throughput and
      the possible greater accuracy, the cost-effectiveness of PET/CT may be superior
      to that of PET. Only four studies of the cost-effectiveness of PET/CT were found
      in this review, and this is clearly an area for future research.

PMID- 20932289
TI  - Improved variant discovery through local re-alignment of short-read next
      generation sequencing data using SRMA.
AB  - A primary component of next-generation sequencing analysis is to align short
      reads to a reference genome, with each read aligned independently. However, reads
      that observe the same non-reference DNA sequence are highly correlated and can be
      used to better model the true variation in the target genome. A novel short-read
      micro realigner, SRMA, that leverages this correlation to better resolve a
      consensus of the underlying DNA sequence of the targeted genome is described
      here.

PMID- 20932290
TI  - The IGNITE (investigation to guide new insight into translational effectiveness)
      trial: Protocol for a translational study of an evidenced-based wellness program
      in fire departments.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Worksites are important locations for interventions to promote
      health. However, occupational programs with documented efficacy often are not
      used, and those being implemented have not been studied. The research in this
      report was funded through the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act Challenge
      Topic 'Pathways for Translational Research,' to define and prioritize
      determinants that enable and hinder translation of evidenced-based health
      interventions in well-defined settings. METHODS: The IGNITE (investigation to
      guide new insights for translational effectiveness) trial is a prospective cohort
      study of a worksite wellness and injury reduction program from adoption to final
      outcomes among 12 fire departments. It will employ a mixed methods strategy to
      define a translational model. We will assess decision to adopt, installation,
      use, and outcomes (reach, individual outcomes, and economic effects) using onsite
      measurements, surveys, focus groups, and key informant interviews. Quantitative
      data will be used to define the model and conduct mediation analysis of each
      translational phase. Qualitative data will expand on, challenge, and confirm
      survey findings and allow a more thorough understanding and convergent validity
      by overcoming biases in qualitative and quantitative methods used alone.
      DISCUSSION: Findings will inform worksite wellness in fire departments. The
      resultant prioritized influences and model of effective translation can be
      validated and manipulated in these and other settings to more efficiently move
      science to service.

PMID- 20932291
TI  - Women's experiences of wearing therapeutic footwear in three European countries.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Therapeutic footwear is recommended for those people with severe foot
      problems associated with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). However, it is known that
      many do not wear them. Although previous European studies have recommended
      service and footwear design improvements, it is not known if services have
      improved or if this footwear meets the personal needs of people with RA. As an
      earlier study found that this footwear has more impact on women than males, this
      study explores women's experiences of the process of being provided with it and
      wearing it. No previous work has compared women's experiences of this footwear in
      different countries, therefore this study aimed to explore the potential
      differences between the UK, the Netherlands and Spain. METHOD: Women with RA and
      experience of wearing therapeutic footwear were purposively recruited. Ten women
      with RA were interviewed in each of the three countries. An interpretive
      phenomenological approach (IPA) was adopted during data collection and analysis.
      Conversational style interviews were used to collect the data. RESULTS: Six
      themes were identified: feet being visibly different because of RA; the referring
      practitioners' approach to the patient; the dispensing practitioners' approach to
      the patient; the footwear being visible as different to others; footwear
      influencing social participation; and the women's wishes for improved footwear
      services. Despite their nationality, these women revealed that therapeutic
      footwear invokes emotions of sadness, shame and anger and that it is often the
      final and symbolic marker of the effects of RA on self perception and their
      changed lives. This results in severe restriction of important activities,
      particularly those involving social participation. However, where a patient
      focussed approach was used, particularly by the practitioners in Spain and the
      Netherlands, the acceptance of this footwear was much more evident and there was
      less wastage as a result of the footwear being prescribed and then not worn. In
      the UK, the women were more likely to passively accept the footwear with the only
      choice being to reject it once it had been provided. All the women were vocal
      about what would improve their experiences and this centred on the consultation
      with both the referring practitioner and the practitioner that provides the
      footwear. CONCLUSION: This unique study, carried out in three countries has
      revealed emotive and personal accounts of what it is like to have an item of
      clothing replaced with an 'intervention'. The participant's experience of their
      consultations with practitioners has revealed the tension between the
      practitioners' requirements and the women's 'social' needs. Practitioners need
      greater understanding of the social and emotional consequences of using
      therapeutic footwear as an intervention.

PMID- 20932292
TI  - Genome profiling of ERBB2-amplified breast cancers.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Around 20% of breast cancers (BC) show ERBB2 gene amplification and
      overexpression of the ERBB2 tyrosine kinase receptor. They are associated with a
      poor prognosis but can benefit from targeted therapy. A better knowledge of these
      BCs, genomically and biologically heterogeneous, may help understand their
      behavior and design new therapeutic strategies. METHODS: We defined the high
      resolution genome and gene expression profiles of 54 ERBB2-amplified BCs using
      244K oligonucleotide array-comparative genomic hybridization and whole-genome DNA
      microarrays. Expression of ERBB2, phosphorylated ERBB2, EGFR, IGF1R and FOXA1
      proteins was assessed by immunohistochemistry to evaluate the functional ERBB2
      status and identify co-expressions. RESULTS: First, we identified the ERBB2
      C17orf37-GRB7 genomic segment as the minimal common 17q12-q21 amplicon, and CRKRS
      and IKZF3 as the most frequent centromeric and telomeric amplicon borders,
      respectively. Second, GISTIC analysis identified 17 other genome regions affected
      by copy number aberration (CNA) (amplifications, gains, losses). The expression
      of 37 genes of these regions was deregulated. Third, two types of heterogeneity
      were observed in ERBB2-amplified BCs. The genomic profiles of estrogen receptor
      positive (ER+) and negative (ER-) ERBB2-amplified BCs were different. The
      WNT/beta-catenin signaling pathway was involved in ER- ERBB2-amplified BCs, and
      PVT1 and TRPS1 were candidate oncogenes associated with ER+ ERBB2-amplified BCs.
      The size of the ERBB2 amplicon was different in inflammatory (IBC) and non
      inflammatory BCs. ERBB2-amplified IBCs were characterized by the downregulated
      and upregulated mRNA expression of ten and two genes in proportion to CNA,
      respectively. IHC results showed (i) a linear relationship between ERBB2 gene
      amplification and its gene and protein expressions with a good correlation
      between ERBB2 expression and phosphorylation status; (ii) a potential signaling
      cross-talk between EGFR or IGF1R and ERBB2, which could influence response of
      ERBB2-positive BCs to inhibitors. FOXA1 was frequently coexpressed with ERBB2 but
      its expression did not impact on the outcome of patients with ERBB2-amplified
      tumors. CONCLUSION: We have shown that ER+ and ER- ERBB2-amplified BCs are
      different, distinguished ERBB2 amplicons in IBC and non-IBC, and identified
      genomic features that may be useful in the design of alternative therapeutical
      strategies.

PMID- 20932293
TI  - Reducing errors in health care: cost-effectiveness of multidisciplinary team
      training in obstetric emergencies (TOSTI study); a randomised controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There are many avoidable deaths in hospitals because the care team is
      not well attuned. Training in emergency situations is generally followed on an
      individual basis. In practice, however, hospital patients are treated by a team
      composed of various disciplines. To prevent communication errors, it is important
      to focus the training on the team as a whole, rather than on the individual. Team
      training appears to be important in contributing toward preventing these errors.
      Obstetrics lends itself to multidisciplinary team training. It is a field in
      which nurses, midwives, obstetricians and paediatricians work together and where
      decisions must be made and actions must be carried out under extreme time
      pressure.It is attractive to belief that multidisciplinary team training will
      reduce the number of errors in obstetrics. The other side of the medal is that
      many hospitals are buying expensive patient simulators without proper evaluation
      of the training method. In the Netherlands many hospitals have 1,000 or less
      annual deliveries. In our small country it might therefore be more cost-effective
      to train obstetric teams in medical simulation centres with well trained
      personnel, high fidelity patient simulators, and well defined training
      programmes. METHODS/DESIGN: The aim of the present study is to evaluate the cost
      effectiveness of multidisciplinary team training in a medical simulation centre
      in the Netherlands to reduce the number of medical errors in obstetric emergency
      situations. We plan a multicentre randomised study with the centre as unit of
      analysis. Obstetric departments will be randomly assigned to receive
      multidisciplinary team training in a medical simulation centre or to a control
      arm without any team training.The composite measure of poor perinatal and
      maternal outcome in the non training group was thought to be 15%, on the basis of
      data obtained from the National Dutch Perinatal Registry and the guidelines of
      the Dutch Society of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (NVOG). We anticipated that
      multidisciplinary team training would reduce this risk to 5%. A sample size of 24
      centres with a cluster size of each at least 200 deliveries, each 12 centres per
      group, was needed for 80% power and a 5% type 1 error probability (two-sided). We
      assumed an Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) value of maximum 0.08.The
      analysis will be performed according to the intention-to-treat principle and
      stratified for teaching or non-teaching hospitals.Primary outcome is the number
      of obstetric complications throughout the first year period after the
      intervention. If multidisciplinary team training appears to be effective a cost
      effective analysis will be performed. DISCUSSION: If multidisciplinary team
      training appears to be cost-effective, this training should be implemented in
      extra training for gynaecologists. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The protocol is registered
      in the clinical trial register number NTR1859.

PMID- 20932294
TI  - Effects of supplemental fish oil on resting metabolic rate, body composition, and
      salivary cortisol in healthy adults.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To determine the effects of supplemental fish oil (FO) on resting
      metabolic rate (RMR), body composition, and cortisol production in healthy
      adults. METHODS: A total of 44 men and women (34 +/- 13y, mean+SD) participated
      in the study. All testing was performed first thing in the morning following an
      overnight fast. Baseline measurements of RMR were measured using indirect
      calorimetry using a facemask, and body composition was measured using air
      displacement plethysmography. Saliva was collected via passive drool and analyzed
      for cortisol concentration using ELISA. Following baseline testing, subjects were
      randomly assigned in a double blind manner to one of two groups: 4 g/d of
      Safflower Oil (SO); or 4 g/d of FO supplying 1,600 mg/d eicosapentaenoic acid
      (EPA) and 800 mg/d docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). All tests were repeated following
      6 wk of treatment. Pre to post differences were analyzed using a treatment X time
      repeated measures ANOVA, and correlations were analyzed using Pearson's r.
      RESULTS: Compared to the SO group, there was a significant increase in fat free
      mass following treatment with FO (FO = +0.5 +/- 0.5 kg, SO = -0.1 +/- 1.2 kg, p =
      0.03), a significant reduction in fat mass (FO = -0.5 +/- 1.3 kg, SO = +0.2 +/-
      1.2 kg, p = 0.04), and a tendency for a decrease in body fat percentage (FO = 
      0.4 +/- 1.3% body fat, SO = +0. 3 +/- 1.5% body fat, p = 0.08). No significant
      differences were observed for body mass (FO = 0.0 +/- 0.9 kg, SO = +0.2 +/- 0.8
      kg), RMR (FO = +17 +/- 260 kcal, SO = -62 +/- 184 kcal) or respiratory exchange
      ratio (FO = -0.02 +/- 0.09, SO = +0.02 +/- 0.05). There was a tendency for
      salivary cortisol to decrease in the FO group (FO = -0.064 +/- 0.142 MUg/dL, SO =
      +0.016 +/- 0.272 MUg/dL, p = 0.11). There was a significant correlation in the FO
      group between change in cortisol and change in fat free mass (r = -0.504, p =
      0.02) and fat mass (r = 0.661, p = 0.001). CONCLUSION: 6 wk of supplementation
      with FO significantly increased lean mass and decreased fat mass. These changes
      were significantly correlated with a reduction in salivary cortisol following FO
      treatment.

PMID- 20932295
TI  - S110, a novel decitabine dinucleotide, increases fetal hemoglobin levels in
      baboons (P. anubis).
AB  - BACKGROUND: S110 is a novel dinucleoside analog that could have advantages over
      existing DNA methyltransferase (DNMT) inhibitors such as decitabine. A potential
      therapeutic role for S110 is to increase fetal hemoglobin (HbF) levels to treat
      beta-hemoglobinopathies. In these experiments the effect of S110 on HbF levels in
      baboons and its ability to reduce DNA methylation of the gamma-globin gene
      promoter in vivo were evaluated. METHODS: The effect of S110 on HbF and gamma
      globin promoter DNA methylation was examined in cultured human erythroid
      progenitors and in vivo in the baboon pre-clinical model. S110 pharmacokinetics
      was also examined in the baboon model. RESULTS: S110 increased HbF and reduced
      DNA methylation of the gamma-globin promoter in human erythroid progenitors and
      in baboons when administered subcutaneously. Pharmacokinetic analysis was
      consistent with rapid conversion of S110 into the deoxycytosine analog decitabine
      that binds and depletes DNA. CONCLUSION: S110 is rapidly converted into
      decitabine, hypomethylates DNA, and induces HbF in cultured human erythroid
      progenitors and the baboon pre-clinical model.

PMID- 20932296
TI  - The association between retraction of the torn rotator cuff and increasing
      expression of hypoxia inducible factor 1alpha and vascular endothelial growth
      factor expression: an immunohistological study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Differing levels of tendon retraction are found in full-thickness
      rotator cuff tears. The pathophysiology of tendon degeneration and retraction is
      unclear. Neoangiogenesis in tendon parenchyma indicates degeneration. Hypoxia
      inducible factor 1alpha (HIF) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) are
      important inducers of neoangiogenesis. Rotator cuff tendons rupture leads to
      fatty muscle infiltration (FI) and muscle atrophy (MA). The aim of this study is
      to clarify the relationship between HIF and VEGF expression, neoangiogenesis, FI,
      and MA in tendon retraction found in full-thickness rotator cuff tears. METHODS:
      Rotator cuff tendon samples of 33 patients with full-thickness medium-sized
      rotator cuff tears were harvested during reconstructive surgery. The samples were
      dehydrated and paraffin embedded. For immunohistological determination of VEGF
      and HIF expression, sample slices were strained with VEGF and HIF antibody
      dilution. Vessel density and vessel size were determined after Masson-Goldner
      staining of sample slices. The extent of tendon retraction was determined
      intraoperatively according to Patte's classification. Patients were assigned to 4
      categories based upon Patte tendon retraction grade, including one control group.
      FI and MA were measured on standardized preoperative shoulder MRI. RESULTS: HIF
      and VEGF expression, FI, and MA were significantly higher in torn cuff samples
      compared with healthy tissue (p < 0.05). HIF and VEGF expression, and vessel
      density significantly increased with extent of tendon retraction (p < 0.05). A
      correlation between HIF/VEGF expression and FI and MA could be found (p < 0.05).
      There was no significant correlation between HIF/VEGF expression and
      neovascularity (p > 0.05) CONCLUSION: Tendon retraction in full-thickness medium
      sized rotator cuff tears is characterized by neovascularity, increased VEGF/HIF
      expression, FI, and MA. VEGF expression and neovascularity may be effective
      monitoring tools to assess tendon degeneration.

PMID- 20932297
TI  - Categorizing and comparing psychophysical detection strategies based on
      biomechanical responses to short postural perturbations.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A fundamental unsolved problem in psychophysical detection
      experiments is in discriminating guesses from the correct responses. This paper
      proposes a coherent solution to this problem by presenting a novel classification
      method that compares biomechanical and psychological responses. METHODS: Subjects
      (13) stood on a platform that was translated anteriorly 16 mm to find
      psychophysical detection thresholds through a Adaptive 2-Alternative-Forced
      Choice (2AFC) task repeated over 30 separate sequential trials. Anterior
      posterior center-of-pressure (APCoP) changes (i.e., the biomechanical response
      R(B)) were analyzed to determine whether sufficient biomechanical information was
      available to support a subject's psychophysical selection (R(Psi)) of interval 1
      or 2 as the stimulus interval. A time-series-bitmap approach was used to identify
      anomalies in interval 1 (a1) and interval 2 (a2) that were present in the
      resultant APCoP signal. If a1 > a2 then R(B) = Interval 1. If a1 < a2, then R(B)=
      Interval 2. If a2-a1 < 0.1, R(B) was set to 0 (no significant difference present
      in the anomaly scores of interval 1 and 2). RESULTS: By considering both
      biomechanical (R(B)) and psychophysical (R(Psi)) responses, each trial run could
      be classified as a: 1) HIT (and True Negative), if R(B) and R(Psi) both matched
      the stimulus interval (SI); 2) MISS, if R(B) matched SI but the subject's
      reported response did not; 3) PSUEDO HIT, if the subject signalled the correct
      SI, but R(B) was linked to the non-SI; 4) FALSE POSITIVE, if R(B) = R(Psi), and
      both associated to non-SI; and 5) GUESS, if R(B) = 0, if insufficient APCoP
      differences existed to distinguish SI. Ensemble averaging the data for each of
      the above categories amplified the anomalous behavior of the APCoP response.
      CONCLUSIONS: The major contributions of this novel classification scheme were to
      define and verify by logistic models a 'GUESS' category in these psychophysical
      threshold detection experiments, and to add an additional descriptor, "PSEUDO
      HIT". This improved classification methodology potentially could be applied to
      psychophysical detection experiments of other sensory modalities.

PMID- 20932298
TI  - The prevalence of angina symptoms and association with cardiovascular risk
      factors, among rural, urban and rural to urban migrant populations in Peru.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Rural-to-urban migration in low- and middle-income countries causes
      an increase in individual cardiovascular risk. Cost-effective interventions at
      early stages of the natural history of coronary disease such as angina may stem
      an epidemic of premature coronary deaths in these countries. However, there are
      few data on the prevalence of angina in developing countries, whilst the
      understanding the aetiology of angina is complicated by the difficulty in
      measuring it across differing populations. METHODS: The PERU MIGRANT study was
      designed to investigate differences between rural-to-urban migrant and non
      migrant groups in specific cardiovascular disease risk factors. Mass-migration
      seen in Peru from 1980s onwards was largely driven by politically motivated
      violence resulting in less 'healthy migrant' selection bias. The Rose angina
      questionnaire was used to record chest pain, which was classified definite,
      possible and non-exertional. Mental health was measured using the General Health
      Questionnaire (GHQ-12). Mantel-Haenszel odds ratios (adjusted for age, sex,
      cardiovascular disease risk factors and mental health) were used to assess the
      risk of chest pain in the migrant and urban groups compared to the rural group,
      and further to assess the relationship (age and sex-adjusted) between risk
      factors, mental health and chest pain. RESULTS: Compared to the urban group,
      rural dwellers had a greatly increased likelihood of possible/definite angina
      (multi-adjusted OR 2.82 (1.68- 4.73)). Urban and migrant groups had higher levels
      of risk factors (e.g. smoking--20.1% urban, 5.5% rural). No diabetes was seen in
      the rural dwellers who complained of possible/definite angina. Rural dwellers had
      a higher prevalence of mood disorder and the presence of a mood disorder was
      associated with possible/definite angina in all three groups, but not
      consistently with non-exertional chest pain. CONCLUSION: Rural groups had a
      higher prevalence of angina as measured by Rose questionnaire than migrants and
      urban dwellers, and a higher prevalence of mood disorder. The presence of a mood
      disorder was associated with angina. The Rose angina questionnaire may not be of
      relevance to rural populations in developing countries with a low pre-test
      probability of coronary disease and poor mental health.

PMID- 20932299
TI  - Dynamic transcriptomic profiles of zebrafish gills in response to zinc depletion.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Zinc deficiency is detrimental to organisms, highlighting its role as
      an essential micronutrient contributing to numerous biological processes. To
      investigate the underlying molecular events invoked by zinc depletion we
      performed a temporal analysis of transcriptome changes observed within the
      zebrafish gill. This tissue represents a model system for studying ion absorption
      across polarised epithelial cells as it provides a major pathway for fish to
      acquire zinc directly from water whilst sharing a conserved zinc transporting
      system with mammals. RESULTS: Zebrafish were treated with either zinc-depleted
      (water = 2.61 MUg L-1; diet = 26 mg kg-1) or zinc-adequate (water = 16.3 MUg L-1;
      diet = 233 mg kg-1) conditions for two weeks. Gill samples were collected at five
      time points and transcriptome changes analysed in quintuplicate using a 16K
      oligonucleotide array. Of the genes represented the expression of a total of 333
      transcripts showed differential regulation by zinc depletion (having a fold
      change greater than 1.8 and an adjusted P-value less than 0.1, controlling for a
      10% False Discovery Rate). Down-regulation was dominant at most time points and
      distinct sets of genes were regulated at different stages. Annotation enrichment
      analysis revealed that 'Developmental Process' was the most significantly
      overrepresented Biological Process GO term (P = 0.0006), involving 26% of all
      regulated genes. There was also significant bias for annotations relating to
      development, cell cycle, cell differentiation, gene regulation, butanoate
      metabolism, lysine degradation, protein tyrosin phosphatases, nucleobase,
      nucleoside and nucleotide metabolism, and cellular metabolic processes. Within
      these groupings genes associated with diabetes, bone/cartilage development, and
      ionocyte proliferation were especially notable. Network analysis of the temporal
      expression profile indicated that transcription factors foxl1, wt1, nr5a1, nr6a1,
      and especially, hnf4a may be key coordinators of the homeostatic response to zinc
      depletion. CONCLUSIONS: The study revealed the complex regulatory pathways that
      allow the organism to subtly respond to the low-zinc condition. Many of the
      processes affected reflected a fundamental restructuring of the gill epithelium
      through reactivation of developmental programs leading to stem cell
      differentiation. The specific regulation of genes known to be involved in
      development of diabetes provides new molecular links between zinc deficiency and
      this disease. The present study demonstrates the importance of including the time
      dimension in microarray studies.

PMID- 20932300
TI  - Molecular and phylogenetic characterization of the sieve element occlusion gene
      family in Fabaceae and non-Fabaceae plants.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The phloem of dicotyledonous plants contains specialized P-proteins
      (phloem proteins) that accumulate during sieve element differentiation and remain
      parietally associated with the cisternae of the endoplasmic reticulum in mature
      sieve elements. Wounding causes P-protein filaments to accumulate at the sieve
      plates and block the translocation of photosynthate. Specialized, spindle-shaped
      P-proteins known as forisomes that undergo reversible calcium-dependent
      conformational changes have evolved exclusively in the Fabaceae. Recently, the
      molecular characterization of three genes encoding forisome components in the
      model legume Medicago truncatula (MtSEO1, MtSEO2 and MtSEO3; SEO = sieve element
      occlusion) was reported, but little is known about the molecular characteristics
      of P-proteins in non-Fabaceae. RESULTS: We performed a comprehensive genome-wide
      comparative analysis by screening the M. truncatula, Glycine max, Arabidopsis
      thaliana, Vitis vinifera and Solanum phureja genomes, and a Malus domestica EST
      library for homologs of MtSEO1, MtSEO2 and MtSEO3 and identified numerous novel
      SEO genes in Fabaceae and even non-Fabaceae plants, which do not possess
      forisomes. Even in Fabaceae some SEO genes appear to not encode forisome
      components. All SEO genes have a similar exon-intron structure and are expressed
      predominantly in the phloem. Phylogenetic analysis revealed the presence of
      several subgroups with Fabaceae-specific subgroups containing all of the known as
      well as newly identified forisome component proteins. We constructed Hidden
      Markov Models that identified three conserved protein domains, which characterize
      SEO proteins when present in combination. In addition, one common and three
      subgroup specific protein motifs were found in the amino acid sequences of SEO
      proteins. SEO genes are organized in genomic clusters and the conserved synteny
      allowed us to identify several M. truncatula vs G. max orthologs as well as
      paralogs within the G. max genome. CONCLUSIONS: The unexpected occurrence of
      forisome-like genes in non-Fabaceae plants may indicate that these proteins
      encode species-specific P-proteins, which is backed up by the phloem-specific
      expression profiles. The conservation of gene structure, the presence of specific
      motifs and domains and the genomic synteny argue for a common phylogenetic origin
      of forisomes and other P-proteins.

PMID- 20932301
TI  - Mutations that permit residual CFTR function delay acquisition of multiple
      respiratory pathogens in CF patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Lung infection by various organisms is a characteristic feature of
      cystic fibrosis (CF). CFTR genotype effects acquisition of Pseudomonas aeruginosa
      (Pa), however the effect on acquisition of other infectious organisms that
      frequently precede Pa is relatively unknown. Understanding the role of CFTR in
      the acquisition of organisms first detected in patients may help guide
      symptomatic and molecular-based treatment for CF. METHODS: Lung infection,
      defined as a single positive respiratory tract culture, was assessed for 13
      organisms in 1,381 individuals with CF. Subjects were divided by predicted CFTR
      function: 'Residual': carrying at least one partial function CFTR mutation (class
      IV or V) and 'Minimal' those who do not carry a partial function mutation. Kaplan
      Meier estimates were created to assess CFTR effect on age of acquisition for each
      organism. Cox proportional hazard models were performed to control for possible
      cofactors. A separate Cox regression was used to determine whether defining
      infection with Pa, mucoid Pa or Aspergillus (Asp) using alternative criteria
      affected the results. The influence of severity of lung disease at the time of
      acquisition was evaluated using stratified Cox regression methods by lung disease
      categories. RESULTS: Subjects with 'Minimal' CFTR function had a higher hazard
      than patients with 'Residual' function for acquisition of 9 of 13 organisms
      studied (HR ranging from 1.7 to 3.78 based on the organism studied). Subjects
      with minimal CFTR function acquired infection at a younger age than those with
      residual function for 12 of 13 organisms (p-values ranging: < 0.001 to 0.017).
      Minimal CFTR function also associated with younger age of infection when 3
      alternative definitions of infection with Pa, mucoid Pa or Asp were employed.
      Risk of infection is correlated with CFTR function for 8 of 9 organisms in
      patients with good lung function (>90%ile) but only 1 of 9 organisms in those
      with poorer lung function (<50%ile). CONCLUSIONS: Residual CFTR function
      correlates with later onset of respiratory tract infection by a wide spectrum of
      organisms frequently cultured from CF patients. The protective effect conferred
      by residual CFTR function is diminished in CF patients with more advanced lung
      disease.

PMID- 20932302
TI  - Live lecture versus video podcast in undergraduate medical education: A
      randomised controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Information technology is finding an increasing role in the training
      of medical students. We compared information recall and student experience and
      preference after live lectures and video podcasts in undergraduate medical
      education. METHODS: We performed a crossover randomised controlled trial. 100
      students were randomised to live lecture or video podcast for one clinical topic.
      Live lectures were given by the same instructor as the narrator of the video
      podcasts. The video podcasts comprised PowerpointTM slides narrated using the
      same script as the lecture. They were then switched to the other group for a
      second clinical topic. Knowledge was assessed using multiple choice questions and
      qualitative information was collected using a questionnaire. RESULTS: No
      significant difference was found on multiple choice questioning immediately after
      the session. The subjects enjoyed the convenience of the video podcast and the
      ability to stop, review and repeat it, but found it less engaging as a teaching
      method. They expressed a clear preference for the live lecture format.
      CONCLUSIONS: We suggest that video podcasts are not ready to replace traditional
      teaching methods, but may have an important role in reinforcing learning and
      aiding revision.

PMID- 20932303
TI  - Physical activity in US Blacks: a systematic review and critical examination of
      self-report instruments.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Physical activity self-report instruments in the US have largely been
      developed for and validated in White samples. Despite calls to validate existing
      instruments in more diverse samples, relatively few instruments have been
      validated in US Blacks. Emerging evidence suggests that these instruments may
      have differential validity in Black populations. PURPOSE: This report reviews and
      evaluates the validity and reliability of self-reported measures of physical
      activity in Blacks and makes recommendations for future directions. METHODS: A
      systematic literature review was conducted to identify published reports with
      construct or criterion validity evaluated in samples that included Blacks.
      Studies that reported results separately for Blacks were examined. RESULTS: The
      review identified 10 instruments validated in nine manuscripts. Criterion
      validity correlations tended to be low to moderate. No study has compared the
      validity of multiple instruments in a single sample of Blacks. CONCLUSION: There
      is a need for efforts validating self-report physical activity instruments in
      Blacks, particularly those evaluating the relative validity of instruments in a
      single sample.

PMID- 20932304
TI  - Is there an association between mild cognitive impairment and dietary pattern in
      Chinese elderly? Results from a cross-sectional population study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Diet has an impact on cognitive function in most prior studies but
      its association with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) in Chinese nonagenarians and
      centenarians has not been explored. METHODS: 870 elder dujiangyan residents aged
      90 years or more in 2005 census were investigated at community halls or at home.
      They underwent the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) for assessment of
      cognitive function and replied to our questionnaire comprised of 12 food items
      and other risk factors. MCI was defined by two steps: first, subjects with post
      stroke disease, Alzheimer's disease or Parkinson's disease and MMSE< 18 were
      excluded; and then subjects were categorized as MCI (MMSE scores between 19 and
      24) and normal (MMSE scores between 25 and 30). Logistic regression models were
      used to analyze the association between diet and the prevalence of MCI. The model
      was adjusted for gender, ages, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure,
      body mass index, fasting plasma glucose, total cholesterol, triglycerides, high
      density lipoprotein cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, smoking
      habits, alcohol and tea consumption, educational levels and exercise in baseline
      dietary assessment. RESULTS: 364 elderly finally included, 108 (38.71%) men and
      171 (61.29%) women of whom were classified as MCI. A significant correlation
      between MCI and normal in legume was observed (OR, 0.84; 95%CI, 0.72-0.97), and
      also in animal oil (any oil that obtained from animal substances) (OR, 0.93;
      95%CI, 0.88-0.98). There was no statistical difference of other food items
      between normal and MCI. CONCLUSIONS: Among Chinese nonagenarians and
      centenarians, we found there were significant associations between inadequate
      intake of legume and animal oil and the prevalence of MCI. No significant
      correlation between other food items and the prevalence of MCI were demonstrated
      in this study.

PMID- 20932305
TI  - A mutational analysis and molecular dynamics simulation of quinolone resistance
      proteins QnrA1 and QnrC from Proteus mirabilis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The first report on the transferable, plasmid-mediated quinolone
      resistance determinant qnrA1 was in 1998. Since then, qnr alleles have been
      discovered worldwide in clinical strains of Gram-negative bacilli. Qnr proteins
      confer quinolone resistance, and belong to the pentapeptide repeat protein (PRP)
      family. Several PRP crystal structures have been solved, but little is known
      about the functional significance of their structural arrangement. RESULTS: We
      conducted random and site-directed mutagenesis on qnrA1 and on qnrC, a newly
      identified quinolone-resistance gene from Proteus mirabilis. Many of the Qnr
      mutants lost their quinolone resistance function. The highly conserved
      hydrophobic Leu or Phe residues at the center of the pentapeptide repeats are
      known as i sites, and loss-of-function mutations included replacement of the i
      site hydrophobic residues with charged residues, replacing the i-2 site, N
      terminal to the i residues, with bulky side-chain residues, introducing Pro into
      the beta-helix coil, deletion of the N- and C-termini, and excision of a central
      coil. Molecular dynamics simulations and homology modeling demonstrated that QnrC
      overall adopts a stable beta-helix fold and shares more similarities with MfpA
      than with other PRP structures. Based on homology modeling and molecular dynamics
      simulation, the dysfunctional point mutations introduced structural deformations
      into the quadrilateral beta-helix structure of PRPs. Of the pentapeptides of
      QnrC, two-thirds adopted a type II beta-turn, while the rest adopted type IV
      turns. A gap exists between coil 2 and coil 3 in the QnrC model structure,
      introducing a structural flexibility that is similar to that seen in MfpA.
      CONCLUSION: The hydrophobic core and the beta-helix backbone conformation are
      important for maintaining the quinolone resistance property of Qnr proteins. QnrC
      may share structural similarity with MfpA.

PMID- 20932306
TI  - Effect of neutrophil elastase and its inhibitor EPI-hNE4 on transepithelial
      sodium transport across normal and cystic fibrosis human nasal epithelial cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hyperactivity of the epithelial sodium (Na+) channel (ENaC) and
      increased Na+ absorption by airway epithelial cells leading to airway surface
      liquid dehydration and impaired mucociliary clearance are thought to play an
      important role in the pathogenesis of cystic fibrosis (CF) pulmonary disease. In
      airway epithelial cells, ENaC is constitutively activated by endogenous trypsin
      like serine proteases such as Channel-Activating Proteases (CAPs). It was
      recently reported that ENaC activity could also be stimulated by apical treatment
      with human neutrophil elastase (hNE) in a human airway epithelial cell line,
      suggesting that hNE inhibition could represent a novel therapeutic approach for
      CF lung disease. However, whether hNE can also activate Na+ reabsorption in
      primary human nasal epithelial cells (HNEC) from control or CF patients is
      currently unknown. METHODS: We evaluated by short-circuit current (Isc)
      measurements the effects of hNE and EPI-hNE4, a specific hNE inhibitor, on ENaC
      activity in primary cultures of HNEC obtained from control (9) and CF (4)
      patients. RESULTS: Neither hNE nor EPI-hNE4 treatments did modify Isc in control
      and CF HNEC. Incubation with aprotinin, a Kunitz-type serine protease inhibitor
      that blocks the activity of endogenous CAPs, decreased Isc by 27.6% and 54% in
      control and CF HNEC, respectively. In control and CF HNEC pretreated with
      aprotinin, hNE did significantly stimulate Isc, an effect which was blocked by
      EPI-hNE4. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that hNE does activate ENaC and
      transepithelial Na+ transport in both normal and CF HNEC, on condition that the
      activity of endogenous CAPs is first inhibited. The potent inhibitory effect of
      EPI-hNE4 on hNE-mediated ENaC activation observed in our experiments highlights
      that the use of EPI-hNE4 could be of interest to reduce ENaC hyperactivity in CF
      airways.

PMID- 20932307
TI  - Dietary fatty acid composition alters 11beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1
      gene expression in rat retroperitoneal white adipose tissue.
AB  - The enzyme 11beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (11beta-HSD1) amplifies
      intracellular glucocorticoid action by converting inactive glucocorticoids to
      their active forms in vivo. Adipose-specific overexpression of 11beta-HSD1
      induces metabolic syndrome in mice, whereas 11beta-HSD1 null mice are resistant
      to it. Dietary trans and saturated fatty acids (TFAs and SFAs) are involved in
      the development of metabolic syndrome, whereas polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA)
      offer protection against this. Here, we report the effects of chronic feeding of
      different diets containing vanaspati (TFA rich), palm oil (SFA rich) and
      sunflower oil (PUFA rich) at 10%level on 11beta-HSD1 gene expression in rat
      retroperitoneal adipose tissue. 11beta-HSD1 gene expression was significantly
      higher in TFA rich diet-fed rats compared to SFA rich diet-fed rats, which in
      turn was significantly higher than PUFA rich diet-fed rats. Similar trend was
      observed in the expression of CCAAT-enhancer binding protein-alpha (C/EBP-alpha),
      the main transcription factor required for the expression of 11beta-HSD1. We
      propose that TFAs and SFAs increase local amplification of glucocorticoid action
      in adipose tissue by upregulating 11beta-HSD1 by altering C/EBP-alpha-gene
      expression. The increased levels of glucocorticoids in adipose tissue may lead to
      development of obesity and insulin resistance, thereby increasing the risk of
      developing metabolic syndrome.

PMID- 20932308
TI  - Structural and antimicrobial properties of human pre-elafin/trappin-2 and derived
      peptides against Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pre-elafin/trappin-2 is a human innate defense molecule initially
      described as a potent inhibitor of neutrophil elastase. The full-length protein
      as well as the N-terminal "cementoin" and C-terminal "elafin" domains were also
      shown to possess broad antimicrobial activity, namely against the opportunistic
      pathogen P. aeruginosa. The mode of action of these peptides has, however, yet to
      be fully elucidated. Both domains of pre-elafin/trappin-2 are polycationic, but
      only the structure of the elafin domain is currently known. The aim of the
      present study was to determine the secondary structures of the cementoin domain
      and to characterize the antibacterial properties of these peptides against P.
      aeruginosa. RESULTS: We show here that the cementoin domain adopts an alpha
      helical conformation both by circular dichroism and nuclear magnetic resonance
      analyses in the presence of membrane mimetics, a characteristic shared with a
      large number of linear polycationic antimicrobial peptides. However, pre
      elafin/trappin-2 and its domains display only weak lytic properties, as assessed
      by scanning electron micrography, outer and inner membrane depolarization studies
      with P. aeruginosa and leakage of liposome-entrapped calcein. Confocal microscopy
      of fluorescein-labeled pre-elafin/trappin-2 suggests that this protein possesses
      the ability to translocate across membranes. This correlates with the finding
      that pre-elafin/trappin-2 and elafin bind to DNA in vitro and attenuate the
      expression of some P. aeruginosa virulence factors, namely the biofilm formation
      and the secretion of pyoverdine. CONCLUSIONS: The N-terminal cementoin domain
      adopts alpha-helical secondary structures in a membrane mimetic environment,
      which is common in antimicrobial peptides. However, unlike numerous linear
      polycationic antimicrobial peptides, membrane disruption does not appear to be
      the main function of either cementoin, elafin or full-length pre-elafin/trappin-2
      against P. aeruginosa. Our results rather suggest that pre-elafin/trappin-2 and
      elafin, but not cementoin, possess the ability to modulate the expression of some
      P.aeruginosa virulence factors, possibly through acting on intracellular targets.

PMID- 20932309
TI  - Freeze-thaw treatment effects on the dynamic mechanical properties of articular
      cartilage.
AB  - BACKGROUND: As a relatively non-regenerative tissue, articular cartilage has been
      targeted for cryopreservation as a method of mitigating a lack of donor tissue
      availability for transplant surgeries. In addition, subzero storage of articular
      cartilage has long been used in biomedical studies using various storage
      temperatures. The current investigation studies the potential for freeze-thaw to
      affect the mechanical properties of articular cartilage through direct comparison
      of various subzero storage temperatures. METHODS: Both subzero storage
      temperature as well as freezing rate were compared using control samples (4
      degrees C) and samples stored at either -20 degrees C or -80 degrees C as well as
      samples first snap frozen in liquid nitrogen (-196 degrees C) prior to storage at
      -80 degrees C. All samples were thawed at 37.5 degrees C to testing temperature
      (22 degrees C). Complex stiffness and hysteresis characterized load resistance
      and damping properties using a non-destructive, low force magnitude, dynamic
      indentation protocol spanning a broad loading rate range to identify the dynamic
      viscoelastic properties of cartilage. RESULTS: Stiffness levels remained
      unchanged with exposure to the various subzero temperatures. Hysteresis increased
      in samples snap frozen at -196 degrees C and stored at -80 degrees C, though
      remained unchanged with exposure to the other storage temperatures. CONCLUSIONS:
      Mechanical changes shown are likely due to ice lens creation, where frost heave
      effects may have caused collagen damage. That storage to -20 degrees C and -80
      degrees C did not alter the mechanical properties of articular cartilage shows
      that when combined with a rapid thawing protocol to 37.5 degrees C, the tissue
      may successfully be stored at subzero temperatures.

PMID- 20932310
TI  - Genome-wide association reveals genetic effects on human Abeta42 and tau protein
      levels in cerebrospinal fluids: a case control study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is common and highly heritable with many
      genes and gene variants associated with AD in one or more studies, including APOE
      epsilon2/epsilon3/epsilon4. However, the genetic backgrounds for normal
      cognition, mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and AD in terms of changes in
      cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) levels of Abeta1-42, T-tau, and P-tau181P, have not
      been clearly delineated. We carried out a genome-wide association study (GWAS) in
      order to better define the genetic backgrounds to these three states in relation
      to CSF levels. METHODS: Subjects were participants in the Alzheimer's Disease
      Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI). The GWAS dataset consisted of 818 participants
      (mainly Caucasian) genotyped using the Illumina Human Genome 610 Quad BeadChips.
      This sample included 410 subjects (119 Normal, 115 MCI and 176 AD) with
      measurements of CSF Abeta1-42, T-tau, and P-tau181P Levels. We used PLINK to find
      genetic associations with the three CSF biomarker levels. Association of each of
      the 498,205 SNPs was tested using additive, dominant, and general association
      models while considering APOE genotype and age. Finally, an effort was made to
      better identify relevant biochemical pathways for associated genes using the
      ALIGATOR software. RESULTS: We found that there were some associations with APOE
      genotype although CSF levels were about the same for each subject group; CSF
      Abeta1-42 levels decreased with APOE gene dose for each subject group. T-tau
      levels tended to be higher among AD cases than among normal subjects. From
      adjusted result using APOE genotype and age as covariates, no SNP was associated
      with CSF levels among AD subjects. CYP19A1 'aromatase' (rs2899472), NCAM2, and
      multiple SNPs located on chromosome 10 near the ARL5B gene demonstrated the
      strongest associations with Abeta1-42 in normal subjects. Two genes found to be
      near the top SNPs, CYP19A1 (rs2899472, p = 1.90 * 10(-7)) and NCAM2 (rs1022442, p
      = 2.75 * 10(-7)) have been reported as genetic factors related to the progression
      of AD from previous studies. In AD subjects, APOE epsilon2/epsilon3 and
      epsilon2/epsilon4 genotypes were associated with elevated T-tau levels and
      epsilon4/epsilon4 genotype was associated with elevated T-tau and P-tau181P
      levels. Pathway analysis detected several biological pathways implicated in
      Normal with CSF beta-amyloid peptide (Abeta1-42). CONCLUSIONS: Our genome-wide
      association analysis identified several SNPs as important factors for CSF
      biomarker. We also provide new evidence for additional candidate genetic risk
      factors from pathway analysis that can be tested in further studies.

PMID- 20932312
TI  - Associations of supermarket accessibility with obesity and fruit and vegetable
      consumption in the conterminous United States.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Limited access to supermarkets may reduce consumption of healthy
      foods, resulting in poor nutrition and increased prevalence of obesity. Most
      studies have focused on accessibility of supermarkets in specific urban settings
      or localized rural communities. Less is known, however, about how supermarket
      accessibility is associated with obesity and healthy diet at the national level
      and how these associations differ in urban versus rural settings. We analyzed
      data on obesity and fruit and vegetable (F/V) consumption from the Behavioral
      Risk Factor Surveillance System for 2000-2006 at the county level. We used 2006
      Census Zip Code Business Patterns data to compute population-weighted mean
      distance to supermarket at the county level for different sizes of supermarket.
      Multilevel logistic regression models were developed to test whether population
      weighted mean distance to supermarket was associated with both obesity and F/V
      consumption and to determine whether these relationships varied for urban
      (metropolitan) versus rural (nonmetropolitan) areas. RESULTS: Distance to
      supermarket was greater in nonmetropolitan than in metropolitan areas. The odds
      of obesity increased and odds of consuming F/V five times or more per day
      decreased as distance to supermarket increased in metropolitan areas for most
      store size categories. In nonmetropolitan areas, however, distance to supermarket
      had no associations with obesity or F/V consumption for all supermarket size
      categories. CONCLUSIONS: Obesity prevalence increased and F/V consumption
      decreased with increasing distance to supermarket in metropolitan areas, but not
      in nonmetropolitan areas. These results suggest that there may be a threshold
      distance in nonmetropolitan areas beyond which distance to supermarket no longer
      impacts obesity and F/V consumption. In addition, obesity and food environments
      in nonmetropolitan areas are likely driven by a more complex set of social,
      cultural, and physical factors than a single measure of supermarket
      accessibility. Future research should attempt to more precisely quantify the
      availability and affordability of foods in nonmetropolitan areas and consider
      alternative sources of healthy foods besides supermarkets.

PMID- 20932311
TI  - PLCgamma-activated signalling is essential for TrkB mediated sensory neuron
      structural plasticity.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The vestibular system provides the primary input of our sense of
      balance and spatial orientation. Dysfunction of the vestibular system can
      severely affect a person's quality of life. Therefore, understanding the
      molecular basis of vestibular neuron survival, maintenance, and innervation of
      the target sensory epithelia is fundamental. RESULTS: Here we report that a point
      mutation at the phospholipase Cgamma (PLCgamma) docking site in the mouse
      neurotrophin tyrosine kinase receptor TrkB (Ntrk2) specifically impairs fiber
      guidance inside the vestibular sensory epithelia, but has limited effects on the
      survival of vestibular sensory neurons and growth of afferent processes toward
      the sensory epithelia. We also show that expression of the TRPC3 cation calcium
      channel, whose activity is known to be required for nerve-growth cone guidance
      induced by brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), is altered in these animals.
      In addition, we find that absence of the PLCgamma mediated TrkB signalling
      interferes with the transformation of bouton type afferent terminals of
      vestibular dendrites into calyces (the largest synaptic contact of dendrites
      known in the mammalian nervous system) on type I vestibular hair cells; the
      latter are normally distributed in these mutants as revealed by an unaltered
      expression pattern of the potassium channel KCNQ4 in these cells. CONCLUSIONS:
      These results demonstrate a crucial involvement of the TrkB/PLCgamma-mediated
      intracellular signalling in structural aspects of sensory neuron plasticity.

PMID- 20932313
TI  - Inheritance and identification of molecular markers associated with a novel
      dwarfing gene in barley.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Dwarfing genes have widely been used in barley breeding program. More
      than 30 types of dwarfs or semidwarfs have been reported, but a few has been
      exploited in barley breeding because pleiotropic effects of dwarfing genes cause
      some undesired traits. The plant architecture of newly discovered dwarfing
      germplasm "Huaai 11" consisted of desirable agronomic traits such as shortened
      stature and early maturity. Genetic factor controlling the plant height in dwarf
      line Huaai 11 was investigated. RESULTS: The Huaai 11 was crossed with tall
      varieties Monker, Mpyt, Zhenongda 3, Zaoshu 3, Advance, Huadamai 1, Huadamai 6,
      Hyproly and Ris01508. All the F1 plants displayed tall trait. Both tall and dwarf
      plants appeared in all the F2 populations with a 3:1 segregation ratio,
      suggesting that dwarfism of Huaai 11 is controlled by a single recessive gene,
      btwd1. Allelism test indicated that this dwarfing gene in the Huaai 11 is
      nonallelic with the gene br, uzu, sdw1 and denso. Using a double haploid
      population derived from a cross of Huadamai 6 and Huaai 11 and SSR markers the
      novel dwarfing gene was mapped onto the long arm of chromosome 7H, and closely
      linked to Bmac031 and Bmac167 with genetic distance of 2.2 cM. CONCLUSION: Huaai
      11 is a new source of dwarf for broadening the genetic base of dwarfism. This
      dwarf source was controlled by a recessive dwarfing gene btwd1, was mapped onto
      the long arm of chromosome 7H.

PMID- 20932314
TI  - Quantification of myocardial perfusion by cardiovascular magnetic resonance.
AB  - The potential of contrast-enhanced cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) for a
      quantitative assessment of myocardial perfusion has been explored for more than a
      decade now, with encouraging results from comparisons with accepted "gold
      standards", such as microspheres used in the physiology laboratory. This has
      generated an increasing interest in the requirements and methodological
      approaches for the non-invasive quantification of myocardial blood flow by CMR.
      This review provides a synopsis of the current status of the field, and
      introduces the reader to the technical aspects of perfusion quantification by
      CMR. The field has reached a stage, where quantification of myocardial perfusion
      is no longer a claim exclusive to nuclear imaging techniques. CMR may in fact
      offer important advantages like the absence of ionizing radiation, high spatial
      resolution, and an unmatched versatility to combine the interrogation of the
      perfusion status with a comprehensive tissue characterization. Further progress
      will depend on successful dissemination of the techniques for perfusion
      quantification among the CMR community.

PMID- 20932315
TI  - Genes encoding critical transcriptional activators for murine neural tube
      development and human spina bifida: a case-control study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Spina bifida is a malformation of the neural tube and is the most
      common of neural tube defects (NTDs). The etiology of spina bifida is largely
      unknown, although it is thought to be multi-factorial, involving multiple
      interacting genes and environmental factors. Mutations in transcriptional co
      activator genes-Cited2, p300, Cbp, Tfap2alpha, Carm1 and Cart1 result in NTDs in
      murine models, thus prompt us to investigate whether homologues of these genes
      are associated with NTDs in humans. METHODS: Data and biological samples from 297
      spina bifida cases and 300 controls were derived from a population-based case
      control study conducted in California. 37 SNPs within CITED2, EP300, CREBBP,
      TFAP2A, CARM1 and ALX1 were genotyped using an ABI SNPlex assay. Odds ratios and
      95% confidence intervals were calculated for alleles, genotypes and haplotypes to
      evaluate the risk for spina bifida. RESULTS: Several SNPs showed increased or
      decreased risk, including CITED2 rs1131431 (OR = 5.32, 1.04~27.30), EP300
      rs4820428 (OR = 1.30, 1.01~1.67), EP300 rs4820429 (OR = 0.50, 0.26~0.50, in
      whites, OR = 0.7, 0.49~0.99 in all subjects), EP300 rs17002284 (OR = 0.43,
      0.22~0.84), TFAP2A rs3798691 (OR = 1.78, 1.13~2.87 in Hispanics), CREBBP rs129986
      (OR = 0.27, 0.11~0.69), CARM1 rs17616105 (OR = 0.41, 0.22~0.72 in whites). In
      addition, one haplotype block in EP300 and one in TFAP2A appeared to be
      associated with increased risk. CONCLUSIONS: Modest associations were observed in
      CITED2, EP300, CREBBP, TFAP2A and CARM1 but not ALX1. However, these modest
      associations were not statistically significant after correction for multiple
      comparisons. Searching for potential functional variants and rare causal
      mutations is warranted in these genes.

PMID- 20932316
TI  - The Alberta population-based prospective evaluation of the quality of life
      outcomes and economic impact of bariatric surgery (APPLES) study: background,
      design and rationale.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Extreme obesity affects nearly 8% of Canadians, and is debilitating,
      costly and ultimately lethal. Bariatric surgery is currently the most effective
      treatment available; is associated with reductions in morbidity/mortality,
      improvements in quality of life; and appears cost-effective. However, current
      demand for surgery in Canada outstrips capacity by at least 1000-fold, causing
      exponential increases in already protracted, multi-year wait-times. The
      objectives and hypotheses of this study were as follows: 1. To serially assess
      the clinical, economic and humanistic outcomes in patients wait-listed for
      bariatric care over a 2-year period. We hypothesize deterioration in these
      outcomes over time; 2. To determine the clinical effectiveness and changes in
      quality of life associated with modern bariatric procedures compared with
      medically treated and wait-listed controls over 2 years. We hypothesize that
      surgery will markedly reduce weight, decrease the need for unplanned medical
      care, and increase quality of life; 3. To conduct a 3-year (1 year retrospective
      and 2 year prospective) economic assessment of bariatric surgery compared to
      medical and wait-listed controls from the societal, public payor, and health-care
      payor perspectives. We hypothesize that lower indirect, out of pocket and
      productivity costs will offset increased direct health-care costs resulting in
      lower total costs for bariatric surgery. METHODS/DESIGN: Population-based
      prospective cohort study of 500 consecutive, consenting adults, including 150
      surgically treated patients, 200 medically treated patients and 150 wait-listed
      patients. Subjects will be enrolled from the Edmonton Weight Wise Regional
      Obesity Program (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada), with prospective bi-annual follow-up
      for 2 years. Mixed methods data collection, linking primary data to provincial
      administrative databases will be employed. Major outcomes include generic,
      obesity-specific and preference-based quality of life assessment, patient
      satisfaction, patient utilities, anthropometric indices, cardiovascular risk
      factors, health care utilization and direct and indirect costs. DISCUSSION: The
      results will identify the spectrum of potential risks associated with protracted
      wait times for bariatric care and will quantify the economic, humanistic and
      clinical impact of surgery from the Canadian perspective. Such information is
      urgently needed by health-service providers and policy makers to better allocate
      use of finite resources. Furthermore, our findings should be widely-applicable to
      other publically-funded jurisdictions providing similar care to the extremely
      obese. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Clinicaltrials.gov NCT00850356.

PMID- 20932317
TI  - Frameshift mutation hotspot identified in Smith-Magenis syndrome: case report and
      review of literature.
AB  - Smith-Magenis syndrome (SMS) is a complex syndrome involving intellectual
      disabilities, sleep disturbance, behavioural problems, and a variety of
      craniofacial, skeletal, and visceral anomalies. While the majority of SMS cases
      harbor an ~3.5 Mb common deletion on 17p11.2 that encompasses the retinoic acid
      induced-1 (RAI1) gene, some patients carry small intragenic deletions or point
      mutations in RAI1. We present data on two cases of Smith-Magenis syndrome with
      mutation of RAI1. Both cases are phenotypically consistent with SMS and RAI1
      mutation but also have other anomalies not previously reported in SMS, including
      spontaneous pneumothoraces. These cases also illustrate variability in the SMS
      phenotype not previously shown for RAI1 mutation cases, including hearing loss,
      absence of self-abusive behaviours, and mild global delays. Sequencing of RAI1
      revealed mutation of the same heptameric C-tract (CCCCCCC) in exon 3 in both
      cases (c.3103delC one case and and c.3103insC in the other), resulting in
      frameshift mutations. Of the seven reported frameshift mutations occurring in
      poly C-tracts in RAI1, four cases (~57%) occur at this heptameric C-tract.
      Collectively, these results indicate that this heptameric C-tract is a
      preferential hotspot for single nucleotide insertion/deletions (SNindels) and
      therefore, should be considered a primary target for analysis in patients
      suspected for mutations in RAI1. We expect that as more patients are sequenced
      for mutations in RAI1, the incidence of frameshift mutations in this hotspot will
      become more evident.

PMID- 20932318
TI  - Aggressive mammary carcinoma progression in Nrf2 knockout mice treated with 7,12
      dimethylbenz[a]anthracene.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Activation of nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor (Nrf2), which
      belongs to the basic leucine zipper transcription factor family, is a strategy
      for cancer chemopreventive phytochemicals. It is an important regulator of genes
      induced by oxidative stress, such as glutathione S-transferases, heme oxygenase-1
      and peroxiredoxin 1, by activating the antioxidant response element (ARE). We
      hypothesized that (1) the citrus coumarin auraptene may suppress premalignant
      mammary lesions via activation of Nrf2/ARE, and (2) that Nrf2 knockout (KO) mice
      would be more susceptible to mammary carcinogenesis. METHODS: Premalignant
      lesions and mammary carcinomas were induced by medroxyprogesterone acetate and
      7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene treatment. The 10-week pre-malignant study was
      performed in which 8 groups of 10 each female wild-type (WT) and KO mice were fed
      either control diet or diets containing auraptene (500 ppm). A carcinogenesis
      study was also conducted in KO vs. WT mice (n = 30-34). Comparisons between
      groups were evaluated using ANOVA and Kaplan-Meier Survival statistics, and the
      Mann-Whitney U-test. RESULTS: All mice treated with carcinogen exhibited
      premalignant lesions but there were no differences by genotype or diet. In the KO
      mice, there was a dramatic increase in mammary carcinoma growth rate, size, and
      weight. Although there was no difference in overall survival, the KO mice had
      significantly lower mammary tumor-free survival. Also, in the KO mammary
      carcinomas, the active forms of NF-kappaB and beta-catenin were increased ~2-fold
      whereas no differences in oxidized proteins were observed. Many other tumors were
      observed, including lymphomas. Interestingly, the incidences of lung adenomas in
      the KO mice were significantly higher than in the WT mice. CONCLUSIONS: We
      report, for the first time, that there was no apparent difference in the
      formation of premalignant lesions, but rather, the KO mice exhibited rapid,
      aggressive mammary carcinoma progression.

PMID- 20932319
TI  - A direct comparison of the KBTM Basecaller and phred for identifying the bases
      from DNA sequencing using chain termination chemistry.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Relatively recently, the software KBTM Basecaller has replaced phred
      for identifying the bases from raw sequence data in DNA sequencing employing
      dideoxy chemistry. We have measured quantitatively the consequences of that
      change. RESULTS: The high quality sequence segment of reads derived from the KBTM
      Basecaller were, on average, 30-to-50 bases longer than reads derived from phred.
      However, microbe identification appeared to have been unaffected by the change in
      software. CONCLUSIONS: We have demonstrated a modest, but statistically
      significant, superiority in high quality read length of the KBTM Basecaller
      compared to phred. We found no statistically significant difference between the
      numbers of microbial species identified from the sequence data.

PMID- 20932320
TI  - Nano to micro delivery systems: targeting angiogenesis in brain tumors.
AB  - Treating brain tumors using inhibitors of angiogenesis is extensively researched
      and tested in clinical trials. Although anti-angiogenic treatment holds a great
      potential for treating primary and secondary brain tumors, no clinical treatment
      is currently approved for brain tumor patients. One of the main hurdles in
      treating brain tumors is the blood brain barrier - a protective barrier of the
      brain, which prevents drugs from entering the brain parenchyma. As most
      therapeutics are excluded from the brain there is an urgent need to develop
      delivery platforms which will bypass such hurdles and enable the delivery of anti
      angiogenic drugs into the tumor bed. Such delivery systems should be able to
      control release the drug or a combination of drugs at a therapeutic level for the
      desired time. In this mini-review we will discuss the latest improvements in nano
      and micro drug delivery platforms that were designed to deliver inhibitors of
      angiogenesis to the brain.

PMID- 20932322
TI  - Isolated cystic tuberculosis of scapula; case report and review of literature.
AB  - Tubercular osteomylitis of scapula is extremely rare. The isolated involvement
      of this flat bone without any primary focus confuses the surgeon with other
      pathology and as a result there is always delay in diagnosis. This article
      discusses about an isolated multicystic tubercular lesion of scapula which
      remained untreated for about two years as the primary physician biased with the
      history of trauma and suspected it to be a post-traumatic hematoma. MRI picture
      was deceptive. Finally, diagnosis was established by fine needle aspiration which
      showed typical epitheloid granuloma on histology. Lack of awareness and
      nonspecific radiological picture may cause delay in diagnosis of scapular
      tuberculosis. Tuberculosis is an important consideration in isolated scapular
      swelling particularly in endemic regions and the histological diagnosis by fine
      needle aspiration may be helpful in cases of doubtful radiological pictures.

PMID- 20932321
TI  - The potential of nanomedicine therapies to treat neovascular disease in the
      retina.
AB  - Neovascular disease in the retina is the leading cause of blindness in all age
      groups. Thus, there is a great need to develop effective therapeutic agents to
      inhibit and prevent neovascularization in the retina. Over the past decade, anti
      VEGF therapeutic agents have entered the clinic for the treatment of neovascular
      retinal disease, and these agents have been effective for slowing and preventing
      the progression of neovascularization. However, the therapeutic benefits of anti
      VEGF therapy can be diminished by the need for prolonged treatment regimens of
      repeated intravitreal injections, which can lead to complications such as
      endophthalmitis, retinal tears, and retinal detachment. Recent advances in
      nanoparticle-based drug delivery systems offer the opportunity to improve
      bioactivity and prolong bioavailability of drugs in the retina to reduce the
      risks associated with treating neovascular disease. This article reviews recent
      advances in the development of nanoparticle-based drug delivery systems which
      could be utilized to improve the treatment of neovascular disease in the retina.

PMID- 20932323
TI  - "Summary Page": a novel tool that reduces omitted data in research databases.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Data entry errors are common in clinical research databases. Omitted
      data are of particular concern because they are more common than erroneously
      inserted data and therefore could potentially affect research findings. However,
      few affordable strategies for their prevention are available. METHODS: We have
      conducted a prospective observational study of the effect of a novel tool called
      "Summary Page" on the frequency of correction of omitted data errors in a
      radiation oncology research database between July 2008 and March 2009. "Summary
      Page" was implemented as an optionally accessed screen in the database that
      visually integrates key fields in the record. We assessed the frequency of
      omitted data on the example of the Date of Relapse field. We considered the data
      in this field to be omitted for all records that had empty Date of Relapse field
      and evidence of relapse elsewhere in the record. RESULTS: A total of 1,156
      records were updated and 200 new records were entered in the database over the
      study period. "Summary Page" was accessed for 44% of all updated records and for
      69% of newly entered records. Frequency of correction of the omitted date of
      cancer relapse was six-fold higher in records for which "Summary Page" was
      accessed (p = 0.0003). CONCLUSIONS: "Summary Page" was strongly associated with
      an increased frequency of correction of omitted data errors. Further, controlled,
      studies are needed to confirm this finding and elucidate its mechanism of action.

PMID- 20932324
TI  - p27(Kip1) deficiency promotes prostate carcinogenesis but does not affect the
      efficacy of retinoids in suppressing the neoplastic process.
AB  - BACKGROUND: p27 is a cell cycle suppressor gene, whose protein is a negative
      regulator of cyclin/cdk complexes. p27 is also a potential target of retinoids in
      cancer prevention studies. In benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH), and in most
      carcinomas, p27(Kip1) is down-regulated, suggesting its potential resistance to
      retinoids. To test this hypothesis, we examined the efficacy of 9-cis retinoic
      acid (9cRA) to suppress prostate cell proliferation (PECP) and carcinogenesis in
      p27(Kip1) deficient mice. METHODS: p27(Kip1) deficient (-/-), heterozygous (+/-)
      and homozygous (+/+) mice were treated for 7 days with testosterone, 9cRA, or
      with both, and cell proliferation in dorsolateral prostate (DLP) was determined
      by BrdU labeling. Prostate carcinogenesis was induced by N-Methyl-N-Nitrosourea
      (MNU) and hormone stimulation. RESULTS: PECP in DLP of two-month-old mice of all
      genotypes was similar but significantly increased in old p27-/- mice only.
      Testosterone treatment increased PECP in all three p27 genotypes with the highest
      values in p27-/- mice. p27(Kip1) deficiency did not affect the response of PEC to
      9cRA and to 9cRA+testosterone. The decrease of p27(Kip1) in p27+/- and p27-/-
      mice progressively increased the incidence and frequency of PIN and tumors. 9cRA
      suppressed PIN in all three p27 genotypes and this was associated with decreased
      PECP and increased cellular senescence. CONCLUSIONS: This data indicates that
      p27(Kip1) deficiency promotes prostate cell proliferation and carcinogenesis but
      does not affect 9cRA's potential to suppress prostate carcinogenesis, suggesting
      that patients with PIN and carcinomas lacking or having a low level of p27(Kip1)
      expression may also benefit from clinical trials with retinoids.

PMID- 20932325
TI  - Identification of differences in human and great ape phytanic acid metabolism
      that could influence gene expression profiles and physiological functions.
AB  - BACKGROUND: It has been proposed that anatomical differences in human and great
      ape guts arose in response to species-specific diets and energy demands. To
      investigate functional genomic consequences of these differences, we compared
      their physiological levels of phytanic acid, a branched chain fatty acid that can
      be derived from the microbial degradation of chlorophyll in ruminant guts. Humans
      who accumulate large stores of phytanic acid commonly develop cerebellar ataxia,
      peripheral polyneuropathy, and retinitis pigmentosa in addition to other medical
      conditions. Furthermore, phytanic acid is an activator of the PPAR-alpha
      transcription factor that influences the expression of genes relevant to lipid
      metabolism. RESULTS: Despite their trace dietary phytanic acid intake, all great
      ape species had elevated red blood cell (RBC) phytanic acid levels relative to
      humans on diverse diets. Unlike humans, chimpanzees showed sexual dimorphism in
      RBC phytanic acid levels, which were higher in males relative to females.
      Cultured skin fibroblasts from all species had a robust capacity to degrade
      phytanic acid. We provide indirect evidence that great apes, in contrast to
      humans, derive significant amounts of phytanic acid from the hindgut fermentation
      of plant materials. This would represent a novel reduction of metabolic activity
      in humans relative to the great apes. CONCLUSION: We identified differences in
      the physiological levels of phytanic acid in humans and great apes and propose
      this is causally related to their gut anatomies and microbiomes. Phytanic acid
      levels could contribute to cross-species and sex-specific differences in human
      and great ape transcriptomes, especially those related to lipid metabolism. Based
      on the medical conditions caused by phytanic acid accumulation, we suggest that
      differences in phytanic acid metabolism could influence the functions of human
      and great ape nervous, cardiovascular, and skeletal systems.

PMID- 20932326
TI  - Development of mental health first aid guidelines for Aboriginal and Torres
      Strait Islander people experiencing problems with substance use: a Delphi study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Problems with substance use are common in some Aboriginal
      communities. Although problems with substance use are associated with significant
      mortality and morbidity, many people who experience them do not seek help.
      Training in mental health first aid has been shown to be effective in increasing
      knowledge of symptoms and behaviours associated with seeking help. The current
      study aimed to develop culturally appropriate guidelines for providing mental
      health first aid to an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person who is
      experiencing problem drinking or problem drug use (e.g. abuse or dependence).
      METHODS: Twenty-eight Aboriginal health experts participated in two independent
      Delphi studies (n = 22 problem drinking study, n = 21 problem drug use; 15
      participated in both). Panellists were presented with statements about possible
      first aid actions via online questionnaires and were encouraged to suggest
      additional actions not covered by the content. Statements were accepted for
      inclusion in the guidelines if they were endorsed by >= 90% of panellists as
      either 'Essential' or 'Important'. At the end of the two Delphi studies,
      participants were asked to give feedback on the value of the project and their
      participation experience. RESULTS: From a total of 735 statements presented over
      two studies, 429 were endorsed (223 problem drinking, 206 problem drug use).
      Statements were grouped into sections based on common themes (n = 7 problem
      drinking, n = 8 problem drug use), then written into guideline documents.
      Participants evaluated the Delphi method employed, and the guidelines developed,
      as useful and appropriate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
      CONCLUSIONS: Aboriginal health experts were able to reach consensus about
      culturally appropriate first aid for problems with substance use. Many first aid
      actions endorsed in the current studies were not endorsed in previous
      international Delphi studies, conducted on problem drinking and problem drug use
      in non-Indigenous people, highlighting the need for culturally specific first aid
      strategies to be employed when assisting Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander
      people.

PMID- 20932327
TI  - Effect of omega-3 and omega-9 fatty acid rich oils on lipoxygenases and
      cyclooxygenases enzymes and on the growth of a mammary adenocarcinoma model.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Nutritional factors play a major role in cancer initiation and
      development. Dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) have the ability to
      induce modifications in the activity of lipoxygenase (LOX) and cyclooxygenase
      (COX) enzymes that affect tumour growth. We studied the effect of two diets
      enriched in 6% Walnut and Peanut oils that are rich in omega-3 and omega9 PUFAs
      respectively on a murine mammary gland adenocarcinoma as compared with the
      control (C) that received commercial diet. RESULTS: Peanut oil enriched diet
      induced an increase in membrane arachidonic acid (AA) content and the
      cyclooxygenase enzyme derived 12-HHT (p < 0.05) and simultaneously showed
      decrease in 12-LOX, 15-LOX-2, 15-LOX-1 and PGE activities (p < 0.05) that
      corresponded to higher apoptosis and lower mitosis seen in this group (p < 0.05).
      Furthermore, Peanut oil group showed lower T-cell infiltration (p < 0.05), number
      of metastasis (p < 0.05) and tumour volume (p < 0.05) and longer survival rate
      compared to other groups. CONCLUSIONS: The results of the present study showed
      that Peanut oil-enriched diet protects against mammary cancer development by
      modulating tumour membrane fatty acids composition and LOX and COX enzyme
      activities.

PMID- 20932328
TI  - Genome-wide regulation of innate immunity by juvenile hormone and 20
      hydroxyecdysone in the Bombyx fat body.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Insect innate immunity can be affected by juvenile hormone (JH) and
      20-hydroxyecdysone (20E), but how innate immunity is developmentally regulated by
      these two hormones in insects has not yet been elucidated. In the silkworm,
      Bombyx mori, JH and 20E levels are high during the final larval molt (4 M) but
      absent during the feeding stage of 5(th) instar (5 F), while JH level is low and
      20E level is high during the prepupal stage (PP). Fat body produces humoral
      response molecules and hence is considered as the major organ involved in innate
      immunity. RESULTS: A genome-wide microarray analysis of Bombyx fat body isolated
      from 4 M, 5 F and PP uncovered a large number of differentially-expressed genes.
      Most notably, 6 antimicrobial peptide (AMP) genes were up-regulated at 4 M versus
      PP suggesting that Bombyx innate immunity is developmentally regulated by the two
      hormones. First, JH treatment dramatically increased AMP mRNA levels and
      activities. Furthermore, 20E treatment exhibited inhibitory effects on AMP mRNA
      levels and activities, and RNA interference of the 20E receptor EcR-USP had the
      opposite effects to 20E treatment. CONCLUSION: Taken together, we demonstrate
      that JH acts as an immune-activator while 20E inhibits innate immunity in the fat
      body during Bombyx postembryonic development.

PMID- 20932329
TI  - CTD small phosphatase like 2 (CTDSPL2) can increase epsilon- and gamma-globin
      gene expression in K562 cells and CD34+ cells derived from umbilical cord blood.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A potential strategy for treatment of sickle cell disease (SCD) and
      beta-thalassemia in adults is reactivation of the epsilon- and gamma-globin genes
      in the adult. We aimed to identify trans-activators of epsilon- and gamma-globin
      expression and provide new candidate targets for effective treatment of sickle
      cell disease (SCD) and beta-thalassemia through activation of epsilon- and gamma
      globin genes in adults. RESULTS: We identified a CTD small phosphatase like 2
      (CTDSPL2) gene that had higher transcription levels in umbilical cord blood (UCB)
      than in adult bone marrow (BM). Also, transcription of the CTDSPL2 gene increased
      significantly during erythroid differentiation. Further, we found that
      overexpression of CTDSPL2 could obviously improve the expression of epsilon- and
      gamma-globin genes in K562 cells. Meanwhile, the repression of CTDSPL2 by RNA
      interference decreased expression of epsilon- and gamma-globin genes but did not
      inhibit the increase of globin gene expression during K562 erythroid
      differentiation. In addition, the enforced expression of CTDSPL2 gene mediated by
      lentiviruses could also increase epsilon- and gamma-globin gene expression during
      erythroid differentiation of CD34+ cells derived from UCB. CONCLUSION: CTDSPL2
      gene can obviously improve the expression of epsilon- and gamma-globin genes in
      K562 cells and CD34+ cells derived from UCB. Our study provides a new candidate
      target for effective treatment of SCD and beta-thalassemia.

PMID- 20932330
TI  - Genome-wide analysis of the effect of histone modifications on the coexpression
      of neighboring genes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Neighboring gene pairs in the genome of Saccharomyces cerevisiae have
      a tendency to be expressed at the same time. The distribution of histone
      modifications along chromatin fibers is suggested to be an important mechanism
      responsible for such coexpression. However, the extent of the contribution of
      histone modifications to the coexpression of neighboring genes is unclear.
      RESULTS: We investigated the similarity of histone modification between
      neighboring genes using autocorrelation analysis and composite profiles. Our
      analysis showed that neighboring genes had similar levels or changes of histone
      modifications, especially those transcribed in the same direction. The
      similarities, however, were restricted to 1 or 2 neighboring genes. Moreover, the
      expression of a gene was significantly correlated with histone modification of
      its neighboring gene(s), but this was limited to only 1 or 2 neighbors. Using a
      hidden Markov model (HMM), we found more than 2000 chromatin domains with similar
      acetylation changes as the cultures changed and a considerable number of these
      domains covered 2-4 genes. Gene pairs within domains exhibited a higher level of
      coexpression than random pairs and shared similar functions. CONCLUSIONS: The
      results of this study suggest that similar histone modifications occur within
      only a small local chromatin region in yeast. The modifications generally have an
      effect on coexpression with only 1 or 2 neighboring genes. Some blocking
      mechanism(s) might strictly restrain the distribution of histone modifications in
      yeast.

PMID- 20932331
TI  - MiR-339-5p inhibits breast cancer cell migration and invasion in vitro and may be
      a potential biomarker for breast cancer prognosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play an important role in the regulation of cell
      growth, differentiation, apoptosis, and carcinogenesis. Detection of their
      expression may lead to identifying novel markers for breast cancer. METHODS: We
      profiled miRNA expression in three breast cancer cell lines (MCF-7, MDA-MB-231,
      and MDA-MB-468) and then focused on one miRNA, miR-339-5p, for its role in
      regulation of tumor cell growth, migration, and invasion and target gene
      expression. We then analyzed miR-339-5p expression in benign and cancerous breast
      tissue specimens. RESULTS: A number of miRNAs were differentially expressed in
      these cancer cell lines. Real-time PCR indicated that miR-339-5p expression was
      downregulated in the aggressive cell lines MDA-MB-468 and MDA-MB-231 and in
      breast cancer tissues compared with benign tissues. Transfection of miR-339-5p
      oligonucleotides reduced cancer cell growth only slightly but significantly
      decreased tumor cell migration and invasion capacity compared with controls. Real
      time PCR analysis showed that BCL-6, a potential target gene of miR-339-5p, was
      downregulated in MDA-MB-231 cells by miR-339-5p transfection. Furthermore, the
      reduced miR-339-5p expression was associated with an increase in metastasis to
      lymph nodes and with high clinical stages. Kaplan-Meier analyses found that the
      patients with miR-339-5p expression had better overall and relapse-free survivals
      compared with those without miR-339-5p expression. Cox proportional hazards
      analyses showed that miR-339-5p expression was an independent prognostic factor
      for breast cancer patients. CONCLUSIONS: MiR-339-5p may play an important role in
      breast cancer progression, suggesting that miR-339-5p should be further evaluated
      as a biomarker for predicting the survival of breast cancer patients.

PMID- 20932332
TI  - Recurrent post-partum coronary artery dissection.
AB  - Coronary artery dissection is a rare but well-described cause for myocardial
      infarction during the post-partum period. Dissection of multiple coronary
      arteries is even less frequent. Here we present a case of recurrent post-partum
      coronary artery dissections. This unusual presentation poses unique problems for
      management. A 35 year-old female, gravida 3 para 2, presented with myocardial
      infarction 9 weeks and 3 days post-partum. Cardiac catheterization demonstrated
      left anterior descending (LAD) dissection but an otherwise normal coronary
      anatomy. The lesion was treated with four everolimus eluting stents. Initially
      the patient made an unremarkable recovery until ventricular fibrillation arrest
      occurred on the following day. Unsynchronized cardioversion restored a normal
      sinus rhythm and repeat catheterization revealed new right coronary artery (RCA)
      dissection. A wire was passed distally, but it was unclear whether this was
      through the true or false lumen and no stents could be placed. However,
      improvement of distal RCA perfusion was noted on angiogram. Despite failure of
      interventional therapy the patient was therefore treated conservatively. Early
      operation after myocardial infarction has a significantly elevated risk of
      mortality and the initial dissection had occurred within 24 hours. This strategy
      proved successful as follow-up transthoracic echocardiography after four months
      demonstrated a preserved left ventricular ejection fraction of 55-60% without
      regional wall motion abnormalities. The patient remained asymptomatic from a
      cardiac point of view.

PMID- 20932333
TI  - HIV-1 subtype distribution in the Gambia and the significant presence of
      CRF49_cpx, a novel circulating recombinant form.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Detailed local HIV-1 sequence data are essential for monitoring the
      HIV epidemic, for maintaining sensitive sequence-based diagnostics, and to aid in
      designing vaccines. RESULTS: Reported here are full envelope sequences derived
      from 38 randomly selected HIV-1 infections identified at a Gambian clinic between
      1991 and 2009. Special care was taken to generate sequences from circulating
      viral RNA as uncloned products, either by limiting dilution or single genome
      amplification polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Within these 38 isolates, eight
      were subtyped as A and 18 as CRF02_AG. A small number of subtype B, C, D viruses
      were identified. Surprising, however, was the identification of six isolates with
      subtype J-like envelopes, a subtype found normally in Central Africa and the
      Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), with gag p24 regions that clustered with
      subtype A sequences. Near full-length sequence from three of these isolates
      confirmed that these represent a novel circulating recombinant form of HIV-1, now
      named CRF49_cpx. CONCLUSIONS: This study expands the HIV-1 sequence database from
      the Gambia and will provide important data for HIV diagnostics, patient care, and
      vaccine development.

PMID- 20932334
TI  - In silico modeling indicates the development of HIV-1 resistance to multiple
      shRNA gene therapy differs to standard antiretroviral therapy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Gene therapy has the potential to counter problems that still hamper
      standard HIV antiretroviral therapy, such as toxicity, patient adherence and the
      development of resistance. RNA interference can suppress HIV replication as a
      gene therapeutic via expressed short hairpin RNAs (shRNAs). It is now clear that
      multiple shRNAs will likely be required to suppress infection and prevent the
      emergence of resistant virus. RESULTS: We have developed the first biologically
      relevant stochastic model in which multiple shRNAs are introduced into CD34+
      hematopoietic stem cells. This model has been used to track the production of
      gene-containing CD4+ T cells, the degree of HIV infection, and the development of
      HIV resistance in lymphoid tissue for 13 years. In this model, we found that at
      least four active shRNAs were required to suppress HIV infection/replication
      effectively and prevent the development of resistance. The inhibition of incoming
      virus was shown to be critical for effective treatment. The low potential for
      resistance development that we found is largely due to a pool of replicating wild
      type HIV that is maintained in non-gene containing CD4+ T cells. This wild-type
      HIV effectively out-competes emerging viral strains, maintaining the viral status
      quo. CONCLUSIONS: The presence of a group of cells that lack the gene therapeutic
      and is available for infection by wild-type virus appears to mitigate the
      development of resistance observed with systemic antiretroviral therapy.

PMID- 20932335
TI  - Construction of an almond linkage map in an Australian population Nonpareil x
      Lauranne.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Despite a high genetic similarity to peach, almonds (Prunus dulcis)
      have a fleshless fruit and edible kernel, produced as a crop for human
      consumption. While the release of peach genome v1.0 provides an excellent
      opportunity for almond genetic and genomic studies, well-assessed segregating
      populations and the respective saturated genetic linkage maps lay the foundation
      for such studies to be completed in almond. RESULTS: Using an almond
      intraspecific cross between 'Nonpareil' and 'Lauranne' (N x L), we constructed a
      moderately saturated map with SSRs, SNPs, ISSRs and RAPDs. The N x L map covered
      591.4 cM of the genome with 157 loci. The average marker distance of the map was
      4.0 cM. The map displayed high synteny and colinearity with the Prunus T x E
      reference map in all eight linkage groups (G1-G8). The positions of 14 mapped
      gene-anchored SNPs corresponded approximately with the positions of homologous
      sequences in the peach genome v1.0. Analysis of Mendelian segregation ratios
      showed that 17.9% of markers had significantly skewed genotype ratios at the
      level of P < 0.05. Due to the large number of skewed markers in the linkage group
      7, the potential existence of deleterious gene(s) was assessed in the group.
      Integrated maps produced by two different mapping methods using JoinMap(r) 3 were
      compared, and their high degree of similarity was evident despite the positional
      inconsistency of a few markers. CONCLUSIONS: We presented a moderately saturated
      Australian almond map, which is highly syntenic and collinear with the Prunus
      reference map and peach genome V1.0. Therefore, the well-assessed almond
      population reported here can be used to investigate the traits of interest under
      Australian growing conditions, and provides more information on the almond genome
      for the international community.

PMID- 20932336
TI  - Misty Mountain clustering: application to fast unsupervised flow cytometry
      gating.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There are many important clustering questions in computational
      biology for which no satisfactory method exists. Automated clustering algorithms,
      when applied to large, multidimensional datasets, such as flow cytometry data,
      prove unsatisfactory in terms of speed, problems with local minima or cluster
      shape bias. Model-based approaches are restricted by the assumptions of the
      fitting functions. Furthermore, model based clustering requires serial clustering
      for all cluster numbers within a user defined interval. The final cluster number
      is then selected by various criteria. These supervised serial clustering methods
      are time consuming and frequently different criteria result in different optimal
      cluster numbers. Various unsupervised heuristic approaches that have been
      developed such as affinity propagation are too expensive to be applied to
      datasets on the order of 106 points that are often generated by high throughput
      experiments. RESULTS: To circumvent these limitations, we developed a new,
      unsupervised density contour clustering algorithm, called Misty Mountain, that is
      based on percolation theory and that efficiently analyzes large data sets. The
      approach can be envisioned as a progressive top-down removal of clouds covering a
      data histogram relief map to identify clusters by the appearance of statistically
      distinct peaks and ridges. This is a parallel clustering method that finds every
      cluster after analyzing only once the cross sections of the histogram. The
      overall run time for the composite steps of the algorithm increases linearly by
      the number of data points. The clustering of 106 data points in 2D data space
      takes place within about 15 seconds on a standard laptop PC. Comparison of the
      performance of this algorithm with other state of the art automated flow
      cytometry gating methods indicate that Misty Mountain provides substantial
      improvements in both run time and in the accuracy of cluster assignment.
      CONCLUSIONS: Misty Mountain is fast, unbiased for cluster shape, identifies
      stable clusters and is robust to noise. It provides a useful, general solution
      for multidimensional clustering problems. We demonstrate its suitability for
      automated gating of flow cytometry data.

PMID- 20932337
TI  - Drug-induced mild therapeutic hypothermia obtained by administration of a
      transient receptor potential vanilloid type 1 agonist.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The use of mechanical/physical devices for applying mild therapeutic
      hypothermia is the only proven neuroprotective treatment for survivors of out of
      hospital cardiac arrest. However, this type of therapy is cumbersome and
      associated with several side-effects. We investigated the feasibility of using a
      transient receptor potential vanilloid type 1 (TRPV1) agonist for obtaining drug
      induced sustainable mild hypothermia. METHODS: First, we screened a heterogeneous
      group of TRPV1 agonists and secondly we tested the hypothermic properties of a
      selected candidate by dose-response studies. Finally we tested the hypothermic
      properties in a large animal. The screening was in conscious rats, the dose
      response experiments in conscious rats and in cynomologus monkeys, and the
      finally we tested the hypothermic properties in conscious young cattle (calves
      with a body weight as an adult human). The investigated TRPV1 agonists were
      administered by continuous intravenous infusion. RESULTS: Screening:
      Dihydrocapsaicin (DHC), a component of chili pepper, displayed a desirable
      hypothermic profile with regards to the duration, depth and control in conscious
      rats. Dose-response experiments: In both rats and cynomologus monkeys DHC caused
      a dose-dependent and immediate decrease in body temperature. Thus in rats,
      infusion of DHC at doses of 0.125, 0.25, 0.50, and 0.75 mg/kg/h caused a maximal
      DeltaT ( degrees C) as compared to vehicle control of -0.9, -1.5, -2.0, and -4.2
      within approximately 1 hour until the 6 hour infusion was stopped. Finally, in
      calves the intravenous infusion of DHC was able to maintain mild hypothermia with
      DeltaT > -3 degrees C for more than 12 hours. CONCLUSIONS: Our data support the
      hypothesis that infusion of dihydrocapsaicin is a candidate for testing as a
      primary or adjunct method of inducing and maintaining therapeutic hypothermia.

PMID- 20932338
TI  - An appeal to humanity: legal victory in favour of North America's only supervised
      injection facility: Insite.
AB  - Canada's federal government has once again failed to shut North America's only
      authorized supervised injection facility: Insite. A majority ruling issued by the
      BC Court of Appeal on 15 January 2010 upheld an earlier British Columbia Supreme
      Court ruling in 2008 that protected the rights of injection drug users (IDUs) to
      access Insite as a health facility as per the Charter of Rights and Freedoms
      component of the Constitution of Canada. The majority decision from Honourable
      Madam Justices Rowles, Huddart and Smith also established a jurisdictional
      victory safeguarding Insite as most appropriately run under the authority of the
      province of British Columbia rather than the federal Government of Canada. The
      Federal Government has appealed the case to the Supreme Court of Canada. A
      hearing date has been set for 12 May 2011. The appeal will be a legal one but
      even more so, it will be an appeal to humanity.

PMID- 20932339
TI  - Low hospital admission rates for respiratory diseases in children.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Population-based data on hospital admissions for children aged 0-17
      years concerning all respiratory diseases are scarce. This study examined
      hospital admissions in relation to the preceding consultations in general
      practice in this age group. METHODS: Data on children aged 0-17 years with
      respiratory diseases included in the Second Dutch National Survey of General
      Practice (DNSGP-2) were linked to all hospital admissions in the Dutch National
      Medical Registration. Admission rates for respiratory diseases were calculated.
      Data were analysed using multivariate logistic regression. RESULTS: Of all 79,272
      children within the DNSGP-2, 1.8% were admitted to hospital for any respiratory
      diagnosis. The highest admission rates per 1000 children were for chronic disease
      of tonsils and adenoids (12.9); pneumonia and influenza (0.97); and asthma
      (0.92). Children aged 0-4 years and boys were admitted more frequently. Of
      children with asthma, 2.3% were admitted for respiratory diseases. For asthma,
      admission rates varied by urbanisation level: 0.47/1000 children/year in cities
      with <= 30,000 inhabitants, 1.12 for cities with >= 50,000 inhabitants, and 1.73
      for the three largest cities (p = 0.002). Multivariate logistic regression showed
      that within two weeks after a GP consultation, younger age (OR 0.81, 95% CI 0.76
      0.88) and more severe respiratory diseases (5.55, 95% CI 2.99-8.11) predicted
      hospital admission. CONCLUSIONS: Children in the general population with
      respiratory diseases (especially asthma) had very low hospital admission rates.
      In urban regions children were more frequently admitted due to respiratory
      morbidity. For effectiveness studies in a primary care setting, hospital
      admission rates should not be used as quality end-point.

PMID- 20932340
TI  - Clinical characteristics of depression among adolescent females: a cross
      sectional study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Adolescents rarely seek psychiatric help; they even hesitate to
      disclose their feelings to their parents. However; the adolescents especially the
      females experience depressive symptoms more frequently than general population.
      Do they experience classic depressive symptoms? Are there symptoms specific to
      this subpopulation? AIM OF THE STUDY: Through this study, the authors aimed to
      estimate the prevalence of depressive disorders in Egyptian adolescent female
      students. They also expected a characteristic profile of symptoms for the
      adolescent females. However available literature provides no guidance in the
      description of this profile of symptoms. METHODS: A number of 602 adolescent
      females were interviewed, and subjected to General Health Questionnaire (GHQ);
      Children Depression Inventory (CDI), Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV
      Axis-I Disorders (SCID-I), then Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (Ham-D).
      Results were analyzed by the use of SPSS-15. RESULTS: The study revealed the
      prevalence of depression in the sample of the study to be 15.3% (measured by
      CDI), and 13.3% (measured by SCID-I). Fatigue was the most common presenting
      depressive symptom (81.3%), in addition to other emotional, cognitive and
      physiological symptoms. Suicidal ideations were the most common suicidal symptoms
      in depressed adolescent females (20%), with 2.5% serious suicidal attempts.
      CONCLUSIONS: The somatic symptoms were by far the most common presenting symptom
      for female adolescents suffering from depressive disorders. Depressive phenomena
      including unexplained fatigue, decreased energy, psychomotor changes, lack of
      concentration, weight changes and suicidal ideations may be the presenting
      complaints instead of the classic sad mood.

PMID- 20932341
TI  - Phase 1 safety and tolerability study of BMP-7 in symptomatic knee
      osteoarthritis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There are no proven therapies that modify the structural changes
      associated with osteoarthritis (OA). Preclinical data suggests that intra
      articular recombinant human BMP-7 (bone morphogenetic protein-7) has reparative
      effects on cartilage, as well as on symptoms of joint pain. The objective of this
      study was to determine the safety and tolerability as well as dose-limiting
      toxicity and maximal tolerated dose of intra-articular BMP-7. The secondary
      objectives were to determine the effect on symptomatic responses through 24
      weeks. METHODS: This was a Phase 1, double-blind, randomized, multi-center,
      placebo-controlled, single-dose escalation safety study consisting of 4 dosing
      cohorts in participants with knee OA. Each cohort was to consist of 8 treated
      participants, with treatment allocation in a 3:1 active (intra-articular BMP-7)
      to placebo ratio. Eligible participants were persons with symptomatic
      radiographic knee OA over the age of 40. The primary objective of this study was
      to determine the safety and tolerability of BMP-7 including laboratory
      assessments, immunogenicity data and radiographic assessments. Secondary
      objectives were to determine the proportion of participants with a 20%, 50%, and
      70% improvement in the WOMAC pain and function subscales at 4, 8, 12, and 24
      weeks. Other secondary outcomes included the change from baseline to 4, 8, 12,
      and 24 weeks for the OARSI responder criteria. RESULTS: The mean age of
      participants was 60 years and 73% were female. All 33 participants who were
      enrolled completed the study and most adverse events were mild or moderate and
      were similar in placebo and BMP-7 groups. The 1 mg BMP-7 group showed a higher
      frequency of injection site pain and there was no ectopic bone formation seen on
      plain x-rays. By week 12, most participants in both the BMP-7 and placebo groups
      experienced a 20% improvement in pain and overall the BMP-7 group was similar to
      placebo with regard to this measurement. In the participants who received 0.1 mg
      and 0.3 mg BMP-7, there was a trend toward greater symptomatic improvement than
      placebo. The other secondary endpoints showed similar trends including the OARSI
      responder criteria for which the BMP-7 groups had more responders than placebo.
      CONCLUSIONS: There was no dose limiting toxicity identified in this study. The
      suggestion of a symptom response, together with the lack of dose limiting
      toxicity provide further support for the continued development of this product
      for the treatment of osteoarthritis.

PMID- 20932342
TI  - Healthcare workers as parents: attitudes toward vaccinating their children
      against pandemic influenza A/H1N1.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Both the health care workers (HCWs) and children are target groups
      for pandemic influenza vaccination. The coverage of the target populations is an
      important determinant for impact of mass vaccination. The objective of this study
      is to determine the attitudes of HCWs as parents, toward vaccinating their
      children with pandemic influenza A/H1N1 vaccine. METHODS: A cross-sectional
      questionnaire survey was conducted with health care workers (HCWs) in a public
      hospital during December 2009 in Istanbul. All persons employed in the hospital
      with or without a health-care occupation are accepted as HCW. The HCWs who are
      parents of children 6 months to 18 years of age were included in the study.
      Pearson's chi-square test and logistic regression analysis was applied for the
      statistical analyses. RESULTS: A total of 389 HCWs who were parents of children
      aged 6 months-18 years participated study. Among all participants 27.0% (n = 105)
      reported that themselves had been vaccinated against pandemic influenza A/H1N1.
      Two third (66.1%) of the parents answered that they will not vaccinate their
      children, 21.1% already vaccinated and 12.9% were still undecided. Concern about
      side effect was most reported reason among who had been not vaccinated their
      children and among undecided parents. The second reason for refusing the pandemic
      vaccine was concerns efficacy of the vaccine. Media was the only source of
      information about pandemic influenza in nearly one third of HCWs. Agreement with
      vaccine safety, self receipt of pandemic influenza A/H1N1 vaccine, and trust in
      Ministry of Health were found to be associated with the positive attitude toward
      vaccinating their children against pandemic influenza A/H1N1. CONCLUSIONS:
      Persuading parents to accept a new vaccine seems not be easy even if they are
      HCWs. In order to overcome the barriers among HCWs related to pandemic vaccines,
      determination of their misinformation, attitudes and behaviors regarding the
      pandemic influenza vaccination is necessary. Efforts for orienting the HCWs to
      use evidence based scientific sources, rather than the media for information
      should be considered by the authorities.

PMID- 20932343
TI  - Disrupted postnatal lung development in heme oxygenase-1 deficient mice.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Heme oxygenase (HO) degrades cellular heme to carbon monoxide, iron
      and biliverdin. The HO-1 isoform is both inducible and cyto-protective during
      oxidative stress, inflammation and lung injury. However, little is known about
      its precise role and function in lung development. We hypothesized that HO-1 is
      required for mouse postnatal lung alveolar development and that vascular
      expression of HO-1 is essential and protective during postnatal alveolar
      development. METHODS: Neonatal lung development in wildtype and HO-1 mutant mice
      was evaluated by histological and molecular methods. Furthermore, these newborn
      mice were treated with postnatal dexamethasone (Dex) till postnatal 14 days, and
      evaluated for lung development. RESULTS: Compared to wildtype littermates, HO-1
      mutant mice exhibited disrupted lung alveolar structure including simplification,
      disorganization and reduced secondary crest formation. These defects in alveolar
      development were more pronounced when these mice were challenged with Dex
      treatment. Expression levels of both vascular endothelial and alveolar epithelial
      markers were also further decreased in HO-1 mutants after Dex treatment.
      CONCLUSIONS: These experiments demonstrate that HO-1 is required in normal lung
      development and that HO-1 disruption and dexamethasone exposure are additive in
      the disruption of postnatal lung growth. We speculate that HO-1 is involved in
      postnatal lung development through modulation of pulmonary vascular development.

PMID- 20932344
TI  - A profile of prognostic and molecular factors in European and Maori breast cancer
      patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: New Zealand Maori have a poorer outcome from breast cancer than non
      Maori, yet prognostic data are sparse. The objective of this study was to
      quantify levels of prognostic factors in a cohort of self-declared Maori and
      European breast cancer patients from Christchurch, New Zealand. METHODS AND
      RESULTS: Clinicopathological and survival data from 337 consecutive breast cancer
      patients (27 Maori, 310 European) were evaluated. Fewer tumours were high grade
      in Maori women than European women (p = 0.027). No significant ethnic differences
      were detected for node status, tumour type, tumour size, human epidermal growth
      factor receptor, oestrogen and progesterone receptor (ER/PR) status, or
      survival.In addition, tumour and serum samples from a sub-cohort of 14 Maori
      matched to 14 NZ European patients were analyzed by immunohistochemistry and
      enzyme linked immunosorbent assay for molecular prognostic factors. Significant
      correlations were detected between increased grade and increased levels of
      hypoxia inducible factor-1 (HIF-1alpha), glucose transporter-1 (GLUT-1),
      microvessel density (MVD) and cytokeratins CK5/6 (p < 0.05). High nodal status
      correlated with reduced carbonic anhydrase IX (CA-IX). Negative ER/PR status
      correlated with increased GLUT-1, CA-IX and MVD. Within the molecular factors,
      increased HIF-1alpha correlated with raised GLUT-1, MVD and CK5/6, and CK5/6 with
      GLUT-1 and MVD (p < 0.05). The small number of patients in this sub-cohort
      limited discrimination of ethnic differences. CONCLUSIONS: In this Christchurch
      cohort of breast cancer patients, Maori women were no more likely than European
      women to have pathological or molecular factors predictive of poor prognosis.
      These data contrast with data from the North Island NZ, and suggest potential
      regional differences.

PMID- 20932345
TI  - The efficacy of preoperative PET/CT for prediction of curability in surgery for
      locally advanced gastric carcinoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The benefits of preoperative 18FDG-PET/CT for gastric cancer remain
      uncertain. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of preoperative
      18FDG-PET/CT on the surgical strategy for locally advanced gastric cancer
      retrospectively. METHODS: From January 2007 to November 2008, 18FDG-PET/CT was
      performed in 142 patients who had been diagnosed with advanced gastric cancer by
      computed tomography or gastrofiberscope findings. RESULTS: Detection rates were
      88.7% (126/142) for primary tumors and 24.6% (35/142) for local lymph nodes (LN).
      Nine patients with metastatic lesions underwent induction chemotherapy without
      operation. Of 133 patients subjected to operation, positive FDG uptake in primary
      tumors (p=0.047) and local lymph nodes (p<0.001) was related to non-curable
      operations. The mean standard uptake value (SUV) of primary tumors of patients
      who underwent non-curable operations was significantly higher than that of
      patients with curable operations (p=0.001). When the SUV was greater than 5 and
      FDG uptake of LN was positive, non-curable operations were predicted with a
      sensitivity of 35.2%, a specificity of 91.0% and an accuracy of 76.7%.
      CONCLUSIONS: High SUV of the primary tumor and positive FDG uptake in local lymph
      nodes at PET/CT could predict non-curative resection in locally advanced gastric
      cancer. Therefore, information from preoperative PET/CT can help physician
      decisions regarding other modalities without laparotomy.

PMID- 20932346
TI  - A genome-wide SNP-association study confirms a sequence variant (g.66493737C>T)
      in the equine myostatin (MSTN) gene as the most powerful predictor of optimum
      racing distance for Thoroughbred racehorses.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Thoroughbred horses have been selected for traits contributing to
      speed and stamina for centuries. It is widely recognized that inherited variation
      in physical and physiological characteristics is responsible for variation in
      individual aptitude for race distance, and that muscle phenotypes in particular
      are important. RESULTS: A genome-wide SNP-association study for optimum racing
      distance was performed using the EquineSNP50 Bead Chip genotyping array in a
      cohort of n = 118 elite Thoroughbred racehorses divergent for race distance
      aptitude. In a cohort-based association test we evaluated genotypic variation at
      40,977 SNPs between horses suited to short distance (<= 8 f) and middle-long
      distance (> 8 f) races. The most significant SNP was located on chromosome 18:
      BIEC2-417495 ~690 kb from the gene encoding myostatin (MSTN) [P(unadj.) = 6.96 x
      10-6]. Considering best race distance as a quantitative phenotype, a peak of
      association on chromosome 18 (chr18:65809482-67545806) comprising eight SNPs
      encompassing a 1.7 Mb region was observed. Again, similar to the cohort-based
      analysis, the most significant SNP was BIEC2-417495 (P(unadj.) = 1.61 x 10-9;
      P(Bonf.) = 6.58 x 10-5). In a candidate gene study we have previously reported a
      SNP (g.66493737C>T) in MSTN associated with best race distance in Thoroughbreds;
      however, its functional and genome-wide relevance were uncertain. Additional re
      sequencing in the flanking regions of the MSTN gene revealed four novel 3' UTR
      SNPs and a 227 bp SINE insertion polymorphism in the 5' UTR promoter sequence.
      Linkage disequilibrium was highest between g.66493737C>T and BIEC2-417495 (r2 =
      0.86). CONCLUSIONS: Comparative association tests consistently demonstrated the
      g.66493737C>T SNP as the superior variant in the prediction of distance aptitude
      in racehorses (g.66493737C>T, P = 1.02 x 10-10; BIEC2-417495, P(unadj.) = 1.61 x
      10-9). Functional investigations will be required to determine whether this
      polymorphism affects putative transcription-factor binding and gives rise to
      variation in gene and protein expression. Nonetheless, this study demonstrates
      that the g.66493737C>T SNP provides the most powerful genetic marker for
      prediction of race distance aptitude in Thoroughbreds.

PMID- 20932347
TI  - Increased accumulation of hypoxia-inducible factor-1alpha with reduced
      transcriptional activity mediates the antitumor effect of triptolide.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hypoxia-inducible factor-1alpha (HIF-1alpha), a critical
      transcription factor to reduced O2 availability, has been demonstrated to be
      extensively involved in tumor survival, aggressive progression, drug resistance
      and angiogenesis. Thus it has been considered as a potential anticancer target.
      Triptolide is the main principle responsible for the biological activities of the
      Traditional Chinese Medicine tripterygium wilfordii Hook F. Triptolide possesses
      great chemotherapy potential for cancer with its broad-spectrum anticancer,
      antiangiogenesis, and drug-resistance circumvention activities. Numerous
      biological molecules inhibited by triptolide have been viewed as its possible
      targets. However, the anticancer action mechanisms of triptolide remains to be
      further investigated. Here we used human ovarian SKOV-3 cancer cells as a model
      to probe the effect of triptolide on HIF-1alpha. RESULTS: Triptolide was observed
      to inhibit the proliferation of SKOV-3 cells, and meanwhile, to enhance the
      accumulation of HIF-1alpha protein in SKOV-3, A549 and DU145 cells under
      different conditions. Triptolide did not change the kinetics or nuclear
      localization of HIF-1alpha protein or the 26 S proteasome activity in SKOV-3
      cells. However, triptolide was found to increase the levels of HIF-1alpha mRNA.
      Unexpectedly, the HIF-1alpha protein induced by triptolide appeared to lose its
      transcriptional activity, as evidenced by the decreased mRNA levels of its target
      genes including VEGF, BNIP3 and CAIX. The results were further strengthened by
      the lowered secretion of VEGF protein, the reduced sprout outgrowth from the rat
      aorta rings and the inhibitory expression of the hypoxia responsive element
      driven luciferase reporter gene. Moreover, the silencing of HIF-1alpha partially
      prevented the cytotoxicity and apoptosis triggered by triptolide. CONCLUSIONS:
      The potent induction of HIF-1alpha protein involved in its cytotoxicity, together
      with the suppression of HIF-1 transcriptional activity, indicates the great
      therapeutic potential of triptolide as an anticancer drug. Meanwhile, our data
      further stress the possibility that HIF-1alpha functions in an unresolved nature
      or condition.

PMID- 20932348
TI  - Altered resting-state connectivity in subjects at ultra-high risk for psychosis:
      an fMRI study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Individuals at ultra-high risk (UHR) for psychosis have self
      disturbances and deficits in social cognition and functioning. Midline default
      network areas, including the medial prefrontal cortex and posterior cingulate
      cortex, are implicated in self-referential and social cognitive tasks. Thus, the
      neural substrates within the default mode network (DMN) have the potential to
      mediate self-referential and social cognitive information processing in UHR
      subjects. METHODS: This study utilized functional magnetic resonance imaging
      (fMRI) to investigate resting-state DMN and task-related network (TRN) functional
      connectivity in 19 UHR subjects and 20 matched healthy controls. The bilateral
      posterior cingulate cortex was selected as a seed region, and the intrinsic
      organization for all subjects was reconstructed on the basis of fMRI time series
      correlation. RESULTS: Default mode areas included the posterior/anterior
      cingulate cortices, the medial prefrontal cortex, the lateral parietal cortex,
      and the inferior temporal region. Task-related network areas included the
      dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, supplementary motor area, the inferior parietal
      lobule, and middle temporal cortex. Compared to healthy controls, UHR subjects
      exhibit hyperconnectivity within the default network regions and reduced anti
      correlations (or negative correlations nearer to zero) between the posterior
      cingulate cortex and task-related areas. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that
      abnormal resting-state network activity may be related with the clinical features
      of UHR subjects. Neurodevelopmental and anatomical alterations of cortical
      midline structure might underlie altered intrinsic networks in UHR subjects.

PMID- 20932349
TI  - Pharmacokinetics of artemether and dihydroartemisinin in healthy Pakistani male
      volunteers treated with artemether-lumefantrine.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Artemether-lumefantrine is one of the most widely used anti-malarial
      drug combinations in the world with excellent tolerability and cure rates in
      adult and paediatric patients with uncomplicated falciparum malaria. The aim of
      this study was to evaluate the pharmacokinetics of artemether and its active
      metabolite, dihydroartemisinin, in healthy Pakistani volunteers. METHODS: Twelve
      healthy male Pakistani subjects, aged 20 to 50, were recruited into the study. A
      fixed oral combination of artemether-lumefantrine (80-480 mg) was given as a
      single oral dose. Frequent blood samples were collected and artemether and
      dihydroartemisinin were quantified in human plasma using solid-phase extraction
      and liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry. Drug
      concentration-time data were evaluated with non-compartmental analysis. RESULTS:
      Observed maximum concentrations (mean +/- SD) of artemether and
      dihydroartemisinin were 184 +/- 100 ng/mL and 126 +/- 46 ng/mL, respectively.
      These concentrations were reached at 1.56 +/- 0.68 hr and 1.69 +/- 0.59 hr,
      respectively, after drug intake. The terminal elimination half-life of artemether
      and dihydroartemisinin were 2.00 +/- 0.71 hr and 1.80 +/- 0.31 hr, respectively.
      Apparent volume of distribution and oral clearance for artemether were estimated
      to 666 +/- 220 L and 257 +/- 140 L/hr. The same parameters were estimated to 702
      +/- 220 L and 269 +/- 57 L/hr for dihydroartemisinin. CONCLUSIONS: The overall
      pharmacokinetic properties of artemether and dihydroartemisinin in healthy
      Pakistani subjects are comparable to healthy subjects and patients from other
      populations.

PMID- 20932350
TI  - Cost-effectiveness of recurrence risk guided care versus care as usual in women
      who suffered from early-onset preeclampsia including HELLP syndrome in their
      previous pregnancy (the PreCare study).
AB  - BACKGROUND: Preeclampsia and HELLP syndrome may have serious consequences for
      both mother and fetus. Women who have suffered from preeclampsia or the HELLP
      syndrome, have an increased risk of developing preeclampsia in a subsequent
      pregnancy. However, most women will develop no or only minor complications. In
      this study, we intend to determine cost-effectiveness of recurrence risk guided
      care versus care as usual in pregnant women with a history of early-onset
      preeclampsia. METHODS/DESIGN: We developed a prediction model to estimate the
      individual risk of recurrence of early-onset preeclampsia and the HELLP syndrome.
      In a before-after study, pregnant women with preeclampsia or HELLP syndrome in
      their previous pregnancy receiving care as usual (before introduction of the
      prediction model) will be compared with women receiving recurrence risk guided
      care (after introduction of the prediction model). Eligible and pregnant women
      will be recruited at six university hospitals and seven large non-university
      tertiary referral hospitals in the Netherlands. The primary outcome measure is
      the recurrence of early-onset preeclampsia or HELLP syndrome in women allocated
      to the regular monitoring group. For the economic evaluation, a modelling
      approach will be used. Costs and effects of recurrence risk guided care with
      those of care as usual will be compared by means of a decision model. Two
      incremental cost-effectiveness ratios will be calculated: 1) cost per Quality
      Adjusted Life Year (mother unit of analysis) and 2) cost per live born child
      (child unit of analysis). DISCUSSION: This is, to our knowledge, the first study
      that evaluates prospectively the efficacy of a multivariable prediction rule for
      recurrent hypertensive disease in pregnancy. Results of this study could either
      be integrated into the current guideline on Hypertensive Disorders in Pregnancy,
      or be used to develop a new guideline.

PMID- 20932352
TI  - High dietary niacin intake is associated with decreased chromosome translocation
      frequency in airline pilots.
AB  - Experimental studies suggest that B vitamins such as niacin, folate, riboflavin,
      vitamin B6 and vitamin B12 may protect against DNA damage induced by ionising
      radiation (IR). However, to date, data from IR-exposed human populations are not
      available. We examined the intakes of these B vitamins and their food sources in
      relation to the frequency of chromosome translocations as a biomarker of
      cumulative DNA damage, in eighty-two male airline pilots. Dietary intakes were
      estimated by using a self-administered semi-quantitative FFQ. Translocations in
      peripheral blood lymphocytes were scored by using fluorescence in situ
      hybridisation whole-chromosome painting. Negative binomial regression was used to
      estimate rate ratios and 95 % CI, adjusted for age and occupational and lifestyle
      factors. We observed a significant inverse association between translocation
      frequency and dietary intake of niacin (P = 0.02): adjusted rate ratio for
      subjects in the highest tertile compared with the lowest tertile was 0.58 (95 %
      CI 0.40, 0.83). Translocation frequency was not associated with total niacin
      intake from food and supplements as well as dietary or total intake of folate,
      riboflavin or vitamin B6 or B12. However, the adjusted rate ratios were
      significant for subjects with >= median compared with < median intake of whole
      grains (P = 0.03) and red and processed meat (P = 0.01): 0.69 (95 % CI 0.50,
      0.96) and 1.56 (95 % CI 1.13, 2.16), respectively. Our data suggest that a high
      intake of niacin from food or a diet high in whole grains but low in red and
      processed meat may protect against cumulative DNA damage in IR-exposed persons.

PMID- 20932351
TI  - Specific antibody responses against membrane proteins of erythrocytes infected by
      Plasmodium falciparum of individuals briefly exposed to malaria.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Plasmodium falciparum infections could lead to severe malaria,
      principally in non-immune individuals as children and travellers from countries
      exempted of malaria. Severe malaria is often associated with the sequestration of
      P. falciparum-infected erythrocytes in deep micro-vascular beds via interactions
      between host endothelial receptors and parasite ligands expressed on the surface
      of the infected erythrocyte. Although, serological responses from individuals
      living in endemic areas against proteins expressed at surface of the infected
      erythrocyte have been largely studied, seldom data are available about the
      specific targets of antibody response from travellers. METHODS: In order to
      characterize antigens recognized by traveller sera, a comparison of IgG immune
      response against membrane protein extracts from uninfected and P. falciparum
      infected red blood cells (iRBC), using immunoblots, was performed between non
      exposed individuals (n = 31) and briefly exposed individuals (BEI) (n = 38) to
      malaria transmission. RESULTS: Immune profile analysis indicated that eight
      protein bands from iRBC were significantly detected more frequently in the BEI
      group. Some of these antigenic proteins were identified by an original immuno
      proteomic approach. CONCLUSION: Collectively, these data may be useful to
      characterize the singular serological immune response against a primary malaria
      infection in individuals briefly exposed to transmission.

PMID- 20932353
TI  - Development of nutritional iron deficiency in growing male rats: haematological
      parameters, iron bioavailability and oxidative defence.
AB  - Despite Fe deficiency having been widely studied, the sequence of events in its
      development still remains unclear. The aim of the present study was to elucidate
      the effects of nutritional Fe-deficiency development on haematological
      parameters, Fe bioavailability and the enzymes involved in oxidative defence in
      recently weaned male Wistar albino rats. Control (C) and Fe-deficient (ID) groups
      were fed the AIN-93 G diet with a normal Fe level (45 mg/kg diet) or with a low
      Fe level (5 mg/kg diet), respectively, for 20, 30 or 40 d. At day 20 serum Fe,
      serum ferritin and the saturation of transferrin decreased drastically,
      decreasing further in the course of Fe-deficiency development for the saturation
      of transferrin. The development of Fe deficiency did not affect plasma
      thiobarbituric acid-reactive substance production, or catalase (CAT) and
      glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activities in erythrocyte cytosol. Fe deficiency
      diminished hepatic Fe content and CAT and GPx activities in hepatic cytosol only
      at day the 20. However, in spite of the minor Fe deposits in the brain of ID
      rats, the CAT and GPx activities in the brain cytosolic fraction did not differ
      in any of the studied periods v. control rats. These results show that brain is a
      tissue that does not seem to depend on Fe levels for the maintenance of
      antioxidant defence mechanisms in the course of nutritional Fe deficiency.

PMID- 20932354
TI  - The fat and protein fractions of freshwater clam ( Corbicula fluminea) extract
      reduce serum cholesterol and enhance bile acid biosynthesis and sterol excretion
      in hypercholesterolaemic rats fed a high-cholesterol diet.
AB  - We investigated whether the fat and protein fractions of freshwater clam
      (Corbicula fluminea) extract (FCE) could ameliorate hypercholesterolaemia in rats
      fed a high-cholesterol diet. We also explored the mechanism and the components
      that exert the hypocholesterolaemic effect of FCE. The doses of the fat and
      protein fractions were equivalent to those in 30 % FCE. The fat and protein
      fractions of FCE, two major components of FCE, significantly reduced the serum
      and hepatic cholesterol levels. The fat fraction more strongly reduced serum
      cholesterol levels than the same level of total FCE. The excretion of faecal
      neutral sterols increased in rats fed the total the FCE and the fat fraction of
      FCE. On the other hand, faecal bile acid levels were greater in rats fed the
      total FCE and the fat and protein fractions of FCE than in control animals. The
      hepatic gene expression of ATP-binding cassette transporter G5 and cholesterol
      7alpha-hydroxylase was up-regulated by the administration of the total FCE and
      both the fat and protein fractions of FCE. These results showed that the fat and
      protein fractions of FCE had hypocholesterolaemic properties, and that these
      effects were greater with the fat fraction than with the protein fraction. The
      present study indicates that FCE exerts its hypocholesterolaemic effects through
      at least two different mechanisms, including enhanced excretion of neutral
      sterols and up-regulated biosynthesis of bile acids.

PMID- 20932355
TI  - Sexual size dimorphism, sex ratio and the relationship between seasonality and
      water quality in four species of Gordiida (Nematomorpha) from Catamarca,
      Argentina.
AB  - A total of 687 adult nematomorphs of four species of Gordiida: Chordodes
      brasiliensis (393 specimens), Noteochorododes cymatium (47 specimens), N.
      talensis (162 specimens) and Pseudochordodes dugesi (85 specimens) were collected
      during a period of 1 year from El Simbolar stream, Argentina. Free-living worms
      were abundant during autumn and spring, but their number decreased during winter
      and summer. Males were shorter and significantly more abundant than females. The
      presence of N. cymatium, N. talensis and P. dugesi was correlated with water
      temperature and these species were most abundant in winter and spring. The
      presence of C. brasiliensis was correlated with flow rate and pH; this species
      was more abundant in autumn and winter. These four species are sympatric.

PMID- 20932356
TI  - Presence of individual (residual) symptoms during depressive episodes and periods
      of remission: a 3-year prospective study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Residual depressive symptomatology constitutes a substantial risk for
      relapse in depression. Treatment until full remission is achieved is therefore
      implicated. However, there is a lack of knowledge about the prevalence of (1)
      residual symptoms in general and (2) the individual residual symptoms in
      particular. METHOD: In a 3-year prospective study of 267 initially depressed
      primary care patients we established per week the presence/absence of the
      individual DSM-IV depressive symptoms during subsequent major depressive episodes
      (MDEs) and episodes of (partial) remission. This was accomplished by means of 12
      assessments at 3-monthly intervals with the Composite International Diagnostic
      Interview (CIDI). RESULTS: In general, residual depressive symptomatology was
      substantial, with on average two symptoms present during remissions. Three
      individual symptoms (cognitive problems, lack of energy and sleeping problems)
      dominated the course of depression and were present 85-94% of the time during
      depressive episodes and 39-44% of the time during remissions. CONCLUSIONS:
      Residual symptoms are prevalent, with some symptoms being present for almost half
      of the time during periods of remission. Treatment until full remission is
      achieved is not common practice, yet there is a clear need to do so to prevent
      relapse. Several treatment suggestions are made.

PMID- 20932357
TI  - Multiple pathways of inhibition shape bipolar cell responses in the retina.
AB  - Bipolar cells (BCs) are critical relay neurons in the retina that are organized
      into parallel signaling pathways. The three main signaling pathways in the
      mammalian retina are the rod, ON cone, and OFF cone BCs. Rod BCs mediate
      incrementing dim light signals from rods, and ON cone and OFF cone BCs mediate
      incrementing and decrementing brighter light signals from cones, respectively.
      The outputs of BCs are shaped by inhibitory inputs from GABAergic and glycinergic
      amacrine cells in the inner plexiform layer, mediated by three distinct types of
      inhibitory receptors: GABA(A), GABA(C), and glycine receptors. The three main BC
      pathways receive distinct forms of inhibition from these three receptors that
      shape their light-evoked inhibitory signals. Rod BC inhibition is dominated by
      slow GABA(C) receptor inhibition, while OFF cone BCs are dominated by glycinergic
      inhibition. The inhibitory inputs to BCs are also shaped by serial inhibitory
      connections between GABAergic amacrine cells that limit the spatial profile of BC
      inhibition. We discuss our recent studies on how inhibitory inputs to BCs are
      shaped by receptor expression, receptor properties, and neurotransmitter release
      properties and how these affect the output of BCs.

PMID- 20932358
TI  - Evidence of alpha 7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor expression in retinal
      pigment epithelial cells.
AB  - Some evidence suggests that retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) can express
      nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) as described for other epithelial
      cells, where nAChRs have been involved in processes such as cell development,
      cell death, cell migration, and angiogenesis. This study is designed to determine
      the expression and activity of alpha7 nAChRs in RPE cells. Reverse transcriptase
      (RT)-PCR was performed to test the expression of nicotinic alpha7 subunit in
      bovine RPE cells. Protein expression was determined by Western blot and by
      immunocytochemistry. Expression of nicotinic alpha7 subunits was also analyzed in
      cryostat sections of albino rat retina. Changes in protein expression were tested
      under hypoxic conditions. Functional nAChRs were studied by examining the Ca2+
      transients elicited by nicotine and acetylcholine stimulation in fura-2-loaded
      cells. Expression of endogenous modulators of nAChRs was analyzed by RT-PCR and
      Western blot in retina and RPE. Cultured bovine RPE cells expressed nicotinic
      receptors containing alpha7 subunit. RT-PCR amplified the expected specific
      alpha7 fragment. Western blotting showed expression at the protein level, with a
      specific band being found at 57 kDa in both cultured and freshly isolated RPE
      cells. Expression of nAChRs was confirmed for cultured cells by
      immunofluorescence. Immunohistochemistry confirmed alpha7 receptor expression in
      rat RPE retina. alpha7 receptor expression was down-regulated by long-term
      hypoxia. A small subpopulation of RPE cultured cells showed functional nAChRs, as
      evidenced by the selective response elicited by nicotine and acetylcholine
      stimulation. Expression of the endogenous nicotinic receptors' modulator lynx1
      was confirmed in bovine retina and RPE, and expression of lynx1 and other
      endogenous nicotinic receptor modulators (SLURP1 and RGD1308195) were also
      confirmed in rat retina. These results suggest that nAChRs could have a
      significant role in RPE, which may not be related to the traditional role in
      nerve transmission but could more likely be related to the nonneuronal
      cholinergic system in the eye.

PMID- 20932359
TI  - Effects of fixational saccades on response timing in macaque lateral geniculate
      nucleus.
AB  - Even during active fixation, small eye movements persist that might be expected
      to interfere with vision. Numerous brain mechanisms probably contribute to
      discounting this jitter. Changes in the timing of responses in the visual
      thalamus associated with fixational saccades are considered in this study.
      Activity of single neurons in alert monkey lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) was
      recorded during fixation while pseudorandom visual noise stimuli were presented.
      The position of the stimulus on the display monitor was adjusted based on eye
      position measurements to control for changes in retinal locations due to eye
      movements. A method for extracting nonstationary first-order response mechanisms
      was applied, so that changes around the times of saccades could be observed.
      Saccade-related changes were seen in both amplitude and timing of geniculate
      responses. Amplitudes were greatly reduced around saccades. Timing was retarded
      slightly during a window of about 200 ms around saccades. That is, responses
      became more sustained. These effects were found in both parvocellular and
      magnocellular neurons. Timing changes in LGN might play a role in maintaining
      cortical responses to visual stimuli in the presence of eye movements,
      compensating for the spatial shifts caused by saccades via these shifts in
      timing.

PMID- 20932360
TI  - Stepped care cognitive behavioural therapy for children with anxiety disorders: a
      new treatment approach.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The current nonrandomized clinical trial explored changes over time
      in children with an anxiety disorder during stepped care, manual-based cognitive
      behaviour therapy (CBT). METHODS: Clinically anxious children (8-12 years, n =
      133) and their parents participated in child focused CBT (10 sessions). If
      assessments indicated additional treatment was necessary, participants could step
      up to a second and possibly third treatment phase (each 5 sessions) including
      more parental involvement. RESULTS: After the first treatment phase 45% of the
      Intention-To-Treat sample was free of any anxiety disorder; after the second and
      third phase an additional 17% and 11% respectively. In total, 74% of the children
      no longer met criteria for any anxiety disorder following treatment. Child and
      parent reported anxiety and depression symptoms of children improved
      significantly during all treatment phases, as well as child reported anxiety
      sensitivity and negative affect. Children participating in more treatment showed
      significant improvements during additional treatment phases, indicating that late
      change occurred for the subgroup that had not changed during the first phase.
      CONCLUSIONS: Stepped care offers a standardized, assessment based, yet tailored
      treatment approach for children with anxiety disorders. A more intensive
      treatment is offered when initial CBT is insufficient, providing children
      additional opportunities to reach the desired outcome.

PMID- 20932361
TI  - Histological and stereological characterization of brown trout (Salmo trutta f.
      fario) trunk kidney.
AB  - The large variability in kidney morphology among fish makes it difficult to build
      a "universal" model on its function and structure. Therefore, a morphological
      study of brown trout trunk kidney was performed, considering potential seasonal
      and sex effects. Three-year-old specimens of both sexes were collected at four
      stages of their reproductive cycle. Kidney was processed for light and electron
      microscopy. The relative volumes of renal components, such as renal corpuscles
      and different nephron tubules, were estimated by stereological methods.
      Qualitatively, the general nephron structure of brown trout was similar to that
      described for other glomerular teleost species. Quantitatively, however,
      differences in the relative volume of some renal components were detected between
      sexes and among seasons. Particularly, highest values of vacuolized tubules and
      new growing tubules were observed after spawning, being more relevant in females.
      Despite seasonal changes, more linear correlations were found between those
      parameters and the reno-somatic index than the gonado-somatic index. Thus, we
      verified that some brown trout renal components undergo sex dependent seasonal
      variations, suggesting a morphological adaptation of the components to accomplish
      physiological needs. These findings constitute a baseline for launching studies
      to know which factors govern the morphological variations and their functional
      consequences.

PMID- 20932362
TI  - The safety and efficacy of laparoscopic surgical staging and debulking of
      apparent advanced stage ovarian, fallopian tube, and primary peritoneal cancers.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To describe our experience with laparoscopic primary or interval
      tumor debulking in patients with presumed advanced ovarian, fallopian tube, or
      peritoneal cancers. METHODS: This is a retrospective analysis of a prospective
      case series. Women with presumed advanced (FIGO stage IIC or greater) ovarian,
      fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancers deemed appropriate candidates for
      laparoscopic debulking by the primary surgeon(s) were recruited. RESULTS: The
      study comprised 32 patients who underwent laparoscopic evaluation. Seventeen
      underwent total laparoscopic primary or interval cytoreduction, with 88.2%
      optimal cytoreduction. Eleven underwent diagnostic laparoscopy and conversion to
      laparotomy for cytoreduction, with 72.7% optimal cytoreduction. Four patients had
      biopsies, limited cytoreduction, or both. In the laparoscopy group, 9 patients
      have no evidence of disease (NED), 6 are alive with disease (AWD), and 2 have
      died of disease (DOD), with mean follow-up time of 19.7 months. In the laparotomy
      group, 3 patients are NED, 5 are AWD, and 3 are DOD, with mean follow-up of 25.8
      months. Estimated blood loss and length of hospital stay were less for the
      laparoscopy group (P=0.008 and P=0.03), while operating time and complication
      rates were not different. Median time to recurrence was 31.7 months for the
      laparoscopy group and 21.5 months for the laparotomy group (P=0.3). CONCLUSIONS:
      Laparoscopy can be used for diagnosis, triage, and debulking of patients with
      advanced ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer and is technically
      feasible in a well-selected population.

PMID- 20932363
TI  - Complications associated with two laparoscopic procedures used in the management
      of rectal endometriosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To evaluate intra- and postoperative complications associated with
      laparoscopic management of rectal endometriosis by either colorectal segmental
      resection or nodule excision. METHODS: During 39 consecutive months, 46 women
      underwent laparoscopic management of rectal endometriosis and were included in a
      retrospective comparative study. The distinguishing feature of the study is that
      the choice of the surgical procedure is not related to the characteristics of the
      nodule. RESULTS: Colorectal segmental resection with colorectal anastomosis was
      carried out in 15 patients (37%), while macroscopically complete rectal nodule
      excision was performed in 31 women (63%). No intraoperative complications were
      recorded. In the colorectal resection group, 3 women (18%) had a bladder atony
      (spontaneously regressive in 2 women), 4 women (24%) experienced chronic
      constipation, one had an anastomosis leakage (6%), while 2 women (13%) had acute
      compartment syndrome with peripheral sensory disturbance. In the nodule excision
      group, 1 woman (4%) developed transitory right obturator nerve motor palsy. Based
      on both postoperative pain and improvement in quality of life, all 29 women in
      the excision group (100%) and 14 women in the colorectal resection group (82%)
      would recommend the surgical procedure to a friend suffering from the same
      disease. CONCLUSION: Our study suggests that carrying out colorectal segmental
      resection in rectal endometriosis is associated with unfavourable postoperative
      outcomes, such as bladder and rectal dysfunction. These outcomes are less likely
      to occur when rectal nodules are managed by excision. Information about
      complications related to both surgical procedures should be provided to patients
      managed for rectal endometriosis and should be taken into account when a decision
      is being made about the most appropriate treatment of rectal endometriosis in
      each case.

PMID- 20932364
TI  - Total laparoscopic hysterectomy for uteri over one kilogram.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Laparoscopic hysterectomy for large fibroid uteri is technically a
      difficult procedure. In this article, we report our experience with fibroid uteri
      >1 kg in weight. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An intent-to-treat study. RESULTS: From
      2003 to 2009, 13 patients were successfully treated for large fibroid uteri with
      postoperative specimens weighing >1000 g. Four patients had total abdominal
      hysterectomy, one patient had laparoscopically assisted vaginal hysterectomy, and
      8 patients had total laparoscopic hysterectomy. The last 6 cases were total
      laparoscopic hysterectomy cases. CONCLUSION: With experience and specialized
      techniques, total laparoscopic hysterectomy can replace abdominal hysterectomy
      for large uteri.

PMID- 20932365
TI  - Transvaginal application of a laparoscopic bipolar cutting forceps to assist
      vaginal hysterectomy in extremely obese endometrial cancer patients.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The purpose of this report is to evaluate our experience with
      transvaginal application of a laparoscopic bipolar cutting forceps to assist
      vaginal hysterectomy in extremely obese women with endometrial cancer in whom
      obesity precluded LAVH/BSO and lymphadenectomy and vaginal obesity limited
      visualization and exposure. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We performed a retrospective
      review and identified 6 consecutive cases. No cases were excluded. A laparoscopic
      33-cm Plasma Kinctic (PK) cutting forceps with a 5-mm diameter was applied
      transvaginally to coagulate and cut the uterosacral and cardinal ligaments,
      uterine vasculature, and ovarian ligaments. The uterus was delivered vaginally.
      Staging lymphadenectomy was not performed. RESULTS: Median age was 51 years,
      median weight was 405 lbs, and median BMI was 66 kg/m2. Five of 6 cases were
      successfully performed vaginally (83%). Median operative time was 1 hour 10
      minutes, median blood loss was 500 mL, and pain was only discomforting. All
      patients were discharged the day after surgery. There were no complications. At
      median follow-up of 1 year, all patients were alive with no evidence of disease.
      CONCLUSION: It is our opinion that the transvaginal application of a laparoscopic
      bipolar cutting forceps can successfully assist vaginal hysterectomy in extremely
      obese endometrial cancer patients who cannot tolerate LAVH/BSO and
      lymphadenectomy and vaginal obesity limits visualization and exposure.

PMID- 20932366
TI  - Immediate laparoscopic nontransvesical repair without omental interposition for
      vesicovaginal fistula developing after total abdominal hysterectomy.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: We conducted this study to evaluate the feasibility and
      efficacy of immediate laparoscopic nontransvesical repair without omental
      interposition for vesicovaginal fistula (VVF) developing after total abdominal
      hysterectomy (TAH), which causes not only social and economic misery for the
      patient but also considerable stress to the physicians who perform the surgery.
      METHODS: We performed a retrospective review of 5 women who underwent immediate
      laparoscopic nontransvesical repair without omental interposition for VVFs,
      developing after TAH from October 2007 to March 2009. In terms of laparoscopic
      procedure, cystoscopy was performed to confirm the location of fistula and
      ureteral openings, initially. Without opening the bladder, the fistula tract was
      identified, and the bladder was dissected from the vagina. The bladder defect was
      closed by using intracorporeal, continuous, and double-layer suturing,
      laparoscopically. The vaginal defect was closed using interrupted and single
      layer suturing, vaginally. A Foley catheter was inserted for 2 weeks and removed
      after bladder integrity was confirmed with a retrograde cystogram. RESULTS: The
      median age and body mass index of the patients were 47 years and 22.3 kg/m2,
      respectively. Operating time, hemoglobin change, and hospital stay were 95
      minutes, 1.1 g/dL, and 5 days, respectively. There were no complications or
      laparoconversions. During follow-up (median 56.1 weeks; range 26.6 to 74.0),
      there was no evidence of recurrence. CONCLUSIONS: Immediate laparoscopic
      nontransvesical repair without omental interposition might be an effective,
      feasible alternative to the traditional methods in select patients with small
      sized (<1 cm) VVF developing after TAH.

PMID- 20932367
TI  - Hydrothermal endometrial ablation can reduce the need for hysterectomy and
      transfusion.
AB  - Women seeking emergency care for severe uterine hemorrhage with profound anemia
      often undergo transfusion dilatation curettage and ultimately hysterectomy. The
      purpose of this article is to describe a modern conservative approach to treating
      persistent uterine hemorrhage unresponsive to medical therapy, avoiding
      transfusion and allowing for nonemergent future therapy without the potential
      complications of transfusion. Six patients with unremitting uterine bleeding were
      included in the study performed in the Department of Gynecology at an
      academically affiliated general hospital. Patients underwent successful
      hydrothermal endometrial ablation after failed medical therapy. This procedure is
      effective in controlling severe uterine bleeding in patients with large
      intrauterine fibroids; thus, the number of women being transfused can be
      significantly reduced.

PMID- 20932368
TI  - Saving time during laparoscopy using a new, wall anchoring trocar device.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Safe and reliable access systems are crucial in laparoscopy, and
      trocar dislodgement is still a common and frustrating problem. Wall emphysema can
      occur besides the risky prolongation of the surgical procedure. Wall-anchoring
      components provide a better hold of the device. This comparative analysis
      assesses the frequency of dislodgement and a time-sparing effect on the
      intervention of 3 different trocar systems, including an innovation in the field
      of access-providing systems. METHODS: Patients who underwent laparoscopy for
      various gynecological indications were included and randomized consecutively into
      3 groups according to the access system used in the intervention: (A) trocar
      fitted with a spiral thread on the sleeve, (B) trocar with plain sleeve, (C)
      trocar as in B together with a fixator. This novelty is installed on the trocar
      before insertion and then sutured to the abdominal wall. Intervention time,
      frequency of trocar corrections, and the time loss through correction were
      registered. Standard statistical analyses were performed. RESULTS: The cohort
      comprised 131 patients; 51 patients were consecutively randomized into group A,
      38 into group B, and 42 into group C. Mean intervention time was different,
      shortest in C and highest in B. Frequency of interruption of the intervention due
      to adjustment of the device and time loss through adjustment was lowest in group
      C (fixator + plain sleeve) and highest in group B (plain-sleeve) (0.47 vs 0.29,
      P<0.05 and 2.13 minutes vs 0.69 minutes, P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Wall-anchoring
      components lead to higher stability of ports and have a time-sparing effect.
      Comparing the 2 trocar groups with wall-anchoring properties (trocar with thread
      fitted sleeve vs fixator + trocar with plain sleeve), the mean operation time was
      lowest in the fixator group, and the time-saving effect was higher.

PMID- 20932369
TI  - Initial surgeon training for single port access surgery: our first year
      experience.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We have developed a single port access (SPA) surgical technique that
      allows for procedures to be done through a single umbilical port incision <20 mm
      in length. For a new approach to be universally beneficial, it needs to be easily
      learned and applied. METHODS: Single port access abdominal procedures are
      performed through one umbilical incision where skin and soft tissue flaps are
      raised from the underlying fascia to allow insertion of up to 4 instruments.
      Fifty surgeons with varying degrees of laparoscopic training participated in SPA
      training programs at Drexel University to learn and apply the SPA technique
      through participation in an animate (porcine) laboratory. RESULTS: All surgeons
      successfully performed the SPA access technique without difficulty and completed
      the cholecystectomy in <55 minutes (average, 42). Eight surgeons successfully
      performed placement of a cholangiogram catheter. All recognized the value of a
      formal training symposium to learn SPA techniques before performing SPA
      procedures in their practice. CONCLUSIONS: The SPA technique has been
      successfully shown to be an approach that is easily learned and accomplished. We
      believe this is a necessary and important bridge towards proficiency in
      performing SPA procedures in clinical patients.

PMID- 20932370
TI  - Comparison of laparoscopy training using the box trainer versus the virtual
      trainer.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: To evaluate whether training on a virtual reality
      laparoscopic simulator improves the performance on a laparoscopic box trainer.
      METHODS: Twenty-six subjects were trained using a box trainer, and 17
      participants were trained using a virtual simulator. Participants in the
      experimental group completed 1 session of 5 exercises on the box trainer, 4
      sessions on the virtual simulator, and a final session on the box trainer.
      Participants in the control group completed 6 sessions of 5 exercises on the box
      trainer alone. Exercises were monitored and scored for time and accuracy.
      Participants completed a self-evaluation survey after each session and a user
      satisfaction questionnaire at the end of the training. RESULTS: No significant
      difference existed between the 2 groups in improvement of accuracy. Pegboard time
      (P=0.0110) and pattern cutting time (P=0.0229) were the only exercise parameters
      that improved significantly more in the control group compared with the
      experimental group. The experimental group developed more interest in a surgical
      field as a result of their experience than the control group did (70.6% vs 53.8%,
      respectively). CONCLUSION: The virtual simulator is a reasonable alternative to
      the box trainer for laparoscopic skills training.

PMID- 20932371
TI  - Failure of mesenteric defect closure after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Bowel obstructions following Roux-en-Y gastric bypass
      (RYGB) are a significant issue often caused by internal herniation. Controversy
      continues as to whether mesenteric defect closure is necessary to decrease the
      incidence of internal hernias after RYGB. Our purpose was to evaluate the
      effectiveness of closing the mesenteric defect at the jejunojejunostomy in
      patients who underwent RYGB by examining this potential space at reoperation for
      any reason. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed medical records of patients
      undergoing surgery after RYGB from August 1999 to October 2008 to determine the
      status of the mesentery at the jejunojejunostomy. RESULTS: Eighteen patients
      underwent surgery 2 to 19 months after open (n=8) or laparoscopic (n=10) RYGB.
      All patients had documented suture closure of their jejunojejunostomy at the time
      of RYGB. Permanent (n=12) or absorbable (n=6) sutures were used for closures.
      Patients lost 23.6 kg to 62.1 kg before a reoperation was required for a ventral
      hernia (n=8), cholecystectomy (n=4), abdominal pain (n=4), or small bowel
      obstruction (n=2). Fifteen of the 18 patients had open mesenteric defects at the
      jejunojejunostomy despite previous closure; none were the cause for reoperation.
      CONCLUSION: Routine suture closure of mesenteric defects after RYGB may not be an
      effective permanent closure likely due to the extensive fat loss and weight loss
      within the mesentery.

PMID- 20932372
TI  - Early results of trans-oral endoscopic plication and revision of the gastric
      pouch and stoma following Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: A new technique for endoscopic plication and revision of the gastric
      pouch (EPRGP) for patients who underwent gastric bypass (RGB) surgery was
      evaluated in patients with severe GERD, dumping syndrome, failure of weight loss,
      or all of these. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients underwent EPRGP over a 12-month
      period. The StomaphyX device (Endogastric Solutions, Redmond, WA) was utilized
      over a standard flexible gastroscope. Patients were kept on a liquid diet for 1
      week. RESULTS: The study included 64 patients with a mean age of 48 years who
      underwent 67 procedures. EPRGP was performed an average of 5 years after RGB. The
      mean preoperative BMI was 39.5 kg/m2. The primary indications for the procedure
      were inadequate weight loss, dumping syndrome (42), and GERD (15). The mean
      follow-up period was 5.8 months (range, 3 to 12). The average operative time was
      50 minutes, with a significant reduction with increased operator experience.
      There were only 2 (3%) intraoperative complications during the early period
      (equipment failure), which did not result in any morbidity. All symptoms from
      dumping syndrome or reflux improved, with no further operative-related
      complications. The mean weight loss was 7.3 kg. CONCLUSIONS: This study
      demonstrates the technical feasibility, safety, and efficacy of EPRGP.

PMID- 20932373
TI  - Gastric plication can reduce slippage rate after laparoscopic gastric banding.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Laparoscopic insertion of a gastric band for weight reduction is
      increasingly performed in obese and morbidly obese patients. Complication rates
      after gastric band insertion are reduced by using certain techniques. PATIENTS
      AND METHODS: This was a prospective study of all patients who underwent
      laparoscopic adjustable gastric band (LAGB) insertion at our unit. This procedure
      is performed through the classical 4-port technique and the use of a liver
      retractor. The pars flaccida method is performed in all patients, and the gold
      finger, a malleable instrument, is used to guide the band through the
      retroesophageal window in patients with difficult anatomy. Band slippage is
      avoided by using 2 types of gastric plication, depending on the anatomical
      characteristics of the stomach. Outcomes and morbidity are recorded, and patients
      are followed up in outpatient clinics. RESULTS: Laparoscopic adjustable gastric
      band (LAGB) insertion was performed in 464 patients. A single consultant surgeon
      performed all procedures over a 2-year period. From August 2005 through August
      2007, 380 (81.89%) women and 84 (18.10%) men were included in this study. The
      mean age was 41 years (range, 21 to 62). The mean body mass index was 43 (range,
      35 to 62). Morbidity included dysphagia, epigastric pain, port displacement, port
      infection, erosion, and acute respiratory distress. Only one (0.21%) case of band
      slippage was reported. The mean follow-up was 26 months (range, 18 to 42).
      CONCLUSION: Laparoscopic gastric plication adds greater security and provides
      optimum gastric band placement. It is an effective method to reduce slippage
      after gastric band insertion.

PMID- 20932374
TI  - Single-incision sleeve gastrectomy using a novel technique for liver retraction.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy has rapidly gained popularity in
      the field of bariatric surgery, mainly due to its low morbidity and mortality.
      Traditionally, 4 to 6 trocars are used. Single-access surgery has emerged as an
      attempt to decrease incisional morbidity and enhance cosmetic benefits. We
      present our initial 7 patients undergoing single-incision laparoscopic sleeve
      gastrectomy using a novel technique for liver retraction. METHODS: Patients who
      underwent single-incision laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy between March 2009 and
      May 2009 were analyzed. A 4-cm left paramedian incision was used. Laparoscopic
      sleeve gastrectomy was performed in a standard fashion using a 40 French bougie.
      RESULTS: Seven patients underwent single-incision sleeve gastrectomy at the
      University of Illinois at Chicago. They were all female with a mean age of 34
      years. Preoperative BMI was 49 kg/m2 (range, 39 to 64). There were no
      intraoperative complications. Mean operative time was 103 minutes. Estimated
      blood loss was minimal. All 7 patients were discharged on postoperative day 2 and
      were doing well without any complications at 3.1 +/- 0.7 months after surgery.
      CONCLUSION: Single-incision laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy is safe and feasible
      and can be performed without changing the existing principles of the procedure.
      Our technique for internal liver retraction provides adequate exposure and is
      reproducible. Development of improved standard instrumentation is required for
      this technique to become popular.

PMID- 20932375
TI  - Transvaginal repair of a large chronic porcine ventral hernia with synthetic mesh
      using NOTES.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Ventral incisional hernias still remain a common surgical problem. We
      tested the feasibility of transvaginal placement of a large synthetic mesh to
      repair a porcine hernia. METHODS: Seven pigs were used in this survival model.
      Each animal had creation of a 5-cm hernia defect and underwent a transvaginal
      repair of the defect with synthetic mesh. A single colpotomy was made using a 12
      cm trocar for an overtube. The mesh was cut to size and placed through the
      trocar. A single-channel gastroscope with an endoscopic atraumatic grasper was
      used for grasping sutures. Further fascial sutures were placed every 5 cm.
      RESULTS: Mesh repair was feasible in all 7 animals. Mean operative time was 133
      minutes. Technical difficulties were encountered. No gross contamination was seen
      at the time of necropsy. However, 5 animals had positive mesh cultures; 7 had
      positive cultures in the rectouterine space in enrichment broth or on direct
      culture. CONCLUSION: Transvaginal placement of synthetic mesh to repair a large
      porcine hernia using NOTES is challenging but feasible. Future studies need to be
      conducted to develop better techniques and determine the significance of mesh
      contamination.

PMID- 20932376
TI  - Laparoscopic incisional hernia repair with fibrin glue in select patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Laparoscopic treatment of incisional hernias can be
      performed using different types of fixation devices and prosthesis. We present a
      case series of 19 patients with incisional hernias with a diameter of < 6 cm, who
      underwent laparoscopic repair using Hi-tex dual-side mesh, positioned
      intraperitoneally, fixed to the abdominal wall by fibrin glue (Tissucol).
      METHODS: Nineteen patients with incisional hernias < 6 cm in diameter were
      enrolled in this study and treated laparoscopically with Hi-tex and Tissucol.
      Surgical complications and patient outcomes were assessed with a clinical follow
      up. RESULTS: Laparoscopic repair of incisional hernias by using Hi-tex mesh
      affixed to the parietal wall with fibrin glue was feasible and easy in patients
      with parietal defects < 6 cm in diameter. Mean operating time was 30 minutes.
      Mean hospital stay was 1.5 days. Almost no postoperative pain, major surgical
      complications, seroma formation, relapses, or prosthesis infection occurred
      during a mean follow-up of 20 months. CONCLUSIONS: In select patients, Hi-tex
      mesh affixed using fibrin glue allows laparoscopic repair of incisional hernias
      with very good patient outcomes, especially in terms of postoperative pain and
      seroma formation.

PMID- 20932377
TI  - Laparoscopic common bile duct exploration in patients with gallstones and
      choledocholithiasis.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To compare the effectiveness of laparoscopic common bile duct
      exploration in patients with failed endoscopic retrograde
      cholangiopancreatography (ERCP). METHODS: This is a descriptive, comparative
      study. Patients with an indication of common bile duct exploration between
      February 2005 and October 2008 were included. We studied 2 groups: Group A:
      patients with failed ERCP who underwent LCBDE plus LC. Group B: patients with
      common bile duct stones managed with the 1-step approach (LCBDE + LC) with no
      prior ERCP. RESULTS: Twenty-five patients were included. Group A: 9 patients,
      group B: 16 patients. Success rate, operative time, and hospital stay were as
      follows: group A 66% vs group B 87.5%; group A 187 minutes vs 106 minutes; group
      A 4.5 days vs 2.3 days; respectively. CONCLUSION: Patients with failed ERCP
      should be considered as high-complex cases in which the laparoscopic procedure
      success rate decreases, and the conversion rate increases considerably.

PMID- 20932378
TI  - Laparoscopic-assisted management of impalpable testis in patients older than 10
      years.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Cryptorchidism affects 1% of male births. The majority of patients
      with undescended testis are identified and treated in childhood, but a
      significant proportion of them especially in third-world countries are neglected
      and present late. Herein, we present our initial experience of managing
      impalpable testis in older children and adults with laparoscopic assistance.
      PATIENTS AND METHODS: This study was conducted from 2003 through 2008 at LUMHS
      Jamshoro. Thirty-two patients with 40 impalpable testes were included in this
      study. Diagnostic laparoscopy was performed in 32 anesthetized patients.
      Laparoscopic-assisted orchiopexy or orchiectomy was performed in patients with
      intraabdominal testis. Testicular vessels and vas deferens were mobilized and
      after obtaining sufficient length were brought through the posterior wall of the
      inguinal canal by creating a neo-inguinal ring medial to the epigastric vessels
      after a small inguinal incision. RESULTS: Of 40 impalpable testis, ultrasound
      localized 16 (40%) of them, and on laparoscopy, 36 (90%) were localized, 30 (75%)
      as intraabdominal and in 6 (15%) cases vas and vessels were entering into the
      internal inguinal ring (intracanalicular). The remaining 4 patients were
      diagnosed as having vanishing testis (anorchia). Laparoscopic orchiectomy was
      performed in 14 (35%) of these testes, while single-stage laparoscopic-assisted
      orchiopexy using Prentiss' maneuver was performed in 16 (40%) testis. No major
      complications occurred. Seven testes were associated with ipsilateral hernias and
      were simultaneously repaired laparoscopically. CONCLUSION: Laparoscopic-assisted
      single-stage orchiopexy is a safe and successful procedure for intraabdominal
      testis in adolescents and older patients. The additional benefit of shortening
      the usual course of spermatic cord was beneficial to fix the testis in the
      scrotum without tension.

PMID- 20932379
TI  - Secured independent tools in peritoneoscopy.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Secured independent tools are being introduced to aid
      in peritoneoscopy. We present a simple technique for anchoring instruments,
      powered lights, and micro machines through the abdominal wall. METHODS: We used a
      laparoscopic trainer, micro alligator clips with one or two 2-0 nylon tails and
      cables for engines and lights. The above instruments were introduced via a 12-mm
      or 15-mm port. Clips were placed for traction, retraction and exposure, lights
      for illumination, and motors for potential work. A laparoscopy port closure or
      suture passer was introduced percutaneously to grab and extract the tails or
      cables outside of the simulated abdominal cavity. The engines and lights were
      powered by a direct electric current (DC) plugged into exteriorized cables.
      RESULTS: We used 2 to 3 clips for each, and engines performed well. CONCLUSION:
      This basic simulation adds independent instruments, lights, and engines. We
      replaced cannulas with threads or cables in an attempt to limit the number of
      ports. This technique further opens the door for innovations in wired machines in
      laparoscopy, single-port laparoscopy, or natural orifice surgery.

PMID- 20932380
TI  - Laparoscopic intragastric removal of giant trichobezoar.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Gastric bezoars are a rare clinical entity, most
      commonly observed in patients with mental or emotional illness. Large bezoars can
      be difficult to remove laparoscopically without extending a port incision.
      METHODS: We report the case of a large symptomatic trichobezoar with Rapunzel
      syndrome that occurred in a 17-year-old girl who had trichotillomania. RESULTS:
      The bezoar was removed laparoscopically, in piecemeal fashion, through a
      gastrotomy port. This procedure did not require an extension of any incision, nor
      did it require the contents of the stomach to directly touch the incision,
      thereby reducing the risk of infection. The patient was discharged home, on the
      fourth postoperative day, free of any complications. CONCLUSION: This case
      illustrates the safety of the laparoscopic approach in the removal of large
      gastric bezoars. In considering use of this approach, the potentially long
      operative time must be weighed against the benefits of both minimal risk of
      infection and minimal incisions.

PMID- 20932381
TI  - Laparoscopic treatment of gastric bezoar.
AB  - A seventeen-year-old female presented with a symptomatic abdominal mass that was
      diagnosed by barium meal and computed tomography to be a gastric bezoar. She
      underwent laparoscopic removal of the bezoar, through an anterior wall
      gastrostomy in an endobag, which was extracted piecemeal through a 4-cm upper
      midline incision. The technique is described with a review of a few previous
      laparoscopic-assisted cases.

PMID- 20932382
TI  - Iatrogenic combined bile duct and right hepatic artery injury during single
      incision laparoscopic cholecystectomy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Numerous recent reports describe the performance of laparoscopic
      procedures through a single incision. Although the feasibility of this approach
      for a variety of procedures is currently being established, little data are
      available regarding safety. CASE REPORT: A 65-year-old female patient who was
      transferred from an outside institution had undergone a single incision
      laparoscopic cholecystectomy that resulted in biliary tract and vascular
      injuries. METHODS: The patient was transferred with a known bile duct injury on
      the first postoperative day following single incision laparoscopic
      cholecystectomy. Review of her magnetic resonance imaging and percutaneous
      transhepatic cholangiogram studies showed a Bismuth type 3 bile duct injury.
      Hepatic angiogram demonstrated an occlusion of the right hepatic artery with
      collateralization from the left hepatic artery. She was initially managed
      conservatively with a right-sided external biliary drain, followed 6 weeks later
      by a Hepp-Couinaud procedure to reconstruct the biliary tract. CONCLUSION: As new
      techniques evolve, it is imperative that safety, or potential side effects, or
      both safety and side effects, be monitored, because no learning curve is
      established for these new techniques. In these initial stages, surgeons should
      have a low threshold to add additional ports when necessary to ensure that
      procedures are completed safely.

PMID- 20932383
TI  - Laparoscopic excision of a large hepatic cyst.
AB  - Benign congenital liver cysts are rare in the pediatric population and often
      present a challenge in the diagnosis. Therefore, with recent advances in the
      field of minimally invasive surgery, this technique may be ideal in achieving
      both diagnosis and curative resection. We describe the case of a 2-month-old
      female initially referred for an antenatal ultrasound in the third trimester
      revealing a 7-cm intraabdominal cystic lesion of unknown origin. She was found to
      have a 10-cm hepatic cyst successfully treated by laparoscopic surgery. Our
      approach consisted of complete cyst excision along with its attached hepatic
      parenchyma. We recommend this technique as safe and feasible.

PMID- 20932384
TI  - Emergency intraperitoneal onlay mesh repair of incarcerated spigelian hernia.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Spigelian hernia is a rare cause of incarcerated
      ventral abdominal hernia that may pose a diagnostic dilemma. However, with the
      increasing utilization of double contrast computed tomography (CT) for
      undiagnosed small bowel obstruction in a virgin abdomen, more such cases are
      being diagnosed with increasing confidence. Furthermore, with the rapid expansion
      of the indications for minimal access surgery in emergency situations, these rare
      emergencies are increasingly tackled using a laparoscopic approach leading to
      swift patient recovery and discharge. METHODS: We present the case of an
      emergency intraperitoneal onlay mesh (IPOM) repair of Spigelian hernia, causing
      acute small bowel obstruction in a 55-year-old man with liver disease and ascites
      that was diagnosed using a CT scan. We conducted a search of Medline, Embase,
      Science Citation Index, Current Contents, PubMed, and the Cochrane Database to
      review the history of laparoscopic repair of Spigelian hernia and its various
      advancements, which are briefly presented here. RESULTS: The hernia was
      successfully reduced using laparoscopy, revealing a moderate-size defect in the
      linea semilunaris. The hernial defect was repaired with a composite mesh that was
      tacked into position. The patient was discharged from the hospital on the second
      postoperative day. CONCLUSIONS: Spigelian hernia in an emergency setting can be
      easily and swiftly repaired using the IPOM method utilizing a composite mesh.

PMID- 20932385
TI  - Symptomatic Bochdalek hernia in an adult.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Bochdalek hernias are congenital diaphragmatic defects
      resulting from the failure of posterolateral diaphragmatic foramina to fuse in
      utero. Symptomatic Bochdalek hernias in adults are infrequent and may lead to
      gastrointestinal dysfunction or severe pulmonary disease. We describe our
      experience with this rare entity. METHODS: A retrospective chart review was
      performed on a single patient for data collection purposes. RESULTS: The patient
      is a morbidly obese 53-year-old female who presented with epigastric pain and
      diffuse abdominal tenderness. Computed tomography scans of the chest and abdomen
      revealed a small posterior diaphragmatic defect containing gastric fundal
      diverticulum. Laboratory work and imaging revealed no other findings.
      Laparoscopic repair of the Bochdalek hernia was done via an abdominal approach
      and utilized primary closure with an AlloDerm patch apposed to the defect. The
      patient has had significant clinical improvement and continues to do well at 9
      months postoperatively. CONCLUSION: Laparoscopic repair of symptomatic adult
      Bochdalek hernias can be performed successfully and may result in significant
      clinical improvement.

PMID- 20932386
TI  - Laparoscopic enterolithotomy is a valid option to treat gallstone ileus.
AB  - Gallstone ileus is a well-recognized clinical entity. It usually affects elderly
      female patients, and very often diagnosis can be delayed resulting in high
      morbidity and mortality. An abdominal x-ray and computed tomographic (CT) scan of
      the abdomen may show classical radiological features of small bowel obstruction,
      pneumobilia, and an ectopic gallstone. Laparotomy and enterlithotomy with or
      without definite biliary surgery is an established treatment. Since 1992, many
      cases of laparoscopic-assisted enterolithotomy have been reported. Only a few
      cases of a totally laparoscopic approach have been documented. We present the
      case of a 75-year-old lady who presented with features of intestinal obstruction.
      A plain x-ray of the abdomen and a CT scan confirmed the classical features of
      gallstone ileus. A totally laparoscopic enterolithotomy was performed using 6
      ports. A 6-cm gallstone was retrieved through a longitudinal enterotomy. The
      transverse closure of the enterotomy was performed with intracorporeal suturing,
      resulting in an uneventful postoperative recovery. We suggest that a CT scan
      helps in the early diagnosis of the cause of intestinal obstruction, and totally
      laparoscopic enterolithomy with intracorporeal enterotomy repair is a valid, safe
      option.

PMID- 20932387
TI  - Single incision laparoscopic splenectomy in a 5-year-old with hereditary
      spherocytosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Single incision laparoscopic surgery (SILS) is an emerging technique
      that has been used as an approach for appendectomy, cholecystectomy, and
      splenectomy. We describe the technique of single incision laparoscopic
      splenectomy for hypersplenism in a 5-year-old boy with spherocytosis. CASE
      REPORT: The patient required blood transfusions for anemia secondary to
      hypersplenism. His spleen measured 9.8 cm in cranio-caudal length on ultrasound.
      SILS splenectomy was performed through a 2-cm umbilical incision by using 3
      ports. The splenic attachments were taken down using an electrosurgical sealing
      and cutting device, and the hilum was transected with an endosurgical stapler.
      The spleen was placed in an endosurgical bag, morcellated, and removed from the
      abdomen via the umbilical incision without complications. Operative time was 84
      minutes; blood loss was minimal. CONCLUSION: SILS splenectomy is feasible in
      pediatric patients. More experience is needed to assess advantages and
      disadvantages compared with the standard laparoscopic approach.

PMID- 20932388
TI  - Postoperative bowel herniation in a 5-mm nonbladed trocar site.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Incisional hernias are a rare complication of laparoscopic surgery,
      with a reported incidence of <1%. CASE REPORT: We describe a case of bowel
      herniation and strangulation involving a 5-mm trocar site. CONCLUSION: Although
      there is growing literature supporting fascial closure of abdominal port sizes >=
      10 mm, there is sparse data to suggest closure of 5-mm port sites. Our case
      illustrates that in appropriate clinical scenarios, the possibility of a
      strangulated hernia involving a 5-mm port site warrants consideration.

PMID- 20932389
TI  - Aberrant mesoappendix vasculature: a unique cause of partial small bowel
      obstruction.
AB  - Small bowel obstructions are most frequently caused by hernias or adhesive bands.
      However, there have been several rare reported cases of mechanical small bowel
      obstructions caused by loops of bowel or vascular bands. We describe a case of a
      30-year-old woman with a clinical presentation suggestive of appendicitis.
      Laparoscopic evaluation showed an aberrant vessel looping around the small bowel
      extending from the lateral anterior abdominal wall to the mesoappendix, resulting
      in a partial small bowel obstruction. We review the literature relating to bowel
      obstructions resulting from bowel knots and vascular bands. To our knowledge,
      this is the first reported case of a small bowel obstruction caused by an
      aberrant intraabdominal vessel.

PMID- 20932390
TI  - Villous mucinous cystadenoma of the appendix in a postmenopausal woman.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To present the case of a postmenopausal woman, who was suspected of
      having an ovarian cyst. Instead, a cystadenoma of the appendix was discovered
      during laparoscopy. METHODS: A 64-year-old postmenopausal nulliparous woman was
      admitted to our hospital because of a cystic lesion, which had been detected in
      the course of a routine gynecological examination. The patient underwent vaginal
      ultrasound, magnetic resonance tomography, and laparoscopy. RESULTS: During
      vaginal ultrasound, a dumbbell-shaped anechogenic cystic structure 70 x 32 x 22
      mm in diameter was found in the region of the right adnexa. Magnetic resonance
      tomography revealed no additional information. During diagnostic laparoscopy, the
      cystic lesion was found to be a distended appendix. A laparoscopic appendectomy
      was performed. Subsequent histological analysis revealed a villous mucinous
      cystadenoma of the appendix with low-grade intraepithelial neoplasia. CONCLUSION:
      Gynecologists should routinely consider this disease in the differential
      diagnosis of right lower dumbbell abdominal cysts. Eleven percent to 20% of
      mucoceles are caused by mucinous cystadenocarcinomas, which carry the risk of
      peritoneal tumor implantation caused by rupture or laparoscopic resection.
      Therefore, it should be mandatory that a general surgeon be involved in the
      laparoscopic procedure and the conversion to laparotomy for resection of the
      structure.

PMID- 20932391
TI  - An unusual presentation of a severely calcified parasitic leiomyoma in a
      postmenopausal woman.
AB  - We report the case of a calcified parasitic leiomyoma in a 51-year-old
      postmenopausal woman with lower abdominal discomfort. She had no history of
      surgery. Workup confirmed a calcified leiomyoma. On laparoscopy, the mass was
      separate from the uterus and adhered to the bowel and bladder. Histopathological
      examination confirmed a calcified leiomyoma. A calcified parasitic leiomyoma in a
      postmenopausal woman is rare. Most prior cases were in persons with a history of
      a laparoscopic myomectomy. The diagnosis can be made by radiological findings.
      Laparoscopic excision is the treatment of choice in such cases.

PMID- 20932392
TI  - Robotic management of pheochromocytoma of the vesicoureteric junction.
AB  - Pheochromocytoma of the urinary bladder is rare, presenting usually with
      hypertension, hematuria and syncopal attacks. Such cases have usually been
      managed with open or laparoscopic partial cystectomy. We present a case of
      bladder pheochromocytoma that had unusual presenting symptoms, a paraneoplastic
      manifestation and was successfully managed with robotic technique.

PMID- 20932393
TI  - Robot-assisted laparoscopic ureterolysis: case report and literature review of
      the minimally invasive surgical approach.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To evaluate our case of robot-assisted ureterolysis (RU), describe
      our surgical technique, and review the literature on minimally invasive
      ureterolysis. METHODS: One patient managed with robot-assisted ureterolysis for
      idiopathic retroperitoneal fibrosis was identified. The chart was analyzed for
      demographics, operative parameters, and immediate postoperative outcome. The
      surgical technique was assessed and modified. Lastly, a review of the published
      literature on ureterolysis managed with minimally invasive surgery was performed.
      RESULTS: One patient underwent robot-assisted ureterolysis at our institution in
      2 separate settings. Operative time (OR) decreased from 279 minutes to 191
      minutes. Estimated blood loss (EBL) was less than 50 mL. The patient has been
      free of symptoms and both renal units are unobstructed. According to the
      published literature, 302 renal units underwent successful laparoscopic
      ureterolysis (LU), and 6 renal units underwent RU. There were 9 open conversions
      (all in LU). Mean OR in LU was 248 minutes for unilateral and 386 minutes for
      bilateral cases. In RU, mean OR was 220 minutes for unilateral and 390 minutes
      for bilateral cases. EBL averaged 200 mL in LU and 30 mL in RU. CONCLUSIONS: Our
      data reveal that robot-assisted ureterolysis is safe and feasible. Published data
      demonstrate the advantages of minimally invasive surgery.

PMID- 20932394
TI  - Child and parental acceptance of preformed metal crowns.
AB  - AIM: To assess child and parent acceptance of preformed metal crowns (PMCs).
      STUDY DESIGN: This was a service evaluation using a child- and parent-centred
      self-report questionnaire in a convenience sample of hospital patients. METHODS:
      Questionnaires were developed with serviceusers and issued to 98 children who had
      received a PMC on a primary molar within the paediatric dentistry clinic,
      Sheffield Dental Hospital, UK. Children used a pictorial Likert scale to rate
      their treatment experience and views on PMCs. Parents were also asked to complete
      a 5-item questionnaire, to explore their attitudes towards the PMC and how they
      felt their child had coped with treatment. Both children and parents were invited
      to comment in a free-text box on any other issues relating to PMCs. Clinical data
      were extrapolated from the child's dental records as follows: child's age and
      gender; status of clinician who had placed the PMC (staff or student), and
      technique for PMC placement (Hall technique or conventional). RESULTS: 62
      questionnaires were completed (63% response rate). The mean age of the child
      participants was 6.6 years (SD+/-1.51; range=3.8-10.3), and 65% (n=40) were male.
      Most children found the clinical procedure acceptable with 54.8% (n=34) reporting
      it was 'really easy', with no significant differences according to placement
      technique, or the experience level of the operator (P<0.05, chi-squared test).
      Only 4.8% (n=3) of parents expressed strong objections to the appearance. Both
      children and parents felt the clinical rationale had been fully explained to them
      (88.7%, n=55 and 100%, n=62 respectively). Themes commonly identified from the
      children's accounts related to specialness, function and recollections of the
      treatment, with the perception that PMCs were valued for being different.
      CONCLUSIONS: This study revealed that PMCs were mainly viewed favourably by
      children and their parents. Clinicians who have been reluctant to use this
      restorative approach may be encouraged by these findings. However, communication
      and clinical expertise are paramount in ensuring children and parents have
      positive treatment experiences and attitudes towards PMCs.

PMID- 20932395
TI  - Short communication: Influence of preformed metal crowns (Hall technique) on the
      occlusal vertical dimension in the primary dentition.
AB  - AIM: This was to investigate the measure of propping, or occlusal interference
      and opening the bite after placement of preformed metal crowns (PMC) using the
      Hall technique and in how many days it took for the open bite to return to
      normal. METHODS: For this study school children living in the rain forest of
      Suriname were selected. The distance between the tip of the mandibular and
      maxillary primary canines was measured just before and after treatment with PMCs
      and again after 15 and 30 days. RESULTS: In 48 children the mean distance between
      the canine tips reduced from 2.45 mm before to 0.54 mm directly after treatment.
      After 15 days the distance increased again to 1.96 mm and after 30 days (with the
      remaining 8 patients) to 2.75 mm. The reduction of the overbite seems to be
      caused by intrusion of the crowned molar and its antagonist. CONCLUSION: Although
      the overbite had equilibrated after 30 days, additional research is necessary in
      a larger study to draw more decisive conclusions.

PMID- 20932396
TI  - ART class II restoration loss in primary molars: re-restoration or not?
AB  - AIM: The purpose of this study was to find an answer as to what to do with
      Atraumatic Restorations (ART) failures: re-restore or leave the preparation
      further unfilled? STUDY DESIGN: Cross sectional study. METHODS: In 2006, 804
      children in Kenya each had one proximal cavity treated using the ART approach.
      Out of the original group of 192 children, who had lost their restorations but
      still had the treated molars in situ, were selected for further study in 2008.
      The length of time that the restorations had been in situ was known while the
      colour, hardness and the extent of infected dentine was then evaluated and
      documented. STATISTICS: Analysis of the data obtained was conducted using SPSS
      16.0. Chi Square tests were performed with the variables of hardness, colour and
      infected dentine, and a 5% confidence interval was used. The Spearman's Rank
      Correlation Coefficient was also calculated. RESULTS: The results showed that 66%
      of the molars that had lost restorations had hard dentine, 78% of the
      preparations showed dark dentine and 50.7% appeared to have no infected dentine.
      These percentages increased with the increase in the survival time of the
      restorations. CONCLUSIONS: It is not always necessary to re-restore primary
      molars after ART restoration loss. Further research is necessary to confirm these
      findings.

PMID- 20932397
TI  - Efficiency of different polyacrylic acid concentrations on the smear layer, after
      ART technique, by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM).
AB  - AIM: To assess the efficiency of different polyacrylic acid concentrations on the
      removal of the smear layer after caries removal with hand and rotary instruments
      in affected dentine of primary teeth. STUDY DESIGN: In vitro study. METHODS: Six
      exfoliated primary molars with carious lesions were divided into two groups for
      caries removal: (1) hand instrument or (2) low speed bur. Each tooth was cut into
      four pieces. One piece assigned as control surface and the other three surfaces
      were actively treated with either 40% Fuji IXGP Liquid (GC America), or 40% Fuji
      IXGP Liquid diluted with water, and 25% Ketac Molar(TM) Conditioner (3M-ESPE).
      Surfaces were prepared for scanning electron microscopy (SEM). All images were
      submitted to an analysis by an experienced SEM professional, regarding presence
      or absence of smear layer and dentinal demineralization pattern. Chi-squared test
      was carried out (5% significance). RESULTS: There was no difference concerning
      the presence of a smear layer in relation to the method of caries removal, and
      40% Fuji IXGP diluted with water causes a higher demineralization when compared
      with the control group of teeth (p=0.01). CONCLUSION: Treatments with polyacrylic
      acid are indicated prior to glass ionomer cement application in primary teeth.

PMID- 20932398
TI  - Dental caries prevalence in children with cleft lip/palate aged between 6 months
      and 6 years in the West of Scotland.
AB  - AIM: To compare the prevalence of dental caries in children with cleft lip/palate
      with national data at the same age. METHOD: Ethical approval was granted from the
      West of Scotland Ethics Committee. Children attending the Oral Orthopaedic Clinic
      were examined for caries according to the criteria of the British Association for
      the Study of Community Dentistry (BASCD) by two trained and calibrated examiners
      (KB, RW). Subjects were divided into five age groups: 0.5-1.49; 1.5-2.49; 2.5
      3.49; 3.5-4.49 and 4.5-6.0 years. Mean dmft scores were compared with available
      national data (National Dental Inspection Program of Scotland) for nursery [NDIP
      3-year-old survey 2008, unpublished] and 5-year-old children in Scotland [NDIP,
      2008]. RESULTS: 209 subjects were examined (participation rate of 87.4%); 45.9%
      were female, 54.1% male; 21 children (10%) had a recognised syndrome and were
      reported separately. Cleft Palate (CP) was the most commonly occurring cleft in
      both syndromic and non-syndromic groups, followed in decreasing numbers by
      Unilateral Cleft Lip and Palate (UCLP), Bilateral Cleft Lip and Palate (BCLP),
      Unilateral Cleft Lip (UCL) and Bilateral Cleft Lip (BCL). The only age group with
      a significantly higher level of dental caries compared with national data was the
      4.5-6.0 year-olds where only 37.2% of the children with clefts were caries free
      compared with the national figure of 57.7% (p=0.004). This same age group had a
      mean dmft for the cleft group of 3.24 compared with 1.86 nationally. The other
      age groups had similar dmft and percentages of subjects caries free compared with
      the national data. The differences did not reach significance. Caries was more
      common in the anterior teeth of the youngest two age groups, but in the posterior
      teeth of the two oldest age groups. CONCLUSION: By the age of 4.5 years, children
      with cleft lip/palate in the West of Scotland have significantly more caries than
      their non-cleft peers.

PMID- 20932399
TI  - Effect of CD4+ lymphocyte count, viral load, and duration of taking anti
      retroviral treatment on presence of oral lesions in a sample of South African
      children with HIV+/AIDS.
AB  - AIMS: This was to determine the presence and types of oral mucosal lesions in a
      sample of HIV(+)/AIDS South African children taking antiretroviral therapy and to
      investigate the relationship between CD4(+) lymphocyte counts, viral load,
      duration of taking antiretroviral therapy (DART), and age on presence of oral
      lesions. METHODS: The samples consisted of 56 South African children aged 0-4
      years (mean age =7.09 years) with HIV(+)/AID, infected at birth. Subjects were
      divided into two groups according to the presence of oral lesions with test group
      (patients with oral lesions) and control group (patients with no oral lesions).
      Children were also divided into two groups, those <6 years and those >6 years old
      to study the effect of age on presence of lesions. RESULTS: Oral Candidiasis was
      the most common lesion reported in 19/56 children, followed by Recurrent Herpetic
      Infection in 9 children. Other lesions such as Kaposi's sarcoma, Multifocal
      Epithelial Hyperplasia, Oral Hairy Leukoplakia, Linear Gingival Erythema, and
      oral ulceration were also present. A statistical significant difference in CD4(+)
      lymphocyte count (p value 0.005), and viral load (p value 0.002) was found
      between the oral lesion and no oral lesion groups, those with oral lesions having
      a significantly higher viral load and lower CD4+ count. No statisticaly
      significant difference between the two groups in terms of the DART effect (p
      value 0.811) was found. Furthermore, there was no effect of age groups on the
      presence of lesions in children with HIV(+)/AIDS. CONCLUSION: This study
      contributes to the relatively scant literature on the prevalence of oral lesions
      in children with HIV infection in South Africa and also the relationship of these
      lesions to the viral load and CD4(+) lymphocyte counts.

PMID- 20932400
TI  - Validation of a Greek version of the oral health impact profile (OHIP-14) in
      adolescents.
AB  - AIM: To evaluate the validity and reliability of the Greek version of the Oral
      Health Impact Profile (OHIP-14) (short form) in adolescents. METHODS: A total of
      112 healthy adolescents (15-18 years) from various socioeconomic backgrounds were
      randomly selected and participated in a clinical oral examination conducted by a
      calibrated dentist and on the same day a face to face interview was held for
      assessing the psychometric properties of the OHIP-14 in Greek adolescents.
      RESULTS: Cronbach's coefficient, was used to evaluate the internal consistency of
      the instrument and a value of a=0.8 was found indicating exceptional internal
      consistency. Discriminant validity and convergent validity was assessed and the
      inter-item correlation coefficients ranged from -0.01 to 0.8 and the item-total
      correlation coefficients varied from 0.17 to 0.6. Important statistical
      correlations were also observed between the OHIP-14 and all the clinical
      measures, confirming that the questionnaire can distinguish between individuals
      with and without impacts on their oral health. The OHIP-14 total score proved to
      have high associations with both self-perceived oral health status (rs=0.36;
      p=0.01) and self-assessment of oral satisfaction (rs=0.4; p=0.01). Examination of
      the relationship between these parameters and the score of each domain also lead
      to similar results. CONCLUSIONS: The Greek version of OHIP-14 instrument was
      found to be a valid and reliable instrument for assessing oral health-related
      quality of life in Greek adolescents.

PMID- 20932401
TI  - Short communication: In vitro assessment of erosive potential of energy drinks.
AB  - AIM: This in vitro study was to evaluate the endogenous pH, titratable acidity,
      total soluble solids content (TSSC) and nonreducing sugars of energy drinks.
      METHODS: Nine energy drinks (Bad Boy Power Drink, Red Bull, Red Bull Sugar Free,
      Flying Horse, Burn, Night Power, Flash Power, Flying Horse Light and 220V) were
      evaluated by a randomised experiment with 3 repetitions on each sample. pH
      analysis performed by potentiometry and buffering capacity was assessed by
      dilution of each drink. Increments of 0.1 N KOH were titrated until neutrality
      reached. TSSC readings were performed by Brix refractometry using an Abbe
      refractometer. RESULTS: pH values ranged from 1.52 (Flash Power) to 3.20 (Red
      Bull) and all drinks showed pH 5.5. Titratable acidity values ranged from 0.56
      (220V) to 1.04 (Bad Boy Power Drink). Flying Horse Light presented the lowest
      TSSC content (1.66%) and Flying Horse presented the highest (12.58%). Non
      reducing sugars values ranged from 0.00% (Red Bull Sugar Free and Flying Horse
      Light) to 54.33% (Flying Horse). CONCLUSION: The energy drinks evaluated have a
      high erosive potential, as they present low pH and a high non-reducing sugar
      content.

PMID- 20932402
TI  - Case report: Rehabilitation of a child with dentinogenesis imperfecta and
      congenitally missing lateral incisors.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Dentinogenesis imperfecta is one of the most common hereditary
      disorders of dentine formation. Opalescent teeth composed of irregularly formed
      and undemineralised dentine that obliterates pulp chambers and root canals
      characterize it. Complete-coverage crowns are usually the preferred restoration
      for patients with this condition. CASE REPORT: A 9 year-old girl presented with
      dentinogenesis imperfecta, congenitally missing maxillary lateral incisors and
      maxillary right permanent second molar retention. TREATMENT: The treatment
      comprised an initial approach to allow the correct eruption of the retained
      second molar. The use of low-fusion metal ceramic restorations comprised a second
      stage to improve the aesthetic appearance and decrease the risk of overload on
      teeth with limited value. FOLLOW-UP: The patient has been recalled regularly and
      at the last visit, 10 years after initial prosthetic treatment, no problems or
      signs of complications have occurred. The patient is now aged 25 years and is
      still satisfied with the prosthetic rehabilitation. CONCLUSION: This case
      illustrates the need for appropriate and timely restorative treatment to prevent
      deterioration of the dentition. This case will also demonstrate that low-fusion
      metal ceramic restoration is a viable esthetic treatment option for today's
      patients.

PMID- 20932403
TI  - Point. Routine use of postoperative intravesical chemotherapy after TURBT-should
      it be done?

PMID- 20932404
TI  - Counter-point. Routine use of perioperative intravesical chemotherapy after
      TURBT: against.

PMID- 20932405
TI  - Editorial comment.

PMID- 20932406
TI  - Editorial comment.

PMID- 20932407
TI  - Editorial comment.

PMID- 20932408
TI  - A population-based comparison of cancer-control rates between radical and partial
      nephrectomy for T1A renal cell carcinoma.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To complement existing data with population-based cancer control
      outcomes that account for the effect of other-cause mortality (OCM). Cancer
      control rates are virtually equivalent between partial (PN) and radical
      nephrectomy (RN) for patients with T1aN0M0 renal cell carcinoma (RCC). To date,
      only 6 studies from centers of excellence examined cancer control rates after PN
      vs RN for T1aN0M0 RCC. OCM was unaccounted for in those studies, which may
      introduce a bias. We relied on the surveillance, epidemiology, and end results
      (SEER) database and assessed cancer-specific mortality (CSM) after either PN or
      RN for T1aN0M0 RCC, in competing-risks models. METHODS: Between 1988 and 2004,
      the SEER-9 database identified 1622 PN (22.3%) and 5658 RN (77.7%) T1aN0M0 RCC.
      Competing-risks regression models, controlling for OCM and matched for age, year
      of surgery, tumor size, and Fuhrman grade, addressed the effect of nephrectomy
      type (PN vs RN) on CSM. RESULTS: At 5 years, in a PN and RN matched-population
      controlling for OCM, CSM after PN and RN was respectively 1.8% vs 2.5% (P = .5).
      The CSM rates in this cohort for patients aged >= 70 years were respectively 1.0%
      and 3.4% (P = .7). CONCLUSIONS: This competing-risks population-based analysis
      confirmed the CSM equivalence between PN and RN for T1aN0M0 RCC and showed
      virtually perfect CSM-free rates (97.5% or better) even in older patients.

PMID- 20932409
TI  - Editorial comment.

PMID- 20932411
TI  - Dose-ranging study of the luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone receptor
      antagonist cetrorelix pamoate in the treatment of patients with symptomatic
      benign prostatic hyperplasia.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare the efficacy of 4 dosage regimens of cetrorelix pamoate, a
      sustained release formulation that allows for more convenient dosing, in patients
      with symptomatic benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). Repeated dosing with
      cetrorelix acetate was shown to be active in the treatment of BPH symptoms.
      METHODS: Double-blind, randomized, multicenter study was undertaken among
      patients with International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) >= 13. After a single
      blind placebo run-in phase of 4 weeks, treatment was administered at 2-week
      intervals as follows: 30 + 30 mg, 30 + 30 + 30 mg, 60 + 30, 60 + 60 mg cetrorelix
      pamoate, or matching placebo. Patients were followed-up for 28 weeks after
      randomization. RESULTS: A statistically significant overall difference was found
      with respect to the primary variable, the IPSS (P <= .001). Optimal results, a 4
      point improvement in IPSS in excess of the changes observed in the placebo group,
      were achieved with a starting dose of 60 mg cetrorelix pamoate followed by a dose
      of 30 mg 2 weeks later. In all dosage groups, the symptomatic improvement was
      paralleled by an increase in uroflow. There was a marked dissociation between
      only moderate and transient testosterone suppression and the persisting effects
      on BPH signs and symptoms. Tolerability was good at all cetrorelix dosages.
      CONCLUSIONS: Intramuscular injections of 60 and 30 mg of cetrorelix pamoate
      within 2 weeks provide rapid symptomatic improvements of BPH that are sustained
      for the following 6 months.

PMID- 20932412
TI  - Editorial comment.

PMID- 20932413
TI  - Editorial comment.

PMID- 20932415
TI  - Buccal mucosa graft for ureteral stricture substitution: initial experience.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the use of buccal mucosa tubal graft for reconstruction
      of extensive ureteral stricture. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Between April 2006 and
      July 2008, 5 patients (mean age, 51.2 years) underwent reconstructive ureteral
      surgery for ureteral obstruction using buccal mucosa graft. The indication of
      surgery was extensive ureteral stricture of a 4.4-cm average length (range, 3.5
      5.0). The site of stricture was in the proximal and the middle ureter in 3 and 2
      patients, respectively. The causes of stricture were postinflammatory (3 cases)
      and iatrogenic after ureteroscopic procedures for impacted stones (2 cases).
      RESULTS: All 5 patients underwent successful ureteral defect replacement using
      buccal mucosal tube. The intraoperative course was uneventful without any major
      complications. Mean operative time was 106 minutes (range, 85-130). With a mean
      follow-up of 24 months (range, 14-39), the operated kidneys showed no
      obstruction. CONCLUSIONS: Oral buccal mucosal tubal graft for reconstruction of
      extensive ureteral stricture is a good available option. Although the results of
      this initial experience are encouraging, a bigger series and longer follow-up is
      recommended to evaluate our procedure.

PMID- 20932417
TI  - Editorial comment.

PMID- 20932419
TI  - Editorial comment.

PMID- 20932421
TI  - Editorial comment.

PMID- 20932423
TI  - Editorial comment.

PMID- 20932424
TI  - A novel technique for repair of testicular rupture after blunt trauma.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To present a simple technique for the repair of a ruptured testis
      after blunt trauma when extruded but viable testicular tissue prevents closure of
      the testicular capsule during surgical exploration. Preservation of viable
      testicular tissue is important because the risk of impaired fertility and hormone
      function is minimized. METHODS: A 25-year-old male sustained a ruptured right
      testis confirmed by ultrasound. Testicular exploration was performed and hematoma
      evacuated. Extruded but viable testicular tissue was identified and preserved.
      The free edges of parietal tunica vaginalis was used to create a "neocapsule"
      around the testis and extruded tissue. RESULTS: There were no postoperative
      complications. Follow-up Doppler ultrasound scan at 3 months showed a viable
      testis with no atrophic changes. CONCLUSIONS: This technique avoids the loss of
      extruded but viable testicular tissue and may reduce the risk of impaired
      fertility and hormone function, without compromising the goals of scrotal
      exploration.

PMID- 20932425
TI  - Re: Hara et al.: Decline of the red cell blood count in patients receiving
      androgen deprivation therapy for localized prostate cancer: impact of ADT on
      insulin-like growth factor 1 and erythropoesis. (Urology 2010;75:1441-1445).

PMID- 20932427
TI  - Re: Hong et al.:Twenty-four hour and spot urine metabolic evaluations:
      correlations versus agreements. (Urology 2010;75:1294-1298).

PMID- 20932429
TI  - Prostate-specific antigen self-testing among British Association of Urological
      Surgeons (BAUS) consultant urologists.

PMID- 20932431
TI  - Re: Hong et al.: Detection of subclinical carbon dioxide embolism by
      transesophageal echocardiography during laparoscopic radical prostatectomy
      (Urology 2010;75:581-584).

PMID- 20932432
TI  - Conservative surgery for early stage cervical cancer: who should we offer it to?

PMID- 20932433
TI  - How does public policy impact cervical screening and vaccination strategies?
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To examine the current approaches to cervical screening and points to
      consider for improving HPV vaccination acceptance and uptake in the US. METHODS:
      An expert forum was conducted September 12-13, 2008, by the Society of
      Gynecologic Oncologists including 56 experts in cervical cancer and titled
      "Future Strategies of Cervical Cancer Prevention: What Do We Need to Do Now to
      Prepare?". RESULTS: Cervical cancer prevention has primarily relied on screening
      paradigms but vaccination against human papillomavirus (HPV), the cause of the
      disease, is a primary preventative measure that has been recommended by all
      cervical cancer screening stakeholders. Guidelines for vaccination are developed
      by national advisory groups, but successful implementation requires a supportive
      infrastructure and the cooperation of providers, clinicians, and patients. HPV
      vaccination has been available in the United States (US) since 2006 and screening
      practices have been updated to also include HPV genotyping. However, many
      clinicians fail to adhere to the guidelines for HPV testing (and HPV co-testing)
      as part of cervical cancer screening, and vaccination coverage has been poor
      among females aged 11 and 12, the group for which vaccination is recommended by
      all organizations. CONCLUSIONS: The data reviewed and presented in this session
      of the "Future Strategies of Cervical Cancer Prevention. What Do We Need to do
      Now to Prepare?". The Forum suggests that the policies influencing HPV
      vaccination and screening need to be reassessed at multiple levels in order to
      achieve more effective implementation and regular use.

PMID- 20932434
TI  - Diagnosis and monitoring of abdominal aortic aneurysm: current status and future
      prospects. Foreword.

PMID- 20932436
TI  - [Dermatology, proctology or infectiology: The necessity of a multidirectional
      approach].

PMID- 20932437
TI  - [Suppurations of the perineal and gluteal region: An aetiological study of 60
      cases].
AB  - BACKGROUND: The gluteal region is a complex area of the body that may be the seat
      of several diseases with dermatological manifestations. The purpose of this
      series was to study the aetiological profile of suppurative lesions of the
      gluteal region in patients in Morocco. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A retrospective
      study was carried out on patients presenting suppuration of the gluteal region
      hospitalised in our department between 1987 and 2008. The epidemiological,
      clinical and aetiological data for 60 cases were reviewed. Skin biopsies with
      bacterial, fungal and histological studies, as well as bacterial and fungal
      cultures of pus and anorectal examination, were performed for all patients.
      RESULTS: We examined the files for 44 males and 16 females; mean age was 44 years
      (range: 13 to 70 years) and the average duration of illness was 6.5 years. The
      various aetiologies were as follows: hidradenitis suppurativa (27 cases),
      cutaneous tuberculosis (10 cases), Crohn's disease (nine cases), phlegmon
      carbuncle (eight cases), tumours (four cases) and deep mycosis (two cases).
      Medical and surgical treatments were aetiological. DISCUSSION: There are various
      aetiologies of suppurations of the gluteal region. In Morocco, hidradenitis
      suppurativa, cutaneous tuberculosis and Crohn's disease are the most frequent
      causes. Multidisciplinary management is essential.

PMID- 20932438
TI  - [A retrospective efficacy and safety study of UVB-TL01 phototherapy and PUVA
      therapy in palmoplantar psoriasis].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Topical therapy is generally insufficient in palmoplantar psoriasis.
      UVBTL01 phototherapy is a therapeutic alternative and we conducted a
      retrospective study of the efficacy and safety of this approach and of PUVA
      therapy in palmoplantar psoriasis. PATIENTS AND METHODS: All patients treated
      with UVBTL01 or PUVA therapy from November 2001 to April 2008 were included in
      the study. Phototherapy was given three times a week. Evaluation was performed
      after 20 sessions, again after 30 sessions and then at the end of the treatment.
      Therapeutic outcome was classed as "failure", "slight improvement" or
      "improvement or clear skin". RESULTS: UVBTL01 phototherapy and PUVA therapy were
      effective, with "improvement or clear skin" in respectively 52% and 61% of cases
      and "slight improvement" in 16% and 23% of cases at the end of the treatment.
      With UVBTL01, adverse effects occurred in 20% of cases (erythema 18%, first
      degree burns 7%) and treatment was discontinued as a result in only 4% of cases.
      Adverse effects occurred in 50% in patients on PUVA therapy, mainly due to
      methoxypsoralen intake. CONCLUSION: UVBTL01 phototherapy and PUVA therapy are
      efficacious treatments in palmoplantar psoriasis; UVBTL01 phototherapy involves
      fewer constraints and has fewer adverse effects.

PMID- 20932435
TI  - Diagnosis and monitoring of abdominal aortic aneurysm: current status and future
      prospects.
AB  - Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) remains an important cause of morbidity and
      mortality in elderly men, and prevalence is predicted to increase in parallel
      with a global aging population. AAA is commonly asymptomatic, and in the absence
      of routine screening, diagnosis is usually incidental when imaging to assess
      unrelated medical complaints. In the absence of approved diagnostic and
      prognostic markers, AAAs are monitored conservatively via medical imaging until
      aortic diameter approaches 50-55 mm and surgical repair is performed. There is
      currently significant interest in identifying molecular markers of diagnostic and
      prognostic value for AAA. Here we outline the current guidelines for AAA
      management and discuss modern scientific techniques currently employed to
      identify improved diagnostic and prognostic markers.

PMID- 20932439
TI  - [Contribution of the cryosurgery in the management of xeroderma pigmentosum].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) occurs frequently in young patients with
      xeroderma pigmentosum (XP). Because tumours are multiple and usually found on the
      face, alternatives to surgery are proposed. The purpose of this study was to
      evaluate the efficacy of cryosurgery for BCC in XP patients. PATIENTS AND
      METHODS: This was a retrospective study that included all instances of BCC
      occurring in XP patients treated by cryosurgery between January 2002 and October
      2008. RESULTS: Forty-five cases of primary facial BCC and one case of relapsing
      BCC (16 on the cheeks, 11 on the nose, six on the face and five on the inner edge
      of the eye area) were treated by cryosurgery in 18 XP patients (average age: 18.7
      years; sex ratio: 0.5). Mean carcinoma size was 10mm. Thirty-six tumours were
      nodular and 10 were nodular and ulcerated. Follow-up ranged from 16 to 60 months
      (mean: 30 months). Complications were rare. Cosmetic results were satisfactory.
      We noted 10 cases of hypopigmentation (21.7%) and one notch on the nose following
      treatment for recurrent BCC on a radiotherapy scar. Relapse occurred in one case
      (2.17%). CONCLUSION: Because of its simplicity, its good safety, its sparing of
      skin and its reliability of oncological outcome, cryosurgery is the treatment of
      choice for CBC in XP patients.

PMID- 20932440
TI  - [Management of cutaneous T-cell lymphomas: Recommendations of the French
      Cutaneous Lymphoma Group].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Classification of diagnostic methods, of initial staging and of the
      treatment of primary cutaneous T-cell lymphomas, particularly the most common
      epidermotropic forms, constitutes an essential step in rationalising therapeutic
      practice and in evaluating the results of treatment. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We
      carried out an analysis of the literature and of existing recommendations in
      order to create recommendations regarding the diagnosis, initial staging and
      treatment of primary T-cell lymphomas. RESULTS: We present the key elements of
      diagnosis and initial staging. The selected therapeutic strategy, which
      necessarily changes over time, must avoid both unnecessarily aggressive early
      treatment as well as an overly timid therapeutic approach that could allow
      lesions to rapidly progress towards more advanced stages. Regular reassessment of
      the benefit/risk ratio is necessary and involves the use of first- and second
      line measures, in which it is difficult to establish any hierarchy, with the
      current tendency favouring in particular combined therapy as second-line
      treatment in order to limit the toxicity of each individual constituent drug
      within the combination. The creation of a national SPC marks significant progress
      in difficult cases. CONCLUSION: As a result of the offer, limited level of proof
      in existing studies, which are generally unsatisfactory in terms of methodology,
      the new recommendations described herein are timely and should be updated
      regularly in accordance with advances in knowledge. The organisation of clinical
      trials and validation of the scoring systems currently being developed should be
      encouraged.

PMID- 20932441
TI  - [Topical imiquimod for the treatment of anogenital warts in an infant].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Treatment of anogenital warts (AW) in children and infants is painful
      because of the destructive techniques involved, as a result of which general
      anaesthesia may be required. For adults, topical imiquimod is an efficient and
      well-tolerated product used for these lesions. Here, we report a case
      demonstrating the benefits of topical imiquimod in the treatment of AW in infant.
      PATIENTS AND METHODS: A ten-month-old infant was presenting large AW in the
      inguinal and perianal folds for a period of two months, which persisted despite
      one month of treatment with podophyllotoxin. After a month of daily application
      of imiquimod, the AW was completely cured, with no recurrence at six months.
      DISCUSSION: In the literature, we found four similar case reports concerning the
      efficacy and safety of topical imiquimod for AW in infants. Although topical
      imiquimod is not licensed for paediatric use, these case reports highlight the
      benefits of this approach in infants.

PMID- 20932442
TI  - [Leg ulcerations and sunitinib].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sunitinib is an antiangiogenic tyrosine kinase inhibitor indicated in
      the treatment of metastatic renal cancer and gastrointestinal stromal tumours
      (GIST). We report a case of leg ulcer apparently triggered by this drug and we
      discuss the potential implication of the antiangiogenic effect of sunitinib in
      ulcer genesis. CASE REPORT: A 73-year-old woman with a history of deep venous
      thrombosis of the lower limbs was treated with sunitinib for renal cancer with
      hepatic and pulmonary secondaries. While on this treatment, she developed painful
      ulcers of the right lower limb, despite having never previously presented leg
      ulceration. On discontinuation of sunitinib, the lesions improved, and resumption
      of this drug, even at a lower dosage, resulted in relapse of her ulcers.
      DISCUSSION: Although questions may legitimately be asked about the contribution
      of the patient's venous condition, withdrawal of sunitinib followed by a positive
      rechallenge tend to suggest the role of this drug in recurrence of ulcers. Their
      recurrence despite the decreased dosage of the drug points to a nondose-dependent
      pathogenic mechanism.

PMID- 20932443
TI  - [Atypical cutaneous Fusarium infection in an immunocompetent patient].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Fusarium are filamentous saprophytic brown fungi found in soil, on
      plants and outdoors. Invasive, necrotic fusarial skin infections are rare and are
      found in immunodepressed subjects. We report a case in a woman with no
      discernible immune deficiency. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A 24-year-old woman in good
      general health, pregnant at 34 weeks amenorrhoea, consulted for ulcerating,
      budding lesions with a necrotic centre over her entire body, but mainly localised
      on the cheeks and four limbs. The diagnosis of fusariosis due to Fusarium
      oxysporum was made on the basis of direct examination and repeated skin biopsy
      culture. All investigations were normal, and in particular, the patient had no
      detectable immune deficiency. Treatment was extremely difficult. The patient
      received amphotericin B, then voriconazole and terbinafine, ketoconazole and
      finally liposomal amphotericin. DISCUSSION: In immunocompetent subjects, fusarial
      species generally colonise the corneal layers of the skin. Our case was special
      in terms of the clinical aspect of the pseudotumoural lesions with a necrotic
      centre in an immunocompetent woman and in terms of the difficulty in treating
      her.

PMID- 20932444
TI  - [Congenital erythropoeietic porphyria treated by haematopoietic stem cell
      allograft].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Congenital erythropoietic porphyria (CEP) is a genodermatosis
      associated uroporphyrinogen III synthase deficit that results in porphyrin
      accumulation in various organs, particularly the skin. It is the most severe form
      of porphyria associated with haemolytic anaemia and cutaneous phototoxicity. We
      report a severe case of CEP treated by allogeneic bone marrow transplantation.
      CASE REPORT: A one-year-old child presented erythrodontia and scarring on exposed
      areas. The diagnosis of CEP was confirmed by the decline of uroporphyrinogen III
      synthase activity. Demonstration of p.Cys73Arg mutation confirmed the severity of
      the disease. Allogeneic bone marrow transplantation resulted in persistent
      resolution of clinical signs 25 months after grafting. DISCUSSION: Symptomatic
      treatment is ineffective in this serious disease associated with early mortality.
      11 of the 13 patients treated by allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell graft,
      including our patient, continued to be asymptomatic an average of seven years
      after transplantation. CONCLUSION: This new case confirms the role of allogeneic
      hematopoietic stem cell grafting in the treatment of congenital erythropoietic
      porphyria.

PMID- 20932445
TI  - [Porphyria cutanea tarda in a child undergoing bone marrow grafting].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Porphyria cutanea tarda (PCT) is rare in childhood and association
      with bone marrow transplant has occasionally been reported. PATIENTS AND METHODS:
      A 13-year-old boy was referred to our department for bullous lesions on sun
      exposed areas. His past medical history revealed acute biphenotypic leukaemia
      with complete remission after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation
      (unrelated donor). Complications of bone marrow transplant comprised anaemia
      (treated by blood transfusions), primary cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection,
      pulmonary aspergillosis and acute digestive graft-versus-host disease. The
      diagnosis of type I sporadic PCT was based on high levels of porphyria and normal
      erythrocytic uroporphyrinogen decarboxylase activity. The bullous lesions
      disappeared on bleeding, but the patient subsequently developed sclerodermiform
      lesions. DISCUSSION: An association between PCT and bone marrow transplant has
      been reported previously in two independent cases, of which one involved a child.
      The causative role of bone marrow transplantation in the development of PCT could
      be related to several triggering factors: primary CMV infection, hepatotoxic
      drugs, blood transfusion and possible chronic hepatic graft-versus-host disease.
      CONCLUSION: We report the second case in a child of type I PCT associated with
      bone marrow transplantation. This new case reinforces the hypothesis of a non
      random relationship between the two conditions.

PMID- 20932446
TI  - [Ingrown nail: A new cause of chronic perionyxis].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Retronychia is the phenomenon of ingrown nail resulting in
      inflammation of the proximal subungual fold and is a newly described entity.
      Herein, we report a new case revealed through chronic proximal perionyxis.
      PATIENTS AND METHODS: A 52-year-old woman followed up for hypothyroidism, for
      which she was receiving treatment, consulted for pain in the lateral fold of the
      left big toe that had been ongoing for four months and for which glomic tumour
      was the suspected cause. Questioning revealed repeated microtrauma due to wearing
      of tight shoes and lack of growth of the toenail over the previous four months
      (in contrast with the contralateral toenail). Examination showed painful proximal
      perionyxis of the left big toe, with discharge from the subungual fold.
      Ultrasound examination of the subungual fold revealed effusion of fluid around
      the matrix, and this was confirmed by MRI. Surgical avulsion of the nail was
      carried out, and recovery was complete. DISCUSSION: Retronychia is the result of
      a loss of continuity between the nail plate and the nail matrix, generally as a
      result of mechanical factors (distal trauma). However, unlike onychomadesis or
      Beau's lines, there is a disturbance of alignment between the two parts of the
      nail, which is normally maintained by the proximal subungual fold. This prevents
      newly formed nail from progressing towards the distal part of the plate, which
      itself is pushed into the nail bed and forced towards the proximal fold, causing
      inflammation of the latter structure. In our case, the pain recorded in the
      lateral fold was misleading, hence the ultimately unnecessary use of MRI to rule
      out the hypothesis of glomic tumour. Paronychia, discontinuation of nail growth
      and weeping through the subungual fold all argued in favour of a diagnosis of
      retronychia, which was confirmed by surgery. Surgical nail removal is the
      curative treatment for retronychia and results in complete cure without relapse
      or occurrence. CONCLUSION: Retronychia should be suspected in the event of
      persistent proximal perionyxis, particularly in a setting of trauma with
      interrupted nail growth. Nail avulsion constitutes both a diagnostic and a
      therapeutic procedure.

PMID- 20932447
TI  - [Tacrolimus mouthwash as second-line treatment for erosive oral lichen planus].

PMID- 20932448
TI  - [Subacute anaemia: An unusual presentation of giant melanoma].

PMID- 20932449
TI  - [Clinical assessment of the risk of bacteremia and the value of skin cultures
      during Stevens-Johnson syndrome and toxic epidermal necrolysis].

PMID- 20932450
TI  - [Childhood vitiligo].

PMID- 20932451
TI  - [Eccrine poroma and porocarcinoma].

PMID- 20932452
TI  - [Bluish nodule].

PMID- 20932453
TI  - [The role of small interfering RNA (siRNA) in genodermatoses].

PMID- 20932454
TI  - [Milia en plaque of the mucous surface of the lip: A complication of piercing].

PMID- 20932455
TI  - [Trichoblastic carcinoma on the lip].

PMID- 20932456
TI  - [Eventration and methotrexate in psoriasis].

PMID- 20932457
TI  - Social relations in older adults: Secular trends and longitudinal changes over a
      16-year follow-up.
AB  - Drawing on population studies in Finland, we investigated secular trends and
      longitudinal changes in social relations. The cohort comparison data comprised on
      974 persons aged 65-69 years from three cohorts born between 1919 and 1939 and
      interviewed in 1988, 1996 and 2004. Longitudinal analyses were conducted for 635
      persons aged 65-74 years over a 16-year follow-up at three measurement points.
      Social relations were studied on the basis of frequency seeing one's offspring,
      perceptions of the sufficiency of these contacts, and by asking whom the
      participants considered as their closest person and how often and in how many
      tasks they helped someone. The cohort comparisons showed that the frequency of
      seeing one's offspring had decreased in the most recent cohort and that the
      number of contacts was considered more inadequate. Longitudinal analyses showed
      that although the proportion of children as the closest persons increased,
      meetings with them became fewer. Helping others was more common in the last
      cohort, but in the longitudinal analyses it decreased with age. Finnish people at
      retirement help others more than before, but they do not meet their offspring as
      often as they would like. Measures are needed for action to promote
      intergenerational exchange in older adults on both individual and societal level.

PMID- 20932458
TI  - Sudden cardiac death: an 11-year postmortem analysis in the region of Epirus,
      Greece.
AB  - The aim of the study was to determine the rate of sudden cardiac death in people
      aged between 1 and 80 years, and to investigate its etiology. All autopsies
      performed during an 11-year period were reviewed. Circumstances of death,
      individual's information, and post-mortem findings were determined. Among 1254
      sudden death autopsies performed during the study period, 688 cases were
      recognized as sudden cardiac death (79.8% males). The estimated annual frequency
      of sudden cardiac death in the region of Epirus was 18.6/100,000. The major cause
      of death was ischemic heart disease (82%), and in 2.6%, death was unexplained.
      Among our study's total population, 4.1% were <35 years old. The estimated annual
      rate of sudden cardiac death in the population 1-35 years old was 1.78/100,000.
      The most common etiology in that age group was atherosclerosis (17.8%),
      myocarditis (10.7%), and cardiomyopathies (10.7%), whereas 39.3% exhibited
      structurally normal heart. Although ischemic heart disease accounts for most of
      sudden cardiac death episodes, many other causes contribute. Most sudden deaths
      in the young were "unascertained". The likely cause of death in these cases might
      be a primary arrhythmogenic disorder. Correct identification of such cases at
      autopsy will enable an appropriate clinical screening of surviving relatives.

PMID- 20932460
TI  - Extracellular production of recombinant proteins using bacterial
      autotransporters.
AB  - Escherichia coli is still a very popular host for the production of recombinant
      proteins at an analytical or industrial scale. Secretion of the proteins into the
      culture medium or display at the cell surface would be preferred in many
      applications but is hampered by the complex two-layered cell envelope. The
      autotransporter pathway is used by E. coli to secrete virulence factors via a
      relatively simple but efficient and specific mechanism. Here we discuss recent
      progress in the structural and mechanistic analysis of this pathway and the
      implications for future development of a versatile platform for secretion and
      display of heterologous proteins.

PMID- 20932461
TI  - Development of a cardiopulmonary exercise prognostic score for optimizing risk
      stratification in heart failure: the (P)e(R)i(O)dic (B)reathing during (E)xercise
      (PROBE) study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) provides powerful information
      on risk of death in heart failure (HF). We sought to define the relative and
      additive contribution of the 3 landmark (CPET) prognostic markers--peak oxygen
      consumption (VO2), minute ventilation/carbon dioxide production (VE/VCO2) slope,
      and exercise periodic breathing (EPB)-to the overall risk of cardiac death and to
      develop a prognostic score for optimizing risk stratification in HF patients.
      METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 695 stable HF patients (average LVEF: 25 +/- 8%)
      underwent a symptom-limited CPET maximum test after familiarization and were
      prospectively tracked for cardiac mortality. At multivariable Cox analysis EPB
      emerged as the strongest prognosticator. Using a statistical bootstrap technique
      (5000 data resamplings), point estimates, and 95% confidence intervals were
      obtained. Thirty-two configurations were adopted to classify patients into a
      given cell, according to EPB presence or absence and values of the 2 other
      covariates. Configurations without EPB and with VE/VCO2 slope <=30 were not
      significantly different from 0 (reference value). Statistical power of
      configurations increased with higher VE/VCO2 slope and lower peak VO2. This
      prompted us to formulate a score including EPB as a discriminating variable, the
      (P)e(R)i(O)dic (B)reathing during (E)xercise (PROBE), which ranges between -1 and
      1, with zero as reference configuration, that would help to optimize the
      prognostic accuracy of CPET-derived variables. The greatest PROBE score impact
      was provided by EPB, followed by VE/VCO2 slope, whereas peak VO2 added minimal
      prognostic power. CONCLUSIONS: EPB with an elevated VE/VCO2 slope leads to the
      highest and most precise PROBE score, whereas no additional risk information
      emerges when EPB is present with a peak VO2 <=10 mL O2.kg-1.min-1. PROBE score
      appears to provide a step forward for optimizing CPET use in HF prognostic
      definition.

PMID- 20932462
TI  - Heart rate predicts mortality in patients with heart failure and preserved
      systolic function.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Elevated resting heart rates have been associated with increased
      mortality and morbidity in patients with heart failure and decreased left
      ventricular ejection fraction (EF). It is unclear, though, if this association
      applies to those with heart failure and preserved EF. METHODS AND RESULTS: We
      determined outcome for 685 consecutive patients with a prior diagnosis of heart
      failure and a preserved EF (>50%) documented on echocardiography at 1 of 3
      laboratories. Patients with non-sinus rhythm were excluded from the analysis. We
      determined adjusted mortality rates at 1 year after the echocardiogram. The mean
      age of the cohort was 70 +/- 11 years. Of the 685 included patients, 87% had a
      history of hypertension, 50% had diabetes, and the mean EF was 60% +/- 6%. All
      cause mortality at 1 year was significantly lower in the group with heart rate
      below 60 beats/min (10%) when compared with the group with heart rates between 60
      and 70 beats/min (18%), 71-90 beats/min (20%), and >90 beats/min (35%) (P <
      .0001). After adjustment for patient history, demographics, laboratory values,
      and echocardiographic findings, the hazard ratios for total mortality (relative
      to a heart rate of <60) were 1.26 (95% CI, 0.88-1.80) for HR 60-69, 1.47 (95% CI,
      1.02-2.07) for HR 70-90, and 2.00 (95% CI, 1.31-3.04) for HR>90 (P = .01 across
      all groups). CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that an elevated resting heart rate
      is a marker for increased mortality in patients with heart failure and preserved
      systolic function. Heart rate may be useful in these patients for improved
      cardiovascular risk assessment.

PMID- 20932463
TI  - Clinical features of myocardial triglyceride in different types of cardiomyopathy
      assessed by proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy: comparison with myocardial
      creatine.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Myocardial lipid overstorage may produce cardiomyopathy, leading to
      dysfunction, but advanced heart failure may cause lipolysis via sympathetic nerve
      activation. In the failing heart, the creatine kinase system may also be
      impaired. The aims of this study were to assess myocardial triglyceride (TG) and
      creatine (CR) in different types of cardiomyopathy and to investigate whether
      they are related to the severity of cardiac dysfunction. METHODS AND RESULTS: In
      patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM, n = 8), dilated cardiomyopathy
      (DCM, n = 12) or ischemic cardiomyopathy (ICM, n = 10), and normal subjects (NML,
      n = 22), myocardial TG and CR were evaluated using proton magnetic resonance
      spectroscopy. To assess cardiac sympathetic nerve activity, myocardial MIBG (a
      radioactive guanethidine analog) uptake was measured in DCM. Myocardial TG was
      significantly lower in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) (1.92 +/- 0.99 MUmol/g),
      but higher in ICM (7.59 +/- 4.36 MUmol/g) than in NML hearts (4.05 +/- 1.94
      MUmol/g). There was no significant difference in TG between DCM (4.84 +/- 6.45
      MUmol/g) and NML. Myocardial CR in HCM (20.4 +/- 8.4 MUmol/g), DCM (14.8 +/- 4.8
      MUmol/g), and ICM (19.4 +/- 6.3 MUmol/g) was significantly lower than that in NML
      hearts (27.1 +/- 4.3 MUmol/g). Overall, myocardial CR correlated positively with
      the severity of heart failure estimated by ejection fraction or myocardial BMIPP
      (a radioactive fatty acid analog) uptake, but TG did not. In DCM, myocardial TG
      correlated with body mass index, but not with MIBG uptake. CONCLUSIONS:
      Myocardial TG may be related to the specific cause of disease rather than the
      severity of cardiac dysfunction. In contrast, myocardial CR reflects the severity
      of heart failure despite different pathoetiologic mechanisms of dysfunction. In
      DCM, myocardial TG may be affected by an overweight state rather than cardiac
      sympathetic nerve dysfunction. Thus, myocardial CR has a closer relationship to
      heart failure severity than does myocardial TG.

PMID- 20932464
TI  - Patient perspectives on decision making in heart failure.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Patients with heart failure (HF) face an array of challenging
      decisions involving medications, devices, and transplants. The goal of this
      qualitative study was to describe patients' perceptions surrounding difficult
      decisions along with factors that influenced their decisions. METHODS AND
      RESULTS: We studied 22 patients with symptomatic HF from the University of
      Colorado Hospital using in-depth, semistructured interviews. We used descriptive
      theme analysis in an iterative process to analyze responses to the question: "Can
      you tell me about any important or difficult decisions you have had to make about
      your heart condition?" Two distinct decision-making styles emerged: active (55%)
      and passive (45%). Active decision makers identified interventions such as
      implantable cardioverter-defibrillators, medications, and transplants to be the
      most difficult decisions and weighed concerns for side effects, family, and
      quality of life. Passive decision makers generally did not identify a difficult
      decision and described factors such as trust in God, trust in the physician, and
      power of the physician as reasons for their passivity. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with
      HF use active and passive decision styles in their approach to medical decision
      making. Future work should investigate communication techniques to assure that
      passive decision makers receive health care that is concordant with their values.

PMID- 20932465
TI  - Right ventricular dysfunction is a strong predictor of developing atrial
      fibrillation in acutely decompensated heart failure patients, ACAP-HF data
      analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Heart failure and atrial fibrillation (AFib) are the twin epidemics
      of modern cardiovascular disease. The incidence of new-onset AFib in acute
      decompensated heart failure (ADHF) patients is difficult to predict and the short
      and long-term outcomes of AFib in a cohort of patients admitted with ADHF are
      unknown. METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 904 patients admitted with ADHF were
      studied. Incidence of AFib on admission was recorded and a multivariate analysis
      was performed using echocardiographic parameters to specify the predictors of
      AFib incidence in this cohort. In 904 ADHF patients (57% male, mean age 69 +/- 14
      years), 81% had history of hypertension, 40% were diabetics, and 51% were
      smokers. A total of 63% of the patients had known heart failure (HF) with mean
      ejection fraction of 34% +/- 21%, and 33% of the patients had ischemic
      cardiomyopathy as the etiology of HF. Echocardiographic parameters were: left
      atrial (LA) diameter 4.5 +/- 0.8 cm, left ventricular end-systolic 4.1 +/- 1.3
      cm, left ventricular end-diastolic 5.3 +/- 1.1 cm. Right ventricular dysfunction
      (RVD) was present in 34% of the patients. A total of 191 (21%) patients
      subsequently developed AFib with two thirds of the cases occurring in patients
      with RVD. Using a univariate analysis, older age (OR 1.02; P < .0001), history of
      HF (OR 2.93; P < .0001), LA dilation (OR 1.58; P < .0001), the presence of left
      ventricular hypertrophy (OR 3.01, P < .0001), and RVD (OR 4.93; P < .00001) were
      the strongest predictors for AFib. Controlling for LA size and left ventricular
      hypertrophy using a forward stepwise regression, RVD remained the strongest
      predictor (OR 4.45; P < .0001). Patients with RVD had more events (cardiac
      readmission and mortality) than those with normal RV (56% versus 38%; P <
      .00001), notably; all-cause mortality was 4.7%/year in the abnormal RV group
      versus 2.9%/year in the normal RV group; P < .05. RV function analyses by
      echocardiography further risk stratified these patients based on their rhythm
      categorizing those patients with abnormal RV and AFib as the ones with the worse
      prognosis. CONCLUSION: RV dysfunction is a strong predictor for developing AFib
      in acutely decompensated systolic failure patients. Patients with AFib and RVD
      have the worse outcome specially when is combined with LV dysfunction, therefore;
      evaluation of RV function may substantiate the difference in HF prognosis.

PMID- 20932466
TI  - Causes of breathing inefficiency during exercise in heart failure.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Patients with heart failure (HF) develop abnormal pulmonary gas
      exchange; specifically, they have abnormal ventilation relative to metabolic
      demand (ventilatory efficiency/minute ventilation in relation to carbon dioxide
      production [V(E)/VCO2]) during exercise. The purpose of this investigation was to
      examine the factors that underlie the abnormal breathing efficiency in this
      population. METHODS AND RESULTS: Fourteen controls and 33 moderate-severe HF
      patients, ages 52 +/- 12 and 54 +/- 8 years, respectively, performed submaximal
      exercise (~65% of maximum) on a cycle ergometer. Gas exchange and blood gas
      measurements were made at rest and during exercise. Submaximal exercise data were
      used to quantify the influence of hyperventilation (PaCO2) and dead space
      ventilation (V(D)) on V(E)/VCO2. The V(E)/VCO2 relationship was lower in controls
      (30 +/- 4) than HF (45 +/- 9, P < .01). This was the result of hyperventilation
      (lower PaCO2) and higher V(D)/V(T) that contributed 40% and 47%, respectively, to
      the increased V(E)/VCO2 (P < .01). The elevated V(D)/V(T) in the HF patients was
      the result of a tachypneic breathing pattern (lower V(T), 1086 +/- 366 versus
      2003 +/- 504 mL, P < .01) in the presence of a normal V(D) (11.5 +/- 4.0 versus
      11.9 +/- 5.7 L/min, P = .095). CONCLUSIONS: The abnormal ventilation in relation
      to metabolic demand in HF patients during exercise was due primarily to
      alterations in breathing pattern (reduced V(T)) and excessive hyperventilation.

PMID- 20932468
TI  - Chk-ing in and Chk-ing out: kinase compartmentalization comes to checkpoint
      control.
AB  - Checkpoints are the sentinels of cell-cycle progression. In this issue of
      Molecular Cell, Yaffe and colleagues (Reinhardt et al., 2010) show that spatial
      and temporal resolution of Chk1 and MK2, checkpoint kinases with identical
      substrate specificity, are necessary to signal different aspects of DNA damage
      signaling.

PMID- 20932467
TI  - Chronic alternate-day fasting results in reduced diastolic compliance and
      diminished systolic reserve in rats.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Based on animal experiments and limited data from the few human
      trials, alternate-day fasting (ADF) resulted in weight loss, prolonged life,
      reduced metabolic risk factors for diabetes and cardiovascular diseases, and
      reduced prevalence of age-related diseases. The present study is the first
      comprehensive examination of the long-term effects of ADF on general
      cardiovascular fitness in rats. METHODS AND RESULTS: Four-month-old male Sprague
      Dawley rats were started on ADF or continued on ad libitum diets and followed for
      6 months with serial echocardiography. A comprehensive hemodynamic evaluation
      including a combined dobutamine-volume stress test was performed at the end of
      the study, and hearts were harvested for histological assessment. The 6-month
      long ADF diet resulted in a 9% reduction (P < .01) of cardiomyocyte diameter and
      3-fold increase in interstitial myocardial fibrosis. Left ventricular chamber
      size was not affected by ADF and ejection fraction was not reduced, but left
      atrial diameter was increased 16%, and the ratio of early (E) and late atrial (A)
      waves, in Doppler-measured mitral flow was reduced (P < .01). Pressure-volume
      loop analyses revealed a "stiff" heart during diastole in ADF rats, whereas
      combined dobutamine and volume loading showed a significant reduction in left
      ventricular diastolic compliance and a lack of increase in systolic pump
      function, indicating a diminished cardiac reserve. CONCLUSION: Chronic ADF in
      rats results in development of diastolic dysfunction with diminished cardiac
      reserve. ADF is a novel and unique experimental model of diet-induced diastolic
      dysfunction. The deleterious effect of ADF in rats suggests that additional
      studies of ADF effects on cardiovascular functions in humans are warranted.

PMID- 20932469
TI  - Should INO stay or should INO Go: a DNA "zip code" mediates gene retention at the
      nuclear pore.
AB  - In this issue of Molecular Cell, Brickner and colleagues (Light et al., 2010)
      identify a DNA sequence that mediates transcriptional memory and retention of
      recently active INO1 at the nuclear pore complex.

PMID- 20932470
TI  - The special delivery of a tail-anchored protein: why it pays to use a dedicated
      courier.
AB  - The membrane-spanning C-terminal regions in tail-anchored proteins must be
      recognized and delivered posttranslationally to the endoplasmic reticulum or
      mitochondrial membrane. A paper in this issue of Molecular Cell (Wang et al.,
      2010) and another recent report (Mariappan et al., 2010) delineate early steps in
      this pathway.

PMID- 20932471
TI  - CRL4(Cdt2) regulates cell proliferation and histone gene expression by targeting
      PR-Set7/Set8 for degradation.
AB  - PR-Set7/Set8 is a cell-cycle-regulated enzyme that monomethylates lysine 20 of
      histone H4 (H4K20). Set8 and monomethylated H4K20 are virtually undetectable
      during G1 and S phases of the cell cycle but increase in late S and in G2. We
      identify CRL4(Cdt2) as the principal E3 ubiquitin ligase responsible for Set8
      proteolytic degradation in the S phase of the cell cycle, which requires Set8
      PCNA interaction. Inactivation of the CRL4-Cdt2-PCNA-Set8 degradation axis
      results in (1) DNA damage and the induction of tumor suppressor p53 and p53
      transactivated proapoptotic genes, (2) delayed progression through G2 phase of
      the cell cycle due to activation of the G2/M checkpoint, (3) specific repression
      of histone gene transcription and depletion of the histone proteins, and (4)
      repression of E2F1-dependent gene transcription. These results demonstrate a
      central role of CRL4(Cdt2)-dependent cell-cycle regulation of Set8 for the
      maintenance of a stable epigenetic state essential for cell viability.

PMID- 20932472
TI  - CRL4(Cdt2)-mediated destruction of the histone methyltransferase Set8 prevents
      premature chromatin compaction in S phase.
AB  - The proper coordination between DNA replication and mitosis during cell-cycle
      progression is crucial for genomic stability. During G2 and mitosis, Set8
      catalyzes monomethylation of histone H4 on lysine 20 (H4K20me1), which promotes
      chromatin compaction. Set8 levels decline in S phase, but why and how this occurs
      is unclear. Here, we show that Set8 is targeted for proteolysis in S phase and in
      response to DNA damage by the E3 ubiquitin ligase, CRL4(Cdt2). Set8
      ubiquitylation occurs on chromatin and is coupled to DNA replication via a
      specific degron in Set8 that binds PCNA. Inactivation of CRL4(Cdt2) leads to Set8
      stabilization and aberrant H4K20me1 accumulation in replicating cells. Transient
      S phase expression of a Set8 mutant lacking the degron promotes premature
      H4K20me1 accumulation and chromatin compaction, and triggers a checkpoint
      mediated G2 arrest. Thus, CRL4(Cdt2)-dependent destruction of Set8 in S phase
      preserves genome stability by preventing aberrant chromatin compaction during DNA
      synthesis.

PMID- 20932474
TI  - Exo1 competes with repair synthesis, converts NER intermediates to long ssDNA
      gaps, and promotes checkpoint activation.
AB  - Ultraviolet (UV) light induces DNA-damage checkpoints and mutagenesis, which are
      involved in cancer protection and tumorigenesis, respectively. How cells identify
      DNA lesions and convert them to checkpoint-activating structures is a major
      question. We show that during repair of UV lesions in noncycling cells, Exo1
      mediated processing of nucleotide excision repair (NER) intermediates competes
      with repair DNA synthesis. Impediments of the refilling reaction allow Exo1 to
      generate extended ssDNA gaps, detectable by electron microscopy, which drive Mec1
      kinase activation and will be refilled by long-patch repair synthesis, as shown
      by DNA combing. We provide evidence that this mechanism may be stimulated by
      closely opposing UV lesions, represents a strategy to redirect problematic repair
      intermediates to alternative repair pathways, and may also be extended to
      physically different DNA damages. Our work has significant implications for
      understanding the coordination between repair of DNA lesions and checkpoint
      pathways to preserve genome stability.

PMID- 20932473
TI  - DNA damage activates a spatially distinct late cytoplasmic cell-cycle checkpoint
      network controlled by MK2-mediated RNA stabilization.
AB  - Following genotoxic stress, cells activate a complex kinase-based signaling
      network to arrest the cell cycle and initiate DNA repair. p53-defective tumor
      cells rewire their checkpoint response and become dependent on the p38/MK2
      pathway for survival after DNA damage, despite a functional ATR-Chk1 pathway. We
      used functional genetics to dissect the contributions of Chk1 and MK2 to
      checkpoint control. We show that nuclear Chk1 activity is essential to establish
      a G(2)/M checkpoint, while cytoplasmic MK2 activity is critical for prolonged
      checkpoint maintenance through a process of posttranscriptional mRNA
      stabilization. Following DNA damage, the p38/MK2 complex relocalizes from nucleus
      to cytoplasm where MK2 phosphorylates hnRNPA0, to stabilize Gadd45alpha mRNA,
      while p38 phosphorylates and releases the translational inhibitor TIAR. In
      addition, MK2 phosphorylates PARN, blocking Gadd45alpha mRNA degradation.
      Gadd45alpha functions within a positive feedback loop, sustaining the MK2
      dependent cytoplasmic sequestration of Cdc25B/C to block mitotic entry in the
      presence of unrepaired DNA damage. Our findings demonstrate a critical role for
      the MK2 pathway in the posttranscriptional regulation of gene expression as part
      of the DNA damage response in cancer cells.

PMID- 20932475
TI  - A cytoplasmic ATM-TRAF6-cIAP1 module links nuclear DNA damage signaling to
      ubiquitin-mediated NF-kappaB activation.
AB  - As part of the genotoxic stress response, cells activate the transcription factor
      NF-kappaB. The DNA strand break sensor poly(ADP-ribose)-polymerase-1 (PARP-1) and
      the kinase ataxia telangiectasia mutated (ATM) act as proximal signal mediators.
      PARP-1 assembles a nucleoplasmic signalosome, which triggers PIASy-mediated
      IKKgamma SUMOylation. ATM-dependent IKKgamma phosphorylation and subsequent
      ubiquitination were implicated to activate the cytoplasmic IkappaB kinase (IKK)
      complex by unknown mechanisms. We show that activated ATM translocates in a
      calcium-dependent manner to cytosol and membrane fractions. Through a TRAF
      binding motif, ATM activates TRAF6, resulting in Ubc13-mediated K63-linked
      polyubiquitin synthesis and cIAP1 recruitment. The ATM-TRAF6-cIAP1 module
      stimulates TAB2-dependent TAK1 phosphorylation. Both nuclear PARP-1- and
      cytoplasmic ATM-driven signaling branches converge at the IKK complex to catalyze
      monoubiquitination of IKKgamma at K285. Our data indicate that exported
      SUMOylated IKKgamma acts as a substrate. IKKgamma monoubiquitination is a
      prerequisite for genotoxic IKK and NF-kappaB activation, but also promotes
      cytokine signaling.

PMID- 20932477
TI  - Dynamic control of yeast MAP kinase network by induced association and
      dissociation between the Ste50 scaffold and the Opy2 membrane anchor.
AB  - Membrane localization of the Ste11 MAPKKK is essential for activation of both the
      filamentous growth/invasive growth (FG/IG) MAP kinase (MAPK) pathway and the SHO1
      branch of the osmoregulatory HOG MAPK pathway, and is mediated by binding of the
      Ste50 scaffold protein to the Opy2 membrane anchor. We found that Opy2 has two
      major (CR-A and CR-B), and one minor (CR-D), binding sites for Ste50. CR-A binds
      Ste50 constitutively and can transmit signals to both the Hog1 and Fus3/Kss1
      MAPKs. CR-B, in contrast, binds Ste50 only when Opy2 is phosphorylated by
      Yck1/Yck2 under glucose-rich conditions and transmits the signal preferentially
      to the Hog1 MAPK. Ste50 phosphorylation by activated Hog1/Fus3/Kss1 MAPKs
      downregulates the HOG MAPK pathway by dissociating Ste50 from Opy2. Furthermore,
      Ste50 phosphorylation, together with MAPK-specific protein phosphatases, reduces
      the basal activity of the HOG and the mating MAPK pathways. Thus, dynamic
      regulation of Ste50-Opy2 interaction fine-tunes the MAPK signaling network.

PMID- 20932476
TI  - ATM- and NEMO-dependent ELKS ubiquitination coordinates TAK1-mediated IKK
      activation in response to genotoxic stress.
AB  - Activation of the transcription factor NF-kappaB by multiple genotoxic stimuli
      modulates cancer cell survival. This response is mediated by a conserved pathway
      involving the nuclear ATM kinase and cytoplasmic IkappaB kinase (IKK); however,
      the molecular link between them remains incompletely understood. Here we show
      that ATM activates the IKK kinase TAK1 in a manner dependent on IKKgamma/NEMO and
      ELKS (a protein rich in glutamate, leucine, lysine, and serine). K63-linked
      polyubiquitination of ELKS, dependent on the ubiquitin ligase XIAP and the
      conjugating enzyme UBC13, allows ELKS association with TAK1 via its ubiquitin
      binding subunits TAB2/3. Although NEMO mutants defective in ubiquitin binding
      permit ATM-dependent TAK1 activation, they block NEMO association with ELKS and
      IKK activation. Thus, ATM- and NEMO-dependent ubiquitination of ELKS leads to the
      ubiquitin-dependent assembly of TAK1/TAB2/3 and NEMO/IKK complexes, resulting in
      IKK and NF-kappaB activation following genotoxic stimuli.

PMID- 20932478
TI  - A WD-repeat protein stabilizes ORC binding to chromatin.
AB  - Origin recognition complex (ORC) plays critical roles in the initiation of DNA
      replication and cell-cycle progression. In metazoans, ORC associates with origin
      DNA during G1 and with heterochromatin in postreplicated cells. However, what
      regulates the binding of ORC to chromatin is not understood. We have identified a
      highly conserved, leucine-rich repeats and WD40 repeat domain-containing protein
      1 (LRWD1) or ORC-associated (ORCA) in human cells that interacts with ORC and
      modulates chromatin association of ORC. ORCA colocalizes with ORC and shows
      similar cell-cycle dynamics. We demonstrate that ORCA efficiently recruits ORC to
      chromatin. Depletion of ORCA in human primary cells and embryonic stem cells
      results in loss of ORC association to chromatin, concomitant reduction of MCM
      binding, and a subsequent accumulation in G1 phase. Our results suggest ORCA
      mediated association of ORC to chromatin is critical to initiate preRC assembly
      in G1 and chromatin organization in post-G1 cells.

PMID- 20932479
TI  - Interaction of a DNA zip code with the nuclear pore complex promotes H2A.Z
      incorporation and INO1 transcriptional memory.
AB  - DNA "zip codes" in the promoters of yeast genes confer interaction with the NPC
      and localization at the nuclear periphery upon activation. Some of these genes
      exhibit transcriptional memory: after being repressed, they remain at the nuclear
      periphery for several generations, primed for reactivation. Transcriptional
      memory requires the histone variant H2A.Z. We find that targeting of active INO1
      and recently repressed INO1 to the nuclear periphery is controlled by two
      distinct and independent mechanisms involving different zip codes and different
      interactions with the NPC. An 11 base pair memory recruitment sequence (MRS) in
      the INO1 promoter controls both peripheral targeting and H2A.Z incorporation
      after repression. In cells lacking either the MRS or the NPC protein Nup100, INO1
      transcriptional memory is lost, leading to nucleoplasmic localization after
      repression and slower reactivation of the gene. Thus, interaction of recently
      repressed INO1 with the NPC alters its chromatin structure and rate of
      reactivation.

PMID- 20932480
TI  - Phosphorylation-dependent regulation of PSF by GSK3 controls CD45 alternative
      splicing.
AB  - Signal-induced alternative splicing of the CD45 gene in human T cells is
      essential for proper immune function. Skipping of the CD45 variable exons is
      controlled, in large part, by the recruitment of PSF to the pre-mRNA substrate
      upon T cell activation; however, the signaling cascade leading to exon exclusion
      has remained elusive. Here we demonstrate that in resting T cells PSF is directly
      phosphorylated by GSK3, thus promoting interaction of PSF with TRAP150, which
      prevents PSF from binding CD45 pre-mRNA. Upon T cell activation, reduced GSK3
      activity leads to reduced PSF phosphorylation, releasing PSF from TRAP150 and
      allowing it to bind CD45 splicing regulatory elements and repress exon inclusion.
      Our data place two players, GSK3 and TRAP150, in the complex network that
      regulates CD45 alternative splicing and demonstrate a paradigm for signal
      transduction from the cell surface to the RNA processing machinery through the
      multifunctional protein PSF.

PMID- 20932481
TI  - Structural basis for translational stalling by human cytomegalovirus and fungal
      arginine attenuator peptide.
AB  - Specific regulatory nascent chains establish direct interactions with the
      ribosomal tunnel, leading to translational stalling. Despite a wealth of
      biochemical data, structural insight into the mechanism of translational stalling
      in eukaryotes is still lacking. Here we use cryo-electron microscopy to visualize
      eukaryotic ribosomes stalled during the translation of two diverse regulatory
      peptides: the fungal arginine attenuator peptide (AAP) and the human
      cytomegalovirus (hCMV) gp48 upstream open reading frame 2 (uORF2). The C terminus
      of the AAP appears to be compacted adjacent to the peptidyl transferase center
      (PTC). Both nascent chains interact with ribosomal proteins L4 and L17 at tunnel
      constriction in a distinct fashion. Significant changes at the PTC were observed:
      the eukaryotic-specific loop of ribosomal protein L10e establishes direct contact
      with the CCA end of the peptidyl-tRNA (P-tRNA), which may be critical for
      silencing of the PTC during translational stalling. Our findings provide direct
      structural insight into two distinct eukaryotic stalling processes.

PMID- 20932482
TI  - Proteasomal degradation is transcriptionally controlled by TCF11 via an ERAD
      dependent feedback loop.
AB  - Coordinated regulation of the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) is crucial for
      the cell to adjust its protein degradation capacity to changing proteolytic
      requirements. We have shown previously that mammalian cells upregulate proteasome
      gene expression in response to proteasome inhibition. Here, we report the
      identification of the transcription factor TCF11 (long isoform of Nrf1) as a key
      regulator for 26S proteasome formation in human cells to compensate for reduced
      proteolytic activity. Under noninducing conditions, TCF11 resides in the
      endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membrane. There, TCF11 is targeted to ER-associated
      protein degradation requiring the E3 ubiquitin ligase HRD1 and the AAA ATPase
      p97. Proteasome inhibitors trigger the accumulation of oxidant-damaged proteins
      and promote the nuclear translocation of TCF11 from the ER, permitting activation
      of proteasome gene expression by binding to antioxidant response elements in
      their promoter regions. Thus, we uncovered the transcriptional control loop
      regulating human proteasome-dependent protein degradation to counteract
      proteotoxic stress caused by proteasome inhibition.

PMID- 20932483
TI  - Should microbicides be controlled by women or by physicians?
AB  - In 2007, nearly 7000 new cases of HIV infection occurred each day. There is a
      constant increase in the proportion of women newly infected with HIV in the
      global population; this increase is particularly high in some areas of the world
      such as sub-Saharan Africa. Microbicides are products that are being developed to
      empower women against HIV. First- and second-generation microbicides are broad
      spectrum products that include surface active agents, vaginal defense enhancers,
      and blocking agents. Third-generation microbicides are HIV-specific and include
      replication and entry inhibitors formulated as gels or as vaginal rings. However,
      there is a concern that antiretroviral-based microbicides could lead to drug
      resistance if they are used by HIV-positive women who are unaware of their HIV
      status. To reach the highest number of women possible, microbicides should be
      available over-the-counter, which might not be the case with antiretroviral-based
      formulations. In contrast, non-antiretroviral-based microbicides will have the
      advantage of being initiated and controlled by women themselves and they will not
      jeopardize the use of life-saving drugs.

PMID- 20932484
TI  - The case for case reports.

PMID- 20932485
TI  - Pulmonary cryptococcosis misdiagnosed as smear-negative pulmonary tuberculosis
      with fatal consequences.
AB  - HIV-associated pulmonary cryptococcosis is under diagnosed, and may progress to
      fatal meningoencephalitis. We present a case of HIV-associated pulmonary
      Cryptococcus neoformans infection, initially mis-diagnosed as smear-negative
      pulmonary TB, which progressed to fatal cryptococcal meningitis. Autopsy series
      suggest that pulmonary cryptococcosis is common in African AIDS patients, and,
      due to limited diagnostic capacity, often mis-diagnosed as smear negative TB.
      Serum cryptococcal antigen testing may facilitate diagnosis in such cases.

PMID- 20932486
TI  - Infective endocarditis caused by Streptococcus bovis complicated by a superior
      mesenteric artery mycotic aneurysm and systemic septic emboli in a patient with
      colon diverticulitis.
AB  - To date, Streptococcus bovis endocarditis complicated by a superior mesenteric
      artery mycotic aneurysm and systemic septic emboli in a patient with colon
      diverticulitis has never been reported. A 46-year-old man, with a history of
      colon diverticulitis identified by diagnostic colon fiberscope and with
      hypertension, presented with a 14-day history of intermittent fever. An
      echocardiogram revealed severe mitral regurgitation with two large floating
      vegetations attached to both mitral leaflets. A blood culture grew S. bovis.
      Abdominal pain and left leg weakness developed 10 days after admission.
      Computerized tomography identified a 5*3cm mycotic aneurysm, and angiography
      revealed a saccular aneurysm at the distal branch of the superior mesenteric
      artery. A duplex study revealed an intravascular mass at the left femoral artery
      bifurcation. The patient accordingly underwent surgical resection of the mycotic
      aneurysm, removal of the mycotic thrombi, and mitral valve replacement. The
      patient's recovery was unremarkable.

PMID- 20932487
TI  - Coxiella burnetii infection of left atrial thrombus mimicking an atrial myxoma.
AB  - Infection of intracardiac thrombi is extremely unusual. Coxiella burnetii is a
      well-recognized etiologic agent of negative-blood culture endocarditis and
      vascular graft infection. Herein we describe the first reported case, to our
      knowledge, of C. burnetii infection of a large left-sided intracardiac thrombus
      that was initially misdiagnosed as an atrial myxoma. Diagnosis was confirmed by
      direct immunofluorescence assay, electron microscopy, and C. burnetii-specific
      polymerase chain reaction analysis performed on tissue sections of the thrombus.

PMID- 20932488
TI  - Laparoscopic surgery for rectal cancer.

PMID- 20932489
TI  - Laparoscopic surgery for rectal cancer.

PMID- 20932491
TI  - Functional imaging for head and neck cancer.

PMID- 20932492
TI  - Reconstruction of the maxilla and midface: introducing a new classification.
AB  - Most patients requiring midface reconstruction have had ablative surgery for
      malignant disease, and most require postoperative radiotherapy. This type of
      facial reconstruction attracts controversy, not only because of the many
      reconstructive options, but also because dental and facial prostheses can be very
      successful in selected cases. This Personal View is based on a new classification
      of the midface defect, which emphasises the increasing complexity of the problem.
      Low defects not involving the orbital adnexae can often be successfully treated
      with dental obturators. For the more extensive maxillary defects, there is
      consensus that a free flap is required. Composite flaps of bone and muscle
      harvested from the iliac crest with internal oblique or the scapula tip with
      latissimus dorsi can more reliably support the orbit and cheek than soft-tissue
      free flaps and non-vascularised grafts, and also enable an implant-borne dental
      or orbital prosthesis. Nasomaxillary defects usually require bone to augment the
      loss of the nasal bones, but orbitomaxillary cases can be managed more simply
      with local or soft-tissue free flaps. We review the current options and our own
      experience over the past 15 years in an attempt to rationalise the management of
      these defects.

PMID- 20932493
TI  - Drugs of abuse and human placenta.
AB  - Drugs of abuse such as cocaine and amphetamines, when used by pregnant women,
      exert deleterious effects on the fetus. These drugs produce their effects through
      inhibition of the serotonin transporter, norepinephrine transporter, and dopamine
      transporter. The inhibition can occur in the pregnant mother as well as in the
      fetus. These events contribute to the detrimental effects of these drugs on the
      fetus. However, the role of placenta, which serves as the link between the
      pregnant mother and the fetus, in the process remains understudied. It has been
      assumed that the placenta did not play any direct role in the process except that
      it allowed the passage of these drugs from maternal circulation into fetal
      circulation. This was before the discovery that the placenta expresses two of the
      three monoamine transporters. The serotonin transporter and the norepinephrine
      transporter are expressed on the maternal-facing side of the syncytiotrophoblast,
      thus exposed to the inhibitory actions of cocaine and amphetamines if present in
      maternal blood. Inhibition of these transporters in the placenta could lead to
      elevation of serotonin and norepinephrine in the intervillous space that may
      cause uterine contraction and vasoconstriction, resulting in premature delivery,
      decreased placental blood flow, and intrauterine growth retardation. Thus, the
      placenta is actually a direct target for these abusable drugs. Since the
      placental serotonin transporter and norepinephrine transporter are also inhibited
      by many antidepressants, therapeutic use of these drugs in pregnant women may
      have similar detrimental effects on placental function and fetal growth and
      development.

PMID- 20932494
TI  - Effect of methamphetamine on expression of HIV coreceptors and CC-chemokines by
      dendritic cells.
AB  - The United States is currently experiencing an entangled epidemic of HIV
      infection and use of different drugs of abuse, especially of methamphetamine
      (Meth). Blood monocyte-derived dendritic cells (DC) are the first line of defense
      against HIV-1 infection, and are the initial target of HIV-1 infection in
      injection drug users. DC-SIGN present on dendritic cells is the first molecule
      that facilitates HIV-1 infection independent of CD4 or HIV coreceptors. AIMS: The
      aim of this study was to evaluate whether Meth acts as a cofactor in the
      pathogenesis of HIV-1 infection. MAIN METHODS: Monocyte derived DCs, obtained
      from normal subjects were cultured with and without Meth+/-HIV-1B, followed by
      analyzing the gene and protein expression by real-time quantitative polymerase
      chain reaction (RT-PCR) and fluorescence-activated cell-sorting analyses,
      respectively. KEY FINDINGS: Our results show that Meth significantly enhances HIV
      infection, and downregulates the gene expression of chemokines and costimulatory
      molecules with reciprocal upregulation of HIV coreceptors and DC-SIGN by
      dendritic cells. SIGNIFICANCE: Better understanding of the role of Meth in HIV-1
      disease susceptibility and the mechanism through which Meth mediates its effects
      on HIV-1 infection may help to devise novel therapeutic strategies against HIV-1
      infection in Meth using HIV-1 infected population.

PMID- 20932496
TI  - Prion protein self-interactions: a gateway to novel therapeutic strategies?
AB  - Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) or prion diseases are fatal
      neurodegenerative disorders and include among others Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in
      humans, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in cattle, and scrapie in sheep.
      The central event in disease development in TSEs is the refolding of the normal
      host-encoded cellular prion protein (PrP) into abnormal and disease associated
      prion protein. The agent is thought to consist mainly or exclusively of these
      pathologically folded PrP molecules. The exact molecular mechanisms underlying
      this process and the role of normal PrP in the conversion to pathological
      isoforms of PrP are still poorly understood. The highly conserved PrP gene
      structure and organisation however, suggests that its function is important, even
      though PrP knockout mice appear to develop normally. Conversion of normal PrP is
      initiated by interaction with abnormal PrP (or "agent") resulting in refolding of
      normal PrP into new pathological PrP ("agent replication"). Normal PrP was shown
      to interact/bind with many different molecules including metal ions, nucleic
      acids, several (receptor) proteins, and the prion protein itself. The processes
      underlying agent replication (normal to abnormal PrP conversion) are most likely
      initiated by selective interaction between PrP molecules and potentially
      influenced by chaperone molecules. Thus far no vaccine, disease reversing
      therapeutic compounds or strategies (cure) exists, although there are some
      compounds capable of slowing the progression of prion disease. Studies towards
      interference to date have primarily focussed on inference with the interaction
      between normal and pathological isoforms of PrP in order to develop therapeutic
      strategies or find compounds capable of inhibiting prion propagation. Most
      described strategies are either directed at depletion of normal PrP and thus
      preventing pathological PrP formation and accumulation, or are based on
      preventing interaction between normal and abnormal PrP. Other therapeutic
      strategies focus on selective (self-)interaction of normal PrP molecules.
      Increased understanding of these interactions and the processes in which normal
      PrP plays a (active) role, could potentially lead to new modes of inhibiting
      prion protein conversion in which the physiological function(s) of normal PrP is
      retained. Ultimately this may lead to therapeutic strategies that are effective
      not only as a prophylactic but also in later stages of prion disease development.
      Here we review the data underlying these PrP-based approaches.

PMID- 20932497
TI  - World Pneumonia Day: fighting pneumonia with safe and affordable vaccines.

PMID- 20932495
TI  - Efflux transporters- and cytochrome P-450-mediated interactions between drugs of
      abuse and antiretrovirals.
AB  - Multidrug regimens and corresponding drug interactions cause many adverse
      reactions and treatment failures. Drug efflux transporters: P-gp, MRP, BCRP in
      conjunction with metabolizing enzymes (CYPs) are major factors in such
      interactions. Most effective combination antiretrovirals (ARV) therapy includes a
      PI or a NNRTI or two NRTI. Coadministration of such ARV may induce efflux
      transporters and/or CYP3A4 resulting in sub-therapeutic blood levels and
      therapeutic failure due to reduced absorption and/or increased metabolism. A
      similar prognosis is true for ARV-compounds and drugs of abuse combinations.
      Morphine and nicotine enhance CYP3A4 and MDR1 expression in vitro. A 2.5 fold
      rise of cortisol metabolite was evident in smokers relative to nonsmokers.
      Altered functions of efflux transporters and CYPs in response to ARV and drugs of
      abuse may result in altered drug absorption and metabolism. Appropriate in vitro
      models can be employed to predict such interactions. Influence of genetic
      polymorphism, SNP and inter-individual variation in drug response has been
      discussed. Complexity underlying the relationship between efflux transporters and
      CYP makes it difficult to predict the outcome of HAART as such, particularly when
      HIV patients taking drugs of abuse do not adhere to HAART regimens. HIV(+)
      pregnant women on HAART medications, indulging in drugs of abuse, may develop
      higher viral load due to such interactions and lead to increase in mother to
      child transmission of HIV. A multidisciplinary approach with clear understanding
      of mechanism of interactions may allow proper selection of regimens so that
      desired therapeutic outcome of HAART can be reached without any side effects.

PMID- 20932498
TI  - Peruvian FSWs: understanding HPV and barriers to vaccination.
AB  - Vaccine acceptability and vaccine-related knowledge data were collected from
      female sex workers (FSWs) in Lima, Peru to determine their awareness of HPV and
      barriers to the potential acceptability of HPV vaccine. FSWs were found to have
      low knowledge of HPV, HPV vaccine, and cervical cancer. Due to high reported
      sexual exposure, FSWs are likely at increased risk of cervical cancer, and should
      have access to HPV vaccine. FSWs should be targeted for HPV education campaigns
      and barriers to vaccination should be addressed. Future studies should assess HPV
      prevalence in this population and examine retention issues for vaccine dose
      completion.

PMID- 20932499
TI  - Down-regulation of IL-6 production by astaxanthin via ERK-, MSK-, and NF-kappaB
      mediated signals in activated microglia.
AB  - In this study, we investigated the effect of astaxanthin on IL-6 in activated
      microglial cells because excessive interleukin-6 (IL-6) production by activated
      brain microglia has been linked to many neurological disorders and proper
      regulation of IL-6 is critical for maintaining brain homeostasis. Astaxanthin
      inhibited lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated IL-6 mRNA and protein in BV-2
      microglial cells. Moreover, LPS-induced p-IKKalpha, p-IkappaBalpha, and p-NF
      kappaB p65 levels were all suppressed by astaxanthin. The translocation of p-NF
      kappaB p65 from the cytosol into the nucleus and transcriptional activity were
      inhibited by astaxanthin. IL-6 expression and NF-kappaB transcriptional
      activation were inhibited by astaxanthin, as well as inhibitors of NF-kappaB and
      MAPK in LPS-stimulated BV-2 microglial cells. Consistent with these findings,
      astaxanthin down-regulated the activation of p-extracellular signal-regulated
      kinase 1/2 (p-ERK1/2) and p-mitogen- and stress-activated protein kinase 1(p
      MSK1), but not of p-c-jun N-terminal kinase (p-JNK). Astaxathin also decreased IL
      6 mRNA and protein levels in LPS-stimulated primary microglial cells, RAW264.7
      macrophages, and peritoneal macrophages. In addition, IL-6 suppression through
      astaxanthin-induced down-regulation of p-ERK1/2, p-MSK1, and p-NF-kappaB p65
      occurred in microglial cells stimulated with LPS or stromal derived factor (SDF)
      1alpha. Astaxathin also inhibited the secretion and mRNA expression of IL-6 in
      SDF-1alpha-stimulated microglial cells. SDF-1alpha-stimulated ERK1/2, MSK1, and
      NF-kappaB p65 phosphorylation were reduced by astaxanthin. Therefore, our results
      suggest that astaxanthin regulates IL-6 production through a p-ERK1/2-MSK-1- and
      p-NF-kappaB p65-dependent pathway in activated microglial cells.

PMID- 20932500
TI  - Visualizing the temporal dynamics of spatial information processing responsible
      for the Simon effect and its amplification by inhibition of return.
AB  - Research has shown that the Simon effect is larger for targets suffering from
      inhibition of return (IOR). We used speed-accuracy trade-off (SAT) methodology to
      explore the temporal dynamics underlying this interaction. In Experiment 1, a new
      method for sorting the data was used to reveal a monotonic decay in the impact of
      task-irrelevant location information that is responsible for the Simon effect. In
      Experiment 2, we show that IOR delays both task-relevant identity and task
      irrelevant location codes; a relatively longer delay for location than identity
      codes accounts for the effect of IOR on the Simon effect. When location
      information was made task-relevant in Experiment 3, IOR delayed the accumulation
      of this information by about the same amount as when location was irrelevant. The
      results suggest that IOR, therefore, has a greater effect on location than
      identity information.

PMID- 20932501
TI  - Managing chronic heart failure patient in chronic kidney disease.
AB  - Management of systolic heart failure can be particularly challenging in patients
      with chronic kidney disease, especially those who are not yet receiving dialysis.
      Few clinical trials have been performed in this particular population, so
      management is directed by evidence from studies of patients with limited or no
      renal impairment. Their heightened risk for many treatment complications mandates
      additional considerations regarding drug selection, dosing, and monitoring.
      Subspecialty consultation is driven by patient instability or disease
      progression, intolerance of standard treatment, or need for device placement.

PMID- 20932502
TI  - Implementation of high sensitivity cardiac troponin T measurement in the
      emergency department.
AB  - BACKGROUND: we examined the diagnostic performance of high sensitivity cardiac
      troponin T (cTnThs) measurement and its ability to predict risk in unselected
      patients presenting to the emergency department with acute chest pain. METHODS:
      we conducted a retrospective analysis of 137 consecutive patients with chest pain
      (age range, 66 +/- 16 years; 64% male). A final diagnosis of acute myocardial
      infarction was made using the "old" (cTnT fourth-generation assay, >= 0.04
      microg/L) or the "new" cutpoint (cTnThs >= 0.014 microg/L). RESULTS: the
      adjudicated final diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction significantly
      increased from 20 to 35 patients (a 75% increase) and troponin-positive
      nonvascular cardiac chest pain from 10 to 30 (a 200% increase) using cTnThs. The
      number of patients with unstable angina or troponin-negative nonvascular cardiac
      chest pain significantly decreased (P <.05). Diagnostic performance of cTnThs
      levels at admission was significantly higher compared to cTnT levels (area under
      the curve [AUC] 0.85 vs AUC 0.70; P <.05). cTnThs levels below the detection
      limit (<0.003 microg/L) had a negative predictive value of 100% to exclude acute
      myocardial infarction. The event rate during 6 months of follow-up was low in
      patients with cTnThs levels <0.014 microg/L, while patients with cTnT levels >=
      0.04 MUg/L were at increased, and patients with cTnThs >= 0.014 MUg/L and cTnT
      <0.04 microg/L at intermediate risk of death or recurrent myocardial infarction
      (P = .002). Risk was highest in chest pain patients with dynamic changes of
      cTnThs levels >30%. CONCLUSION: the introduction of cTnThs assay displays an
      excellent diagnostic performance for the workup of patients with chest pain at
      the time of their initial presentation. Even small increases of cTnThs indicate
      increased risk for death or myocardial infarction during follow-up.

PMID- 20932503
TI  - Mental nerve neuropathy: frequently overlooked clinical sign of hematologic
      malignancies.

PMID- 20932505
TI  - Office management of the patient with chronic cough.
AB  - Chronic cough is a common complaint in the ambulatory setting and can result in
      significant compromise in quality of life and, uncommonly, is a presenting
      symptom of serious or life-threatening disease. Although there are many potential
      causes, an organized approach to diagnosis that may include therapeutic trials of
      select medications can establish the diagnosis in over 90% of presenting
      patients. Management hinges on accurate etiologic diagnosis. Consultation with a
      pulmonologist, otolaryngologist, or allergist is indicated in selected cases
      where diagnosis is unclear or specific therapy is mandated.

PMID- 20932504
TI  - Management of atrial fibrillation: translating clinical trial data into clinical
      practice.
AB  - Atrial fibrillation is a supraventricular tachyarrhythmia with significant
      consequences in terms of morbidity and mortality. In light of the limitations of
      available pharmacologic treatment options (suboptimal efficacy plus safety and
      tolerability issues), atrial fibrillation management should be individualized
      based on patient characteristics and comorbidities that could influence response
      to specific management approaches. The importance of adequate anticoagulation
      should not be overlooked. This review provides a practical guide for primary care
      physicians, internists, and cardiologists on current management strategies for
      atrial fibrillation, based on recent guidelines and current clinical data.

PMID- 20932506
TI  - Focus on cystic fibrosis and other disorders evidenced in fetuses with
      sonographic finding of echogenic bowel: 16-year report from Brittany, France.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Pregnancies medical follow-up and ultrasonography development have
      enabled detection of fetal echogenic bowel, a sign associated with various
      pathologies, including cystic fibrosis. Based on the long experience of a region
      where cystic fibrosis is frequent (Brittany, France), we describe disorders
      diagnosed in fetal echogenic bowel fetuses and assess ultrasonography ability in
      detecting cystic fibrosis in utero. STUDY DESIGN: We reviewed the cases of fetal
      echogenic bowel diagnosed in pregnant women living in Brittany and referred for
      CFTR gene analysis over the 1992-2007 period (n = 289). RESULTS: A disorder was
      diagnosed in 32.2% of the fetuses, cystic fibrosis being the most commonly
      identified (7.6%). We also found digestive malformations (7.0%), chromosomal
      abnormalities (3.7%), and maternofetal infections (3.7%). Combining these data
      with our ongoing newborn screening program since 1989 showed that ultrasonography
      enabled diagnosis of 10.7% of the cystic fibrosis cases. CONCLUSION: This study
      highlights the importance of pregnancy ultrasound examinations and their
      efficiency in detecting cystic fibrosis.

PMID- 20932507
TI  - Biochemical and biophysical predictors of the response to the induction of labor
      in nulliparous postterm pregnancy.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to evaluate the clinical, sonographic,
      and hormonal variables that influence the success of labor induction in
      nulliparous postterm pregnancies. STUDY DESIGN: Fifty nulliparous women with a
      single postterm pregnancy receiving a slow-release prostaglandin estradiol
      pessary were prospectively enrolled, and clinical characteristics were analyzed
      in relation to success of induction of labor. Clinical, sonographic, and hormonal
      variables were analyzed by univariate statistical analysis and multivariate
      logistic regression for the prediction of successful induction. RESULTS: The
      group of patients delivering within 24 hours differed significantly from the
      remaining patients by higher Bishop scores, body mass indices, estradiol serum
      concentrations, estriol to estradiol ratios, and shorter cervices. The
      combination of cervical length and estriol to estradiol ratio achieved a
      sensitivity of 100% (95% confidence interval, 71.3-100%) and a specificity of
      94.1% (95% confidence interval, 80.3-99.1%). CONCLUSION: Cervical length and the
      estriol to estradiol ratio represent good predictive indicators of the response
      to the induction of labor in postterm pregnancies.

PMID- 20932508
TI  - Comparison of central corneal thickness measurement using ultrasonic pachymetry,
      rotating Scheimpflug camera, and scanning-slit topography.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate and compare central corneal thickness measurements using
      rotating Scheimpflug camera, scanning-slit topography, and ultrasound pachymetry
      in virgin, healthy corneas. DESIGN: Prospective, observational, cross-sectional
      study. METHODS: Central corneal thickness in 157 healthy eyes of 157 patients
      without ocular abnormalities other than refractive errors was measured, in a
      sequential order, once with rotating Scheimpflug camera and scanning-slit
      topography and 3 times with ultrasound pachymetry as the last part of
      examination. All measurements were performed by a single experienced examiner.
      The results from scanning-slit topography are given with and without correction
      for "acoustic correction factor" of 0.92. RESULTS: The average measurements of
      central corneal thickness by rotating Scheimpflug imaging, scanning-slit
      pachymetry, and ultrasound were 537.15 +/- 32.98 MUm, 542.06 +/- 39.04 MUm, and
      544.07 +/- 34.75 MUm, respectively. The mean differences between modalities were
      6.92 MUm between rotating Scheimpflug and ultrasound (P < .0001), 2.01 MUm
      between corrected scanning-slit and ultrasound (P = .204), and 4.91 MUm between
      corrected scanning-slit and rotating Scheimpflug imaging (P = .001). According to
      Bland-Altman analysis, highest agreement was between ultrasonic and rotating
      Scheimpflug pachymetry. CONCLUSIONS: In the assessment of normal corneas,
      rotating Scheimpflug topography measures central corneal thickness values with
      higher agreement to ultrasound pachymetry.

PMID- 20932509
TI  - Association of Wnt3A gene variants with non-syndromic cleft lip with or without
      cleft palate in Chinese population.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: non-syndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate (NSCLP) is one of
      the most common birth defects all over the world. Both genetic and environmental
      factors may contribute to NSCLP. Recent studies have demonstrated that Wnt/beta
      catenin signalling pathway is required for lip and palate formation. WNT family
      may play an important role in the development of NSCLP. This study aimed to
      evaluate the association between Wnt3A gene polymorphisms and NSCLP in Chinese
      population from Northwest China. DESIGN: 216 patients with NSCLP and 233 normal
      controls were genotyped for two SNPs of Wnt3A by PCR-RFLP. Both SNPs genotype
      frequencies were analysed between cases group and controls group. RESULTS: the
      frequencies of rs752107 TT and rs3121310 AA were significantly higher in NSCLP
      cases group (7.4%, 15.3%) than that in controls group (2.1%, 9.5%) with p
      value=0.013, 0.014, corrected p value (p-corr) <0.05 and with odds ratio
      (OR)=3.49, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.244-9.79, OR=2.27, 95% CI: 1.17-4.38,
      respectively; the frequency of rs3121310 GA was also higher in NSCLP cases group
      (57.4%) than in controls group (52.0%) with p-value=0.042 and OR=1.56 (95% CI:
      1.02-2.39). And the frequency of rs752107 TT of Wnt3A showed higher risk in
      female patients, while the frequency of A allele of rs3121310 showed stronger
      association in male patients. CONCLUSIONS: this is the first report that two SNPs
      of Wnt3A (rs752107 and rs3121310) are significantly associated with NSCLP in
      Chinese population. These findings provide a context for understanding the
      genetic aetiology of NSCLP.

PMID- 20932510
TI  - Interferon-gamma +874A/T polymorphism in relation to generalized chronic
      periodontitis and the presence of periodontopathic bacteria.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Interferon gamma (IFN-gamma) is one of the key regulatory cytokines
      that has a significant effect on immune responses. It may be important in the
      chronic inflammatory diseases such as periodontitis in which increased IFN-gamma
      levels were found. The aim of this study was to analyze +874A/T polymorphism in
      the IFN-gamma gene and its associations with the presence of periodontopathic
      bacteria and susceptibility to generalized chronic periodontitis (CP). METHODS: A
      total of 498 unrelated Czech white subjects were included in the present study.
      Genomic DNA was obtained from the peripheral blood of 244 patients with CP and
      254 healthy subjects. The IFN-gamma +874A/T polymorphism was determined by
      amplification refractory mutation system-polymerase chain reaction (ARMS-PCR).
      Subgingival bacterial colonization (A. actinomycetemcomitans, P. gingivalis, P.
      intermedia, T. forsythia, T. denticola, P. micros, F. nucleatum in subgingival
      pockets) was investigated by the DNA-microarray based periodontal pathogen
      detection kit in a subgroup of subjects (N=110). RESULTS: Our results showed no
      differences in the allele and genotype frequencies of the IFN-gamma +874A/T
      polymorphism between patients with CP and controls (P>0.05). Although we found
      significant differences in the occurrence of periodontal bacteria between
      patients with CP and healthy controls (from P<0.00001 to P<0.05), no significant
      association between IFN-gamma +874A/T polymorphism and periodontal pathogens was
      observed in any group. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, these findings indicate that
      putative functional variant in the IFN-gamma is not associated with
      susceptibility to chronic periodontitis or microbial composition in the Czech
      population.

PMID- 20932511
TI  - Parental fear of negative child evaluation in child social anxiety.
AB  - Parental anxiety has been linked to child anxiety in various studies. However,
      specific mechanisms responsible for this relationship in the context of child
      social anxiety are still largely unknown. A potential mediator between parental
      and child social anxiety may be parental fear of negative child evaluation
      (FNCE). To investigate this concept, we collected self-reported data from
      families with 9- to 16-year old children in a non-clinical sample (458 mother
      child dyads and 336 father-child dyads). While both paternal and maternal FNCE
      predicted child social anxiety, only maternal FNCE mediated the association
      between maternal and child social anxiety. Maternal report of FNCE was also found
      to mediate the association between maternal social anxiety and general childhood
      emotional problems but not externalising problems. Overall, this study is the
      first to identify a mediator variable that may explain the association between
      mother and child social anxiety in school-age children. The results shed new
      light on the mechanisms by which fear and anxiety may be transmitted across
      generations.

PMID- 20932512
TI  - The impact of group leaders' behaviour on parents acquisition of key parenting
      skills during parent training.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Parent training (PT) is identified as the most effective intervention
      for the treatment of conduct disorder (CD). Intervention observational outcomes
      are often reported as summarised composite scores, providing an overview of
      overall construct change. METHODS AND AIMS: Parents of children aged 3-5 years
      identified 'at risk' of developing CD were randomly allocated to either PT
      intervention or waiting list control group. Parent and child behaviours were
      assessed before and after the intervention period. The current paper aims to
      establish which individual observed parenting categories change as a result of
      PT, and which specific observed leader categories predict these changes. RESULTS:
      Controlling for baseline scores, ANCOVA demonstrated changes in parent praise and
      reflective behaviours as significant post-intervention. One-way ANOVAs
      demonstrated higher levels of leader praise and reflective behaviours resulted in
      greater change in parental praise and reflective behaviours respectively.
      Regression analyses indicated these leader behaviours predict positive change in
      parental praise and reflective behaviours for intervention families. CONCLUSIONS:
      Composite observational scores provide an account of behaviour constructs,
      whereas individual behaviour categories provide an insight into the core
      components of these constructs. The results suggest praise and reflection as key
      leader behaviours that influence the mechanisms of change in parenting behaviours
      as a result of PT.

PMID- 20932514
TI  - Degradation of carbohydrate moieties of arabinogalactan-proteins by glycoside
      hydrolases from Neurospora crassa.
AB  - Arabinogalactan-proteins (AGPs) are a family of plant proteoglycans having large
      carbohydrate moieties attached to core-proteins. The carbohydrate moieties of
      AGPs commonly have beta-(1->3)(1->6)-galactan as the backbone, to which other
      auxiliary sugars such as l-Ara and GlcA are attached. For the present study, an
      alpha-L-arabinofuranosidase belonging to glycoside hydrolase family (GHF) 54,
      NcAraf1, and an endo-beta-(1->6)-galactanase of GHF 5, Nc6GAL, were identified in
      Neurospora crassa. Recombinant NcAraf1 (rNcAraf1) expressed in Pichia pastoris
      hydrolyzed radish AGPs as well as arabinan and arabinoxylan, showing relatively
      broad substrate specificity toward polysaccharides containing alpha-L
      arabinofuranosyl residues. Recombinant Nc6GAL (rNc6GAL) expressed in P. pastoris
      specifically acted on beta-(1->6)-galactosyl residues. Whereas AGP from radish
      roots was hardly hydrolyzed by rNc6GAL alone, beta-(1->6)-galactan side chains
      were reduced to one or two galactan residues by a combination of rNcAraf1 and
      rNc6GAL. These results suggest that the carbohydrate moieties of AGPs are
      degraded by the concerted action of NcAraf1 and Nc6GAL secreted from N. crassa.

PMID- 20932515
TI  - Circulating nucleic acids in type 1 diabetes may modulate the thymocyte turnover
      rate.
AB  - The autoimmunity of type 1 diabetes is associated with T-cell hyperactivity.
      Current study was designed to examine the effect of circulating ribonucleic acids
      (RNAs), isolated from type 1 diabetic patients on proliferative, apoptotic and
      inflammatory potential of rat thymocytes. Rat thymocytes were assayed for
      proliferating nuclear cell antigen (PCNA), Bcl-2, Bax and NF-kappaB level, using
      the flow cytometric and fluorometric assays. Cells were allocated into groups,
      treated with RNAs purified from plasma of juvenile diabetics, adult type 1
      diabetic patients, control healthy children, healthy adult persons, nucleic acids
      and polynucleotide standards (RNA, polyC, PolyA, PolyIC, and CpG). The
      upregulation of PCNA and Bcl-2 protein and downregulation of Bax protein and NF
      kappaB was shown when the thymocytes where incubated with RNA purified from
      plasma of juvenile type 1 diabetic patients. The dysregulation of inflammatory
      cascade and central tolerance may be a defect in autoimmune diseases related to
      innate immunity leading to corresponding alteration in adaptive immune response.

PMID- 20932516
TI  - Preterm birth and exposure to air pollutants during pregnancy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Research has shown that prenatal exposure to air pollutants may have
      a detrimental effect on fetal development, with the strength of the relationship
      depending on the effect being studied. The evidence to date, however, is
      insufficient to establish a direct causal link between such exposure and preterm
      delivery. This study evaluates the specific effect of prenatal exposure to NO(2)
      and benzene on preterm births. METHODS: The population under study comprised 785
      pregnant women who formed part of the INMA cohort in Valencia, Spain (2003-2005).
      Multiple regression models were used for mapping outdoor nitrogen dioxide (NO(2))
      and benzene levels throughout the area. Individual exposure was assigned as the
      estimated outdoor levels at each woman's home measured during each trimester as
      well as throughout the entire pregnancy. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence
      intervals (95% CI) were calculated in order to assess the association between
      preterm birth and exposure to NO(2) and benzene. The shape of the exposure
      response curve between air pollution and the risk of preterm birth was analyzed
      with a flexible approach, introducing a natural cubic spline for air pollution
      levels into the model. RESULTS: Pregnant women exposed to NO(2) and benzene have
      an increased risk of preterm birth. This risk was shown to be significant when
      women were exposed to NO(2) levels >46.2 MUg/m(3) during the second and third
      trimesters as well as throughout the entire pregnancy and to benzene levels >2.7
      MUg/m(3) throughout the entire pregnancy. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that
      maternal exposure to traffic-related air pollution is associated with preterm
      birth.

PMID- 20932513
TI  - From reactive to proactive and selective control: developing a richer model for
      stopping inappropriate responses.
AB  - A better understanding of the neural systems underlying impulse control is
      important for psychiatry. Although most impulses are motivational or emotional
      rather than motoric per se, it is research into the neural architecture of motor
      response control that has made the greatest strides. This article reviews recent
      developments in the cognitive neuroscience of stopping responses. Most research
      of this kind has focused on reactive control-that is, how subjects stop a
      response outright when instructed by a signal. It is argued that reactive
      paradigms are limited as models of control relevant to psychiatry. Instead, a set
      of paradigms is advocated that begins to model proactive inhibitory control-that
      is, how a subject prepares to stop an upcoming response tendency. Proactive
      inhibitory control is generated according to the goals of the subject rather than
      by an external signal, and it can be selectively targeted at a particular
      response tendency. This may have wider validity than reactive control as an
      experimental model for stopping inappropriate responses.

PMID- 20932517
TI  - [Legibility of the patient information sheet after its review by the clinical
      research ethics committees].

PMID- 20932518
TI  - The effect of paternal age on assisted reproduction outcome.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To summarize the current knowledge about the association between
      paternal age and assisted reproductive technology (ART) outcomes. In contrast to
      the extensive investigation of the relationship between maternal age and the
      success of ART, there are few studies examining the effect of paternal age on ART
      outcomes. DESIGN: Systematic review of the literature. By means of a PubMed
      literature search using the phrases "paternal age", "male age", and "assisted
      reproductive technology", we identified articles that investigated the role of
      male age in in vitro reproduction techniques. RESULT(S): The 10 studies included
      in this review did not show a clear correlation between advanced paternal age and
      rates of fertilization, implantation, pregnancy, miscarriage, and live birth.
      Paternal age was not found to affect embryo quality at the cleavage stage (days 2
      3). However, a significant decrease in blastocyst embryo formation was associated
      with increased paternal age, probably reflecting male genomic activation within
      the embryo. Except for volume, characteristics of semen such as motility,
      concentration, and morphology did not decrease with age. CONCLUSION(S): There is
      insufficient evidence to demonstrate an unfavorable effect of paternal age on ART
      outcomes. Further study with well-defined entry criteria and uniform reporting of
      outcomes is needed to investigate the subject.

PMID- 20932519
TI  - Pancreatic hemangioma mimicking a malignant pancreatic cyst.

PMID- 20932520
TI  - The effect of haematoma aspiration on intra-articular pressure and pain relief
      following Mason I radial head fractures.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aspiration of the accompanying haematoma by Mason type I radial
      head fractures is advocated by several authors to achieve an analgesic effect.
      The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of haematoma aspiration
      on intra-articular pressure and on pain relief after Mason I radial head
      fractures. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 16 patients (10 men and six women,
      age 23-47 years) with an isolated Mason I radial head fracture were subjected to
      haematoma paracentesis. Initially, intra-articular pressure was measured by using
      the Stryker Intra-Compartmental Pressure Monitor System. After haematoma
      aspiration, a new pressure measurement without moving the needle was performed.
      Pain before and after haematoma aspiration was evaluated by using an analogue 10
      point pain scale. RESULTS: Intra-articular elbow pressure prior to haematoma
      aspiration varied from 49 to 120 mmHg (median, 76.5 mmHg), while following
      aspiration, it ranged from 9 to 25 mmHg (median, 17 mmHg). The median quantity of
      the aspired blood was 2.75 ml (range, 0.5-8.5 ml). Patients reported a decrease
      in the visual analogue score (VAS) for pain from 5.5 (4-8) before to 2.5 (1-4)
      after aspiration. Decrease for both pressure and pain was statistically
      significant (p=0.005). CONCLUSION: The formation of an intra-articular haematoma
      in the elbow joint following an undisplaced Mason I radial head fracture leads to
      a pronounced increase of the intra-articular pressure accompanied by intense pain
      for the patient. The aspiration of the haematoma results in an acute pressure
      decrease and an immediate patient relief.

PMID- 20932521
TI  - Cement augmentation of intertrochanteric fractures stabilised with intramedullary
      nailing.
AB  - We studied 80 patients (56 females) with an average age of 84 years (range 80
      94). All patients were suffering from osteoporosis (1 or 2 Singh score) and had
      an unstable intertrochanteric fracture, defined as a fracture with three
      fragments or more. Patients were divided in group A (40 patients), treated by a
      cement augmentation technique and group B (40 patients) treated by Gamma Nail
      conventional technique. Augmentation was performed with MetilMetacrilate (Mendec
      Spine, Tecres) inserted through the cannulated cephalic screw at its apex. Such
      parameters were evaluated as the length of operating time, early functional
      recovery using the Harris hip score, assessment with radiography of the TAD index
      and development of implant related complications. The HHS average score was 48.2
      and 49.31 after 1 month post-operation, 54.37 and 53.56 after 3 months, 54.71 and
      56.42 after 6 months, 57.91 and 59.86 after 12 months, in groups A and B,
      respectively. The average drop of haemoglobin was 1.55 g/dL and 1.05 g/dL, in
      groups A and B, respectively. Except one joint penetration with the guide wire
      and some small amount of cement leakage, no other complications (infection, screw
      cut out and femoral head necrosis) were observed. We believe that in femoral
      intertrochanteric fractures cement augmentation could improve the mechanical
      stability of the implant, ensuring early functional recovery.

PMID- 20932522
TI  - Triceps-sparing versus olecranon osteotomy for ORIF: analysis of 67 cases of
      intercondylar fractures of the distal humerus.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to compare the triceps-sparing approach with
      olecranon osteotomy regarding their effects on the functional outcomes of
      intercondylar fractures of the distal humerus managed with open reduction and
      internal fixation (ORIF), by reviewing 67 cases of intercondylar distal humerus
      fractures surgically managed with either of the approaches during 2001-2009. The
      medical records and radiographs of 30 male and 37 female patients, with a mean
      age of 44.5 years (range, 16-77) and a mean follow-up time of 34.3 months (range,
      6-89), were retrospectively reviewed. Flexion, extension, arc of
      flexion/extension, pronation, supination, arc of pronation/supination and the
      Mayo Elbow Performance Score (MEPS) were used to assess the functional outcomes
      of intercondylar distal humerus fractures treated with ORIF through the triceps
      sparing approach or olecranon osteotomy. According to the AO Foundation (AO)
      classification, there were 10 cases of C1, 28 cases of C2 and 29 cases of C3
      fractures. At the time of review, all fractures had united. Although there was no
      overall statistically significant difference in the average flexion, extension,
      arc of flexion/extension, pronation, supination and arc of pronation/supination
      between the triceps-sparing group (n=34) and the olecranon osteotomy group
      (n=33), patients above 60 years of age tended to have more extension loss (mean
      22.9 degrees , range 0-55 degrees ) after ORIF via the triceps-sparing approach,
      compared with any other surgical approach/age combination group. In the triceps
      sparing group, although only 37.5% of patients over the age of 60 years obtained
      excellent/good MEPS, the rate increased to 100% in patients aged less than 40
      years of age (P<0.05). By contrast, the rate of excellent/good MEPS remained
      above 80% in all age groups of patients treated with ORIF via olecranon
      osteotomy. In conclusion, ORIF via the triceps-sparing approach confers inferior
      functional outcomes for intercondylar distal humerus fractures in patients over
      the age of 60 years, for whom the olecranon osteotomy approach may be a better
      choice. However, for patients less than 60 years of age, especially those less
      than 40 years of age, either approach confers satisfactory outcomes.

PMID- 20932523
TI  - Comparison of soft-tissue serum markers in stable intertrochanteric fracture:
      dynamic hip screw versus proximal femoral nail-A preliminary study.
AB  - DESIGN: Prospective randomised comparative study. OBJECTIVES: To analyse and
      compare serum soft-tissue marker differences after dynamic hip screw (DHS)and
      proximal femoral nail (PFN) fixation of stable intertrochanteric fractures in the
      elderly. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty elderly patients (>60 years old) with a
      stable intertrochanteric fracture were enrolled in this study. Patients were
      divided into two groups of 10 each according to the device used (DHS or PFN). All
      20 patients had a stable intertrochanteric fracture, and all were operated on by
      the same surgeon using minimal invasive approach. A biochemical comparison of
      soft-tissue serum markers was performed. The serum markers examined were
      haemoglobin (Hb), haematocrit (Hct), creatine kinase (CK), myoglobin (MYO),
      troponin I and C-reactive protein (CRP), and their levels were determined before
      surgery, and 1, 8, 16, 24, 36, 48 and 72 h after surgery. Differences between the
      DHS and PFN groups were compared. RESULTS: No inter-group differences were
      observed with respect to preoperative demographics,operation time, incision
      length or blood loss. In terms of serum markers, both methods showed similar
      patterns of change for CK, MYO and CRP pre- to post-operatively. In addition, pre
      and postoperative Hb and Hct levels were similar. Furthermore, no inter-group
      differences were observed between the absolute values of serum markers at any
      point. CONCLUSION: The absolute values and temporal changes of serum markers were
      similar in the two study groups. These findings suggest that DHS and PFN fixation
      of stable intertrochanteric fractures produce similar levels of soft-tissue
      damage.

PMID- 20932524
TI  - Nurses' work environment and intent to leave in Lebanese hospitals: implications
      for policy and practice.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The dual burden of nursing shortages and poor work environments
      threatens quality of patient care and places additional pressures on resource
      stretched health care systems, particularly in the Eastern Mediterranean Region
      (EMR). There is a paucity of research in the EMR examining the quality of nurses'
      work environment and its association to nurses' intent to leave their
      jobs/countries. OBJECTIVES: Systematically examine the characteristics of nurses'
      work environment and their relation to nurses' intent to leave their jobs within
      the context of Lebanon. A secondary objective is to assess the utility and
      validity of the NWI-R within the context of the EMR. METHODS: A cross-sectional
      survey design was utilized to survey a total of 1793 registered nurses in 69
      Lebanese hospitals. The survey instrument included questions on nurses'
      background, hospital characteristics, intent to leave, and the Revised Nurse
      Working Index (NWI-R). Data analysis included descriptive statistics for
      demographic characteristics, t-test and ANOVA to assess differences in agreement
      scores, and a multinomial logistic regression model to predict intent to leave.
      Thematic analysis of open-ended questions was utilized to extract themes that fit
      under issues relating to nurses' work environment in Lebanese hospitals. RESULTS:
      The NWI-R subscale with the lowest mean score related to control. Younger nurses
      had lower scores on organizational support and career development. Regression
      analysis revealed that for every 1 point score decrease on career development
      there was a 93% increase in likelihood of reporting intent to leave country.
      Likewise, for every 1 point score decrease on participation there was an observed
      51% and 53% increase in likelihood of reporting intent to leave country and
      hospital, respectively. Findings show that hospital characteristics (size,
      accreditation status and presence of a recruitment and retention strategy) were
      significantly associated with NWI-R subscales. CONCLUSIONS: Participation,
      control and career development were key work environment challenges contributing
      to the attrition on nurses from Lebanese hospitals. Although some of the issues
      identified are country specific, others would certainly be relevant to other
      countries in the EMR. Addressing these challenges would require a strong and
      coordinated action from governments, professional bodies, policy makers and
      health managers.

PMID- 20932525
TI  - Effect of short-chain alcohols on surfactant-mediated reversed-phase liquid
      chromatographic systems.
AB  - The behaviour of beta-blockers in a reversed-phase liquid chromatographic (RPLC)
      column with mobile phases containing a short-chain alcohol (methanol, ethanol or
      1-propanol), with and without the surfactant sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS), was
      explored. Two surfactant-mediated RPLC modes were studied, where the mobile
      phases contained either micelles or only surfactant monomers at high
      concentration. Acetonitrile was also considered for comparison purposes. A
      correlation was found between the effects of the organic solvent on micelle
      formation (monitored by the drop weight procedure) and on the nature of the
      chromatographic system (as revealed by the retention, elution strength and peak
      shape of beta-blockers). When SDS is added to the mobile phase, the free
      surfactant monomers bind the C18 bonded chains on the stationary phase, forming
      an anionic layer, which attracts strongly the cationic beta-blockers. The
      retention is modified as a consequence of the solving power of the organic
      solvent, micelles and surfactant monomers. The molecules of organic solvent bind
      the micelles, modify their shape, and may avoid their formation. They also bind
      the monomers of surfactant, desorbing them from the stationary phase, which
      affects the retention. The remaining surfactant covers the free silanols on the
      siliceous support, avoiding the interaction with the cationic solutes. The
      retention of beta-blockers results from a combination of electrostatic and
      hydrophobic interactions, the latter being weaker compared to the hydro-organic
      system. The peak efficiencies and asymmetries are excellent tools to probe the
      surfactant layer on the stationary phase in an SDS/organic solvent system. The
      peaks will be nearly symmetrical wherever enough surfactant coats the stationary
      phase (up to 60% methanol, 40% ethanol, 35% 1-propanol, and 50% acetonitrile).

PMID- 20932526
TI  - Charge heterogeneity of a therapeutic monoclonal antibody conjugated with a
      cytotoxic antitumor antibiotic, calicheamicin.
AB  - A robust and highly reproducible capillary isoelectric focusing (cIEF) method for
      the evaluation of charge heterogeneity of monoclonal antibody (mAb)
      pharmaceutical which contains covalently bound antitumor compounds was developed
      using a combination of commercially available dimethylpolysiloxane-coated
      capillary and carrier ampholyte. In order to optimize major analytical parameters
      for robust mobilization, experimental responses from three pI markers were
      selected. The optimized method gave excellent repeatability and intermediate
      precision in estimated pI values of charge variants with relative standard
      deviations (RSDs) of not more than 0.06% and 0.95%, respectively, when using
      IgG(4) as a model. Furthermore, RSDs of charge variant compositions were less
      than 5.0%. These results suggest that the proposed method can be a powerful tool
      for reproducible evaluation of charge variants of both naked mAbs and their
      conjugates with high resolution, and it is applicable to quality testing and
      detailed characterization in the pharmaceutical industry. In addition, it should
      be noticed that the method provided non-linear pH gradient within the tested
      ranges, from pI 9.50 to 3.78, and the pH gradient caused the inconsistency of
      estimated pI ranges between cIEF and gel IEF. This result indicates that
      selecting appropriate pI markers based on the target pI ranges of charge variants
      for each mAb related pharmaceutical is highly recommended for the precise
      determination of pI values.

PMID- 20932527
TI  - Continuous separation of copper ions from a mixture of heavy metal ions using a
      three-zone carousel process packed with metal ion-imprinted polymer.
AB  - In this study, a three-zone carousel process based on a proper molecular
      imprinted polymer (MIP) resin was developed for continuous separation of Cu(2+)
      from Mn(2+) and Co(2+). For this task, the Cu (II)-imprinted polymer (Cu-MIP)
      resin was synthesized first and used to pack the chromatographic columns of a
      three-zone carousel process. Prior to the experiment of the carousel process
      based on the Cu-MIP resin (MIP-carousel process), a series of single-column
      experiments were performed to estimate the intrinsic parameters of the three
      heavy metal ions and to find out the appropriate conditions of regeneration and
      re-equilibration. The results from these single-column experiments and the
      additional computer simulations were then used for determination of the operating
      parameters of the MIP-carousel process under consideration. Based on the
      determined operating parameters, the MIP-carousel experiments were carried out.
      It was confirmed from the experimental results that the proposed MIP-carousel
      process was markedly effective in separating Cu(2+) from Mn(2+) and Co(2+) in a
      continuous mode with high purity and a relatively small loss. Thus, the MIP
      carousel process developed in this study deserves sufficient attention in
      materials processing industries or metal-related industries, where the selective
      separation of heavy metal ions with the same charge has been a major concern.

PMID- 20932528
TI  - Novel calcium-alginate capsules with aqueous core and thermo-responsive membrane.
AB  - Novel calcium-alginate (Ca-alginate) capsules with aqueous core and thermo
      responsive membrane are successfully prepared by introducing a co-extrusion
      minifluidic approach, and the thermo-responsive gating characteristics of Ca
      alginate capsule membranes embedded with poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM)
      microspheres are investigated systematically. The experimental results show that
      the prepared Ca-alginate capsules are highly monodisperse, and the average
      diameter and membrane thickness of Ca-alginate capsules are about 2.96 mm and
      0.11 mm respectively. The Ca-alginate capsule membranes exhibit desired thermo
      responsive gating property. With increasing the content of PNIPAM microspheres
      embedded in the Ca-alginate capsule membranes, the thermo-responsive gating
      coefficient of the capsule membranes increases simply. When solute molecules
      diffuse through the capsule membrane, the thermo-responsive gating coefficient is
      significantly affected by the molecular weight of solute molecules.

PMID- 20932529
TI  - Synthesis of tailored core-brush polymer particles via a living radical
      polymerization and architecture of colloidal crystals.
AB  - Narrow disperse core-brush polymer nanoparticles (BP) were synthesized by
      grafting from photo-induced atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) of 2
      hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) from N,N-diethyldithiocarbamate (DC) groups of
      core-shell particle surface. We constructed colloidal crystals of these particles
      by depositing on glass substrate. By variation of the particle size, the
      brilliant color could be varied throughout the visible spectrum. We locked also
      permanently such colloidal crystals by cross-linking of poly(2-hydroxyethyl
      methacrylate) (PHEMA) brush phases with glutaraldehyde. The peak wavelength
      (lambda(max)) in the reflection spectra agreed well with the bandgap position for
      light incident on the (1 1 1) face of face-centered cubic (fcc) lattice according
      to Bragg's law.

PMID- 20932530
TI  - Dendritic cell internalization of foam-structured fluorescent mesoporous silica
      nanoparticles.
AB  - In this paper, foam-structured fluorescent mesoporous silica nanoparticles
      (FMSNs) are produced in a sol-gel method with the introduction of a phosphonate
      functional group. It is found that the phosphonate functionalized FMSNs with the
      foam structure minimizes the aggregation of FMSNs in solution. The average
      particle size of the FMSNs without and with phosphonate functionalization is 46.3
      +/- 5 nm and 60.5 +/- 8 nm in diameter, respectively. The latter one exhibits
      higher fluorophore loading capacity (~67 +/- 2.5%). The excitation wavelength
      (lambda(ex)) of FMSNs is observed at 526 nm, approximate 12 nm larger in the
      Stoke-shift compared to the free organic dye at 494/514 nm. Furthermore, the
      photostability of the hydrophobic fluorophore is greatly improved by the FMSNs
      with the foam structure. In addition, the dose-dependent nature of FMSN uptake is
      assessed for the immune cells, the bone marrow-derived dendritic immune cells
      (BMDCs). Our results indicate that approximately 42% of BMDCs are able to take up
      foam-structured FMSNs (>5 MUg/ml) without decreasing the viability of BMDCs.
      Thus, the phosphonate functionalized FMSNs with the foam structure are suitable
      to be used for many biomedical applications, especially in cell tracking.

PMID- 20932531
TI  - An experimental test of the fractal model for drainage of foam films.
AB  - Drainage of foam films with different radii (50-150 MUm), stabilized by
      hexathylene glycol dodecyl ether C(12)E(6) and in a presence of 0.024 M NaCl,
      were analyzed in the light of a recent dynamic fractal classification of [1]. The
      latter accounts for the effect of film surface corrugations developed during the
      film drainage. For simplicity, the film surface mobility is neglected since the
      presence of surfactants reduces dramatically the film surface velocity. The
      magnitude of surface non-homogeneities, caused by the film drainage, is accounted
      via a dynamic fractal dimension parameter alpha being spanned between zero and
      two. Depending on the alpha-value the film drains by different kinetic laws. For
      example, if the thin film is planar alpha=2 and it drains according to the
      Reynolds law; if alpha=1 the film contains an axisymmetric dimple causing faster
      drainage; if alpha=1/2 the film exhibits number of asymmetric dimples and the
      film drains even faster; finally if alpha=0 the film contains spatially
      uncorrelated domains causing the fastest possible drainage. The present analysis
      of experimental data suggests that the parameter alpha is inversely proportional
      to the film radius R and it is independent of the type and concentration of
      surfactants. A semi-empirical model for alpha is proposed, thus completing the
      generic dynamic fractal classification.

PMID- 20932532
TI  - Facile fabrication of mechanochromic-responsive colloidal crystal films.
AB  - This paper presents a simple approach to fabricate a reversible mechanochromic
      responsive crystal film based on the room-temperature film-formation of
      monodisperse polymer latex by the aid of nanosilica particles. In this approach,
      when the "soft" colloidal polymer spheres were blended with colloidal silica
      particles and then cast on a substrate, followed by drying at room temperature
      for self-assembly, an elastic crystal film was directly obtained. This crystal
      film has not only reversible and repeatable mechanochromic-responsive property,
      but also tunable color and peak position covering almost entire visible spectral
      region, depending upon the sizes of polymer spheres and strains. This optical
      response is attributed to the variation of lattice spacing during deformation.

PMID- 20932533
TI  - Application of rod-shaped cellulose nanocrystals in polyacrylamide hydrogels.
AB  - Rod-shaped cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) were manufactured and used to reinforce
      polyacrylamide (PAM) hydrogels through in situ free-radical polymerization. The
      gelation process of the nanocomposite hydrogels was monitored on a rheometer
      using oscillatory shear. The chemical structure, morphology, swelling property,
      and compression strength of the formed gels were investigated. A possible
      mechanism for forming hydrogels was proposed. The results showed that CNCs
      accelerated the formation of hydrogels and increased the effective crosslink
      density of hydrogels. Thus CNCs were not only a reinforcing agent for hydrogel,
      but also acted as a multifunctional cross-linker for gelation. The shear storage
      modulus, compression strength and elastic modulus of the nanocomposite hydrogels
      were significantly improved because of good dispersion of CNCs in PAM as well as
      enhanced interfacial interaction between these two components. Among the CNC
      contents used, a loading of 6.7 w/w% led to the maximum mechanical properties for
      nanocomposite hydrogels.

PMID- 20932534
TI  - Effect of phosphate on phenanthrene sorption in soils.
AB  - Phosphate is ubiquitous in the environment. However, its impact on sorption of
      hydrophobic organic compounds in soils has received little attention. Some
      effects of phosphate on phenanthrene sorption were investigated in this study
      using two Chinese soils with contrasting properties. The presence of phosphate
      significantly decreased the capacity and increased the nonlinearity of
      phenanthrene sorption in the soils, and this sorption-inhibiting effect was more
      significant at high phosphate concentration. The influence of phosphate on
      phenanthrene sorption in the soils was governed by the release of dissolved
      organic carbon (DOC), particularly higher-molecular-weight and highly aromatic
      DOC, which tended to be enhanced in the presence of phosphate (p<0.01) as
      evidenced by size exclusion chromatography and specific UV absorbance analysis.
      Atomic force microscopy and zeta potential analysis reveal that the ringed
      microaggregates of DOC were disrupted into larger condensed microaggregates and
      the solid interfaces tended to be more hydrophilic in the presence of phosphate
      which also inhibited the accumulation of phenanthrene in the soils. This study
      for the first time points to an important role of phosphate in the sorption of
      phenanthrene in soils and provides substantial evidence for the mechanisms
      involved using a combination of microscopic and chromatographic techniques.

PMID- 20932535
TI  - Influence of the ionic strength and solid/solution ratio on Ca(II)-for-Na+
      exchange on montmorillonite. Part 1: Chemical measurements, thermodynamic
      modeling and potential implications for trace elements geochemistry.
AB  - Na/Ca ion-exchange isotherms were performed on a Na-saturated montmorillonite for
      different constant normalities of the aqueous chloride solution and at two
      solid/solution ratios. The experimental data suggest that the affinity of Na(+)
      for the solid increases with total normality and m/V ratio and that a significant
      proportion of CaCl(+) is also sorbed. A thermodynamic modeling procedure with one
      sorption site and three sorbed cations (Na(+), Ca(2+) and CaCl(+)) was applied to
      interpret the data. We show that by accounting for the activities of aqueous
      species, the experimental data obtained at different total normalities for a
      given solid/solution ratio can be fitted using a unique set of selectivity
      coefficient values. However, when the m/V ratio is decreased from 25 to 2.5 g/L,
      an increase in the log Kc(Na(+)/Ca(2+)) of up to 0.4 +/- 0.05 was required to
      interpret the data with a constant log Kc(Na(+)/CaCl(+)) value. The same behavior
      concerning the increase in the log Kc(Na(+)/Ca(2+)) with a m/V ratio decrease was
      observed when using a multi-site model taking into account the specific sorption
      of H(+). The results clearly indicate that the Na(+)/Ca(2+) selectivity
      coefficients strongly depend on the solid/solution ratio but are independent of
      the exchanger composition and the total normality of the solution. Such findings
      provide possible pitfalls when using selectivity coefficients obtained in diluted
      suspension to assess the sorption in compacted clayrocks and allow a better
      prediction of the sorption of trace elements in competition with major cations.

PMID- 20932536
TI  - Surface modification of glass plates and silica particles by phospholipid
      adsorption.
AB  - The effect of phospholipid adsorption on the hydrophobicity of glass plates and
      on the surface charge of silica particles using contact angle and electrophoretic
      mobility measurements, respectively, was investigated. Deposition of successive
      statistical monolayers of dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) on the glass
      surface showed zig-zag changes of water contact angle, especially on the first
      few monolayers. This behavior is qualitatively coherent with the oscillations
      observed in zeta potential values for increasing DPPC concentration. The results
      indicate that the phospholipid is adsorbed vertically on the plates, exposing
      alternately its polar head and non-polar hydrocarbon chains in successive layers.
      On the other hand, experiments conducted on glass plates prior hydrophobized by
      contact with n-tetradecane suggest that DPPC molecules may to some extent
      dissolve in the relatively thick n-alkane film and then expose their polar heads
      over the film surface thus producing polar electron-donor interactions. The
      effect of both DPPC and dioleoylphosphatidylcholine (DOPC) on the electrokinetic
      potential of silica spheres confirms adsorption of the phospholipids, leading to
      a decrease in the (originally negative) zeta potential of silica and even
      reversal of its sign to positive at acidic pH. Hydrophobic interactions between
      phospholipid molecules in the medium and those already adsorbed may explain the
      overcharging. The adsorption of neutral phospholipids may reduce the zeta
      potential as a consequence of the shift of the electrokinetic or slip plane. The
      effect is more evident in the case of DOPC, suggesting a less efficient packing
      of this phospholipid because of the presence of double bonds in its molecule,
      which in fact is well known.

PMID- 20932537
TI  - Absorption and transport properties of ultra-fine cellulose webs.
AB  - Characterization of transport and absorption properties of nanofiber webs is a
      challenge, because in many cases the material is soft and cannot withstand the
      stresses exerted by the standard instruments. In this paper, we report on
      development of a new technique for materials characterization. We propose to
      conduct wicking and permeability experiments for full characterization of the
      nanowebs. As an example, we used electrospun cellulose acetate nanowebs. The
      wicking experiments showed very good reproducibility, demonstrating the square
      root-of-time dependence of wetting front position vs time. The prefactor depends
      on a product of capillary pressure and materials permeability. We developed a
      technique to independently measure the permeability of small samples of nanowebs.
      Wicking and permeability data allow one to estimate the pore size; SEM
      micrographs confirmed the obtained estimates of pore radius. In general, the
      proposed method allows one to characterize the transport and absorption
      parameters of the nanofibrous materials for which the standard procedures are
      inapplicable.

PMID- 20932538
TI  - Thermoresponsive unimolecular micelles with a hydrophobic dendritic core and a
      double hydrophilic block copolymer shell.
AB  - Biocompatible stimuli-responsive unimolecular polymeric micelles have attracted
      much interest due to their unique structures and potential applications in
      biomedical fields such as drug delivery and tissue engineering. Here, we report
      the preparation of dendritic unimolecular polymeric micelles with temperature
      sensitive shells via reversible addition-fragmentation transfer (RAFT) technique.
      A multi-arm star amphiphilic copolymer (H40-PDEA) with a hydrophobic
      hyperbranched polyester (Boltorn H40) as the core and the grafted poly(N,N
      diethylacrylamide) (PDEA) as the shell was prepared using H40 based macroRAFT
      agent. And a dendritic unimolecular polymer (H40-PDEA-PDMA) with a double
      hydrophilic block copolymer (DHBC) [PDEA-b-poly(2-(dimethylamino)ethyl
      methacrylate) (PDEA-b-PDMA)] as the dual thermoresponsive shells was synthesized
      by H40-PDEA based macroRAFT agent. Both H40-PDEA and H40-PDEA-PDMA have a
      reversible phase transition behavior in aqueous solution. In particular, the
      unimolecular polymeric micelles H40-PDEA-PDMA with double thermoresponsive shells
      exhibit a two-stage phase transition behavior. Laser light scattering (LLS), UV
      vis transmittance, excimer fluorescence measurements, and micro-differential
      scanning calorimetry (micro-DSC) were used in combination to probe the
      conformational changes of chains located at the inner layer and outer corona
      during the phase transition process.

PMID- 20932539
TI  - Oxidative stress in children affected by epileptic encephalopathies.
AB  - Oxidative stress may lead to abnormal peroxidation of membrane lipids, oxidation
      of sulfhydryl groups and disruption of nucleic acids. Experimental and clinical
      studies suggested that free radicals may be involved in the pathogenesis of
      epilepsy. Three groups of patients were considered in the study. Group 1 (N=34)
      included patients affected by epileptic encephalopathy; Group 2 (N=31) included
      those affected by idiopathic epilepsy syndromes and under valproic acid (VPA)
      monotherapy, and Group 3 (N=22) represented by healthy controls. All patients and
      healthy children underwent blood withdrawals to evaluate redox status by
      measuring levels of F2-isoprostanes (F2-iso), advanced oxidative protein products
      (AOPP), non-protein binding iron (NPBI), thiols (-SH groups), and total
      hydroperoxides (TH). In comparison to the controls, Group 1 patients showed
      significantly higher plasma levels of F2-iso, AOPP, and TH. By contrast, no
      differences there were in the plasma NPBI concentrations. Again, no statistical
      differences there were in the plasma levels of the oxidative stress markers
      between patients from Group 2 and normal subjects. Our study showed that patients
      with epileptic encephalopathy have increased levels of oxidative stress markers.
      By contrast, normal redox status was observed in patients with idiopathic
      epilepsy syndromes under long-term VPA monotherapy.

PMID- 20932540
TI  - Comparative analysis of the early transcriptome of Brucella abortus--infected
      monocyte-derived macrophages from cattle naturally resistant or susceptible to
      brucellosis.
AB  - Brucellosis is a worldwide zoonotic infectious disease that has a significant
      economic impact on animal production and human public health. We characterized
      the gene expression profile of B. abortus-infected monocyte-derived macrophages
      (MDMs) from naive cattle naturally resistant (R) or susceptible (S) to
      brucellosis using a cDNA microarray technology. Our data indicate that (1) B.
      abortus induced a slightly increased genome activation in R MDMs and a down
      regulated transcriptome in S MDMs, during the onset of infection, (2) R MDMs had
      the ability to mount a type 1 immune response against B. abortus infection which
      was impaired in S cells, and (3) the host cell activity was not altered after 12
      h post-B. abortus infection in R MDMs while the cell cycle was largely arrested
      in infected S MDMs at 12 h p.i. These results contribute to an improved
      understanding of how host responses may be manipulated to prevent infection by
      brucellae.

PMID- 20932541
TI  - Serum acute phase proteins as biomarkers of pleuritis and cranio-ventral
      pulmonary consolidation in slaughter-aged pigs.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the
      existence of lung lesions in pigs at slaughter and the concentration of the serum
      acute phase proteins (APP), haptoglobin (Hp), pig-major acute protein (Pig-MAP)
      and C-reactive protein (CRP). A total of 24 pig farms were selected out of a
      larger farm database previously screened to study risk factors associated with
      pleuritis and cranio-ventral pulmonary consolidation (CVPC) lesions at slaughter
      aged pigs in Spain. The farms were classified as "pleuritis negative (P-) or
      positive (P+)" and as "CVPC negative (M-) or positive (M+)" and divided into four
      groups according to a 2X2 factorial design (P-M-, P-M+, P+M-, P+M+). Also at
      slaughter, blood from 20 randomly selected pigs from each farm was collected.
      Obtained serum samples were used to measure acute phase proteins. All APP
      concentrations were significantly higher for M+ farms than for M- ones. However,
      only Hp and Pig-MAP showed significantly higher concentrations for P+ farms than
      for P- ones. Pig-MAP was the most sensitive biomarker since it was able to
      clearly discriminate between P-/P+ and M-/M+ groups (p<0.001 in both cases). Hp
      was an excellent marker for pleuritis and good for CVPC lesions. CRP was able to
      discriminate for CVPC lesions but not for pleuritis. The present results indicate
      that Pig-MAP and, possibly Hp, may be used as potential markers to characterise
      and discriminate respiratory lesions in swine herds at slaughter.

PMID- 20932542
TI  - Inflammation, insulin resistance, lipid disturbances, anthropometrics, and
      metabolic syndrome in morbidly obese patients: a case control study comparing
      laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass and laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) is a common bariatric procedure
      that has several advantages over Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, but data on the
      effectiveness of this procedure on metabolic syndrome have rarely been reported.
      METHODS: This case control study compared the incidence of low grade systemic
      inflammation, insulin resistance, anthropometrics, lipid disturbances, and
      metabolic syndrome in 12 patients undergoing laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric
      bypass (LRYGBP) and 10 patients undergoing LSG, matched for age, sex, body mass
      index (BMI), and HbA1c. RESULTS: At 6 months after surgery, there was no
      significant difference in any of the parameters investigated. Metabolic syndrome
      improved in all five patients undergoing LRYGBP and in 4 out of 6 patients
      undergoing LSG (ns). At 1 year after surgery, patients in the LRYGBP group had a
      significantly lower BMI (32.6 +/- 5.1 vs 36.5 +/- 2.5 kg/m(2); P < .05) and
      percent of excess BMI lost (70.1 +/- 20.5 vs 55.3 +/- 12.8; P < .05), and had
      significantly lower plasma levels of C-reactive protein (2.3 +/- 1.5 vs 5.1 +/-
      4.6 mg/L; P < .05), total cholesterol (4.7 +/- 1 vs 5.6 +/- 0.3 mmol/L; P < .001)
      and LDL cholesterol (2.7 +/- 0.7 vs 3.7 +/- 0.3 mmol/L; P < .001). Remission of
      metabolic syndrome was significantly less common after LSG at 1 year than LRYGBP
      (3 vs 0 patients; P < .05). CONCLUSION: In this limited study patients undergoing
      LRYGBP demonstrated significantly lower BMIs, improved lipid profiles, decreased
      systemic low-grade inflammation and less metabolic syndrome than those with LSG
      at 1-year follow-up.

PMID- 20932543
TI  - Technical, economic and environmental assessment of sludge treatment wetlands.
AB  - Sludge treatment wetlands (STW) emerge as a promising sustainable technology with
      low energy requirements and operational costs. In this study, technical, economic
      and environmental aspects of STW are investigated and compared with other
      alternatives for sludge management in small communities (<2000 population
      equivalent). The performance of full-scale STW was characterised during 2 years.
      Sludge dewatering increased total solids (TS) concentration by 25%, while sludge
      biodegradation lead to volatile solids around 45% TS and DRI(24h) between 1.1 and
      1.4 gO(2)/kgTS h, suggesting a partial stabilisation of biosolids. In the
      economic and environmental assessment, four scenarios were considered for
      comparison: 1) STW with direct land application of biosolids, 2) STW with compost
      post-treatment, 3) centrifuge with compost post-treatment and 4) sludge transport
      to an intensive wastewater treatment plant. According to the results, STW with
      direct land application is the most cost-effective scenario, which is also
      characterised by the lowest environmental impact. The life cycle assessment
      highlights that global warming is a significant impact category in all scenarios,
      which is attributed to fossil fuel and electricity consumption; while greenhouse
      gas emissions from STW are insignificant. As a conclusion, STW are the most
      appropriate alternative for decentralised sludge management in small communities.

PMID- 20932545
TI  - The effect of UV/H2O2 treatment on biofilm formation potential.
AB  - Greater Cincinnati Water Works (GCWW) evaluated the efficacy of ultraviolet
      light/hydrogen peroxide advanced oxidation (UV/H(2)O(2)) for reducing trace
      organic contaminants in natural water with varying water qualities. A year-long
      UV/H(2)O(2) pilot study was conducted to examine a variety of seasonal and
      granular activated carbon (GAC) breakthrough conditions. The UV pilot-scale
      reactors were set to consistently achieve 80% atrazine degradation, allowing
      comparison of low pressure (LP) and medium pressure (MP) lamp technologies for by
      product formation. Because hydroxyl radicals react non-selectively with organic
      compounds, unintended by-product formation occurred. Total assimilable organic
      carbon (AOC) concentration increased through the reactors from 14 to 33% on
      average, depending on water quality. Natural organic matter (NOM) contains the
      precursors for AOC production, so when post-GAC water (versus conventionally
      treated water) served as reactor influent, less AOC was produced. No appreciable
      difference in AOC concentration was observed between LP and MP UV reactors. The
      Spirillum strain NOX fraction of the AOC increased from 50 to 65% on average,
      depending on the quality of the water. The increase in this fraction of AOC
      occurred because oxidation of NOM yielded smaller more assimilable organic
      compounds such as organic acids that are necessary for NOX growth. The
      Pseudomonas fluorescens strain P17 AOC concentration increased only when
      conventionally treated plant water was used as pilot influent. This organism
      thrives in waters of differing organic energy sources, but does not thrive well
      in carboxylic acids alone. The CONV water had more overall TOC that could
      contribute to higher P17 AOC counts. Biofilm coupon studies indicated that
      biofilms with greater heterotrophic plate counts were observed in the granular
      activated carbon (GAC) effluent streams receiving UV/H(2)O(2) pre-treatment.
      Biofilm coupon studies additionally indicated that the effluent stream of the GAC
      column proceeded by the MP reactor exhibited more viable biofilm than the other
      GAC effluent streams based on an ATP-bioluminescence method. The increased
      viability of the biofilm produced by the MP UV reactor is likely a result of the
      multiple UV wavelengths and higher energy input characteristic of this
      technology.

PMID- 20932546
TI  - Effects of aeration patterns on the flow field in wastewater aeration tanks.
AB  - Due to the high energy input of aeration, the spatial distribution of air
      diffusers largely determines the flow field in aeration tanks. This has
      consequences on the efficiency of the aeration system, the performance of the
      aeration tank and on tank operation and control. This paper deals with these
      effects applying both Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) enhanced with a
      biokinetic model and full scale validation using velocity and reactive tracer
      measurements with high temporal and spatial resolution. It is shown that small
      changes in the diffuser arrangement drastically change the overall flow field.
      Using different aeration patterns in the same tank may lead to large scale
      instabilities in the flow field that lower plant performance and produce strong
      variations in concentration signals impeding their use for plant control. CFD is
      a valuable tool to analyze the interaction of flow field and aeration and their
      effects on plant performance and operation. But, in complex flow situations
      experimental validation is needed and strongly suggested.

PMID- 20932547
TI  - Assessment of dietary exposure to PCDD/F and dioxin-like PCB in infant formulae
      available on the EU market.
AB  - In infant period, human milk and infant formulae are the major sources of
      exposure to dioxins (polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDD) and dibenzofurans
      (PCDFs) and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB). Since in many parts of
      Europe the mothers are increasingly reluctant to breastfeed their babies, the
      main objective of the present study is to assess the level of exposure of non
      breast-fed infants during their early development. Consequently, the
      concentration levels of PCDD/F and dioxin-like PCB were determined in industrial
      infant formulae including "starting" (aged 0-4months) and "follow-on" (after
      4months) products of milk formula, soy formula and hypoallergenic infant formula,
      available on the EU market. Furthermore, dietary exposure to dioxin of
      exclusively formula-fed infants was assessed at each month from 0 to 9months. The
      results suggest that dietary exposure to dioxins via formulae is higher when
      consuming "starting" than "follow-on" infant formulae on a body-weight basis.
      Estimated dietary exposure after 4months of age was always below the lowest range
      of the Tolerable Daily Intake (TDI) of 1pg WHO-TEQkg(-1)bwd(-1) and Provisional
      Tolerable Monthly Intake (PTMI) of 70pg WHO-TEQkg(-1)bwmonth(-1). The highest
      estimated cumulative dietary exposure to PCDD/F and dioxin-like PCB was obtained
      considering infants of 0-1months fed with the "starting" hypoallergenic infant
      formula (2.8pg WHO-TEQkg(-1)bwd(-1) and 84pg WHO-TQkg(-1)bwmonth(-1)). However,
      these elevated levels are much lower than those observed in some studies in
      breast-fed infants. The study can be used for further risk assessments in regard
      to infant exposure.

PMID- 20932548
TI  - Occurrence of priority hazardous PAHs in water, suspended particulate matter,
      sediment and common eels (Anguilla anguilla) in the urban stretch of the River
      Tiber (Italy).
AB  - This study investigated the occurrence of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)
      in water, suspended particulate matter (SPM), bed sediment and common eels
      (Anguilla anguilla) in the urban stretch of the River Tiber (Italy). The selected
      PAHs, fluoranthene, benzo(b)fluoranthene, benzo(k)fluoranthene, benzo(a)pyrene,
      benzo(g,h,i)perylene, indeno(1,2,3-cd)pyrene, belong to the EC priority list of
      dangerous substances. SPM was found to be the most polluted compartment, with
      values ranging from 1663.1 to 15472.9 ngg(-1) (Sigma(6)PAHs), followed by
      sediment samples, from 157.8 to 271.6 ngg(-1) and by aqueous samples, from 23.9
      to 72.0 ngL(-1). The distribution coefficient (K(d)) showed a good correlation
      with particle organic carbon (OC) content, while K(oc) values experimentally
      measured for sediment/SPM deviated from those predicted by K(ow), implying that
      for very hydrophobic compounds, K(ow) alone may not be an appropriate descriptor
      of all the thermodynamic forces involved in their sorption to aquatic particles.
      Some selected PAH ratios indicated that PAHs in the River Tiber come mainly from
      pyrolitic sources and vehicular traffic. Concentrations of individual PAHs in
      muscles of common eels varied from 0.8 to 7.0 ngg(-1) wet wt. and the calculated
      toxicity equivalent concentration (TEQ, 1.8 ngg(-1) wet wt.) of total PAHs fell
      below the recommended screening value (SV) in US EPA guidelines, suggesting no
      concern for human consumption.

PMID- 20932549
TI  - Extractability and mobility of mercury from agricultural soils surrounding
      industrial and mining contaminated areas.
AB  - This study focussed on a comparison of the extractability of mercury in soils
      with two different contamination sources (a chlor-alkali plant and mining
      activities) and on the evaluation of the influence of specific soil properties on
      the behaviour of the contaminant. The method applied here did not target the
      identification of individual species, but instead provided information concerning
      the mobility of mercury species in soil. Mercury fractions were classified as
      mobile, semi-mobile and non-mobile. The fractionation study revealed that in all
      samples mercury was mainly present in the semi-mobile phase (between 63% and
      97%). The highest mercury mobility (2.7 mg kg(-1)) was found in soils from the
      industrial area. Mining soils exhibited higher percentage of non-mobile mercury,
      up to 35%, due to their elevated sulfur content. Results of factor analysis
      indicate that the presence of mercury in the mobile phase could be related to
      manganese and aluminium soil contents. A positive relation between mercury in the
      semi-mobile fraction and the aluminium content was also observed. By contrary,
      organic matter and sulfur contents contributed to mercury retention in the soil
      matrix reducing the mobility of the metal. Despite known limitations of
      sequential extraction procedures, the methodology applied in this study for the
      fractionation of mercury in contaminated soil samples provided relevant
      information on mercury's relative mobility.

PMID- 20932550
TI  - Occurrence and fate of the human pharmaceutical metabolite ritalinic acid in the
      aquatic system.
AB  - To investigate the occurrence and fate of ritalinic acid - the main human
      metabolite of the psychostimulant drug methylphenidate - in the aquatic
      environment, a HPLC-electrospray-MS/MS method for the quantification of ritalinic
      acid in wastewater, surface water and bank filtrate was developed. Carbamazepine
      known as very stable in the aquatic environment was analyzed as anthropogenic
      marker in parallel. Furthermore, the removal of ritalinic acid was studied in a
      sewage treatment plant using an activated sludge system during a field study and
      in lab-scale plants. In good agreement between lab-scale and field studies a low
      removal rate of 13% and 23%, respectively, was determined. As a consequence, the
      concentration of ritalinic acid in the wastewater effluents were in the range of
      <50-170 ngL(-1) which corresponds to a mean specific load per capita of 17.7
      MUgd(-1). Ritalinic acid has further been detected in German rivers at
      concentrations of 4-23 ngL(-1) and in bank filtrate samples in 100-850 m distance
      from the river up to 5 ngL(-1) demonstrating the widespread occurrence of this
      stable metabolite in the aquatic environment. A comparison to available sales
      data shows that a significant amount of methylphenidate applied can be found in
      waters as ritalinic acid.

PMID- 20932551
TI  - Enhancement by anthraquinone-2-sulphonate of the photonitration of phenol by
      nitrite: implication for the photoproduction of nitrogen dioxide by coloured
      dissolved organic matter in surface waters.
AB  - Anthraquinone-2-sulphonate (AQ2S) under UVA irradiation is able to oxidise
      nitrite to (.)NO(2) and to induce the nitration of phenol. The process involves
      the very fast reactions of the excited triplet state (3)AQ2S(*) and its 520-nm
      absorbing exciplex with water, at different time scales (ns and MUs,
      respectively). Quinones are ubiquitous components of coloured dissolved organic
      matter (CDOM) in surface waters and AQ2S was adopted here as a proxy of CDOM.
      Using a recently developed model of surface-water photochemistry, we found that
      the oxidation of nitrite to (.)NO(2) by (3)CDOM(*) could be an important (.)NO(2)
      source in water bodies with high [NO(2)(-)] to [NO(3)(-)] ratio, for elevated
      values of column depth and NPOC.

PMID- 20932552
TI  - Evaluation of the noncovalent binding interactions between polycyclic aromatic
      hydrocarbon metabolites and human p53 cDNA.
AB  - The binding of reactive polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) metabolites, formed
      enzymatically, to DNA is a crucial step in PAH carcinogenesis in vivo. We
      investigated the noncovalent binding interactions between 11 PAH metabolites and
      human p53 complementary DNA (p53 cDNA) using the fluorescence displacement method
      and molecular docking analysis. All of the examined metabolites predominantly
      interacted with p53 cDNA by intercalation instead of groove binding. The
      dissociation constants ranged from 0.02 to 12.34MUM. Of the metabolites tested, 1
      hydroxypyrene and 3-hydroxybenzo[a]pyrene showed the strongest binding affinities
      to DNA, while 2-naphthol was the weakest DNA intercalator. The intercalation of
      the metabolites was stabilized by stacking the PAH phenyl rings with the DNA base
      pairs and the formation of hydrogen bonds between the oxide or hydroxyl groups on
      the metabolites, and DNA bases or backbones. The binding of the metabolites to
      DNA showed some sequence selectivity. The binding affinities and hydrogen bonds
      for 3-hydroxybenzo[a]pyrene, benzo[a]pyrene-4,5-dihydroepoxide (BPE) and
      benzo[a]pyrene-r-7,t-8-dihydrodiol-t-9,10-epoxide (BPDE) differed. It seems that
      the functional groups on the periphery of the PAH aromatic ring play crucial
      roles in regulating its binding affinity with DNA. Although it was difficult to
      determine the correlation between DNA noncovalent binding affinity and
      carcinogenicity for some of the PAH metabolites, the present study improved our
      understanding of the formation of PAH metabolite-DNA adducts.

PMID- 20932553
TI  - Osteoprotegerin is higher in peripheral arterial disease regardless of glycaemic
      status.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM)
      are both associated with excessive vascular calcification and elevated levels of
      inflammatory markers IL-6 and hsCRP. The recently identified
      Osteoprotegerin(OPG)/RANKL/TRAIL pathway has been implicated in vascular
      calcification, but data on levels in PAD and effect of co-existent DM are
      lacking. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 4 groups of patients were recruited - 26 with PAD
      and DM, 35 with DM alone, 22 with PAD alone, and 21 healthy individuals. Serum
      OPG, RANKL, TRAIL, hsCRP and IL-6 were measured using commercial ELISA assays.
      Presence and severity of PAD was defined using ankle brachial index (ABI).
      RESULTS: Serum OPG (7.4+/-0.3 vs.5.8+/-0.2 pmol/l, p<0.0001), TRAIL (95.5+/-5.2
      ng/ml vs. 76.2+/-4.4 ng/ml, p=0.006), hsCRP (2.6+/-0.3 vs. 1.8+/-0.3 mg/l,
      p=0.048), and IL-6 (4.1+/-0.4 vs. 2.9+/-0.4 pg/ml, p=0.06) were higher in
      patients with PAD. There was no difference in RANKL. Only OPG was significantly
      higher in PAD and DM (7.2+/-0.3 pmol/l) and PAD alone (7.7+/-0.4 pmol/l) compared
      to DM only (5.8+/-0.3 pmol/l) and healthy controls (5.6+/-0.4 pmol/l), p<0.01,
      but OPG was no higher in those with DM plus PAD versus those with PAD alone
      (p<0.3). Only OPG was associated with PAD severity, correlating negatively with
      ABI (r=-0.26, p=0.03), independent of age, gender, glycaemic status, hsCRP and IL
      6. CONCLUSIONS: PAD is associated with higher serum OPG, regardless of the co
      existence of DM. This finding, in addition to its correlation with severity of
      PAD, suggests that OPG may be a novel marker for the presence and severity of
      PAD, possibly by reflecting the degree of underlying vascular calcification.

PMID- 20932554
TI  - Involvement of heparanase in vaginal and cesarean section deliveries.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Heparanase is an endo-beta-D-glucuronidase dominantly involved in
      cell invasion, tumor angiogenesis and metastasis. Recently, we demonstrated
      increased levels of heparanase, tissue factor pathway inhibitor (TFPI)-2 and
      vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-A in early miscarriages (Nadir et al.,
      Thromb Res, 2010). Herein, we investigated the role of heparanase in third
      trimester placentas, in correlation to tissue factor (TF), TFPI, TFPI-2, and VEGF
      A. METHODS: Twenty five third-trimester placenta samples (weeks 36-41) were
      studied applying real time RTPCR and immunostaining. Ten cases were placentas of
      elective cesarean sections, 8 cases were of normal vaginal deliveries and 7
      samples were placentas of intra-uterine growth restriction (IUGR) fetuses. Skin
      and lung tissues of heparanase over-expressing mice and heparanase knock-out mice
      were subjected to immunostaining. RESULTS: Sections obtained from vaginal and
      IUGR placentas revealed 2 folds increased levels of heparanase, TFPI-2 and VEGF-A
      compared to placentas from elective cesarean sections in maternal decidua as well
      as in fetal placenta elements. Interestingly, abundance of TFPI staining in the
      intra-villous blood was observed in placentas of vaginal and IUGR deliveries.
      Heparanase effect on TFPI release to the blood was supported by immunostaining of
      heparanase over-expressing and heparanase knock-out mice tissues. CONCLUSIONS: In
      regard to our previous data on early pregnancy losses, the present data
      strengthen the understanding that in placental vascular complications levels of
      heparanase, TFPI-2 and VEGF-A increase. In the process of delivery, heparanase
      may have a regulatory role on TFPI release to fetal circulation.

PMID- 20932556
TI  - Modulation of adrenergic responses of human vas deferens by K+ channel
      inhibitors.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The present study was designed to evaluate the role of K(+) channels
      in the adrenergic responses of human vas deferens as well as the intervention of
      dihydropyridine-sensitive Ca(2+) channels on modulation of adrenergic responses
      by K(+) channel inhibitors. METHODS: Ring segments of the epididymal part of the
      vas deferens were taken from 32 elective vasectomies and mounted in organ baths
      for isometric recording of tension. We then studied the effects of K(+) channel
      blockers on neurogenic and norepinephrine-induced contractile responses. RESULTS:
      Addition of tetraethylammonium (TEA, 10(-3) M), a nonspecific K(+) channel
      blocker, or charybdotoxin (10(-7) M), a nonselective inhibitor of large- and
      intermediate-conductance Ca(2+)-activated K(+) channel, increased the contractile
      responses to norepinephrine and electrical field stimulation-induced contractions
      (P < .01), whereas iberiotoxin (10(-7) M), a selective blocker of large
      conductance Ca(2+)-activated K(+) channels, apamin (10(-6) M), a blocker of small
      conductance Ca(2+)-activated K(+) channels, or glibenclamide (10(-5) M), an
      inhibitor of ATP-sensitive K(+) channels, were without effect. TEA- and
      charybdotoxin-induced potentiation of contractions elicited by electrical field
      stimulation and norepinephrine was blocked by L-type Ca(2+) channel blocker
      nifedipine (10(-6) M). CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that charybdotoxin
      sensitive, but iberiotoxin-insensitive, K(+) channels are activated by
      stimulation with norepinephrine and electrical field stimulation to counteract
      the adrenergic-induced contractions of human vas deferens. Thus, inhibition of
      these channels increases significantly the contraction, an effect that appears to
      be mediated by an increase in Ca(2+) entry through L-type voltage-dependent
      Ca(2+) channels.

PMID- 20932557
TI  - Unnecessary imaging for the staging of low-risk prostate cancer is common.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To quantify the rate of overuse of preoperative imaging procedures in
      a referral cohort of low-risk patients. International evidence-based best
      practice guidelines discourage routine imaging for staging purposes in low-risk
      patients with newly diagnosed prostate cancer. MATERIAL AND METHODS: An
      institutional database comprised of all patients undergoing robotic-assisted
      laparoscopic prostatectomy was queried for "low-risk" patients between May 2005
      and January 2010. "Low-risk" was defined by the most inclusive criteria for
      imaging recommendations: prostate-specific antigen <=10 ng/mL and Gleason score
      <=6. We defined staging imaging as a bone scan, computed tomography (CT) of the
      pelvis or endorectal magnetic resonance imaging performed after the diagnosis of
      prostate cancer and before prostatectomy for the indication of "prostate cancer."
      Six-hundred seventy-seven patients were identified as having low-risk disease and
      comprised our study population. RESULTS: Of the 677 patients identified as low
      risk, 328 (48%) underwent at least one preoperative imaging procedure despite the
      guideline recommendations. Two-hundred two of 677 (30%) patients were
      administered at least 2 of the 3 modalities, and 18/677 (3%) patients received
      all 3 imaging examinations before prostatectomy. Suspicious results from the CT
      (7/265%, 2.7%) or bone scan (21/241%, 8.7%) resulted in 27 patients undergoing
      additional radiographic imaging, none of which resulted in suspicious lesions
      requiring intervention or biopsy. CONCLUSIONS: Despite international evidence
      based guidelines for the staging of newly diagnosed prostate cancer patients,
      many urologists continue to refer low-risk patients for unnecessary imaging
      studies. This may place the patient at increased risk from radiation or contrast
      exposure and places an unnecessary financial burden on the patient and health
      care system.

PMID- 20932558
TI  - Electroejaculatory stimulation for male infertility secondary to spinal cord
      injury: the Irish experience in National Rehabilitation Hospital.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To examine the success rate of electroejaculatory stimulation in
      patients with acquired spinal injuries in a single Irish institution. The use of
      electroejaculatory stimulation is of benefit in patients with spinal cord injury
      who wish to have children. METHODS: A retrospective review of the Hospital In
      Patient Enquiry scheme database and the patients' medical notes was performed.
      Any patient who had undergone electroejaculatory stimulation in the past 14 years
      was included. The quality of semen obtained and the pregnancy rate were assessed
      in relation to several variables, including patient age and level of spinal
      injury. RESULTS: From 1994 to 2008, 31 patients (29 patients with acquired spinal
      injury and 2 patients with a congenital spinal abnormality) had undergone
      electroejaculatory stimulation as a method of providing semen for assisted
      conception. Of the 31 patients, 6 had requested cryopreservation of their semen
      for future use and were therefore excluded from the pregnancy rate analysis. Of
      the 25 patients who had used the semen, 9 (36%) were successful in achieving
      pregnancy that resulted in living offspring. The semen analysis results were
      available for 15 patients. Three patients (one each with contaminated semen, poor
      semen quality, and an abandoned procedure) required testicular biopsy to extract
      viable sperm and subsequently achieved pregnancy. Lower spinal lesions (below
      T10) were associated with lower rates of pregnancy after electroejaculatory
      stimulation. One patient developed autonomic dysreflexia during the procedure,
      which was therefore abandoned. CONCLUSIONS: Electroejaculatory stimulation is an
      effective method of obtaining semen for reproductive purposes and is an option
      for fertility preservation in patients with spinal cord injury-related
      anejaculation.

PMID- 20932559
TI  - Sex-sorted bovine spermatozoa and DNA damage: I. Static features.
AB  - This study examined the static response of Spermatozoa DNA Fragmentation (SDF)
      after sex selection in bulls using a MoFlo((r)) SX (Beckman Coulter, Miami FL)
      spermatozoa sorter to produce three different subpopulations: 1) Spermatozoa
      bearing X- chromosomes with a purity of 95%, 2) Spermatozoa bearing Y-chromosomes
      with a purity of 95%, and 3) non-viable spermatozoa. The static response of SDF
      refers to the baseline values observed for DNA damage when analyzed pre- and post
      sex-sorting. Results showed that while the baseline level SDF in pre-sorted bull
      spermatozoa samples ranged from 5.3% to 11% with an average of 7.9% +/- 2.1%, the
      level of SDF obtained in X- and Y-chromosome sorted samples was much lower (3.1%
      +/- 1.9%) and statistical differences were obtained after comparing both groups
      (P < 0.01). Spermatozoa containing a fragmented DNA molecule tend to be
      accumulated in the non-viable subpopulation. The baseline SDF level in X- and Y
      chromosome sorted subpopulations is reduced, by 63% on average when compared to
      the values obtained in the neat semen sample. Different bulls exhibit unique SDF
      reduction efficiencies via the X- and Y-chromosome sex selection process.

PMID- 20932560
TI  - Immunohistochemical localization of aromatase during the development and atresia
      of ovarian follicles in prepubertal horses.
AB  - Ovarian steroidogenesis from the neonatal to pubertal period in horses is poorly
      understood. This study was designed to immunolocalize cytochrome P450 aromatase
      in the ovarian follicles of slaughtered fillies ages approximately (I) 6-9 mo
      (<10MF); (II) 1 y (1YF); and (III) 1.5 y (1.5YF). The ovaries of adult mares were
      used as controls. In each age group, immunoreactivity for P450arom was observed
      in the mural granulosa of nonatretic follicles >5 mm in diameter. Staining
      intensity was dependent on the size and morphology of the follicle. In nonatretic
      follicles 5-10 mm in diameter, the reaction was weak and heterogeneous, while
      most intense staining was observed in preovulatory follicles. In follicles
      (diameter <20 mm) in the groups <10MF and 1YF, the reaction was less intense than
      in adult mare follicles of similar size. In each age group, several follicles
      with early or advanced signs of atresia exhibited a heterogeneous staining
      pattern, which subsequently disappeared in late atretic follicles. No
      immunoreactivity was detected in the theca interna, preantral follicle, or stroma
      cells. Our observations reveal that the mural granulosa of viable follicles in
      fillies about 6-18 mo old contains aromatase, indicating that the ovary is
      capable of estrogen synthesis. Immunoreactivity for P450arom was dependent on
      follicle size and disappeared in atretic follicles.

PMID- 20932561
TI  - Immunolocalization of the hyaluronan receptor CD44 in the reproductive tract of
      the mare.
AB  - Hyaluronan (HA), a glycosaminoglycan, is a major component of the pericellular
      matrix which envelopes mammalian cells. Binding of hyaluronan to one of its
      specific receptors, CD44, modulates transduction of intracellular signals which
      direct a variety of processes, including embryogenesis, wound healing,
      inflammation, and neoplasia. Since regulation of these processes is critical to
      equine reproductive success, localization of constitutive CD44 expression was
      evaluated by immunohistochemical methods in ovarian, oviductal, and uterine
      tissues from healthy mares. Ovarian stroma contained thecal cells with varying
      CD44 immunopositivity. Follicular and granulosa cells of some antral and atretic
      follicles were positive for CD44. In the oviduct, the luminal epithelium was
      variably positive for CD44, with overall decreasing intensity of immunostaining
      from the infundibulum to the isthmus. The CD44 molecule was expressed strongly by
      surface epithelial cells of the uterine endometrium, but was present only rarely
      among cells of uterine glands. In addition, CD44 was expressed by smooth muscle
      cells of vascular walls, oviduct, and uterus. Since CD44 is known to modulate
      cell movement and differentiation, and was present at multiple sites in the
      reproductive tract of normal mares, we inferred there may be an important role
      for the HA-CD44 signaling pathway in reproductive function and inflammation.

PMID- 20932563
TI  - The neural basis of the right visual field advantage in reading: an MEG analysis
      using virtual electrodes.
AB  - Right-handed participants respond more quickly and more accurately to written
      words presented in the right visual field (RVF) than in the left visual field
      (LVF). Previous attempts to identify the neural basis of the RVF advantage have
      had limited success. Experiment 1 was a behavioral study of lateralized word
      naming which established that the words later used in Experiment 2 showed a
      reliable RVF advantage which persisted over multiple repetitions. In Experiment
      2, the same words were interleaved with scrambled words and presented in the LVF
      and RVF to right-handed participants seated in an MEG scanner. Participants read
      the real words silently and responded "pattern" covertly to the scrambled words.
      A beamformer analysis created statistical maps of changes in oscillatory power
      within the brain. Those whole-brain maps revealed activation of the reading
      network by both LVF and RVF words. Virtual electrode analyses used the same
      beamforming method to reconstruct the responses to real and scrambled words in
      three regions of interest in both hemispheres. The middle occipital gyri showed
      faster and stronger responses to contralateral than to ipsilateral stimuli, with
      evidence of asymmetric channeling of information into the left hemisphere. The
      left mid fusiform gyrus at the site of the 'visual word form area' responded more
      strongly to RVF than to LVF words. Activity in speech-motor cortex was
      lateralized to the left hemisphere, and stronger to RVF than LVF words, which is
      interpreted as representing the proximal cause of the RVF advantage for naming
      written words.

PMID- 20932562
TI  - Effects of tasks on BOLD signal responses to sentence contrasts: Review and
      commentary.
AB  - Functional neuroimaging studies of syntactic processing have been interpreted as
      identifying the neural locations of parsing and interpretive operations. However,
      current behavioral studies of sentence processing indicate that many operations
      occur simultaneously with parsing and interpretation. In this review, we point to
      issues that arise in discriminating the effects of these concurrent processes
      from those of the parser/interpreter in neural measures and to approaches that
      may help resolve them.

PMID- 20932565
TI  - Fracture toughness of two dentin adhesives.
AB  - PURPOSE: Test the hypothesis that a self-etching adhesive is more likely to fail
      at the dentin-adhesive interface than an etch-and-rinse adhesive. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: Forty-eight composite-dentin short rod chevron-notched specimens were
      prepared. XP Bond and G Bond were used as adhesives. After 7 days in distilled
      water at 37 degrees C, each specimen was tested (cross-head speed=0.05 mm/min).
      Fractured surfaces were inspected and characterized as interfacial failures,
      composite failures or a combination of interfacial and composite failures. The
      fracture toughness values (K(IC)) of the two adhesives were compared (Student's t
      test and Weibull statistics). RESULTS: Of the specimens bonded with XP Bond, 50%
      failed at the dentin-adhesive interface, 42% at both the dentin-adhesive and
      composite interface and 8% in the composite alone. Of the specimens bonded with G
      Bond, 41% failed at the dentin-adhesive interface, 53% at both the dentin
      adhesive and composite interface and 6% in the composite alone. The K(IC) values
      of the two adhesives differed significantly (p<0.05). XP Bond had a K(IC) of
      0.77+/-0.11 MNm(-3/2) (n=17), while G Bond a K(IC) of 0.62+/-0.21 MNm(-3/2)
      (n=12). CONCLUSION: The high percentage of mixed failures did not support the
      hypothesis that the dentin-adhesive interface is clearly less resistant to
      fracture than the adhesive-composite interface. The finding that cracks occurred
      in 6-8% in the composite suggests that defects within the composite or at the
      adhesive-composite interface are important variables to consider in adhesion
      testing.

PMID- 20932564
TI  - A new method to test the fracture probability of all-ceramic crowns with a dual
      axis chewing simulator.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to validate a new laboratory method to
      test all-ceramic systems with regard to the proportion of failures. METHODS:
      Sixteen standardized mandibular molar crowns consisting of two different
      materials (IPS Empress, IPS e.max Press) were adhesively luted on CAD/CAM milled
      PMMA abutments (first lower molar, circular chamfer). All crowns were loaded
      applying an eccentric force in a Willytec chewing simulator (steel stylus, O 2.4
      mm, 2 mm lateral movement from fossa to cuspal tip) with stepwise increase of the
      load (3, 5, 9 kg, 100,000 cycles each, 0.8 Hz) and simultaneous thermocycling (5
      degrees C/55 degrees C*417 per phase). Another four crowns of each material were
      subjected to force measurements with a 3D force sensor during dynamic loading of
      each loading phase using two different lateral movements (from fossa to cusp and
      vice versa). RESULTS: The cumulative forces for the three directions in space
      were much higher compared to the static load of the chewing simulator (maximal
      force at 3 kg 60 N, 5 kg 160 N, 9 kg 240 N). There was no statistically
      significant difference in the mean or maximal force between the two materials or
      two different lateral movements. During dynamic loading, no fractures occurred in
      the molar crowns made of IPS e.max Press, whereas 50% of the IPS Empress crowns
      showed failures (75% fractures and 25% chippings) (log-rank test p=0.002). Most
      of the Empress crowns fractured during the third loading phase (9 kg).
      CONCLUSIONS: The forces that the dead weights exerted during dynamic loading were
      2-3 times higher than those during static loading. None of the lithium disilicate
      ceramic molar crowns fractured, whereas half of the leucite reinforced molar
      crowns failed during dynamic loading.

PMID- 20932566
TI  - NHS reform: untried remedies for misdiagnosed problems?

PMID- 20932567
TI  - Polyplex micelles prepared from omega-cholesteryl PEG-polycation block copolymers
      for systemic gene delivery.
AB  - Polyplex micelles formed with plasmid DNA (pDNA) and poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG)
      block-poly{N-[N-(2-aminoethyl)-2-aminoethyl]aspartamide} [PAsp(DET)] exhibit
      effective endosomal escaping properties based on di-protonation of diamine side
      chains with decreasing pH, which improves their transfection efficiency and thus
      are promising candidates for local in vivo gene transfer. Here, PEG-PAsp(DET)
      polyplex micelles were further improved as in vivo systemic vectors by
      introduction of cholesterol (Chole) into the omega-terminus of PEG-PAsp(DET) to
      obtain PEG-PAsp(DET)-Chole. Introduction of the cholesterol resulted in enhanced
      association of block copolymers with pDNA, which led to increased stability in
      proteinous medium and also in the blood stream after systemic injection compared
      to PEG-PAsp(DET) micelles. The synergistic effect between enhanced polymer
      association with pDNA and increased micelle stability of PEG-PAsp(DET)-Chole
      polyplex micelles led to high in vitro gene transfer even at relatively low
      concentrations, due to efficient cellular uptake and effective endosomal escape
      of block copolymers and pDNA. Finally, PEG-PAsp(DET)-Chole micelles achieved
      significant suppression of tumor growth following intravenous injection into mice
      bearing a subcutaneous pancreatic tumor using therapeutic pDNA encoding an anti
      angiogenic protein. These results suggest that PEG-PAsp(DET)-Chole micelles can
      be effective systemic gene vectors for treatment of solid tumors.

PMID- 20932569
TI  - Biodegradable CpG DNA hydrogels for sustained delivery of doxorubicin and
      immunostimulatory signals in tumor-bearing mice.
AB  - Immunostimulatory CpG DNA was self-assembled to form DNA hydrogels for use as a
      sustained delivery system for both intercalated doxorubicin (DXR) and
      immunostimulatory CpG motifs for cancer treatment. X-shaped DNA (X-DNA) was
      designed as a building unit, and underwent ligation to form DNA hydrogels. Two
      types of X-DNA were constructed using four oligodeoxynucleotides each, one
      containing six potent CpG motifs (CpG X-DNA) and the other with none (CpG-free X
      DNA). CpG X-DNA was more effective than its components or the CpG-free
      counterpart in terms of the production of tumor necrosis factor-alpha from murine
      macrophage-like RAW264.7 cells, as well as maturation of the murine dendritic
      DC2.4 cells. The cytotoxic effects of X-DNA, DXR and their complexes were
      examined in a co-culture system of colon26/Luc cells, a murine adenocarcinoma
      clone stably expressing firefly luciferase, and RAW264.7 cells. DXR/CpG X-DNA
      showed the highest ability to inhibit the proliferation of colon26/Luc cells. DXR
      was slowly released from CpG DNA hydrogels. Injections of DXR/CpG DNA hydrogels
      into a subcutaneous colon26 tumor effectively inhibited tumor growth. These
      results show that CpG DNA hydrogels are an effective sustained system for
      delivery of immunostimulatory signals to TLR9-positive immune cells and DXR to
      cancer cells.

PMID- 20932568
TI  - Cell-cell signaling in co-cultures of macrophages and fibroblasts.
AB  - The foreign body response (FBR) comprises a general, ubiquitous host tissue-based
      reaction to implanted materials. In vitro cell-based models are frequently
      employed to study FBR mechanisms involving cell signaling responses to materials.
      However, these models often study only one cell type, identify only limited
      signals, and cannot accurately represent the complexity of in vivo inflammatory
      signaling. To address this issue, a cell co-culture system involving two primary
      effector cells of the FBR, macrophages and fibroblasts, was employed. Cell-cell
      signaling systems were monitored between these cell types, including long-term 1)
      culture of one cell type in conditioned media from the other cell type, 2) non
      contacting cell co-cultures (paracrine signaling), and 3) contact co-cultures
      (juxtacrine signaling) of primary- and secondary-derived cells. Cell culture
      media and cell images were collected on Days 1, 2, 3, 7, 14, and 21 and changes
      in soluble protein secretion, cellular behavior, and morphology were assessed.
      Primary- and secondary-derived cells responded uniquely during each signaling
      scenario and to one another. In general higher in vitro fidelity to FBR-like
      responses was found in primary cell co-cultures compared to their mono-cultures
      and all secondary cell cultures.

PMID- 20932570
TI  - Infarct stabilization and cardiac repair with a VEGF-conjugated, injectable
      hydrogel.
AB  - Injectable scaffolds made of biodegradable biomaterials can stabilize a
      myocardial infarct and promote cardiac repair. Here, we describe the synthesis of
      a new, temperature-sensitive, aliphatic polyester hydrogel (HG) conjugated with
      vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and evaluate its effects on cardiac
      recovery after a myocardial infarction (MI). Seven days after coronary ligation
      in rats, PBS, HG, or HG mixed or conjugated with VEGF (HG + VEGF or HG-VEGF,
      respectively) was injected around the infarct (n = 8-11/group). Function was
      evaluated by echocardiography at multiple time points. Pressure-volume
      measurements were taken and infarct morphometry and blood vessel density were
      assessed at 35 days after injection. HG-VEGF provided localized, sustained VEGF
      function. Compared with outcomes in the PBS group, fractional shortening,
      ventricular volumes, preload recruitable stroke work, and end-systolic elastance
      were all preserved (p < 0.05) in the HG and HG + VEGF groups, and further
      preserved in the HG-VEGF group. Conjugated VEGF also produced the highest blood
      vessel density (p < 0.05). The infarct thinned and dilated after PBS injection,
      but was smaller and thicker in hearts treated with HG (p < 0.05). Our temperature
      sensitive HG attenuated adverse cardiac remodeling and improved ventricular
      function when injected after an MI. VEGF delivery enhanced these effects when the
      VEGF was conjugated to the HG.

PMID- 20932571
TI  - Surface plasmonic gold nanorods for enhanced two-photon microscopic imaging and
      apoptosis induction of cancer cells.
AB  - Two-photon microscopy powered by a femtosecond laser is a promising tool for
      luminescence imaging and localized microsurgery of cancers. However, the high
      energy required to destruct cells limits its medical applications. In this work,
      gold nanorods were conjugated with transferrin for efficient targeting, two
      photon luminescence imaging and enhanced microsurgery of cancer cells. Due to the
      large two-photon excitation cross section of gold nanorods, gold nanorods are a
      hundred times more efficient than Fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC), a common
      molecular dye, in three-dimensional imaging of cancer cells. The enhanced light
      absorption and energy conversion by gold nanorods enable treatment of cells with
      energy fluences two orders of magnitude below that in the absence of gold
      nanorods. By manipulating the energy fluence, apoptosis of cancer cells has been
      achieved. At a same power density, the energy fluence for apoptosis induction is
      less than 20% of that for necrosis. Gold nanorods-enhanced luminescence imaging
      coupled with apoptosis induction of cancer cells provides a medically safe
      femtosecond laser-based imaging and microsurgery system for cancer diagnosis and
      treatment.

PMID- 20932572
TI  - Recombinant self-assembling peptides as biomaterials for tissue engineering.
AB  - Synthetic nanostructures based on self-assembling systems that aim to mimic
      natural extracellular matrix are now being used as substrates in tissue
      engineering applications. Peptides are excellent starting materials for the self
      assembly process as they can be readily synthesised both chemically and
      biologically. P11-4 is an 11 amino acid peptide that undergoes triggered self
      assembly to form a self-supporting hydrogel. It exists as unimers of random coil
      conformations in water above pH 7.5 but at low pH adopts an antiparallel beta
      sheet conformation. It also self-assembles under physiological conditions in a
      concentration-dependent manner. Here we describe an unimer P11-4 production
      system and the use of a simple site-directed mutagenesis approach to generate a
      series of other P11-family peptide expression vectors. We have developed an
      efficient purification strategy for these peptide biomaterials using a simple
      procedure involving chemical cleavage with cyanogen bromide then repeated
      filtration, lyophilisation and wash steps. We report peptide-fusion protein
      yields of ca. 4.64 g/L and we believe the highest reported recovery of a
      recombinant self-assembling peptide at 203 mg/L of pure recombinant P11-4. This
      peptide forms a self-supporting hydrogel under physiological conditions with
      essentially identical physico-chemical properties to the chemically synthesised
      peptide. Critically it also displays excellent cytocompatibility when tested with
      primary human dermal fibroblasts. This study demonstrates that high levels of a
      series of recombinant self-assembling peptides can be purified using a simple
      process for applications as scaffolds in tissue engineering.

PMID- 20932573
TI  - Study of the therapeutic benefit of cationic copolymer administration to vascular
      endothelium under mechanical stress.
AB  - Pulmonary edema and the associated increases in vascular permeability continue to
      represent a significant clinical problem in the intensive care setting, with no
      current treatment modality other than supportive care and mechanical ventilation.
      Therapeutic compound(s) capable of attenuating changes in vascular barrier
      function would represent a significant advance in critical care medicine. We have
      previously reported the development of HPMA-based copolymers, targeted to
      endothelial glycocalyx that are able to enhance barrier function. In this work,
      we report the refinement of copolymer design and extend our physiological studies
      to demonstrate that the polymers: 1) reduce both shear stress and pressure
      mediated increase in hydraulic conductivity, 2) reduce nitric oxide production in
      response to elevated hydrostatic pressure and, 3) reduce the capillary filtration
      coefficient (K(fc)) in an isolated perfused mouse lung model. These copolymers
      represent an important tool for use in mechanotransduction research and a novel
      strategy for developing clinically useful copolymers for the treatment of
      vascular permeability.

PMID- 20932574
TI  - Differential redistribution of Ca2+-handling proteins during polarisation of MDCK
      cells: Effects on Ca2+ signalling.
AB  - The spatial organisation of the Ca(2+) signal in microdomains enables the
      regulation of various processes in specific regions of the cell and is essential
      for the versatility of cell responses to various stimuli. Ca(2+) signals can be
      independently regulated in the cytoplasm and in the nucleoplasm. Increases in the
      concentration of Ca(2+) in the nucleus can have specific effects different from
      those due to increases of Ca(2+) in the cytoplasm. We investigated the influence
      of cell polarity on the subcellular distribution of molecules responsible for
      intracellular Ca(2+) homeostasis (Ca(2+) release channels, Ca(2+) pumps and
      Ca(2+) binding proteins) and its influence on the intracellular Ca(2+) signal in
      MDCK cells with respect to its cytoplasmic or nucleoplasmic localisation. The
      intracellular Ca(2+) store was largely reorganised during cell polarisation, with
      a differential redistribution of IP3R, Ca(2+)-binding proteins and SERCA between
      the nuclear envelope and the periphery of the cell. This was accompanied by
      morphological changes in cell shape, which condense the cytoplasm around the
      nucleus, and in the shape of the nucleus, resulting in invaginations of the
      nuclear envelope. This facilitates Ca(2+) exchanges between the cytoplasm and the
      nucleoplasm, and preserves the ability to generate nucleoplasmic Ca(2+)
      transients in agonist-stimulated polarised MDCK cells.

PMID- 20932575
TI  - Calcium regulates cyclic compression-induced early changes in chondrocytes during
      in vitro cartilage tissue formation.
AB  - A single application of cyclic compression (1kPa, 1Hz, 30min) to bioengineered
      cartilage results in improved tissue formation through sequential catabolic and
      anabolic changes mediated via cell shape changes that are regulated by
      alpha5beta1 integrin and membrane-type metalloprotease (MT1-MMP). To determine if
      calcium was involved in this process, the role of calcium in regulating cell
      shape changes, MT1-MMP expression and integrin activity in response to mechanical
      stimulation was examined. Stimulation-induced changes in cell shape and MT1-MMP
      expression were abolished by chelation of extracellular calcium, and this effect
      was reversed by re-introduction of calcium. Spreading was inhibited by blocking
      stretch-activated channels (with gadolinium), while retraction was prevented by
      blocking the L-Type voltage-gated channel (with nifedipine); both compounds
      inhibited MT1-MMP upregulation. Calcium A23187 ionophore restored cellular
      response further supporting a role for these channels. Calcium regulated the
      integrin-mediated signalling pathway, which was facilitated through Src kinase.
      Both calcium- and integrin-mediated pathways converged on ERK-MAPK in response to
      stimulation. While both integrins and calcium signalling mediate chondrocyte
      mechanotransduction, calcium appears to play the major regulatory role.
      Understanding the underlying molecular mechanisms involved in chondrocyte
      mechanotransduction may lead to the development of improved bioengineered
      cartilage.

PMID- 20932576
TI  - Cumulative risk exposure and mental health symptoms among maltreated youth placed
      in out-of-home care.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Maltreated children placed in out-of-home care are at high risk for
      exhibiting symptoms of psychopathology by virtue of their exposure to numerous
      risk factors. Research examining cumulative risk has consistently found that the
      accumulation of risk factors increases the likelihood of mental health problems.
      The goal of the current study was to elucidate the relation between cumulative
      risk and mental health symptomatology. METHODS: The study consisted of a sample
      of 252 maltreated youths (aged 9-11) placed in out-of-home care. RESULTS:
      Analyses confirmed the high-risk nature of this sample and identified seven
      salient risk variables. The cumulative risk index comprised of these seven
      indicators was a strong predictor of mental health symptoms, differentiating
      between children who scored in the clinical range with regard to mental health
      symptoms and those who did not. Finally, the data supported a linear model in
      which each incremental increase in cumulative risk was accompanied by an increase
      in mental health problems. CONCLUSION: This is the first known study to examine
      cumulative risk within a sample of youths in out-of-home care.

PMID- 20932577
TI  - The occurrence of nickel and other elements in tissues of the hip joint.
AB  - Nickel is applied in the production of surgical instruments and compounds of
      nickel affect the osseous tissue. The objective of this study was to determine
      the contents of nickel and 11 elements in tissues of a hip joint obtained from
      inhabitants of the Upper-Silesian Industrial Area. The samples were collected
      intra-operatively during Total Hip Replacement procedures, in most cases the
      indication for the surgery was hip osteoarthritis. Concentrations of nickel and
      11 trace elements were measured with a Pye Unicam SP-9 acetylene-oxygen flame
      atomic absorption spectrometer (AAS). Additional analyses were conducted to
      identify the correlations occurring between these elements. The average content
      of trace elements in the hip joint was as follows (mg kg(-1)): Cd 0.66, Cr 7.58,
      Cu 8.43, Mn 0.79, Pb 3.75, Ni 4.82, Fe 252.13, Zn 75.65, Mg 1306.19, K 3938.67,
      Na 7484.52, Ca 49485.44. The study demonstrated that the content of nickel and
      the other elements was diversified, depending on the element of the hip joint,
      gender and the type of affection the endoprosthesis-plasty was performed for.

PMID- 20932578
TI  - A school peer mediation program as a context for exploring therapeutic
      jurisprudence (TJ): Can a peer mediation program inform the law?
AB  - This paper reports an exploratory study of a school peer mediation program
      implemented as an alternative way to manage bullying and other destructive
      conflict. The study explores the effects of the program on the well-being of
      members of the school community by examining perceptions of students, staff and a
      sample of parents and former students. Drawing on therapeutic jurisprudence (TJ)
      the study explores whether the component parts of the program, separately or
      together, promote intended or unintended therapeutic effects. The preliminary
      findings of the study emphasise the importance of peer mediation training and
      suggest that existing scholarship in the area of school conflict resolution and
      peer mediation, when viewed through a TJ lens, may provide valuable insights into
      how to optimally configure programs for development and adoption in schools and
      other community settings. The study highlights the lack of attention paid by the
      legal system to valuable scholarship in the area of school conflict resolution
      and peer mediation, which may have implications for the understanding and
      development of legal processes and the law in general.

PMID- 20932579
TI  - Sex crime legislation: Proactive and anti-therapeutic effects.
AB  - Therapeutic jurisprudence may have its major role within law practice, but
      analysis of the law from a therapeutic perspective is a task that should not be
      neglected; how a piece of legislation is designed and formulated certainly
      influences the therapeutic outcome of a legal process. This article uses sex
      legislation as an example to demonstrate how the old rape law based on coercion
      has anti-therapeutic effects on rape victims. If the law requires resistance, it
      implies that a woman is sexually available until she resists physically,
      resulting in an attitude that a woman reporting rape without injuries should be
      mistrusted. This mistrust of the victim and the victim's attendant feelings of
      self-blame aggravate the victim's trauma. On the other hand, a modern rape law
      based on lack of consent gives the signal that a woman is not available until she
      has given her consent, resulting in a different starting position for the
      investigation. Since the will of the victim must be respected, the victim herself
      must be respected in the legal process. Furthermore, being able to tell one's
      story in a respectful atmosphere can be more important for the well-being of the
      victim than the outcome of the reported case.

PMID- 20932580
TI  - The plague and macular degeneration.

PMID- 20932581
TI  - The Ahmed Baerveldt Comparison Study methodology, baseline patient
      characteristics, and intraoperative complications.
AB  - PURPOSE: The Ahmed Baerveldt Comparison (ABC) Study compares the long-term
      outcomes and complications of the Ahmed glaucoma valve (AGV; model FP7; New World
      Medical, Los Ranchos, CA) and the Baerveldt glaucoma implant (BGI; model 101-350;
      Abbott Medical Optics, Abbott Park, IL). DESIGN: Multicenter, randomized,
      controlled clinical trial. PARTICIPANTS: Two hundred seventy-six glaucoma
      patients at 16 clinical centers worldwide who were 18 to 85 years of age with
      inadequately controlled intraocular pressure (IOP; >=18 mmHg) in whom placement
      of an aqueous shunt was planned. METHODS: Study patients were randomized to
      undergo implantation of an AGV or a BGI. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Failure, defined
      as IOP >21 mmHg or not reduced by 20% less than baseline or IOP <=5 mmHg (2
      consecutive visits after 3 months), additional glaucoma surgery, removal of the
      implant, or loss of light perception vision. RESULTS: A total of 276 patients
      were enrolled between October 2006 and April 2008, including 143 in the AGV group
      and 133 in the BGI group. The mean age+/-standard deviation (SD) of patients
      enrolled was 63+/-14 years, and 52% were male. The mean baseline IOP+/-SD was
      31.5+/-11.8 mmHg. Except for a 13% higher prevalence of hypertension in the AGV
      group, no significant differences in baseline demographic or ocular
      characteristics were observed between the study groups. Intraoperative
      complications occurred in 11 (8%) patients in the AGV group and in 16 (12%)
      patients in the BGI group (P = 0.31). CONCLUSIONS: The ABC Study should yield
      valuable prospective data comparing 2 commonly used aqueous shunts in clinical
      practice.

PMID- 20932582
TI  - Interim clinical outcomes in the collaborative bleb-related infection incidence
      and treatment study.
AB  - PURPOSE: To introduce the Collaborative Bleb-related Infection Incidence and
      Treatment Study and to provide an interim, 2.5-year follow-up report of the
      findings. This prospective study sought to determine the incidence, severity, and
      prognosis of bleb-related infection and to investigate the efficacy of the
      antibacterial therapy in preventing it. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study.
      PARTICIPANTS: A total of 908 eyes of 908 glaucoma patients who had undergone
      mitomycin C-augmented trabeculectomy or trabeculectomy combined with
      phacoemulsification and intraocular lens implantation performed at 34 clinical
      centers. METHODS: Outcomes were measured at 6-month intervals, with special
      attention to bleb-related infections, and data for 2.5 years of follow-up result
      were summarized. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The incidence and severity of bleb
      related infection. RESULTS: Of the 908 eyes, 9 eyes developed a bleb-related
      infection. The Kaplan-Meier survival analysis revealed that the probability of
      development of bleb-related infection was 1.5+/-0.6% (cumulative probability +/-
      standard error) at the 2.5-year follow in the trabeculectomy cases and 1.4+/-1.0%
      in the combined surgery cases. It was 1.5% in both cases with a limbal-based flap
      and in those with a fornix-based flap. It was significantly different between
      cases with bleb leakage and those without it (P = 0.037; log-rank test).
      CONCLUSIONS: The cumulative probability of bleb-related infection was
      prospectively determined to be 1.5+/-0.6% in eyes treated with mitomycin C
      augmented trabeculectomy or trabeculectomy combined with phacoemulsification and
      intraocular lens implantation at the 2.5-year follow-up in the Collaborative Bleb
      related Infection Incidence and Treatment Study.

PMID- 20932584
TI  - The outcome of corneal transplantation in infants, children, and adolescents.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To examine factors affecting penetrating corneal graft survival and
      visual outcomes in patients aged less than 20 years. DESIGN: Large prospective,
      cohort study. PARTICIPANTS: Records of 14 865 followed penetrating corneal grafts
      in 11 929 patients were searched to identify 765 grafts in 640 patients aged
      younger than 20 years of age at the time of graft. METHODS: Records submitted to
      the Australian Corneal Graft Registry by 381 ophthalmic surgeons and 253 follow
      up practitioners from May 1985 to June 2009 were analyzed using Kaplan-Meier
      survival plots and Cox proportional hazards regression analysis. MAIN OUTCOMES
      MEASURES: Probability of corneal graft survival and Snellen acuity at the time of
      most recent follow-up and at defined intervals post-graft. RESULTS: Infants (<5
      years) exhibited poorer graft survival than children aged 5 to 12 years.
      Adolescents (13-19 years) exhibited better corneal graft survival than other age
      groups; 86% of grafts in adolescents were for keratoconus. Factors significantly
      affecting corneal graft survival in pediatric patients included indication for
      graft, graft inflammation, history of intraocular surgery, vascularization,
      rejection episodes, post-graft operative procedures, and refractive surgery.
      Fourteen percent of pediatric grafts failed, of which 65% failed within 2 years
      post-graft. Forty-four percent of failures were due to unknown causes (18) or
      irreversible rejection (30). CONCLUSIONS: Corneal grafts for keratoconus in
      adolescents show excellent survival. Infants exhibit poor graft survival and
      visual outcomes, especially those undergoing transplantation for Peters' anomaly.
      Corneal graft survival and visual outcomes vary more by indication for graft than
      recipient age. The major reason for graft failure is irreversible rejection.
      Corneal transplantation improves overall bilateral vision in pediatric patients.

PMID- 20932583
TI  - Treatment outcomes in the Ahmed Baerveldt Comparison Study after 1 year of follow
      up.
AB  - PURPOSE: To determine the relative efficacy and complications of the Ahmed
      glaucoma valve (AGV) model FP7 (New World Medical, Ranchos Cucamonga, CA) and the
      Baerveldt glaucoma implant (BGI) model 101-350 (Abbott Medical Optics, Abbott
      Park, IL) in refractory glaucoma. DESIGN: Multicenter, randomized, controlled
      clinical trial. PARTICIPANTS: Two hundred seventy-six patients, including 143 in
      the AGV group and 133 in the BGI group. METHODS: Patients 18 to 85 years of age
      with refractory glaucoma having intraocular pressure (IOP) of 18 mmHg or more in
      whom an aqueous shunt was planned were randomized to undergo implantation of
      either an AGV or a BGI. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcome was failure,
      defined as IOP >21 mmHg or not reduced by 20% from baseline, IOP <=5 mmHg,
      reoperation for glaucoma or removal of implant, or loss of light perception
      vision. Secondary outcomes included mean IOP, visual acuity, use of supplemental
      medical therapy, and complications. RESULTS: Preoperative IOP (mean+/-standard
      deviation [SD]) was 31.2+/-11.2 mmHg in the AGV group and 31.8+/-12.5 mmHg in the
      BGI group (P = 0.71). At 1 year, mean+/-SD IOP was 15.4+/-5.5 mmHg in the AGV
      group and 13.2+/-6.8 mmHg in the BGI group (P = 0.007). The mean+/-SD number of
      glaucoma medications was 1.8+/-1.3 in the AGV group and 1.5+/-1.4 in the BGI
      group (P = 0.071). The cumulative probability of failure was 16.4% (standard
      error [SE], 3.1%) in the AGV group and 14.0% (SE, 3.1%) in the BGI group at 1
      year (P = 0.52). More patients experienced early postoperative complications in
      the BGI group (n = 77; 58%) compared with the AGV group (n = 61; 43%; P = 0.016).
      Serious postoperative complications associated with reoperation, vision loss of
      >=2 Snellen lines, or both occurred in 29 patients (20%) in the AGV group and in
      45 patients (34%) in the BGI group (P = 0.014). CONCLUSIONS: Although the average
      IOP after 1 year was slightly higher in patients who received an AGV, there were
      fewer early and serious postoperative complications associated with the use of
      the AGV than the BGI.

PMID- 20932585
TI  - When paranoia fails to enhance self-esteem: explicit and implicit self-esteem and
      its discrepancy in patients with persecutory delusions compared to depressed and
      healthy controls.
AB  - The hypothesis that persecutory delusions function to enhance self-esteem implies
      that patients will show normal explicit, but low implicit self-esteem. As
      evidence for this has been inconsistent, our study assessed delusional state,
      explicit and implicit self-esteem and depression in a large sample (n=139) of
      schizophrenia patients with acute persecutory delusions (n=28), patients with
      remitted persecutory delusions (n=31), healthy controls (n=59), and depressed
      controls (n=21). Patients with delusions and patients with depression both showed
      decreased levels of explicit, but normal levels of implicit self-esteem when
      compared to healthy controls. The direct comparison of levels of explicit and
      implicit self-esteem within each group revealed that healthy controls had higher
      explicit than implicit self-esteem, while the converse pattern was found for
      depressed controls. No discrepancy between explicit and implicit self-esteem was
      found for acute deluded or remitted patients with schizophrenia. Although these
      findings do not support the hypothesis that delusions serve to enhance self
      esteem, they underline the relevance of low self-esteem in patients with
      persecutory delusions and point to the necessity of enhancing self-esteem in
      therapy.

PMID- 20932586
TI  - Bactericidal activity of porcine neutrophil secretions.
AB  - Antimicrobial proteins in neutrophil granules exert their bactericidal activity
      both within the neutrophil phagolysosome and as components of neutrophil
      extracellular traps. This study evaluated the bactericidal activity of porcine
      neutrophil secretions against four bacterial pathogens of swine. Porcine
      neutrophils were treated with or without phorbol myristate acetate (PMA), then
      the resulting supernatants were incubated with Escherichia coli K-12,
      Streptococcus suis, Actinobacillus suis, or Pasteurella multocida, and the
      surviving colony forming units were enumerated. Supernatants of PMA-activated
      neutrophils killed an average of 95% of E. coli K-12 cells, relative to
      supernatants from untreated neutrophils. Inhibition of elastase activity using
      chloromethylketone (CMK) prior to PMA stimulation significantly reduced the
      bactericidal activity of the neutrophil supernatants; 57% of the PMA-induced
      bactericidal activity against E. coli K-12 was estimated to be elastase
      dependent. The same neutrophil supernatants had lower bactericidal activity
      against S. suis, A. suis, and P. multocida, with 30%, 36% and 13% reduction in
      bacterial numbers, respectively. The cathelicidin porcine myeloid antimicrobial
      peptide (PMAP)-36 and lactotransferrin were among the proteins identified in the
      supernatants of PMA-stimulated neutrophils by mass spectrometry. These findings
      imply that elastase-activated proteins, such as cathelicidins, are partially
      responsible for the bactericidal effect of porcine neutrophil secretions, but non
      elastase-dependent proteins such as lactoferrin may also contribute. Further, the
      secretions of activated neutrophils were effective in killing the avirulent E.
      coli K-12 but were less effective against the other bacteria tested, suggesting
      that these pathogens may have evolved mechanisms to resist neutrophil-mediated
      killing.

PMID- 20932587
TI  - Chorda tympani nerve function in children: relationship to otitis media and body
      mass index.
AB  - OBJECTIVE/HYPOTHESIS: A relationship between acute otitis media and elevated body
      mass index has recently been reported. Intriguingly, it was postulated that this
      relationship may result from altered chorda tympani nerve function impacting
      taste sensation and eating habits. We sought to test this directly by measuring
      chorda tympani nerve function in children with and without a previous history of
      acute otitis media and to determine the relationship to body mass index. STUDY
      DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. METHODS: Institutional research ethics board
      approval was obtained. Study participants included 142 children (5-18 years of
      age) who were recruited from an otolaryngology outpatient clinic at a tertiary
      academic pediatric hospital between May and August 2009. Children were excluded
      if they were not able to communicate effectively, younger than age 5, or had
      developmental disabilities. Body mass index was calculated and the history of
      previous otologic disease carefully elicited from the caregivers.
      Electrogustometric threshold, a validated measure of chorda tympani function, was
      obtained bilaterally in each child. Children were divided into cohorts based on
      the number of acute otitis media episodes, and electrogustometry thresholds were
      compared between cohorts. RESULTS: Electrogustometric thresholds were
      successfully obtained in all children. There was no significant relationship
      between chorda tympani nerve function and history of acute otitis media.
      Similarly, there was no significant association between the history of otitis
      media and body mass index. CONCLUSION: This study did not demonstrate any effect
      of previous acute otitis media history on chorda tympani nerve function.
      Furthermore, it did not demonstrate a relationship between acute otitis media and
      elevated body mass index. This is counter-evidence to the previous hypothesis
      that increasing acute otitis media is responsible for increasing childhood
      obesity through alteration in chorda tympani nerve function.

PMID- 20932588
TI  - Mid-life and late-life vascular risk factors and dementia in Korean men and
      women.
AB  - Dementia is one of the most important neurological disorders in the elderly
      population. The significance of vascular risk factors for dementia remains
      controversial. This study aimed to determine the effects of vascular risk
      factors, such as blood pressure, diabetes and smoking in the mid-life or the late
      life on dementia risk. The data in this prospective cohort study came from 3252
      dementia events occurring over 14 years among 848,505 Koreans aged 40-95 years
      insured by the National Health Insurance Corporation who had a biennial medical
      evaluation during 1992-1995. Data on clinical dementia during the period 1993
      2006 were examined in relation to vascular risk factors. The age adjusted
      incidence per 100,000 was 31.9 for men and 45.0 for women, respectively. In
      multivariate Cox proportional hazard models, diabetes increased the risk of
      either dementia in Alzheimer's disease or vascular dementia in men and women,
      controlling for age, hypertension, total cholesterol, alcohol drinking, and
      smoking. Hypertension also increased vascular dementia in both men [Hazard ratio
      (HR)=2.6, 95% confidence interval (CI)=1.7-3.8] and women (HR=2.3, 95%CI=1.6
      3.3). The association of hypertension or diabetes on risk of vascular dementia,
      however, among the group aged older than 65 was attenuated but remained as
      significant in men. There was no interaction between hypertension and diabetes on
      the risk of dementia. This study demonstrates that diabetes and hypertension
      increased the risk of vascular dementia. Treatment for these risk factors may
      reduce the risk of vascular dementia.

PMID- 20932589
TI  - Sexual life and self-esteem in married elderly.
AB  - The elderly population in South Korea is increasing. But traditionally in Korea,
      there is a tendency for the elderly to be cautious and sensitive to how their
      children view them, and younger generations tend to consider elderly sexuality to
      be a subject of taboo. Nevertheless, a person's sexual life is a general
      condition that affects the body, mental health and personality. Therefore, it is
      important to examine the relationship between the actual conditions of sexual
      life of elderly and self-esteem during old age. Sexual life was important for
      38.5% of the research subjects and very important for 23.7%. Sexual partners were
      spouses for 93.4%. The self-esteem range was 20-38 with an average of 28.23.
      Those who were maintaining a sexual life had significantly higher self-esteem
      than those who were not (t=2.222, p=0.028). Those who felt very satisfied with
      their current sexual life had a significantly higher self-esteem than those who
      did not (F=2.824, p=0.028). The results show that it is important to have sexual
      life in late life. It will be necessary to develop and apply programs that will
      actively support elderly sexual life, as well as continue research in this area.

PMID- 20932590
TI  - A new risk score predicting 1- and 5-year mortality following acute myocardial
      infarction Soroka Acute Myocardial Infarction (SAMI) Project.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Risk stratification of patients following acute myocardial infarction
      (AMI), in order to identify patients whose clinical outcomes can be improved
      through specific medical interventions, is needed. OBJECTIVES: Development and
      validation of a prognostic tool comprising a variety of non-cardiovascular co
      morbidities, to predict mortality of hospital survivors after AMI. METHODS: The
      study cohort included 2773 consecutive patients with AMI who were discharged live
      from the Soroka University Medical Center between 2002 and 2004. Two-thirds were
      used obtain the model (training set) and one-third to validate it (validation
      set). Data were collected from the hospital's routine computerized information
      systems. The primary outcome was post-discharge 1-year all-cause mortality. The
      weight of each variable in the final score was computed based on the odds ratio
      values of the multivariate model. Additionally, the ability of the index to
      predict 5-year mortality was assessed. RESULTS: These are comprised of the
      following parameters: 4 points - age >75 years, abnormal echocardiography
      findings; 3 points - at least one of following: gastro-intestinal hemorrhage,
      COPD, malignancy, alcohol or drug addiction, neurological disorders, psychiatric
      disorders; 2 points - no echocardiography results, renal diseases, anemia,
      hyponatremia; -3 points for PCI or thrombolytic therapy; -6 points - CABG; -2
      points - obesity. The c-statistics for 1-year all-cause mortality were 0.86 and
      0.83 in the training and validation sets, respectively. The c-statistics for 5
      year mortality was 0.858 for both sets combined. CONCLUSIONS: The new score is a
      simple robust tool for predicting mortality in patients discharged alive
      following AMI.

PMID- 20932591
TI  - Acute heart failure: when standard therapy fails--an interdisciplinary challenge.

PMID- 20932592
TI  - Analysis of Escherichia coli cell damage induced by HPCD using microscopies and
      fluorescent staining.
AB  - Cellular damage of Escherichia coli (E. coli) induced by high pressure carbon
      dioxide (HPCD) at 37-57 degrees C and 10-30 MPa for 5-75 min was investigated
      using scanning electronic microscopy (SEM), transmission electronic microscopy
      (TEM), confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM), and fluorospectrophotometer
      (FSM). HPCD-induced alterations in the morphology and the intracellular
      organization of E. coli cells was more susceptible to HPCD. A vast majority of
      HPCD-treated E. coli cells with seemingly intact morphology sustained severe
      damage in their intracellular organization. CLSM suggested that initial
      disruption of the outer membrane and later permeabilization of the cytoplasmic
      membrane of HPCD-treated E. coli cells was a consecutive and progressive process.
      These results were confirmed by FSM with the probes PI and SYTO 9. The membrane
      fluidity of HPCD-treated E. coli cells decreased as suggested by increased
      fluorescence polarization using FSM with the probe 1,6-diphenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene
      (DPH). The temperatures of 37, 42 and 47 degrees C alone showed no impact on the
      outer membrane and membrane fluidity of E. coli cells whereas 57 degrees C alone
      had greater impact on them. Combined with HPCD, the temperatures of 37, 42 and 47
      degrees C disrupted the outer membrane of E. coli cells without damage to the
      cytoplasmic membrane and of 57 degrees C damaged the cytoplasmic membrane, but
      all these temperatures decreased the membrane fluidity of E. coli cells. Higher
      temperature increased HPCD-induced outer membrane disruption and the cytoplasmic
      membrane damage and decreased the membrane fluidity.

PMID- 20932593
TI  - Concentrations of viable airborne fungal spores and trichloroanisole in wine
      cellars.
AB  - In wineries, unwanted microorganisms present not only hygienic problems but also
      have a negative influence on wine quality. An evaluation of Austrian/Styrian wine
      cellars with regard to the volume and the composition of the mycoflora is very
      important both for the process of wine production and for occupational safety.
      Thirty-six wine cellars of 20 vintners were investigated with regard to
      microorganisms in the air and on material surfaces. Moreover, the presence of
      trichloroanisole in the air was determined by means of solid-phase micro
      extraction. Microorganisms were sampled using the six-stage Andersen-Cascade
      impactor. The results showed that the concentrations of xerophilic fungi in the
      air of cellars with large visible mold areas (> 80%) reached values up to 1.4 *
      104 colony forming units per m3. In the wine cellars fourteen predominant fungal
      genera were found in the indoor air, the most frequent was Penicillium.
      Trichloroanisole was detected in the air of wine cellars with large visible moldy
      patches. The spore concentrations in the cellar air were two times higher in
      cellars with Zasmidium cellare growth than in cellars without Z. cellare. These
      results will serve as a database for further studies.

PMID- 20932594
TI  - Evolution of hepatitis B genotype C viral quasi-species during hepatitis B e
      antigen seroconversion.
AB  - BACKGROUND & AIMS: Although the evolution of viral quasi-species may be related
      to the pathological status of disease, little is known about this phenomenon in
      hepatitis B, particularly with respect to hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)
      seroconversion. METHODS: Nucleotide sequences of the hepatitis B virus (HBV)
      X/precore/core region was analyzed at five time-points in four groups of chronic
      hepatitis B patients, interferon-induced seroconverters (IS, N = 9), interferon
      non-responders (IN, N = 9), spontaneous seroconverters (SS, N = 9), and non
      seroconverters (SN, N = 9) followed during 60 months on an average. Only patients
      with genotype C were studied. RESULTS: Analysis of 1800 nucleotide sequences
      showed that there was no statistical difference between the nucleotide genetic
      distances of seroconverters (IS and SS; 6.9 * 10-3 substitutions (st)/site and
      6.7 * 10-3 st/site, respectively) and those of non-seroconverters (IN and SN; 5.3
      * 10-3 st/site and 3.8 * 10-3 st/site, respectively) before seroconversion.
      Compared to non-seroconverters (IN and SN; 5.1 * 10-3 st/site and 5.9 * 10-3
      st/site, respectively), the sequence diversity of seroconverters (IS and SS; 10.9
      * 10-3 st/site and 9.9 * 10-3 st/site, respectively) was significantly higher
      after seroconversion (p < 0.05), and was higher in seroconverters after
      seroconversion than before seroconversion (p < 0.05), while this changed very
      little in non-seroconverters during the observation period. Phylogenetic trees
      showed greater complexity in secoconverters than non-seroconverters. Parsimony
      based estimation of the direction of sequence change between descendants and
      ancestors before HBeAg seroconversion, revealed higher frequencies of
      transversional A to T substitution in seroconverters (0.06 vs. 0.02, p = 0.0036)
      that coincided with the dynamics of quasi-species possessing A1762T mutation.
      CONCLUSIONS: The distinctly greater viral diversity in HBeAg seroconverters after
      seroconversion could be related to escape mutants resulting from stronger
      selection pressure.

PMID- 20932595
TI  - Small molecule scavenger receptor BI antagonists are potent HCV entry inhibitors.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: ITX 5061 is a clinical stage small molecule compound that
      promotes high-density lipoprotein (HDL) levels in animals and patients by
      targeting the scavenger receptor BI protein pathway. Since SR-BI is a known co
      receptor for HCV infection, we evaluated these compounds for their effects on HCV
      entry. METHODS: We obtained ITX 5061 and related compounds to characterize their
      interaction with SR-BI and effects on HCV entry and infection. RESULTS: We
      confirmed that a tritium-labeled compound analog (ITX 7650) binds cells
      expressing SR-BI, and both ITX 5061 and ITX 7650 compete for HDL-mediated lipid
      transfer in an SR-BI dependent manner. Both molecules inhibit HCVcc and HCVpp
      infection of primary human hepatocytes and/or human hepatoma cell lines and have
      minimal effects on HCV RNA replication. Kinetic studies suggest that the
      compounds act at an early post-binding step. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest
      that the ITX compounds inhibit HCV infection with a mechanism of action distinct
      from other HCV therapies under development. Since ITX 5061 has already been
      evaluated in over 280 patients with good pharmacokinetic and safety profiles, it
      warrants proof-of-concept clinical studies in HCV infected patients.

PMID- 20932596
TI  - Distinct roles for non-muscle myosin II isoforms in mouse hepatic stellate cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND & AIMS: Upon liver injury, hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) undergo
      dramatic morphological and functional changes including migration and
      contraction. In the present study, we investigated the role of myosin II isoforms
      in the development of the contractile phenotype of mouse HSCs, which are
      considered therapeutic targets to decrease portal hypertension and fibrosis.
      METHODS: We characterized the expression of myosin IIA and IIB in primary mouse
      HSCs and addressed their function by gene knock-down using isoform-specific
      siRNAs. RESULTS: We found that myosin IIA and IIB are differentially expressed
      and localized and have clearly different functions in HSCs. Myosin IIA is mainly
      located in the subcortical area of quiescent HSCs and at alpha-SMA-containing
      stress fibres after activation, while myosin IIB is located in the cytoplasm and
      at the edge of protrusions of quiescent HSCs, at stress fibres of activated
      cells, and at the leading edge of lamellipodia. Knock-down of myosin IIA in HSCs
      influences cell size and shape, results in the disruption of stress fibres and in
      a decrease of focal adhesions, and inhibits contractility and intra-cellular
      Ca(2+) release but increases cell migration. Myosin IIB contributes to the
      extension of lamellipodia and cell spreading but has no direct role in stress
      fibres and focal adhesion formation, contraction, or intra-cellular Ca(2+)
      signalling. CONCLUSIONS: In mouse HSCs, myosin IIA and IIB clearly fulfil
      distinct roles. Our results provide an insight into the contractile machinery of
      HSCs, that could be important in the search for new molecules to treat portal
      hypertension.

PMID- 20932597
TI  - Transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt for portal vein thrombosis with
      symptomatic portal hypertension in liver cirrhosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND & AIMS: Data on the management of portal vein thrombosis (PVT) in
      patients with decompensated cirrhosis are extremely limited, particularly in the
      cases of the transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS). We assessed
      the outcome of TIPS for PVT in patients with cirrhosis and symptomatic portal
      hypertension and determined the predictors of technical success and survival.
      METHODS: In the retrospective study, 57 consecutive patients receiving TIPS were
      enrolled between December 2001 and September 2008. All were diagnosed with
      chronic PVT, and 30 had portal cavernoma. Indications for TIPS were variceal
      hemorrhage (n = 56) and refractory ascites (n = 1). RESULTS: TIPS were
      successfully placed in 75% of patients (43/57). The independent predictors of
      technical success included portal cavernoma, and the degree of thrombosis within
      the main portal vein (MPV), the portal vein branches, and the superior mesenteric
      vein. Only one patient died of severe procedure-related complication. The
      cumulative 1-year shunt dysfunction and hepatic encephalopathy rates were 21% and
      25%, respectively. The cumulative 1- and 5-year variceal re-bleeding rates
      differed significantly between the TIPS success and failure groups (10% and 28%
      versus 43% and 100%, respectively; p = 0.0004), while the cumulative 1- and 5
      year survival rates were similar between the two groups (86% and 77% versus 78%
      and 62%, respectively; p = 0.34). The independent predictor of survival in PVT
      patients with decompensated cirrhosis was the degree of MPV occlusion (hazard
      ratio 0.189, 95% CI 0.042-0.848). CONCLUSIONS: TIPS should be considered a safe
      and feasible alternative therapy for chronic PVT in selected patients with
      decompensated cirrhosis. Both technical success and survival were closely
      associated with the degree of MPV occlusion.

PMID- 20932598
TI  - Reliability of transient elastography for the detection of fibrosis in non
      alcoholic fatty liver disease and chronic viral hepatitis.
AB  - BACKGROUND & AIMS: Transient elastography (TE) is validated in chronic hepatitis
      C (CHC) to evaluate hepatic fibrosis; however, limited data are available in
      chronic hepatitis B (CHB) and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). This
      prospective study is aimed to assess the accuracy and the efficacy of TE for the
      detection of fibrosis in patients with chronic liver disease of different
      etiology and to evaluate the effect of steatosis on the liver stiffness
      measurement (LSM). METHODS: TE was performed in 219 consecutive patients with
      chronic liver disease (35% CHC, 32% CHB, and 33% NAFLD) within 6 months of the
      liver biopsy. RESULTS: LSM was related to the fibrosis stage in each group (CHC:
      p = 0.596, p < 0.001; CHB: p = 0.418, p < 0.001; NAFLD: p = 0.573, p < 0.001),
      but the correlation was less strong in CHB and NAFLD than in CHC patients. In CHB
      patients with histological cirrhosis (F4), the median stiffness value was almost
      two times lower than in patients with severe fibrosis (F3). In NAFLD patients
      with advanced fibrosis (F3) and severe steatosis (> 33%), the LSM values were
      lower than expected and were similar to those of patients with initial fibrosis
      (F1) and fat < 33%. TE underestimated the stage of fibrosis in 75% of patients
      with F3 and steatosis > 33%. At multiple logistic regression analysis, in CHC and
      CHB patients, LSM was the only predictive variable of severe fibrosis/cirrhosis
      (OR = 1.42, p = 0.003 and OR = 1.354, p = 0.003, respectively), while in NAFLD
      subjects BMI and AST (OR = 1.433, p = 0.002 and OR = 1.053, p = 0.020,
      respectively) but not LSM were independently related with advanced fibrosis and
      cirrhosis. CONCLUSIONS: This study confirms that TE can be considered a valid
      support to detect fibrosis in chronic liver disease related to HCV but it should
      be interpreted cautiously in CHB and NAFLD patients, where host or disease
      related factors may modify its accuracy.

PMID- 20932599
TI  - Hepcidin in human iron disorders: therapeutic implications.
AB  - The discovery of hepcidin has triggered a virtual explosion of studies on iron
      metabolism and related disorders, the results of which have profoundly changed
      our view of human diseases associated with excess of iron, iron deficiency or
      iron misdistribution. Not only has new light been shed on the pathogenesis of
      these disorders, but therapeutic applications from these advances are now
      foreseen. The notion that hepcidin excess or deficiency may contribute to the
      dysregulation of iron homeostasis in hereditary and acquired iron disorders
      raises the possibility that hepcidin-lowering or enhancing agents may be an
      effective strategy for curing the main consequences of hepcidinopathies, anemia
      or iron overload, respectively. Experimental pre-clinical and clinical studies
      have shown that hepcidin antibodies, agonists or antagonists, cytokine receptor
      antibodies and small-molecules that modify hepcidin expression also reverse iron
      abnormalities in vivo, in a number of disease models. While future studies
      addressing safety and long-term efficacy of hepcidin-targeted treatments will
      clarify risks and benefits, a new era has begun based on the treatment of
      disorders of iron homeostasis through the modulation of its regulatory hormone,
      hepcidin.

PMID- 20932600
TI  - Short term physiological implications of NBPT application on the N metabolism of
      Pisum sativum and Spinacea oleracea.
AB  - The application of urease inhibitors in conjunction with urea fertilizers as a
      means of reducing N loss due to ammonia volatilization requires an in-depth study
      of the physiological effects of these inhibitors on plants. The aim of this study
      was to determine how the urease inhibitor N-(n-butyl) thiophosphoric triamide
      (NBPT) affects N metabolism in pea and spinach. Plants were cultivated in pure
      hydroponic culture with urea as the sole N source. After 2 weeks of growth for
      pea, and 3 weeks for spinach, half of the plants received NBPT in their nutrient
      solution. Urease activity, urea and ammonium content, free amino acid composition
      and soluble protein were determined in leaves and roots at days 0, 1, 2, 4, 7 and
      9, and the NBPT content in these tissues was determined 48h after inhibitor
      application. The results suggest that the effects of NBPT on spinach and pea
      urease activity differ, with pea being most affected by this treatment, and that
      the NBPT absorbed by the plant caused a clear inhibition of the urease activity
      in pea leaf and roots. The high urea concentration observed in leaves was
      associated with the development of necrotic leaf margins, and was further
      evidence of NBPT inhibition in these plants. A decrease in the ammonium content
      in roots, where N assimilation mainly takes place, was also observed.
      Consequently, total amino acid contents were drastically reduced upon NBPT
      treatment, indicating a strong alteration of the N metabolism. Furthermore, the
      amino acid profile showed that amidic amino acids were major components of the
      reduced pool of amino acids. In contrast, NBPT was absorbed to a much lesser
      degree by spinach plants than pea plants (35% less) and did not produce a clear
      inhibition of urease activity in this species.

PMID- 20932601
TI  - Both HY5 and HYH are necessary regulators for low temperature-induced anthocyanin
      accumulation in Arabidopsis seedlings.
AB  - The roles of two bZIP transcription factors LONG HYPOCOTYL 5 (HY5) and HY5
      HOMOLOG (HYH) in inducing anthocyanin accumulation during low temperature
      treatment were studied in Arabidopsis. In all seedlings tested, low temperature
      significantly induced anthocyanin accumulation only in the presence of light. In
      the absence of HY5 or HYH, the low temperature-induced anthocyanin accumulation
      was significantly impaired compared to that of the wild type. Moreover, in the
      double mutant hy5hyh, no significant anthocyanin accumulation was induced by low
      temperature even in light, suggesting that the low temperature-induced
      anthocyanin accumulation was mediated by HY5/HYH. Through the RT-PCR assay,
      expressions of several "early" genes in anthocyanin biosynthetic pathway,
      chalcone synthase (CHS), chalcone isomerase (CHI), flavanone 3-hydroxylase (F3H),
      were up-regulated by low temperature in a manner that is at most partially
      dependent on HY5/HYH, whereas dihydroflavanol reductase (DFR), a "late" gene, was
      found to be up-regulated in a manner that was almost fully dependent on HY5/HYH.
      Thus, up-regulation of DFR in a HY5/HYH-dependent manner may address the question
      of why low temperature-induced anthocyanin accumulation relies upon light. In
      addition, we found that HY5/HYH expression was enhanced by low temperature in
      wild type Col-0, implying that low temperature induces anthocyanin accumulation,
      at least in part, through enhancing HY5/HYH protein levels. Collectively, our
      data suggest that HY5 and HYH are two necessary regulators that play a pivotal
      role during low temperature-induced anthocyanin accumulation in Arabidopsis
      seedlings.

PMID- 20932602
TI  - [Perianal herpes simplex in a patient with Crohn's disease treated with
      infliximab].

PMID- 20932603
TI  - [Primary pancreatic lymphoma diagnosed by endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine
      needle aspiration biopsy].
AB  - Although primary pancreatic lymphoma (PPL) is a rare malignant tumor, the correct
      diagnosis is essential since their therapeutic management differs from other
      pancreatic tumors. The fine needle aspiration cytology guided by endoscopic
      ultrasonography (EUS-FNA) is currently the preferred technique for the diagnosis
      of neoplasms of the pancreas, being of particular interest in those pancreatic
      lesions with atypical characteristics or presentation. However, the usefulness of
      EUS-FNA in the PPL has been poorly studied because of the rarity of this entity.
      We report a case of a patient with HIV infection and PPL diagnosed by EUS-FNA.

PMID- 20932605
TI  - [Clinical microbiology laboratory and imported parasitic diseases].
AB  - Imported parasitosis represents an increasingly frequent diagnostic challenge for
      microbiology laboratories. A surge in immigration and international travel has
      led to a rise in the number of imported cases of parasitosis, and this trend is
      expected to continue in the future. The present article addresses this challenge
      by reviewing recommended diagnostic approaches and tests. Currently, microscopy
      is always recommended when analysing blood samples for parasites. If malaria is
      suspected, rapid antigen testing (including at least HRP2 antigen) should also be
      performed. The work-up for suspected leishmaniasis should include serology,
      culture, and in selected cases detection of antigen in urine. In suspected Chagas
      disease, two different serological tests should be performed. PCR for blood
      protozoa is highly sensitive, although it cannot be used to rule out Chagas
      disease, since this condition may be present without parasitemia. Accurate
      diagnosis of intestinal amebiasis usually requires PCR or antigen detection
      tests. In helminthiasis, traditional microscopy may need to be complemented with
      other tests, such as agar plate culture for strongyloidiasis, Og4C3 antigen
      detection for bancroftian filariasis, and antibody detection test for filariasis
      and schistosomiasis.

PMID- 20932606
TI  - [Road-rage in the general population].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To analyze the prevalence of road rage in the general population and
      the sociodemographic factors associated with this phenomenon. METHODS: A total of
      2,500 interviews were carried out in the population of Castile and Leon aged 14
      70 years. Road rage was evaluated in the year prior to the survey using a test
      with eight questions. RESULTS: One-third (31.1%) of the interviewees reported
      they had experienced a situation involving road rage during the previous 12
      months (26.8% on more than one occasion). Among these episodes, 2.6% involved
      "serious" aggressors. In drivers, the probability of experiencing road rage
      increased in line with the number of kilometers driven per week (odds ratio
      [OR]=1.52), decreased as the age of the driver increased (OR=0.975), and was
      highest in men (OR=1.287), university graduates (OR=1.408), and persons living in
      towns with over 10,000 inhabitants (OR=1.25). CONCLUSIONS: The results of this
      study show that road rage affects almost a third of the general population of
      Castile and Leon, which would amply justify the adoption of prevention and/or
      reduction measures.

PMID- 20932607
TI  - A regio- and stereoselective 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition for the synthesis of novel
      spiro-pyrrolothiazolyloxindoles and their antitubercular evaluation.
AB  - The 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of azomethine ylides derived from substituted
      isatins and 1,3-thiazolane-4-carboxylic acid to a series of 2-(arylmethylene)-2,3
      dihydro-1H-inden-1-ones afforded twenty nine novel spiro
      pyrrolothiazolyloxindoles regio- and stereoselectively in moderate yields. These
      compounds were screened for their in vitro activity against Mycobacterium
      tuberculosis H37Rv (MTB) using agar dilution method. Among 29 compounds screened,
      spiro[5.3']-5'-nitrooxindole-spiro-[6.3"]-2,3-dihydro-1H-inden-1"-one-7-(2,3
      dichlorophenyl)tetrahydro-1H-pyrrolo[1,2-c][1,3]thiazole, was found to be the
      most active compound with MIC of 2.8 MUM against MTB, being 1.67 and 2.70 times
      more active than ciprofloxacin and ethambutol respectively.

PMID- 20932608
TI  - Synthesis and antitubercular activity of new mefloquine-oxazolidine derivatives.
AB  - In this work, we report the synthesis and the antitubercular evaluation of 16 new
      mefloquine derivatives, formed from reactions between mefloquine and
      benzaldehydes, with the activity expressed as the minimum inhibitory
      concentration (MIC) in MUM. The compounds were non-cytotoxic and exhibited an
      important activity (12.6 MUM). The appreciable activity of these compounds can be
      considered an important finding for the rational design of new leads for anti-TB
      compounds.

PMID- 20932609
TI  - Synthesis of novel chiral Delta2-isoxazoline derivatives related to ABT-418 and
      estimation of their affinity at neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptor
      subtypes.
AB  - The enantiopure diastereomeric Delta2-isoxazoline derivatives (2S,5'R)-5a-10a and
      (2S,5'S)-5b, (2S,5'S)-9b, (2S,5'S)-11b, which are structural analogues of both
      ABT-418 2 and oxyimino ethers (S)-3 and (Z)-(S)-4, were synthesized through
      cycloaddition reactions involving nitrile oxides as 1,3-dipoles and (S)-N-Boc-2
      vinylpyrrolidine-13 as the dipolarophile. The absolute configuration was
      unequivocally assigned to target compounds by means of an X-ray analysis. The
      derivatives under study were assayed at neuronal acetylcholine nicotinic
      receptors (nAChRs), where they showed a meaningful reduction in affinity at the
      heteromeric alpha4beta2 subtype when compared to the reference molecules.
      Conversely, anti (2S,5'S)-5b and syn (2S,5'R)-10a isomers showed an affinity for
      the alpha7 nAChRs comparable to that observed for the model compound ABT-418.

PMID- 20932611
TI  - Clinical negligence and duty of candour.
AB  - The Department of Health is considering imposing a legal duty of candour on
      health care providers to ensure that an apology and explanation are given to
      patients when errors occur during medical treatment. This aims to improve quality
      of care and reduce adverse events during medical treatment. We present the
      current system of clinical negligence and the future of medical ethics. We
      discuss relevant cases with regard to duty of candour, and highlight the
      existence of serious imbalances in which patients' rights and corresponding
      ethical duties of professionals predominate over the responsibilities of patients
      themselves. It is known that most adverse events arise because of multiple
      factors for which no individual should be blamed. To improve healthcare services
      there is a need for a system in which lessons can be learnt from mistakes, and
      services can be improved in the interest of patient safety, and for transparency
      in the broad principles on which the decisions are based within which clinical
      performance is supervised and monitored.

PMID- 20932610
TI  - An international comparison of Korean and Chinese nursing students with nursing
      curricula and educational outcomes.
AB  - AIM: The aim of this study was to compare Korean and Chinese nursing students
      with respect to their nursing curricula and educational outcomes including
      critical thinking, professionalism, leadership, communication skills, and nursing
      practice skills. METHODS: Data were collected from 762 nursing college students
      (355 in Korea and 407 in China) using the validated self-report questionnaires.
      The instruments were translated into Chinese for the Chinese students. FINDINGS:
      Korea offered various nursing courses more focused on specific nursing compared
      to China. With respect to critical thinking skills, the Korean students had
      significantly higher scores than the Chinese students. The Chinese students had
      significantly higher scores than the Korean students on the professionalism and
      communication skills. There were no differences between the groups in scores of
      leadership and nursing practice skills. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS: This
      study provides preliminary information on cross-national nursing educational
      outcomes. A comparison of educational outcomes among nursing students of other
      countries as well as China will determine differences in nursing educational
      outcomes that the nursing program is located in, and an international flow of
      students through the nursing educational should develop a general direction for
      nursing education.

PMID- 20932612
TI  - Effectiveness of an internet-based intervention enhancing Finnish parents'
      parenting satisfaction and parenting self-efficacy during the postpartum period.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The postpartum period presents several challenges related to learning
      infant care tasks, getting to know the infant and fulfilling self-expectations as
      parents. There is a need to evaluate the effectiveness of information-technology
      based interventions that support parenting during this period. OBJECTIVE: To
      evaluate the effectiveness of an internet-based intervention to support mothers'
      and fathers' parenting satisfaction and parenting self-efficacy (PSE). DESIGN: A
      quasi-experimental design with a non-equivalent control group and repeated
      measures. SETTING: Two public maternity hospitals (intervention/control) in
      southern Finland. PARTICIPANTS: A convenience sample of mothers and/or fathers (n
      = 1300 families). The inclusion criteria were primipara or multipara, and at
      least one parent willing to participate. Multiple birth, non-Finnish speaking and
      early discharge parents receiving home visits were excluded. A total of 500
      mothers and 242 fathers returned complete sets of questionnaires. INTERVENTION:
      The intervention offered online support for parenting, breast feeding and infant
      care beginning from the middle of pregnancy. It comprised an information
      database, a peer discussion forum and expert advice. MEASUREMENTS: Outcomes were
      measured by the Evaluation Subscale of the What Being the Parent of a New Baby is
      Like-Revised and parenting self-efficacy instruments after childbirth and six to
      eight weeks post partum. FINDINGS: Both intervention and control mothers'
      parenting satisfaction and PSE increased significantly during the postpartum
      period. Fathers' parenting satisfaction and PSE also increased, but this change
      was only significant in the case of PSE. Both parents felt that their affective
      skills related to PSE were the weakest after childbirth. During the postpartum
      period, affective skills improved more than cognitive and behavioural skills.
      Different groups of mothers and different groups of fathers showed an equally
      positive change in parenting satisfaction and PSE. CONCLUSION: Both intervention
      and control mothers' and fathers' parenting satisfaction and PSE became more
      positive during the postpartum period. However, no intervention effects were
      found. In the future, it would be interesting to study longer-term effects and
      more specific groups of parents. The results indicate that online support has the
      potential to reach parents from diverse backgrounds. More research is needed on
      gender differences and user preferences. More interactive methods are needed to
      support parents' affective skills related to PSE.

PMID- 20932613
TI  - Empowerment in the midwifery context--a concept analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The concept empowerment is difficult to understand, define and
      translate into different contexts. Therefore, the purpose of this paper was to
      analyze the empowerment concept in the midwifery context, focused on the
      childbearing period, aimed at clarifying its meaning in order to enable
      comprehension and use in clinical practice, education and research. DESIGN: Semi
      structured interviews and written text. SETTING: Prenatal clinics, delivery and
      maternity wards in western Sweden. PARTICIPANTS: Nine midwives and 12 couples.
      MEASUREMENTS AND FINDINGS: A concept analysis was undertaken according to the
      hybrid model which consists of the theoretical, fieldwork and analytical phases.
      After a literature review, the concept was empirically elucidated in the
      fieldwork phase. The final step was to describe criteria and attributes,
      illustrative cases, antecedents and consequences of the concept. The following
      tentative criteria and attributes of empowerment in the midwifery context are
      described: developing a trustful relationship; starting an awareness process,
      making it possible to reflect on the changing situation; acting based on the
      parents' situation on their own terms, getting them involved and able to make
      informed choices; confirming the personal significance of becoming parents.
      Finally, empowerment in the midwifery context was redefined. KEY CONCLUSION:
      Midwives use empowerment in education and research as well as strategies on both
      the micro and macro levels in practice. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Empirical
      findings from the concept analysis confirm the concept's relevance in the
      midwifery context.

PMID- 20932614
TI  - The definition of species richness used by species sensitivity distributions
      approximates observed effects of salinity on stream macroinvertebrates.
AB  - The risk of chemicals for ecological communities is often forecast with species
      sensitivity distributions (SSDs) which are used to predict the concentration
      which will protect p% of species (PCp value). However, at the PCp value, species
      richness in nature would not necessary be p% less than at uncontaminated sites.
      The definition of species richness inherent to SSDs (contaminant category
      richness) contrasts with species richness typically measured in most field
      studies (point richness). We determine, for salinity in eastern Australia,
      whether these definitions of stream macroinvertebrate species richness are
      commensurable. There were strong relationships (r2>=0.87) between mean point
      species, family and Ephemeroptera, Trichoptera and Plecoptera species richness
      and their respective contamination category richness. Despite differences in the
      definition of richness used by SSDs and field biomonitoring, their results in
      terms of relative species loss from salinity in south-east Australia are similar.
      We conclude that in our system both definitions are commensurable.

PMID- 20932615
TI  - Effects of C60 nanoparticle exposure on earthworms (Lumbricus rubellus) and
      implications for population dynamics.
AB  - Effects of C60 nanoparticles (nominal concentrations 0, 15.4 and 154 mg/kg soil)
      on mortality, growth and reproduction of Lumbricus rubellus earthworms were
      assessed. C60 exposure had a significant effect on cocoon production, juvenile
      growth rate and mortality. These endpoints were used to model effects on the
      population level. This demonstrated reduced population growth rate with
      increasing C60 concentrations. Furthermore, a shift in stage structure was shown
      for C60 exposed populations, i.e. a larger proportion of juveniles. This result
      implies that the lower juvenile growth rate due to exposure to C60 resulted in a
      larger proportion of juveniles, despite increased mortality among juveniles.
      Overall, this study indicates that C60 exposure may seriously affect earthworm
      populations. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that juveniles were more sensitive
      to C60 exposure than adults.

PMID- 20932616
TI  - The functional and physiological status of Gammarus fossarum (Crustacea;
      Amphipoda) exposed to secondary treated wastewater.
AB  - Climate change scenarios predict lower flow rates during summer that may lead to
      higher proportions of wastewater in small and medium sized streams. Moreover,
      micropollutants (e.g. pharmaceuticals and other contaminants) continuously enter
      aquatic environments via treated wastewater. However, there is a paucity of
      knowledge, whether extended exposure to secondary treated wastewater disrupts
      important ecosystem functions, e.g. leaf breakdown. Therefore, the amphipod
      shredder Gammarus fossarum was exposed to natural stream water (n=34) and
      secondary treated wastewater (n=32) for four weeks in a semi-static test system
      under laboratory conditions. G. fossarum exposed to wastewater showed significant
      reductions in feeding rate (25%), absolute consumption (35%), food assimilation
      (50%), dry weight (18%) and lipid content (22%). Thus, high proportions of
      wastewater in the stream flow may affect both the breakdown rates of leaf
      material and thus the availability of energy for the aquatic food web as well as
      the energy budget of G. fossarum.

PMID- 20932617
TI  - Distribution of perfluorochemicals between sera and milk from the same mothers
      and implications for prenatal and postnatal exposures.
AB  - The levels of six perfluorocarboxylates (PFCAs), four perfloroalkylsulfonates
      (PFASs), and one sulfonamide were measured in paired samples of maternal serum,
      umbilical cord serum, and breast milk. The maternal and cord sera were strongly
      correlated with each other for all measured compounds (r>0.5 and p<0.01).
      Nevertheless, there was a significant difference in compound composition profile
      between the two sera matrices, with a more depletion of the longer chain
      compounds in cord serum. The transfer efficiency values from maternal to cord
      serum (TFCS/MS) decreased by 70% with each increasing unit of -CF2 chain within a
      PFCA group, and for perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS), by a half compared to
      perfluorooctanoate (PFOA). In contrast to the strong correlation in
      concentrations between the two sera matrices, the pattern of compounds in breast
      milk differed considerably with those in sera. Accordingly, compound- and matrix
      specific transfer must be considered when assessing prenatal and postnatal
      exposure.

PMID- 20932618
TI  - Acetylcholinesterase activity in the terrestrial snail Xeropicta derbentina
      transplanted in apple orchards with different pesticide management strategies.
AB  - Apple orchards are highly manipulated crops in which large amounts of pesticides
      are used. Some of these pesticides lack target specificity and can cause adverse
      effects in non-target organisms. In order to evaluate the environmental risk of
      these products, the use of transplanted sentinel organisms avoids side-effects
      from past events and facilitate comparison of multiple sites in a short time. We
      released specimens of the terrestrial snail Xeropicta derbentina in each 5 of two
      kinds of apple orchards with either conventional or organic management strategies
      plus in a single abandoned orchard. After one month, individuals were retrieved
      in order to measure acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity. Mean values of AChE
      activity were significantly reduced in all conventional apple orchards compared
      to the others. Results show that the measurement of biomarkers such as AChE
      inhibition in transplated X. derbentina could be useful in the environmental risk
      assessment of post-authorized pesticides.

PMID- 20932619
TI  - Antagonism of phenanthrene cytotoxicity for human embryo lung fibroblast cell
      line HFL-I by green tea polyphenols.
AB  - Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) have been detected in some commercial
      teas around the world and pose a threat to tea consumers. However, green tea
      polyphenols (GTP) possess remarkable antioxidant and anticancer effects. In this
      study, the potential of GTP to block the toxicity of the model PAH phenanthrene
      was examined in human embryo lung fibroblast cell line HFL-I. Both GTP and
      phenanthrene treatment individually caused dose-dependent inhibition of cell
      growth. A full factorial design experiment demonstrated that the interaction of
      phenanthrene and GTP significantly reduced growth inhibition. Using the median
      effect method showed that phenanthrene and GTP were antagonistic when the
      inhibitory levels were less than about 50%. Apoptosis and cell cycle detection
      suggested that only phenanthrene affected cell cycle significantly and caused
      cell death; GTP lowered the mortality of HFL-I cells exposed to phenanthrene;
      However, GTP did not affect modulation of the cell cycle by phenanthrene.

PMID- 20932620
TI  - Behaviour of arsenic in forested catchments following a high-pollution period.
AB  - Due to high availability of adsorption sites, forested catchments could be net
      sinks for pollutant arsenic both during the period of increasing and decreasing
      pollution. We tested this hypothesis along a north-south pollution gradient in
      spruce die-back affected areas of Central Europe. For two water years (2007
      2008), we monitored As fluxes via spruce-canopy throughfall, open-area
      precipitation, and runoff in four headwater catchments (Czech Republic). Since
      1980, atmospheric As inputs decreased 26 times in the north, and 13 times in the
      south. Arsenic export by runoff was similar to atmospheric inputs at three sites,
      resulting in a near-zero As mass balance. One site exhibited a net export of As
      (2.2 g ha(-1) yr(-1)). In contrast, the preceding period (1995-2006) showed much
      higher As fluxes, and higher As export. Czech catchments do not serve as net
      sinks of atmospheric As. A considerable proportion of old industrial arsenic is
      flushed out of the soil.

PMID- 20932621
TI  - An economic evaluation of erythropoiesis-stimulating agents in CKD.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The objective was to determine the cost-effectiveness of treating
      anemic patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) with erythropoiesis-stimulating
      agents (ESAs) to a low (9-10.9 g/dL), intermediate (11-12 g/dL), or high (> 12
      g/dL) hemoglobin level target compared with a strategy of managing anemia without
      ESAs. STUDY DESIGN: Cost-utility analysis. SETTING & PARTICIPANTS: Publicly
      funded health care system. Anemic patients with CKD, overall and stratified into
      dialysis-/non-dialysis-dependent subgroups. MODEL, PERSPECTIVE, & TIMEFRAME:
      Decision analysis, health care payer, patient's lifetime. MAIN OUTCOME: Cost per
      quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) gained. RESULTS: For dialysis patients,
      compared with anemia management without ESAs, using ESAs to target a low
      hemoglobin level is associated with a cost per QALY of $96,270. Given a lack of
      direct trials comparing low and intermediate targets, significant uncertainty
      exists between these strategies. Treatment to a high hemoglobin target was always
      associated with worse clinical outcomes and higher costs compared with a low
      hemoglobin target. Results were similar in non-dialysis-dependent patients with
      CKD, with a cost per QALY for a low target compared with no ESA of $147,980.
      LIMITATIONS: Given limitations in the available randomized controlled trials, we
      were able to model only 4 treatment strategies, balancing the need to consider
      relevant targets with the requirement for accurate estimates of clinical effect.
      We assumed that the efficacy of the different strategies would continue over a
      patient's lifetime. CONCLUSIONS: Using ESAs to target a hemoglobin level > 12
      g/dL is associated with worse clinical outcomes and significant additional cost
      compared with using ESAs to target lower hemoglobin levels (9-12 g/dL). Given a
      lack of studies comparing low (9-10.9 g/dL) and intermediate (11-12 g/dL)
      hemoglobin targets for clinical outcomes, including quality of life, the most
      cost-effective hemoglobin level target within the range of 9-12 g/dL is
      uncertain, although aiming for higher targets within this range will lead to
      higher costs.

PMID- 20932622
TI  - Spontaneous remission of IgA nephropathy associated with resolution of hepatitis
      A.
AB  - Although most cases of immunoglobulin A (IgA) nephropathy are idiopathic, several
      diseases are associated with IgA nephropathy. Of these, chronic liver disease
      resulting from hepatitis B or C virus infection has been reported as a secondary
      cause of IgA nephropathy. Recently, hepatitis A virus (HAV)-associated kidney
      disease has received attention because acute kidney injury can occur as a
      complication of HAV infection, generally caused by acute tubular necrosis or
      interstitial nephritis. However, unlike IgA nephropathy related to hepatitis B or
      C, HAV-associated IgA nephropathy is extremely rare and long-term outcomes have
      not been reported yet. We describe a case of spontaneous remission of IgA
      nephropathy associated with serologically documented HAV infection. The patient
      presented with microhematuria and moderate proteinuria, but acute kidney injury
      did not occur during active hepatic injury. Kidney biopsy specimens clearly
      showed mesangial IgA deposits with intact tubules and interstitium. Serum liver
      enzyme levels returned to reference values 1 month after the onset of acute
      hepatitis, but urinary protein excretion remained increased. Approximately 1 year
      later, urinary abnormalities were resolved and a second biopsy showed no
      mesangial IgA deposits. These findings suggest that IgA nephropathy can
      transiently accompany HAV infection, but may not progress to chronic
      glomerulonephritis after recovery from HAV.

PMID- 20932623
TI  - Socioeconomic variation in the impact of obesity on health-related quality of
      life.
AB  - There is evidence that obesity has a negative impact on health-related quality of
      life (HRQL). However, little attention has been paid to variations in this impact
      between population groups. This study investigates the relationship between HRQL
      and obesity, and whether or not this relationship varies by socioeconomic status
      (SES). Data were taken from four rounds of the Health Survey for England (2003
      2006; n = 33,716) for persons aged 16 and above. Banded total annual household
      income is regressed against a comprehensive set of SES indicators using interval
      regression. We use the equivalised predicted values from this model, categorised
      into quartiles, as our measure of SES. We regress EQ-5D scores against
      interactions between body mass index and SES categories. Obesity is negatively
      correlated with HRQL. The negative impact of obesity is greater in people from
      lower SES groups. Overweight and obese people in lower SES groups have lower HRQL
      than those of normal weight in the same SES group, and have lower HRQL than those
      in higher SES groups of the same weight. This trend is also observed after
      controlling for individual and household characteristics, although the
      statistical significance and magnitude of effects is diminished.

PMID- 20932624
TI  - [2nd international course of the ACREP (Reconstructive and esthetic surgery
      association of Picardie) on perforated flaps].

PMID- 20932626
TI  - Atipic electrocardiographic manifestation of pulmonary embolism.

PMID- 20932627
TI  - Are patients brain-dead after successful resuscitation from cardiac arrest
      suitable as organ donors? A systematic review.
AB  - AIM: To compare the outcome of organs retrieved from patients brain dead due to
      cardiac arrest (CA) with that of organs retrieved from patients brain dead due to
      other causes (non-CA). METHODS: Systematic review. Clinical studies comparing the
      outcome of patients and organs retrieved from donors brain dead after being
      resuscitated from cardiac arrest with that of patients and organs retrieved from
      donors brain dead not due to cardiac arrest were considered for inclusion. Full
      text articles were searched on MEDLINE, EmBASE, Cochrane Register of Controlled
      Trials and Cochrane Register of Systematic Reviews. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: One
      year patient or organ survival rate. RESULTS: Four studies fulfilling inclusion
      criteria were found and three had sufficient quality to be included in final
      analysis. A total of 858 organs were transplanted from 741 donors. Since the
      transplanted organs (heart, liver, kidney, lung and intestine) were different in
      the three studies, metanalysis was not performed. There were no significant
      differences in 1-year survival rates between CA and non-CA groups. No significant
      differences were reported for 5-year survival rates, early recovery of
      transplanted organ function, and organ rejection rates. CONCLUSION: Survival
      rates of kidneys, livers, hearts and intestines retrieved from CA donors were not
      significantly different from that of organs transplanted from non-CA donors.
      Patients brain dead after having been resuscitated from cardiac arrest can be
      considered as potential donors for organ transplantation.

PMID- 20932628
TI  - Retention into internship of resuscitation skills learned in a medical student
      resuscitation program incorporating an Immediate Life Support course.
AB  - AIMS: This study describes the acquisition and retention of resuscitation skills
      by medical students during and following a vertically integrated training program
      incorporating an Immediate Life Support course (ILS): and the skills demonstrated
      by interns on entry to clinical practice. METHODS: Yearly resuscitation workshops
      were held in the final 3 years of a 6-year undergraduate medical curriculum.
      These consisted of a basic life support course in year 4; a resuscitation
      workshop including shock-advisory defibrillation in year 5; and an ILS course in
      year 6. A medical student cohort was tested during the course and at the
      beginning of internship. RESULTS: Before year 5 training, an average of 36.6% of
      students passed each criterion and this increased to 72.3% 10 weeks after
      training. Prior to the ILS course (approximately 6-18 months following year 5
      training), this proportion had decreased to 35.2%; and on retesting as interns
      the proportion was 64.1%, with delay between ILS training and testing of between
      3 and 9 months. The proportion of interns correctly performing airway opening,
      initial rescue breathing and ventilation technique was lower than other measured
      skills. Those with ILS training performed better in initial rescue breaths
      (p=0.03), ventilation technique (p=0.04), and recommencement of CPR without delay
      following defibrillation (p=0.02). CONCLUSIONS: A vertically integrated
      undergraduate resuscitation course appears to reinforce the maintenance of
      resuscitation skills until internship. Skills are maintained for at least 6-9
      months following an ILS course. This may be due to the ILS course embedding the
      skills more thoroughly.

PMID- 20932630
TI  - Platonin mitigates acute lung injury in haemorrhagic shock rats.
AB  - AIM OF THE STUDY: Enhanced oxidative stress and inflammatory response are crucial
      in mediating the development of acute lung injury induced by haemorrhagic shock
      with resuscitation. Platonin, a potent antioxidant, possesses potent anti
      inflammation capacity. We sought to elucidate whether platonin could mitigate
      acute lung injury in haemorrhagic shock/resuscitation rats. METHODS: Seventy-two
      adult male rats were randomized to receive haemorrhagic shock/resuscitation (HS),
      HS plus platonin (10, 50, or 100MUg/kg intravenous injection immediately after
      resuscitation), sham instrumentation (Sham), or Sham plus platonin (100MUg/kg)
      (n=12 in each group). Haemorrhagic shock was induced by blood drawing and mean
      blood pressure was maintained at 40-45mmHg for 120min. Then, resuscitation was
      achieved by shed blood/saline mixtures re-infusion. After monitoring for another
      8h, rats were sacrificed. RESULTS: Arterial blood gas and histological findings,
      in concert with assays of leukocyte infiltration (polymorphonuclear
      leukocytes/alveoli ratio and myeloperoxidase activity) and lung water content
      (wet/dry weight ratio), confirmed that haemorrhagic shock/resuscitation caused
      significant lung injury. Significant increases in concentrations of inflammatory
      molecules (chemokine, cytokine, and prostaglandin E(2)) as well as nitric oxide
      and malondialdehyde in lung tissues confirmed that haemorrhagic
      shock/resuscitation elicited inflammatory response and imposed oxidative stress
      in rats. Platonin at the dosages of 50 and 100MUg/kg, but not 10MUg/kg,
      significantly attenuated the inflammatory response and oxidative stress induced
      by haemorrhagic shock/resuscitation. Most important, platonin at the dosages of
      50 and 100MUg/kg, but not 10MUg/kg, significantly mitigated the lung injury
      induced by haemorrhagic shock/resuscitation. CONCLUSIONS: Platonin mitigates
      acute lung injury in haemorrhagic shock/resuscitation rats.

PMID- 20932631
TI  - Continuous capnography and focused echocardiographic evaluation during
      resuscitation--additional criteria for cessation of treatment out-of-hospital
      cardiac arrest.

PMID- 20932632
TI  - Chest compression: not as effective on dental chair as on the floor.

PMID- 20932633
TI  - Constructing genuine savings indicators for Ireland, 1995-2005.
AB  - In this paper we compute the genuine savings indicators for the Republic of
      Ireland over the period 1995-2005. We expand and improve existing World Bank's
      estimates by: a) using data collected from official Irish sources; b) employing
      the net present value method to assess resource depreciation; c) including
      external costs from SO(2) and NOx emissions; and d) estimating human capital
      accumulation using the returns to education. We also perform a sensitivity
      analysis to check the robustness of our estimates to different assumptions and
      parameters. Our estimates are consistently smaller than the World Bank's and
      negative in the first years of the period considered.

PMID- 20932634
TI  - Estimating the volatilization of ammonia from synthetic nitrogenous fertilizers
      used in China.
AB  - Although it has long been recognized that significant amounts of nitrogen,
      typically in the form of ammonia (NH(3)) applied as fertilizer, are lost to the
      atmosphere, accurate estimates are lacking for many locations. In this study, a
      detailed, bottom-up method for estimating NH(3) emissions from synthetic
      fertilizers in China was used. The total amount emitted in 2005 in China was
      estimated to be 3.55 Tg NH(3)-N, with an uncertainty of +/- 50%. This estimate
      was considerably lower than previously published values. Emissions from urea and
      ammonium bicarbonate accounted for 64.3% and 26.5%, respectively, of the 2005
      total. The NH(3) emission inventory incorporated 2448 county-level data points,
      categorized on a monthly basis, and was developed with more accurate activity
      levels and emission factors than had been used in previous assessments. There was
      considerable variability in the emissions within a province. The NH(3) emissions
      generally peaked in the spring and summer, accounting for 30.1% and 48.8%,
      respectively, of total emissions in 2005. The peaks correlated with crop planting
      and fertilization schedules. The NH(3) regional distribution pattern showed
      strong correspondence with planting techniques and local arable land areas. The
      regions with the highest atmospheric losses are located in eastern China,
      especially the North China Plain and the Taihu region.

PMID- 20932635
TI  - Magnetic composite prepared from palm shell-based carbon and application for
      recovery of residual oil from POME.
AB  - Magnetic separation combined with adsorption by activated carbon has been found
      to be a useful method for removing pollutants. In this paper, the use of palm
      shell as a source of activated carbon for the removal and recovery of oil from
      palm oil mill effluent (POME) is studied. In the first part of the study, the
      properties of samples of activated carbon prepared from palm shell under a
      variety of different conditions were characterized for their hydrophobicity,
      surface areas and pore size distribution. The most effective of the activated
      carbon samples was prepared by impregnation with ZnCl(2) followed by combined
      physical/chemical activation under carbon dioxide flow at 800  degrees C. Four
      grams of these samples adsorbed 90% of the oil from 50 mL POME. In the second
      part, the palm shell-based carbon samples were given magnetic properties by the
      technique of iron oxide deposition. Ninety-four percent of the activated
      carbon/iron oxide composite containing the adsorbed oil could be extracted from
      the POME by a magnetic bar of 0.15 T. Four grams of the composite can remove 85%
      of oil from 50 mL POME and a total of 67% of the initial oil can then be
      recovered by hexane extraction. Powder X-ray diffractometry showed the presence
      of magnetite and maghemite in the activated carbon/iron oxide composite.

PMID- 20932636
TI  - Mapping socio-economic scenarios of land cover change: a GIS method to enable
      ecosystem service modelling.
AB  - We present a GIS method to interpret qualitatively expressed socio-economic
      scenarios in quantitative map-based terms. (i) We built scenarios using local
      stakeholders and experts to define how major land cover classes may change under
      different sets of drivers; (ii) we formalized these as spatially explicit rules,
      for example agriculture can only occur on certain soil types; (iii) we created a
      future land cover map which can then be used to model ecosystem services. We
      illustrate this for carbon storage in the Eastern Arc Mountains of Tanzania using
      two scenarios: the first based on sustainable development, the second based on
      'business as usual' with continued forest-woodland degradation and poor
      protection of existing forest reserves. Between 2000 and 2025 4% of carbon stocks
      were lost under the first scenario compared to a loss of 41% of carbon stocks
      under the second scenario. Quantifying the impacts of differing future scenarios
      using the method we document here will be important if payments for ecosystem
      services are to be used to change policy in order to maintain critical ecosystem
      services.

PMID- 20932637
TI  - Decreasing rate and extent of lymph node staging in patients undergoing radical
      prostatectomy may undermine the rate of diagnosis of lymph node metastases in
      prostate cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: At radical prostatectomy (RP), pelvic lymph node dissection (PLND)
      represents the most accurate staging procedure for the presence of lymph node
      (LN) metastases. OBJECTIVE: We evaluated the rate of PLND use and its lymph node
      count (LNC) over the last two decades. We also tested the relationship between
      LNC and the rate of pN1 stage. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Between 1988
      and 2006, 130,080 RPs were recorded in 17 Surveillance Epidemiology and End
      Results registries. MEASUREMENTS: The statistical significance of temporal trends
      was evaluated with the chi-square trend test. Separate univariable and
      multivariable regression analyses tested the relationship between predictors and
      two end points: (1) lack of LN staging (pNx) and (2) presence of LN metastases
      (pN1). RESULTS AND LIMITATIONS: Stage pNx was recorded in 25.9% of patients, and
      pNx rate was higher in more contemporary years (30.1% in 2000-2006 vs 20.8% in
      1988-1993; multivariable p < 0.001). When PLND was performed, an average of 7.4
      LNs (median: 6) were removed. The average LNC decreased from 12.0 nodes (median:
      12) in 1988 to 6.0 nodes (median: 4) in 2006. Overall pN1 rate was 3.4% and
      decreased from 10.7% to 3.1% between 1988 and 2006 (p < 0.001). LNC was an
      independent predictor of pN1 stage (multivariable p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: An
      increasingly larger proportion of prostate cancer patients remain without LN
      staging at RP. Fewer LNs were removed at PLND over time, resulting in fewer
      patients diagnosed with pN1 stage at RP. The impact of this phenomenon on cancer
      control outcomes is still to be verified.

PMID- 20932638
TI  - Fault detection using dynamic time warping (DTW) algorithm and discriminant
      analysis for swine wastewater treatment.
AB  - This paper proposes a diagnosis system using dynamic time warping (DTW) and
      discriminant analysis with oxidation-reduction potential (ORP) and dissolved
      oxygen (DO) values for swine wastewater treatment. A full-scale sequencing batch
      reactor (SBR), which has an effective volume of 20 m(3), was auto-controlled, and
      the reaction phase was performed by a sub-cycle operation consisting of a
      repeated short cycle of the anoxic-aerobic step. Using ORP and DO profiles, SBR
      status was divided into four categories of normal and abnormal cases; these were
      influent disturbance, aeration controller fault, instrument trouble and
      inadequate raw wastewater feeding. Through the DTW process, difference values (D)
      were determined and classified into seven cases. In spite of the
      misclassification of high loading rates, the ORP profile provided good diagnosis
      results. However, the DO profiles detected five misclassifications that indicated
      different statuses. After the DTW process, several statistical values, including
      maximum value, minimum value, average value, standard deviation value and three
      quartile values, were extracted and applied to establish the discriminant
      function. The discriminant analysis allows one to classify seven cases with a
      percentage of 100% and 92.7% for ORP and DO profiles, respectively. Consequently,
      the study showed that ORP profiles are more efficient than DO profiles as
      diagnosis parameters and DTW diagnosis algorithms and discriminants.

PMID- 20932639
TI  - Evaluation of blends bauxite-calcination-method red mud with other industrial
      wastes as a cementitious material: properties and hydration characteristics.
AB  - Red mud is generated from alumina production, and its disposal is currently a
      worldwide problem. In China, large quantities of red mud derived from bauxite
      calcination method are being discharged annually, and its utilization has been an
      urgent topic. This experimental research was to evaluate the feasibility of
      blends red mud derived from bauxite calcination method with other industrial
      wastes for use as a cementitious material. The developed cementitious material
      containing 30% of the bauxite-calcination-method red mud possessed compressive
      strength properties at a level similar to normal Portland cement, in the range of
      45.3-49.5 MPa. Best compressive strength values were demonstrated by the specimen
      RSFC2 containing 30% bauxite-calcination-method red mud, 21% blast-furnace slag,
      10% fly ash, 30% clinker, 8% gypsum and 1% compound agent. The mechanical and
      physical properties confirm the usefulness of RSFC2. The hydration
      characteristics of RSFC2 were characterized by XRD, FTIR, (27)Al MAS-NMR and SEM.
      As predominant hydration products, ettringite and amorphous C-S-H gel are
      principally responsible for the strength development of RSFC2. Comparing with the
      traditional production for ordinary Portland cement, this green technology is
      easier to be implemented and energy saving. This paper provides a key solution to
      effectively utilize bauxite-calcination-method red mud.

PMID- 20932640
TI  - Biodegradation of anthracene by Aspergillus fumigatus.
AB  - An anthracene-degrading strain, identified as Aspergillus fumigatus, showed a
      favorable ability in degradation of anthracene. The degradation efficiency could
      be maintained at about 60% after 5d with initial pH of the medium kept between 5
      and 7.5, and the optimal temperature of 30  degrees C. The activity of this
      strain was not affected significantly by high salinity. Exploration on co
      metabolism showed that the highest degradation efficiency was reached at equal
      concentration of lactose and anthracene. Excessive carbon source would actually
      hamper the degradation efficiency. Meanwhile, the strain could utilize some
      aromatic hydrocarbons such as benzene, toluene, phenol etc. as sole source of
      carbon and energy, indicating its degradation diversity. Experiments on enzymatic
      degradation indicated that extracellular enzymes secreted by A. fumigatus could
      metabolize anthracene effectively, in which the lignin peroxidase may be the most
      important constituent. Analysis of ion chromatography showed that the release of
      anions of A. fumigatus was not affected by addition of anthracene. GC-MS analysis
      revealed that the molecular structure of anthracene changed with the action of
      the microbe, generating a series of intermediate compounds such as phthalic
      anhydride, anthrone and anthraquinone by ring-cleavage reactions.

PMID- 20932641
TI  - Ultrasonic recovery of copper and iron through the simultaneous utilization of
      Printed Circuit Boards (PCB) spent acid etching solution and PCB waste sludge.
AB  - A method was developed to recover the copper and iron from Printed Circuit Boards
      (PCB) manufacturing generated spent acid etching solution and waste sludge with
      ultrasonic energy at laboratory scale. It demonstrated that copper-containing PCB
      spent etching solution could be utilized as a leaching solution to leach copper
      from copper contained PCB waste sludge. It also indicated that lime could be used
      as an alkaline precipitating agent in this method to precipitate iron from the
      mixture of acidic PCB spent etching solution and waste sludge. This method
      provided an effective technique for the recovery of copper and iron through
      simultaneous use of PCB spent acid solution and waste sludge. The leaching rates
      of copper and iron enhanced with ultrasound energy were reached at 93.76% and
      2.07% respectively and effectively separated copper from iron. Followed by
      applying lime to precipitate copper from the mixture of leachate and rinsing
      water produced by the copper and iron separation, about 99.99% and 1.29% of
      soluble copper and calcium were settled as the solids respectively. Furthermore
      the settled copper could be made as commercial rate copper. The process
      performance parameters studied were pH, ultrasonic power, and temperature. This
      method provided a simple and reliable technique to recover copper and iron from
      waste streams generated by PCB manufacturing, and would significantly reduce the
      cost of chemicals used in the recovery.

PMID- 20932642
TI  - Removal of 1-naphthylamine from aqueous solution by multiwall carbon
      nanotubes/iron oxides/cyclodextrin composite.
AB  - The adsorption of 1-naphthylamine on multiwall carbon nanotubes/iron oxides/beta
      cyclodextrin composite (denoted by MWCNTs/iron oxides/CD) prepared by using
      plasma-induced grafting technique was investigated by batch technique under
      ambient conditions. The effect of contact time, pH, adsorbent content,
      temperature and initial 1-naphthylamine concentration, on 1-naphthylamine
      adsorption to MWCNTs/iron oxides/CD was examined. The adsorption of 1
      naphthylamine on MWCNTs/iron oxides/CD was dependent on pH, adsorbent content,
      and temperature. The 1-napthylamien was adsorbed rapidly at the first 50h, and
      thereafter attained the adsorption saturation at 80h. The adsorption kinetic data
      were well described by the pseuso-second-order rate model. The adsorption
      isotherms were fitted by the Langmuir model better than by the Freundlich model.
      The maximum adsorption capacity of 1-naphthylamine was 200.0mg/g. The adsorption
      thermodynamic parameters of standard enthalpy (DeltaH(0)), standard entropy
      changes (DeltaS(0)), and standard free energy (DeltaG(0)) were calculated from
      temperature dependent adsorption isotherms. The values of DeltaH(0) and DeltaG(0)
      suggested that the adsorption of 1-naphthylamine on MWCNTs/iron oxides/CD was
      endothermic and spontaneous. The electron-donor-acceptor interaction, Hydrophobic
      interaction, and Lewis acid-base interaction may play an important role in 1
      naphthylamine adsorption. The results show that MWCNTs/iron oxides/CD is a
      promising magnetic nanomaterial for the preconcentration and separation of
      organic pollutants from aqueous solutions in environmental pollution cleanup.

PMID- 20932643
TI  - Polysiloxane surface modified with bipyrazolic tripodal receptor for quantitative
      lead adsorption.
AB  - A new silica gel compound modified N,N-bis(3,5-dimethylpyrazol-1-ylmethyl) amine
      (SiN(2)Pz) was synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, FT-IR, (13)C
      NMR of the solid state, nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherm, BET surface area
      and BJH pore sizes. The new surface exhibits good chemical and thermal stability
      determined by thermogravimetry curves (TGA). The effect of pH and stirring time
      on the adsorption of Pb(II) were studied. The process of metal retention was
      followed by batch method and the optimum pH value for the quantitative adsorption
      of this toxic metal ion was 7. At this pH value, the new functionalized
      polysiloxane presents further improvements and shows higher affinity (123mg of
      Pb(2+)/g of silica) for the effective adsorption of Pb(II) compared to others
      described sorbents. The extracted amounts of Pb(II) were determined by atomic
      absorption measurements.

PMID- 20932644
TI  - Inputting history of heavy metals into the inland lake recorded in sediment
      profiles: Poyang Lake in China.
AB  - The temporal and spatial distribution of heavy metals (Cd, Hg, Pb, As and Cr) in
      Poyang Lake, the largest freshwater lake (3050 km(2)) in China, were studied
      based on the sedimentary profiles. For this purpose, eight sedimentary cores were
      selected which located at lake area, outfall of lake and the main branch rivers,
      respectively. High-resolution profiles with interval 2 cm were used for analyzing
      the concentration of metals, and the ages of them were determined by (210)Pb and
      (137)Cs isotopic dating. While studying the change of metals concentration with
      the age in profile, it is found that the concentration of them in sediments was
      influenced not only by the sources in history but also by the sediment types.
      Based on this detailed work, the inventory and burden of heavy metals per decade
      were estimated in lake area during the past 50 years. Significantly, rivers
      contribution ratio per decade was estimated to distinguish each river's
      contribution of heavy metals into lake while river-flux in history and metals
      concentration in profiles were considered as calculating factors. So, our
      research provides a proof to well understand the sedimentary history and the
      inputting history of heavy metals from main rivers into an inland lake.

PMID- 20932645
TI  - Role of the NKCC1 co-transporter in sensitization of spinal nociceptive neurons.
AB  - The Na(+), K(+), 2Cl(-) co-transporter type 1 (NKCC1) plays a pivotal role in
      hyperalgesia associated with inflammatory stimuli. NKCC1 contributes to maintain
      high [Cl(-)](i) in dorsal root ganglia (DRG) neurons which cause primary afferent
      depolarization (PAD) when GABA(A) receptors are activated. Enhanced GABA-induced
      depolarization, through increased NKCC1 activity, has been hypothesized to
      produce orthodromic spike activity of sufficient intensity to account for touch
      induced pain. In the present study, we investigate this hypothesis using in vivo
      electrophysiology on rat dorsal horn neurons; the effects of spinal blockade of
      NKCC1 on intraplantar capsaicin-induced sensitization of dorsal horn neurons were
      examined. Single wide dynamic range (WDR) and nociceptive specific (NS) neuron
      activity in the dorsal horn was recorded using glass microelectrodes in
      anesthetized rats. Dorsal horn neurons with a receptive field on the plantar
      surface of the hindpaw were studied. Neuronal responses to mechanical stimuli
      (brush, von Frey filaments) were recorded ten minutes before intraplantar
      injection of 0.3 ml 0.1% capsaicin (CAP), 40 min after CAP and 15 min after local
      application of the NKCC1 blocker bumetanide (BTD; 500 MUM) on the spinal cord.
      After CAP, low and high threshold stimulation of the cutaneous receptive field
      produced a significant enhancement in spike frequency over pre-CAP values in both
      WDR and NS neurons. Spinal BTD application reduced the spike frequency to
      baseline levels as well as attenuated the CAP-induced increases in background
      activity. Our data support the hypothesis that NKCC1 plays an important role in
      the sensitization of dorsal horn neurons following a peripheral inflammatory
      insult.

PMID- 20932647
TI  - The prevalence of Cryptosporidium, and identification of the Cryptosporidium
      horse genotype in foals in New York State.
AB  - To date, little is known about the prevalence, genotypes and zoonotic potential
      of Cryptosporidium spp. affecting horses, especially in North America. A cross
      sectional study was conducted in New York, USA between February 25th and May 1st
      2009. Fecal samples were collected from three hundred and forty nine 1-10-week
      old foals and their dams on 14 different broodmare farms. All fecal samples were
      screened for Cryptosporidium spp. using a direct immunofluorescence assay (DFA).
      DNA extraction and PCR-RFLP analysis of the small-subunit (SSU) rRNA gene were
      performed on all the foal samples. PCR-positive samples were subtyped by DNA
      sequencing of the 60-kDa glycoprotein (gp60) gene. On DFA, 13/175 (7.4%) foal
      samples and 3/174 (1.7%) mare samples were designated positive for
      Cryptosporidium spp., whereas on SSU rRNA-based PCR, 9/175 (5.1%) foal samples
      were positive. Cryptosporidium PCR-positive foals were significantly older (13-40
      days, median age of 28 days) compared with negative foals (4-67 days, median 18
      days, p=0.02). The number of foals with diarrhea or soft feces was not
      significantly different between positive and negative foals (p=0.09). PCR-RFLP
      analysis of the SSU rRNA gene and DNA sequencing of the gp60 gene identified the
      parasite as subtype VIaA14G2 of the horse genotype. This is the first report of a
      group of foals affected with the Cryptosporidium horse genotype, which has
      recently been detected in humans. As other contemporary molecular studies have
      identified C. parvum in foals, it seems that equine cryptosporidiosis should be
      considered a zoonosis.

PMID- 20932646
TI  - Are prognostic indicators for poor outcome different for acute and chronic low
      back pain consulters in primary care?
AB  - Few studies have investigated whether prognostic indicators, which contribute to
      the transition from acute to chronic low back pain (LBP), are also those which
      contribute to continuing persistence of chronic LBP. We compared the contribution
      of physical, psychological and social indicators to predicting disability after
      one year between consulters with LBP of less than 3 months duration and more than
      3 months duration. Data from two large prospective cohort studies of consecutive
      patients consulting with LBP in general practices were merged, providing complete
      data for 258 cases with acute/subacute LBP and 668 cases with chronic LBP at 12
      months follow-up. There were significant differences between the two LBP groups
      in baseline characteristics and clinical course of disability, assessed by Roland
      Morris Disability Questionnaire, during the year of follow-up. Adjusted
      associations between potential prognostic indicators and disability at 12months
      were carried out in the two LBP subgroups. The final multivariable regression
      models showed that being non-employed, having widespread pain, a high level of
      Chronic Pain Grade, and catastrophising were the strongest prognostic indicators
      for disability at 12 months in both LBP groups. Fear of pain was significantly
      associated with disability in chronic LBP. Importantly, beyond baseline
      disability, the effect size of the other prognostic indicators for poor outcome
      was rather low. These findings must continue to challenge researchers to identify
      useful early predictors of outcome in persons with disabling back pain, as
      screening and targeted treatment approaches are dependent upon prognostic
      indicators with clinical significance.

PMID- 20932648
TI  - Early administration of trimetazidine may prevent or ameliorate diabetic
      cardiomyopathy.
AB  - Diabetic cardiomyopathy is a type of cardiac dysfunction resulting from diabetes,
      independent of vascular or valvular pathology. It clinically manifests initially
      as asymptomatic diastolic dysfunction and then progresses to symptomatic heart
      failure. Two major contributors to the development of diabetic cardiomyopathy,
      which are unique to diabetes, are hyperglycemia and diabetes-related alterations
      in myocardial metabolism. Diabetes mellitus is characterized by reduced glucose
      and lactate metabolism and enhanced fatty acid metabolism, which are the early
      consequences of the disease. Studies on the effect of intensive glucose control
      on heart failure events in patients with diabetes have been conducted with
      neutral results. However, no study on the effect of metabolic modulators on the
      prevention of heart failure has been reported. Trimetazidine, a 3-ketoacyl
      coenzyme A thiolase (3-KAT) inhibitor, shifts cardiac energy metabolism from free
      fatty acid oxidation to glucose oxidation by inhibiting mitochondrial long-chain
      3-KAT, and is used clinically as an effective antianginal agent. Studies have
      shown that trimetazidine improves heart function in patients with idiopathic
      cardiomyopathy and in diabetic patients with cardiac ischemia or heart failure.
      In addition to being effective, trimetazidine has only mild side effects.
      Therefore, instead of routine administration of trimetazidine for the treatment
      of diabetic cardiomyopathy, we hypothesize that the early application of
      trimetazidine may prevent or ameliorate diabetic cardiomyopathy. In addition to
      life style modifications, ACEI, ARB, and beta-blockers, which have been
      recommended in the past, trimetazidine should be administered to those patients
      with impaired glucose tolerance or patients in the early course of diabetes. In
      this way, we may reduce the prevalence of heart failure and improve the long-term
      survival of patients with diabetes through early normalization of the myocardial
      substrate metabolism.

PMID- 20932649
TI  - Wine, sirtuins and nephroprotection: not only resveratrol.
AB  - Resveratrol (RSV), a red wine component, and red wine itself exert cardio- and
      nephroprotective effects by modulating the Nitric Oxide system (NO). It has been
      shown that one of the main actions resulting from NO modulation is sirtuin
      regulation, especially SIRT-1 regulation. Elucidating both upstream and
      downstream molecular mechanisms of the SIRT-1 pathway is an open field of
      investigation that can explain its role not only in long-term processes, such as
      aging, but also in short-term processes, such as protection against ischemic
      damage. Our hypothesis suggests the importance of investigating compounds that
      are routine dietary components and do not necessarily contain RSV. Their
      nephroprotective activity could involve not only eNOS-dependent, but also NO
      dependent but eNOS-independent mechanisms, or other molecular alternative
      signaling systems.

PMID- 20932650
TI  - First evaluation of the biologic effectiveness factors of boron neutron capture
      therapy (BNCT) in a human colon carcinoma cell line.
AB  - PURPOSE: DNA lesions produced by boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) and those
      produced by gamma radiation in a colon carcinoma cell line were analyzed. We have
      also derived the relative biologic effectiveness factor (RBE) of the neutron beam
      of the RA-3- Argentine nuclear reactor, and the compound biologic effectiveness
      (CBE) values for p-boronophenylalanine ((10)BPA) and for 2,4-bis (alpha,beta
      dihydroxyethyl)-deutero-porphyrin IX ((10)BOPP). METHODS AND MATERIALS:
      Exponentially growing human colon carcinoma cells (ARO81-1) were distributed into
      the following groups: (1) BPA (10 ppm (10)B) + neutrons, (2) BOPP (10 ppm (10)B)
      + neutrons, (3) neutrons alone, and (4) gamma rays ((60)Co source at 1 Gy/min
      dose-rate). Different irradiation times were used to obtain total absorbed doses
      between 0.3 and 5 Gy (+/-10%) (thermal neutrons flux = 7.5 10(9) n/cm(2) sec).
      RESULTS: The frequency of micronucleated binucleated cells and the number of
      micronuclei per micronucleated binucleated cells showed a dose-dependent increase
      until approximately 2 Gy. The response to gamma rays was significantly lower than
      the response to the other treatments (p < 0.05). The irradiations with neutrons
      alone and neutrons + BOPP showed curves that did not differ significantly from,
      and showed less DNA damage than, irradiation with neutrons + BPA. A decrease in
      the surviving fraction measured by 3-(4,5-dimetiltiazol-2-il)-2,5
      difeniltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay as a function of the absorbed dose was
      observed for all the treatments. The RBE and CBE factors calculated from
      cytokinesis block micronucleus (CBMN) and MTT assays were, respectively, the
      following: beam RBE: 4.4 +/- 1.1 and 2.4 +/- 0.6; CBE for BOPP: 8.0 +/- 2.2 and
      2.0 +/- 1; CBE for BPA: 19.6 +/- 3.7 and 3.5 +/- 1.3. CONCLUSIONS: BNCT and gamma
      irradiations showed different genotoxic patterns. To our knowledge, these values
      represent the first experimental ones obtained for the RA-3 in a biologic model
      and could be useful for future experimental studies for the application of BNCT
      to colon carcinoma.

PMID- 20932651
TI  - Phase I trial of hypofractionated intensity-modulated radiotherapy with
      temozolomide chemotherapy for patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma
      multiforme.
AB  - PURPOSE: To determine the maximal tolerated biologic dose intensification of
      radiotherapy using fractional dose escalation with temozolomide (TMZ)
      chemotherapy in patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma multiforme. METHODS
      AND MATERIALS: Patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma multiforme after biopsy
      or resection and with adequate performance status, bone marrow, and organ
      function were eligible. The patients underwent postoperative intensity-modulated
      radiotherapy (IMRT) with concurrent and adjuvant TMZ. All patients received a
      total dose of 60 Gy to the surgical cavity and residual tumor, with a 5-mm
      margin. IMRT biologic dose intensification was achieved by escalating from 3
      Gy/fraction (Level 1) to 6 Gy/fraction (Level 4) in 1-Gy increments. Concurrent
      TMZ was given at 75 mg/m(2)/d for 28 consecutive days. Adjuvant TMZ was given at
      150-200 mg/m(2)/d for 5 days every 28 days. Dose-limiting toxicity was defined as
      any Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events, version 3, Grade 3-4
      nonhematologic toxicity, excluding Grade 3 fatigue, nausea, and vomiting. A
      standard 3+3 Phase I design was used. RESULTS: A total of 16 patients were
      accrued (12 men and 4 women, median age, 69 years; range, 34-84. The median
      Karnofsky performance status was 80 (range, 60-90). Of the 16 patients, 3 each
      were treated at Levels 1 and 2, 4 at Level 3, and 6 at Level 4. All patients
      received IMRT and concurrent TMZ according to the protocol, except for 1 patient,
      who received 14 days of concurrent TMZ. The median number of adjuvant TMZ cycles
      was 7.5 (range, 0-12). The median survival was 16.2 months (range, 3-33). One
      patient experienced vision loss in the left eye 7 months after IMRT. Four
      patients underwent repeat surgery for suspected tumor recurrence 6-12 months
      after IMRT; 3 had radionecrosis. CONCLUSIONS: The maximal tolerated IMRT fraction
      size was not reached in our study. Our results have shown that 60 Gy IMRT
      delivered in 6-Gy fractions within 2 weeks with concurrent and adjuvant TMZ is
      tolerable in selected patients with a T(1)-weighted enhancing tumor <6 cm.

PMID- 20932652
TI  - Dynamics of delayed p53 mutations in mice given whole-body irradiation at 8
      weeks.
AB  - PURPOSE: Ionizing irradiation might induce delayed genotoxic effects in a p53
      dependent manner. However, a few reports have shown a p53 mutation as a delayed
      effect of radiation. In this study, we investigated the p53 gene mutation by the
      translocation frequency in chromosome 11, loss of p53 alleles, p53 gene
      methylation, p53 nucleotide sequence, and p53 protein expression/phosphorylation
      in p53(+/+) and p53(+/-) mice after irradiation at a young age. METHODS AND
      MATERIALS: p53(+/+) and p53(+/-) mice were exposed to 3 Gy of whole-body
      irradiation at 8 weeks of age. Chromosome instability was evaluated by
      fluorescence in situ hybridization analysis. p53 allele loss was evaluated by
      polymerase chain reaction, and p53 methylation was evaluated by methylation
      specific polymerase chain reaction. p53 sequence analysis was performed. p53
      protein expression was evaluated by Western blotting. RESULTS: The translocation
      frequency in chromosome 11 showed a delayed increase after irradiation. In old
      irradiated mice, the number of mice that showed p53 allele loss and p53
      methylation increased compared to these numbers in old non-irradiated mice. In
      two old irradiated p53(+/-) mice, the p53 sequence showed heteromutation. In old
      irradiated mice, the p53 and phospho-p53 protein expressions decreased compared
      to old non-irradiated mice. CONCLUSION: We concluded that irradiation at a young
      age induced delayed p53 mutations and p53 protein suppression.

PMID- 20932653
TI  - Objective and longitudinal assessment of dermatitis after postoperative
      accelerated partial breast irradiation using high-dose-rate interstitial
      brachytherapy in patients with breast cancer treated with breast conserving
      therapy: reduction of moisture deterioration by APBI.
AB  - PURPOSE: To objectively evaluate the radiation dermatitis caused by accelerated
      partial breast irradiation (APBI) using high-dose-rate interstitial
      brachytherapy. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The skin color and moisture changes were
      examined using a newly installed spectrophotometer and corneometer in 22 patients
      who had undergone APBI using open cavity implant high-dose-rate interstitial
      brachytherapy (36 Gy in six fractions) and compared with the corresponding values
      for 44 patients in an external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) control group (50-60 Gy
      in 25-30 fractions within 5-6 weeks) after breast conserving surgery. RESULTS:
      All values changed significantly as a result of APBI. The extent of elevation in
      a* (reddish) and reduction in L* (black) values caused by APBI were similar to
      those for EBRT, with slightly delayed recovery for 6-12 months after treatment
      owing to the surgical procedure. In contrast, only APBI caused a change in the b*
      values, and EBRT did not, demonstrating that the reduction in b* values
      (yellowish) depends largely on the surgical procedure. The changes in moisture
      were less severe after APBI than after EBRT, and the recovery was more rapid. The
      toxicity assessment using the Common Toxicity Criteria, version 3, showed that
      all dermatitis caused by APBI was Grade 2 or less. CONCLUSION: An objective
      analysis can quantify the effects of APBI procedures on color and moisture
      cosmesis. The radiation dermatitis caused by APBI using the present schedule
      showed an equivalent effect on skin color and a less severe effect on moisture
      than the effects caused by standard EBRT.

PMID- 20932654
TI  - Genome-wide association study to identify single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs)
      associated with the development of erectile dysfunction in African-American men
      after radiotherapy for prostate cancer.
AB  - PURPOSE: To identify single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with
      erectile dysfunction (ED) among African-American prostate cancer patients treated
      with external beam radiation therapy. METHODS AND MATERIALS: A cohort of African
      American prostate cancer patients treated with external beam radiation therapy
      was observed for the development of ED by use of the five-item Sexual Health
      Inventory for Men (SHIM) questionnaire. Final analysis included 27 cases (post
      treatment SHIM score <=7) and 52 control subjects (post-treatment SHIM score
      >=16). A genome-wide association study was performed using approximately 909,000
      SNPs genotyped on Affymetrix 6.0 arrays (Affymetrix, Santa Clara, CA). RESULTS:
      We identified SNP rs2268363, located in the follicle-stimulating hormone receptor
      (FSHR) gene, as significantly associated with ED after correcting for multiple
      comparisons (unadjusted p = 5.46 * 10(-8), Bonferroni p = 0.028). We identified
      four additional SNPs that tended toward a significant association with an
      unadjusted p value < 10(-6). Inference of population substructure showed that
      cases had a higher proportion of African ancestry than control subjects (77% vs.
      60%, p = 0.005). A multivariate logistic regression model that incorporated
      estimated ancestry and four of the top-ranked SNPs was a more accurate classifier
      of ED than a model that included only clinical variables. CONCLUSIONS: To our
      knowledge, this is the first genome-wide association study to identify SNPs
      associated with adverse effects resulting from radiotherapy. It is important to
      note that the SNP that proved to be significantly associated with ED is located
      within a gene whose encoded product plays a role in male gonad development and
      function. Another key finding of this project is that the four SNPs most strongly
      associated with ED were specific to persons of African ancestry and would
      therefore not have been identified had a cohort of European ancestry been
      screened. This study demonstrates the feasibility of a genome-wide approach to
      investigate genetic predisposition to radiation injury.

PMID- 20932655
TI  - Lung density changes after stereotactic radiotherapy: a quantitative analysis in
      50 patients.
AB  - PURPOSE: Radiologic lung density changes are observed in more than 50% of
      patients after stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) for lung cancer. We studied
      the relationship between SBRT dose and posttreatment computed tomography (CT)
      density changes, a surrogate for lung injury. METHODS AND MATERIALS: The SBRT
      fractionation schemes used to treat Stage I lung cancer with RapidArc were three
      fractions of 18 Gy, five fractions of 11 Gy, or eight fractions of 7.5 Gy,
      prescribed at the 80% isodose. Follow-up CT scans performed at less than 6 months
      (n = 50) and between 6 and 9 months (n = 30) after SBRT were reviewed.
      Posttreatment scans were coregistered with baseline scans using a B-spline
      deformable registration algorithm. Voxel-Hounsfield unit histograms were created
      for doses between 0.5 and 50 Gy. Linear mixed effects models were used to assess
      the effects of SBRT dose on CT density, and the influence of possible confounders
      was tested. RESULTS: Increased CT density was associated with higher dose,
      increasing planning target volume size, and increasing time after SBRT (all p <
      0.0001). Density increases were apparent in areas receiving >6 Gy, were most
      prominent in areas receiving >20 Gy, and seemed to plateau above 40 Gy. In
      regions receiving >36 Gy, the reduction in air-filled fraction of lung after
      treatment was up to 18%. No increase in CT density was observed in the
      contralateral lung receiving >=3 Gy. CONCLUSIONS: A dose-response relationship
      exists for quantitative CT density changes after SBRT. A threshold of effect is
      seen at low doses, and a plateau at highest doses.

PMID- 20932657
TI  - Prospective phase I-II trial of helical tomotherapy with or without chemotherapy
      for postoperative cervical cancer patients.
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate, in a prospective trial, the acute and chronic toxicity
      of patients with cervical cancer treated with surgery and postoperative intensity
      modulated radiotherapy (RT) delivered using helical tomotherapy, with or without
      the administration of concurrent chemotherapy. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of
      24 evaluable patients entered the study between March 2006 and August 2009. The
      indications for postoperative RT were tumor size, lymphovascular space invasion,
      and the depth of cervical stromal invasion in 15 patients; 9 patients underwent
      postoperative RT because of surgically positive lymph nodes. All patients
      underwent pelvic RT delivered with helical tomotherapy and intracavitary high
      dose-rate brachytherapy. Treatment consisted of concurrent weekly platinum in 17,
      sequential carboplatin/Taxol in 1, and RT alone in 6. The patients were monitored
      for acute and chronic toxicity using the Common Toxicity Criteria, version 3.0.
      RESULTS: The median follow-up was 24 months (range, 4-49). At the last follow-up
      visit, 23 patients were alive and disease free. Of the 24 patients, 12 (50%)
      experienced acute Grade 3 gastrointestinal toxicity (anorexia in 5, diarrhea in
      4, and nausea in 3). One patient developed acute Grade 4 genitourinary toxicity
      (vesicovaginal fistula). For patients treated with concurrent chemotherapy, the
      incidence of acute Grade 3 and 4 hematologic toxicity was 71% and 24%,
      respectively. For patients treated without concurrent chemotherapy, the incidence
      of acute Grade 3 and 4 hematologic toxicity was 29% and 14%, respectively. Two
      long-term toxicities occurred (vesicovaginal fistula at 25 months and small bowel
      obstruction at 30 months). The overall and progression-free survival rate at 3
      years for all patients was 100% and 89%, respectively. CONCLUSION: The results of
      our study have shown that postoperative external RT for cervical cancer delivered
      with helical tomotherapy and high-dose-rate brachytherapy and with or without
      chemotherapy is feasible, with acceptable acute and chronic toxicity.

PMID- 20932656
TI  - Phase II study of neoadjuvant bevacizumab and radiotherapy for resectable soft
      tissue sarcomas.
AB  - PURPOSE: Numerous preclinical studies have demonstrated that angiogenesis
      inhibitors can increase the efficacy of radiotherapy (RT). We sought to examine
      the safety and efficacy of bevacizumab (BV) and RT in soft tissue sarcomas and
      explore biomarkers to help determine the treatment response. METHODS AND
      MATERIALS: Patients with >=5 cm, intermediate- or high-grade soft tissue sarcomas
      at significant risk of local recurrence received neoadjuvant BV alone followed by
      BV plus RT before surgical resection. Correlative science studies included
      analysis of the serial blood and tumor samples and serial perfusion computed
      tomography scans. RESULTS: The 20 patients had a median tumor size of 8.25 cm,
      with 13 extremity, 1 trunk, and 6 retroperitoneal/pelvis tumors. The neoadjuvant
      treatment was well tolerated, with only 4 patients having Grade 3 toxicities
      (hypertension, liver function test elevation). BV plus RT resulted in >=80%
      pathologic necrosis in 9 (45%) of 20 tumors, more than double the historical rate
      seen with RT alone. Three patients had a complete pathologic response. The median
      microvessel density decreased 53% after BV alone (p <.05). After combination
      therapy, the median tumor cell proliferation decreased by 73%, apoptosis
      increased 10.4-fold, and the blood flow, blood volume, and permeability surface
      area decreased by 62-72% (p <.05). Analysis of gene expression microarrays of
      untreated tumors identified a 24-gene signature for treatment response. The
      microvessel density and circulating progenitor cells at baseline and the
      reduction in microvessel density and plasma soluble c-KIT with BV therapy also
      correlated with a good pathologic response (p <.05). After a median follow-up of
      20 months, only 1 patient had developed local recurrence. CONCLUSIONS: The
      results from the present exploratory study indicated that BV increases the
      efficacy of RT against soft tissue sarcomas and might reduce the incidence of
      local recurrence. Thus, this regimen warrants additional investigation. Gene
      expression profiles and other tissue and circulating biomarkers showed promising
      correlations with treatment response.

PMID- 20932658
TI  - Phase II study of chemoradiotherapy with 5-fluorouracil and cisplatin for Stage
      II-III esophageal squamous cell carcinoma: JCOG trial (JCOG 9906).
AB  - PURPOSE: In this Phase II study, we evaluated the efficacy and toxicity of
      chemoradiotherapy (CRT) with cisplatin (CDDP) and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) for Stage
      II-III esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients
      with clinical Stage II-III (T1N1M0 or T2-3N0-1M0) thoracic ESCC were enrolled
      between April 2000 and March 2002. Chemotherapy comprised two courses of
      protracted infusion of 5-FU (400 mg/m(2)/day) on Days 1-5 and 8-12, and 2-h
      infusion of CDDP (40 mg/m(2)) on Days 1 and 8; this regimen was repeated every 5
      weeks. Concurrent radiotherapy involved 60-Gy irradiation (30 fractions) for 8
      weeks with a 2-week break. Responders received two courses of 5-FU (800
      mg/m(2)/day) on Days 1-5 and CDDP (80 mg/m(2)) on Day 1. Final analysis was
      conducted in March 2007. Survival and late toxicities were monitored for 5 years.
      RESULTS: The characteristics of the 76 patients enrolled were as follows: median
      age, 61 years; male/female, 68/8; performance status 0/1, 59/17 patients; Stage
      IIA/IIB/III, 26/12/38 patients. Of the 74 eligible patients, 46 (62.2%) achieved
      complete response. Median survival time was 29 months, with 3- and 5-year
      survival rates of 44.7% and 36.8%, respectively. Acute toxicities included Grade
      3/4 esophagitis (17%), nausea (17%), hyponatremia (16%), and infection without
      neutropenia (12%). Late toxicities comprised Grade 3/4 esophagitis (13%),
      pericardial (16%) and pleural (9%) effusion, and radiation pneumonitis (4%),
      causing 4 deaths. CONCLUSIONS: CRT is effective for Stage II-III ESCC with
      manageable acute toxicities and can provide a nonsurgical treatment option.
      However, further improvement is required for reduction in late toxicity.

PMID- 20932659
TI  - Long-term results after high-dose radiotherapy and adjuvant hormones in prostate
      cancer: how curable is high-risk disease?
AB  - PURPOSE: To analyze long-term outcome and prognostic factors for high-risk
      prostate cancer defined by National Comprehensive Cancer Network criteria treated
      with high-dose radiotherapy and androgen deprivation in a single institution.
      METHODS AND MATERIALS: A total of 306 patients treated between 1995 and 2007 in a
      radiation dose-escalation program fulfilled the National Comprehensive Cancer
      Network high-risk criteria. Median International Commission on Radiation Units
      and Measurements radiation dose was 78 Gy (range, 66.0-84.1 Gy). Long-term
      androgen deprivation (LTAD) was administered in 231 patients, short-term androgen
      deprivation (STAD) in 59 patients, and no hormones in 16 patients. The Phoenix
      (nadir plus 2 ng/mL) consensus definition was used for biochemical control.
      Multivariate analysis was performed to determine the independent prognostic
      impact of clinical and treatment factors. Median follow-up time was 64 months
      (range, 24-171 months). RESULTS: The actuarial overall survival at 5 and 10 years
      was 95.7% and 89.8%, respectively, and the corresponding biochemical disease-free
      survival (bDFS) was 89.5% and 67.2%, respectively. Fourteen patients (4.6%)
      developed distant metastasis. Multivariate analysis showed that Gleason score>7
      (p=0.001), pretreatment prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level>20 ng/mL (p=0.037),
      higher radiation dose (p=0.005), and the use of adjuvant LTAD vs. STAD (p=0.011)
      were independent prognostic factors affecting bDFS in high-risk disease. The 5
      year bDFS for patients treated with LTAD plus radiotherapy dose>78 Gy was 97%.
      CONCLUSIONS: For high-risk patients the present series showed that the use of
      LTAD in conjunction with higher doses (>78 Gy) of radiotherapy was associated
      with improved biochemical tumor control. We observed that the presence of Gleason
      sum>7 and pretreatment PSA level>20 ng/mL in the same patient represents a 6.8
      times higher risk of PSA failure. These men could be considered for clinical
      trials with addition of novel agents.

PMID- 20932660
TI  - Preliminary experience in treatment of papillary and macular retinoblastoma:
      evaluation of local control and local complications after treatment with linear
      accelerator-based stereotactic radiotherapy with micromultileaf collimator as
      second-line or salvage treatment after chemotherapy.
AB  - PURPOSE: To determine the local control and complication rates for children with
      papillary and/or macular retinoblastoma progressing after chemotherapy and
      undergoing stereotactic radiotherapy (SRT) with a micromultileaf collimator.
      METHODS AND MATERIALS: Between 2004 and 2008, 11 children (15 eyes) with macular
      and/or papillary retinoblastoma were treated with SRT. The mean age was 19 months
      (range, 2-111). Of the 15 eyes, 7, 6, and 2 were classified as International
      Classification of Intraocular Retinoblastoma Group B, C, and E, respectively. The
      delivered dose of SRT was 50.4 Gy in 28 fractions using a dedicated
      micromultileaf collimator linear accelerator. RESULTS: The median follow-up was
      20 months (range, 13-39). Local control was achieved in 13 eyes (87%). The
      actuarial 1- and 2-year local control rates were both 82%. SRT was well
      tolerated. Late adverse events were reported in 4 patients. Of the 4 patients, 2
      had developed focal microangiopathy 20 months after SRT; 1 had developed a
      transient recurrence of retinal detachment; and 1 had developed bilateral
      cataracts. No optic neuropathy was observed. CONCLUSIONS: Linear accelerator
      based SRT for papillary and/or macular retinoblastoma in children resulted in
      excellent tumor control rates with acceptable toxicity. Additional research
      regarding SRT and its intrinsic organ-at-risk sparing capability is justified in
      the framework of prospective trials.

PMID- 20932661
TI  - Improved correlation of the neuropathologic classification according to adapted
      world health organization classification and outcome after radiotherapy in
      patients with atypical and anaplastic meningiomas.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the correlation between the 1993 and 2000/2007 World Health
      Organization (WHO) classification with the outcome in patients with high-grade
      meningiomas. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Between 1985 and 2004, 73 patients diagnosed
      with atypical or anaplastic meningiomas were treated with radiotherapy. Sections
      from the paraffin-embedded tumor material from 66 patients (90%) from 13
      different pathology departments were re-evaluated according to the first revised
      WHO classification from 1993 and the revised classifications from 2000/2007. In 4
      cases, the initial diagnosis meningioma was not reproducible (5%). Therefore, 62
      patients with meningiomas were analyzed. RESULTS: All 62 tumors were reclassified
      according to the 1993 and 2000/2007 WHO classification systems. Using the 1993
      system, 7 patients were diagnosed with WHO grade I meningioma (11%), 23 with WHO
      grade II (37%), and 32 with WHO grade III meningioma (52%). After scoring using
      the 2000/2007 system, we found 17 WHO grade I meningiomas (27%), 32 WHO grade II
      meningiomas (52%), and 13 WHO grade III meningiomas (21%). According to the 1993
      classification, the difference in overall survival was not statistically
      significant among the histologic subgroups (p=.96). Using the 2000/2007 WHO
      classifications, the difference in overall survival became significant (p=.02).
      Of the 62 reclassified patients 29 developed tumor progression (47%). No
      difference in progression-free survival was observed among the histologic
      subgroups (p=.44). After grading according to the 2000/2007 WHO classifications,
      significant differences in progression-free survival were observed among the
      three histologic groups (p=.005). CONCLUSION: The new 2000/2007 WHO
      classification for meningiomas showed an improved correlation between the
      histologic grade and outcome. This classification therefore provides a useful
      basis to determine the postoperative indication for radiotherapy. According to
      our results, a comparison of the published data for future treatment decision
      making remains difficult when the histologic diagnosis has not been based on the
      new improved classification system.

PMID- 20932662
TI  - Early side effects of three-dimensional conformal external beam accelerated
      partial breast irradiation to a total dose of 40 Gy in one week (a phase II
      trial).
AB  - PURPOSE: Several accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI) techniques are
      described in the literature, and apparently, the three-dimensional (3D)-conformal
      technique is being used increasingly. Nonetheless, the optimal radiation dose is
      not yet known. Here, we report feasibility and early toxicities of APBI
      delivering 40 Gy over 5 days, in a phase II trial. METHODS AND MATERIALS: From
      October 2007 to September 2008, 25 patients with pT1N0 cancer received 3D
      conformal APBI. The prescribed radiation dose was 40 Gy in 4-Gy fractions given
      twice daily. This technique used two minitangents and an "en face" electron
      field. Toxicities were systematically assessed at 1, 2, and 6 months and then
      once every 6 months. RESULTS: The planning tumor volume for evaluation (PTV_EVAL)
      coverage was adequate: the mean dose to the PTV_EVAL was 41.8 Gy (range, 41-42.4
      Gy). Mean doses to the ipsilateral lung and heart were 1.6 Gy (range, 1.0-2.3 Gy)
      and 1.2 Gy (range, 1.0-1.6 Gy), respectively. One and two months after completion
      of APBI, most patients had no or mild erythema (n=16 patients at 1 month; n=25
      patients at 2 months); none of these patients developed moist desquamation. After
      a median follow-up of 12 months, only 1 patient had a significant moderate field
      contracture (grade 2). Other reported late toxicities were grade 1. CONCLUSIONS:
      3D-conformal APBI (with two minitangents and an "en face" electron field) using a
      total dose of 40 Gy in 10 fractions twice daily over 5 days achieved appropriate
      PTV_EVAL coverage and offered significant sparing of normal tissue. Early
      tolerance was excellent.

PMID- 20932663
TI  - Dependence of cell survival on iododeoxyuridine concentration in 35-keV photon
      activated Auger electron radiotherapy.
AB  - PURPOSE: To measure and compare Chinese hamster ovary cell survival curves using
      monochromatic 35-keV photons and 4-MV x-rays as a function of concentration of
      the radiosensitizer iododeoxyuridine (IUdR). METHODS AND MATERIALS: IUdR was
      incorporated into Chinese hamster ovary cell DNA at 16.6 +/- 1.9%, 12.0 +/- 1.4%,
      and 9.2 +/- 1.3% thymidine replacement. Cells were irradiated from 1 to 8 Gy with
      35-keV synchrotron-generated photons and conventional radiotherapy 4-MV x-rays.
      The effects of the radiation were measured via clonogenic survival assays.
      Surviving fraction was plotted vs. dose and fit to a linear quadratic model.
      Sensitization enhancement ratios (SER(10)) were calculated as the ratio of doses
      required to achieve 10% surviving fraction for cells without and with DNA
      incorporated IUdR. RESULTS: At 4 MV, SER(10) values were 2.6 +/- 0.1, 2.2 +/-
      0.1, and 1.5 +/- 0.1 for 16.6%, 12.0%, and 9.2% thymidine replacement,
      respectively. At 35 keV, SER(10) values were 4.1 +/- 0.2, 3.0 +/- 0.1, and 2.0 +/
      0.1, respectively, which yielded SER(10) ratios (35 keV:4 MV) of 1.6 +/- 0.1,
      1.4 +/- 0.1, and 1.3 +/- 0.1, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: SER(10) increases
      monotonically with percent thymidine replacement by IUdR for both modalities. As
      compared to 4-MV x-rays, 35-keV photons produce enhanced SER(10) values whose
      ratios are linear with percent thymidine replacement and assumed to be due to
      Auger electrons contributing to enhanced dose to DNA. Although this Auger
      effectiveness factor is less than the radiosensitization factor of IUdR, both
      could be important for the clinical efficacy of IUdR radiotherapy.

PMID- 20932664
TI  - Clinical validation of atlas-based auto-segmentation of multiple target volumes
      and normal tissue (swallowing/mastication) structures in the head and neck.
AB  - PURPOSE: To validate and clinically evaluate autocontouring using atlas-based
      autosegmentation (ABAS) of computed tomography images. METHODS AND MATERIALS: The
      data from 10 head-and-neck patients were selected as input for ABAS, and neck
      levels I-V and 20 organs at risk were manually contoured according to published
      guidelines. The total contouring times were recorded. Two different ABAS
      strategies, multiple and single subject, were evaluated, and the similarity of
      the autocontours with the atlas contours was assessed using Dice coefficients and
      the mean distances, using the leave-one-out method. For 12 clinically treated
      patients, 5 experienced observers edited the autosegmented contours. The editing
      times were recorded. The Dice coefficients and mean distances were calculated
      among the clinically used contours, autocontours, and edited autocontours.
      Finally, an expert panel scored all autocontours and the edited autocontours
      regarding their adequacy relative to the published atlas. RESULTS: The time to
      autosegment all the structures using ABAS was 7 min/patient. No significant
      differences were observed in the autosegmentation accuracy for stage N0 and N+
      patients. The multisubject atlas performed best, with a Dice coefficient and mean
      distance of 0.74 and 2 mm, 0.67 and 3 mm, 0.71 and 2 mm, 0.50 and 2 mm, and 0.78
      and 2 mm for the salivary glands, neck levels, chewing muscles, swallowing
      muscles, and spinal cord-brainstem, respectively. The mean Dice coefficient and
      mean distance of the autocontours vs. the clinical contours was 0.8 and 2.4 mm
      for the neck levels and salivary glands, respectively. For the autocontours vs.
      the edited autocontours, the mean Dice coefficient and mean distance was 0.9 and
      1.6 mm, respectively. The expert panel scored 100% of the autocontours as a
      "minor deviation, editable" or better. The expert panel scored 88% of the edited
      contours as good compared with 83% of the clinical contours. The total editing
      time was 66 min. CONCLUSION: Multiple-subject ABAS of computed tomography images
      proved to be a useful novel tool in the rapid delineation of target and normal
      tissues. Although editing of the autocontours is inevitable, a substantial time
      reduction was achieved using editing, instead of manual contouring (180 vs. 66
      min).

PMID- 20932665
TI  - Repeat gamma knife radiosurgery for trigeminal neuralgia.
AB  - PURPOSE: Repeat gamma knife stereotactic radiosurgery (GKRS) for recurrent or
      persistent trigeminal neuralgia induces an additional response but at the expense
      of an increased incidence of facial numbness. The present series summarized the
      results of a repeat treatment series at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical
      Center, including a multivariate analysis of the data to identify the prognostic
      factors for treatment success and toxicity. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Between
      January 1999 and December 2007, 37 patients underwent a second GKRS application
      because of treatment failure after a first GKRS treatment. The mean initial dose
      in the series was 87.3 Gy (range, 80-90). The mean retreatment dose was 84.4 Gy
      (range, 60-90). The dosimetric variables recorded included the dorsal root entry
      zone dose, pons surface dose, and dose to the distal nerve. RESULTS: Of the 37
      patients, 81% achieved a >50% pain relief response to repeat GKRS, and 57%
      experienced some form of trigeminal dysfunction after repeat GKRS. Two patients
      (5%) experienced clinically significant toxicity: one with bothersome numbness
      and one with corneal dryness requiring tarsorraphy. A dorsal root entry zone dose
      at repeat treatment of >26.6 Gy predicted for treatment success (61% vs. 32%, p =
      .0716). A cumulative dorsal root entry zone dose of >84.3 Gy (72% vs. 44%, p =
      .091) and a cumulative pons surface dose of >108.5 Gy (78% vs. 44%, p = .018)
      predicted for post-GKRS numbness. The presence of any post-GKRS numbness
      predicted for a >50% decrease in pain intensity (100% vs. 60%, p = .0015).
      CONCLUSION: Repeat GKRS is a viable treatment option for recurrent trigeminal
      neuralgia, although the patient assumes a greater risk of nerve dysfunction to
      achieve maximal pain relief.

PMID- 20932666
TI  - Prolongation of total treatment time because of infrequently missed days of
      treatment is not associated with inferior biochemical outcome after dose
      escalated radiation therapy for prostate cancer.
AB  - PURPOSE: Prolongation of treatment time with radiation therapy (RT) is associated
      with inferior disease control for many rapidly proliferating tumors, but it is
      uncertain whether the same effect is seen in prostate cancer. METHODS AND
      MATERIALS: 596 patients underwent with curative-intent RT for adenocarcinoma of
      the prostate. By National Comprehensive Cancer Network criteria, men were
      classified as having low-risk (30%), medium-risk (40%), or high-risk (30%)
      disease. The median RT dose was 72 Gy. Androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) was
      used in 45%. The idealized treatment time was defined as the total elapsed time
      (including weekends) to complete treatment if started on a Monday. Missed days of
      treatment, defined as the number of days beyond the idealized treatment time, was
      recorded for all patients. Missed days were added to the end of therapy resulting
      in a longer treatment time. Analysis was conducted for missed days and other
      standard prognostic variables against freedom from biochemical failure (FFBF).
      RESULTS: The median number of missed days was 2 (range, -3 to 22). With a median
      follow-up of 51 months, men with 5 or more missed days had similar 4-year FFBF
      rates (79% vs. 83% in men with <5 missed days, p = 0.0809), especially in the
      subset of men receiving 74 Gy or greater (89% for both groups, p = 0.8008).
      Analysis of missed days was performed for the subsets of dose, ADT, and risk
      category. Men without ADT had a lower FFBF rate with more missed days (p =
      0.0030), but this association was not seen in men treated to a dose of 74 Gy or
      greater (p = 0.7425). On multivariate analysis, dose (p = 0.0010), T stage (p =
      0.0145), and prostate-specific antigen level (p < 0.0001) were associated with
      FFBF, but Gleason score (p = 0.1351) and missed days (p = 0.3767) were not.
      CONCLUSIONS: Slight prolongation of treatment time (e.g., <=7 days) was not
      associated with inferior FFBF, especially in men receiving an RT dose of 74 Gy or
      greater.

PMID- 20932667
TI  - Induction chemotherapy and continuous hyperfractionated accelerated radiotherapy
      (chart) for patients with locally advanced inoperable non-small-cell lung cancer:
      the MRC INCH randomized trial.
AB  - PURPOSE: Recent clinical trials and meta-analyses have shown that both CHART
      (continuous hyperfractionated accelerated radiation therapy) and induction
      chemotherapy offer a survival advantage over conventional radical radiotherapy
      for patients with inoperable non-small cell-lung cancer (NSCLC). This multicenter
      randomized controlled trial (INCH) was set up to assess the value of giving
      induction chemotherapy before CHART. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Patients with
      histologically confirmed, inoperable, Stage I-III NSCLC were randomized to
      induction chemotherapy (ICT) (three cycles of cisplatin-based chemotherapy
      followed by CHART) or CHART alone. RESULTS: Forty-six patients were randomized
      (23 in each treatment arm) from 9 UK centers. As a result of poor accrual, the
      trial was closed in December 2007. Twenty-eight patients were male, 28 had
      squamous cell histology, 34 were Stage IIIA or IIIB, and all baseline
      characteristics were well balanced between the two treatment arms. Seventeen
      (74%) of the 23 ICT patients completed the three cycles of chemotherapy. All 42
      (22 CHART + 20 ICT) patients who received CHART completed the prescribed
      treatment. Median survival was 17 months in the CHART arm and 25 months in the
      ICT arm (hazard ratio of 0.60 [95% CI 0.31-1.16], p = 0.127). Grade 3 or 4
      adverse events (mainly fatigue, dysphagia, breathlessness, and anorexia) were
      reported for 13 (57%) CHART and 13 (65%) ICT patients. CONCLUSIONS: This small
      randomized trial indicates that ICT followed by CHART is feasible and well
      tolerated. Despite closing early because of poor accrual, and so failing to show
      clear evidence of a survival benefit for the additional chemotherapy, the results
      suggest that CHART, and ICT before CHART, remain important options for the
      treatment of inoperable NSCLC and deserve further study.

PMID- 20932668
TI  - Radiation-induced liver fibrosis is mitigated by gene therapy inhibiting
      transforming growth factor-beta signaling in the rat.
AB  - PURPOSE: We determined whether anti-transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta)
      intervention could halt the progression of established radiation-induced liver
      fibrosis (RILF). METHODS AND MATERIALS: A replication-defective adenoviral vector
      expressing the extracellular portion of human TbetaRII and the Fc portion of
      immunoglobulin G fusion protein (AdTbetaRIIFc) was produced. The entire rat liver
      was exposed to 30 Gy irradiation to generate a RILF model (RILFM). Then, RILFM
      animals were treated with AdTbetaRIIFc (1 * 10(11) plaque-forming units [PFU] of
      TbetaRII), control virus (1 * 10(11) PFU of AdGFP), or saline. Delayed radiation
      liver injury was assessed by histology and immunohistochemistry. Chronic
      oxidative stress damage, hepatic stellate cell activation, and hepatocyte
      regeneration were also analyzed. RESULTS: In rats infected with AdTbetaRIIFc,
      fibrosis was significantly improved compared with rats treated with AdGFP or
      saline, as assessed by histology, hydroxyproline content, and serum level of
      hyaluronic acid. Compared with AdGFP rats, AdTbetaRIIFc-treated rats exhibited
      decreased oxidative stress damage and hepatic stellate cell activation and
      preserved liver function. CONCLUSIONS: Our results demonstrate that TGF-beta
      plays a critical role in the progression of liver fibrosis and suggest that anti
      TGF-beta intervention is feasible and ameliorates established liver fibrosis. In
      addition, chronic oxidative stress may be involved in the progression of RILF.

PMID- 20932669
TI  - Randomized trial of postoperative adjuvant therapy in Stage II and III rectal
      cancer to define the optimal sequence of chemotherapy and radiotherapy: 10-year
      follow-up.
AB  - PURPOSE: To determine the optimal sequence of postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy
      and radiotherapy in patients with Stage II or III rectal cancer. METHODS AND
      MATERIALS: A total of 308 patients were randomized to early (n = 155) or late (n
      = 153) radiotherapy (RT). Treatment included eight cycles of chemotherapy,
      consisting of fluorouracil 375 mg/m(2)/day and leucovorin 20 mg/m(2)/day, at 4
      week intervals, and pelvic radiotherapy of 45 Gy in 25 fractions. Radiotherapy
      started on Day 1 of the first chemotherapy cycle in the early RT arm and on Day 1
      of the third chemotherapy cycle in the late RT arm. RESULTS: At a median follow
      up of 121 months for surviving patients, disease-free survival (DFS) at 10 years
      was not statistically significantly different between the early and late RT arms
      (71% vs. 63%; p = 0.162). A total of 36 patients (26.7%) in the early RT arm and
      49 (35.3%) in the late RT arm experienced recurrence (p = 0.151). Overall
      survival did not differ significantly between the two treatment groups. However,
      in patients who underwent abdominoperineal resection, the DFS rate at 10 years
      was significantly greater in the early RT arm than in the late RT arm (63% vs.
      40%; p = 0.043). CONCLUSIONS: After the long-term follow-up duration, this study
      failed to show a statistically significant DFS advantage for early radiotherapy
      with concurrent chemotherapy after resection of Stage II and III rectal cancer.
      Our results, however, suggest that if neoadjuvant chemoradiation is not given
      before surgery, then early postoperative chemoradiation should be considered for
      patients requiring an abdominoperineal resection.

PMID- 20932670
TI  - Prognostic value of pretreatment carcinoembryonic antigen after definitive
      radiotherapy with or without concurrent chemotherapy for squamous cell carcinoma
      of the uterine cervix.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate whether pretreatment carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) levels
      have a prognostic role in patients after definitive radiotherapy for squamous
      cell carcinoma (SCC) of the uterine cervix. METHODS AND MATERIALS: A
      retrospective study of 550 patients was performed. The SCC antigen (SCC-Ag) and
      CEA levels were regarded as elevated when they were >=2 and >=5 ng/mL,
      respectively. A total of 208 patients underwent concurrent chemoradiotherapy
      (CCRT). The Kaplan-Meier method was used to calculate the distant metastasis
      (DM), local failure (LF), disease-free survival (DFS), and overall survival (OS)
      rates. Multivariate analysis was performed using the Cox proportional hazards
      model. The hazard ratio (HR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) was evaluated for
      the risk of a poor prognosis. RESULTS: Compared with the patients with normal
      CEA/SCC-Ag levels, CEA levels >=10 ng/mL but without elevated SCC-Ag levels was
      an independent factor for LF (HR, 51.81; 95% CI, 11.51-233.23; p < .001), DM (HR,
      6.04; 95% CI, 1.58-23.01; p = .008), DFS (HR, 10.17; 95% CI, 3.18-32.56; p <
      .001), and OS (HR, 5.75; 95% CI, 1.82-18.18; p = .003) after RT alone. However,
      no significant role for CEA was noted in patients with SCC-Ag levels >=2 ng/mL.
      In patients undergoing CCRT, a CEA level >=10 ng/mL was an independent factor for
      LF (HR, 2.50; 95% CI, 1.01-6.21; p = .047), DM (HR, 3.41; 95% CI, 1.56-7.46; p =
      .002), DFS (HR, 2.73; 95% CI, 1.39-5.36; p = .003), and OS (HR, 3.93; 95% CI 1.99
      7.75; p < .001). A SCC-Ag level of >=40 ng/mL was another prognostic factor for
      DM, DFS, and OS in patients undergoing not only CCRT, but also RT alone. The 5
      year OS rate for CCRT patients with CEA <10 ng/mL and >=10 ng/mL was 75.3% and
      35.8%, respectively (p < .001). CCRT was an independent factor for better OS (HR,
      0.69; 95% CI, 0.50-0.97; p = .034). CONCLUSION: Pretreatment CEA levels in
      patients with SCC of the uterine cervix provide complementary information for
      predicting LF, DM, DFS, and OS, except for in patients with abnormal SCC-Ag
      levels before RT alone. More aggressive therapy might be advisable for patients
      with CEA levels of >=10 ng/mL.

PMID- 20932671
TI  - Combining carbon ion radiotherapy and local injection of alpha-galactosylceramide
      pulsed dendritic cells inhibits lung metastases in an in vivo murine model.
AB  - PURPOSE: Our previous report indicated that carbon ion beam irradiation
      upregulated membrane-associated immunogenic molecules, underlining the potential
      clinical application of radioimmunotherapy. The antimetastatic efficacy of local
      combination therapy of carbon ion radiotherapy and immunotherapy was examined by
      use of an in vivo murine model. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Tumors of mouse squamous
      cell carcinoma (NR-S1) cells inoculated in the legs of C3H/HeSlc mice were
      locally irradiated with a single 6-Gy dose of carbon ions (290 MeV/nucleon, 6-cm
      spread-out Bragg peak). Thirty-six hours after irradiation, alpha
      galactosylceramide-pulsed dendritic cells (DCs) were injected into the leg tumor.
      We investigated the effects on distant lung metastases by counting the numbers of
      lung tumor colonies, making pathologic observations, and assessing
      immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: The mice with no treatment (control) presented
      with 168 +/- 53.8 metastatic nodules in the lungs, whereas the mice that received
      the combination therapy of carbon ion irradiation and DCs presented with 2.6 +/-
      1.9 (P = 0.009) at 2 weeks after irradiation. Immunohistochemistry showed that
      intracellular adhesion molecule 1, which activates DCs, increased from 6 h to 36
      h after irradiation in the local tumors of the carbon ion-irradiated group. The
      expression of S100A8 in lung tissue, a marker of the lung pre-metastatic phase,
      was decreased only in the group with a combination of carbon ions and DCs.
      CONCLUSIONS: The combination of carbon ion radiotherapy with the injection of
      alpha-galactosylceramide-pulsed DCs into the primary tumor effectively inhibited
      distant lung metastases.

PMID- 20932672
TI  - Parameters favorable to intraprostatic radiation dose escalation in men with
      localized prostate cancer.
AB  - PURPOSE: To identify , within the framework of a current Phase I trial, whether
      factors related to intraprostatic cancer lesions (IPLs) or individual patients
      predict the feasibility of high-dose intraprostatic irradiation. METHODS AND
      MATERIALS: Endorectal coil MRI scans of the prostate from 42 men were evaluated
      for dominant IPLs. The IPLs, prostate, and critical normal tissues were
      contoured. Intensity-modulated radiotherapy plans were generated with the goal of
      delivering 75.6 Gy in 1.8-Gy fractions to the prostate, with IPLs receiving a
      simultaneous integrated boost of 3.6 Gy per fraction to a total dose of 151.2 Gy,
      200% of the prescribed dose and the highest dose cohort in our trial. Rectal and
      bladder dose constraints were consistent with those outlined in current Radiation
      Therapy Oncology Group protocols. RESULTS: Dominant IPLs were identified in 24
      patients (57.1%). Simultaneous integrated boosts (SIB) to 200% of the prescribed
      dose were achieved in 12 of the 24 patients without violating dose constraints.
      Both the distance between the IPL and rectum and the hip-to-hip patient width on
      planning CT scans were associated with the feasibility to plan an SIB (p = 0.002
      and p = 0.0137, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: On the basis of this small cohort,
      the distance between an intraprostatic lesion and the rectum most strongly
      predicted the ability to plan high-dose radiation to a dominant intraprostatic
      lesion. High-dose SIB planning seems possible for select intraprostatic lesions.

PMID- 20932673
TI  - Thymidylate synthase gene polymorphism affects the response to preoperative 5
      fluorouracil chemoradiation therapy in patients with rectal cancer.
AB  - PURPOSE: This study aims to correlate thymidylate synthase (TS) gene
      polymorphisms with the tumor response to preoperative 5-fluorouracil (5-FU)-based
      chemoradiation therapy (CRT) in patients with rectal cancer. METHODS AND
      MATERIALS: Forty-four patients with rectal cancer treated with 5-FU-based
      preoperative CRT were prospectively enrolled in this study. Thymidylate synthase
      expression and TS gene polymorphisms were evaluated in tumor obtained before
      preoperative CRT and were correlated with the pathologic response, as assessed by
      histopathologic staging (pTNM) and tumor regression grade. RESULTS: Patients
      exhibited 2R/3R and 3R/3R tandem repeat polymorphisms in the TS gene. With regard
      to TS expression in these genotypes, 2R/3RC and 3RC/3RC were defined as the low
      expression group and 2R/3RG, 3RC/3RG, and 3RG/3RG as the high-expression group.
      There was no significant correlation between TS expression and tumor response.
      There was no significant difference in the tumor response between patients
      homozygous for 3R/3R and patients heterozygous for 2R/3R. However, 13 of 14
      patients in the low-expression group with a G>C single-nucleotide polymorphism
      (SNP) (2R/3RC [n = 5] or 3RC/3RC [n = 9]) exhibited a significantly greater tumor
      downstaging rate, as compared with only 12 of 30 patients in the high-expression
      group without the SNP (2R/3RG [n = 10], 3RC/3RG [n = 9], or 3RG/3RG [n = 11]) (p
      = 0.001). The nodal downstaging rate was also significantly greater in this low
      expression group, as compared with the high-expression group (12 of 14 vs. 14 of
      30, p = 0.014). However, there was no significant difference in the tumor
      regression grade between these groups. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that SNPs
      within the TS enhancer region affect the tumor response to preoperative 5-FU
      based CRT in rectal cancer.

PMID- 20932674
TI  - High-risk prostate cancer with Gleason score 8-10 and PSA level <=15 ng/mL
      treated with permanent interstitial brachytherapy.
AB  - PURPOSE: With widespread prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening, there has
      been an increase in men diagnosed with high-risk prostate cancer defined by a
      Gleason score (GS) >=8 coupled with a relatively low PSA level. The optimal
      management of these patients has not been defined. Cause-specific survival (CSS),
      biochemical progression-free survival (bPFS), and overall survival (OS) were
      evaluated in brachytherapy patients with a GS >=8 and a PSA level <=15 ng/mL with
      or without androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT). METHODS AND MATERIALS: From April
      1995 to October 2005, 174 patients with GS >=8 and a PSA level <=15 ng/mL
      underwent permanent interstitial brachytherapy. Of the patients, 159 (91%)
      received supplemental external beam radiation, and 113 (64.9%) received ADT. The
      median follow-up was 6.6 years. The median postimplant Day 0 minimum percentage
      of the dose covering 90% of the target volume was 121.1% of prescription dose.
      Biochemical control was defined as a PSA level <=0.40 ng/mL after nadir. Multiple
      parameters were evaluated for impact on survival. RESULTS: Ten-year outcomes for
      patients without and with ADT were 95.2% and 92.5%, respectively, for CSS (p =
      0.562); 86.5% and 92.6%, respectively, for bPFS (p = 0.204); and 75.2% and 66.0%,
      respectively, for OS (p = 0.179). The median post-treatment PSA level for
      biochemically controlled patients was <0.02 ng/mL. Multivariate analysis failed
      to identify any predictors for CSS, whereas bPFS and OS were most closely related
      to patient age. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with GS >=8 and PSA level <=15 ng/mL have
      excellent bPFS and CSS after brachytherapy with supplemental external beam
      radiotherapy. The use of ADT did not significantly impact bPFS, CSS, or OS.

PMID- 20932675
TI  - Acute and late toxicity after dose escalation to 82 GyE using conformal proton
      radiation for localized prostate cancer: initial report of American College of
      Radiology Phase II study 03-12.
AB  - PURPOSE: Several randomized trials have shown a benefit of dose escalation to 78
      to 79 Gy for men treated with external radiation for localized prostate cancer.
      Single-institution data suggest a benefit with even higher doses. American
      College of Radiology 03-12 is a Phase II trial testing the safety and efficacy of
      82 GyE (Gray equivalent) delivered with conformal proton radiation. METHODS AND
      MATERIALS: From 2003-2006, 85 men with localized prostate cancer were accrued to
      American College of Radiology 03-12. Eighty-four were eligible for analysis. They
      were treated with conformal proton radiation alone to a total dose of 82 GyE. The
      study was designed to test whether the rate of 18-month Grade 3+ late toxicity
      was greater than 10%. RESULTS: The median follow-up was 31.6 months. Regarding
      treatment-related acute toxicity, there were 39 Grade 1 cases (46%), 19 Grade 2
      cases (23%) and 2 Grade 3 cases (2%). Regarding genitourinary/gastrointestinal
      toxicity, there were 42 Grade 1 cases (50%), 12 Grade 2 cases (14%) and 1 Grade 3
      case (1%). Regarding late toxicity, there were 28 Grade 1 cases (33%), 22 Grade 2
      cases (26%), 6 Grade 3 cases (7%), and 1 Grade 4 case (1%). The late
      genitourinary/gastrointestinal rates were the same. The estimated rate of Grade
      3+ late toxicity at 18 months was 6.08%. CONCLUSIONS: Although not free of late
      toxicity, 82 GyE at 2 GyE per fraction delivered with conformal proton radiation
      did not exceed the late morbidity target tested in this trial. There was
      sufficient morbidity, however, that this may be the maximal dose that can be
      delivered safely with this technique and fractionation.

PMID- 20932676
TI  - Evaluation of radiation dose and image quality for the Varian cone beam computed
      tomography system.
AB  - PURPOSE: To compare the image quality and dosimetry on the Varian cone beam
      computed tomography (CBCT) system between software Version 1.4.13 and Version
      1.4.11 (referred to as "new" and "old" protocols, respectively, in the following
      text). This study investigated organ absorbed dose, total effective dose, and
      image quality of the CBCT system for the head-and-neck and pelvic regions.
      METHODS AND MATERIALS: A calibrated Farmer chamber and two standard cylindrical
      Perspex CT dosimetry phantoms with diameter of 16 cm (head phantom) and 32 cm
      (body phantom) were used to measure the weighted cone-beam computed tomography
      dose index (CBCTDIw) of the Varian CBCT system. The absorbed dose of different
      organs was measured in a female anthropomorphic phantom with thermoluminescent
      dosimeters (TLD) and the total effective dose was estimated according to
      International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) Publication 103. The
      dose measurement and image quality were studied for head-and-neck and pelvic
      regions, and comparison was made between the new and old protocols. RESULTS: The
      values of the new CBCTDIw head-and-neck and pelvic protocols were 36.6 and 29.4
      mGy, respectively. The total effective doses from the new head-and-neck and
      pelvic protocols were 1.7 and 8.2 mSv, respectively. The absorbed doses of lens
      for the new 200 degrees  and old 360 degrees  head-and-neck protocols were 3.8
      and 59.4 mGy, respectively. The additional secondary cancer risk from daily CBCT
      might be up to 2.8%. CONCLUSIONS: The new Varian CBCT provided volumetric
      information for image guidance with acceptable image quality and lower radiation
      dose. This imaging tool gave a better standard for patient daily setup
      verification.

PMID- 20932677
TI  - Can 18-FDG-PET during radiotherapy replace post-therapy scanning for
      detection/demonstration of tumor response in head-and-neck cancer?
AB  - PURPOSE: In routine practice, the tumor response in head-and-neck cancer (HNC) is
      assessed 3-4 months after radiotherapy (RT). We compared the results of
      fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) during (47 Gy) and 4
      months after RT. METHODS AND MATERIALS: In 40 patients with HNC, PET was
      performed before (PET1), at the end of Week 4 (47 Gy) (PET2), and 4 months after
      RT (PET3). Visual analysis classified patients as having a complete response (CR)
      or a non-CR (NCR). The sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, negative predictive
      value, and positive predictive value for PET2 and PET3 were determined. The 2
      year overall survival (OS) rate for a CR and NCR was calculated for both response
      evaluation points. RESULTS: After a median follow-up of 26 months, 10 patients
      had died, 6 had residual disease, and 24 remained disease free. The overall
      sensitivity, specificity, negative predictive value, positive predictive value,
      and accuracy of PET2 vs. PET3 for the detection of a CR was 28.6%, 81.8%, 31.0%,
      80.0%, and 42.5% vs. 78.6%, 75.0%, 60.0%, 88.0%, and 77.5%, respectively. The 2
      year OS rate determined at 47 Gy was 90.0% and 71.8% for a CR and NCR,
      respectively, and did not appear to be significantly different (p = .50). For the
      study, at 4 months, the OS was significantly better in the CR group (91.8%) than
      in the NCR group (49.9%; p = .0055). CONCLUSION: The high specificity and
      positive predictive value for the evaluation of tumor response with PET2 and PET3
      might avoid unnecessary salvage surgery in patients with a CR. In contrast to
      PET3, the sensitivity of PET 2 was low, and the difference in OS between the CR
      and NCR groups was not significantly different. Therefore, the evaluation of the
      tumor response with FDG-PET at 4 months after RT completion cannot be replaced by
      FDG-PET during RT at 47 Gy.

PMID- 20932678
TI  - Online adaptive radiotherapy for muscle-invasive bladder cancer: results of a
      pilot study.
AB  - PURPOSE: To determine the advantages and disadvantages of daily online adaptive
      image-guided radiotherapy (RT) compared with conventional RT for muscle-invasive
      bladder cancer. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Twenty-seven patients with T2-T4
      transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder were treated with daily online
      adaptive image-guided RT using cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT). From day 1
      daily soft tissue-based isocenter positioning was performed using CBCT images
      acquired before treatment. Using a composite of the initial planning CT and the
      first five daily CBCT scans, small, medium, and large adaptive plans were
      created. Each of these adaptive plans used a 0.5-cm clinical target volume (CTV)
      to planning target volume expansion. For Fractions 8-32, treatment involved daily
      soft tissue-based isocenter positioning and selection of suitable adaptive plan
      of the day. Treating radiation therapists completed a credentialing program, and
      one radiation oncologist performed all the contouring. Comparisons were made
      between adaptive and conventional treatment on the basis of CTV coverage and
      normal tissue sparing. RESULTS: All 27 patients completed treatment per protocol.
      Bladder volume decreased with time or fraction number (p < 0.0001). For the
      adaptive component (Fractions 8-32) the small, medium, large, and conventional
      plans were used in 9.8%, 49.2%, 39.5%, and 1.5% of fractions, respectively. For
      the adaptive strategy, 2.7% of occasions resulted in a CTV V95 <99%, compared
      with 4.8% of occasions for the conventional approach (p = 0.42). Mean volume of
      normal tissue receiving a dose >45 Gy was 29% (95% confidence interval, 24-35%)
      less with adaptive RT compared with conventional RT. The mean volume of normal
      tissue receiving >5 Gy was 15% (95% confidence interval, 11-18%) less with
      adaptive RT compared with conventional RT. CONCLUSIONS: Online adaptive
      radiotherapy is feasible in an academic radiotherapy center. The volume of normal
      tissue irradiated can be significantly smaller without reducing CTV coverage.

PMID- 20932679
TI  - Results of the 2005-2008 Association of Residents in Radiation Oncology survey of
      chief residents in the United States: clinical training and resident working
      conditions.
AB  - PURPOSE: To document clinical training and resident working conditions reported
      by chief residents during their residency. METHODS AND MATERIALS: During the
      academic years 2005 to 2006, 2006 to 2007, and 2007 to 2008, the Association of
      Residents in Radiation Oncology conducted a nationwide survey of all radiation
      oncology chief residents in the United States. Chi-square statistics were used to
      assess changes in clinical training and resident working conditions over time.
      RESULTS: Surveys were completed by representatives from 55 programs (response
      rate, 71.4%) in 2005 to 2006, 60 programs (75.9%) in 2006 to 2007, and 74
      programs (93.7%) in 2007 to 2008. Nearly all chief residents reported receiving
      adequate clinical experience in commonly treated disease sites, such as breast
      and genitourinary malignancies; and commonly performed procedures, such as three
      dimensional conformal radiotherapy and intensity-modulated radiotherapy. Clinical
      experience in extracranial stereotactic radiotherapy increased over time (p <
      0.001), whereas clinical experience in endovascular brachytherapy (p <0.001)
      decreased over time. The distribution of gynecologic and prostate brachytherapy
      cases remained stable, while clinical case load in breast brachytherapy increased
      (p = 0.006). A small but significant percentage of residents reported receiving
      inadequate clinical experience in pediatrics, seeing 10 or fewer pediatric cases
      during the course of residency. Procedures involving higher capital costs, such
      as particle beam therapy and intraoperative radiotherapy, and infrequent clinical
      use, such as head and neck brachytherapy, were limited to a minority of
      institutions. Most residency programs associated with at least one satellite
      facility have incorporated resident rotations into their clinical training, and
      the majority of residents at these programs find them valuable experiences. The
      majority of residents reported working 60 or fewer hours per week on required
      clinical duties. CONCLUSIONS: Trends in clinical training and resident working
      conditions over 3 years are documented to allow residents and program directors
      to assess their residency training.

PMID- 20932680
TI  - Evaluation of the planning target volume in the treatment of head and neck cancer
      with intensity-modulated radiotherapy: what is the appropriate expansion margin
      in the setting of daily image guidance?
AB  - PURPOSE: To compare patterns of disease failure among patients treated with
      intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) in conjunction with daily image-guided
      radiotherapy (IGRT) for head and neck cancer, according to the margins used to
      expand the clinical target volume (CTV) to create a planning target volume (PTV).
      METHODS AND MATERIALS: Two-hundred and twenty-five patients were treated with
      IMRT for squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. Daily IGRT scans were
      acquired using either kilovoltage or megavoltage volumetric imaging prior to each
      delivered fraction. The first 95 patients were treated with IMRT with 5-mm CTV-to
      PTV margins. The subsequent 130 patients were treated using 3-mm PTV expansion
      margins. RESULTS: Two-year estimates of overall survival, local-regional control,
      and distant metastasis-free survival were 76%, 78%, and 81%, respectively. There
      were no differences with respect to any of these endpoints among patients treated
      with 5-mm and 3-mm PTV expansion margins (p > 0.05, all). The 2-year local
      regional control rate for patients treated with IMRT with 5-mm and 3-mm PTV
      margins was 78% and 78%, respectively (p = 0.96). Spatial evaluation revealed no
      differences in the incidences of marginal failures among those treated with 5-mm
      and 3-mm PTV margins. CONCLUSIONS: The use of 3-mm PTV expansion margins appears
      adequate and did not increase local-regional failures among patients treated with
      IMRT for head and neck cancer. These data demonstrate the safety of PTV reduction
      of less than 5 mm and support current protocols recommending this approach in the
      setting of daily IGRT.

PMID- 20932681
TI  - Use of the Charlson combined comorbidity index to predict postradiotherapy
      quality of life for prostate cancer patients.
AB  - PURPOSE: To determine the impact of pretreatment comorbidity on late health
      related quality of life (HRQoL) scores after patients have undergone combined
      radiotherapy for prostate cancer, including high-dose rate brachytherapy boost
      and hormonal deprivation therapy. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Results from the
      European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer QLQ-C30 questionnaire
      survey of 158 patients 5 years or more after completion of therapy were used from
      consecutively accrued subjects treated with curative radiotherapy at our
      institution, with no signs of disease at the time of questionnaire completion.
      HRQoL scores were compared with the Charlson combined comorbidity index (CCI),
      using analysis of covariance and multivariate regression models together with
      pretreatment factors including tumor stage, tumor grade, pretreatment prostate
      specific antigen level, neoadjuvant hormonal treatment, diabetes status,
      cardiovascular status, and age and Charlson score as separate variables or the
      composite CCI. RESULTS: An inverse correlation between the two HRQoL domains,
      long-term global health (QL) and physical function (PF) scores, and the CCI score
      was observed, indicating an impact of comorbidity in these function areas.
      Selected pretreatment factors poorly explained the variation in functional HRQoL
      in the multivariate models; however, a statistically significant impact was found
      for the CCI (with QL and PF scores) and the presence of diabetes (with QL and
      emotional function). Cognitive function and social function were not
      statistically significantly predicted by any of the pretreatment factors.
      CONCLUSIONS: The CCI proved to be valid in this context, but it seems useful
      mainly in predicting long-term QL and PF scores. Of the other variables
      investigated, diabetes had more impact than cardiovascular morbidity on HRQoL
      outcomes in prostate cancer.

PMID- 20932682
TI  - Severe pulmonary toxicity after myeloablative conditioning using total body
      irradiation: an assessment of risk factors.
AB  - PURPOSE: To assess factors associated with severe pulmonary toxicity after
      myeloablative conditioning using total body irradiation (TBI) followed by
      allogeneic stem cell transplantation. METHODS AND MATERIALS: A total of 101 adult
      patients who underwent TBI-based myeloablative conditioning for hematologic
      malignancies at Duke University between 1998 and 2008 were reviewed. TBI was
      combined with high-dose cyclophosphamide, melphalan, fludarabine, or etoposide,
      depending on the underlying disease. Acute pulmonary toxicity, occurring within
      90 days of transplantation, was scored using Common Terminology Criteria for
      Adverse Events version 3.0. Actuarial overall survival and the cumulative
      incidence of acute pulmonary toxicity were calculated via the Kaplan-Meier method
      and compared using a log-rank test. A binary logistic regression analysis was
      performed to assess factors independently associated with acute severe pulmonary
      toxicity. RESULTS: The 90-day actuarial risk of developing severe (Grade 3-5)
      pulmonary toxicity was 33%. Actuarial survival at 90 days was 49% in patients
      with severe pulmonary toxicity vs. 94% in patients without (p < 0.001). On
      multivariate analysis, the number of prior chemotherapy regimens was the only
      factor independently associated with development of severe pulmonary toxicity
      (odds ratio, 2.7 per regimen). CONCLUSIONS: Severe acute pulmonary toxicity is
      prevalent after TBI-based myeloablative conditioning regimens, occurring in
      approximately 33% of patients. The number of prior chemotherapy regimens appears
      to be an important risk factor.

PMID- 20932683
TI  - Effect of radiotherapy planning complexity on survival of elderly patients with
      unresected localized lung cancer.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate whether complex radiotherapy (RT) planning was associated
      with improved outcomes in a cohort of elderly patients with unresected Stage I-II
      non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). METHODS AND MATERIALS: Using the
      Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results registry linked to Medicare claims,
      we identified 1998 patients aged >65 years with histologically confirmed,
      unresected stage I-II NSCLC. Patients were classified into an intermediate or
      complex RT planning group using Medicare physician codes. To address potential
      selection bias, we used propensity score modeling. Survival of patients who
      received intermediate and complex simulation was compared using Cox regression
      models adjusting for propensity scores and in a stratified and matched analysis
      according to propensity scores. RESULTS: Overall, 25% of patients received
      complex RT planning. Complex RT planning was associated with better overall
      (hazard ratio 0.84; 95% confidence interval, 0.75-0.95) and lung cancer-specific
      (hazard ratio 0.81; 95% confidence interval, 0.71-0.93) survival after
      controlling for propensity scores. Similarly, stratified and matched analyses
      showed better overall and lung cancer-specific survival of patients treated with
      complex RT planning. CONCLUSIONS: The use of complex RT planning is associated
      with improved survival among elderly patients with unresected Stage I-II NSCLC.
      These findings should be validated in prospective randomized controlled trials.

PMID- 20932684
TI  - Weight gain in advanced non-small-cell lung cancer patients during treatment with
      split-course concurrent chemoradiotherapy is associated with superior survival.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Preoperative concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CRT) is an accepted
      treatment for potentially resectable, locally advanced, non-small-cell lung
      cancer (NSCLC). We reviewed a decade of single institution experience with
      preoperative split-course CRT followed by surgical resection to evaluate survival
      and identify factors that may be helpful in predicting outcome. METHODS AND
      MATERIALS: All patients treated with preoperative split-course CRT and resection
      at Rush University Medical Center (RUMC) between January 1999 and December 2008
      were retrospectively analyzed. Endpoints included overall survival (OS),
      progression-free survival (PFS), local-regional progression-free survival
      (LRPFS), and distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS). Patient and treatment
      related variables were assessed for correlation with outcomes. RESULTS: A total
      of 54 patients were analyzed, 76% Stage IIIA, 18% Stage IIIB, and 6%
      oligometastatic. The pathologic complete response (pCR) rate was 31.5%, and the
      absence of nodal metastases (pN0) was 64.8%. Median OS and 3-year actuarial
      survival were 44.6 months and 50%, respectively. Univariate analysis revealed
      initial stage (p < 0.01) and percent weight change during CRT (p < 0.01)
      significantly correlated with PFS/OS. On multivariate analysis initial stage (HR,
      2.4; 95% CI, 1.18-4.90; p = 0.02) and percent weight change (HR, 0.79; 95% CI,
      0.67-0.93; p < 0.01) maintained significance with respect to OS. There were no
      cases of Grade 3+ esophagitis, and there was a single case of Grade 3 febrile
      neutropenia. CONCLUSIONS: The strong correlation between weight change during CRT
      and OS/PFS suggests that this clinical parameter may be useful as a complementary
      source of predictive information in addition to accepted factors such as
      pathological response.

PMID- 20932685
TI  - Ocular response of choroidal melanoma with monosomy 3 versus disomy 3 after
      iodine-125 brachytherapy.
AB  - PURPOSE: To report the ocular response of choroidal melanoma with monosomy 3 vs.
      disomy 3 after (125)I brachytherapy. METHODS AND MATERIALS: We evaluated patients
      with ciliochoroidal melanoma managed with fine needle aspiration biopsy
      immediately before plaque application for (125)I brachytherapy between January 1,
      2005 and December 31, 2008. Patients with (1) cytopathologic diagnosis of
      melanoma, (2) melanoma chromosome 3 status identified by fluorescence in situ
      hybridization, and (3) 6 or more months of follow-up after brachytherapy were
      sorted by monosomy 3 vs. disomy 3 and compared by Kruskal-Wallis test. RESULTS:
      Among 40 ciliochoroidal melanomas (40 patients), 15 had monosomy 3 and 25 had
      disomy 3. Monosomy 3 melanomas had a median greatest basal diameter of 12.00 mm
      and a median tumor thickness of 6.69 mm before brachytherapy; at a median of 1.75
      years after brachytherapy, median thickness was 3.10 mm. Median percentage
      decrease in tumor thickness was 48.3%. Disomy 3 melanomas had a median greatest
      basal diameter of 10.00 mm and median tumor thickness of 3.19 mm before
      brachytherapy; at a median of 2.00 years after brachytherapy, median tumor
      thickness was 2.37 mm. The median percentage decrease in tumor thickness was
      22.7%. Monosomy 3 melanomas were statistically greater in size than disomy 3
      melanomas (p < 0.001) and showed a greater decrease in tumor thickness after
      brachytherapy (p = 0.006). CONCLUSION: In this study, ciliochoroidal melanomas
      with monosomy 3 were significantly greater in size than disomy 3 melanoma and
      showed a significantly greater decrease in thickness at a median of 1.75 years
      after brachytherapy. The greater decrease in monosomy 3 melanoma thickness after
      brachytherapy is consistent with other malignancies in which more aggressive
      pathology has been shown to be associated with a greater initial response to
      radiotherapy.

PMID- 20932686
TI  - Preliminary results of whole brain radiotherapy with concurrent trastuzumab for
      treatment of brain metastases in breast cancer patients.
AB  - PURPOSE: To assess the use of trastuzumab concurrently with whole brain
      radiotherapy (WBRT) for patients with brain metastases from human epidermal
      growth factor receptor-2-positive breast cancer. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Between
      April 2001 and April 2007, 31 patients with brain metastases from human epidermal
      growth factor receptor-2-positive breast cancer were referred for WBRT with
      concurrent trastuzumab. At brain progression, the median age was 55 years (range,
      38-73), and all patients had a performance status of 0-2. The patients received
      trastuzumab 2 mg/kg weekly (n = 17) or 6 mg/kg repeated every 21 days (n = 14).
      In 26 patients, concurrent WBRT delivered 30 Gy in 10 daily fractions. In 6
      patients, other fractionations were chosen because of either poor performance
      status or patient convenience. RESULTS: After WBRT, radiologic responses were
      observed in 23 patients (74.2%), including 6 (19.4%) with a complete radiologic
      response and 17 (54.8%) with a partial radiologic response. Clinical responses
      were observed in 27 patients (87.1%). The median survival time from the start of
      WBRT was 18 months (range, 2-65). The median interval to brain progression was
      10.5 months (range, 2-27). No Grade 2 or greater acute toxicity was observed.
      CONCLUSION: The low toxicity of trastuzumab concurrently with WBRT should
      probably not justify delays. Although promising, these preliminary data warrant
      additional validation of trastuzumab as a potential radiosensitizer for WBRT in
      brain metastases from breast cancer in the setting of a clinical trial.

PMID- 20932687
TI  - Late patient-reported toxicity after preoperative radiotherapy or
      chemoradiotherapy in nonresectable rectal cancer: results from a randomized Phase
      III study.
AB  - PURPOSE: Preoperative chemoradiotherapy (CRT) is superior to radiotherapy (RT) in
      locally advanced rectal cancer, but the survival gain is limited. Late toxicity
      is, therefore, important. The aim was to compare late bowel, urinary, and sexual
      functions after CRT or RT. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Patients (N = 207) with
      nonresectable rectal cancer were randomized to preoperative CRT or RT (2 Gy * 25
      +/- 5-fluorouracil/leucovorin). Extended surgery was often required. Self
      reported late toxicity was scored according to the LENT SOMA criteria in a
      structured telephone interview and with questionnaires European Organisation for
      Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Quality of Life Questionnaire (QLQ-C30),
      International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF), and sexual function-vaginal
      changes questionnaire (SVQ). RESULTS: Of the 105 patients alive in Norway and
      Sweden after 4 to 12 years of follow-up, 78 (74%) responded. More patients in the
      CRT group had received a stoma (73% vs. 52%, p = 0.09). Most patients without a
      stoma (7 of 12 in CRT group and 9 of 16 in RT group) had incontinence for liquid
      stools or gas. No stoma and good anal function were seen in 5 patients (11%) in
      the CRT group and in 11 (30%) in the RT group (p = 0.046). Of 44 patients in the
      CRT group, 12 (28%) had had bowel obstruction compared with 5 of 33 (15%) in the
      RT group (p = 0.27). One-quarter of the patients reported urinary incontinence.
      The majority of men had severe erectile dysfunction. Few women reported sexual
      activity during the previous month. However, the majority did not have concerns
      about their sex life. CONCLUSIONS: Fecal incontinence and erectile dysfunction
      are frequent after combined treatment for locally advanced rectal cancer. There
      was a clear tendency for the problems to be more common after CRT than after RT.

PMID- 20932688
TI  - Stereotactic body radiotherapy versus surgery for medically operable Stage I non
      small-cell lung cancer: a Markov model-based decision analysis.
AB  - PURPOSE: To compare the quality-adjusted life expectancy and overall survival in
      patients with Stage I non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated with either
      stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) or surgery. METHODS AND MATERIALS: We
      constructed a Markov model to describe health states after either SBRT or
      lobectomy for Stage I NSCLC for a 5-year time frame. We report various treatment
      strategy survival outcomes stratified by age, sex, and pack-year history of
      smoking, and compared these with an external outcome prediction tool (Adjuvant!
      Online). RESULTS: Overall survival, cancer-specific survival, and other causes of
      death as predicted by our model correlated closely with those predicted by the
      external prediction tool. Overall survival at 5 years as predicted by baseline
      analysis of our model is in favor of surgery, with a benefit ranging from 2.2% to
      3.0% for all cohorts. Mean quality-adjusted life expectancy ranged from 3.28 to
      3.78 years after surgery and from 3.35 to 3.87 years for SBRT. The utility
      threshold for preferring SBRT over surgery was 0.90. Outcomes were sensitive to
      quality of life, the proportion of local and regional recurrences treated with
      standard vs. palliative treatments, and the surgery- and SBRT-related
      mortalities. CONCLUSIONS: The role of SBRT in the medically operable patient is
      yet to be defined. Our model indicates that SBRT may offer comparable overall
      survival and quality-adjusted life expectancy as compared with surgical
      resection. Well-powered prospective studies comparing surgery vs. SBRT in early
      stage lung cancer are warranted to further investigate the relative survival,
      quality of life, and cost characteristics of both treatment paradigms.

PMID- 20932689
TI  - Preferential effect of synchrotron microbeam radiation therapy on intracerebral
      9L gliosarcoma vascular networks.
AB  - PURPOSE: Synchrotron microbeam radiation therapy (MRT) relies on spatial
      fractionation of the incident photon beam into parallel micron-wide beams. Our
      aim was to analyze the effects of MRT on normal brain and 9L gliosarcoma tissues,
      particularly on blood vessels. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Responses to MRT (two
      arrays, one lateral, one anteroposterior (2 * 400 Gy), intersecting orthogonally
      in the tumor region) were studied during 6 weeks using MRI, immunohistochemistry,
      and vascular endothelial growth factor Western blot. RESULTS: MRT increased the
      median survival time of irradiated rats (*3.25), significantly increased blood
      vessel permeability, and inhibited tumor growth; a cytotoxic effect on 9L cells
      was detected 5 days after irradiation. Significant decreases in tumoral blood
      volume fraction and vessel diameter were measured from 8 days after irradiation,
      due to loss of endothelial cells in tumors as detected by immunochemistry. Edema
      was observed in the normal brain exposed to both crossfired arrays about 6 weeks
      after irradiation. This edema was associated with changes in blood vessel
      morphology and an overexpression of vascular endothelial growth factor.
      Conversely, vascular parameters and vessel morphology in brain regions exposed to
      one of the two arrays were not damaged, and there was no loss of vascular
      endothelia. CONCLUSIONS: We show for the first time that preferential damage of
      MRT to tumor vessels versus preservation of radioresistant normal brain vessels
      contributes to the efficient palliation of 9L gliosarcomas in rats. Molecular
      pathways of repair mechanisms in normal and tumoral vascular networks after MRT
      may be essential for the improvement of such differential effects on the
      vasculature.

PMID- 20932690
TI  - Craniospinal irradiation techniques: a dosimetric comparison of proton beams with
      standard and advanced photon radiotherapy.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the dosimetric benefits of advanced radiotherapy techniques
      for craniospinal irradiation in cancer in children. METHODS AND MATERIALS:
      Craniospinal irradiation (CSI) using three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3D
      CRT), tomotherapy (TOMO), and proton beam treatment (PBT) in the scattering mode
      was planned for each of 10 patients at our institution. Dosimetric benefits and
      organ-specific radiation-induced cancer risks were based on comparisons of dose
      volume histograms (DVHs) and on the application of organ equivalent doses (OEDs),
      respectively. RESULTS: When we analyzed the organ-at-risk volumes that received
      30%, 60%, and 90% of the prescribed dose (PD), we found that PBT was superior to
      TOMO and 3D-CRT. On average, the doses delivered by PBT to the esophagus,
      stomach, liver, lung, pancreas, and kidney were 19.4 Gy, 0.6 Gy, 0.3 Gy, 2.5 Gy,
      0.2 Gy, and 2.2 Gy for the PD of 36 Gy, respectively, which were significantly
      lower than the doses delivered by TOMO (22.9 Gy, 4.5 Gy, 6.1 Gy, 4.0 Gy, 13.3 Gy,
      and 4.9 Gy, respectively) and 3D-CRT (34.6 Gy, 3.6 Gy, 8.0 Gy, 4.6 Gy, 22.9 Gy,
      and 4.3 Gy, respectively). Although the average doses delivered by PBT to the
      chest and abdomen were significantly lower than those of 3D-CRT or TOMO, these
      differences were reduced in the head-and-neck region. OED calculations showed
      that the risk of secondary cancers in organs such as the stomach, lungs, thyroid,
      and pancreas was much higher when 3D-CRT or TOMO was used than when PBT was used.
      CONCLUSIONS: Compared with photon techniques, PBT showed improvements in most
      dosimetric parameters for CSI patients, with lower OEDs to organs at risk.

PMID- 20932691
TI  - Model-based radiation dose correction for yttrium-90 microsphere treatment of
      liver tumors with central necrosis.
AB  - PURPOSE: The objectives of this study were to model and calculate the absorbed
      fraction phi of energy emitted from yttrium-90 ((90)Y) microsphere treatment of
      necrotic liver tumors. METHODS AND MATERIALS: The tumor necrosis model was
      proposed for the calculation of phi over the spherical shell region. Two
      approaches, the semianalytic method and the probabilistic method, were adopted.
      In the former method, the range--energy relationship and the sampling of electron
      paths were applied to calculate the energy deposition within the target region,
      using the straight-ahead and continuous-slowing-down approximation (CSDA) method.
      In the latter method, the Monte Carlo PENELOPE code was used to verify results
      from the first method. RESULTS: The fraction of energy, phi, absorbed from (90)Y
      by 1-cm thickness of tumor shell from microsphere distribution by CSDA with
      complete beta spectrum was 0.832 +/- 0.001 and 0.833 +/- 0.001 for smaller (r(T)
      = 5 cm) and larger (r(T) = 10 cm) tumors (where r is the radii of the tumor [T]
      and necrosis [N]). The fraction absorbed depended mainly on the thickness of the
      tumor necrosis configuration, rather than on tumor necrosis size. The maximal
      absorbed fraction phi that occurred in tumors without central necrosis for each
      size of tumor was different: 0.950 +/- 0.000, and 0.975 +/- 0.000 for smaller
      (r(T) = 5 cm) and larger (r(T) = 10 cm) tumors, respectively (p < 0.0001).
      CONCLUSIONS: The tumor necrosis model was developed for dose calculation of (90)Y
      microsphere treatment of hepatic tumors with central necrosis. With this model,
      important information is provided regarding the absorbed fraction applicable to
      clinical (90)Y microsphere treatment.

PMID- 20932692
TI  - Influence of prostatic edema on 131Cs permanent prostate seed implants: a
      dosimetric and radiobiological study.
AB  - PURPOSE: To study the influence of prostatic edema on postimplant physical and
      radiobiological parameters using (131)Cs permanent prostate seed implants.
      METHODS AND MATERIALS: Thirty-one patients with early prostate cancer who
      underwent (131)Cs permanent seed implantation were evaluated. Dose-volume
      histograms were generated for each set of prostate volumes obtained at
      preimplantation and postimplantion days 0, 14, and 28 to compute quality indices
      (QIs) and fractional doses at level x (FD(x)). A set of equations for QI, FD(x),
      and biologically effective doses at dose level D(x) (BED(x)) were defined to
      account for edema changes with time after implant. RESULTS: There were
      statistically significant differences found between QIs of pre- and postimplant
      plans at day 0, except for the overdose index (ODI). QIs correlated with
      postimplant time, and FD(x) was found to increase with increasing postimplant
      time. With the effect of edema, BED at different dose levels showed less
      improvement due to the short half-life of (131)Cs, which delivers about 85% of
      the prescribed dose before the prostate reaches its original volume due to
      dissipation of edema. CONCLUSIONS: Results of the study show that QIs, FD(x), and
      BEDs at the level of D(x) changed from preneedle plans to postimplant plans and
      have statistically significant differences (p < 0.05), except for the ODI (p =
      0.106), which suggests that at the time of (131)C seed implantation, the effect
      of edema must be accounted for when defining the seed positions, to avoid the
      possibility of poor dosimetric and radiobiologic results for (131)Cs seed
      implants.

PMID- 20932693
TI  - Ulnocarpal epiphyseal arthrodesis for recurrent deformity after centralization
      for radial longitudinal deficiency.
AB  - PURPOSE: To report our results for ulnocarpal epiphyseal arthrodesis for
      recurrent or late-presenting wrist deformity in patients with radial longitudinal
      deficiency, using both objective data and long-term subjective follow-up
      evaluation. METHODS: A retrospective review of our surgical logs between 1970 and
      2007 identified 12 postcentralization patients treated with ulnocarpal epiphyseal
      arthrodesis, and 1 patient (who had reached skeletal maturity) treated with
      traditional ulnocarpal arthrodesis. Indications for the arthrodesis included
      postcentralization recurrence of radial angulation to greater than 45 degrees ,
      an inability to actively extend the wrist to within 25 degrees  of neutral (ie,
      25 degrees  of flexion), or both. We collected objective and radiographic data on
      all 12 patients by chart review at a mean of 89 months (range, 2-472 mo) after
      arthrodesis. We collected subjective data from 9 patients at a mean of 160 months
      (range, 14-602 mo) after arthrodesis. RESULTS: Ulnocarpal union was obtained in
      11 wrists at an average of 4 months (range, 2-6 mo); the 1 case of nonunion was
      treated successfully with revision arthrodesis. The mean radial angulation
      position was 20 degrees  after arthrodesis (range, 0 degrees  to 35 degrees ), an
      average improvement of 42 degrees . The mean position of wrist fusion was 11
      degrees  of flexion (range, 0 degrees  to 35 degrees  of flexion), an average
      improvement of 7 degrees . The mean postoperative Disabilities of the Arm,
      Shoulder, and Hand score was 24.5 (SD, 12.3; range, 6.8-36.4). Final
      postoperative Visual Analog Score rating for function averaged 8 (range, 4-10);
      for appearance, it averaged 7 (range, 5-10), and for pain, it averaged 1 (range,
      0-5). CONCLUSIONS: Ulnocarpal and epiphyseal arthrodesis are appropriate surgical
      procedures to stabilize the carpus in postcentralization patients with recurrent
      or late-presenting wrist deformity. TYPE OF STUDY/LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Therapeutic
      IV.

PMID- 20932694
TI  - Altered gene expression in umbilical cord mononuclear cells in preterm infants
      with periventricular leukomalacia.
AB  - AIM: Periventricular leukomalacia (PVL) is one of the most important causes of
      adverse outcome of preterm infants. We hypothesized that inflammatory or some
      other specific pathways will have been activated at birth in preterm infants who
      later develop PVL. The aim of this study is to examine the difference in mRNA
      expression in umbilical cord blood according to the presence or absence of PVL.
      METHODS: A total of 61 umbilical cord blood samples were collected from preterm
      infants with gestational age less than 33 weeks together with the patients'
      medical information during perinatal period. RNA expression patterns in the
      collected cord bloods were analyzed by microarray. On the basis of cranial
      ultrasonography and brain MRI examination, 3 infants (4.9%) were diagnosed as
      cystic PVL and selected as the subjects. Five patients who showed similar
      perinatal factors to those of infants with PVL but did not show PVL were selected
      as the normal control. RESULTS: Five of the 15 up-regulated genes are coding
      ribosomal proteins, and another encodes a translation elongation factor. Three of
      the 7 down-regulated genes encode proteins that may be related to immune response
      and/or inflammation. CONCLUSIONS: Up-regulation of the ribosomal proteins may
      indicate an activation of lymphocytes during the fetal period.

PMID- 20932695
TI  - Esophageal injury in fatal rear-impact collisions.
AB  - Neck injuries resulting from motor vehicle collisions (MVC), often referred to as
      whiplash trauma and injury, often demonstrate little or no evidence of
      significant tissue damage. In rare instances, however, serious injury to the
      anterior neck organ injuries can result from such trauma. The present study
      describes esophageal injury associated with rear-impact collisions, based on a
      unique case report, review of the scientific literature and a query in the
      National Automotive Sampling System (NASS) database of the US National Highway
      Traffic Safety Administration. The Medline search and present case study totaled
      five cases of rear-impact collision-related serious esophageal injury (laceration
      or rupture). In the four published cases all patients survived, whereas in the
      presented case study, the patient died due to mediastinitis and sepsis. The NASS
      query revealed an additional three cases out of a total of 55,926 investigated
      crashes. All three cases were associated with fatalities. Although no anatomical
      or bioengineering studies have presented data on the behavior of the esophagus
      during rear-impact whiplash loading, sudden tensile and/or compressive forces is
      the likely explanation of injury, often in combination with a local fracture of a
      vertebral body. In these 8 cases significant esophageal injury carried a
      substantial (50%) risk of mortality. Clinicians should be aware of the potential
      for significant complications in the whiplash trauma-exposed patient who
      complains of chest pain, mid-thoracic pain, discomfort in the neck and throat,
      respiratory distress, or hoarseness. For those forensic specialists involved in
      whiplash cases these study results highlight the need to consider esophageal
      injuries as a rare but potential consequence of whiplash trauma.

PMID- 20932696
TI  - Scanning electron microscopy as an auxiliary method in the study of exhumed
      bones.
AB  - Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) has been used in forensic science in many
      ways. The reports of cases in which SEM has been used as an auxiliary method in
      the investigation of exhumed bones are rare. In this article, we report an
      exhumation that was made to determine if a seized weapon could have been used in
      a homicide. We used SEM to analyze a fracture in the interior of the skull of the
      victim. The findings described in this article showed us that it is possible to
      develop new researches in this field.

PMID- 20932697
TI  - Moyamoya disease in children.
AB  - Moyamoya disease is an uncommon cerebrovascular disease characterized by
      progressive steno-occlusive changes in the terminal internal carotid arteries
      (ICA) and their main branches, associated with the development of moyamoya
      vessels. The incidence of the disease is high in east Asia, especially in Japan
      and Korea. The familial form accounts for 10-15%. Moyamoya disease has two age
      distribution peaks at around 5 and 40years. Most pediatric patients exhibit
      transient ischemic attacks or infarction. Headache and involuntary movements are
      serious symptoms associated with pediatric moyamoya disease. MRI and MR
      angiography (MRA) are useful and non-invasive methods for diagnosing or
      monitoring moyamoya disease. Cerebral angiography is still the gold standard for
      a diagnosis, however, it is not mandatory when MRI and MRA show typical findings
      of moyamoya disease; steno-occlusive changes at the ends of ICA and an abnormal
      vascular network in the basal ganglia. Other MRI findings have been reported,
      including T2 shortening in the white matter, the ivy sign on fluid-attenuated
      inversion recovery (FLAIR) images, and medullary streaks on FLAIR or enhanced T1
      weighted images.

PMID- 20932698
TI  - The HAMLET case: what can we learn from a misfolded protein that triggers tumour
      cell death?

PMID- 20932699
TI  - Magnetic resonance imaging of pontine capillary telangectasia.
AB  - Capillary telangectasia (CTS) is a vascular malformation, characterized by
      multiple thin-walled vascular channels, interposed between normal brain
      parenchyma. It has been hypothesized that CTS is an acquired lesion caused by
      other underlying venous anomalies but this theory is still debated. The clinical
      symptoms of CTS are described to be rather mild. In most cases CTS is not
      detectable by computed tomography and among imaging techniques, nowadays magnetic
      resonance imaging (MRI) represents the standard of reference in diagnosing this
      pathology. Usually, by analyzing the different signal characteristics it is
      possible to perform a differential diagnosis between CTS and the other
      pathologies that may affect the pons and the use of diffusion-weighted and
      Gradient-echo sequences increase the MRI specificity.

PMID- 20932700
TI  - Diffusion-weighted MR imaging in comparison to integrated [18F]-FDG PET/CT for N
      staging in patients with lung cancer.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to prospectively determine the diagnostic
      accuracy of diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) using MRI in the staging of thoracic
      lymph nodes in patients with lung cancer, and to compare the performance to that
      of PET/CT. PATIENTS AND METHOD: 20 consecutive patients (pts) with histologically
      proven lung cancer were included in this study. In all pts FDG-PET/CT was
      routinely performed to stage lung carcinoma. Additionally, MRI (1.5T) was
      performed including native T1w, T1w post contrast medium, T2w, and DWI sequences.
      Regarding the N stage based on the results of the PET/CT there were 5 patients
      with N0, 3 patients with N1, 5 patients with N2 and 7 patients with N3. Image
      analysis was performed by two radiologists (R1 and R2), respectively. The
      reviewers had to chose between 1 (at least one lymph node within a station is
      malignant) or 0 (no lymph nodes suspicious for malignancy). First the T1 post
      contrast sequence was analyzed. In a second step the DWI sequence (b=800) was
      analyzed. Both steps were performed in a blinded fashion. RESULTS: MR imaging
      with or without DWI only agreed with the results of the PET/CT regarding the N
      stage in 80% of the patients-15% were understaged and 5% overstaged. There was
      excellent interobserver agreement; the N-staging result only differed in 1
      patient for DWI, resulting in correlation coefficients of 0.98 for DWI and 1.0
      for MRI. Compared to PET-CT MRI overstaged one and understaged 4 patients, while
      DWI overstaged one and understaged 3 patients. This resulted in correlation
      coefficients of 0.814 (R1 and R2) for MRI and 0.815 (R1) and 0.804 (R2) for DWI.
      Regarding the ADC values there were no significant differences between
      ipsilateral hilar (1.03 mm(2)/s +/- 0.13), subcarinal (0.96 mm(2)/s+/-0.24),
      ipsilateral mediastinal (1.0mm(2)/s +/- 0.18), contralateral mediastinal (0.93
      mm(2)/s +/- 0.23) and supraclavicular (0.9 mm(2)/s +/- 0.23) lymph nodes.
      CONCLUSION: Diffusion-weighted imaging does not show a clear advantage over
      conventional MR protocols in the N-staging of lung cancer. MRI with or without
      DWI shows a moderately correlation with PET/CT with a tendency for understaging.

PMID- 20932701
TI  - Evaluation of skin exposure during cerebral CT perfusion studies on a phantom.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the skin dose during cerebral CT perfusion on a phantom,
      and estimate the weighted CT dose index (CTDIw) to maximum skin dose conversion
      factors for four types of CT scanners. STUDY DESIGN: We evaluated the
      relationship between surface dose during cerebral CT perfusion and distance from
      the scan center in the x-y plane using a 64-multidetector row CT scanner. Skin
      doses were also assessed with 4 different 64-multidetector CT scanners. RESULTS:
      The surface doses decreased with the distance from the scan center in the x-y
      plane. The surface doses at the points 6 cm and 10 cm from the scan center in the
      x-y plane were different from the dose at the point 8 cm by about 15%. CTDIw and
      skin doses differed among the CT scanners (CTDIw, 143-590 mGy; averaged temporal
      skin dose, 126-590 mGy). For all the four types of CT scanner, the doses
      increased in the following order: occipital point<frontal point<temporal points.
      The ratios of the maximum skin dose (averaged temporal skin dose) to CTDIw
      differed among the CT scanners (64-100%). CONCLUSIONS: The maximum skin dose
      during cerebral CT perfusion and the dose to CTDIw ratios differs among CT
      scanners. The CTDIw is useful for estimation of the maximum skin dose during
      cerebral CT perfusion using a proper conversion factor specific to each type of
      CT scanner.

PMID- 20932702
TI  - Do physicians understand Type 2 diabetes patients' perceptions of seriousness;
      the emotional impact and needs for care improvement? A cross-national survey.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To explore across countries the extent to which physicians understand
      Type 2 diabetes patients' perceptions of seriousness, worries about
      complications, emotional distress, and needs for care improvement. METHODS: Cross
      sectional data were collected in a multinational survey (SHARED). Type 2 diabetes
      patients (n=1609), general practitioners (n=818) and diabetes specialists (n=697)
      from eight countries were included. Data were gathered online and via telephone
      interviews. Responses from patients and professionals were compared using
      descriptive statistics and multilevel analyses. RESULTS: Patients generally
      perceived diabetes as a serious condition and reported moderate distress.
      Physicians tended to underestimate patients' perceived seriousness, while
      overestimating their level of distress. Physicians had difficulty estimating
      which diabetes complications concerned patients most, and what they needed to
      feel more confident about their diabetes. Patients did not wish for more
      consultation time, but rather active involvement, information and easy access to
      their physician. CONCLUSION: Results of this large survey highlight the
      importance of patient involvement and shared decision making. PRACTICE
      IMPLICATIONS: Further improvement of patient-provider communication as a basis
      for shared responsibilities and achieving optimal treatment outcomes is needed.
      With the growing numbers of diabetes patients worldwide, task delegation should
      be considered, in the framework of a multidisciplinary diabetes care model.

PMID- 20932703
TI  - Effect of maternal restraint stress during gestation on temporal
      lipopolysaccharide-induced neuroendocrine and immune responses of progeny.
AB  - The impact of gestational dam restraint stress on progeny immune and
      neuroendocrine temporal hormone responses to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) challenge
      was assessed. Maternal stress (5-min snout snare restraint stress during days 84
      to 112 of gestation) increased (P < 0.05) the magnitude of tumor necrosis factor
      (TNF)-alpha, interleukin-6, epinephrine (E), norepinephrine, and serum amyloid A
      (SAA) production following LPS infusion in the offspring. Moreover, these effects
      appear to be dependent on gender for TNF-alpha, E, and cortisol production.
      However, maternal stress did not affect (P > 0.05) the normalization of
      proinflammatory cytokines or neuroendocrine hormones produced following LPS.
      Collectively, these results indicate that maternal stress impacts aspects of the
      proinflammatory cytokine and stress hormone response in their progeny following
      LPS dosing of the offspring. This response is potentially responsible in part for
      the resultant changes to SAA production. Because several of the changes observed
      here are dependent on pig gender, these results are also the first evidence that
      inherent epigenetic factors coupled with maternal stress impact the cumulative
      response to stress and LPS in young pigs.

PMID- 20932704
TI  - Magnetic resonance imaging-guided breast biopsies: tips and tricks.

PMID- 20932705
TI  - Two-stage exchange for infected resurfacing arthroplasty: use of a novel cement
      spacer technique.
AB  - Infection after total hip arthroplasty is a devastating complication. A 2-stage
      reimplantation with antibiotic-impregnated interval spacer is typically
      recommended. We present a case of infected resurfacing hip arthroplasty treated
      with a novel cement spacer technique. The aim was to avoid the introduction of
      the infection into the femoral medullary canal with the use of a conventional
      stemmed antibiotic cement spacer. Reimplantation was accomplished routinely, and
      the patient remains infection-free at 9 months.

PMID- 20932706
TI  - Fixed versus rotating platform total knee arthroplasty: a prospective,
      randomized, single-blind study.
AB  - The purpose of this randomized, single-blind clinical trial was to compare a
      rotating platform (RP) total knee arthroplasty to a fixed-bearing (FB) total knee
      arthroplasty. Ninety-five knees in 69 patients were implanted by 2 surgeons.
      There were no significant differences in the preoperative demographics. At a
      minimum of 2-year follow-up, clinical outcomes and complication rates were
      similar, with the exception that the RP group had significantly better stair
      climbing scores (P = .04). Postoperative range of motion was equally good in both
      groups (FB knees, 1 degrees -125 degrees ; RP knees, 1-126 degrees ). There were
      no bearing dislocations in the RP group. In conclusion, this RP design performs
      at least as well as the FB version, and the RP patients reported better stair
      climbing ability. Enthusiasm for this finding should be tempered by the
      relatively small sample size.

PMID- 20932707
TI  - Patients prefer a bicruciate-retaining or the medial pivot total knee prosthesis.
AB  - Four-hundred forty patients underwent staged bilateral total knee arthroplasty
      using a different prosthesis on each side. Prostheses used were anterior
      posterior cruciate-retaining (ACL-PCL), posterior cruciate-retaining (PCL),
      Medial Pivot (MP), posterior cruciate-substituting (PS), and mobile bearing (MB).
      At the 2-year evaluation, we asked "Which is your better knee overall?" Responses
      were as follows: 89.1% preferred the ACL-PCL to the PS and 76.2% preferred the MP
      to the PS. The ACL-PCL and the MP were preferred equally. The MP was preferred
      over the PCL by 76.0%, and 61.4% preferred the MP over the MB. The PS and PCL
      were preferred equally. Range of motion, pain relief, alignment, and stability
      did not vary significantly by prosthesis used. Patients with bilateral total knee
      arthroplasties preferred retention of both cruciates with use of the ACL-PCL
      prosthesis or substituting with an MP prosthesis.

PMID- 20932708
TI  - Early results of 827 trabecular metal revision shells in acetabular revision.
AB  - We evaluated the survival of 827 acetabular revisions with Trabecular Metal
      Revision Shell using data from a nationwide arthroplasty register. The mean age
      of the patients was 69.1 years. The 3-year overall survivorship was 92% (95%
      confidence interval, 88-95), which coincides with earlier reports. Revision rate
      for aseptic loosening was only 2%. The most common reason for revision was
      dislocation of the prosthesis with or without malposition of the socket (60%).
      Age was found to have significant effect on cup survivorship: each additional
      year in age decreased the risk of revision by 2.4% (95 % confidence interval, 0.1
      4.7; P = .044). We found no differences in survival rates between aseptic and
      septic revisions. Furthermore, sex, diagnosis, and hospital volume did not affect
      the survival.

PMID- 20932709
TI  - Design and primary application of computer-assisted, patient-specific
      navigational templates in metal-on-metal hip resurfacing arthroplasty.
AB  - Total hip resurfacing arthroplasty is increasingly being used. One of its goals
      is to closely mimic the normal anatomy and normal biomechanics of the hip joint.
      Prosthesis location has a large impact on implant survival and patient function;
      but in conventional hip resurfacing arthroplasty, precise positioning sometimes
      cannot be achieved. We describe a novel method for ensuring accurate prosthesis
      implantation in hip resurfacing arthroplasty by means of 3-dimensional
      reconstruction and reverse engineering.

PMID- 20932710
TI  - A cautionary tale from critical care: resolution of myoclonus after fentanyl
      rotation to hydromorphone.

PMID- 20932711
TI  - Anti-TNFalpha therapy and control of chronic pain in ankylosing spondylitis.

PMID- 20932712
TI  - Isolated infrarenal caval disruption secondary to minimal blunt trauma.
AB  - Injuries to the inferior vena cava (IVC) are highly lethal and are usually
      associated with gunshot wounds. Blunt injury to the IVC is a rare entity that is
      usually located in the retrohepatic space. We present the case of an infrarenal
      caval disruption in a 9-year-old as a result of minimal blunt trauma. A computed
      tomography scan showed that the patient had a large retroperitoneal hematoma
      associated with IVC disruption and proximal thrombus just below the renal veins.
      There was no evidence of either arterial or other intra-abdominal injuries. The
      patient had a fall in hematocrit and abdominal tenderness prompting operative
      exploration. Before laparotomy, bilateral balloon occlusion devices were placed
      in both femoral veins. The patient was noted to have a total disruption of his
      IVC just above the origin of his iliac veins. The anterior two-third of the IVC
      was avulsed, thus leaving the posterior portion against the retroperitoneum.
      Given the patient's hemodynamic instability and amount of venous damage, the IVC
      was oversewn and a damage control operation was undertaken. The following day,
      the patient was brought back to the operating room for a second-look laparotomy
      and abdominal closure. A pathologic examination revealed a high-grade spindle
      cell sarcoma. Blunt injury to the IVC is a rare entity and its location outside
      of the retrohepatic space should alert the surgeon to a potential underlying
      malignant etiology.

PMID- 20932713
TI  - Aortic transection and diverting bypass as treatment of repetitive recurrent
      abdominal aortic false aneurysm rupture in a patient with Behcet's disease.
AB  - Abdominal aortic false aneurysms in patients with Behcet's disease have been
      reported frequently and repaired successfully by various procedures; however,
      anastomotic false aneurysms have often been reported to occur after the
      operation. In this article, we report a case of four-time repetitive, recurrent
      suprarenal abdominal aortic false aneurysm ruptures that lasted for 7 years. The
      location of this aneurysm was not easy to repair not only by open surgical
      procedures but by endovascular stent because the aortic defect was too close to
      the visceral arterial branches. The last operation consisted of primary repair of
      aortic defect, transection of abdominal aorta at the level of supraceliac aorta
      with end closure, and a thoracic aorta to abdominal aorta bypass with Dacron
      graft. An 8-year follow-up revealed no more abdominal aortic aneurysm recurrence.

PMID- 20932714
TI  - The success of endovascular therapy for all TransAtlantic Society Consensus
      graded femoropopliteal lesions.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Advances in technology and practice have led to increased
      endovascular management of all TransAtlantic Society Consensus (TASC)-graded
      lesions. This study aims to evaluate the success of endovascular therapy in the
      management of TASC-graded femoropopliteal lesions. METHODS: Patients undergoing
      endovascular treatment for femoropopliteal lesions between July 1999 and August
      2008 were divided by TASC scores and evaluated for primary, assisted-primary, and
      secondary patency rates at 12 and 24 months. Secondary endpoints included limb
      loss and postoperative complications. RESULTS: A total of 499 femoropopliteal
      lesions in 427 patients were treated with endovascular interventions. Score
      distribution for TASC type A, type B, type C, and type D lesions was 26 (5.2%),
      140 (28.1%), 168 (33.7%), and 165 (33.1%), respectively. Primary, assisted
      primary, and secondary patency rates at 24 months were 77.7 +/- 3.2%, 78.9 +/-
      3.2%, and 86.7 +/- 2.6%, respectively, for TASC type A + B lesions, 76.0 +/-
      3.3%, 77.2 +/- 3.2%, and 85.0 +/- 2.8%, respectively, for TASC type C lesions,
      and 61.2 +/- 3.8%, 61.2 +/- 3.8%, and 78.2 +/- 3.2%, respectively, for TASC type
      D lesions. Compared with TASC type A + B and TASC type C lesions, TASC type D
      lesions were associated with worse primary and assisted-primary patency rates.
      However, there was no statistically significant difference in secondary patency
      between TASC type A + B and TASC type D lesions. The TASC score was not a
      significant predictor of postoperative complication rates. The 24-month limb
      salvage rate in patients with TASC type D lesions presenting with critical limb
      ischemia was 71.9 +/- 8.0%. CONCLUSION: It was observed that all femoropopliteal
      lesions can be safely and effectively managed with endovascular therapy. Although
      TASC type D lesions do have lower primary and assisted-primary patency rates,
      high secondary patency rates comparable with other TASC scores can be achieved
      with effective prevention of limb loss. These data provide evidence to support
      endovascular therapy as primary management for all femoropopliteal lesions
      regardless of the TASC score.

PMID- 20932715
TI  - Gender differences of children's developmental trajectory from 6 to 60 months in
      the Taiwan Birth Cohort Pilot Study.
AB  - The parental report instrument is the most efficient developmental detection
      method and has shown high validity with professional assessment instruments. The
      reliability and validity of the Taiwan Birth Cohort Study (TBCS) 6-, 18- and 36
      month scales have already been established. In this study, the reliability and
      validity of the 60-month scale was tested. The gender differences in children's
      longitudinal gross motor, fine motor, language and social development were also
      investigated. Using the dataset from the Taiwan Birth Cohort Pilot Study (TBCS
      p), 2048 infants were followed up when they were 6-, 18-, 36- and 60-month-old.
      At the final stage, 1620 children were followed up. Development of the children
      was measured using the TBCS 6-, 18-, 36-, and 60-month developmental scales. The
      reconstructed TBCS 60-month scale yielded 16 items measuring children's
      development in the four dimensions of gross motor, fine motor, language and
      social. The scale yielded an internal consistency of 0.39-0.71. Structural
      equation modeling also showed good construct and predictive validity, in that the
      6-, 18-, and 36-month scales were predictive of the 60-month scale. No gender
      differences between the gross motor dimension was found. Gender had an effect on
      the fine motor dimension at 36 and 60 months, language dimension at 36 months,
      and social dimension at 18, 36 and 60 months. Gender had a transient effect in
      language development and social development a continuous effect from 18 to 60
      months. Thus different gender norms may need to be established to prevent
      misdiagnosis. The TBCS scale is a valid and reliable developmental screening
      instrument that can be used in continuous surveillance of children's development
      in community and clinical settings from 6 months to 5 years of age.

PMID- 20932716
TI  - Impaired myocardial radial function in asymptomatic patients with type 2 diabetes
      mellitus: a speckle-tracking imaging study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Diabetic cardiomyopathy has been characterized by an early impairment
      of left ventricular (LV) longitudinal function as opposed to preserved LV radial
      function. METHODS: Conventional echocardiography and longitudinal (epsilon(L))
      and radial (epsilon(R)) systolic strain assessed by speckle-tracking imaging were
      obtained in 114 type 2 diabetic patients and 88 age-matched controls. RESULTS: LV
      ejection fraction was similar in diabetic patients and controls. The presence of
      subclinical LV systolic dysfunction in diabetic patients was demonstrated by
      lower values of midwall fractional shortening (18% +/- 3% vs 20% +/- 3%, P =
      .006), epsilon(L) (-19% +/- 3% vs -22% +/- 2%, P < .001), and epsilon(R) (50% +/-
      16% vs 56% +/- 12%, P = .003) compared with controls. On multivariate analysis,
      factors predicting strain values were diabetes (P = .001) and gender (P = .001)
      for epsilon(L) and diabetes (P = .003) for epsilon(R). CONCLUSION: Diabetic
      patients without overt heart disease display subclinical alteration of both
      radial and longitudinal LV systolic function even after adjustment for blood
      pressure, age, and body mass index.

PMID- 20932717
TI  - Gaussian mixtures on tensor fields for segmentation: applications to medical
      imaging.
AB  - In this paper, we introduce a new approach for tensor field segmentation based on
      the definition of mixtures of Gaussians on tensors as a statistical model.
      Working over the well-known Geodesic Active Regions segmentation framework, this
      scheme presents several interesting advantages. First, it yields a more flexible
      model than the use of a single Gaussian distribution, which enables the method to
      better adapt to the complexity of the data. Second, it can work directly on
      tensor-valued images or, through a parallel scheme that processes independently
      the intensity and the local structure tensor, on scalar textured images. Two
      different applications have been considered to show the suitability of the
      proposed method for medical imaging segmentation. First, we address DT-MRI
      segmentation on a dataset of 32 volumes, showing a successful segmentation of the
      corpus callosum and favourable comparisons with related approaches in the
      literature. Second, the segmentation of bones from hand radiographs is studied,
      and a complete automatic-semiautomatic approach has been developed that makes use
      of anatomical prior knowledge to produce accurate segmentation results.

PMID- 20932718
TI  - Expression level of a pancreatic neo-antigen in beta cells determines degree of
      diabetes pathogenesis.
AB  - It is not fully understood how the expression level of autoantigens in beta cells
      impacts autoimmune diabetes (T1D) development. Earlier studies using ovalbumin
      and also insulin had shown that secreted antigens could enhance diabetes
      development through facilitated presentation by antigen presenting cells. Here we
      sought to determine how the expression level of a membrane bound, non-secreted or
      cross-presented neo-antigen, the glycoprotein (GP) of lymphocytic
      choriomeningitis virus (LCMV), would influence T1D. We found that an RIP-LCMV
      transgenic mouse line exhibiting higher levels of beta cell GP expression
      developed more severe diabetes after LCMV infection or transfer of high numbers
      of activated autoreactive T cells. Importantly, all beta cells were lost and a
      significant increase in morbidity and mortality from T1D was noted. Insulitis and
      accumulation of autoaggressive CD8 cells was more profound in the RIP-LCMV-GP
      high-expressor line. Interestingly, the additional introduction of neo-antigen
      specific CD4(+) helper or regulatory T cells was able to influence diabetogenesis
      positively or negatively. We conclude that a higher degree of autoantigen
      expression results in increased diabetes susceptibility. Therefore, autoantigens
      such as insulin that are expressed at higher levels in beta cells might have a
      more profound impact on diabetes pathogenesis.

PMID- 20932719
TI  - CXCL10 promotes liver fibrosis by prevention of NK cell mediated hepatic stellate
      cell inactivation.
AB  - Chemokines, such as CXCL10, promote hepatic inflammation in chronic or acute
      liver injury through recruitment of leukocytes to the liver parenchyma. The
      CXCL10 receptor CXCR3, which is expressed on a subset of leukocytes, plays an
      important part in Th1-dependent inflammatory responses. Here, we investigated the
      role of CXCL10 in chemically induced liver fibrosis. We used carbon tetrachloride
      (CCl(4)) to trigger chronic liver damage in wildtype C57BL/6 and CXCL10-deficient
      mice. Fibrosis severity was assessed by Sirius Red staining and intrahepatic
      leukocyte subsets were investigated by immunohistochemistry. We have further
      analyzed hepatic stellate cell (HSC) distribution and activation and investigated
      the effect of CXCL10 on HSC motility and proliferation. In order to demonstrate a
      possible therapeutic intervention strategy, we have examined the anti-fibrotic
      potential of a neutralizing anti-CXCL10 antibody. Upon CCl(4) administration,
      CXCL10-deficient mice showed massively reduced liver fibrosis, when compared to
      wildtype mice. CXCL10-deficient mice had less B- and T lymphocyte and dendritic
      cell infiltrations within the liver and the number and activity of HSCs was
      reduced. In contrast, natural killer (NK) cells were more abundant in CXCL10
      deficient mice and granzyme B expression was increased in areas with high numbers
      of NK cells. Further detailed analysis revealed that HSCs express CXCR3, respond
      to CXCL10 and secrete CXCL10 when stimulated with IFNgamma. Blockade of CXCL10
      with a neutralizing antibody exhibited a significant anti-fibrotic effect. Our
      data suggest that CXCL10 is a pro-fibrotic factor, which participates in a
      crosstalk between hepatocytes, HSCs and immune cells. NK cells seem to play an
      important role in controlling HSC activity and fibrosis. CXCL10 blockade may
      constitute a possible therapeutic intervention for hepatic fibrosis.

PMID- 20932721
TI  - Subjective cognitive impairment: functional MRI during a divided attention task.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Individuals with subjective cognitive impairment (SCI) have
      persistent memory complaints but normal neurocognitive performance. For some,
      this may represent a pre-mild cognitive impairment (MCI) stage of Alzheimer's
      disease (AD). Given that attentional deficits and associated brain activation
      changes are present early in the course of AD, we aimed to determine whether SCI
      is associated with brain activation changes during attentional processing.
      METHODS: Eleven SCI subjects and 10 controls completed a divided attention task
      during functional magnetic resonance imaging. RESULTS: SCI and control groups did
      not differ in sociodemographic, neurocognitive or behavioural measures. When
      group activation during the divided attention task was compared, the SCI group
      demonstrated increased activation in left medial temporal lobe, bilateral
      thalamus, posterior cingulate and caudate. CONCLUSION: This pattern of increased
      activation is similar to the pattern of decreased activation reported during
      divided attention in AD and may indicate compensatory changes. These findings
      suggest the presence of early functional changes in SCI; longitudinal studies
      will help to further elucidate the relationship between SCI and AD.

PMID- 20932720
TI  - PBC screen: an IgG/IgA dual isotype ELISA detecting multiple mitochondrial and
      nuclear autoantibodies specific for primary biliary cirrhosis.
AB  - A dual isotype (IgG, IgA) enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) designed to
      provide enhanced detection of primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC)-specific
      autoantibodies against both major mitochondrial and nuclear antigens has been
      developed and recently become commercially available. The assay (PBC Screen)
      simultaneously detects IgG and IgA autoantibodies to the immunodominant portions
      of the 3 major mitochondrial (MIT3) and nuclear (gp210, and sp100) antigens. The
      aim of this study was to compare the performance of the PBC Screen to the
      combined performance obtained with individual IgG ELISAs to MIT3, gp210, and
      sp100 on a large group of selected patients from multiple centers. A total of
      1175 patients with PBC and 1232 subjects without PBC were evaluated. Non-PBC
      groups included healthy controls (624) as well as individuals with autoimmune
      hepatitis (281), primary sclerosing cholangitis (77), viral hepatitis (91
      hepatitis B and 98 hepatitis C), other liver diseases (31), and other infectious
      or autoimmune diseases (30). The PBC Screen at the receiver operator
      characteristic optimized cutoff of 27.8 units, had an overall sensitivity of
      83.8%, specificity of 94.7% and area under curve of 0.9212. This was similar to
      the specificity of 96.1% obtained by the combined results of individual MIT3,
      sp100, and gp210 IgG ELISAs (kappa index at 0.898). Of the 253 PBC patients
      without AMA detectable by immunofluorescence, 113 (44.7%) were interpreted as
      positive for PBC-specific autoantibodies. In conclusion, the PBC Screen is an
      appropriate first-line test for the diagnosis of PBC, including for patients
      negative for markers assessed using conventional methods.

PMID- 20932722
TI  - The contribution of a mobile mental health unit to the promotion of primary
      mental health in rural areas in Greece: a 2-year follow-up.
AB  - During the 2 years of the mobile mental-health unit's operation in Northwestern
      Greece, the referrals increased rapidly with 29.4% of patients never having
      received mental-health care before, while hospitalizations and relapses reduced
      significantly, indicating that community-oriented programs can contribute greatly
      to successfully addressing the needs of patients in remote rural areas.

PMID- 20932723
TI  - Interaction force measurement between E. coli cells and nanoparticles immobilized
      surfaces by using AFM.
AB  - To better understand environmental behaviors of nanoparticles (NPs), we used the
      atomic force microscopy (AFM) to measure interaction forces between E. coli cells
      and NPs immobilized on surfaces in an aqueous environment. The results showed
      that adhesion force strength was significantly influenced by particle size for
      both hematite (alpha-Fe(2)O(3)) and corundum (alpha-Al(2)O(3)) NPs whereas the
      effect on the repulsive force was not observed. The adhesion force decreased from
      6.3+/-0.7nN to 0.8+/-0.4nN as hematite NPs increased from 26nm to 98nm in
      diameter. Corundum NPs exhibited a similar dependence of adhesion force on
      particle size. The Johnson-Kendall-Roberts (JKR) model was employed to estimate
      the contact area between E. coli cells and NPs, and based on the JKR model a new
      model that considers local effective contact area was developed. The prediction
      of the new model matched the size dependence of adhesion force in experimental
      results. Size effects on adhesion forces may originate from the difference in
      local effective contact areas as supported by our model. These findings provide
      fundamental information for interpreting the environmental behaviors and
      biological interactions of NPs, which barely have been addressed.

PMID- 20932724
TI  - The formation of non-soluble complexes between polyethyleneimine-anions and their
      potential use to isolate enzymes.
AB  - The aqueous solution behavior of polyethyleneimine (a synthetic cationic polymer)
      in the presence of anions with two or more electrical charges (citrate,
      phosphate, sulphate, malate, malonate and succinate) was studied by means of
      turbidimetry and light scattering. Polyethyleneimine forms non-soluble complexes
      with these anions, which behave as a pseudo-polyampholyte with an isoelectrical
      pH value dependent on the type of anion. The effect of pH, polymer concentration
      and ionic strength on the non-soluble complexes formation was examined. The
      complex precipitation pH range was between 3.5 and 8.0 and also depended on the
      type of anion. The complex formation was inhibited by the ionic strength in
      agreement with the electrostatic mechanism of the non-soluble complex formation.
      Model proteins with isoelectric pH from 1 to 10 were assayed in orden to be
      precipitated by these complexes. It was found that the non-soluble
      polyethyleneimine-anion complexes have the property to precipitate macromolecules
      charged with an opposite electrical charge.

PMID- 20932725
TI  - [Osteoarticular tuberculosis: a differential diagnosis of idiopathic juvenile
      arthritis].
AB  - We report a case of extrapulmonary tuberculosis with oligoarthritis and synovitis
      in a 6-year-old girl with undiagnosed disseminated tuberculosis. CLINICAL CASE:
      The child, adopted from Ethiopia, was admitted to the pediatric rheumatology unit
      for suspected idiopathic juvenile arthritis. She presented with clinical signs of
      subacute arthritis of the right knee. Joint symptoms began insidiously and
      followed a short period of fever and pain in the right hip. Clinical examination
      showed voluminous cervical lymphadenitis, night sweats, and a moderate alteration
      of the child's general condition. The medical history revealed that since her
      arrival in France, 2 years before, she had had febrile subacute pneumonia. A
      review of the chest x-ray diagnosed primary pulmonary tuberculosis. An
      intradermal tuberculin test confirmed the diagnosis with a phlyctenular response
      and a diameter exceeding 20mm. Additional evaluation showed cervical
      lymphadenitis and intense synovitis of the right hip and knee joints. With an
      appropriate antitubercular regimen, her condition improved within a few months.
      After 1 year of treatment, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed normalization
      of the impaired joints with no functional sequelae. DISCUSSION: Although the
      spine is a common target for osteoarticular tuberculosis (OAT), peripheral
      involvement in this case underlines the polymorphism of OAT in children. It
      illustrates a case of OAT strictly located to the synovial membranes, which
      usually occurs in one-third of OAT cases. In addition, MRI showed tenosynovitis
      of the quadriceps. The child presented with unilateral oligoarthritis instead of
      chronic insidious monoarthritis or symmetrical oligoarthritis as usually
      described in pediatric OAT. When available, MRI is the best way to evaluate OAT
      lesions. Mycobacterium tuberculosis can be isolated from sputum, gastric
      aspiration, and joint fluid or synovial biopsy. Histological lesions can reveal
      advanced tuberculosis with the presence of caseous follicular lesions. Rapid
      bacterial detection using polymerase chain reaction remains insufficiently useful
      in those situations. The recommended therapeutic regimen consists of 3 months
      with four antitubercular agents (rifampicin, isoniazid, pyrazinamide, and
      ethambutol) followed by 9 months of a dual therapy (isoniazid, rifampicin).

PMID- 20932726
TI  - Oramoeba fumarolia gen. nov., sp. nov., a new marine heterolobosean
      amoeboflagellate growing at 54  degrees C.
AB  - An amoeba strain was isolated from marine sediment taken from the beach near a
      fumarole in Italy. The trophozoites of this new marine species transforms into
      flagellates with variable numbers of flagella, from 2 to 10. The strain forms
      round to oval cysts. This thermophilic amoeboflagellate grows at temperatures up
      to 54 degrees C. Molecular phylogenetic analysis of the small subunit ribosomal
      DNA (SSU rDNA) places the amoeboflagellate in the Heterolobosea. The closest
      relatives are Stachyamoeba sp. ATCC50324, a strain isolated from an ocean sample,
      and Vrihiamoeba italica, a recent isolate from a rice field. Like some other
      heterolobosean species, this new isolate has a group I intron in the SSU rDNA.
      Because of the unique place in the molecular phylogenetic tree, and because there
      is no species found in the literature with similar morphological and
      physiological characteristics, this isolate is considered to be a new genus and a
      new species, Oramoeba fumarolia gen. nov., sp. nov.

PMID- 20932728
TI  - High-intensity focused ultrasound for prostate cancer: a systematic review.
AB  - High-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) has recently been promoted as a non
      invasive treatment option for prostate cancer. This systematic review sought to
      evaluate the evidence comparing it with standard treatment in patients with
      localised prostate cancer. The literature review included searches of MEDLINE,
      EMBASE, the Cochrane Library, annual meetings' abstracts and websites of evidence
      based practice guideline producers. Studies were included if they were randomised
      controlled trials comparing HIFU with current management approaches, or were meta
      analyses, systematic reviews or practice guidelines addressing HIFU. No
      randomised controlled trials or meta-analyses were identified. Seven systematic
      reviews and two practice guidelines were identified; neither contained randomised
      controlled trials. Adjusting the selection criteria to include case series found
      34 clinical studies of HIFU. Twenty-nine evaluated HIFU as the primary treatment
      and five examined HIFU as salvage treatment for recurrence after radiotherapy. In
      most studies the outcomes used to determine efficacy were negative biopsy rates
      or prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels. Among the 29 studies of HIFU as the
      primary treatment, negative biopsy rates ranged from 35 to 95% in 21 studies, a
      PSA nadir of <=0.5 ng/ml ranged from 55 to 91% in 10 studies and mean PSA nadirs
      ranged from 0 to 1.9 ng/ml in 17 studies. Five studies reported 5-year disease
      free survival rates ranging from 55 to 95%. Among five studies of HIFU as salvage
      treatment, negative biopsy rates ranged from 73 to 84% in four studies, a PSA
      nadir of <=0.5 ng/ml ranged from 57 to 66% in three studies and mean PSA nadirs
      were 1.97 and 2.38 ng/ml in two studies, respectively. Current evidence on HIFU
      use in prostate cancer patients is of low quality, rendering it difficult to draw
      conclusions about its efficacy. Until results from case series are confirmed in
      prospective studies, the widespread use of HIFU is not supported.

PMID- 20932729
TI  - Tinospora cordifolia ameliorates urotoxic effect of cyclophosphamide by
      modulating GSH and cytokine levels.
AB  - Cyclophosphamide (CP) is a commonly used anti-cancer drug which causes toxicity
      by its reactive metabolites. In this study we investigated the effect of
      Tinospora cordifolia on urotoxicity induced by acute dose of CP using Swiss
      albino mice model. Administration of an alcoholic extract of the plant T.
      cordifolia (Family: Menispermaceae) (200 mg/kg i.p.) for 5 days reduced CP (1.5
      mmol/kg body wt. i.p.) induced urotoxicity as evident from the morphological
      analysis of bladder, decreased the relative bladder and liver weights and also
      decreased level of urea nitrogen and protein in blood as well as urine. Severely
      inflamed and dark coloured urinary bladders of the CP alone treated animals were
      found to be normalized by the treatment of T. cordifolia. GSH content, which was
      drastically reduced by CP administration in both bladder and liver was enhanced
      by treatment with T. cordifolia. Histopathological analysis of the bladder of CP
      alone-treated group showed severe necrotic damage where as the T. cordifolia
      treated group showed normal bladder architecture. The lowered levels of cytokines
      IFN-gamma, IL-2, after CP treatment were found to be increased in treated
      animals. At the same time the level of pro-inflammatory cytokine TNF-alpha, which
      was elevated during CP administration, was significantly reduced by extract
      administration. This study clearly demonstrates uroprotective role of T.
      cordifolia from CP induced toxicities by modulating GSH and pro-inflammatory
      cytokine levels.

PMID- 20932731
TI  - Vascularity of the hip labrum during the foetal period.
AB  - Tears of the hip labrum have been recognized as a cause of hip pain and clicking.
      It has been reported that labrum tears are associated with increased microvessel
      formation. The purpose of this study was to identify the regional vascularity of
      the acetabular labrum during late foetal development. The acetabular labrum was
      examined from 21 formalinized foetuses of the age 5th to 10th months of gestation
      (mean 6.4+/-0.99). The acetabulum of each specimen was anatomically prepared and
      divided into four quadrants. The number of blood vessels in labrum quadrants was
      counted during microscopic examination. A total of 599 of blood vessels were
      found in all specimens: 159 in quadrant I, 150 in quadrant II, 127 in quadrant
      III and 163 in quadrant IV. The capsular part of the labrum contained 357 vessels
      and the articular part contained 242. The total number of blood vessels within
      the capsular parts of all specimens (357) was significantly greater than the
      number within the articular parts (242) (p<0.028). There was some evidence to
      suggest that with increasing foetal age, the number of blood vessels in the
      labrum decreased. However, taking into consideration the number of vessels in
      particular quadrants of the labrum, the great frequency of labral tears in the
      anterosuperior part of the labrum could not be explained.

PMID- 20932730
TI  - Urban air pollution produces up-regulation of myocardial inflammatory genes and
      dark chocolate provides cardioprotection.
AB  - Air pollution is a serious environmental problem. Elderly subjects show increased
      cardiac morbidity and mortality associated with air pollution exposure. Mexico
      City (MC) residents are chronically exposed to high concentrations of fine
      particulate matter (PM(2.5)) and PM-associated lipopolysaccharides (PM-LPS). To
      test the hypothesis that chronic exposure to urban pollution produces myocardial
      inflammation, female Balb-c mice age 4 weeks were exposed for 16 months to two
      distinctly different polluted areas within MC: southwest (SW) and northwest (NW).
      SW mice were given either no treatment or chocolate 2g/9.5 mg polyphenols/3 times
      per week. Results were compared to mice kept in clean air. Key inflammatory
      mediator genes: cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta),
      interleukin-6 (IL-6), and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), and the LPS
      receptor CD14 (cluster of differentiation antigen 14) were measured by real-time
      polymerase chain reaction. Also explored were target NFkappaB (nuclear factor
      kappaB), oxidative stress and antioxidant defense genes. TNF-alpha, IL-6, and COX
      2 were significantly increased in both NW and SWMC mice (p=0.0001). CD14 was up
      regulated in SW mice in keeping with the high exposures to particulate matter
      associated endotoxin. Chocolate administration resulted in a significant down
      regulation of TNF-alpha (p<0.0001), IL-6 (p=0.01), and IL-1beta (p=0.02). The up
      regulation of antioxidant enzymes and the down-regulation of potent oxidases,
      toll-like receptors, and pro-apoptotic signaling genes completed the protective
      profile. Exposure to air pollution produces up-regulation of inflammatory
      myocardial genes and endotoxin plays a key role in the inflammatory response.
      Regular consumption of dark chocolate may reduce myocardial inflammation and have
      cardioprotective properties in the setting of air pollution exposures.

PMID- 20932732
TI  - Patterns of tail breakage in the ladder snake (Rhinechis scalaris) reflect
      differential predation pressure according to body size.
AB  - Predator-prey interactions are key factors in the evolution of defensive tactics.
      In snakes, shy organisms from which direct evidence of predator-prey interactions
      is difficult to obtain, injuries are potential indicators of both the nature and
      frequency of interactions. We studied the incidence of tail breakage and body
      scarring in the ladder snake, Rhinechis scalaris, an actively foraging
      Mediterranean snake, and tested several hypotheses that link body injuries and
      snake life-history traits, mainly under sexual and ontogenetic aspects. Evidence
      is presented supporting an ontogenetic shift in the frequency of tail breakage,
      with the incidence of tail loss increasing as a logistic function of snake size.
      We relate this finding to the adaptive significance of ontogenetic shifts in
      dorsal pattern and the reaction of snakes to approaching predators; small
      individuals are more likely to remain immobile than are medium to large
      individuals, the former aided by a concealing dorsal pattern with transverse
      lines, and the latter by a striped pattern. This species exhibited sex
      differences in body scarring but not in tail breakage, nor did we encounter
      evidence to suggest that snakes experience multiple tail breaks over time, thus
      failing to support the sexual difference and multiple tail breakage hypotheses.
      Moreover, we failed to find a lower frequency of body scarring than tail
      breakage; hence, our results do not afford evidence that frequency of tail
      breakage represents an inefficiency of predators in catching or dispatching
      ophidian prey.

PMID- 20932733
TI  - Intra-sex dimorphism in crayfish females.
AB  - A unique cycle of female form alternation has been revealed in an experimental
      population of Orconectes limosus during a year-long observation. Significant
      cyclic changes observed in chelae length, width, and robustness, as well as in
      abdomen width, demonstrated a form alternation similar to that in conspecific
      males. Small females alternate between sexually active and sexually inactive
      forms with a short time interval between successive molts as well as different
      growth patterns of some body parts. Form alternation efficiently produces larger
      chelae, abdomen, and body dimensions, especially the molt to form I (sexually
      active). Larger females that undergo only a single annual molt do not alter
      between forms and are sexually active. They grow slowly and lose chelae
      robustness. The cycle of form alternation, consisting of two molts per year, may
      facilitate the effective utilization of resources to increase the size of body
      parts important to survival and reproduction.

PMID- 20932734
TI  - The generation and maintenance of serum alloantibody.
AB  - Donor-specific alloantibodies (DSA) mediate hyperacute and acute antibody
      mediated rejection (AMR), which can lead to early graft damage and loss, and are
      also associated with chronic AMR and reduced long-term graft survival. Such
      alloantibodies can be generated by previous exposure to major histocompatibility
      (MHC) antigens (usually via blood transfusions, previous allografts or pregnancy)
      or can occur de novo after transplantation. Recent studies also suggest that non
      MHC antibodies, including those recognising major histocompatibility complex
      class I-related chain A (MICA), MICB, vimentin, angiotensin II type I receptor
      may also have an adverse impact on allograft outcomes. In this review, we
      consider how the dose, route and context of antigen exposure influences DSA
      induction and describe factors which control the generation, maintenance and
      survival of alloantibody-producing plasma cells. Finally, we discuss the
      implications of these variables on therapeutic approaches to DSA.

PMID- 20932735
TI  - Interface between hemostasis and adaptive immunity.
AB  - Stress induced activation or denudation of the endothelium elicits arrest and
      activation of platelets with attendant triggering of coagulation, culminating in
      a physical barrier to limit blood loss. Recently, coagulation-activated
      osteopontin, chemerin, and protease-activated receptor signaling, as well as
      platelet-derived molecules including platelet factor 4, serotonin, P-selectin,
      and CD154 (CD40L) have been revealed as new links between hemostasis and adaptive
      immunity. The initiation of hemostasis establishes a local state of inflammation
      that serves as an adjuvant system for antigen presentation, consequently
      influencing the onset and functional characteristics of an evolving adaptive
      immune response. In this context, the hemostatic system and its associated
      signaling pathways warrant further study as novel therapeutic targets that may
      enhance, abrogate, or otherwise selectively direct the adaptive immune response.

PMID- 20932736
TI  - Health-related quality of life in patients by COPD severity within primary care
      in Europe.
AB  - Pan-European data on health-related quality of life (HRQL) in chronic obstructive
      pulmonary disease (COPD) are lacking. This cross-sectional epidemiological study
      evaluated health status in 1817 COPD patients from an 'all-comers' primary care
      population in seven European countries (87% stable disease; 13% with current
      exacerbation) using: St George's Respiratory Questionnaire-COPD specific (SGRQ
      C), the short form health survey (SF-12) and the Functional Assessment of Chronic
      Illness Therapy (FACIT) Fatigue scale. Mean total score for SGRQ was 44.7 +/-
      19.4 showing marked impairment of HRQL. Scores differed little between countries
      (range 39.2-50.1). Impairment was associated with the severity of airway
      obstruction, but within each GOLD stage the variation (SD) was wide [Stage I:
      38.5 +/- 19.3 (n = 223); Stage II: 40.4 +/- 18.1 (n = 868); Stage III: 50.2 +/-
      18.6 (n = 551); Stage IV: 58.6 +/- 17.7 (n = 144)]. Patients suffering an
      exacerbation had a worse SGRQ score (54.9 +/- 19.3) than those with stable
      disease (43.3 +/- 19.0). The presence of >=3 co-morbidities (CM) was also
      associated with a significantly worse score (49.9 +/- 19.1) vs. 1-2 CM (42.1 +/-
      19.1) or no CM (42.3 +/- 18.6). Findings with the SF-12 and FACIT-F results were
      consistent with those from the SGRQ-C. This large observational primary care
      study shows that health status is significantly impaired in COPD patients of all
      severities, even in those with mild airway obstruction. Within each GOLD stage of
      severity there is considerable heterogeneity in HRQL impairment among patients.
      (Study number: 111749).

PMID- 20932737
TI  - Technical and environmental long-term properties of industrial residues--summary
      of field and laboratory investigations.
AB  - In Sweden, use of industrial residues is still hindered by concern for their long
      term properties. A three-year research project was therefore initiated aiming to
      (1) identify the crucial processes of ageing related to the usefulness of
      residues in roads; (2) investigate the consequences of these processes for
      technical and environmental properties of the residues, and (3) propose a method
      for accelerated ageing to predict the long-term properties. This paper gives an
      overview of the project methodology, a summary of the test results and references
      to papers where further details are given. The project, running through 2006
      2008, compared naturally aged samples of two residues used as sub-bases in
      existing asphalt paved roads with samples of fresh residues from producers'
      piles. Steel slag of electric arc furnace (EAF) type and municipal solid waste
      incinerator (MSWI) bottom ash were chosen. The samples were thoroughly
      characterised in order to identify which ageing processes had been crucial. The
      results showed that: - Bottom ash from the pavement edge was more aged than
      bottom ash from the road centre. However, no difference in pH was found, instead
      the differences were caused by differences in water exposure. - Steel slag from
      the pavement edge showed traces of carbonation and leaching processes, whereas
      slag from the road centre was identical to fresh slag. - Water exposure to the
      subbase materials after ten years in an asphalt paved road was calculated to less
      than 0.1-0.5 litres per kg. - Ageing reactions in steel slag and MSWI bottom ash,
      ready for use, were too small to be verified by laboratory measurement of
      deformation properties under loaded conditions. An accelerated ageing test for
      steel slag was set up to achieve the carbonation (decrease in pH) and leaching
      that was observed in the pavement edge material. An accelerated ageing test for
      bottom ash was set up to achieve the pozzolan reactions that were observed in SEM
      analyses of in situ specimens. It is recommended to use uncrushed particles when
      properties of aged material are studied, in order to preserve the original
      particle surfaces.

PMID- 20932738
TI  - Fabrication of an oxytetracycline molecular-imprinted sensor based on the
      competition reaction via a GOD-enzymatic amplifier.
AB  - A highly sensitive molecular-imprinted polymer sensor (MIP sensor) for ultratrace
      oxytetracycline (OTC) determination was prepared based on the competition
      reaction between template molecule OTC and glucose oxidase (GOD)-labeled OTC (GOD
      OTC). Sensitivity improved dramatically due to the detection of a huge amount of
      enzyme catalytic production, which was inversely proportional to template
      molecule concentration. The MIP sensor was characterized by alternating current
      impedance spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry, and its voltammetric behavior was
      also verified. Experimental conditions including isolation, incubation, and
      competition were optimized. OTC can be determined at concentrations between 0 and
      4.0*10(-7) mol/L with a detection limit of 3.30*10(-10) mol/L by the differential
      pulse voltammetry technique. The MIP sensor showed high sensitivity, selectivity,
      reproducibility, and good recovery in sample determination.

PMID- 20932739
TI  - Prognostic determinants in epithelioid sarcoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Epithelioid sarcoma (ES) is a rare soft tissue neoplasm that usually
      arises in the distal extremities of young adults, presents a high rate of
      recurrences and metastases and frequently poses diagnostic dilemmas. In order to
      identify markers useful for patient stratification purposes, we investigated the
      prognostic impact of clinical and molecular patient characteristics, including
      the status of SMARCB1 tumour suppressor gene, in a consecutive series of ES
      cases. METHODS: Kaplan-Meier survival curves were compared by the log-rank test.
      Immunophenotyping and SMARCB1 protein expression were analysed by
      immunohistochemistry or western blotting in 40 ES patients for which tumour
      material was available. Cases lacking SMARCB1 protein expression were
      investigated for the presence of gene mutations and gene deletions by exon
      sequencing, fluorescent in situ hybridization and quantitative PCR. RESULTS:
      FNCLCC tumour grade 3 and proximal-type histology significantly correlated with
      shorter overall survival (log-rank p=0.0046 and p=0.0001, respectively). We
      identified loss of SMARCB1 protein expression in the majority of ES cases (25/40,
      62.5%), including 24/34 (71%) adult cases but only 1/6 (17%)
      paediatric/adolescent cases (p=0.02, two-tailed Fisher's exact test). The absence
      of protein is strongly correlated with SMARCB1 gene deletion (p=0.003, two-tailed
      Fisher's exact test). We observed a trend towards the correlation between SMARCB1
      inactivation and both higher tumour grading and a clinical course of the disease
      characterised by the occurrence of multiple relapses/metastasis. CONCLUSION:
      These data show that both tumour grading and subtype are prognostic factors in
      ES. Loss of SMARCB1 protein expression in ES is a frequent occurrence mediated by
      gene deletion events, thus pointing to a crucial role of SMARCB1 in ES genesis.
      Analysis of SMARCB1 status in ES warrants prospective investigation as a
      prognostic marker and therapeutic target.

PMID- 20932740
TI  - Breast cancer in pregnancy: recommendations of an international consensus
      meeting.
AB  - PURPOSE: To provide guidance for clinicians about the diagnosis, staging and
      treatment of breast cancer occurring during an otherwise uncomplicated pregnancy.
      METHODS: An international expert Panel convened to address a series of questions
      identified by a literature review and personal experience. Issues relating to the
      diagnosis and management of breast cancer after delivery were outside the scope.
      RESULTS: There is a paucity of large and/or randomized studies. Based on cohort
      studies, case series and case reports, the recommendations represent the best
      available evidence, albeit of a lower grade than is optimal. RECOMMENDATIONS: In
      most circumstances, serious consideration should be given to the option of
      treating breast cancer whilst continuing with the pregnancy. Each woman should
      ideally be referred to a centre with sufficient expertise, given a clear
      explanation of treatment options. Most diagnostic and staging examinations can be
      performed adequately and safely during pregnancy. Treatment should however be
      adapted to the clinical presentation and the trimester of the pregnancy: surgery
      can be performed during all trimesters of pregnancy; radiotherapy can be
      considered during the first and second trimester but should be postponed during
      the third trimester; and standard chemotherapies can be used during the second
      and third trimester. Since neonatal morbidity mainly appears to be related to
      prematurity, delivery should not be induced before 37 weeks, if at all possible.
      CONCLUSIONS: The treatment of breast cancer in pregnancy should be executed by
      experienced specialists in a multidisciplinary setting and should adhere as
      closely as possible to standard protocols.

PMID- 20932741
TI  - Organ specific regulation of tumour invasiveness and gelatinolytic activity at
      the invasive front.
AB  - Proteolytic enzymes play a complex role in tumour growth and invasion. To explore
      the impact of tumour stroma on invasiveness and expression of proteolytic
      enzymes, we used a xenograft mouse model where tumours in tongue and skin were
      established from various human cancer cell lines. Gelatinolytic activity in the
      tumours was investigated by a novel in situ zymography technique which enables
      high image resolution. In vivo and in vitro expression of various proteolytic
      enzymes were analysed at transcriptional and protein level using RT-qPCR,
      immunohistochemistry and SDS-PAGE substrate zymography. At the mRNA level all
      cell lines were found to express MMP-2, -7, -14, uPA and uPAR. In addition, two
      out of three cell lines expressed MMP-9. Histological analyses revealed that
      tongue tumours had an invasive growth pattern, associated with reduced E-cadherin
      expression. In contrast, the skin tumours established from the same cell lines
      were non-invasive. Tongue tumours of all cell lines showed strong gelatinolytic
      activity especially at the invasive front, which was not seen in the non-invasive
      skin tumours. Our results show a close relationship between tumour invasiveness
      and gelatinolytic activity at the tumour front. Furthermore, in our model, both
      invasiveness and activity of tumour-associated proteolytic enzymes were more
      dependent on the tumour microenvironment than on inherent properties of the
      cancer cells.

PMID- 20932742
TI  - Altered CD94/NKG2A and perforin expression reduce the cytotoxic activity in
      malignant pleural effusions.
AB  - CD94/NKG2A is an inhibitory receptor expressed by NK cells and cytotoxic
      lymphocytes and, upon activation by HLA-E, downregulates the cytolytic activities
      of these cells thus representing a tumour immune escape mechanism. This study was
      aimed at assessing whether cytotoxic lymphocytes (CD8+) and NK cells from
      malignant pleural effusions have a deregulated expression of CD94/NKG2A. The
      expression of membrane CD94/NKG2A and perforin was evaluated by flow-cytometry in
      CD8+ and NK cells from pleural effusions and autologous peripheral blood of
      cancer (n=19) and congestive heart failure (CHF) (n=11) patients. Intracellular
      CD94/NKG2A expression was evaluated by flow-cytometry in pleural effusion CD8+
      and NK cells from cancer patients (n=10). Cytotoxic activity against cancer cells
      exerted by pleural and autologous peripheral blood T lymphocytes from cancer
      patients was assessed by flow-cytometry assay. Pleural CD8+ from cancer patients
      showed a reduced expression of membrane CD94/NKG2A and perforin when compared to
      autologous peripheral blood and CHF pleural effusions. Reduced numbers of NK
      cells were present in pleural effusions from both cancer and CHF patients.
      Pleural NK from cancer patients showed a reduced expression of membrane
      CD94/NKG2A and perforin when compared to autologous peripheral blood. Pleural T
      lymphocytes from cancer patients exhibited a reduced cytotoxic activity against
      cancer cells when compared to autologous peripheral blood T lymphocytes. The
      intracellular expression of CD94/NKG2A in CD8+ and NK cells from cancer patients
      was higher than membrane expression. In conclusion, this study provides
      compelling evidences of new mechanisms underlying the reduced host defence
      against cancer within the pleural space.

PMID- 20932743
TI  - Understanding interactive characteristics of bioelectricity generation and
      reductive decolorization using Proteus hauseri.
AB  - This first-attempt study quantitatively explored interactive characteristics of
      bioelectricity generation and dye decolorization in air-cathode single-chamber
      microbial fuel cells (MFCs) using indigenous Proteus hauseri ZMd44. After approx.
      15 cycles (30 days) acclimatization in dye-bearing cultures, P. hauseri could
      express its stable capability of simultaneous bioelectricity generation and color
      removal (SBP&CR) in MFCs. Evidently, appropriate acclimation strategy for
      formation of the electrochemically active anodic biofilm played a crucial role to
      enhance the performance of SBP&CR in MFCs. Gradually increased supplementations
      of C.I. reactive blue 160 resulted in progressively decreased decay rate of
      bioelectricity generation. That is, a dye decolorized in a faster rate would
      result in a lower capability for bioelectricity generation and vice versa. In
      addition, a reduced dye with less toxicity potency (e.g., 2-aminophenol) might
      work as a redox mediator of electron transport to anodic biofilm for
      bioelectricity generation in MFCs.

PMID- 20932744
TI  - Synthesis and antihyperlipidemic activity of novel coumarin bisindole
      derivatives.
AB  - A series of novel coumarin bisindole heterocycles were synthesized following an
      uncommon method and evaluated for their antihyperlipidemic activity in
      hyperlipidemic hamster model. Among 12 compounds tested, the compound 5e showed
      potent antihyperlipidemic activity and was found to decrease the plasma
      triglyceride levels (TG) by 55%, total cholesterol (TC) by 20%, accompanied by an
      increase in HDL-C/TC ratio by 42% in hyperlipidemic rats to a greater degree than
      some of the reference statins.

PMID- 20932745
TI  - Synthesis and pharmacological activity of 1,3,6-trisubstituted-4-oxo-1,4
      dihydroquinoline-2-carboxylic acids as selective ET(A) antagonists.
AB  - A series of 1,3,6-trisubsituted-4-oxo-1,4-dihyroquinoline-2-carboxylic acid
      analogs (2a-m) were designed and synthesized and their pharmacological activity
      determined, with the objective to better understand their SAR as potential ET(A)
      selective inhibitors. Most of the compounds displayed significant ET(A)
      antagonist activity having IC(50) for inhibition of binding of the [(125)I]ET-1
      to ET(A) receptor <10 nM, with good selectivity for ET(A) antagonism over ET(B)
      receptor. Based on the in vitro results, SAR of this series of compounds requires
      an alkoxy substituent at the 6-position to be a straight and saturated chain up
      to three carbons long, since substitution of unsaturated and branched alkyloxy
      groups results in decrease in ET(A) antagonist activity. In this series, compound
      2c (6-O-n-propyl analog) was found to be most potent (IC(50)=0.11 nM) with
      ET(B)/ET(A) selectivity of 8303.

PMID- 20932746
TI  - Discovery of cell-active phenyl-imidazole Pin1 inhibitors by structure-guided
      fragment evolution.
AB  - Pin1 is an emerging oncology target strongly implicated in Ras and ErbB2-mediated
      tumourigenesis. Pin1 isomerizes bonds linking phospho-serine/threonine moieties
      to proline enabling it to play a key role in proline-directed kinase signalling.
      Here we report a novel series of Pin1 inhibitors based on a phenyl imidazole acid
      core that contains sub-MUM inhibitors. Compounds have been identified that block
      prostate cancer cell growth under conditions where Pin1 is essential.

PMID- 20932747
TI  - The rational design of a novel potent analogue of the 5'-AMP-activated protein
      kinase inhibitor compound C with improved selectivity and cellular activity.
AB  - We have designed and synthesized analogues of compound C, a non-specific
      inhibitor of 5'-AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), using a computational
      fragment-based drug design (FBDD) approach. Synthesizing only twenty-seven
      analogues yielded a compound that was equipotent to compound C in the inhibition
      of the human AMPK (hAMPK) alpha2 subunit in the heterotrimeric complex in vitro,
      exhibited significantly improved selectivity against a subset of relevant
      kinases, and demonstrated enhanced cellular inhibition of AMPK.

PMID- 20932748
TI  - Catharanthine C16 substituent effects on the biomimetic coupling with vindoline:
      preparation and evaluation of a key series of vinblastine analogues.
AB  - The examination of the catharanthine C16 substituent effects on the Fe(III)
      promoted biomimetic coupling reaction with vindoline is detailed, confirming the
      importance of the presence of a C16 electron-withdrawing substituent, and
      establishing an unanticipated unique role (>10-fold) that the C16 methyl ester
      plays in the expression of the natural product properties. Thus, replacement of
      the vinblastine C16' methyl ester with an ethyl ester (10-fold), a cyano group
      (100-fold), an aldehyde (100-fold), a hydroxymethyl group (1000-fold) or a
      primary carboxamide (>1000-fold) led to surprisingly large reductions in
      cytotoxic activity.

PMID- 20932749
TI  - Identification of a sulfonoquinovosyldiacylglyceride from Azadirachta indica and
      studies on its cytotoxic activity and DNA binding properties.
AB  - Chromatographic separation of the methanolic extract of the leaves of Azadirachta
      indica led to the isolation of a sulfonoglycolipid characterized as a
      sulfonoquinovosyldiacylglyceride (SQDG), by extensive 2D NMR and mass spectral
      analysis. SQDG induces apoptosis in a dose dependent manner with IC(50) 8.3 MUM
      against acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) MOLT-4 cell lines. The compound showed
      significant DNA binding properties as evidenced by the enhancement of melting
      temperature and perturbation of the characteristic B-form in CD evidence of calf
      thymus DNA. The DNA binding was also characterized by isothermal calorimetry
      where a predominantly enthalpy driven binding to CT DNA was revealed.

PMID- 20932750
TI  - 1,2-diamino-ethane-substituted-6,7,8,9-tetrahydro-5H-pyrimido[4,5-d]azepines as
      TRPV1 antagonists with improved properties.
AB  - Based upon a previously reported lead compound 1, a series of 1,2-diamino-ethane
      substituted-6,7,8,9-tetrahydro-5H-pyrimido[4,5-d]azepines were synthesized and
      evaluated for improved physiochemical and pharmacokinetic properties while
      maintaining TRPV1 antagonist activity. Structure-activity relationship studies
      directed toward improving the aqueous solubility (pH 2 and fasted-state simulated
      intestinal fluid (SIF)) and rat pharmacokinetics led to the discovery of compound
      13. Aqueous solubility of compound 13 (pH 2 >=237 MUg/mL and SIF=11 MUg/mL) was
      significantly improved over compound 1 (pH 2=5 MUg/mL and SIF=0.5 MUg/mL). In
      addition, compound 13 afforded improved rat pharmacokinetics (CL=0.7 L/kg/h)
      compared to compound 1 (CL=3.1 L/kg/h). Compound 13 was orally bioavailable and
      afforded a significant reversal of carrageenan-induced thermal hyperalgesia at 5
      and 30 mg/kg in rats.

PMID- 20932751
TI  - CWJ-081, a novel 3-arylisoquinoline derivative, induces apoptosis in human
      leukemia HL-60 cells partially involves reactive oxygen species through c-Jun NH2
      terminal kinase pathway.
AB  - In the present study, we investigated the effect of a novel 3-arylisoquinoline
      derivative 3-(6-ethyl-benzo[1,3]dioxol-5-yl)-7,8-dimethoxy-2-methyl-2H
      isoquinolin-1-one (CWJ-081) on the induction of apoptosis and the putative
      molecular mechanism of its action in human leukemia cells. Treatment with CWJ-081
      exhibited a characteristic feature of apoptosis including externalization of
      phosphatidylserine and formation of DNA fragmentation in human leukemia cell
      lines (HL-60, U-937, K-562). In addition, stimulation of HL-60 cells with CWJ-081
      induced a series of intracellular events: (1) the activations of caspase-8, -9,
      and -3; (2) the cleavage of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 (PARP-1); (3) the loss
      of mitochondrial membrane potential (DeltaPsi(m)); (4) the release of cytochrome
      c; and (5) the modulation of Bcl-2 family proteins. We further demonstrated that
      CWJ-081 induces reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and c-Jun NH(2)-terminal
      kinase (JNK) activation. Pretreatment with the antioxidant N-acetyl-L-cysteine
      (NAC) markedly inhibited the CWJ-081-induced JNK activation and apoptosis.
      Moreover, CWJ-081-induced apoptosis was suppressed in the presence of SP600125, a
      specific JNK inhibitor. Taken together, these data suggest that CWJ-081 induces
      apoptosis via the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway in HL-60 cells, and ROS
      mediated JNK activation plays a key role in the CWJ-081-induced apoptosis.

PMID- 20932752
TI  - Synthesis and antifungal activity of a novel series of 13-(4
      isopropylbenzyl)berberine derivatives.
AB  - By replacing the methyl group of 13-(4-isopropylbenzyl)berberine 2 with various
      acyl, alkyl, and benzyl groups via the demethylated intermediate, 13-(4
      isopropylbenzyl)berberrubine 4, a novel series of 9-O-alkyl-13-(4
      isopropylbenzyl)berberine derivatives was synthesized and examined for antifungal
      activities against various human pathogenic fungi. The introduction of various
      alkyl groups led to enhanced antifungal activity but that of acyl groups resulted
      in decrease of the activity. Among them, 9-O-butyl-13-(4
      isopropylbenzyl)berberine 6d exhibited the most potent antifungal activities
      against Cryptococcus neoformans, Candida species (MIC=0.25-1 MUg/ml), and
      Aspergillus species (MIC=2-4 MUg/ml). The compound was found to be relatively
      safe up to 900 mg/kg in oral administration to mice.

PMID- 20932753
TI  - Tetrasubstituted naphthalene diimide ligands with selectivity for telomeric G
      quadruplexes and cancer cells.
AB  - A series of tetrasubstituted naphthalene diimide compounds with N
      methylpiperazine end groups has been synthesized and evaluated as G-quadruplex
      ligands. They have high affinity and selectivity for telomeric G-quadruplex DNA
      over duplex DNA. CD studies show that they induce formation of a parallel G
      quadruplex topology. They inhibit the binding of hPOT1 and topoisomerase IIIalpha
      to telomeric DNA and inhibit telomerase activity in MCF7 cells. The compounds
      have potent activity in a panel of cancer cell lines, with typical IC(50) values
      of ~0.1 MUM, and up to 100-fold lower toxicity in a normal human fibroblast cell
      line.

PMID- 20932754
TI  - Synthesis and biological evaluation of furoxan-based nitric oxide-releasing
      derivatives of glycyrrhetinic acid as anti-hepatocellular carcinoma agents.
AB  - A series of novel furoxan-based nitric oxide (NO)-releasing derivatives of
      glycyrrhetinic acid (GA) were designed, synthesized, and evaluated for their in
      vitro cytotoxicity against human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and non-tumor
      liver cells. Five furoxan/GA hybrids, 7b-d, 7f, and 7g, displayed potent
      cytotoxicity against HCC cells (IC(50): 0.25-1.10 MUM against BEL-7402 cells and
      1.32-6.78 MUM against HepG2 cells), but had a little effect on the growth of LO2
      cells, indicating that these compounds had selective cytotoxicity against HCC
      cells. Furthermore, these compounds produced high concentrations of NO in HCC
      cells, but low in LO2 cells and treatment with hemoglobin partially reduced the
      cytotoxicity of the hybrid in HCC cells. Apparently, the high concentrations of
      NO produced by NO donor moieties and the bioactivity of GA synergistically
      contribute to the cytotoxicity, but the NO is a major player against HCC cells in
      vitro. Potentially, our findings may aid in the design of new chemotherapeutic
      reagents for the intervention of human HCC at clinic.

PMID- 20932755
TI  - Polymerase-directed synthesis of C5-ethynyl locked nucleic acids.
AB  - Modified nucleic acids have considerable potential in nanobiotechnology for the
      development of nanomedicines and new materials. Locked nucleic acid (LNA) is one
      of the most prominent nucleic acid analogues reported so far and we herein for
      the first time report the enzymatic incorporation of LNA-U and C5-ethynyl LNA-U
      nucleotides into oligonucleotides. Phusion High Fidelity and KOD DNA polymerases
      efficiently incorporated LNA-U and C5-ethynyl LNA-U nucleotides into a DNA strand
      and T7 RNA polymerase successfully accepted the LNA-U nucleoside 5'-triphosphate
      as substrate for RNA transcripts.

PMID- 20932756
TI  - Lupane-type triterpenoids from the steamed leaves of Acanthopanax koreanum and
      their inhibitory effects on the LPS-stimulated pro-inflammatory cytokine
      production in bone marrow-derived dendritic cells.
AB  - Two new compounds, (20R)-3alpha-hydroxy-29-dimethoxylupan-23,28-dioic acid (1)
      and 3alpha-hydroxylup-20(29)-ene-23,28-dioic acid 28-O-[beta-D-glucopyranosyl-(1
      >6)-beta-D-glucopyranosyl] ester (2), and eight known lupane-type triterpenoids
      (3-10), were isolated from steamed leaves of Acanthopanax koreanum. Chemical
      structures were determined using a combination of spectroscopic analyses and
      chemical reactivity. Compounds 1-10 were evaluated for their inhibitory
      activities on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated interleukin (IL)-12 production
      in bone marrow-derived dendritic cells (BMDCs). Compound 1 exhibited inhibitory
      activity with IC(50) value of 26.5 MUM on IL-12 production, compared with IC(50)
      value of 29.6 MUM for the positive control. Compound 1 also showed significant
      suppression of LPS-stimulated IL-6 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha)
      production.

PMID- 20932757
TI  - Synthesis and bioevaluation of aryl-guanidino polyamine conjugates targeting the
      polyamine transporter.
AB  - Aryl-guanidino polyamine conjugates were prepared to evaluate their recognition
      for polyamine transporter (PAT) via a-difluoromethylornithine (DFMO) and
      spermidine (SPD)-treated B16 cell lines. The potent synergistic effects of DFMO
      on guanidino polyamine conjugates indicated that the presence of DFMO strongly
      facilitates the transport of conjugates into cells via PAT on cell membrane. The
      apoptotic mechanisms of triamine conjugates 10 and 1 (with and without guanidine
      groups) revealed that they induced apoptosis of Hela cells through the
      mitochondrial pathway associated with lysosomes, while DFMO strongly synergizes
      the function of 10 without changing the apoptotic route. Taken together,
      guanidino polyamine conjugates can target PAT for transport as normal polyamine
      ones, and the presence of guanidine in the polyamine vectors does not seem to
      alter the cellular targets of the conjugates, which may depend mainly on the
      pharmacophore.

PMID- 20932758
TI  - Development of novel inhibitors targeting HIF-1alpha towards anticancer drug
      discovery.
AB  - Hypoxia-inducible factor-1alpha (HIF-1alpha) is a critical regulatory protein of
      cellular response to hypoxia, and regulates the transcription of many genes
      involved in key aspects of cancer biology, including immortalization, maintenance
      of stem cell pools, cellular dedifferentiation, vascularization, and
      invasion/metastasis. HIF-1alpha has been implicated in the regulation of genes
      involved in angiogenesis, for example, VEGF and is associated with tumor
      progression. In the last decade, over expression of HIF-1alpha has been
      demonstrated in many common human cancers and emerging as a validated target for
      anticancer drug discovery. Here we report the discovery of newly designed and
      synthesized pyridylpyrimidine based potent and selective inhibitors of HIF
      1alpha. P2630 has been found as potent antiproliferative, antiangiogenic and
      orally efficacious compound in PC-3 xenograft mice model.

PMID- 20932759
TI  - 4,5-Dihydro-1H-pyrazolo[4,3-h]quinazolines as potent and selective Polo-like
      kinase 1 (PLK1) inhibitors.
AB  - A series of 4,5-dihydro-1H-pyrazolo[4,3-h]quinazoline derivatives was optimized
      as Polo-like kinase 1 inhibitors. Extensive SAR afforded a highly potent and
      selective PLK1 compound. The compound showed good antiproliferative activity when
      tested in a panel of tumor cell lines with PLK1 related mechanism of action and
      with good in vivo antitumor efficacy in two xenograft models after i.v.
      administration.

PMID- 20932760
TI  - A new insight on the hypochlorous acid scavenging mechanism of tryptamine and
      tryptophan derivatives.
AB  - The reaction mechanisms of hypochlorous acid (HOCl) with several tryptophan and
      tryptamine derivatives, previously reported to scavenge this powerful oxidant,
      was investigated to determine whether ionic or radical pathways were involved.
      For this purpose, the reaction of tryptamine and tryptophan derivatives with HOCl
      was optimized and some compounds were isolated by HPLC and their structures
      assigned. In order to prevent possible radical reaction pathway, experiments have
      been carried in the presence of the radical trap TEMPO (2,2,6,6
      tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl). The obtained results show that the reaction
      mechanisms are influenced by the type of structure and that a complex pathway is
      involved, in which both ionic and radical mechanisms can occur.

PMID- 20932761
TI  - Solid-phase synthesis and screening of N-acylated polyamine (NAPA) combinatorial
      libraries for protein binding.
AB  - Inhibitors for protein-protein interactions are challenging to design, in part
      due to the unique and complex architectures of each protein's interaction domain.
      Most approaches to develop inhibitors for these interactions rely on rational
      design, which requires prior structural knowledge of the target and its ligands.
      In the absence of structural information, a combinatorial approach may be the
      best alternative to finding inhibitors of a protein-protein interaction. Current
      chemical libraries, however, consist mostly of molecules designed to inhibit
      enzymes. In this manuscript, we report the synthesis and screening of a library
      based on an N-acylated polyamine (NAPA) scaffold that we designed to have
      specific molecular features necessary to inhibit protein-protein interactions.
      Screens of the library identified a member with favorable binding properties to
      the HIV viral protein R (Vpr), a regulatory protein from HIV, that is involved in
      numerous interactions with other proteins critical for viral replication.

PMID- 20932762
TI  - Flavonoids from Dracocephalum tanguticum and their cardioprotective effects
      against doxorubicin-induced toxicity in H9c2 cells.
AB  - Two new flavonoids, ladanetin-6-O-beta-(6"-O-acetyl)glucoside (1) and pedalitin
      3'-O-beta-glucoside (2), together with 15 known compounds (3-17), were isolated
      from the whole plants of Dracocephalum tanguticum. Their structures were
      established on the basis of extensive spectroscopic (IR, MS, 2D NMR) data
      analysis and by the comparison with spectroscopic data reported in the
      literature. Antioxidant capacities of the isolated substances were determined
      using the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), ferrous ions, and ABTS(.)(+)
      radical in vitro assay, and their cytoprotective activities were also tested on
      doxorubicin (DOX)-induced toxicity in H9c2 cardiomyocytes. Among all the tested
      compounds, luteolin-7-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside (7) exhibited both strong
      antioxidative effect and high protective activity against DOX-induced toxicity.
      Further investigation found 7 could decrease DOX-induced death of H9c2 cell,
      reduce LDH and CK level, and inhibit the elevated intracellular concentration of
      ROS and [Ca(2+)](i). The preliminary structure-activity relationships (SAR) of
      these compounds revealed the Delta(2,3) double bond on C-ring and 3',4'-di-OHs on
      B-ring with a flavone skeleton such as luteolin and its derivatives, were
      necessary for their cardioprotective effects.

PMID- 20932763
TI  - Coordination of segments reorientation during on-the-spot turns in healthy older
      adults in eyes-open and eyes-closed conditions.
AB  - Turning has frequent occurrence in everyday activities. Despite the prevalence of
      turning in everyday life and the challenge it poses to older adults, there is far
      less known about the multisegmental control of turning than the control of
      standing and straight walking, especially in elderly individuals. The purpose of
      this study was to examine the timing and sequence of segments reorientation in
      healthy older adults during 90 degrees  on-the-spot turns. The role of vision on
      segments coordination was also examined by testing the participants in eyes-open
      and eyes-closed conditions. When turning on-the-spot, healthy elderly reoriented
      their head, shoulder and pelvis simultaneously, followed by foot displacement.
      This was a robust behavior not affected by visual condition. Axial segments
      turned slower and more synchronously when vision was not available. While all
      segments started to turn together in both visual conditions, head turned faster
      and reached its peak velocity earlier than shoulder and pelvis. However, the
      difference in segmental velocity and the time to reach the peak velocity was
      smaller in eyes-closed than eyes-open condition. Without vision, the functional
      importance of a faster head turn is diminished. Participants may have adopted a
      tighter control of segments to simplify the control of movement by reducing the
      degrees of freedom.

PMID- 20932764
TI  - Comment on "Efficacy and safety of different doses of intravenous tissue
      plasminogen activator in Chinese patients with ischemic stroke".

PMID- 20932765
TI  - Visual failure and recovery after thrombosis of a giant carotid ophthalmic
      aneurysm following vascular bypass and carotid artery ligation.
AB  - Thrombosis via Hunterian ligation, with or without high-flow bypass, is the
      definitive treatment for unclippable giant aneurysms; however, secondary
      deterioration may occur. We present a 67-year-old woman with an unclippable giant
      (33mm) carotid ophthalmic aneurysm. High-flow external carotid artery to middle
      cerebral artery bypass and proximal cervical internal carotid artery Hunterian
      ligation achieved complete thrombosis. Subsequent expansion of the thrombosed
      aneurysm created mass effect with hydrocephalus, leading to marked cognitive and
      visual decline. Aneurysmal decompression led to improved vision and near-normal
      neurological function.

PMID- 20932766
TI  - Synthesis and antitumour activity of glycyrrhetinic acid derivatives.
AB  - Glycyrrhetinic acid (GA) is one of many interesting triterpenoic acids showing
      anticancerogenic potential. GA is known to trigger apoptosis in tumour cell
      lines, although GA has a low cytotoxicity. In our study we were able to prepare
      derivatives of GA that show lowered the IC(50) values as determined by a
      sulforhodamine B (SRB) assay using 15 different human tumour cell lines. Thus,
      combining an ester group combined with the presence of an amino acid moiety led
      to a ca. 60-fold improved antitumor activity. Experiments on mouse embryonic
      fibroblasts (NiH3T3) revealed that these compounds showed a better selectivity
      for tumour cells compared to the parent compound GA. An apoptotic effect of some
      of these compounds was determined using an acridine orange/ethidium bromide
      (AO/EB) test and DNA laddering experiments.

PMID- 20932767
TI  - Building a MCHR1 homology model provides insight into the receptor-antagonist
      contacts that are important for the development of new anti-obesity agents.
AB  - Melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH) regulates feeding and energy homeostasis
      through interaction with its receptor, the melanin-concentrating receptor 1
      (MCHR1), making it a target in the treatment of obesity. Molecular modeling and
      docking studies were performed in order to find a binding model for the docking
      of two new series of MCHR1 antagonists to the receptor. Results suggested
      interactions between the ligands and two glutamines (Gln5.42 and Gln6.55) not
      conserved in many of the GPCRs family members. Histamine 3 receptor (HRH3)
      presents two apolar residues in the aforementioned positions and the available
      biological data against this receptor supported the role of the two glutamines in
      the binding of antagonists to the MCHR1. This knowledge could be useful in the
      development of new, more active and more selective MCHR1 antagonists.

PMID- 20932768
TI  - A demonstration of the effectiveness of a single aberration correction per
      optical slice in beam scanned optically sectioning microscopes.
AB  - In this paper we report the use of adaptive optics to correct for sample induced
      aberrations in optical microscopy, crucially comparing individual pixel-by-pixel
      correction against a single correction for an entire optical section. Sample
      induced optical aberrations in slices of rat brain tissue were corrected with a
      deformable membrane mirror. Using axial resolution measurements, we demonstrate
      that a single aberration correction per optical slice achieves around 80% of the
      maximum possible improvement compared to individual pixel-by-pixel correction in
      both confocal and multiphoton microscopy. A single aberration correction per
      depth, compared to pixel-by-pixel aberration correction, significantly decreases
      scan times and therefore reduces photobleaching and phototoxic effects enabling
      more rapid microscopy with active aberration correction. The results confirm that
      the use of a "look-up" table, based upon sample type and depth, may be the most
      practical way of implementing adaptive optic aberration correction in beam
      scanning optical sectioning microscopy. 

PMID- 20932769
TI  - Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation as a bridge to lung transplantation in a
      patient with persistent severe porto-pulmonary arterial hypertension following
      liver transplantation.
AB  - Idiopathic pulmonary artery hypertension (IPAH) is a progressive disease with a
      dismal prognosis and lung transplantation is often the only option for patients,
      who do not respond to pharmacological therapy. We report the use of an
      extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) system in a 49-year-old woman with
      primary pulmonary hypertension, previously liver transplanted. The patient,
      listed for lung transplantation, developed respiratory and circulatory failure
      despite maximal pharmacological therapy and was successfully bridged to emergent
      bilateral lung transplantation with veno-arterial ECMO. Emergent veno-arterial
      ECMO was able to rescue the patient and bridge her to bilateral lung
      transplantation and should therefore be an option for patients with PAH and
      circulatory collapse.

PMID- 20932770
TI  - Reconstruction of the free margin of the anterior mitral leaflet with autologous
      pericardium in active infected endocarditis.
AB  - In patients with active infective endocarditis mitral valve repair is better than
      mitral valve replacement, but it remains a challenge when there has been massive
      destruction of the rough zone of the anterior leaflet. We report a technical
      modification of mitral valve repair for advanced active infective endocarditis in
      which a widely infected rough zone and the chordae were successfully replaced
      with autologous pericardium and multiple artificial chordae. The procedure
      described here is capable of improving the prospects of mitral valve repair in
      advanced infective endocarditis.

PMID- 20932771
TI  - Giant anterior chest-wall basal-cell carcinoma.

PMID- 20932772
TI  - Acute Leriche syndrome due to the thrombus in the left ventricle.

PMID- 20932773
TI  - TNF-alpha levels are not increased in inflamed patients carrying the CCR5
      deletion 32.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Recently we reported on a genetically predisposed protection
      from C-reactive protein (CRP) related mortality in dialysis patients carrying the
      functional CC-chemokine receptor 5 deletion 32 allele (CCR5Delta32) mutation.
      Since CCR5Delta32 is associated with a less pro-inflammatory immune response in
      mice, we hypothesized that the observed protection is (in part) due to a less pro
      inflammatory cytokine profile. METHODS: Cross-sectional observational study
      including 263 incident dialysis patients aged 18-70years, without clinical signs
      of infection and/or acute vasculitis. TNF-alpha, IL-6, IL-10 and hsCRP levels
      were determined and studied in relation to the CCR5 genotype. RESULTS: In the
      presence of elevated hsCRP, IL-6 concentration was higher irrespective of the
      CCR5 genotype. However, in patients with the CCR5 deletion, TNF-alpha did not
      differ in the presence/absence of elevated hsCRP and was not correlated with
      hsCRP levels in carriers of the CCR5Delta32 polymorphism. CONCLUSIONS: A possible
      underlying mechanism of the impact of CCR5Delta32 genotype on inflammation driven
      mortality in dialysis patients could be a reduced Th1 immune response as
      represented by decreased TNF-alpha levels.

PMID- 20932774
TI  - Photoinduced dissociation of heparin-derived oligosaccharides controlled by
      charge location.
AB  - The development of strategies based on mass spectrometry to help for deep
      structural analysis of acidic oligosaccharides remains topical. We thus examined
      the dissociation behavior of deprotonated ions of heparin-derived di- to tetra
      saccharides under UV irradiation at 220 nm. Depending on the ionization state of
      the carboxylic groups, an oxidized species issued from electron photodetachment
      was observed in complement to photoinduced fragmentation of precursor ions. The
      influence of the charge location in the oligosaccharide dianions on the balance
      between photodissociation and electron photodetachment is examined and a way to
      direct the relaxation pathways, (i.e., dissociation versus electron detachment),
      is proposed using sodium adducts. The oxidized species was subjected to activated
      electron photodetachment (activated-EPD) leading to complementary informative
      fragment ions to those issued from photodissociation. Directed photoinduced
      dissociation at 220 nm and activated-EPD should complement the more conventional
      CAD and IRMPD activation modes for deeper structural analysis of acidic
      oligosaccharides-derived anions.

PMID- 20932775
TI  - Analysis of patellar stabilizers muscles and patellar kinematics in anterior knee
      pain subjects.
AB  - Patella stabilizer muscle response and patellar kinematics were evaluated in 19
      women with anterior knee pain (AKP) and 20 healthy women during maximum voluntary
      isometric contraction (MVIC) with the knee positioned at 15 degrees , 30 degrees 
      and 45 degrees  flexion during open (OKC) and closed (CKC) kinetic chain
      exercises. Patellar kinematics was evaluated through patellar tilt and
      displacement, and the electrical activity of patellar stabilizers through the
      root mean square normalized during MVIC and OKC with the knee at 90 degrees 
      flexion. Data revealed that the vastus medialis oblique muscle (VMO) was more
      active in the control group compared to the AKP group during OKC exercises with
      the knee at 45 degrees  flexion. However, no difference in the patellar
      kinematics was observed between these groups; nevertheless, the correlation
      between these parameters also showed, with the knee at 45 degrees  flexion, that
      lateral patellar tilt increase was associated with a reduction in the activity of
      lateral patellar stabilizers in the control group and with an increase in the VMO
      activity in the AKP group. In conclusion, electrical activity is an important
      factor in evaluating AKP and in AKP treatment evolution.

PMID- 20932776
TI  - Automated quantification of aortoaortic and aortoiliac angulation for computed
      tomographic angiography of abdominal aortic aneurysms before endovascular repair:
      preliminary study.
AB  - The degree of angulation of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) has emerged as an
      important factor in assessing eligibility for endovascular aneurysm repair
      (EVAR). The authors developed an automatic algorithm that reduces variability of
      measurement of aortoiliac angulation. For highly structured manual methods,
      intraobserver variability was 8.2 degrees +/- 5.0 (31% +/- 20) and interobserver
      variability was 5.6 degrees +/- 2.5 (20% +/- 9.1) compared with 0.6 degrees +/-
      0.8 (2.2% +/- 3.6) (intraobserver) and 0.4 degrees +/- 0.4 (1.4% +/- 1.9)
      (interobserver) for the automatic algorithm (P < .01). In phantoms, the
      automatically measured angles were equivalent to reference values (P < .05). This
      algorithm was also faster than manual methods and has the potential to enhance
      the clinical utility and reliability of computed tomographic angiography for
      preoperative assessment for EVAR.

PMID- 20932777
TI  - Memory and consciousness: trace distinctiveness in memory retrievals.
AB  - The aim of this article was to provide experimental evidence that classical
      dissociation between levels of consciousness associated with memory retrieval
      (i.e., implicit or explicit) can be explained in terms of task dependency and
      distinctiveness of traces. In our study phase, we manipulated the level of
      isolation (partial vs. global) of the memory trace by means of an isolation
      paradigm (isolated words among non-isolated words). We then tested these two
      types of isolation in a series of tasks of increasing complexity: a lexical
      decision task, a recognition task, and a free recall task. The main result of
      this study was that distinctiveness effects were observed as a function of the
      type of isolation (level of isolation) and the nature of the task. We concluded
      that trace distinctiveness improves subsequent access to the trace, while the
      level of trace distinctiveness also appears to determine the possibility of
      conscious or explicit retrieval.

PMID- 20932778
TI  - Brain imaging of the self--conceptual, anatomical and methodological issues.
AB  - In this paper we consider two major issues: conceptual-experimental approaches to
      the self, and the neuroanatomical substrate of the self. We distinguish content-
      and processed-based concepts of the self that entail different experimental
      strategies, and anatomically, we investigate the concept of midline structures in
      further detail and present a novel view on the anatomy of an integrated
      subcortical-cortical midline system. Presenting meta-analytic evidence, we show
      that the anterior paralimbic, e.g. midline, regions do indeed seem to be specific
      for self-specific stimuli. We conclude that future investigation of the self need
      to develop novel concepts that are more empirically plausible than those
      currently in use. Different concepts of self will require novel experimental
      designs that include, for example, the brain's resting state activity as an
      independent variable. Modifications of both conceptual and anatomical dimensions
      will allow an empirically more plausible account of the relationship between
      brain and self.

PMID- 20932779
TI  - The role of the self in mindblindness in autism.
AB  - Since its inception the 'mindblindness' theory of autism has greatly furthered
      our understanding of the core social-communication impairments in autism spectrum
      conditions (ASC). However, one of the more subtle issues within the theory that
      needs to be elaborated is the role of the 'self'. In this article, we expand on
      mindblindness in ASC by addressing topics related to the self and its central
      role in the social world and then review recent research in ASC that has yielded
      important insights by contrasting processes relating to both self and other. We
      suggest that new discoveries lie ahead in understanding how self and other are
      interrelated and/or distinct, and how understanding atypical self-referential and
      social-cognitive mechanisms may lead to novel ideas as to how to facilitate
      social-communicative abilities in ASC.

PMID- 20932780
TI  - The effect of biceps reattachment site.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We hypothesize that an anatomic repair of the distal biceps tendon
      would recreate native tendon moment arm and forearm rotation, while a nonanatomic
      insertion would compromise moment arm and forearm rotation. METHODS: Isometric
      supination torque was measured at 60 degrees  of pronation, neutral, and 60
      degrees  of supination for the native distal biceps tendon and 4 repair points in
      6 cadaveric specimens using a computer controlled elbow simulator. The slope of
      the regression line fitted to the torque versus biceps load data was used to
      define the moment arm for each attachment location. Range of motion testing was
      performed by incrementally loading the biceps, while measuring the supination
      motion generated using a digital goniometer. RESULTS: Tendon location and forearm
      position significantly affected the moment arm of the biceps (P < .05). Anatomic
      repair in all forearm positions showed no significant difference from the native
      insertion. Moment arm for an anterior center repair was significantly lower in
      supination (-97%) and neutral (-27%) and also produced significantly less
      supination motion. No difference was observed between all tendon locations in
      pronation. CONCLUSIONS: Reattachment of the biceps to its anatomic location, as
      opposed to a more anterior central position, is critical in reestablishing native
      tendon biomechanics. Clinically, these findings would suggest that patients with
      a biceps repair might experience the most weakness in a supinated position
      without experiencing a deficit in the pronated forearm.

PMID- 20932781
TI  - Radial head prosthesis micromotion characteristics: Partial versus fully grit
      blasted stems.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Compared to fully textured prosthetic stems, partial texturing
      lessens bone loss due to stress shielding and makes removal easier. However,
      initial press-fit stability is necessary for bone ingrowth. HYPOTHESIS: There is
      no significant difference in the initial stability of radial head prostheses that
      are partially grit-blasted compared to those that are fully grit-blasted.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Cadaveric radii were implanted with partial or fully grit
      blasted radial head prostheses. Micromotion of the stem at the isthmus of the
      canal and stem tip were measured under circumstances simulating eccentric loads.
      RESULTS: Micromotion was not significantly different in the fully grit-blasted
      stems (isthmus, 11 +/- 1 MUm; tip, 21 +/- 2 MUm) and partially grit-blasted stems
      (isthmus, 13 +/- 2 MUm; tip, 25 +/- 2 MUm) (P = 0.4). The direction of loading
      had no effect on micromotion characteristics in either the fully or partially
      grit-blasted stems (P = .07). DISCUSSION: Micromotion is comparable in partially
      and fully grit-blasted radial head prosthetic stems. For both stem surfaces,
      micromotion was well within the range that is conducive for bone ingrowth. A
      partially textured stem might have less bone loss due to stress shielding, making
      it easier to remove without destroying bone. CONCLUSION: The initial stability of
      a radial head stem that is partially grit-blasted only at the proximal end is
      comparable to that of a radial head stem that is grit-blasted along its entire
      length.

PMID- 20932782
TI  - Glenoid spherical orientation and version.
AB  - HYPOTHESIS: Glenoid orientation likely plays an important role in shoulder
      mechanics and has been associated with glenohumeral instability, rotator cuff
      tears, and total shoulder arthroplasty outcome. Glenoid version and inclination
      measurements are widely used, but these measurements are 2-dimensional, and
      orientation of the central face must be inferred from 2 points on the outer rim.
      This study tested the hypothesis that sphere fitting provides an optimal
      assessment of glenoid face 3-dimensional orientation, and clinically important
      differences will exist in some individuals between sphere fit orientation and
      traditional version measurement. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Computed tomography scans
      of 20 normal glenoids were obtained. Glenoid version was measured from resliced,
      pure transverse images at a series of glenoid heights. Separately, the 3
      dimensional surface of each glenoid face was reconstructed. A sphere was fit to
      the glenoid face, and its orientation was described by 2 angles analogous to
      version and inclination. RESULTS: "Sphere fit version" averaged -3.2 degrees  +/-
      3.4 degrees  (negative indicating retroversion), and "sphere fit inclination"
      averaged 1.3 degrees  +/- 4.7 degrees . Absolute differences between sphere fit
      version and the standard mid-glenoid version averaged 1.5 degrees  (maximum 4.0
      degrees ) across patients. The glenoids were, on average, 5.5 degrees  more
      retroverted at the 80% height than at the 20% height. DISCUSSION: Three
      dimensional aspects of the glenoid, including the spiraling twist evidenced by
      increased retroversion superiorly, are accounted for in this novel sphere-fitting
      approach for assessing glenoid orientation. CONCLUSIONS: For most normal
      glenoids, midglenoid version appears to provide an adequate measure of glenoid
      central face orientation. Sphere fitting has potential utility in optimizing
      glenoid implant alignment in total shoulder arthroplasty.

PMID- 20932783
TI  - The effects of two analgesic regimes on behavior after abdominal surgery in
      Steller sea lions.
AB  - This study examined the effects of two non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug
      (NSAID) treatment protocols on the behavioral responses of juvenile Steller sea
      lions after abdominal surgery. Sea lions were randomly assigned to one of two
      treatments designed to control post-operative pain. The flunixin group (n=6)
      received flunixin meglumine (1mg/kg) administered as a single intramuscular (IM)
      injection before extubation from surgery. The carprofen group (n=5) received
      carprofen (4.4 mg/kg) as an IM injection before extubation, then orally at 24, 48
      and 72 h after surgery. Seven behaviors related to post-operative pain were
      monitored by observers, blinded to treatment, for a total of 10 days (3 days pre
      , day of surgery, and 6 days post-surgery). All seven behaviors changed after
      surgery regardless of NSAID treatment, two of which returned to baseline within 6
      days of surgery. Only one behavior was mildly affected by analgesic treatment:
      sea lions in the carprofen group tended to spend less time lying down in Days 1-3
      following surgery (i.e., the days which they received oral carprofen). These
      results suggested that neither treatment, at the dose administered, was effective
      in controlling pain in the days following this surgery.

PMID- 20932784
TI  - Prevalence and antimicrobial susceptibility of Salmonella infections in free
      range pigs.
AB  - The prevalence of Salmonella spp. infection was determined in 67 free-range pig
      herds in southern Spain. Microbiological assessment was performed on ileocolic
      lymph nodes collected at slaughter according to ISO 6579:2002 procedures.
      Overall, 33% of herds were infected and the prevalence of infection was 5.3%.
      Salmonella spp. serovars most frequently isolated were Anatum and Typhimurium,
      although uncommon serovars such as Hessarek and Mikawasima were also detected.
      Isolates were tested against 16 antimicrobial agents and exhibited resistance to
      streptomycin (46%), tetracycline (30%), sulphonamides (25%) and ampicillin (23%)
      by the break-point method. Multi-drug resistance, defined as resistance to >= 4
      antimicrobials, was 36%.

PMID- 20932785
TI  - mRNA expression of canine ATP10C, a P4-type ATPase, is positively associated with
      body condition score.
AB  - Mouse and human Atp10c genes are strong candidates for changes in bodyweight and
      glucose homeostasis. Using comparative genomic analysis, a novel canine P4-type
      ATPase, ATP10C, was identified. Expression of ATP10C was compared between sex
      matched lean (body condition score, BCS<8; n=7) and obese (BCS?8, n=8) client
      owned dogs of comparable ages. Canine ATP10C is highly expressed in visceral and
      subcutaneous fat at approximately 3-fold levels compared to the omental adipose
      depot. There was a 5-fold significant increase (P<0.0001) in mRNA expression of
      ATP10C in dogs with a BCS?8.

PMID- 20932786
TI  - The incidence and distribution of peripheral caries in the cheek teeth of horses
      and its association with diastemata and gingival recession.
AB  - Although considered relatively common in horses, there is little information on
      the prevalence, distribution and aetiology of peripheral caries of the equine
      cheek teeth (CT). The objective of this study was to investigate a possible
      association between this lesion and diastemata or 'gaps' between the CT which
      facilitate the entrapment of food material. Video recordings of oroscopic
      examinations of all dental cases at an equine hospital over a 3-year period were
      reviewed, and the location of all diastemata, peripheral caries, trapped food,
      and of gingival recession were recorded. A total of 108 cases met study inclusion
      criteria and 298 diastemata and 445 CT with peripheral caries were noted.
      Diastemata were found predominantly in the mandibular arcades (80%) and 75% of
      animals had at least one diastema. Peripheral caries was uniformly distributed
      between the maxillary and mandibular CT, being most prevalent on the most caudal
      three teeth (87%). Overall, diastemata were not associated with peripheral caries
      at either a tooth or individual patient level. However, a highly significant
      association was found between the presence of trapped food within diastemata and
      gingival recession.

PMID- 20932787
TI  - Recombinant small ruminant lentivirus subtype B1 in goats and sheep of imported
      breeds in Mexico.
AB  - Nucleotide sequences of small ruminant lentiviruses (SRLVs) were determined in
      sheep and goats, including progeny of imported animals, on a farm in Mexico. On
      the basis of gag-pol, pol, env and LTR sequences, SRLVs were assigned to the B1
      subgroup, which comprises caprine arthritis-encephalitis virus (CAEV)-like
      prototype sequences mainly from goats. In comparison with CAEV-like env sequences
      of American and French origin, two putative recombination events were identified
      within the V3-V4 and V4-V5 regions of the env gene of a full length SRLV sequence
      (FESC-752) derived from a goat on the farm.

PMID- 20932788
TI  - Reference values of mechanical and thermal pain tests in a pain-free population.
AB  - Quantitative sensory tests are widely used in human research to evaluate the
      effect of analgesics and explore altered pain mechanisms, such as central
      sensitization. In order to apply these tests in clinical practice, knowledge of
      reference values is essential. The aim of this study was to determine the
      reference values of pain thresholds for mechanical and thermal stimuli, as well
      as withdrawal time for the cold pressor test in 300 pain-free subjects. Pain
      detection and pain tolerance thresholds to pressure, heat and cold were
      determined at three body sites: (1) lower back, (2) suprascapular region and (3)
      second toe (for pressure) or the lateral aspect of the leg (for heat and cold).
      The influences of gender, age, height, weight, body-mass index (BMI), body side
      of testing, depression, anxiety, catastrophizing and parameters of Short-Form 36
      (SF-36) were analyzed by multiple regressions. Quantile regressions were
      performed to define the 5th, 10th and 25th percentiles as reference values for
      pain hypersensitivity and the 75th, 90th and 95th percentiles as reference values
      for pain hyposensitivity. Gender, age and/or the interaction of age with gender
      were the only variables that consistently affected the pain measures. Women were
      more pain sensitive than men. However, the influence of gender decreased with
      increasing age. In conclusion, normative values of parameters related to
      pressure, heat and cold pain stimuli were determined. Reference values have to be
      stratified by body region, gender and age. The determination of these reference
      values will now allow the clinical application of the tests for detecting
      abnormal pain reactions in individual patients.

PMID- 20932789
TI  - Mental stress and psychosocial factors at work in relation to multiple-site
      musculoskeletal pain: a longitudinal study of kitchen workers.
AB  - Among 385 female kitchen workers, we examined (1) whether mental stress and
      psychosocial factors at work (job control, skill discretion, supervisor support,
      co-worker relationships, and hurry) predict multiple-site musculoskeletal pain
      (MSP; defined as pain at >= 3 of seven sites) and (2) reversedly, whether MSP
      predicts these psychosocial factors. Data were collected by questionnaire at 3
      month intervals during 2 years. Trajectory analysis was applied. Four
      trajectories of MSP prevalence emerged: Low, Descending, Ascending, and High. For
      the psychosocial factors, a two-trajectory model (Ascending or High vs. Low)
      yielded the best fit. In logistic regression analysis, with the Low MSP
      trajectory as reference, poor co-worker relationships (odds ratio [OR] 3.9),
      mental stress (3.1) and hurry (2.1) at baseline predicted belonging to the High
      MSP trajectory. Also MSP at baseline predicted the trajectories (Ascending vs.
      Low) of low job control (2.2) and mental stress (3.2). Adverse changes in most
      psychosocial factors were associated with belonging to the High (ORs between 2.3
      and 8.6) and Ascending (2.7-5.5) MSP trajectories. In generalized estimating
      equations, time-lagged by 3 months, all psychosocial factors but two predicted
      MSP (1.4-2.1), allowing, e.g. for MSP at baseline, and vice versa, MSP predicted
      low job control, low supervisor support, and mental stress (1.4-2.0), after
      adjustment for e.g. the relevant psychosocial factor at baseline. In conclusion,
      we found that several psychosocial factors predicted MSP and that MSP predicted
      several psychosocial factors. The results suggest a cumulative process in which
      adverse psychosocial factors and MSP influence each other.

PMID- 20932790
TI  - Application of compressed sensing to in vivo 3D 19F CSI.
AB  - This study shows how applying compressed sensing (CS) to (19)F chemical shift
      imaging (CSI) makes highly accurate and reproducible reconstructions from
      undersampled datasets possible. The missing background signal in (19)F CSI
      provides the required sparsity needed for application of CS. Simulations were
      performed to test the influence of different CS-related parameters on
      reconstruction quality. To test the proposed method on a realistic signal
      distribution, the simulation results were validated by ex vivo experiments.
      Additionally, undersampled in vivo 3D CSI mouse datasets were successfully
      reconstructed using CS. The study results suggest that CS can be used to
      accurately and reproducibly reconstruct undersampled (19)F spectroscopic
      datasets. Thus, the scanning time of in vivo(19)F CSI experiments can be
      significantly reduced while preserving the ability to distinguish between
      different (19)F markers. The gain in scan time provides high flexibility in
      adjusting measurement parameters. These features make this technique a useful
      tool for multiple biological and medical applications.

PMID- 20932791
TI  - Case-control study to determine risk factors for diarrhea among children during a
      large outbreak in a country with a high prevalence of HIV infection.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Between January and March of 2006, over 35 000 diarrhea cases and 532
      deaths were reported among children aged <5 years in Botswana. We conducted an
      investigation to characterize the outbreak, identify risk factors for diarrhea,
      and recommend control strategies. METHODS: We enrolled children <5 years of age
      presenting to the emergency department between March 2 and March 20, 2006. Cases
      had >=3 loose stools per day and no antecedent diarrhea among household members.
      Controls had had no diarrhea since January 1, 2006. We conducted a multivariate
      logistic regression analysis controlling for socioeconomic status, age, and
      maternal HIV status. RESULTS: Forty-nine cases with median age of 12 months
      (range 0-45 months) and 61 controls with median age of 24 months (range 0-59
      months) were enrolled; 33 (30%) were born to HIV-positive mothers. Case-parents
      were more likely to report storing household drinking water (adjusted odds ratios
      (AOR) 3.9, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.2-15.7). Lack of hand washing after
      using the toilet or latrine (AOR 4.2, 95% CI 1.1-20.4) was more likely to be
      reported by case-parents. Case-children were less likely to be currently
      breastfeeding (AOR 30.3, 95% CI 2.0-1000.0). Five (10%) case-patients and no
      control-patients died. Multiple causal pathogens were identified. CONCLUSIONS:
      During this diarrhea outbreak in a country with a national program to prevent
      mother-to-child transmission of HIV, ill children were less likely to be
      breastfed and more likely to have been exposed to environmental factors
      associated with fecal contamination. These findings underscore the importance of
      adequate access to safe water, sanitation, hygiene, and nutrition education among
      populations using breast milk substitutes.

PMID- 20932792
TI  - Nonlinear ultrasonic standing waves: two-dimensional simulations in bubbly
      liquids.
AB  - We present the results of numerical predictions for analyzing the behavior of
      nonlinear ultrasonic standing waves in two-dimensional cavities filled with
      bubbly liquids. The model we solve accounts for nonlinearity, dissipation, and
      dispersion of the two-dimensional media due to the bubbles. The numerical
      simulations are based on a finite-difference scheme. They consider the bubbles
      evenly distributed in the liquid. Results are shown for high-amplitude signals.
      They make it possible to observe how the linear modes turn into multi-frequency
      nonlinear fields.

PMID- 20932793
TI  - Potassium sorbate as an efficient and green catalyst for Knoevenagel
      condensation.
AB  - Potassium sorbate has been utilized as a novel, efficient and green catalyst for
      the Knoevenagel condensation of aromatic aldehydes with active methylene
      compounds to afford substituted ole-fins through the conventional stirring or
      under ultrasound irradiation. Improvements were observed by carrying out the
      reactions under ultrasound irradiation. The advantages of this procedure are mild
      reaction conditions, high yields, cleaner reaction profiles and operational
      simplicity.

PMID- 20932794
TI  - Portable measurement system for the objective evaluation of the spasticity of
      hemiplegic patients based on the tonic stretch reflex threshold.
AB  - The clinical scales used for the evaluation of the spasticity have some
      drawbacks, in spite of their simplicity and ease of assessment, and their inter-
      and intra-rater reliability remains controversial. The aim of this study is to
      develop a portable system for the objective and reliable evaluation of the
      spasticity based on the K-means clustering of the tonic stretch reflex threshold
      (TSRT) and to compare the discrimination performance of the level of spasticity
      determined by our method with that by the conventional modified Ashworth scale
      (MAS). Fifteen hemiplegic patients (7 males and 8 females, age: 63.5+/-15.6)
      participated in the study. The average and standard deviation values of the TSRTs
      were 127.9+/-1.6, 121.8+/-1.5 and 117.9+/-1.3 in groups G1, G2 and G3,
      respectively, and there were significant differences between the TSRTs of each
      group (p<0.05). Also, our groups classified by the criteria of the TSRT had a
      strong negative correlation (r=-0.95, r(2)=0.90, p<0.05) between the level of
      spasticity and TSRTs. These results demonstrated that our system could be
      clinically more useful for the quantitative and reliable discrimination of the
      spasticity than the conventional MAS.

PMID- 20932796
TI  - Combating evolution with intelligent design: the neoglycoside ACHN-490.
AB  - The challenge posed by increasing levels of drug-resistant bacteria world-wide is
      manifest, and must be dealt with both by new approaches to the use of existing
      antibiotics and by the introduction of novel drugs. ACHN-490 is the first
      neoglycoside, or next-generation aminoglycoside, to begin clinical development.
      ACHN-490 was designed to target key pathogens, particularly gram-negative
      organisms and those resistant to older antibiotics. ACHN-490 demonstrates
      promising in vitro activity against wild-type and resistant bacteria while
      retaining the favorable bactericidal and synergistic properties of the
      aminoglycoside class. These attributes, along with the results of Phase 1 studies
      of ACHN-490 injection, suggest that ACHN-490 may help to fill the growing unmet
      need for new antibacterial agents.

PMID- 20932795
TI  - The functional role of cross-frequency coupling.
AB  - Recent studies suggest that cross-frequency coupling (CFC) might play a
      functional role in neuronal computation, communication and learning. In
      particular, the strength of phase-amplitude CFC differs across brain areas in a
      task-relevant manner, changes quickly in response to sensory, motor and cognitive
      events, and correlates with performance in learning tasks. Importantly, whereas
      high-frequency brain activity reflects local domains of cortical processing, low
      frequency brain rhythms are dynamically entrained across distributed brain
      regions by both external sensory input and internal cognitive events. CFC might
      thus serve as a mechanism to transfer information from large-scale brain networks
      operating at behavioral timescales to the fast, local cortical processing
      required for effective computation and synaptic modification, thus integrating
      functional systems across multiple spatiotemporal scales.

PMID- 20932797
TI  - Development and evaluation of an adult use-of-time instrument with an energy
      expenditure focus.
AB  - Measurement in behavioural epidemiology depends on high resolution and precise
      and accurate measures of the behaviour of interest. Few questionnaires in the
      adult population are able to simultaneously collect the multidimensional
      information that is emerging as being important in the relationship between
      behaviour and health. This project had two objectives: (1) to develop an adult
      version of the computer-delivered Multimedia Activity Recall for Children and
      Adolescents (MARCA), a 24-h activity recall instrument that can measure use-of
      time and estimate energy expenditure and (2) to determine the test-retest
      reliability and convergent validity of the developed adult MARCA. Thirty-eight
      healthy subjects (mean+/-SD, 31.7+/-12.1 yr) completed two recalls of the adult
      MARCA within 24-h and accelerometer counts were measured on 30 of the subjects.
      Bland-Altman analysis and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) were used to
      quantify the test-retest reliability of the adult MARCA. Spearman rank
      correlation coefficients (rho) were used to quantify convergent validity of the
      adult MARCA compared to accelerometer counts. The test-retest reliability
      coefficients of the adult MARCA were high with intra-class coefficients ranging
      from 0.99 to 1.00. Moderate to strong validity was observed for physical activity
      level (PAL) (MET.min score of accelerometer wear time) and accelerometer counts
      per minute (rho=0.72). The adult MARCA is a valid and reliable self-report
      measure of use-of-time and energy expenditure, capable of a wide variety of
      flexible use-of-time analyses related to a wide range of behaviours.

PMID- 20932798
TI  - Effect of a carbohydrate mouth rinse on maximal sprint performance in competitive
      male cyclists.
AB  - There is evidence that rinsing the mouth with a carbohydrate (CHO) solution can
      improve endurance performance. The goal of this study was to investigate whether
      a CHO mouth rinse can improve the performance of a maximal sprint effort.
      Fourteen competitive male cyclists (64.0+/-5.6 mL kg(-1) min(-1) (mean+/-SD))
      each completed the following 5-s mouth rinse trials in a randomised counter
      balanced order; (a) 6.4% maltodextrin solution [Mal], (b) 7.1% glucose solution
      [Glu], (c) water [Wa] and (d) a control trial with no rinse [Con]. Each
      participant then performed a 30-s maximal sprint effort on a cycle ergometer.
      Glu, Mal and Wa trials were not significantly different from Con across all
      indicators of sprint performance (maximal power output, mean power output over 0
      30, 0-10, 10-20, and 20-30s), nausea or fatigue level (p>0.05). These findings
      suggest that the use of a 5-s mouth rinse with an isoenergetic amount of either
      maltodextrin or glucose is not beneficial for maximal sprint performance.

PMID- 20932799
TI  - Treatment-related peripheral neuropathy in multiple myeloma: the challenge
      continues.
AB  - Introduction of the proteasome inhibitor bortezomib and the immunomodulatory
      drugs thalidomide and lenalidomide has substantially improved outcomes for
      patients with multiple myeloma. As a result, these drugs have become cornerstones
      of current antimyeloma treatment regimens. However, after several years of
      clinical experience it has become apparent that peripheral neuropathy is the most
      common and potentially disabling non-haematological side-effect associated with
      thalidomide and bortezomib. Maximising treatment benefit while preserving quality
      of life therefore requires a careful balance between achieving optimum activity
      and minimising toxicity, including neuropathy, to further enhance efficacy. In
      this review, we discuss all aspects of drug-induced peripheral neuropathy in
      myeloma, with a particular focus on thalidomide and bortezomib.

PMID- 20932801
TI  - BEI Resources: a biological resource center for parasitologists.

PMID- 20932800
TI  - p53 post-translational modification: deregulated in tumorigenesis.
AB  - The p53 tumor suppressor protein has well-established roles in monitoring various
      types of stress signals by activating specific transcriptional targets that
      control cell cycle arrest and apoptosis, although some activities are also
      mediated in a transcription-independent manner. Here, we review the recent
      advances in our understanding of the wide spectrum of post-translational
      modifications that act as epigenetic-like codes for modulating specific functions
      of p53 in vivo and how deregulation of these modifications might contribute to
      tumorigenesis. We also discuss future research priorities to further understand
      p53 post-translational modifications and the interpretation of genetic data in
      appreciation of the increasing evidence that p53 regulates cellular metabolism,
      autophagy and many unconventional tumor suppressor activities.

PMID- 20932802
TI  - Is the quality of assisted reproduction treatment better in some countries than
      others?

PMID- 20932803
TI  - Increased safety leads to less restrictive use of plasma transfusions.

PMID- 20932804
TI  - The status of pathogen-reduced plasma.
AB  - Efforts to reduce the risk of transfusion-transmitted infectious diseases began
      more than 4 decades ago with testing donated blood for syphilis. During the
      subsequent 4 decades, the number of recognized blood-borne transmissible agents
      and new laboratory tests has proliferated to a logistical breaking point.
      Further, the number of "emerging agents" which might enter the donor population
      is increasing continuously. In the search for an alternative to the laboratory
      testing strategy, pathogen-reduction technologies have emerged as the most
      promising. The model for this paradigm is pasteurization of a bottle of cow's
      milk. No matter what infective agent may be present in freshly collected cow's
      milk, pasteurization, i.e., a generic purification process can eliminate all
      potential infectivity, while preserving its essential biological properties--and
      an affordable cost. Several manufacturers have undertaken the challenge of
      developing a pathogen-reduction technology for blood components. Some novel
      technologies have proven successful for pooled plasma derivatives such as immune
      globulins, coagulation factor concentrate concentrates and albumin. The greatest
      challenge is finding a technology that is suitable for red blood cell and
      platelet components, whereas significant progress has been made already for
      pathogen-reduced plasma products. The present review addresses the status of
      implementation of pathogen-reduced plasma products in the global market. Some
      blood centers and hospital blood banks in Europe and the Middle East have begun
      to distribute pathogen-reduced plasma, but no pathogen-reduced plasma product is
      presently approved by the US Food and Drug Administration. While many observers
      in the United States focus on the regulatory process as the impediment to
      widespread implementation, the real challenge will be paying the surcharge for
      the pathogen-reduction process - an as yet unspecified figure - but likely to add
      a very substantial amount to the annual healthcare budget.

PMID- 20932805
TI  - Efficacy and safety of artemether-lumefantrine compared with quinine in pregnant
      women with uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria: an open-label,
      randomised, non-inferiority trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Malaria in pregnancy is associated with maternal and fetal morbidity
      and mortality. In 2006, WHO recommended use of artemisinin-based combination
      treatments during the second or third trimesters, but data on efficacy and safety
      in Africa were scarce. We aimed to assess whether artemether-lumefantrine was at
      least as efficacious as oral quinine for the treatment of uncomplicated
      falciparum malaria during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy in
      Mbarara, Uganda. METHODS: We did an open-label, randomised, non-inferiority trial
      between October, 2006, and May, 2009, at the antenatal clinics of the Mbarara
      University of Science and Technology Hospital in Uganda. Pregnant women were
      randomly assigned (1:1) by computer generated sequence to receive either quinine
      hydrochloride or artemether-lumefantrine, and were followed up weekly until
      delivery. Our primary endpoint was cure rate at day 42, confirmed by PCR. The non
      inferiority margin was a difference in cure rate of 5%. Analysis of efficacy was
      for all randomised patients without study deviations that could have affected the
      efficacy outcome. This study was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number
      NCT00495508. FINDINGS: 304 women were randomly assigned, 152 to each treatment
      group. By day 42, 16 patients were lost to follow-up and 25 were excluded from
      the analysis. At day 42, 137 (99.3%) of 138 patients taking artemether
      lumefantrine and 122 (97.6%) of 125 taking quinine were cured-difference 1.7%
      (lower limit of 95% CI -0.9). There were 290 adverse events in the quinine group
      and 141 in the artemether-lumefantrine group. INTERPRETATION: Artemisinin
      derivatives are not inferior to oral quinine for the treatment of uncomplicated
      malaria in pregnancy and might be preferable on the basis of safety and efficacy.
      FUNDING: Medecins Sans Frontieres and the European Commission.

PMID- 20932806
TI  - Pyospermia in an adult cohort with persistent lower urinary tract symptoms and a
      history of ablated posterior urethral valve.
AB  - PURPOSE: To assess for the presence of lower urinary tract symptoms and abnormal
      semen parameters in adults with a history of PUV. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The
      study involved 29 male patients, aged 17-51 (mean 21.5 years), with a history of
      PUV. Ten had more severe symptoms of frequency, urgency and enuresis, and agreed
      to detailed study. Medical history, urine analysis, ultrasonography and voiding
      cystourethrogram were completed for all. Magnetic resonance imaging of the
      bladder, prostate, seminal vesicles and ejaculatory ducts, ultrasonography of the
      prostate, as well as semen analysis and culture, and measurement of serum levels
      of follicle-stimulating hormone, luteinizing hormone and testosterone were
      performed on the 10/29 patients with severe symptoms. RESULTS: Of the 8/10
      patients who provided acceptable semen culture data, 88% (7/8) showed significant
      bacterial growth and pyospermia. On semen analysis, 3/8 patients had profound
      decreases in sperm count, 6/8 < 50% motility and 4/8 <= 30% normal forms. pH
      range for semen was 7.2-7.8 (mean 7.45). For all 10 patients, follicle
      stimulating and luteinizing hormone values were within normal range. Elongation
      of the prostate was the only radiologic variant of the sex accessory structures.
      CONCLUSION: A significant finding of pyospermia and bacterial growth in semen
      culture is reported in a subpopulation of young men with a history of PUV and
      severe lower urinary tract symptoms. This may have an impact on fertility.

PMID- 20932807
TI  - Quantifying the variability of financial disclosure information reported by
      authors presenting at annual spine conferences.
AB  - BACKGROUND CONTEXT: In recent years, greater attention has been directed toward
      determining how potential financial conflicts of interest may affect the
      integrity of biomedical research. To address this issue, various disclosure
      policies have been adopted in an attempt to increase the transparency of this
      process. However, the consistency of such reporting among spine surgeons remains
      unknown. This study quantifies the variability in the self-reported disclosures
      of individual authors presenting at multiple spine conferences during the same
      year. METHODS: The author disclosure information published for the 2008 North
      American Spine Society (NASS), Cervical Spine Research Society (CSRS), and
      Scoliosis Research Society (SRS), conferences were compiled into a database. We
      evaluated the disclosure policy for each society and compared the disclosure
      listings of authors who presented at more than one of these meetings. RESULTS:
      Disclosure records were available for 1,231 authors at NASS, 550 at CSRS, and 642
      at SRS. Of these individuals, 278 (NASS), 129 (CSRS), and 181 (SRS) presented at
      one of the other conferences and 40 presented at all three conferences. North
      American Spine Society and CSRS required disclosure of all financial
      relationships, whereas SRS only requested disclosures pertinent to authors'
      presentations. Of the 153 authors who presented at the NASS and CSRS meetings,
      51% exhibited discrepancies in their disclosure information. In contrast, only 9%
      of the 205 individuals whose data was listed at both the NASS and SRS conferences
      demonstrated irregularities. Similarly, 18% of the 56 authors who had provided
      information to both CSRS and SRS were inconsistent in their reporting.
      CONCLUSIONS: These findings emphasize the significant variability that currently
      exists in the reporting of financial conflicts of interest by authors who
      presented at three major spine conferences within the past year. We believe these
      discrepancies are likely because of confusion regarding what relationships should
      be acknowledged in certain situations and the clear lack of uniformity among the
      disclosure policies established by these various associations. CLINICAL
      RELEVANCE: This study evaluates financial conflicts of interests in clinical
      research.

PMID- 20932808
TI  - Treatment of facial cutaneous carcinoma with high-dose rate contact brachytherapy
      with customized molds.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The main treatment given for initial stage facial epitheliomas is
      surgery, although there are alternatives. We present our results with Ir-192 high
      dose rate (HDR) contact brachytherapy. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Fifty-one
      epitheliomas, with a mean size of 1.5 cm and a maximum thickness of 3mm, were
      treated with HDR contact brachytherapy by means of customized molds, with plastic
      tubes on bolus for flat surfaces and on wax molds for the nose. A total dose of
      48-57 Gy, 3-4 Gy/fraction three times a week, was administered. RESULTS: After a
      median followup of 45 months, five tumors relapsed (9.8%), four of them on the
      tip of the nose. The 5-year actuarial local control rate was 89%, 100% for flat
      surfaces, and 83% for the nose. All of them were salvaged with surgery. The
      treatment was well tolerated, 21.6% developed severe acute toxicity, with good or
      very good late cosmetic results. CONCLUSION: HDR contact brachytherapy is a good
      alternative to treat facial epitheliomas with a maximum thickness of 3mm. Tip of
      the nose tumors are not well covered with this technique and a different
      procedure is required.

PMID- 20932809
TI  - Local control and visual acuity following treatment of medium-sized ocular
      melanoma using a contact eye plaque: a single surgeon experience.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the outcomes of choroidal melanoma in (CM) patients treated
      with (125)I episcleral plaque brachytherapy and to compare our single surgeon
      results with the multi-institutional Collaborative Ocular Melanoma Study (COMS).
      METHODS AND MATERIALS: A review was performed of all CM patients treated with
      (125)I episcleral plaque brachytherapy by ophthalmologist in accordance with
      established COMS guidelines. RESULTS: The records of 35 patients were reviewed.
      The median longest basal tumor diameter and apical tumor height was 13.5 and
      7.8mm, respectively. Median dose to the apex was 8609 cGy at a median dose rate
      of 92 cGy/h. At a median followup of 45 months, 35 patients had local control and
      33 had successful organ preservation. At 5 years, the local control rate was
      100%, and the eye preservation rate was 94%. Five patients developed hepatic
      metastasis at a median of 58 months, and 2 succumbed from disease. The 5-year
      survival rate was 84%, and the 5-year rate of death with histopathologically
      confirmed metastasis was 15%. Of the 22 patients with at least 3 years of
      followup, 68% had a visual acuity in the treated eye of 20/200 or worse.
      CONCLUSION: Excellent local control, eye preservation rates, and survival
      outcomes following (125)I episcleral plaque application for CM can be optimized
      by having an experienced ophthalmologist place the plaques. Additionally, hepatic
      metastasis can occur more than 5 years postimplant regardless of local control;
      therefore, longer systemic staging should be considered.

PMID- 20932810
TI  - Measurement of dose perturbation around shielded ovoids in high-dose-rate
      brachytherapy.
AB  - PURPOSE: To analyze the effect of tungsten shields present in a Fletcher-Suit
      Delclos ovoid by comparing the dose distribution computed by a treatment planning
      system (TPS) to the delivered dose distribution measured by radiochromic film
      dosimetry. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Gafchromic/EBT films were carefully wrapped
      around the caps (diameter 20-25 mm) of shielded as well as unshielded ovoids,
      including their anterior and posterior ends. The ovoids were irradiated to a dose
      of 300 cGy using a high-dose rate remote afterloading unit. The films were
      scanned using Vidar VXR-16 Scanner. The dose distribution in the planes above,
      below, and on the sides of the ovoid were compared with the dose distribution
      computed by TPS, which does not account for the presence of shields. RESULTS: The
      dose distributions obtained about the unshielded ovoid from film dosimetry was in
      order of what is computed by TPS (90% measurements +/- 5%, maximum 8%). The dose
      reduction in the anterior part of the shielded ovoid affects maximally the dose
      to the bladder where a reduction up to 20% was noted. The reduction of dose in
      the posterior part of the ovoid, which is designed to shield rectum was as high
      as 23%. Where the shields are not present, insignificant difference in the
      measured and computed dose values was noticed. CONCLUSIONS: The TPS may
      substantially overestimate the dose to the bladder and rectum, including regions
      that lie in the shadow of the solid angle subtended by the shields if it does not
      account for the presence of tungsten shields.

PMID- 20932811
TI  - High-dose rate interstitial brachytherapy using two weekly sessions of 10 Gy each
      for patients with locally advanced cervical carcinoma.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the feasibility of high-dose rate interstitial brachytherapy
      (HDR-IBT) using two weekly sessions of 10 Gy in combination to pelvic external
      beam radiation therapy (EBRT) for patients with locally advanced cervical
      carcinoma. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Between the year 2005 and 2007, 42 patients
      with locally advanced cervical carcinoma (International Federation of Gynecology
      and Obstetrics Stage IIB-IVA), not suitable for intracavitary radiotherapy after
      completing EBRT, were enrolled in this prospective study. Two weekly sessions of
      HDR-IBT with 10 Gy each were delivered 1 week after pelvic EBRT. Various
      parameters studied for evaluating the feasibility were procedure-related
      complications, delayed radiation toxicity, and recurrence-free survival. RESULTS:
      International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics stage distribution of
      patients was as follows: Stage IIB (10), Stage IIIB (27), and Stage IVA (5). A
      total of 84 HDR-IBT procedures were performed in these 42 patients. Each session
      of brachytherapy treatment (from needle insertion to removal of template) was
      completed in less than 4 h. Frequency of various procedure-related complications
      were as follows: hematuria (3.5%), deep vein thrombosis (0%), and visceral
      puncture (0%). Overall delayed radiation toxicity (Grade III-IV) was 9%. Median
      followup was 23 months. The 3-y overall survival for all stages was 47% and the 3
      y recurrence-free survival for stage IIB, IIIB, and IVA was 67%, 34%, and 20%,
      respectively. CONCLUSION: Our clinical results have shown that weekly HDR-IBT
      schedule (10 Gy * 2) is associated with low toxicity, decent local control, and
      survival rates thereby proving its clinical feasibility.

PMID- 20932812
TI  - Chronic infection with Toxoplasma gondii causes myenteric neuroplasticity of the
      jejunum in rats.
AB  - Toxoplasma gondii is an aetiological agent of toxoplasmosis, which commonly
      causes diarrhoea in a number of species. This observation and the parasite's
      affinity for the nervous tissue support the theory that T. gondii infection may
      affect the myenteric neurons. The aim of this study was to evaluate the changes
      caused by T. gondii (genotype III) in the myenteric neurons of the jejunum in
      rats. Fifteen rats were distributed into three groups: control (CG), inoculated
      for 30 days (G30) and inoculated for 90 days (G90). Rats from the G30 and G90
      groups received an oral inoculum with 500 oocysts from a genotype III (M7741) T.
      gondii strain. At 180 days of age, all animals were anaesthetised and euthanised.
      Whole mounts were stained by using Giemsa (total population) and NADPH-diaphorase
      (nitrergic subpopulation) histochemistry. Maintenance of the width, length, area
      and neuronal density was observed; there was neuronal atrophy in the G30 group
      and a tendency to hypertrophy in the G90 group. Rats inoculated orally with
      sporulated oocysts did not show clinical illness or macroscopic or microscopic
      lesions, as do the majority of animal species. Therefore, infection was confirmed
      by a serum agglutination test; 30 days of infection caused increased weight gain
      and atrophy of myenteric neurons. At 90 days post-infection, weight gain became
      normal, and myenteric neurons hypertrophied.

PMID- 20932813
TI  - Metabolic analysis of guava (Psidium guajava L.) fruits at different ripening
      stages using different data-processing approaches.
AB  - Gas chromatography coupled with time-of-flight mass spectrometry and principal
      component analysis were used to obtain the metabolite profiles of guava (Psidium
      guajava) fruits. Results with two types of data-processing software, ChromaTOF
      and AMDIS, were compared to explain the differences between the samples. There
      were some differences in score and loading plot patterns of PCA as well as in the
      composition of the metabolites. However, little difference was observed in the
      type of metabolites detected and identified using either type of software. Both
      the flesh and peel of premature and mature white guava fruits were compared for
      the analysis of the metabolite profiles. Malic acid, aspartic acid, and glucose
      were the major metabolites distinguishing the different parts of guava fruits in
      the PCA loading plot. In addition, the metabolic profiles of the fruits revealed
      significant changes in some metabolites during ripening. The major components
      contributing to the separation were serine, citric acid, fructose, sucrose, and
      some unknowns. In particular, sucrose, fructose, serine and citric acid were
      related to the ripening of guava fruits. Fructose and sucrose were increased
      whereas citric acid was decreased during guava fruit ripening.

PMID- 20932814
TI  - [Chilaiditi syndrome: a single X-ray is diagnostic].

PMID- 20932815
TI  - Hierarchical Y-SNP assay to study the hidden diversity and phylogenetic
      relationship of native populations in South America.
AB  - Studying the Y chromosomes of indigenous tribes of Ecuador revealed a lack of
      strategic SNP assays to examine the substructure of South American native
      populations. In most studies dealing with South American samples so far only the
      most common Y-SNP M3 of haplogroup Q was analyzed, because this is known to
      define a founder group in South America. Studies of SNPs ancestral to Q-M3
      (Q1a3a) to confirm the results or the typing of Q subclades have often been
      neglected. For this reason we developed a SNaPshot assay, which allows first for
      a hierarchical testing of all main haplogroups occurring in South American
      populations and second for a detailed analysis of haplogroups Q and C thought
      having ancient Asian descent. We selected 16 SNPs from the YCC haplogroup tree
      and established two multiplexes. The first multiplex ("SA Major") includes 12 Y
      SNPs defining the most frequent haplogroups occurring in South America (M42,
      M207, M242, M168, M3, M145, M174, M213, RPS4Y711, M45, P170, and M9). The second
      multiplex ("SA SpecQ") contains Y-SNPs of haplogroup Q, especially of the
      subclade Q-M3 (M19, M194, P292, M3, and M199). Within our Ecuadorian sample,
      haplogroup Q-M3 (xM19, M194, P292, and M199) was predominant, but we also found
      haplogroup E and R, which can be attributed to recent admixture. Moreover, we
      found four out of 65 samples, which were tested to be haplogroup C3* (C-M217) the
      modal haplogroup in Mongolians and widespread in indigenous populations of the
      Russian Far East as well as in Eastern Asia. This haplogroup is not known to be
      the result of recent admixture and has been found only one time before in South
      America. Since haplogroup C occurs in Asia and in North America (C3b or C-P39),
      we assume that these C-lineages are ancient as well. Therefore, we established a
      third multiplex ("SA SpecC"), which allows the further subtyping of haplogroup C,
      mainly of subclade C3 defined by the Y-SNP M217 (M407, M48, P53.1, M217, P62,
      RPS4Y711, M93, M86, and P39). Altogether, these three multiplexes cover the most
      frequent haplogroups in South America and allow for a maximal resolution of the Y
      chromosomal SNP diversity in Amerindian population samples.

PMID- 20932816
TI  - STR sequence analysis for characterizing normal, variant, and null alleles.
AB  - DNA sequence variation is known to exist in and around the repeat region of short
      tandem repeat (STR) loci used in human identity testing. While the vast majority
      of STR alleles measured in forensic DNA laboratories worldwide type as "normal"
      alleles compared with STR kit allelic ladders, a number of variant alleles have
      been reported. In addition, a sequence difference at a polymerase chain reaction
      (PCR) primer binding site in the DNA template can cause allele drop-out (i.e., a
      "null" or "silent" allele) with one set of primers and not with another. Our
      group at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has been
      sequencing variant and null alleles supplied by forensic labs and cataloging this
      information on the NIST STRBase website for the past decade. The PCR primer
      sequences and strategy used for our STR allele sequencing work involving 23
      autosomal STRs and 17 Y-chromosome STRs are described along with the results from
      111 variant and 17 null alleles.

PMID- 20932817
TI  - Post-traumatic arteriovenous fistula of the hepatic pedicle.
AB  - Hepatico-portal fistula (HPF) is a rare condition, most often of post-traumatic
      or iatrogenic origin and occasionally secondary to a ruptured aneurysm of the
      hepatic artery into the portal vein. HPF in extrahepatic locations often results
      in portal hypertension (PHT). While Doppler ultrasound, CT angiography, and
      magnetic resonance angiography are usually demonstrative, arteriography remains
      indispensable to clarify the exact anatomical configuration. In the treatment of
      these arteriovenous (AV) fistulas, open surgical approaches have increasingly
      given way to radiological embolization techniques, especially in intrahepatic
      locations, but surgery remains indicated for AV fistulas of the hepatic pedicle
      where maintenance of hepatic arterial flow is a priority of treatment. We report
      a patient who had an AV fistula of the hepatic pedicle with resultant PHT
      presenting 5 years after open abdominal trauma. Treatment was surgical; the
      immediate and long-term postoperative course was uneventful with regression of
      PHT. Through analysis of this case and a review of the literature, we discuss the
      clinical, paraclinical, therapeutic, and prognostic features of this lesion.

PMID- 20932818
TI  - Improving community participation to eliminate lymphatic filariasis in American
      Samoa.
AB  - In 2000, the American Samoa Department of Health initiated a campaign of annual
      mass drug administration (MDA) with albendazole and diethylcarbamazine (DEC) to
      eliminate transmission of filariasis. Drug coverage was well below prescribed
      targets in the first three campaigns, ranging from 24 to 52% of the total
      population. Evaluation findings from a variety of formative research methods
      identified opportunities to improve MDA coverage and ensuing program
      modifications resulted in increased drug coverage of 65-71% in the following four
      annual distributions. Partnering with churches for drug distribution and using
      multiple media channels for health promotion led to sustained program
      improvements. With the increased emphasis on the use of mass distribution for
      delivery of drugs for a number of neglected tropical diseases, other programs may
      benefit from a similar approach.

PMID- 20932819
TI  - Monitoring membrane binding and insertion of peptides by two-color fluorescent
      label.
AB  - Herein, we developed an approach for monitoring membrane binding and insertion of
      peptides using a fluorescent environment-sensitive label of the 3-hydroxyflavone
      family. For this purpose, we labeled the N-terminus of three synthetic peptides,
      melittin, magainin 2 and poly-l-lysine capable to interact with lipid membranes.
      Binding of these peptides to lipid vesicles induced a strong fluorescence
      increase, which enabled to quantify the peptide-membrane interaction. Moreover,
      the dual emission of the label in these peptides correlated well with the depth
      of its insertion measured by the parallax quenching method. Thus, in melittin and
      magainin 2, which show deep insertion of their N-terminus, the label presented a
      dual emission corresponding to a low polar environment, while the environment of
      the poly-l-lysine N-terminus was rather polar, consistent with its location close
      to the bilayer surface. Using spectral deconvolution to distinguish the non
      hydrated label species from the hydrated ones and two photon fluorescence
      microscopy to determine the probe orientation in giant vesicles, we found that
      the non-hydrated species were vertically oriented in the bilayer and constituted
      the best indicators for evaluating the depth of the peptide N-terminus in
      membranes. Thus, this label constitutes an interesting new tool for monitoring
      membrane binding and insertion of peptides.

PMID- 20932820
TI  - Microglial activation is a major contributor to neurologic dysfunction in
      thiamine deficiency.
AB  - In Wernicke's encephalopathy and thiamine deficiency (TD), the cause of this
      brain disorder, development of inflammation is an important aspect of the disease
      process. How this pathological mechanism relates to the neurologic impairment
      associated with TD, however, remains unclear. A key feature of the inflammatory
      process is the activation of microglia. In the present study, we evaluated the
      role of microglial activation in the pathophysiology of TD by examining the
      relationship between levels of CD11b/c and CD68, two proteins associated with
      microglial activation, and neurological dysfunction under conditions of TD. Rats
      with TD showed large increases in expression of both CD11b/c and CD68 in the
      vulnerable thalamus and inferior colliculus, with no change in mRNA levels in the
      relatively non-vulnerable frontal cortex. These alterations in CD11b/c and CD68
      expression were reflected in dramatic upregulation of both proteins by
      immunoblotting and immunohistochemical methods. Co-treatment of rats with TD and
      the anti-inflammatory drug minocycline prevented microglial activation, and onset
      of neurological changes, including loss of righting reflex, was delayed by
      approximately 39h, compared to animals with TD alone. In addition, co-treatment
      of rats with TD and N-acetylcysteine prevented the increase in CD11b/c and CD68,
      but did not alter the onset of neurological impairment. These results suggest
      that microglial activation plays a role in the development of neurological
      impairment in TD and possibly Wernicke's encephalopathy, and that while
      development of oxidative stress may be involved in microglial activation, the
      basis of this neurologic dysfunction is likely to be multifactorial in nature.

PMID- 20932821
TI  - CYP2E1 enhances ethanol-induced lipid accumulation but impairs autophagy in HepG2
      E47 cells.
AB  - The regulation and function of autophagy and lipid metabolism have recently been
      reported to be reciprocally related. Macroautophagy mediates the breakdown of
      lipids stored in lipid droplets. An inhibition of autophagy leads to the
      development of a fatty liver. We evaluated the ability of CYP2E1 to modulate the
      effects of ethanol on lipid accumulation and autophagy in vitro. The E47 HepG2
      cell which expresses CYP2E1 was treated with ethanol at 50, 100 and 150mM for 4
      or 5days. Ethanol-induced lipid accumulation and an increase of triglycerides
      (TG) in E47 cells to a greater extent than in control C34 cells which do not
      express CYP2E1. In contrast, autophagy (LC3 II/LC3 I ratio) was significantly
      induced by ethanol in C34 cells to a greater extent than in E47 cells. P62 was
      significantly increased in E47 cells after ethanol treatment. Thus, there is a
      reciprocal relationship between the effects of ethanol on lipid accumulation and
      autophagy in the CYP2E1-expressing cells. Inhibition of autophagy by 3
      methyladenine (3MA), increased lipid accumulation and TG levels in C34 cells
      which display elevated autophagy, but enhanced lipid accumulation and TG level to
      a lesser extent in E47 cells which displayed lower autophagy. Ethanol induced
      CYP2E1 activity and oxidative stress in E47 cells compared with C34 cells. These
      experiments suggest that the expression of CYP2E1 may impair autophagy formation
      which contributes to lipid accumulation in the liver. We hypothesize that CYP2E1
      induced oxidative stress promotes the accumulation of lipid droplets by ethanol
      and this may be responsible for the suppression of autophagy in the liver.

PMID- 20932822
TI  - The cap'n'collar transcription factor Nrf2 mediates both intrinsic resistance to
      environmental stressors and an adaptive response elicited by chemopreventive
      agents that determines susceptibility to electrophilic xenobiotics.
AB  - Transcription factor Nrf2 regulates genes encoding drug-metabolising enzymes and
      drug transporters, as well as enzymes involved in the glutathione, thioredoxin
      and peroxiredoxin antioxidant pathways. Using mouse embryonic fibroblast (MEF)
      cells from Nrf2(+/+) and Nrf2(-/-) mice, in conjunction with the 3-(4,5
      dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) cytotoxicity assay,
      we have shown that loss of Nrf2 diminishes the intrinsic resistance of mutant
      fibroblasts towards isothiocyanates (i.e. sulforaphane), epoxides (i.e. (2S,3S)-(
      )-3-phenylglycidol, ethyl 3-phenylglycidate and styrene-7,8-epoxide), peroxides,
      hydroquinones and quinones (i.e. tert-butylhydroperoxide, tert-butylhydroquinone
      and 2,3-dimethoxynaphthoquinone), NaAsO(2), and various mutagens, including beta
      propiolactone, cisplatin, mechlorethamine and methyl methanesulfonate to ~50% of
      that observed in equivalent wild-type cells. Exposure of Nrf2(+/+) fibroblasts,
      but not Nrf2(-/-) fibroblasts, to a non-toxic dose (3MUmol/l) of the
      chemopreventive agent sulforaphane (Sul) stimulated an adaptive response that,
      18h after first being subjected to the isothiocyanate, caused an induction of
      between 2- and 10-fold in the levels of mRNA for glutamate-cysteine ligase
      catalytic (Gclc) and modifier (Gclm) subunits, glutathione S-transferases and
      NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase-1 (Nqo1); this was accompanied by an increase in
      total glutathione of between 1.5- and 1.9-fold. Pre-treatment of Nrf2(+/+) MEF
      cells with 3MUM Sul for 18h prior to challenge with xenobiotics, conferred
      between 2.0- and 4.0-fold protection against isothiocyanates, reactive carbonyls,
      peroxides, quinones, NaAsO(2), and the anticancer nitrogen mustard chlorambucil,
      but pre-treatment with 3MUM Sul produced no such increased tolerance in Nrf2(-/-)
      MEF cells. The inducible resistance towards acrolein, cumene hydroperoxide and
      chlorambucil, produced by pre-treating wild-type fibroblasts with 3MUM Sul, was
      dependent on glutathione because simultaneous pre-treatment with 5MUmol/l
      buthionine sulfoximine abolished the increased tolerance of these xenobiotics.
      However, inducible resistance towards menadione that occurred upon pre-treatment
      with 3MUM Sul was independent of glutathione and may be due to upregulation of
      Nqo1. Thus Nrf2 controls cellular resistance against electrophiles.

PMID- 20932823
TI  - Role of serum amyloid P in skin graft survival and wound healing in burned
      patients receiving skin grafts.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Recent studies in animal models suggest that serum amyloid P (SAP)
      can affect burn wound healing. However, the role of SAP in a clinical setting
      remains unknown. METHODS: We enrolled 88 patients with third degree burn wounds.
      All the patients were candidates for auto-skin graft procedure using stamp skin
      graft. The complete graft healing time and the number of survived grafts were
      recorded. Serum SAP levels were assessed 1 day before operation. RESULTS: There
      was no significant difference in SAP level between controls and patients. There
      were no significant differences noted among the patients with different burn
      surface area. However, when the patients in each group were stratified by SAP
      levels, the mean complete healing time of grafted wound and the mean numbers of
      survived skin grafts were significantly different. Spearman's analyses showed
      that the serum SAP levels negatively correlated with the complete wound healing
      time and mean numbers of survived skin grafts. Logistic regression analysis
      showed that the serum SAP levels and mean numbers of survived skin grafts were
      potent independent factors contributing to wound healing. CONCLUSIONS: The
      results of this study suggest that the serum SAP levels may be an easy detected
      predictor for the healing of burn wounds.

PMID- 20932824
TI  - A de novo mutation in NKX2.5 associated with atrial septal defects, ventricular
      noncompaction, syncope and sudden death.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mutations in transcription factor NKX2.5 cause congenital heart
      disease (CHD). We identified a CHD family with atrial septal defects (ASDs),
      atrioventricular block, ventricular noncompaction, syncope and sudden death. Our
      objective is to identify the disease-causing mutation in the CHD family. METHODS:
      Direct DNA sequence analysis was used to identify the CHD mutation. The
      functional effects of the mutation were characterized by a luciferase reporter
      assay and immunostaining. RESULTS: A novel, de novo 2-bp insertion (c.512insGC)
      was identified in exon 2 of NKX2.5. Mutation c.512insGC co-segregates with CHD in
      the family, and is not present in 200 controls. Functional studies indicate that
      the c.512insGC mutation impedes nuclear localization of NKX2.5 and causes a total
      loss of transactivation activity of NKX2.5. Furthermore, no NKX2.5 mutation was
      identified in 125 sporadic Chinese CHD patients. CONCLUSIONS: (1) NKX2.5 mutation
      c.512insGC is associated with ASDs, syncope and sudden death. It is the second de
      novo mutation identified in NKX2.5. (2) NKX2.5 mutations are rare in sporadic CHD
      patients. (3) This study for the first time identifies association between a
      NKX2.5 mutation and ventricular noncompaction. Our results significantly expand
      the phenotypic spectrum of NKX2.5 mutations.

PMID- 20932825
TI  - The PPARgamma ligand ciglitazone regulates androgen receptor activation
      differently in androgen-dependent versus androgen-independent human prostate
      cancer cells.
AB  - The androgen receptor (AR) regulates growth and progression of androgen-dependent
      as well as androgen-independent prostate cancer cells. Peroxisome proliferator
      activated receptor gamma (PPARgamma) agonists have been reported to reduce AR
      activation in androgen-dependent LNCaP prostate cancer cells. To determine
      whether PPARgamma ligands are equally effective at inhibiting AR activity in
      androgen-independent prostate cancer, we examined the effect of the PPARgamma
      ligands ciglitazone and rosiglitazone on C4-2 cells, an androgen- independent
      derivative of the LNCaP cell line. Luciferase-based reporter assays and Western
      blot analysis demonstrated that PPARgamma ligand reduced dihydrotestosterone
      (DHT)-induced increases in AR activity in LNCaP cells. However, in C4-2 cells,
      these compounds increased DHT-induced AR driven luciferase activity. In addition,
      ciglitazone did not significantly alter DHT-mediated increases in prostate
      specific antigen (PSA) protein or mRNA levels within C4-2 cells. siRNA-based
      experiments demonstrated that the ciglitazone-induced regulation of AR activity
      observed in C4-2 cells was dependent on the presence of PPARgamma. Furthermore,
      overexpression of the AR corepressor cyclin D1 inhibited the ability of
      ciglitazone to induce AR luciferase activity in C4-2 cells. Thus, our data
      suggest that both PPARgamma and cyclin D1 levels influence the ability of
      ciglitazone to differentially regulate AR signaling in androgen-independent C4-2
      prostate cancer cells.

PMID- 20932826
TI  - Efficacy of olfactory ensheathing cells to support regeneration after spinal cord
      injury is influenced by method of culture preparation.
AB  - Olfactory ensheathing cells (OEC) have been shown to stimulate regeneration,
      myelination and functional recovery in different spinal cord injury models.
      However, recent reports from several laboratories have challenged this treatment
      strategy. The discrepancy in results could be attributed to many factors
      including variations in culture protocols. The present study investigates whether
      the differences in culture preparation could influence neuroprotective and growth
      promoting effects of OEC after transplantation into the injured spinal cord.
      Primary OEC cultures were purified using method of differential cell adhesion (a
      OEC) or separated with immunomagnetic beads (b-OEC). After cervical C4
      hemisection in adult rats, short-term (3 weeks) or long-term (7 weeks) cultured
      OEC were transplanted into the lateral funiculus at 1mm rostral and caudal to the
      transection site. At 3-8 weeks after transplantation, labeled OEC were mainly
      found in the injection sites and in the trauma zone. Short-term cultured a-OEC
      supported regrowth of rubrospinal, raphaespinal and CGRP-positive fibers, and
      attenuated retrograde degeneration in the red nucleus. Short-term cultured b-OEC
      failed to promote axonal regrowth but increased the density of rubrospinal axons
      within the dorsolateral funiculus and provided significant neuroprotection for
      axotomized rubrospinal neurons. In addition, short-term cultured OEC attenuated
      sprouting of rubrospinal terminals. In contrast, long-term cultured OEC neither
      enhanced axonal growth nor prevented retrograde cell death. The results suggest
      that the age of OEC in culture and the method of cell purification could affect
      the efficacy of OEC to support neuronal survival and regeneration after spinal
      cord injury. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Understanding
      olfactory ensheathing glia and their prospect for nervous system repair.

PMID- 20932827
TI  - Attenuation of CNS inflammatory responses by nicotine involves alpha7 and non
      alpha7 nicotinic receptors.
AB  - A considerable number of in vivo studies have demonstrated that the cholinergic
      system can dampen the peripheral immune response, and it is thought that the
      alpha7-nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) subtype is a key mediator of this
      process. The goal of the present study was to determine if nicotine modulates
      immunological mechanisms known to be involved in the development of experimental
      autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), a mouse model for CNS autoimmune disease, via
      alpha7-nAChRs. Here we show that nicotine exposure attenuates EAE severity and
      that this effect is largely abolished in nAChR alpha7 subunit knock-out mice.
      However, nicotine exposure partially retains the ability to reduce lymphocyte
      infiltration into the CNS, inhibit auto-reactive T cell proliferation and helper
      T cell cytokine production, down-regulate co-stimulatory protein expression on
      myeloid cells, and increase the differentiation and recruitment of regulatory T
      cells, even in the absence of alpha7-nAChRs. Diverse effects of nicotine on
      effector and regulatory T cells, as well as antigen-presenting cells, may be
      linked to differential expression patterns of nAChR subunits across these cell
      types. Taken together, our data show that although alpha7-nAChRs indeed seem to
      play an important role in nicotine-conferred reduction of the CNS inflammatory
      response and protection against EAE, other nAChR subtypes also are involved in
      the anti-inflammatory properties of the cholinergic system.

PMID- 20932829
TI  - In vitro and in vivo activity of three sesquiterpenes against L(3) larvae of
      Anisakis type I.
AB  - In order to investigate the possible use of terpenic derivatives to treat
      anisakiasis caused by L(3) larvae of Anisakis, we studied the in vitro and in
      vivo larvicidal activity of three sesquiterpenes (nerolidol, farnesol and
      elemol). In vitro experiments included the histological study of larval damage
      and in vivo studies the measurement of myeloperoxidase activity in rat
      gastrointestinal tract after administration of the sesquiterpenes. In the in
      vitro assays, the most active compound against the L(3) larvae was nerolidol,
      followed by farnesol; both caused the death of all nematodes, which showed
      cuticle changes and intestinal wall rupture. In the in vivo assays, only 20% of
      infected rats treated with nerolidol or farnesol showed gastric wall lesions in
      comparison to 86.6% of control animals. According to these results, nerolidol and
      farnesol are good candidates for further research as biocidal agents against L(3)
      larvae of Anisakis type I.

PMID- 20932828
TI  - Wind-up of stretch reflexes as a measure of spasticity in chronic spinalized
      rats: The effects of passive exercise and modafinil.
AB  - Spasticity is a common disorder following spinal cord injury that can impair
      function and quality of life. While a number of mechanisms are thought to play a
      role in spasticity, the role of motoneuron persistent inward currents (PICs) is
      emerging as pivotal. The presence of PICs can be evidenced by temporal summation
      or wind-up of reflex responses to brief afferent inputs. In this study, a
      combined neurophysiological and novel biomechanical approach was used to assess
      the effects of passive exercise and modafinil administration on hyper-reflexia
      and spasticity following complete T-10 transection in the rat. Animals were
      divided into 3 groups (n=8) and provided daily passive cycling exercise, oral
      modafinil, or no intervention. After 6weeks, animals were tested for wind-up of
      the stretch reflex (SR) during repeated dorsiflexion stretches of the ankle. H
      reflexes were tested in a subset of animals. Both torque and gastrocnemius
      electromyography showed evidence of SR wind-up in the transection only group that
      was significantly different from both treatment groups (p<0.05). H-reflex
      frequency dependent depression was also restored to normal levels in both
      treatment groups. The results provide support for the use of passive cycling
      exercise and modafinil in the treatment of spasticity and provide insight into
      the possible contribution of PICs.

PMID- 20932830
TI  - Toxicity effect of the acaricide fipronil in semi-engorged females of the tick
      Rhipicephalus sanguineus (Latreille, 1806) (Acari: Ixodidae): preliminary
      determination of the minimum lethal concentration and LC(50).
AB  - Chemical acaricides, especially fipronil (active ingredient of Frontline(r)), are
      still the most effective method to control tick populations. In this study, the
      effectiveness of fipronil was assessed in semi-engorged females of the tick
      Rhipicephalus sanguineus. A protocol for an in vitro bioassay (AIT) was
      developed, and the LC(50) (lethal concentration 50%) and 95% confidence interval
      were determined. Ticks were immersed in Petri dishes with different
      concentrations of fipronil or distilled water for 2 min, dried, and placed in an
      incubator for 7 days. Dead R. sanguineus females treated with the 14
      concentrations of fipronil were counted daily. Mortality results were compared
      with the Probit analysis, and the LC(50) and 95% confidence interval were
      calculated, g (95): LC(50) = 9.647 (4.711 to 13.470). This study was aimed at
      developing a more appropriate and updated protocol for an in vitro bioassay (AIT-
      adult immersion test), and providing information on the toxic potential of
      fipronil (elimination of ectoparasites with lower concentrations) and sensitivity
      of ticks, especially R. sanguineus, a pest of great interest, due to its
      occurrence in urban environments.

PMID- 20932831
TI  - Grb14 inhibits FGF receptor signaling through the regulation of PLCgamma
      recruitment and activation.
AB  - To decipher the mechanism involved in Grb14 binding to the activated fibroblast
      growth factor receptor (FGFR), we used the bioluminescence resonance energy
      transfer (BRET) technique and the Xenopus oocyte model. We showed that Grb14 was
      recruited to FGFR1 into a trimeric complex containing also phospholipase C gamma
      (PLCgamma). The presence of Grb14 altered FGF-induced PLCgamma phosphorylation
      and activation. Grb14-FGFR interaction involved the Grb14-SH2 domain and the FGFR
      pY766 residue, which is the PLCgamma binding site. Our data led to a molecular
      model whereby Grb14 binding to the phosphorylated FGFR induces a conformational
      change that unmasks a PLCgamma binding motif on Grb14, allowing trapping and
      inactivation of PLCgamma.

PMID- 20932832
TI  - Golgi-localized KIAA0725p regulates membrane trafficking from the Golgi apparatus
      to the plasma membrane in mammalian cells.
AB  - Mammals have three members of the intracellular phospholipase A(1) protein family
      (phosphatidic acid preferring-phospholipase A(1), p125, and KIAA0725p). In this
      study, we showed that KIAA0725p is localized in the Golgi, and is rapidly cycled
      between the Golgi and cytosol. Catalytic activity is important for targeting of
      KIAA0725p to Golgi membranes. RNA interference experiments suggested that
      KIAA0725p contributes to efficient membrane trafficking from the Golgi apparatus
      to the plasma membrane, but is not involved in brefeldin A-induced Golgi-to
      endoplasmic reticulum retrograde transport.

PMID- 20932833
TI  - Consolidation of glycosyl hydrolase family 30: a dual domain 4/7 hydrolase family
      consisting of two structurally distinct groups.
AB  - In this work glycosyl hydrolase (GH) family 30 (GH30) is analyzed and shown to
      consist of its currently classified member sequences as well as several
      homologous sequence groups currently assigned within family GH5. A large scale
      amino acid sequence alignment and a phylogenetic tree were generated and GH30
      groups and subgroups were designated. A partial rearrangement in the GH30
      defining side-associated beta-domain contributes to the differentiation of two
      major groups that contain up to eight subgroups. For this CAZy family of Clan A
      enzymes the dual domain fold is conserved, suggesting that it may be a
      requirement for evolved function. This work redefines GH family 30 and serves as
      a guide for future efforts regarding enzymes classified within this family.

PMID- 20932834
TI  - Gastrin increases its own synthesis in gastrointestinal cancer cells via the CCK2
      receptor.
AB  - The involvement of the gastrointestinal hormone gastrin in the development of
      gastrointestinal cancer is highly controversial. Here we demonstrate a positive
      feedback loop whereby gastrin, acting via the CCK2 receptor, increases its own
      expression. Such an autocrine loop has not previously been reported for any other
      gastrointestinal hormone. Gastrin promoter activation was dependent on the MAP
      kinase pathway and did not involve Sp1 binding sites or epidermal growth factor
      receptor transactivation. As the treatment of gastrointestinal cancer cells with
      amidated gastrin led to increased expression of non-amidated gastrins, the
      positive-feedback loop may contribute to the sustained increase in circulating
      gastrins observed in colorectal cancer patients.

PMID- 20932835
TI  - A novel secreted metzincin metalloproteinase from Bacillus intermedius.
AB  - The mprBi gene from Bacillus intermedius 3-19 encoding a novel secreted
      metalloproteinase was identified. The mpriBi gene was expressed in an
      extracellular proteinase-deficient Bacillus subtilis BG 2036 strain and the
      corresponding protein was characterized biochemically. The 19 kDa MprBi protein
      was purified to homogeneity and sequenced by mass spectroscopy and Edman
      degradation methods. Amino acid sequence analysis of MprBi identified an active
      site motif HEYGHNFGLPHD and a conserved structural component Met-turn, both of
      which are unique features of the metzincin clan. Furthermore, MprBi harbors a
      number of distinct sequence elements characteristic of proteinase domains in
      eukaryotic adamalysins. We conclude that MprBi and similar proteins from other
      Bacillus species form a novel group of metzincin metalloproteinases in
      prokaryotes.

PMID- 20932836
TI  - Regulation of the connexin 43 promoter in the brook trout testis: role of the
      thyroid hormones and cAMP.
AB  - Gap junctions are critical for spermatogenesis. They are composed of integral
      proteins, the connexins. In mammals, a loss of Cx43 expression results in the
      inhibition of spermatogenesis. We have shown that Cx43 is expressed in the
      Sertoli cells of rainbow trout and that cAMP and triiodothyronine (T(3)) regulate
      testicular Cx43 expression in brook trout testis. The objective of this study was
      to determine if cAMP and T(3) act at the level of the cx43 promoter to regulate
      its expression. A 607 bp 5' flanking sequence of the cx43 promoter was obtained
      by Genome Walking. A TATA box was predicted to be located between positions -36
      and -30 relative to the transcriptional initiation site. 5'-Rapid amplification
      of cDNA ends indicated a single transcriptional start site. Single C/EBP (-164 to
      -156) and tr-beta (-112 to -107) response elements were identified and
      electrophoretic mobility shift assays indicated the presence of competitive
      protein binding sites at each region. Immortalized rainbow trout gonadal cell
      line (RTG-2) which express cx43 and tr-beta transcripts were transfected with a
      vector containing the Cx43 promoter inserted into a luciferase expression vector.
      Transactivation of the reporter genes was stimulated by either cAMP or T(3).
      Sequential deletion and point mutations in either the C/EBP or tr-beta response
      element indicated that T(3) but not cAMP directly induced luciferase
      transactivation of the luciferase gene by acting on different sites of the Cx43
      promoter. Together, these data indicate that T(3) stimulates cx43 expression via
      direct regulation of gene transcription.

PMID- 20932837
TI  - Phytochemicals and reproductive function in wild female Phayre's leaf monkeys
      (Trachypithecus phayrei crepusculus).
AB  - Female reproduction is known to be influenced by food availability and its impact
      on energetic status. However, emerging evidence suggests that the phytochemical
      content of food may also be an important factor. Here, we investigated this
      hypothesis, presenting 20 months of data on fecal progestin (fP) patterns in wild
      female Phayre's leaf monkeys (Trachypithecus phayrei crepusculus). We examined
      whether (a) the availability of Vitex (a plant known to contain phytochemicals)
      might be linked to seasonal fP levels, (b) fP levels were associated with female
      reproductive performance, and (c) reproductive performance might also be linked
      with energetic status (as measured by physical condition). We collected fecal
      samples (N=2077) from 10 adult females to analyze estrogen (fE) and progestin
      (fP) metabolites, behavioral data from 7 cycling females to determine
      receptivity, and monthly data on Vitex availability and female physical
      condition. Seasonally elevated fP levels were found in all females, with higher
      levels when Vitex leaves and fruits were abundant. During the period of high
      progestins, females had longer cycle lengths and follicular phases, while
      receptive periods did not change. Nevertheless, when ovulations occurred, females
      were more likely to conceive. On the other hand, conceptions were also more
      likely when physical condition was improving, suggesting that the effects of
      phytochemicals and energetic status on reproduction may be difficult to separate.
      Although our results support the predicted effects of Vitex on endocrine and
      reproductive function, future studies with detailed feeding data and chemical
      analyses of plants are needed to confirm this finding.

PMID- 20932838
TI  - Endocrine correlates of pregnancy in the ring-tailed lemur (Lemur catta):
      implications for the masculinization of daughters.
AB  - Female ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta) are Malagasy primates that are size
      monomorphic with males, socially dominate males, and exhibit a long, pendulous
      clitoris, channeled by the urethra. These masculine traits evoke certain
      attributes of female spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta) and draw attention to the
      potential role of androgens in lemur sexual differentiation. Here, hormonal
      correlates of prenatal development were assessed to explore the possibility that
      maternal androgens may shape the masculine morphological and behavioral features
      of developing female lemurs. Maternal serum 17alpha-hydroxyprogesterone,
      dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate (DHEA-S), ?4 androstenedione (androst-4-ene
      3,17,dione), testosterone, and 17beta-estradiol were charted throughout the 19
      pregnancies of 11 ring-tailed lemurs. As in spotted hyenas, lemur pregnancies
      were associated with an immediate increase in androgen concentrations
      (implicating early maternal derivation), followed by continued increases across
      stages of gestation. Pregnancies that produced singleton males, twin males, or
      mixed-sex twins were marked by greater androgen and estrogen concentrations than
      were pregnancies that produced singleton or twin females, especially in the third
      trimester, implicating the fetal testes in late-term steroid profiles.
      Concentrations of DHEA-S were mostly below detectable limits, suggesting a minor
      role for the adrenals in androgen biosynthesis. Androgen concentrations of
      pregnant lemurs bearing female fetuses, although less than those of pregnant
      hyenas, exceeded preconception and postpartum values and peaked in the third
      trimester. Although a maternal (and, on occasion, fraternal) source of androgen
      may exist for fetal lemurs, further research is required to confirm that these
      steroids would reach the developing female and contribute to her masculinization.

PMID- 20932839
TI  - Oxytocin receptors in the nucleus accumbens shell are involved in the
      consolidation of maternal memory in postpartum rats.
AB  - Female rats with maternal experience display a shorter onset of maternal
      responsiveness compared to those with no prior experience. This phenomenon called
      'maternal memory' is critically dependent on the nucleus accumbens (NA) shell. We
      hypothesized that activation of OT receptors in the NA shell facilitates maternal
      memory. In Experiment 1, postpartum female rats given 1 hour of maternal
      experience were infused following the experience with either a high or low dose
      of an OT antagonist into the NA shell and tested for maternal behavior after a 10
      day pup isolation period. Females receiving a high dose of the antagonist showed
      a significantly longer latency to exhibit full maternal behavior after the pup
      isolation period compared to females that received vehicle or a high dose of
      antagonist in a control region. In Experiment 2, postpartum female rats were
      infused with either a high or low dose of OT into the NA shell after a 15-minute
      maternal experience and tested for maternal behavior after a 10-day pup isolation
      period. There were no significant differences between the females infused with OT
      and females treated with a vehicle infused into the NA shell or with OT infused
      into the control region. One possible reason for a lack of facilitation is a
      floor effect, since females in the control groups displayed a rapid maternal
      response after the pup isolation period. These findings suggest that OT
      receptors, likely in combination with other neurotransmitters, in the NA shell
      play a role in the consolidation of maternal memory.

PMID- 20932840
TI  - Flow cytometric methods for prenatal and neonatal diagnosis.
AB  - Flow cytometry offers a promising alternative to the current methods of
      amniocentesis or chorionic villus sampling (CVS) for fetal cell sorting for
      prenatal diagnosis. While flow cytometric methods have been greatly improved to
      be more sensitive at detecting fetal cells within the maternal circulation, there
      are still several challenges that need to be overcome before application in
      prenatal diagnosis. However, flow cytometry is a powerful tool that can be used
      to enhance molecular testing and other diagnostic testing modalities in prenatal
      and neonatal diagnosis. It remains the gold standard to identify cellular
      immunodeficiencies and, for some immunological disorders with established
      biomarkers, flow cytometric assays can be used to make a definitive diagnosis. In
      this review, the advantages and disadvantages of using MACS and FACS analysis for
      fetal cell sorting are discussed. This review also includes an overview of the
      current flow cytometric assays and biomarkers that may be used for prenatal and
      neonatal diagnosis of common immunological and hematological abnormalities and
      the role of flow cytometry in treatment monitoring after bone marrow and stem
      cell transplantation.

PMID- 20932841
TI  - Effects of photoperiodically induced reproductive diapause and cold hardening on
      the cold tolerance of Drosophila montana.
AB  - Coping with seasonal and daily variation in environmental conditions requires
      that organisms are able to adjust their reproduction and stress tolerance
      according to environmental conditions. Females of Drosophila montana populations
      have adapted to survive over the dark and cold winters at high latitudes and
      altitudes by spending this season in photoperiodically controlled reproductive
      diapause and reproducing only in spring/summer. The present study showed that
      flies of a northern population of this species are quite tolerant of low
      temperatures and show high seasonal and short-term plasticity in this trait.
      Culturing the flies in short day length (nearly all females in reproductive
      diapause), as well as allowing the flies to get cold hardened before the cold
      treatment, increased the cold tolerance of both sexes both in chill coma recovery
      time test and in mortality assay. Chill coma recovery time test performed for the
      females of two additional D. montana populations cultured in a day length where
      about half of the females enter diapause, also showed that diapause can increase
      female cold tolerance even without a change in day length. Direct linkage between
      diapause and cold tolerance was found in only two strains representing a high
      altitude population of the species, but the phenomenon will certainly be worth of
      studying in northern and southern populations of the species with larger data
      sets.

PMID- 20932842
TI  - In vivo passages of heterologous Beauveria bassiana isolates improve conidial
      surface properties and pathogenicity to Nilaparvata lugens (Homoptera:
      Delphacidae).
AB  - In entomopathogenic hyphomycetes, desired candidates against the brown
      planthopper, Nilaparvata lugens (a sap-sucking rice pest in Asia), are lacking.
      In this study, 21 Beauveria bassiana isolates from heterologous host insects
      showed low pathogenicity to third-instar nymphs sprayed at the high concentration
      of ~ 1000 conidia/mm(2), causing only 2-23% mortalities. Of those, three isolates
      killed significantly more nymphs (up to 45-62%) after two in vivo passages but no
      more after further passage. Conidial hydrophobicity rates (H(r)), zeta potentials
      (P(z)), and subtilisin-like protease (Pr1) activities (A(p)) of these isolates
      showed the same trends in the three host passages (N: 0-3). In multivariate
      correlation, the variables N, H(r) and P(z) were found contributing 89% to the
      mortality variation (r(2)=0.89). Significant positive correlations were also
      found between H(r) and N (r(2)=0.64), P(z) and N (r(2)=0.52), A(p) and N
      (r(2)=0.51), H(r) and A(p) (r(2)=0.45), and P(z) and A(p) (r(2)=0.57),
      respectively. However, irregular changes of H(r) and P(z) occurred in four other
      isolates, whose pathogenicity to N. lugens was not enhanced by repeated host
      passages, resulting in no correlation between the variables. Our data indicate
      that the conidial surface properties H(r) and P(z) associated with cuticle
      adhesion reflect the heterologous host-induced adaptation and help to select
      fungal candidates against N. lugens from repeated in vivo passages.

PMID- 20932843
TI  - Interactions of two insect pathogens, Paranosema locustae (Protista:
      Microsporidia) and Metarhizium acridum (Fungi: Hypocreales), during a mixed
      infection of Locusta migratoria (Insecta: Orthoptera) nymphs.
AB  - Locusta migratoria nymphs were fed Paranosema locustae spores and/or surface
      treated with Metarhizium acridum 3 (assay 1), 6 (assay 2) or 9 days (assay 3)
      post microsporidia application (p.m.a.). These three dates corresponded to the
      key phases of P. locustae development: (a) mass proliferation, (b) transition to
      sporogenesis and (c) onset of spore maturation, respectively. As a result, locust
      mortality due to mixed treatment increased slower, equally and faster, as
      compared to mortality expected from the combination of two pathogens in assays 1
      3, respectively. However, a statistically significant difference in survival
      times was observed only in assay 3, indicating that only at the phase of spore
      maturation microsporidia drastically increase locust susceptibility to fungal
      infection. Analysis of perished nymphs showed that fungal treatment 3 days p.m.a.
      impeded development of microsporidia. Fungal sporulation on locust cadavers was
      not affected by co-occurring microsporidiosis.

PMID- 20932844
TI  - The KdpD/KdpE two-component system of Photorhabdus asymbiotica promotes bacterial
      survival within M. sexta hemocytes.
AB  - Many bacteria persist within phagocytes, deploying complex sets of tightly
      regulated virulence factors to manipulate and survive within host cells. So far,
      no single factor has been identified that is sufficient to allow intracellular
      persistence of an otherwise non-pathogenic bacterium. Here we report that the two
      component KdpD/KdpE sensor kinase/response regulator of the insect and human
      pathogen Photorhabdus asymbiotica (Pa) is sufficient to allow a harmless
      laboratory strain of E. coli to resist phagocytic killing and persist within
      insect hemocytes, ultimately killing the insect. Screening of a cosmid library of
      Pa in E. coli by injection into the moth Manduca sexta, previously identified
      three overlapping clones which caused the insect to cease feeding and
      subsequently die. Transposon mutagenesis revealed a cosmid encoded kdp high
      affinity potassium pump regulon was responsible for this phenotype. Gentamycin
      protection assays and confocal microscopy revealed the cosmid clones were
      persisting inside insect hemocytes far longer than control bacteria. Cloning and
      expression of PakdpD/kdpE alone into E. coli recapitulated the phenotype.
      Bioassay results and transcriptional analysis of various E. coli kdp mutants
      harboring the Pa kdp genes confirmed that Pa KdpD/KdpE was able to induce the E.
      coli kdp pump structural genes in response to exposure to insect hemocytes but
      not blood plasma alone. The finding that Pa KdpD/KdpE can facilitate resistance
      of E. coli to phagocytic killing suggests a central role for potassium in this
      process, supporting previous work implicating potassium sensing in virulence of
      other bacteria and also in the normal process of protease killing of engulfed
      bacteria by neutrophils.

PMID- 20932845
TI  - Substrate-specific kinetics of Dicer-catalyzed RNA processing.
AB  - The specialized ribonuclease Dicer plays a central role in eukaryotic gene
      expression by producing small regulatory RNAs-microRNAs (miRNAs) and short
      interfering RNAs (siRNAs)-from larger double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) substrates.
      Although Dicer will cleave both imperfectly base-paired hairpin structures (pre
      miRNAs) and perfect duplexes (pre-siRNAs) in vitro, it has not been clear whether
      these are mechanistically equivalent substrates and how dsRNA binding proteins
      such as trans-activation response (TAR) RNA binding protein (TRBP) influence
      substrate selection and RNA processing efficiency. We show here that human Dicer
      is much faster at processing a pre-miRNA substrate compared to a pre-siRNA
      substrate under both single and multiple turnover conditions. Maximal cleavage
      rates (V(max)) calculated by Michaelis-Menten analysis differed by more than 100
      fold under multiple turnover conditions. TRBP was found to enhance dicing of both
      substrates to similar extents, and this stimulation required the two N-terminal
      dsRNA binding domains of TRBP. These results demonstrate that multiple factors
      influence dicing kinetics. While TRBP stimulates dicing by enhancing the
      stability of Dicer-substrate complexes, Dicer itself generates product RNAs at
      rates determined at least in part by the structural properties of the substrate.

PMID- 20932846
TI  - The vertical distribution of phytoplankton in stratified water columns.
AB  - What determines the vertical distribution of phytoplankton in different aquatic
      environments remains an open question. To address this question, we develop a
      model to explore how phytoplankton respond through growth and movement to
      opposing resource gradients and different mixing conditions. We assume
      stratification creates a well-mixed surface layer on top of a poorly mixed deep
      layer and nutrients are supplied from multiple depth-dependent sources.
      Intraspecific competition leads to a unique strategic equilibrium for
      phytoplankton, which allows us to classify the distinct vertical distributions
      that can exist. Biomass can occur as a benthic layer (BL), a deep chlorophyll
      maximum (DCM), or in the mixed layer (ML), or as a combination of BL+ML or
      DCM+ML. The ML biomass can be limited by nutrients, light, or both. We predict
      how the vertical distribution, relative resource limitation, and biomass of
      phytoplankton will change across environmental gradients. We parameterized our
      model to represent potentially light and phosphorus limited freshwater lakes, but
      the model is applicable to a broad range of vertically stratified systems.
      Increasing nutrient input from the sediments or to the mixed layer increases
      light limitation, shifts phytoplankton towards the surface, and increases total
      biomass. Increasing background light attenuation increases light limitation,
      shifts the phytoplankton towards the surface, and generally decreases total
      biomass. Increasing mixed layer depth increases, decreases, or has no effect on
      light limitation and total biomass. Our model is able to replicate the diverse
      vertical distributions observed in nature and explain what underlying mechanisms
      drive these distributions.

PMID- 20932847
TI  - Strengthening strong reciprocity.

PMID- 20932848
TI  - Spatiotemporally modulated Vestigial gradient by Wingless signaling adaptively
      regulates cell division for precise wing size control.
AB  - In animal development, the growth of a tissue or organ is timely arrested when it
      reaches the stereotyped correct size. How this is robustly controlled remains
      poorly understood. The prevalent viewpoint, which is that morphogen gradients,
      due to their organizing roles in development, are directly responsible for growth
      arrest, cannot explain a number of observations. Recent findings from studies of
      the Drosophila wing have revealed that the interpretation of the Wingless
      gradient requires signaling-induced self-inhibition and that cell proliferation
      is controlled by graded vestigial expression. These findings highlight a growth
      control mechanism that involves Wingless regulated vestigial expression, but a
      question is whether they can quantitatively explain the observed precision and
      robustness of wing size control. Quantitative and systematic investigation into
      Wingless signaling using a mathematical model has elucidated two points. First,
      negative regulation of the Vestigial gradient by Wingless signaling makes
      vestigial expression precise and robust. Second, weak Wingless signaling in a
      primarily small wing pouch causes a short and steep Vestigial gradient, which
      stimulates more cell divisions and leads to a significant expansion of the wing
      pouch; however, strong Wingless signaling in a primarily large wing pouch causes
      a long and smooth Vestigial gradient, which stimulates fewer cell divisions and
      results in a slight expansion of the wing pouch. These results substantially
      decipher an inherent mechanism of tissue and organ size control. Our model
      explains, and is supported by, a number of experimental observations.

PMID- 20932849
TI  - The proteinase/proteinase-activated receptor-2/transient receptor potential
      vanilloid-1 cascade impacts pancreatic pain in mice.
AB  - AIMS: Proteinase-activated receptor-2 (PAR2) and transient receptor potential
      vanilloid-1 (TRPV1) are co-localized in the primary afferents, and the trans
      activation of TRPV1 by PAR2 activation is involved in processing of somatic pain.
      Given evidence for contribution of PAR2 to pancreatic pain, the present study
      aimed at clarifying the involvement of TRPV1 in processing of pancreatic pain by
      the proteinase/PAR2 pathway in mice. MAIN METHODS: Acute pancreatitis was created
      by repeated administration of cerulein in conscious mice, and the referred
      allodynia/hyperalgesia was assessed using von Frey filaments. Injection of PAR2
      agonists into the pancreatic duct was achieved in anesthetized mice, and
      expression of Fos in the spinal cord was determined by immunohistochemistry. KEY
      FINDINGS: The established referred allodynia/hyperalgesia following cerulein
      treatment was abolished by post-treatment with nafamostat mesilate, a proteinase
      inhibitor, and with capsazepine, a TRPV1 antagonist, in mice. Injection of
      trypsin, an endogenous PAR2 agonist, or SLIGRL-NH(2), a PAR2-activating peptide,
      into the pancreatic duct caused expression of Fos protein in the spinal
      superficial layers at T8-T10 levels in the mice. The spinal Fos expression caused
      by trypsin and by SLIGRL-NH(2) was partially blocked by capsazepine, the former
      effect abolished by nafamostat mesilate. SIGNIFICANCE: Our data thus suggest that
      the proteinase/PAR2/TRPV1 cascade might impact pancreatic pain, in addition to
      somatic pain, and play a role in the maintenance of pancreatitis-related pain in
      mice.

PMID- 20932850
TI  - 7-ketocholesteryl-9-carboxynonanoate induced nuclear factor-kappa B activation in
      J774A.1 macrophages.
AB  - AIMS: 7-Ketocholesteryl-9-carboxynonanoate (oxLig-1), a lipid moiety of oxidized
      low-density lipoprotein (oxLDL), has been reported to be a crucial ligand of
      beta2-glycoprotein I (beta(2)-GPI), and plays a potential role in the development
      of atherosclerosis (AS), however, the role of the sole oxLig-1 in the development
      of AS remains unclear. MAIN METHODS: Expression and phosphorylation levels of
      several proteins, such as nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB), protein kinase C
      (PKC), IkappaBalpha and inter-cellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1) were
      determined by Western blot; nuclear localization of NF-kappaB was studied by
      immunocytochemistry; NF-kappaB activation was assayed by electrophoretic mobility
      shift assay (EMSA); and expressions of genes associated with AS process were
      investigated by Mouse Atherosclerosis RT(2) Profiler PCR Array assay. KEY
      FINDINGS: The present work indicated that oxLig-1 induced IkappaBalpha
      phosphorylation and results in the nuclear translocation of NF-kappaB in J774A.1
      macrophages. Moreover, oxLig-1-induced NF-kappaB DNA binding activity was
      detected by EMSA. Indeed, oxLig-1 led to the activation of PKC prior to
      activating NF-kappaB. The treatment of oxLig-1 in J774A.1 macrophages up
      regulates the expression of NF-kappaB target genes including ICAM-1.
      SIGNIFICANCE: OxLig-1 on the oxLDL plays an important role in AS process, as
      evidenced by the NF-kappaB activation and up-regulation of genes involved in AS
      development in oxLig-1 challenged J774A.1 macrophages.

PMID- 20932851
TI  - Testosterone is essential for cocaine sensitization in male rats.
AB  - Most studies agree that males and females respond differently to drugs of abuse.
      In females, estradiol enhances the behavioral response to cocaine. However,
      studies on the role of testosterone and the locomotor response to
      psychostimulants in the male rat are inconclusive. Our study was designed to
      determine the behavioral effects of testosterone on the development and
      persistence of cocaine sensitization in male rats. We tested different doses of
      cocaine (10, 15 and 30mg/kg) to determine which dose induced locomotor
      sensitization in intact (INT) and gonadectomized (GDX) animals. We also
      investigated if GDX males with testosterone replacement (GDX-T) showed a similar
      locomotor response to cocaine as INT males. Our data showed that gonadectomy
      enhanced the locomotor response to a single cocaine injection. This effect was
      not observed in gonadectomized rats that received testosterone replacement.
      However, GDX rats did not show a progressive increase in their locomotor response
      to repeated cocaine administration (15 and 30mg/kg) (sensitization) as did INT
      and GDX-T animals. It is possible that in GDX males, the initial high locomotor
      response to cocaine creates a ceiling effect that limits further increase in
      cocaine-induced hyperactivity. These findings indicate that testosterone not only
      modulates the behavioral response to a single and to repeated cocaine injections,
      but is also essential for male rats to become sensitized to cocaine.

PMID- 20932852
TI  - Chronic stress, energy balance and adiposity in female rats.
AB  - Stress preferentially increases the consumption of high fat foods in women,
      suggesting the interaction of these two factors may disproportionately predispose
      women toward excess weight gain. In the present study, female rats were exposed
      to a chronic high fat or chow diet and were exposed to 4weeks of chronic variable
      stress (CVS) or served as home cage controls. Control females exposed to a high
      fat diet displayed many symptoms of the metabolic syndrome including increased
      body weight gain, total and visceral adiposity and insulin and leptin
      concentrations relative to all groups. However, CVS-high fat, CVS chow and
      control chow groups had similar body weight gain and caloric efficiency. This
      finding suggests that CVS increases energy expenditure much more in females
      exposed to a high fat diet relative to those fed a standard chow diet. The CVS
      high fat group had increased adiposity and increased circulating leptin and
      insulin concentrations, despite the fact that their body weight did not differ
      from the controls. These results underscore the importance of assessing the
      degree of adiposity, rather than body weight alone, as an index of overall
      metabolic health. Overall, the data indicate that in female rats, chronic stress
      prevents high fat diet related increases in body weight, but does not prevent
      high fat diet induced increases in adiposity when compared to chow-fed females.

PMID- 20932853
TI  - Effects of undernourishment on the hypothalamic orexinergic system.
AB  - The present study examined the effects of a severely restricted diet during the
      pre- and postnatal periods with later nutritional rehabilitation on orexin
      hypothalamic neurons in male and female Wistar rats. Immunocytochemistry was used
      to reveal orexin-immunoreactive (orexin-ir) cells in the ventromedial
      hypothalamus (VMH), dorsomedial hypothalamus (DMH), lateral hypothalamic area
      (LH) and the perifornical nucleus (PF). Dietary restriction decreased the number
      of orexin-ir cells in the LH, whereas DMH or PF orexin-ir populations were not
      affected in either male or female rats. Nutritional rehabilitation resulted in a
      differential recovery that depended on the period during which rehabilitation
      occurred and on the sex of the animal. In summary, our study suggests that the
      hypothalamic nuclei implicated in eating behavior present a differential
      vulnerability to adverse environmental conditions during development.
      Specifically, among the studied nuclei only the LH orexin-ir cells were sensitive
      to severe food deprivation during development in male and female rats. These
      results suggest that starvation interferes with developmental events that occur
      during CNS sexual differentiation.

PMID- 20932854
TI  - Peptidomic dissection of the skin secretion of Phasmahyla jandaia (Bokermann and
      Sazima, 1978) (Anura, Hylidae, Phyllomedusinae).
AB  - The systematic investigation of the peptidic composition of the skin secretion of
      Phasmahyla jandaia, a phyllomedusine anuran endemic to the southern region of the
      Espinhaco range in Brazil, is herein reported. By means of de novo interpretation
      of tandem mass spectrometric data, Edman N-terminal sequencing and similarity
      searches, 57 peptides - including phylloseptins, dermaseptins stricto sensu,
      dermatoxins, hyposins, tryptophyllins, caerulein-related, bradykinin-related,
      bradykinin potentiating, tyrosine-rich, and opioid peptides - were sequenced.
      Moreover, five peptide families without significant similarity to other known
      molecules were verified. Differently from most Phyllomedusinae genera, the
      molecular diversity in the skin of representatives of Phasmahyla remained
      unprospected until now. Therefore, besides disclosing novel natural variants of
      number of bioactive peptides, the present study contributes to the understanding
      of the evolution of biochemical characters of the phyllomedusines.

PMID- 20932855
TI  - Palytoxin action on the Na(+),K(+)-ATPase and the disruption of ion equilibria in
      biological systems.
AB  - Palytoxin-group toxins (PlTX) exert their potent biological activity by altering
      mechanisms of ion homeostasis in excitable and non-excitable tissues. This review
      will describe major aspects that led to the relatively early identification of
      the Na(+),K(+)-ATPase as the molecular target and receptor of the toxin in
      sensitive systems. The importance of this pump in the normal functioning of
      animal cells has driven extensive investigative efforts. The recognized molecular
      mechanism of action of PlTX involves its binding to the extracellular portion of
      alpha subunit of this plasma membrane protein, which converts an enzyme carrying
      ions against their concentration gradients at the expense of chemical energy
      (ATP) into a non-selective cation channel, allowing passive flow of ions
      following their concentration gradients. More recent findings have indicated that
      PlTX would interfere with the normal strict coupling between inner and outer
      gates of the pump controlling the ion access to the Na(+),K(+)-ATPase, allowing
      the gates to be simultaneously open. The ability of PlTX to make internal
      portions of the Na(+),K(+)-ATPase accessible to relatively large molecules has
      been exploited to characterize the structure-function relationship of the pump,
      leading to a better understanding of its ion translocation pathway. Thus, forty
      years from the isolation of this potent marine biotoxin, a considerable
      understanding of its mode of action and of its potential as a research tool have
      been achieved and are the basis for promising future advancement in the
      characterization of biological systems and their alteration by PlTX.

PMID- 20932856
TI  - Decision-theoretic models of visual perception and action.
AB  - Statistical decision theory (SDT) and Bayesian decision theory (BDT) are closely
      related mathematical frameworks used to model ideal performance in a wide range
      of visual and motor tasks. Their elements (gain function, likelihood, prior) are
      readily interpretable in terms of information available to the observer. We
      briefly describe SDT and BDT and then review recent work employing them as models
      of biological perception or action. We emphasize work that employs gain functions
      and priors as independent or dependent variables. At one extreme, Bayesian
      decision theory allows the experimenter to compute ideal performance in specific
      tasks and compare human performance to ideal (Geisler, 1989). No claim is made
      that visual processing is in any sense "Bayesian". At the other extreme,
      researchers have proposed Bayesian decision theory as a process model of
      "perception as Bayesian inference" (Knill & Richards, 1996). We end by discussing
      how possible ideal models are related to imperfect, actual observers and how the
      "Bayesian hypothesis" can be tested experimentally.

PMID- 20932858
TI  - Intraplantar injection of bergamot essential oil induces peripheral
      antinociception mediated by opioid mechanism.
AB  - This study investigated the effect of bergamot essential oil (BEO) containing
      linalool and linalyl acetate as major volatile components in the capsaicin test.
      The intraplantar injection of capsaicin (1.6 MUg) produced a short-lived
      licking/biting response toward the injected paw. The nociceptive behavioral
      response evoked by capsaicin was inhibited dose-dependently by intraplantar
      injection of BEO. Both linalool and linalyl acetate, injected into the hindpaw,
      showed a significant reduction of nociceptive response, which was much more
      potent than BEO. Intraperitoneal (i.p.) and intraplantar pretreatment with
      naloxone hydrochloride, an opioid receptor antagonist, significantly reversed BEO
      and linalool-induced antinociception. Pretreatment with naloxone methiodide, a
      peripherally acting MU-opioid receptor preferring antagonist, resulted in a
      significant antagonizing effect on antinociception induced by BEO and linalool.
      Antinociception induced by i.p. or intrathecal morphine was enhanced by the
      combined injection of BEO or linalool. The enhanced effect of combination of BEO
      or linalool with morphine was antagonized by pretreatment with naloxone
      hydrochloride. Our results provide evidence for the involvement of peripheral
      opioids, in the antinociception induced by BEO and linalool. Combined
      administration of BEO or linalool acting at the peripheral site, and morphine may
      be a promising approach in the treatment of clinical pain.

PMID- 20932859
TI  - Degree of crosslinking of collagen at interfaces: adhesion and shear rheological
      indicators.
AB  - Work of adhesion (DeltaW) and surface rheology at solid/air and solution/air
      interface have been used as indicators to study the stabilization of collagen by
      different crosslinking agents like basic chromium sulfate (BCS), tannic acid,
      catechin and formaldehyde. The results show that an increase in rate of DeltaW
      would promote adsorption while a decrease leads to hindered adsorption. Shear
      rheological studies on collagen demonstrate an increase in both shear viscosity
      and elasticity with time while for collagen with polyphenols like catechin and
      tannic acid there is an unusual breakdown of these values. A correlation between
      the rheological properties and the work of adhesion suggests that the time frame
      in which the viscoelastic behavior is initiated for collagen with different
      crosslinking agents determines the final macroscopic property of the protein. The
      study attempts to quantify the degree of crosslinking of collagen through the
      dynamics and strength of the water molecules in the assembly of hydrated protein
      and the crosslinking agents.

PMID- 20932860
TI  - Towards a comprehensive human cell-surface immunome database.
AB  - The human immune system is a complex machinery involving numerous proteins.
      Proteins located at the cell surface of immune cells are of particular relevance
      due not only to their participation in the network of interactions that regulate
      the immune response but also to their potential as excellent targets for
      diagnostic and therapeutic interventions. The main objective of this project is
      to generate a comprehensive database of the human cell-surface proteins expressed
      in immune cells and lymphoid tissues. For this purpose, we have integrated
      information collected from primary literature, databases and electronic
      information sources. This manually curated database includes the gene symbol and
      name of the protein, describes the family that each protein belongs to, indicates
      their type of extracellular domains, and compiles data regarding their
      expression. Thus far we have identified and catalogued 1015 genes and proteins.
      The largest families in this compendium are the Ig superfamily with 195 members
      (~20%) and the G-protein coupled receptor superfamily with 147 members (~14%).
      Other abundant families include the C-type lectin and the cytokine receptor
      families with 43 and 42 members respectively (4%). About 25% of the proteins
      belong to minor families and approximately 4% lack any clear family assignment.
      More than 60% of the genes encode proteins without a CD number. This database
      will serve to boost the production of new monoclonal antibodies and to stimulate
      studies aimed at characterizing the function of these proteins in the immune
      system as well as identifying potential new biomarkers and therapeutic targets.

PMID- 20932857
TI  - New aspects of melanocortin signaling: a role for PRCP in alpha-MSH degradation.
AB  - The role of the central melanocortin system in the regulation of energy
      metabolism has received much attention during the past decade since gene
      mutations of key components in melanocortin signaling cause monogenic forms of
      obesity in animals and humans. In the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus the
      prohormone proopiomelanocortin (POMC) is posttranslationally cleaved to produce
      alpha-melanocyte stimulating hormone (alpha-MSH), a peptide with anorexigenic
      effects upon activation of the melanocortin receptors (MCRs). alpha-MSH undergoes
      extensive post-translational processing and its in vivo activity is short lived
      due to rapid degradation. The enzymatic process that controls alpha-MSH
      inactivation is incompletely understood. Recent evidence suggests that prolyl
      carboxypeptidase (PRCP) is an enzyme responsible for alpha-MSH degradation. As
      for many key melanocortin peptides, gene mutation of PRCP causes a change in the
      metabolic phenotype of rodents. This review summarizes the current knowledge on
      the melanocortin system with particular focus on PRCP, a newly discovered
      component of the melanocortin system.

PMID- 20932861
TI  - Identification of cytomegalovirus (CMV)pp65 antigen-specific human monoclonal
      antibodies using single B cell-based antibody gene cloning from melanoma
      patients.
AB  - Recently, because of highly advanced protein engineering technology, beyond the
      chimeric antibody, highly humanized and fully human antibody development is
      becoming crucial in the medical field. In the last decade, investigational
      approaches using clinical samples for fully human antibody production have been
      performed, but there are still problems with efficiency and accuracy, which
      should be solved. In the present study, based on novel IgG antibody-measuring
      ELISA and antibody gene copy number-quantitative PCR, a human single B cell RT
      PCR-mediated IgG monoclonal antibody (mAb) gene cloning method was established,
      and CMVpp65-specific human mAbs were successfully identified. Quantitative PCR
      for the human IgG mRNA copy number per cell demonstrated that the detection range
      was 10-250copies/cell. CMVpp65(+)surfaceIgG(+) B cells were collected from
      melanoma patients who showed high titers of serum anti-CMVpp65 IgG antibody. RT
      PCR was successful in 64% (IGH) and 84% (beta-actin) of 88 single B cells.
      Finally, both IGH and IGL gene amplifications in the same cell were successful in
      21 single cells, and 18 IgG antibody genes specific for CMVpp65 antigen were
      cloned. Four of 13 recombinant human single-chain fragment variable (scFv)
      antibodies showed strong responses to full-length CMVpp65 protein. These results
      suggested that the current fully human mAb production procedure through antibody
      titer screening by ELISA, single B cell RT-PCR-based antibody gene cloning, and
      the making of scFv recombinant antibody is an efficient method of therapeutic
      antibody development.

PMID- 20932862
TI  - Modeling Sjogren's syndrome with Id3 conditional knockout mice.
AB  - The Id3 gene has been shown to play important roles in the development and
      function of broad tissue types including B and T cells. Id3 deficient mice
      develop autoimmune disease similar to human Sjogren's syndrome. Both B and T
      lymphocytes have been implicated to contribute to the disease phenotype in this
      disease model. In order to gain a better understanding of individual cell types
      in this disease model, we generated an Id3 conditional allele. An LckCre
      transgene was used to induce Id3 deletion in developing T cells. We showed that
      the Id3 gene was efficiently disrupted in early thymocyte development prior to T
      cell receptor (TCR)-mediated positive selection. Consequently, thymocyte
      maturation was impaired in the conditional knockout mice. These mice developed
      exocrinopathy starting at two months of age and subsequently exhibited high
      incidence of lymphocyte infiltration to salivary glands between eight and 12
      months of age. This progressive feature of disease development is very similar to
      those observed in Id3 germline knockout mice. This study establishes a new model
      for investigating the relationship between T cell development and autoimmune
      disease. Our observation provides an experimental case that autoimmune disease
      may be induced by acquired mutation in developing T cells.

PMID- 20932863
TI  - DNA biosensor for detection of Neisseria gonorrhoeae causing sexually transmitted
      disease.
AB  - A sequence-specific electrochemical sexually transmitted disease (STD) sensor
      based on self-assembled monolayer of thiolated DNA probe specific to target opa
      gene for detection of Gonorrhoea, a sexually transmitted disease has been
      fabricated. 6-Mercapto-1-hexanol (MCH) has been used as a blocking agent to
      facilitate oligos "stand" up at the surface, a configuration favoring subsequent
      DNA hybridization and to repel non-specific adsorption of undesired DNA. The
      results of differential pulse voltammetric studies of this STD sensor reveal low
      detection limit (1.0 * 10(-18)M) and a wide dynamic range (from 1.0 * 10(-6)M to
      0.5 * 10(-18)M) arising due to the stable hybridization using methylene blue as
      an electro-active DNA hybridization indicator. The experimental results with
      genomic DNA, clinical patient sample of Neisseria gonorrhoeae, culture of non-N.
      gonorrhoeae Neisseria species (NgNS) and gram negative bacteria indicate that the
      fabricated sensor is specific to this STD.

PMID- 20932864
TI  - beta-Glucosidase catalyzed synthesis of octyl-beta-D-glucopyranoside using whole
      cells of Pichia etchellsii in micro aqueous media.
AB  - Octyl-beta-D-glucopyranoside was synthesized by transglucosylation between p
      nitrophenyl beta-D-glucopyranoside (pNPG) and octanol as an acceptor using whole
      cells of thermo tolerant yeast Pichia etchellsii displaying cell wall bound beta
      glucosidase. Effect of several parameters such as glucosyl donor concentration,
      enzyme units and initial water activity was studied to optimize product yield. An
      initial water activity interval of 0.33-0.64 was favorable and increase in total
      enzyme units had marginal effect on conversion yield. An empirical model was
      developed to describe the relationship between various parameters and octyl
      glucoside yield. These factors were combined in a batch replacement strategy
      whereby octyl-beta-D-glucopyranoside was synthesized in 4h to a concentration of
      30 mM (9.25 mg/ml) with a conversion yield of nearly 70% with pNPG as a glucosyl
      donor. Quantitative analysis was done by a highly reproducible reverse-phase high
      performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) method and detection was achieved
      using refractive index detector. The structure of the product was confirmed by
      13C and 1H NMR spectroscopy. Additional products like octyl diglucoside were also
      formed, the structure of which was confirmed by mass spectrometry.

PMID- 20932865
TI  - Phage display technology for stem cell delivery and systemic therapy.
AB  - Advances in the technology for phage display in vivo have set the stage for a new
      ligand-directed pharmacology with broad implications for both treatment and
      molecular imaging of patients, and for the elucidation of molecular mechanisms of
      action, particularly in carcinogenesis. This technology identifies specific
      molecular complexes, mainly small peptide and gene-based therapeutic and imaging
      agents, effective in experimental animals and patients. The unbiased
      identification of molecular targets on the surfaces of blood vessels and
      parenchymal cells in preselected specific organs and tissues raises the prospect
      of an increased understanding of animal and human cellular and vascular
      proteomics. In this review, we focus on the delivery of phage-based agents via
      stem and progenitor cells, important delivery vehicles contributing to the
      growing impact of phage display on modern medicine.

PMID- 20932866
TI  - Skin peptide and cDNA profiling of Australian anurans: genus and species
      identification and evolutionary trends.
AB  - Host defense peptides of 35 species of Australian frogs from the hylids Cyclorana
      and Litoria, and the myobatrachids Crinia, Limnodynastes and Uperoleia have been
      identified. The biological activities of the majority of these peptides have been
      determined and include hormones, neuropeptides, opioids, immunomodulators,
      membrane active peptides [including antimicrobial, anticancer, antiviral
      (enveloped viruses like HIV and Herpes) and antifungal peptides], neuronal nitric
      oxide synthase inhibitors, pheromones and individual peptides with other specific
      activities. The host defense peptide skin profile can be diagnostic at both the
      species and higher taxonomic levels; for example, species of Crinia, Litoria and
      Uperoleia each produce quite different types of peptides. Species of Cyclorana
      and Limnodynastes are more difficult to characterize by skin peptides alone:
      species of both genera produce similar peptides with no apparent activity. The
      skin peptide profiles of frogs from the genera Crinia, Litoria and Uperoleia may
      be used together with morphological and cognate methods, to differentiate between
      sub-species and even different population clusters of the same species.
      Nucleotide sequencing of cDNAs of precursors (pre-pro peptides) of bioactive
      peptides from the skin glands of various species of the genus Litoria show that
      the majority of these peptides originated from a single ancestor gene before the
      break away of Australia from Gondwana. The exceptions are the caerulein
      neuropeptides {e.g. caerulein [pEQDY(SO(3)H)TGWMDF(NH(2))]} which have a
      different origin to that of other Litoria peptides. Disulfide containing peptides
      from skin glands of species of Crinia show a different evolutionary route to
      peptides from species of Litoria.

PMID- 20932867
TI  - Endomorphin-1 prevents lipid accumulation via CD36 down-regulation and modulates
      cytokines release from human lipid-laden macrophages.
AB  - CD36 is a scavenger receptor known to play a critical role in the development of
      atherosclerosis by mediating the uptake of oxidized low-density lipoproteins
      (oxLDL) by macrophages, thus leading to foam cell formation. It is now generally
      recognized that the immune system has a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of
      atherosclerosis, whose progression is determined by ongoing inflammatory
      reactions. Recently, several studies pointed out that opioid peptides exert anti
      inflammatory activities. Therefore the aim of the present study was to evaluate a
      possible endomorphin-1 (EM-1) immunomodulatory activity on human foam cells. Our
      results showed that EM-1 reduced Nile Red-stained lipid droplets content,
      decreased the expression of CD36 receptor and modulated tumor necrosis factor
      alpha (TNF-alpha) and interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) release from lipid-laden
      macrophages. Furthermore, Naloxone, an opioid receptors antagonist, reverted the
      anti-atherogenic and anti-inflammatory observed effects of EM-1. These data
      demonstrated, for the first time, an unprecedented ability of EM-1 to act as a
      novel modulator for macrophage-to-foam cell transformation, and for inflammatory
      cytokines profile, suggesting possible novel endomorphin-based anti
      atherosclerotic approaches for the prevention and treatment of atherosclerosis.

PMID- 20932868
TI  - Investigation of endogenous soybean food allergens by using a 2-dimensional gel
      electrophoresis approach.
AB  - As part of the safety assessment of genetically modified (GM) soybean, 2
      dimensional gel electrophoresis analyses were performed with the isoxaflutole and
      glyphosate tolerant soybean FG72, its non-GM near-isogenic counterpart (Jack) and
      three commercial non-GM soybean lines. The objective was to compare the known
      endogenous human food allergens in seeds in the five different soybean lines in
      order to evaluate any potential unintended effect(s) of the genetic modification.
      In total, 37 protein spots representing five well known soybean food allergen
      groups were quantified in each genotype. Qualitatively, all the allergenic
      proteins were detected in the different genetic backgrounds. Quantitatively,
      among 37 protein spots, the levels of accumulation of three allergens were
      slightly lower in the GM soybean than in the non-GM counterparts. Specifically,
      while the levels of two of these three allergens fell within the normal range of
      variation observed in the four non-GM varieties, the level of the third allergen
      was slightly below the normal range. Overall, there was no significant increase
      in the level of allergens in FG72 soybean seeds. Therefore, the FG72 soybean can
      be considered as safe as its non-GM counterpart with regards to endogenous
      allergenicity. Additional research is needed to evaluate the biological
      variability in the levels of endogenous soybean allergens and the correlation
      between level of allergens and allergenic potential in order to improve the
      interpretation of these data in the safety assessment of GM soybean context.

PMID- 20932869
TI  - The evaluation of drug rechallenge: the casopitant Phase III program.
AB  - Drug rechallenge (or reinitiation), following an event of drug-induced liver
      injury, is associated with 13% mortality in prospective series. Rechallenge
      generally results in much more rapid injury than the initial liver event. The
      neurokinin-1 antagonist casopitant or its placebo was administered cyclically
      with ondansetron and dexamethasone in two randomized chemotherapy-induced nausea
      and vomiting clinical trials in nearly 3000 subjects. Grade 3 ALT elevations were
      observed in up to 2% of subjects receiving casopitant or placebo treatment.
      Similar rates of positive rechallenge were observed in the casopitant 8/29 (28%)
      and placebo groups 2/8 (25%), with no Grade 4 ALT elevations, hypersensitivity or
      liver-related serious adverse events. Publishing available rechallenge data
      (positive and negative) will advance our clinical understanding. Rechallenge
      should only be considered when the potential drug benefit exceeds the risk.

PMID- 20932870
TI  - Autoantibodies reacting with vasopressin and oxytocin in relation to cortisol
      secretion in mild and moderate depression.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Abnormal vasopressin (VP) and oxytocin (OT) signaling may contribute
      to the altered activity of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis in major
      depression; however, the underlying mechanisms remain uncertain. This study
      characterized plasma levels and affinities of OT- and VP-reactive autoantibodies
      (autoAbs) in relation to disease severity and plasma cortisol response to
      physical exercise in patients with mild and moderate depression and healthy
      controls. METHODS: Physical exercise was used to elicit plasma cortisol response
      in 23 male patients with depression and 20 healthy controls and plasma samples
      were obtained before and after the exercise. Just before the exercise, patients
      and controls were evaluated by the Montgomery and Asberg Depression Rating Scale
      (MADRS) and divided according to depression severity (14 mild and 9 moderate).
      Plasma levels of total and free VP- and OT-reactive IgG, IgA and IgM autoAbs were
      measured by ELISA and affinity of IgG and IgM autoAbs were measured by plasmon
      resonance technique at baseline before the exercise and analyzed with relation to
      the MADRS and cortisol response. Immunohistochemistry was used to evaluate
      autoAbs binding to the rat hypothalamus. RESULTS: Plasma levels of OT- and VP
      reactive total IgG autoAbs were lower in patients with moderate depression vs.
      controls and patients with mild depression. Plasma levels of both OT- and VP-free
      IgG autoAbs were negatively correlated with MADRS scores. Affinity values of IgG
      and IgM autoAbs for both OT and VP displayed 100 fold variability among patients
      or controls but no significant group differences were found. Patients with
      moderate depression displayed blunted response of cortisol secretion to physical
      exercise. Baseline levels of VP total IgG and IgM autoAbs correlated negatively
      and VP-free IgG autoAbs correlated positively with plasma cortisol after physical
      exercise. Immunostaining of magnocellular hypothalamic neurons of the supraoptic
      and paraventricular nuclei by plasma IgG was present in 35% of the depression and
      in 14% of the controls groups, but this staining was not abolished by plasma
      preabsorption with OT or VP peptides. CONCLUSION: These data show that changes of
      levels but not affinity of OT- and VP-reactive autoAbs can be associated with the
      altered mood in subjects with moderate depression and that levels of VP-reactive
      autoAbs are associated with cortisol secretion.

PMID- 20932871
TI  - Preventive effect of Coptis chinensis and berberine on intestinal injury in rats
      challenged with lipopolysaccharides.
AB  - Coptis chinensis has been used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat
      inflammatory symptoms. Berberine is the main alkaloid compound of C. chinensis.
      This study utilized a typical lipopolysaccharide (LPS) injured model to
      investigate the effects of C. chinensis aqueous extract (CCAE) and berberine
      (major active ingredient in CCAE) in the gut-derived sepsis. In rats,
      pretreatment with different doses of berberine (30 or 120 mg/kg bw, i.g.; BBR30
      or BBR120) or CCAE (containing 9.9% berberine; 300 mg/kg bw, i.g.; CCAE300) prior
      to the administration of LPS (20 mg/kg bw, i.p.) significantly suppressed the
      increased tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta)
      and nitrite oxide (NO) in plasma as well as the activation of toll-like receptor
      4 (TLR4) and nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) in ileum. In addition, CCAE300 and
      BBR30 markedly elevated the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and
      glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px); significantly prevented the increased
      malondialdehyde (MDA), NO and villi injury in ileum compared with the negative
      control. Collectively, CCAE300 and BBR30 reduced the LPS-induced intestinal
      damage by elevating the activities of SOD and GSH-Px and by suppressing the
      activation of TLR4 and NF-kappaB in ileum. These results indicate that CCAE and
      berberine are promising agents for preventing sepsis and its complications.

PMID- 20932872
TI  - Ergothioneine protects against neuronal injury induced by cisplatin both in vitro
      and in vivo.
AB  - The neuroprotective effects of ergothioneine (EGT) against cisplatin toxicity
      were investigated both in vitro and in vivo. For in vitro study, two types of
      neuronal cells, primary cortical neuron (PCN) cells and rat pheochromocytoma
      (PC12) cells, were incubated with EGT (0.1-10.0 MUM) for 2 h followed by
      incubation with 0.5 MUM cisplatin for 72 h. Results show that cisplatin markedly
      decreased the proliferation of PC12 cells and strongly inhibited the growth of
      axon and dendrite of PCN cells, but these effects were significantly prevented by
      EGT. For in vivo study, CBA mice were orally administered with 2 or 8 mg EGT/kg
      body weight for 58 consecutive days and were injected i.p. with 5mg cisplatin/kg
      body weight on days 7, 9 and 11. We found that EGT significantly restored the
      learning and memory deficits in mice treated with cisplatin evaluated by active
      and passive avoidance tests. EGT also significantly prevented brain lipid
      peroxidation, restored acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity and maintained
      glutathione/glutathione disulfide ratio in brain tissues of mice treated with
      cisplatin. These results demonstrate that EGT protects against cisplatin-induced
      neuronal injury and enhances cognition, possibly through the inhibition of
      oxidative stress and restoration of AChE activity in neuronal cells.

PMID- 20932873
TI  - Parenteral paradichlorobenzene exposure reduces sperm production, alters sperm
      morphology and exhibits an androgenic effect in rats and mice.
AB  - Rats and mice (8 animals per species per group) were injected subcutaneously or
      intraperitoneally with paradichlorobenzene (PDCB) at doses of 0, 100, 200 and 400
      mg/kg/day, 4-5 days a week, for 8 weeks (for rats) and either 2 or 6 weeks (for
      mice). Prostate and seminal vesicle weights were significantly increased in PDCB
      treated rats but not in mice. Major histopathologic injuries were not found in
      testis and epididymis of both species. Daily sperm production was depressed in
      both species in a dose-response manner. Serum testosterone levels were not
      significantly changed in both species. Sperm morphology was evaluated in rats
      intraperitoneally administered PDCB at a dose of 800 mg/kg. Abnormal sperms with
      reduced hook, bent neck, coiled flagellum, bent flagellum and bent flagellum tip
      were significantly increased in treated rats. In Hershberger assay, PDCB
      administration increased weights of ventral prostate gland, seminal vesicle,
      levator ani/bulbocavernosus muscle and glans penis in castrated rats, and also
      weights of ventral prostate gland and glans penis in castrated mice. PDCB and 2,5
      dichlorophenol (the major metabolite) did not bind androgen receptor (AR) up to
      10 mM. In conclusion, PDCB affects sperm production and morphology but is
      somewhat androgenic independently from AR binding in rats and mice.

PMID- 20932874
TI  - Regional changes in purines and selected purinergic receptors in immature rat
      brain exposed to lead.
AB  - Lead (Pb) toxicity still remains a significant health problem, since it was
      recognized as a potent neurodevelopmental toxin. Regarding the fact that in the
      nervous system ATP is not only the energy source but also acts as a signaling
      molecule outside the cell, it was of interest to investigate both the level of
      purines and expression of purinergic receptors in different regions of immature
      rat brain under Pb toxicity conditions. We examined the expression of A1 receptor
      which is involved in neuroprotective mechanisms, and P2X7R receptor related to
      the inflammatory and neurodegenerative processes. Expression of receptors'
      protein was analysed using immunoblotting method whereas HPLC method was used to
      measure the levels of purines. We observed the features of energetic stress in
      all examined brain structures expressed by decrease in ATP and ADP levels and AEC
      ratio. However, in forebrain cortex, the observed changes were milder than in
      cerebellum and hippocampus. Enhanced expression of A1R and high increase of
      adenosine (Ado) level, suggest the proper function of protective mechanisms
      mediated by Ado. We have found that hippocampus is most vulnerable to Pb
      toxicity, both due to the high energy depletion and the pattern of expression of
      investigated receptors. Enhanced expression of P2X7R and connexin 43 (Cx43) in
      glial fraction (GPV), suggests the involvement of astrocytic pool of cells into
      the pathological changes observed in this structure of Pb-exposed immature rat
      brains.

PMID- 20932875
TI  - Evolving experience-dependent robust behaviour in embodied agents.
AB  - In this work, based on behavioural and dynamical evidence, a study of simulated
      agents with the capacity to change feedback from their bodies to accomplish a one
      legged walking task is proposed to understand the emergence of coupled dynamics
      for robust behaviour. Agents evolve with evolutionary-defined biases that modify
      incoming body signals (sensory offsets). Analyses on whether these agents show
      further dependence to their environmental coupled dynamics than others with no
      feedback control is described in this article. The ability to sustain behaviours
      is tested during lifetime experiments with mutational and sensory perturbations
      after evolution. Using dynamical systems analysis, this work identifies
      conditions for the emergence of dynamical mechanisms that remain functional
      despite sensory perturbations. Results indicate that evolved agents with
      evolvable sensory offset depends not only on where in neural space the state of
      the neural system operates, but also on the transients to which the inner-system
      was being driven by sensory signals from its interactions with the environment,
      controller, and agent body. Experimental evidence here leads discussions on a
      dynamical systems perspective on behavioural robustness that goes beyond
      attractors of controller phase space.

PMID- 20932876
TI  - Characterization of the zebrafish (Danio rerio) mineralocorticoid receptor.
AB  - Comparison between evolutionarily distant receptors can provide critical insights
      into both structure and function. Sequence comparison between the
      mineralocorticoid receptors (MR) of the zebrafish (zMR) and human (hMR) reveals a
      high degree of sequence conservation in the major functional domains. We isolated
      a zMR cDNA to contrast the transcriptional response to a range of ligands and to
      establish whether a teleost MR exhibits the amino/carboxyl-terminal interaction
      (N/C-interaction) previously reported for the hMR. Aldosterone,
      deoxycorticosterone (DOC) and cortisol induced zMR transcriptional activity with
      similar efficacy to that observed with the hMR. The hMR antagonist,
      spironolactone, acted as an agonist with the zMR. The zMR exhibited an N/C
      interaction in response to aldosterone but, in contrast to the hMR, cortisol and
      DOC predominantly stimulated the interaction in the zMR. Conservation of the N/C
      interaction between evolutionarily distant MR provides evidence of functional
      significance.

PMID- 20932877
TI  - Expression of cyclooxygenase-2 and prostaglandin receptor EP4b mRNA in the ovary
      of the medaka fish, Oryzias latipes: possible involvement in ovulation.
AB  - In vitro ovulation of mature medaka ovarian follicles was inhibited by inhibitors
      of cyclooxygenase (COX) or by an antagonist of the prostaglandin E(2) receptor
      (EP). Of the three medaka COX genes, ptgs2 was most dominantly expressed in the
      fish ovary. The ptgs2 transcript was detected in all sizes of growing follicles.
      In a 24-h spawning cycle, large-sized follicles contained ptgs2 mRNA at a fairly
      constant level. The levels of COX enzyme activity and prostaglandin E(2) were
      also constant in the large-sized follicles during the spawning cycle. The
      expression of prostaglandin E(2) receptor EP4b (ptger4b) mRNA was drastically
      upregulated in the large-sized follicles as the ovulation time approached. The
      current results indicate that prostaglandin E(2), which might be produced by COX
      2, is involved in the ovulation of medaka, and that EP4b is likely the receptor
      responsible for exerting the action of prostaglandin E(2) in the process.

PMID- 20932878
TI  - Intrinsically organized network for word processing during the resting state.
AB  - Neural mechanisms underlying word processing have been extensively studied. It
      has been revealed that when individuals are engaged in active word processing, a
      complex network of cortical regions is activated. However, it is entirely unknown
      whether the word-processing regions are intrinsically organized without any
      explicit processing tasks during the resting state. The present study
      investigated the intrinsic functional connectivity between word-processing
      regions during the resting state with the use of fMRI methodology. The low
      frequency fluctuations were observed between the left middle fusiform gyrus and a
      number of cortical regions. They included the left angular gyrus, left
      supramarginal gyrus, bilateral pars opercularis, and left pars triangularis of
      the inferior frontal gyrus, which have been implicated in phonological and
      semantic processing. Additionally, the activations were also observed in the
      bilateral superior parietal lobule and dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex, which
      have been suggested to provide top-down monitoring on the visual-spatial
      processing of words. The findings of our study indicate an intrinsically
      organized network during the resting state that likely prepares the visual system
      to anticipate the highly probable word input for ready and effective processing.

PMID- 20932879
TI  - Anti-inflammatory effects of serum isolated from animals on intermittent feeding
      in C6 glioma cell line.
AB  - Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a demyelinating disease of the CNS. Early inflammation
      leads to later destruction of myelin in MS. Dietary restriction (DR) produces
      anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory effects in many species. Based on the
      reported anti-inflammatory effects of DR, we investigated whether sera collected
      from rats fed on intermittent feeding (IF, a type of DR) diet could modulate
      cytokine secretion and matrix metalloproteinase (MMP-2) activity that are
      involved in MS pathogenesis. Cytokine levels (IL-6 and TGF-beta1) were measured
      in supernatant from C6 glioma cell line cultures treated with IF and AL fed
      animals' sera by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and MMP-2 activity was
      detected by gelatin zymography. Our results indicated that sera of animals on IF
      diet significantly reduced IL-6 (p<0.05) and increased TGF-beta1 (p<0.05)
      production by C6 glioma cells. A significant decrease (p<0.05) in MMP-2 activity
      was also found. These results indicate anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory
      activity in the sera of animals on IF regimen on cells involved in multiple
      sclerosis pathogenesis. Further studies on the detection of factors responsible
      for such activities and their mechanism of action in MS pathogenesis are
      recommended.

PMID- 20932880
TI  - Effect of different frequencies of music on blood pressure regulation in
      spontaneously hypertensive rats.
AB  - The effect of different frequencies of music on brain function was investigated
      through measurement of blood pressure in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR).
      Previous studies indicated that exposure to Mozart's music (K. 205) leads to
      increased calcium/calmodulin-dependent dopamine synthesis in the brain, and that
      the subsequent increase in dopamine reduces blood pressure via D(2) receptors.
      The present study demonstrated that the blood pressure-reducing response was
      dependent on the frequency, and was markedly greater at 4 k-16 kHz compared with
      lower frequencies. These findings suggest that music containing high-frequency
      sounds stimulates dopamine synthesis, and might thereby regulate and/or affect
      various brain functions.

PMID- 20932881
TI  - Age-related differences in human corticospinal excitability during simple
      reaction time.
AB  - Age-related declines in central processing may delay the facilitation of
      corticospinal (CS) tracts that underlie emergence of voluntary responses to
      external stimuli. To explore this effect, single pulse transcranial magnetic
      stimulation (TMS) was applied to the left motor cortex at different latencies
      from the go-signal (auditory tone) during a simple reaction time (SRT) task with
      the right or left thumb [i.e. right (RHM) or left hand move (LHM)]. Motor evoked
      potentials (MEPs) in the right abductor pollicis brevis (APB) were recorded from
      eleven healthy right-handed participants (aged 22-65; six young adults and five
      old adults). Both age groups showed significant facilitation of CS excitability
      approximately 100-120 ms from the onset of the go-signal in the RHM SRT that
      occurred before the onset of EMG voluntary burst, with no evidence for motor
      slowing in old adults. Old adults demonstrated a significant facilitation of MEPs
      in the time that preceded the go-signal for RHM SRT and a marked depression of CS
      excitability in preparation for the LHM SRT that was sustained up to 80 ms after
      the onset of the go-signal. Both effects were not seen in young adults. While the
      small number of participants may hinder the generality of the present
      observations, this pilot study suggests for the first time that old adults
      implemented selective tuning of CS excitability prior to the onset of the go
      command to speed up their response generation.

PMID- 20932882
TI  - Within-subject comparison of degree of delay discounting using titrating and
      fixed sequence procedures.
AB  - Different procedures are often used across experiments to estimate the degree of
      delay discounting, a common measure of impulsivity. In all procedures,
      participants indicate their choice between a reward available immediately and one
      available after a delay. The present experiment determined whether there are
      differences in the degree of discounting for a hypothetical $100 produced by a
      procedure that titrates the immediate amount (titrating sequence procedure)
      versus a procedure that presents a fixed sequence of immediate amounts (fixed
      sequence procedure) using a within-subject design. The adult human participants
      showed no significant differences in degree of discounting between procedures as
      assessed by a hyperboloid model and the Area Under the Curve. Furthermore, the
      Area Under the Curve values from the two procedures showed a strong positive
      correlation. These findings suggest there may be no systematic difference between
      the degree of delay discounting as estimated by the titrating sequence and fixed
      sequence procedures. Given the apparent similarities in the results, it appears
      researchers may be justified in basing their choice of which procedure to use on
      convenience.

PMID- 20932883
TI  - Involvement of transient receptor potential melastatin-related 7 (TRPM7) channels
      in cadmium uptake and cytotoxicity in MC3T3-E1 osteoblasts.
AB  - Exposure to cadmium (Cd) disrupts bone metabolism, causing osteoporosis. Impaired
      vitamin D metabolism was initially proposed as the underlying mechanism, yet
      recent studies argue for the direct effect of Cd on bone cells. This study aimed
      at characterizing (109)Cd uptake and cytotoxicity in MC3T3-E1 osteoblasts. Time
      dependent accumulation of (109)Cd was observed with a 50% lethal concentration
      (LC(50)) of 9.6 +/- 1.2 MUM at 24-h. Reducing extracellular calcium (Ca) or
      magnesium (Mg) increased Cd cytotoxicity. The presence of Ca, Mg, zinc or
      gadolinium decreased (109)Cd uptake suggesting the involvement of non-selective
      cationic channels. The Mg-sensitive part of (109)Cd uptake increased at acidic
      pH, a condition known to stimulate TRPM7 channel activity. Stimulating TRPM7
      channel activity by cellular Mg starvation enhanced (109)Cd uptake. Silencing
      TRPM7 channel expression abolished the Mg-sensitive and the Mg starvation-induced
      uptake indicating that TRPM7 is involved in Cd transport in osteoblasts.

PMID- 20932884
TI  - 1H NMR-based metabolic profiling of naproxen-induced toxicity in rats.
AB  - The dose-dependent perturbations in urinary metabolite concentrations caused by
      naproxen toxicity were investigated using 1H NMR spectroscopy coupled with
      multivariate statistical analysis. Histopathologic evaluation of naproxen-induced
      acute gastrointestinal damage in rats demonstrated a significant dose-dependent
      effect. Furthermore, principal component analysis (PCA) of 1H NMR from rat urine
      revealed a dose-dependent metabolic shift between the vehicle-treated control
      rats and rats treated with low-dose (10 mg/kg body weight), moderate-dose (50
      mg/kg), and high-dose (100 mg/kg) naproxen, coinciding with their gastric damage
      scores after naproxen administration. The resultant metabolic profiles
      demonstrate that the naproxen-induced gastric damage exhibited energy metabolism
      perturbations that elevated their urinary levels of citrate, cis-aconitate,
      creatine, and creatine phosphate. In addition, naproxen administration decreased
      choline level and increased betaine level, indicating that it depleted the main
      protective constituent of the gastric mucosa. Moreover, naproxen stimulated the
      decomposition of tryptophan into kynurenate, which inhibits fibroblast growth
      factor-1 and delays ulcer healing. These findings demonstrate that 1H NMR-based
      urinary metabolic profiling can facilitate noninvasive and rapid diagnosis of
      drug side effects and is suitable for elucidating possible biological pathways
      perturbed by drug toxicity.

PMID- 20932885
TI  - Different effects of l- and d-menthol on the microstructure of ceramide
      5/cholesterol/palmitic acid bilayers.
AB  - The optical activity of transdermal permeation enhancers is one of the crucial
      factors for the enhancement of drug permeation via the skin. We investigated the
      effects of optically active menthols on a lipid bilayer model composed of
      ceramide 5, cholesterol, and palmitic acid. We first examined the fluidizing
      effects of l- and d-menthols on the lipid bilayers. The fluorescence anisotropy
      and thermodynamic parameters, such as the transition temperature and transition
      enthalpy, were significantly reduced by treatment with the optically active
      menthols. The effects of d-menthol were stronger than those of l-menthol. To
      discuss further, we also performed a detergent insolubility study and measured
      wide angle X-ray scattering. The amount of liquid-ordered phase membranes in the
      bilayers was significantly reduced by treatment with d-menthol. Whereas, l
      menthol did not affected to the liquid-ordered phase membranes. The apparent
      ratio of orthorhombic hydrocarbon chain packing was substantially reduced by
      treatment with l-menthol. Thus, the distinct effects of optically active menthols
      on lipid bilayers were clarified: l-menthol acts on orthorhombic hydrocarbon
      chain packing with high selectivity, whereas d-menthol has no such specific
      effect. These findings extend our understanding of the mechanisms by which
      menthols affect the intercellular lipids in the stratum corneum.

PMID- 20932886
TI  - Penetration and distribution of PLGA nanoparticles in the human skin treated with
      microneedles.
AB  - This study was designed to investigate the penetration and the distribution of
      poly(d,l-lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) nanoparticles in the human skin treated
      with microneedles. Fluorescent nanoparticles were prepared to indicate the
      transdermal transport process of the nanoparticles. Permeation study was
      performed on Franz-type diffusion cells in vitro. The distribution of
      nanoparticles was visualized by confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) and
      quantified by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). CLSM images showed
      that nanoparticles were delivered into the microconduits created by microneedles
      and permeated into the epidermis and the dermis. The quantitative determination
      showed that (i) the permeation of nanoparticles into the skin was enhanced by
      microneedles, but no nanoparticle reached the receptor solution; (ii) much more
      nanoparticles deposited in the epidermis than those in the dermis; (iii) the
      permeation was in a particle size-dependent manner; and (iv) the permeation
      increased with the nanoparticle concentration increasing until a limit value was
      reached. These results suggested that microneedles could enhance the intradermal
      delivery of PLGA nanoparticles. The biodegradable nanoparticles would sustain
      drug release in the skin and supply the skin with drug over a prolonged period.
      This strategy would prove to be useful for topical drug administration.

PMID- 20932887
TI  - The use of medicinal plants in self-care in the Agonlin region of Benin.
AB  - AIM OF THE STUDY: To investigate the extent and type of medicinal plants used in
      self-care by the inhabitants of the Agonlin community in the Republic of Benin.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: A semi-structured questionnaire was used to interview a
      total of one thousand mothers. RESULTS: The prevalence rate of the use of herbal
      medicines in self-care was found to be 51.04%. One hundred and fourteen (114)
      plant species belonging to 69 families were reported, each with their local
      names, medicinal use, and parts used. Of all the indications of the identified
      plants, fever, headache, abdominal pain, and vomiting were the most frequently
      reported, with malaria treatment recording the highest usage of plant remedies
      (22%). The plant part most frequently used was the leaves. CONCLUSIONS: This
      study showed that self-care using medicinal plants is a major part of health care
      in the Agonlin area.

PMID- 20932888
TI  - Ethanol extract of seeds of Oenothera odorata induces vasorelaxation via
      endothelium-dependent NO-cGMP signaling through activation of Akt-eNOS-sGC
      pathway.
AB  - AIM OF STUDY: The vasorelaxant effect of ethanol extract of seeds of Oenothera
      odorata (Onagraceae) (one species of evening primroses) (ESOO) and its mechanisms
      involved were defined. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Changes in vascular tension,
      guanosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate (cGMP) levels, and Akt expression were
      measured in carotid arterial rings from rats. Seeds of Oenothera odorata were
      extracted with ethanol (94%) and the extract was filtered, concentrated and
      stored at -70 degrees C. RESULTS: ESOO relaxed endothelium-intact, but not
      endothelium-denuded, carotid arterial rings in a concentration-dependent manner.
      Similarly, ESOO increased cGMP levels of the carotid arterial rings. Pretreatment
      of endothelium-intact arterial rings with L-NAME, an inhibitor of nitric oxide
      synthase (NOS), or ODQ, an inhibitor of soluble guanylyl cyclase (sGC), blocked
      the ESOO-induced vasorelaxation and increase in cGMP levels. Nominally Ca(2+)
      free but not L-typed Ca(2+) channel inhibition attenuated the ESOO-induced
      vasorelaxation. Thapsigargin, Gd(3+), and 2-aminoethyl diphenylborinate,
      modulators of store-operated Ca(2+) entry (SOCE), significantly attenuated the
      ESOO-induced vasorelaxation and increase in cGMP levels. Further, wortmannin, an
      inhibitor of Akt, attenuated the ESOO-induced vasorelaxation and increases in
      cGMP levels and phosphorylated Akt2 expression. K(+) channel blockade with TEA, 4
      aminopyridine, and glibenclamide attenuated the ESOO-induced vascular relaxation.
      CONCLUSION: Taken together, the present study demonstrates that ESOO relaxes
      vascular smooth muscle via endothelium-dependent NO-cGMP signaling through
      activation of the Akt-eNOS-sGC pathway.

PMID- 20932889
TI  - Acute and sub-chronic oral toxicity studies of an aqueous stem bark extract of
      Pterocarpus soyauxii Taub (Papilionaceae) in rodents.
AB  - Pterocarpus soyauxii Taub (Papilionaceae) is used in Cameroonian traditional
      medicine and pharmacopoeia to treat hypertension, diabetes, gastrointestinal
      parasitizes and cutaneous diseases. AIM OF THE STUDY: The present investigation
      was carried out to evaluate the safety of an aqueous stem bark extract of
      Pterocarpus soyauxii by determining toxicity after acute and sub-chronic oral
      administration in male and female rodents. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The acute
      toxicity test was conducted in mice. An aqueous extract of barks was
      administrated by gavage in single doses of 2.5-12.5 g/kg. General behaviour and
      mortality were examined for up to 7 days. The sub-chronic toxicity test was
      performed in rats. The plant extract was administered by daily gavage of 150-600
      mg/kg for 42 days. Body weight, food and water intakes were followed weekly.
      Haematological, biochemical and organ parameters were determined at the end of
      the 42-day administration. RESULTS: In the acute study in mice, oral
      administration of the aqueous extract of Pterocarpus soyauxii caused dose
      dependent general behaviour adverse effects and mortality. The no-observed
      adverse effect level (NOAEL) of the extract was 5.0 g/kg. The lowest-observed
      adverse effect level (LOAEL) was 7.5 mg/kg. Mortality increased with the dose,
      LD(50) was>10.75 g/kg for the mouse. In the sub-chronic study in rats, daily oral
      administration of the aqueous extract of Pterocarpus soyauxii did not result in
      death or significant changes in haematological or biochemical parameters,
      excepted increased hepatic catalase activity (P<0.05) at the dose of 600 mg/kg.
      No alteration was observed in body weight, food and water intake. Liver, kidney,
      lung and pancreas histopathology did not reveal morphological alteration.
      CONCLUSIONS: The results showed that the aqueous stem bark extract of Pterocarpus
      soyauxii Taub had very low toxicity in oral acute high dose administration and no
      toxicity in oral sub-chronic low dose administration and indicate that the plant
      could be considered safe for oral medication.

PMID- 20932890
TI  - In vitro detection of contact allergens: development of an optimized protocol
      using human peripheral blood monocyte-derived dendritic cells.
AB  - Allergic contact dermatitis is a delayed T-cell mediated allergic response
      associated with relevant social and economic impacts. Animal experiments (e.g.
      the local lymph node assay) are still supplying most of the data used to assess
      the sensitization potential of new chemicals. However, the 7th amendment to the
      EU Cosmetic Directive will introduce a testing ban for cosmetic ingredients after
      2013. In vitro alternative methods are thus being actively developed. Although
      promising results have been obtained with cell lines, their reduced functionality
      and inherent genomic instability led us to reinvestigate the use of peripheral
      blood monocyte-derived dendritic cells (PBMDCs) for the establishment of a
      reliable in vitro sensitization test. To solve the issues associated with the use
      of primary cells, the culture and exposure conditions (cytokine concentrations,
      incubation time, readout, pooled vs. single donors and cytotoxicity) were re
      assessed and optimized. Here we propose a stable and reproducible protocol based
      on PBMDCs. This should allow a wider acceptance of PBMDCs as a reliable test
      system for the detection of human skin sensitizers and the inclusion of this
      protocol in an integrated testing strategy.

PMID- 20932891
TI  - Genotoxicity of marine sediments in the fish hepatoma cell line PLHC-1 as
      assessed by the Comet assay.
AB  - The main goal of this study was to test the usefulness of the Comet assay in the
      PLHC-1 hepatoma fish cell line as a tool for detecting the presence of genotoxic
      compounds in contaminated marine sediments. The system has been tested using both
      model chemicals (benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P) and ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS)) and
      extracts of sediment samples obtained with solvent dichloromethane/methanol. For
      all of the analysed sediment extracts as well as for the model chemicals a
      concentration dependent genotoxic effect was observed. The sediment with the
      highest observed genotoxic potential was additionally extracted using various
      solvents in order to test which class of compounds, according to their polarity,
      is most responsible for the observed genotoxic effect. Non-polar solvents
      (cyclohexane and dichloromethane) yielded stronger genotoxic effect but the
      highest level of DNA damage was determined after exposure to sediment extract
      obtained with the solvent mixture dichloromethane/methanol which extracts a wide
      range of contaminants. Our results indicate that the PLHC-1 cell line is a
      suitable in vitro model in sediment genotoxicity assessment and encourage the use
      of fish cell lines as versatile tools in ecogenotoxicology.

PMID- 20932892
TI  - Chemoprotective effect of N-acetylcysteine (NAC) on cellular oxidative damages
      and apoptosis induced by nano titanium dioxide under UVA irradiation.
AB  - The chemoprotective effect of N-acetylcysteine (NAC), a sulfhydryl-containing
      antioxidant, on nano titanium dioxide (nano-TiO(2)) induced oxidative stress and
      apoptosis in human keratinocyte (HaCaT) cells was assessed. HaCaT cells were
      pretreated with NAC followed by treatment with 200 MUg/ml nano-TiO(2), then
      exposed to ultraviolet A (UVA, 365 nm) for 1 h and cultured for 24 h.
      Intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) and nitric oxide (NO) formation,
      mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), apoptosis and the content of the lipid
      peroxidation product malondialdehyde (MDA) were measured. Keratin 6 (K6) mRNA
      expression was also analyzed. The results showed that NAC strongly inhibited ROS
      and NO production in nano-TiO(2) treated cells. The extent of lipid peroxidation
      was also decreased in the presence of NAC. In addition, NAC suppressed nano
      TiO(2) induced apoptosis and increased K6 mRNA expression. The results indicated
      that NAC could prevent oxidative stress and apoptosis induced by nano-TiO(2) in
      HaCaT cells.

PMID- 20932893
TI  - Development of a mechanistic SAR model for the detection of phototoxic chemicals
      and use in an integrated testing strategy.
AB  - Phototoxicity is of increasing concern in dermatology, since modern lifestyle is
      often associated with exposure to sunlight. The most commonly reported process is
      via oxidative reactions. Therefore characterizing the "photo-pro-oxidant"
      potential of a compound early in its industrial development is of utmost
      interest, especially for compounds likely to undergo sunlight exposure in skin.
      Today there is a need for filtering compounds to be tested in the 3T3 neutral red
      uptake in vitro test for phototoxicity since testing requires resources. A
      computational model aiming at predicting the mechanisms that imply the generation
      of reactive oxygen species was developed using a diverse set of 56 chemicals
      having 3T3 NRU data. An historical mechanistic (Q)SAR model developed for
      polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons was used to derive the new mechanistic model:
      descriptors were selected upfront to describe the modeled phenomenon. The
      historical parabolic relationships between phototoxicity and the energy gap
      (E(GAP)) between energies of the highest occupied molecular orbital and the
      lowest unoccupied molecular orbital was confirmed. The model predicts chemicals
      to be "phototoxic or photodegradable", or "non-phototoxic and non
      photodegradable". A four-step testing strategy is proposed to enable the
      reduction of experimental testing with the in silico model implemented as a first
      screen.

PMID- 20932894
TI  - Preservation of hepatocellular functionality in cultures of primary rat
      hepatocytes upon exposure to 4-Me2N-BAVAH, a hydroxamate-based HDAC-inhibitor.
AB  - Great efforts are being put in the development/optimization of reliable and
      highly predictive models for high-throughput screening of efficacy and toxicity
      of promising drug candidates. The use of primary hepatocyte cultures, however, is
      still limited by the occurrence of phenotypic alterations, including loss of
      xenobiotic biotransformation capacity. In the present study, the differentiation
      stabilizing effect of a new histone deacetylase inhibitor 5-(4
      dimethylaminobenzoyl)-aminovaleric acid hydroxamide (4-Me(2)N-BAVAH), a
      structural Trichostatin A (TSA)-analogue with a more favourable pharmaco
      toxicological profile, was studied at a genome-wide scale by means of microarray
      analysis. Several genes coding for xenobiotic biotransformation enzymes were
      found to be positively regulated upon exposure to 4-Me(2)N-BAVAH. For
      CYP1A1/2B1/3A2, these observations were confirmed by qRT-PCR and immunoblot
      analysis. In addition, significantly higher 7-ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase and 7
      pentoxyresorufin-O-dealkylase activity levels were measured. These effects were
      accompanied by an increased expression of CCAAT/enhancer binding protein alpha
      and hepatic nuclear factor (HNF)4alpha, but not of HNF1alpha. Finally, 4-Me(2)N
      BAVAH was found to induce histone H3 acetylation at the proximal promoter of the
      albumin, CYP1A1 and CYP2B1 genes, suggesting that chromatin remodelling is
      directly involved in the transcriptional regulation of these genes. In
      conclusion, histone deacetylase inhibitors prove to be efficient agents for
      better maintaining a differentiated hepatic phenotype in rat hepatocyte cultures.

PMID- 20932895
TI  - Oxidatively damaged proteins in the early stage of testicular toxicities in male
      rats by orally administered with a synthetic oestrogen, diethylstilbestrol.
AB  - The molecular mechanism of severe adverse effects of the endocrine disruptor
      diethylstilbestrol (DES) on reproductive organs is not currently understood. The
      effects of DES on testicular proteins were studied in adult male rats orally
      treated with 0.35 and 3.5mg DES/kg every two days for two weeks before the
      manifestation of morphological toxicities. Two up-regulated proteins (glutamine
      synthetase and chaperonin containing TCP1), two down-regulated proteins
      (thioredoxin-like 1 and testis-specific autoantigen) and two proteins with
      altered isoelectric points (protein disulfide isomerase [PDI a3] and enolase 1)
      were identified in DES groups. Carbonylation of PDI a3 was detected. A
      significant decrease in PDI activity and significant increases in caspase-12 and
      calpain activities were also found in the group. It is suggested that testicular
      toxicity by DES was initiated by the down-regulation of thioredoxin-like-1
      leading to the cellular redox inbalances, and the resultant oxidative
      modification of several important proteins involved in protein foldings.

PMID- 20932896
TI  - S1 to S2 hind- and forelimb projections in the agouti somatosensory cortex: axon
      fragments morphological analysis.
AB  - The integration of cutaneous, proprioceptive, and motor information in area S2
      seems to be essential for manual object recognition and motor control. Part of
      the inputs to S2 comes from area S1. However no detailed investigations of the
      morphology of this projection are available. In the present study we describe and
      quantify the morphology of axon fragments of S1 to S2 ipsilateral projections in
      the agouti somatosensory cortex. Two groups of projecting axon arbors in S2 were
      individually reconstructed in three dimensions using Neurolucida, after a single
      electrophysiological guided BDA injection in either the forelimb (n=4) or the
      hindlimb (n=4). Electrophysiological mapping was performed 15 days after
      injections, allowing the localization of S2. Cluster analysis of 40 fragments
      after hindlimb and 40 after forelimb distinguished two clusters of terminals
      designated as type I and type II. On average, Type I fragments had greater
      surface areas and segment lengths than type II fragments, whereas type II
      fragments had higher number of terminal boutons, number of segments and branching
      points/mm than type I fragments. Type I corresponded to 58% of the axons
      projecting from the hindlimb representation in S1 whereas 63% of the sample
      originating from the forelimb representation in S1 corresponded to type II axons.
      The results suggest possible parallel processing by two stereotyped classes of
      axon terminals in the S1 to S2 projections that may represent at least part of
      the circuitry groundwork associated with distinct somatomotor skills of these
      limbs in agoutis.

PMID- 20932897
TI  - Sustained lung activity of a novel chimeric protein, SOD2/3, after intratracheal
      administration.
AB  - Delivery of recombinant superoxide dismutase to the lung is limited by its short
      half-life and poor tissue penetration. We hypothesized that a chimeric protein,
      SOD2/3, containing the enzymatic domain of manganese superoxide dismutase (SOD2)
      and the heparan-binding domain of extracellular superoxide dismutase (SOD3),
      would allow for the delivery of more sustained lung and pulmonary vascular
      antioxidant activity compared to SOD2. We administered SOD2/3 to rats by
      intratracheal (i.t.), intraperitoneal (i.p.), or intravenous (i.v.) routes and
      evaluated the presence, localization, and activity of lung SOD2/3 1 day later
      using Western blot, immunohistochemistry, and SOD activity gels. The effect of
      i.t. SOD2/3 on the pulmonary and systemic circulation was studied in vivo in
      chronically catheterized rats exposed to acute hypoxia. Active SOD2/3 was
      detected in lung 1 day after i.t. administration but not detected after i.p. or
      i.v. SOD2/3 administration or i.t. SOD2. The physiologic response to acute
      hypoxia, vasoconstriction in the pulmonary circulation and vasodilation in the
      systemic circulation, was enhanced in rats treated 1 day earlier with i.t.
      SOD2/3. These findings indicate that i.t. administration of SOD2/3 effectively
      delivers sustained enzyme activity to the lung as well as pulmonary circulation
      and has a longer tissue half-life compared to native SOD2. Further testing in
      models of chronic lung or pulmonary vascular diseases mediated by excess
      superoxide should consider the longer tissue half-life of SOD2/3 as well as its
      potential systemic vascular effects.

PMID- 20932899
TI  - Lymphatic ontogeny and effect of hypoplasia in developing lung.
AB  - The pulmonary lymphatic vasculature plays a vital role in maintaining fluid
      homeostasis required for efficient gas exchange at capillary alveolar barriers
      and contributes to lung fluid clearance at birth. To further understanding of
      pulmonary lymphatic function at birth, lineage-tracing analysis of mouse lung was
      used. Lineage analysis confirmed that lymphatic endothelial cells (LEC) bud from
      extrapulmonary lymphatics and demonstrated that LEC migrate into developing lung
      along precise pathways. LEC cluster first in the primary bronchovascular region
      then along the secondary broncho-arterial regions and along veins. Small
      lymphatic vessels in distal lung develop from LEC that have migrated into lung
      mesenchyme from the extrapulmonary lymphatics. Finally, proximal and distal
      lymphatics remodel to form vessels with lumens in stereotypical locations. Loss
      of function analysis with lung-specific expression of a secreted form of the
      extracellular domain of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-3 (dnR3)
      caused significant embryonic pulmonary lymphatic hypoplasia with fourfold
      reduction in distal LEC. Lung-specific expression of dnR3 did not affect blood
      vascular development, overall lung organogenesis or lymphatic development in
      other organs. Neonatal mice with pulmonary lymphatic hypoplasia developed
      respiratory distress with significantly increased mortality. During the
      transition to air breathing, lymphatic hypoplasia adversely affected fetal lung
      fluid clearance as determined by wet/dry weight analysis and morphometric
      analysis of bronchovascular cuffing and mesenchymal thickening. Surfactant
      synthesis was unaffected. Together, these data demonstrate that lung lymphatics
      develop autonomously and that pulmonary lymphatic hypoplasia is detrimental to
      survival of the neonate due to impaired lung fluid clearance.

PMID- 20932898
TI  - Calcium-mediated mechanisms of cystic expansion.
AB  - In this review, we will discuss several well-accepted signaling pathways toward
      calcium-mediated mechanisms of cystic expansion. The second messenger calcium ion
      has contributed to a vast diversity of signal transduction pathways. We will
      dissect calcium signaling as a possible mechanism that contributes to renal cyst
      formation. Because cytosolic calcium also regulates an array of signaling
      pathways, we will first discuss cilia-induced calcium fluxes, followed by Wnt
      signaling that has attributed to much-discussed planar cell polarity. We will
      then look at the relationship between cytosolic calcium and cAMP as one of the
      most important aspects of cyst progression. The signaling of cAMP on MAPK and
      mTOR will also be discussed. We infer that while cilia-induced calcium fluxes may
      be the initial signaling messenger for various cellular pathways, no single
      signaling mediator or pathway is implicated exclusively in the progression of the
      cystic expansion. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Polycystic
      Kidney Disease.

PMID- 20932900
TI  - Predicting the clinical effect of a short acting bronchodilator in individual
      patients using artificial neural networks.
AB  - Artificial neural networks were used in this study to model the relationships
      between in vitro data, subject characteristics and in vivo outcomes from N=18
      mild-moderate asthmatics receiving monodisperse salbutamol sulphate aerosols of
      1.5, 3 and 6 MUm mass median aerodynamic diameter in a cumulative dosing schedule
      of 10, 20, 40 and 100 MUg. Input variables to the model were aerodynamic particle
      size (APS), body surface area (BSA), age, pre-treatment forced expiratory volume
      in one-second (FEV(1)), forced vital capacity, cumulative emitted drug dose and
      bronchodilator reversibility to a standard salbutamol sulphate 200 MUg dose MDI
      (REV(%)). These factors were used by the model to predict the bronchodilator
      response at 10 (T10) and 20 (T20) min after receiving each of the 4 doses for
      each of the 3 different particle sizes. Predictability was assessed using data
      from selected patients in this study, which were set aside and not used in model
      generation. Models reliably predicted DeltaFEV(1)(%) in individual subjects with
      non-linear determinants (R(2)) of >= 0.8. The average error between predicted and
      observed DeltaFEV(1)(%) for individual subjects was <4% across the cumulative
      dosing regimen. Increases in APS and drug dose gave improved DeltaFEV(1)(%).
      Models also showed trends towards improved responses in younger patients and
      those having greater REV(%), whilst BSA was also shown to influence clinical
      effect. These data show that APS can be used to discriminate predictably between
      aerosols giving different bronchodilator responses across a cumulative dosing
      schedule, whilst patient characteristics can be used to reliably estimate
      clinical response in individual subjects.

PMID- 20932901
TI  - Computer simulations for bioequivalence trials: selection of analyte in BCS drugs
      with first-pass metabolism and two metabolic pathways.
AB  - The objective of this work is to use a computer simulation approach to define the
      most sensitive analyte for in vivo bioequivalence studies of all types of
      Biopharmaceutics Classification System (BCS) drugs undergoing first-pass hepatic
      metabolism with two metabolic pathways. A semi-physiological model was developed
      in NONMEM VI to simulate bioequivalence trials. Four BCS classes (from Class I to
      IV) of drugs, with three possible saturation scenarios (non-saturation,
      saturation and saturation of only the major route of metabolism), two (high or
      low) dose schemes, and six types of pharmaceutical quality for the drug products
      were simulated. The number of investigated scenarios was 144 (4 * 3 * 2 * 6). The
      parent drug is the most sensitive analyte for bioequivalence trials in all the
      studied scenarios. Metabolite data does not show sensitivity to detect
      differences in pharmaceutical quality or it gives the same information as the
      parent compound. An interesting point to notice is the case of class I drugs
      administered at a high dose when the principal metabolic route is saturated and
      the secondary one is not saturated. In this case a substantial reduction in
      dissolution rate (as it could occur in the case of a prolonged release
      formulation developed as a line extension of an immediate release formulation)
      leads to a considerable increase in the AUC of the major metabolite whose
      formation is saturated supporting the need to require pharmacokinetic and
      clinical data for new prolonged release medicinal products.

PMID- 20932902
TI  - Assessment of gastrointestinal pH, fluid and lymphoid tissue in the guinea pig,
      rabbit and pig, and implications for their use in drug development.
AB  - Laboratory animals are often used in drug delivery and research. However, basic
      information about their gastrointestinal pH, fluid volume, and lymphoid tissue is
      not completely known. We have investigated these post-mortem in healthy guinea
      pigs, rabbits and pigs, to assess their suitability for pre-clinical studies by
      comparing the results with reported human literature. The mean gastric pH (fed ad
      libitum) was 2.9 and 4.4 in guinea pig and pig, respectively. In contrast, a very
      low pH (1.6) was recorded in the rabbits. The small intestinal pH was found in
      the range of 6.4-7.4 in the guinea pigs and rabbits, whereas lower pH (6.1-6.7)
      was recorded in the pig, which may have consequences for ionisable or pH
      responsive systems when tested in pig. A relatively lower pH than in the small
      intestine was found in the caecum (6.0-6.4) and colon (6.1-6.6) of the guinea
      pig, rabbit and the pig. The water content in the gastrointestinal tract of
      guinea pig, rabbit and pig was 51g, 153g and 1546g, respectively. When normalized
      to the body weight, the guinea pig, had larger amounts of water compared to the
      rabbit and the pig (guinea pig>rabbit>pig); in contrast, a reverse order was
      found when normalized to per unit length of the gut (guinea pig<rabbit<pig). The
      lymphoid tissue distribution (lymphoid follicles, Peyer's patches and long
      strips) along the length of the gut in these animals is presented; in particular,
      an abundance of lymphoid tissue was found in pig's stomach, small intestine and
      caecum, and rabbit's appendix. Their ample presence indicated the potential
      utility of these animal species in oral and colonic vaccination. These
      differences in the gastrointestinal parameters of the guinea pig, rabbit and pig
      reiterates the crucial importance of correctly selecting animal models for pre
      clinical studies.

PMID- 20932903
TI  - Chitosan-graft-spermine as a gene carrier in vitro and in vivo.
AB  - Chitosan has been proposed as a non-viral gene carrier because of its
      biodegradable and biocompatible cationic polymeric properties. However, the
      transfection efficiency of chitosan-DNA complexes is still too low for clinical
      trials. To improve transfection efficiency, we prepared a chitosan-graft-spermine
      (CHI-g-SPE) copolymer by an imine reaction between periodate-oxidized chitosan
      and spermine. The CHI-g-SPE copolymer was complexed with plasmid DNA in various
      copolymer-DNA weight ratios, and the complexes were characterized. The CHI-g-SPE
      copolymer showed good DNA binding ability and high protection of DNA from
      nuclease attack. The CHI-g-SPE/DNA complexes had well-formed spherical shapes and
      a nanoscale size with homogenous size distribution. The CHI-g-SPE copolymer had
      low cytotoxicity and CHI-g-SPE/DNA complexes showed transfection efficiency that
      was enhanced over that of chitosan-DNA. Furthermore, aerosol delivery of CHI-g
      SPE/GFP complexes showed higher GFP expression compared with chitosan/GFP
      complexes, without toxicity. Our results indicate that the CHI-g-SPE copolymer
      has potential as a gene carrier.

PMID- 20932904
TI  - Increased compactibility of acetames after roll compaction.
AB  - A common technique for manufacturing granules in a continuous way is the
      combination of roll compaction and subsequent milling. Roll compaction can
      considerably impact tableting performance of a material. The purpose of this
      study was to investigate the influence of roll compaction/dry granulation on the
      compaction behavior of acetames, a class of active pharmaceutical substances,
      which are mainly used for the treatment of central nervous diseases. Some
      representatives of acetames were roll compacted and then compressed into tablets.
      Compactibility of granules was compared with the compaction behavior of the
      directly compressed drug powders. In contrast to many other materials, the roll
      compaction step induced an increase in compactibility for all investigated
      acetames. Specific surface areas of the untreated and the roll compacted drugs
      were determined by nitrogen adsorption. The raise in compactibility observed was
      accompanied by an increase in specific surface area during roll compaction.

PMID- 20932905
TI  - Crystal structure of the human collagen XV trimerization domain: a potent
      trimerizing unit common to multiplexin collagens.
AB  - Correct folding of the collagen triple helix requires a self-association step
      which selects and binds alpha-chains into trimers. Here we report the crystal
      structure of the trimerization domain of human type XV collagen. The
      trimerization domain of type XV collagen contains three monomers each composed of
      four beta-sheets and an alpha-helix. The hydrophobic core of the trimer is devoid
      of solvent molecules and is shaped by beta-sheet planes from each monomer. The
      trimerization domain is extremely stable and forms at picomolar concentrations.
      It is found that the trimerization domain of type XV collagen is structurally
      similar to that of type XVIII, despite only 32% sequence identity. High
      structural conservation indicates that the multiplexin trimerization domain
      represents a three dimensional fold that allows for sequence variability while
      retaining structural integrity necessary for tight and efficient trimerization.

PMID- 20932907
TI  - Mitochondria from distinct tissues are differently affected by 17beta-estradiol
      and tamoxifen.
AB  - This study was aimed to analyse and compare the bioenergetics and oxidative
      status of mitochondria isolated from liver, heart and brain of ovariectomized rat
      females treated with 17beta-estradiol (E2) and/or tamoxifen (TAM). E2 and/or TAM
      did not alter significantly the respiratory chain of the three types of
      mitochondria. However, TAM significantly decreased the phosphorylation efficiency
      of liver mitochondria while E2 significantly decreased the phosphorylation
      efficiency of heart mitochondria. E2 also significantly decreased the capacity of
      heart and liver mitochondria to accumulate Ca(2+) this effect being attenuated in
      liver mitochondria isolated from E2+TAM-treated rat females. TAM treatment
      increased the ratio of glutathione to glutathione disulfide (GSH/GSSG) of liver
      mitochondria. Brain mitochondria from TAM- and E2+TAM-treated females showed a
      significantly lower GSH/GSSG ratio. However, heart mitochondria from TAM- and
      E2+TAM-treated females presented a significant decrease in GSSG and an increase
      in GSH/GSSG ratio. Thiobarbituric acid reactive substances levels were
      significantly decreased in liver mitochondria isolated from E2+TAM-treated
      females. Finally, E2 and/or TAM treatment significantly decreased the levels of
      hydrogen peroxide produced by brain mitochondria energized with glutamate/malate.
      These results indicate that E2 and/or TAM have tissue-specific effects suggesting
      that TAM and hormonal replacement therapies may have some side effects that
      should be carefully considered.

PMID- 20932908
TI  - On the deduction and analysis of singlet and two-state gating-models from the
      static structures of mammalian CYP450.
AB  - Differential tunnel-opening patterns were established in static structures of
      mammalian CYP450 isoforms and subsequently applied to identify tunnel
      intersecting residues. The identified tunnel-intersecting residues permitted the
      subsequent construction of gating models via the identification of intra-protein
      interactions. We define 28 two-state gating models and 37 singlet gating-residue
      models. Our results reveal the preponderance of aromatic gating residues in
      CYP3A4 and CYP2A6, whereas we find a preponderance of polar/charged residues in
      CYP2C5. In CYP2C8 there is balanced presence of polar/charged and hydrophobic
      aliphatic residues in gating models, whilst in CYP2C9 there is balanced presence
      of all residue-types. These patterns suggest fast evolutionary dynamics for
      gating residues and we find that the average rate of evolution of gating residues
      in CYP2C5, CYP2C8, CYP2C9 and CYP2A6 is significantly faster than the average
      rate of evolution of the entire sequence. Our study identifies 67% of calculable
      gating models identified in the literature by molecular dynamics approaches and
      92% of residues appearing in literature models appear in our models. However,
      only 6% of the models identified in this work had been previously-described in
      the literature. This suggests that our study has defined the most comprehensive
      list yet of tunnel-gating models in mammalian CYP450 and in doing so have created
      a benchmark for molecular dynamics approaches to the ligand-tunnelling problem in
      CYP450.

PMID- 20932906
TI  - Fragmentation of fibronectin by inherent autolytic and matrix metalloproteinase
      activities.
AB  - Fibronectin (FN) purified by gelatin affinity chromatography is unstable and
      undergoes fragmentation. The cleavage has been ascribed to inherent autolytic
      protease activities as well as co-purified matrix metalloproteinases (MMP).
      Understanding the mechanism by which the proteolysis of FN occurs is important,
      because the FN fragments have biological activities that differ from those of
      intact FN. Having excluded contributions of other plasma-derived proteases, the
      present experiments demonstrated that cleavage of FN by MMP-2 to distinct
      fragments occurred in synergy with inherent FN activities. Limited heat treatment
      of FN at 56 degrees C for 30 min inactivated the inherent protease activities
      sharply reducing autolysis of FN in a manner similar to that seen in the presence
      of serine proteinase inhibitors. Heat treatment did not alter cell attachment to
      FN, but significantly increased the susceptibility of FN to enzymatic cleavage by
      MMP-2. The carboxyl-terminal hemopexin-like domain (PEX) of MMP-2 was shown to
      possess critical exodomain properties required for the interactions of MMP-2 with
      FN, and FN was cleaved at a significantly reduced rate by an MMP-2 variant with
      deletion of PEX. Verifying the specificity of interactions, isolated PEX competed
      FN cleavage by MMP-2 in a concentration-dependent manner. These results have
      further elucidated the synergistic contributions of inherent autolytic serine
      protease-like activities and MMP-2 to fragmentation of FN and provide the
      rationale and basis for modified preparation and handling of FN used in
      biological research.

PMID- 20932909
TI  - Silicon: The key element in early stages of biocalcification.
AB  - Biocalcification is a widespread process of forming hard tissues like bone and
      teeth in vertebrates. It is also a topic connecting life sciences and earth
      sciences: calcified skeletons and shells deposited as sediments represent the
      earth's fossil record and are of paramount interest for biogeochemists trying to
      get an insight into the past of our planet. This study reports on the role of
      silicon in the early biocalcification steps, where silicon and calcium were
      detected on the surface of cyanobacteria (initial stage of lacustrine calcite
      precipitation) and in crustacean cuticles. By using innovative methodological
      approaches of correlative microscopy (AFM in combination with analytical TEM:
      EFTEM, EELS) the chemical form of silicon in biocalcifying matrices and organic
      inorganic particles is determined. Previously, silicon was reported to be
      localized in active growth areas in the young bone of vertebrates. We have found
      evidence that biocalcification in evolutionarily distant organisms involves very
      similar initial phases with silicon as a key element at the organic-inorganic
      interface.

PMID- 20932910
TI  - Applications of the molecular dynamics flexible fitting method.
AB  - In recent years, cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) has established itself as a
      key method in structural biology, permitting the structural characterization of
      large biomolecular complexes in various functional states. The data obtained
      through single-particle cryo-EM has recently seen a leap in resolution thanks to
      landmark advances in experimental and computational techniques, resulting in sub
      nanometer resolution structures being obtained routinely. The remaining gap
      between these data and revealing the mechanisms of molecular function can be
      closed through hybrid modeling tools that incorporate known atomic structures
      into the cryo-EM data. One such tool, molecular dynamics flexible fitting (MDFF),
      uses molecular dynamics simulations to combine structures from X-ray
      crystallography with cryo-EM density maps to derive atomic models of large
      biomolecular complexes. The structures furnished by MDFF can be used subsequently
      in computational investigations aimed at revealing the dynamics of the complexes
      under study. In the present work, recent applications of MDFF are presented,
      including the interpretation of cryo-EM data of the ribosome at different stages
      of translation and the structure of a membrane-curvature-inducing photosynthetic
      complex.

PMID- 20932911
TI  - Age- and gender-related changes in the normal human brain using hybrid diffusion
      imaging (HYDI).
AB  - Diffusion tensor imaging has been widely used to study brain diseases, disorders,
      development, and aging. However, few studies have explored the effects of aging
      on diffusion imaging measures with higher b values. Further, the water diffusion
      in biological tissues appears biexponential, although this also has not been
      explored with aging. In this study, hybrid diffusion imaging (HYDI) was used to
      study 52 healthy subjects with an age range from 18 to 72 years. The HYDI
      diffusion-encoding scheme consisted of five concentric q-space shells with b
      values ranging from 0 to 9375 s/mm(2). Quantitative diffusion measures were
      investigated as a function of age and gender using both region-of-interest (whole
      brain white matter, genu and splenium of corpus callosum, posterior limb of the
      internal capsule) and whole-brain voxel-based analyses. Diffusion measures
      included measures of the diffusion probability density function (zero
      displacement probability and mean-squared displacement), biexponential diffusion
      (i.e., volume fractions of fast/slow diffusion compartments and fast/slow
      diffusivities), and DTI measures (fractional anisotropy, mean diffusivity, axial
      diffusivity, and radial diffusivity). The biexponential volume fraction, the fast
      diffusivity, and the axial diffusivity measures (f(1), D(1), and D(a)) were found
      to be more sensitive to normal aging than the restricted, slow and radial
      diffusion measures (P(0), D(2), and D(r)). The biexponential volume fraction,
      f(1), showed the most widespread age dependence in the voxel-based analyses,
      although both FA and mean diffusivity did show changes in frontal white matter
      regions that may be associated with age-related decline.

PMID- 20932912
TI  - Working memory maintenance of grasp-target information in the human posterior
      parietal cortex.
AB  - Event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging was applied to identify
      cortical areas involved in maintaining target information in working memory used
      for an upcoming grasping action. Participants had to grasp with their thumb and
      index finger of the dominant right hand three-dimensional objects of different
      size and orientation. Reaching-to-grasp movements were performed without visual
      feedback either immediately after object presentation or after a variable delay
      of 2-12 s. The right inferior parietal cortex demonstrated sustained neural
      activity throughout the delay, which overlapped with activity observed during
      encoding of the grasp target. Immediate and delayed grasping activated similar
      motor-related brain areas and showed no differential activity. The results
      suggest that the right inferior parietal cortex plays an important functional
      role in working memory maintenance of grasp-related information. Moreover, our
      findings confirm the assumption that brain areas engaged in maintaining
      information are also involved in encoding the same information, and thus extend
      previous findings on working memory function of the posterior parietal cortex in
      saccadic behavior to reach-to-grasp movements.

PMID- 20932913
TI  - Reducing the gradient artefact in simultaneous EEG-fMRI by adjusting the
      subject's axial position.
AB  - Large artefacts that compromise EEG data quality are generated when
      electroencephalography (EEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) are
      carried out concurrently. The gradient artefact produced by the time-varying
      magnetic field gradients is the largest of these artefacts. Although average
      artefact correction (AAS) and related techniques can remove the majority of this
      artefact, the need to avoid amplifier saturation necessitates the use of a large
      dynamic range and strong low-pass filtering in EEG recording. Any intrinsic
      reduction in the gradient artefact amplitude would allow data with a higher
      bandwidth to be acquired without amplifier saturation, thus increasing the
      frequency range of neuronal activity that can be investigated using combined EEG
      fMRI. Furthermore, gradient artefact correction methods assume a constant
      artefact morphology over time, so their performance is compromised by subject
      movement. Since the resulting, residual gradient artefacts can easily swamp
      signals from brain activity, any reduction in their amplitude would be highly
      advantageous for simultaneous EEG-fMRI studies. The aim of this work was to
      investigate whether adjustment of the subject's axial position in the MRI scanner
      can reduce the amplitude of the induced gradient artefact, before and after
      artefact correction using AAS. The variation in gradient artefact amplitude as a
      function of the subject's axial position was first investigated in six subjects
      by applying gradient pulses along the three Cartesian axes. The results of this
      study showed that a significant reduction in the gradient artefact magnitude can
      be achieved by shifting the subject axially by 4 cm towards the feet relative to
      the standard subject position (nasion at iso-centre). In a further study, the 4
      cm shift was shown to produce a 40% reduction in the RMS amplitude (and a 31%
      reduction in the range) of the gradient artefact generated during the execution
      of a standard multi-slice, EPI sequence. By picking out signals occurring at
      harmonics of the slice acquisition frequency, it was also shown that the 4-cm
      shift led to a 36% reduction in the residual gradient artefact after AAS.
      Functional and anatomical MR data quality is not affected by the 4-cm shift, as
      the head remains in the homogeneous region of the static magnet field and
      gradients.

PMID- 20932914
TI  - Effective connectivity analysis demonstrates involvement of premotor cortex
      during speech perception.
AB  - Several reports of premotor cortex involvement in speech perception have been put
      forward. Still, the functional role of premotor cortex is under debate. In order
      to investigate the functional role of premotor cortex, we presented
      parametrically varied speech stimuli in both a behavioral and functional magnetic
      resonance imaging (fMRI) study. White noise was transformed over seven distinct
      steps into a speech sound and presented to the participants in a randomized
      order. As control condition served the same transformation from white noise into
      a music instrument sound. The fMRI data were modelled with Dynamic Causal
      Modeling (DCM) where the effective connectivity between Heschl's gyrus, planum
      temporale, superior temporal sulcus and premotor cortex were tested. The fMRI
      results revealed a graded increase in activation in the left superior temporal
      sulcus. Premotor cortex activity was only present at an intermediate step when
      the speech sounds became identifiable but were still distorted but was not
      present when the speech sounds were clearly perceivable. A Bayesian model
      selection procedure favored a model that contained significant interconnections
      between Heschl's gyrus, planum temporal, and superior temporal sulcus when
      processing speech sounds. In addition, bidirectional connections between premotor
      cortex and superior temporal sulcus and from planum temporale to premotor cortex
      were significant. Processing non-speech sounds initiated no significant
      connections to premotor cortex. Since the highest level of motor activity was
      observed only when processing identifiable sounds with incomplete phonological
      information, it is concluded that premotor cortex is not generally necessary for
      speech perception but may facilitate interpreting a sound as speech when the
      acoustic input is sparse.

PMID- 20932915
TI  - Multisite reliability of cognitive BOLD data.
AB  - Investigators perform multi-site functional magnetic resonance imaging studies to
      increase statistical power, to enhance generalizability, and to improve the
      likelihood of sampling relevant subgroups. Yet undesired site variation in
      imaging methods could off-set these potential advantages. We used variance
      components analysis to investigate sources of variation in the blood oxygen level
      dependent (BOLD) signal across four 3-T magnets in voxelwise and region-of
      interest (ROI) analyses. Eighteen participants traveled to four magnet sites to
      complete eight runs of a working memory task involving emotional or neutral
      distraction. Person variance was more than 10 times larger than site variance for
      five of six ROIs studied. Person-by-site interactions, however, contributed
      sizable unwanted variance to the total. Averaging over runs increased between
      site reliability, with many voxels showing good to excellent between-site
      reliability when eight runs were averaged and regions of interest showing fair to
      good reliability. Between-site reliability depended on the specific functional
      contrast analyzed in addition to the number of runs averaged. Although median
      effect size was correlated with between-site reliability, dissociations were
      observed for many voxels. Brain regions where the pooled effect size was large
      but between-site reliability was poor were associated with reduced individual
      differences. Brain regions where the pooled effect size was small but between
      site reliability was excellent were associated with a balance of participants who
      displayed consistently positive or consistently negative BOLD responses. Although
      between-site reliability of BOLD data can be good to excellent, acquiring highly
      reliable data requires robust activation paradigms, ongoing quality assurance,
      and careful experimental control.

PMID- 20932916
TI  - Introducing graph theory to track for neuroplastic alterations in the resting
      human brain: a transcranial direct current stimulation study.
AB  - Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a non-invasive brain
      stimulation technique that alters cortical excitability and activity in a
      polarity-dependent way. Stimulation for a few minutes has been shown to induce
      plastic alterations of cortical excitability and to improve cognitive
      performance. These effects might be related to stimulation-induced alterations of
      functional cortical network connectivity. We aimed to investigate the impact of
      tDCS on cortical network function by functional connectivity and graph
      theoretical analysis of the BOLD fMRI spontaneous activity. fMRI resting-state
      datasets were acquired immediately before and after 10-min bipolar tDCS during
      rest, with the anode placed over the left primary motor cortex (M1) and the
      cathode over the contralateral frontopolar cortex. For each dataset, grey matter
      voxel-based synchronization matrices were calculated and thresholded to construct
      undirected graphs. Nodal connectivity degree and minimum path length maps were
      calculated and compared before and after tDCS. Nodal minimum path lengths
      significantly increased in the left somatomotor (SM1) cortex after anodal tDCS,
      which means that the number of direct functional connections from the left SM1 to
      topologically distant grey matter voxels significantly decreased. In contrast,
      functional coupling between premotor and superior parietal areas with the left
      SM1 significantly increased. Additionally, the nodal connectivity degree in the
      left posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) area as well as in the right dorsolateral
      prefrontal cortex (right DLPFC) significantly increased. In summary, we provide
      initial support that tDCS-induced neuroplastic alterations might be related to
      functional connectivity changes in the human brain. Additionally, we propose our
      approach as a powerful method to track for neuroplastic changes in the human
      brain.

PMID- 20932917
TI  - A multisensory investigation of the functional significance of the "pain matrix".
AB  - Functional neuroimaging studies in humans have shown that nociceptive stimuli
      elicit activity in a wide network of cortical areas commonly labeled as the "pain
      matrix" and thought to be preferentially involved in the perception of pain.
      Despite the fact that this "pain matrix" has been used extensively to build
      models of where and how nociception is processed in the human brain, convincing
      experimental evidence demonstrating that this network is specifically related to
      nociception is lacking. The aim of the present study was to determine whether
      there is at least a subset of the "pain matrix" that responds uniquely to
      nociceptive somatosensory stimulation. In a first experiment, we compared the
      fMRI brain responses elicited by a random sequence of brief nociceptive
      somatosensory, non-nociceptive somatosensory, auditory and visual stimuli, all
      presented within a similar attentional context. We found that the fMRI responses
      triggered by nociceptive stimuli can be largely explained by a combination of (1)
      multimodal neural activities (i.e., activities elicited by all stimuli regardless
      of sensory modality) and (2) somatosensory-specific but not nociceptive-specific
      neural activities (i.e., activities elicited by both nociceptive and non
      nociceptive somatosensory stimuli). The magnitude of multimodal activities
      correlated significantly with the perceived saliency of the stimulus. In a second
      experiment, we compared these multimodal activities to the fMRI responses
      elicited by auditory stimuli presented using an oddball paradigm. We found that
      the spatial distribution of the responses elicited by novel non-target and novel
      target auditory stimuli resembled closely that of the multimodal responses
      identified in the first experiment. Taken together, these findings suggest that
      the largest part of the fMRI responses elicited by phasic nociceptive stimuli
      reflects non nociceptive-specific cognitive processes.

PMID- 20932919
TI  - Linked independent component analysis for multimodal data fusion.
AB  - In recent years, neuroimaging studies have increasingly been acquiring multiple
      modalities of data and searching for task- or disease-related changes in each
      modality separately. A major challenge in analysis is to find systematic
      approaches for fusing these differing data types together to automatically find
      patterns of related changes across multiple modalities, when they exist.
      Independent Component Analysis (ICA) is a popular unsupervised learning method
      that can be used to find the modes of variation in neuroimaging data across a
      group of subjects. When multimodal data is acquired for the subjects, ICA is
      typically performed separately on each modality, leading to incompatible
      decompositions across modalities. Using a modular Bayesian framework, we develop
      a novel "Linked ICA" model for simultaneously modelling and discovering common
      features across multiple modalities, which can potentially have completely
      different units, signal- and contrast-to-noise ratios, voxel counts, spatial
      smoothnesses and intensity distributions. Furthermore, this general model can be
      configured to allow tensor ICA or spatially-concatenated ICA decompositions, or a
      combination of both at the same time. Linked ICA automatically determines the
      optimal weighting of each modality, and also can detect single-modality
      structured components when present. This is a fully probabilistic approach,
      implemented using Variational Bayes. We evaluate the method on simulated
      multimodal data sets, as well as on a real data set of Alzheimer's patients and
      age-matched controls that combines two very different types of structural MRI
      data: morphological data (grey matter density) and diffusion data (fractional
      anisotropy, mean diffusivity, and tensor mode).

PMID- 20932918
TI  - Maze training in mice induces MRI-detectable brain shape changes specific to the
      type of learning.
AB  - Multiple recent human imaging studies have suggested that the structure of the
      brain can change with learning. To investigate the mechanism behind such
      structural plasticity, we sought to determine whether maze learning in mice
      induces brain shape changes that are detectable by MRI and whether such changes
      are specific to the type of learning. Here we trained inbred mice for 5 days on
      one of three different versions of the Morris water maze and, using high
      resolution MRI, revealed specific growth in the hippocampus of mice trained on a
      spatial variant of the maze, whereas mice trained on the cued version were found
      to have growth in the striatum. The structure-specific growth found furthermore
      correlated with GAP-43 staining, a marker of neuronal process remodelling, but
      not with neurogenesis nor neuron or astrocyte numbers or sizes. Our findings
      provide evidence that brain morphology changes rapidly at a scale detectable by
      MRI and furthermore demonstrate that specific brain regions grow or shrink in
      response to the changing environmental demands. The data presented herein have
      implications for both human imaging as well as rodent structural plasticity
      research, in that it provides a tool to screen for neuronal plasticity across the
      whole brain in the mouse while also providing a direct link between human and
      mouse studies.

PMID- 20932921
TI  - Neurobiological substrate of smoking-related attentional bias.
AB  - Substance-dependent patients automatically and involuntarily allocate their
      attention to drug cues in the environment, a process referred to as attentional
      bias. Attentional bias is increased during periods of subjective craving and
      predictive of treatment outcome and relapse in substance dependence. Despite
      recent theoretical and clinical advances with regard to attentional bias, the
      underlying neurobiological mechanisms are largely unknown. The objective of the
      current study was to investigate the neural substrate of attentional bias and
      associated subjective craving in smokers. A group of smokers (n=20) and a group
      of age- and gender-matched nonsmoking controls (n=22) were recruited from the
      general population and participated in a single session of fMRI scanning while
      attentional processes were manipulated. Main outcome measures were blood oxygen
      level-dependent (BOLD) fMRI activation during an attentional bias paradigm and
      self-reported cigarette craving. Results of the current study show that the
      dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, the superior parietal gyrus, and the superior
      temporal gyrus were more strongly activated in smokers, as compared to controls,
      when they had to pay attention to task-relevant information (line counting) while
      smoking cues were present as distracters (attentional bias). Subjective craving
      measures during attentional bias correlated with brain activation in the insula
      and putamen. To our knowledge, this is the first controlled study that shows the
      brain regions involved in attentional bias in smokers. The current study
      demonstrates that brain regions contributing to top-down attentional processing
      are implicated in attentional bias in smokers, suggesting that smokers have to
      employ more attentional resources to focus on a standard cognitive task when
      smoking cues are present.

PMID- 20932920
TI  - The link between callosal thickness and intelligence in healthy children and
      adolescents.
AB  - The link between brain structure and intelligence is a well-investigated topic,
      but existing analyses have mainly focused on adult samples. Studies in healthy
      children and adolescents are rare, and normative data specifically addressing the
      association between corpus callosum morphology and intellectual abilities are
      quite limited. To advance this field of research, we mapped the correlations
      between standardized intelligence measures and callosal thickness based on high
      resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data. Our large and well-matched
      sample included 200 normally developing subjects (100 males, 100 females) ranging
      from 6 to 17 years of age. Although the strongest correlations were negative and
      confined to the splenium, the strength and the direction of intelligence-callosal
      thickness associations varied considerably. While significant correlations in
      females were mainly positive, significant correlations in males were exclusively
      negative. However, only the negative correlations in the overall sample (i.e.,
      males and females combined) remained significant when controlling for multiple
      comparisons. The observed negative correlations between callosal thickness and
      intelligence in children and adolescents contrast with the positive correlations
      typically reported in adult samples. However, negative correlations are in line
      with reports from other pediatric studies relating cognitive measures to other
      brain attributes such as cortical thickness, gray matter volume, and gray matter
      density. Altogether, these findings suggest that relationships between callosal
      morphology and cognition are highly dynamic during brain maturation. Sex effects
      on links between callosal thickness and intelligence during childhood and
      adolescence are present but appear rather weak in general.

PMID- 20932922
TI  - Test-retest stability of calibrated BOLD-fMRI in HIV- and HIV+ subjects.
AB  - Subject performance, scanner hardware, or biological factors can affect single
      session neuroimaging measures. Stability studies using calibrated blood
      oxygenation level-dependent functional magnetic resonance imaging (BOLD-fMRI)
      have been performed in health but not disease. We utilized calibrated BOLD-fMRI
      to determine the effects of HIV on neurovascular coupling. Six clinically stable
      HIV-infected patients (HIV+) and 10 seronegative controls (HIV-) were scanned at
      two separate sessions approximately 3 months apart. Both mild hypercapnia (5%
      CO(2)) exposure and a visual functional activation task were performed.
      Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) and inter-subject variance were
      determined for calibrated BOLD-fMRI measures (baseline cerebral blood flow (CBF),
      functional CBF, BOLD, and cerebral metabolic rate of oxygen consumption (CMRO(2))
      changes) for HIV+ and HIV- subjects. The two groups did not differ in age, sex,
      or education. HIV+ subjects had lower mean baseline CBF (p<0.04, Cohen's d=-1.07)
      and functional BOLD responses (p<0.001, Cohen's d=-2.47) and a trend towards a
      decrease in mean functional CBF responses (p=0.07, Cohen's d=-0.92) despite
      similar mean functional CMRO(2) changes (p=0.71, Cohen's d=0.19). The stability
      of each calibrated BOLD-fMRI measure, as assessed by ICC, was significantly lower
      for HIV+ subjects. In addition, HIV+ participants had greater inter-subject
      variability for baseline CBF (p<0.02), functional BOLD (p<0.001), CBF (p<0.001),
      and CMRO(2) (p<0.002) responses. Our results demonstrate that calibrated BOLD
      fMRI measures have excellent stability within healthy controls. In contrast,
      these values have greater variability in clinically stable HIV+ subjects and may
      reflect alterations in coupling between CBF and CMRO(2) with disease.

PMID- 20932923
TI  - Do patient's get angrier following STN, GPi, and thalamic deep brain stimulation.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to examine whether deep brain
      stimulation (DBS) of the subthalamic nucleus (STN), the globus pallidus internus
      (GPi), and/or the ventralis intermedius thalamic nucleus (Vim) was associated
      with making patients angrier pre to post-surgical intervention. BACKGROUND:
      Secondary outcome analysis of the NIH COMPARE Parkinson's Disease DBS trial
      revealed that participants were angrier and had more mood and cognitive side
      effects following DBS. Additionally blinded on/off analysis did not change anger
      scores. The sample size was small but suggested that STN DBS may have been worse
      than GPi in provoking anger. We endeavored to examine this question utilizing a
      larger dataset (the UF INFORM database), and also we included a third surgical
      target (Vim), which has been utilized for a different disease, essential tremor.
      METHODS: Consecutive patients from the University of Florida Movement Disorders
      Center who were implanted with unilateral DBS for Parkinson's disease (STN or
      GPi) or essential tremor (Vim) were included. Patients originally implanted at
      outside institutions were excluded. Pre-operative and 4- to 6-month post
      operative Visual Analog Mood Scale (VAMS) scores for all three groups were
      compared; additionally, pre-operative and 1- to 3-month scores were compared for
      STN and GPi patients. A linear regression model was utilized to analyze the
      relationship between the VAMS anger score and the independent variables of age,
      years with symptoms, Mini-Mental Status Examination (MMSE) score, handedness,
      ethnicity, gender, side of surgery, target of surgery, baseline Dementia Rating
      Scale (DRS) total score, baseline Beck Depression Index (BDI) score, micro- and
      macroelectrode passes, and years of education. Levodopa equivalent dosages and
      dopamine agonist use were analyzed for a potential impact on anger scores.
      RESULTS: A total of 322 unilateral DBS procedures were analyzed, with STN
      (n=195), Vim (n=71), and GPi (n=56) making up the cohort. An ANOVA was used to
      detect significant differences among the three targets in the changes pre- to
      post-operatively. Similar to the COMPARE dataset, at 4 months, the only subscore
      of VAMS to reveal a significant difference between the three targets was the
      angry subscore, with GPi revealing a mean (standard) change of 2.38 (9.53); STN,
      4.82 (14.52); and Vim, -1.17 (11.51) (p=0.012). At 1-3 months post-operation,
      both STN and GPi groups were significantly angrier (p=0.004), but there was no
      significant difference between the two groups. However, GPi patients were
      significantly more confused as compared to STN patients (p=0.016). The linear
      regression model which sought independent explanatory variables revealed a
      relationship between the VAMS anger score and the surgical target and the disease
      duration. The mean changes for STN and GPi DBS pre- to post-operation were 11.67
      (p=0.001) and 8.21 (p=0.022) units more than those with Vim, respectively. For
      every year added of disease duration, the VAMS anger score increased by 0.24
      (p=0.022). For the GPi and STN groups, number of microelectrode passes was
      significantly associated with angry score changes (p=0.014), with the anger score
      increasing 2.29 units per microelectrode pass. Independent variables not
      associated with the VAMS anger score included the surgery side, handedness,
      gender, ethnicity, education, age at surgery, MMSE, DRS, and BDI scores. Although
      the STN group significantly decreased in LED when compared to GPi, there was no
      relationship to anger scores. Similarly, dopamine agonist use was not different
      between STN and GPi groups and did not correlate with the VAMS anger score
      changes. CONCLUSIONS: STN and GPi DBS for Parkinson's disease were associated
      with significantly higher anger scores pre- to post-DBS as compared to Vim for
      essential tremor. Anger score changes in STN and GPi patients seem to be
      associated with microelectrode passes, suggesting that it may be a lesional
      effect. PD patients with longer disease duration may be particularly susceptible,
      and this should be kept in mind when discussing the potential of DBS surgery for
      an individual patient. Essential tremor patients who on average have much longer
      disease durations did not get angrier. The changes in anger scores were not
      related to LED change or dopamine agonist use. Whether the induction of anger is
      disease-specific or target-specific is not currently known; however, our data
      would suggest that PD patients implanted in STN or GPi are at a potential risk.
      Finally, on closer inspection of the COMPARE DBS data, VAMS anger scores did not
      change on or off DBS, suggesting that anger changes may be more of a lesional
      effect rather than a stimulation induced one (Okun et al., 2009).

PMID- 20932924
TI  - Allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation for chronic myelomonocytic
      leukemia: relapse-free survival is determined by karyotype and comorbidities.
AB  - Hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) offers potentially curative therapy for
      chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML). We evaluated HCT outcomes in 85 patients
      with CMML, 1.0-69.1 (median 51.7) years of age, with follow-up extending to 19
      years. CMML was considered de novo in 71 and secondary in 14 patients.
      Conditioning regimens were of various intensities. Thirty-eight patients had
      related (34 HLA identical), and 47 (39 HLA matched) unrelated donors. The source
      of stem cells was marrow in 32 and peripheral blood progenitor cells in 53
      patients. Acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) grades II-IV occurred in 72%
      and chronic GVHD (cGVHD) in 26% of patients. Relapse incidence was 27% at 10
      years. Relapse correlated with increasing scores by the MD Anderson prognostic
      score (P = .01). The major causes of death were relapse and infections +/-GVHD.
      Progression-free survival (PFS) was 38% at 10 years. Mortality was negatively
      correlated with pre-HCT hematocrit (P = .007), and increased with high-risk
      cytogenetics (P = .02), higher HCT Comorbidity Index (P = .0008), and increased
      age (P = .02). WHO classification did not statistically significantly affect
      outcome. Thus, a proportion of patients with CMML have lasting remissions
      following allogeneic HCT and appear to be cured of their disease.

PMID- 20932925
TI  - Prophylaxis with sirolimus and tacrolimus +/- antithymocyte globulin reduces the
      risk of acute graft-versus-host disease without an overall survival benefit
      following allogeneic stem cell transplantation.
AB  - Methotrexate (MTX) is a standard agent used in combination with calcineurin
      inhibitors for graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) prophylaxis in patients
      undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic cell (HCT) transplantation. We
      retrospectively compared the incidence of acute GVHD (aGVHD), transplant-related
      morbidity, and mortality in patients given sirolimus/tacrolimus +/- antithymocyte
      globulin (ATG) versus MTX/tacrolimus or cyclosporine and allogeneic
      transplantation for hematologic malignancies. Between January 1, 2005, and April
      30, 2009, 106 consecutive patients received peripheral blood HCT or bone marrow
      grafts after 1 of 6 myeloablative conditioning regimens. The incidence of grade
      II-IV aGVHD was 18.6% in patients who received sirolimus/tacrolimus compared to
      48.9% who received MTX (P = .001). The incidence of grade III-IV aGVHD was 5% and
      17% (P = .045), respectively. There was no difference in overall survival (OS)
      between the groups (P = .160). Chronic GVHD (cGVHD) occurred in 40.4% who
      received sirolimus and 41.9% receiving MTX (P = .89). The incidence of thrombotic
      microangiopathy or interstitial pneumonitis was not significantly different
      between groups. The reduction in the risk of severe aGVHD was offset by an
      increased (20% versus 4%, P = .015) incidence of and mortality from sinusoidal
      obstructive syndrome (SOS). Sirolimus/tacrolimus appears to reduce the incidence
      of aGVHD after conventional allotransplantion compared to MTX-calcineurin
      inhibitor prophylaxis; however, this did not improve survival.

PMID- 20932926
TI  - Mass spectrometry-based phosphoproteomics reveals multisite phosphorylation on
      mammalian brain voltage-gated sodium and potassium channels.
AB  - Voltage-gated sodium and potassium channels underlie electrical activity of
      neurons, and are dynamically regulated by diverse cell signaling pathways that
      ultimately exert their effects by altering the phosphorylation state of channel
      subunits. Recent mass spectrometric-based studies have led to a new appreciation
      of the extent and nature of phosphorylation of these ion channels in mammalian
      brain. This has allowed for new insights into how neurons dynamically regulate
      the localization, activity and expression through multisite ion channel
      phosphorylation.

PMID- 20932928
TI  - How native cells regulate their ion channels.

PMID- 20932929
TI  - Nitric oxide metabolism controlled by formaldehyde dehydrogenase (fdh, homolog of
      mammalian GSNOR) plays a crucial role in visual pattern memory in Drosophila.
AB  - Nitric oxide (NO) plays an important role in learning and memory which is
      essential for animals to adapt to the external environment. However, little is
      known about the role of NO metabolism in this process. S-nitrosoglutathione
      reductase (GSNOR) is a key protein in the control of NO metabolism and protein S
      nitrosation. To study the relationship between NO metabolism and learning and
      memory, the expression of gene fdh which is homolog to mammalian GSNOR was
      modulated by the Gal4/UAS system in Drosophila. The over-expression of the fdh in
      the central nervous system significantly increased GSNOR activity and induced
      visual pattern memory defects of Drosophila. The role of fdh in learning and
      memory was independent of development and was neuron-specific: over-expression of
      the fdh in the fan-shaped body induced memory defect, while over-expression in
      the mushroom body did not. The visual pattern memory defect could be rescued by
      co-expression with exogenous cGMP-dependent protein kinase (PKG). Moreover, fdh
      over-expression resulted in denitrosation of multiple proteins functionally
      enriched in vesicle-mediated transport, which is important for learning and
      memory. These results showed that regulation of NO metabolism plays an important
      role in learning and memory, and the mechanism may involve both NO-cGMP-PKG
      signaling pathway and S-nitrosation modification.

PMID- 20932927
TI  - Composition, assembly, and maintenance of excitable membrane domains in
      myelinated axons.
AB  - Neurons have many specialized membrane domains with diverse functions responsible
      for receiving, integrating, and transmitting electrical signals between cells in
      a circuit. Both the locations and protein compositions of these domains defines
      their functions. In axons, two of the most important membrane domains are the
      axon initial segment and the nodes of Ranvier. Proper assembly and maintenance of
      these domains is necessary for action potential generation and propagation, and
      the overall function of the neuron.

PMID- 20932930
TI  - Morphofunctional modifications in gill mitochondria-rich cells of Mozambique
      tilapia transferred from freshwater to 70% seawater, detected by dual
      observations of whole-mount immunocytochemistry and scanning electron microscopy.
AB  - Acute responses of gill mitochondria-rich (MR) cells to direct transfer from
      freshwater to 70% seawater were examined in a euryhaline teleost Mozambique
      tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus). Scanning electron microscopic (SEM)
      observations revealed that apical openings of MR cells were morphologically
      classified into an apical pit, a convex apical surface, a concave apical surface,
      and a transitory apical surface. Meanwhile, in whole-mount immunocytochemistry
      with anti-Na+/K+-ATPase (NKA), T4 antibody (detecting apical Na+/Cl-
      cotransporter (NCC) and basolateral Na+/K+/2 Cl- cotransporter (NKCC)), and anti
      Na+/H+ exchanger-3 (NHE3), NKA-immunoreactive MR cells were functionally
      classified into immature cells without both NKCC/NCC and NHE3 (type I), ion
      absorptive cells with apical NCC (type II), those with apical NHE3 (type III),
      and ion-secretory cells with basolateral NKCC (type IV). Dual observations of
      whole-mount immunocytochemistry and SEM clearly showed morphofunctional
      alterations in MR cells. After transfer to 70% seawater, type-II MR cells with a
      convex surface or pit closed their apical openings to suspend ion absorption.
      Type-III MR cells with a concave surface or pit were transformed into type-IV MR
      cells with an enlarged pit, via a transitory surface. Our findings indicate
      functional plasticity of type-III/IV MR cells to switch ion-transport functions,
      whereas type-II MR cells are considered to be specific for freshwater adaptation.

PMID- 20932931
TI  - Cyclic phosphatidic acid decreases proliferation and survival of colon cancer
      cells by inhibiting peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma.
AB  - Cyclic phosphatidic acid (cPA), a structural analog of lysophosphatidic acid
      (LPA), is one of the simplest phospholipids found in every cell type. cPA is a
      specific, high-affinity antagonist of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor
      gamma (PPARgamma); however, the molecular mechanism by which cPA inhibits
      cellular proliferation remains to be clarified. In this study, we found that
      inhibition of PPARgamma prevents proliferation of human colon cancer HT-29 cells.
      cPA suppressed cell growth, and this effect was reversed by the addition of a
      PPARgamma agonist. These results indicate that the physiological effects of cPA
      are partly due to PPARgamma inhibition. Our results identify PPARgamma as a
      molecular mediator of cPA activity in HT-29 cells, and suggest that cPA and the
      PPARgamma pathway might be therapeutic targets in the treatment of colon cancer.

PMID- 20932932
TI  - Functions and regulation of the 70kDa ribosomal S6 kinases.
AB  - The 70kDa ribosomal protein S6 kinases, S6K1 and S6K2 are two highly homologous
      serine/threonine kinases that are activated in response to growth factors,
      cytokines and nutrients. The S6 kinases have been linked to diverse cellular
      processes, including protein synthesis, mRNA processing, glucose homeostasis,
      cell growth and survival. Studies in model organisms have highlighted the roles
      that S6K activity plays in a number of pathologies, including obesity, diabetes,
      ageing and cancer. The importance of S6K function in human diseases has led to
      the development of S6K-specific inhibitors by a number of companies, offering the
      promise of improved tools with which to study these enzymes and potentially the
      effective targeting of deregulated S6K signalling in patients. Here we review the
      current literature on the role of S6Ks in the regulation of cell growth, survival
      and proliferation downstream of various signalling pathways and how their
      dysregulation contributes to the pathogenesis of human diseases.

PMID- 20932933
TI  - Small ubiquitin-related modifier-1: Wrestling with protein regulation.
AB  - Small ubiquitin-related modifier-1 (SUMO-1), a member of the SUMO family, is
      evolutionally conserved from yeast to humans. First identified in 1997, the
      active 97 amino acid protein conjugates to and modifies a wide variety of target
      proteins. Through post-translational SUMOylation of cellular proteins, SUMO-1 is
      involved in a myriad of biologically important events such as cell cycle
      progression, the maintenance of genome integrity, nuclear transport and
      apoptosis. Interestingly, SUMO-1 has been suggested to have the ability to act as
      an ubiquitin antagonist, with which it shares 18% identity. Given its wide
      variety of functions, it follows that alterations to this molecule could be
      implicated in many disease states. To date, dysregulated SUMOylation has been
      implicated in several neurodegenerative disorders, heart disease and cancer. This
      highlights not only the need for further research but also the potential of SUMO
      1 as a therapeutic target.

PMID- 20932934
TI  - Colorectal cancer cells - Proliferation, survival and invasion by
      lysophosphatidic acid.
AB  - Colorectal cancer (CRC) develops through a series of genetic modifications that
      transforms normal colonic epithelium to an adenoma and then ultimately
      adenocarcinoma. A body of evidence suggests that lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) is a
      potent inducer of cancer progression at multiple levels. However, the
      pathological significance and mechanisms of LPA-mediated effects in the
      intestinal tract have only recently drawn interests. CRC cells have aberrant LPA
      receptor expression and LPA enhances proliferation, survival, and invasion of CRC
      cells, implying LPA and its signaling pathways as potential targets for anti
      cancer therapies. The mechanisms of fostering CRC by LPA include dysregulation of
      transcription factors, activation of mitogen-activated protein kinases, pro
      inflammatory cytokines, and angiogenic factors. This review provides a brief
      summary of recent advance on the effects of LPA on CRC cells.

PMID- 20932935
TI  - Transgenic overexpression of HSP56 does not result in cardiac hypertrophy nor
      protect from ischaemia/reperfusion injury.
AB  - Heat shock proteins are known to be induced during and following different forms
      of cardiac stress. It has previously been shown that their expression is
      beneficial for the heart following trauma such as ischaemia-reperfusion (I/R)
      injury. Heat shock protein 56 (HSP56) belongs to the family of FK506-binding
      immunophilin proteins and is found in steroid receptor complexes, notably the
      glucocorticoid receptor. We have previously shown that HSP56 and other HSPs are
      induced in cardiac myocytes treated with cardiotrophin-1, a cytokine with potent
      hypertrophic and protective properties on cardiac cells. The hypertrophic action
      of cardiotrophin-1 on cardiac cells is dependent on HSP56 induction and
      overexpression of HSP56 is sufficient for inducing hypertrophy in cardiac cells.
      To investigate this phenomenon in vivo, we have generated transgenic mice
      overexpressing HSP56 and assessed them for the development cardiac hypertrophy
      and resistance of their hearts to I/R-injury by Langendorff perfusion. Mice
      generated demonstrated stable, yet varying expression levels of HSP56. Initial
      characterisation identified a sex-specific phenotype where male overexpressing
      mice exhibited a moderate, but significant, reduced body weight compared to wild
      type controls. In ex vivo stress analyses we found, unexpectedly, that
      significant overexpression of HSP56 does not induce myocardial hypertrophy and
      nor does it protect the intact heart from I/R-injury. These observations now
      suggest a more intricate HSP56-Sp. Cardiophenotype that requires further studies
      to determine if HSP56 is necessary in mediating hypertrophy induced by other
      myocardial stimuli.

PMID- 20932936
TI  - Unearthing a source of medicinal molecules.

PMID- 20932937
TI  - The role of alternative mRNA splicing in chromosome instability.
AB  - Chromosomal instability (CIN) involves the gain or loss of complete or partial
      chromosomes during cellular division, and it is a common characteristic of tumors
      that have aneuploidy. In addition, CIN is considered to be a closely related
      event to carcinogenesis. The mechanisms that lead to CIN include defects in the
      cohesion of sister chromatids, mitotic spindle checkpoint, and regulation of the
      number of centrosomes. Different studies have found that transcription variants,
      also known as isoforms, which are generated by the alternative splicing of exons
      and introns in mRNA that encodes many of the regulator proteins of chromosomal
      segregation, have an important role in mechanisms that lead to CIN. The majority
      of these isoforms are newly described. The discovery of additional isoforms and
      the study of their mechanisms of action allow a more integrated view of how cells
      regulate the segregation of their genetic material, and of how errors occur in
      chromosomal segregation.

PMID- 20932938
TI  - Inhibition of TNF-alpha-induced adhesion molecule expression by diosgenin in
      mouse vascular smooth muscle cells via downregulation of the MAPK, Akt and NF
      kappaB signaling pathways.
AB  - Atherosclerosis is a chronic inflammatory disease and the expression of adhesion
      molecules on vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) contributes to the progress of
      the disease. Diosgenin, a precursor of steroid hormones, has been shown to have a
      variety of biological activities including anti-inflammatory activity; however,
      its molecular mechanisms are poorly understood. This study examined the effect of
      diosgenin on the expression of adhesion molecules induced by TNF-alpha in
      cultured mouse VSMC cell line, MOVAS-1. Preincubation of VSMCs for 2h with
      diosgenin (0.1-10 MUM) dose-dependently inhibited TNF-alpha-induced adhesion of
      THP-1 monocytic cells and mRNA and protein expression of vascular cell adhesion
      molecule-1 (VCAM-1) and intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1). Diosgenin
      abrogated TNF-alpha induced production of intracellular reactive oxygen species
      (ROS) and phosphorylation of p38, ERK, JNK and Akt. Diosgenin was also shown to
      inhibit NK-kappaB activation induced by TNF-alpha. Furthermore, diosgenin
      inhibited TNF-alpha-induced IkappaB kinase activation, subsequent degradation of
      IkappaBalpha, and nuclear translocation of NF-kappaB. Our results indicate that
      diosgenin inhibits the adhesive capacity of VSMC and the TNF-alpha-mediated
      induction of ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 in VSMC by inhibiting the MAPK/Akt/NF-kappaB
      signaling pathway and ROS production, which may explain the ability of diosgenin
      to suppress inflammation within the atherosclerotic lesion and modulate immune
      response.

PMID- 20932939
TI  - Screening large numbers of expression patterns of transcription factors in late
      stages of the mouse thymus.
AB  - Transcription factor families are well known to be involved in the intrinsic
      pathways that regulate the organogenesis, early development, and microenvironment
      of the thymus. However, identification of the transcription factors (TFs)
      involved in the late development of the thymus, particularly later than embryonic
      day 15.5 (E15.5), is progressing slowly. In this study, we used in situ
      hybridization to screen numerous expression patterns of the TFs involved in the
      development of the mouse thymus. More than 400 members, including unique TFs and
      some transcription co-factors, were tested. Among the screened TFs, 160 were
      found to be expressed in the thymus after E15.5, and 74 of these were expressed
      in restricted areas.

PMID- 20932940
TI  - Distribution of the putative type VI secretion system core genes in Klebsiella
      spp.
AB  - The type VI secretion system (t6ss) is a recently characterized secretion system
      which appears to be involved in bacterial pathogenesis as a potential nano
      syringe for the translocation of effector proteins into the eukaryotic host cell
      cytoplasm. Until now no evidence was provided for the presence of t6ss in the
      genomes of the sequenced representatives of Klebsiella spp., including the human
      opportunistic pathogen Klebsiella pneumoniae. However, in a previous study by
      Lawlor et al. (2005), were revealed two insertion mutants in hypothetical
      proteins of K. pneumoniae with decreased ability to infect mouse spleen.
      Interestingly, these two putative proteins appear to be homologues with two
      characterized t6ss core proteins of Yersinia pestis. In order to investigate the
      presence of genes encoding for putative t6ss core components and putative
      effectors in Klebsiella spp., we have undertaken an in silico genome mining in
      three fully and one partially sequenced strains of K. pneumoniae, as well as a
      strain of the Klebsiella variicola. Moreover, we have investigated the
      phylogenetic relatedness of three core proteins of the Klebsiella t6ss with their
      orthologues of various bacteria species. Our analysis evidenced three
      distinguishable, conserved syntenies in Klebsiella spp. genomes that contain the
      recognised as putative t6ss genes. The results of our work taken together with
      the results on the functional analysis of insertion mutants, strongly suggest the
      existence of an organised t6ss mechanism that likely accounts of the host
      pathogen interaction.

PMID- 20932942
TI  - Testicular autoimmunity.
AB  - Although the testis is an immunoprivileged organ, infection and inflammation may
      overwhelm immunosuppressor mechanisms inducing autoimmune reactions against
      spermatic antigens which result in aspermatogenesis and infertility. Autoimmune
      orchitis is a model of chronic inflammation useful for elucidating pathogenic
      mechanisms involved in testicular damage. We developed experimental autoimmune
      orchitis (EAO) in rats by active immunization with spermatic antigens and
      adjuvants characterized by interstitial inflammatory cell infiltrate, apoptosis
      and sloughing of germ cells. Quantitative and phenotypic analysis of testis
      infiltrating cells revealed an increased number of macrophages, dendritic cells
      and T cell subsets that include effector Th1 and Th17 cells as well as Foxp3+
      regulatory T cells (T(regs)). Immune cells secrete pro-inflammatory cytokines,
      TNF-alpha, IFN-gamma, IL-6, IL-12, IL-17 and IL-23, which disrupt the normal
      testicular immunosuppressor microenvironment. As a consequence, increased numbers
      of germ cells expressing TNFR1, IL-6R and Fas undergo apoptosis. Functional
      analysis shows that dendritic cells in EAO testis have a mature immunogenic
      status and are able to induce immune responses to testicular antigens. We also
      observed that T(regs) accumulated in the inflamed testis are functionally
      suppressive but are unable to downregulate inflammation, probably due to the
      function limiting effect of pro-inflammatory cytokines.

PMID- 20932941
TI  - Expansions of NK-like alphabetaT cells with chronologic aging: novel lymphocyte
      effectors that compensate for functional deficits of conventional NK cells and T
      cells.
AB  - As the repertoire of alphabetaT cell receptors (TCR) contracts with advancing
      age, there is an associated age-dependent accumulation of oligoclonal T cells
      expressing of a variety of receptors (NKR), normally expressed on natural killer
      (NK) cells. Evidences for differential regulation of expression of particular
      NKRs between T cells and NK cells suggest that NKR expression on T cells is
      physiologically programmed rather than a random event of the aging process.
      Experimental studies show NKRs on aged alphabetaT cells may function either as
      independent receptors, and/or as costimulatory receptors to the TCR. Considering
      the reported deficits of conventional alphabetaTCR-driven activation and also
      functional deficits of classical NK cells, NKR(+) alphabetaT cells likely
      represent novel immune effectors that are capable of combining innate and
      adaptive functions. Inasmuch as immunity is a determinant of individual fitness,
      the type and density of NKRs could be important contributing factors to the wide
      heterogeneity of health characteristics of older adults, ranging from
      institutionalized frail elders who are unable to mount immune responses to
      functionally independent community-dwelling elders who exhibit protective
      immunity. Understanding the biology of NKR(+) alphabetaT cells could lead to new
      avenues for age-specific intervention to improve protective immunity.

PMID- 20932943
TI  - Injectable hydrogel scaffold from decellularized human lipoaspirate.
AB  - Soft tissue fillers are rapidly gaining popularity for aesthetic improvements or
      repair of adipose tissue deficits. Several injectable biopolymers have been
      investigated for this purpose, but often show rapid resorption or limited
      adipogenesis and do not mimic the native adipose extracellular matrix (ECM). We
      have generated an injectable adipose matrix scaffold by efficiently removing both
      the cellular and lipid contents of human lipoaspirate. The decellularized
      material retained the complex composition of peptides and glycosaminoglycans
      found in native adipose ECM. This matrix can be further processed by solubilizing
      the extracted ECM to generate a thermally responsive hydrogel that self-assembles
      upon subcutaneous injection. This hydrogel also supports the growth and survival
      of patient matched adipose-derived stem cells in vitro. The development of an
      injectable hydrogel from human lipoaspirate represents a minimally invasive
      option for adipose tissue engineering in terms of both the collection of source
      material and delivery of the scaffold.

PMID- 20932944
TI  - Modelling the carbon footprint of reflux control.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The NHS is responsible for approximately 30% of all public sector
      carbon emissions. The Climate Change Act 2008 introduced legally binding targets
      to cut emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) by at least 80% of the 1990 baseline
      by 2050. This paper seeks to examine two different strategies for the treatment
      of gastro-oesophageal reflux disease and their modelled costs and carbon
      emissions. METHODS: This study uses data from the costs of care of patients in
      the REFLUX study and NHS England Carbon Emissions Carbon Footprinting Report to
      model the carbon emissions associated with medical and surgical treatment of
      gastro-oesophageal reflux disease. The main outcome measures are modelled
      financial costs and carbon emissions for medical and surgical treatment pathways.
      RESULTS: There is a high initial cost (financially and carbon emissions) for
      surgery, however subsequent year-on-year financial spend and carbon emissions are
      lower in patients who have had surgical treatment such that the total modelled
      financial cost of surgery is lower in the 14th year and carbon emissions are
      lower in the 9th year. The model is sensitive to changes in the efficiency of
      pharmaceutical procurement and surgical failure rate. CONCLUSIONS: The model has
      demonstrated that in cases of equivalent clinical benefit one pathway may be
      preferred on the basis of other factors including carbon emissions.

PMID- 20932945
TI  - New ocular findings in two sisters with Yunis-Varon syndrome and literature
      review.
AB  - The Yunis-Varon syndrome (YVS) represents a rare autosomal recessive syndrome of
      easy recognition characterized by cleidocraneal dysplasia, absence of thumbs and
      halluces, distal aphalangia, ectodermal anomalies, and poor outcome. Here, we
      report two sisters with YVS who also had papillo-macular atrophic
      chorioretinopathy with "salt-and-pepper" appearance that could not be attributed
      to environmental or metabolic causes. Our best hypothesis is that the ocular
      findings in our two patients are part of the phenotypic manifestations of YVS. We
      suggest that an extensive ophthalmologic examination should be carried out in all
      children with YVS in order to define the frequency and nature of the ocular
      findings in these patients.

PMID- 20932946
TI  - Purification and characterization of intracellular lipase from the
      polyunsaturated fatty acid-producing fungus Mortierella alliacea.
AB  - Previous studies on an arachidonic acid-producing fungus, Mortierella alliacea YN
      15, suggested that its intracellular lipase plays an important role in the
      metabolism of exogenous and storage lipids. The lipase purified in this study
      through acetone precipitation and three-step chromatography was estimated to be
      about 11 kDa in size by SDS-PAGE and mass spectrometry, and it tended to form
      large aggregates in aqueous solution. The purified lipase retained its activity
      over wide ranges of pH (2-12) and temperature (20-80  degrees C). Its activity
      was enhanced by the Ca(2+) ion and reduced by some heavy metal ions, such as
      Zn(2+) and Hg(2+), and diethylpyrocarbonate. Among the various substrates tested,
      monoacylglycerols containing long-chain unsaturated fatty acids and
      phosphatidylcholine were preferentially hydrolyzed over triacylglycerols and
      fatty acid methyl esters. The lipase strongly hydrolyzed the sn-1/3 ester bonds
      and weakly hydrolyzed the sn-2 ester bonds of triolein, and it also catalyzed the
      acylglycerol synthesis reaction in a solvent-free two-phase system. The results
      indicate that triacylglycerol may be formed via 2-monoacylglycerol. Thus, the
      highly stable M. alliacea lipase may be useful for the synthesis of structured
      lipids, particularly acylglycerols containing functional unsaturated fatty acids
      at the sn-2 position.

PMID- 20932947
TI  - Bone tissue engineering bioreactors: dynamic culture and the influence of shear
      stress.
AB  - A bone tissue engineering strategy involving the in vitro expansion of cells on a
      scaffold before implantation into the body represents a promising alternative to
      current clinical treatments. To improve in vitro culture, bioreactor systems have
      been widely researched for bone tissue engineering purposes. Spinner flask,
      rotating wall bioreactors, and perfusion systems have all been the focus of
      experiments, and each system has advantages and disadvantages. This review seeks
      to summarize these efforts and provide the current status of research in this
      area. Research using spinner flasks and rotating wall bioreactors is discussed,
      but focus is placed on perfusion bioreactor systems. While spinner flasks and
      rotating wall bioreactors have been shown to improve in vitro culture conditions
      by increasing homogeneity of nutrients in the media, perfusion systems expose
      cells to shear stress and more efficiently enhance nutrient transfer. Enhanced
      mineralized matrix deposition and enhancement of osteoblastic signal expression
      in response to culture in these systems have been widely reported. This review
      provides analysis of the causes of these changes in signal expression as well as
      reports on bioreactor systems that have been commercialized.

PMID- 20932948
TI  - Adipokines, bone-derived factors and bone turnover in obese children; evidence
      for altered fat-bone signalling resulting in reduced bone mass.
AB  - Obese children, particularly those who have fractured, have reduced body size
      adjusted total body and regional bone mass. We performed an observational cross
      sectional cohort study to determine the relationship between adipokines (leptin
      and adiponectin), bone-derived cytokines and bone turnover in children which may
      explain this observation. Participants aged 5-16 years were recruited into obese
      (BMI SDS 3.3+/-0.6) and lean (BMI SDS 0.2+/-1.0) groups and further subdivided
      into groups by fracture history. Free leptin (leptin/leptin soluble receptor) and
      adiponectin; RANK-ligand (RANKL), osteoprotegerin (OPG); Dickkopf-1 (DKK1); and
      the bone turnover markers procollagen type I amino propeptide (P1NP) and carboxy
      terminal telopeptide of type I collagen (CTx). Total body and truncal fat mass
      were measured by DXA. RESULTS: Free leptin (p>0.0001) and adiponectin (p=0.0002)
      were higher and lower in obese children respectively. OPG was lower in obese
      children (p=0.01), being inversely related to free leptin (p=0.009), total body
      and truncal fat mass (both p=0.01). RANKL was inversely related to free leptin in
      children with prior fracture (p=0.03). CTx was higher in obese children
      (p=0.003). Free leptin was positively associated with both CTx (p=0.03) and P1NP
      (p=0.02). DKK1 was inversely related to adiponectin (p=0.02). CONCLUSION: Bone
      formation relative to resorption was reduced in obese children; this difference
      was accentuated in those with prior fracture. Adipokines may regulate these
      changes. Osteoprotegerin may play a fundamental role in the failure of obese
      children to accrue bone mass appropriately.

PMID- 20932950
TI  - WITHDRAWN: Characterization of botulinum progenitor neurotoxin A complexes by
      blue native gel electrophoresis and mass spectrometry.
AB  - This article has been withdrawn at the request of the author(s) and/or editor.
      The Publisher apologizes for any inconvenience this may cause. The full Elsevier
      Policy on Article Withdrawal can be found at
      http://www.elsevier.com/locate/withdrawalpolicy.

PMID- 20932949
TI  - Lithium chloride attenuates BMP-2 signaling and inhibits osteogenic
      differentiation through a novel WNT/GSK3- independent mechanism.
AB  - Lithium inhibition of glycogen synthase kinase3 (GSK3) activity has been shown to
      mimic the canonical WNT signaling. Analogous to WNT, lithium prevents GSK3
      mediated phosphorylation of cytosolic transcription factor beta-catenin and its
      subsequent degradation by the proteasome complex. Although stabilization of beta
      catenin in osteoblasts has been shown to promote bone mass accrual in a mouse
      model, several studies reported inhibitory effects of lithium supplements on the
      osteogenic differentiation of cultured mesenchymal stem cells. One possible
      explanation for these apparent contradictory findings might be that lithium
      affects the differentiation of osteoblast progenitors through additional
      signaling events, which independently or in concert with WNT signaling, affect
      the bone resorption activities in vivo. In the current study, we used murine
      MC3T3-E1 pre-osteoblasts and a pluripotent mesenchymal cell line C2C12 to
      investigate lithium effects during the early stages of osteoblast
      differentiation. We demonstrate here that lithium inhibits BMP-2 signaling to
      affect osteogenic differentiation in both cell lines. Lithium treatment reduces
      BMP-2-induced SMAD 1,5,8 phosphorylation in both MC3T3-E1 and C2C12 cells without
      affecting their dephosphorylation. Additionally, in MC3T3-E1 cells, lithium
      attenuates BMP-2-induced osteogenic differentiation through GSK3 inhibition;
      while in C2C12 cells, these negative effects of lithium ions on BMP-2 signaling
      do not rely on GSK3 inhibition or activation of canonical WNT signaling. Our work
      suggests the presence of a novel GSK3/WNT-independent mechanism of lithium action
      during the early stages of osteogenic differentiation.

PMID- 20932951
TI  - Histamine and tele-methylhistamine quantification in cerebrospinal fluid from
      narcoleptic subjects by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry with
      precolumn derivatization.
AB  - An ultra-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (UPLCTM
      MS/MS) assay was developed for the simultaneous analysis of histamine, its major
      metabolite tele-methylhistamine, and an internal standard (N-tele-(R)-alpha
      dimethylhistamine) from human cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples. The method
      involves derivatization of primary amines with 4-bromobenzenesulfonyl chloride
      and subsequent analysis by reversed phase liquid chromatography with mass
      spectrometry detection and positive electrospray ionization. The separation of
      derivatized biogenic amines was achieved within 3.5 min on an Acquity(r) BEH
      C(18) column by elution with a linear gradient of acetonitrile/water/formic acid
      (0.1%). The assay was linear in the concentration range of 50-5000 pM for each
      amine (5.5-555 pg/ml for histamine and 6.25-625 pg/ml for tele-methylhistamine).
      For repeatability and precision determination, coefficients of variation (CVs)
      were less than 11.0% over the tested concentration ranges, within acceptance
      criteria. Thus, the developed method provides the rapid, easy, highly sensitive,
      and selective requirement to quantify these amines in human CSF. No significant
      difference was found in the mean +/- standard error levels of these amines
      between a group of narcoleptic patients (histamine=392 +/- 64 pM, tele
      methylhistamine=2431 +/- 461 pM, n=7) and of neurological control subjects
      (histamine=402 +/- 72 pM, tele-methylhistamine=2209 +/- 463 pM, n=32).

PMID- 20932952
TI  - Enzymes of the mevalonate pathway of isoprenoid biosynthesis.
AB  - The mevalonate pathway accounts for conversion of acetyl-CoA to isopentenyl 5
      diphosphate, the versatile precursor of polyisoprenoid metabolites and natural
      products. The pathway functions in most eukaryotes, archaea, and some eubacteria.
      Only recently has much of the functional and structural basis for this metabolism
      been reported. The biosynthetic acetoacetyl-CoA thiolase and HMG-CoA synthase
      reactions rely on key amino acids that are different but are situated in active
      sites that are similar throughout the family of initial condensation enzymes.
      Both bacterial and animal HMG-CoA reductases have been extensively studied and
      the contrasts between these proteins and their interactions with statin
      inhibitors defined. The conversion of mevalonic acid to isopentenyl 5-diphosphate
      involves three ATP-dependent phosphorylation reactions. While bacterial enzymes
      responsible for these three reactions share a common protein fold, animal enzymes
      differ in this respect as the recently reported structure of human
      phosphomevalonate kinase demonstrates. There are significant contrasts between
      observations on metabolite inhibition of mevalonate phosphorylation in bacteria
      and animals. The structural basis for these contrasts has also recently been
      reported. Alternatives to the phosphomevalonate kinase and mevalonate diphosphate
      decarboxylase reactions may exist in archaea. Thus, new details regarding
      isopentenyl diphosphate synthesis from acetyl-CoA continue to emerge.

PMID- 20932953
TI  - Ketoconazole and miconazole alter potassium homeostasis in Saccharomyces
      cerevisiae.
AB  - The effects of ketoconazole and miconazole uptake on K(+) transport and the
      internal pH of Saccharomyces cerevisiae were studied. The uptake of both drugs
      was very fast, linear with concentration and not dependent on glucose, indicating
      entrance by diffusion and concentrating inside. Low (5.0MUM) to intermediate
      concentrations (40MUM) of both drugs produced a glucose-dependent K(+) efflux;
      higher ones also produced a small influx of protons, probably through a K(+)/H(+)
      exchanger, resulting in a decrease of the internal pH of the cells and the efflux
      of material absorbing at 260nm and phosphate. The cell membrane was not
      permeabilized. The K(+) efflux with miconazole was dependent directly on the
      medium pH. This efflux results in an increased membrane potential, responsible
      for an increased Ca(2+) uptake and other effects. These effects were not observed
      with two triazolic antifungals. A decrease of the Zeta (zeta) potential was
      observed at low concentrations of miconazole. Although the main effect of these
      antifungals is the inhibition of ergosterol synthesis, K(+) efflux is an
      important additional effect to be considered in their therapeutic use. Under
      certain conditions, the use of single mutants of several transporters involved in
      the movements of K(+) allowed to identify the participation of several
      antiporters in the efflux of the cation.

PMID- 20932955
TI  - Activation of astrocytes in the spinal cord contributes to the development of
      bilateral allodynia after peripheral nerve injury in rats.
AB  - Activation of spinal cord microglia and astrocytes after peripheral nerve injury
      contributes to the development of behavioral hypersensitivity. Suppression of
      spinal cord glial activation attenuates the development of nerve injury-induced
      allodynia. The contribution of spinal cord glia to existing allodynia, however,
      is not known. We investigated whether intrathecally administered propentofylline,
      a glial inhibitor, reverses existing allodynia after nerve injury. Male Sprague
      Dawley rats underwent L5 spinal nerve transection, and mechanical allodynia was
      assessed by measuring hind paw withdrawal thresholds bilaterally using von Frey
      filaments. Rats received either saline or propentofylline (1, 3, and 10 MUg/d)
      for 7 days (days 0-7) by intrathecal infusion with an osmotic minipump. Other
      groups of rats received either intrathecal infusion of saline or propentofylline
      (10 MUg/d) for 7 days on days 14-21 or 60-67 after surgery. After completing the
      intrathecal infusion, lumbar spinal cord sections were assessed for
      immunostaining of astrocytic glial fibrillary acidic protein and microglial OX
      42. Propentofylline infusion on days 0-7 suppressed development of allodynia in
      both the ipsilateral and contralateral hind paws in a dose-dependent manner.
      Propentofylline treatment on days 14-21 or 60-67 did not reverse existing
      allodynia. Propentofylline infusion (10 MUg/d) inhibited astrocytic activation
      bilaterally on days 0-7, 14-21, and 60-67 and inhibited microglial activation on
      days 14-21 but not on days 0-7 and 60-67. These results suggest that activation
      of spinal glia, especially astrocytes, dominantly contributes to the development
      of neuropathic pain and also to mirror-image pain.

PMID- 20932954
TI  - Effects of individual segmental trisomies of human chromosome 21 syntenic regions
      on hippocampal long-term potentiation and cognitive behaviors in mice.
AB  - As the genomic basis for Down syndrome (DS), human trisomy 21 is the most common
      genetic cause of intellectual disability in children and young people. The
      genomic regions on human chromosome 21 (Hsa21) are syntenic to three regions in
      the mouse genome, located on mouse chromosome 10 (Mmu10), Mmu16, and Mmu17.
      Recently, we have developed three new mouse models using chromosome engineering
      carrying the genotypes of Dp(10)1Yey/+, Dp(16)1Yey/+, or Dp(17)1Yey/+, which
      harbor a duplication spanning the entire Hsa21 syntenic region on Mmu10, Mmu16,
      or Mmu17, respectively. In this study, we analyzed the hippocampal long-term
      potentiation (LTP) and cognitive behaviors of these models. Our results show
      that, while the genotype of Dp(17)1Yey/+ results in abnormal hippocampal LTP, the
      genotype of Dp(16)1Yey/+ leads to both abnormal hippocampal LTP and impaired
      learning/memory. Therefore, these mutant mice can serve as powerful tools for
      further understanding the mechanism underlying cognitively relevant phenotypes
      associated with DS, particularly the impacts of different syntenic regions on
      these phenotypes.

PMID- 20932956
TI  - Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and polysialylated-neural cell adhesion
      molecule (PSA-NCAM): codistribution in the human brainstem precerebellar nuclei
      from prenatal to adult age.
AB  - Occurrence and distribution of the neurotrophin brain-derived neurotrophic factor
      (BDNF) and polysialylated-neural cell adhesion molecule (PSA-NCAM), a
      neuroplasticity marker known to modulate BDNF signalling, were examined by
      immunohistochemistry in the human brainstem precerebellar nuclei at prenatal,
      perinatal and adult age. Western blot analysis performed in human brainstem
      showed for both molecules a single protein band compatible with the molecular
      weight of the dimeric form of mature BDNF and with that of PSA-NCAM.
      Detectability of both molecules up to 72h post-mortem was also assessed in rat
      brain. In neuronal perikarya, BDNF-like immunoreactivity (LI) appeared as
      intracytoplasmic granules, whereas PSA-NCAM-LI appeared mostly as peripheral
      staining, indicative of membrane labelling; immunoreactivity to both substances
      also labelled nerve fibres and terminals. BDNF- and PSA-NCAM-LI occurred in the
      external cuneate nucleus, perihypoglossal nuclei, inferior olive complex, arcuate
      nucleus, lateral reticular formation, vestibular nuclei, pontine
      reticulotegmental and paramedian reticular nuclei, and pontine basilar nuclei.
      With few exceptions, for both substances the distribution pattern detected at
      prenatal age persisted later on, though the immunoreactivity appeared often
      higher in pre- and full-term newborns than in adult specimens. The results
      obtained suggest that BDNF operates in the development, maturation, maintenance
      and plasticity of human brainstem precerebellar neuronal systems. They also imply
      a multiple origin for the BDNF-LI of the human cerebellum. The codistribution of
      BDNF- and PSA-NCAM-LI in analyzed regions suggests that PSA-NCAM may modulate the
      functional interaction between BDNF and its high and low affinity receptors, an
      issue worth further analysis, particularly in view of the possible clinical
      significance of neuronal trophism in cerebellar neurodegenerative disorders.

PMID- 20932957
TI  - Natural antioxidants synergistically enhance the anticancer potential of AP9-cd,
      a novel lignan composition from Cedrus deodara in human leukemia HL-60 cells.
AB  - Antioxidants have been used as adjuvant with anticancer therapy to synergize the
      potential of the anti-neoplastic therapeutics. Based on the fact, we have studied
      the effect of three natural antioxidants curcumin, silymarin and acteoside on AP9
      cd (standardized lignan composition from Cedrus deodara) induced cytotoxicity in
      human leukemia HL-60 cells. The antioxidant potential of individual test
      compounds was first evaluated with ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) test,
      which revealed that all four molecules behave as antioxidants. The apoptotic
      potential of AP9-cd was significantly enhanced in HL-60 cells in the presence of
      curcumin, silymarin and acteoside. It was confirmed by using various models like
      MTT assay, DNA fragmentation, nuclei condensation, sub-Go DNA population, Annexin
      V-FITC binding, ROS depletion and immunoblotting in HL-60 cells. AP9-cd and
      individual antioxidants alone at low doses (10MUg and 10MUM, respectively) have
      meager or no cytotoxicity in HL-60 cells, whereas in mutual combinations, there
      were 2-3 times enhancement in Annexin-V-FITC and sub-Go DNA population. Moreover,
      prominent DNA ladders were observed at low doses of AP9-cd in combinations with
      various antioxidants. The Hoechst staining of the nucleus also revealed the same
      results for the HL-60 cells treated with AP9-cd and different antioxidants. The
      molecular diagnostics revealed that the combinations induced a strong antioxidant
      effect which was correlated with the downregulation of NF-kappaB expression in
      the nucleus. Out of the three antioxidants, curcumin was found to be more potent
      than acteoside and silymarin in terms of enhancing the apoptotic potential of AP9
      cd. These results propose an important role of natural antioxidant as adjuvant to
      enhance the anticancer potential of AP9-cd and more likely other anti-neoplastic
      therapeutics.

PMID- 20932958
TI  - Interaction of 1,3,4-thiadiazolium mesoionic derivatives with mitochondrial
      membrane and scavenging activity: Involvement of their effects on mitochondrial
      energy-linked functions.
AB  - The aim of this work was to assess the significance of the interaction of the
      1,3,4-thiadiazolium derivatives MI-J, MI-4F and MI-2,4diF with mitochondrial
      membrane and their effects on energy-linked functions. Mitochondrial swelling in
      the absence of substrate was inhibited by all derivatives; however, the fluorine
      derivatives were most effective. MI-4F decreased swelling by ~32% even at the
      lowest concentration (65 nmol mg(-1) protein), reaching ~67% at the concentration
      of 130 nmol mg(-1) protein. Swelling of mitochondria in the presence of
      oxidizable substrates was also strongly decreased by all derivatives. This effect
      was more pronounced when using glutamate plus malate, and also fluorine
      derivatives, which promoted complete inhibition at all concentrations (6.5-130
      nmol mg(-1) protein). Swelling occurred when succinate was the substrate in the
      presence of MI-J (6.5-65 nmol mg(-1) protein); however, the shrinkage rate was
      strongly decreased. MI-4F and MI-2,4diF also inhibited swelling, with total
      inhibition occurring at a concentration of 65 nmol mg(-1) protein. Lipid
      peroxidation induced by Fe(3+)-ADP/2-oxoglutarate in isolated mitochondria was
      inhibited time- and dose-dependently by the derivatives, reaching complete
      inhibition at the highest concentration (80 nmol mg(-1) protein). However, when
      lipid peroxidation was initiated by peroxyl radicals generated from AAPH, the
      inhibition was less intense, reaching ~50%, ~40% and ~58% with MI-J, MI-4F and MI
      2,4diF (80 nmol mg(-1) protein), respectively. The mesoionic compounds also
      showed superoxide radical scavenging ability of ~22%, ~32% and ~40% (80 nmol mg(
      1) protein), respectively. Fluorescence polarization experiments showed that the
      derivatives are able to enter the bilayer, decreasing its fluidity in the
      hydrophobic DMPC membrane region and ordering the fluid phase. Our results
      suggest that MI-J, MI-4F and MI-2,4diF interact significantly, albeit in
      different modes, with mitochondrial membrane, and that fluorine derivatives seem
      to alter the membrane's properties more markedly.

PMID- 20932959
TI  - Sub-chronic administration of doxorubicin to Wistar rats results in oxidative
      stress and unaltered apoptotic signaling in the lung.
AB  - Despite the vast published data on cardiac toxicity, there is still little work
      done regarding the toxicity of the antineoplastic agent Doxorubicin (DOX) in the
      lung. The aim of the present work was to determine if DOX causes alterations in
      selected apoptotic proteins and oxidative stress in the lung, in a similar manner
      to what occurs in the heart. For that purpose, lungs from Wistar-Han rats sub
      chronically treated with vehicle or DOX for seven weeks were collected and
      analyzed concerning several proteins involved in mitochondrial permeabilization
      and apoptotic pathways, including p53, Bax and Bcl-2 and different oxidative
      stress markers. After sub-chronic DOX treatment, no alterations in lung proteins
      involved in mitochondrial membrane permeabilization or caspase 3 and 9-like
      activities were found. Nevertheless, an increase in malondialdehyde levels and a
      decrease in the lung concentration of vitamin E were detected, despite no
      alterations in reduced and oxidized glutathione. The results obtained indicate
      for the first time that lungs from DOX-treated rats appear to be susceptible to
      increased lipid peroxidation, which can explain some cases of DOX-induced lung
      toxicity.

PMID- 20932960
TI  - Naringenin, a flavanone inhibits the proliferation of cerebrally implanted C6
      glioma cells in rats.
AB  - Tumor cells are able to survive and proliferate in spite of their increased
      oxidative stress. This was taken as a hint for the implication of
      oxidants/antioxidants in the proliferation of glial-tumor cells. In the present
      study, an anti-proliferative effect of Naringenin, an antioxidant against
      cerebrally implanted C6 glioma cells in rats has been investigated. The status of
      lipid peroxidation/antioxidants, expressions of protein kinase C, nuclear factor
      kappaB, cyclin D1, cyclin dependent kinase 4, proliferating cell nuclear antigen,
      vascular endothelial growth factor, argyophillic nucleolar organizing regions and
      histopathology of brain tissues of control and experimental rats were analyzed.
      On supplementation of naringenin (50mg/kg BW for 30 days) to glioma induced rats,
      there was a reduction in lipid peroxidation with an increased antioxidant status.
      There was a significant decrease in the expressions of protein kinase C, nuclear
      factor kappaB, cyclin D1 and cyclin dependent kinase 4 on naringenin treatment.
      Further, the drug could modulate the glial-tumor cell proliferation as evidenced
      from the histopathological findings, argyophillic nucleolar organizing regions
      staining, proliferating cell nuclear antigen and vascular endothelial growth
      factor immunostaining. The findings suggest that naringenin could underlie the
      inhibition of glial tumor cell proliferation in C6 glioma models of rat.

PMID- 20932961
TI  - Protective role of arzanol against lipid peroxidation in biological systems.
AB  - This study examines the protective effect of arzanol, a pyrone-phloroglucinol
      etherodimer from Helichrysum italicum subsp. microphyllum, against the oxidative
      modification of lipid components induced by Cu(2+) ions in human low density
      lipoprotein (LDL) and by tert-butyl hydroperoxide (TBH) in cell membranes. LDL
      pre-treatment with arzanol significantly preserved lipoproteins from oxidative
      damage at 2h of oxidation, and showed a remarkable protective effect on the
      reduction of polyunsaturated fatty acids and cholesterol levels, inhibiting the
      increase of oxidative products (conjugated dienes fatty acids hydroperoxides,
      7beta-hydroxycholesterol, and 7-ketocholesterol). Arzanol, at non-cytotoxic
      concentrations, exerted a noteworthy protection on TBH-induced oxidative damage
      in a line of fibroblasts derived from monkey kidney (Vero cells) and in human
      intestinal epithelial cells (Caco-2), decreasing, in both cell lines, the
      formation of oxidative products (hydroperoxides and 7-ketocholesterol) from the
      degradation of unsaturated fatty acids and cholesterol. The cellular uptake and
      transepithelial transport of the compound were also investigated in Caco-2 cell
      monolayers. Arzanol appeared to accumulate in Caco-2 epithelial cells. This
      phenol was able to pass through the intestinal Caco-2 monolayers, the apparent
      permeability coefficients (P(app)) in the apical-to-basolateral and basolateral
      to-apical direction at 2h were 1.93+/-0.36*10(-5) and 2.20+/-0.004*10(-5)cm/s,
      respectively, suggesting a passive diffusion pathway. The results of the work
      qualify arzanol as a potent natural antioxidant with a protective effect against
      lipid oxidation in biological systems.

PMID- 20932962
TI  - Chlorinated and brominated phosphatidylcholines are generated under the influence
      of the Fenton reagent at low pH-a MALDI-TOF MS study.
AB  - Lipid (phospholipid) oxidation is an increasingly important research topic due to
      the significant physiological relevance. The Fenton reaction, i.e. the transition
      metal catalyzed decomposition of H(2)O(2) is frequently used to generate hydroxyl
      radicals (HO*). Lipids with unsaturated fatty acyl residues are primarily
      converted by HO* radicals into peroxides. In contrast, chloro- and bromohydrins
      as well as dihalogenides are formed by the addition of HOCl or HOBr to the
      olefinic groups of the fatty acyl residues of lipids or under the influence of
      the enzyme myeloperoxidase (MPO) from Cl(-) and H(2)O(2). We will show here by
      using MALDI-TOF MS for product analysis that halogenated products may also be
      generated in the presence of the Fenton reagent, if either FeCl(2) or FeBr(2) is
      used. In the presence of FeSO(4), however, peroxides are exclusively generated.
      It will also be shown that the generation of halogen-containing products is a
      competing reaction with the cleavage of the double bond under generation of the
      corresponding aldehyde or carboxylic acid that is favored at prolonged incubation
      times and at elevated pH.

PMID- 20932963
TI  - New pH-sensitive liposomes containing phosphatidylethanolamine and a bacterial
      dirhamnolipid.
AB  - Phosphatidylethanolamine-based pH-sensitive liposomes of various compositions
      have been described as efficient systems for cytoplasmic delivery of molecules
      into cells. Incorporation of an amphiphile of appropriate structure is needed for
      the stabilization and performance of these vesicles. Among the wide variety of
      interesting activities displayed by Pseudomonas aeruginosa dirhamnolipids (diRL),
      is their capacity to stabilize bilayer structures in phosphatidylethanolamine
      systems. In this work, X-ray scattering, dynamic light scattering, fluorescence
      spectroscopy and fluorescence microscopy have been used to study the structure
      and pH-dependent behaviour of phosphatidylethanolamine/diRL liposomes. We show
      that diRL, in combination with dioleoylphosphatidylethanolamine (DOPE), forms
      stable multilamellar and unilamellar liposomes. Acidification of DOPE/diRL
      vesicles leads to membrane destabilization, fusion, and release of entrapped
      aqueous vesicle contents. Finally, DOPE/diRL pH-sensitive liposomes act as
      efficient vehicles for the cytoplasmic delivery of fluorescent probes into
      cultured cells. It is concluded that DOPE/diRL form stable pH-sensitive
      liposomes, and that these liposomes are incorporated into cultured cells through
      the endocytic pathway, delivering its contents into the cytoplasm, which means a
      potential use of these liposomes for the delivery of foreign substances into
      living cells. Our results establish a new application of diRL as a bilayer
      stabilizer in phospholipid vesicles, and the use of diRL-containing pH-sensitive
      liposomes as delivery vehicles.

PMID- 20932964
TI  - AFM study of the thermotropic behaviour of supported DPPC bilayers with and
      without the model peptide WALP23.
AB  - Temperature-controlled Atomic Force Microscopy (TC-AFM) in Contact Mode is used
      here to directly image the mechanisms by which melting and crystallization of
      supported, hydrated DPPC bilayers proceed in the presence and absence of the
      model peptide WALP23. Melting from the gel L(beta)' to the liquid-crystalline
      L(alpha) phase starts at pre-existing line-type packing defects (grain
      boundaries) in absence of the peptide. The exact transition temperature is shown
      to be influenced by the magnitude of the force exerted by the AFM probe on the
      bilayer, but is higher than the main transition temperature of non-supported DPPC
      vesicles in all cases due to bilayer-substrate interactions. Cooling of the fluid
      L(alpha) bilayer shows the formation of the line-type defects at the borders
      between different gel-phase regions that originate from different nuclei. The
      number of these defects depends directly on the rate of cooling through the
      transition, as predicted by classical nucleation theory. The presence of the
      transmembrane, synthetic model peptide WALP23 is known to give rise to
      heterogeneity in the bilayer as microdomains with a striped appearance are formed
      in the DPPC bilayer. This striated phase consists of alternating lines of lipids
      and peptide. It is shown here that melting starts with the peptide-associated
      lipids in the domains, whose melting temperature is lowered by 0.8-2.0 degrees C
      compared to the remaining, peptide-free parts of the bilayer. The stabilization
      of the fluid phase is ascribed to adaptations of the lipids to the shorter
      peptide. The lipids not associated with the peptide melt at the same temperature
      as those in the pure DPPC supported bilayer.

PMID- 20932965
TI  - Serum tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase 5b (TRACP5b) activity as a biomarker
      for bone metastasis in non-small cell lung cancer patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Diagnosis and follow-up of bone metastasis (BMet) in non-small cell
      lung cancer (NSCLC) patients usually rely on symptoms and image studies. A serum
      marker of bone resorption may improve the quality of treatment in such patients.
      Tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase 5b (TRACP5b) is a specific marker for
      osteoclasts and we proposed it can be used as a marker of BMet in NSCLC patients.
      METHODS: In November 2002 till August 2008 serum samples were obtained from 141
      newly diagnosed stage IIIA, IIIB or IV NSCLC patients and 41 normal subjects. All
      patients received baseline bone scintinography examination and evaluation of
      clinical symptoms as a standard of BMet diagnosis. Patients were divided into 2
      groups by having BMet (Group I, n = 72) or not (Group II, n = 69). An in-house
      immunoassay using a TRACP-specific monoclonal antibody, 14G6, was used to measure
      the serum TRACP5b activity at pH 6.1. RESULTS: The mean serum TRACP5b activities
      of Group I, Group II and normal subjects were 3.50 +/- 2.2 3U/l, 2.09 +/- 0.72
      U/l and 2.33 +/- 0.52 U/l, respectively. After adjusting for age, stage, gender,
      and histology in a generalized linear model, Group I has significantly higher
      TRACP5b activity than Group II (p < 0.001). The receiver operating characteristic
      analysis established a cutoff value of 2.551 U/l to identify BMet in NSCLC
      patients with a sensitivity of 63.9% and a specificity of 76.8%. TRACP5b activity
      declined in patients who responded to treatment (p = 0.047), and elevated in
      patients who developed new BMet (p = 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Serum TRACP5b activity
      test is a potentially useful adjunct in diagnosing and monitoring BMet in NSCLC.
      Further study is warranted to establish its real value in diagnosis and
      monitoring of BMet in NSCLC patients.

PMID- 20932966
TI  - HDL-C concentration is related to markers of absorption and of cholesterol
      synthesis: Study in subjects with low vs. high HDL-C.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The antiatherogenic functions of high density lipoprotein (HDL-C)
      include its role in reverse cholesterol transport, but to what extent the
      concentration of HDL-C interferes with the whole-body cholesterol metabolism is
      unknown. Therefore, we measured markers of body cholesterol synthesis
      (desmosterol and lathosterol) and of intestinal cholesterol absorption
      (campesterol and beta-sitosterol) in healthy subjects that differ according to
      their plasma HDL-C concentrations. METHODS: Healthy participants presented either
      low HDL-C (< 40 mg/dl, n=33, 17 male and 16 female) or high HDL-C (> 60 mg/dl,
      n=33, 17 male and 16 female), BMI< 30 kg/m2, were paired according to age and
      gender, without secondary factors that might interfere with their plasma lipid
      concentrations. Plasma concentrations of non-cholesterol sterols were measured by
      the combined GC-MS analysis. RESULTS: Plasma desmosterol did not differ between
      the two groups; however, as compared with the high HDL-C participants, the low
      HDL-C participants presented higher concentration of lathosterol and lower
      concentration of the intestinal cholesterol absorption markers campesterol and
      beta-sitosterol. CONCLUSION: Plasma concentrations of HDL, and not the activities
      of LCAT and CETP that regulate the reverse cholesterol transport system,
      correlate with plasma sterol markers of intestinal cholesterol absorption
      directly, and of cholesterol synthesis reciprocally.

PMID- 20932967
TI  - Individual blastomeres of 16- and 32-cell mouse embryos are able to develop into
      foetuses and mice.
AB  - Cell and developmental studies have clarified how, by the time of implantation,
      the mouse embryo forms three primary cell lineages: epiblast (EPI), primitive
      endoderm (PE), and trophectoderm (TE). However, it still remains unknown when
      cells allocated to these three lineages become determined in their developmental
      fate. To address this question, we studied the developmental potential of single
      blastomeres derived from 16- and 32-cell stage embryos and supported by carrier,
      tetraploid blastomeres. We were able to generate singletons, identical twins,
      triplets, and quadruplets from individual inner and outer cells of 16-cell
      embryos and, sporadically, foetuses from single cells of 32-cell embryos. The use
      of embryos constitutively expressing GFP as the donors of single diploid
      blastomeres enabled us to identify their cell progeny in the constructed 2n<->4n
      blastocysts. We showed that the descendants of donor blastomeres were able to
      locate themselves in all three first cell lineages, i.e., epiblast, primitive
      endoderm, and trophectoderm. In addition, the application of Cdx2 and Gata4
      markers for trophectoderm and primitive endoderm, respectively, showed that the
      expression of these two genes in the descendants of donor blastomeres was either
      down- or up-regulated, depending on the cell lineage they happened to occupy.
      Thus, our results demonstrate that up to the early blastocysts stage, the destiny
      of at least some blastomeres, although they have begun to express markers of
      different lineage, is still labile.

PMID- 20932968
TI  - CYP18A1, a key enzyme of Drosophila steroid hormone inactivation, is essential
      for metamorphosis.
AB  - Ecdysteroids are steroid hormones, which coordinate major developmental
      transitions in insects. Both the rises and falls in circulating levels of active
      hormones are important for coordinating molting and metamorphosis, making both
      ecdysteroid biosynthesis and inactivation of physiological relevance. We
      demonstrate that Drosophila melanogaster Cyp18a1 encodes a cytochrome P450 enzyme
      (CYP) with 26-hydroxylase activity, a prominent step in ecdysteroid catabolism. A
      clear ortholog of Cyp18a1 exists in most insects and crustaceans. When Cyp18a1 is
      transfected in Drosophila S2 cells, extensive conversion of 20-hydroxyecdysone
      (20E) into 20-hydroxyecdysonoic acid is observed. This is a multi-step process,
      which involves the formation of 20,26-dihydroxyecdysone as an intermediate. In
      Drosophila larvae, Cyp18a1 is expressed in many target tissues of 20E. We
      examined the consequences of Cyp18a1 inactivation on Drosophila development. Null
      alleles generated by excision of a P element and RNAi knockdown of Cyp18a1 both
      result in pupal lethality, possibly as a consequence of impaired ecdysteroid
      degradation. Our data suggest that the inactivation of 20E is essential for
      proper development and that CYP18A1 is a key enzyme in this process.

PMID- 20932970
TI  - Phage ESCape: an emulsion-based approach for the selection of recombinant phage
      display antibodies.
AB  - Antibody phage display technology is a well established method for selecting
      specific antibodies against desired targets. Although phage display is the most
      widely used method of generating synthetic antibodies, it is laborious to perform
      multiple selections with different antigens simultaneously using conventional
      manual methods. We have developed a novel approach to the identification and
      isolation of cells secreting phage encoding desirable antibodies that utilizes
      compartmentalization and Fluorescence Activated Cell Sorting (FACS). This method,
      termed Phage Emulsion, Secretion, and Capture (ESCape), allows us to individually
      query each phage against the antigen. Here, we demonstrate the ability of Phage
      ESCape to identify novel scFvs against a phosphopeptide epitope of the Her2
      kinase from a phage display library containing approximately 10(8) synthetically
      diversified antibodies. Clones were analyzed by monoclonal phage ELISA against
      the Her2 phosphopeptide, and positive binders were identified as those showing a
      signal greater than 3-fold higher than the background signal against an
      irrelevant antigen. We isolated antibodies recognizing the phosphopeptide in a
      single round of selection by Phage ESCape, but the strength and specificity of
      the hits was substantially improved when the library was pre-enriched by a single
      round of biopanning. By minimizing the selection rounds required for phage
      display and using a FACS machine as a 'colony picker' equivalent, Phage ESCape
      has the potential to dramatically increase the throughput of in vitro screening
      methods.

PMID- 20932969
TI  - Aqueous humor rapidly stimulates myocilin secretion from human trabecular
      meshwork cells.
AB  - Myocilin, a protein associated with the development of glaucoma, is expressed in
      most eye tissues with highest expression observed in trabecular meshwork cells.
      In culture, primary human trabecular meshwork cells incubated in 10% fetal bovine
      serum have reduced myocilin expression compared to in vivo, but incubation in
      human aqueous humor, their normal in vivo nutrient source, restores myocilin
      expression to near in vivo levels. To investigate the mechanism by which human
      aqueous humor stimulates myocilin accumulation in conditioned media from normal
      human trabecular meshwork cells, three independent trabecular meshwork cell lines
      were cultured in Dulbecco's Modified Eagle's Medium (DMEM) containing various
      supplements: fetal bovine serum (10%), human serum (0.2%), porcine aqueous humor
      (50%), bovine serum albumin (0.1%), dexamethasone (10(-7)M), human aqueous humor
      (50%) or heat-inactivated human aqueous humor (50%). Conditioned media from
      cultured primary trabecular meshwork cells following incubation in human aqueous
      humor showed significant accumulation of myocilin in a time- (15 min) and dose
      dependent manner (half maximal effective concentration ~ 30%) while intracellular
      myocilin levels decreased. Minimal myocilin accumulation was observed in
      conditioned media isolated from trabecular meshwork cells cultured in DMEM
      containing fetal bovine or human serum, bovine serum albumin, porcine aqueous
      humor, dexamethasone or DMEM alone. Heat inactivation of human aqueous humor
      nearly eliminated human aqueous humor-stimulated myocilin secretion. Inhibitors
      of new protein synthesis, gene transcription, the endoplasmic reticulum/Golgi
      system and endocytic/exocytic secretory pathways failed to inhibit human aqueous
      humor-stimulated myocilin secretion. Using immunolabeling and transmission
      electron microscopy, myocilin was found associated with 70-90 nm vesicle-like
      structures within the cytoplasm of human aqueous humor treated trabecular
      meshwork cells. These studies suggest that myocilin secretion from trabecular
      meshwork cells occurs in a Golgi-independent manner following human aqueous humor
      treatment. Heat-labile factors in human aqueous humor are responsible for the
      time- and dose-dependent release of myocilin from vesicle-like structures within
      the cytoplasm of trabecular meshwork cells.

PMID- 20932971
TI  - Nitric oxide/cGMP signaling in the corpora allata of female grasshoppers.
AB  - The corpora allata (CA) of various insects express enzymes with fixation
      resistant NADPHdiaphorase activity. In female grasshoppers, juvenile hormone (JH)
      released from the CA is necessary to establish reproductive readiness, including
      sound production. Previous studies demonstrated that female sound production is
      also promoted by systemic inhibition of nitric oxide (NO) formation. In addition,
      allatotropin and allatostatin expressing central brain neurons were located in
      close vicinity of NO generating cells. It was therefore speculated that NO
      signaling may contribute to the control of juvenile hormone release from the CA.
      This study demonstrates the presence of NO/cGMP signaling in the CA of female
      Chorthippus biguttulus. CA parenchymal cells exhibit NADPHdiaphorase activity,
      express anti NOS immunoreactivity and accumulate citrulline, which is generated
      as a byproduct of NO generation. Varicose terminals from brain neurons in the
      dorsal pars intercerebralis and pars lateralis that accumulate cGMP upon
      stimulation with NO donors serve as intrinsic targets of NO in the CA. Both
      accumulation of citrulline and cyclic GMP were inhibited by the NOS inhibitor
      aminoguanidine, suggesting that NO in CA is produced by NOS. These results
      suggest that NO is a retrograde transmitter that provides feedback to projection
      neurons controlling JH production. Combined immunostainings and backfill
      experiments detected CA cells with processes extending into the CC and the
      protocerebrum that expressed immunoreactivity against the pan-neural marker anti
      HRP. Allatostatin and allatotropin immunopositive brain neurons do not express
      NOS but subpopulations accumulate cGMP upon NO-formation. Direct innervation of
      CA by these peptidergic neurons was not observed.

PMID- 20932972
TI  - Potassium fluxes across the blood brain barrier of the cockroach, Periplaneta
      americana.
AB  - Potassium fluxes across the blood-brain barrier of the cockroach Periplaneta
      americana were measured using the scanning ion-selective microelectrode
      technique. In salines containing 15 mM or 25 mMK(+), an efflux of K(+) from the
      ganglia of isolated nerve cords was counterbalanced by an influx across the
      connectives. Metabolic inhibition with CN(-) resulted in an increase in K(+)
      efflux across both the ganglia and the connectives. Depletion of K(+) by chilling
      the nerve cords in K(+)-free saline was associated with subsequent K(+) influx
      across the connectives in K(+)-replete saline at room temperature. There were
      dramatic increases in K(+) efflux across both ganglia and connectives when the
      nerve cords were exposed to the pore-forming antibiotic amphotericin B. K(+)
      fluxes across the ventral nerve cord were also altered when paracellular leakage
      was augmented by transient exposure to 3M urea. K(+) efflux was reduced by the
      K(+) channel blockers Ba(2+) and tetraethylammonium or by exposure to Ca(2+)-free
      saline and K(+) efflux from the ganglia was increased by addition of ouabain to
      the bathing saline. The results provide direct support for a model proposing that
      K(+) is cycled through a current loop between the ganglia and the connectives and
      that both the Na(+)/K(+)-ATPase and K(+) channels are implicated in extracellular
      K(+) homeostasis within the central nervous system.

PMID- 20932973
TI  - A novel unstructured scaffold based on 4EBP1 enables the functional display of a
      wide range of bioactive peptides.
AB  - Target validation using protein aptamers enables the characterization of a
      specific function of a target protein in an environment that resembles native
      conditions as closely as possible. A major obstacle to the use of this technology
      has been the generation of bioactive aptamers, which is dependent on the choice
      of scaffold. Constraining binding peptides within a particular scaffold does not
      necessarily result in binding aptamers, as suboptimal presentation of peptides
      can occur. It is therefore understandable that different peptides might require
      different scaffolds for optimal presentation. In this article, we describe a
      novel scaffold protein that bypasses the conventional requirement for scaffolds
      to have known rigid structures and yet successfully presents several peptides
      that need to adopt a wide range of conformations for binding to their target
      protein. Using an unstructured protein, 4EBP1, as scaffold, we successfully
      construct binding aptamers to three different target proteins: Mdm2,
      proliferating cell nuclear antigen, and cyclin A. The Mdm2-binding aptamer
      constructed using 4EBP1 as scaffold demonstrates better stability and bioactivity
      compared to that constructed using thioredoxin as scaffold. This new scaffold
      protein, which makes it relatively easy to create bioactive aptamers based on
      known interaction sequences, will greatly facilitate the aptamer approach to
      target validation.

PMID- 20932974
TI  - Biosynthesis of isoprenoids: crystal structure of the [4Fe-4S] cluster protein
      IspG.
AB  - IspG protein serves as the penultimate enzyme of the recently discovered non
      mevalonate pathway for the biosynthesis of the universal isoprenoid precursors,
      isopentenyl diphosphate and dimethylallyl diphosphate. The enzyme catalyzes the
      reductive ring opening of 2C-methyl-D-erythritol 2,4-cyclodiphosphate, which
      affords 1-hydroxy-2-methyl-2-(E)-butenyl 4-diphosphate. The protein was
      crystallized under anaerobic conditions, and its three-dimensional structure was
      determined to a resolution of 2.7 A. Each subunit of the c(2) symmetric homodimer
      folds into two domains connected by a short linker sequence. The N-terminal
      domain (N domain) is an eight-stranded beta barrel that belongs to the large TIM
      barrel superfamily. The C-terminal domain (C domain) consists of a beta sheet
      that is flanked on both sides by helices. One glutamate and three cysteine
      residues of the C domain coordinate a [4Fe-4S] cluster. Homodimer formation
      involves an extended contact area (about 1100 A(2)) between helices 8 and 9 of
      each respective beta barrel. Moreover, each C domain contacts the N domain of the
      partner subunit, but the interface regions are small (about 430 A(2)). We propose
      that the enzyme substrate binds to the positively charged surface area at the C
      terminal pole of the beta barrel. The C domain carrying the iron-sulfur cluster
      could then move over to form a closed conformation where the substrate is
      sandwiched between the N domain and the C domain. This article completes the set
      of three-dimensional structures of the non-mevalonate pathway enzymes, which are
      of specific interest as potential targets for tuberculostatic and antimalarial
      drugs.

PMID- 20932975
TI  - Rapid odorant release in mammalian odour binding proteins facilitates their
      temporal coupling to odorant signals.
AB  - We have measured the effect of rat odorant-binding protein 1 on the rates of
      ligand uptake and liquid-to-air transfer rates with a set of defined odorous
      compounds. Comparison of observed rate constants (k(obs)) with data simulated
      over a wide range of different kinetic and thermodynamic regimes shows that the
      data do not agree with the previously held view of a slow off-rate regime (k(off)
      <0.0004 s(-1)). We propose that a rapid k(off) would be a necessary requirement
      for such a system, since slow odorant-release rates would result in significant
      decorrelation between the olfactory world and odour perception.

PMID- 20932976
TI  - Probing designability via a generalized model of helical bundle geometry.
AB  - Because the space of folded protein structures is highly degenerate, with
      recurring secondary and tertiary motifs, methods for representing protein
      structure in terms of collective physically relevant coordinates are of great
      interest. By collapsing structural diversity to a handful of parameters, such
      methods can be used to delineate the space of designable structures (i.e.,
      conformations that can be stabilized with a large number of sequences)-a crucial
      task for de novo protein design. We first demonstrate this on natural alpha
      helical coiled coils using the Crick parameterization. We show that over 95% of
      known coiled-coil structures are within  1-A C(alpha) root mean square deviation
      of a Crick-ideal backbone. Derived parameters show that natural geometric space
      of coiled coils is highly restricted and can be represented by "allowed"
      conformations amidst a potential continuum of conformers. Allowed structures have
      (1) restricted axial offsets between helices, which differ starkly between
      parallel and anti-parallel structures; (2) preferred superhelical radii, which
      depend linearly on the oligomerization state; (3) pronounced radius-dependent a-
      and d-position amino acid propensities; and (4) discrete angles of rotation of
      helices about their axes, which are surprisingly independent of oligomerization
      state or orientation. In all, we estimate the space of designable coiled-coil
      structures to be reduced at least 160-fold relative to the space of geometrically
      feasible structures. To extend the benefits of structural parameterization to
      other systems, we developed a general mathematical framework for parameterizing
      arbitrary helical structures, which reduces to the Crick parameterization as a
      special case. The method is successfully validated on a set of non-coiled-coil
      helical bundles, frequent in channels and transporter proteins, which show
      significant helix bending but not supercoiling. Programs for coiled-coil
      parameter fitting and structure generation are provided via a web interface at
      http://www.gevorggrigoryan.com/cccp/, and code for generalized helical
      parameterization is available upon request.

PMID- 20932977
TI  - Full-length structures of BenM and two variants reveal different oligomerization
      schemes for LysR-type transcriptional regulators.
AB  - BenM, a LysR-type transcriptional regulator (LTTR) from the bacterium
      Acinetobacter baylyi, responds synergistically to benzoate and cis,cis-muconate.
      With these effectors, BenM activates gene expression during benzoate consumption.
      Without effectors, BenM represses transcription. Here, X-ray crystallography was
      used to determine the full-length structures of BenM and two variants that
      activate transcription without benzoate or cis,cis-muconate: BenM(R156H) and
      BenM(E226K). Previous studies indicate that these regulators function as
      tetramers. Here, interconnections between subunits in the crystals prevented the
      formation of a closed oligomer and highlighted the inherent flexibility of this
      multidomain regulator. Nevertheless, analysis of subunit interfaces suggested the
      functional significance of key interactions. The structures of BenM and its
      variants were nearly identical, implying that transcriptional differences rely on
      factors beyond major conformational changes defined solely by sequence.
      Comparisons of BenM with other LTTRs, including unpublished structures in the
      Protein Data Bank, revealed extensive variation in the relative orientations of
      DNA-binding domains (DBDs) and effector-binding domains (EBDs). To form dimers,
      different LTTRs used similar interfaces between two EBDs, each containing two
      subdomains: EBD-I and EBD-II. Surprisingly, the dimers used three substantially
      different schemes to form higher-order oligomers. In one scheme used by BenM,
      oligomer assembly involved contacts between the EBD-II regions and the DBD
      regions of adjacent subunits. In another scheme, there were no contacts between
      the EBDs; only the DBDs were involved in tetramer formation. In the third scheme,
      the oligomer interface involved DBD and EBD-I/EBD-II contacts. These diverse
      schemes demonstrate novel variation in the oligomeric structures of individual
      LTTRs within this large and important family.

PMID- 20932978
TI  - Mouse ApoM displays an unprecedented seven-stranded lipocalin fold: folding decoy
      or alternative native fold?
AB  - Mouse apolipoprotein M (m-apoM) displays a 79% sequence identity to human
      apolipoprotein M (h-apoM). Both proteins are apolipoproteins associated with high
      density lipoproteins, with similar anticipated biological functions. The
      structure of h-apoM has recently been determined by X-ray crystallography, which
      revealed that h-apoM displays, as expected, a lipocalin-like fold characterized
      by an eight-stranded beta-barrel that encloses an internal fatty-acid-binding
      site. Surprisingly, this is not true for m-apoM. After refolding from inclusion
      bodies, the crystal structure of m-apoM (reported here at 2.5 A resolution)
      displays a novel yet unprecedented seven-stranded beta-barrel structure. The fold
      difference is not caused by a mere deletion of a single beta-strand; instead,
      beta-strands E and F are removed and replaced by a single beta-strand A' formed
      from residues from the N-terminus. Molecular dynamics simulations suggest that m
      apoM is able to adopt both a seven-stranded barrel structure and an eight
      stranded barrel structure in solution, and that both folds are comparably stable.
      Thermal unfolding simulations identify the position where beta-strand exchange
      occurs as the weak point of the beta-barrel. We wonder whether the switch in
      topology could have a biological function and could facilitate ligand release,
      since it goes hand in hand with a narrowing of the barrel diameter. Possibly
      also, the observed conformation represents an on-pathway or off-pathway folding
      intermediate of apoM. The difference in fold topology is quite remarkable, and
      the fold promiscuity observed for m-apoM might possibly provide a glimpse at
      potential cross-points during the evolution of beta-barrels.

PMID- 20932979
TI  - Pathogenic mutations in the hydrophobic core of the human prion protein can
      promote structural instability and misfolding.
AB  - Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, or prion diseases, are caused by
      misfolding and aggregation of the prion protein PrP. These diseases can be
      hereditary in humans and four of the many disease-associated missense mutants of
      PrP are in the hydrophobic core: V180I, F198S, V203I and V210I. The T183A
      mutation is related to the hydrophobic core mutants as it is close to the
      hydrophobic core and known to cause instability. We used extensive molecular
      dynamics simulations of these five PrP mutants to compare their dynamics and
      conformations to those of the wild type PrP. The simulations highlight the
      changes that occur upon introduction of mutations and help to rationalize
      experimental findings. Changes can occur around the mutation site, but they can
      also be propagated over long distances. In particular, the F198S and T183A
      mutations lead to increased flexibility in parts of the structure that are
      normally stable, and the short beta-sheet moves away from the rest of the
      protein. Mutations V180I, V210I and, to a lesser extent, V203I cause changes
      similar to those observed upon lowering the pH, which has been linked to
      misfolding. Early misfolding is observed in one V180I simulation. Overall,
      mutations in the hydrophobic core have a significant effect on the dynamics and
      stability of PrP, including the propensity to misfold, which helps to explain
      their role in the development of familial prion diseases.

PMID- 20932980
TI  - Reduced models for the pacemaker dynamics of cardiac cells.
AB  - We introduce three- and two-dimensional biophysical models of cardiac
      excitability derived from a 14-dimensional model of the sinus venosus [Rasmusson,
      R., et al., 1990. Am. J. Physiol. 259, H352-369]. The reduced models capture
      normal pacemaking dynamics with a small complement of ionic currents. The two
      dimensional model bears some similarities with the Morris-Lecar model [Morris,
      C., Lecar, H., 1981. Biophysical Journal, 35, 193-213]. Because they were reduced
      from a biophysical model, both models depend on parameters that were obtained
      from experimental data. Even though the correspondence with the original model is
      not exact, parameters may be adjusted to tune the reductions to fit experimental
      traces. As a consequence, unlike other generic low-dimensional models, the models
      introduced here provide a means to relate physiologically relevant
      characteristics of pacemaker potentials such as diastolic depolarization,
      plateau, and action potential frequency, to biophysical variables such as the
      relative abundance of membrane channels and channel kinetic rates. In particular,
      these models can lead to an explicit description of how the shape of cardiac
      action potentials depends on the relative contributions and states of inward and
      outward currents. By being physiologically derived and computationally efficient,
      the models presented in this article are useful tools for theoretical studies of
      excitability at the cellular and network levels.

PMID- 20932981
TI  - Historical effect in the territoriality of ayu fish.
AB  - Ayu fish form algae-feeding territories in a river during a non-breeding
      (growing) season. We build a cost-benefit theory to describe the breakdown and
      formation of territory. In the early stage of a growing season, all fish hold
      territories at low densities. Once all territory sites are occupied, excess fish
      become floaters. When fish density further increases, a phase transition occurs:
      all the territories suddenly break down and fish form a school. In contrast, when
      the fish density is decreased, territories are suddenly formed from the school.
      Both theory and experiments demonstrate that ayu should exhibit a historical
      effect: the breakdown and formation processes of territory are largely different.
      In particular, the theory in formation process predicts a specific fish behavior:
      an "attempted territory holder" that tries to have a small territory emerges just
      before the formation of territory.

PMID- 20932982
TI  - Comparison of the effects of erythropoietin and its carbamylated derivative on
      behaviour and hippocampal neurogenesis in mice.
AB  - Erythropoietin (EPO), a well known haematopoietic growth factor, possesses
      neuroprotective and neurotrophic effects which have been recently reported to
      improve cognition and to modulate emotional processing. We investigated the
      effects of EPO and of its non-erythropoietic carbamylated derivative (CEPO) on
      memory- and emotion-related behaviour in the adult mouse. Locomotor activity,
      memory performances (place and object recognition tasks), anxiety- (light/dark
      transition test) and despair-like behaviours (tail suspension test) were assessed
      over 6 weeks of repeated EPO or CEPO administration (40 MUg/kg, twice a week).
      Given the potential involvement of hippocampal neurogenesis in memory, we also
      assessed the effects of EPO and CEPO on neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus. Both
      treatments improved spatial and non-spatial recognition memory and increased the
      number of NeuN/BrdU double-labeled cells in the dentate gyrus. These effects seem
      to be, at least partly, independent from an haematopoietic action since
      administration of CEPO leads to the similar results. Moreover, CEPO decreased,
      albeit modestly, despair-related behaviour and tended to decrease anxiety-like
      behaviour. These results suggest that CEPO is as an attractive molecule for the
      treatment of neuropsychiatric diseases associating memory and/or emotional
      disorders.

PMID- 20932983
TI  - Kainic acid-induced neurodegeneration and activation of inflammatory processes in
      organotypic hippocampal slice cultures: treatment with cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitor
      does not prevent neuronal death.
AB  - In the postnatal rodent hippocampus status epilepticus (SE) leads to age- and
      region-specific excitotoxic neuronal damage, the precise mechanisms of which are
      still incompletely known. Recent studies suggest that the activation of
      inflammatory responses together with glial cell reactivity highly contribute to
      excitotoxic neuronal damage. However, pharmacological tools to attenuate their
      activation in the postnatal brain are still poorly elucidated. In this study, we
      investigated the role of inflammatory mediators in kainic acid (KA)-induced
      neuronal damage in organotypic hippocampal slice cultures (OHCs). A specific
      cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitor N-[2-(cyclohexyloxy)-4-nitrophenyl]
      methanesulfonamide (NS-398) was used to study whether or not it could ameliorate
      neuronal death. Our results show that KA treatment (24 h) resulted in a dose
      dependent degeneration of CA3a/b pyramidal neurons. Furthermore, COX-2
      immunoreactivity was pronouncedly enhanced particularly in CA3c pyramidal
      neurons, microglial and astrocyte morphology changed from a resting to active
      appearance, the expression of the microglial specific protein, Iba1, increased,
      and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) production increased. These indicated the activation
      of inflammatory processes. However, the expression of neither proinflammatory
      cytokines, i.e. tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and interleukin-1 beta
      (IL-1beta), nor the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 mRNA was significantly
      altered by KA treatment as studied by real-time PCR. Despite activation of an
      array of inflammatory processes, neuronal damage could not be rescued either with
      the combined pre- and co-treatment with a specific COX-2 inhibitor, NS-398. Our
      results suggest that KA induces activation of a repertoire of inflammatory
      processes in immature OHCs, and that the timing of anti-inflammatory treatment to
      achieve neuroprotection is a challenge due to developmental properties and the
      complexity of inflammatory processes activated by noxious stimuli. This article
      is part of a Special Issue entitled 'Trends in neuropharmacology: in memory of
      Erminio Costa'.

PMID- 20932984
TI  - An automatic-voluntary dissociation and mental imagery disturbance following a
      cerebellar lesion.
AB  - The cerebellum receives signals from, and sends signals to, the parietal cortex
      and instances of cerebellocerebral diaschisis indicate that some behaviours are
      controlled through this circuitry. Not all aspects of action control associated
      with the parietal cortex have been reported in patients with cerebellar damage
      though. Presented here is a case study of a cerebellar patient whose action
      deficits appear to be associated with both cerebellar and parietal functions. AM
      was 27 years old and eight years previously he had an operation to remove a
      cystic cerebellar tumour. He was tested on his ability to carry out motor
      imagery, make instructed and spontaneous actions, and intrinsic and extrinsic
      movements. Similar to ideomotor apraxia patients AM showed an automatic-voluntary
      dissociation where his motor control was better on spontaneous actions than
      instructed ones. He also had poor motor imagery timing. However, unlike apraxia
      patients he was equally poor at controlling body-related and object-related
      actions and his performance improved without vision. The presence of problems
      more commonly associated with parietal cortex functions suggest that the
      cerebellum is involved in a broader spectrum of action abilities than previously
      thought.

PMID- 20932985
TI  - Poly(I:C) reduces expression of JAM-A and induces secretion of IL-8 and TNF-alpha
      via distinct NF-kappaB pathways in human nasal epithelial cells.
AB  - Human nasal epithelium is an important physical barrier and innate immune defense
      protecting against inhaled substances and pathogens. Toll-like receptor (TLR)
      signaling, which plays a key role in the innate immune response, has not been
      well characterized in human nasal epithelial cells (HNECs), including the
      epithelial tight junctional barrier. In the present study, mRNAs of TLR1-10 were
      detected in hTERT-transfected HNECs, which can be used as an indispensable and
      stable model of normal HNECs, similar to primary cultured HNECs. To investigate
      the changes of tight junction proteins and the signal transduction pathways via
      TLRs in HNECs in vitro, hTERT-transfected HNECs were treated with TLR2 ligand
      P(3)CSK(4), TLR3 ligand poly(I:C), TLR4 ligand LPS, TLR7/8 ligand CL097, TLR8
      ligand ssRNA40/LyoVec, and TLR9 ligand ODN2006. In hTERT-transfected HNECs,
      treatment with poly(I:C) significantly reduced expression of the tight junction
      protein JAM-A and induced secretion of proinflammatory cytokines IL-8 and TNF
      alpha. Both the reduction of JAM-A expression and the induction of secretion of
      IL-8 and TNF-alpha after treatment with poly(I:C) were modulated by distinct
      signal transduction pathways via EGFR, PI3K, and p38 MAPK and finally regulated
      by a TLR3-mediated NF-kappaB pathway. The control of TLR3-mediated signaling
      pathways in HNECs may be important not only in infection by viral dsRNA but also
      in autoimmune diseases caused by endogenous dsRNA released from necrotic cells.

PMID- 20932987
TI  - Palytoxins and cytoskeleton: An overview.
AB  - Cytoskeleton is a dynamic structure essential for a wide variety of normal
      cellular processes, including the maintenance of cell shape and morphology,
      volume regulation, membrane dynamics and signal transduction. Cytoskeleton is
      organized into microtubules, actin meshwork and intermediate filaments. Actin has
      been identified as a major target for destruction during apoptosis and is also
      important under pathological conditions such as cancers. Several natural
      compounds actively modulate actin organization by specific signaling cascades
      being useful tools to study cytoskeleton dynamics. Palytoxin is a large bioactive
      compound, first isolated from zoanthids, with a complex structure and different
      analogs such as ostreocin-D or ovatoxin-a. This toxin has been identified as a
      potent tumor promoter and cytotoxic molecule, which leads to actin filament
      distortion and triggers cell death or apoptosis. In this review we report the
      findings on the involvement of palytoxin and analogues modulating the actin
      cytoskeleton within different cellular models.

PMID- 20932986
TI  - A possible mechanism for the decrease in serum thyroxine level by phenobarbital
      in rodents.
AB  - Effects of phenobarbital (PB) on the levels of serum thyroid hormones such as
      total thyroxine (T(4)) and triiodothyronine were examined in male mice, hamsters,
      rats, and guinea pigs. One day after the final administration of PB (80 mg/kg,
      intraperitoneal, once daily for 4 days), significant decreases in the levels of
      the serum total T(4) and free T(4) occurred in mice, hamsters, and rats, while a
      significant decrease in the level of serum triiodothyronine was observed in
      hamsters and rats among the animals examined. In addition, a significant decrease
      in the level of serum thyroid-stimulating hormone was observed in only hamsters
      among the rodents examined. Significant increases in the level and activity of
      hepatic T(4)-UDP-glucuronosyltransferase (UGT1A) after the PB administration
      occurred in mice, hamsters, and rats, while the increase in the amount of biliary
      [(125)I]T(4)-glucuronide after an intravenous injection of [(125)I]T(4) to the PB
      pretreated animals occurred only in rats. In mice, rats, and hamsters, but not
      guinea pigs, PB pretreatment promoted the clearance of [(125)I]T(4) from the
      serum, led to a significant increase in the steady-state distribution volumes of
      [(125)I]T(4), and raised the concentration ratio (Kp value) of the liver to serum
      and the liver distribution of [(125)I]T(4). The present findings indicate that
      the PB-mediated decreases in the serum T(4) level in mice, hamsters, and rats,
      but not guinea pigs, occur mainly through an increase in the accumulation level
      of T(4) in the liver.

PMID- 20932988
TI  - "The King is dead": Checkmating ion channels with tethered toxins.
AB  - The quickest possible checkmate in the game of chess requires two moves using a
      pawn and the queen. Metaphorically speaking, the pawn (a membrane tether) and the
      queen (a toxin) work together to checkmate an ion channel within a neuronal
      circuit. This strategy termed "tethered toxin" (t-toxin) is based on the use of
      genetically encoded peptide toxins that are anchored to the cell-membrane via a
      glycolipid or transmembrane tether. Because of their mode of action at the cell
      surface, t-toxins act only on ion channels and receptors of the cell that is
      expressing the t-toxin, and not on identical receptors present in neighboring
      cells that do not express the t-toxin. In this mini-review we discuss the design
      of these genetic tools and their application for cell-specific and temporal
      manipulation of ion channel-mediated activities in vivo.

PMID- 20932989
TI  - Visual deficits in anisometropia.
AB  - Amblyopia is usually associated with the presence of anisometropia, strabismus or
      both early in life. We set out to explore quantitative relationships between the
      degree of anisometropia and the loss of visual function, and to examine how the
      presence of strabismus affects visual function in observers with anisometropia.
      We measured optotype acuity, Pelli-Robson contrast sensitivity and stereoacuity
      in 84 persons with anisometropia and compared their results with those of 27
      persons with high bilateral refractive error (isoametropia) and 101 persons with
      both strabismus and anisometropia. All subjects participated in a large-scale
      study of amblyopia (McKee et al., 2003). We found no consistent visual
      abnormalities in the strong eye, and therefore report only on vision in the
      weaker, defined as the eye with lower acuity. LogMAR acuity falls off markedly
      with increasing anisometropia in non-strabismic anisometropes, while contrast
      sensitivity is much less affected. Acuity degrades rapidly with increases in both
      hyperopic and myopic anisometropia, but the risk of amblyopia is about twice as
      great in hyperopic than myopic anisometropes of comparable refractive imbalance.
      For a given degree of refractive imbalance, strabismic anisometropes perform
      considerably worse than anisometropes without strabismus--visual acuity for
      strabismics was on average 2.5 times worse than for non-strabismics with similar
      anisometropia. For observers with equal refractive error in the two eyes there is
      very little change in acuity or sensitivity with increasing (bilateral)
      refractive error except for one extreme individual (bilaterally refractive error
      of -15 D). Most pure anisometropes with interocular differences less than 4D
      retain some stereopsis, and the degree is correlated with the acuity of the weak
      eye. We conclude that even modest interocular differences in refractive error can
      influence visual function.

PMID- 20932990
TI  - Receptive fields for smooth pursuit eye movements and motion perception.
AB  - Humans use smooth pursuit eye movements to track moving objects of interest. In
      order to track an object accurately, motion signals from the target have to be
      integrated and segmented from motion signals in the visual context. Most studies
      on pursuit eye movements used small visual targets against a featureless
      background, disregarding the requirements of our natural visual environment.
      Here, we tested the ability of the pursuit and the perceptual system to integrate
      motion signals across larger areas of the visual field. Stimuli were random-dot
      kinematograms containing a horizontal motion signal, which was perturbed by a
      spatially localized, peripheral motion signal. Perturbations appeared in a gaze
      contingent coordinate system and had a different direction than the main motion
      including a vertical component. We measured pursuit and perceptual direction
      discrimination decisions and found that both steady-state pursuit and perception
      were influenced most by perturbation angles close to that of the main motion
      signal and only in regions close to the center of gaze. The narrow direction
      bandwidth (26 angular degrees full width at half height) and small spatial extent
      (8 degrees of visual angle standard deviation) correspond closely to tuning
      parameters of neurons in the middle temporal area (MT).

PMID- 20932991
TI  - Contextual flanks' tilting and magnitude of illusion of extent.
AB  - The "centroid" explanation of the Muller-Lyer and similar illusions of extent
      supposes the perceptual positional shifts of the stimulus terminators in
      direction of the centers-of-masses of adjacent contextual flanks. In the present
      study, the validity of the assumption was tested in psychophysical examination of
      illusory figures comprising the Muller-Lyer wings or arcs of a circle as the
      contextual objects. In experiments, the illusion magnitude changes evoked by the
      tilting of stimulus flanks have been measured. A good resemblance between the
      experimental data and theoretical predictions was obtained that strongly supports
      the idea of local positional shifts and serves in favor of "centroid" explanation
      of illusions investigated.

PMID- 20932992
TI  - The influence of orientation and contrast flicker on contour saliency of outlines
      of everyday objects.
AB  - One of the most important tasks of the visual system is the extraction of edges
      and object contours, and the integration of discrete elements to form a coherent
      global percept. A great deal is known about the spatial properties of contour
      extraction, but less is known about the dynamics and spatio-temporal aspects. We
      used Gabor-rendered outlines of real-world objects, where we could manipulate low
      level properties, such as element orientation and phase, while incorporating
      higher-level properties, such as object complexity and identity, to study dynamic
      relationships in object detection. First we manipulated the time available for
      integration by changing back and forth between coherent and non-coherent
      orientations of the contour elements. We then manipulated contrast flicker by
      reversing the spatial phase of the Gabor elements at various frequencies. We
      found similar results to earlier studies on contour detection: detection was
      better for contrast flicker than for orientation flicker, and detection
      performance was curvature-dependent for orientation flicker but not for contrast
      flicker. Our results support the existence of at least two temporal frequency
      channels in the visual system, one low-pass and one band-pass peaking around 10
      12 Hz. In addition, we found that object properties, such as identity and
      complexity, affected detection performance.

PMID- 20932994
TI  - Effects of anabolic androgenic steroids and social subjugation on behavior and
      neurochemistry in male rats.
AB  - Early abuse and anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) both increase aggression. We
      assessed the behavioral and neurochemical consequences of AAS, alone or in
      combination with social subjugation (SS), an animal model of child abuse. On P26,
      gonadally intact male rats began SS consisting of daily pairings with an adult
      male for 2 weeks followed by daily injections of the AAS, testosterone on P40. As
      adults, males were tested for sexual and aggressive behaviors towards females in
      various hormonal conditions and inter-male aggression in a neutral setting using
      home or opponent bedding. Neurotransmitter levels were assessed using HPLC.
      Results showed that AAS males displayed significantly more mounts toward sexually
      receptive, vaginally obstructed females (OBS) and displayed significantly more
      threats towards ovariectomized females. SS males mounted OBS females
      significantly less and were not aggressive toward females. The role of olfactory
      cues in a neutral setting did not affect aggression regardless of treatment. AAS
      significantly increased brainstem DOPAC and NE. SS decreased 5HIAA, DA, DOPAC,
      and NE in brainstem. 5HIAA was significantly increased in the prefrontal cortex
      of all experimental groups. We conclude that AAS and SS differentially affect
      behavior towards females as well as neurotransmitter levels.

PMID- 20932993
TI  - Visually guided navigation: head-mounted eye-tracking of natural locomotion in
      children and adults.
AB  - The current study showed that visual fixation of obstacles is not required for
      rapid and adaptive navigation of obstacles. Children and adults wore a wireless,
      head-mounted eye-tracker during a visual search task in a room cluttered with
      obstacles. They spontaneously walked, jumped, and ran through the room, stepping
      up, down, and over obstacles. Both children and adults navigated adaptively
      without fixating obstacles, however, adults fixated less often than children. We
      discuss several possibilities for why obstacle navigation may shift from foveal
      to peripheral control over development.

PMID- 20932995
TI  - Cervical cancer screening among urban immigrants by region of origin: a
      population-based cohort study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: We compared the prevalence of appropriate cervical cancer screening
      among screening-eligible immigrant women from major geographic regions of the
      world and native-born women. METHODS: We determined the proportion of women who
      were screened during the three-year period of 2006-2008 among 2.9 million
      screening-eligible women living in urban centres in Ontario, Canada. In
      multivariate analyses, we adjusted for numerous variables including age,
      neighbourhood-level income, and prenatal visits during the study period. RESULTS:
      61.3% of women were up-to-date on cervical cancer screening. Screening rates were
      lowest among women from South Asia when compared to the referent group (Canadian
      born women and immigrants who arrived before 1985) (adjusted rate ratio 0.81, 95%
      CI [0.80-0.82] among women aged 18-49 years, adjusted rate ratio 0.67 [0.65-0.69]
      among women aged 50-66 years). Of the older South Asian women living in the
      lowest-income neighbourhoods and not in a primary care enrollment model, 21.9%
      had been appropriately screened. In contrast, among Canadian-born women living in
      the highest-income neighbourhoods and in a primary care enrollment model, 79.0%
      had been appropriately screened. CONCLUSION: Efforts to reduce cervical cancer
      screening disparities should focus on women living in the lowest-income
      neighbourhoods and women from South Asia.

PMID- 20932996
TI  - Induction of transposase and polyprotein RNA levels in disseminated neoplastic
      hemocytes of soft-shell clams: Mya arenaria.
AB  - In Prince Edward Island, a high mortality of soft-shell clams Mya arenaria was
      found to be related to the disease known as disseminated neoplasia (DN). However,
      the molecular mechanisms by which hemocytes of clams are transformed in the
      course of DN remain by far unknown. This study aims at identifying the
      transcripts involved in the development of the disease. Four subtractive cDNA
      sequence libraries were generated and more than 200,000 reads were obtained.
      Following similarity searches in genome databases, the transcripts were assigned
      to cellular functions including mitochondrial respiration, structural proteins,
      cytoskeleton, nucleic acid regulation, general metabolism, signal transduction,
      apoptosis, cell cycle regulation, as well as virus transcripts. The expression
      levels of transposase and polyprotein genes were evaluated in clams with various
      percentages of tetraploid hemocytes. Data have shown that expression levels were
      significantly higher in clams with a high percentage of tetraploid hemocytes.
      These results reinforce the hypothesis of endogenous retrotransposon involvement
      in the etiology of the disease. Further investigations are needed, however, to
      elucidate the role of transposase and polyprotein in the disease development.

PMID- 20932997
TI  - Vasodilatation in the rat dorsal hindpaw induced by activation of sensory neurons
      is reduced by paclitaxel.
AB  - Peripheral neuropathy is a major side effect following treatment with the cancer
      chemotherapeutic drug paclitaxel. Whether paclitaxel-induced peripheral
      neuropathy is secondary to altered function of small diameter sensory neurons
      remains controversial. To ascertain whether the function of the small diameter
      sensory neurons was altered following systemic administration of paclitaxel, we
      injected male Sprague Dawley rats with 1mg/kg paclitaxel every other day for a
      total of four doses and examined vasodilatation in the hindpaw at day 14 as an
      indirect measure of calcitonin gene related peptide (CGRP) release. In paclitaxel
      treated rats, the vasodilatation induced by either intradermal injection of
      capsaicin into the hindpaw or electrical stimulation of the sciatic nerve was
      significantly attenuated in comparison to vehicle-injected animals. Paclitaxel
      treatment, however, did not affect direct vasodilatation induced by intradermal
      injection of methacholine or CGRP, demonstrating that the blood vessels' ability
      to dilate was intact. Paclitaxel treatment did not alter the compound action
      potentials or conduction velocity of C-fibers. The stimulated release of CGRP
      from the central terminals in the spinal cord was not altered in paclitaxel
      injected animals. These results suggest that paclitaxel affects the peripheral
      endings of sensory neurons to alter transmitter release, and this may contribute
      to the symptoms seen in neuropathy.

PMID- 20932998
TI  - Prosthetic joint infection: recent developments in diagnosis and management.
AB  - Over the past years there has been a significant increase in the number of joint
      prosthesis replacements worldwide. The most serious complication of joint
      prosthesis is infection with an incidence of 1.5-2.5% for primary interventions
      and up to 20% for revision procedures. The mortality rate ranges between 1% and
      nearly 3%. The economic cost of this complication is up to $50,000 per patient
      and $250,000 million per year. A major issue in the management of prosthetic
      joint infection (PJI) is the relative difficulty in making a diagnosis so to
      cause a significant effect on the prognosis. Goals of the treatment are to
      eradicate infection, prevent its recurrence and preserve mechanical joint
      function. In this review we focus on the value of traditional and newer
      diagnostic tests and we discuss management and preventive strategies. European
      networks are needed to define the best diagnostic and treatment strategies in
      order to reduce future challenge posed by PJIs.

PMID- 20932999
TI  - Prevalence of single, double, and triple infections of HIV, HCV and HBV among the
      MSM community in Pakistan.

PMID- 20933000
TI  - Citrobacter koseri meningitis: another freediving risk?
AB  - We present a rare case of meningitis caused by Citrobacter koseri in an
      immunocompetent adult who had recently been freediving. Middle ear pressure
      changes from this recreational activity, and the subsequent inflammatory
      response, are likely to have provided this environmental organism access to the
      central nervous system, and thus the ability to cause clinically significant
      infection.

PMID- 20933001
TI  - Comparison of the Cepheid XpertTM MRSA assay with culture in a low prevalence
      setting in The Netherlands.

PMID- 20933002
TI  - Time-frequency analysis using damped-oscillator pseudo-wavelets: Application to
      electrophysiological recordings.
AB  - The damped-oscillator pseudo-wavelet is presented as a method of time-frequency
      analysis along with a new spectral density measure, the data power. An
      instantaneous phase can be defined for this pseudo-wavelet, and it is easily
      inverted. The data power measure is tested on both computer generated data and in
      vivo intrahippocampal electrophysiological recordings from a rat. The data power
      spectral density is found to give better time and frequency resolution than the
      more conventional total energy measure, and additionally shows intricate time
      frequency structure in the rat that is altered in association with the emergence
      of epilepsy. With epileptogenesis, the baseline theta oscillation is severely
      degraded and is absorbed into a broader gamma band. There are also broad 600 Hz
      and 2000 Hz bands which localize to hippocampal layers that are distinct from
      those of the theta and gamma bands. The 600 Hz band decreases in prominence with
      epileptogenesis while the 2000 Hz band increases in prominence. The origins of
      these high frequency bands await further study. In general, we find that the
      damped-oscillator pseudo-wavelet is easy to use and is particularly suitable for
      problems where a wide range of oscillator frequencies is expected.

PMID- 20933003
TI  - An algorithm for real-time detection of spike-wave discharges in rodents.
AB  - The automatic real-time detection of spike-wave discharges (SWDs), the
      electroencephalographic hallmark of absence seizures, would provide a
      complementary tool for rapid interference with electrical deep brain stimulation
      in both patients and animal models. This paper describes a real-time detection
      algorithm for SWDs based on continuous wavelet analyses in rodents. It has been
      implemented in a commercially available data acquisition system and its
      performance experimentally verified. ECoG recordings lasting 5-8h from rats (n=8)
      of the WAG/Rij strain were analyzed using the real-time SWD detection system. The
      results indicate that the algorithm is able to detect SWDs within 1s with 100%
      sensitivity and with a precision of 96.6% for the number of SWDs. Similar results
      are achieved for 24-h ECoG recordings of two rats. The dependence of accuracy and
      speed of detection on program settings and attributes of ECoG are discussed. It
      is concluded that the wavelet based real-time detecting algorithm is well suited
      for automatic, real-time detection of SWDs in rodents.

PMID- 20933004
TI  - First human hNT neurons patterned on parylene-C/silicon dioxide substrates:
      Combining an accessible cell line and robust patterning technology for the study
      of the pathological adult human brain.
AB  - In this communication, we describe a new method which has enabled the first
      patterning of human neurons (derived from the human teratocarcinoma cell line
      (hNT)) on parylene-C/silicon dioxide substrates. We reveal the details of the
      nanofabrication processes, cell differentiation and culturing protocols necessary
      to successfully pattern hNT neurons which are each key aspects of this new
      method. The benefits in patterning human neurons on silicon chip using an
      accessible cell line and robust patterning technology are of widespread value.
      Thus, using a combined technology such as this will facilitate the detailed study
      of the pathological human brain at both the single cell and network level.

PMID- 20933005
TI  - Label-free in vivo optical imaging of functional microcirculations within
      meninges and cortex in mice.
AB  - Abnormal microcirculation within meninges is common in many neurological
      diseases. There is a need for an imaging method that is capable of monitoring
      dynamic meningeal microcirculations, preferably decoupled from cortical blood
      flow. Optical microangiography (OMAG) is a recently developed label-free imaging
      method capable of producing 3D images of dynamic blood perfusion within micro
      circulatory tissue beds at an imaging depth up to ~2 mm, with an unprecedented
      imaging sensitivity to blood flow at ~4 MUm/s. In this paper, we demonstrate the
      utility of OMAG in imaging the detailed blood flow distributions, at a capillary
      level resolution, within the meninges and cortex in mice with the cranium left
      intact. Using a thrombotic mouse model, we show that the OMAG can yield
      longitudinal measurements of meningeal vascular responses to the insult and can
      decouple these responses from those in the cortex, giving valuable information
      regarding the localized hemodynamics along with the dynamic formation of
      thrombotic event. The results indicate that OMAG can be a useful tool to study
      therapeutic strategies in preclinical animal models in order to mitigate various
      pathologies that are mainly related to the meningeal circulations.

PMID- 20933006
TI  - A novel multicomponent stimulus device for use in olfactory experiments.
AB  - Olfactory studies have expanded beyond the study of single compound odor
      perception to explore the processing of complex mixtures and blends. The
      spatiotemporal presentation of blend stimuli is a challenging task requiring
      volatiles with diverse chemical and physical properties to be presented as a
      unified stimulus. This not only necessitates accurate control of the timing and
      homogeneity of the odor stream, but requires attention to the concentration of
      each blend component presented. We have developed a novel, multicomponent
      stimulus system for use in olfactory experiments that is capable of presenting up
      to 8 different odors simultaneously or in sequence at defined concentrations and
      time scales. Each odor is separated to minimize physical or chemical
      interactions, and stimulations are performed from a saturated headspace of the
      odor solution. Stimulus concentrations can be measured empirically or estimated
      using common gas laws. Photoionization detector measurements show that stimuli
      could be presented as cohesive blends or single components at frequencies of at
      least 10Hz without leakage or contamination. Solid phase microextraction
      measurements also show that the concentration of each component could be
      equilibrated through regulation of each component line's flow rate based on the
      different partial vapor pressures of the odorants. This device provides a unique
      method for introducing complex volatile mixtures for olfactory studies in a
      variety of animal taxa and allows for accurate control of odor intensities in
      both time and space.

PMID- 20933007
TI  - ScoreCentre: a computer program to assist with collection and calculation of BBB
      locomotor scale data.
AB  - The Basso, Beattie and Bresnahan (BBB) Locomotor Rating Scale is a standardized
      assessment scale for use in experimental spinal cord injury (SCI) research. This
      paper describes a computer program, ScoreCentre, which aims to simplify the
      recording and handling of BBB locomotor scale data. The program assists with the
      recording of observational data from open-field testing and then automatically
      calculates BBB scores. Possible errors associated with data entry and manual
      calculation of scores are thus essentially eliminated. In addition, significant
      time is saved by the automated derivation of scores and subscores and elimination
      of the need to manually transfer data from paper records to a computer.
      ScoreCentre can also be used as a training aid, to help familiarize users with
      the BBB scale and to explore how changes in the observations impact on overall
      BBB score. ScoreCentre includes simple experiment management functions such as
      control of trial blinding, administration of drugs in a blinded fashion and
      longitudinal data analysis. ScoreCentre provides all the advantages of electronic
      records, such as ease of use, analysis and archiving, and allows the elimination
      of paper records if appropriate. When paper records are required, for example for
      archiving and auditing, they can be automatically produced by ScoreCentre.
      ScoreCentre will assist with both the learning and use of the BBB locomotor
      scale, thus facilitating the use of this standardized outcome measure in SCI
      research. ScoreCentre is available to download from
      www.rmeonline.net/scorecentre.

PMID- 20933008
TI  - Tonic BCR signaling represses receptor editing via Raf- and calcium-dependent
      signaling pathways.
AB  - Light chain receptor editing is an important mechanism that prevents B cell self
      reactivity. We have previously shown that tonic signaling through the BCR
      represses RAG expression at the immature B cell stage, and that initiation of
      light chain rearrangements occurs in the absence of these tonic signals in an in
      vitro model of B cell development. To further test our hypothesis we studied the
      effect of itpkb deficiency (itpkb(-/-) mice) or Raf hyper-activation (Raf-CAAX
      transgenic mice), two mutations that enhance BCR signaling, on receptor editing
      in an in vivo model. This model relies on transferring bone marrow from wild-type
      or mutant mice into mice expressing an anti-kappa light chain transgene. The anti
      kappa transgene induces receptor editing of all kappa light chain expressing B
      cells, leading to a high frequency of lambda light chain expressing B cells. Anti
      kappa transgenic recipients of bone marrow from itpkb(-/-) or Raf-CAAX mice
      showed lower levels of editing to lambda light chain than did non-transgenic
      control recipients. These results provide evidence in an in vivo model that
      enhanced BCR signaling at the immature B cell stage of development suppresses
      light chain receptor editing.

PMID- 20933009
TI  - Grape seed proanthocyanidin extract (GSPE) differentially regulates Foxp3(+)
      regulatory and IL-17(+) pathogenic T cell in autoimmune arthritis.
AB  - Grape seed proanthocyanidin extract (GSPE), which is the antioxidant derived from
      grape seeds, has been reported to possess a variety of potent properties. We have
      previously shown that GSPE attenuates collagen-induced arthritis. However the
      mechanism by which GSPE regulates the immune response remains unclear, although
      it may involve effects on the regulation of pathogenic T cells in autoimmune
      arthritis. To clarify this issue, we have assessed the effects of GSPE on
      differential regulation of Th17 and regulatory T (Treg) cells subsets in vitro in
      mouse and human CD4(+) T cells. We observed that GSPE decreased the frequency of
      IL-17(+)CD4(+)Th17 cells and increased induction of CD4(+)CD25(+)forkhead box
      protein 3 (Foxp3)(+) Treg cells. In vivo, GSPE effectively attenuated clinical
      symptoms of established collagen-induced arthritis in mice with concomitant
      suppression of IL-17 production and enhancement of Foxp3 expression (type II
      collagen-reactive Treg cells) in CD4(+) T cells of joints and splenocytes. The
      presence of GSPE decreased the levels of IL-21, IL-22, IL-26 and IL-17 production
      by human CD4(+) T cells in a STAT3-dependent manner. In contrast, GSPE induces
      Foxp3(+) Treg cells in humans. Our results suggest that GSPE possesses a
      reciprocal control over IL-17 and Foxp3. By potently regulating inflammatory T
      cell differentiation, GSPE may serve as a possible novel therapeutic agent for
      inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis.

PMID- 20933010
TI  - New B-cell CD molecules.
AB  - B cells not only play a pivotal role in humoral immunity, but also are involved
      in a broad spectrum of immune responses, including antigen presentation and T
      cell function regulation. The identification of cell-surface CD molecules derived
      from a series of Human Leukocyte Differentiation Antigens (HLDA) Workshops has
      been instrumental to the discovery and functional characterization of human B
      cell populations. Moreover, many events regulating B-cell development,
      activation, and effector functions are orchestrated by these cell-surface
      molecules. During the Ninth HLDA Workshop (HLDA9) eighteen new CDs were allocated
      to cell-surface molecules expressed on B cells: CD210a (IL10RA), CD215 (IL15RA),
      CD270 (TNFRSF14), CD307a (FCRL1), CD307b (FCRL2), CD307c (FCRL3), CD307d (FCRL4),
      CD351 (FCAMR), CD352 (SLAMF6), CD353 (SLAMF8), CD354 (TREM1), CD355 (CRTAM),
      CD357 (TNFRSF18), CD358 (TNFRSF21), CD360 (IL21RA), CD361 (EVI2B), CD362 (SDC2),
      and CD363 (S1PR1). Here we present their expression patterns on leukocytes,
      including T lymphocytes, NK cells, granulocytes, monocytes, plasmacytoid and
      monocyte-derived dendritic cells, and several B-cell subsets. These new CD
      molecules are expressed on B cells at various stages of differentiation; from
      bone marrow precursor pro-B cells to plasma cells. Three of them, CD307a, CD307b
      and CD307d, exhibit a B-cell restricted expression pattern, whereas the rest are
      also present on other leukocytes. In this paper we also review the structural
      characteristics, expression, and function of these new CD molecules. The
      availability of monoclonal antibodies directed against novel B cell-surface
      molecules will have broad implications not only for B-cell biology, but also for
      the development of new diagnostic and therapeutic tools.

PMID- 20933011
TI  - FCRL6 receptor: expression and associated proteins.
AB  - FCRL6 receptor is a more recently identified representative of the FCRL family.
      We generated a panel of mouse mAbs to baculovirus-derived recombinant FCRL6
      protein. The clone 7B2 was found to specifically recognize a 63kDa protein
      expressed preferentially on the surface of CD8 T and CD56 NK cells in human
      peripheral blood and spleen. The clone 7B2 reacts with FCRL6 in Western blotting,
      FACS, and immunohistochemistry. In the T cell lineage, FCRL6 functions in antigen
      experienced cells. Mitogenic stimulation of PB leukocytes in vitro resulted in an
      abrogation of the FCRL6 gene expression. We found a significant decrease in the
      FCRL6 gene expression in peripheral T cells of patients with certain autoimmune
      and blood diseases, and its upregulation at the late stages of HIV infection.
      Study of the FCRL6 association with signaling molecules showed its ability to
      recruit SHP-1, SHP-2, SHIP-1, and SHIP-2 phosphatases, and also adaptor protein
      Grb2 through phosphorylated cytoplasmic tyrosines. The current results
      demonstrate inhibitory potential of FCRL6 and suggest its possible involvement in
      modulation of CTL effector functions in various immune disorders.

PMID- 20933012
TI  - Analysis of HLDA9 mAbs on plasmacytoid dendritic cells.
AB  - Dendritic cells are a heterogeneous population of bone marrow derived leucocytes
      that play a crucial role in both pathogen recognition and the initiation of
      primary T cell immune responses. Plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs), also known
      as natural interferon-producing cells, comprise one of two major human dendritic
      cell subsets that strongly influences immune balance. pDCs remain a poorly
      characterized subset. Several studies have suggested the existence of a close
      phenotypic and functional relationship between B-cells and pDCs. The surface
      reactivity of a panel of 96 monoclonal antibodies submitted to the ninth Human
      Leukocyte Differentiation Antigens workshop (HLDA9) B cell section was analyzed
      using pDCs as target cells. The results showed that eight of the mAbs reacted
      positively on pDCs: CD86, CD229, CD319, CD305, CD184, CD84, CD85g and FcERIa,
      confirming previously published reports. Interestingly, this study also revealed
      the expression of eight surface molecules not previously described on pDCs,
      including CD352(NTBA), CD272(BTLA), CD357(GITR), CD48, CD270(HVEM), Galectin-3,
      CD148, and CD361. The present report summarizes the expression of these molecules
      on freshly isolated pDCs. Significantly, we have identified several new molecules
      expressed by these intriguing cells, ones we believe will open new avenues for
      the study of pDC functionality and their role in human health and diseases.

PMID- 20933013
TI  - Expression of SLAM (CD150) cell-surface receptors on human B-cell subsets: from
      pro-B to plasma cells.
AB  - The SLAM (CD150) family receptors are leukocyte cell-surface glycoproteins
      involved in leukocyte activation. These molecules and their adaptor protein SAP
      contribute to the effective germinal center formation, generation of high
      affinity antibody-secreting plasma cells, and memory B cells, thereby
      facilitating long-term humoral immune response. Multi-color flow cytometric
      analysis was performed to determine the expression of CD48 (SLAMF2), CD84
      (SLAMF5), CD150 (SLAM or SLAMF1), CD229 (Ly9 or SLAMF3), CD244 (2B4 or SLAMF4),
      CD319 (CRACC, CS1, or SLAMF7), and CD352 (NTB-A or SLAMF6) on human cell lines
      and B-cell subsets. The following subsets were assessed: pro-B, pre-B, immature
      B, and mature-B cells from bone marrow; transitional and B1/B2 subsets from
      peripheral blood; and naive, pre-germinal center, germinal center, memory,
      plasmablasts, and plasma cells from tonsil and spleen. All receptors were
      expressed on B cells, with the exception of CD244. SLAM family molecules were
      widely distributed during B-cell development, maturation and terminal
      differentiation into plasmablasts and plasma cells, but their expression among
      various B-cell subsets differed significantly. Such heterogeneous expression
      patterns suggest that SLAM molecules play an essential and non-redundant role in
      the control of humoral immune responses.

PMID- 20933014
TI  - Monoclonal antibody-based triple antibody sandwich-enzyme-linked immunosorbent
      assay and immunocapture reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction for
      Odontoglossum ringspot virus detection.
AB  - Odontoglossum ringspot virus (ORSV) infects numerous commercially important
      orchids and causes significant losses worldwide. The coat protein (CP) gene of
      ORSV was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli by using the pET-32a expression
      vector, and the expression of recombinant protein was confirmed by Western
      blotting using anti-ORSV antibodies. The recombinant protein was purified using
      Ni-NTA agarose, and the purified protein was used as an immunogen to produce
      monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) and polyclonal antibodies (PAbs). Five murine MAbs
      against ORSV CP were obtained. Among them, two MAbs (6B4 and 1D1) also reacted
      with TMV CP. The triple antibody sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (TAS
      ELISA) and immunocapture reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (IC-RT
      PCR) methods using the MAb (8A5) were then developed for sensitive, specific, and
      rapid detection of ORSV. TAS-ELISA and IC-RT-PCR could detect ORSV in the
      infected leaf saps with dilutions of 1:10,240 and 1:81,920 (w/v, g mL(-1)),
      respectively. TAS-ELISA and IC-RT-PCR detections indicated that ORSV was
      prevalent in orchids in the Zhejiang Province of China.

PMID- 20933015
TI  - Detection and discrimination of members of the family Luteoviridae by real-time
      PCR and SYBR(r) GreenERTM melting curve analysis.
AB  - This study investigated the suitability of a two step real-time RT-PCR melting
      curve analysis as a tool for the detection and discrimination of nine species in
      the plant virus family Luteoviridae, being Soybean dwarf virus [SbDV], Bean
      leafroll virus [BLRV], Beet chlorosis virus [BChV], Beet mild yellowing virus
      [BMYV], Beet western yellows virus [BWYV], Cereal yellow dwarf virus-RPV [CYDV
      RPV], Cucurbit aphid-borne yellows virus [CABYV], Potato leafroll virus [PLRV]
      and Turnip yellows virus [TuYV]. Melting temperature and shape of the melting
      peak were analysed for 68 bp and 148 bp coat protein gene amplicons using SYBR(r)
      GreenERTM fluorescent dye. Specific melting peaks with unique melting temperature
      were observed for the various species of the family Luteoviridae using the 68 bp
      amplicon, but not with the 148 bp amplicon. Due to the high variability of
      sequences for some members of this family, different melting temperatures were
      also observed between different isolates of the species CYDV-RPV and TuYV.
      Nevertheless, discrimination between species was achieved for SbDV, BLRV, BChV,
      BMYV, CABYV and either PLRV or BWYV. Melting curve analysis, in this study, is a
      faster and more discriminatory alternative to gel electrophoresis of end-point
      PCR products for the detection of Luteoviridae infection.

PMID- 20933016
TI  - Detection and differentiation of tick-borne encephalitis virus subtypes by a
      reverse transcription quantitative real-time PCR and pyrosequencing.
AB  - Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) virus causes one of the most important flaviviral
      infections of the human central nervous system in Europe and Asia. In recent
      years the rate of TBE infection has been raising and the virus has been spreading
      to new areas. Currently, the diagnosis of TBE is based on detection of specific
      antibodies in patients' sera which appear as late as about 2 weeks post
      infection. For a timely diagnosis of TBE virus infections and epidemiological
      studies, a TBE virus-specific reverse transcription quantitative real-time PCR
      (RT-qPCR) followed by pyrosequencing was developed. The assay is based on one
      degenerated primer pair detecting all three human-pathogenic TBE virus subtypes
      with a detection limit of 10 copies. Even though primers and probe are highly
      degenerated, the assay is specific for TBE virus species and detects all subtypes
      with a comparable sensitivity. Furthermore, TBE virus RT-qPCR could be carried
      out as one-step or two-step assay. RT-qPCR can be followed by pyrosequencing
      which allows a rapid subtyping of TBE viruses. For detection purposes an internal
      control to monitor RNA extraction, cDNA synthesis and amplification is included.
      In summary, the method is sensitive, highly specific and easy-to-handle tool for
      the detection and differentiation of TBE virus in the early phase of illness or
      in TBE host animal species and ticks.

PMID- 20933017
TI  - Adaptation of a Madin-Darby canine kidney cell line to suspension growth in serum
      free media and comparison of its ability to produce avian influenza virus to Vero
      and BHK21 cell lines.
AB  - Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells are currently considered for influenza
      vaccine manufacturing. A drawback of these cells is their anchorage dependent
      growth, which greatly complicates process scale-up. In this paper a novel MDCK
      cell line (MDCK-SFS) is described that grows efficiently in suspension and
      retained high expression levels of both alpha-2,6 and alpha-2,3 sialic acid
      receptors, which bind preferably to human and avian influenza viruses,
      respectively. The production of avian influenza virus by BHK21, Vero and MDCK-SFS
      cell lines was compared. Although BHK21 cells consisted of two populations, one
      of which lacks the alpha-2,3 receptor, they supported the replication of two
      influenza strains to high titres. However, BHK21 cells are generally not
      applicable for influenza production since they supported the replication of six
      further strains poorly. MDCK-SFS cells yielded the highest infectious virus
      titres and virus genome equivalent concentration for five of the eight influenza
      strains analyzed and the highest hemagglutination activity for all eight virus
      strains. Taken together with their suitability for suspension growth this makes
      the MDCK-SFS cell line potentially useful for large scale influenza virus
      production.

PMID- 20933018
TI  - New in vitro method for evaluating antiviral activity of acyclic nucleoside
      phosphonates against plant viruses.
AB  - A new method was developed for testing antiviral compounds against plant viruses
      based on rapidly growing brassicas in vitro on liquid medium. This method enables
      exchange of media containing tested chemicals in various concentrations and
      simultaneous evaluation of their phytotoxicity and antiviral activity. While
      using ribavirin as a standard for comparison, phytotoxicity and ability of the
      acyclic nucleotide analogues (R)-PMPA, PMEA, PMEDAP, and (S)-HPMPC to eliminate
      ssRNA Turnip yellow mosaic virus (TYMV) were evaluated by this method. Double
      antibody sandwich ELISA and real-time PCR were used for relative quantification
      of viral protein and nucleic acid in plants. Ribavirin had the most powerful
      antiviral effect against TYMV. On the other hand, (R)-PMPA and PMEA had no
      antiviral effect and almost no phytotoxicity compared to the control. (S)-HPMPC
      and PMEDAP showed moderate antiviral effect, accompanied by higher phytotoxicity.
      The tested compounds can be screened within 6-9 weeks in contrast to the 6 months
      for traditionally used explants on solid medium. The method enables large-scale
      screening of potential antivirals for in vitro elimination of viruses from
      vegetatively propagated crops and ornamentals.

PMID- 20933019
TI  - The effects of pentylenetetrazol, chlordiazepoxide and caffeine in rats tested in
      the elevated plus-maze depend on the experimental illumination.
AB  - The so-called anxiolytic and anxiogenic drugs are considered to cause,
      respectively, increases and decreases in plus-maze open arm exploration, without
      modifying locomotor activity occurring in the closed arms in an elevated plus
      maze when the animals are tested in an illuminated environment. Simply testing
      animals in the dark also increases open arm exploration, which may be interpreted
      as an anxiolytic effect. We investigated the effects of two GABAergic drugs,
      pentylenetetrazol (10 and 20 mg/kg) and chlordiazepoxide (1.5 and 3 mg/kg), and
      one non-GABAergic drug, caffeine (10 and 30 mg/kg) on anxiety levels of rats
      tested in the elevated plus-maze under two illumination conditions, light or
      dark. All animals explored more the open arms in the dark. In the light,
      pentylenetetrazol decreased open arm exploration while chlordiazepoxide had the
      opposite effect. Neither pentylenetetrazol nor chlordiazepoxide had any effect in
      the dark. Caffeine, increased open arms exploration in both illumination
      conditions. These results indicate that light triggers aversion, a response
      mediated by GABA since the GABAergic drugs, but not caffeine, were ineffective
      when the rats were tested in the dark.

PMID- 20933020
TI  - Neurobiology of decision-making in adolescents.
AB  - The study examined the relationship between risk-taking behavior during selection
      of monetary rewards and activations in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC),
      orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), brain regions
      that are associated with decision-making. Thirty-three adolescents with no
      personal or family history of any psychiatric illness were administered the Wheel
      of Fortune (WOF) task using a functional magnetic resonance imaging protocol. The
      WOF is a computerized two-choice, probabilistic monetary reward task. Selection
      of a reward, particularly a low-probability/high-magnitude reward choice, induced
      greater activations in dorsal ACC, ventrolateral OFC and mPFC than the control
      condition. Although similar findings have been reported by earlier studies, the
      results from this study were not impacted by reaction times and expected values
      and persisted even after controlling for sociodemographic factors. Post hoc
      analysis revealed greater activation of ACC and mPFC in response to selection of
      rewards of larger magnitude than those of smaller magnitude when the probability
      of reward was maintained constant. Adolescents with greater frequency of high
      risk behavior (defined as low-probability/high-magnitude reward choice) had lower
      activation of ACC, OFC and mPFC than those who engaged in this behavior less
      frequently. These findings suggest individual differences in prefrontal cortical
      function with regards to decision-making process in adolescents.

PMID- 20933021
TI  - Sickness behaviors following medial frontal cortical contusions in male rats.
AB  - Behaviors associated with sickness (food consumption, weight maintenance,
      exploratory activity and grooming frequency) were examined on post-surgical days
      1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 in male rats treated with progesterone (4 mg/kg) and/or vehicle.
      Rats with medial frontal cortex contusions showed reduced food consumption on
      days 1 and 3 (p < 0.01), reduced weight maintenance on days 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 (p <
      0.01), reduced grooming frequency on day 1 (p < .01), and reduced exploratory
      activity on day 1 (p < 0.01), after injury compared to sham rats. Contusion
      induced behaviors were not attenuated with 5 days of progesterone treatment (p >
      0.05). Progesterone did reduce lesion size at 9 days after injury (p < 0.05). Our
      results suggest sickness behaviors occur after traumatic brain injury and that
      they might not respond to some neurosteroidal agents.

PMID- 20933022
TI  - Behavioral characterization of a mutant mouse strain lacking D-amino acid oxidase
      activity.
AB  - D-amino acid oxidase (DAO), an enzyme that degrades d-serine, has been suggested
      as a susceptibility factor for schizophrenia. Here we sought to understand more
      about the behavioral consequence of lacking DAO and the potential therapeutic
      implication of DAO inhibition by characterizing a mouse strain (ddY/DAO(-))
      lacking DAO activity. We found that the mutant mice showed enhanced prepulse
      inhibition responses (PPI). Intriguingly, DAO-/- mice had increased sensitivity
      to the PPI-disruptive effect induced by the competitive NMDA antagonist, SDZ 220
      581. In the 24-h inhibitory avoidance test, DAO-/- mice were not different from
      DAO+/+ mice during the recall. In Barnes Maze, we found that DAO-/- mice had a
      shortened latency to enter the escape tunnel. Interestingly, although these mice
      were hypoactive when tested in a protected open field, they showed a profound
      increase of activity on the edge of the unprotected open field of the Barnes Maze
      even with the escape tunnel removed. This increased edge activity does not appear
      to be related to a reduced level of anxiety given that there were no significant
      genotype effects on the measures of anxiety-like behaviors in two standard animal
      models of anxiety, elevated plus maze and novelty suppressed feeding. Our data
      suggest that DAO-/- mice might have altered functioning of NMDARs. However, these
      results provide only modest support for manipulations of DAO activity as a
      potential therapeutic approach to treat schizophrenia.

PMID- 20933023
TI  - Central injections of noradrenaline induce reinstatement of cocaine seeking and
      increase c-fos mRNA expression in the extended amygdala.
AB  - We recently reported that central injections of noradrenaline (NA) induce
      reinstatement of cocaine seeking in rats. Here, we replicate and extend our
      finding to an additional dose of NA and show that it is associated with the
      induction of c-fos mRNA expression (a marker of neuronal activation) in
      functionally relevant brain regions, including the bed nucleus of the stria
      terminalis and central nucleus of the amygdala.

PMID- 20933025
TI  - Effect of shape and size of polymer particles on cellular internalization.

PMID- 20933024
TI  - Metabolic control of mitochondrial biogenesis through the PGC-1 family regulatory
      network.
AB  - The PGC-1 family of regulated coactivators, consisting of PGC-1alpha, PGC-1beta
      and PRC, plays a central role in a regulatory network governing the
      transcriptional control of mitochondrial biogenesis and respiratory function.
      These coactivators target multiple transcription factors including NRF-1, NRF-2
      and the orphan nuclear hormone receptor, ERRalpha, among others. In addition,
      they themselves are the targets of coactivator and co-repressor complexes that
      regulate gene expression through chromatin remodeling. The expression of PGC-1
      family members is modulated by extracellular signals controlling metabolism,
      differentiation or cell growth and in some cases their activities are known to be
      regulated by post-translational modification by the energy sensors, AMPK and
      SIRT1. Recent gene knockout and silencing studies of many members of the PGC-1
      network have revealed phenotypes of wide ranging severity suggestive of complex
      compensatory interactions or broadly integrative functions that are not exclusive
      to mitochondrial biogenesis. The results point to a central role for the PGC-1
      family in integrating mitochondrial biogenesis and energy production with many
      diverse cellular functions. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled:
      Mitochondria and Cardioprotection.

PMID- 20933026
TI  - Intravital microscopy as a tool to study drug delivery in preclinical studies.
AB  - The technical developments in the field of non-linear microscopy have made
      intravital microscopy one of the most successful techniques for studying
      physiological and pathological processes in live animals. Intravital microscopy
      has been utilized to address many biological questions in basic research and is
      now a fundamental tool for preclinical studies, with an enormous potential for
      clinical applications. The ability to dynamically image cellular and subcellular
      structures combined with the possibility to perform longitudinal studies have
      empowered investigators to use this discipline to study the mechanisms of action
      of therapeutic agents and assess the efficacy on their targets in vivo. The goal
      of this review is to provide a general overview of the recent advances in
      intravital microscopy and to discuss some of its applications in preclinical
      studies.

PMID- 20933029
TI  - Biological and structural characteristics of the binding peptides from the
      sporozoite proteins essential for cell traversal (SPECT)-1 and -2.
AB  - The sporozoite microneme proteins essential for cell traversal, SPECT-1 and SPECT
      2, are considered attractive pre-erythrocytic immune targets due to the key role
      they play in crossing of the malaria parasite across the dermis and the liver
      sinusoidal wall, prior to invasion of hepatocytes. In this study, the sequences
      of SPECT-1 and SPECT-2 were mapped using 20 mer-long synthetic peptides to
      identify high-activity binding peptides (HABPs) to HeLa cells. 17 HABPs with
      enzyme sensitive bindings to HeLa cells were identified: 3 predominantly alpha
      helical in SPECT-1, and 10 alpha-helical and 4 beta-turns/random coils in SPECT
      2. Immunofluorescence assays (IFA) with antibodies raised in rabbits against
      chemically synthesized B-cell epitopes suggests the presence of these two
      proteins in the micronemes and in sporozoite membrane. (1)H NMR studies showed
      that HABPs located in the membrane-attack complex/perforin (MACPF) domain of
      SPECT-2 share high similarity with the 3D structure of C8alpha. Altogether, the
      results highlight the potential of including HABPs from SPECT-1 and SPECT-2 as
      components of a fully effective multistage, multiepitopic, minimal subunit-based
      synthetic vaccine against Plasmodium falciparum malaria.

PMID- 20933027
TI  - Nuclear receptor coregulators as a new paradigm for therapeutic targeting.
AB  - The complex function and regulation of nuclear receptors cannot be fully
      understood without a thorough knowledge of the receptor-associated coregulators
      that either enhance (coactivators) or inhibit (corepressors) transcription. While
      nuclear receptors themselves have garnered much attention as therapeutic targets,
      the clinical and etiological relevance of the coregulators to human diseases is
      increasingly recognized. Aberrant expression or function of coactivators and
      corepressors has been associated with malignant and metabolic disease
      development. Many of them are key epigenetic regulators and utilize enzymatic
      activities to modify chromatin through histone acetylation/deacetylation, histone
      methylation/demethylation or chromatin remodeling. In this review, we showcase
      and evaluate coregulators--such as SRCs and ANCCA--with the most promising
      therapeutic potential based on their physiological roles and involvement in
      various diseases that are revealed thus far. We also describe the structural
      features of the coactivator and corepressor functional domains and highlight
      areas that can be further explored for molecular targeting.

PMID- 20933028
TI  - Sulfated cholecystokinin-8 activates phospho-mTOR immunoreactive neurons of the
      paraventricular nucleus in rats.
AB  - The serin/threonin-kinase, mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) was detected in
      the arcuate nucleus (ARC) and paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVN)
      and suggested to play a role in the integration of satiety signals. Since
      cholecystokinin (CCK) plays a role in the short-term inhibition of food intake
      and induces c-Fos in PVN neurons, the aim was to determine whether
      intraperitoneally injected CCK-8S affects the neuronal activity in cells
      immunoreactive for phospho-mTOR in the PVN. Ad libitum fed male Sprague-Dawley
      rats received 6 or 10 MUg/kg CCK-8S or 0.15M NaCl ip (n=4/group). The number of c
      Fos-immunoreactive (ir) neurons was assessed in the PVN, ARC and in the nucleus
      of the solitary tract (NTS). CCK-8S increased the number of c-Fos-ir neurons in
      the PVN (6 MUg: 103 +/- 13 vs. 10 MUg: 165 +/- 14 neurons/section; p<0.05)
      compared to vehicle treated rats (4 +/- 1, p<0.05), but not in the ARC. CCK-8S
      also dose-dependently increased the number of c-Fos neurons in the NTS. Staining
      for phospho-mTOR and c-Fos in the PVN showed a dose-dependent increase of
      activated phospho-mTOR neurons (17 +/- 3 vs. 38 +/- 2 neurons/section; p<0.05),
      while no activated phospho-mTOR neurons were observed in the vehicle group.
      Triple staining in the PVN showed activation of phospho-mTOR neurons co-localized
      with oxytocin, corresponding to 9.8 +/- 3.6% and 19.5 +/- 3.3% of oxytocin
      neurons respectively. Our observations indicate that peripheral CCK-8S activates
      phospho-mTOR neurons in the PVN and suggest that phospho-mTOR plays a role in the
      mediation of CCK-8S's anorexigenic effects.

PMID- 20933030
TI  - Central nesfatin-1 reduces the nocturnal food intake in mice by reducing meal
      size and increasing inter-meal intervals.
AB  - Nesfatin-1 is well established to reduce food intake upon brain injection in
      rats, while in mice its anorexigenic action and brain expression are largely
      unexplored. We characterized the influence of intracerebroventricular (icv) and
      peripheral (intraperitoneal, ip, subcutaneous, sc) injection of nesfatin-1 on
      dark phase ingestive behavior using an automated feeding monitoring system and co
      localized NUCB2/nesfatin-1 immunoreactivity in the associated brain areas.
      Nesfatin-1 (0.3, 1 or 3 MUg/mouse, icv) caused a dose-related reduction of 4-h
      dark phase food intake by 13%, 27%, and 46% respectively. Nesfatin-1 (3
      MUg/mouse, icv) action had a 2-h delayed onset, 82% peak inhibition occurring at
      3-4h post-injection and was long lasting (30% reduction for 12h period post
      injection). Nesfatin-1 (3 MUg/mouse, icv)-treated mice had a 46% lower meal
      frequency associated with 2-times longer inter-meal intervals and a 35% reduction
      in meal size compared to vehicle during the 1-4h post-injection (p<0.05).
      NUCB2/nesfatin-1-immunopositive neurons were found in hypothalamic (supraoptic,
      paraventricular, arcuate, dorsomedial, lateral) and brainstem (dorsal vagal
      complex) feeding regulatory nuclei. When injected peripherally, neither food
      intake nor feeding microstructure parameters were altered. These results
      demonstrate that NUCB2/nesfatin-1 is prominently expressed in mouse hypothalamus
      and medulla and acts in the brain to curtail the dark phase feeding by inducing
      satiation and satiety indicated by reduced meal size and prolonged inter-meal
      intervals respectively. The lack of nesfatin-1 effect when injected peripherally
      at a 23-times higher dose indicates a primarily central site of the anorexigenic
      action for nesfatin-1 in mice.

PMID- 20933031
TI  - Hippocampal lipids linked to spatial memory in the C57BL/6J mouse.
AB  - Although the role of individual brain lipids for learning and memory has been
      reported, no systematic approach associating brain lipids with spatial memory has
      been carried out. It was therefore the aim of the study to determine brain lipids
      in hippocampus of mice forming and yoked controls that did not form spatial
      memory using the probe trial as the endpoint. 10 animals were trained in the
      Morris water maze (MWM) and 10 mice were serving as yoked controls i.e. no
      platform was used during the whole experiment. Hippocampal tissue lipids were
      extracted and data were acquired with Fourier transformation ion cyclotron
      resonance mass spectrometry (LTQ-FT) coupled to HPLC.
      Glycerophosphatidylethanolamines (18:0/22:6, 18:0/20:4 and 18:1/18:1),
      plasmalogens (16:0-10/22:6 and 18:0-10/22:6) and ceramides (18:0) showed higher
      levels in the trained group, while glycerolysophosphatidylcholines (16:0, 18:1,
      18:0, 20:4), sphingomyelins (16:0, 24:1), ether linked
      glycerophosphatidylcholines (16:0-10/18:0), glycerophosphatidylcholines
      (16:0/18:1, 16:0/18:0, 18:0/18:1, 38:7, 18:1/20:1, 20:4/20:4, 22:1/18:1,
      22:0/18:1, 20:4/22:6, 22:6/22:6), glucosylceramide (24:1) and plasmalogen (18:0
      10/20:1) revealed lower levels in the trained group. Decreased levels of certain
      species of lysophosphatidylcholine, sphingomyelin, plasmenylphosphatidylcholine,
      phosphatidylcholine, glycosylceramide and plasmalogen at the probe trial for
      spatial memory may indicate catabolism in terms of consumption during this
      process. Increased hippocampal levels of long chain highly unsaturated
      phosphatidylethanolamines, plasmalogens and ceramides may reflect increased
      synthesis or decreased degradation at the endpoint of memory testing, probably
      representing interactions in the brain lipid pathways. The study shows pathways
      involved in spatial memory, may propose the use of individual brain lipids as
      probable cognitive enhancers and forms the basis for further studies on the role
      of brain lipids per se.

PMID- 20933032
TI  - TDP-43 physically interacts with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis-linked mutant CuZn
      superoxide dismutase.
AB  - Mutations in the CuZn superoxide dismutase (SOD1) and TAR DNA-binding protein 43
      (TDP-43) genes are linked to familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, ALS1 and
      ALS10, respectively. In addition, TDP-43 is a major component protein of the
      ubiquitinated aggregates observed in sporadic ALS (SALS) patients. However, it
      remains unclear whether these ALS groups partly have a shared pathogenesis. In
      the present study, we demonstrate that mutant SOD1, but not wild-type SOD1,
      interacts with TDP-43 by co-immunoprecipitation assays using cultured cells and
      G93A mutant SOD1 transgenic mice. The region responsible for this interaction
      within SOD1 is the dimer interface, namely, the N- and C-terminal regions.
      Deletion mutants of TDP-43 with or without nuclear localization sequence
      interacted with mutant SOD1. Cell fractionation assays using cultured cells
      showed that mutant SOD1 was localized in the cytosolic fraction but not in the
      nuclear fraction. TDP-43 was detected both in the nuclear and cytosolic
      fractions, suggesting that mutant SOD1 interacts with TDP-43 in the cytoplasm.
      Mutant SOD1 overexpression led to an increased amount of mutant SOD1 and, to some
      extent, its interacting proteins including TDP-43 in the detergent-insoluble
      fraction. These results indicate that mutant SOD1 could affect the
      solubility/insolubility of its interacting proteins including TDP-43 through
      physical interactions. Our findings may contribute to the understanding of links
      among SALS, ALS1 and ALS10.

PMID- 20933033
TI  - alpha-Tocopherol quinone inhibits beta-amyloid aggregation and cytotoxicity,
      disaggregates preformed fibrils and decreases the production of reactive oxygen
      species, NO and inflammatory cytokines.
AB  - Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a complex, multifactorial neurodegenerative disease.
      The aggregation of beta-amyloid (Abeta) into extracellular fibrillar deposition
      is a pathological hallmark of AD. The Abeta aggregate-induced neurotoxicity,
      inflammatory reactions and oxidative stress are linked strongly to the etiology
      of AD. The currently available hitting-one-target drugs are insufficient for the
      treatment of AD. Therefore, finding multipotent agents able to modulate multiple
      targets simultaneously is attracting more attention. Previous studies indicated
      that vitamin E or its constituent such as alpha-tocopherol (alpha-T) was able to
      attenuate the effects of several pathogenetic factors in AD. However, ineffective
      or detrimental results were obtained from a number of clinical trials of vitamin
      E. Here, we showed that naturally synthesized RRR-alpha-tocopherol quinone (alpha
      TQ), a main derivative of alpha-T, could inhibit Abeta42 fibril formation dose
      dependently. Further investigations indicated that alpha-TQ could attenuate
      Abeta42-induced neurotoxicity toward SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells, disaggregate
      preformed fibrils and interfere with natural intracellular Abeta oligomer
      formation. Moreover, alpha-TQ could decrease the formation of reactive oxygen
      species (ROS) and NO, and modulate the production of cytokines by decreasing TNF
      alpha and IL-1beta and increasing IL-4 formation in microglia. Taken together,
      alpha-TQ targeting multiple pathogenetic factors deserves further investigation
      for prevention and treatment of AD.

PMID- 20933034
TI  - Hypoxia induces up-regulation of progranulin in neuroblastoma cell lines.
AB  - Progranulin (PGRN) is a widely expressed multifunctional protein, involved in
      regulation of cell growth and cell cycle progression with a possible involvement
      in neurodegeneration. We looked for PGRN regulation in three different human
      neuroblastoma cell lines, following exposure to two different stimuli commonly
      associated to neurodegeneration: hypoxia and oxidative stress. For gene and
      protein expression analysis we carried out a quantitative RT-PCR and western
      blotting analysis. We show that PGRN is strongly up-regulated by hypoxia, through
      the mitogen-actived protein kinase (MAPK)/extracellular signal-regulated kinase
      (MEK) signaling cascade. PGRN is not up-regulated by H(2)O(2)-induced oxidative
      stress. These results suggest that PGRN in the brain could exert a protective
      role against hypoxic stress, one of principal risk factors involved in
      frontotemporal dementia pathogenesis.

PMID- 20933035
TI  - Activation of the neurokinin-1 receptor in rat spinal astrocytes induces Ca2+
      release from IP3-sensitive Ca2+ stores and extracellular Ca2+ influx through
      TRPC3.
AB  - Substance P (SP) plays an important role in pain transmission through the
      stimulation of the neurokinin (NK) receptors expressed in neurons of the spinal
      cord, and the subsequent increase in the intracellular Ca(2+) concentration
      ([Ca(2+)](i)) as a result of this stimulation. Recent studies suggest that spinal
      astrocytes also contribute to SP-related pain transmission through the activation
      of NK receptors. However, the mechanisms involved in the SP-stimulated
      [Ca(2+)](i) increase by spinal astrocytes are unclear. We therefore examined
      whether (and how) the activation of NK receptors evoked increase in [Ca(2+)](i)
      in rat cultured spinal astrocytes using a Ca(2+) imaging assay. Both SP and
      GR73632 (a selective agonist of the NK1 receptor) induced both transient and
      sustained increases in [Ca(2+)](i) in a dose-dependent manner. The SP-induced
      increase in [Ca(2+)](i) was significantly attenuated by CP-96345 (an NK1 receptor
      antagonist). The GR73632-induced increase in [Ca(2+)](i) was completely inhibited
      by pretreatment with U73122 (a phospholipase C inhibitor) or xestospongin C (an
      inositol 1,4,5-triphosphate (IP(3)) receptor inhibitor). In the absence of
      extracellular Ca(2+), GR73632 induced only a transient increase in [Ca(2+)](i).
      In addition, H89, an inhibitor of protein kinase A (PKA), decreased the GR73632
      mediated Ca(2+) release from intracellular Ca(2+) stores, while
      bisindolylmaleimide I, an inhibitor of protein kinase C (PKC), enhanced the
      GR73632-induced influx of extracellular Ca(2+). RT-PCR assays revealed that
      canonical transient receptor potential (TRPC) 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6 mRNA were
      expressed in spinal astrocytes. Moreover, BTP2 (a general TRPC channel inhibitor)
      or Pyr3 (a TRPC3 inhibitor) markedly blocked the GR73632-induced sustained
      increase in [Ca(2+)](i). These findings suggest that the stimulation of the NK-1
      receptor in spinal astrocytes induces Ca(2+) release from IP(3-)sensitive
      intracellular Ca(2+) stores, which is positively modulated by PKA, and subsequent
      Ca(2+) influx through TRPC3, which is negatively regulated by PKC.

PMID- 20933036
TI  - Lactate levels in the brain are elevated upon exposure to volatile anesthetics: a
      microdialysis study.
AB  - Anesthetic agents have well-defined pharmacological targets but their effects on
      energy metabolism in the brain are poorly understood. In this study, we examined
      the effects of different anesthetics on extracellular lactate and glucose levels
      in blood, CSF and brain of the mouse. In vivo-microdialysis was used to monitor
      extracellular energy metabolites in the brain of awake mice and during anesthesia
      with seven different anesthetic drugs. In separate groups, lactate and glucose
      concentrations in blood and CSF were measured for each anesthetic. We found that
      anesthesia with isoflurane caused a large increase of extracellular lactate
      levels in mouse striatum and hippocampus (300-400%). Pyruvate levels also
      increased while glucose and glutamate levels were unchanged. This effect was dose
      dependent and was mimicked by other gaseous anesthetics such as halothane and
      sevoflurane but not by intravenous anesthetics. Ketamine/xylazine and chloral
      hydrate caused 2-fold increases of glucose levels in mouse blood and brain while
      lactate levels were only moderately increased. Propofol caused a minor increase
      of extracellular glucose levels while pentobarbital had no effect on either
      lactate or glucose. Volatile anesthetics also increased lactate levels in blood
      and CSF by 2-3-fold but had no effect on plasma glucose. Further experiments
      demonstrated that lactate formation by isoflurane in mouse brain was independent
      of neuronal impulse flow and did not involve ATP-dependent potassium channels. We
      conclude that volatile anesthetics, but not intravenous anesthetics, cause a
      specific, dose-dependent increase in extracellular lactate levels in mouse brain.
      This effect occurs in the absence of ischemia, is independent of peripheral
      actions and is reflected in strongly increased CSF lactate levels.

PMID- 20933037
TI  - Up-regulation of serum- and glucocorticoid-induced protein kinase 1 in the brain
      tissue of human and experimental epilepsy.
AB  - Several studies have shown that serum- and glucocorticoid-induced protein kinase
      1(SGK1) can regulate both glutamate receptors and glutamate transporters and may
      participate in the regulation of neuroexcitability in neuronal diseases. In our
      previous study, we analyzed differential gene expression in the anterior temporal
      neocortex of drug-refractory epilepsy patients relative to control patients using
      a complementary DNA microarray and found that the SGK1 gene was up-regulated more
      than twofold in the brain tissues of epileptic patients. In the current study, we
      measured SGK1 expression in the brain tissues of humans and in an experimental
      model of rat epilepsy in order to explore the relationship between SGK1
      expression and epilepsy. The SGK1 expression was detected in thirty human brain
      tissues derived from patients undergoing operation for drug-refractory epilepsy
      and was also detected in eight samples from autopsies. Meanwhile, we investigated
      SGK1 expression during the epileptic process in rats using immunofluorescence, RT
      PCR and western blot analysis. SGK1 expression was enhanced in the temporal
      neocortex of patients with drug-refractory epilepsy and was also highly expressed
      in the rat brain during different phases of the epileptic process. SGK1
      expression was also related with the elevation of EAAT3, which expression reduced
      after knockdown SGK1. These results provide new insight into the potential role
      of SGK1 in the pathophysiology of epilepsy.

PMID- 20933038
TI  - Improved in silico prediction of carcinogenic potency (TD50) and the risk
      specific dose (RSD) adjusted Threshold of Toxicological Concern (TTC) for
      genotoxic chemicals and pharmaceutical impurities.
AB  - The Threshold of Toxicological Concern (TTC) is a level of exposure to a
      genotoxic impurity that is considered to represent a negligible risk to humans.
      The TTC was derived from the results of rodent carcinogenicity TD50 values that
      are a measure of carcinogenic potency. The TTC currently sets a default limit of
      1.5 MUg/day in food contact substances and pharmaceuticals for all genotoxic
      impurities without carcinogenicity data. Bercu et al. (2010) used the QSAR
      predicted TD50 to calculate a risk specific dose (RSD) which is a carcinogenic
      potency adjusted TTC for genotoxic impurities. This promising approach is
      currently limited by the software used, a combination of MC4PC
      (www.multicase.com) and a Lilly Inc. in-house software (VISDOM) that is not
      available to the public. In this report the TD50 and RSD were predicted using a
      commercially available software, SciQSAR (formally MDL-QSAR, www.scimatics.com)
      employing the same TD50 training data set and external validation test set that
      was used by Bercu et al. (2010). The results demonstrate the general
      applicability of QSAR predicted TD50 values to determine the RSDs for genotoxic
      impurities and the improved performance of SciQSAR for predicting TD50 values.

PMID- 20933039
TI  - Human biomonitoring as a pragmatic tool to support health risk management of
      chemicals--examples under the EU REACH programme.
AB  - REACH requires health risk management for workers and the general population and
      introduced the concept of Derived No-Effect Level (DNEL). DNELs must be derived
      for all substances that are classified as health hazards. As with analogues to
      other health-risk based guidance values, such as reference doses (RfDs) and
      tolerable daily intakes (TDIs), risk to health is considered negligible if the
      actual exposure is less than the DNEL. Exposure assessment is relatively simple
      for occupational situations but more complex for the general public, in which
      exposure may occur via multiple pathways, routes, and media. For such complex or
      partially defined exposure scenarios, human biomonitoring gives a snapshot of
      internal or absorbed dose of a chemical and is often the most reliable exposure
      assessment methodology as it integrates exposures from all routes. For human risk
      management human biomonitoring data can be interpreted using the recently
      developed concept of Biomonitoring Equivalents (BE). Basically, a BE translates
      an established reference value into a biomarker concentration using toxicokinetic
      data. If the results of an exposure assessment using human biomonitoring indicate
      that the levels measured are below the DNEL-based BE (BE(DNEL)), it would
      indicate that the combined exposure via all potential exposure routes is unlikely
      to pose a risk to human health and that health risk management measures might not
      be needed. Hence, BEs do not challenge existing risk assessments but rather build
      upon them to help risk management, the ultimate goal of any risk assessment. A
      challenge in implementing this approach forms the limited availability of
      toxicokinetic information for many substances. However, methodologies such as
      generic physiologically-based toxicokinetic models, which allow estimation of
      biomarker concentrations based on physicochemical properties, are being developed
      for less data-rich chemicals. Use of BE by regulatory authorities will allow
      initial screening of population exposure to chemicals to identify those chemicals
      requiring more detailed risk and exposure assessment, assisting in priority
      setting and ultimately leading to improved product stewardship and risk
      management.

PMID- 20933040
TI  - Contrasting substitution patterns between HA proteins of avian and human
      influenza viruses: Implication for monitoring human influenza epidemics.
AB  - The HA1 domain of influenza A viruses is critical for immune escape and host
      receptor recognition. However, the association between HA1 evolution and host
      species-specific adaptations remains unclear. We have identified the amino acid
      sites that are related to the host species-specific adaptations by systematically
      comparing the evolutionary dynamics of HA1 between human and avian hosts for both
      H1N1 and H3N2 viruses. We can thus refine the "positively selected sites" in the
      HA1 domain of these two virus subtypes to those that occur only in humans. We
      further demonstrate that the refined sets can accurately reflect influenza
      epidemics. Our retrospective study shows that when substitutions occur at more
      than three out of these identified sites in the same year, an epidemic is very
      likely to occur. Therefore, our approach could potentially be used in determining
      whether new influenza vaccines are needed.

PMID- 20933041
TI  - CpG oligodeoxynucleotides containing GACGTT motifs enhance the immune responses
      elicited by a goose parvovirus vaccine in ducks.
AB  - Recombinant parvovirus VP2 (rVP2) was formulated with different types of
      adjuvant, including aluminum adjuvant and CpG oligodeoxynucleotides (ODNs), and
      the immunological responses after vaccination in ducks were examined. In
      comparison with the control group, production of rVP2-specific antibodies,
      expression of cytokines in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) stimulated
      by rVP2, and percentage of CD4(+)/CD8(+) cells in PBMC were significantly
      increased in ducks immunized with rVP2 formulated with CpG ODNs containing 3
      copies of GACGTT motif. CpG ODNs with GACGTT motifs might be used to improve the
      efficacy of vaccines for ducks.

PMID- 20933043
TI  - Agomelatine in the treatment of panic disorder.

PMID- 20933042
TI  - Public vaccination programmes against hepatitis B in The Netherlands: assessing
      whether a targeted or a universal approach is appropriate.
AB  - To date, the policy to control hepatitis B in the Netherlands is to vaccinate
      specific risk groups, rather than all children. Low incidence of the disease has
      fueled debate whether such a targeted vaccination strategy or rather a universal
      strategy, as recommended by the World Health Organization, is appropriate. The
      standard framework for assessing whether a particular vaccination should be
      included in a public programme, as recently proposed by the Health Council of the
      Netherlands (HCN), was applied to the various options for hepatitis B
      vaccination. This framework includes seven selection criteria, grouped under five
      thematic headings: seriousness and extent of the disease burden, effectiveness
      and safety of the vaccination, acceptability of the vaccination, efficiency of
      the vaccination, and priority of the vaccination. From about 1990 the disease
      burden has stayed more or less the same over time and careful assessment has made
      it clear that the targeted approach has failed to reach a significant part of the
      risk groups. Models suggest that the public health benefits obtained through
      targeted programmes could be augmented considerably by universal vaccination.
      Based on the assessment that universal vaccination means better protection for
      high-risk groups as well as the whole population, the HCN calls for universal
      immunisation, even though hepatitis B to a large extent is limited to specific
      high-risk groups. Should the Netherlands adopt universal vaccination, several
      immunisation programmes targeted to high-risk groups will, however, remain of
      crucial importance for years to come.

PMID- 20933044
TI  - A case of porencephalic cyst in a schizophrenic patient with history of postnatal
      encephalitis.

PMID- 20933045
TI  - The respiratory allergen glutaraldehyde in the local lymph node assay:
      sensitization by skin exposure, but not by inhalation.
AB  - Previously, a selection of low molecular weight contact and respiratory allergens
      had tested positive in both a skin and a respiratory local lymph node assay
      (LLNA), but formaldehyde was negative for sensitization by inhalation. To
      investigate whether this was due to intrinsic properties of aldehyde sensitizers,
      the structurally related allergen glutaraldehyde (GA) was tested. BALB/c mice
      were exposed by inhalation to 6 or 18ppm GA (respiratory LLNA), both generated as
      a vapor and as an aerosol. Other groups received 0.25% or 2.5% GA on the skin of
      the ears (skin LLNA). Lymphocyte proliferation and cytokine production were
      measured in the draining lymph nodes. GA was positive in the skin LLNA and its
      cytokine profile (IL-4/IFN-gamma) skewed towards a Th2-type immune response with
      increasing dose. Inhalation exposure did not result in increased lymphocyte
      proliferation or increased cytokine levels, despite comparable tissue damage
      (irritation) in the skin and respiratory tract. We hypothesize that the highly
      reactive and hydrophilic GA oligomerizes in the protein-rich mucous layer of the
      respiratory tract, which impedes sensitization but still facilitates local
      irritation. Within the context of risk assessment in respiratory allergy, our
      results stress the importance of prevention of skin--besides inhalation--
      exposure to aldehydes like GA.

PMID- 20933046
TI  - Trial of protective effect of fissure sealants, in vivo, on the palatal surfaces
      of anterior teeth, in patients suffering from erosion.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Previous work has shown protection to eroded teeth offered by a resin
      based adhesive lasted up to three months. The hypothesis investigated in this
      study was whether application of a fissure sealant would offer longer protection.
      METHODS: Seventeen adult patients with palatal tooth wear were recruited and
      written consent obtained. Metal discs were cemented on the palatal surfaces of
      all upper anterior teeth following previously published techniques. Alternate
      teeth within each subject were randomly chosen and coated with a clear fissure
      sealant using previously published methods. The uncoated teeth were used as
      controls. Accurate impressions were taken in custom made trays and repeated at 3,
      6, 9, 12 and 20 months and scanned using a non-contacting laser profilometer.
      RESULTS: The mean (standard deviation) thickness of the fissure sealant was 290
      MUm (500) at the start and after 3 months a mean thickness of 120 MUm (260)
      remained. At this point the control surfaces showed a mean 70 MUm (113) of tooth
      wear. At 6 and 9 months the mean wear for control teeth was higher at 120 MUm
      (114) and 110 MUm (114) than sealed teeth at 50 MUm (260) and 60 MUm (440),
      respectively. A comparison of paired sites within subjects at their final visit
      indicated a statistically significant difference in wear between the sealed and
      control teeth (p=0.016). CONCLUSIONS: The use of fissure sealant to protect
      palatal dentine surfaces may have a role in prevention of tooth wear for up to a
      period of nine months.

PMID- 20933047
TI  - Four-year clinical evaluation of Class II nano-hybrid resin composite
      restorations bonded with a one-step self-etch and a two-step etch-and-rinse
      adhesive.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The objective of this prospective clinical trial was to evaluate the 4
      year clinical performance of an ormocer-based nano-hybrid resin composite (Ceram
      X; Dentsply/DeTrey) in Class II restorations placed with a one-step self-etch
      (Xeno III; Dentsply/DeTrey) and two-step etch-and-rinse adhesive (Ivoclar
      Vivadent). METHODS: Seventy-eight participants received at random at least two,
      as similar as possible, Class II restorations of the nano-hybrid resin composite
      bonded with either a single step self-etch adhesive or a control 2-step etch-and
      rinse adhesive. The 165 restorations were evaluated using slightly modified USPHS
      criteria at baseline and then yearly during 4 years. RESULTS: 162 restorations
      were evaluated at 4 years. Postoperative sensitivity was observed in 6 patients
      (3 Xeno III, 3 Exite) between 1 and 3 weeks. Eleven failed restorations (6.8%)
      were observed during the follow up. Seven in the one-step self-etch adhesive
      group (7.7%) and four in the 2-step etch-and-rinse group (5.6%). This resulted in
      non-significant different annual failure rates of 1.9% and 1.4%, respectively.
      Fracture of restoration was the main reason for failure. CONCLUSION: The ormocer
      based nano-hybrid resin composite showed a good clinical performance in Class II
      cavities during the 4 year evaluation. No significant difference was seen in
      overall clinical effectiveness between the two adhesives.

PMID- 20933049
TI  - Selective constraints, molecular recombination structure and phylogenetic
      reconstruction of isometric plant RNA viruses of the families Luteoviridae and
      Tymoviridae.
AB  - In an effort to enhance the knowledge on molecular evolution of currently the
      known members of the families Luteoviridae and Tymoviridae, in-depth molecular
      investigations in the entire genome of 147 accessions retrieved from the
      international databases, were carried out. Two algorithms (RECCO and RDP version
      3.31beta) adapted to the mosaic structure of viruses were utilized. The
      recombination frequency along the sequences was dissected and demonstrated that
      the three virus genera of the family Luteoviridae comprise numerous members
      subjected to recombination. It has pointed out that the major viruses swapped a
      few but long genomic segments. In addition, in Barley yellow dwarf virus,
      heredity material might be exchanged between two different serotypes. Even more,
      putative recombination events occurred between two different genera. Based on
      Fisher's Exact Test of Neutrality, positive selection acting on protein
      expression was detected only in the poleroviruses Cereal yellow dwarf virus,
      Potato leafroll virus and Wheat yellow dwarf virus. In contrast, several
      components of the family Tymoviridae were highly recombinant. Genomic portion
      exchange arose in many positions consisting of short fragments. Furthermore, no
      positive selection was detected. The evolutionary history showed, in the
      Luteoviridae, that all screened isolates split into three clusters corresponding
      to the three virus genera forming this family. Moreover, in the serotype PAV of
      Barley yellow dwarf virus, two major clades corresponding to PAV-USA and PAV
      China, were delineated. Similarly, in the Tymoviridae, all analyzed isolates fell
      into four groups corresponding to the three virus genera composing this family
      along with the unclassified Tymoviridae. Inferred phylogenies reshuffled the
      existing classification and showed that Wheat yellow dwarf virus-RPV was
      genetically closely related to Cereal yellow dwarf virus and the unclassified
      Tymoviridae Grapevine syrah virus-1 constituted an integral part of the genus
      Marafivirus.

PMID- 20933048
TI  - Solvent composition of one-step self-etch adhesives and dentine wettability.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Our aim was to determine the wettability of dentine by four
      commercial self-etch adhesives and evaluate their spreading rate on the dentine
      surface. Any correlation with chemical composition was sought, particularly with
      the amount of solvent or HEMA present in the adhesive. The adhesives used were
      AdheSE One, Optibond All.In.One, Adper Easy Bond and XenoV. METHODS: Chemical
      compositions were determined by proton nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)
      spectroscopy of the adhesives dissolved in dimethylsulfoxide. Apparent contact
      angles for sessile drops of adhesives were measured on dentine slices as a
      function of time for up to 180s. The water contact angles were determined for
      fully polymerised adhesives. RESULTS: All adhesives were water-based with total
      solvent contents ranging from 27% to 73% for HEMA-free adhesives, and averaging
      45% for HEMA containing adhesives. The contents in hydrophobic groups decreased
      as water contents increased. No differences were found in the adhesive contact
      angles after 180s even though the spreading rates were different for the products
      tested. CONCLUSION: Water contact angles differed significantly but were not
      correlated with HEMA or solvent presence. Manufacturers use different approaches
      to stabilise acid co-monomer ingredients in self-etch adhesives. Co-solvents,
      HEMA, or acrylamides without co-solvents are used to simultaneously etch and
      infiltrate dentine. A large proportion of water is necessary for decalcification
      action.

PMID- 20933050
TI  - The disulfiram metabolites S-methyl-N,N-diethyldithiocarbamoyl sulfoxide and S
      methyl-N,N-diethylthiocarbamoyl sulfone irreversibly inactivate betaine aldehyde
      dehydrogenase from Pseudomonas aeruginosa, both in vitro and in situ, and arrest
      bacterial growth.
AB  - Betaine aldehyde dehydrogenase from the human opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas
      aeruginosa (PaBADH) catalyzes the irreversible, NAD(P)(+)-dependent oxidation of
      betaine aldehyde, producing glycine betaine, an osmoprotectant. PaBADH
      participates in the catabolism of choline and likely in the defense against the
      osmotic and oxidative stresses to which the bacterium is exposed when infecting
      human tissues. Given that choline or choline precursors are abundant in infected
      tissues, PaBADH is a potential drug target because its inhibition will lead to
      the build up of the toxic betaine aldehyde inside bacterial cells. We tested the
      thiol reagents, disulfiram (DSF) and five DSF metabolites-diethyldithiocarbamic
      acid (DDC), S-methyl-N,N-diethyldithiocarbamoyl sulfoxide (MeDDTC-SO) and sulfone
      (MeDDTC-SO(2)), and S-methyl-N,N-diethylthiocarbamoyl sulfoxide (MeDTC-SO) and
      sulfone (MeDTC-SO(2))-as inhibitors of PaBADH and P. aeruginosa growth. As in
      vitro PaBADH inhibitors, their order of potency was: MeDDTC-SO(2)>DSF>MeDTC
      SO(2)>MeDDTC-SO>MeDTC-SO. DDC did not inactivate the enzyme. PaBADH inactivation
      by DSF metabolites (i) was not affected by NAD(P)(+), (ii) could not be reverted
      by dithiothreitol, and (iii) did not affect the quaternary structure of the
      enzyme. Of the DSF metabolites tested, MeDTC-SO(2) and MeDDTC-SO produced
      significant in situ PaBADH inactivation and arrest of P. aeruginosa growth in
      choline containing media, in which the expression of PaBADH is induced. They had
      no effect in media lacking choline, indicating that PaBADH is their main
      intracellular target, and that arrest of growth is due to accumulation of betaine
      aldehyde. The in vitro and in situ kinetics of enzyme inactivation by these two
      compounds were very similar, indicating no restriction on their uptake by the
      cells. MeDDTC-SO(2) and DSF have no inhibitory effects in situ, probably because
      their high reactivity towards intracellular nonessential thiols causes their
      depletion. Our results support that PaBADH is a promising target to treat P.
      aeruginosa infections, and that some DSF metabolites might be of help in this
      aim.

PMID- 20933052
TI  - MicroRNA-146a disrupts hematopoietic differentiation and survival.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short noncoding RNAs capable of exerting
      dramatic effects by postranscriptionally regulating numerous messenger RNA
      targets. Toll-like receptor-4 (TLR-4) activation by lipopolysaccharide (LPS)
      induces the expression of three miRNAs in myeloid cells. The aim of this study
      was to investigate the in vivo consequences of expressing one of the LPS-induced
      miRNA, miR-146a, in bone marrow cells. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The role of miR-146a
      in hematopoiesis was investigated by using retroviral infection and
      overexpression of miR-146a in mouse hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells, followed
      by bone marrow transplantations. RESULTS: miR-146a is mainly expressed in
      primitive hematopoietic stem cells and T lymphocytes. Overexpression of miR-146a
      in hematopoietic stem cells, followed by bone marrow transplantation, resulted in
      a transient myeloid expansion, decreased erythropoiesis, and impaired
      lymphopoiesis in select anatomical locations. Enforced expression of miR-146a
      also impaired bone marrow reconstitution in recipient mice and reduced survival
      of hematopoietic stem cells. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that miR-146a, an
      LPS-induced miRNA, regulates multiple aspects of hematopoietic differentiation
      and survival. Furthermore, the consequences of miR-146a expression in
      hematopoietic cells mimics some of the reported effects with acute LPS exposure.

PMID- 20933051
TI  - Maintenance of HSC by Wnt5a secreting AGM-derived stromal cell line.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The microenvironment wherein hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) reside
      orchestrates HSC self-renewal vs. differentiation decisions. Stromal cells
      derived from ontogenically divergent hematopoietic microenvironments can support
      HSC in vitro and have been used to decipher factors that influence HSC fate
      decisions. Employing stromal cell lines derived from the aorta-gonad-mesonephros
      and embryonic liver, we aim to identify secreted factors that maintain/expand HSC
      in vitro. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We cultured murine lineage antigen-negative
      (Lin(-)) bone marrow cells in transwells above the UG26-1B6, urogenital ridge-,
      and EL08-1D2, embryonic liver-derived cell lines. We, also, performed real-time
      quantitative PCR analysis to identify differentially expressed genes from the Wnt
      family of proteins in ontogenically different stromal cell lines. RESULTS: Lin(-)
      murine bone marrow cells maintained for 3 weeks in transwells above UG26-1B6 but
      not EL08-1D2 cells contained competitive repopulating HSC. Addition of as few as
      25% UG26-1B6 cells to EL08-1D2 feeders led to maintenance of HSC in noncontact
      cultures, validating soluble factors are secreted by the UG26-1B6 cells. As we
      found that Wnt5a was significantly higher expressed in UG26-1B6 than EL08-1D2
      cells, we added Wnt5a to EL08-1D2 transwell cultures or an antibody against Wnt5a
      to UG26-1B6 transwell cultures. Addition of Wnt5a to EL08-1D2 transwell cultures
      restored maintenance of HSC, whereas addition of an anti-Wnt5a antibody to UG26
      1B6 transwell cultures inhibited maintenance of competitive repopulating HSC.
      CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrate that stromal cell lines generated from embryonic
      microenvironments provide a tool to identify secreted proteins that play a role
      in the maintenance of HSC, and that at least one of the factors produced by UG26
      1B6 cells responsible for preserving HSC is Wnt5a.

PMID- 20933053
TI  - Endogenously elevated androgens alter the developmental programming of the
      hypothalamic-pituitary axis in male mice.
AB  - Transgenic male mice that express human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) alpha and
      beta subunits constitutively hypersecrete hCG and produce elevated levels of
      androgens. The aim of this study was to characterize the hypothalamic-pituitary
      function of these transgenic (hCGalphabeta+) males by focusing on FSH regulation.
      Serum FSH levels and pituitary mRNA expression of Fshb, Lhb, Cga, Gnrhr and Esr1
      were reduced, whereas Fst expression was increased in prepubertal hCGalphabeta+
      males as compared with wild-type. In the hypothalamus, Cyp19a1 expression, GnRH
      concentration and ex-vivo GnRH pulsatility were elevated in prepubertal
      hCGalphabeta+ mice, whereas Kiss1 expression was decreased prepubertally and
      Gad67 expression was elevated neonatally. The effect of androgens on the
      developmental programming of the hypothalamic-pituitary axis of hCGalphabeta+
      males was evaluated by perinatal and prepubertal antiandrogen (flutamide)
      administration. Our studies identified a critical window between gestational day
      18 and postnatal day 14, during which chronically elevated androgens and/or their
      locally produced metabolites activate the hypothalamus and concomitantly shut
      down the gonadotropin axis.

PMID- 20933054
TI  - Modulation of Bcl-2-related protein expression in pancreatic beta cells by pro
      inflammatory cytokines and its dependence on the antioxidative defense status.
AB  - Pro-inflammatory cytokines are key mediators in the selective and progressive
      destruction of insulin-producing beta cells during type 1 diabetes development.
      However, the mechanisms of cytokine-induced beta cell apoptosis are not fully
      understood. This study demonstrates that pro-inflammatory cytokines strongly
      modified the expression of the anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 and the pro-apoptotic
      BH3-only proteins Bad, Bim, and Bid in primary rat islets and insulin-producing
      RINm5F cells. Overexpression of mitochondrially located catalase (MitoCatalase)
      specifically increased basal Bcl-2 and decreased basal Bax expression, suppressed
      cytokine-mediated reduction of Bcl-2, and thereby prevented the release of
      cytochrome c, Smac/DIABLO and the activation of caspase-9 and -3. Thus, cytokine
      mediated decrease of Bcl-2 expression and the sequentially changed Bax/Bcl-2
      ratio are responsible for the release of pro-apoptotic mitochondrial factors,
      activation of caspase-9, and ultimately caspase-3. These results indicate that
      activation of the intrinsic/mitochondrial apoptosis pathway is essential for
      cytokine-induced beta cell death and the mitochondrial generation of reactive
      oxygen species, in particular mitochondrial hydrogen peroxide, differentially
      regulates the Bax/Bcl-2 ratio.

PMID- 20933055
TI  - Age related strategic differences in processing irrelevant information.
AB  - Deficient control of irrelevant information with greater age can be demonstrated
      in paradigms like inhibition of return (IOR). IOR is a mechanism to protect the
      organism from redirecting attention to a previously scanned irrelevant location
      and is assumed to be generated slower but to a comparable amount with increasing
      age. We investigated this putative deficit by means of event-related potentials
      (ERPs). As expected, IOR developed later in older subjects. In the cue-related
      ERPs, young subjects showed a large frontocentral N2 (reflecting control or
      inhibition) which was virtually absent in the old subjects. Instead, the older
      subjects showed a P3b, reflecting controlled processing of information. Thus,
      older adults process irrelevant stimuli more like relevant ones, thereby
      overloading their information processing system.

PMID- 20933056
TI  - An image fusion algorithm based on multi-resolution decomposition for functional
      magnetic resonance images.
AB  - This paper presents a new functional image fusion algorithm which is the
      combination of SPM and ICA using multi-resolution decomposition. Firstly, we
      designed the fMRI experiments and obtained the fMRI image data from different
      experimental conditions. The brain activated regions were extracted by the SPM
      and ICA methods respectively. Secondly, by constructing the Laplacian pyramids of
      the source image, a new fusion rule based on the salience and matching measure is
      proposed in various resolutions. Finally, the fused functional images are
      reconstructed by the inverse Laplacian pyramid transformation. The results show
      that the algorithm can retain the details of the source images and pinpoint
      exactly the brain functional area associated with the hand action, thus
      outperforming SPM or ICA for functional regions extraction.

PMID- 20933057
TI  - No association between the KCNH1, KCNJ10 and KCNN3 genes and schizophrenia in the
      Han Chinese population.
AB  - Schizophrenia is a common severe mental illness affecting 0.3-2.0% of the world's
      population. The potassium channels are thought to have a role in modulating
      electrical excitability in neurons, regulating calcium signaling in
      oligodendrocytes and regulating action potential duration in presynaptic
      terminals and GABA release. Previous studies have reported that some potassium
      channel genes might be candidate genes for susceptibility to schizophrenia. In
      the present study, we chose three potassium channel genes, KCNH1, KCNJ10, KCNN3
      to investigate the role of potassium channels in schizophrenia by genotyping 23
      SNPs (9 in KCNH1, 5 in KCNJ10 and 9 in KCNN3) in a Han Chinese sample consisting
      of 893 schizophrenia patients and 611 healthy controls. No significant difference
      in allelic or genotypic frequency was revealed between schizophrenia patients and
      healthy individuals. Nor was a significant difference in haplotypic distribution
      detected. MDR analysis revealed no gene-gene interaction within the three
      potassium channel genes. Our study suggests that the 23 SNPs within the three
      potassium genes we examined do not play a major role in schizophrenia in the Han
      Chinese population.

PMID- 20933058
TI  - Anti-neuroinflammation effect of ginsenoside Rbl in a rat model of Alzheimer
      disease.
AB  - The present work explored the anti-neuroinflammation effects of Ginseng Rb1 in a
      rat model of Alzheimer disease produced by ventricle injection of Abeta1-42.
      Abeta1-42 injection induces loss of learning and memory behavior of rats in
      Morris water maze, which could be reversed with Rb1 treatment. Further, Rb1
      reversed the changes in several direct or indirect neuroinflammation markers in
      the hippocampus, suggesting that this could be a potential underlying mechanism
      and a way to develop anti-aging drugs.

PMID- 20933059
TI  - Spatial coding of touch at the fingers: Insights from double simultaneous
      stimulation within and between hands.
AB  - We studied the effect of tactile double simultaneous stimulation (DSS) within and
      between hands to examine spatial coding of touch at the fingers. Participants
      performed a go/no-go task to detect a tactile stimulus delivered to one target
      finger (e.g., right index), stimulated alone or with a concurrent non-target
      finger, either on the same hand (e.g., right middle finger) or on the other hand
      (e.g., left index finger=homologous; left middle finger=non-homologous). Across
      blocks we also changed the unseen hands posture (both hands palm down, or one
      hand rotated palm-up). When both hands were palm-down DSS interference effects
      emerged both within and between hands, but only when the non-homologous finger
      served as non-target. This suggests a clear segregation between the fingers of
      each hand, regardless of finger side. By contrast, when one hand was palm-up
      interference effects emerged only within hand, whereas between hands DSS
      interference was considerably reduced or absent. Thus, between hands interference
      was clearly affected by changes in hands posture. Taken together, these findings
      provide behavioral evidence in humans for multiple spatial coding of touch during
      tactile DSS at the fingers. In particular, they confirm the existence of
      representational stages of touch that distinguish between body-regions more than
      body-sides. Moreover, they show that the availability of tactile stimulation side
      becomes prominent when postural update is required.

PMID- 20933061
TI  - Binding and intracellular routing of the plant-toxic lectins, lanceolin and
      stenodactylin.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The present research studied the interaction of two ribosome
      inactivating proteins (RIPs) from Adenia genus with HeLa cells. Namely, lanceolin
      and stenodactylin were examined in comparison to volkensin, another toxic two
      chain RIP from Adenia genus. METHODS: The binding, endocytosis, intracellular
      routing, degradation and exocytosis were investigated by measuring the
      distribution of radiolabelled RIP and by determining its cytotoxicity. RESULTS:
      Stenodactylin was the most toxic, resulting in the greater inhibition of protein
      synthesis and cell death. Lanceolin and stenodactylin bound to cells with
      comparable affinity and have a similar number of binding sites (10(5)/cell). The
      uptake of lanceolin and stenodactylin was 13 and 36 times greater, respectively,
      than that reported for volkensin. The two toxins bound to cell membrane receptors
      via their lectin B chain, were endocytosed through a clathrin-independent
      pathway, were internalised in a manner independent from endosomal acidification,
      and required routing through the Golgi apparatus, as reported for modeccin and
      volkensin. Stenodactylin showed greater uptake, exocytosis and re-uptake of non
      degraded RIP than lanceolin and volkensin, whereas volkensin had the highest
      residual activity after being released from the cell. CONCLUSIONS: The high
      cytotoxicity of RIPs from the Adenia genus may depend on the following: high
      affinity binding to the cell and efficient endocytosis, intracellular routing
      that appears similar to that of other ricin-like toxic RIPs, partial resistance
      to proteolysis, and, regarding stenodactylin, high accumulation in cell. GENERAL
      SIGNIFICANCE: The data provide a model that could lead to new strategies for anti
      cancer therapy and neuroscience studies.

PMID- 20933060
TI  - Screening for calcium channel modulators in CLN3 siRNA knock down SH-SY5Y
      neuroblastoma cells reveals a significant decrease of intracellular calcium
      levels by selected L-type calcium channel blockers.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Defects of the CLN3 gene on chromosome 16p12.1 lead to the juvenile
      form of neuronal ceroid-lipofuscinosis (JNCL, Batten Disease), the most common
      recessive inherited neurodegenerative disorder in children. Dysregulation of
      intracellular calcium homeostasis in the absence of a functional CLN3 protein
      (CLN3P, Battenin) has been linked to synaptic dysfunction and accelerated
      apoptosis in vulnerable neuronal cells. Prolonged increase of intracellular
      calcium concentration is considered to be a significant trigger for neuronal
      apoptosis and cellular loss in JNCL. METHODS: We examined the potential effect of
      41 different calcium channel modulators on intracellular calcium concentration in
      CLN3 siRNA knock down SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells. RESULTS: Six drugs belonging
      to the group of voltage dependent L-type channel blockers show significant
      lowering of the increased intracellular calcium levels in CLN3 siRNA knock down
      cells. CONCLUSIONS: Our studies provide important new data suggesting possible
      beneficial effects of the tested drugs on calcium flux regulated pathways in
      neuronal cell death. Therapeutic intervention in this untreatable disease will
      likely require drugs that cross the blood-brain barrier as did all of the
      positively screened drugs in this study. GENERAL SIGNIFICANCE: Better
      comprehension of the mechanism of neurodegeneration in rare recessive disorders,
      such as neuronal ceroid-lipofuscinoses, is likely to help to better understand
      mechanisms involved in more complex genetic neurodegenerative conditions, such as
      those associated with aging.

PMID- 20933062
TI  - A common neural system is activated in hearing non-signers to process French sign
      language and spoken French.
AB  - We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate the areas activated
      by signed narratives in non-signing subjects naive to sign language (SL) and
      compared it to the activation obtained when hearing speech in their mother
      tongue. A subset of left hemisphere (LH) language areas activated when
      participants watched an audio-visual narrative in their mother tongue was
      activated when they observed a signed narrative. The inferior frontal (IFG) and
      precentral (Prec) gyri, the posterior parts of the planum temporale (pPT) and of
      the superior temporal sulcus (pSTS), and the occipito-temporal junction (OTJ)
      were activated by both languages. The activity of these regions was not related
      to the presence of communicative intent because no such changes were observed
      when the non-signers watched a muted video of a spoken narrative. Recruitment was
      also not triggered by the linguistic structure of SL, because the areas, except
      pPT, were not activated when subjects listened to an unknown spoken language. The
      comparison of brain reactivity for spoken and sign languages shows that SL has a
      special status in the brain compared to speech; in contrast to unknown oral
      language, the neural correlates of SL overlap LH speech comprehension areas in
      non-signers. These results support the idea that strong relationships exist
      between areas involved in human action observation and language, suggesting that
      the observation of hand gestures have shaped the lexico-semantic language areas
      as proposed by the motor theory of speech. As a whole, the present results
      support the theory of a gestural origin of language.

PMID- 20933063
TI  - Identification, characterization and expression analysis of MicroRNAs and their
      targets in the potato (Solanum tuberosum).
AB  - MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are recognized as a class of important post-transcriptional
      expression regulators that act on their target genes by degradation of target
      mRNAs or by inhibition of target protein translation. Compared with the current
      numbers of identified miRNAs for other species in the plant kingdom, a large
      number of potential miRNAs remains to be identified in potato. In this study,
      using a newly modified comparative genome strategy, a total of 202 potential
      potato miRNAs were identified, which belong to 78 families. miR162, miR167, and
      miR396 are highly expressed in all tested organs. miR372 is highly expressed in
      flowers. A total of 1094 miRNA targets were predicted and some of them encode
      transcription factors as well as genes that function in stress response, signal
      transduction, and a variety of other metabolic processes. Gene ontology (GO)
      analysis implicates that these targets are involved in 545 biological processes.
      Of those processes, 28 are related to potato defense mechanisms against bacteria,
      viruses, and fungi, the metabolism of molecules such as carbon, sucrose, starch,
      and lipid, and the development of primary and lateral roots. Pathway enrichment
      analysis, based on the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG),
      demonstrates that the identified miRNAs participated in 98 metabolism networks,
      some of which include sucrose metabolism, fatty acid metabolism, amino acid
      metabolism, carbon fixation, and the biosynthesis of plant hormones.

PMID- 20933064
TI  - Dermal uptake and excretion of 14C-toluene diisocyante (TDI) and 14C-methylene
      diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) in male rats. Clinical signs and histopathology
      following dermal exposure of male rats to TDI.
AB  - Polyurethanes (PU) are polymers made with diisocyanates such as MDI (4,4'
      methylene diphenyl diisocyanate) and TDI (2,4-toluene diisocyanate and 2,6
      toluene diisocyanate). Investigations have been undertaken with MDI and TDI to
      assess dermal uptake and resulting systemic exposure. Absorption, distribution
      and excretion of MDI was studied in rats using a single dermal administration of
      (14)C-MDI dissolved in acetone at nominal 165 mg/kg body weight and 15 mg/kg bw
      (4.0 and 0.4 mg/cm(2)) and intradermal injection of (14)C-MDI dissolved in corn
      oil at nominal 1.4 mg/kg bw. Dermal absorption of (14)C-MDI (at both doses) was
      low; at or below 1% of the applied dose. Considerable amounts of the applied
      radioactivity were found at the application site which could not be washed off.
      By intradermal administration of (14)C-MDI approximately 66% of applied
      radioactivity remained at the application site with approximately 26% recovered
      in excreta, cage wash, tissues and carcass. The absorption, distribution and
      excretion of 2,4-TDI was studied in rats following a single dermal administration
      of radiolabelled (14)C-2,4-TDI at nominal 350 mg/kg body weight (12 mg/cm(2)).
      Dermal absorption of (14)C-2,4-TDI was at or below 1% of the applied dose.
      Considerable amounts of the applied radioactivity were found at the application
      site which could not be washed off. In summary the results show that dermal
      uptake of MDI and TDI is very low. Due to the chemical reactivity of isocyanates
      it can be expected that small amounts which might be absorbed will react with
      tissue constituents directly at the exposed skin area, or will be converted to
      adducts with biomacromolecules or to biologically inactive oligoureas. Overall it
      is concluded that, following dermal exposure to MDI and TDI, systemic exposures
      and resulting toxicity, other than the known sensitization, can be expected to be
      very low. In addition studies were performed with dermal application of
      unlabelled 2,4 and 2,6 TDI to check the availability and fate of this chemical on
      rat skin surface and to assess possible tissue damage. These experiments showed
      that unchanged test material can be detected on rat skin for up to 8h if not
      washed off. Dermal treatment with 2,4 or 2,6 TDI was associated with irritation
      with increased severity over a 48 h period after washing with a decontaminant
      solution.

PMID- 20933065
TI  - Lactational transfer of bisphenol A in Sprague-Dawley rats.
AB  - Bisphenol A (BPA), an important industrial chemical to which humans are exposed
      on a daily basis, has long been associated with endocrine disruption in
      experimental animal models. Such exposures are of concern, particularly during
      fetal and early neonatal periods, because of greater vulnerability of developing
      organs to aberrant endocrine signaling. Although rarely reported, information
      about internal exposures to the receptor-active aglycone form of BPA during the
      perinatal period is essential to accurate assessment of potential risks.
      Lactating Sprague-Dawley dams were treated by daily gavage with 100 MUg/kg bw d6
      BPA starting at birth. Conjugated and aglycone forms of BPA were then measured by
      using LC/MS/MS in milk from lactating dams on PND 7 and in serum from dams and
      their pups on PND 10. All samples were collected 1h after dosing, a time selected
      to produce nearly maximal levels. While aglycone BPA was detected in all dam
      serum and milk samples, none was detected in pup serum (<0.2 nM). Doses delivered
      to pups lactationally, estimated from milk concentrations and body weights, were
      300-fold lower than the dose administered to the dams. Similarly, serum
      concentrations of total BPA in pups were 300-fold lower than those in their dams.
      Furthermore, plasma concentrations of total BPA in PND 10 rat pups were 500-fold
      lower than peak levels achieved following direct oral delivery of the same dose
      to the same age pups. These findings of significant dose attenuation for the
      active aglycone form of BPA, relative to that of the dam, suggest high potency
      for toxicological effects derived exclusively from lactational transfer.
      Alternatively, studies that include lactational exposure and report minimal
      effects from BPA should consider the possibility that inadequate internal
      exposures were achieved during the critical postnatal period.

PMID- 20933066
TI  - Optimization of formulation and process variable of nanosuspension: An industrial
      perspective.
AB  - The objective of this study was to identify and optimize formulation and process
      variables affecting characteristic and scale up of nanosuspension manufacturing
      process on bead mill considering industrial perspective. Box-Behnken design was
      used for this study. Formulation factors evaluated were ratio of polymer to drug
      and ratio of surfactant to drug, whereas process parameters were milling time and
      milling speed. Responses measured in this study include zeta potential and,
      particle size distribution d(90). The ANOVA test reveals that ratio of polymer to
      drug and milling speed has significant effect on zeta potential whereas milling
      time and milling speed has significant effect on the particle size distribution
      of nanosuspension. The X-RD pattern of drug milled at high and low speed reveals
      no form conversion when compared to unmilled drug. The Box-Behnken design used in
      this study helped in identifying the factors affecting the particle size
      distribution d(90), zeta potential and, scalability of nanosuspension. The
      derived polynomial equation and contour graph aid in predicting the values of
      selected independent variables for preparation of optimum nanosuspension
      formulations with desired properties.

PMID- 20933067
TI  - Confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) based evidence for cell permeation by
      mono-4-(N-6-deoxy-6-amino-beta-cyclodextrin)-7-nitrobenzofuran (NBD-beta-CyD).
AB  - Beta-cyclodextrin (beta-CyD), amantadine and glucose were fluorescently tagged
      with 4-chloro-7-nitrobenz-2-oxa-1,3-diazole (NBD chloride) to afford NBD-beta
      CyD, NBD-amantadine and NBD-glucose, respectively. NBD-beta-CyD/amantadine and
      beta-CyD/NBD-amantadine inclusion complexes were prepared. Fluorescence emission
      maxima (lambda(max) 544nm) and relative fluorescence intensities for NBD-beta-CyD
      and NBD-beta-CyD/amantadine were virtually identical, precluding the use of
      emission spectrum shifts for distinguishing free NBD-beta-CyD from the complex.
      Intracellular accumulation of NBD-beta-CyD was studied in HepG2 and SK-MEL-24
      cells using confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM). No major differences were
      observed between uptake of NBD-beta-CyD and NBD-beta-CyD/amantadine. Serum
      proteins did not perturb uptake, whereas temperature-dependent uptake, indicative
      of cell entry via diffusion, was observed. Intracellular distribution favoured
      mitochondria, with less fluorescent material present in cytoplasm and none in
      cell nuclei. No experimental evidence of NBD-beta-CyD breakdown to NBD-glucose
      was found upon chromatographic analysis of incubation mixtures, providing
      additional evidence of intact NBD-beta-CyD entry into these cells. Endocytosis
      and/or cholesterol-independent membrane modulation are discussed as possible
      mechanisms for the transmembrane passage of NBD-beta-CyD.

PMID- 20933068
TI  - Release of paeonol-beta-CD complex from thermo-sensitive poly(N
      isopropylacrylamide) hydrogels.
AB  - By preparing an inclusion complex of paeonol (PAE) with beta-cyclodextrin (beta
      CD), this study investigated its release behavior from thermo-sensitive poly(N
      isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm) hydrogels. The PAE-beta-CD complex was prepared
      via coprecipitation. According to differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) and X
      ray diffraction (XRD) results, the solid PAE-beta-CD complex was found in the
      amorphous state, indicating that each PAE molecule was encapsulated by a beta-CD
      molecule. The change of chemical shifts of H3 and H5 in proton nuclear magnetic
      resonance (H NMR) spectra indicated that PAE was inside the CD cavity. PNIPAAm
      hydrogels containing different cross-linker contents were then synthesized and
      had a similar lowest critical solution temperature (LCST) of around 33 degrees C.
      Experimental results of swelling and deswelling indicated that increasing the
      cross-linker content of the hydrogel decreased the swelling ratio and increased
      the water retention. According to experimental results of PAE-beta-CD complex
      release, the release rate at 45 degrees C (>LCST) was higher than at 25 degrees C
      (<LCST). Moreover a lower cross-linker content the hydrogel contained implies a
      higher rate of PAE-beta-CD complex release. Above results suggest that the
      release of PAE-beta-CD complex is related to the volume contraction of the
      hydrogel, which is affected by hydrogel compositions and release temperatures.

PMID- 20933069
TI  - Development and evaluation of a monolithic drug-in-adhesive patch for valsartan.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to investigate the feasibility of a monolithic drug
      in-adhesive (DIA) patch as a transdermal therapeutic system for the
      administration of valsartan (VAL). To improve the penetration of VAL in the
      patch, several chemical penetration enhancers were investigated by in vitro
      hairless mouse and Yucatan micro pig (YMP) skin permeation studies. A combination
      of isopropyl myristate (IPM)/diisooctyl sodium sulfosuccinate (AOT) most strongly
      enhanced the permeation of VAL. Since the concentration of VAL through the patch
      in hairless rat (HR) in vivo was correlated with that in HR skin in vitro, VAL
      that permeated through the skin could effectively pass into the systemic
      circulation. The plasma concentration-time profile of VAL after the patch was
      applied in humans was estimated by a convolution technique from the results of
      the in vitro YMP study, which indicated that the concentration of VAL could be
      sufficient to produce a pharmacological effect. These results demonstrate that
      the combination of IPM/AOT may be useful for the development of a practical DIA
      patch for VAL.

PMID- 20933070
TI  - Inorganic-polymer nanohybrid carrier for delivery of a poorly-soluble drug,
      ursodeoxycholic acid.
AB  - Delivery of poorly soluble drugs has been problematic due to its low absorption
      profile and bioavailability. In this work, ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA), a poorly
      soluble drug, was intercalated into inorganic nanovehicle, layered double
      hydroxides (LDHs), with a molecular level to enhance its solubility in biological
      fluid. The UDCA-loaded nanovehicle (i.e., UDCA-LDHs) was also coated with an
      anionic polymer, Eudragit((r)) S100, to increase the dissolution rate of UDCA.
      According to the powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) patterns of UDCA-LDHs, the
      gallery height of LDHs was expanded from 3.6A to 28.3A, indicating that the UDCA
      molecules were successfully intercalated into the interlayer space of LDHs.
      Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectra also revealed that the UDCA molecules
      were well stabilized in the LDHs through electrostatic interaction. The in vitro
      dissolution test in a simulated biological fluid (pH=6.8) showed that the total
      dissolved fraction of UDCA for the first 2h was about 60.2% for the Eudragit((r))
      S100 coated UDCA-LDHs, which was a dramatic increase as compared with 19.0%
      dissolution from intact UDCA. It is, therefore, concluded that LDHs nanovehicle
      coated with an anionic polymer is a promising delivery system for improving
      aqueous solubility of poorly soluble drugs.

PMID- 20933071
TI  - In vitro and in vivo antioxidant properties of chlorogenic acid and caffeic acid.
AB  - Dietary polyphenols are thought to be beneficial for human health as
      antioxidants. Coffee beans contain a common polyphenol, chlorogenic acid.
      Chlorogenic acid is the ester of caffeic acid and quinic acid. Although these
      polyphenols have received much attention, there is little evidence indicating a
      relationship between the effect and the rate of absorption. In this study, we
      focused on the beneficial effects of chlorogenic acid and caffeic acid, a major
      metabolite of chlorogenic acid. We carried out in vitro and in vivo experiments.
      In the in vitro study, caffeic acid had stronger antioxidant activity than that
      of chlorogenic acid. The uptake of chlorogenic acid by Caco-2 cells was much less
      than that of caffeic acid. The physiological importance of an orally administered
      compound depends on its availability for intestinal absorption and subsequent
      interaction with target tissues. We then used an intestinal ischemia-reperfusion
      model to evaluate antioxidant activities in vivo. We found that both chlorogenic
      acid and caffeic acid had effects on intestinal ischemia-reperfusion injury.
      Since caffeic acid has a stronger antioxidant activity than that of chlorogenic
      acid and chlorogenic acid is hydrolyzed into caffeic acid in the intestine, it is
      possible that caffeic acid plays a major role in the protective effect of
      chlorogenic acid against ischemia-reperfusion injury.

PMID- 20933072
TI  - Studies on mechanism of thermal crystal transformation of sitafloxacin hydrates
      through melting and recrystallization, yielding different anhydrates depending on
      initial crystalline forms.
AB  - The polymorphic and pseudopolymorphic forms of sitafloxacin, a novel
      fluoroquinolone antibiotic, were characterized by infrared spectroscopy, X-ray
      diffractometry, and thermal analysis. Hydrates of sitafloxacin underwent thermal
      transformation during the course of heating to 300 degrees C. Monohydrate melted
      at 130 degrees C and crystallized at 147 degrees C to yield alpha-form
      (anhydrate) while sesquihydrate melted at 127 degrees C and crystallized at 146
      degrees C to yield beta-form (anhydrate). The crystal structural analysis
      revealed that monohydrate and sesquihydrate had opposite torsion at quinolone
      ring and the conformation of quinolone ring tended to be retained during hydrates
      to anhydrates crystal conversion. The infrared spectroscopy showed that hydrates
      and anhydrate alpha-from exists in zwitterion while beta-from is consist of
      neutral molecule. Detail investigation of thermal behavior of hydrates suggested
      that water vapor also affected anhydrous crystal forms obtained by heating
      hydrates, though promoting ionization at carboxyl group and amine group.

PMID- 20933073
TI  - Stabilizing protein formulations during air-jet nebulization.
AB  - Whilst some proteins can be effectively administered to the lungs using a
      nebulizer, others, such as lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) are degraded during air
      jet nebulization. In order to deliver LDH by nebulization a protective delivery
      system or carrier may therefore be appropriate. The aim of this study was to
      produce and characterize a formulation of LDH, which retains enzyme activity
      during nebulization. Chitosan, a biocompatible, biodegradable and bioadhesive
      polysaccharide polymer, was included in the formulations studied as a potential
      protective agent. Complexes of LDH with chitosan of different molecular weights
      and concentrations were assessed for size, zeta potential, aerosol droplet size
      and delivery from a jet nebulizer. The highest molecular weight chitosan had the
      greatest complex size and a net positive charge of +29.7mV. Jet nebulization
      resulted in aerosol droplets with median size in the range 2.36-3.52MUm.
      Nebulization of LDH solution resulted in enzyme denaturation and reduced
      activity. The stability of LDH was greatly improved in formulations with
      chitosan; with greater than 50% total LDH available in a nebulizer delivered to
      the lower stage of a two-stage impinger, with up to 62% retained enzyme activity.
      The nonionic surfactant Tween 80 also improved the stability of LDH to
      nebulization and had an additive protective effect when included, with chitosan,
      in formulations. These findings suggest chitosan may be a useful excipient in the
      preparation of stable protein formulations for jet nebulization.

PMID- 20933074
TI  - Design and evaluation of a novel formulation prediction system.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to design and evaluate a novel formulation
      prediction system for formulation study of monolithic osmotic pump tablets
      (MOPTs). METHODS: Ternary-component diagram was originally brought forward to
      evaluate MOPTs formulations. Optimal formulation regions were delimited in
      ternary-component diagrams. Water-insoluble drug gliclazide was chosen as a model
      drug for selecting most suitable suspending agent. With five model drugs, we
      obtained five ternary-component diagrams. By MATLAB((r)) software, a triangular
      prism model was then established regarding doses as vertical coordinate and the
      five diagrams as cross-sections, with the formation of an optimal formulation
      channel in it, followed by the design of formulation prediction software (FPS
      1.0). The practicality of the system was finally validated. RESULTS: After
      entering the drug information, we immediately obtained the optimal formulation
      region for preparing MOPTs with interpolation algorithm. The dissolution test
      results of the four randomly selected formulations all met the evaluating
      conditions. CONCLUSIONS: Ternary-component diagram is useful for MOPTs
      formulation optimization. The predictive ability of the system is tentatively
      confirmed and the experiment efficiency is greatly improved.

PMID- 20933075
TI  - Antihypertensive effect of total flavone extracts from Puerariae Radix.
AB  - AIM OF THE STUDY: To evaluate the antihypertensive effect of total flavone
      extracts from Puerariae Radix (FEPR). To explore the hemodynamic profiles and
      pertinent mechanism of the extracts. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Acute and chronic
      antihypertensive effects of FEPR were examined in spontaneous hypertensive rats
      (SHRs) and reno-hypertensive rats (two kidneys one clip model, 2K1C).
      Anesthetized dogs were used to evaluate the hemodynamic effects of FEPR. The
      determination of angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) activity in vitro and plasma
      renin activity (PRA) and endothelin (ET) in vivo were used to study the pilot
      mechanism of FEPR. Moreover, the toxicity study of FEPR was evaluated. RESULTS:
      FEPR (100, 200 and 400 mg/kg, i.v.) notably reduced the blood pressure of SHRs in
      a short time period. A two-week administration of FEPR (45, 90 and 180 mg/kg,
      p.o.) decreased the blood pressure of both 2K1C rats and SHRs. The results of
      hemodynamic study in anesthetized dogs showed that, left ventricular end systolic
      pressure and left ventricular dP/dt(max) had shown no significant difference
      between FEPR-treated dogs and those from the control group, while the cerebral
      blood flow increased significantly in FEPR-treated groups. FEPR significantly
      inhibited the ACE activities in vitro dose dependently, and inhibited the PRA in
      vivo, while the content of ET showed no difference in the FEPR treated group
      comparing with the control group. CONCLUSIONS: FEPR shows significantly blood
      pressure lowering and cerebral vascular resistance (CVR) decreasing effect, which
      can partly be explained by the involvement of the Renin-Angiotensin-System (RAS).

PMID- 20933076
TI  - Biodemography of the Mediterranean fruit fly: aging, longevity and adaptation in
      the wild.
AB  - The purpose of this paper is to summarize recent research on longevity, aging and
      adaptation in wild medfly populations and in a close relative of the medfly. The
      key findings include a new life table identity that relates age structure and the
      distribution of deaths in stationary populations, seasonal variation in the post
      capture longevity of trapped medflies of unknown age, greater longevity of once
      wild (wild-caught) adult medflies relative to never-wild (laboratory-emerged)
      individuals, differences in age specificity of different medfly field capture
      methods, large variation in the sex-specific longevity of six medfly global
      biotypes (e.g. Kenya; Brazil; Greece), and the extraordinary longevity of the
      natal fruit fly - a sister species of the medfly. The discussion contains a
      listing of discoveries derived from this recent research that appear to be unique
      to the investigations on medfly aging in the wild. It is suggested that studies
      of aging in wild populations of Drosophila melanogaster have the potential to
      exploit this model organism in an entirely new aging research domain and thus
      complement the already deep literature on aging in this species.

PMID- 20933077
TI  - Puerarin protects Alzheimer's disease neuronal cybrids from oxidant-stress
      induced apoptosis by inhibiting pro-death signaling pathways.
AB  - Mitochondrial oxidative stress induced by reactive oxygen species (ROS) has been
      strongly associated with the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative disorders,
      including Alzheimer's disease (AD). We used mitochondrial transgenic neuronal
      cell cybrid models of sporadic AD (SAD), which overproduce ROS compared to
      control cybrids, to investigate the protective effects of puerarin, an isoflavone
      purified from Chinese herb radix of Pueraria lobata, on viability, endogenous ROS
      and intracellular signaling pathways. SAD cybrids had increased apoptosis and
      increased accumulation of ROS that was inhibited by puerarin. Western blotting
      demonstrated that SAD cybrids had increased basal activation of the caspase-3,
      p38 and c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) that were inhibited by puerarin. Puerarin
      was also found to decrease Bax/Bcl-2 ratio. These results suggest that expression
      of SAD mitochondrial genes in cybrids activates oxidative-stress-related
      signaling pathways and reduces viability, and that the protective effects of
      puerarin inhibit oxidative-stress-induced apoptosis through down-regulation of
      Bax/Bcl-2 ratio, which blocks the activation of JNK, p38 and caspase-3.
      Therefore, puerarin may act as an intracellular ROS scavenger, and protect
      neurons against oxidative-stress-induced apoptosis.

PMID- 20933078
TI  - Protective effect of L-kynurenine and probenecid on 6-hydroxydopamine-induced
      striatal toxicity in rats: implications of modulating kynurenate as a protective
      strategy.
AB  - The neuroactive metabolite at the kynunerine pathway, kynurenic acid (KYNA), is a
      well-known competitive antagonist at the co-agonist glycine site of the N-methyl
      D-aspartate receptor (NMDAr), and also decreases the extracellular levels of
      glutamate by blocking alpha7-nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (alpha7-nAchr)
      located on glutamatergic terminals. KYNA has been often reported to be
      neuroprotective in different neurotoxic models. The systemic administration of L
      kynurenine (L-KYN)--the precursor of KYNA--together with probenecid (PROB)--an
      inhibitor of organic acids transport--to rodents increases KYNA levels in the
      brain in a dose-dependent manner. The striatal infusion of the toxin 6
      hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) to rodents is one of the common models used to simulate
      Parkinson's disease (PD). Different studies have linked PD alterations with
      excessive glutamatergic transmission in the striatum since NMDAr antagonists
      exert beneficial effects in PD models. In this work we investigated the effect
      that a systemic administration of L-KYN+PROB exerted on the toxic model induced
      by 6-OHDA in rats. PROB (50 mg/kg, i.p.) + L-KYN (75 mg/kg, i.p.) were given to
      rats for seven consecutive days. On day two of treatment, the animals were
      infused with a single injection of 6-OHDA (20 MUg/2 MUl) into the right striatum.
      Fourteen days post-lesion, rotation behavior was assessed as a marker of motor
      impairment. The total levels of dopamine (DA) were also estimated in striatal
      tissue samples of 6-OHDA-treated animals as a neurochemical marker of damage. In
      addition, twenty eight days post-lesion, the striatal damage was assessed by
      hematoxylin/eosin staining and immunohistochemistry against glial fibrillary
      acidic protein (GFAP) in the same animals. Neurodegeneration was also assessed by
      Fluoro Jade staining. 6-OHDA infusion increased rotation behavior, striatal
      reactive gliosis and neurodegeneration, while DA levels were decreased. For all
      markers evaluated, we observed protective effects of L-KYN+PROB on the
      dopaminergic damage induced by 6-OHDA. Our results suggest that this strategy was
      useful to mitigate dopaminergic toxicity in the hemiparkinsonian model. The
      combined use of L-KYN and PROB is a valuable tool to modulate glutamatergic and
      cholinergic activities, presumably by means of increased levels of endogenous
      KYNA.

PMID- 20933079
TI  - Genetics of multiple sclerosis.

PMID- 20933080
TI  - Fish models in prion biology: underwater issues.
AB  - Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs), otherwise known as prion
      disorders, are fatal diseases causing neurodegeneration in a wide range of
      mammalian hosts, including humans. The causative agents - prions - are thought to
      be composed of a rogue isoform of the endogenous prion protein (PrP). Beyond
      these and other basic concepts, fundamental questions in prion biology remain
      unanswered, such as the physiological function of PrP, the molecular mechanisms
      underlying prion pathogenesis, and the origin of prions. To date, the occurrence
      of TSEs in lower vertebrates like fish and birds has received only limited
      attention, despite the fact that these animals possess bona fide PrPs. Recent
      findings, however, have brought fish before the footlights of prion research.
      Fish models are beginning to provide useful insights into the roles of PrP in
      health and disease, as well as the potential risk of prion transmission between
      fish and mammals. Although still in its infancy, the use of fish models in TSE
      research could significantly improve our basic understanding of prion diseases,
      and also help anticipate risks to public health. This article is part of a
      Special Issue entitled Zebrafish Models of Neurological Diseases.

PMID- 20933081
TI  - Cdx4 is a Cdx2 target gene.
AB  - The products of the Cdx genes, Cdx1, Cdx2 and Cdx4, play multiple roles in early
      vertebrate development, and have been proposed to serve to relay signaling
      information from Wnt, RA and FGF pathways to orchestrate events related to
      anterior-posterior vertebral patterning and axial elongation. In addition, Cdx1
      and Cdx2 have been reported to both autoregulate and to be subject to cross
      regulation by other family members. We have now found that Cdx4 expression is
      significantly down regulated in Cdx2(-/-) mutants suggesting previously
      unrecognized cross-regulatory interactions. Moreover, we have previously shown
      that Cdx4 is a direct target of the canonical Wnt signaling pathway, and that
      Cdx1 physically interacts with LEF/TCF members in an autoregulatory loop. We
      therefore investigated the means by which Cdx2 impacted on Cdx4 expression and
      assessed potential interaction between Cdx2 and canonical Wnt signaling on the
      Cdx4 promoter. We found that the Cdx4 promoter was regulated by Cdx2 in transient
      transfection assays. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays showed that Cdx2 bound
      to predicted Cdx response elements in the Cdx4 promoter which, when mutated,
      significantly reduced activity. Consistent with these data, chromatin
      immunoprecipitation assays from embryos demonstrated occupancy of the Cdx4
      promoter by Cdx2 in vivo. However, we failed to observe an interaction between
      Cdx2 and components of the canonical Wnt signaling pathway. These findings
      suggest that, while both canonical Wnt and Cdx2 can regulate the activity of the
      Cdx4 promoter, they appear to operate through distinct mechanisms.

PMID- 20933082
TI  - Garlic extract induces intestinal P-glycoprotein, but exhibits no effect on
      intestinal and hepatic CYP3A4 in humans.
AB  - Garlic extracts have been shown to decrease drug exposure for saquinavir, a P
      glycoprotein and cytochrome P450 3A4 substrate. In order to explore the
      underlying mechanisms and to study the effects of garlic on pre-systemic drug
      elimination, healthy volunteers were administered garlic extract for 21 days.
      Prior to and at the end of this period, expression of duodenal P-glycoprotein and
      cytochrome P450 3A4 protein were assayed and normalized to villin, while hepatic
      cytochrome P450 3A4 function and simvastatin, pravastatin and saquinavir
      pharmacokinetics were also evaluated. Ingestion of garlic extract increased
      expression of duodenal P-glycoprotein to 131% (95% CI, 105-163%), without
      increasing the expression of cytochrome P450 3A4 which amounted to 87% (95% CI,
      67-112%), relative to baseline in both cases. For the erythromycin breath test
      performed, the average result was 96% (95% CI, 83-112%). Ingestion of garlic
      extract had no effect on drug and metabolite AUCs following a single dose of
      simvastatin or pravastatin, although the average area under the plasma
      concentration curve (AUC) of saquinavir decreased to 85% (95% CI, 66-109%), and
      changes in intestinal P-glycoprotein expression negatively correlated with this
      change. In conclusion, garlic extract induces intestinal expression of P
      glycoprotein independent of cytochrome P450 3A4 in human intestine and liver.

PMID- 20933083
TI  - Preparation and evaluation of alginate-chitosan microspheres for oral delivery of
      insulin.
AB  - The alginate-chitosan microspheres with narrow size distribution were prepared by
      membrane emulsification technique in combination with ion (Ca(2+)) and polymer
      (chitosan) solidification. The preparation procedure was observed, and the
      physical properties (particle size distribution, surface morphology, chitosan
      distribution, zeta potential) of the microspheres were characterized.
      Subsequently, the microspheres were employed to load model peptide of insulin.
      The effect of loading ways on the loading efficiency and immunological activity
      of insulin were investigated. It was shown that the higher loading efficiency
      (56.7%) and remarkable activity maintenance (99.4%) were obtained when the
      insulin was loaded during the chitosan solidification process (Method B).
      Afterward, the release profile in vitro for the optimal insulin-loaded
      microspheres was investigated. Under the pH conditions of gastrointestinal
      environment, only 32% of insulin released during the simulated transit time of
      drug (2 h in the stomach and 4 h in the intestinal). While under the pH condition
      of blood environment, insulin release was stable and sustained for a long time
      (14 days). Furthermore, the chemical stability of insulin released from the
      microspheres was well preserved after they were treated with the simulated
      gastric fluid containing pepsin for 2 h. Finally, the blood glucose level of
      diabetic rats could be effectively reduced and stably kept for a long time (~60
      h) after oral administration of the insulin-loaded alginate-chitosan
      microspheres. Therefore, the alginate-chitosan microspheres were found to be
      promising vectors showing a good efficiency in oral administration of protein or
      peptide drugs.

PMID- 20933084
TI  - Raman spectroscopy for the in-line polymer-drug quantification and solid state
      characterization during a pharmaceutical hot-melt extrusion process.
AB  - The aim of this study was to evaluate the suitability of Raman spectroscopy as a
      Process Analytical Technology (PAT) tool for the in-line determination of the
      active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) concentration and the polymer-drug solid
      state during a pharmaceutical hot-melt extrusion process. For in-line API
      quantification, different metoprolol tartrate (MPT)--Eudragit(r) RL PO mixtures,
      containing 10%, 20%, 30% and 40% MPT, respectively, were extruded and monitored
      in-line in the die using Raman spectroscopy. A PLS model, regressing the MPT
      concentrations versus the in-line collected Raman spectra, was developed and
      validated, allowing real-time API concentration determination. The correlation
      between the predicted and real MPT concentrations of the validation samples is
      acceptable (R(2)=0.997). The predictive performance of the calibration model is
      rated by the root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP), which is 0.59%. Two
      different polymer-drug mixtures were prepared to evaluate the suitability of
      Raman spectroscopy for in-line polymer-drug solid state characterization. Mixture
      1 contained 90% Eudragit(r) RS PO and 10% MPT and was extruded at 140 degrees C,
      hence producing a solid solution. Mixture 2 contained 60% Eudragit(r) RS PO and
      40% MPT and was extruded at 105 degrees C, producing a solid dispersion. The
      Raman spectra collected during these extrusion processes provided two main
      observations. First, the MPT Raman peaks in the solid solution broadened compared
      to the corresponding solid dispersion peaks, indicating the presence of amorphous
      MPT. Second, peak shifts appeared in the spectra of the solid dispersion and
      solid solution compared to the physical mixtures, suggesting interactions between
      Eudragit(r) RS PO and MPT, most likely hydrogen bonds. These shifts were larger
      in the spectra of the solid solution. DSC analysis confirmed these Raman solid
      state observations and the interactions seen in the spectra. Raman spectroscopy
      is a potential PAT-tool for in-line determination of the API concentration and
      the polymer-drug solid state during pharmaceutical hot-melt extrusion.

PMID- 20933085
TI  - Angiotensin converting enzyme inhibition blocks interstitial hyaluronan
      dissipation in the neonatal rat kidney via hyaluronan synthase 2 and
      hyaluronidase 1.
AB  - A functional renin-angiotensin system (RAS) is required for normal kidney
      development. Neonatal inhibition of the RAS in rats results in long-term
      pathological renal phenotype and causes hyaluronan (HA), which is involved in
      morphogenesis and inflammation, to accumulate. To elucidate the mechanisms,
      intrarenal HA content was followed during neonatal completion of nephrogenesis
      with or without angiotensin converting enzyme inhibition (ACEI) together with
      mRNA expression of hyaluronan synthases (HAS), hyaluronidases (Hyal), urinary
      hyaluronidase activity and cortical lymphatic vessels, which facilitate the
      drainage of HA from the tissue. In 6-8days old control rats cortical HA content
      was high and reduced by 93% on days 10-21, reaching adult low levels. Medullary
      HA content was high on days 6-8 and then reduced by 85% to 12-fold above cortical
      levels at day 21. In neonatally ACEI-treated rats the reduction in HA was
      abolished. Temporal expression of HAS2 corresponded with the reduction in HA
      content in the normal kidney. In ACEI-treated animals cortical HAS2 remained
      twice the expression of controls. Medullary Hyal1 increased in controls but
      decreased in ACEI-treated animals. Urine hyaluronidase activity decreased with
      time in control animals while in ACEI-treated animals it was initially 50% lower
      and did not change over time. Cells expressing the lymphatic endothelial
      mucoprotein podoplanin in ACEI-treated animals were increased 18-fold compared to
      controls suggesting compensation. In conclusion, the high renal HA content is
      rapidly reduced due to reduced HAS2 and increased Hyal1 mRNA expressions. Normal
      angiotensin II function is crucial for inducing these changes. Due to the extreme
      water-attracting and pro-inflammatory properties of HA, accumulation in the
      neonatally ACEI-treated kidneys may partly explain the pathological renal
      phenotype of the adult kidney, which include reduced urinary concentration
      ability and tubulointerstitial inflammation.

PMID- 20933086
TI  - Differential sensitivity of Ctenocephalides felis and Drosophila melanogaster
      nicotinic acetylcholine receptor alpha1 and alpha2 subunits in recombinant hybrid
      receptors to nicotinoids and neonicotinoid insecticides.
AB  - Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) are the binding sites for nicotinoid
      drugs, such as nicotine and epibatidine, and are the molecular targets of the
      selectively insecticidal neonicotinoids. In this study we report the full length
      cDNA cloning of the three Ctenocephalides (C.) felis (cat flea) nAChR alpha
      subunits Cfalpha1, Cfalpha2, and Cfalpha3. When expressed in Xenopus oocytes as
      hybrid receptors with the Gallus gallus (chicken) beta2 (Ggbeta2) subunit, these
      cat flea alpha subunits formed acetylcholine-responsive ion channels.
      Acetylcholine-evoked currents of Cfalpha2/Ggbeta2 were resistant to alpha
      bungarotoxin, while those of Cfalpha1/Ggbeta2 were sensitive to this snake toxin.
      The pharmacological profiles of Cfalpha1/Ggbeta2, Cfalpha2/Ggbeta2 and the
      chicken neuronal receptor Ggalpha4/Ggbeta2 for acetylcholine, two nicotinoids and
      6 insecticidal neonicotinoids were determined and compared. Particularly
      remarkable was the finding that Cfalpha1/Ggbeta2 was far more sensitive to
      acetylcholine, nicotine and neonicotinoid agonists than either Cfalpha2/Ggbeta2
      or Ggalpha4/Ggbeta2: for the anti flea neonicotinoid market compound imidacloprid
      the respective EC50s were 0.02 MUM, 1.31 MUM and 10 MUM. These results were
      confirmed for another insect species, Drosophila melanogaster, where the
      pharmacological profile of the Dmalpha1 and Dmalpha2 subunits as hybrid receptors
      with Ggbeta2 in Xenopus oocyte expressions resulted in a similar sensitivity
      pattern as those identified for the C. felis orthologs. Our results show that at
      least in a Ggbeta2 hybrid receptor setting, insect alpha1 subunits confer higher
      sensitivity to neonicotinoids than alpha2 subunits, which may contribute in vivo
      to the insect-selective action of this pesticide class.

PMID- 20933087
TI  - Modification of ubiquitin-C-terminal hydrolase-L1 by cyclopentenone
      prostaglandins exacerbates hypoxic injury.
AB  - Cyclopentenone prostaglandins (CyPGs), such as 15-deoxy-Delta(12,14) 
      prostaglandin J(2) (15d-PGJ(2)), are active prostaglandin metabolites exerting a
      variety of biological effects that may be important in the pathogenesis of
      neurological diseases. Ubiquitin-C-terminal hydrolase L1 (UCH-L1) is a brain
      specific deubiquitinating enzyme whose aberrant function has been linked to
      neurodegenerative disorders. We report that [15d-PGJ(2)] detected by quadrapole
      mass spectrometry (MS) increases in rat brain after temporary focal ischemia, and
      that treatment with 15d-PGJ(2) induces accumulation of ubiquitinated proteins and
      exacerbates cell death in normoxic and hypoxic primary neurons. 15d-PGJ(2)
      covalently modifies UCH-L1 and inhibits its hydrolase activity. Pharmacologic
      inhibition of UCH-L1 exacerbates hypoxic neuronal death while transduction with a
      TAT-UCH-L1 fusion protein protects neurons from hypoxia. These studies indicate
      that UCH-L1 function is important in hypoxic neuronal death and that excessive
      production of CyPGs after stroke may exacerbate ischemic injury by modification
      and inhibition of UCH-L1.

PMID- 20933088
TI  - Cellular context in epigenetics: quantitative multicolor imaging and automated
      per-cell analysis of miRNAs and their putative targets.
AB  - Epigenetics in general and microRNA (miRNA) in particular are an important and
      growing field of research, and while significant advances in the role of miRNA in
      a variety of diseases including cancer have been made, the majority of the
      information on the relationship between miRNA and its putative target proteins
      have been made on homogenized tissue, which, while useful, provides no
      information on tissue- or cell-specific signatures or relationships. Developments
      in spectral imaging have made it possible to image and quantitate samples labeled
      for both a miR and its putative target, using either brightfield or fluorescence
      labeling. Advances in automated morphometric and cellular quantitation enable the
      extraction of quantitative, tissue-specific measures of marker in each cell of a
      tissue section. This per-cell quantitative data can then be displayed as scatter
      plots, in a manner analogous to flow cytometry data, and multimarker phenotypes
      can be determined from threshold-based quadrant analysis. This paper describes
      the utility of the NuanceTM multispectral imaging system and the inFormTM image
      analysis software for assessing morphological distributions of miRNAs and their
      putative targets in thin tissue sections, and provides methodologies for the per
      cell quantitative analysis of both markers.

PMID- 20933089
TI  - Purification of a recombinant heavy chain fragment C vaccine candidate against
      botulinum serotype C neurotoxin [rBoNTC(H(c))] expressed in Pichia pastoris.
AB  - A purification process for the manufacture of a recombinant C-terminus heavy
      chain fragment from botulinum neurotoxin serotype C [rBoNTC(H(c))], a potential
      vaccine candidate, has been defined and successfully scaled-up. The rBoNTC(H(c))
      was produced intracellularly in Pichia pastoris X-33 using a three step
      fermentation process, i.e., glycerol batch phase, a glycerol fed-batch phase to
      achieve high cell densities, followed by a methanol induction phase. The
      rBoNTC(H(c)) was captured from the soluble protein fraction of cell lysate using
      hydrophobic charge induction chromatography (HCIC; MEP HyperCelTM), and then
      further purified using a CM 650M ion exchange chromatography step followed by a
      polishing step using HCIC once again. Method development at the bench scale was
      achieved using 5-100mL columns and the process was performed at the pilot scale
      using 0.6-1.6L columns in preparation for technology transfer to cGMP
      manufacturing. The process yielded approximately 2.5 g of rBoNTC(H(c))/kg wet
      cell weight (WCW) at the bench scale and 1.6 g rBoNTC(H(c))/kg WCW at the pilot
      scale. The purified rBoNTC(H(c)) was stable for at least 3 months at 5 and -80
      degrees C as determined by reverse phase-HPLC and SDS-PAGE and was stable for 24
      months at -80  degrees C based on mouse potency bioassay. N-Terminal amino acid
      sequencing confirmed that the N-terminus of the purified rBoNTC(H(c)) was intact.

PMID- 20933090
TI  - Tracking cortical activity from M/EEG using graph cuts with spatiotemporal
      constraints.
AB  - This work proposes to use magnetoencephalography (MEG) and electroencephalography
      (EEG) source imaging to provide cinematic representations of the temporal
      dynamics of cortical activations. Cortical activation maps, seen as images of the
      active brain, are scalar maps defined at the vertices of a triangulated cortical
      surface. They can be computed from M/EEG data using a linear inverse solver every
      millisecond. Taking as input these activation maps and exploiting both the graph
      structure of the cortical mesh and the high sampling rate of M/EEG recordings,
      neural activations are tracked over time using an efficient graph cut based
      algorithm. The method estimates the spatiotemporal support of the active brain
      regions. It consists in computing a minimum cut on a particularly designed
      weighted graph imposing spatiotemporal regularity constraints on the activation
      patterns. Each node of the graph is assigned a label (active or non active). The
      method works globally on the full time-period of interest, can cope with
      spatially extended active regions and allows the active domain to exhibit
      topology changes over time. The algorithm is illustrated and validated on
      synthetic data. Results of the method are provided on two MEG cognitive
      experiments in the visual and somatosensory cortices, demonstrating the ability
      of the algorithm to handle various types of data.

PMID- 20933091
TI  - Semi-supervised cluster analysis of imaging data.
AB  - In this paper, we present a semi-supervised clustering-based framework for
      discovering coherent subpopulations in heterogeneous image sets. Our approach
      involves limited supervision in the form of labeled instances from two
      distributions that reflect a rough guess about subspace of features that are
      relevant for cluster analysis. By assuming that images are defined in a common
      space via registration to a common template, we propose a segmentation-based
      method for detecting locations that signify local regional differences in the two
      labeled sets. A PCA model of local image appearance is then estimated at each
      location of interest, and ranked with respect to its relevance for clustering. We
      develop an incremental k-means-like algorithm that discovers novel meaningful
      categories in a test image set. The application of our approach in this paper is
      in analysis of populations of healthy older adults. We validate our approach on a
      synthetic dataset, as well as on a dataset of brain images of older adults. We
      assess our method's performance on the problem of discovering clusters of MR
      images of human brain, and present a cluster-based measure of pathology that
      reflects the deviation of a subject's MR image from normal (i.e. cognitively
      stable) state. We analyze the clusters' structure, and show that clustering
      results obtained using our approach correlate well with clinical data.

PMID- 20933092
TI  - Heuristics for connectivity-based brain parcellation of SMA/pre-SMA through force
      directed graph layout.
AB  - We propose the use of force-directed graph layout as an explorative tool for
      connectivity-based brain parcellation studies. The method can be used as a
      heuristic to find the number of clusters intrinsically present in the data (if
      any) and to investigate their organisation. It provides an intuitive
      representation of the structure of the data and facilitates interactive
      exploration of properties of single seed voxels as well as relations among
      (groups of) voxels. We validate the method on synthetic data sets and we
      investigate the changes in connectivity in the supplementary motor cortex, a
      brain region whose parcellation has been previously investigated via connectivity
      studies. This region is supposed to present two easily distinguishable
      connectivity patterns, putatively denoted by SMA (supplementary motor area) and
      pre-SMA. Our method provides insights with respect to the connectivity patterns
      of the premotor cortex. These present a substantial variation among subjects, and
      their subdivision into two well-separated clusters is not always straightforward.

PMID- 20933093
TI  - Reproducibility of fMRI activations associated with auditory sentence
      comprehension.
AB  - The reproducibility of three different aspects of fMRI activations-namely binary
      activation maps, effect size and spatial distribution of local maxima-was
      evaluated for an auditory sentence comprehension task with high attention demand
      on a group of 17 subjects that were scanned on five different occasions. While in
      the scanner subjects were asked to listen to a series of six short everyday
      sentences from the CUNY sentence test. Comprehension and attention to the stimuli
      were monitored after each listen condition epoch by having subjects answer a
      series of multiple-choice questions. Statistical maps of activation for the
      listen condition were computed at three different levels: overall results for all
      imaging sessions, group-level/single-session results for each of the five imaging
      occasions, and single-subject/single-session results computed for each subject
      and each scanning occasion independently. The experimental task recruited a
      distributed bilateral network with processing nodes located in the lateral
      temporal cortex, inferior frontal cortex, medial BA6, medial occipital cortex and
      subcortical structures such as the putamen and the thalamus. Reproducibility of
      these activations at the group level was high (83.95% of the imaged volume was
      consistently classified as active/inactive across all five imaging sessions),
      indicating that sites of neuronal activity associated with auditory comprehension
      can reliably be detected with fMRI in healthy subjects, across repeated measures
      after group averaging. At the single-subject level reproducibility ranged from
      moderate to high, although no significant differences were found on behavioral
      measures across subjects or sessions. This result suggests that contextual
      differences-i.e., those specific to each imaging session, can modulate our
      ability to detect fMRI activations associated with speech comprehension in
      individual subjects.

PMID- 20933095
TI  - Dynamic model of CHO cell metabolism.
AB  - Fed-batch cultures are extensively used for the production of therapeutic
      proteins. However, process optimization is hampered by lack of quantitative
      models of mammalian cellular metabolism in these cultures. This paper presents a
      new kinetic model of CHO cell metabolism and a novel framework for simulating the
      dynamics of metabolic and biosynthetic pathways of these cells grown in fed-batch
      culture. The model defines a subset of the intracellular reactions with kinetic
      rate expressions based on extracellular metabolite concentrations and temperature
      and redox-dependent regulatory variables. The simulation uses the rate
      expressions to calculate pseudo-steady state flux distributions and extracellular
      metabolite concentrations at discrete time points. Experimental data collected in
      this study for several different CHO cell fed-batch cultures are used to derive
      the rate expressions, fit the parameters, and validate the model. The simulations
      accurately predicted the effects of process variables, including temperature
      shift, seed density, specific productivity, and nutrient concentrations.

PMID- 20933094
TI  - ErbB signaling in cardiac development and disease.
AB  - The ErbB family of receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) is a family of receptors that
      allow cells to interact with the extracellular environment and transduce signals
      to the nucleus that promote differentiation, migration and proliferation
      necessary for proper heart morphogenesis and function. This review focuses on the
      role of the ErbB family of receptor tyrosine kinases, and their importance in
      proper heart morphogenesis, as well as their role in maintenance and function of
      the adult heart. Studies from transgenic mouse models have shown the importance
      of ErbB receptors in heart development, and provide insight into potential future
      therapeutic targets to help reduce congenital heart defect (CHD) mortality rates
      and prevent disease in adults. Cancer therapeutics have also shed light to the
      ErbB receptors and signaling network, as undesired side effects have demonstrated
      their importance in adult cardiomyocytes and prevention of cardiomyopathies. This
      review will discuss ErbB receptor tyrosine kinases (RTK) in heart development and
      disease including valve formation and partitioning of a four-chambered heart as
      well as cardiotoxicity when ErbB signaling is attenuated in adults.

PMID- 20933097
TI  - Flavonoids and genomic instability induced by ionizing radiation.
AB  - DNA is the cellular target that has the most damage induced by ionizing radiation
      (IR). If genomic instability resulting from this DNA damage is not correctly
      repaired, it leads to mutation, cancer and cell death. Flavonoids are a family of
      natural products that affect oxidative stress and enhance genomic stability
      through DNA interaction. Although flavonoids exert protective effects against IR
      in normal cells, they enhance genotoxicity effects of this radiation in cancer
      cells, a beneficial effect that is of interest in the design of new anticancer
      pharmaceuticals. This review describes the molecular effects of IR on DNA
      structure and mechanisms by which flavonoids exert their effect on ionizing
      radiation-induced genomic instability.

PMID- 20933096
TI  - Bone marrow-derived cells rescue salivary gland function in mice with head and
      neck irradiation.
AB  - Treatment for most patients with head and neck cancers includes ionizing
      radiation. A consequence of this treatment is irreversible damage to salivary
      glands (SGs), which is accompanied by a loss of fluid-secreting acinar-cells and
      a considerable decrease of saliva output. While there are currently no adequate
      conventional treatments for this condition, cell-based therapies are receiving
      increasing attention to regenerate SGs. In this study, we investigated whether
      bone marrow-derived cells (BMDCs) can differentiate into salivary epithelial
      cells and restore SG function in head and neck irradiated mice. BMDCs from male
      mice were transplanted into the tail-vein of 18Gy-irradiated female mice.
      Salivary output was increased in mice that received BMDCs transplantation at week
      8 and 24 post-irradiation. At 24 weeks after irradiation (IR), harvested SGs
      (submandibular and parotid glands) of BMDC-treated mice had greater weights than
      those of non-treated mice. Histological analysis shows that SGs of treated mice
      demonstrated an increased level of tissue regenerative activity such as blood
      vessel formation and cell proliferation, while apoptotic activity was increased
      in non-transplanted mice. The expression of stem cell markers (Sca-1 or c-kit)
      was detected in BMDC-treated SGs. Finally, we detected an increased ratio of
      acinar-cell area and approximately 9% of Y-chromosome-positive (donor-derived)
      salivary epithelial cells in BMDC-treated mice. We propose here that cell therapy
      using BMDCs can rescue the functional damage of irradiated SGs by direct
      differentiation of donor BMDCs into salivary epithelial cells.

PMID- 20933098
TI  - Magnetic resonance imaging in patients with a pacemaker system designed for the
      magnetic resonance environment.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of pacemaker patients is
      contraindicated due to documented potential risks to the patient from hazardous
      interactions between the MRI and pacemaker system. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this
      prospective, randomized, controlled, worldwide clinical trial was to evaluate the
      safety and effectiveness of a pacemaker system designed for safe use in MRI for
      any bradycardia indicated patient. METHODS: Patients (n = 464) were randomized to
      undergo an MRI scan between 9 and 12 weeks postimplant (MRI group, n = 258) or
      not to undergo MRI (control group, n = 206) after successful implantation of the
      specially designed dual-chamber pacemaker and leads. Patients were monitored for
      arrhythmias, symptoms, and pacemaker system function during 14 nonclinically
      indicated relevant brain and lumbar MRI sequences. Sequences were performed at
      1.5 T and included scans with high radiofrequency power deposition and/or high
      gradient dB/dt exposure. Clinical evaluation of the pacemaker system function
      occurred immediately before and after MRI, 1 week and 1 month post-MRI, and at
      corresponding times for the control group. Primary endpoints for safety analyzed
      the MRI procedure complication-free rate and for effectiveness compared capture
      and sensing performance between MRI and control groups. RESULTS: No MRI-related
      complications occurred during or after MRI, including sustained ventricular
      arrhythmias, pacemaker inhibition or output failures, electrical resets, or other
      pacemaker malfunctions. Pacing capture threshold and sensed electrogram amplitude
      changes were minimal and similar between study groups. CONCLUSION: This trial
      documented the ability of this pacemaker system to be exposed in a controlled
      fashion to MRI in a 1.5 T scanner without adverse impact on patient outcomes or
      pacemaker system function.

PMID- 20933099
TI  - Endocardial unipolar voltage mapping to identify epicardial substrate in
      arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy/dysplasia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The risk and success of epicardial substrate ablation for ventricular
      tachycardia (VT) support the value of techniques identifying the epicardial
      substrate with endocardial mapping. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to
      test the hypothesis that endocardial unipolar voltage mapping in patients with
      right ventricular (RV) VT and preserved endocardial bipolar voltage abnormalities
      might identify the extent of epicardial bipolar voltage abnormality. METHODS:
      Using a cutoff of < 5.5 mV for normal endocardial unipolar voltage derived from 8
      control patients without structural heart disease, 10 patients with known ARVC/D
      (group 1, retrospective) and 13 patients with RV VT (group 2, prospective) with
      modest or no endocardial bipolar voltage abnormalities underwent detailed
      endocardial and epicardial mapping. RESULTS: The area of epicardial unipolar
      voltage abnormality in all 10 group 1 patients with ARVC/D (62 +/- 21 cm2) and in
      9 of the 13 group 2 patients (8 with criteria for ARVC/D) (53 +/- 21 cm2) was on
      average three times more extensive than the endocardial bipolar abnormality and
      correlated (r = 0.63, P <.05 and r = 0.81, P <.008, respectively) with the larger
      area epicardial bipolar abnormality with respect to size (group 1: 82 +/- 22 cm2;
      group 2: 68 +/- 41 cm2) and location. In the remaining 4 group 2 patients and 3
      additional reference patients without structural heart disease, endocardial
      bipolar, endocardial unipolar, and, as predicted, epicardial bipolar voltage all
      were normal. CONCLUSION: Endocardial unipolar mapping with cutoff of 5.5 mV
      identifies more extensive areas of epicardial bipolar signal abnormalities in
      patients with ARVC/D and limited endocardial VT substrate.

PMID- 20933100
TI  - Pinning down the CaMKII targets in the L-type Ca(2+) channel: an essential step
      in defining CaMKII regulation.

PMID- 20933101
TI  - Resetting criteria during ventricular overdrive pacing successfully differentiate
      orthodromic reentrant tachycardia from atrioventricular nodal reentrant
      tachycardia despite interobserver disagreement concerning QRS fusion.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The beginning of ventricular overdrive pacing (VOP) during
      supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) accurately distinguishes orthodromic reentrant
      tachycardia (ORT) from atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia (AVNRT) even
      when pacing terminates tachycardia. Tachycardia resetting most often occurs
      during this transition zone (TZ) of QRS fusion in ORT and after this TZ in AVNRT.
      The end of the TZ is marked by the first beat with a stable QRS morphology but is
      a subjective assessment. Disagreement concerning this beat may change tachycardia
      diagnosis. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to assess interobserver
      agreement for identifying the TZ and whether disagreement affected diagnosis.
      METHODS: Seventy-nine consecutive patients with inducible ORT and AVNRT were
      included. Resetting of tachycardia was evaluated by (1) atrial timing
      perturbation and (2) fixed stimulation-atrial activation timing (SA). Two blinded
      observers identified the end of the TZ and used the two resetting criteria to
      establish a diagnosis. Diagnostic results were compared with standard criteria
      for SVT diagnosis. The diagnosis was considered correct if both
      electrophysiologists' TZ assessment resulted in a correct diagnosis. RESULTS:
      Agreement on the TZ occurred in 80% (148/186) of VOP trains. In ORT patients,
      tachycardia resetting occurred during the TZ and correctly diagnosed ORT based on
      atrial timing perturbation and fixed SA in 91% and 98% of VOP trains,
      respectively. In AVNRT patients, tachycardia resetting occurred after the TZ and
      correctly diagnosed AVNRT based on atrial timing perturbation and fixed SA in 93%
      and 94% of VOP trains, respectively. CONCLUSION: Resetting criteria used during
      the VOP TZ accurately differentiate between ORT and AVNRT despite interobserver
      disagreement concerning identification of the TZ.

PMID- 20933103
TI  - Mitochondrial function in the human oocyte and embryo and their role in
      developmental competence.
AB  - The role of mitochondria as a nexus of developmental regulation in mammalian
      oogenesis and early embryogenesis is emerging from basic research in model
      species and from clinical studies in infertility treatments that require in vitro
      fertilization and embryo culture. Here, mitochondrial bioenergetic activities and
      roles in calcium homeostasis, regulation of cytoplasmic redox state, and signal
      transduction are discussed with respect to outcome in general, and as possible
      etiologies of chromosomal defects, maturation and fertilization failure in human
      oocytes, and as causative factors in early human embryo demise. At present, the
      ability of mitochondria to balance ATP supply and demand is considered the most
      critical factor with respect to fertilization competence for the oocyte and
      developmental competence for the embryo. mtDNA copy number, the timing of mtDNA
      replication during oocyte maturation, and the numerical size of the mitochondrial
      complement in the oocyte are evaluated with respect to their relative
      contribution to the establishment of developmental competence. Rather than net
      cytoplasmic bioenergetic capacity, the notion of functional compartmentalization
      of mitochondria is presented as a means by which ATP may be differentially
      supplied and localized within the cytoplasm by virtue of stage-specific changes
      in mitochondrial density and potential (DeltaPsim). Abnormal patterns of calcium
      release and sequestration detected at fertilization in the human appear to have
      coincident effects on levels of mitochondrial ATP generation. These aberrations
      are not uncommon in oocytes obtained after ovarian hyperstimulation for in vitro
      fertilization. The possibility that defects in mitochondrial calcium regulation
      or bioenergetic homeostasis could have negative downstream development
      consequences, including imprinting disorders, is discussed in the context of
      signaling pathways and cytoplasmic redox state.

PMID- 20933102
TI  - Functional characterization of the promoter of the human Lon protease gene.
AB  - Lon, a nuclear-encoded mitochondrial enzyme, degrades oxidized proteins of the
      mitochondrial (mt) matrix, and participates in the replication of mtDNA. Lon is
      upregulated in the presence of substances such as stavudine (d4T), D-deoxyribose
      (dRib), that increase the intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels, or
      in the presence of H(2)O(2.) Here we show the promoter region -623/+1 is
      essential for response to ROS, and that in SW872, HepG2 and WI-38 cell lines the
      region -1230/-623 represses transcription, while the region -2023/-1230 increases
      promoter activity. D4T upregulates Lon promoter activity in all cell lines while
      dRib upregulates Lon mainly in HepG2 cells, and in shorter incubation times.
      These data confirm that Lon can be considered a stress responsive protein.

PMID- 20933104
TI  - Tissue-specific differences in mitochondrial activity and biogenesis.
AB  - Each cell type develops and maintains a specific oxidative phosphorylation
      (OXPHOS) capacity to satisfy its metabolic and energetic demands. This implies
      that there are differences between tissues in mitochondrial number, function,
      protein composition and morphology. The OXPHOS system biogenesis requires the
      coordinated expression of both mitochondrial and nuclear genomes. Mitochondrial
      DNA (mtDNA) expression can be regulated at different levels (replication,
      transcription, translation and post-translational levels) to contribute to the
      final observed OXPHOS activities. By analyzing five mammalian tissues, we
      evaluated the differences in the cellular amount of mtDNA and its correlation
      with the final observed mitochondrial activity.

PMID- 20933105
TI  - MitoTool: a web server for the analysis and retrieval of human mitochondrial DNA
      sequence variations.
AB  - MitoTool, a web-based bioinformatics platform, is designed for deciphering human
      mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) data in batch mode. The platform has advantages in (i)
      parsing diverse types of mtDNA data; (ii) automatically classifying haplogroup
      according to mtDNA sequences or variants; (iii) discovering possibly missing
      variants of the samples with claimed haplogroups status; (iv) estimating the
      evolutionary conservation index, protein coding effect and potential
      pathogenicity of certain substitutions; (v) performing statistical analysis for
      haplogroup distribution frequency between case and control groups. Furthermore,
      it offers an integrated database for retrieving five types of mitochondrion
      related information. The MitoTool is freely accessed at http://www.mitotool.org.

PMID- 20933106
TI  - Autoimmune hepatitis, HLA and extended haplotypes.
AB  - Autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) is a chronic inflammatory liver disease.
      Characteristic liver-infiltrating immune cells in portal and periportal areas,
      hypergammaglobulinemia and typical autoantibodies indicate an ongoing autoimmune
      reaction against liver self antigens, which lead to irreversible cellular damage
      and ultimately to severe hepatic failure. A significant part of adult, but not
      pediatric AIH patients, exhibit concurrent autoimmune diseases, further
      strengthening the immunological etiology of the disease. Genetic susceptibility
      to autoimmune hepatitis is strongly associated with HLA-DRB1 alleles. In
      Caucasian European and North American patients, AIH-1 is associated with the
      presence of DRB1*0301, DRB3*0101 and DRB1*0401 alleles, while AIH-2 is associated
      with DRB1*0301 or DRB1*07. In Brazil, the primary susceptibility allele for AIH-1
      is DRB1*1301, but a secondary association with DRB1*0301 has also been
      identified. We looked for additional susceptibility factors in the extended MHC
      region. We genotyped 107 AIH-1 children and up to 326 healthy subjects for TNFA G
      308A, TNFA G-238A, LTA A+252G, LTA A+80C, NFKBIL1 T-63A, BAT1 C-348T, BAT1 G-22C,
      MICA, and HLA-B polymorphisms. The TNFA-308 A allele was significantly increased
      in AIH-1 when compared with healthy controls, confirming data from other studies.
      Linkage disequilibrium analysis was carried out. The ancestral haplotype
      comprising TNFA-308A, TNFA-238G, LTA+252G, LTA+80C, NFKBIL1-63A, BAT1-348C, BAT1
      22C, HLA-B*08, MICA*08 was more common in DRB1*03 positive patients than in
      controls (40% vs. 14%), showing a seven-fold increased risk for the disease
      [OR=7.8 (95%CI 2.04-29.9.2, p=0.0021). In contrast, the remaining patients
      carrying DRB1*03 exhibited varied haplotypes. Finally, a variety of class III
      haplotypes was also present in HLA-DRB1*13 patients, without a predominant
      pattern. The most common of the 98 haplotypes present in patients were completely
      absent in controls. The extended haplotype analysis in this sample of AIH-1
      patients highlights not only the genetic diversity present in the Brazilian
      population, but is also in accordance with the previously documented
      microdiversity within the MHC region. The present knowledge of AIH suggests that
      the same or a very similar disease can be induced by yet unknown, but different,
      triggers followed by presentation on different HLA-DR molecules of the epitopes
      derived from the corresponding autoantigens, characterizing a much more complex
      disease than previously thought.

PMID- 20933107
TI  - Respiratory Physiology & Neurobiology. Foreword.

PMID- 20933109
TI  - Evolution of trauma management at a tertiary care hospital: a cohort study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To analyze the characteristics of polytrauma patients and to assess
      the outcome of trauma care as this specialty has evolved over the years at a
      university hospital. METHODS: The study included all polytrauma patients treated
      between January 1998 and September 2005 at a tertiary care hospital in a
      megacity. Data of 1009 patients was collected prospectively and analyzed
      retrospectively. Patients were divided into two groups A and B, based on their
      presentation before and after the introduction of a formal trauma training course
      in 2002. The analysis included demographic data, injury severity score, vital
      signs including hemodynamics and GCS on admission, intubation rates, mortality
      and complications. RESULTS: 435 patients were included in group A (1998-2001)
      whereas group B (2002-2005) comprised of 574 patients. The proportion of patients
      with accidental versus intentional injuries was similar in both groups. The mean
      injury severity score of group A was 11.9 whereas that of group B was 11.7.
      Almost 50% of patients were transferred from other hospitals. Transferred
      patients had significantly lower GCS (p < 0.001), higher ISS (p < 0.001) and
      longer ICU stays (p < 0.001) in both (A and B) patient groups, while in group A
      mortality was also higher (p = 0.018). A significantly higher number of patients
      in group B went into shock. The overall mortality rate was 9.7% for group A which
      significantly decreased to 5.7% for group B (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: This study
      supports the view that as trauma care evolved at our hospital with the
      establishment of a formal training program, the mortality rates have
      significantly decreased.

PMID- 20933108
TI  - Conformational and thermal stability of mature dimeric human myeloperoxidase and
      a recombinant monomeric form from CHO cells.
AB  - Myeloperoxidase (MPO) is a lysosomal heme enzyme present in the azurophilic
      granules of human neutrophils and monocytes. It is a critical element of the
      human innate immune system by exerting antimicrobial effects. It is a disulfide
      bridged dimer with each monomer containing a light and a heavy polypeptide and
      its biosynthesis and intracellular transport includes several posttranslational
      processing steps. By contrast, MPO recombinantly produced in Chinese hamster
      ovary cell lines is monomeric, partially unprocessed and contains a N-terminal
      propeptide (proMPO). It mirrors a second form of MPO constitutively secreted from
      normal bone marrow myeloid precursors. In order to clarify the impact of
      posttranslational modifications on the structural integrity and enzymology of
      these two forms of human myeloperoxidase, we have undertaken an investigation on
      the conformational and thermal stability of leukocyte MPO and recombinant proMPO
      by using complementary biophysical techniques including UV-Vis, circular
      dichroism and fluorescence spectroscopy as well as differential scanning
      calorimetry. Mature leucocyte MPO exhibits a peculiar high chemical and thermal
      stability under oxidizing conditions but is significantly destabilized by
      addition of dithiothreitol. Unfolding of secondary and tertiary structure occurs
      concomitantly with denaturation of the heme cavity, reflecting the role of three
      MPO-typical heme to protein linkages and of six intra-chain disulfides for
      structural integrity by bridging N- and C-terminal regions of the protein.
      Recombinant monomeric proMPO follows a similar unfolding pattern but has a lower
      conformational and thermal stability. Spectroscopic and thermodynamic data of
      unfolding are discussed with respect to the known three-dimensional structure of
      leukocyte MPO as well as to known physiological roles.

PMID- 20933110
TI  - Expression of anti-sclerotinia scFv in transgenic Brassica napus enhances
      tolerance against stem rot.
AB  - Canola is an important agricultural crop imparting a significant contribution to
      global oilseed production. As such, optimizing yield and quality is of paramount
      importance and canola production can be significantly affected by sclerotinia
      stem rot. The utility of recombinant antibody technology in plant protection has
      been explored by many researchers and shows promise for the generation of new
      lines of agriculturally significant crops with greater resistance to diseases.
      The objective of the current study was to generate recombinant pathogen specific
      antibody (scFv)-expressing transgenic Brassica napus plants with increased
      tolerance to the phytopathogenic fungus, Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. Transgenic
      canola (B. napus) lines expressing S. sclerotiorum-specific scFv antibody showed
      a significant level of tolerance towards S. sclerotiorum as compared to their non
      transformed counterparts. Both incidence and progression of S. sclerotiorum
      induced disease symptoms were reduced in plants expressing the recombinant scFv.

PMID- 20933111
TI  - Introduction to Population Council Symposium articles.

PMID- 20933112
TI  - Non-contraceptive health benefits of intrauterine hormonal systems.
AB  - Non-contraceptive health benefits are now recognized as an important aspect of
      the overall impact of all hormonal contraceptives. The levonorgestrel-releasing
      intrauterine systems (LNG IUS) are particularly effective at producing a number
      of health benefits for women using the LNG IUS as a contraceptive (reduced
      menstrual bleeding; reduced dysmenorrhea and the potential for prevention of a
      number of gynecological conditions in the longer term, such as iron-deficiency
      anemia, endometrial hyperplasia, uterine fibroids, acute episodes of pelvic
      inflammatory disease, endometriosis and perhaps others). The LNG IUS also has the
      potential to specifically treat a range of pre-existing gynecological conditions
      such as heavy menstrual bleeding due to a wide range of underlying causes,
      endometrial hyperplasia, uterine fibroids, adenomyosis, and endometriosis. These
      health benefits should be recognized as a key component in the decision-making
      process for individual women in choosing a specific type of hormonal or other
      contraceptive. Investment in research into the very substantial health benefits
      of hormonal contraceptives, such as the LNG IUS, has generally been ignored in
      comparison with the massive investment into understanding the often subtle or
      rare complications of hormonal contraceptive use. Both are important, but there
      is a real need to define more accurately those women who will benefit most from
      these health benefits.

PMID- 20933113
TI  - Mechanism of action of emergency contraception.
AB  - A major barrier to the widespread acceptability and use of emergency
      contraception (EC) are concerns regarding the mechanisms of action of EC methods.
      Today, levonorgestrel (LNG) in a single dose of 1.5 mg taken within 120 h of an
      unprotected intercourse is the most widely used EC method worldwide. It has been
      demonstrated that LNG-EC acts through an effect on follicular development to
      delay or inhibit ovulation but has no effect once luteinizing hormone has started
      to increase. Thereafter, LNG-EC cannot prevent ovulation and it does not prevent
      fertilization or affect the human fallopian tube. LNG-EC has no effect on
      endometrial development or function. In an in vitro model, it was demonstrated
      that LNG did not interfere with blastocyst function or implantation.

PMID- 20933114
TI  - The use of newer progestins for contraception.
AB  - The synthetic progestins used for contraception so far are structurally related
      either to testosterone (estranes and gonanes) or to progesterone (pregnanes and
      19-norpregnanes). Several new progestins have been designed to minimize side
      effects related to androgenic, estrogenic or glucocorticoid receptor (GR)
      interactions. Dienogest (DNG) and drospirenone (DRSP) exhibit a partial
      antiandrogenic action, and DRSP has predominant anti-mineralocorticoid
      properties. The 19-norpregnanes include Nestorone (NES), nomegestrol acetate
      (NOMAc) and trimegestone (TMG), and possess a high specificity for binding to the
      progesterone receptor (PR) with no or little interaction with other steroid
      receptors. DRSP has been developed as combination oral pills with ethinyl
      estradiol (EE); DNG has been combined both with EE and, more recently, with
      estradiol valerate (E2V). NOMAc has been used as a progestin-only method and more
      recently combined with estradiol (E2). Nestorone is not active orally but proved
      to be the most active antiovulatory progestin when used parenterally. It has been
      developed in various formulations such as implants, vaginal rings or transdermal
      gel or spray. Risks and benefits of the new progestins depend upon the type of
      molecular structure, the type of estrogen associated in a combination and the
      route of administration.

PMID- 20933115
TI  - Contraceptive vaginal rings: a review.
AB  - Development efforts on contraceptive vaginal rings were initiated over 40 years
      ago based on two principles: the capacity of the vaginal epithelium to absorb
      steroids and the capacity of elastomers to release these hormones at a nearly
      constant rate. Numerous models of contraceptive vaginal rings (CVRs) have been
      studied, but only two have reached the market: NuvaRing, a combined ring that
      releases etonogestrel (ENG) and ethinylestradiol (EE), and Progering, a
      progesterone-releasing ring for use in lactating women. The main advantages of
      CVRs are their effectiveness (similar to or slightly better than the pill), ease
      of use without the need of remembering a daily routine, user's ability to control
      initiation and discontinuation, nearly constant release rate allowing for lower
      doses, greater bioavailability and good cycle control with the combined ring. The
      main disadvantages are related to the mode of delivery; CVRs may cause vaginal
      discharge and complaints, ring expulsion is not uncommon, the ring may be felt
      during coitus and vaginal insertion may be unpleasant for some women. The studies
      reviewed in this article provide evidence that CVRs are safe, effective and
      highly acceptable to women. There is no doubt that CVRs offer a new, effective
      contraceptive option to women, expanding their available choices of hormonal
      contraception.

PMID- 20933116
TI  - Progesterone vaginal ring for contraceptive use during lactation.
AB  - The progesterone vaginal ring (PVR) has been shown to be effective as a
      contraceptive in breastfeeding women who need a better method of spacing
      pregnancies, and previous clinical trials of 1-year duration demonstrated its
      efficacy to be similar to that of the IUD during lactation. The duration of
      lactational amenorrhea is significantly prolonged in PVR users in comparison to
      IUD users with fewer median numbers of bleeding/spotting (B/S) episodes and B/S
      days. This long-acting delivery system designed for 3-month use needs to be
      renewed every 3 months as long as breastfeeding continues. The system designed as
      a matrix ring delivers 10 mg/day of the physiological hormone progesterone.
      Various factors such as comfort, ease of use, user control, rather than provider
      dependent, and the fact that it contains a natural hormone have contributed to a
      high acceptability of the PVR method by breastfeeding women. The frequency of
      breastfeeding, breast milk volume and infant growth were not different in PVR
      users or IUD users, and the safety of this new method has been well documented.
      This article describes the available information and the results of the studies
      that led to approval of this method in several countries in Latin America so far.
      Further evaluation of the PVR acceptability in different populations where
      breastfeeding is popular and highly recommended for the infant's benefit is
      warranted.

PMID- 20933117
TI  - Translational research with progesterone receptor modulator motivated by the use
      of levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system.
AB  - The use of levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system (LNG-IUS) is effective
      for management of menorrhagic women with uterine myomas because of reduction in
      menorrhagia. However, the size of myomas during use of LNG-IUS increased in some
      but decreased in other instances. This prompted us to characterize the effects of
      progesterone (P4) on cultured leiomyoma cell growth. Treatment with P4 resulted
      in increase in epidermal growth factor (EGF) expression in cultured leiomyoma
      cells, whereas treatment with E2 augmented EGF-R expression in those cells. This
      indicates that P4 and E2 act in combination to stimulate myoma growth through
      induction of EGF/EGF-R expression. Bcl-2 expression in leiomyoma cells was up
      regulated by P4. Furthermore, P4 augmented proliferating cell nuclear antigen
      expression in cultured leiomyoma cells but not in cultured normal myometrial
      cells. This fact let us to examine the effects of progesterone receptor modulator
      (PRM) on leiomyoma cell proliferation and apoptosis in comparison with normal
      myometrial cells. Our studies revealed that CDB-2914 inhibits the proliferation,
      stimulates apoptosis of cultured leiomyoma cells, and inhibits the expression of
      angiogenic factors (vascular endothelial growth factor and adrenomedullin) and
      their receptors in cultured leiomyoma cells, without affecting those in cultured
      normal myometrial cells. We then evaluated the effects of CDB-2914 on
      extracellular matrix (ECM) components in cultured leiomyoma cells. CDB-2914
      increased ECM metalloproteinase inducer, matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-1, MMP-8
      contents and decreased tissue inhibitors of MMP (TIMP)-1, TIMP-2 contents as well
      as type I and type III collagen contents in cultured leiomyoma cells, without
      comparable effects on cultured normal myometrial cells. These findings
      demonstrate that PRM not only inhibits the proliferation and stimulates apoptosis
      of cultured leiomyoma cells but also suppresses collagen synthesis in a cell-type
      specific manner. This is meaningful for understanding the molecular mechanism of
      the usefulness of PRM in the treatment of uterine fibroids.

PMID- 20933118
TI  - Mifepristone: where do we come from and where are we going? Clinical development
      over a quarter of a century.
AB  - Administration of mifepristone followed by the prostaglandin, misoprostol, has
      been used successfully in the medical termination of pregnancy for over 25 years,
      and the method is registered in 35 countries. Single doses of mifepristone are
      also effective as an emergency postcoital contraceptive. Mifepristone
      administered for 3 months or longer to women with uterine leiomyomas, is
      associated with a reduction in pain and bleeding with improvement in quality of
      life and decrease in fibroid size. Mifepristone is also effective in decreasing
      pain in women with endometriosis. In both these conditions, serum estradiol
      levels are in the range of those in the early follicular phase. A daily dose of
      at least 2 mg mifepristone blocks ovulation. In contrast, weekly administration
      of 25 or 50 mg does not consistently block ovulation but has contraceptive
      potential by delaying endometrial development. Mifepristone in a dose of 200 mg,
      administered 48 h after the Luteinizing Hormone (LH) surge, also acts as a
      contraceptive, but this strategy is not practical for widespread use.
      Administration of mifepristone for 4-6 months or longer may lead to endometrial
      thickening. Endometrial histology reveals cystic glandular dilation together with
      admixed estrogen (mitotic) and progestin (secretory) epithelial effects. This
      histological pattern does not represent endometrial hyperplasia.

PMID- 20933119
TI  - Acceptability of contraception for men: a review.
AB  - Methods of contraception for use by men include condoms, withdrawal and
      vasectomy. Prevalence of use of a method and continuation rates are indirect
      measures of acceptability. Worldwide, none of these "male methods" accounts for
      more than 7% of contraceptive use although uptake varies considerably between
      countries. Acceptability can be assessed directly by asking about intended
      (hypothetical) use and assessing satisfaction during/after use. Since they have
      been around for a very long time, there are very few data of this nature on
      condoms (as contraceptives rather than for prevention of infection), withdrawal
      or vasectomy. There are direct data on the acceptability of hormonal methods for
      men but from relatively small clinical trials which undoubtedly do not represent
      the real world. Surveys undertaken among the male general public demonstrate
      that, whatever the setting, at least 25% of men - and in most countries
      substantially more - would consider using hormonal contraception. Although
      probably an overestimate of the number of potential users when such a method
      becomes available, it would appear that hormonal contraceptives for men may have
      an important place on the contraceptive menu. Despite commonly expressed views to
      the contrary, most women would trust their male partner to use a hormonal method.

PMID- 20933120
TI  - Clinical trials in male hormonal contraception.
AB  - Research has established the principle of hormonal male contraception based on
      suppression of gonadotropins and spermatogenesis. All hormonal male
      contraceptives use testosterone, but only in East Asian men can testosterone
      alone suppress spermatogenesis to a level compatible with contraceptive
      protection. In Caucasians, additional agents are required of which progestins are
      favored. Clinical trials concentrate on testosterone combined with
      norethisterone, desogestrel, etonogestrel or depot-medroxyprogesterone acetate.
      The first randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial performed by the
      pharmaceutical industry demonstrated the effectiveness of a combination of
      testosterone undecanoate and etonogestrel in suppressing spermatogenesis in
      volunteers.

PMID- 20933121
TI  - Recent methodological advances in male hormonal contraception.
AB  - Landmark WHO-sponsored trials showed decades ago that male hormonal contraception
      (MHC) is an effective male-directed contraceptive approach. Considerable progress
      has been made particularly in the last 5 years, establishing for the first time
      the reversibility of MHC and its short-term safety. Methodological advances in
      recent years include the pooling of information and individual-level integrated
      analysis; the first-time use of centralized semen analysis and fluorescence to
      detect low sperm concentrations; the establishment of sperm quality reference
      ranges in fertile men; the measurement of blood steroid concentrations by gas
      chromatography/mass spectrometry; and the inclusion of placebo groups to
      delineate clearly possible adverse effects of androgens and progestins in men. We
      report integrated analyses of factors that are important in predicting
      suppression and recovery of spermatogenesis after MHC clinical trials for the
      past 15 years. These are the best data available and will provide guidance and
      reassurance for the larger-scale Phase III specific regimen efficacy studies that
      will be required to bring MHC to the population (market).

PMID- 20933123
TI  - Epigenetics is a fascinating field of modern biology. Preface.

PMID- 20933122
TI  - New frontiers in nonhormonal male contraception.
AB  - The world's population is nearing 6.8 billion, and we are in need of a male
      contraceptive that is safe, effective, reversible and affordable. Hormonal
      approaches, which employ different formulations of testosterone administered in
      combination with other hormones, have shown considerable promise in clinical
      trials, and they are currently at the forefront of research and development.
      However, the long-term effects of using hormones throughout a male's reproductive
      life for contraception are unknown, and it may take decades before this
      information becomes available. Because of this, many investigators are aiming to
      bring a nonhormonal male contraceptive to the consumer market. Indeed, there are
      several distinct but feasible avenues in which fertility can be regulated without
      affecting the hypothalamus-pituitary-testis axis. In this review, we discuss
      several approaches for fertility control involving the testis that one day may
      lead to the development of a nonhormonal male contraceptive.

PMID- 20933124
TI  - Induction of epigenetic alterations by dietary and other environmental factors.
AB  - Dietary and other environmental factors induce epigenetic alterations which may
      have important consequences for cancer development. This chapter summarizes
      current knowledge of the impact of dietary, lifestyle, and environmental
      determinants of cancer risk and proposes that effects of these exposures might be
      mediated, at least in part, via epigenetic mechanisms. Evidence is presented to
      support the hypothesis that all recognized epigenetic marks (including DNA
      methylation, histone modification, and microRNA (miRNA) expression) are
      influenced by environmental exposures, including diet, tobacco, alcohol, physical
      activity, stress, environmental carcinogens, genetic factors, and infectious
      agents which play important roles in the etiology of cancer. Some of these
      epigenetic modifications change the expression of tumor suppressor genes and
      oncogenes and, therefore, may be causal for tumorigenesis. Further work is
      required to understand the mechanisms through which specific environmental
      factors produce epigenetic changes and to identify those changes which are likely
      to be causal in the pathogenesis of cancer and those which are secondary, or
      bystander, effects. Given the plasticity of epigenetic marks in response to
      cancer-related exposures, such epigenetic marks are attractive candidates for the
      development of surrogate endpoints which could be used in dietary or lifestyle
      intervention studies for cancer prevention. Future research should focus on
      identifying epigenetic marks which are (i) validated as biomarkers for the cancer
      under study; (ii) readily measured in easily accessible tissues, for example,
      blood, buccal cells, or stool; and (iii) altered in response to dietary or
      lifestyle interventions for which there is convincing evidence for a relationship
      with cancer risk.

PMID- 20933125
TI  - Induction of epigenetic alterations by chronic inflammation and its significance
      on carcinogenesis.
AB  - Chronic inflammation is deeply involved in development of human cancers, such as
      gastric and liver cancers. Induction of cell proliferation, production of
      reactive oxygen species, and direct stimulation of epithelial cells by
      inflammation-inducing factors have been considered as mechanisms involved.
      Inflammation-related cancers are known for their multiple occurrences, and
      aberrant DNA methylation is known to be present even in noncancerous tissues.
      Importantly, for some cancers, the degree of accumulation has been demonstrated
      to be correlated with risk of developing cancers. This indicates that
      inflammation induces aberrant epigenetic alterations in a tissue early in the
      process of carcinogenesis, and accumulation of such alterations forms "an
      epigenetic field for cancerization." This also suggests that inhibition of
      induction of epigenetic alterations and removal of the accumulated alterations
      are novel approaches to cancer prevention. Disturbances in cytokine and chemokine
      signals and induction of cell proliferations are important mechanisms of how
      inflammation induces aberrant DNA methylation. Aberrant DNA methylation is
      induced in specific genes, and gene expression levels, the presence of RNA
      polymerase II (active or stalled), and trimethylation of H3K4 are involved in the
      specificity. Expression of DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs) is not necessarily
      induced by inflammation, and local imbalance between DNMTs and factors that
      protect genes from DNA methylation seems to be important.

PMID- 20933127
TI  - Folate and one-carbon metabolism and its impact on aberrant DNA methylation in
      cancer.
AB  - Folate is a methyl donor that plays an essential role in DNA synthesis and
      biological methylation reactions, including DNA methylation. Folate deficiency
      may be implicated in the development of genomic DNA hypomethylation, which is an
      early epigenetic event found in many cancers, particularly colorectal cancer
      (CRC). Numerous studies employing in vitro systems, animal models, and human
      interventional studies have tested this hypothesis. Here, we describe the role of
      folate as a methyl donor in the one-carbon metabolism cycle, and the consequences
      of cellular folate deficiency. The existing evidence on folate and its
      relationship to DNA methylation is discussed using CRC as an example. While there
      remain numerous technical challenges in this important field of research, changes
      to folate intake appear to be capable of modulating DNA methylation levels in the
      human colonic mucosa and this may potentially alter CRC risk.

PMID- 20933126
TI  - In utero life and epigenetic predisposition for disease.
AB  - Regulatory regions of the human genome can be modified through epigenetic
      processes during prenatal life to make an individual more likely to suffer
      chronic diseases when they reach adulthood. The modification of chromatin and DNA
      contributes to a larger well-documented process known as "programming" whereby
      stressors in the womb give rise to adult onset diseases, including cancer. It is
      now well known that death from ischemic heart disease is related to birth weight;
      the lower the birth weight, the higher the risk of death from cardiovascular
      disease as well as type 2 diabetes and osteoporosis. Recent epidemiological data
      link rapid growth in the womb to metabolic disease and obesity and also to breast
      and lung cancers. There is increasing evidence that "marked" regions of DNA can
      become "unmarked" under the influence of dietary nutrients. This gives hope for
      reversing propensities for cancers and other diseases that were acquired in the
      womb. For several cancers, the size and shape of the placenta are associated with
      a person's cardiovascular and cancer risks as are maternal body mass index and
      height. The features of placental growth and nutrient transport properties that
      lead to adult disease have been little studied. In conclusion, several cancers
      have their origins in the womb, including lung and breast cancer. More research
      is needed to determine the epigenetic processes that underlie the programming of
      these diseases.

PMID- 20933128
TI  - Epigenetic alterations as cancer diagnostic, prognostic, and predictive
      biomarkers.
AB  - Alterations of DNA methylation and transcription of microRNAs (miRNAs) are very
      stable phenomena in tissues and body fluids and suitable for sensitive detection.
      These advantages enable us to translate some important discoveries on epigenetic
      oncology into biomarkers for control of cancer. A few promising epigenetic
      biomarkers are emerging. Clinical trials using methylated CpG islands of p16,
      Septin9, and MGMT as biomarkers are carried out for predication of cancer
      development, diagnosis, and chemosensitivity. Circulating miRNAs are promising
      biomarkers, too. Breakthroughs in the past decade imply that epigenetic
      biomarkers may be useful in reducing the burden of cancer.

PMID- 20933129
TI  - Detection of DNA methylation changes in body fluids.
AB  - DNA methylation deregulation is one of the major components of epigenetic
      reprogramming affecting many human diseases. Due to its chemical nature and the
      advances in technology, DNA methylation is unique for biomarker utilization. DNA
      methylation changes have been detected in a variety of human body fluids
      associated with a large number of malignant and benign diseases. This chapter
      summarizes the evidence from a wide range of studies in this field and
      demonstrates the clinical potential of DNA methylation in cancer diagnostics. The
      technical approaches are discussed, emphasizing on quality control issues and
      potential pitfalls. Finally, the lack of transferring this technology to the
      clinic is being discussed, highlighting key study design issues that are required
      for biomarker validation and clinical implementation.

PMID- 20933130
TI  - Epigenetics in molecular epidemiology of cancer a new scope.
AB  - Classical epidemiologic studies have made important contributions to identifying
      the etiology of most common cancers and have had substantive public health
      impact. Molecular epidemiology is an extension of classical epidemiologic
      research to incorporate biochemical and molecular biomarkers with questionnaire
      data to advance our understanding of mechanisms of carcinogenesis and of events
      between exposure and cancer development. Risk prediction, prognostication, and
      therapy prediction are the clinical uses of molecular epidemiology in cancer
      management. Lifestyle and environmental factors associated with carcinogenesis
      also strongly affect epigenetic statuses, and thus epigenetic mechanisms may
      mediate environmental influences on gene expression and even diseases, resulting
      in a focus of epidemiologic investigation. DNA methylation can be studied on
      candidate genes or on a genome-wide scale, although the genotype is fixed at
      conception but the epigenome is dynamic. Unlike simple genotyping, the levels and
      patterns of epigenetic changes differ in different tissues and cell types, and
      may not reflect events in target tissues. Still as a possible risk factor and
      surrogate marker for liability to cancer, the methylation statuses of blood
      leukocyte DNA seem to be ideal for the analysis and are emerging as a new scope.
      Epigenetic changes in comparison with genetic ones are reversible and are
      acquired in a gradual manner. These epigenetic features offer a huge potential
      for prevention strategies.

PMID- 20933131
TI  - Diet, epigenetic, and cancer prevention.
AB  - Disruption of the epigenome has been a hallmark of human cancers and has been
      linked with tumor pathogenesis and progression. Since epigenetic changes can be
      reversed in principle, studies have been carried out to identify modifiable (such
      as diet and lifestyle) factors, which possess epigenetic property, in hope for
      developing epigenetically based prevention/intervention strategies. The goal is
      to achieve some degree of epigenetic reprogramming, which would maintain normal
      gene expression status and reverse tumorigenesis through chemoprevention or
      lifestyle intervention such as diet modification. The ability of dietary
      compounds to act epigenetically in cancer cells has been studied and evidence
      continues to surface for constituents in food and dietary supplements to
      influence the epigenome and ultimately individual's risk of developing cancer. In
      this chapter, we summarized the existing data, both from animal and human
      studies, on the capacity of natural food products to influence three key
      epigenetic processes: DNA methylation, histone modification, and microRNA
      expression. As discussed in the perspective, while diet-based intervention that
      targets epigenetic pathways is promising, significant challenges remain in
      translating these scientific findings into clinical or public health practices in
      the context of cancer prevention.

PMID- 20933132
TI  - Epigenetic databases and computational methodologies in the analysis of
      epigenetic datasets.
AB  - Epigenetics research is one of the emerging research fields in biomedical
      research. During the last few decades, a collection of useful tools (both to
      design the experiments and to analyze the results) and databases are developed.
      This review chapter discusses basic tools which are used to detect CpG islands
      and the Transcription Start Site (TSS) and discusses experimental design and
      analysis, mainly of DNA-methylation experiments. During the last years, an
      enormous amount of experimental data had been generated and published. Therefore,
      we describe some epigenetic databases, with a special focus on DNA methylation
      and cancer. Some general cancer databases are discussed as well, as they might
      reveal the link between the results from epigenetic experiments and their
      biological influence on the development or progression of cancer. Next, some
      novel computational approaches in epigenetics are discussed, for instance used to
      predict the methylation state of a promoter in certain circumstances. To show a
      possible data analysis strategy of an epigenetic dataset in cancer research,
      there is a showcase where a DNA-methylation dataset, generated on colorectal
      cancer samples, is analyzed. This demonstrates how a DNA-methylation dataset
      might look like and the different steps in a possible analysis strategy and how
      to interpret the results.

PMID- 20933134
TI  - Canine parvovirus.
AB  - Since its emergence in 1978, canine parvoviral enteritis has remained a common
      and important cause of morbidity and mortality in young dogs. The continued
      incidence of parvoviral enteritis is partly due to the virus's capability to
      "reinvent" itself and evolve into new, more virulent and resistant subspecies.
      This article reviews current knowledge about the virus, its epidemiology,
      clinical manifestation, diagnosis, management, and prevention.

PMID- 20933135
TI  - Antiviral therapy for feline herpesvirus infections.
AB  - A large variety of antiviral agents exists for oral or topical treatment of cats
      infected with feline herpesvirus type 1. Knowledge of the general principles can
      be used to better understand antiviral pharmacology and thereby guide therapy for
      cats with herpetic disease. This article compares the antiviral efficacy of these
      compounds and recommends a common protocol for administering lysine and antiviral
      drugs to infected cats.

PMID- 20933136
TI  - Canine influenza.
AB  - Canine influenza, as a recognized clinical entity in dogs, has a relatively brief
      history. The presence of specific subtypes of influenza virus capable of being
      transmitted from dog to dog is at present geographically limited to the United
      States and Korea. As surveillance intensifies to meet the concerns of the human
      population on pandemic influenza viruses, more cases of influenza virus in dogs
      are certain to be detected. Each infection offers an opportunity for a unique
      variant to emerge and continue the evolution of influenza virus as a species
      crossing pathogen.

PMID- 20933137
TI  - Feline bartonellosis.
AB  - Bartonella infection is common among domestic cats, but the role of Bartonella
      species as feline pathogens requires further study. Most Bartonella species that
      infect cats are zoonotic. Cats are the mammalian reservoir and vector for
      Bartonella henselae, an important zoonotic agent. Cat fleas transmit Bartonella
      among cats, and cats with fleas are an important source of human B henselae
      infections. New information about Bartonella as feline pathogens has recently
      been published, and this article summarizes much of that information. Issues
      surrounding diagnosis and treatment of feline Bartonella infections are
      described, and prevention of zoonotic transmission of Bartonella is discussed.

PMID- 20933138
TI  - Canine leptospirosis.
AB  - Leptospirosis is a common zoonotic disease with a worldwide distribution. Dogs
      become infected by exposure to contaminated urine from shedding wild animals. The
      bacteria penetrate mucus membranes, causing endothelial damage and damage to
      organs, such as the liver and kidneys. The clinical signs and clinicopathologic
      data are nonspecific and a high index of suspicion is needed by the practitioner.
      Testing today is highly based on serology (microscopic agglutination test) and
      perhaps polymerase chain reaction. Treatment of leptospirosis involves supportive
      care and antibiotics, and prevention includes environmental steps and annual
      vaccination of dogs at risk.

PMID- 20933139
TI  - Lyme borreliosis in dogs and cats: background, diagnosis, treatment and
      prevention of infections with Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto.
AB  - Lyme borreliosis (LB), synonymous with the often-used term Lyme disease, is an
      infectious disease caused by the spirochetal bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi. LB
      is the most frequent vector-borne disease in humans in the Northern Hemisphere.
      In animals, clinically apparent disease is found primarily in dogs. Severe
      polyarthritis, fever and lameness in dogs are reported from the main endemic
      areas of North America: the New England States, and eastern parts of the United
      States; several cases of LB are also seen in California and the Midwest. Because
      of the difficulties in finding sufficient indicative clinical signs, additional
      information (detailed case history, laboratory testing for antibodies) is
      especially important to make the clinical diagnosis of Lyme borreliosis. This
      article reviews the etiology, diagnosis, therapy, and prevention of LB.

PMID- 20933140
TI  - Ehrlichiosis and anaplasmosis in dogs and cats.
AB  - In the time since canine ehrlichiosis due to Ehrlichia canis was first described
      in 1935 and first recognized in the United States in 1962, many key advances have
      been made in our understanding of the diversity of the rickettsial organisms
      responsible for ehrlichiosis and anaplasmosis in dogs and, occasionally, cats,
      the vectors capable of transmitting these agents, and the role these organisms
      play as both important veterinary pathogens and zoonotic disease agents. Despite
      considerable progress in the field, much remains to be learned regarding
      mechanisms contributing to pathogenesis, effective treatment modalities, and
      prevention strategies that best protect pet health. This article highlights
      current understanding of the transmission, diagnosis, and management of
      ehrlichiosis and anaplasmosis in dogs and cats.

PMID- 20933141
TI  - Canine babesiosis.
AB  - Babesiosis continues to pose a threat to dogs worldwide as a cause of anemia,
      thrombocytopenia, and a wide variety of clinical signs, ranging from mild,
      nonspecific illness to peracute collapse and death. Practitioners should be alert
      to the importance of collecting travel and fight history for a patient and should
      be aware of new piroplasm species that have been described. Asymptomatic
      infections necessitate careful screening of potential blood donors using a
      combination of diagnostic testing procedures. Current treatment strategies for
      babesiosis often ameliorate the clinical signs of infection, but these
      hemoparasites are seldom completely eliminated, and when immunocompromised,
      recrudescence may occur.

PMID- 20933142
TI  - Feline hemotropic mycoplasmas.
AB  - Three species of hemotropic mycoplasmas are known to infect cats worldwide,
      Mycoplasma haemofelis, "Candidatus Mycoplasma turicensis" and "Candidatus
      Mycoplasma haemominutum." These organisms were previously known as
      Haemobartonella felis, but are now known to be mycoplasmas. Assays based on
      polymerase chain reaction technology are the most sensitive and specific
      diagnostic tests available for these organisms. M haemofelis is the most
      pathogenic species, and causes hemolytic anemia in immunocompetent cats. Other
      differential diagnoses for hemolytic anemia should be considered in cats testing
      positive for "Candidatus Mycoplasma turicensis" and "Candidatus Mycoplasma
      haemominutum," because the presence of these organisms is not always associated
      with anemia. Blood from infected cats should be handled with care because of the
      potential zoonotic nature of hemoplasma infections. The treatment of choice for
      cats with clinical disease is doxycycline.

PMID- 20933143
TI  - Antifungal treatment of small animal veterinary patients.
AB  - Antifungal therapy has progressed significantly with the development of new drugs
      directed at various processes in fungal cell metabolism. Within veterinary
      medicine, treatment options for systemic mycoses remain limited to amphotericin
      B, ketoconazole, fluconazole, and itraconazole. However, newer triazoles,
      echinocandins, and lipid-based formulations of amphotericin B are now approved
      for use in humans. This article provides a comprehensive review of the antifungal
      medications available for veterinary patients, and includes a brief discussion of
      the newer, presently cost-prohibitive, antifungal therapies used for systemic
      mycoses in humans.

PMID- 20933144
TI  - Molecular diagnostic assays for infectious diseases in cats.
AB  - With the advent of more accessible polymerase chain reaction panels, the use of
      molecular techniques for the detection of infectious organisms has become more
      routine in veterinary medicine. The use of molecular diagnostics is best reserved
      for the detection of organisms that are difficult to detect or identify
      expediently. In this article, the fundamentals of molecular techniques are
      reviewed along with an examination of specific feline infectious diseases in
      which diagnosis via molecular techniques is advantageous.

PMID- 20933145
TI  - Effectiveness of transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation for improving
      depressive mood status among nursing home elders in Taiwan: a pilot study.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to test the effectiveness of transcutaneous
      electrical acupoint stimulation (TEAS) to improve depressive mood status among
      elders in a nursing home in Taiwan. This was an experimental, pre- and posttest
      study with 2 groups. Nine subjects in the experimental group received TEAS for 15
      minutes, 5 times a week for 1 month. Seven subjects in the control group received
      social visits for 15 minutes, 5 times a week for 1 month. Results indicated that
      the posttest depression scores significantly differed between the 2 groups.
      Subjects in the experimental group showed a statistically significant improvement
      in depressive mood status, but changes in the depressive mood status of subjects
      in the comparison group were not statistically significant. In conclusion, TEAS
      can be a safe, easy, and noninvasive technique for nursing home staff to improve
      the depressive mood status of elders.

PMID- 20933146
TI  - Current evidence regarding models of acute care for hospitalized geriatric
      patients.
AB  - This article examines the current evidence on models of acute care for
      hospitalized older people. The 3 models examined were Acute Care for Elders
      (ACE), Hospitalized Elder Life Program (HELP), and Nurses Improving Care for
      Health-System Elders (NICHE). Thirteen research reports examining these models of
      care were assembled from online search engines and used for this integrative
      literature review. Preliminary evidence suggests that all 3 programs may be
      effective at improving outcomes for hospitalized older people. However, more
      rigorous research is needed to determine which programs are most effective at
      improving clinical geriatric outcomes in different settings. Recommendations for
      additional research, use of the models in clinical nursing practice, and nursing
      implications of the models.

PMID- 20933147
TI  - The effect of the addition of osteoporosis education to a bone health screening
      program for older adults.
AB  - Osteoporosis affects approximately 26% of women and 4% of men after the age of 65
      years. However, the diffusion of knowledge about osteoporosis risk factors,
      prevention and treatment remains low. The purpose of this longitudinal study was
      to investigate the value of adding initial and refresher osteoporosis education
      classes to a bone health screening program. A convenience sample of 376 men (n =
      62) and women (n = 314) over the age of 62 years was assigned randomly to the
      Screening plus Education (n =193) or Screening only (n = 183) groups.
      Participants in both study groups demonstrated an increase in knowledge about
      osteoporosis, regardless of group assignment and other factors, over the two
      years of the study. Self-reported calcium use increased for all women and for men
      in the education group from baseline to year one, with a decline thereafter.
      There was no effect on exercise behaviors. This study points out the critical
      need for a more comprehensive and personalized bone health program that includes
      more than classroom-based education.

PMID- 20933148
TI  - Does your documentation support payment?

PMID- 20933150
TI  - Uterine myomas revisited.
AB  - The present study was planned to review the pathophysiology of uterine myomas and
      emphasize the principles of logical management on the basis of literature review
      and synthesis of the author's experience. The growth of uterine myomas, the most
      common solid pelvic tumors in women, is related to genetic predisposition,
      hormonal influences and growth factors. The treatment options include
      pharmacologic, surgical and radiographic interventions. Most asymptomatic myomas
      can be followed serially for progressive growth or development of symptoms. The
      various diagnostic and therapeutic advancements available today permit higher
      management flexibility with safe options, which must be tailored to the
      individual patients requirement.

PMID- 20933151
TI  - Molecular interactions in the placenta during malaria infection.
AB  - Placental malaria is the placental sequestration of Plasmodium falciparum
      infected erythrocytes that accumulate in the intervillous space, resulting in
      pathological alterations. The intervillous space, the main compartment for
      exchange of nutrients and delivery of oxygen to the fetus, is of utmost
      importance for fetal development. Events leading to adverse outcomes of placental
      malaria can be summarized in four steps: (1) accumulation of P. falciparum
      infected erythrocytes; (2) infiltration of monocytes and macrophages; (3)
      alteration of the placental cytokine balance and (4) pathogenesis of adverse
      pregnancy outcomes. These events are triggered by chemokines and cytokines
      leading to impaired materno-fetal exchange and damage to the placenta. This
      review describes the events during placental malaria infection at molecular level
      and presents a simplified model describing all crucial steps leading to adverse
      pregnancy outcomes based on a review of recent literature (August 2009).

PMID- 20933152
TI  - Laparoscopic ovarian cystectomy of endometriomas: surgeons' experience may affect
      ovarian reserve and live-born rate in infertile patients with in vitro
      fertilization-intracytoplasmic sperm injection.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess whether the laparoscopist's experience can affect ovarian
      reserve and pregnancy outcome in vitro fertilization-intracytoplasmic sperm
      injection (IVF-ICSI) patients who previously underwent laparoscopic conservative
      treatment for ovarian endometriomas. STUDY DESIGN: One hundred and forty-nine IVF
      ICSI cycles with infertile patients who previously underwent laparoscopic
      conservative treatment for ovarian endometriomas were enrolled. There were 76
      cycles with an inexperienced surgeon and 73 cycles with an experienced surgeon.
      RESULTS: The number of antral follicle count (7.5+/-3.8 vs. 9.6+/-6.6; p=0.011),
      and live-born rate per cycle (9.3% vs. 32.9%; p<0.001) were significantly lower
      in the inexperienced group comparing with the experienced group. However, the
      mean number of oocytes, fertilization rate, mean number of embryos transferred,
      rate of good-quality embryos transferred, implantation rate and clinical
      pregnancy were similar between both groups. CONCLUSIONS: The experience of the
      laparoscopist may affect ovarian reserve and live-born rate after treating
      ovarian endometrioma in infertile women with IVF-ICSI.

PMID- 20933163
TI  - [Percy military hospital (Clamart, France)].

PMID- 20933164
TI  - [What is the role of FDG-PET in thoracic oncology in 2010?].
AB  - 18F-Fluorodeoxyglucose-Positron Emission Tomography (FGD-PET) has been considered
      to have a major impact on the management of lung malignancies since the beginning
      of this century. Its value has been demonstrated by many publications, meta
      analysis and European/American/Japanese recommendations. PET combined with
      computed tomography has provided useful information regarding the diagnosis and
      staging of lung cancer and allows for the delivery of adaptive radiotherapy. In
      its more common uses, PET has been shown to be cost-effective. With the
      widespread use of new radiotracers, PET will play an increasing role in the
      evaluation of response to treatment.

PMID- 20933165
TI  - [Role of chest physician in the management of patient with thoracic trauma].
AB  - Thoracic traumas are frequent and potentially fatal, because of the associated
      neurological and abdominal lesions. They are observed in car crashes, combat
      environments and urban terrorist bombings. The mechanisms of the traumatic injury
      are complex and account for the diversity of the lesions. The management of a
      chest trauma patient is a model of multidisciplinary collaboration where the
      chest physician can make a significant contribution.

PMID- 20933166
TI  - [Blast lung injuries].
AB  - In armed conflicts and during terrorist attacks, explosive devices are a major
      cause of mortality. The lung is one of the organs most sensitive to blasts. Thus,
      today it is important that every GP at least knows the basics and practices
      regarding treatment of blast victims. We suggest, following a review of the
      explosions and an assessment of the current threats, detailing the lung injuries
      brought about by the explosions and the main treatments currently recommended.

PMID- 20933167
TI  - [Second-line therapy in patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma. A French
      retrospective study (2005-2006)].
AB  - BACKGROUND: The role of second-line chemotherapy (SLC) has still not been
      established in malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) but SLC is increasingly used
      because many patients are still fit at the time of the progression of the
      disease. METHODS: In this retrospective study, the authors reviewed their
      experience with SLC in pemetrexed-pretreated patients with MPM at two French
      thoracic oncology units (institut Gustave-Roussy, Villejuif, and hopital
      d'Instruction des Armees Percy, Clamart). RESULTS: Between January 2005 and
      December 2006, 84 consecutive patients with progressing MPM after pemetrexed
      chemotherapy were enrolled. Forty-four patients received an SLC. There were 30
      men and 14 women. The median age was 58 years (range: 34 to 76 years). Most
      patients had a performance status (PS) less than or equal to 1 (82%) and an
      epithelial histological subtype (91 %). The median time to progression (TTP)
      after first-line chemotherapy was 6.1 months. The SLC was a pemetrexed therapy in
      21 patients and a new regime in 20 patients (gemcitabine alone or with
      oxaliplatin). The other three patients were enrolled in a phase I study.
      According to the Recist criteria, a partial response was observed in four
      patients and the disease was stabilised in six patients after SLC. The median TTP
      after SLC was 3.8 months. The median survival was 12.2 months (range: 2 to 72
      months). Four of these 44 patients then received third-line (4.8 %) and two
      received fourth-line therapy (2.4 %). CONCLUSIONS: This experience indicates the
      feasibility of administering SLC in patients with MPM who are healthy at the time
      of the progression of the disease. The optimal treatment has not been defined to
      date and prospective trials are needed.

PMID- 20933168
TI  - [Management of pulmonary masses by guided transthoracic fine needle biopsy under
      computed tomography. Contribution from the Pathology and Radiology Departments of
      the Percy Military Hospital (Clamart, France) over 10 years].
AB  - Examining 260 samples of pulmonary nodules obtained by percutaneous biopsy under
      tomodensitometric control from the departments of radiology and pathology over 10
      years, the authors note the advantages and disadvantages of this technique,
      provide the results of their experience and emphasise the importance of these
      biopsies in malignant pathology. The results of this series can be superposed
      with those found in the literature. Malignant tumours account for 75 % of the
      cases, with a clear prevalence of primitive adenocarcinoma. Benign pathology
      (approximately, 14 % of the cases) was represented by necrosis without any
      specificity, fibrous reaction and infectious causes. The act had to be repeated
      for the false negatives (7 %).

PMID- 20933169
TI  - [Epidemiology of the resistance of Mycobacterium tuberculosis to antituberculosis
      drugs at the main hospital in Dakar, Senegal. A 4-year retrospective study (2000
      2003)].
AB  - A retrospective study was carried out from January 2000 to December 2003 to
      assess the resistance of Mycobacterium tuberculosis to antituberculosis drugs and
      the impact of this on the treatment result. Two hundred and two patients' files
      were studied (average age: 36 years; sex-ratio: 1.7). Pulmonary localisation
      (85.7%) or extrapulmonary localisation (14.3%). HIV status is negative (71.3%),
      positive (10.8%) or unknown (17.9%). The overall recovery rate is 60.7% (61.4% in
      HIV-; 46.1% in HIV+), the rate of treatment failure is 2.7% (1.1% in HIV-; 15.4%
      in HIV+), the death rate due to tuberculosis is 6.3% (2.3% in HIV-; 23.1% in
      HIV+), and the rate of patients who disappeared from the system is 30.3% (35.2%
      in HIV-; 14.2% in HIV+). Hepatotoxicity that occurred during treatment is
      observed in 14.3% of cases (recovery: 56.2%; failure: 6.2%; lost from the system:
      18.8%). Eighty-four percent of patients never received antituberculosis treatment
      (group A) versus 15.8% of patients who had already received one or more
      antituberculosis drugs (group B). The rates of resistance to isoniazid are 6.4%
      (A) and 12.5% (B), to rifampicin 1.7% (A) and 12.5% (B), to ethambutol 0.5% (A)
      and 0% (B), to streptomycin 24.1% (A) and 46.8% (B). The percentage of
      multiresistant strains is 1% in patients not treated previously and 11% in those
      who had already received antituberculosis treatment. When the patients are
      carriers of a strain that is responsive to the treatment administered, the
      recovery rate is 64.2% versus 46.7% in patients whose strain is resistant to at
      least one of the treatments administered.

PMID- 20933170
TI  - [Catamenial pneumothorax with diaphragmatic lacerations].
AB  - The authors describe a case of catamenial pneumothorax with diaphragmatic
      lacerations and partial liver herniation. It's a rare presentation of catamenial
      pneunmothorax. We analyse the diagnostic and surgical therapeutic.

PMID- 20933171
TI  - [Acute respiratory distress revealing acute myeloblastic leukaemia: case report].
AB  - We report on the case of a patient diagnosed with acute leukaemic transformation
      of chronic myelomonocytic leukaemia. Its development was characterised by blastic
      pulmonary localisation and response to corticosteroids. We discuss the etiologies
      of respiratory distress in acute myeloblastic leukaemia and the corticosteroid
      sensitivity of this myeloid disease.

PMID- 20933172
TI  - Catatonia is hidden in plain sight among different pediatric disorders: a review
      article.
AB  - Over the past two decades, catatonia has been better demarcated in adult
      psychiatry as a unique syndrome that consists of specific motor signs with a
      characteristic response to benzodiazepines and electroconvulsive therapy.
      Pediatric catatonia is considered rare, but may be underdiagnosed, and hence
      undertreated. Discussed here are the current diagnostic criteria of catatonia in
      individual cases of children and adolescents diagnosed with childhood
      disintegrative disorder, Kleine-Levin syndrome, Prader-Willi syndrome, tic
      disorder, and autoimmune encephalitis, and the effects of benzodiazepines and
      electroconvulsive therapy. In these cases, catatonia resolved safely once it was
      recognized and treated properly. Children and adolescents presenting with these
      disorders should be systematically assessed for catatonia; when the presence of
      catatonia is confirmed, the use of benzodiazepines and electroconvulsive therapy
      should be considered. The occurrence of catatonia in such a wide range of child
      and adolescent disorders supports the view that pediatric catatonia is not so
      rare, that there are shared elements in the etiology, psychopathology, and
      pathophysiology of these disorders, and that catatonia is best classified as a
      unique neurobiologic syndrome.

PMID- 20933173
TI  - Experience with botulinum toxin type A in medically intractable pediatric chronic
      daily headache.
AB  - In adults, botulinum toxin type A has been studied as a potentially effective
      treatment for chronic daily headache. For pediatric chronic daily headache, the
      literature evaluating efficacy of botulinum toxin type A is sparse, with no
      studies assessing tolerability. The purpose of this retrospective case series
      study was to assess tolerability and efficacy of botulinum toxin type A in the
      treatment of pediatric chronic daily headache. The series comprises 10 patients
      (ages 11-17 years) who received a standard 100-unit dose of onabotulinumtoxinA
      (trade name, Botox) for refractory chronic daily headache. Attention was given to
      therapeutic history, efficacy, and tolerability. The patients had attempted an
      average of 8.0 +/- 2.40 S.D. therapies prior to botulinum toxin type A. Most
      patients reported adverse events from at least one of these prior medications.
      With botulinum toxin type A, four patients (40%) reported subjective but
      clinically meaningful relief, consisting of a decrease in headache intensity, and
      two patients additionally noted a decrease in headache frequency. The four
      responders noted improvements in quality of life. Three patients experienced
      minor adverse events from botulinum toxin type A. This case series suggests that
      botulinum toxin type A can be well tolerated and may be a useful therapeutic in
      pediatric patients with highly medically intractable chronic daily headache.

PMID- 20933174
TI  - Effect of carbamazepine therapy on vitamin D and parathormone in epileptic
      children.
AB  - Evidence suggests that carbamazepine affects bone metabolism by altering vitamin
      D status. We prospectively compared 25-hydroxyvitamin D, parathormone, calcium,
      phosphorus, and alkaline phosphatase levels at initiation and 6 months of
      carbamazepine therapy in children, and correlated them with carbamazepine levels.
      We included 47 children newly diagnosed with partial epilepsy, initiated on
      carbamazepine therapy. Of these, 32 were studied for 6 months. Children were
      managed according to standard protocol. Various parameters were measured at
      initiation and at 6 months. Carbamazepine levels were estimated after 6 months.
      Mean age was 6.72 +/- 2.22 years S.D. Mean 25-hydroxyvitamin D was 14.45 +/- 9.77
      ng/mL S.D. and 11.31 +/- 9.15 ng/mL S.D. at baseline and 6 months (P = 0.023),
      respectively (21.7% decline). Mean parathormone increased from 34.24 +/- 21.38
      pg/mL S.D. to 45.01 +/- 24.46 pg/mL S.D. (P = 0.001). Change in vitamin D
      correlated negatively with change in parathormone (r = -0.404, P = 0.022). Serum
      alkaline phosphatase increased from 283.50 +/- 100.10 IU/L S.D. to 364.25 +/-
      126.98 IU/L S.D. (P < 0.001). Changes in vitamin D and parathormone did not
      correlate significantly with carbamazepine level. Carbamazepine therapy decreased
      levels of vitamin D. Hence vitamin D monitoring and supplementation may help
      prevent alterations in bone metabolism.

PMID- 20933175
TI  - Surveyor nuclease detection of mutations and polymorphisms of mtDNA in children.
AB  - Mitochondrial encephalomyopathies are complex disorders with wide range of
      clinical manifestations. Particularly time-consuming is the identification of
      mutations in mitochondrial DNA. A group of 20 children with clinical
      manifestations of mitochondrial encephalomyopathies was selected for molecular
      studies. The aims were (a) to identify mutations in mtDNA isolated from muscle
      and (b) to verify detected mutations in DNA isolated from blood, in order to
      assess the utility of a Surveyor nuclease assay kit for patient screening. The
      most common changes found were polymorphisms, including a few missense mutations
      altering the amino acid sequence of mitochondrial proteins. In two boys with
      MELAS (i.e., mitochondrial myopathy, encephalopathy, lactic acidosis, and stroke
      like episodes), a mutation A->G3243 was detected in the tRNALeu gene of mtDNA
      isolated from muscle and blood. In one boy, the carrier status of his mother was
      confirmed, based on molecular analysis of DNA isolated from blood. A method using
      Surveyor nuclease allows systematic screening for small mutations in mtDNA, using
      as its source blood of the patients and asymptomatic carriers. The method still
      requires confirmation studying a larger group. In some patients, the use of this
      method should precede and might limit indications for traumatic muscle and skin
      biopsy.

PMID- 20933176
TI  - Correlation between serum selenium level and febrile seizures.
AB  - Febrile seizures are the most common form of childhood seizures. Although the
      literature associates certain micronutrients with febrile seizures, there is
      limited information about the effects of such micronutrients. This study aimed to
      determine the relationship between serum selenium level and simple febrile
      seizures in children. This case-control study was conducted in the Children's
      Hospital in Qazvin, Iran, in 2008. The serum selenium level of 30 children who
      experienced simple febrile seizures (case group) was measured and compared with
      that of 30 febrile children without seizure (control group). The serum selenium
      level was measured by flame atomic absorption spectrophotometer. Data were
      analyzed by using t-test. Mean +/- standard deviation of serum selenium level in
      the case and control groups was 44.4 +/- 10.9 and 63 +/- 9.78 MUg/dL, a
      significant difference (P < 0.001). In the case group, 18/30 patients (60%) had a
      serum selenium level below the norm of 46 MUg/dL, whereas serum selenium level in
      the entire control group was within the normal range (P < 0.01). The serum
      selenium level in the children who had simple febrile seizures was significantly
      lower than in the nonseizure control group. It seems that there is an association
      between serum selenium deficiency and simple febrile seizures; however, further
      study is recommended.

PMID- 20933177
TI  - EEG and neuroimaging studies in young children having epilepsy surgery.
AB  - The aim of this study was to evaluate the yield of electroencephalography and
      structural and functional neuroimaging in children having resective epilepsy
      surgery before 5 years of age. Charts of all 28 children (54% male) having
      resective surgery before 60 months of age at the Mayo Clinic between January 2002
      and June 2009 were reviewed. Mean age at seizure onset was 9.6 months (S.D.
      12.7); mean age at surgery was 28.8 months (S.D. 17.7). Sixteen children (57%)
      had partial-onset seizures, 8 (29%) had partial-onset seizures and spasms, and 4
      (14%) had spasms alone. Initial surgery type was hemispherectomy in 6 cases,
      multilobar resection in 8, temporal in 7, and extratemporal in 7. Only 10 of the
      25 children (40%) with recorded seizures preoperatively had a well-localized,
      single ictal focus. Ictal discharge was generalized in 8/25 cases (32%), both
      generalized and focal in 1 case (4%), hemispheric in 4 cases (16%), and absent in
      1 case (4%). Findings from magnetic resonance imaging were abnormal in 27 cases,
      and revealed focal pathology in 20. Surgical outcome was favorable, with 18 of
      the 27 survivors (67%) being free, or nearly free, of disabling seizures. In
      summary, electroencephalography frequently failed to indicate a single ictal
      focus in young children having epilepsy surgery. In contrast, magnetic resonance
      imaging was more helpful, revealing focal abnormalities in 74% of patients.

PMID- 20933178
TI  - Atomoxetine for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in mental retardation.
AB  - The study objective was to assess the efficacy and tolerability of atomoxetine in
      the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder symptoms in patients
      with mental retardation. In a 16-week, open-label, prospective study, 48 children
      with mental retardation and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder were
      recruited; the patients received atomoxetine, with a single final dose of 1.2
      mg/kg per day reached at 3 weeks. The measure of efficacy was scores on Clinical
      Global Impression Severity scale (CGI-S), Conners, and Attention Deficit
      Hyperactivity Disorder Rating Scale ADHDRS-IV. A statistically significant
      difference was documented between the mean CGI-S scores before and after
      treatment: baseline CGI-S = 5.31 (S.D. = 0.85); post-treatment CGI-S = 4.13 (S.D.
      = 0.97), with a difference of 1.18 points (S.D. = 0.84) and a 95% confidence
      interval for the difference of 0.92-1.43 (P < 0.001). A statistically significant
      reduction (P < 0.01) was observed with respect to all the variables of the ADHDRS
      IV and Conners scales. Slightly less than one third of the patients (31%)
      presented adverse events, the majority of which were mild, with irritability
      being the most frequent event. Atomoxetine appears to be to useful in improving
      attention deficit hyperactivity disorder symptoms in mentally retarded patients.
      Larger, randomized, controlled, double-blind studies are required to confirm the
      efficacy observed in this first study.

PMID- 20933179
TI  - Acute myelitis with neurogenic stunned myocardium in a boy.
AB  - Neurogenic stunned myocardium is characterized by reversible left ventricular
      dysfunction, which occurs after severe central nervous system injury in patients
      without coronary artery disease. It has been described in association with
      subarachnoid hemorrhage, Guillain-Barre syndrome, and metastatic brain tumors in
      adults, but has been rarely reported in association with acute myelitis.
      Described here is a novel case of acute myelitis in a child associated with
      neurogenic stunned myocardium. This case demonstrates that patients with acute
      myelitis may harbor a risk of sympathetic dysregulation, leading to neurogenic
      myocardial dysfunction.

PMID- 20933180
TI  - Adenylosuccinate lyase deficiency in the United Kingdom pediatric population:
      first three cases.
AB  - Adenylosuccinate lyase deficiency is an autosomal recessive disorder of purine
      metabolism resulting from mutations in the ADSL gene on chromosome subband
      22q13.1 and associated with a wide range of clinical manifestations. Although
      there is currently no effective treatment of ADSL deficiency, recognition of the
      condition is important, because prenatal genetic diagnosis can be offered to
      affected families. Reported here are the cases of the only three children
      diagnosed to date in the United Kingdom with adenylosuccinate lyase deficiency,
      to further delineate the clinical phenotype and to raise awareness of this
      disorder.

PMID- 20933181
TI  - Nocturnal choking episodes: under-recognized and misdiagnosed.
AB  - Causes of nocturnal paroxysmal events include a variety of disorders such as
      epileptic seizures, parasomnias, sleep-related movement disorders, and
      psychiatric disturbances. Timing and semiology of the events, simultaneous video
      electroencephalographic observation, presence of any daytime events, and relevant
      psychiatric and medical history may help in sorting out various possibilities
      considered in the differential diagnosis of such events. Timely diagnosis of
      these events is crucial for appropriate management; under-recognition and
      misdiagnosis of nonepileptic events is not uncommon. Described here are two cases
      within the spectrum of nocturnal paroxysmal events, one with nocturnal panic
      attacks and the other with frontal lobe epilepsy, each presenting with choking
      episodes.

PMID- 20933182
TI  - Reversibility of cytotoxic edema in tacrolimus leukoencephalopathy.
AB  - Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome, a serious neurotoxicity, may
      develop rarely in patients receiving tacrolimus. Because the underlying etiology
      of posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome is vasogenic edema, it is
      generally accepted to be a reversible neurologic condition. Cranial magnetic
      resonance imaging techniques enable detection of the type of edema, and they are
      widely used in the differential diagnosis and prognostic prediction of posterior
      reversible encephalopathy syndrome. Presented here is a case of posterior
      reversible encephalopathy syndrome in which the patient recovered completely,
      despite radiologic findings indicating the coexistence of vasogenic and cytotoxic
      edema secondary to tacrolimus therapy after liver transplantation.

PMID- 20933183
TI  - A novel missense mutation in a neonate with nonketotic hyperglycinemia.
AB  - Nonketotic hyperglycinemia (OMIM #605899), also known as glycine encephalopathy,
      is an autosomal recessive disorder of glycine metabolism caused by a defect in
      the glycine cleavage system. A term neonate developed progressive lethargy,
      muscular hypotonia, and respiratory insufficiency on day 2 after birth, but no
      overt clinical seizures. Amplitude-integrated electroencephalography indicated a
      continuous burst-suppression pattern. The diagnosis of nonketotic hyperglycinemia
      was made biochemically and was confirmed by genetic studies, which revealed two
      missense mutations (one not previously described) within the glycine
      decarboxylase gene, GLDC. Nonketotic hyperglycinemia should be incorporated into
      the differential diagnosis of neonatal hypotonia, to avoid an erroneous diagnosis
      of sepsis or hypoxic ischemic injury. Amplitude-integrated electroencephalography
      may be helpful in the initial assessment of severely sick and hypotonic neonates
      without overt clinical seizures, and may direct further diagnostic evaluation.

PMID- 20933184
TI  - An unusual cause of fulminant Guillain-Barre syndrome: angel's trumpet.
AB  - A 5-year-old previously healthy boy presented with typical findings of Guillain
      Barre syndrome and unilateral tonic pupil. He was placed on mechanical
      ventilation for 35 days for respiratory failure. Plasmapheresis and two courses
      of intravenous immunoglobulin therapy were given to the patient, and he
      experienced stepwise recovery from his illness. This case of acute motor axonal
      neuropathy type Guillain-Barre syndrome is novel in that the cause was
      established as ingestion of a toxic solanaceous plant, angel's trumpet
      (Brugmansia suaveolens; syn. Datura suaveolens). Understanding the signs and
      symptoms of angel's trumpet toxicity can allow for early diagnosis and proper
      case management.

PMID- 20933185
TI  - Moebius syndrome and holoprosencephaly following exposure to misoprostol.
AB  - Moebius syndrome is a rare disease characterized by congenital facial paralysis
      and abducens palsy. Involvement of other cranial nerves, orofacial dysmorphism,
      and limb abnormalities are frequently associated. Reported here is the case of a
      10-month-old child born with Moebius syndrome and presenting with
      holoprosencephaly, following exposure in utero to misoprostol. To our knowledge,
      this is the first published case report describing this association. The
      etiologic hypotheses of Moebius syndrome are also discussed.

PMID- 20933186
TI  - Biofilm production, use of intravascular indwelling catheters and inappropriate
      antimicrobial therapy as predictors of fatality in Chryseobacterium
      meningosepticum bacteraemia.
AB  - Chryseobacterium meningosepticum usually causes infections in neonates and the
      immunocompromised. Treatment is handicapped by the organism's inherent multidrug
      resistance. In this study, the clinical characteristics of patients with C.
      meningosepticum bloodstream infection (BSI) were retrospectively reviewed.
      Antimicrobial susceptibilities of the clinical isolates were analysed and their
      ability to form biofilm was assayed by crystal violet staining and electron
      microscopy. During 2003-2007, 40 patients with BSI caused by C. meningosepticum
      were included. Mean patient age was 61.6+/-22.1 years. Co-morbidities were
      observed in 38 cases (95.0%) and a high 14-day mortality (52.5%) was observed in
      these patients. Susceptibility of the isolates was relatively high (>50%) only to
      piperacillin, piperacillin/tazobactam, trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole and
      ciprofloxacin. Multivariate analysis revealed that mortality was associated with
      the use of central venous catheters, initial inappropriate antimicrobial therapy
      and higher biofilm production by the organism. Electron microscopy confirmed the
      formation of biofilm microcolonies on the solid phase of the fibre of
      nitrocellulose paper in vitro. Time-kill studies showed that biofilm formation
      helps bacteria to tolerate killing by ciprofloxacin. In conclusion, C.
      meningosepticum is a biofilm-forming organism. The outcome of patients with
      biofilm-forming C. meningosepticum infection was adversely affected by the choice
      of inappropriate antimicrobial therapy and the use of long-term indwelling
      intravascular catheters.

PMID- 20933187
TI  - Association of farming with the development of cedar pollinosis in Japanese
      adults.
AB  - PURPOSE: Although cross-sectional studies have reported that the prevalence of
      allergy is reduced on a farm, few prospective studies were carried out on adults.
      We examined the association of experience of farming with occurrence of cedar
      pollinosis in a prospective cohort in Japan. METHODS: A total of 5,698 men and
      6,533 women, aged 35 to 69 at baseline in 1992, participated in the Takayama
      Study, a population-based prospective cohort study. Occupational history was
      assembled via a self-administered baseline questionnaire. To obtain information
      on cedar pollinosis, a follow-up questionnaire after 10 years from baseline was
      administered in 2002. RESULTS: Compared with nonfarmers, farmers had a
      significantly reduced risk of cedar pollinosis after controlling for covariates
      (hazard ratio (HR): 0.61, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.41, 0.90 in men; and
      HR: 0.31, 95% CI: 0.16, 0.60 in women). There was no significant association of
      cedar pollinosis with other occupations except for an increased risk of
      pollinosis among salesmen in multivariate analyses. We observed that other
      occupational exposures were not associated with the onset of cedar pollinosis
      after adjusting by covariates, except for a decreased risk of cedar pollinosis
      for woodworking in men. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that exposures related to
      farming environment might be protective against cedar pollinosis.

PMID- 20933188
TI  - Biofuel smoke and child anemia in 29 developing countries: a multilevel analysis.
AB  - PURPOSE: In this study we examined the effect of biofuel smoke exposure at the
      national and child levels on child anemia. METHODS: Data are from Demographic and
      Health Surveys conducted between 2003 and 2007. The respondents were women (15-49
      years) and their children (0-59 months) (n = 117,454) in 29 developing countries.
      RESULTS: In multinomial logistic regression models, both moderate and high
      exposure to biofuel smoke at the country level are associated with
      moderate/severe anemia (odds ratio [OR], 2.36; 95% confidence interval [95% CI],
      1.28-4.36 vs OR, 2.80; 95% CI, 1.37-5.72) after adjusting for covariates.
      Exposure to biofuel smoke at home is associated with mild anemia (OR, 1.07; 95%
      CI, 1.01-1.13), and there are interactions between biofuel smoke exposure and
      child age in months on mild anemia (OR, 1.004; 95% CI, 1.002-1.006) and
      moderate/severe anemia (OR, 1.006; 95% CI, 1.004-1.008). There are also
      interactions between biofuel smoke exposure at home and diarrhea on mild anemia
      (OR, 1.22; 95% CI, 1.10-1.34) and on moderate/severe anemia (OR, 1.11; 95% CI,
      1.01-1.22); and fever on moderate/severe anemia (OR, 1.33; 95% CI, 1.22-1.45).
      CONCLUSIONS: Given the increasing number of people relying on biofuels in
      developing countries, policies and programs are necessary to protect children
      from being exposed to this harmful smoke at home.

PMID- 20933189
TI  - Seasonality of birth weight in Chile: environmental and socioeconomic factors.
AB  - PURPOSE: Research suggests a relationship between birth weight and season of
      birth, but findings vary across countries and underlying factors are not well
      understood. We examine the seasonality of birth weight and explore alternative
      hypotheses for its etiology-exposure to environmental factors and varying
      socioeconomic composition of mothers-in Chile. METHODS: Birth weight of
      approximately 5 million Chilean singleton live births 37 of 41 weeks of gestation
      between 1987 and 2007 were analyzed for seasonality by using regression models
      with month dummies and parametric sinusoidal specifications. Multivariate models
      with socioeconomic covariates and interactions across geographic regions examine
      potential factors accounting for seasonal variation. RESULTS: Marked 12-month and
      6-month periodic cycles were found. The amplitude and phase of the seasonal
      variation change across geographic regions. In the low-latitude northern region,
      there is a spring peak and a fall nadir, while in middle-latitude colder regions,
      a bimodal periodicity emerges with peaks in spring and fall, a pronounced winter
      nadir, and smaller nadir in the summer. Socioeconomic composition of mothers is
      found to vary with annual periodicity, but it does not account for the
      seasonality in birth weight. CONCLUSIONS: Environmental factors rather than the
      socioeconomic composition of mothers likely account for seasonal variation in
      birth weight. The change in periodicity of birth weight across latitudes is
      consistent with a beneficial exposure to sunlight both early and late in the
      pregnancy, and a detrimental late exposure to cold temperatures only in areas
      with low winter temperatures.

PMID- 20933190
TI  - The impact of socioeconomic status across early life on age at menarche among a
      racially diverse population of girls.
AB  - PURPOSE: We sought to evaluate the association between childhood socioeconomic
      status (SES) at two time points and age at menarche in a multiracial sample of
      U.S. girls. METHODS: Our study population consisted of a cohort of female
      participants enrolled at birth at the New York site of the Collaborative
      Perinatal Project, who were born during the period 1959-1963 (n = 262). SES at
      birth, at age 7, and change between birth and age 7 were measured prospectively
      through an index score of family income, paternal occupation, and education. Data
      on age at menarche were collected retrospectively through adult self-report. We
      used multivariable linear regression to examine the association between SES and
      age at menarche after adjusting for childhood body mass index (BMI) and other
      covariates associated with age at menarche. RESULTS: After adjustment, SES at age
      7 was positively associated with age at menarche (beta: 0.015, 95% confidence
      interval [CI]: 0.003-0.024 per unit of SES index). Change in SES was
      significantly associated with age at menarche; a 20-unit decrease in SES was
      associated with a 4-month decrease in age at menarche. CONCLUSIONS: Our results
      suggest that lower SES at 7 years and reductions in SES in early childhood are
      both associated with an earlier age at menarche.

PMID- 20933191
TI  - Validity of a continuous metabolic risk score as an index for modeling metabolic
      syndrome in adolescents.
AB  - PURPOSE: Although continuous values of metabolic syndrome risk scores (cMetS) has
      been suggested for modeling the association between potential risk factors and
      metabolic syndrome (MetS) in young people, the construct validity of cMetS has
      not been sufficiently examined in a representative sample of youngsters. This
      study examined: (i) sex and race/ethnic-specific optimal cut-off points of cMetS
      that are associated with MetS and (ii) the construct validity of cMetS in 12- to
      19-year old non-Hispanic white (NHW), non-Hispanic black (NHB), and Mexican
      American (MA) subjects. METHODS: Data (n = 1239) from the 2003 to 2004 and 2005
      to 2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys were used in this
      study. cMetS was derived by aggregating age- and sex-standardized residuals of
      arterial blood pressure, triglycerides, glucose, waist circumference, and high
      density lipoprotein cholesterol. Receiver operating characteristics analysis was
      used to determine the validity and performance of cMetS. The overall performance
      of the receiver operating characteristics test was quantified with area under the
      curve (AUC). RESULTS: A graded relationship between cMetS and increased number of
      MetS factors was observed, with MetS factors of 3 or greater yielding the
      greatest cMetS. In male adolescents, the optimal cMetS cut-off points of cMetS
      that are associated with MetS in NHW, NHB, and MA were 2.01, 2.45, and 2.34,
      respectively. The corresponding values in female adolescents for NBW, NHB, and MA
      were 1.93, 2.12, and 2.23, respectively. The construct validity of cMetS for MetS
      was high (AUC >=0.885; sensitivity >=66.7; specificity >=74.8%). CONCLUSIONS:
      cMetS appears to be a suitable index for investigating the association between
      potential risk factors and MetS in adolescents. An understanding of the role of
      genetic and environmental risk factors in MetS in children may be enhanced with
      the use of cMetS.

PMID- 20933192
TI  - Revisiting the association between metabolic syndrome and depressive symptoms.

PMID- 20933193
TI  - Neighborhood disadvantage and self-assessed health, disability, and depressive
      symptoms: longitudinal results from the health and retirement study.
AB  - PURPOSE: By using a longitudinal cohort, we assessed the association between
      neighborhood disadvantage and incidence of poor health and function in three
      domains. METHODS: More than 4,000 enrollees aged 55 to 65 years in the national
      Health and Retirement Study were assessed biennially from 1998 through 2006 for
      incidence of fair/poor self-rated health, elevated depressive symptoms, and
      limitations in six basic activities of daily living (disability). Each analysis
      was restricted to subjects without that condition in 1994 or 1996. Neighborhoods
      (census tracts, time-updated for moves), were considered disadvantaged if they
      fell below the 25th percentile in an index comprising six socioeconomic status
      indicators. Repeated measures logistic regressions, inverse probability weighted
      to account for individual confounders, selective survival, and loss to follow-up
      were used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) for incidence of each outcome in the wave
      after exposure to disadvantaged neighborhood. RESULTS: After covariate
      adjustment, neighborhood disadvantage predicted onset of fair/poor SRH (OR, 1.36;
      95% confidence interval, 1.15-1.59) but not disability (OR, 0.97; 0.81-1.16) or
      elevated depressive symptoms (OR, 0.97; 0.81-1.16). CONCLUSIONS: Results
      confirmed previous findings that neighborhood disadvantage predicts self-rated
      health in a longitudinal context but did not support an association between
      neighborhood disadvantage and onset of disability or elevated depressive
      symptoms.

PMID- 20933194
TI  - Decline in the United States black preterm/low birth weight rate in the 1990s:
      can the economic boom explain it?
AB  - PURPOSE: Macroeconomic improvements have been posited as an explanation of the
      decline in the Black preterm birth rate during the 1990s. This study assessed
      whether decreasing unemployment explained the decline in preterm, low birth
      weight births (PT-LBW) for Black women. METHODS: United States singleton births
      to non-Hispanic Black women ages 18 and over, conceived between 1990 and 2001,
      were pooled to examine PT-LBW trends by level of social advantage (approximated
      by education and marital status). The impact of the state-level unemployment rate
      in the first and second trimester of pregnancy was evaluated in multiple logistic
      regression models. RESULTS: During the 1990s, PT-LBW declined 11% among
      disadvantaged (unmarried, less than high school educated) Black women. Although
      the unemployment rate and PT-LBW were positively related, decreases in
      unemployment did not explain the decline in PT-LBW. Instead, improvements in
      prenatal care utilization and smoking behavior largely accounted for the temporal
      trend. CONCLUSIONS: Macroeconomic improvements, measured by unemployment, only
      marginally contributed to the Black PT-LBW trend in the 1990s. To effect further
      reductions, future studies should investigate other possible determinants of the
      proximate behavioral changes that did explain the trend (e.g., Earned Income Tax
      Credit expansions, increased, cigarette taxes/smoking legislation).

PMID- 20933195
TI  - "Equal" contributions and credit: an emerging trend in the characterization of
      authorship.
AB  - PURPOSE: Scientific manuscripts sometimes have two or more authors explicitly
      designated as having "contributed equally" to the study. The prevalence and
      characteristics of this practice are not known. The goal of this study was to
      identify longitudinal trends and characteristics of the practice of explicitly
      giving authors equal credit in publications found in major medical journals.
      METHODS: We conducted electronic keyword searches looking for original research
      articles with equally credited authors (ECAs) published between Jan. 1, 2000 and
      Dec. 31, 2009 in the five general medicine journals with the highest impact
      factors (New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of the American Medical
      Association, Lancet, Annals of Internal Medicine, and British Medical Journal).
      The annual prevalence of original research articles with ECAs for each journal.
      RESULTS: Original research articles with authors explicitly given equal credit
      were found in all five journals. Articles with ECAs formed a greater proportion
      of the total number of articles published in each journal in 2009 versus
      published in 2000 (NEJM: 8.6% vs. <1%; JAMA: 7.5% vs. 0%; Annals: 3.8% vs. 0%;
      Lancet: 3.6% vs. <1%; BMJ: 1.0% vs. 0%). There was a statistically significant
      increasing trend in yearly prevalence of ECA articles for all the journals (NEJM:
      p < 0.0001; JAMA: p < 0.001; Annals: p < 0.001; Lancet: p < 0.001, BMJ: p =
      0.001]. The first two authors listed in the byline received equal credit the
      majority of the time, but the practice was also applied to authors in nearly
      every position in the byline. Finally, none of the journals provided specific
      guidance regarding this practice in their instructions to authors. CONCLUSIONS:
      The practice of explicitly giving authors equal credit is increasingly common in
      original research publications. Scientific journals should consider providing
      guidance for authors regarding this practice. Furthermore, the potential impact
      of this practice on evaluations for academic promotion should be assessed.

PMID- 20933196
TI  - The immense progress in preventing and treating cardiovascular disease. Foreword.

PMID- 20933198
TI  - Neuregulin-1/ErbB signaling and chronic heart failure.
AB  - Neuregulin-1 (NRG-1), a cardioactive growth factor released from endothelial
      cells, is indispensable for cardiac development, structural maintenance, and
      functional integrity of the heart. In recent years, a growing number of studies
      have focused on NRG-1 and members of the ErbB family that serve as receptors for
      NRG-1 in order to better understand the role of this signaling pathway in
      physiology and pathophysiology of the heart. An essential role for NRG-1 and ErbB
      in heart development and functionality has been suggested by studies in
      conditional NRG-1/ErbB-deficient mice and by the cardiac-related side effects of
      anti-ErbB2 antibody therapies used for treatment of breast cancer. In vitro and
      in vivo studies using recombinant human neuregulin-1 (rhNRG-1), which contains
      the epidermal growth factor (EGF)-like domain (necessary for ErbB2/ErbB4
      activation), have further supported the hypothesis that NRG-1 plays an important
      role in heart function. Consistent with other studies, expression of rhNRG-1 not
      only restored normal cardiomyocytic structure altered by nutritional deficiency
      in cell cultures, but also improved the pumping function of the heart in several
      animal models of chronic heart failure (CHF). As a result of these findings,
      proteins involved in the NRG-1/ErbB-signaling pathway have been explored as
      potential drug targets for treatment of heart failure. Clinical trials to
      evaluate the safety and efficacy of rhNRG-1 have been conducted in both China and
      Australia. As predicted, rhNRG-1 treatment improved both cardiac function and
      reversed remodeling of the heart. Therefore, rhNRG-1 may represent a new drug for
      treatment of CHF with a novel therapeutic mechanism.

PMID- 20933199
TI  - I(f) inhibition in cardiovascular diseases.
AB  - Heart rate (HR) is determined by the pacemaker activity of cells from the
      sinoatrial node (SAN), located in the right atria. Spontaneous electrical
      activity of SAN cells results from a diastolic depolarization (DD). Despite
      controversy in the exact contribution of funny current (I(f)) in pacemaking, it
      is a major contributor of DD. I(f) is an inward Na(+)/K(+) current, activated
      upon hyperpolarization and directly modulated by cyclic adenosine monophosphate.
      The f-proteins are hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide-gated channels,
      HCN4 being the main isoform of SAN. Ivabradine (IVA) decreases DD and inhibits
      I(f) in a use-dependent manner. Under normal conditions IVA selectively reduces
      HR and limits exercise-induced tachycardia, in animals and young volunteers.
      Reduction in HR with IVA both decreases myocardial oxygen consumption and
      increases its supply due to prolongation of diastolic perfusion time. In animal
      models and in human with coronary artery disease (CAD), IVA has anti-anginal and
      anti-ischemic efficacy, equipotent to classical treatments, beta-blockers, or
      calcium channel blockers. As expected from its selectivity for I(f), the drug is
      safe and well tolerated with minor visual side effects. As a consequence, IVA is
      the first inhibitor of I(f) approved for the treatment of stable angina.
      Available clinical data indicate that IVA could improve the management of stable
      angina in all patients including those treated with beta-blockers. As chronic
      elevation of resting HR is an independent predictor of mortality, pure HR
      reduction by inhibition of I(f) could, beyond the control of anti-anginal
      symptoms, improve the prognosis of CAD and heart failure; this therapeutic
      potential is currently under evaluation with IVA.

PMID- 20933200
TI  - Pharmacology of cardiac potassium channels.
AB  - Cardiac K(+) channels are cardiomyocyte membrane proteins that regulate K(+) ion
      flow across the cell membrane on the electrochemical gradient and determine the
      resting membrane potential and the cardiac action potential morphology and
      duration. Several K(+) channels have been well studied in the human heart. They
      include the transient outward K(+) current I(to1), the ultra-rapidly activating
      delayed rectifier current I(Kur), the rapidly and slowly activating delayed
      rectifier currents I(Kr) and I(Ks), the inward rectifier K(+) current I(K1), and
      ligand-gated K(+) channels, including adenosine-5'-triphosphate (ATP)-sensitive
      K(+) current (I(KATP)) and acetylcholine-activated current (I(KACh)). Regional
      differences of K(+) channel expression contribute to the variable morphologies
      and durations of cardiac action potentials from sinus node and atrial to
      ventricular myocytes, and different ventricular layers from endocardium and
      midmyocardium to epicardium. They also show different responses to endogenous
      regulators and/or pharmacological agents. K(+) channels are well-known targets
      for developing novel anti-arrhythmic drugs that can effectively prevent/inhibit
      cardiac arrhythmias. Especially, atrial-specific K(+) channel currents (I(Kur)
      and I(KACh)) are the targets for developing atrial-selective anti-atrial
      fibrillation drugs, which has been greatly progressed in recent years. This
      chapter concentrates on recent advances in intracellular signaling regulation and
      pharmacology of cardiac K(+) channels under physiological and pathophysiological
      conditions.

PMID- 20933197
TI  - The ryanodine receptor in cardiac physiology and disease.
AB  - According to the American Heart Association it is estimated that the United
      States will spend close to $39 billion in 2010 to treat over five million
      Americans suffering from heart failure. Patients with heart failure suffer from
      dyspnea and decreased exercised tolerance and are at increased risk for fatal
      ventricular arrhythmias. Food and Drug Administration -approved pharmacologic
      therapies for heart failure include diuretics, inhibitors of the renin
      angiotensin system, and beta-adrenergic receptor antagonists. Over the past 20
      years advances in the field of ryanodine receptor (RyR2)/calcium release channel
      research have greatly advanced our understanding of cardiac physiology and the
      pathogenesis of heart failure and arrhythmias. Here we review the key
      observations, controversies, and discoveries that have led to the development of
      novel compounds targeting the RyR2/calcium release channel for treating heart
      failure and for preventing lethal arrhythmias.

PMID- 20933201
TI  - Beta3-adrenergic receptors in cardiac and vascular tissues emerging concepts and
      therapeutic perspectives.
AB  - Catecholamines released by the orthosympathetic system play a major role in the
      short- and long-term regulation of cardiovascular function. Beta1- and beta2
      adrenoreceptors (ARs) have classically been considered as mediating most of their
      effects on cardiac contraction. After their initial cloning and pharmacologic
      characterization in the late 1980s, beta3-ARs have been mostly thought of as
      receptors mediating metabolic effects (e.g., lipolysis) in adipocytes. However,
      definitive evidence for their expression and functional coupling in
      cardiovascular tissues (including in humans) has recently initiated a re
      examination of their implication in the pathophysiology of cardiovascular
      diseases. Distinctive pharmacodynamic properties of beta3-AR, e.g., their
      upregulation in disease and resistance to desensitization, suggest that they may
      be attractive targets for therapeutic intervention. They may substitute efficient
      vasodilating pathways when beta1/2-ARs are inoperative. In the heart, their
      contractile effects, which are functionally antipathetic to those of beta1/2-AR,
      may protect the myocardium against adverse effects of excessive catecholamine
      stimulation and perhaps mediate additional ancillary effects on key aspects of
      electrophysiology or remodeling. Longitudinal studies in animals and patients
      with different stages of heart failure are now needed to identify the optimal
      therapeutic scheme using specific combinations of agonists or antagonists at all
      three beta-ARs.

PMID- 20933202
TI  - Modulation of vascular sarco/endoplasmic reticulum calcium ATPase in
      cardiovascular pathophysiology.
AB  - Endothelial dysfunction associated with decreased nitric oxide (NO) bioactivity
      is a major feature of vascular diseases such as atherosclerosis or diabetes.
      Sodium nitroprusside (SNP)-induced relaxation is entirely dependent on cyclic
      guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) and preserved in atherosclerosis, suggesting that
      smooth muscle response to NO donor is intact. However, NO gas activates both cGMP
      dependent and -independent signal pathways in vascular smooth muscle cells, and
      oxidative stress associated with vascular diseases selectively impairs cGMP
      independent relaxation to NO. Sarco/endoplasmic reticulum Ca(2+) ATPase (SERCA),
      which regulates intracellular Ca(2+) levels by pumping Ca(2+) into store, is a
      major cGMP-independent target for NO. Physiological levels of reactive nitrogen
      species (RNS) S-glutathiolate SERCA at Cys674 to increase its activity, and the
      augmentation of RNS in vascular diseases irreversibly oxidizes Cys674 or nitrates
      tyrosine residues at Tyr296-Tyr297, which are associated with loss of function. S
      glutathiolation of various proteins by NO can explain redox-sensitive cGMP
      independent actions, and oxidative inactivation of target proteins for NO can be
      associated with the pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases. Oxidative
      inactivation of SERCA is also implicated with dysregulation of smooth muscle
      migration, promotion of platelet aggregation, and impairment of cardiac function,
      which can be implicated with restenosis, pathological angiogenesis, thrombosis,
      as well as heart failure. Analysis of posttranslational oxidative modifications
      of SERCA and the preservation of SERCA function can be novel strategies against
      cardiovascular diseases associated with oxidative stress.

PMID- 20933204
TI  - The role of calpain in diabetes-associated platelet hyperactivation.
AB  - Diabetes mellitus is a major risk factor for vascular diseases and is associated
      with accelerated atherosclerosis and a high rate of arterial thrombotic
      complications. A number of studies support the concept that platelets contribute
      to the pathogenesis and progression of the vascular complications of diabetes. u
      Calpain, a non-lysosomal, Ca(2+)-dependent cysteine protease, is expressed in
      platelets and is involved in physiological platelet activation. However, the
      inappropriate activation of calpain alters platelet function, partially degrades
      a spectrum of proteins and results in hyperaggregability. Changes in the activity
      of calpain in different cells involved in diabetes-related pathways, or the
      polymorphism of calpain genes have been associated with the development of type 2
      diabetes but their relevance to the diabetes-related vascular complications is
      not really clear. This review will give an overview of the role of calpain in
      diabetes and analyze the role of calpain in platelet activation and the changes
      occurring during the onset of diabetes. Finally, we will discuss future
      therapeutic possibilities for the improvement of diabetes-associated vascular
      diseases.

PMID- 20933205
TI  - Tissue factor in cardiovascular disease pathophysiology and pharmacological
      intervention.
AB  - Tissue factor (TF) is the major trigger of the coagulation cascade and thereby
      crucially involved in the maintenance of vascular hemostasis. By binding factor
      VIIa, the resulting TF:VIIa complex activates the coagulation factors IX and X
      ultimately leading to fibrin and clot formation. In the vessel wall, TF
      expression and activity is detectable in vascular smooth muscle cells and
      fibroblasts and, at a much lower level, in endothelial cells and can be induced
      by various stimuli including cytokines. In addition, TF is found in the
      bloodstream in circulating cells such as monocytes, in TF containing
      microparticles, and as a soluble splicing isoform. Besides its well-known
      extracellular role as a trigger of coagulation, TF also functions as a
      transmembrane receptor, and TF-dependent intracellular signaling events regulate
      the expression of genes involved in cellular responses such as proliferation and
      migration. TF indeed appears to be involved in the pathogenesis of neointima
      formation and tumor growth, and increased levels of TF have been detected in
      patients with cardiovascular risk factors or coronary artery disease as well as
      in those with cancer. Therefore, pharmacological or genetic inhibition of TF may
      be an attractive target for the treatment of cardiovascular disease and cancer.
      Different strategies for inhibition of TF have been developed such as inhibition
      of TF synthesis and blockade of TF action. Clinical applications of such
      strategies need to be tested in appropriate trials, in particular for evaluating
      the advantages of targeted versus systemic delivery of the inhibitors.

PMID- 20933206
TI  - The Third Injection Technique Workshop in Athens (TITAN).
AB  - The first Injection Technique workshop brought together endocrinologists and
      injection experts from around the world in Strasbourg in 1997. From its work came
      groundbreaking recommendations which advanced best practices in areas such as the
      use of a skin fold when injecting. The second Injection Technique workshop, with
      an expanded format including nurses and diabetes educators, took place in
      Barcelona in 2000. The initial stimulus to use shorter injecting needles can be
      said to date from this meeting. The third Injection Technique workshop was held
      in Athens in September 2009 and involved 127 experts from across the globe. After
      a comprehensive review of all publications since 2000 as well as several
      unpublished studies, the attendees divided into smaller groups to debate and
      draft new injecting recommendations based on the new data and their collective
      experience. This paper summarizes all the formal presentations given at this
      practical consensus workshop.

PMID- 20933207
TI  - New injection recommendations for patients with diabetes.

PMID- 20933209
TI  - An everlasting role of animal models in understanding human disease.

PMID- 20933208
TI  - New injection recommendations for patients with diabetes.
AB  - AIM: Injections administered by patients are one of the mainstays of diabetes
      management. Proper injection technique is vital to avoiding intramuscular
      injections, ensuring appropriate delivery to the subcutaneous tissues and
      avoiding common complications such as lipohypertrophy. Yet few formal guidelines
      have been published summarizing all that is known about best practice. We propose
      new injection guidelines which are thoroughly evidence-based, written and vetted
      by a large group of international injection experts. METHODS: A systematic
      literature study was conducted for all peer-reviewed studies and publications
      which bear on injections in diabetes. An international group of experts met
      regularly over a two-year period to review this literature and draft the
      recommendations. These were then presented for review and revision to 127 experts
      from 27 countries at the TITAN workshop in September, 2009. RESULTS: Of 292
      articles reviewed, 157 were found to meet the criteria of relevance to the
      recommendations. Each recommendation was graded by the weight it should have in
      daily practice and by its degree of support in the medical literature. The topics
      covered include The Role of the Professional, Psychological Challenges,
      Education, Site Care, Storage, Suspension and Priming, Injecting Process, Proper
      Use of Pens and Syringes, Insulin analogues, Human and Pre-mixed Insulins, GLP-1
      analogs, Needle Length, Skin Folds, Lipohypertrophy, Rotation, Bleeding and
      Bruising, Pregnancy, Safety and Disposal. CONCLUSION: These injecting
      recommendations provide practical guidance and fill an important gap in diabetes
      management. If followed, they should help ensure comfortable, effective and
      largely complication-free injections.

PMID- 20933203
TI  - Advances in the renin angiotensin system focus on angiotensin-converting enzyme 2
      and angiotensin-(1-7).
AB  - The contribution of the renin angiotensin system to physiology and pathology is
      undergoing a rapid reconsideration of its mechanisms from emerging new concepts
      implicating angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 and angiotensin-(1-7) as new elements
      negatively influencing the vasoconstrictor, trophic, and pro-inflammatory actions
      of angiotensin II. This component of the system acts to oppose the
      vasoconstrictor and proliferative effects on angiotensin II through signaling
      mechanisms mediated by the mas receptor. In addition, a reduced expression of the
      vasodepressor axis composed by angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 and angiotensin-(1
      7) may contribute to the expression of essential hypertension, the remodeling of
      heart and renal function associated with this disease, and even the physiology of
      pregnancy and the development of eclampsia.

PMID- 20933210
TI  - Now and future of mouse mutagenesis for human disease models.
AB  - One of the major objectives of the Human Genome Project is to understand the
      biological function of the gene and genome as well as to develop clinical
      applications for human diseases. For this purpose, the experimental validations
      and preclinical trails by using animal models are indispensable. The mouse (Mus
      musculus) is one of the best animal models because genetics is well established
      in the mouse and embryonic manipulation technologies are also well developed.
      Large-scale mouse mutagenesis projects have been conducted to develop various
      mouse models since 1997. Originally, the phenotype-driven mutagenesis with N
      ethyl-N-nitrosourea (ENU) has been the major efforts internationally then
      knockout/conditional mouse projects and gene-driven mutagenesis have been
      following. At the beginning, simple monogenic traits in the experimental
      condition have been elucidated. Then, more complex traits with variety of
      environmental interactions and gene-to-gene interactions (epistasis) have been
      challenged with mutant mice. In addition, chromosomal substitution strains and
      collaborative cross strains are also available to elucidate the complex traits in
      the mouse. Altogether, mouse models with mutagenesis and various laboratory
      strains will accelerate the studies of functional genomics in the mouse as well
      as in human.

PMID- 20933212
TI  - TGF-beta signaling in aortic aneurysm: another round of controversy.
AB  - Aortic aneurysm (AA) is a common health problem with high mortality and no
      effective drugs. Transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) superfamily members
      regulate various cellular processes, and TGF-beta signaling has key roles in
      development, tissue homeostasis, and diseases. Interest in the role of TGF-beta
      signaling in the pathogenesis of AAs has recently emerged, particularly since
      genetic studies demonstrated an association between gene mutations in components
      of TGF-beta signaling and AAs. However, paradoxical discoveries have implicated
      dysregulated TGF-beta signaling in aneurysm formation, complicating the precise
      functional role for TGF-beta in aneurysm development and progression.
      Furthermore, interventions targeting towards TGF-beta signaling using losartan,
      which may represent a suitable therapeutic option for AAs, were subject to
      skepticism especially because of conflicting experimental results obtained from
      TGF-beta antibody treatment without knowledge of the underlying mechanism. We
      propose a TGF-beta aneurysm paradox, which would provide a good opportunity for
      the development of genetic mouse models of AA. These models would be used to
      clarify the mechanisms underlying TGF-beta signaling, which would translate into
      novel pharmacologic therapies based on the new molecular discoveries.

PMID- 20933211
TI  - The Notch signaling pathway in retinal dysplasia and retina vascular homeostasis.
AB  - The retina is one of the most essential elements of vision pathway in vertebrate.
      The dysplasia of retina cause congenital blindness or vision disability in
      individuals, and the misbalance in adult retinal vascular homeostasis leads to
      neovascularization-associated diseases in adults, such as diabetic retinopathy or
      age-related macular degeneration. Many developmental signaling pathways are
      involved in the process of retinal development and vascular homeostasis. Among
      them, Notch signaling pathway has long been studied, and Notch signaling
      interfered mouse models show both neural retina dysplasia and vascular
      abnormality. In this review, we discuss the roles of Notch signaling in the
      maintenance of retinal progenitor cells, specification of retinal neurons and
      glial cells, and the sustaining of retina vascular homeostasis, especially from
      the aspects of conditional knockout mouse models. The potential of Notch signal
      manipulation may provide a powerful cell fate- and neovascularization-controlling
      tool that could have important applications in treatment of retinal diseases.

PMID- 20933213
TI  - Wg signaling in Drosophila heart development as a pioneering model.
AB  - The heart is one of the first functional embryonic organs occurring during
      development. The fundamental developmental processes and genes involved in
      cardiogenesis are conserved between the invertebrates and vertebrates. In the
      past fifteen years, one of signaling pathways that has been best characterized in
      heart development in both invertebrates and vertebrates is the Wg/Wnt signaling
      pathways. Since our discovery of the Wg signaling required for the early heart
      development in Drosophila, the past fifteen years have witnessed tremendous
      progress in the understanding of specific Wnt signaling pathways in vertebrate
      cardiogenesis. This review will summarize the current state of knowledge of Wg
      signaling transduction in Drosophila heart development, which will benefit our
      understanding of vertebrate cardiogenesis and human congenital malformations.

PMID- 20933214
TI  - POSH is involved in Eiger-Basket (TNF-JNK) signaling and embryogenesis in
      Drosophila.
AB  - TNFalpha can trigger different signaling pathways, including the JNK pathway, to
      regulate various biological functions such as cell death, differentiation and
      proliferation. The scaffold protein POSH (Plenty of SH3 Domains) has been shown
      to be an important regulator of the JNK pathway, but whether it is involved in
      TNF-signaling has not been reported. Although POSH has been implicated to play a
      role in development in zebrafish, it has not been studied in null mutants and the
      underlying mechanism of its effects is still not clear. In this study, we provide
      evidence that the JNK pathway scaffold protein, POSH, is involved in TNF (Eiger)
      signaling in Drosophila. POSH is likely to act downstream of dTAB2 and upstream
      of dTAK1 in the TNF-JNK signaling pathway. In addition, we found that POSH is
      essential during Drosophila embryogenesis, including epidermal dorsal closure,
      similar to other JNK pathway components such as Silpper, Hemipterous, and Basket.
      We observed defects in F-actin accumulation and adherens junction formation
      during dorsal closure in different posh null mutants, suggesting that POSH is
      required for epidermal cell migration and cell-shape change during epidermal
      dorsal closure.

PMID- 20933215
TI  - A small scale expression screen identifies tissue specific markers in the Dugesia
      japonica strain Pek-1.
AB  - Freshwater planaria has tremendous capacity to reform the missing part of the
      body and therefore is considered as one of the most important model organism for
      regeneration study. At present, Schmidtea mediterranea and Dugesia japonica are
      the two major species utilized for laboratory manipulations. Dugesia japonica
      flatworms are widely distributed in the Far East including Cherry Valley region
      in the north-west area of Beijing, China. We reported here the establishment of
      an asexual Dugesia japonica strain Pek-1, as a suitable system for regeneration
      study. Using morphological, karyotypical as well as phylogenetic analyses, we
      confirmed that these flatworms indeed belonged to Dugesia japonica. We went on to
      show that the commonly used in situ probes and immunohistochemistry reagents and
      protocols were applicable to the Pek-1 strain. Using this strain, we carried out
      small scale analysis on EST, RNAi and gene expression. We identified 193 unique
      EST sequences and 65 of them had not been reported in planarian. By RNAi
      analysis, we showed that 48 genes, when down-regulated individually, had no
      effect on regeneration. Furthermore, we identified 3 groups of tissue specific
      expressing genes that were useful for cell lineage analysis. We concluded that
      the Dugesia japonica Pek-1 strain could be another suitable animal model to
      regeneration research.

PMID- 20933216
TI  - Embryonic expression and evolutionary analysis of the amphioxus Dickkopf and
      Kremen family genes.
AB  - The secreted Wnt signaling inhibitor Dickkopf1 (Dkk1) plays key role in
      vertebrate head induction. Its receptor Kremen synergizes with Dkk1 in Wnt
      inhibition. Here we have carried out expression and functional studies of the Dkk
      and Kremen genes in amphioxus (Branchiostoma belcheri). During embryonic and
      larval development, BbDkk1/2/4 is expressed in the posterior mesoendoderm,
      anterior somatic mesoderm and the pharyngeal regions. Its expression becomes
      restricted to the pharyngeal region on the left side at larval stages. In 45 h
      larvae, BbDkk1/2/4 is expressed specifically in the cerebral vesicle. BbDkk3 was
      only detected at larval stages in the mid-intestine region. Seven Kremen related
      genes were identified in the genome of the Florida amphioxus (Branchiostoma
      floridae), clustered in 4 scaffolds, and are designated Kremen1-4 and Kremen-like
      1-3, respectively. In B. belcheri, Kremen1 is strongly expressed in the
      mesoendoderm during early development and Kremen3 is expressed asymmetrically in
      spots in the larval pharyngeal region. In luciferase reporter assays, BbDkk1/2/4
      can strongly inhibit Wnt signaling, while BbDkk3, BbKremen1 and BbKremen3 can
      not. No co-operative effect was observed between amphioxus Dkk1/2/4 and Kremens,
      suggesting that the interaction between Dkk and Kremen likely originated later
      during evolution.

PMID- 20933217
TI  - Atp4b promoter directs the expression of Cre recombinase in gastric parietal
      cells of transgenic mice.
AB  - Parietal cells are one of the largest epithelium cells of the mucous membrane of
      the stomach that secrete hydrochloric acid. To study the function of gastric
      parietal cells during gastric epithelium homeostasis, we generated a transgenic
      mouse line, namely, Atp4b-Cre, in which the expression of Cre recombinase was
      controlled by a 1.0 kb promoter of mouse (-subunit of H(+)-, K(+)-ATPase gene
      (Atp4b). In order to test the tissue distribution and excision activity of Cre
      recombinase in vivo, the Atp4b-Cre transgenic mice were bred with the reporter
      strain ROSA26 and a mouse strain that carries Smad4 conditional alleles
      (Smad4(Co/Co)). Multiple-tissue PCR of Atp4b-Cre;Smad4(Co/+) mice revealed that
      the recombination only happened in the stomach. As indicated by LacZ staining,
      ROSA26;Atp4b-Cre double transgenic mice showed efficient expression of Cre
      recombinase within the gastric parietal cells. These results showed that this
      Atp4b-Cre mouse line could be used as a powerful tool to achieve conditional gene
      knockout in gastric parietal cells.

PMID- 20933218
TI  - Duane syndrome in the setting of chromosomal duplications.
AB  - PURPOSE: To describe the clinical findings in 3 patients with Duane syndrome and
      3 different chromosomal duplications that may indicate the location of genes
      involved in the pathogenesis of this ocular motility disorder. DESIGN:
      Observational case series. METHODS: setting: Clinical practice. patient or study
      population: Three patients with Duane syndrome and chromosomal duplications from
      the clinical practice of 1 of the authors. observation procedures: Chart review
      and retrieval of clinical data and results of pertinent clinical tests, in this
      case chromosomal studies. main outcome measure: Reporting of details of clinical
      findings and duplicated chromosomal regions. RESULTS: Two patients had unilateral
      type I Duane syndrome and 1 had bilateral type I Duane syndrome. Two had
      cognitive delay, and all 3 had other systemic abnormalities, including a variety
      of congenital malformations. The chromosomal abnormalities that were detected
      using microarray analysis were 2q13(RP11-20G1,RP11-461N11) * 3,
      10q24.2q26.3(101,532,585-135,284, 169) * 3, 20q13.12(44,796,613-44,945, 818) * 3,
      and 22q11.1q11.22(RP11-701M12, RP11-71G19) * 3. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with Duane
      syndrome and associated congenital malformations or developmental delay should be
      evaluated for the presence of underlying chromosomal duplications. The regions of
      chromosomes 2, 10, and 22 that we report may harbor genes involved in the
      pathogenesis of Duane syndrome.

PMID- 20933219
TI  - The prognostic value of angiography in Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease.
AB  - PURPOSE: To determine the prognostic value of fluorescein angiography (FA) and
      indocyanine green angiography (ICGA) in Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease (VKH).
      DESIGN: Retrospective noninterventional study. METHODS: Chart, FA, and ICGA
      review of VKH patients of Singapore National Eye Centre for age at onset, gender,
      race, timing of treatment, and angiographic features during the different phases
      of FA and ICGA. Outcome measure was disease outcome (acute resolved or chronic
      recurrent). RESULTS: Twenty-one of the 28 patients with pretreatment FA also had
      ICGA. Median follow-up duration was 3.6 years (range 0.94-13.42 years). Median
      age was 42.2 years (range 15.7-77.2 years). The majority (18, 64.3%) were
      Chinese. The most frequently observed FA features included early pinpoint
      hyperfluorescence in the posterior pole and disc hyperfluorescence. Large
      choroidal vessel hyperfluorescence (early and intermediate phase), areas of
      delayed choroidal perfusion (early phase), and persistent dark dots were the 3
      most common ICGA features. Pinpoint peripapillary hyperfluorescence was found to
      be a significant prognostic FA factor on both univariate and multivariate
      analysis. None of the ICGA features were found to be significant prognostic
      factors. CONCLUSION: Early pinpoint peripapillary hyperfluorescence on
      pretreatment FA is a useful prognostic sign in VKH patients, whereas pretreatment
      ICGA has limited prognostic value.

PMID- 20933220
TI  - The role of comorbid disruptive behavior in the clinical expression of pediatric
      obsessive-compulsive disorder.
AB  - This study explored the impact of disruptive behavior disorder (DBD) comorbidity
      on a number of theoretically relevant outcomes among 192 children and adolescents
      with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Youth were divided into three groups:
      OCD Only, OCD+DBD comorbidity and OCD+Other comorbidity. Relative to those
      without a comorbid condition and those with any non-DBD comorbidity, comorbid DBD
      was associated with greater family accommodation and less symptom resistance.
      Youth with comorbid DBD exhibited greater OCD symptom severity, OCD-related
      impairment, anxiety, and internalizing problems than those with no comorbidity.
      Those with comorbid DBD were over 3.6 times as likely to be taking an atypical
      antipsychotic medication relative to children without comorbidity. The present
      results suggest that comorbid DBD contributes to more severe illness presentation
      above and beyond an OCD diagnosis alone, and may be associated with differing
      pharmacotherapy prescribing practices.

PMID- 20933221
TI  - Telling perfectionists about their perfectionism: Effects of providing feedback
      on emotional reactivity and psychological symptoms.
AB  - A randomized, controlled clinical trial was conducted to determine the efficacy
      of receiving feedback in a sample of maladaptive perfectionists. A total of 60
      young adults were randomly assigned to a feedback intervention or control group.
      Hierarchical Linear Modeling was utilized to analyze the effects of perfectionism
      over time, as well as the effects of treatment condition on the relationship
      between perfectionism and outcomes. Measures of interest included emotional
      reactivity, self-esteem, and psychological distress. Findings revealed that
      providing feedback to maladaptive perfectionists reduced self-reported global
      symptomatic distress as well as emotional reactivity. The results are discussed
      in light of treatment implications, especially with regard to the manner in which
      perfectionists respond to therapeutic interventions. Overall, study findings
      suggest that a brief, low-cost feedback intervention is effective at decreasing
      psychological distress in maladaptive perfectionists and may serve as a
      beneficial precursor to individual therapy or counseling.

PMID- 20933222
TI  - The complete structure of the core of the LPS from Plesiomonas shigelloides 302
      73 and the identification of its O-antigen biological repeating unit.
AB  - Plesiomonas shigelloides is a Gram-negative opportunistic pathogen associated
      with gastrointestinal and extraintestinal infections, which especially invades
      immunocompromised patients and neonates. The lipopolysaccharides are one of the
      major virulence determinants in Gram-negative bacteria and are structurally
      composed of three different domains: the lipid A, the core oligosaccharide and
      the O-antigen polysaccharide. In the last few years we elucidated the structures
      of the O-chain and the core oligosaccharide from the P. shigelloides strain 302
      73. In this paper we now report the characterization of the linkage between the
      core and the O-chain. The LPS obtained after PCP extraction contained a small
      number of O-chain repeating units. The product obtained by hydrazinolysis was
      analysed by FTICR-ESIMS and suggested the presence of an additional Kdo in the
      core oligosaccharide. Furthermore, the LPS was hydrolysed under mild acid
      conditions and a fraction that contained one O-chain repeating unit linked to a
      Kdo residue was isolated and characterized by FTICR-ESIMS and NMR spectroscopy.
      Moreover, after an alkaline reductive hydrolysis, a disaccharide alpha-Kdo-(2->6)
      GlcNol was isolated and characterized. The data obtained proved the presence of
      an alpha-Kdo in the outer core and allowed the identification of the O-antigen
      biological repeating unit as well as its linkage with the core oligosaccharide.

PMID- 20933223
TI  - Maillard reaction of ribose 5-phosphate generates superoxide and glycation
      products for bovine heart cytochrome c reduction.
AB  - Ribose 5-phosphate (R5P) is a sugar known to undergo the Maillard reaction
      (glycation) at a rapid rate. In a reaction with the lysines of bovine heart
      cytochrome c, R5P generates superoxide (O2-) that subsequently reduces ferri
      cytochrome c to ferro-cytochrome c. The rate equation for the observed cytochrome
      c reduction is first order in respect to cytochrome c and half order in respect
      to R5P. The addition of amines to the cytochrome c-R5P system greatly increases
      the O2- generation with rates of approximately 1.0 MUMmin(-1) being observed with
      millimolar levels of R5P and amine at 37 degrees C. Pre-incubation of R5P with
      the amine prior to cytochrome c addition further enhances the rate of cytochrome
      c reduction approximately twofold for every 30 min of incubation. While clearly
      accounting for a portion of the reduction of cytochrome c, O2- is not the sole
      reductant of the system as the use of superoxide dismutase only partially limits
      cytochrome c reduction, and the contribution of O2- proportionally decreases with
      longer amine-R5P incubation times. The remainder of the cytochrome c reduction is
      attributed to either the Amadori product or a cross-linked Schiff base created
      when a Maillard reaction-derived dicarbonyl compound(s) reacts with the amine. It
      is believed that these compounds directly transfer electrons to ferri-cytochrome
      c and subsequently become stable free-radical cations. ATP, a putative regulator
      of cytochrome c activity, does not inhibit electron transport from O2- or the
      cross-linked Schiff base but does prevent R5P from reacting with surface lysines
      to generate superoxide. The spontaneous reaction between R5P and amines could
      serve as an alternative system for generating O2- in solution.

PMID- 20933224
TI  - Glycosyl hydroperoxides derived from 2-deoxysugars.
AB  - Oxidation of 3,4,6-tri-O-benzyl-2-deoxy-d-glucose and d-galactose or their t
      butyl glycosides to the corresponding glycosyl hydroperoxides can be performed
      with hydrogen peroxide in the presence of an acid catalyst. Several reaction
      conditions and their influence on the effectiveness of the oxidation are
      discussed. Separation of the alpha - and beta-anomers of the glycosyl
      hydroperoxides was achieved through mixed peroxide formation by reaction of the
      hydroperoxide group with 2-methoxypropene and subsequent deprotection.

PMID- 20933225
TI  - Studies on trimethoprim:hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin: aggregate and complex
      formation.
AB  - The present study is focused on the characterization of the interaction between
      trimethoprim, a dihydropteroate synthesase inhibitor, and hydroxypropyl-beta
      cyclodextrin (HP-beta-CD) in aqueous solution and solid state. The freeze-drying
      method was used to prepare solid complexes, while simple blending was employed to
      obtain physical mixtures. The phase solubility was AN type, and demonstrated that
      trimethoprim solubility was significantly increased upon complexation with HP
      beta-CD. Conductivity experiments showed the presence of aggregates that explains
      the type profile for the solubility isotherm. The critical concentration for the
      aggregate formation was determined to be 69.3mg/ml for pure HP-beta-CD and 117.7
      mg/ml in the presence of trimethoprim. Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy
      provided evidence of trimethoprim:HP-beta-CD molecular interaction in solution.
      Moreover, the complex was characterized in solid stated using Fourier-transform
      infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The use of
      differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA)
      showed that the thermal stability of the drug is enhanced in the presence of HP
      beta-CD.

PMID- 20933226
TI  - Uncarinic acid C plus IFN-gamma generates monocyte-derived dendritic cells and
      induces a potent Th1 polarization with capacity to migrate.
AB  - Uncarinic acid C (URC) is triterpene isolated from Uncaria rhynchophylla and
      modulates human DC function in a fashion that favors Th1 cell polarization
      depending on TLR4 signaling. The induction of dendritic cells (DC) is critical
      for the induction of Ag-specific T lymphocyte responses and may be essential for
      the development of human vaccines relying on T cell immunity. Monocyte-derived DC
      used as adjuvant cells in cancer immunotherapy and have shown promising results.
      We studied the effect of interferon's (IFN-alpha and IFN-gamma) and TNF-alpha on
      phenotypic and functional maturation, and cytokine production of URC-primed DC in
      vitro. Human monocytes were exposed to either URC alone, or in combination with
      TNF-alpha, IFN-alpha or IFN-gamma, and thereafter co-cultured with naive T cells.
      We found that the expression levels of CD1a, CD83 and HLA-DR on URC-primed DC
      were influenced by IFN-gamma and IFN-gamma augmented the T cell stimulatory
      capacity in allo MLR to URC-primed DC. Moreover, the production of IL-12p70 by
      URC-primed DC was enhanced by IFN-gamma. IL-12p70 production by URC-primed DC
      alone was influenced following treatment with anti-TLR4 mAb, but not DC
      differentiated with URC plus IFN-gamma. URC plus IFN-gamma-primed DC induced a
      substantial increase in the secretion of IFN-gamma by T cells, which is dependent
      on IL-12 secretion. DC maturated with URC plus IFN-gamma had an intermediate
      migratory capacity towards CCL19 and CCL21. In addition, the expression levels of
      CCR7 on URC-primed DC were enhanced by IFN-gamma. In contrast, surface molecule
      up-regulation and function of URC-primed DC were slightly enhanced by TNF-alpha,
      and IFN-alpha. These results suggest that the enhancement of Th1 cells
      polarization to URC-primed DC induced by IFN-gamma depends on the activation of
      IL-12p70 and independent on TLR4. DC differentiated with URC in combination with
      IFN-gamma might be used on DC-based vaccine for cancer immunotherapy.

PMID- 20933228
TI  - From dyslexia to dyslexias, from dysgraphia to dysgraphias, from a cause to
      causes: a look at current research on developmental dyslexia and dysgraphia.

PMID- 20933227
TI  - Expertise increases the functional overlap between face and object perception.
AB  - Recent studies indicate that expertise with objects can interfere with face
      processing. Although competition occurs between faces and objects of expertise,
      it remains unclear whether this reflects an expertise-specific bottleneck or the
      fact that objects of expertise grab attention and thereby consume more central
      resources. We investigated the perceptual costs of expertise by measuring visual
      thresholds for identifying targets embedded within RSVP sequences presented at
      varying temporal rates. Car experts and novices searched for face targets among
      face and car distractors, or watch targets among watch and car distractors.
      Remarkably, car experts were slower than novices at identifying faces among task
      irrelevant cars, yet faster than novices at identifying watches among cars. This
      suggests that car expertise leads to greater functional overlap between cars and
      faces while reducing the functional overlap between cars and objects, a result
      incompatible with the notion of an encapsulated module for exclusive processing
      of faces.

PMID- 20933229
TI  - Second-hand smoke in hospitals in Catalonia (2009): a cross-sectional study
      measuring PM2.5 and vapor-phase nicotine.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To describe second-hand smoke in the hospitals of the Catalan Network
      for Smoke-free Hospitals using Particulate Matter (PM(2.5)) and to assess the
      association between second-hand smoke exposure in main entrances (outdoors) and
      halls and between PM(2.5) and airborne nicotine concentrations. METHODS: Cross
      sectional study carried out in 2009 in the 53 hospitals affiliated with the
      network. We measured PM(2.5) (MUg/m(3)) in all hospitals and measured airborne
      nicotine concentrations (MUg/m(3)) in a subsample of 11 hospitals. For each
      assessment, we measured nine locations within the hospitals, computing medians,
      means, geometric means, interquartile ranges (IQRs), and 95% confidence intervals
      (CI) of the means and the geometric means. Further, we used Spearman's linear
      correlation coefficient r(sp)) to explore the association between PM(2.5)
      concentrations in halls and main entrances and between PM(2.5) and nicotine
      concentrations. RESULTS: The overall median of the 429 PM(2.5) measurements was
      12.48 MUg/m(3) (IQR: 8.84-19.76 MUg/m(3)). The most exposed locations were
      outdoor smoking points (16.64 MUg/m(3)), cafeterias (14.82 MUg/m(3)), and main
      entrances (14.04 MUg/m(3)); dressing rooms were the least exposed (6.76
      MUg/m(3)). PM(2.5) concentrations in halls were positively correlated with those
      in main entrances (r(sp)=0.591, 95% CI: 0.377-0.745), as were PM(2.5) values and
      nicotine concentrations (r(sp)=0.644, 95% CI: 0.357-0.820). CONCLUSIONS: Second
      hand smoke levels in hospitals were low in most locations, with the highest
      levels observed in outdoor locations where smoking is allowed (smoking points and
      entrances). Smoking in main entrances was associated with increased second-hand
      smoke levels in halls. Use of PM(2.5) to evaluate second-hand smoke is feasible
      and shows a good correlation with airborne nicotine values.

PMID- 20933230
TI  - Time of day variation in polyp detection rate for colonoscopies performed on a 3
      hour shift schedule.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Recent research suggests that the colonoscopy polyp detection rate
      (PDR) varies by time of day, possibly because of endoscopist fatigue. Mayo Clinic
      Rochester (MCR) schedules colonoscopies on 3-hour shifts, which should minimize
      fatigue. OBJECTIVE: To examine PDR variation with the MCR shift schedule. DESIGN:
      Retrospective cohort. SETTING: Outpatient tertiary-care center. PATIENTS: This
      study involved completed outpatient colonoscopies in 2008. Procedures were
      excluded for lack of withdrawal time stamps, indications other than average-risk
      screening, inadequate bowel preparation, fellow participation, or performance by
      endoscopists with a low number of endoscopies performed. INTERVENTION: None. MAIN
      OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS: PDR (colonoscopies with >=1 polyp divided by total number
      of colonoscopies) by shift of day. RESULTS: We analyzed 3846 colonoscopies. PDR
      varied significantly by shift (P = .008) on univariate analysis; results for
      shifts 1 and 3 were similar (39.0% vs 38.7%, respectively) whereas shift 2 had
      the highest PDR (44.7%). Mean withdrawal times were stable (P = .92). PDR also
      varied significantly (P < .0001) by month of year on univariate analysis. On
      multivariate analysis, patient age (P < .0001), patient gender (P < .0001),
      endoscopist mean withdrawal time (P < .0001), month of year (P = .0002),
      endoscopist experience (P = .04), and shift of day (P = .048) significantly
      predicted PDR. LIMITATIONS: Retrospective study. CONCLUSION: MCR's 3-hour shift
      schedule does not show a decrease in PDR as the day progresses, as seen in other
      recent studies. Intervention trials at other institutions could determine whether
      alterations in shift length lead to PDR improvements.

PMID- 20933231
TI  - Comments on "the equations of motion for a standing human reveal three mechanisms
      for balance" (A. Hof, Vol. 40, pp. 451-457).

PMID- 20933232
TI  - Multi-walled carbon nanotubes as the gas chromatographic stationary phase: role
      of their functionalization in the analysis of aliphatic alcohols and esters.
AB  - Presented hereafter is the novel application of differently functionalized multi
      walled carbon nanotubes (f-MWCNTs) as stationary phases for the GC separation of
      C(1)-C(5) alcohols and esters. Low-cost packed columns, easily prepared in
      laboratory, were used with satisfactory results. Depending on the functional
      groups introduced on the pristine MWCNTs, remarkably different behaviours have
      been observed, thus indicating that derivatization is a key factor to achieve
      optimal resolution. The best performance was shown by the 2,2'
      (ethylenedioxy)diethylamine derivatized MWCNTs, allowing the separation of
      alcohol isomers, for this reason chosen for the investigation of fermentation by
      products in distilled spirits. The degree of derivatization has been assessed for
      each packing material by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). A computational study
      has been performed to correlate the physico-chemical properties of alcohol probes
      with the retention behaviour.

PMID- 20933233
TI  - The evaluation of solid phase micro-extraction fibre types for the analysis of
      organic components in unburned propellant powders.
AB  - This work describes the evaluation of various solid phase micro-extraction (SPME)
      fibre types for the detection of compounds originating from particles of unburned
      propellant powders. These compounds may also be found in association with organic
      gunshot residues (OGSR). Seven SPME fibres were assessed based on their ability
      to extract the compounds of interest (diphenylamine (DPA), 4-nitrodiphenylamine
      (4-NDPA), ethyl centralite (EC), nitroglycerin (NG) and dibutyl phthalate (DBP))
      from four ammunition types across three calibres (9 mm, 5.56 mm and 7.62 mm).
      Extracts were analysed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Results
      indicated that the 65 MUm polydimethylsiloxane/divinylbenzene (PDMS/DVB) was the
      most suitable fibre type for the extraction of these compounds across the
      ammunition types tested. Optimal extraction time parameters were also assessed
      with a 35-min period determined to be suitable. A number of previously unreported
      considerations for extracting propellant powders and potentially OGSR related
      materials are discussed.

PMID- 20933234
TI  - Utilization of a benzyl functionalized polymeric ionic liquid for the sensitive
      determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; parabens and alkylphenols in
      waters using solid-phase microextraction coupled to gas chromatography-flame
      ionization detection.
AB  - The functionalized polymeric ionic liquid poly(1-(4-vinylbenzyl)-3
      hexadecylimidazolium bis[(trifluoromethyl)sulfonyl]imide (poly(VBHDIm(+)NTf(2)(
      ))) has been used as successful coating in solid-phase microextraction (SPME) to
      determine a group of fourteen endocrine disrupting chemicals (ECDs), including
      polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), alkylphenols, and parabens, in several
      water samples. The performance of the PIL fiber in direct immersion mode SPME
      followed by gas chromatography (GC) with flame-ionization detection (FID) is
      characterized with average relative recoveries higher than 96.1% from deionized
      waters and higher than 76.7% from drinking bottled waters, with precision values
      (RSD) lower than 13% for deionized waters and lower than 14% for drinking bottled
      waters (spiked level of 1 ng mL(-1)), when using an extraction time of 60 min
      with 20 mL of aqueous sample. Detection limits varied between 9 ng L(-1) and 7 ng
      mL(-1). A group of real water samples, including drinking waters, well waters,
      and swimming pool waters, have been analyzed under the optimized conditions. A
      comparison has also been carried out with the commercial SPME coatings:
      polydimethylsyloxane (PDMS) 30 MUm, and polyacrylate (PA) 85 MUm. The
      functionalized PIL fiber (~12 MUm) demonstrated to be superior to both commercial
      fibers for the overall group of analytes studied, in spite of its lower coating
      thickness. A normalized sensitivity parameter is proposed as a qualitative tool
      to compare among fiber materials, being higher for the poly(VBHDIm(+)NTf(2)(-))
      coating. Furthermore, the partition coefficients of the studied analytes to the
      coating materials have been determined. A quantitative comparison among the
      partition coefficients also demonstrates the superior extraction capability of
      the functionalized PIL sorbent coating.

PMID- 20933235
TI  - Selectivity optimization in green chromatography by gradient stationary phase
      optimized selectivity liquid chromatography.
AB  - Stationary phase optimized selectivity liquid chromatography (SOSLC) is a
      promising technique to optimize the selectivity of a given separation by using a
      combination of different stationary phases. Previous work has shown that SOSLC
      offers excellent possibilities for method development, especially after the
      recent modification towards linear gradient SOSLC. The present work is aimed at
      developing and extending the SOSLC approach towards selectivity optimization and
      method development for green chromatography. Contrary to current LC practices, a
      green mobile phase (water/ethanol/formic acid) is hereby preselected and the
      composition of the stationary phase is optimized under a given gradient profile
      to obtain baseline resolution of all target solutes in the shortest possible
      analysis time. With the algorithm adapted to the high viscosity property of
      ethanol, the principle is illustrated with a fast, full baseline resolution for a
      randomly selected mixture composed of sulphonamides, xanthine alkaloids and
      steroids.

PMID- 20933236
TI  - Editorial on "Stereoselective determination of drugs and metabolites in body
      fluids, tissues and microsomal preparations by capillary electrophoresis (2000
      2010)" by Jitka Caslavska and Wolfgang Thormann.

PMID- 20933237
TI  - Comparative study of differential flow and cryogenic modulators comprehensive two
      dimensional gas chromatography systems for the detailed analysis of light cycle
      oil.
AB  - The modulator is the key point of comprehensive two-dimensional gas
      chromatography (GC*GC). This interface ensures the sampling and transfer of the
      sample from the first to the second dimension. Many systems based on different
      principles have been developed. However, to our knowledge, almost only cryogenic
      modulators are used in the petroleum industry. Nevertheless cryogenic fluids
      represent some disadvantages in term of safety, cost and time consuming. This
      paper reports a comparative study between differential flow and cryogenic liquid
      modulators for the detailed analysis of hydrocarbons in middle distillates type
      light cycle oil (LCO). Optimization of geometrical dimensions of a set of columns
      was carried out on the differential flow modulator system in order to reproduce
      the quality of separation of cryogenic modulation. Then a comparative study was
      investigated on sensibility and resolution (separation space and peak capacity)
      between the two systems.

PMID- 20933238
TI  - Improvement in the generation of adsorption isotherm data in the elution by
      characteristic points method--the ECP-slope approach.
AB  - The elution by characteristic points (ECP) method is a very rapid and precise
      method for determination of the phase system equilibrium of phase systems in
      broad solute concentration ranges. Thus, the method is especially suitable for
      rapid characterization of high efficient separation systems. One important source
      of error, the effects by the post-loop dispersion, was eliminated in a recent
      investigation. In this study, the systematic error caused by the selection of the
      integration starting point at concentration equal to 0 is eliminated. This is
      done by developing and validating a new procedure for isotherm data generation;
      the ECP-slope method. The method generates raw slope data of the adsorption
      isotherm instead of raw adsorption data by integrations as the classical ECP
      does. Both numerical and experimental data were used for the comparison of the
      classical ECP approach with the slope-ECP method.

PMID- 20933239
TI  - Separation of attogram terpenes by the capillary zone electrophoresis with
      fluorometric detection.
AB  - An original method based on capillary zone electrophoresis with fluorimetric
      detection has been developed for the determination of terpenic compounds. The
      method is based on the separation of a terpenes dynamically labeled by the non
      ionogenic tenside poly(ethylene glycol) pyrenebutanoate, which was used
      previously for the labeling of biopolymers. The background electrolytes were
      composed of taurine-Tris buffer (pH 8.4). In addition to the non-ionogenic
      tenside aceton and poly(ethylene glycol) were used as the additives. The
      capillary zone electrophoresis with fluorometric detection at the excitation
      wavelength 335 nm and the emission wavelength 463 nm was successfully applied to
      the analysis of tonalid, cholesterol, vitamin A, ergosterol, estrone and farnesol
      at level of 10(-17) mol L(-1). Farnesol, is produced by Candida albicans as an
      extracellular quorum-sensing molecule that influences expression of a number of
      virulence factors, especially morphogenesis and biofilm formation. It enables
      this yeast to cause serious nosocomial infections. The sensitivity of this method
      was demonstrated on the separation of farnesol directly from the cultivation
      medium.

PMID- 20933240
TI  - Ion-exchange chromatographic protein refolding.
AB  - The application of ion-exchange (IEX) chromatography to protein refolding (IExR)
      has been successfully proven, as supported by various studies using different
      model proteins, ion-exchange media and flow configurations. Ion-exchange
      refolding offers a relatively high degree of process intensification, represented
      by the possibility of performing protein refolding, product purification and
      product concentration, in one unit operation. Besides its high degree of process
      intensification, IExR offers an additional set of key advantages including:
      spatial isolation of the bound protein molecules and the controllable change in
      chemical composition using gradients. Despite of the acknowledgement of the
      former advantages, the lack of mechanistic understanding on how they influence
      the process performance of the ion-exchange refolding reactor, limits the ability
      to exploit them in order to optimize the performance of the unit. This paper
      presents a quantitative analysis that assesses the effect that the spatial
      isolation and the urea gradient, have on the IExR performance, judged on the
      basis of the refolding yield (Y(N)) and the fractional mass recovery
      (f(Prot,Rec)). Additionally, this work discusses the effect of the protein load,
      the protein loading state (i.e., native, denatured, denatured and reduced (D&R))
      and the adsorbent type on f(Prot,Rec). The presented work shows: (1) that the
      protein load has a direct effect on f(Prot,Rec), and the magnitude of this effect
      depends on the loading state of the protein solution and the adsorbent type; (2)
      that irrespectively of the type of adsorbent used, the saturation capacity of a
      denatured protein is less than the native protein and that this difference can be
      linked to differences in accessible binding surface area; (3) that there is a
      clear correlation between fractional surface coverage (theta) and f(Prot,Rec),
      indicating that the former could serve as a good descriptor to assess spatial
      isolation, and (4) that the urea gradient has a direct link with the variations
      on the refolding yield, and this link can be quantitatively estimated using as
      descriptor the urea gradient slope (xi). Overall, the information provided in
      this paper aims at the eventual development of rational design or selection
      strategies of ion-exchange media for the satisfactory and successful refolding of
      a target protein.

PMID- 20933241
TI  - A method of printing uniform protein lines by using flat PDMS stamps.
AB  - In this paper, we report a method of printing uniform protein lines on glass
      slides by using UV-treated flat PDMS stamps. Unlike traditional microcontact
      printing (MUCP) which requires microstructured PDMS stamps, this MUCP method only
      requires a flat PDMS stamp, an UV lamp and a number of straight needles. Our
      results show that lines of bovine serum albumin (BSA), immunoglobin (IgG), anti
      biotin, anti-human IgG and anti-mouse IgG can be printed evenly on glass slides
      by using this MUCP method. We also demonstrate that the printed protein lines are
      suitable for applications such as microfluidic immunoassays.

PMID- 20933242
TI  - Adsorption mechanisms of glucose in aqueous goethite suspensions.
AB  - The adsorption of glucose and polysaccharides onto solid surfaces is important in
      several areas of science and engineering including soil chemistry and mineral
      processing. In this work we have studied the adsorption of D-glucose at the water
      goethite (alpha-FeOOH) interface as a function of pH using batch adsorption
      measurements and a simultaneous infrared and potentiometric technique. Molecular
      orbital calculations were also performed in order to support interpretations of
      the infrared spectroscopic data. Infrared spectroscopy has shown that glucose
      adsorbs at the water-goethite interface with an intact ring structure and that
      the beta-form is favored relative to the alpha isomer. The collective
      spectroscopic and macroscopic results were fully consistent with an adsorption
      mechanism where glucose interacts with goethite surface sites via hydrogen
      bonding interactions. Specific infrared peak shifts indicated that glucose
      primarily acts as a hydrogen bond donor and that it interacts with acceptor sites
      that become increasingly more prevalent as the surface is deprotonated. These
      results are in general agreement with the acid/base model for mono- and
      polysaccharide interactions at metal oxide surfaces, but contradict the inner
      sphere hypothesis that was proposed based on ex situ spectroscopic measurements.

PMID- 20933243
TI  - Can lung cancer screening by computed tomography be effective in areas with
      endemic histoplasmosis?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Low-dose chest computed tomography (CT) is being evaluated in several
      national trials as a screening modality for the early detection of lung cancer.
      The goal of the present study was to determine whether lung cancer screening
      could be done while minimizing the number of benign biopsy specimens taken in an
      area endemic for histoplasmosis. METHODS: The subjects were recruited by letters
      mailed to area physicians and local advertisement. The inclusion criteria were
      age older than 50 years and at least a 20 pack-year smoking history. The
      exclusion criteria were symptoms suggestive of lung cancer or a history of
      malignancy in the previous 5 years. The participants completed a questionnaire
      and underwent a chest CT scan at baseline and annually for 5 years. The
      management of positive screening results was determined using a defined
      algorithm: annual follow-up CT scan for nodules less than 5 mm; 6-month follow-up
      CT scan for nodules 5 to 7 mm; review by our multidisciplinary tumor board for
      nodules 8 to 12 mm; and biopsy for nodules greater than 12 mm. RESULTS: A total
      of 132 patients were recruited. Of the 132 patients, 61% had positive baseline CT
      findings and 22% had positive findings on the annual CT scans. Six cancers were
      detected. Of these 6 patients, 5 had stage I disease and underwent lobectomy, and
      1 had stage IIIA disease and underwent induction chemotherapy and radiotherapy
      followed by lobectomy. All patients were alive and disease free at a mean follow
      up of 41.7 +/- 18.6 months. No biopsies were performed for benign lesions. Also,
      no cancers were missed when the protocol was followed. CONCLUSIONS: Screening
      with CT can be done effectively in an area endemic for histoplasmosis while
      minimizing benign biopsies.

PMID- 20933244
TI  - Veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation using Levitronix centrifugal
      pump as bridge to decision for refractory cardiogenic shock.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Cardiogenic shock still carries a very high mortality. We adopted
      veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation using the Levitronix
      centrifugal pump (Levitronix LLC, Waltham, Massachusetts) as a first-line
      treatment of cardiogenic shock in a "bridge to decision" strategy. This article
      provides our experience of this clinical approach. METHODS: Since 1988, 160
      ventricular assist devices have been implanted at our hospital for heart failure.
      Since 2005, 15 consecutive patients have been treated with veno-arterial
      extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for refractory cardiogenic shock. Veno
      arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation has been implanted either centrally
      or peripherally. RESULTS: Mean age was 44.7 +/- 20.0 years (2-78 years). There
      were 5 women. Veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation was implanted
      peripherally in 8 cases (53.4%) and centrally in the remaining 7 (46.6%). Mean
      veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation duration was 11.5 +/- 8.1 days
      (range, 1-30). No patient experienced any neurologic event or vascular
      complication at the cannulation site. Twelve patients (80%) were weaned from veno
      arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation or bridged to either a long-term
      left ventricular assist device or heart transplantation. Three patients died
      during veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support secondary to
      multi-organ failure. Seven patients (46.6%) were discharged from the hospital,
      with a 100% survival at follow-up. The survivors include 2 patients affected by
      fulminant myocarditis, who were bridged to recovery, and 5 patients who were
      bridged to heart transplantation. Survivors were younger than nonsurvivors (mean
      age, 28.5 vs 58.8 years, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: In our experience, the use
      of veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation as bridge to decision has
      been effective to promptly restore adequate systemic perfusion, allowing further
      time to evaluate myocardial recovery or candidacy for ventricular assist device
      or heart transplantation. Younger patients, with no or mild end-organ injury, had
      the best outcomes. Peripheral cannulation decreases the surgical trauma and makes
      emergency implantation possible, even in the intensive care unit.

PMID- 20933245
TI  - Eagle-shaped patch to restore mitral-aortic continuity.

PMID- 20933246
TI  - Reflex testing of resected stage I through III lung adenocarcinomas for EGFR and
      KRAS mutation: report on initial experience and clinical utility at a single
      center.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The genes KRAS and EGFR have emerged as potential targets for therapy
      in lung adenocarcinoma; mutations in these genes can be found in almost half of
      patients. In anticipation of the clinical importance of molecularly defined
      adenocarcinoma subgroups for the treatment of patients with resected stages I
      through III lung adenocarcinoma, the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
      (MSKCC) Departments of Surgery and Pathology have collaborated since 2006 to
      conduct reflex testing of tumor specimens for EGFR and KRAS mutations. METHODS:
      Using established methods, the identification of EGFR exon 19 deletions and exon
      21 L858R mutations was performed. In samples lacking these 2 sensitizing EGFR
      mutations, KRAS analysis was done. RESULTS: We studied a total of 1831 patients
      who had stage I through IV lung adenocarcinomas and detected 448 KRAS and 364
      EGFR mutations. Of these patients, a subset of 855 (78%) patients with stages I
      through III adenocarcinoma of the lung who underwent curative surgical resection
      at MSKCC were tested. In patients with early stage disease, 158 EGFR mutations
      and 207 KRAS mutations were detected. CONCLUSIONS: The results of the first 3
      years of reflex testing at MSKCC reported here demonstrate the feasibility,
      clinical utility, and potential of this approach. This information allowed for
      enrollment of patients into clinical trials to explore mutation-specific,
      directed therapy and led to retrospective studies related to patient outcome. In
      addition, it may inform selection of chemotherapy for recurrent disease and may
      help to distinguish multiple primary tumors from metastatic disease.

PMID- 20933248
TI  - Ecosystem service provision: an operational way for marine biodiversity
      conservation and management.
AB  - Since no extensive conceptual framework has been developed on the issues of
      ecosystem service (ES) and service provider (SP) in the marine environment, we
      have made an attempt to apply these to the conservation and management of marine
      biodiversity. Within this context, an accurate individuation of SPs, namely the
      biological component of a given ecosystem that supports human activities is
      fundamental. SPs are the agents responsible for making the ES-based approach
      operational. The application of these concepts to the marine environment should
      be based on an model different to the terrestrial one. In the latter, the basic
      model envisages a matrix of a human-altered landscape with fragments of original
      biodiversity; conversely, in the marine environment the model provides fragments
      where human activities are carried out and the matrix is represented by the
      original biodiversity. We have identified three main classes of ES provision: in
      natural, disturbed and human-controlled environments. Economic valuation of
      marine ESs is an essential condition for making conservation strategies
      financially sustainable, as it may stimulate the perceived need for investing in
      protection and exploitation of marine resources.

PMID- 20933247
TI  - Hazardous and Noxious Substances (HNS) in the marine environment: prioritizing
      HNS that pose major risk in a European context.
AB  - Increases in the maritime transportation of Hazardous and Noxious Substances
      (HNS), alongside the need for an effective response to HNS spills have led
      environmental managers and the scientific community to focus attention on HNS
      spill preparedness and responsiveness. In the context of the ARCOPOL project, a
      weight-of-evidence approach was developed aimed at prioritizing HNS that pose
      major environmental risks to European waters. This approach takes into
      consideration the occurrence probability of HNS spills in European Atlantic
      waters and the severity of exposure associated with their physico-chemical
      properties and toxicity to marine organisms. Additionally, a screening analysis
      of the toxicological information available for the prioritization of HNS was
      performed. Here we discuss the need for a prioritization methodology to select
      HNS that are likely to cause severe marine environmental effects as an essential
      step towards the establishment of a more effective preparedness and response to
      HNS incidents.

PMID- 20933249
TI  - Chemical composition and microstructure of uroliths associated with the feeding
      of high-level cottonseed meal diet to sheep.
AB  - The chemical composition and microstructure of five urolith samples (4 bladder
      stones and one kidney stone) associated with the feeding of high level of
      cottonseed meal (CSM) diet to Chinese merino fine wool sheep (Junken breed,
      Xinjiang) were examined by optical microscope, X-ray diffraction, X-ray energy
      dispersive spectrometry (EDS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and infrared
      spectroscopy analysis. The bladder stone samples appeared yellow or white, small
      powder and loose mass, and as finely granular under the optical microscope.
      However, the kidney stone samples from a experimental sheep were found as small
      brown mass, higher hardness, and as a cracklike structure. Oxygen, phosphorus,
      potassium and magnesium were found as four major elements in these uroliths by X
      ray energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS). Potassium magnesium phosphate
      (MgKPO(4)) and potassium magnesium phosphate hexahydrate (MgKPO(4).6H(2)O) were
      major components in the bladder stones, while less magnesium ammonium phosphate
      hexahydrate (MgNH(4)PO(4).6H(2)O) examined by X-ray diffraction and infrared
      spectroscopy analysis. However, the newly found prismatic crystals, which were
      rich in magnesium and pyrophosphate, were identified as magnesium pyrophosphate
      (Mg(2)P(2)O(7)) in the kidney stone. The bladder stone samples appeared irregular
      mass and balls, cracked under SEM with low magnification, while appeared cracked,
      irregular layer-like, honeycomb-like or tiny balls under high magnification. The
      kidney stone samples were observed as cone, irregular block or layered crystal
      structures.

PMID- 20933250
TI  - [Progressive paraparesis with sensorineural deafness and leukoencephalopathy
      revealing neurobrucellosis].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Brucellosis is a rare disease with variable neurological and
      imaging manifestations. CASE REPORT: A 54-year-old woman presented with
      progressive paraparesis and sensorineural hearing loss over 18 months. The
      presence of diffuse white matter changes on brain magnetic resonance imaging
      (MRI) and cerebrospinal fluid findings led to the diagnosis of neurobrucellosis.
      Spinal MRI did not show any lesion that could explain the paraparesis that was
      finally attributed to the leukoencephalopathic lesions. The patient improved
      clinically after three months of antibiotic treatment but no significant changes
      were noticed on brain imaging. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Neurobrucellosis is a
      treatable disease which should be discussed when a patient presents with the
      triade progressive paraparesis, sensorineural hearing loss and
      leukoencephalopathy on MRI. Outcome can be favorable if adapted treatment is
      given early.

PMID- 20933251
TI  - [A case of focal hand dystonia combined with carpal tunnel syndrome in
      Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso)].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Focal hand dystonia and carpal tunnel syndrome are linked to
      impairment of the central and peripheral nervous systems, respectively. We report
      a singular case combining these two entities. CASE REPORT: A 44-year-old right
      handed male pharmacy employee whose daily activity for 18 years was to fill out
      and staple insurance vouchers and unload and store boxes of medicines, presented,
      almost concomitantly, the combination of right focal hand dystonia and
      homolateral carpal tunnel syndrome. CONCLUSION: This observation corroborates the
      results of experimental studies on repetitive manual activity which would be a
      source of central and peripheral changes, affecting the hand somatotopy in the
      sensory-motor cortex and the descending control of basal ganglia, explaining
      dystonia, and leading to median nerve compression related to repeated
      microtrauma, inflammatory reactions and fibrosis of the carpal tunnel.

PMID- 20933252
TI  - Modeling the decay of ammonium oxidizing bacteria.
AB  - A bench-scale sequencing batch reactor was used to study factors affecting the
      endogenous decay of the ammonium oxidizing biomass (AOB) in different operating
      conditions. AOB decay was very sensitive to oxygen concentration, and increased
      up to 0.4 d(-1) for oxygen concentration of 7 mg O(2) L(-1). The decay in
      anaerobic conditions was shown to be very low (0.03 d(-1)) when compared to
      literature data. The effect of nitrite and nitrate on AOB decay was also studied.
      The correlation was quite weak suggesting that both nitrate and nitrite absence
      had little impact on decay which is contrary to what is typically assumed in some
      of the existing process models. A simple expression for the decay of AOB was
      proposed, calibrated and validated using the results of batch kinetic tests and
      of the continuous sequencing batch reactor monitoring.

PMID- 20933253
TI  - Accumulation and leaching potential of some pharmaceuticals and potential
      endocrine disruptors in soils irrigated with wastewater in the Tula Valley,
      Mexico.
AB  - The reuse of wastewater for irrigation of agricultural land is a well established
      practice but introduces many contaminants into the terrestrial environment
      including pharmaceuticals and personal care products. This study reports the
      persistence and leaching potential of a group of acidic pharmaceuticals,
      carbamazepine, and three endocrine disruptors in soils from the Tula Valley in
      Mexico, one of the largest irrigation districts in the world that uses untreated
      wastewater. After irrigation of soil columns with fortified wastewater over the
      equivalent of one crop cycle, between 0% and 7% of the total added amounts of
      ibuprofen, naproxen, and diclofenac and between 0% and 25% of 4-nonylphenol,
      triclosan, and bisphenol-A were recovered from the soil profiles. Carbamazepine
      was more persistent, between 55% and 107% being recovered. Amounts in leachates
      suggested that movement through the soil was possible for all of the analytes,
      particularly in profiles of low organic matter and clay content. Analysis of soil
      samples from the Tula Valley confirmed the general lack of accumulation of the
      acidic pharmaceuticals (concentrations from below the limit of detection to 0.61
      MUgkg(-1)) and endocrine disruptors (concentrations from below the limit of
      detection to 109 MUgkg(-1)) despite continual addition through regular irrigation
      with untreated wastewater; there was little evidence of movement through the soil
      profiles. In contrast, carbamazepine was present in horizon A of the soil at
      concentrations equivalent to several years of additions by irrigation (2.6-7.5
      MUgkg(-1)) and was also present in the deeper horizons. The persistence and
      mobility of carbamazepine suggested a potential to contaminate groundwater.

PMID- 20933254
TI  - Personal exposure of graduate students attending the college of natural sciences
      or social sciences to volatile organic compounds on campus.
AB  - The present study measured the levels of 24 selected volatile organic compounds
      (VOCs) in the personal air samples obtained from graduate students attending the
      college of natural sciences (GSNSs) or social science (GSSSs) during their daily
      activities on campus along with associated indoor and outdoor air samples. In
      addition, the sources of their personal exposure were characterized using
      multivariate statistical models. In the personal samples of GSNSs and GSSSs, 16
      and 15 different VOCs were always detected, respectively. The personal exposure
      of five chlorinated hydrocarbons and six aromatics was significantly higher for
      GSNSs than for GSSSs. Consistently, the indoor levels of these compounds were
      higher for GSNSs (in research and laboratory rooms) than for GSSSs (in research
      rooms). However, the personal exposure of two aromatic VOCs (1,2,4- and 1,3,5
      trimethylbenzene) was higher for GSSSs. Moreover, the personal exposure of the
      five chlorinated and six aromatic compounds was significantly correlated with VOC
      concentrations both in the research and laboratory rooms of GSNSs and with those
      in the research rooms of GSSSs. For certain VOCs, outdoor sources were also a
      major contributor to the personal exposure of both GSNSs and GSSSs. The
      multivariate models identified five factors that accounted for 81% of the total
      variance and four factors that explained 76% of the total variance. It was
      further suggested that multiple indoor sources in research rooms such as office
      equipment, building finishing materials, and air fresheners were the main source
      for the personal exposure to VOCs for GSNSs, whereas building finishing materials
      were the main source for GSSSs.

PMID- 20933255
TI  - Identification of patient groups at highest risk from traditional approach to
      ovarian cancer treatment.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Define subgroups of patients at highest risk for major morbidity and
      mortality after a traditional approach of maximal surgical efforts followed by
      chemotherapy for advanced ovarian cancer (AOC). METHODS: Preoperative health,
      intra-operative findings and outcomes were assessed in consecutive patients with
      primary AOC from 4 centers. Initial tumor dissemination was stratified into 3
      groups based on volume of disease. Surgery was categorized using a previously
      described surgical complexity score (SCS). Statistical analysis was directed
      toward validating a multivariable risk-adjusted model. RESULTS: 576 patients with
      stage IIIC (N=447, 77.6%) or IV AOC (N=129, 22.4%) were analyzed. Age (HR (per
      year): 1.02; 95%CI: 1.01-1.03), high tumor dissemination (HTD) (HR: 1.73; 95%CI:
      1.19-2.56), residual disease (RD) >1 cm (HR: 2.46; 95%CI: 1.74-3.53), and stage
      IV (HR: 1.93; 95% CI: 1.51-2.45), independently correlated with OS. We identified
      a small subgroup of patients who comprised a high-risk group (N=38, 6.6%)
      characterized by all of the following characteristics: high initial tumor
      dissemination (HTD) or stage IV plus poor performance or nutritional status plus
      age >= 75. In this group, high SCS to achieve low RD was associated with
      morbidity of 63.6% and limited survival benefit. CONCLUSIONS: Optimal management
      of AOC requires accurate, risk-adjusted predictors of outcomes allowing a
      tailored approach starting with primary therapy. Complex surgical procedures to
      render low RD improve survival, and in the majority of cases, the benefits of
      such surgery appear to outweigh the morbidity. However careful analysis
      identifies a subgroup of patients in whom an alternative approach may be the
      better strategy.

PMID- 20933256
TI  - Effect of birch pollen-specific immunotherapy on birch pollen-related hazelnut
      allergy.

PMID- 20933257
TI  - Identification of an infant with severe combined immunodeficiency by newborn
      screening.

PMID- 20933258
TI  - BCG vaccination and allergy: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is conflicting evidence on whether BCG vaccination might
      represent an effective primary preventative strategy against the development of
      allergic sensitization and disease. OBJECTIVES: We sought to systematically
      review the relationship between BCG vaccination and the risk of sensitization,
      eczema/atopic dermatitis, allergic rhinoconjunctivitis, asthma, and other
      allergic conditions, such as food allergy and anaphylaxis. METHODS: Four
      international databases were searched for published epidemiologic or
      interventional studies. Additional online study databases were searched and
      vaccine manufacturers and a panel of international experts were contacted in an
      attempt to locate unpublished or ongoing studies. Quality assessment was
      undertaken by using internationally established criteria. Meta-analyses were
      undertaken by using fixed- or random-effects modeling. Funnel plots were used to
      assess for the risk of publication bias. RESULTS: We identified 767 articles, of
      which 17 satisfied our inclusion criteria; there was only 1 randomized controlled
      trial, with the remaining studies being epidemiologic investigations. Meta
      analyses did not show any protective effect of vaccination against the risk of
      sensitization, as judged by specific IgE tests (odds ratio [OR], 1.31; 95% CI,
      1.07-1.60) or skin prick testing (OR, 0.87; 95% CI, 0.67-1.13); the risk of
      atopic eczema/dermatitis (OR, 0.84; 95% CI, 0.64-1.09); or the risk of allergic
      rhinoconjunctivitis (OR, 1.07; 95% CI, 0.89-1.28). BCG vaccination was associated
      with a protective effect against the risk of asthma (OR, 0.73; 95% CI, 0.56
      0.95), although this might be explained by publication bias. CONCLUSIONS: BCG
      vaccination is unlikely to be associated with protection against the risk of
      allergic sensitization and disease. The observed possible benefit in relation to
      the development of asthma is unlikely to be due to allergic sensitization.

PMID- 20933260
TI  - Expression of functional receptor activity modifying protein 1 by airway
      epithelial cells with dysregulation in asthma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Epithelial cell expression of calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP)
      is a feature of provoked asthma. Receptor activity modifying protein 1 (RAMP1)
      and the calcitonin receptor-like receptor combine to form the CGRP1 receptor.
      OBJECTIVE: To determine whether functional RAMP1 is expressed by airway
      epithelial cells and whether there are alterations in asthma. METHODS: BEAS-2B
      and A549 cells lines were studied by RT-PCR, confocal microscopy, a quantitative
      immunofluorescence assay, and ELISA. Bronchial biopsies from normal subjects and
      subjects with asthma were examined by immunohistochemistry and in situ
      hybridization. RESULTS: Inflammatory cytokines induced CGRP release and CGRP mRNA
      in BEAS-2B and A549 epithelial cell lines. RAMP1 was highly expressed by resting,
      unstimulated BEAS-2B and A549 cells. CGRP induced internalization of RAMP1 and IL
      6 production, both of which were inhibited by the CGRP antagonist, CGRP(8-37).
      Activation of BEAS-2B and A549 cells by inflammatory cytokines induced CGRP
      secretion, binding of CGRP to RAMP1, and RAMP1 internalization, which was blocked
      by CGRP (8-37). RAMP1 immunoreactivity and RAMP1 mRNA expression in bronchial
      biopsies from subjects with asthma were significantly lower than in normal
      subjects (P = .002 and P = .007, respectively). Inhalational challenge of atopic
      subjects with asthma with allergen-derived peptides produced a significant
      decrease in the numbers of RAMP1-positive epithelial cells in responders (P =
      .027) but not nonresponders. CONCLUSION: Receptor activity modifying protein 1
      was expressed both by airway epithelial cells in culture and in bronchial
      biopsies from normal subjects and internalized after epithelial cell activation
      through autocrine feedback of CGRP. There is an apparent dysregulation of RAMP1
      in asthmatic epithelium, suggesting continuous stimulation of pathways involving
      CGRP.

PMID- 20933261
TI  - Imaging activity-dependent regulation of neurexin-neuroligin interactions using
      trans-synaptic enzymatic biotinylation.
AB  - The functions of trans-synaptic adhesion molecules, such as neurexin and
      neuroligin, have been difficult to study due to the lack of methods to directly
      detect their binding in living neurons. Here, we use biotin labeling of
      intercellular contacts (BLINC), a method for imaging protein interactions based
      on interaction-dependent biotinylation of a peptide by E. coli biotin ligase, to
      visualize neurexin-neuroligin trans-interactions at synapses and study their role
      in synapse development. We found that both developmental maturation and acute
      synaptic activity stimulate the growth of neurexin-neuroligin adhesion complexes
      via a combination of neurexin and neuroligin surface insertion and
      internalization arrest. Both mechanisms require NMDA receptor activity. We also
      discovered that disruption of activity-induced neurexin-neuroligin complex growth
      prevents recruitment of the AMPA receptor, a hallmark of mature synapses. Our
      results provide support for neurexin-neuroligin function in synapse maturation
      and introduce a general method to study intercellular protein-protein
      interactions.

PMID- 20933262
TI  - Capturing the peer context: common themes and synergies.

PMID- 20933264
TI  - Media power-for good and for ill.

PMID- 20933263
TI  - Use of mass media campaigns to change health behaviour.
AB  - Mass media campaigns are widely used to expose high proportions of large
      populations to messages through routine uses of existing media, such as
      television, radio, and newspapers. Exposure to such messages is, therefore,
      generally passive. Such campaigns are frequently competing with factors, such as
      pervasive product marketing, powerful social norms, and behaviours driven by
      addiction or habit. In this Review we discuss the outcomes of mass media
      campaigns in the context of various health-risk behaviours (eg, use of tobacco,
      alcohol, and other drugs, heart disease risk factors, sex-related behaviours,
      road safety, cancer screening and prevention, child survival, and organ or blood
      donation). We conclude that mass media campaigns can produce positive changes or
      prevent negative changes in health-related behaviours across large populations.
      We assess what contributes to these outcomes, such as concurrent availability of
      required services and products, availability of community-based programmes, and
      policies that support behaviour change. Finally, we propose areas for
      improvement, such as investment in longer better-funded campaigns to achieve
      adequate population exposure to media messages.

PMID- 20933265
TI  - Trace element concentrations in nesting flatback turtles (Natator depressus) from
      Curtis Island, Queensland, Australia.
AB  - The blood and eggs of the flatback turtle (Natator depressus) sampled when
      nesting at Curtis Island, Queensland, Australia. In the blood, zinc was present
      at the highest concentration of 151.15 +/- 1.45 MUg/L followed by copper (7.74 +/
      0.09 MUg/L). Lead was found only in some individuals. The measured trace
      elements in the blood were maternally transferred into the eggs. Other metals and
      metalloids detected in eggs were chromium, manganese, arsenic and selenium. Eggs
      showed a more complex trace element profile than blood, suggesting that they
      provided more representative tissues for determining maternal levels of trace
      element accumulation in N. depressus. Intra-clutch variation was over 15% for
      most of the studied trace elements suggesting one egg is not in sufficient to
      determine trace element accumulation within a clutch. Copper was the only element
      which was positively correlated with breeding age. Furthermore, no detectable
      levels of tin compound derivates were measured in N. depressus.

PMID- 20933266
TI  - An experimental approach to investigate mercury species transformations under
      redox oscillations in coastal sediments.
AB  - This work describes a laboratory experiment designed to unravel mercury species
      reactivity in superficial coastal sediments oscillating between oxic and anoxic
      conditions. The experimental set-up has been applied to a sediment slurry from
      the Arcachon Bay (France) to follow the evolution of both naturally occurring
      (i.e. endogenous) and isotopically enriched added mercury species (i.e.
      exogenous, 199IHg and 201MMHg) at environmental levels. The transformation and
      partition between the different phases (aqueous, solid and gaseous) of the
      endogenous and exogenous mercury species (inorganic Hg (IHg), monomethyl Hg
      (MMHg), elemental Hg (Hg0) and dimethyl Hg (DMHg)) have been investigated by
      isotopic speciation methods throughout the experiment. The results demonstrate
      that the experimental approach is able to promote sediment redox oscillations and
      to simultaneously follow the biogeochemical fate of naturally occurring or added
      mercury species. Experimentally driven redox transition events were found to
      significantly enhance the aqueous Hg species concentrations, while the MMHg
      burden is not greatly affected. Indeed, during the anoxic-oxic transition, while
      aqueous endogenous IHg and MMHg exhibited a two-fold increase, aqueous exogenous
      IHg and MMHg increased 7 and 4 times, respectively. Transient increases of the
      net IHg methylation were recorded during the redox transitions with the largest
      increase of the MMHg contents (factor 1.8) observed during the oxic-anoxic
      transition. High resolution in situ redox experiments have not been performed up
      to now, therefore the developed experimental set-up provides novel insights in
      both the influence of redox conditions on Hg methylation/demethylation and
      adsorption/desorption processes and kinetics in superficial sediments.

PMID- 20933267
TI  - The continuing evolution of biomaterials.

PMID- 20933268
TI  - The spreading, migration and proliferation of mouse mesenchymal stem cells
      cultured inside hyaluronic acid hydrogels.
AB  - Synthetic hydrogel scaffolds that can be used as culture systems that mimic the
      natural stem cell niche are of increased importance for stem cell biology and
      regenerative medicine. These artificial niches can be utilized to control the
      stem cell fate and will have potential applications for expanding/differentiating
      stem cells in vitro, delivering stem cells in vivo, as well as making tissue
      constructs. In this study, we synthesized hyaluronic acid (HA) hydrogels that
      could be degraded through a combination of cell-released enzymes and used them to
      culture mouse mesenchymal stem cells (mMSC). To form the hydrogels, HA was
      modified to contain acrylate groups and crosslinked through Michael addition
      chemistry using non-degradable, plasmin degradable or matrix metalloproteinase
      (MMP) degradable crosslinkers. Using this hydrogel we found that mMSC
      proliferation occurred in the absence of cell spreading, that mMSCs could only
      spread when both RGD and MMP degradation sites were present in the hydrogel and
      that mMSCs in hydrogels with high density of RGD (1000 MUm) spread and migrated
      faster and more extensively than in hydrogels with low density of RGD (100 MUm).

PMID- 20933269
TI  - Macrophage differentiation and polarization on a decellularized pericardial
      biomaterial.
AB  - The monocyte-derived macrophage (MDM), present at biomaterial implantations, can
      increase, decrease or redirect the inflammatory and subsequent wound healing
      process associated with the presence of a biomaterial. Understanding MDM
      responses to biomaterials is important for improved prediction and design of
      biomaterials for tissue engineering. This study analyzed the direct
      differentiation of monocytes on intact, native collagen. Human monocytes were
      differentiated on decellularized bovine pericardium (DBP), polydimethylsiloxane
      (PDMS) or polystyrene (TCPS) for 14 d. MDMs on all surfaces released high amounts
      of MMP-9 compared to MMP-2 and relatively little MMP-1. MDMs differentiated on
      DBP released more MMP-2, but less acid phosphatase activity. MDMs on all three
      surfaces released low amounts of cytokines, although substrate differences were
      found: MDMs on DBP released higher amounts of IL-6, IL-8, and MCP-1 but lower
      amounts of IL-10 and IL-1ra. This research provides evidence that MDMs on
      decellularized matrices may not be stimulated towards an activated, inflammatory
      phenotype, supporting the potential of decellularized matrices for tissue
      engineering. This study also demonstrated that the differentiation surface
      affects MDM phenotype and therefore study design of macrophage interactions with
      biomaterials should scrutinize the specific macrophage culture method utilized
      and its effects on macrophage phenotype.

PMID- 20933271
TI  - A multi-step method for preparation of porcine small intestinal submucosa (SIS).
AB  - Porcine small intestinal submucosa (SIS) has been widely used in repairing
      various tissues and organs. Despite this, some SIS products have the capacity to
      cause variable inflammatory responses after implantation resulting in severe
      adverse effects due to porcine cell existence. In this study, we described a
      multi-step method including mechanical disassociation, degrease, enzyme
      digestion, detergent treatment, freeze-drying and sterilization by irradiation
      for preparation of SIS. The efficacy of acellularization was evaluated by
      histological observation and the content of porcine immunoreceptor DAP12 gene.
      The change of growth factors contents within SIS accompanying with
      decellularization was quantitatively assessed by ELISA. Inflammatory reaction of
      SIS implanted subcutaneously in a rat was investigated. The histological
      examination revealed no remaining cells after enzyme digestion. Moreover, qPCR
      analysis demonstrated that the content of a porcine immunoreceptor gene DAP12 DNA
      in final SIS product (SISv) was only 1.05% of that in SIS samples (SISi) prepared
      by mechanical disassociation. Degrease with methanol/chloroform dramatically
      reduced the contents of VEGF, b-FGF, TGF-beta, and TNF-alpha within SISii, but
      further treatment could not significantly reduced the contents of growth factors.
      SIS implanted into rats showed that inflammatory cells was more accumulated
      surrounded to SISi at 1, and 2 weeks, but reduced in SISv samples. The degree of
      inflammatory reaction for SISv was significantly less than that of SISi.

PMID- 20933270
TI  - The surface immobilization of the neural adhesion molecule L1 on neural probes
      and its effect on neuronal density and gliosis at the probe/tissue interface.
AB  - Brain tissue inflammatory responses, including neuronal loss and gliosis at the
      neural electrode/tissue interface, limit the recording stability and longevity of
      neural probes. The neural adhesion molecule L1 specifically promotes neurite
      outgrowth and neuronal survival. In this study, we covalently immobilized L1 on
      the surface of silicon-based neural probes and compared the tissue response
      between L1 modified and non-modified probes implanted in the rat cortex after 1,
      4, and 8 weeks. The effect of L1 on neuronal health and survival, and glial cell
      reactions were evaluated with immunohistochemistry and quantitative image
      analysis. Similar to previous findings, persistent glial activation and
      significant decreases of neuronal and axonal densities were found at the vicinity
      of the non-modified probes. In contrast, the immediate area (100 MUm) around the
      L1 modified probe showed no loss of neuronal bodies and a significantly increased
      axonal density relative to background. In this same region, immunohistochemistry
      analyses show a significantly lower activation of microglia and reaction of
      astrocytes around the L1 modified probes when compared to the control probes.
      These improvements in tissue reaction induced by the L1 coating are likely to
      lead to improved functionality of the implanted neural electrodes during chronic
      recordings.

PMID- 20933272
TI  - The osteogenic differentiation of human osteoprogenitor cells on Anodic-Plasma
      Chemical treated Ti6Al7Nb.
AB  - Biological integration of an implant to surrounding bone is an important event
      for its clinical success and is driven by numerous factors, including the
      attraction of bone forming cells. The implant's surface properties influence the
      initial cell response at the cell/material interface, ultimately affecting the
      rate and quality of new tissue formation and the stability of the implant. As a
      consequence, various surface treatments have been developed to increase the
      clinical performance of titanium-based implants. Among them, the Anodic Plasma
      Chemical (APC) technique allows for the combined chemical and morphological
      modification of titanium surfaces in a single process step. In the present study,
      we compared the potential of APC surface treatment of high-strength titanium
      alloys with vacuum plasma spray treatment and yellow gold anodization in
      supporting osteogenic differentiation of two different osteoprogenitor cell
      types. Both human fetal osteoblast cell line (hFOB1.19) and human mesenchymal
      stromal cells showed extensive cell spreading, faster cell growth and
      differentiation on APC surfaces compared to vacuum plasma spray treated and
      yellow gold anodized surfaces. Our findings showed that APC titanium-based
      surfaces provided an effective substrate for osteoprogenitor cells adhesion,
      proliferation and differentiation.

PMID- 20933273
TI  - The influence of surface microroughness and hydrophilicity of titanium on the up
      regulation of TGFbeta/BMP signalling in osteoblasts.
AB  - The topography of titanium implants has been identified as an important factor
      affecting the osseointegration of surgically placed dental implants. Further
      modification to produce a hydrophilic microrough titanium implant surface has
      been shown to increase osseointegration compared with microrough topology alone.
      This study aimed to determine possible molecular mechanisms to explain this
      clinical observation by examining differences in the whole genome mRNA expression
      profile of primary human osteoblasts in response to sand-blasted acid-etched
      (SLA) and hydrophilic SLA (modSLA) titanium surfaces. A decrease in osteoblast
      proliferation associated with the titanium surfaces (modSLA > SLA > control)
      correlated with an increase in expression of the osteogenic differentiation
      markers BSPII and osteocalcin. Pathway analysis demonstrated that a number of
      genes associated with the TGFbeta-BMP signalling cascade (BMP2, BMP6, SP1,
      CREBBP, RBL2, TBS3, ACVR1 and ZFYVE16) were significantly differentially up
      regulated with culture on the modSLA surface. BMP2 was shown to have the largest
      fold change increase in expression which was subsequently confirmed at the
      protein level by ELISA. Several other genes associated with the functionally
      important mechanisms relevant to bone healing, such as Wnt signalling (CTNNA1,
      FBX4, FZD6), angiogenesis (KDR), osteoclastogenesis (HSF2, MCL1) and proteolysis
      (HEXB, TPP1), were also differentially regulated. These results suggest that
      chemical (hydrophilic) modification of the SLA surface may result in more
      successful osseointegration through BMP signalling.

PMID- 20933274
TI  - Development of an antibody proteomics system using a phage antibody library for
      efficient screening of biomarker proteins.
AB  - Proteomics-based analysis is currently the most promising approach for
      identifying biomarker proteins for use in drug development. However, many
      candidate biomarker proteins that are over- or under-expressed in diseased
      tissues are found by such a procedure. Thus, establishment of an efficient method
      for screening and validating the more valuable targets is urgently required.
      Here, we describe the development of an "antibody proteomics system" that
      facilitates the screening of biomarker proteins from many candidates by rapid
      preparation of cross-reacting antibodies using phage antibody library technology.
      Using two-dimensional differential in-gel electrophoresis analysis, 16 over
      expressed proteins from breast cancer cells were identified. Specifically,
      proteins were recovered from the gel pieces and a portion of each sample was used
      for mass spectrometry analysis. The remainder was immobilized onto a
      nitrocellulose membrane for antibody-expressing phage enrichment and selection.
      Using this procedure, antibody-expressing phages against each protein were
      successfully isolated within two weeks. The expression profiles of the identified
      proteins were then acquired by immunostaining of breast tumor tissue microarrays
      with the antibody-expressing phages. Using this approach, expression of Eph
      receptor A10, TRAIL-R2 and Cytokeratin 8 in breast tumor tissues were
      successfully validated. These results demonstrate the antibody proteomics system
      is an efficient method for screening tumor-related biomarker proteins.

PMID- 20933275
TI  - Delivery of plasmid DNA to vascular tissue in vivo using catheter balloons coated
      with polyelectrolyte multilayers.
AB  - We report an approach for the localized delivery of plasmid DNA to vascular
      tissue from the surfaces of inflatable embolectomy catheter balloons. Using a
      layer-by-layer approach, ultrathin multilayered polyelectrolyte films were
      fabricated on embolectomy catheter balloons by alternately adsorbing layers of a
      hydrolytically degradable poly(beta-amino ester) and plasmid DNA. Fluorescence
      microscopy revealed that the films coated the surfaces of the balloons uniformly.
      Coated balloons that were incubated in phosphate-buffered saline at 37  degrees C
      released ~25 MUg DNA/cm(2) over 24 h. Analysis of the DNA by gel electrophoresis
      showed that the DNA was released in open-circular ('nicked') and supercoiled
      conformations, and in vitro cell transfection assays confirmed that the released
      DNA was transcriptionally active. Arterial injury was induced in the left common,
      carotid arteries of Sprague-Dawley rats using uncoated balloons, followed by
      treatment with film-coated balloons for 20 min. X-gal, immunohistochemical, and
      immunofluorescence staining of sectioned arteries indicated high levels of beta
      galactosidase or enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) expression in arteries
      treated with film-coated balloons. beta-galactosidase and EGFP expression were
      observed throughout the medial layers of arterial tissue, and around
      approximately two-thirds of the circumference of the treated arteries. The layer
      by-layer approach reported here provides a general platform for the balloon
      mediated delivery of DNA to vascular tissue. Our results suggest the potential of
      this approach to deliver therapeutically relevant DNA to prevent complications
      such as intimal hyperplasia that arise after vascular interventions.

PMID- 20933276
TI  - Hyperbranched poly(NIPAM) polymers modified with antibiotics for the reduction of
      bacterial burden in infected human tissue engineered skin.
AB  - The escalating global incidence of bacterial infection, particularly in chronic
      wounds, is a problem that requires significant improvements to existing
      therapies. We have developed hyperbranched poly(NIPAM) polymers functionalized
      with the antibiotics Vancomycin and Polymyxin-B that are sensitive to the
      presence of bacteria in solution. Binding of bacteria to the polymers causes a
      conformational change, resulting in collapse of the polymers and the formation of
      insoluble polymer/bacteria complexes. We have applied these novel polymers to our
      tissue engineered human skin model of a burn wound infected with Pseudomonas
      aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus. When the polymers were removed from the
      infected skin, either in a polymer gel solution or in the form of hydrogel
      membranes, they removed bound bacteria, thus reducing the bacterial load in the
      infected skin model. These bacteria-binding polymers have many potential uses,
      including coatings for wound dressings.

PMID- 20933278
TI  - The correlation between gene expression of proinflammatory markers and bone
      formation during osseointegration with titanium implants.
AB  - An in vivo interfacial gene expression model combined with biomechanical analysis
      was used in order to determine the relationship between the molecular events
      taking place during osseointegration and the biomechanical stability of the
      implant. Anodically oxidized and machined, threaded titanium implants were
      characterized topographically, chemically and ultrastructurally. The implants
      were inserted in rat tibiae and the implant bone torsion stability was evaluated.
      After measurements, the implants were removed and analyzed with qPCR. Results
      showed an increase in the breakpoint torque of 140%, 170% and 190%, after 6, 14,
      and 28 days, respectively, at the oxidized implants as compared to the machined.
      Gene expression analysis revealed higher expression of runt related transcription
      factor-2 (Runx2) (after 28 d), osteocalcin (OC) and tartrate resistant acid
      phosphatase (TRAP) (after 6, 14 and 28 d) and cathepsin K (CATK) (after 6 and 14
      d) at the oxidized implants. On the other hand, machined implants were associated
      with higher expression of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) (after 6 and 28
      d) and interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta) (after 6, 14 and 28 d) compared to the
      oxidized implants. In conclusion, the favorable cellular and molecular events at
      the oxidized implants were in parallel with significantly stronger bone anchorage
      during osseointegration.

PMID- 20933279
TI  - Bone regeneration using a microstereolithography-produced customized
      poly(propylene fumarate)/diethyl fumarate photopolymer 3D scaffold incorporating
      BMP-2 loaded PLGA microspheres.
AB  - Bony defects have been three-dimensionally (3D) created in many clinical
      circumstances; however, many defects cannot be reconstructed because most of the
      current bony substitutes cannot provide the necessary exact 3D structure.
      Therefore, to overcome this limitation, a 3D scaffold with embedded growth factor
      delivering microspheres was developed by solid free-form fabrication (SFF)
      technology using computer-aided design/manufacturing (CAD/CAM). In this study,
      BMP-2-loaded poly(DL-lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) microspheres were
      incorporated into a 3D scaffold that was fabricated using a
      microstereolithography (MSTL) system with a suspension of microspheres and a
      poly(propylene fumarate) (PPF)/diethyl fumarate (DEF) photopolymer. By measuring
      release profiles in vitro, we verified that the fabricated microsphere-containing
      3D scaffold could gradually release growth factor. The effects of BMP-2 were also
      assessed in vitro by observing cell differentiation using MC3T3-E1 pre
      osteoblasts. Finally, we confirmed that SFF scaffolds created by MSTL were
      superior to traditional scaffolds produced using a particulate leaching/gas
      foaming method. In addition, based on in vivo tests, the scaffolds that released
      BMP-2 promoted bone formation. Based on these results, we concluded that our 3D
      scaffold might be a useful tool for enhancing reconstruction quality in many
      complex bony defects that should be reconstructed using a customized 3D scaffold.

PMID- 20933280
TI  - Water-dispersible multifunctional hybrid nanogels for combined curcumin and
      photothermal therapy.
AB  - We design a class of water-dispersible hybrid nanogels for intracellular delivery
      of hydrophobic curcumin. The core-shell structured hybrid nanogels were
      synthesized by coating the Ag/Au bimetallic nanoparticles (NPs) with a
      hydrophobic polystyrene (PS) gel layer as inner shell, and a subsequent thin
      hydrophilic nonlinear poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG)-based gel layer as outer shell.
      The uniqueness of these hybrid nanogels lies in the integration of the functional
      building blocks for combined curcumin and photothermal therapy to significantly
      improve the therapeutic efficacy. The Ag/Au core NPs cannot only emit strong
      fluorescence for imaging and monitoring at the cellular level, but also exhibit
      strong absorption in the near-infrared (NIR) region for photothermal conversion.
      While the inner PS gel layer is introduced to provide strong hydrophobic
      interactions with curcumin for high drug loading yields, the external nontoxic
      and thermo-responsive PEG analog gel layer is designed to trigger the release of
      the pre-loaded curcumin either by variation of surrounding temperature or
      exogenous irradiation with NIR light. Such designed multifunctional hybrid
      nanogels are well suited for in vivo studies and clinical trials, thereby likely
      to bring this promising natural medicine of curcumin to the forefront of
      therapeutic agents for cancers and other diseases.

PMID- 20933277
TI  - Stem cell homing in musculoskeletal injury.
AB  - The regenerative potential of injured adult tissue suggests the physiological
      existence of cells capable of participating in the reparative process. Recent
      studies indicate that stem-like cells residing in tissues contribute to tissue
      repair and are replenished by precursor bone marrow-derived cells. Mesenchymal
      stromal cells (MSC) are among the candidates for reparative cells. These cells
      can potentially be mobilized into the circulation in response to injury signals
      and exert their reparative effects at the site of injury. Current therapies for
      musculoskeletal injuries pose unavoidable risks which can impede full recovery.
      Trafficking of MSC to the injury site and their subsequent participation in the
      regenerative process is thought to be a natural healing response that can be
      imitated or augmented by enhancing the endogenous MSC pool with exogenously
      administered MSC. Therefore, a promising alternative to the existing strategies
      employed in the treatment of musculoskeletal injuries is to reinforce the
      inherent reparative capacity of the body by delivering MSC harvested from the
      patient's own tissues to the site of injury. The aim of this review is to inform
      the reader of studies that have evaluated the intrinsic homing and regenerative
      abilities of MSC, with particular emphasis on the repair of musculoskeletal
      injuries. Research that supports the direct use of MSC (without in vitro
      differentiation into tissue-specific cells) will also be reported. Based on
      accruing evidence that the natural healing mechanism involves the recruitment of
      MSC and their subsequent reparative actions at the site of injury, as well as
      documented therapeutic response after the exogenous administration of MSC, the
      feasibility of the emerging strategy of instant stem-cell therapy will be
      proposed.

PMID- 20933281
TI  - Placental surface shape, function, and effects of maternal and fetal vascular
      pathology.
AB  - GOAL: In clinical practice, variability of placental surface shape is common. We
      measure the average placental shape in a birth cohort and the effect deviations
      from the average have on placental functional efficiency. We test whether altered
      placental shape improves the specificity of histopathology diagnoses of maternal
      uteroplacental and fetoplacental vascular pathology for clinical outcomes.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: 1225 Placentas from a prospective cohort had chorionic
      plate digital photographs with perimeters marked at 1-2 cm intervals. After
      exclusions of pre-term (n = 202) and velamentous cord insertion (n = 44), 979
      (95.7%) placentas were analyzed. Median shape and mean perimeter were estimated.
      The relationship of fetal and placental weight was used as an index of placental
      efficiency termed "beta". The principal placental histopathology diagnoses of
      maternal uteroplacental and fetoplacental vascular pathologies were coded by
      review of individual lesion scores. Acute fetal inflammation was scored as a
      "negative control" pathology not expected to affect shape. ANOVA with Bonferroni
      tests for subgroup comparisons were used. RESULTS: The mean placental chorionic
      shape at term was round with a radius estimated at 9.1 cm. Increased variability
      of the placental shape was associated with lower placental functional efficiency.
      After stratifying on placental shape, the presence of either maternal
      uteroplacental or fetoplacental vascular pathology was significantly associated
      with lower placental efficiency only when shape was abnormal. CONCLUSIONS:
      Quantifying abnormality of placental shape is a meaningful clinical tool.
      Abnormal shapes are associated with reduced placental efficiency. We hypothesize
      that such shapes reflect deformations of placental vascular architecture, and
      that an abnormal placental shape serves as a marker of maternal uteroplacental
      and/or fetoplacental vascular pathology of sufficiently long standing to impact
      placental (and by extension, potentially fetal) development.

PMID- 20933282
TI  - Late relapse of acute myeloblastic leukemia as myeloid sarcoma causing
      radiculopathy.

PMID- 20933283
TI  - No mutation in the FOXP3 gene in acute leukemias.

PMID- 20933284
TI  - Metabolic and osmoregulatory changes and cell proliferation in gilthead sea bream
      (Sparus aurata) exposed to cadmium.
AB  - The impact of cadmium on metabolism and osmoregulation was assessed in gilthead
      sea bream (Sparus aurata). Seawater acclimated fish were injected
      intraperitoneally with a sublethal dose of cadmium (1.25 mg Cd/kg body wt). After
      7 days, half of the injected fish were sampled. The remaining fish were
      transferred to hypersaline water and sampled 4 days later. Gill and kidney
      Na(+)/K(+)-ATPase activities, plasma levels of cortisol, several metabolites and
      osmolytes, as well as osmolality were measured. Hepatosomatic index and condition
      factor were calculated. The expression levels of Na(+)/K(+)-ATPase, heat shock
      proteins (HSP70, HSP90) and proliferating cell nuclear antigen was assessed by
      western blotting. Cadmium treatment adversely affected the Na(+)/K(+)-ATPase
      activity, although, there was no perturbation in ion homeostasis and the animals
      were not compromised following transfer to hypersaline water. Increased cell
      proliferation and Hsp90 expression likely contributed to the attenuation of the
      deleterious effects of cadmium exposure.

PMID- 20933285
TI  - Stress response and potential biomarkers in spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.)
      seedlings exposed to soil lead.
AB  - Oxidative stress and biochemical responses of spinach seedlings to soil Pb stress
      were investigated by pot experiments. The seedlings were exposed to 0-500 mg kg(
      1) extraneous Pb. After 30 days of germination, production of O(2)(-), HSP 70,
      HSP 60, superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities, carbonyl groups and lipid
      peroxidation was significantly induced by soil Pb. After 50 days, HSP 70 and HSP
      60 decreased, and HSP 60 was significantly inhibited at 500 mg kg(-1). The
      results indicated that Pb probably induced oxidative stress and proteotoxicity to
      the seedlings through O(2)(-) accumulation, and that SOD, HSP 70 and HSP 60 were
      important defense mechanisms to alleviate the oxidative stress. It is found that
      O(2)(-), HSP 70 and HSP 60 were the most sensitive parameters and had the
      potential to act as biomarkers for early warning of soil Pb contamination.
      Concentrations of soil Pb, exposing time and combination of multiple parameters
      should be also taken into consideration when assessing soil Pb pollution by these
      biomarkers.

PMID- 20933286
TI  - Depressive symptoms in stroke patients: a 13 month follow-up study of patients
      referred to a rehabilitation unit.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although depression is known to be frequently associated with stroke,
      it is nonetheless underdiagnosed and under-treated in this patient population.
      Its effect on outcome for stroke patients is thought to be substantial, but
      prediction is complicated by other pre- and post stroke factors. The aims of this
      study was to describe changes in depressive symptoms in elderly stroke patients
      across a timespan of one year, to examine risk factor for such changes and to
      explore whether depressive symptoms have any independent impact upon one year
      mortality and nursing home placement. METHODS: 194 patients diagnosed with an
      ischaemic or hemorrhagic stroke was recruited from the Stroke Rehabilitation
      Unit, Ullevaal University Hospital, Oslo, Norway during the period between March
      2005 and August 2006 and followed up for a period of 13 months. Pre-stroke
      assessment was accomplished by means of the Informant Questionnaire on Cognitive
      Decline in the Elderly (IQCODE), the Frenchay Activities Index (FAI), the Barthel
      ADL Index and patient's medical history. Post-stroke assessment at inclusion and
      follow-up examination was performed with the Mini Mental State Examination
      (MMSE), the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status
      (RBANS), the Star Cancellation Test, the Barthel ADL Index, the modified Rankin
      Scale (mRS) and the National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS).
      Information was collected from the patients' records. RESULTS:
      Institutionalization at 13 months was predicted by more depression (MADRS) and
      cognitive impairment (RBANS) at baseline, together with lower pre-stroke social
      activity levels (FAI). Two factors predicted death at 13 months: Cognitive
      impairment (MMSE) and greater age. The prevalence of depression was relatively
      unchanged from baseline (56%) to 13 month follow-up (48%). Among the patients who
      were depressed at baseline 55% still had MADRS score above six (persistent
      depression) at 13 months, while 35% in the non-depressed group at baseline had
      developed depression (incident depression). Persistent depression was
      significantly predicted by lower pre-stroke social activity levels (FAI) together
      with a more severe stroke (NIHSS) and worse overall function (mRS) at baseline.
      Incident depression was predicted by receipt of municipal home help before the
      stroke and a lower score on the delayed memory tasks on RBANS at baseline.

PMID- 20933288
TI  - Fine Structure Processing improves speech perception as well as objective and
      subjective benefits in pediatric MED-EL COMBI 40+ users.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Presently, there are only few studies examining the benefits of fine
      structure information in coding strategies. Against this background, this study
      aims to assess the objective and subjective performance of children experienced
      with the C40+ cochlear implant using the CIS+ coding strategy who were upgraded
      to the OPUS 2 processor using FSP and HDCIS. METHODS: In this prospective study,
      60 children with more than 3.5 years of experience with the C40+ cochlear implant
      were upgraded to the OPUS 2 processor and fit and tested with HDCIS (Interval I).
      After 3 months of experience with HDCIS, they were fit with the FSP coding
      strategy (Interval II) and tested with all strategies (FSP, HDCIS, CIS+). After
      an additional 3-4 months, they were assessed on all three strategies and asked to
      choose their take-home strategy (Interval III). The children were tested using
      the Adaptive Auditory Speech Test which measures speech reception threshold (SRT)
      in quiet and noise at each test interval. The children were also asked to rate on
      a Visual Analogue Scale their satisfaction and coding strategy preference when
      listening to speech and a pop song. However, since not all tests could be
      performed at one single visit, some children were not able complete all tests at
      all intervals. RESULTS: At the study endpoint, speech in quiet showed a
      significant difference in SRT of 1.0 dB between FSP and HDCIS, with FSP
      performing better. FSP proved a better strategy compared with CIS+, showing lower
      SRT results of 5.2 dB. Speech in noise tests showed FSP to be significantly
      better than CIS+ by 0.7 dB, and HDCIS to be significantly better than CIS+ by 0.8
      dB. Both satisfaction and coding strategy preference ratings also revealed that
      FSP and HDCIS strategies were better than CIS+ strategy when listening to speech
      and music. FSP was better than HDCIS when listening to speech. CONCLUSIONS: This
      study demonstrates that long-term pediatric users of the COMBI 40+ are able to
      upgrade to a newer processor and coding strategy without compromising their
      listening performance and even improving their performance with FSP after a short
      time of experience.

PMID- 20933287
TI  - 2'-Hydroxycinnamaldehyde targets low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein
      1 to inhibit lipopolysaccharide-induced microglial activation.
AB  - 2'-Hydroxycinnamaldehyde (HCA) isolated from the stem bark of Cinnamomum cassia
      and its derivative 2'-benzoyloxycinnamaldehyde (BCA) were reported to have anti
      angiogenic, anti-proliferative, and anti-inflammatory effects in several human
      cancer cells and RAW 264.7 macrophage cells. However, effects of HCA/BCA on the
      neuroinflammation have not been investigated. In the present study, a potential
      anti-neuroinflammatory effect of HCA/BCA was assessed in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)
      stimulated microglial cultures and microglia/neuroblastoma cocultures. Nitric
      oxide production, inflammatory gene expression, and signaling pathways were
      investigated. HCA/BCA significantly decreased the production of nitric oxide and
      tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) in microglial cells. HCA/BCA also
      attenuated the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and pro
      inflammatory cytokines such as interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta) and TNF-alpha at mRNA
      level via blockade of ERK, JNK, p38 MAPK, and NF-kappaB activation. Moreover,
      HCA/BCA was neuroprotective by reducing microglia-mediated neuroblastoma cell
      death in a microglia-neuroblastoma co-culture. Affinity chromatography and LC
      MS/MS analysis identified low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein 1
      (LRP1) as a potential molecular target of HCA in microglial cells. Based on the
      studies using the receptor-associated protein (RAP) that blocks a ligand binding
      to LRP1 and the siRNA-mediated LRP1 gene silencing, we were able to conclude that
      HCA inhibited LPS-induced microglial activation via LRP1. Our results suggest
      that HCA/BCA be anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective in the CNS by targeting
      LRP1, and may have a therapeutic potential against neuroinflammatory diseases.

PMID- 20933289
TI  - Late life depression: challenge or curse for the general practitioner (GP). A
      cohort study.
AB  - The aim of this study was to examine specificity of GP's care for elderly
      depressed patients. Among 17,000 examinees (10 GP-Offices) were extracted 231
      patients with diagnosis of depressive episode (F32) and 152 with diagnosis of
      recurrent depressive disorder (F33) classified according to ICD-10. Older than 65
      years were 134 depressed patients. Data were tracked longitudinally and obtained
      retrospectively for a 1-year period from 1st January to 31st December 2008.
      Questionnaire was designed for this study to estimate the care delivered to
      depressed patients. Logistic regression analysis showed that GP more often
      diagnosed depression in older patients, provided medical care for them and
      changed their therapy. The main therapy for up to 80% of elderly with diagnosis
      of recurrent depressive disorder was combination of pharmacotherapy and GP's
      support and psychiatrist psychotherapy, while more than 20% of elderly with
      diagnosis of depressive episode took only pharmacotherapy. In comparison with
      younger age group, elderly less frequently received psychotherapy and GP's
      support. GP has an important role in older depressed patient care, so improvement
      efforts could focus on GP's clinical skills of depression treatment, as well as
      therapy effectiveness and depression outcome for understanding treatment
      specificity within elderly.

PMID- 20933290
TI  - In-stent restenosis complicating stenting for iatrogenic stenosis of the left
      main, post aortic valve replacement: successful treatment with restenting.

PMID- 20933291
TI  - Chromosome engineering: power tools for plant genetics.
AB  - The term "chromosome engineering" describes technologies in which chromosomes are
      manipulated to change their mode of genetic inheritance. This review examines
      recent innovations in chromosome engineering that promise to greatly increase the
      efficiency of plant breeding. Haploid Arabidopsis thaliana have been produced by
      altering the kinetochore protein CENH3, yielding instant homozygous lines.
      Haploid production will facilitate reverse breeding, a method that downregulates
      recombination to ensure progeny contain intact parental chromosomes. Another
      chromosome engineering success is the conversion of meiosis into mitosis, which
      produces diploid gametes that are clones of the parent plant. This is a key step
      in apomixis (asexual reproduction through seeds) and could help to preserve
      hybrid vigor in the future. New homologous recombination methods in plants will
      potentiate many chromosome engineering applications.

PMID- 20933292
TI  - Selection of indigenous Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains for Nero d'Avola wine
      and evaluation of selected starter implantation in pilot fermentation.
AB  - The present research studied Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeasts isolated from Nero
      d'Avola grapes, collected in different areas of the Sicily region. RAPD-PCR
      analysis with M13 primer was used for preliminary discrimination among 341 S.
      cerevisiae isolates. Inoculated fermentations with S. cerevisiae strains,
      exhibiting different RAPD-PCR fingerprinting, revealed the impact of selected
      strains on volatile compound concentration. Two selected strains were used in
      fermentation at cellar level and the restriction analysis of mtDNA on yeast
      colonies isolated during fermentation was used to control strain implantation.
      This study represents an important step to establish a collection of indigenous
      S. cerevisiae strains isolated from a unique environment, such as Nero d'Avola
      vineyards. Different starter implantation throughout inoculated fermentation
      represents an additional character, which might be considered during the
      selection program for wine starter cultures.

PMID- 20933293
TI  - Diabetes awareness in general population in Cameroon.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A good knowledge about diabetes could lead to early diagnosis and
      improved management. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the level of diabetes awareness in
      Cameroonians, and to identify factors that influence this awareness. METHODS: In
      subjects aged >= 25 years (n=1000, 93.4% of response), details regarding risk
      factors, symptoms, treatment and complications of type 2 diabetes were collected.
      One mark was attributed to each true answer and a global diabetes awareness score
      was computed. Influence of age, gender, educational level, occupational level,
      notion of a relative having a chronic condition and presence of chronic disease
      were analyzed. RESULTS: Eighty percent of subjects scored more than the total
      mean score. The highest score obtained by participants (0.10%) was 28/30. The
      mean total score was higher in men (p < 0.02) and in subjects with a relative
      having a chronic condition (p < 0.001). In multivariate analyses, age classes (p
      < 0.01), educational level (p < 0.001) and relatives with a chronic condition (p
      < 0.001) were associated to the global diabetes awareness score. CONCLUSIONS:
      Diabetes awareness was generally good. This may be due to the fact that the study
      was conducted in an area where health promotion and health education on diabetes
      have been intensively delivered for the past 4 years.

PMID- 20933294
TI  - Directed differentiation of murine-induced pluripotent stem cells to functional
      hepatocyte-like cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND & AIMS: Induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells exert phenotypic and
      functional characteristics of embryonic stem cells even though the gene
      expression pattern is not completely identical. Therefore, it is important to
      develop procedures which are specifically oriented to induce iPS cell
      differentiation. METHODS: In this study, we describe the differentiation of mouse
      iPS cells to hepatocyte-like cells, following a directed differentiation
      procedure that mimics embryonic and fetal liver development. The sequential
      differentiation was monitored by real-time PCR, immunostaining, and functional
      assays. RESULTS: By sequential stimulation with cytokines known to play a role in
      liver development, iPS cells were specified to primitive
      streak/mesendoderm/definitive endoderm. They were then differentiated into two
      types of cells: those with hepatoblast features and those with hepatocyte
      characteristics. Differentiated hepatocyte-like cells showed functional
      properties of hepatocytes, such as albumin secretion, glycogen storage, urea
      production, and inducible cytochrome activity. Aside from hepatocyte-like cells,
      mesodermal cells displaying some characteristics of liver sinusoidal endothelium
      and stellate cells were also detected. CONCLUSIONS: These data demonstrate that a
      protocol, modeled on embryonic liver development, can induce hepatic
      differentiation of mouse iPS cells, generating a population of cells with mature
      hepatic phenotype.

PMID- 20933295
TI  - Mammogram retrieval on similar mass lesions.
AB  - Enormous numbers of digital mammograms have been produced in hospitals and breast
      screening centers. To exploit those valuable resources in aiding diagnoses and
      research, content-based mammogram retrieval systems are required to effectively
      access the mammogram databases. This paper presents a content-based mammogram
      retrieval system, which allows medical professionals to seek mass lesions that
      are pathologically similar to a given example. In this retrieval system, shape
      and margin features of mass lesions are extracted to represent the
      characteristics of mammographic lesions. To compare the similarity between the
      query example and any lesion within the databases, this study proposes a
      similarity measure scheme which involves the hierarchical arrangement of
      mammographic features and a weighting distance measure. This makes similarity
      measure of the retrieval system consistent with the way radiologists observe mass
      lesions. This study used the DDSM dataset to evaluate the effectiveness of the
      extracted shape feature and margin feature, respectively. Experimental results
      demonstrate that, when Zernike moments are used, round-shape masses are the most
      discriminative among four types of shape; the circumscribed-margin masses can be
      effectively discriminated among the four types of margins. Moreover, the result
      also shows that, when retrieving round-shape and circumscribed margin masses,
      this retrieval system can achieve the highest precision among all mass lesion
      types.

PMID- 20933296
TI  - The protective role of selenium in recalcitrant Acer saccharium L. seeds
      subjected to desiccation.
AB  - Freshly harvested silver maple (Acer saccharinum L.) seeds were soaked in either
      sodium selenite (10mg/L) or water for 6h. After washing and air drying, seeds
      were desiccated at 22 degrees C at a RH of 45-50% to comparable water levels from
      50 to 12%. Germination capacity was significantly higher in seeds treated with
      selenium and desiccated [from 50 to 40, 35 and 30% of water content (WC)] than in
      water-soaked seeds. At 20% WC, the seeds from both treatments had low viability
      (approximately 20%). The electrolyte leakage and the MDA content were
      significantly lower in the embryonic axes of seeds soaked in selenite than in
      seeds soaked in water. We also found that the activity of glutathione peroxidase
      (GPX) of embryonic axes from selenium-treated seeds that were not desiccated, or
      from seeds that were desiccated to 40 and 35% WC, was significantly higher than
      that of non-treated axes. No difference in GPX activity was detected in
      cotyledons. This was confirmed by activity staining of GPX after native PAGE of
      proteins extracted from embryonic axes and cotyledons. An increase in glutathione
      reductase (GR) activity was also observed in embryonic axes of seeds treated with
      selenium and dried to 35 and 30% WC compared to non-treated samples. Selenium
      appeared to have no such effect on cotyledons.

PMID- 20933297
TI  - Salicylic acid treatment of pea seeds induces its de novo synthesis.
AB  - Salicylic acid (SA), which is known as a signal molecule in the induction of
      defense mechanisms in plants, could be a promising compound for the reduction of
      stress sensitivity. The aim of the present work was to investigate the
      distribution of SA in young pea (Pisum sativum L.) seedlings grown from seeds
      soaked in (3)H-labeled SA solution before sowing, and to study the physiological
      changes induced by this seed treatment. The most pronounced changes in SA levels
      occurred in the epicotyl and the seeds. Radioactivity was detected only in the
      bound form of SA, the majority of which was localized in the seeds, and only a
      very low level of radioactivity was detected in the epicotyl. SA pre-treatment
      increased the expression of the chorismate synthase and isochorismate synthase
      genes in the epicotyl. Pre-soaking the seeds in SA increased the activities of
      some antioxidant enzymes, namely ascorbate peroxidase (EC 1.11.1.11) and guaiacol
      peroxidase (EC 1.11.1.7) and the level of ortho-hydroxycinnamic acid, but
      decreased the level of polyamines. These results suggest that the increased level
      of free and bound SA detected in plants growing from seeds soaked in SA solution
      before sowing is the product of de novo synthesis, rather than having been taken
      up and mobilized by the plants.

PMID- 20933298
TI  - Gene expression of monodehydroascorbate reductase and dehydroascorbate reductase
      during fruit ripening and in response to environmental stresses in acerola
      (Malpighia glabra).
AB  - Acerola (Malpighia glabra) is an exotic fruit cultivated primarily for its
      abundant ascorbic acid (AsA) content. The molecular mechanisms that regulate the
      metabolism of AsA in acerola have yet to be defined. Monodehydroascorbate
      reductase (MDHAR) and dehydroascorbate reductase (DHAR) are key enzymes of the
      ascorbate-glutathione cycle that maintain reduced pools of ascorbic acid and
      serve as important antioxidants. cDNAs encoding MDHAR and DHAR were isolated from
      acerola using RT-PCR and RACE. Phylogenetic trees associated acerola MDHAR and
      DHAR with other plant cytosolic MDHARs and DHARs. Expressions of the two genes
      correlated with their enzymatic activities and were differentially regulated
      during fruit ripening. Interestingly, MDHAR expression was only detected in
      overripe fruits, whereas the transcript level of DHAR was highest at the
      intermediate stage of fruit ripening. Under dark conditions, there was a sharp
      and significant decline in the total and reduced ascorbate contents, accompanied
      by a decrease in the level of transcripts and enzyme activities of the two genes
      in acerola leaves. MDHAR and DHAR transcripts and enzyme activities were
      significantly up-regulated in the leaves of acerola under cold and salt stress
      conditions, indicating that expression of both genes are transcriptionally
      regulated under these stresses.

PMID- 20933299
TI  - Treatment of pachydermoperiostosis pachydermia with botulinum toxin type A.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pachydermoperiostosis (PDP) is a rare hereditary disorder
      characterized by digital clubbing, periostosis, and pachydermia. Pachydermia
      results in leonine facies, a major cause of cosmetic and functional morbidity in
      these patients. Its treatment is usually surgical. So far, no medical treatment
      has been suggested to alleviate this morbidity. OBJECTIVE: We sought to assess
      the role of botulinum toxin type A (BTX-A) in improving the cosmetic appearance
      of pachydermia in patients with PDP. METHODS: Three patients with PDP were
      treated with BTX-A for their leonine facies. A total of 70 to 80 U were used to
      treat the upper third of the face. Photographs were taken at baseline and at 2
      and 6 weeks after the injections. The patients were followed up periodically for
      at least 6 months. Wrinkle severity was assessed at relaxation using the 4-point
      facial wrinkle scale at baseline, week 6, and month 6. In addition, a subjective
      assessment of the improvement of the extent and depth of the facial
      rhytides/furrows over the upper third of the face was performed by the same
      investigator at week 6 and month 6. RESULTS: Using the subjective assessment of
      the improvement of wrinkles, all 3 patients exhibited a fair to excellent
      response at week 6 that started manifesting 1 week after the BTX-A treatment. All
      patients demonstrated a residual effect 6 months after the treatment. One patient
      exhibited a mild exacerbation of his ptosis. LIMITATIONS: Major limitations were
      the small number of patients and the administration of BTX-A injections and
      assessment of their response by a single unblinded physician. CONCLUSION: BTX-A
      is a simple procedure that may be of value in temporarily improving the cosmetic
      appearance of pachydermia in patients with PDP.

PMID- 20933300
TI  - Use of complementary and alternative medicine among adults with skin disease:
      updated results from a national survey.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In the United States, complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is
      used for a variety of diseases, including those of the skin. An estimate of the
      prevalence of CAM use among adults with skin disease using the alternative health
      supplement of the 2002 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) has been
      published. OBJECTIVE: We sought to analyze the 2007 NHIS data to update the
      prevalence of CAM use among adults with skin disease in the United States.
      METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional survey using the 2007 alternative health
      supplement of the NHIS. RESULTS: Among those reporting skin problems in the past
      year, 84.5% (95% confidence interval 76.9-92.0) used CAM. Only 1.1% of this group
      (95% confidence interval 0.7-1.6) used CAM specifically for skin disease.
      Adjusting for race, sex, income, education level, and region, those reporting
      skin problems were more likely to use CAM than those who did not report skin
      problems (adjusted odds ratio 2.5, P <= .002, 95% confidence interval 1.4-4.4).
      Vitamin/mineral and herbal supplements were the most common CAM modalities used
      among those with skin disease in general, and among those who used CAM
      specifically for skin problems. LIMITATIONS: As this is not a dermatology-focused
      database, the definition of skin disease is limited. It was not possible to
      comment on trends between the 2002 and 2007 data because the 2007 survey was
      significantly changed. CONCLUSION: CAM use among adults with skin problems in the
      United States continues to be common. Addition of a specific dermatology
      supplement to a future NHIS survey would allow for population-based estimates not
      only of CAM use but of associations with other comorbid conditions among adults
      with skin disease in the United States.

PMID- 20933301
TI  - Benefit-risk analysis of adalimumab versus methotrexate and placebo in the
      treatment of moderate to severe psoriasis: comparison of adverse event-free
      response days in the CHAMPION trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Comparative Study of Humira versus Methotrexate (MTX) versus
      Placebo in Psoriasis Patients (CHAMPION) demonstrated superior efficacy of
      biologic over conventional systemic immunosuppressant therapy in psoriasis.
      OBJECTIVE: We sought to compare the risk-benefit profile of adalimumab (ADA),
      MTX, and placebo using data from CHAMPION. METHODS: Patients randomized to ADA (n
      = 107), MTX (n = 110), or placebo (n = 53) were followed up for 16 weeks.
      Response (>=75% improvement in Psoriasis Area and Severity Index), days free of
      adverse events (AEs), moderate to severe AEs, infection-related AEs, and study
      drug-related AEs were analyzed. RESULTS: ADA treatment was associated with
      substantially more days (SD) of AE-free response compared with MTX or placebo
      treatment, respectively: 36.9 (31.1) versus 8.3 (15.9) or 6.7 (18.1) days of
      response free of any AEs, 43.8 (31.9) versus 11.1 (19.9) or 7.9 (19.9) days of
      response free of moderate to severe AEs, 48.5 (29.2) versus 12.4 (21.7) or 9.2
      (21.8) days of response free of infection-related AEs, and 44.6 (31.4) versus
      11.8 (21.1) or 10.0 (24.0) days free of study drug-related AEs (all P < .0001 for
      ADA vs MTX or placebo). LIMITATIONS: This clinical trial-based analysis may not
      have captured the full spectrum of AEs in the actual clinical setting. The short
      (16-week) duration of the trial limited the ability to capture some important but
      uncommon AEs associated with long-term ADA or MTX use. CONCLUSION: With 4 times
      as many AE-free response days, ADA demonstrated a superior benefit-risk profile.

PMID- 20933302
TI  - IgM in lesional skin of adults with Henoch-Schonlein purpura is an indication of
      renal involvement.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Henoch-Schonlein purpura (HSP) is a multisystem disease believed to
      be a consequence of the entrapment of circulating IgA-containing immune complexes
      in blood vessel walls throughout the skin, kidneys, and gastrointestinal tract.
      The skin manifestations are characterized by nonthrombocytopenic palpable purpura
      over the lower extremities. OBJECTIVE: We assessed adult patients with HSP who
      had nonthrombocytopenic palpable purpura on the extensor surfaces of their lower
      limbs, and had no associated connective tissue disease. Patient medical records,
      including clinical presentation, laboratory data, and direct immunofluorescence
      (DIF) reports, were reviewed retrospectively. METHODS: We reviewed the records of
      25 adult patients with HSP who presented at our department, between 2006 and
      2008, with an initial cutaneous manifestation of palpable purpura on their lower
      extremities. Adult HSP was defined in all cases as documented leukocytoclastic
      vasculitis according to a skin biopsy specimen, with histopathologic evidence of
      IgA deposition by DIF. Statistical analyses were performed using a chi(2) test to
      compare prevalence among each clinical manifestation. RESULTS: There was a
      significant correlation between IgM deposition by DIF and renal involvement
      (chi(2) = 5.23, P = .022). IgM deposition and complement 3 deposition by DIF
      showed a close relationship (chi(2) = 5.11, P = .024). There was a significant
      positive correlation between serum IgA and C-reactive protein levels (Spearman's
      rank correlation coefficient = 0.35, P = .044). LIMITATIONS: These findings
      should be validated in larger studies. Renal biopsies were not done to confirm
      the presence of nephritis. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that IgM deposition
      in palpable purpura based on DIF provides an indicator of nephritis in adult
      patients with HSP. We believe that IgM deposition could be related to the
      pathogenic factors that trigger the development of renal involvement.

PMID- 20933303
TI  - [Chronic liver failure: a clinical entity in need of researchers].

PMID- 20933304
TI  - Lead identification of conformationally restricted beta-lactam type
      combretastatin analogues: synthesis, antiproliferative activity and tubulin
      targeting effects.
AB  - The synthesis and study of the structure-activity relationships of a series of
      rigid analogues of combretastatin A-4 are described which contain the 1,4-diaryl
      2-azetidinone (beta-lactam) ring system in place of the usual ethylene bridge
      present in the natural combretastatin stilbene products. The 1,4-diaryl-2
      azetidinones are unsubstituted at C-3, or contain methyl substituent(s) at C-3.
      The most potent compounds 12d and 12e display antiproliferative activity at
      nanomolar concentrations when evaluated against the MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 human
      breast carcinoma cell lines. 12d exerts antimitotic effects through an inhibition
      of tubulin polymerisation and subsequent G2/M arrest of the cell cycle in human
      MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells, with similar activity to that of CA-4. These
      novel beta-lactam compounds are identified as potentially useful scaffolds for
      the further development of antitumour agents which target tubulin.

PMID- 20933305
TI  - Antimicrobial, antitumor and 5alpha-reductase inhibitor activities of some
      hydrazonoyl substituted pyrimidinones.
AB  - A series of 2-[N-aryl-2-oxo-2-(4-chlorophenyl)ethanehydrazonoyl]-6-methyl-4(3H)
      pyrimidinones 5 were prepared by coupling the diazonium salt of aniline
      derivatives with 2-(4-chlorobenzoylmethylene)-6-methyl-4(3H)-pyrimidinone 4 in
      sodium hydroxide solution. The structures of these newly synthesized compounds
      were confirmed by IR, NMR, mass spectrometry and elemental analyses and the
      tautomeric structure of these compounds was discussed. All the newly synthesized
      compounds were screened for their antibacterial and antifungal activities, some
      of which exhibited moderate activity. Also, the above compounds were evaluated
      for their antitumor activity against a panel of 60 human tumor cell lines by the
      National Cancer Institute (NCI), USA. Compounds 5b, 5d and 5i showed good
      cytotoxic activities against the tested cell lines. In addition, the newly
      synthesized compounds were screened for their 5alpha-reductase inhibitor activity
      and all the tested compounds showed activities in descending order as follows 5b,
      5c, 5g, 5j, 5d, 5h, 5f, 5e and 5i.

PMID- 20933306
TI  - Synthesis and in vitro antimicrobial evaluation of novel fluoroquinolone
      derivatives.
AB  - A series of 1-ethyl-6,8-difluoro-4-oxo-7(4-aryl piperazin-1-yl) 1,4-dihydro
      quinoline-3-carboxylic acid derivatives (6a-f) and 1-ethyl-6,8-difluoro-4-oxo-7(4
      piperidin-1-yl) 1,4-dihydro-quinoline-3-carboxylic acid derivatives (7a-e) were
      synthesized and evaluated for antibacterial and antifungal activities. The
      antimicrobial activities of the compounds were assessed by the microbroth
      dilution technique. The compounds were also evaluated for antifungal activity
      against Candida albicans (ATCC 90028) and Cryptococcous neoformans (ATCC 14116)
      pathogens. The preliminary in vitro evaluation studies revealed that some of the
      compounds have promising antimicrobial activities.

PMID- 20933307
TI  - Knowledge-based analysis of multi-potent G-protein coupled receptors ligands.
AB  - A large number of chemical structures that interact with G-protein coupled
      receptors (GPCRs) have been disclosed in patents or published papers. Most of
      these compounds are selective for a given protein target; however, it is well
      recognized that some GPCR-drugs interact with multiple targets. Using a
      literature database, we have identified compounds that act on different GPCRs.
      These protein targets are usually divided in three main classes, A, B and C,
      based on sequence similarity, but they can also be grouped pharmacologically
      based on endogenous ligand characteristics. In this paper, we specifically focus
      on compounds able to recognize two different classes or different pharmacological
      clusters within the same class. Despite the large number of GPCR ligands
      described in the literature, we identified a limited number of molecules acting
      on both classes A and B, only few acting on classes A and C and none acting on
      class B and C receptors. A search for bi- or multi-potent compounds exhibiting
      activities on different pharmacological clusters of class A receptors revealed
      cases of cross reactivity, the most frequent concerning amine and peptide
      receptor clusters.

PMID- 20933308
TI  - Synthesis and biological evaluation of 2-(3',4',5'-trimethoxybenzoyl)-3
      aryl/arylaminobenzo[b]thiophene derivatives as a novel class of antiproliferative
      agents.
AB  - The biological importance of microtubules in mitosis, as well as in interphase,
      makes them an interesting target for the development of anticancer agents. Small
      molecules such as benzo[b]thiophenes are attractive as inhibitors of tubulin
      polymerization. Thus, a new class of compounds that incorporated the structural
      motif of the 2-(3',4',5'-trimethoxybenzoyl)-3-aryl/arylamino benzo[b]thiophene
      molecular skeleton, with electron-donating (Me, OMe, SMe or OEt) or electron
      withdrawing (F and Cl) substituents on the B-ring, was synthesized and evaluated
      for antiproliferative activity, inhibition of tubulin polymerization and cell
      cycle effects. The most promising compound in this series was 2-(3',4',5'
      trimethoxybenzoyl)-3-(4'-ethoxyphenyl)-benzo[b]thiophene (4e), which
      significantly inhibited cancer cell growth at submicromolar concentrations,
      especially against HeLa and Jurkat cells, and interacted with tubulin. As
      determined by flow cytometric analysis, 4e caused G2/M phase arrest and apoptosis
      in a time- and concentration-dependent manner. The block in G2/M was correlated
      with increased expression of cyclin B1 and phosphorylation of cdc25c. Moreover,
      4e perturbed mitochondrial membrane potential and caused activation of caspase-3
      and cleavage of poly(ADP-rybose)polymerase (PARP), events that are involved in 4e
      induced apoptosis.

PMID- 20933309
TI  - [Neutrophilic dermatoses].
AB  - Neutrophilic dermatoses are inflammatory disorders where normal neutrophils
      infiltrate the skin without infection. Sweet's syndrome, pyoderma gangrenosum,
      subcorneal pustulosis, erythema elevatum diutinum and a few other conditions are
      included in the spectrum of neutrophilic dermatoses. In addition to their typical
      presentation, atypical and overlap forms of these disorders may be observed.
      According to the location of the neutrophilic infiltrate, three clinical forms
      are distinguished: superficial (epidermal), en plaques (dermal) and deep (dermal
      and hypodermal). During the disease course, other tissues can be affected by the
      same neutrophilic infiltrate. An association with other systemic diseases
      including malignant blood disorders, inflammatory bowel diseases and autoimmune
      disorders is frequent. The mechanisms leading to the invasion of the skin by
      neutrophils remains not completely elucidated. Treatment depends on the intensity
      and the acute or chronic form of the disease. In acute and severe forms, systemic
      corticosteroids are first-line therapy, whereas colchicine, dapsone, and even
      topical corticosteroids could be used in milder presentations of the disease.

PMID- 20933310
TI  - Experimental investigation and modelling of tritium washout by precipitation in
      the area of the nuclear power plant of Paks, Hungary.
AB  - Tritium occurs in nature in trace amounts, but its concentration is changing due
      to natural and artificial sources. Studies focusing on natural tritium have to
      take into account the effect of artificial sources. Also, the impact of tritium
      is an important issue in environmental protection, e.g. in connection with the
      emissions from nuclear power plants. The present work focuses on the rain washout
      of tritium emitted from the Paks nuclear power plant in Hungary. Rainwater
      collectors were placed around the plant and after a period of precipitation,
      rainwater was collected and analysed for tritium content. Samples were analysed
      using low-level liquid scintillation counting, with some also subject to the more
      accurate (3)He ingrowth method. The results clearly show the trace of the tritium
      plume emitted from the plant; however, values are only about one order of
      magnitude higher than environmental background levels. A washout model was
      devised to estimate the distribution of tritium around the plant. The model gives
      slightly higher concentrations than those measured in the field, but in general
      the agreement is satisfactory. The modelled values demonstrate that the effect of
      the plant on rainwater tritium levels is negligible over a distance of some
      kilometres.

PMID- 20933311
TI  - Views of Chinese women and health professionals about midwife-led care in China.
AB  - AIMS: To explore Chinese women's and health professionals' views of the first
      midwife-led normal birth unit in China to facilitate normal birth and enhance
      midwifery practice. METHOD: Data collection involved semi-structured interviews,
      questionnaires and cross-comparison with hospital data. The data were analysed
      thematically. SETTING: A university teaching hospital in a major city in eastern
      China. PARTICIPANTS: Purposive sample of 30 women, five midwives and five medical
      staff who accessed, provided or liaised with the midwife-led service. MAIN
      OUTCOME MEASURES: Participants' satisfaction, continuity of care/carers, choice
      and control. FINDINGS: Informants were positive about the unit, largely because
      the woman was supported by a midwife and a birth companion through the 'two-to
      one' model of care. DISCUSSION: The concept of 'two-to-one' care emerged as
      fundamental to women's experiences and utilisation of midwives' skills to promote
      normal birth. The high vaginal birth rate and the positive feelings reported
      suggest that this approach serves to empower women and promote physiological
      birth. CONCLUSION: Women appreciated the midwife-led service, which provides an
      environment where they are more likely to aim to give birth without intervention.
      This model of care is good for its association with increased satisfaction in a
      context of extraordinarily high caesarean rates. IMPLICATIONS: Midwife-led care
      can facilitate continuity of care and carer during birth. It offers women choice
      and control over many aspects of the birth. Further research is required to
      investigate factors important to women.

PMID- 20933312
TI  - New tabletop SEM-EDS-based approach for cost-efficient monitoring of airborne
      particulate matter.
AB  - Recent developments in scanning electron microscopy (SEM) have produced tabletop
      instruments capable of reasonable imaging resolution at less cost compared to
      conventional equipment. Combining the SEM with energy dispersive spectroscopy
      (EDS) allows the possibility of elemental analysis through detection of X-rays
      emitted from interaction between individual particles and the SEM electron beam,
      revealing their atomic composition. It's well known that exposure to inhalable
      particulate matter (PM) poses health risks and routine monitoring of the chemical
      content of these has been realized. Exposure information is of a general
      character but by combining the chemical build-up of monitored particles and
      knowledge of their inherent health effects will allow better risk assessment. An
      analysis technique using a tabletop SEM with EDS is demonstrated on particles
      collected onto nucleopore filters from urban, industrial and rural areas.
      Detailed characterization of the instruments analysis capabilities as applied to
      PM are described.

PMID- 20933313
TI  - Plant communities in relation to flooding and soil contamination in a lowland
      Rhine River floodplain.
AB  - Using canonical correspondence analysis (CCA), relationships were investigated
      between plant species composition and flooding characteristics, heavy metal
      contamination and soil properties in a lowland floodplain of the Rhine River.
      Floodplain elevation and yearly average flooding duration turned out to be more
      important for explaining variation in plant species composition than soil heavy
      metal contamination. Nevertheless, plant species richness and diversity showed a
      significant decrease with the level of contamination. As single heavy metal
      concentrations seemed mostly too low for causing phytotoxic effects in plants,
      this trend is possibly explained by additive effects of multiple contaminants or
      by the concomitant influences of contamination and non-chemical stressors like
      flooding. These results suggest that impacts of soil contamination on plants in
      floodplains could be larger than expected from mere soil concentrations. In
      general, these findings emphasize the relevance of analyzing effects of toxic
      substances in concert with the effects of other relevant stressors.

PMID- 20933314
TI  - How children and young people construct and negotiate living with medical
      technology.
AB  - Increasing numbers of children need the support of medical technology for their
      survival and wellbeing, yet little is known about their experiences of living
      technology-assisted lives. This study aimed to explore how this group of children
      experience and construct medical technology and its influence on their identity
      and social relationships. Using a Grounded Theory approach, 28 children/young
      people aged between 8 and 19 years old and using different types of medical
      devices were recruited via nursing services in England. Data were collected by in
      depth interviews conducted in children's homes. The medical technology occupied
      an ambivalent position in children's lives being seen as having both an enabling
      and disabling presence. Children actively engaged in work to incorporate the
      technology into their lives and bodies by developing strategies to manage their
      condition, the technology and their identities. This body work appeared to be
      driven by a desire to 'normalise' their bodies and their lives. Technologies were
      shaped to integrate them into everyday life and children managed their self
      presentation and controlled information about their condition. This work was
      ongoing, responding to changing social contexts and relationships. For these
      children the process of 'growing up' involves incorporating disability, illness
      and technology. This study contributes to knowledge by examining how medical
      technology is constructed by children whose lives are dependent on it and
      illuminating the resources and strategies they use to manage their identity and
      negotiate peer culture interactions and norms.

PMID- 20933315
TI  - Estimating the additional cost of disability: beyond budget standards.
AB  - Disabled people have long advocated for sufficient resources to live a life with
      the same rights and responsibilities as non-disabled people. Identifying the
      unique resource needs of disabled people relative to the population as a whole
      and understanding the source of these needs is critical for determining adequate
      levels of income support and for prioritising service provision. Previous
      attempts to identify the resources and costs associated with disability have
      tended to rely on surveys of current resource use. These approaches have been
      criticised as being inadequate for identifying the resources that would be
      required to achieve a similar standard of living to non-disabled people and for
      not using methods that are acceptable to and appropriate for the disabled
      community. The challenge is therefore to develop a methodology that accurately
      identifies these unique resource needs, uses an approach that is acceptable to
      the disabled community, enables all disabled people to participate, and
      distinguishes 'needs' from 'wants.' This paper describes and presents the
      rationale for a mixed methodology for identifying and prioritising the resource
      needs of disabled people. The project is a partnership effort between disabled
      researchers, a disability support organisation and academic researchers in New
      Zealand. The method integrates a social model of disability framework and an
      economic cost model using a budget standards approach to identify additional
      support, equipment, travel and time required to live an 'ordinary life' in the
      community. A survey is then used to validate the findings and identify
      information gaps and resource priorities of the community. Both the theoretical
      basis of the approach and the practical challenges of designing and implementing
      a methodology that is acceptable to the disabled community, service providers and
      funding agencies are discussed.

PMID- 20933316
TI  - Do patient autonomy preferences matter? Linking patient-centered care to patient
      physician relationships and health outcomes.
AB  - As health care systems seek to provide patient-centered care as a cornerstone of
      quality, the link between patient-centeredness and patient outcomes is a concern.
      Past research reveals inconsistent findings regarding the impact of patient
      centeredness on patient outcomes, and few studies have investigated the factors
      that moderate this relationship. Most studies have used self-rated outcomes on a
      cross-sectional basis, even though most patient care is inherently longitudinal.
      The current study extends past research by examining the theoretical and
      empirical relationships between patients' perceptions of autonomy support and
      autonomy preferences with regard to their health outcomes. We hypothesized that
      autonomy preferences moderate the positive relationships between perceived
      autonomy support and patient-physician relationships, and on self-rated and
      objective health outcomes such that the relationships are more positive when
      patient autonomy preferences are high. Data were collected 3 times over a one
      year period from a sample of 614 patients with type 2 diabetes in Taiwan. The
      results revealed strong support for the hypothesized relationships between
      perceived autonomy support and patient trust, satisfaction, and mental health
      related quality of life (HRQoL) after adjusting for baseline scores; however, the
      direct link between autonomy support and patients' glycemic control was not
      significant. Specifically, patients with high decisional preference experienced a
      greater increase in subsequent trust and satisfaction than patients with low
      decisional preference. Further, patients with high information preference had a
      higher level of satisfaction over time than patients with low information
      preference. In addition, it was found that perceived autonomy support improved
      both physical and mental HRQoL but only if combined with high levels of
      information preference. This study provides evidence of a contingency perspective
      of the relationship between patient autonomy support and outcomes. By recognizing
      the uniqueness of each patient's autonomy preferences, healthcare practitioners
      can increase the efficiency of patient-centered care and improve patient
      outcomes.

PMID- 20933317
TI  - Bimanual reaching across the hemispace: which hand is yoked to which?
AB  - When both hands perform concurrent goal-directed reaches, they become yoked to
      one another. To investigate the direction of this coupling (i.e., which hand is
      yoked to which), the temporal dynamics of bimanual reaches were compared with
      equivalent-amplitude unimanual reaches. These reaches were to target pairs
      located on either the left or right sides of space; meaning that in the bimanual
      condition, one hand's contralateral (more difficult) reach accompanied by the
      other hand's ipsilateral (easier) reach. By comparing which hand's difficult
      reach was improved more by the presence of the other hand's easier ipsilateral
      reach, we were able to demonstrate asymmetries in the coupling. When the cost of
      bimanual reaching was controlled for the contralateral reaching left hand's
      performance was improved, suggesting that the left hand is yoked to the right
      during motor output. In contrast, the right hand showed the greatest improvements
      for contralateral reaching in terms of reaction time, pointing toward a dominant
      role for the left hand in the processes prior to movement onset. The results may
      point toward a mechanism for integrating the unitary system of attention with
      bimanual coordination.

PMID- 20933318
TI  - [The face lift, a light, efficient and long lasting operation].
AB  - Since the Skoog's book, in 1974, the lifting was a sophisticated operation. But
      it was the necessary way! With the experience, we skept the aggressive actions,
      to keep only the essential. We don't use plication, as it's fair to do it today,
      but using an undermining and repositioning higher, allowing an effortless joining
      on the parotid fascia, giving a long lasting result. At the contrary, plication
      gives a joining, under permanent tension of fat lobules against fat lobules,
      friable tissue, so not reliable. This lifting is light because the skin
      undermining is virtual at the end of the process. It is efficient because the
      SMAS elevation is effortless. It is safe because the undermining is done in zone
      free of motor nervous branches (no paresia on over 2000 cases). It is long
      lasting because the joining is fascia against fascia, on a great surface. Today,
      the patients want a light operation, that's why the threads and aesthetic
      medicine have a large success. But, the lightest, the most efficient, the long
      lasting, the safest operation is the face-lift.

PMID- 20933320
TI  - Used battery collection in central Mexico: metal content, legislative/management
      situation and statistical analysis.
AB  - A statistical analysis of a used battery collection campaign in the state of
      Tlaxcala, Mexico, is presented. This included a study of the metal composition of
      spent batteries from formal and informal markets, and a critical discussion about
      the management of spent batteries in Mexico with respect to legislation. A six
      month collection campaign was statistically analyzed: 77% of the battery types
      were "AA" and 30% of the batteries were from the informal market. A substantial
      percentage (36%) of batteries had residual voltage in the range 1.2-1.4 V, and
      70% had more than 1.0 V; this may reflect underutilization. Metal content
      analysis and recovery experiments were performed with the five formal and four
      more frequent informal trademarks. The analysis of Hg, Cd and Pb showed there is
      no significant difference in content between formal and informal commercialized
      batteries. All of the analyzed trademarks were under the permissible limit levels
      of the proposed Mexican Official Norm (NOM) NMX-AA-104-SCFI-2006 and would be
      classified as not dangerous residues (can be thrown to the domestic rubbish);
      however, compared with the EU directive 2006/66/EC, 8 out of 9 of the selected
      battery trademarks would be rejected, since the Mexican Norm content limit is 20,
      7.5 and 5 fold higher in Hg, Cd and Pb, respectively, than the EU directive.
      These results outline the necessity for better regulatory criteria in the
      proposed Mexican NOM in order to minimize the impact on human health and the
      environment of this type of residues.

PMID- 20933319
TI  - Structure and reactivity of hexacoordinate hemoglobins.
AB  - The heme prosthetic group in hemoglobins is most often attached to the globin
      through coordination of either one or two histidine side chains. Those proteins
      with one histidine coordinating the heme iron are called "pentacoordinate"
      hemoglobins, a group represented by red blood cell hemoglobin and most other
      oxygen transporters. Those with two histidines are called "hexacoordinate
      hemoglobins", which have broad representation among eukaryotes. Coordination of
      the second histidine in hexacoordinate Hbs is reversible, allowing for binding of
      exogenous ligands like oxygen, carbon monoxide, and nitric oxide. Research over
      the past several years has produced a fairly detailed picture of the structure
      and biochemistry of hexacoordinate hemoglobins from several species including
      neuroglobin and cytoglobin in animals, and the nonsymbiotic hemoglobins in
      plants. However, a clear understanding of the physiological functions of these
      proteins remains an elusive goal.

PMID- 20933321
TI  - Performance of prostate cancer antigen 3 (PCA3) and prostate-specific antigen in
      Prescreened men: reproducibility and detection characteristics for prostate
      cancer patients with high PCA3 scores (>= 100).
AB  - BACKGROUND: Prostate cancer antigen 3 (PCA3) is considered to be prostate cancer
      (PCa) specific and highly overexpressed in cancer. Therefore a high PCA3 score
      should result in a high positive predictive value (PPV) and specificity for a
      positive biopsy. OBJECTIVE: Our aim was to reevaluate, retest PCA3, and rebiopsy
      men with an initial PCA3 >= 100 and no PCa detected and compare the results with
      a random cohort of men with an initial PCA3<100. DESIGN, SETTING, AND
      PARTICIPANTS: We invited men 63-75 yr of age with a PCA3 >=100 for retesting and
      a control group with an initial PCA3 < 100 to participate in the European
      Randomized Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer, section Rotterdam.
      INTERVENTIONS: Blood and urine sampling were used to determine prostate-specific
      antigen (PSA) and PCA3. Prostate biopsies were performed if the PSA was >=2.5
      ng/ml and/or the PCA3 score was >= 35. MEASUREMENTS: We correlated the initial
      and reevaluated PCA3 scores. Our assessment of the PPV after rebiopsy was based
      on the newly determined PCA3 score. RESULTS AND LIMITATIONS: After a mean study
      period of 19 mo, more cases of PCa were detected in rebiopsied men with initial
      PCA3 scores >= 100 than in the controls with PCA3 scores < 100 (30.0% vs 18.8%).
      Combining initial and rebiopsy data resulted in a PPV of 52.2% in men with PCA3
      >= 100. Over time, changes in PSA and PCA3 levels were quite different.
      CONCLUSIONS: In spite of our rescreened population, PPV and specificity were
      comparable with all reported studies of men with PCA3 scores >= 100. These
      findings do not explain why these PCA3 scores were excessively high in spite of
      the absence of biopsy-detectable PCa.

PMID- 20933322
TI  - Lymph node dissection at the time of radical nephrectomy for high-risk clear cell
      renal cell carcinoma: indications and recommendations for surgical templates.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Observational studies suggest a proportion of patients with lymph
      node metastases will benefit from lymph node dissection (LND) at the time of
      nephrectomy for clear cell renal cell carcinoma (RCC). OBJECTIVE: Our aim was to
      report the performance of five previously identified high-risk pathologic
      features assessed by intraoperative examination on prediction of lymph node
      metastases and propose a template for LND based on locations of lymph node
      involvement. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: The study included a historical
      cohort of consecutive patients from a single institution who received LND in
      conjunction with nephrectomy for high-risk clear cell RCC between 2002 and 2006.
      INTERVENTIONS: All patients underwent nephrectomy and LND. MEASUREMENTS: Patients
      were considered high risk for nodal metastasis if two or more of the following
      features were identified during intraoperative pathologic assessment of the
      primary tumor: nuclear grade 3 or 4, sarcomatoid component, tumor size >=10 cm,
      tumor stage pT3 or pT4, or coagulative tumor necrosis. Based on these features,
      LND was performed at the time of nephrectomy, and the numbers and sites of
      regional lymph node metastasis were recorded for each patient. RESULTS AND
      LIMITATIONS: Of the 169 high-risk patients, 64 (38%) had lymph node metastases.
      All patients with nodal metastases had nodal involvement within the primary
      lymphatic sites of each kidney prior to involvement of the nodes overlying the
      contralateral great vessel. A limitation of the study is the lack of a
      standardized LND performed throughout the study period. CONCLUSIONS: Pathologic
      features of renal tumors are associated with the risk of regional lymph node
      metastases and lymph node metastases that appear to progress though the primary
      lymphatic drainage of each kidney. Based on these findings we recommend that when
      performing LND the lymph nodes from the ipsilateral great vessel and the
      interaortocaval region be removed from the crus of the diaphragm to the common
      iliac artery.

PMID- 20933323
TI  - Adsorptive removal of methyl orange and methylene blue from aqueous solution with
      a metal-organic framework material, iron terephthalate (MOF-235).
AB  - An iron terephthalate (MOF-235), one of the metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), has
      been used for the removal of harmful dyes (anionic dye methyl orange (MO) and
      cationic dye methylene blue (MB)) from contaminated water via adsorption. The
      adsorption capacities of MOF-235 are much higher than those of an activated
      carbon. The performance of MOF-235 having high adsorption capacity is remarkable
      because the MOF-235 does not adsorb nitrogen at liquid nitrogen temperature.
      Based on this study, MOFs, even if they do not adsorb gases, can be suggested as
      potential adsorbents to remove harmful materials in the liquid phase. Adsorption
      of MO and MB at various temperatures shows that the adsorption is a spontaneous
      and endothermic process and that the entropy increases (the driving force of the
      adsorption) with adsorption of MO and MB.

PMID- 20933324
TI  - Alkylphenols and phthalates in bottled waters.
AB  - The aim of this study was to investigate the occurrence of endocrine disrupting
      compounds (EDCs) in bottled waters. The examined compounds were bisphenol A
      (BPA), nonylphenol (NP), tert-octylphenol (tOP), dimethyl phthalate (DMP),
      diethyl phthalate (DEP), di-n-butyl phthalate (DBP), butyl benzyl phthalate
      (BBP), di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (DEHP) and di(n-octyl)phthalate (DNOP). The
      presence of EDCs in bottled waters under poor storage conditions was also
      investigated after exposure outdoors under realistic conditions for 15 and 30
      days. EDCs were recovered after liquid-liquid extraction and determined by
      employing Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry. Most of these compounds were
      detected in bottled water from different brands purchased from local market.
      Storage at outdoor conditions had no significant effect on the concentrations of
      the examined compounds. Only BPA occurred at higher concentrations in
      polycarbonate containers exhibited an increasing trend during exposure. The
      estimated exposure to EDCs via consumption of drinking water was very low.

PMID- 20933325
TI  - Influence of phosphorus on Cu sorption kinetics: stirred flow chamber
      experiments.
AB  - A stirred flow reactor was used to study the influence of phosphorus on the
      adsorption and desorption kinetics of copper in two acid soils on granite and
      amphibolite. The presence of P was found to significantly increase Cu adsorption
      in both soils, albeit at different types of sites (mainly in slow adsorption
      sites in the soil on granite, and both in fast and slow adsorption sites in that
      on amphibolite). The increased Cu sorption at fast sites in the amphibolite soil
      was due to its high content in Fe oxyhydroxides, which bound P and released OH(-)
      as a result, thereby raising the pH and leading to a higher sorption capacity
      during fast reactions. On the other hand, the increased Cu sorption at slow
      adsorption sites was due to Cu(2+) acting as a bridging element between P and
      organic matter.

PMID- 20933326
TI  - Removal of Neutral Red from aqueous solution by adsorption on spent cottonseed
      hull substrate.
AB  - Cottonseed hull, a low-cost widely available agricultural waste in China, after
      used as substrate for the white rot fungus Pleurotus ostreatus cultivation, was
      tested for the removal of Neutral Red (NR), a cationic dye, from aqueous
      solution. A batch adsorption study was carried out with varied solution pH,
      adsorbent dosage, reaction time and initial NR concentration. The results show
      that the kinetics of dye removal by the spent cottonseed hull substrate (SCHS) is
      prompt in the first 5 min and the adsorption equilibrium can be attained after
      240 min. The biosorption kinetics and equilibrium follow typical pseudo-second
      order and Langmuir adsorption models. Thermodynamic parameters of DeltaG degrees
      , DeltaH degrees  and DeltaS degrees  show that the adsorption is a spontaneous
      and endothermic process. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy was used
      for the characterization of possible dye-biosorbent interaction. This study
      provides a facile method to produce low-cost biosorbent for the purification of
      dye contaminated water.

PMID- 20933327
TI  - Nitrification of industrial and domestic saline wastewaters in moving bed biofilm
      reactor and sequencing batch reactor.
AB  - Nitrification of saline wastewaters was investigated in bench-scale moving-bed
      biofilm reactors (MBBR). Wastewater from a chemical industry and domestic sewage,
      both treated by the activated sludge process, were fed to moving-bed reactors.
      The industrial wastewater contained 8000 mg Cl(-)/L and the salinity of the
      treated sewage was gradually increased until that level. Residual substances
      present in the treated industrial wastewater had a strong inhibitory effect on
      the nitrification process. Assays to determine inhibitory effects were performed
      with the industrial wastewater, which was submitted to ozonation and carbon
      adsorption pretreatments. The latter treatment was effective for dissolved
      organic carbon (DOC) removal and improved nitrification efficiency. Nitrification
      percentage of the treated domestic sewage was higher than 90% for all tested
      chloride concentrations up to 8000 mg/L. Results obtained in a sequencing batch
      reactor (SBR) were consistent with those attained in the MBBR systems, allowing
      tertiary nitrification and providing adequate conditions for adaptation of
      nitrifying microorganisms even under stressing and inhibitory conditions.

PMID- 20933328
TI  - Removal of metals from aqueous solution and sea water by functionalized graphite
      nanoplatelets based electrodes.
AB  - In the present wok, we have demonstrated the simultaneous removal of sodium and
      arsenic (pentavalent and trivalent) from aqueous solution using functionalized
      graphite nanoplatelets (f-GNP) based electrodes. In addition, these electrodes
      based water filter was used for multiple metals removal from sea water. Graphite
      nanoplatelets (GNP) were prepared by acid intercalation and thermal exfoliation.
      Functionalization of GNP was done by further acid treatment. Material was
      characterized by different characterization techniques. Performance of
      supercapacitor based water filter was analyzed for the removal of high
      concentration of arsenic (trivalent and pentavalent) and sodium as well as for
      desalination of sea water, using cyclic voltametry (CV) and inductive coupled
      plasma-optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) techniques. Adsorption isotherms
      and kinetic characteristics were studied for the simultaneous removal of sodium
      and arsenic (both trivalent and pentavalent). Maximum adsorption capacities of
      27, 29 and 32 mg/g for arsenate, arsenite and sodium were achieved in addition to
      good removal efficiency for sodium, magnesium, calcium and potassium from sea
      water.

PMID- 20933329
TI  - Cutaneous C-fiber nociceptor responses and nociceptive behaviors in aged Sprague
      Dawley rats.
AB  - The change with age in pain perception in humans and the nociceptive behaviors in
      animals elicited by noxious stimuli to the skin are not well understood, and
      little is known about the peripheral neural mechanisms of cutaneous nociception
      in the aged. We systematically examined cutaneous nociceptor responses and
      nociceptive behaviors in young (9-14 w) and in aged (127-138 w) Sprague-Dawley
      rats. C-fiber nociceptors in the skin were identified by mechanical and
      electrical stimulation, and extracellularly recorded from hind paw skin-saphenous
      nerve preparations in vitro. In the aged rats, the proportions of mechano
      responsive and/or heat-responsive C-nociceptors were significantly lower. The
      proportion of mechano- and thermo-insensitive units, on the other hand, was
      significantly increased. In addition, the response threshold to mechanical
      stimulus tended to be higher and the magnitude of the response tended to be
      smaller. There were no differences between the two age groups in the response
      magnitudes of mechano-responsive C-nociceptors to bradykinin, cold or heat.
      Repetitive electrical stimulation of afferent fibers revealed exaggerated slowing
      of conduction velocity in mechano-responsive C-fibers in the aged. This showed
      for the first time that not only receptive properties of afferent terminals but
      also membrane properties of conducting axons are changed in aged rats.
      Nociceptive behaviors in response to noxious levels of cold (cold plate test) and
      heat (Hargreaves' radiant heat test) were facilitated in aged animals, while
      mechanical sensitivity measured by von Frey hairs remained unchanged. These
      discrepancies between the changes in peripheral afferents and the behavioral
      outcomes might be explained by facilitatory changes in the central nervous
      system.

PMID- 20933330
TI  - Complementary and alternative medicine in chronic pain.

PMID- 20933331
TI  - Effect of hypnotic pain modulation on brain activity in patients with
      temporomandibular disorder pain.
AB  - Hypnosis modulates pain perception but the associated brain mechanisms in chronic
      pain conditions are poorly understood. Brain activity evoked by painful
      repetitive pin-prick stimulation of the left mental nerve region was investigated
      with use of fMRI in 19 patients with painful temporomandibular disorders (TMD)
      during hypnotic hypoalgesia and hyperalgesia and a control condition. Pain
      intensity and unpleasantness of the painful stimulation was scored on a 0-10
      Numerical Rating Scale (NRS). NRS pain and unpleasantness scores during hypnotic
      hypoalgesia were significantly lower than in the control condition and
      significantly higher in the hypnotic hyperalgesia condition. In the control
      condition, painful stimulation caused significant activation of right posterior
      insula, primary somatosensory cortex (SI), BA21, and BA6, and left BA40 and BA4.
      Painful stimulation during hypnotic hyperalgesia was associated with increased
      activity in right posterior insula and BA6 and left BA40 whereas hypnotic
      hypoalgesia only was associated with activity in right posterior insula.
      Unexpectedly, direct contrasts between control and hypnotic hyperalgesia
      conditions revealed significant decreases in S1 during hyperalgesia. Direct
      contrasts between control and hypnotic hypoalgesia conditions demonstrated
      significant decreases in right posterior insula and BA21, as well as left BA40
      during hypoalgesia. These findings are the first to describe hypnotic modulation
      of brain activity associated with nociceptive processing in chronic TMD pain
      patients and demonstrate that hypnotic hypoalgesia is associated with a
      pronounced suppression of cortical activity and a disconnection between patient
      based scores and cortical activity in S1 during hypnotic hyperalgesia.

PMID- 20933332
TI  - The effect of 1-octen-3-ol and 4-methylphenol on Culicoides midge numbers
      collected with suction light traps in South Africa.
AB  - Despite some shortcomings, suction light traps are the primary monitoring tool
      for the collection of Culicoides species (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae). Factors that
      may increase the efficiency of these traps need to be investigated. In the
      present study the numbers of Culicoides midges collected with two Onderstepoort
      black light traps baited with a mixture of 1-octen-3-ol and 4-methylphenol, as a
      potential olfactory cue, were compared to those of two unbaited traps.
      Comparisons were done in two and three replicates of a 4 * 4 randomized Latin
      square design in the presence and absence of cattle. The addition of 1-octen-3-ol
      and 4-methylphenol, released at 9.1 and 15.5mg/h, respectively, did not influence
      species richness, numbers collected, sex ratios or age-grading results.
      Comparisons of Culicoides numbers and especially the abundance of Culicoides
      imicola Kieffer in collections done in the presence and absence of cattle confirm
      previous findings that show that host animals will be the primary attraction for
      Culicoides midges and that light traps mostly sample midges already in the near
      vicinity of the host.

PMID- 20933333
TI  - Time-dependent changes to the tegumental system and gastrodermis of adult
      Fasciola hepatica following treatment in vivo with triclabendazole in the sheep
      host.
AB  - Eight indoor-reared cross-bred sheep with no pre-exposure to Fasciola hepatica
      were infected by oral gavage with 200 metacercarial cysts of the triclabendazole
      (TCBZ)-susceptible Cullompton isolate of F. hepatica. At 12 weeks post-infection,
      sheep were dosed with 10mg/kg triclabendazole. Two sheep per time period were
      euthanized at 48 h, 72 h and 96 h post-treatment (pt). Two control sheep were
      euthanized alongside the 96 h triclabendazole-treated sheep. Flukes were
      recovered from each of the sheeps liver and, if present, from the gall bladder
      and they were processed for transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Disruption to
      the ultrastructure of the tegument became increasingly severe over time pt.
      Flukes recovered at 48 h pt showed widespread blebbing of the apical plasma
      membrane and swelling of the mucopolysaccharide masses surrounding the basal
      infolds. There was evidence of reduced secretory activity in the tegumental cells
      and spacing between the cells. Sloughing of the tegumental syncytium was observed
      at 72 h pt. The subtegumental musculature, parenchyma and tegumental cells were
      severely disrupted. At 96 h pt, all of the flukes were totally devoid of
      tegument. Disruption to the subtegumental tissue and somatic musculature was
      severe, and was so extreme in some specimens that the tegumental cells were
      barely discernible. Disruption to the gastrodermis was also progressive, though
      not as severe as disruption to the tegument. There was a general decline of
      secretory activity with time pt. Autophagic activity was apparent from 48 h pt
      and became more widespread with increasing time, culminating in breakdown of the
      gastrodermal cell cytoplasm. The mitochondria were swollen and electron-lucent
      and the cisternae of the granular endoplasmic reticulum were dilated and
      fragmented from 72 h pt.

PMID- 20933334
TI  - Horse infection with intestinal helminths in relation to age, sex, access to
      grass and farm system.
AB  - A 11-year survey on helminth intestinal infection of horses was done in seven
      provinces of southern Poland. 21,641 faecal samples were collected from horses of
      different age, sex, breed and management system originating from 84 farms. Age
      was the major factor influencing the cyathostome egg excretion, the maximum being
      observed in yearlings and second year horses. Parascaris was found mostly in
      foals and yearlings. The main factor for Anoplocephala was the access to pasture.
      The level of cyathostome egg shedding (EPG) could be related to sex (geldings had
      higher values of EPG), breed (Thoroughbred had higher EPG than other breeds), and
      type of farm (large farms had higher EPG than others). The change during the
      survey of anthelmintic treatment (from benzimidazole or pyrantel embonate to
      avermectins) was associated with lower cyathostome EPG, and this was probably due
      to partial resistance to benzimidazole. The seasonality of egg shedding (lowest
      from November to January included) was due to management (leaving the pasture to
      stable, anthelmintic treatment in October). The influence of climate on EPG was
      significant but small, annual rainfalls and average temperature being associated
      negatively and positively, respectively, with high cyathostome EPG.

PMID- 20933335
TI  - Rapid identification and differentiation of Fasciola hepatica and Fasciola
      gigantica by a loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay.
AB  - The present study developed and validated a species-specific loop-mediated
      isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay for the rapid detection and discrimination
      of Fasciola hepatica and Fasciola gigantica. The LAMP assay is inexpensive, easy
      to perform and shows rapid reaction, wherein the amplification can be obtained in
      45 min under isothermal conditions of 61  degrees C or 62  degrees C by employing
      a set of four species-specific primer mixtures and results can be checked through
      naked-eye visualization. The optimal assay conditions with no cross-reaction with
      other closely related trematodes (Clonorchis sinensis, Opisthorchis viverrini,
      Orientobilharzia turkestanicum and Schistosoma japonicum) as well as within the
      two Fasciola species were established. The assay was validated by examining F.
      gigantica DNA in the intermediate host snails and in faecal samples. The results
      indicated that the LAMP assay is approximately 10(4) times more sensitive than
      the conventional specific PCR assays. These findings indicate that this Fasciola
      species-specific LAMP assay may have a potential clinical application for
      detection and differentiation of Fasciola species, especially in endemic
      countries.

PMID- 20933336
TI  - Brain-derived neurotrophic factor plasma variation during the different phases of
      the menstrual cycle in women with premenstrual syndrome.
AB  - Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) is characterized by a cluster of psychological and
      somatic symptoms that begin during the late luteal phase of the menstrual cycle
      and disappear after the onset of menses. Since PMS might be caused by an
      alteration in the cyclical hormonal modifications and ovarian steroids are
      directly involved in the regulation of mood, affective and cognitive functions
      and influence neurotrophins expression, in particular the brain-derived
      neurotrophic factor (BDNF), we aimed to evaluate whether plasma BDNF levels in
      women with PMS differ from those of normally menstruating women without PMS.
      Sixty-two women were divided into two groups: one group of women (n=35) with PMS
      and one group (n=27) composed by normally menstruating women. Plasma samples were
      collected at day 7 (follicular phase) and day 21 (luteal phase) of the menstrual
      cycle. Plasma BDNF of the control group significantly increased (p<0.001) from
      the follicular phase (402.90+/-74.41pg/ml) to the luteal phase (1098.79+/
      146.49pg/ml). On the other hand, in the PMS group plasma BDNF levels
      significantly decreased (p<0.001) from the follicular phase (412.45+/-78.35pg/ml)
      to the luteal phase (233.03+/-75.46pg/ml) Luteal BDNF levels of the PMS women
      were significantly lower than those of the control group (p<0.001). In women with
      PMS, plasma BDNF followed a decreasing trend during the ovarian cycle, in
      opposition to the increasing trend observed in women without PMS. The lower
      luteal BDNF levels of the PMS women might be a consequence of an altered hormonal
      response and might play a role in the onset of the symptoms PMS related.

PMID- 20933337
TI  - Implications of psychosocial stress on memory formation in a typical male versus
      female student sample.
AB  - Stress is known to differentially modulate memory function. Memory can be
      impaired or strengthened by stress, depending on e.g. the memory type and phase
      under study, the emotional value of the learned information and the sex of the
      subjects. Here, we addressed the latter and investigated the impact of
      psychosocial stress on long-term memory for neutral and emotional pictures and
      working memory in typical samples of male versus female students. In total, 77
      subjects (54 women of which 39 used oral contraceptives) were exposed to either
      the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) or a control condition, and then engaged in a
      long-term memory task (emotionally arousing and neutral pictures; surprise recall
      after one week) and a working memory (n-back) task. During the experiment
      salivary cortisol and alpha-amylase levels as well as subjective affect state
      were assessed. As expected, stress hormone concentrations as well as subjective
      negative affect states increased significantly in response to the stress task.
      Men reacted more to the stressor in terms of cortisol responses than women,
      probably due to oral contraceptive use of the latter. Results show that, in male
      as well as in female students, memory for emotional arousing information was
      better than for neutral information, in both the stress and control condition.
      Stress enhanced recognition memory for emotional versus neutral pictures only in
      male subjects. Moreover, stress enhanced working memory, particularly in males,
      during the first block of a 2-back task. The lack of stress effects on memory in
      women might be explained by oral contraceptive use, leading to blunted HPA-axis
      responses and secondary to reduced stress effects on memory. The results
      emphasize that stress affects both long-term and working memory differentially in
      male versus female students.

PMID- 20933338
TI  - Minor retinal degeneration in Parkinson's disease.
AB  - Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative disorder with selective and
      progressive loss of dopaminergic neurons in substantia nigra. Studies on
      Parkinson's disease patients and dopamine-depleted animals indicate that
      dopaminergic neurons in the retina degenerate due to the genetic and
      environmental factors that cause dopaminergic neuron loss in the substantia
      nigra. Besides motor and non-motor symptoms, visual symptoms are common in
      Parkinson's disease patients, ranging from complaints of reading and driving
      difficulties, to complex visual hallucinations. The delicate network of various
      neurons in the retina ensures the accuracy of visual signal transmission, and
      dopamine is primarily a modulator in this complicated process. In retinitis
      pigmentosa, the gradual loss of photoreceptors causes gross remodeling of the
      neural retina and eventually loss of visual capacity. We hypothesize that the
      retina in Parkinson's disease patients undergoes comparatively minor degeneration
      due to progressive loss of dopaminergic neurons, which are less in amount and
      auxiliary in function compared to photoreceptors, and thus lead to various visual
      dysfunctions.

PMID- 20933339
TI  - Five-year results from a Scandinavian sarcoma group study (SSG XIII) of adjuvant
      chemotherapy combined with accelerated radiotherapy in high-risk soft tissue
      sarcoma of extremities and trunk wall.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate adjuvant chemotherapy and interpolated accelerated
      radiotherapy (RT) for adult patients with high-risk soft tissue sarcoma in the
      extremities or trunk wall. METHODS AND MATERIALS: High-risk soft tissue sarcoma
      was defined as high-grade malignancy and at least two of the following criteria:
      size>=8 cm, vascular invasion, or necrosis. Six cycles of doxorubicin and
      ifosfamide were prescribed for all patients. RT to a total dose of 36 Gy (1.8 Gy
      twice daily) was inserted between two chemotherapy cycles after marginal margin
      resection regardless of tumor depth or after wide-margin resection for deep
      seated tumors. RT was boosted to 45 Gy in a split-course design in the case of
      intralesional margin resection. RESULTS: A total of 119 patients were eligible,
      with a median follow-up of 5 years. The 5-year estimate of the local recurrence,
      metastasis-free survival, and overall survival rate was 12%, 59%, and 68%,
      respectively. The group receiving RT to 36 Gy had a local recurrence rate of 10%.
      In contrast, the local recurrence rate was 29% in the group treated with RT to 45
      Gy. The presence of vascular invasion and low chemotherapy dose intensity had a
      negative effect on metastasis-free and overall survival. Toxicity was moderate
      after both the chemotherapy and the RT. CONCLUSIONS: Accelerated RT interposed
      between chemotherapy cycles in a selected population of patients with high-risk
      soft tissue sarcoma resulted in good local and distant disease control, with
      acceptable treatment-related morbidity. The greater radiation dose administered
      after intralesional surgery was not sufficient to compensate for the poorer
      surgical margin. Vascular invasion was the most important prognostic factor for
      metastasis-free and overall survival.

PMID- 20933340
TI  - Radiation therapy in the management of head-and-neck cancer of unknown primary
      origin: how does the addition of concurrent chemotherapy affect the therapeutic
      ratio?
AB  - PURPOSE: To determine how the addition of cisplatin-based concurrent chemotherapy
      to radiation therapy influences outcomes among a cohort of patients treated for
      head-and-neck cancer of unknown primary origin. METHODS AND MATERIALS: The
      medical records of 60 consecutive patients treated by radiation therapy for
      squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck presenting as cervical lymph node
      metastasis of occult primary origin were reviewed. Thirty-two patients (53%) were
      treated by concurrent chemoradiation, and 28 patients (47%) were treated by
      radiation therapy alone. Forty-five patients (75%) received radiation therapy
      after surgical resection, and 15 patients (25%) received primary radiation
      therapy. Thirty-five patients (58%) were treated by intensity-modulated
      radiotherapy. RESULTS: The 2-year estimates of overall survival, local-regional
      control, and progression-free survival were 89%, 89%, and 79%, respectively,
      among patients treated by chemoradiation, compared to 90%, 92%, and 83%,
      respectively, among patients treated by radiation therapy alone (p > 0.05, for
      all). Exploratory analysis failed to identify any subset of patients who
      benefited from the addition of concurrent chemotherapy to radiation therapy. The
      use of concurrent chemotherapy was associated with a significantly increased
      incidence of Grade 3+ acute and late toxicity (p < 0.001, for both). CONCLUSIONS:
      Concurrent chemoradiation is associated with significant toxicity without a clear
      advantage to overall survival, local-regional control, and progression-free
      survival in the treatment of head-and-neck cancer of unknown primary origin.
      Although selection bias cannot be ignored, prospective data are needed to further
      address this question.

PMID- 20933341
TI  - Effects of setup errors and shape changes on breast radiotherapy.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of the present study was to quantify the robustness of the
      dose distributions from three whole-breast radiotherapy (RT) techniques involving
      different levels of intensity modulation against whole patient setup inaccuracies
      and breast shape changes. METHODS AND MATERIALS: For 19 patients (one computed
      tomography scan and five cone beam computed tomography scans each), three
      treatment plans were made (wedge, simple intensity-modulated RT [IMRT], and full
      IMRT). For each treatment plan, four dose distributions were calculated. The
      first dose distribution was the original plan. The other three included the
      effects of patient setup errors (rigid displacement of the bony anatomy) or
      breast errors (e.g., rotations and shape changes of the breast with respect to
      the bony anatomy), or both, and were obtained through deformable image
      registration and dose accumulation. Subsequently, the effects of the plan type
      and error sources on target volume coverage, mean lung dose, and excess dose were
      determined. RESULTS: Systematic errors of 1-2 mm and random errors of 2-3 mm
      (standard deviation) were observed for both patient- and breast-related errors.
      Planning techniques involving glancing fields (wedge and simple IMRT) were
      primarily affected by patient errors (~6% loss of coverage near the dorsal field
      edge and ~2% near the skin). In contrast, plan deterioration due to breast errors
      was primarily observed in planning techniques without glancing fields (full IMRT,
      ~2% loss of coverage near the dorsal field edge and ~4% near the skin).
      CONCLUSION: The influences of patient and breast errors on the dose distributions
      are comparable in magnitude for whole breast RT plans, including glancing open
      fields, rendering simple IMRT the preferred technique. Dose distributions from
      planning techniques without glancing open fields were more seriously affected by
      shape changes of the breast, demanding specific attention in partial breast
      planning techniques.

PMID- 20933342
TI  - Predictors of long-term toxicity using three-dimensional conformal external beam
      radiotherapy to deliver accelerated partial breast irradiation.
AB  - PURPOSE: We analyzed variables associated with long-term toxicity using three
      dimensional conformal external beam radiation therapy (3D-CRT) to deliver
      accelerated partial breast irradiation. METHODS AND MATERIALS: One hundred
      patients treated with 3D-CRT accelerated partial breast irradiation were
      evaluated using Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events version 4.0 scale.
      Cosmesis was scored using Harvard criteria. Multiple dosimetric and volumetric
      parameters were analyzed for their association with worst and last (W/L) toxicity
      outcomes. RESULTS: Sixty-two patients had a minimum of 36 months of toxicity
      follow-up (median follow-up, 4.8 years). The W/L incidence of poor-fair cosmesis,
      any telangiectasia, and grade >=2 induration, volume reduction, and pain were
      16.4%/11.5%, 24.2%/14.5%, 16.1%/9.7%, 17.7%/12.9%, and 11.3%/3.2%, respectively.
      Only the incidence of any telangiectasia was found to be predicted by any
      dosimetric parameter, with the absolute breast volume receiving 5% to 50% of the
      prescription dose (192.5 cGy-1925 cGy) being significant. No associations with
      maximum dose, volumes of lumpectomy cavity, breast, modified planning target
      volume, and PTV, dose homogeneity index, number of fields, and photon energy used
      were identified with any of the aforementioned toxicities. Non-upper outer
      quadrant location was associated with grade >=2 volume reduction (p = 0.02 W/p =
      0.04 L). A small cavity-to-skin distance was associated with a grade >=2
      induration (p = 0.03 W/p = 0.01 L), a borderline significant association with
      grade >=2 volume reduction (p = 0.06 W/p = 0.06 L) and poor-fair cosmesis (p =
      0.08 W/p = 0.09 L), with threshold distances ranging from 5 to 8 mm. CONCLUSIONS:
      No dose--volume relationships associated with long-term toxicity were identified
      in this large patient cohort with extended follow-up. Cosmetic results were good
      to-excellent in 88% of patients at 5 years.

PMID- 20933343
TI  - [18F]FDG-positron emission tomography coregistration with computed tomography
      scans for radiation treatment planning of lymphoma and hematologic malignancies.
AB  - PURPOSE: Positron emission-tomography (PET) using 2-[(18)F]fluoro-2-deoxyglucose
      (FDG-PET) increases sensitivity and specificity of disease detection in lymphoma
      and thus is standard in lymphoma management. This study examines the effects of
      coregistering FDG-PET and computed tomography (CT) (PET/CT) scans on treatment
      planning for lymphoma patients. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Twenty-nine patients (30
      positive PET scans) underwent PET/CT treatment planning from July 2004 to
      February 2007 and were retrospectively studied. For each patient, gross tumor
      volume was blindly contoured on the CT-only and PET/CT studies by a radiation
      oncologist. Treatment plans were generated for both the CT-only and PET/CT
      planning target volumes (PTVs) for all patients. Normal tissue doses and PTV
      coverage were evaluated using dose--volume histograms for all sites. RESULTS:
      Thirty-two treatment sites were evaluated. Twenty-one patients had non-Hodgkin
      lymphoma, 5 patients had Hodgkin lymphoma, and 3 patients had plasma cell
      neoplasms. Previously undetected FDG-avid sites were identified in 3 patients
      during PET/CT simulation, resulting in one additional treatment field. Due to
      unexpected PET/CT simulation findings, 2 patients did not proceed with radiation
      treatment. The addition of PET changed the volume of 23 sites (72%). The PTV was
      increased in 15 sites (47%) by a median of 11% (range, 6-40%) and reduced in 8
      sites (25%) by a median of 20% (range, 6%-75%). In six (19%) replanned sites, the
      CT-based treatment plan would not have adequately covered the PTV defined by
      PET/CT. CONCLUSIONS: Incorporation of FDG-PET into CT-based treatment planning
      for lymphoma patients resulted in considerable changes in management, volume
      definition, and normal tissue dosimetry for a significant number of patients.

PMID- 20933344
TI  - Self-stigma in alcohol dependence: consequences for drinking-refusal self
      efficacy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Public stigma and self-stigma are two facets of mental illness
      stigma. Self-stigma denotes the internalization of negative public perceptions by
      persons with mental illness and has been shown to decrease general self-efficacy.
      To date, self-stigma has not been examined in people suffering from alcohol
      dependence, a particularly severely stigmatized mental disorder. METHODS: By
      adopting the Self-Stigma in Mental Illness Scale (SSMI), we developed the Self
      Stigma in Alcohol Dependence Scale (SSAD). The scale is based on a focus-group
      derived list of 16 negative stereotypes about alcohol dependent persons. It
      consists of four 16-item subscales measuring four hypothetical stages of self
      stigma, stereotype awareness (aware), stereotype agreement (agree), self
      concurrence (apply), and self-esteem decrement (harm). We employed the SSAD in a
      cross-sectional study of 153 patients hospitalized for alcohol detoxification to
      examine its reliability and validity. RESULTS: The four stages of self-stigma
      could be reliably measured with the SSAD (Cronbach's alpha, 0.86-0.93). Each step
      in the process of self-stigmatization was most closely associated with its
      preceding step. Other significantly related independent variables in multiple
      regression analyses included desire for social distance (associated with agree),
      duration of drinking problems (associated with apply) and depressive symptoms
      (associated with apply and harm). Both apply and harm were significantly related
      to reduced drinking-refusal self-efficacy in analyses controlling for depressive
      symptoms and variables related to duration and severity of the drinking problem.
      DISCUSSION: The SSAD showed good validity and reliability measuring the stages of
      self-stigma in this group. Self-stigma appears to be associated with lower
      drinking-refusal self-efficacy.

PMID- 20933345
TI  - Direct ELISA kits as a sensitive and selective screening method for abstinence
      control in urine.
AB  - In 2009 cutoff values of assessment criteria to testify abstinence control in
      order to estimate driving ability were standardized in Germany. The cutoff values
      are lower than required in existing guidelines like SAMHSA and there is critical
      discussion about detection of low concentrations by using immunoassay, especially
      concerning amphetamines in urine (50 ng/ml). In this study Direct ELISA kits were
      tested for their applicability to identify the absence of amphetamines,
      cannabinoids, opiates, cocaine, methadone and benzodiazepines in urine. Results
      were confirmed by LC/MS or GC/MS analyses. Sensitivity, specificity, predictive
      values (positive as well as negative) and overall misclassification rates were
      evaluated by contingency tables and were compared to ROC-analyses. Sensitivity
      results as well as specificity results were satisfying showing sensitivity values
      higher than 96% for each analyte. The amphetamine test we used showed sensitivity
      and specificity of 100% and 88%, respectively, even if amphetamine tests usually
      react with high cross-reactivity. Our study results include high discrimination
      at required cutoff values between positives and negatives for each drug group and
      demonstrate that immunological tests complying with requirements of current
      decreased urine cutoff values for assessment of driving ability do exist.

PMID- 20933346
TI  - Homicide-suicide and other violent deaths: an international comparison.
AB  - Homicides followed by the suicide of the perpetrator constitute a serious form of
      interpersonal violence. Until now no study has directly compared homicide
      suicides to other violent deaths from multiple countries, allowing for a better
      understanding of the nature of these violent acts. Using country-specific data,
      this study describes and compares the incidence and patterns of homicide-suicide
      as well as the relationship between homicide-suicide, homicide, suicide and
      domestic homicide in the Netherlands, Switzerland and the United States. The
      results indicate that cross-nationally, homicide-suicides are more likely than
      other types of lethal violence to involve a female victim, multiple victims, take
      place in a residential setting and to be committed by a firearm. Although
      homicide-suicides display many similarities across the different countries,
      differences exist regarding age and the use of firearms in the offence. This
      study indicates that homicides followed by suicides differ from both homicides
      and suicides in similar ways internationally. Cross-national differences in the
      availability of firearms may explain the international variation of homicide
      suicide rates and patterns.

PMID- 20933347
TI  - Use of femur bone density to segregate wild from farmed Dybowski's frog (Rana
      dybowskii).
AB  - Wildlife has been utilized by humans throughout history and demand continues to
      grow today. Farming of wildlife can supplement the supply of wild-harvested
      wildlife products and, in theory, can reduce pressure on free-ranging
      populations. However, poached wildlife products frequently enter legal markets
      where they are fraudulently sold as farmed wildlife products. To effectively
      close this illegal trade in wild-captured wildlife, there is a need to
      discriminate wild products from farmed products. Because of the strong market
      demand for wild-captured frog meat and the resulting strong downward pressure on
      wild populations, we undertook research to develop a method to discriminate wild
      from farmed Dybowski's frog (Rana dybowskii) based on femur bone density. We
      measured femur bone density (D(f)) as the ratio of bone mass to bone volume. D(f)
      of wild frogs revealed a slightly increasing linear trend with increasing age
      (R(2)=0.214 in males and R(2)=0.111 in females, p=0.000). Wild males and wild
      females of age classes from 2 to >= 5 years had similar D(f) values. In contrast,
      2-year-old farmed frogs showed significantly higher D(f) values (p=0.000) among
      males (mean D(f)=0.623 +/- 0.011 g/ml, n=32) than females (mean D(f)=0.558 +/-
      0.011 g/ml, n=27). For both sexes, D(f) of wild frogs was significantly higher
      than that of farmed frogs (p=0.000). Among males, 87.5% (28 of 32 individuals) of
      farmed frogs were correctly identified as farmed frogs and 86.3% (69 of 80
      individuals) of wild frogs were correctly identified as wild frogs. These results
      suggest that femur bone density is one reliable tool for discriminating between
      wild and farmed Dybowski's frog. This study also highlights a novel strategy with
      explicit forensic potential to discriminate wild from captive bred wildlife
      species.

PMID- 20933348
TI  - [Generating person-years and calculating SMR using SAS: a simple program for
      exact calculations].
AB  - The computation of standardized incidence/mortality ratios or Poisson regression
      requires the calculation of person-years generated in a cohort. Softwares can do
      that, but SAS users still need to program this step themselves. Various
      algorithms were published previously, but they do not perform exact calculations:
      the present paper describes a simple program, which creates exact person-years,
      and computes SMRs. This program provides a referenced tool to perform this
      analysis in a cohort, with SAS or another language (the algorithm used can be
      easily adapted).

PMID- 20933349
TI  - [HIV-1 test acceptance within the prevention of mother-to-child HIV-1
      transmission program in Democratic Republic of Congo].
AB  - BACKGROUND: HIV-1 testing and counselling are essential activities that must be
      integrated into mother-to-child HIV transmission prevention programs (PMTCT) in
      order to identify women who can benefit from the treatment, immediately or later
      and from interventions that can prevent HIV in their infants. The aim of this
      study was to describe how women's attitudes influence acceptance of HIV-1 testing
      in the context of antenatal care. METHODS: Four hundred and thirty-nine women
      attending antenatal care clinics offering HIV-1 testing in the health district of
      Lubumbashi in Democratic Republic of Congo were included in the study. Data were
      collected through interviewer-administered questionnaire. Women were asked to
      give their consent for a home visit and interview of their partners; 143 agreed
      to participate. Statistical analyses were carried out using Chi-square test and
      logistic regression. RESULTS: The proportion of pregnant women who declared that
      they would accept HIV testing was 76.5%. Non-married women (p=0.046), women who
      had never carried out a former HIV test (p<0.001), who had mentioned that they
      would wish to share the results of the test with their partner or would wish to
      be accompanied at least once by their partner at the antenatal clinic (p<0.001),
      those whose partner agreed to participate in the study (p=0.010) and those who
      knew at least one mode of HIV transmission (p=0.025) were more likely to accept
      the HIV testing. CONCLUSION: Improving counselling and a policy of HIV
      counselling and testing integrating a couple components could help to overcome
      obstacles to the integration of the women within PMTCT programs and help improve
      acceptance of HIV testing.

PMID- 20933350
TI  - An exceptional case of internal transomental hernia: correlation between CT and
      surgical findings.

PMID- 20933352
TI  - Moderating registration misalignment in voxelwise comparisons of DTI data: a
      performance evaluation of skeleton projection.
AB  - An evaluative methodology and five accompanying performance measures were
      developed to quantitatively assess the performance of the skeleton projection
      algorithm constituting the heart of tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS). The
      performance measures were designed to quantify the accuracy of skeleton
      projection in its indented task of alleviating any residual misalignment that may
      remain after image registration. A ground truth fractional anisotropy (FA) image
      was slightly warped using a realistic warp field that served to model post
      registration residual misalignment of varying magnitudes. Skeleton projection was
      then used to register the warped FA image to the ground truth. Performing
      skeleton projection was found to yield up to 50% better correspondence between
      the values of FA compared to smoothing, despite the fact that less than 10% of
      post-registration misalignment was corrected. The align-max-with-max strategy
      underlying TBSS was posited as a potential explanation for this high
      correspondence in the values of FA, at the expense of lesser alignment between
      anatomically concordant voxels.

PMID- 20933351
TI  - Development of T2-relaxation values in regional brain sites during adolescence.
AB  - Brain tissue changes accompany multiple neurodegenerative and developmental
      conditions in adolescents. Complex processes that occur in the developing brain
      with disease can be evaluated accurately only against normal aging processes.
      Normal developmental changes in different brain areas alter tissue water content,
      which can be assessed by magnetic resonance (MR) T2 relaxometry. We acquired
      proton-density (PD) and T2-weighted images from 31 subjects (mean age+/-S.D.,
      17.4+/-4.9 years; 18 male), using a 3.0-T MR imaging scanner. Voxel-by-voxel T2
      relaxation values were calculated, and whole-brain T2-relaxation maps constructed
      and normalized to a common space template. We created a set of regions of
      interest (ROIs) over cortical gray and white matter, basal ganglia, amygdala,
      thalamic, hypothalamic, pontine and cerebellar sites, with sizes of ROIs varying
      from 12 to 243 mm(3); regional T2-relaxation values were determined from these
      ROIs and normalized T2-relaxation maps. Correlations between R2 (1/T2) values in
      these sites and age were assessed with Pearson's correlation procedures, and
      gender differences in regional T2-relaxation values were evaluated with
      independent-samples t tests. Several brain regions, but not all, showed
      principally positive correlations between R2 values and age; negative
      correlations emerged in the cerebellar peduncles. No significant differences in
      T2-relaxation values emerged between males and females for those areas, except
      for the mid pons and left occipital white matter; males showed higher T2
      relaxation values over females. The findings indicate that T2-relaxation values
      vary with development between brain structures, and emphasize the need to correct
      for such age-related effects during any determination of potential changes from
      control values.

PMID- 20933354
TI  - Convulsant agent pentylenetetrazol does not alter the structural and dynamical
      properties of dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine model membranes.
AB  - Pentylenetetrazol (PTZ) is an epileptogenic agent, which is widely used in the
      determination of epilepsy-induced alterations and in the assessment of
      anticonvulsant agents in epileptic studies. Even though PTZ is suggested to
      induce repetitive firing of nerve fibers and shorten the refractory, its
      mechanism of action is only partially understood. In the literature there are
      discrepancies for its action mechanism. While some studies stated that primary
      sites of PTZ are membrane proteins, some reports indicated that PTZ acts on
      membrane lipids. In order to gain new insight for this we tested the possibility
      of interaction of PTZ with a simplified model system called
      dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) multilamellar vesicles (MLVs) at agent
      concentrations (0-24 mol%) using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), Fourier
      transform infrared (FTIR), electron spin resonance (ESR) and steady-state
      fluorescence spectroscopy. The results showed that PTZ at concentrations used (1
      24 mol%), does not cause any significant change in lipid phase behavior, lipid
      dynamics (fluidity), lipid acyl chain flexibility (order), hydration state of the
      head group and/or the region near the head group of DPPC MLVs. These results
      clearly revealed that PTZ does not change the structural and dynamical parameters
      of neutral DPPC lipid vesicles and does not locate within the bilayer.

PMID- 20933353
TI  - LC-MS/MS and density functional theory study of copper(II) and nickel(II)
      chelating complexes of elesclomol (a novel anticancer agent).
AB  - Elesclomol (N-malonyl-bis(N'-methyl-N'-thiobenzoylhydrazide)), which is a novel
      anticancer agent, can form chelating complexes with Fe(II), Co(II), Ni(II),
      Cu(II), and Zn(II) in the gas phase during electrospray ionization (ESI) mass
      spectrometry. In the solution phase with acidic medium during chromatographic
      separation, however, only Cu(II) and Ni(II) to a lesser degree favor the
      formation of chelating complexes with elesclomol. The Cu(II)-chelating complex
      [Cu(II)+elesclomol-H]+. exhibits more complicated MS/MS fragmentation pathways
      than the Ni(II)-chelating complex [Ni(II)+elesclomol-H]+. One significant
      difference is the ready occurrence of the electron transfer upon collision
      induced dissociation (CID) of [Cu(II)+elesclomol-H]+.. This leads to the
      reduction of Cu(II) to Cu(I). However, such phenomenon was not observed upon CID
      of [Ni(II)+elesclomol-H]+. On the basis of the density functional theory (DFT)
      calculations at the B3LYP/6-31+G(d)/LANL2DZ level, the Cu(II)- and Ni(II)
      chelating complexes of elesclomol exist in the keto-form with tetra-coordinated
      trapezoid geometry in the gas phase but at different levels of distortion. As
      compared to the Ni(II)-elesclomol complex, the Cu(II)-elesclomol complex is more
      stable (by -55.25 kcal/mol). This relative stability of the chelating complexes
      of elesclomol is consistent with the Irving-Williams series of bindings to
      ligands.

PMID- 20933355
TI  - Selective determination of aloin in different matrices by HPTLC densitometry in
      fluorescence mode.
AB  - A novel method based on the fluorescence excited solely on aloin by a H3BO3
      derivatizing procedure, allowed its rapid and selective determination among the
      co-occurring components in a variety of complex matrices as several Aloes dried
      extracts and related commercial products. HPTLC LiChrospher silica gel 60 F254S,
      20 cm x 10 cm, plates with ethyl formate: CH3OH:H2O (100:14.5:10, v/v) as the
      mobile phase were used. Densitometric determinations were performed in
      fluorescence mode, exciting wavelength 365 nm, optical filter K540 after
      derivatization with H3BO3. The method was validated giving rise to a dependable
      and high throughput procedure well suited to routine application. Aloin was
      quantified in the range of 110-330 ng with RSD of repeatability and intermediate
      precision not exceeding 2.3% and accuracy inside the acceptance limits.

PMID- 20933356
TI  - Determination of platinum originating from carboplatin in canine sebum and
      cerumen by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry.
AB  - We present highly sensitive, reliable methods for the determination of platinum
      originating from carboplatin in canine sebum and cerumen. The methods are based
      on the measurement of platinum by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry
      and allow quantification of 0.15 pg platinum per cm2 body surface in canine sebum
      and of 7.50 pg platinum per sampled ear canal. The sample pretreatment procedure
      involved extraction of wipe samples followed by dilution with appropriate
      diluents. The performance of the methods, in terms of accuracy and precision,
      fulfilled the most recent FDA guidelines for bioanalytical method validation.
      Validated ranges of quantification were 15.0-1.00 x 104 ng L-1 for platinum in
      canine sebum extraction solution (corresponding to 15.0 pg per wipe sample or
      0.15 pgcm-2) and 7.50-1.00 x 104 ng L-1 for platinum in canine cerumen extraction
      solution (corresponding to 7.50 pg per sampled external acoustic meatus). Canine
      matrices may not always be obtained in sufficient quantities. Therefore, we also
      confirmed the legitimacy of the application of human matrix samples for the
      preparation of calibration standards and quality control samples as alternatives,
      to be used in future clinical studies. The assays are used to support human
      biomonitoring studies and pharmacokinetic oncology studies in pet dogs treated
      with carboplatin.

PMID- 20933358
TI  - Lingual abscess.

PMID- 20933359
TI  - Takotsubo cardiomyopathy associated with acute subarachnoid hemorrhage.

PMID- 20933360
TI  - Emergency department workload increase: dependence on primary care?

PMID- 20933357
TI  - Lack of association between the Trp719Arg polymorphism in kinesin-like protein-6
      and coronary artery disease in 19 case-control studies.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: We sought to replicate the association between the kinesin-like
      protein 6 (KIF6) Trp719Arg polymorphism (rs20455), and clinical coronary artery
      disease (CAD). BACKGROUND: Recent prospective studies suggest that carriers of
      the 719Arg allele in KIF6 are at increased risk of clinical CAD compared with
      noncarriers. METHODS: The KIF6 Trp719Arg polymorphism (rs20455) was genotyped in
      19 case-control studies of nonfatal CAD either as part of a genome-wide
      association study or in a formal attempt to replicate the initial positive
      reports. RESULTS: A total of 17,000 cases and 39,369 controls of European descent
      as well as a modest number of South Asians, African Americans, Hispanics, East
      Asians, and admixed cases and controls were successfully genotyped. None of the
      19 studies demonstrated an increased risk of CAD in carriers of the 719Arg allele
      compared with noncarriers. Regression analyses and fixed-effects meta-analyses
      ruled out with high degree of confidence an increase of >=2% in the risk of CAD
      among European 719Arg carriers. We also observed no increase in the risk of CAD
      among 719Arg carriers in the subset of Europeans with early-onset disease
      (younger than 50 years of age for men and younger than 60 years of age for women)
      compared with similarly aged controls as well as all non-European subgroups.
      CONCLUSIONS: The KIF6 Trp719Arg polymorphism was not associated with the risk of
      clinical CAD in this large replication study.

PMID- 20933361
TI  - Examining the validity of the unitary theory of clinical relationships:
      comparison of observed and experienced parent-doctor interaction.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We explored parent-doctor relationships in the care of children with
      leukaemia from three perspectives simultaneously: parents', doctors' and
      observers'. Our aim was to investigate convergence and divergence between these
      perspectives and thereby examine the validity of unitary theory of emotionality
      and authority in clinical relationships. METHODS: 33 audiorecorded parent-doctor
      consultations and separate interviews with parents and doctors, which we analysed
      qualitatively and from which we selected three prototype cases. RESULTS: Across
      the whole sample doctors' sense of relationship generally converged with our
      observations of consultation, but parents' sense of relationship diverged
      strongly from each. Contrary to current assumptions, parents' sense of emotional
      connection with doctors did not depend on doctors' emotional behaviour, and
      parents did not feel disempowered by doctors' authority. Moreover, authority and
      emotionality were not conceptually distinct for parents, who gained emotional
      support from doctors' exercise of authority. CONCLUSIONS: The relationships
      looked very different from the three perspectives. These divergences indicate
      weaknesses in current ideas of emotionality and authority in clinical
      relationships and the necessity of multisource datasets to develop these ideas in
      a way that characterises clinical relationships from all perspectives. PRACTICE
      IMPLICATIONS: Methodological development will be needed to address the challenges
      posed by multisource datasets.

PMID- 20933363
TI  - Surgical treatment for peritoneal carcinomatosis from gastric cancer.
AB  - This review describes the latest surgical treatments for peritoneal
      carcinomatosis (PC) arising from gastric cancer. Systemic chemotherapy is less
      effective against PC because of the existence of the blood-peritoneal barrier.
      Accordingly, perioperative intraperitoneal chemotherapy plus cytoreductive
      surgery (CRS) is a new trend of multidisciplinary therapy for PC.
      Intraperitoneally administered drugs penetrate directly into the peritoneal
      dissemination, resulting in the high loco-regional intensity of drugs. A new
      bidirectional chemotherapy called neoadjuvant intraperitoneal/systemic
      chemotherapy (NIPS) has been developed. After NIPS, the disappearance of PFCCs
      has been reported, and the incidence of complete cytoreduction has increased
      accordingly. Complete cytoreduction, a low peritoneal carcinomatosis index, and
      negative PFCCs are significant favorable prognostic factors. Hyperthermic
      intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) after CRS is associated with improved
      survival with an acceptable postoperative mortality and morbidity. Early
      postoperative intraperitoneal chemotherapy (EPIC) has also contributed to
      improving survival after CRS.

PMID- 20933362
TI  - Maternal obesity in ewes results in reduced fetal pancreatic beta-cell numbers in
      late gestation and decreased circulating insulin concentration at term.
AB  - About 30% of U.S. women of reproductive age are obese, a condition linked to
      offspring obesity and diabetes. This study utilized an ovine model of maternal
      obesity in which ewes are overfed to induce obesity at conception and throughout
      gestation. At mid-gestation, fetuses from these obese ewes are macrosomic,
      hyperglycemic, and hyperinsulinemic, and they exhibited markedly increased
      pancreatic weight and beta-cell numbers compared with fetuses of ewes fed to
      requirements. This study was conducted to establish fetal pancreatic phenotype
      and function in late gestation and at term in this ovine model. Multiparous ewes
      were fed a control (C, 100% National Research Council [NRC] recommendations) or
      obesogenic (OB, 150% NRC) diet from 60 days before conception to necropsy at day
      135 of gestation or to lambing. No differences were observed in fetal size or
      weight on day 135 or in lamb birth weights between C and OB ewes. In contrast to
      our previously published results at mid-gestation, pancreatic weights (P < 0.01)
      and beta-cell numbers (P < 0.05) of OB fetuses were markedly lower than those
      from C fetuses, whereas the beta-cell apoptotic rate was increased (P < 0.05) in
      day 135 OB versus C fetuses. At birth, blood insulin concentration was lower (P <
      0.05) and glucose level was higher (P < 0.05) in newborn lambs from OB versus C
      ewes. These data demonstrate differential impacts of maternal obesity on fetal
      pancreatic growth and beta-cell numbers during early and late gestation. During
      the first half of gestation there was a marked increase in pancreatic growth,
      beta-cell proliferation, and insulin secretion, followed by a reduction in
      pancreatic growth and beta-cell numbers in late gestation, resulting in reduced
      circulating insulin at term. It is speculated that the failure of the pancreas to
      return to a normal cellular composition and function postnatally could result in
      glucose/insulin dysregulation, leading to obesity, glucose intolerance, and
      diabetes in postnatal life.

PMID- 20933365
TI  - Aggregating single patient (n-of-1) trials in populations where recruitment and
      retention was difficult: the case of palliative care.
AB  - Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are the gold standard for evaluating new
      interventions. Different RCT designs apply depending on the patient population,
      clinical setting, and intervention being evaluated. A design that may help to
      generate evidence in some clinical areas where recruitment is a challenge is
      aggregated n-of-1 trials. N-of-1 trials are randomized, double-blind, and
      multiple crossover comparisons of an intervention and a control treatment.
      Methodologically robust n-of-1 trials provide an objective means of testing the
      effectiveness of treatments within individual participants. Aggregation of
      multiple cycle identically conducted n-of-1 trials yield a population estimate of
      effect, which potentially commensurate with that derived from other RCT designs.
      Trial participants contribute data for both intervention and control treatments
      creating matched data sets while using generally smaller sample sizes than
      conventional RCT trials. Careful choice of symptoms and medications are required
      for n-of-1 trials to be feasible. A validated and reliable outcome measure
      sensitive to change is still required. This article reviews the utility and
      limitations of aggregated n-of-1 trials to gather evidence in populations where
      conducting formal RCTs is difficult because of the low prevalence of the
      underlying condition or the clinical condition making recruitment and retention
      difficult. The article examines a proposed palliative care trial as a test case.

PMID- 20933364
TI  - Postural control in children, teenagers and adults with Down syndrome.
AB  - The goal of this work was to analyze postural control in Down syndrome (DS)
      participants considering three different groups composed by children, teenagers
      and adults with DS. An analysis of the centre of pressure (COP) displacement
      during standing position was therefore performed for the three groups of
      subjects. The obtained signal of COP was then analyzed in both time and frequency
      domains in order to perform a thorough analysis of the signal. Even if several
      parameters revealed more differences between the control and DS participants in
      adulthood, results indicated a divergence of these two groups starting from their
      early age, although the limit of this study considering a cross-sectional, and
      not a longitudinal comparison. In particular, COP medio-lateral range of motion
      pointed out a decrease for both groups considered (pathological and control) in
      time domain analysis that could lead to the same conclusion in developing
      strategies, but frequency domain analysis evidenced how this result is reached by
      the different population: DS people showed a larger frequency of movement in ML
      more evidenced in adults group (Down Syndrome Adults Group vs. Adults Control
      Group; 0.35 +/- 0.22 Hz vs. 0.17 +/- 0.15 Hz; p < 0.05). Even if less pronounced
      also for the other parameters computed these differences emerged. Aims for the
      two macro-groups, DS and CG, are different: DS people focused on overcoming the
      lack of equilibrium caused by hypotonia and ligament laxity, while control group
      attempted to improve their strategy in term of efficiency, pointing out a
      different strategy development.

PMID- 20933366
TI  - Automated color calibration method for dermoscopy images.
AB  - Accurate color information in dermoscopy images is very important for melanoma
      diagnosis since inappropriate white balance or brightness in the images adversely
      affects the diagnostic performance. In this paper, we present an automated color
      calibration method for dermoscopy images of skin lesions. On a set of 319
      dermoscopy images, we develop color calibration filters based on the HSV color
      system. We determined that the color characteristics of the peripheral part of
      the tumors have significant influence on the color calibration filters and
      confirmed that the presented filters achieved satisfactory calibration
      performance as evaluated by cross-validation. We also confirmed that our method
      successfully modifies the color distribution of a given image to make it closer
      to the color distribution of the training image set.

PMID- 20933367
TI  - Deviant intrauterine growth and risk of schizophrenia: a 34-year follow-up of the
      Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Low birth weight conveys a modest risk for schizophrenia. The effects
      of high birth weight and deviant birth length are less clear. METHODS: We linked
      perinatal data from 10,934 subjects from the Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort
      (n = 12 058) to the Finnish Hospital Discharge Register where we identified 111
      cases of DSM-III-R schizophrenia up to age 35 years. Adjusted odds ratios between
      the risk of schizophrenia and birth weight, birth length and ponderal index and
      the risk of schizophrenia were analyzed. RESULTS: Both low (OR 2.5; 95% CI 1.2
      5.1) and high birth weight (OR 2.4; 95% CI 1.1-4.9) increased the risk of later
      schizophrenia. In addition, short (OR 2.6; 95% CI 1.1-5.9) and long babies had an
      elevated risk of schizophrenia as adults (OR 1.8; 95% CI 1.0-3.5). A reverse J
      shape curve described the associations between birth weight, length and
      schizophrenia. CONCLUSIONS: Deviant intrauterine growth of the fetus in either
      direction was associated with increased risk of schizophrenia.

PMID- 20933368
TI  - Overlap of autistic and schizotypal traits in adolescents with Autism Spectrum
      Disorders.
AB  - This study addresses the unraveling of the relationship between autism spectrum
      and schizophrenia spectrum traits in a population of adolescents with Autism
      Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Recent studies comparing isolated symptoms of both
      spectrum disorders as well as diagnostic criteria for each (DSM-IV-TR) suggest
      resemblances in the clinical phenotype. A group of 27 adolescents with ASD (11 to
      18 years) and 30 typically developing adolescents, matched for age and gender,
      participated in this study. Within the ASD group 11 adolescents satisfied DSM-IV
      TR criteria for schizotypal personality disorders. Autistic and schizotypal
      traits were identified by means of well validated questionnaires (Autism
      Questionnaire, AQ and Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire-Revised, SPQ).
      Significantly more schizotypal traits in adolescents with ASD were found than in
      typically developing controls. Besides high levels of negative symptoms,
      adolescents with ASD also displayed high levels of positive and disorganized
      symptoms. There appeared to be a relationship between the mean level of autistic
      symptoms and schizotypal traits, as well as specific associations between
      autistic symptoms and negative, disorganized and positive schizotypal symptoms
      within individuals. Schizotypal symptomatology in all sub dimensions that are
      reflected by the SPQ scores, was most prominently associated with attention
      switching problems of the autism symptoms from the AQ. These findings indicate
      that patients diagnosed with an ASD show schizophrenia spectrum traits in
      adolescence. Although other studies have provided empirical support for this
      overlap in diagnostic criteria between both spectrum disorders, the present
      findings add to the literature that behavioral overlap is not limited to negative
      schizotypal symptoms, but extends to disorganized and positive symptoms as well.

PMID- 20933369
TI  - Hippocampal volume in borderline personality disorder with and without comorbid
      posttraumatic stress disorder: a meta-analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Several studies have found a reduction in hippocampal volume in
      borderline personality disorder (BPD) patients. METHODS: In order to investigate
      the degree to which comorbid posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) could account
      for reduction in hippocampal volume in these patients, we conducted a systematic
      review and meta-analysis of studies that compared hippocampal volume in BPD
      patients with and without PTSD relative to healthy controls. RESULTS: Seven
      articles, involving 124 patients and 147 controls, were included. We found a
      statistically significant reduction for the left and right hippocampus. Data from
      the four studies that discriminated BPD patients with and without PTSD indicate
      that hippocampal volumes were reduced bilaterally in BPD patients with PTSD,
      relative to healthy controls, but that results were mixed for BPD patients
      without PTSD, relative to healthy controls. CONCLUSIONS: Results from this meta
      analysis suggest that hippocampal volumes are reduced in patients with BPD,
      relative to healthy controls, but particularly in cases in which patients are
      diagnosed with comorbid PTSD.

PMID- 20933370
TI  - Associations between IQ and common mental disorders: the 2000 British National
      Survey of Psychiatric Morbidity.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Associations have been described between lower IQ and serious mental
      illness. Associations between common mental disorders (CMDs) and IQ have received
      little research. The objective of this study was to investigate the association
      between verbal IQ and CMD symptoms and diagnoses, and to investigate the role of
      potential mediating and confounding factors. METHOD: Data were analysed from a
      British national survey with an analysed sample of 8054 people aged 16-74 years.
      Associations between verbal IQ (NART) and mental symptoms/disorders (CIS-R) were
      analysed with covariates including education, social class, income, debt, problem
      drinking, life events, physical health and relationship quality. RESULTS: CMD was
      associated with lower IQ. This association was stronger for depressive
      disorder/symptoms than for generalised anxiety disorder/symptoms. The most
      important covariates were education, social class, income and relationship
      quality. CONCLUSION: The association between lower IQ and CMD is partly accounted
      for by adverse social/socioeconomic conditions. Stronger associations for
      depression than anxiety may indicate an effect of IQ on the way mental distress
      is communicated.

PMID- 20933371
TI  - A controlled follow-up study of adolescents exposed to a school shooting-
      psychological consequences after four months.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In November 2007, a student shot eight people and himself at Jokela
      High School, Finland. This study aims to evaluate the long-term effects of
      exposure to a school shooting among adolescents. METHOD: Associations between
      psychological outcomes and background factors were analysed and compared with
      "comparison students" four months after the incident. A questionnaire including
      Impact of Event Scale (IES) and General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-36) was used.
      RESULTS: Half of the females and a third of the males suffered from posttraumatic
      distress. High level of posttraumatic distress (IES>=35), predicting PTSD, was
      observed in 27% of the females and 7% of the males. The odds ratio was 6.4 (95%
      confidence interval 3.5-10.5) for having high levels of posttraumatic distress.
      Severe or extreme exposure and female gender were found to increase the risk.
      Forty-two percent of the females and 16% of the males had psychiatric disturbance
      (GHQ>=9). Severe or extreme exposure, older age and female gender increased the
      risk. Perceived support from family and friends was found to be protective.
      CONCLUSIONS: The observed risk and protective factors were similar to earlier
      studies. Follow-up will be essential in identifying factors predicting persisting
      trauma-related symptoms in adolescence.

PMID- 20933372
TI  - Temperament profiles, major depression, and response to treatment with SSRIs in
      psychiatric outpatients.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) is commonly used in
      adult populations. Our aim was to explore: (1) if there are specific differences
      in temperament dimensions related to depression in comparison with general
      population, (2) if the treatment response during the acute phase of major
      depressive disorder (MDD) is predictable by TCI temperament dimensions. METHOD:
      Temperament profiles in 98 MDD patients were compared with a Finnish community
      sample. The patients were treated with serotonin selective reuptake inhibitors
      (SSRIs) for 6 weeks and their temperament profiles were assessed at baseline and
      endpoint. The harm avoidance (HA) and depression scores at baseline and endpoint
      were modelled with path analysis. For path modelling, we tested the relationships
      between different temperament dimensions and depression symptoms and other
      clinical variables with Mancova model. RESULTS: The HA scores were significantly
      higher in patients both at baseline and endpoint compared to the Northern Finland
      1966 Birth Cohort (NFBC). The patients, and especially males, had slightly higher
      reward dependency (RD) scores. HA at endpoint explained moderately the Montgomery
      Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) endpoint score. HA endpoint score was
      strongly explained by HA baseline score. CONCLUSIONS: HA is associated with risk
      of and treatment response to depression.

PMID- 20933373
TI  - Adaptive design clinical trials and trial logistics models in CNS drug
      development.
AB  - In central nervous system therapeutic areas, there are general concerns with
      establishing efficacy thought to be sources of high attrition rate in drug
      development. For instance, efficacy endpoints are often subjective and highly
      variable. There is a lack of robust or operational biomarkers to substitute for
      soft endpoints. In addition, animal models are generally poor, unreliable or
      unpredictive. To increase the probability of success in central nervous system
      drug development program, adaptive design has been considered as an alternative
      designs that provides flexibility to the conventional fixed designs and has been
      viewed to have the potential to improve the efficiency in drug development
      processes. In addition, successful implementation of an adaptive design trial
      relies on establishment of a trustworthy logistics model that ensures integrity
      of the trial conduct. In accordance with the spirit of the U.S. Food and Drug
      Administration adaptive design draft guidance document recently released, this
      paper enlists the critical considerations from both methodological aspects and
      regulatory aspects in reviewing an adaptive design proposal and discusses two
      general types of adaptations, sample size planning and re-estimation, and two
      stage adaptive design. Literature examples of adaptive designs in central nervous
      system are used to highlight the principles laid out in the U.S. FDA draft
      guidance. Four logistics models seen in regulatory adaptive design applications
      are introduced. In general, complex adaptive designs require simulation studies
      to access the design performance. For an adequate and well-controlled clinical
      trial, if a Learn-and-Confirm adaptive selection approach is considered, the
      study-wise type I error rate should be adhered to. However, it is controversial
      to use the simulated type I error rate to address a strong control of the study
      wise type I error rate.

PMID- 20933374
TI  - Changes of brain activation pre- post short-term psychodynamic inpatient
      psychotherapy: an fMRI study of panic disorder patients.
AB  - Cognitive-behavioural interventions have been shown to change brain functioning.
      We used an emotional linguistic go/nogo functional magnetic resonance imaging
      (fMRI) design to determine changes of brain activation patterns of panic disorder
      (PD) patients following short-term psychodynamic inpatient treatment. Nine PD
      patients underwent fMRI before and after treatment; 18 healthy controls were
      scanned twice at the same interval (4 weeks). In the go/nogo design, responses to
      panic-specific negative words were compared with linguistically matched positive
      and neutral words. According to hypotheses, patients rated affective words more
      strongly than controls and selectively recalled negative vs. positive/neutral
      words. Before treatment, high limbic (hippocampus and amygdala) activation was
      accompanied by low prefrontal activation to negative words. Inhibition-related
      activation patterns indicated difficulties of behavioural regulation in emotional
      context. At treatment termination, panic-related symptoms had improved
      significantly, and fronto-limbic activation patterns were normalized. Our results
      indicate that short-term psychodynamic treatment leads to changes in fronto
      limbic circuitry not dissimilar to previous findings on cognitive-behavioural
      treatments.

PMID- 20933375
TI  - A decision support system for cost-effective diagnosis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Speed, cost, and accuracy are three important goals in disease
      diagnosis. This paper proposes a machine learning-based expert system algorithm
      to optimize these goals and assist diagnostic decisions in a sequential decision
      making setting. METHODS: The algorithm consists of three components that work
      together to identify the sequence of diagnostic tests that attains the treatment
      or no test threshold probability for a query case with adequate certainty: lazy
      learning classifiers, confident diagnosis, and locally sequential feature
      selection (LSFS). Speed-based and cost-based objective functions can be used as
      criteria to select tests. RESULTS: Results of four different datasets are
      consistent. All LSFS functions significantly reduce tests and costs. Average cost
      savings for heart disease, thyroid disease, diabetes, and hepatitis datasets are
      50%, 57%, 22%, and 34%, respectively. Average test savings are 55%, 73%, 24%, and
      39%, respectively. Accuracies are similar to or better than the baseline (the
      classifier that uses all available tests in the dataset). CONCLUSION: We have
      demonstrated a new approach that dynamically estimates and determines the optimal
      sequence of tests that provides the most information (or disease probability)
      based on a patient's available information.

PMID- 20933376
TI  - Immunogenetics and transplantation.

PMID- 20933377
TI  - Recent findings on genetics of systemic autoimmune diseases.
AB  - Association studies of over 1 million SNPs capturing most of the human genome
      common variation became possible thanks to the information provided by the HapMap
      International project and the development of high-throughput genotyping
      technologies at accessible prices. Genome-wide scans analyzing thousands of
      individuals have now identified most if not all of the major genes involved in
      susceptibility for several systemic autoimmune diseases. In particular, results
      for rheumatoid arthritis (RA), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and systemic
      sclerosis (SSc) are reviewed here. While most genes are shared between diseases,
      few seem to be unique reflecting that we still are long before knowing all genes,
      their interactions with other genes and the environment and their impact on
      biological functions.

PMID- 20933378
TI  - Genomics in human renal transplantation.
AB  - This review covers the contribution of genomics to the field of renal
      transplantation over the last two years. The tangible advances in genomics have
      mainly been in the use of expression arrays to inform our understanding of
      processes involved in the complex immune responses that are a feature of
      transplantation. There is qualitative and quantitative data on transcription
      elements indicative of acute and chronic rejection, short and medium term outcome
      and tolerance. The promise is that translation of this information will allow the
      development of clinical biomarkers applicable to improvements in patient care.

PMID- 20933379
TI  - Reporting central tendencies of chamber measured surface emission and oxidation.
AB  - Methane emissions, concentrations, and oxidation were measured on eleven MSW
      landfills in eleven states spanning from California to Pennsylvania during the
      three year study. The flux measurements were performed using a static chamber
      technique. Initial concentration samples were collected immediately after
      placement of the flux chamber. Oxidation of the emitted methane was evaluated
      using stable isotope techniques. When reporting overall surface emissions and
      percent oxidation for a landfill cover, central tendencies are typically used to
      report "averages" of the collected data. The objective of this study was to
      determine the best way to determine and report central tendencies. Results showed
      that 89% of the data sets of collected surface flux have lognormal distributions,
      83% of the surface concentration data sets are also lognormal. Sixty seven
      percent (67%) of the isotope measured percent oxidation data sets are normally
      distributed. The distribution of data for all eleven landfills provides insight
      of the central tendencies of emissions, concentrations, and percent oxidation.
      When reporting the "average" measurement for both flux and concentration data
      collected at the surface of a landfill, statistical analyses provided insight
      supporting the use of the geometric mean. But the arithmetic mean can accurately
      represent the percent oxidation, as measured with the stable isotope technique.
      We examined correlations between surface CH(4) emissions and surface air CH(4)
      concentrations. Correlation of the concentration and flux values using the
      geometric mean proved to be a good fit (R(2)=0.86), indicating that surface scans
      are a good way of identifying locations of high emissions.

PMID- 20933380
TI  - Leaching standards for mineral recycling materials--a harmonized regulatory
      concept for the upcoming German Recycling Decree.
AB  - In this contribution we give a first general overview of results of recent
      studies in Germany which focused on contaminant leaching from various materials
      and reactive solute transport in the unsaturated soil zone to identify the key
      factors for groundwater risk assessment. Based on these results we developed new
      and improved existing methods for groundwater risk assessment which are used to
      derive a new regulatory concept for the upcoming "Decree for the Requirements of
      the Use of Alternative Mineral Building Materials in Technical Constructions and
      for the Amendment of the Federal Soil Protection and Contaminated Sites
      Ordinance" of the German Federal Ministry of Environment. The new concept aims at
      a holistic and scientifically sound assessment of the use of mineral recycling
      materials (e.g., mineral waste, excavated soils, slag and ashes, recycling
      products, etc.) in technical constructions (e.g., road dams) and permanent
      applications (e.g., backfilling and landscaping) which is based on a mechanistic
      understanding of leaching and transport processes. Fundamental for risk
      assessment are leaching standards for the mineral recycling materials. For each
      application of mineral recycling materials specific maximum concentrations of a
      substance in the seepage water at the bottom of an application were calculated.
      Technical boundary conditions and policy conventions derived from the "German
      precautionary groundwater and soil protection policy" were accounted to prevent
      adverse environmental effects on the media soil and groundwater. This includes
      the concentration decline of highly soluble substances (e.g., chloride and
      sulphate), retardation or attenuation of solutes, accumulation of contaminants in
      sub-soils and the hydraulic properties of recycling materials used for specific
      applications. To decide whether the use of a mineral recycling material is
      possible in a specific application, the leaching qualities were evaluated based
      on column percolation tests with various samples and compared with application
      specific maximum concentrations. In the upcoming federal decree this simplified
      concept is realized using detailed tables which classify the leaching quality of
      mineral recycling materials and demonstrate potential application. A quality
      assurance system will be mandatory which defines specific testing programs
      (material properties and limit concentrations to be tested, number and schedule
      of testing) for the different mineral recycling materials using standardized
      methods (column percolation test).

PMID- 20933381
TI  - Characteristics of MSW and heat energy recovery between residential and
      commercial areas in Seoul.
AB  - This paper analyzes the amount and characteristics of municipal solid waste (MSW)
      according to the inhabitant density of population and the business concentration
      in 25 districts in Seoul. Further, the heat energy recovery and avoided CO(2)
      emissions of four incineration plants located in residential and commercial areas
      in Seoul are examined. The amount of residential waste per capita tended to
      increase as the density of inhabitants decreased. The amount of commercial waste
      per capita tended to increase as the business concentration increased. The
      examination of the heat energy recovery characteristics indicated that the four
      incineration plants produced heat energy that depended on residential or
      commercial areas based on population and business. The most important result
      regarding avoided CO(2) emissions was that commercial areas with many office-type
      businesses had the most effective CO(2) emission savings by combusting 1 kg of
      waste. Assuming the full-scale operation of the four incineration plants, the
      amount of saved CO(2) emissions per year was 444 Gg CO(2) and 57,006 households
      in Seoul can be provided with heat energy equivalent to 542,711 Nm(3) of LNG.

PMID- 20933382
TI  - Application of ionic liquids in electrochemical sensing systems.
AB  - Since 1992, when the room temperature ionic liquids (ILs) based on the 1-alkyl-3
      methylimidazolium cation were reported to provide an attractive combination of an
      electrochemical solvent and electrolyte, ILs have been widely used in
      electrodeposition, electrosynthesis, electrocatalysis, electrochemical capacitor,
      and lithium batteries. However, it has only been in the last few years that
      electrochemical biosensors based on carbon ionic liquid electrodes (CILEs) and IL
      modified macrodisk electrodes have been reported. However, there are still a lot
      of challenges in achieving IL-based sensitive, selective, and reproducible
      biosensors for high speed analysis of biological and environmental compounds of
      interest. This review discusses the principles of operation of electrochemical
      biosensors based on CILEs and IL/composite-modified macrodisk electrodes.
      Subsequently, recent developments and major strategies for enhancing sensing
      performance are discussed. Key challenges and opportunities of IL-based
      biosensors to further development and use are considered. Emphasis is given to
      direct electron-transfer reaction and electrocatalysis of hemeproteins and enzyme
      modified composite electrodes.

PMID- 20933383
TI  - Electrochemical impedimetric immunosensor for insulin like growth factor-1 using
      specific monoclonal antibody-nanogold modified electrode.
AB  - An electrochemical impedimetric immunosensor was developed for ultrasensitive
      determination of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) based on immobilization of
      a specific monoclonal antibody on gold nanoparticles (GNPs) modified gold
      electrode. Self-assembly of colloidal gold nanoparticles on the gold electrode
      was conducted through the thiol groups of 1,6-hexanedithiol (HDT) monolayer as a
      cross linker. The redox reactions of [Fe(CN)(6)](4-)/[Fe(CN)(6)](3-) on the
      electrode surface was probed for studying the immobilization and determination
      processes, using cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance
      spectroscopy (EIS). The interaction of antigen with grafted antibody recognition
      layer was carried out by soaking the modified electrode into antigen solution at
      37 degrees C for 3 h. The immunosensor showed linearity over 1.0-180.0 pg mL(-1)
      and the limit of detection was 0.15 pg mL(-1). The association constant between
      IGF-1 and immobilized antibody was calculated to be 9.17*10(11) M(-1). The
      proposed method is a useful tool for screening picogram amounts of IGF-1 in
      clinical laboratory as a diagnostic test.

PMID- 20933384
TI  - Dielectrophoretic platforms for bio-microfluidic systems.
AB  - Dielectrophoresis, the induced motion of polarisable particles in a nonuniform
      electric field, has been proven as a versatile mechanism to transport,
      accumulate, separate and characterise micro/nano scale bioparticles in
      microfluidic systems. The integration of DEP systems into the microfluidics
      enables the inexpensive, fast, highly sensitive, highly selective and label-free
      detection and analysis of target bioparticles. This review provides an in-depth
      overview of state-of-the-art dielectrophoretic (DEP) platforms integrated into
      microfluidics aimed towards different biomedical applications. It classifies the
      current DEP systems in terms of different microelectrode configurations and
      operating strategies devised to generate and employ DEP forces in such processes,
      and compares the features of each approach. Finally, it suggests the future
      trends and potential applications of DEP systems in single cell analysis, stem
      cell research, establishing novel devices, and realising fully DEP-activated lab
      on-a-chip systems.

PMID- 20933385
TI  - Development of a novel prodrug of paclitaxel that is cleaved by prostate-specific
      antigen: an in vitro and in vivo evaluation study.
AB  - In developed countries, prostate cancer is the third most common cause of death
      from cancer in men. Unfortunately, whilst accumulating clinical data have
      suggested that taxanes may prolong the survival in a subset of men with prostate
      carcinoma, the dose and duration of administration of these drugs are limited by
      their significant systemic toxicities due to a lack of tumour selectivity. In an
      attempt to improve both the water solubility and tumour-targeting properties of
      paclitaxel (Taxol(r)), we set out to develop a water soluble paclitaxel prodrug
      that is activated specifically by prostate-specific antigen (PSA) which is almost
      exclusively expressed in prostate tissue and prostate carcinoma making it an
      ideal molecular target for prodrug strategies. Using albumin as a drug carrier,
      we describe a novel albumin-binding prodrug of paclitaxel, EMC-Arg-Ser-Ser-Tyr
      Tyr-Ser-Leu-PABC-paclitaxel [EMC: epsilon-maleimidocaproyl; PABC: p
      aminobenzyloxycarbonyl] that was synthesised by reacting EMC-Arg-Ser-Ser-Tyr-Tyr
      Ser-OH with H-Leu-PABC-paclitaxel. This prodrug was water soluble and was bound
      to endogenous and exogenous albumin. Moreover, incubation studies with PSA
      demonstrated that the albumin-bound form of the prodrug was cleaved rapidly at
      the P1-P1' scissile bond releasing the paclitaxel-dipeptide H-Ser-Leu-PABC
      paclitaxel. Last but not least, due to the incorporation of a PABC self
      eliminating linker, this dipeptide was rapidly degraded to liberate paclitaxel as
      a final cleavage product within a few hours in prostate tumour tissue
      homogenates. Of note was that the albumin-bound form of the prodrug was
      approximately three-fold more active in killing PSA-positive LNCaP cells than
      paclitaxel. In addition, orientating toxicity studies in mice showed that the
      maximum tolerated dose of the novel paclitaxel prodrug was twice that of
      conventional paclitaxel. When tested in vivo in an orthotopic mouse model of
      human prostate cancer using luciferase-transduced LNCaP LLN cells, both
      paclitaxel and the new paclitaxel prodrug showed distinct antitumour efficacy on
      the primary tumour and metastases that was significantly better than the effect
      of doxorubicin which was used as a comparison and showed no antitumour efficacy.
      The new paclitaxel prodrug (3 * 24 mg paclitaxel equivalents) showed comparable
      antitumour activity on the primary tumour to paclitaxel at its maximum-tolerated
      dose (3 * 12mg/kg), reduced circulating PSA levels and demonstrated a better
      antitumour effect on lung metastases but not on bone metastases.

PMID- 20933386
TI  - Purification and characterization of a novel NADH-dependent carbonyl reductase
      from Pichia stipitis involved in biosynthesis of optically pure ethyl (S)-4
      chloro-3-hydroxybutanoate.
AB  - A novel NADH-dependent dehydrogenases/reductases (SDRs) superfamily reductase
      (PsCRII) was isolated from Pichia stipitis. It produced ethyl (S)-4-chloro-3
      hydroxybutanoate [(S)-CHBE] in greater than 99% enantiomeric excess. This enzyme
      was purified to homogeneity by ammonium sulfate precipitation followed by Q
      Sepharose chromatography. Compared to similar known reductases producing (S)
      CHBE, PsCR II was more suitable for production since the purified PsCRII
      preferred the inexpensive cofactor NADH to NADPH as the electron donor.
      Furthermore, the Km of PsCRII for ethyl 4-chloro-3-oxobutanoate (COBE) was 3.3
      mM, and the corresponding Vmax was 224 MUmol/mg protein/min. The catalytic
      efficiency is the highest value ever reported for NADH-dependent reductases from
      yeasts that produce CHBE with high enantioselectivity. In addition, this enzyme
      exhibited broad substrate specificity for several beta-keto esters using NADH as
      the coenzyme. The properties of PsCRII with those of other carbonyl reductases
      from yeasts were also compared in this study.

PMID- 20933387
TI  - The effect of vinyl acetate in acetoclastic methanogenesis.
AB  - The influence of vinyl acetate (VA) in the methanogenesis was evaluated, by using
      an upflow anaerobic sludge blanket reactor of 1.5L. The reactor was operated at
      33.5 g/L volatile suspended solids to 30+/-2  degrees C, a hydraulic residence
      time of 1 day, an organic loading rate of 1 kgCOD/m3/d of two different mixtures
      of VA and glucose. The VA was methanized to 81% when its proportion was of 10%
      into reactor loading rate, when VA proportion increased to 25%, the methane
      production rate decreased to 62% and the acetate production rate increased almost
      8 times. These results indicated that VA was only hydrolyzed and glucose was not
      used as a co-substrate. The effect of glucose on VA methanogenic degradation was
      evaluated through batch reactors of 60 mL, concluding that the glucose supported
      the methanogenesis without favoring the VA elimination. On the other hand, the
      results of the sludge from the reactor in the presence of VA demonstrated that VA
      caused an irreversibly inhibition of acetoclastic methanogenesis when the
      anaerobic sludge was exposed to this compound.

PMID- 20933388
TI  - Improving the treatment efficiency of constructed wetlands with zeolite
      containing filter sands.
AB  - In this study the physical and chemical properties of three different lava sands
      used in constructed wetlands for municipal wastewater treatment were
      investigated. The aim was to identify those properties and mechanisms that render
      lava sands as highly efficient filter media which could substitute conventional,
      fluviatile sands. It was shown that although lava sands per se may be suitable
      filter materials, the presence of zeolite minerals within the lava sands enhances
      the purification efficiency tremendously. Zeolites not only increase the sorption
      capacity, but even more important, they are able to absorb water in large
      amounts, which in turn leads to stronger swelling. The latter reduces
      hydrological conductivity considerably, resulting in a longer contact time to
      eliminate pollutants. A simple mineralogical survey of filter materials for the
      presence of zeolites may render many installations of constructed wetlands
      successful.

PMID- 20933389
TI  - The techno-economic potential of renewable energy through the anaerobic digestion
      of microalgae.
AB  - The potential of microalgae as feedstock for methane production is evaluated from
      a process technical and economic point of view. Production of mixed culture algae
      in raceway ponds on non-agricultural sites, such as landfills, was identified as
      a preferred approach. The potential of straightforward bio-methanation, which
      includes pre-concentration of microalgae and utilization of a high rate anaerobic
      reactor was examined based on the premises of achievable up-concentration from
      0.2-0.6 kg m(-3) to 20-60 kg dry matter (DM) m(-3) and an effective bio
      methanation of the concentrate at a loading rate of 20 kg DM m(-3) d(-1). The
      costs of biomass available for bio-methanation under such conditions were
      calculated to be in the range of ?86-?124 ton(-1) DM. The levelized cost of
      energy by means of the process line "algae biomass--biogas--total energy module"
      would be in the order of ?0.170-0.087 kWh(-1), taking into account a carbon
      credit of about ?30 ton(-1) CO2(eq).

PMID- 20933390
TI  - Purification and characterization of inulin fructotransferase (DFA III-forming)
      from Arthrobacter aurescens SK 8.001.
AB  - The soil bacterium Arthrobacter aurescens SK 8.001 produces inulin
      fructotransferase (IFTase), and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS)
      and carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance (13C NMR) analysis demonstrated that the
      main product of the enzyme was difructose anhydride III (DFA III). The IFTase was
      purified by ethanol precipitation, DEAE Sepharose Fast Flow, and Superdex 200
      10/300 GL gel chromatography. Its molecular mass was estimated to be 40 kDa by
      SDS-PAGE and 35 kDa by gel filtration. The enzyme showed maximum activity at pH
      5.5 and 60-70  degrees C, and retained 86.5% of its initial activity after
      incubation at 60  degrees C for 4 h. Chemical modification results suggested that
      a tryptophan residue is essential to enzyme activity. The N-terminal amino acid
      sequence was determined as AEGAKASPLNSPNVYDVT. The kinetic values, Km and Vmax,
      were estimated to be 0.52 mM and 0.3 MUmol/ml min. Nystose was observed to be the
      smallest substrate for the produced IFTase. This IFTase provides a promising way
      to utilize inulin for the production of DFA III.

PMID- 20933391
TI  - Application of the biorefinery concept to produce L-lactic acid from the soybean
      vinasse at laboratory and pilot scale.
AB  - Lactic acid is a product that finds several applications in food, cosmetic,
      pharmaceutical and chemical industries. The main objective of this work was the
      development of a bioprocess to produce L(+)-lactic acid using soybean vinasse as
      substrate. Among ten strains, Lactobacillus agilis LPB 56 was selected for
      fermentation, due to its ability to metabolize the complex oligosaccharides.
      Fermentation was conducted without need for supplementary inorganic nitrogen
      sources or yeast extract. Kinetic and yield parameters determined at laboratory
      scale were 0.864 and 0.0162 for YP/S and YX/S, 0.0145 g/L h (rx), 1.32 g/L h (rs)
      and 1.13 g/L h (rp). The use of vinasse enriched with soybean molasses provided
      higher lactic acid concentration (138 g/L), the best proportion of inoculum being
      25% (v/v). After scale-up to a pilot plant, kinetic and yield parameters were
      0.849 and 0.0353 for YP/S and YX/S, 0.0278 g/L h (rx), 0.915 g/L h (rs) and 0.863
      g/L h (rp).

PMID- 20933392
TI  - Response of nitrifying bacterial communities to the increased thiocyanate
      concentration in pre-denitrification process.
AB  - Changes in process performance and the nitrifying bacterial community associated
      with an increase of thiocyanate (SCN-) loading were investigated in a pre
      denitrification process treating industrial wastewater. The increased SCN-
      loading led to the concentration of total nitrogen (TN) in the final effluent,
      but increasing the internal recycling ratio as an operation parameter from 2 to 5
      resulted in a 21% increase in TN removal efficiency. In the aerobic reactor, we
      found that the Nitrosomonas europaea lineage was the predominant ammonia
      oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and the percentages of the AOB population within the
      total bacteria increased from about 4.0% to 17% with increased SCN-
      concentration. The increase of nitrite loading seemed to change the balance
      between Nitrospira and Nitrobacter, resulting in the high dominance of Nitrospira
      over Nitrobacter. Meanwhile, a Thiobacillus thioparus was suggested to be the
      main microorganism responsible for the SCN- biodegradation observed in the
      system.

PMID- 20933393
TI  - Optimization of processing conditions for the fractionation of triticale straw
      using pressurized low polarity water.
AB  - Pressurized low polarity water (PLPW) fractionation of triticale straw was
      optimized to maximize hemicellulose and lignin yield, and to produce a cellulose
      rich fraction for biofuels production. The optimum PLPW conditions for
      hemicellulose yield was determined to be 165  degrees C, with a flow rate of 115
      mL/min, and a solvent-to-solid ratio of 60 mL/g. Hemicellulose and lignin yield
      generally increased with increasing temperature and solvent-to-solid ratio. There
      was a small decrease in hemicellulose yield with an increase in flow rate.
      Minimum lignin content of the triticale straw residue after extraction was
      predicted to occur at a processing condition of 206  degrees C, 160 mL/min, and
      67 mL/g. PLPW was successful in removing 73-78% of the hemicellulose, leaving a
      cellulose rich fraction (65% glucose concentration). Lignin was equally
      distributed between the solid residues and the extracts and most of the
      hemicellulose was extracted in oligomer form. Remaining solid residues after
      fractionation were highly digestible by cellulase enzymes.

PMID- 20933394
TI  - The role of EPS concentration in MBR foaming: analysis of a submerged pilot
      plant.
AB  - Foaming in Membrane BioReactor (MBR) is a frequently discussed topic. Some
      authors reported that the phenomenon is due to filamentous organisms, like at
      Conventional Activated Sludge (CAS) plants. However, in recent years, other
      authors reported that the Extra-cellular Polymer Substances (EPSs) concentration
      is an important factor for controlling foam as well. Nevertheless, even if a
      number of MBR plants are affected by foaming, presently there are no suitable
      methods to evaluate the phenomenon. To facilitate the study of this controversial
      phenomenon in an MBR system, certain foam tests proposed in the past for CASPs
      were investigated. The results of the tests were able to adequately measure
      quantity, stability and quality of the foam. In particular, the Scum Index
      increased proportionally with the EPS concentration and mixed liquor viscosity;
      Foam Power was mainly correlated with the protein concentration of in the EPS;
      Foam Rating was also correlated with the EPS concentration.

PMID- 20933395
TI  - Optimization of microwave-assisted transesterification of dry algal biomass using
      response surface methodology.
AB  - The effect of microwave irradiation on the simultaneous extraction and
      transesterification (in situ transesterification) of dry algal biomass to
      biodiesel was investigated. A high degree of oil/lipid extraction from dry algal
      biomass and an efficient conversion of the oils/lipids to biodiesel were
      demonstrated in a set of well-designed experimental runs. A response surface
      methodology (RSM) was used to analyze the influence of the process variables (dry
      algae to methanol (wt/vol) ratio, catalyst concentration, and reaction time) on
      the fatty acid methyl ester conversion. Based on the experimental results and RSM
      analysis, the optimal conditions for this process were determined as: dry algae
      to methanol (wt/vol) ratio of around 1:12, catalyst concentration about 2 wt.%,
      and reaction time of 4 min. The algal biodiesel samples were analyzed with GC-MS
      and thin layer chromatography (TLC) methods. Transmission electron microscopy
      (TEM) images of the algal biomass samples before and after the
      extraction/transesterification reaction are also presented.

PMID- 20933396
TI  - Assessment of commercial hemicellulases for saccharification of alkaline
      pretreated perennial biomass.
AB  - The objective of this research was to measure the effects of different cellulase
      and hemicellulase mixtures on fermentable sugar production from two different
      perennial biomasses--switchgrass and a low-impact, high-diversity prairie biomass
      mixture (LIHD). Each was subjected to NaOH pretreatment, followed by hydrolysis
      with a commercial cellulase and beta-glucosidase mixture [CB] supplemented with
      either of two hemicellulases. For both biomasses, there was little gain in sugar
      yield when using CB alone beyond 20-25 mg/g TS; further gain in yield was
      possible only through hemicellulase supplementation. An equation that modeled CB
      and hemicellulase effects as occurring independently fit the data reasonably
      well, except at the lowest of cellulase loadings with hemicellulase, where
      synergistic interactions were evident. Examination of the marginal effectiveness
      of enzyme loadings (incremental grams sugar per incremental mg enzyme) over a
      broad range of loadings suggests that there is no need to customize enzymatic
      hydrolysis for NaOH-pretreated switchgrass and LIHD.

PMID- 20933397
TI  - Spatial distributions of biofilm properties and flow pattern in NiiMi process.
AB  - A pilot-scale NiiMi system for river landscape water treatment has been steadily
      operated for more than one year. The aim of the study was to investigate the
      spatial distributions of biofilm properties and water flow pattern in NiiMi
      system. Results showed that spatial distributions regularities of volatile
      suspended solid (VSS), respiration intensity, protein, polysaccharide, viable
      cell number and dehydrogenase activity were consistent with the aqueous rate. In
      addition, the viable cell, protein and polysaccharide specific dehydrogenase
      decreased with depth. Moreover, the protein: polysaccharide ratio increased with
      depth. Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy indicated that protein was
      one of the components of extracellular polymeric substance (EPS). Gel filtration
      chromatography (GFC) analysis indicated that EPS had a broader MW distribution
      than that in the effluent water. Trace studies indicated that the occurrence of a
      dead zone volume of 18.7%, the top left section was the dead zone of the NiiMi
      system.

PMID- 20933398
TI  - Coagulation/flocculation-based removal of algal-bacterial biomass from piggery
      wastewater treatment.
AB  - Two conventional chemical coagulants (FeCl3 and Fe2(SO4)3) and five commercial
      polymeric flocculants (Drewfloc 447, Flocudex CS/5000, Flocusol CM/78, Chemifloc
      CV/300 and Chitosan) were comparatively evaluated for their ability to remove
      algal-bacterial biomass from the effluent of a photosynthetically oxygenated
      piggery wastewater biodegradation process. Chlorella sorokiniana, Scenedesmus
      obliquus, Chlorococcum sp. and a wild type Chlorella, in symbiosis with a
      bacterial consortium, were used as model algal-bacterial consortia. While the
      highest biomass removals (66-98%) for the ferric salts were achieved at
      concentrations of 150-250 mg L(-1), dosages of 25-50 mg L(-1) were required for
      the polymer flocculants to support comparable removal efficiencies. Process
      efficiency declined when the polymer flocculant was overdosed. Biomass
      concentration did not show a significant impact on flocculation within the
      concentration range tested. The high flocculant requirements herein recorded
      might be due to the competition of colloidal organic for the flocculants and the
      stationary phase conditions of biomass.

PMID- 20933399
TI  - Enhanced bioenergy recovery from rapeseed plant in a biorefinery concept.
AB  - The present study investigated the utilization of the whole rapeseed plant (seed
      and straw) for multi-biofuels production in a biorefinery concept. Results showed
      that bioethanol production from straw was technically feasible with ethanol yield
      of 0.15 g ethanol/g dry straw after combined alkaline peroxide and stream
      pretreatment. The byproducts (rapeseed cake, glycerol, hydrolysate and stillage)
      were evaluated for hydrogen and methane production. In batch experiments, the
      energy yields from each feedstock for, either methane production alone or for
      both hydrogen and methane, were similar. However, results from continuous
      experiments demonstrated that the two-stage hydrogen and methane fermentation
      process could work stably at organic loading rate up to 4.5 gVS/(Ld), while the
      single-stage methane production process failed. The energy recovery efficiency
      from rapeseed plant increased from 20% in the conventional biodiesel process to
      60% in the biorefinery concept, by utilization of the whole rapeseed plant for
      biodiesel, bioethanol, biohydrogen and methane production.

PMID- 20933400
TI  - Purification and biochemical characterization of extracellular laccase from the
      ascomycete Paraconiothyrium variabile.
AB  - An extracellular laccase-producing ascomycete was isolated from soil and
      identified as Paraconiothyrium variabile using rDNA sequence analysis. Typical
      laccase substrates including 2,2'-azinobis-(3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulphonate)
      (ABTS), 2,6-dimethoxyphenol (DMP), and guaiacol were oxidized by the purified
      enzyme (designated as PvL). The molecular mass of PvL was 84 kDa and it showed a
      pI value of 4.2. The enzyme acted optimally at pH 4.8 and exhibited an optimum
      temperature of 50  degrees C. Using ABTS, PvL represented Km and Vmax of 203 MUM
      and 40 MUmol min(-1) mg(-1), respectively. After 24 h incubation at pH 4.8 and 4 
      degrees C, 80% of the initial activity of PvL remained. The enzyme was inhibited
      by Fe2+, Hg2+, and Mn2+, but induced by Cu2+. EDTA (10 mM), 1,4-dithiothreitol
      (DTT) (0.1 mM), and NaN3 (10 mM) were found to completely inhibit PvL. Sixty
      eight percent of Malachite green was decolorized by 4 U/mL of PvL after 15 min
      incubation at 30  degrees C.

PMID- 20933401
TI  - Reversible removal of SO2 at low temperature by Bacillus licheniformis
      immobilized on gamma-Al2O3.
AB  - Bacillus licheniformis R08 biomass was immobilized on gamma-Al2O3 and the effects
      of R08 biomass loading, SO2 concentration, water vapor, oxygen and temperature on
      removal of SO2 were investigated. The experimental results indicated that SO2
      saturation capacity increased with increasing R08 biomass loading and SO2
      concentration, but decreased with increasing adsorption temperature. Water vapor
      activated the adsorbent and promoted SO2 removal. An increase in oxygen
      concentration from 5 to 10% had little effect on SO2 removal. FTIR analysis
      revealed that the R08 biomass bound to gamma-Al2O3 mainly by forming R-CO-O-Al
      bonds. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis indicated that gamma-Al2O3
      reacted with SO2 and formed aluminum sulfate in the presence of oxygen when R08
      biomass loading was 13.8%, but that amido groups of the R08 biomass reacted with
      SO2 and formed sulfite when biomass loading was 32.4%. Ten continuous adsorption
      desorption cycles showed that the adsorbent had an excellent regeneration
      performance.

PMID- 20933402
TI  - Sustainability of algae derived biodiesel: a mass balance approach.
AB  - A rigorous chemical engineering mass balance/unit operations approach is applied
      here to bio-diesel from algae mass culture. An equivalent of 50,000,000 gallons
      per year (0.006002 m3/s) of petroleum-based Number 2 fuel oil (US, diesel for
      compression-ignition engines, about 0.1% of annual US consumption) from
      oleaginous algae is the target. Methyl algaeate and ethyl algaeate diesel can
      according to this analysis conceptually be produced largely in a technologically
      sustainable way albeit at a lower available diesel yield. About 11 square miles
      of algae ponds would be needed with optimistic assumptions of 50 g biomass yield
      per day and m2 pond area. CO2 to foster algae growth should be supplied from a
      sustainable source such as a biomass-based ethanol production. Reliance on fossil
      based CO2 from power plants or fertilizer production renders algae diesel non
      sustainable in the long term.

PMID- 20933403
TI  - Study on activated carbon derived from sewage sludge for adsorption of gaseous
      formaldehyde.
AB  - The aim of this work is to evaluate the adsorption performances of activated
      carbon derived from sewage sludge (ACSS) for gaseous formaldehyde removal
      compared with three commercial activated carbons (CACs) using self-designing
      adsorption and distillation system. Formaldehyde desorption of the activated
      carbons for regeneration was also studied using thermogravimetric (TG) analysis.
      The porous structure and surface characteristics were studied using N2 adsorption
      and desorption isotherms, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier
      transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The results show that ACSS has excellent
      adsorption performance, which is overall superior to the CACs. Adsorption theory
      indicates that the ACSS outperforms the CACs due to its appropriate porous
      structure and surface chemistry characteristics for formaldehyde adsorption. The
      TG analysis of desorption shows that the optimum temperature to regenerate ACSS
      is 75 degrees C, which is affordable and economical for recycling.

PMID- 20933404
TI  - Mode of action of Chrysosporium lucknowense C1 alpha-l-arabinohydrolases.
AB  - The mode of action of four Chrysosporium lucknowense C1 alpha-L-arabinohydrolases
      was determined to enable controlled and effective degradation of arabinan. The
      active site of endoarabinanase Abn1 has at least six subsites, of which the
      subsites -1 to +2 have to be occupied for hydrolysis. Abn1 was able to hydrolyze
      a branched arabinohexaose with a double substituted arabinose at subsite -2. The
      exo acting enzymes Abn2, Abn4 and Abf3 release arabinobiose (Abn2) and arabinose
      (Abn4 and Abf3) from the non-reducing end of reduced arabinose oligomers. Abn2
      binds the two arabinose units only at the subsites -1 and -2. Abf3 prefers small
      oligomers over large oligomers. It is able to hydrolyze all linkages present in
      beet arabinan, including the linkages of double substituted residues. Abn4 is
      more active towards polymeric substrate and releases arabinose monomers from
      single substituted arabinose residues. Depending on the combination of the
      enzymes, the C1 arabinohydrolases can be used to effectively release branched
      arabinose oligomers and/or arabinose monomers.

PMID- 20933405
TI  - Selection and characteristics of a switchgrass-colonizing microbial community to
      produce extracellular cellulases and xylanases.
AB  - A microbial community was selected for growth on dried and NaOH-treated
      switchgrass. During a 14-day liquid cultivation, a 70% loss in dry weight was
      observed during the first 4 days and after 14 days, the hemicellulose and
      cellulose in the system were degraded by 73.5% and 67.3%, respectively. The
      carboxymethyl cellulase (CMCase) and xylanase levels reached 0.21 and 3.75 IU,
      respectively. The optimal pH for CMCase and xylanase activities was 5 and 6,
      respectively. The optimal reaction temperature of CMCase and xylanase was 60
      degrees C. A library of bacterial and fungal ribosomal gene sequences obtained
      from the community showed the presence of Achromobacter xylosoxidans and
      Alcaligenes faecalis and of Fusarium sporotrichioides. To our knowledge, this was
      the first report on a microbial community selected in the presence of switchgrass
      to produce extracellular cellulases and xylanases.

PMID- 20933406
TI  - A new method to determine initial viability of entrapped cells using fluorescent
      nucleic acid staining.
AB  - Entrapped bacterial cells are widely used in several biotechnological
      applications. Cell entrapment procedures are known to affect the viability of
      bacterial cells. To determine the effect of entrapment procedures on viability of
      bacterial cells, dissolution of the entrapment matrices using chelating agents or
      heat is required immediately after the entrapment is completed. Chelating agents
      and heat applied in the matrix dissolution reduce cell viability and in turn
      hinder accurate quantification of viable cells. In this study, a method to
      determine the effect of entrapment procedure on bacterial cell viability which
      involves entrapping cells directly onto glass slides was developed. The developed
      method showed less viability reduction than the methods requiring matrix
      dissolution. The percentage of live cells in the culture before entrapment ranged
      from 54% to 74%, while the percent of live cells after entrapment determined by
      the developed method was 39-62%.

PMID- 20933407
TI  - Stereocontrolled facile synthesis and antimicrobial activity of oximes and oxime
      ethers of diversely substituted bispidines.
AB  - A small library of diversely substituted 2,4,6,8-tetraaryl-3,7
      diazabicyco[3.3.1]nonan-9-ones, their oximes and O-methyloximes were achieved in
      a stereocontrolled manner by an easiest synthetic strategy as single isomers with
      high yields. Stereochemistry of all the synthesized compounds was established by
      their 1D/2D NMR spectral studies, further, witnessed by single-crystal XRD
      analysis. Accordingly, the compounds exist in a chair-boat conformation with
      equatorial orientation of the substituents in the chair part and boat-axial
      orientation in the boat part. Finally, all the synthesized oximes and oxime
      ethers were evaluated for their in vitro antimicrobial activity against a panel
      of pathogenic bacteria and fungi, and as a result of the structure-activity
      correlations, some lead molecules were known for further optimization.

PMID- 20933408
TI  - Efficient synthesis, spectral analysis and antimicrobial studies of nitrogen and
      sulfur containing spiro heterocycles from 2,4-diaryl-3-azabicyclo[3.3.1]nonan-9
      ones.
AB  - Acetyl and propionyl group substituted thiadiazole derivatives (4a-4h, 5a-5h, 6a,
      6b, 7a and 7b) have been synthesized by the cyclization of 2,4-diaryl-3
      azabicyclo[3.3.1]nonan-9-one thiosemicarbazones (2a-2h, 3a and 3b) with acetic
      anhydride/propionic anhydride and were characterized by Elemental analysis, IR,
      (1)H NMR and (13)C NMR spectral analysis. Single crystal X-ray diffraction has
      also been recorded for compounds 4c and 5a. From the NMR and Single crystal X-ray
      diffraction analysis, compounds 4b-4d, 4f-4h, 5b, 5c, 5f-5h, 6a, 7a and 7b were
      found to adopt twin-chair conformations whereas compounds 4a, 4e, 5a, 5d, 5e and
      6b adopt chair and boat conformation of cyclohexane and piperidine rings,
      respectively. Besides, the synthesized compounds were screened for antibacterial
      and antifungal activities using serial dilution method. The microbiological
      analysis showed that the electron withdrawing function substituted phenyl group
      at C-2 and C-4 of azabicyclononane based thiadiazoles 4c/4h and 5c/5h exposed
      significant antimicrobial activity against Salmonella typhi, Escherichia coli,
      Klebsiella pneumoniae, Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus niger and Candida albicans
      at MIC of 6.25 MUg/ml.

PMID- 20933409
TI  - Arylpiperazine-containing pyrimidine 4-carboxamide derivatives targeting
      serotonin 5-HT(2A), 5-HT(2C), and the serotonin transporter as a potential
      antidepressant.
AB  - Pyrimidine usually has good pharmacokinetic properties as a drug substance and
      considerable efforts have been devoted to develop pyrimidine derivatives into
      drug candidates. Arylpiperazine-containing pyrimidine 4-carboxamide derivatives
      were synthesized and evaluated for binding to serotonin receptors and
      transporter. Pyrimidine derivatives showed good antidepressant activity in FST
      (forced swimming test) animal model and also displayed no appreciable inhibitory
      activity against hERG channel blocking assay. Herein SAR studies of pyrimidine
      derivatives targeting serotonin receptors and transporter will be disclosed.

PMID- 20933410
TI  - Discovery of highly potent and efficacious MC4R agonists with spiroindane N-Me
      1,2,4-triazole privileged structures for the treatment of obesity.
AB  - We report an SAR study of MC4R analogs containing spiroindane heterocyclic
      privileged structures. Compound 26 with N-Me-1,2,4-triazole moiety possesses
      exceptional potency at MC4R and potent anti-obesity efficacy in a mouse model.
      However, the efficacy is not completely mediated through MC4R. Additional SAR
      studies led to the discovery of compound 32, which is more potent at MC4R.
      Compound 32 demonstrates MC4R mediated anti-obesity efficacy in rodent models.

PMID- 20933411
TI  - Discovery of MK-0952, a selective PDE4 inhibitor for the treatment of long-term
      memory loss and mild cognitive impairment.
AB  - The structure-activity relationship of a novel series of 8-biarylnaphthyridinones
      acting as type 4 phosphodiesterase (PDE4) inhibitors for the treatment of long
      term memory loss and mild cognitive impairment is described herein. The
      manuscript describes a new paradigm for the development of PDE4 inhibitor
      targeting CNS indications. This effort led to the discovery of the clinical
      candidate MK-0952, an intrinsically potent inhibitor (IC(50)=0.6 nM) displaying
      limited whole blood activity (IC(50)=555 nM). Supporting in vivo results in two
      preclinical efficacy tests and one test assessing adverse effects are also
      reported. The comparative profiles of MK-0952 and two other Merck compounds are
      described to validate the proposed hypothesis.

PMID- 20933412
TI  - 2-Aryl benzimidazoles: human SCD1-specific stearoyl coenzyme-A desaturase
      inhibitors.
AB  - A series of potent, benzimidazole-based SCD inhibitors which demonstrate
      selectivity for the hSCD1 enzyme over the hSCD5 isoform are described. The
      compounds possess suitable cellular activity and pharmacokinetic properties which
      render them capable of inhibiting liver SCD activity in a mouse pharmacodynamic
      assay. These 2-aryl benzimidazoles may serve as valuable tools for studying
      selective hSCD1-inhibition.

PMID- 20933413
TI  - 2-Methyl-3-furanyl-4H-1,2,4-triazol-3-ylthioamides: a new class of selective
      orexin 2 antagonists.
AB  - A new class of selective orexin 2 antagonist was identified among commercial
      products. Initial SAR was obtained using commercial derivatives only prior to
      starting ad hoc medicinal chemistry activities.

PMID- 20933414
TI  - Design, synthesis, and structure-activity relationship studies of N-arylsulfonyl
      morpholines as gamma-secretase inhibitors.
AB  - Design and synthesis of cis-2,6-disubstituted N-arylsulfonyl morpholines as novel
      gamma-secretase inhibitors for the potential treatment of Alzheimer's disease
      (AD) is reported. Several different small alkyl groups are installed on the left
      hand side to lower the CYP3A4 liability while maintaining excellent in vitro
      potency.

PMID- 20933415
TI  - Functionalized benzophenone, thiophene, pyridine, and fluorene thiosemicarbazone
      derivatives as inhibitors of cathepsin L.
AB  - A series of thiosemicarbazone analogs based on the benzophenone, thiophene,
      pyridine, and fluorene molecular frameworks has been prepared by chemical
      synthesis and evaluated as small-molecule inhibitors of the cysteine proteases
      cathepsin L and cathepsin B. The two most potent inhibitors of cathepsin L in
      this series (IC(50)<135 nM) are brominated-benzophenone thiosemicarbazone analogs
      that are further functionalized with a phenolic moiety (2 and 6). In addition, a
      bromo-benzophenone thiosemicarbazone acetyl derivative (3) is also strongly
      inhibitory against cathepsin L (IC(50)=150.8 nM). Bromine substitution in the
      thiophene series results in compounds that demonstrate only moderate inhibition
      of cathepsin L. The two most active analogs in the benzophenone thiosemicarbazone
      series are highly selective for their inhibition of cathepsin L versus cathepsin
      B.

PMID- 20933416
TI  - N-Substituted acetamidines and 2-methylimidazole derivatives as selective
      inhibitors of neuronal nitric oxide synthase.
AB  - A series of N-substituted acetamidines and 2-methylimidazole derivatives
      structurally related to W1400 were synthesized and evaluated as Nitric Oxide
      Synthase (NOS) inhibitors. Analogs with sterically hindering isopropyl and phenyl
      substituents on the benzylic carbon connecting the aromatic core of W1400 to the
      acetamidine nitrogen, showed good inhibitory potency for nNOS (IC(50)=0.2 and 0.3
      MUM) and selectivity over eNOS (500 and 1166) and to a lesser extent over iNOS
      (50 and 100). A molecular modeling study allowed to shed light on the effects of
      the structural modifications on the selectivity of the designed inhibitors toward
      the different NOS isoforms.

PMID- 20933418
TI  - A dumbbell molecular beacon for the specific recognition of nucleic acids.
AB  - A dumbbell molecular beacon (DMB) was designed and synthesized with the
      attachment of a fluorophore and a quencher at two ends. This DMB probe can be
      used to detect single mismatch of a 20mer oligodeoxynucleotide in two different
      buffers and discrimination factors were as high as 60 at 37 degrees C. Statistics
      of single substitutions of analytes showed that both substituted positions and
      substituted nucleotides have important contributions for this probe to
      efficiently distinguish the true analyte from mismatched ones. Hybridization
      kinetics of DMB with the target oligonucleotide was also studied.

PMID- 20933417
TI  - Syntheses of fluorescent imidazoquinoline conjugates as probes of Toll-like
      receptor 7.
AB  - Toll-like receptor (TLR)-7 agonists show prominent immunostimulatory activities.
      The synthesis of a TLR7-active N(1)-(4-aminomethyl)benzyl substituted
      imidazoquinoline 5d served as a convenient precursor for the covalent attachment
      of fluorophores without significant loss of activity. Fluorescence microscopy
      experiments show that the fluorescent analogues are internalized and distributed
      in the endosomal compartment. Flow cytometry experiments using whole human blood
      show differential partitioning into B, T, and natural killer (NK) lymphocytic
      subsets, which correlate with the degree of activation in these subsets. These
      fluorescently-labeled imidazoquinolines will likely be useful in examining the
      trafficking of TLR7 in immunological synapses.

PMID- 20933419
TI  - Inhibition of Bfl-1 with N-aryl maleimides.
AB  - High-throughput screening of 66,000 compounds using competitive binding of
      peptides comprising the BH3 domain to anti-apoptotic Bfl-1 led to the
      identification of 14 validated 'hits' as inhibitors of Bfl-1. N-Aryl maleimide 1
      was among the validated 'hits'. A chemical library encompassing over 280 analogs
      of 1 was prepared following a two-step synthesis. Structure-activity studies for
      inhibition of Bfl-1 by analogs of N-aryl maleimide 1 revealed a preference for
      electron-withdrawing substituents in the N-aryl ring and hydrophilic amines
      appended to the maleimide core. Inhibitors of Bfl-1 are potential development
      candidates for anti-cancer therapeutics.

PMID- 20933420
TI  - Cse1l is a negative regulator of CFTR-dependent fluid secretion.
AB  - Transport of chloride through the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance
      regulator (CFTR) channel is a key step in regulating fluid secretion in
      vertebrates [1, 2]. Loss of CFTR function leads to cystic fibrosis [1, 3, 4], a
      disease that affects the lungs, pancreas, liver, intestine, and vas deferens.
      Conversely, uncontrolled activation of the channel leads to increased fluid
      secretion and plays a major role in several diseases and conditions including
      cholera [5, 6] and other secretory diarrheas [7] as well as polycystic kidney
      disease [8-10]. Understanding how CFTR activity is regulated in vivo has been
      limited by the lack of a genetic model. Here, we used a forward genetic approach
      in zebrafish to uncover CFTR regulators. We report the identification, isolation,
      and characterization of a mutation in the zebrafish cse1l gene that leads to the
      sudden and dramatic expansion of the gut tube. We show that this phenotype
      results from a rapid accumulation of fluid due to the uncontrolled activation of
      the CFTR channel. Analyses in zebrafish larvae and mammalian cells indicate that
      Cse1l is a negative regulator of CFTR-dependent fluid secretion. This work
      demonstrates the importance of fluid homeostasis in development and establishes
      the zebrafish as a much-needed model system to study CFTR regulation in vivo.

PMID- 20933421
TI  - Learning to use an invisible visual signal for perception.
AB  - How does the brain construct a percept from sensory signals? One approach to this
      fundamental question is to investigate perceptual learning as induced by exposure
      to statistical regularities in sensory signals [1-7]. Recent studies showed that
      exposure to novel correlations between sensory signals can cause a signal to have
      new perceptual effects [2, 3]. In those studies, however, the signals were
      clearly visible. The automaticity of the learning was therefore difficult to
      determine. Here we investigate whether learning of this sort, which causes new
      effects on appearance, can be low level and automatic by employing a visual
      signal whose perceptual consequences were made invisible-a vertical disparity
      gradient masked by other depth cues. This approach excluded high-level influences
      such as attention or consciousness. Our stimulus for probing perceptual
      appearance was a rotating cylinder. During exposure, we introduced a new
      contingency between the invisible signal and the rotation direction of the
      cylinder. When subsequently presenting an ambiguously rotating version of the
      cylinder, we found that the invisible signal influenced the perceived rotation
      direction. This demonstrates that perception can rapidly undergo "structure
      learning" by automatically picking up novel contingencies between sensory
      signals, thus automatically recruiting signals for novel uses during the
      construction of a percept.

PMID- 20933423
TI  - Cetaceans on a molecular fast track to ultrasonic hearing.
AB  - The early radiation of cetaceans coincides with the origin of their defining
      ecological and sensory differences [1, 2]. Toothed whales (Odontoceti) evolved
      echolocation for hunting 36-34 million years ago, whereas baleen whales
      (Mysticeti) evolved filter feeding and do not echolocate [2]. Echolocation in
      toothed whales demands exceptional high-frequency hearing [3], and both
      echolocation and ultrasonic hearing have also evolved independently in bats [4,
      5]. The motor protein Prestin that drives the electromotility of the outer hair
      cells (OHCs) is likely to be especially important in ultrasonic hearing, because
      it is the vibratory response of OHC to incoming sound waves that confers the
      enhanced sensitivity and selectivity of the mammalian auditory system [6, 7].
      Prestin underwent adaptive change early in mammal evolution [8] and also shows
      sequence convergence between bats and dolphins [9, 10], as well as within bats
      [11]. Focusing on whales, we show for the first time that the extent of protein
      evolution in Prestin can be linked directly to the evolution of high-frequency
      hearing. Moreover, we find that independent cases of sequence convergence in
      mammals have involved numerous identical amino acid site replacements. Our
      findings shed new light on the importance of Prestin in the evolution of
      mammalian hearing.

PMID- 20933422
TI  - A direct role for cohesin in gene regulation and ecdysone response in Drosophila
      salivary glands.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Developmental abnormalities observed in Cornelia de Lange syndrome
      have been genetically linked to mutations in the cohesin machinery. These and
      other recent experimental findings have led to the suggestion that cohesin, in
      addition to its canonical function of mediating sister chromatid cohesion, might
      also be involved in regulating gene expression. RESULTS: We report that cleavage
      of cohesin's kleisin subunit in postmitotic Drosophila salivary glands induces
      major changes in the transcript levels of many genes. Kinetic analyses of changes
      in transcript levels upon cohesin cleavage reveal that a subset of genes responds
      to cohesin cleavage within a few hours. In addition, cohesin binds to most of
      these loci, suggesting that cohesin is directly regulating their expression.
      Among these genes are several that are regulated by the steroid hormone ecdysone.
      Cytological visualization of transcription at selected ecdysone-responsive genes
      reveals that puffing at Eip74EF ceases within an hour or two of cohesin cleavage,
      long before any decline in ecdysone receptor could be detected at this locus.
      CONCLUSION: We conclude that cohesin regulates expression of a distinct set of
      genes, including those mediating the ecdysone response.

PMID- 20933424
TI  - Keeping cell identity in Arabidopsis requires PRC1 RING-finger homologs that
      catalyze H2A monoubiquitination.
AB  - Polycomb group (PcG) proteins form conserved regulatory complexes that modify
      chromatin to repress the genes that are not required in a specific
      differentiation status [1]. In animals, the two best-characterized PcG complexes
      are PRC2 and PRC1, which respectively possess histone 3 lysine 27 (H3K27)
      trimethyltransferase [2-4] and histone 2A lysine 119 (H2AK119) E3 ubiquitin
      ligase activities [5-7]. In Arabidopsis, PRC2 activity is also required for the
      gene silencing mechanism [8]; however, the existence of PRC1 has been questioned,
      because plant genomes do not encode clear PRC1 components and H2A
      monoubiquitination has not been detected [6, 9]. Conversely, recent reports have
      unveiled the presence of homologs to PRC1 components that together with plant
      specific proteins could be part of the long-sought PRC1-like complexes [10, 11].
      Here we show that the PRC1 RING-finger homologs AtBMI1A and AtBMI1B are
      implicated in the repression of embryonic and stem cell regulators. Plants
      impaired in AtBMI1A and AtBMI1B show derepression of embryonic traits in somatic
      cells, displaying a phenotype similar to plants mutant in PRC2 components [12
      14]. Our data demonstrate that the AtBMI1A/B proteins mediate H2A
      monoubiquitination in Arabidopsis and that this mark, together with PRC2-mediated
      H3K27 trimethylation, plays a key role in maintaining cell identity.

PMID- 20933425
TI  - A deceptive pollination system targeting drosophilids through olfactory mimicry
      of yeast.
AB  - In deceptive pollination, insects are bamboozled into performing nonrewarded
      pollination. A prerequisite for the evolutionary stability in such systems is
      that the plants manage to generate a perfect sensory impression of a desirable
      object in the insect nervous system [1]. The study of these plants can provide
      important insights into sensory preference of their visiting insects. Here, we
      present the first description of a deceptive pollination system that specifically
      targets drosophilid flies. We show that the examined plant (Arum palaestinum)
      accomplishes its deception through olfactory mimicry of fermentation, a strategy
      that represents a novel pollination syndrome. The lily odor is composed of
      volatiles characteristic of yeast, and produces in Drosophila melanogaster an
      antennal detection pattern similar to that elicited by a range of fermentation
      products. By functional imaging, we show that the lily odors target a specific
      subset of odorant receptors (ORs), which include the most conserved OR genes in
      the drosophilid olfactome. Furthermore, seven of eight visiting drosophilid
      species show a congruent olfactory response pattern to the lily, in spite of
      comprising species pairs separated by ~40 million years [2], showing that the
      lily targets a basal function of the fly nose, shared by species with similar
      ecological preference.

PMID- 20933426
TI  - Par3 controls epithelial spindle orientation by aPKC-mediated phosphorylation of
      apical Pins.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Formation of epithelial sheets requires that cell division occurs in
      the plane of the sheet. During mitosis, spindle poles align so the astral
      microtubules contact the lateral cortex. Confinement of the mammalian Pins
      protein to the lateral cortex is essential for this process. Defects in signaling
      through Cdc42 and atypical protein kinase C (aPKC) also cause spindle
      misorientation. When epithelial cysts are grown in 3D cultures, misorientation
      creates multiple lumens. RESULTS: We now show that silencing of the polarity
      protein Par3 causes spindle misorientation in Madin-Darby canine kidney cell
      cysts. Silencing of Par3 also disrupts aPKC association with the apical cortex,
      but expression of an apically tethered aPKC rescues normal lumen formation.
      During mitosis, Pins is mislocalized to the apical surface in the absence of Par3
      or by inhibition of aPKC. Active aPKC increases Pins phosphorylation on Ser401,
      which recruits 14-3-3 protein. 14-3-3 binding inhibits association of Pins with
      Galphai, through which Pins attaches to the cortex. A Pins S401A mutant
      mislocalizes over the cell cortex and causes spindle orientation and lumen
      defects. CONCLUSIONS: The Par3 and aPKC polarity proteins ensure correct spindle
      pole orientation during epithelial cell division by excluding Pins from the
      apical cortex. Apical aPKC phosphorylates Pins, which results in the recruitment
      of 14-3-3 and inhibition of binding to Galphai, so the Pins falls off the cortex.
      In the absence of a functional exclusion mechanism, astral microtubules can
      associate with Pins over the entire epithelial cortex, resulting in randomized
      spindle pole orientation.

PMID- 20933427
TI  - Super-resolution imaging of the bacterial cytokinetic protein FtsZ.
AB  - The idea of a bacterial cytoskeleton arose just 10 years ago with the
      identification of the cell division protein, FtsZ, as a tubulin homolog. FtsZ
      plays a pivotal role in bacterial division, and is present in virtually all
      prokaryotes and in some eukaryotic organelles. The earliest stage of bacterial
      cell division is the assembly of FtsZ into a Z ring at the division site, which
      subsequently constricts during cytokinesis. FtsZ also assembles into dynamic
      helical structures along the bacterial cell, which are thought to act as
      precursors to the Z ring via a cell cycle-mediated FtsZ polymer remodelling. The
      fine structures of the FtsZ helix and ring are unknown but crucial for
      identifying the molecular details of Z ring assembly and its regulation. We now
      reveal using STED microscopy that the FtsZ helical structure in cells of the gram
      positive bacterium, Bacillus subtilis, is a highly irregular and discontinuous
      helix of FtsZ; very different to the smooth cable-like appearance observed by
      conventional fluorescence optics. STED also identifies a novel FtsZ helical
      structure of smaller pitch that is invisible to standard optical methods,
      identifying a possible third intermediate in the pathway to Z ring assembly,
      which commits bacterial cells to divide. 

PMID- 20933428
TI  - The nanostructured morphology of linear polyurethanes observed by transmission
      electron microscopy.
AB  - The morphology of polyester-based polyurethanes was observed by transmission
      electron microscopy, which highlighted a nanostructured system made by a
      continuous distribution of hard domains with size equal to few nanometres in the
      soft matrix.

PMID- 20933429
TI  - Fully automated production of iodine-124 using a vertical beam.
AB  - A fully automated system for the production of iodine-124, based on techniques of
      vertical-beam irradiation and dry distillation, was developed. The system,
      coupled with a capsulated target, was able to irradiate the (124)TeO(2) target up
      to 29 MUA for 1-4h, which yielded iodine-124 with an almost constant yield of 6.9
      MBq/MUAh at the end of bombardment. All procedures were performed automatically
      and repeatedly. The newly developed system would be suitable for routine, large
      scale productions of iodine-124.

PMID- 20933430
TI  - Inter-comparison of 18F-FDG PET/CT standardized uptake values in Korea.
AB  - The number of PET/CT tests for diagnosing and treating tumors are increasing
      every year, and thus it is considered necessary to compare PET/CT images among
      medical institutions or among different PET/CT systems within the same medical
      institution. We present to get the variation of standardized uptake values (SUV)
      among PET/CT systems, to derive an SUV calibration table that enables
      quantitative comparison of PET/CT systems, and to test the usefulness of the
      calibration table through comparing patient's SUV with the SUV calibration table.
      The correlation coefficients that inter-compared the calibration constants of
      normal patients and the calibration constants of the mean standardized uptake
      value with the calibration constants of the standardized uptake value of phantom
      are 0.88938 (P<0.0001).

PMID- 20933431
TI  - Chemical and biological evaluation of 153 Sm and 46/47 Sc complexes of
      indazolebisphosphonates for targeted radiotherapy.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Novel 1-hydroxy-1,1-bisphosphonates derived from indazole and
      substituted at the C-3 position were labeled with the radionuclides (46)Sc and
      (153)Sm. Several parameters such as molar ligand concentration, pH, reaction time
      and temperature were studied. The radiolabelling yield, reaction kinetics and
      stability were assessed and radiocomplexes were evaluated by in vitro and in vivo
      experiments. METHODS: The radionuclides (46)Sc and (153)Sm were obtained by
      neutron irradiation of natural Sc(2)O(3) and enriched (152)Sm(2)O(3) (98.4%)
      targets at the neutron flux of 3 * 10(14) n cm(-2)s(-1). The radiolabelling
      yield, reaction kinetics and stability were accomplished by ascending instant
      thin layer chromatography. The radiocomplexes were submitted to in vitro
      experiments (hydroxyapatite binding and lipophilicity) and biodistribution
      studies in animal models. RESULTS: The radionuclides (46)Sc and (153)Sm were
      produced with specific activities of 100 and 430 MBq mg(-1), respectively. High
      radiochemical yields were achieved and the hydrophilic radiocomplexes have shown
      high degree of binding to hydroxyapatite. Biodistribution studies at 1, 3 and 24h
      of the 4 radiocomplexes under study, have showed a similar biodistribution
      profile with a relatively high bone uptake, slow clearance from blood and a very
      slow rate of total radioactivity excretion from the whole animal body.
      CONCLUSION: We have developed a new class of indazolebisphosphonates complexes
      with radioisotopes of samarium and scandium. All complexes have shown high degree
      of binding to hydroxyapatite, which could be attributed to the ionized
      phosphonate groups. The bone uptake and the bone-to-muscle ratios were relatively
      low.

PMID- 20933432
TI  - Efficient production of therapeutic doses of [131I]-metaiodobenzylguanidine for
      clinical use.
AB  - [(131)I]-metaiodobenzylguanidine (mIBG) is a known radiopharmaceutical used for
      the treatment of neuroendocrine tumors. The development of therapeutic [(131)I]
      mIBG doses at production level is highly challenging due to rapid product
      degradation and high radiation exposures to the production plant personnel. In
      the present work, a working module for the production of 10 doses (100 mCi each)
      in a single operation was developed following copper (I) assisted isotope
      exchange. The labeled product complies with the pharmaceutical specifications
      suitable for in-vivo patient use.

PMID- 20933433
TI  - Characterization and expression of the maize beta-carbonic anhydrase gene repeat
      regions.
AB  - In maize, carbonic anhydrase (CA; EC 4.2.1.1) catalyzes the first reaction of the
      C(4) photosynthetic pathway; it catalyzes the hydration of CO(2) to bicarbonate
      and provides an inorganic carbon source for the primary carboxylation reaction
      catalyzed by phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) carboxylase. The beta-CA isozymes from
      maize, as well as other agronomically important NADP-malic enzyme (NADP-ME) type
      C(4) crops, have remained relatively uncharacterized but differ significantly
      from the beta-CAs of other C(4) monocot species primarily due to transcript
      length and the presence of repeat sequences. This research confirmed earlier
      findings of repeat sequences in maize CA transcripts, and demonstrated that the
      gene encoding these transcripts is also composed of repeat sequences. One of the
      maize CA genes was sequenced and found to encode two domains, with distinct
      groups of exons corresponding to the repeat regions of the transcript. We have
      also shown that expression of a single repeat region of the CA transcript
      produced active enzyme that associated as a dimer and was composed primarily of
      alpha-helices, consistent with that observed for other plant CAs. As the presence
      of repeat regions in the CA gene is unique to NADP-ME type C(4) monocot species,
      the implications of these findings in the context of the evolution of the
      location and function of this C(4) pathway enzyme are strongly suggestive of CA
      gene duplication resulting in an evolutionary advantage and a higher
      photosynthetic efficiency.

PMID- 20933434
TI  - Giant low-grade liposarcoma of distal esophagus.

PMID- 20933435
TI  - Life after critical illness: 'Known knowns' and 'Known unknowns'.

PMID- 20933436
TI  - Vascular smooth muscle cells ablation with endovascular nonthermal irreversible
      electroporation.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the effect of endovascular nonthermal irreversible
      electroporation (NTIRE) on blood vessels. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Specially made
      endovascular devices with four electrodes on top of inflatable balloons were used
      to apply electroporation pulses. Finite element simulations were used to
      characterize NTIRE protocols that would not induce thermal damage to treated
      tissues. Right iliac arteries of eight rabbits were treated with 90 NTIRE pulses.
      Angiograms were performed before and after the procedures. Arterial specimens
      were harvested at 7 and 35 days. Evaluation included hematoxylin and eosin,
      elastic von Giessen, and Masson trichrome stains. Immunohistochemistry of
      selected slides included smooth muscle actin (SMA), proliferating cell nuclear
      antigen, von Willebrand factor (VWF), and S-100 antigen. RESULTS: At 7 days, all
      NTIRE-treated arterial segments displayed complete, transmural ablation of
      vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC). At 35 days, similar damage to VSMC was
      noted. In most cases, the elastic lamina remained intact, and endothelial layer
      regenerated. Occasional mural inflammation and cartilaginous metaplasia were
      noted. After 5 weeks, there was no evidence of significant VSMC proliferation,
      with the dominant process being wall fibrosis with regenerated endothelium.
      CONCLUSIONS: NTIRE can be applied in an endovascular approach. It efficiently
      ablates vessel wall within seconds and with no damage to extracellular
      structures. NTIRE has possible applications in many fields of clinical
      cardiology, including arterial restenosis and cardiac arrhythmias.

PMID- 20933437
TI  - Dreaming and waking: similarities and differences revisited.
AB  - Dreaming is often characterized as lacking high-order cognitive (HOC) skills. In
      two studies, we test the alternative hypothesis that the dreaming mind is highly
      similar to the waking mind. Multiple experience samples were obtained from late
      night REM sleep and waking, following a systematic protocol described in Kahan
      (2001). Results indicated that reported dreaming and waking experiences are
      surprisingly similar in their cognitive and sensory qualities. Concurrently,
      ratings of dreaming and waking experiences were markedly different on questions
      of general reality orientation and logical organization (e.g., the bizarreness or
      typicality of the events, actions, and locations). Consistent with other recent
      studies (e.g., Bulkeley & Kahan, 2008; Kozmova & Wolman, 2006), experiences
      sampled from dreaming and waking were more similar with respect to their process
      features than with respect to their structural features.

PMID- 20933438
TI  - How to integrate dreaming into a general theory of consciousness--a critical
      review of existing positions and suggestions for future research.
AB  - In this paper, we address the different ways in which dream research can
      contribute to interdisciplinary consciousness research. As a second global state
      of consciousness aside from wakefulness, dreaming is an important contrast
      condition for theories of waking consciousness. However, programmatic suggestions
      for integrating dreaming into broader theories of consciousness, for instance by
      regarding dreams as a model system of standard or pathological wake states, have
      not yielded straightforward results. We review existing proposals for using
      dreaming as a model system, taking into account concerns about the concept of
      modeling and the adequacy and practical feasibility of dreaming as a model
      system. We conclude that existing modeling approaches are premature and rely on
      controversial background assumptions. Instead, we suggest that contrastive
      analysis of dreaming and wakefulness presents a more promising strategy for
      integrating dreaming into a broader research context and solving many of the
      problems involved in the modeling approach.

PMID- 20933439
TI  - Predicting normal glenoid version from the pathologic scapula: a comparison of 4
      methods in 2- and 3-dimensional models.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Correction of pathologic glenoid retroversion improves gleonhumeral
      mechanics and reduces glenoid component wear after total shoulder arthroplasty.
      Determining the amount of correction necessary can be difficult because of the
      wide range of normal glenoid version. We hypothesize that normal glenoid version
      can be predicted in a pathologic shoulder based on conserved relationships
      between the anterior glenoid wall, Resch angle, and the internal structures of
      the glenoid vault. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Three-dimensional (3-D) computer
      tomography (CT) scan-based measurements of the anterior glenoid wall angle
      (AGWA), Resch angle (RA), and glenoid version were made in 58 scapulae from the
      Haeman-Todd Osteological Collection (Museum of Natural History in Cleveland, OH)
      and 19 paired scapulae from patients with unilateral osteoarthritis. Linear
      regression equations derived from the AGWA and RA and from a computer-generated
      vault model were used to predict native (nonpathologic) glenoid version as
      defined by the 19 nonpathologic scapula. RESULTS: Linear regression equations
      based on the measured AGWA or RA, as well as the glenoid vault model in the 19
      pathologic scapulae, were able to accurately predict native glenoid version in
      the contralateral nonpathologic shoulder. DISCUSSION: This study demonstrates the
      ability to take 3-D CT scan-based measurements in a scapula with pathologic
      glenoid retroversion and predict the native (nonpathologic) glenoid version in
      the contralateral shoulder by using linear regression equations or a computer
      generated vault model. Such tools might assist in preoperative planning and
      intraoperative decision making to allow correction of pathologic glenoid
      retroversion.

PMID- 20933440
TI  - EEG-fMRI as an useful tool to detect epileptic foci associated with secondary
      bilateral synchrony.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Tailoring the epileptic cortex is the key issue in the pre-surgical
      work-up of patients with pharmacoresistant focal epilepsy. Not always, however,
      the conventional MRI and the scalp EEG are able to provide the information needed
      to address this issue since the imaging may be normal (criptogenetic epilepsy)
      and the EEG, even ictal, poorly localizing. PATIENT AND METHODS: We present a
      case of focal criptogenetic epilepsy with speech arrest seizures and bilateral
      synchronous spike and wave scalp EEG pattern (secondary bilateral synchrony). The
      patient underwent an EEG-fMRI continuous co-registration. RESULTS: The EEG-fMRI
      showed a clear cut activation of a BOLD signal during the epileptic discharge
      over the left Supplementary Motor Area (SMA) and, on lesser degree, over the
      homolateral motor strip. DISCUSSION: Knowledge and expertise about this technique
      has greatly increased over the last few years making it an useful tool for
      localizing purposes specially in patients with ambiguous scalp EEG and normal MRI
      just like the one we presented.

PMID- 20933441
TI  - Mammalian target of rapamycin controls dendritic cell development downstream of
      Flt3 ligand signaling.
AB  - Dendritic cells (DCs) comprise distinct functional subsets including CD8- and
      CD8(+) classical DCs (cDCs) and interferon-secreting plasmacytoid DCs (pDCs). The
      cytokine Flt3 ligand (Flt3L) controls the development of DCs and is particularly
      important for the pDC and CD8(+) cDC and their CD103(+) tissue counterparts. We
      report that mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitor rapamycin impaired
      Flt3L-driven DC development in vitro, with the pDCs and CD8(+)-like cDCs most
      profoundly affected. Conversely, deletion of the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)
      mTOR negative regulator Pten facilitated Flt3L-driven DC development in culture.
      DC-specific Pten targeting in vivo caused the expansion of CD8(+) and CD103(+)
      cDC numbers, which was reversible by rapamycin. The increased CD8(+) cDC numbers
      caused by Pten deletion correlated with increased susceptibility to the
      intracellular pathogen Listeria. Thus, PI3K-mTOR signaling downstream of Flt3L
      controls DC development, and its restriction by Pten ensures optimal DC pool size
      and subset composition.

PMID- 20933442
TI  - The Rab11a GTPase controls Toll-like receptor 4-induced activation of interferon
      regulatory factor-3 on phagosomes.
AB  - Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) is indispensable for recognition of Gram-negative
      bacteria. We described a trafficking pathway for TLR4 from the endocytic
      recycling compartment (ERC) to E. coli phagosomes. We found a prominent
      colocalization between TLR4 and the small GTPase Rab11a in the ERC, and Rab11a
      was involved in the recruitment of TLR4 to phagosomes in a process requiring TLR4
      signaling. Also, Toll-receptor-associated molecule (TRAM) and interferon
      regulatory factor-3 (IRF3) localized to E. coli phagosomes and internalization of
      E. coli was required for a robust interferon-beta induction. Suppression of
      Rab11a reduced TLR4 in the ERC and on phagosomes leading to inhibition of the
      IRF3 signaling pathway induced by E. coli, whereas activation of the
      transcription factor NF-kappaB was unaffected. Moreover, Rab11a silencing reduced
      the amount of TRAM on phagosomes. Thus, Rab11a is an important regulator of TLR4
      and TRAM transport to E. coli phagosomes thereby controlling IRF3 activation from
      this compartment.

PMID- 20933443
TI  - Altered expression of cell adhesion molecules leads to differential uptake of
      hypericin in urothelial cancer.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To elucidate the mechanism behind selective uptake of hypericin in
      bladder cancer after intravesical instillation for photodynamic diagnosis of
      urothelial cell carcinoma of bladder. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Clinical studies were
      done on a series of 60 bladder cancer biopsies obtained from 28 patients who
      received intravesical instillations with 8 MUM hypericin. Serial 5 MUm
      cryosections were cut from 43 biopsies, and expression of the E-cadherin and
      associated catenins were determined using immunohistochemical and
      immunofluorescence staining. Hypericin was assessed using fluorescence confocal
      laser scanning microscopy. In addition, mRNA expression of these cell-adhesion
      molecules was analyzed in 17 biopsies using reverse transcription-PCR. RESULTS:
      Increased variability in the expression of E-cadherin and associated molecules
      was found in high-grade, advanced stage bladder carcinoma. An inverse association
      was found between immunoreactivity for E-cadherin, beta- and gamma-catenin, and
      both stage and grade of cancer (P < 0.05). A positive association was observed
      between the hypericin fluorescence and tumor grade. There was a significant down
      regulation of E-cadherin and beta-catenin mRNA in grade 2 and 3 tumors. Although
      a small sample size was studied, it provided sufficient proof to support the
      hypothesis that altered expression of cell adhesion molecules would lead to
      preferential hypericin uptake in urothelial cell carcinoma. CONCLUSIONS: Our
      study has unraveled one of the many factors contributing to the selective uptake
      of hypericin in bladder cancer. We have thus identified the effects of alteration
      of E-cadherin-catenin complex and transformed intercellular junction in the
      modified paracellular uptake of hypericin that provides the rationale for using
      this photosensitizer in photodynamic diagnosis of bladder carcinoma.

PMID- 20933444
TI  - Survival outcomes for men with mediastinal germ-cell tumors: the University of
      Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center experience.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Primary mediastinal germ-cell tumors are rare, and the effect of newer
      drugs and treatment strategies in this disease on overall survival is not known.
      We retrospectively assessed treatment outcomes at a single institution. MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: We identified men seen at our institution from 1998 through 2005 for
      mediastinal germ-cell tumors. Medical records were reviewed for patient
      characteristics, histology, tumor markers, treatment, and survival outcome.
      RESULTS: Thirty-four patients met study criteria, of whom 27 had nonseminomatous
      germ-cell tumor (NSGCT) and 7 had pure seminoma. Eleven patients (41%) with NSGCT
      were alive at last contact with a median overall survival time of 33.5 months.
      Among 13 patients with NSGCT referred to us at initial diagnosis, 7 (54%) were
      alive and recurrence-free at a median follow-up of 56.5 months. Progression-free
      survival was associated with absence of risk factors (any histology other than
      endodermal sinus tumor, beta-hCG > 1000 mIU/mL, or disease outside the
      mediastinum). For the patients whose disease progressed (n = 5) or who had been
      referred to us for salvage treatment (n = 14), the 3-year overall survival from
      the date of first progression was 23%. Conversely, patients with seminoma did
      uniformly well with platinum-based chemotherapy; most did not undergo radiation
      or surgery. CONCLUSION: Chemotherapy given to maximum effect followed by surgical
      consolidation resulted in long-term progression-free survival for 54% of patients
      with mediastinal NSGCT. The number of risk factors present at diagnosis may be
      associated with survival outcome and should be studied in a larger test group.

PMID- 20933445
TI  - Macroscopic sessile tumor architecture is a pathologic feature of biologically
      aggressive upper tract urothelial carcinoma.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Macroscopic sessile tumor architecture was associated with adverse
      outcomes after radical nephroureterectomy (RNU) for upper tract urothelial
      carcinoma (UTUC). Before inclusion in daily clinical decision-making, the
      prognostic value of tumor architecture needs to be validated in an independent,
      external dataset. We tested whether macroscopic tumor architecture improves
      outcome prediction in an international cohort of patients. MATERIAL AND METHODS:
      We retrospectively studied 754 patients treated with RNU for UTUC without
      neoadjuvant chemotherapy at 9 centers located in Asia, Canada, and Europe. Tumor
      architecture was macroscopically categorized as either papillary or sessile.
      Univariable and multivariable Cox regression analyses were used to address
      recurrence-free (RFS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS) estimates. RESULTS:
      Macroscopic sessile architecture was present in 20% of the patients. Its
      prevalence increased with advancing pathologic stage and it was significantly
      associated with established features of biologically aggressive UTUC, such as
      tumor grade, lymph node metastasis, lymphovascular invasion, and concomitant CIS
      (all P values < 0.02). The median follow-up for patients who were alive at last
      follow-up was 40 months (IQR: 18-75 months, range: 1-271 months). Two-year RFS
      and CSS for tumors with papillary architecture were 85% and 90%, compared with
      58% and 66% for those with macroscopic sessile architecture, respectively (P
      values < 0.0001). On multivariable Cox regression analyses, macroscopic sessile
      architecture was an independent predictor of both RFS (hazard ratio {HR}: 1.5; P
      = 0.036) and CSS (HR: 1.5; P = 0.03). CONCLUSION: We confirmed the independent
      prognostic value of macroscopic tumor architecture in a large, independent,
      multicenter UTUC cohort. It should be reported in every pathology report and
      included in post-RNU predictive models in order to refine current clinical
      decision making regarding follow-up protocol and adjuvant therapy.

PMID- 20933446
TI  - Prostate biopsy in patients with long-term use of indwelling bladder catheter:
      what is the rationale?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Acute urinary retention (AUR) is expected to occur in 2% to 39% men
      with benign prostatic hyperplasia. To date, no study has elucidated the effect of
      long-term use of indwelling bladder catheter on serum prostate specific antigen
      (PSA) levels and on the incidence of prostate cancer (CaP). The aim of the
      present study is to analyze the incidence of CaP in patients with long-term use
      of indwelling bladder catheter and determine some practice patterns on this
      issue. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study comprised a retrospective analysis of
      data from 1,651 patients who had undergone transrectal ultrasound (TRUS)-guided
      prostate biopsy from July 2004 to June 2009. Among these patients, 198 (12%) were
      using an indwelling bladder catheter during the biopsy for at least 1 month. The
      incidence of CaP was recorded according to total PSA levels. Other variables such
      patient age, free/total PSA rate, PSA density, prostate volume, and duration of
      catheter use was also analyzed. Men with a digital rectal examination suspicious
      for cancer were not considered for analysis. RESULTS: Median patient age was 71
      years (37 to 89 years). Overall, 25% of patients presented a CaP diagnosis. CaP
      incidence according to the PSA levels was 0%, 18.9%, 24.5%, and 40.6% for
      patients with PSA <=4.0, 4.1-10.0, 10.1-20.0, and >20.0 ng/ml, respectively. When
      prostate volume was analyzed together, we demonstrated that only 1 (2.4%) patient
      with PSA below 10.0 ng/ml and prostate volume >60 g had CaP. Median total PSA,
      PSA density, and prostate volume were statistically different between patients
      with and without CaP. CONCLUSIONS: Prostate biopsy should not be indicated for
      all patients with diagnosis of BPH and AUR who present an elevated PSA level.
      Patients with PSA below 10.0 ng/ml, and prostate volume >60 g should only undergo
      biopsy in selected cases. Patients with PSA >20.0 ng/ml and a prostate volume
      <=60 g are at higher risk of CaP diagnosis.

PMID- 20933447
TI  - On surfaces and soreness.

PMID- 20933448
TI  - Application of optimal control to CPMG refocusing pulse design.
AB  - We apply optimal control theory (OCT) to the design of refocusing pulses suitable
      for the CPMG sequence that are robust over a wide range of B(0) and B(1) offsets.
      We also introduce a model, based on recent progress in the analysis of unitary
      dynamics in the field of quantum information processing (QIP), that describes the
      multiple refocusing dynamics of the CPMG sequence as a dephasing Pauli channel.
      This model provides a compact characterization of the consequences and severity
      of residual pulse errors. We illustrate the methods by considering a specific
      example of designing and analyzing broadband OCT refocusing pulses of length
      10t(180) that are constrained by the maximum instantaneous pulse power. We show
      that with this refocusing pulse, the CPMG sequence can refocus over 98% of
      magnetization for resonance offsets up to 3.2 times the maximum RF amplitude,
      even in the presence of +/-10% RF inhomogeneity.

PMID- 20933449
TI  - A simple one-dimensional method of chemical shift anisotropy determination under
      MAS conditions.
AB  - A method of determination of chemical shift anisotropy (CSA) tensor principal
      components under MAS condition is presented. It is a simple, one-dimensional, and
      robust alternative to the commonly exploited, but more complicated 2D-PASS. The
      required CSA components are delivered by simultaneous numerical analysis of a few
      regular MAS spectra acquired under different spinning rates.

PMID- 20933450
TI  - Analysing the stability of two oral carbamazepine suspensions.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the physical, chemical and microbiological stability of two
      oral suspensions of carbamazepine at concentrations of 2.5% and 5%. METHODS: Both
      oral suspensions were compounded from powdered carbamazepine and Ora-Sweet
      SF((r)) and Ora-Plus((r)) commercial compounding excipients. At the 2, 4 and a 6
      month marks, different quality assays were performed, comprising physical (pH,
      state of the suspension, organoleptic properties), chemical (HPLC) and
      microbiological assays. RESULTS: The final concentration at 6 months for both the
      2.5% and 5% carbamazapine suspensions was 22.9 and 45.9 mg/ml respectively, with
      calculated richness values between 90 and 110% fulfilling USP23 NF18
      requirements. No changes in physical properties and no culture growth were
      observed during the study period. CONCLUSION: Both oral suspensions are
      physically, chemically and microbiologically stable for at least 6 months when
      preserved at room temperature in amber glass flasks.

PMID- 20933451
TI  - Prosthetic hip infection in patients with liver cirrhosis: an outcome analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Liver cirrhosis is a well-known co-morbidity in prosthetic hip
      infection (PHI), but the results of treatment and prognostic factors that predict
      outcomes of PHI in cirrhotic patients have not been studied. METHODS: We
      performed a cohort study of patients with liver cirrhosis who contracted PHI and
      were treated at our institution between January 1990 and December 2004. RESULTS:
      Of 349 first-time episodes of PHI during the study period, 33 (9.5%) occurred in
      patients with liver cirrhosis. Debridement with retention of the prosthesis
      (DWROP) was the initial treatment modality for 24 (73%) episodes of PHI and cured
      the infection in seven (29%). A shorter median duration of symptoms (5 vs. 14
      days; p=0.007) and absence of a sinus tract (p=0.02) were associated with
      successful treatment. Excision arthroplasty (EA) was required in 26 (79%)
      episodes and eradicated PHI in 24 (92%). In 20 patients who had reimplantation of
      a new prosthesis, the infection recurred in six (30%). Patients who developed
      hepatic decompensation after reimplantation had a significantly higher risk of
      recurrent PHI than those who did not (relative risk 7.5; 95% confidence interval
      4.8-9.5; p=0.018). CONCLUSIONS: Liver cirrhosis is a common co-morbidity in
      patients with PHI treated at our institution. DWROP should be considered only
      when there is no sinus tract and the duration of symptoms is very short (less
      than 10 days). EA is an effective procedure to cure infection. However,
      reimplantation of hip prosthesis in these patients carries a high risk of
      infection recurrence, especially in those who develop hepatic decompensation.

PMID- 20933452
TI  - Reactive dye degradation by combined Fe(III)/TiO2 catalyst and ultrasonic
      irradiation: Effect of Fe(III) loading and calcination temperature.
AB  - The development of Fe(III)/TiO(2) catalysts for sonocatalytic degradation of
      Reactive Blue 4 (RB4) dye in water was carried out using sol-gel method. Their
      surface morphology, phase transformation and surface characteristics were studied
      using SEM, XRD and surface analyzer, respectively. Phase transformation from
      amorphous to anatase occurred at 500 degrees C and transformation of anatase to
      rutile phase occurred at 700 degrees C. Complete rutile phase was formed at 900
      degrees C with corresponding increase in the particle size. Increasing in Fe(III)
      loading led to a reduction in the anatase phase and with the formation of weaker
      and broader of diffraction peaks. Surface morphology of the prepared catalyst was
      clearly observed with increasing calcination temperature. Surface area of the
      prepared catalyst decreased with increasing calcination temperature or increasing
      Fe(III) loading. The combination of 0.4 mol% of Fe(III)/TiO(2) with ultrasonic
      irradiation gave the highest sonocatalytic activity in the removal of RB4 from
      the aqueous solution. On the other hand, the presence of even small amount of
      rutile inhibited the catalytic activity of catalyst. 1.5 g/L was the optimum
      amount of catalyst that led to the highest sonocatalytic degradation of RB4 with
      an efficiency of 90%. Aeration significantly accelerated the reaction rate.
      Higher removal at 96% could be achieved with the combination of 0.4Fe(III)/TiO(2)
      and aeration under ultrasonic irradiation.

PMID- 20933453
TI  - A method to reconstruct patient-specific proximal femur surface models from
      planar pre-operative radiographs.
AB  - Three-dimensional reconstruction from volumetric medical images (e.g. CT, MRI) is
      a well-established technology used in patient-specific modelling. However, there
      are many cases where only 2D (planar) images may be available, e.g. if radiation
      dose must be limited or if retrospective data is being used from periods when 3D
      data was not available. This study aims to address such cases by proposing an
      automated method to create 3D surface models from planar radiographs. The method
      consists of (i) contour extraction from the radiograph using an Active Contour
      (Snake) algorithm, (ii) selection of a closest matching 3D model from a library
      of generic models, and (iii) warping the selected generic model to improve
      correlation with the extracted contour. This method proved to be fully automated,
      rapid and robust on a given set of radiographs. Measured mean surface distance
      error values were low when comparing models reconstructed from matching pairs of
      CT scans and planar X-rays (2.57-3.74mm) and within ranges of similar studies.
      Benefits of the method are that it requires a single radiographic image to
      perform the surface reconstruction task and it is fully automated. Mechanical
      simulations of loaded bone with different levels of reconstruction accuracy
      showed that an error in predicted strain fields grows proportionally to the error
      level in geometric precision. In conclusion, models generated by the proposed
      technique are deemed acceptable to perform realistic patient-specific simulations
      when 3D data sources are unavailable.

PMID- 20933454
TI  - A numerical study on steady flow in helically sinuous vascular prostheses.
AB  - The objective of the present study is to investigate flows in helically sinuous
      tubes with a small amplitude of helicity for physiological and clinical
      applications. Three-dimensional computations of steady flows in helically sinuous
      tubes are carried out by using a Navier-Stokes solver based on the spectral/hp
      element method for high accuracy. Results show that the flow fields are affected
      by the curvature and the torsion of the helically sinuous tube geometry in terms
      of axial velocity, axial vorticity and wall shear stress. The position of the
      maximum axial velocity is influenced more by the curvature than by the torsion.
      Most importantly, the torsion remarkably changes the Dean vortices produced by
      the curvature to a predominantly single vortex. Accordingly, it is proposed that
      the fluid dynamics knowledge gained from the present investigation can be
      utilized for the design of innovative prosthetic grafts that can control the
      biological reactivity of coagulant interacting with the prosthetic vascular
      surface or wall.

PMID- 20933455
TI  - Microflow of fluorescently labelled red blood cells in tumours expressing single
      isoforms of VEGF and their response to vascular targeting agents.
AB  - In this work we studied the functional differences between the microcirculation
      of murine tumours that express only single isoforms of vascular endothelial
      growth factor-A (VEGF), namely VEGF120 and VEGF188, and the effect of VEGF
      receptor tyrosine kinase (VEGF-R TK) inhibition on their functional response to
      the vascular disrupting agent, combretastatin A-4 phosphate (CA-4-P), using
      measurement of red blood cell (RBC) velocity by a 'keyhole' tracking algorithm.
      RBC velocities in VEGF188 tumours were unaffected by chronic treatment with a
      VEGF-R tyrosine kinase inhibitor, SU5416, whereas RBC velocities in VEGF120
      tumours were significantly increased compared to control VEGF120 tumours. This
      effect was accompanied by a reduced tumour vascularisation. Pre-treatment of
      VEGF120 tumours with SU5416 made them much more resistant to CA-4-P treatment,
      with a RBC velocity response that was very similar to that of the more mature
      vasculature of the VEGF188 tumours. This study shows that vascular normalisation
      following anti-angiogenic treatment with a VEGF-R tyrosine kinase inhibitor
      reduced the response of a previously sensitive tumour line to CA-4-P.

PMID- 20933456
TI  - Asparagus and jejunal-through-PEG: an unhappy encounter in intrajejunal levodopa
      infusion therapy.

PMID- 20933457
TI  - LRRK2 G2019S mutation in Parkinson's disease: a neuropsychological and
      neuropsychiatric study in a large Algerian cohort.
AB  - A series of 106 patients with isolated or familial Parkinsonism underwent
      clinical evaluation and genetic testing for the LRRK2 G2019S mutation which was
      identified in 34/106 patients (32%). Seventy one of them accepted to be evaluated
      for neuropsychological and neuropsychiatric studies with the aim to compare
      mutation carriers with non-carriers. For neuropsychological testing, comparisons
      between LRRK2 G2019S carriers and non-carriers were made after stratification
      according to the level of education: median and high school versus low level.
      Memory was investigated with the five words test, 2 novel tests with verbalized
      visual material dedicated to illiterate patients, the TNI-93 (nine pictures
      test), The TMA-93 (associative memory test), and digit spans (forward/backward).
      Cognitive analyse did not show major differences between the two groups of
      patients. Nevertheless, behavioral abnormalities, mostly depression and
      hallucinations, were more frequent in the LRRK2 G2019S carriers, suggesting the
      presence of a greater involvement of the limbic system in these patients. Sleep
      disorders which were also more common amongst mutation carriers than non-carriers
      might be related to depression.

PMID- 20933458
TI  - Breathing evaluation and retraining as an adjunct to manual therapy.
AB  - Back and neck pain are extremely common reasons for patients seeking manual
      therapy treatment. Epidemiological evidence supports a link between breathing
      difficulties and back pain. Since trunk muscles perform both postural and
      breathing functions, it is theorized that disruption in one function can
      negatively impact the other. Altered breathing mechanics can change respiratory
      chemistry and therefore pH causing smooth muscle constriction, altered
      electrolyte balance and decreased tissue oxygenation. These changes can
      profoundly impact any body system. Increased excitability in the muscular and
      nervous systems may be most relevant to a manual therapist. Respiratory function
      can be tested via capnography which measures CO2 at the end of exhale known as
      End Tidal CO2 (ETCO2). ETCO2 closely reflects arterial CO2 in people with normal
      cardiopulmonary function. A case series of twenty nine outpatients with neck or
      back pain who had plateaued with manual therapy and exercise were identified all
      of whom were found to have low ETCO2. Breathing retraining improved ETCO2, pain
      and function in all patients with 93% achieving at least a clinically important
      change in either pain or function. Screening for breathing dysfunction using
      capnography may improve patient outcomes in those patients where manual therapy,
      exercise and education do not provide full resolution of symptoms.

PMID- 20933459
TI  - Resonance Rayleigh scattering spectra, non-linear scattering spectra of malachite
      green-12-tungstophosphoric acid system and its analytical application in fish.
AB  - In 0.1 molL(-1) (pH 1.0) HCl medium, 12-tungstophosphoric acid (TP) reacted with
      malachite green (MG) to form an ion-association complex. As a result, the new
      spectra of RRS, SOS and FDS appeared and their intensities were enhanced greatly.
      The maximum wavelengths of RRS, SOS and FDS were located at 334 nm, 586 nm and
      330 nm, and the scattering intensities were proportional to the concentration of
      MG. Based on it a new method for the determination of MG has been established.
      The detection limits (3sigma) of these methods were in the range of 3.7-27 ng mL(
      1). The RRS, SOS, and FDS characteristics, absorption spectrum characteristics
      and optimum reaction conditions of the system were discussed. Effects of
      coexistent substances were tested, and the results demonstrated that this method
      had good selectivity. It has been applied to the determination of malachite green
      residues in fish flesh with satisfactory results. The reaction mechanism and
      reasons of RRS enhancement are discussed.

PMID- 20933460
TI  - AgBr/nanoAlMCM-41 visible light photocatalyst for degradation of methylene blue
      dye.
AB  - A novel photocatalytic material was synthesized by dispersion of AgBr in
      nanoAlMCM-41 material. The AgBr/nanoAlMCM-41 sample shows strong absorption in
      the visible region because of the plasmon resonance of Ag nanoparticles in
      AgBr/nanoAlMCM-41. The catalysts were characterized using XRD (X-ray
      diffraction), UV-visible diffused reflectance spectra (UV-vis DRS) and scanning
      electron microscopy (SEM). The photocatalytic activity and stability of the
      synthesized catalysts were evaluated for methylene blue (MB) degradation in
      aqueous solution in the presence of 200 W tungsten filament Philips lamp. Several
      parameters were examined, catalyst amount, pH and initial concentration of MB,
      AgBr loading. The effect of dosage of photocatalyst was studied in the range 0.05
      1.00 g/L. It was seen that 0.1 g/L of photocatalyst is an optimum value for the
      dosage of photocatalyst. The support size was obtained about 9-100 nm. In the
      same way, the average size of AgBr nanoparticles was about 10nm before visible
      radiation. After visible radiation the average size of AgBr nanoparticles was
      about 25 nm.

PMID- 20933461
TI  - Ab initio/DFT electronic structure calculations, spectroscopic studies and normal
      coordinate analysis of 2-chloro-5-bromopyridine.
AB  - FT-IR (4000-400 cm(-1)) and FT-Raman (3500-50 cm(-1)) spectral measurements of
      solid sample of 2-chloro-5-bromopyridine have been done. Ab initio and DFT
      calculations have been performed giving energies, optimized structures, harmonic
      vibrational frequencies, depolarization ratios, IR intensities, Raman activities
      and atomic displacements. Furthermore, force field calculations have been
      performed by normal coordinate analysis. A complete assignment of the observed
      spectra, based on spectral correlations, electronic structure calculations and
      normal coordinate analysis, has been proposed. The results of the calculations
      have been used to simulate IR and Raman spectra for the molecule that showed good
      agreement with the observed spectra. The SQM method, which implies multiple
      scaling of the DFT force fields, has been shown superior to the uniform scaling
      approach. The energy and oscillator strength calculated by Time-dependent DFT
      results are in good agreement with the experimental results.

PMID- 20933462
TI  - Synthesis and characterization of polymer eight-coordinate
      (enH2)[YIII(pdta)(H2O)](2).10H2O as well as the interaction of
      [YIII(pdta)(H2O)]2(2-) with BSA.
AB  - The eight-coordinate (enH2)[YIII(pdta)(H2O)](2).10H2O (en=ethylenediamine and
      H4pdta=1,3-propylenediamine-N,N,N',N'-tetraacetic acid) was synthesized,
      meanwhile its molecular and crystal structures were determined by single-crystal
      X-ray diffraction technology. The interaction between [Y(III)(pdta)(H2O)]2(2-)
      and bovine serum albumin (BSA) was investigated by UV-vis and fluorescence
      spectra. The results indicate that [YIII(pdta)(H2O)]2(2-) quenched effectively
      the intrinsic fluorescence of BSA via a static quenching process with the binding
      constant (Ka) of the order of 10(4). Meanwhile, the binding and damaging sites to
      BSA molecules were also estimated by synchronous fluorescence. Results indicate
      that the hydrophobic environments around Trp and Tyr residues were all slightly
      changed. The thermodynamic parameters (DeltaG=-25.20 kJ mol(-1), DeltaH=-26.57 kJ
      mol(-1) and DeltaS=-4.58 J mol(-1) K(-1)) showed that the reaction was
      spontaneous and exothermic. What is more, both DeltaH and DeltaS were negative
      values indicated that hydrogen bond and Van der Waals forces were the predominant
      intermolecular forces between [YIII(pdta)(H2O)]2(2-) and BSA.

PMID- 20933463
TI  - FTIR and FT Raman, molecular geometry, vibrational assignments, ab initio and
      density functional theory calculations for 1,5-methylnaphthalene.
AB  - The FTIR and FT Raman vibrational spectra of 1,5-methylnaphthalene (1,5-MN) have
      been recorded using Brunker IFS 66 V Spectrometer in the range 3600-10 cm(-1) in
      the solid phase. A detailed vibrational spectral analysis has been carried out
      and assignments of the observed fundamental bands have been proposed on the basis
      of peak positions and relative intensities. The Optimized molecular geometry,
      harmonic frequencies, electronic polarizability, atomic charges, dipole moment,
      rotational constants and several thermodynamic parameters in the ground state
      were calculated using ab initio Hartree Fock (HF) and density functional B3LYP
      methods (DFT) with 6-311++ G(d) basis set. With the help of different scaling
      factors, the observed vibrational wavenumbers in FTIR and FT Raman spectra were
      analyzed and assigned to different normal modes of the molecule. Most of the
      modes have wavenumbers in the expected range. The results of the calculations
      were applied to simulated infrared and Raman spectra of the title compound which
      showed excellent agreement with the observed spectra.

PMID- 20933464
TI  - Developmental gender differences in the synchronization of auditory event-related
      oscillations.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of the present study was to explore the neurophysiologic
      origins of gender differences in auditory processing mechanisms of 7-10 year-old
      children by means of event-related oscillations. It was tested if the
      developmental changes in synchronization and magnitude of oscillations in
      different processing conditions depended on gender. METHODS: Eighteen girls and
      18 boys aged 7-10 years were pair wise matched for age and were divided into two
      age groups. Auditory event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded in passive,
      sensorimotor and working memory conditions. Phase-locking and single-trial
      magnitude of ERPs were analyzed in the delta (0.5-4 Hz), theta (4-7 Hz), slow (7
      10 Hz), and fast (10-14 Hz) alpha frequency bands to test the effects of gender,
      age, and processing condition. RESULTS: The phase-locking of auditory delta,
      theta, and slow alpha oscillations increased with development only in girls,
      independently of task processing. Only for the theta phase-locking was this
      effect additionally affected by the motor-related task. No changes in the
      magnitude of oscillations accompanied these gender differences in synchronization
      except for parietal delta responses that also increased with development only in
      girls. CONCLUSIONS: The results demonstrate that gender differences in auditory
      ERPs basically originate from a stronger functional synchronization of
      oscillatory responses generated during stimulus processing. SIGNIFICANCE: The
      study provides evidence that the functional maturation of oscillatory auditory
      networks reflected by a progressive developmental increase of synchronization, is
      accelerated in girls relative to boys between 7 and 10 years of age.

PMID- 20933465
TI  - The Goldilocks' problem of cancer medicines.

PMID- 20933466
TI  - External irradiation with or without long-term androgen suppression for prostate
      cancer with high metastatic risk: 10-year results of an EORTC randomised study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We did a randomised phase 3 trial assessing the benefit of addition
      of long-term androgen suppression with a luteinising-hormone-releasing hormone
      (LHRH) agonist to external irradiation in patients with prostate cancer with high
      metastatic risk. In this report, we present the 10-year results. METHODS: For
      this open-label randomised trial, eligible patients were younger than 80 years
      and had newly diagnosed histologically proven T1-2 prostatic adenocarcinoma with
      WHO histological grade 3 or T3-4 prostatic adenocarcinoma of any histological
      grade, and a WHO performance status of 0-2. Patients were randomly assigned (1:1)
      to receive radiotherapy alone or radiotherapy plus immediate androgen
      suppression. Treatment allocation was open label and used a minimisation
      algorithm with institution, clinical stage of the disease, results of pelvic
      lymph-node dissection, and irradiation fields extension as minimisation factors.
      Patients were irradiated externally, once a day, 5 days a week, for 7 weeks to a
      total dose of 50 Gy to the whole pelvis, with an additional 20 Gy to the prostate
      and seminal vesicles. The LHRH agonist, goserelin acetate (3.6 mg subcutaneously
      every 4 weeks), was started on the first day of irradiation and continued for 3
      years; cyproterone acetate (50 mg orally three times a day) was given for 1 month
      starting a week before the first goserelin injection. The primary endpoint was
      clinical disease-free survival. Analysis was by intention to treat. The trial is
      registered at ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT00849082. FINDINGS: Between May 22,
      1987, and Oct 31, 1995, 415 patients were randomly assigned to treatment groups
      and were included in the analysis (208 radiotherapy alone, 207 combined
      treatment). Median follow-up was 9.1 years (IQR 5.1-12.6). 10-year clinical
      disease-free survival was 22.7% (95% CI 16.3-29.7) in the radiotherapy-alone
      group and 47.7% (39.0-56.0) in the combined treatment group (hazard ratio [HR]
      0.42, 95% CI 0.33-0.55, p<0.0001). 10-year overall survival was 39.8% (95% CI
      31.9-47.5) in patients receiving radiotherapy alone and 58.1% (49.2-66.0) in
      those allocated combined treatment (HR 0.60, 95% CI 0.45-0.80, p=0.0004), and 10
      year prostate-cancer mortality was 30.4% (95% CI 23.2-37.5) and 10.3% (5.1-15.4),
      respectively (HR 0.38, 95% CI 0.24-0.60, p<0.0001). No significant difference in
      cardiovascular mortality was noted between treatment groups both in patients who
      had cardiovascular problems at study entry (eight of 53 patients in the combined
      treatment group had a cardiovascular-related cause of death vs 11 of 63 in the
      radiotherapy group; p=0.60) and in those who did not (14 of 154 vs six of 145;
      p=0.25). Two fractures were reported in patients allocated combined treatment.
      INTERPRETATION: In patients with prostate cancer with high metastatic risk,
      immediate androgen suppression with an LHRH agonist given during and for 3 years
      after external irradiation improves 10-year disease-free and overall survival
      without increasing late cardiovascular toxicity.

PMID- 20933467
TI  - Is long-term androgen suppression right for everyone with locally advanced
      prostate cancer?

PMID- 20933468
TI  - The role of conformational ensembles of seven transmembrane receptors in
      functional selectivity.
AB  - It has been observed that some ligands cause receptors to selectively interact
      with subsets of signaling proteins to 'bias' their signaling; this is
      inconsistent with receptors forming a single active state. Here we review the
      concept of receptor conformation ensembles that can account for a given agonist
      showing varied efficacies for different signaling pathways. Data show that
      agonists can stabilize different receptor conformations. We provide a
      demonstration at the molecular level of how the various receptor conformations in
      the ensemble can produce functional selectivity for signaling pathways.
      Specifically, agonists that selectively stabilize certain receptor conformations
      from the ensemble can produce biased agonism towards this signaling pathway.
      These ideas are described with data supported from recent computations of the
      potential energy surface of the beta2-adrenergic receptor.

PMID- 20933469
TI  - Using NMR to study fast dynamics in proteins: methods and applications.
AB  - Proteins exist not as singular structures with precise coordinates, but rather as
      fluctuating bodies that move rapidly through an enormous number of conformational
      substates. These dynamics have important implications for understanding protein
      function and for structure-based drug design. NMR spectroscopy is particularly
      well suited to characterize the dynamics of proteins and other molecules in
      solution at atomic resolution. Here, NMR relaxation methods for characterizing
      thermal motions on the picosecond-nanosecond (ps-ns) timescale are reviewed.
      Motion on this timescale can be conveniently captured by the Lipari-Szabo order
      parameter, S2, a bond-specific measure of restriction of motion. Approaches for
      determining order parameters are discussed, as are recent examples from the
      literature that link ps-ns dynamics with conformational entropy, allostery, and
      protein function in general.

PMID- 20933470
TI  - Evaluation of the Mycobacterium smegmatis and BCG models for the discovery of
      Mycobacterium tuberculosis inhibitors.
AB  - The objective of this study was to measure the efficacy of Mycobacterium
      smegmatis as a surrogate in vitro model for the detection of compounds which are
      inhibitory to the growth of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. A chemical screen of the
      LOPAC library for anti-mycobacterial compounds was performed using M. smegmatis.
      Parallel screens were conducted with another tuberculosis model, Mycobacterium
      bovis BCG, and with M. tuberculosis under identical growth conditions and the
      inhibitors detected across the three species were compared. 50% of compounds that
      were detected as active against M. tuberculosis were not detected using M.
      smegmatis compared to 21% of compounds using M. bovis BCG. To examine whether
      these findings were unique to LOPAC, screens were performed with the NIH
      Diversity Set and Spectrum Collection. An even higher proportion of M.
      tuberculosis inhibitors were not detected from the NIH Diversity Set and Spectrum
      Collection using M. smegmatis compared to M. bovis BCG. These data reveal that a
      significant proportion of M. tuberculosis inhibitors are missed in library
      screening with M. smegmatis. The basis of the variation in the inhibitory
      profiles of M. smegmatis and M. tuberculosis has yet to be fully determined,
      however, our genomic comparisons indicate that approximately 30% of M.
      tuberculosis proteins lack conserved orthologues in M. smegmatis compared to 3%
      being absent in M. bovis BCG. In conclusion, although M. smegmatis offers some
      technical benefits such as a shorter generation time and negligible risk to
      laboratory workers, it is significantly less effective in the detection of anti
      M. tuberculosis compounds relative to M. bovis BCG. This limitation needs to be
      taken into consideration when selecting an in vitro screening model for
      tuberculosis drug discovery.

PMID- 20933471
TI  - Characterization of CD4 and CD8 T cells producing IFN-gamma in human latent and
      active tuberculosis.
AB  - Patients with pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) frequently have reduced IFN-gamma
      production in response to mycobacterial antigens, compared to individuals with
      latent Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection (LTBi). However, it is not clear
      whether this reduced responsiveness is restricted to a particular T cell subset.
      Herein, PBMCs from 26 PTB patients, 30 household contacts (HHCs) of PTB, and 30
      tuberculin positive (TST+) healthy subjects not recently exposed to PTB, were
      stained with CFSE and stimulated non-specific (PPD) for 120 h, and specific (CFP
      10/ESAT-6) and latency (HSpX) mycobacterial antigens for 144 h and the percentage
      of CD4(+) and CD8(+)IFN-gamma(+) T cells responding determined by flow cytometry,
      in addition to their memory phenotype by the CD45RO and CD27 expression. PTB had
      decreased frequency of both CD4(+) and CD8(+) precursor cells, as well as
      decreased number of CD4(+)IFN-gamma(+) cells in response to all antigens, whereas
      CD8(+)IFN-gamma(+) cells were decreased in response to PPD and ESAT-6, but not to
      CFP-10 and HSpX. HHCs exhibited the highest precursor frequencies and IFN-gamma
      responses, irrespective of the antigen employed. The CD4(+)/CD8(+) cell ratios
      showed that in response to PPD CD4(+) precursor and IFN-gamma-producer cells are
      more frequent than their CD8(+) counterparts, and that PTB have a decreased
      CD4(+)IFN-gamma(+)/CD8(+)IFN-gamma(+) ratio in response to PPD, CFP-10, and ESAT
      6. CD4(+)IFN-gamma(+) and CD8(+)IFN-gamma(+) cells exhibited a central memory
      phenotype (CD45RO(+)CD27(+)), irrespective of the group of subjects and the
      antigen used for stimulation. In conclusion, PTB patients had a decreased
      percentage of CD4(+) and CD8(+) precursor cells and CD4(+)IFN-gamma(+). HHCs
      exhibited the highest frequency of CD4(+) and CD8(+) precursors and CD4(+)IFN
      gamma(+)-producing cells.

PMID- 20933472
TI  - Effect of PstS sub-units or PknD deficiency on the survival of Mycobacterium
      tuberculosis.
AB  - The membrane-associated phosphate-specific transporter (Pst) complex is composed
      of four different proteins: PstS, PstC, PstA and PstB. The PstS component detects
      and binds Pi with high affinity; the PstA and PstC form transmembrane pores for
      Pi entry, while PstB provides energy through ATP hydrolysis. In the Mycobacterium
      tuberculosis genome, four different gene clusters encode three PstS, and two of
      each of the other sub-units. We used RT-PCR to show that these clusters represent
      at least three distinct operons. The pstS3-containing operon was the only one
      induced by lack of environmental Pi. To study the physiologic role of the
      different PstS sub-units and that of another potential Pi receptor, PknD, we
      constructed and complemented their knockout (KO) mutants. In Sauton medium, the
      PstS1-3 KO grew faster than the Wt or the PknD KO. Following 24 h of complete
      starvation, the PstS3 or PknD deficient strains died if exposed to Pi poor
      conditions while the PstS1 and PstS2 KO survived and still grew faster than the
      Wt strain. These results suggest that PstS1-3 may play a role in the regulation
      of M. tuberculosis growth or metabolism while PstS3 and PknD contribute to the
      survival of the bacteria in phosphate poor conditions.

PMID- 20933473
TI  - Knowledge, attitudes and current practice of Jordanian family physicians about
      prescribing aspirin in primary and secondary prevention of vascular diseases: a
      self-reported survey.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Long-term aspirin therapy is crucial for patients with increased risk
      of occlusive vascular diseases. However, inconsistencies in the methods for risk
      assessment and the perception among health care providers are major contributing
      factors for challenges in risk assessment. METHODS: A questionnaire was
      distributed to a total of 124 family physicians working at two university
      teaching centers and Ministry of Health primary health care centers in Jordan.
      RESULTS: A majority of the physicians reported prescribing aspirin for patients
      if they have peripheral vascular disease (93%), post-coronary artery bypass graft
      (92%), stroke (90%), or stable angina (95%). A smaller percentage of physicians
      reported that they prescribe aspirin if patients have atrial fibrillation (81%)
      or acute myocardial infarction (85%). The percentage of physicians who prescribe
      aspirin markedly declined when patients have potential bleeding disorder (52%) or
      asthma (52%). For patients without cardiovascular diseases but with one or more
      risk factors, the prophylactic use of aspirin was reported by 85% to 95% of
      family physicians. CONCLUSIONS: The presence of co-morbidity along with vascular
      diseases tended to hinder physicians from prescribing aspirin even when it is
      indicated. A majority of family physicians recommends the use of aspirin in
      primary prevention in spite of its questionable or even negative benefits.
      Furthermore, self-reported aspirin prescribing rates among physicians in Jordan
      are higher than those reported by physicians in the U.S. and Europe. Therefore,
      we believe that proper dissemination of updated evidence-based treatment
      guidelines is required to ensure appropriate and efficient preventive services
      for cardiovascular diseases.

PMID- 20933474
TI  - Long-term urological outcomes in six sets of conjoined twins.
AB  - AIM: To review the long-term urological outcomes of six sets of ischiopagus and
      pygopagus conjoined twins. Emphasis is placed on the particular genitourinary
      challenges of separation, reconstruction and monitoring of these patients.
      PATIENTS AND METHODS: We performed a longitudinal, retrospective analysis of six
      sets of conjoined twins who presented to a single center and describe their long
      term urological outcomes. RESULTS: Six sets of ischiopagus (4) and pygopagus (2)
      conjoined twins presented from 1993 to 2003 and have been followed up for a mean
      of 12 years (range 7-17 years). Separation was achieved in 5/6 cases; the
      remaining one died of intestinal perforation and resultant sepsis. One further
      child died of malaria after separation. Patterns of genitourinary anatomy found
      in these conjoined twins are described. Urinary continence was achieved in 2/6
      ischiopagus and 3/4 pygopagus twins. Renal failure has developed in one child.
      Urinary tract infections have been common. Secondary urological surgery has been
      required in 3/6 ischiopagus twins, usually to perform an incontinent urinary
      diversion. CONCLUSION: Complex urological problems occur in ischiopagus and
      pygopagus conjoined twins. Beyond the challenge of surgical separation, they
      continue to provide management challenges requiring secondary reconstructive
      surgery and close urological monitoring.

PMID- 20933475
TI  - The clinical course of EAE is reflected by the dynamics of the neuroantigen
      specific T cell compartment in the blood.
AB  - Due to the limited numbers of PBMCs that can be obtained from the blood of
      individual mice, the key question whether central disease parameters such as
      onset, progression and severity correlate with the magnitude and cytokine quality
      of the T cell response in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) has
      remained unanswered. Here we introduce an ELISPOT-based PBMC test system in which
      as little as 150 MUl of murine blood are sufficient, allowing to bleed mice
      repeatedly while continuing to observe the clinical course of EAE. Using this
      technique, we demonstrate that longitudinal measurements of antigen-specific IFN
      gamma and IL-17 production in the blood are a highly suitable approach to predict
      the disease outcome in remitting-relapsing PLP:139-151- and chronic MOG:35-55
      induced EAE of SJL/J and C57BL/6 mice, respectively. Our data propound cytokine
      monitoring as promising tool in the quest for more efficient diagnostic and
      prognostic options in human multiple sclerosis and other autoimmune diseases.

PMID- 20933476
TI  - Centers for disease control and prevention managing epilepsy well network.

PMID- 20933477
TI  - Comparison of the ultrasonographic method with 2 partial coherence interferometry
      methods for intraocular lens power calculation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The accuracy of biometric measurements, particularly axial length, is
      critical for precise intraocular lens (IOL) power calculation and predictable
      refractive outcomes after cataract surgery. Partial coherence interferometry
      based systems represent progress toward measurements that are more precise and
      reliable. The purpose of this study was to evaluate a new noncontact optical
      biometer (Lenstar; Haag-Streit AG, Koeniz, Switzerland) using optical low
      coherence reflectometry and to compare the biometric measurements (including
      axial length, keratometry, anterior chamber depth, and IOL power) with those
      obtained from current clinical instrumentation. METHODS: Biometric measurements
      were obtained with Lenstar, IOL Master V.5 (Carl Zeiss Meditec AG, Jena,
      Germany), and A-scan applanation ultrasound scan combined with a Javal-type
      keratometer in 234 eyes of 234 subjects scheduled for cataract surgery. IOL power
      was calculated using Sanders, Retzlaff, Kraff II, Hoffer Q, and Holladay 1
      formulas. RESULTS: The axial length readings were similar (P = 0.997). The
      anterior chamber depth measurements obtained by IOL Master were slightly smaller
      than those obtained with other devices (P = 0.092). The means of the average
      keratometry readings were 0.65 and 0.61 diopters lower when measured with Lenstar
      as compared with IOL Master and the Javal-type keratometer, respectively (P =
      0.002). All of the measurements were tightly correlated (P < 0.001). For anterior
      chamber depth measurements, however, the correlation was slightly weaker. Using
      the above-mentioned formulas, the mean IOL power measurements were similar. These
      measurements were tightly correlated (P < 0.001). The level of agreement was
      acceptable and comparable between devices. CONCLUSIONS: The findings from this
      study show the validity and clinical utility of Lenstar compared with
      instrumentation currently used in clinical practice for assessing ocular biometry
      and IOL power calculation in cataractous eyes.

PMID- 20933478
TI  - High-frequency loading of lumbar ligaments increases proinflammatory cytokines
      expression in a feline model of repetitive musculoskeletal disorder.
AB  - BACKGROUND CONTEXT: Cumulative (repetitive) lumbar disorder is common in the
      workforce, and the associated epidemiology points out high risk for lifting heavy
      loads, performing many repetitions, and performing movements at high velocity.
      Experimental verification of viscoelastic tissue degradation and a neuromuscular
      disorder exist for cyclic work under heavy loads. Experimental validation for a
      disorder because of cyclic loads under high-velocity movement is missing.
      PURPOSE: Obtain experimental verification that high-velocity lumbar flexion
      extension results in significant increase of proinflammatory cytokines in the
      viscoelastic tissues. STUDY DESIGN: Laboratory experiments using two in vivo
      feline model groups subjected to cyclic flexion-extension at low and high
      velocity. METHODS: Seven hours after cumulative 60 minutes of cyclic flexion
      extension at moderate load of 40 N and 0.25 Hz for first group and 0.5 Hz for the
      second group, the supraspinous ligaments of L3-L4 to L5-L6 were harvested and
      subjected to cytokines (interleukin [IL]-1beta, IL-6, IL-8, tumor necrosis factor
      alpha, and transforming growth factor-beta1) analysis. Two-way mixed model
      analysis of variance with a post hoc analysis were used to assess any significant
      differences (p<.05) in cytokines expression level between the two groups as well
      as main effect and interaction with lumbar levels. RESULTS: Expression levels of
      the five cytokines were significantly increased in the group subjected to the
      high-frequency loading. CONCLUSIONS: Exposure of the lumbar spine to high
      velocity flexion-extension triggers a significant increase in proinflammatory
      cytokines, indicating pronounced changes consistent with an acute inflammation.
      Further exposure to activity over prolonged periods may trigger chronic
      inflammation and tissue degeneration as the source of cumulative lumbar disorder.

PMID- 20933479
TI  - Optimal application of the Contura multilumen balloon breast brachytherapy
      catheter vacuum port to deliver accelerated partial breast irradiation.
AB  - PURPOSE: The impact of using the Contura multilumen balloon (MLB) (SenoRx, Inc.,
      Irvine, CA) breast brachytherapy catheter's vacuum port in patients treated with
      accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI) was analyzed. METHODS AND
      MATERIALS: Data from 32 patients at two sites were reviewed. Variables analyzed
      included the seroma fluid (SF):air volume around the MLB before and after vacuum
      port use and on its ability to improve (1) the eligibility of patients for APBI
      and (2) dose coverage of the planning target volume for evaluation (PTV_EVAL) in
      eligible patients. RESULTS: The median SF/air volume before vacuum removal was
      6.8 cc vs. 0.8 cc after vacuum removal (median reduction in SF/air volume was
      90.5%). Before vacuum port use, the median SF/air volume expressed as percentage
      of the PTV_EVAL was 7.8% (range, 1.9-26.6) in all patients. After application of
      the vacuum, this was reduced to 1.2%. Before vacuum port use, 10 (31.3%) patients
      were not considered acceptable candidates for APBI because the SF/air
      volume:PTV_EVAL ratio (SF:PTV) was greater than 10% (range, 10.1-26.6%; median,
      15.2%). After vacuum port use, the median SF:PTV ratio was 1.6% for a median
      reduction of 91.5%. In addition, the percentage of the prescribed dose covering
      greater than or equal to 90% of the PTV_EVAL proportionally increased a median of
      8% (range, 3-10%) in eligible patients. CONCLUSION: Use of the Contura MLB vacuum
      port significantly improved the conformity of the target tissue to the balloon
      surface, leading to reproducible dose delivery and increased target volume
      coverage. In addition, application of the vacuum allowed the safe treatment of
      unacceptable patients with APBI.

PMID- 20933480
TI  - A linear source table to determine the treatment times for cylindrical
      applicators used in high-dose rate brachytherapy.
AB  - PURPOSE: It is a good practice for quality assurance purposes to check the high
      dose rate brachytherapy source dwell times obtained from any computerized
      treatment planning system (TPS) by independent hand calculations. The aim of this
      work was to prepare a table that would help to calculate the total dwell times
      for cylindrical applicators used for high-dose rate brachytherapy. METHODS AND
      MATERIALS: The results of an earlier investigation of dose rate per unit source
      strength at different distances from the microSelectron-high-dose rate (192)Ir
      source and the relative weights for dwell times obtained from optimized plans
      were used to prepare a linear source table. RESULTS: This table gives the product
      of source strength and total dwell times to deliver 1000 cGy at various distances
      for active lengths ranging from 1 to 8 cm and for treatment distances of 1 to
      2.25 cm. One can use this table to determine the total dwell time necessary to
      deliver the prescribed dose at a specific distance for the source strength at the
      time of treatment. This can be compared with the total dwell time calculated by
      the computerized TPS. CONCLUSION: The linear source table makes the determination
      of total dwell time very easy and would help the clinical physicist to check the
      accuracy of results of the TPS quickly.

PMID- 20933481
TI  - Short-term heart rate dynamics of pregnant women.
AB  - Aiming to detect the stage of gestation where dynamical changes of the RR
      fluctuations may occur, we assessed short-term fluctuations of low risk pregnant
      women. Ninety six, 10min ECG recordings were collected along gestation (7 to 39
      weeks). Corresponding RR fluctuations series were analysed to obtain the RMSSD,
      alpha(1), alpha(1(mag)) and alpha(1(sign)) parameters. Four groups covering
      first, second and last trimesters of gestation were conformed. No significant
      changes in alpha(1), which was close to unit, and alpha(1(sign)) among
      gestational groups were identified. But, in accordance with previous findings, we
      did find a significant reduction of RMSSD along gestation, and significant short
      term changes that indicate a higher degree of nonlinearity after about 26 weeks
      of gestation (alpha(1(mag))>0.5)). These results suggest that the short-term
      heart rate dynamics of low risk pregnant women do not become compromised during
      gestation, despite the increased haemodynamic demands and other ongoing
      adaptations. Yet the complexity of the mechanisms involved in the cardiac
      regulation of pregnant women does seem to increase from mid-pregnancy, possibly
      owing to new short-term control influences or to modifications regardless the
      strength of the regulatory interactions.

PMID- 20933483
TI  - Purification of optical imaging ligand-Cybesin by high-speed counter-current
      chromatography.
AB  - Fluorescent Cybesin (Cypate-Bombesin Peptide Analogue Conjugate) was synthesized
      from Indocyanine Green (ICG) and the bombesin receptor ligand as a contrast agent
      for detecting pancreas tumors. However, the LC-MS analysis indicated that the
      target compound was only a minor component in the reaction mixture. Since
      preparative HPLC can hardly separate such a small amount of the target compound
      directly from the original crude reaction mixture without a considerable
      adsorptive loss onto the solid support, high-speed counter-current chromatography
      (HSCCC) was used for purification since the method uses no solid support and
      promises high sample recovery. A suitable two-phase solvent system composed of
      hexane/ethyl acetate/methanol/methyl t-butyl ether/acetonitrile/water) at a
      volume ratio of 1:1:1:4:4:7 was selected based on the partition coefficient of
      Cybesin (K~0.9) determined by LC-MS. The separation was performed in two steps
      using the same solvent system with lower aqueous mobile phase. From 400 mg of the
      crude reaction mixture the first separation yielded 7.7 mg of fractions
      containing the target compound at 12.8% purity, and in the second run 1 mg of
      Cybesin was obtained at purity of 94.0% with a sample recovery rate of over 95%
      based on the LC-MS analysis.

PMID- 20933482
TI  - A plasma global metabolic profiling approach applied to an exercise study
      monitoring the effects of glucose, galactose and fructose drinks during post
      exercise recovery.
AB  - A global metabolic profiling methodology based on gas chromatography coupled to
      time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC-TOFMS) for human plasma was applied to a
      human exercise study focused on the effects of beverages containing glucose,
      galactose, or fructose taken after exercise and throughout a recovery period of 6
      h and 45 min. One group of 10 well trained male cyclists performed 3 experimental
      sessions on separate days (randomized, single center). After performing a
      standardized depletion protocol on a bicycle, subjects consumed one of three
      different beverages: maltodextrin (MD)+glucose (2:1 ratio), MD+galactose (2:1),
      and MD+fructose (2:1), consumed at an average of ~1.25 g of carbohydrate (CHO)
      ingested per minute. Blood was taken straight after exercise and every 45 min
      within the recovery phase. With the resulting blood plasma, insulin, free fatty
      acid (FFA) profile, glucose, and GC-TOFMS global metabolic profiling measurements
      were performed. The resulting profiling data was able to match the results
      obtained from the other clinical measurements with the addition of being able to
      follow many different metabolites throughout the recovery period. The data
      quality was assessed, with all the labelled internal standards yielding values of
      <15% CV for all samples (n=335), apart from the labelled sucrose which gave a
      value of 15.19%. Differences between recovery treatments including the appearance
      of galactonic acid from the galactose based beverage were also highlighted.

PMID- 20933484
TI  - Selection of highly specific and sensitive mRNA biomarkers for the identification
      of blood.
AB  - In the present work, we have evaluated eight reportedly blood-specific mRNA
      markers (HBB, HBA, ALAS2, CD3G, ANK1, PBGD, SPTB, AQP9) in an attempt to
      determine the most suitable ones for use in forensic applications based on their
      sensitivities, specificities and performance with casework samples. While varying
      levels of expression were observed, all markers were relatively sensitive
      requiring as little as 1ng of RNA input into the reverse transcription (RT)
      reaction. In singleplex reactions, seven of the eight analyzed blood markers (all
      except AQP9) demonstrated a high degree of specificity for blood. In multiplex
      reactions, non-reproducible cross-reactivity was observed for several of the mRNA
      markers, which was reduced and, in most cases, eliminated when less input total
      RNA was used. Additionally, some cross-reactivity was observed with tissue and
      animal samples. Despite differences in the observed sensitivity and specificity
      of the blood markers examined in this study, a number of the candidates appear to
      be suitable for inclusion in appropriately validated multiplex mRNA-based body
      fluid identification systems.

PMID- 20933485
TI  - Unrestricted somatic stem cells (USSC) from human umbilical cord blood display
      uncommitted epigenetic signatures of the major stem cell pluripotency genes.
AB  - Unrestricted somatic stem cells (USSC) from human cord blood display a broad
      differentiation potential for ectodermal, mesodermal, and endodermal cell types.
      The molecular basis for these stem cell properties is unclear and unlike
      embryonic stem cells (ESC) none of the major stem cell factors OCT4, SOX2, and
      NANOG exhibits significant expression in USSC. Here, we report that these key
      stem cell genes hold an epigenetic state in between that of an ESC and a
      terminally differentiated cell type. DNA methylation analysis exhibits partial
      demethylation of the regulatory region of OCT4 and a demethylated state of the
      NANOG and SOX2 promoter/enhancer regions. Further genome-wide DNA methylation
      profiling identified a partially demethylated state of the telomerase gene hTERT.
      Moreover, none of the pluripotency factors exhibited a repressive histone
      signature. Notably, SOX2 exhibits a bivalent histone signature consisting of the
      opposing histone marks dimeH3K4 and trimeH3K27, which is typically found on genes
      that are "poised" for transcription. Consequently, ectopic expression of OCT4 in
      USSC led to rapid induction of expression of its known target gene SOX2. Our data
      suggest that incomplete epigenetic repression and a "poised" epigenetic status of
      pluripotency genes preserves the USSC potential to be able to react adequately to
      distinct differentiation and reprogramming cues.

PMID- 20933486
TI  - Survival analysis of an asymmetric primary total knee replacement: a European
      multicenter prospective study.
AB  - PURPOSE OF THE STUDY: This multicenter prospective study objective is to provide
      midterm results and 10-year survival analysis of the original Natural Knee-I
      SystemTM as experienced by a group of surgeons performing, within various
      settings, primary total knee replacement (TKR) in the general population.
      HYPOTHESIS: The midterm experience with this TKR system in the hands of
      independent surgical teams can duplicate the satisfaction level that was already
      published by the designer's group itself. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Two hundred and
      sixty-three primary TKR were performed by seven surgical teams (37 surgeons) and
      prospectively evaluated in four European countries. Mean age of the 263 patients
      (sex ratio, 2.7 females/1 male) was 69 years (range, 35-92) and diagnosis was
      primary osteoarthritis in 85%. For the 247 TKR with complete operative data, the
      approach was subvastus in 59%, posterior cruciate ligament was spared in 78%,
      patella was resurfaced in 56%, and 79% of reconstructions were totally cement
      free. Fixation mode was only depending on the surgeon's choice. RESULTS: At 76
      months average follow-up (range 24-190 months), modified Hospital for Special
      Surgery knee mean score improved from 48 points preoperatively to 83 points. Four
      reoperations and five revision procedures were required for eight knees. Over the
      14-year survey period, the overall revision rate burden was 2% and revision rate
      per 100 observed component/year, 0.32. At 10 years, survivorship (with revision
      for aseptic loosening as its end-point [two fully cementless knees]) was 98.6%.
      DISCUSSION: Both this multicenter study and data drawn from national registers
      provided outcomes with equivalent level of satisfaction at equivalent follow-up
      to those reported by the NK-I prosthesis designer. There was no significant
      difference between revision rates of cemented, hybrid or cementless
      reconstructions. CONCLUSION: In non-designer orthopaedists' hands, the Natural
      Knee-I SystemTM, either with cemented or cementless fixation, provided satisfying
      midterm results as normally expected in primary TKR with such a modern modular
      prosthesis. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level IV. Prospective study.

PMID- 20933487
TI  - Oncoplastic conservative treatment for breast cancer. Part 2. Techniques for the
      inferior quadrants.

PMID- 20933488
TI  - Finite element analysis of implant-embedded maxilla model from CT data:
      comparison with the conventional model.
AB  - PURPOSE: There are no entire maxillary finite element analysis models available,
      as a base of reference for the dimensions of conventional segment finite element
      analysis models. The objectives of this study were: (1) to construct a maxillary
      model derived from a human skull and to investigate the strain distribution
      around a posterior implant embedded in it; (2) to investigate the usability of
      conventional segment maxillary models. METHODS: CT DICOM data of a human dried
      skull maxilla was imported into the Mesh Generation Tools (ANSYS AI environment)
      and a computer-generated implant-abutment unit was bicortically embedded into it.
      In this Large model, Von Mises strains under axial and buccolingual loads were
      then calculated by a finite element program. Moreover, two simplified maxillary
      segments (Simplified models) were computer-generated and their Von Mises strains
      were similarly calculated. RESULTS: Although absolute values differed markedly,
      strain distribution patterns in the cortical bone were similar to those in the
      Simplified models: high Von Mises strains in the cortical bone concentrated in
      the sinus floor around the implant apex under axial load, and in the alveolar
      crest around the implant neck under buccolingual load. CONCLUSIONS: The
      simplified and segmented three-dimensional finite element models of the human
      maxilla showed the same locations of the highest equivalent strains as the full
      maxilla model created from CT DICOM data. If absolute strain values are not of
      interest, the Simplified models could be used in strain analyses of simulated
      posterior maxilla for diagnostic suggestions in implant placement.

PMID- 20933489
TI  - Clinical marginal and internal gaps of zirconia all-ceramic crowns.
AB  - PURPOSE: Marginal and internal gaps of NobelProcera crown zirconia were
      clinically evaluated using silicone materials. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ninety-one
      crowns were examined before final cementation, and white and black silicone
      materials were used to record the marginal and internal fit. The silicone
      materials were sectioned bucco-lingually and mesio-distally, and the thickness of
      the silicone layers was measured using a microscope. Sixteen reference points
      were measured on each specimen, and mean marginal and internal gaps were
      obtained. Mean marginal gaps among anterior, premolar, and molar tooth groups, in
      addition to mean gaps at the reference points within the groups, were compared
      using two-way ANOVA and Games-Howell analysis. RESULTS: The marginal mean values
      were the smallest among all tooth groups, and the largest were at the rounded
      shoulders. There were no significant differences in the mean marginal gaps among
      the three tooth groups, while there were significant differences in the mean
      marginal and internal gaps of each tooth group. CONCLUSIONS: The mean marginal
      gap of the NobelProcera crown zirconia was 44.2 MUm, which is within clinically
      accepted standards.

PMID- 20933490
TI  - Genetic polymorphism in pvmdr1 and pvcrt-o genes in relation to in vitro drug
      susceptibility of Plasmodium vivax isolates from malaria-endemic countries.
AB  - Treatment failure of chloroquine for Plasmodium vivax infection has increased in
      endemic countries. However, the molecular mechanisms for resistance and in vitro
      susceptibility of P. vivax to chloroquine remain elusive. We investigated the
      prevalence of mutations in the pvmdr1 and pvcrt-o genes, and the copy number of
      the pvmdr1 gene in isolates from the Republic of Korea (ROK), Thailand, the Union
      of Myanmar (Myanmar), and Papua New Guinea (PNG). We also measured in vitro
      susceptibility of Korean isolates to antimalarial drugs. The pvmdr1 analysis
      showed that mutations at amino acid position Y976F of pvmdr1 were found in
      isolates from Thailand (17.9%), Myanmar (13.3%), and PNG (100%), but none from
      the ROK, and mutation at position F1076L was present in isolates from the ROK
      (100%), Thailand (60.7%), and Myanmar (46.7%). One copy of the pvmdr1 gene was
      observed in most isolates and double copy numbers of the gene were observed in
      two Thai isolates. In the exons of the pvcrt-o gene that were sequenced, a K10
      insertion was present in isolates from Thailand (56.0%) and Myanmar (46.2%), and
      the wild type was found in all Korean isolates. The results suggest that gene
      polymorphisms and copy number variation was observed in isolates of P. vivax from
      Southeast Asian countries. In Korean isolates polymorphism as limited to the
      F1076L variant, and no isolates with high level of resistance were found by in
      vitro susceptibility determinations. Moreover, our results provide a baseline for
      future prospective drug studies in malaria-endemic areas.

PMID- 20933492
TI  - First report on Anopheles fluviatilis U in southeastern Iran.
AB  - Anopheles fluviatilis James, one of the malaria vectors in Iran, is a complex of
      at least three cryptic species provisionally designated as species S, T and U.
      These species are morphologically indistinguishable at any stage of their life
      cycle and can be identified only by the examination of species-specific fixed
      inversions in the polytene chromosomes. Recently, sequence analysis of 28S D3 and
      second internal transcribed spacer (ITS2) regions of ribosomal DNA has revealed 7
      haplotypes of S, U, T1, T2, Y, X and V within the complex. Identification of the
      cryptic species of the complex is of paramount importance in a disease control
      program due to contrasting differences in their vectorial efficiency, preference
      for feeding on humans and resting behavior. In this study we analyzed the
      sequence of 28S D3- and ITS2-rDNA loci to identify the species composition of the
      An. fluviatilis complex in Jiroft and Chabahar districts, two of the most
      important endemic malaria foci in southeastern corner of Iran. The ITS2 sequence
      analysis revealed that all of the An. fluviatilis specimens were identical to the
      Y/T2 haplotype of An. fluviatilis T, whereas D3 sequence analysis revealed
      presence of species T in Jiroft and species U in Chabahar district. It is the
      first report of species U in Iran.

PMID- 20933491
TI  - Evaluation of effectiveness of diethylcarbamazine/albendazole combination in
      reduction of Wuchereria bancrofti infection using multiple infection parameters.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the effect of multiple rounds of annual single dose of
      DEC (6 mg/kg) or albendazole (400mg) given alone or in combination on Wuchereria
      bancrofti microfilaraemia, anti-filarial IgG1 and IgG4 and antigenaemia. METHODS:
      A total of 170 participants were randomly assigned to albendazole (n = 62), DEC
      (n = 54), and DEC plus albendazole (DEC/ALB) combination (n = 54). Blood samples
      were collected at pre-treatment in 1998, at 1 week and 6 months after the first
      treatment and thereafter before subsequent treatments in 1999 and 2000. Effects
      of treatment on W. bancrofti infection were determined by changes in levels of
      microfilaraemia, antifilarial antibodies and circulating filarial antigen.
      RESULTS: Comparison of geometric mean microfilariae intensities between DEC/ALB
      combination and DEC or albendazole single therapy groups after two rounds of
      annual treatment and 24 months follow-up showed that combination therapy resulted
      in a greater reduction of microfilaraemia than single therapy with either
      albendazole (p < 0.001) or DEC alone (p = 0.146). The overall levels of anti
      filarial antibodies decreased significantly (p = 0.028 for IgG1 and p < 0.043 for
      IgG4) in all treatment groups at 24 months follow-up. Additionally, overall
      reduction in geometric mean circulating filarial antigen levels at 24 months was
      44%, 60% and 85% for albendazole, DEC and DEC/ALB groups, respectively.
      CONCLUSIONS: These study findings suggest that albendazole improved efficacy of
      DEC and mass administration of a combination of the two drugs would therefore
      enhance the interruption of transmission of W. bancrofti in endemic areas. This
      information has important implications for the ongoing Global Program for
      Elimination of Lymphatic Filariasis.

PMID- 20933494
TI  - Amphipathic C-terminal region of Escherichia coli NADH dehydrogenase-2 mediates
      membrane localization.
AB  - Respiratory NADH dehydrogenase-2 (NDH-2) of Escherichia coli is a membrane-bound
      flavoprotein. Bioinformatics approaches suggested the involvement of NDH-2 C
      terminal region in membrane anchorage. Here, we demonstrated that NDH-2 is a
      peripheral membrane protein and that its predicted C-terminal amphipathic Arg390
      Ala406 helix is sufficient to bind the protein to lipid membranes. Additionally,
      a cytosolic NDH-2 protein (Trun-3), lacking the last 43 aminoacids, was purified
      and characterized. FAD cofactor was absent in purified Trun-3. Upon the addition
      of FAD, Trun-3 maximum velocity was similar to native NDH-2 rate with
      ferricyanide and MTT acceptors. However, Trun-3 activity was around 5-fold lower
      with quinones. No significant difference in K(m) values was observed for both
      enzymes. For the first time, an active and water soluble NDH-2 was obtained,
      representing a major improvement for structural/functional characterizations.

PMID- 20933493
TI  - Simultaneous measurement of CYP1A2 activity, regioselectivity, and coupling:
      Implications for environmental sensitivity of enzyme-substrate binding.
AB  - The cytochrome P450 (CYP) reaction mechanism often yields a broad array of
      coupled and uncoupled products from a single substrate. While it is well known
      that reaction conditions can drastically affect the rate of P450 catalysis, their
      effects on regioselectivity and coupling are not well characterized. To
      investigate such effects, the CYP1A2 oxidation of 7-ethoxymethoxy-3-cyanocoumarin
      (EOMCC) was examined as a function of buffer type, buffer concentration, pH, and
      temperature. A high-throughput, optical method was developed to simultaneously
      measure the rate of substrate depletion, NADPH depletion, and generation of the O
      dealkylated product. Increasing the phosphate buffer concentration and
      temperature increased both the NADPH and EOMCC depletion rates by 6-fold, whereas
      coupling was constant at 7.9% and the regioselectivity of O-dealkylation to other
      coupled pathways was constant at 21.7%. Varying the buffer type and pH increased
      NADPH depletion by 2.5-fold and EOMCC depletion by 3.5-fold; however, neither
      coupling nor regioselectivity was constant, with variations of 14.4% and 21.6%,
      respectively. Because the enzyme-substrate binding interaction is a primary
      determinant of both coupling and regioselectivity, it is reasonable to conclude
      that ionic strength, as varied by the buffer concentration, and temperature alter
      the rate without affecting binding while buffer type and pH alter both.

PMID- 20933495
TI  - Opposing structural changes in two symmetrical polypeptides bring about opposing
      changes to the thermal stability of a complex integral membrane protein.
AB  - The relationship between membrane protein structure and thermal stability has
      been examined in the reaction centre from the bacterium Rhodobacter sphaeroides,
      a complex membrane protein comprising three polypeptide chains and 10 cofactors.
      The core of this protein exhibits an approximate twofold symmetry, the cofactors
      being held in two membrane-spanning branches by two polypeptides, termed L and M,
      that have very similar folds. In assays of the thermal stability of wild-type and
      mutant reaction centres embedded in the native bilayer membrane, replacement of a
      Phe at position 197 of the M polypeptide by His produced an increase in
      stability, whereas an opposing replacement of His by Phe at the symmetrical
      position 168 of the L-polypeptide produced a decrease in stability. In light of
      the known X-ray crystal structures of wild-type and mutant variants of this
      protein, and further mutagenesis, it is concluded that these stability changes
      result from the introduction or removal, respectively, of a hydrogen bond between
      the side-chain of the His and that of an Asn located two positions along the M or
      L polypeptide chain, in addition to a hydrogen bond between the His side-chain
      and an adjacent bacteriochlorophyll cofactor.

PMID- 20933496
TI  - Oligomeric structure of a cathelicidin antimicrobial peptide in
      dodecylphosphocholine micelle determined by NMR spectroscopy.
AB  - The broad spectrum of antibacterial activities of host defense cationic
      antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) arises from their ability to perturb membrane
      integrity of the microbes. The mechanisms are often thought to require assembly
      of AMPs on the membrane surface to form pores. However, three dimensional
      structures in the oligomeric form of AMPs in the context of lipid membranes are
      largely limited. Here, we demonstrate that a 22-residue antimicrobial peptide,
      termed VK22, derived from fowlicidin-1, a cathelicidin family of AMP from chicken
      oligomerizes into a predominantly tetrameric state in zwitterionic
      dodecylphosphocholine (DPC) micelles. An ensemble of NMR structures of VK22
      determined in 200mM perdeuterated DPC, from 755 NOE constrains including 19 inter
      helical NOEs, had revealed an assembly of four helices arranged in anti-parallel
      fashion. Hydrogen bonds, C(alpha)H-O=C types, and van der Waals interactions
      among the helical sub-units appear to be involved in the stabilization of the
      quaternary structures. The central region of the barrel shaped tetrameric bundle
      is non-polar with clusters of aromatic residues, whereas all the cationic
      residues are positioned at the termini. Paramagnetic spin labeled NMR experiments
      indicated that the tetrameric structure is embedded into micelles such that the
      non-polar region located inside the lipid acyl chains. Structure and micelle
      localization of a monomeric version, obtained from substitution of two Tyr
      residues with Ala, of the peptide is also compared. The mutated peptide VK22AA
      has been found be localized at the surface of the micelles. The tetrameric
      structure of VK22 delineates a small water pore that can be larger in the higher
      order oligomers. As these results provide structural insights, at atomic
      resolution, into the oligomeric states of a helical AMP in lipid environment, the
      structural details may be further utilized for the design of novel self-assembled
      membrane protein mimics.

PMID- 20933497
TI  - Cardioprotective activity of urocortin by preventing caspase-independent, non
      apoptotic death in cultured neonatal rat cardiomyocytes exposed to ischemia.
AB  - Caspase-independent, non-apoptotic cell death in ischemic heart disease is
      considered to be one of the important therapeutic targets, however, the detailed
      mechanisms of this cell death process are not clear. In this study, we
      investigated the mechanisms of non-apoptotic cell death in cultured neonatal rat
      cardiomyocytes during ischemia, and the cardioprotection by preventing the
      mechanisms. We found that ischemia caused elevation of the phospholipase A2
      (iPLA2) expression in the myocytes, leading to distinctive non-apoptotic nuclear
      shrinkage, and cell death. Moreover, we investigated whether the potent
      cardioprotective corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH), urocortin, which had been
      less focused on non-apoptotic cell death, inhibits the ischemic myocyte death.
      Ischemia-augmented nuclear shrinkage of the myocytes was suppressed by the
      pretreatment of ~10 nM urocortin before the cells were exposed to ischemia.
      Urocortin could significantly suppress the expression and activity of iPLA2,
      resulting in preventing the ischemia-induced cell death. The survival-promoting
      effect of urocortin was abrogated by the CRH receptor antagonist astressin. These
      findings provide the first evidence linking the targets of the urocortin-mediated
      cardioprotection to the suppression of the caspase-independent, non-apoptotic
      death in cardiac myocytes exposed to ischemia.

PMID- 20933498
TI  - Soluble factors from IL-1beta-stimulated astrocytes activate NR1a/NR2B receptors:
      implications for HIV-1-induced neurodegeneration.
AB  - Astrocytes play an important role in astrocyte-neuron homeostasis. In HIV-1
      infected brain, interleukin 1 beta (IL-1beta) activation of astrocytes
      contributes to neurodegeneration. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying IL
      1beta-activated-astrocytes-induced neurodegeneration in HIV-1-infected brain are
      largely unknown. We hypothesize that secretory factors from the activated
      astrocytes affect N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor, a major pathway
      implicated in HIV-1-associated neurodegeneration. To test this hypothesis, we
      studied effects of IL-1beta-stimulated astrocyte conditioned medium (ACM+) for
      its ability to activate NR1a/NR2B receptors expressed on Xenopus oocytes.
      Astrocytes treated with IL-1beta 20ng/ml for 24h induced CXCL8, CCL2, MMP1 and
      MMP7. Pressure ejection of the ACM(+) produced an inward current in NR1a/NR2B
      expressing oocytes. The inward current produced by ACM(+) was blocked by NMDA
      receptor antagonist, APV but not by non-NMDA receptor antagonist, CNQX. These
      results suggest that IL-1beta stimulated astrocytes activate NR1a/NR2B receptors
      which may have implications in HIV-1-associated neurodegeneration.

PMID- 20933499
TI  - Optimal metabolic regulation of the mammalian heart Na(+)/Ca(2+) exchanger
      requires a spacial arrangements with a PtdIns(4)-5kinase.
AB  - In inside-out bovine heart sarcolemmal vesicles, p-chloromercuribenzenesulfonate
      (PCMBS) and n-ethylmaleimide (NEM) fully inhibited MgATP up-regulation of the
      Na(+)/Ca(2+) exchanger (NCX1) and abolished the MgATP-dependent PtdIns-4,5P2
      increase in the NCX1-PtdIns-4,5P2 complex; in addition, these compounds markedly
      reduced the activity of the PtdIns(4)-5kinase. After PCMBS or NEM treatment,
      addition of dithiothreitol (DTT) restored a large fraction of the MgATP
      stimulation of the exchange fluxes and almost fully restored PtdIns(4)-5kinase
      activity; however, in contrast to PCMBS, the effects of NEM did not seem related
      to the alkylation of protein SH groups. By itself DTT had no effect on the
      synthesis of PtdIns-4,5P2 but affected MgATP stimulation of NCX1: moderate
      inhibition at 1mM MgATP and 1MUM Ca(2+) and full inhibition at 0.25mM MgATP and
      0.2MUM Ca(2+). In addition, DDT prevented coimmunoprecipitation of NCX1 and
      PtdIns(4)-5kinase. These results indicate that, for a proper MgATP up-regulation
      of NCX1, the enzyme responsible for PtdIns-4,5P2 synthesis must be (i)
      functionally competent and (ii) set in the NCX1 microenvironment closely
      associated to the exchanger. This kind of supramolecular structure is needed to
      optimize binding of the newly synthesized PtdIns-4,5P2 to its target region in
      the exchanger protein.

PMID- 20933500
TI  - Endoplasmic reticulum stress increases the expression and function of toll-like
      receptor-2 in epithelial cells.
AB  - Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress is involved in a wide range of pathological
      conditions including neurodegenerative disorders, diabetes mellitus,
      atherosclerosis, inflammation, and infection. The ability of ER stress to induce
      an inflammatory response is considered to play a role in the pathogenesis of
      these diseases. However, its role in regulating the gene expression and function
      of toll-like receptors (TLRs), host defense receptors that recognize invading
      pathogens, remains unknown. Here we showed that several well-characterized ER
      stress inducers (thapsigargin, tunicamycin, and dithiothreitol) increase the
      expression of TLR2 in epithelial cells. Ligand-responsiveness of TLR2 was also
      enhanced by ER stress inducers, implying a contributory role of ER stress for the
      regulation of TLR2-dependent inflammatory responses. Furthermore, there was
      significant increase of TLR2 mRNA level in the livers of tunicamycin-treated mice
      and high-fat diet-fed mice, suggesting an impact of ER stress in vivo on the
      expression of TLR2. Overexpression and knockdown experiments showed the
      importance of activating transcription factor 4 (ATF4), an ER stress-induced
      transcription factor, in the induction of TLR2 expression during ER stress. This
      was confirmed by the increased expression and function of TLR2 during treatment
      with salubrinal, an activator of ATF4 pathway. Taken together, our study provides
      further insights into the role of ER stress in enhancing host bacterial response
      or in exaggerating the inflammatory condition via up-regulating TLR2 expression.

PMID- 20933501
TI  - Three-dimensional constructs induce high cellular activity: Structural stability
      and the specific production of proteins and cytokines.
AB  - The specific properties responsible for the stability and function induced by
      three-dimensional (3D) cellular constructs were evaluated and compared to a
      monolayer structure. 3D-cellular multilayers composed of human fibroblast cells
      (FCs) and human umbilical vascular endothelial cells (ECs) were fabricated by a
      hierarchical cell manipulation technique. Interestingly, the ECs adhered
      homogeneously onto four-layered (4L) FCs, and tight-junction formation was widely
      observed at the centimeter scale, while heterogeneous EC domain structures were
      observed on the monolayered (1L) FCs. The production of heat shock protein70
      (Hsp70) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) from the cellular structures were investigated
      to elucidate any 3D-structural effect on cellular function. The Hsp70 expression
      of the ECs decreased after adhesion onto the 4L-FC structure as compared with the
      EC monolayer. Surprisingly, the Hsp70 production response to heat shock increased
      drastically by approximately 10-fold as compared with a non-heat shock by 3D
      structure formation, whereas the monolayer structures showed no change. Moreover,
      the production of the inflammatory cytokine IL-6 decreased significantly
      depending on the layer number of FCs. To the best of our knowledge, this is the
      first report on a basic, 3D-structural effect on cellular stability and function.
      These findings could be important for not only tissue engineering, but also for
      basic cell biology.

PMID- 20933502
TI  - Targeted methylation of CMV and E1A viral promoters.
AB  - DNA methylation is a gene-silencing and host defense system that can down
      regulate viral gene expression in mammalian cells. An established targeted DNA
      methylation method was used to demonstrate that genome-integrated CMV and
      adenovirus type 5 E1A promoters were hypermethylated after MCF7 and HEK293 cells
      were transfected with in vitro methylated viral promoter fragments. In both
      cases, the targeted methylation-induced gene silencing could be reversed by
      addition of 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine, confirming that the CMV and E1A promoters are
      regulated by DNA methylation. The kinetics of the targeted DNA methylation was
      determined using a reporter system in live cells. In conclusion, targeted DNA
      methylation is able to efficiently silence susceptible viral promoters and
      provides an alternative strategy to study the impact of loci-specific DNA
      methylation in viral gene expression.

PMID- 20933503
TI  - miR-218 inhibits the invasive ability of glioma cells by direct downregulation of
      IKK-beta.
AB  - Aberrant activation of nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-kappaB) pathway has been proven
      to play important roles in the development and progression of cancers. Activation
      of NF-kappaB via the classical pathway is modulated by IkappaBs kinase (IKK
      beta). However, the mechanism underlying the epigenetic regulation of IKK-beta/NF
      kappaB pathway remains largely unknown. In this study, we found that the
      expression level of miR-218 was markedly downregulated in glioma cell lines and
      in human primary glioma tissues. Upregulation of miR-218 dramatically reduced the
      migratory speed and invasive ability of glioma cells. Furthermore, we showed that
      ectopically expressing miR-218 in glioma cells resulted in downregulation of
      matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) and reduction in NF-kappaB transactivity at a
      transcriptional level, but inhibition of miR-218 enhanced the expression of MMP-9
      and transcriptional activity of NF-kappaB. Moreover, we showed that miR-218
      inactivated the NF-kappaB pathway through downregulating IKK-beta expression by
      directly targeting the 3'-untranslated region (3'-UTR) of IKK-beta. Taken
      together, our results suggest that miR-218 plays an important role in preventing
      the invasiveness of glioma cells, and our results present a novel mechanism of
      miRNA-mediated direct suppression of IKK-beta/NF-kappaB pathway in gliomas.

PMID- 20933504
TI  - Coenzyme A and its thioester pools in fasted and fed rat tissues.
AB  - Levels of three coenzyme A (CoA) molecular species, i.e., nonesterified CoA
      (CoASH), acetyl-CoA, and malonyl-CoA, in fasted and fed rat tissues were analyzed
      by the acyl-CoA cycling method which makes detection possible at the pmol level.
      Malonyl-CoA in brain tissues readily increased with feeding, and inversely,
      acetyl-CoA decreased. This phenomenon occurred in the cerebral cortex,
      hippocampus, cerebellum, and medulla oblongata, as well as in the hypothalamus
      which controls energy balance by monitoring malonyl-CoA. In the non-brain
      tissues, the sizes of the acetyl-CoA, malonyl-CoA, and CoASH pools depended on
      the tissues. The total CoA pools consisting of the above three CoA species in the
      liver, heart, and brown adipose tissue were larger and those of the perirenal,
      epididymal, and ovarian adipose tissues were much smaller, compared with those of
      other tissues including brain tissues. In addition, the response of each CoA pool
      to feeding was not uniform, suggesting that the tissue-specific metabolism
      individually functions in the non-brain tissues. Thus, a comprehensive analysis
      of thirteen types of rat tissue revealed that CoA pools have different sizes and
      showed a different response to fasting and feeding depending on the tissue.

PMID- 20933505
TI  - FOXO1 is a direct target of EWS-Fli1 oncogenic fusion protein in Ewing's sarcoma
      cells.
AB  - Ewing's family tumors are characterized by a specific t(11;22) chromosomal
      translocation that results in the formation of EWS-Fli1 oncogenic fusion protein.
      To investigate the effects of EWS-Fli1 on gene expression, we carried out DNA
      microarray analysis after specific knockdown of EWS-Fli1 through transfection of
      synthetic siRNAs. EWS-Fli1 knockdown increased expression of genes such as DKK1
      and p57 that are known to be repressed by EWS-Fli1 fusion protein. Among other
      potential EWS-Fli1 targets identified by our microarray analysis, we have focused
      on the FOXO1 gene since it encodes a potential tumor suppressor and has not been
      previously reported in Ewing's cells. To better understand how EWS-Fli1 affects
      FOXO1 expression, we have established a doxycycline-inducible siRNA system to
      achieve stable and reversible knockdown of EWS-Fli1 in Ewing's sarcoma cells.
      Here we show that FOXO1 expression in Ewing's cells has an inverse relationship
      with EWS-Fli1 protein level, and FOXO1 promoter activity is increased after
      doxycycline-induced EWS-Fli1 knockdown. In addition, we have found that direct
      binding of EWS-Fli1 to FOXO1 promoter is attenuated after doxycycline-induced
      siRNA knockdown of the fusion protein. Together, these results suggest that
      suppression of FOXO1 function by EWS-Fli1 fusion protein may contribute to
      cellular transformation in Ewing's family tumors.

PMID- 20933506
TI  - miR-335 is involved in the rat epididymal development by targeting the mRNA of
      RASA1.
AB  - The expression of 350 miRNAs during the rat epididymal development was profiled
      by a home-made miRNA microarray recently. The results showed that the expression
      of miR-335 decreased from postnatal day 7 to 49 in the rat epididymis. Few
      studies on miR-335's roles in the epididymis and its targets have been reported
      so far. The bioinformatic analysis indicated that one of miR-335's putative
      targets is RASA1, a known gene related to cell proliferation and anti-apoptosis,
      which may contribute to the epididymal development. It was found that the
      overexpression of miR-335 in NIH/3T3 cells caused the suppression of RASA1
      expression. The result of luciferase targeting assay confirmed that the mRNA of
      RASA1 was targeted by miR-335. In addition, it was also found that the temporal
      expression of RASA1 was inverse to that of miR-335 during the epididymal
      development in the rat. These results indicated that the reduction of miR-335 at
      least in part caused the upregulation of RASA1 in the rat epididymis. Therefore,
      miR-335 can be involved in the epididymal development by affecting the expression
      of RASA1.

PMID- 20933507
TI  - Over-expression of COQ10 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae inhibits mitochondrial
      respiration.
AB  - COQ10 deletion in Saccharomyces cerevisiae elicits a defect in mitochondrial
      respiration correctable by addition of coenzyme Q(2). Rescue of respiration by
      Q(2) is a characteristic of mutants blocked in coenzyme Q(6) synthesis. Unlike
      Q(6) deficient mutants, mitochondria of the coq10 null mutant have wild-type
      concentrations of Q(6). The physiological significance of earlier observations
      that purified Coq10p contains bound Q(6) was examined in the present study by
      testing the in vivo effect of over-expression of Coq10p on respiration.
      Mitochondria with elevated levels of Coq10p display reduced respiration in the
      bc1 span of the electron transport chain, which can be restored with exogenous
      Q(2). This suggests that in vivo binding of Q(6) by excess Coq10p reduces the
      pool of this redox carrier available for its normal function in providing
      electrons to the bc1 complex. This is confirmed by observing that extra Coq8p
      relieves the inhibitory effect of excess Coq10p. Coq8p is a putative kinase, and
      a high-copy suppressor of the coq10 null mutant. As shown here, when over
      produced in coq mutants, Coq8p counteracts turnover of Coq3p and Coq4p subunits
      of the Q-biosynthetic complex. This can account for the observed rescue by COQ8
      of the respiratory defect in strains over-producing Coq10p.

PMID- 20933508
TI  - Arzanol, a prenylated heterodimeric phloroglucinyl pyrone, inhibits eicosanoid
      biosynthesis and exhibits anti-inflammatory efficacy in vivo.
AB  - Based on its capacity to inhibit in vitro HIV-1 replication in T cells and the
      release of pro-inflammatory cytokines in monocytes, the prenylated heterodimeric
      phloroglucinyl alpha-pyrone arzanol was identified as the major anti-inflammatory
      and anti-viral constituent from Helichrysum italicum. We have now investigated
      the activity of arzanol on the biosynthesis of pro-inflammatory eicosanoids,
      evaluating its anti-inflammatory efficacy in vitro and in vivo. Arzanol inhibited
      5-lipoxygenase (EC 7.13.11.34) activity and related leukotriene formation in
      neutrophils, as well as the activity of cyclooxygenase (COX)-1 (EC 1.14.99.1) and
      the formation of COX-2-derived prostaglandin (PG)E(2)in vitro (IC(50)=2.3-9MUM).
      Detailed studies revealed that arzanol primarily inhibits microsomal PGE(2)
      synthase (mPGES)-1 (EC 5.3.99.3, IC(50)=0.4MUM) rather than COX-2. In fact,
      arzanol could block COX-2/mPGES-1-mediated PGE(2) biosynthesis in
      lipopolysaccharide-stimulated human monocytes and human whole blood, but not the
      concomitant COX-2-derived biosynthesis of thromboxane B(2) or of 6-keto
      PGF(1alpha), and the expression of COX-2 or mPGES-1 protein was not affected.
      Arzanol potently suppressed the inflammatory response of the carrageenan-induced
      pleurisy in rats (3.6mg/kg, i.p.), with significantly reduced levels of PGE(2) in
      the pleural exudates. Taken together, our data show that arzanol potently
      inhibits the biosynthesis of pro-inflammatory lipid mediators like PGE(2)in vitro
      and in vivo, providing a mechanistic rationale for the anti-inflammatory activity
      of H. italicum, and a rationale for further pre-clinical evaluation of this novel
      anti-inflammatory lead.

PMID- 20933509
TI  - The synergistic cytotoxicity of clofarabine, fludarabine and busulfan in AML
      cells involves ATM pathway activation and chromatin remodeling.
AB  - DNA alkylating agents alone or with ionizing radiation have been the preferred
      conditioning treatment in allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation
      (allo-HSCT). In search of less toxic alternatives, we hypothesized that
      combination of busulfan (Bu), fludarabine (Flu) and clofarabine (Clo) would
      provide superior efficacy. At low concentrations, these drugs show synergistic
      cytotoxicity in Bu-resistant AML KBM3/Bu250(6) cells. Similar molecular responses
      were observed in other AML cell lines and in primary explanted AML cells. The
      [Clo+Flu+Bu] combination activates an intense DNA damage response through the ATM
      pathway, leading to cell cycle checkpoint activation and apoptosis.
      Phosphorylations of SMC1 and SMC3, and methylations of histones 3 and 4, are much
      more pronounced in cells exposed to [Clo+Flu+Bu] than [Clo+Flu], suggesting their
      relevance in the efficacy of the triple-drug combination. A possible mechanism
      for these observed synergistic effects involves the capability of [Clo+Flu] to
      induce histone methylations and subsequent chromatin remodeling, which may render
      the genomic DNA more accessible to Bu alkylation. The Bu-mediated DNA cross
      linking may provide a feedback loop which perpetuates the DNA damage response
      initiated by [Clo+Flu] and commits the cells to apoptosis. Our results provide a
      conceptual mechanistic basis for exploring this triple-drug combination in
      pretransplant conditioning therapy for allo-HSCT.

PMID- 20933510
TI  - Sinoaortic denervation prevents enhanced heat loss induced by central cholinergic
      stimulation during physical exercise.
AB  - The present study investigated whether the effects of central cholinergic
      stimulation on thermoregulation during exercise are modulated by arterial
      baroreceptors. Wistar rats were submitted to sinoaortic denervation (SAD) or sham
      denervation (SHAM) and then fitted with a chronic guide cannula into the lateral
      cerebral ventricle. After 2 weeks, a catheter was implanted into the ascending
      aorta, and a temperature sensor was implanted into the peritoneal cavity. Two
      days later, the rats were submitted to exercise on a treadmill at 18 m/min until
      fatigued. Thermoregulatory and cardiovascular responses were measured after
      injection of 2 MUL of 10mM physostigmine (Phy) or 0.15M NaCl solution (Sal) into
      the cerebral ventricle. In SHAM rats, Phy injection induced a greater exercise
      induced increase in blood pressure and lower increase in heart rate than Sal
      treatment. In the SAD group, the attenuation of heart rate in response to Phy was
      blocked despite an exaggerated increase in blood pressure. SHAM rats treated with
      Phy had a higher increase in tail skin temperature compared to Sal injection
      (31.9 +/- 0.4  degrees C Phy-SHAM vs. 30.1 +/- 0.6  degrees C Sal-SHAM, 5 min
      after injection; p<0.05), resulting in a lower exercise-induced increase in core
      temperature. In contrast, SAD blocked the Phy injection effects in
      thermoregulatory responses during exercise (tail temperature: 30.1 +/- 1.2 
      degrees C Phy-SAD vs. 29.5 +/- 1.2  degrees C Sal-SAD, 5 min, p = 0.65).
      Therefore, we conclude that the enhancement of cutaneous heat loss induced by
      central cholinergic stimulation during exercise is mediated primarily by arterial
      baroreceptors.

PMID- 20933512
TI  - Dietary flavonols contribute to false-positive elevation of homovanillic acid, a
      marker of catecholamine-secreting tumors.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Urinary homovanillic acid (HVA) measurement is used routinely as a
      marker of the first test for the screening of catecholamine-secreting tumors and
      dopamine metabolism, but generates a large number of false-positive results. With
      no guidelines for dietary restrictions prior to the test, we hypothesize that
      consumption of flavonol-rich foods (such as onions, tomatoes, tea) prior to
      urinary catecholamine screening could be responsible for false-positive urinary
      HVA in healthy subjects. METHODS: A randomized, crossover dietary intervention
      was carried out in healthy subjects (n=17). Volunteers followed either a low or
      high-flavonol diet, for a duration of 3 days, prior to providing a 24-h urine
      sample for HVA measurement using a routine, validated liquid chromatography
      method as well as a gas chromatography-mass spectrometry method. RESULTS: Dietary
      flavonol intake significantly increased urinary HVA excretion (p < 0.001), with 3
      out of 17 volunteers (20%) exceeding the 40 MUmol/24 h upper limit of normal for
      HVA excretion (false-positive result). CONCLUSION: Dietary flavonols commonly
      found in foodstuff such as tomatoes, onions, and tea, interfered with the routine
      urinary HVA screening test and should be avoided in the three-day run-up to the
      test.

PMID- 20933513
TI  - Comparison of two different radioimmunoassays to measure 17-hydroxyprogesterone
      during treatment monitoring of children with congenital adrenal hyperplasia due
      to 21-hydroxylase deficiency.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Accurate measurement of 17-hydroxyprogesterone (17-OHP)
      concentrations is essential for the correct diagnosis and treatment management of
      children with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) due to 21-hydroxylase
      deficiency (21 OHD). METHODS: We analysed 102 serum samples from 15 children with
      known 21 OHD twice using two different 17-OHP assays. 17-OHP concentrations were
      measured by an in-house radioimmunoassay (RIA) after recovery-corrected
      extraction and chromatographic purification and by a commercially available RIA
      without extraction (Immunotech). RESULTS: The correlation coefficient for results
      of pairs of 17-OHP concentrations was 0.974. The median ratio (17-OHP
      concentration measured with the commercial assay/17-OHP concentration measured
      with the in-house assay) was 0.593 with a 95% confidence interval ranging from
      0.258 to 1.370. The ratio was constant throughout the average 17-OHP
      concentrations ranging from 0.24 to 149.2 nmol/L, as well as throughout the age
      range from 0.3 to 16.4 years. CONCLUSIONS: Despite good overall correlation,
      absolute 17-OHP concentrations differed dramatically. This could lead to
      misclassification of patients suspected for 21 OHD on the basis of the hormonal
      profile and to a reduced quality during treatment monitoring of patients with 21
      OHD with the risk of under- and overtreatment.

PMID- 20933511
TI  - Amphetamine alters behavior and mesocorticolimbic dopamine receptor expression in
      the monogamous female prairie vole.
AB  - We have recently established the socially monogamous prairie vole (Microtus
      ochrogaster) as an animal model with which to investigate the involvement of
      mesocorticolimbic dopamine (DA) in the amphetamine (AMPH)-induced impairment of
      social behavior. As the majority of our work, to date, has focused on males, and
      sex differences are commonly reported in the behavioral and neurobiological
      responses to AMPH, the current study was designed to examine the behavioral and
      neurobiological effects of AMPH treatment in female prairie voles. We used a
      conditioned place preference (CPP) paradigm to determine a dose-response curve
      for the behavioral effects of AMPH in female prairie voles, and found that
      conditioning with low to intermediate (0.2 and 1.0 mg/kg), but not very low (0.1
      mg/kg), doses of AMPH induced a CPP. We also found that exposure to a
      behaviorally relevant dose of AMPH (1.0 mg/kg) induced an increase in DA
      concentration in the nucleus accumbens (NAcc) and caudate putamen but not the
      medial prefrontal cortex or ventral tegmental area (VTA). Finally, repeated AMPH
      exposure (1.0 mg/kg once per day for 3 consecutive days; an injection paradigm
      that has been recently shown to alter DA receptor expression and impair social
      bonding in male prairie voles) increased D1, but not D2, receptor mRNA in the
      NAcc, and decreased D2 receptor mRNA and D2-like receptor binding in the VTA.
      Together, these data indicate that AMPH alters mesocorticolimbic DA
      neurotransmission in a region- and receptor-specific manner, which, in turn,
      could have profound consequences on social behavior in female prairie voles.

PMID- 20933514
TI  - The small RNA expression profile of the developing murine urinary and
      reproductive systems.
AB  - microRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs with fundamental roles in the
      regulation of gene expression. miRNAs assemble with Argonaute (Ago) proteins to
      miRNA-protein complexes (miRNPs), which interact with distinct binding sites on
      mRNAs and regulate gene expression. Specific miRNAs are key regulators of tissue
      and organ development and it has been shown in mammals that miRNAs are also
      involved in the pathogenesis of many diseases including cancer. Here, we have
      characterized the miRNA expression profile of the developing murine genitourinary
      system. Using a computational approach, we have identified several miRNAs that
      are specific for the analyzed tissues or the developmental stage. Our
      comprehensive miRNA expression atlas of the developing genitourinary system forms
      an invaluable basis for further functional in vivo studies.

PMID- 20933516
TI  - Physiological and biological patterns of a highland and a coastal population of
      the European cherry fruit fly during diapause.
AB  - Adult emergence of univoltine temperate insect species and its synchronization
      with specific host phenological stages is mainly regulated by obligatory pupal
      diapause. Although a few studies have investigated the factors affecting diapause
      intensity, little attention has been paid to the physiological alterations and
      metabolic regulation that take place during diapause. Here, we describe
      differences in diapause between a highland and a coastal Greek population of the
      European cherry fruit fly Rhagoletis cerasi, a major pest of sweet and sour
      cherries in many European countries. Pupae of both populations were exposed to
      the environmental conditions prevailing in the two areas and diapause termination
      was observed under laboratory conditions. The regulation of energetic metabolites
      during the long pupae stage was examined under both field and laboratory
      conditions. Differences in diapause intensity revealed that the two populations
      have adapted to the local geographical and climatic conditions and have different
      requirements for low temperatures to terminate diapause. The coastal population
      undergoes a shorter diapause and adults emerge more rapidly, especially in the
      highland area. The highland population failed to terminate diapause (<40% adult
      emergence) in the coastal area. Both populations draw on their major energetic
      reserves (lipids and protein) similarly during diapause. Nevertheless, regulation
      of carbohydrate and glycogen reserves seems to vary between the populations:
      major peaks of these stored nutrients occur on different dates in the two
      populations, suggesting a differential regulation. Differences in diapause
      intensity imply a genetic differentiation between the two populations. The
      importance of our findings in understanding the physiological patterns during
      obligatory diapause of a univoltine insect species, as well as the practical
      implications for the development of specific phenological models for the European
      cherry fruit fly are discussed.

PMID- 20933515
TI  - Analysis of B cell subsets following pancreatic islet cell transplantation in a
      patient with type 1 diabetes by cytometric fingerprinting.
AB  - Manual gating of bivariate plots remains the most frequently used data analysis
      method in flow cytometry. However, gating is operator-dependent and cumbersome,
      particularly with the increasing complexity of modern multicolor
      immunophenotyping data. A method that can remove operator bias, enable systematic
      and thorough analysis of complex high-dimensional data, correlate temporal
      changes in different subsets and lead to biomarker discovery is needed. Here we
      apply such a method, called cytometric fingerprinting (CF), to data obtained on
      peripheral blood B cells from an adult patient with type-1 diabetes who underwent
      pancreatic islet transplantation. We establish that CF can be used to analyze
      longitudinal trends in immunophenotypic data, and show that results from CF are
      comparable to those obtained with traditional gating methods. Both methods reveal
      the appearance of transitional B cells and subsequent accumulation of more mature
      B cells following immunosuppression and transplantation. This pattern is
      consistent with a temporally ordered process of B cell auto-reconstitution. We
      also show the comparative efficiency of fingerprinting in recognizing relative
      changes in B cell subsets with respect to time, its ability to couple the data
      with statistical methods (agglomerative clustering) and its potential to define
      novel subsets.

PMID- 20933517
TI  - Rapid thermal responses and thermal tolerance in adult codling moth Cydia
      pomonella (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae).
AB  - In order to preserve key activities or improve survival, insects facing variable
      and unfavourable thermal environments may employ physiological adjustments on a
      daily basis. Here, we investigate the survival of laboratory-reared adult Cydia
      pomonella at high or low temperatures and their responses to pre-treatments at
      sub-lethal temperatures over short time-scales. We also determined critical
      thermal limits (CTLs) of activity of C. pomonella and the effect of different
      rates of cooling or heating on CTLs to complement the survival assays.
      Temperature and duration of exposure significantly affected adult C. pomonella
      survival with more extreme temperatures and/or longer durations proving to be
      more lethal. Lethal temperatures, explored between -20  degrees C to -5  degrees
      C and 32  degrees C to 47  degrees C over 0.5, 1, 2, 3 and 4h exposures, for 50%
      of the population of adult C. pomonella were -12  degrees C for 2h and 44 
      degrees C for 2h. Investigation of rapid thermal responses (i.e. hardening) found
      limited low temperature responses but more pronounced high temperature responses.
      For example, C. pomonella pre-treated for 2h at 5  degrees C improved survival at
      -9  degrees C for 2h from 50% to 90% (p<0.001). At high temperatures, pre
      treatment at 37  degrees C for 1h markedly improved survival at 43 degrees C for
      2h from 20% to 90% (p<0.0001). We also examined cross-tolerance of thermal
      stressors. Here, low temperature pre-treatments did not improve high temperature
      survival, while high temperature pre-treatment (37 degrees C for 1h)
      significantly improved low temperature survival (-9  degrees C for 2h). Inducible
      cross-tolerance implicates a heat shock protein response. Critical thermal minima
      (CT min) were not significantly affected by cooling at rates of 0.06, 0.12 and
      0.25  degrees C min(-1) (CT min range: 0.3-1.3  degrees C). By contrast, critical
      thermal maxima (CTmax) were significantly affected by heating at these rates and
      ranged from 42.5 to 44.9  degrees C. In sum, these results suggest pronounced
      plasticity of acute high temperature tolerance in adult C. pomonella, but limited
      acute low temperature responses. We discuss these results in the context of local
      agroecosystem microclimate recordings. These responses are significant to pest
      control programmes presently underway and have implications for understanding the
      evolution of thermal tolerance in these and other insects.

PMID- 20933518
TI  - Divergent behavioral and electrophysiological taste responses in the mid-legs of
      adult butterflies, Vanessa indica and Argyreus hyperbius.
AB  - Adult nymphalid butterflies possess sensilla trichodea (ST) that perceive taste
      in their walking legs. We examined whether the gustatory responses to mid-leg
      tarsal stimulation were different between Vanessa indica (rotting-food feeder)
      and Argyreus hyperbius (flower-nectar feeder). Sucrose, fructose, and glucose
      elicited behavioral responses (proboscis extension reflex: PER) and
      electrophysiological responses (spikes) from ST. Sugar responsiveness was similar
      in both species, where sucrose was the most stimulatory. Two fermentation
      products, ethanol and acetic acid, never induced PERs but elicited large
      amplitude spikes at a concentration of >1% (w/v). The two species significantly
      differed in responsiveness to the binary mixtures of sucrose and the fermentation
      products. Ethanol enhanced the sugar responses of V. indica but slightly
      inhibited those of A. hyperbius. Although acetic acid suppressed the sugar
      responses of both species, V. indica was less susceptible than A. hyperbius. When
      concentration of the fermentation products increased, binary mixtures evoked
      large spikes together with small ones regarded as the sucrose responses. Unlike
      the proboscal sensilla in our previous study, the tarsal ST of both species
      unambiguously responded to fermentation products. These results demonstrate that
      the tarsal gustatory sense of V. indica is adaptive to the use of rotting foods.

PMID- 20933519
TI  - Pravastatin normalises peripheral cardiac sympathetic hyperactivity in the
      spontaneously hypertensive rat.
AB  - Hypertension is associated with heightened cardiac sympathetic drive whilst
      statins reduce angiotensin II (ATII) signalling, superoxide anion production and
      increase nitric oxide bioavailability, events that can potentially reduce
      peripheral cardiac sympathetic neurotransmission. We therefore investigated
      whether pravastatin alters peripheral cardiac sympathetic control in the
      spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR). SHRs (16-18 weeks) had significantly
      (p<0.05) enhanced atrial (3)H-norepinephrine ((3)H-NE) release to field
      stimulation compared to normotensive WKYs. 2-week pravastatin supplementation
      significantly reduced (3)H-NE release to levels observed in the WKY. In-vivo,
      pravastatin lowered resting heart rate (HR) in the SHR despite not affecting
      arterial blood pressure or serum cholesterol. In SHR atria/right stellate
      ganglion preparations, the HR response to stellate stimulation (1, 3, and 5 Hz)
      was also significantly reduced by pravastatin whilst the HR response to exogenous
      NE (0.025-5 MUmol) remained similar. The nitric oxide synthase (NOS) inhibitor l
      NAME (1 mmol/l) increased (3)H-NE release by similar amounts in atria from
      supplemented and non-supplemented SHRs, whilst Western blotting showed no
      difference in protein levels of nNOS, eNOS, guanylyl cyclase, or the NADPH
      oxidase subunits Gp91 and P40 phox. Pravastatin significantly reduced cardiac
      ATII levels and angiotensin converting enzyme 1 and 2 expressions whilst protein
      levels of the ATII receptor (ATR(1)) remained unchanged in the SHR.
      Immunohistochemistry co-localised ATR(1) with tyrosine hydroxylase positive
      neurons in the stellate ganglion. The ATR(1) antagonist Losartan (5 MUmol)
      equalised release of (3)H-NE to comparable levels in supplemented and non
      supplemented SHRs. These results suggest 2-week pravastatin treatment reduces
      cardiac ATII, and prevents its facilitatory effect on NE release thus normalising
      cardiac sympathetic hyper-responsiveness in SHRs.

PMID- 20933520
TI  - Hic-5 deficiency enhances mechanosensitive apoptosis and modulates vascular
      remodeling.
AB  - Forces associated with blood flow are crucial not only for blood vessel
      development but also for regulation of vascular pathology. Although there have
      been many studies characterizing the responses to mechanical stimuli, molecular
      mechanisms linking biological responses to mechanical forces remain unclear. Hic
      5 (hydrogen peroxide-inducible clone-5) is a focal adhesion adaptor protein
      proposed as a candidate for a mediator of mechanotransduction. In the present
      study, we generated Hic-5-deficient mice by targeted mutation. Mice lacking Hic-5
      are viable and fertile, and show no obvious histological abnormalities including
      vasculature. However, after wire injury of the femoral artery in Hic-5 deficient
      mice, histological recovery of arterial media was delayed due to enhanced
      apoptosis of vascular wall cells, whereas neointima formation was enhanced.
      Stretch-induced apoptosis was enhanced in cultured vascular smooth muscle cells
      (vascular SMCs) from Hic-5 deficient mice. Mechanical stress also induced the
      alteration of intracellular distribution of vinculin from focal adhesions to the
      whole cytoplasm in SMCs. Immunoelectron microscopic study of vascular SMCs from a
      wire-injured artery demonstrated that vinculin was dispersed in the nucleus and
      the cytoplasm in Hic-5-deficient mice whereas vinculin was localized mainly in
      the sub-plasma membrane region in wild type mice. Our findings indicate that Hic
      5 may serve as a key regulator in mechanosensitive vascular remodeling.

PMID- 20933522
TI  - Mother-to-child transmission of HIV-1 in sub-Saharan Africa: past, present and
      future challenges.
AB  - HIV prevalence continues to be high among women of reproductive age in sub
      Saharan Africa. In 2007 the HIV prevalence among pregnant women attending
      antenatal clinics was >20% in the southern African counties of Botswana,
      Swaziland, South Africa and Lesotho. Mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of HIV
      can occur in-utero, intrapartum or postnatally. Without any preventive measure
      the overall rate of the MTCT of HIV in breastfeeding women could be 25-45%. Prior
      to the discovery of successful antiretroviral interventions to prevent the MTCT
      of HIV in sub-Saharan Africa (before 1999), innovative research determined the
      magnitude of the problem, the impact of the HIV epidemic on mothers and children,
      and the main risk factors associated with MTCT. Non-antiretroviral interventions
      conducted before 1999 such as washing the birth canal with antiseptics and
      antenatal supplementation with vitamin A did not reduce the MTCT of HIV. However,
      during the period 1999 to present, major successes were made in the prevention of
      the MTCT of HIV. The use of single-dose nevirapine prophylaxis to the mother and
      infant reduced the MTCT of HIV to ~12%. Subsequently, longer prophylaxis and
      combined antiretroviral regimens were shown to be highly effective and very low
      HIV transmission rates comparable to those in developed countries were reported
      in some clinical trial settings in sub-Saharan Africa. The future is promising
      but challenges remain. The current successful intervention modalities are
      entirely dependent on antiretrovirals and breastfeeding continues to be vital for
      the survival of the child in the African setting. Reviewing past and present
      achievements assists in focusing future research and development of prevention
      programs.

PMID- 20933521
TI  - Structure of a conserved retroviral RNA packaging element by NMR spectroscopy and
      cryo-electron tomography.
AB  - The 5'-untranslated regions of all gammaretroviruses contain a conserved "double
      hairpin motif" (Psi(CD)) that is required for genome packaging. Both hairpins (SL
      C and SL-D) contain GACG tetraloops that, in isolated RNAs, are capable of
      forming "kissing" interactions stabilized by two intermolecular G-C base pairs.
      We have determined the three-dimensional structure of the double hairpin from the
      Moloney murine leukemia virus ([Psi(CD)](2), 132 nt, 42.8 kDa) using a (2)H
      edited NMR-spectroscopy-based approach. This approach enabled the detection of
      (1)H-(1)H dipolar interactions that were not observed in previous studies of
      isolated SL-C and SL-D hairpin RNAs using traditional (1)H-(1)H correlated and
      (1)H-(13)C-edited NMR methods. The hairpins participate in intermolecular cross
      kissing interactions (SL-C to SL-D' and SLC' to SL-D) and stack in an end-to-end
      manner (SL-C to SL-D and SL-C' to SL-D') that gives rise to an elongated overall
      shape (ca 95 A*45 A*25 A). The global structure was confirmed by cryo-electron
      tomography (cryo-ET), making [Psi(CD)](2) simultaneously the smallest RNA to be
      structurally characterized to date by cryo-ET and among the largest to be
      determined by NMR. Our findings suggest that, in addition to promoting
      dimerization, [Psi(CD)](2) functions as a scaffold that helps initiate virus
      assembly by exposing a cluster of conserved UCUG elements for binding to the
      cognate nucleocapsid domains of assembling viral Gag proteins.

PMID- 20933523
TI  - Norepinephrine induces systolic failure and inhibits antiapoptotic genes in a
      polymicrobial septic rat model.
AB  - AIMS: We examined the effect of norepinephrine (NE) infusion on left ventricular
      function and apoptotic genes during progression of polymicrobial sepsis. METHODS:
      Male Sprague-Dawley rats (350-400 g) were made septic by intraperitoneal (i.p.)
      administration of 200mg/kg cecal inoculum. Sham animals received 5% dextrose
      water, i.p. Echocardiography was performed at baseline, 3 days and 7 days post
      sepsis/sham. NE (0.6 MUgkg(-1)h(-1)) was infused for 2h, before the end of day 3
      of echocardiography. At the end of day 7, rats were euthanized and heart tissues
      harvested for isolation of total RNA. PCR was performed using RT(2) profilerTM
      PCR array PARN-012 (Rat apoptosis array; SuperArray, MD) using RT(2) Real-TimeTM
      SYBR Green PCR master mix PA-012. KEY FINDINGS: NE-infusion resulted in a
      significant decrease in the left ventricular ejection fraction (EF) (62.56+/-2.07
      from the baseline 71.11+/-3.23, p<0.05) and fractional shortening (FS) (39.90+/
      2.64 from the sham group 54.41+/-2.19, p<0.05) at 7 days post-sepsis,
      respectively. Super Array data revealed that during sepsis, tumor necrosis factor
      (TNF-alpha) (2.85+/-0.07 fold, p<0.0001), anti-apoptotic molecules, Prok2
      (16.07+/-0.48 fold, p<0.0001) and interleukin-10 (IL-10) (23.5+/-0.57 fold,
      p<0.0001) were up regulated at day 1. At 7-days post-sepsis, CD40l g (2.49+/-0.54
      fold, p<0.08) and Birc1b (17.8+/-0.58 fold, p<0.0001) were up regulated compared
      to the sham, 1 and 3-days post-sepsis groups. SIGNIFICANCE: The data suggest that
      upregulation of a series of pro-apoptotic molecules could be responsible for
      systolic and diastolic dysfunction during 3 and 7 days post sepsis.

PMID- 20933524
TI  - Wavelet analysis of sacral tissue oxygenation oscillations by near-infrared
      spectroscopy in persons with spinal cord injury.
AB  - The objective of this study is to assess the blood oxygenation oscillations in
      the tissue over the sacrum, a high risk area for pressure ulcer, using spectral
      analysis of near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) signals based on wavelet transform.
      A total of twenty subjects were recruited for this study, of which ten were
      persons with spinal cord injury (SCI) (3 women, 7 men, age=34.5+/-5.2years) and
      the other ten were healthy subjects (3 women, 7 men, age=36.5+/-6.2years).
      Waterlow Scale was used for the pressure ulcer risk assessment. External pressure
      of 26.6kPa (200mm Hg) was applied to the sacrum via a specifically designed
      indentor. The loading duration was 3min. The subjects were examined lying face
      down. Tissue oxygenation signal was monitored for 20min prior to and after the
      loading period from the tissue over the sacrum area using NIRS. With spectral
      analysis based on wavelet transform, five frequency intervals were identified (I,
      0.005-0.02Hz, II, 0.02-0.06Hz, III, 0.06-0.15Hz, IV, 0.15-0.40Hz and V, 0.40
      2.0Hz) corresponding to endothelial related metabolic, neurogenic, myogenic,
      respiratory and cardiac activities, respectively. The results showed that the
      amplitude of the [HbO(2)] and [Hb] component in intervals I, II and III for
      persons with SCI was significantly lower during the resting conditions than that
      for normal subjects (p<0.05). During the post-loading period, the response of
      [HbO(2)] and [Hb] oscillatory activities in intervals II and III were
      significantly lower in the tissue over the sacrum for persons with SCI than that
      for normal subjects (p<0.05). Also significant negative correlation was found
      between oscillatory activities and Waterlow scale in persons with SCI. The
      results indicated that the low oscillatory activities might be related to early
      tissue injury in persons with SCI.

PMID- 20933525
TI  - Amygdala in action: relaying biological and social significance to
      autobiographical memory.
AB  - The human amygdala is strongly embedded in numerous other structures of the
      limbic system, but is also a hub for a multitude of other brain regions it is
      connected with. Its major involvement in various kinds of integrative sensory and
      emotional functions makes it a cornerstone for self-relevant biological and
      social appraisals of the environment and consequently also for the processing of
      autobiographical events. Given its contribution to the integration of emotion,
      perception and cognition (including memory for past autobiographical events) the
      amygdala also forges the establishment and maintenance of an integrated self.
      Damage or disturbances of amygdalar connectivity may therefore lead to
      disconnection syndromes, in which the synchronous processing of affective and
      cognitive aspects of memory is impaired. We will provide support for this thesis
      by reviewing data from patients with a rare experiment of nature - Urbach-Wiethe
      disease - as well as other conditions associated with amygdala abnormalities.
      With respect to memory processing, we propose that the amygdala's role is to
      charge cues so that mnemonic events of a specific emotional significance can be
      successfully searched within the appropriate neural nets and re-activated.

PMID- 20933526
TI  - Behavioral and ERP evidence for amodal sluggish attentional shifting in
      developmental dyslexia.
AB  - The goal of this study was to examine the claim that amodal deficits in
      attentional shifting may be the source of reading acquisition disorders in
      phonological developmental dyslexia (sluggish attentional shifting, SAS, theory,
      Hari & Renvall, 2001). We investigated automatic attentional shifting in the
      auditory and visual modalities in 13 dyslexic young adults with a phonological
      awareness deficit and 13 control participants, matched for cognitive abilities,
      using both behavioral and ERP measures. We tested automatic attentional shifting
      using a stream segregation task (perception of rapid succession of visual and
      auditory stimuli as one or two streams). Results of Experiment 1(behavioral)
      suggested that in order to process two successive stimuli separately dyslexic
      participants required a significantly longer inter-stimulus interval than
      controls regardless of sensory modality. In Experiment 2 (ERPs), the same
      participants were tested by means of an auditory and a visual oddball tasks
      involving variations in the tempo of the same alternating stimuli as Experiment
      1. P3b amplitudes elicited by deviant tempos were differently modulated between
      groups, supporting predictions made on the basis of observations in Experiment 1.
      Overall, these results support the hypothesis that SAS in dyslexic participants
      might be responsible for their atypical perception of rapid sequential stimulus
      sequences in both the auditory and the visual modalities. Furthermore, these
      results bring new evidence supporting the link between amodal SAS and the
      phonological impairment in developmental dyslexia.

PMID- 20933527
TI  - The continuous updating of grasp in response to dynamic changes in object size,
      hand size and distractor proximity.
AB  - Reaching out to pick up an object seems a trivial matter, but selecting the
      appropriate hand configuration requires a series of complex computations that
      process the object's dimensions, orientation and environment. A current debate in
      motor control concerns how and when the motor system responds to unexpected
      changes in the visual and spatial properties of objects to be grasped. In the
      current experiment, visual manipulations that increased either target size,
      distractor proximity or hand size were applied gradually and continuously
      throughout reach to grasp movements. All manipulations were associated with early
      and continuous modifications of the grasping component, but only an increase in
      hand size affected transport characteristics. This suggests that visual
      information of both the object and the effector are continuously processed in
      movement computations, in keeping with models of motor control that posit high
      weighting for online sensory feedback.

PMID- 20933528
TI  - The role of DAT1 gene on the rapid detection of task novelty.
AB  - In an environment with a myriad of different stimuli, the fast detection of novel
      and behaviorally relevant signals becomes crucial for an adaptive behavior. The
      detection of task-novelty has been related to striatum-prefrontal cortex (PFC)
      pathways involving dopaminergic (DA) neurotransmission. Here we thus tested the
      hypothesis that DA regulates the detection of task novelty through the modulation
      of the auditory N1 potential, an auditory potential peaking at 100 ms and
      previously shown to be modulated by the detection of sensory novelty. Thirty-five
      healthy volunteers were divided in two groups according to the presence or
      absence of the 9-repetition allele (9R) of the SLC6A3/DAT1 gene for the dopamine
      transporter. Participants performed a cued task-switching paradigm that
      dissociated the effects of exogenous sensory novelty from those of endogenous
      task novelty. Individuals with the 9R allele showed an amplitude enhancement of
      the auditory N1 elicited to sensory changes requiring a task-set reconfiguration
      as compared to sensory changes with no task novelty. In contrast, individuals
      without the 9R allele did not have their N1 waveform modulated by task novelty.
      The present results suggest that individuals homozygous for the 10-repeat allele
      fail to detect the behavioral relevance of new stimuli at early stages.

PMID- 20933529
TI  - Modulating amygdala responses to emotion: evidence from pharmacological fMRI.
AB  - The use of functional MRI (fMRI) in combination with pharmacological challenges
      has increased exponentially in recent years, motivated by the idea not only to
      elucidate the neurochemical foundations of human emotional and cognitive
      faculties, but also to optimize human brain function in healthy individuals and
      identify novel drug targets, with the ultimate goal to design more specific
      pharmacological therapies for the various disorders of human emotion and
      cognition. In particular, emotional responding of the amygdala has become a
      central interest, and pharmacological fMRI has been used to specifically probe,
      and modulate, amygdala activation in response to facial expressions of emotion
      and emotionally laden scenes. This article reviews recent fMRI experiments
      manipulating the amygdala's physiological response to such stimuli by
      pharmacological means and lays a particular focus on monoaminergic,
      glutamatergic, GABAergic, and hormonal/peptidergic challenges.

PMID- 20933530
TI  - A cross-sectional and follow-up functional MRI study with a working memory task
      in adolescent anorexia nervosa.
AB  - Structural and functional brain abnormalities have been described in anorexia
      nervosa (AN). The objective of this study was to examine whether there is
      abnormal regional brain activation during a working memory task not associated
      with any emotional stimuli in adolescent patients with anorexia and to detect
      possible changes after weight recovery. Fourteen children and adolescents (age
      range 11-18 years) consecutively admitted with DSM-IV diagnosis of AN and
      fourteen control subjects of similar age were assessed by means of
      psychopathological scales and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during
      a working memory task. After seven months of treatment and weight recovery, nine
      AN patients were reassessed. Before treatment, the AN group showed significantly
      higher activation than controls in temporal and parietal areas and especially in
      the temporal superior gyrus during performance of the cognitive task. Control
      subjects did not show greater activation than AN patients in any region. A
      negative correlation was found between brain activation and body mass index and a
      positive correlation between activation and depressive symptomatology. At follow
      up after weight recovery, AN patients showed a decrease in brain activation in
      these areas and did not present differences with respect to controls. These
      results show that adolescent AN patients showed hyperactivation in the parietal
      and especially the temporal lobe during a working memory task, suggesting that
      they must make an additional effort to perform at normal levels. This activation
      correlated with clinical variables. In these young patients, differences with
      respect to controls disappeared after weight recovery.

PMID- 20933531
TI  - Category expectations: a differential modulation of the N170 potential for faces
      and words.
AB  - The goal of the present study was to explore whether endogenous attention can be
      oriented to different perceptual categories and to examine how these expectations
      modulate visual stimulus processing. We designed a cueing paradigm that prepared
      participants, on a trial-by-trial basis, for the most likely stimulus category of
      the target, which could be either a face or a word. Participants were asked to
      discriminate the gender of the stimuli, regardless of their category. We measured
      participants' brain activity by means of a high-density electroencephalographic
      recording system to investigate the neural correlates of orienting attention to
      faces and words. As expected, we observed a behavioural facilitation for valid
      compared to invalid trials. In addition, target expectations influenced stimulus
      processing at several points in time. Most importantly, attention modulated the
      lateralized N170 component in a category-specific fashion. These results show
      that, at least under certain circumstances, orienting endogenous attention to
      different categories can influence the perceptual stages of face and word visual
      processing.

PMID- 20933532
TI  - Social capital and physiological stress levels in free-ranging adult female
      rhesus macaques.
AB  - Social animals with greater access to social support, i.e. higher levels of
      social capital, may be able to cope better with the challenges they face in their
      day-to-day lives, and this may be reflected in lower physiological stress levels.
      Here, we examine the relationship between social capital and fecal glucocorticoid
      (GC) levels in pregnant free-ranging adult female rhesus macaques. In addition to
      social capital measures based on direct connections between social partners,
      which have been examined previously, we use social network analysis to generate
      measures of social capital based on indirect connections (i.e. connections
      between pairs of individuals which result from their mutual direct connection to
      a third party). We consider social capital based on three different types of
      affiliative association: grooming, the exchange of affiliative vocalizations and
      proximity. After controlling for variables known to affect GC output in primates
      (e.g. month of pregnancy), GC levels of females were significantly predicted by a
      social network measure of indirect connectedness in the proximity network,
      proximity reach, in interaction with dominance rank. High ranking females had
      significantly lower GC levels in months in which they had low levels of proximity
      reach (i.e. in months in which their proximity networks were smaller and
      therefore more focused). The results of our study add to a growing body of
      evidence which suggests that social capital may be an important means by which
      gregarious animals cope with day-to-day challenges. Our study also joins a small
      body of recent research which has demonstrated that indirect connections may be
      important factors in the lives of social animals.

PMID- 20933533
TI  - 17beta-Estradiol protects against acetaminophen-overdose-induced acute oxidative
      hepatic damage and increases the survival rate in mice.
AB  - Acetaminophen overdose causes acute liver injury or even death in both humans and
      experimental animals. We investigated the effect of 17beta-estradiol against
      acetaminophen-induced acute liver injury and mortality in mice. Male mice were
      given acetaminophen (p-acetamidophenol; 300 mg/kg; orally) to induce acute liver
      injury. Acetaminophen significantly increased the levels of aspartate
      transaminase, alanine transaminase, myeloperoxidase, lipid peroxidation, and
      glutathione reductase, but it decreased superoxide dismutase, catalase, and
      glutathione. In addition, acetaminophen-induced mortality began 4h post
      treatment, and all mice died within 9h. 17beta-Estradiol (200 MUg/kg; i.p.)
      protected against acetaminophen-induced oxidative hepatic damage by inhibiting
      neutrophil infiltration and stimulating the antioxidant defense system. However,
      17beta-estradiol did not affect acetaminophen-induced glutathione depletion or
      increased glutathione reductase activity. We conclude that 17beta-estradiol
      specifically attenuates acute hepatic damage and decreases mortality in
      acetaminophen-overdosed male mice.

PMID- 20933534
TI  - Esculetin-induced protection of human hepatoma HepG2 cells against hydrogen
      peroxide is associated with the Nrf2-dependent induction of the NAD(P)H: Quinone
      oxidoreductase 1 gene.
AB  - Esculetin (6,7-dihydroxy coumarin), is a potent antioxidant that is present in
      several plant species. The aim of this study was to investigate the mechanism of
      protection of esculetin in human hepatoma HepG2 cells against reactive oxygen
      species (ROS) induced by hydrogen peroxide. Cell viability, cell integrity,
      intracellular glutathione levels, generation of reactive oxygen species and
      expression of antioxidant enzymes were used as markers to measure cellular
      oxidative stress and response to ROS. The protective effect of esculetin was
      compared to a well-characterized chemoprotective compound quercetin. Pre
      treatment of HepG2 cells with sub-lethal (10-25 MUM) esculetin for 8h prevented
      cell death and maintained cell integrity following exposure to 0.9 mM hydrogen
      peroxide. An increase in the generation of ROS following hydrogen peroxide
      treatment was significantly attenuated by 8h pre-treatment with esculetin. In
      addition, esculetin ameliorated the decrease in intracellular glutathione caused
      by hydrogen peroxide exposure. Moreover, treatment with 25 MUM esculetin for 8h
      increased the expression of NAD(P)H: quinone oxidoreductase (NQO1) at both
      protein and mRNA levels significantly, by 12-fold and 15-fold, respectively.
      Esculetin treatment also increased nuclear accumulation of Nrf2 by 8-fold
      indicating that increased NQO1 expression is Nrf2-mediated. These results
      indicate that esculetin protects human hepatoma HepG2 cells from hydrogen
      peroxide induced oxidative injury and that this protection is provided through
      the induction of protective enzymes as part of an adaptive response mediated by
      Nrf2 nuclear accumulation.

PMID- 20933535
TI  - Effectiveness of serum megakaryocyte potentiating factor in evaluating the
      effects of chrysotile and its heated products on respiratory organs.
AB  - Chrysotile (CH), the most common form of asbestos, is rendered less toxic by
      heating it at 1000 degrees C and converting it to forsterite (FO-1000). However,
      further safety tests are needed to evaluate human health risk of these materials.
      It has been reported that serum concentrations of megakaryocyte potentiating
      factor N-ERC/mesothelin become elevated in patients with mesotheliomas caused by
      asbestos exposure. In this study, a single 2mg dose of CH or FO-1000 was
      intratracheally administered to rats. Within 180days after the administrations,
      serum N-ERC/mesothelin concentrations, levels of 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8
      OHdG) in lung tissues and pathological changes in respiratory organs were
      determined. In the CH group, a significant increase in serum N-ERC/mesothelin
      concentrations was observed immediately after intratracheal administration, and
      the elevation lasted for 30days. In lung tissues, positive staining for 8-OHdG in
      bronchioles, alveolar epithelium, inflammatory cells, and granulomas was evidence
      of a marked DNA oxidative damage. Furthermore, measurements of 8-OHdG in lung
      tissues based on the HPLC-ECD method suggested that serum N-ERC/mesothelin
      concentrations tended to increase when there are significant DNA damages in lung
      tissues. In contrast, in the FO-1000 group, a marked rise in serum N
      ERC/mesothelin concentrations occurred only in the early phase (1-7days) after
      intratracheal administration. Similarly, FO-1000 induced elevation of 8-OHdG in
      lung tissues was transient and modest compared with those of the CH-treated
      animals. In both the CH and FO-1000 groups, we observed significant correlations
      between serum N-ERC/mesothelin concentrations and lung 8-OHdG concentrations
      (r=0.559, p=0.001 for the CH group; r=0.516, p=0.01 for the FO-1000 group). In
      summary, we demonstrated the possibility of using serum N-ERC/mesothelin
      concentrations as a useful biomarker for early phase exposure to either CH or FO
      1000.

PMID- 20933536
TI  - Palytoxins: biological and chemical determination.
AB  - Palytoxin (PLTX) is a marine polyether toxin with a very large and complex
      molecule that has both lipophilic and hydrophilic areas. It presents the longest
      continuous carbon atoms chain known to exist in a natural product second only to
      maitotoxin. This toxin was first isolated from Palythoa toxica and was
      subsequently reported in dinoflagellates of the genus Ostreopsis. Although PLTX
      has so far been associated with ciguateric fish poisoning (CFP), recent evidence
      suggests that PLTXs should be excluded from CFP toxins. NMR and LC-MS/MS
      techniques have enabled the isolation of 10-15 new analogues from dinoflagellates
      ever since their first discovery. Literature data on biological origin,
      poisonings and chemistry of certain naturally occurring PLTX analogues, commonly
      known as ostreocins, are detailed herein. This paper reviews all reported
      biological and chemical analysis methods to date for this group of compounds.

PMID- 20933537
TI  - Venomic study on cone snails (Conus spp.) from South Africa.
AB  - From six Conus species (Conus coronatus, Conus lividus, Conus mozambicus f.
      lautus, Conus pictus, Conus sazanka, Conus tinianus) collected off the eastern
      coast of South Africa the venoms were analyzed using MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry.
      Between 56 and 151 molecular masses most in a range of 1000 to 2500 Da, were
      identified. Among the six venoms, between 0 and 27% (C. coronatus versus C.
      sazanka) of the peptide masses were found to be similar. In a study on venoms
      from 6 Conus species collected in the Philippines, the percentage of identical
      masses was between none and 9% only. The venoms from the South African Conus
      species antagonized the rat neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs)
      alpha3beta2, alpha4beta2, and alpha7, except for C. coronatus venom that blocked
      the alpha4beta2 and alpha7 nAChRs only. HPLC-fractionation of C. tinianus venom
      led to the isolation of a peptide that is active on all three receptor subtypes.
      It consists of 16 amino acid residues cross-linked by two disulfide bridges as
      revealed by de novo sequencing using tandem mass spectrometry: GGCCSHPACQNNPDYC.
      Posttranslational modifications include C-terminal amidation and tyrosine
      sulfation. The new peptide is a member of the alpha-conotoxin family that are
      competitive antagonists of nAChRs. Phylogenetic analysis of the 16S RNA from
      numerous Conus species has clarified the evolutionary position of endemic South
      African Conus species and provided the first evidence for their close genetic
      relationships.

PMID- 20933539
TI  - Mechanical testing of spider silk at cryogenic temperatures.
AB  - A method and results for mechanical testing of spider silk in extreme
      environments is presented. In particular, silk from the spider Steatoda
      triangulosa is harvested, and samples are subjected to cryogenic temperatures by
      means of liquid nitrogen submersion. Samples are destructively tested while
      immersed in liquid nitrogen, and the stress-strain characteristics are compared
      to those of silk at room temperature. The strength, elasticity, and toughness of
      the cryogenically submersed silk are determined. It is found that on average,
      silk is 64% stronger while immersed in liquid nitrogen (i.e., at -196 degrees C).
      The testing method could also be used for testing of silk in chemically hostile
      environments.

PMID- 20933538
TI  - Acceptance of a Polypill approach to prevent cardiovascular disease among a
      sample of U.S. physicians.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To examine US physicians' self-reported knowledge about the Polypill,
      factors considered in deciding whether to prescribe it, and acceptance of
      prescribing it for cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention. METHODS: Numerical
      scales of 0 (lowest) to 5 (highest) were used to assess self-reported knowledge
      and importance of factors relevant to making a decision to prescribe a Polypill.
      Characteristics of physicians indicating they would prescribe a Polypill were
      compared. RESULTS: Among 952 physicians surveyed February through March 2010,
      mean self-rated knowledge about the Polypill was 2.0+/-1.5. Importance of degree
      of CVD event reduction, cost, and side effects were rated with means of 4.4, 4.3,
      and 4.3, respectively. 83% of respondents indicated they would "definitely" or
      "probably" prescribe it for high-risk patients; 62% would do so for moderate risk
      patients. Physicians with self-rated knowledge at >=75th percentile were more
      likely to indicate they would prescribe a Polypill for moderate risk (adjusted OR
      2.16; 95% CI 1.60-2.93) and high-risk (adjusted OR 1.57; 95% CI 1.07-2.32)
      patients. CONCLUSION: Among this sample of physicians, there is relatively high
      acceptance of prescribing a Polypill for CVD prevention despite relatively modest
      knowledge about it.

PMID- 20933540
TI  - Electrospun chitosan-graft-poly (epsilon -caprolactone)/poly (epsilon
      caprolactone) cationic nanofibrous mats as potential scaffolds for skin tissue
      engineering.
AB  - This research is aimed to develop cationic nanofibrous mats with improved
      cellular adhesion profiles and stability of three-dimensional fibrous structure
      as potential scaffolds for skin tissue engineering. Firstly, amino-remained
      chitosan-graft-poly (E-caprolactone) (CS-g-PCL) was synthesized with a facile one
      step manner by grafting E-caprolactone oligomers onto the hydroxyl groups of CS
      via ring-opening polymerization by using methanesulfonic acid as solvent and
      catalyst. And then, CS-g-PCL/PCL nanofibrous mats were obtained by
      electrospinning of CS-g-PCL/PCL mixed solution. Scanning electron microscopy
      (SEM) images showed that the morphologies and diameters of the nanofibers were
      mainly affected by the weight ratio of CS-g-PCL to PCL. The enrichment of amino
      groups on the nanofiber surface was confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy
      (XPS). With the increase of CS-g-PCL in CS-g-PCL/PCL nanofiber, the content of
      amino groups on the nanofiber surface increased, which resulted in the increase
      of zeta-potential of nanofibers. Studies on cell-scaffold interaction were
      carried out by culturing mouse fibroblast cells (L929) on CS-g-PCL/PCL
      nanofibrous mats with various contents of CS-g-PCL by assessing the growth,
      proliferation and morphologies of cells. The results of MTS assay and SEM
      observation showed that CS-g-PCL/PCL (2/8) mats with a moderate surface zeta
      potential (zeta=3mV) were the best in promoting the cell attachment and
      proliferation. Toluidine blue staining further confirmed that L929 cells grew
      well and exhibited a normal morphology on the CS-g-PCL/PCL (2/8) mats. These
      results suggested the potential utilization of CS-g-PCL/PCL (2/8) nanofibrous
      mats for skin tissue engineering.

PMID- 20933541
TI  - Production of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) with canola oil as carbon source.
AB  - Wautersia eutropha was able to synthesize medium chain length
      polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) when canola oil was used as carbon source. W.
      eutropha was cultivated using fructose and ammonium sulphate as carbon and
      nitrogen sources, respectively, for growth and inoculum development. The
      experiments were done in a laboratory scale bioreactor in three stages.
      Initially, the biomass was adapted in a batch culture. Secondly, a fed-batch was
      used to increase the cell dry weight and PHA concentration to 4.36 g L(-1) and
      0.36 g L(-1), respectively. Finally, after the addition of canola oil as carbon
      source a final concentration of 18.27 g L(-1) PHA was obtained after 40 h of
      fermentation. With canola oil as carbon source, the polymer content of the cell
      dry matter was 90%. The polymer was purified from dried cells and analyzed by
      FTIR, NMR and DSC using PHB as reference. The polymer produced by W. eutropha
      from canola oil had four carbon monomers in the structure of the PHA and
      identified by 1H and 13C NMR analysis as 3-hydroxybutyrate (3HB), 3
      hydroxyvalerate (3HV), 3-hydroxyoctanoate (3HO), and 3-hydroxydodecanoate (3HDD).

PMID- 20933542
TI  - The rapid production of high-titer porcine endogenous retrovirus(PERV)-B env
      pseudotype and construction of an EGFP-expressing replication competent PERV-A
      vector.
AB  - Porcine endogenous retroviruses (PERVs) present a unique concern associated with
      xenotransplantation because they have been shown to infect certain human cells in
      vitro and it is also difficult to generate herds of pigs free of PERVs. A simple
      system for the production of high-titer MoMLV-PERV pseudotypes is reported; an
      EGFP-expressing replication-competent molecular clone that allows direct
      measurement of titer was also constructed. To improve the MLV-based retroviral
      vector system, a 2.1-kb PERV-B env product was amplified from PK-15 genomic DNA
      and cloned into the pCL-Eco retroviral vector. The titer of lacZ (PERV-B) from
      the 293 cells was about 1.0*10(4) CFU/ml. In contrast, the titer of lacZ (PERV-B)
      from a conventional murine retroviral vector (split genome) was found to be
      1.2*10(2) CFU/ml when the PERV-B env expression vector was transfected into
      TELCeB6 cells, which harbor MFGnlslacZ and the gag-pol-expressing vector. In
      addition, an infectious PERV-A clone containing enhanced GFP (EGFP) by using a
      PCR-based method was developed. This EGFP-expressing PERV-A-IRES-EGFP molecular
      clone was found to be stable genetically on transfection in 293 cells.

PMID- 20933543
TI  - NR2B subunit of the NMDA receptor in the basolateral amygdala is necessary for
      the acquisition of conditioned defeat in Syrian hamsters.
AB  - Reversible inactivation of the basolateral amygdala (BLA) disrupts the
      acquisition and expression of conditioned defeat (CD), an ethological model of
      conditioned fear, suggesting that the BLA may be a critical component of the
      neural circuit mediating behavioral plasticity associated with the experience of
      social defeat. We have also shown that this effect is N-methyl-d-aspartic acid
      (NMDA) receptor-dependent, because infusion of d,l-2-amino-5-phosphovalerate
      (APV) into the BLA also impairs the acquisition of CD. APV is a non-selective
      NMDA antagonist, however, thus it disrupts the entire heteromeric receptor
      complex, making it difficult to distinguish the relative contributions of either
      the NR2A or NR2B receptor subtypes on the acquisition of CD. There is ample
      evidence, however, that the NR2B subunit of the NMDA receptor in the amygdala is
      critical for mediating long-term potentiation and plasticity related to fear
      learning. The purpose of the present experiment was to determine whether infusion
      of ifenprodil, a selective antagonist of the NR2B subunit, into the BLA would
      block the acquisition (but not expression) of CD. In Experiment 1, infusion of
      ifenprodil immediately before defeat training significantly decreased submissive
      behaviors and restored territorial aggression when hamsters were later paired
      with a non-aggressive intruder (NAI). Conversely, infusion of ifenprodil
      immediately before CD testing failed to inhibit the expression of submissive
      behaviors in previously defeated hamsters. These results support the hypothesis
      that the BLA is a critical site for the plasticity underlying social defeat
      induced changes in behavior.

PMID- 20933544
TI  - Reliable quantification of cell cycle-dependent mRNA abundance using fluorescence
      activated cell sorting in Trypanosoma brucei.
AB  - Very little is known about cell cycle-dependent regulation of mRNA in Trypanosoma
      brucei, the causative agent of African sleeping sickness. Methods to synchronize
      cell cycle progression are inefficient or subject the parasites to non
      physiological conditions and stress. We developed a fluorescence-activated cell
      sorting-based method to analyze steady-state mRNA levels in individual cell cycle
      phases. Normalization of the data was the most challenging problem because
      internal standards for cell cycle-regulated genes are not available for
      trypanosomes. Hence, we introduced an external standard (so-called "spike") to
      compensate for technically derived variations in processing cells and RNA
      samples. Validation of this method with a limited number of genes unraveled a
      transient up-regulation during S and G2/M phases for all mRNAs analyzed.

PMID- 20933545
TI  - Intracerebral gamma modulations reveal interaction between emotional processing
      and action outcome evaluation in the human orbitofrontal cortex.
AB  - The orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) plays a key role not only in processing emotions
      but also in monitoring performance outcome. Although the neuroanatomical
      substrates underlying each of the two processes have been extensively
      investigated, they have predominantly been probed separately and therefore a
      precise knowledge of the functional overlap within the multiple OFC sub-portions
      involved is still lacking. Here, we explore the neural dynamics mediating
      performance monitoring and emotional processing using direct intracranial EEG
      (iEEG) recordings from multiple OFC sites of an epileptic patient. Neural
      activity was recorded during two experiments. The first task required processing
      of emotional faces and the second investigated action outcome evaluation based on
      a visual feedback on the subject's performance. Task-related neural dynamics were
      assessed using modulations of high frequency responses in the gamma-band (50
      150Hz). Our results reveal that processing negative facial emotions as well as
      receiving negative feedback both elicited gamma-band responses in the lateral
      OFC. By contrast, the mid-OFC was selectively activated for positive feedback.
      Furthermore, we also found significant gamma-band deactivation in the gyrus
      rectus during processing of negative feedback. Our findings provide novel
      evidence for an intricate valence-selective interaction between the networks
      mediating emotion processing and performance monitoring in human OFC and support
      the hypothesis of a tight relationship between gamma-band activity and behavior.

PMID- 20933546
TI  - Negative eating and body attitudes are associated with increased daytime
      ambulatory blood pressure in healthy young women.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Various psychosocial stressors have been associated
      with increased ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) and cortisol in middle-aged women.
      Given that many young women report negative eating/body attitudes, we examined
      whether these attitudes were associated with cortisol and ABP in a cross
      sectional study. METHODS: 120 non-obese, healthy women aged 19-35 completed
      questionnaires, measurement of 24-h urinary free cortisol (UFC), and 12-h daytime
      ABP. Main and interactive effects of eating/body attitudes (average Z-score of
      Eating/body attitude questionnaires split at zero) and current weight loss effort
      (yes/no) were examined by General Linear Modeling adjusted for covariates.
      RESULTS: Women with negative eating/body attitudes were more likely to report
      current weight loss attempts (63% versus 21%, p<0.001). Eating/body attitudes or
      weight loss effort did not have main or interactive effects on age, physical
      activity level, energy intakes, general stress (average Z-score of psychosocial
      stress questionnaires) or UFC. Body mass index was higher among those currently
      trying to lose weight but did not differ by eating/body attitudes. Significant
      main effects of eating/body attitudes were detected on ABP: diastolic ABP (73.2
      +/- 0.7 versus 70.3 +/- 0.8mm Hg, p=0.011) and mean arterial pressure (87.3 +/-
      0.7 versus 84.9 +/- 0.8mm Hg, p=0.032) were higher among women with negative
      versus neutral/positive eating/body attitudes. There were no weight loss effort
      main effects for ABP, or weight loss effort-by-Eating/body attitude interactions.
      CONCLUSION: This exploratory study suggests that more negative eating/body
      related attitudes may be modestly associated with higher ABP independent of
      weight loss effort.

PMID- 20933548
TI  - Increase in thermal stability of Moloney murine leukaemia virus reverse
      transcriptase by site-directed mutagenesis.
AB  - We hypothesized that the thermal stability of Moloney murine leukaemia virus
      reverse transcriptase (MMLV RT) will increase with increases in its ability to
      bind with a template-primer (T/P). To test this hypothesis, we introduced
      positive charges into MMLV RT by site-directed mutagenesis at positions that have
      been implicated in the interaction with T/P. Thirty-six variants were constructed
      in which one of the twelve residues (Glu69, Gln84, Asp108, Asp114, Glu117,
      Glu123, Asp124, Glu286, Glu302, Trp313, Leu435, and Asn454) was replaced with
      Lys, Arg, or Ala, and these were expressed in Escherichia coli. In about half of
      these 36 variants, thermal inactivation at 50 degrees C was reduced in the
      presence of the T/P, which suggested that this strategy was effective at
      stabilizing MMLV RT. We next combined three of the 36 mutations, Glu286->Ala,
      Glu302->Lys, and Leu435->Arg, and the mutation, Asp524->Ala, which is known to
      abolish the RNase H activity and increase the stability. Temperatures of 54 and
      56 degrees C reduced the initial reverse transcription activity by 50% over a 10
      min incubation in the triple variant E286R/E302K/L435R and quadruple variant
      E286R/E302K/L435R/D524A, respectively. These temperatures were higher than that
      observed for WT (45 degrees C). The highest temperature at which the triple and
      quadruple variants exhibited cDNA synthesis activity was 60 degrees C, which was
      again higher than for WT (54 degrees C). Thus, highly stable MMLV RT variants
      were generated by this mutation strategy.

PMID- 20933550
TI  - Repeated-batch fermentations of xylose and glucose-xylose mixtures using a
      respiration-deficient Saccharomyces cerevisiae engineered for xylose metabolism.
AB  - Xylose-fermenting Saccharomyces strains are needed for commercialization of
      ethanol production from lignocellulosic biomass. Engineered Saccharomyces
      cerevisiae strains expressing XYL1, XYL2 and XYL3 from Pichia stipitis, however,
      utilize xylose in an oxidative manner, which results in significantly lower
      ethanol yields from xylose as compared to glucose. As such, we hypothesized that
      reconfiguration of xylose metabolism from oxidative into fermentative manner
      might lead to efficient ethanol production from xylose. To this end, we generated
      a respiration-deficient (RD) mutant in order to enforce engineered S. cerevisiae
      to utilize xylose only through fermentative metabolic routes. Three different
      repeated-batch fermentations were performed to characterize characteristics of
      the respiration-deficient mutant. When fermenting glucose as a sole carbon
      source, the RD mutant exhibited near theoretical ethanol yields (0.46 g g(-1))
      during repeated-batch fermentations by recycling the cells. As the repeated-batch
      fermentation progressed, the volumetric ethanol productivity increased (from 7.5
      to 8.3 g L(-1)h(-1)) because of the increased biomass from previous cultures. On
      the contrary, the mutant showed decreasing volumetric ethanol productivities
      during the repeated-batch fermentations using xylose as sole carbon source (from
      0.4 to 0.3 g L(-1)h(-1)). The mutant did not grow on xylose and lost fermenting
      ability gradually, indicating that the RD mutant cannot maintain a good
      fermenting ability on xylose as a sole carbon source. However, the RD mutant was
      capable of fermenting a mixture of glucose and xylose with stable yields (0.35 g
      g(-1)) and productivities (0.52 g L(-1)h(-1)) during the repeated-batch
      fermentation. In addition, ethanol yields from xylose during the mixed sugar
      fermentation (0.30 g g(-1)) were higher than ethanol yields from xylose as a sole
      carbon source (0.21 g g(-1)). These results suggest that a strategy for
      increasing ethanol yield through respiration-deficiency can be applied for the
      fermentation of lignocellulosic hydrolyzates containing glucose and xylose.

PMID- 20933547
TI  - Upregulation of STREX splice variant of the large conductance Ca2+-activated
      potassium (BK) channel in a rat model of mesial temporal lobe epilepsy.
AB  - Functional properties of large conductance Ca(2+) activated potassium (BK)
      channels are determined by complex alternative splicing of the Kcnma1 gene
      encoding the alpha pore-forming subunit. Inclusion of the STREX exon in a C
      terminal splice site is dynamically regulated and confers enhanced Ca(2+)
      sensitivity and channel inhibition via cAMP-dependent phosphorylation. Here, we
      describe a real time quantitative PCR (qPCR) approach to investigate relative
      changes in the expression of STREX and ZERO splice variants using a newly
      designed set of probes and primers for TaqMan-based qPCR analysis of cDNA from
      the rat dentate gyrus at different time points following pilocarpine-induced
      status epilepticus. Reduction in Kcnma1 gene expression is associated with a
      relative increase of STREX splice variant. Relative expression of STREX variant
      mRNA was increased at 10 days and at more than 1 month following status
      epilepticus. The biological consequences of seizure-related changes in
      alternative splicing of Kcnma1 deserve additional investigation.

PMID- 20933549
TI  - Expression, purification, and characterization of a His6-tagged glycerokinase
      from Pichia farinosa for enzymatic cycling assays in mammalian cells.
AB  - The GUT1 gene of the halotolerant yeast Pichia farinosa, encoding glycerokinase
      (EC 2.7.1.30), was expressed in Pichia pastoris. A purification factor of
      approximately 61-fold was achieved by a combination of nickel affinity and anion
      exchange chromatography. The specific activity of the final preparation was 201.6
      units per mg protein with a yield of about 21%. A nearly homogeneous enzyme
      preparation was confirmed by SDS-polyacrylamide gels and mass spectrometry
      analysis. Glycerol stabilized the purified enzyme for long-term storage at -80
      degrees C. The pH and temperature optima were in the range of 6.5-7.0 and 45-50
      degrees C, respectively. ATP was the most effective phosphoryl group donor
      tested. Additionally, the enzyme phosphorylated glycerol also with ITP, UTP, GTP
      and CTP. The K(m) values of the enzyme for ATP and ITP were 0.428 and 0.845 mM,
      respectively. The kinetic properties of the enzyme with respect to UTP, GTP, and
      CTP suggested that glycerokinase exhibited negative cooperativity as double
      reciprocal plots showed a biphasic response to increasing nucleoside triphosphate
      concentrations. The application as a coupling enzyme in the determination of
      pyruvate kinase activity in cell extracts of Madin-Darby canine kidney cells
      showed good reproducibility when compared with a commercially available
      preparation of bacterial glycerokinase.

PMID- 20933551
TI  - An integrated analysis of enzyme activities, cofactor pools and metabolic fluxes
      in baculovirus-infected Spodoptera frugiperda Sf9 cells.
AB  - The scarcity of fundamental knowledge on the baculovirus-host cell interaction is
      a major drawback for the improvement of bioprocesses through Metabolic
      Engineering. After the first hours post-infection, the virus takes over the
      control of cellular machinery, leading to the repression of host gene expression
      and imposing a high metabolic burden to insect cells. Nevertheless, there is a
      lack of detailed data on the metabolic responses to infection, which are
      ultimately responsible for system productivity performance. In this work, a
      further insight into the central metabolism of Sf9 cells is achieved by a
      combined analysis of enzyme activities, cellular cofactors (ATP and
      NAD(P)(+)/NAD(P)H) and metabolic fluxes. Hexokinase and isocitrate dehydrogenase
      were identified as feasible limiting steps of metabolism; carbon and nitrogen
      metabolism enzymes were differentially regulated during batch cultures. Moreover,
      alterations occurring after infection demonstrated the importance of maintaining
      the energetic state of the cells for baculovirus replication, since ATP
      accumulated in a MOI-dependent way, and the glutamate dehydrogenase anaplerotic
      pathway was greatly activated. Altogether, cellular de-energization and stress
      responses are relevant factors in the metabolic burden imposed by infection. The
      implications for the improvement of bioprocess performance are discussed.

PMID- 20933552
TI  - Diselenides as universal oxidative folding catalysts of diverse proteins.
AB  - Small-molecule diselenides show considerable potential as catalysts of oxidative
      protein folding. To explore their scope, diselenide-containing redox buffers were
      used to promote the folding of proteins that varied in properties such as size,
      overall tertiary structure, number of disulfide bonds, pI value, and difficulty
      of in vitro folding. Diselenides are able to catalyze the oxidative folding of
      all proteins tested, providing significant increases in both rate and yield
      relative to analogous disulfides. Compared to the disulfide-linked dimer of
      glutathione (the most commonly used oxidant for in vitro protein folding),
      selenoglutathione provided markedly improved efficiencies in the folding of
      biotechnologically important proteins such as hirudin, lysozyme, human epidermal
      growth factor and interferon alpha-2a. Selenoglutathione also enhances the
      renaturation of more challenging targets such as bovine serum albumin, whose
      native state contains 17 disulfide bonds, and the Fab fragment of an antibody. In
      the latter case, micromolar amounts of selenoglutathione are able to match the
      modest yield provided by a previously optimized redox buffer, which contains
      millimolar levels of glutathione. Taken together, the folding reactions of these
      diverse proteins exemplify the advantages and limitations of diselenide
      catalysts.

PMID- 20933553
TI  - High productivity of human recombinant beta-interferon from a low-temperature
      perfusion culture.
AB  - Recombinant human interferon-beta (beta-IFN), used in the therapeutic treatment
      of multiple sclerosis (MS), can be produced on a large-scale from genetically
      engineered Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells. However, its hydrophobicity causes
      non-reversible, molecular aggregation in culture. The parameters affecting
      aggregation were determined to be concentration, culture residence time,
      temperature and glycosylation. Although the protein can be produced in
      Escherichia coli in a non-glycosylated form, the addition of glycans confers a
      reduced rate of aggregation as well as a 10-fold higher bioactivity. We report on
      the application of a low temperature perfusion culture designed to control the
      parameters that cause aggregation. In this three-phase culture system there is a
      transition to a low temperature (32 degrees C) in a batch mode prior to
      implementing perfusion at 1 volume/day using an acoustic cell separator.
      Perfusion at the low temperature resulted in a 3.5-fold increase in specific
      productivity and a 7-fold increase in volumetric productivity compared to the
      batch culture at 37 degrees C. The percentage aggregation of beta-IFN was reduced
      from a maximum of 43% in batch culture to a minimum of 5% toward the end of the
      perfusion phase. The glycosylation profile of all samples showed predominantly
      sialylated biantennary fucosylated structures. The extent of sialylation, which
      is important for bioactivity, was enhanced significantly in the perfusion
      culture, compared to the batch culture.

PMID- 20933554
TI  - Identification and characterisation of novel Pichia pastoris promoters for
      heterologous protein production.
AB  - The number of available promoters for the protein production host Pichia pastoris
      is limited, and in most applications comprises the methanol inducible alcohol
      oxidase 1 (AOX1) promoter and the constitutive glyceraldehyde phosphate
      dehydrogenase (GAP) promoter. To close this gap, we identified 24 novel potential
      regulatory sequences and tested their applicability to drive the expression of
      both intracellular as well as secretory heterologous proteins. While more than
      80% of the promoters derived from microarray data mining showed activity on all
      common carbon sources used for P. pastoris, the success rate of rationally
      selected promoters was lower. Many of the newly identified promoters showed a
      growth rate dependent behaviour, for example three ribosomal promoters as well as
      the promoters of two chaperones were much more active at early growth phase as
      compared to later phases. Fed batch cultivation of selected promoters expressing
      human serum albumin further strengthened the correlation of promoter activity
      (determined by HSA transcript levels) to specific growth rate. The promoter of
      the thiamine biosynthesis gene P(THI11) did not only show high transcript levels
      at low specific growth rate, but also exhibited interesting regulatory properties
      dependent on the availability of thiamine in the growth medium.

PMID- 20933555
TI  - Identification of an amino acid domain encoded by the capsid gene of porcine
      circovirus type 2 that modulates intracellular viral protein distribution during
      replication.
AB  - Previous work showed that distinct amino acid motifs are encoded by the Rep, Cap
      and ORF3 genes of two subgroups of porcine circoviruses (PCV), PCV2a and PCV2b.
      At a specific location of the gene, a certain amino acid residue or sequence is
      preferred. Specifically, two amino acid domains located in the capsid protein,
      designated motif-1 (six residues located at positions 86-91) and motif-2 (four
      residues at positions 190-191-206-210), have been identified to associate with
      either PCV2a (motif-1a:T(N)KI(S)I and motif-2a:SRKD) or PCV2b (motif
      1b:S(N)PR(S)V and motif-2b:AGIE) preferentially. In this study, the protein
      distribution pattern of a PCV2a isolate and a PCV2b isolate was examined. Each
      virus exhibited a different viral protein pattern during replication in porcine
      kidney cells and the viral protein distribution pattern was associated with amino
      acid motif-2 but not motif-1. The results also showed that a more robust
      accumulation of viral proteins in the nucleus was associated with motif-2b than
      with motif-2a. In addition, viruses containing motif-2b replicated better than
      viruses containing motif-2a in porcine kidney cells.

PMID- 20933556
TI  - In vivo impact of cytomegalovirus evasion of CD8 T-cell immunity: facts and
      thoughts based on murine models.
AB  - Cytomegaloviruses (CMVs) co-exist with their respective host species and have
      evolved to avoid their elimination by the hosts' immune effector mechanisms and
      to persist in a non-replicative state, known as viral latency. There is evidence
      to suggest that latency is nevertheless a highly dynamic condition during which
      episodes of viral gene desilencing, which can be viewed as incomplete
      reactivations, cause intermittent antigenic activity that stimulates CD8 memory
      effector T cells and drives their clonal expansion. These T cells are supposed to
      terminate reactivation before completion of the productive viral cycle. In this
      view, CMVs do not "evade" their respective host's immune response but are
      actually held in check all the time, unless the host gets immunocompromised.
      Accordingly, CMV disease is typically a disease of the immunocompromised host
      only. Here we review current knowledge about the in vivo role of viral proteins
      involved in subverting the immune recognition of infected cells with focus on the
      CD8 T-cell response and viral interference with the MHC class-I pathway of
      antigenic peptide presentation. Whereas the intracellular functions of these
      "immune-evasion proteins" are known in molecular detail, knowledge of their in
      vivo role in CMV biology is only beginning to take shape. Experimental studies on
      the in vivo function of human CMV (hCMV) immune-evasion proteins prohibits, of
      course. Studying animal CMVs paradigmatically in the corresponding natural host
      is therefore used to identify principles from which the role of hCMV immune
      evasion proteins can hopefully be inferred. Here we summarize recent insights
      gained primarily from the murine model.

PMID- 20933557
TI  - Molecular imaging with SPECT as a tool for drug development.
AB  - Molecular imaging techniques are increasingly being used as valuable tools in the
      drug development process. Radionuclide-based imaging modalities such as single
      photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and positron emission tomography
      (PET) have proven to be useful in phases ranging from preclinical development to
      the initial stages of clinical testing. The high sensitivity of these imaging
      modalities makes them particularly suited for exploratory investigational new
      drug (IND) studies as they have the potential to characterize in vivo
      pharmacokinetics and biodistribution of the compounds using only a fraction of
      the intended therapeutic dose (microdosing). This information obtained at an
      early stage of clinical testing results in a better selection among promising
      drug candidates, thereby increasing the success rate of agents entering clinical
      trials and the overall efficiency of the process. In this article, we will review
      the potential applications of SPECT imaging in the drug development process with
      an emphasis on its applications in exploratory IND studies.

PMID- 20933558
TI  - Detrimental effects of gum chewing on vigilance in children with attention
      deficit hyperactivity disorder.
AB  - Impairments of attention are cardinal features of attention deficit hyperactivity
      disorder (ADHD) and can seriously affect the daily life of children with ADHD.
      Despite effective treatment strategies, there is a need of further treatment
      options that can be added to available and well established treatments. Further
      treatment options are needed since available treatments are often time consuming,
      expensive and limited regarding their external validity. Recent research
      demonstrated that gum chewing has beneficial effects on cognition including
      certain aspects of attention. Therefore, gum chewing may benefit children with
      ADHD in situations requiring particular cognitive efforts. In a crossover study,
      attentional functioning of 32 children with ADHD and 32 children without the
      condition was examined. All participants were assessed with chewing gum and
      without chewing gum. A computerized test was used for the assessment of vigilance
      and sustained attention. The findings of the present study suggest that gum
      chewing during task execution has detrimental effects on vigilance of both
      healthy children and children with ADHD. Sustained attention was not affected by
      gum chewing. Chewing gum, therefore, appears not to improve attentional
      performance in children with ADHD.

PMID- 20933559
TI  - The effect of substance P1-7 amide on nociceptive threshold in diabetic mice.
AB  - We previously demonstrated that intrathecal treatment with substance P metabolite
      substance P(1-7) induced anti-hyperalgesia in diabetic mice. In the present
      study, we have used a synthetic analog of this peptide, the substance P(1-7)
      amide, showing higher binding affinity than the native heptapeptide, for studies
      of the tail-flick response in diabetic and non-diabetic mice. Intrathecal
      injection of substance P(1-7) amide produced prolongation of the tail-flick
      latency in both diabetic and non-diabetic mice, an effect that was more
      pronounced in diabetic mice than non-diabetic mice. Moreover, the observed
      antinociceptive potency of the substance P(1-7) amide was higher in both diabetic
      and non-diabetic mice in comparison with the native substance P(1-7). The
      antinociceptive effect of substance P(1-7) amide was reversed by naloxone but not
      by the selective opioid receptor antagonist beta-funaltrexamine, naltrindole or
      nor-binaltorphimine, selective for the MU-, delta- or kappa-opioid receptor,
      respectively. In addition, the antinociceptive effect induced by substance P(1-7)
      amide was partly reversed by the sigma(1) receptor agonist (+)-pentazocine,
      suggesting a possible involvement of the sigma(1) receptor for the action of this
      peptide. These results suggest that the actions of substance P(1-7) amide mimic
      the effects of the native substance P fragment but with higher potency and that
      the mechanisms for its action may involve the sigma(1) receptor system.

PMID- 20933560
TI  - Glucagon-like peptide-1 relaxes gastric antrum through nitric oxide in mice.
AB  - Glucagon-like-peptide-1 (GLP-1) is a proglucagon-derived peptide expressed in the
      intestinal enteroendocrine-L cells and released after meal ingestion. GLP-1
      reduces postprandial glycemia not only by its hormonal effects, but also by its
      inhibitory effects on gastrointestinal motility. Recently, we showed that GLP-1
      acts in the enteric nervous system of mouse intestine. Therefore our working
      hypothesis was that GLP-1 may have also a direct influence on the gastric
      mechanical activity since the major part of experimental studies about its
      involvement in the regulation of gastric motility have been conducted in in vivo
      conditions. The purposes of this study were (i) to examine exogenous GLP-1
      effects on mouse gastric mechanical activity using isolated whole stomach; (ii)
      to clarify the regional activity of GLP-1 using circular muscular strips from
      gastric fundus or antrum; (iii) to analyze the mechanism of action underlying the
      observed effects; (iv) to verify regional differences of GLP-1 receptors (GLP-1R)
      expression by RT-PCR. In the whole stomach GLP-1 caused concentration-dependent
      relaxation significantly anatagonized by exendin (9-39), an antagonist of GLP-1R
      and abolished by tetrodotoxin (TTX) or N(omega)-nitro-l-arginine methyl ester (l
      NAME), inhibitor of nitric oxide (NO) synthase. GLP-1 was without any effect in
      fundic strips, but it induced concentration-dependent relaxation in carbachol
      precontracted antral strips. The effect was abolished by TTX or l-NAME. RT-PCR
      analysis revealed a higher expression of GLP-1R mRNA in antrum than in fundus.
      These results suggest that exogenous GLP-1 is able to reduce mouse gastric
      motility by acting peripherally in the antral region, through neural NO release.

PMID- 20933561
TI  - Effects of neuropeptide S on the proliferation of splenic lymphocytes,
      phagocytosis, and proinflammatory cytokine production of pulmonary alveolar
      macrophages in the pig.
AB  - Neuropeptide S (NPS), a newly identified neuropeptide, is involved in many
      physiological and pathological activities through the NPS receptor (NPSR).
      Recently, the NPS and NPSR have been detected in peripheral systems of pigs
      including immune tissues, suggesting that NPS may play an important role in the
      regulation of immune function. The aim of this study was to demonstrate the
      presence and function of NPS and NPSR in splenic lymphocytes (SPLs) and pulmonary
      alveolar macrophages (PAMs) of pigs. By RT-PCR, the expression of NPS and NPSR
      mRNA was detected in the SPLs and PAMs. NPS immunoreactivity was observed in the
      membrane and cytoplasm of both SPLs and PAMs. We found that NPS could stimulate
      the proliferation of SPLs, when NPS was added at concentrations of 0.01, 0.1, 1,
      10, 100 and 1000 nM alone or in combination with PHA/LPS in vitro. In macrophages
      from bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid of pigs, various doses of NPS (0.01, 0.1,
      1, 10, 100 and 1000 nM) up-regulated the phagocytosis of PAMs in comparison to
      controls. In PAMs, NPS could induce the production of the pro-inflammatory
      cytokines IL-1beta, IL-6 and TNF-alpha. Taken together, all data suggest that NPS
      is capable of inducing phagocytosis of non-opsonized E. coli. NPS might act as
      potent neuroimmunomodulatory factors and affects the maintenance of immune
      homeostasis.

PMID- 20933562
TI  - Automated detection of nocturnal slow eye movements modulated by selective
      serotonin reuptake inhibitors.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Eye movements convey important information about brain function.
      Neuropsychiatric conditions and medications may produce abnormal eye movements
      (EMs) in sleep. Serotonergic drugs are known to increase nocturnal EMs. Few
      studies have quantified sleep EMs due to technical complexity. We investigated
      the effects of serotonergic drugs on slow EMs in sleeping patients using an
      objective automated EM quantification tool. METHODS: We studied patients who had
      polysomnograms for clinical assessment. We identified 5 sertraline, 7 citalopram,
      and 4 fluoxetine users who were not using other psychoactive medications.
      Controls were 10 age-matched patients on no medications. An automated objective
      EM detection tool was developed. The first and last 5 min of each sleep stage
      were assessed. ANOVA was used to assess the effects of time, stage, and
      medication. RESULTS: No differences were noted between SSRI users and controls in
      demographics. Medications were associated with more slow EMs compared to controls
      (p<0.05). Among SSRI users, a non-statistical trend was noted for increasing slow
      EMs in the following pattern: sertraline<citalopram<fluoxetine; this is in
      keeping with the known serotonergic effects of these SSRIs in pharmacological
      studies. CONCLUSIONS: Neurotransmitter effects are reflected in nocturnal EMs
      during many stages of sleep. Analysis of EMs in sleep may be further developed as
      an endophenotype for various neuropsychiatric conditions and medication
      responses.

PMID- 20933563
TI  - Dynamic model of rotavirus transmission and the impact of rotavirus vaccination
      in Kyrgyzstan.
AB  - New rotavirus vaccines show promise to reduce the burden of severe diarrhea among
      children in developing countries. We present an age-specific dynamic rotavirus
      model to assess the effect of rotavirus vaccination in Kyrgyzstan, a country in
      Central Asia that is eligible for funds from the GAVI Alliance. A routine
      rotavirus vaccination program at 95% coverage and 54% effectiveness against
      severe infection is estimated to lead to a 56% reduction in rotavirus-associated
      deaths and a 50% reduction in hospital admissions, while outpatient visits and
      homecare episodes would decrease by 52% compared to baseline levels after 5 years
      of intervention. A 10% reduction in vaccine efficacy due to incomplete 3-dose
      regimen is estimated to increase the numbers of severe cases by 6-8%. Herd
      immunity was found to account for 1% or less of averted cases of severe
      gastroenteritis, while an extra 7-8% of all rotavirus infections would be avoided
      due to reduced transmission. CONCLUSION: Rotavirus vaccines would reduce the
      burden of rotavirus disease substantially, but the results are sensitive to delay
      in age-appropriate vaccination.

PMID- 20933564
TI  - Development and evaluation of a formalin-inactivated West Nile Virus vaccine (WN
      VAX) for a human vaccine candidate.
AB  - A formalin-inactivated West Nile Virus (WNV) vaccine (WN-VAX) derived from the
      WNV-NY99 strain was tested for its safety, efficacy, dilution limit for complete
      protection, and cross-neutralization. Safety tests performed with experimental
      animals, bacteria, or cultured cell lines showed no evidence of short- or long
      term adverse effects. WN-VAX also protected 100% of 4-week-old mice against a
      lethal challenge from the WNV-NY99 strain after two doses of intraperitoneal
      inoculation-even when the vaccine was diluted to 3.2ng/dose. Moreover, very
      limited cross-neutralization activity against Japanese encephalitis virus, Dengue
      virus, Murray Valley encephalitis virus, Yellow fever virus or St. Louis
      encephalitis virus was observed. Therefore, the WN-VAX satisfies the requirements
      for human trials planned to be done in Japan.

PMID- 20933565
TI  - Transgenic Plasmodium that expresses HIV-1 Gag elicits immunity and protects mice
      against vaccinia virus-gag and malarial parasites.
AB  - Malaria and human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection overlap in many
      regions of the world. Our goal was to determine the feasibility of developing
      transgenic Plasmodium berghei that expresses HIV-1 Gag, PbGAG, as a conceptual
      bivalent vaccine against both HIV-1 infection and malaria. Immunization of mice
      with PbGAG induced specific responses to the HIV-1 Gag. Importantly, mice
      vaccinated with PbGAG were significantly protected from challenge with vaccinia
      virus-gag (VV-gag) with an average 30-fold reduction in titer (P<0.05). In
      addition, mice immunized with PbGAG developed Plasmodium-specific immune
      responses and the immunized animals were protected from challenges with blood
      stage P. berghei NK65 and Plasmodium yoelii 17XL. We demonstrated a novel
      vaccination strategy that uses a live transgenic protozoan parasite-based
      bivalent vaccine to immunize mice and confer significant levels of protection
      against VV-gag and malarial parasite challenges. These observations have
      important implications for the development of a new form of bivalent vaccine
      against both HIV-1 and malaria.

PMID- 20933566
TI  - Impact of influenza vaccination of schoolchildren on medical outcomes among all
      residents of Maryland.
AB  - Special influenza vaccination programs of elementary school-aged children (ESAC)
      in some or all of Maryland Counties were conducted during the falls of 2005-2007.
      Rates of emergency department (E.D.) visits and hospitalizations for medically
      attended acute respiratory illnesses (MAARI) as well as deaths due to pneumonia
      and influenza for county residents were determined. The degree to which these
      rates were modulated during intense influenza outbreak periods (IIOP) in counties
      who vaccinated a greater percentage of ESAC was estimated using Poisson
      regression. Notably, for every 20% increase in vaccination rates, MAARI related
      E.D. visits during IIOP decreased by 8% (95% C.I., 5-12%) in children aged 5-11
      years and by 6% (95% C.I., 3-8%) in adults aged 19-49 years (p<0.001), which
      suggests both a direct and indirect benefit of the vaccination programs. In
      contrast, MAARI related hospitalizations increased during IIOP by 4% (95% C.I., 3
      9%) in adults aged >50 years for every 20% increase in vaccination rates
      (p<0.023) for which we have no plausible biologic explanation. No significant
      changes in deaths were noted.

PMID- 20933567
TI  - Human alphaIFN co-formulated with milk derived E2-CSFV protein induce early full
      protection in vaccinated pigs.
AB  - Subunit vaccines are a suitable alternative for the control of classical swine
      fever. However, such vaccines have as the main drawback the relatively long
      period of time required to induce a protective response, which hampers their use
      under outbreak conditions. In this work, type I interferon is used as an
      immunostimulating molecule in order to increase the immunogenicity of a vaccine
      candidate based on the E2-CSFV antigen produced in goat milk. Pigs vaccinated
      with E2-CSFV antigen co-formulated with recombinant human alpha interferon were
      protected against clinical signs and viremia as early as 7 days post-vaccination.
      It was also demonstrated that interferon stimulates a response of specific anti
      CSFV neutralizing antibodies. The present work constitutes the first report of a
      subunit vaccine able to confer complete protection by the end of the first week
      after vaccination. These results suggest that the E2-CSFV antigen combined with
      type I interferons could be potentially used under outbreak conditions to stop
      CSFV spread and for eradication programs in CSF enzootic areas.

PMID- 20933568
TI  - Effect of Brazilian propolis on human umbilical vein endothelial cell apoptosis.
AB  - Brazilian propolis has been widely studied in recent years. Considering the lack
      of data concerning the effects of Brazilian propolis on human umbilical vein
      endothelial cells (HUVECs), we examined the effects of ethanol-extracted
      Brazilian propolis (EEBP) at 12.5, 25 and 50 MUg/ml on apoptosis of HUVECs
      deprived of basic fibroblast growth factor (FGF-2) and serum. A high
      concentration of the extract induced HUVEC apoptosis at 24h. Furthermore, we
      investigated the molecular mechanisms of HUVEC apoptosis induced by EEBP by
      testing the levels of integrin beta4, p53, reactive oxygen species (ROS) and
      mitochondrial membrane potential. A low concentration of EEBP (12.5 MUg/ml) could
      decrease the expression of integrin beta4, p53 and ROS levels, whereas high
      concentrations (25 and 50 MUg/ml) could increase the levels of integrin beta4,
      p53 and ROS at 24h and depress mitochondrial membrane potential level at all
      times. Considering the doses and the results obtained in this study, Brazilian
      propolis at high concentrations may be an apoptosis-inducing agent associated
      with the signal pathway mediated by integrin beta4, p53, ROS and mitochondrial
      membrane potential, thus, propolis should be used in safer levels for human
      health.

PMID- 20933569
TI  - Safety evaluation of Algal Oil from Schizochytrium sp.
AB  - The safety of Algal Oil from Schizochytrium sp. was evaluated by testing for gene
      mutations, clastogenicity and aneugenicity, and in a subchronic 90-day Sprague
      Dawley rat dietary study. The results of all genotoxicity tests were negative.
      The 90-day study involved dietary exposure to 0.5, 1.5, and 5 wt.% of Algal Oil
      and two control diets: a standard low-fat basal diet and a basal diet
      supplemented with 5 wt.% menhaden oil (the fish oil control). There were no
      treatment-related effects of Algal Oil on clinical observations, body weight,
      food consumption, behavior, hematology, clinical chemistry, coagulation, or
      urinalysis parameters. Increased mean liver weights and alveolar histiocytosis
      were observed in both the fish oil control and the high-dose Algal Oil-treated
      animals and were not considered to be adverse. Algal Oil was bioavailable as
      demonstrated by the dose-related increase of DHA and EPA levels in tissues and
      plasma. The no observable adverse effect level (NOAEL) for Algal Oil under the
      conditions of this study was 5 wt.% in the diet, equivalent to an overall average
      Algal Oil intake of 3250 mg/kg bw/day for male and female rats. Based on the body
      surface area, the human equivalent dose is about 30 g Algal Oil/day for a 60 kg
      adult.

PMID- 20933570
TI  - Sensitive to apoptosis gene protein regulates ionizing radiation-induced
      apoptosis.
AB  - Organisms exposed to ionizing radiation (IR) undergo increases in the production
      of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which are determinant components in the
      induction of apoptosis. Sensitive to apoptosis gene (SAG) encodes a redox
      inducible and apoptosis-protective antioxidant protein. This report demonstrates
      that the modulation of SAG expression in cultured cells regulates IR-induced
      apoptosis. A protective role for SAG against IR-induced apoptosis was found in
      U937 cells transfected with SAG cDNA. A significant decrease in the endogenous
      production of ROS was also observed in SAG over-expressing cells, compared to
      control cells, exposed to 2Gy gamma-irradiation. These results suggest that SAG
      plays an important role in regulating IR-induced apoptosis, presumably by
      maintaining the cellular redox status. Because SAG is over-expressed in many
      human cancers, targeting SAG expression may have therapeutic value in cancer
      treatment. Transfection of the pancreatic cancer cell line PC3 with SAG small
      interfering RNA markedly attenuated the expression of SAG, augmenting their
      susceptibility to IR-induced apoptosis. The knockdown of SAG expression by RNA
      interference combined with radiotherapy may be a potential method for
      radiosensitization.

PMID- 20933571
TI  - Insights into leukemia-initiating cell frequency and self-renewal from a novel
      canine model of leukemia.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Leukemia-initiating cells (LICs) have been the subject of considerable
      investigation because of their ability to self-renew and maintain leukemia. Thus,
      selective targeting and killing of LICs would provide highly efficient and novel
      therapeutic strategies. Here we explored whether we could use a canine leukemia
      cell line (G374) derived from a dog that received HOXB4-transduced repopulating
      cells to study leukemia in the murine xenograft model and the dog. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: G374 cells were infused in dogs intravenously and in nonobese
      diabetic/severe combined immunodeficient and nonobese diabetic/severe combined
      immunodeficient/IL2Rgamma(null) mice either intravenously or directly into the
      bone cavity. Animals were bled to track engraftment and proliferation of G374
      cells, and were sacrificed when they appeared ill. RESULTS: We found that canine
      LICs are capable of sustained in vitro self-renewal while maintaining their
      ability to induce acute myeloid leukemia, which resembles human disease in both
      dogs and mice. Furthermore, we developed a novel strategy for the quantification
      of LIC frequency in large animals and showed that this frequency was highly
      comparable to that determined by limited dilution in mouse xenotransplants. We
      also demonstrated, using single-cell analysis, that LICs are heterogeneous in
      their self-renewal capacity and regenerate a leukemic cell population consistent
      with a hierarchical leukemia model. CONCLUSIONS: The availability of this novel
      framework should accelerate the characterization of LICs and the translation of
      animal studies into clinical trials.

PMID- 20933572
TI  - Optimization of CO2fixation in photosynthetic cells via thermodynamic buffering.
AB  - Stable operation of photosynthesis is based on the establishment of local
      equilibria of metabolites in the Calvin cycle. This concerns especially
      equilibration of stromal contents of adenylates and pyridine nucleotides and
      buffering of CO2 concentration to prevent its depletion at the sites of Rubisco.
      Thermodynamic buffering that controls the homeostatic flux in the Calvin cycle is
      achieved by equilibrium enzymes such as glyceraldehyde phosphate dehydrogenase,
      transaldolase and transketolase. Their role is to prevent depletion of ribulose
      1,5-bisphosphate, even at high [CO2], and to maintain conditions where the only
      control is exerted by the CO2 supply. Buffering of adenylates is achieved mainly
      by chloroplastic adenylate kinase, whereas NADPH level is maintained by
      mechanisms involving alternative sinks for electrons both within the chloroplast
      (cyclic phosphorylation, chlororespiration, etc.) and shuttling of reductants
      outside chloroplast (malate valve). This results in optimization of carbon
      fixation in chloroplasts, illustrating the principle that the energy of light is
      used to support stable non-equilibrium which drives all living processes in
      plants.

PMID- 20933573
TI  - Organic bioelectronics in nanomedicine.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Nanomedicine is a research area with potential to shape, direct, and
      change future medical treatments in a revolutionary manner over the next decades.
      While the common goal with other fields of biomedicine is to solve medical
      problems, this area embraces an increasing number of technology platforms as they
      become miniaturized. Organic electronics has over the past two decades developed
      into an exciting and thriving area of research. SCOPE OF REVIEW: Today, the
      organic electronics field stands at the interface with biology. As the area of
      organic bioelectronics advances, it holds promise to make major contributions to
      nanomedicine. The progress made in this direction is the topic of this review.
      MAJOR CONCLUSIONS: We describe the inherent features of conducting polymers, and
      explain the usefulness of these materials as active scaffolds in cell biology and
      tissue engineering. We also explain how the combined ionic and electronic
      conductive nature of the polymers is used to precisely control the delivery of
      signal substances. This unique feature is key in novel devices for chemical
      communication with cells and tissues. GENERAL SIGNIFICANCE: This review
      highlights the results from the creative melting pot of interdisciplinary
      research in organic bioelectronics. This article is part of a Special Issue
      entitled Nanotechnologies - Emerging Applications in Biomedicine.

PMID- 20933574
TI  - Cell-directed-assembly: directing the formation of nano/bio interfaces and
      architectures with living cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The desire to immobilize, encapsulate, or entrap viable cells for use
      in a variety of applications has been explored for decades. Traditionally, the
      approach is to immobilize cells to utilize a specific functionality of the cell
      in the system. SCOPE OF REVIEW: This review describes our recent discovery that
      living cells can organize extended nanostructures and nano-objects to create a
      highly biocompatible nano//bio interface [1]. MAJOR CONCLUSIONS: We find that
      short chain phospholipids direct the formation of thin film silica mesophases
      during evaporation-induced self-assembly (EISA) [2], and that the introduction of
      cells alter the self-assembly pathway. Cells organize an ordered lipid-membrane
      that forms a coherent interface with the silica mesophase that is unique in that
      it withstands drying-yet it maintains accessibility to molecules introduced into
      the 3D silica host. Cell viability is preserved in the absence of buffer, making
      these constructs useful as standalone cell-based sensors. In response to
      hyperosmotic stress, the cells release water, creating a pH gradient which is
      maintained within the nanostructured host and serves to localize lipids,
      proteins, plasmids, lipidized nanocrystals, and other components at the cellular
      surface. This active organization of the bio/nano interface can be accomplished
      during ink-jet printing or selective wetting-processes allowing patterning of
      cellular arrays-and even spatially-defined genetic modification. GENERAL
      SIGNIFICANCE: Recent advances in the understanding of nanotechnology and cell
      biology encourage the pursuit of more complex endeavors where the dynamic
      interactions of the cell and host material act symbiotically to obtain new,
      useful functions. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled
      Nanotechnologies - Emerging Applications in Biomedicine.

PMID- 20933575
TI  - Sex- and age-related differences in ribosomal proteins L17 and L37, as well as
      androgen receptor protein, in the song control system of zebra finches.
AB  - The zebra finch song system is sexually dimorphic--only males sing, and the
      morphology of forebrain regions controlling the learning and production of this
      song is greatly enhanced in males compared to females. Masculinization appears to
      involve effects of steroid hormones as well as other factors, perhaps including
      the expression of sex chromosome genes (males: ZZ, females: ZW). The present
      study investigated three proteins--two encoded by Z-linked genes, ribosomal
      proteins L17 and L37 (RPL17 and RPL37), including their co-localization with
      androgen receptor (AR), from post-hatching day 25 to adulthood. Extensive co
      expression of AR with the ribosomal proteins was detected in the three song
      nuclei investigated (HVC, robust nucleus of the arcopallium (RA), and Area X)
      across these ages. In general, more cells expressed each of these proteins in
      males compared to females, and the sex differences increased as animals matured.
      Specific patterns differed across regions and between RPL17 and RPL37, which
      suggest potential roles of one or both of these proteins in the incorporation
      and/or differentiation of song system cells.

PMID- 20933576
TI  - Oxytocin and vasopressin in the medial amygdala differentially modulate approach
      and avoidance behavior toward illness-related social odor.
AB  - Animals are known to recognize a specific odorant informing conspecific health
      condition, which plays a significant role in regulating their social
      communication. Here, we assess neural mechanisms regulating innate
      approach/avoidance response toward such conspecific odor cues in rats. Odor scent
      from healthy conspecifics induced approach behavior, while those from sick
      conspecifics produced avoidance response in odor-recipient male rats. Analysis of
      mRNA expression in several brain sites of odor recipient rats illustrated that
      induction of c-fos mRNA expression was found in the olfactory bulb (OB), the
      medial amygdala (MeA), the bed nucleus of stria terminalis (BnST), and the
      paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVN), when exposed to conspecific
      odor. Moreover, in the MeA, expression of oxytocin (OT) receptor mRNA was
      increased when rats were exposed to healthy conspecific odor, while induction of
      arginine vasopressin (AVP) receptor 1a and 1b mRNA were found only when exposed
      to sick conspecific odor. Bilateral infusion of OT receptor (OTR) antagonist,
      (d(CH2)5(1),Tyr(Me)(2),Thr(4),Orn(8),des-Gly-NH2(9))-Vasotocin, into the MeA
      blocked approach behavior to healthy odor, while those of AVP receptor
      antagonists, V1a selective: (Phenylac(1),D-Tyr(Me)(2),Arg(6.8),Lys-NH2(9))
      Vasopressin, and type 1 receptor antagonist: (Deamino-Pen(1), Try(Me)(2), Arg(8))
      Vasopressin, into the MeA inhibited avoidance response to sick odor. These
      findings provide evidence for an essential role of OT and AVP receptors,
      especially type 1a, in the MeA in regulating approach/avoidance behaviors,
      respectively, in social odorant communication.

PMID- 20933577
TI  - Enriched environment promotes similar neuronal and behavioral recovery in a young
      and aged mouse model of Parkinson's disease.
AB  - Environmental enrichment has been shown to be neuroprotective in the 1-methyl-4
      phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) mouse model of Parkinson's disease (PD).
      Because PD patients are not typically diagnosed until later neuropathological
      stages, the current study investigated the capacity of an enriched environment
      (EE) to stimulate restoration of neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta
      (SNpc) and locomotor recovery after lesioning, as opposed to before. A low-dose
      chronic MPTP regimen was used to achieve a partial, less severe lesion of the
      nigrostriatal pathway not seen in acute MPTP models. Both young adult (10 weeks)
      and aged (12 months) C57BL/6J male mice were used to assess the effects of aging
      on recovery with EE intervention. After the first week of either MPTP (7 mg/kg/d
      in young; 5 mg/kg/d in aged) or saline injection, animals from both groups were
      housed in a standard environment (SE) or an EE for 3 weeks, with continued daily
      administration of MPTP. We are the first to report that following 3 weeks
      exposure to an EE, young and aged MPTP-lesioned mice showed a significant 53% and
      52% restoration of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)-labeled neurons in the SNpc,
      respectively. This increase in TH-labeled cells in the MPTP+EE group was
      correlated with recovery of free-standing rear (FSR) behavior in both age groups;
      however, improved locomotor control as measured by foot faults (FF) per total
      activity was only seen in the aged MPTP+EE group. Our data demonstrate that an EE
      promotes neurorestoration in TH protein expression in SNpc neurons as well as
      some locomotor recovery in both young and aged animals in this mouse model of PD.

PMID- 20933578
TI  - Role of low-voltage-activated calcium current on the firing pattern alterations
      induced by hypothyroidism in the rat hippocampus.
AB  - Thyroid hormone deficiency during a critical period of development severely
      affects cognitive functions, resulting in profound mental retardation. Despite
      the importance of the disorder, the cellular mechanisms underlying these deficits
      remain largely unexplored. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of
      the absence of thyroid hormone on the development of the intrinsic properties of
      CA1 hippocampal pyramidal cells. These cells are known to exhibit different
      firing patterns during development, being classified as either regular-spiking or
      burst-spiking cells. Patch-clamp experiments showed that hypothyroid rats
      presented a larger number of regular-spiking cells at early postnatal age (P9
      11). This difference in firing-pattern distribution disappeared at the pre
      weanling age (P17-19), when almost every cell displayed bursting behavior in both
      control and hypothyroid rats. However, when studied in detail, weanling
      hypothyroid rats presented a smaller number of spikes per burst than did control
      animals. One of the major factors behind bursting behavior is sustained
      depolarization following an action potential. In this study, we show that action
      potential afterdepolarizations of hypothyroid animals registered shorter half
      durations than did controls, a fact which could explain the smaller number of
      action potentials per burst. Additionally, the afterdepolarizations observed on
      both hypothyroid and control neurons were highly sensitive to low concentrations
      of nickel, suggesting that a low-threshold Ca(2+) current is key in the
      generation of spike afterdepolarizations and in the control of the bursting
      pattern of firing of these neurons. In agreement with this, experiments performed
      on dissociated hippocampal neurons have shown that this current is significantly
      depressed in hypothyroid animals. Therefore, we conclude that an alteration of
      the low-threshold calcium current is the basic factor explaining the differences
      observed in the firing behavior of hypothyroid animals.

PMID- 20933579
TI  - Blockade of central nicotine acetylcholine receptor signaling attenuate ghrelin
      induced food intake in rodents.
AB  - Here we sought to determine whether ghrelin's central effects on food intake can
      be interrupted by nicotine acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) blockade. Ghrelin
      regulates mesolimbic dopamine neurons projecting from the ventral tegmental area
      (VTA) to the nucleus accumbens, partly via cholinergic VTA afferents originating
      in the laterodorsal tegmental area (LDTg). Given that these cholinergic
      projections to the VTA have been implicated in natural as well as drug-induced
      reinforcement, we sought to investigate the role of cholinergic signaling in
      ghrelin-induced food intake as well as fasting-induced food intake, for which
      endogenous ghrelin has been implicated. We found that i.p. treatment with the non
      selective centrally active nAChR antagonist, mecamylamine decreased fasting
      induced food intake in both mice and rats. Moreover, central administration of
      mecamylamine decreased fasting-induced food intake in rats. I.c.v. ghrelin
      induced food intake was suppressed by mecamylamine i.p. but not by hexamethonium
      i.p., a peripheral nAChR antagonist. Furthermore, mecamylamine i.p. blocked food
      intake following ghrelin injection into the VTA. Expression of the ghrelin
      receptor, the growth hormone secretagogue receptor 1A, was found to co-localize
      with choline acetyltransferase, a marker of cholinergic neurons, in the LDTg.
      Finally, mecamylamine treatment i.p. decreased the ability of palatable food to
      condition a place preference. These data suggest that ghrelin-induced food intake
      is partly mediated via nAChRs and that nicotinic blockade decreases the rewarding
      properties of food.

PMID- 20933580
TI  - Glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor is crucial for long-term maintenance
      of the nigrostriatal system.
AB  - Glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) is a potent factor for the
      ventral mesencephalic dopamine neurons. However, studies on the Gdnf gene deleted
      (Gdnf(-/-)) mouse have been limited to fetal tissue since these mice die
      prematurely. To evaluate long-term effects of Gdnf gene deletion, this study
      involves co-grafts of ventral mesencephalon (VM) and lateral ganglionic eminence
      (LGE) derived from different Gdnf genotypes. The VM/LGE co-grafts were evaluated
      at 3, 6, and 12 months for tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) -positive cell survival and
      nerve fiber formation in the LGE co-transplant, visualized by dopamine- and
      cyclic AMP-regulated phosphoprotein relative molecular mass 32,000 (DARPP-32) 
      immunoreactivity. Cell counts revealed no difference in TH-positive neurons
      between Gdnf genotypes at 3 months postgrafting. At 6 months, a significant
      reduction in cell number was observed in the Gdnf(-/-) grafts. In fact, in the
      majority of the Gdnf(-/-) VM/LGE transplant had degenerated. At 12 months, a
      reduction in cell number was seen in both Gdnf(-/-) and Gdnf(+/-) compared to
      wild type transplants. In the Gdnf(-/-) grafts, TH-negative inclusion-like
      structures were present in the cytoplasm of the TH-positive neurons at 3 months.
      These structures were also found in the Gdnf(+/-) transplants at 12 months, but
      not in Gdnf(+/+) controls at any time point. In Gdnf(+/+) grafts, TH-positive
      nerve fiber innervation of the striatal co-grafts was dense and patchy and
      overlapped with clusters of DARPP-32-positive neurons. This overlap did mismatch
      in the Gdnf(+/-) grafts, while the TH-positive innervation was sparse in the
      Gdnf(-/-) transplants and the DARPP-32-positive neurons were widespread
      distributed. In conclusion, GDNF is essential for long-term maintenance of both
      the VM TH-positive neurons and for the striatal tissue, and appears crucial for
      generation of a proper organization of the striatum.

PMID- 20933581
TI  - Cilostazol attenuates ischemic brain injury and enhances neurogenesis in the
      subventricular zone of adult mice after transient focal cerebral ischemia.
AB  - Evidence suggests that neurogenesis occurs in the adult mammalian brain, and that
      various stimuli, for example, ischemia/hypoxia, enhance the generation of neural
      progenitor cells in the subventricular zone (SVZ) and their migration into the
      olfactory bulb. In a mouse stroke model, focal ischemia results in activation of
      neural progenitor cells followed by their migration into the ischemic lesion. The
      present study assessed the in vivo effects of cilostazol, a type 3
      phosphodiesterase inhibitor known to activate the cAMP-responsive element binding
      protein (CREB) signaling, on neurogenesis in the ipsilateral SVZ and peri-infarct
      area in a mouse model of transient middle cerebral artery occlusion. Mice were
      divided into sham operated (n=12), vehicle- (n=18) and cilostazol-treated (n=18)
      groups. Sections stained for 5-bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) and several neuronal and
      a glial markers were analyzed at post-ischemia days 1, 3 and 7. Cilostazol
      reduced brain ischemic volume (P<0.05) and induced earlier recovery of neurologic
      deficit (P<0.05). Cilostazol significantly increased the density of BrdU-positive
      newly-formed cells in the SVZ compared with the vehicle group without ischemia.
      Increased density of doublecortin (DCX)-positive and BrdU/DCX-double positive
      neural progenitor cells was noted in the ipsilateral SVZ and peri-infarct area at
      3 and 7 days after focal ischemia compared with the vehicle group (P<0.05).
      Cilostazol increased DCX-positive phosphorylated CREB (pCREB)-expressing neural
      progenitor cells, and increased brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)
      expressing astrocytes in the ipsilateral SVZ and peri-infarct area. The results
      indicated that cilostazol enhanced neural progenitor cell generation in both
      ipsilateral SVZ and peri-infarct area through CREB-mediated signaling pathway
      after focal ischemia.

PMID- 20933582
TI  - Excitatory action of vasopressin in the brain of the rat: role of cAMP signaling.
AB  - Brain vasopressin plays a role in behavioral and cognitive functions and in
      pathological conditions. Relevant examples are pair bonding, social recognition,
      fear responses, stress disorders, anxiety and depression. At the neuronal level,
      vasopressin exerts its effects by binding to V1a receptors. In the brainstem,
      vasopressin can excite facial motoneurons by generating a sustained inward
      current which is sodium-dependent, tetrodotoxin-insensitive and voltage-gated.
      This effect is independent of intracellular calcium mobilization and is
      unaffected by phospholipase Cbeta (PLCbeta) or protein kinase C (PKC) inhibitors.
      There are two major unsolved problems. (i) What is the intracellular signaling
      pathway activated by vasopressin? (ii) What is the exact nature of the
      vasopressin-sensitive cation channels? We performed recordings in brainstem
      slices. Facial motoneurons were voltage-clamped in the whole-cell configuration.
      We show that a major fraction, if not the totality, of the peptide effect was
      mediated by cAMP signaling and that the vasopressin-sensitive cation channels
      were directly gated by cAMP. These channels appear to exclude lithium, are
      suppressed by 2-aminoethoxydiphenylborane (2-APB) and flufenamic acid (FFA) but
      not by ruthenium red or amiloride. They are distinct from transient receptor
      channels and from cyclic nucleotide-regulated channels involved in visual and
      olfactory transduction. They present striking similarities with cation channels
      present in a variety of molluscan neurons. To our knowledge, the presence in
      mammalian neurons of channels having these properties has not been previously
      reported. Our data should contribute to a better knowledge of the neural
      mechanism of the central actions of vasopressin, and may be potentially
      significant in view of clinical applications.

PMID- 20933583
TI  - 2-Decenoic acid ethyl ester, a derivative of unsaturated medium-chain fatty
      acids, facilitates functional recovery of locomotor activity after spinal cord
      injury.
AB  - There is increasing evidence that omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs)
      have therapeutic potential in various animal models of neuronal injury. However,
      very few studies have examined the effect of medium-chain fatty acids (MCFAs) on
      neuronal injury. So in the present study we synthesized various MCFAs and their
      derivatives, and found that exposure to trans-2-decenoic acid ethyl ester (DAEE)
      markedly activated extracellular signal-regulated protein kinases 1 and 2
      (ERK1/2) in cultured cortical neurons. Therefore, we examined the effect of DAEE
      treatment on a rat model of spinal cord injury. DAEE (150 MUg/kg body weight)
      administered after hemisection of the spinal cord resulted in improved functional
      recovery, decreased the lesion size, increased the activation of ERK1/2, and
      enhanced the expression of bcl-2 and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)
      mRNA in the injury site of the spinal cord. Furthermore, it also increased
      neuronal survival after spinal cord injury. These results indicate that the
      possibility that DAEE will become a promising tool for reducing the secondary
      damage observed following primary physical injury to the spinal cord.

PMID- 20933584
TI  - A1 receptors self-regulate adenosine release in the striatum: evidence of
      autoreceptor characteristics.
AB  - Adenosine A(1) receptors are inhibitory G-protein coupled receptors that
      presynaptically regulate neurotransmitter release, but their role in self
      regulating adenosine release is not known. In this study, we examined the
      modulation of evoked adenosine and dopamine efflux by A(1) receptors and studied
      whether D(1) receptors mediate these effects. Fast-scan cyclic voltammetry at
      carbon-fiber microelectrodes was used for the simultaneous detection of adenosine
      and dopamine efflux on a subsecond time scale. Short electrical stimulation
      trains delivered to the substantia nigra (60 pulses, 60 Hz) were used to evoke
      dopamine and adenosine release in the striatum. The adenosine A(1) receptor
      agonist N(6)-cyclopentyladenosine (CPA, 1 mg/kg, i.p.) decreased both adenosine
      and dopamine efflux, although the effect for adenosine occurred more quickly than
      for dopamine. The A(1) antagonist 8-cyclopentyl-1,3-dipropylxanthine (DPCPX, 6
      mg/kg, i.p.) increased stimulated adenosine release. The effects of CPA were
      partially attenuated by the dopamine D(1) receptor antagonist SCH-23390. Thus,
      A(1) and D(1) receptors have a synergistic interaction that modulates both
      stimulated adenosine and dopamine. The decrease in adenosine is not a downstream
      effect of lowered dopamine release, as decreasing dopamine synthesis and release
      with alpha-methyl-p-tyrosine or increasing release with haloperidol had no effect
      on adenosine release. This study shows that A(1) receptors have some
      characteristics of an autoreceptor, including self-regulation of adenosine
      release.

PMID- 20933586
TI  - Quantitative inter-segmental and inter-laminar comparison of corticospinal
      projections from the forelimb area of the primary motor cortex of macaque
      monkeys.
AB  - Corticospinal projections from the forelimb area of the primary motor cortex to
      the C2-Th2 spinal cord segments were quantitatively analyzed using the high
      resolution anterograde tracer, biotinylated dextran amine (BDA), in rhesus
      monkeys (n=5). The majority of descending axons were located in the contralateral
      dorsolateral funiculus (DLF) (85-98%), but a minor portion was observed in the
      ipsilateral DLF (1-12%) and ventromedial funiculus (VMF) (1-7%). In the gray
      matter, axon collaterals and terminal buttons were found mainly in the
      contralateral laminae VI-VII and IX and ipsilateral lamina VIII. The majority of
      projections to the contralateral gray matter originated from the contralateral
      DLF, but a minority originated from the ipsilateral DLF. Axons from the
      ipsilateral DLF were not found to project collaterals on the ipsilateral side,
      but directly entered the contralateral side after crossing the midline. On the
      other hand, projections to the ipsilateral lamina VIII were from the ipsilateral
      VMF, and commissural axons were from the contralateral DLF. Terminal buttons in
      the motoneuron pool in the contralateral lamina IX were found mainly at the C7
      Th1 spinal cord segments, whereas the projections to the contralateral laminae VI
      VII, ipsilateral lamina VIII, and commissural axons were also found in more
      rostral segments, abundantly at the C4-C8 segments, 1-3 segments rostral to the
      motoneuronal projections. These results suggest that cortical control of
      contralateral forelimb motoneurons accompanies regulation of interneuronal
      systems in the contralateral laminae VI-VII and the ipsilateral lamina VIII
      located a few segments rostral to the motoneurons.

PMID- 20933585
TI  - Environmental living conditions introduced during forced abstinence alter cocaine
      seeking behavior and Fos protein expression.
AB  - Environmental enrichment (EE) introduced during abstinence from cocaine self
      administration is protective in reducing cue-elicited incentive motivation for
      cocaine in rats. This study examined neural activation associated with this
      protective effect of EE using Fos protein expression as a marker. Rats were
      trained to press a lever reinforced by cocaine (0.75 mg/kg/0.1 mL infusion) and
      light and tone cues across 15 consecutive days during which they were all housed
      in isolated conditions (IC). Rats were then assigned to either remain in IC, or
      to live in pair-housed conditions (PC) or EE for 30 days of forced abstinence
      from cocaine. Subsequently, cocaine-seeking behavior (lever presses without
      cocaine reinforcement) elicited by response-contingent cue presentations was
      assessed for 90 min, after which the rats' brains were immediately harvested for
      Fos protein immunohistochemistry. EE attenuated, whereas IC enhanced, cue
      elicited cocaine-seeking behavior relative to PC. Also, within the prelimbic and
      orbitofrontal cortices and basolateral amygdala, IC enhanced, whereas EE reduced,
      Fos expression relative to PC. Furthermore, EE attenuated Fos expression in the
      infralimbic and anterior cingulate cortices, the nucleus accumbens (core and
      shell), bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, and ventral tegmental area, evident
      as a reduction relative to both PC and IC. In contrast, IC enhanced Fos
      expression in the dorsal caudate putamen, substantia nigra, and central amygdala,
      evident as an increase relative to both PC and EE. These results suggest that EE
      blunts neural activation throughout the mesocorticolimbic circuitry involved in
      cue-elicited incentive motivation for cocaine, whereas IC enhances activation
      primarily within the nigrostriatal dopamine pathway. These findings have
      important implications for understanding and treating drug-conditioned craving in
      humans.

PMID- 20933587
TI  - A new natural spiro heterocyclic compound and the cytotoxic activity of the
      secondary metabolites from Juniperus brevifolia leaves.
AB  - A new natural spiro compound 3,4-dehydrotheaspirone and the known arctiol
      [1beta,6alpha-dihydroxy-4(14)-eudesmene] were isolated from Juniperus brevifolia.
      Arctiol is reported for the first time in the Juniperus genus. Their structures
      were established by 1D, and 2D NMR and MS spectra. Antimicrobial and cytotoxic
      activities of 1 and several secondary metabolites 3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12
      previously isolated by our group from J. brevifolia were evaluated and some SAR
      has been established. The 18-hydroxydehydroabietane (4) displayed great
      antiproliferative activity against cancer cell lines tested, namely HeLa, A-549
      and MCF-7. Compound 4 also presented a significant bactericidal effect against
      Bacillus cereus at different concentrations tested.

PMID- 20933588
TI  - Can we use verbal estimation to dissect the internal clock? Differentiating the
      effects of pacemaker rate, switch latencies, and judgment processes.
AB  - Behavioural timing is frequently assumed to be based on the accumulation of
      pulses from a pacemaker. In humans, verbal estimation is often used to determine
      whether the effect of factors which influence subjective time become more
      pronounced at longer durations - that is, if they affect the slope of the
      judgment function, consistent with a change in the rate of the pacemaker. Here,
      participants judged blank intervals marked by two squares which either did or did
      not differ in size. In Experiment 1, a small change in marker size produced
      shorter temporal judgments than a large change. This effect was independent of
      objective duration and indicates that the slope changes seen in previous work are
      not an inevitable artefact of the verbal estimation procedure. However,
      Experiments 2 and 3 included conditions where the markers did not change size and
      established (a) that the effect of marker size depends on the other stimuli
      presented during the experiment, and (b) that slope effects occur even when they
      cannot possibly be due to a change in the rate of the pacemaker. Taken together,
      these results urge some caution in the use of verbal estimation as a methodology
      for deconstructing the putative internal clock.

PMID- 20933589
TI  - In sight into tadalafil - block copolymer binary solid dispersion: Mechanistic
      investigation of dissolution enhancement.
AB  - Tadalafil is a phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitor that is characterized by low
      solubility and high permeability. Solid dispersion approach represents a
      promising carrier system for effective enhancement of dissolution and oral
      bioavailability of poorly soluble drugs. In the present work, novel tadalafil
      loaded solid dispersions employing various block copolymers (Pluronics((r))) were
      prepared through fusion technique. Their solubility and dissolution properties
      were compared to the drug alone. In order to elucidate the mechanism of
      dissolution enhancement, solid state characteristics were investigated using
      scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy,
      differential scanning calorimetry and powder X-ray diffraction. Furthermore,
      contact angle measurements were carried out. The sign and magnitude of the
      thermodynamic parameters indicated spontaneity of solubilization process. The
      phase solubility studies revealed A(L) type of curves for the carriers. Unlike
      traditional solid dispersion systems, the crystal form of drug in the formulated
      systems could not be converted to amorphous form. Most of the studied grades
      showed dissolution improvement vis-a-vis pure drug, with Pluronic F-127 as the
      most promising carrier. Mathematical modeling of in vitro dissolution data
      indicated the best fitting with Korsemeyer-Peppas model. Thus, the results
      demonstrated that tadalafil/Pluronic F-127 solid dispersion system is a direct
      and feasible technology which represents a potential candidate for delivering a
      poorly water-soluble drug with enhanced solubility and dissolution.

PMID- 20933590
TI  - The lymphoid chemokine, CXCL13, is dispensable for the initial recruitment of B
      cells to the acutely inflamed central nervous system.
AB  - Cases of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy can occur in patients treated
      with the B cell depleting anti-CD20 antibody, rituximab, highlighting the
      importance of B cell surveillance of the central nervous system (CNS). The
      lymphoid chemokine, CXCL13, is critical for B cell recruitment and functional
      organization of peripheral lymphoid tissues, and CXCL13 levels are often elevated
      in the inflamed CNS. To more directly investigate the role of CXCL13 in CNS B
      cell migration, its role in animal models of infectious and inflammatory
      demyelinating disease was examined. During acute alphavirus encephalitis where
      viral clearance depends on the local actions of anti-viral antibodies, CXCL13
      levels and B cell numbers increased in brain tissue over time. Surprisingly,
      however, CXCL13-deficient animals showed normal CNS B cell recruitment, unaltered
      CNS virus replication and clearance, and intact peripheral anti-viral antibody
      responses. During experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), CNS levels of
      CXCL13 increased as symptoms emerged and equivalent numbers of B cells were
      identified among the CNS infiltrates of CXCL13-deficient mice compared to control
      animals. However, CXCL13-deficient mice did not sustain pathogenic anti-myelin T
      cell responses, consistent with their known propensity to develop more self
      limited EAE. These data show that CXCL13 is dispensable for CNS B cell
      recruitment in both models. The disease course is unaffected by CXCL13 in a CNS
      infection paradigm that depends on a pathogen-specific B cell response, while it
      is heightened and prolonged by CXCL13 when myelin-specific CD4+ T cells drive CNS
      pathology. Thus, CXCL13 could be a therapeutic target in certain
      neuroinflammatory diseases, but not by blocking B cell recruitment to the CNS.

PMID- 20933591
TI  - Brain-derived neurotrophic factor contributes to spinal long-term potentiation
      and mechanical hypersensitivity by activation of spinal microglia in rat.
AB  - It has been shown that following peripheral nerve injury brain-derived
      neurotrophic factor (BDNF) released by activated microglia contributes to
      neuropathic pain, but whether BDNF affects the function of microglia is still
      unknown. In the present work we found that spinal application of BDNF, which
      induced long-term potentiation (LTP) of C-fiber evoked field potentials,
      activated spinal microglia in naive animals, while pretreatment with microglia
      inhibitor minocycline blocked BDNF-induced LTP. In addition, following LTP
      induction by BDNF, both phosphorylated Src-family kinases (p-SFKs) and
      phosphorylated p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p-p38 MAPK) were up
      regulated only in spinal microglia but not in neurons and astrocytes, whilst
      spinal application of SFKs inhibitor (PP2 or SU6656) or p38 MAPK inhibitor
      (SB203580) blocked BDNF-induced LTP and suppressed microglial activation. As
      spinal LTP at C-fiber synapses is considered to underlie neuropathic pain, we
      subsequently examined whether BDNF may contribute to mechanical hypersensitivity
      by activation of spinal microglia using spared nerve injury (SNI) model.
      Following SNI BDNF and TrkB receptor were up-regulated mainly in dorsal horn
      neurons and in activated microglia, and p-SFKs and p-p38 MAPK were increased
      exclusively in microglia. Intrathecal injection of BDNF scavenger TrkB-Fc
      starting before SNI, which prevented the behavioral sign of neuropathic pain,
      suppressed both microglial activation and the up-regulation of p-SFKs and p-p38
      MAPK produced by SNI. Thus, the increased BDNF/TrkB signaling in spinal dorsal
      horn may contribute to neuropathic pain by activation of microglia following
      peripheral nerve injury and inhibition of SFKs or p38 MAPK may selectively
      inhibit microglia in spinal dorsal horn.

PMID- 20933592
TI  - Childhood asthma and use during pregnancy of acetaminophen. A critical review.
AB  - The possible association between acetaminophen use during pregnancy and childhood
      asthma has been a subject of interest based on the theory that acetaminophen
      metabolism may deplete glutathione in the developing lung, leading to oxidative
      damage and inflammation. Epidemiology studies from eight centers have reported
      conflicting results. In some cases, end points of these studies have included
      wheezing in very young children, which is a poor predictor of asthma. Other study
      problems have included the common use of acetaminophen as the analgesic and
      antipyretic of choice during pregnancy. Because acetaminophen use may be a marker
      for infectious or inflammatory disorders, the results of the epidemiology studies
      may be influenced by confounding by indication. A placebo-controlled randomized
      trial of acetaminophen use during pregnancy would be helpful in resolving the
      question of whether acetaminophen use causes childhood asthma. At present, the
      evidence is inconclusive that any such association is causal.

PMID- 20933593
TI  - Associations between blood metals and fecundity among women residing in New York
      State.
AB  - Trace exposures to metals may affect female reproductive health. To assess the
      relation between trace concentrations of blood metals and female fecundity, 99
      non-pregnant women discontinuing contraception for the purpose of becoming
      pregnant were prospectively followed. Participants completed a baseline interview
      and daily diaries until pregnant, or up to 12 menstrual cycles at risk for
      pregnancy; home pregnancy test kits were used. For 80 women, whole blood
      specimens were analyzed for arsenic, cadmium, lead, magnesium, nickel, selenium
      and zinc using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Time to
      pregnancy was estimated using Cox proportional hazards models for discrete time.
      Metal concentrations were generally within population reference intervals.
      Adjusted models suggest a 51.5% increase in the probability for pregnancy per
      3.60 MUg/L increase in Mg (P=0.062), and a 27.7% decrease per 0.54 MUg/L increase
      in Zn (P=0.114). Findings indicate that Mg and Zn may impact female fecundity,
      but in varying directions.

PMID- 20933594
TI  - Mutation scanning-coupled sequencing of nuclear ribosomal DNA spacers as a tool
      for the specific identification of different Contracaecum (Nematoda: Anisakidae)
      larval types.
AB  - In the present study, various morphotypes of Contracaecum (Nematoda) larvae in
      different developmental stages were described and then genetically characterised
      using sequence data obtained from the first and second internal transcribed
      spacers (ITS-1 and ITS-2) of nuclear ribosomal DNA (rDNA). The alignment of ITS-1
      and ITS-2 sequence data for larvae investigated with those from well
      characterised adults in previous studies showed that fourth-stage Contracaecum
      larvae from the Australian pelican, Pelecanus conspicillatus, had the same
      sequence as Contracaecum microcephalum reported from the little pied cormorant,
      Phalacrocorax melanoleucos. In addition, four different morphotypes of third
      stage larvae, including types I to IV, were found in various species of fish.
      Contracaecum type I larvae were composed of two distict genotypes; those
      collected from mullet, Mugil cephalus, had the same sequence as C.
      multipapillatum, and those from an unknown species of hardyhead (family
      Atherinidae) were C. pyripapillatum. Contracaecum type II larvae from mackerel,
      Scomber australasicus, had the same sequence as adult C. ogmorhini sensu stricto,
      found in the Australian and New Zealand fur seals (Arctocephalus spp).
      Contracaecum type III larvae from flathead, Platycephalus laevigatus, had the
      same sequence as C. rudolphii D found in the black cormorant, Phalacrocorax
      carbo. The approach used herein was an effective means of matching incompletely
      identifiable larval nematodes with reference sequences and provides a basis for
      exploring the composition of populations of anisakid larvae in fish as well as
      their ecology, particularly their life cycles and transmission patterns.

PMID- 20933595
TI  - Detection of Yersinia pestis using real-time PCR in patients with suspected
      bubonic plague.
AB  - Yersinia (Y.) pestis, the causative agent of plague, is endemic in natural foci
      of Asia, Africa, and America. Real-time PCR assays have been described as rapid
      diagnostic tools, but so far none has been validated for its clinical use. In a
      retrospective clinical study we evaluated three real-time PCR assays in two
      different assay formats, 5'-nuclease and hybridization probes assays. Lymph node
      aspirates from 149 patients from Madagascar with the clinical diagnosis of
      bubonic plague were investigated for the detection of Y. pestis DNA. Results of
      real-time PCR assays targeting the virulence plasmids pPCP1 (pla gene), and pMT1
      (caf1, Ymt genes) were compared with an F1-antigen immunochromatographic test
      (ICT) and cultivation of the organism. Out of the 149 samples an infection with
      Y. pestis was confirmed by culture in 47 patients while ICT was positive in 88
      including all culture proven cases. The best real-time PCR assay was the 5'
      nuclease assay targeting pla which was positive in 120 cases. In conclusion, the
      5'-nuclease assay targeting pla can be recommended as diagnostic tool for
      establishing a presumptive diagnosis when bubonic plague is clinically suspected.

PMID- 20933596
TI  - Discriminative stimulus effects of cocaine and amphetamine in rats following
      developmental exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).
AB  - Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are environmental neurotoxicants known to affect
      the brain dopaminergic (DA) system. This project investigated whether
      developmental exposure to PCBs would alter the discriminative stimulus effects of
      psychostimulant drugs known to act on the DA system. Female Long-Evans rats were
      orally exposed to 0, 3, or 6 mg/kg/day of an environmentally relevant PCB mixture
      from four weeks prior to breeding through weaning of their litters on PND 21.
      When they reached adulthood one male and female/litter were trained to
      discriminate cocaine (10.0 mg/kg, IP) from saline by repeatedly pairing cocaine
      injections with reinforcement on one operant response lever, and saline
      injections with reinforcement on the other lever. After response training,
      generalization tests to four lower doses of cocaine (7.5, 5.0, 2.5, and 1.25
      mg/kg, IP) and to amphetamine (1.0, 0.5, 0.25, and 0.125 mg/kg, IP) were given
      two days/week, with additional training dose days in-between. Percent responding
      of the PCB-exposed rats on the cocaine-paired lever was significantly higher than
      that of controls for the highest generalization dose of cocaine, and lower than
      that of controls for the highest dose of amphetamine. Response rate and percent
      responding on the cocaine lever did not differ among the exposure groups on the
      days when the training dose of cocaine was given, suggesting that the
      generalization test results were not due to pre-existing differences in
      discrimination ability or rate of responding. These findings suggest that
      developmental PCB exposure can alter the interoceptive cues of psychostimulants.

PMID- 20933598
TI  - CHL1 negatively regulates the proliferation and neuronal differentiation of
      neural progenitor cells through activation of the ERK1/2 MAPK pathway.
AB  - Neural recognition molecules of the immunoglobulin superfamily play important
      roles in the development and regeneration of nervous system. Close Homologue of
      L1 (CHL1) is a member of the L1 family of recognition molecules which are
      expressed during neuronal development, suggesting a potential role in neural
      progenitor cells (NPCs). Here, we investigated the role of CHL1 in the
      proliferation and differentiation of NPCs both in vivo and in vitro, and the
      possible mechanism involved. The number of BrdU-positive cells in the
      subventricular zone (SVZ) significantly increased in CHL1-/- mice compared with
      CHL1+/+ mice. Moreover, there were more Tuj1-positive cells in the cortical plate
      region in CHL1-/- mice than in CHL1+/+ controls. To further examine the function
      of CHL1 in the proliferation and differentiation of NPCs, NPCs from CHL1-/- mice
      versus littermate wild-type mice were isolated and cultured in vitro. NPCs
      derived from CHL1-/- mice showed increased proliferation and self-renewal ability
      compared with CHL1+/+ mice. In the course of differentiation, CHL1 deficiency
      enhanced neuronal differentiation in the absence of growth factors. Furthermore,
      CHL1 deficiency on the proliferation of NPCs is accompanied by means of enhanced
      activation of ERK1/2 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and the inhibitor of
      ERK1/2 MAPK eliminates the effect of CHL1 deficiency on the proliferation of
      NPCs. Our results first describe the negative modulation of the proliferation and
      neuronal differentiation of NPCs by CHL1/ERK1/2 MAPK signaling.

PMID- 20933599
TI  - Targeted annotation of immunoglobulin light chain (IgL) genes in zebrafish from
      BAC clones reveals kappa-like recombining/deleting elements within IgL constant
      regions.
AB  - Genomic organization, composition, and microsynteny of immunoglobulin light chain
      (IgL) gene segments in the zebrafish were analyzed through the identification and
      annotation of overlapping BAC clone insert sequences and an Illumina de novo
      assembly. The resultant gap-free IgL annotation confirmed a number of previous
      conclusions about teleost IgL including: suites of (V(L)-J(L)-C(L)) clusters on
      multiple chromosomes; V(L) in the same or opposite transcriptional orientation as
      J(L) and C(L); and the apparent absence of lambda IgL in the zebrafish model. In
      addition, palindromic heptamers (CACAGTG or CACTGTG) within the 3' region of
      zebrafish C(L) were identified. In mammals, heptamers within J(kappa)-C(kappa)
      introns can recombine with downstream kappa deleting elements (Kde) to ablate
      C(kappa) regions prior to rearrangements of V(lambda)-J(lambda) gene segments.
      The presence of palindromic heptamers within zebrafish C(L) is intriguing as
      their recombination with intact RSS might result in the deletion of a large
      portion of the C(L) thereby permanently silencing C(L) exons within the IgL
      locus. Given that bony fish have appreciably more C(L) spread over more
      chromosomes than mice and humans, it is plausible the presence of recombining
      sequences within C(L) may be tied to a need for heightened mechanisms to
      facilitate allelic exclusion or receptor editing. Collectively, with this report,
      gap-free annotations of the heavy and light chain Ig loci have now been completed
      for Danio rerio, the only teleost for which this has been accomplished, thereby
      strengthening the overall utility of zebrafish as a model organism for both
      comparative immunology and biomedical research.

PMID- 20933597
TI  - The UNC-4 homeobox protein represses mab-9 expression in DA motor neurons in
      Caenorhabditis elegans.
AB  - The T-box transcription factor mab-9 has been shown to be required for the
      correct fate of the male-specific blast cells B and F, normal posterior
      hypodermal morphogenesis, and for the correct axon migration of motor neurons
      that project circumferential commissures to dorsal muscles. In this study, an
      RNAi screen designed to identify upstream transcriptional regulators of mab-9
      showed that silencing of unc-4 (encoding a paired-class homeodomain protein)
      increases mab-9::gfp expression in the nervous system, specifically in posterior
      DA motor neurons. Over-expression of unc-4 from a heat-shock promoter has the
      opposite effect, causing repression of mab-9 in various cells. We find that mab-9
      expression in unc-37 mutants is also elevated in DA motor neurons, consistent
      with known roles for UNC-37 as a co-repressor with UNC-4. These results identify
      mab-9 as a novel target of the UNC-4/UNC-37 repressor complex in motor neurons,
      and suggest that mis-expression of mab-9 may contribute to the neuronal wiring
      defects in unc-4 and unc-37 mutants.

PMID- 20933600
TI  - A dopamine beta hydroxylase from Chlamys farreri and its induced mRNA expression
      in the haemocytes after LPS stimulation.
AB  - Dopamine beta hydroxylase (DBH) is a critical enzyme in the biosynthesis of
      catecholamines, and also plays an important role in complex neuroendocrine-immune
      regulatory network. In the present study, the cDNA encoding dopamine beta
      hydroxylase (designated CfDBH) was cloned from Chlamys farreri by using rapid
      amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) approaches and expression sequence tag (EST)
      analysis. The full-length cDNA of CfDBH was of 2302 bp, containing a 5'
      untranslated region (UTR) of 32 bp, a 3' UTR of 461 bp with a poly (A) tail, and
      an open reading frame (ORF) of 1809 bp encoding a polypeptide of 603 amino acids.
      The deduced amino acid sequence of CfDBH contained a signal peptide, a DOMON
      domain and a Cu2_monooxygen domain, and it shared 39.4%-42.9% similarity with
      other reported DBHs. The conserved domains in CfDBH and the amino acid sequence
      similarity with other DBHs strongly suggested that it was a homologue of DBH in
      C. farreri. The mRNA expression of CfDBH in various tissues and its temporal
      expression in haemocytes of scallops stimulated with LPS were ascertained by
      Quantitative real-time RT-PCR. The mRNA transcripts of CfDBH were detected in all
      the examined tissues with the highest expression level in hepatopancreas. The
      expression level of CfDBH in haemocytes was up-regulated after LPS stimulation
      and increased to hundreds fold higher than that of the control group at 12 h, and
      then decrease significantly to 0.36-fold and 0.31-fold at 24 h and 48 h
      respectively. The results suggested pathogen infections significantly induced the
      expression level of CfDBH, and the activation of DBH could influence the immune
      response of scallop C. farreri through changing the concentration of
      catecholamines.

PMID- 20933601
TI  - Cloning and characterization of allograft inflammatory factor-1 (AIF-1) from
      Manila clam Venerupis philippinarum.
AB  - Allograft inflammatory factor-1 (AIF-1) is a 17 kDa interferon-gamma-inducible
      Ca(2+)-binding EF-hand protein that plays a significant role not only in
      different host responses to inflammatory stimuli, but in the whole host immune
      defense reaction. In the present study, the full-length cDNA of AIF-1 was
      identified from manila clam Venerupis philippinarum (denoted as VpAIF-1) by cDNA
      library and RACE approaches. The cDNA of VpAIF-1 consisted of a 5-terminal
      untranslated region (UTR) of 153 bp, a 3'UTR of 219 bp with a poly (A) tail, and
      an open reading frame (ORF) of 516 bp encoding a polypeptide of 171 amino acids
      with the putative molecular mass of 17 kDa. The deduced amino acid of VpAIF-1
      shared two EF hand Ca(2+)-binding motifs like other AIF-1s. Phylogenetic analysis
      further indicated that VpAIF-1 had higher evolutional conservation to
      invertebrate than vertebrate counterparts and should be a new member of the AIF-1
      protein family. Spatial expression analysis indicated that mRNA transcript of
      VpAIF-1 was found to be most abundantly expressed in the tissues of haemocytes,
      gills and hepatopancreas, weakly expressed in the tissues of mantle, muscle, and
      foot. After challenged by Vibrio anguillarum, the mRNA level of VpAIF-1 in
      overall haemocytes population was recorded by quantitative real-time RT-PCR.
      VpAIF-1 mRNA was down-regulated in the first 12 h post-infection. Then, the
      expression level increased to the peak at 72 h and recovered to the 48 h-level at
      96 h. All these results indicated that VpAIF-1 was involved in the immune
      response against microbe infection and might be contributed to the clearance of
      bacterial pathogens.

PMID- 20933602
TI  - Dual role of NO donors in the reversal of tumor cell resistance and EMT:
      Downregulation of the NF-kappaB/Snail/YY1/RKIP circuitry.
AB  - Several studies have implicated the role of Nitric Oxide (NO) in the regulation
      of tumor cell behavior and have shown that NO either promotes or inhibits
      tumorigenesis. These conflicting findings have been resolved, in part, by the
      levels of NO used such that low levels promote tumor growth and high levels
      inhibit tumor growth. Our studies have focused on the use of high levels of NO
      provided primarily by the NO donor, DETANONOate. We have shown that treatment of
      resistant tumor cells with DETANONOate sensitizes them to apoptosis by both
      chemotherapeutic drugs and cytotoxic immunotherapeutic ligands. The underlying
      mechanisms by which NO sensitizes tumor cells to apoptosis were shown to be
      regulated, in part, by NO-mediated inhibition of the NF-kappaB survival/anti
      apoptotic pathways and downstream of NF-kappaB by inhibition of the transcription
      factor Yin Yang 1 (YY1). In addition to NO-induced sensitization to apoptosis, we
      have also shown that NO induced the expression of the metastasis
      suppressor/immunosurveillance cancer gene product, Raf-1 kinase inhibitor protein
      (RKIP). Overexpression of RKIP mimics NO in tumor cells-induced sensitization to
      apoptosis. The induction of RKIP by NO was the result of the inhibition of the
      RKIP repressor, Snail, downstream of NF-kappaB. These findings established the
      presence of a dysregulated NF-kappaB/Snail/YY1/ RKIP circuitry in resistance and
      that treatment with NO modifies this loop in tumor cells in favor of the
      inhibition of tumor cell survival and the response to cytotoxic drugs.
      Noteworthy, the NF-kappaB/Snail/YY1/RKIP loop consists of gene products that
      regulate the epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) and, thus, tumor
      metastasis. Hence, we have found that treatment of metastatic cancer cell lines
      with DETANONOate inhibited the EMT phenotype, through both the inhibition of the
      metastasis-inducers, NF-kappaB and Snail and the induction of the metastasis
      suppressor, RKIP. Altogether, the above findings establish, for the first time,
      the dual role of high levels of NO in the sensitization of tumor cells to
      apoptotic stimuli as well as inhibition of EMT. Hence, NO donors may be
      considered as novel potential therapeutic agents with dual roles in the treatment
      of patients with refractory cancer and in the prevention of the initiation of the
      metastatic cascade via EMT.

PMID- 20933603
TI  - Physical interactions between tricarboxylic acid cycle enzymes in Bacillus
      subtilis: evidence for a metabolon.
AB  - The majority of all proteins of a living cell is active in complexes rather than
      in an isolated way. These protein-protein interactions are of high relevance for
      many biological functions. In addition to many well established protein complexes
      an increasing number of protein-protein interactions, which form rather transient
      complexes has recently been discovered. The formation of such complexes seems to
      be a common feature especially for metabolic pathways. In the Gram-positive model
      organism Bacillus subtilis, we identified a protein complex of three citric acid
      cycle enzymes. This complex consists of the citrate synthase, the isocitrate
      dehydrogenase, and the malate dehydrogenase. Moreover, fumarase and aconitase
      interact with malate dehydrogenase and with each other. These five enzymes
      catalyze sequential reaction of the TCA cycle. Thus, this interaction might be
      important for a direct transfer of intermediates of the TCA cycle and thus for
      elevated metabolic fluxes via substrate channeling. In addition, we discovered a
      link between the TCA cycle and gluconeogenesis through a flexible interaction of
      two proteins: the association between the malate dehydrogenase and
      phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase is directly controlled by the metabolic flux.
      The phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase links the TCA cycle with gluconeogenesis
      and is essential for B. subtilis growing on gluconeogenic carbon sources. Only
      under gluconeogenic growth conditions an interaction of these two proteins is
      detectable and disappears under glycolytic growth conditions.

PMID- 20933604
TI  - Use of calcium channel blockers for glaucoma.
AB  - Calcium channel blockers (CCBs), which alter the intracellular calcium
      concentration by modifying calcium flux across cell membranes and affect various
      intracellular signaling processes, have been long and widely used to treat
      essential hypertension and certain types of cardiac diseases such as angina
      pectoris. Among five subtypes of calcium channels, only specific agents for L
      type calcium channels have been used as therapeutics. Animal experiments have
      indicated that topical application of CCBs, especially verapamil, caused
      significant intraocular pressure (IOP) reductions, while ocular hypotensive
      effects in humans were not substantial. Although the results obtained for
      nifedipine and nimodipine were not always consistent, CCBs generally dilate
      isolated ocular vessels and increase ocular blood flow in experimental animals,
      normal humans, and patients with open-angle glaucoma (OAG). Several single
      centered, hospital-based, prospective studies have suggested that nimodipine,
      brovincamine, and nilvadipine had beneficial effects on visual function not only
      in normal humans but also in patients with OAG, while the results of population
      based and case-controlled studies were not always consistent with those obtained
      in hospital-based studies. In vitro studies showed that CCBs exerted
      neuroprotective effects on neurons undergoing apoptosis and necrosis. Although
      the neuroprotective effects of CCBs have been well documented in experimental
      cerebral ischemia models, no controlled studies have shown the clinical efficacy
      of CCBs in stroke or cerebral ischemia. Neuroprotective effects also were
      documented in retinal ganglion cells and photoreceptors in experimental animals.
      Some ophthalmic beta-adrenoceptor antagonists, especially betaxolol, interact
      with L-type calcium channels and show calcium channel-blocking activity, which
      may be partly responsible for the neuroprotective effects of these drugs reported
      in experimental animals. Based on the reported findings of CCBs and that the
      results of clinical studies in acute cerebral ischemia may not be directly
      applicable to a chronic neurodegenerative ocular disorder, such as OAG, CCBs
      deserve future study to investigate strategies that are additive or synergetic to
      ocular hypotensive therapy for OAG, especially in patients with lower IOP.

PMID- 20933605
TI  - The subcellular localization and protein stability of mouse alpha-actinin 2 is
      controlled by its nuclear receptor binding motif in C2C12 cells.
AB  - Alpha actinin (ACTN) has emerged as a multitasking protein, whose roles range
      from bundling actin filaments to functioning as a versatile protein interaction
      platform for proteins involved in structural or signaling aspects. We report here
      that ACTN2, one of the four ACTN isoforms, may shuttle between the cytoplasm and
      nucleus where the nuclear exportation takes place in a CRM1-dependent manner. The
      majority of ACTN2 was found to localize in the cytoplasm and exhibit a lower
      stability which was demonstrated using either mutants carrying mutated nuclear
      receptor binding motif or inhibitors against the ubiquitin- and calpain-dependent
      degradation pathways. Horse serum induced differentiation of C2C12 cells also
      caused the redistribution of nuclear ACTN2 to the cytoplasm, which subcellular
      compartment the ACTN2 behaves as an unstable protein. Our data indicated that the
      model in which ACTN2 functions as a multi-talented coregulator may be controlled
      by the differential protein stability modulated via nucleo-cytoplasmic
      trafficking in C2C12 cells.

PMID- 20933606
TI  - Compilation and use of genetic toxicity historical control data.
AB  - The optimal use of historical control data for the interpretation of genotoxicity
      results was discussed at the 2009 International Workshop on Genotoxicity Testing
      (IWGT) in Basel, Switzerland. The historical control working group focused mainly
      on negative control data although positive control data were also considered to
      be important. Historical control data are typically used for comparison with the
      concurrent control data as part of the assay acceptance criteria. Historical
      control data are also important for providing evidence of the technical
      competence and familiarization of the assay at any given laboratory. Moreover,
      historical control data are increasingly being used to aid in the interpretation
      of genetic toxicity assay results. The objective of the working group was to
      provide generic advice for historical control data that could be applied to all
      assays rather than to give assay-specific recommendations. In brief, the
      recommendations include:

PMID- 20933607
TI  - Anti-aggregating effect of BAY 58-2667, an activator of soluble guanylyl cyclase.
AB  - The purpose of the present study was to determine whether an activator of soluble
      guanylyl cyclase (sGC), BAY 58-2667, inhibits platelet aggregation and to clarify
      its mechanism of action. Blood was collected from anesthetized WKY rats. The
      aggregation of washed platelet was measured and the production of cAMP and cGMP
      was determined. BAY 58-2667 produced a partial inhibition of the ADP- and
      collagen-induced platelet aggregation, but did not significantly affect thrombin
      induced aggregation. In ADP-induced platelet aggregation, the inhibitory effects
      of BAY 58-2667 were associated with an increased level of both cGMP and cAMP
      while that of the prostacyclin analogue, beraprost, was correlated only with an
      increase in cAMP. The inhibitor of sGC, ODQ, enhanced the effects of BAY 58-2667.
      The presence of L-nitroarginine, an inhibitor of NO-synthase, hydroxocobalamin, a
      scavenger of NO, or that of three different NO-donors did not affect the anti
      aggregating effect of BAY 58-2667. However, the anti-aggregating effects of
      beraprost were potentiated by BAY 58-2667. Therefore, the platelet inhibitory
      effects of BAY 58-2667 are associated with the generation of cGMP and a secondary
      increase in cAMP, both being totally NO-independent. When the sGC is oxidized,
      BAY 58-2667 becomes a relevant anti-aggregating agent, which synergizes with the
      cAMP-dependent pathway.

PMID- 20933608
TI  - Value of the signal-averaged electrocardiogram in arrhythmogenic right
      ventricular cardiomyopathy/dysplasia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy/dysplasia (ARVC/D) is
      an inherited disease that causes structural and functional abnormalities of the
      right ventricle (RV). The presence of late potentials as assessed by the signal
      averaged electrocardiogram (SAECG) is a minor task force criterion. OBJECTIVE:
      The purpose of this study was to examine the diagnostic and clinical value of the
      SAECG in a large population of genotyped ARVC/D probands. METHODS: We compared
      the SAECGs of 87 ARVC/D probands (age 37 +/- 13 years, 47 males) diagnosed as
      affected or borderline by task force criteria without using the SAECG criterion
      with 103 control subjects. The association of SAECG abnormalities was also
      correlated with clinical presentation, surface ECG, ventricular tachycardia (VT)
      inducibility at electrophysiologic testing, implantable cardioverter
      defibrillator therapy for VT, and RV abnormalities as assessed by cardiac
      magnetic resonance imaging (cMRI). RESULTS: Compared with controls, all three
      components of the SAECG were highly associated with the diagnosis of ARVC/D (P
      <.001). They include the filtered QRS duration (97.8 +/- 8.7 ms vs 119.6 +/- 23.8
      ms), low-amplitude signal (24.4 +/- 9.2 ms vs 46.2 +/- 23.7 ms), and root mean
      square amplitude of the last 40 ms of the QRS (50.4 +/- 26.9 MUV vs 27.9 +/- 36.3
      MUV). The sensitivity of using SAECG for diagnosis of ARVC/D was increased from
      47% using the established 2 of 3 criteria (i.e., late potentials) to 69% by using
      a modified criterion of any 1 of 3 criteria, while maintaining a high specificity
      of 95%. Abnormal SAECG as defined by this modified criterion was associated with
      a dilated RV volume and decreased RV ejection fraction detected by cMRI (P <.05).
      SAECG abnormalities did not vary with clinical presentation or reliably predict
      spontaneous or inducible VT and had limited correlation with ECG findings.
      CONCLUSION: Using 1 of 3 SAECG criteria contributed to increased sensitivity and
      specificity for the diagnosis of ARVC/D. This finding is incorporated in the
      recent modification of the task force criteria.

PMID- 20933609
TI  - Pleiotropic mutations in ion channels: what lies behind them?

PMID- 20933610
TI  - Evidence of intercontinental transfer of North American lineage avian influenza
      virus into Korea.
AB  - Avian influenza viruses (AIV) can be genetically distinguished by geographical
      origin. The present study found evidence of intercontinental transfer of North
      American lineage AIV into Asia via migratory bird populations. The North American
      lineage genes were detected in live animal markets during avian influenza
      surveillance, seemed to have reassorted with Eurasian AIV in wild bird habitats,
      and had transmitted to live animal markets. Enhanced AIV surveillance is required
      to understand the influence of newly transferred North American lineage AIV genes
      on AIV evolution in Asia and to investigate AIV ecology in various
      transcontinental migrant species.

PMID- 20933611
TI  - Genetic diversity and recombination at the C-terminal fragment of the merozoite
      surface protein-1 of Plasmodium vivax (PvMSP-1) in Sri Lanka.
AB  - Extensive polymorphism in the genes encoding for surface antigens of Plasmodium
      falciparum and Plasmodium vivax has been a serious impediment for malaria vaccine
      development. One such antigen is the merozoite surface protein-1 (MSP-1). The MSP
      1 precursor after proteolytic cleavage generates a C-terminal fragment of 42 kDa
      (MSP-1(42)), which subsequently produces 33 kDa (MSP-1(33)) and 19 kDa (MSP
      1(19)) fragments. Since MSP-1(42) is currently being considered as a candidate
      for vaccine development against blood stage malaria it is important to catalogue
      the existing diversity in this antigen in natural P. vivax infections. Here we
      investigated the level of genetic diversity in the PvMSP-1(42) gene fragment in
      95 single clone P. vivax infections in Sri Lanka. We observed that the PvMSP
      1(19) fragment was highly conserved among these samples, whereas the PvMSP-1(33)
      fragment exhibited extensive diversity with 39 polymorphic amino acid positions
      (corresponding to 27 haplotypes, 19 of which were unique to Sri Lanka). Of these
      27 PvMSP-1(42) haplotypes, 24 belonged to hypervariable region (HVR) T1-T7 types,
      while 3 haplotypes were generated by interallelic recombination between T1/T3
      (HVRT8-T9) and T2/T3 (HVRT10). In addition, we analysed 107 PvMSP-1(42) sequences
      (corresponding to 62 haplotypes, H28 to H89) deposited in the NCBI GenBank
      database from other regions of the world. Seventy-four of these correspond to 9
      of the 10 HVR types (HVR-T7 was unique to Sri Lanka). Two novel HVR types, T11
      and T12, with a double recombination between HVR-T1/T3 and HVRT6/T2, were derived
      from South America and Thailand, respectively. T cell epitope polymorphism
      arising due to non-synonymous substitutions in PvMSP-1(33) may result in
      differential binding of the polymorphic peptides to class II MHC alleles,
      inducing different host immune responses. In conclusion, under low transmission
      and unstable malaria conditions prevalent in Sri Lanka, extensive allelic
      polymorphism was evident at PvMSP-1(33) due to recombination, mutation, and
      balancing selection. In contrast, PvMSP-1(19) is highly conserved(,) greatly
      enhancing its suitability as a malaria vaccine candidate.

PMID- 20933612
TI  - Impact of age on T cell signaling: a general defect or specific alterations?
AB  - Decreased immune responsiveness associated with aging is generally termed
      "immunosenescence". Several theories have been proposed to explain age-related
      declines in immune responses. Here, we will focus on and describe potential
      defects in T cell signal transduction from the membrane to the nucleus, leading
      to changes in the type, intensity and duration of the response as a major factor
      contributing to immunosenescence. We will first detail T cell signaling through
      the T cell receptor (TCR), CD28 and IL-2 receptor (IL-2R) and then discuss the
      observed age-related alterations to these signaling pathways. The role of
      membrane rafts in T cell signaling and T cell aging will be described. These
      factors will be considered in the context of the notion that age-related changes
      to T cell signaling may be attributed to changes in the functionality of the T
      cells due to shifts in T cell subpopulations with age. For this reason, we
      conclude by highlighting the application of multiparametric signaling analysis in
      leukocyte subsets using flow cytometry as a means to obtain a clearer picture
      with respect to age-related changes to immune signaling.

PMID- 20933614
TI  - Historical perspectives on the discovery and elucidation of autoantibodies to
      centromere proteins (CENP) and the emerging importance of antibodies to CENP-F.
AB  - Autoantibodies to the centromere proteins (CENP), which are major constituents of
      the primary constriction of metaphase chromosomes, were first described in 1980.
      In those seminal publications and 30 years of research that have followed, a
      number of CENP have been identified as autoantibody targets in human diseases.
      Historically, autoantibodies directed to CENP-A, -B and -C have been considered
      relatively specific biomarkers for limited cutaneous systemic sclerosis (lcSSc)
      or the calcinosis, Raynaud's phenomenon, esophageal dysmotility, sclerodactyly,
      and telangiectasia (CREST) syndrome. These autoantibodies, found in up to 40% of
      SSc sera, can be identified by indirect immunofluorescence (IIF) on a variety of
      tissue culture cell lines as a discrete speckled staining pattern of both
      interphase nuclei and metaphase chromatin. Early in the investigation of anti
      CENP, it became apparent that some autoantibodies had a similar IIF pattern
      wherein as cells entered into the cell cycle, speckled staining of the metaphase
      chromatin could be observed but, unlike conventional CENP staining, interphase
      nuclei were not stained. Subsequent studies identified one of the targets of
      these autoantibodies to be CENP-F, a kinesin binding protein essential for
      completion of the cell cycle. Early clinical studies found that, unlike
      antibodies to the earlier described CENP, lcSSc rarely expressed anti-CENP-F and
      approximately 50% of these patients had a malignancy. This review provides a
      historical perspective of CENP autoantibodies and focuses on an update of the
      information on CENP-F and their clinical associations.

PMID- 20933615
TI  - Stimuli-responsive networks grafted onto polypropylene for the sustained delivery
      of NSAIDs.
AB  - Co-polymers of N-isopropyl acrylamide (NIPAAm) and N-(3-aminopropyl)
      methacrylamide hydrochloride (APMA) were grafted on polypropylene (PP) films by
      means of a gamma-ray pre-irradiation method, with the aim of developing medical
      devices able to load non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and to
      control their release under physiological conditions. The NIPAAm/APMA molar
      ratios in the grafts, estimated by Fourier transform infrared attenuated total
      reflection spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis, were 4.76
      and 1.23 for PP-g-(1M NIPAAm-r-0.5M APMA) and PP-g-(1M NIPAAm-r-1M APMA),
      respectively. By varying the reaction time, different degrees of grafting were
      achieved, while the monomer ratio was kept constant. PP-g-(NIPAAm-r-APMA) films
      showed temperature-responsive swelling, smaller friction coefficients, hemolysis
      and thrombogenicity and higher cell compatibility, did not elicit secretion of
      cytokines, and took up remarkable amounts of diclofenac and ibuprofen and
      sustained delivery for several hours in phosphate buffer, pH 7.4. Coating with
      carboxymethyl dextran of diclofenac-loaded PP-g-(NIPAAm-r-APMA) films caused a
      minor discharge of the drug but did not alter the drug release rate.

PMID- 20933616
TI  - A new approach to influence contact angle and surface free energy of resin-based
      dental restorative materials.
AB  - The purpose of the present study was to identify novel delivery systems and
      active agents which increase the water contact angle and reduce the surface free
      energy when added to resin-based dental restorative materials. Two delivery
      systems based on zeolite or novel polymeric hollow beads (Poly-Pore), loaded with
      two low surface tension active agents (hydroxy functional polydimethylsiloxane
      and polydimethylsiloxane) or a polymerizable active agent (silicone polyether
      acrylate) were used to modify commonly formulated experimental dental resin
      composites. The non-modified resin was used as a standard (ST). Flexural
      strength, flexural modulus, water sorption, solubility, polymerization shrinkage,
      surface roughness Ra, contact angle theta, total surface free energy gammaS, and
      the apolar gammaSLW, polar gammaSAB, Lewis acid gammaS+ and base gammaS-
      components, and the active agents surface tensions gammaL were determined
      (P<0.05). The active agents did not differ in gammaL. The modified materials had
      significantly higher theta but significantly lower gammaS, gammaSAB and gammaS-
      than the ST. A Poly-Pore/polydimethyl siloxane delivery system yielded the
      highest theta (110.9+/-3.5 degrees ) acceptable physical properties and the
      lowest values for gammaSLW and gammaS-. Among the modified materials the
      polymerizable materials containing active agents had the lowest gammaAB and the
      highest gammaS+ and gammaS-. Although not significant, both of the zeolite
      delivery systems yielded higher gammaSLW, gammaS+ and gammaS- but lower gammaSAB
      than the Poly-Pore delivery systems. Poly-Pore based delivery systems highly
      loaded with low surface tension active agents were found not to influence the
      physical properties but to significantly increase the water contact angle and
      thus reduce surface free energy of dental resin composites.

PMID- 20933613
TI  - Metallothionein and the biology of aging.
AB  - Metallothionein (MT) is a low molecular weight protein with anti-apoptotic
      properties that has been demonstrated to scavenge free radicals in vitro. MT has
      not been extensively investigated within the context of aging biology. The
      purpose of this review, therefore, is to discuss findings on MT that are relevant
      to basic aging mechanisms and to draw attention to the possible role of MT in pro
      longevity interventions. MT is one of just a handful of proteins that, when
      overexpressed, has been demonstrated to increase mouse lifespan. MT also protects
      against development of obesity in mice provided a high fat diet as well as diet
      induced oxidative stress damage. Abundance of MT is responsive to caloric
      restriction (CR) and inhibition of the insulin/insulin-like signaling (IIS)
      pathway, and elevated MT gene expression has been observed in tissues from fasted
      and CR-fed mice, long-lived dwarf mice, worms maintained under CR conditions, and
      long-lived daf-2 mutant worms. The dysregulation of MT in these systems is likely
      to have tissue-specific effects on aging outcomes. Further investigation will
      therefore be needed to understand how MT contributes to the response of
      invertebrates and mice to CR and the endocrine mutations studied by aging
      researchers.

PMID- 20933617
TI  - Green processing of porous chitin structures for biomedical applications
      combining ionic liquids and supercritical fluid technology.
AB  - The application of green chemistry principles in the processing of materials for
      advanced technologies is a steadily increasing field of research. In this work
      porous chitin-based materials were developed by combining the processing of
      chitin using ionic liquids (ILs) as a green solvent together with the use of
      supercritical fluid technology (SCF) as clean technology. Chitin was dissolved in
      1-butyl-3-imidazolium acetate, followed by regeneration of the polymer in ethanol
      in specific moulds. The IL was removed using Soxhlet extraction and successive
      steps of extraction with SCF using carbon dioxide/ethanol ratios of 50/50 and
      70/30. The developed porous chitin-based structures (ChIL) can be classified as
      mesoporous materials, with very low density and high porosity. The cytotoxicity
      of ChIL extracts was investigated using L929 fibroblast-like cells, and the
      results demonstrated that the produced materials have extremely low cytotoxicity
      levels. Therefore, the findings suggest that the porous chitin structures may be
      potential candidates for a number of biomedical applications, including tissue
      engineering.

PMID- 20933618
TI  - Large de novo deletion of 7p15.1 to 7p12.1 involving the imprinted gene GRB10
      associated with a complex phenotype including features of Beckwith Wiedemann
      syndrome.
AB  - We present an infant with a de novo cytogenetically visible interstitial deletion
      of approximately 21.9Mb involving chromosome bands 7p15.1-7p12.1, with the loss
      of 119 genes confirmed by array CGH. The infant had a ventricular septal defect,
      hand and skull anomalies, and hyperglycaemia compatible with haploinsufficiency
      of TBX20, GLI3, and GCK genes, respectively. In addition, the infant had some
      features reminiscent of Beckwith Wiedemann syndrome including macroglossia,
      umbilical hernia, and a relatively large birth weight and we speculate that this
      is due to the deletion of GRB10, an imprinted gene on chromosome 7. This report
      illustrates how knowledge of genes within a deleted interval facilitates optimal
      medical management, can explain observed phenotypes, and stimulates research
      questions.

PMID- 20933620
TI  - Ring chromosome 12 with inverted microduplication of 12p13.3 involving the Von
      Willebrand Factor gene associated with cryptogenic stroke in a young adult male.
AB  - We report a 35-year-old male with a ring chromosome 12 originally diagnosed 20
      years prior to presentation with an ischemic stroke. Array CGH analysis revealed
      a sub-microscopic microdeletion and microduplication within 12p13.3 and a
      microdeletion in 12q24.33. FISH analysis further revealed that the duplication
      was in an inverted orientation and included exons 35-52 of the dosage-sensitive
      Von Willebrand Factor (VWF) gene. Partial duplication of this gene, which has a
      role in the clotting cascade, suggests a potential mechanism for generating a pro
      thrombotic state that may have contributed to a premature cerebrovascular event.
      Evidence of raised VWF antigen levels and VWF activity levels in the highest
      quartile provides support for this hypothesis. This case illustrates that when a
      ring chromosome is identified, the possibility of cryptic genomic rearrangements
      needs to be considered as these may have implications in predicting natural
      history.

PMID- 20933619
TI  - Parental origin and functional relevance of a de novo UBE3A variant.
AB  - Sequence analysis of the imprinted UBE3A gene in a 3-year-old girl suspected of
      having Angelman syndrome had revealed a de novo 3bp in frame deletion predicted
      to encode a protein lacking the amino acid G538 (based on sequence NM_130838). In
      order to assess the clinical relevance of this unknown variant, we determined the
      parental origin and the functional consequences of the deletion. We separated the
      two chromosomes 15 by microdissection of metaphase spreads and used cytogenetic
      and molecular markers to demonstrate that the deletion is on the maternal
      chromosome. For determining the functional consequences of the deletion, we
      modelled the structure of the deletion mutant based on the wildtype X-ray
      structure and simulated the molecular dynamics of the wildtype and mutant protein
      in complex with UcbH7. Our simulations showed that deletion of G538 destroys a
      network of salt bridges between highly conserved residues in the catalytic cleft
      of UBE3A. In conclusion, our results strongly suggest that the 3bp deletion is a
      loss-of-function mutation of the maternal UBE3A allele that has caused Angelman
      syndrome in our patient. Our study may serve as a paradigm to determine the
      parental origin of a de novo mutation.

PMID- 20933621
TI  - A de novo 12q13.11 microdeletion in a patient with severe mental retardation,
      cleft palate, and high myopia.
AB  - We report a de novo 12q13.11 deletion of 1.3 Mb in an 10-year-old dysmorphic girl
      with a multiple congenital anomalies/mental retardation (MCA/MR) syndrome
      consisting mainly of severe mental retardation, cleft palate, and high myopia.
      The deleted region encompasses 16 RefSeq genes. Among these, it is hypothesized
      that haploinsufficiency of AMIGO2 is potentially responsible for the mental
      retardation of this patient, and of COL2A1 for the cleft palate and high myopia.

PMID- 20933623
TI  - Today's molecular biological research.

PMID- 20933622
TI  - pH catalyzed pretreatment of corn bran for enhanced enzymatic arabinoxylan
      degradation.
AB  - Corn bran is mainly made up of the pericarp of corn kernels and is a byproduct
      stream resulting from the wet milling step in corn starch processing. Through
      statistic modeling this study examined the optimization of pretreatment of corn
      bran for enzymatic hydrolysis. A low pH pretreatment (pH 2, 150  degrees C, 65
      min) boosted the enzymatic release of xylose and glucose and maximized biomass
      solubilization. With more acidic pretreatment followed by enzymatic hydrolysis
      the total xylose release was maximized (at pH 1.3) reaching ~ 50% by weight of
      the original amount present in destarched corn bran, but the enzyme catalyzed
      xylose release was maximal after pretreatment at approx. pH 2. The total glucose
      release peaked after pretreatment of approx. pH 1.5 with an enzymatic release of
      approx. 68% by weight of the original amounts present in destarched corn bran.
      For arabinose the enzymatic release was negatively affected by the acidic
      pretreatment as labile arabinosyl-linkages were presumably hydrolysed directly
      during the pretreatment. A maximum of 60% arabinose release was achieved directly
      from the optimal (acidic) pretreatment. The total content of diferulic acids,
      supposedly involved in the cross-linking of the arabinoxylan polymers, decreased
      by both alkaline and acidic pretreatment pH, with the loss by alkaline
      pretreatments being highest. No direct correlation between the enzymatic release
      of xylose and the content of diferulic acids in the substrate could be verified.
      On the contrary the enzymatic release of xylose was significantly correlated to
      the total release of arabinose, indicating that the degree of arabinosyl
      substitutions on the xylan backbone is an essential parameter for enzymatic
      hydrolysis of corn bran arabinoxylan.

PMID- 20933624
TI  - Involvement of low molecular mass soluble acyl-CoA-binding protein in seed oil
      biosynthesis.
AB  - Acyl-CoA-binding protein (ACBP), a low molecular mass (m) (~ 10 kDa) soluble
      protein ubiquitous in eukaryotes, plays an important housekeeping role in lipid
      metabolism by maintaining the intracellular acyl-CoA pool. ACBP is involved in
      lipid biosynthesis and transport, gene expression, and membrane biogenesis. In
      plants, low m ACBP and high m ACBPs participate in response mechanisms to biotic
      and abiotic factors, acyl-CoA transport in phloem, and biosynthesis of structural
      and storage lipids. In light of current research on the modification of seed oil,
      insight into mechanisms of substrate trafficking within lipid biosynthetic
      pathways is crucial for developing rational strategies for the production of
      specialty oils with the desired alterations in fatty acid composition. In this
      review, we summarize our knowledge of plant ACBPs with emphasis on the role of
      low m ACBP in seed oil biosynthesis, based on in vitro studies and analyses of
      transgenic plants. Future prospects and possible applications of low m ACBP in
      seed oil modification are discussed.

PMID- 20933625
TI  - Cytoprotective and anti-inflammatory effects of spinasterol via the induction of
      heme oxygenase-1 in murine hippocampal and microglial cell lines.
AB  - Spinasterol, which is isolated from the aerial parts of Aster scaber Thunb.
      (Asteraceae), is involved in various biological activities. In this study, we
      report the efficacy of spinasterol in effectively modulating the regulation of
      antioxidative and anti-inflammatory activity through the upregulation of heme
      oxygenase (HO)-1 in murine hippocampal HT22 cells and BV2 microglia. We showed
      that spinasterol increased the cellular resistance of HT22 cells to oxidative
      injury caused by the glutamate-induced cytotoxicity by extracellular signal
      regulated kinase (ERK) pathway-dependent expression of HO-1. Furthermore,
      spinasterol suppressed the lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced expression of pro
      inflammatory enzymes and inflammatory mediators in BV2 microglia. Spinasterol
      also suppressed the production of nitric oxide (NO), prostaglandin E2 (PGE2),
      tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), and interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta) through
      extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) pathway-dependent expression of HO-1.
      These results suggest that spinasterol has a therapeutic potential against
      neurodegenerative diseases that are caused by oxidative stress and
      neuroinflammation.

PMID- 20933626
TI  - Expression of complement and pentraxin proteins in acute phase response elicited
      by tumor photodynamic therapy: the engagement of adrenal hormones.
AB  - Treatment of solid tumors by photodynamic therapy (PDT) was recently shown to
      trigger a strong acute phase response. Using the mouse Lewis lung carcinoma (LLC)
      model, the present study examined complement and pentraxin proteins as PDT
      induced acute phase reactants. The results show a distinct pattern of changes in
      the expression of genes encoding these proteins in the tumor, as well as host
      liver and spleen, following PDT mediated by photosensitizer PhotofrinTM. These
      changes were influenced by glucocorticoid hormones, as evidenced by
      transcriptional activation of glucocorticoid receptor and the upregulation of
      gene encoding this receptor. The expression of gene for glucocorticoid-induced
      zipper (GILZ) protein, whose activity is particularly susceptible to
      glucocorticoid regulation, was also changed in PDT-treated tumors. A direct
      demonstration that tumor PDT induces glucocorticoid hormone upregulation is
      provided by documenting elevated levels of serum corticosterone in mice bearing
      PDT-treated LLC tumors. Tumor response to PDT was negatively affected by blocking
      glucocorticoid receptor activity, which suggests that glucocorticoid hormones
      have a positive impact on the therapeutic outcome with this therapy.

PMID- 20933627
TI  - Human malignant glioma cells expressing functional formylpeptide receptor recruit
      endothelial progenitor cells for neovascularization.
AB  - Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) are involved in tumor neovascularization with
      undefined mechanisms. In this study, we explored the role of formylpeptide
      receptor, a G protein-coupled receptor, expressed by human malignant glioma cells
      in neovascularization of malignant glioma. EPCs were isolated from human
      umbilical cord blood and their migratory capability and tubulogenesis induced by
      the supernatant of U87 glioblastoma (GBM) cell line were examined. We also
      assessed the recruitment and incorporation of EPCs into orthotopic intracranial
      tumors formed by implanted U87 GBM cells. The supernatant of control U87 cells
      induced high levels of migration and tubule-formation in vitro by EPCs. In
      contrast, the chemotactic and tubule-stimulating activities on EPCs in the
      supernatant of U87 cells with FPR knocking down by small interference (si) RNA
      were significantly attenuated. In addition, the number of EPCs recruited and
      incorporated into intracranial glioma xenografts was significantly higher in
      tumors formed by control U87 cells than tumors formed by U87 cells containing FPR
      siRNA. Our results suggest that expression of functional FPR in glioma cells
      plays an important role in regulating vasculogenesis by EPCs, which constitute a
      novel target for anti-angiogenic therapy in gliomas.

PMID- 20933639
TI  - Radiation-reduction strategies in cardiac computed tomographic angiography.
AB  - Ionizing radiation has long been known to increase the risk of cancer. X-rays and
      gamma-rays are officially classified as a carcinogen by the World Health
      Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer.(1) Of the 5 billion
      imaging investigations performed worldwide two-thirds employ ionizing
      radiation.(2) Diagnostic x-rays are the largest man-made source of radiation
      exposure to the general population, and computed tomography (CT) represents the
      largest proportion of these.(3) Diagnostic CT has seen a dramatic increase in
      applications in the last two decades, not least in the higher dose applications.
      Whilst the increased use of CT has undoubtedly been of patient benefit, it
      inevitably will be associated with an increase in malignancy due to medical
      exposure. In fact a recent study from the USA has estimated that the CT
      examinations performed in 2007 could result in 29,000 future cancers based on
      current risk estimations.(4) Whilst the numbers in the UK will be less (only 4
      million examinations are performed compared to 70 million), it is clear that it
      is the responsibility of all radiologists to carefully examine their CT
      techniques and protocols with the aim to reduce the dose of examinations without
      compromising their accuracy. Cardiac computed tomographic angiography (CTA)
      initially was a very high dose application. However, both clinicians and CT
      system manufacturers have done a large amount of work to reduce dose. Dramatic
      changes have been achieved and the aim of this review is to highlight these.
      However, such developments are not exclusively applicable to cardiac CTA and many
      can be utilized in CT in general.

PMID- 20933640
TI  - Comparison of image quality and lens dose in helical and sequentially acquired
      head CT.
AB  - AIM: To prospectively compare helical and traditional sequential acquisition of
      computed tomography (CT) images of the head with respect to lens dose, thyroid
      dose, and image quality. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients undergoing non-emergency
      unenhanced CT examinations of the head were prospectively randomized to
      sequential or helical multidetector CT (MDCT) acquisition. Lens dose and thyroid
      dose were measured directly using a MOSFET (metal oxide field effect transistor)
      system. The quality of images at the level of the basal ganglia and the posterior
      fossa were assessed by two neuroradiologists on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (very
      good), with respect to grey-white matter conspicuity and posterior fossa artefact
      respectively. RESULTS: The lens dose was significantly higher for the sequential
      technique than the helical technique (61.5+/-12.9 mGy versus 43.5+/-4.3 mGy;
      p<0.0001). The thyroid dose was not significantly different (1.6+/-0. 6 mGy
      versus 2.1+/-0.6 mGy; p=0.8). The sequential technique was ranked higher than the
      helical technique with respect to the basal ganglia image for overall quality and
      grey-white matter conspicuity, but the majority of images in both groups were
      rated good or excellent. Posterior fossa images showed more artefacts on the
      sequential images than the helical technique images. Signal-to-noise ratios for
      grey and white matter were better using the sequential technique. CONCLUSIONS:
      Helically acquired head CT images using 16 and 64 section MDCT are of comparable
      quality to sequential acquisition, have reduced posterior fossa artefacts and
      approximately two-thirds of the lens dose.

PMID- 20933641
TI  - Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging reveals the effects of different
      cooling temperatures on the diffusion of water molecules and perfusion within
      human skeletal muscle.
AB  - AIM: To evaluate the effect of local cooling on the diffusion of water molecules
      and perfusion within muscle at different cooling temperatures. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: Magnetic resonance diffusion-weighted (DW) images of the leg (seven
      males) were obtained before and after 30 min cooling (0, 10, and 20 degrees C),
      and after a 30 min recovery period. Two types of apparent diffusion coefficient
      (ADC; ADC1, reflecting both water diffusion and perfusion within muscle, and
      ADC2, approximating the true water diffusion coefficient) of the ankle
      dorsiflexors were calculated from DW images. T2-weighted images were also
      obtained to calculate T2 values of the ankle dorsiflexors. The skin temperature
      was measured before, during, and after cooling. RESULTS: Both ADC values
      significantly decreased after cooling under all cooling conditions; the rate of
      decrease depended on the cooling temperature used (ADC1: -36% at 0 degrees C, 
      27.8% at 10 degrees C, and -22.6% at 20 degrees C; ADC2: -26% at 0 degrees C, 
      21.1% at 10 degrees C, and -14.6% at 20 degrees C). These significant decreases
      were maintained during the recovery period. Conversely, the T2 value showed no
      significant changes. Under all cooling conditions, skin temperature significantly
      decreased during cooling; the rate of decrease depended on the cooling
      temperature used (-74.8% at 0 degrees C, -51.1% at 10 degrees C, and -26.8% at 20
      degrees C). Decreased skin temperatures were not restored to pre-cooling values
      during the recovery period under any cooling conditions. CONCLUSION: Local
      cooling decreased the water diffusion and perfusion within muscle with decreased
      skin temperature; the rates of decrease depended on the cooling temperature used.
      These decreases were maintained for 30 min after cooling.

PMID- 20933642
TI  - Management benefits and safety of computed tomography in patients undergoing
      extracorporeal membrane oxygenation therapy: experience of a single centre.
AB  - AIM: To evaluate the benefits and logistical safety of computed tomography (CT)
      imaging in patients undergoing extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) therapy
      in a single institution. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Over a period of 25 months, 134
      patients (80 neonates, 19 children, and 35 adults) underwent ECMO therapy at this
      institution. The imaging of these patients was reviewed to identify patients who
      had undergone CT imaging whilst on ECMO. Patient notes were retrospectively
      reviewed. CT findings and subsequent decisions were analysed to assess the
      benefit of CT imaging. Complications arising due to the logistics of performing
      the scan were analysed to assess the safety of performing CT in ECMO patients.
      RESULTS: Of 134 patients, 14 (10%) had a total of 15 CT examinations whilst
      undergoing ECMO therapy. Indications for CT included new neurology, increased
      respiratory demand, and increasing requirement for high ECMO flows. There were no
      major complications and two minor complications associated with the logistics of
      performing a CT examination on an ECMO patient. Significant findings resulted
      from 73.3% (11/15) of the CT examinations, and in all 15 examinations information
      was provided that was used in making further management decisions, including, in
      some cases, withdrawal of ECMO therapy. CONCLUSION: With an experienced team, CT
      imaging of patients on ECMO can be performed safely. CT provides valuable
      information for subsequent management of patients undergoing ECMO therapy.

PMID- 20933643
TI  - A prospective study to compare the diagnostic performance of breast elastography
      versus conventional breast ultrasound.
AB  - AIM: To compare the diagnostic performance of breast elastography versus
      conventional ultrasound in the assessment of breast lesions. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: The study was approved by the hospital's institutional review board. A
      prospective study involving 99 consecutive women who gave informed consent were
      enrolled from September 2007 to March 2008. One hundred and ten breast lesions
      were evaluated separately by conventional ultrasound, elastography and combined
      conventional ultrasound with elastography. Ultrasound assessment was based on the
      BIRADS classification, whereas elastographic assessment was based on strain
      pattern and the elastographic size ratios. Histological diagnosis was used as the
      reference standard. The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of each technique
      were compared. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 46.7 years. Twenty-six
      lesions were malignant and 84 were benign. Sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy
      were 88.5, 42.9 and 53.6%, respectively, for conventional ultrasound, 100, 73.8,
      and 80%, respectively, for elastography, and 88.5, 78.6, and 80.9%, respectively,
      for combined imaging. The specificity and accuracy of elastography and combined
      imaging were significantly better than that of conventional ultrasound
      (p<0.0001), whereas there was no statistically significant difference in the
      sensitivity between all three groups. Two-thirds (66.7%) of sonographic false
      positive lesions had benign elastogram findings, which might have been spared
      from biopsy. CONCLUSION: This initial experience with ultrasound breast
      elastography showed that it was more specific and more accurate than conventional
      ultrasound. Combining elastography with ultrasound improved specificity and
      accuracy of ultrasound and can potentially reduce unnecessary breast biopsies.

PMID- 20933644
TI  - Impact of anatomical variations of the circle of Willis on the incidence of
      aneurysms and their recurrence rate following endovascular treatment.
AB  - AIM: To analyse the impact of anatomical variations of the parent arteries on the
      incidence and recurrence rate following coil embolization of aneurysms of the
      anterior (AcoA), posterior communicating artery (PcoA) and basilar artery (BA)
      tip. METHODS: Two hundred and two (96 AcoA, 67 PcoA, and 29 BA) aneurysms in 200
      patients were treated with coil embolization between January 2000 and April 2008.
      Parent artery variations at each location were classified as: AcoA: A1 aplasia
      versus hypoplasia versus symmetrical size; PcoA: foetal origin versus medium
      versus small size, BA: cranial versus caudal versus asymmetrical fusion. The
      incidence of aneurysms and difference between recurrence rates for each group
      were recorded on follow-up. RESULTS: AcoA, PcoA, and BA aneurysms were more often
      associated with embryonically earlier vessel wall dispositions (A1 aplasia,
      foetal PcoA, asymmetrical fusion). Two of these variations were also associated
      with aneurysm recurrence following coil embolization: asymmetrical A1 segment
      (p=0.01), and asymmetrical BA tip (p=0.02). CONCLUSIONS: AcoA, PcoA, and BA tip
      aneurysms tend to occur more often in anatomically variant parent artery
      dispositions, some of which are related to aneurysm recurrence following coil
      embolization. This may relate to a more fragile vessel disposition as it is not
      fully matured or to altered haemodynamics secondary to the anatomical variations.

PMID- 20933645
TI  - Diagnostic accuracy of magnetic resonance imaging versus computed tomography in
      stress fractures of the lumbar spine.
AB  - AIM: To compare the diagnostic accuracy of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with
      computed tomography (CT) in stress fractures of the lumbar spine. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: Radiological and clinical data from 57 adolescents and young adults with
      a diagnosis of stress injury of the lumbar spine were retrospectively reviewed.
      All cases had undergone both 1.5 T MRI and 16-section CT examinations. All MRI
      and CT images were retrospectively reviewed and evaluated in separate sessions.
      The fracture morphology (complete/incomplete, localization) and vertebral levels
      were noted at both the CT and MRI examinations. Bone marrow/peri-osseous soft
      tissue oedema was also determined at MRI. RESULTS: In total, 73 complete and 32
      incomplete stress fractures were detected with CT. Sixty-seven complete, 24
      incomplete fractures and eight stress reactions were detected using MRI in the
      same study group. Marrow oedema was also seen in eight of the complete and 20 of
      the incomplete fractures. The specificity, sensitivity, and accuracy of MRI in
      detecting fracture lines were 99.6, 86.7, and 97.2%, respectively. MRI was more
      accurate at the lower lumbar levels in comparison to upper lumbar levels.
      CONCLUSION: MRI has a similar diagnostic accuracy to CT in determining complete
      fractures with or without accompanying marrow oedema and incomplete fractures
      with accompanying marrow oedema, especially at the lower lumbar levels, which
      constitutes 94% of all fractures. At upper lumbar levels and in the incomplete
      fractures of the pars interarticularis with marked surrounding sclerosis, MRI has
      apparent limitations compared to CT imaging.

PMID- 20933646
TI  - Two- and three-dimensional reformatted computed tomography imaging analysis of
      the lumbosacropelvic structure in degenerative anterolisthesis.
AB  - AIM: To evaluate the differences in the lumbosacropelvic structure between normal
      individuals and those with pseudospondylolisthesis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The
      renal stone protocol abdominal CT images of 452 patients were retrospectively
      analysed. Twenty individuals who had degenerative anterolisthesis at the L5-S1
      level were included in the study. Moreover, a control group of individuals was
      formed, similar in age and gender to the study group. A number of linear and
      angular lumbosacral morphological parameters were evaluated using two- and three
      dimensionally reformatted CT images. The data of the two groups were compared
      using the t-test and Mann-Whitney U-test. RESULTS: There was an association
      between spondylolisthesis and decreased thickness of the transverse process
      (p=0.01), the height of the iliac crest (p=0.028), lumbar angle (p=0.041), sacral
      table angle (p=0.033), sacral table index (p=0.0001), sacral kyphosis (p=0.025),
      sacral slope (p=0.007), and width of the transverse process (p=0.038), and
      increased transverse articular dimension of the facet joint (p=0.003), axial
      angle of the facet joint (p=0.002), sagittal angle of the facet joint (p=0.012),
      S1 vertebra interfacet index (p=0.003), the distance between the L5 vertebral
      transverse process and the iliac crest (p=0.003), pelvic incidence (p=0.016), L5
      vertebra posterior angle (p=0.001), and intersacroiliac joint angle (p=0.024).
      CONCLUSION: The lumbosacropelvic morphology in patients with degenerative
      spondylolisthesis is quite different from that of normal individuals. These
      abnormalities should be revealed using imaging methods as they can be defining
      for pseudospondylolisthesis development and have important effects on therapy
      planning.

PMID- 20933647
TI  - Comparison of multi-echo and single-echo gradient-recalled echo sequences for
      SPIO-enhanced liver MRI at 3 T.
AB  - AIM: To assess the utility of a T2*-weighted, multi-echo data imaging combination
      sequenced on superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPIO)-enhanced liver magnetic
      resonance imaging (MRI) using a 3 T system. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fifty patients
      underwent SPIO-enhanced MRI at 3 T using T2*-weighted, single-echo, gradient
      recalled echo (GRE) sequences [fast imaging with steady precession; repetition
      time (TR)/echo time (TE), 126 ms/9 ms; flip angle, 30 degrees ] and multi-echo
      GRE (multi-echo data image combination) sequences (TR/TE, 186 ms/9 ms; flip
      angle, 30 degrees ). Three radiologists independently reviewed the images in a
      random order. The sensitivity and accuracy for the detection of focal hepatic
      lesions (a total of 76 lesions in 33 patients; 48 solid lesions, 28 non-solid
      lesions) were compared by analysing the area under the receiver operating
      characteristic curves. Image artefacts (flow artefacts, susceptibility artefacts,
      dielectric artefacts, and motion artefacts), lesion conspicuity, and overall
      image quality were evaluated according to a four-point scale: 1, poor; 2, fair;
      3, good; 4, excellent. The signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and contrast-to-noise
      ratio (CNR) of the lesions were compared. RESULTS: Image artefacts were more
      frequent with single-echo GRE (p<0.05). The mean scale of image quality
      assessment for flow, susceptibility, dielectric, and motion artefacts were 2.76,
      3.13, 3.42, and 2.89 with single-echo, respectively, compared with 3.47, 3.43,
      3.47, and 3.39, respectively, with multi-echo GRE. There was no significant
      difference in lesion conspicuity between single-echo (3.15) and multi-echo (3.30)
      GRE sequences. The overall image quality was significantly (p<0.05) better with
      multi-echo (3.37) than with single-echo GRE (2.89). The mean SNR and CNR of the
      lesions were significantly (p<0.05) higher on multi-echo (79+/-23 and 128+/-59,
      respectively) images than on single-echo (38+/-11 and 102+/-44, respectively)
      images. Lesion detection accuracy and sensitivity were not significantly
      different between the two sequences. Mean accuracies and sensitivities were 0.864
      and 0.785 for single-echo and 0.847 and 0.785 for multi-echo GRE, respectively.
      CONCLUSION: At 3 T, the T2*-weighted, multi-echo data image combination sequence
      performs comparably to the T2*-weighted, single-echo GRE sequence for SPIO
      enhanced MRI with good overall image quality and a decrease in undesired
      artefacts.

PMID- 20933648
TI  - CT in predicting abdominal cocoon in patients on peritoneal dialysis.
AB  - AIM: To evaluate the computed tomography (CT) signs of encapsulating peritoneal
      sclerosis (EPS) in patients on peritoneal dialysis (PD) as predictive factors for
      the evolution to abdominal cocoon (AC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Clinical features
      and CT signs of 90 patients on PD were retrospectively reviewed. According to the
      clinical features, they were divided into three groups (asymptomatic, moderate,
      or severe). Clinical results were correlated with previously reported CT signs of
      EPS, i.e., peritoneal thickening, peritoneal calcifications, loculated fluids,
      small bowel faeces sign, small bowel obstruction, clustered bowel loops, pseudo
      sac, signs of bowel ischaemia or necrosis. AC was defined at CT by the
      association of clustered bowel loops and a pseudo sac. Statistical analysis was
      performed using the Fisher's exact test and the t-test. RESULTS: Although
      demonstrated in symptomatic patients (p=0.041), the occurrence of AC was not
      correlated with the severity of the symptoms (p=0.16). Among the CT signs, the
      presence of loculated fluids (p=0.011), a small bowel faeces sign (p=0.002); and
      small bowel obstruction (p=0.0001) were found to be statistically correlated with
      the appearance of an AC. Moreover, the association of loculated fluids, small
      bowel faeces sign, small bowel obstruction was extremely sensitive and specific
      in the development of AC (sensitivity=67%, specifity=100%, positive predictive
      value=100%, negative predictive value=96%). CONCLUSION: CT should be carried out
      in every symptomatic patient on PD. Indeed, the association of loculated fluid,
      small bowel faeces sign, and small bowel obstruction enables the prediction of
      the development of AC, which is likely to curtail PD and require surgery.

PMID- 20933649
TI  - Complications of myocardial infarction on multidetector-row computed tomography
      of chest.
AB  - Myocardial infarction (MI) secondary to coronary artery disease remains the
      leading cause of death in the western world. The advent of early reperfusion
      therapy has substantially decreased in-hospital mortality and has improved the
      outcome in survivors of the acute phase of MI. Complications of MI include
      ischaemic, mechanical, arrhythmic, embolic and inflammatory disturbances.
      Although some of these complications may be infrequent, their importance is
      underscored because of the potential ability to correct them with early diagnosis
      and appropriate treatment. The majority of these complications will be detected
      on clinical examination and confirmed by echocardiography. Some patients may
      undergo non-electrocardiogram (ECG)-gated thoracic multidetector-row computed
      tomography (MDCT) due to non-specific presentation. In this group, it is
      imperative for the radiologist to be aware of and be confident in diagnosing the
      complications secondary to MI. This review illustrates the spectrum and imaging
      features of acute and chronic complications of MI that can be visualized on both
      ECG-gated cardiac and non-ECG-gated thoracic MDCT.

PMID- 20933650
TI  - The imaging of conditions affecting the cavernous sinus.
AB  - The cavernous sinus can be affected by a wide range of conditions including
      tumours, infection, inflammation, and trauma. Disease in the cavernous sinus can
      produce characteristic signs and symptoms, which relate to the numerous crucial
      structures traversing and surrounding the cavernous sinus. Imaging, with the use
      of different techniques, plays a crucial role in diagnosis and management. The
      anatomy and imaging of the different disease entities in the cavernous sinus will
      be reviewed.

PMID- 20933651
TI  - Giant cell carcinoma of the mediastinum: computed tomography findings.

PMID- 20933652
TI  - Phraseology of disk herniation: an inevitable revision.

PMID- 20933653
TI  - The role of the percutaneous biopsy in the evolving diagnosis and treatment of
      lung cancer.

PMID- 20934075
TI  - Publish or perish: The stature of nursing worldwide.

PMID- 20934074
TI  - Inflammation, coronary artery calcification and cardiovascular events in incident
      renal transplant recipients.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Coronary artery calcification (CAC) predicts cardiovascular events in
      the general population. We conducted a prospective study to determine if
      inflammatory markers were predictive of CAC and if CAC predicted cardiovascular
      events and mortality in incident renal transplant recipients. METHODS: A
      prospective cohort of 112 asymptomatic incident renal transplant recipients who
      had no prior history of coronary artery revascularization or myocardial
      infarction had coronary calcifications measured early post-transplant and at
      least 18 months later by Agatston score and volume method. RESULTS: The mean CAC
      score was 367.7 (682.3). Inflammatory markers such as WBC and CRP were predictive
      of CAC severity. Recipients with cardiovascular events (n=11) or death (n=12)
      during the follow-up period had higher mean [675.1 (669.3) vs. 296.8 (669.0),
      p=0.02] and median [434.8 vs. 28.9, p=0.01] CAC score compared to those without
      them. Recipients with CAC score less than 100 had a better cumulative survival
      rate compared to the recipients with CAC score greater than 100 [95.1% vs. 82.3%,
      p=0.03]. We found a significant unadjusted and adjusted association between CAC
      score and cardiovascular events and mortality. A quarter (25.9%) of recipients
      had CAC progression. Coronary calcification progression also predicted
      cardiovascular events and mortality after adjustment for diabetes and dialysis
      vintage. CONCLUSION: CAC is prevalent in renal recipients and is predictive of
      cardiovascular events and mortality. Coronary calcification progression is common
      and predict clinical outcomes. Inflammatory markers are predictive of CAC
      severity at time of transplant, but are not predictive of future cardiovascular
      event or mortality.

PMID- 20934076
TI  - Making the case for nursing workforce diversity.

PMID- 20934077
TI  - Safe practice of population-focused nursing care: Development of a public health
      nursing concept.
AB  - Patient safety, a cornerstone of quality nursing care in most healthcare
      organizations, has not received attention in the specialty of public health
      nursing, owing to the conceptual challenges of applying this individual level
      concept to populations. Public health nurses (PHNs), by definition, provide
      population-focused care. Safe practice of population-focused nursing care
      involves preventing errors that would affect the health of entire populations and
      communities. The purpose of this article is to conceptually develop the public
      health nursing concept of safe practice of population-focused care and calls for
      related research. Key literature on patient safety is reviewed. Concepts applying
      to population-focused care are organized based on Donabedian's Framework.
      Structural, operational and system failures and process errors of omission and
      commission can occur at the population level of practice and potentially
      influence outcomes for population-patients. Practice, research and policy
      implications are discussed. Safe PHN population-focused practice deserves
      attention.

PMID- 20934078
TI  - The impact of teamwork on missed nursing care.
AB  - Previous studies have shown that missed nursing care is a significant problem in
      acute care hospitals. Other studies have demonstrated that teamwork is a critical
      element in assuring patient safety and quality of care. The purpose of this study
      was to determine if the level of nursing teamwork impacts the extent and nature
      of missed nursing care. A sample of 2 216 nursing staff members on 50 acute care
      patient care units in 4 hospitals completed the Nursing Teamwork Survey and the
      MISSCARE Survey. The response rate was 59.7%. Controlling for occupation of staff
      members (eg, RN/LPN, NA) and staff characteristics (eg, education, shift worked,
      experience, etc), teamwork alone accounted for about 11% of missed nursing care.
      The results of this study show that the level of nursing teamwork impacts the
      nature and extent of missed nursing care. The study results point to a need to
      invest in methods of enhancing teamwork in these settings.

PMID- 20934080
TI  - Building bridges: an innovative academic-service partnership.
AB  - Academic and service entities can create sustainable models of collaboration that
      realign relationships and resources to enhance the critical competencies
      essential for entry into practice. Our hospital and school collaborated to
      implement an innovative academic-service partnership model in which the academic
      and the care delivery enterprises intersected to accomplish goals of mutual
      interest and enhance and enrich the practice environment. Two existing resources
      the staff nurse and faculty-were used to realign the educational process with the
      realities of nursing practice in an interpretive, contextual, live unfolding
      clinical environment that was relevant and memorable. The students were better
      integrated into the clinical operations and showed increased levels of critical
      thinking, clinical decision-making, and clinical inquiry skills. The model holds
      promise to improve transition to practice, make better use of existing resources,
      and foster collaborative relationships among the academic, practice, and
      regulatory enterprises.

PMID- 20934079
TI  - A conceptual model of childhood adaptation to type 1 diabetes.
AB  - The Childhood Adaptation Model to Chronic Illness: Diabetes Mellitus was
      developed to identify factors that influence childhood adaptation to type 1
      diabetes (T1D). Since this model was proposed, considerable research has been
      completed. The purpose of this article is to update the model on childhood
      adaptation to T1D using research conducted since the original model was proposed.
      The framework suggests that, in individuals and families, characteristics such as
      age and socioeconomic status as well as the individuals' and families' responses
      (self-management, coping, self-efficacy, family functioning, social competence)
      influence the level of adaptation; in children with T1D, characteristics such as
      treatment modality (pump vs injections) and psychosocial responses (depressive
      symptoms and anxiety) also influence the level of adaptation. Adaptation has both
      physiologic (metabolic control) and psychosocial (Quality of Life [QOL])
      components. This revised model provides greater specificity to the factors that
      influence adaptation to chronic illness in children. Research and clinical
      implications are discussed.

PMID- 20934081
TI  - Learning and engagement with a virtual community by undergraduate nursing
      students.
AB  - Virtual communities are an emerging innovative teaching application in nursing
      education. The purpose of this multisite study was to examine variables
      associated with student-perceived benefits and utility among undergraduate
      nursing students using a virtual community. The study involved 350 student
      participants enrolled in 5 baccalaureate nursing programs using a virtual
      community. Data were collected using surveys, with a descriptive and comparative
      approach for data analysis. The relationship between the use of the virtual
      community and perceived benefits among learners was substantial: r = .416 (318),
      p = .000. The utility scale scores were higher among white/Asian students
      compared with minority students (t = .219, df = 330, p = .03), but there was no
      difference among students reporting frequent program use. Engagement was greater
      among minority students than white/Asian among students reporting frequent
      program use (F = 2.40 [4308], p = .05). Frequency of virtual community use in
      nursing education appears to be linked to positive learner benefits and
      engagement. Further research related to learning outcomes associated with virtual
      community use is needed in nursing education and practice.

PMID- 20934082
TI  - Creating a healthier tomorrow through research, practice, and policy.

PMID- 20934083
TI  - Introduction to the special issue--the Middle Stone Age at Pinnacle Point site
      13B, a coastal cave near Mossel Bay (Western Cape Province, South Africa).

PMID- 20934084
TI  - The stratigraphy of the Middle Stone Age sediments at Pinnacle Point Cave 13B
      (Mossel Bay, Western Cape Province, South Africa).
AB  - Pinnacle Point Cave 13B (PP13B) has provided the earliest archaeological evidence
      for the exploitation of marine shellfish, along with very early evidence for use
      and modification of pigments and the production of bladelets, all dated to
      approximately 164 ka (Marean et al., 2007). This makes PP13B a key site in
      studies of the origins of modern humans, one of a handful of sites in Africa
      dating to Marine Isotope Stage 6 (MIS 6), and the only site on the coast of South
      Africa with human occupation confidently dated to MIS 6. Along with this MIS 6
      occupation there are rich archaeological sediments dated to MIS 5, and together
      these sediments are differentially preserved in three different areas of the
      cave. The sediments represent a complex palimpsest of geogenic, biogenic, and
      anthropogenic input and alteration that are described and interpreted through the
      use of a variety of macrostratigraphic, micromorphologic, and geochemical
      techniques. Three independent dating techniques allow us to constrain the age
      range of these sediments and together provide the stratigraphic context for the
      analyses of the material that follow in this special issue.

PMID- 20934085
TI  - Site formation processes at Pinnacle Point Cave 13B (Mossel Bay, Western Cape
      Province, South Africa): resolving stratigraphic and depositional complexities
      with micromorphology.
AB  - Site PP13B is a cave located on the steep cliffs of Pinnacle Point near Mossel
      Bay in Western Cape Province, South Africa. The depositional sequence of the
      cave, predating Marine Isotopic Stage 11 (MIS 11) and continuing to present, is
      in the form of isolated sediment exposures with different depositional facies and
      vertical and lateral variations. Micromorphological analysis demonstrated that a
      suite of natural sedimentation processes operated during the development of the
      sequence ranging from water action to aeolian activity, and from speleothem
      formations to plant colonization and root encrustation. At the same time,
      anthropogenic sediments that are mainly in the form of burnt remains from
      combustion features (e.g., wood ash, charcoal, and burnt bone) were accumulating.
      Several erosional episodes have resulted in a complicated stratigraphy, as
      discerned from different depositional and post-depositional features. The cave is
      associated with a fluctuating coastal environment, frequent changes in sea level
      and climate controlled patterns of sedimentation, and the presence or absence of
      humans.

PMID- 20934086
TI  - Taphonomic implications of orientation of plotted finds from Pinnacle Point 13B
      (Mossel Bay, Western Cape Province, South Africa).
AB  - An understanding of site taphonomy is crucial to stratigraphic and
      artifact/ecofact interpretation. Numerous geogenic, biogenic, and anthropogenic
      activities have the potential to move artifacts after deposition and distort the
      patterning once present in hominid discarded debris. Taphonomy at a Middle Stone
      Age cave (Pinnacle Point 13B) near Mossel Bay, South Africa is investigated here
      using artifact orientation data collected during excavation. Two angle
      measurements (bearing and plunge) were taken for all artifacts with a distinct
      long axis. The data are analyzed here using both graphical and statistical
      approaches, and a new graphical approach is presented. Using these measurements
      it is possible to distinguish between layers and areas of the site that are
      minimally disturbed and those that have been reworked to varying degrees. Data of
      this type are still not usually presented in publications of stone age sites.
      Given the complexities of the taphonomic history of these ancient sites, such
      data and analyses should become standard practice.

PMID- 20934087
TI  - An OSL chronology for the sedimentary deposits from Pinnacle Point Cave 13B--a
      punctuated presence.
AB  - Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) measurements are reported for single
      aliquots and single grains of quartz from sedimentary deposits within Cave 13B at
      Pinnacle Point, South Africa (PP13B). Ages have been obtained for 30 samples from
      the Middle Stone Age and from sterile geological deposits at the base and top of
      the sediment sequence. The ages for all the archaeological units have been
      obtained from single-grain measurements that enable unrepresentative grains to be
      rejected after they have been scrutinized for their OSL behavior. The shape of
      the equivalent dose distribution and the degree of spread in equivalent dose for
      each sample have also been scrutinized for evidence of depositional and post
      depositional effects that can influence the accuracy of the age estimates. This
      study also used the same systematic approach as that used for the dating of the
      Howieson's Poort and Still Bay in South Africa. This single-grain approach
      results in more accurate and precise age estimates that place all ages measured
      and analyzed in this way on a common timescale. Four periods of human occupation
      have been dated to ~162ka, ~125ka, ~110ka, and ~99-91ka during Marine Isotope
      Stage (MIS) 6, 5e, 5d, and 5c, respectively. Occupation of the site appears to
      have occurred at periods of higher sea level and increased aeolian activity, and
      the cave was ultimately sealed by the accumulation of a large dune ~90ka ago that
      infilled the cave, but also blanketed the cliff face above the cave, thus
      preventing further habitation of the site until ~39ka.

PMID- 20934088
TI  - Multidimensional GIS modeling of magnetic mineralogy as a proxy for fire use and
      spatial patterning: evidence from the Middle Stone Age bearing sea cave of
      Pinnacle Point 13B (Western Cape, South Africa).
AB  - This paper aims to identify the spatial patterning of burning and occupation
      within an early Middle Stone Age (MSA) sea cave in the Western Cape Province of
      South Africa by creating a multidimensional model of archaeomagnetic data
      recovered from all excavated units. Magnetic susceptibility and other mineral
      magnetic parameters are shown to provide an excellent proxy for the anthropogenic
      alteration and spread of burnt material into the surrounding unaltered cave
      deposits. The identification of combustion features and areas of occupation or
      different activities within the site can be determined because the movement of
      people throughout the cave mixes magnetically strong hearth material with
      magnetically weak unaltered sediments. This is also indicated by
      micromorphological analysis. The degree of enhancement is also shown to indicate
      the extent to which a deposit has been altered, and therefore, intensity of
      occupation, because multiple heatings of deposits are needed to form the
      concentrations of iron minerals occurring in some layers. This is further
      supported by a comparison with artifact density for the layers. Variation in the
      magnetic values between different areas of the site is noted with major
      occupation or fire building occurring in the front of the cave during earlier MIS
      6 periods, while during later MIS 5 periods the entire cave is occupied
      intensively. The oldest, MIS 11 deposits at the rear of the cave indicate no
      evidence of enhancement and an apparent absence of any anthropogenic signature.

PMID- 20934089
TI  - Taphonomic analysis of the Middle Stone Age faunal assemblage from Pinnacle Point
      Cave 13B, Western Cape, South Africa.
AB  - A detailed taphonomic analysis is provided for the mammalian and tortoise faunal
      assemblages from Pinnacle Point Cave 13B (PP13B). It is the first of several
      reports on the fauna from this site, and must necessarily precede analyses
      focused on higher level interpretations of Middle Stone Age (MSA) butchery,
      transport, and hunting behavior. The taphonomic work shows that the faunal
      assemblage is well preserved and there are discernable differences in the
      taphonomic pathways to which the fauna was subjected at PP13B between the Middle
      and Late Pleistocene, between the front and back of the cave, and between body
      size classes. The largest mammals (size classes 2-5, body weight >24 kg) were
      mainly accumulated by MSA hominins. Size class 1 ungulates also exhibit a degree
      of hominin modification consistent with some hominin accumulation of fresh
      carcasses, but this is more variable through time and includes an observable
      degree of independent carnivore contribution. Basic taxonomic comparisons reveal
      a low representation of small mammals, tortoises, and marine mammals at PP13B
      relative to larger (>4.5 kg) terrestrial mammals. This is a different pattern
      from other MSA sites along the southwestern coast of South Africa, where small
      mammals and tortoises are abundant. A microscopic study of the bone surfaces
      confirms that MSA hominins exploited these small faunal components
      opportunistically, while focusing most heavily on large terrestrial ungulates.
      All faunal components show evidence of carnivore scavenging of hominin food
      debris and a high degree of density mediated destruction. Raptors are at no point
      implicated as major accumulators of any fauna. The study demonstrates that the
      full spectrum of MSA faunal exploitation can only be understood when the large
      mammal, small mammal, and tortoise components of fossil assemblages have all been
      subjected to comprehensive taphonomic analyses.

PMID- 20934090
TI  - Middle and late Pleistocene faunas of Pinnacle Point and their paleoecological
      implications.
AB  - The Western Cape region of South Africa is home to a unique type of mediterranean
      vegetation called fynbos, as well as some of the earliest sites of modern human
      occupation in southern Africa. Reconstructing the paleohabitats during
      occupations of these early anatomically modern Homo sapiens is important for
      understanding the availability of resources to the humans during the development
      of behaviors that are often considered advanced. These reconstructions are
      critical to understanding the nature of the changes in the environment and
      resources over time. Here we analyze the craniodental fossils of the larger
      mammals recovered from two Pleistocene assemblages in the Pinnacle Point complex,
      Mossel Bay, Western Cape Region, South Africa. We reconstruct the paleohabitats
      as revealed by multivariate analyses of the mammalian community structures.
      Pinnacle Point 30 is a carnivore assemblage and Pinnacle Point 13B includes early
      evidence of a suite of modern human behavior; together they present an
      opportunity to identify environmental change over time at a localized geographic
      scale. Further, this is the first such study to include dated Western Cape
      localities from Marine Isotope Stage 6, a time of environmental pressure that may
      have marginalized human populations. Results indicate that environmental change
      in the Western Cape was more complex than generalized C(4) grassland expansions
      replacing fynbos habitats during glacial lowered sea levels, and thus, resources
      available to early modern humans in the region may not have been entirely
      predictable.

PMID- 20934091
TI  - Middle and late Pleistocene Middle Stone Age lithic technology from Pinnacle
      Point 13B (Mossel Bay, Western Cape Province, South Africa).
AB  - Excavations at a complex of caves and open air sites at Pinnacle Point, Mossel
      Bay, Southern Africa have uncovered rich stratified assemblages of Middle Stone
      Age materials, including those from Pinnacle Point Cave 13B (PP13B) that
      comprises the first modernly excavated assemblage in southern Africa to be
      securely dated to the Middle Pleistocene. We report here on the complete
      excavated lithic artifact assemblage from PP13B. Both technological and
      typological analyses of the complete assemblage were performed. The assemblage
      scale analysis allows for intrasite comparison as well as comparison of the PP13B
      assemblage with other sites from the region. No size-related pattern of change
      over time was observed within the PP13B assemblage, although there is significant
      evidence for varying strategies of lithic reduction between excavation areas
      within the cave. Comparison with other material from the Southern African MSA
      suggests that there is significant inter- and intra-site variability in the
      Southern African Middle Stone Age, even between portions of assemblages that are
      roughly contemporaneous.

PMID- 20934092
TI  - Frequency and distribution of edge damage on Middle Stone Age lithic points,
      Pinnacle Point 13B, South Africa.
AB  - Unretouched convergent flakes are frequently a well represented tool type in many
      Middle Stone Age (MSA) assemblages. Damage to the lateral margins of these points
      is frequent; however, analytical methods for dealing with the frequency and
      distribution of edge damage on points have not been developed and applied to a
      complete MSA lithic assemblage. A method for using GIS to quantify edge damage
      and statistically analyze the relative location and frequency of edge damage is
      presented here and applied to the complete assemblage of MSA points from Pinnacle
      Point Cave 13B (PP13B), South Africa. The results indicate a frequency of edge
      damage consistent with heavier utilization of the dorsal surface over the ventral
      surface, and the left side over the right, with the dorsal left lateral margin
      being most heavily damaged. Additionally, the distribution of edge damage and low
      frequency of impact damage to the points suggest that PP13B represents a location
      where points were used for cutting activities and discarded. Applying the
      recording procedures advocated here to controlled edge damage replication
      experiments will help provide the interpretive linkages to site assemblage edge
      damage distributions.

PMID- 20934093
TI  - The pigments from Pinnacle Point Cave 13B, Western Cape, South Africa.
AB  - Earth pigments from the three excavations at Pinnacle Point Cave 13B (Western
      Cape Province, South Africa), spanning the terminal middle Pleistocene and
      earlier late Pleistocene, are described and analyzed. Qualitative geological
      categorization primarily rested on textural, fabric, and iron enrichment
      attributes. Comprehensive recovery allowed identification of non-anthropic
      pigmentaceous materials, questionable pigments, and 380 pigments (1.08 kg). Less
      chemically altered pigments were typically fine-grained sedimentary (FGS) rocks,
      tending to be soft, highly micaceous, prone to laminar fragmentation, and with
      reddish-brown streaks of intermediate nuance. More iron-enriched forms tended to
      be harder, denser, poorly micaceous, and with redder streaks of more saturated
      nuance. Some still qualified as FGS forms, but a large number were categorized as
      sandstone or iron oxide. Despite some temporal change in raw material profiles,
      circumstantial evidence suggests primarily local procurement from one outcrop
      throughout the sequence. Definitely utilized pieces (12.7%) were overwhelmingly
      ground. Unusual forms of modification include several notched pieces and a
      deliberately scraped 'chevron.' Controlling for fragmentation, streak properties
      of utilized versus unutilized pieces were used to investigate selective criteria.
      There was robust evidence for preferential grinding of the reddest materials,
      strongly suggestive evidence for saturation and darkness being subordinate
      selective criteria, and some indication of more intensive grinding of materials
      with the reddest, most saturated, and darkest streaks, and for some deliberate
      heating of pigments. These findings challenge the initial stages of color
      lexicalization predicted by the various versions of the basic color term (BCT)
      hypothesis, they provide grounds for rejecting hafting as a general explanatory
      hypothesis, and they cannot be accounted for by incidental heating. The results
      are more consistent with agreed upon canons of ornamentation than with individual
      display. It is concluded that the material was processed to produce saturated red
      pigment powders. On theoretical grounds, these are presumed to have served
      primarily as body paints in ritual performance.

PMID- 20934094
TI  - Shellfish gathering, marine paleoecology and modern human behavior: perspectives
      from cave PP13B, Pinnacle Point, South Africa.
AB  - Systematic collection of shellfish has been increasingly recognized as an
      important component of human adaptation to aquatic environments and as part of
      the archaeological evidence found in association with the appearance of early
      Homo sapiens. Over the last forty years, South Africa has played a prominent role
      in recording the earliest evidence of shellfish in and substantial expansion of
      the early human diets as shown by several Middle Stone Age (MSA) coastal sites
      along the west and south coasts. In this paper, we report on the abundance of
      marine invertebrate species from PP13B cave and interpret these abundances in
      terms of paleoenvironmental changes, the likely shellfish procurement behaviors
      involved in both rocky and sandy shore contexts, and the significance of the
      collection of marine shells for purposes other than food collection. Possible
      cognitive implications of shellfish gathering as a reflection of modern behavior
      are also suggested.

PMID- 20934095
TI  - Pinnacle Point Cave 13B (Western Cape Province, South Africa) in context: The
      Cape Floral kingdom, shellfish, and modern human origins.
AB  - Genetic and anatomical evidence suggests that Homo sapiens arose in Africa
      between 200 and 100ka, and recent evidence suggests that complex cognition may
      have appeared between ~164 and 75ka. This evidence directs our focus to Marine
      Isotope Stage (MIS) 6, when from 195-123ka the world was in a fluctuating but
      predominantly glacial stage, when much of Africa was cooler and drier, and when
      dated archaeological sites are rare. Previously we have shown that humans had
      expanded their diet to include marine resources by ~164ka (+/-12ka) at Pinnacle
      Point Cave 13B (PP13B) on the south coast of South Africa, perhaps as a response
      to these harsh environmental conditions. The associated material culture
      documents an early use and modification of pigment, likely for symbolic behavior,
      as well as the production of bladelet stone tool technology, and there is now
      intriguing evidence for heat treatment of lithics. PP13B also includes a later
      sequence of MIS 5 occupations that document an adaptation that increasingly
      focuses on coastal resources. A model is developed that suggests that the
      combined richness of the Cape Floral Region on the south coast of Africa, with
      its high diversity and density of geophyte plants and the rich coastal ecosystems
      of the associated Agulhas Current, combined to provide a stable set of
      carbohydrate and protein resources for early modern humans along the southern
      coast of South Africa during this crucial but environmentally harsh phase in the
      evolution of modern humans. Humans structured their mobility around the use of
      coastal resources and geophyte abundance and focused their occupation at the
      intersection of the geophyte rich Cape flora and coastline. The evidence for
      human occupation relative to the distance to the coastline over time at PP13B is
      consistent with this model.

PMID- 20934097
TI  - Vigabatrin administration in patients with infantile spasms: the risks.

PMID- 20934098
TI  - Foreword forefoot pain.

PMID- 20934101
TI  - Surgery of the central rays.
AB  - The purpose of this article is to address the isolated causes of osseous central
      metatarsalgia that are related to an elongated metatarsal and
      brachymetatarsalgia. The authors focus on surgically addressing shortened and
      elongated metatarsals, surgical complications, and revisional surgery.

PMID- 20934100
TI  - Complications of digital and lesser metatarsal surgery.
AB  - Complications associated with digital and lesser metatarsal surgical procedures
      have been well documented in the literature. These complications may stem from
      systemic medical, structural, biologic, biomechanical, or iatrogenic causes. The
      surgeon must be cognizant of all potential complications, including ways to
      prevent them from occurring and how to manage them when they do occur. This
      article discusses preventative measures through the preoperative evaluation of
      the patient, and examines the subsets of complications that may occur after
      lesser ray surgery that pose a particular management challenge, as well as
      special complications specific to particular operative techniques.

PMID- 20934102
TI  - Puncture wounds of the foot.
AB  - Puncture wounds are common injuries of the foot. Although most puncture wounds
      are benign, devastating complications are possible without adequate treatment.
      These injuries can occur in all age groups and in various circumstances. Early
      diagnosis and appropriate medical and surgical management is paramount in
      achieving successful outcomes.

PMID- 20934103
TI  - Morton's neuroma.
AB  - Morton neuroma is a common source of forefoot pain. This condition is more
      correctly termed as interdigital nerve compression and is not a true neuroma.
      Although Morton neuroma is a common diagnosis, debate exists as to the best
      surgical and nonsurgical treatments. This article discusses the pathogenesis,
      diagnosis, nonsurgical and surgical management, and surgical complications of
      this common disorder.

PMID- 20934104
TI  - The Lisfranc joint.
AB  - The Lisfranc joint encompasses 6 articulations, weak dorsal ligaments, and strong
      plantar ligaments. The Lisfranc ligament serves to secure the second metatarsal
      in the keystone of the midfoot. Traumatic ligament injury and fracture can result
      in deformity, instability, pain, and degenerative joint disease of the Lisfranc
      joint. Increased awareness of Lisfranc joint anatomy and advanced imaging has
      allowed more accurate diagnosis and treatment of this injured joint complex.
      Nontraumatic degenerative joint disease can also result from congenital and
      acquired deformity such as first ray insufficiency, abnormal metatarsal parabola,
      and equinus. Open reduction with internal fixation (ORIF) demands accurate
      anatomic alignment to prevent the need for salvage arthrodesis. Early studies
      have shown that primary arthrodesis of the medial 3 rays has performed equally
      well or better than ORIF for the displaced primarily ligamentous and severe
      injuries. A paradigm shift may emerge as more studies favor primary arthrodesis.

PMID- 20934105
TI  - Problems, obstacles, and complications of metatarsal lengthening for the
      treatment of brachymetatarsia.
AB  - Metatarsal lengthening by distraction osteogenesis is a challenging procedure
      that is associated with various adverse results. This article presents and
      classifies adverse results arising from metatarsal lengthening. Our premise of
      classification is that not all adverse results that occur secondary to
      distraction osteogenesis of the metatarsal are true complications that affect the
      final outcome, but rather are problems and obstacles that present hurdles to
      completion of treatment. Our classification differentiates among problems,
      obstacles, and complications during metatarsal lengthening with external
      fixation. The cause of each adverse result is also discussed and clinical and
      surgical pearls to avoid these problems, obstacles, and complications are
      presented.

PMID- 20934106
TI  - Digital surgery: current trends and techniques.
AB  - Digital deformities continue to be a common ailment among many patients who
      present to foot and ankle specialists. When conservative treatment fails to
      eliminate patient complaints, surgical correction remains a viable treatment
      option. Proximal interphalangeal joint arthrodesis remains the standard procedure
      among most foot and ankle surgeons. With continued advances in fixation
      technology and techniques, surgeons continue to have better options for the
      achievement of excellent digital surgery outcomes. This article reviews current
      trends in fixation of digital deformities while highlighting pertinent aspects of
      the physical examination, radiographic examination, and surgical technique.

PMID- 20934107
TI  - Metatarsal fractures.
AB  - Metatarsal fractures can present with a variety of situations. Ranging from the
      relatively benign, isolated central metatarsal fracture to the crush injury
      leading to extensive damage of the soft tissue and osseous components, these
      fractures can cause a significant inconvenience to the patient. With the
      exception of fifth metatarsal base fractures, little standardization is available
      for the treatment of metatarsal fractures. Controversy still exists regarding the
      proper treatment of various patient populations for junctional fifth metatarsal
      fractures. This article discusses the fractures of the first, central, and fifth
      metatarsals, as well as the treatment for the same.

PMID- 20934108
TI  - Arthroplasty for fifth toe deformity.
AB  - Fifth toe positional problems typically cause irritation with various forms of
      footgear. The position of the toe causes irritation against the toe box of the
      shoe. This article discusses the physical examination of various fifth toe
      deformities along with the different approaches of arthroplasty that are used to
      correct the deformity and the management of complications that arise from the
      correction procedures.

PMID- 20934109
TI  - Juxta-articular osteoid osteoma of the talar neck: a case report.
AB  - Juxta-articular osteoid osteomas of the ankle are rare and tend to have an
      atypical presentation. Because of the proximity to the joint, patients experience
      symptoms that may delay or mislead the diagnosis. This article presents a 33-year
      old man with juxta-articular osteoid osteoma of the talar neck. The correct
      diagnosis was delayed for 2 years; the patient was initially misdiagnosed and
      treated for ankle sprain and anterior ankle impingement. Surgical excision of the
      lesion was performed with excellent results. Juxta-articular osteoid osteomas
      should be considered in the differential diagnosis of persistent ankle pain in
      teenagers and young adults who do not respond to treatment directed at more
      common conditions.

PMID- 20934110
TI  - Concomitant acute osteomyelitis and squamous cell carcinoma of the foot: a case
      report.
AB  - Squamous cell carcinoma of the foot is a common malignant neoplasm with a high
      potential for metastasis. Squamous cell carcinoma arising in chronic
      osteomyelitis has been widely reported; however, its presence in combination with
      acute osteomyelitis of the foot is not well known. This article presents such a
      case that demonstrates the importance of early recognition with appropriate
      management for limb salvage and successful oncologic outcome.

PMID- 20934111
TI  - Proteome analysis of Neisseria meningitidis serogroup strains C associated with
      outbreaks in China.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: During 2003-2005, an outbreak of meningitis due to Neisseria
      meningitidis serogroup C occurred in China. With the aim to find strain clues
      result in the final epidemics, the ancestral strain 053442, a clinical isolate,
      and a carrier strain 053426 with different gene type were analyzed. METHODS:
      Clinical strain 053442 and carrier strain 053426 were cultured on GC agar plates
      under the same condition. Two-dimensional electrophoresis was performed using the
      pH 3-10 nonlinear IPG strips of 24 cm length, and all the protein spots were
      identified by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time of flight
      spectrometry. RESULTS: 502 and 380 protein spots were identified in 053426 and
      053442 respectively, relating to 266 and 202 different genes covering a wide
      range of cellular functions. The express volume and number of proteins involved
      in energy metabolism, protein synthesis and amino acid biosynthesis in 053426
      were higher than in 053442. Virulence factor Opa, Opc and a series of proteins
      involved in pilus assembly and retraction were identified in 053442, which appear
      to be of primary importance in colonization and invasion of human cells. Compared
      to 053442, virulence protein species were less in 053426, with lower express
      volumes too. No Opa and Opc were detected in 053426. CONCLUSIONS: The different
      protein expression profiles of the clinical strain 053442 and carrier strain
      053426 in the present study provide some clues of the different pathogenicity of
      the two strains, which may account for result in the final epidemics.

PMID- 20934112
TI  - Gene expression profiles comparison between 2009 pandemic and seasonal H1N1
      influenza viruses in A549 cells.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To perform gene expression profiles comparison so that to identify and
      understand the potential differences in pathogenesis between the pandemic and
      seasonal A (H1N1) influenza viruses. METHODS: A549 cells were infected with
      A/California/07/09 (H1N1) and A/GuangdongBaoan/51/08 (H1N1) respectively at the
      same MOI of 2 and collected at 2, 4, 8, and 24 h post infection (p.i.). Gene
      expression profiles of A549 cells were obtained using the 22 K Human Genome Oligo
      Array, and differentially expressed genes were analyzed at selected time points.
      RESULTS: Microarrays results indicated that both of the viruses suppressed host
      immune response related pathways including cytokine production while pandemic
      H1N1 virus displayed weaker suppression of host immune response than seasonal
      H1N1 virus. Observation on similar anti-apoptotic events such as activation of
      apoptosis inhibitor and down-regulation of key genes of apoptosis pathways in
      both infections showed that activities of promoting apoptosis were different in
      later stage of infection. CONCLUSIONS: The immuno-suppression and anti-apoptosis
      events of pandemic H1N1 virus were similar to those seen by seasonal H1N1 virus.
      The pandemic H1N1 virus had an ability to inhibit biological pathways associated
      with cytokine responses, NK activation and macrophage recognition.

PMID- 20934113
TI  - Expressions of nucleoside diphosphate kinase (nm23) in tumor tissues are related
      with metastasis and length of survival of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the relationship of expressions of nucleoside diphosphate
      kinase (nm23) and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), as well as
      apoptosis, with the prognosis of HCC patients by analyzing their pathological and
      clinical data. METHODS: The expressions of nm23 and PCNA were analyzed by
      immunohistochemistry and the apoptotic phenomena were detected by TUNEL technique
      in the liver samples from 43 HCC tissues, 39 para-neoplastic tissues, and 10
      normal tissues. The mean apoptosis index (AI) and proliferative index (PI) in
      individual sample were calculated. RESULTS: As shown by the detection, 32.6% of
      carcinomas had negative nm23 signal in tumor tissues, whereas all para-neoplastic
      and normal tissues had positive nm23. The AI in nm23 positive HCC was
      significantly higher than that in nm23 negative one, with statistical difference
      (P<0.05). Furthermore, the expressions of nm23, and the values of AI and PI were
      contrastively analyzed with some main pathological and clinical data of HCC. It
      revealed that HCC with extrahepatic metastasis showed remarkable correlation with
      the negative nm23 (P=0.013) and higher PI values of HCC (P=0.015). The disease
      free survival in HCC patients with negative nm23 expression was significantly
      poorer than that in patients with positive nm23 expression. CONCLUSIONS: These
      data suggest that expressions of nm23 protein in tumor tissues are correlated
      with occurrences of metastasis and length of survival of the HCC patients, which
      may be an indicator for their prognosis.

PMID- 20934114
TI  - CagA(+) H. pylori induces Akt1 phosphorylation and inhibits transcription of
      p21(WAF1/CIP1) and p27(KIP1) via PI3K/Akt1 pathway.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Cytotoxin-associated protein (CagA) of H. pylori has been confirmed to
      be closely associated with gastric inflammation and tumorigenesis, but the
      mechanism behind it is little understood. In this study, we try to determine
      roles of CagA(+) strain in activating PI3K/Akt1 signaling pathway, and affecting
      expression of p21(WAF1/CIP1) and p27(KIP1), and also in releasing IL-8 in host
      cells. METHODS: Akt1 phosphorylation and IL-8 levels of CagA(+) and CagA- strain
      infected AGS cells were detected by ELISAs. Two quantitative RT-PCRs were
      established to measure p21(WAF1/CIP1) and p27(KIP1) mRNA levels in the CagA(+)
      and CagA- strain infected cells. LY294002, an inhibitor of PI3K/Akt pathway, was
      used to define effect of the pathway in IL-8 release. RESULTS: CagA(+) strain
      could induce an obvious elevation of Akt1 phosphorylation in the infected AGS
      cells while CagA? strain failed to do so. The CagA(+) H. pylori strain infected
      AGS cells showed significant drops both in p21(WAF1/CIP1) and p27(KIP1) mRNA
      levels, whereas the CagA- H. pylori strain caused a remarkable increase in
      p21(WAF1/CIP1) mRNA without affecting p27(KIP1) gene transcription in the AGS
      cells. Both the CagA(+) and CagA- H. pylori strains enabled AGS cells to produce
      close elevated levels of IL-8, and the LY294002 block resulted in unexpected
      elevations of IL-8 levels. CONCLUSIONS: CagA can activate PI3K/Akt1 pathway that
      plays an inhibitory role in IL-8 release in H. pylori infected AGS cells.
      Activation of PI3K/Akt1 pathway and subsequent negative regulation of
      p21(WAF1/CIP1) and p27(KIP1) expression might be involved in CagA-associated
      carcinogenesis.

PMID- 20934115
TI  - Living conditions and palliative care needs among end-of-life former commercial
      plasma donors affected with HIV/AIDS in rural Henan of China.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: China began providing antiretroviral therapy to people living with
      HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in 2003. This study was to investigate the living conditions,
      including quality of life and happiness, and need for palliative care of end-of
      life PLWHA in rural Henan. METHODS: One hundred end-of-life AIDS patients were
      selected from Weishi, Zhenping and Tanghe counties in Henan, using convenience
      sampling. The World Health Organization Quality of Life for HIV (WHOQOL-HIV) BREF
      Chinese Version was used to measure the quality of life and the Memorial
      University of Newfoundland Scale of Happiness (MUNSH) was employed to measure
      subjective welfare. Qualitative interviews and focus group discussions were
      undertaken to learn about the palliative care provided and the specific needs of
      the end-of-life patients. RESULTS: Patients' overall quality of life was moderate
      (12.62+/-1.97). Highest scores were in the spirituality/religion/personal
      beliefs, higher than the average scores in the Chinese population (P<0.01), while
      psychological (13.58+/-2.06) and environment (12.50+/-3.28) domain scores were
      similar to the latter (P>0.05). Both independence (12.15+/-2.15) and
      physiological (14.04+/-3.16) domain scores were lower than the average of the
      people living with HIV/AIDS in other studies (P<0.01); however, all were in the
      moderate range. The average MUNSH score was 21.00+/-6.20, which was also
      moderate. The in-depth interviews indicated that the Henan Provincial
      Government's policy of treatment and care had a beneficial impact on end-of-life
      AIDS patients, although the care components could be improved. CONCLUSIONS:
      Living conditions of the end-of-life AIDS patients were moderate, and the
      HIV/AIDS palliative care model used was beneficial to them. Care could be
      improved by assisting the family unit as a whole.

PMID- 20934116
TI  - Estimation of probability of unprotected heterosexual vaginal transmission of HIV
      1 from clients to female sex workers in Kaiyuan, Yunnan Province, China.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To estimate the probability of unprotected heterosexual vaginal
      transmission of HIV-1 from clients to Female Sex Workers (FSWs) in Kaiyuan
      County, Yunnan province, China, and analyze factors which impact the transmission
      probability. METHODS: An open cohort research of FSWs in Kaiyuan was created from
      surveys conducted in April 2008, October 2008, and April 2009. Two cross
      sectional surveys of local clients were also carried out in May 2008 and November
      2008. A model was developed to estimate the probability of unprotected
      heterosexual vaginal transmission of HIV-1 from clients to FSWs. RESULTS: The
      transmission probability from clients to FSWs was estimated as 0.0023 [95%CI
      0.0014-0.0032] per unprotected heterosexual act. CONCLUSIONS: The transmission
      probability among this group engaging in commercial sex in Yunnan province
      differs from that found in studies from other countries, and future studies
      should estimate the influence factors of HIV-1 transmission probability, such as
      stage of HIV infection, co-morbid sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

PMID- 20934117
TI  - Gender differences in pulmonary inflammation following systemic cadmium
      administration in rats.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To examine the presence of gender differences in pulmonary
      inflammation evoked by acute systemic cadmium administration in rats. METHODS:
      Presence of basic indicators of lung inflammation (inflammatory cytokine lung
      content, leukocyte infiltration and activity of cells recovered from lungs by
      enzyme digestion) was analyzed and compared in animals of the two sexes. RESULTS:
      Intraperitoneal administration of cadmium (1.0 mg/kg) resulted in higher cadmium
      content in lungs of female rats. Higher tumor necrosis factor (TNF) content was
      noted in lung homogenates of male rats, while interleukin-6 (IL-6) content was
      slightly, but significantly greater in lungs of female rats. Increased leukocyte
      infiltration was observed in lungs of male rats, mainly due to neutrophils.
      Increased responsiveness to phorbol myristate acetate (PMA) stimulation was noted
      in cells recovered from lungs of male rats. Rise in intracellular content of
      myeloperoxidase (MPO) was noted in lung cells from cadmium-treated rats of both
      sexes, but higher in cells from male rats. CONCLUSIONS: Presented data documented
      a more intense pulmonary inflammatory response to systemic cadmium administration
      in males, with higher IL-6 levels in lungs of female individuals. These sex
      differences in proinflamatory activity of cadmium in lungs should be taken into
      consideration in studying the remote toxicity of this heavy metal.

PMID- 20934118
TI  - Early results of urothelial carcinoma screening in a risk population of coke
      workers: urothelial carcinoma among coke workers.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To present the protocol and the early results of a urothelial
      carcinoma (UC) screening analysis performed in a risk population of coke workers.
      METHODS: Between June 2006 and October 2008, 171 male workers (mean age 43
      years), employed in a Ligurian coke plant (Italiana Coke S.r.l) and exposed to
      polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) for a median period of 16 years,
      underwent screening for UC. Urological evaluation included medical history,
      physical examination, routine laboratory tests, urine analysis, urinary cytology
      and uCyt+ assay. In the event of signs and symptoms suggestive of UC or positive
      urinary tests, the workers were also subjected to urinary ultrasonography and
      cystoscopy with biopsy of any suspicious lesions. RESULTS: Regarding the
      laboratory tests, 19/171 (11%) uCyt+ samples were considered inadequate and were
      excluded from the outcomes assessment. Overall, urine analysis, cytology and
      uCyt+ were positive in 18/152 (12%) subjects who showed no evidence of UC at the
      scheduled check-ups. No significant association was identified between marker
      positivity and occupational activity. CONCLUSIONS: Our results fail to show an
      increased risk of UC among the coke workers evaluated. However, they will need to
      be confirmed in the future by a larger enrollment and a longer follow-up in order
      to assess the definitive risk for UC after exposure to coke.

PMID- 20934119
TI  - Vascular and morphogenetic abnormalities associated with exposure of cigarette
      smoke condensate during chicken and murine embryogenesis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Embryonic movements (EM) and angiogenesis pathways are evolutionarily
      conserved mechanisms which are essential for proper embryonic development.
      Deviations in these processes by exposure to cigarette smoke condensate (CSC) may
      cause vascular and morphogenetic disorders. METHODS: Using chicken and mouse
      embryos, we have demonstrated the in vivo effects of CSC on EM, vascular
      development, and organogenesis. RESULTS: Examination of the CSC exposed chicken
      embryos revealed a significant reduction in EM, stunted growth, deviated pattern
      of blood vessels, hemorrhages, and localized necrosis. Likewise, mouse embryos
      that were exposed to CSC at E8.5 and E9.5 died between E11.5 and E12.5,
      respectively. These mouse embryos showed defects in morphogenesis and remodeling
      of the embryonic vasculature, while littermate controls showed normal
      development. CONCLUSIONS: Cigarette smoking during pregnancy is fatal for growing
      embryos. CSC may induce the remodeling of embryonic vasculature, leading to
      various pathologies.

PMID- 20934120
TI  - Metabolomic study on vitamins B1, B2, and PP supplementation to improve serum
      metabolic profiles in mice under acute hypoxia based on 1H NMR analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To explore metabolic changes after acute hypoxia and modulating effect
      of vitamins B1, B2, and PP supplementation in mice exposed to acute hypoxia.
      METHODS: Fifty male Kunming mice were randomly divided into 5 groups: normal,
      acute hypoxia, acute hypoxia with 2, 4 and 8 time-vitamins B1, B2, and PP
      supplementation. All mice were fed with corresponding diets for two weeks and
      then were exposed to a simulated altitude of 6,000 meters for 8 h, except for the
      normal group. Nuclear magnetic resonance analysis was used to identify the
      changes of serum metabolic profiles. RESULTS: There were significant changes in
      some serum metabolites under induced acute hypoxia, essentially relative increase
      in the concentrations of lactate, sugar and lipids and decrease in ethanol. The
      serum levels of choline, succinate, taurine, alanine, and glutamine also
      increased and phosphocholine decreased in the acute hypoxia group. After vitamins
      B1, B2, and PP supplementation, all these metabolic changes gradually recovered.
      CONCLUSIONS: Significant changes in serum metabolic profile were observed by
      metabolomics in mice exposed to acute hypoxia, and vitamins B1, B2, and PP
      supplementation proved to be beneficial to improving some metabolic pathways. It
      is suggested that the dietary intakes of vitamins B1, B2, and PP should be
      increased under hypoxia condition.

PMID- 20934121
TI  - A study on pollen allergens in China.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Allergic disease caused by airborne pollen is a major health problem
      in China. Intensive study on pollen allergens can be of great help for preventing
      and treating pollinosis. Four aspects of the study on pollen allergens in China
      including major allergic pollen in our country, analysis and purification of
      pollen allergen composition, recombinant pollen allergens and clinical
      application of pollen allergens are described in this paper.

PMID- 20934122
TI  - A (H1N1) influenza pneumonia with acute disseminated encephalomyelitis: a case
      report.

PMID- 20934123
TI  - An association between immunosenescence and CD4(+)CD25(+) regulatory T cells: a
      systematic review.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Age-related increment of the prevalence of CD4(+)CD25(+) regulatory T
      (Treg) cells were described controversially, and whether such changes explain
      immune dysfunction in the elderly is still unclear. The aim of this systematic
      review is to evaluate the role of the Tregs in immunosenescence. METHODS: Medline
      and manual searches were performed to identify all published epidemiological and
      animal studies investigating the efficacy of the association between
      immunosenescence and Treg cells. RESULTS: It was founded that the frequency,
      phenotypic characteristics, and number/function of Tregs were altered
      significantly with aging. Medical conditions in individuals with advanced ageas
      well as apoptosis intensity of Treg cells had an impact on the accumulation of
      Tregs which in turn could deteriorate cytotoxic activity of CD8(+) T and NK cells
      and production of IL-2. The range of immune cells that could be suppressed by
      Treg cells was quite wide and covered CD4(+)CD25(+) T cells, NK cells, dendritic
      cells and even monocytes. These changes were observed both in humans and
      experimental animals. Besides, it was believed that frequency of Tregs increased
      with age and was accompanied by intensified suppressive activity for Tregs in
      patients, for example, with Alzheimer disease (AD) and Parkinson disease (PD).
      The impaired condition of CD4(+) T cells, so-called immunosenescence, rendered
      transplant recipients less responsive to an allogeneic kidney graft, an effect
      that was limited to transplant recipients who were aged over 60 years.
      CONCLUSIONS: Treg cells are associated with immunosenescence. All these changes
      contribute to the aging-related decline of immune responses and lead to the
      higher risk of immune-mediated diseases, cancer or infections in aged
      individuals.

PMID- 20934125
TI  - The nurturing of the clinical research coordinator.

PMID- 20934127
TI  - Dieting.

PMID- 20934126
TI  - Quantitative assessment of lung ventilation and microstructure in an animal model
      of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis using hyperpolarized gas MRI.
AB  - RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES: The use of hyperpolarized (3)He magnetic resonance
      imaging as a quantitative lung imaging tool has progressed rapidly in the past
      decade, mostly in the assessment of the airway diseases chronic obstructive
      pulmonary disease and asthma. This technique has shown potential to assess both
      structural and functional information in healthy and diseased lungs. In this
      study, the regional measurements of structure and function were applied to a
      bleomycin rat model of interstitial lung disease. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Male
      Sprague-Dawley rats (weight, 300-350 g) were administered intratracheal
      bleomycin. After 3 weeks, apparent diffusion coefficient and fractional
      ventilation were measured by (3)He magnetic resonance imaging and pulmonary
      function testing using a rodent-specific plethysmography chamber. Sensitized and
      healthy animals were then compared using threshold analysis to assess the
      potential sensitivity of these techniques to pulmonary abnormalities. RESULTS: No
      significant changes were observed in total lung volume and compliance between the
      two groups. Airway resistance elevated and forced expiratory volume significantly
      declined in the 3-week bleomycin rats, and fractional ventilation was
      significantly decreased compared to control animals (P < .0004). The apparent
      diffusion coefficient of (3)He showed a smaller change but still a significant
      decrease in 3-week bleomycin animals (P < .05). CONCLUSIONS: Preliminary results
      suggest that quantitative (3)He magnetic resonance imaging can be a sensitive and
      noninvasive tool to assess changes in an animal interstitial lung disease model.
      This technique may be useful for longitudinal animal studies and also in the
      investigation of human interstitial lung diseases.

PMID- 20934128
TI  - Smart card.

PMID- 20934130
TI  - [Earlier specialization for interns: A new lease of life for physical and
      rehabilitation medicine in France].

PMID- 20934131
TI  - The mariner's compass: a saga of invention, innovation, and opportunity.

PMID- 20934132
TI  - The many functions of microRNAs in glioblastoma.

PMID- 20934133
TI  - The ISAT. Again...

PMID- 20934134
TI  - Stroke in the robotic era.

PMID- 20934135
TI  - Magnetic resonance imaging at the molecular level.

PMID- 20934137
TI  - Multi-institutional American team teaches neurosurgery in underserved Tanzania.

PMID- 20934138
TI  - Draft formal response to Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
      Technical Brief on neurothrombectomy devices in acute ischemic stroke.
AB  - In the current environment of health policy reform, physicians must increasingly
      engage the federal system to inform the government regarding the state of the
      science and to advocate on behalf of their patients for the continued provision
      of necessary care. The Agency of Health Research and Quality (AHRQ), within the
      Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), provides scientific advice to the
      Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) regarding the efficacy and cost
      effectiveness of existing therapeutic modalities. These Technical Briefs provide
      the scientific basis for Medicare reimbursement policies. Recently, the AHRQ
      produced a Draft Technical Brief on Mechanical Thrombectomy for Acute Ischemic
      Stroke. This document potentially endangers future reimbursement for endovascular
      stroke care. The link to the Technical Brief is:
      http://effectivehealthcare.ahrq.gov/index.cfm/research-available
      forcomment/comment
      draftreports/?pageactiondisplaydraftcommentform&topicid161&productid418&documentt
      pedraftReport. The endovascular neurosurgery group at the University of Buffalo
      produced a formal response. The following FORUM piece represents this response,
      and draws upon their substantial institutional experience. This piece will likely
      provide the foundation for a larger, multispecialty response, including American
      Association of Neurological Surgeons/Congress of Neurological Surgeons, SCAI, and
      possibly SNIS. Coordination of such an effort remains a work in progress. This
      piece offers the amalgam of policy and science central to WORLD NEUROSURGERY and
      provides a timely window to an evolving policy with dramatic implications for the
      neurosurgery community.

PMID- 20934139
TI  - Optimizing subarachnoid fibrinolytic therapy for aneurysmal subarachnoid
      hemorrhage.

PMID- 20934140
TI  - Tips to the dissection of the interhemispheric fissure for the treatment of the
      anterior communicating artery aneurysm through the pterional approach.

PMID- 20934141
TI  - Tuberculum sellae meningioma: the extended transsphenoidal approach--for the
      virtuoso only?

PMID- 20934142
TI  - Skull base osteo-dural repair: the Achilles' heel of the extended transsphenoidal
      skull base approaches.

PMID- 20934143
TI  - The evolution of skull base surgery as seen through the endoscope.

PMID- 20934144
TI  - Multiport minimally invasive skull base surgery: how many ports are too many?

PMID- 20934145
TI  - Metastatic gliosarcoma due to iatrogenic contamination during the surgery of
      gliosarcoma.

PMID- 20934146
TI  - Occipitocervical fixation.

PMID- 20934147
TI  - Japanese Oriental medicine.

PMID- 20934148
TI  - Do you want to see your patients again?

PMID- 20934149
TI  - What is the best option for recurrent chronic subdural hematoma?

PMID- 20934150
TI  - Associated is not induced!

PMID- 20934151
TI  - Radiosurgical induced neoplasia: a seldom seen complication.

PMID- 20934152
TI  - Statins: a potential therapeutic addition to treatment for aneurysmal
      subarachnoid hemorrhage?
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Statins have been studied in patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid
      hemorrhage (SAH) but the history, pharmacology, and studies have not been
      reviewed recently. METHODS: The development of statins as well as their
      biological effects and pharmacology are reviewed. Recent clinical studies in
      patients with SAH are summarized. RESULTS: Statins lower serum cholesterol but
      they also have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, vasodilatory, angiogenic,
      neuroprotective, vasoprotective, and endothelial preserving actions. In patients
      with SAH, they may decrease the incidence of symptomatic vasospasm, although the
      effects on overall outcome are less clear. They should be continued in patients
      who are taking them on admission and perhaps initiated in those who have
      indications for them. Side effects are rare. CONCLUSION: A large randomized,
      double-blind clinical trial is needed before it can be determined that statins
      are beneficial for patients with aneurysmal SAH.

PMID- 20934153
TI  - A review of delayed ischemic neurologic deficit following aneurysmal subarachnoid
      hemorrhage: historical overview, current treatment, and pathophysiology.
AB  - Delayed ischemic neurologic deficit (DIND) is a serious and poorly understood
      complication of aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage. Although advances in
      treatment have improved prognosis for these patients, long-term clinical outcomes
      remain disappointing. Historically, angiographic vasospasm was thought to result
      in a DIND, although an increasing body of evidence suggests that this is an
      oversimplification, because interventions that have effectively targeted
      angiographic vasospasm have not improved outcome. Consequently, the relationship
      between angiographic vasospasm and neurologic outcome may be associative rather
      than causative. Although our understanding of the underlying molecular processes
      and pathophysiology is improving, responsible mediators or pathways have yet to
      be identified. The aim of this review is to summarize the key historical events
      that have helped shape our understanding of the pathophysiology of this
      phenomenon (microcirculation, autoregulation, microthrombosis, inflammation,
      apoptosis, spreading depolarization, oxidative stress) and to present the
      evidence underlying current treatment strategies (hemodynamic therapy, oral
      nimodipine, endovascular therapy, statins, cerebrospinal fluid drainage,
      thrombolysis, magnesium) and the translational and clinical research
      investigating DIND.

PMID- 20934154
TI  - Intraoperative EC-IC bypass blood flow assessment with indocyanine green
      angiography in moyamoya and non-moyamoya ischemic stroke.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Superficial temporal artery-middle cerebral artery (STA-MCA)
      anastomosis has been used in moyamoya disease (MD) and non-moyamoya ischemic
      stroke (non-MD). It is important to monitor hemodynamic changes caused by bypass
      surgery for postoperative management. We evaluated the bypass blood flow during
      STA-MCA anastomosis by using indocyanine green (ICG) fluorescence angiography.
      METHODS: We evaluated the bypass blood flow in 13 MD and 21 non-MD patients
      during STA-MCA anastomosis by means of ICG angiography with injection of ICG into
      the anastomosed STA. The ICG perfusion area was calculated when the ICG
      fluorescence intensity reached maximum. We measured cortical oxygen saturation
      before anastomosis by means of visual light spectroscopy. RESULTS: ICG
      angiography demonstrated bypass blood flow from the anastomosed STA to the
      cortical vessels in all patients. The ICG perfusion area in MD (20.7 +/- 6.6
      cm(2)) was significantly larger than that in non-MD (8.4 +/- 9.1 cm(2), P <
      0.05). The cortical oxygen saturation (58.9% +/- 8.3%) in MD was significantly
      lower than that in non-MD (73.4% +/- 9.5%, P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: ICG
      angiography with injection of ICG into the bypass artery allowed quantitative
      assessment of bypass blood flow. The bypass supplies blood flow to a greater
      extent in MD than in non-MD during surgery. This might be caused by a larger
      pressure gradient between the anastomosed STA and recipient vessels in MD. These
      observations indicate that MD requires careful control of systemic blood pressure
      after surgery to avoid cerebral hyperperfusion syndrome. ICG angiography is
      considered useful for facilitating safe and accurate bypass surgery and providing
      information for postoperative management.

PMID- 20934155
TI  - Efficacy of low-dose tissue-plasminogen activator intracisternal administration
      for the prevention of cerebral vasospasm after subarachnoid hemorrhage.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Vasospasm is one of the important factors associated with the
      functional prognosis after subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). Intracisternal
      administration of thrombolytic agents to dissolve subarachnoid clots may be
      responsible for bleeding complications. The efficacy and safety of cisternal
      irrigation therapy using low-dose tissue plasminogen activator were evaluated.
      METHODS: Sixty patients with SAH were treated by surgical clipping, and randomly
      divided into three groups: 1) the control group (n = 20) treated only with
      baseline treatment; 2) the intermittent group (n = 20) received intermittent
      administration of clotlysis agent (tisokinase 960,000 IU); and 3) the continuous
      group (n = 20) received continuous irrigation using pH-adjusted lactate Ringer's
      solution containing tisokinase (96 IU/mL) infused at 20 mL/hr for 48 hours. The
      clearance of subarachnoid clots was measured by laboratory examinations and
      postoperative computed tomography. Ischemia-related vasospasm was evaluated by
      neurological status and computed tomography. Neurological outcome was evaluated
      by the modified Rankin scale at 3 months after onset. RESULTS: The subarachnoid
      clot was efficiently and significantly removed without major complication in the
      intermittent and continuous groups (P < 0.05). The incidence of ischemic lesion
      in the intermittent group was significantly lower than in the control group (P <
      0.05). The intermittent group had significantly better neurological outcome than
      the control group (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Cisternal irrigation therapy using low
      dose tissue plasminogen activator is effective and safe. Intermittent injection
      is most effective and may decrease the risk of symptomatic vasospasm in patients
      with SAH.

PMID- 20934156
TI  - Results of microsurgical treatment of large and giant ICA aneurysms using the
      retrograde suction decompression (RSD) technique: series of 92 patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Microsurgical treatment of large and giant paraclinoid internal
      carotid artery (ICA) aneurysms often requires the use of the retrograde suction
      decompression (RSD) technique to facilitate clipping. Surgical results,
      functional outcomes at discharge, and technique limitations based on single
      institution series are presented. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between 1996 and 2009,
      eighty-three consecutive patients (19 to 68 years, mean 45.5 +/- 9.9 years),
      predominantly women (69 women and 14 men) with large (23 patients, 27.7%) or
      giant (60 patients, 72.3%) paraclinoid aneurysms were surgically treated with the
      RSD technique performed by the neck route (62 patients, 74.4%) or later on, by
      endovascular means (21 patients, 25.3%). Patients were admitted after hemorrhage
      (48 patients, 57.9%), pseudotumor course (28 patients, 33.7%), mixed symptoms (5
      patients, 6%), or asymptomatic (2 patients, 2.4%). RESULTS: In most RSD surgeries
      (90.4%) aneurysms were successfully excluded: neck was clipped in 57 patients
      (68.7%) or clipping with ICA reconstruction was achieved in 18 patients (21.7%).
      In six patients aneurysms were wrapped with glue (7.2%), trapped in one patient
      (1.2%), and in one patient, ICA balloon deconstruction was performed (1.2%). Good
      or excellent results (Glasgow Outcome Scale scores 4-5) at discharge were
      achieved in 69 patients (83.1%), 11 patients (13.3%) remained severely disabled
      (Glasgow Outcome Scale 3), and 3 patients died (3.6%). CONCLUSIONS: Surgical
      clipping with the RSD method remains a treatment of choice with acceptable
      outcomes for patients not amenable for endovascular treatment.

PMID- 20934157
TI  - Easy dissection of the interhemispheric fissure for treatment of the anterior
      communicating artery aneurysm by the pterional approach.
AB  - BACKGROUND: When the fundus of an aneurysm is superiorly or posteriorly directed
      or the anterior communicating artery (ACoA) is located far from the sphenoidal
      plane, wide dissection of the interhemispheric fissure is needed to expose the
      ACoA aneurysm. METHODS: When the thickened arachnoid membrane covering the dorsal
      surface of the ipsilateral optic nerves is dissected through the pterional
      approach, the dissection must not be performed beyond the midline of the optic
      chiasm. As a result, the undissected arachnoid membrane becomes tense and is
      easily cut down toward the interhemispheric fissure. We have used this technique
      in 24 patients in whom the ACoA aneurysm projected superiorly or posteriorly.
      RESULTS: The gyrus rectus was resected in four patients with ruptured aneurysm
      because the aneurysmal domes were partially buried in the ipsilateral gyri recti.
      In the remaining patients, the aneurysmal dome was fully exposed without gyrus
      rectus resection. CONCLUSIONS: The present technique is helpful to dissect the
      interhemispheric fissure easily and widely by the pterional approach and to
      expose the ACoA aneurysm adequately.

PMID- 20934158
TI  - Bilateral giant cavernous carotid artery aneurysms in a child with juvenile
      Paget's disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Juvenile Paget disease (JPD) is a rare genetic bone disorder, also
      affecting the immune and vascular systems. We describe the first ever case of JPD
      associated with bilateral giant cavernous carotid artery aneurysms in a child.
      CASE DESCRIPTION: A child with known JPD presented with left abducens nerve palsy
      and a computed tomographic angiogram revealed bilateral giant cavernous carotid
      artery aneurysms. He underwent a left-sided superficial temporal artery to middle
      cerebral artery bypass and endovascular carotid artery occlusion, followed by an
      identical procedure on the right side 3 months later and made an event-free
      recovery without any new neurological deficits. CONCLUSIONS: This previously
      unreported association poses the question of determining the optimal management
      strategy for such cases. The pathophysiology and clinical features of JPD are
      discussed, with special emphasis on the management of giant cavernous carotid
      aneurysms in this subgroup of individuals.

PMID- 20934159
TI  - Visual outcome after extended endoscopic endonasal transsphenoidal surgery for
      tuberculum sellae meningiomas.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the visual outcome after
      extended endoscopic endonasal transsphenoidal surgery in patients with tuberculum
      sellae meningiomas (TSM). METHODS: A retrospective analysis was performed for 12
      patients (4 men and 8 women) with TSMs who underwent extended endonasal
      transsphenoidal surgery with pure endoscopy between 2003 and 2008. Neuro
      ophthalmic evaluation was performed preoperatively and postoperatively. Visual
      acuity, visual fields, and funduscopy results were documented during the
      preoperative and follow-up periods. RESULTS: There were three patients with
      bilateral optic foramen invasion and four patients with unilateral optic foramen
      invasion on radiologic findings preoperatively. Eleven patients had total tumor
      resection (Simpson grade I and II), and one patient had a subtotal tumor
      resection with a small asymptomatic tumor regrowth seen on magnetic resonance
      imaging at 14 months after surgery. Patients were observed for a mean follow-up
      time of 2.1 years (range 6 months-5 years), and the median was 28 months. Visual
      acuity improved in 92% of patients and was unchanged in 8% of patients. Eleven
      patients with visual field problems were better in various degrees at
      postoperative follow-up than before operation. No patients showed worsening of
      vision or visual field after surgery. CONCLUSIONS: In this small, selected series
      with a relatively short follow-up, the extended endoscopic endonasal
      transsphenoidal approach to TSMs was a feasible alternative to the transcranial
      approach with minimal manipulation of the optic nerve. Procedures in the
      subchiasmatic space can be performed effectively with excellent visualization of
      the blood network supply to the optic apparatus while preserving the optic nerve
      in most cases.

PMID- 20934160
TI  - Withstand pressure of a simple fibrin glue sealant: experimental study of
      mimicked sellar reconstruction in extended transsphenoidal surgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To examine the strength and tolerance of the fibrin glue sealant in a
      situation of extended transsphenoidal surgery. The withstand pressure of fibrin
      glue sealant was measured using a simple sellar reconstruction model. METHODS: A
      15-mm diameter hole at the bottom of a 51-cm high cylinder was covered with a
      Gore-Tex (Gore-Tex, Tokyo, Japan) sheet. A small plate was placed on the center
      for a brief fixation, and 3 mL of fibrin glue was applied over the entire bottom.
      Then water was gradually filled in five cylinders, and the water level at leakage
      was measured as withstand pressures at 10 minutes and 24 hours after sealant
      application. The stability of the sealant under pressures of 20 and 30 cm H(2)O
      for 12 hours was also examined. RESULTS: The median initial withstand pressure at
      10 minutes was 32 cm H(2)O (n = 5), and was significantly increased to 47.5 cm
      H(2)O after 24 hours (n = 4). In four of five cylinders, fibrin glue sealants
      were stable against a pressure of 20 cm H(2)O for 12 hours and 30 cm H(2)O for
      the next 12 hours. CONCLUSIONS: The withstand pressure of simple fibrin glue
      sealant without other biological reactions could be estimated to be more than 20
      cm H(2)O after application, and increased to more than 40 cm H(2)O after 24
      hours. These data are practical for neurosurgeons to comprehend the strength and
      limit of fibrin glue sealant and suggests the importance to control the
      intracranial pressure to less than 20 cm H(2)O, especially for the first 12 to 24
      hours.

PMID- 20934161
TI  - Multiportal endoscopic approaches to the central skull base: a cadaveric study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There has been marked evolution in techniques in skull base surgery
      including the development of minimally invasive endoscopic supraorbital,
      transnasal, and more recently, transorbital approaches. These have been typically
      described as isolated, rather than concerted approaches. It is possible that
      rather than using these approaches alone, they could be combined with transnasal
      approaches to provide improved manipulation angles, shorter working distances,
      and optimal visualization of the pathology. The primary objective of this study
      is therefore to determine whether these pathways can be combined in "multiportal"
      approaches to further improve the surgeon's ability to access and manipulate
      pathology in the central anterior cranial fossa. METHODS: A study was performed
      on five cadaver heads. Each cadaver underwent an expanded endoscopic binasal
      approach with clivectomy, bilateral precaruncular transorbital approaches, and
      bilateral supraorbital craniotomies through an eyebrow incision. A total of 25
      procedures were performed. Five endonasal, 10 transorbital, and 10 supraorbital
      procedures were performed using 0- and 45-degree 4-mm rigid endoscopes.
      Measurements were obtained from the nasal spine and anterior lacrimal crest to
      the pituitary gland (PG), optic chiasm (OC), and ipsilateral cavernous carotid
      artery (IpsiCavCa). Measurements from the anterior border of the orbital roof
      through the supraorbital approach to the PG and OC were also performed.
      Photographs were taken to demonstrate these approaches and angles of
      visualization. RESULTS: The precaruncular transorbital approach provided a
      uniformly shorter distance to the PG, OC, and IpsiCavCa compared with the
      endoscopic transnasal approach. The difference in the mean distances between
      these two approaches in the left and right sides were 2.38 cm (P=.000) and 2.56
      cm (P=.000), respectively. The supraorbital approach to the PG and OC was shorter
      than the transnasal by a mean difference of 1.92 cm (P=.000) and 1.99 cm (P=.000)
      on the right and left side, respectively. There was no significant difference in
      the mean distances to the PG and the OC between the transorbital and supraorbital
      approaches. Use of these approaches in tandem provided an extra working port by
      which structures above and below the target organ were better visualized and more
      easily dissected with two-handed microsurgical techniques than through a single
      approach. CONCLUSIONS: The precaruncular transorbital approach provided rapid,
      direct, coplanar access to the clivus, sella, and suprasellar/parasellar regions.
      The supraorbital minicraniotomy augmented access to the planum sphenoidale,
      sella, tuberculum sella, and suprasellar regions. These approaches provided
      shorter working distances, improved visualization, and working angles that offer
      more direct access to the pituitary gland, suprasellar region, clivus, medial and
      lateral cavernous sinus than the endoscopic transnasal approach alone. The
      combination of endoscopic approaches to the central anterior skull base
      significantly improved instrument access, particularly to lateral targets, as
      well as better visualization of the vital structures in these regions. These
      ports provide the surgeon with a more expansive surgical field and improved the
      ability to perform two-handed microsurgical dissections.

PMID- 20934162
TI  - Combined intra- and extra-endoscopic techniques for aggressive resection of
      subependymal giant cell astrocytomas.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although neuroendoscope is widely used, endoscopic removal of
      intraventricular solid tumors has rarely been reported. Most reported procedures
      were performed with special endoscopic instruments through the endoscope's
      working channel--intra-axial endoscopic procedures. We report two cases of
      combined intra-/extra-axial endoscopic procedures--intraventricular solid tumor
      resection for subependymal giant cell astrocytoma. METHODS: In 2007, two patients
      with subependymal giant cell astrocytoma with a long history of tuberous
      sclerosis underwent solely endoscopic, minimally invasive intraventricular tumor
      resection. Through a precoronal transcortical approach, intra-axial endoscopic
      techniques were used to biopsy tumors. After a 1- to 1.5-cm in diameter corridor
      was formed inside the frontal lobes, extra-axial endoscopic techniques were used
      to explore the tumors and resect them. During extra-axial procedures,
      microneurosurgical instruments were used around the endoscope. RESULTS: In both
      patients, gross total resection of the tumors was achieved safely. Pathologic
      diagnoses were subependymal giant cell astrocytoma. There were no complications
      from surgery, and no neurological deficits. Patients were doing well and shunt
      free during the 8-month postoperative follow-ups. Postoperative magnetic
      resonance images showed minimal approach-related trauma along the surgical
      corridor. CONCLUSIONS: In the present report endoscopic minimally invasive
      neurosurgery (EMIN) was defined as procedures in which the endoscope was used
      independently as the only optical device, for both illumination and
      visualization. Depending on the relationship between surgical instruments and the
      endoscope, EMIN was classified as intra-axial and extra-axial procedures. EMIN is
      a completive, safe procedure for intraventricular subependymal giant cell
      astrocytoma.

PMID- 20934163
TI  - Metastatic gliosarcoma mass extension to a donor fascia lata graft harvest site
      by tumor cell contamination.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Brain glioblastoma multiforme is a malignant and highly aggressive
      entity that rarely shows extracranial and extraneural invasion. In the past 70
      years, only eight cases of subcutaneous metastases have been reported. CASE
      DESCRIPTION: A case of glioblastoma multiforme with extensive local cutaneous and
      subcutaneous involvement of previous surgical sites and a metastatic mass, which
      had developed in the graft donor area of the tensor fascia lata tendon used for
      the reconstruction of dura. According to the excisional biopsy results, the
      developed mass was defined as a gliosarcoma carrying the exact characteristics of
      the primary tumor. CONCLUSIONS: Contaminated surgical tools and instruments can
      facilitate the distant spread of tumor cells. Therefore, the renewal of the
      surgical tools and instruments and irrigation of the surgical area after primary
      tumor resection is emphasized.

PMID- 20934164
TI  - Long-term results of computer-assisted posterior occipitocervical reconstruction.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Instability of the occipitocervical junction can present challenging
      surgical problems because of the unique anatomic and biomechanical
      characteristics of this region. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the
      long-term surgical results and usefulness of a computed tomography (CT)-based
      navigation system for the occipitocervical reconstruction. METHODS: Twenty-three
      patients (10 men, 13 women; mean age at surgery 57.9 years; mean follow-up
      periods 52.9 months) with occipitocervical junction disorders were treated by
      occipitocervical reconstruction using pedicle screws, aided by a CT-based
      navigation system. Roentgenologic measurement and clinical evaluation were
      performed before surgery and at final follow-up. Postoperative CT and plane
      radiographs were used to determine the accuracy of screw placement. RESULTS: Mean
      atlantodental interval and Ranawat value were significantly improved (P<.05), and
      mean clivoaxial angle was increased after surgery and maintained at final follow
      up. Mean Japanese Orthopedic Association score before and at final follow-up was
      7.1 +/- 4.4 and 11.3 +/- 3.5 points, showing significant improvement (P = .005).
      Fourteen patients (61%) improved more than one Ranawat grade. Six of nine
      patients (67%) in class IIIB were improved. On the other hand, nine patients (39
      %) remained at the same class at final follow-up. A total of 88 pedicle screws
      were inserted into cervical and upper thoracic pedicles using the navigation
      system, and only one screw (1.1 %) showed major pedicle wall perforation. Solid
      union was achieved in all 23 patients. CONCLUSIONS: Occipitocervical
      reconstruction using pedicle screws provided a high fusion rate and maintained
      alignment in the occipitocervical region. The computer-assisted navigation system
      was a useful tool for accurate and safe pedicle screw insertion.

PMID- 20934165
TI  - Neuroprotective effects of gabapentin in experimental spinal cord injury.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Extensive research has focused on neuroprotection after spinal cord
      trauma to alleviate the effects of secondary injury. This study aims to
      investigate the neuroprotective effects of gabapentin in experimental spinal cord
      injury. METHODS: Thirty-six adult, male Wistar rats received spinal cord injury
      using the clip compression method. Animals were divided into five groups. High
      (200 mg/kg) and low doses (30 mg/kg) of gabapentin were administered to the
      animals in the treatment groups after spinal cord trauma and ultrastructural
      findings and lipid peroxidation levels of these two groups were compared with the
      animals that received only laminectomy, only trauma, and trauma and 30 mg/kg
      methylprednisolone. RESULTS: Regarding tissue lipid peroxidation levels after
      trauma, animals in gabapentin groups demonstrated better results than the trauma
      group. However, these results were no better than the methylprednisolone group.
      The results regarding the ultrastructural findings were similar. Treatment groups
      demonstrated better ultrastructural findings than the trauma group. In addition,
      the results of the high dose gabapentin group were significantly better than the
      low dose gabapentin group. CONCLUSIONS: Gabapentin demonstrated similar
      neuroprotective effects as methylprednisolone in early phase of spinal cord
      injury. Further studies with different experimental settings including
      neurological outcome are required to achieve conclusive results.

PMID- 20934166
TI  - Risks and causes of cervical cord and medulla oblongata injuries due to
      acupuncture.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Acupuncture has become one of the most popular alternative medicines
      in the world today. Some acupuncturists still intentionally embed entire needles
      deep in the tissue for treatments, and some patients stick needles into their own
      bodies on their own. CASE DESCRIPTION: Surgical removal of an accidentally broken
      acupuncture needle due to self-acupuncture that was embedded in the medulla
      oblongata and cerebellum was performed. The broken needle migrated further into
      the brain in a few days. Contrary to expectation, it was extremely laborious to
      find the needle, which turned out to be completely embedded in the brain. No
      postoperative complications developed. The patient denied any symptoms and was
      subsequently discharged. RESULTS: Previously reported cases of 25 patients, in
      addition to our patient, who suffered from cervical or brain injuries due to
      acupuncture needles, were retrospectively studied. Embedded needles were the most
      frequent cause of the injuries and comprised 15 patients (57.7%). Accidentally
      broken needles came in second, comprising 11 patients (42.3%). Five cases (19.2%)
      were attributed to self-acupuncture. Sixteen (61.5%) patients developed symptoms
      more than 30 days after the accident. Twenty-three (88.5%) patients complained of
      sensory deficits, whereas 11 (42.3%) presented with motor weakness. Surgical
      removals were performed in 21 patients (80.8%), and 10 patients showed signs of
      recovery. On the other hand, no patients showed improvements in conservatively
      treated cases. CONCLUSIONS: Embedded needles in the brain should be urgently
      removed if possible. Both embedded needle acupuncture and self-acupuncture are
      extremely dangerous and hazardous to health.

PMID- 20934167
TI  - Prediction of the need for an MRI after surgical treatment of symptomatic lumbar
      herniated disc at discharge: evaluation of the necessity for regular visits at
      the outpatient clinic.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Surgical treatment of symptomatic lumbar disc herniations has been
      well established. The need for regular postoperative visits at the outpatient
      clinic has never been evaluated. In this study, factors predicting the need for
      magnetic resonance imaging, denoting an unfavorable outcome needing further
      evaluation, were evaluated. METHODS: The charts of all patients who underwent
      first surgery for a lumbar herniated disc were evaluated. Predefined factors that
      could possibly be a predictive factor were collected: gender, age at surgery,
      level of surgical pathology, profession of the patient, and at discharge: leg
      pain, back pain, medication used for leg pain, new neurological deficit after the
      surgical procedure, and the number of days of their postoperative stay at the
      hospital. The factors were statistically analyzed. RESULTS: One hundred seventy
      two patients were identified. Twenty-nine patients underwent magnetic resonance
      imaging during their postoperative follow-up. None of the predefined factors at
      discharge had any predictive value. CONCLUSIONS: The need for a regular
      appointment at the outpatient clinic for patients who underwent the first surgery
      can be questioned. Preoperatively and postoperatively, extensive instructions
      about postoperative issues related to work and lifestyle should be given. By Web
      or telephone, these patients should complete questionnaires at regular intervals
      to evaluate to outcome of the surgery. In case of unsuspected events, persistent,
      or recurrent complaints the patient should visit the clinic or outpatient clinic.

PMID- 20934168
TI  - The role of external drains and peritoneal conduits in the treatment of recurrent
      chronic subdural hematoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A considerable body of evidence supporting the use of external
      drainage after evacuation of primary chronic subdural hematoma (CSDH) exists in
      the literature. However, no systematic study of the value of postoperative
      drainage in the treatment of recurrent CSDH has been published. The aim of the
      study was to investigate external drains and subdural-to-peritoneal conduit in
      the treatment of recurrent CSDH. METHODS: A retrospective review of cases of CSDH
      treated in our institution between October 2002 and October 2006 was conducted.
      RESULTS: During the study period, 408 patients had burr hole evacuation. Sixty
      four patients (15.9%) had treatment for recurrence. One patient had craniotomy,
      and the remaining 63 had another burr hole evacuation: 36 without placement of a
      drain (BHO), 14 with external drainage (SED), and 13 with placement of subdural
      peritoneal catheter (SPC). Fifteen patients (24%) developed a secondary
      recurrence requiring a third drainage procedure. Postoperative drainage (SED or
      SPC) was associated with a significantly lower secondary recurrence rate when
      compared to BHO: 3/27 (11%) versus 12/36 (33%) (chi(2), P=.040). There was no
      significant difference in recurrence rates between SED and SPC. Postoperative
      complications included acute subdural hematoma (2), subdural empyema (2), brain
      edema (2), pneumonia (3), and in-hospital death (2). None of the complications
      was associated with the use of a specific technique. CONCLUSIONS: The results
      indicate that, as in the treatment of primary CSDHs, the use of drain (SED or
      SPC) with burr hole evacuation is safe and is associated with lower recurrence
      rate. Further investigation is needed to clarify the indications of currently
      available surgical techniques in the treatment of recurrent CSDH.

PMID- 20934169
TI  - Malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor arising from benign vestibular schwannoma
      treated by gamma knife radiosurgery after two previous surgeries: a case report
      with surgical and pathological observations.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Gamma knife radiosurgery (GKRS) is an effective treatment for
      vestibular schwannomas with lower morbidity and mortality. However, malignant
      transformation associated with GKRS, although uncommon, has been reported in
      recent publications. METHODS: We describe a case presenting with malignant
      peripheral nerve sheath tumor (MPNST) at 8 years after GKRS after incomplete
      resections. RESULTS: The tumor appeared to be a typical benign schwannoma at the
      surgery preceding GKRS, and rapidly enlarged after long-term control, causing
      progressive neurological deterioration. Operative findings showed that the tumor
      was composed of two different components, and histopathology distinctively
      demonstrated MPNST and benign schwannoma. CONCLUSIONS: The coexistence of benign
      and malignant components might indicate that the present MPNST had arisen from
      the benign schwannoma by transformation in association with GKRS.

PMID- 20934170
TI  - [Management of patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction in the French
      General Hospitals in 2008--reperfusion strategies--additives treatments (2008
      study on the practices of General Hospitals)].
AB  - We have performed a retrospective survey on the management of ACS ST+ in French
      general hospitals in 2008. The aim was to assess adherence to recommendations of
      various scientific societies. Sixty-six hospitals responded. The total number of
      patients was 4741, 63% supported by mobile emergency resuscitation service and
      37% by emergencies. The treatment of reperfusion and adjuvants are detailed, the
      heterogeneity of regimens is emphasized. The median treatment of reperfusion is
      107, the median rate of reperfusion was 91% with 72% of primary angioplasty. In
      general, centers with interventional cardiology use less fibrinolysis and are the
      only ones to use anti-G2B3A.

PMID- 20934171
TI  - Birth defects observed with maternal carbimazole treatment: Six cases reported to
      Nice's Pharmacovigilance Center.
AB  - GOALS: To report cases of embryopathy occurring following first trimester
      exposure to anti-thyroid drugs. METHODS: Retrospective screening of the database
      of our Pharmacovigilance Center from 1987 to date. RESULTS: We report six cases
      of embryopathy, all following carbimazole exposure during the first trimester:
      two cases of abdominal wall defect, including one associated with facial
      dysmorphia; one case of digestive malformation (patent omphalomesenteric duct);
      two cases of aplasia cutis including one with facial dysmorphism; one case of
      bilateral choanal atresia with aorta coarctation associated with poorly
      controlled insulin dependent diabetes. Four out of five patients were euthyroid
      with treatment during the first trimester. We found a context suggesting genetic
      predisposition to congenital malformation in three cases: two cases of parental
      cleft lip/palate, one case of consanguinity. Outcome was favorable in all cases.
      CONCLUSIONS: We want to raise awareness about the potential teratogenicity of
      carbimazole, probably on a predisposed genetic background. We suggest better
      reporting of congenital anomalies in children of women with Graves'disease, with
      or without in utero exposure to anti-thyroid drugs. In light of current
      literature, propylthiouracil should be the first line treatment for hyperthyroid
      women wishing a pregnancy.

PMID- 20934172
TI  - The effect of bone conduction microphone locations on speech intelligibility and
      sound quality.
AB  - This paper presents the results of three studies of intelligibility and quality
      of speech recorded through a bone conduction microphone (BCM). All speech signals
      were captured and recorded using a Temco HG-17 BCM. Twelve locations on or close
      to the skull were selected for the BCM placement. In the first study, listeners
      evaluated the intelligibility and quality of the bone conducted speech signals
      presented through traditional earphones. Listeners in the second study evaluated
      the intelligibility and quality of signals presented through a loudspeaker. In
      the third study the signals were reproduced through a bone conduction headset;
      however, signal evaluation was limited to speech intelligibility only. In all
      three studies, the Forehead and Temple BCM locations yielded the highest
      intelligibility and quality rating scores. The Collarbone location produced the
      least intelligible and lowest quality signals across all tested BCM locations.

PMID- 20934173
TI  - Methodological issues in product evaluation: the influence of testing environment
      and task scenario.
AB  - This article examines the utility of two commonly used approaches in the
      evaluation of interactive consumer products: lab-based testing and single task
      scenarios. These are compared to two more complex and resource-demanding
      approaches (field-based testing and dual task scenarios) with regard to the test
      results they produce. An experiment with N = 80 users was carried out, employing
      a 2 (laboratory vs. field) by 2 (single task vs. dual task scenario) by 2 (on
      product information: present vs. absent) between-subjects design. On-product
      information (advising users to save water and electricity during kettle usage)
      represented the intervention, of which the effects on user behaviour were
      compared under the different experimental conditions. The main finding was that
      the impact of on-product information on user behaviour was strongest in the lab
      based testing environment using a single task scenario (i.e., most economical
      testing condition), compared to the three other experimental conditions. The work
      found similar effects for self-report measures. The findings of the study point
      to the risk that the effects of system redesign on user behaviour may be
      overestimated if low-fidelity testing approaches are employed. The relevance of
      these findings for other application areas is also discussed (e.g., design of
      warnings).

PMID- 20934174
TI  - Association of IL1 gene polymorphisms with chronic periodontitis in Brazilians.
AB  - Chronic periodontal disease (PD) is an infectious immune-inflammatory illness.
      Polymorphisms in IL1 genes play a role in inflammatory diseases through the
      modulation of cytokine levels. OBJECTIVE: this study aimed to investigate the
      association between polymorphisms in the IL1 gene cluster and chronic
      periodontitis in a Brazilian population. DESIGN: a sample of 113 subjects over 25
      years (mean age 41.2) were grouped into: 44 healthy individuals, 31 subjects with
      moderate and 38 with severe periodontitis. DNA was obtained through a mouthwash
      and oral mucosa scraping. PCR-RFLP was used to identify the following
      polymorphisms: IL1A C-889T (rs1800587), IL1B C-511T (rs16944), IL1B C+3954T
      (rs11436340), IL1RN intron 2 (rs2234663). Differences in the
      allele/genotype/haplotype frequencies were assessed by Chi-square test (p<0.05).
      The risk associated with alleles, genotypes and haplotypes was calculated as odds
      ratio (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). RESULTS: neither IL1A (C-889T) nor
      IL1B (C+3954T) polymorphisms was associated with chronic PD. Allele T for IL1B (C
      511T) only associated with PD in the group of blacks and mulattos. Moreover,
      genotype 2/2 for IL1RN (intron 2) was associated with severe PD. CONCLUSIONS:
      genotype 2/2 of IL1RN for the whole Brazilian population and allele T of IL1B (C
      511T) in a subgroup of Afro-Americans and mulattos were suggested as putative
      risk indicators for chronic periodontitis.

PMID- 20934175
TI  - A pyrenyl-appended triazole-based ribose as a fluorescent sensor for Hg2+ ion.
AB  - For the efficient detection of toxic trace metal ions, two pyrenyl-appended
      triazole-based d-ribose fluorescent chemosensors 6 and 7 were prepared and their
      fluoroionophoric properties toward transition metal ions were investigated.
      Chemosensors 6 and 7 exhibit highly selective recognition toward Hg(2+) ion among
      a series of tested metal ions in CH(2)Cl(2)/MeOH solution. The association
      constants of 6 and 7 are calculated to be 1.73 * 10(5)M(-1) and 4.44 * 10(5)M(
      1), respectively. Both 6 and 7 formed complexes with the Hg(2+) ion at a 1:1
      ligand-to-metal ratio with a detection limit of 10-15 MUM Hg(2+). Computational
      analysis demonstrated that the Hg(2+) ion occupied the coordination center of 6
      with N(2) and N(3) atoms in two triazole groups, thus separating and distorting
      the two parallel pyrenes away from each other.

PMID- 20934176
TI  - Acceptor specificity in the transglycosylation reaction using Endo-M.
AB  - To determine the structural specificity of the glycosyl acceptor of the
      transglycosylation reaction using endo-beta-N-acetylglucosaminidase (ENGase) (EC
      3.2.1.96) from Mucor hiemalis (Endo-M), several acceptor derivatives were
      designed and synthesized. The narrow regions of the 1,3-diol structure from the 4
      to 6-hydroxy functions of GlcNAc were found to be essential for the
      transglycosylation reaction using Endo-M. Furthermore, it was determined that
      Endo-M strictly recognizes a 1,3-diol structure consisting of primary and
      secondary hydroxyl groups.

PMID- 20934177
TI  - Structure of the O-polysaccharide of Citrobacter youngae PCM 1503.
AB  - The O-polysaccharide (O-antigen) was obtained from the lipopolysaccharide of
      Citrobacter youngae PCM 1503, which is currently classified to the O7 serogroup.
      The following structure of the tetrasaccharide repeating unit of the
      polysaccharide was established by sugar and methylation analyses along with 1D
      and 2D (1)H and (13)C NMR spectroscopy: Structural and serological data of the O
      antigen suggest that strain PCM 1503 should be reclassified to a new Citrobacter
      serogroup.

PMID- 20934178
TI  - The three-gene paraoxonase family: physiologic roles, actions and regulation.
AB  - The paraoxonase (PON) gene family is composed of three members (PON1, PON2, PON3)
      that share considerable structural homology and are located adjacently on
      chromosome 7 in humans. By far the most-studied member is PON1, a high-density
      lipoprotein-associated esterase/lactonase, also endowed with the capacity to
      hydrolyze organophosphates, but all the three proteins prevent oxidative stress
      and fight inflammation. They therefore seem central to a wide variety of human
      illnesses, including atherosclerosis, diabetes mellitus, mental disorders and
      inflammatory bowel disease. The major goal of this review is to highlight the
      regulation of each of the paraoxonase components by diverse nutritional molecules
      and pharmacological agents as well as a number of pathophysiological events, such
      as oxidative stress and inflammation. Considerable and detailed cell-based
      studies and animal model experiments have been provided to allow a thorough
      scrutiny of PON modulation, which will increase our understanding and ability to
      target these genes in order to efficiently increase their transcriptional
      activity and decrease the risks of developing different disorders.

PMID- 20934179
TI  - Chemical characterization of aromatic compounds in extra heavy gas oil by
      comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography coupled to time-of-flight mass
      spectrometry.
AB  - Comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography coupled to time-of-flight mass
      spectrometry (GC*GC-TOFMS) was used for the characterization of aromatic
      compounds present in extra heavy gas oil (EHGO) from Brazil. Individual
      identification of EHGO compounds was successfully achieved in addition to group
      type separation on the chromatographic plane. Many aromatic hydrocarbons,
      especially polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and sulfur compounds, were detected
      and identified, such as chrysenes, phenanthrenes, perylenes,
      benzonaphthothiophenes and alkylbenzonaphthothiophenes. In addition, triaromatic
      steroids, methyl-triaromatic steroids, tetrahydrochrysenes and tetraromatic
      pentacyclic compounds were present in the EHGO aromatic fractions. Considering
      the roof-tile effect observed for many of these compound classes and the high
      number of individual compounds identified, GC*GC-TOFMS is an excellent technique
      to characterize the molecular composition of the aromatic fraction from EHGO
      samples. Moreover, data processing allowed the quantification of aromatic
      compounds, in class and individually, using external standards. EHGO data were
      obtained in MUgg(-1), e.g., benzo[a]pyrene were in the range 351 to 1164MUgg(-1).
      Thus, GC*GC-TOFMS was successfully applied in EHGO quantitative analysis.

PMID- 20934180
TI  - Performance of short-chain alcohols versus acetonitrile in the surfactant
      mediated reversed-phase liquid chromatographic separation of beta-blockers.
AB  - Organic solvents are traditionally added to micellar mobile phases to achieve
      adequate retention times and peak profiles, in a chromatographic mode which has
      been called micellar liquid chromatography (MLC). The organic solvent content is
      limited to preserve the formation of micelles. However, at increasing organic
      solvent contents, the transition to a situation where micelles do not exist is
      gradual. Also, there is no reason to neglect the potentiality of mobile phases
      containing only surfactant monomers instead of micelles (high submicellar
      chromatography, HSC). This is demonstrated here for the analysis of beta
      blockers. The performance of four organic solvents (methanol, ethanol, 1
      propanol, and acetonitrile) was compared in mobile phases containing the anionic
      surfactant sodium dodecyl sulphate in the MLC and HSC modes. The association of
      the organic solvent molecules with micelles gives rise to a significant loss in
      the elution strength of the organic solvent; whereas upon disruption of micelles,
      it tends to that observed in the hydro-organic mode. The elution behaviour of the
      beta-blockers was modelled to predict the retention times. This allowed the
      detailed exploration of the selectivity and resolution of the chromatographic
      systems in relatively wide ranges of concentration of surfactant and organic
      solvent. The best performance in terms of resolution and analysis time was
      achieved using HSC with acetonitrile, being able to base-line resolve a mixture
      of eight beta-blockers. Ethanol also provided a good separation performance,
      significantly improved with respect to methanol and 1-propanol. In contrast, the
      hydro-organic mode using acetonitrile or any of the short-chain alcohols could
      not succeed with the separation of the beta-blockers, owing to the poorer
      selectivity and wider peaks.

PMID- 20934181
TI  - Analysis of phenolic acids by non-aqueous capillary electrophoresis after
      electrokinetic supercharging.
AB  - Electrokinetic supercharging (EKS), a new and powerful on-line preconcentration
      method for capillary electrophoresis, was utilized in non-aqueous capillary
      electrophoresis (NACE) to enhance the sensitivity of phenolic acids. The buffer
      acidity and concentration, leader and terminator length and electrokinetic
      injection time were optimised, with the optimum conditions being: a background
      electrolyte of 40 mM Tris-acetic acid (pH 7.9), hydrodynamic injection of 50 mM
      ammonium chloride (22 s, 0.5 psi) as leader, electrokinetic injection of the
      sample (180 s, -10 kV), hydrodynamic injection of 20 mM CHES (32 s, 0.5 psi) as
      terminator, before application of the separation voltage (-25 kV). Under these
      conditions the sensitivity was enhanced between 1333 and 3440 times when compared
      to a normal hydrodynamic injection with the sample volume <3% of the capillary
      volume. Detection limits for the seven phenolic acids were in the range of 0.22
      0.51 ng/mL and EKS was found to be 3.6-7.9 times more sensitive than large-volume
      sample stacking and anion selective exhaustive injection for the same seven
      phenolic acids.

PMID- 20934182
TI  - Sorptive extraction with in-sample acetylation for gas chromatography-mass
      spectrometry determination of ethylphenol species in wine samples.
AB  - An inexpensive and effective sample preparation procedure for the determination
      of three ethylphenolic off-flavours (4-ethylphenol, 4-ethylguaiacol and 4
      ethylcathecol) in wine samples is presented. Analytes were in situ acetylated and
      concentrated using a disposable silicone sorbent (DSS) exposed to the diluted
      sample. After that, the analytes were recovered with ethyl acetate and determined
      by gas chromatography with mass spectrometry. The influence of different
      parameters (volume of acetic anhydride, basic catalyst, ionic strength, sorbent
      format, sampling mode and extraction time) on the efficiency of derivatization
      and extraction steps is discussed. Under optimized conditions, 2 mL of wine were
      diluted with 15 mL of an aqueous solution of potassium bicarbonate (5%, m/v) in a
      22 mL vessel, containing 2 g of sodium chloride. The volume of acetic anhydride
      and the extraction time were set at 90 MUL and 2 h, and the extraction was
      carried out at room temperature (20+/-2 degrees C). Analytes were concentrated
      using a silicone disc (5 mm diameter * 0.5 mm thickness) and further desorbed
      with 0.2 mL of ethyl acetate. The achieved limits of quantification (LOQs),
      defined as the concentration of each compound providing a signal 10 times higher
      than the baseline noise, stayed between 5 and 15 ng mL(-1). The method provided a
      linear response range of up to 5000 ng mL(-1) and relative recoveries from 91% to
      116%. The 4-ethylphenol off-flavour was detected in most red wine samples at
      concentrations of up to 2700 ng mL(-1).

PMID- 20934183
TI  - Determination of sulfonamides in bovine milk with column-switching high
      performance liquid chromatography using surface imprinted silica with hydrophilic
      external layer as restricted access and selective extraction material.
AB  - A novel restricted access-molecularly imprinted material (RA-MIP) with
      selectivity for sulfonamides was synthesized using initiator-transfer agent
      terminator (iniferter) method, a "living"/controlled radical polymerization
      technique. The material was prepared by grafting two layers with different
      functions on the silica support. To perform a "grafting from" polymerization,
      iniferter was immobilized on the surface of silica. The internal sulfamethazine
      imprinted polymer and the external poly(glycidyl methacrylate) [poly(GMA)] were
      then grafted successively. The hydrophilic structures were formed on the external
      layer of the material by the hydrolysis of the linear poly(GMA) for protein
      removal. The result has shown that this restricted access-MIP grafted silica (RA
      MIP-SG) not only has the selectivity for the template and its analog, but also
      has the ability of exclusion for bovine serum albumin (BSA). It indicated that
      the material possesses both properties of molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) and
      restricted access material (RAM). Using RA-MIP-SG as pre-column, a column
      switching HPLC method was established for the determination of sulfonamides in
      bovine milk. Direct sample injection was performed in the analysis, which
      provides a convenient analytical procedure. Good linearity in the range of 2-400
      ng mL(-1) (R>0.998) has been obtained for seven sulfonamides in the study. The
      recoveries of all the analytes at three concentration levels are between 93% and
      107% with the RSD<8.0%. The limits of quantification and limits of detection are
      less than or equal to 2.7 ng mL(-1) and 0.8 ng mL(-1) respectively. It
      demonstrated this RA-MIP-SG can be applied in sample extraction and clean-up for
      the determination of sulfonamides in bovine milk by direct injection and column
      switching HPLC with good efficiency and reliability.

PMID- 20934184
TI  - Analysis of cocaine and two metabolites in dried blood spots by liquid
      chromatography with fluorescence detection: a novel test for cocaine and alcohol
      intake.
AB  - An original HPLC method coupled to spectrofluorimetric detection is presented for
      the simultaneous analysis in dried blood spots (DBS) of cocaine and two important
      metabolites, namely benzoylecgonine (its main metabolite) and cocaethylene (the
      active metabolite formed in the presence of ethanol). The chromatographic
      analysis was carried out on a C8 column, using a mobile phase containing
      phosphate buffer (pH 3.0)-acetonitrile (85:15, v/v). Native analyte fluorescence
      was monitored at 315 nm while exciting at 230 nm. A fast and feasible sample pre
      treatment was implemented by solvent extraction, obtaining good extraction yields
      (>91%) and satisfactory precision values (RSD<4.8%). The method was successfully
      applied to DBS samples collected from some cocaine users, both with and without
      concomitant ethanol intake. The results were in good agreement with those
      obtained from plasma samples subjected to an original solid-phase extraction
      procedure on C8 cartridges. The method has demonstrated to be suitable for the
      monitoring of cocaine/ethanol use by means of DBS or plasma testing. Assays are
      in progress to apply this method on the street, for the control of subjects
      suspected of driving under the influence of psychotropic substances.

PMID- 20934185
TI  - Characterization and optimization by experimental design of a liquid
      chromatographic method for the separation of hydroxylated polychlorinated
      biphenyls on a polar-embedded stationary phase.
AB  - Traditionally, the determination of hydroxylated polychlorinated biphenyls (OH
      PCBs) has been carried out by gas chromatography (GC). However, the gas
      chromatographic behavior and sensitivity of this type of hydroxylated compounds
      are not always satisfactory, hence a prior derivatization of the OH-PCBs must be
      performed. Therefore, the development of liquid chromatographic methods should
      prove to be a very interesting task aimed at dealing with the instrumental
      determination of OH-PCBs. Taking into account that octadecylsilane stationary
      phases are not the most adequate for the separation of isobaric compounds, an
      amide-type column has been tested. For the development of the method, the
      Response Surface Methodology was used, based on a Box-Wilson Central Composite
      experimental design. The initial content of methanol in the mobile phase, the
      gradient time, and the concentration and the pH value of the buffer were chosen
      as relevant experimental parameters. A global optimum was obtained by selecting
      the elution time, the sensitivity and the overall resolution as responses to
      optimize. The developed method for liquid chromatography presented a very good
      resolution and sensitivity, and a reasonably short analysis time. In addition, a
      retention study was conducted in order to survey the different interactions that
      take place in the separation process, showing that hydrogen bonding is the main
      interaction between OH-PCBs and the amide-type stationary phase. However, a
      substantial contribution of dispersion forces was present in methanol contents in
      the mobile phase below 65%. Besides, the pH value of the mobile phase was found
      to be the most important parameter to control the hydrogen bond forces and
      therefore, to regulate the OH-PCBs separation.

PMID- 20934186
TI  - Reverse micellar based synthesis of ultrafine MgO nanoparticles (8-10 nm):
      characterization and catalytic properties.
AB  - Anisotropic nanostructures of magnesium oxalate dihydrate were synthesized using
      cationic surfactant based microemulsion method. The cationic surfactant plays an
      important role in forming the anisotropic structures. The oxalate nanostructures
      acts as an excellent precursor for the synthesis of fine magnesium oxide
      nanoparticles (~10 nm). Both the precursor and the oxide were characterized by
      using PXRD, IR, surface area and HRTEM. The surface area of these surfactant free
      oxide nanoparticles was found to be 108 m(2)/g. The catalytic activity of this
      basic oxide was examined for the Claisen-Schmidt condensation reaction and was
      found to be comparable to the best reported for the conventionally prepared MgO.
      Chalcone formation was found to increase with time as observed using gas
      chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The reusability of the catalyst was
      checked by using the same catalyst twice which showed a reduced percentage (50%
      compared to first cycle) conversion.

PMID- 20934187
TI  - A simple recipe for an efficient TiO2 nanofiber-based dye-sensitized solar cell.
AB  - Development of highly efficient dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) with good
      photovoltaic parameters is an active research area of current global interest. In
      this article, we provide a simple recipe for the fabrication of electrospun
      TiO(2) nanorod-based efficient dye-sensitized solar cell using a Pechini-type
      sol. The Pechini-type sol of TiO(2) nanofibers produces a highly porous and
      compact layer of TiO(2) upon doctor-blading and sintering without the need for an
      adhesion and scattering layers or TiCl(4) treatment. The best nanofiber DSSCs
      with an area of ~0.28 cm(2) shows an efficiency of ~4.2% under standard test
      conditions (100 mW/cm(2), 25 degrees C and AM1.5 G) and an incident photon-to
      electron conversion efficiency (IPCE) of ~50%. Impedance measurements show lower
      charge transfer resistance that improved the fill factor. We believe that simple
      approaches such as the present one to develop nanofiber DSSCs would open up
      enormous possibilities in effective harvesting of solar energy for commercial
      applications, considering the fact that electrospinning is a cost-effective
      method for the mass scale production of nanofibers and nanorods.

PMID- 20934188
TI  - Articulation rate and its relationship to disfluency type, duration, and
      temperament in preschool children who stutter.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between articulation
      rate, frequency and duration of disfluencies of different types, and temperament
      in preschool children who stutter (CWS). In spontaneous speech samples from 19
      CWS (mean age=3:9; years:months), we measured articulation rate, the frequency
      and duration of (a) sound prolongations; (b) sound-syllable repetitions; (c)
      single syllable whole word repetitions; and (d) clusters. Temperament was
      assessed with the Children's Behavior Questionnaire (Rothbart et al., 2001).
      There was a significant negative correlation between articulation rate and
      average duration of sound prolongations (p<0.01), and between articulation rate
      and frequency of stuttering-like disfluencies (SLDs) (p<0.05). No other
      relationships proved statistically significant. Results do not support models of
      stuttering development that implicate particular characteristics of temperament
      as proximal contributors to stuttering; however, this is likely due to the fact
      that current methods, including the ones used in the present study, do not allow
      for the identification of a functional relationship between temperament and
      speech production. Findings do indicate that for some CWS, relatively longer
      sound prolongations co-occur with relatively slower speech rate, which suggests
      that sound prolongations, across a range of durations, may represent a distinct
      type of SLD, not just in their obvious perceptual characteristics, but in their
      potential influence on overall speech production at multiple levels. LEARNING
      OUTCOMES: Readers will be able to describe the relationship between stuttering
      like disfluencies, articulation rate and temperament in children who stutter, and
      discuss different measurements of articulation rate.

PMID- 20934189
TI  - Influence of 5-HTTLPR polymorphism on resting state perfusion in patients with
      major depression.
AB  - Neuroimaging studies in major depressive disorder (MDD) have indicated
      dysregulation in a network involving prefrontal cortex, subgenual cingulate and
      the amygdalae, which is known to be modulated by serotonin. The serotonergic
      system is the principal target for pharmacological treatment in MDD and the
      functional variable serotonin promoter polymorphism (5-HTTLPR) influences
      susceptibility, course and treatment response of MDD. Using data from a
      previously published sample of 89 MDD-patients, we examined post hoc the effect
      of 5-HTTLPR status on resting state perfusion, as measured with (99m)Tc-HMPAO
      SPECT. MDD patients were stratified according to receptor polymorphism, both
      using a bi-allelic (group A: L/L vs. group B: S/S and S/L genotype) and a tri
      allelic approach (Group A': LA/LA vs. Group B': non-LA/LA genotype). There were
      no significant differences between both subgroups regarding age, gender, severity
      of depression, medication, or treatment response (p > 0.1). Using the bi-allelic
      approach, Group B, compared to group A, revealed a significantly higher resting
      state perfusion in medial prefrontal cortex (p(voxel) (FWE) < 0.05). Additional
      ROI analyses showed relative overactivity of the amygdalae in group B (p(voxel)
      (FWE) < 0.05). Similar effects were observed in the tri-allelic approach. The
      opposite contrasts (Group A > Group B) revealed no significant effects. We
      demonstrate that in patients with MDD, 5-HTTLPR gene polymorphism modulates
      resting state perfusion in key structures of mood processing. While the clinical
      impact of these findings will need to be further investigated in larger cohort
      studies, the necessity to monitor and to account for individual 5-HTTLPR-status
      in future MDD imaging studies is highly recommended.

PMID- 20934191
TI  - MRI of the eye muscles in a case of ophthalmoplegia caused by common carotid
      artery occlusion suggests ischemic myopathy.
AB  - Ocular muscle palsies following carotid artery disease is thought to be caused by
      ischemia of the cranial oculomotor nerves but it may also be due to ischemia of
      the extraocular muscles (EOM). We studied a patient with common carotid artery
      occlusion syndrome (CCAOS) to elucidate the two competing hypotheses. MRI and
      sonography of the orbita showed oedematous swelling of all left EOM. MRI short
      tau inversion recovery (STIR) sequences showed hyperintensities and a prolonged
      T2-relaxation time in EOM indicating muscle oedema. It decreased within two weeks
      as ophthalmoplegia improved. For several reasons ischemic EOM myopathy rather
      than ischemic neuropathy seems to be the morphological correlate of
      ophthalmoplegia after ipsilateral CCAOS in this patient.

PMID- 20934192
TI  - NR2 antibodies: risk assessment of transient ischemic attack (TIA)/stroke in
      patients with history of isolated and multiple cerebrovascular events.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Predicting stroke using biomarkers would enable
      clinicians to help prevent stroke or mitigate damage. Several stroke biomarkers
      have been investigated but none has shown near term predictive value. METHODS: We
      studied patients presenting with a history of stroke or transient ischemic attack
      (TIA) to determine whether serum levels of autoantibodies to the NMDA receptor
      NR2 peptide (NR2Ab) reflected the presence of recent stroke compared with
      controls. Antibody levels were also correlated with clinical risk factors for
      stroke, including diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and history of recent
      TIA or stroke. RESULTS: Of the 245 patients that presented with acute stroke or
      TIA, 130 consented to participate and results are available for the 120.
      Volunteers from the community were recruited as controls. Males and females with
      multiple recent strokes and females with acute strokes had elevated NR2Ab levels
      compared to non-stroke patients or controls. Using a multiple regression model,
      the predictive value for NR2Ab was compared to clinical risk factors. In men, the
      presence of stroke correlated with hypertension (p<0.001) and NR2Ab levels
      (p<0.01) and in women the presence of stroke correlated with hypertension
      (p<0.001), diabetes (p<0.05), atrial fibrillation (p<0.05) and NR2Ab (p<0.01).
      CONCLUSION: These results suggest that NR2Ab levels reflect a history of multiple
      strokes and may serve as a predictive factor for stroke.

PMID- 20934190
TI  - Neural correlates of emotional processing in depression: changes with cognitive
      behavioral therapy and predictors of treatment response.
AB  - Major depressive disorder (MDD) is characterized by the presence of disturbances
      in emotional processing. However, the neural correlates of these alterations, and
      how they may be affected by therapeutic interventions, remain unclear. The
      present study addressed these issues in a preliminary investigation using
      functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine neural responses to
      positive, negative, and neutral pictures in unmedicated MDD patients (N = 22)
      versus controls (N = 14). After this initial scan, MDD patients were treated with
      cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and scanned again after treatment. Within
      regions that showed pre-treatment differences between patients and controls, we
      tested the association between pre-treatment activity and subsequent treatment
      response as well as activity changes from pre- to post-treatment. This study
      yielded three main findings. First, prior to treatment and relative to controls,
      patients exhibited overall reduced activity in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex
      (PFC), diminished discrimination between emotional and neutral items in the
      amygdala, caudate, and hippocampus, and enhanced responses to negative versus
      positive stimuli in the left anterior temporal lobe (ATL) and right dorsolateral
      PFC. Second, CBT-related symptom improvement in MDD patients was predicted by
      increased activity at baseline in ventromedial PFC as well as the valence effects
      in the ATL and dorsolateral PFC. Third, from pre- to post-treatment, MDD patients
      exhibited overall increases in ventromedial PFC activation, enhanced arousal
      responses in the amygdala, caudate, and hippocampus, and a reversal of valence
      effects in the ATL. The study was limited by the relatively small sample that was
      able to complete both scan sessions, as well as an inability to determine the
      influence of comorbid disorders within the current sample. Nevertheless,
      components of the neural networks corresponding to emotion processing
      disturbances in MDD appear to resolve following treatment and are predictive of
      treatment response, possibly reflecting improvements in emotion regulation
      processes in response to CBT.

PMID- 20934193
TI  - Biodegradation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons by a halotolerant bacterial
      strain Ochrobactrum sp. VA1.
AB  - Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are ubiquitous pollutants in the
      environment and are derived from both man-made and natural resources. The present
      study is focused on the degradation of PAHs by a halotolerant bacterial strain
      under saline conditions. The bacterial strain VA1 was isolated from a PAH
      degrading consortium that was enriched from marine water samples that were
      collected from different sites at Chennai, India. In the present study, a
      clearing zone formed on PAH-amended mineral salt agar media confirmed the
      utilization of PAH by the bacterial strain VA1. The results show that the strain
      VA1 was able to degrade anthracene (88%), phenanthrene (98%), naphthalene (90%),
      fluorene (97%), pyrene (84%), benzo(k)fluoranthene (57%) and benzo(e)pyrene (50%)
      at a 30 g/L NaCl concentration. The present study reveals that the VA1 strain was
      able to degrade PAHs in petroleum wastewater under saline conditions. The
      promising PAH-degrading halotolerant bacterial strain, VA1, was identified as
      Ochrobactrum sp. using biochemical and molecular techniques.

PMID- 20934194
TI  - How useful are port surveys focused on target pest identification for exotic
      species management?
AB  - Monitoring surveys are an important tool for detecting new arrivals of exotic
      species, for documenting patterns of invasion, and exotic species impacts. Faced
      with time and cost constraints, these surveys are increasingly focused on lists
      of target pest species, identified as being most likely to arrive and cause
      significant harm. We used the national survey of Australian international ports
      for introduced marine pests as a case study to assess: (1) the taxonomic rigor of
      surveys focused on detection of target species; and (2) how the ability of port
      surveys to inform invasion patterns is dependent on taxonomic approach. Our
      analysis of the 46 available reports revealed common sub-optimal taxonomic
      practices that compromised their utility to identify abiotic conditions that are
      good predictors of biological invasion. Thus, although surveys for target species
      may provide information on the distribution of a handful of species, they may
      fail to do much else.

PMID- 20934195
TI  - [Prevalence of depression in primary care according to the methodology of the
      studies].

PMID- 20934197
TI  - Impact of an intense combined sewer overflow event on the microbiological water
      quality of the Seine River.
AB  - For a better understanding of the short and mid-term impacts of a combined sewer
      overflow (CSO) on the microbiological quality of the receiving river, we studied
      the composition of a CSO discharge and monitored during several hours the changes
      in the concentration of fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) in the impacted river
      water mass. The CSO occurred at the Clichy outfall (Paris agglomeration, France)
      in summer 2008 as a result of the most intense rainfall of the year. In 6h, 578,
      705 m(3) of sewage and 124 t of suspended matter (SM) were discharged into the
      Seine River. The CSO contained 1.5 * 10(6)E. coli and 4.0 * 10(5) intestinal
      enterococci per 100 mL on average, and 77% of the E. coli were attached to SM. It
      was estimated that 89% of the CSO discharge was contributed by surface water
      runoff, and that resuspension of sewer sediment contributed to ~75% of the SM, 10
      70% of the E. coli and 40-80% of the intestinal enterococci. Directly downstream
      from the CSO outfall, FIB concentrations in the impacted water mass of the Seine
      River (2.9 * 10(5)E. coli and 7.6 * 10(4) intestinal enterococci per 100 mL)
      exceeded by two orders of magnitude the usual dry weather concentrations. After
      13-14 h of transit, these concentrations had decreased by 66% for E. coli and 79%
      for intestinal enterococci. This decline was well accounted for by our
      estimations of dilution, decay resulting from mortality or loss of culturability
      and sedimentation of the attached fraction of FIB.

PMID- 20934196
TI  - Influenza A virus strains that circulate in humans differ in the ability of their
      NS1 proteins to block the activation of IRF3 and interferon-beta transcription.
AB  - We demonstrate that influenza A virus strains that circulate in humans differ
      markedly in the ability of their NS1 proteins to block the activation of IRF3 and
      interferon-beta transcription. Strong activation occurs in cells infected with
      viruses expressing NS1 proteins of seasonal H3N2 and H2N2 viruses, whereas
      activation is blocked in cells infected with viruses expressing NS1 proteins of
      some, but not all seasonal H1N1 viruses. The NS1 proteins of the 2009 H1N1 and
      H5N1 viruses also block these activations. The difference in this NS1 function is
      mediated largely by the C-terminal region of the effector domain, which contains
      the only amino acid (K or E at position 196) that covaries with the functional
      difference. Further, we show that TRIM25 binds the NS1 protein whether or not
      IRF3 activation is blocked, demonstrating that binding of TRIM25 by the NS1
      protein does not necessarily lead to the blocking of IRF3 activation.

PMID- 20934198
TI  - Cork industry wastewater partition by ultra/nanofiltration: a biodegradation and
      valorisation study.
AB  - Wastewater from cork processing industry present high levels of organic and
      phenolic compounds, such as tannins, with a low biodegradability and a
      significant toxicity. These compounds are not readily removed by conventional
      municipal wastewater treatment, which is largely based on primary sedimentation
      followed by biological treatment. The purpose of this work is to study the
      biodegradability of different cork wastewater fractions, obtained through
      membrane separation, in order to assess its potential for biological treatment
      and having in view its valorisation through tannins recovery, which could be
      applied in other industries. Various ultrafiltration and nanofiltration membranes
      where used, with molecular weight cut-offs (MWCO) ranging from 0.125 to 91 kDa.
      The wastewater and the different permeated fractions were analyzed in terms of
      Total Organic Carbon (TOC), Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), Biochemical Oxygen
      Demand (BOD), Total Phenols (TP), Tannins, Color, pH and Conductivity. Results
      for the wastewater shown that it is characterized by a high organic content
      (670.5-1056.8 mg TOC/L, 2285-2604 mg COD/L, 1000-1225 mg BOD/L), a relatively low
      biodegradability (0.35-0.38 for BOD(5)/COD and 0.44-0.47 for BOD(20)/COD) and a
      high content of phenols (360-410 mg tannic acid/L) and tannins (250-270 mg tannic
      acid/L). The results for the wastewater fractions shown a general decrease on the
      pollutant content of permeates, and an increase of its biodegradability, with the
      decrease of the membrane MWCO applied. Particularly, the permeated fraction from
      the membrane MWCO of 3.8 kDa, presented a favourable index of biodegradability
      (0.8) and a minimized phenols toxicity that enables it to undergo a biological
      treatment and so, to be treated in a municipal wastewater treatment plant. Also,
      within the perspective of valorisation, the rejected fraction obtained through
      this membrane MWCO may have a significant potential for tannins recovery.
      Permeated fractions from membranes with MWCO lower than 3.8 kDa, presented a
      particularly significant decline of organic matter and phenols, enabling this
      permeates to be reused in the cork processing and so, representing an interesting
      perspective of zero discharge for the cork industry, with evident environmental
      and economic advantages.

PMID- 20934199
TI  - Formation of disinfection by-products in indoor swimming pool water: the
      contribution from filling water natural organic matter and swimmer body fluids.
AB  - The contribution and role of different precursors in the formation of three class
      of disinfection by-products (DBPs) [trihalomethanes (THMs), haloacetic acids
      (HAAs), and halonitromethanes (HNMs)] in swimming pool waters were examined using
      filling waters obtained from five drinking water treatment plant (WTP) effluents
      and three body fluid analogs (BFAs). BFAs exerted higher chlorine demands as
      compared to natural organic matter (NOM) in filling waters. BFAs exhibited higher
      HAA formation potentials than THM formation potentials, while the opposite was
      observed for the filling water NOM. There was no appreciable difference in the
      HNM formation potentials of BFAs and filling water NOM. Different components in
      the BFAs tested exhibited different degree and type of DBP formation. Citric acid
      had significantly higher THM and HAA yields than other BFA components. The effect
      of temperature was greater on THM formation, whereas the effect of contact time
      had more impact on HAA formation. Experiments with filling waters collected from
      WTP effluents at three different times showed more variability in HAA than THM
      formation at the WTPs studied.

PMID- 20934200
TI  - Development and application of a simulation model for the thermophilic oxic
      process for treating swine waste.
AB  - The thermophilic oxic process (TOP) is a composting process that enables
      simultaneous complete decomposition and evaporation of organic waste under high
      temperature conditions supported by well-balanced calorific value control. To
      develop the simulation model for TOP, three-dimensional relationships among
      decomposition rate constant, temperature (20-70  degrees C) and moisture content
      (30-70%) were determined for swine waste and cooking oil based on the oxygen
      consumption rate during a thermophilic oxic decomposition reaction. The
      decomposition rate of swine waste and cooking oil under various moisture contents
      was described by the Arrhenius equation. The optimal temperature and moisture
      content were 60  degrees C and 60% for swine waste and 60  degrees C and 50% for
      cooking oil, respectively. The simulation model for TOP was constructed on the
      basis of the carbon, heat, and moisture balance. The validation of the simulation
      model was examined by comparing the measured temperature in the TOP reactor to
      that estimated by the simulation. The simulation model was proven by comparing
      experimental and calculated values. The relationship between the injection
      calorific value and the process mechanism of TOP was interpreted by the
      simulation model. On the basis of their relationship during TOP, the appropriate
      process conditions were discussed.

PMID- 20934201
TI  - Effects of Tibetan hulless barley on bloom-forming cyanobacterium (Microcystis
      aeruginosa) measured by different physiological and morphologic parameters.
AB  - The current trend of global warming is expected to stimulate the expansion of
      harmful cyanobacteria blooms. Previously, the occidental type of barley straw has
      been used to control blooms in Europe and America, but very little is known about
      the antialgal abilities of its oriental relative. We tested the use of Tibetan
      hulless barley straw--the progenitor of oriental barley--to inhibit the growth of
      cyanobacterium Microcystis aeruginosa. Flow cytometry allowed assessment at
      single-cell level, with morphologic parameters (cell volume, cell membrane
      integrity) and physiological parameters (in vivo Chlorophyll a fluorescence,
      metabolic activity) used as endpoints. The reduction of cell densities together
      with integrated cell membranes suggests that Tibetan barley may act as an
      algistatic agent. Doses from 2.0 to 8.0 g L-1 of Tibetan barley straw efficiently
      inhibited the alga, but these doses were much higher than those of occidental
      barley. Such a large dosage introduced additional nutrients, which stimulated the
      intracellular metabolic activity and induced two physiological subpopulations in
      the acute term. After mid and long-term exposure, the growth inhibition effect
      exceeded the stimulation effect, so that the cells' metabolic activity and
      Chlorophyll a fluorescence decayed, simultaneously with shrinkage in the algal
      cell volume.

PMID- 20934202
TI  - Sulfide formation in freshwater sediments, by sulfate-reducing microorganisms
      with diverse tolerance to salt.
AB  - Understanding how sulfate-reducing microbes in freshwater systems respond to
      added salt, and therefore sulfate, is becoming increasingly important in inland
      systems where the threat from salinisation is increasing. To address this
      knowledge gap, we carried out mesocosm studies to determine how the sulfate
      reducing microbial community in sediments from a freshwater wetland would respond
      to salinisation. The levels of inorganic mineral sulfides produced after 6months
      incubation were measured to determine whether they were in sufficient quantity to
      be harmful if re-oxidized. Comparative sequence analysis of the dissimilatory
      sulfite reductase (DSR) gene was used to compare the sulfate-reducing community
      structure in mesocosms without salt and those incubated with moderate levels of
      salt. The amount of total S, acid volatile sulfide or chromium-reducible sulfide
      produced in sediments with 0, 1 or 5gL(-1) added salt were not significantly
      different. Sediments subjected to 15gL(-1) salt contained significantly higher
      total S and acid volatile sulfide, and levels were above trigger values for
      potential harm if re-oxidation occurred. The overall community structure of the
      sulfate-reducing microbiota (SRM) was explained by the level of salt added to
      sediments. However, a group of sulfate reducers were identified that occurred in
      both the high salt and freshwater treatments. These results demonstrate that
      freshwater sediments contain sulfate reducers with diverse abilities to respond
      to salt and can respond rapidly to increasing salinity, explaining the
      observation that harmful levels of acid volatile sulfides can form rapidly in
      sediments with no history of exposure to salt.

PMID- 20934203
TI  - Measuring the saturation limit of low-volatility organic compounds in soils:
      implications for estimates of dermal absorption.
AB  - Estimating dermal absorption from contaminated soils typically requires
      extrapolations from measurements obtained on soils artificially contaminated at
      much larger concentrations. Such extrapolations should be constrained by the fact
      that maximum absorption will occur for the largest possible concentration of
      chemical on the soil without neat chemical being present; i.e., at the soil
      saturation limit (S(soil)). Saturation limits of two low-volatility model
      compounds (4-cyanophenol and methyl paraben) were determined on the 38-63MUm
      sieve fraction of four soils with different fractions of organic carbon
      (f(oc)=0.015-0.45) and specific surface areas (sigma(soil)=4-34m(2) g(-1)) using
      two methods: equilibrium uptake into silicone rubber membranes and differential
      scanning calorimetry. Except for Pahokee peat, which had the largest f(oc), a
      model assuming contributions from both surface adsorption and organic carbon
      absorption provided excellent predictions of S(soil). In all soils, the surface
      saturation concentration of both chemicals was estimated at 2.2mg m(-2). The
      saturation concentration of 4-cyanophenol in the soil organic carbon was 1.7-fold
      higher than methyl paraben, which is consistent with the estimated solubility
      limits of these two chemicals in octanol.

PMID- 20934204
TI  - Impacts of emerging organic contaminants on freshwater resources: review of
      recent occurrences, sources, fate and effects.
AB  - Rapid urbanization and frequent disposal of wastewater to surface water cause
      widespread contamination of freshwater supplies with emerging contaminants, such
      as pharmaceuticals, insecticides, surfactants, endocrine disruptors, including
      hormones. Although these organic contaminants may be present at trace levels,
      their adverse effects on aquatic life, animals and even humans are a growing
      concern. Numerous studies have been published on the occurrence and fate of
      emerging organic contaminants in different parts of the world, spanning a wide
      range of sources and aquatic environments including freshwater catchments,
      effluent wastewater streams, lakes, rivers, reservoirs, estuaries and marine
      waters. This paper reviews recent studies on the occurrence and fate of
      frequently detected pharmaceuticals and hormones and identifies areas that merit
      further research.

PMID- 20934205
TI  - Status of tumor markers in epithelial ovarian cancer has there been any progress?
      A review.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim is to present an overview of tumor markers other than CA-125
      that have been proposed for use in the diagnosis of epithelial ovarian cancer and
      explore molecular studies which have been used to identify genomic and proteomic
      changes associated with this malignancy for possible future development of more
      sensitive tumor markers. METHODS: A Medline search was conducted to review
      published articles from American and European studies from 1990 to 2010, related
      to tumor markers for ovarian cancer. Different methods such as genomic, proteomic
      and transcriptional profiling were used to identify new tumor markers for
      clinical use. RESULTS: A few of the newer tumor markers alone have demonstrated
      equal or slightly higher sensitivity to CA-125. Improved sensitivity and
      specificity have been reported using these new markers combined with CA-125.
      CONCLUSION: Addition of new tumor markers as a compliment to CA-125 were
      associated with higher sensitivity and detection rates than either marker alone.
      However, the low prevalence of ovarian cancer necessitates a higher level of
      sensitivity and specificity that has still not been achieved if these biomarkers
      are used for diagnosis and monitoring the disease progress as a result of low
      positive predictive value.

PMID- 20934206
TI  - Long-lasting effects of sublingual immunotherapy according to its duration: a 15
      year prospective study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Data on the long-term effects of sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) are
      sparse, and the optimal duration of treatment is a matter of debate. OBJECTIVE:
      We sought to prospectively evaluate the long-term effect of SLIT given for 3, 4,
      or 5 years and to compare the effect of those different durations. METHODS: In
      this prospective open controlled study we followed up patients with respiratory
      allergy who were monosensitized to mites for 15 years. The subjects were divided
      in 4 groups receiving drug therapy alone or SLIT for 3, 4, or 5 years. Clinical
      scores, skin sensitizations, methacholine reactivity, and nasal eosinophil counts
      were evaluated every year during the winter months. The clinical effect was
      considered to persist until clinical scores remained at less than 50% of the
      baseline value, and then patients underwent another course of SLIT. RESULTS:
      Seventy-eight patients were enrolled, and 59 completed the study. In the 12
      control subjects no relevant change in clinical scores was seen throughout the
      study. In the patients receiving SLIT for 3 years, the clinical benefit persisted
      for 7 years. In those receiving immunotherapy for 4 or 5 years, the clinical
      benefit persisted for 8 years. New sensitizations occurred in all the control
      subjects over 15 years and in less than a quarter of the patients receiving SLIT
      (21%, 12%, and 11%, respectively). The second course of vaccination induced a
      benefit more rapidly than the first course. The behavior of bronchial
      hyperreactivity and nasal eosinophils paralleled the clinical score. CONCLUSION:
      Under the present conditions, it can be suggested that a 4-year duration of SLIT
      is the optimal choice because it induces a long-lasting clinical improvement
      similar to that seen with a 5-year course and greater than that of a 3-year
      vaccination.

PMID- 20934207
TI  - Impaired T(H)17 responses in patients with chronic mucocutaneous candidiasis with
      and without autoimmune polyendocrinopathy-candidiasis-ectodermal dystrophy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Accumulating evidence implicates T(H)17 cytokines in protection
      against Candida species infections, but the clinical relevance is not clear.
      Chronic mucocutaneous candidiasis (CMC) is a heterogeneous syndrome with the
      unifying feature of selective susceptibility to chronic candidiasis. Different
      subgroups with distinct clinical features are recognized, including autoimmune
      polyendocrinopathy-candidiasis-ectodermal dystrophy (APECED), CMC with
      hypothyroidism, and isolated CMC. Understanding immune defects in patients with
      CMC will define cellular and molecular mechanisms crucial for protection against
      Candida species in human subjects. OBJECTIVES: We sought to determine whether
      impaired T(H)17 responses underlie susceptibility to Candida species infections
      and whether the same defect is present in different CMC subgroups. METHODS: We
      assessed T(H)17 responses of PBMCs to Candida and non-Candida species stimuli by
      measuring IL-17, IL-22, IL-21, IL-6, IL-23, and IFN-gamma cytokine production
      using cytokine arrays and intracellular cytokine-producing cell numbers and
      proliferation with flow cytometry. PBMCs from healthy subjects and unaffected
      family members served as controls. RESULTS: In patients with CMC with
      hypothyroidism, T(H)17 cells demonstrated decreased proliferation and IL-17
      production in response to Candida species. In contrast, in patients with APECED,
      T(H)17 cell proliferation and IL-17 production were normal unless exposed to
      APECED plasma, which inhibited both functions in both APECED and normal PBMCs.
      Candida species-stimulated IL-22 production was impaired in all patients with
      CMC, whereas IL-6 and IL-23 responses were unaltered. CONCLUSION: An impaired
      T(H)17 response to Candida species, although mediated by different mechanisms,
      was present in all CMC subgroups studied and might be a common factor
      predisposing to chronic candidiasis.

PMID- 20934208
TI  - Airway hyperresponsiveness to mannitol and methacholine and exhaled nitric oxide:
      a random-sample population study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Studies of selected patient groups have shown that airway
      hyperresponsiveness (AHR) to mannitol is more specific than methacholine for the
      diagnosis of asthma, as well as more closely associated with markers of airway
      inflammation in asthma. OBJECTIVE: We sought to compare AHR to mannitol and
      methacholine and exhaled nitric oxide (eNO) levels in a nonselected population
      sample. METHODS: In 238 young adults randomly drawn from the nationwide civil
      registration list in Copenhagen, Denmark, AHR to mannitol and methacholine, as
      well as levels of eNO, were determined, and the association with asthma was
      analyzed. RESULTS: In diagnosing asthma the specificity of methacholine and
      mannitol was 80.2% (95% CI, 77.1% to 82.9%) and 98.4% (95% CI, 96.2% to 99.4%),
      respectively, with a positive predictive value of 48.6% versus 90.4%, whereas the
      sensitivity was 68.6% (95% CI, 57.1% to 78.4%) and 58.8% (95% CI, 50.7% to
      62.6%), respectively. In asthmatic subjects AHR to mannitol was associated with
      increased eNO levels (positive AHR to mannitol: median, 47 ppb [interquartile
      range, 35-68 ppb]; negative AHR to mannitol: median, 19 ppb [interquartile range,
      13-30 ppb]; P = .001), whereas this was not the case for AHR to methacholine
      (median of 37 ppb [interquartile range, 26-51 ppb] vs 24 ppb [interquartile
      range, 15-39 ppb], P = .13). CONCLUSION: In this random population sample, AHR to
      mannitol was less sensitive but more specific than methacholine in the diagnosis
      of asthma. Furthermore, AHR to mannitol was more closely associated with ongoing
      airway inflammation in terms of increased eNO levels.

PMID- 20934209
TI  - Natural, but not lyophilized, low density lypoproteins were an acceptable
      alternative to egg yolk for cryopreservation of ram semen.
AB  - The objective was to evaluate the suitability of using natural or lyophilized low
      density lipoproteins (LDL), in lieu of whole egg yolk, in extenders for
      cryopreserving ram semen. Once extragonadal sperm reserves were depleted in 10
      fertile Santa Ines cross rams, two ejaculates per ram were collected for
      cryopreservation. Nine extenders were used: Tris-16% egg yolk extender with 5%
      glycerol as a control (T1), and substitution of whole egg yolk with 8, 12, 16 or
      20% natural LDL (T2-T5, respectively), or with 8, 12, 16, or 20% lyophilized LDL
      (T6-T9). Semen was diluted to 100 * 10(6) sperm/mL, packaged into 0.25 mL straws,
      cooled, held at 5  degrees C for 3 h, and then frozen in liquid nitrogen vapor.
      Immediately after thawing (37  degrees C for 30 s), sperm total and progressive
      motility, and kinetic parameters were analyzed with computer assisted semen
      analysis (CASA). Percentage of sperm with plasma membrane functional integrity
      was assessed by the hypoosmotic swelling test (HOST), sperm membrane physical
      integrity with propidium iodide (PI), and acrosome integrity with FITC-PSA using
      an epifluorescent microscope. For all sperm end points, there was no difference
      between the control and natural LDL treatments (P > 0.05): total motility (T1:
      20.9 +/- 11.9 and average of T2-T5: 25.9 +/- 13.6%; mean +/- SD), progressive
      motility (T1: 6.6 +/- 4.2 and average of T2-T5: 11.7 +/- 7.5%), HOST(+) (T1: 23.7
      +/- 6.9 and average of T2-T5: 23.2 +/- 8.7 %) and PI(-)/PSA(-) (T1: 13.8 +/- 7.8
      and average of T2-T5: 18.1 +/- 7.8%). However, lyophilization was apparently
      unable to preserve the protective function of LDL; every sperm end point was
      significantly worse than in the control and natural LDL groups. We concluded that
      natural LDL was appropriate for cryopreserving ram semen, as it yielded results
      similar to those obtained with whole egg yolk.

PMID- 20934210
TI  - Intensive care medicine: a specialty coming to LIFE.

PMID- 20934211
TI  - Critical care: advances and future perspectives.
AB  - Intensive care offers a standard of monitoring, intervention, and organ support
      that cannot be readily delivered in a general ward. Its expansion in the past few
      decades, including the creation of emergency and outreach teams, emphasises that
      intensive care has an increasingly prominent role within the hospital. Although
      outcomes are clearly improving, intensive care remains a nascent specialty in
      which we are still learning how to harness a powerful ability to manipulate
      physiology, biochemistry, and immunology to achieve best outcomes for the
      patient. The results of many multicentre studies have not lent support to, or
      have even confounded, expectations, drawing attention to several issues related
      to patient heterogeneity, trial design, and elucidation of underlying
      pathophysiological processes. However, these results have generated constructive
      introspection and reappraisal of treatments and management strategies that have
      benefited the patient. In addition to the medical, financial, and logistical
      challenges in the future, exciting opportunities will arise as new developments
      in diagnostic tests, therapeutic interventions, and technology are used to
      exploit an increasing awareness of how critical illness should be managed.

PMID- 20934212
TI  - Critical care and the global burden of critical illness in adults.
AB  - Critical care has evolved from treatment of poliomyelitis victims with
      respiratory failure in an intensive care unit to treatment of severely ill
      patients irrespective of location or specific technology. Population-based
      studies in the developed world suggest that the burden of critical illness is
      higher than generally appreciated and will increase as the population ages.
      Critical care capacity has long been needed in the developing world, and efforts
      to improve the care of the critically ill in these settings are starting to
      occur. Expansion of critical care to handle the consequences of an ageing
      population, natural disasters, conflict, inadequate primary care, and higher-risk
      medical therapies will be challenged by high costs at a time of economic
      constraint. To meet this challenge, investigators in this discipline will need to
      measure the global burden of critical illness and available critical-care
      resources, and develop both preventive and therapeutic interventions that are
      generalisable across countries.

PMID- 20934213
TI  - Ethics and end-of-life care for adults in the intensive care unit.
AB  - The intensive care unit (ICU) is where patients are given some of the most
      technologically advanced life-sustaining treatments, and where difficult
      decisions are made about the usefulness of such treatments. The substantial
      regional variability in these ethical decisions is a result of many factors,
      including religious and cultural beliefs. Because most critically ill patients
      lack the capacity to make decisions, family and other individuals often act as
      the surrogate decision makers, and in many regions communication between the
      clinician and family is central to decision making in the ICU. Elsewhere,
      involvement of the family is reduced and that of the physicians is increased. End
      of-life care is associated with increased burnout and distress among clinicians
      working in the ICU. Since many deaths in the ICU are preceded by a decision to
      withhold or withdraw life support, high-quality decision making and end-of-life
      care are essential in all regions, and can improve patient and family outcomes,
      and also retention of clinicians working in the ICU. To make such a decision
      requires adequate training, good communication between the clinician and family,
      and the collaboration of a well functioning interdisciplinary team.

PMID- 20934214
TI  - Implantable arterial grafts from human fibroblasts and fibrin using a multi-graft
      pulsed flow-stretch bioreactor with noninvasive strength monitoring.
AB  - Tissue-engineered arteries based on entrapment of human dermal fibroblasts in
      fibrin gel yield completely biological vascular grafts that possess
      circumferential alignment characteristic of native arteries and essential to
      their mechanical properties. A bioreactor was developed to condition six grafts
      in the same culture medium while being subjected to similar cyclic distension and
      transmural flow resulting from pulsed flow distributed among the graft lumens via
      a manifold. The lumenal pressure and circumferential stretch were noninvasively
      monitored and used to calculate stiffness in the range of 80-120 mmHg and then to
      successfully predict graft burst strength. The length of the graft was
      incrementally shortened during bioreactor culture to maintain circumferential
      alignment and achieve mechanical anisotropy comparable to native arteries. After
      7-9 weeks of bioreactor culture, the fibrin-based grafts were extensively
      remodeled by the fibroblasts into circumferentially-aligned tubes of collagen and
      other extracellular matrix with burst pressures in the range of 1400-1600 mmHg
      and compliance comparable to native arteries. The tissue suture retention force
      was also suitable for implantation in the rat model and, with poly(lactic acid)
      sewing rings entrapped at both ends of the graft, also in the ovine model. The
      strength achieved with a biological scaffold in such a short duration is
      unprecedented for an engineered artery.

PMID- 20934215
TI  - PEGylated Poly(amidoamine) dendrimer-based dual-targeting carrier for treating
      brain tumors.
AB  - A dual-targeting drug carrier (PAMAM-PEG-WGA-Tf) based on the PEGylated fourth
      generation (G = 4.0) PAMAM dendrimer with transferrin (Tf) and wheat germ
      agglutinin (WGA) on the periphery and doxorubicin (DOX) loaded in the interior
      was synthesized and its BBB penetration and tumor targeting properties were
      explored. DLS and TEM measurements revealed the size of PAMAM-PEG-WGA-Tf was in
      the range of 14-20 nm. It reduced the cytotoxicity of DOX to the normal cells
      greatly, while efficiently inhibited the growth rate of the C6 glioma cells. The
      assay of transport across the BBB showed that PAMAM-PEG-WGA-Tf delivered 13.5% of
      DOX in a period of 2 h, demonstrating an enhanced transport ratio as compared to
      the ratio of 8% for PAMAM-PEG-WGA, 7% for PAMAM-PEG-Tf and 5% for free DOX in the
      same period of time. The accumulation of DOX in the tumor site was increased due
      to the targeting effects of both Tf and WGA, leading to the complete breakage of
      the avascular C6 glioma spheroids in vitro.

PMID- 20934216
TI  - Differentiation of neural stem cells in three-dimensional growth factor
      immobilized chitosan hydrogel scaffolds.
AB  - The adult central nervous system (CNS) contains adult neural stem/progenitor
      cells (NSPCs) that possess the ability to differentiate into the primary cell
      types found in the CNS and to regenerate lost or damaged tissue. The ability to
      specifically and spatially control differentiation is vital to enable cell-based
      CNS regenerative strategies. Here we describe the development of a protein
      biomaterial system that allows rapid, stable and homogenous linking of a growth
      factor to a photocrosslinkable material. A bioactive recombinant fusion protein
      incorporating pro-neural rat interferon-gamma (rIFN-gamma) and the AviTag for
      biotinylation was successfully expressed in Escherichia coli and purified. The
      photocrosslinkable biopolymer, methacrylamide chitosan (MAC), was thiolated,
      allowing conjugation of maleimide-strepatavidin via Michael-type addition. We
      demonstrated that biotin-rIFN-gamma binds specifically to MAC-streptavidin in
      stoichiometric yields at 100 and 200 ng/mL in photocrosslinked hydrogels. For
      cell studies, NSPCs were photo-encapsulated in 100 ng/mL biotin-rIFN-gamma
      immobilized MAC based scaffolds and compared to similar NSPC-seeded scaffolds
      combining 100 ng/mL soluble biotin-rIFN-gamma vs. no growth factor. Cells were
      cultured for 8 days after which differentiation was assayed using
      immunohistochemistry for lineage specific markers. Quantification showed that
      immobilized biotin-rIFN-gamma promoted neuronal differentiation (72.8 +/- 16.0%)
      similar to soluble biotin-rIFN-gamma (71.8 +/- 13.2%). The percentage of nestin
      positive (stem/progenitor) cells as well as RIP-positive (oligodendrocyte) cells
      were significantly higher in scaffolds with soluble vs. immobilized biotin-rIFN
      gamma suggesting that 3-D immobilization results in a more committed lineage
      specification.

PMID- 20934217
TI  - The use of layered double hydroxides as DNA vaccine delivery vector for
      enhancement of anti-melanoma immune response.
AB  - Our previous studies have shown that Mg:Al 1:1 layered double hydroxides
      (LDH(R1)) nanoparticles could be taken up by the MDDCs effectively and had an
      adjuvant activity for DC maturation. Furthermore, these LDH(R1) nanoparticles
      could up-regulate the expression of CCR7 and augment the migration of DCs in
      response to CCL21. In current study, we have evaluated whether LDH(R1) as DNA
      vaccine delivery carrier can augment the efficacy of DNA vaccine immunization in
      vivo. Firstly, we found that LDH(R1) was efficient in combining DNA and formed
      LDH(R1)/DNA complex with an average diameter of about 80-120 nm. Its high
      transfection efficiency in vivo delivered with a GFP expression plasmid was also
      observed. After delivery of pcDNA(3)-OVA/LDH(R1) complex by intradermal
      immunization in C57BL/6 mice, the LDH(R1) induced an enhanced serum antibody
      response much greater than naked DNA vaccine. Using B16-OVA melanoma as tumor
      model, we demonstrated that pcDNA(3)-OVA/LDH(R1) complex enhanced immune priming
      and protection from tumor challenge in vivo. Furthermore, we showed that LDH(R1)
      induced dramatically more effective CTL activation and skewed T helper
      polarization to Th1. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that this
      LDH(R1)/DNA plasmid complex should be a new and promising way in vaccination
      against tumor.

PMID- 20934218
TI  - TRPM8 mediates cold and menthol allergies associated with mast cell activation.
AB  - Exposure to low temperatures often causes allergic responses or urticaria.
      Similarly, menthol, a common food additive is also known to cause urticaria,
      asthma, and rhinitis. However, despite the obvious clinical implications, the
      molecular mechanisms responsible for inducing allergic responses to low
      temperatures and menthol have not been determined. Because a non-selective cation
      channel, transient receptor potential subtype M8 (TRPM8) is activated by cold and
      menthol, we hypothesized that this channel mediates cold- and menthol-induced
      histamine release in mast cells. Here, we report that TRPM8 is expressed in the
      basophilic leukemia mast cell line, RBL-2H3, and that exposure to menthol or low
      temperatures induced Ca(2+) influx in RBL-2H3 cells, which was reversed by a
      TRPM8 blocker. Furthermore, menthol, a TRPM8 agonist, induced the dose-dependent
      release of histamine from RBL-2H3 cells. When TRPM8 transcripts were reduced by
      siRNA (small interfering RNA), menthol- and cold-induced Ca(2+) influx and
      histamine release were significantly reduced. In addition, subcutaneous injection
      of menthol evoked scratching, a typical histamine-induced response which was
      reversed by a TRPM8 blocker. Thus, our findings indicate that TRPM8 mediates the
      menthol- and cold-induced allergic responses of mast cells, and suggest that
      TRPM8 antagonists be viewed as potential treatments for cold- and menthol-induced
      allergies.

PMID- 20934219
TI  - Bone marrow failure due to T-cell large granular lymphocytic leukemia in a
      patient with essential thrombocythemia.

PMID- 20934220
TI  - Occupational impairment and Social Anxiety Disorder in a sample of primary care
      patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) is the second most prevalent
      psychiatric condition in the US. Because of the inherent nature of SAD, it may
      cause impairments in workplace functioning, particularly compared to other
      anxiety disorders that do not necessarily lead to social impairments. In this
      study, we compared workplace functioning in primary care patients with SAD to
      patients with other anxiety disorders and comorbid Major Depressive Disorder
      (MDD). METHODS: Data are obtained from the Primary Care Anxiety Project (PCAP), a
      naturalistic, longitudinal study of anxiety disorders in 539 primary care
      patients. We examined intake demographic and interviewer-assessed ratings of
      workplace functioning. RESULTS: Results revealed that patients with SAD and MDD
      had significantly decreased workplace functioning, compared to individuals with
      other anxiety disorders. Furthermore, results showed that patients with SAD were
      greater than two-times more likely to be unemployed, but expected to work, than
      all other patients. LIMITATIONS: Workplace functioning was not measured
      objectively and the sample may not be representative of the general population.
      CONCLUSIONS: These findings highlight the particular need to assess for the
      presence of undereducation and underperformance at work and/or underemployment in
      individuals with SAD, as they are at most risk for these impairments.
      Additionally, early detection and intervention in individuals with or at risk for
      SAD may curb the future impact of social anxiety on occupational attainment.

PMID- 20934221
TI  - Mexican migration experiences to the US and risk for anxiety and depressive
      symptoms.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Scant and contradictory information prevails on the risk for common
      psychiatric disorders in Mexican immigrants to the United States (US). Extension
      of these results in larger samples is needed to better address treatment needs.
      This study investigates the association between migration to the US and
      development of depressive and anxiety symptoms in four urban areas of Mexico.
      METHODS: A cross-sectional survey in 2005 of individuals ages 12-65 from four
      cities formed a representative sample. Immigration-related experiences and
      prevalence of depressive and anxiety symptoms were recorded. Respondents were
      classified into three groups: (i) 'return migrants', (ii) 'relatives of migrants'
      and (iii) 'non-migrants' in the general population. Depression symptoms were
      assessed with the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) and
      anxiety was determined using the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI). Prevalence of
      depressive and anxiety symptoms were estimated as the proportion of the entire
      sample reporting the outcome. Crude and adjusted OR's were estimated in logistic
      regression models. RESULTS: A total of 1630 respondents, represent a 70.5%
      response rate. Overall prevalence of depressive and anxiety symptoms were both
      approximately 16%. Increased risk for depressive symptoms (OR=1.49 CI 95%=1.01
      2.20) among return migrants and depressive (OR=1.48, CI 95%=1.07-2.05) and
      anxiety symptoms (OR=1.38, CI 95%=1.08-1.78) in relatives of migrants was found
      in comparison to those without a migration experience. LIMITATIONS: Specific age
      and timing of migration experiences were not recorded. CONCLUSIONS: Migration
      experiences produce important levels of anxiety and depressive symptoms that
      could be linked to psychopathology.

PMID- 20934222
TI  - Identification of attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder and conduct disorder
      in Mexican children by the scale for evaluation of deficit of attention and
      hyperactivity.
AB  - The objective was weighing the usefulness of a Spanish-language Scale for the
      evaluation of deficit of attention and hyperactivity (EDAH) to identify children
      with attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (AD-HD) and conduct disorder (CD)
      in a sample of school-aged children. We studied 132 children from a government
      run public elementary school previously selected by teachers as having learning
      and attention disorders. We screened children of the sample with parents' and
      teachers' EDAH and Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-IV
      edition Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR) questionnaires, and performed an
      interdisciplinary clinical examination for the final diagnosis. We found 81
      children with AD-HD and 51 children without AD-HD. AD-HD was classified as
      follows: AD-HD-combined (-C), n=32; AD-HD-inattentive (-I), n=17 and AD-HD
      hyperactive (-H), n=32. Cronbach's alpha calculation for the EDAH parents'
      questionnaire was 0.76, and for teachers, 0.80. Sensitivity of the teachers' EDAH
      questionnaire was 0.94, and specificity, 0.91. Sensitivity of the parents' EDAH
      questionnaire was 0.91, while specificity was 0.87. The data of EDAH parents' and
      teachers' questionnaires have a concordance of 93.1% and 80%, respectively. The
      correlation of scores among parents' and teachers' EDAH scales was significant.
      The correlation between results from parents' and teachers' DSM-IV-TR and EDAH
      questionnaires was also significant. Our results partially support the use of
      EDAH questionnaires for AD-HD and CD screening in Spanish-speaking populations.

PMID- 20934223
TI  - Otitis media history, surgery and allergy in 60-year perspective: a population
      based study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To assess the relationship between recurrent otitis media (OM), OM
      surgery and allergy in a 60-years perspective in the general population. METHODS:
      A cross-sectional questionnaire study of 40,000 randomly selected Norwegians aged
      20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, 60, 65, 70, 75 and 80 years stratified by age and
      gender in 2005, i.e. each age group 30-60 years included 2000 and the remaining
      age groups 1000 persons of each gender. Main outcome measures were recurrent
      childhood OM, childhood myringotomy, ventilation tubes or adenoidectomy and
      lifetime allergy. RESULTS: The prevalence of recurrent OM was 24.3% (n=4823) and
      OM surgery 12.4% (n=2499). An increase in the proportion of OM surgery by age
      cohort was found, with the highest surgery rate of 0.52 for the 1955 age cohort,
      followed by a gradual decrease until the 1980 age cohort, when surgery stabilized
      at 0.42. Recurrent OM and OM surgery was more common in respondents with allergy.
      Among the latter, the probability for OM surgery was almost threefold when the
      age cohort 1945 was compared to 1920, OR(adj) at 2.95 (1.59-5.48). The latter
      tendency remained strong until 1965. Among non-allergics, the increase in surgery
      probability by age cohort showed the same tendency, but the relationship was less
      strong than for those with allergy. CONCLUSIONS: Despite a twofold increase in
      recurrent OM and OM surgery from 1925 to 1945, the proportion of OM and OM
      surgery have been stable since 1945. Our findings suggest a shift in clinical
      practice, most likely indicating a change in surgery from acute infections to
      otitis media with effusion (OME).

PMID- 20934224
TI  - Rapid recovery from peripartum cardiomyopathy after inhibition of prolactin.

PMID- 20934226
TI  - Circumstances of death in adult congenital heart disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Circumstances of death have been described for various cardiovascular
      diseases, but this study is the first for adults with congenital heart disease
      (CHD). METHODS: Review of medical records and additional information from
      treating cardiologists and general practitioners, for circumstances of all deaths
      in a national registry of over 8000 adults with CHD. RESULTS: Of 8595 patients,
      231 (2.7%) patients died over 26,500 patient years. Main causes of death were
      progressive heart failure (26%) and sudden cardiac death (22%). Mortality was
      highest in the northern, most rural region of the country (p <= 0.05). Overall,
      death occurred out-of-hospital in approximately 35%, but more frequently in rural
      than in urban areas (55% versus 32%, p <= 0.05). Mortality was almost equally
      distributed throughout the seasons, although fall showed a slightly higher
      mortality rate. Cardiovascular death occurred suddenly in nearly 40%. Sudden
      cardiovascular death occurred in 8% during exercise, and most often out-of
      hospital (62%). Of non-sudden cardiovascular deaths 18% had occurred out-of
      hospital. CONCLUSION: In adult patients with congenital heart disease, mortality
      shows substantial regional and subtle seasonal variation. Death usually occurs at
      rest; approximately 1 of 10 sudden cardiovascular deaths occur during exercise.

PMID- 20934227
TI  - Outcome of direct current cardioversion for atrial arrhythmias in adults with
      congenital heart disease.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: We sought to evaluate safety, efficacy, and outcome of direct current
      cardioversion (DCCV) for atrial arrhythmias in adults with congenital heart
      disease (CHD). BACKGROUND: Atrial arrhythmias are increasingly noted in adults
      with CHD. The outcome of DCCV for atrial arrhythmias in this population is
      unknown. METHODS: Our study was a retrospective review of patients 18 years or
      older with CHD who underwent DCCV between June 2000 and July 2003. This
      constituted the CHD group. Patient characteristics reviewed included the specific
      cardiac diagnosis and arrhythmia history. A subset of patients had
      transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) before DCCV; this subset was reviewed to
      evaluate spontaneous echocardiographic contrast. The outcome data evaluated
      included success of DCCV, complications, recurrence of arrhythmia, antiarrhythmic
      medication use, electrophysiology or pacemaker procedure in follow-up, and all
      cause mortality. The recurrence rate of the arrhythmia was compared to a control
      group consisting of an age, gender, and rhythm matched group of patients who have
      no CHD and who underwent DCCV for atrial arrhythmias. RESULTS: Sixty-three
      patients in the CHD group underwent 80 DCCVs, 59 of which were TEE-guided. Atrial
      flutter was more common in the CHD group (37 of 80 DCCV, 46%) than in the control
      group (13 of 56, 23%) (p<0.001). DCCV was successful in 75 (94%). Mean follow-up
      was 387 days. No thromboembolic events were noted. All-cause mortality on follow
      up was 11%. There was no death related to DCCV. Twenty-five patients in the CHD
      group (40%) remained in sinus rhythm throughout follow-up. This was similar to
      that observed in the control group (30/56, 54%, p=0.13). Recurrent arrhythmia in
      the CHD group was predicted by the presence of atrial fibrillation (p=0.009) and
      less so spontaneous echo contrast in the left atrium (p=0.05). CONCLUSIONS: DCCV
      with appropriate anticoagulation is safe and effective for patients with CHD,
      even in the presence of an intracardiac shunt and spontaneous contrast on TEE.
      However, the recurrence rate is substantial. Spontaneous echo contrast in the
      left atrium along with atrial fibrillation predicts arrhythmia recurrence
      following DCCV in patients with CHD.

PMID- 20934228
TI  - A rare case of right atrium mass involving the right coronary artery and the
      tricuspid annulus.

PMID- 20934229
TI  - Left ventricular aneurysm or free wall covered rupture: is preoperative
      evaluation always correct?

PMID- 20934230
TI  - Heat-related mortality in dairy cattle: A case crossover study.
AB  - The relationship between mortality and stressful weather is not only a complex
      health, social and environmental issue, but also becomes an economical problem
      when considering livestock. Future-climate scenarios suggest that higher global
      mean temperatures could result in marked changes in the frequency of extreme
      temperatures. The relationship between high temperature and mortality is well
      known in people living in urban areas, but it has been poorly investigated in
      livestock such as dairy cows. The aim of this study was to quantify the
      relationship between heat and mortality from all causes among dairy cows in
      Italy. We studied 6697 adult (>=24 months) dairy cows that died during the summer
      in the 5-year period 2002-2006 in three Italian districts (Brescia, Cuneo, Rome)
      which were selected because of the high livestock production and the availability
      of weather data for these geographical areas. A case-crossover design was applied
      using the temperature-humidity index (THI) as exposure of interest. Pooled odds
      ratio (OR) of mortality at high exposure values versus low exposure values was
      estimated. An exposure over the THI cut-off increased the risk of mortality by
      1.6 times, with a 4% increase in mortality for each THI degree increase above the
      threshold. We found no effect modification for age-class, herd size or breed, but
      a certain degree of geographical heterogeneity was identified. The increased
      dairy cow mortality highlighted in this study should be considered when adopting
      animal welfare and farm management measures. This phenomenon can be prevented by
      adopting appropriate interventions to mitigate environmental thermal challenges.

PMID- 20934231
TI  - Implicit and explicit adjustments to extrinsic visuo-motor transformations and
      their age-related changes.
AB  - Humans have unique abilities in using tools. The skilled and goal-directed use of
      a tool implies that processes of motor control can be adjusted to the
      transformation of the movement of a part of the body into the movement of the
      effective part of the tool. A common example is the transformation of a hand
      movement in the motion of a cursor on a computer monitor. In part the adjustments
      to such transformations are implicit, that is, without conscious awareness of the
      novel transformation and the appropriate change of one's own movements. However,
      the adjustments can also be explicit and intentional. We review a series of
      experiments which show that implicit and explicit adjustments to a novel visuo
      motor gain are additive. This finding suggests that the processes which generate
      different types of adjustment are functionally independent. In a second series of
      experiments it turned out that at older adult age explicit adjustments to novel
      visuo-motor transformations are impaired, whereas implicit adjustments remain
      unaffected across working age.

PMID- 20934232
TI  - Comparison of NAFLD fibrosis score and BARD score in predicting fibrosis in
      nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND & AIMS: Liver biopsy (LB) is the only means to evaluate fibrosis in
      NAFLD. Two scoring systems, NAFLD fibrosis score and BARD score, were proposed to
      separate cases with and without severe fibrosis (SF). Our aim was to compare the
      utility of both scores in patients with biopsy-proven NAFLD. METHODS: 138
      consecutive patients of our series were included (67 male, median age 49 years).
      A NAFLD fibrosis score lower than -1.455 would exclude SF. A score greater than
      0.676 would predict SF. An intermediate score is defined as indeterminate. The
      BARD score ranges from 0 to 4. Scores 0-1 are considered to have a high negative
      predictive value (NPV) for SF. The results of the scores were compared with LB
      staging. NPV, positive predictive value (PPV) and area under the ROC curve
      (AUROC) were calculated for both systems. RESULTS: A total of 37 patients had SF.
      NAFLD fibrosis score was indeterminate in 42 cases. Among the 91 patients with
      low score, 74 did not have SF but 17 patients had SF. All of 5 patients with a
      high score had SF. Sensitivity was 22.7%; specificity, 100%; NPV, 81.3%; and PPV,
      100%. The BARD score was low in 96 patients and high in 42. Among the 96 patients
      with a low score, 78 did not have SF but 18 did. Among 42 patients with a high
      score, 19 had SF. Sensitivity was 51.4%; specificity, 77.2%; NPV, 81.3%; and PPV,
      45.2%. AUROC were 0.68 (95% CI, 0.57-0.78) and 0.67 (95% CI, 0.56-0.77) for NAFLD
      fibrosis and BARD scores, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Both systems were useful in
      identifying patients without SF (NPV 81.3%) but the BARD score is easier to
      estimate and does not have indeterminate results.

PMID- 20934234
TI  - Enhanced stability and dechlorination activity of pre-synthesis stabilized
      nanoscale FePd particles.
AB  - Nanoscale zero-valent iron (NZVI) particles are promising materials for the in
      situ remediation of a wide variety of source zone contaminants. This study
      presents the results of a systematic investigation of the stability of bimetallic
      FePd nanoparticle suspensions in water and their capability to degrade
      trichloroethylene (TCE) synthesized in the presence of various stabilizers (i.e.,
      carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC), polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), and guar gum). Results
      indicate a dramatic improvement in FePd suspension stability when the stabilizer
      is present in the matrix during the nanoparticle synthesis step. Stability
      enhancement is controlled by iron nanoparticle/stabilizer electrostatic and
      steric interactions, which are a function of the molecular structure of the
      stabilizer. Stabilization mechanisms differed for each stabilizer with CMC and
      guar gum exhibiting the best nanoparticle suspension stability improvement.
      Results suggest that the complexation of iron precursors with the stabilizer,
      during synthesis, plays a key role in nZVI stability improvement. In case of guar
      gum, gelation during synthesis significantly increased suspension viscosity,
      enhancing suspension stability. The capability of these materials to degrade TCE
      was also investigated. Results demonstrated that when stabilizers were present in
      the matrix dechlorination rates increased significantly. FePd nanoparticles in
      CMC had the highest observed rate constant; however the highest surface area
      normalized rate constant was obtained from FePd stabilized in PVP360K. Results
      from this study can be used to aid in the selection of appropriate iron
      nanoparticle stabilizers. Stabilizer selection should be assessed on a case by
      case basis as no stabilizer will meet the needs of all in-situ remediation
      applications.

PMID- 20934233
TI  - Phase II study of dose-intense chemotherapy with sequential topoisomerase
      targeting regimens with irinotecan/oxaliplatin followed by etoposide/carboplatin
      in chemotherapy naive patients with extensive small cell lung cancer.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Topoisomerase inhibitors are active agents in small cell lung
      cancer (SCLC), and preclinical models indicate that sequential administration of
      a topoisomerase I inhibitor followed by a topoisomerase II inhibitor can result
      in enhanced cytotoxicity. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In this phase II study, patients
      with extensive SCLC were treated with two sequential topoisomerase-based
      regimens: irinotecan (150 mg/m(2))/oxaliplatin (85 mg/m(2)) [regimen A] on day 1
      followed by etoposide (100 mg/m(2)*3)/carboplatin (AUC 6) [regimen B] on day 15.
      Regimen A was repeated 3 weeks later. The primary objective was objective
      response rate. Secondary endpoints included progression-free survival (PFS),
      overall survival (OS), toxicity, and exploratory correlative analysis of the
      tumor expression of the excision repair cross complementing (ERCC1) and
      topoisomerase II-alpha. Patients received a maximum of 5 cycles of sequential
      therapy of regimen A->B. RESULTS: The overall response rate was 96%, the 6-month
      PFS was 76.9%, the median PFS was 8.95 months, and OS was 12.9 months in 26
      evaluable patients. Grade 4 neutropenia (23%) and thrombocytopenia (58%) were
      observed with regimen B; and grade 2/3 nausea-vomiting (54%) and diarrhea (46%)
      with regimen A. Seven patients required dose reductions in regimen A and 19
      patients in regimen B. The dose intensity, delivered during the first three
      cycles was 89%. No significant correlations were observed between the tumor
      expression of the ERCC1 and topoisomerase II-alpha and clinical outcomes (PFS or
      OS). CONCLUSIONS: Although cross-study comparisons are difficult to make, our
      data suggests that sequential topoisomerase-targeting regimens may enhance the
      efficacy of chemotherapy in newly diagnosed SCLC patients (Clinical Trial
      Registration Number, 9 NCT00240097; Clinical Trials.gov number, NCT00240097).

PMID- 20934235
TI  - Novel 6-[(hetero)arylamino]thieno[3,2-b]pyridines: synthesis and antitumoral
      activities.
AB  - Several novel 6-[(hetero)arylamino]thieno[3,2-b]pyridines were prepared by
      palladium-catalyzed C-N Buchwald-Hartwig coupling of the methyl 3-amino-6
      bromothieno[3,2-b]pyridine-2-carboxylate with aryl and heteroarylamines, using
      different reaction conditions. The antitumoral activity of the
      di(hetero)arylamines obtained was evaluated against three representative human
      tumor cell lines, namely breast adenocarcinoma (MCF-7), melanoma (A375-C5), and
      non-small cell lung cancer (NCI-H460) and some structure-activity relationships
      were established within each series. The most promising compounds were shown to
      be a benzothiazole derivative with GI50 3.5-6.9 MUM followed by an indole
      derivative with GI50 13-21 MUM.

PMID- 20934236
TI  - The duality of professional practice in nursing: academics for the 21st century.
AB  - Although pre-registration nursing in the United Kingdom (UK) is moving towards a
      graduate exit, the vocational/professional debate is still live and continues to
      be played out in both popular and professional literature. This study considers
      the nature of contemporary academic communities and the challenge of duality in
      professional nursing life. More than a decade after the move into higher
      education (HE) however the role of the academic is still controversial, with much
      of the debate focussed on the nature of clinical credibility. This article
      considers the dimensions of academic nursing, reports the views of academics and
      clinicians and introduces a model of working that could potentially harness and
      blend the skills of academics and clinicians, nurturing a culture of applied
      scholarship throughout the professional/academic journey.

PMID- 20934237
TI  - Rain scavenging of tritiated water vapour: a numerical Eulerian stationary model.
AB  - The tradition in tritium washout modeling is to unite the washout model with a
      Gaussian plume model describing dispersion of tritium vapour in the atmosphere.
      In the present study, an alternative approach is proposed. A numerical Eulerian
      model that describes washout independently of dispersion is developed. The
      sensitivity analysis to model parameters has shown that the washout process is
      influenced most significantly by rainfall parameters and air temperature:
      different raindrop size distributions cause differences of up to about 70% in the
      washout outputs; a change of 15 degrees C in the air temperature causes an effect
      of about 50%. Results are presented showing calculated values of washout outputs
      (tritium concentration in rain, tritium downward flux, washout coefficient) for
      different tritium vapour profiles, rainfall rates and air temperatures. The
      general conclusion is that the washout process is too complex to be described
      comprehensively by the simple washout coefficient concept. We suggest the
      approach proposed here for directly calculating the tritium downward flux and
      concentration in the rainwater is preferable.

PMID- 20934238
TI  - Effect of titanium maxillofacial implants and osteosynthesis materials on
      platelet function.
AB  - The use of titanium implants and osteosynthesis materials in orthopaedics,
      neurosurgery, and maxillofacial surgery has increased considerably, and they may
      be retained in patients for a long time. We could find no papers in English that
      provided data about the effect of titanium osteosynthesis materials on platelet
      function, and the purpose of this study was to evaluate those effects. Platelet
      function was tested in 33 patients with titanium maxillofacial implants using the
      PFA-100 (platelet function analyser) system and these results were compared with
      those of a control group of 34 healthy volunteer blood donors. Platelet function
      was measured in each group using collagen/adrenaline and collagen/adenosine
      diphosphate (ADP) as agonists for assessment of platelet function. There were no
      significant differences between the groups (collagen/adrenaline p=0.1,
      collagen/ADP p=0.09). Titanium maxillofacial osteosynthesis materials have no
      significant effect on platelet function as assessed by the PFA-100 system.

PMID- 20934239
TI  - Gait patterns in children with autism.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Very few studies have examined the gait patterns of children with
      autism. A greater awareness of movement deviations could be beneficial for
      treatment planning. The purpose of this study was to compare kinematic and
      kinetic gait patterns in children with autism versus age-matched controls.
      METHODS: Twelve children with autism and twenty-two age-matched controls
      participated in the study. An eight camera motion capture system and four force
      plates were used to compute joint angles and joint kinetics during walking.
      Parametric analyses and principal component analyses were applied to kinematic
      and kinetic waveform variables from the autism (n=12) and control (n=22) groups.
      Group differences in parameterization values and principal component scores were
      tested using one-way ANOVAs and Kruskal-Wallis tests. FINDINGS: Significant
      differences between the autism and control group were found for cadence, and peak
      hip and ankle kinematics and kinetics. Significant differences were found for
      three of the principal component scores: sagittal ankle moment principal
      component one, sagittal ankle angle principal component one, and sagittal hip
      moment principal component two. Results suggest that children with autism
      demonstrate reduced plantarflexor moments and increased dorsiflexion angles,
      which may be associated with hypotonia. Decreased hip extensor moments were found
      for the autism group compared to the control group, however, the clinical
      significance of this result is unclear. INTERPRETATION: This study has identified
      several gait variables that were significantly different between autism and
      control group walkers. This is the first study to provide a comprehensive
      analysis of gait patterns in children with autism.

PMID- 20934240
TI  - Can the method of fixation influence the wear behaviour of ZrN coated
      unicompartmental mobile knee prostheses?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Modern unicompartmental knee prostheses represent a valid alternative
      to total knee replacement. It is known that variations in clinical alignment lead
      to altered biomechanics and abnormal wear. The aim of this study was to assess
      the influence, on wear behaviour, of two different cementing interfaces of the
      femoral components tested on a knee joint wear simulator. METHODS: The wear tests
      were run in a knee wear simulator at a frequency of 1.1 Hz for 3 million cycles
      in accordance with ISO 14243-3. Twelve commercial mobile GUR 1020 UHMWPE meniscus
      specimens articulated in between 12 cobalt-chromium-molybdenum alloy femoral and
      tibial components covered by a multi-layer of chromium nitride and a final layer
      of zirconium nitride ceramic coating to prevent ion release from the substrate.
      Two wear tests were performed: in the first test, each femoral component was
      cemented into a custom made metallic-block shaped to perfectly host it. In the
      second test, synthetic composite femurs received the femoral components on the
      basis of guidelines used in current surgery. FINDINGS: The two cementing
      interfaces showed a significantly different wear behaviour, quantified as mean
      weight loss (P<0.001). Scanning electron microscope examinations of new and
      tested metallic components showed macro- and micro-pores of few microns on both
      configurations. INTERPRETATION: The wear pattern observed at 3 million cycles
      showed differences between the two methods of fixation for the meniscus femoral
      components.

PMID- 20934241
TI  - Analysis of membrane interactions of antibiotic peptides using ITC and biosensor
      measurements.
AB  - The interaction of the lantibiotic gallidermin and the glycopeptide antibiotic
      vancomycin with bacterial membranes was simulated using mass sensitive biosensors
      and isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC). Both peptides interfere with cell
      wall biosynthesis by targeting the cell wall precursor lipid II, but differ
      clearly in their antibiotic activity against individual bacterial strains. We
      determined the binding affinities of vancomycin and gallidermin to model
      membranes+/-lipid II in detail. Both peptides bind to DOPC/lipid II membranes
      with high affinity (K(D) 0.30 MUM and 0.27 MUM). Gallidermin displayed also
      strong affinity to pure DOPC membranes (0.53 MUM) an effect that was supported by
      ITC measurements. A surface acoustic wave (SAW) sensor allowed measurements in
      the picomolar concentration range and revealed that gallidermin targets lipid II
      at an equimolar ratio and simultaneously inserts into the bilayer. These results
      indicate that gallidermin, in contrast to vancomycin, combines cell wall
      inhibition and interference with the bacterial membrane integrity for potent
      antimicrobial activity.

PMID- 20934242
TI  - Sacral neuromodulation for neurogenic lower urinary tract dysfunction: systematic
      review and meta-analysis.
AB  - CONTEXT: Treatment of neurogenic lower urinary tract dysfunction (LUTD) is a
      challenge, because conventional therapies often fail. Sacral neuromodulation
      (SNM) has become a well-established therapy for refractory non-neurogenic LUTD,
      but its value in patients with a neurologic cause is unclear. OBJECTIVE: To
      assess the efficacy and safety of SNM for neurogenic LUTD. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION:
      Studies were identified by electronic search of PubMed, EMBASE, and ScienceDirect
      (on 15 April 2010) and hand search of reference lists and review articles. SNM
      articles were included if they reported on efficacy and/or safety of tested
      and/or permanently implanted patients suffering from neurogenic LUTD. Two
      reviewers independently selected studies and extracted data. Study estimates were
      pooled using Bayesian random-effects meta-analysis. EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS: Of the 26
      independent studies (357 patients) included, the evidence level ranged from 2b to
      4 according to the Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine. Half (n=13) of the
      included studies reported data on both test phase and permanent SNM; the
      remaining studies were confined to test phase (n=4) or permanent SNM (n=9). The
      pooled success rate was 68% for the test phase (95% credibility interval [CrI],
      50-87) and 92% (95% CrI, 81-98%) for permanent SNM, with a mean follow-up of 26
      mo. The pooled adverse event rate was 0% (95% CrI, 0-2%) for the test phase and
      24% (95% CrI, 6-48%) for permanent SNM. CONCLUSIONS: There is evidence indicating
      that SNM may be effective and safe for the treatment of patients with neurogenic
      LUTD. However, the number of investigated patients is low with high between-study
      heterogeneity, and there is a lack of randomised, controlled trials. Thus, well
      designed, adequately powered studies are urgently needed before more widespread
      use of SNM for neurogenic LUTD can be recommended.

PMID- 20934243
TI  - Do we have enough evidence to recommend the routine use of high-intensity
      focussed ultrasound for the primary and salvage treatment of prostate cancer?

PMID- 20934244
TI  - Integrating surgery with targeted therapies for renal cell carcinoma: maximizing
      benefits, minimizing risk.

PMID- 20934245
TI  - Celastrol inhibits the growth of estrogen positive human breast cancer cells
      through modulation of estrogen receptor alpha.
AB  - Human estrogen receptor alpha (ERalpha) is a nuclear transcription factor that
      displays a major therapeutic target for breast cancer. The transcriptional
      activity of ERalpha can be regulated by particular estrogen receptor modulators.
      Celastrol, a quinine methide triterpene extracted from a Chinese medicine
      (Trypterygium wilfordii Hook F.), has been reported to have therapeutic efficacy
      against various cancer cells, including prostate cancer, leukemia, and melanoma
      cells. However, ERalpha regulation by Celastrol has not been reported. In this
      study, we investigated the effects of Celastrol on the growth of breast cancer
      cells. We observed that Celastrol decreased expression of ERalpha at both the
      mRNA and the protein levels in MCF7 and T47D human breast cancer cells. Results
      from a luciferase assay showed that Celastrol decreased the transcriptional
      activity of ERalpha. Also, Celastrol treatment inhibited ERalpha target gene
      expression, including expressions of cyclin D(1), progesterone receptor (PR), and
      c-Myb leading to cell cycle arrest and growth inhibition of breast cancer cells.
      We propose that Celastrol, an anti-cancer drug extracted from natural sources,
      induces inhibition of cell growth through modulation of ERalpha in estrogen
      positive breast cancer cells and is a candidate for use in cancer chemotherapy
      for human breast cancer.

PMID- 20934246
TI  - PKD2 mediates multi-drug resistance in breast cancer cells through modulation of
      P-glycoprotein expression.
AB  - Multi-drug resistance (MDR) represents a major obstacle for chemotherapeutic
      treatment of a wide variety of human cancers. Increased expression of drug efflux
      pumps, such as the P-glycoprotein (P-gp) have been linked to development of MDR.
      Herein, we have identified protein kinase D isoform 2 (PKD2) as an important
      regulator of MDR and P-gp expression in paclitaxel-treated breast cancer cell
      lines. PKD2 was expressed with the highest phosphorylated activation status in
      the MDA-MB-231 cell line. MDA-MB-231 cells were also found to exhibit the highest
      level of resistance to an array of chemotherapeutic drugs. To further
      characterize the relationship between PKD2 activation and MDR, we next focused on
      the effects of the chemotherapeutic agent paclitaxel in MDA-MB-231 cells.
      Treatment with paclitaxel was shown to induce both PKD2 phosphorylation and P-gp
      expression in a time-dependent manner. Importantly, shRNA-mediated knockdown of
      PKD2 in MDA-MB-231 cells resulted in a significant decrease in resistance to
      paclitaxel, evident as significant decreases in both the IC(50) value and the
      resistance index (RI). Concurrent with the decrease in drug resistance,
      paclitaxel-induced expression of P-gp was also significantly reduced in PKD
      knockdown cells. These results indicate that PKD2 is required for paclitaxel
      induced MDR and expression of P-gp. Therefore, modulation of PKD2 activity
      represents an attractive therapeutic strategy for improvement of the clinical
      effectiveness of chemotherapy.

PMID- 20934247
TI  - Development of chemically engineered porous metal oxides for phosphate removal.
AB  - In this study, the application of ordered mesoporous silica (OMS) doped with
      various metal oxides (Zr, Ti, Fe and Al) were studied for the removal of (ortho)
      phosphate ions from water by adsorption. The materials were characterized by
      means of N(2) physisorption (BET), powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) and
      transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The doped materials had surface areas
      between 600 and 700 m(2)g(-1) and exhibited pore sizes of 44-64 A. Phosphate
      adsorption was determined by measurement of the aqueous concentration of
      orthophosphate using ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) spectroscopy before and after
      extraction. The effects of different metal oxide loading ratios, initial
      concentration of phosphate solution, temperature and pH effects on the efficiency
      of phosphate removal were investigated. The doped mesoporous materials were
      effective adsorbents of orthophosphate and up to 100% removal was observed under
      appropriate conditions. 'Back extracting' the phosphate from the doped silica
      (following water treatment) was also investigated and shown to have little
      adverse effect on the adsorbent.

PMID- 20934248
TI  - Decolourization of Methyl Orange using Fenton-like mesoporous Fe(2)O(3)-SiO(2)
      composite.
AB  - Rapid decolourization of Methyl Orange by Fenton-like mesoporous Fe(2)O(3)-SiO(2)
      catalyst has been reported. The effect of various parameters such as initial pH,
      initial H(2)O(2) concentration, Fe content in the catalyst and initial dye
      concentration on decolourization process were studied. The results show that 20mg
      of mesoporous Fe(2)O(3)/SiO(2) composite (with Si/Fe=10) was sufficient to
      decolourize 0.6 mg/ml of Methyl Orange in presence of 2 ml of H(2)O(2) at an
      initial pH of 2.93 within 20 min. The pH range for effective decolourization
      (>=90%) was found to be 1-3. Leaching tests indicated that the activity of the
      catalyst was almost unaffected up to three consecutive cycles although <=0.2 ppm
      of Fe ion was leached into treated water in each run.

PMID- 20934249
TI  - Modeling the effectiveness of oil combating from an ecological perspective--a
      Bayesian network for the Gulf of Finland; the Baltic Sea.
AB  - Maritime traffic poses a major threat to marine ecosystems in the form of oil
      spills. The Gulf of Finland, the easternmost part of the Baltic Sea, has
      witnessed a rapid increase in oil transportation during the last 15 years. Should
      a spill occur, the negative ecological impacts may be reduced by oil combating,
      the effectiveness of which is, however, strongly dependent on prevailing
      environmental conditions and available technical resources. This poses increased
      uncertainty related to ecological consequences of future spills. We developed a
      probabilistic Bayesian network model that can be used to assess the effectiveness
      of different oil combating strategies in minimizing the negative effects of oil
      on six species living in the Gulf of Finland. The model can be used for creating
      different accident scenarios and assessing the performance of various oil
      combating actions under uncertainty, which enables its use as a supportive tool
      in decision-making. While the model is confined to the western Gulf of Finland,
      the methodology is adaptable to other marine areas facing similar risks and
      challenges related to oil spills.

PMID- 20934250
TI  - Photodegradation of methyl orange by photocatalyst of CNTs/P-TiO(2) under UV and
      visible-light irradiation.
AB  - A novel nanoscale photocatalyst CNTs/P-TiO(2) was successfully prepared by
      hydrothermal method. The morphology and the physicochemical properties of the
      prepared samples were investigated using TEM, XPS, XRD, BET, FTIR, TG-DSC and UV
      vis DRS spectroscopy. The photocatalytic activity was evaluated by degradation of
      methyl orange (MO) dye. The results demonstrated that CNTs/P-TiO(2) nanoparticles
      could effectively photodegrade MO not only under UV irradiation but also under
      visible-light (VL) irradiation. The MO degradation performance on CNTs/P-TiO(2)
      was superior to that of the commercial P25. The optimal mass ratio of CNTs to P
      TiO(2) in the nanocomposite catalyst was 5:100. The synergetic effect was
      discussed in terms of different roles played by phosphorus doping and introducing
      CNTs into the composite catalysts.

PMID- 20934251
TI  - Competitive biosorption of azo dyes from aqueous solution on the templated
      crosslinked-chitosan nanoparticles.
AB  - The nanoparticles of templated crosslinked chitosan, ECH-RB5 and ECH-3R, were
      prepared through the imprinting process using Remazol Black 5 (RB5) and Remazol
      Brilliant Orange 3R (3R) dyes, respectively, as templates and ECH as a
      crosslinker. The nanoparticles exhibited significantly higher adsorption
      capacities of the dyes than other nanoparticles formed without a dye template and
      with three crosslinkers (ECH, GLA, and EGDE). The adsorption of the dyes on the
      nanoparticles was affected by the initial pH, dye concentration, and temperature.
      The results were in accordance with the second-order and the Langmuir adsorption
      models. Meanwhile, the E values of the dyes calculated using the Dubinnin
      Radushkevich model revealed that the adsorption process may be due to the dual
      nature of the process, physisorption and chemisorption, and that adsorption was
      predominant in the chemisorption process. The adsorption processes in the
      nanoparticles were spontaneous and exothermic. Moreover, competition adsorption
      through analysis of the intraparticle diffusion model apparently favored the 3R
      dye more than the RB5 dye on the nanoparticles in mixture solution B. The
      nanoparticles for the adsorption of the dyes were regenerated efficiently through
      the alkaline solution and were then reused for dye removal.

PMID- 20934252
TI  - Multivariate analysis of anionic, cationic and nonionic textile surfactant
      degradation with the H(2)O(2)/UV-C process by using the capabilities of response
      surface methodology.
AB  - Anionic, cationic and nonionic surfactants being frequently employed in the
      textile preparation process were subjected to H(2)O(2)/UV-C treatment. As a
      consequence of the considerable number of parameters affecting the H(2)O(2)/UV-C
      process, an experimental design methodology was used to mathematically describe
      and optimize the single and combined influences of the critical process variables
      treatment time, initial H(2)O(2)concentration and chemical oxygen demand (COD) on
      parent pollutant (surfactant) as well as organic carbon (COD and total organic
      carbon (TOC)) removal efficiencies. Multivariate analysis was based on two
      different photochemical treatment targets; (i) full oxidation/complete treatment
      of the surfactants or, alternatively, (ii) partial oxidation/pretreatment of the
      surfactants to comply with the legislative discharge requirements. According to
      the established polynomial regression models, the process independent variables
      "treatment time" (exerting a positive effect) and "initial COD content" (exerting
      a negative effect) played more significant roles in surfactant photodegradation
      than the process variable "initial H(2)O(2) concentration" under the studied
      experimental conditions.

PMID- 20934253
TI  - Degradation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons by the Chilean white-rot fungus
      Anthracophyllum discolor.
AB  - The degradation of three- and four-ring polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)
      in Kirk medium by Anthracophyllum discolor, a white-rot fungus isolated from the
      forest of southern Chile, was evaluated. In addition, the removal efficiency of
      three-, four- and five-ring PAHs in contaminated soil bioaugmented with A.
      discolor in the absence and presence of indigenous soil microorganisms was
      investigated. Production of lignin-degrading enzymes and PAH mineralization in
      the soil were also determined. A. discolor was able to degrade PAHs in Kirk
      medium with the highest removal occurring in a PAH mixture, suggesting
      synergistic effects between PAHs or possible cometabolism. A high removal
      capability for phenanthrene (62%), anthracene (73%), fluoranthene (54%), pyrene
      (60%) and benzo(a)pyrene (75%) was observed in autoclaved soil inoculated with A.
      discolor in the absence of indigenous microorganisms, associated with the
      production of manganese peroxidase (MnP). The metabolites found in the PAH
      degradation were anthraquinone, phthalic acid, 4-hydroxy-9-fluorenone, 9
      fluorenone and 4,5-dihydropyrene. A. discolor was able to mineralize 9% of the
      phenanthrene. In non-autoclaved soil, the inoculation with A. discolor did not
      improve the removal efficiency of PAHs. Suitable conditions must be found to
      promote a successful fungal bioaugmentation in non-autoclaved soils.

PMID- 20934255
TI  - Survey and molecular characterization of Cryptosporidium and Giardia spp. in
      owned companion animal, dogs and cats, in Japan.
AB  - Compared with other countries, surveys of these parasites have been rarely
      performed in companion animals of Japan in spite of their significance for public
      health. Here, we investigated pet dogs and cats in Japan for the first time, and
      genetically analyzed the isolates to evaluate the risk of zoonotic infections.
      Seventy-seven fecal samples were collected from privately owned dogs and 55
      samples from owned cats in Osaka city, Japan. Cryptosporidium oocysts were
      identified in 3/77 dogs (3.9%) and 7/55 cats (12.7%), and Giardia infection in
      2/77 dogs (2.6%) and 1/55 cats (1.8%). Amplification of the target regions for
      genotyping was successful, Cryptosporidium isolates in dogs and cats were
      identified as C. canis and C. felis, respectively, and those of Giardia in dogs
      and cats were G. intestinalis Assemblages D and F. The discharge period of the
      oocysts varied within 3-16 weeks and that of the cysts was 12 weeks. To date,
      zoonotic types of both parasites have been identified in other animals in Japan,
      and further large-scale studies are needed to determine the distribution of
      zoonotic genotypes in these animals, especially those closely associated with
      humans.

PMID- 20934254
TI  - Fracture induces keratinocyte activation, proliferation, and expression of pro
      nociceptive inflammatory mediators.
AB  - Tibia fracture in rats results in chronic vascular and nociceptive changes in the
      injured limb resembling complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) and up-regulates
      expression of interleukin 1beta (IL-1beta), interleukin IL-6 (IL-6), tumor
      necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), and nerve growth factor-beta (NGF-beta) in the
      hindpaw skin. When fractured rats are treated with cytokine or NGF inhibitors
      nociceptive sensitization is blocked. Because there is no leukocyte infiltration
      in the hindpaw skin we postulated that resident skin cells produce the
      inflammatory mediators causing nociceptive sensitization after fracture. To test
      this hypothesis rats underwent distal tibia fracture and hindlimb casting for 4
      weeks, then the hindpaw skin was harvested and immunostained for keratin,
      cytokines and NGF. BrdU staining was used to evaluate cell proliferation. Hindpaw
      nociceptive thresholds, edema, and temperature were tested before and up to 96h
      after intraplantar injections of IL-6 and TNF-alpha. Tibia fracture caused
      keratinocyte activation, proliferation, and up-regulated IL-1beta, IL-6, TNF
      alpha and NGF-beta protein expression in the hindpaw keratinocytes. Local
      injections of IL-6 and TNF-alpha induced hindpaw mechanical allodynia lasting for
      several days and modest increases in temperature and edema. These data indicate
      that activated keratinocytes proliferate and express IL-1beta, IL-6, TNF-alpha,
      and NGF-beta after fracture and that excess amounts of inflammatory mediators in
      the skin cause sustained nociceptive sensitization. This is the first study
      demonstrating in vivo keratinocyte expression of IL-6, TNF-alpha and NGF-beta in
      a CRPS model and we postulate that the keratinocyte is the primary cellular
      source for the inflammatory signals mediating cutaneous nociceptive sensitization
      in early CRPS.

PMID- 20934256
TI  - Prophylactic cranial irradiation in lung cancer.
AB  - As multi-modality treatments are now able to ensure better local control and a
      lower rate of extra cranial metastases, brain relapse has become a major concern
      in lung cancer. As survival is poor after development of brain metastases in
      spite of specific treatment, prophylactic cranial irradiation (PCI) has been
      introduced in the 70's. PCI has been evaluated in randomized trials in both small
      cell (SCLC) and non-small-cell (NSCLC) lung cancers to reduce the incidence of
      brain metastases and possibly increase survival. PCI reduces significantly the BM
      rate in both limited disease (LD) and extensive disease (ED) SCLC and in non
      metastatic NSCLC. Considering SCLC, PCI significantly improves overall survival
      in LD (from 15% to 20% at 3 years) and ED (from 13% to 27% at 1 year) in patients
      who respond to first-line treatment; it should thus be part of the standard
      treatment in all responders in ED and in good responders in LD. No dose-effect
      relationship for PCI was demonstrated in LD SCLC patients so that the recommended
      dose is 25Gy in 10 fractions. In NSCLC, even if the risk of brain dissemination
      is lower than in SCLC, it has become a challenging issue. Studies have identified
      subgroups at higher risk of brain failure. There are more local treatment
      possibilities for NSCLC patients with BM, but most of them will eventually recur
      so that PCI should be reconsidered. Few randomized trials have been performed and
      they were not able to show an effect on survival as they were underpowered. New
      trials are needed.

PMID- 20934257
TI  - Alterations in cognitive function and behavioral response to amphetamine induced
      by prenatal inflammation are dependent on the stage of pregnancy.
AB  - Maternal infection during human pregnancy has been associated with the
      development of schizophrenia in the adult offspring. The stage of development and
      the maternal inflammatory response to infection, which undergoes quantitative and
      qualitative changes throughout gestation, are thought to determine critical
      windows of vulnerability for the developing brain. In order to investigate how
      these two factors may contribute to the outcome in the offspring, we studied the
      inflammatory response to turpentine (TURP) injection (100 MUl/dam) and its
      consequences in the adult offspring, in pregnant rats at gestational day (GD) 15
      or 18, which correspond to late first and early second trimester of human
      pregnancy, respectively. Maternal inflammatory response to TURP was different
      between the two GDs, with fever and circulating levels of the pro-inflammatory
      interleukin (IL)-6 significantly attenuated at GD 18, compared to GD 15. In the
      adult offspring, TURP challenge at GD 15 induced a significant decrease in pre
      pulse inhibition (PPI) of acoustic startle, increased latency in the cued task of
      the Morris-water maze, prolonged conditioned fear response and enhanced locomotor
      effect of amphetamine. In contrast, the same immune challenge at GD 18 induced
      only a prolonged conditioned fear response. These results suggest a window of
      vulnerability at GD 15, at which TURP seems to affect several behaviors that are
      strongly modulated by dopamine. This was supported by increased tyrosine
      hydroxylase expression in the nucleus accumbens of the adult offspring of mothers
      treated at GD 15.

PMID- 20934258
TI  - Pathogenesis could be one of the anti-cheating mechanisms for Pseudomonas
      aeruginosa society.
AB  - Pseudomonas aeruginosa is the major pathogen of chronic lung infections in
      individuals with cystic fibrosis (CF). Traditionally, it has been regarded as
      living in planktonic form, and as being able to perform only simple physiological
      activities. Recent studies in biofilm infections in CF patients, however, show
      that P. aeruginosa can perform many social behaviors, like cooperation and
      cheating. Based on the theory of "survival of the fittest", it may be presumed
      that every individual will take advantage of cheating instead of cooperation to
      increase its fitness, at the cost of group survival. In reality, however, a
      bacterial society can remain stable, even though cheaters arise frequently in the
      population. It is therefore possible that there are anti-cheating mechanisms in a
      bacterial society. The cheaters of P. aeruginosa will cause the loss or the
      decrease of the pathogenesis of the microorganism in the cystic fibrosis host.
      These defects in pathogenesis will be disadvantageous to bacterial colonization
      and compromise the resistance to host immunity. We therefore propose the
      hypothesis that the pathogenesis in cystic fibrosis lung infections could be one
      of the anti-cheating mechanisms that contribute to the hidden costs of the
      cheater strains. To test this hypothesis, we designed an experiment in an animal
      model of CF. If this hypothesis can be confirmed, it will illustrate that
      nontrivial analogies exist between microbial social behaviors and the social
      traits that are observed in the more traditional model systems for sociobiology.
      This will not only provide a genetic model for sociobiology research, but also
      cast light on the social control of chronic bacterial infections.

PMID- 20934259
TI  - Detection of minor salivary glands affected in Sjogren's syndrome by Raman
      spectroscopy.
AB  - Sjogren's syndrome(SS) is defined as a slowly processing autoimmune inflammatory
      exocrinopathy affecting the salivary and lachrymal glands. Due to the difficulty
      in reaching a diagnosis in some SS cases, there are many criteria published for
      classification and diagnosis. Among the most of criteria, lip biopsy plays an
      important role in clinical diagnosis, but it is an invasive and complex method
      which always causes patients' pain and discomfort. Raman spectroscopy is a
      noninvasive and real-time vibrational spectroscopic technique applied in the
      clinical detection and diagnosis of diseases. The diagnostic sensitivity and
      specificity are both high. The hypothesis is to detect the minor salivary glands
      affected in SS by the noninvasive Raman spectroscopy instead of lip biopsy.
      Therefore, Raman spectroscopy may increase the diagnostic sensitivity and
      specificity, meanwhile prevent patients from pain caused by biopsy.

PMID- 20934260
TI  - Influence of vacuum or high-oxygen modified atmosphere packaging on quality of
      beef M. longissimus dorsi steaks after different ageing times.
AB  - The objective of the study was to determine if beef quality parameters differ
      between steaks in modified atmosphere packaging (MAP; 80% O2and 20% CO2) and in
      vacuum packaging. Both M. longissimus dorsi (LD) from ten young bulls were cut in
      steaks day 3 postmortem and frozen either directly or after storage for 5 or 15
      days in MAP and/or vacuum. The parameters studied were Warner Bratzler shear
      force, colour stability, alpha-tocopherol content, protein oxidation, water
      holding capacity and sensory attributes. Steaks stored in MAP had higher shear
      force than steaks stored in only vacuum at all ageing times. Tenderness and
      juiciness were negatively affected by storage in MAP. Ageing in MAP induced
      higher levels of metmyoglobin compared with vacuum ageing. In conclusion, high
      oxygen MAP negatively influenced shear force, thawing loss, alpha-tocopherol
      content and colour stability, as well as the sensory attributes tenderness,
      juiciness and to some extent meat flavour.

PMID- 20934261
TI  - A method for the prediction of late organ-at-risk toxicity after radiotherapy of
      the prostate using equivalent uniform dose.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the predictive value of equivalent uniform doses (EUD) for
      late bladder and rectal toxicity after high-dose three-dimensional conformal
      radiation therapy (3D-CRT) to the prostate. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Using the
      method developed by Kutcher et al., EUDs for whole bladder and rectum were
      calculated from the dose-volume histograms of 180 patients with localized
      prostate cancer treated to 70-74 Gy with 3D-CRT. Late complications were recorded
      using the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group scale, correlated against EUD and
      known physical predictive indicators. RESULTS: EUD is an independent prognostic
      factor for Grade 2+ long-term rectal and bladder toxicity after radiation
      treatment to the prostate. Patients receiving an EUD >63.1 Gy to the rectum have
      a statistically significant (10% vs. 30%; p = 0.002) higher risk of developing
      Grade 2+ late complications. Patients receiving an EUD >53.4 Gy to the bladder
      have a statistically significant (10% vs. 33%; p = 0.001) higher risk of
      developing Grade 2+ late complications. CONCLUSIONS: It has been demonstrated
      that EUD is a strong independent predictive factor for Grade 2+ late
      complications after 3D-CRT to the prostate. Threshold values have been
      demonstrated for both bladder and rectum, above which there is a clinically
      significant increased risk of complications.

PMID- 20934262
TI  - Impact of salivary gland dosimetry on post-IMRT recovery of saliva output and
      xerostomia grade for head-and-neck cancer patients treated with or without
      contralateral submandibular gland sparing: a longitudinal study.
AB  - PURPOSE: To observe the recovery of saliva output and effect on xerostomia grade
      after intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) with or without contralateral
      submandibular gland (cSMG) sparing and to assess the impact of salivary gland
      dosimetry on this recovery among patients with head-and-neck cancer. METHODS AND
      MATERIALS: Between May 2007 and May 2008, 52 patients with head-and-neck cancer
      received definitive (n=5 patients) and postoperative (n=47 patients) IMRT at our
      institution, with at least one parotid gland spared. Of these patients, 26
      patients with a low risk of recurrence in the cSMG region underwent IMRT and had
      their cSMGs spared (cSMG-sparing group). The remaining 26 high-risk patients had
      no cSMGs spared (cSMG-unspared group). Xerostomia grades and salivary flow rates
      were monitored at five time points (before IMRT and at 2, 6, 12, and 18 months
      after IMRT). RESULTS: Average mean doses and mean volumes receiving 30 Gy (V30)
      of the cSMGs were lower in the cSMG-sparing group than in the cSMG-unspared group
      (mean dose, 20.4 Gy vs. 57.4 Gy; mean V30, 14.7% vs. 99.8%, respectively).
      Xerostomia grades at 2 and 6 months post-IMRT were also significantly lower among
      patients in the cSMG-sparing group than in the cSMG-unspared group, but
      differences were not significant at 12 and 18 months after IMRT. Patients in the
      cSMG-sparing group had significantly better mean unstimulated salivary flow rates
      at each time point post- IMRT as well as better mean stimulated salivary flow
      rates at 2 months post-IMRT. CONCLUSIONS: Recovery of saliva output and grade of
      xerostomia post-IMRT in patients whose cSMGs were spared were much better than in
      patients whose cSMGs were not spared. The influence of the mean doses to the cSMG
      and parotid gland on the recovery of saliva output was equivalent to that of the
      mean V30 to the glands.

PMID- 20934263
TI  - Proton stereotactic radiosurgery for the treatment of benign meningiomas.
AB  - PURPOSE: Given the excellent prognosis for patients with benign meningiomas,
      treatment strategies to minimize late effects are important. One strategy is
      proton radiation therapy (RT), which allows less integral dose to normal tissue
      and greater homogeneity than photon RT. Here, we report the first series of
      proton stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) used for the treatment of meningiomas.
      METHODS AND MATERIALS: We identified 50 patients with 51 histologically proven or
      image-defined, presumed-benign meningiomas treated at our institution between
      1996 and 2007. Tumors of <4 cm in diameter and located>=2 mm from the optic
      apparatus were eligible for treatment. Indications included primary treatment
      (n=32), residual tumor following surgery (n=8), and recurrent tumor following
      surgery (n=10). The median dose delivered was 13 Gray radiobiologic equivalent
      (Gy[RBE]) (range, 10.0-15.5 Gy[RBE]) prescribed to the 90% isodose line. RESULTS:
      Median follow-up was 32 months (range, 6-133 months). Magnetic resonance imaging
      at the most recent follow-up or time of progression revealed 33 meningiomas with
      stable sizes, 13 meningiomas with decreased size, and 5 meningiomas with
      increased size. The 3-year actuarial tumor control rate was 94% (95% confidence
      interval, 77%-98%). Symptoms were improved in 47% (16/34) of patients, unchanged
      in 44% (15/34) of patients, and worse in 9% (3/34) of patients. The rate of
      potential permanent adverse effects after SRS was 5.9% (3/51 patients).
      CONCLUSIONS: Proton SRS is an effective therapy for small benign meningiomas,
      with a potentially lower rate of long-term treatment-related morbidity. Longer
      follow-up is needed to assess durability of tumor control and late effects.

PMID- 20934264
TI  - A phase I trial of tipifarnib with radiation therapy, with and without
      temozolomide, for patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma.
AB  - PURPOSE: To determine the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) of tipifarnib in
      combination with conventional radiotherapy for patients with newly diagnosed
      glioblastoma. The MTD was evaluated in three patient cohorts, stratified based on
      concurrent use of enzyme-inducing antiepileptic drugs (EIAED) or concurrent
      treatment with temozolomide (TMZ): Group A: patients not receiving EIAED and not
      receiving TMZ; Group A-TMZ: patients not receiving EIAED and receiving treatment
      with TMZ; Group B: any patients receiving EIAED but not TMZ. PATIENTS AND
      METHODS: After diagnostic surgery or biopsy, treatment with tipifarnib started 5
      to 9 days before initiating radiotherapy, twice daily, in 4-week cycles using
      discontinuous dosing (21 out of 28 days), until toxicity or progression. For
      Group A-TMZ, patients also received TMZ daily during radiotherapy and then
      standard 5/28 days dosing after radiotherapy. Dose-limiting toxicity (DLT) was
      determined over the first 10 weeks of therapy for all cohorts. RESULTS: Fifty-one
      patients were enrolled for MTD determination: 10 patients in Group A, 21 patients
      in Group A-TMZ, and 20 patients in Group B. In the Group A and Group A-TMZ
      cohorts, patients achieved the intended MTD of 300 mg twice daily (bid) with DLTs
      including rash and fatigue. For Group B, the MTD was determined as 300 mg bid,
      half the expected dose. The DLTs included rash and one intracranial hemorrhage.
      Thirteen of the 20 patients evaluated in Group A-TMZ were alive at 1 year.
      CONCLUSION: Tipifarnib is well tolerated at 300 mg bid given discontinuously
      (21/28 days) in 4-week cycles, concurrently with standard chemo/radiotherapy. A
      Phase II study should evaluate the efficacy of tipifarnib with radiation and TMZ
      in patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma and not receiving EIAED.

PMID- 20934265
TI  - "Mind the gap"--the impact of variations in the duration of the treatment gap and
      overall treatment time in the first UK Anal Cancer Trial (ACT I).
AB  - PURPOSE: The United Kingdom Coordinating Committee on Cancer Research anal cancer
      trial demonstrated the benefit of combined modality treatment (CMT) using
      radiotherapy (RT), infusional 5-fluorouracil, and mitomycin C over RT alone. The
      present study retrospectively examines the impact of the recommended 6-week
      treatment gap and local RT boost on long-term outcome. METHODS AND MATERIALS: A
      total of 577 patients were randomly assigned RT alone or CMT. After a 6-week gap
      responders received a boost using either additional external beam radiotherapy
      (EBRT) (15 Gy) or iridium-192 implant (25 Gy). The effect of boost, the gap
      between initial treatment (RT alone or CMT) and boost (Tgap), and overall
      treatment time (OTT) were examined for their impact on outcome. RESULTS: Among
      the 490 good responders, 436 (89%) patients received a boost after initial
      treatment. For boosted patients, the risk of anal cancer death decreased by 38%
      (hazard ratio [HR]: 0.62, 99% CI 0.35-1.12; p=0.04), but there was no evidence
      this was mediated via a reduction in locoregional failure (LRF) (HR: 0.90, 99% CI
      0.48-1.68; p=0.66). The difference in Tgap was only 1.4 days longer for EBRT
      boost, compared with implant (p=0.51). OTT was longer by 6.1 days for EBRT
      (p=0.006). Tgap and OTT were not associated with LRF. Radionecrosis was reported
      in 8% of boosted, compared with 0% in unboosted patients (p=0.03). CONCLUSIONS:
      These results question the benefit of a radiotherapy boost after a 6-week gap.
      The higher doses of a boost may contribute more to an increased risk of late
      morbidity, rather than local control.

PMID- 20934266
TI  - Proton radiotherapy for pediatric bladder/prostate rhabdomyosarcoma: clinical
      outcomes and dosimetry compared to intensity-modulated radiation therapy.
AB  - PURPOSE: In this study, we report the clinical outcomes of 7 children with
      bladder/prostate rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) treated with proton radiation and compare
      proton treatment plans with matched intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT)
      plans, with an emphasis on dose savings to reproductive and skeletal structures.
      METHODS AND MATERIALS: Follow-up consisted of scheduled clinic appointments at
      our institution or direct communication with the treating physicians for referred
      patients. Each proton radiotherapy plan used for treatment was directly compared
      to an IMRT plan generated for the study. Clinical target volumes and normal
      tissue volumes were held constant to facilitate dosimetric comparisons. Each plan
      was optimized for target coverage and normal tissue sparing. RESULTS: Seven male
      patients were treated with proton radiotherapy for bladder/prostate RMS at the
      Massachusetts General Hospital between 2002 and 2008. Median age at treatment was
      30 months (11-70 months). Median follow-up was 27 months (10-90 months). Four
      patients underwent a gross total resection prior to radiation, and all patients
      received concurrent chemotherapy. Radiation doses ranged from 36 cobalt Gray
      equivalent (CGE) to 50.4 CGE. Five of 7 patients were without evidence of disease
      and with intact bladders at study completion. Target volume dosimetry was
      equivalent between the two modalities for all 7 patients. Proton radiotherapy led
      to a significant decrease in mean organ dose to the bladder (25.1 CGE vs. 33.2
      Gy; p=0.03), testes (0.0 CGE vs. 0.6 Gy; p=0.016), femoral heads (1.6 CGE vs.
      10.6 Gy; p=0.016), growth plates (21.7 CGE vs. 32.4 Gy; p=0.016), and pelvic
      bones (8.8 CGE vs. 13.5 Gy; p=0.016) compared to IMRT. CONCLUSIONS: This study
      provides evidence of significant dose savings to normal structures with proton
      radiotherapy compared to IMRT and is well tolerated in this patient population.
      The long-term impact of these reduced doses can be tested in future studies
      incorporating extended follow-up, objective outcome measures, and quality-of-life
      analyses.

PMID- 20934267
TI  - Outcome analysis of patients with oral cavity cancer and extracapsular spread in
      neck lymph nodes.
AB  - PURPOSE: Extracapsular spread (ECS) in neck lymph nodes is a major adverse
      prognostic factor in patients with oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). We
      conducted a retrospective analysis of prognostic factors in this patient group
      and tried to identify a subset of patients with a worse prognosis suitable for
      more aggressive therapeutic interventions. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Enrolled in the
      study were 255 OSCC patients with ECS in neck nodes and without evidence of
      distant metastasis. All participants were followed-up for at least 2 years or
      censored at last follow-up. The 5-year rates of control, distant metastasis, and
      survival were the main outcome measures. RESULTS: Level IV/V lymph node
      metastases and tumor depth >=12 mm were independent predictors of 5-year survival
      and identified three prognostic groups. In the low-risk group (no level IV/V
      metastases and tumor depth <12 mm), the 5-year disease-free, disease-specific,
      and overall survival rates were 60%, 66%, and 50%, respectively. In the
      intermediate-risk group (no level IV/V metastases and tumor depth >=12 mm), the 5
      year disease-free, disease-specific, and overall survival rates were 39%, 41%,
      and 28%, respectively. In the high-risk group (evidence of level IV/V
      metastases), the 5-year disease-free, disease-specific, and overall survival
      rates were 14%, 12%, and 10%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Among OSCC patients with
      ECS, those with level IV/V metastases appear to have the worst prognosis followed
      by without level IV/V metastases and tumor depth >=12 mm. An aggressive
      therapeutic approach may be suitable for intermediate- and high-risk patients.

PMID- 20934268
TI  - Gastroduodenal complications after concurrent chemoradiation therapy in patients
      with hepatocellular carcinoma: endoscopic findings and risk factors.
AB  - PURPOSE: Concurrent chemoradiation therapy (CCRT) is useful in advanced
      hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), but little is known about radiation-induced
      gastroduodenal complications following therapy. To determine risk factors, we
      investigated the prevalence and patterns of gastroduodenal complications
      following CCRT using endoscopy. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Enrolled in the study were
      123 patients treated with CCRT for unresectable HCC between January 1998 and
      December 2005. Radiation-induced gastroduodenal complications were defined as
      radiation gastritis/duodenitis, radiation gastric/duodenal ulcer, or other
      gastroduodenal toxicity associated with radiation, based on Common Terminology
      Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE 3.0). Serious gastroduodenal complications
      were defined as events occurring within 12 months from completion of CCRT, those
      requiring prompt therapeutic intervention, or symptoms equivalent to Grade 3 or 4
      radiation-related gastroduodenal toxicity, including nausea or vomiting, based on
      CTCAE 3.0. RESULTS: A month after completion of CCRT, 65 (52.8%) patients
      displayed endoscopic evidence of radiation-induced gastroduodenal complications.
      Radiation gastric and duodenal ulcers were found in 32 (26.0%) and 20 (16.3%)
      patients, respectively; radiation gastritis and duodenitis were found in 50
      (40.7%) and 42 (34.1%) patients, respectively. Radiation-related bleeding was
      observed in 13 patients (10.6%). Serious gastroduodenal complications occurred in
      18 patients (14.6%) and were significantly more frequent in patients with liver
      cirrhosis than in those without cirrhosis (p=0.043). There were no radiation
      related deaths. CONCLUSIONS: Endoscopically detectable radiation-induced
      gastroduodenal complications were common in HCC following CCRT. Although serious
      complications were uncommon, the frequency was higher in patients with liver
      cirrhosis; thus, these patients should be closely monitored when receiving CCRT.

PMID- 20934269
TI  - Number and location of positive nodes, postoperative radiotherapy, and survival
      after esophagectomy with three-field lymph node dissection for thoracic
      esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.
AB  - PURPOSE: To analyze influences of the number and location of positive lymph nodes
      and postoperative radiotherapy on survival for patients with thoracic esophageal
      squamous cell carcinoma (TE-SCC) treated with radical esophagectomy with three
      field lymphadenectomy. METHODS AND MATERIALS: A total of 945 patients underwent
      radical esophagectomy plus three-field lymph node dissection for node-positive TE
      SCC at Fujian Provincial Tumor Hospital between January 1993 and March 2007. Five
      hundred ninety patients received surgery only (S group), and 355 patients
      received surgery, followed 3 to 4 weeks later by postoperative radiotherapy (S+R
      group) to a median total dose of 50 Gy in 25 fractions. We assessed potential
      associations among patient-, tumor-, and treatment-related factors and overall
      survival. RESULTS: Five-year overall survival rates were 32.8% for the entire
      group, 29.6% for the S group, and 38.0% for the S+R group (p = 0.001 for S vs.
      S+R). Treatment with postoperative radiotherapy was particularly beneficial for
      patients with >=3 positive nodes and for those with metastasis in the upper
      (supraclavicular and upper mediastinal) region or both the upper and lower
      (mediastinal and abdominal) regions (p < 0.05). Postoperative radiotherapy was
      also associated with lower recurrence rates in the supraclavicular and upper and
      middle mediastinal regions (p < 0.05). Sex, primary tumor length, number of
      positive nodes, pathological T category, and postoperative radiotherapy were all
      independent predictors of survival. CONCLUSIONS: Postoperative radiotherapy was
      associated with better survival for patients with node-positive TE-SCC,
      particularly those with three or more positive nodes and positive nodes in the
      supraclavicular and superior mediastinal regions.

PMID- 20934270
TI  - The influence of total nodes examined, number of positive nodes, and lymph node
      ratio on survival after surgical resection and adjuvant chemoradiation for
      pancreatic cancer: a secondary analysis of RTOG 9704.
AB  - PURPOSE: Lymph node status is an important predictor of survival in pancreatic
      cancer. We performed a secondary analysis of Radiation Therapy Oncology Group
      (RTOG) 9704, an adjuvant chemotherapy and chemoradiation trial, to determine the
      influence of lymph node factors--number of positive nodes (NPN), total nodes
      examined (TNE), and lymph node ratio (LNR ratio of NPN to TNE)--on OS and disease
      free survival (DFS). PATIENT AND METHODS: Eligible patients from RTOG 9704 form
      the basis of this secondary analysis of lymph node parameters. Actuarial
      estimates for OS and DFS were calculated using Kaplan-Meier methods. Cox
      proportional hazards models were performed to evaluate associations of NPN, TNE,
      and LNR with OS and DFS. Multivariate Cox proportional hazards models were also
      performed. RESULTS: There were 538 patients enrolled in the RTOG 9704 trial. Of
      these, 445 patients were eligible with lymph nodes removed. Overall median NPN
      was 1 (min-max, 0-18). Increased NPN was associated with worse OS (HR=1.06,
      p=0.001) and DFS (HR=1.05, p=0.01). In multivariate analyses, both NPN and TNE
      were associated with OS and DFS. TNE>12, and >15 were associated with increased
      OS for all patients, but not for node-negative patients (n=142). Increased LNR
      was associated with worse OS (HR=1.01, p<0.0001) and DFS (HR=1.006, p=0.002).
      CONCLUSION: In patients who undergo surgical resection followed by adjuvant
      chemoradiation, TNE, NPN, and LNR are associated with OS and DFS. This secondary
      analysis of a prospective, cooperative group trial supports the influence of
      these lymph node parameters on outcomes after surgery and adjuvant therapy using
      contemporary techniques.

PMID- 20934271
TI  - Novel luciferase-based reporter system to monitor activation of ErbB2/Her2/neu
      pathway noninvasively during radiotherapy.
AB  - PURPOSE: To develop a split-luciferase-based reporter system that allows for
      noninvasive monitoring of activation of the Her2/neu pathway in vivo in a
      quantitative and sensitive manner. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Fusion proteins of the
      ErbB2/Her2/neu receptor to the N-terminal fragment of luciferase and of its
      downstream binding partner Shc to the C-terminal fragment of luciferase have been
      engineered owing to the rationale that on activation and binding of the Her2
      receptor molecule to Shc, luciferase function will be reconstituted. Thus, the
      resulting bioluminescence signals can serve as a surrogate measure of receptor
      activation. RESULTS: We have shown that our reporter systems functions well in
      vitro in breast cancer cells and in vivo in xenograft tumors. In particular, the
      activities of Her2/neu in xenograft tumors could be monitored serially for an
      extended period after radiotherapy. CONCLUSIONS: We believe that the novel
      ErbB2/Her2/neu reporter we have presented is a powerful tool to study the biology
      of the Her2-neu pathway in vitro and in vivo. It should also facilitate the
      development and rapid evaluation of new Her2/neu-targeted therapeutic agents.

PMID- 20934272
TI  - Development of a novel method for intraoperative radiotherapy during kyphoplasty
      for spinal metastases (Kypho-IORT).
AB  - PURPOSE: Approximately 30% of patients with cancer receive bone metastases, of
      which 50% are in the spine. Approximately 20% present with unstable lesions
      requiring surgical intervention, followed by fractionated radiotherapy over 2-4
      weeks to prevent early regrowth. Because of the limited survival time of patients
      with metastatic cancer, novel treatment concepts shortening the overall treatment
      time or hospitalization are desirable. In this study, we established a novel
      approach for intraoperative radiotherapy during kyphoplasty (Kypho-IORT), a
      method that combines stabilizing surgery and radiotherapy within one visit, after
      estimating the percentage of eligible patients for this treatment. METHODS AND
      MATERIALS: To estimate the percentage of eligible patients, 53 planning CTs (897
      vertebrae) of patients with spinal metastases were evaluated. The number of
      infiltrated vertebrae were counted and classified in groups eligible or not
      eligible for Kypho-IORT. The Kypho-IORT was performed in a donated body during a
      standard balloon kyphoplasty using the INTRABEAM system and specially designed
      applicators. A single dose of 10 Gy (in 10 mm) was delivered over 4 min to the
      vertebra. This was verified using two ionization chambers and a Monte Carlo
      simulation. RESULTS: The estimation of eligible patients resulted in 34% of the
      evaluated patients, and thus 34% of patients with instable spinal metastases are
      suitable for Kypho-IORT. This study shows also that, using the approach presented
      here, it is possible to perform an IORT during kyphoplasty with an additional 15
      min operation time. The measurement in the donated body resulted in a maximum
      dose of 3.8 Gy in the spinal cord. However, the Monte Carlo depth dose simulation
      in bone tissue showed 68% less dose to the prescription depth. CONCLUSION: We
      present for the first time a system using an x-ray source that can be used for
      single-dose IORT during kyphoplasty. The described Kypho-IORT can decrease the
      overall treatment time for up to 34% of patients who usually receive radiotherapy
      for spinal metastases.

PMID- 20934273
TI  - Consideration of dose limits for organs at risk of thoracic radiotherapy: atlas
      for lung, proximal bronchial tree, esophagus, spinal cord, ribs, and brachial
      plexus.
AB  - PURPOSE: To review the dose limits and standardize the three-dimenional (3D)
      radiographic definition for the organs at risk (OARs) for thoracic radiotherapy
      (RT), including the lung, proximal bronchial tree, esophagus, spinal cord, ribs,
      and brachial plexus. METHODS AND MATERIALS: The present study was performed by
      representatives from the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group, European Organization
      for Research and Treatment of Cancer, and Soutwestern Oncology Group lung cancer
      committees. The dosimetric constraints of major multicenter trials of 3D
      conformal RT and stereotactic body RT were reviewed and the challenges of 3D
      delineation of these OARs described. Using knowledge of the human anatomy and 3D
      radiographic correlation, draft atlases were generated by a radiation oncologist,
      medical physicist, dosimetrist, and radiologist from the United States and
      reviewed by a radiation oncologist and medical physicist from Europe. The atlases
      were then critically reviewed, discussed, and edited by another 10 radiation
      oncologists. RESULTS: Three-dimensional descriptions of the lung, proximal
      bronchial tree, esophagus, spinal cord, ribs, and brachial plexus are presented.
      Two computed tomography atlases were developed: one for the middle and lower
      thoracic OARs (except for the heart) and one focusing on the brachial plexus for
      a patient positioned supine with their arms up for thoracic RT. The dosimetric
      limits of the key OARs are discussed. CONCLUSIONS: We believe these atlases will
      allow us to define OARs with less variation and generate dosimetric data in a
      more consistent manner. This could help us study the effect of radiation on these
      OARs and guide high-quality clinical trials and individualized practice in 3D
      conformal RT and stereotactic body RT.

PMID- 20934274
TI  - Analysis of prostate patient setup and tracking data: potential intervention
      strategies.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the setup, interfraction, and intrafraction organ motion
      error distributions and simulate intrafraction intervention strategies for
      prostate radiotherapy. METHODS AND MATERIALS: A total of 17 patients underwent
      treatment setup and were monitored using the Calypso system during radiotherapy.
      On average, the prostate tracking measurements were performed for 8 min/fraction
      for 28 fractions for each patient. For both patient couch shift data and
      intrafraction organ motion data, the systematic and random errors were obtained
      from the patient population. The planning target volume margins were calculated
      using the van Herk formula. Two intervention strategies were simulated using the
      tracking data: the deviation threshold and period. The related planning target
      volume margins, time costs, and prostate position "fluctuation" were presented.
      RESULTS: The required treatment margin for the left-right, superoinferior, and
      anteroposterior axes was 8.4, 10.8, and 14.7 mm for skin mark-only setup and 1.3,
      2.3, and 2.8 mm using the on-line setup correction, respectively. Prostate motion
      significantly correlated among the superoinferior and anteroposterior directions.
      Of the 17 patients, 14 had prostate motion within 5 mm of the initial setup
      position for >=91.6% of the total tracking time. The treatment margin decreased
      to 1.1, 1.8, and 2.3 mm with a 3-mm threshold correction and to 0.5, 1.0, and 1.5
      mm with an every-2-min correction in the left-right, superoinferior, and
      anteroposterior directions, respectively. The periodic corrections significantly
      increase the treatment time and increased the number of instances when the setup
      correction was made during transient excursions. CONCLUSIONS: The residual
      systematic and random error due to intrafraction prostate motion is small after
      on-line setup correction. Threshold-based and time-based intervention strategies
      both reduced the planning target volume margins. The time-based strategies
      increased the treatment time and the in-fraction position fluctuation.

PMID- 20934275
TI  - Evaluation of artifacts and distortions of titanium applicators on 3.0-Tesla MRI:
      feasibility of titanium applicators in MRI-guided brachytherapy for gynecological
      cancer.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to characterize the levels of artifacts and
      distortions of titanium applicators on 3.0-Tesla magnetic resonance imaging
      (MRI). METHODS AND MATERIALS: Fletcher-Suit-Delclos-style tandem and ovoids (T&O)
      and tandem and ring applicator (T&R) were examined. The quality assurance (QA)
      phantoms for each applicator were designed and filled with copper sulphate
      solution (1.5 g/l). The artifacts were quantified with the registration of
      corresponding computed tomography (CT) images. A favorable MR sequence was
      searched in terms of artifacts. Using the sequence, the artifacts were
      determined. The geometric distortions induced by the applicators were quantified
      through each registration of CT and MRI without applicators. The artifacts of T&O
      were also evaluated on in vivo MRI datasets of 5 patients. RESULTS: T1-weighted
      MRI with 1-mm slice thickness was found as a favorable MR sequence. Applying the
      sequence, the artifacts at the tandem tip of T&O and T&R were determined as 1.5
      +/- 0.5 mm in a superior direction in phantom studies. In the ovoids of T&O, we
      found artifacts less than 1.5 +/- 0.5 mm. The artifacts of a T&O tandem in vivo
      were found as less than 2.6 +/- 1.3 mm on T1-weighted MRI, whereas less than 6.9
      +/- 3.4 mm on T2-weighted MRI. No more than 1.2 +/- 0.6 mm (3.0 +/- 1.5 mm) of
      distortions, due to a titanium applicator, were measured on T1-weighted MRI (T2
      ). CONCLUSION: In 3.0-Tesla MRI, we found the artifact widths at the tip of
      tandem were less than 1.5 +/- 0.5 mm for both T&O and T&R when using T1-weighted
      MRI in phantom studies. However, exclusive 3.0-Tesla MRI-guided brachytherapy
      planning with a titanium applicator should be cautiously implemented.

PMID- 20934276
TI  - Relative biological effectiveness of carbon ions for local tumor control of a
      radioresistant prostate carcinoma in the rat.
AB  - PURPOSE: To study the relative biological effectiveness (RBE) of carbon ion beams
      relative to X-rays for local tumor control in a syngeneic rat prostate tumor
      (Dunning subline R3327-AT1). METHODS AND MATERIALS: A total of 198 animals with
      tumors in the distal thigh were treated with increasing single and split doses of
      either (12)C ions or photons using a 20-mm spread-out Bragg peak. Endpoints of
      the study were local control (no tumor recurrence within 300 days) and volumetric
      changes after irradiation. The resulting values for D(50) (dose at 50% tumor
      control probability) were used to determine RBE values. RESULTS: The D(50) values
      for single doses were 32.9 +/- 0.9 Gy for (12)C ions and 75.7 +/- 1.6 Gy for
      photons. The respective values for split doses were 38.0 +/- 2.3 Gy and 90.6 +/-
      2.3 Gy. The corresponding RBE values were 2.30 +/- 0.08 for single and 2.38 +/-
      0.16 for split doses. The most prominent side effects were dry and moist
      desquamation of the skin, which disappeared within weeks. CONCLUSION: The study
      confirmed the effectiveness of carbon ion therapy for severely radioresistant
      tumors. For 1- and 2-fraction photon and (12)C ion radiation, we have established
      individual D(50) values for local tumor control as well as related RBE values.

PMID- 20934277
TI  - Hypofractionated versus conventionally fractionated radiotherapy for prostate
      carcinoma: final results of phase III randomized trial.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the long-term efficacy and toxicity of a hypofractionated
      (55 Gy in 20 fractions within 4 weeks) vs. a conventionally fractionated (64 Gy
      in 32 fractions within 6.5 weeks) dose schedule for radiotherapy (RT) for
      localized carcinoma of the prostate. METHODS AND MATERIALS: A total of 217
      patients were randomized to either the hypofractionated (n=108) or the
      conventional (n=109) dose schedule. Most patients (n=156) underwent RT planning
      and RT using a two-dimensional computed tomography method. Efficacy using the
      clinical, radiologic, and prostate-specific antigen data in each patient was
      evaluated before RT and at predetermined intervals after RT until death.
      Gastrointestinal and genitourinary toxicity using the modified Late Effect in
      Normal Tissue-Subjective Objective Management Analytic (LENT-SOMA) scales was
      also evaluated before and at intervals after RT to 60 months. RESULTS: The whole
      group has now been followed for a median of 90 months (range, 3-138). Of the 217
      patients, 85 developed biochemical relapse (nadir prostate-specific antigen
      level+2 MUg/L), 36 in the hypofractionated and 49 in the conventional group. The
      biochemical relapse-free, but not overall, survival at 90 months was
      significantly better with the hypofractionated (53%) than with the conventional
      (34%) schedule. Gastrointestinal and genitourinary toxicity persisted 60 months
      after RT and did not differ between the two dose schedules. Multivariate analyses
      revealed that the conventional schedule was of independent prognostic
      significance, not only for biochemical failure, but also for an increased risk of
      worse genitourinary symptoms at 4 years. CONCLUSIONS: A therapeutic advantage of
      the hypofractionated compared with the conventional dose schedule for RT of
      prostate cancer was evident at 90 months in the present study.

PMID- 20934279
TI  - Local setup errors in image-guided radiotherapy for head and neck cancer patients
      immobilized with a custom-made device.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the local positioning uncertainties during fractionated
      radiotherapy of head-and-neck cancer patients immobilized using a custom-made
      fixation device and discuss the effect of possible patient correction strategies
      for these uncertainties. METHODS AND MATERIALS: A total of 45 head-and-neck
      patients underwent regular control computed tomography scanning using an in-room
      computed tomography scanner. The local and global positioning variations of all
      patients were evaluated by applying a rigid registration algorithm. One bounding
      box around the complete target volume and nine local registration boxes
      containing relevant anatomic structures were introduced. The resulting
      uncertainties for a stereotactic setup and the deformations referenced to one
      anatomic local registration box were determined. Local deformations of the
      patients immobilized using our custom-made device were compared with previously
      published results. Several patient positioning correction strategies were
      simulated, and the residual local uncertainties were calculated. RESULTS: The
      patient anatomy in the stereotactic setup showed local systematic positioning
      deviations of 1-4 mm. The deformations referenced to a particular anatomic local
      registration box were similar to the reported deformations assessed from patients
      immobilized with commercially available Aquaplast masks. A global correction,
      including the rotational error compensation, decreased the remaining local
      translational errors. Depending on the chosen patient positioning strategy, the
      remaining local uncertainties varied considerably. CONCLUSIONS: Local
      deformations in head-and-neck patients occur even if an elaborate, custom-made
      patient fixation method is used. A rotational error correction decreased the
      required margins considerably. None of the considered correction strategies
      achieved perfect alignment. Therefore, weighting of anatomic subregions to obtain
      the optimal correction vector should be investigated in the future.

PMID- 20934278
TI  - Spinal cord tolerance to single-fraction partial-volume irradiation: a swine
      model.
AB  - PURPOSE: To determine the spinal cord tolerance to single-fraction, partial
      volume irradiation in swine. METHODS AND MATERIALS: A 5-cm-long cervical segment
      was irradiated in 38-47-week-old Yucatan minipigs using a dedicated, image-guided
      radiosurgery linear accelerator. The radiation was delivered to a cylindrical
      volume approximately 5 cm in length and 2 cm in diameter that was positioned
      lateral to the cervical spinal cord, resulting in a dose distribution with the
      90%, 50%, and 10% isodose lines traversing the ipsilateral, central, and
      contralateral spinal cord, respectively. The dose was prescribed to the 90%
      isodose line. A total of 26 pigs were stratified into eight dose groups of 12-47
      Gy. The mean maximum spinal cord dose was 16.9 +/- 0.1, 18.9 +/- 0.1, 21.0 +/-
      0.1, 23.0 +/- 0.2, and 25.3 +/- 0.3 Gy in the 16-, 18-, 20-, 22-, and 24-Gy dose
      groups, respectively. The mean percentage of spinal cord volumes receiving >= 10
      Gy for the same groups were 43% +/- 3%, 48% +/- 4%, 51% +/- 2%, 57% +/- 2%, and
      59% +/- 4%. The study endpoint was motor neurologic deficit determined by a
      change in gait during a 1-year follow-up period. RESULTS: A steep dose-response
      curve was observed with a median effective dose for the maximum dose point of
      20.0 Gy (95% confidence interval, 18.3-21.7). Excellent agreement was observed
      between the occurrence of neurologic change and the presence of histologic
      change. All the minipigs with motor deficits showed some degree of demyelination
      and focal white matter necrosis on the irradiated side, with relative sparing of
      the gray matter. The histologic findings were unremarkable in the minipigs with
      normal neurologic status. CONCLUSIONS: Our results have indicated that for a dose
      distribution with a steep lateral gradient, the pigs had a lower median effective
      dose for paralysis than has been observed in rats and more closely resembles that
      for rats, mice, and guinea pigs receiving uniform spinal cord irradiation.

PMID- 20934280
TI  - Stage I-IIA non-bulky Hodgkin's lymphoma. Is further distinction based on
      prognostic factors useful? The Stanford experience.
AB  - PURPOSE: In the United States, early-stage Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL) is defined as
      asymptomatic stage I/II non-bulky disease. European groups stratify patients to
      more intense treatment by considering additional unfavorable factors, such as
      age, number of nodal sites, sedimentation rate, extranodal disease, and elements
      of the international prognostic score for advanced HL. We sought to determine the
      prognostic significance of these factors in patients with early-stage disease
      treated at Stanford University Medical Center. METHODS AND MATERIALS: This study
      was a retrospective analysis of 101 patients treated with abbreviated Stanford V
      chemotherapy (8 weeks) and 30-Gy (n=84 patients) or 20-Gy (n=17 patients)
      radiotherapy to involved sites. Outcomes were assessed after applying European
      risk factors. RESULTS: At a median follow-up of 8.5 years, freedom from
      progression (FFP) and overall survival (OS) rates were 94% and 97%, respectively.
      From 33% to 60% of our patients were unfavorable per European criteria (i.e.,
      German Hodgkin Study Group [GHSG], n=55%; European Organization for Research and
      Treatment of Cancer, n=33%; and Groupe d'Etudes des Lymphomes de l'Adulte,
      n=61%). Differences in FFP rates between favorable and unfavorable patients were
      significant only for GHSG criteria (p=0.02) with there were no differences in OS
      rates for any criteria. Five of 6 patients who relapsed were successfully
      salvaged. CONCLUSIONS: The majority of our patients deemed unfavorable had an
      excellent outcome despite undergoing a significantly abbreviated regimen.
      Application of factors used by the GHSG defined a less favorable subset for FFP
      but with no impact on OS. As therapy for early-stage disease moves to further
      reductions in therapy, these factors take on added importance in the
      interpretation of current trial results and design of future studies.

PMID- 20934281
TI  - Nonparental care and infant health: do number of hours and number of concurrent
      arrangements matter?
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Previous research found that centre-based childcare is related to
      more illnesses early in life. The goal of this longitudinal study is to determine
      whether infant health in the first year of life is also related to the amount of
      time spent in non-parental care and the number of concurrent non-parental care
      arrangements. METHODS: Information on infant health and non-parental care was
      obtained through monthly maternal interviews across the first year of life. The
      occurrences of respiratory, digestive, general, and skin illnesses and complaints
      were used as dependent variables, while the number of hours and the number of
      arrangements per week were used as predictors. Analyses were done separately in
      infants for whom centre-based childcare is included in their arrangements
      (n=107), and for those which it is not (n=61). RESULTS: Infants spending more
      hours in non-parental care had more respiratory and general illnesses. Infants
      who were cared for in more concurrent arrangements had fewer respiratory and
      general, but more skin illnesses. These results only applied to infants that
      included centre-based childcare in their arrangements. In the group of infants
      that did not attend centre-based childcare, health was not related to either the
      number of hours or the number of arrangements. CONCLUSIONS: Number of hours and
      number of arrangements do matter in relation to infant health early in life, but
      only for infants who attend centre-based childcare. While more hours were related
      to more illnesses, more arrangements were related to both fewer and more
      illnesses, depending on the type of illnesses.

PMID- 20934282
TI  - Assessment of feline fetal viability by conceptus echobiometry and triplex
      Doppler ultrasonography of uterine and umbilical arteries.
AB  - The aims of the present study were to: (1) evaluate blood flow in the uterine
      (UA) and umbilical arteries (Uma) in the pregnant queen, by measuring the
      resistive index (RI) and pulsatility index (PI); (2) to note the presence or
      absence of the early diastolic notch and diastolic flow in the UA and Uma flow
      waveforms, respectively; and (3) perform conceptus echobiometry for fetal growth
      assessment during pregnancy. Eight healthy pregnant domestic Brazilian Shorthair
      queens were examined from Days 10 to 50 after mating (mating=Day 0). Triplex
      Doppler and B-mode ultrasonography were used to assess blood flow and conceptus
      echobiometry. All pregnancies ended with a normal parturition and birth of live
      kittens. Prior to parturition, all conceptus dimensions increased significantly,
      whereas RI and PI peaked between Days 33 and 43 followed by a decrease (P<0.05).
      The PI least on Day 50. The RI and PI of Uma decreased (P<0.05) during two
      periods in the fetal development, i.e. from Days 22 to 40 (0.79 +/- 0.01 and 1.64
      +/- 0.04), and from Days 41 to 50 (0.75 +/- 0.01 and 1.39 +/- 0.05), representing
      the increased Uma perfusion. Both the complete disappearance of the early
      diastolic notch in the UA, and the appearance of diastolic flow in the Uma
      occurred on Day 42 +/- 1. It was concluded fetal echobiometry, UA and Uma
      perfusion, were important end points to assess fetal viability in queens.
      Furthermore, the current reference values provided a baseline for monitoring
      normal and abnormal pregnancies in queens.

PMID- 20934283
TI  - Applicability of succinylmonocholine as a marker for succinylcholine
      administration--comparative analysis of samples from a fatal succinylcholine
      intoxication versus postmortem control specimens.
AB  - Doubts concerning the applicability of succinylmonocholine (SMC) as a
      succinylcholine (SUX) marker have been issued. A comparative analysis of
      previously discussed tissues, i.e. brain, liver and kidney, was conducted to
      further elucidate this question by searching for diagnostically useful
      differences in analyte content in samples of SUX- versus non-SUX-associated
      fatalities. Furthermore, possible advantages of vitreous humor as a novel and
      promising target matrix for SUX analytics were assessed. Sample material of SUX
      negative controls as well as the fatal SUX-intoxication was derived from frozen
      archive material and current autopsies. Samples were analyzed according to a
      modified protocol of a previously published and validated method employing ion
      pairing solid-phase extraction and subsequent HPLC-MS/MS analysis. Standard
      addition was employed for quantification as well as an estimation of the
      analytical limits of the method. In all tested matrices, the method was proven to
      be sufficiently sensitive for the intended application. No indication of native
      SMC was found in controls of fresh tissues, nor in fresh or frozen vitreous
      humor. However, most of the samples were found to be positive for a previously
      reported interference with SMC's main ion transition, thereby falsely suggesting
      an SMC content of up to 139 ng/g, 126 ng/g, 165 ng/g and 93 ng/ml in brain,
      liver, kidney and vitreous humor, respectively. Contrasting the results for fresh
      sample material, SMC was detectable in some of the initially non-putrefied liver
      samples after long-term storage, as well as in massively decomposed SUX-negative
      control bodies. In this context, a microbial origin of the analyte may be
      assumed. All tissues as well as the vitreous humor of the fatal SUX-intoxication
      were negative for SUX and SMC. Just like serum, tissue and vitreous humor samples
      therefore do not allow a reliable diagnosis of a SUX-intoxication: in tissues
      this is due to the pronounced instability of both target analytes in these
      esterase-containing matrices, for vitreous humor an additional reason could be
      their insufficient incorporation into this medium.

PMID- 20934284
TI  - Summer treatment program for children with attention deficit hyperactivity
      disorder: Japanese experience in 5 years.
AB  - In 2005 we established the first American-style summer treatment program (STP)
      for children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) located outside
      North America. This program was based on methods established by professor Pelham
      and has been used in a number of studies and at a number of sites in the USA. A
      total of 137 children diagnosed with ADHD, ranging in age from 6 to 12 years,
      participated in at least one of five annual summer treatment programs in Kurume
      city, Japan, during 2005-2009. The duration of the STP was 2 weeks in 2005, 2008,
      and 2009; 3 weeks in 2006 and 2007. A set of evidence-based behavioral
      modification techniques comprising the STP behavioral program (e.g., point
      system, daily report card, positive reinforcement, time out) was used. We also
      assessed the cognitive function of individual children before and after STP using
      the CogState(R) batteries. Every year, regardless of the duration of the STP,
      most children showed positive behavioral changes in multiple domains of
      functioning, demonstrated by significant improvement in points earned daily,
      which reflect behavior frequencies. Cognitive functions, particularly the rate of
      anticipatory errors in executive function, significantly improved after the STP,
      suggesting that STP has positive effects not only on behavioral aspects but also
      on some cognitive functions. Further studies are necessary to confirm this
      finding by studying sequential cognitive function of age-matched children who do
      not attend STP.

PMID- 20934286
TI  - [An update of Streptococcus pneumoniae: from genomic to clinic].

PMID- 20934285
TI  - Carnitine palmitoyl transferase II polymorphism is associated with multiple
      syndromes of acute encephalopathy with various infectious diseases.
AB  - The high incidence of acute encephalopathy in East Asia suggests the role of
      genetic factors in its pathogenesis. It has recently been reported that
      variations of the CPT II (carnitine palmitoyl transferase II) gene may be
      associated with fatal or severe cases of influenza-associated encephalopathy. In
      the present study, we examined the genotype of CPT II in cases of acute
      encephalopathy associated with various preceding infections. Twenty-nine Japanese
      patients with acute encephalopathy with biphasic seizures and late reduced
      diffusion (AESD) or acute necrotizing encephalopathy (ANE) were studied. The
      frequency of F352C of CPT II exon 4 was significantly higher in patients than in
      controls. All patients who had allele C in F352C had allele I in V368I and allele
      M in M647V (CIM haplotype), which reportedly decreases CPT II activity to one
      third of that with FIM or FVM haplotype. The frequency of CIM haplotype was
      significantly different between patients and controls, but not between AESD and
      ANE. Our results revealed that having at least one CIM allele is a risk factor
      for the onset of acute encephalopathy, regardless of its antecedent infections.

PMID- 20934287
TI  - Clinical and endoscopic features of responders and non-responders to adsorptive
      leucocytapheresis: a report based on 120 patients with active ulcerative colitis.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Elevated/activated myeloid leucocytes, like the
      CD14(+)CD16(+) monocytes are sources of TNF-alpha, and therefore, selective
      depletion of these cells by granulocyte/monocyte (GM) adsorption (GMA) should
      promote remission or enhance drug efficacy. However, studies in ulcerative
      colitis (UC) reported contrasting efficacy, from an 85% to statistically
      insignificant level. We investigated patients' demography in responders and non
      responders. METHODS: In 120 UC patients, 61 steroid naive and 59 steroid
      dependent, we looked for entry clinical or endoscopic features to identify
      responders (or non-responders) to GMA. Patients received up to an 11 Adacolumn
      GMA sessions over 12 weeks. Patients were clinically and endoscopically
      evaluated, allowing each patient to serve as her/his own control.
      Immunohistochemistry on colonic biopsies was to reveal the impact of GMA on
      leucocyte infiltration of the mucosa. RESULTS: Entry average clinical activity
      index (CAI) was 12.6, 10-16. An 80 of 120 patients responded (CAI<=4); 45 steroid
      naive (73.8%) and 35 steroid dependent (59.3%). Over 900 biopsies were processed.
      Infiltrating leucocytes were overwhelmingly polymorphonuclear and macrophages
      around and within crypt abscesses. There was a marked reduction of infiltrating
      leucocytes in responders. Most non-responders had extensive colonic lesions with
      virtually no mucosal tissue left at the lesions. CONCLUSIONS: Steroid naive
      patients with short duration of UC were the best responders, while patients with
      deep colonic lesions and extensive loss of the mucosal tissue were non
      responders.

PMID- 20934288
TI  - Functional comparisons between open and laparoscopic rectopexy.

PMID- 20934290
TI  - Transcatheter local thrombolysis in patients with extensive TIPS thrombosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Transcatheter local thrombolytic therapy in patients with
      portosplanchnic venous thrombosis has been used in few cases. CASE REPORTS: Here,
      we present our single-center experience with transcatheter thrombolytic therapy
      in three patients with extensive refractory portal and transjugular intrahepatic
      portosystemic shunt (TIPS) thrombosis. Thrombolytic therapy was successful for
      all three patients. Two patients developed minor procedure-related bleeding.
      CONCLUSION: Local thrombolysis could be proposed in case of TIPS thrombosis for
      patients in whom the venous flow cannot be restored by using conventional
      anticoagulant therapy and stent mechanical revision.

PMID- 20934289
TI  - Association of Budd-Chiari syndrome and celiac disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: An association between Budd-Chiari syndrome (BCS) and celiac
      disease (CD) is uncommon. The aims of our study were to investigate the etiology
      of BCS and to search for a particular HLA Ag pattern among patients. PATIENTS AND
      METHODS: BCS diagnosis was based on Doppler ultrasound and CD diagnosis on
      duodenal biopsy, transglutaminase (TGAb) and gliadin antibodies (GAb). Patients
      were screened for prothrombotic disorders and seven had a PCR-SSO test for HLA
      genotypes. Patients were treated with anticoagulants and gluten-free diet.
      RESULTS: Nine patients were included; mean age 27 years (20-42); sex ratio (F/M)
      2; mean follow-up duration 31 months (6-54). All patients had endoscopic and
      histological features of CD. GAb/TGAb were found in 78 % (n=7). Ag HLA found were
      HLA DQbeta1(*)02 (n=6) and DQbeta1(*)03 (n=3). Prothrombotic conditions
      identified were latent myeloproliferative disorder (n=1), protein C deficiency
      (n=1), probable factor V Leiden (n=1) and oral contraceptive use (n=1). No
      prothrombotic state could be identified in the five other patients. CONCLUSION:
      The BCS-CD association is relatively frequent in our country. Underlying
      prothrombotic conditions were absent in more than 50 % of cases, suggesting CD
      plays a role in the occurrence of thrombosis. HLA alleles found are strongly
      associated with CD, without any particular pattern for the BCS-CD association.

PMID- 20934291
TI  - An in vitro comparison of diagnostic abilities of conventional radiography,
      storage phosphor, and cone beam computed tomography to determine occlusal and
      approximal caries.
AB  - AIM: The aim of this study was to compare conventional radiography, storage
      phosphor plate, and cone beam computed tomography for in vitro determination of
      occlusal and approximal caries. METHODS: A total of 72 extracted human premolar
      and molar teeth were selected. Teeth were radiographed with conventional
      intraoral radiography, a storage phosphor plate system, and cone beam computed
      tomography and evaluated by two observers. The teeth were then separated and
      examined with a stereomicroscope and a scanner at approximately 8*magnification.
      RESULTS: CBCT was statistically superior to conventional radiography and phosphor
      plate for determining occlusal caries. No significant difference from CBCT,
      conventional radiography and the phosphor plate system for determining approximal
      caries was found. CONCLUSION: The CBCT system may be used as an auxiliary method
      for the detection of caries.

PMID- 20934292
TI  - Thermal decomposition of matrix metalloproteinase inhibitors: evidence of solid
      state dimerization.
AB  - The thermal properties of three matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) inhibitors were
      investigated using a variety of instrumental methods. Differential scanning
      calorimetry revealed highly exothermic processes for all compounds above 200
      degrees C, and thermogravimetric analysis resulted in significant step-wise
      weight losses at the temperatures corresponding to the exothermic transitions.
      Hot stage microscopy observations for several compounds showed evolution of gas
      bubbles from crystals at temperatures that correlated with the exotherms. Thermal
      decomposition involving the hydroxamic acid functional group was suspected and
      further evaluated using various analytical techniques including reversed-phase
      HPLC, LC-MS-MS, TGA-FTIR and NMR. The mechanism proposed in the thermal
      decomposition involves a Lossen Rearrangement to form a dimeric species
      containing a urea linkage.

PMID- 20934293
TI  - Microencapsulation of a cyclodextrin complex of the UV filter, butyl
      methoxydibenzoylmethane: in vivo skin penetration studies.
AB  - Lipid microparticles loaded with the complex between hydroxypropyl-beta
      cyclodextrin (HP-beta-CD) and the sunscreen agent, butyl methoxydibenzoylmethane
      (BMDBM) were evaluated for their effect on the UV filter percutaneous
      penetration. The microparticles were prepared by the melt emulsification
      technique using tristearin as lipidic material and hydrogenate
      phosphatidylcholine as the surfactant. Human skin penetration was investigated in
      vivo by the tape stripping technique, a minimal invasive procedure based on the
      progressive removal of the upper cutaneous layers (stratum corneum) with adhesive
      tape strips. The amount of sunscreen fixed to each strip was determined by HPLC
      after solvent extraction. The recovery of the UV filter from spiked adhesive
      tapes was >94.4% and the precision of the method was better than 7.6% relative
      standard deviation. Non-encapsulated BMDBM, its complex with HP-beta-CD, the
      lipid microparticles loaded with the sunscreen alone or the BMDBM/HP-beta-CD
      complex were introduced into oil-in-water emulsions and applied to human
      volunteers. Compared to the cream with the non-encapsulated sunscreen agent
      (percentage of the applied dose penetrated, 9.7%+/-2.5), the amount of BMDBM
      diffusing into the stratum corneum was increased by the formulations containing
      the BMDBM/HP-beta-CD complex (17.1%+/-3.2 of the applied dose) or the
      microparticles loaded with BMDBM only (15.1%+/-2.7 of the applied dose). On the
      contrary, a significant decrease in the level of UV filter penetrated into the
      stratum corneum was achieved by the cream containing the microencapsulated
      BMDBM/HP-beta-CD complex (percentage of the applied dose penetrated, 6.0%+/-1.5).
      The reduced BMDBM percutaneous penetration attained by the latter system should
      enhance the UV filter efficacy and limit potential toxicological risks.

PMID- 20934294
TI  - Heparin sodium compliance to the new proposed USP monograph: elucidation of a
      minor structural modification responsible for a process dependent 2.10 ppm NMR
      signal.
AB  - Heparin is a highly sulfated hetero polysaccharide mixture found and extracted
      from mammalian tissues. It has been widely used as an anticoagulant drug during
      the past decades. In the new proposed USP heparin monograph, the 1H NMR
      acceptance criteria to prevent contamination by over sulfated chondroitin sulfate
      (OSCS), or other persulfated glycosaminoglycans, specifies that no unidentified
      signals greater than 4% of the mean of signal height of 1 and 2 should be present
      in the following ranges: 0.10-2.00, 2.10-3.20, and 5.70-8.00 ppm. However, those
      criteria do not take into account the impact of potential structural
      modifications generated by the heparin manufacturing processes. In fact, starting
      from pig mucosa, heparin purification involves oxidizing reagents such as sodium
      peroxide, potassium permanganate and peracetic acid. In the present work, we
      demonstrate that potassium permanganate treated heparins show a small but
      characteristic extra signal at 2.10 ppm. Controlled heparinase I depolymerisation
      is used to target and excise the oligosaccharide responsible for this extra
      signal from the polysaccharide backbone. By using orthogonal chromatographic
      techniques, the fingerprint oligosaccharide was isolated and its structure
      elucidated. Without the identification of this structural moiety, such purified
      heparins may have been considered as non-compliant drug substance and not
      suitable for pharmaceutical use.

PMID- 20934295
TI  - A case of thoracic degloving injury with flail chest.
AB  - A 75-year-old male patient suffered a chest degloving injury when he fell on his
      back and was run over by a small farm tractor he was pulling. At the time of
      patient admission, the paradoxical motion of the right chest wall was remarkable;
      and he had an open fracture of the right humerus, a dislocation of the right
      ankle, and a laceration of the right forearm. Chest computed tomography revealed
      fractures of the fifth to seventh ribs and detachment of both the right
      pectoralis major muscle and serratus anterior muscle from the chest wall, with a
      disconnected right thoracic cavity. Because the right flail chest was severe and
      there was a large amount of air leakage that continued under positive-pressure
      ventilation for pneumatic stabilization, we performed surgical fixation of the
      ribs and repaired the lung injury on the fifth hospital day. The patient's
      postoperative course was uneventful.

PMID- 20934296
TI  - Cardiac safety of conducted electrical devices in pigs and their effect on
      pacemaker function.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aims of this study are to evaluate the cardiac safety of the
      Stinger S-200 Conducted Energy Weapon Device (CED) (Stinger Systems, Tampa, Fla)
      on a human-sized pig model and to test the effect of various commercially
      available CEDs, specifically the Stinger S-200, TASER M26 (Taser International,
      Scottsdale, Ariz), and TASER X26 on pacemaker function. METHODS: Two groups of
      pigs, divided based on weight as group 1 (n = 3, 67.3 +/- 4.7 kg) and group 2 (n
      = 3, 89.3 +/- 1.2 kg), were used. In protocol 1, the Stinger S-200 was applied in
      multiple different orientations to simulate possible field scenarios across the
      heart. In protocol 2, a single-chamber bipolar lead connected to a pacemaker was
      placed in the right ventricle of the pig, and different CEDs were applied to test
      the pacemaker function during CED application. RESULTS: In protocol 1, the S-200
      was applied a total of 216 times in the 6 pigs, and neither episodes of
      ventricular fibrillation nor episodes of sustained ventricular tachycardia were
      noted. In protocol 2, the CED discharges (1) were recognized by the pulse
      generator and sensed as either high-rate atrial or ventricular activity, (2) did
      not affect the native rhythm, (3) did not conduct down the lead systems to cause
      any extra systoles, and (4) had no effect on paced rhythm. CONCLUSIONS: In this
      model, the application of the S-200 in various orientations across the heart did
      not result in any sustained abnormal cardiac rhythms. None of the tested CEDs
      adversely affected the functioning of the tested pacemaker. Stinger Systems has
      now replaced the S-200 with the S-200T with a different output.

PMID- 20934298
TI  - [Acute early postpartum cardiac failure associated with dilated cardiomyopathy:
      successful treatment with intra-aortic balloon counter-pulsation and
      levosimendan].
AB  - The use of levosimendan (Simdax((r))) was described in cases of acute cardiac
      failure in patients with peripartum cardiopmyopathy. We report the case of a 36
      years old Philippine woman with an undiagnosed dilated myocardiopathy. She
      developed an acute severe left ventricular dysfunction in the early postpartum
      period after a cesarean section, possibly related to the recurrence of an unknown
      peripartum myocardiopathy. Due to failure of the conventional treatment with
      diuretics and inotropic support, an intra-aortic balloon with counter-pulsation
      was inserted. In rescue, treatment with levosimendan permitted to wean the
      patient from haemodynamic support, and a heart transplant was probably avoided.
      Three months later, a new echocardiography showed a persistent left ventricular
      dilation and a still marked alteration of left ventricular ejection fraction
      (28%).

PMID- 20934299
TI  - [High fidelity simulation in Anesthesia and Intensive Care: context and opinion
      of performing centres--a survey by the French College of Anesthesiologists and
      Intensivists].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: High fidelity simulation is rapidly expanding in France. The question
      of knowing how to accredit this new mode of continuous education and how far it
      is available for this purpose is pending. The purpose of this survey was to
      collect how active centres operate and which criteria they would prefer to
      accredit this form of continuing medical education. STUDY DESIGN: National
      survey. METHODS: A questionnaire was sent to all centres using high fidelity
      simulation in France (December 2009). RESULTS: Eighteen of 21 centres answered
      (86%; all university hospitals). These centres are equipped with adult high
      fidelity simulation and procedural heads for intubation. Funding is achieved via
      multiple sources and one third of centres benefit from manufacturers' lending.
      Centres are mostly located within the university premises (70%). One or more
      staff practitioners are involved in 78% and the majority of centres are operated
      by more than three. Nurse anaesthetists are not involved in most centres.
      Operating procedures are similar and high fidelity simulation is mostly used for
      in-site resident training. At present, centres are only marginally able to train
      non-resident senior anaesthesiologists. Sessions extend over one day (72%). The
      majority of centres is prone to share scenarios (75%) and pedagogic aids (93%).
      Basic scenarios (e.g., cardiopulmonary resuscitation) are mainstream objectives
      for 85% of centres. CONCLUSION: high fidelity simulation is rapidly expending in
      France but its ability to contribute to continuous medical education is still
      limited to date.

PMID- 20934297
TI  - Differences in information seeking among breast, prostate, and colorectal cancer
      patients: results from a population-based survey.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: There is much research describing cancer patients' information needs
      and their use of the Internet, print media, and other sources to fulfill these
      needs. Yet little is known about whether patients with different types of cancer
      vary in their information needs and seeking behaviors. This study used population
      based data to address this question. METHODS: A sample was randomly drawn from
      the list of patients with breast, prostate, or colorectal cancer reported to the
      Pennsylvania Cancer Registry in 2005. Patients completed a mail survey (N=2010);
      respective response rates were 68%, 64%, and 61%. RESULTS: Colorectal cancer
      patients reported consistently less information seeking than breast and prostate
      cancer patients. Multivariate analyses revealed that differences by cancer type
      were not explained by sex or other demographics, disease stage, or treatment
      received. These differences were most pronounced among patients with early stage
      cancer. CONCLUSION: Cancer patients have myriad information needs and use a range
      of sources to satisfy these needs, but there appear to be important differences
      in information engagement by cancer type. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Understanding
      differences in information seeking among disease-specific populations may help
      guide future patient education and decision making across the care continuum.

PMID- 20934300
TI  - [Ultrasound-guided regional anaesthesia and the common classification of medical
      acts by the social security].
AB  - Ultrasound imaging is a major technological advance in the practice of regional
      anesthesia. For the social security, their rationale relies on the concept of a
      global medical act i.e., each medical act is worked out, in order to describe the
      realized medical act totally. At present the social security uses this concept to
      prevent the anesthetists from quoting a supplementary ultrasound act. In this
      article we discuss the legitimacy of quoting ultrasound-guided regional
      anaesthesia.

PMID- 20934301
TI  - Dopexamine Test in septic shock with hyperlactatemia.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the 6 hours haemodynamic effects of dopexamine (DPX)
      infusion in septic shock patients with persistent hyperlactatemia treated with
      high dose of norepinephrine (NE). STUDY DESIGN: Preliminary, prospective,
      uncontrolled study. PATIENTS: Twenty-one septic shock with NE>0.5 MUg/kg/min,
      venous mixed oxygen saturation (ScvO(2)/SvO(2))>70%, cardiac index (CI)>3.5
      l/min/m(2) and lactate>3 mmol/l. INTERVENTIONS: Infusion of DPX at 0.5
      MUg/kg/min. After 6 hours, patients were classified as DPX-responders or DPX-non
      responders according to the presence or not of a decrease >=20% in lactatemia.
      MEASUREMENT: DPX-responders and DPX-non-responders were compared with MAP, CI,
      central venous pressure (CVP), heart rate (HR) before infusion of DPX (h0), 30
      minutes (h0.5) and 6 hours later (h6); and with NE infusion rate at h0 and h6.
      RESULTS: Eleven (52%) patients were DPX-responders and 10 (48%) DPX-non
      responders. At H0.5, DPX-responders increased MAP more than DPX-non-responders
      (+21% versus +7%, P=0.01) with no change in CI, CVP and HR in both groups. At
      h0.5, an increase in MAP higher than 14%, compared to h0, could predict lactate
      clearance at h6 (sensitivity 91%, specificity 90%). From h0 to h6, increase in
      MAP (80+/-7 versus 70+/-8 mmHg, P<0.01) in DPX-responders allowed reduction in NE
      infusion (from 1.6+/-0.3 to 0.4+/-0.3 MUg/kg/min, P<0.01); 28-day mortality was
      lower in DPX-responders than in DPX-non-responders (7 versus 90%, P<0.01).
      CONCLUSION: This study suggests that DPX did induce a decrease in lactatemia in
      52% of septic shock, that could be predict by an increase in MAP (>14% within 30
      minutes). Controlled studies are needed to confirm those preliminary results.

PMID- 20934302
TI  - [Massive recurrent haemoptysis in a pregnant woman with preeclampsia].
AB  - Massive haemoptysis are rare in pregnant woman. Besides usual causes of
      haemoptysis, cases of idiopathic haemoptysis have been described during
      pregnancy, probably with a hormonal role. A pregnant woman at 22 weeks
      amenorrhoea was admitted in intensive care unit for massive and recurrent
      haemoptysis, enhanced by bouts of hypertension in a context of preeclampsia.
      Arteriography showed bronchial hypervascularisation, with abnormally dilated
      bronchial arteries, and a lot of collateral arteries. Three sessions of bronchial
      artery embolization have been performed with success. The management of
      idiopathic haemoptysis in pregnant woman seems to be based on the usual algorithm
      of management, emphasizing on the control of blood pressure, and the key role of
      interventional radiology.

PMID- 20934303
TI  - [Anaesthetic management for caesarean delivery and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease].
AB  - Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) is the only form of prion diseases
      linked to bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). The surgical and anaesthetic
      management in patients having Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is rare. Maternofoetal
      and human transmission of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is still unknown. The
      principles for managing these new risks are not described in obstetric
      recommendations. We report the case of an 18-year-old woman, who developed the
      variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease during her pregnancy.

PMID- 20934304
TI  - [Ultrasound-guided interscalene block: Influence of anatomic variations in
      clinical practice].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to evaluate visibility of interscalenic brachial
      plexus (IBP) variations with ultrasonography (US). Secondary end-point compared
      success rate of the interscalene block (IB) in shoulder surgery with or without
      the presence of variation. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective descriptive study,
      conducted in two University Departments of Anesthesiology. PATIENTS AND METHODS:
      One hundred and forty-six (27 volunteers and 46 patients) high-resolution US of
      interscalene region were reviewed. Single shot IB in 46 patients were analyzed
      over the first 30 minutes comparing groups with variation or not. RESULTS: Forty
      nine percent (71/146) regions presented at least one visible variation by US.
      Thirty-three percent (48/146) showed an intramuscular passage of a root, 8%
      (12/146) showed a C5 root ahead of the anterior scalene muscle and 23% (33/146)
      an artery crossing the roots or trunks. Thirty-seven percent (54/146) presented
      an artery close to the plexus which could be close to the needle. In the forty
      six IB performed, the presence of a variation did not show any difference in the
      sensitive and motor blocks at the 30th minute (p>0.05). CONCLUSION: The high
      resolution cervical US highlights the IBP variations. These variations appear not
      to have any relevant influence on the performance of the single shot IB.

PMID- 20934305
TI  - A pilot study of the modified Atkins diet for Sturge-Weber syndrome.
AB  - The modified Atkins diet (MAD) is a dietary treatment for epilepsy which does not
      restrict fluids or calories. This theoretically makes the MAD safer than the
      ketogenic diet for children with Sturge-Weber syndrome (SWS). Five children aged
      4-18 years with SWS and at least monthly intractable seizures were started
      prospectively on the MAD for 6 months. All children had urinary ketosis and
      seizure improvement, including 3 with > 50% seizure reduction.

PMID- 20934306
TI  - Epidemiology of suicide attempts among persons with psychotic disorder in the
      general population.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To establish the epidemiology of suicide attempts in persons with
      psychotic disorder identified from the general population and to investigate the
      associations of suicidal behavior with other clinical characteristics and with
      physical violence against other people. METHOD: A random sample of 9922 Finnish
      persons aged 18 years or over was screened for psychotic disorder using multiple
      sources of information. All screen positives and random sample of screen
      negatives were invited to an SCID interview. Diagnostic assessment, lifetime
      history of suicide attempts and violence against others were based on all
      available systematically evaluated information from the questionnaire, interview
      and/or case records. RESULTS: Of persons with a lifetime history of any primary
      or substance-induced psychotic disorder (n = 264), 34.5% (women: 34.1%, men:
      34.9%) had a history of at least one suicide attempt. There were no suicide
      attempts among persons with delusional disorder, while the rate of suicide
      attempts was higher among persons with substance-induced psychotic disorders
      (48.8%) than in persons with other psychotic disorders 41.8%) (chi(2) = 4.4, d.f.
      = 1, P = 0.036). Suicide attempts were associated with younger age, comorbid
      substance use disorders, depressive symptoms, and physical violence against other
      people. CONCLUSION: Suicide attempts are common in all psychotic disorders except
      for delusional disorder. They are particularly common in substance-induced
      psychotic disorder and in persons with comorbid substance use disorders. They are
      associated with severe depressive symptoms but not with the severity of psychotic
      symptoms. Suicidal behavior correlates with physical violence against other
      people.

PMID- 20934309
TI  - Risk assessment and screening for violence.

PMID- 20934310
TI  - HapMap tag-SNP analysis confirms a role for COMT in schizophrenia risk and
      reveals a novel association.
AB  - Catechol-O-methyl transferase (COMT) encodes an enzyme involved in the metabolism
      of dopamine and maps to a commonly deleted region that increases schizophrenia
      risk. A non-synonymous polymorphism (rs4680) in COMT has been previously found to
      be associated with schizophrenia and results in altered activity levels of COMT.
      Using a haplotype block-based gene-tagging approach we conducted an association
      study of seven COMT single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 160 patients with a
      DSM-IV diagnosis of schizophrenia and 250 controls in an Australian population.
      Two polymorphisms including rs4680 and rs165774 were found to be significantly
      associated with schizophrenia. The rs4680 results in a Val/Met substitution but
      the strongest association was shown by the novel SNP, rs165774, which may still
      be functional even though it is located in intron five. Individuals with
      schizophrenia were more than twice as likely to carry the GG genotype compared to
      the AA genotype for both the rs165774 and rs4680 SNPs. This association was
      slightly improved when males were analysed separately possibly indicating a
      degree of sexual dimorphism. Our results confirm that COMT is a good candidate
      for schizophrenia risk, by replicating the association with rs4680 and
      identifying a novel SNP association.

PMID- 20934311
TI  - The burdened life of adults with ADHD: impairment beyond comorbidity.
AB  - Since approximately 70% of adult patients with attention-deficit/hyperactivity
      disorder (ADHD) have at least one comorbid disorder, rating of impairment
      specifically attributable to ADHD is a hard task. Despite the evidence linking
      environmental adversities with negative outcomes in ADHD, life events measures
      have not been used to rate the disorder impairment. The present study tested for
      the first time the hypothesis that increased ADHD severity is associated with an
      increase in negative recent life events, independently of comorbidity status. The
      psychiatric diagnoses of 211 adult ADHD outpatients were based on DSM-IV criteria
      assessed through structured interviews (K-SADS-E for ADHD and ODD, MINI for ASPD
      and SCID-IV-R for other comorbidities). ADHD severity was evaluated with the
      Swanson, Nolan and Pelham rating scale (SNAP-IV) and recent life events with the
      Life Experience Survey. Higher SNAP-IV inattention and hyperactivity scores,
      female gender, lower socioeconomic status and the presence of comorbid mood
      disorders were associated with negative life events. Poisson regression models
      with adjustment for possible confounders confirmed the effect of inattention and
      hyperactivity severity on negative life events. Our results suggest that the
      negative life events experienced by these patients are associated to the severity
      of ADHD independently from comorbid psychiatric disorders.

PMID- 20934312
TI  - Hydrocortisone responsiveness in Gulf War veterans with PTSD: effects on ACTH,
      declarative memory hippocampal [(18)F]FDG uptake on PET.
AB  - Neuroendocrine, cognitive and hippocampal alterations have been described in Gulf
      War (GW) veterans, but their inter-relationships and significance for
      posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have not been described. Hydrocortisone
      (Hcort) was administered to GW veterans with (PTSD+ n=12) and without (PTSD- n=8)
      chronic PTSD in a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind challenge. Changes
      in plasma ACTH, memory, and hippocampal [(18)F]FDG uptake on positron emission
      tomography were assessed. The low-dose dexamethasone suppression test was also
      administered. The PTSD+ group showed greater cortisol and ACTH suppression,
      reflecting greater peripheral glucocorticoid receptor (GR) responsiveness, and
      did not show an Hcort-induced decrement in delayed recall or retention. The
      groups had comparable relative regional hippocampal [(18)F]FDG uptake at
      baseline, but only the PTSD- group had an Hcort-associated decrease in
      hippocampal [(18)F]FDG uptake. Asymmetry in hippocampal hemispheric volumes
      differed between PTSD+ and PTSD- groups. This asymmetry was associated with
      cortisol, ACTH, retention and functional hippocampal asymmetry before, but not
      after, Hcort administration. Differences in brain metabolic responses between GW
      veterans with and without PTSD may reflect differences in peripheral and central
      GR responsiveness.

PMID- 20934313
TI  - Rhizomastix biflagellata sp. nov., a new amoeboflagellate of uncertain
      phylogenetic position isolated from frogs.
AB  - The genus Rhizomastix contains five species of amoeboflagellates with a single
      anterior flagellum, which live as intestinal symbionts of insects and amphibians.
      Though established in 1911, Rhizomastix has been neglected for decades and its
      phylogenetic position is uncertain. This paper describes the morphology of the
      first cultivated strain of Rhizomastix. The organism was isolated from an
      argentine horned frog and differs from the known Rhizomastix species by the
      presence of biflagellate cells. The isolate is described as Rhizomastix
      biflagellata sp. nov. A possible relationship of Rhizomastix to Archamoebae is
      discussed.

PMID- 20934314
TI  - An ultrastructural study of oocyte atresia in the starfish Pisaster ochraceus.
AB  - The alterations involved in oocyte atresia of the starfish Pisaster ochraceus
      were investigated using both light and electron microscopy. It was shown that
      atresia may be defined by three patterns of cell destruction. Initially, the
      small electron-lucent vesicles produced by the Golgi complex underwent
      amalgamation into groups. This was followed by loss of vesicle membranes and
      consequent formation of transparent necrotic zones in the cytoplasm. The second
      pattern, ultrastructurally comparable with autophagic cell death, was marked by
      apparent amalgamation of the morphologically similar electron-lucent vesicles
      into growing vacuoles, giving rise to a multibranched autophagic vacuole. This
      vacuole engulfed the cytosol granules and ultimately came to occupy the entire
      space within the oocyte. In addition, the cytosol insulation inside of the
      'apoptotic body-like spheres' was regularly observed. Thus, it is supposed that
      oocyte destruction may occur by a complex mechanism that includes elements of
      necrosis, autophagic cell death and apoptosis.

PMID- 20934307
TI  - The 2nd Schizophrenia International Research Society Conference, 10-14 April
      2010, Florence, Italy: summaries of oral sessions.
AB  - The 2nd Schizophrenia International Research Society Conference, was held in
      Florence, Italy, April 10-15, 2010. Student travel awardees served as rapporteurs
      of each oral session and focused their summaries on the most significant findings
      that emerged from each session and the discussions that followed. The following
      report is a composite of these reviews. It is hoped that it will provide an
      overview for those who were present, but could not participate in all sessions,
      and those who did not have the opportunity to attend, but who would be interested
      in an update on current investigations ongoing in the field of schizophrenia
      research.

PMID- 20934315
TI  - Competition with wall lizards does not explain the alpine confinement of Iberian
      rock lizards: an experimental approach.
AB  - Interspecific competition can limit the distribution of species along altitudinal
      gradients. It has been suggested that Western European rock lizards (genus
      Iberolacerta) are restricted to mountains due to the expansion of wall lizards
      (Podarcis), but there is no experimental evidence to corroborate this hypothesis.
      This study examines if interference competition with Podarcis muralis is a
      plausible explanation for the alpine confinement of Iberian rock lizards
      Iberolacerta cyreni. In a first experiment, we used an enclosure with four types
      of microhabitats to investigate whether adult rock and/or wall lizards shifted
      microhabitat or refuge preferences in the presence of the other species, and to
      detect aggressive interactions between them. In a second experiment, we staged
      heterospecific encounters between naive, laboratory-born juveniles to identify
      behavioural differences and agonistic interactions. In the enclosure, neither
      rock nor wall lizards changed their microhabitat preferences in the presence of
      the other species. Nevertheless, rock lizards increased the diversity of
      microhabitats and nocturnal refuges used in the single species trials, which had
      twice the number of conspecifics. Aggressive interactions involved mainly large
      rock lizard males. Juveniles did not show any interspecific agonistic behaviour,
      but rock lizards spent more time basking and less time moving. Thus, we found no
      evidence of competition between both species in terms of habitat shifts or
      agonistic interactions, although intraspecific interactions seemed to explain the
      behaviour of adult rock lizards. We conclude that other factors are currently
      determining the alpine confinement of rock lizards.

PMID- 20934316
TI  - Incidence of respiratory and allergic symptoms in Italian and immigrant children.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Immigration usually implies a complete change of the environment
      where one lives. Hence, studies on immigrants may help to disentangle genetic and
      environmental determinants of disease. We investigated whether the incidence of
      allergic and respiratory symptoms differed for Italian and immigrant children
      living in one area of Northern Italy. METHODS: In December 2006, all the children
      (3-14 years) living in the Viadana district were surveyed through a parental
      questionnaire (response rate = 99%, n = 3854). Retrospective incidences of
      several symptoms were compared across different ethnic groups. RESULTS: Parental
      asthma, allergic rhinitis and eczema were less frequent in immigrant children
      than in Italian children. Wheezing and eczema incidences were lower in children
      born to foreign parents (especially if born abroad, incidence rate ratio (IRR) =
      0.47, 95% CI: 0.26-0.82 and IRR = 0.43, 95% CI: 0.23-0.83, respectively), with
      respect to Italian children, while the occurrence of nasal allergies was similar
      among the ethnic groups. The greatest incidence of persistent cough/phlegm was
      observed in children born in Italy to foreign parents (IRR = 1.98, 95% CI: 1.06
      3.71) and in children whose parents had chronic bronchitis (IRR = 2.57, 95% CI:
      1.52-4.33). CONCLUSIONS: Considering the distribution of parental atopic diseases
      and the low disease prevalence in the immigrants' countries of origin, we suggest
      that nasal allergies may be more sensitive than wheezing or eczema to the change
      in the environment related to migration. Genetic or environmental factors
      clustered into families seem to have a role on chronic bronchitis.

PMID- 20934318
TI  - Composting projects under the Clean Development Mechanism: sustainable
      contribution to mitigate climate change.
AB  - The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto Protocol aims to reduce
      greenhouse gas emissions in developing countries and at the same time to assist
      these countries in sustainable development. While composting as a suitable
      mitigation option in the waste sector can clearly contribute to the former goal
      there are indications that high rents can also be achieved regarding the latter.
      In this article composting is compared with other CDM project types inside and
      outside the waste sector with regards to both project numbers and contribution to
      sustainable development. It is found that, despite the high number of waste
      projects, composting is underrepresented and a major reason for this fact is
      identified. Based on a multi-criteria analysis it is shown that composting has a
      higher potential for contribution to sustainable development than most other best
      in class projects. As these contributions can only be assured if certain
      requirements are followed, eight key obligations are presented.

PMID- 20934317
TI  - Histone modifications, not DNA methylation, cause transcriptional repression of
      p16 (CDKN2A) in the mammary glands of offspring of protein-restricted rats.
AB  - Maternal nutrition during pregnancy is an important intrauterine factor that
      results in persistent alteration of the offspring epigenome and that associates
      with health outcome in later life. This study examined the effect of maternal low
      protein diet on the regulation of the p16 cell-cycle gene expression in the
      mammary gland of offspring rats. Timed-pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats were fed
      during gestation one of two isocaloric diets, control (18% casein) or low protein
      (LP, 9% casein). The expression of p16 mRNA in the mammary gland of the LP
      offspring was decreased by 75% vs. control. We also detected decreased p16
      protein content in the mammary glands of pups gestated under the LP diet.
      Analysis of transcriptional and epigenetic regulation in offspring rats with
      maternal LP diet revealed the regulatory mechanisms underlying decreased p16
      expression. Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assay demonstrated that the
      altered p16 mRNA level and transcription rate in LP offspring resulted from
      histone code changes, including the reduced acetylation of histone H4 and the
      dimethylation of histone H3 at lysine 4 residues within the p16 promoter region.
      These results supported the hypothesis that maternal protein restriction during
      pregnancy programs p16 expression through histone code alterations in offspring
      mammary gland.

PMID- 20934319
TI  - Watch the clock-engineering biological systems to be on time.
AB  - Inspired by natural time-keeping devices controlling the circadian clock,
      managing information processing in the brain and coordinating physiological
      activities on a daily (feeding and sleeping) or seasonal timescale (reproductive
      activity or hibernation), synthetic biologists have successfully assembled
      functional synthetic clocks from cataloged genetic components with standardized
      activities and arranging them in transcription circuits containing positive and
      negative feedback loops with integrated time-delay dynamics. While the positive
      feedback loop drives the clock like the (balance) spring in a mechanical watch
      the negative time-delay circuit represents the pulse generator defining a minimal
      time unit and precision of the clock like the pendulum fallback or the movement
      of the balance wheel in a classical mechanic watch. This basic design principle
      enabled the construction of a variety of synthetic oscillators whose design
      details are concisely covered in this review.

PMID- 20934321
TI  - The neurobiology of schizophrenia: new leads and avenues for treatment.
AB  - Recent large-scale genetic studies have provided robust evidence implicating
      several novel susceptibility genes for schizophrenia. These include ZNF804A, TCF4
      and NRGN, which contain common variants that weakly increase schizophrenia
      susceptibility, and NRXN1, in which rare copy number variants have a greater
      impact on schizophrenia risk. Investigation of these and other substantiated
      susceptibility genes are providing valuable insight into the primary
      neurobiological mechanisms underlying schizophrenia, which may lead to novel
      therapeutic interventions for the disorder. In the meantime, several novel
      pharmacological strategies, including activation of mGluRs, elevation of synaptic
      glycine and inhibition of phosphodiesterase 10A, have recently shown promise for
      the treatment of schizophrenia in clinical trials.

PMID- 20934320
TI  - Cell death and sexual differentiation of behavior: worms, flies, and mammals.
AB  - Sex differences in the nervous system are found throughout the animal kingdom.
      Here, we discuss three prominent genetic models: nematodes, fruit flies, and
      mice. In all three, differential cell death is central to sexual differentiation
      and shared molecular mechanisms have been identified. Our knowledge of the
      precise function of neural sex differences lags behind. One fruitful approach to
      the 'function' question is to contrast sexual differentiation in standard
      laboratory animals with differentiation in species exhibiting unique social and
      reproductive organizations. Advanced genetic strategies are also addressing this
      question in worms and flies, and may soon be applicable to vertebrates.

PMID- 20934322
TI  - Drosophila female courtship and mating behaviors: sensory signals, genes, neural
      structures and evolution.
AB  - Interest in Drosophila courtship behavior has a long-standing tradition, starting
      with the works by Sturtevant in 1915, and by Bastock and Manning in the 50s. The
      neural and genetic base of Drosophila melanogaster courtship behavior has made
      big strides in recent years, but the studies on males far outnumber those on
      females. Recent technical developments have made it possible to begin to unravel
      the biological substrates underlying the complexity of Drosophila female sexual
      behavior and its decisive effect on mating success. The present review focus more
      on the female side and summarizes the sensory signals that the male sends, using
      multiple channels, and which neural circuits and genes are mediating sex-specific
      behavioral responses.

PMID- 20934324
TI  - Improvement of lactic acid production from cellulose with the addition of Zn/Ni/C
      under alkaline hydrothermal conditions.
AB  - The effect of Zn, Ni and activated carbon on the yield of lactic acid from
      cellulose was investigated to improve the lactic acid yield under alkaline
      hydrothermal conditions. The results showed that the lactic acid yield increased
      greatly in the presence of Zn, Ni and activated carbon. Central composite
      response surface method (RSM) design experimentation was used to find the optimal
      concentrations of Zn, Ni, activated carbon and NaOH, which indicated that 0.02 g
      Zn, 0.03 g Ni, 0.07 g activated carbon and 2.5 mol/L NaOH were the optimal
      concentrations. Under this condition, the highest lactic acid yield was 42%,
      which was much higher than previous results using only NaOH (15%). The
      confirmatory experiments on lactic acid yield proved that the proposed model of
      lactic acid yield can accurately predict the lactic acid yield from cellulose.

PMID- 20934323
TI  - High-dose cyclophosphamide-irinotecan-vincristine for primary refractory
      neuroblastoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We used a novel regimen for neuroblastoma (NB) that had responded
      inadequately to standard chemotherapy which now includes topotecan in induction
      or second-line therapy. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We retrospectively studied 38
      patients who received one or two courses of high-dose cyclophosphamide (140
      mg/kg)-irinotecan (CPT-11) (250 mg/m(2))-vincristine (HD-CCV) as treatment for NB
      that had responded incompletely to induction but had never progressed. Treatment
      was outpatient and was preceded and followed by extent-of-disease and toxicity
      evaluations because the patients were being considered for enrolment on formal
      protocols. Progression-free survival (PFS) was calculated from day 1 of HD-CCV.
      RESULTS: Common toxicities were grade 4 myelosuppression and grade 2 diarrhoea.
      Responses--5 complete (CR), 3 partial (PR), 4 mixed (MR)--occurred in 12/28 (43%)
      patients treated <=9 months, and in 1/10 (10%) patients treated >10 months, from
      diagnosis. HD-CCV was the initial salvage regimen after topotecan-containing
      induction in 5 patients, achieving 1 CR, 1 MR and 3 stable disease (NR). HD-CCV
      produced responses (2 PR, 3 MR) in all 5 patients previously treated with CPT-11/
      temozolomide. In contrast, all 6 patients treated post-HD-CCV with CPT
      11/temozolomide had NR to the latter. Post-HD-CCV treatments included
      immunotherapy, targeted radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy. PFS was 64% (+/-8%) at
      24 months, with 20 patients progression-free at 2+-to-36+ (median 16+) months and
      10 in first CR at 9+-to-36+ (median 16+) months. CONCLUSIONS: HD-CCV offers a
      treatment option against topotecan-resistant NB. Results support the concept that
      combining CPT-11 with very high doses of alkylators can yield greater antitumour
      effect.

PMID- 20934325
TI  - Changes in the actinomycetal communities during continuous thermophilic
      composting as revealed by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis and
      quantitative PCR.
AB  - Actinomycetes degrade cellulose and solubilize lignin during composting. Changes
      in the diversity of the actinomycetal communities and the 16S rDNA copy numbers
      of actinomycetes were monitored by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE)
      and quantitative PCR (qPCR), respectively, during continuous thermophilic
      composting (CTC) and traditional composting (TC). qPCR indicated that the copy
      numbers from the CTC samples were 25-80% higher than those from the TC samples
      during similar phases of active composting and they were lower than 3*10(9) gene
      copies/g (dry weight) in the mature compost from both runs. DGGE showed a more
      diverse actinomycetal community in the CTC than in TC, averaging 16 bands as
      compared to 12 bands, at the post peak temperature phase. The study suggested
      that temperatures higher than 50  degrees C in CTC benefited the growth of
      actinomycetes.

PMID- 20934326
TI  - Enhanced denitrification and organics removal in hybrid wetland columns:
      comparative experiments.
AB  - This study investigated three lab-scale hybrid wetland systems with traditional
      (gravel) and alternative substrates (wood mulch and zeolite) for removing
      organic, inorganic pollutants and coliforms from a synthetic wastewater, in order
      to investigate the efficiency of alternative substrates, and monitor the
      stability of system performance. The hybrid systems were operated under
      controlled variations of hydraulic load (q, 0.3-0.9 m3/m2 d), influent ammoniacal
      nitrogen (NH4-N, 22.0-80.0 mg/L), total nitrogen (TN, 24.0-84.0 mg/L) and
      biodegradable organics concentration (BOD5, 14.5-102.0 mg/L). Overall, mulch and
      zeolite showed promising prospect as wetland substrates, as both media enhanced
      the removal of nitrogen and organics. Average NH4-N, TN and BOD5 removal
      percentages were over 99%, 72% and 97%, respectively, across all three systems,
      indicating stable removal performances regardless of variable operating
      conditions. Higher Escherichia coli removal efficiencies (99.9%) were observed
      across the three systems, probably due to dominancy of aerobic conditions in
      vertical wetland columns of the hybrid systems.

PMID- 20934327
TI  - Selection of non-conventional yeasts and their use in immobilized form for the
      bioremediation of olive oil mill wastewaters.
AB  - The yeast population dynamics in olive wastewaters (OMW), sampled in five mills
      from Salento (Apulia, Southern Italy), were investigated. Three hundred yeasts
      were isolated in five industrial mills and identified by molecular analysis.
      Strains belonging to Geotrichum, Saccharomyces, Pichia, Rhodotorula and Candida
      were detected. Five G. candidum strains were able to grow in OMW as the sole
      carbon source and to reduce phenolics, chemical oxygen demand (COD) and
      antimicrobial compounds. One G. candidum isolate was selected for whole-cell
      immobilization in calcium alginate gel. The COD and phenolic reduction obtained
      with immobilized cells showed a 2.2- and 2-fold increase compared to the removal
      obtained with free cells, respectively. The immobilization system enhanced yeast
      oxidative activity by avoiding the presence of microbial protease in treated OMW.
      To our knowledge, this is the first report on G. candidum whole-cell
      immobilization for OMW bioremediation.

PMID- 20934328
TI  - Thermal pre-treatment of solid fraction from mechanically-separated raw and
      digested slurry to increase methane yield.
AB  - Anaerobic digestion plants rely on large-capacity storage tanks to manage the
      agronomic utilisation of the digestate. As a consequence, many Italian A.D.
      plants have introduced mechanical separation of the digested slurry to simplify
      process requirements. This study evaluated the possibility of reusing
      mechanically-separated solid fraction as a further biomass input anaerobic
      digestion plants. The effects of storage and thermal pre-treatment on digested
      solid fraction were assessed through biogas and methane yield measures, and then
      compared to the yields associated with undigested solid fraction of raw pig
      slurry. The specific CH4 yields of digested solid fractions ranged between 71.4
      and 156.9 lN/kg VS, whereas the biogas yield from undigested solid fractions was
      78.7 lN/kg VS. Solid fraction storage showed no significant effect on specific
      CH4 yields in any of the examined samples. However, in the case of the undigested
      solid fraction, thermal pre-treatment proved to be an effective method to
      increase CH4.

PMID- 20934329
TI  - The influence of ferrous sulfate utilization on the sugar yields from dilute-acid
      pretreatment of softwood for bioethanol production.
AB  - By employing metal salts in dilute-acid pretreatment the severity can be reduced
      due to reduced activation energy. This study reports on a dilute-acid steam
      pretreatment of spruce chips by addition of a small amount of ferrous sulfate to
      the acid catalyst, i.e., either SO2, H2SO3 or H2SO4. The utilization of ferrous
      sulfate resulted in a slightly increased overall glucose yield (from 74% to 78%
      of the theoretical value) in pretreatment with SO2 and H2SO3. Impregnation with
      ferrous sulfate and sulfuric acid did not give any improvement compared with
      pretreatment based solely on H2SO4.

PMID- 20934330
TI  - Microbial lipid production by Rhodosporidium toruloides under sulfate-limited
      conditions.
AB  - Novel biochemical approaches remain to be developed to improve microbial lipid
      technology. This study demonstrated that sulfate limitation was effective to
      promote accumulating substantial amounts of intracellular lipid by the oleaginous
      yeast Rhodosporidium toruloides Y4. When it was cultivated using a medium with an
      initial carbon-to-sulfur (C/S) molar ratio of 46,750, cellular lipid content
      reached up to 58.3%. The time courses of cell growth, lipid accumulation and
      nutrient depletion were analyzed and discussed in terms of lipid biosynthesis.
      Moreover, lipid accumulation under sulfate-limited conditions was effective
      regardless of the presence of a high concentration of nitrogen sources. Thus,
      lipid contents almost held constant at near 57% in the media with an initial C/S
      molar ratio of 11,380 although the carbon-to-nitrogen molar ratio ranged from
      28.3 to 5.7. Taken together, our results established the sulfate-limitation
      approach to control lipid biosynthesis, which should be valuable to explore
      nitrogen-rich raw materials as the feedstock for lipid production.

PMID- 20934331
TI  - Identification of 2-oxo-N-(phenylmethyl)-4-imidazolidinecarboxamide antagonists
      of the P2X(7) receptor.
AB  - A backup molecule to compound 2 was sought by targeting the most likely
      metabolically vulnerable site in this molecule. Compound 18 was subsequently
      identified as a potent P2X(7) antagonist with very low in vivo clearance and high
      oral bioavailability in all species examined. Some evidence to support the role
      of P2X(7) in the etiology of pain is also presented.

PMID- 20934332
TI  - An in situ oxidation strategy towards overcoming hERG affinity.
AB  - In an effort to overcome hERG affinity with a lead compound, several S-oxide and
      N-oxide analogues were synthesised with a much improved hERG profile but low in
      vivo absorption. This led to the implementation of an in situ oxidation strategy
      wherein a sulfide was dosed orally and systemic levels of the corresponding
      sulfoxide and sulfone were monitored. SAR and pharmacokinetic data to support
      this as a possible strategy are presented, although ultimately the approach was
      shown not to be suitable due to very low levels of active circulating
      metabolites.

PMID- 20934333
TI  - Design, syntheses, and SAR of 2,8-diazaspiro[4.5]decanones as T-type calcium
      channel antagonists.
AB  - It was hypothesized that an appropriately substituted 2,8-diazaspiro[4.5]decan-1
      one could effectively approximate a 5-feature T-type pharmacophore model
      published in the literature. Compounds were designed and synthesized to test our
      hypothesis and were found to be potent T-type calcium channel inhibitors with
      modest selectivity over L-type calcium channels. The synthesis and SAR of the
      series is described.

PMID- 20934334
TI  - Substituted pyrazoles as novel sEH antagonist: investigation of key binding
      interactions within the catalytic domain.
AB  - A novel series of pyrazole sEH inhibitors is reported. Lead optimization efforts
      to replace the aniline core are also described. In particular, 2-pyridine, 3
      pyridine and pyridazine analogs are potent sEH inhibitors with favorable CYP3A4
      inhibitory and microsomal stability profiles.

PMID- 20934335
TI  - New stilbenoid with inhibitory activity on viral neuraminidases from Erythrina
      addisoniae.
AB  - Influenza occurs with seasonal variations and reaches the peak prevalence in
      winter causing the death of many people worldwide. A few inhibitors of viral
      neuraminidase, including amantadine, rimantadine, zanamivir, and oseltamivir,
      have been used as influenza therapy. However, as drug-resistant influenza viruses
      are generated rapidly, there is a need to identify new agents for chemotherapy
      against influenza. Therefore, research on more effective drugs has been given
      high priority. During the course of an anti-influenza screening program on
      natural products, two new compounds (1 and 2) along with seven known flavonoid
      derivatives (3-9) were isolated as active principles from an EtOAc-soluble
      extract of the root bark of Erythrina addisoniae. The stilbenoid (2) and chalcone
      (3, 4, and 6) compounds of the isolates exhibited stronger activity than the
      isoflavone ones. Compound 2, which is a formylated stilbenoid derivative,
      exhibited strong inhibition of both influenza H1N1 and H9N2 neuraminidases with
      IC(50) values of 8.80+/-0.34 MUg/mL and 7.19+/-0.40 MUg/mL, respectively.

PMID- 20934336
TI  - Kojyl thioether derivatives having both tyrosinase inhibitory and anti
      inflammatory properties.
AB  - This study was conducted to examine the tyrosinase inhibitory and anti
      inflammatory activities of kojic acid derivatives. A series of kojic acid
      derivatives containing thioether, sulfoxide, and sulfone linkages were
      synthesized. In the tyrosinase assay, kojyl thioether derivatives containing
      appropriate lipophilic alkyl chains (pentane, hexane, and cyclohexane) showed
      potent inhibitory activity. However, sulfoxides and sulfones exhibited decreased
      activity. Similar experimental results were obtained with inhibitory activities
      of NO production being induced by LPS. The presence of thioether linkage and
      appropriated lipophilic acid moiety was critical for the tyrosinase inhibitory
      and anti-inflammatory activities.

PMID- 20934337
TI  - Tri- and tetrasubstituted imidazoles as p38alpha mitogen-activated protein kinase
      inhibitors.
AB  - The synthesis of 2,4,5-trisubstituted and 1,2,4,5-tetrasubstituted imidazoles as
      potent p38alpha mitogen-activated protein kinase inhibitors is described. The
      trisubstituted imidazole series was found to be more potent than the
      tetrasubstituted imidazole series. Many of these compounds show low-nanomolar
      activities in the isolated p38alpha MAP kinase inhibition assay. The structure
      activity relationships between these two series are different and not comparable.

PMID- 20934338
TI  - Effect of hip angle on anterior hip joint force during gait.
AB  - Anterior hip or groin pain is a common complaint for which people are referred
      for physical therapy. We have observed that people with anterior hip pain often
      walk in greater hip extension than people without anterior hip pain, and that the
      pain is reduced when they walk in less hip extension. Therefore, we investigated
      anterior hip joint forces which may contribute to anterior hip pain and examined
      the effect of end range hip extension on the anterior hip joint force during
      gait. To do this, we used a 6 degree of freedom, three-dimensional
      musculoskeletal model to estimate hip joint forces during gait. Within subjects,
      the maximum anterior hip joint force for gait trials with the most hip extension
      was compared to the anterior hip joint force for gait trials with the least hip
      extension. The musculoskeletal model indicated that increasing the maximum end
      range hip extension when walking results in an increase in the anterior hip joint
      force when compared to walking in less hip extension. Walking in greater hip
      extension may result in an increase in the anterior hip joint force, and thereby
      contribute to anterior hip pain. The findings of this study provide some evidence
      supporting the use of gait modification to reduce anterior hip force when
      treating people with anterior hip pain.

PMID- 20934339
TI  - Gap junction protein connexin43 (GJA1) in the human glaucomatous optic nerve head
      and retina.
AB  - Primary open angle glaucoma is characterised by the progressive and irreversible
      death of retinal ganglion cells. Experimental evidence suggests that the initial
      site of injury to the retinal ganglion cell is at or near the lamina cribrosa or
      in the peripapillary retina. However, the mediators of axonal injury remain
      poorly understood. The purpose of this study was to investigate the expression of
      the gap junction protein connexin43 (GJA1) in the human glaucomatous optic nerve
      head and retina as a potential mediator of axonal injury. Using affinity isolated
      polyclonal antibodies to the C-terminal segment of human connexin43, the
      expression of connexin43 was determined in post-mortem human eyes with primary
      open angle glaucoma and age-matched controls. In normal eyes, connexin43 was
      present on glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP)-positive astrocytes in the
      retinal ganglion cell layer and optic nerve head. In glaucomatous eyes, increased
      connexin43 immunoreactivity was observed at the level of the lamina cribrosa and
      in the peripapillary and mid-peripheral retina in association with glial
      activation. This novel finding may suggest that gap junction communication is a
      potential mediator of retinal ganglion cell injury in glaucoma.

PMID- 20934340
TI  - Regulation of intermediary metabolism by protein acetylation.
AB  - Extensive studies during the past four decades have identified important roles
      for lysine acetylation in the regulation of nuclear transcription. Recent
      proteomic analyses on protein acetylation uncovered a large number of acetylated
      proteins in the cytoplasm and mitochondria, including most enzymes involved in
      intermediate metabolism. Acetylation regulates metabolic enzymes by multiple
      mechanisms, including via enzymatic activation or inhibition, and by influencing
      protein stability. Conversely, non-nuclear NAD(+)-dependent sirtuin deacetylases
      can regulate cellular and organismal metabolism, possibly through direct
      deacetylation of metabolic enzymes. Furthermore, acetylation of metabolic enzymes
      is highly conserved from prokaryotes to eukaryotes. Given the frequent occurrence
      of metabolic dysregulation in diabetes, obesity and cancer, enzymes modulating
      acetylation could provide attractive targets for therapeutic intervention for
      these diseases.

PMID- 20934341
TI  - The pathology of the end-stage osteoarthritic lesion of the knee: potential role
      in cartilage repair.
AB  - The purpose was to explore whether there were any pathological characteristics of
      the end-stage osteoarthritic sclerotic lesion that have potential to participate
      in cartilage repair. Specimens harvested following total knee surgery were
      examined for gross pathology including staining with Safranin O. Multiple small
      sections of the lesion were placed in tissue culture for 6 weeks. Gross
      examination and photographic documentation was made at 3 and 6 weeks. At 6 weeks
      the specimens from culture were subject to histological examination. The
      pathology of the end-stage osteoarthritic lesion showed sclerotic bone, dead
      osteons, hypervascularity and scattered cartilaginous aggregates. Additional
      observations showed multiple pitting on the sclerotic surface, which
      histologically was related to three events; fragmentation of dead bone, ruptured
      blood vessels, and eroded aggregates. There were no pathological or biological
      changes in the specimens following the time in tissue culture. The in-depth
      pathological evaluation showed the end-stage osteoarthritic lesion to have
      certain features with potential to facilitate cartilage repair. The cartilaginous
      aggregates may be a participant in cartilage repair following surgery. The
      cartilaginous aggregates remained unchanged in the tissue culture absent the
      normal synovial joint chemical and physical environment and therefore further
      testing with a different experimental model would be necessary to establish these
      aggregates as a source of cartilage regeneration. The multiple small depressions
      in this lesion may have potential to be a "home" for therapeutics.

PMID- 20934342
TI  - Structure-activity relationships for inhibition of inosine monophosphate
      dehydrogenase and differentiation induction of K562 cells among the mycophenolic
      acid derivatives.
AB  - Inosine monophosphate dehydrogenases (IMPDHs) are the committed step in de novo
      guanine nucleotide biosynthesis. There are two separate, but very closely related
      IMPDH isoenzymes, termed type I and type II. IMPDHs are widely believed to be
      major targets for cancer and transplantation therapy. Mycophenolic acid (MPA) is
      a potent inhibitor of IMPDHs. Previously, we found that MPA acted as a latent
      agonist of this nuclear hormone receptor in U2OS cells, and 6'-hydroxamic acid
      derivatives of MPA inhibited tubulin-specific histone deacetylase[s] (HDAC[s]) in
      HeLa cells. Although MPA is a promising lead compound, structure-activity
      relationships (SARs) for inhibition of IMPDH, and the mechanism action of MPA
      derivatives have not well been understood. We therefore synthesized, evaluated
      MPA derivatives as IMPDH inhibitor in vitro and cellular level, and explored
      their biological function and mechanism in cultured cells. This paper exhibits
      that (i) functional groups at C-5, C-7, and C-6' positions in MPA are important
      for inhibitory activity against IMPDH, (ii) it is difficult to improve
      specificity against IMPDH II by modification of 5-, 7-, and 6'-group, (iii)
      demethylation of 5-OMe results in increasing hydrophilicity, and lowering cell
      permeability, (iv) ester bonds of protective groups at C-7 and C-6' positions are
      hydrolyzed to give MPA in cultures, (v) the effects of a tubulin-specific HDAC[s]
      inhibitor on proliferation and differentiation are weaker than its inhibitory
      activity against IMPDH. The present work may provide insight into the development
      of a new class of drug lead for treating cancer and transplantation.

PMID- 20934343
TI  - Design, syntheses and 3D-QSAR studies of novel N-phenyl pyrrolidin-2-ones and N
      phenyl-1H-pyrrol-2-ones as protoporphyrinogen oxidase inhibitors.
AB  - The characteristics of low application rates, good crop selectivity, low residue
      and environmental safety exhibited by Protoporphyrinogen oxidase (PPO, EC
      1.3.3.4)-inhibiting herbicides have attracted a world-wide research interests. As
      continuation of our research work on the development of new PPO inhibitors, a
      series of mono-carbonyl analogues of cyclic imides, N-phenyl pyrrolidin-2-ones
      and N-phenyl-1H-pyrrol-2-ones, were designed and synthesized based on previously
      established DFT-QSAR results. The PPO inhibition activities of 29 newly
      synthesized compounds were tested and a predictive comparative molecular field
      analysis (CoMFA) model was established with the conventional correlation
      coefficient r(2)=0.980 and the cross-validated coefficient q(2)=0.518. According
      to the CoMFA model, the substituent effects on the PPO inhibition activity were
      explained reasonably. Further greenhouse assay showed that 2-(4-chloro-2-fluoro-5
      propoxy-phenyl)-2,3,4,5,6,7-hexahydro-isoindol-1-one (C(6), k(i)=0.095MUM) and 2
      (5-allyloxy-4-chloro-2-fluorophenyl)-2,3,4,5,6,7-hexahydro-isoindol-1-one (C(7),
      k(i)=0.12MUM) displayed excellent post-emergency herbicidal activity at the
      concentration of 150g.ai/ha against seven tested weeds. Due to their high PPO
      inhibition effect and broad spectrum herbicidal activity, these two compounds
      have the potential for further study on crop selectivity and field trial. These
      results confirmed once again that only one of the carbonyl groups of cyclic
      imides is essential to the PPO inhibition activity.

PMID- 20934344
TI  - Identification of a novel pyrrole derivative endowed with antimycobacterial
      activity and protection index comparable to that of the current antitubercular
      drugs streptomycin and rifampin.
AB  - A hit optimization procedure based on isosteric and bioisosteric replacement of
      decorating groups at both the N1 and the C5 phenyl rings of 1,5-diarylpyrroles
      led to identification of 4-((1-(4-fluorophenyl)-2-methyl-5-(4-(methylthio)phenyl)
      1H-pyrrol-3-yl)methyl)thiomorpholine that is characterized by a very high
      activity toward both Mycobacterium tuberculosis 103471 and H37Rv strains (MIC
      values of 0.125MUg/mL), and a safe profile in terms of cytotoxicity (CC(50) of
      >128MUg/mL) and protection index (>1000). Antitubercular activity and protection
      index of the new compound are comparable to those found for the current
      antitubercular drugs streptomycin and rifampin.

PMID- 20934345
TI  - Biflavonoids from Torreya nucifera displaying SARS-CoV 3CL(pro) inhibition.
AB  - As part of our search for botanical sources of SARS-CoV 3CL(pro) inhibitors, we
      selected Torreya nucifera, which is traditionally used as a medicinal plant in
      Asia. The ethanol extract of T. nucifera leaves exhibited good SARS-CoV 3CL(pro)
      inhibitory activity (62% at 100MUg/mL). Following bioactivity-guided
      fractionation, eight diterpenoids (1-8) and four biflavonoids (9-12) were
      isolated and evaluated for SARS-CoV 3CL(pro) inhibition using fluorescence
      resonance energy transfer analysis. Of these compounds, the biflavone
      amentoflavone (9) (IC(50)=8.3MUM) showed most potent 3CL(pro) inhibitory effect.
      Three additional authentic flavones (apigenin, luteolin and quercetin) were
      tested to establish the basic structure-activity relationship of biflavones.
      Apigenin, luteolin, and quercetin inhibited 3CL(pro) activity with IC(50) values
      of 280.8, 20.2, and 23.8MUM, respectively. Values of binding energy obtained in a
      molecular docking study supported the results of enzymatic assays. More potent
      activity appeared to be associated with the presence of an apigenin moiety at
      position C-3' of flavones, as biflavone had an effect on 3CL(pro) inhibitory
      activity.

PMID- 20934347
TI  - Anti-leishmanial and anti-trypanosomal activities of 1,4-dihydropyridines: In
      vitro evaluation and structure-activity relationship study.
AB  - Leishmaniasis and Chagas' disease constitute a relevant health and socio-economic
      problem in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. The therapeutic interventions rely on
      inefficient and highly toxic drugs with systemic side effects in patients.
      Considering the multiple biological activities of the calcium channel blockers
      and the high versatility of 1,4-dihydropyridines, eight clinically used 1,4
      dihydropyridines (azelnidipine, amlodipine, cilnidipine, lercanidipine,
      nicardipine, nifedipine, nimodipine and nitrendipine) were in vitro tested
      against Leishmania and Trypanosoma cruzi parasites, and their cytotoxicity was
      tested against mammalian cells. In addition, a QSAR study was performed in order
      to delineate further structural requirements for the anti-protozoan activity and
      to predict the biological potency of 1,4-dihydropyridines. The tested compounds
      were effective against Leishmania (L.) amazonensis, Leishmania (V.)braziliensis,
      Leishmania (L.) chagasi, and Leishmania (L.) major promastigotes, L. (L.) chagasi
      intracellular amastigotes and T. cruzi trypomastigotes with 50% inhibitory
      concentration (IC(50)) values in the range of 2.6-181MUM. The QSAR provided
      useful information about the structural features of the anti-protozoan
      activities, including diphenylpropyl and diphenylmethylazetidin groups at
      position 4 of the 1,4-dihydropyridine ring, allowing the prediction of two novel
      potential anti-protozoan analogs.

PMID- 20934346
TI  - Design, synthesis and bioevaluation of dihydropyrazolo[3,4-b]pyridine and
      benzo[4,5]imidazo[1,2-a]pyrimidine compounds as dual KSP and Aurora-A kinase
      inhibitors for anti-cancer agents.
AB  - Four series of dihydropyrazolo[3,4-b]pyridines and benzo[4,5]imidazo[1,2
      a]pyrimidines were designed and synthesized as dual KSP and Aurora-A kinase
      inhibitors for anti-cancer agents by introducing some fragments of Aurora-A
      kinase inhibitors into our KSP inhibitor CPUYL064. A total of 19 target compounds
      were evaluated by two related enzyme inhibition assays and a cytotoxicity assay
      in vitro. The results showed that some target compounds could inhibit both
      enzymes, and several of them showed significant inhibition activity against
      HCT116 cell line. Despite showing moderate KSP and Aurora-A kinase inhibition,
      the lead compounds 6a and 6e displayed significant cytotoxic activity in the
      micromolar range, especially against the HCT116 cell line and HepG2 cell line.
      The results may be useful for developing a new class of inhibitors having a dual
      function, KSP inhibition and Aurora-A kinase inhibition, for the treatment of
      cancer.

PMID- 20934348
TI  - BACE1 inhibitory activities of enantiomerically pure, variously substituted N-(3
      (4-benzhydrylpiperazin-1-yl)-2-hydroxypropyl) arylsulfonamides.
AB  - beta-Secretase (BACE1) has been widely recognized as one of the possible
      therapeutic targets for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. In this paper, we
      report the synthesis and the BACE1 inhibitory activity of new, variously
      substituted N-(3-(4-benzhydrylpiperazin-1-yl)-2-hydroxypropyl) arylsulfonamides.
      Each enantiomeric form was separately evaluated in BACE1 inhibition assays and
      IC(50) values were obtained in the low micromolar range. According to our
      biological results and docking studies, it can be asserted that the
      stereochemistry around the OH group in the central hydroxyethylamino linker does
      not significantly influence the BACE1 inhibitory activity of this type of
      molecules.

PMID- 20934349
TI  - Synthesis and antimalarial activities of rhenium bioorganometallics based on the
      4-aminoquinoline structure.
AB  - A bioorganometallic approach to malaria therapy led to the discovery of
      ferroquine (FQ, SSR97193). To assess the importance of the electronic properties
      of the ferrocenyl group, cyclopentadienyltricarbonylrhenium analogues related to
      FQ, were synthesized. The reaction of [N-(7-chloro-4-quinolinyl)-1,2
      ethanodiamine] with the cyrhetrenylaldehyde complexes (eta(5)
      C(5)H(4)CHO)Re(CO)(3) and [eta(5)-1,2-C(5)H(3)(CH(2)OH)(CHO)]Re(CO)(3) produces
      the corresponding imine derivatives [eta(5)-1,2-C(5)H(3)(R)(CHN-CH(2)CH(2)NH
      QN)]Re(CO)(3) R=H 3a; R=CH(2)OH 3b; QN=N-(7-Cl-4-quinolinyl). Reduction of 3a and
      3b with sodium borohydride in methanol yields quantitatively the amine complexes
      [eta(5)-1,2-C(5)H(3)(R)(CH(2)-NH-CH(2)CH(2)NH-QN)]Re(CO)(3) R=H 4a; R=CH(2)OH 4b.
      To establish the role of the cyrethrenyl moiety in the antimalarial activity of
      this series, purely organic parent compounds were also synthesized and tested.
      Evaluation of antimalarial activity measured in vitro against the CQ-resistant
      strains (W2) and the CQ-susceptible strain (3D7) of Plasmodium falciparum
      indicates that these cyrhetrene conjugates are less active compared to their
      ferrocene and organic analogues. These data suggest an original mode-of-action of
      FQ and ferrocenyl analogues in relationship with the redox pharmacophore.

PMID- 20934350
TI  - Green light radiation effects on free radicals inhibition in cellular and
      chemical systems.
AB  - Free radicals generation is inhibited through green light (GL) irradiation in
      cellular systems and in chemical reactions. Standard melanocyte cultures were UV
      irradiated and the induced cellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) were quantified
      by the fluorescence technique. The same cell cultures, previously protected by a
      24h GL exposure, displayed a significantly lower ROS production. A simple
      chemical reaction is subsequently chosen, in which the production of free
      radicals is well defined. Paraffin wax and mineral oil were GL irradiated during
      thermal degradation and the oxidation products checked by chemiluminescence [CL]
      and Fourier transform infrared spectra [FT-IR]. The same clear inhibition of the
      radical oxidation of alkanes is recorded. A quantum chemistry modeling of these
      results is performed and a mechanism involving a new type of Rydberg
      macromolecular systems with implications for biology and medicine is suggested.

PMID- 20934351
TI  - Introducing the reflex probability maps in the quantification of nociceptive
      withdrawal reflex receptive fields in humans.
AB  - The aim of the present study was to improve the assessment of reflex receptive
      fields (RRF) in humans, using reflex sensitivity and reflex probability maps.
      Repeated electrical stimulation was applied to elicit the nociceptive withdrawal
      reflex (NWR) in fifteen healthy volunteers using two stimulation paradigms: fixed
      (FSI) and adjusted (ASI) stimulation intensities. Stimulation was applied on
      sixteen sites in the foot sole, and pain intensity ratings and EMG responses were
      recorded. RRF sensitivity and probability maps were derived, and RRF areas were
      calculated. During FSI, the stimulation intensities were constant and the pain
      ratings dropped significantly (p<0.01). In contrast, during ASI the pain ratings
      were stable, but there was a significant increase in the stimulation intensities
      (p<0.01). None of the paradigms altered significantly the RRF areas, but the FSI
      paradigm had lower estimation error (p<0.01). In all cases, the estimation error
      remained under 10% and 5% after five and ten repetitions, respectively. The 2nd
      stimulus in the train consistently rendered larger and more reliable RRF areas
      than the 1st stimulus. The present analysis can be useful in order to identify
      the most adequate stimulation parameters and quantification variables for RRF
      assessment in experimental and clinical pain research.

PMID- 20934352
TI  - The shoulder extension function of the triceps brachii.
AB  - The triceps brachii (TB), the sole muscle of the posterior humerus, acts an
      extensor of the elbow and shoulder. As a biarticular muscle, the angles of the
      elbow and shoulder influence its' ability to generate joint moments. The purpose
      of this study was to investigate the influence of elbow and shoulder joint angles
      on the shoulder extension function of the TB. Eighteen subjects were tested on a
      Biodex dynamometer with the TB selectively stimulated at a standardized level of
      voltage. The results revealed that the shoulder angle was the most important
      factor in the extension moment. As the shoulder angle moved from 0 degrees  to 80
      degrees  the shoulder extension moment increased significantly. The increase in
      the shoulder extension moment between 0 degrees  and 80 degrees  was possibly due
      to the lengthening of the moment arm.

PMID- 20934353
TI  - The relationship between blood potassium, blood lactate, and electromyography
      signals related to fatigue in a progressive cycling exercise test.
AB  - Local muscle fatigue may be related to potassium efflux from the muscle cell
      and/or lactate accumulation within the muscle. Local fatigue causes a decrease in
      median frequency (MPF) of the electromyogram's power spectrum during isometric
      contractions but its relationship to changes in potassium and lactate during
      dynamic exercise is equivocal. Thus, this investigation evaluated relationships
      between changes in the MPF from the vastus lateralis and blood levels of lactate
      and potassium during an incremental cycling test and recovery. Trained cyclists
      (n=8) completed a discontinuous, graded cycle test to exhaustion under normal and
      glycogen-reduced conditions. The glycogen reduced condition promoted an
      environment of lower lactate production while permitting a consistent potassium
      response. Blood samples and maximal isometric EMG data were collected at the end
      of each stage and during recovery. Maximal lactate levels were ~ 60% lower in the
      glycogen reduced condition; potassium was similar between trials. MPF did not
      change significantly at volitional fatigue. Further, MPF was not significantly
      related to lactate (p>0.27) or potassium (p>0.16) in either condition. Though
      both lactate and potassium have been implicated as factors relating to local
      muscle fatigue, neither is significantly related to changes in MPF during or
      after progressive exercise on a cycle ergometer.

PMID- 20934354
TI  - Factors contributing to concerns of persons living with epilepsy.
AB  - PURPOSE: To describe the concerns of Korean adults living with epilepsy and to
      compare the concerns of individuals with controlled and uncontrolled seizures.
      METHODS: Outpatients filled out questionnaires, including the Hospital Anxiety
      and Depression Scale, the Quality of Life in Epilepsy-10 questionnaire, the
      stigma scale, and a questionnaire on episodes of discrimination. Patients were
      asked to fill out the Epilepsy Foundation of America (EFA) Concerns Index and to
      list their concerns on a blank sheet of paper. RESULTS: Of the 178 participants,
      152 described a total of 470 concerns, which could be assorted into 25 distinct
      concerns. Worrying about the hereditability of their condition was the only
      concern that differed significantly between individuals with controlled and
      uncontrolled seizures. Three significant factors were identified on the total EFA
      Concerns Index score: level of anxiety/depression (34.4%), age (6.3%), and degree
      of social discrimination (4.3%), resulting in a total explained variance of
      45.0%. CONCLUSIONS: Korean adults with epilepsy had various concerns, with some
      differing from those in Western populations. Anxiety/depression, age and degree
      of discrimination were significantly associated with the degree of concern in
      Korean patients with epilepsy.

PMID- 20934355
TI  - Pulmonary embolism in pediatric patients survey of CT pulmonary angiography
      practices and policies.
AB  - RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES: To determine the current policies and practices of
      Society for Pediatric Radiology (SPR) members regarding the evaluation of
      pediatric patients with suspected pulmonary embolism (PE) with an emphasis on use
      of computed tomography pulmonary angiography (CTPA). MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      Institutional review board exemption was granted for this study. Surveys were
      mailed electronically to the 1575 members of the SPR representing 416
      institutions. Information gathered included the existence of written policies,
      the imaging study of choice for suspected PE, routine acquisition of chest
      radiographs before CTPA, currently used CTPA techniques, modifications of
      protocols for radiation dose reduction, typical DLP (dose-length-product) for
      CTPA, and estimated annual frequency of performing CTPA for evaluating PE in
      children. Survey items pertaining to policies and practices were compared between
      practice settings and populations using chi-square analysis. RESULTS: One hundred
      and sixty members representing 118 institutions responded, which resulted in a
      response rate of 28% (118/416), on an institutional basis. Of these 118
      respondents, 104 (88%) perform CTPA in children with clinical suspicion of PE. Of
      the 104 respondents who perform CTPA, 26 (25%) have a written policy for CTPA, 93
      (89%) perform CTPA as the first study choice, and 67 (64%) routinely obtain chest
      radiographs before CTPA. The most commonly used CTPA techniques in children with
      clinical suspicion of PE include intravenous contrast amount of 2 mL/kg,
      mechanical injection of intravenous contrast, and tailored bolus tracking method
      for CTPA scan initiation by observing the Hounsfield units of contrast in the
      central pulmonary artery on the monitoring scan. Sixty respondents (58%) modify
      CTPA imaging protocols for evaluating PE in children in order to decrease
      radiation dose. The two most common modifications for radiation dose reduction
      were reduced mAs in 41 (68%) and automatic exposure control in 38 (63%). The
      majority of respondents (88%) did not know the typical DLP for a 20-kg child
      during CTPA study performed to evaluate for PE. A significantly greater
      percentage of radiation dose-reduction techniques are performed within academic
      institutions compared with private institutions (P = .03). CONCLUSION: Most
      survey respondents perform CTPA as the study of choice for evaluating PE in
      children, but there is considerable variability in their policies and practices.
      Respondents from academic medical centers are more likely to employ radiation
      dose-reduction techniques for CTPA than those in private practice settings.

PMID- 20934356
TI  - Reducing leg oedema after femoro-popliteal bypass surgery: a challenge.

PMID- 20934358
TI  - Do school-aged children with burn injuries during infancy show stress-induced
      activation of pain inhibitory mechanisms?
AB  - There is evidence in humans and animals that neonatal and early infant pain and
      stress may sensitize excitatory pain pathways. Possibly such experiences may
      result in long-term diminished activation of phasic endogenous pain inhibitory
      mechanisms. We studied stress-induced activation of endogenous pain inhibitory
      mechanisms in school-aged children (10-16 years) who had suffered moderate (N=
      =12) or severe (N=10) burn injuries in infancy (6-24 months of age) and 20
      controls. Before and after the stress phase, pain threshold and pain tolerance
      (heat, pressure, ischemic pain) were assessed. Stress was successfully induced in
      all children as reflected by increases in heart rate, blood pressure and
      perceived stress. In the controls, there was evidence for stress-induced
      hypoalgesia as reflected by significant increases in heat pain threshold, heat
      pain tolerance and pressure pain tolerance. Pressure pain thresholds were not
      significantly altered. A similar pattern was observed in the moderately burned
      children. By contrast, children with severe burn injuries failed to show
      significant stress-related changes in heat and pressure pain sensitivity. In all
      groups, ischemic pain sensitivity was elevated post stress. The children reported
      being more distressed by the perceived loss of strength than by pain and had
      difficulties differentiating between the two. It is possible that ischemic pain
      may be less suitable for measuring pain sensitivity in children. The present
      study provides first evidence that pain and stress exposure due to severe burns
      in infancy may be associated with an attenuated stress-induced activation of
      phasic endogenous pain inhibitory mechanisms later in childhood and adolescence.

PMID- 20934357
TI  - Association of the interferon-gamma single nucleotide polymorphism +874(T/A) with
      response to immunosuppressive therapy in patients with severe aplastic anemia.
AB  - The aim of this study was to investigate whether a single nucleotide polymorphism
      (SNP) +874T/A of interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) correlates with response to
      immunosuppressive therapy. Amplification refractory mutation system-polymerase
      chain reaction was used to amplify the polymorphic segments of the IFN-gamma
      +874T/A gene in the samples obtained from 54 patients with aplastic anemia and 51
      healthy adults. Further, enzyme linked immunosorbent assay was used to assay IFN
      gamma levels in the blood plasma of 35 patients with severe aplastic anemia
      before immune suppression therapy and 20 healthy blood donors. The results showed
      that the frequency of IFN-gamma +874 TT genotype in patients with aplastic anemia
      was significantly higher than the corresponding frequency in the healthy adults
      (42.6% vs. 17.6%, chi(2)=13.78, p=0. 01). The response rate in severe aplastic
      anemia patients with increased IFN-gamma levels in the blood plasma was higher
      than that in severe aplastic anemia patients with decreased IFN-gamma levels in
      the blood plasma (73.7% vs. 25.0%, p<0.05). Of the 35 patients with severe
      aplastic anemia, 15 showed the IFN-gamma +874 TT genotype, whereas response in 11
      patients, the high response rate was significantly in the favor of the IFN-gamma
      +874 TT genotype (73.3% vs. IFN-gamma +874 non-TT 35%, p<0.05). In conclusion,
      the IFN-gamma +874T/A gene polymorphism may be correlated with response to
      immunosuppressive therapy.

PMID- 20934359
TI  - The influence of brushing force and stroking velocity on dynamic mechanical
      allodynia in patients with peripheral neuropathy.
AB  - Recently we demonstrated brush-evoked allodynia to be a partially graded
      phenomenon since increased brushing length and number of strokes significantly
      increased the brush-evoked pain intensity. In this study the influence of
      stroking velocity and brushing force on dynamic mechanical allodynia was examined
      in 16 patients with peripheral neuropathy. Brush-evoked allodynia was induced by
      lightly stroking 60mm of the skin twice with a 16 mm wide brush while varying
      stroking velocity (10, 20, 30 mm/s) and brushing force (10, 20, 40 g). Intensity
      and duration of brush-evoked allodynia was recorded using a computerized visual
      analogue scale. The total brush-evoked pain intensity, including painful
      aftersensation was calculated as the area under the curve. Significantly
      increased total brush-evoked pain intensity was demonstrated with lower stroking
      velocity (P<0.001) and higher brushing force (P<0.05). Higher maximum pain
      intensity was reported with higher brushing force. In conclusion, our findings
      demonstrated a significant relationship between the total brush-evoked pain
      intensity and stroking velocity as well as brushing force. Together with
      previously accumulated data these results substantiate the usefulness of this
      semi-quantitative assessment method in longitudinal studies on dynamic mechanical
      allodynia.

PMID- 20934360
TI  - Numerical simulations of short-mixing-time double-wave-vector diffusion-weighting
      experiments with multiple concatenations on whole-body MR systems.
AB  - Double- or two-wave-vector diffusion-weighting experiments with short mixing
      times in which two diffusion-weighting periods are applied in direct succession,
      are a promising tool to estimate cell sizes in the living tissue. However, the
      underlying effect, a signal difference between parallel and antiparallel wave
      vector orientations, is considerably reduced for the long gradient pulses
      required on whole-body MR systems. Recently, it has been shown that multiple
      concatenations of the two wave vectors in a single acquisition can double the
      modulation amplitude if short gradient pulses are used. In this study, numerical
      simulations of such experiments were performed with parameters achievable with
      whole-body MR systems. It is shown that the theoretical model yields a good
      approximation of the signal behavior if an additional term describing free
      diffusion is included. More importantly, it is demonstrated that the shorter
      gradient pulses sufficient to achieve the desired diffusion weighting for
      multiple concatenations, increase the signal modulation considerably, e.g. by a
      factor of about five for five concatenations. Even at identical echo times,
      achieved by a shortened diffusion time, a moderate number of concatenations
      significantly improves the signal modulation. Thus, experiments on whole-body MR
      systems may benefit from multiple concatenations.

PMID- 20934361
TI  - Advances in biological NMR circa WWMR 2010 in Florence.
AB  - We summarize the advances and breakthroughs of 'biological' NMR that were
      presented at the Joint EUROMAR 2010 - 17th ISMAR Conference - aka 'World Wide
      Magnetic Resonance 2010' in Florence, Italy.

PMID- 20934362
TI  - Swift Acetate Glial Assay (SAGA): an accelerated human 13C MRS brain exam for
      clinical diagnostic use.
AB  - We demonstrate a robust procedure for the quantitative characterization of glial
      metabolism in human brain. In the past, the slope of the uptake and production of
      enriched label at steady state were used to determine metabolic rates, requiring
      the patient to be in the magnet for 120-160 min. In the present method, (13)C
      cerebral metabolite profiles were acquired at steady state alone on a routine
      clinical MR scanner in 25.6 min. Results obtained from the new short method
      (SAGA) were comparable to those achieved in a conventional, long method and
      effective for determination of glial metabolic rate in posterior-parietal and
      frontal brain regions.

PMID- 20934363
TI  - Efficient analysis of urinary glycosaminoglycans by LC-MS/MS in
      mucopolysaccharidoses type I, II and VI.
AB  - Mucopolysaccharidoses (MPSs) are complex storage disorders caused by specific
      lysosomal enzyme deficiencies, resulting in the accumulation of
      glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) in urine, plasma, as well as in various tissues. We
      devised and validated a straightforward, but accurate and precise tandem mass
      spectrometry methodology coupled to high performance liquid chromatography (LC
      MS/MS) for the quantification of GAGs in urine. The method is applicable to the
      investigation of patients with MPS I, II, and VI, by quantifying dermatan sulfate
      (DS) and heparan sulfate (HS) in urine. We analyzed urine samples from 28 MPS
      patients, aged 1 to 42 years, and 55 control subjects (41 days to 18 years old).
      Levels of DS and HS in urine from healthy controls of all ages were below the
      limit of quantification. The levels of DS and HS in urine from 6 treated patients
      with MPS I were lower than in 6 untreated patients in DS (0.7-45 vs 9.3-177
      mg/mmol creat) and HS (0-123 mg/mmol creatinine vs 38-418 mg/mmol creatinine);
      similar results were obtained for 9 patients with MPS II and 7 patients with MPS
      VI. Analyses were performed on as little as 250 MUL of urine. Methanolysis took
      75 min per sample; the total analysis run time for each LC-MS/MS injection was 8
      min. Results indicate that the method is applicable to a wide variety of
      situations in which high accuracy and precision are required, including the
      evaluation of the effectiveness of existing and emerging treatments.

PMID- 20934364
TI  - Therapeutic alliance and glycaemic control in type 1 diabetes: a pilot study.
AB  - AIM: Effective diabetes care requires integrating physicians' clinical expertise
      with patients' concerns and resources. This prospective study examined whether or
      not two measures of therapeutic alliance could predict glycaemic control after 1
      year of follow-up in patients with type 1 diabetes. METHODS: Consecutive type 1
      diabetic outpatients were recruited, and their age, gender, level of education,
      marital status and age at the time of diabetes diagnosis were self-reported. The
      presence of diabetes complications was ascertained by the patients' physicians.
      Both patients and physicians completed the revised Helping Alliance Questionnaire
      (HAQ-R) and the 12-item Working Alliance Inventory (WAI-12) to assess therapeutic
      alliance. Patients also completed the Center for Epidemiological Studies
      Depression scale to assess depressive mood. HbA(1c) was measured at baseline and
      1 year later. RESULTS: Sixty-four type 1 diabetic outpatients (32 men, 32 women;
      mean age+/-standard deviation [S.D.]: 38.2+/-8.0 years) were included. HbA(1c)
      level at follow-up (mean+/-S.D.: 7.56+/-1.18%) was positively correlated with the
      HbA(1c) level at baseline (r=0.698, P<0.001), and associated with presence of
      retinopathy at baseline (8.18+/-1.24% versus 7.41+/-1.13%, P=0.036). In addition,
      the HbA(1c) level at follow-up was negatively correlated with therapeutic
      alliance, as assessed at baseline by the physicians using either the HAQ-R (r=
      0.431, P<0.001) or the WAI-12 (r=-0.365, P=0.003), even after controlling for the
      HbA(1c) at baseline. CONCLUSION: Although the observational nature of the present
      study prevents causal conclusions to be drawn, these preliminary results suggest
      that promoting therapeutic alliance can improve glycaemic control in type 1
      diabetes.

PMID- 20934365
TI  - Association of Parkinson disease to PARK16 in a Chilean sample.

PMID- 20934366
TI  - Viral trans-dominant manipulation of algal sphingolipids.
AB  - Emiliania huxleyi is the host for the coccolithovirus (EhV), which is responsible
      for the demise of large oceanic blooms formed by this alga. The EhV-86 virus
      genome sequence has identified several genes apparently involved in sphingolipid
      metabolism. Recently, an unusual glucosylceramide from E. huxleyi infected with
      EhV-86 was isolated, implicating sphingolipids in the lysis of this alga.
      However, the EhV-86-encoded genes contain only a subset of the activities
      required to generate the novel sphingolipid, implying that its synthesis is the
      result of coordinated interactions between algal- and viral-encoded biosynthetic
      enzymes. Here, we discuss the likely role for EhV-86 open reading frames (ORFs)
      in the synthesis of novel sphingolipids and also consider the concept of the
      trans-dominant manipulation of lipid metabolism.

PMID- 20934367
TI  - Membrane rafts in plant cells.
AB  - Over the past five years, the structure, composition and possible functions of
      membrane raft-like domains on plant plasma membranes (PM) have been described.
      Proteomic analyses have indicated that a high proportion of proteins associated
      with detergent-insoluble membranes (DIMs), supposed to contain raft-like domains
      isolated from the PM, might be involved in signalling pathways. Recently, the
      dynamic association of specific proteins with the DIM fraction upon environmental
      stress has been reported. Innovative imaging methods have shown that lateral
      segregation of lipids and proteins exists at the nanoscale level in the plant PM,
      correlating detergent insolubility and membrane-domain localization of
      presumptive raft proteins. These data suggest a role for plant rafts as signal
      transduction platforms, similar to those documented for mammalian cells.

PMID- 20934368
TI  - Lateral root organogenesis - from cell to organ.
AB  - Unlike locomotive organisms capable of actively approaching essential resources,
      sessile plants must efficiently exploit their habitat for water and nutrients.
      This involves root-mediated underground interactions allowing plants to adapt to
      soils of diverse qualities. The root system of plants is a dynamic structure that
      modulates primary root growth and root branching by continuous integration of
      environmental inputs, such as nutrition availability, soil aeration, humidity, or
      salinity. Root branching is an extremely flexible means to rapidly adjust the
      overall surface of the root system and plants have evolved efficient control
      mechanisms, including, firstly initiation, when and where to start lateral root
      formation; secondly lateral root primordia organogenesis, during which the
      development of primordia can be arrested for a certain time; and thirdly lateral
      root emergence. Our review will focus on the most recent advances in
      understanding the molecular mechanisms involved in the regulation of lateral root
      initiation and organogenesis with the main focus on root system of the model
      plant Arabidopsis thaliana.

PMID- 20934369
TI  - The genetic architecture of natural variation in flower morphology.
AB  - A pollination syndrome is defined as a suite of floral traits that are associated
      with the attraction of a specific group of animals as pollinators. Traits such as
      flower morphology, color, scent, and rewards contribute to the plant's
      reproductive success by attracting pollinators. Here we focus on the genetics of
      natural variation in flower morphology and how the adaptation between plants and
      their cognate pollinator class contributes to plant's reproductive success. We
      review recent work on the genetic basis of interspecific differences in
      reproductive organ morphology and discuss possible genetic mechanisms for
      coordinated changes in complex syndromes.

PMID- 20934370
TI  - Rice growth adapting to deepwater.
AB  - Flooding is one of the most hazardous natural disasters, and there are several
      levels of flooding. Recently, research on flood-tolerant rice plants revealed
      that some rice varieties have evolved to overcome two different flood types,
      'flash flood' and 'deepwater flood', using two different mechanisms, and their
      molecular mechanisms were determined. During flash flooding, the tolerant plants
      that are fully submerged for a few weeks stop elongating and thus avoid energy
      consumption that will be needed to restart growth when the water recedes. On the
      contrary, during deepwater flooding, with water depth up to several meters for
      several months, the deepwater-flood-tolerant rice plants promote elongation of
      internodes to keep the foliage above the water surface and thus allow respiration
      and photosynthesis.

PMID- 20934371
TI  - Establishment and maintenance of vascular cell communities through local
      signaling.
AB  - During plant development, cell fates are often determined by cell-to-cell
      communication. The vascular system, in which procambial/cambial cells continue to
      provide cells to two conductive tissues, xylem and phloem, is an excellent model
      for understanding cell-to-cell communication as a developmental cue. Recent
      studies on vascular development have revealed several novel intercellular
      signaling molecules that regulate vascular cell fates by unique mechanisms. This
      review focuses on emerging novel concepts such that reciprocal signaling by a
      transcription factor and microRNAs between the stele and the endodermis
      determines xylem cell patterns, and that a small peptide secreted from phloem
      governs vascular stem-cell maintenance.

PMID- 20934372
TI  - Shigella deploy multiple countermeasures against host innate immune responses.
AB  - Although the intestinal epithelium is equipped with multiple defense systems that
      sense bacterial components, transmit alarms to the immune system, clear the
      bacteria, and renew the injured epithelial lining, mucosal bacterial pathogens
      are capable of efficiently colonizing the intestinal epithelium, because they
      have evolved systems that modulate the inflammatory and immune responses of the
      host and exploit the harmful environments as replicative niches. In this review
      we highlight current topics concerning Shigella's tactics that interfere with the
      innate immune systems.

PMID- 20934373
TI  - Spectroscopic studies on the irreversible heat-induced structural transition of
      Pin1.
AB  - Previously, the mechanism of the thermal unfolding of Pin1 (on-line measurements)
      was studied, revealing that Pin1 has a relatively high thermal stability.
      However, it is still questionable whether the unfolding of Pin1 is reversible. In
      the present work, intrinsic tryptophan fluorescence, ANS fluorescence, RLS, FTIR
      and CD spectroscopies are used to evaluate the reversibility of the thermal
      unfolding of Pin1. Intrinsic tryptophan fluorescence studies indicate that
      structural changes around tryptophan motifs in Pin1 are possibly reversible after
      heat treatment (even above 98 degrees C), for no significant change in the
      intensity or lambda(max) of the spectra was observed. ANS fluorescence
      measurements indicate the irreversible exposure of the hydrophobic clusters in
      Pin1 after heat treatment at 98 degrees C, with increase in the fluorescence
      intensity and blue shift in lambdamax. Also, RLS signals of the Pin1-ANS system
      increased after heat treatment, possibly implying both the unfolding and the
      aggregation of Pin1. In addition, FTIR and CD results confirmed the irreversible
      unfolding of the secondary structure in Pin1 after heat treatment above 90
      degrees C, showing decreases in both alpha-helix and beta-sheet. In summary, the
      present work mainly suggests that heat treatment, especially above 90 degrees C,
      has an important impact on the structural stability of Pin1, and the structural
      unfolding induced by heat was proved to be irreversible.

PMID- 20934374
TI  - Glycine glycinium picrate--reinvestigation of the structure and vibrational
      spectra.
AB  - The crystal of diglycine picrate (glycine glycinum picrate) has been obtained
      from an aqueous solution containing stoichiometric quantities of the components.
      The species crystallizes in the monoclinic system (space group P2(1)/c). The
      crystal structure was determined with high accuracy, IR and Raman spectra are
      discussed and compared with previous results, and the molecular structure is
      presented. It was shown that crystals of diglycine picrate obtained from the
      solution containing equimolar quantities may contain picric acid as impurity,
      which is the reason for the previously reported observation of second harmonic
      generation in this centrosymmetric crystal. With this example we want to point
      out the risk of misinterpretation of SHG signals in general.

PMID- 20934375
TI  - Synthesis, spectral characterization, thermal and photoluminescence properties of
      Zn(II) and Cd(II)-azido/thiocyanato complexes with thiazolylazo dye and 1,2
      bis(diphenylphoshino)ethane.
AB  - A series of complexes of the type [M(L)(dppe)X2]; where M=Zn(II) or Cd(II); L=4
      (2'-thiazolylazo)chlorobenzene (L1), 4-(2'-thiazolylazo)bromobenzene (L2) and 4
      (2'-thiazolylazo) iodobenzene (L3); dppe=1,2-bis(diphenylphosphino)ethane; X=N3-
      or NCS- have been prepared and characterized on the basis of their microanalysis,
      molar conductance, thermal, IR, UV-vis and 1H NMR spectral studies. IR spectra
      show that the ligand L is coordinated to the metal atom in bidentate manner via
      azo nitrogen and thiazole nitrogen. An octahedral structure is proposed for all
      the complexes. The thermal behavior of the complexes revealed that the
      thiocyanato complexes are thermally more stable than the azido complexes. All the
      complexes exhibit blue-green emission with high quantum yield as the result of
      the fluorescence from the intraligand emission excited state.

PMID- 20934376
TI  - Novel and unusual triterpene from Black Cohosh. Determination of structure of
      9,10-seco-9,19-cyclolanostane xyloside (cimipodocarpaside) by NMR, IR and Raman
      spectroscopy and DFT calculations.
AB  - A new triterpene xyloside, designated cimipodocarpaside was isolated from a Black
      Cohosh (Actea racemosa L.) extract and its structure was elucidated by means of
      1H, 13C NMR, IR and Raman spectroscopy supported by B3LYP/6-31G** calculations.
      The vibrational spectra were interpreted using the PED analysis of 273
      fundamentals. Its structure comprises four condensed rings A-D which are 6, 7, 6,
      and 5-membered, respectively. An oxiirane ring is located in the side chain and a
      xylose moiety is attached to the A-ring. Comparison of the experimental 13C NMR
      data with the theoretical chemical shifts of 24S- and 24R-cimipodocarpaside
      isomers revealed that the isolated compound has the 24S-configuration. Combined
      spectroscopic and computational studies enabled the determination of the
      structure of cimipodocarpaside as (24S)-3beta-hydroxy-24,25-oxiirane-16,23-dione
      9,10-seco-9,19-cyclolanost-7(8),9(11),10(19)-trien-3-O-beta-D-xylopyranoside.
      Triterpenes with 7-membered ring were thus far isolated from only Actea podocarpa
      DC. plants. This is the first report on the isolation of such a compound from
      Black Cohosh.

PMID- 20934377
TI  - Vibrational spectra of bis(maltolato)oxovanadium(IV): a potent insulin mimetic
      agent.
AB  - The FTIR and FT-Raman spectra of the oxovanadium(IV) complex of 3-hydroxy-2
      methyl-4-pyrone (maltol) bis(maltolato)oxovanadium(IV) were recorded and briefly
      discussed by comparison with the spectra of uncoordinated maltol and with some
      related species.

PMID- 20934378
TI  - Cyanobacterial endosymbionts in the benthic dinoflagellate Sinophysis
      canaliculata (Dinophysiales, Dinophyceae).
AB  - Photosynthetic dinoflagellates possess a great diversity of plastids that have
      been acquired through successful serial endosymbiosis. The peridinin-containing
      plastid in dinoflagellates is canonical, but many other types are known within
      this group. Within the Dinophysiales, several species of Dinophysis contain
      plastids, derived from cryptophytes or haptophytes. In this work, the presence of
      numerous intracellular cyanobacteria-like microorganisms compartmentalized by a
      separate membrane is reported for the first time within the benthic dinophysoid
      dinoflagellate Sinophysis canaliculata Quod et al., a species from a genus
      morphologically close to Dinophysis. Although the contribution of these
      cyanobacterial endosymbionts to S. canaliculata is still unknown, this finding
      suggests a possible undergoing primary endosymbiosis in a dinoflagellate.

PMID- 20934379
TI  - Chromatin and DNA methylation dynamics of Helicobacter pylori-induced COX-2
      activation.
AB  - COX-2 expression is altered in gastrointestinal diseases. Helicobacter pylori
      (Hp) infection may have a critical role in COX-2 disregulation. We undertook this
      study to investigate possible chromatin and DNA methylation changes occurring
      early during COX-2 gene activation as a direct consequence of Hp-gastric cells
      interaction. We show that Hp infection is followed by different expression,
      chromatin and DNA methylation changes including: (i) biphasic activation of COX-2
      gene; (ii) rapid remodulation of HDACs expression and activity, increased
      acetylation and release of HDAC from COX-2 promoter; (iii) transient gradual
      increase of H3 acetylation and H3K4 dimethylation and decrease of H3K9
      dimethylation; (iv) late and long-lasting increase of H3K27 trimethylation; (v)
      rapid cyclical DNA methylation/demethylation events at 8 specific CpG sites (
      176, -136, +25, +36, +57, +82, +198, +231) surrounding the COX-2 gene
      transcriptional start site. Our data indicate that specific chromatin and DNA
      methylation changes occur at COX-2 gene in the first phases of Hp exposure in
      cultured gastric cells as a primary response to host-parasite interaction.

PMID- 20934380
TI  - Rationale for treatment durations of targeted cancer agents.

PMID- 20934381
TI  - Reaching biological timescales with all-atom molecular dynamics simulations.
AB  - Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations can provide atomically detailed views of
      protein motions, sampling multiple timescales ranging from femtoseconds to
      nanoseconds on typical computing resources. The 'reach' of these computer
      simulations toward biologically relevant timescales (microseconds and beyond) has
      been improving with advances in hardware and software, as well as the development
      of enhanced sampling techniques. This review outlines these advances, focusing on
      techniques that also provide realistic, unperturbed kinetics. These longer
      timescale MD simulations can provide detailed insights into the mechanisms of
      biological events, potentially aiding the design of pharmaceuticals.

PMID- 20934382
TI  - Leads for antitubercular compounds from kinase inhibitor library screens.
AB  - Discovering new drugs to treat tuberculosis more efficiently and to overcome
      multidrug resistance is a world health priority. To find antimycobacterial
      scaffolds, we screened a kinase inhibitor library of more than 12,000 compounds
      using an integrated strategy involving whole cell-based assays with
      Corynebacterium glutamicum and Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and a target-based
      assay with the protein kinase PknA. Seventeen "hits" came from the whole cell
      based screening approach, from which three displayed minimal inhibitory
      concentrations (MIC) against M. tuberculosis below 10MUM and were non-mutagenic
      and non-cytotoxic. Two of these hits were specific for M. tuberculosis versus C.
      glutamicum and none of them was found to inhibit the essential serine/threonine
      protein kinases, PknA and PknB present in both bacteria. One of the most active
      hits, VI-18469, had a benzoquinoxaline pharmacophore while another, VI-9376, is
      structurally related to a new class of antimycobacterial agents, the
      benzothiazinones (BTZ). Like the BTZ, VI-9376 was shown to act on the essential
      enzyme decaprenylphosphoryl-beta-D-ribose 2'-epimerase, DprE1, required for
      arabinan synthesis.

PMID- 20934383
TI  - Efficacy and safety of rituximab in adult patients with idiopathic relapsing or
      refractory thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura: results of a Spanish multicenter
      study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Between 30% and 60% of patients with thrombotic thrombocytopenic
      purpura (TTP) relapse and mortality remains at 15-20%. Limited clinical data
      suggest that the administration of anti-CD20 antibody (rituximab) may be useful
      in preventing acute refractory and chronic relapsing TTP. DESIGN AND METHODS: We
      studied the clinical response to rituximab in 24 adult patients (median age 42
      years, range 24-72 years) from 15 Spanish centers with an acute refractory (14
      patients) or acute relapsing (10 patients) episode of idiopathic TTP. On
      admission, every patient received daily plasma exchange (PE). Rituximab was
      administered at a dose of 375 mg/m(2) weekly for a median of 13 days (range 0-57
      days) after starting PE for a median of 4 doses (range 1-8 doses). RESULTS: No
      severe acute or delayed toxicity was observed in the patients treated with
      rituximab. Three (12.5%) patients died because of TTP-related causes. The
      remaining 21 (87.5%) patients achieved complete remission in a median of 21 days
      (range 2-35 days) after initiating rituximab. After a median follow-up of 30
      months (range 7.5-74 months), 18 patients are in remission and 3 patients have
      relapsed at 7, 29, and 29 months. CONCLUSIONS: Rituximab appears to be a safe,
      effective therapy and has a high response rate for the treatment of acute
      refractory or relapsing idiopathic TTP in adult patients.

PMID- 20934384
TI  - Haemovigilance: are there significant differences among plasma products?
AB  - An analysis of adverse reactions caused by single-donor fresh frozen plasma (FFP)
      and pooled (solvent/detergent) S/D-treated plasma reveals that these plasma
      products are significantly different. We are unaware of any reports associating
      pooled S/D-treated plasma with transfusion-associated acute lung injury, or post
      transfusion-thrombocytopenia. In contrast, each of these transfusion reactions is
      a well-recognized adverse effect of single-donor FFP. Pooled S/D-treated plasma
      also has a more favorable clinical profile with reference to common acute
      reactions, such as fever, chills, and allergic reactions, which occur less
      frequently compared to single-donor FFP.

PMID- 20934385
TI  - Non-infectious serious hazards in plasma transfusion.
AB  - The use of plasma in hemotherapy is not without hazards. This article will give
      an overview of non-infectious side-effects associated with plasma transfusion by
      dividing them into two categories: hazards associated with the donor or the
      processing of blood, which will be attributed to as blood safety; and hazards
      which are associated with the clinical use of plasma, attributed to as
      transfusion safety. After having installed preventive measures against TRALI in
      most countries, blood safety is about to reach a very high level for plasma. In
      contrast, transfusion safety will remain a relevant issue for the next decade of
      plasma therapy.

PMID- 20934386
TI  - An evaluation of a donation coping brochure with Australian non-donors.
AB  - The current study evaluated the impact of blood donation coping brochures,
      adapted to address known predictors of non-donation, among Australians who had
      not previously donated blood. Participants read a donation coping brochure that
      either (1) incorporated a first-time donor narrative or (2) omitted the
      narrative, (3) a standard donor recruitment brochure, or (4) a control brochure
      focusing on exercise. Whilst both of the coping brochures resulted in significant
      changes in intention and a number of its predictors, the version with a donor
      narrative resulted in significantly greater improvements in self efficacy,
      intention, and fewer anticipated vasovagal reactions than the standard donor
      recruitment brochure. The findings indicate that specifically-designed brochures
      can enhance non-donors' intentions to donate blood.

PMID- 20934387
TI  - Stroke prediction after TIA: avoiding an alphabet soup.

PMID- 20934388
TI  - Addition of brain and carotid imaging to the ABCD2 score to identify patients at
      early risk of stroke after transient ischaemic attack: a multicentre
      observational study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The ABCD2 score improves stratification of patients with transient
      ischaemic attack by early stroke risk. We aimed to develop two new versions of
      the score: one that was based on preclinical information and one that was based
      on imaging and other secondary care assessments. METHODS: We analysed pooled data
      from patients with clinically defined transient ischaemic attack who were
      investigated while in secondary care. Items that contribute to the ABCD2 score
      (age, blood pressure, clinical weakness, duration, and diabetes), other clinical
      variables, carotid stenosis, and abnormal acute diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI)
      were recorded and were included in multivariate logistic regression analysis of
      stroke occurrence at early time intervals after onset of transient ischaemic
      attack. Scores based on the findings of this analysis were validated in patients
      with transient ischaemic attack from two independent population-based cohorts.
      FINDINGS: 3886 patients were included in the study: 2654 in the derivation sample
      and 1232 in the validation sample. We derived the ABCD3 score (range 0-9 points)
      by assigning 2 points for dual transient ischaemic attack (an earlier transient
      ischaemic attack within 7 days of the index event). C statistics (which indicate
      discrimination better than chance at >0.5) for the ABCD3 score were 0.78 at 2
      days, 0.80 at 7 days, 0.79 at 28 days, and 0.77 at 90 days, compared with C
      statistics for the ABCD2 score of 0.71 at 2 days (p=0.083), 0.71 at 7 days
      (p=0.012), 0.71 at 28 days (p=0.021), and 0.69 at 90 days (p=0.018). We included
      stenosis of at least 50% on carotid imaging (2 points) and abnormal DWI (2
      points) in the ABCD3-imaging (ABCD3-I) score (0-13 points). C statistics for the
      ABCD3-I score were 0.90 at 2 days (compared with ABCD2 score p=0.035), 0.92 at 7
      days (p=0.001), 0.85 at 28 days (p=0.028), and 0.79 at 90 days (p=0.073). The 90
      day net reclassification improvement compared with ABCD2 was 29.1% for ABCD3
      (p=0.0003) and 39.4% for ABCD3-I (p=0.034). In the validation sample, the ABCD3
      and ABCD3-I scores predicted early stroke at 7, 28, and 90 days. However,
      discrimination and net reclassification of patients with early stroke were
      similar with ABCD3 compared with ABCD2. INTERPRETATION: The ABCD3-I score can
      improve risk stratification after transient ischaemic attack in secondary care
      settings. However, use of ABCD3 cannot be recommended without further validation.
      FUNDING: Health Research Board of Ireland, Irish Heart Foundation, and Irish
      National Lottery.

PMID- 20934389
TI  - Motivational interviewing skills are positively associated with nutritionist self
      efficacy.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To examine the relationships between physical and social self
      concepts, motivational interviewing (MI), and nutrition assessment skills with
      dimensions of counseling self-efficacy. DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey. SETTING:
      Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)
      clinics. PARTICIPANTS: Sixty-five WIC nutritionists. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:
      Counseling self-efficacy on topics related to physical activity and nutritional
      behaviors and in the presence of language and cultural differences. ANALYSIS:
      Multiple linear regression. RESULTS: Nutritionists' perception of their own MI
      skills was positively associated with their self-efficacy for counseling clients
      of a culture different than their own, when counseling about physical activity,
      and when counseling about nutrition behavior. Hispanic ethnicity and social self
      concept were positively associated with counseling self-efficacy when culture
      differences were present. Physical self-concept was positively associated with
      self-efficacy related to physical activity topics. Nutrition assessment skill was
      negatively associated with self-efficacy for working with non-English-speaking
      clients. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Development of MI skills and strategies to
      improve social and physical self-concept may increase WIC nutritionists'
      counseling self-efficacy, particularly when counseling clients from diverse
      backgrounds.

PMID- 20934390
TI  - Nonepileptic seizures under levetiracetam therapy.
AB  - We describe two patients with epilepsy who presented with nonepileptic seizures
      (NES) when started on levetiracetam (LEV), which disappeared or significantly
      decreased when LEV was discontinued. NES are traditionally attributed to psychic
      trauma often after physical or sexual abuse, whereas the psychiatric side effects
      of levetiracetam largely encompass depression, hallucinations, and psychosis. We
      conclude that NES are a rare side effect of LEV treatment and part of the
      spectrum of behavioral changes observed with LEV treatment.

PMID- 20934391
TI  - Magnetoencephalography adds to the surgical evaluation process.
AB  - Summarizing the podium discussion at the AES 2009, strengths and limitations of
      magnetoencephalography (MEG) are discussed with regard to basic methodological
      and clinical aspects in routine screening and presurgical evaluation of patients
      with epilepsies. Current literature and example cases are used to illustrate MEG
      contribution to clinical decision making, specifically whether a patient with
      pharmacoresistant epilepsy can move forward to epilepsy surgery. The main
      conclusion is that the largest role of MEG, as presently performed in the
      clinical environment, is to increase the number of patients who can go on to
      surgery, while it should not be used to deny surgery to any patient.

PMID- 20934392
TI  - Seizure aggravation caused by antiepileptic drugs in a patient with muscle-eye
      brain disease.

PMID- 20934393
TI  - Biogenic amines and their metabolites in mouse brain tissue: development,
      optimization and validation of an analytical HPLC method.
AB  - A simple and fast HPLC method based on an isocratic, reversed-phased ion-pair
      with amperometric end-point detection for simultaneous measurement of
      noradrenergic (MHPG/NA and A), dopaminergic (DOPAC, HVA/DA) and serotonergic (5
      HIAA/5-HT) compounds in mouse brain tissue was developed. In order to improve the
      chromatographic resolution (Rs) with an acceptable total analysis time,
      experimental designs for multivariate optimization of the experimental conditions
      were applied. The optimal conditions for the separation of the eight
      neurotransmitters and metabolites, as well as two internal standards, i.e., DHBA
      and 5-HMT, were obtained using a mixture of methanol-phosphate-citric buffer (pH
      3.2, 50 mM) (9:91, v/v) containing 2 mM OSA as mobile phase at 32 degrees C on a
      microbore ALF-115 column (150 mm * 1.0 mm, 3 MUm particle size) filled with
      porous C(18) silica stationary phase. In this study, a two-level fractional
      factorial experimental design (1/2 2(K)) was employed to optimize the separation
      and capacity factor (k') of each molecule, leading to a good separation of all
      biogenic amines and their metabolites in brain tissue. A simple method for the
      preparation of different bio-analytical samples in phosphate-citric buffer was
      also developed. Results show that all molecules of interest were stabilized for
      at least 24 h in the matrix conditions without any antioxidants. The method was
      fully validated according to the requirements of SFSTP (Societe Francaise des
      Sciences et Techniques Pharmaceutiques). The acceptance limits were set at +/-15%
      of the nominal concentration. The method was found accurate over a concentration
      range of 4-2000 ng/ml for MHPG, 1-450 ng/ml for NA, 1-700 ng/ml for A, 1-300
      ng/ml for DOPAC, 1-300 ng/ml for 5-HIAA, 1-700 ng/ml for DA, 4-2800 ng/ml for HVA
      and 1-350 ng/ml for 5-HT. The assay limits of detection for MHPG, NA, A, DOPAC, 5
      HIAA, DA, HVA and 5-HT were 2.6, 2.8, 4.1, 0.7, 0.6, 0.8, 4.2 and 1.4 pg,
      respectively. It was found that the mean inter- and intra-assay relative standard
      deviations (RSDs) over the range of standard curve were less than 3%, the
      absolute and the relative recoveries were around 100%, demonstrating the high
      precision and accuracy, and reliability of the analytical method described to
      apply in routine analysis of biogenic amines and their metabolites in brain
      tissue.

PMID- 20934394
TI  - Health and wealth in Uzbekistan and sub-Saharan Africa in comparative
      perspective.
AB  - The study investigates the magnitude of differences in child and adult mortality
      by wealth in Uzbekistan, a former soviet country of Central Asia, and compares it
      with similar indicators from sub-Saharan Africa. Data were derived from
      Demographic and Health Surveys. An "Absolute Wealth Index" was built from data on
      goods owned by households and quality of housing, and scaled from 0 to 12. Wealth
      was distributed evenly in Uzbekistan, with a symmetric distribution around a mean
      of 5.5 modern goods. In sub-Saharan Africa, on the contrary, the wealth
      distribution had a lower mean (2.5) and was highly skewed towards the left,
      revealing a high proportion of very poor people. Adult and child mortality levels
      were lower in Uzbekistan. Despite these major differences, the relationships
      between mortality indicators and the wealth index were similar in the two cases.
      The magnitude of mortality differentials by wealth was of the same order in both
      cases, with gradients ranging from 2.5 to 1 for child mortality and 1.5 to 1 for
      adult mortality (poorest versus richest). However, mortality levels remained
      lower in Uzbekistan than in sub-Saharan Africa at the same level of wealth for
      both children and adults. A similar relationship was found between nutritional
      status and wealth index in both cases. On the contrary, there were no differences
      by wealth in use of health services and level of education in Uzbekistan, whereas
      wealth gradients were steep for the same variables in sub-Saharan Africa. The
      study suggests that mortality differentials were primarily due to nutritional
      status, and not to access and use of health services or to education. The
      discussion focuses on health and social policies during the colonial and post
      colonial period that have produced these patterns.

PMID- 20934395
TI  - Cancer secretomics reveal pathophysiological pathways in cancer molecular
      oncology.
AB  - Emerging proteomic tools and mass spectrometry play pivotal roles in protein
      identification, quantification and characterization, even in complex biological
      samples. The cancer secretome, namely the whole collection of proteins secreted
      by cancer cells through various secretory pathways, has only recently been shown
      to have significant potential for diverse applications in oncoproteomics. For
      example, secreted proteins might represent putative tumor biomarkers or
      therapeutic targets for various types of cancer. Consequently, many proteomic
      strategies for secretome analysis have been extensively deployed over the last
      few years. These efforts generated a large amount of information awaiting deeper
      mining, better understanding and careful interpretation. Distinct sub-fields,
      such as degradomics, exosome proteomics and tumor-host cell interactions have
      been developed, in an attempt to provide certain answers to partially elucidated
      mechanisms of cancer pathobiology. In this review, advances, concerns and
      challenges in the field of secretome analysis as well as possible clinical
      applications are discussed.

PMID- 20934396
TI  - Changes in the morphology and lability of lysosomal subpopulations in caerulein
      induced acute pancreatitis.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Lysosomes play an important role in acute pancreatitis (AP).
      Here we developed a method for the isolation of lysosome subpopulations from rat
      pancreas and assessed the stability of lysosomal membranes. METHODS: AP was
      induced by four subcutaneous injections of 20 MUg caerulein/kg body weight at
      hourly intervals. The animals were killed 9h after the first injection. Marker
      enzymes [N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase (NAG), cathepsin B and succinate
      dehydrogenase (SDH)] were assayed in subcellular fractions from control pancreas
      and in pancreatitis. Lysosomal subpopulations were separated by Percoll density
      gradient centrifugation and observed by electron microscopy. NAG molecular forms
      were determined by DEAE-cellulose chromatography. RESULTS: AP was associated
      with: (i) increases in the specific activity of lysosomal enzymes in the soluble
      fraction, (ii) changes in the size and alterations in the morphology of the
      organelles from the lysosomal subpopulations, (iii) the appearance of large
      vacuoles in the primary and secondary lysosome subpopulations, (iv) the increase
      in the amount of the NAG form associated with the pancreatic lysosomal membrane
      as well as its release towards the soluble fraction. CONCLUSIONS: Lysosome
      subpopulations are separated by a combination of differential and Percoll density
      gradient centrifugations. Primary lysosome membrane stability decreases in AP.

PMID- 20934398
TI  - Approach and management of primary ectopic breast carcinoma in the axilla: where
      are we? A comprehensive historical literature review.
AB  - Primary ectopic breast carcinoma is a rare disease and, at present, no specific
      guidelines on its diagnosis and treatment are available. The purpose of this
      article is to review the world literature in English on primary ectopic breast
      carcinoma located in the armpit and to offer guidelines for diagnosis and
      treatment. Data for this review were identified by searches of MEDLINE, PubMed,
      The Cochrane Library, ACNP (Italian catalogue of journals) and references from
      relevant articles using relevant search terms and data published in the previous
      reviews. Primary ectopic breast carcinoma of the axilla mostly affects women of
      over 40 (range 28-90 yrs) years of age. The most frequent histological diagnosis
      is invasive ductal carcinoma not otherwise specified (NOS) (72%). Because of its
      rareness, in most cases, the diagnosis is delayed for on average 40.5 months.
      This disease is rare, but a high level of suspicion for carcinoma is mandatory
      when confronted with a tumour in this area. Once diagnosed, patients should
      undergo staging, and prognostic and adjuvant treatment procedures identical to
      orthotopic breast carcinoma guidelines. There are some limitations for the
      staging. Loco-regional treatment, on indication, combined with endocrine therapy
      and/or chemotherapy seems the treatment of choice.

PMID- 20934397
TI  - Recent advances in the understanding of the role of the endocannabinoid system in
      liver diseases.
AB  - Endocannabinoids are ubiquitous signalling molecules that exert their effects
      through a number of specific cannabinoid receptors. Recent studies have indicated
      that this endocannabinoid system is involved in the pathophysiological processes
      associated with both acute and chronic liver diseases as well as in the
      complications that arise from these diseases such as hepatic encephalopathy and
      cardiac problems. Targeting this signalling system has been useful in
      ameliorating some of the symptoms and consequences in experimental models of
      these liver diseases. This review summarises the recent advances into our
      knowledge and understanding of endocannabinoids in liver diseases and highlights
      potential novel therapeutic strategies that may prove useful to treat these
      diseases.

PMID- 20934399
TI  - Total knee arthroplasty in severe valgus deformity: interest of combining a
      lateral approach with a tibial tubercle osteotomy.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Among the patients requiring total knee arthroplasty (TKA),
      approximately 10-15% presents with a valgus deformity (VD). Severely deformed
      valgus knees represent a surgical challenge. The purpose of this study is to
      evaluate the results of TKA in grade II and III valgus knee deformities (Ranawat
      classification), focusing on axis correction, by using a lateral parapatellar
      capsulotomy combined with tibial tubercle osteotomy. HYPOTHESIS: The lateral
      approach in combination with a tibial tuberosity osteotomy is highly beneficial
      in the treatment of severe valgus knees in patients undergoing primary TKA, for
      correction of anatomical axis. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Between January 1995 and
      December 2001, 33 patients with severe VD, grade II and III, were treated with
      TKA by one surgeon. Twenty-six patients (19 male, seven female) with mean age of
      72 years (57-79) were dealt with a resurfacing posterior stabilized design;
      whereas in seven cases, a constrained type implant was used. These seven patients
      were excluded from the study. Two more patients were lost for follow-up and were
      also excluded. The axis deviation of the remaining 24 patients ranged from 15 to
      35 degrees, (average 23 degrees ). A lateral parapatellar arthrotomy, in
      combination with tibial tubercle osteotomy was used. Patients' clinical
      evaluation - using the International Knee Society (IKS) score - with simultaneous
      radiological assessment was performed yearly after the operation; and for a mean
      follow-up time of 11.5 years (8 to 15 years). RESULTS: The mean IKS score
      improved from 44 points (34 to 52) preoperatively, to 91 points (68 to 100)
      postoperatively, at the last follow-up. In terms of alignment parameter, only two
      knees had a residual valgus deviation greater than 7 degrees  (ideal range : 3-7
      degrees ). One knee exhibited a 9 degrees  valgus, and another one 10 degrees ,
      according to anatomical axis measurments. In one case, there was a 5mm proximal
      migration of the osteotomised tuberosity fragment, due to breakage of the screw.
      However, the final outcome was not affected. There were no cases of tibial
      tubercle's non-union; neither of delayed instability. CONCLUSION: The lateral
      approach is a useful approach in the treatment of severe valgus knee deformity in
      patients undergoing primary TKA. Anatomical axis restoration is facilitated, as
      the contracted structures are easily accessed and, in severe cases, the patellar
      alignment may be achieved by displacing the osteotomised tubercle. However,
      careful fixation of the tuberosity is mandatory. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level IV,
      prospective study of case series.

PMID- 20934400
TI  - Liposarcoma of the extremities: MR imaging features and their correlation with
      pathologic data.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To describe the MRI features of liposarcomas of the extremities and
      correlate them with data from the histologic subtypes. MATERIAL AND METHODS:
      Retrospective study of 20 cases of liposarcoma of the extremities identified on
      MRI, surgically removed and confirmed at pathology. On MRI examination, T1- and
      T2-weighted fat-suppressed and non-fat-suppressed images were acquired then
      gadolinium-enhanced fat-suppressed T1-weighted images were obtained in at least
      two orthogonal planes. RESULTS: Sixteen female and four male patients aged 12 to
      77 years old at presentation, in 16 cases, with a slowly enlarging painless mass
      (demonstrating no associated local or general inflammatory components), located
      in the lower extremity (16 cases) and predominantly located in the thigh (13
      cases). Pathologic examination revealed three cases of well-differentiated
      liposarcoma, 12 cases of myxoid liposarcoma one of which with round cells, three
      cases of pleomorphic liposarcoma, one case of dedifferentiated liposarcoma and
      one case of mixed-type liposarcoma. MR images mostly showed well-circumscribed
      tumors (19 cases) . Well-differentiated liposarcomas typically demonstrated a
      very specific diagnostic appearance as a predominantly adipose mass containing
      nonlipomatous components seen as thick septa that may show nodularity. Other
      subtypes of liposarcoma demonstrated a small amount of adipose tissue thus
      producing a marbled textural pattern on T1-weighted images particularly in myxoid
      liposarcomas (9 cases), or even nonlipomatous elements in high-grade liposarcomas
      (in round cell liposarcoma and in two out of three pleomorphic liposarcomas). The
      myxoid subtype has also a relatively characteristic appearance as a low signal
      intensity noted on T1-weighted images and a marked high signal intensity on T2.
      The dedifferentiated liposarcoma has a very specific radiologic appearance as a
      nonlipomatous component within a predominantly adipose mass, simulating that of
      well-differentiated liposarcomas. CONCLUSION: MRI of extremity liposarcomas is a
      highly reliable and sensitive method to characterize liposarcomas. Besides its
      value in the diagnosis of liposarcoma and locoregional extension control, it
      allows proper identification of the specific histologic subtypes of liposarcoma.
      LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level IV. Retrospective diagnostic study.

PMID- 20934401
TI  - Fracture resistance of premolars restored with inlay and onlay ceramic
      restorations and luted with two different agents.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the fracture resistance of
      human maxillary premolars restored with 2 ceramic systems (Vitadur Alpha and In
      Ceram) comparing 3 preparation designs and 2 luting agents. METHODS: Seventy
      sound teeth were prepared to receive ceramic restorations (Vitadur Alpha; n=14)
      as follows: (1) control, sound premolars, with no preparation, (2) inlays, (3)
      partial onlays (palatal cuspid coverage), (4) total onlays (both cuspids
      coverage), and (5) total onlays with an In Ceram core. The ceramic restorations
      were cemented using Enforce or RelyX ARC (half restorations with each cement),
      placed into the cavity and held under pressure, except for the control group. The
      teeth were subjected to compressive axial loading at 0.5 mm min-1 using a 9 mm
      steel ball until fracture. Data were analyzed by 3-way ANOVA and post hoc Tukey's
      test (alpha=.05). RESULTS: There was a significant difference between cements and
      among preparation designs (P<.05). All restorations cemented with Enforce
      exhibited significantly higher fracture resistance (P<.05). Inlay restorations
      showed similar fracture resistance when compared to control group (P>.05).
      Partial and total onlays did not statistically differ and showed the weakest
      performance. The use of an In Ceram core did not produce higher fracture
      resistance. CONCLUSIONS: Within the limitations of this study, the cements tested
      had different mechanical properties, while cuspid coverage did not result in
      improved fracture resistance of the restored teeth.

PMID- 20934402
TI  - Chloroplast-targeted ferredoxin-NADP(+) oxidoreductase (FNR): structure, function
      and location.
AB  - Ferredoxin-NADP(+) oxidoreductase (FNR) is a ubiquitous flavin adenine
      dinucleotide (FAD)-binding enzyme encoded by a small nuclear gene family in
      higher plants. The chloroplast targeted FNR isoforms are known to be responsible
      for the final step of linear electron flow transferring electrons from ferredoxin
      to NADP(+), while the putative role of FNR in cyclic electron transfer has been
      under discussion for decades. FNR has been found from three distinct chloroplast
      compartments (i) at the thylakoid membrane, (ii) in the soluble stroma, and (iii)
      at chloroplast inner envelope. Recent in vivo studies have indicated that besides
      the membrane-bound FNR, also the soluble FNR is photosynthetically active. Two
      chloroplast proteins, Tic62 and TROL, were recently identified and shown to form
      high molecular weight protein complexes with FNR at the thylakoid membrane, and
      thus seem to act as the long-sought molecular anchors of FNR to the thylakoid
      membrane. Tic62-FNR complexes are not directly involved in photosynthetic
      reactions, but Tic62 protects FNR from inactivation during the dark periods. TROL
      FNR complexes, however, have an impact on the photosynthetic performance of the
      plants. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Regulation of Electron
      Transport in Chloroplasts.

PMID- 20934403
TI  - TGFbeta induces proHB-EGF shedding and EGFR transactivation through ADAM
      activation in gastric cancer cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Transforming growth factor-beta (TGFbeta) is known to
      potently inhibit cell growth. Loss of responsiveness to TGFbeta inhibition on
      cell growth is a hallmark of many types of cancer, yet its mechanism is not fully
      understood. Membrane-anchored heparin-binding EGF-like growth factor (proHB-EGF)
      ectodomain is cleaved by a disintegrin and metalloproteinase (ADAM) members and
      is implicated in epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) transactivation.
      Recently, nuclear translocation of the C-terminal fragment (CTF) of pro-HB-EGF
      was found to induce cell growth. We investigated the association between TGFbeta
      and HB-EGF signal transduction via ADAM activation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The
      CCK-8 assay in two gastric cancer cell lines was used to determine the effect for
      cell growth by TGFbeta. The effect of two ADAM inhibitors was also evaluated.
      Induction of EGFR phosphorylation by TGFbeta was analyzed and the effect of the
      ADAM inhibitors was also examined. Nuclear translocation of HB-EGF-CTF by
      shedding through ADAM activated by TGFbeta was also analyzed. EGFR
      transactivation, HB-EGF-CTF nuclear translocation, and cell growth were examined
      under the condition of ADAM17 knockdown. RESULT: TGFbeta-induced EGFR
      phosphorylation of which ADAM inhibitors were able to inhibit. TGFbeta induced
      shedding of proHB-EGF allowing HB-EGF-CTF to translocate to the nucleus. ADAM
      inhibitors blocked this nuclear translocation. TGFbeta enhanced gastric cancer
      cell growth and ADAM inhibitors suppressed this effect. EGFR phosphorylation, HB
      EGF-CTF nuclear translocation, and cell growth were suppressed in ADAM17
      knockdown cells. CONCLUSION: HB-EGF-CTF nuclear translocation and EGFR
      transactivation from proHB-EGF shedding mediated by ADAM17 activated by TGFbeta
      might be an important pathway of gastric cancer cell proliferation by TGFbeta.

PMID- 20934404
TI  - ChREBP regulates Pdx-1 and other glucose-sensitive genes in pancreatic beta
      cells.
AB  - Carbohydrate responsive element-binding protein (ChREBP) is a transcription
      factor whose expression and activity are increased in pancreatic beta-cells
      maintained at elevated glucose concentrations. We show here that ChREBP
      inactivation in clonal pancreatic MIN6 beta-cells results in an increase in Pdx-1
      expression at low glucose and to a small, but significant, increase in Ins2, GcK
      and MafA gene expression at high glucose concentrations. Conversely, adenovirus
      mediated over-expression of ChREBP in mouse pancreatic islets results in
      decreases in Pdx-1, MafA, Ins1, Ins2 and GcK mRNA levels. These data suggest that
      strategies to reduce ChREBP activity might protect against beta-cell dysfunction
      in type 2 diabetes.

PMID- 20934405
TI  - Induction of an osteocyte-like phenotype by fibroblast growth factor-2.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to characterize the molecular phenotype that occurs
      during the profound morphological shift of cultured osteogenic cells upon
      treatment with fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF2). A time course of treatment with
      FGF2 was performed on an osteoblast cell line, primary bone marrow stromal cells
      and an osteocyte-like cell line. Morphologic changes were recorded, and gene
      profiling was carried out by real time PCR. By 8h of FGF2 treatment, there is a
      striking morphological shift of osteoblast and stromal cells to an elongated
      dendritic-like morphology that is remindful of osteocytes. In osteoblasts treated
      with FGF2, this morphologic shift is preceded by an induction of several
      osteocyte markers, including dentin matrix protein 1 (>20-fold) and E11 (>5
      fold). There is a transient increase in the gene expression of sclerostin (3.5
      fold) and PHEX (2.5-fold). Sclerostin regulation by FGF2 is complex, as gene
      expression becomes markedly inhibited by FGF2 at times points after 8h of
      treatment before rebounding at day 12. Analogous modulation of osteocyte markers
      is seen in bone marrow stromal cells and MLO-Y4 osteocyte-like cells. In
      conclusion, this study shows that FGF2 can regulate the transition of osteogenic
      cells towards the osteocyte lineage, as well as, regulate the expression of
      critical genes in osteocytes.

PMID- 20934406
TI  - The role of the pro-apoptotic protein Siva in the pathogenesis of Familial
      Mediterranean fever: A structural and functional analysis.
AB  - Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is an autosomal, recessive disease, attributed
      to mutations in MEFV gene encoding pyrin, which is characterized by recurrent,
      acute and self-limiting attacks of fever as well as an increased neutrophil and
      monocyte apoptosis. Most disease-associated mutations in MEFV gene reside on the
      C-terminal PRYSPRY (B30.2) domain of pyrin, an area found to interact with the
      pro-apoptotic protein Siva. Because apoptotic events may be contributing to
      endogenous inflammation we hypothesized that mutations in pyrin may affect Siva
      mediated apoptosis. The confirmation of this hypothesis would be of a great
      biological significance since it would be demonstrated a connection between
      apoptosis and inflammation. We used homology modeling to construct a 3-D model of
      Siva protein and the constructed model of Siva defined structural elements with
      potential of binding other proteins to induce apoptosis. Given that Siva protein
      binds pyrin as shown by transfection and immunoprecipitation experiments,
      apoptosis was assessed by FACS and Western blotting. No differences in rates of
      apoptosis in myeloid cells (THP-1) upon transfection with either wt pyrin or
      mutant forms of pyrin were found. Patients with FMF did not display any mutations
      in the Siva-1 (full length) gene. Siva-1 was not linked to pyrin in the major
      predicted FMF gene network constructed using a literature-curated gene signature
      for FMF. These results suggest that Siva-mediated unprovoked apoptosis is not
      likely to be involved in the pathogenesis of FMF.

PMID- 20934408
TI  - The Fos expression in rat brain following electrical stimulation of dura mater
      surrounding the superior sagittal sinus changed with the pre-treatment of
      rizatriptan benzoate.
AB  - Fos expression in the brain was systematically investigated by means of
      immunohistochemical staining after electrical stimulation of the dura mater
      surrounding the superior sagittal sinus in conscious rats. Fos-like
      immunoreactive neurons are distributed mainly in the upper cervical spinal cord,
      spinal trigeminal nucleus caudal part, raphe magnus nucleus, periaqueductal gray,
      ventromedial hypothalamic nucleus, and mediodorsal thalamus nucleus. With the pre
      treatment of intraperitoneal injection of rizatriptan benzoate, the number of Fos
      like immunoreactive neurons decreased in the spinal trigeminal nucleus caudal
      part and raphe magnus nucleus, increased in the periaqueductal gray, and remained
      unchanged in the ventromedial hypothalamic nucleus and mediodorsal thalamus
      nucleus. These results provide morphological evidence that the nuclei described
      above are involved in the development and maintenance of the trigeminovascular
      headache.

PMID- 20934407
TI  - The anti-tumoral drug enzastaurin inhibits natural killer cell cytotoxicity via
      activation of glycogen synthase kinase-3beta.
AB  - Enzastaurin is a selective protein kinase Cbeta inhibitor which is shown to have
      direct antitumor effect as well as suppress glycogen synthase kinase-3beta (GSK
      3beta) phosphorylation (resulting in its activation) in both tumor tissues and
      peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). It is currently used in phase II
      trials for the treatment of colon cancer, refractory glioblastoma and diffuse
      large B cell lymphoma. In this study, the direct effect of enzastaurin on
      effector function of human natural killer (NK) cells was investigated. The
      results obtained showed that enzastaurin suppressed both natural and antibody
      dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) of NK cells against different tumor
      targets. This inhibition was associated with a specific down-regulation of
      surface expression of NK cell activating receptor NKG2D and CD16 involved in
      natural cytotoxicity and ADCC respectively, as well as the inhibition of perforin
      release. Analysis of signal transduction revealed that enzastaurin activated GSK
      3beta by inhibition of GSK-3beta phosphorylation. Treatment of NK cells with GSK
      3beta-specific inhibitor TDZD-8 prevented enzastaurin-induced inhibition of NK
      cell cytotoxicity. Apart from the known antitumor and antiangiogenic effects,
      these results demonstrate that enzastaurin suppresses NK cell activity and may
      therefore interfere with NK cell-mediated tumor control in enzastaurin-treated
      cancer patients.

PMID- 20934409
TI  - Changes in nitric oxide content following injury to the neonatal rat brain.
AB  - Nitric oxide is an important mediator of inflammation in the brain, but it still
      remains unresolved whether its action is protective or not. In particular, it
      seems crucial to compare the effects observed in the mature brain with the
      developing brain of newborn animals. The influence of NO on tissue depends
      significantly on its concentration. In the present study we tried to find how NO
      production changes after brain injury in neonatal rats. 6-day-old rats received
      mechanical injury to the left brain hemisphere and the tissue was collected at
      subsequent time points, either for EPR analysis or histochemical examination with
      NADPH-diaphorase staining. Our data revealed that NO concentration in the
      lesioned hemisphere increases slightly at 1 and 2 days after injury but also 8
      days later. However, changes in the number of NADPH-diaphorase positive cells
      showed a different pattern from changes in NO level. These data suggest that NO
      concentration in the brain depends on its developmental stage.

PMID- 20934410
TI  - Aquaporin 4 expression in control and epileptic human cerebral cortex.
AB  - Aquaporin-4 (AQP4), the prominent water channel in the brain, is particularly
      concentrated in astrocytic endfeet membranes lining the capillaries and the pia.
      This localisation pattern makes it well suited to regulate the flow of water and
      the homeostasis of the interstitial fluid surrounding the neurons. Using
      immunocytochemical and Western blot techniques, we investigated the expression of
      AQP4 and some related proteins (i.e. glial fibrillary acidic protein, glial
      glutamate transporter 1, the endothelial marker CD34, and dystrophin) in tissue
      taken from epileptic patients. To this end, we used surgical samples containing
      focal cortical dysplasia (FCD) Type IIB, samples of normal-appearing
      (cryptogenic) cortex, and samples from non-epileptic patients as controls. AQP4
      expression and distribution in the cryptogenic patients were similar to those
      observed in the control cases, mainly concentrated around blood vessels. In the
      patients with FCD type IIB, severe malformation in cortical development, the
      protein was more expressed and the distribution pattern of AQP4 immunoreactivity
      was different, being strong in the neuropil and around several dysplastic
      neurons, whereas the vessels appeared to be less intensely stained by AQP4 and
      dystrophin. As the efficiency of AQP4 in regulating water and ion homeostasis in
      extracellular space depends on its spatial distribution in astrocytes, the
      different distribution of AQP4 protein in the FCD type IIB samples may modify
      fluid homeostasis control and the regular functioning of neuronal cells.

PMID- 20934411
TI  - Human Ermin (hErmin), a new oligodendrocyte-specific cytoskeletal protein related
      to epileptic seizure.
AB  - During the maturation of oligodendrocytes, cells are characterized by their
      morphological changes such as the number of process extensions and sheet-like
      membranes. This process relies critically on cytoskeleton rearrangement, but the
      molecular mechanisms underlying this are still unclear. Here, we identify human
      Ermin (hErmin), a novel cytoskeletal molecule that is expressed exclusively in
      oligodendrocytes in human brain, as a regulator of cytoskeleton rearrangement. In
      vitro, full-length hErmin expression, but not its truncated mutants lacking the
      actin-binding domain, promote arborization of cultured COS-7 cells and induce
      marked changes in cell morphology. The most important is that expression of
      hErmin in specimens of epileptic patients is much lower than that of control,
      implying that hErmin may be involved in epileptogenic process. These findings
      suggest a role for hErmin as a novel cytoskeleton-related oligodendroglial
      protein in human brain myelination and human epileptogenesis, and provide new
      evidence for the relationship between oligodendrocytes and epilepsy.

PMID- 20934412
TI  - Triflusal reduces cerebral ischemia induced inflammation in a combined mouse
      model of Alzheimer's disease and stroke.
AB  - Clinical data has shown that stroke exacerbates dementia in Alzheimer's disease
      (AD) patients. Previous work, combining rat models of AD and stroke have shown
      that neuroinflammation may be the common mediator between AD and stroke toxicity.
      This study examined the effects of triflusal (2-acetoxy-4-trifluoromethylbenzoic
      acid) in APP(23) transgenic mice receiving strokes. Six month-old APP(23) mice
      over-expressing mutant human amyloid precursor protein (APP) were used to model
      AD in this study. Unilateral injections of a potent vasoconstrictor, endothelin
      1, into the striatum were used to mimic small lacunar infarcts.
      Immunohistochemical analysis was performed to examine AD-like pathology and
      inflammatory correlates of stroke and AD. APP(23) mice showed increases in AD
      like pathology and inflammatory markers of AD in the cortex and hippocampus.
      Endothelin-induced ischemia triggered an inflammatory response along with
      increases in AD pathological markers in the region of the infarct. Triflusal
      reduced inflammation surrounding the endothelin-induced infarct only. At the dose
      used, anti-inflammatory treatment may be beneficial in reducing the AD and
      inflammatory correlates of stroke in a combined AD-stroke mouse model.

PMID- 20934414
TI  - Recent studies of gonadotropin-inhibitory hormone (GnIH) in the mammalian
      hypothalamus, pituitary and gonads.
AB  - The hypothalamo-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis integrates internal and external
      cues via a balance of stimulatory and inhibitory neurochemical systems to time
      reproductive activity. The cumulative output of these positive and negative
      modulators drives secretion of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH), a
      neuropeptide that causes pituitary gonadotropin synthesis and secretion. Ten
      years ago, Tsutsui and colleagues discovered a peptide in quail hypothalamus that
      is capable of inhibiting gonadotropin secretion in cultured quail pituitary
      cells. Later studies by a variety of researchers examined the presence and
      functional role for the mammalian ortholog of GnIH. To date, GnIH exhibits a
      similar distribution and functional role in all mammals investigated, including
      humans. This overview summarizes the role of GnIH in modulation of mammalian
      reproductive physiology and suggests avenues for further study by those
      interested in the neuroendocrine control of reproductive physiology and sexual
      behavior.

PMID- 20934415
TI  - The role of perioral afferentation in the occurrenceof spike-wave discharges in
      the WAG/Rij modelof absence epilepsy.
AB  - According to the focal cortical theory of absence epilepsy, spike-and-wave
      discharges (SWDs) have a cortical focal origin in the perioral region of the
      somatosensory cortex in rats. In the present study the role of peripheral
      afferents of the perioral (snout) region in the occurrence of spontaneous SWDs
      was investigated in the WAG/Rij (Wistar Albino Glaxo from Rijswijk) rat model of
      absence epilepsy in order to examine whether an input from peripheral sources is
      imperative for the occurrence of SWDs. Twelve male WAG/Rij rats were chronically
      equipped with cortical EEG electrodes. Peripheral afferents of the perioral
      region of the snout nervus trigeminus were pharmacologically blocked with a local
      injection of 2% Novocain, a blockade of nervus facialis and saline injections
      were used as controls. ECoGs were recorded before and after bilateral injection
      of the drug. Blockade of the n. trigeminus decreased the incidence and duration
      of SWD, while similar injections with Novocain near the n. facialis had no
      effect. Injections with saline were also not effective. Our data demonstrate that
      intact peripheral afferent input may be primarily involved in the initiation of
      SWDs. It suggests that the cortico-thalamo-cortical circuits need the peripheral
      stimulations from the snout and vibrissae for an initiation of the spontaneous
      SWDs.

PMID- 20934416
TI  - Inhibition of renal gluconeogenesis contributes to hypoglycaemic action of NADPH
      oxidase inhibitor, apocynin.
AB  - NADPH oxidase, catalysing superoxide radical (O2(.-)) formation, is considered as
      a main source of reactive oxygen species in kidneys and its increased activity is
      supposed to be involved in the development of diabetic nephropathy. The aim of
      this study was to investigate the effect of NADPH oxidase inhibitor, apocynin, on
      renal gluconeogenesis, which is an important source of endogenous glucose under
      diabetic conditions. The following observations were made during the experiments
      performed on isolated renal proximal tubules of control and alloxan diabetic
      rabbits: (1) apocynin (200 MUM) inhibited the rate of glucose synthesis by 45
      80%, depending on the substrate applied; (2) the rate of glucose production was
      also significantly diminished in the presence of TEMPOL (5mM), a superoxide
      radical scavenger, suggesting that the decrease in O2(.-) formation might be
      involved in apocynin-evoked gluconeogenesis inhibition; (3) the activities of
      phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) and/or aldolase were lowered in the
      presence of either apocynin or TEMPOL, as concluded from the intracellular levels
      of gluconeogenic intermediates. The data from in vivo experiments indicated that
      apocynin treatment (2g/l of drinking water): (1) significantly (by about 30%)
      attenuated serum glucose concentration in diabetic rabbits and did not affect
      glycaemia in control animals; (2) normalized diabetes-stimulated rate of glucose
      synthesis and slightly inhibited gluconeogenesis in control rabbits; (3)
      normalized diabetes-increased activity of mitochondrial PEPCK and lowered
      cytosolic PEPCK activity by about 20% below the value for untreated control
      animals; (4) slightly decreased the activity of mitochondrial PEPCK and did not
      change the activity of cytosolic one in control rabbits. Thus, it is concluded
      that: (1) the inhibition of NADPH oxidase might contribute to lowered rate of
      renal gluconeogenesis, probably due to decreasing PEPCK activity; (2) inhibition
      of renal gluconeogenesis is involved in apocynin hypoglycaemic action in vivo;
      (3) apocynin might be beneficial for diabetes treatment.

PMID- 20934413
TI  - Sex differences in beta-amyloid accumulation in 3xTg-AD mice: role of neonatal
      sex steroid hormone exposure.
AB  - The risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is higher in women than in men, a sex
      difference that likely results from the effects of sex steroid hormones. To
      investigate this relationship, we first compared progression of beta-amyloid
      (Abeta) pathology in male and female triple transgenic (3xTg-AD) mice. We found
      that female 3xTg-AD mice exhibit significantly greater Abeta burden and larger
      behavioral deficits than age-matched males. Next, we evaluated how the
      organizational effects of sex steroid hormones during postnatal development may
      affect adult vulnerability to Abeta pathology. We observed that male 3xTg-AD mice
      demasculinized during early development exhibit significantly increased Abeta
      accumulation in adulthood. In contrast, female mice defeminized during early
      development exhibit a more male-like pattern of Abeta pathology in adulthood.
      Taken together, these results demonstrate significant sex differences in
      pathology in 3xTg-AD mice and suggest that these differences may be mediated by
      organizational actions of sex steroid hormones during development.

PMID- 20934417
TI  - New site(s) of methylglyoxal-modified human serum albumin, identified by multiple
      reaction monitoring, alter warfarin binding and prostaglandin metabolism.
AB  - Methylglyoxal (MG) is a biologically reactive byproduct of glucose metabolism,
      levels of which increase in diabetes. MG modification of protein generates
      neutral hydroimidazolone adducts on arginine residues which can alter functional
      active sites. We investigated the site-specificity of MG adduction to human serum
      albumin (HSA) using multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) of 13 MG-modified tryptic
      peptides, each containing an internal arginine. Seven new sites for MG
      modification (R257>R209>R222>R81>R485>R472>R10) are described. Analysis of MG
      treated HSA showed substantial R257 and R410 modification, with MG-modified R257
      (at 100MUM MG) in drug site I causing significant inhibition of prostaglandin
      catalysis. The MG hydroimidazolone (MG-H1) adduct was modeled at R257, and
      molecular dynamics simulations and affinity docking revealed a decrease of 12.8
      16.5kcal/mol (S and R isomers, respectively) for warfarin binding in drug site I.
      Taken together, these results suggest that R257 is a likely site for MG
      modification in vivo, which may have functional consequences for prostaglandin
      metabolism and drug bioavailability.

PMID- 20934418
TI  - Gastroprotective mechanisms of Citrus lemon (Rutaceae) essential oil and its
      majority compounds limonene and beta-pinene: involvement of heat-shock protein
      70, vasoactive intestinal peptide, glutathione, sulfhydryl compounds, nitric
      oxide and prostaglandin E2.
AB  - Citrus lemon (CL) belongs to Rutaceae family and is popularly known in Brazil as
      limao siciliano. The phytochemical analysis of CL fruit bark essential oil showed
      two majority components, limonene (LIM) and beta-pinene (PIN). This study aimed
      to evaluate the gastroprotective mechanism of action from CL, LIM and PIN in
      ethanol- and indomethacin-induced gastric ulcers and its in vitro anti
      Helicobacter pylori activity. After ethanol-induced gastric ulcer, the ulcer area
      was measured and the stomachs were destined to histology (HE and PAS),
      immunohistochemistry for HSP-70 and VIP and glutathione (GSH) measurement. The
      involvement of nitric oxide (NO) and sulfhydryl (SH) compounds was determined.
      The ulcer area for indomethacin-induced gastric ulcers was measured. PGE2
      concentration was biochemically measured. The minimum inhibitory concentration
      (MIC) against H. pylori was determined in vitro. In ethanol model, CL and LIM
      demonstrated 100% of gastroprotection, while PIN did not exert effective
      gastroprotection (53.26%). In the indomethacin model, CL and LIM offered
      effective gastroprotection but PIN did not show gastroprotective effect. The
      gastric ulcer area of rats pretreated with NO-synthase inhibitor or SH-blocker
      was decreased in comparison to the control group. The MIC obtained for CL was 125
      MUg/mL, for LIM was 75 MUg/mL and for PIN was 500 MUg/mL. The gastroprotective
      effect of CL and LIM was involved with increasing in mucus secretion, HSP-70 and
      VIP, but not with GSH, NO or SH compounds. CL gastroprotective mechanism is
      involved with PGE2. PIN did not present gastroprotective activity.

PMID- 20934419
TI  - Molecular markers and bladder carcinoma: Schistosomal and non-schistosomal.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Detection of telomeric repeat amplification protocol (TRAP) activity,
      the human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT), tumor suppressor gene (p53)
      and proliferating marker (MIB-1) in bladder specimens. DESIGN AND METHODS:
      Specimens were obtained from 85 patients and 10 controls. TRAP technique and
      immunohistochemistry (IHC) method were performed. RESULTS: TRAP activity, hTERT,
      p53 and MIB1 were detected in 62.4%, 65.9%, 57.6% and 62.4% of all 85 patient
      cases, respectively. TRAP activity was detected in 75% of schistosomal urothelial
      carcinoma, 100% in schistosomal squamous cell carcinoma (SQCC) and 71.4% in non
      schistosomal urothelial carcinoma. hTERT protein was detected in schistosomal
      urothelial carcinoma (83.3%), 93.3% in schistosomal SQCC and 75.7% in non
      schistosomal urothelial carcinoma. CONCLUSIONS: TRAP and hTERT are useful for the
      detection of telomerase with special emphasis on their role in the detection of
      schistosomal-associated bladder cancer. Correlation of TRAP and hTERT protein
      with MIB1 and p53 reveals the importance of telomerase as a new marker in cancer
      bladder.

PMID- 20934420
TI  - Comparative analysis of serum proteomes of patients with cardiovascular disease.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To monitor increases or decreases in cardiovascular disease (CVD)
      related proteins that will be released from the deposits or plaque on the inner
      wall of blood vessels. DESIGN AND METHODS: Protein profiles of sera from healthy
      subjects and CVD patients were determined via 2-DE. Differentially expressed
      spots in CVD patients were identified by ESI-Q-TOF MS/MS. Retinol binding protein
      4 (RBP4), ceruloplasmin, and hemopexin were confirmed by Western blotting and
      RBP4 was further verified by ELISA. RESULTS: Approximately, 400 spots were
      detected in each gel via comparisons of the serum proteome. Among these spots, 19
      spots were selected and identified by ESI-Q-TOF MS/MS (P<0.05). The expression
      levels of RBP4 and ceruloplasmin were higher in CVD patients by Western blotting.
      The level of immunoreactive RBP4 in CVD patients was higher than that in healthy
      subjects. CONCLUSIONS: The three proteins identified in the present study may
      constitute potential biomarkers for the diagnosis of CVD in patients.

PMID- 20934422
TI  - Patterning a spiralian embryo: a segregated RNA for a Tis11 ortholog is required
      in the 3a and 3b cells of the Ilyanassa embryo.
AB  - Spiralian embryogenesis is found in a number of animal phyla, but the molecular
      mechanisms that pattern these embryos remain poorly understood. A hallmark of
      spiralian development is the production of tiers of cells, called quartets, that
      share distinct developmental potentials. Many RNAs have been discovered that are
      segregated into particular quartets, raising the possibility that such RNAs could
      be involved in establishing quartet-specific developmental potentials. In the
      spiralian embryo of the mollusc Ilyanassa, the IoTis11 RNA is segregated into the
      second and third quartets, then decays in nearly all lineages except for the
      ventral-anterior cells of the third quartet, 3a and 3b. Previously published fate
      mapping studies, extended here, show that 3a and 3b make bilaterally symmetrical
      contributions to the esophagus, head ectoderm, and larval musculature. Deletion
      of either 3a or 3b has only mild effects on development, but ablating both cells
      impairs development of the esophagus and several other organs. Knockdown of
      IoTis11 with a translation-blocking morpholino oligonucleotide causes a very
      similar set of phenotypes as ablation of 3a and 3b, showing that translation of
      this transcript is required for normal development of 3a and 3b. These results
      show that a segregated RNA is necessary for the cells that inherit it in a
      spiralian embryo. Given that RNAs are asymmetrically segregated in nearly all the
      early cleavages in this embryo, these results suggest that the embryo is
      extensively patterned by segregated factors. Our experiments also uncovered two
      previously unappreciated non-autonomous events during Ilyanassa development.
      First, we found that the embryo can regulate to develop normal esophagus after
      deletion of either 3a or 3b. Second, we found that the 3a or 3b lineages are
      required for normal development of the digestive glands, which arise from the
      fourth order macromeres.

PMID- 20934421
TI  - Direct and indirect requirements of Shh/Gli signaling in early pituitary
      development.
AB  - Induction of early pituitary progenitors is achieved through combined activities
      of signals from adjacent embryonic tissues. Previous studies have identified a
      requirement for oral ectoderm derived Sonic Hedgehog (Shh) in specification
      and/or proliferation of early pituitary progenitors, however how different Gli
      genes mediate Shh signaling to control pituitary progenitor development has not
      yet been determined. Here we show that Gli2, which encodes a major Gli activator,
      is required for proliferation of specific groups of pituitary progenitors but not
      for initial dorsoventral patterning. We further show that the action of Gli2
      occurs prior to the closure of Rathke' pouch. Lastly, we show that Shh/Gli2
      signaling controls the diencephalic expression of Bone morphogenetic protein 4
      (Bmp4) and Fibroblast growth factor 8 (Fgf8), two genes that are known to play
      critical roles in patterning and growth of Rathke's pouch. Our results therefore
      suggest both cell-autonomous and non-cell-autonomous requirements for Gli2 in
      regulation of pituitary progenitor specification, proliferation and
      differentiation.

PMID- 20934423
TI  - The CBS domain protein MJ0729 of Methanocaldococcus jannaschii binds DNA.
AB  - The cystathionine beta-synthase (CBS) domains function as regulatory motifs in
      several proteins. Elucidating how CBS domains exactly work is relevant because
      several genetic human diseases have been associated with mutations in those
      motifs. Here, we show, for the first time, that a CBS domain binds calf-thymus
      DNA and E-boxes recognized by transcription factors. We have carried out the DNA
      binding characterization of the CBS domain protein MJ0729 from Methanocaldococcus
      jannaschii by biochemical and spectroscopic techniques. Binding induces
      conformational changes in the protein, and involves the sole tryptophan residue.
      The apparent dissociation constant for the E-boxes is ~10 MUM. These results
      suggest that CBS domains might interact with DNA.

PMID- 20934424
TI  - Suppressor of cytokine signalling (SOCS) 1 and 3 enhance cell adhesion and
      inhibit migration towards the chemokine eotaxin/CCL11.
AB  - Suppressors of cytokine signalling (SOCS) proteins regulate signal transduction,
      but their role in responses to chemokines remains poorly understood. We report
      that cells expressing SOCS1 and 3 exhibit enhanced adhesion and reduced migration
      towards the chemokine CCL11. Focal adhesion kinase (FAK) and the GTPase RhoA,
      control cell adhesion and migration and we show the presence of SOCS1 or 3
      regulates expression and tyrosine phosphorylation of FAK, while also enhancing
      activation of RhoA. Our novel findings suggest that SOCS1 and 3 may control
      chemotaxis and adhesion by significantly enhancing both FAK and RhoA activity,
      thus localizing immune cells to the site of allergic inflammation.

PMID- 20934425
TI  - Ecdysone receptor homologs from mollusks, leeches and a polychaete worm.
AB  - The genomes of the mollusk Lottia gigantea, the leech Helobdella robusta and the
      polychaete worm Capitella teleta each have a gene encoding an ecdysone receptor
      homolog. Publicly available genomic and EST sequences also contain evidence for
      ecdysone receptors in the seahare Aplysia californica, the bobtail squid Euprymna
      scolopes and the medicinal leech Hirudo medicinalis. Three-dimensional models of
      the ligand binding domains of these predicted ecdysone receptor homologs suggest
      that each of them could potentially bind an ecdysone-related steroid. Thus,
      ecdysone receptors are not limited to arthropods and nematodes.

PMID- 20934426
TI  - Prepubertal gonadotropin-releasing hormone analog leads to exaggerated behavioral
      and emotional sex differences in sheep.
AB  - In mammals, sex specialization is reflected by differences in brain anatomy and
      function. Measurable differences are documented in reproductive behavior,
      cognition, and emotion. We hypothesized that gonadotropin-releasing hormone
      (GnRH) plays a crucial role in controlling the extent of the brain's sex
      specificity and that changes in GnRH action during critical periods of brain
      development, such as puberty, will result in altered sex-specific behavioral and
      physiological patterns. We blocked puberty in half of the 48 same-sex Scottish
      mule Texel cross sheep twins with GnRH analog (GnRHa) goserelin acetate every 3
      weeks, beginning just before puberty. To determine the effects of GnRHa treatment
      on sex-specific behavior and emotion regulation in different social contexts, we
      employed the food acquisition task (FAT) and measurement of heart rate
      variability (HRV). ANOVA revealed significant sex and sex*treatment interaction
      effects, suggesting that treated males were more likely to leave their companions
      to acquire food than untreated, while the opposite effect was observed in
      females. Concordant results were seen in HRV; treated males displayed higher HRV
      than untreated, while the reverse pattern was found in females, as shown by
      significant sex and sex*treatment interaction effects. We conclude that long-term
      prepubertal GnRHa treatment significantly affected sex-specific brain
      development, which impacted emotion and behavior regulation in sheep. These
      results suggest that GnRH is a modulator of cognitive function in the developing
      brain and that the sexes are differentially affected by GnRH modulation.

PMID- 20934427
TI  - A genetic linkage map for the apicomplexan protozoan parasite Eimeria maxima and
      comparison with Eimeria tenella.
AB  - Eimeria maxima is one of the seven Eimeria spp. that infect the chicken and cause
      the disease coccidiosis. The well characterised immunogenicity and genetic
      diversity associated with E. maxima promote its use in genetics-led studies on
      avian coccidiosis. The development of a genetic map for E. maxima, presented here
      based upon 647 amplified fragment length polymorphism markers typed from 22
      clonal hybrid lines and assembled into 13 major linkage groups, is a major new
      resource for work with this parasite. Comparison with genetic maps produced for
      other coccidial parasites indicates relatively high levels of genetic
      recombination. Conversion of ~14% of the markers representing the major linkage
      groups to sequence characterised amplified region markers can provide a scaffold
      for the assembly of future genomic sequences as well as providing a foundation
      for more detailed genetic maps. Comparison with the Eimeria tenella genetic map
      produced 10years ago has revealed a less biased marker distribution, with no more
      than nine markers mapped within any unresolved heritable unit. Nonetheless,
      preliminary bioinformatic characterisation of the three largest publicly
      available genomic E. maxima sequences suggest that the feature-poor/feature-rich
      structure which has previously been found to define the first sequenced E.
      tenella chromosome also defines the E. maxima genome. The significance of such a
      segmented genome and the apparent potential for variation in genetic
      recombination will be relevant to haplotype stability and the longevity of future
      anticoccidial strategies based upon multiple loci targeted by novel
      chemotherapeutic drugs or recombinant subunit vaccines.

PMID- 20934428
TI  - Ixodid tick salivary gland products target host wound healing growth factors.
AB  - For successful blood-feeding, ticks must confront the host immune system
      comprising many cells and signaling molecules, mainly cytokines and growth
      factors. These factors bind to specific receptors on the cell membranes, thereby
      initiating a signaling cascade that leads to distinct cellular activities. Ticks
      are able to manipulate host immune responses via molecules secreted from their
      salivary glands. Saliva of ixodid ticks contains factors binding important
      cytokines and their subgroup, chemokines. Here we demonstrate that constituents
      of tick salivary gland extract (SGE) also appear to bind growth factors:
      transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta1), platelet-derived growth factor
      (PDGF), fibroblast growth factor (FGF-2), and hepatocyte growth factor (HGF),
      depending on tick species. SGE derived from Amblyommavariegatum reacted with TGF
      beta1, PDGF, FGF-2 and HGF; Dermacentorreticulatus and
      Rhipicephalusappendiculatus with TGF-beta1, FGF-2 and HGF; and Ixodes ricinus and
      Ixodesscapularis with PDGF. SGE from the species targeting PDGF (A. variegatum
      and I. ricinus) also inhibited cell proliferation in vitro and induced a change
      in morphology of different cell lines. These effects correlated with disruption
      of the actin cytoskeleton. Such effects were not observed with SGE of the two
      species that did not target PDGF. Targeting of wound healing growth factors
      appears to be yet another strategy ixodid ticks adopt for suppression of
      inflammation and successful haematophagy.

PMID- 20934429
TI  - Modeling major histocompatibility complex binding by nonparametric averaging of
      multiple predictors and sequence encodings.
AB  - There has been considerable interest in statistical approaches that leverage the
      large volumes of experimental data to predict the binding of Major
      Histocompatibility Complex class I (MHC-I) molecules to peptides. Here we present
      our method for averaging together multiple predictors for MHC-peptide binding,
      where given a particular MHC molecule, a set of predictors and a set of training
      peptides, our method will average multiple simple predictors for MHC binding to
      produce a final prediction of the binding affinity between a given MHC molecule
      and a test peptide. The averaging of predictors is done using a nonparametric
      method, whereby for any test peptide, we identify similar peptides in the
      training set and average the predictions on the training set, weighted by each
      predictor's average accuracy for similar peptides in the training set. We show
      that our method significantly improves on individual predictors based on held-out
      data and also produces a predictor whose accuracy is competitive with state-of
      the-art techniques based on the results from the Machine Learning in Immunology
      competition in which 21 submitted techniques were assessed on their accuracy in
      predicting the binding of HLA-A*0101, HLA-A*0201 and HLA-B*0702 molecules to 9
      mer and 10-mer peptides.

PMID- 20934430
TI  - Alternative oligomeric states of the yeast Rvb1/Rvb2 complex induced by histidine
      tags.
AB  - Rvb1 and Rvb2 are essential AAA(+) (ATPases associated with diverse cellular
      activities) helicases, which are important components of critical complexes such
      as chromatin remodeling and telomerase complexes. The oligomeric state of the Rvb
      proteins has been controversial. Independent studies from several groups have
      described the yeast and human Rvb1/Rvb2 complex both as a single and as a double
      hexameric ring complex. We found that histidine-tagged constructs of yeast Rvb
      proteins employed in some of these studies induced the assembly of double
      hexameric ring Rvb1/Rvb2 complexes. Instead, untagged versions of these proteins
      assemble into single hexameric rings. Furthermore, purified endogenous untagged
      Rvb1/Rvb2 complexes from Saccharomyces cerevisiae were also found as single
      hexameric rings, similar to the complexes assembled in vitro from the purified
      untagged components. These results demonstrate that some of the differences
      between the reported structures are caused by histidine tags and imply that
      further studies on the purified proteins should be carried out using untagged
      constructs.

PMID- 20934431
TI  - Probing the impact of the echinT C-terminal domain on structure and catalysis.
AB  - Histidine triad nucleotide binding protein (Hint) is considered as the ancestor
      of the histidine triad protein superfamily and is highly conserved from bacteria
      to humans. Prokaryote genomes, including a wide array of both Gram-negative
      bacteria and Gram-positive bacteria, typically encode one Hint gene. The cellular
      function of Hint and the rationale for its evolutionary conservation in bacteria
      have remained a mystery. Despite its ubiquity and high sequence similarity to
      eukaryote Hint1 [Escherichia coli Hint (echinT) is 48% identical with human
      Hint1], prokaryote Hint has been reported in only a few studies. Here we report
      the first conformational information on the full-length N-terminal and C-terminal
      residues of Hint from the E. coli complex with GMP. Structural analysis of the
      echinT-GMP complex reveals that it crystallizes in the monoclinic space group
      P2(1) with four homodimers in the asymmetric unit. Analysis of electron density
      for both the N-terminal residues and the C-terminal residues of the echinT-GMP
      complex indicates that the loops in some monomers can adopt more than one
      conformation. The observation of conformational flexibility in terminal loop
      regions could explain the presence of multiple homodimers in the asymmetric unit
      of this structure. To explore the impact of the echinT C-terminus on protein
      structure and catalysis, we conducted a series of catalytic radiolabeling and
      kinetic experiments on the C-terminal deletion mutants of echinT. In this study,
      we show that sequential deletion of the C-terminus likely has no effect on
      homodimerization and a modest effect on the secondary structure of echinT.
      However, we observed a significant impact on the folding structure, as reflected
      by a significant lowering of the T(m) value. Kinetic analysis reveals that the C
      terminal deletion mutants are within an order of magnitude less efficient in
      catalysis compared to wild type, while the overall kinetic mechanism that
      proceeds through a fast step, followed by a rate-limiting hydrolysis step, was
      conserved. Nevertheless, the ability of the C-terminal deletion mutants to
      hydrolyze lysyl-AMP generated by LysU was greatly impaired. Taken together, our
      results highlight the emerging role of the C-terminus in governing the catalytic
      function of Hints.

PMID- 20934432
TI  - Crystal structure of human interferon-lambda1 in complex with its high-affinity
      receptor interferon-lambdaR1.
AB  - Interferon (IFN)-lambda1 [also known as interleukin (IL)-29] belongs to the
      recently discovered group of type III IFNs. All type III IFNs initiate signaling
      processes through formation of specific heterodimeric receptor complexes
      consisting of IFN-lambdaR1 and IL-10R2. We have determined the structure of human
      IFN-lambda1 complexed with human IFN-lambdaR1, a receptor unique to type III
      IFNs. The overall structure of IFN-lambda1 is topologically similar to the
      structure of IL-10 and other members of the IL-10 family of cytokines. IFN
      lambdaR1 consists of two distinct domains having fibronectin type III topology.
      The ligand-receptor interface includes helix A, loop AB, and helix F on the IFN
      site, as well as loops primarily from the N-terminal domain and inter-domain
      hinge region of IFN-lambdaR1. Composition and architecture of the interface that
      includes only a few direct hydrogen bonds support an idea that long-range ionic
      interactions between ligand and receptor govern the process of initial
      recognition of the molecules while hydrophobic interactions finalize it.

PMID- 20934433
TI  - An RNA conformational switch regulates pre-18S rRNA cleavage.
AB  - To produce mature ribosomal RNAs (rRNAs), polycistronic rRNA transcripts are
      cleaved in an ordered series of events. We have uncovered the molecular basis for
      the ordering of two essential cleavage steps at the 3'-end of 18S rRNA. Using in
      vitro and in vivo structure probing, RNA binding and cleavage experiments, and
      yeast genetics, we demonstrate that a conserved RNA sequence in the spacer region
      between the 18S and 5.8S rRNAs base-pairs with the decoding site of 18S rRNA in
      early assembly intermediates. Nucleolar cleavage at site A(2) excises this
      sequence element, leading to a conformational switch in pre-18S rRNA, by which
      the ribosomal decoding site is formed. This conformational switch positions the
      nuclease Nob1 for cytoplasmic cleavage at the 3'-end of 18S rRNA and is required
      for the final maturation step of 18S rRNA in vivo and in vitro. More generally,
      our data show that the intrinsic ability of RNA to form stable structural
      switches is exploited to order and regulate RNA-dependent biological processes.

PMID- 20934434
TI  - Recognition of nucleoside monophosphate substrates by Haemophilus influenzae
      class C acid phosphatase.
AB  - The e (P4) phosphatase from Haemophilus influenzae functions in a vestigial
      NAD(+) utilization pathway by dephosphorylating nicotinamide mononucleotide to
      nicotinamide riboside. P4 is also the prototype of class C acid phosphatases
      (CCAPs), which are nonspecific 5',3'-nucleotidases localized to the bacterial
      outer membrane. To understand substrate recognition by P4 and other class C
      phosphatases, we have determined the crystal structures of a substrate-trapping
      mutant P4 enzyme complexed with nicotinamide mononucleotide, 5'-AMP, 3'-AMP, and
      2'-AMP. The structures reveal an anchor-shaped substrate-binding cavity
      comprising a conserved hydrophobic box that clamps the nucleotide base, a buried
      phosphoryl binding site, and three solvent-filled pockets that contact the ribose
      and the hydrogen-bonding edge of the base. The span between the hydrophobic box
      and the phosphoryl site is optimal for recognizing nucleoside monophosphates,
      explaining the general preference for this class of substrate. The base makes no
      hydrogen bonds with the enzyme, consistent with an observed lack of base
      specificity. Two solvent-filled pockets flanking the ribose are key to the dual
      recognition of 5'-nucleotides and 3'-nucleotides. These pockets minimize the
      enzyme's direct interactions with the ribose and provide sufficient space to
      accommodate 5' substrates in an anti conformation and 3' substrates in a syn
      conformation. Finally, the structures suggest that class B acid phosphatases and
      CCAPs share a common strategy for nucleotide recognition.

PMID- 20934436
TI  - Insulin resistance induced by a high-fat diet is associated with the induction of
      genes related to leukocyte activation in rat peripheral leukocytes.
AB  - AIMS: Insulin resistance caused by a high-fat diet induces type 2 diabetes and
      its complications. In this study, we investigated gene expression changes in
      peripheral leukocytes with insulin resistance by conducting microarray analyses
      in rats with high-fat diet-induced insulin resistance. MAIN METHODS: After
      assessing insulin resistance in rats by an oral glucose tolerance test, we
      performed microarray analyses using peripheral leukocytes from normal rats and
      insulin-resistant rats after fasting. Real-time RT-PCR analyses were performed
      for several upregulated genes in the microarray data after fasting and at 3h
      after a single oral glucose load. KEY FINDINGS: Feeding rats a high-fat diet for
      77days induced moderate insulin resistance. Microarray analysis showed that the
      high-fat diet enhances many genes related to leukocyte activation. These
      upregulated genes included genes related to host defense, and many genes related
      to G-protein-coupled receptor/tyrosine receptor signaling. Moreover, many genes,
      such as Anxa1, S100a8, Il22ra2, Gng10, Csf3r and Cd302, showed further
      upregulation of their expression after a single oral glucose load. Exposure to
      high glucose and/or tumor necrosis factor-alpha which is known to be a factor
      that induces insulin resistance, enhanced the mRNA levels of DUSP1, ANXA1, IL1B,
      S100A8, IL22RA2, S100A9 and IRF1 in human monocyte-like U937 cells. SIGNIFICANCE:
      These results suggest that the expression of genes related to leukocyte
      activation in peripheral leukocytes is associated with the development of
      moderate insulin resistance.

PMID- 20934437
TI  - Substance use and HIV disease progression in the HAART era: implications for the
      primary prevention of HIV.
AB  - Prior to the era of highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART), cohort studies
      provided equivocal evidence to support the hypothesis that substance use predicts
      more rapid HIV disease progression. The present review examined the effects of
      substance use on HIV disease progression in cohort studies with follow-up that
      continued into the HAART era. Of the 20 studies included in this review, 16
      observed that substance use predicted at least one indicator of HIV disease
      progression. Ten of the 11 studies that followed participants exclusively in the
      HAART era observed an effect of substance use on HIV disease progression.
      Findings across studies indicate that stimulant use promotes more rapid HIV
      disease progression and the effects of substance use on HIV disease progression
      can persist after controlling for self-reported HAART non-adherence. Future
      investigations that examine the bio-behavioral pathways whereby substance use
      promotes HIV disease progression should include: measures of HIV genotypic and
      phenotypic resistance, multi-method assessment of adherence, and assessment of co
      morbid infections that are more prevalent among substance users. Although further
      mechanistic research is needed, findings from existing cohort studies have clear
      clinical implications. Implementing screening, brief intervention and referral to
      substance abuse treatment in HIV medical care could optimize health outcomes and
      decrease HIV transmission rates by boosting the effectiveness of "Test and Treat"
      approaches to HIV prevention.

PMID- 20934435
TI  - Functions of B56-containing PP2As in major developmental and cancer signaling
      pathways.
AB  - Members of the B'/B56/PR61 family regulatory subunits of PP2A determine the
      subcellular localization, substrate specificity, and catalytic activity of PP2A
      in a wide range of biological processes. Here, we summarize the structure and
      intracellular localization of B56-containing PP2As and review functions of B56
      containing PP2As in several major developmental/cancer signaling pathways.

PMID- 20934438
TI  - Feedback-mediated dynamics in a model of a compliant thick ascending limb.
AB  - The tubuloglomerular feedback (TGF) system in the kidney, which is a key
      regulator of filtration rate, has been shown in physiologic experiments in rats
      to mediate oscillations in tubular fluid pressure and flow, and in NaCl
      concentration in the tubular fluid of the thick ascending limb (TAL). In this
      study, we developed a mathematical model of the TGF system that represents NaCl
      transport along a TAL with compliant walls. The model was used to investigate the
      dynamic behaviors of the TGF system. A bifurcation analysis of the TGF model
      equations was performed by deriving and finding roots of the characteristic
      equation, which arises from a linearization of the model equations. Numerical
      simulations of the full model equations were conducted to assist in the
      interpretation of the bifurcation analysis. These techniques revealed a complex
      parameter region that allows a variety of qualitatively different model
      solutions: a regime having one stable, time-independent steady-state solution;
      regimes having one stable oscillatory solution only; and regimes having multiple
      possible stable oscillatory solutions. Model results suggest that the compliance
      of the TAL walls increases the tendency of the model TGF system to oscillate.

PMID- 20934439
TI  - Engineered human tumor xenografts with functional human vascular networks.
AB  - Animal models of human tumor angiogenesis would have multiple applications.
      However, they are extremely difficult to standardize. In this work, we tried to
      generate human tumor xenografts containing a human vascular bed in
      immunodeficient mice by subcutaneous co-implantation of matrigel-embedded human
      endothelial cells (EC), human mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) as a source of mural
      cells and HT1080 human fibrosarcoma cells. Unfortunately, in this context human
      EC were rapidly substituted by their murine counterparts, and by day 16 post
      implantation human CD34 positive cells were hardly detectable in intratumoral
      vessels. In an attempt to inhibit host EC colonization of human xenografts and
      promote human EC grafting, we investigated the effect of radiation prior to
      implantation on the vascularization and growth of tumor xenografts. Nude mice
      underwent either localized (implantation area) or sublethal whole-body exposure
      to radiation. Localized radiation inhibited both human and murine
      neovascularization, and even the tumor growth rate was remarkably decreased when
      compared to control unirradiated mice and sublethally whole-body irradiated mice.
      Interestingly, numerous human vessels were detectable in sublethally irradiated
      mice at day 30, with murine EC only over passing human EC when spontaneous
      hematopoietic reconstitution has taken place. This observation strongly suggests
      the implication of bone marrow-derived murine endothelial precursors in tumor
      neovascularization. In summary, we have established a model of human tumor
      neovascularization that is amenable to both the study of molecular aspects in the
      angiogenic process and the evaluation of potential new antiangiogenic drugs.

PMID- 20934440
TI  - Effect of the alpha(2)-adrenoceptor antagonist yohimbine on vascular regulation
      of the middle cerebral artery and the ophthalmic artery in healthy subjects.
AB  - There is evidence that vascular beds distal to the ophthalmic artery (OA) show
      vasoconstriction in response to a step decrease in systemic blood pressure (BP).
      The mediators of this response are mostly unidentified. The aim of the current
      study was to test the hypothesis that alpha2-adrenoreceptors may contribute to
      the regulatory process in response to a decrease in BP. In this randomized,
      double-masked, placebo-controlled study 14 healthy male volunteers received
      either 22mg yohimbine hydrochloride or placebo. Beat-to-beat BP was measured by
      analysis of arterial pressure waveform; blood flow velocities in the middle
      cerebral artery (MCA) and the OA were measured with Doppler ultrasound.
      Measurements were done before, during and after a step decrease in BP. The step
      decrease in BP was induced by bilateral thigh cuffs at a suprasystolic pressure
      followed by a rapid cuff deflation. After cuff deflation, BP returned to baseline
      after 7-8 pulse cycles (PC). Blood velocities in the MCA returned to baseline
      earlier (4 PC) than BP indicating peripheral vasodilatation. Blood velocities in
      the OA returned to baseline later (15-20 PC) indicating peripheral
      vasoconstriction. Yohimbine did not affect the blood velocity response in the
      MCA, but significantly shortened the time of OA blood velocities to return to
      baseline values (6-7 PC, p<0.05). In conclusion, our results indicate that
      yohimbine did not alter the regulatory response in the MCA, but modified the
      response of vascular beds distal to the OA. This suggests that alpha2
      adrenoceptors play a role in the vasoconstrictor response of the vasculatures
      distal to the OA.

PMID- 20934441
TI  - Inhibition of phospholipase A2 increased the removal of the prion derived peptide
      PrP82-146 from cultured neurons.
AB  - The prion diseases are characterised by the formation of the disease-associated
      isoform of the prion protein (PrP(Sc)) and the production of disease-related
      peptides. The prion derived peptide PrP82-146 bound readily to cortical neurons
      and was found within detergent resistant membranes that are commonly called lipid
      rafts. It was not found within lysosomes and the slow degradation of PrP82-146
      resulted in a half-life of approximately 5 days. In cortical neurons pre-treated
      with phospholipase A(2) (PLA(2)) inhibitors (AACOCF(3) or MAFP) less PrP82-146
      entered lipid rafts, more PrP82-146 was found within lysosomes and the half-life
      of PrP82-146 was reduced to 24 h. Similarly, pre-treatment of neurons with
      platelet-activating factor (PAF) receptor antagonists (Hexa-PAF and ginkgolide B)
      increased the entry of PrP82-146 into lysosomes and reduced its half-life.
      Furthermore, the addition of PAF reversed the effects of PLA(2) inhibitors on
      PrP82-146 trafficking. PAF controlled the amount of cholesterol in cell membranes
      and the effects of PAF receptor antagonists on the trafficking of PrP82-146 were
      reversed by the addition of cholesterol. We conclude that activation of PLA(2)
      and the production of PAF control a cholesterol-sensitive pathway that affects
      the cellular localisation and hence the fate of PrP82-146 in neurons.

PMID- 20934442
TI  - Memory for proprioceptive and multisensory targets is partially coded relative to
      gaze.
AB  - We examined the effect of gaze direction relative to target location on reach
      endpoint errors made to proprioceptive and multisensory targets. We also explored
      if and how visual and proprioceptive information about target location are
      integrated to guide reaches. Participants reached to their unseen left hand in
      one of three target locations (left of body midline, body midline, or right or
      body midline), while it remained at a target site (online), or after it was
      removed from this location (remembered), and also after the target hand had been
      briefly lit before reaching (multisensory target). The target hand was guided to
      a target location using a robot-generated path. Reaches were made with the right
      hand in complete darkness, while gaze was varied in one of four eccentric
      directions. Horizontal reach errors systematically varied relative to gaze for
      all target modalities; not only for visually remembered and online proprioceptive
      targets as has been found in previous studies, but for the first time, also for
      remembered proprioceptive targets and proprioceptive targets that were briefly
      visible. These results suggest that the brain represents the locations of online
      and remembered proprioceptive reach targets, as well as visual-proprioceptive
      reach targets relative to gaze, along with other motor-related representations.
      Our results, however, do not suggest that visual and proprioceptive information
      are optimally integrated when coding the location of multisensory reach targets
      in this paradigm.

PMID- 20934443
TI  - Reactive oxygen species and oxidative DNA damage mediate the cytotoxicity of
      tungsten-nickel-cobalt alloys in vitro.
AB  - Tungsten alloys (WA) have been introduced in an attempt to find safer
      alternatives to depleted uranium and lead munitions. However, it is known that at
      least one alloy, 91% tungsten-6% nickel-3% cobalt (WNC-91-6-3), causes
      rhabdomyosarcomas when fragments are implanted in rat muscle. This raises
      concerns that shrapnel, if not surgically removable, may result in similar
      tumours in humans. There is therefore a clear need to develop rapid and robust in
      vitro methods to characterise the toxicity of different WAs in order to identify
      those that are most likely to be harmful to human health and to guide development
      of new materials in the future. In the current study we have developed a rapid
      visual in vitro assay to detect toxicity mediated by individual WA particles in
      cultured L6-C11 rat muscle cells. Using a variety of techniques (histology, comet
      assay, caspase-3 activity, oxidation of 2'7'-dichlorofluorescin to measure the
      production of reactive oxygen species and whole-genome microarrays) we show that,
      in agreement with the in vivo rat carcinogenicity studies, WNC-91-6-3 was the
      most toxic of the alloys tested. On dissolution, it produces large amounts of
      reactive oxygen species, causes significant amounts of DNA damage, inhibits
      caspase-3, triggers a severe hypoxic response and kills the cells in the
      immediate vicinity of the alloy particles within 24h. By combining these in vitro
      data we offer a mechanistic explanation of the effect of this alloy in vivo and
      show that in vitro tests are a viable alternative for assessing new alloys in the
      future.

PMID- 20934444
TI  - Online action-to-perception transfer: only percept-dependent action affects
      perception.
AB  - Perception self-evidently affects action, but under which conditions does action
      in turn influence perception? To answer this question we ask observers to view an
      ambiguous stimulus that is alternatingly perceived as rotating clockwise or
      counterclockwise. When observers report the perceived direction by rotating a
      manipulandum, opposing directions between report and percept ('incongruent')
      destabilize the percept, whereas equal directions ('congruent') stabilize it. In
      contrast, when observers report their percept by key presses while performing a
      predefined movement, we find no effect of congruency. Consequently, our findings
      suggest that only percept-dependent action directly influences perceptual
      experience.

PMID- 20934445
TI  - Underestimation of perceived number at the time of saccades.
AB  - Saccadic eye movements produce transient distortions in both space and time.
      Mounting evidence suggests that space and time perception are linked, and
      associated with the perception of another important perceptual attribute,
      numerosity. Here we investigate the effect of saccades on the perceived
      numerosity of briefly presented arrays of visual elements. We report a systematic
      underestimation of numerosity for stimuli flashed just before or during saccades,
      of about 35% of the reference numerosity. The bias is observed only for
      relatively large arrays of visual elements, in line with the notion that a
      distinct perceptual mechanism is involved with enumeration of small numerosities
      in the 'subitizing' range. This study provides further evidence for the notion
      that space, time and number share common neural representations, all affected by
      saccades.

PMID- 20934446
TI  - Reading disappearing text: why do children refixate words?
AB  - We compared Finnish adults' and children's eye movements on long (8-letter) and
      short (4-letter) target words embedded in sentences, presented either normally or
      as disappearing text. When reading disappearing text, where refixations did not
      provide new information, the 8- to 9-year-old children made fewer refixations but
      more regressions back to long words compared to when reading normal text. This
      difference was not observed in the adults or 10- to 11-year-old children. We
      conclude that the younger children required a second visual sample on the long
      words, and they adapted their eye movement behaviour when reading disappearing
      text accordingly.

PMID- 20934447
TI  - Systematic analysis and prediction of longevity genes in Caenorhabditis elegans.
AB  - An important task of aging research is to find genes that regulate lifespan.
      However, identification of genes related to longevity (referred to as longevity
      genes hereafter) through web-lab experiments such as genetic screens is a tedious
      and labor-intensive activity. Developing an algorithm to predict longevity genes
      should facilitate aging research. In this paper, we systematically analyzed
      properties of longevity genes in Caenorhabditis elegans and found that, when
      compared to genes not yet known to be involved in longevity, known longevity
      genes display the following features: (i) longer genomic sequences and protein
      sequences, (ii) a stronger tendency to co-express with other genes during a
      transition from dauer state (an extremely long lifespan) to non-dauer state (a
      normal lifespan), (iii) significant enrichment in certain functions and RNAi
      phenotypes, (iv) higher sequence conservation, and (v) higher in several network
      topological features such as degrees in a functional interaction network. Based
      on these features, we developed an algorithm to predict longevity genes in C.
      elegans and obtained 243 novel longevity genes with a precision rate of 0.85.
      Some of the predicted genes have been validated by published articles or wet lab
      experiments. The contribution of each feature to the predicted results was also
      evaluated.

PMID- 20934448
TI  - Life-long caloric restriction elicits pronounced protection of the aged
      myocardium: a role for AMPK.
AB  - Short-term caloric restriction (CR) protects the young myocardium against
      ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury through a mechanism involving AMP-activated
      protein kinase (AMPK). Here we ask whether a life-long CR intervention can extend
      this protection to the aged myocardium, and whether AMP-activated protein kinase
      (AMPK) plays a role in that protection. Hearts from ad libitum fed (AL) and life
      long calorically restricted (LCR) mice were examined at 30 months of age by
      25/90min global I/R, with and without AMPK inhibition (AraA). LCR hearts were
      protected from infarction (AL, 28+/-4% vs. LCR, 10+/-1%, p<0.01) and post
      ischemic functional deficit (LVDP recovery: AL, 65+/-8% vs. LCR, 93+/-7%,
      p<0.01). Pre-ischemic AraA impaired both of these protective effects (Infarct
      size: LCR+AraA, 22+/-4%; LVDP recovery: LCR+AraA, 82+/-9%, both p vs. AL >0.1).
      AMPKalpha phosphorylation was dramatically increased in LCR hearts prior to I/R
      (AL, 1.18+/-0.01 vs. LCR, 1.68+/-0.04, ratio, p<0.0001), and accompanied by a
      more modest increase in total AMPKalpha (AL, 2.18+/-0.03 vs. LCR, 2.39+/-0.08
      ratio, p<0.05). These results indicate that life-long caloric restriction
      profoundly protects the aged heart against I/R injury, and suggest that AMPK may
      play a role in that protection.

PMID- 20934449
TI  - The roles of thiol oxidoreductases in yeast replicative aging.
AB  - Thiol-based redox reactions are involved in the regulation of a variety of
      biological functions, such as protection against oxidative stress, signal
      transduction and protein folding. Some proteins involved in redox regulation have
      been shown to modulate life span in organisms from yeast to mammals. To assess
      the role of thiol oxidoreductases in aging on a genome-wide scale, we analyzed
      the replicative life span of yeast cells lacking known and candidate thiol
      oxidoreductases. The data suggest the role of several pathways in controlling
      yeast replicative life span, including thioredoxin reduction, protein folding and
      degradation, peroxide reduction, PIP3 signaling, and ATP synthesis.

PMID- 20934450
TI  - Age-associated changes in miRNA expression profiles in thymopoiesis.
AB  - During adult life, the thymus involutes and thymic output of mature T cells
      drastically declines. The molecular events underlying this process are not well
      understood. Here, we present evidence of the importance of miRNAs in regulating T
      cell differentiation in the aged. miRNAs are a wide-ranging regulatory element
      influencing gene expression throughout the lifetime of the organism. To establish
      whether they play a role in the age-specific thymic decline, the miRNA expression
      pattern was examined in TN subsets of young and aged mice. Fifty-two percent of
      the miRNAs exhibited elevated expression levels in the aged TN1 cells. This
      expression profile leads us to hypothesize that the large number of highly
      expressed miRNAs, indicative of rigidly controlled protein expression, limits the
      developmental potential of this population and results in the age-induced decline
      in thymopoiesis.

PMID- 20934451
TI  - Ryanodine receptor assembly: a novel systems biology approach to 3D mapping.
AB  - Ryanodine receptors (RyRs) are intracellular Ca(2+) release channels (CRCs) that
      play a pivotal role in cellular Ca(2+) signaling. In striated muscles, RyR
      mediated Ca(2+) release from the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) induces elevation of
      cytosolic Ca(2+) concentration and subsequent muscle contraction. Evidence from
      various sources suggests that RyRs in homo-tetrameric conformation form a large
      conductance Ca(2+) permeable channel in the central pore and large cytoplasmic
      domains. RyRs form a large assembly with various cytosolic and luminal proteins.
      A number of papers have been published concerning the functions of RyRs and the
      regulation of the associated proteins, but the three dimensional (3D) structure
      of the assembly has not been addressed in detail. In this paper, we have
      attempted to establish a 3D-map for the assembly of RyRs by considering published
      cryo-EM data, available X-ray crystallographic information and molecular modeling
      methods.

PMID- 20934452
TI  - The potential and limitations of DOV 216,303 as a triple reuptake inhibitor for
      the treatment of major depression: a microdialysis study in olfactory
      bulbectomized rats.
AB  - DOV 216,303 belongs to a new class of antidepressants, the triple reuptake
      inhibitors (TRIs), that blocks serotonin, norepinephrine and dopamine
      transporters and thereby increases extracellular brain monoamine concentrations.
      The aim of the present study was to measure extracellular monoamine
      concentrations both in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and dorsal hippocampus (DH)
      after chronic administration of DOV 216,303 in the OBX animal model of depression
      and to compare the effects with acute drug treatment. OBX animals showed lower
      dopamine levels in PFC upon acute administration of DOV 216,303 than sham animals
      for up to five weeks after surgery. No such changes were observed in the DH.
      Unexpectedly, a DOV 216,303 challenge in chronic DOV 216,303 treated sham animals
      resulted in a blunted dopamine response in the PFC compared to the same challenge
      in vehicle treated animals. This blunted response probably reflects
      pharmacokinetic adaptations and/or pharmacodynamic changes, since brain and
      plasma concentrations of DOV 216,303 were significantly lower after chronic
      administration compared to acute administration. Surprisingly, and in contrast
      what we have reported earlier, chronic DOV 216,303 treatment was unable to
      normalize the hyperactivity of the OBX animals. Interestingly, by measuring the
      drug plasma and brain levels, it was demonstrated that at the time of behavioral
      testing (24 h after last drug treatment) DOV 216,303 was not present anymore in
      either plasma or brain. This seems to indicate that this putative antidepressant
      drug has no lasting antidepressant-like behavioral effects in the absence of the
      drug in the brain.

PMID- 20934453
TI  - Pathways underlying neuroprogression in bipolar disorder: focus on inflammation,
      oxidative stress and neurotrophic factors.
AB  - There is now strong evidence of progressive neuropathological processes in
      bipolar disorder (BD). On this basis, the current understanding of the
      neurobiology of BD has shifted from an initial focus on monoamines, subsequently
      including evidence of changes in intracellular second messenger systems and more
      recently to, incorporating changes in inflammatory cytokines, corticosteroids,
      neurotrophins, mitochondrial energy generation, oxidative stress and neurogenesis
      into a more comprehensive model capable of explaining some of the clinical
      features of BD. These features include progressive shortening of the inter
      episode interval with each recurrence, occurring in consort with reduced
      probability of treatment response as the illness progresses. To this end,
      emerging data shows that these biomarkers may differ between early and late
      stages of BD in parallel with stage-related structural and neurocognitive
      alterations. This understanding facilitates identification of rational
      therapeutic targets, and the development of novel treatment classes.
      Additionally, these pathways provide a cogent explanation for the efficacy of
      seemingly diverse therapies used in BD, that appear to share common effects on
      oxidative, inflammatory and neurotrophic pathways.

PMID- 20934455
TI  - Contributions of subregions of the prefrontal cortex to the theory of mind and
      decision making.
AB  - Recent works have suggested an association between the ventromedial prefrontal
      cortex (VMPC) and social cognition or decision making. The aim of this study is
      to investigate the theory of mind and decision making in patients with VMPC
      lesions and in those with dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPC) lesions. Patients
      with VMPC lesions (n=16) and those with DLPC lesions (n=14) were compared with
      healthy controls (HC) on faux pas recognition and 2 decision-making tasks.
      Consistent with previous data, patients with VMPC lesions performed worse on the
      theory of mind and decision making. Patients with DLPC lesions showed impairments
      of the theory of mind but performed at control levels on the 2 decision-making
      tasks. The results supported the view that a separation of function of 2 distinct
      subregions of the prefrontal cortex is important to the theory of mind and
      decision making.

PMID- 20934456
TI  - Functional cooperation between BiP and calreticulin in the folding maturation of
      a glycoprotein in Trypanosoma cruzi.
AB  - Proteins may adopt diverse conformations during their folding in vivo, ranging
      from extended chains when they emerge from the ribosome to compact intermediates
      near the end of the folding process. Accordingly, a variety of chaperones and
      folding assisting enzymes have evolved to deal with this diversity. Chaperone
      selection by a particular substrate depends on the structural features of its
      folding intermediates. In addition, this process may be modulated by competitive
      effects between chaperones. Here we address this issue by using TcrCATL as model
      substrate. TcrCATL is an abundant Trypanosoma cruzi lysosomal protease and it was
      the first identified endogenous UDP-Glc:glycoprotein glucosyltransferase (UGGT)
      substrate. We found that TcrCATL associated sequentially with BiP and
      calreticulin (CRT) during its folding process. Early, extended conformations were
      bound to BiP, while more advanced and compact folding intermediates associated to
      CRT. The interaction between TcrCATL and CRT was impeded by deletion of the UGGT
      encoding gene but, similarly to what was observed in wild type cells, in mutant
      cells TcrCATL associated to BiP only when displaying extended conformations. The
      absence of TcrCATL-CRT interactions in UGGT null cells resulted in a drastic
      reduction of TcrCATL folding efficiency and triggered the aggregation of TcrCATL
      through intermolecular disulfide bonds. These observations show that BiP and CRT
      activities complement each other to supervise a complete and efficient TcrCATL
      folding process. The present report provides further evidence on the early
      evolutionary acquisition of the basic tenets of the N-glycan dependent quality
      control mechanism of glycoprotein folding.

PMID- 20934454
TI  - Inhibitory C-type lectin receptors in myeloid cells.
AB  - C-type lectin receptors encoded by the natural killer gene complex play critical
      roles in enabling NK cell discrimination between self and non-self. In recent
      years, additional genes at this locus have been identified with patterns of
      expression that extend to cells of the myeloid lineage where many of the encoded
      inhibitory receptors have equally important functions as regulators of immune
      homeostasis. In the present review we highlight the roles of some of these
      receptors including recent insights gained with regard to the identification of
      exogenous and endogenous ligands, mechanisms of cellular inhibition and
      activation, regulated expression within different cellular and immune contexts,
      as well as functions that include the regulation of bone homeostasis and
      involvement in autoimmunity.

PMID- 20934457
TI  - Antigen delivery to dendritic cells by poly(propylene sulfide) nanoparticles with
      disulfide conjugated peptides: Cross-presentation and T cell activation.
AB  - Vaccines aiming to activate cytotoxic T cells require cross-presentation of
      exogenous antigen by antigen-presenting cells (APCs). We recently developed a
      synthetic nanoparticle vaccine platform that targets lymph node-resident
      dendritic cells (DCs), capable of mounting an immune response to conjugated
      antigen. Here, we explore routes of processing and the efficiency of MHC I cross
      presentation of OVA peptides conjugated using both reducible and non-reducible
      linkages, exploring the hypothesis that reduction-sensitive conjugation will lead
      to better antigen cross-presentation. Both clathrin and macropinocytic pathways
      were implicated in nanoparticle uptake by colocalization and inhibitor studies.
      Cross-presentation by DCs was demonstrated by direct antibody staining and in
      vitro stimulation of CD8(+) T cells from OT-I mice and was indeed most efficient
      with the reduction-sensitive conjugation. Similarly, we observed IFN-gamma
      production by CD4(+) T cells from OT-II mice. Finally, immunization with the OVA
      peptide-bearing nanoparticles resulted in in vivo proliferation and IFN-gamma
      production by adoptively transferred CD8(+) OT-I T cells and was also most
      efficient with reduction-sensitive linking of the peptide antigen. These results
      demonstrate the relevance of the poly(propylene sulfide) nanoparticle vaccine
      platform and antigen conjugation scheme for activating both cytotoxic and helper
      T cell responses.

PMID- 20934459
TI  - Immunogenicity, safety and tolerability in adults of a new single-dose, live
      attenuated vaccine against Japanese encephalitis: Randomised controlled phase 3
      trials.
AB  - Japanese encephalitis chimeric virus vaccine (JE-CV) was developed to replace
      licensed mouse brain-derived vaccine (MBD-JE), the production of which ceased in
      2005. Two randomised controlled phase 3 studies were conducted. Immunogenicity
      study: 410 participants received one JE-CV injection, 410 received 3 MBD-JE
      injections. Safety study: 1,601 participants received JE-CV, 403 received
      placebo. Seroconversion after a single JE-CV vaccination (99.1%) was
      statistically non-inferior to that after three-dose MBD-JE (95.1%) vaccination.
      JE-CV elicited a rapid immune response, with 93.6% of participants seroconverting
      within 14 days. Adverse reaction rates were significantly lower with JE-CV
      (67.6%) than with MBD-JE (82.2%) (p<0.001), and the reactogenicity profile of JE
      CV was comparable with that of placebo. A single dose of JE-CV elicited rapid
      seroconversion in a higher proportion of vaccinees than the current vaccine with
      fewer reactions. The safety profile of JE-CV is good.

PMID- 20934458
TI  - NS-based live attenuated H1N1 pandemic vaccines protect mice and ferrets.
AB  - Although vaccines against influenza A virus are the most effective method to
      combat infection, it is clear that their production needs to be accelerated and
      their efficacy improved. We generated live attenuated human influenza A vaccines
      (LAIVs) by rationally engineering mutations directly into the genome of a
      pandemic-H1N1 virus. Two LAIVs (NS1-73 and NS1-126) were based on the success of
      LAIVs for animal influenza A viruses. A third candidate (NSDelta5) is a unique NS
      mutant that has never been used as a LAIV. The vaccine potential of each LAIV was
      determined through analysis of attenuation, interferon production,
      immunogenicity, and their ability to protect mice and ferrets. This study
      demonstrates that NSDelta5 is an ideal LAIV candidate, provides important
      information on the effects that different NS mutations have on the pandemic-H1N1
      virus and shows that LAIVs can be engineered directly from the genomes of
      emerging/circulating influenza A viruses.

PMID- 20934460
TI  - Improved haemagglutinin antigen content in H5N1 candidate vaccine viruses with
      chimeric haemagglutinin molecules.
AB  - The candidate vaccine virus NIBRG-14 was derived by reverse genetics and
      comprises the haemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA) genes derived from the
      clade 1 virus A/Viet Nam/1194/2004 on an A/Puerto Rico/8/34 (PR8) backbone. The
      HA gene was modified to remove the multibasic cleavage site motif associated with
      high pathogenicity. Reports from manufacturers, confirmed by data generated in
      this laboratory, have shown that this virus yields a low amount of HA antigen. We
      have generated a panel of new viruses using reverse genetics in which each virus
      consists of the PR8 backbone, the NA gene from A/Viet Nam/1194/2004 and a
      chimeric HA gene with sequences from both PR8 and A/Viet Nam/1194/2004. Here we
      show that a number of these viruses have improved HA antigen content and yield
      and are therefore better candidate vaccine viruses for use in production of H5N1
      vaccine.

PMID- 20934461
TI  - Reprint of: Metabolic effects and mechanism of action of the chromogranin A
      derived peptide pancreastatin.
AB  - Pancreastatin is one of the regulatory peptides derived from intracellular and/or
      extracellular processing of chromogranin A, the soluble acidic protein present in
      the secretory granules of the neuroendocrine system. While the intracellular
      functions of chromogranin A include formation and maturation of the secretory
      granule, the major extracellular functions are generation of biologically active
      peptides with demonstrated autocrine, paracrine or endocrine activities. In this
      review, we will focus on the metabolic function of one of these peptides,
      pancreastatin, and the mechanisms underlying its effects. Many different reported
      effects have implicated PST in the modulation of energy metabolism, with a
      general counterregulatory effect to that of insulin. Pancreastatin induces
      glycogenolysis in liver and lipolysis in adipocytes. Metabolic effects have been
      confirmed in humans. Moreover, naturally occurring human variants have been
      found, one of which (Gly297Ser) occurs in the functionally important carboxy
      terminus of the peptide, and substantially increases the peptide's potency to
      inhibit cellular glucose uptake. Thus, qualitative hereditary alterations in
      pancreastatin's primary structure may give rise to interindividual differences in
      glucose and lipid metabolism. Pancreastatin activates a receptor signaling system
      that belongs to the seven-spanning transmembrane receptor coupled to a Gq-PLCbeta
      calcium-PKC signaling pathway. Increased pancreastatin plasma levels, correlating
      with catecholamines levels, have been found in insulin resistance states, such as
      gestational diabetes or essential hypertension. Pancreastatin plays important
      physiological role in potentiating the metabolic effects of catecholamines, and
      may also play a pathophysiological role in insulin resistance states with
      increased sympathetic activity.

PMID- 20934462
TI  - Novel aspects of angiotensin II action in the heart. Implications to myocardial
      ischemia and heart failure.
AB  - The influence of angiotensin II (Ang II) on cardiac structural and
      electrophysiological remodeling was discussed including the novel concept that
      the renin angiotensin aldosterone is involved in the regulation heart cell
      volume. Particular attention was given to the role of Ang II AT1 receptors as
      mechanosensors which are activated by mechanic stretch independently of Ang II.
      These findings highly suggest that RAS inhibitors or AT1 receptor blockers have
      additional beneficial therapeutics effects by changing mechanical transduction.
      The influence of cell swelling on cell communication as well as the effect of Ang
      II on cell volume and the consequent activation of ionic channels and the
      generation of cardiac arrhythmias was reviewed. The discovery of ACE2 and its
      relevance to heart pathology was also discussed.

PMID- 20934463
TI  - Central alpha-MSH infusion in rats: disparate anorexic vs. metabolic changes with
      aging.
AB  - Changes of the anorexigenic and hypermetabolic components of the overall
      catabolic effect of alpha-MSH were studied in rats as a function of age. In male
      Wistar rats a 7 day-long intracerebroventricular infusion of alpha-MSH suppressed
      food intake and caused a fall in body weight in 2 and 3-4 month-old (young)
      groups, but it was most effective in the 24 month-old group and had hardly any
      effect in the 12 month-old (middle-aged) animals. In contrast, metabolic rate as
      well as biotelemetric measurements of core temperature and heart rate revealed
      the most pronounced hypermetabolic effects of such infusions at age 12 months.
      The hypermetabolic effect was still high in the oldest group, but low in the
      younger groups. IN CONCLUSION: Changes of the anorexigenic and hypermetabolic
      effects in the course of aging are not concordant. The overall catabolic activity
      of alpha-MSH is smallest in the middle-aged and highest in the oldest group.

PMID- 20934464
TI  - The maximal cytoprotective function of the heat shock protein 27 is dependent on
      heat shock protein 70.
AB  - Endogenous heat shock proteins (HSPs) 70 and 25/27 are induced in renal cells by
      injury from energy depletion. Transfected over-expression of HSPs 70 or 27 (human
      analogue of HSP25), provide protection against renal cell injury from ATP
      deprivation. This study examines whether over-expressed HSP27 depends on
      induction of endogenous HSPs, in particular HSP70, to afford protection against
      cell injury. LLC-PK1 cells transfected with HSP27 (27OE cells) were injured by
      ATP depletion for 2h and recovered for 4h in the presence of HSF decoy, HSP70
      specific siRNA (siRNA-70) and their respective controls. Injury in the presence
      of HSF decoy, a synthetic oligonucleotide identical to the heat shock element,
      the nuclear binding site of HSF, decreased HSP70 induction by 80% without
      affecting the over-expression of transfected HSP27. The HSP70 stress response was
      completely ablated in the presence of siRNA-70. Protection against injury,
      provided by over-expression of HSP27, was reduced by treatment with HSF decoy and
      abolished by treatment with siRNA-70. Immunoprecipitation studies demonstrated
      association of HSP27 with actin that was not affected by either treatment with
      HSF decoy or siRNA. Therefore, HSP27 is dependent on HSP70 to provide its maximal
      cytoprotective effect, but not for its interaction with actin. This study
      suggests that, while it has specific action on the cytoskeleton, HSP 25/27 must
      have coordinated activity with other HSP classes, especially HSP70, to provide
      the full extent of resistance to injury from energy depletion.

PMID- 20934466
TI  - Sub-optimal performance in the 5-choice serial reaction time task in rats was
      sensitive to methylphenidate, atomoxetine and d-amphetamine, but unaffected by
      the COMT inhibitor tolcapone.
AB  - Prefrontal cortical dopamine (DA) and norepinephrine (NE) are implicated in
      multiple aspects of cognitive function assessed via the 5-choice serial reaction
      time task (5-CSRTT) in rodents. The present studies assessed the effects of the
      NE reuptake inhibitor atomoxetine (0.5-2.0 mg/kg), the mixed DA/NE reuptake
      inhibitor methylphenidate (0.1-2.0 mg/kg), the catecholamine releaser D
      amphetamine (0.1-1.0 mg/kg) and the catecholamine-o-methyl-transferase (COMT)
      inhibitor tolcapone (3.0-30.0 mg/kg) in rats that exhibited sub-optimal
      performance (reduced accuracy: <70% correct) in the 5-CSRTT. Increased ITI
      durations were associated with increased premature responding. Decreased ITI
      durations resulted in increased percent omissions, increased perseverative
      responses and increased response latencies, but had no effects on magazine
      latencies or percent correct. Atomoxetine decreased premature responding at
      prolonged ITI durations and methylphenidate decreased percent omissions at low
      doses (0.1 and 0.5 mg/kg). By contrast, D-amphetamine increased premature and
      perseverative responding in a dose-dependent manner (0.3-1.0 mg/kg). Finally,
      tolcapone had no effects on sub-optimal performance in the variable ITI 5-CSRTT.
      These results suggest minimal potential of tolcapone as a therapeutic agent for
      ADHD and implicate cortical NE, not DA, in impulsive action.

PMID- 20934465
TI  - Akt-mediated signaling is induced by cytokines and cyclic adenosine monophosphate
      and suppresses hepatocyte inducible nitric oxide synthase expression independent
      of MAPK P44/42.
AB  - Cyclic AMP inhibits the expression of nitric oxide synthase (Harbrecht et al.,
      1995 [1]) in hepatocytes but the mechanism for this effect is incompletely
      understood. Cyclic AMP can activate several intracellular signaling pathways in
      hepatocytes including Protein Kinase A (PKA), cAMP regulated guanine nucleotide
      exchange factors (cAMP-GEFs), and calcium-mediated Protein Kinases. There is
      considerable overlap and cross-talk between many of these signaling pathways,
      however, and how these cascades regulate hepatocyte iNOS is not known. We
      hypothesized that Akt mediates the effect of cAMP on hepatocyte iNOS expression.
      Hepatocytes cultured with cytokines and dbcAMP increased Akt phosphorylation up
      to 2h of culture. Akt phosphorylation was inhibited by the PI3K inhibitor
      LY294002 (10MUM), farnyltranferase inhibitor FTI-276, or transfection with a
      dominant negative Akt. The cyclic AMP-induced suppression of cytokine-stimulated
      iNOS was partially reversed by LY294002 and FTI-276. LY294002 also increased
      NFkappaB nucleus translocation by Western blot analysis in nuclear extracts.
      Cyclic AMP increased phosphorylation of Raf1 at serine 259 which was blocked by
      LY294002 and associated with decreased MAPK P44/42 phosphorylation. However,
      inhibition of MAPK P44/42 signaling with PD98059 failed to suppress cytokine
      induced hepatocyte iNOS expression and did not enhance the inhibitory effect of
      dbcAMP on iNOS production. A constitutively active MAPK P44/42 plasmid had no
      effect on cytokine-stimulated NO production. These data demonstrate that dbcAMP
      regulates hepatocyte iNOS expression through an Akt-mediated signaling mechanism
      that is independent of MAPK P44/42.

PMID- 20934467
TI  - SPP1 expression in spinal motor neurons of the macaque monkey.
AB  - In the macaque cerebral cortex, the SPP1 (secreted phosphoprotein 1) gene is
      mainly expressed in corticospinal neurons. In this study, we found that SPP1 was
      principally expressed in motor neurons in lamina IX of the macaque spinal cord.
      The expression level varied among different spinal segments and correlated
      positively with neuron size. The expression was weak in Errgamma-positive
      neurons, presumably gamma motor neurons, and in neurons in sacral Onuf's nucleus.
      These results suggest that SPP1 is a molecular characteristic of spinal motor
      neurons and is preferentially expressed in neurons with high conduction
      velocities.

PMID- 20934468
TI  - Construction of a thermostable cell adhesion protein for reverse transfection.
AB  - Transfection arrays are useful to analyze multiple genes at one time. In order to
      carry out gene transfection, cells are cultured on a plate on which genes are
      spotted to make extracellular matrix. However, this method is limited by low cell
      adhesion and transfection efficiency. To overcome these problems, we attempted to
      construct a novel extracellular matrix protein consisting of a variety of
      functional peptides. Here we fused the elastin derived peptide Ala-Pro-Gly-Val
      Gly-Val (APGVGV) with the cell adhesive peptides, Pro-His-Ser-Arg-Asn (PHSRN) and
      Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD). The resulting fusion proteins, E12PSGR, had high cell adhesive
      activity, transfection efficiency, and thermal stability.

PMID- 20934469
TI  - Intrinsic cellular defense mechanisms targeting human cytomegalovirus.
AB  - In recent studies we and others have identified the cellular proteins PML, hDaxx,
      Sp100 and ATRX, which form a subnuclear structure known as nuclear domain 10
      (ND10) or PML nuclear bodies (PML-NBs), as host restriction factors that
      counteract cytomegalovirus infections by inhibiting the initiation of viral
      immediate-early (IE) gene expression. The antiviral function of ND10, however, is
      antagonized by viral regulatory proteins which either induce a proteasomal
      degradation of ND10 proteins or a disruption of the subnuclear structure. This
      review will summarize our current knowledge on the inhibition of cytomegalovirus
      replication by ND10 proteins. Furthermore, viral strategies to defeat this host
      defense mechanism are discussed.

PMID- 20934470
TI  - The hepatitis B virus HBx protein modulates cell cycle regulatory proteins in
      cultured primary human hepatocytes.
AB  - There are over 350 million people chronically infected with the Hepatitis B virus
      (HBV); chronic HBV infections are associated with the development of
      hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). While the precise mechanism of HBV-associated HCC
      remains undefined, it is believed to involve a combination of the host immune
      response to infection and activities of HBV proteins including the nonstructural
      X protein (HBx). HBx is a multifunctional protein that can modulate various
      cellular processes including cell proliferation. The exact effect of HBx on cell
      proliferation has varied depending on the cell line and exact conditions used in
      the study. Our previously published reports have demonstrated that HBx modulates
      the levels of cell cycle regulatory proteins in primary rat hepatocytes; however,
      the effect of HBx on cell cycle regulatory proteins in primary human hepatocytes,
      the natural host for HBV infection, has not been studied. Here we have examined
      the effect of HBx on cell cycle regulatory proteins in cultured, primary human
      hepatocytes. We demonstrate that HBx decreases the levels of cell cycle proteins
      that prevent progression into G1 phase and increases the levels of cell cycle
      proteins active in G1 phase. We have also shown that HBx modulation of cell cycle
      regulatory proteins requires cytosolic calcium, similar to the results we
      previously obtained in primary rat hepatocytes. Cumulatively, our results are the
      first demonstration that HBx modulates the levels of cell cycle regulatory
      proteins in a calcium-dependent manner in primary human hepatocytes.

PMID- 20934473
TI  - Laser modulated transmembrane convection: Implementation in cancer chemotherapy.
AB  - Transmembrane diffusion imposes fundamental limits to the uptake of cytostatic
      drugs executing their function intracellularly. Here, we report that
      transmembrane convection-a mechanism exploiting the effect of moderately intense
      670nm laser light on the density and viscosity of nanoscopic interfacial water
      layers (IWL) in the cell-forces cancer cells to uptake high doses of cytostatic
      drugs in a short time. Transmembrane convection is a viable alternative to
      established uptake forms (i.e., it works complementary to diffusive processes)
      and breaks the limits imposed by diffusion. We demonstrate the potency of the
      method in human cervical cancer cells, HeLa, using the anticancer compounds
      doxorubicin (DOX), methotrexate (MTX) and epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). The
      method is applicable to virtually the entire chemotherapeutic arsenal and is
      expected to help overcome multidrug resistance in cancer cells.

PMID- 20934471
TI  - Analysis of the N-terminal region of the murine leukemia virus nucleocapsid
      protein.
AB  - Lentiviruses such as the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) and
      alpharetroviruses such as Rous Sarcoma virus encode an element that spans the
      precursor Gag (PrGag) protein capsid (CA) C-terminus, a spacer peptide (SP), and
      the N-terminus of nucleocapsid (NC). Perturbation of this element causes the
      assembly of aberrant, non-infectious virus particles. To determine whether this
      element is conserved in gammaretroviruses such as the Moloney murine leukemia
      virus (MLV), we examined the effects of insertion mutations in the N-terminal
      portion of the MLV NC coding region. Interestingly, we found that insertions of
      as many as twenty residues after the twelfth residue of MLV NC yielded proteins
      that directed the efficient assembly of virus particles. Virus morphologies and
      crosslink profiles appeared normal, and assembled viruses retained significant
      levels of infectivity in single cycle infection assays. Two variants were
      examined in the context of replicating virus constructs, and the mutations were
      found to be maintained during multiple rounds of infection in a cell culture
      system. These results suggest that the alpharetrovirus and lentivirus assembly
      elements either are not needed for gammaretroviruses, or are replaced by an
      alternative assembly element. Our results also indicate that the N-terminal
      region of MLV NC is amenable to genetic manipulation.

PMID- 20934474
TI  - Identification of kinin-related peptides in the disease vector, Rhodnius
      prolixus.
AB  - We have used an in silico approach to identify a gene from the blood-gorging
      vector, Rhodnius prolixus, that is predicted to produce an insect kinin
      prepropeptide. The prepropeptide is 398 amino acids in length and can potentially
      produce a large number of kinin-related peptides following post-translational
      processing. A comparison with other insect kinin precursor sequences demonstrates
      greatest conservation at the C-terminal region of the kinin peptides. Multiple
      peptides predicted from the kinin gene are phenotypically expressed in R.
      prolixus, as revealed by MALDI-TOF MS MS, including 12 kinins and one kinin
      precursor peptide (KPP). Six of these peptides are characterized by the typical
      insect kinin C-terminal motif FX(1)X(2)WGamide and five of these are also found
      as truncated forms. Five peptides were identified with an atypical, though
      similar, FX(1)X(2)WAamide C-terminus. There is also peptide with a C-terminal
      DDNGamide motif and a number of non-amidated peptides.

PMID- 20934475
TI  - Development of peptide and protein nanotherapeutics by nanoencapsulation and
      nanobioconjugation.
AB  - The targeted delivery of therapeutic peptide by nanocarriers systems requires the
      knowledge of interactions of nanomaterials with the biological environment,
      peptide release, and stability of therapeutic peptides. Therapeutic application
      of nanoencapsulated peptides are increasing exponentially and >1000 peptides in
      nanoencapsulated form are in different clinical/trial phase. This review covers
      current scenario of therapeutic protein and peptides encapsulation on polymer to
      metallic nanocarriers including methods of protein encapsulation, peptide
      bioconjugation on nanoparticles, stability enhancement of encapsulated proteins
      and its biomedical applications.

PMID- 20934476
TI  - Anthocyanins from purple sweet potato attenuate dimethylnitrosamine-induced liver
      injury in rats by inducing Nrf2-mediated antioxidant enzymes and reducing COX-2
      and iNOS expression.
AB  - Anthocyanins of the purple sweet potato exhibit antioxidant and hepatoprotective
      activities via a multitude of biochemical mechanisms. However, the signaling
      pathways involved in the actions of anthocyanin-induced antioxidant enzymes
      against chronic liver injury are not fully understood. We examined whether an
      anthocyanin fraction (AF) from purple sweet potato may prevent
      dimethylnitrosamine (DMN)-induced liver injury by inducing antioxidants via
      nuclear erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) pathways and by reducing
      inflammation. Treatment with AF attenuated the DMN-induced increased serum
      alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase activities. It also
      prevented the formation of hepatic malondialdehyde and the depletion of
      glutathione and maintained normal glutathione-S-transferase (GST) activity in the
      livers of DMN-intoxicated rats. Furthermore, AF increased the expression of Nrf2,
      NADPH:quinine oxidoreductase-1, heme oxygenase-1, and GSTalpha, which were
      reduced by DMN, and decreased the expression of cyclooxygenase-2 and inducible
      nitric oxide synthase. An increase in the nuclear translocation of nuclear factor
      kappa B (NF-kappaB) was observed in the DMN-induced liver injury group, but AF
      inhibited this translocation. Taken together, these results demonstrate that AF
      increases the expression of antioxidant enzymes and Nrf2 and at the same time
      decreases the expression of inflammatory mediators in DMN-induced liver injury.
      These data imply that AF induces antioxidant defense via the Nrf2 pathway and
      reduces inflammation via NF-kappaB inhibition.

PMID- 20934477
TI  - Ethyl acetate extract of Psidium guajava inhibits IgE-mediated allergic responses
      by blocking FcepsilonRI signaling.
AB  - Psidium guajava (P. guajava) is an important food crop and medicinal plant with
      antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-allergic activities, supporting its
      traditional uses. However, its precise effects remain unknown. We investigated
      the effects of P. guajava ethyl acetate extract (PGEA) on IgE-mediated allergic
      responses in rat mast RBL-2H3 cells. PGEA reduced antigen (DNP-BSA)-induced
      release of beta-hexosaminidase and histamine in IgE-sensitized RBL-2H3 cells. In
      addition, it inhibited antigen-induced IL-4 and TNF-alpha mRNA expression and
      protein production in IgE-sensitized RBL-2H3 cells. PGEA also suppressed antigen
      induced COX-2 mRNA and protein expression in these cells, as well as antigen
      induced activation of NFAT and reactive oxygen species. Moreover, it inhibited
      antigen-induced activation of NF-kappaB and degradation of IkappaB-alpha. To
      identify the mechanisms underpinning the inhibition of degranulation and cytokine
      production by PGEA, we examined the activation of intracellular FcepsilonRI
      signaling molecules. PGEA suppressed antigen-induced phosphorylation of Syk, LAT,
      Gab2, and PLCgamma2 but not Lyn, and inhibited antigen-induced phosphorylation of
      downstream signaling intermediates including MAP kinases and Akt. Collectively,
      the anti-allergic effects of PGEA in vitro suggest its possible therapeutic
      application to inflammatory allergic diseases, in which its inhibition of
      inflammatory cytokine production and FcepsilonRI-dependent signaling events in
      mast cells may be hugely beneficial.

PMID- 20934478
TI  - Synergistic effect of nisin and cone essential oil of Metasequoia
      glyptostroboides Miki ex Hu against Listeria monocytogenes in milk samples.
AB  - This study was undertaken to evaluate the effect of nisin and cone essential oil
      of Metasequoia glyptostroboides against Listeria monocytogenes ATCC 19116
      inoculated in whole (8%), low (1%) and skim (no fat content) milks. Essential oil
      at the concentrations of 2% and 5% revealed strong antilisterial effect against
      L. monocytogenes ATCC 19116 in all categories of milks. Nisin at the
      concentrations of 250 and 500 IU/ml displayed a remarkable antilisterial effect
      as compared to the control group. Also, the synergistic combinations of cone
      essential oil (1% and 2%) and nisin (62.5, 125, 250 and 500 IU/ml) had a
      remarkable antilisterial activity in all categories of whole, low and skim milks
      after 14 days. Results of this study indicate that the cone essential oil of M.
      glyptostroboides might be a useful candidate for using in food industry to
      control the growth of pathogenic microorganisms.

PMID- 20934479
TI  - Biological activities of Portuguese propolis: protection against free radical
      induced erythrocyte damage and inhibition of human renal cancer cell growth in
      vitro.
AB  - This study reports for the first time the biological properties of Portuguese
      propolis. The antioxidant potential of propolis samples from Bornes (Northeast)
      and Fundao (Centre) regions of Portugal was evaluated by their ability to inhibit
      the 2,2'-azobis(2-amidinopropane) dihydrochloride (AAPH)-induced oxidative
      hemolysis and lipid peroxidation in human erythrocytes. Bornes and Fundao
      propolis strongly protected the erythrocyte membrane from hemolysis (IC(50) of
      6.3+/-0.7 and 10.4+/-2.7 MUg/ml, respectively), in a time- and concentration
      dependent manner. This effect was found to be significantly higher than that
      presented by ascorbic acid (IC(50) of 31.0+/-5.6 MUg/ml). In addition, human
      erythrocytes treated with propolis extracts showed concentration-dependent
      decrease in levels of malondialdehyde, a breakdown product of lipid peroxidation.
      Propolis extracts were also assayed for their anticancer properties on human
      renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Primary cultures of normal and cancerous renal cells
      derived from RCC patients, in addition to A-498 cell line, were treated with
      propolis extracts (0-100 MUg/ml). Cytotoxic and antiproliferative effects were
      determined by the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide
      (MTT) assay. Propolis extracts exhibited selective toxicity against malignant
      cells compared to normal cells. In vitro RCC growth was strongly inhibited by
      Bornes and Fundao propolis in a concentration-dependent manner. Our results
      indicate that Portuguese propolis constitutes an excellent source of effective
      natural antioxidant and chemopreventive agents.

PMID- 20934480
TI  - Assessment of deoxynivalenol metabolite profiles in UK adults.
AB  - Deoxynivalenol (DON) requires no activation for toxicity, though susceptibility
      may reflect individual variations in detoxification. This study reports the
      measurement of un-metabolised urinary DON (free DON) and DOM-1 in samples
      previously analysed for the combined measure of free DON+DON-glucuronide (fD+DG),
      with a concentration >5 ng/ml, for 34 UK adults. Four consecutive daily urine
      samples were analysed from twenty-two individuals, whilst from 12 individuals
      only a single sample was analysed. The mean (median) concentration of urinary
      fD+DG in this sub-set was 17.8 ng/ml (13.8 ng/ml), range 5.0-78.2 ng/ml. In 23/34
      (68%) individuals, free DON was detected, mean 2.4 ng/ml; range 0.5-9.3 ng/ml.
      Urinary DOM-1 was detected in 1/34 (3%) of individuals; present at ~1% of urinary
      fD+DG concentration for that individual. The concentration of fD+DG combined was
      significantly correlated with urinary free DON (p<0.001, R(2)=0.65), but not with
      the percentage of free DON to fD+DG (p=0.615, R(2)=0.01), suggesting that the
      level of DON exposure did not affect the metabolism to DG within the range
      observed. In this survey most individuals had no detectable urinary DOM-1 and 68%
      did not detoxify all of the ingested DON to DON-glucuronide. This study needs to
      be extended to understand whether the fD / DG ratio provides a phenotypic measure
      of DON susceptibility.

PMID- 20934481
TI  - The effects of glucocorticoids on the inhibition of emotional information: A dose
      response study.
AB  - There is evidence that cortisol influences cognitive and affective processes such
      as selective attention and memory for emotional events, yet the effects of
      glucocorticoids on attentional inhibition in humans remain unknown. Consequently,
      this double-blind study examined dose-dependent effects of exogenous
      glucocorticoids on the inhibition of emotional information. Sixty-three
      university students (14 male, 49 female) ingested either a placebo pill or
      hydrocortisone (10mg or 40mg), and completed a negative priming task assessing
      the inhibition of pictures depicting angry, sad, and happy faces. The 10mg, but
      not the 40mg hydrocortisone dose elicited increased inhibition for angry faces
      relative to placebo. Thus, moderate glucocorticoid elevations may have adaptive
      effects on emotional information processing, whereas high glucocorticoid
      elevations appear to attenuate this effect, consistent with the view that there
      are dose-dependent effects of glucocorticoids on cognition.

PMID- 20934482
TI  - In vitro and in vivo characterization of SGI-1252, a small molecule inhibitor of
      JAK2.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Constitutive activation of the Janus kinase 2 (JAK2) due to a somatic
      mutation (JAK2(V617F)) arising in hematopoietic stem cells plays a central role
      in the pathophysiology of myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs). To investigate the
      hypothesis that drugs that inhibit JAK2 have therapeutic potential, we developed
      a small molecule inhibitor, SGI-1252, that targets the adenosine triphosphate
      binding and solvent pocket of the protein. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Established
      cells lines each expressing different JAK2(V617F) copy numbers, a cell line
      transfected with wild-type and mutant JAK2, ex vivo expanded erythroid progenitor
      cells from patients with MPNs, and a murine xenograft model were used to
      characterize the activity of SGI-1252. RESULTS: In vitro studies showed that SGI
      1252 potently inhibits the kinase activity of wild-type JAK2, JAK2(V617F) and
      JAK1, but not JAK3. SGI-1252 blocked phosphorylation of signal transducers and
      activators of transcription 5, a downstream target of JAK2 and inhibited
      expression of the JAK2-dependent antiapoptotic gene BCL-X(L). Additional studies
      confirmed induction of apoptosis in JAK2(V617F)-positive cell lines by SGI-1252.
      Moreover, cell lines transfected with either wild-type JAK2 or JAK2(V617F) were
      equally susceptible to the antiproliferative effects of SGI-1252 and the
      antiproliferative activity of SGI-1252 toward ex vivo--expanded erythroid
      progenitors from patients with polycythemia vera and primary myelofibrosis
      appeared independent of the JAK2(V617F) allele burden. Pharmacodynamic studies in
      a murine xenograft model demonstrated both anti-tumor activity and inhibition of
      signal transducers and activators of transcription 5 phosphorylation by SGI-1252,
      and the drug was active and well-tolerated whether delivered intraperitoneally or
      orally. CONCLUSIONS: Together, these studies support further development of SGI
      1252 for clinical use.

PMID- 20934483
TI  - Computer simulation of interaction of photosystem 1 with plastocyanin and
      ferredoxin.
AB  - We designed 3D multiparticle computer models to simulate diffusion and
      interactions of spinach plastocyanin and ferredoxin with plant photosystem 1 in a
      solution. Using these models we studied kinetic characteristics of plastocyanin
      photosystem 1 and ferredoxin-photosystem 1 complex formation at a variety of
      ionic strength values. The computer multiparticle models demonstrate non
      monotonic dependences of complex formation rates on the ionic strength as the
      result of long-range electrostatic interactions. Our calculations show that the
      decrease in the association second-order rate constant at low values of the ionic
      strength is caused by the protein pairs spending more time in "wrong"
      orientations which do not satisfy the docking conditions and so do not form the
      final complex capable of the electron transfer.

PMID- 20934484
TI  - Resource exploitation strategies in the presence of traffic between food sources.
AB  - A mathematical model of food recruitment and resource exploitation in group
      living organisms accounting for direct traffic of individuals between the
      available sources is developed. It is shown that traffic between sources gives
      rise to the enhancement of the range of stability of the homogeneous mode of
      exploitation and of the range of coexistence of homogeneous and semi
      inhomogeneous ones, as well as the appearance of symmetry breaking transitions
      leading to fully inhomogeneous exploitation modes.

PMID- 20934485
TI  - The Unscented Kalman Filter estimates the plasma insulin from glucose
      measurement.
AB  - Understanding the simultaneous interaction within the glucose and insulin
      homeostasis in real-time is very important for clinical treatment as well as for
      research issues. Until now only plasma glucose concentrations can be measured in
      real-time. To support a secure, effective and rapid treatment e.g. of diabetes a
      real-time estimation of plasma insulin would be of great value. A novel approach
      using an Unscented Kalman Filter that provides an estimate of the current plasma
      insulin concentration is presented, which operates on the measurement of the
      plasma glucose and Bergman's Minimal Model of the glucose insulin homeostasis. We
      can prove that process observability is obtained in this case. Hence, a
      successful estimator design is possible. Since the process is nonlinear we have
      to consider estimates that are not normally distributed. The symmetric Unscented
      Kalman Filter (UKF) will perform best compared to other estimator approaches as
      the Extended Kalman Filter (EKF), the simplex Unscented Kalman Filter (UKF), and
      the Particle Filter (PF). The symmetric UKF algorithm is applied to the plasma
      insulin estimation. It shows better results compared to the direct (open loop)
      estimation that uses a model of the insulin subsystem.

PMID- 20934486
TI  - Implication of the c-Jun-NH2-terminal kinase pathway in the neuroprotective
      effect of puerarin against 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium (MPP+)-induced apoptosis
      in PC-12 cells.
AB  - Apoptosis is a widely accepted component of the pathogenesis of Parkinson's
      disease (PD), a debilitating neurodegenerative disorder characterized by loss of
      dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra. In this study, we investigated the
      neuroprotective effects of puerarin and possible mechanisms by which puerarin
      acts against MPP(+)-induced toxicity in rat pheochromocytoma PC12 cells. PC12
      cells exposed to MPP(+) (500 MUM) significantly decreased the viability of PC12
      cells when examined by MTT assay, DNA ELISA assay, and Annexin V assays, which
      was prevented by puerarin in a dose-dependent manner. PC12 cells exposed to
      MPP(+) (500 MUM) elicited phosphorylation of MKK7, c-Jun-NH(2)-terminal kinase
      (JNK), and c-Jun which followed by the increase in cytochrome c levels, and which
      was prevented by puerarin. Moreover, puerarin inhibited the activation of caspase
      9 and caspase-3 in MPP(+)-exposed PC12 cells. Whereas, the neuroprotective effect
      of puerarin against MPP(+) insults can be blocked by SP600125 (inhibitor of JNK).
      Taken together, these results suggest that puerarin protected PC12 cells against
      MPP(+)-induced neurotoxicity through the inhibition of the JNK signaling
      pathways. Therefore, puerarin has the possible beneficial effects in PD by
      attenuating MPP(+)-induced toxicity.

PMID- 20934487
TI  - Increased expression of miRNA-146a in Alzheimer's disease transgenic mouse
      models.
AB  - A mouse and human brain-enriched micro-RNA-146a (miRNA-146a) is known to be
      important in modulating the innate immune response and inflammatory signaling in
      certain immunological and brain cell types. In this study we examined miRNA-146a
      levels in early-, moderate- and late-stage Alzheimer's disease (AD) neocortex and
      hippocampus, in several human primary brain and retinal cell lines, and in 5
      different transgenic mouse models of AD including Tg2576, TgCRND8, PSAPP, 3xTg-AD
      and 5xFAD. Inducible expression of miRNA-146a was found to be significantly up
      regulated in a primary co-culture of human neuronal-glial (HNG) cells stressed
      using interleukin1-beta (IL-1beta), and this up-regulation was quenched using
      specific NF-kB inhibitors including curcumin. Expression of miRNA-146a correlated
      with senile plaque density and synaptic pathology in Tg2576 and in 5xFAD
      transgenic mouse models used in the study of this common neurodegenerative
      disorder.

PMID- 20934488
TI  - Effects of COX inhibitors on neurodegeneration and survival in mice exposed to
      the marine neurotoxin domoic acid.
AB  - The marine neurotoxin domoic acid (DA) is a rigid analogue of the
      neurotransmitter glutamate and a potent agonist of kainate subtype glutamate
      receptors. Persistent activation of these receptor subtypes results in rapid
      excitotoxicity, calcium-dependent cell death, and neuronal degeneration in
      regions of the brain where glutamatergic pathways are concentrated. Previous work
      has shown that DA promotes the expression of inflammatory genes in the brain,
      such as cyclooxygenase 2 (COX2). To investigate the impact of inflammation on the
      development of neurodegeneration, and ultimately survival following DA
      administration, we used selective (L745337, Merck) and non-selective
      (acetylsalicylic acid (ASA)) COX inhibitors in DA exposed mice. Adult male ICR
      mice were given a regime of either ASA or L23547 both before and after a single
      LD50 dose of DA. Mice were observed immediately after toxin introduction and then
      sacrificed at 2 days post exposure. Our lower dose of L23547 increased survival
      and was most effective at decreasing neuronal degeneration in the CA1 and CA3
      regions of the hippocampus, areas especially sensitive to DA excitotoxicity. This
      study shows that COX2 plays a role in DA induced neurodegeneration and death, and
      that inhibitors may be of value for treatment in human and wildlife DA exposure.

PMID- 20934489
TI  - Effects of opioid agonist and antagonist in dams exposed to morphine during the
      perinatal period.
AB  - The aim of the present work was to further analyse the features of opioid
      dependence following chronic morphine treatment during pregnancy and lactation.
      Dams from the day of mating were treated either with saline or with morphine
      (10mg/kg) subcutaneously once daily. Physical and behavioural signs of morphine
      withdrawal were investigated both in the early postpartum period (maternal
      behaviour) and after weaning (physical signals, locomotion, anxiety-like
      behaviour). Maternal behaviour was evaluated after acute challenge with naloxone
      (3 mg/kgs.c.) or morphine (10 mg/kgs.c.) and morphine plus naloxone (10 mg/kgs.c.
      and 3 mg/kgs.c., respectively). After weaning sensitivity to the rewarding effect
      of morphine was measured by conditioned place preference and to the aversive
      effect of naloxone by conditioned place aversion tests. The intensity of physical
      and behavioural indices of dependence was also investigated by precipitation of
      withdrawal with naloxone (10 mg/kgs.c) after weaning. Naloxone impaired the
      maternal behaviour in morphine-treated dams but not in saline-ones. Acute
      challenge with morphine impaired maternal responsiveness both in saline and in
      morphine-treated dams, this effect of morphine, however could be completely
      antagonised by naloxone only in the saline-treated but not in the morphine
      treated ones. Significantly increased sensitivity to the rewarding stimulus of
      morphine and more pronounced aversion to naloxone were observed in morphine
      treated dams. Naloxone precipitated only moderate physical withdrawal signals in
      morphine-treated dams, while anxiety and locomotor activity after administration
      of naloxone (behavioural withdrawal) were not changed in them. In summary
      chronic, moderate dose morphine treatment during pregnancy and lactation resulted
      in only mild dependence, but it affected opioid-receptor sensitivity and
      presumably disrupted the functioning of endogenous opioid system.

PMID- 20934490
TI  - Early weaning programs rats to have a dietary preference for fat and palatable
      foods in adulthood.
AB  - The objective of this work was to study the effect of early weaning on alimentary
      preference for the macronutrients protein, carbohydrate and fat in adult rats.
      Male Wistar rat pups were weaned by separation from the mother at 15 (D15) or 30
      (D30) days old. Body weight and food intake were measured every 30 days until
      pups were 150 days old. At 110 days of age, the alimentary preference was
      evaluated for 1h on 3 consecutive days. At 120 days of age, the palatable diet
      test was conducted during 3 consecutive 24-h periods. Body weight and food intake
      were not altered, but early weaning in rats induced an alimentary preference to
      fat and hyperphagia of a palatable diet. In conclusion, early weaning, although
      did not modify body weight or basal food intake, promoted an increased preference
      for palatable and fatty foods. This demonstrates that early weaning is not
      capable of promoting perceptible alterations of alimentary behavior under normal
      laboratory conditions. However, in the presence of a stimulating factor such as a
      choice of nutrients or a palatable diet, a possible latent effect on dietary
      preferences may become apparent. Over the long term, this preference for foods
      with high caloric density can lead to obesity and metabolic perturbations.

PMID- 20934491
TI  - Role of the dissolved zinc ion and reactive oxygen species in cytotoxicity of ZnO
      nanoparticles.
AB  - With large-scale production and wide application of nanoscale ZnO, its health
      hazard has attracted extensive worldwide attention. In this study, cytotoxicity
      of different sized and shaped ZnO nanoparticles in mouse macrophage Ana-1 was
      investigated. And contribution of dissolved Zn(2+) and ROS in toxicity of ZnO
      particles was analyzed. The results indicated that ZnO particles manifested dose
      dependent toxic effect on Ana-1 cells without size-dependence, and the particles
      shape may impact cytotoxicity of ZnO particles. When the concentration of
      dissolved Zn(2+) tended to equilibrium in the complete cell medium, the zinc ion
      concentration was approximately 10 MUg/ml, inducing about 50% cell death, which
      was close to the cytotoxicity of ZnCl(2) (IC(50)=13.33 MUg Zn/ml). The Zn(2+)
      concentration had significant correlations with cell viability and LDH level
      induced by the supernatant of ZnO particle suspensions (incubation at 37 degrees
      C for 24h). Thus, the dissolved Zn(2+) played the main role in toxic effect of
      ZnO particles. Moreover, ROS generation assays demonstrated that ZnO particles
      produced intrinsically a small quantity of ROS, intracellular ROS was mainly
      produced after ZnO particles or the dissolved Zn(2+) entered into the cells.
      Although intracellular ROS had significant correlations with cell viability and
      LDH induced by ZnO particles, intracellular ROS may not be a major factor in
      cytotoxicity of ZnO nanoparticles, but the cytotoxic response.

PMID- 20934492
TI  - Potential adjuvant effect of intranasal urban aerosols in mice through induction
      of dendritic cell maturation.
AB  - Urban air pollution is a crucial environmental problem in industrialized and
      developing countries. Although epidemiologic studies have associated exposure to
      urban aerosols with exacerbations of allergic airway diseases, the underlying
      mechanism of toxicity is largely unknown. Here, we evaluated the effect of urban
      aerosols from China, on the induction of allergic diseases in vivo and on the
      function of dendritic cells (DCs) in vitro. Mice were intranasally given urban
      aerosol plus ovalbumin (OVA), and the levels of OVA-specific antibodies in the
      plasma were determined. Urban aerosol induced higher OVA-specific immunoglobulin
      (Ig) G and IgE responses than OVA alone. Furthermore, urban aerosol plus OVA
      induced high levels of histamine production, indicating that exposure to the
      aerosol could cause serious allergic symptoms. Next, we examined the effect of
      urban aerosol on DCs. The aerosol enhanced cell-surface expression of co
      stimulatory molecules such as CD80 and CD86 and the production of interleukin
      (IL)-1beta and IL-6 on DCs. In addition, allogeneic T-cell-stimulation assay
      showed that the urban aerosol could activate T cells through maturation of DCs.
      These results indicate that urban aerosols can induce allergic airway diseases
      through activation of DCs.

PMID- 20934493
TI  - Distribution of melamine in rat foetuses and neonates.
AB  - Pharmacokinetics of melamine has not been studied in pregnancies despite of the
      many reports on the effect on renal damage in adult and neonates. In this study,
      Sprague-Dawley rats have been used as a model to study the single-dose effect of
      melamine administration in late pregnancy and in neonates within 24h. Melamine
      concentrations in maternal serum, breast milk, whole foetus, amniotic fluid,
      neonatal serum and neonatal kidney was measured by liquid chromatography coupled
      with mass spectrometry. Melamine was detected in all the samples, including
      foetal rats and amniotic fluid in utero. Melamine was able to pass through
      placenta and reach the foetus, and to accumulate in lactating mammary gland and
      neonatal kidney. Moreover, melamine was eliminated through the placenta of the
      foetus and the kidneys of the neonates, and later excreted into the amniotic
      fluid. The study characterised for the first time the distribution of melamine in
      foetuses and neonates, providing reference for toxicological study of melamine
      during pregnancy.

PMID- 20934494
TI  - Stimulation effect of microcystin-LR on matrix metalloproteinase-2/-9 expression
      in mouse liver.
AB  - In order to investigate the potential effects of microcystin-LR (MC-LR) on the
      expression of metalloproteinases (MMPs), Mice were orally administered with MC-LR
      in drinking water (0, 1, 40 and 80 MUg/L) for 180 d, and hepatic MMP-2/-9
      expression was evaluated at the levels of enzyme activity, protein level and mRNA
      expression. Histopathologic observation showed the obvious hepatic lymphocyte
      infiltration and fatty degeneration in the mice exposed to 40 and 80 MUg/L MC-LR.
      Immunohistochemical staining and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)
      revealed that excess MMP-2/-9 proteins were produced in livers of the mice
      exposed to MC-LR at the higher concentrations. Hepatic MMP-9 level was elevated
      from 0.6 ng/g liver weight in control to 1.4 ng/g liver weight in 80-MUg/L group,
      but a slight increase was found for MMP-2 level. Real time PCR showed that MMP-2/
      9 mRNA expression was up-regulated by 6.9 fold and 5.0 fold after 80-MUg/L-MC
      treatment, respectively. MMP-2/-9 expression showed a good dose-dependent manner
      at both protein and mRNA levels. ELISA demonstrated that MC-LR stimulated
      phosphorylation of mitogen-activated protein kinases, a potential signal
      transduction pathway of the MMP-2/-9 expression alteration. This study revealed a
      significant alteration in hepatic MMP-2/-9 expression induced by MC-LR, which
      might be involved in cell invasion and metastasis.

PMID- 20934495
TI  - PET imaging of brain cancer with positron emitter-labeled liposomes.
AB  - Since nanocarriers such as liposomes are known to accumulate in tumors of tumor
      bearing animals, and those that have entrapped a positron emitter can be used to
      image a tumor by PET, we applied (18)F-labeled 100-nm-sized liposomes for the
      imaging of brain tumors. Polyethylene glycol (PEG)-modified liposomes, which are
      known to accumulate in tumors by passive targeting and those modified with Ala
      Pro-Arg-Pro-Gly, which are known to home into angiogenic sites were used. Those
      liposomes labeled with DiI fluorescence accumulated in a glioma implanted in a
      rat brain 1h after the injection, although they did not accumulate in the normal
      brain tissues due to the protection afforded by the blood-brain barrier.
      Preformed liposomes were easily labeled with 1-[(18)F]fluoro-3,6
      dioxatetracosane, and enabled the imaging of gliomas by PET with higher contrast
      than that obtained with [(18)F]deoxyfluoroglucose. In addition, the smallest
      tumor among those tested, having a diameter of 1mm was successfully imaged by the
      liposomal (18)F. Therefore, nanocarrier-based imaging of brain tumors is
      promising for the diagnosis of brain cancer and possible drug delivery-based
      therapy.

PMID- 20934496
TI  - Silicalites and Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles for photodynamic therapy.
AB  - The synthesis of silicalites and Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles (MSN), which
      covalently incorporate original water-soluble photosensitizers for PDT
      applications is described. PDT was performed on MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells.
      All the nanoparticles showed significant cell death after irradiation, which was
      not correlated with (1)O(2) quantum yield of the nanoparticles. Other parameters
      are involved and in particular the surface and shape of the nanoparticles which
      influence the pathway of endocytosis. Functionalization with mannose was
      necessary to obtain the best results with PDT due to an active endocytosis of
      mannose-functionalized nanoparticles. The quantity of mannose on the surface
      should be carefully adjusted as a too high amount of mannose impairs the
      phototoxicity of the nanoparticles. Fluorescein was also encapsulated in MCM-41
      type MSN in order to localize the nanoparticles in the organelles of the cells by
      confocal microscopy. The MSN were localized in lysosomes after active endocytosis
      by mannose receptors.

PMID- 20934497
TI  - Changed crystallinity of mebendazole solid dispersion: improved anthelmintic
      activity.
AB  - To improve the efficacy of mebendazole (MBZ), a poorly water-soluble drug, MBZ
      solid dispersions containing different proportions of low-substituted
      hydroxypropylcellulose (L-HPC) were prepared by lyophilization process. The
      physical characteristics of recrystallized MBZ, and solid dispersions (SD) at
      different MBZ:L-HPC proportions were investigated in terms of morphology
      (scanning electron microscopy, SEM), powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), differential
      scanning calorimetry (DSC) and dissolution rate. The in vivo performance was
      assessed by anthelmintic activity studies against enteral (pre-adult) stage of
      Trichinella spiralis in mice. The XRD, DSC and SEM revealed a characteristic
      decrease in crystallinity when increasing the L-HPC proportions in the solid
      dispersions. The dissolution studies demonstrated a marked increase in the
      dissolution rate in comparison with recrystallized drug. The considerable
      improvement in the dissolution rate of MBZ from solid dispersions was attributed
      to decreased drug crystallinity and altered surface morphology (major) and to the
      wetting effect of L-HPC (minor). The in vivo studies revealed that the
      anthelmintic effects of solid dispersions in mice were significantly increased in
      comparison with recrystallized MBZ (1.74-fold for SD-1:1, 3.20-fold for SD-1:2.5
      and 3.80-fold for SD-1:5). These results have shown the suitability of MBZ:L-HPC
      solid dispersions for the treatment of enteral helmintic diseases at low doses.

PMID- 20934498
TI  - Angiotensin II-induced hypertension enhanced therapeutic efficacy of liposomal
      doxorubicin in tumor-bearing mice.
AB  - In this study, we investigated whether the therapeutic efficacy of liposomal
      doxorubicin (DXR-SL) could be enhanced by angiotensin II (AT)-induced
      hypertension. AT-induced hypertension increased the volume of tumor blood flow in
      mice bearing a poorly vascularized Lewis lung carcinoma (LLC) tumor, but only
      slightly in mice bearing a well-vascularized colon carcinoma Colon 26 (C26)
      tumor. In therapeutic efficacy, AT-induced hypertension enhanced the antitumor
      activity of DXR-SL in mice bearing LLC and C26 tumors. Localization of DXR-SL
      after injection by AT-induced hypertension was observed outside tumor blood
      vessels in LLC and C26 tumors, but within them under the normotension. From these
      findings, AT-induced hypertension had potential to improve the delivery of DXR-SL
      to both well- and poorly vascularized solid tumors.

PMID- 20934499
TI  - Thiolated nanostructured lipid carriers as a potential ocular drug delivery
      system for cyclosporine A: Improving in vivo ocular distribution.
AB  - Ophthalmic drug delivery with long pre-corneal retention time and high
      penetration into aqueous humor and intraocular tissues is the key-limiting factor
      for the treatment of ocular diseases and disorders. Within this study, the
      conjugate of cysteine-polyethylene glycol monostearate (Cys-PEG-SA) was
      synthesized and was used to compose the thiolated nanostructured lipid carrier
      (Cys-NLC) as a potential nanocarrier for the topical ocular administration of
      cyclosporine A (CyA). The rapid cross-linking process of Cys-PEG-SA in vitro was
      found in simulated physiological environment. The in vitro CyA release from Cys
      NLC was slower than that of non-thiolated nanostructured lipid carriers (NLC) due
      to the cross-linking of thiomers on the surface of nanocarriers. After topical
      ocular administration in rabbits, the in vivo ocular distribution of CyA was
      investigated in comparison of Cys-NLC with non-thiolated NLCs and oil solution.
      The results showed that CyA concentration in systemic blood was very low and
      close to the detection limit. The area-under-the-curve (AUC(0-24h)) and mean
      retention time (MRT(0-24h)) of Cys-NLC group in aqueous humor, tear and eye
      tissues were significantly higher than that of oil solution, non-thiolated NLCs
      (p<0.05). These results demonstrated that the thiolated NLC could deliver high
      level of CyA into intraocular tissues due to its bioadhesive property and
      sustained release characteristics.

PMID- 20934500
TI  - Enhanced anti-glioblastoma efficacy by PTX-loaded PEGylated poly(E-caprolactone)
      nanoparticles: In vitro and in vivo evaluation.
AB  - The aim of this work was to investigate the anti-tumor effect of paclitaxel (PTX)
      loaded methoxy poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(E-caprolactone) nanoparticles (MPEG
      NP/PTX) against glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). MPEG-NP/PTX was prepared by the
      emulsion and evaporation technique with particle size of 72.5+/-2.2nm and did not
      change remarkably during the period of 21-day storage at 4 degrees C. The drug
      loading coefficient and encapsulation ratio of optimized formulation were 8.2+/
      0.6% and 90.4+/-2.3%, respectively. The in vitro release behavior exhibits a
      biphase release manner and was affected by PEG segment. In vitro cytotoxicity was
      assessed using C6 cell lines and was compared to Taxol and PTX-loaded poly(E
      caprolactone) conventional nanoparticles (NP/PTX). Cell viability assay against
      C6 cells exhibited higher or at least comparable cytotoxicity than that of Taxol
      and NP/PTX. More importantly, in vivo real-time fluorescence imaging analysis in
      intracranial C6 glioblastoma bearing mice showed that the methoxy poly(ethylene
      glycol)-poly(E-caprolactone) nanoparticles (MPEG-NP) displayed much stronger
      fluorescence signal and 3-fold larger Area-Under-Curve (AUC) than poly(E
      caprolactone) conventional nanoparticles (NP) in tumor-bearing brain.
      Furthermore, in vivo anti-glioblastoma effect exhibited the mean survive time of
      MPEG-NP/PTX (28 days) was much longer than those of Taxol injection (20 days) and
      NP/PTX (23 days). Therefore, MPEGylated poly(E-caprolactone) nanoparticles
      significantly enhanced the anti-glioblastoma activity of PTX and might be
      considered a promising drug delivery system against advanced glioblastoma.

PMID- 20934502
TI  - Extrusion-spheronisation of highly loaded 5-ASA multiparticulate dosage forms.
AB  - The aim of the current work was to develop an extrusion-spheronisation (E-S)
      route to manufacture pellets with a high loading (>=90wt%) of 5-aminosalicylic
      acid (5-ASA). Ram extrusion studies, supported by centrifuge testing, were
      employed to investigate the effect of the chemical (acidity) and physical
      (particle size and shape) characteristics of 5-ASA on the ability of
      microcrystalline cellulose (MCC)-based pastes to retain water when subjected to
      pressure. Liquid phase migration (LPM) within the paste during the extrusion, and
      hence variation in water content of extrudates and reproducibility of the final E
      S product, was generally observed. The extent of LPM was found to be related to
      both the drug loading and its physical properties, most notably the particle
      shape (needle-like). A reduction in particle size, combined with a change in the
      shape of the 5-ASA particles, allowed LPM to be reduced considerably or
      eliminated. The performance of colloidal grades of MCC (Avicel RC591 and CL611)
      as alternative extrusion aids to the standard Avicel PH101 was also investigated:
      these proved to be superior aids for the highly loaded 5-ASA pastes as their
      greater water retention capacity mitigated LPM. Combining these results yielded a
      route for manufacturing pellets with 5-ASA loading >=90wt%.

PMID- 20934501
TI  - New chimeric advanced Drug Delivery nano Systems (chi-aDDnSs) as doxorubicin
      carriers.
AB  - Since the late 1960s, the field of drug delivery has focused on the creation of
      new formulations with improved properties, taking much attention to drug release
      from the carrier. Liposomes and dendrimers represent two of the most studied drug
      carriers. A Modulatory Liposomal Controlled Release System (MLCRS) combining
      liposomal and dendrimeric technology has been recently published as well as
      Liposomal locked-in Dendrimers (LLDs) technology which was considered to be a
      class of MLCRSs. Chimeric advanced Drug Delivery nano Systems (chi-aDDnSs) can be
      defined as mixed nanosystems due to the combination of the bionanomaterials used
      and can offer advantages as drug carriers. This work deals with the production of
      two new chi-aDDnSs incorporating the newly synthesized dendrimer PG1. One of the
      two formulations bears the exact lipidic composition as the commercial liposomal
      drug "Myocet". Doxorubicin (Dox) was incorporated into conventional (free of
      dendrimer) liposomal formulations and into the corresponding chi-aDDnSs, and the
      physicochemical characteristics, the in vitro drug release and the in vitro
      cytotoxicity against human cancer cell lines were assessed. The results revealed
      a different modulation release effect of doxorubicin from the chi-aDDnS, compared
      to the Myocet replica. Pharmacological cytotoxicity concerning all the chi-aDDnSs
      was very close to that of the conventional liposomal systems.

PMID- 20934503
TI  - Incorporation of PVMMA to PLGA MS enhances lectin grafting and their in vitro
      activity in macrophages.
AB  - Attachment of lectins, especially those that are recognized and bounded by
      macrophages and other antigen presenting cells onto biodegradable microspheres
      surface, may serve as support for a wide variety of applications. The aim of this
      work was: (1) to prepare microspheres (MS) based on two biodegradable copolymers,
      poly (lactide-co-glicolide) acid (PLGA) and poly[(methyl vinyl ether)-co-(maleic
      anhydride)] (PVMMA) with their surface functionalized with Concanavalin A (Con A)
      and, (2) to evaluate their behaviour in macrophage culture. The incorporation of
      PVMMA was studied in order to augment the lectin coupling efficiency. MS were
      obtained by spray-drying and bovine serum albumin (BSA) was loaded as protein
      model. Particles were characterized for size, morphology, surface charge,
      entrapment efficiency, FTIR, in vitro protein release and conjugation efficiency.
      Finally, functionalized MS were tested in vitro with raw 264.7 murine macrophages
      (Mf) in terms of cytotoxicity, phagocytosis, nitric oxide (NO) production, and
      oxygen consumption. Conjugated Con A microspheres showed increased grafting
      efficiency up to four times compared to PLGA alone. The retention of Con A after
      coupling was confirmed by desorption studies. The attachment of Con A to
      microspheres induced oxygen consumption, increased phagocytosis efficiency and
      even NO production by macrophages. The results suggest that Con A and possibly,
      other lectins, grafted onto PLGA-PVMMA microspheres may serve as potential
      adjuvants by modulating protein delivery and macrophage activation.

PMID- 20934504
TI  - Genomic and transcriptomic analyses distinguish classic Rett and Rett-like
      syndrome and reveals shared altered pathways.
AB  - Rett syndrome (RTT) is an X-linked neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by
      derangements in nervous system especially in cognition and behavior. The present
      study aims to understand the molecular underpinnings of two subtypes of RTT,
      classic RTT and Rett-like, and to elucidate common pathways giving rise to common
      RTT phenotype using genomic and transcriptomic approaches. Mutation screening on
      selected nuclear genes revealed only MECP2 mutations in a subset of classic RTT
      patients. MLPA assays and mtDNA screenings were all negative. Genome-wide copy
      number analysis indicated a novel duplication on X chromosome. Transcriptional
      profiling revealed blood gene signatures that clearly distinguish classic RTT and
      RTT-like patients, as well as shared altered pathways in interleukin-4 and NF
      kappaB signaling pathways in both subtypes of the syndrome. To our knowledge,
      this is the first report on investigating common regulatory mechanisms/signaling
      pathways that may be relevant to the pathobiology of the "common RTT" phenotype.

PMID- 20934505
TI  - A short review on the psychoneuroimmunology of posttraumatic stress disorder:
      from risk factors to medical comorbidities.
AB  - Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a serious and debilitating condition with
      a prevalence rate of approximately 8% in the United States. Given the number of
      veterans returning from conflicts around the globe with PTSD, and the substantial
      number of civilians experiencing traumas, new perspectives on the biology of PTSD
      are needed. Based on the concept that PTSD is a disorder of stress response
      systems, numerous studies have suggested changes in hypothalamic-pituitary
      adrenal (HPA) axis and sympathetic-adrenal-medullary (SAM) system function in
      patients with PTSD. Given that both glucocorticoids and catecholamines exert
      powerful effects on the immune system, it is surprising that relatively few
      studies have examined immune changes in patients with PTSD. Moreover, patients
      with PTSD are known to have increased rates of comorbidity with somatic disorders
      that involve immune and inflammatory processes. Patients with PTSD have been
      found to exhibit a number of immune changes including increased circulating
      inflammatory markers, increased reactivity to antigen skin tests, lower natural
      killer cell activity, and lower total T lymphocyte counts. Studies with humans
      and rodents suggest that certain proinflammatory cytokines are able to induce
      neurochemical and behavioral changes that resemble some key features of PTSD.
      This short article reviews immune alterations in PTSD, and considers possible
      mechanisms by which such changes may be related to neuroendocrine alterations and
      medical comorbidities of PTSD.

PMID- 20934506
TI  - Influence of maternal redox status on birth weight.
AB  - The aim of this study was to determine the influence that maternal redox status,
      between 30 and 36 weeks of healthy human pregnancy, has on birth weight. Ferric
      reducing potential (FRP), extracellular superoxide dismutase (ecSOD) activity and
      erythrocyte reduced glutathione (eGSH) concentration were measured as antioxidant
      indicators, and serum malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration as a lipoperoxidation
      indicator. Consumption of dietary micronutrients with antioxidant capacity was
      recorded. We observed a direct correlation between birth weight and ecSOD
      activity and eGSH concentration. An interaction between eGSH with FRP and serum
      ecSOD activity also correlated directly with birth weight. Other correlating
      factors included maternal thiamine consumption and interactions between vitamins
      C and E and carotenoids and vitamin E intake. These findings support the notion
      that antioxidant status has a positive influence on birth weight.

PMID- 20934507
TI  - Genotyping of Chlamydia trachomatis strains from culture and clinical samples
      using an ompA-based DNA microarray assay.
AB  - Current typing methods of Chlamydia (C.) trachomatis are mainly based on the
      diversity of the ompA gene, which is coding for the major outer membrane protein
      A. The present study aimed at facilitating genotyping of strains of this obligate
      intracellular human pathogen by developing a DNA microarray assay using the
      ArrayTubeTM format for individual samples and the ArrayStripTM format for higher
      throughput. The new test is exploiting multiple discriminatory sites by involving
      a total of 61 oligonucleotide probes representing genotype-specific polymorphisms
      in variable domains 1, 2 and 4 of the ompA gene. After multiplex amplification of
      these domains using biotinylated primers, the sample is hybridized in the
      microarray vessel under highly stringent conditions. The resulting binding
      pattern is genotype specific, thus allowing direct identification. We were able
      to show that DNA from each of the currently accepted genotypes (serovars) yielded
      a unique, theoretically expected and distinct hybridization pattern. The assay
      was also shown to be highly sensitive as a dilution containing the equivalent of
      1 inclusion-forming unit was still correctly genotyped. In addition, when 62
      clinical samples were examined and compared to PCR-RFLP typing results, the
      genotype was correctly identified by the DNA microarray in all cases. The present
      test is easy to handle and economically affordable, and it allows genotyping of
      C. trachomatis to be accomplished within a working day, thus lending itself for
      epidemiological studies and routine diagnosis.

PMID- 20934508
TI  - Resveratrol and N-acetylcysteine block the cancer-initiating step in MCF-10F
      cells.
AB  - Substantial evidence suggests that catechol estrogen-3,4-quinones react with DNA
      to form predominantly the depurinating adducts 4-hydroxyestrone (estradiol)-1
      N3Ade [4-OHE(1)(E(2))-1-N3Ade] and 4-OHE(1)(E(2))-1-N7Gua. Apurinic sites
      resulting from these adducts generate critical mutations that can initiate
      cancer. The paradigm of cancer initiation is based on an imbalance in estrogen
      metabolism between activating pathways that lead to estrogen-DNA adducts and
      deactivating pathways that lead to estrogen metabolites and conjugates. This
      imbalance can be improved to minimize formation of adducts by using antioxidants,
      such as resveratrol (Resv) and N-acetylcysteine (NAcCys). To compare the ability
      of Resv and NAcCys to block formation of estrogen-DNA adducts, we used the human
      breast epithelial cell line MCF-10F treated with 4-OHE(2). Resv and NAcCys
      directed the metabolism of 4-OHE(2) toward protective pathways. NAcCys reacted
      with the quinones and reduced the semiquinones to catechols. This pathway was
      also carried out by Resv. In addition, Resv induced the protective enzyme quinone
      reductase, which reduces E(1)(E(2))-3,4-quinones to 4-OHE(1)(E(2)). Resv was more
      effective at increasing the amount of 4-OCH(3)E(1)(E(2)) than NAcCys. Inhibition
      of estrogen-DNA adduct formation was similar at lower doses, but at higher doses
      Resv was about 50% more effective than NAcCys. Their combined effects were
      additive. Therefore, these two antioxidants provide an excellent combination to
      protect catechol estrogens from oxidation to catechol quinones.

PMID- 20934509
TI  - Reactive oxygen species mediate lysophosphatidic acid induced signaling in
      ovarian cancer cells.
AB  - Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) is produced by tumor cells and is present in the
      ascites fluid of ovarian cancer patients. To determine the role of endogenous LPA
      in the ovarian cancer cell line SKOV3, we treated cells with the LPA receptor
      antagonist VPC32183 and found that it inhibited cell growth and induced
      apoptosis. Exogenous LPA further stimulated ERK and Akt phosphorylation and NF
      kappaB activity. To determine if reactive oxygen species (ROS), which have been
      implicated as second messengers in cell signaling, were also involved in LPA
      signaling, we treated cells with the NADPH oxidase inhibitor diphenyleneiodonium
      (DPI), and antioxidants N-acetyl cysteine, EUK-134 and curcumin, and showed that
      all blocked LPA-dependent NF-kappaB activity and cell proliferation. DPI and EUK
      134 also inhibited Akt and ERK phosphorylation. LPA was shown to stimulate
      dichlorofluorescein fluorescence, though not in the presence of DPI, apocynin (an
      inhibitor of NADPH oxidase), VPC32183, or PEG-catalase. Akt phosphorylation was
      also inhibited by PEG-catalase and apocynin. These data indicate that NADPH
      oxidase is a major source of ROS and H(2)O(2) is critical for LPA-mediated
      signaling. Thus, LPA acts as a growth factor and prevents apoptosis in SKOV3
      cells by signaling through redox-dependent activation of ERK, Akt, and NF-kappaB
      dependent signaling pathways.

PMID- 20934510
TI  - Low-level Pb and cardiovascular responses to acute stress in children: the role
      of cardiac autonomic regulation.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: A number of studies suggest that Pb exposure increases cardiovascular
      disease risk in humans. As a potential mechanism for this effect, we recently
      reported a significant association between early childhood Pb levels and
      cardiovascular response to acute stress. The current study considers the
      association between current Pb levels and the autonomic nervous system activation
      pattern underlying the cardiovascular response to stress in a new cohort of
      children. METHODS: We assessed blood Pb levels as well as cardiovascular
      responses to acute stress in 9-11 year old children (N=140). Sympathetic
      activation (measured with pre-ejection period) and parasympathetic activation
      (measured with high frequency heart rate variability) were also assessed.
      RESULTS: In a sample with very low levels of blood Pb (M=1.0 MUg/dL), we found
      that increasing blood Pb was associated with coinhibition of sympathetic and
      parasympathetic activation in response to acute stress. In addition, increasing
      Pb levels were associated with the hemodynamic stress response pattern typical of
      coinhibition--significantly greater vascular resistance and reduced stroke volume
      and cardiac output. CONCLUSIONS: Blood Pb levels were associated with significant
      autonomic and cardiovascular dysregulation in response to acute psychological
      stress in children. Moreover, these effects were significant at Pb levels
      considered to be very low and notably well below the 10 MUg/dL, the Centers for
      Disease Control and Prevention definition of an elevated blood Pb level. The
      potential for autonomic dysregulation at levels of Pb typical for many US
      children would suggest potentially broad public health ramifications.

PMID- 20934511
TI  - Solid dispersions in the development of a nimodipine floating tablet formulation
      and optimization by artificial neural networks and genetic programming.
AB  - The present study investigates the use of nimodipine-polyethylene glycol solid
      dispersions for the development of effervescent controlled release floating
      tablet formulations. The physical state of the dispersed nimodipine in the
      polymer matrix was characterized by differential scanning calorimetry, powder X
      ray diffraction, FT-IR spectroscopy and polarized light microscopy, and the
      mixture proportions of polyethylene glycol (PEG), polyvinyl-pyrrolidone (PVP),
      hydroxypropylmethylcellulose (HPMC), effervescent agents (EFF) and nimodipine
      were optimized in relation to drug release (% release at 60 min, and time at
      which the 90% of the drug was dissolved) and floating properties (tablet's
      floating strength and duration), employing a 25-run D-optimal mixture design
      combined with artificial neural networks (ANNs) and genetic programming (GP). It
      was found that nimodipine exists as mod I microcrystals in the solid dispersions
      and is stable for at least a three-month period. The tablets showed good floating
      properties and controlled release profiles, with drug release proceeding via the
      concomitant operation of swelling and erosion of the polymer matrix. ANNs and GP
      both proved to be efficient tools in the optimization of the tablet formulation,
      and the global optimum formulation suggested by the GP equations consisted of
      PEG=9%, PVP=30%, HPMC=36%, EFF=11%, nimodipine=14%.

PMID- 20934513
TI  - Severity of regional myocardial dysfunction is not affected by cardiomyocyte
      apoptosis in non-ischemic heart failure.
AB  - The role of myocardial apoptosis during the development of heart failure (HF), in
      the absence of coronary artery stenosis, is still debated. The aim of the study
      was to evaluate whether (similar to functional impairment) the activation of
      myocardial apoptosis follows a regional pattern in an established model of pacing
      induced HF. HF was induced in adult male minipigs by rapid and sustained left
      ventricular (LV) epicardial pacing (n=8; n=5 healthy controls). Progressive
      regional derangement of the contractile function and perfusion was assessed by
      magnetic resonance imaging as LV end-systolic wall thickening (LVESWT) and
      relative upslope of signal intensity (LVRUSI, %) in the anterior/anterior-lateral
      (pacing site, PS) and infero-septal LV region (opposite site, OS). LV tissue from
      PS and OS was analyzed for biomarkers of cell apoptosis and injury. After 21 days
      of LV pacing, LVESWT was lower in the PS compared to OS (7.6+/-3.7 vs 24.16+/
      3.6%, p<0.05), and LV ejection fraction was 24.0+/-3.7 (p<0.05 vs control). The
      mRNA expression of caspase (Casp)-3 was significantly higher in the PS of HF
      hearts than in controls (1.28+/-0.125 vs 0.82+/-0.10), but not Casp-9. Bcl-2 and
      Hsp72 expression was significantly increased in PS compared to control (0.90+/
      0.60 vs 0.63+/-0.033; 0.72+/-0.10 vs 0.28+/-0.098), in the presence of a TNF
      alpha level increased by 50.7%. The regional myocardial apoptotic index, assessed
      by TUNEL, was unchanged in HF. In conclusion, the activators and inhibitors of
      cell apoptosis are equally expressed without affecting the survival of
      cardiomyocytes and the magnitude of regional myocardial dysfunction during
      development of non-ischemic HF.

PMID- 20934512
TI  - (R)-alpha-Lipoic acid treatment restores ceramide balance in aging rat cardiac
      mitochondria.
AB  - Inflammation results in heightened mitochondrial ceramide levels, which cause
      electron transport chain dysfunction, elevates reactive oxygen species, and
      increases apoptosis. As mitochondria in aged hearts also display many of these
      characteristics, we hypothesized that mitochondrial decay stems partly from an
      age-related ceramidosis that heretofore has not been recognized for the heart.
      Intact mitochondria or their purified inner membranes (IMM) were isolated from
      young (4-6 mo) and old (26-28 mo) rats and analyzed for ceramides by LC-MS/MS.
      Results showed that ceramide levels increased by 32% with age and three ceramide
      isoforms, found primarily in the IMM (e.g. C(16)-, C(18)-, and C(24:1)-ceramide),
      caused this increase. The ceramidosis may stem from enhanced hydrolysis of
      sphingomyelin, as neutral sphingomyelinase (nSMase) activity doubled with age but
      with no attendant change in ceramidase activity. Because (R)-alpha-lipoic acid
      (LA) improves many parameters of cardiac mitochondrial decay in aging and lowers
      ceramide levels in vascular endothelial cells, we hypothesized that LA may limit
      cardiac ceramidosis and thereby improve mitochondrial function. Feeding LA [0.2%,
      w/w] to old rats for two weeks prior to mitochondrial isolation reversed the age
      associated decline in glutathione levels and concomitantly improved Complex IV
      activity. This improvement was associated with lower nSMase activity and a
      remediation in mitochondrial ceramide levels. In summary, LA treatment lowers
      ceramide levels to that seen in young rat heart mitochondria and restores Complex
      IV activity which otherwise declines with age.

PMID- 20934514
TI  - Efficiency of carcinogenesis: is the mutator phenotype inevitable?
AB  - Cancer development requires multiple oncogenic mutations. Pathogenic mechanisms
      which accelerate this process may be favored carcinogenic pathways. Mutator
      mutations are mutations in genetic stability genes, and increase the mutation
      rate, speeding up the accumulation of oncogenic mutations. The mutator hypothesis
      states that mutator mutations play a critical role in carcinogenesis.
      Alternatively, tumors might arise by mutations occurring at the normal rate
      followed by selection and expansion of various premalignant lineages on the path
      to cancer. This alternative pathway is a significant argument against the mutator
      hypothesis. Mutator mutations may also lead to accumulation of deleterious
      mutations, which could lead to extinction of premalignant lineages before they
      become cancerous, another argument against the mutator hypothesis. Finally, the
      need for acquisition of a mutator mutation imposes an additional step on the
      carcinogenic process. Accordingly, the mutator hypothesis has been a seminal but
      controversial idea for several decades despite considerable experimental and
      theoretical work. To resolve this debate, the concept of efficiency has been
      introduced as a metric for comparing carcinogenic mechanisms, and a new
      theoretical approach of focused quantitative modeling has been applied. The
      results demonstrate that, given what is already known, the predominance of
      mutator mechanisms is likely inevitable, as they overwhelm less efficient non
      mutator pathways to cancer.

PMID- 20934515
TI  - Lethal mutagenesis: targeting the mutator phenotype in cancer.
AB  - The evolution of cancer and RNA viruses share many similarities. Both exploit
      high levels of genotypic diversity to enable extensive phenotypic plasticity and
      thereby facilitate rapid adaptation. In order to accumulate large numbers of
      mutations, we have proposed that cancers express a mutator phenotype. Similar to
      cancer cells, many viral populations, by replicating their genomes with low
      fidelity, carry a substantial mutational load. As high levels of mutation are
      potentially deleterious, the viral mutation frequency is thresholded at a level
      below which viral populations equilibrate in a traditional mutation-selection
      balance, and above which the population is no longer viable, i.e., the population
      undergoes an error catastrophe. Because their mutation frequencies are fine-tuned
      just below this error threshold, viral populations are susceptible to further
      increases in mutational load and, recently this phenomenon has been exploited
      therapeutically by a concept that has been termed lethal mutagenesis. Here we
      review the application of lethal mutagenesis to the treatment of HIV and discuss
      how lethal mutagenesis may represent a novel therapeutic approach for the
      treatment of solid cancers.

PMID- 20934516
TI  - Mutator phenotypes due to DNA replication infidelity.
AB  - This article considers the fidelity of DNA replication performed by eukaryotic
      DNA polymerases involved in replicating the nuclear genome. DNA replication
      fidelity can vary widely depending on the DNA polymerase, the composition of the
      error, the flanking sequence, the presence of DNA damage and the ability to
      correct errors. As a consequence, defects in processes that determine DNA
      replication fidelity can confer strong mutator phenotypes whose specificity can
      help determine the molecular nature of the defect.

PMID- 20934518
TI  - Aberrant expression of alternative DNA polymerases: a source of mutator phenotype
      as well as replicative stress in cancer.
AB  - The cell life span depends on a subtle equilibrium between the accurate
      duplication of the genomic DNA and less stringent DNA transactions which allow
      cells to tolerate mutations associated with DNA damage. The physiological role of
      the alternative, specialized or TLS (translesion synthesis) DNA polymerases could
      be to favor the necessary "flexibility" of the replication machinery, by allowing
      DNA replication to occur even in the presence of blocking DNA damage. As these
      alternative DNA polymerases are inaccurate when replicating undamaged DNA, the
      regulation of their expression needs to be carefully controlled. Evidence in the
      literature supports that dysregulation of these error-prone enzymes contributes
      to the acquisition of a mutator phenotype that, along with defective cell cycle
      control or other genome stability pathways, could be a motor for accelerated
      tumor progression.

PMID- 20934517
TI  - Human RECQ helicases: roles in DNA metabolism, mutagenesis and cancer biology.
AB  - Helicases use the energy of ATP hydrolysis to separate double-stranded nucleic
      acids to facilitate essential processes such as replication, recombination,
      transcription and repair. This article focuses on the human RECQ helicase gene
      and protein family. Loss of function of three different members has been shown to
      cause Bloom syndrome (BS), Werner syndrome (WS) and Rothmund-Thomson syndrome
      (RTS). This article outlines clinical and cellular features of these cancer
      predisposition syndromes, and discusses their pathogenesis in light of our
      understanding of RECQ helicase biochemical activities and in vivo functions. I
      also discuss the emerging role for RECQ helicases as predictors of disease risk
      and the response to therapy.

PMID- 20934519
TI  - The left occipitotemporal system in reading: disruption of focal fMRI
      connectivity to left inferior frontal and inferior parietal language areas in
      children with dyslexia.
AB  - Developmental dyslexia is a severe reading disorder, which is characterized by
      dysfluent reading and impaired automaticity of visual word processing. Adults
      with dyslexia show functional deficits in several brain regions including the so
      called "Visual Word Form Area" (VWFA), which is implicated in visual word
      processing and located within the larger left occipitotemporal VWF-System. The
      present study examines functional connections of the left occipitotemporal VWF
      System with other major language areas in children with dyslexia. Functional
      connectivity MRI was used to assess connectivity of the VWF-System in 18 children
      with dyslexia and 24 age-matched controls (age 9.7-12.5 years) using five
      neighboring left occipitotemporal regions of interest (ROIs) during a continuous
      reading task requiring phonological and orthographic processing. First, the
      results revealed a focal origin of connectivity from the VWF-System, in that
      mainly the VWFA was functionally connected with typical left frontal and parietal
      language areas in control children. Adjacent posterior and anterior VWF-System
      ROIs did not show such connectivity, confirming the special role that the VWFA
      plays in word processing. Second, we detected a significant disruption of
      functional connectivity between the VWFA and left inferior frontal and left
      inferior parietal language areas in the children with dyslexia. The current
      findings add to our understanding of dyslexia by showing that functional
      disconnection of the left occipitotemporal system is limited to the small VWFA
      region crucial for automatic visual word processing, and emerges early during
      reading acquisition in children with dyslexia, along with deficits in
      orthographic and phonological processing of visual word forms.

PMID- 20934520
TI  - ZNF804A risk allele is associated with relatively intact gray matter volume in
      patients with schizophrenia.
AB  - ZNF804A rs1344706 is the first genetic risk variant to achieve genome wide
      significance for psychosis. Following earlier evidence that patients carrying the
      ZNF804A risk allele had relatively spared memory function compared to patient non
      carriers, we investigated whether ZNF804A was also associated with variation in
      brain volume. In a sample of 70 patients and 38 healthy participants we used
      voxel based morphometry to compare homozygous (AA) carriers of the ZNF804A risk
      allele to heterozygous and homozygous (AC/CC) non-carriers for both whole brain
      volume and specific regions implicated in earlier ZNF804A studies-the
      dorsolateral pre-frontal cortex, the hippocampus, and the amygdala. For patients,
      but not for controls, we found that homozygous 'AA' risk carriers had relatively
      larger gray matter volumes than heterozygous/homozygous non-carriers (AC/CC),
      particularly for hippocampal volumes. These data are consistent with our earlier
      behavioral data and suggest that ZNF804A is delineating a schizophrenia subtype
      characterized by relatively intact brain volume. Establishing if this represents
      a discrete molecular pathogenesis with consequences for nosology and treatment
      will be an important next step in understanding ZNF084A's role in illness risk.

PMID- 20934522
TI  - Fortuitous infestation or wide host range? The case of Spinturnicidae and their
      bat hosts: reply to Guiller and Deunff (2010).
AB  - Defining the degree of host specificity in host-parasite studies can greatly
      inform cophylogenetic history. In a recent paper, Guiller and Deunff (2010) cast
      doubt on some points and conclusions drawn from a cophylogenetic study between
      European bats and Spinturnicid mites (Bruyndonckx et al., 2009a). Here we answer
      their criticisms and discuss the notion of specificity in Spinturnicid mites.

PMID- 20934521
TI  - Baseline BOLD correlation predicts individuals' stimulus-evoked BOLD responses.
AB  - To investigate whether individuals' ongoing neuronal activity at resting state
      can affect their response to brain stimulation, fMRI BOLD signals were imaged
      from the human visual cortex of fifteen healthy subjects in the absence and
      presence of visual stimulation. It was found that the temporal correlation
      strength but not amplitude of baseline BOLD signal fluctuations acquired under
      the eyes-fixed condition is positively correlated with the amplitude of stimulus
      evoked BOLD responses across subjects. Moreover, the spatiotemporal correlations
      of baseline BOLD signals imply a coherent network covering the visual system,
      which is topographically indistinguishable from the "resting-state visual
      network" observed under the eyes-closed condition. The overall findings suggest
      that the synchronization of ongoing brain activity plays an important role in
      determining stimulus-evoked brain activity even at an early stage of the sensory
      system. The tight relationship between baseline BOLD correlation and stimulus
      evoked BOLD amplitude provides an essential basis for understanding and
      interpreting the large inter-subject BOLD variability commonly observed in
      numerous fMRI studies and potentially for improving group fMRI analysis. This
      study highlights the importance to integrate the information from both resting
      state coherent networks and task-evoked neural responses for a better
      understanding of how the brain functions.

PMID- 20934523
TI  - A comparative in vitro investigation into the effects of cooked meats on the
      human faecal microbiota.
AB  - Protein fermentation is one of the important microbial activities in the human
      colon. Meat foods rich in protein provide substantial resource for this metabolic
      activity. However, little information exists on the relative impact of different
      meats on the composition and activities of the human gut microbiota. Similarly,
      little information is available on the confounding effects of cooking on these
      activities. In this study, beef, chicken and fish (salmon) were examined in vitro
      for their impact on the human faecal microbiota. The influence of cooking method
      was also investigated by using either frying or boiling. Upon fermentation over
      48 h the Clostridium perfringens/histolyticum group increased significantly in
      number in the beef fermentations, either fried (p = 0.023) or boiled (p = 0.017).
      Cooking method appeared to influence Clostridium spp. growth, with higher numbers
      in fried meat compared to boiled meats after 5 h (p = 0.024) and 48 h (p = 0.003)
      fermentation. Significant differences between meat types were also seen for
      numbers of Bifidobacterium spp. at 48 h (p = 0.028), Bacteroides group at 24 h (p
      = 0.016) as well as Coriobacterium/Atopobium group at 10 h (p = 0.038). Most
      types of short chain fatty acids increased significantly in concentration over
      the experiment (p < 0.05). Significant differences between meat types were found
      in n-butyric acid production at 24, 30 and 48 h (p = 0.015, p = 0.024 and p =
      0.035 respectively) and in i-valeric acid production at 10, 24, 30 and 48 h (p =
      0.026, p = 0.002, p = 0.019 and p = 0.022 respectively). The concentration of i
      valeric acid differed significantly between cooking methods at 24 h (p = 0.042).
      These findings suggest that both the type of meat and cooking process can
      influence fermentation profiles within the human gut microbiota. Interactions
      between ingested cooked meats and the gut microbiota may represent a novel
      corollary to mechanisms underlying the observed increased risk of intestinal and
      systemic diseases associated with high intake of certain meats/processed meats.

PMID- 20934524
TI  - Clostridium perfringens alpha toxin is produced in the intestines of broiler
      chicks inoculated with an alpha toxin mutant.
AB  - Poultry necrotic enteritis (NE) is caused by specific strains of Clostridium
      perfringens, most of which are type A. The role of alpha toxin (CPA) in NE has
      been called into question by the finding that an engineered cpa mutant retains
      full virulence in vivo[9]. This is in contrast to the finding that immunization
      with CPA toxoids protects against NE. We confirmed the earlier findings, in that
      14-day-old Cornish * Rock broiler chicks challenged with a cpa mutant developed
      lesions compatible with NE in >90% of birds inoculated with the mutant. However,
      CPA was detected in amounts ranging from 10 to >100 ng per g of gut contents and
      mucosa in birds inoculated with the cpa mutant, the wildtype strain from which
      the mutant was constructed, and our positive control strain. There was a direct
      relationship between lesion severity and amount of CPA detected (R = 0.89-0.99).
      These findings suggest that the role of CPA in pathogenesis of NE requires
      further investigation.

PMID- 20934525
TI  - Anti-cariogenic and anti-biofilms activity of Tunisian propolis extract and its
      potential protective effect against cancer cells proliferation.
AB  - Propolis is a multifunctional substance used by bees to maintain the safety of
      their hives. It is worldwide used for its potential therapeutic effects. In this
      study, Tunisian propolis ethanol extract (EEP) was tested for their anti
      cariogenic, anti-biofilms and antiproliferative effects of many cell lines. The
      Tunisian EEP was evaluated in vitro against 33 oral pathogens including
      streptococci and enterococci using broth microdilution method. The anti-biofilms
      activity of EEP was assessed via Crystal Violet staining and MTT assays. The
      Tunisian EEP antiproliferative effect was evaluated on normal (MRC-5) and cancer
      cell lines (HT-29, A549, Hep-2, raw 264.7, Vero) by the ability of the cells to
      metabolically reduce MTT to a formazan dye. Our results revealed that Tunisian
      EEP possessed excellent protective effects against cariogenic and biofilms
      activity of oral streptococci. Furthermore, EEP showed a strong antiproliferative
      potencies against all studied cancer cell lines as judged by IC50 and its value
      ranges from 15.7 +/- 3.4 to 200 +/- 22.2 MUg mL-1. These results suggest that EEP
      is able to inhibit cancer cell proliferation, cariogenic bacteria and oral
      biofilms formation. It could have a promising role in the future medicine and
      nutrition when used as antibiotic or food additive.

PMID- 20934526
TI  - Ion channels and their molecular environments--glimpses and insights from
      functional proteomics.
AB  - There is emerging evidence from functional analyses and molecular research that
      the role of ion channels in cell physiology is not only determined by the pore
      forming subunits but also depends on their molecular environment. Accordingly,
      the local and temporal specificity of channel-mediated signal transduction is
      thought to result from association of these integral membrane proteins with
      distinct sets of partner proteins or from their assembly into stable
      macromolecular complexes. As yet, however, the molecular environments of most ion
      channels have escaped direct investigation, mostly because of technical
      limitations that precluded their comprehensive molecular analysis. Recent
      advances in proteomic technologies promoted an experimental workflow that
      combines affinity purification of readily solubilized protein complexes with
      quantitative high-resolution mass spectrometry and that offers access to channel
      associated protein environments. We will discuss advantages and limitations of
      this proteomic approach, as well as the results obtained from its application to
      several types of ion channels including Cav channels, Kv channels, HCN channels,
      AMPA-type glutamate receptors and GABA(B) receptors. The respective results
      indicate that the approach provides unbiased and comprehensive information on (i)
      the subunit composition of channel cores including identification of auxiliary
      subunits, on (ii) the assembly of channel cores into 'signaling entities' and on
      (iii) integration of channels into extended protein networks. Thus, quantitative
      proteomics opens a new window for the investigation of ion channels and their
      function in the context of various types of cell.

PMID- 20934527
TI  - Determinants of voltage-gated sodium channel clustering in neurons.
AB  - In mammalian neurons, the generation and propagation of the action potential
      result from the presence of dense clusters of voltage-gated sodium channels (Nav)
      at the axonal initial segment (AIS) and nodes of Ranvier. In these two
      structures, the assembly of specific supra-molecular complexes composed of
      numerous partners, such as cytoskeletal scaffold proteins and signaling proteins
      ensures the high concentration of Nav channels. Understanding how neurons
      regulate the expression and discrete localization of Nav channels is critical to
      understanding the diversity of normal neuronal function as well as neuronal
      dysfunction caused by defects in these processes. Here, we review the mechanisms
      establishing the clustering of Nav channels at the AIS and in the node and
      discuss how the alterations of Nav channel clustering can lead to certain
      pathophysiologies.

PMID- 20934528
TI  - Ankyrin-based cellular pathways for cardiac ion channel and transporter targeting
      and regulation.
AB  - The coordinate activities of ion channels and transporters regulate myocyte
      membrane excitability and normal cardiac function. Dysfunction in cardiac ion
      channel and transporter function may result in cardiac arrhythmias and sudden
      cardiac death. While the past fifteen years have linked defects in ion channel
      biophysical properties with human disease, more recent findings illustrate that
      ion channel and transporter localization within cardiomyocytes is equally
      critical for normal membrane excitability and tissue function. Ankyrins are a
      family of multifunctional adapter proteins required for the expression, membrane
      localization, and regulation of select cardiac ion channels and transporters.
      Notably, loss of ankyrin expression in mice, and ankyrin loss-of-function in
      humans is now associated with defects in myocyte excitability and cardiac
      physiology. Here, we provide an overview of the roles of ankyrin polypeptides in
      cardiac physiology, as well as review other recently identified pathways required
      for the membrane expression and regulation of key cardiac ion channels and
      transporters.

PMID- 20934529
TI  - Involvement of the nitric oxide-soluble guanylyl cyclase pathway in the oxytocin
      mediated differentiation of porcine bone marrow stem cells into cardiomyocytes.
AB  - Bone marrow stem cells (BMSCs) express cardiac markers in vitro and in vivo upon
      induction. Cardiomyogenic differentiation of embryonic stem cells induced by
      oxytocin (OT) involves the nitric oxide (NO)-soluble guanylyl cyclase (sGC)
      pathway. Also, OT improved cardiomyogenic differentiation of porcine BMSCs
      (pBMSCs). Here, we document the role of NO pathway in OT-mediated cardiomyogenic
      differentiation of pBMSCs obtained from bone marrow aspirates of juvenile pigs.
      Cells were exposed (OT cells) or not (control cells) to OT, in presence or
      absence of a NO synthase inhibitor (L-NAME) and a sGC inhibitor (ODQ). Gene (RT
      PCR) and protein expression (immunocytochemistry) of NOS was up-regulated after
      OT induction. Exposure of OT cells to L-NAME, ODQ, or both, leaded to a
      significant reduction in cardiac troponin I transcripts, and protein (Western
      Blot) expression. For the latter, ODQ looked more performing in inhibition than L
      NAME. Expression of cardiac troponin T and myosin heavy chain
      (immunocytochemistry) was less abundant in OT cells exposed to inhibitors without
      apparent synergic effect between L-NAME and ODQ. In control cells, protein
      expression remained low. Moreover, OT-induced cell proliferation, and this effect
      was counteracted by NOS/sGC inhibitors. Inhibiting NO production and NO effector,
      sGC, affected the OT-mediated differentiation of pBMSCs, because abundance of
      cardiac proteins was reduced to levels similar to those observed in control
      cells. We propose that following treatment with OT, activation of NO pathway
      directs pBMSCs to a preferential cardiomyogenic phenotype and stimulates cell
      proliferation.

PMID- 20934530
TI  - Direction of neutrophil movements by Campylobacter-infected intestinal
      epithelium.
AB  - Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli together represent the leading
      bacterial cause of human enteritis. However, the pathogenesis of this disease is
      poorly understood. Infection results in the formation of crypt abscesses
      resulting from the migration of neutrophils across the intestinal epithelium and
      into the intestinal crypts. In this study, we model this process in vitro and
      show that Campylobacter infection of epithelium results in a quantifiable
      increase in the directed movement of neutrophils from the basolateral to apical
      surface of the epithelium. This process is dependent on both bacterially derived
      n-formyl peptides and on the host cell enzyme 12-lipoxygenase (12-LOX).

PMID- 20934531
TI  - Ascaris and ascariasis.
AB  - Ascaris lumbricoides and Ascaris suum are widespread parasitic nematodes of
      humans and pigs respectively. Recent prevalence data suggests that approximately
      1.2 billion people are infected. Adult worms exhibit an overdispersed frequency
      distribution in their hosts and individuals harbouring heavy burdens display
      associated morbidity. In this review, we describe the parasite, its distribution
      and measures undertaken to control infection.

PMID- 20934532
TI  - Investigating the underlying mechanism of resistance to Ascaris infection.
AB  - The generative mechanism(s) of predisposition to Ascaris infection are currently
      unknown. While many factors play a role in interindividual infection intensity,
      much focus has been placed on the host's immunological response to infection and
      the underlying genetics. The present review describes the research conducted that
      has examined various immunological parameters and genetic factors that may play a
      role in resistance to ascariasis. We also discuss the contribution that animal
      models have made to our understanding of resistance to the parasitic roundworm
      and their role in possible future work.

PMID- 20934533
TI  - Cellular iron depletion weakens induction of heme oxygenase-1 by cadmium.
AB  - Heme oxygenase-1 is an inducible cytoprotective gene, although its induction by
      environmental factors is not completely understood. This study aimed to ascertain
      if specific nutritive factors or related compounds influence heme oxygenase-1
      expression. In HCT-116 cells, cadmium increased heme oxygenase-1 enzymatic
      activity. This effect of cadmium was weaker in cells made iron-deficient with the
      iron chelator, desferrioxamine, which was associated with repression of heme
      oxygenase-1 protein and mRNA expression. The repression by desferrioxamine of
      cadmium-induced heme oxygenase-1 upregulation was reversed upon iron
      replenishment of the cells. Additionally, it was found that thiol antioxidants
      inhibited the heme oxygenase-1 upregulation caused by cadmium and also by
      ethacrynic acid, which each decreased intracellular glutathione as did buthionine
      sulfoxamine. Interestingly, cadmium and ethacrynic acid increased nuclear
      translocation of Nrf2 and subsequent heme oxygenase-1 expression, but buthionine
      sulfoxamine did not. Furthermore, NADPH oxidase inhibitors (diphenyleneiodonium
      and apocynin, and a superoxide scavenger (Tiron) inhibited cadmium-induced
      upregulation of heme oxygenase-1. Diphenyleneiodonium was the most potent and
      inhibited NADPH-cytochrome P450 reductase as well, whereas apocynin and Tiron did
      not. It is concluded that adequate amounts of iron, which at the atomic level can
      serve as the pivotal element of heme in NADPH oxidase, must be present in cells
      to permit what appears to be thiol redox-sensitive, NADPH oxidase-dependent
      upregulation of heme oxygenase-1. Thus, these findings are significant because
      they suggest that cells without adequate iron would be unable to fully express
      the stress gene, heme oxygenase-1, when confronted with the toxic metal, cadmium.

PMID- 20934534
TI  - Lyotropic liquid crystal systems in drug delivery.
AB  - Lyotropic liquid crystal systems, such as reversed bicontinuous cubic and
      hexagonal mesophases, are attracting more and more attention because of their
      unique microstructures and physicochemical properties. Various bioactive
      molecules such as chemical drugs, peptides and proteins can be solubilized in
      either aqueous or oil phase and be protected from hydrolysis or oxidation.
      Furthermore, several studies have demonstrated sustained release of bioactive
      molecules from reversed cubic and hexagonal mesophases. This article gives an
      overview of recent advances and current status of reversed cubic and hexagonal
      mesophases, especially with respect to their preparation methods and applications
      in the field of drug delivery. In addition, potential problems and possible
      future research directions are highlighted.

PMID- 20934535
TI  - Connecting the dots: role of standardization and technology sharing in biological
      simulation.
AB  - The role of biological modeling and simulation in enhancing productivity across
      the drug discovery pipeline has been increasingly appreciated over the past
      decade by the pharmaceutical industry. However, adoption of in silico modeling
      and simulation techniques has been sparse due to skepticism in the associated pay
      offs and knowledge gap in research. While biological simulations have been
      successfully applied in specific projects, a standardized, community-wide
      platform is imperative for making the final leap of faith across the domain. This
      review outlines the issues and challenges involved in fostering a private-public
      collaborative effort for the development of standard modeling and biosimulation
      platforms and concludes with insights into possible mechanisms for integrating an
      in silico pipeline into the drug discovery and development process.

PMID- 20934536
TI  - Fgf9 signalling stimulates Spred and Sprouty expression in embryonic mouse
      pancreas mesenchyme.
AB  - Epithelial-mesenchymal interactions are critical for normal pancreas development.
      Fibroblast growth factor (Fgf)-10 is expressed in the pancreatic mesenchyme and
      its signalling is required for normal growth and regulation of gene expression in
      the pancreatic epithelium. However, little is known about putative Fgf signalling
      to the mesenchyme. Here we have examined the embryonic pancreas expression of
      differentially spliced Fgf receptor isoforms and their targets; the Sprouty
      (Spry) and Spred family genes which are induced by Fgf signalling. Using qPCR to
      quantify mRNA levels in microdissected pancreatic epithelium and mesenchyme as
      well as in FACS isolated Pdx1-GFP(+) and -GFP(-) cell populations we demonstrate
      that several members of the Spred and Sprouty families are expressed in embryonic
      mouse pancreas and find Spred1 and -2 as well as Spry2 and -4 to be predominantly
      expressed in pancreatic mesenchyme. Using embryonic pancreas explant cultures we
      demonstrate that Spred1/2 and Spry2/4 expression is regulated by Fgf receptor
      signalling and is increased by treatment with Fgf9, but not by Fgf7 or Fgf10. We
      extend previous work showing that Fgf9 is expressed in pancreatic mesenchyme, and
      since Fgf9 is known to activate the mesenchyme-specific "c"-splice forms of Fgf
      receptors, while Fgf7 and -10 both activate the epithelium-specific "b"-splice
      forms of Fgf receptors, these results suggest that Fgf signalling is active in
      the pancreatic mesenchyme, where expression of Spred1/2 and Spry2/4 appear
      downstream of Fgf9 signalling.

PMID- 20934537
TI  - Genomic characterization of human rotavirus G10 strains from the African
      Rotavirus Network: relationship to animal rotaviruses.
AB  - Global rotavirus surveillance has led to the detection of many unusual human
      rotavirus (HRV) genotypes. The aim of this study was to elucidate the genetic and
      evolutionary relationships of short fragments of all 11 gene segments of G10 HRV
      strains identified in West Africa through the African Rotavirus Network (ARN)
      system. During 1998-2004 surveillance within the ARN, we identified 5 G10 P[8]
      HRV strains. Fragments of all 11 gene segments of these G10 strains were
      sequenced. Phylogenetic and sequence analyses of each gene segment revealed high
      nucleotide similarities amongst the ARN strains (97-100%) except in the case of
      the VP1(85-96%) and NSP2 genes (87.8-99.7%) where some strains were divergent.
      All genes of the ARN strains were classified as Wa-like (genotype 1) with the
      exception of their VP7 gene of all strains (genotype G10) and the VP6 gene of a
      single strain, 6755/2002/ARN (DS-1 like, genotype 2). While classified as Wa
      like, the NSP2 genes of four of the ARN strains occupied a distinct sub-lineage
      related to simian strain Tuch, while the NSP2 of strain 6755/2002/ARN and NSP5
      genes of all strains were closely related to the cognate genes of both human and
      animal strains belonging to the Wa-like genogroup. Although these findings help
      to elucidate the evolution of ARN G10 strains, additional sequence studies of
      cognate animal rotavirus genes are needed to determine irrefutably the specific
      origin of those genes relative to both human and animal rotavirus strains.

PMID- 20934538
TI  - Increased prevalence of a rare mutant of pandemic H1N1 influenza virus in a
      Eurasian region.
AB  - In 2009, a novel swine-origin H1N1 influenza virus sparked an influenza pandemic.
      The emergence of mutations in the viral genome is therefore of ongoing concern.
      In this study, the hemagglutinin (HA) gene sequences of 3444 pandemic H1N1
      influenza viruses reported to the GenBank database and the sequences of 48
      pandemic H1N1 influenza viruses detected in the Chinese city of Qingdao were
      analyzed. Among the 3492 viruses, 101 carried a serine to proline substitution at
      position 128 (S128P) in the viral HA gene. All the 101 S128P mutants belonged to
      Clade 7 which has become dominant worldwide since the summer of 2009. Among the
      3492 viruses, 1646 were collected before July 25, 2009, and none of these viruses
      carried the S128P mutation. Furthermore, after July 25, 2009, the prevalence of
      the S128P mutant was 33.56% (99/295) in a region of Eurasia including Russia,
      Mongolia, mainland China and South Korea, but only 0.11% (2/1846) in the rest of
      the world. The data suggested that the originally rare S128P mutant has become
      prevalent in the Eurasia region, indicating that the S128P mutant likely
      transmitted more efficiently than other strains of the virus. Therefore, it is of
      significance to observe whether the S128P mutant will be more dominant worldwide
      in the coming future and investigate the exact effects of the S128P mutation.

PMID- 20934539
TI  - Respiratory responses to hypoxia or hypercapnia in goldfish (Carassius auratus)
      experiencing gill remodelling.
AB  - The presence of an interlamellar cell mass (ILCM) on the gills of goldfish
      significantly decreases the functional lamellar surface area and increases the
      diffusion distance for gas transfer and thus may impose a serious challenge for
      the transfer of respiratory gases (O2 and CO2). Here we tested the hypothesis
      that the presence of the ILCM in goldfish acclimated to 7 degrees C impedes the
      uptake of O2 and excretion of CO2. While Pa(O2) remained unaltered, the baseline
      values of Pa(CO)2 were significantly higher in goldfish at 7 degrees C with ILCM
      present (5.55 +/- 0.54 mmHg; mean +/- SEM) than in goldfish at 25 degrees C
      without the ILCM (3.98 +/- 0.18 mmHg). Carbonic anhydrase (CA) injections
      relieved the apparent diffusion limitation imposed by the presence of the ILCM on
      CO2 excretion (Pw(CO2) levels dropped to 3.07 +/- 0.32 mmHg). Interestingly, the
      exposure of fish to acute hypoxia evoked similar changes in Pa(O2) at the two
      acclimation temperatures. Ethanol (EtOH) exposure was also used as a tool to
      further investigate the potential effects of the ILCM on branchial solute
      transfer. The results showed that the ILCM does not impede EtOH uptake in 7
      degrees C goldfish. Overall, the results of this study demonstrate that the
      remodelling of the goldfish gill associated with acclimation to 7 degrees C
      water, while increasing Pw(CO2) , has minimal impact on branchial O2 transfer.

PMID- 20934540
TI  - Protein dynamics and pressure: what can high pressure tell us about protein
      structural flexibility?
AB  - After a brief overview of NMR and X-ray crystallography studies on protein
      flexibility under pressure, we summarize the effects of hydrostatic pressure on
      the native fold of azurin from Pseudomonas aeruginosa as inferred from the
      variation of the intrinsic phosphorescence lifetime and the acrylamide
      bimolecular quenching rate constants of the buried Trp residue. The
      pressure/temperature response of the globular fold and modulation of its
      dynamical structure is analyzed both in terms of a reduction of internal cavities
      and of the hydration of the polypeptide. The study of the effect of two single
      point cavity forming mutations, F110S and I7S, on the unfolding volume change
      (DeltaV(0)) of azurin and on the internal dynamics of the protein fold under
      pressure demonstrate that the creation of an internal cavity will enhance the
      plasticity and lower the stability of the globular structure. This article is
      part of a Special Issue entitled: Protein Dynamics: Experimental and
      Computational Approaches.

PMID- 20934541
TI  - Supercritical fluid-assisted preparation of imprinted contact lenses for drug
      delivery.
AB  - The aim of this work was to develop an innovative supercritical fluid (SCF)
      assisted molecular imprinting method to endow commercial soft contact lenses
      (SCLs) with the ability to load specific drugs and to control their release. This
      approach seeks to overcome the limitation of the common loading of preformed SCLs
      by immersion in concentrated drug solutions (only valid for highly water soluble
      drugs) and of the molecular imprinting methods that require choice of the drug
      before polymerization and thus to create drug-tailored networks. In particular,
      we focused on improving the flurbiprofen load/release capacity of daily wear
      Hilafilcon B commercial SCLs by the use of sequential SCF flurbiprofen
      impregnation and extraction steps. Supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2)
      impregnation assays were performed at 12.0 MPa and 40  degrees C, while scCO2
      extractions were performed at 20.0 MPa and 40  degrees C. Conventional
      flurbiprofen sorption and drug removal experiments in aqueous solutions were
      carried out for comparison purposes. SCF-processed SCLs showed a recognition
      ability and a higher affinity for flurbiprofen in aqueous solution than for the
      structurally related ibuprofen and dexamethasone, which suggests the creation of
      molecularly imprinted cavities driven by both physical (swelling/plasticization)
      and chemical (carbonyl groups in the network with the C-F group in the drug)
      interactions. Processing with scCO2 did not alter some of the critical functional
      properties of SCLs (glass transition temperature, transmittance, oxygen
      permeability, contact angle), enabled the control of drug loaded/released amounts
      (by the application of several consecutive processing cycles) and permitted the
      preparation of hydrophobic drug-based therapeutic SCLs in much shorter process
      times than those using conventional aqueous-based molecular imprinting methods.

PMID- 20934542
TI  - Cell patterning using molecular vapor deposition of self-assembled monolayers and
      lift-off technique.
AB  - This paper reports a precise, live cell-patterning method by means of patterning
      a silicon or glass substrate with alternating cytophilic and cytophobic self
      assembled monolayers (SAMs) deposited via molecular vapor deposition.
      Specifically, a stack of hydrophobic heptadecafluoro-1,1,2,2
      tetrahydrodecyltrichlorosilane SAMs and a silicon oxide adhesion layer were
      patterned on the substrate surface, and a hydrophilic SAM derived from 3
      trimethoxysilyl propyldiethylenetriamine was coated on the remaining non-treated
      areas on the substrate surface to promote cell growth. The primary
      characteristics of the reported method include: (i) single-cell resolution; (ii)
      easy alignment of the patterns with the pre-existing patterns on the substrate;
      (iii) easy formation of nanoscale patterns (depending on the exposure equipment);
      (iv) long shelf life of the substrate pattern prior to cell culturing; (v)
      compatibility with conventional, inverted, optical microscopes for simple
      visualization of patterns formed on a glass wafer; and (vi) the ability to
      support patterned cell (osteoblast) networks for at least 2 weeks. Here, we
      describe the deposition technique and the characterization of the deposited
      layers, as well as the application of this method in the fabrication of
      multielectrode arrays supporting patterned neuronal networks.

PMID- 20934543
TI  - Preoperative assessment of cardiac risk and perioperative cardiac management in
      noncardiac surgery.
AB  - More than 27 million Americans undergo noncardiac surgery annually. Cardiac
      complications can be a major source of morbidity and mortality in the
      perioperative period. Preoperative risk stratification, intraoperative ischemia
      monitoring and postoperative surveillance help to predict, identify and
      efficiently treat these adverse events. A renewed emphasis on preoperative
      evaluation has helped to identify patients at an increased risk for adverse
      cardiac events and thus, implement noninvasive or invasive cardio protective
      strategies in an attempt to minimize these complications. In this review we
      briefly describe the current evidence on perioperative management of patients
      presenting for noncardiac surgery. As the surgeon will remain one of the first to
      evaluate patients before noncardiac surgery it is essential he/she be well versed
      with this information.

PMID- 20934544
TI  - Two port laparoscopic ventral hernia mesh repair: an innovative technical
      advancement.
AB  - Ventral hernia is a common surgical problem. The traditional open surgical repair
      has the disadvantage of excessive morbidity, long hospital stay and high
      recurrence rates. Laparoscopic ventral hernia repair (LVHR) is gaining acceptance
      but there is no standardized technique for the repair of these hernias. We have
      introduced an innovative technique of 2-port laparoscopic mesh repair for ventral
      and incisional hernias. Between January 2002 and September 2008, 168 patients
      underwent the 2-port repair of ventral hernias at our institution, with Bard
      polypropylene mesh in 162 cases and Gore-tex expanded polytetrafloroethylene mesh
      in 6 patients. The average size of the defects was 10.2 cm (6.6-24.8 cm). Mean
      operating time was 61.4 min (48-102 min). The mean post-operative hospital stay
      was 1.2 days. Prolonged ileus over one day occurred in 22 patients while 6
      patients had urinary retention in the post-operative period. There were 6
      recurrences (3.94%) in the mean follow up period of 42 months (6-62 months).
      Seroma formation occurred in 5.3% cases but all of them subsided within 6 weeks
      without any active intervention. In conclusion we recommend that the 2-port LVHR
      is a technically sound procedure which is less invasive and with comparable
      complication rates to the 3 or 4 port hernia repair.

PMID- 20934545
TI  - Is screening cardiac inpatients for depression really feasible?

PMID- 20934547
TI  - Unified definition of clinical trials end points.

PMID- 20934548
TI  - Do heart failure trials need an end point committee?

PMID- 20934549
TI  - The role of the electrocardiogram as a prognostic tool in ST-segment elevation
      myocardial infarction.

PMID- 20934550
TI  - Dronedarone and vitamin K antagonists: a review of drug-drug interactions.
AB  - Adverse drug events affect millions of patients each year. An important drug-drug
      interaction between amiodarone and vitamin K antagonists is encountered
      frequently in daily clinical practice. Warfarin, a commonly used anticoagulant,
      is a mixture of 2 optically active isomers (R and S enantiomers). The S
      enantiomer is approximately 3 times more potent than the R enantiomer and is
      metabolized primarily by CYP2C9. Inhibition of CYP2C9 by amiodarone and its major
      metabolite potentiates the anticoagulant effects of warfarin, increasing the risk
      of serious bleeding. In contrast, dronedarone, a synthetic derivative of
      amiodarone the structure of which lacks the iodine moiety, is less likely to
      cause a drug-drug interaction with warfarin. Accordingly, dronedarone may be a
      particularly attractive antiarrhythmic choice among patients with atrial
      fibrillation who are also being treated with warfarin.

PMID- 20934551
TI  - Novel biomarkers in cardiovascular disease: update 2010.
AB  - The rapid evaluation of patients presenting with symptoms suggestive of an acute
      coronary syndrome is of great clinical relevance. Biomarkers have become
      increasingly important in this setting to supplement electrocardiographic
      findings and patient history because one or both can be misleading. Today,
      cardiac troponin is still the only marker used routinely in this setting due to
      its myocardial tissue specificity and sensitivity, as well as its established
      usefulness for therapeutic decision making. However, even current generation
      troponin assays have certain limitations such as insufficient sensitivity for
      diagnosing unstable angina. Novel high-sensitivity assays for cardiac troponin
      have the potential to overcome these limitations. Further studies are needed to
      answer some critical questions regarding the best cutoffs for diagnosis and risk
      assessment and the optimal work-up for rule-out of acute myocardial infarction.
      Other nonmyocardial tissue-specific markers might help in this setting.
      Myeloperoxidase, copeptin, and growth differentiation factor 15 reflect different
      aspects of the development of atherosclerosis or acute ischemia. Each has
      demonstrated impact in risk stratification of acute coronary syndromes. Limited
      data also show that copeptin may, when used together with cardiac troponin,
      improve the sensitivity for diagnosing acute myocardial infarction, and growth
      differentiation factor 15 may help in selection of patients that benefit from
      invasive therapy. Further evaluation is needed before these markers can be
      adopted routinely in clinical practice.

PMID- 20934552
TI  - Novel antiplatelet therapy.
AB  - Antiplatelet therapy is a cornerstone of the management of patients with acute
      coronary syndromes or for those undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention. As
      the intricacies of platelet biology and mechanisms of thrombus formation are
      revealed, novel antiplatelet therapies have emerged. Bleeding risk, however, has
      grown in concert with more potent platelet inhibition. This article reviews
      platelet biology and receptors to provide a foundation for understanding of
      antiplatelelet therapy. It also highlights recent advances in antiplatelet
      therapy, with a focus on mechanisms of action, pharmacodynamic data, and the
      balance of thrombotic versus bleeding outcomes.

PMID- 20934553
TI  - Addressing disparities in sudden cardiac arrest care and the underutilization of
      effective therapies.
AB  - Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) is the most common cause of death in the Unites
      States. Despite its major impact on public health, significant challenges exist
      at the patient, provider, public, and policy levels with respect to raising more
      widespread awareness and understanding of SCA risks, identifying patients at risk
      for SCA, addressing barriers to SCA care, and eliminating disparities in SCA care
      and outcomes. To address many of these challenges, the Duke Center for the
      Prevention of Sudden Cardiac Death at the Duke Clinical Research Institute
      (Durham, NC) held a think tank meeting on December 7, 2009, convening experts on
      this issue from clinical cardiology, cardiac electrophysiology, health policy and
      economics, the US Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Medicare and
      Medicaid Services, the Agency for Health Care Research and Quality, and device
      and pharmaceutical manufacturers. The specific goals of the meeting were to
      examine existing educational tools on SCA for patients, health care providers,
      and the public and explore ways to enhance and disseminate these tools; to
      propose a framework for improved identification of patients at risk of SCA; and
      to review the latest data on disparities in SCA care and explore ways to reduce
      these disparities. This article summarizes the discussions that occurred at the
      meeting.

PMID- 20934554
TI  - Developing the Safety of Atrial Fibrillation Ablation Registry Initiative
      (SAFARI) as a collaborative pan-stakeholder critical path registry model: a
      Cardiac Safety Research Consortium "Incubator" Think Tank.
AB  - Although several randomized clinical trials have demonstrated the safety and
      efficacy of catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation (AF) in experienced centers,
      the outcomes of this procedure in routine clinical practice and in patients with
      persistent and long-standing persistent AF remain uncertain. Brisk adoption of
      this therapy by physicians with diverse training and experience highlights
      potential concerns regarding the safety and effectiveness of this procedure. Some
      of these concerns could be addressed by a national registry of AF ablation
      procedures such as the Safety of Atrial Fibrillation Ablation Registry Initiative
      that was initially proposed at a Cardiac Safety Research Consortium Think Tank
      meeting in April 2009. In January 2010, the Cardiac Safety Research Consortium,
      in collaboration with the Duke Clinical Research Institute, the US Food and Drug
      Administration, the American College of Cardiology, and the Heart Rhythm Society,
      held a follow-up meeting of experts in the field to review the construct and
      progress to date. Other participants included the National Heart, Lung, and Blood
      Institute; the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services; the Agency for
      Healthcare Research and Quality; the AdvaMed AF working group; and additional
      industry representatives. This article summarizes the discussions that occurred
      at the meeting of the state of the Safety of Atrial Fibrillation Ablation
      Registry Initiative, the identification of a clear pathway for its
      implementation, and the exploration of solutions to potential issues in the
      execution of this registry.

PMID- 20934555
TI  - Electrocardiographic assessment for therapeutic proteins--scientific discussion.
AB  - Electrocardiographic monitoring is an integral component of the clinical
      assessment of cardiac safety of all compounds in development. The International
      Conference on Harmonization of Technical Requirements for Registration of
      Pharmaceuticals for Human Use E14 guideline recommends a dedicated study to
      evaluate drug-induced effects on cardiac repolarization ("thorough QT/QTc
      study"). There has been limited published information on QT interval changes
      secondary to therapeutic proteins; however, in theory, biologic therapies may
      affect cardiac electrical activity either directly or indirectly. This article
      summarizes scientific discussions of members of the Cardiac Safety Research
      Consortium and includes possible approaches to consider for the clinical
      evaluation of drug-induced QT prolongation in development programs of therapeutic
      proteins.

PMID- 20934557
TI  - Rationale for an early aldosterone blockade in acute myocardial infarction and
      design of the ALBATROSS trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Aldosterone is at its highest levels at presentation for acute
      myocardial infarction (AMI). High aldosterone levels are predictive of poor
      outcome regardless of heart failure. Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors
      have delayed partial and temporary effects on aldosterone levels. We hypothesize
      that aldosterone receptor blockade, early after AMI onset on top of standard
      therapy, may improve clinical outcome. STUDY DESIGN: ALBATROSS is a nationwide,
      multicenter, open-labeled, randomized trial designed to assess the superiority of
      aldosterone blockade by a 200-mg intravenous bolus of potassium canrenoate
      followed by a daily 25-mg dose of spirinolactone for 6 months, on top of standard
      therapy compared to standard therapy alone among 1,600 patients admitted for ST
      segment elevation or high risk non-ST-segment elevation acute AMI -TIMI score >=3
      within 72 hours after symptom onset regardless of heart failure and treatment
      strategy. The primary efficacy end point of the study is the 6-month rate of the
      composite of death, resuscitated cardiac arrest, significant ventricular
      arrhythmia, class IA American College of Cardiology/American Heart
      Association/European Society of Cardiology indication for implantable
      cardioverter device, and new or worsening heart failure. Secondary end points
      include each of the components of the primary end point, different combinations
      of such components, the primary end point assessed at hospital discharge and 30
      day follow-up, and rates of acute renal failure. Safety end points include rates
      of hyperkalemia and premature drug discontinuation. CONCLUSIONS: ALBATROSS will
      assess the cardiovascular benefit of a low-cost aldosterone receptor blocker on
      top of standard therapy in all-coming AMI patients.

PMID- 20934556
TI  - Evaluation of the novel factor Xa inhibitor edoxaban compared with warfarin in
      patients with atrial fibrillation: design and rationale for the Effective
      aNticoaGulation with factor xA next GEneration in Atrial Fibrillation
      Thrombolysis In Myocardial Infarction study 48 (ENGAGE AF-TIMI 48).
AB  - BACKGROUND: Vitamin K antagonists have been the standard oral antithrombotic used
      for more than a half century for prevention and treatment of thromboembolism.
      Their limitations include multiple food and drug interactions and need for
      frequent monitoring and dose adjustments. Edoxaban is a selective and direct
      factor Xa inhibitor that may provide effective, safe, and more convenient
      anticoagulation. STUDY DESIGN: ENGAGE AF-TIMI 48 is a phase 3, randomized, double
      blind, double-dummy, multinational, noninferiority design megatrial comparing 2
      exposure strategies of edoxaban to warfarin. Approximately 20,500 subjects will
      be randomized to edoxaban high exposure (60 mg daily, adjusted for drug
      clearance), edoxaban low exposure (30 mg daily, adjusted for drug clearance), or
      warfarin titrated to an international normalized ratio of 2.0 to 3.0. The
      edoxaban strategies provide for dynamic dose reductions in subjects with
      anticipated increased drug exposure. Blinded treatment is maintained through the
      use of sham international normalized ratios in patients receiving edoxaban.
      Eligibility criteria include electrical documentation of atrial fibrillation <=12
      months and a CHADS(2) score >=2. Randomization is stratified by CHADS(2) score
      and anticipated drug exposure. The primary objective is to determine whether
      edoxaban is noninferior to warfarin for the prevention of stroke and systemic
      embolism. The primary safety end point is modified International Society on
      Thrombosis and Haemostasis major bleeding. Recruitment began in November 2008.
      The expected median follow-up is 24 months. CONCLUSIONS: ENGAGE AF-TIMI 48 is a
      phase 3 comparison of the novel oral factor Xa inhibitor edoxaban to warfarin for
      the prevention of thromboembolism in patients with atrial fibrillation.

PMID- 20934558
TI  - Determination of hospitalization type by investigator case report form or
      adjudication committee in a large heart failure clinical trial (beta-Blocker
      Evaluation of Survival Trial [BEST]).
AB  - BACKGROUND: End point committees are routinely used to adjudicate efficacy and
      safety end points in clinical trials. The 2,708-patient beta-Blocker Evaluation
      of Survival Trial (BEST) originally determined hospitalization type via
      investigator case report forms (CRFs), which captured whether a hospitalization
      was due to worsening heart failure (HF). Recently, the BEST End Points Committee
      (EPC) completed a blinded adjudication of all hospitalizations, allowing a
      comparison of the CRF method to the EPC method of determining hospitalization
      type. We sought to compare the investigator-determined mode of hospitalizations
      with the adjudicated events, to quantify the degree of agreement, and to compare
      the clinical trial results by method of event classification. METHODS: The BEST
      EPC reviewed all 5,086 hospitalizations that occurred in BEST. Events were
      identified using investigator-reported hospitalizations, as well as those
      documented by FDA Form 3500 (MedWatch) reports. RESULTS: The investigators
      identified more HF hospitalization events than adjudication (2,466 vs 1,729, P <
      .0001, paired analysis). Eight hundred thirty-four (34%) HF hospitalizations
      identified in CRFs were not confirmed by adjudication. Ninety-seven (6%)
      adjudicated events were not identified by the investigator reported method. One
      thousand six hundred thirty-two events were similarly identified by both methods.
      CONCLUSIONS: The EPC adjudication identified fewer HF hospitalizations than did
      the investigator reported method with no change in the hazard ratio for this end
      point. Our findings suggest that independent end point committees may improve
      reliability through reduced variance, thus providing similar outcome results with
      fewer events and no increase in CIs.

PMID- 20934559
TI  - Study design and rationale for the clinical outcomes of the STABILITY Trial
      (STabilization of Atherosclerotic plaque By Initiation of darapLadIb TherapY)
      comparing darapladib versus placebo in patients with coronary heart disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Elevated plasma levels of lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A(2)
      (Lp-PLA(2)) are associated with increased risk of cardiovascular (CV) events.
      Direct inhibition of this proinflammatory enzyme with darapladib may benefit CV
      patients when given as an adjunct to standard of care, including lipid-lowering
      and antiplatelet therapies. METHODS: STABILITY is a randomized, placebo
      controlled, double-blind, international, multicenter, event-driven trial. The
      study has randomized 15,828 patients with chronic coronary heart disease (CHD)
      receiving standard of care to darapladib enteric-coated (EC) tablets, 160 mg or
      placebo. RESULTS: The primary end point is the composite of major adverse
      cardiovascular events (MACE): CV death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, and
      nonfatal stroke. The key secondary end points will include major coronary events,
      total coronary events, individual components of MACE, and all-cause mortality.
      Prespecified substudies include 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring,
      albuminuria progression, changes in cognitive function, and pharmacokinetic and
      biomarker analyses. Health economic outcomes and characterization of baseline
      lifestyle risk factors also will be assessed. The study will continue until 1,500
      primary end points have occurred to achieve 90% power to detect a 15.5% reduction
      in the primary end point. The median treatment duration is anticipated to be 2.75
      years. CONCLUSIONS: STABILITY will assess whether direct inhibition of Lp-PLA(2)
      with darapladib added to the standard of care confers clinical benefit to
      patients with CHD.

PMID- 20934560
TI  - International collaborative systematic review of controlled clinical trials on
      pharmacologic treatments for acute pericarditis and its recurrences.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Acute pericarditis is common, yet uncertainty persists on its
      treatment. We thus aimed to conduct a comprehensive systematic review on
      pharmacologic treatments for acute or recurrent pericarditis. METHODS: Controlled
      clinical studies were searched in several databases and were included provided
      they focused on pharmacologic agents for acute pericarditis or its recurrences.
      Random-effect odds ratios (ORs) were computed for long-term treatment failure,
      pericarditis recurrence, rehospitalization, and adverse drug effects. RESULTS:
      From 2,078 citations, 7 studies were finally included (451 patients); but only 3
      were randomized trials. Treatment comparisons were as follows: colchicine versus
      standard therapy (3 studies, 265 patients), steroids versus standard therapy (2
      studies, 31 patients), low-dose versus high-dose steroids (1 study, 100
      patients), and statins versus standard therapy (1 study, 55 patients). Colchicine
      was associated with a reduced risk of treatment failure (OR = 0.23 [0.11-0.49])
      and recurrent pericarditis (OR = 0.39 [0.20-0.77]), but with a trend toward more
      adverse effects (OR = 5.27 [0.86-32.16]). Overall, steroids were associated with
      a trend toward increased risk of recurrent pericarditis (OR = 7.50 [0.62-90.65]).
      Conversely, low-dose steroids proved superior to high-dose steroids for treatment
      failure or recurrent pericarditis (OR = 0.29 [0.13-0.66]), rehospitalizations (OR
      = 0.19 [0.06-0.63]), and adverse effects (OR = 0.07 [0.01-0.54]). Data on statins
      were inconclusive. CONCLUSIONS: Clinical evidence informing decision-making for
      the management of acute pericarditis and its recurrences is still limited to few,
      small, and/or low-quality clinical studies. Notwithstanding such major caveats,
      available studies routinely using nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agents in both
      experimental and control groups suggest a beneficial risk-benefit profile for
      colchicine and a detrimental one for steroids, especially when used at high
      dosages.

PMID- 20934561
TI  - Does silent myocardial infarction add prognostic value in ST-elevation myocardial
      infarction patients without a history of prior myocardial infarction? Insights
      from the Assessment of Pexelizumab in Acute Myocardial Infarction (APEX-AMI)
      Trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients with a prior MI
      history have worse outcomes. The prognostic significance of silent MI (pathologic
      Q waves outside the ST-elevation territory) in STEMI is unclear. METHODS: A total
      of 5,733 STEMI patients from 296 clinical centers in 17 countries were classified
      as (1) silent MI-baseline Q waves outside the infarct-related artery territory
      and no history of prior MI, (2) history of prior MI (HxMI), or (3) no prior MI.
      RESULTS: Of 5,733 STEMI patients, 419 (7.3%) had silent MI, 693 (12.1%) had HxMI,
      and 4,621 (80.6%) had no prior MI. Ninety-day death and death/congestive heart
      failure/shock were higher in patients with HxMI (8.4% and 15.3%, respectively)
      and silent MI (6.7% and 13.9%, respectively) compared with patients with no prior
      MI (4.0% and 9.1%, respectively) (P <= .001 for all). After baseline adjustment,
      patients with HxMI were at increased risk for 90-day death (adjusted hazard ratio
      [HR] 1.62, 95% CI 1.18-2.21), whereas both those with HxMI and those with silent
      MI had increased risk of 90-day death/congestive heart failure/shock compared
      with those with no prior MI (adjusted HR 1.54, 95% CI 1.23-1.93 and adjusted HR
      1.46, 95% CI 1.10-1.93, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Seven percent of STEMI
      patients had a silent MI. They represent a novel subgroup at increased risk
      comparable to those with known prior MI. Hence, in future studies, acquiring
      baseline Q wave data outside the distribution of acute injury should broaden the
      prognostic insights from STEMI patients with a prior MI.

PMID- 20934562
TI  - Hormone replacement therapy among postmenopausal women presenting with acute
      myocardial infarction: insights from the GUSTO-III trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The role of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) in the prevention of
      cardiovascular disease has been controversial. In large observational studies,
      HRT appears to lower cardiovascular disease risk. However, prospective randomized
      trials do not substantiate this. METHODS: We sought to characterize the use of
      HRT in women presenting with acute myocardial infarction and to investigate an
      association between HRT and inhospital or 30-day outcomes among women enrolled in
      the Global Use of Strategies to Open Occluded Coronary Arteries III (GUSTO-III)
      trial. Of the 15,059 patients in GUSTO-III, 4124 were women. Menopausal status,
      HRT use, and clinical outcomes data were prospectively collected. RESULTS:
      Postmenopausal women taking HRT were significantly younger than those not taking
      HRT, and US women were more likely to be prescribed HRT than non-US women. While
      unadjusted 30-day mortality was substantially lower in HRT patients (6.1% vs
      12.7%, P < .001), HRT use was not independently predictive of mortality after
      correcting for baseline differences (chi(2) = 0.15, P = .70). CONCLUSION: Hormone
      replacement therapy appears to have no early mortality benefit in women
      sustaining acute myocardial infarction. These findings further challenge the role
      of HRT in cardiovascular medicine.

PMID- 20934564
TI  - Impact of prenatal diagnosis and anatomical subtype on outcome in double outlet
      right ventricle.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We sought to investigate the influence of prenatal diagnosis and risk
      factors for adverse outcomes in double outlet right ventricle (DORV) not
      associated with heterotaxy. METHODS: Patients with a pre or postnatal diagnosis
      of DORV from 2000 to 2007 were identified and classified into 3 subgroups:
      subaortic ventricular septal defect (VSD) and normal great artery (GA)
      arrangement (=VSD type), tetralogy of Fallot type, and transposition of the GA
      type (=TGA type). Patients with heterotaxy, atrioventricular septal defect, valve
      atresia, and ventricular hypoplasia were excluded. Complex postnatal care was
      defined as prematurity, need for prostaglandins, surgical repair <2 months, or
      univentricular palliation. Risk factors for complex postnatal care and demise
      were sought in multivariable logistic regression models. One hundred fort-five
      patients were included (93 prenatal, 52 postnatal). RESULTS: There were 24
      pregnancy terminations and 7 in utero deaths. Fetal demise was associated with
      abnormal karyotype (odds ratio [OR] 1.9, P = .01), any tricuspid valve
      regurgitation (OR 10.6, P = .01), and hydrops (OR 23.8, P = .02). Of 114 liveborn
      patients, 23 were tetralogy-type, 67 VSD-type, and 24 TGA-type patients.
      Postnatal survival of liveborn patients at 1 year was similar in pre- versus
      postnatally diagnosed patients (84% vs 85%). Abnormal GA relationship (OR 2.9, P
      = .02), subpulmonary VSD (OR 6.0, P = .001), unobstructed pulmonary blood flow at
      birth (OR 2.8, P = .05), and aortic coarctation (OR 9.0, P = .007) were
      associated with suboptimal postsurgical outcomes. CONCLUSION: Double outlet right
      ventricle, even without heterotaxy, is associated with complex postnatal care and
      high risk of early demise. Morphologic subtype, irrespective of pre- or postnatal
      diagnosis, is a major determinant of outcome.

PMID- 20934563
TI  - Increase in tissue and circulating pentraxin3 levels in patients with aortic
      valve stenosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Inflammation is involved in the pathogenesis of nonrheumatic aortic
      valve stenosis (AS). Pentraxin3 (PTX3) is produced at the inflammatory site;
      however, tissue and circulating PTX3 levels in patients with AS remain largely
      unknown. METHODS: We enrolled 84 patients who received aortic replacement surgery
      due to AS (n = 53) or aortic regurgitation (AR; n = 31). PTX3 expression in
      aortic valves was evaluated in patients with AS and AR by immunohistochemistry
      and Western blot analysis. We further investigated circulating PTX3 and high
      sensitivity C-reactive protein levels in patients with AS, AR, and age-matched
      controls. RESULTS: Immunohistochemical and Western blot analyses revealed that
      PTX3 was expressed in aortic valves. PTX3 expression was increased in AS valves
      compared with control and AR valves. Strong PTX3 immunoreactivity was found
      particularly in macrophages of AS valves. Plasma PTX3 levels were increased in
      patients with AS than in those with AR and controls, while serum high-sensitivity
      C-reactive protein levels did not differ among three groups. Moreover, plasma
      PTX3 levels were positively correlated with the amounts of PTX3 expression in
      aortic valves. CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrated for the first time that tissue and
      plasma PTX3 levels were increased in patients with AS. These findings suggest
      that PTX3 may participate in the pathophysiology of AS.

PMID- 20934565
TI  - Are changes in carotid intima-media thickness related to risk of nonfatal
      myocardial infarction? A critical review and meta-regression analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) is increasingly being used as a
      surrogate end point in randomized control trials (RCTs) of novel cardiovascular
      therapies. However, it remains unclear whether changes in CIMT that result from
      these therapies correlate with nonfatal myocardial infarction (MI). METHODS: We
      performed a literature search of RCTs from 1990-2009 that used CIMT. Eligible
      RCTs (1) included quantitative and sequential assessments in CIMT at least 1 year
      apart and (2) reported nonfatal MI. Across RCTs, random-effects metaregression
      was employed to correlate differences in mean change in CIMT between treatment
      and control groups over time with the log odds ratios of developing nonfatal MI
      during follow-up. RESULTS: Overall, we identified 28 RCTs with 15,598 patients.
      Differences in mean change in CIMT over time between treatment and control groups
      correlated with developing nonfatal MI during follow-up: for each 0.01 mm per
      year smaller rate of change in CIMT, the odds ratio for MI was 0.82 (95% CI, 0.69
      to 0.96; P = .018). Results were similar in subgroups of RCTs with >1 year follow
      up (P = .018) and those with at least 50 subjects in the treatment group (P =
      .019). However, there was no significant relationship between mean change in CIMT
      and nonfatal MI in RCTs evaluating statin therapy or those with high CIMTs at
      baseline (P > .20 in both instances). CONCLUSIONS: Less progression in CIMT over
      time is associated with a lower likelihood of nonfatal MI in selected RCTs;
      however, these findings were inconsistent at times, suggesting caution in using
      CIMT as a surrogate end point.

PMID- 20934567
TI  - Association of ST2 levels with cardiac structure and function and mortality in
      outpatients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: ST2, an interleukin-1 receptor family member up-regulated in the
      setting of cardiomyocyte strain, has prognostic value in patients with acute
      myocardial infarction, chronic severe heart failure, and acute heart failure. The
      predictive value of ST2 levels in outpatients is unknown. We studied the clinical
      and echocardiographic correlates of ST2 levels and evaluated their prognostic use
      in outpatients referred for echocardiograms. METHODS: ST2 levels were measured in
      588 outpatients referred for echocardiogram. Subjects were analyzed by quartile
      as well as by optimal ST2 cut-point (28.25 ng/mL) derived from receiver operating
      characteristic curve analysis. All-cause death at 1 year was the primary outcome.
      RESULTS: In this cohort with mean age of 68 +/- 12 years and median ST2 level of
      19.8 ng/mL (interquartile range 15.8-23.7), 25 deaths occurred. Heart rate,
      creatinine clearance, use of diuretics, and the presence of right ventricular
      hypokinesis were independently associated with ST2 levels. At 6 months, no
      patients with ST2 below the median had died. Patients with high ST2 levels had an
      increased risk of death (adjusted hazard ratio [HR] 2.5, P = .02); those with
      elevated levels of both ST2 and B-type natriuretic peptide were at even higher
      risk (adjusted HR 4.3, P = .01 vs none elevated). CONCLUSIONS: ST2 levels reflect
      right-side heart size and function and are independent predictors of 1-year
      mortality in outpatients referred for echocardiograms. The optimal cut-point
      derived in this cohort is comparable with the previously identified prognostic
      cut-point for sicker patients. ST2 may be an especially strong prognostic marker
      for short-term mortality risk.

PMID- 20934566
TI  - Lack of association between serum magnesium and the risks of hypertension and
      cardiovascular disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Experimental studies have linked hypomagnesemia with the development
      of vascular dysfunction, hypertension, and atherosclerosis. Prior clinical
      studies have yielded conflicting results but were limited by the use of self
      reported magnesium intake or short follow-up periods. METHODS: We examined the
      relationship between serum magnesium concentration and incident hypertension,
      cardiovascular disease (CVD), and mortality in 3,531 middle-aged adult
      participants in the Framingham Heart Study offspring cohort. Analyses were
      performed using Cox proportional hazards regressions, adjusted for traditional
      CVD risk factors. RESULTS: Follow-up was 8 years for new-onset hypertension (551
      events) and 20 years for CVD (554 events). There was no association between
      baseline serum magnesium and the development of hypertension (multivariable
      adjusted hazards ratio per 0.15 mg/dL 1.03, 95% CI 0.92-1.15, P = .61), CVD
      (0.83, 95% CI 0.49-1.40, P = .49), or all-cause mortality (0.77, 95% CI 0.41
      1.45, P = .42). Similar findings were observed in categorical analyses, in which
      serum magnesium was modeled in categories (<1.5, 1.5-2.2, >2.2 mg/dL) or in
      quartiles. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, data from this large, community-based
      cohort do not support the hypothesis that low serum magnesium is a risk factor
      for developing hypertension or CVD.

PMID- 20934568
TI  - Longitudinal mechanics of the periinfarct zone and ventricular tachycardia
      inducibility in patients with chronic ischemic cardiomyopathy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Quantification of segmental left ventricular (LV) strain by speckle
      tracking echocardiography can identify transmural infarcts in patients with
      chronic ischemic cardiomyopathy. The aim of the study was to explore the
      relationship between the LV longitudinal peak systolic strain (LPSS) of the
      infarct, periinfarct, and remote zones and monomorphic ventricular tachycardia
      (VT) inducibility on electrophysiologic (EP) study. METHODS: A total of 134
      patients with chronic ischemic cardiomyopathy scheduled for EP study were
      included. The protocol consisted of clinical, electrocardiographic, and
      echocardiographic evaluation, including LV longitudinal strain analysis using
      speckle-tracking echocardiography, immediately before EP study. An infarct
      segment was defined as a longitudinal strain value of greater than -5%, and a
      periinfarct segment was defined as immediately adjacent to an infarct segment.
      RESULTS: The infarct zone had the most impaired longitudinal strain (-0.5% +/-
      3.0%), whereas the periinfarct and remote zones had more preserved longitudinal
      strain (-10.8% +/- 1.9% and -14.5% +/- 3.0%, respectively; analysis of variance,
      P < .001). Seventy-two (54%) patients had inducible monomorphic VT on EP study.
      There was no significant difference in LV ejection fraction (31% +/- 9% vs 32% +/
      11%, P = .29) between inducible and noninducible patients. Longitudinal peak
      systolic strain of the periinfarct zone was more impaired in inducible patients (
      9.8% +/- 1.5% vs -11.0% +/- 2.1%, P = .001), but no differences in LPSS of the
      infarct (-0.5% +/- 3.2% vs -0.4% +/- 2.7%, P = .75) and remote (-14.6% +/- 2.8%
      vs -14.5% +/- 3.4%, P = .92) zones were observed. Only LPSS of the periinfarct
      zone (OR 1.43, 95% CI 1.15-1.78, P = .001) was independently related to
      monomorphic VT inducibility on multiple logistic regression. CONCLUSIONS:
      Longitudinal strain analysis may be a useful imaging tool to risk stratify
      ischemic patients for malignant ventricular arrhythmia.

PMID- 20934569
TI  - Prevalence and characteristics of patients with clinical improvement but not
      significant left ventricular reverse remodeling after cardiac resynchronization
      therapy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although most patients who improve in clinical status after cardiac
      resynchronization therapy (CRT) also show a significant left ventricular (LV)
      reverse remodeling, some patients do not show echocardiographic improvement. The
      aim of the present study was to evaluate the degree of agreement between clinical
      and echocardiographic response to CRT in a large cohort of heart failure
      patients, and to evaluate the characteristics of patients with clinical response
      but without echocardiographic response. METHODS: In 440 consecutive heart failure
      patients (mean age 66 +/- 11 years, 81% men) treated with CRT, agreement between
      clinical and echocardiographic responses at 6 months of follow-up were evaluated.
      The combined clinical response was defined as: >=1-point New York Heart
      Association functional class improvement or >=15% increase in 6-minute walk test.
      Echocardiographic response was defined by a reduction in LV end-systolic volume
      (LVESV) >=15%. RESULTS: At 6 months of follow-up, clinical response was observed
      in 84% (n = 370) of the patients. Significant reduction in LVESV was noted in 63%
      (n = 276). The majority of patients who improved clinically did show LV reverse
      remodeling (72%, n = 268). Importantly, 28% (n = 102) of patients who improved
      clinically did not show significant LV reverse remodeling. The patients with
      clinical response but without echocardiographic response had more often ischemic
      heart failure as compared to patients with positive clinical and
      echocardiographic response (69.6% vs 57.5%; P = .021). Moreover, patients with
      such discordant responses had more narrow QRS complex (148 +/- 31 vs 159 +/- 31
      milliseconds; P = .004), and showed less LV dyssynchrony than patients with
      concordant positive responses (90 +/- 77 vs 171 +/- 105 milliseconds; P < .001).
      CONCLUSIONS: Although there is a good concordance between echocardiographic and
      clinical response to CRT, up to 28% of the population experienced clinical
      response without significant LV reverse remodeling. Subjects with such discrepant
      responses have more frequently ischemic heart failure and show more narrow QRS
      complex and less LV dyssynchrony than patients with both clinical and
      echocardiographic response.

PMID- 20934570
TI  - Racial differences in long-term survival among patients with coronary artery
      disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death among blacks and
      whites in the United States. Despite this, there are insufficient data on the
      long-term prognosis of black patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) as well
      as the major clinical related determinants of outcome. METHODS: We studied 22,618
      patients (3,314 black) having significant CAD findings at cardiac catheterization
      performed at Duke from January 1986 to December 2004 with follow-up through June
      2006. Using Kaplan-Meier and Cox modeling, we compared unadjusted and adjusted
      long-term survival by patient race and gender (median follow-up 7.6 years,
      interquartile range 3.5-13.0) as well as identified major patient characteristics
      associated with survival. RESULTS: Blacks with CAD were younger; were more often
      female; had lower median household incomes; and had more hypertension, diabetes
      mellitus, and heart failure. The number of coronary vessels with significant
      disease was similar by race. At 15-year follow-up, black women had the lowest
      survival and white men had the highest (41.5% vs 45.8%, P < .0001). Blacks were
      less likely to receive initial therapy with coronary revascularization (odds
      ratio 0.66, 95% CI 0.60-0.72, P < .0001). After adjusting for baseline clinical
      and demographic characteristics and initial treatment selection, black race
      remained an independent predictor of lower survival (hazard ratio 2.54, 95% CI
      1.60-4.04, P < .0001). CONCLUSIONS: Among patients with CAD, blacks have lower
      long-term survival compared with whites. The difference may be partially, but not
      fully, explained by differences in cardiovascular risk factors and 30-day
      revascularization rates.

PMID- 20934571
TI  - Impact of hospitalization on health-related quality of life in atrial
      fibrillation patients in Canada and the United States: results from an
      observational registry.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hospitalization is recognized as an important end point in atrial
      fibrillation (AF). The association between hospitalization and reduced health
      related quality of life (HRQOL) has not been previously studied. METHODS: The
      FRACTAL study was a prospective observational registry of patients enrolled in
      the United States and Canada with new-onset AF diagnosed by electrocardiogram.
      HRQOL was assessed with the SF-12 and the AF Symptom Checklist at baseline, 3, 6,
      12, 24 and 30 months. Mixed linear regression models were fitted to estimate the
      impact of hospitalization on HRQOL summary scores, adjusting for demographic and
      baseline comorbid conditions known to influence HRQOL in this population.
      RESULTS: Of 933 subjects who completed questionnaires and were not hospitalized
      during the baseline study visit, 303 (32%) were hospitalized a total of 490 times
      during a mean of 2.0 years of follow-up. Most admissions (64%) were for
      cardiovascular causes. The adjusted effect of any hospital admission (vs none) on
      symptom frequency and severity scores over time was +1.3 and +1.1 points,
      respectively (P < .01 for both). The adjusted effect of any admission on the SF
      12 physical score was -2.7 points (P < .0001) and on health state utility, -0.03
      (P < .0001). In contrast, hospitalization had little effect on longitudinal Short
      Form 12 mental scores (-0.7 points, P = .15). CONCLUSIONS: Within 2 years after
      AF diagnosis, hospitalizations were associated with increased AF symptomatology
      and decrements in generic physical HRQOL and utilities. Based on these results,
      interventions that reduce admissions in AF patients may also improve or preserve
      HRQOL.

PMID- 20934573
TI  - Rapid adoption of drug-eluting stents: clinical practices and outcomes from the
      early drug-eluting stent era.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: We sought to evaluate the early drug-eluting stent (DES) era,
      characterized by widespread device use. BACKGROUND: Contemporary clinical
      practice incorporating more selective DES use can only be assessed by
      understanding the early DES era. METHODS: All patients receiving DES during the
      first 3 waves of the Evaluation of Drug Eluting Stents and Ischemic Events
      (EVENT) Registry (2004-2006) were evaluated. The primary end point was a
      composite of death, myocardial infarction (MI), and urgent revascularization at
      discharge and death, MI, or target lesion revascularization (TLR) at 1 year. The
      composite end point at each time point was compared across waves. Multivariable
      logistic regression was used for in-hospital outcomes and multivariable Cox
      regression was used for 1-year end points. RESULTS: Ninety-two percent of EVENT
      patients received at least one DES. One third of patients were treated for Acute
      Coronary Syndromes (ACS) (33.8%), and later waves included lower lesion
      complexity. Across waves there was more frequent clopidogrel loading, a decrease
      in heparin and an increase in bivalirudin use (all P < .01). The primary
      composite end point of in-hospital death, MI or urgent revascularization occurred
      in 7.2% of patients, and did not differ across waves. Despite remarkably high
      levels of routine DES usage, the composite end point of death, MI, or TLR at 1
      year averaged 13.5% and did not differ across waves. After adjustment, no
      statistically significant effect of wave on composite bleeding (P = .068) as well
      as in-hospital TLR (P = .053) was noted. At 1 year, wave was associated with a
      lower likelihood of TLR in the adjusted model (HR 0.81, P = .03). CONCLUSIONS:
      The high-adoption DES era was associated with favorable outcomes, decreasing
      bleeding rates and changes in antithrombotic approach.

PMID- 20934572
TI  - Efficacy and safety of fenofibric acid in combination with atorvastatin and
      ezetimibe in patients with mixed dyslipidemia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Statin and ezetimibe combination therapy may be insufficient to
      improve lipid and nonlipid parameters beyond low-density lipoprotein cholesterol
      (LDL-C) in patients with mixed dyslipidemia. METHODS: In this phase 3,
      multicenter, double-blind study, a total of 543 patients with triglycerides >=150
      mg/dL and <400 mg/dL, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) <40 mg/dL (<50
      mg/dL for women), and LDL-C >=130 mg/dL were randomized to 12 weeks of treatment
      with fenofibric acid 135 mg (FA) or placebo, each coadministered with
      atorvastatin 40 mg + ezetimibe 10 mg (Atorva/Eze). RESULTS: Both treatment
      regimens lowered LDL-C by >50%; however, FA + Atorva/Eze resulted in
      significantly (P < .001) greater improvements in HDL-C (13.0% vs 4.2%),
      triglycerides (-57.3% vs -39.7%), non-HDL-C (-55.6% vs -51.0%), and apoprotein B
      (-49.1% vs -44.7%) compared with Atorva/Eze. Overall, adverse events were similar
      in the 2 treatment groups. No unexpected muscle, hepatic, or renal safety signals
      were identified with either treatment combination. CONCLUSIONS: In patients with
      mixed dyslipidemia, the combination of FA + Atorva/Eze significantly improved
      lipid and nonlipid parameters compared with Atorva/Eze and was generally well
      tolerated.

PMID- 20934574
TI  - Serial angiographic findings and prognosis of stent fracture site without early
      restenosis after sirolimus-eluting stent implantation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Stent fracture is one of the possible causes of in-stent restenosis
      after sirolimus-eluting stent (SES) implantation. However, long-term prognosis
      including late restenosis in stent fracture site without early restenosis remains
      unknown. The aim of this study is to investigate the risk of late restenosis at
      the stent fracture site without early restenosis after SES implantation. METHODS:
      We divided 366 patients with 490 lesions into 2 groups with or without stent
      fracture based on the first scheduled follow-up coronary angiography (fracture
      group, 21 lesions; nonfracture group, 469 lesions). The second scheduled follow
      up coronary angiography (>15 months after SES implantation) was performed in 83
      patients with 124 lesions. RESULTS: Target lesion revascularization due to late
      restenosis at the stent fracture site did not occur in the fracture group, but
      occurred in 5 lesions in the nonfracture group. At the first follow-up, minimal
      luminal diameter was significantly smaller and percentage diameter stenosis was
      significantly larger in the fracture group (1.98 +/- 0.41 vs 2.52 +/- 0.49 mm, P
      = .001 and 30.5% +/- 13.1% vs 13.0% +/- 8.8%, P < .0001, respectively). These
      differences were also present at the second follow-up (P = .01 and P = .007,
      respectively). In each group, there were no significant changes in minimal
      luminal diameter, percentage diameter stenosis, and late lumen loss between the
      first and second follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Late restenosis was not observed in
      stent fracture sites without early restenosis during the midterm follow-up after
      SES implantation.

PMID- 20934576
TI  - A year of German celebrations and new beginnings.

PMID- 20934575
TI  - Serial measurements of serum NT-proBNP as markers of left ventricular systolic
      function and remodeling in children with heart failure.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Increasing serum levels of N-terminal pro-hormone brain natriuretic
      peptide (NT-proBNP) are associated with worsening heart failure (HF) in adults.
      We determined whether changes in NT-proBNP level are associated with changes in
      symptoms and left ventricular (LV) systolic function and remodeling in children
      with HF secondary to dilated cardiomyopathy. METHODS: We retrospectively examined
      associations between serum NT-proBNP levels and NYHA/Ross functional class, LV
      systolic and diastolic diameter (LVSD-z and LVDD-z), LV ejection fraction (LVEF),
      and LV shortening fraction (LVSF-z) using generalized linear mixed models.
      Fluctuation in functional class of subjects was also modeled using logistic
      regression and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. RESULTS: In 36
      children (14 males), a 10-fold increase in NT-proBNP serum levels was associated
      (P < .001) with a 9.8% decrease in LVEF, a 3.25-unit drop in LVSF-z, a 1.53-unit
      increase in LVDD-z, a 2.64-unit increase in LVSD-z, and an increased odds of
      being in functional class III/IV (OR 85.5; 95% CI, 10.9 to 671.0). An NT-proBNP
      level greater than 1000 pg/mL identified children constantly or intermittently in
      functional class III-IV with 95% sensitivity and 80% specificity. The reliability
      of a single NT-proBNP value was 0.61, but the means for two and three NT-proBNP
      values were 0.76 and 0.82, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: In children with HF, NT
      proBNP is associated with cardiac symptoms and indices of LV systolic dysfunction
      and remodeling. NT-proBNP >1000 pg/mL identifies highly symptomatic children.
      Within subject serial measurements of NT-proBNP are needed for a reliable and
      accurate determination of disease status and/or course.

PMID- 20934577
TI  - FDA: regulators or abdicators?

PMID- 20934578
TI  - Academic medicine must take its global role: the M8 Alliance of Academic Health
      Centers and Medical Universities.

PMID- 20934579
TI  - Measuring and improving health-system productivity.

PMID- 20934580
TI  - Global health governance-the response to infectious diseases.

PMID- 20934581
TI  - Public health insecticide development: a status of hiatus.

PMID- 20934584
TI  - Manisha Gupte--working to empower women in rural India.

PMID- 20934585
TI  - Intimate-partner violence and HIV in South African women.

PMID- 20934586
TI  - Intimate-partner violence and HIV in South African women.

PMID- 20934588
TI  - Free light-chains and renal disorders: when small is worse.

PMID- 20934589
TI  - Free light-chains and renal disorders: when small is worse.

PMID- 20934591
TI  - Free light-chains and renal disorders: when small is worse.

PMID- 20934592
TI  - What is the AAP's real view on medical involvement in ritual cutting of children?

PMID- 20934594
TI  - CONSORT 2010 comments.

PMID- 20934595
TI  - Estimates of mortality in children younger than 5 years for Burkina Faso.

PMID- 20934596
TI  - Self-harm on either side of the pond.

PMID- 20934597
TI  - Financing of HIV/AIDS programme scale-up in low-income and middle-income
      countries, 2009-31.
AB  - As the global HIV/AIDS pandemic nears the end of its third decade, the challenges
      of efficient mobilisation of funds and management of resources are increasingly
      prominent. The aids2031 project modelled long-term funding needs for HIV/AIDS in
      developing countries with a range of scenarios and substantial variation in
      costs: ranging from US$397 to $722 billion globally between 2009 and 2031,
      depending on policy choices adopted by governments and donors. We examine what
      these figures mean for individual developing countries, and estimate the
      proportion of HIV/AIDS funding that they and donors will provide. Scenarios for
      expanded HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, and mitigation were analysed for 15
      representative countries. We suggest that countries will move in increasingly
      divergent directions over the next 20 years; middle-income countries with a low
      burden of HIV/AIDS will gradually be able to take on the modest costs of their
      HIV/AIDS response, whereas low-income countries with a high burden of disease
      will remain reliant upon external support for their rapidly expanding costs. A
      small but important group of middle-income countries with a high prevalence of
      HIV/AIDS (eg, South Africa) form a third category, in which rapid scale-up in the
      short term, matched by outside funds, could be phased down within 10 years
      assuming strategic investments are made for prevention and efficiency gains are
      made in treatment.

PMID- 20934598
TI  - Infant colitis--it's in the genes.

PMID- 20934599
TI  - Waist-to-hip ratio is a better anthropometric index than body mass index for
      predicting the risk of type 2 diabetes in Taiwanese population.
AB  - Body mass index (BMI) has been reported to be related to the risk of type 2
      diabetes and hypertension. However, waist circumference or waist-to-hip ratio
      (WHR) can better reflect the accumulation of intra-abdominal fat and might be a
      better predictor than BMI of the risk of type 2 diabetes and hypertension. We
      hypothesized that other anthropometric indices rather than BMI could more
      accurately predict the risk of type 2 diabetes and hypertension. The purpose of
      this study was to determine which anthropometric index can be a better predictor
      for forecasting the risk of type 2 diabetes and hypertension in the Taiwanese
      population. We conducted a cross-sectional study and reviewed data derived from
      the Nutrition and Health Survey in Taiwan, 1993-1996. The subjects were 2545 men
      and 2562 women, aged 18 to 96 years. Receiver operating characteristic curve
      analysis was used to measure the predictive diabetic and hypertensive performance
      of each anthropometric measurement based on the area under the curve (AUC). Among
      5 anthropometric indices, WHR had a significantly adjusted odds ratio (OR) and
      the highest AUC (0.72 for men and 0.80 for women) to predict the risk of type 2
      diabetes. Although BMI had a significantly adjusted OR, the AUC was not the
      highest among the 5 anthropometric indices used to predict the risk of
      hypertension. Our findings suggested that WHR is a better anthropometric index
      for predicting the risk of type 2 diabetes, and the optimal cutoff values of WHR
      are considered as 0.89 for men and 0.82 for women in the Taiwanese population.

PMID- 20934600
TI  - Standardized phase angle indicates nutritional status in hospitalized
      preoperative patients.
AB  - There is currently no criterion standard to assess nutritional status, and
      different methods have been used in hospitalized patients. The aim of this study
      was to investigate the agreement and the association between bioelectrical
      impedance analysis derived by standardized phase angle (SPA) and other methods
      used for the nutritional assessment of body composition, metabolic status, and
      functional status in surgical patients. The hypothesis was that the SPA is
      effective for evaluating nutritional status in surgical patients; therefore, it
      could be used when the application of other assessment methods is not possible.
      The sample consisted of 125 patients (20-94 years of age) before elective
      gastrointestinal or hernia repair. The participants were from the Surgical Clinic
      1 at the University Hospital of the Federal University of Santa Catarina,
      Florianopolis, SC, Brazil. Nutritional status was evaluated during the
      preoperative period based on the triceps skinfold thickness, mid-arm
      circumference, body mass index, percent weight loss, nutritional risk screening
      2002 (NRS 2002), subjective global assessment (SGA), and SPA. The agreement
      between the SPA and the other methods was assessed with the k coefficient. The
      agreement between the SPA and the methods of nutritional assessment that were
      investigated for diagnosing malnutrition was moderate for NRS 2002 and SGA, weak
      for percent weight loss, and poor for triceps skinfold thickness, mid-arm
      circumference, and body mass index. There was a significant association between
      SPA and both NRS 2002 and SGA (P < .001). Our results suggest that SPA is able to
      indicate the risk of nutritional deficiency in the patients assessed. However,
      good agreement between SPA and the methods investigated was not observed.

PMID- 20934601
TI  - Oral intake of purple passion fruit peel extract reduces pain and stiffness and
      improves physical function in adult patients with knee osteoarthritis.
AB  - Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is a common degenerative joint disorder and a major
      cause of pain and disability. The hypothesis tested in this study was that the
      passion fruit peel extract (PFP), a flavonoid-rich dietary supplement, would
      reduce symptoms due to knee OA. Thirty-three OA patients were enrolled in a
      randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial with parallel-group design.
      Patients received either placebo or PFP pills (150 mg, daily) in a double-blinded
      fashion for 2 months. The OA clinical symptoms were evaluated monthly with
      Western Ontario and McMaster Universities (WOMAC) Osteoarthritis Index. In the
      PFP group, there was a significant improvement in total WOMAC score and WOMAC
      subscale score of physical function after 30 days and pain after 60 days. At 60
      days, reductions of 18.6%, 18%, 19.6%, and 19.2% in pain, stiffness, physical
      function, and composite WOMAC score, respectively, were self-reported in the PFP
      group. Whereas, in the placebo group, the self-reported WOMAC scores increased in
      every category. The results of this study show that PFP substantially alleviated
      osteoarthritis symptoms. This beneficial effect of PFP may be due to its
      antioxidant and antiinflammatory properties.

PMID- 20934602
TI  - The possible combinatory effects of acute consumption of caffeine, creatine, and
      amino acids on the improvement of anaerobic running performance in humans.
AB  - Preexercise nutritional investigations have recently become a popular avenue of
      examining the interaction of multiple ingredients on exercise and training
      methods. The critical velocity (CV) test is used to quantify the relationship
      between total running distance and time to exhaustion (TTE), yielding aerobic
      (CV) and anaerobic parameters (anaerobic running capacity [ARC]). The purpose of
      this study was to examine the hypothesis that a preexercise supplement containing
      caffeine, creatine, and amino acids (Game Time; Corr-Jen Laboratories Inc,
      Aurora, CO) would positively impact CV and ARC in college-aged men and women. In
      a single-blind crossover design, 10 participants consumed the preexercise
      supplement (ACT) or placebo (PL) before each testing session. Each participant
      completed runs to exhaustion on a treadmill at 110%, 90% (day 1), and 105% and
      100% (day 2) of the peak velocity (PV) determined from a graded exercise test.
      The ACT elicited a 10.8% higher ARC (P = .02) compared with the PL, whereas no
      difference was found in CV (0.6%, P = .38). The TTE was greater for the ACT than
      the PL at 110% (ACT = 125.7 +/- 9.6 seconds, PL = 117.3 +/- 12.6 seconds), 105%
      (ACT = 156.9 +/- 11.0 seconds, PL = 143.8 +/- 12.9 seconds), and 100% PV (ACT =
      185.7 +/- 10.7 seconds, PL = 169.7 +/- 12.8 seconds) (P = .01-.04); but there was
      no difference for the TTE at 90% PV (ACT = 353.5 +/- 52.7 seconds, PL = 332.7 +/-
      54.0 seconds) (P = .08). These findings suggest that the acute ingestion of this
      preexercise supplement may be an effective strategy for improving anaerobic
      performance, but appears to have no effect on aerobic power.

PMID- 20934603
TI  - Supplementation with fiber-rich multimixtures yields a higher dietary
      concentration and apparent absorption of minerals in rats.
AB  - Multimixtures (MMs) are dietary supplements prepared with low-cost ingredients
      and food by-products that are widely used in various countries to counteract
      malnutrition. Although MMs have a high content of minerals, they also contain
      high levels of dietary fiber and associated compounds, which might bind minerals
      and impair their absorption. In this study, we investigated the hypothesis that
      the increased dietary fiber content of MMs would impair gastrointestinal mineral
      absorption due to the metal-binding capacity of dietary fiber. Thus, the
      objective of the present study was to feed growing rats with a basal diet,
      representative of a nutritionally deficient diet, alone or supplemented with a
      low dietary fiber level MM, intermediate dietary fiber level MM, or high dietary
      fiber level MM (HF) to evaluate the apparent absorption of calcium, phosphorus,
      magnesium, manganese, and copper. The relative apparent calcium absorption was
      slightly decreased by the HF addition, with no change in the absolute apparent
      absorption. The absolute apparent absorption of phosphorus and magnesium was
      increased by the intermediate dietary fiber level MM and HF additions, whereas
      the manganese absorption was increased only by the HF addition. The apparent
      absorption of copper was not affected by the MM supplementation. The increased
      apparent absorption of minerals was always related to the increase in the mineral
      dietary concentration triggered by the MM. Thus, we concluded that the increased
      dietary fiber levels in the MMs increased the mineral levels, and MMs with
      intermediate and high fiber levels may be used to improve the mineral balance of
      poor diets.

PMID- 20934604
TI  - Insulin sensitivity and liver glucose production in the rat are influenced by
      lifetime food restriction.
AB  - In both humans and rats, food restriction leads to increased insulin sensitivity
      and predisposition to hypoglycemia. We hypothesized that metabolic responses to
      hypoglycemic episodes could be altered in food-restricted rats. To test our
      hypothesis, plasma glucose levels and liver glucose production during insulin
      induced hypoglycemia were assessed. Rats either had free access to food (FF
      group) or were food restricted from birth (FR group). As adults, they were
      subjected to insulin-induced hypoglycemia after an overnight fast. Plasma glucose
      was measured before (time 0) the intraperitoneal injection of insulin (1 U/kg)
      and at regular intervals for 300 minutes. Some FF and FR rats received oral
      glucose (100 mg/kg) 15 minutes after insulin injection, and the same time
      intervals were investigated. The FR rats showed a larger decrease and slower
      recovery of plasma glucose than the FF group, and this was not influenced by oral
      glucose. Liver glucose production from glycogenolysis and gluconeogenesis (ie,
      before and during the infusion of L-alanine) was higher and lower, respectively,
      in the FR rats than in the FF rats, either with or without oral glucose before
      liver perfusion. Preference for glycogenolysis could be a metabolic adaptation
      for the maintenance of plasma glucose levels during fasting despite lower food
      availability in the FR rats. However, long-term FR increased the severity of
      hypoglycemia and impaired plasma glucose recovery. In addition, hypoglycemia
      could not be prevented by glucose administration. Therefore, food restriction in
      individuals with intensive insulin therapy should be more rigorously examined.

PMID- 20934605
TI  - A highly saturated fat-rich diet is more obesogenic than diets with lower
      saturated fat content.
AB  - The present study tested the hypothesis that a saturated fatty acid (SFA)-rich
      diet is more obesogenic than diets with lower SFA content. In 8 female Sprague
      Dawley rats fed a low-SFA canola or a moderate-SFA lard-rich diets at 67% of
      energy for 26 days, body weight gain, final body weight, obesity index, and food
      and energy intake were comparable. Twenty-nine rats were fed canola or high-SFA
      butter-rich diets (67% of energy) or chow for 50 days; then high-fat feeding was
      followed by ad libitum low-fat feeding (27% of energy) for 28 days and by a food
      restricted low-fat diet for 32 days. High-fat feeding resulted in a greater body
      weight gain (P < .04), final body weight (P < .04), and energy intake (P < .008)
      in butter-fed rats than in canola- and chow-fed controls, after 26 or 50 days. Ad
      libitum canola and butter low-fat diets or chow feeding resulted in similar
      weight change, whereas food-restricted low-fat diets led to comparable weight
      loss and final weight. Canola-fed animals adjusted their intake based on diet
      energy density, whereas lard and butter-fed animals failed to do so. Abdominal
      fat (P = .012) and plasma leptin (P = .005) were higher in chow-fed controls than
      in canola-fed rats, but comparable with those of butter-fed rats. Prone and
      resistant phenotypes were detected with high-fat feeding. In conclusion, only
      feeding the high-SFA butter-rich diet led to obesity development and failure to
      adjust intake based on the energy density and preserving body fat even after
      weight loss. The high availability of SFA-rich foods in today's obesogenic
      environment could contribute to develop and maintain obesity.

PMID- 20934606
TI  - Fructose alters adiponectin, haptoglobin and angiotensinogen gene expression in
      3T3-L1 adipocytes.
AB  - Fructose- or sucrose-rich diets can cause insulin resistance and increase the
      risk of cardiovascular disease. Adipokines are correlated with the development of
      these diseases in obesity. We hypothesize that fructose and sucrose induce
      insulin resistance via effects on adipokine gene expression in adipocytes. This
      study analyzed the effect of fructose or glucose on adiponectin, haptoglobin, and
      angiotensinogen gene expression in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. Ten days after
      differentiation, the cells were pretreated with serum- and glucose-free medium.
      Twenty-four hours later, fructose or glucose (0, 5, 10, or 20 mmol) was added
      into the medium, and the cells were collected after a further 24 hours.
      Adiponectin, haptoglobin, and angiotensinogen gene expression were determined.
      Adiponectin gene expression increased when 10 or 20 mmol glucose was added
      compared with that observed for the non-hexose-treated cells. A similar effect
      occurred when 5 mmol fructose was added. Glucose (10 mmol) and fructose (20 mmol)
      stimulated haptoglobin gene expression in 3T3-L1 adipocytes compared with 0 mmol,
      with glucose producing a more pronounced effect. Although 20 mmol fructose caused
      an increase in angiotensinogen gene expression, glucose did not. In conclusion,
      in this study of 2 hexoses revealed an increase in adiponectin gene expression,
      suggesting that the effect of a glucose-rich diet on the development of insulin
      resistance is not related to the effect of these hexoses on adipocyte adiponectin
      gene expression. However, insulin resistance and cardiovascular disease promoted
      by fructose-rich diets could be partially related to the effect of fructose on
      adiponectin and angiotensinogen gene expression.

PMID- 20934607
TI  - Ellagic acid, phenolic acids, and flavonoids in Malaysian honey extracts
      demonstrate in vitro anti-inflammatory activity.
AB  - Natural honey has been used in traditional medicine of different cultures
      throughout the world. This study looked into the extraction of Malaysian honey
      and the evaluation of the anti-inflammatory activity of these extracts. It was
      hypothesized that honey extracts contain varying amounts of phenolic compounds
      and that they possess different in vitro anti-inflammatory activities. Honey
      extracts were analyzed using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry to identify
      and compare phenolic compounds, whereas high-performance liquid chromatography
      was used for their quantification. Subsequently, honey methanol extract (HME) and
      honey ethyl acetate extract (HEAE) were tested in vitro for their effect on
      nitric oxide production in stimulated macrophages. The extracts were also tested
      for their effects on tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF) cytotoxicity in L929
      cells. The major phenolics in the extracts were ellagic, gallic, and ferulic
      acids; myricetin; chlorogenic acid; and caffeic acid. Other compounds found in
      lower concentrations were hesperetin, p-coumaric acid, chrysin, quercetin,
      luteolin, and kaempferol. Ellagic acid was the most abundant of the phenolic
      compounds recorded, with mean concentrations of 3295.83 and 626.74 MUg/100 g of
      honey in HME and HEAE, respectively. The median maximal effective concentrations
      for in vitro nitric oxide inhibition by HEAE and HME were calculated to be 37.5
      and 271.7 MUg/mL, respectively. The median maximal effective concentrations for
      protection from TNF cytotoxicity by HEAE and HME were 168.1 and 235.4 MUg/mL,
      respectively. In conclusion, HEAE exhibited greater activity in vitro, whereas
      HME contained a higher concentration of phenolic compounds per 100 g of honey.

PMID- 20934608
TI  - Ginsenoside Rb1 promotes PC12 cell cycle kinetics through an adenylate cyclase
      dependent protein kinase A pathway.
AB  - Ginsenoside Rb1 (G-Rb1), a constituent of ginseng, bears various beneficial
      effects on neuroendocrine cells. Previous studies have indicated that G-Rb1 can
      enhance glutamate release in undifferentiated and differentiated PC12 cells via
      the protein kinase A (PKA)-dependent signaling pathway. We hypothesized that G
      Rb1 stimulates rat adrenomedullary chromaffin cell line PC12 (PC12 cells)
      proliferation and mitosis by promoting the cell cycle at all regulatory points.
      This mechanism is partly mediated via the adenylate cyclase-dependent PKA
      signaling pathway. In the present study, we investigated the mechanism by which G
      Rb1 promotes cell cycle kinetics from the PC12 cells. The cell cycle kinetics of
      these cells were determined using flow cytometric DNA analysis. Analysis of the
      PC12 cell cycle revealed that G-Rb1 may affect all phases of the cell cycle and
      accelerate cell cycle kinetics by stimulating G0G1 phase transiting to S and G2M
      phases. The cell cycle kinetics were decreased by coincubating with the adenylate
      cyclase inhibitor SQ22536. Compared with the G-Rb1-treated group, the PKA
      inhibitor H89 produced a marked decrease in the G-Rb1-stimulated cell cycle
      kinetics by inhibiting G0G1 phase from transiting to the S phase. These results
      support the position that G-Rb1 exerts a stimulatory effect on cell cycle
      kinetics to promote PC12 cell proliferation. The result also suggests that the
      division rate is mediated via the adenylate cyclase-dependent PKA signaling
      pathway.

PMID- 20934609
TI  - Preface: Falls and their prevention.

PMID- 20934610
TI  - Cardiac causes for falls and their treatment.
AB  - Cardiovascular disorders are a common cause of falls and syncope in older adults.
      The most common cardiac disorders linked to falls and syncope are carotid sinus
      syndrome, postprandial hypotension, orthostatic hypotension, vasovagal syncope,
      and bradyarrhythmias. It is important to recognize these conditions, because they
      may be associated with an increased mortality. Most are easily treatable.

PMID- 20934611
TI  - Vision and falls in older people: risk factors and intervention strategies.
AB  - Poor vision impairs balance and increases the risk of falls and fractures in
      older people. Multifocal glasses can add to this risk by impairing contrast
      sensitivity, depth perception, and ability to negotiate obstacles. Vision
      assessment and provision of new spectacles may not reduce, and may even increase,
      the risk of falls. Restriction of the use of multifocal glasses may reduce falls
      in active older people. Other effective fall prevention strategies include
      maximizing vision through cataract surgery and occupational therapy interventions
      in visually impaired older people.

PMID- 20934612
TI  - Medication and falls: risk and optimization.
AB  - The association between drugs and falls has been widely studied in the past 3
      decades, with increasingly robust evidence of a causal link. Both specific
      classes of drugs and the total number of drugs taken are associated with falls.
      This review examines some of the reasons why older people are at greater risk of
      drug-related adverse events such as falls. We discuss the role of drugs in
      general and polypharmacy (the concurrent use of multiple drugs) on the risk of
      falling, with a focus on community-dwelling older people. We critically appraise
      the evidence that specific classes of drugs, such as benzodiazepines and
      antidepressants, increase the risk of falling and that falls can be prevented
      through interventions that target medications.

PMID- 20934613
TI  - The role of exercise in fall prevention for older adults.
AB  - This article reviews the evidence for the effectiveness of stand-alone exercise
      interventions and multifactorial intervention strategies that include exercise in
      lowering fall incidence rates and/or fall risk among older adults residing in the
      community, acute, subacute, and long-term care settings. Stand-alone exercise
      programs that emphasize multiple exercise categories are effective in reducing
      fall rates and fall risk in community-residing older adults, and may also be
      effective when conducted for a sufficient duration with older adult patients in
      subacute settings. In contrast, multifactorial fall risk reduction programs that
      include exercise as a component and are delivered by a multidisciplinary team are
      more effective in lowering fall rates in long-term care settings.

PMID- 20934614
TI  - Environmental assessment and modification as fall-prevention strategies for older
      adults.
AB  - This article discusses the role of home assessment and environmental modification
      in reducing the risk of falls and helping older adults and persons with
      disabilities live in the community. This article reviews the research on the
      efficacy of home environmental assessment and modification. Researchers agree
      that integrated risk-management programs that emphasize on multiple
      interventions, including professional home-hazard assessment, along with home
      modifications are most effective for improving function and reducing falls.
      Important steps for implementing home modifications for persons at risk of
      falling are discussed, including exploring fall-risk factors and the effects of
      home modifications, identifying what changes are needed through home assessments,
      identifying sources of payment, and finding qualified installers and products.

PMID- 20934615
TI  - Preventing falls and fall-related injuries in hospitals.
AB  - Falls are a widespread concern in hospitals settings, with whole hospital rates
      of between 3 and 5 falls per 1000 bed-days representing around a million
      inpatient falls occurring in the United States each year. Between 1% and 3% of
      falls in hospitals result in fracture, but even minor injuries can cause distress
      and delay rehabilitation. Risk factors most consistently found in the inpatient
      population include a history of falling, muscle weakness, agitation and
      confusion, urinary incontinence or frequency, sedative medication, and postural
      hypotension. Based on systematic reviews, recent research, and clinical and
      ethical considerations, the most appropriate approach to fall prevention in the
      hospital environment includes multifactorial interventions with multiprofessional
      input. There is also some evidence that delirium avoidance programs, reducing
      sedative and hypnotic medication, in-depth patient education, and sustained
      exercise programs may reduce falls as single interventions. There is no
      convincing evidence that hip protectors, movement alarms, or low-low beds reduce
      falls or injury in the hospital setting. International approaches to developing
      and maintaining a fall prevention program suggest that commitment of management
      and a range of clinical and support staff is crucial to success.

PMID- 20934616
TI  - Fall prevention in nursing homes.
AB  - The incidence of falls and fall-related injuries such as hip fractures remains
      high in nursing homes (NHs) across the world. Randomized controlled trials have
      shown that interventions that combine multiple components such as progressive
      exercise, medication review, and improvements in the person-environment fit and
      delivered by multidisciplinary teams can effectively reduce the number of falls
      and fallers. Vitamin D supplementation in adequate dosage is another effective
      method to reduce the burden of injuries in NHs. Single interventions such as
      exercise alone or insufficient organizational support are reasons for failure or
      even harmful consequences. Large-scale efforts are needed and justified to
      translate these findings into meaningful results.

PMID- 20934617
TI  - A public health approach to fall prevention among older persons in Canada.
AB  - In 2008 to 2009, there were 53,545 fall-related hospitalizations among Canadian
      seniors, accounting for 85% of all injury-related hospitalizations and 7% of all
      hospitalizations for those aged 65 years and older. The estimated cost of fall
      related injuries to the Canadian health care system in 2004 was more than $2
      billion among a population of 4.1 million seniors. This article describes
      highlights of how policy makers, researchers, and practitioners are applying a
      public health approach to the issue of seniors' falls in Canada, including the
      successes, challenges, and recommendations for the future.

PMID- 20934618
TI  - Comprehensive approach to fall prevention on a national level: New Zealand.
AB  - Individual assessment and treatment are important for older people at high risk
      of falls and injury. But falls are common. The problem cannot be addressed solely
      on an individual patient, individual clinician basis. Fall prevention programs
      that have broad coverage, good uptake and adherence, and can be seen to maintain
      independent living benefit individuals and help control health service costs. Two
      such programs have been successfully introduced in New Zealand: the home-based
      Otago Exercise Programme and tai chi classes. The difficulty now is in
      maintaining the nationwide commitment to these preventive measures.

PMID- 20934619
TI  - Fall prevention in Australia: policies and activities.
AB  - Fall prevention recommendations and plans have been prolific in Australia since
      1986, but Commonwealth recommendations have rarely been acted on from a national
      perspective and the funds for prevention at a national level have been limited.
      At a state level, although increasing annually, funds for fall prevention have
      also remained as only a low proportion of total health spending. Several
      Australian states have developed their own strategic plans and their activities
      have developed separately and uniquely, although referring to national
      guidelines. This article presents a perspective of Australian fall prevention
      policy over time, provides insights into the current focus, and draws on some
      specific examples of activities from the 2 most populous Australian states (New
      South Wales and Victoria) and from our largest geographic state, Western
      Australia.

PMID- 20934620
TI  - A cost-effectiveness analysis of a proposed national falls prevention program.
AB  - Falls are a major health concern for elderly people and cause substantial health
      care costs. The authors used meta-analytic findings on the effectiveness of fall
      prevention interventions to determine cost-effectiveness of a proposed Medicare
      fall prevention program for people who experience a recent fall. Using published
      clinical trial data, the authors constructed a population-based economic model
      and estimated that, in the base case, the program could prevent a half million
      people from falling again within a year. From the model, under most circumstances
      the cost-effectiveness ratio is less than $1500 per person prevented from
      experiencing a recurrent fall. Paying for a fall prevention program to increase
      the use of evidence-based interventions would be a cost-effective use of Medicare
      dollars.

PMID- 20934621
TI  - An older adult falls research agenda from a public health perspective.
AB  - This article reviews fall prevention research using the Centers for Disease
      Control public health model and suggests several critical research questions at
      each step. Research topics include surveillance and data systems, fall risk
      factors, development, evaluation and implementation of fall interventions,
      translation of interventions into programs, and promotion, dissemination, and
      widespread adoption of fall prevention programs. These broad topics provide a
      framework for research that can guide future advances in older adult fall
      prevention.

PMID- 20934623
TI  - On the cover - date palm.

PMID- 20934624
TI  - Local production of IgE in the respiratory mucosa and the concept of entopy: does
      allergy exist in nonallergic rhinitis?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To review research regarding locally produced IgE and its impact on
      patients with chronic rhinitis. DATA SOURCES: PubMed search with the following
      keywords: entopy, local IgE, nonallergic rhinitis, idiopathic rhinitis, vasomotor
      rhinitis, and allergic rhinitis. STUDY SELECTION: Articles were selected based on
      their relevance to entopy and locally produced IgE and its clinical effect and
      relationship to idiopathic rhinitis (IR). RESULTS: Local IgE has been found in a
      variety of tissues, including nasal and bronchial mucosa. IgE is produced in
      these local tissues and not simply the product of migration to the tissue from
      regional lymphoid tissue or blood. Local IgE has been identified in most of both
      atopic and nonatopic asthmatic patients and allergic rhinitis patients. Up to 40%
      of patients with IR and a positive nasal provocation test result have evidence of
      locally produced IgE, which has been coined entopy. Although patients with
      allergic rhinitis and IR show similar inflammatory patterns with increased
      activated mast cells, eosinophils, and T-cell subsets in some studies, other
      studies on IR patients are conflicting with regard to both inflammation and
      allergen-specific nasal provocation test results. CONCLUSION: The concept of
      local allergy in IR patients is both intriguing and controversial. Studies have
      reported conflicting results, and currently there is no single best test to
      evaluate for entopy. It is known that there are a large number of IR patients for
      whom current treatment regimens are suboptimal. Therefore, further research
      elucidating the mechanisms of IR and the concept of localized IgE are needed to
      optimally diagnose this condition and treat this group of patients.

PMID- 20934625
TI  - Drug allergy: an updated practice parameter.
AB  - Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) result in major health problems in the United
      States in both the inpatient and outpatient setting. ADRs are broadly categorized
      into predictable (type A and unpredictable (type B) reactions. Predictable
      reactions are usually dose dependent, are related to the known pharmacologic
      actions of the drug, and occur in otherwise healthy individuals, They are
      estimated to comprise approximately 80% of all ADRs. Unpredictable are generally
      dose independent, are unrelated to the pharmacologic actions of the drug, and
      occur only in susceptible individuals. Unpredictable reactions are subdivided
      into drug intolerance, drug idiosyncrasy, drug allergy, and pseudoallergic
      reactions. Both type A and B reactions may be influenced by genetic
      predisposition of the patient

PMID- 20934626
TI  - The Breathmobile program: a good investment for underserved children with asthma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Breathmobile, a specialty-based mobile asthma clinic, provides
      free care to underserved children. The cost of symptom-free day (SFD) improvement
      in this population has not been previously reported. OBJECTIVE: To examine the
      clinical impact and cost-effectiveness of the Baltimore Breathmobile. METHODS:
      Existing computerized data were analyzed for Breathmobile patient visits between
      2002 and 2007. All SFDs were calculated, and direct medical cost savings
      attributable to decreased emergency department visits and hospitalizations (after
      program utilization vs the previous year) were compared with annual operating
      costs. Incremental cost-effectiveness ratios were determined by calculating the
      incremental costs of Breathmobile care per additional SFD gained per child per
      year. RESULTS: The analysis included 255 patients enrolled in the program for at
      least 1 year. Most participants were black (93.3%), and 54.9% were male. At
      baseline, patients reported a mean (SD) of 199 (118) SFDs in the year before
      enrollment. After 1 year in the program, patients had a mean (SD) improvement of
      44 (9) SFDs. The program resulted in overall cost savings of $79.43 per SFD
      gained, with greater cost savings for children aged 5 to 11 years (-$116.84 per
      SFD gained) and those with intermittent asthma (-$126.71 per SFD gained).
      CONCLUSIONS: The Baltimore Breathmobile program has demonstrated significant
      improvement in SFDs, with direct medical cost savings of the program outweighing
      the operational costs. These data support the need to continue to sustain and
      expand Breathmobile programs for children at high risk for asthma exacerbations
      and to conduct a randomized clinical trial to estimate the cost-effectiveness of
      the Breathmobile.

PMID- 20934627
TI  - Bullying among pediatric patients with food allergy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There are reports of children and teens with food allergy being
      harassed because of their food allergy, yet no study to date has attempted to
      characterize these occurrences. OBJECTIVES: To determine the presence and
      characteristics of bullying, teasing, or harassment of food-allergic patients
      owing to their food allergies. METHODS: Questionnaires were completed by food
      allergic teens and adults and by parents of food-allergic children. RESULTS: A
      total of 353 surveys were completed. Because most food-allergic individuals were
      children, most surveys were completed by parents of food-allergic individuals.
      The ages of the food-allergic individuals were younger than 4 years (25.9%), 4 to
      11 years (55.0%), 12 to 18 years (12.5%), 19 to 25 years (2.6%), and older than
      25 years (4.0%). Including all age groups, 24% of respondents reported that the
      food-allergic individual had been bullied, teased, or harassed because of food
      allergy. Of those who were bullied, teased, or harassed, 86% reported multiple
      episodes. Eighty-two percent of episodes occurred at school, and 80% were
      perpetrated mainly by classmates. Twenty-one percent of those who were bullied,
      teased, or harassed reported the perpetrators to be teachers or school staff.
      Overall, 79% of those bullied, teased, or harassed attributed this solely to food
      allergy. Of those bullied, 57% described physical events, such as being touched
      by an allergen and having an allergen thrown or waved at them, and several
      reported intentional contamination of their food with allergen. CONCLUSIONS:
      Bullying, teasing, and harassment of children with food allergy seems to be
      common, frequent, and repetitive. These actions pose emotional and physical risks
      that should be addressed in food allergy management.

PMID- 20934628
TI  - Variations in quality of life among caregivers of food allergic children.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pediatric food allergy is a serious health problem in the United
      States. As the number of affected children increases, more caregivers are charged
      with the responsibility of managing their child's food allergy. OBJECTIVE: To
      better understand the impact of pediatric food allergy on caregiver quality of
      life. METHODS: As part of a larger project examining the knowledge, attitudes,
      and beliefs of caregivers with food allergic children, the Food Allergy Quality
      of Life-Parental Burden questionnaire was administered to a large sample of
      caregivers across the United States from January 1, 2008, to January 31, 2009.
      Findings were analyzed to describe caregiver quality of life and to examine the
      impact of the manifestation of food allergy on participant response. RESULTS:
      Data were collected from 1,126 caregivers. The impact of food allergy on
      caregiver quality of life varied widely with 1 exception: caregivers consistently
      reported being troubled by social limitations resulting from their child's food
      allergy. Poor quality of life was significantly more likely on a number of survey
      items among caregivers more knowledgeable about food allergy and among caregivers
      whose children had been to the emergency department for food allergy in the past
      year, had multiple food allergies, or were allergic to specific foods.
      CONCLUSIONS: Previous research has emphasized the negative impact of food allergy
      on caregiver quality of life. This study illustrates the diverse experience of
      caring for a child with food allergy and the importance of considering the
      manifestation of disease when evaluating parental burden.

PMID- 20934629
TI  - Infants with low immunoglobulin levels: Isolated low IgA level vs other
      immunoglobulin abnormalities.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The International Union of Immunological Societies defined transient
      hypogammaglobulinemia of infancy as decreased IgG and IgA levels. Some others,
      however, include decreased IgA level alone. We compared infants with decreased
      levels of IgG and IgA, all isotypes, and IgA alone. OBJECTIVE: To determine
      whether infants presenting with diminished IgA only differ clinically and in time
      of immunoglobulin recovery, from those with decreased levels of IgG and IgA, or
      of all major isotypes. METHODS: Eighty-seven term infants found to have
      immunoglobulin isotype(s) 2 or more SDs below mean, normal antibody response,
      intact cellular immunity, and absence of other immunodeficiency syndrome features
      were evaluated between January 1, 1977 and December 31, 2008. Infants had
      decreased IgA level (group 1, n = 43), decreased IgA and IgG levels (group 2, n =
      39), or low IgA, IgG, and IgM levels (group 3, n = 5). RESULTS: Groups had
      similar histories. Immunoglobulins normalized in a similar percentage of all
      groups during infancy but earlier for group 1 (P = .005). CONCLUSION: Little
      reason exists to separate infants with isolated decreased IgA levels from those
      with decreased levels of IgA and IgG or all isotypes.

PMID- 20934630
TI  - NGF/TrkA-mediated Kidins220/ARMS signaling activated in the allergic airway
      challenge in mice.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Nerve growth factor (NGF), combined with its high-affinity receptor
      tyrosine kinase receptor A (TrkA), has been reported to be involved in the
      pathogenesis of asthma. OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether the downstream protein
      ankyrin-rich membrane spanning (ARMS), a novel transmembrane substrate of protein
      kinase D (Kidins220), is activated in the pathogenesis of asthma. METHODS: The
      asthmatic model was established by the inhalation of ovalbumin in BALB/c mice.
      The effects of NGF and TrkA on Kidins220/ARMS in an allergic airway challenge
      were assessed by administering anti-NGF or anti-TrkA antibody to the mice.
      Pathologic changes in the bronchi and lung tissues were examined by means of
      hematoxylin and eosin staining; the inflammatory cells in the bronchoalveolar
      lavage fluid (BALF) were counted; and co-expression of ARMS and TrkA in BALF
      cells was observed by means of immunofluorescence. In addition, Kidins220/ARMS,
      CrkL, NGF, TrkA protein, and Kidins220 messenger RNA levels were determined using
      Western blot or quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction.
      RESULTS: Using fluorescence microscopy, we found that Kidins220 and TrkA were co
      expressed on the membranes of the BALF cells of asthmatic mice. Compared with
      expression in control animals, Kidins220/ARMS, CrkL, NGF, and TrkA were
      overexpressed in the lungs after allergen challenge. Moreover, after the mice
      were treated with anti-NGF or anti-TrkA, the Kidins220/ARMS levels and allergen
      induced airway inflammation decreased. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that
      Kidins220/ARMS partly participates in the pathogenesis of asthma through the NGF
      TrkA signaling pathway, possibly representing a new mechanism in asthma.

PMID- 20934631
TI  - Association analysis of UBE3C polymorphisms in Korean aspirin-intolerant
      asthmatic patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Aspirin-intolerant asthma (AIA), as an asthma phenotype that involves
      the upper or lower airways, occurs from excessive leukotriene production on
      administration of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. The UBE3C gene on
      chromosome 7 is a member of the E3 ligase enzymes and is implicated in the
      ubiquitin-proteasome pathway. This pathway is involved in immune responses to
      inflammation, including asthma. OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether the UBE3C
      polymorphisms are associated with the risk of AIA. METHODS: Twenty-four
      nonmonomorphic genetic variants of UBE3C were genotyped in 163 patients with AIA
      and 429 controls with aspirin-tolerant asthma. After genotyping, logistic
      analyses were performed and haplotypes of each individual were inferred using the
      PHASE algorithm. RESULTS: Logistic analyses revealed that 2 polymorphisms
      (rs3802122 and rs6979947) in the intron showed significant associations with risk
      of AIA (P < .001 and P(corr) = .002 in both single nucleotide polymorphisms; odds
      ratios, 0.61 and 0.60, respectively). In associations with haplotypes, haplotype
      2, which contains all the significantly associated single nucleotide
      polymorphisms and was infrequent in AIA compared with aspirin-tolerant asthma,
      was associated with aspirin hypersensitivity in asthmatic patients (P = .003 and
      P(corr) = .03; odds ratio, 0.64; 95% confidence interval, 0.47-0.86).
      CONCLUSIONS: The rs3802122 and rs6979947 polymorphisms were significantly
      associated with the risk of AIA. However, further studies are required to
      establish the underlying mechanism by which UBE3C and its polymorphisms affect
      the risk of AIA.

PMID- 20934632
TI  - Effectiveness of omalizumab in patients 50 years and older with severe persistent
      allergic asthma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Omalizumab is approved for the treatment of severe allergic asthma.
      OBJECTIVES: To compare the efficacy of omalizumab therapy in patients 50 years or
      older with patients younger than 50 years. METHODS: Between November 2005 and
      November 2007 a total of 174 asthma patients 50 years or older (40.7% male, 51.1%
      taking oral corticosteroids, and mean [SD] serum IgE level of 315 [353] U/L) and
      297 asthma patients younger than 50 years (40.0% male, 50.5% taking oral
      corticosteroids, and mean [SD] serum IgE level of 363 [431] U/L) who met the
      European Union criteria for add-on therapy with anti-IgE were treated
      prospectively with omalizumab for 4 months as part of 2 postmarketing
      surveillance trials. RESULTS: Compared with the pretrial period omalizumab
      treatment reduced the rate of severe exacerbations in patients 50 years or older
      by 68.9% (P < .001) and in patients younger than 50 years by 75.4% (P < .001).
      After 4 months there was a marked reduction of daily asthma symptoms and
      nocturnal awakenings by 67.8% and 72.6% in the older and by 79.3% and 82.5% in
      the younger patients, respectively (P < .001, all 4 comparisons). In 60% of
      patients 50 years or older lung function improved compared with 69% of patients
      younger than 50 years. Efficacy of omalizumab was rated as excellent or good by
      most physicians in patients 50 years or older (68.4%) and younger than 50 years
      (76.8%, P = .05 elderly vs younger). Adverse events were reported in 35.5% of
      patients 50 years or older and 32.1% of patients younger than 50 years. There was
      a higher rate of discontinuation of omalizumab therapy in older patients (20.9%
      vs 11.1%, P = .006). CONCLUSIONS: The present study confirms the clinical
      efficacy of omalizumab in patients with severe allergic asthma irrespective of
      age in a real-life setting outside the omalizumab trial program.

PMID- 20934633
TI  - Subcutaneous allergen immunotherapy in 3 patients with HIV.

PMID- 20934634
TI  - Sweet syndrome with associated systemic inflammatory response syndrome: an
      ultimately fatal case.

PMID- 20934635
TI  - Challenges faced by expatriate children with food allergy in an Asian country.

PMID- 20934636
TI  - Staphylococcus intermedius is not only a zoonotic pathogen, but may also cause
      skin abscesses in humans after exposure to saliva.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Staphylococcus intermedius is a very rare human pathogen. There are
      only 16 cases in the literature that have described S. intermedius as a cause of
      infection in humans. Most of these cases have been described in association with
      exposure to animals, mostly dogs. However, this pathogen can cause infection in
      healthy individuals even without exposure to animals. METHODS: All previous cases
      of S. intermedius infection included in our literature review were found using a
      PubMed search (1960-November 2009) of the English-language medical literature
      applying the terms 'Staphylococcus intermedius', 'abscess', 'infection',
      'humans'. The references cited in these articles were examined to identify
      additional reports. RESULTS: We describe the first case of skin abscesses caused
      by S. intermedius in an immunocompetent patient who used intravenous cocaine
      after coating his syringes with his saliva. We also summarize the literature
      regarding infections caused by S. intermedius in humans. CONCLUSIONS: This case
      illustrates for the first time that S. intermedius can cause skin abscesses in
      humans after direct inoculation of this pathogen into the skin and soft tissues.
      Clinicians should be aware of the fact that although the vast majority of
      infections from coagulase-positive Staphylococcus infections are secondary to
      Staphylococcus aureus, S. intermedius is also a potential pathogen in humans.

PMID- 20934637
TI  - The cell as nexus: connections between the history, philosophy and science of
      cell biology.
AB  - Although the cell is commonly addressed as the unit of life, historians and
      philosophers have devoted relatively little attention to this concept in
      comparison to other fundamental concepts of biology such as the gene or species.
      As a partial remedy to this neglect, we introduce the cell as a major point of
      connection between various disciplinary approaches, epistemic strategies,
      technological vectors and overarching biological processes such as metabolism,
      growth, reproduction and evolution. We suggest that the role of the cell as a
      nexus forms the basis for a new philosophical and historical appreciation of cell
      biology. This perspective focuses less on the cell as a well-defined, stable
      object and places more emphasis on its role as a mediator of fundamental
      biological processes.

PMID- 20934638
TI  - The cell: locus or object of inquiry?
AB  - Research in many fields of biology has been extremely successful in decomposing
      biological mechanisms to discover their parts and operations. It often remains a
      significant challenge for scientists to recompose these mechanisms to understand
      how they function as wholes and interact with the environments around them. This
      is true of the eukaryotic cell. Although initially identified in nineteenth
      century cell theory as the fundamental unit of organisms, researchers soon
      learned how to decompose it into its organelles and chemical constituents and
      have been highly successful in understanding how these carry out many operations
      important to life. The emphasis on decomposition is particularly evident in
      modern cell biology, which for the most part has viewed the cell as merely a
      locus of the mechanisms responsible for vital phenomena. The cell, however, is
      also an integrated system and for some explanatory purposes it is essential to
      recompose it and understand it as an organized whole. I illustrate both the
      virtues of decomposition (treating the cell as a locus) and recomposition
      (treating the cell as an object) with recent work on circadian rhythms. Circadian
      researchers have both identified critical intracellular operations that maintain
      endogenous oscillations and have also addressed the integration of cells into
      multicellular systems in which cells constitute units.

PMID- 20934639
TI  - Surfaces of action: cells and membranes in electrochemistry and the life
      sciences.
AB  - The term 'cell', in addition to designating fundamental units of life, has also
      been applied since the nineteenth century to technical apparatuses such as fuel
      and galvanic cells. This paper shows that such technologies, based on the
      electrical effects of chemical reactions taking place in containers, had a far
      reaching impact on the concept of the biological cell. My argument revolves
      around the controversy over oxidative phosphorylation in bioenergetics between
      1961 and 1977. In this scientific conflict, a two-level mingling of technological
      culture, physical chemistry and biological research can be observed. First, Peter
      Mitchell explained the chemiosmotic hypothesis of energy generation by
      representing cellular membrane processes via an analogy to fuel cells. Second, in
      the associated experimental scrutiny of membranes, material cell models were
      devised that reassembled spatialized molecular processes in vitro. Cells were
      thus modelled both on paper and in the test tube not as morphological structures
      but as compartments able to perform physicochemical work. The story of cells and
      membranes in bioenergetics points out the role that theories and practices in
      physical chemistry had in the molecularization of life. These approaches model
      the cell as a 'topology of molecular action', as I will call it, and it involves
      concepts of spaces, surfaces and movements. They epitomize an engineer's vision
      of the organism that has influenced diverse fields in today's life sciences.

PMID- 20934640
TI  - The redoubtable cell.
AB  - The cell theory--the thesis that all life is made up of one or more cells, the
      fundamental structural and physiological unit-is one of the most celebrated
      achievements of modern biological science. And yet from its very inception in the
      nineteenth century it has faced repeated criticism from some biologists. Why do
      some continue to criticize the cell theory, and how has it managed nevertheless
      to keep burying its undertakers? The answers to these questions reveal the
      complex nature of the cell theory and the cell concept on which it is based. Like
      other scientific 'laws', the assertion that all living things are made of cells
      purchases its universality at the expense of abstraction. If, however, this law
      is regarded merely as a widely applicable empirical generalization with notable
      exceptions, it still remains too important to discard. Debate about whether the
      cell or the organism standpoint provides the more correct account of anatomical,
      physiological, and developmental facts illustrates the tension between our
      attempts to express the truth about reality in conceptual terms conducive to a
      unified human understanding.

PMID- 20934641
TI  - Biological atomism and cell theory.
AB  - Biological atomism postulates that all life is composed of elementary and
      indivisible vital units. The activity of a living organism is thus conceived as
      the result of the activities and interactions of its elementary constituents,
      each of which individually already exhibits all the attributes proper to life.
      This paper surveys some of the key episodes in the history of biological atomism,
      and situates cell theory within this tradition. The atomistic foundations of cell
      theory are subsequently dissected and discussed, together with the theory's
      conceptual development and eventual consolidation. This paper then examines the
      major criticisms that have been waged against cell theory, and argues that these
      too can be interpreted through the prism of biological atomism as attempts to
      relocate the true biological atom away from the cell to a level of organization
      above or below it. Overall, biological atomism provides a useful perspective
      through which to examine the history and philosophy of cell theory, and it also
      opens up a new way of thinking about the epistemic decomposition of living
      organisms that significantly departs from the physicochemical reductionism of
      mechanistic biology.

PMID- 20934642
TI  - The first eukaryote cell: an unfinished history of contestation.
AB  - The eukaryote cell is one of the most radical innovations in the history of life,
      and the circumstances of its emergence are still deeply contested. This paper
      will outline the recent history of attempts to reveal these origins, with special
      attention to the argumentative strategies used to support claims about the first
      eukaryote cell. I will focus on two general models of eukaryogenesis: the
      phagotrophy model and the syntrophy model. As their labels indicate, they are
      based on claims about metabolic relationships. The first foregrounds the ability
      to consume other organisms; the second the ability to enter into symbiotic
      metabolic arrangements. More importantly, however, the first model argues for the
      autogenous or self-generated origins of the eukaryote cell, and the second for
      its exogenous or externally generated origins. Framing cell evolution this way
      leads each model to assert different priorities in regard to cell-biological
      versus molecular evidence, cellular versus environmental influences, plausibility
      versus evolutionary probability, and irreducibility versus the continuity of cell
      types. My examination of these issues will conclude with broader reflections on
      the implications of eukaryogenesis studies for a philosophical understanding of
      scientific contestation.

PMID- 20934643
TI  - Cell theory, specificity, and reproduction, 1837-1870.
AB  - The cell is not only the structural, physiological, and developmental unit of
      life, but also the reproductive one. So far, however, this aspect of the cell has
      received little attention from historians and philosophers of biology. I will
      argue that cell theory had far-reaching consequences for how biologists
      conceptualized the reproductive relationships between germs and adult organisms.
      Cell theory, as formulated by Theodor Schwann in 1839, implied that this
      relationship was a specific and lawful one, that is, that germs of a certain
      kind, all else being equal, would produce adult organisms of the same kind, and
      vice versa. Questions of preformation and epigenesis took on a new meaning under
      this presupposition. The question then became one of whether cells could be
      considered as autonomous agents producing adult organisms of a given species, or
      whether they were the product of external, organizing forces and thus only a
      stage in the development of the whole organism. This question became an important
      issue for nineteenth-century biology. As I will demonstrate, it was the view of
      cells as autonomous agents which helped both Charles Darwin and Gregor Mendel to
      think of inheritance as a lawful process.

PMID- 20934644
TI  - Robert Koch and the invention of the carrier state: tropical medicine, veterinary
      infections and epidemiology around 1900.
AB  - This paper reassesses Robert Koch's work on tropical infections of humans and
      cattle as being inspired by an underlying interest in epidemiology. Such an
      interest was developed from the early 1890s when it became clear that an
      exclusive focus on pathogens was insufficient as an approach to explain the
      genesis and dynamics of epidemics. Koch, who had failed to do so before, now
      highlighted differences between infection and disease and described the role of
      various sub-clinical states of disease in the propagation and--consequently--in
      the control of epidemics. Studying pathologies of men and cattle in tropical
      countries eventually facilitated the application of such measures in Europe
      through the screening of healthy carriers of typhoid, which was carried out in
      1902. The concept of the carrier state can be understood as a spin-off from
      tropical medicine into the study and control of infectious disease in Europe.
      With it travelled assumptions that were typical for colonial and veterinary
      medicine where the health of indigenous individuals or cattle would be a
      secondary objective compared to the control of diseases in populations.

PMID- 20934645
TI  - From 'circumstances' to 'environment': Herbert Spencer and the origins of the
      idea of organism-environment interaction.
AB  - The word 'environment' has a history. Before the mid-nineteenth century, the idea
      of a singular, abstract entity--the organism--interacting with another singular,
      abstract entity--the environment--was virtually unknown. In this paper I trace
      how the idea of a plurality of external conditions or circumstances was replaced
      by the idea of a singular environment. The central figure behind this shift, at
      least in Anglo-American intellectual life, was the philosopher Herbert Spencer. I
      examine Spencer's work from 1840 to 1855, demonstrating that he was exposed to a
      variety of discussions of the 'force of circumstances' in this period, and was
      decisively influenced by the ideas of Auguste Comte in the years preceding the
      publication of Principles of psychology (1855). It is this latter work that
      popularized the word 'environment' and the corresponding idea of organism-
      environment interaction--an idea with important metaphysical and methodological
      implications. Spencer introduced into the English-speaking world one of our most
      enduring dichotomies: organism and environment.

PMID- 20934646
TI  - The discovery of oxidative phosphorylation: a conceptual off-shoot from the study
      of glycolysis.
AB  - The origins of oxidative phosphorylation, initially known as aerobic
      phosphorylation, grew out of three research areas of muscle metabolism, creatine
      phosphorylation, aerobic metabolism of lactic acid in muscle, and studies on the
      nature and role of adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Much of this work centred round
      the laboratory of Otto Meyerhof, and most of those contributing to the study of
      aerobic phosphorylation were influenced by that laboratory: particularly Lipmann
      and also Ochoa. The work of Engelhardt on ATP levels in blood also appears to
      have been influenced by the studies of Meyerhof's laboratory. However, with the
      work of Kalckar, influenced by Lipmann, biochemists began to realise the
      potential importance of the process. This was confirmed and extended by Belitzer
      and Ochoa and the theoretical contribution of Lipmann. Thus it is not easy to
      identify a single point that marked the initiation of studies in this field. The
      early work was based on the use of tissue homogenates and cells but ultimately
      this approach limited research possibilities. The development of techniques based
      on mitochondria opened up new possibilities and brought this first phase of the
      study of oxidative phorphorylation to a close.

PMID- 20934647
TI  - Weismann, Wittgenstein and the homunculus fallacy.
AB  - A problem that has troubled both neo-Darwinists and neo-Lamarckians is whether
      instincts involve knowledge. This paper discusses the contributions to this
      problem of the evolutionary biologist August Weismann and the philosopher Ludwig
      Wittgenstein. Weismann discussed an empirical homunculus fallacy: Lamarck's
      theory mistakenly presupposes a homunculus in the germ cells. Wittgenstein
      discussed a conceptual homunculus fallacy which applies to Lamarck's theory: it
      is mistaken to suppose that knowledge is stored in the brain or DNA. The upshot
      of these two fallacies is that instincts arise through a neo-Darwinian process
      but are not cognitions in the sense that they involve (the recollection of
      stored) knowledge. Although neo-Lamarckians have rightly argued that learning
      processes may contribute to the development of instincts, their ideas about the
      role of knowledge in the evolution and development of instincts are mistaken.

PMID- 20934648
TI  - On a naturalist theory of health: a critique.
AB  - This paper examines the most influential naturalist theory of health, Christopher
      Boorse's 'biostatistical theory' (BST). I argue that the BST is an unsuitable
      candidate for the role that Boorse has cast it to play, namely, to underpin
      medicine with a theoretical, value-free science of health and disease. Following
      the literature, I distinguish between "real" changes and "mere Cambridge changes"
      in terms of the difference between an individual's intrinsic and relational
      properties and argue that the framework of the BST essentially implies a
      Cambridge-change criterion. The examination reveals that this implicit criterion
      commits the BST to the troubling view that an individual could go from being
      diseased to healthy, or vice versa, without any physiological change in that
      individual. Two problems follow: (1) the current framework of the BST is ill
      equipped to formally embrace Cambridge changes and (2) it is theoretically
      dubious. The arguments advanced here are not limited to the BST; I suggest they
      extend to any naturalist claim to underpin medical practice with a value-free
      theory of health and disease defined in terms of an evolutionary view of
      biological fitness.

PMID- 20934649
TI  - Function and organization: comparing the mechanisms of protein synthesis and
      natural selection.
AB  - In this paper, we compare the mechanisms of protein synthesis and natural
      selection. We identify three core elements of mechanistic explanation: functional
      individuation, hierarchical nestedness or decomposition, and organization. These
      are now well understood elements of mechanistic explanation in fields such as
      protein synthesis, and widely accepted in the mechanisms literature. But Skipper
      and Millstein have argued (2005) that natural selection is neither decomposable
      nor organized. This would mean that much of the current mechanisms literature
      does not apply to the mechanism of natural selection. We take each element of
      mechanistic explanation in turn. Having appreciated the importance of functional
      individuation, we show how decomposition and organization should be better
      understood in these terms. We thereby show that mechanistic explanation by
      protein synthesis and natural selection are more closely analogous than they
      appear--both possess all three of these core elements of a mechanism widely
      recognized in the mechanisms literature.

PMID- 20934650
TI  - Why test animals to treat humans? On the validity of animal models.
AB  - Critics of animal modeling have advanced a variety of arguments against the
      validity of the practice. The point of one such form of argument is to establish
      that animal modeling is pointless and therefore immoral. In this article,
      critical arguments of this form are divided into three types, the pseudoscience
      argument, the disanalogy argument, and the predictive validity argument. I
      contend that none of these criticisms currently succeed, nor are they likely to.
      However, the connection between validity and morality is important, suggesting
      that critical efforts would be instructive if they addressed it in a more nuanced
      way.

PMID- 20934651
TI  - We are looking forward to the journal's expansion and improved content.

PMID- 20934652
TI  - Impact of thrombus aspiration on angiographic and clinical outcomes in patients
      with ST-elevation myocardial infarction.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in ST-elevation
      myocardial infarction (STEMI) may be limited by thrombus embolization. Export
      aspiration catheter (EAC) is a thrombectomy device which may enhance angiographic
      results, but its impact on clinical outcomes is unclear. This trial objective was
      to assess the impact of EAC on angiographic and clinical outcomes in patients
      with STEMI. METHODS: All STEMI patients undergoing primary or rescue PCI in a
      tertiary care center were included. Patients were divided in two groups according
      to the use of the EAC. Patients were followed up prospectively for death,
      reinfarction, revascularization, or stroke. Thrombolysis In Myocardial Infarction
      (TIMI) flow in the culprit vessel was assessed before and after PCI. RESULTS:
      Included in the analysis were 535 patients. EAC was used in 165 patients before
      angioplasty (Group 1) and 370 patients underwent PCI without thrombus aspiration
      (Group 2). More patients in Group 1 had initial TIMI flow 0-1 compared to Group 2
      (88% vs. 62%, P<.001). Proportion of patients with a final TIMI flow 3 was the
      same in both groups (89.1% vs. 87.6% for Groups 1 and 2, respectively; P=.67). An
      analysis restricted to patients with initial TIMI flow 0-1 yielded similar
      results. No difference in clinical outcomes was observed between the two groups
      (P=.70). CONCLUSIONS: Selective use of the EAC based on the judgment of operators
      results in excellent angiographic and clinical results. Further clinical
      investigation is needed to definitely answer whether thromboaspiration needs to
      be performed in all STEMI patients undergoing primary PCI.

PMID- 20934653
TI  - Value of duplex scanning in differentiating embolic from thrombotic arterial
      occlusion in acute limb ischemia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Management of acute limb ischemia (ALI) is largely based on the
      etiology of arterial occlusion (embolic vs. thrombotic). To our knowledge, the
      ability of duplex scanning to differentiate embolic from thrombotic occlusion has
      not been previously reported. PURPOSE: To determine the ability of duplex
      scanning to differentiate embolic from thrombotic acute arterial occlusion.
      METHODS: We prospectively recruited 97 patients (50.3 +/- 19.7 years; 55% males)
      with 107 nontraumatic ALI in native arteries. All patients underwent surgical
      revascularization. Preoperative duplex scan detected arterial occlusion in the
      following arteries: iliac (11), femoral (38), popliteal (38), infrapopliteal (3),
      subclavian (3), axillary (1), brachial (9), and forearm arteries (4). We measured
      the arterial diameters at the site of occlusion (d(occl)) and at the
      corresponding contralateral healthy side (d(CONTRA)). The difference (Delta)
      between the two diameters was calculated as d(OCCL)-d(CONTRA). Duplex scan was
      also used to assess the state of the arterial wall whether healthy or
      atherosclerotic and the presence of calcification or collaterals. According to
      surgical findings, limbs were classified into embolic (E group=55 limbs) and
      thrombotic (T group=52 limbs) groups. RESULTS: Both groups were comparable
      regarding age, diabetes, hypertension, smoking, atrial fibrillation, and time of
      presentation. The status of arterial wall at the site of occlusion and presence
      of calcification or collaterals were all similar in both groups. Delta in the E
      group was 0.95 +/- 0.92 mm vs. -0.13 +/- 1.02 mm in the T group (P<.001). A value
      of >= 0.5 mm for Delta had 85% sensitivity and 76% specificity for the diagnosis
      of embolic occlusion (CI 0.72-0.90, P<.001), whereas a value of less than -0.5 mm
      for Delta had 85% sensitivity and 76% specificity for thrombotic occlusion (CI
      0.72-0.90, P<.001). CONCLUSION: In acute arterial occlusion, >= 0.5 mm dilatation
      or diminution in the occluded artery diameter is a useful duplex sign for
      diagnosing embolic or thrombotic occlusion, respectively.

PMID- 20934654
TI  - Different effects of thiazolidinediones on target vessel revascularization with
      bare metal stents: a meta-analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Thiazolidinediones (TZDs) are used in patients with Type 2 diabetes
      mellitus, but evidence is mixed regarding the influence of medications of this
      class on target vessel revascularization. The aim of this meta-analysis is to
      evaluate the effect of TZDs on repeat target vessel revascularization following
      percutaneous coronary intervention. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: We searched
      Medline, EMBASE, Cinahl, and the Cochrane Database from earliest available date
      through December 2007. Criteria for inclusion in our meta-analysis included the
      use of randomized control trial and the availability of target vessel
      revascularization. Relative risks (RRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of
      target vessel revascularization (TVR) and restenosis were estimated using a fixed
      effects meta-analysis of seven randomized controlled trials (n=347, including 178
      receiving pioglitazone and 169 receiving rosiglitazone). RESULTS: One hundred
      seventy-eight patients were treated with pioglitazone, and 169 were treated with
      rosiglitazone. Pioglitazone is associated with a significantly lower risk of
      target vessel revascularization or restenosis (TVR: n=37/96 vs. 7/94; RR, 5.91;
      95% CI, 3.00-11.7; P<.0001, restenosis: n=42/96 vs. 8/94; RR, 6.48; 95% CI, 3.37
      12.4; P<.0001). Rosiglitazone had no effect on target vessel revascularization
      (n=56/131 vs. 51/124; RR, 1.11; 95% CI, 0.63-1.96; P=.793). CONCLUSIONS:
      Pioglitazone is associated with a significantly decreased risk of target vessel
      revascularization, but rosiglitazone does not reduce the risk of target vessel
      revascularization following percutaneous coronary intervention.

PMID- 20934655
TI  - Bare nitinol stent enabled recanalization of long-segment, chronic total
      occlusion of superficial femoral and adjacent proximal popliteal artery in
      diabetic patients presenting with critical limb ischemia.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate our experience of limb salvage with bare nitinol stent
      enabled recanalization of long length occlusions of superficial femoral artery
      (SFA) and adjacent proximal popliteal artery (PPA) in diabetic patients. METHODS:
      A total of 573 patients underwent 842 lower limb interventions from August 2006
      to September 2008 at our institute. A retrospective review was done of diabetic
      patients undergoing recanalization of long length SFA/adjacent PPA (>10 cm)
      occlusions with self expanding bare nitinol stents evaluating their impact on
      limb salvage. RESULTS: Forty-four patients (mean age 65.2 years, M:F 25:19)
      underwent 49 long-length (>10 cm) SFA/PPA stenting procedures over a period of 26
      months. Diabetics comprised 66% of patients (n=29, mean age: 63.7 years, M: F
      19:10). The infrapopliteal distal run-off in this diabetic subgroup comprised one
      vessel (n=14/29, 48%), two vessels (n=12/29, 41%), and three vessels (n=3/29,
      10%). The spectrum of critical limb ischemia included rest pain (n=8), ulcer
      (n=7) and gangrene (n=14). The lengths of occlusions recanalized were 10-39 cm. A
      total of 58 stents (individual length 10-17 cm, average diameter 6 mm, mean 2
      stents per patient) were placed with average length of stented segment being 23.8
      cm. Four patients had stents placed through ipsilateral popliteal artery approach
      with rest placed through femoral artery approach. Significant complications of
      the procedure included distal embolization (n=3) successfully managed with
      thrombolysis and popliteal arteriovenous fistula in one patient undergoing
      recanalization through popliteal approach, managed with covered stent placement.
      No procedure related mortality occurred during thirty-day follow-up period. All
      were followed up over an average duration of twelve months post-procedure. Three
      patients died due to associated medical conditions during this period. The
      following amputations were done on follow-up (three toe amputations, five
      forefoot amputations, three below-knee amputations, two above-knee amputations).
      The overall limb salvage rate was 80%. CONCLUSION: Our study shows beneficial
      result of SFA/PPA stent placement in diabetic occlusions with significant
      concomitant infrapopliteal disease.

PMID- 20934656
TI  - Percutaneous interventions in unprotected left main lesions: novel three
      dimensional imaging and quantitative analysis before and after intervention.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To examine the potential yield of three-dimensional (3D)
      reconstruction of left main coronary lesions. METHODS: A novel, previously
      validated, system for 3D reconstruction of the coronary vessels was used to
      evaluate 302 angiographic images, before and after stenting, from 62 consecutive
      patients (age 73.5 +/- 11.3 years) with unprotected left main lesions. RESULTS:
      Three-dimensional reconstructions significantly improved morphological analysis,
      especially for ostial and bifurcation lesions. In cases of bifurcation
      involvement, lesion length was significantly longer in the 3D reconstructions
      than in the 2D images (12.3 +/- 4.1 vs. 10.6 +/- 4.9 mm, P=.003). The 3D analysis
      showed that procedures performed in distal left main were associated with a
      decrease in the bifurcation angle after intervention (from 82 +/- 27 degrees  to
      72 +/- 28 degrees , P=.01). The mortality rate was 18% at 6 months. Elective
      intervention was associated with significantly lower mortality (5% vs. 39% at 6
      months). CONCLUSIONS: Three-dimensional reconstruction adds insights on the
      morphology and lesion length of unprotected left main artery lesions, especially
      those involving the bifurcation, which may make it an important tool in planning
      interventional procedures and evaluating their results.

PMID- 20934657
TI  - Endothelial progenitor cells delivered into the pericardial space incorporate
      into areas of ischemic myocardium.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Our objective was to determine whether autologous endothelial
      progenitor cells (EPCs) delivered into the pericardial space will migrate to and
      incorporate into ischemic myocardium in a porcine model. BACKGROUND: Use of EPCs
      to enhance neovascularization and preserve myocardial function in ischemic tissue
      is undergoing intense scrutiny as a potential therapy. Delivery into the
      pericardial sac may overcome some of the limitations of currently employed cell
      delivery techniques. METHODS: EPCs were immunopurified from peripheral blood of
      Yorkshire pigs by selecting for the CD31 surface antigen, and adherent cells were
      cultured for 3-5 days. After myocardial ischemia was induced in the left anterior
      descending (LAD) artery, either autologous DiI (1,1'-dioctadecyl-1-3,3,3',3'
      tetramethylindocarbocyanine perchlorate)-labeled EPCs (n=10) or serum-free medium
      (SFM; n=8) was delivered into the pericardial space using a percutaneous
      transatrial approach. Animals were sacrificed on Day 7 or 21. Echocardiography
      was performed at baseline, during ischemia, and on Day 7 in six SFM group animals
      and six EPC group animals. RESULTS: On Day 7, EPCs were identified in the left
      ventricular (LV) anterior wall or anterior septum in all six EPC-treated animals
      (cell density of 626 +/- 122/mm(2)). On Day 21, EPCs were identified in the LV
      anterior wall or anterior septum in three of four EPC-treated animals (cell
      density of 267 +/- 167/mm(2)). These cells showed dual staining for DiI and
      Bandeiraea simplicifolia lectin I (a marker of both native and exogenous
      endothelial cells). At the Day 7 follow-up, echocardiography demonstrated that
      fractional shortening in the EPC-treated group was 30.6 +/- 3.4, compared with
      22.6 +/- 2.8 in SFM controls (P=.05). CONCLUSIONS: EPCs can migrate from the
      pericardial space to incorporate exclusively into areas of ischemic myocardium
      and may have favorable effects on LV function.

PMID- 20934658
TI  - Remodeling of the mitral valve using radiofrequency energy: review of a new
      treatment modality for mitral regurgitation.
AB  - Mitral regurgitation (MR) is a common valvular pathology with significant
      morbidity and mortality implications. Mechanical treatment of this condition is
      more effective than medical treatment and surgical correction has traditionally
      been the mechanical method of choice. Following major advances and wide
      acceptance of percutaneous interventions for coronary artery diseases, the field
      of valvular heart disease became an attractive target for transcatheter treatment
      modalities. Significant steps have been achieved in the field of percutaneous
      treatment of mitral stenosis as well as aortic stenosis, and lately, mitral
      regurgitation has been the focus of interest for many investigators looking for
      transcatheter solutions. Percutaneous edge-to-edge techniques and annuloplasty
      are innovative but have many disadvantages including the inability to reintervene
      and leaving a foreign body behind, respectively. Since the mitral and tricuspid
      annuli have dense collagen, a treatment modality targeting that collagen is
      logical. Observing the thermal effect on collagen, which causes conformational
      changes and shrinkage, radiofrequency energy was tested to evaluate its effect on
      the collagen-rich structure that is the mitral valve annulus. The potential of
      shrinking the mitral annulus by applying direct thermal source could be a
      promising modality for the treatment of mitral regurgitation with potential open
      and percutaneous applications. This paper presents an overview of the recent
      advances in transcatheter treatment of mitral regurgitation focusing on a new
      treatment modality that aims at reducing the mitral valve annulus diameter
      through the direct application of thermal energy using a radiofrequency energy
      probe.

PMID- 20934659
TI  - The history of alcohol septal ablation.

PMID- 20934660
TI  - Life-threatening coronary sinus thrombosis following catheter ablation: case
      report and review of literature.
AB  - Coronary sinus thrombosis is an extremely rare clinical syndrome with a high
      fatality rate. It is associated with procedures in the right heart, including
      insertion of pacemaker wires, Swan-Ganz catheters, and central venous lines.
      Recognition is often late, and treatment options are not well characterized. We
      present a case of acute coronary sinus thrombosis and occlusion associated with
      electrophysiologic ablation for supraventricular tachycardia in an 11-year-old
      boy. He developed chest pain, ST elevation, a large pericardial effusion, and
      cardiogenic shock. Emergent cardiac catheterization and percutaneous intervention
      with rheolytic aspiration thrombectomy resulted in a dramatic recovery. With the
      advent of new technologies and procedures involving the right heart and coronary
      sinus, an appreciation of this potentially lethal complication and possible
      treatment strategies is important.

PMID- 20934661
TI  - Retrieval of lost coronary guidewires during challenging percutaneous coronary
      interventions.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The presence of symptomatic or asymptomatic
      intravascular/intracardiac foreign body (FB) is underreported in the literature,
      but it is more commonly encountered in clinical practice. Nowadays, losing a
      coronary stent or a guidewire has become a rare event. However, due to the
      constant increase in the total number of worldwide performed coronary
      interventions (PCI) and especially due to an increase also in the technical
      difficulties of these procedures (i.e., new devices+complex techniques), this
      kind of "lost FB complication" may again become clinically relevant. CASE
      REPORTS: We report two cases where, during challenging PCIs, 0.014-in. guidewires
      broke, remaining firmly anchored in the coronary tree floating with their
      proximal part in the aorta. These wires could have been successfully retrieved
      with a dedicated three-dimensional snare device, which is specifically
      manufactured for facilitating this kind of retrieval interventions. CONCLUSIONS:
      Intracoronary lost guidewires, if untreated, may lead to serious cardiovascular
      complications, suggesting that one should attempt every possible maneuver to
      retrieve them from the coronary circulation. By describing the peculiarity of the
      Entrio snare device, we finally suggest that this kind of dedicated three
      dimensional snare device is an excellent tool at cardiologists' disposal for
      retrieving intracardiac and intravascular lost wires.

PMID- 20934662
TI  - Successful collapse vessel treatment with a syringe for thrombus-aspiration after
      the guidewire-induced coronary artery perforation.
AB  - Coronary artery perforation is a rare however potentially life-threatening
      complication of percutaneous coronary intervention that could cause cardiac
      tamponade. It requires emergent surgery unless an appropriate procedure is
      performed immediately. In distal coronary artery perforations with guidewires,
      several procedures were reported to be effective in refractory cases after
      prolonged balloon inflation and reversal of heparin by protamine sulfate to
      induce hemostasis. We describe a case of successful collapse distal coronary
      artery treatment with a syringe for thrombus-aspiration without materials for an
      embolization after guidewire-induced coronary artery perforation.

PMID- 20934663
TI  - A case of myocardial infarction effectively treated by emergency coronary
      stenting soon after a Bentall-De Bono aortic surgery.
AB  - Postoperative ischemia may complicate cardiac surgery, despite myocardial
      protection and recent technical developments. Its medical management in the
      intensive cardiac care unit is usually efficient, although sometimes it requires
      the revision of the surgical site. In other cases, urgent coronary angiography
      and subsequent coronary stenting may resolve the situation. Ostial stenosis of
      coronary anastomoses is a well-known uncommon but dramatic complication after
      aortic surgery causing myocardial ischemia. Cases of effort angina have been
      described several months after surgery, but in some cases, acute myocardial
      infarction may occur days or weeks after intervention. We here describe an
      anteroseptal ST-elevation myocardial infarction soon after a Bentall aortic root
      replacement due to compression of the left main ostium by surgical glue, which
      has been effectively treated by emergency coronary stenting. This case highlights
      the importance of a joint management of acute myocardial ischemia after cardiac
      surgery by the cardiac surgeon and the interventional cardiologist.

PMID- 20934664
TI  - Acute renal artery thrombosis treated with t-PA power-pulse spray rheolytic
      thrombectomy.
AB  - PURPOSE: To describe a new application of tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA)
      power-pulse spray rheolytic (pharmacomechanical) thrombectomy in the treatment of
      acute renal artery thrombosis. CASE REPORT: Acute renal artery thrombosis is a
      relatively rare, but serious condition in which it is imperative to restore
      perfusion as quickly as possible. Percutaneous pharmacomechanical thrombectomy
      technique was utilized to provide an effective means of restoring renal flow and
      function. We therefore present two unique cases of spontaneous and iatrogenic
      renal artery thromboses that were treated successfully with t-PA power-pulse
      spray rheolytic thrombectomy. CONCLUSION: t-PA Power-pulse spray rheolytic
      (pharmacomechanical) thrombectomy has the potential to be a useful means to
      restore perfusion and function in the setting of acute renal artery thrombosis.

PMID- 20934665
TI  - Fibrinolytic therapy for very late stent thrombosis--is it a viable option?
AB  - Stent thrombosis (ST) has a very high case fatality and morbidity rates. The risk
      of very late ST is significantly increased with drug-eluting stents (DES)
      compared to bare-metal stents for at least up to 4 years. Discontinuation of
      clopidogrel therapy is the single most important consistently identified risk
      factor. Immediate reperfusion, preferably by primary percutaneous coronary
      intervention (PCI), has been considered the therapy of choice. Compared to de
      novo ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), myocardial infarction (MI)
      related to ST has significantly higher major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE)
      and lower reperfusion rates. Due to the significantly higher mortality associated
      with STEMI due to ST, prompt revascularization assumes paramount significance.
      Our case reflects the potential utility of fibrinolytic therapy for STEMI due to
      very late ST. Systemic fibrinolysis should be considered for ST in the presence
      of ongoing significant ischemia and unavailability of prompt PCI.

PMID- 20934666
TI  - Reduction of a previous atrial septostomy in a patient with end-stage pulmonary
      hypertension by a manually fenestrated device.
AB  - A case of profound systemic oxygen desaturation after atrial septostomy in a
      patient with primitive pulmonary hypertension is reported. A new method to
      correct such severe complication of atrial septostomy is described, consisting in
      a graded reduction of the right to left atrial shunt by deployment of a manually
      perforated atrial septal closure device.

PMID- 20934667
TI  - Percutaneous mitral valve annuloplasty for functional mitral regurgitation: acute
      results of the first patient treated with the Viacor permanent device and future
      perspectives.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is a need to develop less invasive techniques to manage
      moderate or severe functional mitral regurgitation in patients at high surgical
      risk. OBJECTIVE: We report the acute results of the first patient treated with
      the permanent Viacor percutaneous transvenous mitral annuloplasty (PTMA) device
      in North America, introduce the PTOLEMY-2 protocol, and briefly discuss the
      current status of transvenous mitral valve techniques. CASE REPORT: After several
      episodes of pulmonary edema, an 87-year-old woman was referred for hemodynamic
      evaluation. Angiography revealed normal coronary arteries and severe mitral
      regurgitation. Baseline echocardiography showed severe (4+) functional mitral
      regurgitation. The coronary sinus was cannulated with a 9.5-Fr introducer from a
      left subclavian approach. After distal positioning of a coronary wire, the 7-Fr
      PTMA Viacor catheter was advanced to the anterior interventricular vein. Two 130
      g/cm rods were then inserted resulting in an acute and dramatic reduction in
      mitral regurgitation as assessed by continuous transoesophageal echocardiography
      and which was associated with a sudden rise in arterial blood pressure. The next
      day, transthoracic echocardiogram showed a significant reduction in effective
      regurgitant orifice area (EROA) from 41 to 10 mm(2). The patient was discharged
      home the day following the procedure without complication. In accordance with the
      PTOLEMY-2 protocol, she will undergo 3-D transthoracic echocardiograms, quality
      of life assessments, and 6-min walk tests at regular intervals for the next 5
      years. CONCLUSION: PTMA is a promising technique for the treatment of severe
      mitral regurgitation in selected patients. Further ongoing research will
      determine the predictors of success and long-term safety and performance of this
      technique.

PMID- 20934668
TI  - Anterograde recanalisation of the radial artery followed by transradial
      angioplasty.
AB  - We report a patient with critical hand ischemia after transradial coronary
      angioplasty. The radial artery occlusion was confirmed by angiography. The report
      discusses the role of angioplasty for the treatment of symptomatic radial artery
      occlusion.

PMID- 20934669
TI  - Crossover from radial to femoral access during a challenging percutaneous
      coronary intervention can make the difference between success and failure.
AB  - Compared to femoral access, radial access carries lower bleeding risk during
      diagnostic coronary angiography and percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).
      Although, in experienced centers, PCI success rates are reported to be similar
      using radial or femoral access, radial PCI may be technically challenging due to
      poor catheter support. We report a case of radial PCI in a saphenous vein graft
      (SVG) lesion that failed, in spite of using multiple guide catheters and
      prolonged fluoroscopy time. After obtaining femoral access, PCI of the SVG lesion
      was easily accomplished. For selected PCI cases, early switching from radial to
      femoral access may be the optimum strategy.

PMID- 20934670
TI  - Visualization of excessive intracellular calcium ion overload caused by the
      occurrence of reperfusion injury.

PMID- 20934671
TI  - Looking for asymptomatic pulmonary embolism in patients with deep vein
      thrombosis: is it the right practice?

PMID- 20934672
TI  - Retinal artery embolization from a calcified bicuspid aortic valve causing
      amaurosis fugax.

PMID- 20934673
TI  - A Blow-out.

PMID- 20934674
TI  - Possible mediators for systemic capillary leak syndrome.

PMID- 20934675
TI  - Lower parasympathetic drive, insulin resistance, and depression.

PMID- 20934676
TI  - Repeat transvaginal ultrasound-guided aspiration of ovarian endometrioma in
      infertile women with endometriosis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We sought to investigate the effectiveness of repeated transvaginal
      ultrasound-guided aspiration of endometriomas in infertile women with
      endometriosis. STUDY DESIGN: A retrospective study was performed in our
      department of reproductive health on 129 infertile women who underwent monthly
      repeated transvaginal aspiration of endometriomas. The recurrence and pregnancy
      were monitored during a follow-up period of 24 months. RESULTS: Recurrences of
      cysts were found in 118 (91.5%) patients in the first postaspirate month and 86
      (66.7%) in the second, 60 (46.5%) in the third, 28 (21.7%) in the fourth, 12
      (9.3%) in the fifth, 7 (5.4%) in the sixth, and 36 (27.9%) in the 24th
      postaspiration month. Mean 3.1 +/- 2.8 times of aspirations per patient were
      performed without any adverse effect. There was a linear regression relationship
      between the change of times of aspirations and the chance of recurrence of cysts.
      Overall pregnancy rate of 43.4% (56/129) was obtained. CONCLUSION: The repetitive
      aspiration of endometriomas is an effective therapeutic option in patients with
      endometriosis.

PMID- 20934678
TI  - Monoamniotic twin pregnancy: continuous inpatient electronic fetal monitoring-an
      impossible goal?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We sought to determine the effectiveness of continuous fetal
      monitoring in monoamniotic twins and assess the percentage of successful
      monitoring across gestation. STUDY DESIGN: This was a single-center retrospective
      cohort analysis of monoamniotic twins. Each subject's entire electronic fetal
      heart tracing was reviewed. The primary outcome measure was the percentage of
      time that 0, 1, and 2 fetuses were successfully monitored. To compare the
      effectiveness of monitoring across gestation, these data were stratified by
      gestational age (<27, 27-30, and >30 weeks). RESULTS: A total of 10,402 hours of
      fetal monitoring were reviewed for 17 monoamniotic twin pairs. Successful
      monitoring of 0, 1, and 2 fetuses occurred 21.2%, 27.1%, and 51.6% of the time,
      respectively. Successful monitoring of both fetuses was positively correlated
      with gestational age (<27 weeks 37%; 27-30 weeks 51%; >30 weeks 57%; P < .007).
      CONCLUSION: Successful monitoring of both fetuses occurred 51.6% of the time.
      Continuous monitoring efficiency improved with advancing gestational age.

PMID- 20934677
TI  - A transcriptional profile of the decidua in preeclampsia.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We sought to obtain insight into possible mechanisms underlying
      preeclampsia using genomewide transcriptional profiling in decidua basalis. STUDY
      DESIGN: Genomewide transcriptional profiling was performed on decidua basalis
      tissue from preeclamptic (n = 37) and normal (n = 58) pregnancies. Differentially
      expressed genes were identified and merged into canonical pathways and networks.
      RESULTS: Of the 26,504 expressed transcripts detected, 455 were differentially
      expressed (P < .05; false discovery rate, P < .1). Both novel (ARL5B, SLITRK4)
      and previously reported preeclampsia-associated (PLA2G7, HMOX1) genes were
      identified. Pathway analysis revealed that tryptophan metabolism, endoplasmic
      reticulum stress, linoleic acid metabolism, notch signaling, fatty acid
      metabolism, arachidonic acid metabolism, and NRF2-mediated oxidative stress
      response were overrepresented canonical pathways. CONCLUSION: In the present
      study single genes, canonical pathways, and gene-gene networks that are likely to
      play an important role in the pathogenesis of preeclampsia have been identified.
      Future functional studies are needed to accomplish a greater understanding of the
      mechanisms involved.

PMID- 20934679
TI  - Oral progestogens vs levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system for endometrial
      hyperplasia: a systematic review and metaanalysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To conduct a systematic review and metaanalysis of studies evaluating
      the regression rate of endometrial hyperplasia with oral progestogens and
      levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system. STUDY DESIGN: Searches were
      conducted on Medline, Embase, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science, and reference
      lists of relevant articles were examined. The methodologic index for
      nonrandomized studies was used for quality assessment. Metaanalysis was performed
      with random effects model. RESULTS: There were 24 observational studies (1001
      women), of low methodologic quality, evaluating the outcome of regression of
      endometrial hyperplasia with oral progestogens or levonorgestrel-releasing
      intrauterine system. Metaanalysis showed that oral progestogens achieved a lower
      pooled regression rate compared with levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system
      for complex (pooled rate, 66% vs 92%; P < .01) and atypical hyperplasia (pooled
      rate, 69% vs 90%; P = .03). There was no statistical difference in simple
      hyperplasia (pooled rate, 89% vs 96%; P = .41). CONCLUSION: Oral progestogens
      appear to induce a lower disease regression rate than Levonorgestrel-releasing
      intrauterine system in the treatment of endometrial hyperplasia.

PMID- 20934680
TI  - Performance of messenger RNAs circulating in maternal blood in the prediction of
      preeclampsia at 10-14 weeks.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine whether the combined
      distribution of a panel of cellular messenger RNA markers can detect preeclampsia
      long before onset. STUDY DESIGN: We compared blood at 10-14 weeks from 11 women
      who ultimately experienced preeclampsia with 88 matched control subjects. After
      multiples of the median conversion of all the markers, logistic regression was
      used to calculate the risk of the development of preeclampsia. RESULTS: Higher
      multiples of the median values than expected were found for endoglin, fms-related
      tyrosine kinase 1, and transforming growth factor-beta1. Lower multiples of the
      median values were found for placental growth factor and placental protein 13.
      Endoglin fms-related tyrosine kinase 1 and transforming growth factor-beta1 had
      the best discriminant power. Messenger RNA species provided independent
      contributions to the prediction of preeclampsia. In fact, 11 women with
      preeclampsia scored a median risk of 50% of experiencing preeclampsia. Control
      subjects scored a median risk of preeclampsia of 0.18%. The detection rate at a
      5% false positive rate was 72.3%. CONCLUSION: The messenger RNA dosage in
      maternal blood would be a useful method for the calculation of the risk of the
      development of preeclampsia.

PMID- 20934681
TI  - One-year clinical outcomes after prolapse surgery with nonanchored mesh and
      vaginal support device.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate outcomes after standardized
      transvaginal prolapse repair with nonanchored mesh and a vaginal support device.
      STUDY DESIGN: Postoperative vaginal support was assessed by pelvic organ prolapse
      quantitative examination after repair of symptomatic stage II/III prolapse.
      Validated questionnaires assessed pelvic symptoms and sexual function. Visual
      analog scales quantified experience with the vaginal support device. RESULTS: One
      hundred thirty-six women received the planned surgery; 95.6% of the women
      returned for the 1-year assessment: 76.9% of the cases were stage 0/I; however,
      in 86.9% of the cases, the leading vaginal edge was above the hymen. Pelvic
      symptoms, quality of life, and sexual function improved significantly from
      baseline (P < .05). Median visual analog scale scores for vaginal support device
      awareness and discomfort were 2.6 and 1.2, respectively (0 = none; 10 = worst
      possible). CONCLUSION: Vaginal support, pelvic symptoms, and sexual function
      improved at 1 year, compared with baseline, after trocar-free prolapse repair
      with nonanchored mesh and a vaginal support device.

PMID- 20934682
TI  - Elective delivery at 340(/)7 to 366(/)7 weeks' gestation and its impact on
      neonatal outcomes in women with stable mild gestational hypertension.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To examine the frequency of elective delivery and neonatal outcomes in
      women with stable mild gestational hypertension delivering late preterm. STUDY
      DESIGN: The frequency of elective delivery between 1995 and 2007 at gestational
      age of 340(/)7-366(/)7 weeks (late preterm), 370(/)7-376(/)7 weeks, and >=380(/)7
      weeks, as well as neonatal outcomes, were studied in singleton gestation with
      mild gestational hypertension without proteinuria from a large national database.
      RESULTS: One thousand eight hundred fifty-eight patients were studied: 607 (33%)
      were delivered for maternal/fetal reasons and 1251 (67%) were electively
      delivered. Among the 1251 women delivered electively, 25.5% were late preterm,
      24.4% at 370(/)7-376(/)7 weeks and 50.1% at >=380(/)7 weeks' gestation. Neonatal
      intensive care unit admission, ventilatory assistance, and respiratory distress
      syndrome were more common in late-preterm infants. There was no
      maternal/perinatal mortality. CONCLUSION: We found that 25.5% of patients with
      stable mild gestational hypertension, without any maternal or fetal complication,
      had iatrogenic elective late-preterm delivery. This practice also was associated
      with increased rates of neonatal complications and neonatal length of stay.

PMID- 20934683
TI  - Practice and carryover effects when using small interaction devices.
AB  - The use of interaction devices in modern work often challenges the human motor
      system, especially when these devices introduce unfamiliar transformations to the
      user. In this paper we evaluated expert performance and skill differences between
      experts and novices when using small motion- and force-controlled interaction
      devices (touchpad and mini-joystick) in an applied text-editing task. Firstly,
      experts performed better with their familiar input device than with an unfamiliar
      one. Particularly touchpad experts operating the unfamiliar mini-joystick showed
      highly asymmetric carryover costs. Results showed that the efficient performance
      of experts depended on domain-specific skills, which were not transferable.
      Secondly, with considerable practice (more than observed for simple and short
      tasks) novices were brought up to higher levels of performance. The motion
      transformation between hand and cursor action was easier in understanding and
      application than the force-transformation. Thus, the touchpad was used more
      efficiently than the mini-joystick. In conclusion, practice effects found so far
      are considerably underestimated when it comes to an applied task. The results
      give reason to develop and implement skill-sensitive training procedures, since
      the acquisition of domain-specific skills is critical for expert performance. As
      a consequence, training procedures might be essential for complex applications
      and/or unfamiliar device transformations.

PMID- 20934685
TI  - The effects of brief cognitive-behaviour therapy for pathological skin picking: A
      randomized comparison to wait-list control.
AB  - Thirty-four college students suffering from pathological skin picking were
      randomly assigned to a four-session cognitive-behavioural treatment (n=17) or a
      waiting-list condition (n=17). Severity of skin picking, psycho-social impact of
      skin picking, strength of skin-picking-related dysfunctional cognitions, and
      severity of skin injury were measured at pre-, post-, and two-months follow-up
      assessment. Participants in the treatment condition showed a significantly larger
      reduction on all measured variables in comparison to the waiting-list condition.
      The obtained effect sizes for the outcome measures were large, ranging from .90
      to 1.89. Treatment effects were maintained at follow-up. In conclusion, cognitive
      behavioural therapy, even in brief form, constitutes an adequate treatment option
      for pathological skin-picking behaviour.

PMID- 20934684
TI  - Early proliferation alteration and differential gene expression in human
      periodontal ligament cells subjected to cyclic tensile stress.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The study was aimed to provide insights into genes governing the early
      stages of cell proliferation ability alteration and mechano-response in human
      periodontal ligament cells (PDLCs) induced by short-term cyclic tensile stress.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Primary human PDLCs were subjected to cyclic tensile
      stress (0.5 Hz, 5000 MUstrain) for 2h through a four-point bending strain system.
      After that, cell viability and proliferation ability were examined by MTT [3(4,5
      dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide] assay and flow cytometry.
      Furthermore, the gene expression profile was investigated by microarray analysis,
      and the reliability of which was verified by quantitative RT-PCR. RESULTS: MTT
      assay and flow cytometry demonstrated that mechanical stress inhibited functional
      expression and slowed down proliferation of cells. Microarray analysis showed
      that 110 genes related to cyclic tensile stress were identified in total. Amongst
      them, ninety-seven were up-regulated, whilst 13 were down-regulated. Eleven genes
      (KLF10, ETS1, CKS2, DUSP6, KIF23, MAPK6, SERTAD1, IRF1, MAPRE1, CCNB1 and BCAR3)
      regarding cell cycle arrest were identified. Seven up-regulated genes (PTGS2,
      KLF10, CDC42EP2, BHLHB2, SPRY2, IER3 and CCL2) were verified by quantitative RT
      PCR, which supported the microarray results. CONCLUSION: Cell cycle arrest and
      the slow-down proliferation can benefit PDLCs to have more time to respond to
      mechanical stimuli, and the differential gene expression reflects the behaviour
      of cells. Those genes in response to cyclic tensile stress were identified in
      human PDLCs, some of which are related with the mechano-induced cell cycle
      arrest.

PMID- 20934686
TI  - A regio- and stereo-controlled approach to triazoloquinoxalinyl C-nucleosides.
AB  - The synthesis of a new series of acyclic triazoloquinoxalinyl C-nucleosides and
      their transformation to their cyclic analogs are described following protection,
      activation, and deprotection with subsequent intramolecular nucleophilic
      substitution protocol. The antibacterial potency of the new compounds was
      determined using an inhibition zone diameter test. The results show that 3a and
      2b exhibit good activity against Escherichiacoli and Candidaalbicans. On the
      other hand, the cyclic mesylated C-nucleoside 13 showed activity against the Gram
      positive bacteria (Staphylococcusaureus) and antifungal activity against C.
      albicans.

PMID- 20934687
TI  - Structural characterization of an immunoenhancing heteroglycan isolated from an
      aqueous extract of an edible mushroom, Lentinus squarrosulus (Mont.) Singer.
AB  - A water-soluble polysaccharide, isolated from the hot water extract of the
      fruiting bodies of an edible mushroom, Lentinus squarrosulus (Mont.) Singer was
      found to contain d-galactose, l-fucose, and d-glucose in a molar ratio of nearly
      1:1:5. Structural investigation of the polysaccharide was carried out using acid
      hydrolysis, methylation analysis, periodate oxidation study, and NMR experiments
      ((1)H, (13)C, DQF-COSY, TOCSY, NOESY, ROESY, HMQC, and HMBC). On the basis of
      above-mentioned experiments, the structure of the repeating unit of the
      polysaccharide was established as: This polysaccharide showed macrophage as well
      as splenocyte and thymocyte activation.

PMID- 20934689
TI  - The effect of aromatase inhibitor letrozole on body mass index, serum hormones,
      and sperm parameters in infertile men.
AB  - We investigated the effect of letrozole, an aromatase inhibitor, on body mass
      index, serum hormones, and sperm parameters in infertile men with decreased
      T:E(2) ratios. All sperm parameters increased after letrozole treatment.
      Letrozole may be effectively used to improve sperm parameters in infertile men
      with a low serum T:E(2) ratio.

PMID- 20934691
TI  - CA 125 serum values in surgically treated endometriosis patients and its
      relationships with anatomic sites of endometriosis and pregnancy rate.
AB  - Endometriosis is a benign gynecologic disease defined as the presence of
      functional endometrial glands and stroma outside the uterine cavity, causing
      dysmenorrhea, dyspareunia, menstrual irregularities, and infertility. Serum CA
      125 measurement is now a consolidated method for diagnosing this condition, and
      its interpretation has posed a number of problems, particularly regarding utility
      in diagnosing minimal-mild endometriosis, whereas its value as a diagnostic aid
      in moderate-severe stages is well recognized. In our cohort, serum CA-125 values
      were significantly elevated in patients with ovarian and mixed endometriosis
      lesions (median levels 48 U/mL), compared with those who had exclusively
      extraovarian foci (median levels 27 U/mL), and so the correlation between this
      marker and the surgical and pathologic finding of ovarian and deep endometriosis
      was found to be statistically significant; however, the location did not affect
      the fertility rate.

PMID- 20934690
TI  - Development and prevention of postsurgical adhesions in a chimeric mouse model of
      experimental endometriosis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To examine the impact of a recent surgery on development of
      endometriosis-related adhesions in a chimeric model and to determine the
      therapeutic efficacy of pioglitazone (PIO). DESIGN: Human endometrial biopsies
      were maintained in E(2) with or without PIO for 24 h before intraperitoneal
      injection into immunocompromised mice also treated with or without PIO at
      multiple time points after peritoneal surgery. The presence and extent of
      adhesions were examined in animals relative to the initial establishment of
      experimental endometriosis. SETTING: Medical school research center. PATIENT(S):
      Endometrial biopsies for experimental studies were provided by normally cycling
      women without a medical history indicative of endometriosis or adhesions.
      INTERVENTION(S): None. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Examination of the development of
      endometriosis-related adhesions in an experimental model. RESULT(S): Without
      therapeutic intervention, injection of E(2)-treated human endometrial tissue into
      mice near the time of peritoneal surgery resulted in multiple adhesions and
      extensive endometriotic-like disease. In contrast, PIO treatment reduced adhesive
      disease and experimental endometriosis related to surgical injury. CONCLUSION(S):
      The presence of human endometrial tissue fragments in the peritoneal cavity of
      mice with a recent surgical injury promoted development of both adhesive disease
      and experimental endometriosis. Targeting inflammation and angiogenesis with PIO
      therapy limited the development of postsurgical adhesions associated with ectopic
      endometrial growth.

PMID- 20934692
TI  - Cartilage repair evolution in post-traumatic osteochondral lesions of the talus:
      from open field autologous chondrocyte to bone-marrow-derived cells
      transplantation.
AB  - The aims of this study are to describe evolution in cartilage repair from open
      field autologous chondrocyte implantation to regeneration by arthroscopic bone
      marrow-derived cells (BMDCs) "one step" technique; to present the results of a
      series of patients consecutively treated and to compare in detail the different
      techniques used in order to establish the advantages obtained with the evolution
      in cartilage regenerative methods. 81 patients (mean age 30+/-8 years) were
      evaluated in this study. Patient assessment included clinical AOFAS score, X-rays
      and MRI preoperatively and at different established follow-ups. All the lesions
      were >1.5 cm(2) and received open autologous chondrocyte implantation (10 cases),
      arthroscopic autologous chondrocyte implantation (46 cases), and "one step"
      arthroscopic repair by BMDC transplantation (25 cases). For arthroscopic repair
      techniques a hyaluronic acid membrane was used to support cells and specifically
      designed instrumentation was developed. Patients of all the three groups
      underwent a second arthroscopy with a bioptic cartilage harvest at 1 year follow
      up. Mean AOFAS score before surgery was 57.1+/-17.2 and 92.6+/-10.5 (P<0.0005) at
      mean 59.5+/-26.5 months. A similar pattern of AOFAS improvement in results was
      found in the three different techniques. Histological evaluations highlighted
      collagen type II and proteoglycan expression. The cartilage repair techniques
      described were able to provide a repair tissue which closely approximates the
      characteristics of the naive hyaline cartilage. Evolution in surgical technique,
      new biomaterials and more recently the use of BMDCs permitted a marked reduction
      in procedure morbidity and costs up to a "one step" technique able to overcome
      all the drawbacks of previous repair techniques.

PMID- 20934693
TI  - Treatment of chondral defects of the knee with one step matrix-assisted technique
      enhanced by autologous concentrated bone marrow: in vitro characterisation of
      mesenchymal stem cells from iliac crest and subchondral bone.
AB  - Cartilage repair is still an unsolved problem. In the last years many cell-based
      treatments have been proposed, in order to obtain good regeneration of cartilage
      defects. The Autologous Matrix-Induced Chondrogenesis technique (AMIC((r)))
      combines the micro-fracture procedure with the use of a specific biological
      membrane. The phenotypic feature of bone marrow cell population, harvested from
      iliac crest and knee subchondral bone of patients treated with the AMIC((r))
      technique, enhanced by autologous concentrated bone marrow, was analysed to
      evaluate potential variations of the cell population. Samples of eleven patients,
      with isolated chondral lesions grade III or IV were treated with the AMIC((r))
      technique, enhanced by the use of autologous concentrated bone marrow. A small
      fraction of bone marrow samples, both from iliac crest and from the created micro
      fractures, was analysed by FACS analysis and then cultured to verify their
      proliferative and differentiation potential. An average of 0.04% of concentrated
      bone marrow cells harvested from the iliac crest, presented mesenchymal stem cell
      phenotype (CD34(-)/CD45(low)/CD271(high)), whereas just 0.02% of these cells were
      identified from the samples harvested during the creation of micro-fractures at
      the knee. After two passages in culture, cells expressed a peculiar profile for
      MSC. Only MSC from bone marrow could be long-term propagated and were able to
      efficiently differentiate in the cultures. Although the AMIC((r)) approach has
      many advantages, the surgical technique in the application of the microfracture
      technique remains essential and affects the final result.

PMID- 20934694
TI  - Innovative techniques for the osteosynthesis of distal humeral fractures.
AB  - Adequate restoration of the mechanical alignment, anatomic reduction of the
      articular surface, and stable fixation allowing early motion of the elbow joint
      are the primary goals in the treatment of distal humeral fractures. The purpose
      of our study is the comparison of the effectiveness between distal humeral
      locking compression plates (LCP) and conventional reconstruction and one third
      tubular plates. Between January 2008 and January 2009, 11 consecutive patients (4
      men and 7 women) with distal humeral fractures were treated with plates in our
      hospital; eight patients were treated with LCP distal humeral plates and three
      cases were fixed with a combination of 1/3 tubular plates and reconstruction
      plates. They were all followed up for 12 months using the functional score of
      Cassebaum and radiologically with standard X-rays. Good to excellent results were
      obtained in 6/11 patients with a mean range of motion of 115 degrees . At this
      small cohort of patients no significant differences between the two fixation
      methods was identified regarding clinical outcome, complications and function of
      the affected limb.

PMID- 20934695
TI  - Surgical treatment of chronic acromioclavicular dislocation: comparison between
      two surgical procedures for anatomic reconstruction.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Surgical treatment of chronic complete acromioclavicular (AC) joint
      dislocation is still debated and no gold standard surgical procedure has been
      identified. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective series of 90 patients treated
      for AC dislocations is reported here. Patients were divided into three groups:
      group 1 receiving AC reconstruction with a Dacron vascular prosthesis; group 2
      receiving AC reconstruction with LARS((r)) artificial ligament; group 3 receiving
      conservative treatment. Follow-up was performed after 1, 6 and 15 months with
      plain radiographs, UCLA, SPADI and modified UCLA acromioclavicular rating scales.
      RESULTS: Patients treated surgically presented significant better functional
      outcome compared to patients treated conservatively with overall positive results
      in 93.3% of patients for group 2 and 53.3% of patients for group 1. However,
      reconstruction with Dacron vascular prosthesis presented an unacceptable high
      complications rate (43.3%). CONCLUSION: Our results show that anatomic AC
      reconstruction with LARS((r)) artificial ligament resulted in both satisfactory
      functional outcome and low complication rate. Therefore, we recommend this
      procedure for the treatment of chronic complete AC dislocations.

PMID- 20934696
TI  - Randomised clinical trial comparing pressure characteristics of pelvic
      circumferential compression devices in healthy volunteers.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The role of pelvic circumferential compression devices (PCCDs) is
      to temporarily stabilise a pelvic fracture, reduce the volume and tamponade the
      bleeding. Tissue damage may occur when PCCDs are left in place longer than a few
      hours. The aim of this randomised clinical trial was to quantify the pressure at
      the region of the greater trochanters (GTs) and the sacrum, induced by PCCDs in
      healthy volunteers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In a crossover study, the Pelvic
      Binder((r)), SAM-Sling((r)) and T-POD((r)) were applied successively onto 80
      healthy participants in random order. The pressure was measured using a pressure
      mapping system, with the volunteers in supine position on a spine board and on a
      hospital bed. Data were analysed using Mixed Linear Modelling. RESULTS: On a
      spine board, the pressure exceeded the tissue damaging threshold at the GTs and
      the sacrum. Pressure at the GTs was highest with the Pelvic Binder((r)), and
      lowest with the SAM-Sling((r)). Pressure at the sacrum was highest with the
      Pelvic Binder((r)). The pressure at the GTs and sacrum was reduced significantly
      for all three PCCDs upon transfer to a hospital bed. CONCLUSION: The results of
      this randomised clinical trial in healthy volunteers showed that patients with
      pelvic fractures, temporarily stabilised with a PCCD, are at risk for developing
      pressure sores. The pressure on the skin exceeded the tissue damaging threshold
      and is, besides PCCD type, influenced by BMI, waist size and age. Regardless with
      which PCCD trauma patients are stabilised, early transfer from the spine board is
      of key importance to reduce the pressure to a level below the tissue damaging
      threshold. Clinicians should be aware of the potential deleterious effects
      associated with the application of a PCCD, and every effort must be made to
      remove the PCCD once haemodynamic resuscitation has been established.

PMID- 20934697
TI  - Surgical treatment of post-traumatic malalignment of the ankle.
AB  - Post-traumatic malalignment is evident in cases of malunion of ankle fractures.
      This condition predisposes to the development of chronic pain, functional
      impairment, and finally post-traumatic arthritis. The aim of this paper is to
      present a joint-saving surgical treatment of post-traumatic ankle malalignment.
      It is based on the review of a series of patients who developed fracture malunion
      and were treated with articular reconstruction. Twenty-two ankle fractures, which
      malunited and resulted into valgus deformity and fibular shortening are
      presented. Pre-reconstruction and mid-term follow-up evaluation included the
      AOFAS score and standard weight-bearing radiographs. Surgical treatment consisted
      in articular reconstruction with malleolar osteotomies. Post-operatively, the non
      weight-bearing period extended to 6 weeks post-surgery, while full weight-bearing
      was allowed at 12 weeks on average. All osteotomies healed, while no intra
      operative or early post-operative complications were reported. The average pre
      operative AOFAS score was 45, while post-operatively climbed to 87. At the last
      follow-up, on average at 5-years post-surgery, 10 patients reported "excellent"
      function, 7 "good", 3 "fair" and 2 "poor" function. The correction of the
      malalignment was maintained in 20 cases. The two patients with poor function and
      loss of reduction underwent ankle fusion. Articular reconstruction with malleolar
      osteotomies is indicated for the treatment of ankle post-traumatic malalignment,
      offering reduction of pain, improvement of the ankle function, delaying the
      development of post-traumatic arthritis, and minimising the need of radical
      surgery such as ankle fusion or prosthetic replacement. Moreover, once a correct
      alignment of the joint is achieved, secondary surgery, if necessary, can be
      performed more easily, and with better results.

PMID- 20934698
TI  - ACL reconstruction in sports active people: transtibial DB technique with ST/G
      vs. transtibial SB technique with BPTB: preliminary results.
AB  - The single-bundle ACL reconstruction ensures good outcomes and it is a well
      established and widespread technique. Nevertheless, some patients still present
      residual pain and instability. Recent studies have showed that the double-bundle
      technique restores better natural ACL-fitting kinematics. Long-term clinical
      studies comparing the two surgical techniques are not frequent and there is no
      instrument to evaluate function and kinematics during the knee rotation in vivo.
      In this randomised prospective study performed on sportive people, we compare the
      BPTB single-bundle ACL reconstruction technique, which is the most common
      surgical technique performed on these patients' category, with the ACL double
      bundle reconstruction technique (DB), in order to evaluate possible differences
      between the groups. Comparing the two groups, no statistically significant
      difference regarding the post-operative Lysholm score (p=0.368) the Tegner
      activity scale (p=0.519) and the arthrometric evaluation with KT-1000 (p=0.74)
      have been observed. On the contrary, the IKDC evaluation showed a statistically
      significant difference (p=0.004) better results of the DB group. Moreover, as
      assessed by the Tegner activity scale, only patients of the DB group were able to
      return to sports at a pre-injury level. Our data suggest that the double bundle
      ST/G ACL reconstruction technique results into slightly better outcome than the
      traditional technique of single-bundle BPTB. The verification and quantification
      of the advantages of this technique is anticipated with future studies focusing
      to the accurate measurement of knee rotation during different activities.

PMID- 20934699
TI  - Management of distal radius fractures: treatment protocol and functional results.
AB  - Distal radius fractures are the most frequent lesions encountered during clinical
      practice. The treatment is controversial and still debated in the literature. For
      a correct management of these lesions many authors recently emphasised the
      importance of anatomical reduction, a stable fixation and early joint
      mobilisation. We report our experience in the daily management of these lesions.
      The fractures are evaluated considering fracture type, fracture reduction
      criteria, adequacy of reduction criteria and overall fracture stability. The best
      treatment option must be decided in accordance to the type of fracture, the
      extent of metaphyseal comminution, the quality of the bone and the medical
      condition of the patient.

PMID- 20934700
TI  - The external fixation in the treatment of humeral diaphyseal fractures: outcomes
      of 84 cases.
AB  - We retrospectively review 84 cases of diaphyseal humeral fractures (24 type A, 38
      type B, 22 type C of the AO/OTA classification) treated with external fixation
      (Hoffmann II frame) between 1995 and 2007. Six of these fractures were
      complicated with radial nerve palsy. Four cases were open fractures. All
      reductions were achieved closely or through minimal open approaches. All
      fractures achieved consolidation with an average of 95 days (range 58-140). The
      six radial nerve palsies had complete spontaneous recovery. According to the
      Constant score excellent shoulder function was recorded in 54.6% of the cases,
      good results in 25%, fair in 13.6% and poor in 6.8%. The elbow function according
      to the Mayo elbow performance index was excellent in 81.8% of cases, good in
      13.6%, fair in 2.3%, and poor in 2.3%. We observed superficial pin tract
      infections in 12% of the patients. There was no cases of deep infection. External
      fixation of humeral diaphyseal fractures as recorded in this case series,
      represents a management option, which allows straightforward fracture reduction
      and adequate stability, with a short operative time, excellent consolidation rate
      and good functional results with no major complications secondary to this type of
      surgery.

PMID- 20934701
TI  - Validation of an instrument for measuring psychosocial and organisational work
      constraints detrimental to health among hospital workers: the NWI-EO
      questionnaire.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Quality of care, job satisfaction and the health of registered nurses
      (RNs) are associated with their exposure to psychosocial and organisational work
      factors (POWFs). OBJECTIVES: To develop and validate an extended version of the
      Revised Nursing Work Index (NWI-R), the NWI-EO (Extended Organisation) tool
      specifically designed for occupational physicians and those involved in
      prevention programmes in healthcare institutions to assess the perception of
      POWFs, and then to determine priorities for preventive action to improve work
      organisation at the hospital staff level. METHODS: The tool was validated in the
      ORSOSA study, a multicentre French cohort of RNs and NAs (n=4085) recruited in
      214 work units of 7 French university hospitals. A total of 34 items (19
      candidate items developed by a focus group and 15 items from the NWI-R) were
      analysed using principal component analysis (PCA) based on a randomised split
      half of the data. In addition, construct validity, test-retest reliability,
      internal consistency and concurrent validity were assessed. RESULTS: Response
      rate was 91%. Twenty-two items were selected (9 of the 15 NWI-R items and 13 of
      the 19 candidate items) by PCA, resulting in an 8-factor solution that explained
      53% of the common variance. The stability of the factorial structure of this 22
      item NWI-EO questionnaire was confirmed by PCA on the other half-sample as well
      as by PCA on subgroups (age, gender, occupational group, specialty area,
      hospital). Reliability, assessed by internal consistency and test-retest, was
      satisfactory. Concurrent validity with two external measurements of
      organisational characteristics of work units was also observed. CONCLUSION: The
      NWI-EO was found to have good psychometric properties. Several POWFs accessible
      to prevention programmes can be evaluated with this tool: poor communication in
      the work unit, lack of support from senior nurses, inadequate staffing to perform
      duties, poor relationships between workers, frequency of interruptions during
      tasks, low level of shared values within the team with regard to work, lack of
      support from the administration, and changes in planned vacations and time off.
      We believe the NWI-EO is a useful tool for assessing POWFs among RNs and NAs in
      order to determine priorities for preventive action to improve work organisation
      at the unit level.

PMID- 20934702
TI  - An intervention for reducing secondary traumatization and improving professional
      self-efficacy in well baby clinic nurses following war and terror: a random
      control group trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Due to the terror and war-related situation in Israel, well baby
      clinic nurses dealing with a large number of traumatized and highly distressed
      infants, toddlers and their parents have become overwhelmed. OBJECTIVES: (1)
      Assess the level of secondary traumatization, including lack of compassion
      satisfaction, burnout and compassion fatigue of well baby clinic nurses living
      under chronic threat of war and terror. (2) Assess the efficacy of an
      intervention aimed at providing well baby clinic nurses with psycho-educational
      knowledge pertaining to stress and trauma in infants, young children and parents.
      This intervention provides the nurses with screening tools for identifying
      children and parents at risk of developing stress-related problems and equips
      them with stress management techniques. DESIGN: Quasi-random control trial.
      SETTING: The intervention took place in Israel, in war (North) and terror (South)
      affected areas. PARTICIPANTS: Ninety well baby clinic nurses from the most war
      and terror affected areas in Israel were approached, 42 were randomly assigned
      the experimental intervention and 38 served as a waiting list group. METHODS: The
      intervention was comprised of 12 weekly 6-h sessions. Each session included
      theoretical knowledge, experiential exercises based on the nurses' work or
      personal life experience, and the learning of skills accompanied by homework
      assignments. Participants were assessed on self-report measures of secondary
      traumatization, professional self-efficacy, hope, sense of mastery and self
      esteem before and after the intervention. RESULTS: (1) Well baby clinic nurses
      were found to have elevated secondary traumatization levels. (2) Compared to the
      waiting list group, the intervention group improved significantly on the
      professional self-efficacy measure as well as reducing the level of secondary
      traumatization. Furthermore, improvement on all secondary traumatization measures
      covaried with the improvement on the professional self-efficacy assessments.
      Based on additional informal reports, the improvement was observed to be
      clinically significant. CONCLUSIONS: Training of medical personnel who work with
      traumatized children and their families and who may also be under the threat of
      war and terror is essential to both improving their professional functioning, as
      well as reducing the vulnerability to secondary traumatization.

PMID- 20934703
TI  - High plasma levels of macrophage migration inhibitory factor are associated with
      adverse long-term outcome in patients with stable coronary artery disease and
      impaired glucose tolerance or type 2 diabetes mellitus.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: MIF is proatherogenic and is highly expressed in unstable
      atherosclerotic plaques. Circulating levels of MIF are increased in patients with
      impaired glucose tolerance or type 2 diabetes mellitus (IGT/T2DM). We examined
      whether high circulating levels of macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF)
      are related to increased risk of future coronary events in patients with coronary
      artery disease (CAD) and IGT/T2DM. METHODS: Plasma MIF levels after overnight
      fast were measured by ELISA in 617 patients with stable CAD including 79 patients
      with IGT and 215 patients with T2DM. All patients were prospectively followed for
      60 months or until occurrence of one of the coronary events: cardiac death,
      nonfatal myocardial infarction, unstable angina pectoris requiring coronary
      revascularization. RESULTS: During the follow-up period, an event occurred in 77
      (26%) patients with IGT/T2DM and 50 (15%) patients without IGT/T2DM. In patients
      with IGT/T2DM, higher MIF levels were a significant predictor of coronary events
      in a multivariate Cox proportional hazards analysis that included the known risk
      factors, C-reactive protein levels and medication as covariates (HR 3.3, 95% CI
      1.6-8.3, p=0.006). The c-statistic showed that the predictive value of MIF levels
      was incremental over that of the conventional predictors for coronary events
      (area under ROC curve; 0.70 and 0.61, respectively, p=0.001). In contrast, MIF
      levels were not significantly related to future coronary events in patients
      without IGT/T2DM. CONCLUSIONS: High MIF levels are an independent risk factor for
      future coronary events in CAD patients with IGT/T2DM.

PMID- 20934704
TI  - Flow simulation studies in coronary arteries--impact of side-branches.
AB  - AIMS: Wall shear stress (WSS) may induce local remodeling of the vascular wall
      and the WSS pattern in turn depends on vascular geometry. We aimed to elucidate
      the impact of side-branches on local WSS. METHODS AND RESULTS: Steady numerical
      flow simulation studies were performed in three-dimensional reconstructed right
      coronary artery (RCA) trees. RCA from seven controls, five patients with coronary
      artery disease (CAD) and five patients with aneurysmatic CAD (AnCAD) classified
      by expert visual diagnosis were studied. Then three transient flow simulations
      were performed with cases representative for each group in order to evaluate the
      impact of pulsatile flow simulation. As vascular size and flow rates vary
      considerably between patients, non-dimensional approaches were applied for group
      comparison. A point-to-point comparison of the WSS in the same tree with and
      without side-branches revealed local differences in WSS of up to 12.0 Pa. This
      was caused by a reduction of volume flow of up to 78.7% in the trunk. Differences
      are not only limited to bifurcation sites but also affect local narrowings and
      strongly curved segments. The point-to-point comparison of steady and transient
      simulations found an average increase of WSS of below 7% in transient
      simulations. No significant differences were found between histograms of
      pulsatile and steady simulations, showing a high cross-correlation of >0.97.
      CONCLUSION: Side-branches must not be neglected in numerical flow simulation
      (steady and transient) studies. Steady simulations are valid for an assessment of
      time-averaged WSS distributions.

PMID- 20934705
TI  - A new technique to measure micromotion distribution around a cementless femoral
      stem.
AB  - The interfacial micromotion is closely associated to the long-term success of
      cementless hip prostheses. Various techniques have been proposed to measure them,
      but only a few number of points over the stem surface can be measured
      simultaneously. In this paper, we propose a new technique based on micro-Computer
      Tomography (MUCT) to measure locally the relative interfacial micromotions
      between the metallic stem and the surrounding femoral bone. Tantalum beads were
      stuck at the stem surface and spread at the endosteal surface. Relative
      micromotions between the stem and the endosteal bone surfaces were measured at
      different loading amplitudes. The estimated error was 10 MUm and the maximal
      micromotion was 60 MUm, in the loading direction, at 1400 N. This pilot study
      provided a local measurement of the micromotions in the 3 direction and at 8
      locations on the stem surface simultaneously. This technique could be easily
      extended to higher loads and a much larger number of points, covering the entire
      stem surface and providing a quasi-continuous distribution of the 3D interfacial
      micromotions around the stem. The new measurement method would be very useful to
      compare the induced micromotions of different stem designs and to optimize the
      primary stability of cementless total hip arthroplasty.

PMID- 20934706
TI  - Synthesis of monodispersed molecularly imprinted polymer particles for high
      performance liquid chromatographic separation of cholesterol using templating
      polymerization in porous silica gel bound with cholesterol molecules on its
      surface.
AB  - Monodispersed molecularly imprinted polymer particles selective for cholesterol
      were prepared by the copolymerization of styrene and divinylbenzene in the
      presence of template silica gel particles (particle size: 5 MUm; pore size: 10
      nm) functionalized with cholesterol on the surface, followed by dissolution of
      the cholesterol-bonded silica gel with a NaOH aqueous solution. Transmission and
      scanning electron micrographs of the molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP)
      particles revealed good monodispersity and porous structure. The MIP particles
      were packed into a high performance liquid chromatographic column, and its
      recognition ability of cholesterol was evaluated using cholesterol, cholesterol
      esters and fatty acid methyl esters by comparison with the non-imprinted polymer
      (NIP) particles prepared from styrene and divinylbenzene without cholesterol. The
      MIP particles showed a high affinity for cholesterol and cholesterol esters
      (K(MIP)'/K(NIP)' > 5.7).

PMID- 20934707
TI  - Syntheses of complex mesoporous silicas using mixtures of nonionic block
      copolymer surfactants: understanding formation of different structures using
      solubility parameters.
AB  - The use of block copolymer (BCP) nonionic surfactant mixtures (including
      Pluronic, Brij and Tetronic types) as templates for synthesizing porous silica
      materials of mixed pore sizes is explored here. These systems have important
      applications because combinations of pore sizes can allow rapid access of
      reactants (via large pores) whilst providing the very high surface area of small
      pores for higher reaction rates or size selectivity. Examples of the materials
      prepared here include pore size bimodal hexagonal p6mm channel structures and
      cubic Im3m cage structures. It is shown here that the chemical similarity, as
      indicated by the solubility parameter, of the surfactants is an important factor
      in determining the pore structure and size distribution (PSD) of the pores.
      Monomodal pore structures are usually obtained when the solubility parameters of
      the surfactants are similar and bimodal pore structures when the solubility
      parameters are reasonably different. When the interaction parameter is very high
      disordered porous systems are formed. Ternary co-surfactant systems, e.g. P123
      25R4-P65, can also yield highly ordered bimodal mesoporous silica with a
      hexagonal structure.

PMID- 20934708
TI  - Solvation structure and dynamics for passivated Au nanoparticle in supercritical
      CO2: a molecular dynamic simulation.
AB  - All-atomic molecular dynamics simulations have been performed to study the
      interfacial structural and dynamical properties of passivated gold nanoparticles
      in supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO(2)). Simulations were conducted for a 55
      atom gold nanocore with thiolated perfluoropolyether as the packing ligands. The
      effect of solvent density and surface coverage on the structural and dynamical
      properties of the self-assembly monolayer (SAM) has been discussed. The
      simulation results demonstrate that the interface between nanoparticle and
      scCO(2) solvent shows a depletion region due to the preclusion of SAM. The
      presence of scCO(2) solvent around the passivated Au nanoparticle can lead to an
      enhanced extension of the surface SAM. Under full coverage, the structure and
      conformation of SAM are insensitive to the density change of scCO(2) fluid. This
      simulation results clarify the microscopic solvation mechanism of passivated
      nanoparticles in supercritical fluid medium and is expected to be helpful in
      understanding the scCO(2)-based nanoparticle dispersion behavior.

PMID- 20934709
TI  - Tryptase-positive mast cells correlate with angiogenesis in canine mammary
      carcinoma.
AB  - Angiogenesis plays a crucial role in tumour growth, invasion and metastasis. Mast
      cells (MCs) release angiogenic factors that promote endothelial proliferation and
      differentiation. Previous studies have suggested that MCs are involved in tumour
      angiogenesis due to the release of various pro-angiogenic factors. This study
      evaluated samples from 40 canine mammary carcinomas and eight healthy non
      neoplastic canine mammary glands. Toluidine blue staining was performed to
      characterize the MCs. Immunohistochemical labelling was performed to detect the
      number of tryptase-positive MCs and microvessels. MCs accumulated in tumour
      tissue and were closely associated with blood or lymphatic vessels in the tumour
      microenvironment. Angiogenesis, as measured by microvessel density, increased in
      direct proportion to the number of MCs. The correlation coefficient was
      significantly higher for tryptase-positive MCs than for toluidine blue-stained
      MCs. These results suggest that MCs are involved in tumour angiogenesis, which in
      turn influences tumour growth, invasion and metastasis. In particular, MC
      tryptase may be influential in mediating this function of MCs.

PMID- 20934710
TI  - Variation over time in medical conditions and health service utilization of
      children with Down syndrome.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To compare the prevalence of parent reported medical conditions and
      rates of health service utilization in school-aged children with Down syndrome in
      Western Australia in 1997 and 2004. STUDY DESIGN: We compared two cross-sectional
      surveys completed by parents of children with Down syndrome identified from
      population-based sources in 1997 (n = 210) and 2004 (n = 208). Surveys collected
      information on family demographics, medical conditions, health issues, and
      service utilization. The analysis described medical conditions in 2004 and
      compared frequencies in both years. Regression analyses compared medical
      conditions and health utilisation in the two cohorts. RESULTS: In 2004, children
      with Down syndrome had greater odds of having a bowel condition (OR, 1.69; 95%,
      1.16 to 2.45; P = .01), were less likely to have a current problem due to their
      cardiac condition (OR, 0.32; 95% CI, 0.15 to 0.68, P = .003), and demonstrated an
      overall reduction in episodic illnesses and infections. The use of GP services
      (incidence rate ratio [IRR] = 0.91; 95% CI, 0.83 to 1.00, P = .05) and combined
      medical specialist visits (IRR = 0.92; 95% CI, 0.84 to 1.01; P = .09) were
      reduced in 2004, as were overnight hospital admissions (IRR = 0.60; 95% CI, 0.37
      to 0.96; P = .03) and length of stay (IRR = 0.33; 95% CI, 0.24 to 0.44; P <
      .001). CONCLUSIONS: The health status of children with Down syndrome has varied
      over time with reductions in current cardiac problems, episodic illnesses, and
      health service use. Research is now needed to investigate the impact of these
      changes on the overall health and quality of life of children and families living
      with Down syndrome.

PMID- 20934711
TI  - Prolonged cold ischemic time results in increased acute rejection in a rat
      allotransplantation model.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The cold ischemic time may be more prolonged for facial tissue
      allografts than for organ allografts. Previous researches have shown that
      prolonged ischemia resulted in increased signs of rejection in a rat groin
      allotransplantation model; however, the relationship between cold ischemia and
      alloantigen-induced rejection was unclear. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Vascularized
      groin flaps were transplanted from BN to Lewis rats after 0, 6, 12, 18, or 24 h
      of storage at 4  degrees C, and the allografts in each group were evaluated
      daily. Biopsy samples taken from the allo-0 h and allo-24 h groups on
      postoperative d 2-8 were graded for signs of acute rejection. Biopsy samples
      taken from the allo-0 h and allo-24 h groups on postoperative d 5 were stained
      for chemokine receptor CXCR3. RESULTS: When the cold ischemia time was greater
      than 18 h, the survival time of the grafts was significantly shorter (6.2 +/- 1.3
      d) than that of the grafts that did not undergo cold ischemia (9.0 +/- 1.2 d).
      Histological valuation showed acceleration of activated lymphocyte infiltration
      in the allo-24 h group (2.2 +/- 0.4 d) compared with the allo-0 h group (4.8 +/-
      0.4 d). Furthermore, the proportion of CXCR3-positive cells in the allo-24 h
      group (49.7% +/- 6.0%) was significantly higher than that in the allo-0 h group
      (22.9% +/- 3.4%) on d 5 after transplantation. CONCLUSIONS: Prolonged ischemia
      has a deleterious effect on allograft survival, and the chemokine receptor CXCR3
      may play a role in this process.

PMID- 20934712
TI  - Is laparoscopy-assisted distal gastrectomy a superior alternative to the open
      approach?

PMID- 20934713
TI  - The accuracy of complications documented in a prospective complication registry.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The objectives of this study were to evaluate the accuracy of a
      prospective complication registry for documenting complications and identify
      possible factors for non-registering. METHODS: Five hundred randomly selected
      patients admitted at the Department of Surgery of St. Elisabeth Hospital Tilburg,
      The Netherlands, in the year 2005, were evaluated for incidence and type of
      complications by an examination of their medical records and compared with a
      prospective complication registry. The system was independently reviewed by two
      persons for missing complications. Patient files with missing complications in
      the registry were screened for factors possibly responsible for non-registering.
      RESULTS: Two hundred thirteen complications were detected, 58 (27%) missing in
      the registry. There were 50 different types of complications documented. The
      number of events missing per category were: drug-related (50%, n = 4), organ
      dysfunction (44%, n = 14), infection-related (25%, n = 19), surgery/intervention
      related (23%, n = 14), and hospital-provider errors (19%, n = 7). Not all
      clinically important complications were adequately documented (e.g., anastomotic
      leakage). The kappa score was 0.695, making the interrater reliability
      substantial. CONCLUSION: The accuracy of registering complications is fairly
      acceptable compared to the ranges mentioned in literature. It is disappointing
      that clinically important events are missing in the registry. The inaccuracy
      could be explained by a great diversity of documented events, due to a broad
      definition, suggesting ignorance of the responsible team of which events to
      register.

PMID- 20934714
TI  - Impact of restrictive intravenous fluid replacement and combined epidural
      analgesia on perioperative volume balance and renal function within a Fast Track
      program.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Key factors of Fast Track (FT) programs are fluid
      restriction and epidural analgesia (EDA). We aimed to challenge the preconception
      that the combination of fluid restriction and EDA might induce hypotension and
      renal dysfunction. METHODS: A recent randomized trial (NCT00556790) showed
      reduced complications after colectomy in FT patients compared with standard care
      (SC). Patients with an effective EDA were compared with regard to hemodynamics
      and renal function. RESULTS: 61/76 FT patients and 59/75 patients in the SC group
      had an effective EDA. Both groups were comparable regarding demographics and
      surgery-related characteristics. FT patients received significantly less i.v.
      fluids intraoperatively (1900 mL [range 1100-4100] versus 2900 mL [1600-5900], P
      < 0.0001) and postoperatively (700 mL [400-1500] versus 2300 mL [1800-3800], P <
      0.0001). Intraoperatively, 30 FT compared with 19 SC patients needed colloids or
      vasopressors, but this was statistically not significant (P = 0.066).
      Postoperative requirements were low in both groups (3 versus 5 patients; P =
      0.487). Pre- and postoperative values for creatinine, hematocrit, sodium, and
      potassium were similar, and no patient developed renal dysfunction in either
      group. Only one of 82 patients having an EDA without a bladder catheter had
      urinary retention. Overall, FT patients had fewer postoperative complications (6
      versus 20 patients; P = 0.002) and a shorter median hospital stay (5 [2-30]
      versus 9 d [6-30]; P< 0.0001) compared with the SC group. CONCLUSIONS: Fluid
      restriction and EDA in FT programs are not associated with clinically relevant
      hemodynamic instability or renal dysfunction.

PMID- 20934715
TI  - Impaired oxygen utilization in skeletal muscle of CRPS I patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to evaluate oxygen extraction and
      utilization in end stage chronic complex regional pain syndrome type I (CRPS I)
      patients undergoing amputation and to relate these to muscle histology of the
      amputated limb. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In 25 patients with severe CRPS I
      requiring amputation of the affected limb venous blood samples and in 11 patients
      skeletal muscle specimens were analyzed. RESULTS: The mean venous oxygen
      saturation (S(v)O(2)) value (94.3% +/- 4.0%) of the affected limb was
      significantly higher than S(v)O(2) values found in healthy subjects (77.5% +/-
      9.8%) pointing to a severely decreased oxygen diffusion or utilization within the
      affected limb. Histologic analysis showed a significant decrease of type I fibers
      and a significant increase of type IIB fibers. Ultrastructural investigations of
      soleus skeletal muscle capillaries revealed thickened endothelial cells and
      thickened basement membranes. Muscle capillary densities were decreased in
      comparison with literature data. High venous oxygen saturation levels were
      partially explained by impaired diffusion of oxygen due to thickened basement
      membrane and decreased capillary density. CONCLUSION: This study shows that
      venous oxygen saturation is significantly increased in chronic end stage CRPS I
      patients corresponding with impaired oxygen diffusion. The abnormal skeletal
      muscle findings points to severe disuse but only partially explain the impaired
      diffusion of oxygen; mitochondrial dysfunction seems a likely explanation in
      addition.

PMID- 20934716
TI  - Vasorelaxation effect and mechanism of action of vascular endothelial growth
      factor-165 in isolated perfused human skin flaps.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Experimental evidence is accumulating to indicate that local acute
      vascular endothelial growth factor-165 (VEGF(165)) therapy is effective in
      attenuation of skin ischemia and increase in skin viability in rat skin flap
      surgery and the mechanism involves vasodilation induced by VEGF(165). So far, the
      vasodilator effect and mechanism of action of VEGF(165) have not been studied in
      human skin. The objective of this project is to test the hypothesis that
      VEGF(165) is also a potent vasodilator in human skin vasculature. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: We used an established isolated perfused human skin flap model and
      pharmacologic probes to demonstrate that VEGF(165) is a potent vasodilator in
      human skin vasculature and the mechanism involves activation of receptors and
      postreceptor signaling pathway, which in turn stimulates local synthesis/release
      of endothelial vasodilators. RESULTS: We observed that VEGF(165) induced a
      concentration-dependent vasorelaxation in human skin flaps preconstricted with
      norephinephrine (8 * 10(-7)M; n = 7) or endothelin-1 (3 * 10(-9)M; n = 6). The
      vasorelaxation potency of VEGF(165) (pD(2) = 12.02 +/- 0.25; n = 7) was higher (P
      < 0.05) than that of acetylcholine (pD(2) = 6.76 +/- 0.06; n = 5) in human skin
      flaps preconstricted with 8 x 10(-7)M of norepinephrine. Using pharmacologic
      probes, we also detected that the vasorelaxation effect of VEGF(165) in the
      isolated perfused human skin flaps (n = 4) was triggered by activation of VEGF
      receptor-2. Furthermore, the postreceptor signaling pathway involved activation
      of Src family tyrosine kinase, phospholipase C, protein kinase C, an increase in
      inositol 1,4,5-triphosphate activity, a release of the intracellular Ca(2+)
      store, and finally synthesis/release of the endothelial nitric oxide (eNO) and
      prostacyclin and eNO predominantly mediated the vasodilator effect of VEGF(165)
      in the effector mechanism. CONCLUSION: These findings support our hypothesis that
      VEGF(165) is a potent vasodilator in human skin vasculature and also provide
      important insights into the clinical study of local acute VEGF(165) therapy for
      prevention/treatment of skin ischemia in skin flap surgery.

PMID- 20934717
TI  - Ischemic postconditioning does not provide cardioprotection from long-term
      ischemic injury in isolated male or female rat hearts.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Ischemic postconditioning (PoC) is a cardio-protective strategy in
      which initial reperfusion is interrupted by episodes of ischemia. It is unclear
      whether PoC can be achieved in the Langendorff perfused rat heart model. We
      investigated (1) whether postconditioning occurs in Langendorff perfused rat
      heart and (2) whether there is a gender-specific response to PoC. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: Male/female rat hearts (n = 8/group) were subjected to 30 min of
      equilibration, 30 min of ischemia, and 120 min of reperfusion (Control). PoC was
      induced by 6 cycles (PoC 6c10s), 3 cycles (PoC 3c10s), or 2 cycles (PoC 2c10s) of
      10 s reperfusion/10 s ischemia. Rate pressure product (RPP) and infarct size were
      measured. Male rats (n = 7/group) were subjected in vivo to 30 min left coronary
      ligation followed by 24 h of reperfusion (Control) or PoC 6c10s and 24 h of
      reperfusion. RESULTS: Recovery of RPP was 18% +/- 4% in male Control versus 17%
      +/- 2% for 6c10s, 16% +/- 1% for 3c10s, and 15% +/- 3% for 2c10s. Female Control
      hearts recovered 25% +/- 3% of their RPP versus 21% +/- 2% for 6c10s. Infarct
      size was 25% +/- 3% for male Control versus 26% +/- 3% for 6c10s, 30% +/- 2% for
      3c10s, 28% +/- 1% for 2c10s, and 30% +/- 2% for female Control versus 29% +/- 2%
      in 6c10s. In vivo infarct size for Control and PoC 6c10s was 44% +/- 3% and 28%
      +/- 5%, respectively (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: In the Langendorff perfused rat
      hearts, none of the PoC protocols improved myocardial tolerance to ischemia
      reperfusion injury nor decreased infarct size; however, in vivo postconditioning
      did confer protection. The lack of protection in the isolated hearts was not
      gender specific.

PMID- 20934718
TI  - Efficacy of tigecycline pleurodesis: a comparative experimental study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We investigated whether tigecycline (TIGE) is more effective than
      talc in inducing pleurodesis in rabbits. METHODS: Fifty-six New Zealand rabbits
      were utilized in a two-phase study: Effects at 14 d (phase I) and at 28 d (phase
      II) were assessed. Saline solution (SAL n = 3), talc slurry (TALC 200 mg/kg, n =
      5), and TIGE at different concentrations (mg/kg): TIGE0.5 (n = 5); TIGE1 (n = 5);
      TIGE3 (n = 5); TIGE25 (n = 5); TIGE50 (n = 5) were randomly injected, for each
      phase, through a right chest drainage. TIGE0.5 and TIGE1 were ineffective during
      phase I and were thus excluded from further investigation. At post mortem
      examination, pleurodesis was graded grossly and microscopically by three
      observers blinded to treatment groups. RESULTS: Phase I: pleurodesis was more
      effective in TIGE25 and TIGE50 (P < 0.001); TALC was better than TIGE0.5 (P <
      0.001), and TIGE1 (P = 0.49), macroscopically. Pleural thickness was
      significantly higher in TIGE25 compared with SAL, TALC, TIGE0.5, TIGE1, and TIGE3
      (P < 0.01). No significant differences were evident between TALC and TIGE3, both
      macroscopically (P = 0.90) and microscopically (inflammation P = 0.99, fibrosis P
      = 0.96, pleural thickness P = 0.99). Phase II: better effectiveness of TIGE50
      compared with all other groups (P < 0.001) except TIGE 25 (P = 0.29); results
      similar to phase I for TALC and TIGE3 (P = 0.99), macroscopically.
      Microscopically greater inflammation in TALC compared with TIGE3 (P < 0.05) and
      in TIGE50 to TIGE3 (P = 0.05). Significant complications occurred in all TIGE50
      group. One of TIGE25 and one of TIGE50 died of respiratory distress and of right
      hemothorax+ascites, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Intrapleural TIGE3 mg/kg is as
      effective as talc in inducing pleurodesis in rabbits. The intrapleural TIGE
      toxicity threshold was reached at TIGE25 mg/kg concentration.

PMID- 20934719
TI  - The impact of the 80-hour work week on student interest in a surgical career.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: In July 2003, an 80-h work wk was initiated for residents across
      the United States, with the potential benefit of improving resident quality of
      life. Using a survey of medical students, we evaluated whether this change
      increased medical students' interest in pursuing a career in surgery. METHODS:
      Surveys were administered to 505 medical students prior to and after completing
      their surgical clerkship at a university-based medical school. Results were then
      analyzed with significance determined as a P<=0.05. RESULTS: Overall, 55 (10.9%)
      medical students stated they anticipated pursuing a surgical career prior to
      starting their clerkship. There was no difference in the pre-rotation interest in
      a surgical career from before to after introduction of the 80-h work wk (8.3%
      versus 12.6%, P=0.14). Men were also more likely than women to report a pre
      rotation interest in surgery (16.9% versus 6.1%, P<0.001). The most important
      factor influencing a student's post-clerkship interest in pursuing a career in
      surgery was a pre-rotation interest. CONCLUSION: These data indicate that the 80
      h work wk has not improved medical students' or females' interests in surgery.
      Since the strongest predictor of pursuing a career in surgery is a pre-rotation
      interest, we need to continue efforts to appeal to medical students earlier in
      their education and improve upon their perceptions of surgery.

PMID- 20934720
TI  - Patient misunderstanding of the academic hierarchy is prevalent and predictable.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Medical personnel introduce themselves to patients using titles that
      reflect their level of training, although these titles may not be inherently
      obvious to the patient. This study explored patient understanding of commonly
      used physician and student titles. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A survey was developed
      asking patients to match six mutually exclusive medical titles to six levels of
      training. Categories included attending physician, chief resident, resident,
      intern, medical student, and pre-medical student. Respondent age, gender, medical
      training, employment in a healthcare field, educational level, income, and number
      of visits to a physician per y were requested. A brief intervention was then
      performed in which a second group of patients were advised of the designations
      and then asked to match the same categories. RESULTS: A total of 365 surveys were
      collected from the first group and 102 from the second group. Respondents
      accurately identified the level of training required for all six titles in only
      44.5% of surveys collected, and in 52.0% after the intervention. Patients with at
      least some college education or income>$50,000 per y were more likely to answer
      correctly (P<0.001). On the other hand, even respondents with graduate degrees or
      incomes>$100,000 per y had difficulty correctly identifying the training of all
      team members. CONCLUSIONS: Patients do not understand the distinctions in
      training of surgical team members, especially those patients with decreased
      income or education; therefore, clinicians may wish to pay particular attention
      to these introductions. The survey did identify this as being important to
      patients.

PMID- 20934721
TI  - Metastatic lymph node targeted chemosensitivity test for gastric cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The objective of this study was to compare the chemosensitivity of
      primary tumor and metastasized lymph node from patient with gastric
      adenocarcinoma. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We studied 26 gastric cancer patients with
      lymph node metastasis who underwent gastric resection at the Korea University
      Guro Hospital from Feb 2007 to July 2008. The chemosensitivity of primary tumor
      and metastatic lymph node were studied using an adenosine triphosphate-based
      chemotherapy response assay (ATP-CRA). RESULTS: The concordance rate of the ATP
      CRA test was 30.8% (8/26). The concordance rate between primary tumor and
      metastatic N2 group lymph node was only 9.1% (1/11). The metastatic tumor
      inhibition rates with 5-fluorouracil, cisplatin, doxorubicin, and oxaliplatin
      were higher than the inhibition rates for primary tumor. Tumor inhibition rates
      was significantly different between primary tumor and metastatic tumor after
      doxorubicin treatment (27.734+/-20.95 versus 38.403+/-26.87, P=0.021). We
      detected simple correlations of tumor inhibition rates between primary and
      metastatic tumors with cisplatin (r=0.661, P<0.001) and doxorubicin (r=0.475,
      P=0.031). CONCLUSIONS: We observed differences between first choice
      chemotherapeutic agents based on ATPCRA tests of primary tumor and metastatic
      tumor in lymph node. Therefore, chemotherapeutic agents should be carefully
      selected for adjuvant chemotherapy using a chemosensitivity test.

PMID- 20934722
TI  - Leukocyte and platelet depletion improves blood flow and function in a renal
      transplant model.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Donation after cardiac death (DCD) donors are an important source of
      organs for transplantation. Due to warm and cold ischemic injury, DCD kidneys
      undergo a significant reperfusion insult when transplanted. This is manifested
      clinically as a high incidence of delayed graft function (DGF) and primary non
      function (PNF). The importance of leukocytes in the generation of reperfusion
      injury is pivotal. METHODS: Using an ex vivo porcine model of kidney
      transplantation, the effects of reperfusion with leukocyte and platelet depleted
      blood (LDB) and whole blood (WB) on renal blood flow and function were compared.
      Hemodynamic measurements were recorded, and biochemical, hematological, and
      histologic samples taken at set time-points. RESULTS: Reperfusion with LDB
      improved renal blood flow significantly compared with WB reperfusion. In
      addition, there was a significant improvement in creatinine clearance and renal
      oxygen consumption, but not fractional excretion of sodium, acid-base
      homeostasis, urinary nitric oxide (NO), or 8-isoprostane levels. CONCLUSIONS:
      This study represents a good model for the initial reperfusion period in renal
      transplantation. Improvement in only some functional markers and neither urinary
      NO nor 8-isoprostane levels indicates that improved blood flow alone is not
      sufficient to reverse the severe ischemic insult endured by DCD kidneys.

PMID- 20934724
TI  - Staged-injection procedure to prevent cement leakage during vertebroplasty: an in
      vitro study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Epidural leaks or canal intrusion are often found in vertebroplasty,
      which can lead to several complications. To the best of our knowledge, this is
      the first report on using two-stage injection procedure in vertebroplasty to
      reduce cement leakage rate. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fifty cadaveric vertebrae (L1
      L5) were harvested from 10 osteoporotic lumbar spines. The age of the female
      donors ranged from 60 to 72 y; the bone mineral density (BMD) of the vertebrae
      ranged from 0.226 to 0.631 g/cm(2). Polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) was injected
      into vertebral bodies by either novel two-stage injection (1 mL cement was
      injected at first stage and another 4 mL cement was injected at second stage
      after the cement solidified) or standard conventional injection procedure. After
      injection, all vertebral bodies (VBs) were checked for cement leakage into spinal
      canal by vision and fluoroscopy. Cement leakage rates were recorded. RESULTS: The
      two-stage injection procedure resulted in a significant decrease in the epidural
      or canal leakage rate (P = 0.032). In addition, the paravertebral leakage rate
      was significantly higher in two-stage injection procedure group (48%) than in
      conventional injection procedure group (16%). However, no significant difference
      was found for the total cement leakage rate between the two groups. CONCLUSION:
      Compared with conventional procedure, the two-stage injection procedure in
      vertebroplasty decreased incidence of epidural and canal leaks. The first-stage
      injecting PMMA can be a barrier to the epidural extravasation of cement during
      vertebroplasty. Further in vivo and clinical researches are needed to evaluate
      the new procedure.

PMID- 20934723
TI  - Bile salts differentially sensitize esophageal squamous cells to CD95 (Fas/Apo-1
      receptor) mediated apoptosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The role of nonacidic reflux contents on the pathophysiology of
      Barrett's esophagus remains poorly understood. We hypothesized that esophageal
      squamous epithelium differs from Barrett's columnar epithelium in response to
      bile salts with respect to subsequent changes in the cell surface expression of
      CD95 (Fas/Apo-1) and sensitivity to CD95-mediated apoptosis. METHODS:
      Immortalized esophageal squamous cells (HET-1A) and Barrett's esophagus cells
      (BAR-T), and esophageal adenocarcinoma cells (Flo-1) were treated with toxic and
      nontoxic bile salts at concentrations observed in gastroesophageal refluxate.
      CD95 cell-surface expression and apoptotic response to activating anti-CD95
      antibody treatment was determined by FACScan analysis. RESULTS: Bile salt
      exposure resulted in a dose-dependent increase in CD95 cell-surface expression in
      HET-1A cells, but not BAR-T or Flo-1 cells. This response occurred rapidly,
      within a time-frame inconsistent with de novo protein synthesis and was blocked
      by protein kinase C (PKC) inhibition. Surprisingly, PKC inhibition in Flo-1 cells
      resulted in an increase in CD95 cell surface expression. Following bile salt
      exposure, a corresponding increase in the induction of CD95-mediated apoptosis
      was observed in HET-1A cells; PKC inhibition sensitized Flo-1 cells to apoptosis.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that esophageal squamous cells are sensitized
      to CD95-mediated apoptosis following bile salt exposure. This differential
      response, compared with columnar epithelial cells, could exert a selection
      pressure that contributes to the pathophysiology of Barrett's esophagus.

PMID- 20934726
TI  - Internet-based assessment of postoperative neurocognitive function in cardiac and
      thoracic aortic surgery patients.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The primary purpose of this study was to determine the practicality of
      long-term, postoperative neurocognitive assessment via remote Internet-based
      testing in a cohort of patients who had undergone cardiac or thoracic aortic
      surgery within the previous 6 years. The secondary aim of this study was to
      examine the relationships among hypothermic circulatory arrest time,
      cardiopulmonary bypass time, and selective cerebral perfusion time with long-term
      postoperative neurocognitive function, as assessed by this novel testing method.
      METHODS: Three hundred patients who had undergone cardiac and/or proximal aortic
      surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass (n = 207), thoracic aortic surgery with
      hypothermic circulatory arrest (n = 67), or thoracic aortic surgery with
      hypothermic circulatory arrest and selective cerebral perfusion (n = 26) within
      the previous 6 years underwent Internet-based neurocognitive assessment. RESULTS:
      The duration of hypothermic circulatory arrest was negatively associated with
      processing speed scores and memory scores; arrest duration greater than 21 to 24
      minutes was negatively associated with response speed scores. These associations
      were independent of time since surgery, age at testing, and educational level.
      Neither cardiopulmonary bypass duration nor selective cerebral perfusion duration
      was associated with test score results. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated the
      practicality of long-term neurocognitive assessment of patients who have
      undergone cardiac and thoracic aortic surgery by means of Internet-based
      computerized testing. Furthermore, there was a negative association between the
      duration of intraoperative hypothermic circulatory arrest and long-term
      postoperative neurocognitive function that needs further examination in
      prospective studies.

PMID- 20934725
TI  - Reproducibility of left atrial ablation with high-intensity focused ultrasound
      energy in a calf model.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Achieving transmural tissue ablation might be necessary for successful
      treatment of atrial fibrillation. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the
      reproducibility of transmural left atrial ablation using a high-intensity focused
      ultrasound energy system in a calf model. METHODS: Nine heparinized bovines
      underwent a beating-heart left atrial ablation with a single application of the
      high-intensity focused ultrasound device. All animals were acutely killed, and
      the left atrium was fixed in formalin. Protocolized histological sections (5 MUm)
      were obtained throughout each lesion and prepared with Masson trichrome and
      hematoxylin and eosin staining. Measurements were performed on a total of 359
      slides from the 9 lesions. In addition, fresh left atrial tissues from 18 unused
      human donor hearts that did not meet the criteria for cardiac transplantation
      were measured at the site where the high-intensity focused ultrasound device is
      normally applied. RESULTS: Calf left atrial thickness ranged between 2.5 and 20.1
      mm, with a mean of 9.10 mm. High-intensity focused ultrasound ablation
      consistently produced a 100% transmural lesion in left atrial thickness up to 6
      mm. In addition, a transmural lesion was observed in 91% of tissues that were up
      to 10 mm thick and in 85% that were up to 15 mm thick. Human left atrial
      thickness ranged between 1.2 to 6 mm, with a mean of 3.7 mm. CONCLUSIONS: Calf
      left atrial thickness in this study was greater than human left atrial thickness.
      Human left atrial thickness is generally less than 6 mm, and in this range high
      intensity focused ultrasound ablation achieved 100% transmurality. These
      histological results might correlate with a high success rate of atrial
      fibrillation ablation by using the high-intensity focused ultrasound system.

PMID- 20934727
TI  - The influence of age on atrial fibrillation recurrence after the maze procedure
      in patients with giant left atrium.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The presence of a giant left atrium (LA) is strongly associated with
      the recurrence of atrial fibrillation (AF) after the maze procedure. Therefore,
      we investigated the factors affecting the rhythm outcomes after the maze
      procedure in patients with a giant LA and AF-associated mitral valve disease to
      determine the best candidates for the maze procedure in this population. METHODS:
      From January 1999 to December 2006, 224 patients with a giant LA (> 60 mm)
      underwent bi-atrial maze procedures combined with mitral valve surgery.
      Multivariate Cox regression analysis was performed to determine the risk factors
      for maze failure. RESULTS: Follow-up was complete in all patients at a mean of
      48.3 +/- 28.0 months, during which 4 early and 9 late deaths occurred. Of the 218
      early survivors, 24 had late AF recurrence. The 5-year AF-free rate was 87.1% +/-
      4.3% in patients 50 years or younger and 77.3% +/- 4.1% in patients older than 50
      years (P = .001). Univariate analysis showed that advanced patient age (> 50
      years), a longer duration of AF, a fine AF pattern (wave length < 1 mm), and
      increased cardiothoracic ratio (> 60%) were associated with late AF recurrence.
      On multivariate analysis, advanced patient age was the only significant,
      independent risk factor for AF recurrence. CONCLUSIONS: Although giant LA is
      known to be a predictor of poor outcomes after the maze procedure, younger
      patients had more favorable rhythm outcomes than older patients, as shown by the
      superior freedom from AF recurrence. A more aggressive surgical approach in
      younger patients might eliminate AF, even in the presence of a giant LA.

PMID- 20934728
TI  - Arsenic, cadmium, lead and mercury in canned sardines commercially available in
      eastern Kentucky, USA.
AB  - Seventeen samples of canned sardines, originating from six countries and sold in
      eastern Kentucky, USA, were analyzed in composites of 3-4 fish each for total
      arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb) by graphite furnace atomic absorption
      spectrophotometry (AAS) and for mercury (Hg) by thermal decomposition
      amalgamation and AAS. Results in MUg/g wet: As 0.49-1.87 (mean: 1.06), Cd<0.01
      0.07 (0.03), Pb<0.06-0.27 (0.11), Hg ND <0.09. Values fall generally within
      readings reported by others, but no internationally agreed upon guidelines have
      yet been set for As or Cd in canned or fresh fish. The incidence of cancers and
      cardiovascular diseases associated with As ingestion is extraordinarily high
      here. With the role of food-borne As in human illness presently under scrutiny
      and its maximum allowable limits in fish being reviewed, more studies of this
      nature are recommended, especially considering the potential importance of small
      pelagic fishes as future seafood of choice.

PMID- 20934729
TI  - Pre- and post-1998 ENSO records of shallow-water octocorals (Alcyonacea) in the
      Chagos Archipelago.
AB  - When compared, principal octocorals collected in the Chagos Archipelago before
      and after the 1998 ENSO shared many common taxa. While a few discontinuities in
      their biodiversity revealed subtle changes in more persistent genera (Lobophytum,
      Sarcophyton), some fast-growing "fugitive" genera (e.g. Cespitularia,
      Efflatounaria, Heteroxenia) disappeared after the ENSO-related coral bleaching.
      Such transient fugitives might thus be eliminated from soft coral communities on
      isolated reef systems, possibly in the long term, by events of this nature. The
      appearance of Carijoa riseii, a species often considered a fouling organism, even
      an invasive, may well be indicative of reef degradation during the ENSO event.
      The post-ENSO recovery manifested by this fauna nevertheless gives cause for hope
      for their survival in the face of climate change.

PMID- 20934730
TI  - Circulating interleukin-1beta and interleukin-6 concentrations are closely
      associated with gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase activity in middle-aged Japanese men
      without obvious cardiovascular diseases.
AB  - Interleukin (IL)-1beta and IL-6 expressions are known to be induced by oxidant
      stress. In the present study, we examined the relationships between these
      interleukins and the activity of gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase (gamma-GTP), which
      was recently reported as a source of oxidant stress production, in the
      circulating blood of middle-aged Japanese men without obvious cardiovascular
      diseases. We conducted a cross-sectional study of 317 Japanese men without
      obvious cardiovascular diseases aged 40 to 69 years (mean +/- SD, 58.6 +/- 7.6
      years) who participated in health checkups in Japan. We analyzed their clinical
      parameters in serum, lifestyle factors, and plasma IL-1beta and IL-6
      concentrations. We compared the relationships between these interleukin
      concentrations and the clinical parameters and lifestyle factors by Spearman
      correlation coefficients. Stepwise multiple linear regression analyses for
      interleukins based on the other parameters and gamma-GTP, which were classified
      into 3 groups according to the concentrations, were performed. Interleukin-1beta
      and IL-6 concentrations were closely associated with gamma-GTP activity but less
      associated with alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase
      activities by Spearman correlation coefficients. Stepwise multiple linear
      regression analyses showed that gamma-GTP activity was the explanatory variable
      for elevated IL-1beta and IL-6 concentrations. As natural logarithms, the IL
      1beta and IL-6 concentrations were estimated to be 1.734- and 1.157-fold higher,
      respectively, in subjects with high gamma-GTP activity ranges than in subjects
      with a low gamma-GTP activity range. The present results show that circulating IL
      1beta and IL-6 concentrations are strongly and independently associated with
      gamma-GTP activity in middle-aged Japanese men without obvious cardiovascular
      diseases.

PMID- 20934731
TI  - Olive oil phenols modulate the triacylglycerol molecular species of human very
      low-density lipoprotein. A randomized, crossover, controlled trial.
AB  - Virgin olive oil phenolic compounds have been revealed to be potent antioxidants
      as part of the Mediterranean diet. To test the hypothesis that these phenolics
      can modulate the serum and very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) triacylglycerol
      concentrations in humans, a double-blind, randomized, crossover trial was
      designed. Thirty-three participants received 25 mL/d of refined olive oil (devoid
      of phenolic content [PC]), common olive oil (PC = 370 mmol/kg), and virgin olive
      oil (PC = 825 mmol/kg) in a Latin square design. The 3 olive oils were
      administered over 3 periods of 3 weeks, each one preceded by 2-week washout
      periods. All analyses were carried out on an intention-to-treat basis. The
      interventions did not modify the concentrations of serum and low-density
      lipoprotein cholesterol and triacylglycerol; but they exerted changes in the
      cholesterol, triacylglycerol, and phospholipid content of VLDL. The virgin olive
      oil consumption led to increased oleic and palmitic acids, as well as decreased
      linoleic acid, in VLDL. The main outcome was the significant dose-dependent
      linear trend between the PC in the olive oils and the palmitic (16:0) and
      linoleic (18:2 n-6) acid and their corresponding triacylglycerol molecular
      species in VLDL.

PMID- 20934732
TI  - [Muscular disability and organ impairments in myotonic dystrophy type 1].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Myotonic dystrophy (DM1) is a multisystemic disorder characterized by
      myotonic muscular weakness, and numerous organ impairments, especially cardiac
      and respiratory disorders. The goal of this study was to evaluate in DM1 patients
      the relationships between a new muscular disability scale, the motor function
      measure (MFM), and functional measurements of organ involvements. PATIENTS AND
      METHODS: The MFM and MDRS, as well as spirometry, blood gases, echocardiography,
      electrocardiogram, and ophthalomological examination were performed in 69
      consecutive DM1 patients. RESULTS: Significant relationships were found between
      MDRS and MFM (p < 0.001) as well as between both and age and BMI of the patients.
      Patients with total MFM below 76 had a higher risk of respiratory insufficiency,
      conduction disorders, left ventricular dysfunction, hypoxemia and cataract than
      the other DM1 patients. CONCLUSION: The MFM provides an effective evaluation of
      muscular disability in DM1 patients. Cardiac and respiratory involvements are
      correlated with lower MFM.

PMID- 20934733
TI  - [Seizure prediction: from myth to reality].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Clinical, metabolic and electrophysiologic studies suggest the
      existence of a preictal state, a transition between the interictal state and
      seizure. STATE OF THE ART: Analysis of the intracranial EEG by mathematical
      methods shows changes of the brain dynamics several minutes before the occurrence
      of partial seizures. These modifications can be widespread and not restricted to
      the epileptogenic focus, which would explain why they can also be detected from
      scalp EEG. Several scenarios could underlie the preictal state: a progressive
      recruitment of neurons or a facilitating state with a high probability of seizure
      occurrence. Because of the high rate of false predictions, no satisfactory method
      for seizure prediction has been currently proposed. PERSPECTIVES: A European
      multicenter study (Evolving platform for improving living expectation of patients
      suffering from IctAl events [EPILEPSIAE]) is currently evaluating a combination
      of 44 methods applied for EEG and ECG analysis on long-term recordings obtained
      from a large multicenter database (www.epilepsiae.eu). CONCLUSION: Combining
      analyses of multi-level signals including intracranial EEG and microelectrodes,
      scalp EEG and in vitro electrophysiological studies of post-operative tissues
      should help clarify brain dynamics during the pre-ictal state.

PMID- 20934734
TI  - [Solitary intramedullary metastasis from malignant pleural mesothelioma treated
      with CyberKnife(r): A case report].

PMID- 20934735
TI  - [Neuromarketing: When marketing meet neurosciences].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The emergence of brain imaging in recent years has been accompanied
      by an alliance between neuroscientists and marketers. This collaboration gave
      birth to "neuromarketing", a new field that uses imaging techniques with the aim
      of resolving marketing issues. STATE OF THE ART: Several studies have shown that
      pleasure felt at the sight of a product or after its consumption, is activated by
      a reward system involving ventral striatum. Since then, marketers seeking exploit
      this data and have found that some marketing actions can generate added
      satisfaction in a placebo-like manner. However, neuromarketing suffer from many
      limits that are a barrier to its development and its scope is restricted.
      PERSPECTIVES: Through this article, we attempt to give an overview on
      neuromarketing and its neural correlates while provide a perspective toward the
      use of field for less commercial purposes. CONCLUSION: The neuromarketing is a
      new field which efficiency is not proven. Its results must be interpreted with
      caution.

PMID- 20934737
TI  - Copper uptake and translocation in a submerged aquatic plant Hydrilla
      verticillata (L.f.) Royle.
AB  - A comprehensive understanding of the uptake, tolerance and transport of heavy
      metals in the wetland system through aquatic plants will be essential for the
      development of phytoremediation technologies. Copper accumulation and
      translocation of a submersed macrophyte Hydrilla verticillata (L.f.) Royle were
      investigated. Plant shoots showed a significant accumulation of Cu with a maximum
      of 30830 mg Cu kg-1 dry weight after exposed to 4000 MUg L-1 Cu for 4d. Both
      roots and shoots can directly take up Cu from solution and Cu mainly accumulated
      in cell wall fractions. Moreover, H. verticillata predominantly accumulated Cu
      through shoots from the aqueous solutions because of the higher weights and
      bioaccumulation factors of shoots than those of roots. Acropetal translocation of
      Cu in the plant is higher than the basipetal translocation, which implies that
      upward translocation of Cu is mainly via the xylem and downward translocation is
      mainly through the phloem. These findings contribute to the application of
      submerged aquatic plants to copper removal from moderately contaminated waters.

PMID- 20934736
TI  - Controlling harmful cyanobacterial blooms in a hyper-eutrophic lake (Lake Taihu,
      China): the need for a dual nutrient (N & P) management strategy.
AB  - Harmful cyanobacterial blooms, reflecting advanced eutrophication, are spreading
      globally and threaten the sustainability of freshwater ecosystems. Increasingly,
      non-nitrogen (N(2))-fixing cyanobacteria (e.g., Microcystis) dominate such
      blooms, indicating that both excessive nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) loads may
      be responsible for their proliferation. Traditionally, watershed nutrient
      management efforts to control these blooms have focused on reducing P inputs.
      However, N loading has increased dramatically in many watersheds, promoting
      blooms of non-N(2) fixers, and altering lake nutrient budgets and cycling
      characteristics. We examined this proliferating water quality problem in Lake
      Taihu, China's 3rd largest freshwater lake. This shallow, hyper-eutrophic lake
      has changed from bloom-free to bloom-plagued conditions over the past 3 decades.
      Toxic Microcystis spp. blooms threaten the use of the lake for drinking water,
      fisheries and recreational purposes. Nutrient addition bioassays indicated that
      the lake shifts from P limitation in winter-spring to N limitation in
      cyanobacteria-dominated summer and fall months. Combined N and P additions led to
      maximum stimulation of growth. Despite summer N limitation and P availability,
      non-N(2) fixing blooms prevailed. Nitrogen cycling studies, combined with N input
      estimates, indicate that Microcystis thrives on both newly supplied and
      previously-loaded N sources to maintain its dominance. Denitrification did not
      relieve the lake of excessive N inputs. Results point to the need to reduce both
      N and P inputs for long-term eutrophication and cyanobacterial bloom control in
      this hyper-eutrophic system.

PMID- 20934738
TI  - Implications of geographic variability on Comparative Toxicity Potentials of Cu,
      Ni and Zn in freshwaters of Canadian ecoregions.
AB  - Current methods of estimating potential environmental impacts of metals in hazard
      and Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) do not consider differences in chemistry
      and landscape properties between geographic sites. Here, we developed and applied
      a model for regional aquatic impact characterization of metals using an updated
      method for estimating environmental fate factor (FF), bioavailability factor (BF)
      and aquatic ecotoxicity factor (EF). We applied the model to analyze differences
      in Comparative Toxicity Potentials (CTPs) of Cu, Ni and Zn for 24 Canadian
      ecoregions. The combined impacts of regional variability in ambient chemistry (in
      particular DOC, pH and hardness) and landscape properties (water residence time)
      can change the CTPs of these metals for freshwater by up to three orders of
      magnitude and change the relative ranking of metal hazard between ecoregions.
      Variation among Canadian freshwater chemistries and landscape characteristics
      influence the FFs within two orders of magnitude, BFs within two orders of
      magnitude for Ni and Zn and four orders of magnitude for Cu, and EFs within one
      order of magnitude. Sensitivity of metal FFs to environmental parameters alone
      spans three orders of magnitude when a constant water chemistry was used for all
      ecoregions. These results indicate that application of regionalised metal CTPs
      can have a significant influence in the analysis of ecotoxicological impacts in
      the life cycle assessment of products and processes.

PMID- 20934739
TI  - Modern human origins: continuity, replacement, and masticatory robusticity in
      Australasia.
AB  - Morphological evidence for a Multiregional (MR) model of human origins is
      suggested by a series of "linking traits" seen in the crania of late Javanese
      Homo erectus from Ngandong and anatomically modern Australian crania. A few
      studies that consider the genetic, structural, or functional aspects of these
      regional traits suggest their appearance is heavily influenced not by shared
      phylogeny but by a common "strong" masticatory pattern. Using dental occlusal
      areas, external mandibular metrics, internal biomechanical properties of the
      mandibular corpus measured from CT scans, and nonmetric traits associated with
      the attachment of masticatory muscles, we test the hypothesis that Australians
      exhibit evidence of a "strong" masticatory pattern. We use a mixed-sex
      comparative human sample (n = 415) that includes precontact Alaskans from Point
      Hope and the Aleutian Islands, Californians, Peruvians, an urban forensic sample,
      and the late Pleistocene Afalou-Taforalt sample. In comparison with recent humans
      known to exhibit such patterns, Australian mandibles show none of the expected
      changes related to producing and dissipating heavy occlusal loads. This is true
      regardless of whether external or internal mandibular dimensions are considered,
      albeit Australians show large occlusal areas and relatively large section modulus
      indices. Thus, a prime functional argument proposed for the origin of some
      Australian regional features is not supported by these data.

PMID- 20934740
TI  - The Spy VI child: a newly discovered Neandertal infant.
AB  - Spy cave (Jemeppe-sur-Sambre, Belgium) is reputed for the two adult Neandertal
      individuals discovered in situ in 1886. Recent reassessment of the Spy
      collections has allowed direct radiocarbon dating of these individuals. The
      sorting of all of the faunal collections has also led to the discovery of the
      remains of a Neandertal child, Spy VI. This individual is represented by two
      mandibular corpus fragments. The left fragment is the most complete and both
      sides preserve the mental foramen. Four deciduous teeth are associated with these
      mandibular remains: three incisors and one canine. The lower left canine (Spy
      645a) conjoins with the corresponding alveolar socket in the left part of the
      mandible. Following extant standards, the developmental stage of the preserved
      teeth indicate an age at death of about one and a half years. In addition to
      performing a classical morphometric comparative study of the mandible and teeth,
      we have evaluated the dental tissue proportions using high-resolution
      microtomographic techniques. Our results show that Spy VI generally falls within
      the Neandertal range of variation. However, this specimen also exhibits
      particular traits, notably in the dental internal structural organization, which
      reveals that variation in the immature Neandertal variation is larger than what
      was variation currently represented by the available fossil record. These
      observations demonstrate the need for investigating the frequency and expression
      of immature Neandertal traits in fossil anterior teeth, as well as their temporal
      and geographic variation. Direct radiocarbon dating of the Spy VI specimen has
      been conducted in two different laboratories. The results of Spy VI confirm the
      age previously determined for the two adults, making the Spy Neandertal remains
      the youngest ever directly dated in northwest Europe.

PMID- 20934741
TI  - Air quality impact assessment of at-berth ship emissions: Case-study for the
      project of a new freight port.
AB  - This work is intended to assess the impact on local air quality due to
      atmospheric emissions from port area activities for a new port in project in the
      Mediterranean Sea. The sources of air pollutants in the harbour area are
      auxiliary engines used by ships at berth during loading/offloading operations. A
      fleet activity-based methodology is first applied to evaluate annual pollutant
      emissions (NO(X), SO(X), PM, CO and VOC) based on vessel traffic data, ships
      tonnage and in-port hotelling time for loading/offloading operations. The 3
      dimensional Calpuff transport and dispersion model is then applied for the
      subsequent assessment of the ground level spatial distribution of atmospheric
      pollutants for both long-term and short-term averaging times. Compliance with
      current air quality standards in the port area is finally evaluated and
      indications for port operation are provided. Some methodological aspects of the
      impact assessment procedure, namely those concerning the steps of emission
      scenario definitions and model simulations set-up at the project stage, are
      specifically addressed, suggesting a pragmatic approach for similar evaluations
      for small new ports in project.

PMID- 20934742
TI  - What do we know about effects of desert dust on air quality and human health in
      West Africa compared to other regions?
AB  - This study aims to compare, on the one hand, the geographical distribution of the
      desert dust source areas, their contribution to quantities emitted into the
      atmosphere, the trajectories and the quantities deposited, with on the other hand
      the areas of research interest focused on the desert dust impacts on air quality
      and/or human health. Based on a systematic review of the literature using the ISI
      Web of Knowledge database, we found 231 articles published over the last decade
      on the desert dust impacts on air quality. Of these, 48% concerned Asian dust and
      39% Saharan dust, with the remaining 13% divided between the other dust source
      areas. However, only one of these studies addressed the worsening air pollution
      in West Africa, even though it is very close to the Sahara, the greatest
      contributor to the global dust budget. Moreover, there have been very few studies
      (41) looking at the direct links between desert dust and human health; in this
      context too, no interest has been shown in West Africa. Yet this region is also
      among the areas in which morbidity rates have been noted to be far higher than
      those found in other regions of the world, and where respiratory infections alone
      account for more than 20% of the causes of infant mortality. This survey
      highlights a clear imbalance between those areas most exposed to dust and the
      most studied areas in terms of dust impacts. Given these findings and the often
      alarming results published about other regions of the world, we advocate a
      revival of interest in research on West Africa in order to achieve a better
      understanding of the desert dust impacts on air quality and health among the
      populations of this region.

PMID- 20934743
TI  - Is there a correlation between the presence of idiopathic detrusor overactivity
      and the degree of bladder outlet obstruction?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the factors associated with the presence of idiopathic
      detrusor overactivity (IDO) in male patients with clinical benign prostatic
      hyperplasia (BPH). MATERIALS AND METHODS: We prospectively evaluated 193 men who
      presented with lower urinary tract symptoms. Each patient underwent urodynamic
      evaluation, International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS), uroflowmetry, residual
      volume check, and transrectal ultrasound for estimation of prostate volume. IDO
      was defined according to the new International Continence Society classification
      (2002) as involuntary detrusor contractions during cystometry, which may be
      spontaneous or provoked, regardless of amplitude. Patients were divided into
      groups according to the presence of detrusor overactivity and bladder outlet
      obstruction index (BOOI) greater than 40. Variables associated with the presence
      of IDO were analyzed using Student's t-test, chi-square test, linear-by-linear
      association test, and logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: Of 193 patients, IDO
      was present in 49 (25.4%). BOOI and prostate volume showed significant but weak
      correlation. On univariate analysis, patients with IDO were older and showed
      smaller maximal bladder capacity (MBC), higher BOOI, higher maximal detrusor
      pressure at maximal flow rate, and higher irritative IPSS subscores. On logistic
      regression analysis, MBC and BOOI were the factors affecting the presence of IDO,
      with odds ratios of 0.981 and 1.046, respectively. Positive linear association
      was noted between BOOI and prevalence of DO by linear association test with
      prevalence of DO rising continuously with increasing BOOI. CONCLUSION: BOO is
      responsible for IDO and because the prevalence of IDO is inversely associated
      with the degree of obstruction, the treatment of BOO is potentially able to
      reverse the DO.

PMID- 20934744
TI  - Influence of material selection on the risk of inlay fracture during pre
      cementation functional occlusal tapping.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate in vitro the pre-cementation resistance of CAD/CAM inlays
      subjected to functional occlusal tapping. METHODS: An extracted tooth model
      (molar and premolar) with simulated bone and periodontal ligament was used to
      make a medium-size mesio-occlusal inlay preparation (molar). Immediate dentin
      sealing was applied to the prepared tooth. The corresponding inlays were
      fabricated with Cerec either using composite resin (Paradigm MZ100) or ceramic
      (e.max CAD and Mark II) blocks (n=14). A high marginal ridge was designed in
      order to generate hyper-occlusion. Pre-cementation occlusal tapping was simulated
      using closed-loop servo-hydraulics at 2 Hz, starting with a load of 40 N,
      followed by 80, 120, 160, 200, 240, and 280 N (10 cycles each). All samples were
      loaded until fracture or to a maximum of 70 cycles. Groups were compared using
      the life table survival analysis (p=0.016, Bonferroni method). RESULTS: Survival
      probability was e.max CAD>MZ100>Mark II. None of the specimens survived the 70
      cycles except for two e.max CAD inlays (survival: 14%). SIGNIFICANCE: Material
      selection has a significant effect on the risk of Cerec inlay fracture during pre
      cementation functional occlusal tapping.

PMID- 20934745
TI  - The repair potential of resin composite materials.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To measure the 'repair' strength of various combinations of composite
      using four manufacturers' adhesive systems, to compare the bond strengths with
      the cohesive strength of the original, unrepaired products and to assess whether
      the chemical nature of the resin matrix influenced the repair strength. METHODS:
      Specimens were prepared of three composite materials Durafill, Heraeus Kulzer;
      P90 (Silorane) 3M ESPE; Z250 (3M ESPE) and aged in water at 60 degrees C for 1
      month. One surface of each specimen was faced with 80-grit silicone carbide
      paper, one of four adhesives placed (Ecusit, DMG; Clearfil Repair, Kuraray; P90
      System Adhesive; Single Bond 2, 3M ESPE) and 'repair' composite added of the same
      type as above, such that all combinations of original and repair composite and
      adhesive were used. 'Stick' samples, approximately 6 mm * 0.8 mm * 4 mm were
      prepared from each repair specimen, a neck created at the junction of original
      and repair composites and the hour-glass sample tested in tension at 1 mm/min.
      The microtensile bond strength of the repair was calculated and the mode of
      failure (adhesive; cohesive in the original composite; cohesive in the repair
      composite) recorded. RESULTS: There was no significant difference between the
      cohesive strengths of Filtek P90 and Filtek Z250 (both ~106 MPa); both were
      significantly stronger than Durafill (67.0 MPa). For bonding to Durafill the bond
      strengths ranged from 17.6 MPa to 50.9 MPa; for bonding to P90, the bond
      strengths ranged from 5.0 MPa to 54.2 MPa; for bonding to Z250, the bond
      strengths ranged from 17.2 MPa to 75.4 MPa. Clearfil Repair appeared to provide
      the most consistently high bond strengths, followed by the P90 System Adhesive,
      Single Bond 2 and Ecusit. Overall, the majority of failures (74%) was adhesive.
      SIGNIFICANCE: It appears that bonding of new dimethacrylate-based composite to
      old dimethacrylate-based composite can be a viable clinical procedure. However,
      if the original composite is silorane-based (e.g., P90), then using the silane
      based adhesive may be the best repair option, and similarly if it is planned to
      effect a repair with a silorane-based composite, using a silane-based adhesive
      may give the best outcome. The null hypotheses are thus rejected.

PMID- 20934746
TI  - Surface functionalized hollow manganese oxide nanoparticles for cancer targeted
      siRNA delivery and magnetic resonance imaging.
AB  - Multifunctional hollow manganese oxide nanoparticles (HMON) were produced by a
      bio-inspired surface functionalization approach, using 3,4-dihydroxy-L
      phenylalanine (DOPA) as an adhesive moiety, for cancer targeted delivery of
      therapeutic siRNA and simultaneous diagnosis via magnetic resonance imaging
      (MRI). Cationic polyethylenimine-DOPA conjugates were stably immobilized onto the
      surface of HMON due to the strong binding affinity of DOPA to metal oxides, as
      examined by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron
      spectroscopy. These nanoparticles were subsequently functionalized with a
      therapeutic monoclonal antibody, Herceptin, to selectively target cancer cells.
      Confocal microscopy and MR imaging studies revealed that the surface
      functionalized HMON enabled the targeted detection of cancer cells in T(1)
      weighted MRI as well as the efficient intracellular delivery of siRNA for cell
      specific gene silencing. These nanomaterials are expected to be widely exploited
      as multifunctional delivery vehicles for cancer therapy and imaging applications.

PMID- 20934747
TI  - The effect of the oral administration of polymeric nanoparticles on the efficacy
      and toxicity of tamoxifen.
AB  - The present investigation reports on the conditions for preparation of tamoxifen
      loaded PLGA nanoparticles (Tmx-NPs) for oral administration. Tmx-NPs with >85%
      entrapment efficiency and 165.58 +/- 3.81 nm particle size were prepared and
      freeze dried. Freeze dried Tmx-NPs were found to be stable in various simulated
      GIT media (pH 1.2, pH 3.5, pH 6.8, SGF & SIF). No significant changes in
      characteristics of Tmx-NPs were observed after 3 months accelerated stability
      studies. The cell viability in C127I cells was found to be relatively lower in
      Tmx-NP treated cells as compared to free Tmx treated cells. CLSM imaging reveled
      that nanoparticles were efficiently localized into the nuclear region of C127I
      cells. Oral bioavailability of Tmx was increased by 3.84 and 11.19 times as
      compared to the free Tmx citrate and Tmx base respectively, when formulated in
      NPs. In vivo oral antitumor efficacy of Tmx-NPs was carried out in DMBA induced
      breast tumor model and tumor size was reduced up to 41.56% as compared to
      untreated groups which showed an increase in tumor size up to 158.66%. Finally,
      Tmx-NPs showed the marked reduction in hepatotoxicty when compared with free Tmx
      citrate as evidenced by histopathological examination of liver tissue as well as
      AST, ALT and MDA levels. Therefore Tmx-NPs could have the significant value for
      the oral chronic breast cancer therapy with reduced hepatotoxicity.

PMID- 20934748
TI  - Oral nuclear factor-kappaB decoy oligonucleotides delivery system with chitosan
      modified poly(D,L-lactide-co-glycolide) nanospheres for inflammatory bowel
      disease.
AB  - Chitosan (CS)-modified poly(D,L-lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) nanospheres (NS)
      were developed and evaluated for use with a nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kappaB)
      decoy oligonucleotide (ODN) oral delivery system in an experimental model of
      ulcerative colitis (UC). Decoy ODN-loaded PLGA NS were prepared by an emulsion
      solvent diffusion method, and the physicochemical properties of NS were
      investigated. CS-modified PLGA NS (CS-PLGA NS) showed positive zeta potential,
      while unmodified PLGA NS (plain-PLGA NS) were negatively charged. Decoy ODN
      uptake studies with Caco-2 cells using confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM)
      indicated that CS-PLGA NS were more effectively taken up by the cells than plain
      PLGA NS. Decoy ODN-loaded CS-PLGA NS were able to improve the stability of ODN
      against DNase I or an acidic medium, such as gastric juice. Daily oral
      administration of CS-PLGA NS in a rat model significantly improved dextran
      sulfate sodium-induced diarrhea, bloody feces, shortening of colon length, and
      myeloperoxidase activity. Furthermore, decoy ODN-loaded CS-PLGA NS were
      specifically deposited and adsorbed on the inflamed mucosal tissue of the UC
      model rat. These results suggested that CS-PLGA NS provide an effective means of
      colon-specific oral decoy ODN delivery in UC.

PMID- 20934749
TI  - Reduced proportion of decidual DC-SIGN+ cells in human spontaneous abortion.
AB  - Recent studies showed that some functions of decidual dendritic cells appear to
      be essential for pregnancy. In humans, decidual dendritic cells are identifiable
      by their expression of DC-SIGN. We compared the subpopulations of human decidual
      DC-SIGN+ cells from first-trimester normal pregnancies and spontaneous abortions
      by flow cytometry. In normal decidua, DC-SIGN+ cells expressed antigens
      associated with immature myeloid dendritic cells. In samples from spontaneous
      abortions, we detected decidual DC-SIGN+ cells with an antigen phenotype
      equivalent to that of DC-SIGN+ cells from normal pregnancies, but at a
      significantly lower proportion (P < 0.01). Our results support the hypothesis
      that dendritic cells play a role in normal or pathological human pregnancy
      outcomes.

PMID- 20934750
TI  - Expression and localisation of FoxO3 and FoxO4 in human placenta and fetal
      membranes.
AB  - Forkhead box O (FoxO) proteins regulate inflammation, extracellular matrix (ECM)
      remodelling and apoptosis. We have previously identified FoxO1 proteins in human
      gestational tissues, and demonstrated a link between FoxO1 and rupture of fetal
      membranes. There is, however, no data available on the expression and
      localisation of FoxO3 and FoxO4 in human intrauterine tissues. Thus the aim of
      this study was to characterise the localisation and expression of FoxO3 and FoxO4
      in (i) human placenta and fetal membranes before term spontaneous labour onset,
      and (ii) supracervical site (SCS) and distal site (DS) fetal membranes from non
      labouring women. Immunohistochemistry, Western blotting and quantitative RT-PCR
      (qRT-PCR) was used to localise and quantitate FoxO3 and FoxO4 protein and mRNA
      expressions. Cytoplasmic and nuclear FoxO3 was localised in the
      syncytiotrophoblast layer, chorionic trophoblasts, amnion epithelium and decidua.
      Cytoplasmic FoxO4 was localised in the syncytiotrophoblasts and chorionic
      trophoblasts. No or very little FoxO4 protein and mRNA was present in amnion
      epithelium. The intensity and extent of staining of FoxO3 and FoxO4 was greater
      in fetal membranes obtained from the SCS compared to DS. Presence of FoxO3 and
      FoxO4 are expected to contribute to apoptosis and/or cell cycle regulation
      associated with fetal membrane rupture.

PMID- 20934751
TI  - Dose and accumulative effects of spent lubricating oil on four common mangrove
      plants in South China.
AB  - The growth of four mangrove species seedlings, namely Bruguiera gymnorrhiza,
      Kandelia obovata, Aegiceras corniculatum and Acanthus ilicifolius in sediments
      contaminated by spent lubricating oil, even at the lowest oil dose (2.5 L m(-2)),
      showed different degrees of sub-lethal damages. All the seedlings of K. obovata
      and A. corniculatum were killed at 10 L m(-2) oil, while the lethal oil dose was
      15 L m(-2) for A. ilicifolius seedlings. B. gymnorrhiza was the most tolerant
      species to oil pollution, which could survive under the highest oil dose
      treatment (15 L m(-2)). Biochemical responses including superoxide radical (O(2)(
      )) release, superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and malonyldialdehyde (MDA)
      content in both leaves and roots of the oil-treated seedlings were increased
      significantly with oil dose, and presented a positive relationship with leaf and
      root biomass.

PMID- 20934752
TI  - In vivo cytogenetic and oxidative stress-inducing effects of cypermethrin in
      freshwater fish, Channa punctata Bloch.
AB  - Synthetic pyrethroids are considered to be safe over other insecticides. Many of
      the newest pyrethroids lack ecotoxicity data. However, animal data indicate that
      their use may pose risk to environmental biota. The cytogenetic effects of
      cypermethrin, an alpha-class type II pyrethroid were evaluated using robust
      genotoxicity assay of chromosomal aberration (CA) and micronucleus (MN) tests in
      highly mitotic kidney cells and in erythrocytes of a freshwater fish, Channa
      punctata Bloch. In order to understand biochemical mechanism of genotoxic
      effects, oxidative stress parameters were also studied in fish erythrocytes. Fish
      exposed to cypermethrin (0.4, 0.8 and 1.2 MUg/l for 48 and 72 h) showed increased
      frequencies of CA and MN in a concentration-dependent manner. Fish exposed to
      positive genotoxin, ethyl methane sulfonate (EMS) also showed significant
      increase in frequencies of CA and MN. The genotoxic effects were invariably
      accompanied and correlated with increased oxidative stress and disturbance of
      antioxidant enzymes.

PMID- 20934753
TI  - Environmental quality of transitional waters: the lagoon of Venice case study.
AB  - The health status of European aquatic environments, including transitional waters
      such as coastal lagoons, is regulated by the Water Framework Directive (WFD),
      which requires the classification of the water bodies' environmental quality and
      the achievement of a good ecological status by 2015. In the Venice lagoon, a
      transitional water body located in the northeastern part of Italy, the
      achievement of a good ecological status is hampered by several anthropogenic and
      natural pressures, such as sediment and water chemical contamination, and
      sediment erosion. In order to evaluate the lagoon's environmental quality
      according to the WFD (i.e. 5 quality classes, from High to Bad), an integrated
      Weight-of-Evidence methodology was developed and applied to classify the quality
      of the lagoon water bodies, integrating biological, physico-chemical, chemical,
      ecotoxicological, and hydromorphological data (i.e. Lines of Evidence, LOE). The
      quality assessment was carried out in two lagoon habitat typologies (previously
      defined on the basis of morphological, sediment, and hydrodynamic
      characteristics) which were selected taking into account the ecological gradient
      from sea to land, and the differences in anthropogenic pressure and contamination
      levels. The LOE classification was carried out by using indicators scored by
      comparing site specific conditions to reference conditions measured in lagoon
      reference sites, or provided by local, national or European regulations (e.g.
      Environmental Quality Standards, EQS, for chemicals). Finally, the overall
      quality status for each water body was calculated by a probabilistic approach,
      i.e. by reporting the final result as the frequency distribution of quality
      classes. The developed procedure was applied by using data and information
      concerning selected LOE and collected from monitoring programs and research
      studies carried out in the last 15 years in the lagoon of Venice. A set of
      sampling stations characterized by spatially and temporally coherent information
      for each LOE was selected, and among these stations, potential reference sites
      for each water body typology were identified. The quality assessment highlighted
      that there are specific lagoon areas, especially those located near the
      industrially developed area, which are highly affected by anthropogenic
      activities, and that chemical contamination is one of the main pressures
      affecting ecological status (e.g. macro-benthonic biodiversity) in the Venice
      lagoon. The integrated quality assessment procedure that was developed provided a
      new tool supporting decision making, as well as lagoon assessment and management.

PMID- 20934754
TI  - Electroconvulsive therapy for major depression within the Veterans Health
      Administration.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is the most effective treatment for
      severe or treatment resistant depression; however, the lack of widely accepted
      methods for determining when ECT is indicated may contribute to disparities and
      variation in use. We examined receipt of ECT among depressed patients in the
      largest coordinated health system in the US, the Veterans Health Administration.
      METHODS: Using administrative data, we conducted a multivariable logistic
      regression to identify individual clinical and sociodemographic predictors of
      receiving ECT, including variables of geographic accessibility to ECT, among
      patients diagnosed with major depressive disorder between 1999 and 2004. RESULTS:
      307 (0.16%) of 187,811 patients diagnosed with major depression received ECT
      during the study period. Black patients were less likely to receive ECT than
      whites (odds ratio 0.33; 95% confidence interval: 0.20, 0.55), and patients
      living in the South (OR: 0.71; 95% CI: 0.53, 0.95) or West (OR: 0.59; 95% CI:
      0.42, 0.82) were less likely to receive ECT than patients living in the central
      US. Patients whose closest VA facility provided ECT had a higher likelihood of
      receiving ECT (OR: 3.02; 95% CI: 2.22, 4.10). Depressed patients with no major
      medical comorbidities were also more likely to receive ECT (OR: 2.42; 95% CI:
      1.65, 3.55). LIMITATIONS: Findings are not adjusted for depression severity.
      CONCLUSIONS: ECT use for major depression was relatively uncommon. Race, US
      region, geographic accessibility, and general medical health were all associated
      with whether or not patients received ECT. Clinicians and health systems should
      work to provide equitable access and more consistent use of this safe and
      effective treatment.

PMID- 20934755
TI  - Tracheal foreign body after laser supraglottoplasty: a hidden but risky
      complication of an aluminum foil tape-wrapped endotracheal tube.
AB  - Wrapping of the endotracheal tube with aluminum foil tape can prevent laser-beam
      induced ignition of the tube during laryngoplasty. However, this modified
      endotracheal tube may pose complications. Two newborn infants had a portion of
      the foil tape trapped in their trachea after extubation from laser
      supraglottoplasty. One infant was totally asymptomatic. The other infant's
      symptoms were masked by the concurrent tracheomalacia. Both residual tapes were
      radiolucent on chest radiographs. Flexible endoscopy was the suitable and safe
      modality for an accurate diagnosis and immediate retrieval of the residual tapes
      in one session.

PMID- 20934756
TI  - Microdebrider vs. electrocautery for tonsillectomy: a meta-analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Tonsillectomy remains to be an ordinary operative process in
      otorhinolaryngology. Although there are a plenty of surgical means adopting in
      otorhinolaryngology, the advantage of one method over another has not been
      systematically demonstrated. The aim of designing this systematic review is to
      evaluate the efficiency of electrocautery tonsillectomy (ECT) compared with the
      microdebrider intracapsular tonsillotomy (MIT). METHODS: We retrieved randomized
      controlled trials (RCTs) from PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, CBM. Two
      reviewers extracted the information of included trials independently. The quality
      of included trials was assessed according to the criteria provided by Cochrane
      Handbook 5.0.1. RESULTS: Four researches were meeting the inclusive criteria
      which contained 501 participants, 253 in microdebrider tonsillotomy group and 248
      in electrocautery tonsillectomy group. Systematic review illustrated that MT
      group had the recovery to normal activity and diet faster than ECT group
      [chi(2)=1.02, P<0.00001, 95% CI (-1.74, -1.30)] and [chi(2)=0.01, P<0.0001, 95%
      CI (-2.56, -0.92)]. There was a statistically significant in blood loss between
      microdebrider tonsillotomy and electrocautery tonsillectomy, the mean difference
      of 5.0 ml [P=0.01, 95% CI (3.4, 26.6)]. There was no statistical significance in
      surgical time. CONCLUSIONS: Compared with the electrocautery tonsillectomy,
      microdebrider tonsillotomy could significantly speed up the time to return to
      normal activity and normal diet. Two groups were similar in terms of surgical
      time of tonsillectomy. This conclusion is needed to be further supported by large
      scale, high-quality, placebo-controlled, double-blind trials between
      microdebrider tonsillotomy and other techniques in the surgery time and blood
      loss of operation.

PMID- 20934757
TI  - Effects of oral amino acid supplementation on long-term-care-acquired infections
      in elderly patients.
AB  - The very high general infection rate (IRI) observed in our Geriatric Intensive
      Rehabilitation Center (GIRC) led us to investigate whether patient
      supplementation with essential amino acids (EAAs), modulators of immuno
      competence, could reduce IRI. Eighty elderly patients admitted to our GIRC (n=40;
      age 79.5 +/- 7.71; male/female 14/26) or placebo (n=40; age 82.13 +/- 6.15;
      male/female 13/27) were allocated to an 8 g/day oral EAAs group and were surveyed
      for infections (>48 h from admission) over the first month of their hospital
      stay. The IRI was 67% for the entire population of patients, 82.5% (33/40
      patients) in the placebo group and 52% (21/40 patients) in the EAA group
      (p<0.02). When patients were divided into infection group (IG) and without
      infection group (WIG), independently of post randomization allocation, the WIG
      had higher levels of serum albumin (p<0.001), blood hemoglobin (Hb) concentration
      (p=0.01), dietary protein (p=0.008) calorie intakes (p=0.05) but lower serum C
      reactive protein (CRP) (p<0.001). The factor of CRP>0.8 mg/dl and Hb <= 12 in
      females, <=13 in males was associated 4 times and 3.6 times risk of infection,
      respectively, by sex. EAAs supplementation may lower the risk of infection by 30%
      in the rehabilitative elderly population. CRP and blood hemoglobin levels can be
      considered risk markers of future infection.

PMID- 20934758
TI  - Application of health concern and activity model on cognition in the elderly.
AB  - The aim of this study was to examine the effects of physical, mental, social
      activity, and health concern on cognition in the elderly by means of the health
      concern and activity (HCA) model. Data were obtained from 3157 subjects aged 60
      years and above. The subjects were divided into four groups according to the HCA
      model. Cognitive function was assessed by the Korean version of the mini-mental
      state examination (K-MMSE). A cross-sectional, factorial design was used in which
      the K-MMSE score was the dependent variable, with physical, mental, and social
      activity as one factor and health concern as the other. Analysis of covariance
      revealed significant differences in the K-MMSE score between all four groups
      after adjusting for age, sex, education, current smoking, and alcohol consumption
      for all subjects. The results suggest that having health concerns as well as
      physical, mental, or social activity is associated with cognitive function in the
      elderly.

PMID- 20934759
TI  - The maximal double step length test can evaluate more adequately the decrease of
      physical function with age, than the maximal single step length test.
AB  - The maximal double step length (MDSL) test is a modified version of the maximal
      step length (MSL) test used to evaluate the dynamic balance related to falls in
      the elderly. Although this test can evaluate their physical function using
      movements similar to daily activities as compared to MSL, it has not been
      clarified whether it can adequately evaluate the activities of daily living (ADL)
      abilities of the elderly, as they decrease with age. This study aimed to examine
      the relationship between both MSL and MDSL on age and ADL in elderly subjects.
      Fifty-seven elderly females who live independently (age 74.8+/-5.6 years) were
      recruited. MSL and MDSL were conducted twice after completing an ADL
      questionnaire. Intra-class correlation coefficients (ICCs) of both tests were
      high (for MSL: ICC=0.95, for MDSL: ICC=0.81-0.82). Age and ADL significantly
      correlated to MDSL (age: r=-0.32-0.41, ADL: r=0.28-0.48), but not to MSL (age: r=
      0.19, ADL: r=0.15). MDSL has high reliability as it relates to age and ADL. It
      may be more useful to evaluate ADL required for independent living and prevent
      falls in the elderly better than MSL.

PMID- 20934760
TI  - Coexistence of ST-elevation myocardial infarction and acute ischemic stroke.

PMID- 20934761
TI  - Stenosis of the superior limb of the systemic venous baffle following a Mustard
      procedure: an under-recognized problem.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Patients with atrioventricular concordance and ventriculoarterial
      discordance (DTGA) and a Mustard procedure may develop stenosis of the superior
      limb of the systemic venous baffle (SLSVB). The frequency of this complication in
      an adult cohort was evaluated. METHODS: Patients >18 years with DTGA and a
      Mustard procedure with and without a pacemaker (PM)/implantable cardioverter
      defibrillator (ICD) were identified through an institutional database. Subjects
      were included following a cardiac imaging study (computed tomography, magnetic
      resonance imaging, venography or cardiac catheterization) and follow-up in the
      PM/ICD or congenital cardiac clinics from 2001 to 2007. The primary end-point was
      narrowing of the SLSVB (<10mm) on cardiac imaging. Hemodynamically significant
      narrowing was defined by: azygous vein dilatation with retrograde flow or
      superior vena cava syndrome or the need for dilatation +/- stenting of the SLSVB.
      RESULTS: Narrowing of the SLSVB was observed in 49/112 patients (70 males) age 31
      +/- 6 years (range 18-49) and was hemodynamically significant in 15/49. Of 29
      patients with a PM (23) or ICD (6) and cardiac imaging, 17 had narrowing of the
      SLSVB which was hemodynamically significant in 8. Non-echocardiographic imaging
      had a sensitivity of 88% at detecting narrowing of the SLSVB in contrast to pulse
      wave Doppler, which yielded a sensitivity of 16% (61% negative predictive value,
      88% positive predictive value). CONCLUSIONS: In our adult cohort of Mustard
      patients, narrowing of the SLSVB had a prevalence of 44% and was more likely to
      be detected by non-echocardiographic imaging. Baffle patency should be evaluated
      before transvenous device implantation.

PMID- 20934762
TI  - Late gadolinium enhancement as subclinical myocardial involvement in a
      manifesting Duchenne carrier.

PMID- 20934763
TI  - Planning the breast boost: how accurately do surgical clips represent the CT
      seroma?
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: To measure the distance between surgical clips and edge
      of CT-defined seroma in a coronal plane in women who have undergone wide local
      excision of breast cancer and to evaluate dosimetric coverage of CT-defined boost
      volumes by conventional clip-based electron fields. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      Planning CT images of 30 lumpectomy cavities from 30 patients were reviewed. All
      seroma cavities had at least 4 clips and Cavity Visualization Score >=3.
      Distances between clips and seroma edge (D(c-s)) were measured at the radial
      margins for each patient. Clips-based electron fields were generated by including
      all the clips with 2 cm margin in the coronal plane and three-dimensional
      conformal radiotherapy plans (3D-CRT) were devised based on CT tumor beds (CT
      TBs). The parameters of dose-volume histogram between the two boost treatment
      plans were analyzed. RESULTS: The mean seroma edge extended beyond the clips by
      0.3-0.5 cm. In all 120 D(c-s)s, 76.7% were <=0.5 cm, 8.3% were >1 cm and 15% were
      between 0.5 and 1 cm. Twenty patients (20/30) had D(c-smax) (The maximal D(c-s)
      of each patient) >0.5 cm and 7 patients had D(c-smax) >1 cm. With the electron
      fields, only 46.7% (14/30) had D(90) (The minimal dose received by 90% of the
      planning target volume (PTV)) >90% and geographical miss (any portion of the PTV
      receiving <50% of the prescribed dose) was found in 36.7% (11/30). D(c-smax) >0.5
      cm was associated with D(90) <90% (P<0.001) and >1 cm was associated with
      geographic miss (P=0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Surgical clips are not always consistent
      with the edge of seroma. Electron boost field based on clips leads to
      insufficient dose coverage to the CT-TB. 3D-CRT planning should be considered to
      ameliorate the dose coverage to the tumor bed.

PMID- 20934764
TI  - Audit of an automated checklist for quality control of radiotherapy treatment
      plans.
AB  - PURPOSE: To assess the effect of adding an automated checklist to the treatment
      planning process for head and neck intensity-modulated radiotherapy. METHODS:
      Plans produced within our treatment planning system were evaluated at the
      planners' discretion with an automated checklist of more than twenty planning
      parameters. Plans were rated as accepted or rejected for treatment, during
      regular review by radiation oncologists and physicists as part of our quality
      control program. The rates of errors and their types were characterised prior to
      the implementation of the checklist and with the checklist. RESULTS: Without the
      checklist, 5.9% of plans were rejected; the use of the checklist reduced the
      rejection rate to 3.1%. The checklist was used for 64.7% of plans. Pareto
      analysis of the causes of rejection showed that the checklist reduced the number
      of causes of rejections from twelve to seven. CONCLUSIONS: The use of an
      automated checklist has reduced the need for reworking of treatment plans. With
      the use of the checklist, most rejections were due to errors in prescription or
      inadequate dose distributions. Use of the checklist by planners must be increased
      to maximise improvements in planning efficiency.

PMID- 20934765
TI  - Low ERCC1 mRNA and protein expression are associated with worse survival in
      cervical cancer patients treated with radiation alone.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the association of excision repair cross-complementation
      group 1 (ERCC1) expression, using both mRNA and protein expression analysis, with
      clinical outcome in cervical cancer patients treated with radical radiation
      therapy (RT). EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: Patients (n=186) with locally advanced
      cervical cancer, treated with radical RT alone from a single institution were
      evaluated. Pre-treatment FFPE biopsy specimens were retrieved from 112 patients.
      ERCC1 mRNA level was determined by real-time PCR, and ERCC1 protein expression
      (FL297, 8F1) was measured using quantitative immunohistochemistry (AQUA(r)). The
      association of ERCC1 status with local response, 10-year disease-free (DFS) and
      overall survival (OS) was analyzed. RESULTS: ERCC1 protein expression levels
      using both FL297 and 8F1 antibodies were determined for 112 patients; mRNA
      analysis was additionally performed in 32 patients. Clinical and outcome factors
      were comparable between the training and validation sets. Low ERCC1 mRNA
      expression status was associated with worse OS (17.9% vs 50.1%, p=0.046). ERCC1
      protein expression using the FL297 antibody, but not the 8F1 antibody, was
      significantly associated with both OS (p=0.002) and DFS (p=0.010). After
      adjusting for pre-treatment hemoglobin in a multivariate analysis, ERCC1 FL297
      expression status remained statistically significant for OS [HR 1.9 (1.1-3.3),
      p=0.031]. CONCLUSIONS: Pre-treatment tumoral ERCC1 mRNA and protein expression,
      using the FL297 antibody, are predictive factors for survival in cervical cancer
      patients treated with RT, with ERCC1 FL297 expression independently associated
      with survival. These results identify a subset of patients who may derive the
      greatest benefit from the addition of cisplatin chemotherapy.

PMID- 20934766
TI  - Adjuvant chemotherapy prior to postoperative concurrent chemoradiotherapy for
      locoregionally advanced head and neck cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Induction chemotherapy prior to definitive concurrent
      chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) is a promising treatment option for unresectable head
      and neck cancer (HNC). In the postoperative setting, the efficacy of such an
      approach with adjuvant chemotherapy (AdjCT) followed by postoperative CCRT is
      unclear. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty-one postoperative patients with stage III
      IV (M0) HNC enrolled on 3 consecutive phase II clinical trials were
      retrospectively analyzed. Twenty-five of the patients were treated on a protocol
      which included AdjCT with carboplatin and paclitaxel prior to postoperative CCRT
      (AdjCT group). Sixteen were treated on protocols with similar postoperative CCRT
      but without AdjCT (control group). CCRT consisted of paclitaxel, 5-fluorouracil,
      hydroxyurea, and twice-daily radiotherapy. RESULTS: After a median follow-up of
      72 months, there were no locoregional failures (LRF) or distant metastases (DM)
      in the AdjCT group. In the control group, there were 2 LRF and 2 DM. The 5-year
      risk of disease recurrence was 0% in the AdjCT group, compared to 28.9% in the
      control group (p=0.0074). No patients had disease progression during AdjCT, and
      all proceeded to postoperative CCRT without delay. CONCLUSIONS: Adjuvant
      chemotherapy after surgery followed by CCRT may be a treatment strategy
      associated with favorable disease outcomes in locoregionally advanced HNC. These
      results pose a hypothesis which warrants further investigation.

PMID- 20934767
TI  - Quantitative assessment of hypoxia in melanoma xenografts by dynamic contrast
      enhanced magnetic resonance imaging: intradermal versus intramuscular tumors.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE
      MRI) has been suggested to be a useful method for assessing the extent of hypoxia
      in tumors. In this study, we investigated whether differences in hypoxic fraction
      between tumors caused by the site of growth can be detected by DCE-MRI. MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: Intradermal and intramuscular A-07 tumors were subjected to DCE-MRI,
      histological analysis of microvascular characteristics, and measurement of
      hypoxic cell fractions using a radiobiological assay and a pimonidazole-based
      immunohistochemical assay. Parametric images of E.F (blood perfusion) and v(e)
      (extracellular volume fraction) were produced by pharmacokinetic analysis of the
      DCE-MRI series. RESULTS: The intramuscular tumors had 3-4-fold higher hypoxic
      fractions than the intradermal tumors, owing to a lower microvascular density.
      This difference in extent of hypoxia was not detectable in the parametric MR
      images. Most likely, larger vessel diameters compensated for the lower vessel
      density in the intramuscular tumors, resulting in E.F images that were similar to
      those of the intradermal tumors. CONCLUSION: Quantitative assessment of hypoxic
      fractions from parametric MR images may require tumor site-specific translational
      criteria.

PMID- 20934768
TI  - Double-scattered proton-based stereotactic body radiotherapy for stage I lung
      cancer: a dosimetric comparison with photon-based stereotactic body radiotherapy.
AB  - PURPOSE: Stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) has gained popularity in the
      treatment of early-stage non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) because of its
      ability to deliver conformal radiation doses to small targets. However, photon
      based SBRT (xSBRT) is associated with significant grade 3+ toxicities. In this
      study, we compare xSBRT treatment plans with proton-based SBRT (pSBRT) to
      determine whether dose to normal structures could be reduced if SBRT was
      delivered with protons. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Eight patients with medically
      inoperable, peripherally located stage I NSCLC were treated with xSBRT to 48 Gy
      in 4 12-Gy fractions. These patients were retrospectively re-planned using the
      same treatment volumes with 3-dimensional conformal double-scatter proton
      therapy. A Wilcoxon paired test compared dosimetric parameters between the plans
      for each patient. RESULTS: Compared with xSBRT there was a dosimetric improvement
      with pSBRT for these volumes: lung V5 (median difference [MD]=10.4%, p=0.01); V10
      (MD=6.4%, p=0.01); V20 (MD=2.1%, p=0.01); V40 (MD=1.5%, p=0.05); and mean lung
      dose (MD=2.17 Gy, p=0.01). There were also benefits (p=<0.05) in D0.1cm3 and
      D5cm3 with pSBRT to the heart, esophagus, and bronchus. CONCLUSIONS: In a
      dosimetric comparison between photon and proton-based SBRT, protons resulted in
      lower doses to critical organs at risk and a smaller volume of non-targeted
      normal lung exposed to radiation (V5, V10, V20, and V40). The clinical
      significance and relevance of these dosimetric improvements remain unknown.

PMID- 20934769
TI  - Long-term effects of cilostazol on the prevention of macrovascular disease in
      patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.
AB  - We analyzed the medical records of 884 type 2 DM patients who were taking
      different antiplatelet agents for more than 2 years. Based on the records,
      occurrences of cardiovascular events for 10 years were evaluated. The composite
      disease-free survival rate for cilostazol monotherapy group was similar to
      aspirin subgroup (p=0.133).

PMID- 20934770
TI  - Evidence on the applicability of the ATPIII, IDF and CDS metabolic syndrome
      diagnostic criteria to identify CVD and T2DM in the Chinese population from a 6.3
      year cohort study in mid-eastern China.
AB  - AIMS: This study evaluates the effectiveness of three metabolic syndrome (MS)
      criteria in identifying cardiovascular disease (CVD) and type 2 diabetes mellitus
      (T2DM) in the Chinese population. METHODS: 3598 subjects were recruited from a
      cohort study on Prevention of Multiple Metabolic disorders and MS in Jiangsu of
      China (PMMJS), followed at 6.3 years. MS was diagnosed using criteria of the
      National Cholesterol Education Program's Adult Treatment Panel III (ATPIII), the
      International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and Chinese Diabetes Society (CDS). Cox
      regression model was used to analysis the association between MS and onset of CVD
      and T2DM. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, sensitivity and
      specificity were also used to test the ability of three MS criteria to identify
      CVD or T2DM. RESULTS: Among three criteria, CDS has the highest specificity but
      lowest sensitivity. Using the CDS criterion, over 50 percent of patients would be
      misdiagnosed. ATPIII criterion has the shortest distance in ROC curve, lowest
      false positive rate and false negative rate for identifying CVD and T2DM.
      ATPIII+/IDF+ has lower ability to predict CVD than ATPIII+/IDF-. ATPIII+/IDF+ and
      ATPIII+/IDF- has similar ability to predict T2DM. CONCLUSIONS: The ATPIII-MS
      criterion has the highest ability to predict CVD and T2DM. ATPIII is the best MS
      criterion for the Chinese population.

PMID- 20934771
TI  - Sub-clinical hepatic encephalopathy in cirrhotic patients is not aggravated by
      sedation with propofol compared to midazolam: a randomized controlled study.
AB  - BACKGROUND & AIMS: The risk of exacerbating sub-clinical hepatic encephalopathy
      (HE) by propofol has not been established. The aim of this study is to determine
      whether the use of propofol, for upper endoscopy in patients with cirrhosis,
      precipitates sub-clinical HE. METHODS: Sixty-one patients with compensated HCV
      and HBV cirrhosis (CP score 5-6) were randomly selected and divided into two
      groups (intent-to-treat population) matched for age, gender, and BMI. The first
      group received a single propofol sedation (N = 31, age 57 +/- 12, dose range 70
      100 mg/procedure) and the second group (N = 30, age 56 +/- 12, dose 3-6
      mg/procedure) received a single midazolam sedation, all done by an
      anesthesiologist. All patients completed number connection test (NCT), cognitive
      function score, time to recovery, time to discharge sheets, and hemodynamic
      parameters before sedation, and at discharge from the endoscopy unit, 1h post
      procedure. Thirty control subjects without cirrhosis were matched to the
      cirrhotic patients who received sedation with regard to age, gender, BMI, and
      education level. RESULTS: A total of 58/61 cirrhotic patients (95%) had sub
      clinical encephalopathy before the endoscopy (mean NCT 84.7 +/- 77 s, normal < 30
      s). No patient developed overt HE after sedation. There were no differences
      between groups in the incidence of adverse effects, cognitive function, MELD
      score, CP score, oxygen saturation, or respiratory and heart rates before and
      after sedation. Propofol did not exacerbate minimal HE when compared to midazolam
      (NCT changed from 87.5 +/- 62 s prior to sedation to 74.2 +/- 58 s after sedation
      in the propofol group versus 72.8 +/- 62 s before to 85.6 +/- 72 s after sedation
      in the midazolam group; p < 0.01). Time to recovery (4.1 +/- 1.9 min vs. 11.5 +/-
      5.0 min, p < 0.001), and time to discharge (38.0 +/- 9 min vs. 110 +/- 42 min, p
      < 0.001) were significantly shorter with propofol than midazolam. Pre- and post
      procedure NCT (from 25 +/- 20 s to 24 +/- 20 s), cognitive function score (from
      25 to 26), time to recovery (3.5 +/- 1.0 min), and time to discharge (35 +/- 10
      min) did not change in the healthy controls. CONCLUSIONS: Sedation with propofol
      has a shorter time recovery and a shorter time to discharge than midazolam and
      does not exacerbate sub-clinical hepatic encephalopathy in patients with
      compensated liver cirrhosis.

PMID- 20934773
TI  - A contextual based double watermarking of PET images by patient ID and ECG
      signal.
AB  - This paper presents a novel digital watermarking framework using
      electrocardiograph (ECG) and demographic text data as double watermarks. It
      protects patient medical information and prevents mismatching diagnostic
      information. The watermarks are embedded in selected texture regions of a PET
      image using multi-resolution wavelet decomposition. Experimental results show
      that modifications in these locations are visually imperceptible. The robustness
      of the watermarks is verified through measurement of peak signal to noise ratio
      (PSNR), cross-correlation (CC%), structural similarity measure (SSIM) and
      universal image quality index (UIQI). Their robustness is also computed using
      pixel-based metrics and human visual system metrics. Additionally, beta factor
      (beta) as an edge preservation measure is used for degradation evaluation of the
      image boundaries throughout the watermarked PET image. Assessment of the
      extracted watermarks shows watermarking robustness to common attacks such as
      embedded zero-tree wavelet (EZW) compression and median filtering.

PMID- 20934772
TI  - The piRNA pathway: a fly's perspective on the guardian of the genome.
AB  - Throughout the eukaryotic lineage, small RNA silencing pathways protect the
      genome against the deleterious influence of selfish genetic elements such as
      transposons. In animals an elaborate small RNA pathway centered on PIWI proteins
      and their interacting piRNAs silences transposons within the germline. In
      contrast to other small RNA silencing pathways, we lack a mechanistic
      understanding of this genome defense system. However, genetic and molecular
      studies have uncovered a fascinating conceptual framework for this pathway that
      is conserved from sponges to mammals. We discuss our current understanding of the
      piRNA pathway in Drosophila with an emphasis on origin and biogenesis of piRNAs.

PMID- 20934774
TI  - Automating the tracking of lymph nodes in follow-up studies of thoracic CT
      images.
AB  - The study of lymph node features over time is of great clinical significance.
      Tracking of the same lymph node in CT images over time is done manually in the
      current clinical practice, which is tedious and lack of consistency. In this
      paper, we propose a search scheme to automate the process. Regions of interest
      (ROIs) are located by mapping the center point of lymph node based on the
      transformation found in the rigid registration. Similarity values between ROI of
      the template image and ROIs of repository images are compared, the highest of
      which decides the best match. Our method generated a success rate of 82% in
      determining the corresponding image in follow-up scan with the same lymph node as
      in baseline. The location of the lymph node in the corresponding image is tracked
      and estimated by mapping the lymph node center at baseline image using the
      transformation obtained from both affine and free-form deformation (FFD)
      registration. FFD performs better than affine registration in tracking the lymph
      node location. All lymph nodes in our study are tracked successfully by the
      suggested points which fall within the boundary of the same node in the
      corresponding follow-up images using FFD registration.

PMID- 20934775
TI  - Histidine is involved in coupling proton uptake to electron transfer in
      photosynthetic proteins.
AB  - In photosynthesis, the central step in transforming light energy into chemical
      energy is the coupling of light-induced electron transfer to proton uptake and
      release. Despite intense investigations of different photosynthetic protein
      complexes, including the photosystem II (PS II) in plants and the reaction center
      (RC) in bacteria, the molecular details of this fundamental process remain
      incompletely understood. In the RC of Rhodobacter (Rb.) sphaeroides, fast
      formation of the charge separated state, P(+)Q(A)(-), is followed by a slower
      electron transfer from the primary acceptor, Q(A), to the secondary acceptor,
      Q(B), and the uptake of a proton from the cytoplasm. The proton transfer to Q(B)
      takes place via a protonated water chain. Mutation of the amino acid AspL210 to
      Asn (L210DN mutant) near the entry of the proton pathway can disturb this water
      chain and consequently slow down proton uptake. Time-resolved step-scan Fourier
      transform infrared (FTIR) measurements revealed an intermediate X in the Q(A)(
      )Q(B) to Q(A)Q(B)(-) transition. The nature of this transition remains a matter
      of debate. In this study, we investigated the role of the iron-histidine complex
      located between Q(A) and Q(B). We used time-resolved fast-scan FTIR spectroscopy
      to characterize the Rb. sphaeroides L210DN RC mutant marked with isotopically
      labeled histidine. FTIR marker bands of the intermediate X between 1120 cm(-1)
      and 1050 cm(-1) are assigned to histidine vibrations and indicate the protonation
      of a histidine, most likely HisL190, during the disappearance of the
      intermediate. Based on these results we propose a novel mechanism of the coupling
      of electron and proton transfer in photosynthesis.

PMID- 20934776
TI  - Arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis decreases strigolactone production in tomato.
AB  - Strigolactones are a new class of plant hormones emerging as important signals in
      the control of plant architecture. In addition, they are key elements in plant
      communication with several rhizosphere organisms. Strigolactones are exuded into
      the soil, where they act as host detection signals for arbuscular mycorrhizal
      (AM) fungi, but also as germination stimulants for root parasitic plant seeds.
      Under phosphate limiting conditions, plants up-regulate the secretion of
      strigolactones into the rhizosphere to promote the formation of AM symbiosis.
      Using tomato as a model plant, we have recently shown that AM symbiosis induces
      changes in transcriptional and hormonal profiles. Using the same model system,
      here we analytically demonstrate, using liquid chromatography-tandem mass
      spectrometry, that strigolactone production is also significantly reduced upon AM
      symbiosis. Considering the dual role of the strigolactones in the rhizosphere as
      signals for AM fungi and parasitic plants, we discuss the potential implications
      of these changes in the plant interaction with both organisms.

PMID- 20934777
TI  - Isolation and characterization of an apple cytosolic malate dehydrogenase gene
      reveal its function in malate synthesis.
AB  - Cytosolic NAD-dependent malate dehydrogenase (cyMDH) is an enzyme crucial for
      malate synthesis in the cytosol. The apple MdcyMDH gene (GenBank Accession No.
      DQ221207) encoding the cyMDH enzyme in apple was cloned and functionally
      characterized. The protein was subcellularly localized to the cytoplasm and
      plasma membrane. Based on kinetic parameters, it mainly catalyzes the reaction
      from oxalacetic acid (OAA) to malate in vitro. The expression level of MdcyMDH
      was positively correlated with malate dehydrogenase (MDH) activity throughout
      fruit development, but not with malate content, especially in the ripening apple
      fruit. MdcyMDH overexpression contributed to malate accumulation in the apple
      callus and tomato. Taken together, our results support the involvement of MdcyMDH
      directly in malate synthesis and indirectly in malate accumulation through the
      regulation of genes/enzymes associated with malate degradation and
      transportation, gluconeogenesis and the tricarboxylic acid cycle.

PMID- 20934778
TI  - The experience of older men living alone.
AB  - To explore the experience of living alone among older men. A phenomenological
      study was conducted, using Giorgi's phenomenological method. Participants
      included 14 older men, aged 60 to 92, who live alone in midcoast Maine. Five
      themes emerged: self-growth, self-determination, structure, balance, and sense of
      purpose. For older men, the experience of living alone means having the
      opportunity for self-growth and the freedom for self-determination, while
      maintaining structure, balance, and a sense of purpose. Older men generally find
      life alone satisfying, because it provides them with an opportunity to
      independently and freely pursue activities that facilitate self-growth and
      maintain a sense of purpose. This study confirms the findings of a similar study
      conducted by Rubinstein in 1986, despite more recent literature that continues to
      portray older men living alone as sick, isolated, and depressed. Further research
      is needed regarding the relationship between living alone and health outcomes in
      older men. As the aging population continues to grow, nurses must understand what
      factors, other than living alone, exacerbate the health and social problems
      associated with older men living alone.

PMID- 20934779
TI  - [Minimal hemogram alteration in an asymptomatic patient. What is hidden?].

PMID- 20934780
TI  - [Family medicine clinical sessions: they do exist!].

PMID- 20934781
TI  - [Prevalence of Giardia duodenalis assemblage B in humans in Zaragoza and Leon,
      Spain].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To study Giardia duodenalis assemblages circulating in the health
      areas of two hospitals in Zaragoza and Leon (Spain). METHODS: A total of 211
      stool samples with Giardia were genotyped by PCR of the tpi gene. RESULTS:
      Assemblage B was the most prevalent, both in Zaragoza (84,7%) and Leon (95,1%).
      The remaining isolates were identified as AII+B. CONCLUSIONS: We detected the
      spread of G. duodenalis assemblage B in Zaragoza and in Leon, with an increase in
      its prevalence in Zaragoza compared to previous studies.

PMID- 20934782
TI  - [Healthy cities: a reference strategy in local public health policies].

PMID- 20934783
TI  - [Prioritization of chemotherapy drugs in the Catalan hospital system: a
      qualitative case study].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To analyze the prioritization process for chemotherapy drugs in the
      Drug-Therapeutic Committees (DTCs) in Catalan hospitals and assess their impact
      on patients' access to these drugs. METHODS: A case qualitative study of the DTCs
      of tertiary hospitals in Catalonia was performed, based on semi-structured
      interviews and a review of the scientific literature. Key professionals were
      interviewed with technical and institutional involvement in the DTCs assessment
      process, including pharmacists, oncologists, clinical pharmacologists and other
      physicians with different medical specialties. The conceptual framework
      "accountability for reasonableness", by Daniels and Sabin, which analyzes
      prioritization processes from a "fair and legitimate decision-making"
      perspective, was used. RESULTS: The current regulatory framework for the
      introduction of drugs is characterized by a fragmented hospital system and lacks
      coordination strategies. These weaknesses fail to allow the prioritization and
      optimization of resources in the Catalan health service. CONCLUSION: We propose
      the implementation of a decision-making coordination strategy for all public
      sector hospitals. This strategy would allow an increasingly innovative
      environment to be exploited, in which inequalities in access to drugs at the
      hospital level should be avoided.

PMID- 20934784
TI  - [Possibilities and limitations of fiscal policies as health instruments: taxes on
      harmful consumption. SESPAS Report 2010].
AB  - This article discusses the possibilities of indirect taxation as a mechanism that
      alters the relative prices of goods and services and hence encourages citizens to
      adopt healthy lifestyles. We review the case of smoking and unhealthy diet. These
      two cases were chosen because these are the two lifestyle factors with the
      greatest impact on morbidity and mortality in Spain and because they highlight
      the possibilities of tax policy (smoking) and its limitations (unhealthy diet).
      After discussion of these issues, we recommend gradually increasing the level of
      the minimum special tax on cigarettes and avoiding erosion of its value by
      inflation, as well as aligning the level of the minimum special tax on fine cut
      tobacco with that borne by cigarettes, to avoid the already perceived shift of
      demand toward the former variety. The main recommendation for the case of
      unhealthy diet is to obtain a more solid evidence base than that currently
      available on the relationship between food prices and body mass index in Spain.
      The scarce evidence available for the USA nevertheless suggests that the
      possibilities of price-based policies to reduce the problems of overweight and
      obesity are highly limited.

PMID- 20934785
TI  - [Determinants of health care utilization in Costa Rica].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To analyze the determinants of health care utilization (visits to the
      doctor) in Costa Rica using an econometric approach. METHODS: Data were drawn
      from the National Survey of Health for Costa Rica 2006. We modeled the Grossman
      approach to the demand for health services by using a standard negative binomial
      regression, and used a hurdle model for the principal-agent specification.
      RESULTS: The factors determining healthcare utilization were level of education,
      self-assessed health, number of declared chronic diseases and geographic region
      of residence. CONCLUSION: The number of outpatient visits to the doctor depends
      on the proxies for medical need, but we found no multivariate association between
      the use of outpatient visits and income or insurance status. This result suggests
      that there is no problem with access in the public - almost universal - Costa
      Rican health system. No conclusive results were obtained on the influence of the
      physician on the frequency of use of health care services, as postulated by the
      principal-agent model.

PMID- 20934786
TI  - [Toward a new phase in Gaceta Sanitaria].

PMID- 20934787
TI  - Synthesis and anti-inflammatory evaluation of novel mono-carbonyl analogues of
      curcumin in LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophages.
AB  - Curcumin is a multifunctional natural product with regulatory effects on
      inflammation. However, a major limitation for the application of curcumin is its
      poor bioavailability. We previously demonstrated that the mono-carbonyl analogues
      of curcumin possessed improved pharmacokinetic profiles. In this study, 33 novel
      mono-carbonyl analogues of curcumin were synthesized and their inhibition against
      TNF-alpha and IL-6 release was evaluated in LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophages.
      Based on the screening data, quantitative structure-activity relationship was
      conducted, indicating that electron-withdrawing groups in benzene ring are
      favourable to anti-inflammatory activities of B-class compounds. Furthermore,
      compounds AN1 and B82 demonstrated anti-inflammatory abilities in a dose
      dependent manner. These raise the possibility that these compounds might serve as
      potential agents for the treatment of inflammatory diseases.

PMID- 20934788
TI  - Post Groebke-Blackburn multicomponent protocol: synthesis of new polyfunctional
      imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine and imidazo[1,2-a]pyrimidine derivatives as potential
      antimicrobial agents.
AB  - New antimicrobial agents [imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine and imidazo[1,2-a]pyrimidine]
      have been synthesized. Their antimicrobial activities were conducted against
      various Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria including Staphylococcus aureus.
      Compounds 5d, 7a, 10a, 11a and 12a proved to efficiently inhibit the growth of
      all the Gram-positive and Gram-negative strains investigated. Results of this
      study showed that the nature of the substituents on the armed phenyl groups
      determined the extent of the activity of the fused imidazopyridine and/or
      imidazopyrimidine derivatives. Preliminary structure-activity observations
      revealed that groups with positive sigma and positive bi values (e.g. 5d, 6c,
      12a, 12d) were significantly more active compared to other bioisosteres (e.g.
      5b). Furthermore, increasing the molar refractivity of the substitution pattern
      (e.g. 5b, 6b and 6d) sharply decreased the antibacterial activity.

PMID- 20934789
TI  - Synthesis and alpha1-adrenoceptor antagonist activity of tamsulosin analogues.
AB  - Tamsulosin (-)-1 is the most utilized alpha(1)-adrenoceptor antagonist in the
      benign prostatic hyperplasia therapy owing to its uroselective antagonism and
      capability in relieving both obstructive and irritative lower urinary tract
      symptoms. Here we report the synthesis and pharmacological study of the
      homochiral (-)-1 analogues (-)-2-(-)-5, bearing definite modifications in the 2
      substituted phenoxyethylamino group in order to evaluate their influence on the
      affinity profile for alpha(1)-adrenoceptor subtypes. The benzyl analogue (-)-3,
      displaying a preferential antagonist profile for alpha1A-than alpha1D-and alpha1B
      adrenoceptors, and a 12-fold higher potency at alpha1A-adrenoceptors with respect
      to the alpha1B subtype, may have improved uroselectivity compared to (-)-1.

PMID- 20934790
TI  - Synthesis and cytostatic activity of purine nucleosides derivatives of
      allofuranose.
AB  - Several new purine nucleosides derivatives of allofuranose were prepared
      according to Vorbruggen method, starting from 1,2,5,6-di-O-isopropylidene-alpha-D
      allofuranose and using 1,2,3,5,6-pentaacetoxy-beta-D-allofuranose as key
      intermediate. The synthesized allofuranosyl nucleosides, as well as some acetyl
      derivatives, were evaluated for their cytotoxicity in vitro in three human cancer
      cell lines (MCF-7, Hela-229 and HL-60). Among the studied compounds the 9
      (2,3,5,6-tetra-O-acetyl-beta-D-allofuranosyl)-2,6-dichloropurine (9) was the most
      potent one on the three cell lines evaluated, being its activity against HL-60
      cells similar to cisplatin.

PMID- 20934791
TI  - [Liver involvement in systemic diseases].
AB  - Liver involvement is common in connective tissue disorders and usually
      asymptomatic. However, it may be symptomatic and cases of fulminant hepatitis
      have been reported. A diagnosis of specific hepatic involvement needs to rule out
      drug toxicity, viral hepatitis, or auto-immune liver disease. The large panel of
      auto-antibodies that is now available to the clinician is helpful to
      differentiate auto-immune hepatitis and specific liver involvement associated
      with connective tissue disease. In the latter, the outcome is generally
      favourable with immunosuppressive treatment.

PMID- 20934792
TI  - Influence of cementing the pin on resistance to fracture in hip resurfacing.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Since the introduction of modern hip resurfacing systems, there has
      been a controversy regarding the fixation of the centering pin in the femoral
      component. It has been suggested that cementing the pin may increase strength of
      the femoral neck. This in-vitro analysis investigated the influence of a
      cemented, femoral pin on resistance to fracture in the resurfaced hip. METHODS:
      Five pairs of cadaveric, fresh-frozen femora underwent hip resurfacing (ASRTM)
      using a high viscosity cementing technique. In one side of each pair only the
      inner surface of the implant was cemented, in the other side, cement was
      additionally hand-pressurized down the pinhole prior to implantation of the
      femoral component. Specimen were then mounted on a material testing machine and
      cyclic loading with increasing load steps was applied until fracture of the
      femoral neck. FINDINGS: Fracture load was increased (P = 0.013) in the cemented
      pin group (Median = 4200 N) when compared with the cementless pin group (Median =
      2800 N). The number of cycles to failure in the group with the cemented pin
      (Median = 8072) was likewise higher (P = 0.01) when compared to the group, in
      which the pin was not cemented (Median = 5906). INTERPRETATION: Cementing the pin
      may provide additional fixation in hips with low bone mineral density or
      osteonecrotic lesions, as resistance to fracture could be improved in the
      presented in-vitro scenario. Although this was shown for a specific hip
      resurfacing system, this effect might be extrapolated to other, similar implant
      designs.

PMID- 20934793
TI  - Associations of pretransplant diabetes mellitus, new-onset diabetes after
      transplant, and acute rejection with transplant outcomes: an analysis of the
      Organ Procurement and Transplant Network/United Network for Organ Sharing
      (OPTN/UNOS) database.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Diabetes and acute rejection are major contributors to morbidity and
      mortality in kidney transplant recipients. Immunosuppressive medications decrease
      acute rejection, but increase the frequency of new-onset diabetes after
      transplant. Our objective was to investigate the joint associations of diabetes
      (pretransplant diabetes and new-onset diabetes after transplant) and acute
      rejection with transplant outcomes in a recent transplant cohort. STUDY DESIGN:
      Historical cohort study. SETTING & PARTICIPANTS: 37,448 recipients (age >= 18
      years; 2004-2007) surviving with a functioning transplant for longer than 1 year
      were identified in the Organ Procurement and Transplant Network/United Network
      for Organ Sharing (OPTN/UNOS) database as of May 22, 2009. PREDICTORS: Recipients
      were stratified into 6 mutually exclusive groups according to status of diabetes
      and acute rejection at 1 year: group 1, neither (reference; n = 20,964); group 2,
      new-onset diabetes alone (n = 2,140); group 3, pretransplant diabetes alone (n =
      10,730); group 4, acute rejection alone (n = 2,282); group 5, new-onset diabetes
      and acute rejection (n = 361); and group 6, pretransplant diabetes and acute
      rejection (n = 1,061). Analyses were adjusted for other recipient, donor, and
      transplant characteristics. OUTCOMES MEASUREMENTS: Multivariate Cox regression
      analysis of time to transplant failure (overall and death censored) and mortality
      (all-cause and cardiovascular). RESULTS: Median follow-up after 1 year was 548
      days (25th-75th percentiles, 334-752 days). During this time, there were 3,047
      outcomes of overall transplant failure. New-onset diabetes alone (group 2) was
      not associated significantly with any study outcomes. Groups 3-6 were associated
      with higher overall transplant failure risk. However, only groups 4-6 were
      associated with higher death-censored transplant failure risk. Group 3, 4, and 6
      were associated with higher all-cause mortality risk, whereas only groups 3 and 6
      were associated with higher cardiovascular mortality risk. LIMITATIONS: Potential
      information bias with exposure, covariable, or outcome misclassification;
      relatively short follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Pretransplant diabetes is the major
      predictor of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality, and acute rejection during
      the first year is the major predictor of death-censored transplant failure in
      kidney recipients surviving with a functioning transplant for at least 1 year.
      The influence of new-onset diabetes on long-term outcomes needs further
      observation.

PMID- 20934794
TI  - Orthodontic microsurgery for rapid dental repositioning in dental malpositions.
AB  - PURPOSE: Malposition of dental elements can be easily corrected when the patient
      is young; however, the opposite is true for adults. Middle-age patients normally
      request a rapid solution, but they usually also have associated pathologic
      features, such as advanced periodontal disease, dental migration, and ankylosis.
      Shortening the orthodontic treatment time is possible but not easy to achieve. We
      applied piezosurgical bone cuts to 10 patients affected by different dental
      malformations to determine the effects of a shorter treatment time. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: A total of 10 patients (8 women and 2 men) were treated using the
      monocortical tooth dislocation and ligament distraction technique. We included 5
      patients with dental ankylosis (group A, with a range of 4 to 5 mm of dental
      intrusion into the bone), who presented with at least 4 elements included in the
      mandible, and 5 preoperative patients affected by maxillary hypoplasia and
      transverse maxillary diameter reduction (group B, with a range of 6 to 8 mm
      measured at the first molar palatal cusp). RESULTS: Dental repositioning was
      achieved within 18 to 25 days for the dental intrusion group (group A) and within
      68 to 150 days for the preoperative group (group B). The average period was 20
      days for group A and 100 days for both dental arches in group B. The decrease in
      orthodontic treatment time was 70% for the ankylotic teeth and 65% for the
      preoperative group. We observed no periodontal or gingival damage, although all
      10 patients experienced moderate edema and pain. CONCLUSIONS: This method of
      shortening the orthodontic treatment time is simple, and performing osteotomic
      lines laterally and apically to the tooth radix on the bone has proved useful in
      reducing the treatment time. In addition, the technique is very easy to use and
      has a low incidence of side effects.

PMID- 20934795
TI  - Efficient surgical management of mandibular asymmetry.

PMID- 20934796
TI  - Valence specific laterality effects in free viewing conditions: the role of
      expectancy and gender of image.
AB  - Recent research has looked at whether the expectancy of an emotion can account
      for subsequent valence specific laterality effects of prosodic emotion, though no
      research has examined this effect for facial emotion. In the study here (n=58),
      we investigated this issue using two tasks; an emotional face perception task and
      a novel word task that involved categorising positive and negative words. In the
      face perception task a valence specific laterality effect was found for surprise
      (positive) and anger (negative) faces in the control but not expectancy
      condition. Interestingly, lateralisation differed for face gender, revealing a
      left hemisphere advantage for male faces and a right hemisphere advantage for
      female faces. In the word task, an affective priming effect was found, with
      higher accuracy when valence of picture prime and word target were congruent.
      Target words were also responded to faster when presented to the LVF versus RVF
      in the expectancy but not control condition. These findings suggest that
      expecting an emotion influences laterality processing but that this differs in
      terms of the perceptual/experience dimension of the task. Further, that
      hemispheric processing of emotional expressions appear to differ in the gender of
      the image.

PMID- 20934797
TI  - [Cleft lip and palate management by Pr Hosaka's team at the Showa University,
      Tokyo (Japan)].
AB  - We describe the particularities of cleft lip and palate treatment in the
      department of plastic surgery managed by Pr Hosaka at the Showa University in
      Tokyo. Their surgical technic inherited from Pr Onizuka, their multidisciplinary
      approach, and their experience with over 300 cases a year were not reported in a
      non-Japanese journal. Therefore, we found interesting to describe their whole
      management.

PMID- 20934798
TI  - Extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest:
      A review of the Japanese literature.
AB  - AIM: Although favourable outcomes in patients receiving extracorporeal
      cardiopulmonary resuscitation (ECPR) for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest have been
      frequently reported in Japanese journals since the late 1980s, there has been no
      meta-analysis of ECPR in Japan. This study reviewed and analysed all previous
      studies in Japan to clarify the survival rate of patients receiving ECPR.
      MATERIAL AND METHODS: Case reports, case series and abstracts of scientific
      meetings of ECPR for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest written in Japanese between
      1983 and 2008 were collected. The characteristics and outcomes of patients were
      investigated, and the influence of publication bias of the case-series studies
      was examined by the funnel-plot method. RESULTS: There were 1282 out-of-hospital
      cardiac arrest patients, who received ECPR in 105 reports during the period. The
      survival rate at discharge given for 516 cases was 26.7+/-1.4%. The funnel plot
      presented the relationship between the number of cases of each report and the
      survival rate at discharge as the reverse-funnel type that centred on the average
      survival rate. In-depth review of 139 cases found that the rates of good
      recovery, mild disability, severe disability, vegetative state, death at hospital
      discharge and non-recorded in all cases were 48.2%, 2.9%, 2.2%, 2.9%, 37.4% and
      6.4%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the results of previous reports with
      low publication bias in Japan, ECPR appears to provide a higher survival rate
      with excellent neurological outcome in patients with out-of-hospital cardiac
      arrest.

PMID- 20934799
TI  - Intestinal lineage commitment of embryonic stem cells.
AB  - Generating lineage-committed intestinal stem cells from embryonic stem cells
      (ESCs) could provide a tractable experimental system for understanding intestinal
      differentiation pathways and may ultimately provide cells for regenerating
      damaged intestinal tissue. We tested a two-step differentiation procedure in
      which ESCs were first cultured with activin A to favor formation of definitive
      endoderm, and then treated with fibroblast-conditioned medium with or without
      Wnt3A. The definitive endoderm expressed a number of genes associated with gut
      tube development through mouse embryonic day 8.5 (Sox17, Foxa2, and Gata4
      expressed and Id2 silent). The intestinal stem cell marker Lgr5 gene was also
      activated in the endodermal cells, whereas the Msi1, Ephb2, and Dcamkl1
      intestinal stem cell markers were not. Exposure of the endoderm to fibroblast
      conditioned medium with Wnt3A resulted in the activation of Id2, the remaining
      intestinal stem cell markers and the later gut markers Cdx2, Fabp2, and Muc2.
      Interestingly, genes associated with distal gut-associated mesoderm (Foxf2, Hlx,
      and Hoxd8) were also simulated by Wnt3A. The two-step differentiation protocol
      generated gut bodies with crypt-like structures that included regions of Lgr5
      expressing proliferating cells and regions of cell differentiation. These gut
      bodies also had a smooth muscle component and some underwent peristaltic
      movement. The ability of the definitive endoderm to differentiate into intestinal
      epithelium was supported by the vivo engraftment of these cells into mouse
      colonic mucosa. These findings demonstrate that definitive endoderm derived from
      ESCs can carry out intestinal cell differentiation pathways and may provide cells
      to restore damaged intestinal tissue.

PMID- 20934800
TI  - Nutrient transport within three vegetative treatment areas receiving silage
      bunker runoff.
AB  - Silage bunker runoff can be a very polluting substance and is increasingly being
      treated by vegetative treatment areas (VTAs), but little information exists
      regarding nutrient removal performance of systems receiving this wastewater.
      Nutrient transport through the shallow subsurface of three VTAs (i.e. one VTA at
      Farm WNY and two VTAs at Farm CNY) in glaciated soils containing a restrictive
      layer (i.e., fragipan) was assessed using a mass balance approach. At Farm WNY,
      the mass removal of ammonium was 63%, nitrate was 0%, and soluble reactive
      phosphorus (SRP) was 39%. At Farm CNY, the mass removal of ammonium was 79% in
      the West VTA, but nitrate and SRP increased by 200% and 533%, respectively. Mass
      removal of ammonium was 67% in the East VTA at Farm CNY; nitrate removal was 86%
      and SRP removal was 88%. The East VTA received a much higher nutrient loading,
      which was attributed to a malfunctioning low-flow collection apparatus within the
      settling basin. Results demonstrate that nutrient reduction mechanisms other than
      vegetative uptake can be significant within VTAs. Even though increases in
      nitrate mass were observed, concentrations in 1.65m deep wells indicated that
      groundwater impairment from leaching of nitrate was not likely. These results
      offer one of the first evaluations of VTAs treating silage bunker runoff, and
      highlight the importance of capturing concentrated low flows in VTA systems.

PMID- 20934801
TI  - Using local knowledge to model asymmetric preference formation in willingness to
      pay for environmental services.
AB  - This paper describes an approach to account for asymmetric preference formation
      in discrete choice models used for environmental valuation. The paper draws on
      data from a case study on preferences for environmental change resulting from a
      hypothetical rural development and conservation programme in Indonesia. Local
      knowledge on the current state of the environment was used to define an
      individual-specific status quo that consistently frames changes in a range of
      environmental services as gains or losses matching the perceptions of the local
      population living in the vicinity of a National Park. I estimated choice models
      that included separate parameters for increases and decreases in attribute levels
      for the environmental services and derived the indicators of local willingness to
      pay (WTP) corresponding to the bidirectional changes relative to the individual
      specific status quo option. I found clear evidence of an asymmetric response to
      increase and decrease in attribute levels relative to the status quo. Ignoring
      asymmetric preference formation can therefore result in biased estimates of WTP
      indicators and welfare measures of change in cases where the outcomes of
      environmental programmes can plausibly result in both an increase and a decrease
      relative to a reference option. Compared to a symmetrical modelling approach, the
      combination of simultaneously accounting for asymmetric preference formation and
      preference heterogeneity in the choice model yielded additional insights that may
      be used to inform the development of local strategies towards biodiversity
      conservation.

PMID- 20934802
TI  - Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis with medial temporal lesions mimicking acute
      limbic encephalitis.

PMID- 20934803
TI  - Anaplastic Lymphoma Kinase: role in specific tumours, and development of small
      molecule inhibitors for cancer therapy.
AB  - The Anaplastic Lymphoma Kinase (ALK) is a receptor tyrosine kinase first
      identified as the product of a gene rearrangement in Anaplastic Large Cell
      Lymphoma. ALK has subsequently been found to be rearranged, mutated, or amplified
      in a further series of tumours including neuroblastoma, and Non-Small Cell Lung
      Cancer. There is strong preclinical evidence that ALK is a driving force for
      oncogenesis in these cases, and that inhibition of ALK kinase activity results in
      anti-tumoural efficacy. These observations have sparked the development of small
      molecule kinase inhibitors, the most advanced of which is currently in clinical
      testing and which has shown promising preliminary activity in the subset of lung
      cancer patients whose tumours harbour activated ALK. In this review, we describe
      the various oncogenic forms of ALK, relevant clinical settings, and give a
      detailed overview of current drug discovery efforts in the field.

PMID- 20934804
TI  - Overexpression of biliverdin reductase enhances resistance to chemotherapeutics.
AB  - Biliverdin reductase (BVR) converts biliverdin to bilirubin. Additionally, acting
      as a transcription factor and possessing a capacity of a serine/threonine kinase,
      it may modulate signaling pathways. In order to gain better understanding of BVR
      functions, we used genetically modified line of mouse fibroblasts with reversible
      overexpression of BVR. Current study revealed that enhanced activity of BVR may
      protect cells in stressful conditions arising from anti-cancer drugs, cisplatin
      and doxorubicin, the effect most probably related to PKC alpha/beta activity, as
      its inhibition reversed BVR action. Therefore activity of BVR may be of
      significance in tumors and may influence the effectiveness of therapies.

PMID- 20934805
TI  - Reply to the comments on HAZMAT 142 (2007) 1-53 'Arsenic removal from
      water/wastewater using adsorbents--a critical review' by D. Mohan and C.U.
      Pittman Jr. made by Zhenze Li et al. [HAZMAT 175 (2010) 1116-1117].

PMID- 20934806
TI  - Modeling studies on simultaneous adsorption of phenol and resorcinol onto
      granular activated carbon from simulated aqueous solution.
AB  - The modelling study on simultaneous adsorption of phenol and resorcinol onto
      granular activated carbon (GAC) in multicomponent solution was carried out at
      303K by conducting batch experiments at initial concentration range of 100-1000
      mg/l. Three equilibrium isotherm models for multicomponent adsorption studies
      were considered. In order to determine the parameters of multicomponent
      adsorption isotherms, individual adsorption studies of phenol and resorcinol on
      GAC were also carried out. The experimental data of single and multicomponent
      adsorption were fitted to these models. The parameters of multicomponent models
      were estimated using error minimization technique on MATLAB R2007a. It has been
      observed that for low initial concentration of adsorbate (100-200mg/l), modified
      Langmuir model represents the data very well with the adsorption constant (Q(0)),
      216.1, 0.032 and average relative error (ARE) of 8.34, 8.31 for phenol and
      resorcinol respectively. Whereas, for high initial concentration of adsorbate
      (400-1000 mg/l), extended Freundlich model represents the data very well with
      adsorption constant (K(F)) of 25.41, 24.25 and ARE of 7.0, 6.46 for phenol and
      resorcinol respectively. The effect of pH of solution, adsorbent dose and initial
      concentrations of phenol and resorcinol on adsorption behaviour was also
      investigated.

PMID- 20934807
TI  - Bioaccumulation of copper and toxic effects on feeding, growth, fecundity and
      development of pond snail Lymnaea luteola L.
AB  - We studied the bioaccumulation and the toxic effects of Cu on survival, number of
      eggs and eggmasses laying, embryo development, growth, and food consumption in an
      Indian pond snail, Lymnaea luteola L. exposed for 7 weeks. Copper caused loss of
      chemoreception, locomotion and inhibited food consumption significantly during 7
      weeks of exposure. Food consumption in Cu exposed snails significantly decreased
      and at 56 and 100 MUg L(-1), snail stopped feeding activity. Mean number of
      eggmasses or eggs significantly decreased in Cu concentrations during the 7 week
      study. The percentage hatching decreased in Cu concentrations but there was more
      than 95% hatched in control in 10-11 days after spawning. Egg development was
      completely inhibited at 100 MUg L(-1), while abnormal embryonic development
      observed at 32 and 56 MUg L(-1) of Cu. The Cu concentration in tissues increased
      in Cu treated snails and bioaccumulation factor ranged from 2.3 to 18.7. Snail
      growth at 5.6 and 10 MUg L(-1) was reduced by 6.2% and 16.9%, respectively. The
      study revealed that snail embryos and adults could be used as in vivo test models
      for ecotoxicological studies. Findings of present study are helpful for advancing
      water quality guidelines for protecting aquatic biota.

PMID- 20934808
TI  - Multivariate chemometric discrimination of cigarette tobacco blends based on the
      UV-Vis spectrum of their hydrophilic extracts.
AB  - The application of UV-Vis spectrophotometry as an alternative or complementary
      approach to the classification of tobacco products is presented in this work for
      the first time. Two hundred fifty samples from five different cigarette brands
      composed of single and mixed tobacco blends were examined for that purpose on the
      basis of the UV-Vis spectrum of their aqueous extracts. Data transformation based
      on the normalization of absorbance intensities as a function of sample weight was
      employed in order to account for differences in the relative intensities of each
      sample. Principal components analysis (PCA) was used to extract outlier cases and
      sample classification was then pursued with the aid of discriminant analysis (DA)
      suggesting that a reduced number of variables (thirteen out of seven hundred
      initially available) could provide perfect classification (100% correct
      assignations) of samples containing single tobacco species or different blends
      and a fair classification of samples with similar composition (80% correct
      assignations) yielding an overall 95.7% correct classification. To this pursue,
      classification and regression trees were found to afford perfect classification
      of all samples using only a few logic rules based on appropriate split conditions
      at the expense of inserting 15 variables in the model.

PMID- 20934809
TI  - Influence of phosphate on the transport properties of lead in sand.
AB  - Temporal moment analysis was used to examine the transport of lead species in
      sand columns. The influence of sodium phosphate (PO(4(aq))) and hydroxyapatite
      (HA) on lead transport was also evaluated. Transport properties of lead
      microparticles (diameter>0.45 MUm) were a function of electrophoretic mobility:
      those particles with electrophoretic mobility less than -1 * 10(-8)m(2)/Vs
      exhibited significantly lower dimensionless first temporal moment (theta) and
      second temporal moment (sigma(theta)(2)). The forms of lead investigated in this
      work had a tendency to move in sand over a wide pH range. Although the PO(4(aq))
      amendment substantially reduced lead mass recoveries in the sand column effluent,
      lead microparticles were formed that had a tendency to move rapidly and with
      minimal dispersion when compared with controls. Treatments with HA provided
      limited reduction in lead mass recovery and minimal changes in lead transport
      properties. A colloid stability model was used to predict attachment of lead
      particles in sand.

PMID- 20934810
TI  - Auto-ignition of lubricating oil working at high pressures in a compressor for an
      air conditioner.
AB  - Auto-ignition of lubricating oil working in a compressor for an air conditioner
      is studied experimentally. The adopted lubricating oil is an unknown mixture with
      multi-components and known to have flash point temperature of 170  degrees C.
      First, its auto-ignition temperature is measured 365  degrees C at atmospheric
      pressure. The lubricating oil works under high-pressure condition up to 30 atm
      and it is heated and cooled down repeatedly. Accordingly, auto-ignition
      temperatures or flammable limits of lubricating oil are required at high
      pressures with respect to fire safety. Because there is not a standard test
      method for the purpose, a new ignition-test method is proposed in this study and
      thereby, auto-ignition temperatures are measured over the pressure range below 30
      atm. The measured temperatures range from 215  degrees C to 255  degrees C and
      they strongly depend on pressure of gas mixture consisting of oil vapor,
      nitrogen, and oxygen. They are close to flash point temperature and the
      lubricating oil can be hazardous when it works for high-pressure operating
      condition and abundant air flows into a compressor.

PMID- 20934811
TI  - Pain perception and tolerance in patients with frontotemporal dementia.
AB  - Pain management in elderly people with cognitive impairment poses special
      challenges, due to difficulties in pain assessment and specific neurodegenerative
      changes along pain pathways. Most studies have concentrated on Alzheimer's
      disease (AD) patients, in whom some contrasting findings have been found. For
      example, while psychophysical data suggest a selective blunting of the affective
      dimension of pain, pain-related fMRI signal increases have also been described.
      Few data have been reported in patients with frontotemporal dementia (FTD). By
      electrical stimulation, we have measured pain threshold and pain tolerance in
      clinically diagnosed FTD patients with SPECT cerebral hypoperfusion. We performed
      our analysis on two separate and overlapping subgroups selected on the basis of
      (1) neuropsychological scores below cut-off values (2) a strictly localized
      frontal and/or temporal hypoperfusion. We observed increased pain threshold in
      the first group and increased pain threshold and pain tolerance in the second
      group. Our results suggest differences in pain processing changes in distinct
      types of dementia, while at the same time caution that pain perception assessment
      may depend on the criteria adopted for diagnosis.

PMID- 20934812
TI  - Dynamics of leukocyte receptors after severe burns: an exploratory study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Patients with burns are susceptible to organ failure, and there is
      indirect evidence that leukocytes may contribute to this process. They may change
      the expression of cell-surface receptors after certain stimuli, for example, the
      burn. We therefore aimed to assess the changes induced by the burn in the
      expression of leukocyte cell-surface receptors CD11b, CD14, CD16, and CD62L on
      the surface of PMNs and monocytes. We also wanted to examine the dynamics of this
      activation during the first week after the burn, and to relate it to the size of
      the injury. METHODS: Ten patients with burns of >15% (TBSA) were included in the
      study. Blood samples were collected on arrival and every consecutive morning
      during the first week. Healthy volunteers acted as controls. RESULTS: PMN CD11b
      expression was increased. The extent of PMN CD11b expression correlated
      negatively to the size of the full thickness burn. Monocyte CD14 expression
      increased initially but there was no relation to the size of the burn. PMN CD16
      expression decreased initially during the first days and the decrease was related
      to burn size. CD62L did not vary depending on the burn in either PMN or monocytes
      during the first week after the burn. CONCLUSION: This study showed that specific
      receptors on the surface of leukocytes (PMN CD11b, monocyte CD14 and PMN CD16)
      are affected by the burn. Expression of PMN CD11b and CD16 are related to burn
      size. Burn-induced effects on the expression of PMN receptors, such as PMN CD11b
      and CD16, may contribute to burn-induced infection susceptibility.

PMID- 20934813
TI  - Comments on "feasibility and potential effect of a low-cost virtual reality
      system on reducing pain and anxiety in adult burn injury patients during
      physiotherapy in a developing country".

PMID- 20934814
TI  - Heavy use versus less heavy use of sedatives among non-medical sedative users:
      Characteristics and correlates.
AB  - Non-medical use of sedatives is an ongoing problem. However, very little is known
      about the characteristics of individuals who use sedatives non-medically, or the
      motives behind such use. The present analysis, involving a sample of individuals
      reporting non-medical use of sedatives in the past 12 months (N=188), examined
      the relationship between socio-demographic variables, past-year use of other
      licit and illicit drugs, type of non-medical use (use in ways other than as
      prescribed, use when not prescribed, or both), motives, and past 12-month
      sedative use. Past 12-month sedative use was dichotomized as Heavy Use (>90 pills
      in past 12 months) and Less Heavy Use (<=90 pills), using a median split.
      Multivariate logistic regression analyses indicated that Heavy Use of sedatives
      was significantly associated with positive diagnoses for sedative use disorder
      and prescription opioid use disorder, a higher number of motives for sedative
      use, and reporting 'sedative use in ways other than as prescribed' and 'both
      forms of non-medical use, namely, other than as prescribed, and when not
      prescribed,' compared to non-prescribed use. Although in univariate analyses a
      positive diagnosis for past 12-month cocaine use disorder, and individual motives
      for sedative use such as 'to get high' and 'for pain relief', significantly
      predicted past 12-month Heavy Use, their effects diminished and became non
      significant after adjusting for other covariates. Findings underscore the need
      for considering differential risk factors in tailoring preventive interventions
      for reducing non-medical sedative use.

PMID- 20934815
TI  - Open repair of foveal avulsion of the triangular fibrocartilage complex and
      comparison by types of injury mechanism.
AB  - PURPOSE: Little attention has been paid to injury mechanisms of foveal avulsion
      of the triangular fibrocartilage complex (TFCC). The purpose of this study was to
      determine whether the mechanism of injury is associated with different anatomic
      disruptions as well as different preoperative clinical symptoms. We also
      evaluated the clinical results of an open repair method for foveal avulsion
      according to the mechanism of injury. METHODS: Fifteen patients with a traumatic
      foveal TFCC avulsion were treated with an open repair technique. The injury
      mechanism was forced wrist extension in 10 patients (group E) and forced forearm
      rotation in 5 patients (group R). All patients in group E and 3 in group R showed
      positive fovea signs. Surgical and clinical findings were compared according to
      the 2 types of injury mechanism. RESULTS: Foveal insertions of TFCC were found in
      surgery to be disrupted in all 15 patients. In addition, disruption of the dorsal
      styloid insertions of the radioulnar ligament showed a significantly greater
      association with group R than with group E. Clinical results showed significant
      postoperative improvement but were marginally different between the 2 groups.
      CONCLUSIONS: The most common mechanism of foveal TFCC avulsions is forced wrist
      extension, an injury that commonly shows positive fovea signs and leaves the
      dorsal styloid insertion of the radioulnar ligament intact. Forced forearm
      rotation is the second most common injury mechanism that is more frequently
      associated with disruption of the dorsal styloid insertion. TYPE OF STUDY/LEVEL
      OF EVIDENCE: Prognostic IV.

PMID- 20934816
TI  - Features of grade 3 giant cell tumors of the distal radius associated with
      successful intralesional treatment.
AB  - PURPOSE: The goal of this study was to identify radiographic and anatomic
      features of Campanacci grade 3 distal radius giant cell tumors that are
      associated with an acceptable rate of local recurrence after intralesional
      treatment. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed 15 grade 3 distal radius giant
      cell tumors treated with intralesional curettage, cryosurgery, and cementation
      (CCC) (n = 9) or with wide en bloc excision and reconstruction (WEE) (n = 6).
      Success was defined as local control after CCC without conversion to wide
      excision, and as a recurrence rate comparable with rates in the scientific
      literature. Preoperative radiographic evaluation and intraoperative determination
      of tumor extension guided the choice of treatment. Tumor width on x-rays and
      tumor volume on magnetic resonance imaging were measured. Outcome was assessed
      with postoperative motion and grip strength, and the Disabilities of the
      Shoulder, Arm and Hand, the visual analog pain score, and a satisfaction
      questionnaire. RESULTS: Local recurrence occurred in 2 of 9 patients after
      primary CCC, in none with repeat CCC, and in none of the 6 with WEE. No patient
      treated with secondary CCC had unresectable recurrence requiring conversion to
      WEE. Patients with a single site of cortical perforation who received CCC
      treatment achieved local control with intralesional treatment alone. Average
      tumor volume was 12 cm(3) (range, 9-17 cm(3)) with CCC and 43 cm(3) (range, 29-57
      cm(3)) with WEE. Postoperative motion and strength, Disabilities of the Shoulder,
      Arm and Hand score, and visual analog pain scale score were acceptable in all and
      superior with CCC. All patients were highly satisfied. CONCLUSIONS: Tumor volume
      measured with magnetic resonance imaging and anatomically defined limits of soft
      tissue extension may help identify grade 3 lesions that can be treated with with
      CCC with an acceptable rate of local recurrence. We propose subclassification of
      Campanacci grade 3 lesions. Under this classification, tumors with extension
      assessed by preoperative imaging and confirmed by intraoperatively to be limited
      to a single site of palmar cortical perforation are classified as grade 3(p),
      where (p) denotes a single site bound by the pronator quadratus. TYPE OF
      STUDY/LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Therapeutic IV.

PMID- 20934817
TI  - Variations in the course of the thenar motor branch of the median nerve and their
      relationship to the hypertrophic muscle overlying the transverse carpal ligament.
AB  - PURPOSE: Previous anatomical and clinical studies classified the course of the
      thenar motor branch of the median nerve into 3 types: the extraligamentous,
      subligamentous, and transligamentous courses. The presence of a truly
      preligamentous course has been questioned. Furthermore, there has been recent
      interest in the presence of a hypertrophic muscle over the transverse carpal
      ligament (TCL). The current study has 2 aims: to determine the prevalence of the
      various types of thenar motor branch with particular attention to the existence
      of the preligamentous type, and to investigate whether the hypertrophic muscle is
      associated with certain thenar motor branch types. METHODS: One hundred
      consecutive patients undergoing open carpal tunnel releases were studied
      prospectively. The following data were documented: type of thenar motor branch,
      presence of hypertrophic muscle over the TCL, and number of thenar branches.
      RESULTS: In 100 consecutive patients undergoing open carpal tunnel releases,
      extraligamentous, subligamentous, transligamentous, and preligamentous types were
      seen in 56, 34, 9, and 1 patient, respectively. All transligamentous and
      preligamentous branches were associated with the presence of a hypertrophic
      muscle over the TCL. Twenty-six of the extraligamentous branches were also
      associated with the hypertrophic muscle. CONCLUSIONS: The extraligamentous type
      seems to be the most prevalent thenar motor branch type in most previous studies
      of various races, including our Middle Eastern population, whereas the
      preligamentous type is rare. Finally, it is important for the surgeon to know
      that transligamentous and preligamentous types are associated with the presence
      of hypertrophic muscle origin over the TCL and that the motor branch will be
      within this hypertrophic muscle. Incision of this muscle should be done carefully
      and on the ulnar side to avoid injury to the thenar motor branch.

PMID- 20934818
TI  - Application of the brief international classification of functioning, disability,
      and health core set as a conceptual model in distal radius fractures.
AB  - PURPOSE: In 2009, the World Health Organization published a conceptual outcome
      framework for evaluating upper extremity injury and disease, known as the Brief
      International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF) Core
      Set for Hand Conditions. The purpose of this study was to apply the ICF
      conceptual model to outcomes for distal radius fractures (DRFs) and determine the
      contribution of each ICF domain to patient satisfaction. METHODS: Patient-rated
      and objective functional outcome data were collected at 6 weeks, 3 months, and 6
      months after surgery. We measured satisfaction using a subsection of the Michigan
      Hand Outcomes Questionnaire (MHQ) satisfaction score. Measured study variables
      were linked to their corresponding ICF domain (personal factors, environmental
      factors, activity and participation, and body function). We then used
      hierarchical regression to assess the contribution of each ICF domain to
      variation in overall patient satisfaction at each time point. RESULTS: We
      enrolled 53 patients with unilateral DRFs treated with the volar locking plating
      system. Regression analysis indicated that measured study variables explain 93%
      (6 weeks), 98% (3 months), and 97% (6 months) of variation in patient
      satisfaction. For all 3 study assessment dates, activity and participation
      variables (MHQ-Activities of Daily Living, MHQ-Work, and Jebsen-Taylor Score)
      contributed the most to variation in patient satisfaction, whereas personal and
      environmental factors had a considerably smaller role in predicting changes in
      patient satisfaction. CONCLUSIONS: The results demonstrated that it is possible
      to reliably model the relative contributions of each ICF domain to patient
      satisfaction over time, and the findings are consistent with previous research
      (ie, that most outcome variation is due to physical or functional factors). These
      results are strong enough to support continued use and further research using the
      ICF model for upper extremity outcomes.

PMID- 20934819
TI  - [Comparison between two analgesic protocols on IVF success rates].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Analgesic protocols administered before a follicular puncture under
      local anesthesia are well tolerated when using NSAIDs, but we still do not know
      their possible impacts on in vitro fertilization (IVF) outcomes. MATERIAL AND
      METHODS: A retrospective monocentric study using two consecutive temporal cohorts
      of patients was conducted to compare two analgesic protocols:
      paracetamol/alprazolam (P/A), then nefopam/ketoprofen (N/K). RESULTS: We
      demonstrated that biochemical pregnancy rate and the others outcomes of IVF are
      not significantly influenced by the type of analgesic protocol used. CONCLUSION:
      The protocol N/K enhances patient comfort without jeopardizing the IVF success
      rates.

PMID- 20934820
TI  - First line treatment for uncomplicated hypertension: time for a rethink.

PMID- 20934821
TI  - Head circumference and body growth in autism spectrum disorders.
AB  - Research has shown that there is a relationship between increased head
      circumference and autism spectrum disorders (ASD). This study examined this
      relationship during the first year of life in subjects with ASD. We compared 280
      children with ASD and 609 controls. In the ASD-male group, increases were
      observed in head circumference from 3 to 12months, in height from 3 to 9months,
      and in body weight from 3 to 6 and 12months. On the other hand, in the ASD-female
      group increases in head circumference, in body height, and in body weight were
      only observed at 3months. After adjusting for height, weight, and age, only the
      head circumference in the male ASD group was significantly increased from 6 to
      9months after birth, reaching a peak at 6months after birth. No difference was
      found in the female ASD group. Although body overgrowth in the ASD group also
      started early after birth, the increase in head circumference was more marked
      than that in body growth. The values of physical measurements in the first year
      may be useful, minimally invasive parameters for the early detection of autism in
      combination with observing the timing of certain behaviors such as smiling, eye
      contact, crawling, pointing, and joint attention.

PMID- 20934822
TI  - Severe osteolysis and soft tissue mass around total hip arthroplasty: description
      of four cases and review of the literature with respect to clinico-radiographic
      and pathologic differential diagnosis.
AB  - Periprosthetic osteolysis is a well known phenomenon caused by wear particle
      induced bone resorption, particularly common and extensively reported in total
      hip arthroplasty. Its typical radiographic feature is a radiolucent area adjacent
      to an implant, sometimes associated with a soft tissue mass. Osteolytic changes
      may be caused by numerous other pathologic processes, including infection,
      metabolic disease, and neoplasia. Four cases of massive periprosthetic bone
      destruction associated with a large soft tissue mass around a failed total hip
      replacement are presented. In three cases, a diagnosis of periprosthetic
      osteolysis was correctly made and managed by revision surgery. However, in one
      case angiosarcoma of the ipsilateral hemipelvis went long unrecognized despite
      aggressive clinical course, requiring hind-quarter amputation and ultimately
      resulting in the patient's death. Periprosthetic malignancy in the form of either
      primary sarcoma or metastatic cancer is a very rare yet reported event in the
      setting of previous hip replacement, likely leading to catastrophic consequences
      when diagnosis is not established in a timely manner. The differential diagnosis
      of periprosthetic osteolysis should consider the entire spectrum of conditions
      that can present with radiolucent changes. Thorough review of patient's history
      and course of symptoms, along with careful evaluation of standard roentgenograms
      should be always performed and possibly integrated with imaging modalities such
      as CT, MRI, and bone scintigraphy in order to increase diagnostic accuracy. If
      uncertainty remains, biopsy should always be considered to rule out malignancy.

PMID- 20934823
TI  - Safety and feasibility of percutaneous vertebroplasty with radioactive (153)Sm
      PMMA in an animal model.
AB  - PURPOSE: We investigated the safety and feasibility of the combination of
      samarium-153-ethylenediamine tetramethylene phosphonate ((153)Sm-EDTMP)
      incorporated bone cement (BC) with percutaneous vertebroplasty (PVP) in dogs.
      METHODS AND MATERIALS: (153)Sm-EDTMP-incorporated BC was prepared by combining
      solid (153)Sm-EDTMP and polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) immediately before PVP. It
      was then injected into the vertebrae of four healthy mongrel dogs (two males and
      two females) by PVP under CT guidance. Each dog was subjected to five PVP
      sessions at a (153)Sm-EDTMP dose of 30-70 mCi. The suppressive effect of local
      injection of (153)Sm-EDTMP on the hematopoietic system was evaluated through
      counting of peripheral blood cells. Distribution of (153)Sm-EDTMP-incorporated BC
      and the status of tissues adjacent to injected vertebrae were evaluated with
      SPECT, CT and MRI. Histopathology was carried out to assess the influence of PVP
      on the vertebra and adjacent tissues at the microscopic level. RESULTS: PVP was
      done successfully, and all dogs exhibited normal behavior and stable physical
      signs after procedures. (153)Sm-EDTMP-incorporated BC was concentrated mainly in
      target vertebrae, and the peripheral blood cells remained within normal range.
      The spinal cord and tissues around BC did not exhibit signs of injury even when
      the dosage of (153)Sm-EDTMP increased from 30 mCi to 70 mCi. CONCLUSION: A dose
      lower than 70 mCi of (153)Sm is safe when it was injected into vertebrae. (153)Sm
      EDTMP-incorporated BC did not influence the effect of PVP. This means might
      strengthen anti-tumor activity locally for vertebra with osseous metastasis
      without damaging adjacent tissues.

PMID- 20934824
TI  - Identification, isolation and characterization of a new degradation product in
      sultamicillin drug substance.
AB  - A new degradant of sultamicillin drug substance was found during the gradient
      reverse phase HPLC analysis of stability storage samples. The level of this
      degradant impurity was observed up to 1.0%. The impurity (formaldehyde adduct
      with 5-oxo-4-phenylimidazolidin-1-yl moiety) was identified by LC/MS and was
      characterized by ((1)H NMR, (13)C NMR, 2D-NMR ((1)H-(1)H COSY, NOESY, HSQC and
      HMBC), LC/MS/MS, MS/TOF, elemental analysis and IR. This impurity was prepared by
      isolation and co-injected into HPLC system to confirm the retention time.

PMID- 20934825
TI  - A study of some practical aspects of high temperature liquid chromatography in
      pharmaceutical applications.
AB  - In the pharmaceutical industry fast and efficient separation techniques play an
      increasing role among analytical methods because the samples to be investigated
      grow both in complexity and number, and there is an increasing time pressure to
      complete the analysis. Reducing the analysis time without decreasing the
      efficiency is possible using higher pressures, elevated temperatures, smaller
      particle sizes, or a combination of these approaches. Recently developed
      chromatographic techniques such as the UHPLC (ultra high performance liquid
      chromatography) and HTLC (high temperature liquid chromatography) are highly
      promising in meeting these demands. In this study, high temperature liquid
      chromatography (HTLC) with a zirconia-based column and temperatures elevated up
      to 150 degrees C was used. We investigated the chromatographic behaviour of a
      steroid active pharmaceutical ingredient (levonorgestrel) and its structurally
      related impurities as model compounds. The effect of the temperature in the range
      of 50-150 degrees C and the flow-rate in the range of 0.5-3.0 ml/min, and using
      methanol as an organic modifier, were studied for optimisation of the separation
      method.

PMID- 20934826
TI  - Electrocardiogram and echocardiogram findings in runners completing a half
      marathon.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to prospectively evaluate
      electrocardiograms (ECGs) before and after running a half marathon to
      characterize the changes that occur after exertion. Echocardiograms were also
      done postrace on selected runners. METHODS: Volunteer runners older than 18 years
      completed a questionnaire detailing demographic and medical history. Prerace ECGs
      were performed at a prerace symposium and postrace ECGs were performed within 15
      minutes of the participants' completion of the race. Echocardiograms were
      performed on a random sampling of runners who were judged to have abnormal or
      changed postrace ECGs. RESULTS: Eighty-seven runners were enrolled and completed
      the study. There were 46 males (53%) and 41 females (47%). Fifty-four (62%)
      runners had changes noted in their ECGs. The most common changes noted were
      atrial enlargement (37 runners). Other abnormalities seen on the ECGs included
      new conduction abnormalities, new Q waves, nonspecific ST/T-wave changes, and
      resolution of previous abnormalities that were seen on initial ECG. There was no
      statistically significant difference between runners with ECG changes and runners
      without ECG changes when comparing sex, age, previous marathon experience,
      exercise, history of exercise-induced chest pain, medical history, and family
      history of heart disease. Twenty runners with changed or abnormal postrace ECGs
      had postrace echocardiograms, and 8 were abnormal. Of the abnormal
      echocardiograms, 2 runners had normal but changed postrace ECGs and 4 runners had
      abnormalities that were inconsistent with what was seen on ECG. CONCLUSION: Our
      study suggests that ECG abnormalities and changes can occur in distance runners,
      but their significance is unclear.

PMID- 20934827
TI  - Ultrasound detection of obstructive pyelonephritis due to urolithiasis in the ED.
AB  - Identifying acute pyelonephritis (APN) with early obstructive uropathy is
      clinically important in the emergency department (ED) because obstructive
      urolithiasis is an independent risk factor for inpatient death, prolonged
      hospitalization, and failure of outpatient APN therapy. Furthermore, diagnosis of
      an early obstructive uropathy can be difficult when based solely on clinical
      findings. Clinicians may assume the cause of the patient's symptoms to be APN
      alone, without considering the concurrent presence of an obstructing stone. A
      feasible screening test to detect early obstructive uropathy in cases of APN has
      not been previously identified. Plain film radiographs are insensitive in
      locating a suspected calcified stone. Computed tomography is readily available in
      most EDs and clearly defines urologic anatomy, but delivers unnecessary ionizing
      radiation, can prolong ED length of stay, and is not cost-effective as a
      screening test for all patients diagnosed with APN. We report a case in which a
      bedside ultrasound identifying hydronephrosis prompted confirmatory computed
      tomography imaging and emergency consultation of a patient with APN. In this
      case, hydronephrosis on bedside ultrasound examination was an indirect marker of
      a distal ureteral obstruction. By detecting the presence of hydronephrosis in
      patients with APN, emergency physicians may dramatically increase their ability
      to identify those patients that need further radiographic investigation and
      ultimately decrease the rate of outpatient treatment failure. Further
      surveillance data are needed to determine the statistical characteristics of this
      novel screening test and if routine renal evaluation of all patients with APN is
      warranted.

PMID- 20934828
TI  - Visual-aided directions are superior to verbal instruction only in obtaining hand
      position for cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to test if instruction without visual
      directions is sufficient to obtain the recommended hand position for
      cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). METHOD: Group A (n = 12) was verbally
      instructed to "place the heel of the hand in the center of the chest." Group B (n
      = 10) was verbally instructed to "place the heel of the hand in the middle of the
      lower half of the breastbone." Subsequently, both groups again received the same
      verbal instruction aided by visual directions. The distance from the recommended
      hand position was compared before and after visual directions. MAIN RESULTS: Five
      participants in Group A (42%) and 1 in Group B (10%) placed their hands in the
      epigastrium. In both groups, hand position significantly improved after visual
      directions (Group A: 5.7 +/- 2.4 vs 2.1 +/- 0.8 cm, P < .001, and Group B: 4.5 +/
      2.5 vs 2.0 +/- 1.2 cm, P = .005). CONCLUSIONS: Instruction including visual
      direction was superior to verbal instruction only in obtaining hand position for
      CPR.

PMID- 20934829
TI  - Paracetamol vs piroxicam to relieve pain in renal colic. Results of a randomized
      controlled trial.
AB  - PURPOSE: We tested whether paracetamol could improve pain relief in patients
      visiting the emergency department with acute renal colic as compared to
      piroxicam, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID). MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      Patients with a diagnosis of acute renal colic were prospectively randomized to
      receive either intravenous paracetamol (1 g) or intramuscular piroxicam (20 mg).
      We monitored patients for visual analog scale (VAS), heart rate, arterial blood
      pressure, need for rescue therapy, and adverse events at different time points
      for 90 minutes. We recorded admission requirement and new visit for renal colic
      at 72 hours. The primary end point was pain relief at 90 minutes, defined as a
      decrease of 50% or more as compared to the initial VAS. The secondary objectives
      were comparison of the 2 groups for VAS at any time points and the occurrence of
      adverse events. RESULTS: Of the 226 eligible patients, 100 entered the study.
      Fifty patients received paracetamol and 50 received NSAID. Pain relief at 90
      minutes was obtained in 40 patients receiving paracetamol (80%) and 24 (48%)
      receiving NSAID (P = .002). Visual analog scale was lower in the paracetamol
      group since 45 minutes. Only 2 adverse events were observed. CONCLUSION: A single
      therapy with intravenous paracetamol more efficiently relieved pain in acute
      renal colic than did intramuscular piroxicam.

PMID- 20934830
TI  - The orthopedic literature 2009.

PMID- 20934831
TI  - Carboplatin: a new cause of severe type B lactic acidosis secondary to
      mitochondrial DNA damage.
AB  - In adults, type B lactic acidosis is rare and generally associated with a toxin,
      particularly metformin or antiretroviral nucleosides analogues. We report a case
      of lactic acidosis caused by carboplatin in a 50-year-old woman suffering from
      primary peritoneal carcinoma. She was admitted for severe lactic acidosis (pH
      6.77, lactate 19 mmol/L) associated with multiple organ failure (PaO2/FiO2 96,
      creatinine 231 MUmol/L, aspartate aminotransferase > 25,000 UI, factor V 13%)
      occurring during the sixth carboplatin cycle. In the absence of sepsis, internal
      bleeding, alcohol poisoning, or other causes of lactic acidosis, the hypothesis
      of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) damage secondary to carboplatin and subsequent
      mitochondrial dysfunction leading to increase in glycolysis and lactic acidosis
      was suspected. L-Carnitine therapy associated with aggressive intensive care
      support led to a progressive improvement (pH 7.29, bicarbonate 24 mmol/L, lactate
      7.8 mmol/L), but life support was withdrawn on day 7 because of peritoneal
      relapse. A respiratory chain dysfunction of enzyme activities encoded by mtDNA
      and multiple mtDNA deletions were found in muscle and liver tissue. It is
      generally accepted that carboplatin toxicity results in bone marrow suppression,
      renal dysfunction, or neurotoxicity and that platinating agents have no direct
      mitochondrial effect. However, although very unusual, emergency physicians must
      be aware that carboplatin can cause mitochondrial toxicity and trigger lactic
      acidosis.

PMID- 20934832
TI  - The effects of stimulation at acupoint ST36 points against hemorrhagic shock in
      dogs.
AB  - The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of electroacupuncturing (EA)
      zusanli points on levels of basic hemodynamics, lactate, and cytokines in dogs
      with hemorrhagic shock. Thirty healthy dogs were randomly divided into 5 groups:
      sham hemorrhagic shocked group, hemorrhagic shocked group, EA group,
      nonacupuncturing group, and EA after vagotomy group. Zusanli points were
      electroacupunctured with constant voltage (10-15 V, 30 Hz) for 30 minutes
      immediately after the shock models were established. Before the stimulation, a
      blood pressure transducer was implanted into the right femoral artery for
      continuous recording of mean arterial pressure (MAP), and a 5F Swan-Ganz
      pediatric catheter was implanted into the pulmonary artery. The levels of serum
      tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) in the femoral artery were detected at 0,
      120, and 180 minutes after hemorrhage. The levels of serum lactate in the femoral
      artery were detected before hemorrhage (-45 minutes), at 0 minute, and at 180
      minutes. In the hemorrhagic shocked group, the levels of MAP, cardiac output,
      cardiac index, central venous pressure, and pulmonary arterial wedge pressure
      decreased significantly; at the same time, the levels of serum TNF-alpha and
      serum lactate increased significantly. There were no differences between these
      groups and the hemorrhagic group, but they were different from the sham
      hemorrhagic shocked group. In the EA group, the levels of MAP, cardiac output,
      cardiac index, central venous pressure, and pulmonary arterial wedge pressure
      gradually increased, but the content of serum TNF-alpha and lactate obviously
      decreased. The results suggested that EA zusanli points produce a protective
      effect on hemorrhagic shock in dogs.

PMID- 20934833
TI  - Can private pharmacy providers offer comprehensive reproductive health services
      to users of emergency contraceptives? Evidence from Nairobi, Kenya.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the provision of reproductive health information and
      services to users of emergency contraceptives (ECs) by private pharmacists.
      METHODS: The study involved intervention (9) and control (8) pharmacies, with
      baseline and endline assessments of EC provision through the use of mystery
      clients. Intervention pharmacies received weekly updates on EC, fliers with three
      key messages on EC, and information, education, and communication materials.
      Logistic regression models are estimated to predict the provision of reproductive
      health services to EC clients. RESULTS: The differences between the control and
      intervention pharmacies with respect to the provision of additional information
      on EC and regular family planning services are in the expected direction but
      statistically insignificant. In contrast, the likelihood of providing information
      or referral for counseling or testing for sexually transmitted infections or HIV
      was lower in the intervention than in the control pharmacies but the difference
      was also not statistically significant. CONCLUSION: Pharmacy providers in the
      country face institutional challenges in providing reproductive health services
      to EC clients. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: The challenges could be addressed through
      pre-service training, targeted in-service training, sensitization of clients, and
      point-of-sale materials such as brochures, posters and package inserts.

PMID- 20934834
TI  - Using the new board game SeCZ TaLK to stimulate the communication on sexual
      health for adolescents with chronic conditions.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study evaluated the feasibility and appreciation of a new
      educational board game (SeCZ TaLK) that stimulates communication on sexuality and
      intimate relationships in youth with chronic conditions. METHODS: 85 adolescents
      with chronic conditions or disabilities piloted the board game in three
      rehabilitation centers/schools for the disabled, one outpatient clinic and a
      patient organization. They assessed their experiences through a brief
      questionnaire, as did 12 health care professionals and teachers who acted as
      facilitators. RESULTS: Eighty-five percent of the adolescents found it is (very)
      important to discuss sexuality and intimate relationships; 81% felt that SeCZ
      TaLK enabled this. Girls were more positive about the game than boys (p<.05) and
      younger participants were more positive than older ones (p<.01). Youth in an
      outpatient clinic appreciated the game most (p<.05) compared to other settings.
      Professionals asserted that discussing these issues is important for their work
      and would recommend the game to colleagues. CONCLUSION: SeCZ TaLK is a promising
      tool for improving communication on sexuality with youth with special health care
      needs. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Health care providers and teachers are recommended
      to use interventions such as SeCZ TaLK to stimulate communication about sexual
      health with adolescents with chronic conditions.

PMID- 20934835
TI  - Bupropion SR and contingency management for adolescent smoking cessation.
AB  - There is a significant need for evidence-based treatments for adolescent smoking
      cessation. Prior research, although limited, has suggested potential roles for
      bupropion sustained-release (SR) and contingency management (CM), but no previous
      studies have assessed their combined effect. In a double-blind, placebo
      controlled design, 134 adolescent smokers were randomized to receive a 6-week
      course of bupropion SR + CM, bupropion SR + non-CM, placebo + CM, or placebo +
      non-CM, with final follow-up at 12 weeks. The primary outcome was 7-day cotinine
      verified point prevalence abstinence, allowing for a 2-week grace period.
      Combined bupropion SR + CM treatment yielded significantly superior abstinence
      rates during active treatment when compared with placebo + non-CM treatment. In
      addition, combined treatment showed greater efficacy at multiple time points than
      did either bupropion SR + non-CM or placebo + CM treatment. Combined bupropion SR
      and CM appears efficacious, at least in the short-term, for adolescent smoking
      cessation and may be superior to either intervention alone.

PMID- 20934836
TI  - Advancing performance measures for use of medications in substance abuse
      treatment.
AB  - Performance measures have the potential to drive high-quality health care.
      However, technical and policy challenges exist in developing and implementing
      measures to assess substance use disorder (SUD) pharmacotherapy. Of critical
      importance in advancing performance measures for use of SUD pharmacotherapy is
      the recognition that different measurement approaches may be needed in the public
      and private sectors and will be determined by the availability of different data
      collection and monitoring systems. In 2009, the Washington Circle convened a
      panel of nationally recognized insurers, purchasers, providers, policy makers,
      and researchers to address this topic. The charge of the panel was to identify
      opportunities and challenges in advancing use of SUD pharmacotherapy performance
      measures across a range of systems. This article summarizes those findings by
      identifying a number of critical themes related to advancing SUD pharmacotherapy
      performance measures, highlighting examples from the field, and recommending
      actions for policy makers.

PMID- 20934837
TI  - Vascular smooth muscle enhances functionality of tissue-engineered blood vessels
      in vivo.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: There is significant room for improvement in the development of
      tissue-engineered blood vessels (TEBVs) for vascular reconstruction. Most
      commonly, TEBVs are seeded with endothelial cells (ECs) only. This provides an
      antithrombogenic surface but suboptimal physiologic characteristics compared with
      native arteries, due to lack of smooth muscle cells (SMCs) in the vessel media.
      Although SMCs are critical in vessel architecture and function throughout the
      vascular tree, few studies have incorporated SMCs in TEBVs implanted in vivo. As
      such, the goal of the present study was to evaluate the effect of SMC coseeding
      with ECs on TEBV maturation, structure, and function after prolonged in vivo
      maturation. METHODS: Dual-seeded TEBVs (dsTEBVs) were created by coseeding
      autologous ECs derived from circulating progenitor cells and SMCs from artery
      explants onto the lumen and outer surface of extracellular matrix scaffolds,
      respectively. Control vessels were seeded with ECs alone (ecTEBV). All vessels
      were preconditioned to pulsatile flow for 10 to 14 days in a bioreactor,
      implanted as arterial interposition grafts in sheep, and allowed to heal and
      adapt in vivo for 4 months before ex vivo physiologic testing and histologic
      analysis. RESULTS: All implants were patent at 4 months. There were no structural
      failures, aneurysms, or infectious complications. The dsTEBVs exhibited a greater
      degree of wall maturation, characterized by higher medial cellularity (P = .01)
      and greater percentage of alpha-actin (P = .005) and SMC-specific muscle myosin
      heavy chain (P = .005) staining compared with ecTEBVs. Contractile responses to
      phenylephrine and serotonin were significantly greater in isolated rings of
      dsTEBVs than those observed in ecTEBVs (P = .01). CONCLUSIONS: To our knowledge,
      this is the first study that demonstrates enhanced in vivo wall maturation and
      contractile function of TEBVs coseeded with autologous SMCs and ECs compared with
      EC seeding alone. These data suggest a coseeding strategy can be accomplished in
      a clinically relevant timeframe (typically 6 weeks) and may provide advantages
      for arterial reconstruction compared with vessels engineered only with
      endothelium.

PMID- 20934838
TI  - Thrombus volume is associated with cardiovascular events and aneurysm growth in
      patients who have abdominal aortic aneurysms.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Patients with abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) are predisposed to
      cardiovascular events and often experience continual expansion of their aneurysm.
      Cardiovascular events and expansion rates are positively correlated with aneurysm
      size. AAA is usually associated with intraluminal thrombus, which has previously
      been implicated in AAA pathogenesis. This study prospectively assessed the
      association of infrarenal abdominal aortic thrombus volume with cardiovascular
      events and AAA growth. METHODS: Ninety-eight patients with AAAs underwent
      computed tomography angiography (CTA). The volume of infrarenal aorta thrombus
      was measured by a previously validated technique. Patients were monitored
      prospectively for a median of 3 years (interquartile range [IQR], 2.0-3.6 years),
      and cardiovascular events (nonfatal stroke, nonfatal myocardial infarction,
      coronary revascularization, amputation, and cardiovascular death) were recorded.
      Of the original patients, 39 underwent repeat CTA a median of 1.5 years (IQR, 1.1
      3.3 years) after entry to the study. Kaplan-Meier and Cox proportional analysis
      were used to examine the association of aortic thrombus with cardiovascular
      events and average weighted AAA growth. RESULTS: There were 28 cardiovascular
      events during follow-up. The incidence of cardiovascular events was 23.4% and
      49.2% for patients with small (smaller than the median) and large (median or
      larger) volumes of aortic thrombus, respectively, at 4 years (P = .040). AAA
      thrombus volume of median or larger was associated with increased cardiovascular
      events (relative risk [RR] 2.8, 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.01-5.24)
      independent of other risk factors, including initial AAA diameter, but was only
      of borderline significance when patients were censored at the time of AAA repair
      (RR, 2.35; 95% CI, 0.98-5.63). In the subset of patients with CTA follow-up, the
      median annual increase in AAA volume was 5.1 cm3 (IQR, 0.8-10.3 cm3). Annual AAA
      volume increase was positively correlated with initial AAA diameter (r = 0.44, P
      = .006) and thrombus volume (r = 0.50, P = .001). Median or larger aortic
      thrombus volume was associated with rapid AAA volume increase (>= 5 cm/y),
      independent of initial aortic diameter (RR, 15.0; 95% CI, 1.9-115.7; P = .009).
      CONCLUSION: In this small cohort, infrarenal aortic thrombus volume was
      associated with the incidence of cardiovascular events and AAA progression. These
      results need to be confirmed and mechanisms underlying the associations clarified
      in large further studies.

PMID- 20934839
TI  - Floating carotid thrombus treated by intravenous heparin and endarterectomy.
AB  - Among different subtypes of ischemic stroke, atherosclerotic stroke carries the
      greatest risk (30%) of worsening and recurrence during the acute phase of
      hospitalization with a 7.9% risk <= 30 days. Causes of this high risk include
      plaque rupture leading to thrombus formation, thrombus propagation with
      consequent vessel occlusion, and distal embolism. In this context, emergent
      endarterectomy or anticoagulation, followed by deferred endarterectomy, are both
      controversial. We report a patient with an ischemic stroke caused by
      thromboembolism from an ulcerated plaque with floating thrombus of the internal
      carotid artery (ICA). A controversial use of heparin is discussed.

PMID- 20934840
TI  - Hybrid management of proximal right subclavian artery aneurysms.
AB  - Surgical repair of proximal right subclavian artery aneurysms can be difficult.
      They typically require a combined mediastinal exposure to control the innominate
      and right common carotid arteries and a supra- or infraclavicular exposure for
      distal control, with either a segmental resection and bypass or a bifurcated
      reconstruction. In this report, we present four cases utilizing a single-stage,
      hybrid technique combining an endovascular stent graft and an extra-anatomical
      bypass to repair proximal right subclavian artery aneurysms without the need for
      mediastinal exposure or extensive surgical reconstruction. There were no deaths
      and two minor neurologic events.

PMID- 20934841
TI  - Early and long-term comparison of endovascular treatment of iliac artery
      occlusions and stenosis.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: This study evaluated early and long-term results of endovascular
      treatment of iliac artery occlusions and compared these outcomes with those in
      patients treated for stenotic lesions. METHODS: During a 10-year period ending in
      January 2010, 223 endovascular procedures to treat aortoiliac occlusive disease
      (PAD) were performed. All patients were prospectively enrolled in a dedicated
      database. The intervention was performed for iliac occlusion in 109 patients
      (group 1) and for iliac stenosis in 114 (group 2). Early results were analyzed
      and compared by chi2 and Fisher exact tests. Follow-up consisted of clinical
      examination and duplex scanning at discharge, <= 3 months, at 6 and 12 months,
      and yearly thereafter. Follow-up results were analyzed with Kaplan-Meier curves
      and compared with the log-rank test. RESULTS: The two groups had similar risk
      factors for atherosclerosis and comorbidities. Critical limb ischemia was more
      common in group 1 (20.5%) than in group 2 (8.5%; P = .01). Intraoperative
      technical details were similar, except for a higher percentage of brachial and
      contralateral femoral access and more frequent use of nitinol stents in group 1.
      Two immediate technical failures occurred, one in both groups, requiring
      immediate conversion to surgical bypass. Four intraoperative iliac ruptures
      occurred, two in each group; all were successfully treated with covered stents.
      An additional 10 immediate complications occurred (8 in group 1; 2 in group 2),
      one of which required conversion to open surgical bypass. The cumulative rate of
      perioperative complications was 9% in group 1 and 3.5% in group 2 (P = .08).
      Primary patency at 30 days was 97.3% and 98.7%, respectively. Mean duration of
      follow-up was 28.4 months; 203 patients (91%) had a regular postoperative follow
      up visit. At 60 months, primary patency in group 1 vs group 2 was 82.4% vs 77.7%
      (P = .9), assisted primary patency was 90.6% vs 85.5% (P = .4), and estimated
      secondary patency was 93.1% vs 92.8% (P = .3). The cumulative rate of
      reintervention during follow-up (excluding reinterventions performed in the
      perioperative period) was 2.5% in group 1 and 12.5% in group 2 at 60 months (P =
      .09). Univariate analysis in group 1 failed to find any of the examined risk
      factors significantly affected long-term primary patency rates. CONCLUSIONS: In
      our experience, endovascular treatment of iliac occlusions provides excellent
      early and long-term results, similar to those obtained in the treatment of
      stenotic lesions.

PMID- 20934842
TI  - Effect of patient age on morphology of anterior cruciate ligament grafts at
      second-look arthroscopy.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of patient age on
      the morphology of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) graft after ACL
      reconstruction, as well as to investigate the relation between morphology and
      clinical outcomes. METHODS: Anatomic double-bundle ACL reconstruction by use of
      autogenous semitendinosus tendon graft was performed in 193 patients. Of these,
      102 patients (51 male and 51 female patients) had consented to undergo second
      look arthroscopy at the time of hardware removal within 2 years of ACL
      reconstruction. These patients were divided into the following 3 groups according
      to their age: group A, 29 years or younger (55 cases); group B, 30 to 49 years
      (36 cases); and group C, 50 years or older (11 cases). At second-look
      arthroscopy, the grafts were evaluated based on synovial coverage around the
      grafts, tension, and damage/tear of the grafts themselves. Clinical outcomes were
      evaluated with a physical examination including the Lachman test and side-to-side
      difference by KT-2000 knee arthrometer (MEDmetric, San Diego, CA), subjective
      assessment including International Knee Documentation Committee subjective
      assessment and Lysholm score, and sports activity level including Tegner activity
      scale. The Mann-Whitney U test, Kruskal-Wallis test, analysis of variance, and
      chi2 test were used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: Good synovial coverage
      over the graft was found in 49 cases (89%) in group A, 30 (83%) in group B, and 5
      (46%) in group C. Synovial coverage in group C was significantly poorer than that
      in the other 2 groups. No statistical difference was found in tension of graft
      among the 3 groups, whereas the incidence of a "partial tear" tended to increase
      with age. With respect to clinical outcome, there was no significant difference
      among the 3 groups except for sports activity. CONCLUSIONS: Although clinical
      outcomes were comparable among the 3 groups, synovial coverage of ACL grafts in
      elderly patients was significantly poorer than that in younger patients. LEVEL OF
      EVIDENCE: Level II, prognostic study.

PMID- 20934843
TI  - The effects of lesion size and location on subchondral bone contact in
      experimental knee articular cartilage defects in a bovine model.
AB  - PURPOSE: To determine how femoral condyle chondral defect size and location
      influence subchondral bone contact within the defect. METHODS: Full-thickness,
      circular chondral defects (0.2 to 5.07 cm2) were created in 9 healthy bovine
      knees. Knees were loaded to 1,000 N, and subchondral bone contact area
      measurements were recorded with a Tekscan sensor and I-Scan software (Tekscan,
      Boston, MA). A MATLAB program (The MathWorks, Natick, MA) was designed to compute
      defect area and the area within the defect showing subchondral bone contact. One
      sample t tests with Bonferroni correction were performed for medial and lateral
      defects at each defect size to determine when statistically significant (P < .05)
      contact occurred; the smallest defect size exhibiting significant contact was
      considered a threshold area. RESULTS: The threshold at which significant
      subchondral bone contact occurred was different for medial and lateral defects.
      Contact within all defects was not observed below a defect area of 0.97 cm2. The
      threshold at which significant (P < .05) contact occurred was 1.61 cm2 and 1.99
      cm2 for lateral and medial condyle defects, respectively. CONCLUSIONS:
      Subchondral bone contact within experimental femoral condyle chondral defects is
      dependent on defect size and intra-articular location. In our bovine model,
      lateral condyle defects have significant subchondral bone contact at a smaller
      defect size than medial defects. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Current algorithms use size
      as a primary factor in management of chondral defects of the knee. Although the
      consequences of subchondral bone contact on femoral condyle articular cartilage
      defect progression are unknown, the results of this study supplement current
      algorithms and suggest consideration of defect location, in addition to size, in
      the management of chondral defects of the knee.

PMID- 20934844
TI  - Arthroscopically assisted use of injectable bone graft substitutes for management
      of scaphoid nonunions.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to analyze the clinical follow-up results
      (minimum, 2 years) in patients with nonunions of the scaphoid with minimal
      sclerosis treated with arthroscopically assisted percutaneous internal fixation
      augmented by injection of a bone graft substitute. METHODS: From January 2006
      through November 2007, a consecutive series of 15 patients with fibrous union or
      nonunion of a carpal scaphoid fracture with minimal sclerosis or resorption at
      the nonunion site were treated with arthroscopically assisted percutaneous
      internal fixation combined with the use of injectable bone graft substitute.
      Preoperative and postoperative evaluations included measurement of clinical (grip
      strength and range of motion), radiographic, and functional (Mayo Modified Wrist
      Score) parameters, as well as satisfaction. The sample included 13 men and 2
      women with a mean age of 31 years (range, 20 to 45 years). We recorded union and
      return to activity and analyzed data with regular clinical follow-up at a mean of
      33 months (range, 24 to 46 months). RESULTS: We confirmed union in 14 of 15
      patients (93%) at a mean of 15.4 weeks according to clinical examinations and
      standard radiography. For the Mayo Modified Wrist Score, there were 10 excellent
      and 4 good results. A total of 14 of 15 patients (93%) returned to work or sports
      activities at their preinjury level. CONCLUSIONS: Arthroscopically assisted
      treatment with percutaneous internal fixation with injectable bone graft
      substitute is a reliable and minimally invasive method to achieve union and
      scaphoid healing. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level IV, therapeutic case series.

PMID- 20934845
TI  - Neurovascular safety and clinical outcome of outside-in repair of tears of the
      posterior horn of the medial meniscus.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the safety and clinical
      outcome of a new posterior approach for the known outside-in technique for repair
      of tears of the posterior horn of the medial meniscus (PHMM). METHODS: First, a
      cadaveric study was performed on 6 cadaveric knees to assess the safety of a
      point just lateral to the semitendinosus tendon as an entry point for outside-in
      repair. Dissection was done to measure the clearance of this point to the nearby
      popliteal bundle and saphenous nerve. A prospective case series study was then
      performed to assess the clinical outcome of such an approach. We treated 41
      consecutive cases with PHMM tears by the outside-in technique using a shuttle
      relay method through the same point. Clinical assessments, magnetic resonance
      imaging findings, Lysholm scores, and International Knee Documentation Committee
      subjective scores were recorded for all patients. After a minimum postoperative
      period of 2 years, all cases were re-evaluated and re-scored. RESULTS: The
      cadaveric study showed a mean clearance distance of 2.4 cm for the popliteal
      bundle and 4.6 cm for the saphenous nerve. The case series study was done on 41
      meniscal repairs; 15 of 41 cases (37%) were performed in conjunction with
      anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. There were 22 right knees (54%) and 19
      left knees (36%). After a mean follow-up period of 27 months, patients showed a
      clinical success rate of 88% in terms of disappearance of pain, locking, and
      swelling, together with improved Lysholm scores (from 34 to 88) and International
      Knee Documentation Committee scores (from 25 to 88). These improvements were
      statistically significant (P < .05). CONCLUSIONS: An outside-in repair technique
      with a posterior entry central to the semitendinosus tendon was used safely with
      88% satisfactory clinical results for treatment of PHMM tears. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE:
      Level IV, therapeutic case series.

PMID- 20934846
TI  - WITHDRAWN: Inhibition of NADPH oxidase up-regulates connexin 43 and ameliorates
      electrical remodeling in rabbits with heart failure.
AB  - The Publisher regrets that this article is an accidental duplication of an
      article that has already been published,
      http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biomag.2010.08.001. The duplicate article has
      therefore been withdrawn.

PMID- 20934847
TI  - Stressful life events and material deprivation in hoarding disorder.
AB  - Traumatic life events and early material deprivation have been identified as
      potential environmental risk factors for the development of pathological hoarding
      behavior, but the evidence so far is preliminary and confounded by the presence
      of comorbid obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). This study retrospectively
      examined the occurrence of traumatic/stressful life events and material
      deprivation in four well-characterized groups: hoarding disorder without comorbid
      OCD (HD; n=24), hoarding disorder with comorbid OCD (HD+OCD; n=20), OCD without
      hoarding symptoms (OCD; n=17), and non-clinical controls (Control; n=20).
      Participants completed clinician and self-administered measures of hoarding, OCD,
      depression, psychological adjustment, and traumatic experience. Semi-structured
      interviews were undertaken to assess the temporal relation between
      traumatic/stressful life events and the onset and worsening of hoarding symptoms,
      and to determine the level of material deprivation. Although rates of post
      traumatic stress disorder were comparable across all three clinical groups,
      hoarders (regardless of the presence of comorbid OCD) reported greater exposure
      to a range of traumatic and stressful life events compared to the two non
      hoarding groups. Results remained unchanged after controlling for age, gender,
      education level, depression, and obsessive-compulsive symptoms. The total number
      of traumatic life events correlated significantly with the severity of hoarding
      but not of obsessive-compulsive symptoms. About half (52%) of hoarding
      individuals linked the onset of hoarding difficulties to stressful life
      circumstances, although this was significantly less common among those reporting
      early childhood onset of hoarding behavior. There was no link between levels of
      material deprivation and hoarding. Results support a link between trauma, life
      stress and hoarding, which may help to inform the conceptualization and treatment
      of hoarding disorder, but await confirmation in a representative epidemiological
      sample and using a longitudinal design.

PMID- 20934848
TI  - A wavelet thresholding method to reduce ultrasound artifacts.
AB  - Artifacts due to enhancement, reverberation, and multi-path reflection are
      commonly encountered in medical ultrasound imaging. These artifacts can adversely
      affect an automated image quantification algorithm or interfere with a
      physician's assessment of a radiological image. This paper proposes a soft
      wavelet thresholding method to replace regions adversely affected by these
      artifacts with the texture due to the underlying tissue(s), which were originally
      obscured. Our proposed method soft thresholds the wavelet coefficients of
      affected regions to estimate the reflectivity values caused by these artifacts.
      By subtracting the estimated reflectivity values of the artifacts from the
      original reflectivity values, estimates of artifact reduced reflectivity values
      are attained. The improvements of our proposed method are substantiated by an
      evaluation of Field II simulated, in vivo mouse and human heart B mode images.

PMID- 20934849
TI  - Effect of omega-3 fatty acids on life span.

PMID- 20934850
TI  - Immunonutrition in cancer patients.

PMID- 20934851
TI  - Optimal prediction of the central venous catheter insertion depth on a routine
      chest x-ray.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Cardiac tamponade is a serious complication of central venous catheter
      (CVC) insertion. The position of the carina has been shown to be near the
      pericardial reflection and can easily be identified as a landmark on routine
      chest x-ray (CXR). The purpose of this study was to show a simple way to predict
      optimal CVC depth, thereby facilitating safe positioning of the CVC tip. METHODS:
      Subjects included 119 inpatients undergoing gastroenterologic surgery. Central
      venous catheterization was performed through the right internal jugular vein or
      the right subclavian vein. The insertion depth was measured. Postoperatively, the
      CVC tip position was confirmed by CXR and the distance between the CVC tip and
      the carina was measured. We compared the "original measurement" up to the carina
      from the insertion point with the "calculated measurement" derived by adding half
      the length of the right clavicle and the vertical length between the sternal head
      of the right clavicle and the carina on the CXR. RESULTS: There was a significant
      correlation between the original measurement and the calculated measurement when
      performed through the internal jugular vein and the subclavian vein. CONCLUSION:
      The appropriate length of CVC inserted through the right internal jugular vein or
      right subclavian vein could be estimated by the calculated measurement of adding
      half the length of the right clavicle and the vertical length between the sternal
      head of the right clavicle and the carina.

PMID- 20934853
TI  - The omega-3 and omega-6 fats in meals: a proposal for a simple new label.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The omega-3 and omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) are
      separate essential dietary fatty acids that play a key role in many physiologic
      processes in higher animals. The content of these PUFAs is relatively well
      described for many individual food components. Our goal in this study was to
      analyze the PUFA content of whole meals and produce a simple measurement to
      estimate the intake of these fatty acids. METHODS: The fatty acid profile and
      macronutrient composition were determined for a range of fast food, cuisine
      (restaurant-prepared), and home-prepared whole meals commonly consumed by
      Australians. RESULTS: Across the different meals there was significant variation
      in protein (4-fold), fat (13-fold), and carbohydrate (23-fold) contents. With
      regard to the fatty acid profile, saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids made
      up approximately 80% of total fatty acids for most meals. The omega-6 PUFAs were
      substantially more abundant than omega-3 PUFAs for most meals. The balance of
      dietary omega-3 and omega-6 PUFAs is an important determinant of their metabolic
      effects within the body, and accordingly we calculated the percentage of the
      total PUFA comprised of omega-3 PUFAs and referred to this as the PUFA Balance.
      This parameter showed the greatest variation among the different meals (>45
      fold). CONCLUSION: The relative proportions of omega-3 and omega-6 PUFAs vary
      greatly across meals. PUFA Balance is a useful tool that will allow individuals
      to more easily monitor and balance their intake of omega-3 and omega-6 fats.

PMID- 20934852
TI  - Cortisol, energy intake, and food frequency in overweight/obese women.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This retrospective study investigated the relation between daily
      urinary free cortisol excretion rate, as a marker of cortisol production rate, to
      daily caloric intake, food choice, body mass index (BMI), and waist
      circumference. METHODS: One hundred twenty-seven overweight/obese women and 21
      normal-weight subjects were enrolled in the study. Fasting blood samples for
      metabolic parameters were taken from each subject, followed by an oral glucose
      tolerance test. Cortisol excretion rate was assessed on 24-h urine collection
      (UFC/24 h). In obese patients, the daily caloric intake was calculated, and a
      weekly food-frequency questionnaire was assessed. Analysis of variance was used
      to assess the differences between groups. The relations between parameters were
      investigated by simple and multiple regressions. RESULTS: Obese women had
      significantly higher UFC/24 h than the normal-weight women (P < 0.001). The obese
      subjects had an unbalanced diet, particularly rich in saturated lipids, and
      weekly food choice showed a preference for highly caloric foods. UFC/24 h values
      and waist circumference were significantly correlated (P < 0.001), regardless of
      BMI. In the obese group, after adjustment for BMI, the UFC/24 h values were also
      significantly and positively correlated to daily carbohydrate and lipid intake
      and to weekly starchy food consumption. CONCLUSION: We demonstrated a significant
      association between higher UFC/24 h and energy intake, fats, and consumption of
      starchy foods, and that these relations were independent of BMI.

PMID- 20934854
TI  - Impact of high cholesterol intake on tissue cholesterol content and lipid
      transfers to high-density lipoprotein.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Esterified cholesterol is the storage form of cholesterol in the
      organism. High-density lipoprotein (HDL), where free cholesterol is transferred
      from other lipoproteins and tissues, is the main esterification site in plasma.
      The aim of this study was to investigate how high cholesterol intake changes
      free/esterified ratios of cholesterol in the plasma, aorta, liver and lipid
      transfers to HDL. METHODS: Twenty male Golden Syrian hamsters fed 0.5%
      cholesterol for 15 wk and 19 controls without cholesterol feeding were sacrificed
      to determine serum lipids, transfer proteins (cholesteryl ester transfer protein
      and phospholipid transfer protein), and amount of free and esterified cholesterol
      in the aorta and liver. In vitro transfer of radioactive free and esterified
      cholesterol, phospholipids, and triacylglycerols to HDL was performed by
      incubating whole plasma with an artificial nanoemulsion used as a lipid donor and
      measuring radioactivity in the HDL fraction after chemical precipitation of non
      HDL fractions and of the nanoemulsion. RESULTS: Compared with controls,
      cholesterol-fed animals showed a 137% increase in non-HDL plasma fraction and a
      61% increase in HDL (P < 0.001). The esterified/free cholesterol ratio in non-HDL
      and HDL fractions did not change. In the aorta, free cholesterol increased 55%
      and the esterified/free ratio (0.2) decreased. Cholesterol accumulation in the
      liver was several-fold greater and esterified/free increased (1.3). Cholesterol
      feeding pronouncedly increased the transfer of free and esterified cholesterol,
      phospholipids, and triacylglycerols to HDL and cholesteryl ester transfer protein
      and phospholipid transfer protein activities. CONCLUSIONS: Free cholesterol is
      cytotoxic and less stable than esterified cholesterol, and the present data on
      how the organism responds to high cholesterol intake with respect to
      esterified/free ratios in the plasma, aorta, liver, and lipid transfers to HDL
      may have physiopathologic implications.

PMID- 20934855
TI  - Dietary calcium intake and its relationship with adiposity and metabolic profile
      in hypertensive patients.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: An inverse relation between dietary calcium and adiposity has been
      found in several epidemiologic studies. Recent evidence has also suggested that a
      calcium-rich diet may have beneficial effects on insulin resistance and
      dyslipidemia. This study aimed to evaluate the association of dietary calcium
      intake with global adiposity, abdominal obesity, and metabolic profile in
      hypertensive patients. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, 85 hypertensive
      patients 25 to 70 y old underwent clinical, dietary, anthropometric, and
      biochemical evaluations. Participants were stratified into the following two
      groups according to their usual dietary calcium intake: low calcium group (<800
      mg/d) and high calcium group (>=800 mg/d). RESULTS: Fifty-seven participants (11
      men and 46 women) were included in the final analyses. Subjects in the low
      calcium group compared with those in the high calcium group exhibited
      significantly higher levels of body mass index and percentage of body fat after
      adjustments for variables that could interfere with those adiposity parameters (P
      = 0.03 and 0.01, respectively). Patients in the high calcium group had a lower
      odds ratio for prevalent obesity than those in the low calcium group, even after
      controlling for potential confounders (P = 0.01). No significant differences were
      found in abdominal adiposity and metabolic profile between the two groups. Using
      data from all patients, an inverse and significant association was observed
      between dietary calcium intake and percentage of body fat, and it remained after
      controlling for confounders (P = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS: The findings of the present
      study suggest that, in hypertensive patients, higher dietary calcium intake could
      be associated with lower global adiposity.

PMID- 20934856
TI  - Calcium bioavailability from a fortified cereal-legume snack (laddoo).
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Calcium intakes in underprivileged Indian children are often low.
      Improving calcium intake fortification of indigenous foods may be a viable
      strategy. The aim of this study was to evaluate calcium absorption, as judged by
      an acute increase in serum ionized calcium concentration, after ingestion of a
      calcium-fortified cereal-legume snack (laddoo). METHODS: Three groups of eight
      children (8-12 y old) with low habitual dietary calcium intake were recruited for
      the study. After an overnight fast, a calcium-fortified (500 mg of calcium
      carbonate) cereal-legume snack (laddoo) was given to group A, a similar but non
      fortified snack was given to group B, and group C received calcium carbonate (500
      mg) alone. Serum concentrations of ionized calcium and intact parathyroid hormone
      were measured at 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 h. RESULTS: In group A, a peak of 6% above
      baseline was observed at 1 h in serum ionized calcium, whereas group C showed a
      peak of 5.5% at 4 h and group B showed a small increase of 1.8% at 1 h. The
      change in area under curve of groups A and C were of similar order (4.6 and 5.5,
      respectively), whereas that of group B was significantly lower (0.82). Serum
      parathyroid hormone was lowest at 2 h in groups A and B and at 3 h in group C.
      CONCLUSION: The fortified cereal-legume laddoo may act as a novel vehicle for
      increasing calcium intake in children.

PMID- 20934857
TI  - Investigation of optimal anticoagulation strategy for stroke prevention in
      Japanese patients with atrial fibrillation--the J-RHYTHM Registry study design.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In order to prevent stroke in atrial fibrillation (AF) lower
      international normalized ratios (INR) (1.6-2.6) were recommended for elderly
      Japanese patients, but only one clinical study supported this recommendation.
      METHODS AND RESULTS: The J-RHYTHM Registry is a large, contemporary, prospective
      observational investigation, with a 2-year follow-up, of patients with AF. Over
      6000 AF patients of all types under clinical observation at approximately 150
      sites in 10 geographical regions that together cover the whole of Japan will be
      enrolled in numbers proportional to the population densities of those areas. The
      primary endpoints of the study will be symptomatic stroke including transient
      ischemic attack, systemic thromboembolism, and major bleeding including
      intracranial hemorrhage requiring hospitalization. At each visit, the accumulated
      demographic data and INR will be examined to determine the appropriate INR for
      Japanese AF patients. CONCLUSIONS: The study will offer a contemporary overview
      of the anticoagulation status throughout Japan, and will follow more than 6000
      patients spread throughout the country for 2 years, to obtain important
      information, including the optimal INR for Japanese AF patients (UMIN Clinical
      Trials Registry UMIN000001569).

PMID- 20934858
TI  - Delusional ideation, manic symptomatology and working memory in a cohort at
      clinical high-risk for psychosis: a longitudinal study.
AB  - We followed up a cohort (n=35) of clients with an "At Risk Mental State" (ARMS)
      for almost 2 years (mean 21.3 months). At baseline, these clients had taken part
      in research looking at the relationship between reasoning biases, memory,
      personality styles and delusional ideation. During the follow-up period, clients
      underwent a package of intervention from a specialist early detection team.
      Eighty percent (n=28) of these clients were successfully re-interviewed. There
      was improvement across the cohort as a whole, however five participants (17.9%)
      had made the transition to psychosis at follow-up. Those who had become psychotic
      had lower levels of manic symptomatology at baseline than those who did not enter
      the first episode. Further, across the cohort, impaired working memory and
      delusional ideation at baseline combined to predict 45% of the delusional
      ideation at follow-up. These preliminary findings suggest that working memory
      impairments may be linked to the persistence of delusional ideation and that
      manic symptoms in someone with an ARMS may suggest that such an individual is
      less likely to develop a frank psychotic episode.

PMID- 20934859
TI  - Functional neuroimaging in anorexia nervosa: a clinical approach.
AB  - AIMS: To provide a review of the available literature about the functional
      neuroimaging of anorexia nervosa, and to summarize the possible role of
      neurobiological factors in its pathogenesis. METHODS: A systematic review of the
      literature was performed using PubMed and Medline electronic database (1950
      September 2009). Eligible studies were restricted to those involving the main
      parameters of cerebral activity and functional neuroimaging techniques. Findings
      of the reviewed studies have been grouped on a diagnostic subtype basis, and
      their comparison has been interpreted in terms of concordance. RESULTS: We found
      a high level of concordance among available studies with regard to the presence
      of frontal, parietal and cingulate functional disturbances in both anorexia
      nervosa restricting and binge/purging subtypes. Concordance among studies
      conducted regardless of the anorexia nervosa subtypes suggests an alteration in
      temporal and parietal functions and striatal metabolism. CONCLUSIONS: The most
      consistent alterations in anorexia nervosa cerebral activity seem to involve the
      dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, the inferior parietal lobule, the anterior
      cingulate cortex and the caudate nucleus. They may affect different neural
      systems such as the frontal visual system, the attention network, the arousal and
      emotional processing systems, the reward processing network, and the network for
      the body schema.

PMID- 20934860
TI  - The role of split-course hypofractionated palliative radiotherapy in head and
      neck cancer.
AB  - AIMS: A significant proportion of patients with head and neck squamous cell
      carcinoma are unsuitable for radical treatment due to factors including tumour
      stage, performance status and co-morbidity. Palliative radiotherapy has a useful
      role in the control of local symptoms. This study documented the outcome with
      split-course hypofractionated radiotherapy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty-three
      previously untreated patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma were
      treated with palliative intent with split-course radiotherapy, with an initial 20
      Gy in five fractions over 1 week, a 2 week gap, and then a further 20 Gy in five
      fractions over 1 week at the Yorkshire Cancer Centre between January 2004 and
      December 2007. Data were collected retrospectively from case notes and
      radiotherapy records. RESULTS: Thirty (91%) patients had stage IV A-B disease.
      World Health Organization performance status was 2 or 3 in 19 (58%) patients. The
      median age was 76 years (range 48-91 years). Twenty-five (76%) patients were men.
      Symptomatic improvement was reported in 26 (79%) patients at 4-6 weeks of follow
      up. Thirteen (39%) patients had a complete tumour response and 11 (33%) patients
      had a partial response as assessed clinically, and in some cases radiologically.
      The median overall survival was 9 months (range 3-43 months). Progression-free
      survival at 1 and 2 years was 35 and 25%, respectively. Overall survival at 1 and
      2 years was 42 and 34%, respectively. Treatment was generally well tolerated;
      admission for nasogastric feeding and/or supportive care was required in only six
      patients. Radiation Therapy Oncology Group grade 3 toxicity was documented for
      skin in one patient, for mucosa in two patients and for oesophagitis in three
      patients. CONCLUSION: Split-course hypofractionated radiotherapy is an effective
      palliative regimen with acceptable toxicity.

PMID- 20934861
TI  - Reply to: Is concurrent chemoradiation the standard of care for locally advanced
      non-small cell lung cancer? A review of guidelines and evidence.

PMID- 20934862
TI  - Mechanisms of impaired bone strength in type 1 and 2 diabetes.
AB  - Diabetes and osteoporosis are common and complex disorders with an enormous
      health burden that can be often associated especially in middle-age and elderly
      individuals. Although there is raising awareness of the higher fractures rates
      among patients with type 1 (DM1) and 2 (DM2) diabetes, there are few data
      available on the pathogenetic mechanisms responsible for this increased risk.
      Importantly, several experimental and clinical observations suggest that bone
      abnormalities associated with diabetes may differ, at least in part, from those
      associated with senile or post-menopausal osteoporosis. This implies that
      specific preventive and therapeutic strategies have to be developed and tested to
      prevent fractures in DM1 and DM2 patients. It is also likely that shared (i.e.
      due to glucose-toxicity) as well as different (i.e. due to insulin levels or
      other hormones) mechanisms may be associated with bone fragility in DM1 and DM2.
      Moreover, the hypothesis of an endocrine role of the skeleton in the regulation
      of glucose metabolism and insulin sensitivity has been recently proposed by
      experimental observations. This review summarizes the recent clinical and
      experimental advances on glucose tolerance, bone fragility and osteoporosis
      associated with diabetes.

PMID- 20934863
TI  - The endocannabinoid signaling system: a marriage of PUFA and musculoskeletal
      health.
AB  - The role of diet in health and diseases related to muscle and bone has been an
      area of active study. Recently, endocannabinoids (EC), endogenous derivatives of
      arachidonic acid, an omega-6 (n-6) polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA), have been
      discovered to play regulatory roles in bone mass and muscle energy metabolism.
      This signaling system consists of the G-protein coupled cannabinoid receptors,
      CB1 and CB2, expressed in central and peripheral tissues and cells, which are
      variably activated by the production and on demand release of endogenous and
      synthetic agonists and antagonists. We propose that the balance between omega-6
      and omega-3 (n-3) PUFA is an important modifier for the activation and
      suppression of endocannabinoid receptors and therefore, downstream signaling
      actions in cells. The potential of dietary PUFA to regulate this signaling system
      to influence the metabolic and physiological outcomes favorable to
      musculoskeletal health is the purpose of this review. The important role of n-3
      PUFA in metabolic and physiological processes that attenuate muscle and bone loss
      under conditions of disease and stress is one aspect described herein. In this
      review, we first introduce the EC agonists (ligands) and their receptors (CB1 and
      CB2) and the general actions of EC signaling in various organs and systems.
      Second, we describe EC signaling in bone and muscle and how dietary PUFA
      influence the levels of endogenous agonists. Third, we discuss the potential
      implications of how dietary PUFA impact this system to minimize muscle atrophy
      and osteopenia and support healthy muscle development and bone modeling.

PMID- 20934864
TI  - PB/PANI-modified electrode used as a novel oxygen reduction cathode in microbial
      fuel cell.
AB  - This study focuses on the preparation of a new type of Prussian Blue/polyaniline
      (PB/PANI)-modified electrode as oxygen reduction cathode, and its availability in
      microbial fuel cell (MFC) for biological power generation. The PB/PANI-modified
      electrode was prepared by electrochemical and chemical methods, both of which
      exhibited good electrocatalytical reactivity for oxygen reduction in acidic
      electrolyte. The MFC with PB/PANI-modified cathode aerated by either oxygen or
      air was shown to yield a maximum power density being the same with that of the
      MFC with liquid-state ferricyanide cathode, and have an excellent duration as
      indicated by stable cathode potential for more than eight operating circles. This
      study suggests a promising potential to utilize this novel electrode as an
      effective alternative to platinum for oxygen reduction in MFC system without
      losing sustainability.

PMID- 20934865
TI  - Recent advances in charting protein-protein interaction: mass spectrometry-based
      approaches.
AB  - Cellular functions are the result of the coordinated action of groups of proteins
      interacting in molecular assemblies or pathways. The systematic and unbiased
      charting of protein-protein networks in a variety of organisms has become an
      important challenge in systems biology. These protein-protein interaction
      networks contribute comprehensive cartographies of key pathways or biological
      processes relevant to health or disease by providing a molecular frame for the
      interpretation of genetic links. At a structural level protein-protein networks
      enabled the identification of the sequences, motifs and structural folds involved
      in the process of molecular recognition. A rapidly growing choice of technologies
      is available for the global charting of protein-protein interactions. In this
      review, we focus on recent developments in a suite of methods that enable the
      purification of protein complexes under native conditions and, in conjunction
      with protein mass spectrometry, identification of their constituents.

PMID- 20934866
TI  - Single cell metabolomics.
AB  - Recent discoveries suggest that cells of a clonal population often display
      multiple metabolic phenotypes at the same time. Motivated by the success of mass
      spectrometry (MS) in the investigation of population-level metabolomics, the
      analytical community has initiated efforts towards MS-based single cell
      metabolomics to investigate metabolic phenomena that are buried under the
      population average. Here, we review the current approaches and illustrate their
      advantages and disadvantages. Because of significant advances in the field,
      different technologies are now at the verge of generating data that are useful
      for exploring and investigating metabolic heterogeneity.

PMID- 20934867
TI  - Metagenomic era for biocatalyst identification.
AB  - Microbial enzymes have many known applications as biocatalysts. However, only a
      few of them are currently employed for biocatalysis even though an annotated
      collection of more than 190 billion bases is available in metagenome sequence
      databases from uncultured and highly diverse microbial populations. This review
      aims at providing conceptual and technical bases for the translation of
      metagenome data into both experimental and computational frameworks that
      facilitates a comprehensive analysis of the biocatalysts diversity space. We will
      also briefly present the status of the current capabilities that assess and
      predict catalytic potential of environmental sites and track its diversity and
      evolution in large-scale biocatalysis process resulting from studies applying
      metagenomics in association with gene fingerprinting, catabolic arrays and
      complementary '-omics'.

PMID- 20934868
TI  - Multiscale complexity in the mammalian circadian clock.
AB  - The field of systems biology studies how the interactions among individual
      components (e.g. genes and proteins) yield interesting and complex behavior. The
      circadian (daily) timekeeping system in mammals is an ideal system to study
      complexity because of its many biological scales (from genes to animal behavior).
      A wealth of data at each of these scales has recently been discovered. Within
      each scale, modeling can advance our understanding of challenging problems that
      arise in studying mammalian timekeeping. However, future work must focus on
      bridging the multiple spatial and temporal scales in the modeling of SCN network.
      Here we review recent advances, and then delve into a few areas that are
      promising research directions. We also discuss the flavor of modeling needed
      (simple or detailed) as well as new techniques that are needed to meet the
      challenges in modeling data across scales.

PMID- 20934869
TI  - Approaching the molecular origins of collective dynamics in oscillating cell
      populations.
AB  - From flocking birds, to organ generation, to swarming bacterial colonies,
      biological systems often exhibit collective behaviors. Here, we review recent
      advances in our understanding of collective dynamics in cell populations. We
      argue that understanding population-level oscillations requires examining the
      system under consideration at three different levels of complexity: at the level
      of isolated cells, homogenous populations, and spatially structured populations.
      We discuss the experimental and theoretical challenges this poses and highlight
      how new experimental techniques, when combined with conceptual tools adapted from
      physics, may help us overcome these challenges.

PMID- 20934870
TI  - Simplicity and complexity in the cyanobacterial circadian clock mechanism.
AB  - The circadian clock of the cyanobacterium Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942 is
      built on a three-protein central oscillator that can be reconstituted in vitro, a
      redox-sensitive input for synchronization with the environment, and a bacterial
      two-component signal transduction pathway for global transcriptional regulation.
      This review covers the most recent progress in our understanding of the
      biological and biochemical mechanism of this bacterial clock, such as the
      discovery of a quinone-binding activity of the oscillator protein KaiA, the
      molecular mechanism of circadian control of cell division, and the global control
      of gene expression via modulation of DNA topology.

PMID- 20934871
TI  - Modeling oscillatory control in NF-kappaB, p53 and Wnt signaling.
AB  - Oscillations are commonly observed in cellular behavior and span a wide range of
      timescales, from seconds in calcium signaling to 24 hours in circadian rhythms.
      In between lie oscillations with time periods of 1-5 hours seen in NF-kappaB, p53
      and Wnt signaling, which play key roles in the immune system, cell growth/death
      and embryo development, respectively. In the first part of this article, we
      provide a brief overview of simple deterministic models of oscillations. In
      particular, we explain the mechanism of saturated degradation that has been used
      to model oscillations in the NF-kappaB, p53 and Wnt systems. The second part
      deals with the potential physiological role of oscillations. We use the simple
      models described earlier to explore whether oscillatory signals can encode more
      information than steady-state signals. We then discuss a few simple genetic
      circuits that could decode information stored in the average, amplitude or
      frequency of oscillations. The presence of frequency-detector circuit downstream
      of NF-kappaB or p53 would be a strong clue that oscillations are important for
      the physiological response of these signaling systems.

PMID- 20934872
TI  - Hard X-ray fluorescence tomography--an emerging tool for structural
      visualization.
AB  - Hard X-ray fluorescence microscopy is well-suited to in-situ investigations of
      trace metal distributions within whole, unstained, biological tissue, with sub
      parts-per-million detection achievable in whole cells. The high penetration of X
      rays indicates the use of X-ray fluorescence tomography for structural
      visualization, and recent measurements have realised sub-500-nm tomography on a
      10-MUm cell. Limitations of present approaches impact the duration of an
      experiment and imaging fidelity. Developments in X-ray resolution, detector
      speed, cryogenic environments, and the incorporation of auxiliary signals are
      being pursued within the synchrotron community. Several complementary approaches
      to X-ray fluorescence tomography will be routinely available to the biologist in
      the near future. We discuss these approaches and review applications of
      biological relevance.

PMID- 20934874
TI  - Synthesis and molecular modelling studies of prenylated pyrazolines as MAO-B
      inhibitors.
AB  - A series of N-substituted-3-[(2'-hydroxy-4'-prenyloxy)-phenyl]-5-phenyl-4,5
      dihydro-(1H)-pyrazolines were synthesized and tested on human monoamine oxidase-A
      and -B isoforms. Structure-activity relationships and molecular modelling showed
      that some substitutions, such as benzyloxy or chlorine atom, improve the best
      interaction with active site of hMAO-B.

PMID- 20934873
TI  - Hydrolysis/dehydration/aldol-condensation/hydrogenation of lignocellulosic
      biomass and biomass-derived carbohydrates in the presence of Pd/WO3-ZrO2 in a
      single reactor.
AB  - Hydrolysis/dehydration/aldol-condensation/hydrogenation of lignocellulosic
      biomass (corncobs) and biomass-derived carbohydrates (tapioca flour) to produce
      water-soluble C5-C15 compounds was developed in a single reactor system. WO3-ZrO2
      efficiently catalyzed the hydrolysis/dehydration of these feedstocks to 5
      hydroxymethylfurfural and furfural, while the impregnation of WO3-ZrO2 with Pd
      allowed sequential aldolcondensation/hydrogenation of these furans to C5-C15
      compounds. The highest C5-C15 yields of 14.8-20.3% were observed at a
      hydrolysis/dehydration temperature of 573 K for 5 min, an aldol-condensation
      temperature of 353 K for 30 h, and a hydrogenation temperature of 393 K for 6 h.
      The C5-C15 yield from tapioca flour was higher than that from corncobs (20.3%
      compared to 14.8%). Tapioca flour produced more C6/C9/C15, whereas corncobs
      generated more C5/C8/C13 compounds due to the presence of hemicellulose in the
      corncobs. These water-soluble organic compounds can be further converted to
      liquid alkanes with high cetane numbers for replacing diesel fuel in
      transportation applications.

PMID- 20934875
TI  - Magnetic resonance imaging assessment of cardiac dysfunction in delta-sarcoglycan
      null mice.
AB  - Delta-sarcoglycan (delta-sarcoglycan) null, Scgd(-/-), mice develop cardiac and
      skeletal muscle histopathological alterations similar to those in humans with
      limb-girdle muscular dystrophy. The objective of this study was to assess the
      feasibility of using MRI to investigate cardiac dysfunction in Scgd(-/-) mice.
      Cardiac MRI of 8 month old Scgd(-/-) and wild type (WT) mice was performed.
      Compared to WT, Scgd(-/-) mice had significantly lower LV ejection fraction (44+/
      5% vs. 66+/-4%, p=0.014), lower RV ejection fraction (25+/-2% vs. 51+/-3%,
      p<0.001) lower myocardial circumferential strain, (15.0+/-0.3% vs. 16.9+/-0.3%,
      p=0.007) and RV dilatation (54+/-3 MUL vs. 40+/-3 MUL, p=0.007). The regional
      circumferential strain also demonstrated significant temporal dyssynchrony
      between opposing regions of the Scgd(-/-) LV. Our results demonstrate severe
      cardiac dysfunction in Scgd(-/-) mice at 8 months. The study identifies a set of
      non-invasive markers that could be used to study efficacy of novel therapeutic
      agents in dystrophic mice.

PMID- 20934876
TI  - The role of visual cues in the acquisition and transfer of a voluntary postural
      sway task.
AB  - We investigated the acquisition and transfer of a visually guided voluntary
      postural sway (PS) task that was practiced with the provision of either
      continuous or end point visual cues. Forty healthy adults were randomly assigned
      in to one of the four groups that practiced sway using different combinations of
      target and performance feedback. Participants were asked to voluntarily sway in
      the sagittal plane at a pre-set frequency (0.23 Hz) by matching the force exerted
      on a dual force platform to a visual target. Baseline, post-test, transfer and
      retention (24h later) tests required performance of the PS task paced by a
      metronome. Continuous target cues resulted in greater accuracy at the peaks but
      at the cost of increasing movement intermittency. End-point cues on the other
      hand, produced more stable sway patterns but target overshooting. These
      adaptations differently generalized in the auditory-driven workspace, as
      reflected by more stable sway patterns for the groups practicing with end target
      cues and an enhancement of the ankle stiffening strategy for the groups
      practicing with continuous targets. It is suggested that the types of visual cues
      available during visually driven PS have a strong influence not only on the
      acquisition of this task but also on its generalization to the audio-motor
      workspace.

PMID- 20934877
TI  - Tricuspid valve repair in the presence of a permanent ventricular pacemaker lead.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Few studies have focussed on the outcomes of tricuspid valve (TV)
      repair in patients with a right ventricular permanent pacemaker lead (PPL) and
      tricuspid regurgitation (TR). METHODS: Retrospective analysis of all patients
      with a PPL undergoing TV repair (annuloplasty ring in 83 patients and De Vega
      annuloplasty in 33 patients) between April 2001 and May 2008 (n=116) was
      performed. The mean patient age was 71 +/- 8.8 years; 59.8% were female, and the
      average European System for Cardiac Operative Risk Evaluation (EuroSCORE) was
      16.4 +/- 14.5%. Follow-up was 100% complete with a mean duration of 19.4 +/- 20.3
      months. RESULTS: In addition to annular dilatation, leaflet injury secondary to
      PPL was observed in eight patients (7%). Isolated ring implantation or De Vega
      annuloplasty was performed in all patients, including five of the eight patients
      with leaflet injury. In the remaining three patients, the PPL was removed and an
      epicardial lead was implanted. A 30-day mortality was 14.6% and a 5-year survival
      45% (95% confidence interval (CI): 29.4-61.6%). Four patients underwent TV re
      operation resulting in a 5-year freedom of 93.4% from TV-related re-operation
      (95% CI: 88.2-97.7). Two of the four re-operated patients had PPL-related leaflet
      injury at the time of the initial operation and the PPL was left in situ.
      CONCLUSIONS: Patients with a pre-existing PPL, who require TV surgery for
      significant TR, however without evidence of PPL-induced TR, can undergo TV repair
      without removal of the PPL. In patients with evidence of PPL-related TR, we
      suggest PPL removal followed by insertion of an epicardal or transcoronary sinus
      lead.

PMID- 20934878
TI  - Slime method: modified hemostatic technique of fibrin glue in major
      cardiothoracic surgery.
AB  - Surgical bleeding from anastomoses due to systemic heparinization or prolonged
      extracorporeal circulation, which is more effectively controlled with topical
      hemostatic agents than with sutures, has been one of the major problems in
      cardiovascular surgery. We describe a novel hemostatic technique using fibrin
      glue. Briefly, the two components of fibrinogen and thrombin solutions are mixed
      and put over the bleeding point immediately after the glue has become a viscous
      gel. Within a minute of local compression, the glue sets well enough to stop the
      bleed.

PMID- 20934879
TI  - Severe intraprosthetic regurgitation following trans-catheter aortic valve
      implantation-to crimp or not to crimp? This might be the problem.

PMID- 20934880
TI  - Comparison of inflow occlusion on the beating heart with cardiopulmonary bypass
      in the extraction of a mass lesion or a foreign body from the right heart.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Two basic surgical techniques exist in the extraction of a mass lesion
      or a foreign body from the right atrium and/or the right ventricle. These are
      inflow occlusion of the right heart and with assistance of the cardiopulmonary
      bypass (CPB). In this study, these two methods were compared. METHODS: Between
      May 2001 and April 2010, 15 patients were operated upon for the extraction of a
      mass lesion or a foreign body from the right heart. Seven patients were operated
      upon using venous inflow occlusion technique, whereas eight patients were
      operated upon using CPB. These two groups were evaluated and compared in terms of
      clinical parameters. RESULTS: Intracardiac masses or foreign bodies were
      completely removed by using both methods. Patients who were operated upon using
      inflow occlusion on beating heart (IOBH) developed no postoperative complication,
      whereas two patients who were operated upon with CPB developed complications,
      postoperatively. Moreover, duration of hospital stay, duration of intensive care
      unit (ICU) stay, and intubation time were significantly lower in the IOBH group
      when compared with the CPB group. In the CPB group, the amount of blood
      transfused was significantly higher. CONCLUSIONS: In suitable patient groups, the
      IOBH technique could be safely performed by experienced centers.

PMID- 20934881
TI  - Informed consent for interventions in stable coronary artery disease: problems,
      etiologies, and solutions.
AB  - The objective of this review was to determine whether patients undergoing
      percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and coronary artery bypass grafting
      (CABG) (1) understand the aims of the proposed intervention, and (2) whether they
      are offered alternative and potentially more effective therapies, as required for
      the process of informed consent. We performed a systematic review of Medline for
      observational studies of patient understanding and perceptions of coronary
      revascularization and of the consent process. Data extraction was of patient
      perceptions of expected symptomatic and prognostic benefits of PCI and CABG, and
      the proportion of patients offered potential alternative treatments. Eight
      studies were identified, of which seven were relevant to PCI and three to CABG.
      On average, 55% of patients correctly believed that PCI would improve symptoms,
      while 78% erroneously believed that PCI would extend life expectancy and 71%
      erroneously believed PCI would prevent future myocardial infarction. On average,
      over 80% of patients correctly identified that CABG would improve symptoms,
      reduce the risk of myocardial infarction and extend life expectancy. In the three
      studies that examined whether alternative therapies were discussed, 68% of PCI
      patients and 59% of CABG patients reported no such discussion. In conclusion, a
      large proportion of patients undergoing coronary interventions do not appear to
      understand the rationale for treatment and have erroneous perceptions regarding
      expected benefits. Moreover, patients are frequently not offered potentially more
      effective alternative therapies. This raises important questions about the
      adequacy of the current informed consent process. We recommend a
      multidisciplinary team approach as the most obvious way to remedy current
      practice.

PMID- 20934882
TI  - Clinical benefits of partial circulatory support in New York Heart Association
      Class IIIB and Early Class IV patients.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Full mechanical support with a left-ventricular assist device (LVAD)
      is generally limited to end-stage heart-failure patients. We have been studying
      the safety and efficacy of the partial support Synergy(r) Pocket Micro-pump as
      bridge-to-transplant in a less-sick group of patients as a prelude to a study of
      its use for destination therapy. METHODS: The CircuLite(r) Synergy device is
      implanted via a small right-sided thoracotomy with an inflow cannula in the left
      atrium and an outflow graft connected to the right subclavian artery without the
      use of extracorporeal circulation. The micro-pump is the size of an AA battery,
      sits in the 'pacemaker' pocket subcutaneously in the right clavicular groove and
      pumps up to 3.0 l min-1 from the left atrium to the right subclavian artery.
      RESULTS: The device has been implanted in 27 patients awaiting cardiac transplant
      (22 males), age 54.8 +/- 10.0 years with ejection fraction (EF) 21 +/- 6%, mean
      arterial pressure 73.5 +/- 8.8 mm Hg, pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (PCWP)
      27.5 +/- 7.8 mm Hg and cardiac index (CI) 2.0 +/- 0.4 l min-1 m-2. Duration of
      support has ranged from 6 to 281 days. Right-heart catheterization showed
      significant hemodynamic improvement in the short- and intermediate term after
      implant, with increases in CI from 2.0 +/- 0.4 to 2.8 +/- 0.6 l min-1 m-2 (p <
      0.001) and reductions in PCWP from 28 +/- 6 to 18 +/- 7 mm Hg (p = 0.002) at an
      average of 9.5 +/- 5.5 weeks. CONCLUSIONS: The Synergy device provides partial
      hemodynamic support and its use is associated with significantly improved
      hemodynamics, thus appearing to interrupt and partially reverse the progressive
      hemodynamic deterioration typical of end-stage heart failure. Ongoing efforts are
      aimed at demonstrating additional clinical benefits and continuing to further
      improve the risk/benefit ratio.

PMID- 20934883
TI  - Inflammation-related proteins in the blood of extremely low gestational age
      newborns. The contribution of inflammation to the appearance of developmental
      regulation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We wanted to assess to what extent concentrations of circulating
      proteins appear to be developmentally regulated, and to what extent such
      regulation is influenced by intra-uterine inflammation. METHODS: We measured 22
      proteins in blood obtained on postnatal days 1, 7, and 14 from 818 children born
      before the 28th week of gestation for whom we also had information about placenta
      morphology. RESULTS: Within the narrow gestational age range of this sample, some
      protein concentrations increase in blood with increasing gestational age. More
      commonly, the concentrations of inflammation-related proteins decrease with
      increasing gestational age. We observed this inverse pattern both in children
      whose placenta was and was not inflamed. CONCLUSIONS/INFERENCES: Regardless of
      whether or not the placenta is inflamed, the concentrations of inflammation
      related proteins in early blood specimens appear to be developmentally regulated
      with the most common pattern being a decrease with increasing gestational age.

PMID- 20934884
TI  - Productive capacity of alveolar macrophages and pulmonary organ damage after
      femoral fracture and hemorrhage in IL-6 knockout mice.
AB  - Alveolar macrophages (AM) play an important role in the pathogenesis of
      posttraumatic pulmonary failure, and have been identified as major source of
      pulmonary cytokines. The effects of locally generated IL-6 as well as femoral
      fracture on the pulmonary inflammatory response and organ damage have not been
      fully elucidated. In the present study we evaluated the influence of femoral
      fracture, isolated or in combination with hemorrhage, on the immune function of
      AM and remote lung injury, and investigated the role of pulmonary IL-6 within
      this setting. 18 wild type (WT) and 18 IL-6 knockout mice (IL-6(-/-)) underwent
      standardized femoral fracture, isolated or in combination with volume-controlled
      hemorrhage, followed by fluid resuscitation and splint fixation of the fracture.
      Animals were sacrificed 4h after induction of fracture and hemorrhage. Animals
      were randomly assigned to three study groups (each consisting of six animals).
      Besides sham groups, experimental groups included animals with isolated femoral
      fracture or in combination with hemorrhagic shock. Cytokine release of AM was
      determined by flow cytometry. Pulmonary damage in terms of interstitial
      thickening and lung neutrophil infiltration was assessed by histology and
      immunohistology. The productive capacity of AM for pro-inflammatory cytokines was
      increased after isolated femoral fracture in WT and IL-6(-/-) mice. An additional
      hemorrhagic insult resulted in a further enhancement of pro-inflammatory cytokine
      release and an increased MCP-1 secretion in WT and IL-6(-/-) animals. MCP-1 and
      pro-inflammatory cytokine production of AM was attenuated in IL-6(-/-) mice
      compared to the respective WT groups. Interstitial thickening and lung neutrophil
      infiltration was only observed after femoral fracture combined with hemorrhagic
      shock with an attenuation of the pulmonary organ damage in IL-6(-/-) compared to
      WT animals. These results support the role of IL-6 as a therapeutic target for
      posttraumatic immune modulation. With an increased pro-inflammatory mediator
      release, already an isolated femoral fracture seems to influence the immune
      response of AM.

PMID- 20934885
TI  - Endovascular therapy of a traumatic chronic popliteal arteriovenous fistula using
      an AMPLATZER vascular plug.

PMID- 20934886
TI  - Nasal nitric oxide is reduced in children after solid-organ transplantation.

PMID- 20934887
TI  - Usefulness of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation as a bridge to lung
      transplantation: a descriptive study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This retrospective study investigated early outcome in patients with
      end-stage pulmonary disease bridged with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation
      (ECMO) with the intention of lung transplantation (LTx) in 2 Scandinavian
      transplant centers. METHODS: ECMO was used as a bridge to LTx in 16 patients
      between 2005 and 2009 at Sahlgrenska and Helsinki University Hospitals. Most
      patients were late referrals for LTx, and all failed to stabilize on mechanical
      ventilation. Thirteen patients (7 men) who were a mean age of 41 +/- 8 years
      (range, 25-51 years) underwent LTx after a mean ECMO support of 17 days (range, 1
      59 days). Mean follow-up at 25 +/- 19 months was 100% complete. RESULTS: Three
      patients died on ECMO while waiting for a donor, and 1 patient died 82 days after
      LTx; thus, by intention-to-treat, the success for bridging is 81% and 1-year
      survival is 75%. All other patients survived, and 1-year survival for transplant
      recipients was 92% +/- 7%. Mean intensive care unit stay after LTx was 28 +/- 18
      days (range, 3-53 days). All patients were doing well at follow-up; however, 2
      patients underwent retransplantation due to bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome at
      13 and 21 months after the initial ECMO bridge to LTx procedure. Lung function
      was evaluated at follow-up, and mean forced expiratory volume in 1 second was 2.0
      +/- 0.7 l (62% +/- 23% of predicted) and forced vital capacity was 3.1 +/- 0.6 l
      (74% +/- 21% of predicted). CONCLUSION: ECMO used as a bridge to LTx results in
      excellent short-term survival in selected patients with end-stage pulmonary
      disease.

PMID- 20934888
TI  - Minimizing infection and rejection death: clues acquired from 19 years of multi
      institutional cardiac transplantation data.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to estimate the relationship of age,
      race and gender to rejection and infection across time with respect to age at
      time of transplant, year of transplantation and immunosuppressive era. METHODS:
      The study group consisted of 10,131 patients from 29 institutions in the Cardiac
      Transplant Research Database (n = 7,368, from 1990 to 2008) and 32 institutions
      in the Pediatric Heart Transplant Study (n = 2,763, from 1993 to 2008). The
      probabilities of rejection death and infection death were estimated with a
      parametric time-related model and adjusted for gender, ethnicity, date of
      transplant and age. RESULTS: Actuarial survival by age at transplant showed that,
      when compared with the majority of patients transplanted between the ages of 30
      to 60 years, death due to rejection at 5 years was highest among those
      transplanted at 10 to 30 years of age (p < 0.0001) and lowest in those
      transplanted at >60 years of age. Death due to infection at 5 years was highest
      among patients >60 years of age. Risk factors for death from rejection included
      age (p < 0.0001), female gender (p = 0.0001), black race (p < 0.0001) and
      transplant date (p < 0.0001); for infection death, risk factors were age (p <
      0.0001), date of transplant (p < 0.0001), age (p = 0.002) and black race (p =
      0.01). Modeling with respect to age at time of transplant showed an inverse
      relationship between infection and rejection death. Among patients transplanted
      at >60 years of age, there was a steep increase in infection-related deaths and a
      decrease in rejection deaths. Risk for rejection was elevated among young adults
      10 to 30 years of age at time of transplant, particularly for black females.
      CONCLUSION: Death from rejection affects adolescents and young adults
      preferentially, especially black recipients, whereas death from infection
      preferentially affects patients >60 years of age. Relative risk of infection vs
      rejection death with respect to recipient age should be considered in therapeutic
      plans for recurrent rejection, particularly in adolescents and the elderly.

PMID- 20934890
TI  - Endomyocardial biopsy--when and how?
AB  - Endomyocardial biopsy is a commonly performed useful procedure utilized for the
      evaluation of cardiac tissue. Biopsy may be used to monitor transplant rejection,
      but it has many other applications including the evaluation of myocarditis,
      cardiomyopathy, chest pain, arrhythmia, and secondary involvement by systemic
      diseases. Drug toxicity may be evaluated and neoplasms may be biopsied. Recent
      developments include advances in myocardial and viral molecular biology and
      advances in image or electrophysiology guided biopsy. The utility of
      endomyocardial biopsy is reviewed with consideration of these advances.

PMID- 20934889
TI  - Cardiac fibroma in adults.
AB  - We present the case of a 61-year-old woman with nonspecific symptoms who on
      investigation and treatment had a fibroma of the right ventricular free wall. She
      underwent surgical resection of the mass and is doing well. The literature
      pertaining to cardiac fibromas in adults is reviewed and discussed.

PMID- 20934891
TI  - Evaluation of Spanish Gaucher disease patients after a 6-month imiglucerase
      shortage.
AB  - Recently, an acute restriction of imiglucerase has occurred as a result of viral
      contamination and manufacturing problems. A position statement from the European
      Working Group for Gaucher Disease and European Gaucher Alliance established a set
      of key recommendations for identifying and monitoring at-risk patients. In Spain,
      a profile of the shortage situation was obtained through follow-up of patients
      with Gaucher disease (GD) and compliance with the therapy recommendations. Here
      we describe a group of patients, with modified doses of imiglucerase, during the
      shortage. Fifty adult GD1 patients (25 males/25 females), previously on ERT, were
      analysed before and after the 6-month shortage. The mean age was 45.3 +/- 15.3
      years (range: 18-84). The mean Severity Score Index at diagnosis was 8.7 +/- 3.8
      (range: 3-19); 20% of patients were splenectomized; and 78% had bone disease.
      During the shortage, 23 patients (46%) discontinued therapy; as complications in
      this group only one patient suffered a bone crisis and another anaemia (Hb <10.0
      g/dL). The mean reduction of haemoglobin level (-2.7%) and platelet counts (
      5.4%) were non-significant. Chitotriosidase (CT) activity was increased 135%
      (p<0.03) and CCL18/PARC 8.2% (p<0.08) in this group. Imiglucerase was reduced by
      50% in 17 patients (34%) in this group, seven patients (41.0%) suffered bone
      pain, three of them true bone crisis and four (23.5%) required support therapy.
      The mean reduction of haemoglobin (-2.8%) and platelet counts (-10.7%), CT
      activity was increased 48.2% (p<0.03) and no changes were observed in CCL18/PARC
      concentration. In both groups no significant changes in visceral size were
      observed. In 3 patients (6%), imiglucerase was reduced 75% and 7 patients (14%)
      needed to switch to another ERT (4 patients) or miglustat (3 patients) due to a
      restart of symptomatic disease. In Spain the 6 first months shortage of
      imiglucerase have produced a 20% incidence of bone pain, one case of anaemia, and
      a significant increase in CT activity. Fourteen percent of patients had to switch
      to another therapy. No significant changes in blood counts, visceral volumes and
      CCL18/PARC concentration were observed.

PMID- 20934892
TI  - Rare bleeding disorders in young women.
AB  - Rare bleeding disorders can cause significant bleeding in children and
      adolescents. These encompass rare clotting factor deficiencies, and fibrinolytic
      pathway defects. Vascular anomalies can cause recurrent and refractory bleeding,
      and are included in this review of rare causes of abnormal bleeding in children
      and adolescents. Menorrhagia is often reported as a manifestation of these
      conditions. Succinct knowledge about these disorders, their clinical
      presentation, diagnostic work-up, and therapeutic options are crucial to the
      accurate diagnosis and optimal management of affected patients. This review
      provides an overview of these infrequently encountered disorders, discusses their
      recognition based on results of suggested screening tests and offers a general
      guideline for approach to therapy.

PMID- 20934893
TI  - Overview of bleeding disorders in adolescent females with menorrhagia.
AB  - Women bleed with menses, during childbirth, and after childbirth. Women are more
      likely to manifest a bleeding disorder as they have more opportunities to
      experience bleeding challenges in their lifetime. Bleeding disorders such as
      hemophilia and von Willebrand disease affect 2.5-3 million American women. The
      most common inherited bleeding disorder in the population is von Willebrand
      disease with an estimated prevalence of 1-2%. von Willebrand factor (vWF) is
      required to adhere platelets to exposed subendothelium and protects factor VIII
      from proteolysis in the circulation. The prevalence of vWF rises in studies
      involving women with menorrhagia, with estimates ranging as high as 10-20% in
      white women, and 1-2% among African American women. Other bleeding disorders seen
      in adolescents with menorrhagia are disorders of inherited platelet dysfunction,
      clotting factor deficiencies, thrombocytopenia, and disorders of the fibrinolytic
      pathway. Not only are women more likely to present early in their life with a
      bleeding disorder, they are also more likely to have other gynecologic
      manifestations as a result of these disorders. This article presents an overview
      of the problem and touches upon the different management strategies available.

PMID- 20934894
TI  - von Willebrand disease in the pediatric and adolescent population.
AB  - Recent studies indicate that bleeding disorders, particularly von Willebrand
      disease (VWD) is more prevalent than previously thought in adolescents with
      menorrhagia. Menorrhagia management in undiagnosed disorders of hemostasis may be
      associated with unwanted risks and complications. The prevalence of symptomatic
      VWD in the pediatric primary care setting appears to be 0.11% (95% CI, 0.04
      0.25%). Studies evaluating the prevalence of VWD in adolescents with menorrhagia
      have included over 500 patients with a prevalence range from 3 to 36% depending
      on the clinical setting studied, with the highest prevalence seen in adolescents
      referred to an outpatient Hemophilia Center, while the lowest prevalence is seen
      in the acute hospital setting. Recently, the diagnosis of VWD has been
      facilitated by the use of pediatric bleeding questionnaires that have proved
      useful in quantifying the severity of bleeding symptoms. Treatment of VWD is
      often complex because a combination of therapies is often required. Potential
      treatment options include estrogen-progesterone preparations, desmopressin,
      antifibrinolytic agents and von Willebrand factor concentrates. More research is
      needed to evaluate the effectiveness of the various treatment modalities in the
      adolescent population.

PMID- 20934895
TI  - Obstetric management of adolescents with bleeding disorders.
AB  - Adolescents with bleeding disorders who become pregnant must contend with the
      dual challenges of their bleeding disorder and their pregnancy. Adolescents are
      more likely to terminate a pregnancy than adult women, and when they do carry a
      pregnancy, they are more likely to deliver prematurely. Otherwise, they are at
      risk for the same complications that adult women with bleeding disorders
      experience, particularly bleeding complications postpartum. Since one half to two
      thirds of adolescent pregnancies are unplanned, issues related to reproduction
      should be addressed during routine visits with the pediatrician, hematologist or
      gynecologist. Girls who are at risk of being carriers for hemophilia A and B,
      severe von Willebrand disease, and other severe bleeding disorders should have
      their bleeding disorder status determined before they become pregnant. During
      pregnancy, a plan should be established to ensure that both mother and fetus
      deliver safely. Young women at risk for severe bleeding or at risk of having a
      severely affected infant should be referred for prenatal care and delivery to a
      center where, in addition to specialists in high-risk obstetrics, there is a
      hemophilia treatment center or a hematologist with expertise in hemostasis. Prior
      to delivery or any invasive procedures, young women at risk for severe bleeding
      should receive prophylaxis. Since administration of desmopressin may result in
      hyponatremia, whenever available, virally inactivated or recombinant clotting
      factor concentrates should be used for replacement as opposed to fresh frozen
      plasma or cryoprecipitate.

PMID- 20934896
TI  - Pediatric sleep questionnaires as diagnostic or epidemiological tools: a review
      of currently available instruments.
AB  - An extensive list of published and unpublished instruments used to investigate or
      evaluate sleep issues in children was collected and assessed based on the
      fundamental operational principles of instrument development (11 steps). Of all
      the available tools identified, only a few were validated and standardized using
      appropriate psychometric criteria. In fact, only 2 fulfill all desirable criteria
      and approximately 11 instruments seem to adhere to most of the psychometric tool
      development requirements, and were therefore assessed in greater detail.
      Notwithstanding, in the rapidly developing scientific world of pediatric sleep,
      there are too many tools being used that have not undergone careful and
      methodical psychometric evaluation, and as such may be fraught with biased or
      invalid findings. It is hoped that this initial effort in categorizing and
      assessing available tools for pediatric sleep will serve as recognition of the
      relatively early developmental stage of our field, and provide the necessary
      impetus for future tool development using multicentered approaches and adequate
      methodologies.

PMID- 20934897
TI  - HbA(1c) in the prediction of type 2 diabetes compared with fasting and 2-h post
      challenge plasma glucose: The Asturias study (1998-2005).
AB  - AIM: Fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and the 2-h post-challenge plasma glucose
      (2hPG) are commonly used to identify those at risk of type 2 diabetes. However,
      the role of HbA(1c) in this prediction has still not been ascertained. METHODS:
      The Asturias study is a prospective population-based survey of diabetes and
      cardiovascular risk factors. Baseline examination, carried out during 1998-1999,
      involved 1034 individuals, aged 30-75 years, randomly selected to determine the
      prevalence of type 2 diabetes and prediabetes in the principality of Asturias
      (northern Spain). In 2004-2005, these same subjects were invited to a follow-up
      examination, and 700 participated. The present study includes only those who did
      not have diabetes at baseline. All participants with no known diabetes underwent
      an OGTT. Baseline HbA(1c) levels were measured by HPLC. RESULTS: Diabetes had
      developed in 44 participants at the time of follow-up. Quartiles of baseline
      HbA(1c) values were 3.4-4.8 (Q1), 4.9-5.1 (Q2), 5.2-5.4 (Q3) and 5.5-6.9 (Q4),
      and the incidence rates of diabetes by quartiles were 1.0 (0.1-7.1), 4.0 (1.5
      10.7), 7.9 (4.0-15.9) and 32.6 (22.9-46.4) cases/1000 person-years, respectively.
      ROC curve analysis comparing HbA(1c), FPG and 2hPG in the prediction of diabetes
      showed areas under the curve (ROC-AUC) of 0.80 (0.74-0.86), 0.83 (0.77-0.90) and
      0.79 (0.72-0.87), respectively. The combination of FPG and HbA(1c) had the best
      predictive performance with an ROC-AUC of 0.88 (0.82-0.93). CONCLUSION: Our study
      indicates that HbA(1c) is strongly predictive of new-onset diabetes in this
      northern Spanish population, and was similar to FPG and 2hPG in predictive
      capability. Also, the combined measurement of FPG and HbA(1c) improved their
      individual predictive performance.

PMID- 20934898
TI  - Role of Ag ions on the structural evolution of nano ZnO clusters synthesized
      through ultrasonication and their optical properties.
AB  - ZnO powder doped with 0.84 at wt.% of silver has been synthesized through
      continuous and pulsed mode sonication method. The particle size was found to be
      57(+/-1)nm and 44(+/-1)nm for continuous and pulsed mode powder, respectively.
      Contraction along 'c' axis has been observed for Ag doped powders. The surface
      area measured for pulsed mode powder was found to be twice that of continuous
      mode powder. Photoluminescence spectra of pulsed mode ZnO:Ag powder show new
      emission band at 608 nm. This has been attributed to silver atoms sitting on the
      surface of ZnO nano rods. Structure of the nano rods observed in both the samples
      was found to be different and this has been attributed to the presence of silver
      on the surface of the nano rods. The structural evolution during the process of
      sonication has been explained in the light of Ag ion reduction in the local high
      concentration region during ultrasonication.

PMID- 20934899
TI  - The geography of recreational physical activity in England.
AB  - Levels of physical activity have declined considerably over recent decades in
      England, and there is evidence that activity patterns vary across areas. Previous
      studies of the geography of physical activity have frequently relied on model
      based synthetic estimates. Using data from a large population survey this study
      develops a direct measure of recreational physical activity and investigates
      variations in activity patterns across English Local Authorities. For both sexes
      the results show a distinct geography of recreational physical activity
      associated with north/south variations and urban/rural status. The environmental
      and behavioural factors driving those patterns are still poorly understood. We
      conclude that the variations observed might reflect recreational opportunities
      and the socio-cultural context of areas.

PMID- 20934900
TI  - Structural and functional insights into core ABA signaling.
AB  - A series of papers in the last year reported major advances in our understanding
      of abscisic acid (ABA) signaling: the identification of soluble ABA receptors,
      the elucidation of a core ABA signaling pathway and structural insights into the
      mechanism of ABA perception and signaling. Here we summarize these advances,
      which have shown in atomic resolution that the ABA receptors PYR1, PYL1 and PYL2
      function as allosteric switches that inhibit type 2C protein phosphatases (PP2Cs)
      in response to ABA. These receptors function at the apex of a core signaling
      pathway that regulates ABA responses by controlling SnRK2 kinase activity and the
      phosphorylation of downstream target proteins such as ABFs, which control nuclear
      responses, and the ion channel SLAC1, which mediates electrophysiological
      responses to ABA.

PMID- 20934901
TI  - Lights at the end of the tunnel: new views of plasmodesmal structure and
      function.
AB  - Plasmodesmata (PDs), tiny channels connecting neighboring plant cells, play big
      roles in the transport of metabolites, viral movement, cell fate specification
      and development. Many recent studies are opening our eyes to the composition and
      formation of PDs, as well as the function and regulation of trafficking through
      them. Both proteomic and genetic approaches have revealed the central importance
      of callose in modulating PD connectivity. Moreover, many new developmental
      regulators, including transcription factors as well as small RNAs (sRNAs), have
      been found to be mobile and essential for specifying cell fate and tissue
      patterning.

PMID- 20934902
TI  - Guides to the final frontier of the cytoskeleton: septins in filamentous fungi.
AB  - Recent investigations have established core principles by which septins can form
      non-polar filaments in vitro. How cells then assemble, regulate and use septin
      polymers is still only beginning to be understood. It is clear that there is
      plasticity and variability in septin organization across diverse species and cell
      types. Work in the filamentous fungi has been invaluable in discovering this
      variation in form and function. In particular filamentous fungi display many
      forms of higher order septin structures and study of septins in these systems has
      led to insights into septin assembly, dynamics and regulation. Importantly in
      many cases work in these alternative systems reveal differences to how septins
      may be organized, functioning or regulated in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Here I
      review the novel aspects of septin biology found in filamentous fungi and raise
      many open questions about these enigmatic polymers that should guide future
      study.

PMID- 20934903
TI  - Fungal development and the COP9 signalosome.
AB  - The conserved COP9 signalosome (CSN) multiprotein complex is located at the
      interface between cellular signaling, protein modification, life span and the
      development of multicellular organisms. CSN is required for light-controlled
      responses in filamentous fungi. This includes the circadian rhythm of Neurospora
      crassa or the repression of sexual development by light in Aspergillus nidulans.
      In contrast to plants and animals, CSN is not essential for fungal viability.
      Therefore fungi are suitable models to study CSN composition, activity and
      cellular functions and its role in light controlled development.

PMID- 20934904
TI  - Synthesis, crystal structure and luminescent properties of one new inorganic
      organic hybrid compound [O2NBzQL]4[Cd(SCN)4(NCS)2] (O2NBzQL=1-(4'-NO2
      benzyl)quinolinium cation).
AB  - A new inorganic-organic hybrid compound [O2NBzQL]4[Cd(SCN)4(NCS)2] (O2NBzQL=1-(4'
      NO2-benzyl)quinolinium cation) has been synthesized and characterized by IR, UV,
      elemental analysis and X-ray crystallography. Cd(II) atom has an distorted
      octahedral environment with an N4S2 donor set. In solid state there are three
      types of face-to-face pi-pi interactions between adjacent cations and multiform C
      H?S and C-H?N hydrogen bonds between [O2NBzQL]+ cations and cadmium thiocyanate
      anions. The luminescent properties of the title compound were both investigated
      in H2O solution and in solid state at room temperature, respectively.

PMID- 20934905
TI  - Brillouin spectroscopy studies of two-component polymerizable liquid system: 2,2
      bis[4-(2-hydroxymethacryloxypropoxy)phenyl]propane/benzyl methacrylate.
AB  - Brillouin spectroscopy was used to investigate viscoelastic properties of a two
      component system consisting of a high viscosity liquid (HVL) and a low viscosity
      liquid (LVL), both able to polymerize. The model liquids were: 2,2-bis[4-(2
      hydroxymethacryloxypropoxy)phenyl]propane (abbreviated as bis-GMA, HVL) and
      benzyl methacrylate (BzMA, LVL). The viscosity of the system was regulated by
      changing the monomer ratio. Hypersonic velocity and attenuation coefficient were
      investigated in a temperature range covering viscoelastic relaxation process. The
      dependence of the longitudinal viscosity on the system composition was
      determined. Additionally, the Brillouin studies were accompanied by some
      supplementary experimental methods, like low frequency shear viscosity
      measurements and observations of phase transitions by differential scanning
      calorimetry (DSC). The investigated monomer mixtures were then polymerized in a
      light-induced process and the polymerization kinetic curves were measured to find
      the possible correlation between the viscoelastic properties of the monomer
      mixture (as observed by Brillouin spectroscopy) and the polymerization course.

PMID- 20934906
TI  - Raman spectroscopic study of mixed carbonate materials.
AB  - The main parameters for precipitation of mixed carbonate materials have been
      studied by Raman microscopy. These carbonates are compounds of barium, strontium
      and calcium. It has been shown that the Raman spectrum of a sample is exclusively
      controlled by its composition, the precipitation parameters do not affect the
      crystal structure. Even at relatively low levels, the calcium content of a sample
      can dominate the vibrational frequencies as measured by Raman spectroscopy.
      Calcium contents greater than 17% show this effect to a considerable degree, and
      give the broadest or two Raman peaks and thus the least uniform unit cells. The
      analysis of the lattice modes demonstrates that each Raman shift observed for a
      mixed carbonate sample corresponds to a specific crystal structure. Some peaks
      lie within two or three shifts that are observed for different crystal
      structures.

PMID- 20934907
TI  - Electronic and vibrational spectra of some rare earth trifluoromethanesulfonates
      crystals.
AB  - The Raman and infrared spectra of some rare earth (dysprosium and terbium)
      trifluoromethanesulfonates crystals have been analyzed. Different vibrational
      frequencies of trifluoromethanesulfonate ions (CF3SO3-) are identified and
      assigned to different vibrations of the SO3 and CF3 groups. Electronic
      transitions of R3+ ions (R=Dy, Tb) in these salts have been assigned to
      transitions from the ground to different energy levels of the ground multiplet.
      The electronic energy levels of the rare earth ions are also determined
      theoretically with the help of single electron crystal field theory. They are
      found to yield results not only in good agreement with the observed spectral data
      but also in good conformity with those obtained previously from magnetic
      measurements.

PMID- 20934908
TI  - NMR spectral study of some 2r,6c-diarylpiperidin-4-one (3'-hydroxy-2'
      naphthoyl)hydrazones with special reference to gamma-syn effect.
AB  - 1H and 13C NMR spectra have been recorded for 2r,6c-diarylpiperidin-4-one (3'
      hydroxy-2'-naphthoyl)hydrazones 10-17 and 3,3-dimethyl-2r,6c-bis(p
      methoxyphenyl)piperidin-4-one (5). For selected compounds 2D NMR spectra have
      been recorded. The spectral data along with those reported for related compounds
      are used to study the effect of a heteroatom X on the 13C chemical shift of a
      gamma-carbon with X Calpha Cbeta Cgamma torsional angle close to 0 degrees ,
      termed as gamma-syn effect. Also gamma-gauche and delta-effects of the alkyl
      groups at C-3 on the carbons of the aryl group at C-2 have been studied. The
      chemical shifts for the naphthalene ring are in accord with the mesomeric and
      steric effects of the carbonyl and hydroxy groups.

PMID- 20934909
TI  - Spectral, thermal, kinetic, molecular modeling and eukaryotic DNA degradation
      studies for a new series of albendazole (HABZ) complexes.
AB  - This work represents the elaborated investigation for the ligational behavior of
      the albendazole ligand through its coordination with, Cu(II), Mn(II), Ni(II),
      Co(II) and Cr(III) ions. Elemental analysis, molar conductance, magnetic moment,
      spectral studies (IR, UV-Vis and ESR) and thermogravimetric analysis (TG and DTG)
      have been used to characterize the isolated complexes. A deliberate comparison
      for the IR spectra reveals that the ligand coordinated with all mentioned metal
      ions by the same manner as a neutral bidentate through carbonyl of ester moiety
      and NH groups. The proposed chelation form for such complexes is expected through
      out the preparation conditions in a relatively acidic medium. The powder XRD
      study reflects the amorphous nature for the investigated complexes except Mn(II).
      The conductivity measurements reflect the non-electrolytic feature for all
      complexes. In comparing with the constants for the magnetic measurements as well
      as the electronic spectral data, the octahedral structure was proposed strongly
      for Cr(III) and Ni(II), the tetrahedral for Co(II) and Mn(II) complexes but the
      square-pyramidal for the Cu(II) one. The thermogravimetric analysis confirms the
      presence or absence of water molecules by any type of attachments. Also, the
      kinetic parameters are estimated from DTG and TG curves. ESR spectrum data for
      Cu(II) solid complex confirms the square-pyramidal state is the most fitted one
      for the coordinated structure. The albendazole ligand and its complexes are
      biologically investigated against two bacteria as well as their effective effect
      on degradation of calf thymus DNA.

PMID- 20934910
TI  - Polymyositis/dermatomyositis and nasopharyngeal carcinoma: the Epstein-Barr virus
      connection?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Polymyositis (PM) and dermatomyositis (DM) are associated with high
      risk of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) in Asian countries. Epstein-Barr virus
      (EBV) might induce autoimmunity and malignancies in susceptible individuals.
      OBJECTIVES: To investigate the association of EBV with PM/DM and NPC in PM/DM
      patients. STUDY DESIGN: Serum levels of anti-EBV viral capsid antigens (VCA) and
      anti-EBV-coded nuclear antigens-1 (EBNA-1) antibodies were measured by ELISA, and
      EBV DNA loads were determined using real-time PCR for 98 PM/DM patients, 94
      systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients and 370 healthy controls (HC). Anti
      transfer-RNA synthetase antibodies (ASA) were determined by
      radioimmunoprecipitation for PM/DM patients. RESULTS: Thirteen (13.3%) of PM/DM
      patients vs. none of SLE patients had detectable NPC. ASA were detectable in
      31.7% of PM/DM without malignancy, while lack of ASA in any PM/DM patient with
      NPC. IgA anti-EBNA-1 were detectable in 30.6% of PM/DM patients and 31.9% of SLE
      patients, but only in 4.1% of HC (odds ratio [OR] 10.44 and 11.12 respectively,
      both p<0.001). Significantly higher positivity for IgA anti-EBNA-1 were observed
      in PM/DM with NPC than in those without malignancy (OR 44.7, p<0.01).
      Significantly higher positivity for EBV genome were observed in PM/DM with NPC
      than in those without malignancy (OR 43.9, p<0.01), in SLE patients (OR 13.2,
      p<0.05) and in HC (OR 99.4, p<0.001). EBV DNA loads were significantly higher in
      PM/DM with NPC compared with those without malignancy and HC. CONCLUSIONS: Our
      results showed a positive association of EBV with PM/DM and NPC. PM/DM patients
      who have IgA anti-EBNA-1 or increased EBV DNA loads should be highly suspected to
      have occult NPC.

PMID- 20934911
TI  - A simple fibril and lectin model for cyst walls of Entamoeba and perhaps Giardia.
AB  - Cyst walls of Entamoeba and Giardia protect them from environmental insults,
      stomach acids, and intestinal proteases. Each cyst wall contains a sugar
      homopolymer: chitin in Entamoeba and a unique N-acetylgalactosamine (GalNAc)
      homopolymer in Giardia. Entamoeba cyst wall proteins include Jacob lectins
      (carbohydrate-binding proteins) that crosslink chitin, chitinases that degrade
      chitin, and Jessie lectins that make walls impermeable. Giardia cyst wall
      proteins are also lectins that bind fibrils of the GalNAc homopolymer. Although
      many of the details remain to be determined for the cyst wall of Giardia, current
      data suggest a relatively simple fibril and lectin model for the Entamoeba cyst
      wall.

PMID- 20934912
TI  - Are isolated anti-HBc blood donors in high risk group? The detection of HBV DNA
      in isolated anti-HBc cases with nucleic acid amplification test (NAT) based on
      transcription-mediated amplification (TMA) and HBV discrimination.
AB  - AIM: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) can be transmitted by blood transfusions even so
      using serological tests having high sensitivity and specificity. We aimed to
      detect HBV DNA in isolated Anti-HBc donors and show if they have transfusion risk
      or not. METHOD: We investigated Anti-Hbc and Anti-HBs in serum samples of 12858
      HBs-Ag negative blood donors who were applied to the Turkish Redcrescent between
      June 2007 and October 2008 by the Micro ELISA kit (Hepanostica ultra HBsAg, Bio
      Meriux, France). Anti-HBc and Anti-Hbs positive cases were omitted. We used
      Procleix ultrio (Chiro, USA) test kit (Chiron Tigris automated instrument was
      used) based TMA (Transcription-Mediated Amplification) for NAT study in Anti-HBc
      positive and Anti-HBs negative plasma samples. The discrimination of HBV in NAT
      positive samples were performed by Procleix Discrimination (Chiro, USA) test.
      RESULTS: 2748 (21.4%) Anti-HBc seropositivity were detected in 12852 HBsAg(-)
      serum samples. 23.5% Anti-HBs negativity was detected in 2748 Anti-HBc positive
      serum samples. On the other hand, 5.1% isolated Anti-Hbc positivity [HBsAg(-),
      Anti-HBc(+), Anti-HBs(-)] were detected in 12852 HBsAg(-) serum samples. 0.091%
      and 0.047% HBV-DNA positivity were detected in isolated Anti-HBc positive plasma
      samples and HBsAg(-) plasma samples, respectively. CONCLUSION: As a result, even
      we have detected one HBV transmission in every 2142 blood transfusion by HBsAg
      screening tests; we suggest that it is not necessary to add additional tests to
      detect isolated Anti-HBc for routine purposes in Blood Banking. The reasons are
      higher negativity rates (99%) of isolated Anti-HBc serum samples and the
      rejection of blood donors with Anti-HBc positivity.

PMID- 20934913
TI  - Organising the language of Alzheimer's disease in light of biomarkers.

PMID- 20934914
TI  - Revising the definition of Alzheimer's disease: a new lexicon.
AB  - Alzheimer's disease (AD) is classically defined as a dual clinicopathological
      entity. The recent advances in use of reliable biomarkers of AD that provide in
      vivo evidence of the disease has stimulated the development of new research
      criteria that reconceptualise the diagnosis around both a specific pattern of
      cognitive changes and structural/biological evidence of Alzheimer's pathology.
      This new diagnostic framework has stimulated debate about the definition of AD
      and related conditions. The potential for drugs to intercede in the pathogenic
      cascade of the disease adds some urgency to this debate. This paper by the
      International Working Group for New Research Criteria for the Diagnosis of AD
      aims to advance the scientific discussion by providing broader diagnostic
      coverage of the AD clinical spectrum and by proposing a common lexicon as a point
      of reference for the clinical and research communities. The cornerstone of this
      lexicon is to consider AD solely as a clinical and symptomatic entity that
      encompasses both predementia and dementia phases.

PMID- 20934915
TI  - Comparison of a computer assisted learning program to standard education tools in
      hospitalized heart failure patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Education, coaching and guidance of patients are important components
      of heart failure management. AIM: The aim of this study was to compare a computer
      assisted learning (CAL) program with standard education (brochures and oral
      information from nurses) on knowledge and self-care in hospitalized heart failure
      patients. Satisfaction with the CAL program was also assessed in the intervention
      group. METHODS: A quasi-experimental design was used, with a convenience sample
      of in-hospital heart failure patients. Knowledge and self-care were measured
      using the Dutch Heart Failure Knowledge Scale and the European Heart Failure Self
      care Behaviour Scale at hospital admission, at discharge and after a 3-month
      follow-up. Satisfaction with the CAL program was assessed at hospital discharge
      using a satisfaction questionnaire. Within and between groups, changes in
      knowledge and self-care over time were tested using a mixed regression model.
      RESULTS: Of 65 heart failure patients screened, 37 were included in the study: 21
      in the CAL group and 16 in the usual care group. No significant differences in
      knowledge (p=0.65) or self-care (p=0.40) could be found between groups. However,
      both variables improved significantly over time in each study group (p<0.0001).
      CONCLUSIONS: Both educational strategies increased knowledge and improved self
      care. The design did not allow isolation of the effects of standard education
      usual care from CAL. Economic and clinical outcomes of both methods should be
      evaluated in further research.

PMID- 20934916
TI  - Seizure-induced changes in neuropeptide Y-containing cortical neurons: Potential
      role for seizure threshold and epileptogenesis.
AB  - Seizure activity induces transient changes in the levels of neuropeptide Y (NPY)
      and somatostatin (SS) in various brain regions, but it remains unclear whether
      this effect can persist for long periods and whether it is relevant to
      epileptogenesis. We report that brief seizures evoked by electroshock produced an
      increase in the number of NPY neurons in the dentate hilus and retrosplenial
      cortex, an effect that lasted 10 weeks. The number of hilar SS neurons remained
      unchanged. However, the pentylenetetrazole seizure threshold was somewhat
      decreased in electroshock-treated rats. Despite this, no spontaneous seizures
      were detected in this group. In contrast, status epilepticus (pilocarpine model)
      produced loss of the hilar NPY and SS cells. Moreover, all rats with status
      epilepticus showed spontaneous behavioral seizures and their seizure threshold
      was markedly decreased. These findings support the notion that sustained NPY
      overexpression induced by brief seizures can be important in preventing
      epileptogenesis.

PMID- 20934917
TI  - Do patients with psychogenic nonepileptic seizures have positive covert attitudes
      toward sickness?
AB  - Some individuals with psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES) are seen as having
      adopted a "sick role" that relinquishes them of responsibility for meeting
      stressful life demands. Thus, patients with PNES may have positive, albeit
      unrecognized, attitudes toward seizures, or perhaps illness in general. Because
      such covert attitudes may not be amendable to self-report, the current study used
      the Implicit Association Test (IAT), a methodology by which attitudes toward
      illness and disability can be inferred from performance on an ostensibly neutral
      task. Individuals with PNES did not have a reduced interference effect when
      responding to sickness-related and pleasant words on the same response key.
      Exploratory analyses revealed that a pronounced somatic focus and higher
      extraversion were associated with more neutral attitudes toward illness among
      patients with PNES. This IAT methodology found little support for the notion that
      patients with PNES harbor positive attitudes toward illness. Limitations of the
      IAT methodology are reviewed and recommendations are provided.

PMID- 20934918
TI  - Do sleep-deprived EEG recordings reflect spike index as found in full-night EEG
      recordings?
AB  - The sleep EEGs of many children with neurodevelopmental disorders reveal
      epileptiform activity. The aim of this study was to compare spike index (SI) in
      full-night recordings with SI in sleep-deprived EEGs in the morning; EEGs were
      obtained over 24 hours using ambulatory equipment. Sixteen children between the
      ages of 7 and 12 years were included in the study. They had to wake up at 3:00 AM
      and go to sleep again at 7:30 AM. Epileptiform activity was quantified, and SIs
      of full-night and morning recordings were compared. Two patients did not fall
      asleep. In one recording there was a technical problem that made calculations
      impossible. SIs calculated from EEGs obtained during a short nap in the morning
      were comparable to those calculated from full-night recordings. There seems to be
      a higher failure rate during morning recordings because of patients not falling
      asleep.

PMID- 20934919
TI  - Nonketotic hyperglycemia-related reflex epileptic seizures induced by Mah-Jong
      playing.
AB  - Seizures related to nonketotic hyperglycemia (NKH) are often encountered in
      clinical practice. Among such seizures, reflex seizures are rare, and most of
      them are movement-induced focal seizures. We describe five patients with NKH and
      reflex seizures induced exclusively by playing Mah-Jong, a traditional and
      popular game in Chinese society. Four patients had partial seizures and one had a
      generalized seizure. All the patients manifested NKH on occurrence of the
      seizure. During Mah-Jong in the presence of NKH, seizures could arise from the
      frontal and temporal lobes, which are highly activated during the game. Both
      avoidance of Mah-Jong playing and control of glucose intake help prevent this
      disorder.

PMID- 20934920
TI  - Transplantation of GABAergic cell line as a novel hypothesized treatment for
      autism.

PMID- 20934921
TI  - Histopathologic analysis of intestinal endometriosis after laparoscopic low
      anterior resection.
AB  - STUDY OBJECTIVE: To determine how intestinal endometriosis spreads, and, thus, to
      improve outcomes of curative surgery. DESIGN: Descriptive study (Canadian Task
      Force classification II-2). SETTING: University hospital. PATIENTS: Ten patients
      who underwent laparoscopic low anterior resection of intestinal endometriosis at
      our hospital between January 1999 and August 2007. INTERVENTION: Laparoscopic low
      anterior resection of intestinal endometriosis. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS:
      Mapping of endometriotic foci, degree of vertical infiltration to the intestinal
      layers, and longitudinal spread of endometriotic foci to the intestinal plane
      were defined using hematoxylin-eosin, estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor,
      and CD10 staining. RESULTS: Endometriotic foci tended to spread concentrically
      around a primary lesion that comprised most of a resected specimen. The deepest
      layer containing endometriotic foci at the primary lesion was the submucosal
      layer in 7 specimens (70%), and the internal circular muscle layer in 3 (30%).
      Satellite lesions comprising thickened areas that were independent of the primary
      lesion were detected in 5 specimens (50%). Multiple endometriotic foci were
      confirmed in all satellite lesions. CONCLUSIONS: Endometriotic foci might not
      only infiltrate the primary lesion in intestinal endometriosis but also
      disseminate to other areas. Thus, the primary lesion of intestinal endometriosis
      with a large margin must be excised via low anterior resection.

PMID- 20934922
TI  - Preoperative evaluation of posterior deep-infiltrating endometriosis demonstrates
      a relationship with urinary dysfunction and parametrial involvement.
AB  - STUDY OBJECTIVE: To estimate the association between urinary symptoms and quality
      of life in patients with posterior deep-infiltrating endometriosis (DIE) with
      anatomical locations of endometriosis. DESIGN: Prospective nonrandomized study
      (Canadian Task Force classification II-2). SETTING: Tertiary care hospital.
      PATIENTS: One hundred fifty-three patients with DIE and 28 control subjects.
      INTERVENTIONS: Clinical examination completed using transvaginal ultrasonography
      and magnetic resonance imaging. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Urinary symptoms
      and quality of life were evaluated using the International Prostate Symptom Score
      (IPSS) and Bristol Female Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms (BFLUTS) questionnaires.
      There was a higher incidence of urinary symptoms and a high IPSS in patients with
      posterior DIE compared with the control group. The IPSS questionnaire detected a
      relation between parametrial endometriosis and voiding symptoms (p = .03),
      altered quality of life (p = .02), and a high total score (p = 0.04) in patients
      with posterior DIE. No difference in urinary symptoms and total BFLUTS score was
      observed between the groups. A relation was found between parametrial
      endometriosis and urinary symptoms (p = .02), altered quality of life (p = .04),
      and high total score (p = .03) in patients with posterior DIE. At multivariable
      analysis, a correlation was found between parametrial endometriosis and IPSS
      total score (p = .03), IPSS voiding symptoms (p = .04), and IPSS quality of life
      (p = .009). Similarly, a correlation was found between parametrial endometriosis
      and BFLUTS symptoms (p = .003), BFLUTS quality of life (p = .003), and BFLUTS
      total score (p = .007). CONCLUSION: Patients with posterior DIE have a high
      incidence of urinary symptoms. Moreover, parametrial endometriosis is associated
      with altered urinary function and should be systematically evaluated in these
      patients.

PMID- 20934923
TI  - Endoscopic treatment of ectopic pregnancy in a cesarean scar.
AB  - STUDY OBJECTIVE: To describe our experience with endoscopic removal of cesarean
      scar pregnancy. DESIGN: Retrospective study (Canadian Task Force classification
      II-3). SETTING: Tertiary-care university hospital. PATIENTS: Twenty-one patients
      with cesarean scar pregnancy. INTERVENTIONS: All the patients underwent removal
      of pregnancy mass at hysteroscopy or combined with laparoscopy. Nine patients
      received a methotrexate injection before the operation, and 13 underwent uterine
      artery embolization before surgery. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Clinical data,
      serum beta-human chorionic gonadotropin concentration, findings of ultrasound or
      magnetic resonance imaging examinations, therapeutic options, operative time,
      operative blood loss, and duration of hospitalization time were recorded. The
      mean serum beta-human chorionic gonadotropin concentration at diagnosis was
      53,350.4 IU/ L. Seventeen patients underwent hysteroscopy, which failed in 2, and
      the other 4 patients underwent hysteroscopy combined with laparoscopy. Mean
      operative time was 51.4 minutes, and mean blood loss was estimated at 48.1 mL. A
      gestational mass can be removed at hysteroscopy, with rapid recovery and a high
      success rate. If a cesarean scar pregnancy mass grows toward the bladder and
      abdominal cavity, hysteroscopy combined with laparoscopy is more appropriate.
      Preoperative uterine artery embolization can decrease blood loss substantially
      during the operation. No patients underwent hysterectomy. CONCLUSIONS: Endoscopy
      seems to be the optimal surgical management in patients with a cesarean scar
      pregnancy and who desire to preserve the uterus and fertility. However, further
      study is warranted.

PMID- 20934924
TI  - A liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometric method for quantification of
      curcuminoids in cell medium and mouse plasma.
AB  - Curcumin and tetrahydrocurcumin (THC) have been found as potent DNMT1 inhibitors,
      but they suffer from low oral bioavailability and rapid metabolism in vivo. To
      circumvent these problems, two curcumin analogs: 1,7-bis(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)-4,4
      dimethyl-1,6-heptadiene-3,5-dione (TMC) and 1,7-bis(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)-4
      cyclohexyl-1,6-heptadiene-3,5-dione (DMCHC) have been synthesized to enhance
      their stability by blocking the two metabolic sites, the phenolic and C4
      methylene moieties. Both compounds have shown inhibitory activity on M. SssI
      similar to that of curcumin and THC (Poster, M1114, AAPS, 2009). Preclinical
      pharmacokinetics has yet to be performed. In this paper, a simple liquid
      chromatography-tandem mass spectrometric method was developed for the
      determination of these four curcuminoids in cell medium and mouse plasma. The
      method showed linearity from 1 to 1000 ng/mL with the lower limit of
      quantification of 1 ng/mL in cell medium, and 5 ng/mL in mouse plasma for all
      test curcuminoids. The within-day coefficients of variation were found to be
      below 15% and the accuracy was in the range of 85-115%. This method was
      subsequently used to evaluate their stability in these matrices and a pilot
      pharmacokinetics of curcumin, DMCHC and TMC in mice after an intraperitoneal
      (i.p.) cassette dosing of 10mg/kg each. Curcuminoids degraded in two phases with
      terminal half lives of 186, 813, 724, and 2000 min for curcumin, THC, TMC, and
      DMCHC, respectively, in cell culture medium. In plasma, their respective half
      lives were 111, 232, 1202 and 3000 min. These data demonstrated that their
      stability is in the order curcumin<THC<TMC<DMCHC in both matrices. Following an
      i.p. cassette dose, both TMC and DMCHC showed the prolonged elimination half life
      (1.0, 1.0 h, respectively vs 0.4h for curcumin) and an increased drug exposure as
      described by the area under the curve (0.64, 0.98 MUM h, respectively vs 0.4 MUM
      h for curcumin).

PMID- 20934925
TI  - The relationship between physical work and the height premium: finnish evidence.
AB  - This paper examines the role of physical strength in the determination of the
      height wage premium by using the "Health 2000 in Finland" data that contain both
      self-reported information on the physical strenuousness of work, and information
      on muscle mass from medical examinations. The results suggest that there are
      generally no distinct differences in the height premium between four different
      work strain categories. We also find that muscle mass is positively associated
      with wages per se. The premium is both statistically and economically more
      significant for men than for women. In terms of occupational sorting, we observe
      that the shortest men do physically very demanding work and the tallest do
      sedentary work, even after controlling for the influences of age and education.

PMID- 20934926
TI  - Difficulties and possibilities with thiopurine therapy in inflammatory bowel
      disease--proceedings of the first Thiopurine Task Force meeting.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Thiopurines, such as azathioprine and mercaptopurine, are of pivotal
      importance in the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease. Although these drugs
      have been used for several decades, still many questions remain unanswered. AIM:
      To provide an overview of clinically and scientifically challenging topics
      concerning thiopurine therapy in inflammatory bowel disease treatment. METHODS:
      The first meeting of the Thiopurine Task Force Interest Group was held during the
      2009 United European Gastroenterology Week in London (GASTRO2009). The topics of
      this meeting were of particular clinical and scientific interest. Additional
      literature was identified by performing a Pubmed search using the search terms
      'inflammatory bowel disease', 'azathioprine', '6-mercaptopurine' and
      'thioguanine'. RESULTS: The following topics were discussed: therapeutic drug
      monitoring; the synergy of thiopurines with aminosalicylates and allopurinol;
      serious adverse events such as opportunistic infections, hepatotoxicity,
      carcinogenicity and pancreatitis; prolongation of thiopurines during clinical
      remission; indications for thiopurines in the postoperative setting; and the
      potential use of thioguanine. Specific interesting and clinically relevant topics
      for potential future research are provided. CONCLUSIONS: Thiopurines remain
      central to inflammatory bowel disease treatment, although future studies are
      required to substantiate a more personalised medicine approach to their use.

PMID- 20934927
TI  - [Determining factors of physical activity level in school children and
      adolescents: the OPACA study].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Physical activity is a key factor for human health. This study
      attempts to measure the level of physical activity in children and to find out
      what are the factors that determine it. METHOD: In a sample of the 11 and 14 year
      old population of the centre-south area of Palencia, physical activity was
      measured using a three day diary, and anthropometric and socioeconomic variables
      were collected. Three variables were analysed: fat-free mass adjusted activity
      energy expenditure (AEE/FFM), physical activity level (PAL), and categorical
      physical activity (active/inactive). RESULTS: A total of 179 children were
      included, of whom 71.5% were active or very active. Males were more active than
      females, and activity was also higher in summer. Physical activity declined
      between 11 and 14 years, and was lower during the weekends than in working days.
      There were no differences related to obesity, overweight or percent body fat.
      More active children had lower blood pressure. Physical activity was directly
      related to weekly hours spent in sport activities, and inversely related to time
      spent on sedentary activities. Multivariate analysis showed that children from
      families with low educational levels had a higher activity level not related to
      sport activities. CONCLUSIONS: The level of physical activity in this population
      is acceptable, although there are sex differences and there is a declining trend
      through the adolescence.

PMID- 20934929
TI  - New treatments for type 2 diabetes in the UK - an evolving landscape.
AB  - New classes of treatments for type 2 diabetes have been developed recently and
      are now available in the UK. This review aims to summarise key clinical efficacy,
      tolerability and safety data for these agents, including liraglutide, which has
      received preliminary review by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence
      (NICE) and was launched in the UK in 2009.

PMID- 20934930
TI  - Human embryonic fibroblasts support single cell enzymatic expansion of human
      embryonic stem cells in xeno-free cultures.
AB  - The future application of human embryonic stem cells (hESC) for therapeutic
      approaches requires the development of xeno-free culture conditions to prevent
      the potential transmission of animal pathogens or xenobiotic substances to hESC.
      An important component of the majority of hESC culture systems developed is the
      requirement for fibroblasts to serve as feeders. For this purpose, several
      studies have used human foreskin fibroblasts established under xeno-free
      conditions. In this study we report xeno-free establishment and maintenance of
      human embryonic fibroblasts (XHEF) and demonstrate their ability to support long
      term self-renewal of hESC under xeno-free culture conditions, using a
      commercially available complete medium. Importantly, our culture conditions allow
      enzymatic passaging of hESC. In contrast, hESC cultured on human foreskin
      fibroblasts (XHFF) under the same conditions were poorly maintained and rapidly
      subject to differentiation. Our study clearly shows that the source of human
      fibroblasts is essential for long-term xeno-free hESC maintenance.

PMID- 20934931
TI  - Giant cells tumor recurrence at the third lumbar vertebra.
AB  - Giant cell tumors (GCT) of the spine are rare. We report a case of (GCT) of the
      third lumbar vertebra revealed by left lumbar radiculopathic thigh pain in a 47
      year old man. Imaging showed an osteolytic process invading the vertebral body,
      the posterior arch and compressing the dural sac left side. Neurological
      decompression was first performed including stabilization by an instrumented
      postero-lateral graft. A surgical biopsy was obtained at the same time to confirm
      the diagnosis. A secondary L2-L4 tumor curettage and graft procedure did not
      prevent, 5 years later, tumor recurrence. We believe that the simple tumor
      curettage is insufficient to prevent giant cell tumors recurrence.

PMID- 20934932
TI  - Biologically enhanced ACL reconstruction.
AB  - Biological integration of the tendon graft is a crucial prerequisite for
      successful ACL reconstruction. Histological studies showed that the human ACL
      remnants contain a cellular capacity for healing potential. The goal of this
      technical note is to describe an ACL reconstruction technique, using ACL remnants
      as a biological sleeve for the graft. In case of complete ACL rupture with a
      large remnant, the tibial tunnel was performed inside and through the ACL tibial
      stump by careful sequential drilling. Femoral tunnel placement was performed by
      an outside-in technique. The hamstring graft was kept attached to the tibia and
      routed through the ACL remnant to the femur. The aim of this technique is the
      preservation of the biological and mechanical properties of the ACL remnant. In
      order to preserve large remnants resulting in greater graft coverage, the best
      period to perform this reconstruction is during the first weeks after the injury.

PMID- 20934933
TI  - Acute compartment syndrome of the leg: pressure measurement and fasciotomy.
AB  - Compartment syndrome involves a conflicting situation between an unyielding
      space, the compartment, and its increasing tissue content secondary to traumatic
      ischemia. Rapidly irreversible damages occur without treatment. Although the
      diagnosis approach to leg compartment syndrome is clinical in priority, pressure
      measurements should be systematically produced: first to confirm the presence of
      this condition and define optimal surgical strategies and second to provide the
      only objective available criteria in case of a debatable diagnosis. In practice,
      two schematic situations can be distinguished, which do not cover the many
      different cases: leg compartment syndrome without a fracture in which the four
      leg compartments are affected and which requires a fasciotomy using two surgical
      approaches, the lateral and the medial; leg compartment syndrome associated with
      a fracture: fasciotomy of the four compartments may be performed by a single
      lateral approach distant from the fracture site and its fixation hardware. It
      should be noted that this approach is easy, effective and safe.

PMID- 20934934
TI  - Reconstruction after gastrectomy: which technique is best?
AB  - Several reconstruction techniques are possible after gastrectomy. The best
      reconstruction is one, that maintains satisfactory nutritional status and quality
      of life while keeping postoperative morbidity as low as possible. The aim of this
      study was to describe the different reconstruction techniques that can be
      proposed after distal and total gastrectomy, heeding to the French guidelines on
      the use of mechanical sutures in these indications. We then conducted a review of
      randomized trials dealing with reconstruction techniques after distal and total
      gastrectomy. After distal gastrectomy, Roux-en-Y reconstruction seems superior to
      Billroth I and Billroth II reconstructions in terms of functional outcomes and
      long-term endoscopic results and should be chosen in patients with benign disease
      or superficial tumors. Otherwise, Billroth II should be preferred over Billroth I
      reconstruction because of lower postoperative morbidity and better oncologic
      margins. After total gastrectomy, Roux-en-Y reconstruction remains the easiest
      solution, with satisfactory functional results. Addition of a pouch reservoir
      after Roux-en-Y reconstruction seems to improve short-term functional outcome
      after total gastrectomy with better potential for nutritional intake. In the long
      term, quality of life seems better mainly in patients with small-resected tumors
      associated with a good prognosis.

PMID- 20934935
TI  - Mandibular osteosclerotic lesion of a parotid salivary duct carcinoma:
      demonstration of the neural tropism of these tumors.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Salivary duct carcinoma (SDC) is an uncommon entity of salivary
      gland cancers with a poor prognosis due to local aggressiveness or distant
      recurrences involving lymph nodes, lung, and long bones, in which secondary
      lesions are usually osteolytic. The authors report the first case of mandibular
      SDC, atypical due to its osteosclerotic presentation and its site, attributed to
      aggressive neural spread of the tumor along the trigeminal nerve. CASE STUDY:
      This asymptomatic osteosclerotic bone involvement was diagnosed based on
      pathological enhancement of the trigeminal nerve demonstrated on MRI and was
      accompanied by facial nerve involvement up to its third intracranial portion.
      Radical surgery ensured disease control with continued good quality of life at
      the 4-year follow-up visit. CONCLUSION: Nerve enhancement on MRI and
      determination of specific tumor markers (HER-2/neu and p53) should be taken into
      account to evaluate the prognosis of SDC and to propose appropriate surgical
      treatment.

PMID- 20934936
TI  - On the dynamic measurement of constants of piezoelectric single-crystal
      materials.
AB  - An error in the estimation of piezoelectric material properties can arise when
      applying the common measurement procedures in the IEEE Standard to determining
      constants of piezoelectric materials with exceptionally high coupling
      coefficients, in particular, single-crystal materials. The probable sources of
      inaccuracy in the resonance-antiresonance method, when applied to bar samples
      made of single crystals are considered. An additional method of dynamic
      measurements that helps to avoid the shortcomings of the resonance- antiresonance
      method is proposed, and its application is illustrated with examples of
      measurement of single-crystal piezoelements of different compositions.

PMID- 20934937
TI  - Electrical stimulation of the rectus femoris during pre-swing diminishes hip and
      knee flexion during the swing phase of normal gait.
AB  - Individuals who have suffered cerebral insults often exhibit stiff-knee gait, a
      condition characterized by reduced knee flexion during swing. We investigated the
      effect that an increment in normal rectus femoris (RF) activity can have on hip
      and knee joint angles during swing, as a first step to determining this muscle's
      involvement in stiff-knee gait. For this, we developed a protocol that
      electrically stimulated the RF during pre-swing or after toe-off in randomly
      selected strides of treadmill walking, consistent with the timing of RF activity
      during normal gait. Seven healthy young adults participated in the study. Pre
      swing stimulation induced a significant (p < 0.05) reduction in peak knee flexion
      (avg 7.5 degrees ) in all subjects, with an accompanying decrease in hip flexion
      in four of the subjects. RF stimulation after toe-off diminished peak knee
      flexion in three subjects and reduced hip flexion in four subjects. When compared
      to muscle-actuated gait simulations that were similarly perturbed, the induced
      motion measures were generally consistent in direction but exhibited greater
      variability across strides and subjects. We conclude that excess RF activity
      during pre-swing has the potential to contribute to stiff-knee gait, and that
      clinical treatment should consider the "counter-intuitive" function that the RF
      has in extending the hip.

PMID- 20934938
TI  - An adaptive mixed reality training system for stroke rehabilitation.
AB  - This paper presents a novel mixed reality rehabilitation system used to help
      improve the reaching movements of people who have hemiparesis from stroke. The
      system provides real-time, multimodal, customizable, and adaptive feedback
      generated from the movement patterns of the subject's affected arm and torso
      during reaching to grasp. The feedback is provided via innovative visual and
      musical forms that present a stimulating, enriched environment in which to train
      the subjects and promote multimodal sensory-motor integration. A pilot study was
      conducted to test the system function, adaptation protocol and its feasibility
      for stroke rehabilitation. Three chronic stroke survivors underwent training
      using our system for six 75-min sessions over two weeks. After this relatively
      short time, all three subjects showed significant improvements in the movement
      parameters that were targeted during training. Improvements included faster and
      smoother reaches, increased joint coordination and reduced compensatory use of
      the torso and shoulder. The system was accepted by the subjects and shows promise
      as a useful tool for physical and occupational therapists to enhance stroke
      rehabilitation.

PMID- 20934939
TI  - In vivo micro-image mosaicing.
AB  - Recent advances in optical imaging have led to the development of miniature
      microscopes that can be brought to the patient for visualizing tissue structures
      in vivo. These devices have the potential to revolutionize health care by
      replacing tissue biopsy with in vivo pathology. One of the primary limitations of
      these microscopes, however, is that the constrained field of view can make image
      interpretation and navigation difficult. In this paper, we show that image
      mosaicing can be a powerful tool for widening the field of view and creating
      image maps of microanatomical structures. First, we present an efficient
      algorithm for pairwise image mosaicing that can be implemented in real time.
      Then, we address two of the main challenges associated with image mosaicing in
      medical applications: cumulative image registration errors and scene deformation.
      To deal with cumulative errors, we present a global alignment algorithm that
      draws upon techniques commonly used in probabilistic robotics. To accommodate
      scene deformation, we present a local alignment algorithm that incorporates
      deformable surface models into the mosaicing framework. These algorithms are
      demonstrated on image sequences acquired in vivo with various imaging devices
      including a hand-held dual-axes confocal microscope, a miniature two-photon
      microscope, and a commercially available confocal microendoscope.

PMID- 20934940
TI  - RF ablation at low frequencies for targeted tumor heating: in vitro and
      computational modeling results.
AB  - RF ablation uses RF current to heat and kill cancer applied via an electrode
      inserted under image guidance. Tumor has about half the electrical resistivity of
      normal tissue below 20 kHz, but similar resistivity above 500 kHz. We placed
      normal porcine liver tissue in contact with agar gel having similar resistivity
      as tumor within 20-450 kHz. A needle electrode was placed with half of the
      electrically active tip in each layer. We performed ablation with electric
      current applied for 12 min at 30 W, either at 20 or 450 kHz (n = 7 each), while
      measuring temperature via thermocouples 4 and 8 mm from the electrode.
      Mathematical heat-transfer models were created of an equivalent configuration and
      temperature profile determined at both frequencies. At 8-mm distance, at 450 kHz,
      tumor gel phantom and normal tissue obtained similar temperatures (57.5 +/- 1.4
      versus 58.7 +/- 2.5 ( degrees )C); at 20 kHz, tumor phantom obtained
      significantly higher temperatures than normal tissue (65.6 +/- 2.0 versus 57.2 +/
      5.6 ( degrees )C, p < 0.01). Computer models confirm these results, and show the
      ablation zone diameter to be larger within the tumor phantom at 20 kHz compared
      to 450 kHz. Heating at low RFs may thus allow targeted heating of tumor tissue
      and reduced heating of normal tissue.

PMID- 20934941
TI  - Using a rapid communication approach to improve a POC Chlamydia test.
AB  - Chlamydia trachomatis is a common sexually transmitted infection in young women.
      Available point-of-care (POC) diagnostic tests perform poorly, but development of
      new devices can be costly and time consuming. We explored the feasibility (user
      friendliness) and test characteristics (sensitivity and specificity) of a new
      prototype device to detect Chlamydia in adolescent women by using small numbers
      of subjects and rapid communication with the manufacturer. We compared cervical
      POC test results to the gold standard (cervical nucleic acid amplification
      testing). We also assessed the accuracy of the POC test on self-collected vaginal
      swabs by comparing results to cervical nucleic acid amplification test and to the
      cervical POC test. We frequently reviewed user experience and test results with
      the manufacturer. The results showed the feasibility and accuracy of the device.
      Feasibility--initial device malfunctions were identified and corrected. This
      device would be easy to use in a nonclinical setting, as it is self-contained and
      the color change for some specimens was dramatic and immediate. Accuracy--initial
      prototypes demonstrated low sensitivities (38%) for vaginal and cervical swabs.
      After feedback, the company developed new prototypes with improved sensitivity
      (80%). However, the increased sensitivity was accompanied by a high percentage of
      indeterminate results and false positives that lowered specificity.

PMID- 20934942
TI  - Low-power wireless micromanometer system for acute and chronic bladder-pressure
      monitoring.
AB  - This letter describes the design, fabrication, and testing of a wireless bladder
      pressure-sensing system for chronic, point-of-care applications, such as
      urodynamics or closed-loop neuromodulation. The system consists of a miniature
      implantable device and an external RF receiver and wireless battery charger. The
      implant is small enough to be cystoscopically implanted within the bladder wall,
      where it is securely held and shielded from the urine stream. The implant
      consists of a custom application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a pressure
      transducer, a rechargeable battery, and wireless telemetry and recharging
      antennas. The ASIC includes instrumentation, wireless transmission, and power
      management circuitry, and on an average draws less than 9 MUA from the 3.6-V
      battery. The battery charge can be wirelessly replenished with daily 6-h recharge
      periods that can occur during the periods of sleep. Acute in vivo evaluation of
      the pressure-sensing system in canine models has demonstrated that the system can
      accurately capture lumen pressure from a submucosal implant location.

PMID- 20934943
TI  - An automated Hirschberg test for infants.
AB  - A novel automated method to measure eye misalignment in infants is presented. The
      method uses estimates of the Hirschberg ratio (HR) and angle Kappa (the angle
      between the visual and optical axis) for each infant to calculate the angle of
      eye misalignment. The HR and angle Kappa are estimated automatically from
      measurements of the direction of the optical axis and the coordinates of the
      center of the entrance pupil and corneal reflexes in each eye when infants look
      at a set of images that are presented sequentially on a computer monitor. The HR
      is determined by the slope of the line that describes the direction of the
      optical axis as a function of the distance between the center of the entrance
      pupil and the corneal reflexes. The peak of the distribution of possible angles
      Kappa during the image presentation determines the value of angle Kappa.
      Experiments with five infants showed that the 95% limits of agreement between
      repeated measurements of angle Kappa are +/- 0.61 ( degrees ). The maximum error
      in the estimation of eye alignment in orthotropic infants was 0.9 ( degrees )
      with 95% limits of agreement between repeated measurements of 0.75 ( degrees ).

PMID- 20934944
TI  - Covariance and time-scale methods for blind separation of delayed sources.
AB  - An extension of the blind source separation technique based on the second-order
      blind identification (SOBI) approach is presented to separate mixtures of delayed
      sources. When the delay is small such that the first-order Taylor approximation
      holds, the delayed mixture is transformed as the mixture of the original sources
      and their derivatives. Two algorithms are proposed for the rotation step that
      recovers the extended source vector (original sources and the corresponding
      derivatives). The first approach is based on the odd symmetry of the derivative
      of the autocorrelation function; and the second method identifies the locations
      of single auto terms in the optimized time-scale plane. A simulation analysis was
      conducted to evaluate the performance of the proposed algorithms. The results
      showed that the proposed methods substantially improved the performance of SOBI
      and its extension in the time-scale plane when the sources presented delays in
      the mixtures. In addition, the proposed algorithms were applied representatively
      to experimental multichannel surface electromyographic signals to identify motor
      unit action potential trains from the interference signal. The performance of the
      proposed methods was superior to previous methods also in this representative
      application. In conclusion, extensions of the SOBI approach of source separation
      have been proposed for the case of sources being delayed in the mixtures. These
      techniques were proven superior to previous approaches.

PMID- 20934945
TI  - Computer-assisted planning and navigation for corrective distal radius osteotomy,
      based on pre- and intraoperative imaging.
AB  - Malunion after a distal radius fracture is very common and if symptomatic, is
      treated with a so-called corrective osteotomy. In a traditional distal radius
      osteotomy, the radius is cut at the fracture site and a wedge is inserted in the
      osteotomy gap to correct the distal radius pose. The standard procedure uses two
      orthogonal radiographs to estimate the two inclination angles and the dimensions
      of the wedge to be inserted into the osteotomy gap. However, optimal correction
      in 3-Dspace requires restoring three angles and three displacements. This paper
      introduces a new technique that uses preoperative planning based on 3-D images.
      Intraoperative 3-D imaging is also used after inserting pins with marker tools in
      the proximal and distal part of the radius and before the osteotomy. Positioning
      tools are developed to correct the distal radius pose in six degrees of freedom
      by navigating the pins. The method is accurate ( d 1.2 mm, phi 0.9 degrees , m
      TRE = 1.7 mm), highly reproducible (SE (d) < 1.0 mm, SE (phi) <= 1.4 degrees , SE
      (m) (TRE) = 0.7 mm), and allows intraoperative evaluation of the end result.
      Small incisions for pin placement and for the osteotomy render the method
      minimally invasive.

PMID- 20934946
TI  - Automated analysis of fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM) data based
      on the Laguerre deconvolution method.
AB  - In fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM), fluorescence time decay at
      each pixel of the imaged sample are measured. Every recorded fluorescence decay
      corresponds to the time convolution of the instrument response with the intrinsic
      fluorescence impulse response function (IRF), from which the sample fluorescence
      lifetime is determined. To estimate the IRF, the instrument response thus needs
      to be deconvolved from the recorded fluorescence decay. We have recently
      introduced a novel FLIM time-deconvolution method based on the linear expansion
      of the fluorescence decays on an orthonormal Laguerre basis. Since this method
      allows simultaneous estimation of the IRFs at all pixels, it performs at least
      two orders of magnitude faster than standard algorithms. In its original
      implementation, however, the Laguerre basis, determined by the Laguerre parameter
      alpha, is selected using a heuristic approach. Here, we present an automated
      implementation, whereby the Laguerre parameter alpha is treated as a free
      parameter within a nonlinear least squares optimization scheme. The new
      implementation combines the unmatched inherent computational speed of the
      Laguerre deconvolution method with a systematic model selection approach. This
      method will thus facilitate applications of FLIM requiring automatic estimation
      of the spatial distribution of fluorescence lifetimes, such as in in vivo tissue
      FLIM imaging.

PMID- 20934947
TI  - Iterative reconstruction in X-ray fluorescence tomography based on radon
      inversion.
AB  - We describe a new approach for the inversion of the generalized attenuated radon
      transform in X-ray fluorescence computed tomography (XFCT). The approach consists
      of using the radon inverse as an approximation for the actual one, followed by an
      iterative refinement. Also, we analyze the problem of retrieving the attenuation
      map directly from the emission data, giving rise to a novel alternating method
      for the solution. We applied our approach to real and simulated XFCT data and
      compared its performance to previous inversion algorithms for the problem,
      showing its main advantages: better images than those obtained by other analytic
      methods and much faster than iterative methods in the discrete setting.

PMID- 20934948
TI  - SNR dependence of optimal parameters for apparent diffusion coefficient
      measurements.
AB  - Optimizing the diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) parameters (i.e., the b-value and
      the number of image averages) to the tissue of interest is essential for
      producing high-quality apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) maps. Previous
      investigation of this optimization was performed assuming Gaussian noise
      statistics for the ADC map, which is only valid for high signal-to-noise ratio
      (SNR) imaging. In this work, the true statistics of the noise in ADC maps are
      derived, followed by an optimization of the DWI parameters as a function of the
      imaging SNR. Specifically, it is demonstrated that the optimum b-value is a
      monotonically increasing function of the imaging SNR, which converges to the
      optimum b-value from previously proposed approaches for high-SNR cases, while
      exhibiting a significant deviation from this asymptote for low-SNR situations.
      Incorporating the effects of T(2) weighting further increases the SNR dependence
      of the optimal parameters. The proposed optimization scheme is particularly
      important for high-resolution DWI, which intrinsically suffers from low SNR and
      therefore cannot afford the use of the conventional high b-values. Comparison
      scans were performed for high-resolution DWI of the spinal cord, demonstrating
      the improvements in the resulting images and the ADC maps achieved by this
      method.

PMID- 20934949
TI  - Multiple view clustering using a weighted combination of exemplar-based mixture
      models.
AB  - Multiview clustering partitions a dataset into groups by simultaneously
      considering multiple representations (views) for the same instances. Hence, the
      information available in all views is exploited and this may substantially
      improve the clustering result obtained by using a single representation. Usually,
      in multiview algorithms all views are considered equally important, something
      that may lead to bad cluster assignments if a view is of poor quality. To deal
      with this problem, we propose a method that is built upon exemplar-based mixture
      models, called convex mixture models (CMMs). More specifically, we present a
      multiview clustering algorithm, based on training a weighted multiview CMM, that
      associates a weight with each view and learns these weights automatically. Our
      approach is computationally efficient and easy to implement, involving simple
      iterative computations. Experiments with several datasets confirm the advantages
      of assigning weights to the views and the superiority of our framework over
      single-view and unweighted multiview CMMs, as well as over another multiview
      algorithm which is based on kernel canonical correlation analysis.

PMID- 20934950
TI  - Primary hepatoid carcinoma of the biliary tree: a radiologic mimicker of Klatskin
      type tumor.
AB  - Hepatoid carcinomas are a group of neoplasms with features resembling
      hepatocellular carcinomas. Although extremely rare, more cases have been noted to
      arise from various organs within the last decade. Differentiating these tumors
      when located in the biliary tree from cholangiocarcinoma is not only a radiologic
      challenge but also critical, because treatment modalities and operative
      strategies are dependent on the exact nature of the tumor. We report a unique
      case in the literature of a 67-year-old Caucasian female who presented with
      obstructive jaundice due to an obstructing mass seen at the common hepatic duct
      on imaging with no preceding history of cirrhosis and increased serum alpha
      fetoprotein (AFP), in whom a differential diagnosis from cholangiocarcinoma in a
      non-cirrhotic liver was particularly difficult given the combination of tumor
      location and solitary nature. The radiologist may include ectopic hepatoid
      adenocarcinomas in the differential consideration of an obstructing tumor in the
      biliary tree especially in patients with increased serum AFP levels.

PMID- 20934951
TI  - Intrinsic human elimination half-lives of polychlorinated biphenyls derived from
      the temporal evolution of cross-sectional biomonitoring data from the United
      Kingdom.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Most empirical estimates of human elimination kinetics for persistent
      chemicals reflect apparent elimination half-lives that represent the aggregated
      effect of intrinsic elimination, ongoing exposure, and changes in body weight.
      However, estimates of intrinsic elimination at background levels are required for
      risk assessments for the general population. OBJECTIVE: To estimate intrinsic
      human elimination half-lives at background levels for nine polychlorinated
      biphenyl (PCB) congeners, we used a novel approach based on population data.
      METHODS: We used a population pharmacokinetic model to interpret two sets of
      congener-specific cross-sectional age-concentration biomonitoring data of PCB
      concentrations measured in lipid and blood samples that were collected from 229
      individuals in 1990 and 2003. Our method is novel because it exploits information
      about changes in concentration in the human population along two dimensions: age
      and calendar time. RESULTS: Our approach extracted information about both
      elimination kinetics and exposure trends from biomonitoring data. The longest
      intrinsic human elimination half-lives estimated in this study are 15.5 years for
      PCB-170, 14.4 years for PCB-153, and 11.5 years for PCB-180. CONCLUSIONS: Our
      results are further evidence that a maximum intrinsic elimination half-life for
      persistent chemicals such as PCBs exists and is approximately 10-15 years. A
      clear conceptual distinction between apparent and intrinsic half-lives is
      required to reduce the uncertainty in elimination half-lives of persistent
      chemicals. The method presented here estimates intrinsic elimination half-lives
      and the exposure trends of persistent pollutants using cross-sectional data
      available from a large and growing number of biomonitoring programs.

PMID- 20934952
TI  - [How to improve cancer patients' satisfaction with medical information].
AB  - The medical information becomes integrated into a communications strategy, the
      generally admitted model of which is centered on the patient; that is in the
      listening of these concerns and these values. The medical quality information is
      facilitated by the preliminary collection of the symptoms and the needs of the
      patients thanks to the questionnaires of quality of life, if they are used during
      the consultation to direct the discussion. Satisfactory medical information
      includes a discussion about the questions of the patients in terms of outcomes.
      Patient's individual factors can influence the need of medical information, as
      the age and the pathology. Patient's needs can also vary with time and according
      to the phase of the disease. Cultural factors are essential, in particular as
      regards the information about prognosis. Tools to help giving the medical
      information are now validated as the audio cassettes or video. Those tools can
      take the shape of a prompt list to help patients to ask questions. The majority
      preference of style of participation in the medical and therapeutic decisions and
      is the collaborative mode. Physician's attitude is determinant to leave the
      patients who wish it to have an active role, what allows them a very beneficial
      feeling psychologically of control over the disease. Decision-making helps are
      successfully sometimes elaborated to support the participation of the patients.
      In palliative phase, the need of medical information about prognosis associated
      with preservation of hope is not still understood by physicians who oscillate
      between saying the all or none. Honest information at the right time is the
      majority wish of the patients, although certain patients adopt clearly a strategy
      of avoidance. The medical communication requires a specific training on this
      subject. Talking time must be opened to the doctors to approach the relational
      problems which they meet. The clinical research has to continue to understand
      better the interactions in doctors/patients communication.

PMID- 20934953
TI  - Shift work and metabolic syndrome, diabetes mellitus and ischaemic heart disease.
AB  - Shift work is affecting 20% to 25% employees and is becoming increasingly
      prevalent in contemporary life all over Europe and USA. It is associated with
      several health problems, such as e.g. metabolic syndrome, diabetes mellitus and
      cardiovascular disease. These diseases are possibly due to an impairment of
      biological rhythm. The metabolic syndrome is a complex of interrelated risk
      factors for cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Higher prevalence of the
      metabolic syndrome has been demonstrated among shift workers. Rotating shift work
      has an impact on each component of metabolic syndrome. Shift work might also have
      an impact on metabolic variables, and be a risk factor for type 2 diabetes. Only
      a few studies reported prevalence of impaired glucose metabolism and diabetes
      mellitus in relation to shift work. There is rather strong evidence in favour of
      association between shift work and coronary heart disease and that has been
      repeatedly demonstrated during over 20 years of research. Recent data
      increasingly reveal relations between shift work and plasma resistin, ghrelin,
      leptin and adiponectin.

PMID- 20934954
TI  - Effort-reward imbalance at work and cardiovascular diseases.
AB  - Working conditions and employment arrangements make a significant contribution to
      the burden of cardiovascular disease, in particular in modern societies where
      mental and emotional demands and threats are becoming widespread. Occupational
      research has identified health-adverse features of modern work with the help of
      theoretical models. One such model, effort-reward imbalance, has been developed
      by this author and his group and has been widely tested in epidemiological and
      experimental studies. The model claims that stressful experience at work is
      elicited by a lack of reciprocity between efforts spent at work and rewards
      received in return, where rewards include money, promotion prospects, job
      security, and esteem. Results demonstrate elevated risks of coronary heart
      disease among employees exposed to effort-reward imbalance. Moreover, in
      ambulatory and experimental investigations, elevated heart rate and blood
      pressure and altered secretion of stress hormones were observed under these
      conditions. Although additional scientific evidence is needed, available findings
      call for practical measures towards improving quality of work, most importantly
      at the level of single companies and organisations. This conclusion is supported
      by first results from intervention studies that are guided by this theoretical
      approach. In view of the burden of cardiovascular disease attributable to
      unfavourable working conditions, such efforts are well justified and need to be
      extended in order to promote healthy work.

PMID- 20934955
TI  - Psychosocial risks and work-related stress in developing countries: health
      impact, priorities, barriers and solutions.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The current research explores experts' perceptions of psychosocial
      risks and work-related stress in emerging economies and developing countries.
      This paper focuses on knowledge of potential health impact of psychosocial risks
      and preliminary priorities for action, and discusses potential barriers and
      solutions to addressing psychosocial risks and work-related stress in developing
      countries. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This research applied a mixed methodology
      including semi-structured interviews, two rounds of an online Delphi survey, and
      four focus groups. Twenty nine experts with expertise in occupational health were
      interviewed. Seventy four experts responded to the first round of an online
      Delphi survey and 53 responded to the second round. Four groups of experts with a
      total of 37 active participants with specific or broader knowledge about
      developing country contexts participated in focus group discussions. RESULTS:
      High concern was expressed for the need to address psychosocial risks and work
      related stress and their health impact. Developing country experts' knowledge
      about these issues was comparable to knowledge from industrialized countries,
      however, application of expert knowledge was reported to be weak in developing
      countries. Socio-economic conditions were regarded as important considerations.
      Priorities to be addressed were identified, and barriers to implementing possible
      solutions were proposed. CONCLUSION: The future research and action paradigms in
      relation to psychosocial risk management will need to be broadened to include the
      larger social, political and economic contexts in developing countries beyond
      issues focusing solely on the working environment. Work-related psychosocial
      risks and the emerging priority of work-related stress should urgently be
      included in the research and political agendas and action frameworks of
      developing countries.

PMID- 20934956
TI  - Reduced vagal cardiac control variance in exhausted and high strain job subjects.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: This paper has two primary objectives. First, the paper proposes
      methodological strategies for analyzing multiscale vagal cardiac control based on
      the Stress Disequilibrium Theory (SDT) using high frequency power of heart rate
      variability (HFP) and short term variance of HFP. Second, the paper provides
      evidence of reduced vagal cardiac control range and variability in high strain
      job and exhausted subjects. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Job Strain was measured using
      the Job Content Questionnaire, 8/day diary reports, and a nationally standardized
      occupational code linkage in 36 healthy mid-aged males with varying strain jobs.
      Subjects were Holter-monitored for 48 hours, including a work and rest day.
      Subjects responded to questions on a daily diary as well as on the Job Content
      Questionnaire to test for exhaustion as a dichotomous state variable. Vagal
      cardiac control was measured by components of electrocardiograph: heart rate
      variability based measures of high frequency power (HFP). We assessed range of
      vagal cardiac control using extreme value analysis (data in upper tail); and
      short term vagal variability using Poincare plots of HFP. Comparisons were made
      between high (N = 10) and low job strain (N = 22) jobs. Furthermore, subjects
      categorized as exhausted (N = 4) were separately analyzed. RESULTS: Exhausted
      subjects displayed a reduced range of vagal cardiac control on the workday; and
      both high strain and exhausted subjects displayed reduced short-term variance in
      vagal cardiac control. A repeated measures ANOVA controlling for age confirms
      reductions in variance of cardiac vagal activity in high job strain subjects
      (0.01), with further reductions in subjects reporting exhaustion (p = 0.001).
      CONCLUSION: This analysis supports the hypothesis that (a) job strain is
      associated with reductions in cardiac vagal - or system level - variance; and (b)
      that reduced system variability may be a characteristic of exhaustion.

PMID- 20934957
TI  - Psychosocial working conditions and active leisure-time physical activity in
      middle-aged us workers.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: This study was to examine whether psychosocial work characteristics
      such as job control, psychological job demands, and their combinations are
      associated with leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) in US workers. MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: 2019 workers (age range: 32 to 69) from the National Survey of
      Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS) II study (2004-2006) were chosen
      for this cross-sectional study. Job control and job demands were measured by
      standard questionnaire items. Active LTPA was defined as "moderate or vigorous"
      level of physical activity. RESULTS: After controlling for covariates (e.g., age,
      race, education, income, physical effort at work, obesity, and alcohol
      consumption), high job control was associated with active LTPA. Active jobs (high
      control and low demands) and low-strain jobs (high control and high demands),
      compared to passive jobs (low control and low demands), increased the odds for
      active LTPA. The associations varied by sex and education level. Job demands
      alone were not associated with active LTPA. CONCLUSIONS: Having on-the-job
      learning opportunities and decision authority on their tasks may be conducive to
      active LTPA in middle-aged US workers.

PMID- 20934958
TI  - A mini-nutritional assessment of older Poles in relation to the food intake model
      and food intake variety.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of the research was to conduct a mini-nutritional assessment in
      relation to the food intake model and food intake variety for Polish older
      persons. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The research included 420 people aged 65+. Using
      the food consumption frequency method (by a FIVeQ questionnaire), the weekly
      intake of 63 groups of products was assessed (yes, no). Food intake variety was
      assessed with the use of food intake variety index (FIVeI), which was calculated
      as the total number of products eaten per week in the amounts exceeding trace
      quantities. Four models of food intake were established: "ordinary" (S1), "rich
      varied" (S2), "ordinary with a tendency to vary" (S3) and "moderate connoisseur"
      (S4). The risk of malnutrition or the incidence of malnutrition was determined
      based on the questionnaire of the mini nutritional assessment (MNA). RESULTS: The
      good nutritional status of Polish older persons was affected by better results
      obtained in three parts of the questionnaire: "global evaluation" (MNA-2),
      "assessment of dietetic habits" (MNA-3) and "subjective assessment of self
      perceived quality of health and nutrition" (MNA-4). It confirms the significance
      of those parts of the questionnaire in detecting malnutrition or the risk of
      malnutrition in older persons and suggests a lower share of the MNA-1 part which
      concerns anthropometric indicators. It was found that S2 and S3 persons were
      characterized by a greater food intake variety index (the median of 36 and 34
      products eaten per week, respectively) and more often by a good nutritional
      status (88% and 79%, respectively) in comparison to S4 and S1 persons, who had a
      lower food intake variety index (the median of 4 and 30 products eaten per week,
      respectively) and more often occurring malnutrition (17% and 1% respectively) or
      a risk of malnutrition (17% and 30%, respectively). CONCLUSION: To conclude, a
      larger variety of food intake favoured better nutritional status of older
      persons, while a lower food intake variety increased the risk of malnutrition.

PMID- 20934959
TI  - Phase I study of paclitaxel, cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil combination
      chemotherapy for unresectable / recurrent gastric cancer.
AB  - PURPOSE: We investigated the safety of triple combination therapy by addition of
      Paclitaxel (PTX) to Cisplatin (CDDP) and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) combination
      therapy, which was considered the conventional standard therapy for patients with
      unresectable / recurrent gastric cancer. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The doses of PTX
      and CDDP were fixed at 80 and 50 mg/m2. They were administered on days 1 and 8,
      followed by a resting period of 20 days. 5-FU 300 mg/m2 at a maximum dose of 500
      mg/m2 was administered at levels 0 and 2, respectively, and the dose was
      increased by 100 mg/m2 until the maximum tolerated dose (MTD). It was
      administered on days 1 - 5 and 8 - 12, followed by a resting period of 16 days.
      RESULTS: Twelve patients enrolled in this study. Of them, three patients were
      excluded from evaluation because treatment continuation was not feasible. There
      were 4 leukopenia and 7 neutropenia cases with hematological toxicity at grade 3
      or higher. They were observed at all dose levels, but no case showed infection.
      In terms of non-hematological toxicity at grade 3 or higher, there were two
      patients with nausea and vomiting and two patients with diarrhea, one patient
      with mucositis, one patient with anorexia. All patients with non-hematological
      toxicity at grade 3 or higher were at level 2. The dose-limiting toxicity (DLT)
      was observed at level 2, and 5-FU at 400 mg (level 1) was adopted. CONCLUSIONS:
      We proved in this study that PTX, CDDP, and 5-FU combination chemotherapy was a
      safe treatment.

PMID- 20934960
TI  - Cytotoxicity of Aspergillus strains isolated from the neonatal intensive care
      unit environment.
AB  - PURPOSE: It is essential in the medical care for immunocompromised patients that
      the environment should create minimal infection risk. Particularly, it concerns
      fungal infections. Fungi belonging to the Aspergillus genus are second frequent
      group of nosocomial pathogens producing opportunistic infections. MATERIAL AND
      METHODS: The objective of the study was evaluation of prevalence and cytotoxicity
      of selected Aspergillus strains isolated from the neonatal intensive care unit
      environment. During 5 consecutive days, 30 samples of indoor air and 120 imprints
      from the ward environment were collected. Cytotoxicity of 17 strains was
      evaluated using a MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl) 2,5 diphenyltetrazolium
      bromide) test. RESULTS: Mean numbers of fungi in the indoor air varied from 50 to
      2370 c.f.u.xm-3 while in the imprints from 0.04 to 8.83 c.f.u.xcm-2. Moulds were
      isolated from most of the materials. All of the 17 strains subject to MTT test
      were cytotoxic. CONCLUSION: All of the Aspergillus strains isolated from the
      neonatal intensive care unit were cytotoxic. Cytotoxic Aspergillus strains
      present in the environment of immunocompromised patients may be potentially
      dangerous to them.

PMID- 20934961
TI  - IL-8, IL-12 and IL-10 cytokines generation by neutrophils, fibroblasts and
      neutrophils- fibroblasts interaction in psoriasis.
AB  - PURPOSE: Psoriasis is a common skin disease affecting about 1-3% of the world
      population. Many types of cells, including lymphocytes, dendritics APCs (antigen
      presenting cells), NKT (natural killer T) cells, neutrophils, keratinocytes and
      fibroblasts are involved in the pathogenesis of psoriasis.The aim of our study
      was to assess in psoriatic patients the production of IL-8, IL-10 and IL-12
      cytokines by neutrophils, fibroblasts and fibroblasts - neutrophils interaction.
      MATERIAL/METHODS: The production of IL-8, IL-10 and IL-12 cytokines was evaluated
      in supernatants after cells incubation for 21 h in culture medium alone and in
      medium in the presence of IL-8 or TNF-alpha. Concentrations of IL-8, IL-10, IL-12
      were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method using
      commercially available kits. RESULTS: Our results demonstrate that fibroblasts
      are not able to produce IL-10 and IL-12 but they generate IL-8. The amount of IL
      8 depends on the site of derivation of fibroblasts and on the stimuli.
      Neutrophils released IL-8, IL-12 (at a lower level in psoriatic patients) and IL
      10 but only in the case of healthy donors and at a very low concentration.
      Moreover, we observed higher concentrations of IL-12 and IL-8 in supernatants as
      a result of fibroblasts-neutrophils interaction in psoriatic patients.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that fibroblasts take part in the inflammatory
      reaction in psoriasis via cytokines or direct interaction with neutrophils.
      Fibroblasts probably do not exert any anti-inflammatory effect.

PMID- 20934962
TI  - Blood serum levels of amino-terminal pro-C-type natriuretic peptide in patients
      with rheumatoid arthritis.
AB  - PURPOSE: Angiogenesis is a prominent feature of rheumatoid synovitis and
      contributes to perpetuation of joint disease. The aim of presented study was to
      evaluate the association of inflammatory response and endothelial dysfunction
      parameters with serum levels of amino-terminal pro-C-type natriuretic peptide (NT
      proCNP), a surrogate measure for a potent regulator of vascular tone and
      angiogenesis, CNP. MATERIAL/METHODS: We included in this study 40 rheumatoid
      arthritis (RA) patients (36 female, four male) and 30 healthy controls (28
      female, two male). Disease activity score (DAS28), Health Assessment
      Questionnaire Disability Index (HAQDI), Rheumatoid Arthritis Disease Activity
      Index (RADAI) and visual analogue scales (VAS) for pain and arthritis were
      determined. The concentrations of the following laboratory parameters (serum C
      reactive protein (CRP), soluble (s) L-, sP-, sE-selectin, NT-proCNP, IgM
      rheumatoid factor (RF), and anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibodies) were
      measured using sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). RESULTS: The
      concentrations of NT-proCNP in RA patients were significantly increased when
      compared to healthy controls (p<0.001). In RA patients we found significant
      correlations only between sE-selectin and NT-proCNP levels (p=0.02). No
      significant associations were found between serum NT-proCNP and soluble selectin
      levels and patients' age and sex. Also, the parameters of clinical profile in the
      RA group (HAQ, RADAI, DAS28, VAS-pain, VAS-arthritis, swollen and tender joint
      counts) showed no association with serum NT-proCNP, sE-, sP- and sL-selectin.
      CONCLUSIONS: Serum concentration of NT-proCNP reflecting serum CNP level is
      likely secondary to the activation of endothelium. Nevertheless, the results of
      our study encourage to further studies over the role of CNP in the pathogenesis
      of RA, preferably on tissue level.

PMID- 20934963
TI  - Effects of serotonin depletion on behavior and neuronal oxidative stress status
      in rat: relevance for anxiety and affective disorders.
AB  - PURPOSE: We lesioned the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN) of male
      Wistar rats using two different doses (8MUg/3MUl and 16MUg/3MUl) of 5,7
      dihydroxytryptamine (5,7-DHT) and then animals were subjected to a battery of
      behavioral tests designed to assess anxiety and memory formation. Further, we
      were interested to know whether this lesion would result in neuronal oxidative
      stress and also if there is a correlation between the behavioral response to this
      lesion and brain oxidative stress. MATERIAL/METHODS: Behavioral tests included
      elevated plus maze, used to assess exploration/anxiety status and radial armmaze,
      used for determining spatial short-term and reference memory errors. Regarding
      the oxidative stress, we measured the extent of some lipid peroxidation products
      like malondialdehyde and defense enzymes such as superoxide dismutase and
      glutathione peroxidase. RESULTS: 5,7-DHT lesioned rats spent more time in the
      open arms of the elevated maze compared to sham-operated rats, suggesting that
      the lesion significantly diminished anxiety-like behavior. Also, short-term
      memory was significantly impaired, as shown by the working memory errors in
      radial arm-maze task. Further analyses revealed that the 5,7-DHT lesion did not
      result in a significant change of reference memory errors. Regarding the
      oxidative stress, no significant modification of both superoxide dismutase and
      glutathione peroxidase specific activities from the temporal lobe were observed.
      However, the malondiadehyde level was significantly increased, suggesting pro
      oxidant effects. Also, the linear regression between the working memory errors
      vs. malondiadehyde resulted in significant correlations. CONCLUSION: 5,7 DHT
      lesion of the PVN affects behavioral performance via interactions with systems
      governing novel and/or fear-evoking situations and also by increasing neuronal
      oxidative stress.

PMID- 20934964
TI  - Dysphagia in children with infantile cerebral palsy.
AB  - PURPOSE: Dysphagia is a significant health problem in children with infantile
      cerebral palsy (ICP), but not frequently discussed in the literature. The study
      objective was to analyse dysphagia symptoms in children with a pyramidal form of
      ICP, including the oral and pharyngeal phases of deglutition and dysarthria
      severity. We searched for a correlation between dysphagia severity and ICP type,
      mental development and occurrence of epilepsy. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total of
      67 children with a pyramidal form of infantile cerebral palsy were studied. Data
      were obtained based on case history elicited from the mothers, analysis of
      medical and psychological documentation, and logopaedic examination, including an
      examination of the action of swallowing. RESULTS: Dysphagia symptoms were found
      in 41 (61%) studied children, most frequently referring only to the oral phase
      (25 children), with concomitant mild and moderate dysarthria. Oral and pharyngeal
      dysfunctions were observed in 14 children and coexisted with more pronounced
      dysarthria symptoms. The most severe disorders were mainly found in the
      pharyngeal phase in 2 children. A statistically significant correlation was noted
      between the severity of dysphagia symptoms and the ICP type (p<0.044) and mental
      development (p<0.00002). CONCLUSIONS: Swallowing dysfunctions occur in the
      majority of children (>50%) with ICP. More serious disorders involving the oral
      and pharyngeal phases mainly affect children with tetraplegia and profound mental
      impairment. These disorders continue from early infancy through childhood and
      adolescence and improvement has been mainly observed when only the oral phase of
      swallowing is affected. These are always accompanied by dysarthria symptoms,
      which are especially severe when dysphagia involves the oral and pharyngeal
      phases. Early assessment and stimulation of the swallowing function should be a
      common element in the rehabilitation and care of children with ICP.

PMID- 20934965
TI  - Propofol vs isoflurane anesthesia-incidence of PONV in patients at maxillofacial
      surgery.
AB  - PURPOSE: Prophylaxis of PONV (postoperative nausea and vomiting) is important for
      maxillofacial surgery. Vomiting is particularly unpleasant for the patient and
      undesirable as it may be detrimental to the operative area. The aim of this study
      is to compare the incidence of PONV after propofol with that after isoflurane
      anesthesia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 84 patients age 15-50, ASA I-II, undergoing
      maxillofacial surgery were randomly allocated in two groups. Group P n=42 -using
      TIVA (Total Intravenous Anesthesia) with propofol and Group I n=42- using
      isoflurane anesthesia. The incidence and severity of PONV was evaluated for 24
      hours postoperatively based on scoring system: 0=no emetic symptoms, 1=nausea,
      2=vomiting. Whereas the severity of nausea was assessed using a four-point Likert
      scale, with 0=none, 1=mild, 2=moderate, 3=severe. RESULTS: There were no
      significant differences between the groups with respect to demographic data and
      duration of anesthesia. The incidence of nausea (2-3 Likert scale) in the
      propofol group was 11.9% compared to the isoflurane group 38.1% during early post
      operative period (0-6 hrs) (p=0.011), whereas during late post-operative period
      7.1% in group P compared with 11.9% in group I (p=0.712).Incidence of vomiting in
      early post-operative period in-group P was 4.8%, whereas in-group I 11.9%
      (p=0.432). In late postoperative period in-group P no patient suffered from
      vomiting or retching, whereas in-group I 4.8% (p=0.494). CONCLUSIONS: TIVA with
      propofol reduces the postoperative incidence of nausea and vomiting after
      maxillofacial surgery, compared with isoflurane anesthesia, and also reduces
      requirements of antiemetic medications.

PMID- 20934966
TI  - The occurrence of Helicobacter pylori antigens in dental plaque; an association
      with oral health status and oral hygiene practices.
AB  - PURPOSE: Helicobacter pylori present in the oral cavity can be a source of
      gastric infection. Since in the oral cavity H. pylori is mostly found in dental
      plaque, the aim of the study was to determine whether the oral health status and
      oral hygiene practices affect the incidence of H. pylori antigens in dental
      plaque. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was performed in 155 patients aged 19-78
      years. Patients who had taken antibiotics within 4 weeks preceding the study and
      those with a past history of H. pylori eradication were excluded. Each patient
      filled out a questionnaire on the procedures of dental plaque removal from
      natural teeth and dentures, and underwent oral examination. H. pylori antigens in
      supragingival plaque were determined by the immunological method with the use of
      a kit for detection of H. pylori antigens in stool samples. RESULTS: The presence
      of H. pylori antigens in dental plaque was found in 65.6% of the study subjects.
      The oral health status, frequency of dentist visits as well as the number and
      technique of dental plaque removal from natural teeth and dentures did not differ
      significantly between patients with infected and non-infected dental plaque.
      CONCLUSIONS: The occurrence of H. pylori antigens in dental plaque of natural
      teeth is not associated with oral health status or dental plaque removal
      practices from both natural teeth and removable dentures.

PMID- 20934967
TI  - Serological evidence of Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection in patients with acute
      exacerbation of COPD: analysis of 100 hospitalizations.
AB  - PURPOSE: A prospective study was conducted in order to investigate the serologic
      evidence of Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection in Greek hospitalized patients with
      acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD).
      Furthermore, we have assessed the frequency of a number of variables in the group
      of patients with a serological diagnosis of an acute M. pneumoniae infection
      compared to patients in whom M. pneumoniae infection was not documented.
      MATERIALS/METHODS: One hundred patients with AECOPD were enrolled in a 29- month
      study period. Serum IgG, IgA and IgM M. pneumoniae antibody titers were
      determined during the first day of their hospitalization and 30 days after
      enrolment, using a commercial ELISA. RESULTS: Nine patients (9%) had serological
      evidence of an acute M. pneumoniae infection. Acute infection was mainly
      documented by IgA antibody titer changes. It was mainly attributed to a
      reinfection rather than a primary infection. Patients with serological evidence
      of an acute M. pneumoniae infection had a higher heart rate (99+/-12 versus 88+/
      14 beats/minute, p=0.02) and a higher hematocrit value (47+/-4.5% versus 40.4+/
      6.2%, p=0.004) at admission than patients without a serological diagnosis for
      this pathogen. CONCLUSIONS: Serologic evidence of M. pneumoniae infection is
      rather common in Greek hospitalized patients with AECOPD. The determination of
      all three antibody classes was necessary in order to obtain an optimal level of
      serodiagnosis. No differences were found in the majority of characteristics of
      patients with and without serological evidence for this pathogen. The clinical
      utility of these results should be further clarified in future studies.

PMID- 20934968
TI  - Enamel protein regulation and dental and periodontal physiopathology in MSX2
      mutant mice.
AB  - Signaling pathways that underlie postnatal dental and periodontal physiopathology
      are less studied than those of early tooth development. Members of the muscle
      segment homeobox gene (Msx) family encode homeoproteins that show functional
      redundancy during development and are known to be involved in epithelial
      mesenchymal interactions that lead to crown morphogenesis and ameloblast cell
      differentiation. This study analyzed the MSX2 protein during mouse postnatal
      growth as well as in the adult. The analysis focused on enamel and periodontal
      defects and enamel proteins in Msx2-null mutant mice. In the epithelial
      lifecycle, the levels of MSX2 expression and enamel protein secretion were
      inversely related. Msx2+/- mice showed increased amelogenin expression, enamel
      thickness, and rod size. Msx2-/- mice displayed compound phenotypic
      characteristics of enamel defects, related to both enamel-specific gene mutations
      (amelogenin and enamelin) in isolated amelogenesis imperfecta, and cell-cell
      junction elements (laminin 5 and cytokeratin 5) in other syndromes. These effects
      were also related to ameloblast disappearance, which differed between incisors
      and molars. In Msx2-/- roots, Malassez cells formed giant islands that
      overexpressed amelogenin and ameloblastin that grew over months. Aberrant
      expression of enamel proteins is proposed to underlie the regional osteopetrosis
      and hyperproduction of cellular cementum. These enamel and periodontal phenotypes
      of Msx2 mutants constitute the first case report of structural and signaling
      defects associated with enamel protein overexpression in a postnatal context.

PMID- 20934970
TI  - Msh6 protects mature B cells from lymphoma by preserving genomic stability.
AB  - Most human B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphomas arise from germinal centers. Within
      these sites, the mismatch repair factor MSH6 participates in antibody
      diversification. Reminiscent of the neoplasms arising in patients with Lynch
      syndrome III, mice deficient in MSH6 die prematurely of lymphoma. In this study,
      we characterized the B-cell tumors in MSH6-deficient mice and describe their
      histological, immunohistochemical, and molecular features, which include moderate
      microsatellite instability. Based on histological markers and gene expression,
      the tumor cells seem to be at or beyond the germinal center stage. The
      simultaneous loss of MSH6 and of activation-induced cytidine deaminase did not
      appreciably affect the survival of these animals, suggesting that these germinal
      center-like tumors arose by an activation-induced cytidine deaminase-independent
      pathway. We conclude that MSH6 protects B cells from neoplastic transformation by
      preserving genomic stability.

PMID- 20934971
TI  - Relaxin regulates MMP expression and promotes satellite cell mobilization during
      muscle healing in both young and aged mice.
AB  - The polypeptide hormone relaxin has been proven to be effective in promoting both
      the remodeling and regeneration of various tissues, including cardiac muscle. In
      addition, our previous study demonstrated that relaxin is beneficial to skeletal
      muscle healing by both promoting muscle regeneration and preventing fibrosis
      formation. However, the molecular and cellular mechanisms of relaxin in
      regulating both myogenic cell differentiation and muscle healing process are
      still unclear. In this study, C2C12 mouse myoblasts and primary human myoblasts
      were treated with relaxin to investigate its potential effect in vitro; relaxin
      was also injected intramuscularly into the injured site of the mouse on the
      second day after injury to observe its function in vivo, especially in the aged
      muscle. Results showed that relaxin promoted myogenic differentiation, migration,
      and activation of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) of cultured myoblasts in
      vitro. In the injured muscle, relaxin administration promoted the activation of
      Pax7-positive skeletal muscle satellite cells and increased its local population
      compared with nontreated control muscles. Meanwhile, both angiogenesis and
      revascularization were increased, while the extended inflammatory reaction was
      repressed in the relaxin-treated injured muscle. Moreover, relaxin similarly
      promoted muscle healing in mice with aged muscle. These results revealed the
      multiple effects of relaxin in systematically improving muscle healing as well as
      its potential for clinical applications in patients with skeletal muscle injuries
      and diseases.

PMID- 20934972
TI  - Role of pancreatic stellate cells in pancreatic cancer metastasis.
AB  - Pancreatic stellate cells (PSCs) produce the stromal reaction in pancreatic
      cancer (PC), and their interaction with cancer cells facilitates cancer
      progression. This study investigated the role of human PSCs (hPSCs) in the
      metastatic process and tumor angiogenesis using both in vivo (orthotopic model)
      and in vitro (cultured PSC and PC cells) approaches. A sex mismatch study
      (injection of male hPSCs plus female PC cells into the pancreas of female mice)
      was conducted to determine whether hPSCs accompany cancer cells to metastatic
      sites. Metastatic nodules were examined by fluorescent in situ hybridization for
      the presence of the Y chromosome. Angiogenesis was assessed by i) immunostaining
      tumors for CD31, an endothelial cell marker; and ii) quantifying human
      microvascular endothelial cell (HMEC-1) tube formation in vitro on exposure to
      conditioned media from hPSCs. Transendothelial migration was assessed in vitro by
      examining the movement of fluorescently labeled hPSCs through an endothelial cell
      monolayer. Human PSCs i) were found in multiple metastatic sites in each mouse
      injected with male hPSCs plus female PC cells; ii) increased CD31 expression in
      primary tumors from mice injected with MiaPaCa-2 and hPSCs and stimulated tube
      formation by HMEC-1 in vitro; and iii) exhibited transendothelial migration that
      was stimulated by cancer cells. Human PSCs accompany cancer cells to metastatic
      sites, stimulate angiogenesis, and are able to intravasate/extravasate to and
      from blood vessels.

PMID- 20934973
TI  - In memoriam. Guido Majno, M.D., 1922-2010.

PMID- 20934975
TI  - Low-gradient ascites and extensive peritoneal implants.

PMID- 20934974
TI  - Co-activation of epidermal growth factor receptor and c-MET defines a distinct
      subset of lung adenocarcinomas.
AB  - Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and MET are molecular targets for lung
      cancer treatment. The relationships between expression, activation, and gene
      abnormalities of these two targets are currently unclear. Here, we demonstrate
      that a panel of 40 lung cancer cell lines could be classified into two groups.
      Group I was characterized by (1) high phosphorylations of MET and EGFR, (2)
      frequent mutation or amplification of EGFR, MET, and human epidermal growth
      factor receptor-2 (HER2), (3) high expressions of bronchial epithelial markers
      (thyroid transcription factor-1 (TTF-1), MUC1, and Cytokeratin 7 (CK7)); and (4)
      high expressions of MET, human epidermal growth factor receptor-3, E-cadherin,
      cyclooxygenase-2, and laminin gamma2. In contrast, Group II exhibited little or
      no phosphorylation of MET and EGFR; no mutation or amplification of EGFR, MET,
      and HER2; were triple-negative for TTF-1, MUC1, and CK7; and showed high
      expressions of vimentin, fibroblast growth factor receptor-1, and transcription
      factor 8. Importantly, Group I was more sensitive to gefitinib and more resistant
      to cisplatin and paclitaxel than Group II. The clinical relevance was confirmed
      in publicly available data on 442 primary lung adenocarcinoma patients; survival
      benefits by postoperative chemotherapy were seen in only patients with tumors
      corresponding to Group II. Overall, co-activation of EGFR and MET defines a
      distinct subgroup of lung carcinoma with characteristic genetic abnormalities,
      gene expression pattern, and response to chemotherapeutic reagents.

PMID- 20934976
TI  - Bacteraemia and subsequent vertebral osteomyelitis: a retrospective review of 125
      patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Vertebral osteomyelitis (VO) is associated with considerable
      morbidity and its incidence seems to be increasing. Haematogenous spread is an
      important aetiological factor. AIM: The objective was to describe a series of
      patients with VO and to search for a relationship between preceding bacteraemia
      and subsequent VO with the same pathogen. DESIGN AND METHODS: A retrospective
      study of all treated cases of VO in a tertiary hospital over a 10-year period.
      RESULTS: There were 129 cases of VO (involving 125 patients) that received
      antimicrobial treatment. Eighty-three (66%) were male and the mean age was 59.5
      years (range 1 month to 87 years). The vertebral level involved was lumbar in 66
      (53%) cases and thoracic in 35 (28%) cases. Seventy-four cases (59%) had a
      microbiologically confirmed aetiology. The diagnostic yield from procedures was
      46 and 36% from blood culture and bone biopsy, respectively. Staphylococcus
      aureus was the most common pathogen [38 of 74 (51%) cases]. Nine of 38 (24%)
      cases of Staphylococcus aureus VO had a preceding bacteraemia with the same
      pathogen in the previous year. CONCLUSION: Staphylococcus aureus is an important
      pathogen causing bacteraemia with the ability to cause metastatic complications
      including VO. The high proportion of cases developing VO following a documented
      bacteraemia, sometimes many months previously, reinforce the importance of
      adequate aggressive treatment for bacteraemia. VO must be considered in all
      patients presenting with back pain up to a year after bacteraemia. Previous
      bacteraemias with relevant pathogens can help guide antibiotic treatment at
      presentation of VO and if biopsy cannot be obtained.

PMID- 20934977
TI  - Shrinking lung syndrome caused by lupus myopathy.

PMID- 20934978
TI  - Uremic pericarditis with congestive liver.

PMID- 20934979
TI  - Not all raised blood sugars are diabetes!

PMID- 20934980
TI  - Predicting dysglycaemia in patients under investigation for acute coronary
      syndrome.
AB  - AIMS: To examine methods for the identification of previously undetected
      dysglycaemia [diabetes and impaired glucose tolerance (IGT)] in patients
      investigated for possible acute coronary syndrome. Specifically, we wished to
      examine whether the recently advocated use of glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c)
      would enhance detection rates for diabetes in these patients. METHODS: Patients
      (n = 200) investigated for possible acute coronary syndrome and not previously
      known to have diabetes were recruited and anthropometric data collected. Random
      plasma glucose concentrations followed by oral glucose tolerance tests, HbA1c,
      fasting lipids, high sensitivity C-reactive protein and homeostatic modular
      assessment-insulin resistance were obtained during admission. Following
      discharge, the fasting plasma glucose (FPG) was repeated to determine the
      importance of sequential fasting levels. The accuracy of individual tests,
      combinations and sequential testing was assessed using receiver operating
      characteristic curves. A predictive index (PI) was generated using stepwise
      logistic regression models. RESULTS: The prevalence of diabetes and IGT were 21
      and 32%, respectively. FPG >6.0 mmol/l and HbA1c >= 6.0% had specificities of
      94.9% and 93.6% but sensitivities of only 31.7 and 39.0%, respectively.
      Combination and sequential testing provided little additional benefit. Use of a
      PI comprising FPG, HbA1c and age provided the best overall performance (75.6%
      sensitivity, 77.1% specificity, negative predictive value 92.4%). CONCLUSION: Our
      data confirm the high prevalence of dysglycaemia in this cohort. The commonly
      advocated screening tools have significant limitations if used in isolation,
      combination or sequentially. Our approach using a PI offers improved performance
      partly as it uses continuous data rather than arbitrary cut-off values.

PMID- 20934981
TI  - Craniophrangioma: a diagnosis not to be missed.

PMID- 20934982
TI  - Challenges of defining acute kidney injury.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Until recently, there was a lack of a uniform definition for acute
      kidney injury (AKI). The 'acute renal injury/acute renal failure syndrome/severe
      acute renal failure syndrome' criteria, the Risk - Injury - Failure - Loss of
      kidney function - End stage renal disease (RIFLE) criteria and the Acute Kidney
      Injury Network (AKIN) classification were the most recent proposals. AIM: To
      compare the performance of the different AKI definitions. DESIGN AND METHODS:
      Application of the three most recent AKI definitions to 41 972 critically ill ICU
      patients and comparison of their performance. RESULTS: Incidence and outcome of
      AKI varied depending on the criteria. The RIFLE and AKIN classification led to
      similar total incidences of AKI (35.9 vs. 35.4%) but different incidences and
      outcomes of the individual AKI stages. Multivariate analysis showed that the
      different stages of AKI were independently associated with mortality. The worst
      stage of AKI was associated with an increased odds ratio for mortality of 1.59
      2.27. Non-surgical admission, maximum number of associated failed organ systems,
      emergency surgery and mechanical ventilation were consistently associated with
      the highest risk of hospital mortality. The proposed AKI definitions differ in
      the cut-off values of serum creatinine, the suggested time frame, the approach
      towards patients with missing baseline values and the method of classifying
      patients on renal replacement therapy. All classifications can miss patients with
      definite AKI. CONCLUSION: The three most recent definitions of AKI confirmed a
      correlation between severity of AKI and outcome but have limitations and the
      potential to miss patients with definite AKI. These limitations need to be
      considered when using the criteria in clinical practice.

PMID- 20934983
TI  - Felix qui potuit rerum causas cognoscere.

PMID- 20934984
TI  - Efficacy and safety of statin treatment for cardiovascular disease: a network
      meta-analysis of 170,255 patients from 76 randomized trials.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Statins represent the largest selling class of cardiovascular drug in
      the world. Previous randomized trials (RCTs) have demonstrated important clinical
      benefits with statin therapy. AIM: We combined evidence from all RCTs comparing a
      statin with placebo or usual care among patients with and without prior coronary
      heart disease (CHD) to determine clinical outcomes. DESIGN: We searched
      independently, in duplicate, 12 electronic databases (from inception to August
      2010), including full text journal content databases, to identify all statin
      versus inert control RCTs. We included RCTs of any statin versus any non-drug
      control in any populations. We abstracted data in duplicate on reported major
      clinical events and adverse events. We performed a random-effects meta-analysis
      and meta-regression. We performed a mixed treatment comparison using Bayesian
      methods. RESULTS: We included a total of 76 RCTs involving 170,255 participants.
      There were a total of 14,878 deaths. Statin therapy reduced all-cause mortality,
      Relative Risk (RR) 0.90 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.86-0.94, P <= 0.0001,
      I(2)=17%]; cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality (RR 0.80, 95% CI 0.74-0.87,
      P<0.0001, I(2)=27%); fatal myocardial infarction (MI) (RR 0.82, 95% CI 0.75-0.91,
      P<0.0001, I(2)=21%); non-fatal MI (RR 0.74, 95% CI 0.67-0.81, P <= 0.001,
      I(2)=45%); revascularization (RR 0.76, 95% CI 0.70-0.81, P <= 0.0001); and a
      composite of fatal and non-fatal strokes (0.86, 95% CI 0.78-0.95, P=0.004,
      I(2)=41%). Adverse events were generally mild, but 17 RCTs reported on increased
      risk of development of incident diabetes [Odds Ratio (OR) 1.09; 95% CI 1.02-1.17,
      P=0.001, I(2)=11%]. Studies did not yield important differences across
      populations. We did not find any differing treatment effects between statins.
      DISCUSSION: Statin therapies offer clear benefits across broad populations. As
      generic formulations become more available efforts to expand access should be a
      priority.

PMID- 20934985
TI  - Fronto-parietal regulation of media violence exposure in adolescents: a multi
      method study.
AB  - Adolescents spend a significant part of their leisure time watching TV programs
      and movies that portray violence. It is unknown, however, how the extent of
      violent media use and the severity of aggression displayed affect adolescents'
      brain function. We investigated skin conductance responses, brain activation and
      functional brain connectivity to media violence in healthy adolescents. In an
      event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging experiment, subjects
      repeatedly viewed normed videos that displayed different degrees of aggressive
      behavior. We found a downward linear adaptation in skin conductance responses
      with increasing aggression and desensitization towards more aggressive videos.
      Our results further revealed adaptation in a fronto-parietal network including
      the left lateral orbitofrontal cortex (lOFC), right precuneus and bilateral
      inferior parietal lobules, again showing downward linear adaptations and
      desensitization towards more aggressive videos. Granger causality mapping
      analyses revealed attenuation in the left lOFC, indicating that activation during
      viewing aggressive media is driven by input from parietal regions that decreased
      over time, for more aggressive videos. We conclude that aggressive media
      activates an emotion-attention network that has the capability to blunt emotional
      responses through reduced attention with repeated viewing of aggressive media
      contents, which may restrict the linking of the consequences of aggression with
      an emotional response, and therefore potentially promotes aggressive attitudes
      and behavior.

PMID- 20934986
TI  - Exploring the building blocks of social cognition: spontaneous agency perception
      and visual perspective taking in autism.
AB  - Individuals with autism spectrum disorders have highly characteristic impairments
      in social interaction and this is true also for those with high functioning
      autism or Asperger syndrome (AS). These social cognitive impairments are far from
      global and it seems likely that some of the building blocks of social cognition
      are intact. In our first experiment, we investigated whether high functioning
      adults who also had a diagnosis of AS would be similar to control participants in
      terms of their eye movements when watching animated triangles in short movies
      that normally evoke mentalizing. They were. Our second experiment using the same
      movies, tested whether both groups would spontaneously adopt the visuo-spatial
      perspective of a triangle protagonist. They did. At the same time autistic
      participants differed in their verbal accounts of the story line underlying the
      movies, confirming their specific difficulties in on-line mentalizing. In spite
      of this difficulty, two basic building blocks of social cognition appear to be
      intact: spontaneous agency perception and spontaneous visual perspective taking.

PMID- 20934987
TI  - Regional gray matter correlates of perceived emotional intelligence.
AB  - Coping with stressful life events requires a degree of skill in the ability to
      attend to, comprehend, label, communicate and regulate emotions. Individuals vary
      in the extent to which these skills are developed, with the term 'alexithymia'
      often applied in the clinical and personality literature to those individuals
      most compromised in these skills. Although a frontal lobe model of alexithymia is
      emerging, it is unclear whether such a model satisfactorily reflects brain
      related patterns associated with perceived emotional intelligence at the facet
      level. To determine whether these trait meta-mood facets (ability to attend to,
      have clarity of and repair emotions) have unique gray matter volume correlates, a
      voxel-based morphometry study was conducted in 30 healthy adults using the Trait
      Meta Mood Scale while co-varying for potentially confounding sociodemographic
      variables. Poorer Attention to Emotion was associated with lower gray matter
      volume in clusters distributed primarily throughout the frontal lobe, with peak
      correlation in the left medial frontal gyrus. Poorer Mood Repair was related to
      lower gray matter volume in three clusters in frontal and inferior parietal
      areas, with peak correlation in the left anterior cingulate. No significant
      volumetric correlations emerged for the Clarity of Emotion facet. We discuss the
      localization of these areas in the context of cortical circuits known to be
      involved in processes of self-reflection and cognitive control.

PMID- 20934988
TI  - Involvement of CK2 in activation of electrophilic genes in endothelial cells by
      oxidized phospholipids.
AB  - Oxidized phospholipids (OxPLs) are increasingly recognized as pleiotropic lipid
      mediators demonstrating a variety of biological activities. In particular, OxPLs
      induce electrophilic stress response and stimulate expression of NF-E2-related
      factor 2 (NRF2)-dependent genes. The mechanisms of NRF2 upregulation in response
      to OxPLs, however, are incompletely understood. Here we show that upregulation of
      NRF2 by OxPLs depends on the activity of the CK2 protein kinase. Inactivation of
      CK2 by chemical inhibitors or gene silencing resulted in diminished accumulation
      of NRF2 and its target genes, GCLM, HMOX1, and NQO1, downstream in response to
      OxPLs. Furthermore, inhibition of CK2 suppressed NRF2-dependent induction of ATF4
      and its downstream gene VEGF. Thus, inactivation of CK2 in OxPL-treated
      endothelial cells results in inhibition of the NRF2-ATF4-VEGF axis and is likely
      to produce antiangiogenic effects. This work characterizes novel cross-talk
      between CK2 and cellular stress pathways, which may provide additional insights
      into the mechanisms of beneficial action and side-effects of CK2 inhibitors.

PMID- 20934989
TI  - High levels of 15-oxygenated steroids in circulation of patients with multiple
      sclerosis: fact or fiction?
AB  - 15-Oxygenated cholesterol species such as 5alpha-cholest-8(14)ene-3beta,15alpha
      diol (15HC) and 3beta-hydroxy-5alpha-cholest-8(14)-en-15-one (15KC) are
      commercially available synthetic products unlikely to occur in biological
      systems. Surprisingly, Farez et al. recently reported that these two steroids
      occur in human circulation at levels considerably higher than those of any other
      endogenous oxysterol [Farez, M. et al. 2009. Toll-like receptor 2 and poly(ADP
      ribose) polymerase 1 promote central nervous system neuroinflammation in
      progressive EAE. Nat. Immunol. 10: 958-964]. The levels were reported to be
      increased in patients with multiple sclerosis in a progressive phase and the
      authors suggested that this could be utilized diagnostically. Based on extensive
      in vitro experiments exposing cells to the same high levels of 15HC as found in
      vivo (1000 ng/ml) the authors concluded that 15HC may be an important
      pathogenetic factor in multiple sclerosis. Using combined gas chromatography-mass
      spectrometry we fail to detect significant plasma levels of 15HC either in
      healthy controls or in patients with multiple sclerosis (levels < 2 ng/ml). If
      15KC is present in these plasma samples, the concentration of it must be <10
      ng/ml. Our failure to detect significant levels of the above steroids could not
      be due to loss during hydrolysis and work-up because recovery of the added two
      oxysterols was close to 100%. Autoxidation of lipoprotein-bound cholesterol
      resulted in extensive conversion of cholesterol into 7-oxygenated but not 15
      oxygenated sterols. We conclude that if present there are trace amounts only of
      the above 15-oxygenated steroids in human circulation and that the role of such
      oxysterols as pathogenetic factors and biomarkers must be reconsidered.

PMID- 20934990
TI  - High-throughput prediction of protein antigenicity using protein microarray data.
AB  - MOTIVATION: Discovery of novel protective antigens is fundamental to the
      development of vaccines for existing and emerging pathogens. Most computational
      methods for predicting protein antigenicity rely directly on homology with
      previously characterized protective antigens; however, homology-based methods
      will fail to discover truly novel protective antigens. Thus, there is a
      significant need for homology-free methods capable of screening entire proteomes
      for the antigens most likely to generate a protective humoral immune response.
      RESULTS: Here we begin by curating two types of positive data: (i) antigens that
      elicit a strong antibody response in protected individuals but not in unprotected
      individuals, using human immunoglobulin reactivity data obtained from protein
      microarray analyses; and (ii) known protective antigens from the literature. The
      resulting datasets are used to train a sequence-based prediction model,
      ANTIGENpro, to predict the likelihood that a protein is a protective antigen.
      ANTIGENpro correctly classifies 82% of the known protective antigens when trained
      using only the protein microarray datasets. The accuracy on the combined dataset
      is estimated at 76% by cross-validation experiments. Finally, ANTIGENpro performs
      well when evaluated on an external pathogen proteome for which protein microarray
      data were obtained after the initial development of ANTIGENpro. AVAILABILITY:
      ANTIGENpro is integrated in the SCRATCH suite of predictors available at
      http://scratch.proteomics.ics.uci.edu. CONTACT: pfbaldi@ics.uci.edu

PMID- 20934991
TI  - Graph-based word sense disambiguation of biomedical documents.
AB  - MOTIVATION: Word Sense Disambiguation (WSD), automatically identifying the
      meaning of ambiguous words in context, is an important stage of text processing.
      This article presents a graph-based approach to WSD in the biomedical domain. The
      method is unsupervised and does not require any labeled training data. It makes
      use of knowledge from the Unified Medical Language System (UMLS) Metathesaurus
      which is represented as a graph. A state-of-the-art algorithm, Personalized
      PageRank, is used to perform WSD. RESULTS: When evaluated on the NLM-WSD dataset,
      the algorithm outperforms other methods that rely on the UMLS Metathesaurus
      alone. AVAILABILITY: The WSD system is open source licensed and available from
      http://ixa2.si.ehu.es/ukb/. The UMLS, MetaMap program and NLM-WSD corpus are
      available from the National Library of Medicine
      https://www.nlm.nih.gov/research/umls/, http://mmtx.nlm.nih.gov and
      http://wsd.nlm.nih.gov. Software to convert the NLM-WSD corpus into a format that
      can be used by our WSD system is available from
      http://www.dcs.shef.ac.uk/~marks/biomedical_wsd under open source license.

PMID- 20934992
TI  - Target-align: a tool for plant microRNA target identification.
AB  - MOTIVATION: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are important regulatory molecules. A critical
      step in elucidating miRNA function is identifying potential miRNA targets.
      However, few reliable tools have been developed for identifying miRNA targets in
      plants. RESULTS: Here, we developed a Smith-Waterman-like alignment tool in order
      to accurately predict miRNA targets. Dynamic programming was used to build a
      score matrix based on the complementarity of nucleotides in order to trace the
      optimal local alignments. Important parameters, such as maximum mismatches and
      maximum consecutive mismatches between miRNAs and their targets, were also used
      for filtering the optimal local alignments. Almost all of the parameters in this
      alignment tool can be adjusted by users. Compared to other target prediction
      tools, Target-align exhibits strong sensitivity and accuracy for identifying
      miRNA targets. More importantly, Target-align can identify multi-target sites as
      well potential for non-cleaved targets sites by change the default settings.
      Windows, web and command-line versions were developed to better serve different
      users. AVAILABILITY: http://www.leonxie.com/targetAlign.php. CONTACT:
      zhangb@ecu.edu SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Supplementary data are available at
      Bioinformatics online.

PMID- 20934993
TI  - Short-term intraocular tamponade with perfluorocarbon heavy liquid.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Inferior retinal detachment pathology can be difficult to manage due
      to inadequate tamponade with low specific gravity tamponade agents and the
      propensity for the development of proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR). We
      report the efficacy and adverse effects associated with the use of
      perfluorocarbon heavy liquid as a short-term tamponade in managing such
      pathologies. METHODS: Retrospective analysis of 17 eyes treated with short-term
      perfluoro-n-octane tamponade for complex inferior retinal pathology, including
      inferior detachment and PVR. Mean follow-up time was 14 months and mean tamponade
      duration was 7 days. RESULTS: Reattachment of the retina during the study period
      was achieved with a single set of operations in 13/17 (76%) eyes, with four eyes
      requiring a subsequent set of vitreoretinal operations. Postoperative visual
      acuity (VA) was equal to or better than preoperative VA in 14 (82%) of 17 eyes.
      Complications arising during the follow-up period included superior redetachment,
      atrophic macular changes, minor macular haemorrhage, cataract, elevated
      intraocular pressure, corneal defects, PVR, epiretinal membrane and retained
      perfluorocarbon heavy liquid. One case of intraocular inflammation occurred >6
      months after removal of perfluoro-n-octane tamponade. CONCLUSION: Short-term
      perfluoro-n-octane tamponade achieved a stable reattachment rate of 76% when used
      to manage challenging retinal pathologies.

PMID- 20934994
TI  - Ocular safety profile and intraocular pharmacokinetics of an antagonist of
      EphB4/EphrinB2 signalling.
AB  - AIMS: To characterise the ocular safety profile of sEphB4 and its
      pharmacokinetics in rabbit eyes. METHODS: 15 rabbits with single intravitreal
      injection of sEphB4 in the right eye (1000 MUg, 465 MUg, 160 MUg or 80 MUg) and
      phosphate-buffered saline in the left eye were studied at different time points
      by monitoring inflammatory changes, intraocular pressure, electroretinogram and
      histological changes. The dose of 80 MUg/eye was injected intravitreally into 21
      rabbits, and the fellow eyes were used as controls for sEphB4 ocular
      pharmacokinetics. sEphB4 concentrations were measured in the vitreous, retina,
      choroids and plasma using ELISA at the designated time points. RESULTS: The study
      showed that there was no evidence of intraocular toxicity at any time point with
      any dose tested. No statistically significant differences were seen in the
      intraocular pressure, scotopic and photopic ERGs, and histopathology between the
      control and sEphB4 injected eyes. A pharmacokinetic study demonstrated a vitreous
      half-life of 4.1 days and 6.3 days in the retina. The mean residence time of the
      drug was 10.45 days in the retina and 7.95 days in the choroid. CONCLUSION: It
      seems that sEphB4 at the concentrations studied did not appear to be toxic to
      rabbit eyes and may be a longer-acting treatment option to the current therapies
      for ocular abnormal neovascularisation.

PMID- 20934995
TI  - Development and distribution of refractive error in children with Down's
      syndrome.
AB  - AIM: Previous studies have described the emmetropisation process as inactive in
      Down's syndrome (DS). However, these studies investigated only a small age range
      of children-either young children or teenagers. The present study aims to
      describe refractive error development and distribution in DS throughout childhood
      and early teenage years. METHODS: Subjects were recruited from the Cardiff
      University Down's Syndrome Vision Research cohort. Refractive error was measured
      using Mohindra retinoscopy. Subjects were grouped into 15 yearly age groups to
      allow a cross-sectional assessment of refractive error distribution (n=182).
      Longitudinal refractive development was observed in 12 children with DS whose
      refractive error had been monitored throughout their childhood and teenage years.
      RESULTS: Children were hypermetropic, on average, at all ages, albeit with a wide
      variation in refractive errors. Change in power vector components, M, J(0) and
      J(45), and the presence of significant astigmatism (>=1.00 D) was assessed with
      age. There were no statistically significant difference in M and J(0) across age
      groups. However, there was a significant difference in J(45). Prevalence of
      significant oblique astigmatism increased with age and was highly prevalent (45%)
      in teenage years. Longitudinally, no significant change in refractive error was
      reported with regards to the spherical component. CONCLUSION: The results provide
      further evidence of the failure in the emmetropisation process in children with
      DS. Change in spherical refractive error is minimal throughout childhood and
      early adulthood. The children show a specific development of oblique astigmatism
      that may be suggestive of a mechanical induction through eyelids.

PMID- 20934996
TI  - Thymic recovery after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation with non
      myeloablative conditioning is limited to patients younger than 60 years of age.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Long-term immune recovery in older patients given hematopoietic cell
      transplantation after non-myeloablative conditioning remains poorly understood.
      This prompted us to investigate long-term lymphocyte reconstitution and thymic
      function in 80 patients given allogeneic peripheral blood stem cells after non
      myeloablative conditioning. DESIGN AND METHODS: Median age at transplant was 57
      years (range 10-71). Conditioning regimen consisted of 2 Gy total body
      irradiation (TBI) with (n=46) or without (n=20) added fludarabine, 4 Gy TBI with
      fludarabine (n=6), or cyclophosphamide plus fludarabine (n=8). Stem cell sources
      were unmanipulated (n=56), CD8-depleted (n=19), or CD34-selected (n=5) peripheral
      blood stem cells. Immune recovery was assessed by signal-joint T-cell receptor
      excision circle quantification and flow cytometry. RESULTS: Signal-joint T-cell
      receptor excision circle levels increased from day 100 to one and two years after
      transplantation in patients under 50 years of age (n=23; P=0.02 and P=0.04,
      respectively), and in those aged 51-60 years (n=35; P=0.17 and P=0.06,
      respectively), but not in patients aged over 60 (n=22; P=0.3 and P=0.3,
      respectively). Similarly, CD4(+)CD45RA(+) (naive) T-cell counts increased from
      day 100 to one and two years after transplantation in patients aged 50 years and
      under 50 (P=0.002 and P=0.02, respectively), and in those aged 51-60 (P=0.4 and
      P=0.001, respectively), but less so in patients aged over 60 (P=0.3 and P=0.06,
      respectively). In multivariate analyses, older patient age (P<0.001), extensive
      chronic GVHD (P<0.001), and prior (resolved) extensive chronic graft-versus-host
      disease (P=0.008) were associated with low signal-joint T-cell receptor excision
      circle levels one year or more after HCT. CONCLUSIONS: In summary, our data
      suggest that thymic neo-generation of T cells occurred from day 100 onwards in
      patients under 60 while signal-joint T-cell receptor excision circle levels
      remained low for patients aged over 60. Further, chronic graft-versus-host
      disease had a dramatic impact on thymic function, as observed previously in
      patients given grafts after myeloablative conditioning.

PMID- 20934997
TI  - The impact of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) micropolymorphism on ligand
      specificity within the HLA-B*41 allotypic family.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Polymorphic differences between human leukocyte antigen (HLA)
      molecules affect the specificity and conformation of their bound peptides and
      lead to differential selection of the T-cell repertoire. Mismatching during
      allogeneic transplantation can, therefore, lead to immunological reactions.
      DESIGN AND METHODS: We investigated the structure-function relationships of six
      members of the HLA-B*41 allelic group that differ by six polymorphic amino acids,
      including positions 80, 95, 97 and 114 within the antigen-binding cleft. Peptide
      binding motifs for B*41:01, *41:02, *41:03, *41:04, *41:05 and *41:06 were
      determined by sequencing self-peptides from recombinant B*41 molecules by
      electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry. The crystal structures of HLA
      B*41:03 bound to a natural 16-mer self-ligand (AEMYGSVTEHPSPSPL) and HLA-B*41:04
      bound to a natural 11-mer self-ligand (HEEAVSVDRVL) were solved. RESULTS: Peptide
      analysis revealed that all B*41 alleles have an identical anchor motif at peptide
      position 2 (glutamic acid), but differ in their choice of C-terminal pOmega
      anchor (proline, valine, leucine). Additionally, B*41:04 displayed a greater
      preference for long peptides (>10 residues) when compared to the other B*41
      allomorphs, while the longest peptide to be eluted from the allelic group (a
      16mer) was obtained from B*41:03. The crystal structures of HLA-B*41:03 and HLA
      B*41:04 revealed that both alleles interact in a highly conserved manner with the
      terminal regions of their respective ligands, while micropolymorphism-induced
      changes in the steric and electrostatic properties of the antigen-binding cleft
      account for differences in peptide repertoire and auxiliary anchoring.
      CONCLUSIONS: Differences in peptide repertoire, and peptide length specificity
      reflect the significant functional evolution of these closely related allotypes
      and signal their importance in allogeneic transplantation, especially B*41:03 and
      B*41:04, which accommodate longer peptides, creating structurally distinct
      peptide-HLA complexes.

PMID- 20934998
TI  - Extensive pleural and pericardial effusion in chronic myeloid leukemia during
      treatment with dasatinib at 100 mg or 50 mg daily.
AB  - Dasatinib is considered an effective drug in imatinib-resistant chronic myeloid
      leukemia. Although reported to be well-tolerated, severe events such as pleural
      or pericardial effusion have been reported at 140 mg daily. We examined our
      chronic myeloid leukemia patients treated with dasatinib at 100 mg or 50 mg daily
      and identified 4 of 13 patients who developed marked effusion formation. In 2
      patients, grade III/IV pleural and/or pericardial effusions were recorded. All 4
      patients had received previous anti-leukemia therapy but none had pre-existing
      cardiac or pulmonary diseases. In 3 patients, dasatinib had to be discontinued
      despite treatment with diuretics and glucocorticosteroids. In conclusion,
      dasatinib-treated chronic myeloid leukemia patients are at risk for the
      development of pleural and pericardial effusions even when the drug is
      administered at 100 mg or 50 mg daily. Therefore, all patients should be examined
      for pre-existing comorbidity and risk factors before starting dasatinib and all
      should have repeated chest X-rays during long-term dasatinib therapy.

PMID- 20934999
TI  - Persistence of recipient-type endothelium after allogeneic hematopoietic stem
      cell transplantation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The possibility that allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell
      transplantation performed across the ABO blood group-barrier is associated with
      an increase of graft-versus-host disease, in particular endothelial damage, has
      not been elucidated so far. For this reason, we investigated the level of
      endothelial cell chimerism after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell
      transplantation in order to delineate the role of hematopoietic stem cells in
      endothelial replacement. DESIGN AND METHODS: The frequency of donor-derived
      endothelial cells was analyzed in 52 hematopoietic stem cell transplant
      recipients, in 22 normal skin biopsies, in 12 skin samples affected by graft
      versus-host disease, various tissues from five autopsies and four secondary solid
      tumors by ABH immunohistochemistry, XY fluorescence in situ hybridization and
      short tandem repeat analysis of laser captured endothelial cells. RESULTS: Skin
      biopsies from two patients transplanted with minor ABO-incompatible grafts (i.e.
      O in A) showed 3.3% and 0.9% H antigen-positive donor-derived endothelial cells
      by ABH immunohistochemistry. Tumor biopsies from two recipients showed 1.2% and
      2.5% donor-derived endothelial cells by combined immunohistochemistry/
      fluorescence in situ hybridization. All other skin samples, heart, liver, bone
      marrow, and tumor tissues failed to reveal donor-type endothelial cells up to
      several years after ABO-incompatible hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.
      CONCLUSIONS: Endothelial cell replacement by bone marrow-derived donor cells
      after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is a rare event. It does
      not seem to represent a major mechanism of physiological in vivo blood vessel
      formation, tumor neoangiogenesis, vascular repair after graft-versus-host disease
      episodes or acceptance of ABO-incompatible grafts.

PMID- 20935000
TI  - Quantitatively different red cell/nucleated cell chimerism in patients with long
      term, persistent hematopoietic mixed chimerism after bone marrow transplantation
      for thalassemia major or sickle cell disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Persistent mixed chimerism represents a state in which recipient and
      donor cells stably co-exist after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.
      However, since in most of the studies reported in literature the engraftment
      state was observed in the nucleated cells, in this study we determined the donor
      origin of the mature erythrocytes of patients with persistent mixed chimerism
      after transplantation for hemoglobinopathies. Results were compared with the
      engraftment state observed in singly picked out burst-forming unit - erythroid
      colonies and in the nucleated cells collected from the peripheral blood and from
      the bone marrow. DESIGN AND METHODS: The donor origin of the erythrocytes was
      determined analyzing differences on the surface antigens of the erythrocyte
      suspension after incubation with anti-ABO and/or anti-C, -c, -D, -E and -e
      monoclonal antibodies by a flow cytometer. Analysis of short tandem repeats was
      used to determine the donor origin of nucleated cells and burst-forming unit -
      erythroid colonies singly picked out after 14 days of incubation. RESULTS: The
      proportions of donor-derived nucleated cells in four transplanted patients
      affected by hemoglobinopathies were 71%, 46%, 15% and 25% at day 1364, 1385, 1314
      and 932, respectively. Similar results were obtained for the erythroid
      precursors, analyzing the donor/recipient origin of the burst-forming unit -
      erythroid colonies. In contrast, on the same days of observation, the proportions
      of donor-derived erythrocytes in the four patients with persistent mixed
      chimerism were 100%, 100%, 73% and 90%. Conclusions Our results showed that most
      of the erythrocytes present in four long-term transplanted patients affected by
      hemoglobinopathies and characterized by the presence of few donor engrafted
      nucleated cells were of donor origin. The indication that small proportions of
      donor engrafted cells might be sufficient for clinical control of the disease in
      patients affected by hemoglobinopathies is relevant, although the biological
      mechanisms underlying these observations need further investigation.

PMID- 20935001
TI  - Coronary endothelial dysfunction in humans is associated with coronary retention
      of osteogenic endothelial progenitor cells.
AB  - AIMS: Endothelial progenitor cells (EPC) may participate in the repair of injured
      coronary endothelium. We have recently identified EPC co-expressing the
      osteoblastic marker osteocalcin [OCN (+) EPC] and found that their numbers are
      increased in patients with early and late coronary atherosclerosis. The current
      study was designed to test the hypothesis that early coronary atherosclerosis is
      associated with the retention of osteogenic EPC within the coronary circulation.
      METHODS AND RESULTS: Blood samples were taken simultaneously from the proximal
      aorta and the coronary sinus from 31 patients undergoing invasive coronary
      endothelial function testing. Using flow cytometry, peripheral blood mononuclear
      cells were analysed for EPC markers (CD133, CD34, KDR) and OCN. The net gradient
      of EPC was calculated by multiplying the coronary blood flow by the arteriovenous
      EPC gradient (a negative net gradient indicating retention of EPC). Similarly,
      serum samples were analysed for stromal cell-derived factor-1 alpha (SDF-1 alpha)
      and interleukin-8 (IL-8) and their net production calculated. Compared with
      controls (n = 17) patients with endothelial dysfunction (ED, n = 14) had a
      significant net retention of CD34+/CD133-/KDR+/OCN+ EPC [118.38 (0.00, 267.04)
      vs. -112.03 (838.36, 0.00), P = 0.004]. The retention of OCN (+) EPC correlated
      with the degree of ED. Patients with ED also showed a net retention of
      CD34+/CD133-/KDR+ EPC (P = 0.010). Net production of IL-8 was positive in ED
      [1540.80 (-300.40, 21744.10)pg/mL] but negative in controls [-3428.50 (-11225.00,
      647.48), P = 0.025]. CONCLUSION: Our study demonstrates that patients with early
      coronary atherosclerosis are characterized by retention of OCN (+) EPC within the
      coronary circulation, potentially leading to progressive coronary calcification
      rather than normal repair.

PMID- 20935002
TI  - Resting heart rate in patients with stable coronary artery disease and diabetes:
      a report from the euro heart survey on diabetes and the heart.
AB  - AIMS: epidemiological studies suggest that resting heart rate (RHR) is an
      independent predictor of cardiovascular and all-cause mortality. Still, this
      parameter has never been specifically assessed in patients with diabetes mellitus
      (DM). This study describes the association between RHR and cardiovascular events
      (CVE) in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) with and without DM. METHODS
      AND RESULTS: the Euro Heart Survey on Diabetes and the Heart enroled 2608
      patients with stable CAD, of these 780 (30%) had known DM. Resting heart rate was
      registered in 2507 (96%) patients: 1756 (96%) without and 751 (96%) with DM.
      Patients were followed with respect to CVE (all-cause mortality, non-fatal
      myocardial infarction, and stroke) for 1 year. Overall, median RHR was 70 (62-78)
      b.p.m. The RHR quartile stratification was significantly associated with outcome
      in the overall population (P = 0.002 and P = 0.021 for survival and CVE,
      respectively), whereas it was not in patients without DM. In patients with DM,
      the RHR quartiles correlated with survival (P = 0.032). In an adjusted regression
      model performed in patients without DM, RHR associated with neither survival
      [hazard ratio (HR): 0.97, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.74-1.27; P = 0.804] nor
      CVE (HR: 0.85, 95% CI: 0.71-1.01, P = 0.068). In contrast, a 10-b.p.m. increase
      in RHR was independently associated with survival (HR: 1.34, 95% CI: 1.06-1.69, P
      = 0.015), but not with CVE (HR: 0.99, 95% CI: 0.84-1.18; P = 0.359) in patients
      with DM. CONCLUSION: the present report, based on patients with stable CAD, is
      the first to reveal that the association between RHR and CVE seems to subsist in
      those with DM, however, not in those without DM.

PMID- 20935003
TI  - Role of arachidonic acid-derived metabolites in the control of pulmonary arterial
      pressure and hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction in rats.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The roles of arachidonic acid (AA) metabolites in hypoxia-induced
      pulmonary vasoconstriction (HPV), a critical physiological mechanism that
      prevents ventilation/perfusion mismatch, are still incompletely understood.
      METHODS: Pulmonary arterial pressure was measured in ventilated/perfused rat
      lungs. Isometric tones of rat intralobar pulmonary arteries were also measured,
      using a myograph. RESULTS: Hypoxia (Po2, 3%)-induced pulmonary arterial pressure
      increases (DeltaPAP(hypox)) were stable with blood-mixed perfusate, but decayed
      spontaneously. DeltaPAP(hypox) was inhibited by 29%, 16%, and 28% by the
      thromboxane A2 (TXA2) antagonist SQ-29548, the 5-lipoxygenase inhibitor, MK886,
      and the leukotriene D4 antagonist, LY-171883, respectively. The prostacyclin
      synthase inhibitor tranylcypromine augmented DeltaPAP(hypox) by 5%, whereas
      inhibition of cytochrome P450 did not affect DeltaPAP(hypox). Consistently, the
      TXA2 analogue U46619 increased DeltaPAP(hypox) whereas prostacyclin abolished
      DeltaPAP(hypox). However, leukotriene D4 had no direct effect on DeltaPAP(hypox).
      In the isolated pulmonary arteries, pretreatment with U46619 was essential to
      demonstrate hypoxia-induced contraction. CONCLUSIONS: The above results suggest
      that TXA2 and cysteinyl leukotrienes, other than leukotriene D4, are endogenous
      factors that facilitate HPV in rats. The indispensable role of TXA2-induced
      pretone in the HPV of isolated pulmonary arteries indicates that the signal from
      thromboxane receptors might be a critical component of oxygen sensation
      mechanisms.

PMID- 20935004
TI  - Inhalation anaesthetics and climate change.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although the increasing abundance of CO(2) in our atmosphere is the
      main driver of the observed climate change, it is the cumulative effect of all
      forcing agents that dictate the direction and magnitude of the change, and many
      smaller contributors are also at play. Isoflurane, desflurane, and sevoflurane
      are widely used inhalation anaesthetics. Emissions of these compounds contribute
      to radiative forcing of climate change. To quantitatively assess the impact of
      the anaesthetics on the forcing of climate, detailed information on their
      properties of heat (infrared, IR) absorption and atmospheric lifetimes are
      required. METHODS: We have measured the IR spectra of these anaesthetics and
      conducted calculations of their contribution to radiative forcing of climate
      change recognizing the important fact that radiative forcing is strongly
      dependent on the wavelength of the absorption features. RESULTS: Radiative
      efficiencies of 0.453, 0.469, and 0.351 W m(-2) ppb(-1) and global warming
      potentials (GWPs) of 510, 1620, and 210 (100 yr time horizon) were established
      for isoflurane, desflurane, and sevoflurane, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: On the
      basis of the derived 100 yr GWPs, the average climate impact per anaesthetic
      procedure at the University of Michigan is the same as the emission of ~22 kg
      CO(2). We estimate that the global emissions of inhalation anaesthetics have a
      climate impact which is comparable with that from the CO(2) emissions from one
      coal-fired power plant or 1 million passenger cars.

PMID- 20935005
TI  - Sugammadex compared with neostigmine/glycopyrrolate for routine reversal of
      neuromuscular block: a systematic review and economic evaluation.
AB  - The cost-effectiveness of sugammadex for the routine reversal of muscle
      relaxation produced by rocuronium or vecuronium in UK practice is uncertain. We
      performed a systematic review of randomized controlled trials of sugammadex
      compared with neostigmine/glycopyrrolate and an economic assessment of sugammadex
      for the reversal of moderate or profound neuromuscular block (NMB) produced by
      rocuronium or vecuronium. The economic assessment aimed to establish the
      reduction in recovery time and the 'value of time saved' which would be necessary
      for sugammadex to be potentially cost-effective compared with existing practice.
      Three trials indicated that sugammadex 2 mg kg-1 (4 mg kg-1) produces more rapid
      recovery from moderate (profound) NMB than neostigmine/glycopyrrolate. The
      economic assessment indicated that if the reductions in recovery time associated
      with sugammadex in the trials are replicated in routine practice, sugammadex
      would be cost-effective if those reductions are achieved in the operating theatre
      (assumed value of staff time, L4.44 per minute), but not if they are achieved in
      the recovery room (assumed value of staff time, L0.33 per minute). However, there
      is considerable uncertainty in these results. Sugammadex has the potential to be
      cost-effective compared with neostigmine/glycopyrrolate for the reversal of
      rocuronium-induced moderate or profound NMB, provided that the time savings
      observed in trials can be achieved and put to productive use in clinical
      practice. Further research is required to evaluate the effects of sugammadex on
      patient safety, predictability of recovery from NMB, patient outcomes, and
      efficient use of resources.

PMID- 20935006
TI  - Accreditation and ISO certification: do they explain differences in quality
      management in European hospitals?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hospital accreditation and International Standardisation Organisation
      (ISO) certification offer alternative mechanisms for improving safety and
      quality, or as a mark of achievement. There is little published evidence on their
      relative merits. OBJECTIVE: To identify systematic differences in quality
      management between hospitals that were accredited, or certificated, or neither.
      Research design ANALYSIS: of compliance with measures of quality in 89 hospitals
      in six countries, as assessed by external auditors using a standardized tool, as
      part of the EC-funded METHODS: of Assessing Response to Quality Improvement
      Strategies project. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Compliance scores in six dimensions of
      each hospital-grouped according to the achievement of accreditation,
      certification or neither. RESULTS: Of the 89 hospitals selected for external
      audit, 34 were accredited (without ISO certification), 10 were certificated under
      ISO 9001 (without accreditation) and 27 had neither accreditation nor
      certification. Overall percentage scores for 229 criteria of quality and safety
      were 66.9, 60.0 and 51.2, respectively. Analysis confirmed statistically
      significant differences comparing mean scores by the type of external assessment
      (accreditation, certification or neither); however, it did not substantially
      differentiate between accreditation and certification only. Some of these
      associations with external assessments were confounded by the country in which
      the sample hospitals were located. CONCLUSIONS: It appears that quality and
      safety structures and procedures are more evident in hospitals with either the
      type of external assessment and suggest that some differences exist between
      accredited versus certified hospitals. Interpretation of these results, however,
      is limited by the sample size and confounded by variations in the application of
      accreditation and certification within and between countries.

PMID- 20935007
TI  - Patient's assessment of primary care of medical institutions in South Korea by
      structural type.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare patient's assessment of primary care of medical
      institutions by structural type. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: Primary
      care clinics where family physicians work in South Korea (nine private clinics,
      three health cooperative clinics, three public health center clinics and five
      teaching hospital clinics). We collected data by questionnaire survey from April
      2007 to June 2007. PARTICIPANTS: Study subjects were patients who had visited
      their primary care clinic on six or more occasions over a period of more than 6
      months as a usual source of care. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Scores in each domain of
      primary care, evaluated by the Korean Primary Care Assessment Tool. RESULTS: A
      total of 968 subjects were surveyed. The median of primary care average scores
      was the highest (78) in health cooperative clinics, the second in teaching
      hospitals clinics, the third in private clinics and the lowest (62) in public
      health center clinics. When compared with private clinics, the odds ratio for
      having a high primary care average score was 2.1 (95% confidence interval 1.3
      3.3) for health cooperative clinics, and 0.55 (95% confidence interval 0.34-0.88)
      for public health center clinics. CONCLUSION: Among medical institutions where
      family physicians work in South Korea, health cooperative clinics showed the
      highest primary care average score, and public health center clinics the lowest.
      To reinforce primary care in South Korea, where medical service delivery systems
      are only loosely established, health cooperative clinics could serve as an
      alternative.

PMID- 20935008
TI  - Self-reported familiarity with acute respiratory infection guidelines and
      antibiotic prescribing in primary care.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Familiarity with guidelines is generally thought to be associated with
      guideline implementation, adherence and improved quality of care. We sought to
      determine if self-reported familiarity with acute respiratory infection (ARI)
      antibiotic treatment guidelines was associated with reduced or more appropriate
      antibiotic prescribing for ARIs in primary care. DESIGN:  SETTING:  PARTICIPANTS:
      and MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: We surveyed primary care clinicians about their
      familiarity with ARI antibiotic treatment guidelines and linked responses to
      administrative diagnostic and prescribing data for non-pneumonia ARI visits.
      RESULTS: Sixty-five percent of clinicians responded to the survey question about
      guideline familiarity. There were 208 survey respondents who had ARI patient
      visits during the study period. Respondents reported being 'not at all' (7%),
      'somewhat' (30%), 'moderately' (45%) or 'extremely' (18%) familiar with the
      guidelines. After dichotomizing responses, compared with clinicians who reported
      being less familiar with the guidelines, clinicians who reported being more
      familiar with the guidelines had higher rates of antibiotic prescribing for all
      ARIs combined (46% versus 38%; n = 11 164; P < 0.0001), for antibiotic
      appropriate diagnoses (69% versus 59%; n = 3213; P < 0.0001) and for non
      antibiotic appropriate diagnoses (38% versus 28%; n = 7951; P < 0.0001). After
      adjusting for potential confounders, self-reported guideline familiarity was an
      independent predictor of increased antibiotic prescribing (odds ratio, 1.36; 95%
      confidence interval, 1.25-1.48). CONCLUSIONS: Self-reported familiarity with an
      ARI antibiotic treatment guideline was, seemingly paradoxically, associated with
      increased antibiotic prescribing. Self-reported familiarity with guidelines
      should not be assumed to be associated with consistent guideline adherence or
      higher quality of care.

PMID- 20935009
TI  - Impact of a standardized heart failure order set on mortality, readmission, and
      quality and costs of care.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the impact of a standardized heart failure order set on
      mortality, readmission, and quality and costs of care. DESIGN: Observational
      study. SETTING: Eight acute care hospitals and two specialty heart hospitals.
      PARTICIPANTS: All adults (>18 years) discharged from one of the included
      hospitals between December 2007 and March 2009 with a diagnosis of heart failure,
      who had not undergone heart transplant, did not have a left ventricular assistive
      device, and with a length of stay of 120 or less days. INTERVENTIONS: A
      standardized heart failure order set was developed internally, with content
      driven by the prevailing American College of Cardiology/American Heart
      Association clinical practice guidelines, and deployed systemwide via an intranet
      physician portal. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Publicly reported process of care
      measures, in-patient mortality, 30-day mortality, 30-day readmission, length of
      stay, and direct cost of care were compared for heart failure patients treated
      with and without the order set. RESULTS: Order set used reached 73.1% in March
      2009. After propensity score adjustment, order set use was associated with
      significantly increased core measures compliance [odds ratio (95% confidence
      interval) = 1.51(1.08; 2.12)] and reduced in-patient mortality [odds ratio (95%
      confidence interval) = 0.49(0.28; 0.88)]. Reductions in 30-day mortality and
      readmission approached significance. Direct cost for initial admissions alone and
      in combination with readmissions were significantly lower with order set use.
      CONCLUSIONS: Implementing an evidence-based standardized order set may help
      improve outcomes, reduce costs of care and increase adherence to evidence-based
      processes of care.

PMID- 20935010
TI  - The role of sanctions in Australia's residential aged care quality assurance
      system.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the role of sanctions as the highest level of enforcement in
      Australia's residential aged care quality assurance (QA) system. DESIGN: 
      ANALYSIS: of secondary data on accreditation activities and outcomes from 1999
      2000 to 2007-08, extracted from the Annual Report on the Aged Care Act 1997.
      SETTING: A total of 138 sanctioned homes among all aged care homes in Australia
      (n = 2830 in 2007-08). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Chi-square test of differences
      between sanctioned and non-sanctioned homes, and z scores to identify variables
      underlying differences. RESULTS: Sanctions are a rare event as more frequent
      enforcement actions at lower levels of regulatory action mean that a diminishing
      number of homes are subject to higher levels of action. Relationships between the
      risk of sanctions and characteristics of homes (state, size, sector and level of
      care) were evident. Sanctions provide only limited signals on quality to
      potential users and do not reflect the full scope of the QA process and the range
      of quality of care found. CONCLUSIONS: The effectiveness of sanctions in
      contributing to quality improvement has to be seen within the wider regulatory
      framework, which in turn has to be set in the context of other factors driving
      quality of care. Quality improvement in Australia and elsewhere will depend on
      further development of QA systems but will also require attention to wider
      contextual factors that contribute to quality outcomes, including quality of the
      aged care workforce.

PMID- 20935011
TI  - Burnout and perceived quality of care among German clinicians in surgery.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Burnout is highly prevalent among clinicians but there is not much
      known about the association between burnout and quality of care. In this paper,
      burnout, perceived quality of care and medical errors among German clinicians in
      surgery are explored. DESIGN: Data were collected during 2008 by a cross
      sectional, standardized mail survey. PARTICIPANTS: and SETTING: A total of 1311
      clinicians in surgery in 489 German hospitals. Measure(s) Burnout was measured by
      using the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI). The measurement of self-rated
      patient care was based on a 13 item instrument (Chirurgisches Qualitatssiegel)
      and two questions assessing the frequency of medical errors. RESULTS: About 48.7%
      of the clinicians meet the criteria for burnout according to the CBI. Moreover,
      in multivariate logistic regression analyses, burnout is significantly associated
      with perceived quality of care among male (odds ratios vary from 1.5 to 2.6) but
      not among female surgeons (odds ratios vary from 1.3 to 1.5). CONCLUSIONS: The
      high prevalence of burnout in our study corresponds with former studies of
      burnout among physicians. Furthermore, the results of the study suggest a
      relationship between burnout and perceived quality of care among men. Thus,
      reducing burnout among surgeons could not only improve their health and well
      being but also the quality of care.

PMID- 20935012
TI  - Significant correlation between ratio of brachial pre-ejection period to ejection
      time and left ventricular ejection fraction and mass index in patients with
      chronic kidney disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) are associated with
      increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. An increase in the ratio of pre
      ejection period (PEP) to ejection time (ET) is correlated with an increase in
      left ventricular mass index (LVMI) and a decrease in left ventricular ejection
      fraction (LVEF). Brachial PEP (bPEP) and brachial ET (bET) can be automatically
      determined by an ankle-brachial index (ABI)-form device. The aims of this study
      were to assess whether bPEP/bET is a useful parameter in evaluation of LVMI and
      LVEF in patients with CKD and to evaluate the diagnostic value of bPEP/bET in the
      prediction of LVEF < 50%. METHODS: We consecutively enrolled 234 CKD patients
      from our Outpatient Department of Internal Medicine. Both bPEP and bET were
      measured using an ABI-form device. Clinical and echocardiographic parameters were
      compared and analysed. RESULTS: Multivariate analysis results show that bPEP/bET,
      systolic blood pressure, and body mass index were positively while albumin was
      negatively associated with LVMI. In addition, increased bPEP/bET, coronary artery
      disease, decreased albumin, and increased triglyceride were independent factors
      associated with decreased LVEF. The area under the curve for bPEP/bET in the
      prediction of LVEF < 50% was 0.859. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings show that bPEP/bET
      is an important determinant of LVMI and LVEF in CKD patients. It is also helpful
      in identification of CKD patients with LVEF < 50%. Screening CKD patients by
      means of bPEP/bET may help identify a high risk group of increased LVMI and
      decreased LVEF.

PMID- 20935013
TI  - Microvascular disease and its role in the brain and cardiovascular system: a
      potential role for uric acid as a cardiorenal toxin.
AB  - Arteriolosclerosis (microvascular disease) may have a key role not only in
      driving salt-sensitive hypertension but also in mediating the development of
      chronic kidney disease, vascular dementia, stroke and coronary heart disease. In
      this paper, we review the evidence that these latter conditions result from the
      altered autoregulation that occurs when arterioles become diseased. We also
      discuss the increasing evidence that dietary intake of sugars rich in fructose
      may be driving the development of microvascular disease as a consequence of
      raising intracellular uric acid. We hypothesize that the treatment of
      microvascular disease may require a multifaceted approach by utilizing agents
      which aim at blocking of the renin-angiotensin system, reducing oxidative stress,
      stimulating endothelial nitric oxide production and lowering uric acid levels.
      Paradoxically, agents that only stimulate nitric oxide, such as oestrogens, may
      increase the risk of poor outcomes if microvascular disease is not reversed.

PMID- 20935014
TI  - Varicella-zoster virus meningoencephalitis without skin lesions in a paediatric
      kidney recipient.

PMID- 20935015
TI  - The safety and efficacy of a new anticoagulation strategy using selective in
      circuit blood cooling during haemofiltration--an experimental study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Selective in-circuit blood cooling was recently shown to be an
      effective anticoagulation strategy during short-term haemofiltration. The aim of
      this study was to examine the safety of this novel method and circuit life.
      METHODS: Fourteen pigs were randomly assigned to receive continuous
      haemofiltration with anticoagulation achieved either by selective cooling of an
      extracorporeal circuit (ECC) (COOL; n = 8) or through systemic heparinization
      (HEPARIN; n = 6). Before (T0) as well as 1 (TP1) and 6 h (TP6) after starting the
      procedure the following parameters were assessed: animal status, variables
      reflecting haemostasis, oxidative stress, inflammation and function of blood
      elements. RESULTS: All animals remained haemodynamically stable with unchanged
      body core temperature and routine biochemistry. Regional ECC blood cooling did
      not alter clinically relevant markers of haemostasis, namely activated partial
      thromboplastin and prothrombin times, thrombin-antithrombin complexes, von
      Willebrand factor and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1. Platelet aggregability,
      serum levels of free haemoglobin, leukocyte count, oxidative burst and blastic
      transformation of T-lymphocytes were all found to be stable over the treatment
      period in both groups. ECC blood cooling affected neither plasma malondialdehyde
      concentrations (a surrogate marker of oxidative stress) nor plasma levels of
      cytokines (tumour necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin-6 and -10). While the
      patency of all circuits treated with systemic heparin was well maintained within
      the pre-selected period of 24 h, the median filter lifespan in the COOL group was
      17 h. CONCLUSION: Utilizing clinically relevant markers, selective in-circuit
      blood cooling was demonstrated to be a safe and feasible means of achieving
      regional anticoagulation in healthy pigs. The long-term safety issues warrant
      further evaluation.

PMID- 20935016
TI  - Development of initial idiopathic nephrotic syndrome and post-transplantation
      recurrence: evidence of the same biological entity.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Buffalo/Mna rats spontaneously develop a nephrotic syndrome (NS). We
      have demonstrated that this rat nephropathy recurs after renal transplantation.
      We studied this recurrence by kinetic analysis of graft lesions, infiltrating
      cells and cytokines. METHODS: Kidneys from LEW.1 W rats were grafted into
      proteinuric Buff/Mna or healthy Wistar Furth recipients. Kidney samples were
      harvested before, during and after the occurrence of proteinuria and analysed for
      renal histology, cell populations and cytokine transcripts. Results were compared
      with the evolution of the initial disease studied previously. RESULTS: Both
      groups showed normal graft histology at Day 7 and an increasing podocyte swelling
      at Day 45 was seen only in the Buff/Mna recipients. At Day 80, glomerular atrophy
      with podocytosis and focal segmental glomerular sclerosis lesions, accompanied by
      tubular dilatation, appeared in the Buff/Mna group. At Day 122, the intensity of
      the tubular and glomerular lesions increased in Buff/Mna recipients but not in
      the control group. An analysis of desmin and Kim-1 (early markers of glomerular
      and tubular damage, respectively) transcripts expression showed that glomerular
      lesions precede tubular injury in this model. A monocyte infiltration associated
      with an increase in TNFalpha, IL1 and IL12 transcripts appeared before the
      recurrence. An early increase in Cbeta TCR transcripts with a predominant Th2
      profile was observed, highlighting a Th2 polarization in the Buff/Mna recurrence.
      CONCLUSIONS: The comparison of profiles of recurrence and initial disease
      highlighted the same mediators for both events. We propose that initial Buff/Mna
      idiopathic nephrotic syndrome (INS) and post-transplantation recurrence represent
      the same entity and a valuable tool for the study of recurring INS.

PMID- 20935017
TI  - Long-term blockade of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-2 aggravates
      the diabetic renal dysfunction associated with inactivation of the Akt/eNOS-NO
      axis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Diabetic nephropathy is characterized by abnormal angiogenesis, and
      this is driven by several factors, including hyperglycaemia and ischaemia. We
      investigated the role of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-2 (VEGFR-2)
      blockade and its effects on diabetic nephropathy. METHODS: Male db/db and db/m
      mice received long-term treatment with dRK6, an arginine-rich anti-VEGF
      hexapeptide, for 12 weeks or short-term treatment for only the first 4 weeks,
      starting from 8 weeks of age. RESULTS: The urinary albuminuria and VEGF excretion
      varied according to the duration of diabetes, and the urinary VEGF levels were
      strongly correlated with the levels of albuminuria. Diabetes increased the VEGFR
      2 expression in the kidneys. At the end of the 12-week study, compared with the
      db/db control mice, the db/db mice with long-term dRK6 treatment, which
      selectively inhibited VEGFR-2, had more albuminuria, related to weak nephrin
      signalling and advanced renal phenotypes, which were associated with hypoxia
      oxidative stress, and an increased number of apoptotic endothelial cells.
      Interestingly, these changes were related to a decrease in phospho-Akt/eNOS-NO
      bioavailability. On the in vitro study, dRK6 increased the number of apoptotic
      human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) in the high glucose media by
      blocking phospho-Akt/eNOS-NO signalling, and this was related to the increased
      oxidative stress. The short-term inhibition of VEGFR-2 neither improved the
      albuminuria nor the renal phenotype induced by diabetes. CONCLUSIONS: Long-term
      selective blockade of VEGFR-2 by dRK6 had deleterious renal effects, and this was
      associated with downregulation of the Akt/eNOS-NO axis in db/db mice. Short-term
      VEGFR-2 blockade did not improve the renal phenotypes and the albuminuria. These
      findings suggest that VEGF-A-VEGFR-2 inhibition, regardless of how long it may
      be, does not ameliorate diabetic nephropathy in type 2 diabetes.

PMID- 20935018
TI  - Renoprotective effect of erythropoietin against ischaemia-reperfusion injury in a
      non-human primate model.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The renoprotective effect of erythropoietin (Epo) against ischaemia
      reperfusion injury (IR/I) was evaluated in a non-human primate model. METHODS:
      Crab-eating macaques were divided into two groups: Control (n = 10), treated with
      saline, and EPO (n = 10), treated with Epo. Epo was injected intravenously at a
      dose of 12,000 units, 5 min before clamping the renal pedicle and 5 min before
      declamping. Renal IR/I was created by clamping the left renal artery for 90 min
      following right nephrectomy. Haemoglobin (Hb), haematocrit (Ht), creatinine (Cr),
      blood urea nitrogen (BUN), cystatin C and interleukin-6 (IL-6) were measured
      before (Pre) and after (Day 0) the operation, and on post-operative days: Day 1,
      Day 3, Day 5 and Day 7. Apoptotic cells were counted on Day 1. RESULTS: There
      were no differences in Hb and Ht between the two groups. Cr, BUN, cystatin C and
      IL-6 levels in the EPO group were lower than those in the Control group at most
      of the observation points. The number of apoptotic cells in the Control was
      significantly higher than that of and EPO group. CONCLUSIONS: Epo significantly
      ameliorates renal IR/I in this non-human primate model. Our findings justify the
      clinical application of Epo, not only for acute renal failure, but also in
      transplantation.

PMID- 20935019
TI  - Improving CKD-MBD management in haemodialysis patients: barrier analysis for
      implementing better practice.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although clinical guidelines exist for optimal levels of serum
      markers of chronic kidney disease mineral and bone disorder (CKD-MBD), target
      parameters are not achieved in many haemodialysis (HD) patients. The reason for
      this evidence-practice gap is unclear and more information from patients and
      healthcare professionals is required to improve knowledge transfer. We aimed to
      determine potential barriers by surveying HD patients and staff about awareness
      and management of CKD-MBD. METHODS: A total of 136 prevalent HD patients, 25
      nephrologists and 58 dialysis nurses/technicians were surveyed. Three separate
      questionnaires included issues of knowledge and awareness of CKD-MBD and factors
      limiting management (including compliance, medications and general
      understanding). RESULTS: Of patients surveyed, 84% had heard of phosphate, but
      42% were unsure of high phosphate foods and 46% unaware of consequences of
      elevated phosphate. Twenty-seven percent and thirty-five percent of patients,
      respectively, had difficulty taking or forgetting to take phosphate binders.
      Seventy-four percent of patients wanted to know more about CKD-MBD (40% via
      written material). Of nephrologists surveyed, 76% thought non-compliance with
      phosphate binders was the main reason for poor control of phosphate
      (predominantly related to poor patient understanding); 84% thought patients
      wanted to know more but only 28% provided written material on CKD-MBD. Of
      dialysis staff surveyed, 63% thought non-compliance with binders explained poor
      control, the main reason being lack of patient understanding; 88% thought
      patients wanted to know more but only 17% provided written education.
      CONCLUSIONS: Implementation of an intensive educational programme, with a multi
      faceted approach, for HD patients may promote better control of CKD-MBD and
      improve achievement of target levels.

PMID- 20935020
TI  - Gender indexing in publications of clinical trials: 1991-2008.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In 1993 Congress passed the NIH Revitalization Act, which instructed
      the Director of the NIH to ensure that phase III clinical trials are 'designed
      and carried out in a manner sufficient to provide for a valid analysis of whether
      the variables being studied in the trial affect females or members of minority
      groups, as the case may be, differently than other subjects in the trial.'
      PURPOSE: The purpose of this article is to track the PubMed indexing of gender in
      clinical trial publications since 1991 with a view toward assessing the impact of
      the legislation on the number of gender specific trials. METHODS: We searched
      PubMed for full-length publications from years 1991 to 2008 of research on humans
      indexed as publication type 'clinical trial', 'randomized clinical trial' and
      multicenter randomized trial ('multicenter study' AND 'randomized clinical
      trial'), and counted the number of trials indexed as male-only, female-only, male
      and female, and gender unknown in PubMed. RESULTS: The majority of trial
      publications were indexed in PubMed as including both genders. The proportion of
      publications indexed as including both genders has increased while the number of
      publications not indexed with respect to gender and the number of publications
      indexed as male-only have decreased. In 2005, approximately 13% of NIH
      expenditures were for female specific or related research compared to 6% for male
      specific or related research. LIMITATIONS: The proportion of clinical trial
      publications that were indexed in PubMed as including females began to increase
      before the legislation so it is difficult to conclude that changes in the number
      of female-only or male-only trials are due to the legislation. PubMed listings do
      not include gender enrollment, so female and male enrollment totals could not be
      compared. CONCLUSIONS: The NIH policy should be rewritten to be made gender
      neutral to bring it in line with the principle of justice as embodied in the
      Belmont Report.

PMID- 20935021
TI  - A modified toxicity probability interval method for dose-finding trials.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Building on earlier work, the toxicity probability interval (TPI)
      method, we present a modified TPI (mTPI) design that is calibration-free for
      phase I trials. PURPOSE: Our goal is to improve the trial conduct and provide
      more effective designs while maintaining the simplicity of the original TPI
      design. METHODS: Like the TPI method, the mTPI consists of a practical dose
      finding scheme guided by the posterior inference for a simple Bayesian model.
      However, the new method proposes improved dose-finding decision rules based on a
      new statistic, the unit probability mass (UPM). For a given interval and a
      probability distribution, the UPM is defined as the ratio of the probability mass
      of the interval to the length of the interval. RESULTS: The improvement through
      the use of the UPM for dose finding is threefold: (1) the mTPI method appears to
      be safer than the TPI method in that it puts fewer patients on toxic doses; (2)
      the mTPI method eliminates the need for calibrating two key parameters, which is
      required in the TPI method and is a known difficult issue; and (3) the mTPI
      method corresponds to the Bayes rule under a decision theoretic framework and
      possesses additional desirable large- and small-sample properties. LIMITATION:
      The proposed method is applicable to dose-finding trials with a binary toxicity
      endpoint. CONCLUSION: The new method mTPI is essentially calibration free and
      exhibits improved performance over the TPI method. These features make the mTPI a
      desirable choice for the design of practical trials.

PMID- 20935022
TI  - Functional restoration after early tendon transfer in high radial nerve
      paralysis.
AB  - We assessed the effect of an early transfer of pronator teres to extensor carpi
      radialis brevis on hand function in patients with high radial nerve paralysis.
      Power grip and precision grip were measured preoperatively and postoperatively
      using a dynamometer. Fifteen patients were operated on, of which ten could be
      assessed at the end of 6 months. At 6 months after surgery, there was a median
      increase of 48% in power grip, 162% in tip pinch, 90% in key pinch and 98% in
      palmar pinch. Decreased palmar flexion was seen in four patients. Fraying of the
      periosteal extension and rupture of sutures at the junction site were each seen
      in one patient, leading to unsatisfactory results. Early tendon transfer quickly
      restored efficient grip while awaiting reinnervation of wrist extensors, avoiding
      the need for prolonged external splintage.

PMID- 20935023
TI  - The relation of patient satisfaction and functional and cosmetic outcome after
      correction of the wrist flexion deformity in cerebral palsy.
AB  - Wrist flexion deformity in cerebral palsy is treated with flexor carpi ulnaris to
      extensor carpi radialis brevis transfer. The aim of the study was to assess the
      outcome of this procedure and analyse the determining factors for patient
      satisfaction. Fifteen patients were reviewed after a mean follow-up of 23 months.
      The functional and cosmetic outcome and patient satisfaction were evaluated using
      patient rated scales. There was a strong and significant correlation between the
      cosmetic outcome and patient satisfaction, but there was no significant
      correlation between functional improvement and patient satisfaction. When
      analysing the cosmetic outcome in relation to the time since surgery, there was a
      decrease in the patient rated improvement over time. It seems that patient
      satisfaction is mainly determined by the cosmetic result, but the improvement, or
      the perception of it, tends to diminish over time. Fourteen out of 15 patients
      felt that the procedure was worthwhile and eight of them felt that the result was
      good or excellent.

PMID- 20935024
TI  - Psychostimulant treatment of combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder.
AB  - The objective of this paper is to describe three cases of combat-related
      posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), largely refractory to standard medication
      treatment who responded well to psychostimulant treatment. Symptoms of PTSD
      potentially result from chronic, stress-induced dopaminergic dysfunction in the
      prefrontal cortex/basal ganglia system. Psychostimulants, by their relative
      propensity to enhance dopamine (DA) activity within these brain regions, may have
      particular value in targeting this dysfunction. Evidence of dopaminergic
      dysfunction following chronic stress is reviewed and possible mechanism of action
      of psychostimulants is explored. Psychostimulants appeared to be well tolerated
      and beneficial in the treatment of the cases of combat-related PTSD reported.
      General applicability of the use of psychostimulants in combat- and non-combat
      related PTSD awaits further study. The potential implications of these findings
      in further delineating pathophysiology and treatment in PTSD deserve further
      exploration.

PMID- 20935025
TI  - The new Waste Law: Challenging opportunity for future landfill operation in
      Indonesia.
AB  - The Waste Law No. 18/2008 Article 22 and 44 require the local governments to run
      environmentally sound landfill. Due to the widespread poor quality of waste
      management in Indonesia, this study aimed to identify the current situation by
      evaluating three selected landfills based on the ideal conditions of landfill
      practices, which are used to appraise the capability of local governments to
      adapt to the law. The results indicated that the local governments have problems
      of insufficient budget, inadequate equipment, uncollected waste and unplanned
      future landfill locations. All of the selected landfills were partially
      controlled landfills with open dumping practices predominating. In such inferior
      conditions the implementation of sanitary landfill is not necessarily
      appropriate. The controlled landfill is a more appropriate solution as it offers
      lower investment and operational costs, makes the selection of a new landfill
      site unnecessary and can operate with a minimum standard of infrastructure and
      equipment. The sustainability of future landfill capacity can be maintained by
      utilizing the old landfill as a profit-oriented landfill by implementing a
      landfill gas management or a clean development mechanism project. A collection
      fee system using the pay-as-you-throw principle could increase the waste income
      thereby financing municipal solid waste management.

PMID- 20935026
TI  - Capacity planning for electronic waste management facilities under uncertainty:
      multi-objective multi-time-step model development.
AB  - Selection of optimum locations for locating new facilities and decision regarding
      capacities at the proposed facilities is a major concern for municipal
      authorities/managers. The decision as to whether a single facility is preferred
      over multiple facilities of smaller capacities would vary with varying priorities
      to cost and associated risks such as environmental or health risk or risk
      perceived by the society. Currently management of waste streams such as that of
      computer waste is being done using rudimentary practices and is flourishing as an
      unorganized sector, mainly as backyard workshops in many cities of developing
      nations such as India. Uncertainty in the quantification of computer waste
      generation is another major concern due to the informal setup of present computer
      waste management scenario. Hence, there is a need to simultaneously address
      uncertainty in waste generation quantities while analyzing the tradeoffs between
      cost and associated risks. The present study aimed to address the above-mentioned
      issues in a multi-time-step, multi-objective decision-support model, which can
      address multiple objectives of cost, environmental risk, socially perceived risk
      and health risk, while selecting the optimum configuration of existing and
      proposed facilities (location and capacities).

PMID- 20935027
TI  - Antidepressants for the treatment of depression in palliative care: systematic
      review and meta-analysis.
AB  - Depression can exacerbate symptoms associated with life-threatening illness and
      increase disability and distress. In palliative care, depression occurs in a
      context of multiple symptoms, which complicates detection and treatment. While
      systematic reviews of antidepressants have been conducted in specific life
      threatening diseases, no previous study has synthesized the evidence in
      palliative care. The objective of this study was to determine the efficacy of
      antidepressants for the treatment of depression in palliative care. MEDLINE,
      EMBASE, PSYCINFO and Cochrane trials registers were systematically searched to
      identify randomized controlled trials comparing antidepressants and placebo for
      the treatment of depression in palliative care. The primary outcome was efficacy
      assessed at three time-points. Twenty-five studies were included in the review.
      At each time-point antidepressants were more efficacious than placebo: 4-5 weeks
      odds ratio (OR) 1.93 (1.15-3.42) p = 0.001; 6-8 weeks OR 2.25 (1.38-3.67) p =
      0.001; 9-18 weeks OR 2.71 (1.50-4.91) p = 0.001. This review provides evidence
      that antidepressants are effective in treating depression in palliative care.
      Their superiority over placebo is apparent within 4-5 weeks and increases with
      continued use. It is probable that the effect sizes yielded in this review
      overestimate the efficacy of antidepressants due to biases such as selective
      reporting and publication. Nevertheless, the magnitude and consistency of the
      effect suggests genuine benefit.

PMID- 20935028
TI  - Increasing incidence of multiple sclerosis in women in Northern Finland.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The geographical distribution of multiple sclerosis (MS) means that
      prevalence rates increase with latitude north or south of the equator.
      Temporally, a tendency for increased incidences of MS has been observed over the
      past two decades. OBJECTIVES: Since epidemiological studies of MS in areas close
      to the Arctic Circle are rare, we evaluated the incidence and prevalence of MS in
      Northern Ostrobothnia by means of a retrospective cohort study covering the
      period 1992-2007. METHODS: Patients with a definite clinical diagnosis of MS
      based on the Poser criteria and the early McDonald criteria of 2001 were
      identified in the region of Northern Ostrobothnia (population 386,972) and the
      incidence was calculated at 1-year time intervals, both overall and by gender.
      RESULTS: The overall prevalence was 103/100,000 (95% CI, 93-113), with a
      female/male ratio of 2.17. The mean overall incidence was 6.3/100,000 (95% CI,
      5.2-7.2). The incidence shows a tendency to increase over the 16-year period due
      to a pronounced rise in the female incidence. CONCLUSIONS: Our results show a
      high prevalence of MS in Northern Ostrobothnia and a disproportional increase in
      the female MS incidence. These recent epidemiological features may be associated
      with environmental risk factors such as a vitamin D deficit, low life-long UV
      radiation and the high-latitude geographical location.

PMID- 20935029
TI  - Preferential increase of B-cell activating factor in the cerebrospinal fluid of
      neuromyelitis optica in a white population.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Anti-aquaporin-4 antibodies are believed to have a central
      pathogenetic role in neuromyelitis optica (NMO). B-cell activating factor (BAFF)
      is one of the crucial factors that determines the fate and survival of B cells
      and may play a role in induction of antibody-mediated autoimmunity. OBJECTIVES:
      To evaluate the blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) levels of BAFF in NMO and
      multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. METHODS: Peripheral blood samples were
      collected from 21 definite NMO patients, 22 healthy controls and 45 MS patients
      and CSF from 8 NMO and 11 MS patients. BAFF levels were measured using an ELISA
      technique. RESULTS: We found significantly higher levels of BAFF in the CSF of
      NMO patients compared with that in MS (215.6 +/- 41 pg/ml in NMO and 77.4 +/- 11
      pg/ml in MS, p < 0.001). There were no differences in serum BAFF levels between
      NMO, MS and healthy donors. MS patients treated with interferon-beta (IFNbeta) or
      glatiramer acetate (GA) had significantly higher serum BAFF levels, as compared
      with untreated patients (1227 +/- 203 pg/ml in untreated MS, 2253 +/- 83.4 pg/ml
      in GA-treated, p < 0.01, and 2106 +/- 277.9 pg/ml in interferon-treated, p <
      0.05) CONCLUSION: The presence of increased BAFF, a soluble factor associated
      with B-cell activation in the proximity of the disease target organ (CSF) in NMO,
      and its increase in association with immunomodulating treatments, may help our
      understanding of the immunopathogenetic mechanisms involved in this disease and
      contribute to more successful and targeted therapeutic intervention.

PMID- 20935030
TI  - Interferon-beta is a key regulator of proinflammatory events in experimental
      autoimmune encephalomyelitis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Interferon (IFN)-beta is an effective therapy for relapsing-remitting
      multiple sclerosis, yet its mechanism of action remains ill-defined. OBJECTIVES:
      Our objective was to characterize the role of IFN-beta in immune regulation in
      experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). METHODS: IFN-beta(+/+) and IFN
      beta(-/-) mice were immunized with myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein peptide in
      the presence or absence of IFN-beta, to induce EAE. Disease pathogenesis was
      monitored in the context of incidence, time of onset, clinical score, and immune
      cell activation in the brains, spleens and lymph nodes of affected mice. RESULTS:
      Compared with IFN-beta(+/+) mice, IFN-beta(-/-) mice exhibited an earlier onset
      and a more rapid progression of EAE, increased numbers of CD11b(+) leukocytes
      infiltrating affected brains and an increased percentage of Th17 cells in the
      central nervous system and draining lymph nodes. IFN-beta treatment delayed
      disease onset and reduced disease severity. Ex vivo experiments revealed that the
      lack of IFN-beta results in enhanced generation of autoreactive T cells, a likely
      consequence of the absence of IFN-beta-regulated events in both the CD4(+) T
      cells and antigen-presenting dendritic cells. Gene expression analysis of IFN
      beta-treated bone marrow macrophages (CD11b(+)) identified modulation of genes
      affecting T cell proliferation and Th17 differentiation. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude
      that IFN-beta acts to suppress the generation of autoimmune-inducing Th17 cells
      during the development of disease as well as modulating pro-inflammatory
      mediators.

PMID- 20935031
TI  - The effect of sevoflurane and desflurane on markers of oxidative status in
      erythrocyte.
AB  - The aim of our study was to evaluate the markers of oxidative status of
      erythrocyte during general anesthesia and compare the markers of oxidative status
      of erythrocyte in both sevoflurane and desflurane. Venous blood samples of
      patients were collected the following time intervals; initial time (IT) and first
      hour (1st h), first (1st day) and third days (3rd day) after anesthesia
      (sevoflurane and Desflurane). The levels of magnesium (Mg), zinc (Zn) as a
      cofactor of these enzymes, malondialdehyde (MDA) and the activities of
      glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) enzymes were also
      determined. No significant changes were observed in these measurements when the
      patients were exposed to desflurane anesthesia. On the other hand, the levels of
      Zn on erythrocytes were significantly increased at 1st hour and 1st and 3rd days
      compared to initial time in sevoflurane group (p < 0.01, p < 0.01, and p < 0.05,
      respectively). The activity of GSH-Px was significantly increased (p = 0.05)
      while the activity of SOD was significantly decreased (p < 0.01) at 1st hour
      after administration of sevoflurane compared to the initial time. There were no
      changes on the levels of Mg and MDA. Our results showed that sevoflurane has more
      impacts on the antioxidant status of erythrocytes than desflurane.

PMID- 20935032
TI  - DIRECT study: a commentary.

PMID- 20935033
TI  - Management of community-acquired pneumonia: a review and update.
AB  - Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality
      worldwide, affecting approximately 5.6 million patients annually in the USA,
      where the annual cost exceeds US$12 billion. Optimal management should be based
      on knowledge of the most likely etiologic pathogens for each patient, based on an
      assessment of specific risk factors. It is also essential to assess severity of
      illness, to determine the appropriate site of care, and to order appropriate
      diagnostic testing. New developments in CAP management have focused on
      recognizing newly identified pathogens, such as methicillin-resistant
      Staphylococcus aureus and novel H1N1 influenza, understanding when to utilize new
      microbiological diagnostic techniques, and how to use biomarkers to direct the
      appropriate utilization of antibiotics and to define the duration of therapy.
      This paper reviews recent advances in our knowledge about the diagnosis and
      optimal management of CAP.

PMID- 20935034
TI  - Response to: Gregson S, Gonese E, Hallett TB et al. HIV decline in Zimbabwe due
      to reductions in risky sex? Evidence from a comprehensive epidemiological review.

PMID- 20935035
TI  - Brain beta-amyloid measures and magnetic resonance imaging atrophy both predict
      time-to-progression from mild cognitive impairment to Alzheimer's disease.
AB  - Biomarkers of brain Abeta amyloid deposition can be measured either by
      cerebrospinal fluid Abeta42 or Pittsburgh compound B positron emission tomography
      imaging. Our objective was to evaluate the ability of Abeta load and
      neurodegenerative atrophy on magnetic resonance imaging to predict shorter time
      to-progression from mild cognitive impairment to Alzheimer's dementia and to
      characterize the effect of these biomarkers on the risk of progression as they
      become increasingly abnormal. A total of 218 subjects with mild cognitive
      impairment were identified from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative.
      The primary outcome was time-to-progression to Alzheimer's dementia. Hippocampal
      volumes were measured and adjusted for intracranial volume. We used a new method
      of pooling cerebrospinal fluid Abeta42 and Pittsburgh compound B positron
      emission tomography measures to produce equivalent measures of brain Abeta load
      from either source and analysed the results using multiple imputation methods. We
      performed our analyses in two phases. First, we grouped our subjects into those
      who were 'amyloid positive' (n = 165, with the assumption that Alzheimer's
      pathology is dominant in this group) and those who were 'amyloid negative' (n =
      53). In the second phase, we included all 218 subjects with mild cognitive
      impairment to evaluate the biomarkers in a sample that we assumed to contain a
      full spectrum of expected pathologies. In a Kaplan-Meier analysis, amyloid
      positive subjects with mild cognitive impairment were much more likely to
      progress to dementia within 2 years than amyloid negative subjects with mild
      cognitive impairment (50 versus 19%). Among amyloid positive subjects with mild
      cognitive impairment only, hippocampal atrophy predicted shorter time-to
      progression (P < 0.001) while Abeta load did not (P = 0.44). In contrast, when
      all 218 subjects with mild cognitive impairment were combined (amyloid positive
      and negative), hippocampal atrophy and Abeta load predicted shorter time-to
      progression with comparable power (hazard ratio for an inter-quartile difference
      of 2.6 for both); however, the risk profile was linear throughout the range of
      hippocampal atrophy values but reached a ceiling at higher values of brain Abeta
      load. Our results are consistent with a model of Alzheimer's disease in which
      Abeta deposition initiates the pathological cascade but is not the direct cause
      of cognitive impairment as evidenced by the fact that Abeta load severity is
      decoupled from risk of progression at high levels. In contrast, hippocampal
      atrophy indicates how far along the neurodegenerative path one is, and hence how
      close to progressing to dementia. Possible explanations for our finding that many
      subjects with mild cognitive impairment have intermediate levels of Abeta load
      include: (i) individual subjects may reach an Abeta load plateau at varying
      absolute levels; (ii) some subjects may be more biologically susceptible to Abeta
      than others; and (iii) subjects with mild cognitive impairment with intermediate
      levels of Abeta may represent individuals with Alzheimer's disease co-existent
      with other pathologies.

PMID- 20935037
TI  - FDA calls for reforms to bridge the gap between bench and bedside.

PMID- 20935038
TI  - Demand for crack and cocaine addiction treatment drops.

PMID- 20935039
TI  - Why don't scientists have the same visa exemptions as footballers, ask Nobel
      winners.

PMID- 20935041
TI  - GPs face delays in getting flu vaccine.

PMID- 20935042
TI  - Relation between prognosis and expression of metastasis-associated protein 1 in
      stage I non-small cell lung cancer.
AB  - Metastasis-associated protein 1 (MTA1 protein) has been reported to be correlated
      with the biological behavior and prognosis of several malignant carcinomas. We
      hypothesized that stage I non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with MTA1
      protein overexpression would be more likely to have a poor prognosis. Therefore,
      we tested the expression of MTA1 protein in 60 stage I NSCLC and 30 paracarcinous
      normal lung tissues using the streptavidin-perosidase method. The Kaplan-Meier
      method was used to calculate the survival rate, and Cox regression analysis was
      performed to identify prognostic risk factors. MTA1 protein overexpression was
      detected in 22 stage I NSCLC tissues in this study. Tumor differentiation and
      tumor diameter were significantly associated with MTA1 protein overexpression,
      while not correlated with age, sex, pathological type or smoking status. The five
      year survival rate of patients with MTA1 protein overexpression was significantly
      lower than that of those without expression (40.9% vs. 84.1%; P<0.001). The
      results of multivariate analysis confirmed that MTA1 protein overexpression was
      an independent prognostic factor (risk ratio=5.23, P=0.007). These findings
      demonstrated MTA1 might be a prognostic factor in NSCLC.

PMID- 20935036
TI  - Adolescent's physical activity levels and relatives' physical activity engagement
      and encouragement: the HELENA study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of this article is to examine the association between
      adolescents' physical activity (PA) levels and their relatives' (father, mother,
      brothers, sisters and best friend) PA engagement and encouragement. METHODS:
      Adolescents (52.3% girls) aged 12.5-17.5 years were gathered from the HELENA
      study. Adolescents' PA levels were assessed by the International Physical
      Activity Questionnaire for Adolescents (valid data on 3007 participants) and
      accelerometry (valid data on 2200 participants). Relatives' engagement and
      encouragement were reported by the adolescents and encoded into three categories
      (low, middle and high). RESULTS: Analysis of covariance showed that relatives' PA
      encouragement was more strongly associated with adolescents' PA levels than
      relatives' PA engagement. Pairwise comparisons indicated that the higher the
      encouragement level (from most relatives) the higher the adolescent's PA levels.
      This finding was overall consistent when using self-report or objective methods
      for assessing adolescents' PA levels, yet the associations were stronger when
      using self-report methods. CONCLUSIONS: These findings highlight the important
      role of social encouragement on adolescents' PA levels. Community interventions
      aiming to enhance PA levels in the adolescent population might be more successful
      when family and peers are also targeted.

PMID- 20935043
TI  - The core-independent promoter-specific interaction of primary sigma factor.
AB  - Previous studies have led to a model in which the promoter-specific recognition
      of prokaryotic transcription initiation factor, sigma (sigma), is core dependent.
      Most sigma functions were studied on the basis of this tenet. Here, we provide in
      vitro evidence demonstrating that the intact Bacillus subtilis primary sigma,
      sigma(A), by itself, is able to interact specifically with promoter
      deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), albeit with low sequence selectivity. The core
      independent promoter-specific interaction of the sigma(A) is -10 specific.
      However, the promoter -10 specific interaction is unable to allow the sigma(A) to
      discern the optimal promoter spacing. To fulfill this goal, the sigma(A) requires
      assistance from core RNA polymerase (RNAP). The ability of sigma, by itself, to
      interact specifically with promoter might introduce a critical new dimension of
      study in prokaryotic sigma function.

PMID- 20935044
TI  - ChemProt: a disease chemical biology database.
AB  - Systems pharmacology is an emergent area that studies drug action across multiple
      scales of complexity, from molecular and cellular to tissue and organism levels.
      There is a critical need to develop network-based approaches to integrate the
      growing body of chemical biology knowledge with network biology. Here, we report
      ChemProt, a disease chemical biology database, which is based on a compilation of
      multiple chemical-protein annotation resources, as well as disease-associated
      protein-protein interactions (PPIs). We assembled more than 700,000 unique
      chemicals with biological annotation for 30,578 proteins. We gathered over 2
      million chemical-protein interactions, which were integrated in a quality scored
      human PPI network of 428,429 interactions. The PPI network layer allows for
      studying disease and tissue specificity through each protein complex. ChemProt
      can assist in the in silico evaluation of environmental chemicals, natural
      products and approved drugs, as well as the selection of new compounds based on
      their activity profile against most known biological targets, including those
      related to adverse drug events. Results from the disease chemical biology
      database associate citalopram, an antidepressant, with osteogenesis imperfect and
      leukemia and bisphenol A, an endocrine disruptor, with certain types of cancer,
      respectively. The server can be accessed at
      http://www.cbs.dtu.dk/services/ChemProt/.

PMID- 20935045
TI  - The Protein Ontology: a structured representation of protein forms and complexes.
AB  - The Protein Ontology (PRO) provides a formal, logically-based classification of
      specific protein classes including structured representations of protein
      isoforms, variants and modified forms. Initially focused on proteins found in
      human, mouse and Escherichia coli, PRO now includes representations of protein
      complexes. The PRO Consortium works in concert with the developers of other
      biomedical ontologies and protein knowledge bases to provide the ability to
      formally organize and integrate representations of precise protein forms so as to
      enhance accessibility to results of protein research. PRO
      (http://pir.georgetown.edu/pro) is part of the Open Biomedical Ontology Foundry.

PMID- 20935046
TI  - The catfish genome database cBARBEL: an informatic platform for genome biology of
      ictalurid catfish.
AB  - The catfish genome database, cBARBEL (abbreviated from catfish Breeder And
      Researcher Bioinformatics Entry Location) is an online open-access database for
      genome biology of ictalurid catfish (Ictalurus spp.). It serves as a
      comprehensive, integrative platform for all aspects of catfish genetics, genomics
      and related data resources. cBARBEL provides BLAST-based, fuzzy and specific
      search functions, visualization of catfish linkage, physical and integrated maps,
      a catfish EST contig viewer with SNP information overlay, and GBrowse-based
      organization of catfish genomic data based on sequence similarity with zebrafish
      chromosomes. Subsections of the database are tightly related, allowing a user
      with a sequence or search string of interest to navigate seamlessly from one area
      to another. As catfish genome sequencing proceeds and ongoing quantitative trait
      loci (QTL) projects bear fruit, cBARBEL will allow rapid data integration and
      dissemination within the catfish research community and to interested
      stakeholders. cBARBEL can be accessed at http://catfishgenome.org.

PMID- 20935047
TI  - Cleavage of model substrates by archaeal RNase P: role of protein cofactors in
      cleavage-site selection.
AB  - RNase P is a catalytic ribonucleoprotein primarily involved in tRNA biogenesis.
      Archaeal RNase P comprises a catalytic RNase P RNA (RPR) and at least four
      protein cofactors (RPPs), which function as two binary complexes (POP5*RPP30 and
      RPP21* RPP29). Exploiting the ability to assemble a functional Pyrococcus
      furiosus (Pfu) RNase P in vitro, we examined the role of RPPs in influencing
      substrate recognition by the RPR. We first demonstrate that Pfu RPR, like its
      bacterial and eukaryal counterparts, cleaves model hairpin loop substrates albeit
      at rates 90- to 200-fold lower when compared with cleavage by bacterial RPR,
      highlighting the functionally comparable catalytic cores in bacterial and
      archaeal RPRs. By investigating cleavage-site selection exhibited by Pfu RPR (+/
      RPPs) with various model substrates missing consensus-recognition elements, we
      determined substrate features whose recognition is facilitated by either
      POP5*RPP30 or RPP21*RPP29 (directly or indirectly via the RPR). Our results also
      revealed that Pfu RPR + RPP21*RPP29 displays substrate-recognition properties
      coinciding with those of the bacterial RPR-alone reaction rather than the Pfu
      RPR, and that this behaviour is attributable to structural differences in the
      substrate-specificity domains of bacterial and archaeal RPRs. Moreover, our data
      reveal a hierarchy in recognition elements that dictates cleavage-site selection
      by archaeal RNase P.

PMID- 20935048
TI  - Hpy188I-DNA pre- and post-cleavage complexes--snapshots of the GIY-YIG nuclease
      mediated catalysis.
AB  - The GIY-YIG nuclease domain is present in all kingdoms of life and has diverse
      functions. It is found in the eukaryotic flap endonuclease and Holliday junction
      resolvase Slx1-Slx4, the prokaryotic nucleotide excision repair proteins UvrC and
      Cho, and in proteins of 'selfish' genetic elements. Here we present the
      structures of the ternary pre- and post-cleavage complexes of the type II GIY-YIG
      restriction endonuclease Hpy188I with DNA and a surrogate or catalytic metal ion,
      respectively. Our structures suggest that GIY-YIG nucleases catalyze DNA
      hydrolysis by a single substitution reaction. They are consistent with a previous
      proposal that a tyrosine residue (which we expect to occur in its phenolate form)
      acts as a general base for the attacking water molecule. In contrast to the
      earlier proposal, our data identify the general base with the GIY and not the YIG
      tyrosine. A conserved glutamate residue (Glu149 provided in trans in Hpy188I)
      anchors a single metal cation in the active site. This metal ion contacts the
      phosphate proS oxygen atom and the leaving group 3'-oxygen atom, presumably to
      facilitate its departure. Taken together, our data reveal striking analogy in the
      absence of homology between GIY-YIG and betabetaalpha-Me nucleases.

PMID- 20935049
TI  - The Sol Genomics Network (solgenomics.net): growing tomatoes using Perl.
AB  - The Sol Genomics Network (SGN; http://solgenomics.net/) is a clade-oriented
      database (COD) containing biological data for species in the Solanaceae and their
      close relatives, with data types ranging from chromosomes and genes to phenotypes
      and accessions. SGN hosts several genome maps and sequences, including a pre
      release of the tomato (Solanum lycopersicum cv Heinz 1706) reference genome. A
      new transcriptome component has been added to store RNA-seq and microarray data.
      SGN is also an open source software project, continuously developing and
      improving a complex system for storing, integrating and analyzing data. All code
      and development work is publicly visible on GitHub (http://github.com). The
      database architecture combines SGN-specific schemas and the community-developed
      Chado schema (http://gmod.org/wiki/Chado) for compatibility with other genome
      databases. The SGN curation model is community-driven, allowing researchers to
      add and edit information using simple web tools. Currently, over a hundred
      community annotators help curate the database. SGN can be accessed at
      http://solgenomics.net/.

PMID- 20935050
TI  - Systematically fragmented genes in a multipartite mitochondrial genome.
AB  - Arguably, the most bizarre mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is that of the euglenozoan
      eukaryote Diplonema papillatum. The genome consists of numerous small circular
      chromosomes none of which appears to encode a complete gene. For instance, the
      cox1 coding sequence is spread out over nine different chromosomes in non
      overlapping pieces (modules), which are transcribed separately and joined to a
      contiguous mRNA by trans-splicing. Here, we examine how many genes are encoded by
      Diplonema mtDNA and whether all are fragmented and their transcripts trans
      spliced. Module identification is challenging due to the sequence divergence of
      Diplonema mitochondrial genes. By employing most sensitive protein profile search
      algorithms and comparing genomic with cDNA sequence, we recognize a total of 11
      typical mitochondrial genes. The 10 protein-coding genes are systematically
      chopped up into three to 12 modules of 60-350 bp length. The corresponding mRNAs
      are all trans-spliced. Identification of ribosomal RNAs is most difficult. So
      far, we only detect the 3'-module of the large subunit ribosomal RNA (rRNA); it
      does not trans-splice with other pieces. The small subunit rRNA gene remains
      elusive. Our results open new intriguing questions about the biochemistry and
      evolution of mitochondrial trans-splicing in Diplonema.

PMID- 20935051
TI  - End-processing during non-homologous end-joining: a role for exonuclease 1.
AB  - Non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ) is a critical error-prone pathway of double
      strand break repair. We recently showed that tyrosyl DNA phosphodiesterase 1
      (Tdp1) regulates the accuracy of NHEJ repair junction formation in yeast. We
      assessed the role of other enzymes in the accuracy of junction formation using a
      plasmid repair assay. We found that exonuclease 1 (Exo1) is important in assuring
      accurate junction formation during NHEJ. Like tdp1Delta mutants, exo1Delta yeast
      cells repairing plasmids with 5'-extensions can produce repair junctions with
      templated insertions. We also found that exo1Delta mutants have a reduced median
      size of deletions when joining DNA with blunt ends. Surprisingly, exo1Delta
      pol4Delta mutants repair blunt ends with a very low frequency of deletions. This
      result suggests that there are multiple pathways that process blunt ends prior to
      end-joining. We propose that Exo1 acts at a late stage in end-processing during
      NHEJ. Exo1 can reverse nucleotide additions occurring due to polymerization, and
      may also be important for processing ends to expose microhomologies needed for
      NHEJ. We propose that accurate joining is controlled at two steps, a first step
      that blocks modification of DNA ends, which requires Tdp1, and a second step that
      occurs after synapsis that requires Exo1.

PMID- 20935052
TI  - Strict control of transgene expression in a mouse model for sensitive biological
      applications based on RMCE compatible ES cells.
AB  - Recombinant mouse strains that harbor tightly controlled transgene expression
      proved to be indispensible tools to elucidate gene function. Different strategies
      have been employed to achieve controlled induction of the transgene. However,
      many models are accompanied by a considerable level of basal expression in the
      non-induced state. Thereby, applications that request tight control of transgene
      expression, such as the expression of toxic genes and the investigation of immune
      response to neo antigens are excluded. We developed a new Cre/loxP-based strategy
      to achieve strict control of transgene expression. This strategy was combined
      with RMCE (recombinase mediated cassette exchange) that facilitates the targeting
      of genes into a tagged site in ES cells. The tightness of regulation was
      confirmed using luciferase as a reporter. The transgene was induced upon breeding
      these mice to effector animals harboring either the ubiquitous (ROSA26) or liver
      specific (Albumin) expression of CreER(T2), and subsequent feeding with
      Tamoxifen. Making use of RMCE, luciferase was replaced by Ovalbumin antigen. Mice
      generated from these ES cells were mated with mice expressing liver-specific
      CreER(T2). The transgenic mice were examined for the establishment of an immune
      response. They were fully competent to establish an immune response upon
      hepatocyte specific OVA antigen expression as indicated by a massive liver damage
      upon Tamoxifen treatment and did not show OVA tolerance. Together, this proves
      that this strategy supports strict control of transgenes that is even compatible
      with highly sensitive biological readouts.

PMID- 20935053
TI  - The evolution and expression of the snaR family of small non-coding RNAs.
AB  - We recently identified the snaR family of small non-coding RNAs that associate in
      vivo with the nuclear factor 90 (NF90/ILF3) protein. The major human species,
      snaR-A, is an RNA polymerase III transcript with restricted tissue distribution
      and orthologs in chimpanzee but not rhesus macaque or mouse. We report their
      expression in human tissues and their evolution in primates. snaR genes are
      exclusively in African Great Apes and some are unique to humans. Two novel
      families of snaR-related genetic elements were found in primates: CAS (catarrhine
      ancestor of snaR), limited to Old World Monkeys and apes; and ASR (Alu/snaR
      related), present in all monkeys and apes. ASR and CAS appear to have spread by
      retrotransposition, whereas most snaR genes have spread by segmental duplication.
      snaR-A and snaR-G2 are differentially expressed in discrete regions of the human
      brain and other tissues, notably including testis. snaR-A is up-regulated in
      transformed and immortalized human cells, and is stably bound to ribosomes in
      HeLa cells. We infer that snaR evolved from the left monomer of the primate
      specific Alu SINE family via ASR and CAS in conjunction with major primate
      speciation events, and suggest that snaRs participate in tissue- and species
      specific regulation of cell growth and translation.

PMID- 20935054
TI  - Evidences for increased expression variation of duplicate genes in budding yeast:
      from cis- to trans-regulation effects.
AB  - Duplicate genes tend to have a more variable expression program than singleton
      genes, which was thought to be an important way for the organism to respond and
      adapt to fluctuating environment. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms
      driving such expression variation remain largely unexplored. In this work, we
      first rigorously confirmed that duplicate genes indeed have higher gene
      expression variation than singleton genes in several aspects, i.e. responses to
      environmental perturbation, between-strain divergence, and expression noise. To
      investigate the underlying mechanism, we further analyzed a previously published
      expression dataset of yeast segregants produced from genetic crosses. We
      dissected the observed expression divergence between segregant strains into cis-
      and trans-variabilities, and demonstrated that trans-regulation effect can
      explain larger fraction of the expression variation than cis-regulation effect.
      This is true for both duplicate genes and singleton genes. In contrast, we found,
      between a pair of sister paralogs, cis-variability explains more of the
      expression divergence between the paralogs than trans-variability. We next
      investigated the presence of cis- and trans-features that are associated with
      elevated expression variations. For cis-acting regulation, duplicate genes have
      higher genetic diversity in their promoters and coding regions than singleton
      genes. For trans-acting regulation, duplicate and singleton genes are
      differentially regulated by chromatin regulators and transcription factors, and
      duplicate genes are more severely affected by the deletion of histone tails.
      These results showed that both cis-and trans-factors have great effect in causing
      the increased expression variation of duplicate genes, and explained the
      previously observed differences in transcription regulation between duplicate
      genes and singleton genes.

PMID- 20935055
TI  - EMDataBank.org: unified data resource for CryoEM.
AB  - Cryo-electron microscopy reconstruction methods are uniquely able to reveal
      structures of many important macromolecules and macromolecular complexes.
      EMDataBank.org, a joint effort of the Protein Data Bank in Europe (PDBe), the
      Research Collaboratory for Structural Bioinformatics (RCSB) and the National
      Center for Macromolecular Imaging (NCMI), is a global 'one-stop shop' resource
      for deposition and retrieval of cryoEM maps, models and associated metadata. The
      resource unifies public access to the two major archives containing EM-based
      structural data: EM Data Bank (EMDB) and Protein Data Bank (PDB), and facilitates
      use of EM structural data of macromolecules and macromolecular complexes by the
      wider scientific community.

PMID- 20935056
TI  - The activity of the HIV-1 IRES is stimulated by oxidative stress and controlled
      by a negative regulatory element.
AB  - Initiation of translation of the full-length messenger RNA of HIV-1, which
      generates the viral structural proteins and enzymes, is cap-dependent but can
      also use an internal ribosome entry site (IRES) located in the 5' untranslated
      region. Our aim was to define, through a mutational analysis, regions of HIV-1
      IRES that are important for its activity. A dual-luciferase reporter construct
      where the Renilla luciferase (Rluc) translation is cap-dependent while the
      firefly luciferase (Fluc) translation depends on HIV-1 IRES was used. The
      Fluc/Rluc ratio was measured in lysates of Jurkat T cells transfected with the
      dual-luciferase plasmid bearing either the wild-type or a mutated IRES. Deletions
      or mutations in three regions decreased the IRES activity but deletion or
      mutations of a stem-loop preceding the primer binding site increased the IRES
      activity. The wild-type IRES activity, but not that of an IRES with a mutated
      stem-loop, was increased when cells were treated with agents that induce
      oxidative stress. Such stress is known to be caused by HIV-1 infection and we
      propose that this stem-loop is involved in a switch that stimulates the IRES
      activity in cells infected with HIV-1, supporting the suggestion that the IRES
      activity is up-regulated in the course of HIV-1 replication cycle.

PMID- 20935058
TI  - Three palonosetron regimens to prevent CINV in myeloma patients receiving
      multiple-day high-dose melphalan and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Explore safety and efficacy of three palonosetron-containing regimens
      for emesis prevention over 7 days in multiple myeloma (MM) patients receiving
      melphalan (100 mg/m(2)) and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT).
      PATIENTS AND METHODS: Randomized, double-blind pilot study in MM patients (n=73)
      receiving 1, 2, or 3 days of 0.25 mg palonosetron (30-s i.v. bolus) 30 min before
      melphalan (days -2 and -1) and HSCT (day 0). Patients received dexamethasone (20
      mg i.v., days -2 and -1) immediately before or after study drug/placebo. Daily
      diaries recorded emesis, rescue medication, nausea duration, and adverse events
      (AEs). RESULTS: Seven-day complete protection (no emesis) occurred in 41.7% [95%
      confidence interval (CI) 22.1% to 63.4%], 41.7% (95% CI 22.1% to 63.4%), and
      44.0% (95% CI 24.2% to 65.1%) of patients receiving 1, 2, or 3 days of
      palonosetron, respectively (P=0.43). Complete response (emesis free without
      rescue medication) occurred in 8.3%, 20.8%, and 20.0% (P=0.14). Common AEs
      (>=10%) were mild-to-moderate diarrhea, constipation, headache, insomnia, and
      flatulence. No serious AEs occurred. CONCLUSIONS: Palonosetron with dexamethasone
      was safe and effective in preventing emesis in MM patients receiving melphalan
      and HSCT. This pilot study with a limited number of patients suggests that
      multiple doses of palonosetron could be more effective than a single dose in
      making patients emesis free without need for rescue medication. However, even
      multiple doses of palonosetron resulted in only 20% of patients being emesis free
      without rescue medication, suggesting that further improvement will require
      development of more effective combination antiemetic therapy.

PMID- 20935059
TI  - Salvage radiotherapy in patients with recurrent or refractory primary or
      secondary central nervous system lymphoma after methotrexate-based chemotherapy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To assess the efficacy of salvage radiation therapy (RT) in patients
      with recurrent/refractory primary or secondary central nervous system lymphoma
      (CNSL) after initial methotrexate (MTX)-based chemotherapy and to identify
      factors associated with treatment outcome. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We reviewed 36
      patients with primary or secondary CNSL who relapsed after MTX therapy and
      received salvage RT. Primary end points were radiographic response and overall
      survival (OS). RESULTS: After salvage RT, 18 patients (50%) achieved a complete
      radiographic response and 6 (17%) achieved a partial response, for an overall
      response rate of 67% [95% confidence interval (CI) 49% to 81%]. The median OS
      from start of salvage RT was 11.7 months (range: 0.6-94.7). Patients treated with
      less than five cycles of MTX before failure had a significantly shorter OS than
      patients who received five or more cycles (9.2 months versus not reached, P =
      0.04). Patients with CNSL limited to brain only had a significantly longer OS
      than patients with disease in the brain and other central nervous system
      locations (16.5 versus 4.5 months, P=0.01). CONCLUSION: Salvage RT is effective
      for patients with recurrent/refractory primary or secondary CNSL after initial
      MTX therapy. Having received five or more cycles of MTX before failure and CNSL
      limited to the brain at relapse are associated with longer OS.

PMID- 20935057
TI  - Redundant or separate entities?--roles of Twist1 and Twist2 as molecular switches
      during gene transcription.
AB  - Twist1 and Twist2 are highly conserved members of the Twist subfamily of bHLH
      proteins responsible for the transcriptional regulation of the developmental
      programs in mesenchymal cell lineages. The regulation of such processes requires
      that Twist1 and Twist2 function as molecular switches to activate and repress
      target genes by employing several direct and indirect mechanisms. Modes of action
      by these proteins include direct DNA binding to conserved E-box sequences and
      recruitment of coactivators or repressors, sequestration of E-protein modulators,
      and interruption of proper activator/repressor function through protein-protein
      interactions. Regulatory outcomes of Twist1 and Twist2 are themselves controlled
      by spatial-temporal expression, phosphoregulation, dimer choice and cellular
      localization. Although these two proteins are highly conserved and exhibit
      similar functions in vitro, emerging literature have demonstrated different roles
      in vivo. The involvement of Twist1 and Twist2 in a broad spectrum of regulatory
      pathways highlights the importance of understanding their roles in normal
      development, homeostasis and disease. Here we focus on the mechanistic models of
      transcriptional regulation and summarize the similarities and differences between
      Twist1 and Twist2 in the context of myogenesis, osteogenesis, immune system
      development and cancer.

PMID- 20935060
TI  - Genetic modifiers of carcinogen DNA adducts in target lung and peripheral blood
      mononuclear cells.
AB  - Measurement of carcinogen DNA adducts in blood has been used as a surrogate for
      the target lung tissue. We aimed to examine whether genetic polymorphisms in
      several metabolic pathway genes modify the relation between DNA adducts in target
      lung and blood. One hundred and thirty-five early-stage lung cancer patients from
      the Massachusetts General Hospital were studied. DNA adducts were measured by the
      (32)P-postlabeling assay in lung and blood mononuclear cells (MNCs) in a subset
      of 53 who had paired blood samples. Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were
      assessed in genes involved in phase II (GSTs, NAT2, EPHX and NQO1), DNA repair
      (ERCC1, ERCC2 and XRCC1) and DNA methylation (MTHFR C677T and A1298C) pathways.
      There was a significant correlation between DNA adduct levels in lung and blood
      within the different genotypes, with one exception. Significant modifications in
      adducts were found by variants in genes for phase II metabolism [NAT2 (1.51 for
      rapid versus 0.76 for slow, P = 0.022)], DNA repair [ERCC1 C118T (P = 0.014),
      ERCC2 (P = 0.003) and XRCC1 (P = 0.025)] and MTHFR [C677T (P = 0.005) and A1298C
      (P = 0.005)]. The relation between DNA adducts in blood MNCs and target lung
      tissue was significantly modified by the single-nucleotide polymorphisms in the
      three main pathways. Despite the relatively small sample size, our results
      suggest that genetic factors may need to be considered when assessing the
      association of DNA adducts using surrogate tissue in studies of lung cancer.
      Further studies are needed to better understand their role and the mechanisms.

PMID- 20935061
TI  - A novel functional DEC1 promoter polymorphism -249T>C reduces risk of squamous
      cell carcinoma of the head and neck.
AB  - Human DEC1 (deleted in esophageal cancer 1) gene is located on chromosome 9q, a
      region frequently deleted in various types of human cancers, including squamous
      cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN). However, only one epidemiological
      study has evaluated the association between DEC1 polymorphisms and cancer risk.
      In this hospital-based case-control study, four potentially functional single
      nucleotide polymorphisms -1628 G>A (rs1591420), -606 T>C [rs4978620, in complete
      linkage disequilibrium with -249T>C (rs2012775) and -122 G>A(rs2012566)], c.179
      C>T p.Ala60Val (rs2269700) and 3' untranslated region-rs3750505 as well as the
      TP53 tumor suppressor gene codon 72 (Arg72Pro, rs1042522) polymorphism were
      genotyped in 1111 non-Hispanic Whites SCCHN patients and 1130 age-and sex-matched
      cancer-free controls. After adjustment for age, sex and smoking and drinking
      status, the variant -606CC (i.e. -249CC) homozygotes had a significantly reduced
      SCCHN risk (adjusted odds ratio = 0.71, 95% confidence interval = 0.52-0.99)
      compared with the -606TT homozygotes. Stratification analyses showed that a
      reduced risk associated with the -606CC genotype was more pronounced in subgroups
      of non-smokers, non-drinkers, younger subjects (defined as <=57 years), carriers
      of the TP53 Arg/Arg (rs1042522) genotype, patients with oropharyngeal cancer or
      late-stage SCCHN. Further in silico analysis revealed that the -249 T-to-C change
      led to a gain of a transcription factor-binding site. Additional functional
      analysis showed that the -249T-to-C change significantly enhanced transcriptional
      activity of the DEC1 promoter and the DNA-protein-binding activity. We conclude
      that the DEC1 promoter -249 T>C (rs2012775) polymorphism is functional,
      modulating susceptibility to SCCHN among non-Hispanic Whites.

PMID- 20935062
TI  - Whole-genome positive selection and habitat-driven evolution in a shallow and a
      deep-sea urchin.
AB  - Comparisons of genomic sequence between divergent species can provide insight
      into the action of natural selection across many distinct classes of proteins.
      Here, we examine the extent of positive selection as a function of tissue
      specific and stage-specific gene expression in two closely-related sea urchins,
      the shallow-water Strongylocentrotus purpuratus and the deep-sea Allocentrotus
      fragilis, which have diverged greatly in their adult but not larval habitats.
      Genes that are expressed specifically in adult somatic tissue have significantly
      higher dN/dS ratios than the genome-wide average, whereas those in larvae are
      indistinguishable from the genome-wide average. Testis-specific genes have the
      highest dN/dS values, whereas ovary-specific have the lowest. Branch-site models
      involving the outgroup S. franciscanus indicate greater selection (omega(FG))
      along the A. fragilis branch than along the S. purpuratus branch. The A. fragilis
      branch also shows a higher proportion of genes under positive selection,
      including those involved in skeletal development, endocytosis, and sulfur
      metabolism. Both lineages are approximately equal in enrichment for positive
      selection of genes involved in immunity, development, and cell-cell
      communication. The branch-site models further suggest that adult-specific genes
      have experienced greater positive selection than those expressed in larvae and
      that ovary-specific genes are more conserved (i.e., experienced greater negative
      selection) than those expressed specifically in adult somatic tissues and testis.
      Our results chart the patterns of protein change that have occurred after habitat
      divergence in these two species and show that the developmental or functional
      context in which a gene acts can play an important role in how divergent species
      adapt to new environments.

PMID- 20935064
TI  - Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and prostate cancer risk in the VITamins And
      Lifestyle (VITAL) cohort.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Chronic inflammation may be important in prostate carcinogenesis.
      Several epidemiologic studies have reported inverse associations between
      nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and prostate cancer risk, although
      many studies are limited by assessment of short-term use only. METHODS:
      Participants were male members of the VITamins And Lifestyle cohort, comprised
      34,132 men, aged 50-76 years, living in western Washington State. Cox
      proportional hazards models were used to estimate adjusted hazard ratios (HR) and
      95% confidence intervals (95% CI) of 10-year average use of individual NSAIDs
      with total prostate cancer (n = 1,550) and prostate cancer by grade. RESULTS: Low
      dose aspirin, regular-strength aspirin, ibuprofen, and any nonaspirin NSAID
      (ibuprofen, naproxen, and COX-2 inhibitors) were not associated with prostate
      cancer risk. There was a suggestion that regular-strength aspirin was inversely
      associated with risk of high-grade cancer (HR 0.73, 95% CI: 0.53-1.02).
      CONCLUSION: NSAID use was not associated with prostate cancer risk in the VITAL
      cohort. IMPACT: Our findings do not support the use of NSAIDs for chemoprevention
      of prostate cancer.

PMID- 20935063
TI  - Smoking and selected DNA repair gene polymorphisms in controls: systematic review
      and meta-analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: When the case-only study design is used to estimate statistical
      interaction between genetic (G) and environmental (E) exposures, G and E must be
      independent in the underlying population, or the case-only estimate of
      interaction (COR) will be biased. Few studies have examined the occurrence of G-E
      association in published control group data. METHODS: To examine the assumption
      of G-E independence in empirical data, we conducted a systematic review and meta
      analysis of G-E associations in controls for frequently investigated DNA repair
      genes (XRCC1 Arg399Gln, Arg194Trp, or Arg280His, XPD Lys751Gln, and Asp312Asn,
      and XRCC3 Thr241Met), and smoking (ever/never smoking, current/not current
      smoker, smoking duration, smoking intensity, and pack-years). RESULTS: Across the
      55 included studies, single nucleotide polymorphisms SNP-smoking associations in
      controls (OR(z)) were not reliably at the null value of 1.0 for any SNP-smoking
      combinations. Two G-E combinations were too heterogeneous for summary estimates:
      XRCC1 399 and ever-never smoking (N = 21), and XPD 751 and pack-years (N = 12).
      OR(z) ranges for these combinations were: [OR(z) (95% confidence interval (CI)]
      0.7 (0.4, 1.2)-1.9 (1.2, 2.8) and 0.8 (0.5, 1.3)-2.3 (0.8, 6.1), respectively).
      Estimates for studies considered homogeneous (Cochran's Q P-value <0.10) varied 2
      to 5-fold. No study characteristics were identified that could explain
      heterogeneity. CONCLUSIONS: We recommend the independence assumption be evaluated
      in the population underlying any potential case-only study, rather than in a
      proxy control group(s) or pooled controls. IMPACT: These results suggest that G-E
      association in controls may be population-specific. Increased access to control
      data would improve evaluation of the independence assumption.

PMID- 20935065
TI  - Complete plastid genome sequences of three Rosids (Castanea, Prunus, Theobroma):
      evidence for at least two independent transfers of rpl22 to the nucleus.
AB  - Functional gene transfer from the plastid to the nucleus is rare among land
      plants despite evidence that DNA transfer to the nucleus is relatively frequent.
      During the course of sequencing plastid genomes from representative species from
      three rosid genera (Castanea, Prunus, Theobroma) and ongoing projects focusing on
      the Fagaceae and Passifloraceae, we identified putative losses of rpl22 in these
      two angiosperm families. We further characterized rpl22 from three species of
      Passiflora and one species of Quercus and identified sequences that likely
      represent pseudogenes. In Castanea and Quercus, both members of the Fagaceae, we
      identified a nuclear copy of rpl22, which consisted of two exons separated by an
      intron. Exon 1 encodes a transit peptide that likely targets the protein product
      back to the plastid and exon 2 encodes rpl22. We performed phylogenetic analyses
      of 97 taxa, including 93 angiosperms and four gymnosperm outgroups using
      alignments of 81 plastid genes to examine the phylogenetic distribution of rpl22
      loss and transfer to the nucleus. Our results indicate that within rosids there
      have been independent transfers of rpl22 to the nucleus in Fabaceae and Fagaceae
      and a putative third transfer in Passiflora. The high level of sequence
      divergence between the transit peptides in Fabaceae and Fagaceae strongly suggest
      that these represent independent transfers. Furthermore, Blast searches did not
      identify the "donor" genes of the transit peptides, suggesting a de novo origin.
      We also performed phylogenetic analyses of rpl22 for 87 angiosperms and four
      gymnosperms, including nuclear-encoded copies for five species of Fabaceae and
      Fagaceae. The resulting trees indicated that the transfer of rpl22 to the nucleus
      does not predate the origin of angiosperms as suggested in an earlier study.
      Using previously published angiosperm divergence time estimates, we suggest that
      these transfers occurred approximately 56-58, 34-37, and 26-27 Ma for the
      Fabaceae, Fagaceae, and Passifloraceae, respectively.

PMID- 20935066
TI  - Odor recognition memory as a function of odor-naming performance.
AB  - A series of experiments sought to clarify the relationship between odor naming
      and memory by manipulating odor label availability during a dual naming-memory
      task. Experiment 1 demonstrated that recognition memory and odor naming were both
      better when the naming task provided participants with odor label alternatives.
      Consistent and correct odor naming was associated with nearly perfect memory,
      whereas inconsistent or incorrect naming was associated with very weak memory if
      any at all. Experiment 2 showed that the availability of odor labels was
      effective at improving memory only if labels were available at both memory
      encoding and retrieval, suggesting that the labels were aiding memory by
      improving the identification of the odors. Odor naming was manipulated in
      Experiment 3 by varying the number of available labels from 4 to 16 during each
      odor-naming trial. As found in the previous experiments, naming and memory were
      strongly related in each of the labeling conditions. Experiment 4 showed that
      corrective naming feedback produced better memory performance but only when the
      feedback led to correct odor naming. It was concluded that perceptual processes
      related to matching olfactory input to acquired, multidimensional representations
      of odors play a critical role in both odor naming and episodic memory.

PMID- 20935067
TI  - Antisense tools for functional studies of human Argonaute proteins.
AB  - The Argonaute proteins play essential roles in development and cellular
      metabolism in many organisms, including plants, flies, worms, and mammals.
      Whereas in organisms such as Caenorhabditis elegans and Arabidopsis thaliana,
      creation of Argonaute mutant strains allowed the study of their biological
      functions, in mammals the application of this approach is limited by its
      difficulty and in the specific case of Ago2 gene, by the lethality of such
      mutation. Hence, in human cells, functional studies of Ago proteins relied on
      phenotypic suppression using small interfering RNA (siRNA) which involves Ago
      proteins and the RNA interference mechanism. This bears the danger of undesired
      or unknown interference effects which may lead to misleading results. Thus,
      alternative methods acting by different regulatory mechanisms would be
      advantageous in order to exclude unspecific effects. The knockdown may be
      achieved by using specific antisense oligonucleotides (asONs) which act via an
      RNase H-dependent mechanism, not thought to interfere with processes in which
      Agos are involved. Different functional observations in the use of siRNA versus
      asONs indicate the relevance of this assumption. We developed asONs specific for
      the four human Agos (hAgos) and compared their activities with those obtained by
      siRNA. We confirm that hAgo2 is involved in microRNA (miRNA)- and in siRNA
      mediated silencing pathways, while the other hAgos play a role only in miRNA
      based gene regulation. Using combinations of asONs we found that the simultaneous
      down-regulation of hAgo1, hAgo2, and hAgo4 led to the strongest decrease in miRNA
      activity, indicating a main role of these proteins.

PMID- 20935068
TI  - Assembly and activation of a kinase ribozyme.
AB  - RNA activities can be regulated by modulating the relative energies of all
      conformations in a folding landscape; however, it is often unknown precisely how
      peripheral elements perturb the overall landscape in the absence of discrete
      alternative folds (inactive ensemble). This work explores the effects of sequence
      and secondary structure in governing kinase ribozyme activity. Kin.46 catalyzes
      thiophosphoryl transfer from ATPgammaS onto the 5' hydroxyl of polynucleotide
      substrates, and is regulated 10,000-fold by annealing an effector oligonucleotide
      to form activator helix P4. Transfer kinetics for an extensive series of ribozyme
      variants identified several dispensable internal single-stranded segments, in
      addition to a potential pseudoknot at the active site between segments J1/4 and
      J3/2 that is partially supported by compensatory rescue. Standard allosteric
      mechanisms were ruled out, such as formation of discrete repressive structures or
      docking P4 into the rest of the ribozyme via backbone 2' hydroxyls. Instead, P4
      serves both to complete an important structural element (100-fold contribution to
      the reaction relative to a P4-deleted variant) and to mitigate nonspecific,
      inhibitory effects of the single-stranded tail (an additional 100-fold
      contribution to the apparent rate constant, k(obs)). Thermodynamic activation
      parameters DeltaH(?) and DeltaS(?), calculated from the temperature dependence of
      k(obs), varied with tail length and sequence. Inhibitory effects of the unpaired
      tail are largely enthalpic for short tails and are both enthalpic and entropic
      for longer tails. These results refine the structural view of this kinase
      ribozyme and highlight the importance of nonspecific ensemble effects in
      conformational regulation by peripheral elements.

PMID- 20935069
TI  - Global analysis of direct targets of secondary wall NAC master switches in
      Arabidopsis.
AB  - We report the genome-wide analysis of direct target genes of SND1 and VND7, two
      Arabidopsis thaliana NAC domain transcription factors that are master regulators
      of secondary wall biosynthesis in fibers and vessels, respectively. Systematic
      mapping of the SND1 binding sequence using electrophoretic mobility shift assay
      and transactivation analysis demonstrated that SND1 together with other secondary
      wall NACs (SWNs), including VND6, VND7, NST1, and NST2, bind to an imperfect
      palindromic 19-bp consensus sequence designated as secondary wall NAC binding
      element (SNBE), (T/A)NN(C/T) (T/C/G)TNNNNNNNA(A/C)GN(A/C/T) (A/T), in the
      promoters of their direct targets. Genome-wide analysis of direct targets of SND1
      and VND7 revealed that they directly activate the expression of not only
      downstream transcription factors, but also a number of non-transcription factor
      genes involved in secondary wall biosynthesis, cell wall modification, and
      programmed cell death, the promoters of which all contain multiple SNBE sites.
      SND1 and VND7 directly regulate the expression of a set of common targets but
      each of them also preferentially induces a distinct set of direct targets, which
      is likely attributed to their differential activation strength toward SNBE sites.
      Complementation study showed that the SWNs were able to rescue the secondary wall
      defect in the snd1 nst1 mutant, indicating that they are functionally
      interchangeable. Together, our results provide important insight into the complex
      transcriptional program and the evolutionary mechanism underlying secondary wall
      biosynthesis, cell wall modification, and programmed cell death in secondary wall
      containing cell types.

PMID- 20935070
TI  - Low incidences of human immunodeficiency virus and hepatitis C virus infection
      and declining risk behaviors in a cohort of injection drug users in Chennai,
      India.
AB  - The authors characterized human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis C
      virus (HCV) incidence and prospective changes in self-reported risk behavior over
      2 years among 1,158 injection drug users (IDUs) recruited in Chennai, India, in
      2005-2006. At baseline, HIV prevalence was 25.3%, and HCV prevalence was 54.5%.
      Seropositive persons with prevalent HIV infection were used to estimate baseline
      HIV incidence by means of the Calypte HIV-1 BED Incidence EIA (Calypte Biomedical
      Corporation, Portland, Oregon). Longitudinal HIV and HCV incidence were measured
      among 865 HIV-negative IDUs and 519 HCV antibody-negative IDUs followed
      semiannually for 2 years. Participants received pre- and posttest risk reduction
      counseling at each visit. Estimated HIV incidence at baseline was 2.95 per 100
      person-years (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.21, 4.69) by BED assay; observed
      HIV incidence over 1,262 person-years was 0.48 per 100 person-years (95% CI:
      0.17, 1.03). HCV incidence over 645 person-years was 1.71 per 100 person-years
      (95% CI: 0.85, 3.03). Self-reported risk behaviors declined significantly over
      time, from 100% of participants reporting drug injection at baseline to 11% at 24
      months. In this cohort with high HIV and HCV prevalence at enrollment, the
      authors observed low incidence and declining self-reported risk behavior over
      time. While no formal intervention was administered, these findings highlight the
      potential impact of voluntary counseling and testing in a high-risk cohort.

PMID- 20935072
TI  - Incidence of wrong-site surgery among foot and ankle surgeons.
AB  - In 1998, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons initiated the "sign your
      site" campaign to address the issue of wrong-site surgery (WSS). Using a
      confidential online survey sent to 1094 active members of the American Academy of
      Foot and Ankle Surgeons, the authors assessed participation in the "sign your
      site" campaign and the occurrence of WSS encountered during their careers. A
      total of 319 responses were received (response rate = 29.2%). In all, 41 of 310
      respondents (13%) reported performing WSS at least once, with 4 surgeons (1%)
      reporting the occurrence twice in their careers; 70 of 310 (23%) surgeons
      reported that they had prepped the wrong surgical site, but the error was
      recognized prior to making an incision. In all, 302 of 309 respondents (97.7%)
      reported that they were aware of the "sign your site" initiative. Since the
      introduction of the campaign, significantly more (89.2% vs 49.2%) foot and ankle
      surgeons routinely mark the surgical site (P < .001). The Joint Commission
      revised the universal protocol for surgical site verification requiring an
      individual directly involved in a surgical procedure to mark the site as of
      January 1, 2009. The authors believe this revision will lower the incidence of
      WSS further.

PMID- 20935071
TI  - Notch dimerization is required for leukemogenesis and T-cell development.
AB  - Notch signaling regulates myriad cellular functions by activating transcription,
      yet how Notch selectively activates different transcriptional targets is poorly
      understood. The core Notch transcriptional activation complex can bind DNA as a
      monomer, but it can also dimerize on DNA-binding sites that are properly oriented
      and spaced. However, the significance of Notch dimerization is unknown. Here, we
      show that dimeric Notch transcriptional complexes are required for T-cell
      maturation and leukemic transformation but are dispensable for T-cell fate
      specification from a multipotential precursor. The varying requirements for Notch
      dimerization result from the differential sensitivity of specific Notch target
      genes. In particular, c-Myc and pre-T-cell antigen receptor alpha (Ptcra) are
      dimerization-dependent targets, whereas Hey1 and CD25 are not. These findings
      identify functionally important differences in the responsiveness among Notch
      target genes attributable to the formation of higher-order complexes.
      Consequently, it may be possible to develop a new class of Notch inhibitors that
      selectively block outcomes that depend on Notch dimerization (e.g.,
      leukemogenesis).

PMID- 20935073
TI  - Procysteine increases alcohol-depleted glutathione stores in rat plantaris
      following a period of abstinence.
AB  - AIMS: To assess the effectiveness of procysteine (PRO) supplementation provided
      during a period of abstinence (ABS) on alcohol-induced skeletal muscle atrophy
      and oxidant stress. METHODS: Age- and gender-matched Sprague-Dawley rats were fed
      the Lieber-DeCarli liquid diet containing either alcohol or an isocaloric
      substitution (control diet) for 12 week. Next, subgroups of alcohol-fed rats were
      fed the control diet for 2 week (ABS) supplemented with either PRO (0.35%, w/v)
      or vehicle. Plantaris morphology was assessed by hematoxylin and eosin staining.
      Total, reduced and oxidized glutathione (GSH) levels and total antioxidant
      potential were determined by commercially available assay kits. Antibody arrays
      were used to determine cytokine levels. Real-time polymerase chain reaction was
      used to determine gene expressions of two E3 ubiquitin ligases, atrogin-1 and
      muscle ring finger protein-1 (MuRF-1). RESULTS: Plantaris muscles from alcohol
      fed rats displayed extensive atrophy, as well as decreased GSH levels, a trend
      for decreased total antioxidant potential and elevated atrogin-1 and MuRF-1 mRNA
      levels. GSH levels and total antioxidant potential continued to decrease during 2
      weeks of ABS from alcohol, which were normalized in abstinent rats provided PRO.
      Gene levels of both E3 ligases returned to baseline during ABS. In parallel,
      plantaris cross-sectional area increased in both groups during ABS. CONCLUSIONS:
      PRO supplementation during ABS significantly attenuated alcohol-induced redox
      stress compared with untreated abstinent rats. Thus, our data may suggest that
      GSH restoration therapy may provide therapeutic benefits to the overall
      antioxidant state of skeletal muscle when prescribed in conjunction with an
      established detoxification program for recovering alcoholics.

PMID- 20935074
TI  - Letter from Russia: minimal price for vodka established in Russia from 1 January
      2010.

PMID- 20935075
TI  - Health Canada's approach to manage risks to populations at risk during a
      radiological emergency.
AB  - The approach that Health Canada uses to manage risks to individuals and to
      populations who might be exposed to ionising radiation is based upon the risk
      management paradigm. The paradigm differs little between an emergency and a non
      emergency situations. In both events, technical experts assess the risk by
      determining the exposure to the source of radiation. They usually calculate the
      radiation dose and then assess the potential for any health effects. The initial
      technical assessments often use scoping calculations. The calculations for
      children recognise that they are smaller and have different metabolic rates and
      different behaviour from adults. However, most rigorous quantitative models for
      dosimetry do not differentiate between children and adults. The risk assessments
      that were conducted to evaluate the contamination of Canadians who were in London
      during the Litvenenko poisoning are a good example to illustrate this general
      approach. The scoping risk assessment concluded that the risks to children and
      adults were low. No Canadian children were exposed to polonium during this event
      and, to date, there have been no radiation emergencies in Canada where children
      have been exposed to a significant source of radiation. Therefore, the
      comparisons between theory and practice are very limited and conclusions are
      drawn from international experience and other incidents or sources of radiation
      exposure such as radon and medical exposures.

PMID- 20935076
TI  - How to obtain images from picture archiving and communication systems and ready
      them for publication.

PMID- 20935077
TI  - Decompensated chronic heart failure: increased liver stiffness measured by means
      of transient elastography.
AB  - PURPOSE: To analyze transient elastography-measured liver stiffness in patients
      with acute decompensated heart failure to describe variations in liver stiffness
      measurements and assess their relationship with the patients' clinical course and
      laboratory data. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study was approved by the local
      institutional review board, and all of the subjects gave verbal informed consent.
      Twenty-seven hospitalized patients with heart failure with no signs of liver
      disease (mean age, 79 years +/- 12 [standard deviation]; 12 men [mean age, 78
      years +/- 11], 15 women [mean age, 80 years +/- 12]) underwent liver stiffness
      and N-terminal probeta brain natriuretic peptide (NTprobetaBNP) assessments at
      admission, and 24 patients underwent stiffness measurements at discharge. (Three
      patients had failed measurement at admission; two of whom did not undergo
      measurement at discharge and one patient who died had only an admission value
      obtained.) The predefined stiffness cutoff values were greater than 7.65 kPa for
      substantial fibrosis and greater than 13.01 kPa for cirrhosis. The control
      subjects were 21 patients unaffected by heart failure or liver disease. The two
      groups were compared by using two-tailed Wilcoxon, Mann-Whitney, or t tests, as
      appropriate. RESULTS: Among the patients with heart failure, median liver
      stiffness at admission was 8.80 kPa (interquartile range, 5.92-11.90 kPa),
      greater than 7.65 kPa in 14 (58%) cases and greater than 13.01 kPa in five (21%).
      During hospitalization, liver stiffness decreased in 18 patients (including all
      five patients with baseline measurement > 13.01 kPa) and increased in five.
      Median liver stiffness (P < .003) and NTprobetaBNP (P < .001) levels both
      significantly decreased during hospitalization. Liver stiffness was less than
      7.65 kPa in all control patients and did not significantly change during
      hospitalization (P = .261). CONCLUSION: Most patients with acute decompensated
      heart failure have high liver stiffness values which, like NTprobetaBNP levels,
      tend to decrease with clinical improvement. SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL:
      http://radiology.rsna.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10.1148/radiol.10100013/-/DC1.

PMID- 20935078
TI  - Amnesia following herpes simplex encephalitis: diffusion-tensor imaging uncovers
      reduced integrity of normal-appearing white matter.
AB  - PURPOSE: To explore white matter (WM) and gray matter tissue integrity in the
      apparently unaffected hemisphere of patients with herpes simplex encephalitis
      (HSE) who have gross unilateral medial temporal lobe (MTL) lesions and both
      verbal and visuospatial memory deficits. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study had
      institutional ethics committee approval and included written informed consent.
      Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging was performed in five patients who had recovered
      from HSE (one woman, four men; median age, 32 years; interquartile range, 28.5-37
      years) and 51 age-matched controls (30 women, 21 men; median age, 32 years;
      interquartile range, 28-37 years). As markers of microstructural WM integrity,
      fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD), axial diffusivity, and radial
      diffusivity (RD) derived from diffusion-tensor (DT) imaging were used. An
      automated regional brain segmentation approach yielded estimates of subcortical
      volumes, including hippocampus, and cortical thickness. Group differences were
      evaluated by using permutation tests. RESULTS: Examination of standard MR images
      found unilateral lesions in all patients. The patients with HSE showed reduced FA
      and increased MD and RD in several WM tracts contralateral to lesions (P < .05,
      corrected for multiple comparisons). Affected tracts included connections between
      the MTLs and other parts of the brain. No significant group differences were
      observed in subcortical volume or cortical thickness. CONCLUSION: These results
      suggest that patients with HSE have reduced microstructural integrity of normal
      appearing WM contralateral to grossly visible lesions. These subtle lesions,
      detectable at DT imaging, probably contribute to the memory impairment manifested
      by these patients. SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL:
      http://radiology.rsna.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10.1148/radiol.10100179/-/DC1.

PMID- 20935079
TI  - Intracranial aneurysms in patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage: CT angiography
      as a primary examination tool for diagnosis--systematic review and meta-analysis.
AB  - PURPOSE: To calculate the sensitivity and specificity of computed tomographic
      (CT) angiography in the diagnosis of cerebral aneurysms in patients with acute
      subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) at presentation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A
      systematic search for relevant studies was performed of the PubMed/MEDLINE and
      EMBASE databases. Two reviewers independently assessed the methodologic quality
      of each study by using the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies
      tool. The inclusion criteria were met by 50 studies. Heterogeneity was tested,
      and the presence of publication bias was visually assessed (by using a funnel
      plot). A meta-analysis of the reported sensitivity and specificity of each study
      with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) was performed on a per-patient level.
      RESULTS: Concerning sensitivity, the selected studies showed moderate
      heterogeneity. For specificity, low heterogeneity was observed. Moderate
      heterogeneity studies that investigated only sensitivity or specificity were
      excluded from the pooled analyses by using a bivariate random effects model. The
      majority of the studies (n = 30) used a four-detector row CT scanner. The studies
      had good methodologic quality. Pooled sensitivity was 98% (95% CI: 97%, 99%), and
      pooled specificity was 100% (95% CI: 97%, 100%). Potential sources of variability
      among the studies were variations in the methodologic features (quality score),
      CT examination procedure (number of rows on the multidetector CT scanner), the
      standard of reference used, and the prevalence of ruptured intracranial
      aneurysms. There was evidence for publication bias, which may have led to
      overestimation of the diagnostic accuracy of CT angiography. CONCLUSION:
      Multidetector CT angiography can be used as a primary examination tool in the
      diagnostic work-up of patients with SAH.

PMID- 20935080
TI  - Carotid artery hemodynamics: observing patient-specific changes with amlodipine
      and lisinopril by using MR imaging computation fluid dynamics.
AB  - PURPOSE: To assess whether using magnetic resonance (MR) imaging combined with
      computational fluid dynamics (CFD) could reveal changes in common carotid artery
      (CCA) flow and wall shear stress (WSS) that might contribute to differences in
      CCA remodeling between amlodipine, a calcium channel blocker, and lisinopril, an
      angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor, despite similar reductions in blood
      pressure (BP). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Institutional review board approval was
      obtained, and participants gave informed consent. Nine subjects with hypertension
      were recruited into a double-blind placebo-controlled randomized three-way
      crossover study to compare the hemodynamic effects of 7 days of treatment with
      placebo, amlodipine, or lisinopril. After each treatment period, patients
      underwent CCA ultrasonography, BP measurement, and MR imaging with CFD. Analyses
      were performed by using repeated-measures analysis of variance, followed by the
      Tukey test or the Wilcoxon matched-pairs test. RESULTS: Amlodipine and lisinopril
      lowered BP similarly, but CCA flow rate was significantly higher (P < .01) and
      distal vascular resistance was lower (P = .016) after amlodipine treatment than
      after lisinopril treatment. WSS on the inner wall of the CCA was significantly
      lower after lisinopril treatment than after amlodipine treatment (P = .03). The
      change in WSS in the CCA correlated with the change in vascular resistance (r = 
      0.85, P < .001). CONCLUSION: Amlodipine causes increased blood flow and increased
      time-averaged WSS in the CCA compared with lisinopril, despite similar reductions
      in BP. Differences in the subacute hemodynamic effects of amlodipine and
      lisinopril could contribute to the differences in CCA remodeling seen in long
      term studies. SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL:
      http://radiology.rsna.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10.1148/radiol.10100788/-/DC1.

PMID- 20935082
TI  - Aminoglycosides inhibit KCNQ4 channels in cochlear outer hair cells via depletion
      of phosphatidylinositol(4,5)bisphosphate.
AB  - Aminoglycoside antibiotics (AGs) are severely ototoxic. AGs cause degeneration of
      outer hair cells (OHCs), leading to profound and irreversible hearing loss. The
      underlying mechanisms are not fully understood. OHC survival critically depends
      on a specific K+ conductance (I(K,n)) mediated by KCNQ4 (Kv7.4) channels.
      Dysfunction or genetic ablation of KCNQ4 results in OHC degeneration and deafness
      in mouse and humans. As a common hallmark of all KCNQ isoforms, channel activity
      requires phosphatidylinositol(4,5)bisphosphate [PI(4,5)P2]. Because AGs are known
      to reduce PI(4,5)P2 availability by sequestration, inhibition of KCNQ4 may be
      involved in the action of AGs on OHCs. Using whole-cell patch-clamp recordings
      from rat OHCs, we found that intracellularly applied AGs inhibit I(K,n). The
      inhibition results from PI(4,5)P2 depletion indicated by fluorescence imaging of
      cellular PI(4,5)P2 and the dependence of inhibition on PI(4,5)P2 availability and
      on PI(4,5)P2 affinity of recombinant KCNQ channels. Likewise, extracellularly
      applied AGs inhibited I(K,n) and caused substantial depolarization of OHCs, after
      rapid accumulation in OHCs via a hair cell-specific apical entry pathway. The
      potency for PI(4,5)P2 sequestration, strength of I(K,n) inhibition, and resulting
      depolarization correlated with the known ototoxic potential of the different AGs.
      Thus, the inhibition of I(K,n) via PI(4,5)P2 depletion and the resulting
      depolarization may contribute to AG-induced OHC degeneration. The KCNQ channel
      openers retigabine and zinc pyrithione rescued KCNQ4/I(K,n) activity from AG
      induced inhibition. Pharmacological enhancement of KCNQ4 may thus offer a
      protective strategy against AG-induced ototoxicity and possibly other ototoxic
      insults.

PMID- 20935081
TI  - Modulation of chemokines and allergic airway inflammation by selective local
      sphingosine-1-phosphate receptor 1 agonism in lungs.
AB  - Sphingosine-1-phosphate and its receptors have emerged as important modulators of
      the immune response. The sphingosine-1-phosphate prodrug 2-amino-2-(2-[4
      octylphenyl]ethyl)-1,3-propanediol (FTY720) can alleviate experimental allergic
      airway inflammation. Nevertheless, the role of individual sphingosine-1-phosphate
      receptors in the regulation of allergic airway inflammation remains undefined.
      Using a newly characterized potent and selective sphingosine-1-phosphate receptor
      1 (S1P1) agonist with physical properties allowing airway delivery, we studied
      the contribution of S1P1 signaling to eosinophilic airway inflammation induced in
      ovalbumin-immunized mice by airway challenges with ovalbumin. Airway delivery of
      receptor-nonselective sphingosine-1-phosphate prodrug significantly inhibits the
      sequential accumulation of antigen-presenting dendritic cells and CD4+ T cells in
      draining lymph nodes. This in turn suppressed by >80% the accumulation of CD4+ T
      cells and eosinophils in the airways. Systemic delivery of sphingosine-1
      phosphate prodrug or of an S1P)1-specific agonist at doses sufficient to induce
      lymphopenia did not inhibit eosinophil accumulation in the airways. In contrast,
      local airway delivery of S1P1-specific agonist inhibited airways release of
      endogenous CCL5 and CCL17 chemokines, and significantly suppressed accumulation
      of activated T cells and eosinophils in the lungs. Specific S1P1 agonism in lungs
      contributes significantly to anti-inflammatory activities of sphingosine-1
      phosphate therapeutics by suppressing chemokine release in the airways, and may
      be of clinical relevance.

PMID- 20935083
TI  - Microbulbifer chitinilyticus sp. nov. and Microbulbifer okinawensis sp. nov.,
      chitin-degrading bacteria isolated from mangrove forests.
AB  - Three chitin-degrading strains representing two novel species were isolated from
      mangrove forests in Okinawa, Japan. The isolates, ABABA23(T), ABABA211 and
      ABABA212(T), were Gram-negative, non-spore-forming, strictly aerobic chemo
      organotrophs. The novel strains produced Q-8 as the major isoprenoid quinone
      component. The predominant fatty acids were iso-C15:0 and C16:0. On the basis of
      16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, the isolates were closely affiliated with
      members of the genus Microbulbifer. The DNA G+C contents of strains ABABA23(T)
      and ABABA212(T) were 57.8 and 60.2 mol%, respectively. DNA-DNA relatedness values
      between these two strains and Microbulbifer reference strains were significantly
      lower than 70 %, the generally accepted threshold level below which strains are
      considered to belong to separate species. Based on differences in taxonomic
      characteristics, the three isolates represent two novel species of the genus
      Microbulbifer, for which the names Microbulbifer chitinilyticus sp. nov. (type
      strain, ABABA212(T) = JCM 16148(T) = NCIMB 14577(T)) and Microbulbifer
      okinawensis sp. nov. (type strain, ABABA23(T) = JCM 16147(T) = NCIMB 14576(T);
      reference strain, ABABA211) are proposed.

PMID- 20935084
TI  - Paracoccus stylophorae sp. nov., isolated from the reef-building coral Stylophora
      pistillata.
AB  - A bacterial strain, designated KTW-16(T), was isolated from the reef-building
      coral Stylophora pistillata, collected from southern Taiwan. Strain KTW-16(T) was
      a Gram-negative, facultatively anaerobic, pale-yellow, non-motile short rod.
      Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain KTW
      16(T) belonged to the genus Paracoccus in the Alphaproteobacteria and exhibited
      93.7-96.9 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity with type strains of species of the
      genus Paracoccus (96.9 % with Paracoccus alcaliphilus JCM 7364(T)). Strain KTW
      16(T) grew at 15-40  degrees C (optimum 35  degrees C), at pH 6.0-10.0 (optimum
      pH 8.0) and with 0-9 % NaCl (optimum 5 %). The predominant cellular fatty acids
      were C18:1omega7c, C19:0 cyclo omega8c and C18:0. The major respiratory quinone
      was Q-10 and the DNA G+C content was 69.1 mol%. The polar lipid profile consisted
      of phosphatidylglycerol, diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylcholine and several
      unknown polar lipids. The physiological and biochemical tests allowed clear
      phenotypic differentiation of the isolate from the type strains of already
      described Paracoccus species. It is evident from the genotypic, phenotypic and
      chemotaxonomic analysis that strain KTW-16(T) should be classified in a novel
      species of the genus Paracoccus, for which the name Paracoccus stylophorae sp.
      nov. is proposed. The type strain is KTW-16(T) ( = LMG 25392(T)  = BCRC
      80106(T)).

PMID- 20935085
TI  - Glaciimonas immobilis gen. nov., sp. nov., a member of the family
      Oxalobacteraceae isolated from alpine glacier cryoconite.
AB  - Strains Cr9-30(T) and Cr9-12 were isolated from alpine glacier cryoconite. Both
      strains were Gram-negative-staining, non-motile, rod-shaped and psychrophilic,
      showing good growth over the temperature range 1-20  degrees C. Phylogenetic
      analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that the two strains formed a
      distinct branch within the family Oxalobacteraceae and were most closely related
      to members of the genus Collimonas. The 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity between
      strains Cr9-30(T) and Cr9-12 was 99.0 %. The two strains showed highest 16S rRNA
      gene sequence pairwise similarity with Collimonas pratensis LMG 23965(T) (96.6
      and 96.1 % for strains Cr9-30(T) and Cr9-12, respectively), Collimonas arenae LMG
      23964(T) (96.5 and 96.3 %, respectively) and Collimonas fungivorans LMG 21973(T)
      (96.4 and 96.2 %, respectively). The predominant cellular fatty acids were summed
      feature 3 (C16:1omega7c and/or iso-C15:0 2-OH), C16:0 and C18:1omega7c. The DNA
      G+C content of strain Cr9-30(T) was 51.0 mol%. On the basis of phenotypic
      characteristics and phylogenetic analysis, strains Cr9-30(T) and Cr9-12 represent
      a novel species in a new genus of the family Oxalobacteraceae, for which the name
      Glaciimonas immobilis gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain of
      Glaciimonas immobilis is Cr9-30(T) ( = DSM 23240(T) = LMG 25547(T)).

PMID- 20935086
TI  - Rhabdothermus arcticus gen. nov., sp. nov., a member of the family Thermaceae
      isolated from a hydrothermal vent chimney in the Soria Moria vent field on the
      Arctic Mid-Ocean Ridge.
AB  - A novel thermophilic member of the family Thermaceae, designated strain 2M70
      1(T), was isolated from the wall of an active white smoker chimney collected in
      the Soria Moria vent field at 71  degrees N in the Norwegian-Greenland Sea. Cells
      of the strain were Gram-negative, non-motile rods. Growth was observed at 37-75 
      degrees C (optimum 65  degrees C), at pH 6-8 (optimum pH 7.3) and in 1-5 % (w/v)
      NaCl (optimum 2.5-3.5 %). The isolate was aerobic but could also grow
      anaerobically using nitrate or elemental sulfur as electron acceptors. The strain
      was obligately heterotrophic, growing on complex organic substrates like yeast
      extract, Casamino acids, tryptone and peptone. Pyruvate, acetate, butyrate,
      sucrose, rhamnose and maltodextrin were used as complementary substrates. The G+C
      content of the genomic DNA was 68 mol%. Cells possessed characteristic
      phospholipids and glycolipids. Major fatty acids constituted saturated and
      unsaturated iso-branched and saturated anteiso-branched forms. Menaquinone 8 was
      the sole respiratory lipoquinone. Phylogenetic analysis of 16S rRNA gene
      sequences placed the strain in the family Thermaceae in the phylum 'Deinococcus
      Thermus', which is consistent with the chemotaxonomic data. On the basis of
      phenotypic and phylogenetic data, strain 2M70-1(T) ( = JCM 15963(T)  = DSM
      22268(T)) represents the type strain of a novel species of a novel genus, for
      which the name Rhabdothermus arcticus gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed.

PMID- 20935087
TI  - Marinobacter oulmenensis sp. nov., a moderately halophilic bacterium isolated
      from brine of a salt concentrator.
AB  - A Gram-negative, aerobic, moderately halophilic bacterium, designated Set74(T),
      was isolated from brine of a salt concentrator at Ain Oulmene, Algeria. The
      strain grew optimally at 37-40  degrees C, at pH 6.5-7.0 and with 5-7.5 % (w/v)
      NaCl and used various organic compounds as sole carbon, nitrogen and energy
      sources. Ubiquinone 9 (Q-9) was the major lipoquinone. The main cellular fatty
      acids were C16:0, C18:1omega9c, summed feature 7 (ECL 18.846; C19:0 cyclo
      omega10c and/or C19:1omega6c), C12:0 3-OH, C16:1omega9c, C18:0 and C12:0. The
      major polar lipids were phosphatidylglycerol, diphosphatidylglycerol and
      phosphatidylethanolamine. The G+C content of the genomic DNA was 57.4 mol%. The
      16S rRNA gene sequence analysis indicated that strain Set74(T) was a member of
      the genus Marinobacter. The closest relatives of strain Set74(T) were
      Marinobacter santoriniensis NKSG1(T) (97.5 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity)
      and Marinobacter koreensis DD-M3(T) (97.4 %). DNA-DNA relatedness between strain
      Set74(T) and M. santoriniensis DSM 21262(T) and M. koreensis DSM 17924(T) was 45
      and 37 %, respectively. On the basis of the phenotypic, chemotaxonomic and
      phylogenetic features, a novel species, Marinobacter oulmenensis sp. nov., is
      proposed. The type strain is Set74(T) ( = CECT 7499(T)  = DSM 22359(T)).

PMID- 20935088
TI  - Marinomonas alcarazii sp. nov., M. rhizomae sp. nov., M. foliarum sp. nov., M.
      posidonica sp. nov. and M. aquiplantarum sp. nov., isolated from the microbiota
      of the seagrass Posidonia oceanica.
AB  - Five novel Gram-reaction-negative aerobic marine bacterial strains with DNA G+C
      contents <50 mol% were isolated from the seagrass Posidonia oceanica. 16S rRNA
      sequence analysis indicated that they belonged to the genus Marinomonas. Major
      fatty acid compositions, comprising C10:0 3-OH, C16:0, C16:1omega7c and
      C18:1omega7c, supported the affiliation of these strains to the genus
      Marinomonas. Strains IVIA-Po-14b(T), IVIA-Po-145(T) and IVIA-Po-155(T) were
      closely related to Marinomonas pontica 46-16(T), according to phylogenetic
      analysis. However, DNA-DNA hybridization values <35 % among these strains
      revealed that they represented different species. Further differences in the
      phenotypes and minor fatty acid compositions were also found among the strains.
      Another two strains, designated IVIA-Po-181(T) and IVIA-Po-159(T), were found to
      be closely related to M. dokdonensis DSW10-10(T) but DNA-DNA relatedness levels
      <40 % in pairwise comparisons, as well as some additional differences in
      phenotypes and fatty acid compositions supported the creation of two novel
      species. Accordingly, strains IVIA-Po-14b(T )( = CECT 7730(T)  = NCIMB 14671(T)),
      IVIA-Po-145(T) ( = CECT 7377(T)  = NCIMB 14431(T)), IVIA-Po-155(T) ( = CECT
      7731(T)  = NCIMB 14672(T)), IVIA-Po-181(T) ( = CECT 7376(T)  = NCIMB 14433(T))
      and IVIA-Po-159(T) ( = CECT 7732(T)  = NCIMB 14673(T)) represent novel species,
      for which the names Marinomonas alcarazii sp. nov., Marinomonas rhizomae sp.
      nov., Marinomonas foliarum sp. nov., Marinomonas posidonica sp. nov. and
      Marinomonas aquiplantarum sp. nov. are proposed, respectively.

PMID- 20935089
TI  - Vibrio stylophorae sp. nov., isolated from the reef-building coral Stylophora
      pistillata.
AB  - A bacterial strain designated KTW-12(T) was isolated from a reef-building coral
      in Kenting, Taiwan, and was characterized using a polyphasic taxonomic approach.
      Strain KTW-12(T) was Gram-negative, semi-transparent, slightly curved rod-shaped,
      and non-motile. Growth occurred at 15-35  degrees C (optimum, 30  degrees C), at
      pH 6.0-9.0 (optimum, pH 7.0-8.0), and with 0.5-6.0 % NaCl (optimum, 2 %). The
      major cellular fatty acids were summed feature 3 (C16:1omega7c and/or
      C16:1omega6c), C14:0 and C16:0. The DNA G+C content was 47.8 mol%. Phylogenetic
      analyses based on 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that strain KTW-12(T) was
      most closely related to Vibrio porteresiae MSSRF30(T), with 94.8 % gene sequence
      similarity. Further multilocus sequence analysis using rpoA, recA and pyrH genes
      also revealed low levels of sequence similarity (74.6-85.0 %) with all species of
      the genus Vibrio with validly published names. A multigene phylogenetic tree
      using concatenated sequences of the four genes (16S rRNA, rpoA, recA and pyrH)
      elucidated that strain KTW-12(T) occupied a distinct phylogenetic position,
      forming a long branch that was not clustered with any other known species of the
      genus Vibrio. Strain KTW-12(T) differed from V. porteresiae MSSRF30(T) in the
      ability to reduce nitrate to nitrite, hydrolysis of chitin, fermentation of
      sorbitol and production of arginine dihydrolase, valine arylamidase, cystine
      arylamidase and N-acetyl-beta-glucosaminidase. On the basis of phenotypic,
      chemotaxonomic and phylogenetic distinctiveness, strain KTW-12(T) should be
      classified as representing a novel species, for which the name Vibrio stylophorae
      sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is KTW-12(T) ( = BCRC 80105(T)  = LMG
      25357(T)).

PMID- 20935090
TI  - Nocardioides iriomotensis sp. nov., an actinobacterium isolated from forest soil.
AB  - An actinomycete strain, designated IR27-S3(T), was isolated from a forest soil
      sample collected from Iriomote Island, Okinawa, Japan. Cells of the isolate were
      Gram-stain-positive, aerobic, non-sporulating, non-motile coccoids or short rods.
      The strain grew in the presence of 0-7 % (w/v) NaCl, at pH 6-8 and at 12-37 
      degrees C, with optimum growth at 30  degrees C. Chemotaxonomically, the strain
      contained LL-diaminopimelic acid as the diagnostic diamino acid and MK-8(H4) as
      the predominant menaquinone. The polar lipids were diphosphatidylglycerol,
      phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylinositol and an unknown phospholipid. The major
      cellular fatty acids were iso-C16:0, C17:1 cis-9, C15:0 and iso-C15:0. The DNA
      G+C content was 73.7 mol%. On the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis,
      strain IR27-S3(T) was closely related to Nocardioides mesophilus MSL-22(T) (98.1
      % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity), Marmoricola bigeumensis MSL-05(T) (97.2 %)
      and Nocardioides jensenii DSM 20641(T) (96.5 %). On the basis of fatty acid
      analysis, phylogenetic analysis and phenotypic data, the isolate should be
      classified in a novel species of the genus Nocardioides, for which the name
      Nocardioides iriomotensis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is IR27-S3(T) ( =
      NBRC 105384(T)  = KACC 14926(T)).

PMID- 20935091
TI  - Education is a key determinant of health in Europe: a comparative analysis of 11
      countries.
AB  - This paper has contributed to confirming the link between education and health in
      developed countries. The analysis is based on 11 European Union countries. We
      estimate country-specific health functions, where the dependent variable is self
      reported health status and the education attainment is one of the main inputs.
      All eight waves (1994-2001) of the European Community Household Panel are
      deployed. A random effects ordered probit is estimated in order to control, to a
      given extent, for unobserved heterogeneity. Explanatory variables are both time
      invariant (education attainment and gender) and time varying (gross wages, hours
      of work, age and living alone). Results confirm the positive impact of secondary
      education on health in most cases and tertiary education in all cases, even after
      controlling for other inputs in the health function and taking unobserved
      heterogeneity into account. Secondary education has an impact on health in all
      countries in the sample except for The Netherlands and UK. The effect does not
      differ between secondary and tertiary education in France, Ireland and Greece.
      The correlation between education and health is interpreted in different but
      complementary ways by diverse approaches and we may not disentangle the precise
      mechanism that connects health with education from our results. Anyway, it seems
      clear that better coordination is needed between education and health policies to
      effectively improve health literacy. Other relevant results from our study are
      that women register poorer health than men, age contributes to worsening health
      status and wages contribute positively to health.

PMID- 20935092
TI  - Whole-genome sequences of thirteen isolates of Borrelia burgdorferi.
AB  - Borrelia burgdorferi is a causative agent of Lyme disease in North America and
      Eurasia. The first complete genome sequence of B. burgdorferi strain 31,
      available for more than a decade, has assisted research on the pathogenesis of
      Lyme disease. Because a single genome sequence is not sufficient to understand
      the relationship between genotypic and geographic variation and disease
      phenotype, we determined the whole-genome sequences of 13 additional B.
      burgdorferi isolates that span the range of natural variation. These sequences
      should allow improved understanding of pathogenesis and provide a foundation for
      novel detection, diagnosis, and prevention strategies.

PMID- 20935093
TI  - Silent mischief: bacteriophage Mu insertions contaminate products of Escherichia
      coli random mutagenesis performed using suicidal transposon delivery plasmids
      mobilized by broad-host-range RP4 conjugative machinery.
AB  - Random transposon mutagenesis is the strategy of choice for associating a
      phenotype with its unknown genetic determinants. It is generally performed by
      mobilization of a conditionally replicating vector delivering transposons to
      recipient cells using broad-host-range RP4 conjugative machinery carried by the
      donor strain. In the present study, we demonstrate that bacteriophage Mu, which
      was deliberately introduced during the original construction of the widely used
      donor strains SM10 lambdapir and S17-1 lambdapir, is silently transferred to
      Escherichia coli recipient cells at high frequency, both by hfr and by release of
      Mu particles by the donor strain. Our findings suggest that bacteriophage Mu
      could have contaminated many random-mutagenesis experiments performed on Mu
      sensitive species with these popular donor strains, leading to potential
      misinterpretation of the transposon mutant phenotype and therefore perturbing
      analysis of mutant screens. To circumvent this problem, we precisely mapped Mu
      insertions in SM10 lambdapir and S17-1 lambdapir and constructed a new Mu-free
      donor strain, MFDpir, harboring stable hfr-deficient RP4 conjugative functions
      and sustaining replication of Pi-dependent suicide vectors. This strain can
      therefore be used with most of the available transposon-delivering plasmids and
      should enable more efficient and easy-to-analyze mutant hunts in E. coli and
      other Mu-sensitive RP4 host bacteria.

PMID- 20935094
TI  - Evolution and population structure of Salmonella enterica serovar Newport.
AB  - Salmonellosis caused by Salmonella enterica serovar Newport is a major global
      public health concern, particularly because S. Newport isolates that are
      resistant to multiple drugs (MDR), including third-generation cephalosporins (MDR
      AmpC phenotype), have been commonly isolated from food animals. We analyzed 384
      S. Newport isolates from various sources by a multilocus sequence typing (MLST)
      scheme to study the evolution and population structure of the serovar. These were
      compared to the population structure of S. enterica serovars Enteritidis,
      Kentucky, Paratyphi B, and Typhimurium. Our S. Newport collection fell into three
      lineages, Newport-I, Newport-II, and Newport-III, each of which contained
      multiple sequence types (STs). Newport-I has only a few STs, unlike Newport-II or
      Newport-III, and has possibly emerged recently. Newport-I is more prevalent among
      humans in Europe than in North America, whereas Newport-II is preferentially
      associated with animals. Two STs of Newport-II encompassed all MDR-AmpC isolates,
      suggesting recent global spread after the acquisition of the bla(CMY-2) gene. In
      contrast, most Newport-III isolates were from humans in North America and were
      pansusceptible to antibiotics. Newport was intermediate in population structure
      to the other serovars, which varied from a single monophyletic lineage in S.
      Enteritidis or S. Typhimurium to four discrete lineages within S. Paratyphi B.
      Both mutation and homologous recombination are responsible for diversification
      within each of these lineages, but the relative frequencies differed with the
      lineage. We conclude that serovars of S. enterica provide a variety of different
      population structures.

PMID- 20935095
TI  - Regulation of CodY activity through modulation of intracellular branched-chain
      amino acid pools.
AB  - In several Gram-positive bacterial species, the global transcriptional regulatory
      protein CodY adjusts the expression of many metabolic genes, apparently in
      response to changes in the pools of specific metabolites, i.e., the branched
      chain amino acids (BCAAs) isoleucine, leucine, and valine (ILV) and the
      nucleoside triphosphate GTP. CodY not only responds to these metabolites as
      measured in vitro but also regulates the genes that direct their synthesis. We
      have constructed a set of strains lacking binding sites for the CodY protein in
      cis at loci coding for the ILV biosynthetic machinery, effectively overexpressing
      these genes in an attempt to modulate the ILV input signal to CodY. Metabolite
      analyses of strains derepressed for genes needed for ILV synthesis revealed more
      than a 6-fold increase in the valine pool and a 2-fold increase in the isoleucine
      and leucine pools. Accumulation of the branched-chain amino acids was accompanied
      by a 24-fold induction of the bkd operon (required for branched-chain fatty acid
      synthesis) and 6-fold hyperrepression of the CodY-regulated yhdG and yufN genes,
      demonstrating that CodY perceives intracellular fluctuations in at least one if
      its input signals. We conclude that changes in the rate of endogenous ILV
      synthesis serve as an important signal for CodY-mediated gene regulation.

PMID- 20935096
TI  - FliZ induces a kinetic switch in flagellar gene expression.
AB  - FliZ is an activator of class 2 flagellar gene expression in Salmonella enterica.
      To understand its role in flagellar assembly, we investigated how FliZ affects
      gene expression dynamics. We demonstrate that FliZ participates in a positive
      feedback loop that induces a kinetic switch in class 2 gene expression.

PMID- 20935097
TI  - Genome sequence of the polysaccharide-degrading, thermophilic anaerobe
      Spirochaeta thermophila DSM 6192.
AB  - Spirochaeta thermophila is a thermophilic, free-living anaerobe that is able to
      degrade various alpha- and beta-linked sugar polymers, including cellulose. We
      report here the complete genome sequence of S. thermophila DSM 6192, which is the
      first genome sequence of a thermophilic, free-living member of the Spirochaetes
      phylum. The genome data reveal a high density of genes encoding enzymes from more
      than 30 glycoside hydrolase families, a noncellulosomal enzyme system for
      (hemi)cellulose degradation, and indicate the presence of a novel carbohydrate
      binding module.

PMID- 20935098
TI  - Emergence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains producing high levels of persister
      cells in patients with cystic fibrosis.
AB  - The majority of cystic fibrosis (CF) patients succumb to a chronic infection of
      the airway with Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Paradoxically, pathogenic strains are
      often susceptible to antibiotics, but the infection cannot be eradicated with
      antimicrobial therapy. We find that in a majority of patients with airway
      infections, late isolates of P. aeruginosa produce increased levels of drug
      tolerant persister cells. The genomes of a clonal pair of early/late isolates
      from a single patient have been previously sequenced, and the late isolate
      (obtained at age 96 months) showed a 100-fold increase in persister levels. The
      96-month isolate carries a large number of mutations, including a mutation in
      mutS that confers a hypermutator phenotype. There is also a mutation in the mexZ
      repressor controlling the expression of the MexXY-OprM multidrug pump, which
      results in a moderate increase in the ofloxacin, carbenicillin, and tobramycin
      MICs. Knocking out the mexXY locus restored the resistance to that of the parent
      strain but did not affect the high levels of persisters formed by the 96-month
      isolate. This suggests that the late isolate is a high-persister (hip) mutant.
      Increased persister formation was observed in exponential phase, stationary
      phase, and biofilm populations of the 96-month isolate. Analysis of late isolates
      from 14 additional patients indicated that 10 of them are hip mutants. Most of
      these hip mutants did not have higher drug resistance. Increased persister
      formation appears to be their sole mechanism for surviving chemotherapy. Taken
      together, these findings suggest a link between persisters and recalcitrance of
      CF infection and identify an overlooked culprit-high-persister mutants producing
      elevated levels of drug-tolerant cells. Persisters may play a similarly critical
      role in the recalcitrance of other chronic infections.

PMID- 20935099
TI  - Shadowing the actions of a predator: backlit fluorescent microscopy reveals
      synchronous nonbinary septation of predatory Bdellovibrio inside prey and exit
      through discrete bdelloplast pores.
AB  - The Bdellovibrio are miniature "living antibiotic" predatory bacteria which
      invade, reseal, and digest other larger Gram-negative bacteria, including
      pathogens. Nutrients for the replication of Bdellovibrio bacteria come entirely
      from the digestion of the single invaded bacterium, now called a bdelloplast,
      which is bound by the original prey outer membrane. Bdellovibrio bacteria are
      efficient digesters of prey cells, yielding on average 4 to 6 progeny from
      digestion of a single prey cell of a genome size similar to that of the
      Bdellovibrio cell itself. The developmental intrabacterial cycle of Bdellovibrio
      is largely unknown and has never been visualized "live." Using the latest
      motorized xy stage with a very defined z-axis control and engineered
      periplasmically fluorescent prey allows, for the first time, accurate return and
      visualization without prey bleaching of developing Bdellovibrio cells using
      solely the inner resources of a prey cell over several hours. We show that
      Bdellovibrio bacteria do not follow the familiar pattern of bacterial cell
      division by binary fission. Instead, they septate synchronously to produce both
      odd and even numbers of progeny, even when two separate Bdellovibrio cells have
      invaded and develop within a single prey bacterium, producing two different
      amounts of progeny. Evolution of this novel septation pattern, allowing odd
      progeny yields, allows optimal use of the finite prey cell resources to produce
      maximal replicated, predatory bacteria. When replication is complete,
      Bdellovibrio cells exit the exhausted prey and are seen leaving via discrete
      pores rather than by breakdown of the entire outer membrane of the prey.

PMID- 20935100
TI  - Crl binds to domain 2 of sigma(S) and confers a competitive advantage on a
      natural rpoS mutant of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi.
AB  - The RpoS sigma factor (sigma(S)) is the master regulator of the bacterial
      response to a variety of stresses. Mutants in rpoS arise in bacterial populations
      in the absence of stress, probably as a consequence of a subtle balance between
      self-preservation and nutritional competence. We characterized here one natural
      rpoS mutant of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi (Ty19). We show that the rpoS
      allele of Ty19 (rpoS(Ty19)) led to the synthesis of a sigma(S)(Ty19) protein
      carrying a single glycine-to-valine substitution at position 282 in sigma(S)
      domain 4, which was much more dependent than the wild-type sigma(S) protein on
      activation by Crl, a chaperone-like protein that increases the affinity of
      sigma(S) for the RNA polymerase core enzyme (E). We used the bacterial adenylate
      cyclase two-hybrid system to demonstrate that Crl bound to residues 72 to 167 of
      sigma(S) domain 2 and that G282V substitution did not directly affect Crl
      binding. However, this substitution drastically reduced the ability of
      sigma(S)(Ty19) to bind E in a surface plasmon resonance assay, a defect partially
      rescued by Crl. The modeled structure of the Esigma(S) holoenzyme suggested that
      substitution G282V could directly disrupt a favorable interaction between
      sigma(S) and E. The rpoS(Ty19) allele conferred a competitive fitness when the
      bacterial population was wild type for crl but was outcompeted in Deltacrl
      populations. Thus, these results indicate that the competitive advantage of the
      rpoS(Ty19) mutant is dependent on Crl and suggest that crl plays a role in the
      appearance of rpoS mutants in bacterial populations.

PMID- 20935101
TI  - Stressosomes formed in Bacillus subtilis from the RsbR protein of Listeria
      monocytogenes allow sigma(B) activation following exposure to either physical or
      nutritional stress.
AB  - The general stress regulon of Bacillus subtilis is controlled by sigma(B), a
      transcription factor that is activated by physical or nutritional stress. In B.
      subtilis, each of these two stresses is communicated to the primary sigma(B)
      regulators by distinct pathways. Physical stress activation of sigma(B) involves
      a large-molecular-mass (>10(6)-Da) structure (stressosome) formed by one or more
      homologous proteins (RsbRA, -B, -C, and -D) onto which the pathway's principal
      regulators are bound. The RsbR proteins are thought to be potential receptors for
      stress signaling. Listeria monocytogenes encodes orthologs of sigma(B) and its
      principal regulators; however, unlike B. subtilis, L. monocytogenes appears to
      use the stressosome pathway for both physical and nutritional stress activation
      of sigma(B). In the current work, a B. subtilis strain that expressed L.
      monocytogenes rsbR (rsbR(Lm)) in lieu of B. subtilis rsbR (rsbR(Bs)) was created
      and was found to display the Listeria phenotype of sigma(B) activation following
      exposure to either physical or nutritional stress. B. subtilis expressing either
      the RsbR paralog rsbRC or rsbRD, but not rsbRA or rsbRB, as the sole source of
      RsbR also allowed sigma(B) induction following nutritional stress. It is unclear
      whether the nutritional stress induction seen in these strains is the result of a
      direct effect of nutritional stress on stressosome activity or a consequence of
      the background levels of sigma(B) activation in these strains and the effects of
      diminished ATP on the downstream phosphorylation reaction needed to reinactivate
      sigma(B).

PMID- 20935102
TI  - GlpR represses fructose and glucose metabolic enzymes at the level of
      transcription in the haloarchaeon Haloferax volcanii.
AB  - In this study, a DeoR/GlpR-type transcription factor was investigated for its
      potential role as a global regulator of sugar metabolism in haloarchaea, using
      Haloferax volcanii as a model organism. Common to a number of haloarchaea and
      Gram-positive bacterial species, the encoding glpR gene was chromosomally linked
      with genes of sugar metabolism. In H. volcanii, glpR was cotranscribed with the
      downstream phosphofructokinase (PFK; pfkB) gene, and the transcript levels of
      this glpR-pfkB operon were 10- to 20-fold higher when cells were grown on
      fructose or glucose than when they were grown on glycerol alone. GlpR was
      required for repression on glycerol based on significant increases in the levels
      of PFK (pfkB) transcript and enzyme activity detected upon deletion of glpR from
      the genome. Deletion of glpR also resulted in significant increases in both the
      activity and the transcript (kdgK1) levels of 2-keto-3-deoxy-D-gluconate kinase
      (KDGK), a key enzyme of haloarchaeal glucose metabolism, when cells were grown on
      glycerol, compared to the levels obtained for media with glucose. Promoter
      fusions to a beta-galactosidase bgaH reporter revealed that transcription of glpR
      pfkB and kdgK1 was modulated by carbon source and GlpR, consistent with
      quantitative reverse transcription-PCR (qRT-PCR) and enzyme activity assays. The
      results presented here provide genetic and biochemical evidence that GlpR
      controls both fructose and glucose metabolic enzymes through transcriptional
      repression of the glpR-pfkB operon and kdgK1 during growth on glycerol.

PMID- 20935105
TI  - Upper airway structure and body fat composition in obese children with
      obstructive sleep apnea syndrome.
AB  - RATIONALE: Mechanisms leading to obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) in obese
      children are not well understood. OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to
      determine anatomical risk factors associated with OSAS in obese children as
      compared with obese control subjects without OSAS. METHODS: Magnetic resonance
      imaging was used to determine the size of upper airway structure, and body fat
      composition. Paired analysis was used to compare between groups. Mixed effects
      regression models and conditional multiple logistic regression models were used
      to determine whether body mass index (BMI) Z-score was an effect modifier of each
      anatomic characteristic as it relates to OSAS. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: We
      studied 22 obese subjects with OSAS (12.5 +/- 2.8 yr; BMI Z-score, 2.4 +/- 0.4)
      and 22 obese control subjects (12.3 +/- 2.9 yr; BMI Z-score, 2.3 +/- 0.3). As
      compared with control subjects, subjects with OSAS had a smaller oropharynx (P <
      0.05) and larger adenoid (P < 0.01), tonsils (P < 0.05), and retropharyngeal
      nodes (P < 0.05). The size of lymphoid tissues correlated with severity of OSAS
      whereas BMI Z-score did not have a modifier effect on these tissues. Subjects
      with OSAS demonstrated increased size of parapharyngeal fat pads (P < 0.05) and
      abdominal visceral fat (P < 0.05). The size of these tissues did not correlate
      with severity of OSAS and BMI Z-score did not have a modifier effect on these
      tissues. CONCLUSIONS: Upper airway lymphoid hypertrophy is significant in obese
      children with OSAS. The lack of correlation of lymphoid tissue size with obesity
      suggests that this hypertrophy is caused by other mechanisms. Although the
      parapharyngeal fat pads and abdominal visceral fat are larger in obese children
      with OSAS we could not find a direct association with severity of OSAS or with
      obesity.

PMID- 20935106
TI  - Glycan shielding of the influenza virus hemagglutinin contributes to
      immunopathology in mice.
AB  - RATIONALE: Pandemic influenza viruses historically have had few potential sites
      for N-linked glycosylation on the globular head of the hemagglutinin (HA) on
      emergence from the avian reservoir. Gain of glycans within antigenic sites of the
      HA during adaptation to the mammalian lung facilitates immune evasion.
      OBJECTIVES: In this study, we sought to determine in mice how exposure to highly
      glycosylated viruses affects immunity to poorly glycosylated variants to model
      the emergence of a novel pandemic strain of a circulating subtype. METHODS: We
      engineered the 1968 H3N2 pandemic strain to express an additional two or four
      potential sites for glycosylation on the globular head of the HA. Mice were
      infected sequentially with highly glycosylated variants followed by poorly
      glycosylated variants and monitored for immune responses and disease.
      MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: The mutant with four additional glycosylation
      sites (+4 virus) elicited significantly lower antibody responses than the wild
      type or +2 virus and was unable to elicit neutralizing antibodies. Mice infected
      with the +4 virus and then challenged with wild-type virus were not protected
      from infection and experienced significant T-cell-mediated immunopathology.
      Infection with a recent seasonal H1N1 virus followed by infection with the 2009
      pandemic H1N1 elicited similar responses. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that
      sequential infection with viral strains with different surface glycosylation can
      prime the host for immunopathology if a neutralizing antibody response matching
      the T-cell response is not present. This mechanism may have contributed to severe
      disease in young adults infected with the 2009 pandemic virus.

PMID- 20935107
TI  - The role of acetaminophen and geohelminth infection on the incidence of wheeze
      and eczema: a longitudinal birth-cohort study.
AB  - RATIONALE: Acetaminophen has been hypothesized to increase the risk of asthma and
      allergic disease, and geohelminth infection to reduce the risk, but evidence from
      longitudinal cohort studies is lacking. OBJECTIVES: To investigate the
      independent effects of these exposures on the incidence of wheeze and eczema in a
      birth cohort. METHODS: In 2005-2006 a population-based cohort of 1,065 pregnant
      women from Butajira, Ethiopia, was established, to whom 1,006 live singleton
      babies were born. At ages 1 and 3, questionnaire data were collected on wheeze,
      eczema, child's use of acetaminophen, and various potential confounders, along
      with a stool sample for geohelminth analysis. Those without wheeze (n = 756) or
      eczema (n = 780) at age 1 were analyzed to determine the independent effects of
      geohelminth infection and acetaminophen use in the first year of life on the
      incidence of wheeze and eczema by age 3. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Wheeze
      and eczema incidence between the ages of 1 and 3 were reported in 7.7% (58 of
      756) and 7.3% (57 of 780) of children, respectively. Acetaminophen use was
      significantly associated with a dose-dependent increased risk of incident wheeze
      (adjusted odds ratio = 1.88 and 95% confidence interval 1.03-3.44 for one to
      three tablets and 7.25 and 2.02-25.95 for >= 4 tablets in the past month at age 1
      vs. never), but not eczema. Geohelminth infection was insufficiently prevalent
      (<4%) to compute estimates of effect. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest
      frequent acetaminophen use early in life increases the risk of new-onset wheeze,
      whereas the role of geohelminth infection on allergic disease incidence remains
      to be seen as the cohort matures.

PMID- 20935108
TI  - Radiographic emphysema predicts low bone mineral density in a tobacco-exposed
      cohort.
AB  - RATIONALE: Studies demonstrating an association between chronic obstructive
      pulmonary disease and low bone mineral density (BMD) implicate factors distinct
      from treatments and severity of lung disease in the pathogenesis of osteoporosis.
      Whereas emphysema has been independently associated with vascular disease and
      other comorbidities, its association with BMD has not been well studied.
      OBJECTIVES: We explored the associations of BMD with computed tomography (CT)
      measures of emphysema and other risk factors in current and former smokers.
      METHODS: One hundred ninety subjects completed a CT scan, pulmonary function
      testing, questionnaires, and dual x-ray absorptiometry measurements of hip and
      lumbar spine BMD. Subjects were classified as having normal BMD, osteopenia, or
      osteoporosis. Demographic, physiologic, and radiographic characteristics were
      compared and the association of BMD with radiographic emphysema, airflow
      obstruction, and osteoporosis risk factors was assessed. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN
      RESULTS: No difference existed in age, tobacco exposure, oral steroid use, or
      physical activity across BMD categories. Both osteopenia and osteoporosis were
      associated with the presence of airflow obstruction, inhaled corticosteroid use,
      and female sex, and demonstrated a significant relationship with the presence of
      visual emphysema (P = 0.0003). Quantitative emphysema, but not CT-measured
      indices of airway wall thickness, was inversely associated with BMD. Visual
      emphysema alone was a significant predictor of osteopenia/osteoporosis (odds
      ratio = 2.55; 95% confidence interval, 1.24-5.25) in a model including
      obstruction severity, age, sex, and inhaled and oral steroid use. CONCLUSIONS:
      Radiographic emphysema is a strong, independent predictor of low BMD in current
      and former smokers. This relationship suggests a common mechanistic link between
      emphysema and osteopenia/osteoporosis.

PMID- 20935109
TI  - EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibition worsens acute lung injury in mice with repairing
      airway epithelium.
AB  - RATIONALE: Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and its ligands play important
      roles in the regeneration of damaged epithelium and proliferation of various
      epithelial tumors. Although the EGFR-tyrosine kinase inhibitor gefitinib is
      effective against advanced non-small cell lung cancer with EGFR mutations, some
      patients treated with this agent develop severe acute interstitial pneumonia.
      Characteristics of patients who develop interstitial pneumonia include older age,
      smoking history, and preexisting interstitial pneumonia suggesting a connection
      between airway injury and alveolar dysfunction. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this
      study was to investigate the effects of gefitinib on airway repair after injury.
      METHODS: C57BL/6J mice received intraperitoneally naphthalene at Day 0. Gefitinib
      (20, 90, or 200 mg/kg) was given daily at Days--1 to 13 after naphthalene
      administration. Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and lung tissue were obtained at
      Days 7 and 14. Terminal bronchial epithelial cells from Days 7 and 14 were
      retrieved with laser capture microdissection, and gene expression analyzed using
      microarray. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Gefitinib treatment after naphthalene
      prolonged neutrophil sequestration and worsened acute lung injury. We found 17
      genes with more than a threefold increase in bronchiolar epithelial cells from
      mice treated with 200 mg/kg of gefitinib after naphthalene at Day 14 compared
      with those treated with naphthalene alone. Up-regulated genes included S100A8,
      S100A6, and StefinA3. These genes are known to participate in neutrophil
      sequestration, acute inflammation, and airway remodeling. CONCLUSIONS: EGFR
      inhibition in repairing airway epithelial cells modulated significant expression
      of genes involved in the airway microenvironment, prolonged inflammation, and
      potentiated acute lung injury.

PMID- 20935110
TI  - Clinical course and prediction of survival in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.
AB  - Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a progressive, life-threatening,
      interstitial lung disease of unknown etiology. The median survival of patients
      with IPF is only 2 to 3 years, yet some patients live much longer. Respiratory
      failure resulting from disease progression is the most frequent cause of death.
      To date we have limited information as to predictors of mortality in patients
      with IPF, and research in this area has failed to yield prediction models that
      can be reliably used in clinical practice to predict individual risk of
      mortality. The goal of this concise clinical review is to examine and summarize
      the current data on the clinical course, individual predictors of survival, and
      proposed clinical prediction models in IPF. Finally, we will discuss challenges
      and future directions related to predicting survival in IPF.

PMID- 20935111
TI  - Fetal glucocorticoid-regulated pathways are not affected by inhaled
      corticosteroid use for asthma during pregnancy.
AB  - RATIONALE: Inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) are currently advised for the control of
      asthma during pregnancy, despite the lack of evidence regarding potential
      systemic effects on maternal, placental, and fetal systems. OBJECTIVES: To
      determine maternal plasma concentrations of cortisol, estriol, osteocalcin, and
      corticotropin-releasing hormone in pregnant women with asthma (n = 156) and
      without asthma (n = 51). METHODS: During each trimester of pregnancy, the use and
      dose of ICS was recorded and blood samples were collected. Ultrasound was
      performed at 18 and 30 weeks' gestation, and birth weight and fetal sex were
      recorded at delivery. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Maternal hormone
      concentrations were not affected by the presence of asthma; however, they were
      inhibited by ICS use in a dose-dependent manner. This was dependent on fetal sex:
      in pregnancies with a female, ICS was inversely associated with maternal cortisol
      in first trimester and inversely associated with maternal osteocalcin in second
      and third trimester. When pregnant with a male, no effect of ICS dose was
      observed on maternal cortisol, estriol, or osteocalcin levels, whereas
      corticotropin-releasing hormone levels were increased with ICS use only in the
      first trimester. CONCLUSIONS: Maternal glucocorticoid-regulated systems appeared
      susceptible to ICS only when pregnant with a female. Fetal adrenal function
      appeared unaffected by ICS in pregnancies of both males and females. This
      provides clinically important information suggesting that ICS do not exert
      effects on glucocorticoid-regulated pathways in the fetus, and therefore are
      unlikely to contribute to adverse effects on fetal growth and development.

PMID- 20935112
TI  - Risk factors for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in a European cohort of
      young adults.
AB  - RATIONALE: Few studies have investigated the factors associated with the early
      inception of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). OBJECTIVES: We
      investigated COPD risk factors in an international cohort of young adults using
      different spirometric definitions of the disease. METHODS: We studied 4,636
      subjects without asthma who had prebronchodilator FEV(1)/FVC measured in the
      European Community Respiratory Health Survey both in 1991 to 1993 (when they were
      20-44 yr old) and in 1999 to 2002. COPD was defined according to the Global
      Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease fixed cut-off criterion
      (FEV(1)/FVC < 0.70), and two criteria based on the Quanjer and LuftiBus reference
      equations (FEV(1)/FVC less than lower limit of normal). COPD determinants were
      studied using two-level Poisson regression models. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS:
      COPD incidence ranged from 1.85 (lower limit of normal [Quanjer]) to 2.88 (Global
      Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease) cases/1,000/yr. Although about
      half of the cases had smoked less than 20 pack-years, smoking was the main risk
      factor for COPD, and it accounted for 29 to 39% of the new cases during the
      follow-up. Airway hyperresponsiveness was the second strongest risk factor (15
      17% of new cases). Other determinants were respiratory infections in childhood
      and a family history of asthma, whereas the role of sex, age, and of being
      underweight largely depended on the definition of COPD used. CONCLUSIONS: COPD
      may start early in life. Smoking prevention should be given the highest priority
      to reduce COPD occurrence. Airway hyperresponsiveness, a family history of
      asthma, and respiratory infections in childhood are other important determinants
      of COPD. We suggest the need for a definition of COPD that is not exclusively
      based on spirometry.

PMID- 20935113
TI  - Lung clearance index at 4 years predicts subsequent lung function in children
      with cystic fibrosis.
AB  - RATIONALE: The markedly improved life expectancy of children with cystic fibrosis
      (CF) has created a new challenge, as traditional markers of lung disease are
      frequently normal in young children. This prevents identification of individuals
      who may benefit from more aggressive therapy and also obliges large study numbers
      and prolonged duration for intervention studies. There is an urgent need for
      alternative surrogates that detect early lung disease and track through early
      childhood. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to determine whether multiple-breath
      washout (MBW) results at preschool age can predict subsequent abnormal lung
      function. METHODS: Preschool children (3-5 yr) with CF and healthy control
      subjects underwent spirometry and MBW with testing repeated during early school
      age (6-10 yr). Primary outcomes were FEV1 from spirometry and lung clearance
      index (LCI) from MBW. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Forty-eight children with CF
      and 45 healthy children completed testing. Thirty-five (73%) children with CF had
      abnormal LCI at preschool age, whereas only five had abnormal FEV1. The positive
      predictive value of preschool LCI for predicting any abnormal school-age result
      was 94%, with a negative predictive value of 62%. Only one child with abnormal
      FEV1 at school age had had a normal preschool LCI. In contrast, for preschool
      FEV1 the positive predictive value was 100%, but negative predictive value was
      only 25%. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that an abnormal preschool LCI
      predicts subsequent lung function abnormalities, whereas a normal preschool LCI
      usually remains normal. MBW has potential as a clinical and research outcome in
      young children with CF.

PMID- 20935114
TI  - Identification of periplakin as a new target for autoreactivity in idiopathic
      pulmonary fibrosis.
AB  - RATIONALE: Injury to alveolar epithelial cells is central to the pathophysiology
      of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). An abnormal autoimmune response directed
      against antigens of the alveolar epithelium may contribute to the disease.
      OBJECTIVES: To detect circulating autoantibodies (autoAbs) directed against
      epithelial structures. METHODS: We performed immunoblot by separating human
      placental amnion extract or alveolar epithelial cell (A549 cell line) proteins on
      polyacrylamide gels, blotting on nitrocellulose membranes, and incubating with
      serum from patients with IPF (n = 40) or healthy subjects (n = 40). Proteomic
      analysis and mass spectrometry characterized the target protein. Inhibition
      experiments performed with the correspondent recombinant protein confirmed our
      results. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: We identified IgG autoAbs recognizing a
      200-kD protein in the serum of patients with IPF. Proteomic analysis identified
      this protein as human periplakin (PPL), a component of desmosomes. Anti-PPL Abs
      were found by immunoblot in both serum and bronchoalveolar lavage in patients
      with IPF: 16/40 (40%) of them were positive versus none of the control subjects.
      Immunohistochemistry revealed that PPL was strongly expressed in bronchial and
      alveolar epithelium, but that PPL exhibited changes in intracellular localization
      among normal and fibrotic alveolar epithelium. In an alveolar epithelial wound
      repair assay, an anti-PPL IgG decreased cell migration. Recombinant PPL induced
      bronchoalveolar lavage T lymphocyte proliferation. Patients with IPF with anti
      PPL Abs had a more severe respiratory disease, despite no difference in survival.
      CONCLUSIONS: We found a new circulating autoAb directed against PPL in patients
      with IPF, associated with a more severe disease.

PMID- 20935115
TI  - Neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin at ICU admission predicts for acute
      kidney injury in adult patients.
AB  - RATIONALE: Measured at intensive care unit admission (ICU), the predictive value
      of neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) for severe acute kidney
      injury (AKI) is unclear. OBJECTIVES: To assess the ability of plasma and urine
      NGAL to predict severe AKI in adult critically ill patients. METHODS: Prospective
      cohort study consisting of 632 consecutive patients. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN
      RESULTS: Samples were analyzed by Triage immunoassay for NGAL expression. The
      primary outcome measure was occurrence of AKI based on Risk-Injury-Failure
      (RIFLE) classification during the first week of ICU stay. A total of 171 (27%)
      patients developed AKI. Of these 67, 48, and 56 were classified as RIFLE R, I,
      and F, respectively. Plasma and urine NGAL values at ICU admission were
      significantly related to AKI severity. The areas under the receiver operating
      characteristic curves for plasma and urine NGAL were for RIFLE R (0.77 +/- 0.05
      and 0.80 +/- 0.04, respectively), RIFLE I (0.80 +/- 0.06 and 0.85 +/- 0.04,
      respectively), and RIFLE F (0.86 +/- 0.06 and 0.88 +/- 0.04, respectively) and
      comparable with those of admission estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR)
      (0.84 +/- 0.04, 0.87 +/- 0.04, and 0.92 +/- 0.04, respectively). Plasma and urine
      NGAL significantly contributed to the accuracy of the "most efficient clinical
      model" with the best four variables including eGFR, improving the area under the
      curve for RIFLE F prediction to 0.96 +/- 0.02 and 0.95 +/- 0.01. Serial NGAL
      measurements did not provide additional information for the prediction of RIFLE
      F. CONCLUSIONS: NGAL measured at ICU admission predicts the development of severe
      AKI similarly to serum creatinine-derived eGFR. However, NGAL adds significant
      accuracy to this prediction in combination with eGFR alone or with other clinical
      parameters and has an interesting predictive value in patients with normal serum
      creatinine.

PMID- 20935116
TI  - Development of a sequence-characterized amplified region marker-targeted
      quantitative PCR assay for strain-specific detection of Oenococcus oeni during
      wine malolactic fermentation.
AB  - Control over malolactic fermentation (MLF) is a difficult goal in winemaking and
      needs rapid methods to monitor Oenococcus oeni malolactic starters (MLS) in a
      stressful environment such as wine. In this study, we describe a novel
      quantitative PCR (QPCR) assay enabling the detection of an O. oeni strain during
      MLF without culturing. O. oeni strain LB221 was used as a model to develop a
      strain-specific sequence-characterized amplified region (SCAR) marker derived
      from a discriminatory OPA20-based randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) band.
      The 5' and 3' flanking regions and the copy number of the SCAR marker were
      characterized using inverse PCR and Southern blotting, respectively. Primer pairs
      targeting the SCAR sequence enabled strain-specific detection without cross
      amplification of other O. oeni strains or wine species of lactic acid bacteria
      (LAB), acetic acid bacteria (AAB), and yeasts. The SCAR-QPCR assay was linear
      over a range of cell concentrations (7 log units) and detected as few as 2.2 *
      10(2) CFU per ml of red wine with good quantification effectiveness, as shown by
      the correlation of QPCR and plate counting results. Therefore, the cultivation
      independent monitoring of a single O. oeni strain in wine based on a SCAR marker
      represents a rapid and effective strain-specific approach. This strategy can be
      adopted to develop easy and rapid detection techniques for monitoring the
      implantation of inoculated O. oeni MLS on the indigenous LAB population, reducing
      the risk of unsuccessful MLF.

PMID- 20935117
TI  - Variability of Bartonella genotypes among small mammals in Spain.
AB  - In order to study which Bartonella genotypes are circulating among small mammals
      in Spain, we analyzed the spleens of 395 animals from three different areas-247
      animals from the Basque Country (northern Spain), 121 animals from Catalonia
      (northeastern Spain), and 27 animals from Madrid (central Spain)-by a triplex PCR
      combined with a reverse line blot previously described by our group. The
      prevalence of Bartonella was 26.8% (106/395), and in 4.8% (19/395) of the animals
      more than one Bartonella genotype was detected. The study of gltA and the
      intergenic transcribed spacer in the positive samples demonstrated a large
      diversity, allowing the assignation of them into 22 genotypes. The most prevalent
      genotypes were 2 and 3, which are closely related to Bartonella taylorii. In
      addition, nine genotypes were associated with specific mammal species. Genotypes
      close to the zoonotic Bartonella grahamii, Bartonella elizabethae, and Bartonella
      rochalimae were also detected. Ten genotypes showed a percentage of similarity
      with known Bartonella species lower than 96%, suggesting the presence of
      potential new species. Further studies of the impact of these pathogens on human
      health and especially in cases of febrile illness in Spain are strongly
      recommended. Furthermore, our method has been updated with 21 new probes in a
      final panel of 36, which represents a robust molecular tool for clinical and
      environmental Bartonella studies.

PMID- 20935118
TI  - Escherichia coli binary culture engineered for direct fermentation of
      hemicellulose to a biofuel.
AB  - Metabolic engineering has created several Escherichia coli biocatalysts for
      production of biofuels and other useful molecules. However, the inability of
      these biocatalysts to directly use polymeric substrates necessitates costly
      pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis prior to fermentation. Consolidated
      bioprocessing has the potential to simplify the process by combining enzyme
      production, hydrolysis, and fermentation into a single step but requires a
      fermenting organism to multitask by producing both necessary enzymes and target
      molecules. We demonstrate here a binary strategy for consolidated bioprocessing
      of xylan, a complex substrate requiring six hemicellulases for complete
      hydrolysis. An integrated modular approach was used to design the two strains to
      function cooperatively in the process of transforming xylan into ethanol. The
      first strain was engineered to coexpress two hemicellulases. Recombinant enzymes
      were secreted to the growth medium by a method of lpp deletion with over 90%
      efficiency. Secreted enzymes hydrolyzed xylan into xylooligosaccharides, which
      were taken in by the second strain, designed to use the xylooligosaccharides for
      ethanol production. Cocultivation of the two strains converted xylan
      hemicellulose to ethanol with a yield about 55% of the theoretical value.
      Inclusion of other three hemicellulases improved the ethanol yield to 70%.
      Analysis of the culture broth showed that xylooligosaccharides with four or more
      xylose units were not utilized, suggesting that improving the use of higher
      xyloogligomers should be the focus in future efforts. This is the first
      demonstration of an engineered binary culture for consolidated bioprocessing of
      xylan. The modular design should allow the strategy to be adopted for a broad
      range of biofuel and biorefinery products.

PMID- 20935119
TI  - Evidence of distinct populations and specific subpopulations within the species
      Oenococcus oeni.
AB  - Among the lactic acid bacteria (LAB) present in the oenological microbial
      ecosystem, Oenococcus oeni, an acidophilic lactic acid bacterium, is essential
      during winemaking. It outclasses all other bacterial species during malolactic
      fermentation (MLF). Oenological performances, such as malic acid degradation rate
      and sensorial impact, vary significantly according to the strain. The genetic
      diversity of the O. oeni species was evaluated using a multilocus sequence typing
      (MLST) scheme. Seven housekeeping genes were sequenced for a collection of 258
      strains that had been isolated all over the world (particularly Burgundy,
      Champagne, and Aquitaine, France, Chile, South Africa, and Italy) and in several
      wine types (red wines, white wines, and champagne) and cider. The allelic
      diversity was high, with an average of 20.7 alleles per locus, many of them being
      rare alleles. The collection comprised 127 sequence types, suggesting an
      important genotypic diversity. The neighbor-joining phylogenetic tree constructed
      from the concatenated sequence of the seven housekeeping genes showed two major
      phylogenetic groups, named A and B. One unique strain isolated from cider
      composed a third group, rooting the phylogenetic tree. However, all other strains
      isolated from cider were in group B. Eight phylogenetic subgroups were
      statistically differentiated and could be delineated by the analysis of only 32
      mutations instead of the 600 mutations observed in the concatenated sequence of
      the seven housekeeping genes. Interestingly, in group A, several phylogenetic
      subgroups were composed mostly of strains coming from a precise geographic
      origin. Three subgroups were identified, composed of strains from Chile, South
      Africa, and eastern France.

PMID- 20935120
TI  - Chimeric lactase capable of spontaneous and strong immobilization on cellulose
      and development of a continuous-flow system for lactose hydrolysis at high
      temperatures.
AB  - Recombinant plasmids containing fusion proteins composed of two different modules
      were constructed and expressed in Escherichia coli. The modules encoded the
      lactase LacA (LacZ) from the thermophilic bacterium Thermoanaerobacter
      ethanolicus and the cellulase CelD, a cellulose-binding module (CBM) from
      Anaerocellum thermophilum. The CelD CBM provides a spontaneous and strong
      sorption of the fusion proteins onto a cellulose carrier. The enzymatic
      activities of both the free LacA protein and LacA-CelD CBM fusion proteins
      immobilized onto the cellulose carrier were assessed. The LacA activity of the
      fusion protein was dependent upon its position with respect to the CBM. The
      highest level of lactase activity and stability was observed when the lactase
      domain was localized at its N terminus. A continuous-flow column reactor of
      lactase immobilized on a cellulose carrier was constructed, and its activity was
      assessed. The lactose hydrolysis rate for a 150 mM (5%) solution at a flow rate
      of 1 reactor volume per min was 75%, which is a value optimal for further whey
      transformation into glucose/galactose syrup.

PMID- 20935121
TI  - Repression of antibiotic production and sporulation in Streptomyces coelicolor by
      overexpression of a TetR family transcriptional regulator.
AB  - The overexpression of a regulatory gene of the TetR family (SCO3201) originating
      either from Streptomyces lividans or from Streptomyces coelicolor was shown to
      strongly repress antibiotic production (calcium-dependent antibiotic [CDA],
      undecylprodigiosin [RED], and actinorhodin [ACT]) of S. coelicolor and of the ppk
      mutant strain of S. lividans. Curiously, the overexpression of this gene also had
      a strong inhibitory effect on the sporulation process of S. coelicolor but not on
      that of S. lividans. SCO3201 was shown to negatively regulate its own
      transcription, and its DNA binding motif was found to overlap its -35 promoter
      sequence. The interruption of this gene in S. lividans or S. coelicolor did not
      lead to any obvious phenotypes, indicating that when overexpressed SCO3201 likely
      controls the expression of target genes of other TetR regulators involved in the
      regulation of the metabolic and morphological differentiation process in S.
      coelicolor. The direct and functional interaction of SCO3201 with the promoter
      region of scbA, a gene under the positive control of the TetR-like regulator,
      ScbR, was indeed demonstrated by in vitro as well as in vivo approaches.

PMID- 20935122
TI  - Metabolic engineering of Corynebacterium glutamicum for 2-ketoisovalerate
      production.
AB  - 2-Ketoisovalerate is used as a therapeutic agent, and a 2-ketoisovalerate
      producing organism may serve as a platform for products deriving from this 2-keto
      acid. We engineered the wild type of Corynebacterium glutamicum for the growth
      decoupled production of 2-ketoisovalerate from glucose by deletion of the aceE
      gene encoding the E1p subunit of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex, deletion of
      the transaminase B gene ilvE, and additional overexpression of the ilvBNCD genes,
      encoding the l-valine biosynthetic enzymes acetohydroxyacid synthase (AHAS),
      acetohydroxyacid isomeroreductase, and dihydroxyacid dehydratase. 2
      Ketoisovalerate production was further improved by deletion of the
      pyruvate:quinone oxidoreductase gene pqo. In fed-batch fermentations at high cell
      densities, the newly constructed strains produced up to 188 +/- 28 mM (21.8 +/-
      3.2 g liter(-1)) 2-ketoisovalerate and showed a product yield of about 0.47 +/-
      0.05 mol per mol (0.3 +/- 0.03 g per g) of glucose and a volumetric productivity
      of about 4.6 +/- 0.6 mM (0.53 +/- 0.07 g liter(-1)) 2-ketoisovalerate per h in
      the overall production phase. In studying the influence of the three branched
      chain 2-keto acids 2-ketoisovalerate, 2-ketoisocaproate, and 2-keto-3
      methylvalerate on the AHAS activity, we observed a competitive inhibition of the
      AHAS enzyme by 2-ketoisovalerate.

PMID- 20935123
TI  - Proposed modifications of Environmental Protection Agency Method 1601 for
      detection of coliphages in drinking water, with same-day fluorescence-based
      detection and evaluation by the performance-based measurement system and
      alternative test protocol validation approaches.
AB  - Coliphages are microbial indicators specified in the Ground Water Rule that can
      be used to monitor for potential fecal contamination of drinking water. The Total
      Coliform Rule specifies coliform and Escherichia coli indicators for municipal
      water quality testing; thus, coliphage indicator use is less common and advances
      in detection methodology are less frequent. Coliphages are viral structures and,
      compared to bacterial indicators, are more resistant to disinfection and diffuse
      further distances from pollution sources. Therefore, coliphage presence may serve
      as a better predictor of groundwater quality. This study describes Fast Phage, a
      16- to 24-h presence/absence modification of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
      (EPA) Method 1601 for detection of coliphages in 100 ml water. The objective of
      the study is to demonstrate that the somatic and male-specific coliphage
      modifications provide results equivalent to those of Method 1601. Five
      laboratories compared the modifications, featuring same-day fluorescence-based
      prediction, to Method 1601 by using the performance-based measurement system
      (PBMS) criterion. This requires a minimum 50% positive response in 10 replicates
      of 100-ml water samples at coliphage contamination levels of 1.3 to 1.5 PFU/100
      ml. The laboratories showed that Fast Phage meets PBMS criteria with 83.5 to
      92.1% correlation of the same-day rapid fluorescence-based prediction with the
      next-day result. Somatic coliphage PBMS data are compared to manufacturer
      development data that followed the EPA alternative test protocol (ATP) validation
      approach. Statistical analysis of the data sets indicates that PBMS utilizes
      fewer samples than does the ATP approach but with similar conclusions. Results
      support testing the coliphage modifications by using an EPA-approved national
      PBMS approach with collaboratively shared samples.

PMID- 20935124
TI  - Synthetic riboswitches that induce gene expression in diverse bacterial species.
AB  - We developed a series of ligand-inducible riboswitches that control gene
      expression in diverse species of Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria,
      including human pathogens that have few or no previously reported inducible
      expression systems. We anticipate that these riboswitches will be useful tools
      for genetic studies in a wide range of bacteria.

PMID- 20935125
TI  - Identification of synthetic inducers and inhibitors of the quorum-sensing
      regulator LasR in Pseudomonas aeruginosa by high-throughput screening.
AB  - We report the screening of 16,000 synthetic compounds for induction and
      inhibition of quorum sensing in a Pseudomonas putida N-acylated l-homoserine
      lactone (AHL) sensor strain engineered with the LasR transcriptional activator.
      LasR controls virulence gene expression in the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas
      aeruginosa and is of significant interest as a therapeutic target. Nine compounds
      that inhibit and 14 compounds that induce LasR activity were identified in our
      high-throughput screen.

PMID- 20935126
TI  - Functional characterization of replication and stability factors of an
      incompatibility group P-1 plasmid from Xylella fastidiosa.
AB  - Xylella fastidiosa strain riv11 harbors a 25-kbp plasmid (pXF-RIV11) belonging to
      the IncP-1 incompatibility group. Replication and stability factors of pXF-RIV11
      were identified and used to construct plasmids able to replicate in X. fastidiosa
      and Escherichia coli. Replication in X. fastidiosa required a 1.4-kbp region from
      pXF-RIV11 containing a replication initiation gene (trfA) and the adjacent origin
      of DNA replication (oriV). Constructs containing trfA and oriV from pVEIS01, a
      related IncP-1 plasmid of the earthworm symbiont Verminephrobacter eiseniae, also
      were competent for replication in X. fastidiosa. Constructs derived from pXF
      RIV11 but not pVEIS01 replicated in Agrobacterium tumefaciens, Xanthomonas
      campestris, and Pseudomonas syringae. Although plasmids bearing replication
      elements from pXF-RIV11 or pVEIS01 could be maintained in X. fastidiosa under
      antibiotic selection, removal of selection resulted in plasmid extinction after 3
      weekly passages. Addition of a toxin-antitoxin addiction system (pemI/pemK) from
      pXF-RIV11 improved plasmid stability such that >80 to 90% of X. fastidiosa cells
      retained plasmid after 5 weekly passages in the absence of antibiotic selection.
      Expression of PemK in E. coli was toxic for cell growth, but toxicity was
      nullified by coexpression of PemI antitoxin. Deletion of N-terminal sequences of
      PemK containing the conserved motif RGD abolished toxicity. In vitro assays
      revealed a direct interaction of PemI with PemK, suggesting that antitoxin
      activity of PemI is mediated by toxin sequestration. IncP-1 plasmid replication
      and stability factors were added to an E. coli cloning vector to constitute a
      stable 6.0-kbp shuttle vector (pXF20-PEMIK) suitable for use in X. fastidiosa.

PMID- 20935127
TI  - Adaptation to cold and proteomic responses of the psychrotrophic biopreservative
      Lactococcus piscium strain CNCM I-4031.
AB  - There is considerable interest in the use of psychrotrophic bacteria for food
      biopreservation and in the understanding of cold adaptation mechanisms. The
      psychrotrophic biopreservative Lactococcus piscium strain CNCM I-4031 was studied
      for its growth behavior and proteomic responses after cold shock and during cold
      acclimation. Growth kinetics highlighted the absence of growth latency after cold
      shock, suggesting a very high promptness in cold adaptation, a behavior that has
      never been described before for lactic acid bacteria (LAB). A comparative
      proteomic analysis was applied with two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE),
      and upregulated proteins were identified by liquid chromatography-tandem mass
      spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Both cold shock and cold acclimation triggered the
      upregulation of proteins involved in general and oxidative stress responses and
      fatty acid and energetic metabolism. However, 2-DE profiles and upregulated
      proteins were different under both conditions, suggesting a sequence of steps in
      cold adaptation. In addition, the major 7-kDa Csp protein was identified in the
      L. piscium CNCM I-4031 genome but was not cold regulated. The implication of the
      identified cold shock proteins and cold acclimation proteins in efficient cold
      adaptation, the possible regulation of a histidyl phosphocarrier protein, and the
      roles of a constitutive major 7-kDa Csp are discussed.

PMID- 20935128
TI  - Detection of saxitoxin-producing cyanobacteria and Anabaena circinalis in
      environmental water blooms by quantitative PCR.
AB  - Saxitoxins (STXs) are carbamate alkaloid neurotoxins produced by marine "red
      tide" dinoflagellates and several species of freshwater filamentous
      cyanobacteria, including Anabaena circinalis, Aphanizomenon spp., Lyngbya wollei,
      and Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii. A specific quantitative PCR (qPCR) method
      based on SYBR green chemistry was developed to quantify saxitoxin-producing
      Anabaena circinalis cyanobacteria, which are major bloom-forming freshwater
      cyanobacteria. The aim of this study was to infer the potential toxigenicity of
      samples by determining the copy number of a unique and unusual polyketide
      synthase (PKS) sequence (sxtA) in the STX biosynthesis gene cluster identified in
      cyanobacteria. Our qPCR approach was applied to water samples collected from
      different Australian lakes, dams, and rivers. The STX concentration and
      cyanobacterial cell density of these blooms were also determined by high-pressure
      liquid chromatography (HPLC) and microscopic cell counting, respectively. STX
      concentrations correlated positively with STX gene copy numbers, indicating that
      the latter can be used as a measure of potential toxigenicity in Anabaena
      circinalis and possibly other cyanobacterial blooms. The qPCR method targeting
      STX genes can also be employed for both monitoring and ecophysiological studies
      of toxic Anabaena circinalis blooms and potentially several other STX-producing
      cyanobacteria.

PMID- 20935129
TI  - Development of a versatile procedure based on natural transformation for marker
      free targeted genetic modification in Streptococcus thermophilus.
AB  - A versatile natural transformation protocol was established for and successfully
      applied to 18 of the 19 Streptococcus thermophilus strains tested. The efficiency
      of the protocol enables the use of in vitro-amplified mutagenesis fragments to
      perform deletion or insertion of large genetic fragments. Depending on the
      phenotype linked to the mutation, markerless mutants can be selected either in
      two steps, i.e., resistance marker insertion and excision using an adapted Cre
      loxP system, or in one step using a powerful positive screening procedure as
      illustrated here for histidine prototrophy.

PMID- 20935130
TI  - Identification of DysI, the immunity factor of the streptococcal bacteriocin
      dysgalacticin.
AB  - DysI is identified as the protein that confers specific immunity to
      dysgalacticin, a plasmid-encoded streptococcal bacteriocin. dysI is transcribed
      as part of the copG-repB-dysI replication-associated operon. DysI appears to
      function at the membrane level to prevent the inhibitory effects of dysgalacticin
      on glucose transport, membrane integrity, and intracellular ATP content.

PMID- 20935131
TI  - Impact of metal pollution and Thlaspi caerulescens growth on soil microbial
      communities.
AB  - Soil microorganisms drive critical functions in plant-soil systems. As such,
      various microbial properties have been proposed as indicators of soil
      functioning, making them potentially useful in evaluating the recovery of
      polluted soils via phytoremediation strategies. To evaluate microbial responses
      to metal phytoextraction using hyperaccumulators, a microcosm experiment was
      carried out to study the impacts of Zn and/or Cd pollution and Thlaspi
      caerulescens growth on key soil microbial properties: basal respiration;
      substrate-induced respiration (SIR); bacterial community structure as assessed by
      PCR-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE); community sizes of total
      bacteria, ammonia-oxidizing bacteria, and chitin-degrading bacteria as assessed
      by quantitative PCR (Q-PCR); and functional gene distributions as determined by
      functional gene arrays (GeoChip). T. caerulescens proved to be suitable for Zn
      and Cd phytoextraction: shoots accumulated up to 8,211 and 1,763 mg kg(-1) (dry
      weight [DW]) of Zn and Cd, respectively. In general, Zn pollution led to
      decreased levels of basal respiration and ammonia-oxidizing bacteria, while T.
      caerulescens growth increased the values of substrate-induced respiration (SIR)
      and total bacteria. In soils polluted with 1,000 mg Zn kg(-1) and 250 mg Cd kg(
      1) (DW), soil bacterial community profiles and the distribution of microbial
      functional genes were most affected by the presence of metals. Metal-polluted and
      planted soils had the highest percentage of unique genes detected via the GeoChip
      (35%). It was possible to track microbial responses to planting with T.
      caerulescens and to gain insight into the effects of metal pollution on soilborne
      microbial communities.

PMID- 20935132
TI  - Development of a cryogenic stage for an ion-milling instrument.
AB  - A specimen-cooling device has been designed, manufactured and integrated into a
      commercial ion-milling instrument for transmission electron microscopy. The
      instrument enables us to prepare section specimens of tin-plated Cu without
      forming intermetallic compound particles and/or voids. The results show that
      cooling of specimen during ion-milling process is necessary for fine structure
      investigations of low melting temperature materials.

PMID- 20935133
TI  - Global cancer incidence and mortality caused by behavior and infection.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The objective is to systematically estimate the current cancer
      incidence and mortality from the six leading cancer types globally and by sub
      regions resulting from exposure to known risk factors such as tobacco use,
      elevated body weight, alcohol consumption, inadequate physical activity,
      unhealthy diet and infections. METHODS: Cancer incidence, mortality and burden of
      disease caused by the main cancer risk factors were calculated using comparative
      risk assessment methods and updated data on mortality and risks. RESULTS: Lung
      cancer was the most common cancer in men and breast cancer the most common cancer
      in women, both in terms of incidence and mortality. The five leading behavioral
      and dietary risks--high body mass index, low fruit and vegetable intake, physical
      inactivity, tobacco use and alcohol use--were responsible for 24% of new cancer
      cases and 30% of cancer deaths. Cancers with the largest proportions attributable
      to preventable risk factors were cervical cancer (100%) and lung cancer (71%).
      Seventy percent of liver cancers and 60% of stomach cancers were due to
      infectious agents. A higher proportion of cancer deaths was attributed to
      infections in low- and middle-income than in high-income countries. CONCLUSIONS:
      The cancer burden is driven by changes in exposure to influential risk factors
      and can be influenced by preventive interventions aimed at reducing these
      exposures.

PMID- 20935134
TI  - Performance of finishing beef steers in response to anabolic implant and
      zilpaterol hydrochloride supplementation.
AB  - Our objectives were to evaluate the dose/payout pattern of trenbolone acetate
      (TBA) and estradiol-17beta (E(2)) implants and feeding of zilpaterol
      hydrochloride (ZH) on performance and carcass characteristics of finishing beef
      steers. A randomized complete block design was used with a 3 * 2 factorial
      arrangement of treatments. British * Continental steers (n = 168; initial BW =
      362 kg) were blocked by BW and allotted randomly to 42 pens (7 pens/treatment; 6
      pens/block; 4 steers/pen). The main effects of treatment were implant [no implant
      (NI); Revalor-S (REV-S; 120 mg of TBA + 24 mg of E(2)); and Revalor-XS (REV-X;
      200 mg of TBA + 40 mg of E(2))] and ZH (0 or 8.3 mg/kg of DM for 20 d with a 3-d
      withdrawal before slaughter). Blocks were split into 2 groups, and block groups
      were fed for either 153 or 174 d. No implant * ZH interactions were noted for
      cumulative performance data. Overall, shrunk final BW (567, 606, and 624 kg for
      NI, REV-S, and REV-X, respectively), ADG (1.25, 1.51, and 1.60 kg), and G:F
      (0.14, 0.16, and 0.17) increased (P < 0.05) as TBA and E(2) dose increased.
      Implanting increased (P < 0.05) DMI, but DMI did not differ (P > 0.10) between
      REV-S and REV-X (8.8 for NI vs. 9.4 kg/d for the 2 implants). From d 1 to 112 of
      the feeding period, implanting increased (P < 0.05) ADG and G:F, but REV-S and
      REV-X did not differ (P > 0.10). From d 112 to end, ADG increased by 19% (P <
      0.05) and G:F was 18% greater (P < 0.05) for REV-X vs. REV-S. Carcass-adjusted
      final BW (29-kg difference), ADG (0.2-kg/d difference), and G:F (0.02 difference)
      were increased (P < 0.05) by ZH, but daily DMI was not affected by feeding ZH.
      Hot carcass weight was increased (P < 0.05) by ZH (19-kg difference) and implant,
      with REV-X resulting in the greatest response (HCW of 376 for NI vs. 404 and 419
      kg for REV-S and REV-X, respectively; P < 0.05). An implant * ZH interaction (P =
      0.05) occurred for dressing percent (DP). Without ZH, implanting increased DP,
      but DP did not differ (P > 0.10) between REV-X and REV-S. With ZH, REV-X
      increased (1.7%; P < 0.05) DP vs. NI and REV-S. Marbling score, 12th-rib fat, and
      KPH were not affected (P > 0.10) by implant or ZH. Overall, treatment increased
      steer performance and HCW in an additive fashion, suggesting different mechanisms
      of action for ZH and steroidal implants. In addition, a greater dose of TBA +
      E(2) and extended payout improved steer performance and HCW.

PMID- 20935135
TI  - Physiology and endocrinology symposium: evidence that oviduct secretions
      influence sperm function: a retrospective view for livestock.
AB  - The mammalian oviduct has long been recognized as an organ essential for
      successful reproduction. Bovine, ovine, porcine, and equine animal models have
      offered clear advantages for oviduct study related to gamete physiology,
      fertilization, and early embryonic development. Livestock species are amenable to
      surgical alteration of the reproductive tract, estrous cycle manipulation, gamete
      cryopreservation, and AI, as well as in vitro fertilization and embryo
      production. Although most reproductive technology developed for livestock was
      intended to benefit production animal agriculture, these techniques are a
      treasure trove of tools for researchers to better understand how the oviduct
      influences gamete function. Oviduct secretions obtained from in vitro tissue
      cultures or via indwelling oviduct catheters have been used for analyses to
      define the protein, lipid, carbohydrate, enzyme, and electrolyte compositions of
      the secretions during the estrous cycle or in response to hormone treatment.
      Oviduct secretions or components purified from them have also been used in in
      vitro assays to assess their ability to bind to sperm, influence sperm viability,
      motility, sperm capacitation, the acrosome reaction, sperm-egg binding, and egg
      penetration, as well as subsequent embryonic development. Compelling data have
      emerged which show that the composition of secretions differs during the estrous
      cycle and that their composition differs whether they originate from the
      ampullary or isthmic regions of the oviduct. These differences in composition are
      functionally relevant and associated with different responses by sperm. Evidence
      indicatess that oviduct-specific glycoproteins, glycosaminoglycans,
      carbohydrates, norepinepherine, catecholamines, heat-shock protein, and
      osteopontin are components of the oviductal milieu that have the capacity to
      modulate sperm function. Future research on the livestock oviduct will likely
      define the role that oviduct secretions have in modulating sperm function and how
      these modifications ultimately affect fertilization and embryo development.

PMID- 20935136
TI  - Growth and Development Symposium: promoting healthier humans through healthier
      livestock: animal agriculture enters the metagenomics era.
AB  - The priorities of public health and agricultural sciences intersect through a
      shared objective to foster better human health. Enhancements in food quality and
      reductions in the environmental effects of modern agriculture represent 2
      distinct paths through which animal sciences can contribute to the cause of
      public health. Recent developments in the study of human-associated microbial
      communities (microbiotas), notably in association with disease, indicate that
      better understanding of the microbial ecology of livestock can contribute to
      achieving the goals of better foods and a cleaner environment. Culture
      independent microbiological technologies now permit comprehensive study of
      complex microbial communities in their natural environments. Microbiotas
      associated with both humans and animals provide myriad beneficial services to
      their hosts that, if lost or diminished, could compromise host health.
      Dysfunctional microbial communities have been noted in several human conditions,
      including inflammatory bowel disease, obesity, and antibiotic-associated
      diarrhea. Examination of the mechanisms by which the human microbiota influences
      health and disease susceptibility can inform similar studies of host-microbe
      function in the animal sciences. Insights gained from human studies indicate
      strategies to raise not only healthier livestock, through selective manipulation
      of microbial communities, but also healthier humans.

PMID- 20935137
TI  - Effect of water and feed withdrawal and health status on blood and serum
      components, body weight loss, and meat and carcass characteristics of Holstein
      slaughter cows.
AB  - During marketing, cattle may be exposed to periods of water deprivation. The
      impact of water and feed access and health status on the physiological well-being
      and carcass characteristics of Holstein slaughter cows during preslaughter
      marketing was studied through analysis of serum components, BW loss percentage,
      and fresh meat composition. Ninety-one multiparous Holstein cows (609 +/- 89 kg
      mean BW, 2.9 +/- 0.5 mean BCS, varying stage of lactation) were purchased over 3
      wk in 3 groups (n = 31, 29, and 31) at a terminal market in central Wisconsin.
      Each cow was screened to determine health status (sick or not sick) and randomly
      assigned to 1 of 3 water and feed withdrawal treatment pens (AL, ad libitum
      access to water for 36 h; 18H, 18 h of ad libitum access to water followed by 18
      h of water withdrawal; 36H, 36 h of water withdrawal; all 3 treatments included
      36 h of feed withdrawal) in a randomized complete block arrangement with repeated
      measures for serum components. Blood samples were collected by tail venipuncture
      at 0, 9, 18, 27, and 36 h of each treatment. Ambient temperatures were 1.9 +/-
      6.2 degrees C during the trial period, which occurred over a 3-wk period in March
      and April 2007 near Arlington, WI. No difference (P > 0.05) was observed in mean
      serum cortisol in AL (18.41 +/- 2.17 ng/mL) or 36H (22.98 +/- 2.17 ng/mL). Mean
      serum glucose was greater (P < 0.05) in 36H pens (78.15 +/- 0.77 mg/dL) than AL
      (75.91 +/- 0.77 mg/dL). Mean serum creatinine was greater (P < 0.05) in 36H pens
      (0.71 +/- 0.03 mg/dL) than AL (0.60 +/- 0.03 mg/dL). The 36H pens also displayed
      increased (P < 0.05) serum albumin, anion gap, Ca, Cl, Na, cholesterol, and
      aspartate aminotransferase over AL. Greater (P < 0.05) mean percentage BW loss
      was observed in 36H pens (5.2 +/- 0.6%) than AL (3.1 +/- 0.6%). Mean muscle
      protein (%) was greater (P < 0.05) in 36H (22.2 +/- 0.4%) than 18H (21.3 +/-
      0.4%). Mean muscle moisture (%) was greater (P < 0.05) in AL and 18H (75.3 +/-
      0.4% and 75.2 +/- 0.4%) than 36H. Mean 24-h pH values were 5.92 (AL), 5.92 (18H),
      and 5.81 (36H; SE = 0.04) and were not different (P < 0.05). Observed pH and
      color values indicated a borderline dark-cutter state across all cattle in the
      study, regardless of water and feed access treatment. Based on these results,
      water and feed withdrawal in lairage should not exceed 18 h during the marketing
      of Holstein slaughter cows acclimated to springtime conditions to maintain BW,
      serum component concentrations, and fresh meat composition.

PMID- 20935138
TI  - Additivity of effects from dietary copper and zinc on growth performance and
      fecal microbiota of pigs after weaning.
AB  - Four experiments were conducted to determine the interactive effects of
      pharmacological amounts of Zn from ZnO and Cu from organic (Cu-AA complex; Cu-AA)
      or inorganic (CuSO(4)) sources on growth performance of weanling pigs. The Cu was
      fed for 4 (Exp. 1) or 6 (Exp. 2, 3, and 4) wk after weaning, and Zn was fed for 4
      (Exp. 1) or 2 (Exp. 2, 3, and 4) wk after weaning. Treatments were replicated
      with 7 pens of 5 or 6 pigs per pen (19.0 +/- 1.4 d of age and 5.8 +/- 0.4 kg of
      BW, Exp. 1), 12 pens of 21 pigs per pen (about 21 d of age and 5.3 kg of BW, Exp.
      2), 5 pens of 4 pigs per pen (20.3 +/- 0.5 d of age and 7.0 +/- 0.5 kg of BW,
      Exp. 3), and 16 pens of 21 pigs per pen (about 21 d of age and 5.7 kg of BW, Exp.
      4). In Exp. 1 and 2, Cu-AA (0 vs. 100 mg/kg of Cu) and ZnO (0 vs. 3,000 mg/kg of
      Zn) were used in a 2 * 2 factorial arrangement. Only Exp. 1 used in-feed
      antibiotic (165 mg of oxytetracycline and 116 mg of neomycin per kilogram feed),
      and Exp. 2 was conducted at a commercial farm. In Exp. 3, sources of Cu (none;
      CuSO(4) at 250 mg/kg of Cu; and Cu-AA at 100 mg/kg of Cu) and ZnO (0 vs. 3,000
      mg/kg of Zn) were used in a 3 * 2 factorial arrangement. In Exp. 4, treatments
      were no additional Cu, CuSO(4) at 315 mg/kg of Cu, or Cu-AA at 100 mg/kg of Cu to
      a diet supplemented with 3,000 mg/kg of Zn from ZnO and in-feed antibiotic (55 mg
      of carbadox per kilogram of feed). In Exp. 1 and 2, both Zn and Cu-AA improved (P
      < 0.001 to P = 0.03) ADG and ADFI. No interactions were observed, except in wk 1
      of Exp. 2, where Zn increased the G:F only in the absence of Cu-AA (Cu-AA * Zn, P
      = 0.04). A naturally occurring colibacillosis diarrhea outbreak occurred during
      this experiment. The ZnO addition reduced (P < 0.001) the number of pigs removed
      and pig-days on antibiotic therapy. In Exp 3, ADFI in wk 2 was improved by Zn and
      Cu (P < 0.001 and P = 0.09, respectively) with no interactions. In wk 1, G:F was
      reduced by ZnO only in the absence of Cu (Cu * Zn, P = 0.03). Feeding Zn
      decreased fecal microbiota diversity in the presence of CuSO(4) but increased it
      in the presence of Cu-AA (Cu source * Zn, P = 0.06). In Exp. 4, Cu
      supplementation improved the overall ADG (P = 0.002) and G:F (P < 0.001). The
      CuSO(4) effect on G:F was greater (P < 0.001) than the Cu-AA effect. Our results
      indicate that pharmacological amounts of ZnO and Cu (Cu-AA or CuSO(4)) are
      additive in promoting growth of pigs after weaning.

PMID- 20935139
TI  - Effects of physically effective fiber on chewing activity, ruminal fermentation,
      and digestibility in goats.
AB  - The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of physically effective
      NDF (peNDF) in goat diets containing alfalfa hay as the sole forage source on
      feed intake, chewing activity, ruminal fermentation, and nutrient digestibility.
      Four rumen-fistulated goats were fed different proportions of chopped and ground
      alfalfa hay in a 4 * 4 Latin square design. Diets were chemically similar but
      varied in peNDF content: low, moderate low, moderate high, and high. Dietary
      peNDF content was determined using the Penn State Particle Separator with 2
      sieves (8 and 19 mm) or 3 sieves (1.18, 8, and 19 mm). The dietary peNDF content
      ranged from 1.9 to 11.7% using the 2 sieves and from 15.2 to 20.0% using the 3
      sieves. Increasing forage particle length increased intake of peNDF, but
      decreased DMI linearly (P = 0.05). Ruminating and total chewing time (min/d) were
      increased linearly (P = 0.001 and 0.007, respectively) with increased dietary
      peNDF, resulting in a linear reduction (P < 0.001) in the duration of time that
      ruminal pH was less than 5.8 (10.9, 9.0, 1.2, and 0.3 h/d, respectively).
      Increasing dietary peNDF tended to increase the molar proportion of propionate
      linearly (P = 0.08) and decrease the molar proportion of butyrate (P = 0.09), but
      did not affect total VFA concentration. Increasing dietary peNDF linearly
      decreased the apparent digestibility of OM, NDF, and ADF in the total tract (P =
      0.009, 0.003, and 0.008, respectively). This study demonstrated that increasing
      the dietary peNDF contained in alfalfa hay forage stimulated chewing activity and
      improved ruminal pH status, but reduced nutrient intake and efficiency of feed
      use.

PMID- 20935140
TI  - Impact of feeding various amounts of wet and dry distillers grains to yearling
      steers on palatability, fatty acid profile, and retail case life of longissimus
      muscle.
AB  - Due to increased production of ethanol, abundance of distillers grains (DG) is
      increasing. Steers (n = 176) were assigned to 1 of 5 treatment groups: steam
      flaked corn (SFC), 10% dry DG (DDG), 10% wet DG (WDG), 20% WDG, or 30% WDG. The
      objectives were to determine the effects of feeding greater amounts of WDG, or
      DDG on meat quality. Steaks, 2.54 cm, were cut from strip loins and identified
      for simulated retail display, Warner-Bratzler shear force analysis, palatability,
      and fatty acid composition. Steaks from cattle fed 10% WDG and 30% WDG had
      smaller (P < 0.05) Warner-Bratzler shear force values than steaks from cattle fed
      20% WDG. Trained sensory panelists found no differences (P > 0.05) in overall
      tenderness and off-flavors. No differences were found in total SFA and MUFA
      composition among treatments; however, 20% and 30% WDG had a greater proportion
      of PUFA and n-6 fatty acids than 10% WDG. No differences were found during
      simulated retail display between various amounts of WDG. Further research needs
      to be conducted to evaluate methods that aid in increasing shelf life of steaks
      from cattle fed greater rates of WDG.

PMID- 20935141
TI  - Triennial Growth Symposium: leucine acts as a nutrient signal to stimulate
      protein synthesis in neonatal pigs.
AB  - The postprandial increases in AA and insulin independently stimulate protein
      synthesis in skeletal muscle of piglets. Leucine is an important mediator of the
      response to AA. We have shown that the postprandial increase in leucine, but not
      isoleucine or valine, acutely stimulates muscle protein synthesis in piglets.
      Leucine increases muscle protein synthesis by modulating the activation of
      mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) complex 1 and signaling components of
      translation initiation. Leucine increases the phosphorylation of mTOR, 70-kDa
      ribosomal protein S6 kinase-1, eukaryotic initiation factor (eIF) 4E-binding
      protein-1, and eIF4G; decreases eIF2alpha phosphorylation; and increases the
      association of eIF4E with eIF4G. However, leucine does not affect the upstream
      activators of mTOR, that is, protein kinase B, adenosine monophosphate-activated
      protein kinase, and tuberous sclerosis complex 1/2, or the activation of
      translation elongation regulator, eukaryotic elongation factor 2. The action of
      leucine can be replicated by alpha-ketoisocaproate but not by norleucine.
      Interference by rapamycin with the raptor-mTOR interaction blocks leucine-induced
      muscle protein synthesis. The acute leucine-induced stimulation of muscle protein
      synthesis is not maintained for prolonged periods, despite continued activation
      of mTOR signaling, because circulating AA fall as they are utilized for protein
      synthesis. However, when circulating AA concentrations are maintained, the
      leucine-induced stimulation of muscle protein synthesis is maintained for
      prolonged periods. Thus, leucine acts as a nutrient signal to stimulate
      translation initiation, but whether this translates into a prolonged increase in
      protein synthesis depends on the sustained availability of all AA.

PMID- 20935142
TI  - Copper and lipid metabolism in beef cattle: a review.
AB  - Results from experiments investigating Cu metabolism in ruminants indicate that
      Cu is involved in lipid metabolism. Copper supplementation ranging from 10 to 40
      mg of Cu/kg of DM to high-concentrate finishing diets decreased subcutaneous
      adipose tissue deposition and decreased cholesterol concentrations but increased
      unsaturated fatty acid composition of LM. Serum norepinephrine tended to be
      greater in Cu-supplemented steers after a 24-h feed withdrawal and at 2 h
      postfeed consumption, potentially explaining the reduction in subcutaneous
      adipose tissue deposition. However, when exogenous norepinephrine was
      administrated, serum NEFA concentrations were less in Cu-supplemented steers,
      possibly due to the nonsupplemented control steers having a greater subcutaneous
      adipose tissue depth at slaughter relative to Cu-supplemented steers.
      Furthermore, in vitro basal and epinephrine-stimulated lipolytic rates of
      subcutaneous adipose tissue were greater in Cu-supplemented steers relative to
      controls. These data indicate that that Cu may influence lipogenic or lipolytic
      function in subcutaneous adipose tissue. In an attempt to further investigate the
      effect of Cu on lipid metabolism, lipogenic, lipolytic, and homeostatic
      mechanisms related to Cu are currently being studied. Recent data indicate that
      genes involved in bovine liver Cu homeostasis are correlated with Cu transporter
      protein gene expression in the bovine liver. Therefore, the overall intent of
      this review is to discuss possible mechanisms whereby Cu may affect lipid
      metabolism in ruminants.

PMID- 20935143
TI  - Derepression of INO1 transcription requires cooperation between the Ino2p-Ino4p
      heterodimer and Cbf1p and recruitment of the ISW2 chromatin-remodeling complex.
AB  - The Saccharomyces cerevisiae INO1 gene encodes the structural enzyme inositol-3
      phosphate synthase for the synthesis de novo of inositol and inositol-containing
      phospholipids. The transcription of INO1 is completely derepressed in the absence
      of inositol and choline (I(-) C(-)). Derepression requires the binding of the
      Ino2p-Ino4p basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) heterodimer to the UAS(INO) promoter
      element. We report here the requirement of a third bHLH protein, centromere
      binding factor 1 (Cbf1p), for the complete derepression of INO1 transcription. We
      found that Cbf1p regulates INO1 transcription by binding to sites distal to the
      INO1 promoter and encompassing the upstream SNA3 open reading frame (ORF) and
      promoter. The binding of Cbf1p requires Ino2p-Ino4p binding to the UAS(INO) sites
      in the INO1 promoter and vice versa, suggesting a cooperative mechanism.
      Furthermore, Cbf1p binding to the upstream sites was required for the binding of
      the ISW2 chromatin-remodeling complex to the Ino2p-Ino4p-binding sites on the
      INO1 promoter. Consistent with this, ISW2 was also required for the complete
      derepression of INO1 transcription.

PMID- 20935144
TI  - Suppressor mutagenesis identifies a velvet complex remediator of Aspergillus
      nidulans secondary metabolism.
AB  - Fungal secondary metabolites (SM) are bioactive compounds that are important in
      fungal ecology and, moreover, both harmful and useful in human endeavors (e.g.,
      as toxins and pharmaceuticals). Recently a nuclear heterocomplex termed the
      Velvet complex, characterized in the model ascomycete Aspergillus nidulans, was
      found to be critical for SM production. Deletion of two members of the Velvet
      complex, laeA and veA, results in near loss of SM and defective sexual spore
      production in A. nidulans and other species. Using a multicopy-suppressor
      genetics approach, we have isolated an Aspergillus nidulans gene named rsmA
      (remediation of secondary metabolism) based upon its ability to remediate
      secondary metabolism in DeltalaeA and DeltaveA backgrounds. Overexpression of
      rsmA (OE::rsmA) restores production of sterigmatocystin (ST) (a carcinogenic SM)
      via transcriptional activation of ST biosynthetic genes. However, defects in
      sexual reproduction in either DeltalaeA or DeltaveA strains cannot be overcome by
      OE::rsmA. An intact Velvet complex coupled with an OE::rsmA allele increases SM
      many fold over the wild-type level, but loss of rsmA does not decrease SM. RsmA
      encodes a putative bZIP basic leucine zipper-type transcription factor.

PMID- 20935145
TI  - p53 and TIGAR regulate cardiac myocyte energy homeostasis under hypoxic stress.
AB  - Bioenergetic homeostasis is altered in heart failure and may play an important
      role in pathogenesis. p53 has been implicated in heart failure, and although its
      role in regulating tumorigenesis is well characterized, its activities on
      cellular metabolism are just beginning to be understood. We investigated the role
      of p53 and its transcriptional target gene TP53-induced glycolysis and apoptosis
      regulator (TIGAR) in myocardial energy metabolism under conditions simulating
      ischemia that can lead to heart failure. Expression of p53 and TIGAR was markedly
      upregulated after myocardial infarction, and apoptotic myocytes were decreased by
      42% in p53-deficient mouse hearts compared with those in wild-type mice. To
      examine the effect of p53 on energy metabolism, cardiac myocytes were exposed to
      hypoxia. Hypoxia induced p53 and TIGAR expression in a p53-dependent manner.
      Knockdown of p53 or TIGAR increased glycolysis with elevated fructose-2,6
      bisphosphate levels and reduced myocyte apoptosis. Hypoxic stress decreased
      phosphocreatine content and the mitochondrial membrane potential of myocytes
      without changes in ATP content, the effects of which were prevented by the
      knockdown of TIGAR. Inhibition of glycolysis by 2-deoxyglucose blocked these
      bioenergetic effects and TIGAR siRNA-mediated prevention of apoptosis, and, in
      contrast, overexpression of TIGAR reduced glucose utilization and increased
      apoptosis. Our data demonstrate that p53 and TIGAR inhibit glycolysis in hypoxic
      myocytes and that inhibition of glycolysis is closely involved in apoptosis,
      suggesting that p53 and TIGAR are significant mediators of cellular energy
      homeostasis and cell death under ischemic stress.

PMID- 20935146
TI  - Short-term magnesium deficiency upregulates sphingomyelin synthase and p53 in
      cardiovascular tissues and cells: relevance to the de novo synthesis of ceramide.
AB  - The present study tested the hypotheses that 1) short-term dietary deficiency of
      magnesium (21 days) in rats would result in the upregulation of sphingomyelin
      synthase (SMS) and p53 in cardiac and vascular (aortic) smooth muscles, 2) low
      levels of Mg(2+) added to drinking water would either prevent or greatly reduce
      the upregulation of both SMS and p53, 3) exposure of primary cultured vascular
      smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) to low extracellular Mg(2+) concentration
      ([Mg(2)](o)) would lead to the de novo synthesis of ceramide, 4) inhibition of
      either SMS or p53 in primary culture VSMCs exposed to low [Mg(2+)](o) would lead
      to reductions in the levels of de novo ceramide synthesis, and 5) inhibition of
      sphingomyelin palmitoyl-CoA transferase (SPT) or ceramide synthase (CS) in
      primary cultured VSMCs exposed to low [Mg(2+)](o) would lead to a reduction in
      the levels of de novo ceramide synthesis. The data indicated that short-term
      magnesium deficiency (10% normal dietary intake) resulted in the upregulation of
      SMS and p53 in both ventricular and aortic smooth muscles; even very low levels
      of water-borne Mg(2+) (e.g., 15 mg.l(-1).day(-1)) either prevented or ameliorated
      the upregulation in SMS and p53. Our experiments also showed that VSMCs exposed
      to low [Mg(2+)](o) resulted in the de novo synthesis of ceramide; the lower the
      [Mg(2+)](o), the greater the synthesis of ceramide. In addition, the data
      indicated that inhibition of either SMS, p53, SPT, or CS in VSMCs exposed to low
      [Mg(2+)](o) resulted in marked reductions in the de novo synthesis of ceramide.

PMID- 20935147
TI  - Heterogeneity in MT1-MMP activity with ischemia-reperfusion and previous
      myocardial infarction: relation to regional myocardial function.
AB  - After a myocardial infarction (MI), an episode of ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) can
      result in a greater impairment of left ventricular (LV) regional function (LVRF)
      than that caused by an initial I/R episode in the absence of MI. Membrane type-I
      matrix metalloproteinase (MT1-MMP) proteolytically processes the myocardial
      matrix and is upregulated in LV failure. This study tested the central hypothesis
      that a differential induction of MT1-MMP occurs and is related to LVRF after I/R
      in the context of a previous MI. Pigs with a previous MI [3 wk postligation of
      the left circumflex artery (LCx)] or no MI were randomized to undergo I/R [60
      min/120-min left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) occlusion] or no I/R
      as follows: no MI and no I/R (n = 6), no MI and I/R (n = 8), MI and no I/R (n =
      8), and MI and I/R (n = 8). Baseline LVRF (regional stroke work, sonomicrometry)
      was lower in the LAD region in the MI group compared with no MI (103 +/- 12 vs.
      188 +/- 26 mmHg.mm, P < 0.05) and remained lower with peak ischemia (35 +/- 8 vs.
      88 +/- 17 mmHg.mm, P < 0.05). Using a novel interstitial microdialysis method,
      MT1-MMP was directly measured and was over threefold higher in the LCx region and
      over twofold higher in the LAD region in the MI group compared with the no MI
      group at baseline. MT1-MMP fluorogenic activity was persistently elevated in the
      LCx region in the MI and I/R group but remained unchanged in the LAD region. In
      contrast, no changes in MT1-MMP occurred in the LCx region in the no MI and I/R
      group but increased in the LAD region. MT1-MMP mRNA was increased by over
      threefold in the MI region in the MI and I/R group. In conclusion, these findings
      demonstrate that a heterogeneous response in MT1-MMP activity likely contributes
      to regional dysfunction with I/R and that a subsequent episode of I/R activates a
      proteolytic cascade within the MI region that may contribute to a continued
      adverse remodeling process.

PMID- 20935148
TI  - Cardiac-specific overexpression of dominant-negative CREB leads to increased
      mortality and mitochondrial dysfunction in female mice.
AB  - Cardiac failure is associated with diminished activation of the transcription
      factor cyclic nucleotide regulatory element binding-protein (CREB), and heart
      specific expression of a phosphorylation-deficient CREB mutant in transgenic mice
      [dominant negative CREB (dnCREB) mice] recapitulates the contractile phenotypes
      of cardiac failure (Fentzke RC, Korcarz CE, Lang RM, Lin H, Leiden JM. Dilated
      cardiomyopathy in transgenic mice expressing a dominant-negative CREB
      transcription factor in the heart. J Clin Invest 101: 2415-2426, 1998). In the
      present study, we demonstrated significantly elevated mortality and contractile
      dysfunction in female compared with male dnCREB mice. Female dnCREB mice
      demonstrated a 21-wk survival of only 17% compared with 67% in males (P < 0.05)
      and exclusively manifest decreased cardiac peroxisome proliferator-activated
      receptor-gamma coactivator-1alpha and estrogen-related receptor-alpha content,
      suggesting sex-related effects on cardiac mitochondrial function. Hearts from 4
      wk-old dnCREB mice of both sexes demonstrated diminished mitochondrial
      respiratory capacity compared with nontransgenic controls. However, by 12 wk of
      age, there was a significant decrease in mitochondrial density (citrate synthase
      activity) and deterioration of mitochondrial structure, as demonstrated by
      transmission electron microscopy, in female dnCREB mice, which were not found in
      male transgenic littermates. Subsarcolemmal mitochondria isolated from hearts of
      female, but not male, dnCREB mice demonstrated increased ROS accompanied by
      decreases in the expression/activity of the mitochondrial antioxidants MnSOD and
      glutathione peroxidase. These results demonstrate that heart-specific dnCREB
      expression results in mitochondrial respiratory dysfunction in both sexes;
      however, increased oxidant burden, reduced antioxidant expression, and disrupted
      mitochondrial structure are exacerbated by the female sex, preceding and
      contributing to the greater contractile morbidity and mortality. These results
      provide further support for the role of the CREB transcription factor in
      regulating mitochondrial integrity and identify a critical pathway that may
      contribute to sex differences in heart failure.

PMID- 20935149
TI  - Measuring right ventricular function in the normal and hypertensive mouse hearts
      using admittance-derived pressure-volume loops.
AB  - Mice are a widely used animal model for investigating cardiovascular disease.
      Novel technologies have been used to quantify left ventricular function in this
      species, but techniques appropriate for determining right ventricular (RV)
      function are less well demonstrated. Detecting RV dysfunction is critical to
      assessing the progression of pulmonary vascular diseases such as pulmonary
      hypertension. We used an admittance catheter to measure pressure-volume loops in
      anesthetized, open-chested mice before and during vena cava occlusion. Mice
      exposed to chronic hypoxia for 10 days, which causes hypoxia-induced pulmonary
      hypertension (HPH), were compared with control (CTL) mice. HPH resulted in a
      27.9% increase in RV mass (P < 0.005), a 67.5% increase in RV systolic pressure
      (P < 0.005), and a 61.2% decrease in cardiac output (P < 0.05). Preload
      recruitable stroke work (PRSW) and slope of the maximum derivative of pressure
      (dP/dt(max))-end-diastolic volume (EDV) relationship increased with HPH (P <
      0.05). Although HPH increased effective arterial elastance (E(a)) over fivefold
      (from 2.7 +/- 1.2 to 16.4 +/- 2.5 mmHg/MUl), only a mild increase in the
      ventricular end-systolic elastance (E(es)) was observed. As a result, a dramatic
      decrease in the efficiency of ventricular-vascular coupling occurred (E(es)/E(a)
      decreased from 0.71 +/- 0.27 to 0.35 +/- 0.17; P < 0.005). Changes in cardiac
      reserve were evaluated by dobutamine infusion. In CTL mice, dobutamine
      significantly enhanced E(es) and dP/dt(max)-EDV but also increased E(a), causing
      a decrease in E(es)/E(a). In HPH mice, slight but nonsignificant decreases in
      E(es), PRSW, dP/dt(max)-EDV, and E(a) were observed. Thus 10 days of HPH resulted
      in RV hypertrophy, ventricular-vascular decoupling, and a mild decrease in RV
      contractile reserve. This study demonstrates the feasibility of obtaining RV
      pressure-volume measurements in mice. These measurements provide insight into
      ventricular-vascular interactions healthy and diseased states.

PMID- 20935150
TI  - Exercise improves the dilatation function of mesenteric arteries in
      postmyocardial infarction rats via a PI3K/Akt/eNOS pathway-mediated mechanism.
AB  - Myocardial infarction (MI) has been shown to induce endothelial dysfunction in
      peripheral resistance arteries and thus increase peripheral resistance. This
      study was designed to investigate the underlying mechanisms of post-MI-related
      dysfunctional dilatation of peripheral resistance arteries and, furthermore, to
      examine whether exercise may restore dysfunctional dilatation of peripheral
      resistance arteries. Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into three
      groups: sham-operated, MI, and MI + exercise. Ultrastructure and relaxation
      function of the mesenteric arteries, as well as phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase
      (PI3K), Akt kinases (Akt), endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) activity, and
      phosphorylation of PI3K, Akt, and eNOS by ACh were determined. Post-MI rats
      exhibited pronounced ultrastructural changes in mesenteric artery endothelial
      cells and endothelial dysfunction. In addition, the activities of PI3K, Akt, and
      eNOS, and their phosphorylation by ACh were significantly attenuated in
      mesenteric arteries (P < 0.05-0.01). After 8 wk of exercise, not only did
      endothelial cells appeared more normal in structure, but also ameliorated post-MI
      associated mesenteric arterial dysfunction, which were accompanied by elevated
      activities of PI3K, Akt, and eNOS, and their phosphorylation by ACh (P < 0.05
      0.01). Importantly, inhibition of either PI3K or eNOS attenuated exercise-induced
      restoration of the dilatation function and blocked PI3K, Akt, and eNOS
      phosphorylation by ACh in the mesenteric arteries. These data demonstrate that MI
      induces dysfunctional dilation of peripheral resistance arteries by degradation
      of endothelial structural integrity and attenuating PI3K-Akt-eNOS signaling.
      Exercise may restore dilatation function of peripheral resistance arteries by
      protecting endothelial structural integrity and increasing PI3K-Akt-eNOS
      signaling cascades.

PMID- 20935151
TI  - Influence of heart rate on fractional flow reserve, pressure drop coefficient,
      and lesion flow coefficient for epicardial coronary stenosis in a porcine model.
AB  - A limitation in the use of invasive coronary diagnostic indexes is that
      fluctuations in hemodynamic factors such as heart rate (HR), blood pressure, and
      contractility may alter resting or hyperemic flow measurements and may introduce
      uncertainties in the interpretation of these indexes. In this study, we focused
      on the effect of fluctuations in HR and area stenosis (AS) on diagnostic indexes.
      We hypothesized that the pressure drop coefficient (CDP(e), ratio of
      transstenotic pressure drop and distal dynamic pressure), lesion flow coefficient
      (LFC, square root of ratio of limiting value CDP and CDP at site of stenosis)
      derived from fluid dynamics principles, and fractional flow reserve (FFR, ratio
      of average distal and proximal pressures) are independent of HR and can
      significantly differentiate between the severity of stenosis. Cardiac
      catheterization was performed on 11 Yorkshire pigs. Simultaneous measurements of
      distal coronary arterial pressure and flow were performed using a dual sensor
      tipped guidewire for HR < 120 and HR > 120 beats/min, in the presence of
      epicardial coronary lesions of <50% AS and >50% AS. The mean values of FFR,
      CDP(e), and LFC were significantly different (P < 0.05) for lesions of <50% AS
      and >50% AS (0.88 +/- 0.04, 0.76 +/- 0.04; 62 +/- 30, 151 +/- 35, and 0.10 +/-
      0.02 and 0.16 +/- 0.01, respectively). The mean values of FFR and CDP(e) were not
      significantly different (P > 0.05) for variable HR conditions of HR < 120 and HR
      > 120 beats/min (FFR, 0.81 +/- 0.04 and 0.82 +/- 0.04; and CDP(e), 95 +/- 33 and
      118 +/- 36). The mean values of LFC do somewhat vary with HR (0.14 +/- 0.01 and
      0.12 +/- 0.02). In conclusion, fluctuations in HR have no significant influence
      on the measured values of CDP(e) and FFR but have a marginal influence on the
      measured values of LFC. However, all three parameters can significantly
      differentiate between stenosis severities. These results suggest that the
      diagnostic parameters can be potentially used in a better assessment of coronary
      stenosis severity under a clinical setting.

PMID- 20935152
TI  - The mitochondrial bioenergetic phenotype for protection from cardiac ischemia in
      SUR2 mutant mice.
AB  - The sulfonylurea receptor-2 (SUR2) is a subunit of ATP-sensitive potassium
      channels (K(ATP)) in heart. Mice with the SUR2 gene disrupted (SUR2m) are
      constitutively protected from ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) cardiac injury. This was
      surprising because K(ATP), either sarcolemmal or mitochondrial or both, are
      thought to be important for cardioprotection. We hypothesized that SUR2m mice
      have an altered mitochondrial phenotype that protects against I/R. Mitochondrial
      membrane potential (DeltaPsi(m)), tolerance to Ca(2+) load, and reactive oxygen
      species (ROS) generation were studied by fluorescence-based assays, and
      volumetric changes in response to K(+) were measured by light scattering in
      isolated mitochondria. For resting SUR2m mitochondria compared with wild type,
      the DeltaPsi(m) was less polarized (46.1 +/- 0.4 vs. 51.9 +/- 0.6%), tolerance to
      Ca(2+) loading was increased (163 +/- 2 vs. 116 +/- 2 MUM), and ROS generation
      was enhanced with complex I [8.5 +/- 1.2 vs. 4.9 +/- 0.2 arbitrary fluorescence
      units (afu)/s] or complex II (351 +/- 51.3 vs. 166 +/- 36.2 afu/s) substrates.
      SUR2m mitochondria had greater swelling in K(+) medium (30.2 +/- 3.1%) compared
      with wild type (14.5 +/- 0.6%), indicating greater K(+) influx. Additionally,
      DeltaPsi(m) decreased and swelling increased in the absence of ATP in SUR2m, but
      the sensitivity to ATP was less compared with wild type. When the mitochondria
      were subjected to hypoxia-reoxygenation, the decrease in respiration rates and
      respiratory control index was less in SUR2m. DeltaPsi(m) maintenance in the SUR2m
      intact myocytes was also more tolerant to metabolic inhibition. In conclusion,
      the cardioprotection observed in the SUR2m mice is associated with a protected
      mitochondrial phenotype resulting from enhanced K(+) conductance that partially
      dissipated DeltaPsi(m). These results have implications for possible SUR2
      participation in mitochondrial K(ATP).

PMID- 20935153
TI  - Ionic mechanisms of cellular electrical and mechanical abnormalities in Brugada
      syndrome.
AB  - The Brugada syndrome (BrS) is a right ventricular (RV) arrhythmia that is
      responsible for up to 12% of sudden cardiac deaths. The aims of our study were to
      determine the cellular mechanisms of the electrical abnormality in BrS and the
      potential basis of the RV contractile abnormality observed in the syndrome.
      Tetrodotoxin was used to reduce cardiac Na(+) current (I(Na)) to mimic a BrS-like
      setting in canine ventricular myocytes. Moderate reduction (<50%) of I(Na) with
      tetrodotoxin resulted in all-or-none repolarization in a fraction of RV
      epicardial myocytes. Dynamic clamp and modeling show that reduction of I(Na)
      shifts the action potential (AP) duration-transient outward current (I(to))
      density curve to the left and has a biphasic effect on AP duration. In the
      presence of a large I(to), I(Na) reduction either prolongs or collapses the AP,
      depending on the exact density of I(to). These repolarization changes reduce
      Ca(2+) influx and sarcoplasmic reticulum load, resulting in marked attenuation of
      myocyte contraction and Ca(2+) transient in RV epicardial myocytes. We conclude
      that I(Na) reduction alters repolarization by reducing the threshold for I(to)
      induced all-or-none repolarization. These cellular electrical changes suppress
      myocyte excitation-contraction coupling and contraction and may be a contributing
      factor to the contractile abnormality of the RV wall in BrS.

PMID- 20935154
TI  - Integrative research: the key to unlocking the mysteries of chronic heart failure
      and skeletal muscle dysfunction.

PMID- 20935155
TI  - Differential effects of adenosine A2a and A2b receptors on cardiac contractility.
AB  - The mammalian myocardium expresses four adenosine receptor (AR) subtypes: A(1)AR,
      A(2a)AR, A(2b)AR, and A(3)AR. The A(1)AR is well known for its profound
      antiadrenergic effects, but the roles of other AR subtypes in modulating
      contractility remain inconclusive. Thus, the objective of this study was to
      determine the direct and indirect effects of A(2a)AR and A(2b)AR on cardiac
      contractility. Experiments were conducted in paced, constant pressure-perfused
      isolated hearts from wild-type (WT), A(2a)AR knockout (KO), and A(2b)AR KO mice.
      The A(2a)AR agonist CGS-21680 did not alter basal contractility or beta
      adrenergic receptor agonist isoproterenol (Iso)-mediated positive inotropic
      responses, and Iso-induced effects were unaltered in A(2a)AR KO hearts. However,
      A(2a)AR gene ablation resulted in a potentiation of the antiadrenergic effects
      mediated by the A(1)AR agonist 2-chloro-N-cyclopentyladenosine. The nonselective
      AR agonist 5'-N-ethylcarboxamido adenosine and the selective A(2b)AR agonist BAY
      60-6583 induced coronary flow-independent increases in contractility, but BAY 60
      6583 did not alter Iso-induced contractile responses. The A(1)AR antiadrenergic
      effect was not potentiated in A(2b)AR KO hearts. The expression of all four AR
      subtypes in the heart and ventricular myocytes was confirmed using real-time
      quantitative PCR. Taken together, these results indicate that A(2a)AR does not
      increase cardiac contractility directly but indirectly alters contractility by
      modulating the A(1)AR antiadrenergic effect, whereas A(2b)AR exerts direct
      contractile effects but does not alter beta-adrenergic or A(1)AR antiadrenergic
      effects. These results indicate that multiple ARs differentially modulate cardiac
      function.

PMID- 20935156
TI  - Differential gene expression in benign prostate epithelium of men with and
      without prostate cancer: evidence for a prostate cancer field effect.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Several malignancies are known to exhibit a "field effect," whereby
      regions beyond tumor boundaries harbor histologic or molecular changes that are
      associated with cancer. We sought to determine if histologically benign prostate
      epithelium collected from men with prostate cancer exhibits features indicative
      of premalignancy or field effect. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: Prostate needle biopsies
      from 15 men with high-grade (Gleason 8-10) prostate cancer and 15 age- and body
      mass index-matched controls were identified from a biospecimen repository. Benign
      epithelia from each patient were isolated by laser capture microdissection. RNA
      was isolated, amplified, and used for microarray hybridization. Quantitative PCR
      was used to determine the expression of specific genes of interest. Alterations
      in protein expression were analyzed through immunohistochemistry. RESULTS:
      Overall patterns of gene expression in microdissected benign prostate-associated
      benign epithelium (BABE) and cancer-associated benign epithelium (CABE) were
      similar. Two genes previously associated with prostate cancer, PSMA and SSTR1,
      were significantly upregulated in the CABE group (false discovery rate <1%).
      Expression of other prostate cancer-associated genes, including ERG, HOXC4,
      HOXC5, and MME, were also increased in CABE by quantitative reverse transcription
      PCR, although other genes commonly altered in prostate cancer were not different
      between the BABE and CABE samples. The expression of MME and PSMA proteins on
      immunohistochemistry coincided with their mRNA alterations. CONCLUSION: Gene
      expression profiles between benign epithelia of patients with and without
      prostate cancer are very similar. However, these tissues exhibit differences in
      the expression levels of several genes previously associated with prostate cancer
      development or progression. These differences may comprise a field effect and
      represent early events in carcinogenesis.

PMID- 20935157
TI  - Germline polymorphisms in genes involved in the IGF1 pathway predict efficacy of
      cetuximab in wild-type KRAS mCRC patients.
AB  - PURPOSE: The insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1) signaling pathway is an
      important growth-regulatory pathway, which plays a crucial role in colorectal
      cancer (CRC) proliferation, differentiation, migration, angiogenesis, and
      apoptosis. Previous studies showed that hyperactivation of the IGF1 receptor
      (IGF1R) may result in resistance to anti-epidermal growth factor receptor
      targeted treatment. We tested whether germline variations within the IGF1 pathway
      are associated with clinical outcome in wild-type (wt) KRAS drug-refractory
      metastatic CRC (mCRC) patients who were treated with cetuximab monotherapy (IMC
      0144). EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue
      samples of 130 drug-refractory mCRC patients enrolled in IMC-0144, a phase II
      clinical trial of cetuximab monotherapy, were analyzed. gDNA was extracted from
      dissected FFPE tumor tissue, and KRAS mutation status and six potentially
      functional IGF1 and IGF1R polymorphisms were analyzed using direct DNA sequencing
      or PCR-RFLP. Tumor response analysis was based on recursive partitioning, and
      survival analyses were based on univariate and multivariate hazard regression
      models. RESULTS: In univariate and multivariate analyses, five IGF pathway single
      nucleotide polymorphisms were significantly associated with progression-free
      survival (PFS) and/or overall survival (OS). In multivariate combined risk allele
      analysis, the additive model for PFS and OS was significantly associated with the
      number of risk alleles in wt KRAS patients (P = 0.001 and P = 0.02,
      respectively). In addition, wt KRAS patients harboring IGF1 rs2946834 A/A
      genotype had a 50% objective response rate compared with 0% for A/G genotype.
      CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that IGF1 pathway polymorphisms are potential
      predictive/prognostic molecular markers for cetuximab efficacy in wt KRAS mCRC
      patients. Prospective biomarker-embedded clinical trials are warranted to
      validate our findings. Clin Cancer Res; 16(22); 5591-602. (c)2010 AACR.

PMID- 20935158
TI  - Evaluation of polymorphisms in predicted target sites for micro RNAs
      differentially expressed in endometriosis.
AB  - Previous microarray analyses identified 22 microRNAs (miRNAs) differentially
      expressed in paired ectopic and eutopic endometrium of women with and without
      endometriosis. To investigate further the role of these miRNAs in women with
      endometriosis, we conducted an association study aiming to explore the
      relationship between endometriosis risk and single-nucleotide polymorphisms
      (SNPs) in miRNA target sites for these differentially expressed miRNAs. A panel
      of 102 SNPs in the predicted miRNA binding sites were evaluated for an
      endometriosis association study and an ingenuity pathway analysis was performed.
      Fourteen rare variants were identified in this study. We found SNP rs14647 in the
      Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome candidate gene1 (WHSC1) 3'UTR (untranslated region) was
      associated with endometriosis-related infertility presenting an odds ratio of
      12.2 (95% confidence interval = 2.4-60.7, P = 9.03 * 10(-5)). SNP haplotype AGG
      in the solute carrier family 22, member 23 (SLC22A23) 3'UTR was associated with
      endometriosis-related infertility and more severe disease. With the individual
      genotyping data, ingenuity pathways analysis identified the tumour necrosis
      factor and cyclin-dependant kinase inhibitor as major factors in the molecular
      pathways. Significant associations between WHSC1 alleles and endometriosis
      related infertility and SLC22A23 haplotypes and the disease severe stage were
      identified. These findings may help focus future research on subphenotypes of
      this disease. Replication studies in independent large sample sets to confirm and
      characterize the involvement of the gene variation in the pathogenesis of
      endometriosis are needed.

PMID- 20935159
TI  - Global and gene-specific histone modification profiles of mouse multipotent adult
      germline stem cells.
AB  - We previously reported the generation of multipotent adult germline stem cells
      (maGSCs) from spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) isolated from adult mouse testis.
      In a later study, we substantiated the pluripotency of maGSCs by demonstrating
      their close similarity to pluripotent male embryonic stem cells (ESCs) at the
      epigenetic level of global and gene-specific DNA methylation. Here, we extended
      the comparative epigenetic analysis of maGSCs and male ESCs by investigating the
      second main epigenetic modification in mammals, i.e. global and gene-specific
      modifications of histones (H3K4 trimethylation, H3K9 acetylation, H3K9
      trimethylation and H3K27 trimethylation). Using immunofluorescence staining, flow
      cytometry and western blot analysis, we show that maGSCs are very similar to male
      ESCs with regard to global levels and nuclear distribution patterns of these
      modifications. Chromatin immunoprecipitation real-time PCR analysis of these
      modifications at the gene-specific level further revealed modification patterns
      of the pluripotency marker genes Oct4, Sox2 and Nanog in maGSCs that are nearly
      identical to those of male ESCs. These genes were enriched for activating histone
      modifications including H3K4me3 and H3K9ac and depleted of repressive histone
      modifications including H3K27me3 and H3K9me3. In addition, Hoxa11, a key
      regulator of early embryonic development showed the ESC-typical bivalent
      chromatin conformation with enrichment of both the activating H3K4me3 and the
      repressive H3K27me3 modification also in maGSCs. Collectively, our results
      demonstrate that maGSCs also closely resemble ESCs with regard to their chromatin
      state and further evidence their pluripotent nature.

PMID- 20935161
TI  - Aryl hydrocarbon receptor nuclear translocator in hepatocytes is required for
      aryl hydrocarbon receptor-mediated adaptive and toxic responses in liver.
AB  - The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) plays a central role in the toxic responses
      to halogenated dibenzo-p-dioxins ("dioxins"), in the metabolic adaptation to
      polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and in the development of the mature vascular
      system. A number of lines of evidence support the idea that the regulation of
      adaptive metabolism requires an AHR partnership with the aryl hydrocarbon
      receptor nuclear translocator (ARNT). Yet, for AHR-dependent vascular development
      and dioxin toxicity, the role of ARNT is less certain. In fact, numerous models
      have been proposed over the years to suggest that the AHR signals in important
      ways via ARNT-independent events. In an effort to clarify the role of ARNT in AHR
      mediated dioxin hepatotoxicity, we generated a conditional Arnt mouse model. Such
      a model was essential because global inactivation of Arnt results in embryonic
      lethality presumably due to this protein's role as a heterodimeric partner for
      the hypoxia-inducible factors (HIFs). Using a hepatocyte-specific Arnt deletion,
      we were able to demonstrate that hepatocyte ARNT is required for major aspects of
      AHR-mediated dioxin toxicity in the liver. Results from this conditional Arnt
      allele are also consistent with a model where hepatocyte ARNT is unrelated to AHR
      mediated hepatovascular development. In sum, these data suggest that AHR-ARNT
      dimers within the hepatocyte direct the toxic and adaptive and developmental
      functions associated with the AHR and that developmental vascular events arise
      due to signaling in a distinct cell type expressing this dimeric pair.

PMID- 20935160
TI  - Next-generation sequencing identifies the natural killer cell microRNA
      transcriptome.
AB  - Natural killer (NK) cells are innate lymphocytes important for early host defense
      against infectious pathogens and surveillance against malignant transformation.
      Resting murine NK cells regulate the translation of effector molecule mRNAs
      (e.g., granzyme B, GzmB) through unclear molecular mechanisms. MicroRNAs (miRNAs)
      are small noncoding RNAs that post-transcriptionally regulate the translation of
      their mRNA targets, and are therefore candidates for mediating this control
      process. While the expression and importance of miRNAs in T and B lymphocytes
      have been established, little is known about miRNAs in NK cells. Here, we used
      two next-generation sequencing (NGS) platforms to define the miRNA transcriptomes
      of resting and cytokine-activated primary murine NK cells, with confirmation by
      quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) and microarrays. We delineate a
      bioinformatics analysis pipeline that identified 302 known and 21 novel mature
      miRNAs from sequences obtained from NK cell small RNA libraries. These miRNAs are
      expressed over a broad range and exhibit isomiR complexity, and a subset is
      differentially expressed following cytokine activation. Using these miRNA NGS
      data, miR-223 was identified as a mature miRNA present in resting NK cells with
      decreased expression following cytokine activation. Furthermore, we demonstrate
      that miR-223 specifically targets the 3' untranslated region of murine GzmB in
      vitro, indicating that this miRNA may contribute to control of GzmB translation
      in resting NK cells. Thus, the sequenced NK cell miRNA transcriptome provides a
      valuable framework for further elucidation of miRNA expression and function in NK
      cell biology.

PMID- 20935162
TI  - Mitochondrial prohibitins and septin 9 are implicated in the onset of rat
      hepatocarcinogenesis.
AB  - In the present study, protein lysates from microdissected glutathione S
      transferase placental-form-positive (GST-P(+)) foci and hepatocellular carcinomas
      from livers of rats treated with N-diethylnitrosamine followed by phenobarbital
      at doses of 0 and 500 ppm in the diet for 10 and 33 weeks were analyzed using
      QSTAR Elite liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry and iTRAQ
      technology. Among 75 proteins, a total of 27 and 50 proteins displaying
      significant quantitative changes comparing with adjacent normal-appearing liver
      tissue were identified in GST-P(+) foci of initiation control and promotion
      groups, respectively, which are related to transcription, protein folding,
      cytoskeleton filaments reorganization, cell cycle control, nuclear factor
      (erythroid-derived 2)-like 2 (NRF2)-mediated oxidative stress responses, lipid
      metabolism, glutathione metabolism, oxidative phosphorylation, and signal
      transduction. Furthermore, Ingenuity Pathway and bioinformatic analyses revealed
      that expression changes of genes encoding proteins with altered expression
      detected in GST-P(+) foci are likely to be controlled by c-myc, NRF2, aryl
      hydrocarbon receptor, nuclear factor kappa B, and hepatocyte nuclear factor 4
      transcriptional factors. Coordinated overexpression of mitochondrial chaperons
      prohibitin (PHB) and prohibitin 2 (PHB2), septin 9 (SEPT9), neurabin 1, and other
      cytoskeletal and functional proteins in areas of GST-P(+) foci during initiation
      and/or promotion stages of rat hepatocarcinogenesis was associated with induction
      of cell proliferation and might be responsible for the neoplastic transformation
      of rat liver preneoplastic lesions. Newly discovered elevation of PHB, PHB2, and
      SEPT9 in GST-P(+) foci and tumors, imply that they might play important role in
      the onset of liver cancer and be of potential values in the studies of
      hepatocarcinogenesis.

PMID- 20935163
TI  - Evaluation of developmental toxicant identification using gene expression
      profiling in embryonic stem cell differentiation cultures.
AB  - The murine embryonic stem cell test (EST) is an alternative testing method
      designed to assess potential developmental toxicity of compounds. The
      implementation of transcriptomics in the EST has been shown to reduce the culture
      duration and improve endpoint evaluation and is expected to result in an enhanced
      predictability and definition of the applicability domain. We evaluated the
      identification of developmental toxicity in the EST using two gene sets
      ("Van_Dartel_heartdiff_24h" and "EST biomarker genes") defined in our earlier
      studies. Nonexposed embryonic stem cells (ESC) differentiation cultures were
      sampled 0, 24, and 48 h after initiation of differentiation. Additionally,
      cultures exposed to 12 diverse well-characterized positive and negative
      developmental toxicants were isolated 24 h after the onset of exposure.
      Inhibition of ESC differentiation was evaluated in parallel by morphological
      scoring on culture day 10. Transcriptomics analysis was conducted using the
      Affymetrix Gene Chips platform. We applied principal component analysis on the
      basis of the two predefined gene sets to define the "differentiation track" that
      represents ESC differentiation. The significance of derivations in the gene
      expression-based differentiation track because of compound exposures were
      evaluated to determine developmental toxicity of tested compounds. We
      successfully predicted developmental toxicity using transcriptomics for 83%
      (10/12) and 67% (8/12) of the compounds, respectively, using the two predefined
      gene sets ("Van_Dartel_heartdiff_24h" and "EST biomarker genes"). Our study
      suggests that the application of transcriptomics may improve the applicability of
      the EST for the prediction of the developmental toxicity of chemicals.

PMID- 20935164
TI  - Alterations in hepatic mRNA expression of phase II enzymes and xenobiotic
      transporters after targeted disruption of hepatocyte nuclear factor 4 alpha.
AB  - Hepatocyte nuclear factor 4 alpha (HNF4a) is a liver-enriched master regulator of
      liver function. HNF4a is important in regulating hepatic expression of certain
      cytochrome P450s. The purpose of this study was to use mice lacking HNF4a
      expression in liver (HNF4a-HNull) to elucidate the role of HNF4a in regulating
      hepatic expression of phase II enzymes and transporters in mice. Compared with
      male wild-type mice, HNF4a-HNull male mouse livers had (1) markedly lower
      messenger RNAs (mRNAs) encoding the uptake transporters sodium taurocholate
      cotransporting polypeptide, organic anion transporting polypeptide (Oatp) 1a1,
      Oatp2b1, organic anion transporter 2, sodium phosphate cotransporter type 1,
      sulfate anion transporter 1, sodium-dependent vitamin C transporter 1, the phase
      II enzymes Uridine 5'-diphospho (UDP)-glucuronosyltransferase (Ugt) 2a3, Ugt2b1,
      Ugt3a1, Ugt3a2, sulfotransferase (Sult) 1a1, Sult1b1, Sult5a1, the efflux
      transporters multidrug resistance-associated protein (Mrp) 6, and multidrug and
      toxin extrusion 1; (2) moderately lower mRNAs encoding Oatp1b2, organic cation
      transporter (Oct) 1, Ugt1a5, Ugt1a9, glutathione S-transferase (Gst) m4, Gstm6,
      and breast cancer resistance protein; but (3) higher mRNAs encoding Oatp1a4,
      Octn2, Ugt1a1, Sult1e1, Sult2a2, Gsta4, Gstm1-m3, multidrug resistance protein
      (Mdr) 1a, Mrp3, and Mrp4. Hepatic signaling of nuclear factor E2-related factor 2
      and pregnane X receptor appear to be activated in HNF4a-HNull mice. In
      conclusion, HNF4a deficiency markedly alters hepatic mRNA expression of a large
      number of phase II enzymes and transporters, probably because of the loss of
      HNF4a, which is a transactivator and a determinant of gender-specific expression
      and/or adaptive activation of signaling pathways important in hepatic regulation
      of these phase II enzymes and transporters.

PMID- 20935165
TI  - Do engineered natriuretic peptides have greater therapeutic potential than do
      native peptides?

PMID- 20935166
TI  - Up-regulation of soluble vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-1 prevents
      angiogenesis in hypertrophied myocardium.
AB  - AIMS: Inadequate capillary growth in pressure-overload hypertrophy impairs
      myocardial perfusion and substrate delivery, contributing to progression to
      failure. Capillary growth is tightly regulated by angiogenesis growth factors
      like vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and endogenous inhibitors such as
      the splice variant of VEGF receptor-1, sVEGFR-1. We hypothesized that inadequate
      expression of VEGF and up-regulation of VEGFR-1 and its soluble splice variant,
      sVEGFR-1, restrict capillary growth in pressure-overload hypertrophy. METHODS AND
      RESULTS: Neonatal New Zealand White rabbits underwent aortic banding. mRNA (qRT
      PCR) and protein levels (immunoblotting) were determined in hypertrophied and
      control myocardium (7/group) for total VEGF, VEGFR-1, sVEGFR-1, VEGFR-2, and
      phospho-VEGFR-1 and -R-2. Free VEGF was determined by enzyme-linked immunoassay
      (ELISA) in hypertrophied myocardium, controls, and hypertrophied hearts following
      inhibition of sVEGFR-1 with placental growth factor (PlGF). VEGFR-1 and sVEGFR-1
      mRNA (seven-fold up-regulation, P = 0.001) and protein levels were significantly
      up-regulated in hypertrophied hearts vs. controls (VEGFR-1: 44 +/- 8 vs. 23 +/-
      1, P = 0.031; sVEGFR-1: 71 +/- 13 vs. 31 +/- 3, P = 0.016). There was no change
      in VEGF and VEGFR-2 mRNA or protein levels in hypertrophied compared with
      controls hearts. A significant decline in free, unbound VEGF was found in
      hypertrophied myocardium which was reversed following inhibition of sVEGFR-1 with
      PlGF, which was accompanied by phosphorylation of VEGFR-1 and VEGFR-2.
      CONCLUSION: Up-regulation of the soluble VEGFR-1 in pressure-loaded myocardium
      prevents capillary growth by trapping VEGF. Inhibition of sVEGFR-1 released
      sufficient VEGF to induce angiogenesis and preserved contractile function. These
      data suggest sVEGFR-1 as possible therapeutic targets to prevent heart failure.

PMID- 20935167
TI  - Herbal dietary supplement: continuing to explore cardiovascular protection.

PMID- 20935168
TI  - Continuous perception and graded categorization: electrophysiological evidence
      for a linear relationship between the acoustic signal and perceptual encoding of
      speech.
AB  - Speech sounds are highly variable, yet listeners readily extract information from
      them and transform continuous acoustic signals into meaningful categories during
      language comprehension. A central question is whether perceptual encoding
      captures acoustic detail in a one-to-one fashion or whether it is affected by
      phonological categories. We addressed this question in an event-related potential
      (ERP) experiment in which listeners categorized spoken words that varied along a
      continuous acoustic dimension (voice-onset time, or VOT) in an auditory oddball
      task. We found that VOT effects were present through a late stage of perceptual
      processing (N1 component, ~100 ms poststimulus) and were independent of
      categorization. In addition, effects of within-category differences in VOT were
      present at a postperceptual categorization stage (P3 component, ~450 ms
      poststimulus). Thus, at perceptual levels, acoustic information is encoded
      continuously, independently of phonological information. Further, at phonological
      levels, fine-grained acoustic differences are preserved along with category
      information.

PMID- 20935169
TI  - Does facial processing prioritize change detection?: change blindness illustrates
      costs and benefits of holistic processing.
AB  - There is broad consensus among researchers both that faces are processed more
      holistically than other objects and that this type of processing is beneficial.
      We predicted that holistic processing of faces also involves a cost, namely, a
      diminished ability to localize change. This study (N = 150) utilized a modified
      change-blindness paradigm in which some trials involved a change in one feature
      of an image (nose, chin, mouth, hair, or eyes for faces; chimney, porch, window,
      roof, or door for houses), whereas other trials involved no change. People were
      better able to detect the occurrence of a change for faces than for houses, but
      were better able to localize which feature had changed for houses than for faces.
      Half the trials used inverted images, a manipulation that disrupts holistic
      processing. With inverted images, the critical interaction between image type
      (faces vs. houses) and task (change detection vs. change localization)
      disappeared. The results suggest that holistic processing reduces change
      localization abilities.

PMID- 20935170
TI  - Huntington's and myotonic dystrophy hESCs: down-regulated trinucleotide repeat
      instability and mismatch repair machinery expression upon differentiation.
AB  - Huntington's disease (HD) and myotonic dystrophy (DM1) are caused by
      trinucleotide repeat expansions. The repeats show different instability patterns
      according to the disorder, cell type and developmental stage. Here we studied the
      behavior of these repeats in DM1- and HD-derived human embryonic stem cells
      (hESCs) before and after differentiation, and its relationship to the DNA
      mismatch repair (MMR). The relatively small (CAG)44 HD expansion was stable in
      undifferentiated and differentiated HD hESCs. In contrast, the DM1 repeat showed
      instability from the earliest passages onwards in DM1 hESCs with (CTG)250 or
      (CTG)1800. Upon differentiation the DM1 repeat was stabilized. MMR genes,
      including hMSH2, hMSH3 and hMSH6 were assessed at the transcript and protein
      levels in differentiated cells. The coincidence of differentiation-induced down
      regulated MMR expression with reduced instability of the long expanded repeats in
      hESCs is consistent with a known requirement of MMR proteins for repeat
      instability in transgenic mice. This is the first demonstration of a correlation
      between altered repeat instability of an endogenous DM1 locus and natural MMR
      down-regulation, in contrast to the commonly used murine knock-down systems.

PMID- 20935171
TI  - Premutation CGG-repeat expansion of the Fmr1 gene impairs mouse neocortical
      development.
AB  - Fragile X-associated tremor/ataxia syndrome (FXTAS) is a late adult-onset
      neurodegenerative disorder caused by a premutation CGG-trinucleotide repeat
      expansion (55-200 CGG repeats) within the 5'-untranslated region of the FMR1
      gene. Although FXTAS generally affects premutation carriers over 50 years of age,
      cognitive and psychological symptoms can appear in carriers during childhood,
      suggesting that the FMR1 premutation affects brain function early in life. Recent
      work with cultured hippocampal neurons from a premutation (Fmr1 CGG knock-in)
      mouse model revealed impaired development of early postnatal neurons, consistent
      with the developmental clinical involvement of premutation carriers. In the
      current work, we show that the presence of premutation CGG-repeat expansions in
      the mouse Fmr1 gene alters embryonic neocortical development. Specifically,
      embryonic premutation mice display migration defects in the neocortex and altered
      expression of neuronal lineage markers. The current data demonstrate that
      premutation alleles of the Fmr1 gene are associated with defects in developmental
      programs operating during prenatal stages of brain formation and provide further
      evidence that the FMR1 premutation has a neurodevelopmental component.

PMID- 20935172
TI  - Common CD36 SNPs reduce protein expression and may contribute to a protective
      atherogenic profile.
AB  - Membrane CD36 functions in the uptake of fatty acids (FAs), oxidized lipoproteins
      and in signal transduction after binding these ligands. In rodents, CD36 is
      implicated in abnormal lipid metabolism, inflammation and atherosclerosis. In
      humans, CD36 variants have been identified to influence free FA and high-density
      lipoprotein (HDL) levels and to associate with the risk of the metabolic
      syndrome, coronary artery disease and stroke. In this study, 15 common lipid
      associated CD36 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were evaluated for the
      impact on monocyte CD36 expression (protein and transcript) in 104 African
      Americans. In a subset of subjects, the SNPs were tested for association with
      monocyte surface CD36 (n=65) and platelet total CD36 (n=57). The relationship
      between CD36 expression and serum HDL and very low-density lipoproteins (VLDLs)
      levels was also examined. After a permutation-based correction for multiple
      tests, four SNPs (rs1761667, rs3211909, rs3211913, rs3211938) influenced monocyte
      CD36 protein and two (rs3211909, rs3211938) platelet CD36. The effect of the HDL
      associated SNPs on CD36 expression inversely related to the impact on serum HDL
      and potential causality was supported by Mendelian randomization analysis.
      Consistent with this, monocyte CD36 protein negatively correlated with total HDL
      and HDL subfractions. In contrast, positive correlations were documented between
      monocyte CD36 and VLDL lipid, particle number and apolipoprotein B. In
      conclusion, CD36 variants that reduce protein expression appear to promote a
      protective metabolic profile. The SNPs in this study may have predictive
      potential on CD36 expression and disease susceptibility in African Americans.
      Further studies are warranted to validate and determine whether these findings
      are population specific.

PMID- 20935173
TI  - Drosophila FMRP regulates microtubule network formation and axonal transport of
      mitochondria.
AB  - Fragile X syndrome, the most common form of inherited mental retardation, is
      caused by the absence of the fragile X mental retardation protein FMRP. The RNA
      binding FMRP represses translation of the microtubule (MT)-associated protein 1B
      (MAP1B) during synaptogenesis in the brain of the neonatal mouse. However, the
      effect of FMRP on MTs remains unclear. Mounting evidence shows that the structure
      and the function of FMRP are well conserved across species from Drosophila to
      human. From a genetic screen, we identified spastin as a dominant suppressor of
      rough eye caused by dfmr1 over-expression. spastin encodes an MT-severing
      protein, and its mutations cause neurodegenerative hereditary spastic paraplegia.
      Epistatic and biochemical analyses revealed that dfmr1 acts upstream of or in
      parallel with spastin in multiple processes, including synapse development,
      locomotive behaviour and MT network formation. Immunostaining showed that both
      loss- and gain-of-function mutations of dfmr1 result in an apparently altered MT
      network. Western analysis revealed that the levels of alpha-tubulin and
      acetylated MTs remained normal in dfmr1 mutants, but increased significantly when
      dfmr1 was over-expressed. To examine the consequence of the aberrant MTs in dfmr1
      mutants, we analysed the MT-dependent mitochondrial transport and found that the
      number of mitochondria and the flux of mitochondrial transport are negatively
      regulated by dfmr1. These results demonstrate that dFMRP plays a crucial role in
      controlling MT formation and mitochondrial transport. Thus, defective MTs and
      abnormal mitochondrial transport might account for, at least partially, the
      pathogenesis of fragile X mental retardation.

PMID- 20935174
TI  - An Arabidopsis pentatricopeptide repeat protein, SUPPRESSOR OF VARIEGATION7, is
      required for FtsH-mediated chloroplast biogenesis.
AB  - The Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) yellow variegated2 (var2) mutant has green
      and white-sectored leaves due to loss of VAR2, a subunit of the chloroplast FtsH
      protease/chaperone complex. Suppressor screens are a valuable tool to gain
      insight into VAR2 function and the mechanism of var2 variegation. Here, we report
      the molecular characterization of 004-003, a line in which var2 variegation is
      suppressed. We found that the suppression phenotype in this line is caused by
      lack of a chloroplast pentatricopeptide repeat (PPR) protein that we named
      SUPPRESSOR OF VARIEGATION7 (SVR7). PPR proteins contain tandemly repeated PPR
      motifs that bind specific RNAs, and they are thought to be central regulators of
      chloroplast and mitochondrial nucleic acid metabolism in plants. The svr7 mutant
      has defects in chloroplast ribosomal RNA (rRNA) processing that are different
      from those in other svr mutants, and these defects are correlated with reductions
      in the accumulation of some chloroplast proteins, directly or indirectly. We also
      found that whereas var2 displays a leaf variegation phenotype at 22 degrees C, it
      has a pronounced chlorosis phenotype at 8 degrees C that is correlated with
      defects in chloroplast rRNA processing and a drastic reduction in chloroplast
      protein accumulation. Surprisingly, the cold-induced phenotype of var2 cannot be
      suppressed by svr7. Our results strengthen the previously established linkage
      between var2 variegation and chloroplast rRNA processing/chloroplast translation,
      and they also point toward the possibility that VAR2 mediates different
      activities in chloroplast biogenesis at normal and chilling temperatures.

PMID- 20935175
TI  - Essential role of glutathione in acclimation to environmental and redox
      perturbations in the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803.
AB  - Glutathione, a nonribosomal thiol tripeptide, has been shown to be critical for
      many processes in plants. Much less is known about the roles of glutathione in
      cyanobacteria, oxygenic photosynthetic prokaryotes that are the evolutionary
      precursor of the chloroplast. An understanding of glutathione metabolism in
      cyanobacteria is expected to provide novel insight into the evolution of the
      elaborate and extensive pathways that utilize glutathione in photosynthetic
      organisms. To investigate the function of glutathione in cyanobacteria, we
      generated deletion mutants of glutamate-cysteine ligase (gshA) and glutathione
      synthetase (gshB) in Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803. Complete segregation of the
      DeltagshA mutation was not achieved, suggesting that GshA activity is essential
      for growth. In contrast, fully segregated DeltagshB mutants were isolated and
      characterized. The DeltagshB strain lacks reduced glutathione (GSH) but instead
      accumulates the precursor compound gamma-glutamylcysteine (gamma-EC). The
      DeltagshB strain grows slower than the wild-type strain under favorable
      conditions and exhibits extremely reduced growth or death when subjected to
      conditions promoting oxidative stress. Furthermore, we analyzed thiol contents in
      the wild type and the DeltagshB mutant after subjecting the strains to multiple
      environmental and redox perturbations. We found that conditions promoting growth
      stimulate glutathione biosynthesis. We also determined that cellular GSH and
      gamma-EC content decline following exposure to dark and blue light and during
      photoheterotrophic growth. Moreover, a rapid depletion of GSH and gamma-EC is
      observed in the wild type and the DeltagshB strain, respectively, when cells are
      starved for nitrate or sulfate.

PMID- 20935176
TI  - A glutathione S-transferase regulated by light and hormones participates in the
      modulation of Arabidopsis seedling development.
AB  - Glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) have been well documented to be involved in
      diverse aspects of biotic and abiotic stresses, especially detoxification
      processes. Whether they regulate plant development remains unclear. Here, we
      report on our isolation by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction of a
      plant GST, AtGSTU17, from Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) and demonstrate that
      its expression is regulated by multiple photoreceptors, especially phytochrome A
      (phyA) under all light conditions. Further physiological studies indicated that
      AtGSTU17 participates in various aspects of seedling development, including
      hypocotyl elongation, anthocyanin accumulation, and far-red light-mediated
      inhibition of greening with a requirement of functional phyA. The loss-of
      function mutant of AtGSTU17 (atgstu17) resulted in reduced biomass of seedlings
      and number of lateral roots in the presence of auxin, as well as insensitivity to
      abscisic acid (ABA)-mediated inhibition of root elongation, with similarity to
      different phyA mutant alleles. Moreover, the root phenotype conferred by atgstu17
      was reflected by histochemical beta-glucuronidase staining of AtGSTU17 promoter
      activity with the addition of auxin or ABA. Further microarray analysis of wild
      type Columbia and atgstu17 seedlings treated with far-red irradiation or ABA
      revealed that AtGSTU17 might modulate hypocotyl elongation by positively
      regulating some light-signaling components and negatively regulating a group of
      auxin-responsive genes and modulate root development by negatively controlling an
      auxin transport protein in the presence of ABA. Therefore, our data reveal that
      AtGSTU17 participates in light signaling and might modulate various aspects of
      Arabidopsis development by affecting glutathione pools via a coordinated
      regulation with phyA and phytohormones.

PMID- 20935177
TI  - Photoreceptors CRYTOCHROME2 and phytochrome B control chromatin compaction in
      Arabidopsis.
AB  - Development and acclimation processes to the environment are associated with
      large-scale changes in chromatin compaction in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis
      thaliana). Here, we studied the effects of light signals on chromatin
      organization. A decrease in light intensity induces a large-scale reduction in
      chromatin compaction. This low light response is reversible and shows strong
      natural genetic variation. Moreover, the degree of chromatin compaction is
      affected by light quality signals relevant for natural canopy shade. The
      photoreceptor CRYPTOCHROME2 appears a general positive regulator of low light
      induced chromatin decompaction. Phytochrome B also controls light-induced
      chromatin organization, but its effect appears to be dependent on the genetic
      background. We present a model in which chromatin compaction is regulated by the
      light environment via CRYPTOCHROME2 protein abundance, which is controlled by
      phytochrome B action.

PMID- 20935178
TI  - Evidence for the existence of one antenna-associated, lipid-dissolved and two
      protein-bound pools of diadinoxanthin cycle pigments in diatoms.
AB  - We studied the localization of diadinoxanthin cycle pigments in the diatoms
      Cyclotella meneghiniana and Phaeodactylum tricornutum. Isolation of pigment
      protein complexes revealed that the majority of high-light-synthesized
      diadinoxanthin and diatoxanthin is associated with the fucoxanthin chlorophyll
      protein (FCP) complexes. The characterization of intact cells, thylakoid
      membranes, and pigment protein complexes by absorption and low-temperature
      fluorescence spectroscopy showed that the FCPs contain certain amounts of protein
      bound diadinoxanthin cycle pigments, which are not significantly different in
      high-light and low-light cultures. The largest part of high-light-formed
      diadinoxanthin cycle pigments, however, is not bound to antenna apoproteins but
      located in a lipid shield around the FCPs, which is copurified with the
      complexes. This lipid shield is primarily composed of the thylakoid membrane
      lipid monogalactosyldiacylglycerol. We also show that the photosystem I (PSI)
      fraction contains a tightly connected FCP complex that is enriched in protein
      bound diadinoxanthin cycle pigments. The peripheral FCP and the FCP associated
      with PSI are composed of different apoproteins. Tandem mass spectrometry analysis
      revealed that the peripheral FCP is composed mainly of the light-harvesting
      complex protein Lhcf and also significant amounts of Lhcr. The PSI fraction, on
      the other hand, shows an enrichment of Lhcr proteins, which are thus responsible
      for the diadinoxanthin cycle pigment binding. The existence of lipid-dissolved
      and protein-bound diadinoxanthin cycle pigments in the peripheral antenna and in
      PSI is discussed with respect to different specific functions of the
      xanthophylls.

PMID- 20935179
TI  - The Arabidopsis PR-1 promoter contains multiple integration sites for the
      coactivator NPR1 and the repressor SNI1.
AB  - Systemic acquired resistance is a broad-spectrum plant immune response involving
      massive transcriptional reprogramming. The Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana)
      PATHOGENESIS-RELATED-1 (PR-1) gene has been used in numerous studies to elucidate
      transcriptional control mechanisms regulating systemic acquired resistance. WRKY
      transcription factors and basic leucine zipper proteins of the TGA family
      regulate the PR-1 promoter by binding to specific cis-elements. In addition, the
      promoter is under the control of two proteins that do not directly contact the
      DNA: the positive regulator NONEXPRESSOR OF PR GENES1 (NPR1), which physically
      interacts with TGA factors, and the repressor SUPPRESSOR OF NPR1, INDUCIBLE1
      (SNI1). In this study, we analyzed the importance of the TGA-binding sites LS5
      and LS7 and the WKRY box LS4 for regulation by NPR1 and SNI1. In the absence of
      LS5 and LS7, NPR1 activates the PR-1 promoter through a mechanism that requires
      LS4. Since transcriptional activation of WRKY genes is under the control of NPR1
      and since LS4 is not sufficient for the activation of a truncated PR-1 promoter
      by the effector protein NPR1-VP16 in transient assays, it is concluded that the
      LS4-dependent activation of the PR-1 promoter is indirect. In the case of NPR1
      acting directly through TGA factors at its target promoters, two TGA-binding
      sites are necessary but not sufficient for NPR1 function in transgenic plants and
      in the NPR-VP16-based trans-activation assay in protoplasts. SNI1 exerts its
      negative effect in the noninduced state by targeting unknown proteins associated
      with sequences between bp -816 and -573. Under induced conditions, SNI1
      negatively regulates the function of WRKY transcription factors binding to WKRY
      boxes between bp -550 and -510.

PMID- 20935189
TI  - Effect of antigenic exposure on airway smooth muscle remodeling in an equine
      model of chronic asthma.
AB  - Recent studies suggest that airway smooth muscle remodeling is an early event in
      asthma, but whether it remains a dynamic process late in the course of the
      disease is unknown. Moreover, little is known about the effects of an antigenic
      exposure on chronically established smooth muscle remodeling. We measured the
      effects of antigenic exposure on airway smooth muscle in the central and
      peripheral airways of horses with heaves, a naturally occurring airway disease
      that shares similarities with chronic asthma. Heaves-affected horses (n = 6) and
      age-matched control horses (n = 5) were kept on pasture before being exposed to
      indoor antigens for 30 days to induce airway inflammation and
      bronchoconstriction. Peripheral lung and endobronchial biopsies were collected
      before and after antigenic exposure by thoracoscopy and bronchoscopy,
      respectively. Immunohistochemistry and enzymatic labeling were used for
      morphometric analyses of airway smooth muscle mass and proliferative and
      apoptotic myocytes. In the peripheral airways, heaves-affected horses had twice
      as much smooth muscle as control horses. Remodeling was associated with smooth
      muscle hyperplasia and in situ proliferation, without reduced apoptosis. Further
      antigenic exposure had no effect on the morphometric data. In central airways,
      proliferating myocytes were increased compared with control horses only after
      antigenic exposure. Peripheral airway smooth muscle mass is stable in chronically
      affected animals subjected to antigenic exposure. This increased mass is
      maintained in a dynamic equilibrium by an elevated cellular turnover, suggesting
      that targeting smooth muscle proliferation could be effective at decreasing
      chronic remodeling.

PMID- 20935180
TI  - Changes in transcript abundance in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii following nitrogen
      deprivation predict diversion of metabolism.
AB  - Like many microalgae, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii forms lipid droplets rich in
      triacylglycerols when nutrient deprived. To begin studying the mechanisms
      underlying this process, nitrogen (N) deprivation was used to induce
      triacylglycerol accumulation and changes in developmental programs such as
      gametogenesis. Comparative global analysis of transcripts under induced and
      noninduced conditions was applied as a first approach to studying molecular
      changes that promote or accompany triacylglycerol accumulation in cells
      encountering a new nutrient environment. Towards this goal, high-throughput
      sequencing technology was employed to generate large numbers of expressed
      sequence tags of eight biologically independent libraries, four for each
      condition, N replete and N deprived, allowing a statistically sound comparison of
      expression levels under the two tested conditions. As expected, N deprivation
      activated a subset of control genes involved in gametogenesis while down
      regulating protein biosynthesis. Genes for components of photosynthesis were also
      down-regulated, with the exception of the PSBS gene. N deprivation led to a
      marked redirection of metabolism: the primary carbon source, acetate, was no
      longer converted to cell building blocks by the glyoxylate cycle and
      gluconeogenesis but funneled directly into fatty acid biosynthesis. Additional
      fatty acids may be produced by membrane remodeling, a process that is suggested
      by the changes observed in transcript abundance of putative lipase genes.
      Inferences on metabolism based on transcriptional analysis are indirect, but
      biochemical experiments supported some of these deductions. The data provided
      here represent a rich source for the exploration of the mechanism of oil
      accumulation in microalgae.

PMID- 20935190
TI  - Carbonylation caused by cigarette smoke extract is associated with defective
      macrophage immunity.
AB  - Oxidants in cigarette smoke inhibit pathogen recognition receptor function and
      phagocytosis, but the molecular basis of this inhibition remains obscure. We
      sought to identify the inhibitory mechanisms that impair alveolar macrophage
      function. Balb/c mice were acutely exposed to four cigarettes for 4 hours before
      treatment with intranasal LPS (1 MUg). The mice exhibited significantly reduced
      airway neutrophilia and expression of TNF-alpha. Balb/c-derived MH-S alveolar
      macrophage cells exposed to cigarette smoke extract (CSE) displayed a similar
      inhibitory response to stimulation with LPS. The induction of inflammatory genes
      by recombinant (r) TNF-alpha (100 ng/ml) was also impaired by CSE. Because both
      pathways converge on NF-kappaB, the degradation of IkappaBalpha and the
      phosphorylation of p65 were assessed and shown to be blunted by CSE. CSE also
      blocked the activity of activator protein-1 (AP-1) by inhibiting p38 mitogen
      activated protein kinase (MAPK) in a reduced glutathione (GSH)-reversible manner.
      The induction of specific Toll-like receptor (TLR)-negative regulators
      (suppressor of cytokine signaling-1 [SOCS-1], interleukin-1 receptor associated
      kinase-M [IRAK-M], and IL-10) did not account for the impaired responses of TLRs.
      As free radical species are abundant in CSE and GSH restored function, a panel of
      oxidative/nitrosative stress markers was screened using immunocytochemistry. The
      panel identified protein carbonylation as the major CSE-inducible marker. Oxyblot
      analysis confirmed that CSE potently introduced carbonyl groups to many proteins
      in a dose-dependent and time-dependent manner that inversely correlated with the
      expression of TNF-alpha. The formation of pseudopodia was not prevented, but
      these membrane extensions were heavily carbonylated, and primary alveolar
      macrophages were also targeted for carbonylation. Oxidants in cigarette smoke
      drive a rapid, persistent, and global protein carbonylation that may represent a
      common pathway to altered immunity in disease.

PMID- 20935191
TI  - Coupled nucleotide and mucin hypersecretion from goblet-cell metaplastic human
      airway epithelium.
AB  - Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and its metabolite adenosine regulate airway
      mucociliary clearance via activation of purinoceptors. In this study, we
      investigated the contribution of goblet cells to airway epithelial ATP release.
      Primary human bronchial epithelial (HBE) cultures, typically dominated by
      ciliated cells, were induced to develop goblet cell metaplasia by infection with
      respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) or treatment with IL-13. Under resting
      conditions, goblet-cell metaplastic cultures displayed enhanced mucin secretion
      accompanied by increased rates of ATP release and mucosal surface adenosine
      accumulation as compared with nonmetaplastic control HBE cultures. Intracellular
      calcium chelation [1,2-bis(o-aminophenoxy)ethane-N,N,N',N'-tetraacetic acid
      tetraacetoxymethyl ester] or disruption of the secretory pathways (nocodazole,
      brefeldin A, and N-ethylmaleimide) decreased mucin secretion and ATP release in
      goblet-cell metaplastic HBE cultures. Conversely, stimuli that triggered calcium
      regulated mucin secretion (e.g., ionomycin or UTP) increased luminal ATP release
      and adenyl purine accumulation in control and goblet-cell metaplastic HBE
      cultures. Goblet cell-associated ATP release was not blocked by the
      connexin/pannexin hemichannel inhibitor carbenoxolone, suggesting direct
      nucleotide release from goblet cell vesicles rather than the hemichannel
      insertion. Collectively, our data demonstrate that nucleotide release is
      increased by goblet cell metaplasia, reflecting, at least in part, a mechanism
      tightly associated with goblet cell mucin secretion. Increased goblet cell
      nucleotide release and resultant adenosine accumulation provide compensatory
      mechanisms to hydrate mucins by paracrine stimulation of ciliated cell ion and
      water secretion and maintain mucociliary clearance, and to modulate inflammatory
      responses.

PMID- 20935192
TI  - Epithelial cells from smokers modify dendritic cell responses in the context of
      influenza infection.
AB  - Epidemiologic evidence suggests that cigarette smoking is a risk factor for
      infection with influenza, but the mechanisms underlying this susceptibility
      remain unknown. To ascertain if airway epithelial cells from smokers demonstrate
      a decreased ability to orchestrate an influenza-induced immune response, we
      established a model using differentiated nasal epithelial cells (NECs) from
      nonsmokers and smokers, co-cultured with peripheral blood monocyte-derived
      dendritic cells (mono-DCs) from nonsmokers. NEC/mono-DC co-cultures were infected
      with influenza A virus and analyzed for influenza-induced immune responses 24
      hours after infection. We observed that NECs from smokers, as well as mono-DCs co
      cultured with NECs from smokers, exhibited suppressed influenza-induced,
      interferon-related proteins interferon regulatory factor-7, Toll-like receptor-3,
      and retinoic acid inducible gene-1, likely because of the suppressed production
      of IFNalpha from the NECs of smokers. Furthermore, NEC/mono-DC co-cultures using
      NECs from smokers exhibited suppressed concentrations of T-cell/natural killer
      cell chemokine interferon gamma-induced protein 10 (IP-10) after infection with
      influenza, indicating that NECs from smokers may skew early influenza-induced Th1
      responses. In contrast, NEC/mono-DC co-cultures using NEC from smokers contained
      increased influenza-induced concentrations of the Th2 chemokine thymic stromal
      lymphopoeitin (TSLP). In addition, NECs from smokers cultured alone had increased
      influenza-induced concentrations of the Th2 chemokine thymus and activation
      regulated chemokine (TARC). Using this model, we demonstrated that in the context
      of infection with influenza, NECs obtained from smokers create an overall
      cytokine microenvironment that suppresses the interferon-mediated Th1 response
      and enhances the TSLP-TARC-mediated Th2 response, with the potential to modify
      the responses of DCs. Smoking-induced alterations in the Th1/Th2 balance may play
      a role in developing underlying susceptibilities to respiratory viral infections,
      and may also promote the likelihood of acquiring Th2 proallergic diseases.

PMID- 20935194
TI  - Quitting smoking in China: findings from the ITC China Survey.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Few studies have examined interest in quitting smoking and factors
      associated with quitting in mainland China. OBJECTIVE: To characterise interest
      in quitting, quitting behaviour, the use of cessation methods and reasons for
      thinking about quitting among adult urban smokers in six cities in China.
      METHODS: Data is from Wave 1 of the ITC China Survey, a face-to-face household
      survey of 4732 adult smokers randomly selected from six cities in China in 2006.
      Households were sampled using a stratified multistage design. FINDINGS: The
      majority of smokers had no plan to quit smoking (75.6%). Over half (52.7%) of
      respondents had ever tried to quit smoking. Few respondents thought that they
      could successfully quit smoking (26.5%). Smokers were aware of stop-smoking
      medications (73.5%) but few had used these medications (5.6%). Only 48.2% had
      received advice from a physician to quit smoking. The number one reason for
      thinking about quitting smoking in the last 6 months was concern for personal
      health (55.0%). Most smokers also believed that the government should do more to
      control smoking (75.2%). CONCLUSION: These findings demonstrate the need to: (1)
      increase awareness of the dangers of smoking; (2) provide cessation support for
      smokers; (3) have physicians encourage smokers to quit; (4) denormalise tobacco
      use so that smokers feel pressured to quit; (5) implement smoke-free laws to
      encourage quitting; (6) develop stronger warning labels about the specific
      dangers of smoking and provide resources for obtaining further cessation
      assistance; and (7) increase taxes and raise the price of cigarettes.

PMID- 20935193
TI  - NF-kappaB mediates IL-1beta- and IL-17A-induced MUC5B expression in airway
      epithelial cells.
AB  - A major pathological feature of chronic airway diseases is the elevated
      expression of gel-forming mucins. NF-kappaB activation in airway epithelial cells
      has been shown to play a proinflammatory role in chronic airway diseases;
      however, the specific role of NF-kappaB in mucin gene expression has not been
      characterized. In this study, we show that the proinflammatory cytokines, IL
      1beta and IL-17A, both of which use the NF-kappaB pathway, are potent inducers of
      MUC5B mRNA expression in both well differentiated primary normal human bronchial
      epithelial cells and the human bronchial epithelial cell line, HBE1. MUC5B
      induction by these cytokines was both time- and dose-dependent, and was
      attenuated by the small molecule inhibitor, NF-kappaB inhibitor III, as well as
      p65 small interfering RNA, suggesting that the regulation of MUC5B expression by
      these cytokines is via an NF-kappaB-based transcriptional mechanism. Deletion
      analysis of the MUC5B promoter demonstrated that IL-1beta- and IL-17A-induced
      promoter activity resides within the -4.17-kb to -2.56-kb region relative to the
      transcriptional start site. This region contains three putative kappaB-binding
      sites (NF-kappaB-1, -3,786/-3,774; NF-kappaB-2, -3,173/-3,161; and NF-kappaB-3, 
      2,921/-2,909). Chromatin immunoprecipitation analysis confirmed enhanced binding
      of the p50 NF-kappaB subunit to the NF-kappaB-3 site after cytokine stimulation.
      We conclude that an NF-kappaB-based transcriptional mechanism is involved in
      MUC5B regulation by IL-1beta and IL-17A in airway epithelium. This is the first
      demonstration of the participation of NF-kappaB and its specific binding site in
      cytokine-mediated airway MUC5B expression.

PMID- 20935195
TI  - Health knowledge and perception of risks among Chinese smokers and non-smokers:
      findings from the Wave 1 ITC China Survey.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Awareness of health risks of smoking is strongly associated with
      smoking behaviour. However, there are no population-based studies of smoking
      related health knowledge in China. OBJECTIVE: The aim of current study was to use
      a population-based sample from the International Tobacco Control China Wave 1
      survey to examine variations between current, former and never smokers' health
      knowledge about smoking and the impact of health knowledge awareness on smokers'
      intention to quit. METHODS: A face-to-face interview was conducted with 5986
      adult smokers and non-smokers from six cities in China. Respondents were asked
      whether they believed smoking causes heart disease, stroke, impotence, lung
      cancer, emphysema, stained teeth, premature ageing in smokers and lung cancer in
      non-smokers. Current smokers were also asked additional questions on how smoking
      affects their current and future health as well as whether they had plans to quit
      smoking and if they believe they would have health benefit from quitting.
      FINDINGS: The overall awareness of health risks of smoking in China was low
      compared to developed countries. Current smokers in China were less likely than
      non-smokers and former smokers to acknowledge the consequences of smoking.
      Current smokers who were more aware of the health consequences of smoking were
      more likely to intend to quit smoking. CONCLUSION: These findings highlight the
      need to increase awareness about the health effects of smoking in China,
      particularly among current smokers to increase quitting.

PMID- 20935196
TI  - Cigarettes sold in China: design, emissions and metals.
AB  - BACKGROUND: China is the home to the world's largest cigarette maker, China
      National Tobacco Company (CNTC), yet little is known publicly about the design
      and emissions of Chinese cigarettes. CNTC is currently in the process of
      consolidating its brands and has ambitions to export its cigarettes. Machine
      measured tar yields of many of its cigarette brands have also been reduced,
      similar to what occurred in Western countries from the 1970s through the 1990s
      with so-called 'low-tar' cigarettes introduced to address consumer concerns about
      health risks from smoking. METHOD: The current study examines the design and
      physical characteristics, labelled smoke emissions and tobacco metals content of
      leading brands of Chinese cigarettes from seven cities purchased in 2005-6 and in
      2007. RESULTS: Findings suggest that similar to most countries, tar levels of
      Chinese cigarettes are predicted primarily by tobacco weight and filter
      ventilation. Ventilation explained approximately 50% of variation observed in tar
      and 60% variation in carbon monoxide yields. We found little significant change
      in key design features of cigarettes purchased in both rounds. We observed
      significant levels of various metals, averaging 0.82 MUg/g arsenic (range 0.3
      3.3), 3.21 MUg/g cadmium (range 2.0-5.4) and 2.65 MUg/g lead (range 1.2-6.5) in a
      subsample of 13 brands in 2005-6, substantially higher than contemporary Canadian
      products. CONCLUSION: Results suggest that cigarettes in China increasingly
      resemble those sold in Western countries, but with tobacco containing higher
      levels of heavy metals. As CNTC looks to export its product around the world,
      independent surveillance of tobacco product characteristics, including tobacco
      blend characteristics, will become increasingly important.

PMID- 20935197
TI  - Beliefs about the relative harm of "light" and "low tar" cigarettes: findings
      from the International Tobacco Control (ITC) China Survey.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Many smokers in Western countries perceive "light" or "low tar"
      cigarettes as less harmful and less addictive than "regular" or "full flavoured"
      cigarettes. However, there is little research on whether similar perceptions
      exist among smokers in low and middle incomes, including China. OBJECTIVE: To
      characterise beliefs about "light" and "low tar" cigarettes among adult urban
      smokers in China. METHODS: We analysed data from Wave 1 of the ITC China Survey,
      a face-to-face household survey of 4732 adult Chinese smokers randomly selected
      from six cities in China in 2006. Households were sampled using a stratified
      multistage design. FINDINGS: Half (50.0%) of smokers in our sample reported
      having ever tried a cigarette described as "light," "mild" or "low tar". The
      majority of smokers in our sample (71%) believed that "light" and/or "low tar"
      cigarettes are less harmful compared to "full flavoured" cigarettes. By far the
      strongest predictor of the belief that "light" and/or "low tar" cigarettes are
      less harmful was the belief that "light" and/or "low tar" cigarettes feel
      smoother on the respiratory system (p<0.001, OR=53.87, 95% CI 41.28 to 70.31).
      CONCLUSION: Misperceptions about "light" and/or "low tar" cigarettes were
      strongly related to the belief that these cigarettes are smoother on the
      respiratory system. Future tobacco control policies should go beyond eliminating
      labelling and marketing that promotes "light" and "low tar" cigarettes by
      regulation of product characteristics (for example, additives, filter vents) that
      reinforce perceptions that "light" and "low tar" cigarettes are smoother on the
      respiratory system and therefore less harmful.

PMID- 20935198
TI  - Individual-level factors associated with intentions to quit smoking among adult
      smokers in six cities of China: findings from the ITC China Survey.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Over 350 million smokers live in China, and this represents nearly
      one-third of the smoking population of the world. Smoking cessation is critically
      needed to help reduce the harms and burden caused by smoking-related diseases. It
      is therefore important to identify the determinants of quitting and of quit
      intentions among smokers in China. Such knowledge would have potential to guide
      future tobacco control policies and programs that could increase quit rates in
      China. OBJECTIVE: To identify the correlates of intentions to quit smoking among
      a representative sample of adult smokers in six cities in China. METHODS: Data
      from wave 1 (2006) of the International Tobacco Control (ITC) Policy Evaluation
      Project China Survey, a face-to-face survey of adult Chinese smokers in six
      cities: Beijing, Shenyang, Shanghai, Changsha, Guangzhou and Yinchuan, was
      analysed. Households were sampled using a stratified multistage design. About 800
      smokers were surveyed in each selected city (total n=4815). RESULTS: Past quit
      attempts, duration of past attempts, Heaviness of Smoking Index (HSI), outcome
      expectancy of quitting, worry about future health and overall opinion of smoking
      were found to be independently associated with intentions to quit smoking, but
      demographic characteristics were not. CONCLUSIONS: The determinants of quit
      intentions among smokers in China are fairly similar to those found among smokers
      in Western countries, despite the fact that interest in quitting is considerably
      lower among Chinese smokers. Identifying the determinants of quit intentions
      provides possibilities for shaping effective policies and programs for increasing
      quitting among smokers in China.

PMID- 20935199
TI  - Use of less expensive cigarettes in six cities in China: findings from the
      International Tobacco Control (ITC) China Survey.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The existence of less expensive cigarettes in China may undermine
      public health. The aim of the current study is to examine the use of less
      expensive cigarettes in six cities in China. METHODS: Data was from the baseline
      wave of the International Tobacco Control (ITC) China Survey of 4815 adult urban
      smokers in 6 cities, conducted between April and August 2006. The percentage of
      smokers who reported buying less expensive cigarettes (the lowest pricing tertile
      within each city) at last purchase was computed. Complex sample multivariate
      logistic regression models were used to identify factors associated with use of
      less expensive cigarettes. The association between the use of less expensive
      cigarettes and intention to quit smoking was also examined. RESULTS: Smokers who
      reported buying less expensive cigarettes at last purchase tended to be older,
      heavier smokers, to have lower education and income, and to think more about the
      money spent on smoking in the last month. Smokers who bought less expensive
      cigarettes at the last purchase and who were less knowledgeable about the health
      harm of smoking were less likely to intend to quit smoking. CONCLUSIONS: Measures
      need to be taken to minimise the price differential among cigarette brands and to
      increase smokers' health knowledge, which may in turn increase their intentions
      to quit.

PMID- 20935200
TI  - Perceptions of tobacco health warnings in China compared with picture and text
      only health warnings from other countries: an experimental study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the perceived effectiveness of cigarette health warnings in
      China, compared with picture and text-only warnings from other countries. METHOD:
      1169 individuals (adult smokers, adult nonsmokers and youth) from four Chinese
      cities (Beijing, Shanghai, Kunming and Yinchuan) viewed 10 health warnings on
      cigarette packages, which included (a) the current Chinese text warnings covering
      30% of the front/back of the pack (introduced October 2008); (b) the former
      Chinese text warning located on the side of the pack; (c) four picture warnings
      covering 50% of the front/back of the pack from Canada (lung cancer), Singapore
      (mouth disease), Hong Kong (gangrene) and European Union (clogged arteries); and
      (d) the same four warnings without the picture. Participants rated and ranked the
      10 warnings on dimensions including how effective each would be in motivating
      smokers to quit and in convincing youth not to start smoking. RESULTS: Both
      Chinese warnings were consistently rated as least effective, with the new Chinese
      warning rated only slightly higher than the old warning. The picture warnings
      were consistently ranked or rated as most effective, with the text-only versions
      in the middle. Results were consistent across subject group, city and sex.
      CONCLUSIONS: (1) Picture warnings are rated as much more effective than the same
      warnings without pictures. (2) The revised health warnings in China, introduced
      in October 2008, are only marginally more effective than the previous warning and
      far less effective than even text warnings from other countries. These results,
      coupled with population-based evaluation studies, suggest that pictorial warnings
      would significantly increase the impact of health warnings in China.

PMID- 20935201
TI  - IL-17A is proatherogenic in high-fat diet-induced and Chlamydia pneumoniae
      infection-accelerated atherosclerosis in mice.
AB  - The role of IL-17 in atherogenesis remains controversial. We previously reported
      that the TLR/MyD88 signaling pathway plays an important role in high-fat diet as
      well as Chlamydophila pneumoniae infection-mediated acceleration of
      atherosclerosis in apolipoprotein E-deficient mice. In this study, we
      investigated the role of the IL-17A in high-fat diet (HFD)- and C. pneumoniae
      induced acceleration of atherosclerosis. The aortic sinus plaque and aortic
      lesion size and lipid composition as well as macrophage accumulation in the
      lesions were significantly diminished in IL-17A(-/-) mice fed an HFD compared
      with wild-type (WT) C57BL/6 control mice. As expected, C. pneumoniae infection
      led to a significant increase in size and lipid content of the atherosclerotic
      lesions in WT mice. However, IL-17A(-/-) mice developed significantly less
      acceleration of lesion size following C. pneumoniae infection compared with WT
      control despite similar levels of blood cholesterol levels. Furthermore, C.
      pneumoniae infection in WT but not in IL-17A(-/-) mice was associated with
      significant increases in serum concentrations of IL-12p40, CCL2, IFN-gamma, and
      numbers of macrophages in their plaques. Additionally, in vitro studies suggest
      that IL-17A activates vascular endothelial cells, which secrete cytokines that in
      turn enhance foam cell formation in macrophages. Taken together, our data suggest
      that IL-17A is proatherogenic and that it plays an important role in both diet
      induced atherosclerotic lesion development, and C. pneumoniae infection-mediated
      acceleration of atherosclerotic lesions in the presence of HFD.

PMID- 20935202
TI  - BCL6 is required for differentiation of Ig-like transcript 3-Fc-induced CD8+ T
      suppressor cells.
AB  - Ig-like transcript 3 (ILT3) is an inhibitory receptor expressed by tolerogenic
      dendritic cells. When human CD8(+) T cells are allostimulated in the presence of
      recombinant ILT3-Fc protein, they differentiate into antigenic specific T
      suppressor (Ts) cells that inhibit CD4 and CD8 T cell effector function both in
      vitro and in vivo. ILT3-Fc-induced CD8(+) Ts cells express high amounts of BCL6
      that are crucial to their function. Knockdown of BCL6 from unprimed human T cells
      prevents their differentiation into Ts cells, whereas ex vivo overexpression of
      BCL6 converts CD8(+) T cells into Ts cells. NOD/SCID mice transplanted with human
      pancreatic islets and humanized by injection of human PBMCs tolerate the graft
      and develop BCL6(high) CD8(+) Ts cells when treated with ILT3-Fc before or after
      the onset of rejection. This indicates that ILT3-Fc acts through BCL6 and is a
      potent immunosuppressive agent for reversing the onset of allo- or possibly
      autoimmune attacks against pancreatic islets.

PMID- 20935203
TI  - Host genes associated with HIV-1 replication in lymphatic tissue.
AB  - Much effort has been spent recently in identifying host factors required for HIV
      1 to effectively replicate in cultured human cells. However, much less is known
      about the genetic factors in vivo that impact viral replication in lymphatic
      tissue, the primary anatomical site of virus-host interactions where the bulk of
      viral replication and pathogenesis occurs. To identify genetic determinants in
      lymphatic tissue that critically affect HIV-1 replication, we used microarrays to
      transcriptionally profile and identify host genes expressed in inguinal lymph
      nodes that were associated determinants of viral load. Strikingly, ~95% of the
      transcripts (558) in this data set (592 transcripts total) were negatively
      associated with HIV-1 replication. Genes in this subset 1) inhibit cellular
      activation/proliferation (e.g., TCFL5, SOCS5 and SCOS7, KLF10), 2) promote
      heterochromatin formation (e.g., HIC2, CREBZF, ZNF148/ZBP-89), 3) increase
      collagen synthesis (e.g., PLOD2, POSTN, CRTAP), and 4) reduce cellular
      transcription and translation. Potential anti-HIV-1 restriction factors were also
      identified (e.g., NR3C1, HNRNPU, PACT). Only ~5% of the transcripts (34) were
      positively associated with HIV-1 replication. Paradoxically, nearly all of these
      genes function in innate and adaptive immunity, particularly highlighting
      heightened gene expression in the IFN system. We conclude that this conventional
      host response cannot contain HIV-1 replication and, in fact, could well
      contribute to increased replication through immune activation. More importantly,
      genes that have a negative association with virus replication point to target
      cell availability and potentially new viral restriction factors as principal
      determinants of viral load.

PMID- 20935205
TI  - Identification of noncytotoxic and IL-10-producing CD8+AT2R+ T cell population in
      response to ischemic heart injury.
AB  - Emerging evidence suggests a cardioprotective role of the angiotensin AT2R,
      albeit the underlying cellular mechanisms are not well understood. We aimed in
      this article to elucidate a potential role of cardiac angiotensin AT2R in
      regulating cellular immune response to ischemic heart injury. Seven days after
      myocardial infarction in rats, double-immunofluorescence staining showed that
      AT2R was detected in a fraction of CD8(+) T cells infiltrating in the peri
      infarct myocardium. We developed a method that allowed the isolation of
      myocardial infiltrating CD8(+)AT2R(+) T cells using modified MACS, and further
      characterization and purification with flow cytometry. Although the CD8(+)AT2R(-)
      T cells exhibited potent cytotoxicity to both adult and fetal cardiomyocytes
      (CMs), the CD8(+)AT2R(+) T cells were noncytotoxic to these CMs. The
      CD8(+)AT2R(+) T cells were characterized by upregulated IL-10 and downregulated
      IL-2 and INF-gamma expression when compared with CD8(+)AT2R(-) T cells. We
      further showed that IL-10 gene expression was enhanced in CD8(+) T cells on in
      vitro AT2R stimulation. Importantly, in vivo AT2R activation engendered an
      increment of CD8(+)AT2R(+) T cells and IL-10 production in the ischemic
      myocardium. In addition, intramyocardial transplantation of CD8(+)AT2R(+) T cells
      (versus CD8(+)AT2R(-)) led to reduced ischemic heart injury. Moreover, the
      CD8(+)AT2R(+) T cell population was also demonstrated in human peripheral blood.
      Thus, we have defined the cardioprotective CD8(+)AT2R(+) T cell population, which
      increases during ischemic heart injury and contributes to maintaining CM
      viability and providing IL-10, hence revealing an AT2R-mediated cellular
      mechanism in modulating adaptive immune response in the heart.

PMID- 20935204
TI  - Cutting edge: The transcription factor eomesodermin enables CD8+ T cells to
      compete for the memory cell niche.
AB  - CD8(+) T cells responding to intracellular infection give rise to cellular
      progeny that become terminally differentiated effector cells and self-renewing
      memory cells. T-bet and eomesodermin (Eomes) are key transcription factors of
      cytotoxic lymphocyte lineages. We show in this study that CD8(+) T cells lacking
      Eomes compete poorly in contributing to the pool of Ag-specific central memory
      cells. Eomes-deficient CD8(+) T cells undergo primary clonal expansion but are
      defective in long-term survival, populating the bone marrow niche and re
      expanding postrechallenge. The phenotype of Eomes-deficient CD8(+) T cells
      supports the hypothesis that T-bet and Eomes can act redundantly to induce
      effector functions, but can also act to reciprocally promote terminal
      differentiation versus self-renewal of Ag-specific memory cells.

PMID- 20935206
TI  - Enhanced dendritic cell antigen uptake via alpha2 adrenoceptor-mediated PI3K
      activation following brief exposure to noradrenaline.
AB  - Although noradrenaline (NA), a stress-associated neurotransmitter, seems to
      affect the immune system, the precise mechanisms underlying NA-mediated
      immunoregulation are not fully understood. We examined the effect of NA on Ag
      uptake (endocytosis) by dendritic cells (DCs) using murine bone marrow-derived
      DCs and fluorescence-labeled endocytic tracers (dextran and OVA). Ag uptake by
      DCs notably increased following a very brief treatment (3 min) with NA. NA
      induced endocytosis was completely blocked by treatment with alpha(2)
      adrenoceptor antagonist yohimbine. Neither alpha(1)-adrenoceptor antagonist
      prazosin nor beta-adrenoceptor antagonist propranolol affected NA-induced
      endocytosis by DCs. A selective alpha(2)-adrenoceptor agonist, azepexole (B-HT
      933), also significantly increased endocytosis by DCs. Thus, the alpha(2)
      adrenoceptor seems to be responsible for NA-induced DC endocytosis. In parallel,
      NA markedly activated intracellular signaling pathways of PI3K and ERK1/2 in DCs.
      NA-mediated activation of these pathways was completely inhibited by yohimbine
      treatment. Blocking PI3K activation significantly reduced NA-induced endocytosis
      by DCs. Based on these results, NA rapidly enhances Ag capture by DCs via
      alpha(2) adrenoceptor-mediated PI3K activation, which may be associated with
      immune enhancement following acute stress.

PMID- 20935207
TI  - Rapid generation of rotavirus-specific human monoclonal antibodies from small
      intestinal mucosa.
AB  - The gut mucosal surface is efficiently protected by Abs, and this site represents
      one of the richest compartments of Ab-secreting cells in the body. A simple and
      effective method to generate Ag-specific human monoclonal Abs (hmAbs) from such
      cells is lacking. In this paper, we describe a method to generate hmAbs from
      single Ag-specific IgA- or IgM-secreting cells of the intestinal mucosa. We found
      that CD138-positive plasma cells from the duodenum expressed surface IgA or IgM.
      Using eGFP-labeled virus-like particles, we harnessed the surface Ig expression
      to detect rotavirus-specific plasma cells at low frequency (0.03-0.35%) in 9 of
      10 adult subjects. Single cells were isolated by FACS, and as they were viable,
      further testing of secreted Abs by ELISPOT and ELISA indicated a highly specific
      selection procedure. Ab genes from single cells of three donors were cloned,
      sequenced, and expressed as recombinant hmAbs. Of 26 cloned H chain Ab genes, 22
      were IgA and 4 were IgM. The genes were highly mutated, and there was an
      overrepresentation of the VH4 family. Of 10 expressed hmAbs, 8 were rotavirus
      reactive (6 with K(d) < 1 * 10(-10)). Importantly, our method allows generation
      of hmAbs from cells implicated in the protection of mucosal surfaces, and it can
      potentially be used in passive vaccination efforts and for discovery of epitopes
      directly relevant to human immunity.

PMID- 20935208
TI  - Differential requirement of histone acetylase and deacetylase activities for IRF5
      mediated proinflammatory cytokine expression.
AB  - Recent evidence indicates a new role for histone deacetylases (HDACs) in the
      activation of genes governing the host immune response. Virus, along with other
      pathogenic stimuli, triggers an antiviral defense mechanism through the induction
      of IFN, IFN-stimulated genes, and other proinflammatory cytokines. Many of these
      genes have been shown to be regulated by transcription factors of the IFN
      regulatory factor (IRF) family. Recent studies from IRF5 knockout mice have
      confirmed a critical role for IRF5 in virus-induced type I IFN expression and
      proinflammatory cytokines IL-6, IL-12, and TNF-alpha; yet, little is known of the
      molecular mechanism of IRF5-mediated proinflammatory cytokine expression. In this
      study, we show that both HDACs and histone acetyltransferases (HATs) associate
      with IRF5, leading to alterations in its transactivation ability. Using the HDAC
      inhibitor trichostatin A, we demonstrate that ISRE, IFNA, and IL6 promoters
      require HDAC activity for transactivation and transcription, whereas TNFalpha
      does not. Mapping the interaction of corepressor proteins (HDAC1, silencing
      mediator of retinoid and thyroid receptor/nuclear corepressor of retinoid
      receptor, and Sin3a) and HATs to IRF5 revealed distinct differences, including
      the dependence of IRF5 phosphorylation on HAT association resulting in IRF5
      acetylation. Data presented in this study support a mechanism whereby virus
      triggers the dynamic conversion of an IRF5-mediated silencing complex to that of
      an activating complex on promoters of target genes. These data provide the first
      evidence, to our knowledge, of a tightly controlled transcriptional mechanism
      whereby IRF5 regulates proinflammatory cytokine expression in conjunction with
      HATs and HDACs.

PMID- 20935209
TI  - Enhanced activation of T lymphocytes by urease-deficient recombinant bacillus
      Calmette-Guerin producing heat shock protein 70-major membrane protein-II fusion
      protein.
AB  - To activate naive T cells convincingly using Mycobacterium bovis bacillus
      Calmette-Guerin (BCG), recombinant BCG (BCG-D70M) that was deficient in urease,
      expressed with gene encoding the fusion of BCG-derived heat shock protein (HSP)
      70 and Mycobacterium leprae-derived major membrane protein (MMP)-II, one of the
      immunodominant Ags of M. leprae, was newly constructed. BCG-D70M was more potent
      in activation of both CD4(+) and CD8(+) subsets of naive T cells than recombinant
      BCGs including urease-deficient BCG and BCG-70M secreting HSP70-MMP-II fusion
      protein. BCG-D70M efficiently activated dendritic cells (DCs) to induce cytokine
      production and phenotypic changes and activated CD4(+) T cells even when
      macrophages were used as APCs. The activation of both subsets of T cells was MHC
      and CD86 dependent. Pretreatment of DCs with chloroquine inhibited both surface
      expression of MMP-II on DCs and the activation of T cells by BCG-D70M-infected
      APCs. The naive CD8(+) T cell activation was inhibited by treatment of DCs with
      brefeldin A and lactacystin so that the T cell was activated by TAP- and
      proteosome-dependent cytosolic cross-priming pathway. From naive CD8(+) T cells,
      effector T cells producing perforin and memory T cells having migration markers
      were produced by BCG-D70M stimulation. BCG-D70M primary infection in C57BL/6 mice
      produced T cells responsive to in vitro secondary stimulation with MMP-II and
      HSP70 and more efficiently inhibited the multiplication of subsequently
      challenged M. leprae than vector control BCG. These results indicate that the
      triple combination of HSP70, MMP-II, and urease depletion may provide a useful
      tool for inducing better activation of naive T cells.

PMID- 20935211
TI  - Anti-inflammatory effects of the activation of the angiotensin-(1-7) receptor,
      MAS, in experimental models of arthritis.
AB  - Activation of the renin-angiotensin (Ang) system induces inflammation via
      interaction between Ang II and type 1 receptor on leukocytes. The relevance of
      the new arm of the renin-Ang system, namely Ang-converting enzyme-2/Ang-(1-7)/Mas
      receptor, for inflammatory responses is not known and was investigated in this
      study. For this purpose, two experimental models were used: Ag-induced arthritis
      (AIA) in mice and adjuvant-induced arthritis (AdIA) in rats. Male C57BL/6 wild
      type or Mas(-/-) mice were subjected to AIA and treated with Ang-(1-7), the Mas
      agonist AVE 0991, or vehicle. AdIA was performed in female rats that were given
      AVE 0991 or vehicle. In wild-type mice, Mas protein is expressed in arthritic
      joints. Administration of AVE 0991 or Ang-(1-7) decreased AIA-induced neutrophil
      accumulation, hypernociception, and production of TNF-alpha, IL-1beta, and CXCL1.
      Histopathological analysis showed significant reduction of inflammation.
      Mechanistically, AVE 0991 reduced leukocyte rolling and adhesion, even when given
      after Ag challenge. Mas(-/-) mice subjected to AIA developed slightly more
      pronounced inflammation, as observed by greater neutrophil accumulation and
      cytokine release. Administration of AVE 0991 was without effect in Mas(-/-) mice
      subjected to AIA. In rats, administration of AVE 0991 decreased edema, neutrophil
      accumulation, histopathological score, and production of IL-1beta and CXCL1
      induced by AdIA. Therefore, activation of Mas receptors decreases neutrophil
      influx and cytokine production and causes significant amelioration of arthritis
      in experimental models of arthritis in rats and mice. This approach might
      represent a novel therapeutic opportunity for arthritis.

PMID- 20935212
TI  - The impact of positive practices on nurse work environments: emerging
      applications of positive organizational scholarship.
AB  - The overall purpose of improving work environments in health care is to enhance
      patient care delivery and improve the retention of nurses by engaging nurses in a
      model of cultural change that enhances communication and collaboration and
      actively involves nurses in organizational and clinical decision making. This
      article reports the findings from a 5-year study that describes an educational
      intervention for nurse leaders and a unit-based educational intervention for
      nursing staff, based on the application of Positive Organizational Scholarship
      (POS) and its impact on nursing work environments.

PMID- 20935210
TI  - Direct inhibition of human RANK+ osteoclast precursors identifies a homeostatic
      function of IL-1beta.
AB  - IL-1beta is a key mediator of bone resorption in inflammatory settings, such as
      rheumatoid arthritis (RA). IL-1beta promotes osteoclastogenesis by inducing RANKL
      expression on stromal cells and synergizing with RANKL to promote later stages of
      osteoclast differentiation. Because IL-1Rs share a cytosolic Toll-IL-1R domain
      and common intracellular signaling molecules with TLRs that can directly inhibit
      early steps of human osteoclast differentiation, we tested whether IL-1beta also
      has suppressive properties on osteoclastogenesis in primary human peripheral
      blood monocytes and RA synovial macrophages. Early addition of IL-1beta, prior to
      or together with RANKL, strongly inhibited human osteoclastogenesis as assessed
      by generation of TRAP(+) multinucleated cells. IL-1beta acted directly on human
      osteoclast precursors (OCPs) to strongly suppress expression of RANK, of the
      costimulatory triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2 receptor, and of
      the B cell linker adaptor important for transmitting RANK-induced signals. Thus,
      IL-1beta rendered early-stage human OCPs refractory to RANK stimulation. Similar
      inhibitory effects of IL-1beta were observed using RA synovial macrophages. One
      mechanism of RANK inhibition was IL-1beta-induced proteolytic shedding of the M
      CSF receptor c-Fms that is required for RANK expression. These results identify a
      homeostatic function of IL-1beta in suppressing early OCPs that contrasts with
      its well-established role in promoting later stages of osteoclast
      differentiation. Thus, the rate of IL-1-driven bone destruction in inflammatory
      diseases, such as RA, can be restrained by its direct inhibitory effects on early
      OCPs to limit the extent of inflammatory osteolysis.

PMID- 20935213
TI  - Measurement and comparison of nursing faculty members' critical thinking skills.
AB  - Nursing faculty members strive to teach students to think critically. It has long
      been assumed that nursing faculty members are good at critical thinking because
      they are expected to teach these skills to students, but this assumption has not
      been well supported empirically. Faculty members question their ability to think
      critically and are unsure of their skills. The purpose of this study was to
      address this assumption by measuring nursing faculty members' critical thinking
      skills and compare the faculty mean score to that of a student norming group, and
      to the mean scores of other nursing faculty studies. Findings can be used to
      increase nursing faculty members' understanding of their critical thinking
      skills, prompt discussion about critical thinking skills, and to help faculty
      members address concerns and uncertainty about the concept of critical thinking.
      This study also helps establish an empirical basis for future research.

PMID- 20935215
TI  - The role of positive cognitions in Egyptian elders' relocation adjustment.
AB  - Relocation is a major life event for elders and it has been found to adversely
      affect their adjustment. Resilience theory suggests that adverse effects can be
      minimized if elders have positive cognitions. In addition, research has shown
      that positive cognitions are related to independence and healthy, productive
      lifestyles in older adults. Yet no studies have determined whether the
      relationship between relocation and adjustment is mediated or moderated by
      positive cognitions. This study examined these relationships in a sample of 94
      cognitively intact elders (aged 60+ years) who had relocated to retirement
      communities in Alexandria, Egypt. Results showed that relocation controllability
      had direct effects on positive cognitions and on relocation adjustment. Positive
      cognitions had a moderating and a partial mediating effect on the relationship
      between relocation controllability and relocation adjustment. These findings
      suggest that it is imperative to develop interventions to enhance positive
      thinking for elders facing the need to relocate.

PMID- 20935214
TI  - Patterns and correlates of nutrition among migrant farm-worker children.
AB  - Past research has demonstrated a higher incidence of overweight children in
      migrant farm-worker (MFW) families than in the general U.S. population. This
      study provided descriptive data on MFWs' acculturation, household food security,
      and general self-efficacy, and children's food patterns and body mass index.
      Convenience samples of 60 parent-child dyads were obtained from six MFW camps in
      two Midwest states. Acculturation and food security were low, higher general self
      efficacy was associated with low acculturation, and the majority of children did
      not meet their U.S. Food Guide Pyramid recommendations. It was noteworthy that
      48% of the sample, including siblings (excluded from data analysis), was
      overweight or obese. The knowledge learned concerning the food patterns and
      correlates of nutrition in this descriptive phase of the DINE study will direct
      counseling to MFW mothers on the purchase and preparation of affordable,
      nutritious, and culturally acceptable foods to achieve healthy weight in their
      children.

PMID- 20935216
TI  - Work environment characteristics of high-quality home health agencies.
AB  - This concurrent mixed-method study examines the nurse work environment of high
      quality Medicare-certified home health agencies. High-quality (n=6) and low
      quality (n=6) home health agencies were recruited using agency-level publicly
      reported patient outcomes. Direct care registered nurses (RNs) from each agency
      participated in a focus group and completed the Practice Environment Scale of the
      Nurse Work Index (PES-NWI). No significant differences were found in the PES-NWI
      results between nurses working in high- and low-quality agencies, though nurses
      in high-quality agencies scored higher on all subscales. Nurses working in all
      the high-quality agencies identified themes of adequate staffing, supportive
      managers, and team work. These themes were not consistently identified in low
      quality agencies. Themes of supportive managers and team work are reflective of
      effective leadership at the manager level. Agencies struggling to improve quality
      of care might consider developing their managers' leadership skills.

PMID- 20935217
TI  - Advancing evidence-based nursing practice in a children's hospital using
      competitive awards.
AB  - When creating an evidence-based practice (EBP) nursing environment became an
      organizational mandate for the authors' tertiary care pediatric hospital, they
      assessed the state of EBP at their hospital. Findings revealed inconsistent use
      of EBP principles by the nursing staff. Nurses routinely cited literature to
      inform practice guidelines and performance improvement initiatives, but they
      lacked skills to comprehensively search available literature and critically
      appraise evidence for its quality. In addition, evaluating practice changes was
      not universally used. To stimulate the consistent use of the full scope of EBP,
      we created a call for competitive awards for EBP projects. Three teams (Of eight
      proposals submitted) each received $5,000 to implement their projects. Teams also
      received comprehensive education and were assigned EBP experts to help them
      implement and evaluate their EBP projects. We report the steps taken to implement
      and evaluate this approach to stimulating nurses' interest in and use of EBP.

PMID- 20935218
TI  - MGMT-independent temozolomide resistance in pediatric glioblastoma cells
      associated with a PI3-kinase-mediated HOX/stem cell gene signature.
AB  - Sensitivity to temozolomide is restricted to a subset of glioblastoma patients,
      with the major determinant of resistance being a lack of promoter methylation of
      the gene encoding the repair protein DNA methyltransferase MGMT, although other
      mechanisms are thought to be active. There are, however, limited preclinical data
      in model systems derived from pediatric glioma patients. We screened a series of
      cell lines for temozolomide efficacy in vitro, and investigated the differential
      mechanisms of resistance involved. In the majority of cell lines, a lack of MGMT
      promoter methylation and subsequent protein overexpression were linked to
      temozolomide resistance. An exception was the pediatric glioblastoma line KNS42.
      Expression profiling data revealed a coordinated upregulation of HOX gene
      expression in resistant lines, especially KNS42, which was reversed by
      phosphoinositide 3-kinase pathway inhibition. High levels of HOXA9/HOXA10 gene
      expression were associated with a shorter survival in pediatric high-grade glioma
      patient samples. Combination treatment in vitro of pathway inhibition and
      temozolomide resulted in a highly synergistic interaction in KNS42 cells. The
      resistance gene signature further included contiguous genes within the 12q13-q14
      amplicon, including the Akt enhancer PIKE, significantly overexpressed in the
      KNS42 line. These cells were also highly enriched for CD133 and other stem cell
      markers. We have thus shown an in vitro link between phosphoinositide 3-kinase
      mediated HOXA9/HOXA10 expression, and a drug-resistant, progenitor cell phenotype
      in MGMT-independent pediatric glioblastoma.

PMID- 20935219
TI  - Deficiencies in the Fanconi anemia DNA damage response pathway increase
      sensitivity to HPV-associated head and neck cancer.
AB  - Patients with the rare genetic disease, Fanconi anemia (FA), are highly
      susceptible to squamous cell carcinomas arising at multiple anatomic sites
      including the head and neck region. Human papillomaviruses (HPVs), particularly
      HPV16, are associated with ~20% of head and neck squamous cell carcinomas
      (HNSCCs) in the general population. Some but not other investigators have
      reported that HNSCCs in FA patients are much more frequently positive for HPV. In
      addition, studies have demonstrated an interaction between the HPV16 E7
      oncoprotein and the FA pathway, a DNA damage response pathway deficient in FA
      patients. On the basis of these studies, it was hypothesized that the FA pathway
      contributes to repair of DNA damage induced by HPV16 E7, providing one
      explanation for why FA patients are predisposed to HPV-associated HNSCCs. To
      determine the importance of the FA pathway in modulating the oncogenic abilities
      of E7, we crossed K14E7 transgenic (K14E7) and fancD2 knockout mice (FancD2(-/-))
      to establish K14E7/FancD2(-/-) and K14E7/FancD2(+/+) mice and monitored their
      susceptibility to HNSCC when treated with a chemical carcinogen. K14E7/FancD2(-/
      ) mice had a significantly higher incidence of HNSCC compared with
      K14E7/FancD2(+/+) mice. This difference correlated with an increased
      proliferative index and the increase in expression of biomarkers that are used to
      assess levels of DNA damage. These animal studies support the hypotheses that FA
      patients have increased susceptibility to HPV-associated cancer and that the FA
      DNA damage response pathway normally attenuates the oncogenic potential of HPV16
      E7.

PMID- 20935221
TI  - Definition of an enhanced immune cell therapy in mice that can target stem-like
      lymphoma cells.
AB  - Current treatments of high-grade lymphoma often have curative potential, but
      unfortunately many patients relapse and develop therapeutic resistance. Thus,
      there remains a need for novel therapeutics that can target the residual cancer
      cells whose phenotypes are distinct from the bulk tumor and that are capable of
      reforming tumors from very few cells. Oncolytic viruses offer an approach to
      destroy tumors by multiple mechanisms, but they cannot effectively reach residual
      disease or micrometastases, especially within the lymphatic system. To address
      these limitations, we have generated immune cells infected with oncolytic viruses
      as a therapeutic strategy that can combine effective cellular delivery with
      synergistic tumor killing. In this study, we tested this approach against minimal
      disease states of lymphomas characterized by the persistence of cancer cells that
      display stem cell-like properties and resistance to conventional therapies. We
      found that the immune cells were capable of trafficking to and targeting residual
      cancer cells. The combination biotherapy used prevented relapse by creating a
      long-term, disease-free state, with acquired immunity to the tumor functioning as
      an essential mediator of this effect. Immune components necessary for this
      acquired immunity were identified. We further demonstrated that the dual
      biotherapy could be applied before or after conventional therapy. Our approach
      offers a potentially powerful new way to clear residual cancer cells, showing how
      restoring immune surveillance is critical for maintenance of a disease-free
      state.

PMID- 20935220
TI  - Degradation of MDM2 by the interaction between berberine and DAXX leads to potent
      apoptosis in MDM2-overexpressing cancer cells.
AB  - Berberine, a natural product derived from a plant used in Chinese herbal
      medicine, is reported to exhibit anticancer effects; however, its mechanism of
      action is not clearly defined. Herein, we demonstrate that berberine induces
      apoptosis in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) cells by downregulating the MDM2
      oncoprotein. The proapoptotic effects of berberine were closely associated with
      both the MDM2 expression levels and p53 status of a set of ALL cell lines. The
      most potent apoptosis was induced by berberine in ALL cells with both MDM2
      overexpression and a wild-type (wt)-p53, whereas no proapoptotic effect was
      detected in ALL cells that were negative for MDM2 and wt-p53. In contrast to the
      conventional chemotherapeutic drug doxorubicin, which induces p53 activation and
      a subsequent upregulation of MDM2, berberine strongly induced persistent
      downregulation of MDM2 followed by a steady-state activation of p53. We
      discovered that downregulation of MDM2 in ALL cells by berberine occurred at a
      posttranslational level through modulation of death domain-associated protein
      (DAXX), which disrupted the MDM2-DAXX-HAUSP interactions and thereby promoted
      MDM2 self-ubiquitination and degradation. Given that MDM2-overexpressing cancer
      cells are commonly chemoresistant, our findings suggest that this naturally
      derived agent may have a highly useful role in the treatment of cancer patients
      with refractory disease.

PMID- 20935222
TI  - Blockade of the ubiquitin protease UBP43 destabilizes transcription factor
      PML/RARalpha and inhibits the growth of acute promyelocytic leukemia.
AB  - More effective treatments for acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) are needed. APL
      cell treatment with all-trans-retinoic acid (RA) degrades the chimeric, dominant
      negative-acting transcription factor promyelocytic leukemia gene (PML)/RARalpha,
      which is generated in APL by chromosomal translocation. The E1-like ubiquitin
      activating enzyme (UBE1L) associates with interferon-stimulated gene ISG15 that
      binds and represses PML/RARalpha protein. Ubiquitin protease UBP43/USP18 removes
      ISG15 from conjugated proteins. In this study, we explored how RA regulates UBP43
      expression and the effects of UBP43 on PML/RARalpha stability and APL growth,
      apoptosis, or differentiation. RA treatment induced UBE1L, ISG15, and UBP43
      expression in RA-sensitive but not RA-resistant APL cells. Similar in vivo
      findings were obtained in a transgenic mouse model of transplantable APL, and in
      the RA response of leukemic cells harvested directly from APL patients. UBP43
      knockdown repressed PML/RARalpha protein levels and inhibited RA-sensitive or RA
      resistant cell growth by destabilizing the PML domain of PML/RARalpha. This
      inhibitory effect promoted apoptosis but did not affect the RA differentiation
      response in these APL cells. In contrast, elevation of UBP43 expression
      stabilized PML/RARalpha protein and inhibited apoptosis. Taken together, our
      findings define the ubiquitin protease UBP43 as a novel candidate drug target for
      APL treatment.

PMID- 20935223
TI  - Preclinical evaluation of AMG 900, a novel potent and highly selective pan-aurora
      kinase inhibitor with activity in taxane-resistant tumor cell lines.
AB  - In mammalian cells, the aurora kinases (aurora-A, -B, and -C) play essential
      roles in regulating cell division. The expression of aurora-A and -B is elevated
      in a variety of human cancers and is associated with high proliferation rates and
      poor prognosis, making them attractive targets for anticancer therapy. AMG 900 is
      an orally bioavailable, potent, and highly selective pan-aurora kinase inhibitor
      that is active in taxane-resistant tumor cell lines. In tumor cells, AMG 900
      inhibited autophosphorylation of aurora-A and -B as well as phosphorylation of
      histone H3 on Ser(10), a proximal substrate of aurora-B. The predominant cellular
      response of tumor cells to AMG 900 treatment was aborted cell division without a
      prolonged mitotic arrest, which ultimately resulted in cell death. AMG 900
      inhibited the proliferation of 26 tumor cell lines, including cell lines
      resistant to the antimitotic drug paclitaxel and to other aurora kinase
      inhibitors (AZD1152, MK-0457, and PHA-739358), at low nanomolar concentrations.
      Furthermore, AMG 900 was active in an AZD1152-resistant HCT116 variant cell line
      that harbors an aurora-B mutation (W221L). Oral administration of AMG 900 blocked
      the phosphorylation of histone H3 in a dose-dependent manner and significantly
      inhibited the growth of HCT116 tumor xenografts. Importantly, AMG 900 was broadly
      active in multiple xenograft models, including 3 multidrug-resistant xenograft
      models, representing 5 tumor types. AMG 900 has entered clinical evaluation in
      adult patients with advanced cancers and has the potential to treat tumors
      refractory to anticancer drugs such as the taxanes.

PMID- 20935224
TI  - Genotypes of NK cell KIR receptors, their ligands, and Fcgamma receptors in the
      response of neuroblastoma patients to Hu14.18-IL2 immunotherapy.
AB  - Response to immunocytokine (IC) therapy is dependent on natural killer cells in
      murine neuroblastoma (NBL) models. Furthermore, killer immunoglobulin-like
      receptor (KIR)/KIR-ligand mismatch is associated with improved outcome to
      autologous stem cell transplant for NBL. Additionally, clinical antitumor
      response to monoclonal antibodies has been associated with specific polymorphic
      FcgammaR alleles. Relapsed/refractory NBL patients received the hu14.18-IL2 IC
      (humanized anti-GD2 monoclonal antibody linked to human IL2) in a Children's
      Oncology Group phase II trial. In this report, these patients were genotyped for
      KIR, HLA, and FcR alleles to determine whether KIR receptor-ligand mismatch or
      specific FcgammaR alleles were associated with antitumor response. DNA samples
      were available for 38 of 39 patients enrolled: 24 were found to have autologous
      KIR/KIR-ligand mismatch; 14 were matched. Of the 24 mismatched patients, 7
      experienced either complete response or improvement of their disease after IC
      therapy. There was no response or comparable improvement of disease in patients
      who were matched. Thus KIR/KIR-ligand mismatch was associated with
      response/improvement to IC (P = 0.03). There was a trend toward patients with the
      FcgammaR2A 131-H/H genotype showing a higher response rate than other FcgammaR2A
      genotypes (P = 0.06). These analyses indicate that response or improvement of
      relapsed/refractory NBL patients after IC treatment is associated with autologous
      KIR/KIR-ligand mismatch, consistent with a role for natural killer cells in this
      clinical response.

PMID- 20935225
TI  - Therapeutic targeting of TLR9 inhibits cell growth and induces apoptosis in
      neuroblastoma.
AB  - The Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) evolved to cope with pathogens, but it is
      expressed in a variety of tumors for reasons that are unclear. In this study, we
      report that neuroblastoma (NB) cells express functional TLR9. Liposome-complexed
      CpG oligonucleotides inhibited the proliferation of TLR9-expressing NB cells and
      induced caspase-dependent apoptotic cell death. Inhibitory oligonucleotides
      (iODNs) abrogated these effects. RNA interference reduced TLR9 expression but not
      to the level where functional responses to CpG were abolished. Compared with free
      CpG, liposomal formulations of NB-targeted CpG (TL-CpG) significantly prolonged
      the survival of mice bearing NB tumor xenografts. While CpG alone lacked
      antitumor efficacy in NOD/SCID/IL2rg(-/-) mice, TL-CpG retained significant
      efficacy related to direct effects on tumor cells. TLR9 expression in primary
      human NB specimens was found to correlate inversely with disease stage. Our
      findings establish functional expression of TLR9 in NB and suggest that TLR9 may
      represent a novel theranostic target in this disease.

PMID- 20935226
TI  - Plasma micronutrients and the acquisition and clearance of anal human
      papillomavirus infection: the Hawaii HPV cohort study.
AB  - Anal human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is common among women and the cause of
      most anal malignancies. The incidence of anal cancer has been increasing among
      U.S. women, yet few cofactors for the natural history of anal HPV infection have
      been identified. We examined the hypothesis that plasma carotenoid, retinol, and
      tocopherol concentrations are associated with the acquisition and clearance of
      anal HPV infection in a cohort of 279 Hawaiian residents followed at 4-month
      intervals for a mean duration of 16 months. At each visit, interviews were
      conducted and biological specimens were obtained, including anal cell specimens
      for HPV DNA detection and genotyping, and a fasting blood sample to measure 27
      micronutrients. Cohort participants acquired 189 anal HPV infections, 113 of
      which cleared during the study period. The most frequently acquired HPV genotypes
      were HPV-52, -53, -84, and -16. Women in the highest quartile of trans
      zeaxanthin, trans -anhydro-lutein, and trans-, cis-, and total beta-carotene had
      significant 43% to 50% reduction in the risk of acquisition of any HPV infection
      compared with women in the lowest quartile. Few associations were observed
      between micronutrient levels and clearance of transient (<= 150 days) anal HPV
      infections. However, clearance of persistent (> 150 days) infections was
      associated with higher levels of beta-tocopherol + gamma-tocopherol and lower
      levels of carotenoids and retinol. Our findings suggest that several carotenoids
      can reduce the risk and clearance of anal HPV infections that contribute to anal
      cancer.

PMID- 20935227
TI  - Repeat dose study of the cancer chemopreventive agent resveratrol in healthy
      volunteers: safety, pharmacokinetics, and effect on the insulin-like growth
      factor axis.
AB  - Resveratrol, a naturally occurring polyphenol, has cancer chemopreventive
      properties in preclinical models. It has been shown to downregulate the levels of
      insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-I) in rodents. The purpose of the study was to
      assess its safety, pharmacokinetics, and effects on circulating levels of IGF-I
      and IGF-binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3) after repeated dosing. Forty healthy
      volunteers ingested resveratrol at 0.5, 1.0, 2.5, or 5.0 g daily for 29 days.
      Levels of resveratrol and its metabolites were measured by high performance
      liquid chromatography-UV in plasma obtained before and up to 24 hours after a
      dose between days 21 and 28. IGF-I and IGFBP-3 were measured by ELISA in plasma
      taken predosing and on day 29. Resveratrol was safe, but the 2.5 and 5 g doses
      caused mild to moderate gastrointestinal symptoms. Resveratrol-3-O-sulfate,
      resveratrol-4'-O-glucuronide, and resveratrol-3-O-glucuronide were major plasma
      metabolites. Maximal plasma levels and areas under the concentration versus time
      curve for the metabolites dramatically exceeded those for resveratrol, in the
      case of areas under the concentration versus time curve, by up to 20.3-fold.
      Compared with predosing values, the ingestion of resveratrol caused a decrease in
      circulating IGF-I and IGFBP-3 (P<0.04 for both), respectively, in all volunteers.
      The decrease was most marked at the 2.5 g dose level. The results suggest that
      repeated administration of high doses of resveratrol generates micromolar
      concentrations of parent and much higher levels of glucuronide and sulfate
      conjugates in the plasma. The observed decrease in circulating IGF-I and IGFBP-3
      might contribute to cancer chemopreventive activity.

PMID- 20935228
TI  - Inflammation in fetal sheep from intra-amniotic injection of Ureaplasma parvum.
AB  - Bronchopulmonary dysplasia is associated with chorioamnionitis and fetal lung
      inflammation. Ureaplasma species are the bacteria most frequently isolated from
      chorioamnionitis. Very chronic ureaplasma colonization of amniotic fluid causes
      low-grade lung inflammation and functional lung maturation in fetal sheep. Less
      is known about shorter exposures of the fetal lung. Therefore, we hypothesized
      that ureaplasmas would cause an acute inflammatory response that would alter lung
      development. Singleton ovine fetuses received intra-amniotic Ureaplasma parvum
      serovar 3 or control media at 110, 117, or 121 days and were delivered at 124
      days gestational age (term = 150 days). Inflammation was assessed by 1) cell
      counts in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF), and 2) cytokine mRNA measurements,
      immunohistochemistry, and flow cytometry for inflammatory cells and elastin and
      alpha-smooth muscle actin (alpha-SMA) staining in lung tissue. Neutrophils were
      increased in BALF 3 days after exposure to ureaplasmas (P = 0.01).
      Myeloperoxidase-positive cells increased after 3 days (P = 0.03), and major
      histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II-positive cells increased after 14 days
      of ureaplasma exposure (P = 0.001). PU.1 (macrophage marker)- or CD3 (T
      lymphocyte marker)-positive cells were not induced by ureaplasmas. CD3-positive
      cells in the posterior mediastinal lymph node increased in ureaplasma-exposed
      animals at 3, 7, and 14 days (P = 0.002). Focal elastin depositions decreased in
      alveolar septa at 14 days (P = 0.002), whereas alpha-SMA increased in arteries
      and bronchioli. U. parvum induced a mild acute inflammatory response and changed
      elastin and alpha-SMA deposition in the lung, which may affect lung structure and
      subsequent development.

PMID- 20935229
TI  - Regulation of endogenous ENaC functional expression by CFTR and DeltaF508-CFTR in
      airway epithelial cells.
AB  - The functional expression of the epithelial sodium channel (ENaC) appears
      elevated in cystic fibrosis (CF) airway epithelia, but the mechanism by which
      this occurs is not clear. We tested the hypothesis that the cystic fibrosis
      transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) alters the trafficking of endogenously
      expressed human ENaC in the CFBE41o- model of CF bronchial epithelia. Functional
      expression of ENaC, as defined by amiloride-inhibited short-circuit current
      (I(sc)) in Ussing chambers, was absent under control conditions but present in
      CFBE41o- parental and DeltaF508-CFTR-overexpressing cells after treatment with 1
      MUM dexamethasone (Dex) for 24 h. The effect of Dex was mimicked by incubation
      with the glucocorticoid hydrocortisone but not with the mineralocorticoid
      aldosterone. Application of trypsin to the apical surface to activate uncleaved,
      "near-silent" ENaC caused an additional increase in amiloride-sensitive I(sc) in
      the Dex-treated cells and was without effect in the control cells, suggesting
      that Dex increased ENaC cell surface expression. In contrast, Dex treatment did
      not stimulate amiloride-sensitive I(sc) in CFBE41o- cells that stably express
      wild-type (wt) CFTR. CFBE41o- wt cells also had reduced expression of alpha- and
      gamma-ENaC compared with parental and DeltaF508-CFTR-overexpressing cells.
      Furthermore, application of trypsin to the apical surface of Dex-treated CFBE41o-
      wt cells did not stimulate amiloride-sensitive I(sc), suggesting that ENaC
      remained absent from the surface of these cells even after Dex treatment. We also
      tested the effect of trafficking-corrected DeltaF508-CFTR on ENaC functional
      expression. Incubation with 1 mM 4-phenylbutyrate synergistically increased Dex
      induced ENaC functional expression in DeltaF508-CFTR-overexpressing cells. These
      data support the hypothesis that wt CFTR can regulate the whole cell, functional,
      and surface expression of endogenous ENaC in airway epithelial cells and that
      absence of this regulation may foster ENaC hyperactivity in CF airway epithelia.

PMID- 20935230
TI  - Respiratory syncytial virus is associated with an inflammatory response in lungs
      and architectural remodeling of lung-draining lymph nodes of newborn lambs.
AB  - Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the leading cause of lower respiratory tract
      infection in children worldwide. The understanding of neonatal RSV pathogenesis
      depends on using an animal model that reproduces neonatal RSV disease. Previous
      studies from us and others demonstrated that the neonatal lamb model resembles
      human neonatal RSV infection. Here, we provide an extensive and detailed
      characterization of the histopathology, viral load, cellular infiltration, and
      cytokine production in lungs and tracheobronchial lymph nodes of lambs inoculated
      with human RSV strain A2 over the course of infection. In the lung, RSV titers
      were low at day 3 postinfection, increased significantly by day 6, and decreased
      to baseline levels at day 14. Infection in the lung was associated with an
      accumulation of macrophages, CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells, and a transcriptional
      response of genes involved in inflammation, chemotaxis, and interferon response,
      characterized by increased IFNgamma, IL-8, MCP-1, and PD-L1, and decreased
      IFNbeta, IL-10, and TGF-beta. Laser capture microdissection studies determined
      that lung macrophage-enriched populations were the source of MCP-1 but not IL-8.
      Immunoreactivity to caspase 3 occurred within bronchioles and alveoli of day 6
      infected lambs. In lung-draining lymph nodes, RSV induced lymphoid hyperplasia,
      suggesting an ability of RSV to enhance lymphocytic proliferation and
      differentiation pathways. This study suggests that, in lambs with moderate
      clinical disease, RSV enhances the activation of caspase cell death and Th1
      skewed inflammatory pathways, and complements previous observations that
      emphasize the role of inflammation in the pathogenesis of RSV disease.

PMID- 20935232
TI  - A comparison of fixation methods on lung morphology in a murine model of
      emphysema.
AB  - Emphysema is characterized by enlargement of the alveoli, which is the most
      important parameter to assess the presence and severity of this disease. Alveolar
      enlargement is primarily defined on morphological criteria; therefore,
      characterization of this disease with morphological parameters is a prerequisite
      to study the pathogenesis. For this purpose, different methods of lung fixation
      were evaluated in a murine model of LPS-induced lung emphysema. Five different
      methods of lung fixation were evaluated: intratracheal instillation of fixatives,
      in situ fixation, fixed-volume fixation, vascular whole body perfusion, and
      vacuum inflation. In addition, the effects of three different fixatives (10%
      formalin, Carnoy's, and agarose/10% formalin solution) and two embedding methods
      (paraffin and plastic) were investigated on the murine lung morphology. Mice
      received intranasal administration of LPS to induce alveolar wall destruction.
      Quantification of air space enlargement was determined by mean linear intercept
      analysis, and the histological sections were analyzed for the most optimal
      fixation method. Additionally, routine immunohistological staining was performed
      on lung tissue of PBS-treated mice. Intratracheal instillation of formalin or
      agarose/formalin solution, in situ fixation, and fixed-volume fixation provided a
      normal lung architecture, in contrast to the lungs fixed via whole body perfusion
      and vacuum inflation. Formalin-fixed lungs resulted in the most optimal lung
      morphology for lung emphysema analysis when embedded in paraffin, while for
      Carnoy's fixed lungs, plastic embedding was preferred. The histological findings,
      the mean linear intercept measurement, and the immunohistochemistry data
      demonstrated that fixation by intratracheal instillation of 10% formalin or in
      situ fixation with 10% formalin are the two most optimal methods to fix lungs for
      alveolar enlargement analysis to study lung emphysema.

PMID- 20935231
TI  - Adiponectin-deficient mice are protected against tobacco-induced inflammation and
      increased emphysema.
AB  - Adiponectin is a cytokine with both proinflammatory and anti-inflammatory
      properties that is expressed in epithelial cells in the airway in chronic
      obstructive pulmonary disease-emphysema (COPD-E). To determine whether
      adiponectin modulates levels of lung inflammation in tobacco smoke-induced COPD
      E, we used a mouse model of COPD-E in which either adiponectin-deficient or wild
      type (WT) mice were exposed to tobacco smoke for 6 mo. Outcomes associated with
      tobacco smoke-induced COPD-E were quantitated including lung inflammation
      [bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) and total and differential cell count], lung
      mediators of inflammation (cytokines and chemokines), air space enlargement
      (i.e., linear intercept), and lung function (tissue elastance) in the different
      groups of mice. Whereas exposure of WT mice to tobacco smoke for 6 mo induced
      significant lung inflammation (increased total BAL cells, neutrophils, and
      macrophages), adiponectin-deficient mice had minimal BAL inflammation when
      exposed to tobacco smoke for 6 mo. In addition, whereas chronic tobacco-exposed
      WT mice had significantly increased levels of lung mediators of inflammation
      [i.e., TNF-alpha, keratinocyte-derived chemokine (KC), and adiponectin] as well
      as significantly increased air space enlargement (increased linear intercept) and
      decreased tissue elastance, exposure of adiponectin-deficient mice to chronic
      tobacco smoke resulted in no further increase in lung mediators, air space
      enlargement, or tissue elastance. In vitro studies demonstrated that BAL
      macrophages derived from adiponectin-deficient mice incubated in media containing
      tobacco smoke expressed minimal TNF-alpha or KC compared with BAL macrophages
      from WT mice. These studies suggest that adiponectin plays an important
      proinflammatory role in tobacco smoke-induced COPD-E.

PMID- 20935234
TI  - Reliability and validity of the Matson Evaluation of Social Skills with
      Youngsters.
AB  - Social skills are an important part of development, and deficits in this area
      have long-term impacts on a child. As a result, clinicians should include a
      measure of social skills as part of a comprehensive assessment. There are a few
      well-researched measures of social skills that are currently used, including the
      Matson Evaluation of Social Skills with Youngsters (MESSY). The MESSY has been
      translated and studied internationally in more than nine countries; however,
      updated norms for the United States have not been conducted since the inception
      of the measure. The purpose of this article is to examine the psychometric
      properties of the MESSY using an updated norm sample and age cohorts. Overall
      results indicated strong internal consistency and good to strong convergent and
      divergent validity. Psychometric properties for the older age cohorts were
      stronger and more consistent than those for the 2- to 5-year-olds. This reflects
      the variability of development and difficulty of assessing social skills at this
      young age.

PMID- 20935235
TI  - Maternal identity negotiations among low-income women with symptoms of postpartum
      depression.
AB  - In this study, we used a constructivist grounded theory approach to explore
      maternal identity negotiations among low-income ethnic minority mothers with
      postpartum depression (PPD) symptoms. Nineteen mothers were recruited from Women,
      Infant, and Children clinics located in two coastal cities in the United States
      to participate in in-depth interviews. Constant comparative analysis revealed
      that mothers experienced their PPD symptoms and poverty as evidence of maternal
      failure, but also drew on discourses of maternal self-sacrifice, engagement with
      their children, and pleasure in mothering to construct a positive sense of self.
      To negotiate these conflicting versions of self, mothers positively appraised
      their own mothering in relation to stigmatized "others" and framed their
      depression as a foreign entity, one that stood outside of a core, authentic sense
      of self. Through our consideration of the intersecting contexts of poverty and
      postpartum depressive symptoms, this article adds to the literature on PPD and
      mothering.

PMID- 20935233
TI  - Down-regulation of synaptic GluN2B subunit-containing N-methyl-D-aspartate
      receptors: a physiological brake on CA1 neuron alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4
      isoxazolepropionic acid hyperexcitability during benzodiazepine withdrawal.
AB  - A significant link was previously established between benzodiazepine withdrawal
      anxiety and a progressive increase in alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4
      isoxazolepropionic acid receptor (AMPAR) potentiation in hippocampal CA1 neurons
      from rats withdrawn up to 2 days from 1-week oral administration of the
      benzodiazepine flurazepam (FZP). Despite AMPAR current potentiation, withdrawal
      anxiety was masked by a 2-fold reduction in CA1 neuron N-methyl-D-aspartate
      receptor (NMDAR) currents since preinjection of an NMDA antagonist restored NMDAR
      currents and unmasked anxiety in 2-day FZP-withdrawn rats. In the current study,
      GluN subunit levels in postsynaptic density (PSD)-enriched subfractions of CA1
      minislices were compared with GluN2B-mediated whole-cell currents evoked in CA1
      neurons in hippocampal slices from 1- and 2-day FZP-withdrawn rats. GluN1 and
      GluN2B, although not the phosphoSer1303-GluN2B ratio or GluN2A subunit levels,
      were decreased in PSD subfractions from 2-day, but not 1-day, FZP-withdrawn rats.
      Consistent with immunoblot analyses, GluN2B-mediated NMDAR currents evoked in
      slices from 2-day FZP-withdrawn rats were decreased in the absence, but not the
      presence, of the GluN2B subunit-selective antagonist ifenprodil. In contrast,
      ifenprodil-sensitive NMDAR currents were unchanged in slices from 1-day withdrawn
      rats. Because AMPA (1 MUM) preincubation of slices from 1-day FZP-withdrawn rats
      induced depression of GluN2B subunit-mediated currents, depression of NMDAR
      currents was probably secondary to AMPAR potentiation. CA1 neuron NMDAR currents
      were depressed ~50% after 2-day withdrawal and offset potentiation of AMPAR
      mediated currents, leaving total charge transfer unchanged between groups.
      Collectively, these findings suggest that a reduction of GluN2B-containing NMDAR
      may serve as a homeostatic feedback mechanism to modulate glutamatergic synaptic
      strength during FZP withdrawal to alleviate benzodiazepine withdrawal symptoms.

PMID- 20935236
TI  - The perceptions of caregivers toward physical activity and health in youth with
      congenital heart disease.
AB  - Medical advances have reduced mortality in youth with congenital heart disease
      (CHD). Although physical activity is associated with enhanced quality of life,
      most patients are inactive. By addressing medical and psychological barriers,
      previous literature has reproduced discourses of individualism which position
      cardiac youth as personally responsible for physical inactivity. Few sociological
      investigations have sought to address the influence of social barriers to
      physical activity, and the insights of caregivers are absent from the literature.
      In this study, caregiver perceptions toward physical activity for youth with CHD
      were investigated at a Canadian hospital. Media representations, school
      liability, and parental overprotection construct cardiac youth as "at risk"
      during physical activity, and position their health precariously. Indeed, from
      the perspective of hospital staff, the findings indicate the centrality of
      sociological factors to the physical activity experiences of youth with CHD, and
      the importance of attending to the contextual barriers that constrain their
      health and physical activity.

PMID- 20935237
TI  - Paradox in treatment seeking: an experience from rural Sri Lanka.
AB  - Sri Lanka has had a pluralist health care system for centuries, in which Western
      biomedicine coexists with the Ayurveda system. However, recent studies suggest a
      declining trend in the use of the Ayurveda system. This study provides insights
      into the reasons for the low utilization of the Ayurveda system at present. The
      study findings reveal that low utilization of the Ayurveda system can be
      attributed to several factors, including the quick effect of Western medicines,
      the perception of being accustomed to Western medicines, a lack of competent
      Ayurveda practitioners, the high cost and low quality of Ayurveda medicines, and
      the rapidly changing lifestyles of villagers. However, for certain conditions
      such as fractures, snakebite, and paralysis, the majority of the Sri Lankan
      population still uses Ayurveda treatment. In conclusion, we suggest that health
      authorities should take into account these changes for future health planning in
      Sri Lanka.

PMID- 20935238
TI  - The additive impact of group and individual publicly displayed feedback:
      examining individual response patterns and response generalization in a safe
      driving occupational intervention.
AB  - Additive effects of publicly posting individual feedback following group goal
      setting and feedback were evaluated. The turn-signal use of pizza deliverers was
      studied in a multiple baseline design across two pizza stores. After baseline
      observations, pizza deliverers voted on a group turn-signal goal and then
      received 4 weeks of group feedback on their turn-signal use (i.e., group feedback
      phase). Then, for the next 4 weeks, individual turn-signal use means were
      publicly posted along with the group feedback (i.e., individual feedback phase).
      Deliverers at Store A (n = 24) increased their use of turn signals from a mean of
      5% during baseline to 16.9% during the group feedback phase and then to 30%
      during the individual feedback phase. Turn-signal use at Store B (n = 20)
      increased from 28.9% during baseline to 43.6% during group feedback phase and to
      56% during the subsequent individual feedback phase. Individual analyses
      suggested that deliverers who improved the target behavior during group feedback
      phase did not increase their turn-signal use further when individual feedback was
      added. Conversely, most deliverers who did not improve during the group feedback
      phase increased their turn-signal use when individual feedback was added.
      Complete intersection stopping increased concurrently with the turn-signal
      intervention phases from baseline means of 12% and 30% at Store A and B,
      respectively, to means of 21% and 48% during the interventions.

PMID- 20935239
TI  - Performance improvement in behavioral health care: collateral effects of planned
      treatment integrity observations as an applied example of schedule-induced
      responding.
AB  - With rising interest in the role of treatment integrity on student outcomes,
      research has primarily focused on isolating the techniques and procedures
      necessary to improve staff's acquisition and maintenance of adequate levels of
      integrity. Despite increasing numbers of publications on this topic, there has
      been little discussion of the variables surrounding the collection of integrity
      data. Using an archived database of logged integrity observations at a
      residential school for children with brain injury, the authors sought to examine
      the degree to which integrity data collection conformed to best practices of
      behavioral assessment with respect to temporal sequencing. Moreover, due to the
      agency's goal of collecting integrity on each student per month, the authors
      sought to examine whether the sequencing of integrity observations scalloped
      similarly to responding on conjunctive fixed-interval-fixed-ratio schedules.
      Results indicated that a majority of the staff exhibited some form of scalloping
      in their collection of integrity data. This article discusses possible sources of
      stimulus control and the potential for reactivity on the part of the teachers
      being observed when integrity observations are conducted in scalloped patterns.
      The authors conclude with a discussion on possible procedures to support the
      distributed collection of integrity data in applied setting.

PMID- 20935240
TI  - How does sport psychology actually improve athletic performance? A framework to
      facilitate athletes' and coaches' understanding.
AB  - The popularity of sport psychology, both as an academic discipline and an applied
      practice, has grown substantially over the past two decades. Few within the realm
      of competitive athletics would argue with the importance of being mentally
      prepared prior to an athletic competition as well as the need to maintain that
      particular mindset during a competitive contest. Nevertheless, recent research
      has shown that many athletes, coaches, and sporting administrators are still
      quite reluctant to seek out the services of a qualified sport psychologist, even
      if they believe it could help. One of the primary reasons for this hesitation
      appears to be a lack of understanding about the process and the mechanisms by
      which these mental skills affect performance. Unlike the "harder sciences" of
      sport physiology and biochemistry where athletes can see the tangible results in
      themselves or other athletes (e.g., he or she lifted weights, developed larger
      muscles, and is now stronger/faster as a result), the unfamiliar and often
      esoteric nature of sport psychology appears to be impeding a large number of
      athletes from soliciting these important services. As such, the purpose of this
      article is to provide the reader with a simple framework depicting how mental
      skills training translates into improved within-competition performance. This
      framework is intended to help bridge the general "understanding gap" that is
      currently being reported by a large number of athletes and coaches, while also
      helping sport psychology practitioners sell their valuable services to individual
      athletes and teams.

PMID- 20935241
TI  - Teaching applied behavior analysis knowledge competencies to direct-care service
      providers: outcome assessment and social validation of a training program.
AB  - Staff training is a critical performance improvement objective within behavioral
      health care organizations. This study evaluated a systematic training program for
      teaching applied behavior analysis knowledge competencies to newly hired direct
      care employees at a day and residential habilitation services agency for adults
      with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Three content areas-
      measurement, behavior support, and skill acquisition--were trained in a group
      format using Powerpoint(r) presentations that featured didactic instruction,
      practice exercises, and video demonstrations. The employees completed an
      assessment of knowledge test before and after training in each content area.
      Across five training groups, the average correct posttraining test scores were
      consistently higher than pretraining test scores. A social validity assessment
      revealed that the employees judged the training program favorably along several
      dimensions. Issues pertaining to staff training and performance improvement
      initiatives are discussed.

PMID- 20935242
TI  - Behavioral systems analysis in health and human services.
AB  - This article provides a behavioral systems approach to improve operational
      performance in health and human service organizations. This article provides six
      performance truths that are relevant to any organization and a case study from a
      community mental health network of agencies. A comprehensive analysis, as
      described here, will help health and human service leaders identify the critical
      areas in which to focus improvement efforts to better achieve their
      organizational mission.

PMID- 20935243
TI  - Integrating behavioral psychology services into adult day programming for
      individuals with dementia.
AB  - Many individuals with dementia and problem behavior are served in nursing home
      settings long before health issues necessitate constant medical care. Alternative
      community-based adult day health care programs allow individuals with dementia to
      remain in their home with their families at a substantially reduced cost;
      however, many adult day programs face the same difficulties in managing problem
      behavior as family members do, leading to premature termination of services. This
      article describes a multiyear project that integrated behavior analytic services
      into an adult day program for individuals with dementia and problematic behavior.
      A comprehensive practicum system was developed to provide assessment and
      treatment services that allowed consumers with problem behavior to remain
      successfully served in adult day programming while postponing out-of-home nursing
      home care.

PMID- 20935244
TI  - Writing for publication: a performance enhancement guide for the human services
      professional.
AB  - More human services professionals need to write for publication in peer-reviewed
      journals. This article discusses some of the perceived obstacles to writing for
      publication and how to overcome them by implementing a performance enhancement
      plan. By following a few basic guidelines, practitioners can write productively,
      publish their work successfully, and contribute meaningful findings, opinions,
      and recommendations to the professional community.

PMID- 20935245
TI  - Plantar enthesopathy: thickening of the enthesis is correlated with energy
      dissipation of the plantar fat pad during walking.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The enthesis of the plantar fascia is thought to play an important
      role in stress dissipation. However, the potential link between entheseal
      thickening characteristic of enthesopathy and the stress-dissipating properties
      of the intervening plantar fat pad have not been investigated. PURPOSE: This
      study was conducted to identify whether plantar fat pad mechanics explain
      variance in the thickness of the fascial enthesis in individuals with and without
      plantar enthesopathy. STUDY DESIGN: Case-control study; Level of evidence, 3.
      METHODS: The study population consisted of 9 patients with unilateral plantar
      enthesopathy and 9 asymptomatic, individually matched controls. The thickness of
      the enthesis of the symptomatic, asymptomatic, and a matched control limb was
      acquired using high-resolution ultrasound. The compressive strain of the plantar
      fat pad during walking was estimated from dynamic lateral radiographs acquired
      with a multifunction fluoroscopy unit. Peak compressive stress was simultaneously
      acquired via a pressure platform. Principal viscoelastic parameters were
      estimated from subsequent stress-strain curves. RESULTS: The symptomatic fascial
      enthesis (6.7 +/- 2.0 mm) was significantly thicker than the asymptomatic
      enthesis (4.2 +/- 0.4 mm), which in turn was thicker than the enthesis (3.3 +/-
      0.4 mm) of control limbs (P < .05). There was no significant difference in the
      mean thickness, peak stress, peak strain, or secant modulus of the plantar fat
      pad between limbs. However, the energy dissipated by the fat pad during loading
      and unloading was significantly lower in the symptomatic limb (0.55 +/- 0.17)
      when compared with asymptomatic (0.69 +/- 0.13) and control (0.70 +/- 0.09) limbs
      (P < .05). The sonographic thickness of the enthesis was correlated with the
      energy dissipation ratio of the plantar fat pad (r = .72, P < .05), but only in
      the symptomatic limb. CONCLUSION: The energy-dissipating properties of the
      plantar fat pad are associated with the sonograpic appearance of the enthesis in
      symptomatic limbs, providing a previously unidentified link between the
      mechanical behavior of the plantar fat pad and enthesopathy.

PMID- 20935246
TI  - Arachidonic acid: an evolutionarily conserved signaling molecule modulates plant
      stress signaling networks.
AB  - Fatty acid structure affects cellular activities through changes in membrane
      lipid composition and the generation of a diversity of bioactive derivatives.
      Eicosapolyenoic acids are released into plants upon infection by oomycete
      pathogens, suggesting they may elicit plant defenses. We exploited transgenic
      Arabidopsis thaliana plants (designated EP) producing eicosadienoic,
      eicosatrienoic, and arachidonic acid (AA), aimed at mimicking pathogen release of
      these compounds. We also examined their effect on biotic stress resistance by
      challenging EP plants with fungal, oomycete, and bacterial pathogens and an
      insect pest. EP plants exhibited enhanced resistance to all biotic challenges,
      except they were more susceptible to bacteria than the wild type. Levels of
      jasmonic acid (JA) were elevated and levels of salicylic acid (SA) were reduced
      in EP plants. Altered expression of JA and SA pathway genes in EP plants shows
      that eicosapolyenoic acids effectively modulate stress-responsive transcriptional
      networks. Exogenous application of various fatty acids to wild-type and JA
      deficient mutants confirmed AA as the signaling molecule. Moreover, AA treatment
      elicited heightened expression of general stress-responsive genes. Importantly,
      tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) leaves treated with AA exhibited reduced
      susceptibility to Botrytis cinerea infection, confirming AA signaling in other
      plants. These studies support the role of AA, an ancient metazoan signaling
      molecule, in eliciting plant stress and defense signaling networks.

PMID- 20935247
TI  - Mitochondrial beta-cyanoalanine synthase is essential for root hair formation in
      Arabidopsis thaliana.
AB  - Cyanide is stoichiometrically produced as a coproduct of the ethylene
      biosynthesis pathway and is detoxified by beta-cyanoalanine synthase enzymes. The
      molecular and phenotypical analysis of T-DNA insertion mutants of the
      mitochondrial beta-cyanoalanine synthase CYS-C1 suggests that discrete
      accumulation of cyanide is not toxic for the plant and does not alter
      mitochondrial respiration rates but does act as a strong inhibitor of root hair
      development. The cys-c1 null allele is defective in root hair formation and
      accumulates cyanide in root tissues. The root hair defect is phenocopied in wild
      type plants by the exogenous addition of cyanide to the growth medium and is
      reversed by the addition of hydroxocobalamin or by genetic complementation with
      the CYS-C1 gene. Hydroxocobalamin not only recovers the root phenotype of the
      mutant but also the formation of reactive oxygen species at the initial step of
      root hair tip growth. Transcriptional profiling of the cys-c1 mutant reveals that
      cyanide accumulation acts as a repressive signal for several genes encoding
      enzymes involved in cell wall rebuilding and the formation of the root hair tip
      as well as genes involved in ethylene signaling and metabolism. Our results
      demonstrate that mitochondrial beta-cyanoalanine synthase activity is essential
      to maintain a low level of cyanide for proper root hair development.

PMID- 20935250
TI  - Psychosocial interventions for the prevention of depression in older adults:
      systematic review and meta-analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the effectiveness of psychosocial interventions for the
      prevention of depression in older people. METHOD: Systematic review and meta
      analysis of prospective controlled trials. RESULTS: Thirty studies were included.
      Overall, psychosocial interventions had a small but statistically significant
      effect on depressive symptoms (17 trials, standardized mean difference = -0.17,
      95% CI = -0.31 to -0.03). In comparison with no-intervention controls, social
      activities were effective in reducing depressive symptoms, but results should be
      interpreted with caution due to the small number of trials. No statistically
      significant effect on depressive symptoms was found for physical exercise, skill
      training, reminiscence, or for multicomponent interventions. DISCUSSION:
      Psychosocial interventions have a small but statistically significant effect in
      reducing depressive symptoms among older adults. The current evidence base for
      psychosocial interventions for primary prevention of depression in older people
      is weak, and further trials warranted especially for the most promising type of
      interventions evaluated, that is, social activities.

PMID- 20935248
TI  - Older adults' inpatient and emergency department utilization for ambulatory-care
      sensitive conditions: relationship with alcohol consumption.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study examined the relationship between drinking that exceeds
      guideline-recommended limits and acute-care utilization for ambulatory-care
      sensitive conditions (ACSCs) by older Medicare beneficiaries. METHOD: This
      secondary data analysis used the 2001-2006 Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey
      (unweighted n = 5,570 community dwelling, past-year drinkers, 65 years and
      older). Self-reported alcohol consumption (categorized as within guidelines,
      exceeding monthly but not daily limits, or heavy episodic) and covariates were
      used to predict ACSC hospitalization, emergency department visit not resulting in
      admission, and emergency department visit that did result in admission. RESULTS:
      Heavy episodic drinking was significantly associated with higher likelihood of an
      ACSC emergency department visit not resulting in admission (adjusted odds ratio =
      1.91, 95% CI: 1.11-3.30; p < .05). Drinking pattern was not significant for other
      ACSC measures. DISCUSSION: Results partially support the hypothesis that
      excessive drinking may be related to ACSC acute-care utilization among older
      adults, suggesting increased risk of lower quality outpatient care.

PMID- 20935253
TI  - Livestock production and the global environment: consume less or produce better?

PMID- 20935251
TI  - Population genetics meets cancer genomics.

PMID- 20935256
TI  - Determination of acute lung injury after repeated platelet transfusions.
AB  - Acute lung injury (ALI) during hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) is
      associated with substantial morbidity; however, the frequency of ALI in HSCT
      patients is poorly characterized. Platelets are postulated to play a critical
      role in the pathogenesis of ALI. Using a transfusion trial of pathogen
      inactivated platelet components (PC-Test) compared with conventional PC
      (Reference) populated with HSCT patients, data were reviewed by an adjudication
      panel to determine the frequency of ALI overall, by treatment groups, and key
      outcomes: PC exposure, ventilator-free days, and mortality. The diagnosis of ALI
      was based on American European Consensus Criteria. Of 645 patients who received
      PC over 28 days, 100 (15.5%) had clinically serious pulmonary adverse events, and
      35 (5.4%) met criteria for ALI. Days of platelet support and number of platelet
      transfusions for patients with ALI were not significantly different from patients
      without ALI (P > .05). Mortality was greater for patients with ALI (57%) than
      those without (17%, P < .001) but not significantly different between treatment
      groups. For patients with ALI, the distributions of time to onset of mechanical
      ventilation were significantly different (P = .04). Patients supported with
      Reference PC were more likely to be ventilated sooner than patients receiving
      Test PC.

PMID- 20935255
TI  - Analyses of HLA-C-specific KIR repertoires in donors with group A and B
      haplotypes suggest a ligand-instructed model of NK cell receptor acquisition.
AB  - To determine the influence of KIR and HLA class I polymorphism on human NK cell
      repertoires, 32 different clonotypes representing all possible combinations of 4
      inhibitory KIR and NKG2A were analyzed by multicolor flow cytometry. In donors
      homozygous for the common group A KIR haplotype, a significant influence of HLA-C
      ligands was seen: KIR repertoires were dominated by clonotypes expressing a
      single KIR for the respective cognate ligand, either the C1-specific KIR2DL3 or
      C2-specific KIR2DL1. In contrast, in donors possessing the polymorphic group B
      haplotypes, a similar adaptation to cognate HLA-C was lacking. We suggest that
      this discrepancy is largely the result of a suppressive effect of the group B
      specific KIR2DL2 on the frequency of KIR2DL1(+) NK cells. In functional assays,
      KIR2DL2 not only recognized C1 but also C2 ligands, showing overlapping
      specificity with KIR2DL1. Moreover, using an NK cell differentiation assay we
      show sequential acquisition of KIR2DL2 before KIR2DL1 on developing NK cells.
      Together, these observations are compatible with a ligand-instructed model of NK
      cell education, in which recognition of HLA class I by an inhibitory receptor
      (KIR2DL2) suppresses subsequent expression of a second receptor (KIR2DL1) of
      related specificity. Importantly, the ligand-instructed model fits to the
      observed KIR repertoires in both broad KIR haplotype groups.

PMID- 20935254
TI  - Early lymphocyte recovery after intensive timed sequential chemotherapy for acute
      myelogenous leukemia: peripheral oligoclonal expansion of regulatory T cells.
AB  - Few published studies characterize early lymphocyte recovery after intensive
      chemotherapy for acute myelogenous leukemia (AML). To test the hypothesis that
      lymphocyte recovery mirrors ontogeny, we characterized early lymphocyte recovery
      in 20 consecutive patients undergoing induction timed sequential chemotherapy for
      newly diagnosed AML. Recovering T lymphocytes were predominantly CD4(+) and
      included a greatly expanded population of CD3(+)CD4(+)CD25(+)Foxp3(+) T cells.
      Recovering CD3(+)CD4(+)CD25(+)Foxp3(+) T cells were phenotypically activated
      regulatory T cells and showed suppressive activity on cytokine production in a
      mixed lymphocyte reaction. Despite an initial burst of thymopoiesis, most
      recovering regulatory T cells were peripherally derived. Furthermore, regulatory
      T cells showed marked oligoclonal skewing, suggesting that their peripheral
      expansion was antigen-driven. Overall, lymphocyte recovery after chemotherapy
      differs from ontogeny, specifically identifying a peripherally expanded
      oligoclonal population of activated regulatory T lymphocytes. These differences
      suggest a stereotyped immunologic recovery shared by patients with newly
      diagnosed AML after induction timed sequential chemotherapy. Further insight into
      this oligoclonal regulatory T-cell population will be fundamental toward
      developing effective immunomodulatory techniques to improve survival for patients
      with AML.

PMID- 20935257
TI  - A novel NUP98/RARG gene fusion in acute myeloid leukemia resembling acute
      promyelocytic leukemia.
AB  - Chromosomal translocations in hematological malignancies often result in novel
      fusion chimeric genes. We report a case of acute myeloid leukemia with a clonal
      translocation t(11;12)(p15;q13) displaying morphologic and immunophenotypic
      features resembling the classical hypergranular subtype of acute promyelocytic
      leukemia. The gene fused to NUP98 (nucleoporin 98) was detected by comparative
      genomic hybridization array as the retinoid acid receptor gamma gene (RARG). The
      involvement of RARG in a chimeric fusion transcript has not been reported
      previously in human leukemia.

PMID- 20935259
TI  - Food pantries, poverty, and social justice.

PMID- 20935258
TI  - The impact of gene expression regulation on evolution of extracellular signaling
      pathways.
AB  - Extracellular protein interactions are crucial to the development of
      multicellular organisms because they initiate signaling pathways and enable
      cellular recognition cues. Despite their importance, extracellular protein
      interactions are often under-represented in large scale protein interaction data
      sets because most high throughput assays are not designed to detect low affinity
      extracellular interactions. Due to the lack of a comprehensive data set, the
      evolution of extracellular signaling pathways has remained largely a mystery. We
      investigated this question using a combined data set of physical pairwise
      interactions between zebrafish extracellular proteins, mainly from the
      immunoglobulin superfamily and leucine-rich repeat families, and their
      spatiotemporal expression profiles. We took advantage of known homology between
      proteins to estimate the relative rates of changes of four parameters after gene
      duplication, namely extracellular protein interaction, expression pattern, and
      the divergence of extracellular and intracellular protein sequences. We showed
      that change in expression profile is a major contributor to the evolution of
      signaling pathways followed by divergence in intracellular protein sequence,
      whereas extracellular sequence and interaction profiles were relatively more
      conserved. Rapidly evolving expression profiles will eventually drive other
      parameters to diverge more quickly because differentially expressed proteins get
      exposed to different environments and potential binding partners. This allows
      homologous extracellular receptors to attain specialized functions and become
      specific to tissues and/or developmental stages.

PMID- 20935260
TI  - A working program against influenza prepared by an editorial committee of the
      American Public Health Association. 1919.

PMID- 20935261
TI  - The Kaiser Permanente Community Health Initiative: overview and evaluation
      design.
AB  - We provide an overview of the Kaiser Permanente Community Health Initiative-
      created in 2003 to promote obesity-prevention policy and environmental change in
      communities served by Kaiser Permanente-and describe the design for evaluating
      the initiative. The Initiative focuses on 3 ethnically diverse northern
      California communities that range in size from 37,000 to 52,000 residents. The
      evaluation assesses impact by measuring intermediate outcomes and conducting pre-
      and posttracking of population-level measures of physical activity, nutrition,
      and overweight.

PMID- 20935262
TI  - Approaches to measuring the extent and impact of environmental change in three
      California community-level obesity prevention initiatives.
AB  - Despite growing support among public health researchers and practitioners for
      environmental approaches to obesity prevention, there is a lack of empirical
      evidence from intervention studies showing a favorable impact of either increased
      healthy food availability on healthy eating or changes in the built environment
      on physical activity. It is therefore critical that we carefully evaluate
      initiatives targeting the community environment to expand the evidence base for
      environmental interventions. We describe the approaches used to measure the
      extent and impact of environmental change in 3 community-level obesity-prevention
      initiatives in California. We focus on measuring changes in the community
      environment and assessing the impact of those changes on residents most directly
      exposed to the interventions.

PMID- 20935263
TI  - Recruiting and retaining primary care physicians in urban underserved
      communities: the importance of having a mission to serve.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: We examined factors influencing physician practice decisions that may
      increase primary care supply in underserved areas. METHODS: We conducted in-depth
      interviews with 42 primary care physicians from Los Angeles County, California,
      stratified by race/ethnicity (African American, Latino, and non-Latino White) and
      practice location (underserved vs nonunderserved area). We reviewed
      transcriptions and coded them into themes by using standard qualitative methods.
      RESULTS: Three major themes emerged in relation to selecting geographic- and
      population-based practice decisions: (1) personal motivators, (2) career
      motivators, and (3) clinic support. We found that subthemes describing personal
      motivators (e.g., personal mission and self-identity) for choosing a practice
      were more common in responses among physicians who worked in underserved areas
      than among those who did not. By contrast, physicians in nonunderserved areas
      were more likely to cite work hours and lifestyle as reasons for selecting their
      current practice location or for leaving an underserved area. CONCLUSIONS:
      Medical schools and shortage-area clinical practices may enhance strategies for
      recruiting primary care physicians to underserved areas by identifying key
      personal motivators and may promote long-term retention through work-life
      balance.

PMID- 20935264
TI  - Teleoncology gaining acceptance with physicians, patients.

PMID- 20935266
TI  - A tale of two cells: discovering the origin of prostate cancer.

PMID- 20935267
TI  - StatBite: BRCA mutations in breast cancer patients under age 50 tested for
      mutations.

PMID- 20935268
TI  - BRCA2, purified, reveals some of its secrets.

PMID- 20935265
TI  - Prolonged drug selection of breast cancer cells and enrichment of cancer stem
      cell characteristics.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cancer stem cells are presumed to have virtually unlimited
      proliferative and self-renewal abilities and to be highly resistant to
      chemotherapy, a feature that is associated with overexpression of ATP-binding
      cassette transporters. We investigated whether prolonged continuous selection of
      cells for drug resistance enriches cultures for cancer stem-like cells. METHODS:
      Cancer stem cells were defined as CD44+/CD24- cells that could self-renew (ie,
      generate cells with the tumorigenic CD44+/CD24- phenotype), differentiate,
      invade, and form tumors in vivo. We used doxorubicin-selected MCF-7/ADR cells,
      weakly tumorigenic parental MCF-7 cells, and MCF-7/MDR, an MCF-7 subline with
      forced expression of ABCB1 protein. Cells were examined for cell surface markers
      and side-population fractions by microarray and flow cytometry, with in vitro
      invasion assays, and for ability to form mammospheres. Xenograft tumors were
      generated in mice to examine tumorigenicity (n = 52). The mRNA expression of
      multidrug resistance genes was examined in putative cancer stem cells and pathway
      analysis of statistically significantly differentially expressed genes was
      performed. All statistical tests were two-sided. RESULTS: Pathway analysis showed
      that MCF-7/ADR cells express mRNAs from ABCB1 and other genes also found in
      breast cancer stem cells (eg, CD44, TGFB1, and SNAI1). MCF-7/ADR cells were
      highly invasive, formed mammospheres, and were tumorigenic in mice. In contrast
      to parental MCF-7 cells, more than 30% of MCF-7/ADR cells had a CD44+/CD24-
      phenotype, could self-renew, and differentiate (ie, produce CD44+/CD24- and
      CD44+/CD24+ cells) and overexpressed various multidrug resistance-linked genes
      (including ABCB1, CCNE1, and MMP9). MCF-7/ADR cells were statistically
      significantly more invasive in Matrigel than parental MCF-7 cells (MCF-7 cells =
      0.82 cell per field and MCF-7/ADR = 7.51 cells per field, difference = 6.69 cells
      per field, 95% confidence interval = 4.82 to 8.55 cells per field, P < .001). No
      enrichment in the CD44+/CD24- or CD133+ population was detected in MCF-7/MDR.
      CONCLUSION: The cell population with cancer stem cell characteristics increased
      after prolonged continuous selection for doxorubicin resistance.

PMID- 20935269
TI  - PSA kinetics: no substitute for annual biopsy in prostate cancer surveillance?

PMID- 20935270
TI  - Job satisfaction of primary care team members and quality of care.
AB  - In recent years, hospitals and payers have increased their efforts to improve the
      quality of patient care by encouraging provider adherence to evidence-based
      practices. Although the individual provider is certainly essential in the
      delivery of appropriate care, a team perspective is important when examining
      variation in quality. In the present study, the authors modeled the relationship
      between a measure of aggregate job satisfaction for members of primary care teams
      and objective measures of quality based on process indicators and intermediate
      outcomes. Multilevel analyses indicated that aggregate job satisfaction ratings
      were associated with higher values on both types of quality measures. Team-level
      job satisfaction ratings are a potentially important marker for the effectiveness
      of primary care teams in managing patient care.

PMID- 20935271
TI  - Journey to no preventable risk: the Baylor Health Care System patient safety
      experience.
AB  - The patient safety vision at Baylor Health Care System (BHCS) has 3 components:
      (1) achieving no preventable deaths, (2) ensuring no preventable injuries, and
      (3) seeking no preventable risk. These goals require strategic efforts in the
      categories of culture, processes, and technology. Culture focuses on tactics such
      as teamwork training and quality improvement education. Processes are measured
      using the percentage adoption of a variety of target clinical processes such as
      order set use and adherence to National Patient Safety Goals. Technology includes
      focus areas such as clinical decision support and reliability of the electronic
      health record. BHCS has also achieved significant systemwide standardization of
      safety processes and development of the systemwide Office of Patient Safety to
      facilitate the implementation of evidence-based patient safety practices.
      Associated with these improvements, BHCS has made significant progress toward
      reducing hospital-standardized mortality rates and rates of hospital-acquired
      adverse events.

PMID- 20935272
TI  - Attitudes toward safety and teamwork in a maternity unit with embedded team
      training.
AB  - The objective of this study was to identify any residual challenges in a unit
      with a track record of good clinical performance. A cross-sectional survey of
      frontline caregiver attitudes was conducted using a validated psychometric
      instrument. A total of 69% (91 of 132) of eligible participants completed
      questionnaires. The results indicated positive safety culture, teamwork climate,
      and job satisfaction. Perceptions of high workload and insufficient staffing
      levels were the most prominent negative observations but not to the detriment of
      job satisfaction or perception of work conditions. Male staff had consistently
      better safety attitudes in multivariate analyses. The authors identified 24-hour
      consultant (attending) presence and better support by management as prerequisites
      for further improvement. Teamwork and safety attitudes are positive in a unit
      with established interprofessional team training. Establishing better support by
      senior clinical and management leaders was identified as a necessary intervention
      to improve attitudes and safety.

PMID- 20935273
TI  - Perioperative antibiotic process improvement reaps rewards.
AB  - Recent health care improvement initiatives have linked financial payments to
      compliance with predetermined performance measures. This article reports the
      effect of a unique prophylactic antibiotic use program on compliance rates and
      costs. The Departments of Surgery, Infection Control, and Anesthesiology
      collaborated on a prophylactic preoperative antibiotic protocol, whereby
      Anesthesiology assumed responsibility for timely antibiotic prophylaxis (TAP)
      before surgical incision. Data from January 1, 2008, to December 31, 2008, were
      compared (z test) with the 12-month period before this change. chi(2) Analysis
      identified factors associated with TAP. Return on investment (ROI) was
      calculated. TAP compliance rates increased from 75.1% to 89.3% (P < .001)
      following program implementation. Factors associated with TAP failure included
      >60 minutes from anesthesia induction to surgical incision (P < .001), surgical
      procedure (P < .001), specific antibiotic administered (P < .001), and individual
      anesthesia provider (P < .001). The ROI was 2.2. TAP compliance rates increased
      after Anesthesiology assumed responsibility, with anesthesia providers being a
      significant factor.

PMID- 20935274
TI  - Identification of overweight, obesity, and elevated blood pressure: a school
      based health center performance improvement initiative.
AB  - A growing public health concern over the increasing prevalence of adolescent
      overweight and obesity and 2007 Expert Committee recommendations on child and
      adolescent overweight and obesity prompted a performance improvement project at 9
      school-based health centers (SBHCs) in Delaware. Body mass index (BMI) and blood
      pressure measurements were assessed for 1548 students during the 2008-2009 school
      year. Students identified as having BMI or blood pressure readings out of the
      normal range were offered nutritional and/or medical services at the center and
      referred to their primary care physicians, when necessary, for further medical
      follow-up. Four of the centers additionally assessed their students for needed
      immunizations, availability of medical insurance, access to a medical home, and
      psychosocial risk factors. Students identified as in need of additional services
      were given appropriate referrals. Follow-up data are now being collected for
      students identified to be at risk.

PMID- 20935275
TI  - What Strategies do US hospitals employ to reduce unwarranted clinical practice
      variations?
AB  - Little is known about unwarranted clinical practice variations within US
      hospitals. The objectives of this study were to investigate whether hospitals are
      concerned about variations and their experiences with strategies to reduce
      variations. Case studies were conducted at 5 hospitals, and a survey of acute
      care hospitals was conducted in 4 states. Each of the case studies presented a
      different experience. Unwarranted variations were a concern for 90% of survey
      respondents, with no differences by state (P = .7) or hospital size (P = .2). Of
      these, 75% had a strategy in place to reduce variation. The likelihood of a
      multipronged approach was significantly higher in larger hospitals (P = .0009).
      This study revealed disparate approaches to reducing unwarranted clinical
      practice variations and also highlighted barriers to reducing variation. The case
      studies identified some models that could be emulated, but questions remain about
      whether there is a single best way forward.

PMID- 20935276
TI  - Two years after a quality improvement intervention for chronic kidney disease
      care in a primary care office.
AB  - Implementation of evidence-based Kidney Disease Outcomes Quality Initiative
      (KDOQI) guidelines is of increasing clinical importance. This study evaluates the
      long-term impact of a chronic kidney disease (CKD) quality improvement (QI)
      project. A retrospective chart review was performed at a family practice that
      completed a QI project 2 years previously. In a study population of 195 patients,
      CKD recognition decreased during the maintenance period from 70% to 60.8% (P =
      1.98), from a baseline of 38.1%, and anemia recognition declined from 70% to 50%
      (P =.132), from a baseline of 35%. Evaluation for parathyroid hormone, vitamin D,
      and phosphate decreased from 44% to 33% (P =.216), from a baseline of 4.8%.
      Referrals to nephrologists decreased from 77% to 61% (P = .369), from a baseline
      of 14%. The decrement in KDOQI guideline compliance during the maintenance period
      was not statistically significant, nor was there a return to baseline values.
      This suggests that the intervention provided the education and reinforcement
      necessary to effect long-term change.

PMID- 20935277
TI  - Use of the prioritization matrix to enhance triage algorithms in clinical
      decision support software.
AB  - Clinical decision support (CDS) software requires regular maintenance and
      development. CDS software can be very complex and can have several different
      performance parameters that need to be considered in development and maintenance
      cycles. Stakeholders in management and software development need a shared and
      mutually agreed on framework to prioritize the development and maintenance of CDS
      software. The prioritization matrix, a quality improvement tool, was used to
      prioritize triage algorithms at Ask Mayo Clinic, a national triage call center.
      Key elements used in the priority matrix were the frequency of algorithm use,
      potential safety impact of the algorithm, algorithm length, overall agreement
      between software recommendation and triage nurse, and asymmetry of nurse
      overrides of the software recommendation. This methodology also bridges the
      language gap between software developers and management and gives management the
      ability to customize how software maintenance and development cycles are
      prioritized.

PMID- 20935278
TI  - Health confidence and racial and ethnic disparities in consumers' assessments of
      health care.
AB  - This study examined whether health confidence is associated with consumers'
      ratings and reports of care and whether adjusting for health confidence and other
      factors attenuates ethnic or racial disparities. Data are from the 2005 Medical
      Expenditure Panel Survey. Persons with greater health confidence had lower
      adjusted odds of high overall care ratings (OCRs) and high reports of getting
      needed care and provider communication. Adjusting for health confidence and other
      factors, there were no Hispanic/non-Hispanic differences. Compared with whites,
      African Americans had lower OCRs and reports of getting needed care; Asians had
      lower OCRs and reports of getting needed care, getting care quickly, and provider
      communication. Health care organizations and providers should consider targeting
      improvement efforts toward health-confident persons and adjusting for health
      confidence when comparing consumer assessments across groups. Although health
      confidence is associated with consumer assessments, other factors explain racial
      and ethnic differences.

PMID- 20935279
TI  - Laser modulation of heat and capsaicin receptor TRPV1 leads to thermal
      antinociception.
AB  - Er,Cr:YSGG lasers are used clinically in dentistry. The advantages of laser
      therapy include minimal thermal damage and the alleviation of pain. This study
      examined whether the Er,Cr:YSGG laser has in vivo and in vitro antinociceptive
      effects in itself. In capsaicin-evoked acute licking/shaking tests and Hargreaves
      tests, laser irradiation with an aerated water spray suppressed nociceptive
      behavior in mice. Laser irradiation attenuated TRPV1 activation by capsaicin in
      Ca(2+) imaging experiments with TRPV1-overexpressing cells and cultured
      trigeminal neurons. Therefore, the laser-induced behavioral changes are probably
      due to the loss of TRPV1 activity. TRPV4 activity was also attenuated, but
      limited mechanical antinociception by the laser was observed. The laser failed to
      alter the other receptor functions, which indicates that the antinociceptive
      effect of the laser is dependent on TRPV1. These results suggest that the
      Er,Cr:YSGG laser has analgesic effects via TRPV1 inhibition. Such mechanistic
      approaches may help define the laser-sensitive pain modality and increase its
      beneficial uses.

PMID- 20935280
TI  - Standard error of measurement of 5 health utility indexes across the range of
      health for use in estimating reliability and responsiveness.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Standard errors of measurement (SEMs) of health-related quality of
      life (HRQoL) indexes are not well characterized. SEM is needed to estimate
      responsiveness statistics, and is a component of reliability. PURPOSE: To
      estimate the SEM of 5 HRQoL indexes. DESIGN: The National Health Measurement
      Study (NHMS) was a population-based survey. The Clinical Outcomes and Measurement
      of Health Study (COMHS) provided repeated measures. SUBJECTS: A total of 3844
      randomly selected adults from the noninstitutionalized population aged 35 to 89 y
      in the contiguous United States and 265 cataract patients. MEASUREMENTS: The SF6
      36v2TM, QWB-SA, EQ-5D, HUI2, and HUI3 were included. An item-response theory
      approach captured joint variation in indexes into a composite construct of health
      (theta). The authors estimated 1) the test-retest standard deviation (SEM-TR)
      from COMHS, 2) the structural standard deviation (SEM-S) around theta from NHMS,
      and 3) reliability coefficients. RESULTS: SEM-TR was 0.068 (SF-6D), 0.087 (QWB
      SA), 0.093 (EQ-5D), 0.100 (HUI2), and 0.134 (HUI3), whereas SEM-S was 0.071,
      0.094, 0.084, 0.074, and 0.117, respectively. These yield reliability
      coefficients 0.66 (COMHS) and 0.71 (NHMS) for SF-6D, 0.59 and 0.64 for QWB-SA,
      0.61 and 0.70 for EQ-5D, 0.64 and 0.80 for HUI2, and 0.75 and 0.77 for HUI3,
      respectively. The SEM varied across levels of health, especially for HUI2, HUI3,
      and EQ-5D, and was influenced by ceiling effects. Limitations. Repeated measures
      were 5 mo apart, and estimated theta contained measurement error. CONCLUSIONS:
      The 2 types of SEM are similar and substantial for all the indexes and vary
      across health.

PMID- 20935281
TI  - Reducing a barrier to diabetes education: identifying hearing loss in patients
      with diabetes.
AB  - PURPOSE: Recent research suggests that hearing loss, a frequent problem for aging
      adults, is more prevalent in people with diabetes. Hearing impairment affects a
      patient's learning. This article reviews the anatomy and physiology involved in
      hearing, describes common causes of hearing loss in people with diabetes, and
      describes how hearing loss is diagnosed and treated. Two simple tests the
      diabetes educator can use to screen for hearing loss are described, and
      interventions that improve communication with patients with difficulty hearing
      are explained. CONCLUSIONS: Hearing loss can negatively affect a patient's
      ability to actively participate in diabetes education. Diabetes educators have a
      responsibility to learn how to communicate better with their patients who have a
      hearing impairment. Diabetes educators are uniquely positioned to improve the
      health status of their patients by identifying persons who need referral for
      further evaluation of their hearing.

PMID- 20935282
TI  - Deep inspiration unmasks Brugada syndrome.

PMID- 20935283
TI  - A prospective study of floor surface, shoes, floor cleaning and slipping in US
      limited-service restaurant workers.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Slips and falls are a leading cause of injury at work. Few studies,
      however, have systematically examined risk factors of slipping outside the
      laboratory environment. This study examined the association between floor surface
      characteristics, slip-resistant shoes, floor cleaning frequency and the risk of
      slipping in limited-service restaurant workers. METHODS: 475 workers from 36
      limited-service restaurants from three major chains in six states in the USA were
      recruited to participate in a prospective cohort study of workplace slipping.
      Kitchen floor surface roughness and coefficient of friction (COF) were measured
      in eight working areas and then averaged within each restaurant. The use of slip
      resistant shoes was determined by examining the participant's shoes and noting
      the presence of a 'slip-resistant' marking on the sole. Restaurant managers
      reported the frequency of daily kitchen floor cleaning. Participants reported
      their slip experience and work hours weekly for up to 12 weeks. The survey
      materials were made available in three languages: English, Spanish and
      Portuguese. The associations between rate of slipping and risk factors were
      assessed using a multivariable negative binomial generalised estimating equation
      model. RESULTS: The mean of individual slipping rate varied among the restaurants
      from 0.02 to 2.49 slips per 40 work hours. After adjusting for age, gender, BMI,
      education, primary language, job tenure and restaurant chain, the use of slip
      resistant shoes was associated with a 54% reduction in the reported rate of
      slipping (95% CI 37% to 64%), and the rate of slipping decreased by 21% (95% CI
      5% to 34%) for each 0.1 increase in the mean kitchen COF. Increasing floor
      cleaning frequency was significantly associated with a decreasing rate of
      slipping when considered in isolation but not after statistical adjustment for
      other factors. CONCLUSION: These results provide support for the use of slip
      resistant shoes and measures to increase COF as preventive interventions to
      reduce slips, falls and injuries.

PMID- 20935284
TI  - Occupational mortality studies: still relevant in the 21st century.

PMID- 20935285
TI  - Associations of occupation, job control and job demands with intima-media
      thickness: the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA).
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Occupation has been linked to cardiovascular disease (CVD) incidence
      and mortality, but few studies have investigated occupation in relation to early
      atherosclerotic disease. This study examined associations between various
      occupational characteristics and carotid artery intima-media thickness (IMT) in a
      multi-ethnic sample. METHODS: The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA)
      recruited 6814 adults aged 45-84 years and free of clinical CVD (response rate
      60%, 51% female). Questionnaire data were used to determine occupational group
      (managerial/professional, sales/office, service, blue-collar), psychosocial job
      characteristics (ie, job demands, job control) and other sociodemographic
      information. RESULTS: Common carotid artery (CCA)-IMT was greater for blue-collar
      jobs than for management/professional jobs (mean difference = 0.012 mm, p =
      0.049) after adjustment for age, sex, race, place of birth (US or foreign born)
      and CVD risk factors. Compared to management/professional jobs, internal carotid
      artery (ICA)-IMT was greater for sales/office, service and blue-collar jobs (mean
      difference = 0.071 mm, p < 0.001; 0.057 mm, p = 0.009; and 0.110 mm, p < 0.001,
      respectively) after adjustment for age, sex, race and place of birth. The
      difference between blue-collar jobs and management/professional jobs remained
      significant after additional adjustment for CVD risk factors, income and
      education (mean difference = 0.048 mm, p = 0.045). Higher levels of control at
      work were associated with thinner CCA-IMT (mean difference = -0.009 mm, p =
      0.016, adjusted for age, sex, race and place of birth) but not with ICA-IMT. Job
      demands had no significant association with IMT. CONCLUSIONS: Blue-collar jobs
      and low levels of job control were associated with the development of subclinical
      atherosclerosis.

PMID- 20935286
TI  - Occupational kidney disease among Chinese herbalists exposed to herbs containing
      aristolochic acids.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Many Chinese herbs contain aristolochic acids (ALAs) which are
      nephrotoxic and carcinogenic. The objective of this study was to identify whether
      exposure to herbs containing ALAs increased the risk of kidney disease among
      Chinese herbalists. METHODS: A nested case-control study was carried out on 6538
      Chinese herbalists registered between 1985 and 1998. All incident cases of
      chronic renal failure reported to the Database of Catastrophic Illness of the
      National Health Insurance Bureau between 1995 and 2000 were defined as the case
      group. Up to four controls without renal failure were randomly matched to each
      case by sex and year of birth. A structured questionnaire survey was administered
      between November and December 2002. The Mantel-Haenszel method and conditional
      logistic regression were used to estimate the risks. RESULTS: 40 cases and 98
      matched controls were included in the final analysis. After adjusting for age,
      frequent analgesic use, and habitual consumption of alcohol, fermented or smoked
      food, we found manufacturing and selling Chinese herbal medicine (OR 3.43, 95% CI
      1.16 to 10.19), processing, selling or dispensing herbal medicines containing
      Fangji (OR 4.17, 95% CI 1.36 to 12.81), living in the workplace (OR 3.14, 95% CI
      1.11 to 8.84) and a history of taking of herbal medicines containing Fangji
      (frequently or occasionally) (OR 5.42, 95% CI 1.18 to 24.96) were significantly
      associated with renal failure. CONCLUSION: Occupational exposure to and
      consumption of herbs containing ALAs increases the risk of renal failure in
      Chinese herbalists.

PMID- 20935287
TI  - Hand-arm vibration syndrome among a group of construction workers in Malaysia.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine the extent of hand transmitted vibration exposure
      problems, particularly hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS), among construction
      workers in Malaysia. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted on a
      construction site in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 243 workers were recruited.
      Questionnaire interviews and hand examinations were administered to 194
      respondents. Vibration magnitudes for concrete breakers, drills and grinders were
      measured using a 3-axis accelerometer. Clinical outcomes were compared and
      analysed according to vibration exposure status. RESULTS: Vibration total values
      for concrete breakers, impact drills and grinders were 10.02 ms(-2), 7.72 ms(-2)
      and 5.29ms(-2), respectively. The mean 8 h time-weighted hand transmitted
      vibration exposure, A(8), among subjects on current and previous construction
      sites was 7.52 (SD 2.68) ms(-2) and 9.21 (SD 2.48) ms(-2), respectively. Finger
      tingling, finger numbness, musculoskeletal problems of the neck, finger coldness,
      abnormal Phalen's test and abnormal light touch sensation were significantly more
      common in the high vibration exposure group (n=139) than the low-moderate
      vibration exposure group (n=54). Mean total lifetime vibration dose among exposed
      subjects was 15.2 (SD 3.2) m(2) h(3) s(-4) (ln scale). HAVS prevalence was 18%
      and the prevalence ratio of stage 1 and higher disease in the high vibration
      exposure group versus the low-moderate vibration exposure group was 4.86 (95% CI
      1.19 to 19.80). CONCLUSIONS: Hand transmitted vibration is a recognisable problem
      in tropical countries including Malaysia. The current study has identified
      clinical symptoms and signs suggesting HAVS among construction workers exposed to
      hand transmitted vibration in a warm environment.

PMID- 20935288
TI  - Prospective study of incident injuries among southeastern United States
      commercial fishermen.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to describe occupational exposures and
      the incidence of non-fatal injuries among a group of southeastern US small-scale
      fishermen. METHODS: Participants (n=219) were enrolled in a prospective cohort
      study and followed from August 1999 to May 2002. Demographic information was
      obtained at baseline, and weekly and biweekly telephone interviews elicited
      information on number of days worked, fishery, fishing gear used, maintenance
      work, glove use and any work-related injury events. Incidence rate ratios (IRR)
      and 95% CIs were calculated with Poisson regression for each factor and
      multivariate models controlled for potential confounders. RESULTS: Over a third
      of participants (81/217) reported 125 injury events over 46 153 work-days for
      rate of 2.74 per 1000 work-days (95% CI 2.19 to 3.41). The majority of injuries
      were penetrating wounds to the hand, thumb and finger (35%) or back sprains and
      strains (8%); most required no medical care or time off work (67%). Injury rates
      were similar for on and off the water work (1.9 per 1000 work-days). Injury rates
      differed by fishery, water location and month. Factors associated with an
      increased injury rate included working on someone else's boat and maintenance
      work. Glove use was protective. CONCLUSION: Similar injury characteristics were
      observed in small-scale fishing as compared to large-scale. For small-scale
      fishermen, off and on the water work locations, and particularly maintenance
      work, were important predictors of injury. Despite the protective association for
      glove use, penetrating wounds to the hand, thumb and finger were common.

PMID- 20935289
TI  - The risk of hospitalisation for infectious pneumonia in mineral dust exposed
      industries.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The purpose of the study was to elucidate the relationship between
      industries characterised by mineral dust exposure and infectious pneumonia.
      METHODS: The authors applied a retrospective record linkage design and used the
      nationwide specific health examination database and identified industries where
      mineral dust exposure occurs and a control group composed of workers who had been
      exposed to noise-only during a 2000-2004 period. The database was matched with
      National Health Insurance claim records to identify pneumonia admissions from
      2000 to 2005. The indirectly standardised admission ratios (SARs) for pneumonia
      admissions were estimated by comparing mineral dust exposed industry workers with
      noise-only exposed workers. RESULTS: The authors found significantly elevated
      SARs in both men (1.54, 95% CI 1.13 to 2.05) and women (3.23, 95% CI 1.40 to
      6.37) working in the cement, lime, plaster and plaster products industries, and
      only in men working in the cast-metals industry (foundry) (1.64, 95% CI 1.25 to
      2.11). CONCLUSIONS: These results support the association between mineral dust
      exposure, as well as metal fumes, and infectious pneumonia.

PMID- 20935290
TI  - A meta-analysis of leukaemia risk from protracted exposure to low-dose gamma
      radiation.
AB  - CONTEXT: More than 400,000 workers annually receive a measurable radiation dose
      and may be at increased risk of radiation-induced leukaemia. It is unclear
      whether leukaemia risk is elevated with protracted, low-dose exposure. OBJECTIVE:
      We conducted a meta-analysis examining the relationship between protracted low
      dose ionising radiation exposure and leukaemia. DATA SOURCES: Reviews by the
      National Academies and United Nations provided a summary of informative studies
      published before 2005. PubMed and Embase databases were searched for additional
      occupational and environmental studies published between 2005 and 2009. STUDY
      SELECTION: We selected 23 studies that: (1) examined the association between
      protracted exposures to ionising radiation and leukaemia excluding chronic
      lymphocytic subtype; (2) were a cohort or nested case-control design without
      major bias; (3) reported quantitative estimates of exposure; and (4) conducted
      exposure-response analyses using relative or excess RR per unit exposure.
      METHODS: Studies were further screened to reduce information overlap. Random
      effects models were developed to summarise between-study variance and obtain an
      aggregate estimate of the excess RR at 100 mGy. Publication bias was assessed by
      trim and fill and Rosenthal's file drawer methods. RESULTS: We found an ERR at
      100 mGy of 0.19 (95% CI 0.07 to 0.32) by modelling results from 10 studies and
      adjusting for publication bias. Between-study variance was not evident (p=0.99).
      CONCLUSIONS: Protracted exposure to low-dose gamma radiation is significantly
      associated with leukaemia. Our estimate agreed well with the leukaemia risk
      observed among exposed adults in the Life Span Study (LSS) of atomic bomb
      survivors, providing increased confidence in the current understanding of
      leukaemia risk from ionising radiation. However, unlike the estimates obtained
      from the LSS, our model provides a precise, quantitative summary of the direct
      estimates of excess risk from studies of protracted radiation exposures.

PMID- 20935292
TI  - Differences in blood pressure and vascular responses associated with ambient fine
      particulate matter exposures measured at the personal versus community level.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Higher ambient fine particulate matter (PM2.5) levels can be
      associated with increased blood pressure and vascular dysfunction. OBJECTIVES: To
      determine the differential effects on blood pressure and vascular function of
      daily changes in community ambient- versus personal-level PM2.5 measurements.
      METHODS: Cardiovascular outcomes included vascular tone and function and blood
      pressure measured in 65 non-smoking subjects. PM2.5 exposure metrics included 24
      h integrated personal- (by vest monitors) and community-based ambient levels
      measured for up to 5 consecutive days (357 observations). Associations between
      community- and personal-level PM2.5 exposures with alterations in cardiovascular
      outcomes were assessed by linear mixed models. RESULTS: Mean daily personal and
      community measures of PM2.5 were 21.9+/-24.8 and 15.4+/-7.5 MUg/m3, respectively.
      Community PM2.5 levels were not associated with cardiovascular outcomes. However,
      a 10 MUg/m3 increase in total personal-level PM2.5 exposure (TPE) was associated
      with systolic blood pressure elevation (+1.41 mm Hg; lag day 1, p<0.001) and
      trends towards vasoconstriction in subsets of individuals (0.08 mm; lag day 2
      among subjects with low secondhand smoke exposure, p=0.07). TPE and secondhand
      smoke were associated with elevated systolic blood pressure on lag day 1. Flow
      mediated dilatation was not associated with any exposure. CONCLUSIONS: Exposure
      to higher personal-level PM2.5 during routine daily activity measured with low
      bias and minimally-confounded personal monitors was associated with modest
      increases in systolic blood pressure and trends towards arterial
      vasoconstriction. Comparable elevations in community PM2.5 levels were not
      related to these outcomes, suggesting that specific components within personal
      and background ambient PM2.5 may elicit differing cardiovascular responses.

PMID- 20935291
TI  - The threshold level of urinary cadmium associated with increased urinary
      excretion of retinol-binding protein and beta 2-microglobulin: a re-assessment in
      a large cohort of nickel-cadmium battery workers.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the threshold value of urinary cadmium (CdU) for renal
      dysfunction on the basis of relationships unconfounded by protein degradation,
      diuresis and the renal effects associated with chronic smoking. Methods We
      studied 599 workers (451 men, mean age 45.4 years) who were employed in four
      nickel-cadmium battery plants for 18.8 years on average. After adjustment for
      covariates by multiple regression, the CdU threshold values for increased
      concentrations of retinol-binding protein (RBPU) and b(2)-microglobulin (b(2)-mU)
      were assessed by logistic regression and benchmark dose analyses using as
      referents workers with CdU<1 MUg/g creatinine. Results Relationships between
      urinary proteins and CdU (MUg/g creatinine) were influenced by sex, age, diuresis
      and especially smoking. When considering all workers, odds for abnormal RBPU and
      b(2)-mU were significantly increased from CdU of 6-10 and >10, respectively. The
      benchmark dose (BMD5) and the benchmark dose lower limit (BMDL5) for a 5% excess
      in the background prevalence of abnormal RBPU and b(2)-mU were estimated at
      5.1/3.0 and 9.6/5.9. When excluding ever smokers, odds for abnormal RBPU and b(2)
      mU were both increased only among workers with CdU>10 (OR, 21.8, 95% CI, 6.4-74.4
      and OR, 15.1, 95% CI, 3.6-63.1, respectively). In never smokers, these BMD5/BMDL5
      of CdU were estimated at 12.6/6.6 and 12.2/5.5 while in ever smokers they were
      6.2/4.9 and 4.3/3.5. Conclusions On the basis of associations undistorted by
      smoking and adjusted for covariates, the BMDL5 of CdU for low-molecular-weight
      proteinuria induced by occupational exposure to Cd can be reliably estimated
      between 5.5 and 6.6 MUg/g creatinine.

PMID- 20935293
TI  - A prospective evaluation of air quality and workers' health in broiler and layer
      operations.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: In developed countries, poultry are raised in totally confined
      buildings in which workers are exposed to indoor airborne contaminants. A
      prospective study was conducted to investigate the relationship between workers'
      respiratory health and airborne contaminants during the life cycle of broiler and
      layer flocks. METHODS: Seventeen layer and 16 broiler operations were chosen
      within a 200 km radius of Edmonton. An attempt was made to visit each broiler
      operation twice during the winter and summer seasons in the early and later
      periods of the 6-week production cycle and visit each layer operation three times
      during the early, middle and later periods of the 40-week production cycle.
      RESULTS: In broiler operations, respirable particle counts, total dust and
      endotoxin concentrations, and ammonia levels increased with flock age, while mean
      endotoxin load (EU/mg) decreased in the winter and summer seasons. Increases in
      dust and endotoxin concentrations in the winter season were not statistically
      significance. Mean endotoxin concentration increased and mean dust concentration
      and ammonia level decreased with flock age in layer operations, although not all
      these changes were statistically significant. Mean across-shift decrements in
      FEV(1) and FVC increased with flock age among workers from layer operations.
      Endotoxin concentration was significantly associated with across-shift changes in
      FEV(1) among workers in layer operations. CONCLUSION: In our study, changes in
      lung function appear more closely associated with changes in endotoxin than other
      contaminants. Changes in indoor environmental conditions occurring in poultry
      barns which are dependent on the flock age may affect workers' health in poultry
      operations.

PMID- 20935294
TI  - Dental workers' pneumoconiosis complicated by Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare
      complex (MAIC) infection.

PMID- 20935295
TI  - Job stress and the use of antidepressant medicine: a 3.5-year follow-up study
      among Danish employees.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate if exposure to adverse psychological job
      characteristics predicts incident use of antidepressants, taking into account
      differential misclassification and residual confounding. METHODS: A prospective
      cohort study with a 3.5-year follow-up of 4661 Danish employees, aged 40 and 50
      years, drawn from a 10% random sample of the Danish population was carried out.
      Job characteristics were the predictor variables and use of antidepressants was
      the outcome variable. Survey data on psychosocial work environment were linked
      with register data on dispensing of antidepressant medicine between June 2000 and
      December 2003. Respondents with major depression at baseline, with antidepressant
      use in the 5 years preceding baseline, or not employed at baseline were excluded.
      RESULTS: Among men, the OR for antidepressant use was significantly increased for
      high quantitative demands (OR 2.12, 95% CI 1.29 to 3.48) and low social support
      from colleagues (OR 2.28, 95% 1.36 to 3.82) after adjustment for lifestyle
      factors, socio-demographic factors, co-morbidity, other work factors and
      depressive symptoms at baseline. Both effects were dose dependent. An interaction
      effect with high demands was found for high anticipated private social support
      and living with children. Among women, no effect of job characteristics on
      antidepressant use was found. CONCLUSION: Among men, but not among women, high
      quantitative demands and low social support from colleagues were predictive of
      incident use of antidepressants, indicating incident depressive episodes, even
      after taking into account differential misclassification and residual
      confounding. The effects were buffered for those with high anticipated private
      social support and for those having children.

PMID- 20935300
TI  - Replicon sequence typing of IncF plasmids carrying virulence and resistance
      determinants.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: IncF plasmids are frequently encountered in clinical enterobacterial
      strains associated with the dissemination of relevant antimicrobial resistance
      and virulence genes. These plasmids are usually heterogeneous in size and carry
      multiple replicons, and technical difficulties can impair the comparison and
      detection of related plasmids by restriction fragment length polymorphism
      analysis. We devised a rapid sequence-based typing scheme to categorize the
      members of this plasmid family into homogeneous groups. METHODS: We compared the
      available IncF replicon sequences, identifying the combination of the different
      IncF replicon alleles as the discriminating characteristic of these plasmid
      scaffolds. An IncF typing method based on PCR amplification and sequence typing
      of the IncF replicons was devised. A collection of IncF plasmids carrying
      resistance and/or virulence genes, identified in strains from different sources
      and geographical origins, was tested with this typing system. RESULTS: We devised
      a replicon sequence typing (RST) scheme discriminating IncF plasmid variants.
      This system was tested on the collection of IncF plasmids, demonstrating that it
      was useful for the discrimination of plasmids carrying the same resistance gene
      (i.e. the bla(CTX-M-15) gene), but also recognized strictly related virulence
      plasmids (i.e. IncFIme plasmids). The PCR-based replicon typing (PBRT) system was
      also updated by including new primer pairs to allow the identification of the
      Salmonella, Klebsiella and Yersinia IncF plasmids. CONCLUSIONS: The ability to
      recognize and sub-categorize IncF plasmids by RST in homogeneous groups on the
      basis of their phylogenetic relatedness can be helpful in analysing their
      distribution in nature and discovering their evolutionary origin.

PMID- 20935301
TI  - Antimicrobial stewardship: an evidence-based, antimicrobial self-assessment
      toolkit (ASAT) for acute hospitals.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To describe the methodology in developing an antimicrobial self
      assessment toolkit (ASAT). METHODS: The ASAT was developed through a National
      Pharmacy Reference Group using an evidence-based approach of published
      information and national reports to identify criteria for inclusion. These were
      subdivided into domains that addressed: 1) Antimicrobial management within the
      Trust-structures and lines of responsibility and accountability-high-level
      notification to the Board. 2) Operational delivery of an antimicrobial strategy
      operational standards of good antimicrobial stewardship. 3) Risk assessment for
      antimicrobial chemotherapy. 4) Clinical governance assurance. 5) Education and
      training-training needs and delivery of education and training for all who issue,
      prescribe and administer antimicrobials. 6) Antimicrobial pharmacist-systems in
      place for ensuring their optimum use. 7) Patients, Carers and the Public
      information needs of patients, carers and the public. RESULTS: A web-based
      toolkit was developed using information from national reports and guidance on
      antimicrobial stewardship. The toolkit offers a checklist for hospitals to self
      assess their organizations' levels of antimicrobial stewardship. CONCLUSIONS: The
      ASAT offers a web-enabled, version-controlled instrument for the assessment of
      antimicrobial stewardship in acute hospitals. It may offer a sensitive instrument
      to assess longitudinal progress on antimicrobial stewardship in an individual
      institution or act as a benchmark with similar organizations. Further work is
      ongoing to evaluate and further refine the ASAT.

PMID- 20935302
TI  - Spectral-domain OCT peripapillary retinal nerve fibre layer thickness
      measurements in patients with Stargardt disease.
AB  - AIMS: To evaluate the presence of peripapillary retinal nerve fibre layer (RNFL)
      defects in patients with Stargardt disease by using spectral-domain optical
      coherence tomography (SD-OCT). METHODS: Fifty-two eyes of 27 patients with
      Stargardt disease underwent peripapillary RNFL thickness measurements using SD
      OCT. RESULTS: Twenty-seven patients with Stargardt disease were enrolled. Their
      mean (+/-SD) age was 38.3 (14.7) years. Fourteen patients (51.9%) showed a
      thinning of the peripapillary RNFL in one or more quadrants in at least one eye,
      and four patients (14.8%) in both eyes. Five patients (18.5%) showed a thickening
      of the peripapillary RNFL in at least one eye, and four patients (14.8%) in both
      eyes. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated the presence of defects in the
      peripapillary RNFL thickness in patients with Stargardt disease by using SD-OCT.
      It would be clinically prudent that Stargardt patients considered for various
      treatment options be considered for RNFL thickness measurements.

PMID- 20935303
TI  - Balloon catheter dilatation versus probing as primary treatment for congenital
      dacryostenosis.
AB  - AIM: To compare the success rate of balloon catheter dilatation of the
      nasolacrimal duct with probing and irrigation as primary treatment for congenital
      dacryostenosis. METHODS: Charts of all children who were operated on for the
      first time for congenital dacryostenosis during the years 2004 to 2006 were
      analysed and the outcomes compared. Surgical success was defined as absence of
      epiphora and mucous discharge, and of increased tear lake, at the last visit.
      RESULTS: 68 children (114 eyes) underwent balloon catheter dilatation and 37
      children (60 eyes) had probing. Children who had balloon dilatation were
      significantly older: mean age 55.98+/-113.6 (range 9.0-728.0) months as opposed
      to 18.5+/-6.5 (range 7.0-60.0) months, p<0.01). After a mean follow-up time of
      15.4 (range 4-32) months, 102 of 114 eyes were defined as successfully treated
      following balloon catheter dilatation (89.5% success rate) compared with 52 of 60
      eyes following probing (86.7% success rate, p=0.581). Five of six patients (80%)
      in which the #00 probe could only hardly be inserted into the nasolacrimal duct
      because of firm bone resistance failed in the probing group, as opposed to only
      2/10 (20%) in the balloon catheter group (p=0.03). CONCLUSION: Children who had
      balloon catheter dilatation had a slightly better success rate than those who had
      probing; however, this difference was statistically significant only for patients
      who had a relatively narrow nasolacrimal bone duct.

PMID- 20935304
TI  - Marked remodelling of the anterior corneal surface following collagen cross
      linking with riboflavin and UVA.

PMID- 20935305
TI  - Is ranibizumab effective in stopping the loss of vision for choroidal
      neovascularisation in pathologic myopia? A long-term follow-up study.
AB  - AIM: To assess the efficacy and safety of ranibizumab in the treatment of
      choroidal neovascularisation (CNV) caused by pathologic myopia (PM). DESIGN:
      Prospective, multicentre, interventional case series. METHODS: 40 eyes of 39
      consecutive patients with PM and CNV were treated with 'on demand' intravitreal
      injection of ranibizumab 0.5 mg. Final best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and
      its change from baseline were the main outcome measures. Changes in optical
      coherence tomography (OCT) central retinal thickness (CRT) were a secondary
      outcome. RESULTS: Mean age was 53+/-13 years and mean refractive error -13.5+/
      6.5 D. Median follow-up was 13.3+/-2 (range 12-18) months. Fifteen eyes (37.5%)
      had previously been treated with photodynamic therapy (PDT). The mean baseline
      logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution (logMAR) BCVA (Early Treatment
      Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) vision chart) was 0.68+/-0.34 (Snellen
      equivalent 20/131) and 21+/-16 letters. The final mean logMAR BCVA was 0.27+/-0.2
      (p = 0.008) (20/42) and 40.5+/-14 letters (p = 0.01). Mean final VA improved in
      82.5% of patients, in 60% by 3 or more lines (median number of lines gained 2.9).
      Even six out of seven cases of low vision (<=1.1 logMAR) at the final examination
      has improved vision. Mean OCT CRT reduced from 218+/-70 to 175+/-46 MUm (p 0.02).
      Age and previous PDT did not influence the results (p>0.05). The mean number of
      injection was 2.8+/-1.2 (range 1-6). No ocular or systemic side effects were
      observed. CONCLUSION: Ranibizumab was an effective treatment for stabilising and
      improving vision with a low number of injections in 92.5% of patients with myopic
      CNV in a long-term follow-up.

PMID- 20935306
TI  - Evaluation of factors influencing distance stereoacuity on Frisby-Davis Distance
      Test (FD2) in intermittent exotropia.
AB  - AIM: To evaluate the factors affecting the restoration of stereoacuity after
      surgery in cases of intermittent exotropia. METHODS: Thirty consecutive patients
      of intermittent exotropia X (T) scheduled for surgical intervention underwent
      preoperative evaluation, including complete ophthalmic and orthoptic examination.
      Deviation was measured for near and distance. Near stereo acuity was measured by
      The Netherland Organization stereotest (TNO), and distance stereo acuity was
      measured using the Frisby-Davis Distance (FD2) stereotest at 6 m for all cases
      and age-matched controls. All cases of X (T) were followed postoperatively at 1
      week, 1 month, 3 months and 6 months. RESULTS: Successful surgical alignment,
      defined as alignment within eight prism dioptres of exophoria, was seen in 84% of
      cases. The median distance stereo acuity improved from preoperative value of 50 s
      of arc to 17.5 s of arc, and near stereoacuity improved from 240 s of arc to 90 s
      of arc at 6 months postoperatively. The median distance and near stereo acuity in
      controls were 15 and 60 s of arc respectively. There was a significant difference
      in both distance and near stereoacuity between controls and cases, even after
      surgery. A high grade of preoperative stereoacuity was found to be a significant
      factor in determining the achievement of normal stereoacuity postoperatively. Age
      and amount of pre- and postoperative deviation were not found to have any affect.
      None of the above-mentioned factors had any influence on successful postoperative
      surgical correction. CONCLUSION: There is a significant improvement in both near
      and distant stereoacuity postoperatively in X (T); however, the achievement of
      normal level depends upon the preoperative sensory status of the patient.

PMID- 20935307
TI  - The use of positron emission tomography/CT in the diagnosis of tuberculosis
      associated uveitis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Detection of tuberculosis as the underlying disease in uveitis can be
      problematic because of the limited sensitivity of conventional diagnostic
      methods, especially in the case of latent infection. The aim of our study was to
      evaluate the clinical usefulness of (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission
      tomography/CT ((18)F-FDG-PET/CT) in patients with uveitis and positive interferon
      gamma release assay. METHODS: We screened 95 patients with different uveitis
      forms by QuantiFERON TB-Gold test. Positive results were found in 24 cases. (18)F
      FDG-PET/CT was performed in 20 QuantiFERON-positive patients. PET/CT images were
      evaluated for the presence, size and metabolic activity of hilar and mediastinal
      lymph nodes and pulmonary lesions. RESULTS: In nine patients (45%) PET/CT
      detected increased FDG uptake in mediastinal or hilar lymph nodes. In two
      patients Mycobacterium tuberculosis was detected in culture after PET/CT-guided
      lymph node biopsy. In seven patients (35%) with serpiginous choroiditis partly
      calcified lymph nodes without FDG-uptake were found. Remission of uveitis was
      achieved in nine of 11 (82%) anti-tuberculosis-treated patients with progressive
      course of uveitis. CONCLUSION: In QuantiFERON-positive patients with severe
      uveitis forms, such as serpiginous choroiditis and occlusive retinal vasculitis,
      (18)F-FDG-PET/CT is useful to identify lesions appropriate for biopsy and helps
      to establish the diagnosis and appropriate therapy for presumed tuberculosis
      induced intraocular inflammation.

PMID- 20935308
TI  - Ocular surface molecule after transconjunctival vitrectomy.
AB  - AIM: To evaluate ocular surface molecules after transconjunctival pars plana
      vitrectomy (PPV). METHODS: A total of 28 eyes of 28 patients who received PPV
      were examined. Tears (10MUl) were collected before and after 20-gauge PPV or 23
      gauge PPV. The concentrations of interleukin (IL)-1beta, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL
      12p70 and tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha were measured. The concentrations of
      each cytokine before and after surgery were compared. The change ratios of each
      cytokine (post-/presurgery) between 20-gauge and 23-gauge PPV were compared.
      RESULTS: IL-1beta, IL-6, IL-8 increased after PPV (Wilcoxon rank sum test; IL-1
      beta, p=0.009; IL-6, p<0.001; IL-8, p<0.001), while the other cytokines did not.
      Among them, only IL-8 increased significantly in 20-gauge PPV than in 23-gauge
      PPV (p=0.01, Mann-Whitney U test). Multivariate analysis showed that 20-gauge PPV
      was a significant factor behind the increase in postoperative IL-8 (OR 5.21, 95%
      CI (1.46 to 18.55), p=0.018), but surgical time and simultaneous cataract surgery
      were not significant factors. CONCLUSIONS: The increase in inflammatory cytokine
      IL-8 in tear was significantly less after 23-gauge PPV than 20-gauge PPV,
      indicating that transconjunctival PPV is less invasive from the viewpoint of the
      ocular surface molecular biology. This information may be important when deciding
      the method of PPV.

PMID- 20935309
TI  - Assessing chloroquine toxicity in RA patients using retinal nerve fibre layer
      thickness, multifocal electroretinography and visual field test.
AB  - AIMS: To assess chloroquine (CQ) toxicity by visual field testing, multifocal
      electroretinography (mfERG) and measurement of retinal nerve fibre layer (RNFL)
      thickness in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) under treatment with CQ but
      with normal ocular fundus manifestation. METHODS: 60 RA patients taking CQ, 30 RA
      patients not receiving CQ treatment and 100 normal subjects were enrolled in this
      study. Examinations included visual field testing (Humphrey 10-2 testing
      strategy), mfERG and scanning laser polarimetry (GDxVCC) to measure RNFL. Data
      from one eye of a patient were used for analysis. RESULTS: The mfERG ring 2 data
      among the three groups differed, and a correlation between cumulative dose of CQ
      and mfERG N1 response of ring 2 was detected. Two patients in the CQ group had
      central or paracentral scotoma, but all others were normal. No difference in mean
      deviation and pattern standard deviation values of visual field were found among
      the three groups, and there was no correlation between the cumulative dose of CQ
      and these values. There was a significant negative correlation between the
      cumulative dose of CQ and RNFL loss and a positive correlation between the
      cumulative dose of CQ and the nerve fibre indicator. CONCLUSION: Visual field,
      scanning laser polarimetry and mfERG are useful tools for early detection of CQ
      retinopathy. Thinning RNFL and reduced ring 2 response of mfERG may be useful
      signs for early CQ retinopathy.

PMID- 20935310
TI  - Safety profile of primary intraocular lens implantation in children below 2 years
      of age.
AB  - AIM: To study the safety profile of primary intraocular lens (IOL) implantation
      in children below 2 years of age METHODS: Retrospective, non-comparative,
      consecutive and interventional clinical case series of all patients who underwent
      surgery between January 2006 and December 2007. RESULTS: The data were collected
      for 120 eyes of 80 children with congenital/developmental cataract with a mean
      follow-up of 8.85 +/- 7.73 months (median 6, range 3-40). The age ranged from 1
      to 23 months (mean 11.21 +/- 5.90 months, median 10 months). 31 eyes were
      operated on before the age of 6 months, and 89 were operated on after 6 months of
      age. The axial length of children ranged from 16.27 mm to 25.65 mm (mean 19.84 +/
      1.71, median 19.65). The IOL power implanted in these children ranged from 11 D
      to 30 D (mean 24.51 +/- 4.06 D, median 25.00). 30 eyes were implanted with rigid
      polymethylmethacrylate lenses, and the remaining 90 received acrylic hydrophobic
      foldable lenses. 8 eyes (6.7%) developed opacification of the visual axis,
      decentration of IOL was noticed in 2 (1.7%), increased anterior chamber
      inflammation was observed in five eyes (4.2%) in the early postoperative period,
      pigment dispersion on IOL was seen in four eyes (3.3%), and posterior synechiae
      were noticed in five eyes (4.2%). None of the children developed glaucoma; nor
      were there any endophthalmitis and retinal detachment at the last follow-up.
      There was no difference in terms of complications in children younger than 6
      months and older than 6 months. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that implantation
      of IOL in children below 2 years of age is safe and can be considered as a viable
      option for their visual rehabilitation.

PMID- 20935311
TI  - Long-term follow-up with I-CARE phakic IOLs.
AB  - AIM: To evaluate visual quality and postoperative results as well adverse events
      in myopic patients undergoing I-CARE anterior-chamber angle-supported phakic
      intraocular lens (IOL) implantation. DESIGN: A retrospective, non-randomised,
      case series. PARTICIPANTS: Data on 29 eyes (16 patients) receiving I-CARE phakic
      IOL for high myopia (-11.66+/-3.3) were analysed. METHODS: The IOLs were
      implanted between 2003 and 2006 at the Department of Ophthalmology, Medical
      University, Graz, Austria. The mean follow-up was 51.7+/-16 months (17-78
      months). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The authors measured uncorrected visual acuity
      (UCVA) and best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA); patients underwent slit-lamp
      examination, corneal topography, Scheimpflug imaging and measurement of
      endothelial cells (EC). RESULTS: The mean UCVA and BCSVA were 0.63 and 0.94
      decimal after 1 year. Endothelial cell loss was the most serious adverse event
      observed. The mean EC loss was 2%, 9%, 17%, 21%, 33% and 47% after 1 year (n=17),
      2 years (n=20), 3 years (n=17), 4 years (n=17), 5 years (n=12) and 6 years (n=3),
      respectively. Eight IOL explantations were made due to severe EC loss 3-6 years
      after implantation. Other serious complications included one patient with Urrets
      Zavalia Syndrome (one eye). CONCLUSION: Implantation of the I-CARE phakic-IOL is
      not a safe method for the correction of high myopia due to serious endothelial
      cell loss that might occur in a high number of patients. Patients with these IOLs
      should be followed up at least every 6 months, and the IOL should be explanted,
      once the EC count drops to less than 2000 cells/mm(2).

PMID- 20935312
TI  - Outcome of cataract surgery with primary intraocular lens implantation in
      children.
AB  - AIM: To report the results of paediatric cataract surgery with primary
      intraocular lens (IOL) implantation. METHODS: Children with congenital or
      developmental cataract who underwent phacoaspiration with posterior chamber (PC)
      IOL implantation were retrospectively studied. Group A included children with
      polymethyl methacrylate, group B hydrophobic acrylic and group C silicone IOLs.
      Outcome measures were visual axis clarity, visual outcome and refractive changes.
      RESULTS: There were 230 children (381 eyes) with the age ranging from 1 months to
      15 years. Group A comprised 208, group B 144 and group C 29 eyes. Posterior
      capsule opacification was seen in 38/208 in group A and 21/144 in group B and
      4/29 eyes in group C. The mean refractive error at 2 weeks, 1 year and 3 years
      after cataract surgery in the age group <=2 years was +3.38+/-3.07 D (median
      +3.75 D), +1.72 D+/-3.19 (median +1 D) and -0.51 D+/-3.59 (median -0.5 D); in the
      age group >2-8 years +0.84+/-3.18 D (median+1.5 D), +0.27 D+/-3.14 (median +0.5
      D) and -0.62 D+/-2.81(median -0.75D); and in the age group >8 years -0.44+/-1.73
      D (median -0.5 D), -0.70+/-1.77 D (median -0.75 D) and -0.89 D+/-1.60 (median 
      0.75D) respectively. Children <=2 years had a significant myopic shift (p<0.001).
      LogMAR visual acuity was >=0.3 in 62.2% of eyes in bilateral and 30.90% in the
      unilateral group. CONCLUSIONS: Paediatric cataract surgery with primary PCIOL
      implantation is safe. Refractive changes and PCO are the main hurdles for
      achieving optimal visual outcome.

PMID- 20935313
TI  - Physical therapy students' willingness to report misconduct to protect the
      patient's interests.
AB  - This article presents a study on the ethical dilemma of whistleblowing in
      physical therapy, and suggests some lines for further research on this topic as
      well as ways for integrating it in the physical therapy curriculum. The study
      examines the self-reported willingness of physical therapy students to report
      misconduct, whether internally or externally, to protect the patient's interests.
      Internal disclosure entails reporting the wrongdoing to an authority within the
      organisation. External disclosure entails reporting the offence to an outside
      agency, such as the police, professional organisation, or press. The findings
      indicate that the students view the acts that are detrimental or cause injustice
      to the patient in a very serious light. In dilemma situations such as these, the
      students reported a willingness to act. The students also report considerably
      greater likelihood of whistleblowing internally than externally. The pattern
      reveals a desire to correct the misconduct coupled with a marked decline in the
      willingness to blow the whistle as this act moved from the workplace to an
      external authority.

PMID- 20935314
TI  - Regulation of treatment of infants at the edge of viability in Italy: the role of
      the medical profession?
AB  - In the last few years there has been intense debate in Italy on administration of
      life-prolonging treatment to premature babies at the edge of viability. In 2006,
      a group of experts based in Florence drafted recommendations known as Carta di
      Firenze (CdF) for responsible use of intensive care for premature infants between
      22 and 25&emsp14;weeks of gestational age (GA). The CdF was later endorsed by
      several medicoprofessional associations, but was followed by recommendations by
      the Ministry of Health mandating resuscitation for all premature babies
      regardless of GA and parental consent. Recent statements from medicoprofessional
      bodies seem to show that the 'always resuscitate rule' is not supported by many
      Italian doctors. We argue that ethically sensitive issues in medicine should be
      regulated with, and not against, the medical profession and its representative
      bodies.

PMID- 20935315
TI  - Understanding preferences for disclosure of individual biomarker results among
      participants in a longitudinal birth cohort.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To describe the preferences for disclosure of individual biomarker
      results among mothers participating in a longitudinal birth cohort. METHODS: We
      surveyed 343 mothers that participated in the Health Outcomes and Measures of the
      Environment Study about their biomarker disclosure preferences. Participants were
      told that the study was measuring pesticide metabolites in their biological
      specimens, and that the health effects of these low levels of exposure are
      unknown. Participants were asked whether they wanted to receive their results and
      their child's results. In addition, they were asked about their preferred method
      (letter vs in person) and format (more complex vs less complex) for disclosure of
      results. RESULTS: Almost all of the study participants wanted to receive their
      individual results (340/343) as well as their child's results (342/343). However,
      preferences for receiving results differed by education level. Mothers with less
      than a college degree preferred in-person disclosure of results more often than
      mothers with some college education or a college degree (34.3% vs 17.4% vs 7.9%,
      p<0.001). Similarly, mothers with less than a college education preferred a less
      complex disclosure format than mothers with some college education or a college
      degree (59.7% vs 79.1% vs 86.3%, p<0.0001). CONCLUSION: While almost all study
      participants preferred to receive results of their individual biomarker tests,
      level of education was a key factor in predicting preferences for disclosure of
      biomarker results. To ensure effective communication of this information,
      disclosure of biomarker results should be tailored to the education level of the
      study participants.

PMID- 20935316
TI  - Synthetic biology and the ethics of knowledge.
AB  - Synthetic biologists aim to generate biological organisms according to rational
      design principles. Their work may have many beneficial applications, but it also
      raises potentially serious ethical concerns. In this article, we consider what
      attention the discipline demands from bioethicists. We argue that the most
      important issue for ethicists to examine is the risk that knowledge from
      synthetic biology will be misused, for example, in biological terrorism or
      warfare. To adequately address this concern, bioethics will need to broaden its
      scope, contemplating not just the means by which scientific knowledge is
      produced, but also what kinds of knowledge should be sought and disseminated.

PMID- 20935317
TI  - Degree of solidarity with lifestyle and old age among citizens in the
      Netherlands: cross-sectional results from the longitudinal SMILE study.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIM: With the increasing interest in lifestyle, health and
      consequences of unhealthy lifestyles for the healthcare system, a new kind of
      solidarity is gaining importance: lifestyle solidarity. While it might not seem
      fair to let other people pay for the costs arising from an unhealthy lifestyle,
      it does not seem fair either to punish people for their lifestyle. However, it is
      not clear how solidarity is assessed by people, when considering disease risks or
      lifestyle risks. The aim of this study was to investigate the degree of
      solidarity with lifestyle as well as with other factors that are related to
      health outcomes-for example, old age-and the relation between this degree of
      solidarity and various characteristics. METHODS: This cross-sectional study is
      part of the Dutch longitudinal SMILE study. Data on the degree of solidarity with
      different lifestyles and old age, and the relation between the degree of
      solidarity and various demographic and other variables were obtained in a
      questionnaire survey. RESULTS: Solidarity with smokers and overweight people was
      moderate, as was solidarity with older people. Respondents were ambivalent about
      athletes. Respondents who were younger, male and highly educated, and those with
      a healthy lifestyle, a small social network, high quality of life and an internal
      locus of control, showed low solidarity. CONCLUSIONS: Solidarity with an
      unhealthy lifestyle and old age is moderate and the degree of solidarity varies
      among the different subgroups.

PMID- 20935318
TI  - Positive rights, negative rights and health care.
AB  - In the current debate about healthcare reform in the USA, advocates for
      government-ensured universal coverage assume that health care is a right.
      Although this position is politically popular, it is sometimes challenged by a
      restricted view of rights popular with libertarians and individualists. The
      restricted view of rights only accepts 'negative' rights as legitimate rights.
      Negative rights, the argument goes, place no obligations on you to provide goods
      to other people and thus respect your right to keep the fruits of your labour. A
      classic enumeration of negative rights includes life, liberty, and the pursuit of
      happiness. Positive rights, by contrast, obligate you either to provide goods to
      others, or pay taxes that are used for redistributive purposes. Health care falls
      into the category of positive rights since its provision by the government
      requires taxation and therefore redistribution. Therefore, the libertarian or
      individualist might argue that health care cannot be a true right. This paper
      rejects the distinction between positive and negative rights. In fact, the
      protection of both positive and negative rights can place obligations on others.
      Furthermore, because of its role in helping protect equality of opportunity,
      health care can be tied to the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of
      happiness. There is, therefore, good reason to believe that health care is a
      human right and that universal access should be guaranteed. The practical
      application, by governments and non-governmental organisations, of several of the
      arguments presented in this paper is also discussed.

PMID- 20935319
TI  - Insights into xylem vulnerability to cavitation in Fagus sylvatica L.: phenotypic
      and environmental sources of variability.
AB  - Xylem vulnerability to cavitation is a key parameter in understanding drought
      resistance of trees. We determined the xylem water pressure causing 50% loss of
      hydraulic conductivity (P(50)), a proxy of vulnerability to cavitation, and we
      evaluated the variability of this trait at tree and population levels for Fagus
      sylvatica. We checked for the effects of light on vulnerability to cavitation of
      stem segments together with a time series variation of P(50). Full sunlight
      exposed stem segments were less vulnerable to cavitation than shade-exposed ones.
      We found no clear seasonal change of P(50), suggesting that this trait was
      designed for a restricted period. P(50) varied for populations settled along a
      latitudinal gradient, but not for those sampled along an altitudinal gradient.
      Moreover, mountainside exposure seemed to play a major role in the vulnerability
      to cavitation of beech populations, as we observed the differences along north
      facing sides but not on south-facing sides. Unexpectedly, both north-facing
      mountainside and northern populations appeared less vulnerable than those grown
      on the southern mountainside or in the South of France. These results on beech
      populations were discussed with respect to the results at within-tree level.

PMID- 20935320
TI  - Lodgepole pine: the first evidence of seed-based somatic embryogenesis and the
      expression of embryogenesis marker genes in shoot bud cultures of adult trees.
AB  - Of the various alternatives for cloning elite conifers, somatic embryogenesis
      (SE) appears to be the best option. In recent years, significant areas of
      lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) forest have been devastated by the mountain pine
      beetle (MPB) in Western Canada. In an attempt to establish an SE propagation
      system for MPB-resistant lodgepole pine, several families displaying varying
      levels of resistance were selected for experimentation involving shoot bud and
      immature seed explants. In bud cultures, eight embryogenic lines were induced
      from 2 of 15 genotypes following various treatments. Genotype had an important
      influence on embryogenic culture initiation, and this effect was consistent over
      time. These lines were identified by microscopic observation and genetic markers.
      Despite the abundance of early somatic embryos, the cultures have yet to develop
      into mature embryos. In contrast, immature zygotic embryos (ZEs) cultured from
      megagametophytes initiated SE at an early dominance stage via nodule-type callus
      in 1 of 10 genotypes. As part of the study, putative embryogenesis-specific
      genes, WOX2 (WUSCHELL homeobox 2) and HAP3A, were analyzed in cultures of both
      shoot bud explants and ZEs. On the basis of these analyses, we postulate that
      PcHAP3A was expressed mainly in callus and may be involved in cell division,
      whereas WOX2 was expressed mainly in embryonal mass (EM)-like tissues. The
      findings from this study, based on molecular assessment, suggest that the cell
      lines derived from bud cultures were truly EM. Moreover, these experimental
      observations suggest that PcWOX2 could be used as an early genetic marker to
      discriminate embryogenic cultures from callus.

PMID- 20935321
TI  - Recovery of visual-field defects after occipital lobe infarction: a perimetric
      study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the temporal course of homonymous visual-field defects due
      to occipital lobe infarction, by using automated perimetry. METHODS: 32 patients
      with ischaemic infarction of the occipital lobe were studied prospectively, using
      a Humphrey Visual Field Analyser II. The visual field of each eye was divided
      into central, paracentral and peripheral zones. The mean visual sensitivity of
      each zone was calculated and used for the statistical analysis. The results of
      the initial examination, performed within 2 weeks of stroke, were compared with
      the results of the sixth-month control. The lesions were assigned to the
      localisations, optic radiation, striate cortex, occipital pole and occipital
      convexity, by MRI. RESULTS: A statistically significant improvement was noted,
      especially for the lower quadrants. Lesions of the occipital pole and convexity
      were not significantly associated with visual-field recovery. However,
      involvement of the striate cortex and extensive lesions involving all the areas
      studied was significantly associated with poor prognosis. CONCLUSIONS: Homonymous
      visual-field defects in our patients improved within 6 months. Restoration of the
      lower quadrants and especially the peripheral zones was noted. Incomplete damage
      to the striate cortex, which has a varying pattern of vascular supply, could
      explain this finding. Magnification factor theory, which is the increment of the
      receptive-field size of striate cortex cells with visual-field eccentricity, may
      explain the more significant improvement in the peripheral zones.

PMID- 20935322
TI  - Demyelinating disease and polyvalent human papilloma virus vaccination.

PMID- 20935323
TI  - EEG abnormalities in early and late onset Alzheimer's disease: understanding
      heterogeneity.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare differences in severity and type of electroencephalography
      (EEG) abnormalities between early and late onset Alzheimer's disease (AD) and to
      assess the influence of APOE genotype on this association, in order to understand
      the biological differences in AD according to age at onset METHOD: Of 460
      probable AD patients and 336 patients with subjective complaints, serving as
      controls, EEG and APOE genotype were obtained. Subjects were categorised by age
      into a younger (<=65 years) and an older group (>65 years), based on age at
      diagnosis. Severity and type of EEG abnormalities were visually assessed.
      Severity of EEG abnormalities ranged from normal to slightly abnormal to
      moderately severe. EEG abnormalities were characterised as only focal
      abnormalities, only diffuse abnormalities or both focal and diffuse
      abnormalities. RESULTS: Logistic regression revealed that younger AD patients
      more often had EEG abnormalities, which were more severe, with a predominance of
      both focal and diffuse abnormalities. In controls, we observed the opposite, as
      older controls more often had EEG abnormalities than younger controls.
      Furthermore, APOE epsilon4 negative AD patients had more severe EEG abnormalities
      than APOE epsilon4 positive AD patients, while no such effect was observed in
      controls. There was no interaction between age at onset and APOE epsilon4
      genotype. CONCLUSION: Early onset and APOE epsilon4 negative AD patients present
      with more severe EEG abnormalities than late onset and APOE epsilon4 positive AD
      patients. These results suggest that in younger patients, AD manifests with more
      prominent functional brain changes.

PMID- 20935324
TI  - A new bedside test of gestures in stroke: the apraxia screen of TULIA (AST).
AB  - BACKGROUND: Apraxia in patients with stroke may be overlooked, as clumsiness and
      deficient gestural communication are often attributed to frequently coexisting
      sensorimotor deficits and aphasia. Early and reliable detection of apraxia by a
      bedside test is relevant for functional outcome in patients with stroke. The
      present study was aimed at constructing a new bedside screening test for apraxia,
      called the Apraxia Screen of TULIA (AST), based on the comprehensive standardised
      Test for Upper-Limb Apraxia (TULIA). METHODS: First, an item-reduction analysis
      of the TULIA (48 gestures) was performed, based on the methods of classical test
      theory and on a larger sample of patients with stroke (n=133) and matched healthy
      controls (n=50). Stepwise elimination of items resulted in a set of 12 items,
      demonstrating high internal consistency (Cronbach alpha=0.92). The six-point
      scoring method of the TULIA was dichotomised to the score levels pass and fail.
      In the second part of this study the validity of the AST was assessed
      prospectively in a new cohort of patients with stroke (n=31) by using the Pearson
      correlation analysis and binary classification display with the TULIA. RESULTS
      AND DISCUSSION: Validation of the 12-item AST with the TULIA showed a remarkable
      diagnostic reliability with high specificity, sensitivity and positive predictive
      value, for the presence and severity of apraxia. The AST is shown to be a
      reliable and valid bedside test in patients with stroke, allowing a
      straightforward assessment of apraxia within a few minutes.

PMID- 20935325
TI  - Systemic but asymptomatic transthyretin amyloidosis 8 years after domino liver
      transplantation.
AB  - As familial amyloid polyneuropathy (FAP) is an adult-onset disease, a long period
      is expected between domino liver transplantation (DLT) and the occurrence of
      amyloidosis in recipients of a FAP liver. However, as time passes, and increased
      numbers of patients have undergone DLT, patients with symptoms suggesting
      amyloidosis have been reported. The authors describe, for the first time,
      pathological findings in an autopsy case of a recipient of a FAP liver. A male
      patient with primary sclerosing cholangitis received a liver graft from a FAP
      patient with the transthyretin (TTR) Tyr114Cys mutation when he was 30 years old.
      Although a recurrence of primary sclerosing cholangitis was detected at age 34,
      he had no symptoms indicating amyloidosis. He died from Burkitt's lymphoma at 38
      years of age. TTR immunoreactive amyloid was found in various organs including
      the heart, lung, gastrointestinal tract, pancreas, spleen, reproductive system
      and skeletal muscles. In the nervous system, TTR immunoreactive amyloid
      deposition was obvious in the sympathetic ganglia and the median nerve within the
      carpal tunnel, while loss of neurons or nerve fibres was not apparent. This case
      allows for the characterisation of amyloid deposition during the asymptomatic
      stage of FAP. Widespread amyloid deposition may occur before tissue damage in
      this disease.

PMID- 20935326
TI  - Deep brain stimulation can suppress pathological synchronisation in parkinsonian
      patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the subthalamic nucleus
      (STN) is a highly effective therapeutic intervention in severe Parkinson's
      disease, its mechanism of action remains unclear. One possibility is that DBS
      suppresses local pathologically synchronised oscillatory activity. METHODS: To
      explore this, the authors recorded from DBS electrodes implanted in the STN of 16
      patients with Parkinson's disease during simultaneous stimulation (pulse width 60
      MUs; frequency 130 Hz) of the same target using a specially designed amplifier.
      The authors analysed data from 25 sides. RESULTS: The authors found that DBS
      progressively suppressed peaks in local field potential activity at frequencies
      between 11 and 30 Hz as voltage was increased beyond a stimulation threshold of
      1.5 V. Median peak power had fallen to 54% of baseline values by a stimulation
      intensity of 3.0 V. CONCLUSION: The findings suggest that DBS can suppress
      pathological 11-30 Hz activity in the vicinity of stimulation in patients with
      Parkinson's disease. This suppression occurs at stimulation voltages that are
      clinically effective.

PMID- 20935327
TI  - Efficacy of early cognitive-linguistic treatment and communicative treatment in
      aphasia after stroke: a randomised controlled trial (RATS-2).
AB  - BACKGROUND: The two main approaches in aphasia treatment are cognitive-linguistic
      treatment (CLT), aimed at restoring the linguistic levels affected, semantics,
      phonology or syntax, and communicative treatment, aimed at optimising information
      transfer by training compensatory strategies and use of residual language skills.
      The hypothesis that CLT is more effective than communicative treatment in the
      early stages after stroke was tested in this study. METHODS: In this multicentre,
      randomised, parallel group trial with blinded outcome assessment, 80 patients
      with aphasia after stroke were included within 3 weeks post-stroke. Patients
      received 6 months of CLT, comprising semantic and/or phonological training, or
      communicative treatment for at least 2 h per week. They were assessed before
      treatment and at 3 and 6 months with the Amsterdam-Nijmegen Everyday Language
      Test (ANELT-A, primary outcome) and semantic and phonological tests (secondary
      outcomes). The intervention effect was evaluated by means of analysis of
      covariance, with adjustment for baseline scores. RESULTS: There was no difference
      between the mean ANELT-A score of the CLT group (n=38) and the communicative
      treatment group (n=42), at 3 months (adjusted difference 1.5, 95% CI -2.6 to 5.6)
      or at 6 months (adjusted difference 1.6, 95% CI -2.3 to 5.6) post-stroke. On two
      of six specific semantic and phonological tests, the mean scores differed
      significantly, both in favour of CLT. CONCLUSION: This study does not confirm the
      hypothesis that patients with aphasia after stroke benefit more from CLT, aimed
      at activation of the underlying semantic and phonologic processes, than from
      general, non-specific communicative treatment (ISRCTN67723958 Current Controlled
      Trials).

PMID- 20935328
TI  - Cerebral amyloid angiopathy related inflammation: three case reports and a
      review.
AB  - Cerebral amyloid angiopathy related inflammation (CAA-I), previously described
      under various names, is a treatable encephalopathy usually occurring in older
      adults. Here, three patients are described with histopathologically confirmed CAA
      I, and summarised data from the published literature are presented. CAA-I has a
      characteristic combination of clinical and radiological features. Definite
      diagnosis requires brain and leptomeningeal biopsy. A favourable response to
      immunosuppressive therapy is common and treatment without brain biopsy may be
      considered in selected patients. Diagnostic criteria for CAA-I are proposed.

PMID- 20935329
TI  - NOTCH3 mutations and clinical features in 33 mainland Chinese families with
      CADASIL.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts
      and leucoencephalopathy (CADASIL) is an inherited small-vessel disease caused by
      mutations in NOTCH3. Although CADASIL cases have been identified worldwide, the
      data from mainland China are still limited. OBJECTIVE: To identify NOTCH3
      mutations and analyse the clinical and MRI findings in a large series of CADASIL
      patients from mainland China. METHODS: Direct sequencing of NOTCH3 and/or skin or
      sural nerve biopsies were performed on 48 unrelated suspected CADASIL cases of
      Chinese descent. The clinical manifestations and MRI features were
      retrospectively collected and analysed in the 33 index patients with confirmed
      diagnosis and their available affected family members. RESULTS: 20 different
      NOTCH3 mutations were identified in 33 families, including seven novel mutations.
      The highest mutation frequency was in exons 4 (55%) and 3 (30%). Granular
      osmiophilic material in smooth muscle cells was found in 30 cases who were
      biopsied. Clinical presentation included TIA/stroke in 82%, cognitive decline in
      60%, and migraine with aura in only 5% of 57 symptomatic cases. MRI detected
      multiple lacunar infarcts and leucoaraiosis in all symptomatic cases, brainstem
      lesions in 64% of symptomatic cases and white-matter lesions in the temporal pole
      in 46% of affected members. CONCLUSIONS: The mutational spectrum and primary
      clinical features of patients with CADASIL from mainland China are similar to
      those in Caucasians. However, migraine with aura and abnormal white matter in the
      temporal pole are less common than among Caucasians, while brainstem involvement
      is more common than among Caucasians.

PMID- 20935330
TI  - Heterogeneity of small vessel disease: a systematic review of MRI and
      histopathology correlations.
AB  - BACKGROUND: White matter hyperintensities (WMH), lacunes and microbleeds are
      regarded as typical MRI expressions of cerebral small vessel disease (SVD) and
      they are highly prevalent in the elderly. However, clinical expression of MRI
      defined SVD is generally moderate and heterogeneous. By reviewing studies that
      directly correlated postmortem MRI and histopathology, this paper aimed to
      characterise the pathological substrates of SVD in order to create more
      understanding as to its heterogeneous clinical manifestation. SUMMARY: Postmortem
      studies showed that WMH are also heterogeneous in terms of histopathology. Damage
      to the tissue ranges from slight disentanglement of the matrix to varying degrees
      of myelin and axonal loss. Glial cell responses include astrocytic reactions--for
      example, astrogliosis and clasmatodendrosis--as well as loss of oligodendrocytes
      and distinct microglial responses. Lipohyalinosis, arteriosclerosis, vessel wall
      leakage and collagen deposition in venular walls are recognised microvascular
      changes. Suggested pathogenetic mechanisms are ischaemia/hypoxia, hypoperfusion
      due to altered cerebrovascular autoregulation, blood-brain barrier leakage,
      inflammation, degeneration and amyloid angiopathy. Only a few postmortem MRI
      studies have addressed lacunes and microbleeds to date. Cortical microinfarcts
      and changes in the normal appearing white matter are 'invisible' on conventional
      MRI but are nevertheless expected to contribute substantially to clinical
      symptoms. CONCLUSION: Pathological substrates of WMH are heterogeneous in nature
      and severity, which may partly explain the weak clinicoradiological associations
      found in SVD. Lacunes and microbleeds have been relatively understudied and need
      to be further investigated. Future studies should also take into account 'MRI
      invisible' SVD features and consider the use of, for example, quantitative MRI
      techniques, to increase the sensitivity of MRI for these abnormalities and study
      their effects on clinical functioning.

PMID- 20935331
TI  - Diagnosis of vertebral fractures in post-ictal patients.
AB  - The violent forces generated by the strong paraspinal muscles during generalised
      tonic-clonic seizures are known to be associated with numerous musculoskeletal
      injuries. Vertebral fractures following epileptic seizures are typically
      compression fractures, occurring in the mid thoracic region, usually without
      resultant neurological deficit. Despite the relative frequency of vertebral
      compression fractures complicating tonic-clonic seizures, burst fractures are
      rare. We report a case of a burst fracture resulting in conus medullaris syndrome
      following generalised motor seizures. Clinicians managing post-ictal patients
      should maintain a high degree of suspicion for secondary injury and conduct a
      detailed clinical examination. If there remains any doubt regarding diagnosis,
      appropriate imaging should be employed.

PMID- 20935332
TI  - On-scene time and outcome after penetrating trauma: an observational study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Controversies exist as to whether one should rely on the 'scoop and
      run' or 'stay and play' approach in the case of penetrating trauma in the
      prehospital setting. Optimal prehospital care is much debated and the extent to
      which advanced life support (ALS) measures should be performed remains unclear.
      This study aimed to report the outcome of penetrating torso trauma in relation to
      the on-scene time and ALS procedures performed prehospitally. It was hypothesised
      that a longer on-scene time could predict a higher mortality after penetrating
      torso trauma. METHODS: This was an observational cohort study of penetrating
      trauma patients treated by the Mobile Emergency Care Unit in Copenhagen with a 30
      day follow-up. Between January 2002 and September 2009, data were prospectively
      registered regarding the anatomical location of the trauma, time intervals and
      procedures performed in the prehospital setting. Follow-up data were obtained
      from a national administrative database. The primary end point was 30-day
      survival. RESULTS: Of the 467 patients registered, 442 (94.6%) were identified at
      the 30-day follow-up, of whom 40 (9%) were dead. A higher mortality was found
      among patients treated on-scene for more than 20 min (p=0.0001), although on
      scene time was not a significant predictor of 30-day mortality in the
      multivariate analysis; OR 3.71, 95% CI 0.66 to 20.70 (p=0.14). The number of
      procedures was significantly correlated to a higher mortality in the multivariate
      analysis. CONCLUSION: On-scene time might be important in penetrating trauma, and
      ALS procedures should not delay transport to definite care at the hospital.

PMID- 20935333
TI  - Primary tubal choriocarcinoma.

PMID- 20935334
TI  - Combination of morphological feature analysis and immunohistochemistry is useful
      for screening of EML4-ALK-positive lung adenocarcinoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A subset of lung cancers harbours the fusion gene echinoderm
      microtubule-associated protein-like-4-anaplastic lymphoma kinase (EML4-ALK).
      Recently, immunohistochemistry for ALK has shown sensitivity for the detection of
      EML4-ALK-positive lung adenocarcinoma almost equal to that of the fluorescence in
      situ hybridisation (FISH) assay. AIMS: To study the clinicopathological features
      of EML4-ALK-positive lung adenocarcinoma in a large number of surgically resected
      samples using immunohistochemistry, in order to establish a useful screening
      method for EML4-ALK-positive lung adenocarcinoma. METHODS: Immunohistochemistry
      for ALK was used to screen for EML4-ALK-positive lung adenocarcinomas in 254
      cases of surgically resected samples. RESULTS: EML4-ALK-positive cases were
      detected in 3.1% of lung adenocarcinomas (8/254). EML4-ALK-positive lung
      adenocarcinomas showed significant associations with intra- and/or extra
      cytoplasmic mucin (p=0.0001), and cribriform pattern with excessive
      extracytoplasmic mucin (p<0.0001). Signet-ring cell appearance alone lacked
      significance (p=0.149). CONCLUSION: EML4-ALK-positive lung adenocarcinoma has a
      tendency to express a characteristic morphological pattern. The combined use of
      morphological feature analysis and immunohistochemistry may be a useful and cost
      effective screening method for EML4-ALK lung adenocarcinoma.

PMID- 20935335
TI  - Treatment options for obesity: do commercial weight loss programs have a role?

PMID- 20935336
TI  - The state of obesity and obesity research.

PMID- 20935337
TI  - Effects of diet and physical activity interventions on weight loss and
      cardiometabolic risk factors in severely obese adults: a randomized trial.
AB  - CONTEXT: The prevalence of severe obesity is increasing markedly, as is
      prevalence of comorbid conditions such as hypertension and type 2 diabetes
      mellitus; however, apart from bariatric surgery and pharmacotherapy, few clinical
      trials have evaluated the treatment of severe obesity. OBJECTIVE: To determine
      the efficacy of a weight loss and physical activity intervention on the adverse
      health risks of severe obesity. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Single-blind
      randomized trial conducted from February 2007 through April 2010 at the
      University of Pittsburgh. Participants were 130 (37% African American) severely
      obese (class II or III) adult participants without diabetes recruited from the
      community. INTERVENTIONS: One-year intensive lifestyle intervention consisting of
      diet and physical activity. One group (initial physical activity) was randomized
      to diet and physical activity for the entire 12 months; the other group (delayed
      physical activity) had the identical dietary intervention but with physical
      activity delayed for 6 months. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Changes in weight.
      Secondary outcomes were additional components comprising cardiometabolic risk,
      including waist circumference, abdominal adipose tissue, and hepatic fat content.
      RESULTS: Of 130 participants randomized, 101 (78%) completed the 12-month follow
      up assessments. Although both intervention groups lost a significant amount of
      weight at 6 months, the initial-activity group lost significantly more weight in
      the first 6 months compared with the delayed-activity group (10.9 kg [95%
      confidence interval {CI}, 9.1-12.7] vs 8.2 kg [95% CI, 6.4-9.9], P = .02 for
      group * time interaction). Weight loss at 12 months, however, was similar in the
      2 groups (12.1 kg [95% CI, 10.0-14.2] vs 9.9 kg [95% CI, 8.0-11.7], P = .25 for
      group * time interaction). Waist circumference, visceral abdominal fat, hepatic
      fat content, blood pressure, and insulin resistance were all reduced in both
      groups. The addition of physical activity promoted greater reductions in waist
      circumference and hepatic fat content. CONCLUSION: Among patients with severe
      obesity, a lifestyle intervention involving diet combined with initial or delayed
      initiation of physical activity resulted in clinically significant weight loss
      and favorable changes in cardiometabolic risk factors. TRIAL REGISTRATION:
      clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT00712127.

PMID- 20935338
TI  - Effect of a free prepared meal and incentivized weight loss program on weight
      loss and weight loss maintenance in obese and overweight women: a randomized
      controlled trial.
AB  - CONTEXT: The prevalence of overweight and obesity in the United States remains
      high. Commercial weight loss programs may contribute to efforts to reduce the
      prevalence of overweight and obesity, although few studies have examined their
      efficacy in controlled trials. OBJECTIVE: To test whether a free prepared meal
      and incentivized structured weight loss program promotes greater weight loss and
      weight loss maintenance at 2 years compared with usual care. DESIGN, SETTING, AND
      PARTICIPANTS: A randomized controlled trial of weight loss and weight loss
      maintenance in 442 overweight or obese women (body mass index, 25-40) aged 18 to
      69 years (mean age, 44 years) conducted at US institutions over 2 years with
      follow-up between November 2007 and April 2010. INTERVENTION: The program, which
      involves in-person center-based or telephone-based one-to-one weight loss
      counseling, was available over a 2-year period. Behavioral goals were an energy
      reduced, nutritionally adequate diet, facilitated by the inclusion of prepackaged
      food items in a planned menu during the initial weight loss phase, and increased
      physical activity. Participants assigned to usual care received 2 individualized
      weight loss counseling sessions with a dietetics professional and monthly
      contacts. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Weight loss and weight loss maintenance.
      RESULTS: Weight data were available at 24 months for 407 women (92.1% of the
      study sample). In an intent-to-treat analysis with baseline value substitution,
      mean weight loss was 7.4 kg (95% confidence interval [CI], 6.1-8.7 kg) or 7.9%
      (95% CI, 6.5%-9.3%) of initial weight at 24 months for the center-based group,
      6.2 kg (95% CI, 4.9-7.6 kg) or 6.8% (95% CI, 5.2%-8.4%) for the telephone-based
      group, and 2.0 kg (95% CI, 0.6-3.3 kg) or 2.1% (95% CI, 0.7%-3.5%) for the usual
      care control group after 24 months (P < .001 for intervention effect).
      CONCLUSION: Compared with usual care, this structured weight loss program
      resulted in greater weight loss over 2 years. TRIAL REGISTRATION:
      clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT00640900.

PMID- 20935340
TI  - Differences in legal outcomes for male and female children who have been sexually
      abused.
AB  - The goal of the present study was to determine whether or not there were sex
      differences in legal outcomes for children who were sexually abused. Using the
      methodology of Joa and Edelson (2004), the results indicated that males who were
      sexually abused had poorer legal outcomes than females. Specifically, it was
      found that cases involving male victims were less likely to be filed with the
      District Attorney (DA) than cases involving female victims and had fewer criminal
      counts charged. For those children seen at a Child Abuse Assessment Center, cases
      involving female victims were significantly more likely to be filed by the DA's
      office than were cases involving male victims. Finally, there were differences in
      whether guilty defendants pled guilty or were found guilty at trial depending on
      whether the defendant sexually abused a male or female. The implications of the
      findings are discussed.

PMID- 20935339
TI  - Activation and effective connectivity changes following explicit-memory training
      for face-name pairs in patients with mild cognitive impairment: a pilot study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is often a precursor to Alzheimer
      disease. Little research has examined the efficacy of cognitive rehabilitation in
      patients with MCI, and the relevant neural mechanisms have not been explored. The
      authors previously showed the behavioral efficacy of cognitive rehabilitation
      using mnemonic strategies for face-name associations in patients with MCI. Here,
      the authors used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to test whether
      there were training-specific changes in activation and connectivity within memory
      related areas. METHODS: A total of 6 patients with amnestic, multidomain MCI
      underwent pretraining and posttraining fMRI scans, during which they encoded 90
      novel face-name pairs and completed a 4-choice recognition memory test
      immediately after scanning. Patients were taught mnemonic strategies for half the
      face-name pairs during 3 intervening training sessions. RESULTS: Training
      specific effects comprised significantly increased activation within a widespread
      cerebral cortical network involving medial frontal, parietal, and occipital
      regions; the left frontal operculum and angular gyrus; and regions in the left
      lateral temporal cortex. Increased activation common to trained and untrained
      stimuli was found in a separate network involving inferior frontal, lateral
      parietal, and occipital cortical regions. Effective connectivity analysis using
      multivariate, correlation-purged Granger causality analysis revealed generally
      increased connectivity after training, particularly involving the middle temporal
      gyrus and foci in the occipital cortex and the precuneus. CONCLUSION: The
      authors' findings suggest that the effectiveness of explicit-memory training in
      patients with MCI is associated with training-specific increases in activation
      and connectivity in a distributed neural system that includes areas involved in
      explicit memory.

PMID- 20935341
TI  - Predictors of child pornography offenses and child sexual abuse in a community
      sample of pedophiles and hebephiles.
AB  - Little is known about factors that distinguish men who act upon their self
      identified sexual interest in prepubescent or pubescent children from those who
      do not. Even less is known about pedophiles or hebephiles who are not involved
      with the criminal justice system. In this study, a sample of 155 self-referred
      pedophiles and hebephiles was recruited from the community. All participants met
      DSM-IV-TR criteria for pedophilia (or paraphilia not otherwise specified for
      those who were sexually attracted to pubescent children). Two sets of group
      comparisons were conducted on sociodemographic variables and measures of dynamic
      risk factors. The first set was based on recent activity and compared men who had
      committed child pornography only or child sexual abuse offenses in the past six
      months with men who remained offense-free during the same period. The second set
      was based on lifetime offense history (excluding the most recent six months) and
      compared child pornography offenders with child sexual abuse offenders and men
      who had committed both kinds of offenses. Overall, there were more similarities
      than differences between groups.

PMID- 20935342
TI  - Peripartum cardiomyopathy: current understanding, comprehensive management review
      and new developments.
AB  - Peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM) is a rare and potentially fatal disease which
      presents with symptoms of heart failure primarily due to left ventricular (LV)
      systolic dysfunction in the last month of pregnancy and up to 5-6 months after
      delivery. PPCM is still regarded as a disease of unknown aetiology, although
      recent evidence suggests a role for a 16 kDa prolactin derivative produced by
      proteolytic cleavage of prolactin secondary to unbalanced oxidative stress
      present during late pregnancy and early puerperium. The medical management of
      PPCM is similar to other forms of non-ischaemic dilated cardiomyopathy, but with
      the management tailored to choose safe drugs in pregnancy and lactation to
      minimise maternal and fetal morbidity. There is an increased risk of venous
      thromboembolism, and anticoagulation is recommended. About 30-50% of the patients
      recover without complications, with their baseline LV systolic function at rest
      returning to normal. The risk of recurrence of PPCM is high, especially if the LV
      systolic function has not fully recovered. However, for those women who have
      normal LV systolic function as demonstrated on echocardiography and dobutamine
      stress test, the risk of severe cardiomyopathy including death is relatively low
      in a subsequent pregnancy.

PMID- 20935343
TI  - Spectrum of hypokalaemic periodic paralysis in a tertiary care centre in India.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Acute flaccid paralysis is a common neurological emergency with
      diverse causes and variable outcome. There is a paucity of reports documenting
      the spectrum of hypokalaemic paralysis in neurological practice. OBJECTIVE: To
      report the clinical features, aetiology, and outcome of patients with
      hypokalaemic paralysis in a tertiary care teaching hospital in India. METHODS:
      Consecutive patients with acute flaccid paralysis with hypokalaemia from 2008 to
      2010 were included in the study. Patients with Guillain-Barre syndrome,
      porphyria, polio and non-polio enterovirus infection and myositis were excluded.
      Detailed clinical examination, urinalysis, renal function tests, arterial blood
      gas analysis, thyroid hormones, and electrocardiogram were carried out. Patients
      received intravenous or oral potassium supplementation and their underlying
      causes were treated. RESULTS: Thirty patients aged 17-52 years, including three
      females, were included. Secondary causes of hypokalaemic paralysis were present
      in 13 patients and included thyrotoxic paralysis in five and renal tubular
      acidosis (RTA) and Gitelman syndrome in four each. All the patients had
      quadriparesis and 10 had severe weakness (MRC grade <2). Tendon reflexes were
      reduced in eight and brisk in four patients. Respiratory paralysis was present in
      six patients and one needed artificial ventilation. Fifteen patients had severe
      hypokalaemia (<2 mmol/l), four had acidosis, and six had alkalosis. The secondary
      group had more severe hypokalaemia and needed longer time to recover. CONCLUSION:
      43.3% of patients with hypokalaemic paralysis had a secondary cause for their
      condition. Patients with severe hypokalaemia with acidosis or alkalosis should be
      investigated for secondary causes as their management differ.

PMID- 20935344
TI  - Medical leadership: why it's important, what is required, and how we develop it.
AB  - Good medical leadership is vital in delivering high-quality healthcare, and yet
      medical career progression has traditionally seen leadership lack credence in
      comparison with technical and academic ability. Individual standards have varied,
      leading to variations in the quality of medical leadership between different
      organisations and, on occasions, catastrophic lapses in the standard of care
      provided to patients. These high-profile events, plus increasing evidence linking
      clinical leadership to performance of units, has led recently to more focus on
      leadership development for all doctors, starting earlier and continuing
      throughout their careers. There is also an increased drive to see doctors take on
      more significant leadership roles throughout the healthcare system. The
      achievement of these aims will require doctors to develop strong personal and
      professional values, a range of non-technical skills that allow them to lead
      across professional boundaries, and an understanding of the increasingly complex
      environment in which 21st century healthcare is delivered. Developing these
      attributes will require dedicated resources and the sophisticated application of
      a variety of different learning methodologies such as mentoring, coaching, action
      learning and networking.

PMID- 20935345
TI  - An asymptomatic retinal vein occlusion and retinal arterial emboli in the same
      eye.

PMID- 20935348
TI  - Piezoelectric constants for ZnO calculated using classical polarizable core-shell
      potentials.
AB  - We demonstrate the feasibility of using classical atomistic simulations, i.e.
      molecular dynamics and molecular statics, to study the piezoelectric properties
      of ZnO using core-shell interatomic potentials. We accomplish this by reporting
      the piezoelectric constants for ZnO as calculated using two different classical
      interatomic core-shell potentials: that originally proposed by Binks and Grimes
      (1994 Solid State Commun. 89 921-4), and that proposed by Nyberg et al (1996 J.
      Phys. Chem. 100 9054-63). We demonstrate that the classical core-shell potentials
      are able to qualitatively reproduce the piezoelectric constants as compared to
      benchmark ab initio calculations. We further demonstrate that while the presence
      of the shell is required to capture the electron polarization effects that
      control the clamped ion part of the piezoelectric constant, the major shortcoming
      of the classical potentials is a significant underprediction of the clamped ion
      term as compared to previous ab initio results. However, the present results
      suggest that overall, these classical core-shell potentials are sufficiently
      accurate to be utilized for large scale atomistic simulations of the
      piezoelectric response of ZnO nanostructures.

PMID- 20935349
TI  - Green fabrication of agar-conjugated Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles.
AB  - Magnetic nanoparticles are of great interest both for fundamental research and
      emerging applications. In the biomedical field, magnetite (Fe(3)O(4)) has shown
      promise as a hyperthermia-based tumor therapeutic. However, preparing suitable
      solubilized magnetite nanoparticles is challenging, primarily due to aggregation
      and poor biocompatibility. Thus methods for coating Fe(3)O(4) NPs with
      biocompatible stabilizers are required. We report a new method for preparing
      Fe(3)O(4) nanoparticles by co-precipitation within the pores of agar gel samples.
      Permeated agar gels were then dried and ground into a powder, yielding agar
      conjugated Fe(3)O(4) nanoparticles. Samples were characterized using XRD, FTIR,
      TGA, TEM and SQUID. This method for preparing agar-coated Fe(3)O(4) nanoparticles
      is environmentally friendly, inexpensive and scalable.

PMID- 20935347
TI  - Comprehensive proteomic analysis of membrane proteins in Toxoplasma gondii.
AB  - Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) is an obligate intracellular protozoan parasite
      that is an important human and animal pathogen. Experimental information on T.
      gondii membrane proteins is limited, and the majority of gene predictions with
      predicted transmembrane motifs are of unknown function. A systematic analysis of
      the membrane proteome of T. gondii is important not only for understanding this
      parasite's invasion mechanism(s), but also for the discovery of potential drug
      targets and new preventative and therapeutic strategies. Here we report a
      comprehensive analysis of the membrane proteome of T. gondii, employing three
      proteomics strategies: one-dimensional gel liquid chromatography-tandem MS
      analysis (one-dimensional gel electrophoresis LC-MS/MS), biotin labeling in
      conjunction with one-dimensional gel LC-MS/MS analysis, and a novel strategy that
      combines three-layer "sandwich" gel electrophoresis with multidimensional protein
      identification technology. A total of 2241 T. gondii proteins with at least one
      predicted transmembrane segment were identified and grouped into 841 sequentially
      nonredundant protein clusters, which account for 21.8% of the predicted
      transmembrane protein clusters in the T. gondii genome. A large portion (42%) of
      the identified T. gondii membrane proteins are hypothetical proteins.
      Furthermore, many of the membrane proteins validated by mass spectrometry are
      unique to T. gondii or to the Apicomplexa, providing a set of gene predictions
      ripe for experimental investigation, and potentially suitable targets for the
      development of therapeutic strategies.

PMID- 20935350
TI  - Localized suppression of longitudinal-optical-phonon-exciton coupling in bent ZnO
      nanowires.
AB  - Using confocal micro-Raman and photoluminescence spectroscopy, we studied bending
      effects on optical properties of individual ZnO nanowires. Raman spectroscopy
      shows that local tensile strain can be introduced by bending the nanowire. The
      strain is expected to reduce the band gap on the bent part and modify the local
      phonon-exciton interaction. The corresponding micro-photoluminescence spectra
      indicate local suppression of the longitudinal-optical (LO) phonon-exciton
      interaction, which is determined by the intensity ratio of the second-order LO
      phonon replica of the free exciton (FX-2LO) to the first-order process (FX-1LO).
      Our results may provide insight into the modulation of local electrical and
      optical properties by deforming the nanostructures.

PMID- 20935352
TI  - Controlled electroplating and electromigration in nickel electrodes for nanogap
      formation.
AB  - We report the fabrication of nickel nanospaced electrodes by electroplating and
      electromigration for nanoelectronic devices. Using a conventional electrochemical
      cell, nanogaps can be obtained by controlling the plating time alone and after a
      careful optimization of electrodeposition parameters such as electrolyte bath,
      applied potential, cleaning, etc. During the process, the gap width decreases
      exponentially with time until the electrode gaps are completely bridged. Once the
      bridge is formed, the ex situ electromigration technique can reopen the nanogap.
      When the gap is ~ 1 nm, tunneling current-voltage characterization shows
      asymmetry which can be corrected by an external magnetic field. This suggests
      that charge transfer in the nickel electrodes depends on the orientation of
      magnetic moments.

PMID- 20935351
TI  - A digital microfluidic droplet generator produces self-assembled supramolecular
      nanoparticles for targeted cell imaging.
AB  - Controlling the size distribution of polymer-based nanoparticles is a challenging
      task due to their flexible core and surface structures. To accomplish such as
      task requires very precise control at the molecular level. Here we demonstrate a
      new approach whereby uniform-sized supramolecular nanoparticles (SNPs) can be
      reliably generated using a digital microfluidic droplet generator (DMDG) chip. A
      microfluidic environment enabled precise control over the processing parameters,
      and therefore high batch-to-batch reproducibility and robust production of SNPs
      with a very narrow size distribution could be realized. Digitally adjustment of
      the mixing ratios of the building blocks on the DMDG chip allowed us to rapidly
      scan a variety of synthesis conditions without consuming significant amounts of
      reagents. Nearly uniform SNPs with sizes ranging from 35 to 350 nm were obtained
      and characterized by transmission electron microscopy and dynamic light
      scattering. In addition, we could fine-tune the surface chemistry of the SNPs by
      incorporating an additional building block functionalized with specific ligands
      for targeting cells. The sizes and surface properties of these SNPs correlated
      strongly with their cell uptake efficiencies. This study showed a feasible method
      for microfluidic-assisted SNP production and provided a great means for preparing
      size-controlled SNPs with desired surface ligand coverage.

PMID- 20935353
TI  - A metallization and bonding approach for high performance carbon nanotube thermal
      interface materials.
AB  - A method has been developed to create vertically aligned carbon nanotube (VACNT)
      thermal interface materials that can be attached to a variety of metallized
      surfaces. VACNT films were grown on Si substrates using standard CVD processing
      followed by metallization using Ti/Au. The coated CNTs were then bonded to
      metallized substrates at 220  degrees C. By reducing the adhesion of the VACNTs
      to the growth substrate during synthesis, the CNTs can be completely transferred
      from the Si growth substrate and used as a die attachment material for electronic
      components. Thermal resistance measurements using a photoacoustic technique
      showed thermal resistances as low as 1.7 mm(2) K W(-1) for bonded VACNT films 25
      30 um in length and 10 mm(2) K W(-1) for CNTs up to 130 um in length. Tensile
      testing demonstrated a die attachment strength of 40 N cm(-2) at room
      temperature. Overall, these metallized and bonded VACNT films demonstrate
      properties which are promising for next-generation thermal interface material
      applications.

PMID- 20935354
TI  - Computational modeling of a carbon nanotube-based DNA nanosensor.
AB  - During the last decade the design of biosensors, based on quantum transport in
      one-dimensional nanostructures, has developed as an active area of research. Here
      we investigate the sensing capabilities of a DNA nanosensor, designed as a
      semiconductor single walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) connected to two gold
      electrodes and functionalized with a DNA strand acting as a bio-receptor probe.
      In particular, we have considered both covalent and non-covalent bonding between
      the DNA probe and the SWCNT. The optimized atomic structure of the sensor is
      computed both before and after the receptor attaches itself to the target, which
      consists of another DNA strand. The sensor's electrical conductance and
      transmission coefficients are calculated at the equilibrium geometries via the
      non-equilibrium Green's function scheme combined with the density functional
      theory in the linear response limit. We demonstrate a sensing efficiency of 70%
      for the covalently bonded bio-receptor probe, which drops to about 19% for the
      non-covalently bonded one. These results suggest that a SWCNT may be a promising
      candidate for a bio-molecular FET sensor.

PMID- 20935355
TI  - High-rate synthesis of phosphine-stabilized undecagold nanoclusters using a
      multilayered micromixer.
AB  - Growth in the potential applications of nanomaterials has led to a focus on the
      development of new manufacturing approaches for these materials. In particular,
      an increased demand due to the unique properties of nanomaterials requires a
      substantial yield of high-performance materials and a simultaneous reduction in
      the environmental impact of these processes. In this paper, a high-rate
      production of phosphine-stabilized undecagold nanoclusters was achieved using a
      layer-up strategy which involves the use of microlamination architectures; the
      patterning and bonding of thin layers of material (laminae) to create a
      multilayered micromixer in the range of 25-250 um thick was used to step up the
      production of phosphine-stabilized undecagold nanoclusters. The continuous
      production of highly monodispersed phosphine-stabilized undecagold nanoclusters
      at a rate of about 11.8 (mg s(-1)) was achieved using a microreactor with a size
      of 1.687 cm(3). This result is about 500 times over conventional batch syntheses
      based on the production rate per reactor volume.

PMID- 20935356
TI  - Construction of a ferritin dimer by breaking its symmetry.
AB  - Ferritin has a mono-dispersed structure and biomineralization properties that
      allow it to form various kinds of nanoparticles and play an important role in
      modern nanotechnology. Independent nanoparticles synthesized in ferritin are
      valuable, but moreover a pair of nanoparticles can bring new properties different
      from those of the independent nanoparticles. In this study, by breaking
      ferritin's symmetry, we successfully produced ferritin dimers which provide real
      protein frameworks for nanoparticle dimer formation. Identical nickel hydro-oxide
      nanoparticle dimers were produced by simply biomineralizing ferritin dimers. The
      method presented here can produce multi-functional ferritin dimers with different
      kinds of nanoparticles.

PMID- 20935357
TI  - Finding a needle in a chemical haystack: tip-enhanced Raman scattering for
      studying carbon nanotubes mixtures.
AB  - Tip-enhanced Raman scattering (TERS) has emerged as a powerful analytical tool
      for measuring chemical images with nanometre spatial resolution. In this paper,
      the application of TERS to study differentiation of single-walled carbon
      nanotubes (SWCNTs) with 14 nm spatial resolution is demonstrated by the
      measurement of a mixture of two different types of SWCNTs as the model sample.
      The results demonstrate that TERS is a viable tool for the detection and
      localization of different SWCNTs and amorphous carbon in mixed SWCNTs based on
      the spectral differences in the radial breathing mode and the D bands.

PMID- 20935358
TI  - Synthesis and applications of magnetic nanoparticles for biorecognition and point
      of care medical diagnostics.
AB  - Functionalized magnetic nanoparticles are important components in biorecognition
      and medical diagnostics. Here, we present a review of our contribution to this
      interdisciplinary research field. We start by describing a simple one-step
      process for the synthesis of highly uniform ferrite nanoparticles (d = 20-200 nm)
      and their functionalization with amino acids via carboxyl groups. For real-world
      applications, we used admicellar polymerization to produce 200 nm diameter 'FG
      beads', consisting of several 40 nm diameter ferrite nanoparticles encapsulated
      in a co-polymer of styrene and glycidyl methacrylate for high throughput
      molecular screening. The highly dispersive FG beads were functionalized with an
      ethylene glycol diglycidyl ether spacer and used for affinity purification of
      methotrexate-an anti-cancer agent. We synthesized sub-100 nm diameter magnetic
      nanocapsules by exploiting the self-assembly of viral capsid protein pentamers,
      where single 8, 20, and 27 nm nanoparticles were encapsulated with VP1 pentamers
      for applications including MRI contrast agents. The FG beads are now commercially
      available for use in fully automated bio-screening systems. We also incorporated
      europium complexes inside a polymer matrix to produce 140 nm diameter fluorescent
      ferrite beads (FF beads), which emit at 618 nm. These FF beads were used for
      immunofluorescent staining for diagnosis of cancer metastases to lymph nodes
      during cancer resection surgery by labeling tumor cell epidermal growth factor
      receptor (EGFRs), and for the detection of brain natriuretic peptide (BNP)-a
      hormone secreted in excess amounts by the heart when stressed-to a level of 2.0
      pg ml(-1). We also describe our work on Hall biosensors made using InSb and
      GaAs/InGaAs/AlGaAs 2DEG heterostructures integrated with gold current strips to
      reduce measurement times. Our approach for the detection of sub-200 nm magnetic
      bead is also described: we exploit the magnetically induced capture of micrometer
      sized 'probe beads' by nanometer sized 'target beads', enabling the detection of
      small concentrations of beads as small as 8 nm in 'pumpless' microcapillary
      systems. Finally, we describe a 'label-less homogeneous' procedure referred to as
      'magneto-optical transmission (MT) sensing', where the optical transmission of a
      solution containing rotating linear chains of magnetic nanobeads was used to
      detect biomolecules with pM-level sensitivity with a dynamic range of more than
      four orders of magnitude. Our research on the synthesis and applications of
      nanoparticles is particularly suitable for point of care diagnostics.

PMID- 20935359
TI  - A waferscale Si wire solar cell using radial and bulk p-n junctions.
AB  - Silicon nanowires (NWs) and microwires (MWs) are cost-effectively integrated on a
      4-inch wafer using metal-assisted electroless etching for solar cell
      applications. MWs are periodically positioned using low-level optical patterning
      in between a dense array of NWs. A spin-on-doping technique is found to be
      effective for the formation of heavily doped, thin n-type shells of MWs in which
      the radial doping profile is easily delineated by low voltage scanning electron
      microscopy. Controlled tapering of the NWs results in additional optical
      enhancement via optimization of the tradeoff between increased light trapping (by
      a graded-refractive-index) and increased reflectance (by decreasing areal density
      of NWs). Compared to single NW (or MW) arrayed cells, the co-integrated solar
      cells demonstrate improved photovoltaic characteristics, i.e. a short circuit
      current of 20.59 mA cm(-2) and a cell conversion efficiency of ~ 7.19% at AM 1.5G
      illumination.

PMID- 20935360
TI  - A fertile domain for nanoscience.

PMID- 20935361
TI  - Plasma degradation of Cationic Blue dye with contact glow discharge electrolysis.
AB  - Contact glow discharge electrolysis (CGDE) of Cationic Blue SD-GTL (CB) was
      investigated by determining degradation rates and rate constants under different
      voltages, pH, temperature and initial concentrations. The results indicated that
      500 V was the optimum voltage for CGDE of CB under experimental conditions. The
      effect of pH was not appreciable. Fe2(+) and Fe3(+) had a remarkable catalytic
      effect on the degradation of CB. The degradation rate was up to 99.7% after 3
      minutes CGDE treatment when the concentration of Fe2(+) was 20.0 mg/L. And when
      the concentration of Fe3 (+) was 5.0 mg/L, the degradation rate was only 68.6%
      after 10 minutes CGDE treatment. The reaction mechanisms were also well
      illustrated by relative reactions and their rate constants. It had been
      demonstrated that CB underwent oxidative degradation in CGDE.

PMID- 20935362
TI  - Inhibitory effect of copper on enhanced biological phosphorus removal.
AB  - Copper inhibition of enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) was examined
      in batch experiments under anaerobic and aerobic conditions. Inhibition was
      represented by both acetate uptake and phosphorus release coefficients under
      anaerobic conditions, and by a phosphorus uptake coefficient under aerobic
      conditions. The results showed that copper inhibition of EBPR occurred mainly
      during aerobic phosphorus uptake and a first-order phosphorus uptake coefficient
      can be better used to describe the inhibition effect. For the aerobic phosphorus
      uptake using the EBPR activated sludge, (i) copper inhibition started at 0.07
      mg/l, (ii) 50% and 100% inhibition occurred at 0.30 mg/l and 0.53 mg/l,
      respectively, and (iii) the inhibition constant was 0.48 mg/l.

PMID- 20935363
TI  - Comparison of grey water treatment performance by a cascading sand filter and a
      constructed wetland.
AB  - A novel unplanted vertical flow subsurface constructed wetland technology
      comprising three shallow beds (0.6 m length, 0.45 m width and 0.2 m depth)
      arranged in a cascading series and a standard single-pass Vertical Flow Planted
      Constructed Wetland (VFPCW, 6 m2 and 0.7 m depth) were tested for grey water
      treatment. Particular focus was on meeting consent for published wastewater reuse
      parameters and removal of anionic surfactants. Treatment performance at two
      hydraulic loading rates (HLR) of 0.08, and 0.17 m3 m-2 d-1 were compared. Both
      technologies effectively removed more than 90% turbidity and more than 96% for
      organics with the prototype meeting the most stringent reuse standard of < 2 NTU
      and <10 mg/L. However, surfactant removal in the VFPCW was higher (76-85%) than
      in the prototype which only achieved more than 50% removal at higher loading
      rate. Generally, the prototype performed consistently better than the VFPCW
      except for surfactant removal. However, at higher loading rates, both systems did
      not meet the reuse standard of <1 mg L-1 for anionic surfactants. This
      observation confirms that shallow beds provide a more oxidised environment
      leading to higher BOD5 and COD removals. Presence of plants in the VFPCW led to
      higher anionic surfactant removal, through increased microbial and sorption
      processes.

PMID- 20935364
TI  - Computational benefits using artificial intelligent methodologies for the
      solution of an environmental design problem: saltwater intrusion.
AB  - Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) comprise a powerful tool to approximate the
      complicated behavior and response of physical systems allowing considerable
      reduction in computation time during time-consuming optimization runs. In this
      work, a Radial Basis Function Artificial Neural Network (RBFN) is combined with a
      Differential Evolution (DE) algorithm to solve a water resources management
      problem, using an optimization procedure. The objective of the optimization
      scheme is to cover the daily water demand on the coastal aquifer east of the city
      of Heraklion, Crete, without reducing the subsurface water quality due to
      seawater intrusion. The RBFN is utilized as an on-line surrogate model to
      approximate the behavior of the aquifer and to replace some of the costly
      evaluations of an accurate numerical simulation model which solves the subsurface
      water flow differential equations. The RBFN is used as a local approximation
      model in such a way as to maintain the robustness of the DE algorithm. The
      results of this procedure are compared to the corresponding results obtained by
      using the Simplex method and by using the DE procedure without the surrogate
      model. As it is demonstrated, the use of the surrogate model accelerates the
      convergence of the DE optimization procedure and additionally provides a better
      solution at the same number of exact evaluations, compared to the original DE
      algorithm.

PMID- 20935365
TI  - An analysis of the combined consequences of pluvial and fluvial flooding.
AB  - Intense rainfall in urban areas often generates both pluvial flooding due to the
      limited capacity of drainage systems, as well as fluvial flooding caused by
      deluges from river channels. The concurrence of pluvial and fluvial flooding can
      aggravate their (individual) potential damages. To analyse the impact caused by
      individual and composite type of flooding, the SIPSON/UIM model, an integrated 1D
      sewer and 2D overland flow was applied to numerical modelling. An event matrix of
      possible pluvial scenarios was combined with hypothetic overtopping and breaching
      situations to estimate the surface flooding consequences in the Stockbridge area,
      Keighley (Bradford, UK). The modelling results identified different flooding
      drivers in different parts of the study area and showed that the worst scenarios
      resulted from synthesised events.

PMID- 20935366
TI  - Factors affecting the performance and risks to human health of on-site wastewater
      treatment systems.
AB  - Aerobic wastewater treatment systems (aerobic systems) are the preferred choice
      in a region overlying a karstic aquifer used for drinking water supplies, as they
      are thought to provide better protection to groundwater and human health than
      standard septic systems. However, aerobic systems in operation do not always
      perform to design standard; while this is often blamed on lack of maintenance,
      few studies have investigated the link directly. This study investigates the
      performance of domestic on-site wastewater treatment systems in South Australia,
      and compares effluent quality to maintenance records. Effluent from 29 septic
      tanks and 31 aerobic systems was analysed for nutrients, physico-chemical
      parameters and microbiological indicators. Aerobic systems generally provided
      greater treatment than septic tanks, yet most aerobic systems did not meet
      regulatory guidelines with high levels of indicator bacteria in 71% of samples.
      The effect of system size, number of household occupants and maintenance on
      aerobic system treatment performance was analysed: chlorine levels were
      positively correlated with time of last service, and nutrient concentrations were
      positively correlated with the number of occupants. A microbial risk assessment
      revealed the observed irrigation practices to be high risk; and sufficient
      residence time in the aquifer cannot be guaranteed for protection of groundwater
      used for drinking. Additional preventive measures such as irrigation management
      or post treatment of drinking water supply (such as UV disinfection) are required
      to meet public health targets.

PMID- 20935367
TI  - Effect of digester F/M ratio on gas production and sludge minimization of
      ultrasonically treated sludge.
AB  - Sludge pretreatment by mechanical, chemical or thermal methods before anaerobic
      digestion has been applied to increase the digestability of excess sludge.
      Pretreatment processes rely on their ability to disrupt cell membranes and to
      release organic materials from the cells into the aqueous phase. Pretreatment by
      mechanical disintegration has grown rapidly in recent years in parallel with the
      advances in technology. Ultrasonic sludge disintegration -one of the most
      commonly used mechanical pretreatment methods- enables the occurrence of
      cavitation bubbles for the break-up of microorganism cells to extract
      intracellular materials. The purpose of this study was to conduct disintegration
      experiments to optimize sonication parameters and to operate subsequent batch
      anaerobic digesters to examine the effect of food to microorganism ratio (F/M) in
      sonicated and unsonicated samples. Results showed that high sonication powers and
      longer treatment times were effective in sludge disintegration in terms of
      soluble chemical oxygen demand release. Sonicated sludge digested in batch
      reactors with higher initial F/M ratio caused higher methane generations, higher
      sludge reductions and had better dewatering characteristics.

PMID- 20935368
TI  - Partial nitrification of non-ammonium-rich wastewater within biofilm filters
      under ambient temperature.
AB  - This study evaluated the partial nitrification performances of two biofilm
      filters over a synthetic non-ammonium-rich wastewater at a 20 degrees C room
      temperature under both limited DO (~2.0 mg/L) and unlimited DO (~4.0 mg/L)
      conditions. The two filters were each of 80 cm long and used different biofilm
      carriers: activated carbon and ceramic granule. Results showed that partial
      nitrification was accomplished for both filters under the limited DO condition.
      However, the effluent NO(2)-N was higher in the ceramic granule filter than in
      the activated carbon filter, and was less susceptible to the influent COD/N
      changes. Further investigation into the water phase COD and NH(4)-N depth
      profiles and bacteria population within the two filters showed that by putting
      upper filter layer (upstream) to confront relatively higher influent COD/N
      ratios, the filtration process naturally put lower filter layers (downstream)
      relatively more favorable for nitrifying bacteria (ammonia oxidizing bacteria in
      this study) to prosper, making the filter depth left for nitrification a crucial
      factor for the effectiveness of nitrification with a filter. The potentially
      different porous flow velocities of the two filters might be the reason to cause
      their different partial nitrification performances, with a lower porous flow
      velocity (the ceramic granule filter) favoring partial nitrification more. In
      summation, DO, filter depth, and filtration speed should be played together to
      successfully operate a biofilm filter for partial nitrification.

PMID- 20935369
TI  - Electro-coagulation treatment efficiency of graphite, iron and aluminum
      electrodes using alum and wood ash electrolytes on a Kraft pulp and paper mill
      effluent.
AB  - Specific power consumption and reduction of BOD, COD, TS, pH, and chemical
      elements were used to determine the treatment efficiency of Fe, graphite and Al
      electrodes with alum and wood ash as supporting electrolytes on the effluent from
      a Kraft pulp and paper mill in Kenya. Five sampling points were selected along
      mill's effluent treatment system: primary settling tank (SP1), first aerated
      lagoon (SP2), second aerated lagoon (SP3), stabilization pond (SP4), and at
      discharge point (SP5). Operating costs were also compared between treatments.
      Graphite electrodes combined with alum showed the lowest power consumption (0.5
      to 3.9 mWh/m3), followed by Al and Fe. All the electrodes reduced color from a
      maximum of 3,200 degrees H to the minimum local standard of 15 degrees H. However
      Al electrode with alum was the most effective method for BOD and COD reduction by
      over 60% and 58.8% respectively and generated less sludge at all sampling points.
      The cost of treatment was lowest with graphite electrode (US$0.006 to 0.0008 per
      m3 of effluent), but highest with Al electrodes combined with wood ash (US$31.74
      to 8.34 per m3). Further study is required for the effectiveness of increasing
      the concentration of wood ash leachate at higher concentration and current
      density.

PMID- 20935370
TI  - Using excess sludge as carbon source for enhanced nitrogen removal and sludge
      reduction with hydrolysis technology.
AB  - In order to improve the nitrogen removal efficiency and to achieve the sludge
      reduction in traditional wastewater treatment plants, a combined hydrolysis
      anoxic-oxic (H-A-O) pilot-scaled reactor was used in this study to investigate
      the possibility and validity of using excess activated sludge (EAS) fermentation
      liquids to enhance the nitrogen removal. The results clearly showed that sludge
      acidification rate in fermentation reactor can reach to 43.2%. The percentages of
      acetic acid, propionic acid and butyric acid in the fermentation liquids were
      68.4, 25.3 and 6.3%, respectively, while those in domestic wastewater were 73.0,
      12.2 and 13.8%, respectively. Bioavailability of soluble chemical oxygen demand
      (SCOD) from fermentation liquids and domestic wastewater were investigated in
      batch reactors with nitrate as the electron accepter as well. The corresponding
      specific denitrification rates were 0.15 g NO3--N/g VSS d-1 and 0.09 g NO3--N/g
      VSS d-1. When the substances were enough, the denitrification reaction appeared
      to follow the zero-order kinetics. The results also showed that, when the H-A-O
      pilot-scaled reactor was operated continuously and sludge fermentation liquids
      were applied as additional carbon source in the A-O reactor, the removal
      efficiencies of SCOD, NH4+-N and total nitrogen (TN) were higher than 90, 95 and
      79%, respectively. EAS reduction rate in this system was able to reach 40.4%, and
      the sludge VSS/SS ratio decreased from 0.82 to 0.59 after hydrolysis step.

PMID- 20935371
TI  - Membrane process treatment for greywater recycling: investigations on direct
      tubular nanofiltration.
AB  - On-site greywater recycling and reuse is one of the main ways to reduce potable
      water requirement in urban areas. Direct membrane filtration is a promising
      technology to recycle greywater on-site. This study aimed at selecting a tubular
      nanofiltration (NF) membrane and its operating conditions in order to treat and
      reuse greywater in buildings. To do so, a synthetic greywater (SGW) was
      reconstituted in order to conduct experiments on a reproducible effluent. Then,
      three PCI NF membranes (AFC30, AFC40 and AFC80) having distinct molecular weight
      cut-offs were tested to recycle this SGW with a constant concentration at 25
      degrees C at two different transmembrane pressures (20 and 35 bar). The best
      results were obtained with AFC80 at 35 bar: the flux was close to 50 L m-2  h-1,
      retentions of 95% for chemical oxygen demand and anionic surfactants were
      observed, and no Enterococcus were detected in the permeate. The performances of
      AFC80 were also evaluated on a real greywater: fluxes and retentions were similar
      to those observed on SGW. These results demonstrate the effectiveness of direct
      nanofiltration to recycle and reuse greywater.

PMID- 20935372
TI  - Characterization of microbial communities in exhaust air treatment systems of
      large-scale pig housing facilities.
AB  - Exhaust air treatment has gained importance as an essential factor in intensive
      livestock areas due to the rising emissions in the environment. Wet filter walls
      of multi-stage exhaust air treatment systems precipitate gaseous ammonia and dust
      particles from exhaust air in washing water. Microbial communities in the biomass
      developed in the washing water of five large-scale exhaust air treatment units of
      pig housing facilities, were investigated by fluorescence in situ hybridization
      (FISH) and 16S rDNA sequence analyses. No "standard" nitrifying bacteria were
      found in the washing water. Instead mainly alpha-Proteobacteria, aggregating beta
      and chi-Proteobacteria, a large number of Actinobacteria, as well as individual
      Planctomycetales and Crenarchaeota were detected after more than twelve months'
      operation. The main Proteobacteria species present were affiliated to the
      families Alcaligenaceae, Comamonadaceae and Xanthomonadaceae. Furthermore, we
      investigated the consumption of inorganic nitrogen compounds in the washing water
      of one exhaust air treatment unit during a fattening period with and without pH
      control. Maintaining the pH at 6.0 resulted in a ca. fivefold higher ammonium
      concentration and a ca. fourfold lower concentration of oxidized nitrogen
      compounds after the fattening period was finished.

PMID- 20935373
TI  - Operating boundaries of full-scale advanced water reuse treatment plants: many
      lessons learned from pilot plant experience.
AB  - Three Advanced Water Treatment Plants (AWTP) have recently been built in South
      East Queensland as part of the Western Corridor Recycled Water Project (WCRWP)
      producing Purified Recycled Water from secondary treated waste water for the
      purpose of indirect potable reuse. At Luggage Point, a demonstration plant was
      primarily operated by the design team for design verification. The investigation
      program was then extended so that the operating team could investigate possible
      process optimisation, and operation flexibility. Extending the demonstration
      plant investigation program enabled monitoring of the long term performance of
      the microfiltration and reverse osmosis membranes, which did not appear to foul
      even after more than a year of operation. The investigation primarily identified
      several ways to optimise the process. It highlighted areas of risk for treated
      water quality, such as total nitrogen. Ample and rapid swings of salinity from
      850 to 3,000 mg/l-TDS were predicted to affect the RO process day-to-day
      operation and monitoring. Most of the setpoints used for monitoring under HACCP
      were determined during the pilot plant trials.

PMID- 20935374
TI  - Chemical components of bleached eucalypt kraft pulp effluent COD and treatment
      removal efficiency during normal mill operation and maintenance shutdowns.
AB  - In order to meet increasingly strict Brazilian COD emissions limits, mills must
      understand the components that contribute to effluent COD, how these vary between
      normal mill operation and maintenance shutdowns, and how this variation affects
      treatment efficiency. To this end, primary and secondary effluents from a
      Brazilian bleached eucalypt kraft pulp mill activated sludge system were analyzed
      for COD, lignin, extractives, carbohydrates and AOX over a sixth month period
      that included two general maintenance shutdowns and four months of normal
      operation. Primary effluent presented significantly different compositions during
      periods of normal operation and mill shutdowns. During normal operation, the main
      components of effluent COD (909 mg/l average) were carbohydrates, followed by
      lignin. However, the lignin fraction was the main component of secondary effluent
      COD during both normal operation and mill shutdowns. Higher removal efficiencies
      for COD carbohydrates and AOX were observed during normal operation compared to
      shutdowns, while no difference in removal efficiencies of lignin and extractives
      was observed. Carbohydrate removal efficiency was significantly lower in one of
      the parallel treatment lines. The different removal efficiencies reflect not only
      variations in effluent composition, but possibly differences in system
      operational control which should be explored in greater detail.

PMID- 20935375
TI  - Effect of chloride concentration on nitrogen removal from landfill leachate in
      sequencing batch reactor after MAP pretreatment.
AB  - Leachate generated from landfill is becoming a great environmental challenge to
      China as it contains high concentration of COD, ammonium and some other
      substances. Nitrogen removal through the conventional nitrification
      denitrification process is hampered by the low C/N ratio especially for the old
      age landfill sites and the high energy consumption for aeration. In this study,
      the combination of magnesium ammonium phosphate (MAP) precipitation and
      Sequencing batch reactor (SBR) was suggested as a new process for the treatment
      of high strength ammonium, and the effect of high concentration of Cl- after MAP
      precipitation because of the use of MgCl2 was investigated on SBR performance.
      The practical upper limit of Cl- for nitrification was found to be 12,000 mg/L,
      above which resulted in significant accumulation of ammonium in SBR system. It is
      suggested that an ammonium removal of 70% was suitable for the MAP treatment to
      achieve a balance between increasing the C/N ratio and avoiding detrimental
      effect from high concentration of Cl- in the succeeding SBR system. DGGE analysis
      indicated that high diversity of Ammonium oxidizing bacteria (AOB) could be
      maintained at a Cl- concentration of 12,000 mg/L.

PMID- 20935376
TI  - Design and development of decentralized water and wastewater technologies: a
      combination of safe wastewater disposal and fertilizer production.
AB  - Modern wastewater treatment plants are often inappropriate for communities in
      developing countries. Such communities lack the funding, resources and skilled
      labour required to implement, operate, and maintain these plants. This research
      was conducted to investigate and establish an appropriate wastewater treatment
      system for the district of Gunung Kidul, Indonesia. Due to its lack of water
      during the dry season, this district is considered one of the poorest areas in
      the nation. First, wastewater was stored in septic tank units for a retention
      time of 26 days. Anaerobic conditions occurred, resulting in an 80% reduction of
      initial COD. The retained sludge was well stabilized with great potential, if
      dewatered, for reuse as fertilizer. Consequently, supernatant was separated for
      experiments consisting of lab scale aerobic sand filtering unit. Through
      filtration, further removals of COD (about 30%) and pathogens were achieved. Rich
      in nitrogen, the resulting effluent could be used for irrigation and soil
      conditioning. With faecal sludge and also a mixture of septic sludge and food
      waste, the hydrolysis stage of anaerobic digestion was examined. This paper
      discusses the laboratory findings in Karlsruhe and the design and implementation
      of a treatment system in Glompong, Indonesia.

PMID- 20935377
TI  - Analysis of variation and relation of climate, hydrology and water quality in the
      lower Mekong River.
AB  - In order to determine the influence of climate and hydrology on water quality of
      the lower Mekong River, the long term monitoring data (from 1985 to 2004) of
      climatic, hydrological and water quality variables were analyzed. In general,
      water quality was 'good' or 'very good' for most of the investigated water
      quality parameters including DO, pH, conductivity, nitrate, phosphate and total
      phosphorus. All climatic and hydrological elements as well as most of the water
      quality parameters varied seasonally. Throughout the 18-year period, only
      evaporation, water level and TSS showed a significant pertinent trend. ARIMA
      models results reveal that among climatic and hydrological paremeters, water
      quality could be effectively predicted from the data of discharge flow and
      precipitation. The results showed good R2 (>= 0.7) estimation between predicted
      and observed values for TSS, alkalinity and conductivity which are the chemically
      and biologically conservative parameters. For other water quality parameters such
      as Ca2 (+ ), Mg2( +), Si, Cl-, NO3-, and SO42-, the predicting results by ARIMA
      model were reliable in shorter period than the above three mentioned variables.

PMID- 20935378
TI  - Effluent carbonaceous biochemical oxygen demand (CBOD) characterization for
      modern pulp and paper facilities.
AB  - As receiving water quality models are being used to address dissolved oxygen
      issues requiring an increased degree of resolution, a more refined
      characterization of effluent CBOD can become an important aspect of the analysis.
      The selection and use of kinetic models to identify effluent specific parameters
      can have a significant impact on this characterization. This study modeled
      effluents from six pulp and paper facilities in order to reassess the kinetic
      models, the data, and experimental design used for a typical effluent
      characterization. The dual first order model fit these effluents with
      significantly less error than the traditional first order model suggesting a
      significant fraction of the CBOD is slowly degradable. Because the dual first
      order model produces a more refined characterization of CBOD kinetics than the
      first order model, it places an increased demand upon the data used to inform the
      parameter estimates. Therefore, analysis of the precision of the parameter
      estimates and methods for improving estimation precision via experimental design
      are also discussed.

PMID- 20935379
TI  - On site flotation for recovering polluted aquatic systems: is it a feasible
      solution for a Brazilian urban river?
AB  - Pinheiros River (Brazil) plays a pivotal role in supplying water to Billings
      Reservoir, which presents multiple uses (human drinking, energy generation,
      irrigation, navigation, fishing and leisure). An intense monitoring program was
      performed during the years 2007 and 2008 to find out whether on site flotation is
      a feasible solution or not for improving the water quality of this urban river,
      attenuating the pollutants load caused by the water pumping to the reservoir
      (approximately 10 m3 s-1). The monitoring of 18 variables (13,429 laboratorial
      analysis during the period of 490 days), suggested that despite the convenience
      of the on site approach for water treatment, especially for rivers located in
      fully urbanized areas, the flotation system is not enough itself to recover
      Pinheiros River water quality, given the several constraints that apply. Total
      phosphorus removal was high in percentage terms (about 90%), although the
      remaining concentrations were not so low (mean of 0.05 mg L-1). The removal
      efficiency of some variables was insufficient, leading to high final mean
      concentrations of metals [e.g. aluminium (0.29 mg L-1), chromium (0.02 mg L-1)
      and iron (1.1 mg L-1)] as well as nitrogen-ammonia (25.8 mg L-1) and total
      suspended solids (18 mg L-1) in the treated water.

PMID- 20935380
TI  - Combining multimedia models with integrated urban water system models for
      micropollutants.
AB  - Integrated urban water system (IUWS) modeling aims at assessing the quality of
      the surface water receiving the urban emissions through sewage treatment plants,
      combined sewer overflows (CSOs) and stormwater drainage systems. However, some
      micropollutants tend to appear in more than one environmental medium (air, water,
      sediment, soil, groundwater, etc.). In this work, a multimedia fate and transport
      model (MFTM) is "wrapped around" a dynamic IUWS model for organic micropollutants
      to enable integrated environmental assessment. The combined model was tested on a
      hypothetical catchment using two scenarios: on the one hand a reference scenario
      with a combined sewerage system and on the other hand a stormwater infiltration
      pond scenario, as an example of a sustainable urban drainage system (SUDS). A
      case for Bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) was simulated and resulted in reduced
      surface water concentrations for the latter scenario. However, the model also
      showed that this was at the expense of increased fluxes to air, groundwater and
      infiltration pond soil. The latter effects are generally not included in IUWS
      models, whereas MTFMs usually do not consider dynamic surface water
      concentrations,; hence the combined model approach provides a better basis for
      integrated environmental assessment of micropollutants' fate in urban
      environments.

PMID- 20935381
TI  - Cost benefit analysis of measures to reduce industrial effluent discharges.
AB  - In an environmentally harmonized society the most cost effective measures to
      reduce the total effluent discharges should be taken into account. Generalised
      discharge values are presented for organic material and nutrients in this paper.
      Depending on conditions in the receiving water any of these parameters can be the
      determining factor for the eutrophication and oxygen demand. These parameters can
      be generalized into equivalent loads of TOC, nitrogen or phosphorus by
      recalculation according to the Redfield ratio. The cost for reduction of organic
      material and nutrients from a pulp and paper mill is calculated as a cost per
      unit pollutant (cost equivalent). This cost equivalent is compared with
      alternative costs, expressed in the same way, for reduction of organic material
      and nutrients in adjacent industries, municipal treatment plants, impact from
      transportation, farming, air deposits etc. In order to find where the most cost
      efficient measures for the society should be taken the cost equivalent for the
      mill is compared with the alternative measures and their equivalent costs.

PMID- 20935382
TI  - A water sustainability index for West Java. Part 1: developing the conceptual
      framework.
AB  - Sustainable water resources management is essential since it ensures the
      integration of social, economical and environmental issues into all stages of
      water resources management. The development and application of water
      sustainability indices to achieve sustainable water management has been
      successfully done in the last few years. Although existing water sustainability
      indices have successfully provided information on current conditions of water
      resources and prioritised water related issues, they have been developed for
      specific case study areas. This study therefore aims at developing a water
      sustainability index for West Java, Indonesia. The overall steps for developing
      the index include developing a conceptual framework, application of Delphi
      technique to finalise the components/indicators of the index, applying the index
      to case studies and robustness analysis of the index. This paper, which is the
      first in a two-part series, discusses the first step, namely developing the
      conceptual framework of the West Java Water Sustainability Index (WJWSI). It
      outlines the criteria for identifying the initial set of components/indicators
      and based on those criteria, a detailed justification for selecting each
      component and indicator is also presented. The second paper of the series
      presents the application of Delphi technique to finalise the framework of WJWSI
      based on feedback from selected stakeholders. The remaining steps of developing
      WJWSI will be undertaken in the future.

PMID- 20935383
TI  - A water sustainability index for West Java - Part 2: refining the conceptual
      framework using Delphi technique.
AB  - In the first paper of this two-part series on the development of a water
      sustainability index for West Java, a conceptual framework of West Java Water
      Sustainability Index (WJWSI) was developed. It consists of three main parts:
      components, indicators/sub-indicators and threshold values. This second paper of
      the series presents the application of the Delphi technique, followed by in-depth
      interviews with selected key experts, to refine the conceptual WJWSI framework.
      The Delphi application includes the design of the questionnaires, the selection
      of respondents, the distribution and collection of the completed questionnaires
      and the analysis of data. After Round One of the Delphi application, the
      respondents reached consensus for all proposed components in the conceptual
      framework. However, some modifications to the components were also suggested by
      few respondents. Regarding the indicators/sub-indicators, consensus for 9 of the
      proposed 12 indicators was reached, and 5 new indicators were suggested. For the
      threshold values, consensus was reached for threshold values of 5 indicators. In
      Round Two of the Delphi application, respondents were asked questions related to
      results from Round One, which include the modification on the components,
      indicators/sub-indicators which have not been agreed, and newly suggested
      indicators/sub-indicators and threshold values. Results of Round Two show that
      modifications on the components were agreed, and consensus was reached for 8 out
      of the proposed 9 indicators/sub-indicators. In terms of its components and
      indicators, the framework was then finalised in the in-depth interview with four
      key experts, selected from different respondent categories. For the threshold
      values not yet finalised, further study will be carried out, as there was not
      much input from the respondents in the Delphi application and the in-depth
      interview.

PMID- 20935384
TI  - Industrial membrane processes in the treatment of process waters and liquors.
AB  - A review on pulp and paper industrial membrane processes using a variety of
      modules and processes is presented. Membranes are mostly used today to purify
      process waters and to recover coating colours. Ultrafiltration using tubular
      membrane modules or cross-rotational (CR) filtration has been widely applied for
      the purification of process waters. The reuse of UF membrane permeate has
      decreased the fresh water consumption to lower than 6 m3/t of paper in some paper
      machines. Some industrial membrane processes also recover valuable products from
      different streams (e.g lignosulphonates). Membranes are also combined with
      biological degradation processes in some paper mills. Nanofiltration has been
      used to purify the effluents discharged from the activated sludge process. At
      least two reverse osmosis plants purify river water to be used as raw water in
      the mill. Furthermore, advantages of different membrane modules and the current
      ways to treat membrane concentrate are discussed.

PMID- 20935385
TI  - Model assisted startup of anaerobic digesters fed with thermally hydrolysed
      activated sludge.
AB  - This paper presents the use of the IWA ADM1 to predict and interpret results from
      two full-scale anaerobic digesters fed with thermal hyrolysate (waste activated
      sludge with a long upstream sludge age) from a Cambi hydrolysis process operating
      at 165 degrees C and 6 bar-g. The first digester was fed conventionally-though
      intermittently, while the second was heavily diluted through a substantial
      component of the evaluation period (110 days). There were a number of important
      outcomes-related to both model application, and model predictions. Input and
      inert COD: mass ratio was very important, and was considerably higher than the
      1.42 g g-1 used for biomass throughout the IWA activated sludge and anaerobic
      digestion models. Input COD: VS ratio was 1.6 g g-1, and inert COD: VS ratio was
      1.7 g g-1. The model succeeded on a number of levels, including effective
      prediction of important outputs (degradability, gas flow and composition, and
      final solids), clarification of the substantial data scatter, prediction of
      recovery times during operationally poor periods, and cross-validation of the
      results between digester 1 and digester 2. Key failures in model performance were
      related to an early incorrect assumption of the COD: VS ratio of 1.42 g g-1, and
      intermittent high acetate levels, most likely caused by inhibition, and rapid
      acclimatisation to ammonia. The acute free ammonia limit was found to be 0.008 M
      NH(3)-N, while the chronic inhibition constant (K(I,NH3,ac)) was 0.007 +/- 0.001
      M NH3-N. Overall, this is a complex system, and application of the model added
      significant confidence to the initial operational decisions during an aggressive
      startup on an atypical feed.

PMID- 20935386
TI  - Preliminary identification of watershed management strategies for the Houjing
      river in Taiwan.
AB  - The Houjing River watershed is one of the three major river watersheds in the
      Kaohsiung City, Taiwan. Based on the recent water quality analysis, the Houjing
      River is heavily polluted. Both point and non-point source (NPS) pollutants are
      the major causes of the poor water quality in the Houjing River. Investigation
      results demonstrate that the main point pollution sources included municipal,
      agricultural, and industrial wastewaters. In this study, land use identification
      in the Houjing River watershed was performed by integrating the skills of
      geographic information system (GIS) and global positioning system (GPS). Results
      show that the major land-use patterns in the upper catchment of the Houjing River
      watershed were farmlands, and land-use patterns in the mid to lower catchment
      were residential and industrial areas. An integrated watershed management model
      (IWMM) and Enhanced Stream Water Quality Model (QUAL2K) were applied for the
      hydrology and water quality modeling, watershed management, and carrying capacity
      calculation. Modeling results show that the calculated NH3-N carrying capacity of
      the Houjing River was only 31 kg/day. Thus, more than 10,518 kg/day of NH3-N
      needs to be reduced to meet the proposed water quality standard (0.3 mg/L). To
      improve the river water quality, the following remedial strategies have been
      developed to minimize the impacts of NPS and point source pollution on the river
      water quality: (1) application of BMPs [e.g. source (fertilizer) reduction,
      construction of grassy buffer zone, and land use management] for NPS pollution
      control; (2) application of river management scenarios (e.g. construction of the
      intercepting and sewer systems) for point source pollution control; (3)
      institutional control (enforcement of the industrial wastewater discharge
      standards), and (4) application of on-site wastewater treatment systems for the
      polishment of treated wastewater for water reuse.

PMID- 20935387
TI  - Effect of ozonation on activated sludge from pulp and paper industry.
AB  - Aerobic biological treatment with activated sludge is the predominant process all
      over the world for treatment of pulp and paper industry wastewater. 50-70% of the
      biodegradable organic material is oxidized to CO2 and the rest is converted to
      bacterial biomass, typically termed as excess sludge or waste activated sludge
      (WAS). Handling and disposal of WAS in general and in particular from the pulp
      and paper industry face different processing difficulties, regulatory stringency
      due to organochlorine contamination and reluctance of people for reuse. With an
      objective of reducing the net disposable biomass, ozonation of WAS from a pulp
      and paper mill and from a laboratory scale batch activated sludge process
      operated with the wastewater and bacterial seed of the same pulp and paper mill
      have been carried out. With the mill sludge having predominant filamentous
      organisms 18% MLSS was reduced at an ozone dosage of 55 mg O3/g dry MLSS solid
      (DS) resulting in 2.5 times COD increase. With the laboratory sludge which is
      well structured and flocculating, only 6% MLSS was reduced at an ozone dosage of
      55 mg O3/g DS. Ozonation mineralizes 26% and 20% AOX compounds embedded in the
      secondary sludge in the mill and laboratory sludge respectively at an ozone
      dosage of 55 mg O3/g DS. During ozonation, absorbed/adsorbed lignin on biomass
      was released which resulted in increased colour concentration. Ozonation can be a
      potential oxidative pretreatment process for reducing the WAS and paving the way
      for cost effective overall treatment of WAS.

PMID- 20935388
TI  - Reducing the effect of cyanobacteria in the microfiltration of secondary
      effluent.
AB  - Cyanobacterial blooms in the lagoons of sewage treatment plants can severely
      impact the performance of membrane plants treating the effluent. This paper
      investigates the impact of Microcystis aeruginosa in a secondary effluent on the
      microfiltration filterability and cleaning of the membrane. Alum coagulation and
      dissolved air flotation (DAF) were investigated to remove the algae and so
      enhance the volume of effluent processed, and their influence on reversible and
      irreversible fouling. Degree of fouling due to the algal components was found to
      be in decreasing order of algal cells, algal organic matter and extracellular
      organic matter. Alum coagulation with 5 mg L-1 as Al3(+) led to a substantial
      increase in permeate volume, an increase in dissolved organic carbon removal, and
      a foulant layer which protected the membrane from internal fouling but which was
      hydraulically removable resulting in full flux recovery. Pre-treatment by DAF or
      1.5 MUm filtration following alum coagulation enhanced the flux rate and permeate
      volume but exposed the membrane to internal irreversible fouling.

PMID- 20935389
TI  - Study on cement mortar and concrete made with sewage sludge ash.
AB  - This study investigated the feasibility of reusing wastewater sludge ash in
      construction materials to replace partial materials. Wastewater sludge sampled
      from thermal power plant was burned into sludge ash at 800 degrees C in the
      laboratory. The sludge incineration ash has low heavy metal including Pb, Cd, Cr
      and Cu, so it belongs to general enterprise waste. The chemical composition of
      sludge incineration ash was summed up in SiO2, CaO, Fe2O3 and MgO. Then the
      wastewater sludge ash is also found to be a porous material with irregular
      surface. When the sludge ash was used to replace mortar or concrete cement, its
      water-adsorption capability will result in the reduction of mortar workability
      and compressive strength. Cement is being substituted for sludge ash, and 10
      percent of sludge ash is more appropriate. Sludge ash is reused to take the place
      of construction materials and satisfies the requests of standard specification
      except for higher water absorption.

PMID- 20935390
TI  - Replacement of fresh water use by final effluent recovery in a highly optimized
      100% recovered paper mill.
AB  - A further closure of the water circuit in paper mills with a relative high
      optimization of their water network is limited by the increase of contamination
      in the water and runnability problems of the paper machine. Therefore, new
      strategies for saving water must be focussed on the treatment of final effluents
      of the paper mill, aiming to obtain high quality water that may replace fresh
      water use in some applications. An appropriate treatment train performed at pilot
      scale, consisting on a previous clarification stage followed by anaerobic and
      aerobic treatments, ultrafiltration, and reverse osmosis, made possible producing
      the highest water quality from the final effluent of the mill. Anaerobic pre
      treatment showed very good performance assisting the aerobic stage on removing
      organics and sulphates, besides it produced enough biogas for being considered as
      cost-effective. Permeate recovery depended on the silica content of the paper
      mill effluent, and it was limited to a 50-60%. The reject of the membranes fully
      met the legislation requirements imposed to effluents arriving to municipal
      wastewater treatment plants.

PMID- 20935391
TI  - New Delhi metallo beta-lactamase: what is in a name?

PMID- 20935392
TI  - Antiscorpion venom scores over other strategies in the treatment of scorpion
      envenomation.

PMID- 20935393
TI  - Solitary demyelinating plaques mimicking brain tumors: a tricky similarity.

PMID- 20935394
TI  - Decontamination of laryngoscope blades: is our practice adequate?
AB  - BACKGROUND: The laryngoscope has been identified as a potential source of cross
      infection, because of blood and bacterial contamination. In India, there are no
      guidelines for cleaning and disinfection of anesthesia-related equipment.
      Practices for decontamination of laryngoscopes vary widely and in most healthcare
      institutes, laryngoscope blades are re-used after cleaning with tap-water.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: We prospectively compared two techniques for
      decontamination of laryngoscope blades - a) washing with tap-water and b) washing
      with tap-water followed by disinfection by immersing in 5% v/v (volume/volume,
      1:20 dilution) aldehyde-free biguanide agent for 10 min. We calculated the cost
      effectiveness of using 5% v/v aldehyde-free biguanide agent for disinfection of
      laryngoscopes. We also conducted a survey to assess the decontamination practices
      in other Indian hospitals. RESULTS: Overall bacterial growth was 58% (29 out of
      50 blades) after tap-water cleaning (of which 60% were pathogenic organisms)
      versus 3.4% (one out of 29 blades) after tap-water cleaning followed by immersion
      in disinfectant (all of which were commensals). The cost of disinfection with
      biguanide was Indian Rupees 1.13 (20 US cents) per laryngoscope. Most hospitals
      in India do not have guidelines regarding laryngoscope decontamination between
      uses, and cleaning with tap water is a commonly used method. CONCLUSION: Cleaning
      of laryngoscope blades with tap-water is a commonly used but inadequate method
      for decontamination. Washing with tap-water followed by disinfection with 5% v/v
      aldehyde-free biguanide for at least 10 min is an effective and inexpensive
      alternative. National guidelines for the decontamination of anesthesia equipment
      are necessary.

PMID- 20935395
TI  - p53, carcinoembryonic antigen and carbohydrate antigen 19.9 expression in gall
      bladder cancer, precursor epithelial lesions and xanthogranulomatous
      cholecystitis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Gallbladder cancer (GBC) is the commonest gastrointestinal cancer in
      women of north India. Precursor epithelial lesions in GBC are known; however, the
      role of xanthogranulomatous (XG) inflammation in the pathogenesis of GBC is
      unknown. AIMS: To analyze the role of precursor lesions in the pathogenesis of
      GBC we studied the immunohistochemical (IHC) expression of p53, carcino-embryonic
      antigen (CEA) and carbohydrate antigen 19.9 (CA-19.9) in GBC, chronic
      cholecystitis (CC), XG cholecystitis (XGC) and precursor lesions. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: The study included 51 GBC, 68 CC, 42 XGC and 10 normal gallbladders. All
      cases were evaluated for presence of precursor lesions and IHC was performed.
      RESULTS: p53 immunoreactivity was found in 55% GBC, 32% of dysplasia with
      malignancy and in 14% of dysplasia with CC. Sixteen percent GBC had associated XG
      inflammation. Normal and metaplastic epithelium in CC and in XGC did not express
      p53. CEA expression was apical in normal and inflammatory GBs (CC, XGC), while
      cytoplasmic focal to diffuse positivity was seen in 82% GBC. CA-19.9 expression
      was seen in all cases of normal and inflammatory GBs; however, foci of antral
      metaplasia were negative. Seventy-five percent of GBC expressed CA-19.9; all
      negative cases were high-grade on histology. CONCLUSIONS: Altered CEA expression
      is seen in GBC as compared to normal and inflammatory gallbladders. Loss of
      expression of CA19.9 in antral metaplasia and poorly differentiated GBC may
      indicate that it is a marker of biliary differentiation. p53 over-expression seen
      in GBC and in dysplasia associated with malignancy and with CC suggests that p53
      mutation and dysplasia are early events in the evolution of GBC. Epithelial
      metaplasia and XG inflammation are often associated with GBC but do not appear to
      play a role in its pathogenesis through the p53 pathway.

PMID- 20935396
TI  - MTHFR A1298C polymorphism and idiopathic male infertility.
AB  - BACKGROUND: DNA methylation is an important epigenetic feature of DNA that plays
      a pivotal role in gene expression regulation during spermatogenesis. The enzyme
      methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) catalyses the formation of folate
      intermediates that are vital for DNA synthesis and methylation reactions. C677T
      and A1298C variants of MTHFR result in reduced plasma folate and increase the
      susceptibility to various multifactorial disorders. We have already shown that
      homozygosity for 677 (C (r)T) mutation in the MTHFR gene, is a risk factor for
      idiopathic male infertility in an Indian population. AIM: Recently, we showed
      that homozygosity for the 677(C;T) mutation in the MTHFR gene is a risk factor
      for idiopathic male infertility and now we aim to assess whether the A1298C
      mutation in the same gene is an additional risk factor for idiopathic male
      infertility in an Indian population. SETTING AND DESIGNS: In a case-control study
      151 idiopathic male infertile patients and 140 healthy fertile control
      individuals were recruited from the University hospital and infertility clinics
      in Varanasi city, India. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Genotyping for A1298C change of
      the MTHFR gene was done by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length
      polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method. Statistical Analysis : Allele frequencies were
      calculated using Fisher's exact test. Odds ratio was calculated as the measure of
      the association between the MTHFR genotype and idiopathic male infertility.
      RESULTS: The homozygous (C/C) A1298C polymorphism of the MTHFR gene was present
      at a statistically high significance in idiopathic azoospermic infertile men
      (OR=3.4494, CI: 1.0092 to 11.7899, P<0.05). CONCLUSION: The MTHFR 1298CC genotype
      is an additional genetic risk factor for idiopathic male infertility in an Indian
      population.

PMID- 20935397
TI  - A randomized, open labeled, comparative study to assess the efficacy and safety
      of controller medications as add on to inhaled corticosteroid and long-acting
      beta2 agonist in the treatment of moderate-to-severe persistent asthma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The goal of asthma therapy is to achieve clinical control and near
      normal lung functions. Many patients with persistent asthma fail to achieve this
      goal with a single controller medication add on to a inhaled corticosteroid. We
      have checked whether another controller medication add on to inhaled
      corticosteroid and long-acting beta2 agonist helps in achieving the asthma goal
      or not. OBJECTIVES: To identify the effect of controller medication add on to
      inhaled corticosteroid and the long-acting beta2 agonist on the clinical symptom,
      lung function, and compliance in patients with asthma. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We
      conducted a randomized, open-labeled, comparative trial in 50 participants with
      moderate-to-severe persistent asthma. The study duration was of 10 weeks. During
      the first two weeks of the run-in period all the participants received a dry
      powder inhaler drug delivery of budesonide (400 mcg/day) and formoterol (12
      mcg/day) combination. At the end of the run-in period the participants were
      randomly allocated into three groups: group A (n = 16) received oral montelukast
      (10 mg/day); group B (n = 17) received oral doxophylline (400 mg/day), and group
      C (n = 17) received inhaled budesonide (400 mcg) as add on to the above-mentioned
      drugs of the run-in period. The primary outcome was improvement in forced
      expiratory volume at 1 second (FEV1 ). RESULTS: All the participants of the three
      groups had significant improvement in FEV1 (P < 0.001) and asthma symptoms at the
      end of 10 weeks. The mean increase in FEV1 (% of predicted) from the baseline, in
      groups A, B, and C was: 24.6; 21.33, and 19.86%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: All
      add on controller medications helped, with a significant improvement of lung
      functions and asthma symptoms.

PMID- 20935398
TI  - Efficacy of anti-scorpion venom serum over prazosin in the management of severe
      scorpion envenomation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Scorpion venoms cause a massive release of neurotransmitters. Either
      anti-scorpion venom serum (AScVS) or prazosin has been used in the management of
      severe scorpion envenomation. AIMS: To compare the time taken for clinical
      recovery by patients with severe scorpion envenomation after AScVS therapy with
      that following prazosin therapy. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: A prospective, open-labeled
      clinical trial was undertaken to compare the effects of the AScVS and/or prazosin
      on clinical recovery in scorpion-stung patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Eighty
      one patients from rural districts of Maharashtra presenting with severe scorpion
      envenomation were assigned to three treatment groups (AScVS: n = 28; prazosin: n
      = 25; AScVS + prazosin: n = 28). Severity of scorpion envenomation was graded
      using a proposed composite clinical scoring system to assess the therapeutic
      efficacy. AScVS was administered as an intravenous slow bolus, ranging from 40 to
      100 ml, depending on the severity of envenomation. Prazosin was given as 1 mg
      every 3 h. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: The non-parametric "Kruskal-Wallis" test
      was used in the statistical analysis and a P-value of 0.05 was considered
      significant. RESULTS: Mean composite scores of patients from the three groups at
      the time of admission were comparable. Complete clinical recovery was noted in
      4.14 +/- 1.6 h and 19.28 +/- 5.03 h in the subjects who were administered AScVS
      and prazosin, respectively (P < 0.001). There was no incidence of anaphylactic
      reaction to AScVS. CONCLUSIONS: Intravenous slow bolus of AScVS given based on
      the clinical severity of envenomation leads to early recovery than prazosin alone
      and is well tolerated.

PMID- 20935399
TI  - Pituitary adenoma and vestibular schwannoma: case report and review of the
      literature.
AB  - The concurrence of the intracranial multiple primary tumors (MPTs) consisting of
      acoustic neuroma (AN) and pituitary adenoma is very rare. Here, we report a 42
      year-old female who presented with left AN associated with pituitary adenoma. A
      total of three such cases have been reported before and which also presented with
      left AN with pituitary adenoma. Recently, a new "field cancerization" model has
      been proposed, which could explain MPTs and is consistent with the pathogenesis
      of such cases. The model also indicates that when a pituitary tumor or AN is
      detected separately, we might consider the development of "expanding field" after
      oncological treatment especially after radiotherapy in order to prevent the
      second field tumor occurring.

PMID- 20935400
TI  - Endoscopic occlusion of idiopathic benign esophago-bronchial fistula.
AB  - We report a 35-year-old male with recurrent respiratory infections and cough
      associated with ingestion of food for 15 years. He was diagnosed to have benign
      esophago-bronchial fistula and proximal jejunal stricture secondary to a tumor,
      which was surgically resected. In view of recent surgery, endoscopic closure of
      the fistula was attempted initially with an endoclip resulting in partial
      symptomatic relief. The fistula was later completely occluded endoscopically with
      cyanoacrylate glue. A barium swallow at eight-months follow-up revealed no
      evidence of esophago-bronchial communication. A high index of suspicion is
      required in the diagnosis of this rare entity in adults with recurrent
      respiratory infections of obscure etiology. Surgical resection is the standard
      treatment. Here we report a rare case of idiopathic benign esophago-bronchial
      fistula in an adult, treated with endoscopic approach.

PMID- 20935401
TI  - Recurrent cholangitis in the tropics: worm or cast?
AB  - The development of biliary casts is very rare, especially in non-liver transplant
      patients. The etiology of these casts is uncertain but several factors have been
      proposed which lead to bile stasis and/or gallbladder hypo-contractility and
      promote cast formation. Here, we report a 54-year-old male, with diabetes and
      ischemic heart disease, who presented with recurrent attacks of cholangitis.
      Magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography revealed linear T1 hyperintense and
      T2 hypointense filling defects in the right and left hepatic ducts extending into
      the common hepatic duct, and a calculus in the lower common bile duct, raising a
      suspicion of worm in the biliary tree. In view of failed attempts at extraction
      on endoscopy, patient underwent surgery. At exploration, biliary casts and stones
      were extracted from the proximal and the second order bile ducts, with the help
      of intraoperative choledochoscopy and a bilio-enteric anastomosis was
      accomplished. Although endoscopic retrieval of the biliary cast can be employed
      as first-line management, surgery should be considered in case it fails.

PMID- 20935402
TI  - Identification of a novel mutation in an Indian patient with CAII deficiency
      syndrome.
AB  - Carbonic anhydrase II (CAII) deficiency syndrome characterized by osteopetrosis
      (OP), renal tubular acidosis (RTA), and cerebral calcifications is caused by
      mutations in the carbonic anhydrase 2 (CA2) gene. Severity of this disorder
      varies depending on the nature of the mutation and its effect on the protein. We
      present here, the clinical and radiographic details along with, results of
      mutational analysis of the CA2 gene in an individual clinically diagnosed with
      renal tubular acidosis, osteopetrosis and mental retardation and his family
      members to establish genotype-phenotype correlation. A novel homozygous deletion
      mutation c.251delT was seen in the patient resulting in a frameshift and a
      premature stop codon at amino acid position 90 generating a truncated protein
      leading to a complete loss of function and a consequential deficiency of the
      enzyme making this a pathogenic mutation. Confirmation of clinical diagnosis by
      molecular methods is essential as the clinical features of the CAII deficiency
      syndrome are similar to other forms of OP but the treatment modalities are
      different. Genetic confirmation of the diagnosis at an early age leads to the
      timely institution of therapy improving the growth potential, reduces other
      complications like fractures, and aids in providing prenatal testing and genetic
      counseling to the parents planning a pregnancy.

PMID- 20935403
TI  - Fatal hemoptysis in a child with ataxia-telangiectasia: zeroing down on the rare
      cause.

PMID- 20935404
TI  - Evaluation of clinical skills for first-year surgical residents using orientation
      programme and objective structured clinical evaluation as a tool of assessment.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Postgraduate specialities require a combination of knowledge and
      clinical skills. The internship year is less structured. Clinical and practical
      skills that are picked up during training are not well regulated and the impact
      is not assessed. In this study, we assessed knowledge and skills using objective
      structured clinical examination (OSCE). AIM: To evaluate the clinical skills of
      new first-year surgical residents using orientation programme and OSCE as a tool
      for assessment. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: Observational study. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      Twenty new first-year surgical residents (10 each in 2008 and 2009) participated
      in a detailed structured orientation programme conducted over a period of 7 days.
      Clinically important topics and skills expected at this level (e.g., suturing,
      wound care etc.) were covered. The programme was preceded by an OSCE to test pre
      programme knowledge (the "pre-test"). The questions were validated by senior
      department staff. A post-programme OSCE (the "post-test") helped to evaluate the
      change in clinical skill level brought about by the orientation programme.
      STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Wilcoxson matched-pairs signed-ranks test. RESULTS: Passing
      performance was achieved by all participants in both pre- and post-tests.
      Following the orientation programme, significant improvement was seen in tasks
      testing the psychomotor and cognitive domains. (P = 0.0001 and P = 0.0401,
      respectively). Overall reliability of the OSCE was found to be 0.7026 (Cronbach's
      coefficient alpha). CONCLUSIONS: This study highlighted the lacunae in current
      internship training, especially for skill-based tasks. There is a need for
      universal inclusion of structured orientation programmes in the training of first
      year residents. OSCE is a reliable, valid and effective method for the assessment
      of clinical skills.

PMID- 20935405
TI  - Hemophagocytosis in scrub typhus.

PMID- 20935406
TI  - Mesenteric panniculitis as a first manifestation of Schonlein-Henoch disease.

PMID- 20935407
TI  - Tardive oculogyric crisis associated with amisulpride monotherapy.
AB  - Oculogyric crisis (OGC) is a dystonic and distressing side- effect which occurs
      immediately after the administration of high-potency antipsychotic drugs and is
      usually reported as a subtype of dystonia. We report a case of a young woman with
      schizophrenia who presented with tardive OGC related to amisulpride.

PMID- 20935408
TI  - Multiple ring-enhancing lesions of the brain.
AB  - Multiple ring-enhancing lesions of the brain are one of the most commonly
      encountered abnormalities on neuroimaging. These can be caused by a variety of
      infectious, neoplastic, inflammatory or vascular diseases. Distinguishing non
      neoplastic causes from neoplastic lesions is extremely important because a
      misdiagnosis can lead to unwarranted neurosurgery and exposure to toxic
      chemotherapy or potentially harmful brain irradiation. Diligent clinical
      evaluation and a battery of tests are required for making a definitive diagnosis.
      Newer advanced diagnostic techniques, such as diffusion-weighted magnetic
      resonance imaging (MRI), perfusion-weighted MRI, magnetic resonance spectroscopy,
      single-photon emission tomography and positron emission tomography may help in
      establishing the etiology. However, early brain biopsy is often needed because
      several of these diseases are potentially life-threatening.

PMID- 20935409
TI  - Preimplantation diagnosis of genetic diseases.
AB  - One of the landmarks in clinical genetics is prenatal diagnosis of genetic
      disorders. The recent advances in the field have made it possible to diagnose the
      genetic conditions in the embryos before implantation in a setting of in vitro
      fertilization. Polymerase chain reaction and fluorescence in situ hybridization
      are the two common techniques employed on a single or two cells obtained via
      embryo biopsy. The couple who seek in vitro fertilization may screen their
      embryos for aneuploidy and the couple at risk for a monogenic disorder but averse
      to abortion of the affected fetuses after prenatal diagnosis, are likely to be
      the best candidates to undergo this procedure. This article reviews the
      technique, indications, benefits, and limitations of pre-implantation genetic
      testing in clinical practice.

PMID- 20935410
TI  - Issues in pharmacotherapy of 2009 H1N1 influenza infection.
AB  - The pandemic caused by the 2009 H1N1 influenza A virus has been a cause of great
      concern for healthcare professionals and the scientific community worldwide. Due
      to the widespread resistance of the virus to adamantanes, pharmacotherapy is
      currently limited to neuraminidase inhibitors, oseltamivir and zanamivir. The use
      of neuraminidase inhibitors in India is primarily associated with issues of
      patient and physician awareness, variability in disease management guidelines,
      safety and efficacy in the Indian population, need for active drug safety
      monitoring, and development of resistance due to possible misuse. In addition,
      other issues like availability of the drugs in retail and stockpiling by the
      public health authorities need careful introspection. The development of
      influenza vaccines in India and its adequate availability to the country's
      populace also poses significant challenges in the management of the pandemic. In
      light of the limited therapeutic options available for the management of the
      disease, research on novel targets and pharmacological agents would also be
      beneficial in addressing the challenges of future outbreaks.

PMID- 20935411
TI  - Selective estrogen receptor modulators promising for cardiac syndrome X.
AB  - Cardiac syndrome X (CSX) is defined as a typical anginal-like chest pain with a
      transient ischemic electrocardiogram, but without abnormal coronary angiography.
      It is usually accepted that endothelial dysfunction, inflammation, oxidative
      stress and estrogen deficiency are the main reasons of CSX. There are some
      methods to treat CSX including statins, b blocker, angiotensin converting enzyme
      inhibitors, nitrates, estrogen, and so on. The estrogen replacement therapy
      (ERT), in particular, has been reported by many researchers to significantly
      reduce the frequency of chest pain after administration of estrogen, which has
      been explained as estrogen acting on its receptor to improve the endothelial
      function. However, it has been suggested that ERT must not be used for coronary
      heart disease due to its adverse effects. However, some selective estrogen
      receptor modulators (SERMs) can inhibit inflammatory response as well as
      oxidative stress, and improve the endothelial function, to reduce the occurrence
      of chest pain. Here, we hypothesize that SERMs may be the beneficial selection
      for patients with CSX.

PMID- 20935412
TI  - Conduct of postgraduate medical entrance examinations: amendments needed.

PMID- 20935413
TI  - Comments on the Meckelostomy procedure.

PMID- 20935414
TI  - Phase 1 clinical trial: growing role of anesthetists in India.

PMID- 20935415
TI  - Reflections on the burnout syndrome and its impact on health care providers.

PMID- 20935416
TI  - Otology practice in Nigeria: The way forward.

PMID- 20935417
TI  - Appendicitis as an immunological disease: Why it is uncommon in Africans.

PMID- 20935418
TI  - Providing safe medicines for children in Nigeria: The impediments and remedies.
AB  - Promoting safety of medicines for children is a global concern which has prompted
      the World Health Organization (WHO) to launch a campaign of "Making Medicines
      Child Size". Children in Nigeria were once victims of unethical clinical medicine
      trials and repeated victims of use of fake and adulterated medicines. Considering
      the magnitude of harms children had suffered in Nigeria from the use of
      medicines, there is a need for literature review to identify the factors
      preventing children from accessing safe medicines and to suggest remedies to the
      problems. Lack of access to up- to- date medicine information, lack of training
      and research in pediatric clinical pharmacology, deficiencies in undergraduate
      and postgraduate teaching of medicine risk management and clinical pharmacology
      and therapeutics, irrational medicine use due to lack of pediatric focus on
      essential medicine list and inappropriate home storage of medicines by parents,
      lack of evidence- based medicine (EBM) practice, lack of national adverse drug
      reaction surveillance among children, and weak national drug policies were the
      major problems identified. It is to be hoped that development and provision of a
      pediatric national drug formulary for health professionals in Nigeria, creating a
      comprehensive national pediatric drug research network in collaborations with
      developed countries, reviewing the undergraduate and postgraduate curriculum in
      pediatrics to include teaching of basic elements of rational prescribing, drug
      dose calculations, adverse drug reactions and pharmacovigilance, increasing
      access to essential medicines for children, postgraduate teaching of EBM, and
      strengthening of the national drug policies would improve children's access to
      safe medicines in Nigeria.

PMID- 20935419
TI  - Appendicitis: Trends in incidence, age, sex, and seasonal variations in South
      Western Nigeria.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Appendicitis is a common clinical condition worldwide. Differences in
      incidences, sex, age, and seasonal variations have been reported widely, with
      paucity of information from Nigeria. AIM: To assess the trends in incidence and
      pattern of variation with age, sex, and seasons of the year. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: A review of the records of all patients with confirmed appendicitis
      treated in both the LAUTECH Teaching Hospital (LTH) and the Abake Medical Center
      (AMC), both situated in Osogbo, Nigeria, between January 2003 and December 2008,
      was done. LTH was a 320-bed University Hospital (with 100 surgical beds), while
      AMC was a 20-bed surgical center. The age, sex, and month of admission of all the
      histologically proven cases of appendicitis were retrieved and treated. Analysis
      was done using simple percentages, Student t or Chi-square tests, where
      applicable. RESULTS: A total of 299 out of 321 cases of appendicitis recorded
      during the observed period were confirmed histologically from both hospitals
      (69.56% from LTH). Fifty-two percent were males. It made up 0.94, 1.43, and 1.86%
      of the total hospital admissions in 2004, 2006, and 2008, respectively. There has
      been an increasing incidence in both sexes almost in a similar pattern. The
      overall mean age was 25.79 years (M 25.94 and F 25.43 years) with 6% below the
      age of ten and 1.3% above 60 years. The highest incidence in males and females
      occurred in the second and third decades, respectively. Incidences were higher
      during the rainy season (April to September) 68%, P < 0.05), with peaks from June
      to August, when 39.5% of all cases presented. CONCLUSION: The increasing
      incidence of appendicitis in both sexes in this region may be due to the change
      to a Western lifestyle. The age distribution has a similar pattern in both sexes
      and 87% are 40 years or less, although the incidence is marginally higher in
      males. Higher prevalence of infections and allergens from pollens in the rainy
      season could contribute to a higher incidence of appendicitis.

PMID- 20935420
TI  - Otology practice in a Nigerian tertiary health institution: A 10-year review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The practice of otology in developing countries has remained
      unsatisfactory. The aim of this study is to describe the practice in a tertiary
      health institution with a view to articulate strategies for improvement.
      MATERIALS AND METHOD: This a retrospective study of patients with otology
      problems, who attended Ear, Nose and Throat clinic of Aminu Kano Teaching
      Hospital, Kano, over a 10-year period (1997-2007). Case notes were retrieved and
      studied. RESULTS: Otologic conditions accounted for 56.3% of the 8070 clinic
      visits. The most frequent condition seen was chronic otitis media (25.4%).
      Sensorineural hearing loss (mostly preventable) accounted for 16%. Other cases
      included wax impaction (7.5%) and foreign body in ear (7.3%). Modern diagnostic
      and operative equipment were lacking. Operative surgery was offered to 4% of
      cases of chronic suppurative otitis media and 72% of patients needing hearing aid
      could not afford one. There was no middle ear reconstructive or inner ear
      operation in the 10-year period. CONCLUSION: A significant number of patients are
      in need of otology services. These services are inadequate presently. Concerted
      effort should be geared toward strengthening preventive ear health, training and
      re-training, procurement of relevant diagnostic and operative equipment.

PMID- 20935421
TI  - Proximate predictors of early antenatal registration among Nigerian pregnant
      women.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Provision of antenatal care (ANC) is included in the pillars of
      maternal health care promoted as effective answers to maternal mortality. Early
      antenatal registration has been linked with optimal utilization and appreciable
      reduction of perinatal morbidity and mortality. This study aimed to determine the
      profile and possible predictors of pregnant women who presented early for
      antenatal registration. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 796
      women presented for antenatal registration at a tertiary hospital. Information
      was obtained by a self-administered open- and closed-ended questionnaire and
      analyzed with Statistical Package of Social Science (SPSS) 12.0 software.
      RESULTS: The mean gestational age at booking was 20 weeks. Univariate analysis
      showed that first trimester booking was significantly with more educated women,
      professionals, women of lower parity and those who have had previous stillbirths
      (P < 0.05). Low parity (OR 1.76, 95% CI 2.79-1.11) and previous stillbirth (OR
      2.97, 95% CI 1.61-5.51) were significant predictors of early booking on
      multivariate analysis. CONCLUSION: Long-term advocacy and investment in female
      education will contribute significantly to primary prevention of late or non
      attendance of ANC. Pre-conception clinics and community awareness campaigns would
      be necessary tools to reach these women and encourage them to register early when
      pregnant.

PMID- 20935422
TI  - Burnout syndrome among multinational nurses working in Saudi Arabia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Nursing Staff is reported to be under extreme state of stress,
      leading to burnout syndrome (BS). Most of the studies have been conducted among
      the nurses working in their home countries. This study was conducted to assess
      the prevalence of BS among a multinational nursing workforce in Saudi Arabia.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: King Fahd University Hospital, AlKhobar, Saudi Arabia, is
      a tertiary care hospital employing 510 nurses of multinational workforce. Two
      hundred and fifty Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) individual-based questionnaires
      were distributed after modification to include the age, sex, marital status,
      nationality, unit working and number of years on the job. The data were entered
      in the database and analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences
      (SPSS), version 14.0. A P value of <0.05 was considered statistically
      significant. RESULTS: One hundred and ninety-eight nurses (77.2%) completed the
      questionnaire. Their average age was 34.46 +/- 5.36 years. Forty-five percent
      (89) had high emotional exhaustion (EE) and 28.9% (57) had moderate suffering
      with EE. Staffs who were on the job for longer duration had a lesser frequency of
      EE (P <= 0.001). The frequency of depersonalization (DP) was 83 (42%) and was
      graded as high and 61 (30.8%) were moderately affected. Personal accomplishment
      (PA) was moderate to low in the majority of the nurses (71.5%). Married nurses
      were prone to EE (28.17 +/- 12.1 versus 22.3 +/- 9.6) than unmarried nurses (P =
      0.003, CI 95% and OR 2.4). The nurses in the patients' wards and clinics were
      more emotionally exhausted with higher DP compared to nurses in the high stress
      and high activity areas (P < 0.001, OR -11.1; and P < 0.001, CI 95% and OR 9.65).
      Non-Saudi nurses were significantly more prone to EE (27.3 +/- 12.1 versus 21.6
      +/- 2.9) than Saudi nurses (P = 0.004; 95% CI: <9.64). CONCLUSION: We found that
      majority of the nursing staff at our hospital were in a state of burnout with
      high frequency of EE and DP. Only a quarter of the surveyed staff felt that they
      had some level of PA. Age and working away from their home countries were the
      important predictors in the development of BS in nurses. We believe that working
      conditions have to be improved to develop strategies to cope and alleviate
      stressful situations.

PMID- 20935423
TI  - Swab and aspiration specimen collection methods and antibiogram in chronic
      suppurative otitis media at Jos University Teaching Hospital: Which is superior?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chronic suppurative otitis media is a very common otologic problem in
      our environment. Appropriate methods for obtaining sample specimens for specific
      bacteria isolation has generated a lot of controversy. The simplest method
      available in our environment is the traditional swab method which, however, has
      been condemned on the basis of introducing contaminants. The objectives of this
      study were to compare the bacterial yield and the antibiogram of two specimen
      collection methods: the traditional swab method and aspiration method. METHOD:
      This was a 3-month prospective study involving outpatients seen at both the
      emergency and outpatients' clinics of the Jos University Teaching Hospital in the
      period between May 2008 and July 2008. The biodata, duration of discharge and
      sites of samples were recorded in the study data form after obtaining consent
      from the patients or the parents of child. RESULTS: Eighty patients were studied
      comprising 40 each for aspiration and swab technique. This consists of 30 males
      (37.5%) and 50 females (62.5%) with a male to female ratio of 1:1.7. There were
      24 (30%) children (14 males, 10 females). Six (4 males, 2 females) and 74 (26
      males, 48 females) patients had bilateral and unilateral ear discharges,
      respectively. A total of 86 specimens were obtained in all, consisting of 42 left
      and 44 right ears. There were 68 bacteria isolates comprising Pseudomonas (30),
      Staphylococcus (18), Proteus (12), and (8) Klebsiella species. Two were
      incidental fungal isolates of (Candida species), (8) cultures grew contaminants
      and (10) specimens had no growth at all. Each of the swab and aspiration
      techniques had (44) specimens. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the controversy surrounding
      the sampling technique in literature, swab technique has been found to be as good
      as the aspiration technique in our study. The organisms isolated are the same as
      those obtained in other places. Contaminants found were few and occurred in equal
      amount in the same patients in the two methods.

PMID- 20935424
TI  - Serum levels of antioxidant vitamins and mineral elements of human
      immunodeficiency virus positive subjects in Sokoto, Nigeria.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Undernourishment and micronutrient deficiencies exacerbate
      immunosuppression, oxidative stress, acceleration of human immunodeficiency virus
      (HIV) replication and CD4 T-cell depletion in HIV-infected individuals. MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: The current work reports the serum levels of antioxidant vitamins
      (vitamins A, C and E) and minerals (Zn, Fe, Cu) in 90 HIV positive subjects
      attending the Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital (UDUTH), Sokoto,
      Nigeria. The serum levels of the micronutrients were correlated with the CD4
      count of the subjects. RESULTS: The results showed that the HIV positive subjects
      have significantly lower (P < 0.05) levels of vitamins A, C and E. Also, serum
      Zn, Fe, Cu and CD4 count were also significantly (P < 0.05) lower compared with
      the HIV negative subjects. Micronutrient deficiencies were more pronounced in HIV
      positive subjects with CD4 counts less than 200 cell/MUl. The results based on
      age and sex showed no significant (P > 0.05) difference. Vitamins A, E and C and
      Zn and Fe showed positive correlation with CD4 count of the HIV positive
      subjects. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that the HIV subjects in the study area
      have lowered serum levels of antioxidant micronutrients and that the levels
      decrease with increase in the severity of the infection. These may increase the
      chances of the symptomatic and asymptomatic subjects progressing into full-blown
      Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome.

PMID- 20935425
TI  - Experience with the use of community health extension workers in primary care, in
      a private rural health care institution in South-South Nigeria.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The difficulty in recruiting and retaining doctors in rural areas has
      encouraged the use of substitute health workers in the provision of primary care
      for undiagnosed patients with undifferentiated health problems. This study was
      performed to report the experience of the use of Community Health Extension
      Workers (CHEWs) in the provision of primary care in a private rural health care
      facility in a community in Nigeria. METHODS: The study was carried out over a 6
      month period in a private health facility in a semiurban community. The CHEWs
      were recruited through the recommendation of their schools and were retrained and
      deployed incognito, but with a clear job description. Their performances were
      monitored using the level of patient satisfaction, the type of cases seen, the
      number of telephone consultations made with the doctors of the NGO, the length of
      prescriptions and the number of adverse events that followed the consultations.
      RESULTS: A total of 1,028 patients were seen in the health facility during the 6
      month study period, of which 294 (28.6%) telephone consultations were made with
      the doctors of the NGO, 215 (20.9%) of the patients were admitted in the
      hospital, while 81 (7.9%) were referred to other health facilities. Most of the
      cases were malaria (54.2%), typhoid (6.9%) and minor injuries (12%). The average
      length of the prescriptions given to the patients per encounter was 6.3, and most
      of the patients (86.5%) were satisfied with the quality of care provided by the
      CHEW. A total of 7.6% of the patients seen by the CHEWs were readmitted as
      emergencies, mainly with severe anemia (47.4%) and the deterioration of
      previously treated ailment (24.4%). CONCLUSIONS: CHEWs, working under the direct
      supervision of doctors can provide safe and good quality care, to the
      satisfaction of most of their patients, when required to provide primary care. It
      cannot however be assumed that similar results would be obtained if the health
      workers are used in different settings or with more complicated patients.

PMID- 20935426
TI  - Female sterilization by tubal ligation at caesarean section in Makurdi, Nigeria.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Female sterilization is an important tool in reducing unplanned
      pregnancy and maternal mortality in our environment. The aim of this study was to
      determine the incidence, sociodemographic characteristics, technique,
      effectiveness and complications associated with female sterilization by bilateral
      tubal ligation at caesarean section. METHOD: This was a retrospective analysis of
      the clinical records of 78 clients who had female sterilization out of 1,346
      acceptors of contraceptive methods at the Federal Medical Centre, Makurdi, over a
      5-year period between November 2002 and October 2007. RESULTS: Of the 1,346
      acceptors of family planning methods, 78 clients had bilateral tubal ligation.
      The majority of the clients (37 [47.4%]) had sterilization at caesarean section,
      representing 2.7% of all acceptors of family planning methods. The mean age and
      parity of the clients were 34.3 years and 5.5, respectively. The majority of the
      clients (36 [97.3%]) had sterilization using the modified Pomeroy's technique.
      Contraceptive effectiveness was 100%. No complication specific to tubal ligation
      was noticed. CONCLUSION: Majority of female sterilization were performed at
      caesarean section. The procedure was found to be safe and effective.

PMID- 20935427
TI  - Mediastinal bronchogenic cyst with back pain.
AB  - We report a case of a mediastinal bronchogenic cyst with back pain. The rarity of
      this lesion and even the more uncommon association of this lesion with symptoms
      of back pain prompted the report of this case.

PMID- 20935428
TI  - The relationship between admission hemoglobin level and left ventricular systolic
      functions in patients with first ST-segment elevated myocardial infarction.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The goal of this study was to evaluate the relationship between
      admission hemoglobin levels and left ventricular systolic functions in patients
      admitted with first ST-segment elevated myocardial infarction (STEMI). STUDY
      DESIGN: The study was conducted prospectively in three centers in 483 consecutive
      patients (402 men, 81 women; mean age 56.5 +/- 11.2 years; range 24 to 74 years)
      with first STEMI. All patients were evaluated by echocardiography after a mean of
      2.4 days of admission. Evaluation of left ventricular systolic functions included
      measurements of ejection fraction (EF), wall motion score index (WMSI), and
      tissue Doppler S wave velocities at four different localizations (anterior,
      inferior, lateral, posterior septum). Hemoglobin levels were measured within one
      hour of admission. Anemia was defined according to the World Health Organization
      criteria (hemoglobin < 13.0 g/dl in men and < 12.0 g/dl in women).
      Echocardiographic characteristics of the patients with and without anemia were
      compared. RESULTS: Anemia was detected in 67 patients (13.9%). There were no
      significant differences between patients with and without anemia with respect to
      left ventricular end-systolic and end-diastolic diameters, wall thickness, WMSI,
      and EF. The mean EF in the anemic group (47.5%) was lower than that of the
      patients without anemia (48.5%), but this difference was not significant. All Sm
      velocities were lower in the anemic group, but only septal mitral annular Sm
      velocity reached statistical significance (p = 0.048). There was no correlation
      between hemoglobin levels and EF (r = 0.027, p = 0.55). CONCLUSION: Our findings
      suggest that mild to moderate anemia has no deleterious effect on systolic
      function in patients with first STEMI.

PMID- 20935429
TI  - Platelet function analysis with two different doses of aspirin.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: We aimed to compare the level of platelet inhibition using the
      platelet function analyzer (PFA)-100 in patients receiving low and medium doses
      of aspirin. STUDY DESIGN: On a prospective basis, 159 cardiology outpatients (83
      men, 76 women; mean age 60.9 +/- 9.9 years) taking 100 mg/day or 300 mg/day
      aspirin at least for the previous 15 days were included. Of these, 79 patients
      (50%) were on 100 mg and 80 patients (50.3%) were on 300 mg aspirin treatment.
      Blood samples were collected between 09:30 and 11:00 hours in the morning.
      Platelet reactivity was measured with the PFA-100 system. Incomplete platelet
      inhibition was defined as a normal collagen/epinephrine closure time (< 165 sec)
      despite aspirin treatment. RESULTS: Baseline clinical and laboratory
      characteristics of the patient groups taking 100 mg or 300 mg aspirin were
      similar. The overall prevalence of incomplete platelet inhibition was 22% (35
      patients). The prevalence of incomplete platelet inhibition was significantly
      higher in patients treated with 100 mg of aspirin (n = 24/79, 30.4%) compared
      with those treated with 300 mg of aspirin (n = 11/80, 13.8%) (p = 0.013). In
      univariate analysis, female sex (p = 0.002) and aspirin dose (p = 0.013) were
      significantly correlated with incomplete platelet inhibition. In multivariate
      analysis, female sex (OR: 0.99; 95% CI 0.9913-0.9994; p = 0.025) and aspirin dose
      (OR: 3.38; 95% CI 1.4774-7.7469; p = 0.003) were found as independent factors
      predictive of incomplete platelet inhibition. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest
      that treatment with higher doses of aspirin can reduce incomplete platelet
      inhibition especially in female patients.

PMID- 20935430
TI  - Beneficial effects of nebivolol treatment on oxidative stress parameters in
      patients with slow coronary flow.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Imbalance between oxidative stress and antioxidant defense has been
      demonstrated in patients with slow coronary flow (SCF). The aim of this study was
      to investigate the effect of nebivolol treatment on oxidative stress parameters
      in SCF patients. STUDY DESIGN: The study included 32 patients (10 females, 22
      males; mean age 53.3 +/- 5.2 years) with SCF and 32 control subjects (14 females,
      18 males; mean age 50.6 +/- 5.2 years) with normal coronary arteries on
      angiography. Coronary slow flow was determined by the TIMI frame count method.
      Patients with SCF received nebivolol treatment (5 mg/day) for six months. Blood
      samples were analyzed for malondialdehyde (MDA) and serum nitric oxide (NO)
      levels, and erythrocyte catalase (CAT) and erythrocyte superoxide dismutase (SOD)
      activities in the control group and, in SCF patients, at baseline and after six
      months of nebivolol treatment. RESULTS: The two groups were similar with respect
      to age, body mass index, blood pressure, heart rate, and lipid profile. Smoking
      was more frequent in the SCF group compared to the controls. TIMI frame counts
      measured from the left anterior descending, circumflex, and right coronary
      arteries were significantly higher in the SCF group (p < 0.0001). Baseline MDA
      and NO levels, and SOD and CAT activities were significantly different between
      the two groups, with significantly increased MDA (p < 0.0001), and significantly
      decreased SOD (p < 0.0001), CAT (p < 0.001), and NO (p < 0.001) in the SCF group.
      After six months of nebivolol treatment, all oxidative stress parameters showed
      significant improvements compared to the baseline values (p < 0.0001 for MDA,
      SOD, CAT, and NO) and approximated to the values of the control group.
      CONCLUSION: Our results show that nebivolol treatment may be beneficial to
      improve oxidative stress parameters in patients with SCF, which are considered to
      be an early stage of atherosclerosis.

PMID- 20935431
TI  - [Primary percutaneous coronary intervention in patients admitted with cardiogenic
      shock and ST-elevation myocardial infarction: prognosis and predictors of in
      hospital mortality].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: We investigated the efficacy and outcome of primary percutaneous
      coronary intervention (PCI) in patients admitted with cardiogenic shock and ST
      elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). STUDY DESIGN: We reviewed 91 consecutive
      patients (66 males, 25 females; mean age 61 +/- 11 years) treated with primary
      PCI for cardiogenic shock due to STEMI. All clinical, angiographic data, and in
      hospital and long-term outcomes were collected. The patients were classified into
      two groups depending on the presence (n = 59, 64.8%) or absence (n= 32, 35.2%) of
      in-hospital mortality. RESULTS: Hospital nonsurvivors were older (mean age 62.7
      +/- 11.1 vs. 57.7 +/- 11.4 years; p = 0.04) and exhibited higher frequencies of
      diabetes mellitus (DM), renal failure, and history of myocardial infarction.
      Multi-vessel disease (p = 0.004) and circumflex artery involvement (p = 0.03)
      were more frequent and the rates of tirofiban administration (p = 0.02) and
      stenting (p = 0.007) were lower in nonsurvivors. Procedural success rate was
      substantially lower in nonsurvivors (39% vs. 84.4%; p < 0.001). Of 32 survivors,
      cardiovascular mortality occurred in only three patients (9.4%) during a median
      follow-up of 26 months. In multivariate regression analysis, unsuccessful
      procedure (OR 7.2, 95% CI 1.77-29.27; p = 0.006) and DM (OR 3.92, 95% CI 1.13
      13.62; p = 0.03) were the independent predictors of in-hospital mortality.
      CONCLUSION: Mortality rate is considerably higher and successful procedure yields
      a two-fold decrease in in-hospital mortality in patients with cardiogenic shock
      complicated by STEMI. Unsuccessful procedure and DM represent as two independent
      predictors of in-hospital mortality.

PMID- 20935432
TI  - [Transcatheter aortic valve implantation: the first applications and early
      results in Turkey].
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to evaluate the first applications
      and results of transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) in Turkey, which is
      a new technology for the treatment of aortic valve stenosis. STUDY DESIGN: We
      performed TAVI in eight severely symptomatic patients (5 women, 3 men; mean age
      81.6 +/- 6.7 years; range 71 to 95 years) between May 1 and December 31, 2009.
      All the patients had severe aortic stenosis (mean valve area 0.6 cm2, systolic
      peak/mean gradients 80.5 +/- 22.1/50.0 +/- 16.1 mmHg). Two patients had severe
      coronary artery disease that required intervention during TAVI. All the patients
      presented a high surgical risk (EuroSCORE 31.1 +/- 9.8 and STS score 12.8 +/-
      7.9). The Edwards Sapien bioprosthetic valve was implanted through the
      transfemoral approach in seven patients, and transapical approach in one patient.
      RESULTS: All prosthetic valves were of appropriate size, were implanted in
      appropriate locations, and functioned perfectly. Two patients with severe
      coronary stenosis underwent successful simultaneous percutaneous coronary
      intervention before TAVI. Following TAVI, the mean aortic valve area increased to
      1.5 +/- 0.1 cm2 (p < 0.01), and systolic/mean gradients decreased to 27.6 +/-
      9.6/14.6 +/- 5.8 mmHg (p < 0.01). One patient underwent permanent pacemaker
      implantation due to persistent atrioventricular block, and two patients had
      transient atrioventricular block. Two patients died; one on the first day
      following transapical implantation, and the other after six months of
      implantation. The mean NYHA functional class decreased from preoperative 3.8 +/-
      0.3, to 1.1 +/- 0.3 after a mean follow-up of 3.5 +/- 2.5 months (range 1 to 8
      months) (p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Early results of TAVI are successful in patients
      with inoperable aortic valve stenosis due to high surgical risk. The results of
      randomized studies with longer follow-up will clarify widespread use of this
      technique.

PMID- 20935433
TI  - [Editorial Comment: going behind the ordinary: transcatheter aortic valve
      implantation].

PMID- 20935434
TI  - Baroreflex failure syndrome: a rare complication of bilateral carotid body tumor
      excision.
AB  - Baroreflex failure syndrome is a rare disorder seen after bilateral carotid body
      tumor resection. Iatrogenic injuries to the baroreceptor reflex arc cause
      fluctuations in blood pressure with hypertensive attacks or hypotensive episodes.
      A 43-year-old woman underwent bilateral carotid body tumor resection with one
      week interval for a hypervascular tumor, 78 x 50 x 45 mm in size, at the right
      carotid artery bifurcation and a smaller tumor (50 x 30 x 20 mm) in the
      contralateral neck. Blood pressure of the patient became significantly unstable
      after excision of the second tumor, with hypertensive attacks up to 220/140 mmHg,
      accompanied by episodes of severe frontal headache, nausea, vomiting, skin
      flushing, and synchronous sinus tachycardia of 130 beats/min. Intermittent
      episodes of hypotension and bradycardia were also noted. The patient was
      clinically diagnosed as having baroreflex failure syndrome. The symptoms of the
      patient improved with medical therapy including clonidine, low dose beta-blocker,
      metoprolol, and a sedative. During 10 months of follow-up, she was generally well
      with residual episodes of hypertension about twice a month. In patients with
      bilateral carotid body tumors, unilateral excision of the greater tumor and a
      conservative approach for the contralateral tumor seem to be a more convenient
      approach to prevent baroreflex failure.

PMID- 20935435
TI  - [Fatty infiltration surrounding the whole heart, infiltrating into the
      myocardium, and causing pulmonary stenosis].
AB  - A 33-year-old male patient presented with complaints of atypical chest pain and
      exertional dyspnea of two-month history. Examinations to uncover these symptoms
      (physical examination, blood tests, electrocardiography, transthoracic
      echocardiography, coronary angiography, right heart catheterization) showed no
      abnormality, except for echocardiographic appearance of hypoechogenic areas
      suggesting widespread pericardial effusion involving the anterior and posterior
      cardiac walls and mild pulmonary stenosis. Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging
      (MRI) performed for further evaluation of the pulmonary gradient revealed fatty
      infiltration surrounding the whole heart, infiltration into the myocardium, and
      causing indentation of the proximal pulmonary artery. Since no pathologic
      condition associated with this radiologic appearance could be found, lipomatous
      infiltration was thought based on these cardiac MRI findings.

PMID- 20935436
TI  - Acute myocardial infarction and renal infarction in a bodybuilder using anabolic
      steroids.
AB  - A 41-year-old male bodybuilder was admitted with acute inferior myocardial
      infarction. The patient had been using oxymetholone and methenolone to increase
      his performance for 15 years and quitted smoking three years before. He underwent
      successful primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and bare metal
      stenting for total occlusion of the proximal right coronary artery. Angiography
      also showed a critical lesion in the left anterior descending (LAD) coronary
      artery. Five hours after primary PCI, the patient had severe right flank pain.
      Abdominal computed tomography showed a large renal infarction in the right
      kidney. Subcutaneous enoxaparin was added to dual antiplatelet treatment. Doppler
      renal ultrasound performed on the eighth day showed findings of reperfusion in
      the right kidney and normal-size kidneys. Transthoracic echocardiography
      demonstrated disappearance of previously detected thrombus remnant in the left
      ventricle and only mild hypokinesia around the apical and middle segments of the
      inferior and inferoseptal walls. The patient was discharged on the 10th day.
      Renal arteriography during elective LAD intervention 18 days after discharge
      showed complete revascularization, stent patency, and improved blood flow. This
      is the first case of renal infarction that developed in the early hours of
      primary PCI, despite effective anticoagulant and antiplatelet treatment.
      Intensive coronary artery and left ventricular thrombi may be explained by the
      use of anabolic steroids.

PMID- 20935437
TI  - A rare complication of radiofrequency catheter ablation of left atrial
      tachycardia: atrial septal dissection and left atrial hematoma formation.
AB  - A 52-year-old man with left atrial tachycardia underwent radiofrequency catheter
      ablation. A steerable 4-mm-tip ablation catheter was advanced into the left
      atrium through a patent foramen ovale without transseptal puncture. However, the
      tip of the catheter was stuck in a structure. A pull-back maneuver rendered the
      catheter free and the procedure was cancelled. Transthoracic and transesophageal
      echocardiograms obtained immediately after the procedure showed intimal layer
      dissection in the interatrial septum and intramural hematoma formation throughout
      the anterior left atrial wall. The patient was in stable condition. Therefore, he
      was followed-up conservatively with serial echocardiographic examinations. The
      dissected intimal layer disappeared in 10 days and the hematoma underwent near
      complete resolution in three months. This case highlights a rare complication of
      catheter ablation procedure that all interventionists should be familiar with.

PMID- 20935438
TI  - Very late bare metal stent thrombosis: The role of restenosis.
AB  - Stent endothelization is complete after one month in the absence of radiation
      therapy. The incidence of late stent thrombosis associated with bare metal stents
      is low beyond this one month period. In this paper, we report on a case of very
      late acute stent thrombosis that occurred after 118 months of first bare metal
      stent implantation. A 55-year-old male patient was admitted with chest pain and
      was diagnosed to have acute anterior myocardial infarction. He had a history of
      bare metal stent implantation for a critical stenosis in the left anterior
      descending coronary artery. Immediate coronary angiography demonstrated occlusion
      of the stent in the left coronary artery. Thromboaspiration was not an available
      option, so a new bare metal stent was implanted and TIMI III flow was established
      after balloon angioplasty.

PMID- 20935439
TI  - Successful use of ivabradine in a case of exaggerated autonomic dysfunction.
AB  - We present a 30-year-old male with complex and predominantly cardiovascular
      autonomic dysfunction. He had frequent syncopal attacks and paroxysmal atrial
      fibrillation (PAF). Physical, electrocardiographic, and echocardiographic
      findings were unremarkable. Syncopal attacks were precipitated by emotional
      stress, upright position, and micturition. Electrocardiograms obtained
      immediately after syncopal events revealed PAF with a low ventricular rate, which
      spontaneously returned to sinus rhythm without any medication. Syncopal events
      were suggestive of postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), were induced
      during upright position, and were associated with a sudden increase in heart rate
      to approximately 140 beats per minute and a sudden drop in blood pressure.
      Syncope was also induced during carotid sinus massage (CSM) in the upright
      position. It was thought that cardiac autonomic dysfunction, with POTS as the
      main component, was responsible for this clinical condition. Syncopal episodes
      increased in frequency during treatment with metoprolol. Treatment with
      ivabradine (5 mg twice a day) resulted in disappearance of syncopal episodes both
      during upright position and CSM. During six months of follow-up, the patient
      remained asymptomatic without syncope or atrial fibrillation.

PMID- 20935440
TI  - [Percutaneous treatment of aortic stenosis].
AB  - Aortic stenosis has emerged as a global pandemic with the ageing population and
      has become the third leading cause of structural heart disease after hypertension
      and coronary artery disease in industrialized countries. Older age and presence
      of serious comorbid conditions make surgery prohibitively risky in a large group
      of patients. The long-term results of balloon aortic valvuloplasty have been
      unsatisfactory, limiting the use of this procedure to only palliation or as a
      bridge to surgery. Percutaneous aortic prosthetic valve implantation has emerged
      as a new treatment modality for patients who are not eligible for surgery. After
      the first successful human application in 2002, transcatheter aortic valve
      implantation has undergone dramatic technologic improvements, yielding highly
      promising results. This review presents an outline on the ongoing evolution of
      transcatheter aortic valve implantation in an attempt to provide insight into its
      future use in the clinical management of severe aortic stenosis.

PMID- 20935441
TI  - Case images: giant coronary aneurysm accompanied by a coronary artery fistula.

PMID- 20935442
TI  - [Case images: pulmonary artery dissection due to idiopathic pulmonary artery
      aneurysm: computed tomography findings].

PMID- 20935443
TI  - [Case images: a cystic mass in the interventricular septum: echocardiography and
      magnetic resonance imaging findings].

PMID- 20935444
TI  - [Case images: quadricuspid aortic valve].

PMID- 20935445
TI  - [Case images: a rare complication of coronary artery bypass surgery: saccular
      aneurysm of the ascending aorta].

PMID- 20935446
TI  - Doxorubicin translocation B7-H1 from the cell surface to the nucleus of breast
      cancer cells: a novel role for B7-H1 as an anti-apoptotic molecule.

PMID- 20935447
TI  - Clinical value of right hemicolectomy for appendiceal carcinoids using pathologic
      criteria.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Appendiceal carcinoids (AC) are usually adequately treated by
      appendectomy. The European Neuroendocrine Tumours Society (ENETS) has recently
      reconsidered the previous pathologic criteria to identify patients at high risk
      of extra-appendiceal disease, who are thought to require right hemicolectomy
      (RHC). AIM: The aim of this retrospective, observational study was to evaluate
      previous and currently introduced criteria, in identifying patients with AC in
      whom RHC is justified. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Twelve patients who underwent RHC
      for AC were retrospectively identified. Demographic and follow-up data were
      collected and appendectomy specimens were reviewed for the presence of
      indications leading to RHC defined as: tumor diameter >=2 cm, tumor location at
      the base, mesoappendiceal extension, mitotic index Ki-67>=2%. RHC specimens were
      examined to identify evidence of extra-appendiceal disease, remaining and/or
      metastatic disease. RESULTS: Four patients fulfilled two criteria and 8 one
      criterion for RHC. Two patients had tumors >=2.0 cm, 5 located at the base, 8
      invading the mesoappendix and periappendiceal fat; Ki-67 PI was 1% in all cases
      measured except one, in which it was 3%. Post-RHC, 3 patients (25%) had extra
      appendiceal disease (no residual disease was identified in surgical margins); 1
      had tumor at the colon specimen and 2 had lymph node metastasis. All 3 patients
      fulfilled only one pathologic criterion; 1 had tumor mesoappendiceal extension
      and 2 tumor location at the base of the appendix. CONCLUSIONS: Applying previous
      and currently introduced pathologic criteria, 25% of high-risk patients with AC
      had identifiable extra-appendiceal disease following RHC that might be not
      detected following the recently introduced ENETS criteria.

PMID- 20935448
TI  - Association of osteopontin and tumor necrosis factor-alpha levels with insulin
      resistance in obese patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aims of this study were to compare the tumor necrosis factor (TNF)
      alpha and osteopontin levels, to identify the relationship between insulin
      resistance (IR) and osteopontin levels in obese patients with and without
      obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS). METHOD: The study population included 62
      obese patients (35 males, 27 females) with OSAS and was compared with 26 obese
      patients (16 males, 10 females) without OSAS as a control group. Polysomnographic
      evaluation, spirometric tests and arterial blood gas sampling were performed on
      the obese patients with OSAS. Plasma levels of TNF-alpha and osteopontin were
      measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays during the process. IR was
      estimated using the homeostasis model assessment (HOMA). RESULTS: Mean plasma
      levels of fasting glucose, insulin, HOMA, liver function test, hematocrit,
      leukocyte, TSH, free T4, fibrinogen, TNF-alpha, and osteopontin were similar in
      the 2 groups. In patients with OSAS, mean osteopontin levels were positively
      correlated with mean fasting insulin levels (r=0.306, p=0.01), HOMA (r=0.299,
      p=0.01), apnea-hypopnea index (r=0.377, p=0.03) and Epworth Sleepiness Scale
      (r=0.299, p=0.01). However, mean TNF-alpha levels were negatively correlated with
      Epworth Sleepiness Scale (r=-0.298, p=0.01) in the patients with OSAS.
      CONCLUSIONS: It was observed that TNF-alpha and osteopontin levels showed no
      difference between obese patients with and without OSAS. However, osteopontin
      levels increased with fasting insulin, IR, OSAS severity, and daytime sleepiness.

PMID- 20935449
TI  - The correlation between the oral glucose tolerance test 30-minutes plasma glucose
      and risk factors for diabetes and cardiovascular diseases: a cross-sectional
      epidemiological study of diabetes in Fujian Province in the South-East of China.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the correlation between abnormal oral glucose tolerance
      test (OGTT) 30-min plasma glucose (PG) and risk factors and metabolic
      abnormalities of diabetes and cardiovascular diseases (CVD). METHODS:
      Participants (no.=2457) underwent a physical examination, blood biochemistry
      examination, OGTT, and a 12-lead electrocardiogram. We measured fasting PG (FPG)
      and PG at 30 min (30minPG) and 1 h (1hPG) of the OGTT. The association between an
      increase in 30minPG (by 1 SD) and the metabolic abnormalities of diabetes and CVD
      such as hypertension, overweight and obesity, central obesity, and
      hyperlipidemia; osteoporosis was assessed by logistic regression analysis after
      controlling for FPG and 2hPG. RESULTS: This analysis showed that an increase of
      30minPG by 1 SD (1.92 mmol/l) significantly increased the risk of chronic
      metabolic abnormalities in diabetes and CVD such as hypertension, overweight, and
      obesity, central obesity, hyperlipidemia, and osteoporosis. Stepwise multiple
      regression analysis also showed that 30minPG was significantly correlated with
      male gender, smoking, FPG, 2hPG, total cholesterol, waist/hip ratio, and blood
      pressure. CONCLUSIONS: An elevation of 30minPG increased the risk of diabetes and
      CVD. The increased risk was independent of FPG, 2hPG, age, sex, and smoking
      status.

PMID- 20935450
TI  - Gene variants associated to malignant thyroid disease in familial adenomatous
      polyposis: a novel APC germline mutation.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIM: Familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) is an autosomal
      inherited syndrome characterized by hundreds to thousands colorectal adenomatous
      polyps with oncological transformation lifetime risk of 100%. FAP is mainly
      associated with mutations in APC (autosomal dominant inheritance) or MUTYH
      (autosomal recessive inheritance) genes. Affected individuals are at increased
      risk of developing extra-intestinal tumors. Lifetime risk of developing thyroid
      carcinoma has been described in previous reports of about 2-12%, mainly in
      females, and the mean age is below 30 yr. About 95% of cancers are papillary
      thyroid carcinomas (PTC), mostly multifocal. The aim of this study was to
      evaluate the frequency of PTC among our series of FAP patients and to assess the
      type of gene mutation associated with the disease. METHODS: Fifty-four subjects
      from 36 FAP families were selected (29 females/25 males) and the mean age (+/-SD)
      at diagnosis was 28.8+/-10.8 yr. All patients underwent blood examination for
      thyroid hormones and antibodies, germline mutational analysis of APC and/or MUTYH
      genes, thyroid ultrasound, and endocrinological evaluation. RESULTS: In 13/54
      (24.1%) subjects, an eumetabolic thyroid disease was found: plurinodular disease
      in 7/54 (13.0%); single nodule in 4/54 (7.4%); in 2/54 patients (3.7%), we found
      a malignant nodule characterized after total thyroidectomy as a classical PTC.
      Both patients were female and showed a classic FAP phenotype. Mutational analysis
      revealed in the first patient the APC germline mutation 3183_87del ACAAA and in
      the second patient the del9-10 (del9080dup11) novel APC variant; the first
      mutation has been already reported in association with PTC; to our knowledge the
      second mutation has never been previously reported in association with FAP.
      CONCLUSIONS: In the population examined, the estimated prevalence of thyroid
      malignant diseases was 3.7%. In both patients, the identified APC gene
      pathogenetic variants mapped within the 5' region of the gene, previously
      reported as a PTC-associated mutational hot spot. Both patients had classic FAP
      phenotype and genetic analysis revealed two pathogenetic APC mutations:
      c.3183_87delACAAA, a recurrent pathogenetic variant and del9-10 (del9080dup11), a
      novel, not previously described genomic rearrangement. In agreement with previous
      studies, the morpho-functional surveillance of thyroid in FAP series should be
      recommended. A better insight into the overall genotype-phenotype correlation of
      APC gene mutations would be helpful for the identification of at-risk
      individuals.

PMID- 20935451
TI  - Hyponatremia and the syndrome of inappropriate secretion of antidiuretic hormone
      (SIADH).
AB  - The syndrome of inappropriate ADH secretion (SIADH), also recently referred to as
      the "syndrome of inappropriate antidiuresis", is an often underdiagnosed cause of
      hypotonic hyponatremia, resulting for instance from ectopic release of ADH in
      lung cancer or as a side-effect of various drugs. In SIADH, hyponatremia results
      from a pure disorder of water handling by the kidney, whereas external Na+
      balance is usually well regulated. Despite increased total body water, only minor
      changes of urine output and modest edema are usually seen. Renal function and
      acid-base balance are often preserved, while neurological impairment may range
      from subclinical to life-threatening. Hypouricemia is a distinguishing feature.
      The major causes and clinical variants of SIADH are reviewed, with particular
      emphasis on iatrogenic complications and hospital-acquired hyponatremia.
      Effective treatment of SIADH with water restriction, aquaretics, or hypertonic
      saline + loop diuretics, as opposed to worsening of hyponatremia during
      parenteral isotonic fluid administration, underscores the importance of an early
      accurate diagnosis and careful follow-up of these patients.

PMID- 20935452
TI  - Leukocyte transepithelial migration in lung induced by DMSA functionalized
      magnetic nanoparticles.
AB  - Magnetic nanoparticles surface-covered with meso-2,3-dimercaptosuccinic acid
      (MNPs-DMSA) constitute a promising approach for tissue- and cell-targeted
      delivery of therapeutic drugs in the lung. However, they can also induce a
      transient transendothelial migration of leukocytes in the organ as a side effect
      after endovenous administration of MNPs-DMSA. We demonstrated that
      monocytes/macrophages constitute the main subpopulation of leukocytes involved in
      this process. Our recent research found that MNPs-DMSA up-regulated the mRNA
      expression of E-, L- and P-selectin and macrophage-1 antigen, and increased
      concentration of tumor necrosis factor-alpha in lung, in a time dependent manner.
      The critical relevance of the beta2 integrin-dependent pathway in leukocyte
      transmigration elicited by MNPs-DMSA was demonstrated by use of knockout mice.
      Our work characterizes mechanisms of the pro-inflammatory effects of MNPs-DMSA in
      the lung, and identifies beta2 integrin-targeted interventions as promising
      strategies to reduce pulmonary side effects of MNPs-DMSA during biomedical
      applications. In addition, MNPs-DMSA could be used as modulators of lung immune
      response.

PMID- 20935454
TI  - DNA methylation in porcine preimplantation embryos developed in vivo and produced
      by in vitro fertilization, parthenogenetic activation and somatic cell nuclear
      transfer.
AB  - DNA demethylation and remethylation are crucial for reprogramming of the
      differentiated parental/somatic genome in the recipient ooplasm upon somatic cell
      nuclear transfer. Here, we analyzed the DNA methylation dynamics during porcine
      preimplantation development. Porcine in vivo developed (IV), in vitro fertilized
      (IVF), somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) and parthenogenetically activated
      (PA) embryos were evaluated for DNA methylation quantification at different
      developmental stages. Fertilized (IV and IVF) one-cell stages lacked a
      substantial active demethylation of the paternal genome. Embryos produced under
      in vitro conditions had higher levels of DNA methylation than IV. A lineage
      specific DNA methylation (hypermethylation of the inner cell mass and
      hypomethylation of the trophectoderm) was observed in porcine IV late
      blastocysts, but was absent in PA- and SCNT-derived blastocysts despite the
      occurrence of de novo methylation in early blastocysts. Comparable levels of DNA
      methylation were found in IV embryos and in 50% and 14% of SCNT early and late
      blastocysts, respectively. In conclusion, DNA methylation patterns were adversely
      affected by in vitro embryo production.

PMID- 20935453
TI  - Simulating complex ion channel kinetics with IonChannelLab.
AB  - In silico simulation based on Markov chains is a powerful way to describe and
      predict the activity of many transport proteins including ion channels. However,
      modeling and simulation using realistic models of voltage- or ligand-gated ion
      channels exposed to a wide range of experimental conditions require building
      complex kinetic schemes and solving complicated differential equations. To
      circumvent these problems, we developed IonChannelLab a software tool that
      includes a user-friendly Graphical User Interface and a simulation library. This
      program supports channels with Ohmic or Goldman-Hodgkin-Katz behavior and can
      simulate the time-course of ionic and gating currents, single channel behavior
      and steady-state conditions. The program allows the simulation of experiments
      where voltage, ligand and ionic concentration are varied independently or
      simultaneously.

PMID- 20935455
TI  - Oct1 is required for mTOR-induced G1 cell cycle arrest via the control of
      p27(Kip1) expression.
AB  - Oct1 is a ubiquitously expressed transcription factor that is induced in response
      to DNA damage to modulate gene expression. Herein, Oct1 deficient mouse embryonic
      fibroblasts were used as a model to study the importance of Oct1 in cellular
      stress response. Cells lacking Oct1 kept proliferating and bypassed the G(1) cell
      cycle arrest induced by glucose or amino acid starvation. Indeed, mTOR-mediated
      regulation of proliferation was abolished in Oct1(-/-) cells starved for glucose
      or amino acids and Oct1(-/-) cells were also insensitive to mTOR inhibition by
      rapamycin. Furthermore, in wild-type cells, Oct1 controls the transcription of
      the CDK inhibitor p27(Kip1) downstream of the mTOR pathway and Oct1-null cells
      failed to upregulate p27(Kip1) in response to rapamycin or glucose starvation.
      p27(Kip1) is required for rapamycin or nutrient starvation-induced G(1)-arrest,
      as p27(-/-) fibroblasts were largely insensitive to rapamycin treatment or
      glucose starvation. Thus, Oct1 appears to be a critical mediator of the growth
      arrest induced by mTOR inhibition via the control of p27(Kip1) expression.

PMID- 20935456
TI  - Inhibition of NADPH oxidase by glucosylceramide confers chemoresistance.
AB  - The bioactive sphingolipid ceramide induces oxidative stress by disrupting
      mitochondrial function and stimulating NADPH oxidase (NOX) activity, both
      implicated in cell death mechanisms. Many anticancer chemotherapeutics
      (anthracyclines, Vinca alkaloids, paclitaxel, and fenretinide), as well as
      physiological stimuli such as tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFalpha), stimulate
      ceramide accumulation and increase oxidative stress in malignant cells.
      Consequently, ceramide metabolism in malignant cells and, in particular the up
      regulation of glucosylceramide synthase (GCS), has gained considerable interest
      in contributing to chemoresistance. We hypothesized that increases in GCS
      activity and thus glucosylceramide, the product of GCS activity, represents an
      important resistance mechanism in glioblastoma. In our study, we determined that
      increased GCS activity effectively blocked reactive oxygen species formation by
      NOX. We further showed, in both glioblastoma and neuroblastoma cells that
      glucosylceramide directly interfered with NOX assembly, hence delineating a
      direct resistance mechanism. Collectively, our findings indicated that
      pharmacological or molecular targeting of GCS, using non-toxic nanoliposome
      delivery systems, successfully augmented NOX activity, and improved the efficacy
      of known chemotherapeutic agents.

PMID- 20935458
TI  - Modulators of endothelial cell filopodia: PECAM-1 joins the club.
AB  - Filopodia are an important feature of actively motile cells, probing the
      pericellular environment for chemotactic factors and other molecular cues that
      enable and direct the movement of the cell. They also act as points of attachment
      to the extracellular matrix for the cell, generating tension that may act to pull
      the cell forward and/or stabilize the cell as it moves. Endothelial cell motility
      is a critical aspect of angiogenesis, but only a limited number of molecules have
      been identified as specific regulators of endothelial cell filopodia. Recent
      reports, however, provide evidence for the involvement of PECAM-1, an endothelial
      cell adhesion and signaling molecule, in the formation of endothelial cell
      filopodia. This commentary will focus on these studies and their suggestion that
      at least two PECAM-1-regulated pathways are involved in the processes that enable
      filopodial protrusions by endothelial cells. Developing a more complete
      understanding of the role of PECAM-1 in mediating various endothelial cell
      activities, such as the extension of filopodia, will be essential for exploiting
      the therapeutic potential of targeting PECAM-1.

PMID- 20935459
TI  - Unequal in the absence of death: a novel screen identifies cytotoxic compounds
      selective for cells with activated Akt.

PMID- 20935457
TI  - Countering amyloid polymorphism and drug resistance with minimal drug cocktails.
AB  - Several fatal, progressive neurodegenerative diseases, including various prion
      and prion-like disorders, are connected with the misfolding of specific proteins.
      These proteins misfold into toxic oligomeric species and a spectrum of distinct
      self-templating amyloid structures, termed strains. Hence, small molecules that
      prevent or reverse these protein-misfolding events might have therapeutic
      utility. Yet it is unclear whether a single small molecule can antagonize the
      complete repertoire of misfolded forms encompassing diverse amyloid polymorphs
      and soluble oligomers. We have begun to investigate this issue using the yeast
      prion protein Sup35 as an experimental paradigm. We have discovered that a
      polyphenol, (-)epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), effectively inhibited the
      formation of infectious amyloid forms (prions) of Sup35 and even remodeled
      preassembled prions. Surprisingly, EGCG selectively modulated specific prion
      strains and even selected for EGCG-resistant prion strains with novel structural
      and biological characteristics. Thus, treatment with a single small molecule
      antagonist of amyloidogenesis can select for novel, drug-resistant amyloid
      polymorphs. Importantly, combining EGCG with another small molecule, 4,5-bis-(4
      methoxyanilino)phthalimide, synergistically antagonized and remodeled a wide
      array of Sup35 prion strains without producing any drug-resistant prions. We
      suggest that minimal drug cocktails, small collections of drugs that collectively
      antagonize all amyloid polymorphs, should be identified to besiege various
      neurodegenerative disorders.

PMID- 20935460
TI  - Early alterations of autophagy in Huntington disease-like mice.
AB  - In a recent study, we reported in vivo evidence of early and sustained
      alterations of autophagy markers in a novel knock-in mouse model of Huntington
      disease (HD). The novel model is derived from selective breeding of HdhQ150 knock
      in mice to generate mice with ~200 CAG/polyglutamine repeats (HdhQ200). HdhQ200
      knockin mice exhibit an accelerated and more robust motor phenotype than the
      parent line with detectable abnormalities at 50 weeks and substantial impairments
      at 80 weeks. Heterozygous HdhQ200 knock-in mice accumulate htt aggregates as
      cytoplasmic aggregation foci (AF) as early as 9 weeks of age followed by striatal
      neuronal intranuclear inclusions (NIIs) by 20 weeks. By 40 weeks, striatal AF are
      perinuclear and immunoreactive for ubiquitin and the autophagosome marker LC3.
      Increased LC3-II protein expression is noted at 9 weeks and sustained throughout
      the disease course, and is paralleled by increased expression of p62. Early and
      sustained expression of: autophagy-related proteins in this genetically precise
      mouse model of HD suggests that alteration of autophagic flux is an important and
      early component of neuronal response to polyglutamine expanded huntingtin.

PMID- 20935461
TI  - Coordinate regulation of histone mRNA metabolism and DNA replication: cyclin
      A/cdk1 is involved in inactivation of histone mRNA metabolism and DNA replication
      at the end of S phase.
AB  - S phase is characterized by the replication of DNA and assembly of chromatin.
      This requires the synthesis of large amounts of histone proteins to package the
      newly replicated DNA. Histone mRNAs are the only mRNAs that do not have polyA
      tails, ending instead in a conserved stemloop sequence. The stemloop binding
      protein (SLBP) that binds the 3' end of histone mRNA is cell cycle regulated and
      SLBP is required in all steps of histone mRNA metabolism. Activation of cyclin
      E/cdk2 prior to entry into S-phase is critical for initiation of DNA replication
      and histone mRNA accumulation. At the end of S phase SLBP is rapidly degraded as
      a result of phosphorylation of SLBP by cyclin A/cdk1 and CK2 effectively shutting
      off histone mRNA biosynthesis. E2F1, which is required for expression of many S
      phase genes, is regulated in parallel with SLBP and its degradation also requires
      a cyclin binding site, suggesting that it may also be regulated by the same
      pathway. It is likely that activation of cyclin A/cdk1 helps inhibit both DNA
      replication and histone mRNA accumulation, marking the end of S phase and entry
      into G(2)-phase.

PMID- 20935462
TI  - Teaching an old drug new tricks: Actinomycin D synergistically enhances
      sensitivity to the Bcl-2 antagonist ABT-737.

PMID- 20935463
TI  - ABA transport factors found in Arabidopsis ABC transporters.
AB  - Abscisic acid (ABA) is a phytohormone that plays an important role in responses
      to environmental stresses as well as seed maturation and germination.
      Intracellular signaling by ABA has been rigorously investigated in relation to
      stomatal guard-cell regulation, seed germination, and abiotic stress responses.
      However, intercellular regulation of ABA, including the molecular basis of ABA
      transport systems, has hardly been examined in any plant species. Based on
      genetic and biochemical analyses, we present evidence that one of the ATP-binding
      cassette (ABC) transporter genes, AtABCG25, encodes a protein that functions as
      an ABA exporter through the plasma membrane and is involved in the intercellular
      ABA signaling pathway. The ABC-type transporter is conserved in model species
      from E. coli to humans and is reported to transport various metabolites or
      signaling molecules in an ATP-dependent manner. At same time, another ABC
      transporter in Arabidopsis, AtABCG40, was independently reported to function as
      an ABA importer in plant cells. These findings strongly suggest the active
      control of ABA transport between plant cells, and they provide a novel impetus
      for examining ABA intercellular regulation.

PMID- 20935464
TI  - Steroid hormones drive cancer development.

PMID- 20935465
TI  - Pretargeting the masses: a means of improving and mainstreaming targeted
      molecular delivery?

PMID- 20935466
TI  - Other ways to skin a cat: activating SREBP without Scap.
AB  - The sterol regulatory element binding protein (SREBP) pathway plays a central
      role in the global regulation of lipid homeostasis. SREBPs are membrane-bound
      transcription factors whose proteolytic activation is regulated by cellular lipid
      levels; when demand for lipid rises, SREBP travels from the endoplasmic reticulum
      to the Golgi apparatus where it is cleaved by two distinct proteases. Cleavage
      releases the transcription factor domain of SREBP from the membrane-bound
      precursor and transcription of its target genes consequently rises. Previously,
      we isolated Drosophila mutants null for dsrebp and others lacking site-2 protease
      (ds2p), the second of two Golgi-resident proteases that cleave dSREBP. dScap is a
      protein needed to escort dSREBP from the ER to the Golgi apparatus. We recently
      characterized the phenotypes of dscap mutants as well. Here, we describe
      additional details of phenotypes arising from the inability to activate SREBP
      appropriately.

PMID- 20935467
TI  - Yeast lsm pro-apoptotic mutants show defects in S-phase entry and progression.
AB  - Expression of the histone genes is tightly coupled to rates of DNA synthesis in
      yeast and histone mRNAs are modulated both transcriptionally and post
      transcriptionally. Trf4 and Trf5, poly(A) polymerases, that mediates
      polyadenylation and consequent degradation) and Rrp6, an exosome component, play
      a role in the regulation of histone mRNA levels. In this paper we show that in
      the mRNA degradation mutant Kllsm4Delta1, histone mRNAs are induced early in the
      S-phase and maintained at high level all along the entire cell cycle due to a
      delay in the exit from S-phase and/or entry into M-phase. The overexpression of
      the HIR1 gene (Histone transcriptional repressor), previously isolated as a
      multicopy suppressor of the apoptotic phenotypes observed in Kllsm4Delta1, can
      also restore the normal cycling of histone genes expression. We also found that
      low doses of hydroxyurea neutralize the onset of the apoptotic phenotypes in
      Kllsm4Delta1, as well in another mRNA decapping mutants (lsm1) and, in addition,
      increase the chronological lifespan in both strains suggesting that an entry
      delay into the S phase can recover some cellular defects in decapping mutants.

PMID- 20935468
TI  - Lessons learned from the H1N1 2009 pandemic.
AB  - On the 11th June 2010 approximately 80 delegates drawn from government, industry
      and academia gathered in Singapore for the 1st World Influenza Congress Asia held
      in association with the 4th Annual World Vaccine Congress Asia 2010. A major
      focus of the meeting was sharing of experiences relating to the recent H1N1 2009
      pandemic.

PMID- 20935469
TI  - Pre-pandemic and pandemic influenza vaccines.
AB  - Vaccination is considered the most effective strategy to control influenza and
      becomes particularly important when a new subtype or distantly related strain of
      virus enters the human population causing a world-wide epidemic or "pandemic".
      Depending upon the virulence of the emerging virus, a lack of pre-existing
      immunity can lead to overwhelming morbidity and deaths ranging in the millions.
      While the correlates of immunity to influenza are yet to be fully understood, our
      experience with vaccines over many decades enables pre-pandemic planning to
      develop strategies to minimise the impact of a human pandemic. This review
      explores developing pandemic and pre-pandemic vaccines in the context of highly
      virulent avian H5N1 virus and the influenza H1N1 pandemic of 2009.

PMID- 20935470
TI  - p21(Waf1) is required for cellular senescence but not for cell cycle arrest
      induced by the HDAC inhibitor sodium butyrate.
AB  - Cell senescence is characterized by senescent morphology and permanent loss of
      proliferative potential. HDAC inhibitors (HDACI) induce senescence and/or
      apoptosis in many types of tumor cells. Here, we studied the role of cyclin
      kinase inhibitor p21(waf1) (Cdkn1n gene) in cell cycle arrest, senescence markers
      (cell hypertrophy, SA-betaGal staining and accumulation of gammaH2AX foci) in
      p21(Waf1+/+) versus p21(Waf1-/-) mouse embryonic fibroblast cells transformed
      with E1A and cHa-Ras oncogenes (mERas). While short treatment with the HDACI
      sodium butyrate (NaB) induced a reversible G(1) cell cycle arrest in both
      parental and p21(Waf1-/-) cells, long-term treatment led to dramatic changes in
      p21(Waf1+/+) cells only: cell cycle arrest became irreversible and cells become
      hypertrophic, SA-betaGal-positive and accumulated gammaH2AX foci associated with
      mTORC1 activation. The p21(Waf1+/+) cells lost their ability to migrate into the
      wound and through a porous membrane. Suppression of migration was accompanied by
      accumulation of vinculin-staining focal adhesions and Ser3-phosphorylation of
      cofilin, incapable for F-actin depolymerization. In contrast, the knockout of the
      p21(Waf1) abolished most of the features of NaB-induced senescence, including
      irreversibility of cell cycle arrest, hypertrophy, additional focal adhesions and
      block of migration, gammaH2AX foci accumulation and SA-betaGal staining.
      Rapamycin, a specific inhibitor of mTORC1 kinase, decreased cellular hypertrophy,
      canceled coffilin phosphorylation and partially restored cell migration in
      p21(Waf1+/+) cells. Taken together, our data indicate a new role of p21(Waf1) in
      cell senescence, which may be connected not only with execution of cell cycle
      arrest, but also with the development of mTOR-dependent markers of cellular
      senescence.

PMID- 20935471
TI  - Components of the multifactor complex needed for internal initiation by the IRES
      of hepatitis C virus in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
AB  - Interaction between the 40S ribosomal subunit and the IRES of hepatitis C virus
      (HCV) is thought to be independent of initiation proteins, while joining of the
      60S ribosomal subunit, and initiation of translation is dependent upon components
      of the translation machinery. An established in vivo functional assay for
      internal initiation mediated by the HCV IRES was used to identify proteins needed
      for IRES dependent translation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains possessing
      alterations of the translation machinery. Internal initiation dependent upon the
      HCV IRES was abrogated in strains lacking eIF5B, and reduced in strains with
      altered eIF3, either lacking the Hcr1p subunit, a component of eIF3 not
      previously known to interact with HCV RNA, or possessing an amino acid change in
      the Rpg1p subunit. The HCV RNA-induced conformational change in the 40S subunit
      might affect positioning of eIF3 and lead to different interactions between the
      ribosome, eIF3, and the multifactor complex. HCV IRES dependent initiation was
      unaffected in strains in which the concentration of the initiating tRNA was
      reduced. Alteration of the delta subunit of eIF2B, which leads to inefficient
      recycling, or substitution of aspartic acid for serine 51 of eIF2alpha had no
      effect on internal initiation. Production of human Pkr inhibited HCV IRES
      dependent initiation in yeast. The synthesis of Pkr in yeast is known to result
      in high levels of eIF2alpha phosphorylation, increased Gcn4p synthesis, and
      reduced ribosomal protein production. These alterations may explain the effect of
      Pkr synthesis on HCV IRES dependent initiation in yeast.

PMID- 20935472
TI  - Laser microsurgery provides evidence for merotelic kinetochore attachments in
      fission yeast cells lacking Pcs1 or Clr4.
AB  - In order to segregate chromosomes properly, the cell must prevent merotelic
      kinetochore attachment, an error that occurs when a single kinetochore is
      attached to microtubules emanating from both spindle poles. Merotelic kinetochore
      orientation represents a major mechanism of aneuploidy in mitotic mammalian cells
      and it is the primary mechanism of chromosome instability in cancer cells.
      Fission yeast mutants defective in putative microtubule-site clamp Pcs1/Mde4 or
      Clr4/Swi6-dependent centromeric heterochromatin display high frequencies of
      lagging chromosomes during anaphase. Here, we developed an assay based on laser
      microsurgery to show that the stretched morphology of lagging kinetochores in
      pcs1Delta and clr4Delta mutant cells is due to merotelic attachment. We further
      show that Mde4 is regulated by Cdc2 and that Cdc2 activity prevents precocious
      localization of Mde4 to the metaphase spindle. Finally, we show that Pcs1/Mde4
      complex shares similar features with the conserved kinetochore complex
      Spc24/Spc25 suggesting that these two complexes may occupy a similar functional
      niche.

PMID- 20935473
TI  - The botulinum toxin complex meets E-cadherin on the way to its destination.
AB  - Botulinum neurotoxin (BoNT) causes the disease botulism, which is characterized
      by flaccid paralysis, in humans and animals. The metalloprotease activity of BoNT
      inhibits neurotransmitter release at neuro-muscular junctions. In most cases,
      poisoning occurs when BoNT is ingested. Therefore, BoNT must pass through the
      epithelial barrier of the gastrointestinal tract to enter the systemic
      circulation and reach the target site. BoNT forms large protein complexes by
      associating with non-toxic components referred to as non-toxic non-hemagglutinin
      (NTNH) and hemagglutinin (HA). These proteins protect BoNT from the low pH and
      proteases in the digestive tract. We recently determined that HA has an
      unexpected function of disrupting the intercellular epithelial barrier by
      directly binding to E-cadherin. HA binds to E-cadherin and disrupts its function
      in a species-specific manner, and this interaction is essential to disrupt tight
      junctions. This activity is thought to facilitate the absorption of BoNT through
      the paracellular route of the intestinal epithelium in susceptible species.

PMID- 20935475
TI  - LATS tumor suppressor: a new governor of cellular homeostasis.
AB  - Accumulating evidence points to the LATS (Large Tumor Suppressor) family of human
      tumor suppressors (LATS1 and LATS2) as new resident governors of cellular
      homeostasis. Loss of function of either LATS1 or LATS2 leads to a variety of
      tumor types including soft tissue sarcomas, leukemia, as well as breast,
      prostate, lung and esophageal cancers. Due to their high degree of homology and
      functional overlap, LATS1 and LATS2 comprise a new tumor suppressor family.
      Classically identified within the Hippo-LATS signaling pathway, LATS also acts
      independently of this pathway, possessing multiple functions including regulation
      of cell proliferation, cell death and cell migration, as well as broad governing
      roles such as transcriptional regulation and maintenance of genetic stability.
      Activity of LATS is tightly controlled through various mechanisms including post
      translational modifications, differential localization and expression. Although
      little is known about the specific underlying mechanisms of these activities,
      current data suggest that LATS signaling intersects with well-established tumor
      suppressive or oncogenic pathways including the p53, Ras or Akt networks. This
      review aims to identify what we know about the LATS tumor suppressor family,
      highlighting LATS1 and LATS2 redundancies and differences in terms of their
      structure, expression, regulation and functions, thereby establishing a novel
      tumor suppressor network.

PMID- 20935474
TI  - Topotecan as a molecular targeting agent which blocks the Akt and VEGF cascade in
      platinum-resistant ovarian cancers.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Topotecan, a novel topoisomerase-1 inhibitor, is a drug that appears
      to be effective against platinum-resistant ovarian cancers. However, the
      molecular mechanisms by which Topotecan treatment inhibits cancer cell
      proliferation are unclear. We investigated whether Topotecan increases the
      efficacy of Cisplatin in platinum-resistant ovarian cancer models in vitro and in
      vivo. METHODS: We used Cisplatin-resistant Caov-3 cells and Cisplatin-sensitive
      A2780 cells. We examined the effect of Cisplatin and Topotecan on the cell
      viability of Caov-3 and A2780 cells by MTS assay. We examined the Akt kinase
      activity, VEGF and HIF-1alpha expression after Cisplatin and Topotecan by a
      Western blot analysis. Moreover, we also evaluated the effects of Cisplatin and
      Topotecan on the intraabdominal dissemination of ovarian cancer in vivo. RESULTS:
      Topotecan significantly inhibited Cisplatin-induced Akt activation in Caov-3
      cells, but not in A2780 cells. In the presence of Topotecan, Cisplatin-induced
      growth inhibition and apoptosis were significantly enhanced in Caov-3 cells.
      Topotecan inhibited not only Cisplatin-induced Akt activation but also VEGF and
      HIF-1alpha expression. Moreover, treatment with Topotecan increased the efficacy
      of Cisplatin-induced growth inhibition in the intraabdominal dissemination and
      production of ascites in athymic nude mice inoculated with Caov-3 cells.
      CONCLUSION: We herein demonstrated that Topotecan inhibits Akt kinase activity
      and VEGF transcriptional activation after Cisplatin treatment in platinum
      resistant ovarian cancers. We clarified how Topotecan enhanced the clinical
      activity in the platinum-resistant ovarian cancer. These results provide a
      rationale for using Topotecan in clinical regimens aimed at molecular targeting
      agents in platinum-resistant ovarian cancers.

PMID- 20935476
TI  - Control of depolarization-evoked presynaptic neurotransmitter release by Cav2.1
      calcium channel: old story, new insights.

PMID- 20935477
TI  - ATROSAB, a humanized antagonistic anti-tumor necrosis factor receptor one
      specific antibody.
AB  - Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) signals through two membrane receptors, TNFR1 and
      TNFR2, and TNFR1 is known to be the major pathogenic mediator of chronic and
      acute inflammatory diseases. Present clinical intervention is based on
      neutralization of the ligand TNF. Selective inhibition of TNF receptor 1 (TNFR1)
      provides an alternative opportunity to neutralize the pro-inflammatory activity
      of TNF while maintaining the advantageous immunological responses mediated by
      TNFR2, including immune regulation, tissue homeostasis and neuroprotection. We
      recently humanized a mouse anti-human TNFR1 monoclonal antibody exhibiting TNFR1
      neutralizing activity. This humanized antibody has been converted into an IgG1
      molecule (ATROSAB) containing a modified Fc region previously demonstrated to
      have greatly reduced effector functions. Purified ATROSAB, produced in CHO cells,
      showed strong binding to human and rhesus TNFR1-Fc fusion protein and mouse
      embryonic fibroblasts transfected with a recombinant TNFR1 fusion protein with an
      affinity identical to the parental mouse antibody H398. Using chimeric
      human/mouse TNFR1 molecules, the epitope of ATROSAB was mapped to the N-terminal
      region (amino acid residues 1-70) comprising the first cysteine-rich domain
      (CRD1) and the A1 sub-domain of CRD2. In vitro, ATROSAB inhibited typical TNF
      mediated responses like apoptosis induction and activation of NFkappaB-dependent
      gene expression such as IL-6 and IL-8 production. These findings open the way to
      further analyze the therapeutic activity of ATROSAB in relevant disease models in
      non-human primates.

PMID- 20935478
TI  - MOTHER OF FT AND TFL1 regulates seed germination and fertility relevant to the
      brassinosteroid signaling pathway.
AB  - Brassinosteroids (BRs) are a family of plant steroid hormones that play diverse
      roles in many aspects of plant growth and development. For example, BRs promote
      seed germination by counteracting the inhibitory effect of ABA and regulate plant
      reproductive development, thus affecting seed yield. We have recently reported
      that MOTHER OF FT AND TFL1 (MFT) regulates seed germination through a negative
      feedback loop modulating ABA signaling in Arabidopsis. Here, we show that MFT
      function is also relevant to the BR signaling pathway. In mft loss-of-function
      mutants, the application of BR could not fully antagonize the inhibitory effect
      of exogenous ABA on seed germination, suggesting that BR promotes seed
      germination against ABA partly through MFT. In addition, mft enhances the low
      fertility phenotype of det2 in which BR biosynthesis is blocked. This phenotype,
      together with the observation that MFT is expressed in gametophytes and
      developing seeds, suggests that MFT and BR play redundant roles in regulating
      fertility. Therefore, these results suggest that MFT affects seed germination and
      fertility relevant to the BR signaling pathway.

PMID- 20935480
TI  - miRNA activity directs stem cell commitment to a particular fate.

PMID- 20935479
TI  - Does an expressed sequence tag (EST) library of Salsola iberica (tumbleweed) help
      to understand plant responses to environmental stresses?
AB  - Weeds play an important role in agriculture and molecular techniques are useful
      to help understand traits that contribute to weediness and weeds' interactions
      with the environment. A total of 377 expressed sequence tags (ESTs) from a modest
      library were arranged into 227 unique fragments and 61 contigs, which consisted
      of two or more ESTs. From blastx results, we mapped and annotated unigenes using
      the gene ontology vocabulary according to biological process, cellular component
      and molecular function. These were then compared to a reference set of
      Arabidopsis thaliana sequences for statistically significant over- or
      underrepresented genes. The sequences were also compared against multiple protein
      databases for similarity of functional domains. Overall, the S. iberica sequences
      showed high similarity to response to stress, which included salt-induced
      proteins, betaine aldehydehyde dehydrogenase and calcium binding proteins. Only a
      modest number of transcripts were sequenced; however, the results presented here
      demonstrate the metabolic versatility of S. iberica in sub-optimal conditions
      that are likely to contribute to its cosmopolitan distribution. Here we propose
      that an EST library of an economically important weed species could be used to
      understand the weed's interactions with the environment.

PMID- 20935481
TI  - NFAT transcription factors, the potion mediating "Dr. Jekill-Mr. Hyde"
      transformation of the TGFbeta pathway in cancer cells.

PMID- 20935482
TI  - RB-E2F1: molecular rheostat for autophagy and apoptosis.

PMID- 20935483
TI  - The genetic architecture of aging: sexual antagonistic pleiotropy of p53 and
      foxo.

PMID- 20935484
TI  - Destruction's our delight: controlling apoptosis during mitotic arrest.

PMID- 20935485
TI  - Context-dependent compensatory proliferation in epithelial homeostasis and
      tumorigenesis.

PMID- 20935487
TI  - What is the advantage of a transient precursor in autophagosome biogenesis?
AB  - We have recently proposed that some autophagosomes are formed within omegasomes,
      membrane sites connected to the endoplasmic reticulum and enriched in
      phosphatidylinositol 3-phosphate. In order to understand if there is any
      biological advantage to having such a precursor in autophagosome biogenesis, we
      generated a simple computer program that simulates omegasome and autophagosome
      formation under a variety of conditions. We concluded from running this
      simulation that having a transient precursor permits a bigger dynamic range of
      the autophagic response and allows a more efficient approach to steady state
      after autophagy stimulation.

PMID- 20935486
TI  - CpG island chromatin: a platform for gene regulation.
AB  - The majority of mammalian gene promoters are encompassed within regions of the
      genome called CpG islands that have an elevated level of non-methylated CpG
      dinucleotides. Despite over 20 years of study, the precise mechanisms by which
      CpG islands contribute to regulatory element function remain poorly understood.
      Recently it has been demonstrated that specific histone modifying enzymes are
      recruited directly to CpG islands through recognition of non-methylated CpG
      dinucleotide sequence. These enzymes then impose unique chromatin architecture on
      CpG islands that distinguish them from the surrounding genome. In the context of
      this work we discuss how CpG island elements may contribute to the function of
      gene regulatory elements through the utilization of chromatin and epigenetic
      processes.

PMID- 20935489
TI  - Autophagy in ALDH2-elicited cardioprotection against ischemic heart disease:
      slayer or savior?
AB  - The mitochondrial isoform of aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH2) plays a key role in
      the metabolism of acetaldehyde and other toxic aldehydes. A recent seminal
      finding has indicated a potential role of ALDH2 activation in the
      cardioprotection against ischemic injury. Data from our group unveiled a
      myocardial protective effect of ALDH2 against ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury
      possibly through detoxification of toxic aldehydes: and a differential regulation
      of autophagy mediated by AMPK-mTOR and Akt-mTOR signaling cascades during
      ischemia and reperfusion, respectively. These findings suggest not only the
      therapeutic potential of ALDH2 against I/R injury but also a pivotal role of the
      AMPK-Akt-mTOR signaling in the paradoxical autophagic regulation of cardiomyocyte
      survival.

PMID- 20935488
TI  - DNA methyltransferase inhibition may limit cancer cell growth by disrupting
      ribosome biogenesis.
AB  - "Mutations" in the pattern of CpG methylation imprinting of the human genome have
      been correlated with a number of diseases including cancer. In particular,
      aberrant imprinting of tumor suppressor genes by gain of CpG methylation has been
      observed in many cancers and thus represents an important alternative pathway to
      gene "mutation" and tumor progression. Inhibitors of DNA methylation display
      therapeutic effects in the treatment of certain cancers, and it has been assumed
      these effects are due to the reversal of "mutant" gene imprinting. However,
      significant reactivation of imprinted tumor suppressor genes is rarely observed
      in vivo following treatment with DNA methylation inhibitors. A recent study
      revealed an unexpected requirement for CpG methylation in the synthesis and
      assembly of the ribosome, an essential function for cell growth and
      proliferation. As such, the data provide an unforeseen explanation of the action
      of DNA methylation inhibitors in restricting cancer cell growth.

PMID- 20935490
TI  - The dark side of fly TNF: an ancient developmental proof reading mechanism turned
      into tumor promoter.
AB  - The fruit fly Drosophila is an important model for biological research; however,
      due to its relatively short lifespan its relevance in cancer research is often
      questioned. Nevertheless, among many other intriguing Drosophila models, scribble
      group mutants provided early evidence for the existence of tumor suppressor genes
      and their importance in mammalian systems is beginning to emerge. In this review,
      I discuss recent advances in our understanding of the phenotypes of scrib group
      mutants, in which the activation of JNK signaling plays a crucial role. Several
      mechanisms can account for the activation of JNK within scrib group mutant cells,
      including a mechanical stress triggered by the loss of polarity, cell
      competition, intrinsic tumor suppression by autonomous production of Eiger, and
      an inflammatory response mediated by Eiger-producing haemocytes. Eiger, the sole
      Drosophila homolog of tumor necrosis factor, is emerging as a 'danger signal'
      initiated upon the presence of external pathogens, damaged tissues and the
      appearance of pre-malignant cells. Remarkably, in the presence of the Ras
      oncoprotein Eiger can act as a tumor promoter by stimulating invasive migration
      and delaying the onset of metamorphosis.

PMID- 20935491
TI  - ROS induced DNA damage and checkpoint responses: influences on aging?
AB  - The free radical theory of aging sustains that reactive oxygen species (ROS)
      induce cellular damage limiting organismal fitness but experimental data do not
      clearly support this hypothesis. Mouse models have shown that severe alterations
      of ROS metabolism can result in impairments of organ homeostasis and premature
      organ failure. However, partial impairments in anti-oxidants defence did not
      influence the aging process in laboratory mice and most clinical studies on
      antioxidants treatments in humans failed to show clear beneficial effects.
      Studies dysfunction in accelerating aging. Together, it seems that mild increases
      of ROS levels do not significantly influence the natural rate of aging. There is
      even some evidence that ROS induction is required to mediate positive effects of
      calorie restriction and physical exercise on organismal fitness and longevity.

PMID- 20935493
TI  - Depletion of ribosomal protein L37 occurs in response to DNA damage and activates
      p53 through the L11/MDM2 pathway.
AB  - Perturbation of ribosomal biogenesis has recently emerged as a relevant p53
      activating pathway. This pathway can be initiated by depletion of certain
      ribosomal proteins, which is followed by the binding and inhibition of MDM2 by a
      different subset of ribosomal proteins that includes L11. Here, we report that
      depletion of L37 leads to cell cycle arrest in a L11- and p53-dependent manner.
      DNA damage can initiate ribosomal stress, although little is known about the
      mechanisms involved. We have found that some genotoxic insults, namely, UV light
      and cisplatin, lead to proteasomal degradation of L37 in the nucleoplasm and to
      the ensuing L11-dependent stabilization of p53. Moreover, ectopic L37
      overexpression can attenuate the DNA damage response mediated by p53. These
      results support the concept that DNA damage-induced proteasomal degradation of
      L37 constitutes a mechanistic link between DNA damage and the ribosomal stress
      pathway, and is a relevant contributing signaling pathway for the activation of
      p53 in response to DNA damage.

PMID- 20935492
TI  - Histone tyrosine phosphorylation comes of age.
AB  - Histones were discovered over a century ago and have since been found to be the
      most extensively posttranslationally modified proteins, although tyrosine
      phosphorylation of histones had remained elusive until recently. The year 2009
      proved to be a landmark year for histone tyrosine (Y) phosphorylation as five
      research groups independently discovered this modification. Three groups describe
      phosphorylation of Y142 in the variant histone H2A.X, where it may be involved in
      the cellular decision making process to either undergo DNA repair or apoptosis in
      response to DNA damage. Further, one group suggests that phosphorylation of
      histone H3 on Y99 is crucial for its regulated proteolysis in yeast, while
      another found that Y41 phosphorylation modulates chromatin architecture and
      oncogenesis in mammalian cells. These pioneering studies provide the initial
      conceptual framework for further analyses of the diverse roles of tyrosine
      phosphorylation on different histones, with far reaching implications for human
      health and disease.

PMID- 20935494
TI  - Neuronal migration illuminated: a look under the hood of the living neuron.
AB  - During vertebrate brain development, migration of neurons from the germinal zones
      to their final laminar positions is essential to establish functional neural
      circuits. Whereas key insights into neuronal migration initially came from
      landmark studies identifying the genes mutated in human cortical malformations,
      cell biology has recently greatly advanced our understanding of how cytoskeletal
      proteins and molecular motors drive the morphogenic cell movements that build the
      developing brain. This Commentary & View reviews recent studies examining the
      role of the molecular motors during neuronal migration and critically examines
      current models of acto-myosin function in the two-step neuronal migration cycle.
      Given the apparent emerging diversity of neuronal sub-type cytoskeletal
      organizations, we propose that two approaches must be taken to resolve
      differences between the current migration models: the mechanisms of radial and
      tangential migration must be compared and the loci of tension generation,
      migration substrates, and sites of adhesion dynamics must be precisely examined
      in an integrated manner.

PMID- 20935495
TI  - Reciprocal regulation among miR395, APS and SULTR2;1 in Arabidopsis thaliana.
AB  - Sulfur element plays a pivotal role in plant growth and development. Recently, we
      have demonstrated that miR395 is crucial for the sulfate homeostasis through
      regulating the sulfate uptake, transport and assimilation in Arabidopsis
      thaliana. miR395 controls the sulfate concentration in the shoot by targeting
      three ATP sulfurylase genes (APS), which encode the first enzymes catalyzing
      sulfate activation in sulfur assimilation pathway. Furthermore, miR395 also
      regulates the transport of sulfate between leaves. Under sulfate starvation
      conditions, up-regulated miR395 represses the expression of SULTR2;1, which then
      confined the transport of sulfate from mature to young leaves. Of note,
      transcript expression analysis suggested that, unlike APS1 and APS4 mRNA, APS3
      and shoot SULTR2;1 is in accordance with miR395 in response to sulfate
      deprivation. We proposed that the differential regulation of targets by miR395
      may be required for adaptation to the sulfate deficiency environment. In
      addition, our results revealed that there is reciprocal regulation between
      SULTR2;1 and APS genes through miR395.

PMID- 20935496
TI  - Human KIAA1018/FAN1 localizes to stalled replication forks via its ubiquitin
      binding domain.
AB  - Genome maintenance pathways correct aberrations in DNA that would be deleterious
      to the organism. A crucial element of many genome maintenance processes is the
      ability to degrade DNA that either contains errors or obscures useful substrates
      for recombination and/or repair by means of nucleases. We have examined a
      putative nuclease that has heretofore been unreported, KIAA1018/FAN1. This
      protein contains a predicted ubiquitin-binding zinc finger domain (UBZ) near its
      N-terminus and an endonuclease-like fold near its C-terminus. Here we describe
      that FAN1 is a nuclear protein and forms DNA-damage-induced foci, which appear to
      be at stalled replication forks as denoted by RPA colocalization. Localization of
      FAN1 to sites of damage is dependent upon its UBZ domain. In addition, knockdown
      of FAN1 by RNA interference leads to increased sensitivity to interstrand
      crosslinking agents and accumulation of abnormal chromosomes. FAN1 may be an
      important new player in the maintenance of genome stability.

PMID- 20935497
TI  - Functional amyloid: turning swords into plowshares.
AB  - Evidence is growing at an increasing -pace that amyloid fibers are not just the
      result of aberrant protein folding associated with neurodegenerative diseases,
      but are widespread in nature for beneficial reasons. Amyloid is an attractive
      building material because its robust design and simple repetitive structure make
      for very durable and metabolically cheap material. But this requires that the
      production of amyloid be put under firm control. This appears to involve the use
      of four to five chaperones that are expressed under the control of the same
      promoter as the amyloid proteins. Significant progress has been made in
      deciphering this process in E. coli's csg operon, also found in Salmonella.
      Recently, we have discovered a new and unrelated operon (fap) responsible for
      amyloid production in Pseudomonas, which also confers biofilm-forming properties
      to E. coli. Intriguingly, this operon shares a number of features with csg,
      namely two homologous proteins (one of which, FapC, has been shown to be directly
      involved in amyloid build-up) and a small number of auxiliary proteins. However,
      FapC seems to be less economically structured than its E. coli counterpart, with
      a smaller number of repeats and very large and variable linker regions.
      Furthermore, the putative chaperones are not homologous to their csg counterparts
      and have intriguing homologies to proteins with other functions. These findings
      suggest that controlled amyloid production has arisen on many independent
      occasions due to the usefulness of the product and offers the potential for
      intriguing insights into how nature disarms and reconstructs a potentially very
      dangerous weapon.

PMID- 20935498
TI  - EAR motif-mediated transcriptional repression in plants: an underlying mechanism
      for epigenetic regulation of gene expression.
AB  - Ethylene-responsive element binding factor-associated Amphiphilic Repression
      (EAR) motif-mediated transcriptional repression is emerging as one of the
      principal mechanisms of plant gene regulation. The EAR motif, defined by the
      consensus sequence patterns of either LxLxL or DLNxxP, is the most predominant
      form of transcriptional repression motif so far identified in plants.
      Additionally, this active repression motif is highly conserved in transcriptional
      regulators known to function as negative regulators in a broad range of
      developmental and physiological processes across evolutionarily diverse plant
      species. Recent discoveries of co-repressors interacting with EAR motifs, such as
      TOPLESS (TPL) and AtSAP18, have begun to unravel the mechanisms of EAR motif
      mediated repression. The demonstration of genetic interaction between mutants of
      TPL and AtHDA19, co-complex formation between TPL-related 1 (TPR1) and AtHDA19,
      as well as direct physical interaction between AtSAP18 and AtHDA19 support a
      model where EAR repressors, via recruitment of chromatin remodeling factors,
      facilitate epigenetic regulation of gene expression. Here, we discuss the
      biological significance of EAR-mediated gene regulation in the broader context of
      plant biology and present literature evidence in support of a model for EAR motif
      mediated repression via the recruitment and action of chromatin modifiers.
      Additionally, we discuss the possible influences of phosphorylation and
      ubiquitination on the function and turnover of EAR repressors.

PMID- 20935500
TI  - Architectures of the unique domains associated with the DEAD-box helicase motif.
AB  - Helicases are motor proteins of biological system, which catalyze the opening of
      energetically stable duplex nucleic acids in an ATP-dependent manner and thereby
      are involved in almost all aspects of nucleic acid metabolism including cell
      cycle progression. They contain several conserved domains including the DEAD-box
      and also several unique domains associated with these. The Pfam database
      (http://pfam.janelia.org/) is a large collection of protein families, each
      represented by multiple sequence alignments and hidden Markov models (HMMs). A
      diverse range of proteins are found in nature, and the functional specificity to
      each protein, to a greater extent, is imparted by its domain architecture. To
      this extent, a DEAD-box ATP-dependent RNA helicase (LOC_Os01g36890; Genomic
      sequence length: 6284 nucleotides; CDS length: 1,299 nucleotides; Protein length:
      432 amino acids) was studied. The protein sequence was imported for domain search
      on Pfam. This particular Pfam entry after covering a large proportion of
      sequences in the underlying database has generated a more comprehensive coverage
      across a wide range of phyla of the known domains that are associated with the
      typical DEAD-box helicase motif. A total of 362 domain architectures were
      recollected from the Pfam database for the Family: DEAD (PF00270). We have
      therefore systematically analyzed the domains closely associated with DEAD-motif,
      which occur in a variety of proteins and can provide insights into their
      function.

PMID- 20935499
TI  - Chemotherapy and signaling: How can targeted therapies supercharge cytotoxic
      agents?
AB  - In recent years, oncologists have begun to conclude that chemotherapy has reached
      a plateau of efficacy as a primary treatment modality, even if toxicity can be
      effectively controlled. Emerging specific inhibitors of signaling and metabolic
      pathways (i.e., targeted agents) contrast with traditional chemotherapy drugs in
      that the latter primarily interfere with the DNA biosynthesis and the cell
      replication machinery. In an attempt to improve on the efficacy, combination of
      targeted drugs with conventional chemotherapeutics has become a routine way of
      testing multiple new agents in early phase clinical trials. This review discusses
      the recent advances including integrative systematic biology and RNAi approaches
      to counteract the chemotherapy resistance and to buttress the selectivity,
      efficacy and personalization of anti-cancer drug therapy.

PMID- 20935502
TI  - Adhesion molecules: key players in Mesenchymal stem cell-mediated
      immunosuppression.
AB  - Adhesion molecules are known to be important components of an active T cell
      mediated immune response. Signals generated at a site of inflammation cause
      circulating T-cells to respond by rolling, arrest, and then transmigration
      through the endothelium, all of which are mediated by adhesion molecules.
      Consequently, strategies have been developed to treat immune disorders with
      specific antibodies that block the interaction of adhesion molecules. However,
      the therapeutic effects of such remedies are not always achieved. Our recent
      investigations have revealed that intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1) and
      vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) work together with chemokines to
      induce immunosuppression mediated by mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), thus
      demonstrating the dual role of adhesion molecules in immune responses. Since MSCs
      represent an important component of the stromal cells in an inflammatory
      microenvironment, our findings provide novel information for understanding the
      regulation of immune responses and for designing new strategies to treat immune
      disorders.

PMID- 20935503
TI  - Light-regulated compensation of wat1 (walls are thin1) growth and secondary cell
      wall phenotypes is auxin-independent.
AB  - We previously reported the characterization of walls are thin1 (wat1), an
      Arabidopsis mutant that exhibits two developmental phenotypes in stems: (1) a
      severe decrease in fiber secondary cell wall thickness and (2) a reduction in
      stem height. Auxin concentration and transport were also significantly reduced in
      the stem base of wat1 plants. In the original study, these characteristics were
      observed in plants grown under short day conditions (9 h light /15 h dark).
      Herein, we provide evidence for partial phenotypic complementation of both wat1
      developmental phenotypes when grown under a continuous light regime.
      Interestingly, when auxin concentration and basipetal transport were measured in
      these plants, neither was restored to wild type levels. These results suggest
      that free auxin concentration is not responsible for the partial light-regulated
      complementation of wat1-mediated phenotypes.

PMID- 20935501
TI  - APC/C-Cdh1: from cell cycle to cellular differentiation and genomic integrity.
AB  - Anaphase-promoting complex/cyclosome (APC/C) is a multifunctional ubiquitin
      protein ligase that targets various substrates for proteolysis inside and outside
      of the cell cycle. The activation of APC/C is dependent on two WD-40 domain
      proteins, Cdc20 and Cdh1. While APC/Cdc20 principally regulates mitotic
      progression, APC/Cdh1 shows a broad spectrum of substrates in and beyond cell
      cycle. In the past several years, numerous biochemical and mouse genetic studies
      have greatly attracted our attention to the emerging role of APC/Cdh1 in genomic
      integrity, cellular differentiation and human diseases. This review will aim to
      summarize the recently expanded understanding of APC/Cdh1 in regulating
      biological function and how its dysfunction may lead to diseases.

PMID- 20935504
TI  - Identification of Akt-selective cytotoxic compounds that enhance cytotoxic
      responses to rapamycin.
AB  - We performed a high-throughput screen to identify compounds with a selective
      ability to induce apoptosis in Akt-expressing cells without disrupting Bcl-xL
      dependent survival. Results showed that a screening strategy based on Alamar Blue
      underrepresented the viability of Bcl-xL-expressing cells relative to Akt
      expressing cells, possibly due to metabolic differences between the two cell
      survival programs. Using an alternative screen based on plasma membrane
      integrity, we identified several compounds that target Akt-dependent survival
      without toxic effect to Bcl-xL-dependent survival. These compounds enhanced the
      cytotoxic potential of rapamycin, a chemotherapeutic that inhibits survival
      signaling downstream of Akt. The results demonstrate a screening method and the
      subsequent identification of two compounds with selective activity in
      counteracting Akt-dependent cell survival.

PMID- 20935505
TI  - The double-edged effect of autophagy in pancreatic beta cells and diabetes.
AB  - Autophagy is an intracellular catabolic system, which enables cells to capture
      cytoplasmic components for degradation within lysosomes. Autophagy is involved in
      development, differentiation and tissue remodeling in various organisms, and is
      also implicated in certain diseases. Recent studies demonstrate that autophagy is
      necessary to maintain architecture and function of pancreatic beta cells. Altered
      autophagy is also involved in pancreatic beta cell death. Whether autophagy plays
      a protective or harmful role in diabetes is still not clear. In this review, we
      will summarize the current knowledge about the role of autophagy in pancreatic
      beta cell and diabetes.

PMID- 20935506
TI  - Dengue vaccine trial guidelines and role of large-scale, post proof-of-concept
      demonstration projects in bringing a dengue vaccine to use in dengue endemic
      areas.
AB  - In this review, we consider the issues impacting conduct and design of dengue
      vaccine trials with reference to the recently published World Health Organization
      "Guidelines for Conduct of Clinical Trials of Dengue Vaccines in Endemic Areas."
      We discuss logistic, scientific and ethical challenges concerning evaluation and
      introduction of dengue vaccines; these range from randomized trials that
      establish "proof of concept" of vaccine efficacy, to post-"proof of concept"
      trials, particularly demonstration projects likely to be required for licensure
      or for the introduction of an already licensed vaccine into public use. We
      clarify and define the meaning of "proof of concept" in the clinical trial
      context and the meaning of terms "phase 2b", "phase 3b" and "demonstration
      project", which are commonly used but have not been defined well in the clinical
      literature.

PMID- 20935507
TI  - Nitrogen anabolism underlies the importance of glutaminolysis in proliferating
      cells.
AB  - Glutaminolysis and Warburg effect are the two most noticeable metabolic features
      of tumor cells whereas their biological significance in cell proliferation
      remains elusive. A widely accepted current hypothesis is that tumor cells use
      glutamine as a preferred carbon source for energy and reducing power, which has
      been used to explain both glutaminolysis and the Warburg effect. Here we provide
      evidence to show that supplying nitrogen, not the carbon skeleton, underlies the
      major biological importance of glutaminolysis for proliferating cells. We show
      alternative nitrogen supplying mechanisms rescue cell proliferation in glutamine
      free media. Particularly, we show that ammonia is sufficient to maintain a long
      term survival and proliferation of Hep3B in glutamine-free media. We also
      observed that nitrogen source restriction repressed carbon metabolic pathways
      including glucose utilization. Based on these new observations and metabolic
      pathways well established in published literature, we propose an alternative
      model that cellular demand for glutamate as a key molecule in nitrogen anabolism
      is the driving force of glutaminolysis in proliferating cells. Our model suggests
      that the Warburg effect may be a metabolic consequence secondary to the nitrogen
      anabolism.

PMID- 20935508
TI  - Rose bengal acetate photodynamic therapy-induced autophagy.
AB  - Photodynamic therapy (PDT), an anticancer therapy requiring the exposure of cells
      or tissue to a photosensitizing drug followed by irradiation with visible light
      of the appropriate wavelength, induces cell death by the efficient induction of
      apoptotic as well as non-apoptotic mechanisms, such as necrosis and autophagy, or
      a combination of all three mechanisms. However, the exact role of autophagy in
      photodynamic therapy is still a matter of debate. To understand the role of
      autophagy in PDT, we investigated the induction of autophagy in HeLa cells
      photosensitized with Rose Bengal Acetate (RBAc). After incubation with Rose
      Bengal Acetate (10-5 M), HeLa cells were irradiated for 90 seconds (green LED DPL
      305, emitting at 530 +15 nm to obtain 1.6 J/cm2 as the total light dose) and
      allowed to recover for 72 h. Induction of autophagy and apoptosis were observed
      with peaks at 8 h and 12 h after irradiation, respectively. Autophagy was
      detected by biochemical (Western Blotting for the LC3B protein) and morphological
      criteria (TEM, cytochemistry). In addition, the pan-caspase inhibitor, z-VAD, was
      unable to completely prevent cell death. The simultaneous onset of apoptosis and
      autophagy following Rose Bengal Acetate PDT is of remarkable interest in light of
      the findings that autophagy can result in the class II presentation of antigens
      and thus, explain why low dose PDT can yield anti-tumor immune responses.

PMID- 20935509
TI  - HMGB1: a novel Beclin 1-binding protein active in autophagy.
AB  - The autophagosome delivers damaged cytoplasmic constituents and proteins to the
      lysosome or to the extracellular space. Beclin 1, an essential: autophagic
      protein, is a BH3-only protein that binds Bcl-2 anti-apoptotic family members and
      has a critical role in the initiation of autophagy. How the Beclin 1 complex
      specifically promotes autophagy remains largely unknown. We have found that high
      mobility group box 1 (HMGB1), a chromatin-associated nuclear protein and
      extracellular damage associated molecular pattern molecule (DAMP), is a novel
      Beclin 1-binding protein important in sustaining autophagy. HMGB1 shares
      considerable sequence homology with Beclin 1 in yeast, mice and human,
      representing an evolutionarily conserved regulatory step in early autophagosome
      formation. Endogenous HMGB1 competes with Bcl-2 for interaction with Beclin 1,
      and orients Beclin 1 to autophagosomes. Moreover, the intramolecular disulfide
      bridge (C23/45) of HMGB1 is required for binding to Beclin 1 and sustaining
      autophagy. Taken together, these findings indicate that endogenous HMGB1
      functions as an autophagy effector by regulation of autophagosome formation.

PMID- 20935510
TI  - Regulation of the ATM-activator protein Aven by CRM1-dependent nuclear export.
AB  - Aven is a regulator of apoptosis whose overexpression is associated with poor
      prognosis in several cancers, including childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia
      and acute myeloid leukemia. We have recently shown that Aven serves as an
      activator and substrate of ATM, thereby modulating the DNA-damage response and
      G(2)/M cell cycle progression. Under physiological conditions, the cellular
      localization of Aven is mainly cytosolic, but a small fraction of the protein is
      present in the nucleus. Here, we show that treatment of cells with leptomycin B,
      an inhibitor of Exportin-1/CRM (chromosomal region maintenance) 1, resulted in
      nuclear accumulation of Aven. Furthermore, we identified a functional LR-NES
      between amino acid residues 282-292 of the human Aven protein, a sequence that is
      evolutionary conserved among a range of vertebrate species. Disruption of this LR
      NES by site-directed mutagenesis resulted in enhanced nuclear localization of
      Aven, but did not alter the ability of the protein to induce G(2)/M cell cycle
      arrest in interphase Xenopus laevis extracts. However, elimination of the LR-NES
      sequence led to a reduction in the capacity of Aven to arrest Xenopus oocytes
      containing intact nuclei. Our results suggest that the regulation of
      nucleocytoplasmatic traffic of Aven could modulate its ability to influence cell
      cycle progression.

PMID- 20935512
TI  - Autophagy as a trigger for cell death: autophagic degradation of inhibitor of
      apoptosis dBruce controls DNA fragmentation during late oogenesis in Drosophila.
AB  - Autophagy has been reported to contribute to cell death, but the underlying
      mechanisms remain largely unknown and controversial. We have: been studying
      oogenesis in Drosophila melanogaster as a model system to understand the
      interplay between autophagy and cell death. Using a novel autophagy reporter we
      found that autophagy occurs during developmental cell death of nurse cells in
      late oogenesis. Genetic inhibition: of autophagy-related genes atg1, atg13 and
      vps34 results in late-stage egg chambers containing persisting nurse cell nuclei
      without fragmented DNA and attenuation of caspase-3 cleavage. We found that
      Drosophila inhibitor of apoptosis dBruce is degraded by autophagy and this
      degradation promotes DNA fragmentation and subsequent nurse cell death. These
      studies demonstrate that autophagic degradation of an inhibitor: of apoptosis is
      a novel mechanism of triggering cell death.

PMID- 20935511
TI  - Have we overestimated the benefit of human(ized) antibodies?
AB  - The infusion of animal-derived antibodies has been known for some time to trigger
      the generation of antibodies directed at the foreign protein as well as adverse
      events including cytokine release syndrome. These immunological phenomena drove
      the development of humanized and fully human monoclonal antibodies. The ability
      to generate human(ized) antibodies has been both a blessing and a curse. While
      incremental gains in the clinical efficacy and safety for some agents have been
      realized, a positive effect has not been observed for all human(ized) antibodies.
      Many human(ized) antibodies trigger the development of anti-drug antibody
      responses and infusion reactions. The current belief that antibodies need to be
      human(ized) to have enhanced therapeutic utility may slow the development of
      novel animal-derived monoclonal antibody therapeutics for use in clinical
      indications. In the case of murine antibodies, greater than 20% induce
      tolerable/negligible immunogenicity, suggesting that in these cases humanization
      may not offer significant gains in therapeutic utility. Furthermore, humanization
      of some murine antibodies may reduce their clinical effectiveness. The available
      data suggest that the utility of human(ized) antibodies needs to be evaluated on
      a case-by-case basis, taking a cost-benefit approach, taking both biochemical
      characteristics and the targeted therapeutic indication into account.

PMID- 20935513
TI  - beta-Arrestin-1 links mitogenic sonic hedgehog signaling to the cell cycle exit
      machinery in neural precursors.
AB  - Development of the cerebellum, a brain region regulating posture and
      coordination, occurs post-natally and is marked by rapid proliferation of granule
      neuron precursors (CGNPs), stimulated by mitogenic Sonic hedgehog (Shh)
      signaling. beta-Arrestin (betaArr) proteins play important roles downstream of
      Smoothened, the Shh signal transducer. However, whether Shh regulates betaArrs
      and what role they play in Shh-driven CGNP proliferation remains to be
      determined. Here, we report that Shh induces betaArr1 accumulation and
      localization to the nucleus, where it participates in enhancing expression of the
      cyclin dependent kinase (cdk) inhibitor p27, whose accumulation eventually drives
      CGNP cell cycle exit. betaArr1 knockdown enhances CGNP proliferation and reduces
      p27 expression. Thus, Shh-mediated betaArr1 induction represents a novel negative
      feedback loop within the Shh mitogenic pathway, such that ongoing Shh signaling,
      while required for CGNPs to proliferate, also sets up a cell-intrinsic clock
      programming their ultimate exit from the cell cycle.

PMID- 20935514
TI  - Non-redundant role for the transcription factor Gli1 at multiple stages of
      thymocyte development.
AB  - The Hedgehog (Hh) signaling pathway influences multiple stages of murine T-cell
      development. Hh signaling mediates transcriptional changes by the activity of the
      Gli family of transcription factors, Gli1, Gli2 and Gli3. Both Gli2 and Gli3 are
      essential for mouse development and can be processed to function as
      transcriptional repressors or transcriptional activators, whereas Gli1, itself a
      transcriptional target of Hh pathway activation, can only function as a
      transcriptional activator and is not essential for mouse development. Gli1
      deficient mice are healthy and appear normal and nonredundant functions for Gli1
      have been difficult to identify. Here we show that Gli1 is non-redundant in the
      regulation of T-cell development in the thymus, at multiple developmental stages.
      Analysis of Gli1-deficient embryonic mouse thymus shows a role for Gli1 to
      promote the differentiation of CD4-CD8- double negative (DN) thymocytes before
      pre- TCR signal transduction, and a negative regulatory function after pre-TCR
      signaling. In addition, introduction of a Class I-restricted transgenic TCR into
      the adult Gli1-deficient and embryonic Gli2-deficient thymus showed that both
      Gli1 and Gli2 influence its selection to the CD8 lineage.

PMID- 20935515
TI  - Inhibition of the mammalian target of rapamycin promotes cyclic AMP-induced
      differentiation of NG108-15 cells.
AB  - To clarify the involvement of autophagy in neuronal differentiation, the effect
      of rapamycin, an mTOR complex inhibitor, on the dibutyryl cAMP (dbcAMP)-induced
      differentiation of NG108-15 cells was examined. Treatment of NG108-15 cells with
      1 mM dbcAMP resulted in induction of differentiation, including neurite outgrowth
      and varicosity formation, enhanced voltage-sensitive Ca2+ channel activity and
      expression of microtubule-associated protein 2, and these effects involved
      phosphorylation of cAMP-response element binding protein (CREB) and extracellular
      signal regulated kinase (ERK). Simultaneous application of dbcAMP and rapamycin
      synergistically increased and accelerated differentiation. mTOR or raptor
      silencing with siRNA had a similar effect to rapamycin. Rapamycin and silencing
      of mTOR or raptor evoked autophagy, while blockade of autophagy by addition of 3
      methyladenine or beclin 1 or Atg5 silencing prevented the potentiation of
      differentiation. Silencing of rictor also evokes autophagy, at a level 55% of
      that induced by raptor silencing and enhancement of differentiation is
      proportional. Rapamycin also caused increased ATP generation and cell cycle
      arrest in G0/G1 phase, but had no effect on CREB and ERK phosphorylation. dbcAMP
      also induced ATP generation, but not autophagy or cell cycle arrest. These
      results suggest that the increased autophagy, ATP generation and cell cycle
      arrest caused by mTOR inhibition promotes the dbcAMP-induced differentiation of
      NG108-15 cells.

PMID- 20935516
TI  - The emerging role of autophagy in the pathophysiology of diabetes mellitus.
AB  - An emerging body of evidence supports a role for autophagy in the pathophysiology
      of type 1 and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Persistent high concentrations of glucose
      lead to imbalances in the antioxidant capacity within the cell resulting in
      oxidative stress-mediated injury in both disorders. An anticipated consequence of
      impaired autophagy is the accumulation of dysfunctional organelles such as
      mitochondria within the cell. Mitochondria are the primary site of the production
      of reactive oxygen species (ROS), and an imbalance in ROS production relative to
      the cytoprotective action of autophagy may lead to the accumulation of ROS.
      Impaired mitochondrial function associated with increased ROS levels have been
      proposed as mechanisms contributing to insulin resistance. In this article we
      review and interpret the literature that implicates a role for autophagy in the
      pathophysiology of type 1 and type 2 diabetes mellitus as it applies to beta-cell
      dysfunction, and more broadly to organ systems involved in complications of
      diabetes including the cardiovascular, renal and nervous systems.

PMID- 20935517
TI  - Similar immunogenicity of the A/H1N1 2009 pandemic influenza strain when used as
      a monovalent or a trivalent vaccine.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The WHO recommended including the A (H1N1) 2009 pandemic strain in
      the influenza vaccines for use in the 2010-2011 northern hemisphere (NH)
      influenza season. The immunogenicity and safety of the trivalent split
      inactivated vaccine (Vaxigrip(r)) NH 2010-2011 formulation was compared to that
      observed for the corresponding non-adjuvanted monovalent A (H1N1) pandemic
      vaccine (Panenza(r)), when tested in similar populations of adult and elderly
      volunteers. METHODS: The monovalent vaccine was evaluated in two clinical trials,
      conducted respectively in both adult and elderly subjects and in a population of
      adults. The trivalent vaccine was evaluated in a clinical study that enrolled
      both adult and elderly subjects. Antibody titers were measured in serum samples
      drawn at day 0 (before vaccination) and 21 days after one vaccine injection using
      the same hemagglutination inhibition (HI) assay method. The occurrence of adverse
      events was reported up to 21 days after vaccination. RESULTS: Before immunization
      in the three studies, most of the volunteers had antibody titers below
      seroprotective levels against the pandemic A(H1N1) 2009 virus. After vaccination,
      in each trial and in each age group, high seroprotection rates, GMT ratios and
      seroconversion rates were observed. Seroprotection rates after administration of
      the monovalent vaccine reached 93% and 98% in the adult groups, and 83.7% in the
      elderly group. After administration of the trivalent vaccine, seroprotection
      rates of 92.2% and 81.3% were obtained respectively in the adult and the elderly
      groups. No related serious adverse events and no safety signals were detected
      either with the monovalent or trivalent vaccine. CONCLUSION: Comparable
      immunogenicity profiles were observed in three clinical trials of the pandemic
      A(H1N1) 2009 strain when formulated either as a monovalent or as a component of a
      seasonal trivalent vaccine.

PMID- 20935518
TI  - Early demethylation of non-CpG, CpC-rich, elements in the myogenin 5'-flanking
      region: a priming effect on the spreading of active demethylation.
AB  - The dynamic changes and structural patterns of DNA methylation of genes without
      CpG islands are poorly characterized. The relevance of CpG to the non-CpG
      methylation equilibrium in transcriptional repression is unknown. In this work,
      we analyzed the DNA methylation pattern of the 5'-flanking of the myogenin gene,
      a positive regulator of muscle differentiation with no CpG island and low CpG
      density, in both C2C12 muscle satellite cells and embryonic muscle. Embryonic
      brain was studied as a non-expressing tissue. High levels of both CpG and non-CpG
      methylation were observed in non-expressing experimental conditions. Both CpG and
      non-CpG methylation rapidly dropped during muscle differentiation and myogenin
      transcriptional activation, with an active demethylation dynamics. Non-CpG
      demethylation occurred more rapidly than CpG demethylation. Demethylation spread
      from initially highly methylated short CpC-rich elements to a virtually
      unmethylated status. These short elements have a high CpC content and density,
      share some motifs and largely coincide with putative recognition sequences of
      some differentiation-related transcription factors. Our findings point to a
      dynamically controlled equilibrium between CpG and non-CpG active demethylation
      in the transcriptional control of tissue-specific genes. The short CpC-rich
      elements are new structural features of the methylation machinery, whose
      functions may include priming the complete demethylation of a transcriptionally
      crucial DNA region.

PMID- 20935519
TI  - The ubiquitin-proteasome pathway plays essential roles in ATRA-induced leukemia
      cells G0/G1 phase arrest and transition into granulocytic differentiation.
AB  - All-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) has been successfully used in differentiation
      therapy for acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) in the clinic. ATRA-induced
      differentiation of leukemia cells is accompanied by a G0/G1 arrest, yet how ATRA
      couples cell cycle arrest to differentiation remains largely unknown. Here we
      observed that the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway (UPP) was activated upon ATRA
      treatment in the human acute myeloid leukemia cell lines, NB4 and HL-60, as
      represented by the accumulation of ubiquitinated proteins, the up-regulation of
      ubiquitin mRNA and increased 20S proteasome activity. Interestingly, we found
      that complete inhibition of proteasome activity suppressed ATRA-induced
      proliferation/differentiation (P/D) transition in both cell lines. Furthermore,
      we demonstrate that the exact protein contributing to this phenomenon is
      different in these two cell lines. Cyclin-dependent kinase 2 (CDK2) and Cyclin E
      were degraded by the UPP; they accumulated significantly after complete
      inhibition of the proteasome in ATRA-treated NB4 and HL-60 cells, respectively.
      These findings suggested that the UPP might be indispensable in the ATRA-induced
      G0/G1 arrest and differentiation of leukemia cells. The exact protein degraded by
      the UPP to promote the myeloid maturation program set in motion by the retinoid
      may be cell type dependent.

PMID- 20935520
TI  - FTY720 induces necrotic cell death and autophagy in ovarian cancer cells: a
      protective role of autophagy.
AB  - FTY720, a sphingosine analog, is a novel immunosuppressant currently undergoing
      multiple clinical trials for the prevention of organ transplant rejection and
      treatment of various autoimmune diseases. Recent studies indicate an additional
      cytotoxic effect of FTY720 and its preclinical efficacy in a variety of cancer
      models, yet the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. We demonstrate here for the
      first time that FTY720 exhibits a potent, dose- and time-dependent cytotoxic
      effect in human ovarian cancer cells, even in the cells that are resistant to
      cisplatin, a commonly prescribed chemotherapeutic drug for treatment of ovarian
      cancer. In contrast to the previously reported cytotoxicity of FTY720 in many
      other cancer cell types, FTY720 kills ovarian cancer cells independent of caspase
      3 activity and induces cellular swelling and cytoplasmic vacuolization with
      evident features of necrotic cell death. Furthermore, the presence of autophagic
      hallmarks, including an increased number of autophagosomes and the formation and
      accumulation of LC3-II, are observed in FTY720-treated cells before cell death.
      FTY720 treatment enhances autophagic flux as reflected in the increased LC3
      turnover and p62 degradation. Notably, blockade of autophagy by either specific
      chemical inhibitors or siRNAs targeting Beclin 1 or LC3 resulted in aggravated
      necrotic cell death in response to FTY720, suggesting that FTY720-induced
      autophagy plays a self-protective role against its own cytotoxic effect. Thus,
      our findings not only demonstrate a new death pathway underlying the cytotoxic
      effect of FTY720, but also suggest that targeting autophagy could augment the
      anticancer potency, providing the framework for further development of FTY720 as
      a new chemotherapeutic agent for ovarian cancer treatment.

PMID- 20935521
TI  - Metabolic syndrome affects breast cancer risk in postmenopausal women: National
      Cancer Institute of Naples experience.
AB  - Postmenopausal women show the highest incidence of breast cancer in the female
      population and are often affected by metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome (MS)-
      characterized by central adiposity, insulin resistance, low serum high-density
      lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), high serum triglyceride and high blood pressure-
      seems to be strictly correlated to breast carcinogenesis. We enrolled 777 healthy
      women and women with breast cancer in our nested case-control study to evaluate
      the association between MS and breast cancer, analyzing anthropometric parameters
      (weight, height, BMI, waist and hip circumference), blood pressure, serum HDL-C,
      triglyceride, fasting plasma glucose, insulin, testosterone and uric acid levels
      and administering a questionnaire about physical activity, food intake, tobacco
      use, alcohol abuse, personal and familial history of disease. We found an higher
      prevalence of metabolic syndrome (30%) in postmenopausal breast cancer patients
      compared to healthy women (19%). None of the individual MS features was strong
      enough to be considered responsible for breast carcinogenesis alone. However, of
      the 63 postmenopausal breast cancer cases associated to MS, 30% presented three
      or more MS features, suggesting that the activation of multiple molecular
      pathways underlying MS might contribute to tumorigenesis. Our data support the
      hypothesis that MS may be an indicator of breast cancer risk in postmenopausal
      women. The unsettlement of the hormonal arrangement in postmenopausal, along with
      an increase in visceral adiposity, probably favour the hormone-dependent cell
      proliferation, which drives tumorigenesis. Adjustments in lifestyle with physical
      activity intensification and healthy diet could represent modifiable factors for
      the primary prevention of sporadic breast cancer.

PMID- 20935522
TI  - Assessment of immunological biomarkers in patients with advanced cancer treated
      by personalized peptide vaccination.
AB  - To investigate immunological biomarkers to predict overall survival of advanced
      cancer patients under treatment with personalized peptide vaccination,
      correlations between overall survival and biomarkers, including cytotoxic T
      lymphocyte (CTL) and immunoglobulin G (IgG) responses to the vaccinated peptides,
      were investigated in 500 advanced cancer patients who received personalized
      peptide vaccination from October 2000 to October 2008. The best clinical response
      was assessed for in 436 patients, 43 patients (10%) had partial response, 144
      patients (33%) had stable disease and 249 patients (57%) had progressive, with a
      median overall survival of 9.9 months. Both lymphocyte counts prior to the
      vaccination (P = 0.0095) and increased IgG response (P = 0.0116) to the
      vaccinated peptides, along with performance status (P < 0.0001), well correlated
      with overall survival. To confirm the superiority of IgG response to CTL
      response, the samples from advanced castration-resistant prostate cancer patients
      who survived more than 900 days (n=20) and those who died within 300 days (n=23)
      were analyzed further. As a result, both the numbers of peptides, to which
      increased IgG responses were observed, and the fold increases in IgG levels were
      significantly higher in long-term survivors (P = 0.000282 and P = 0.00045). In
      contrast, CTL responses were not statistically different between the two groups.
      Both lymphocyte numbers and IgG response were thus suggested to be biomarkers of
      cancer vaccine for advanced cancer patients.

PMID- 20935523
TI  - New communication technology for recognition of and reaction to stroke-warning
      signs in a prehospital setting.

PMID- 20935524
TI  - Bone scintigraphy in patients with clinical suspicion of a scaphoid fracture.

PMID- 20935525
TI  - Analgesia and the sonographic Murphy's sign.

PMID- 20935526
TI  - The effect of atypical birefringence patterns on GDx VCC diagnostic performance.

PMID- 20935528
TI  - The effect of atypical birefringence patterns on retinal nerve fiber layer
      measurements with scanning laser polarimetry.

PMID- 20935531
TI  - Comment on Effects of phacoemulsification versus combined phacotrabeculectomy on
      drainage angle status in primary angle closure glaucoma.

PMID- 20935532
TI  - Comment on the article entitled "Effect of improper scan alignment on retinal
      nerve fiber layer thickness measurements using Stratus optical coherence
      tomograph" by Vizzeri G, Bowd C, Medeiros F, Weinreb R, Zangwill L, published in
      J Glaucoma. 2008;17:341-349.

PMID- 20935533
TI  - Reverse passage of 10-0 suture.

PMID- 20935534
TI  - Optical coherence tomography errors in glaucoma: preanalytical errors.

PMID- 20935535
TI  - "Proud of our new era in internationalism" 15th Annual Meeting of the Kyoto
      Cornea Club, December 4-5, 2009.

PMID- 20935536
TI  - Negative regulators in Toll-like receptor responses.
AB  - Innate immune responses are initiated by pattern recognition receptors, which
      recognize specific structures of microorganisms. Among them, toll-like receptors
      (TLRs) are capable of sensing organisms ranging from viruses to bacteria, fungi,
      and protozoa and play major roles in innate immunity. TLR activation controls
      complex gene expression networks that regulate the magnitude and duration of the
      immune reaction. Autophagy, a bulk degradation system that delivers cytoplasmic
      constituents in the lysosome, controls degradation of long-lived proteins,
      insoluble protein aggregates, and invading pathogens. We recently generated
      mutant mice lacking Atg16L1, an autophagy-related gene that is implicated in
      Crohn's disease, and thereby examined its role in TLR-mediated inflammatory
      response. Atg16L1 was indispensable for the formation of autophagosomes and
      suppression of endotoxin-induced interleukin (IL)-1 production, suggesting that
      it is responsible for the control of endotoxin-mediated inflammatory responses.
      Because TLR ligands have been identified and TLR signaling pathways clarified, we
      are now looking at the effector phase of TLR responses. We are starting to
      generate knockout (KO) mice of the genes that are induced in response to TLR
      stimulation, but whose functions are unknown. Among them, we recently identified
      a novel gene, Zc3h12a, encoding a nuclease involved in destabilization of IL-6
      and IL-12 messenger RNAs. KO mice lacking this gene developed spontaneous
      autoimmune diseases accompanied by splenomegaly and lymphadenopathy. This review
      describes the phenotypes of our different KO mice models and the role of various
      molecules in TLR responses.

PMID- 20935537
TI  - Transscleral intraocular lens fixation with preservation of the anterior vitreous
      face in patients with marfan syndrome and ectopia lentis.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of transscleral intraocular lens
      fixation with preservation of the anterior vitreous in the treatment of ectopia
      lentis in patients with Marfan syndrome. METHODS: Patients who had undergone
      surgical intervention for ectopia lentis with or without lenticular opacity were
      included. Best-corrected visual acuity before and after surgery was compared.
      Perioperative complications were evaluated. RESULTS: A total of 23 patients (45
      eyes) whose mean age at surgery was 16.9 +/- 8.9 years were recruited. The mean
      follow-up period was 10.1 +/- 5.8 months. Mean best-corrected visual acuity
      change (with respect to preoperative logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution
      value) was 1.03 +/- 0.39. All patients showed >2 lines of improvement in visual
      acuity. Pupillary capture was found in 6 eyes. Medically controllable intraocular
      pressure elevation was noted in 12 eyes. CONCLUSION: Transscleral intraocular
      lens fixation with preservation of the anterior vitreous face is a safe and
      effective technique for treatment of ectopia lentis in patients with Marfan
      syndrome.

PMID- 20935538
TI  - Adoptive transfer of donor corneal antigen-specific regulatory T cells can
      prolong mice corneal grafts survival.
AB  - PURPOSE: To explore the effects of adoptive transferring T regulatory cells (T
      reg cells) stimulated by donor corneal antigen (Ag) to prevent corneal
      transplantation immune rejection in mice. METHODS: C57BL/6 mice were used as
      donors and BALB/c mice as recipients. Corneal Ag was harvested by homogenization
      and centrifugation. Bone marrow dendritic cells (DCs) from BALB/c mice were
      cultured with stimulation of granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor and
      interleukin-4 for 5 days. Then, donor corneal Ag was added to obtain donor
      corneal Ag-loaded DCs. The DCs were used to stimulate CD4+CD25+ and CD4+CD25+ T
      cells from the recipient to yield Ag-stimulated T reg cells. Penetrating
      keratoplasty was performed in the mice. The recipients were randomly divided into
      3 groups receiving 0.1 mL of phosphate-buffered saline, 1 * 10(6) naive T reg
      cells, and Ag-stimulated T reg cells, respectively, given by retroorbital
      injection at the end of surgery. The allografts were observed, and
      histopathological examination was performed 15 days after surgery. RESULTS: : The
      corneal Ag mainly comprised 2 proteins with molecular weight 54 and 42 kD,
      respectively. Corneal Ag-loaded DCs expressed higher levels of CD11c, CD80, and
      CD86 than bone marrow precursor cells. Both CD4CD25 and CD4+CD25+ T cells showed
      vigorous proliferative responses to corneal Ag-loaded DCs. Mean survival time of
      the mice corneal allografts in phosphate-buffered saline, naive T reg cells, and
      Ag-stimulated groups was 8.1 +/- 1.1, 14.3 +/- 2.0, and 23.3 +/- 2.6 days,
      respectively (P < 0.01 among groups). Histopathological examination revealed less
      inflammatory cells infiltration in Ag-stimulated than in naive mice. CONCLUSIONS:
      : Adoptive transfer of donor corneal Ag-specific T reg cells prolonged survival
      time of corneal allografts in our mouse model, which might suggest a useful
      approach to cellular immunotherapy for corneal transplantation immune rejection.

PMID- 20935539
TI  - Commanding roles of keratocytes in health and disease.
AB  - The healthy corneal stroma comprises a 3-dimensional network of keratocytes
      interconnected by cellular processes divided by gap junctions. The shape of the
      corneal stromal cells is regulated by the presence of extracellular collagen
      matrix. Furthermore, if compact collagen are present around keratocytes, they
      decrease their mitotic activity so that the cells in normal healthy cornea are
      quiescent with low proliferative activity. However, when extracellular collagen
      is disrupted such as when inflammatory cells infiltrate the corneal stroma and
      release proinflammatory cytokines including interleukin 1 and tumor necrosis
      factor alpha, keratocytes are released from their network structure and undergo
      active proliferation. However, culturing keratocytes in the presence of tumor
      necrosis factor alpha dose dependently downregulates the presence and function of
      gap functions. Keratocytes also have phagocytic activities; foreign particles are
      internalized into these cells. In corneal ulceration, microorganisms invading the
      stroma secrete collagen-degrading enzymes and signaling molecules such as
      elastase and lipopolysaccharide that activate corneal keratocytes to secrete
      stroma-degrading matrix metalloproteinase and various chemokines to attract
      immune cells to the focus area of corneal stroma. Thus, keratocytes actively
      participate in collagen degradation of corneal ulceration. The Chinese herbal
      extract triptolide has been demonstrated significantly and dose dependently to
      decrease collagen degradation by condition medium-induced corneal fibroblasts. In
      ocular health, keratocytes respond to signals to and from epithelial cells. In
      ocular disease, keratocytes become activated cells that respond to various
      cytokines. Hence, keratocytes play commanding roles in ocular health and disease.

PMID- 20935540
TI  - Heterogeneity of limbal basal epithelial progenitor cells.
AB  - Although corneal epithelial stem cells (SCs) are located at the limbus between
      the cornea and the conjunctiva, not all limbal basal epithelial cells are SCs.
      Using 2 dispase digestions to remove different amounts of limbal basal epithelial
      cells for cross-sections, flat mounts, and cytospin preparations, double
      immunostaining to pancytokeratins (PCK) and vimentin (Vim) identified 3 p63+
      epithelial progenitors such as PCK-/Vim+, PCK/Vim, and PCK-/Vim+ and 1 p63+
      mesenchymal cell, PCK-/Vim+. PCK-/Vim- progenitors had the smallest cell size
      were 10-20 times more enriched on collagen I-coated dishes in the 5-minute rapid
      adherent fraction that contained the highest percentage of p63+ cells but the
      lowest percentage of cytokeratin12+ cells, and gave rise to high Ki67 labeling
      and vivid clonal growth. In contrast, PCK+/Vim+ and PCK+/Vim- progenitors were
      found more in the slow-adherent fraction and yielded poor clonal growth. PCK/Vim
      progenitors and clusters of PCK-/Vim+ mesenchymal cells, which were neither
      melanocytes nor Langerhans cells, were located in the limbal basal region.
      Therefore, differential expression of PCK and Vim helps identify small PCK-/Vim-
      cells as the most likely candidate for SCs among a hierarchy of heterogeneous
      limbal basal progenitors, and their close association with PCK-/Vim+ presumed
      "niche" cells.

PMID- 20935541
TI  - The epithelium takes center stage in allergic keratoconjunctivitis.
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate the role of the epithelium in severe allergic
      conjunctivitis. METHODS: We first investigated the expression of protease
      activated receptors (PARs) in cultured human conjunctival epithelial cells and
      fibroblasts by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. Next, we examined
      whether mite allergen-stimulated cells release chemokines and whether
      physiological protease inhibitors such as secretory leukocyte protease inhibitor
      (SLPI) and alpha1-antitrypsin can inhibit their production. We also looked at the
      expression of thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) in giant papillae of patients
      with vernal keratoconjunctivitis and examined whether the as Toll-like receptor 3
      ligand polyinosinic:polycytidylic acid (poly I:C) can induce expression of TSLP
      in cultured human conjunctival epithelial cells. RESULTS: PAR 1, PAR2, and PAR3
      were expressed in cultured human conjunctival epithelial cells and fibroblasts at
      mRNA level. These epithelial cells released interleukin (IL) 6 and IL-8, with an
      upregulation in their gene expression, in response to the serine protease
      activity of mite allergens. This response was inhibited by SLPI and alpha1
      antitrypsin. Transforming growth factor beta1 decreased the production of SLPI in
      corneal and conjunctival epithelial cells. TSLP was expressed in giant papillae
      epithelium in patients with vernal keratoconjunctivitis at mRNA and protein
      levels. Poly I:C induced expression of TSLP in cultured conjunctival epithelial
      cells at mRNA level. Costimulation with TSLP and IL-33 had a synergistic effect
      for IL-13 mRNA expression in cultured human mast cells. CONCLUSIONS: Imbalance
      between protease of mite allergens and innate protease inhibitors of the
      epithelium may induce inflammation and disrupt barrier function. Viral infection
      may induce expression of TSLP via Toll-like receptors and release IL-33 by
      necrosis. These phenomena promote excessive allergic reactions; hence, the
      epithelium takes "center stage" in allergic conjunctivitis.

PMID- 20935542
TI  - How good is transplantation of corneal parts compared with penetrating
      keratoplasty?
AB  - The concept of transplantation of corneal parts is to replace only diseased
      tissues, while leaving healthy host tissues intact. Advantages of the new
      surgical approaches include fast recovery, resistance to trauma, and less
      postoperative complications. Despite the theoretical benefits, however, only few
      data are available in terms of the pros and cons of the new surgical methods. In
      this review, we analyzed our data on deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty (DALK)
      and Descemet stripping automated endothelial keratoplasty (DSAEK). Difficulty of
      surgical procedure still remains in DALK, and intraoperative Descemet membrane
      (DM) rupture is a major concern. We recently introduced a new DM exposure
      technique: the double-bubble method. We also investigated the influence of DM
      rupture on graft survival and visual function. Other concerns in DALK are long
      term stability of endothelial density and interface opacity. We also investigated
      safety and efficacy of subsequent cataract surgery and found that the surgery can
      be performed safely without significant intraoperative complications. Visual
      improvement was excellent, and endothelial density remained stable. Although
      recent increase of DSAEK is remarkable, refinements in surgical procedure are
      needed, especially in Asian small eyes. Recent developments in surgical technique
      and instruments in graft insertion are presented. DSAEK is advantageous in the
      management of postoperative complications, including suture-associated troubles,
      astigmatism, and epithelial damage. However, we encounter new complication such
      as graft dislocation. Surgical outcomes of our series and those of other
      institutes are discussed.

PMID- 20935543
TI  - Endothelial mesenchymal transition: a therapeutic target in retrocorneal
      membrane.
AB  - A single layer of corneal endothelial cells covers the posterior surface of the
      Descemet membrane. Normally, corneal endothelial cells do not proliferate,
      suggesting that factors inhibit their undergoing mitosis. Fibroblastic
      transformation of corneal endothelial cells due to syphilitic interstitial
      keratitis or alkali burn may result in stromal opacification. Various growth
      factors such as fibroblast growth factor 2 and transforming growth factor beta
      are involved in "endothelial-mesenchymal transition (EnMT)." Endothelial wound
      healing assay experiments revealed that cell migration toward artificial wound
      defect was mediated by p38 and c-Jun N-terminal kinase. To understand whether
      Smad signal might have an important role in EnMT regulation, gene transfer of
      Smad7 was employed to block transforming growth factor beta/Smad signal in rat
      corneal endothelium 3 days before alkali burning. EnMT during healing interval
      after alkali burn was markedly suppressed by Smad7 overexpression associated with
      upregulation of cell proliferation. Therefore, blocking Smad signal effectively
      suppresses injury-induced EnMT and fibrogenic reaction by corneal endothelium
      without impairing repair of wound defect. Strategies that block Smad may be
      useful for prevention and treatment of fibrogenic disorders in the corneal
      endothelium.

PMID- 20935545
TI  - Ocular allergic inflammation: interaction between the cornea and conjunctiva.
AB  - Severe ocular allergic diseases such as vernal keratoconjunctivitis are
      characterized not only by conjunctival allergic inflammation, including
      infiltration of T helper 2 cells and eosinophils into the conjunctiva, but also
      by various corneal disorders such as persistent epithelial defects and shield
      ulcer. Although the cornea and conjunctiva are thought to influence each other
      during ocular allergic inflammation, direct evidence for interaction between
      these tissues in vivo has been lacking. Eosinophils and eosinophil-derived
      factors are implicated in the pathogenesis of corneal lesions associated with
      ocular allergy, with cytotoxic granule proteins such as major basic protein and
      matrix metalloproteinase 9 derived from eosinophils having been detected in
      shield ulcer. Major basic protein exhibits cytotoxic effects in cultured corneal
      epithelial cells and inhibits corneal epithelial wound healing in organ culture,
      whereas matrix metalloproteinase 9 can degrade the corneal epithelial basement
      membrane. In vitro studies have revealed that cytokines and other inflammatory
      mediators directly impair the barrier function of corneal epithelial cells and
      increase the expression of chemokines and adhesion molecules by corneal stromal
      fibroblasts, effects that may enhance allergic inflammation. We have recently
      shown that removal of the corneal epithelium augmented late-phase clinical signs
      and conjunctival eosinophilia, whereas conjunctival inflammation delayed corneal
      epithelial wound healing, in a rat model of ocular allergy. Conjunctival allergic
      inflammation and corneal epithelial disorders thus interact with each other in
      vivo to generate a vicious cycle, interruption of which might provide the basis
      for novel approaches to the treatment of severe ocular allergy.

PMID- 20935544
TI  - Regulation of ocular surface inflammation by prostaglandin E receptor subtype
      EP3.
AB  - We first investigated whether the prostaglandin (PG) E2-PGE receptor subtype EP3
      axis regulates the development of murine experimental allergic conjunctivitis
      because it has been reported that this pathway negatively regulates allergic
      reactions in a murine allergic asthma model. We observed that EP3 is
      constitutively expressed in mice conjunctival epithelium. EP3 knockout mice
      demonstrated significantly increased eosinophil infiltration in conjunctiva after
      ragweed challenge compared with wild-type mice. Consistently, significantly
      higher expression of eotaxin-1 messenger RNA was observed in Ptger3-/- mice.
      Conversely, treatment of wild-type mice with an EP3-selective agonist
      significantly decreased eosinophil infiltration, which was blunted in Ptger3-/-
      mice. Expression of cyclooxygenase-2 and PGE synthases was upregulated and PGE2
      content increased in the eyelids after ragweed challenge. These data suggest that
      PGE2 acts on EP3 in the conjunctival epithelium and downregulates the progression
      of experimental allergic conjunctivitis. We next examined and compared the
      expression of EP3 in human conjunctival epithelium in various ocular surface
      diseases. Human conjunctival epithelium expressed EP3-specific messenger RNA and
      EP3 protein. Although we could clearly find positive signals in the conjunctival
      epithelium from patients with noninflammatory ocular surface diseases such as
      conjunctivochalasis and pterygium, we could not find positive signals in that
      from those with inflammatory disorders such as Stevens-Johnson syndrome and
      ocular cicatricial pemphigoid. Likewise, expression of the PGE receptor subtype
      EP4 was clearly found in the conjunctival epithelium from patients with
      conjunctivochalasis and pterygium but not from patients with Stevens-Johnson
      syndrome and ocular cicatricial pemphigoid.

PMID- 20935546
TI  - Immune processes and pathogenic fibrosis in ocular chronic graft-versus-host
      disease and clinical manifestations after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell
      transplantation.
AB  - Activation of the immune system and progressive fibrosis are prominent features
      of chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD) after allogeneic hematopoietic stem
      cell transplantation. The main histologic findings in affected exocrine glands
      are marked fibrosis of the interstitium and prominent increase in the number of
      fibroblasts, accompanied by mild lymphocytic infiltration. Clinically, the
      severity of dry eye is correlated with the degree of fibrotic changes, rather
      than with the amount of lymphocytic infiltration, indicating that excessive
      extracellular matrix accumulation primarily contributes to the exocrine
      dysfunction. We have found that accumulated fibroblasts in the lacrimal gland of
      patients with cGVHD have a chimeric status. Thus, fibroblasts originating from
      circulating donor-derived precursors and recipient-derived fibroblasts by local
      epithelial mesenchymal transition may participate in the excessive fibrosis in
      patients with cGVHD by interacting with T cells. In this article, the immune
      response and pathogenic fibrosis in ocular cGVHD will be discussed. In addition,
      clinical findings of ocular complications after hematopoietic stem cell
      transplantation and currently available treatment will also be discussed.

PMID- 20935547
TI  - Toward productive aging: SIRT1, systemic NAD biosynthesis, and the NAD world.
AB  - In our current society, achieving "productive aging," which aims to keep people
      as productive as possible with good health and spirit for their private and
      social activities as they grow older, will be important to maximize the duration
      of high quality of life and to promote a stable economy and solvent social
      security in healthcare systems. To achieve this goal, we have been studying
      mechanisms of mammalian aging and longevity, focusing on the physiological
      importance of the mammalian nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD)--dependent
      protein deacetylase SIRT1 and systemic NAD biosynthesis mediated by nicotinamide
      phosphoribosyltransferase for the regulation of metabolism and aging. Through
      these studies, we have recently proposed a comprehensive concept of a novel
      systemic regulatory network for metabolism and aging, named "NAD World." This new
      concept of NAD World also conveys ideas of functional hierarchy and frailty for
      the induction of aging in mammals. Details of the NAD World and its implications
      to age-associated metabolic diseases such as type 2 diabetes will be discussed.

PMID- 20935552
TI  - Women's morbidity and mortality in the first 2 years after delivery according to
      HIV status.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Better knowledge of the impact of HIV status on morbidity and
      mortality patterns of women after delivery is important to improve clinical and
      policy recommendations. METHODS: Women were enrolled during pregnancy in the
      Vertical Transmission Study, prior to antiretroviral roll-out in South Africa,
      and followed for 24 months after delivery. Their health was evaluated by
      standardized questionnaires and clinical examinations. RESULTS: Information was
      available for 2624 women, 50.5% of whom were HIV-infected. Mortality was 8.6
      deaths per 1000 person-years in HIV-uninfected, and 55.68 in HIV-infected women.
      Mortality was associated with antenatal CD4 cell count in HIV-infected women:
      171.43/1000 person-years in those with CD4 cell count below 200 compared to
      19.35/1000 in those with CD4 cell count at least 200. There was no significant
      difference between the intensity of breastfeeding during the first 3 months after
      delivery in women who died and those who survived, regardless of mother's HIV
      infection status (P = 0.112 and P = 0.530, respectively). Serious morbidity
      events were documented in 250 of 2624 (9.5%) women; the most common events were
      bloody diarrhoea (26.4%), pulmonary tuberculosis (24.4%) and an abscess (17.2%).
      Multivariable Cox regression analysis identified HIV infection, lower levels of
      education, river/stream water source as risk factors. CONCLUSION: HIV-infected
      women experienced more morbidity and mortality than HIV-uninfected women; this
      was predicted by maternal immune status and socio-economic factors. HIV-infected
      women even in the high CD4 strata had higher mortality than HIV-uninfected women
      from the same population. This study underlines the importance of interventions
      to improve maternal health, for example timely antiretroviral treatment,
      tuberculosis screening, and improved water and sanitation.

PMID- 20935553
TI  - Serum FGF21 levels are elevated in association with lipodystrophy, insulin
      resistance and biomarkers of liver injury in HIV-1-infected patients.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: HIV-1-infected patients with lipodystrophy show insulin resistance,
      dyslipidemia and other signs of metabolic syndrome. Fibroblast growth factor-21
      (FGF21) is a novel metabolic regulator that has been suggested to exert
      beneficial effects on metabolic homeostasis and insulin sensitivity. Our goal was
      to determine the relationship between FGF21 levels and metabolic alterations in
      these patients. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Serum FGF21 levels were analyzed in
      179 individuals belonging to four groups: HIV-1-infected, antiretroviral-treated
      patients that have developed lipodystrophy (n = 59); HIV-1-infected,
      antiretroviral-treated patients without lipodystrophy (n = 45); untreated (naive)
      HIV-1-infected patients (n = 41); and healthy control individuals (n = 34). Serum
      FGF21 levels were correlated with parameters indicative of altered fat
      distribution, metabolic and cardiovascular risk, and in relation to HIV-1
      infection and antiretroviral treatment regimens. RESULTS: Serum FGF21 levels were
      increased in all HIV-1-infected patients, but the increases were most marked in
      those with lipodystrophy. FGF21 levels showed a strong positive correlation with
      indicators of lipodystrophy (trunk/apendicular fat ratio, waist-to-hip ratio),
      insulin resistance (fasting glucose, HOMA-R), dyslipidemia (low-density
      lipoprotein cholesterol), and liver injury (gamma-glutamyltransferase).
      CONCLUSIONS: FGF21 levels are increased in HIV-1-infected patients, especially in
      those with lipodystrophy, and this increase is closely associated with insulin
      resistance, metabolic syndrome and makers of liver damage. Further research will
      be required to determine whether the increase in FGF21 levels is caused by a
      compensatory response or resistance to FGF21, and to establish the potential of
      FGF21 as a biomarker of altered metabolism in HIV-1-infected, antiretroviral
      treated patients.

PMID- 20935554
TI  - Outcomes in patients waiting for antiretroviral treatment in the Free State
      Province, South Africa: prospective linkage study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: In South Africa, many HIV-infected patients experience delays in
      accessing antiretroviral therapy (ART). We examined pretreatment mortality and
      access to treatment in patients waiting for ART. DESIGN: Cohort of HIV-infected
      patients assessed for ART eligibility at 36 facilities participating in the
      Comprehensive HIV and AIDS Management (CHAM) program in the Free State Province.
      METHODS: Proportion of patients initiating ART, pre-ART mortality and risk
      factors associated with these outcomes were estimated using competing risks
      survival analysis. RESULTS: Forty-four thousand, eight hundred and forty-four
      patients enrolled in CHAM between May 2004 and December 2007, of whom 22 083
      (49.2%) were eligible for ART; pre-ART mortality was 53.2 per 100 person-years
      [95% confidence interval (CI) 51.8-54.7]. Median CD4 cell count at eligibility
      increased from 87 cells/MUl in 2004 to 101 cells/MUl in 2007. Two years after
      eligibility an estimated 67.7% (67.1-68.4%) of patients had started ART, and
      26.2% (25.6-26.9%) died before starting ART. Among patients with CD4 cell counts
      below 25 cells/MUl at eligibility, 48% died before ART and 51% initiated ART. Men
      were less likely to start treatment and more likely to die than women. Patients
      in rural clinics or clinics with low staffing levels had lower rates of starting
      treatment and higher mortality compared with patients in urban/peri-urban
      clinics, or better staffed clinics. CONCLUSIONS: Mortality is high in eligible
      patients waiting for ART in the Free State Province. The most immunocompromised
      patients had the lowest probability of starting ART and the highest risk of pre
      ART death. Prioritization of these patients should reduce waiting times and pre
      ART mortality.

PMID- 20935555
TI  - Impact of tuberculosis cotreatment on viral suppression rates among HIV-positive
      children initiating HAART.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the association between treatment of HIV-tuberculosis (TB)
      coinfection and primary virologic failure among children initiating
      antiretroviral therapy in South Africa. DESIGN: We performed a retrospective
      cohort study of 1029 children initiating antiretroviral therapy at two medical
      centers in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa, a region of very high TB incidence.
      METHODS: Data were extracted from electronic medical records and charts and the
      impact of TB cotreatment on viral suppression at 6 and 12 months was assessed
      using logistic regression. RESULTS: The overall rate of virologic suppression
      (<400 HIV RNA copies/ml) was 85% at 6 months and 87% at 12 months. Children who
      received concurrent treatment for TB had a significantly lower rate of virologic
      suppression at 6 months (79 vs. 88%; P = 0.003). Those who received nonnucleoside
      reverse transcriptase inhibitor-based HAART had similar rates of viral
      suppression regardless of whether they received concurrent TB therapy. In
      contrast, children who received protease inhibitor-based HAART had significantly
      lower viral suppression rates at both 6 and 12 months if treated concurrently for
      TB (P = 0.02 and 0.03). Multivariate logistic regression revealed that age at
      initiation, protease inhibitor therapy, and TB coinfection were each
      independently associated with primary virologic failure. CONCLUSION: Concurrent
      treatment for TB is associated with lower rates of viral suppression among
      children receiving protease inhibitor-based HAART, but not among those receiving
      nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor-based HAART. Guidelines for the
      care of young HIV-TB coinfected infants should be continually evaluated, as
      protease inhibitor-based antiviral therapy may not provide optimal viral
      suppression in this population.

PMID- 20935556
TI  - Reduced CD127 expression on peripheral CD4+ T cells impairs immunological
      recovery in course of suppressive highly active antiretroviral therapy.
AB  - Inefficient immune recovery under highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART)
      represents a clinical issue. Twenty-seven of 121 HIV+ naive patients became
      immunological nonresponders (INRs) and 55 introduced therapy late [very late
      treated (VLT)]. INR displayed older age, lower CD4(+) cell counts, down
      regulation of CD127(+)CD4(+) and higher apoptotic CD95(+)CD8(+). VLT also showed
      higher activated CD38(+)CD8(+)%. The only factor associated with INR status was
      CD127(+)CD4(+)%. INR showed lower baseline interleukin (IL)-7 levels and a
      reduced expression of IL-7R (CD127(+)) on naive and memory T-cells, reaching
      significance in memory CD127(+)CD45(+)R0(+)CD4(+). These results suggest a
      possible role for the IL-7/IL-7R system in the pathogenesis of poor immunological
      recovery during HAART.

PMID- 20935557
TI  - Hepatic safety and tolerability in the maraviroc clinical development program.
AB  - Maraviroc is the first CCR5 antagonist to be approved for the treatment of HIV-1
      infection. It is generally well tolerated, with a similar side-effect profile to
      placebo in controlled studies. Many agents used to treat HIV disease are
      associated with the potential for hepatotoxicity. The hepatic effects of
      maraviroc were analyzed across all Pfizer-sponsored maraviroc clinical trials, in
      which 2350 volunteers received maraviroc. Although sporadic hepatic enzyme
      abnormalities were reported in 34 phase 1/2a studies of up to 28-day duration,
      they demonstrated no dose relationship or association with hyperbilirubinemia. In
      the four phase 2b/3 studies in antiretroviral -naive and antiretroviral
      experienced patients, there was no significant imbalance in hepatic enzyme
      abnormalities or hepatobiliary adverse events in maraviroc versus comparator arms
      up to week 96. The findings were similar in patients coinfected with hepatitis B
      and/or C virus, although the number of coinfected patients was small. No patient
      met the strict definition for Hy's Law. Two participants reported severe
      hepatotoxicity and although other potential causes were present, the contribution
      of maraviroc to these events could not be excluded. This analysis suggests that
      maraviroc does not present significant risks to hepatic safety when taken at the
      recommended doses in the populations studied.

PMID- 20935558
TI  - Low frequency of amino acid alterations following therapeutic immunization with
      HIV-1 Gag p24-like peptides.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: In chronic HIV-1 infection, the efficacy of a cellular immune
      response may decline if the virus evolves into variants not recognized by host
      immune response. The aim of this study was to explore HIV-1 immune escape
      mutations imposed by therapeutic immunization by investigating sequence
      variations that might contribute to relapse of viremia in an immunized, HIV-1
      infected cohort. DESIGN: We have previously immunized HIV-1-infected individuals
      on antiretroviral therapy (ART) with a mixture of four short peptides (Vacc-4x)
      corresponding to p24. Long postimmunization periods without ART allowed
      longitudinal sequence studies of regions corresponding to Vacc-4x. METHODS:
      Regions of gag p24 including the locations of the Vacc-4x peptides, were
      sequenced before start of ART, and after postimmunization ART stop (n = 27).
      Rates and locations of amino acid substitutions were then related to peptide
      specific T-cell responses and known epitopes presented by Vacc-4x. RESULTS: The
      overall rate of amino acid substitutions was low during 35 months (median) of
      postimmunization viremia, with similar rates of substitution within the regions
      corresponding to Vacc-4x peptides and other p24 regions despite durable Vacc-4x
      specific T-cell responses. Postimmunization amino acid substitutions within Vacc
      4x regions were detected in only six patients, and only two of them had
      measurable T-cell responses against the relevant peptide. CONCLUSIONS: The
      results suggested low prevalence of evolutionary selection of p24 despite new and
      long-lasting Vacc-4x-specific T-cell responses. The conserved Vacc-4x sequences
      might therefore be particularly suited for therapeutic immunization. Generally,
      studies of longitudinal sequence variations after immunization might be valuable
      when assessing immune escape in HIV vaccine trials.

PMID- 20935559
TI  - Cardiorespiratory instability before and after implementing an integrated
      monitoring system.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Cardiorespiratory instability may be undetected in monitored step
      down unit patients. We explored whether using an integrated monitoring system
      that continuously amalgamates single noninvasive monitoring parameters (heart
      rate, respiratory rate, blood pressure, and peripheral oxygen saturation) into AN
      instability index value (INDEX) correlated with our single-parameter
      cardiorespiratory instability concern criteria, and whether nurse response to
      INDEX alert for patient attention was associated with instability reduction.
      DESIGN: Prospective, longitudinal evaluation in sequential 8-, 16-, and 8-wk
      phases (phase I, phase II, and phase III, respectively). SETTING: A 24-bed trauma
      step-down unit in single urban tertiary care center. PATIENTS: All monitored
      patients. INTERVENTIONS: Phase I: Patients received continuous single-channel
      monitoring (heart rate, respiratory rate, blood pressure, and peripheral oxygen
      saturation) and standard care; INDEX background was recorded but not displayed.
      Phase II: INDEX was background-recorded; staff was educated on use. Phase III:
      Staff used a clinical response algorithm for INDEX alerts. MEASUREMENT AND MAIN
      RESULTS: Any monitored parameters even transiently beyond local cardiorespiratory
      instability concern triggers (heart rate of <40 or >140 beats/min, respiratory
      rate of <8 or >36 breaths/min, systolic blood pressure of <80 or >200 mm Hg,
      diastolic blood pressure of >110 mm Hg, and peripheral oxygen saturation of <85%)
      defined INSTABILITYmin. INSTABILITYmin further judged as both persistent and
      serious defined INSTABILITYfull. The INDEX alert states were defined as INDEXmin
      and INDEXfull by using same classification. Phase I and phase III admissions (323
      vs. 308) and monitoring (18,258 vs. 18,314 hrs) were similar. INDEXmin and
      INDEXfull correlated significantly with INSTABILITYmin and INSTABILITYfull (r =
      .713 and r = .815, respectively, p < .0001). INDEXmin occurred before
      INSTABILITYmin in 80% of cases (mean advance time 9.4 +/- 9.2 mins). Phase I and
      phase III admissions were similarly likely to develop INSTABILITYmin (35% vs.
      33%), but INSTABILITYmin duration/admission decreased from phase I to phase III
      (p = .018). Both INSTABILITYfull episodes/admission (p = .03) and INSTABILITYfull
      duration/admission (p = .05) decreased in phase III. CONCLUSION: The integrated
      monitoring system INDEX correlated significantly with cardiorespiratory
      instability concern criteria, usually occurred before overt instability, and when
      coupled with a nursing alert was associated with decreased cardiorespiratory
      instability concern criteria in step-down unit patients.

PMID- 20935560
TI  - Biomarkers increase detection of active smoking and secondhand smoke exposure in
      critically ill patients.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The association between tobacco smoke exposure and critical illness
      is not well studied, largely because obtaining an accurate smoking history from
      critically ill patients is difficult. Biomarkers can provide quantitative data on
      active and secondhand cigarette smoke exposure. We sought to compare cigarette
      smoke exposure as measured by biomarkers to exposure by self-report in a cohort
      of critically ill patients and to determine how well biomarkers of cigarette
      smoke exposure correlate with each other in this population. DESIGN, SETTING, AND
      PATIENTS: Serum and urine cotinine and trans-3'-hydroxycotinine, urine 4
      (methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanol, and hair and nail nicotine levels
      were measured in 60 subjects enrolled in an observational cohort of critically
      ill subjects at a tertiary academic medical center in Tennessee. Smoking history
      was obtained from patients, their surrogates, or the medical chart. Cigarette
      smoke exposure as measured by biomarkers was compared to exposure by history.
      MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: By smoking history, 29 subjects were identified as
      smokers, 28 were identified as nonsmokers, and 3 were identified as unknown. The
      combination of serum cotinine and urine 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1
      butanol identified 27 of the 28 nonsmokers by history either as active smokers (n
      = 6, 21%) or as exposed to secondhand smoke (n = 21, 75%). All biomarker levels
      were strongly correlated with each other (r = .69-.95, p < .0001). CONCLUSIONS:
      The combination of serum cotinine and urine 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1
      butanol identified considerably more active smokers than did smoking history and
      detected a high prevalence of secondhand smoke exposure in a critically ill
      population. These markers will be important for future studies investigating the
      relationship between active smoking and secondhand smoke exposure and critical
      illness.

PMID- 20935562
TI  - The fatty acid desaturation index of blood lipids, as a biomarker of hepatic
      stearoyl-CoA desaturase expression, is a predictive factor of breast cancer risk.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: This review summarizes epidemiological data linking the fatty
      acid desaturation index measured in blood lipids, as a biomarker of hepatic
      stearoyl-CoA desaturase activity, the key enzyme involved in the synthesis of
      monounsaturated fatty acids from saturated fatty acids, to breast cancer risk.
      The biological plausibility of this association is discussed. RECENT FINDINGS:
      Epidemiological cohort studies reported an association between a high saturated
      to monounsaturated fatty acid ratio measured in blood lipids, indicating low
      stearoyl-CoA desaturase-1 activity, and decreased breast cancer risk. The
      suppression of stearoyl-CoA desaturase expression reduces cancer cell
      proliferation and in-vitro invasiveness, and dramatically impairs tumor formation
      and growth. These effects could not be overcome by supplying exogenous
      monounsaturated fatty acids. SUMMARY: Epidemiological findings, in accordance
      with experimental data, suggested that decreased hepatic stearoyl-CoA desaturase
      expression/activity may be related to decreased risk of breast cancer.

PMID- 20935563
TI  - Severe hypercholesterolaemia: therapeutic goals and eligibility criteria for LDL
      apheresis in Europe.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Despite the use of currently available lipid-lowering
      therapies, a significant proportion of patients with severe hypercholesterolaemia
      do not reach treatment goals and consequently remain at increased risk for
      cardiovascular disease (CVD). On the basis of clinical experience, these patients
      tend to have the most severe forms of familial hypercholesterolaemia or markedly
      elevated LDL cholesterol (LDL-C) levels but are unable to tolerate statin
      therapy. RECENT FINDINGS: LDL apheresis is currently the best treatment option
      (or treatment rescue) to bring these patients closer to therapeutic LDL
      objectives, and has been shown to reduce the risk of CVD along with LDL-C levels.
      However, criteria for LDL apheresis eligibility and the percentage of patients
      receiving treatment vary widely from country to country across Europe. Despite
      the proven benefits of LDL apheresis, access to this procedure remains limited
      because of its high cost and low availability, reflecting inherent limitations of
      this treatment modality. SUMMARY: There is a need to both better define the
      patient population eligible for LDL apheresis and to create unified European
      guidelines governing the use of apheresis. In addition to improving access to
      apheresis where appropriate, new therapies are needed to further decrease LDL-C
      and reduce the ongoing CVD risk in patients with severe hypercholesterolaemia.

PMID- 20935561
TI  - Multicenter cohort study of out-of-hospital pediatric cardiac arrest.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To describe a large cohort of children with out-of-hospital cardiac
      arrest with return of circulation and to identify factors in the early postarrest
      period associated with survival. These objectives were for planning an
      interventional trial of therapeutic hypothermia after pediatric cardiac arrest.
      METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was conducted at 15 Pediatric Emergency
      Care Applied Research Network clinical sites over an 18-month study period. All
      children from 1 day (24 hrs) to 18 yrs of age with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest
      and a history of at least 1 min of chest compressions with return of circulation
      for at least 20 mins were eligible. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: One hundred
      thirty-eight cases met study entry criteria; the overall mortality was 62% (85 of
      138 cases). The event characteristics associated with increased survival were as
      follows: weekend arrests, cardiopulmonary resuscitation not ongoing at hospital
      arrival, arrest rhythm not asystole, no atropine or NaHCO3, fewer epinephrine
      doses, shorter duration of cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and drowning or
      asphyxial arrest event. For the 0- to 12-hr postarrest return-of-circulation
      period, absence of any vasopressor or inotropic agent (dopamine, epinephrine)
      use, higher lowest temperature recorded, greater lowest pH, lower lactate, lower
      maximum glucose, and normal pupillary responses were all associated with
      survival. A multivariate logistic model of variables available at the time of
      arrest, which controlled for gender, age, race, and asystole or ventricular
      fibrillation/ventricular tachycardia anytime during the arrest, found the
      administration of atropine and epinephrine to be associated with mortality. A
      second model using additional information available up to 12 hrs after return of
      circulation found 1) preexisting lung or airway disease; 2) an etiology of arrest
      drowning or asphyxia; 3) higher pH, and 4) bilateral reactive pupils to be
      associated with lower mortality. Receiving more than three doses of epinephrine
      was associated with poor outcome in 96% (44 of 46) of cases. CONCLUSIONS:
      Multiple factors were identified as associated with survival after out-of
      hospital pediatric cardiac arrest with the return of circulation. Additional
      information available within a few hours after the return of circulation may
      diminish outcome associations of factors available at earlier times in regression
      models. These factors should be considered in the design of future interventional
      trials aimed to improve outcome after pediatric cardiac arrest.

PMID- 20935564
TI  - Lipid lowering with thyroid hormone and thyromimetics.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: To summarize how thyroid hormones exert their effects on lipid
      metabolism through specific interaction with their nuclear receptors, to review
      studies of the effects of new and selective thyromimetic drugs in animals and
      humans and to identify important questions for future research. RECENT FINDINGS:
      Thyroid hormones exert their effects by stimulation of thyroid hormone receptors
      that have different tissue distribution and metabolic targets. TRbeta is
      predominant in liver and mainly responsible for effects on cholesterol and
      lipoprotein metabolism, whereas TRalpha is most important in fat, muscle, and
      heart. Thyroid hormone analogs (thyromimetics, tiromes) have been developed that
      activate TRbeta and are selectively taken up and/or activated by the liver. Such
      compounds stimulate hepatic LDL receptors, cholesterol elimination as bile acids
      and cholesterol, and presumably promote reverse cholesterol transport. In
      animals, they retard atherosclerosis progression. In humans, eprotirome exerts
      favorable lipid-modulating effects while lacking thyroid hormone-related side
      effects and maintaining normal hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid feedback. When
      added to statins, it reduces LDL and non-HDL cholesterol, apolipoprotein B, and
      triglycerides as well as lipoprotein (a). SUMMARY: Liver-specific and beta
      selective thyroid hormone analogs activate a spectrum of favorable thyroid
      hormone actions that optimize lipid metabolism and promote cholesterol
      elimination. Further studies should establish long-term safety and potential
      clinical usefulness of thyromimetics.

PMID- 20935565
TI  - Macronutrient advice for ischemic heart disease prevention.
AB  - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Intake of saturated fatty acids (SFAs) increases the low
      density lipoprotein cholesterol concentration in plasma and has therefore been
      suggested to increase the risk of ischemic heart disease (IHD). Focus on limiting
      SFA intake without specifying the substitutions may be counterproductive because
      SFAs may be replaced with other equally or more harmful macronutrients. Recent
      findings on substitution of specified macronutrients for SFAs and risk of IHD are
      reviewed. RECENT FINDINGS: Recent cohort studies suggest that intake of
      polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) or carbohydrates with low-glycemic index
      values in place of SFAs is associated with a lower risk of IHD whereas intake of
      carbohydrates with high-glycemic index values in place of SFAs is associated with
      a higher risk of IHD. SUMMARY: Cohort studies and randomized clinical trials
      provide convincing evidence of a lower risk of IHD associated with substitution
      of PUFAs for SFAs. Analyzing substitution of specified macronutrients for SFAs
      offers a perspective different from the single nutrient focus and may provide
      further insight into IHD prevention.

PMID- 20935566
TI  - Presumed corneal stromal graft rejection after deep anterior lamellar
      keratoplasty in a patient with systemic lupus erythematosis.
AB  - PURPOSE: To report a case of presumed corneal stromal graft rejection after deep
      anterior lamellar keratoplasty in a patient with systemic lupus erythematosis
      (SLE). METHODS: Deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty was performed using the "bug
      bubble" technique in the left eye of a 14-year-old patient with keratoconus. Her
      medical records revealed a history of SLE that was in remission. Immediate
      postoperative course was uneventful. A best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) of
      20/40 was achieved at the end of 6 months. She was advised to taper off and stop
      topical corticosteroids by the end of 9 months. The patient presented with a red
      eye and reduced vision 11 months after surgery. At the time of presentation, the
      BCVA was 20/200, and ultrasonic central corneal thickness (CCT) was 792 MUm in
      the operated eye. The anterior chamber was found to be quiet, and posterior
      segment examination was unremarkable. A diagnosis of presumed immune-mediated
      corneal stromal graft rejection was made. Treatment was started in the form of 1%
      prednisolone acetate eye drops every hour and 0.5% moxifloxacin hydrochloride eye
      drops thrice times daily. Hundred milligrams of methylprednisolone in 150 mL of
      20% dextrose was administered intravenously. RESULTS: At the end of 2 weeks, the
      corneal edema cleared with a resultant CCT of 618 MUm, and the BCVA improved to
      20/40. CONCLUSIONS: Deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty does not eliminate the
      risk of corneal stromal rejection. Our patient had an associated history of SLE,
      which may necessitate a prolonged topical immunosuppression after corneal
      transplantation in these cases.

PMID- 20935567
TI  - Corneal erosions, bacterial contamination of contact lenses, and microbial
      keratitis.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To estimate the rate of corneal erosion coupled with gram-negative
      bacterial contamination of contact lenses and compare this with the rate of
      microbial keratitis (MK) with contact lenses. METHODS: The rate of corneal
      erosion and contact lens contamination by gram-negative bacteria were calculated
      from several prospective trials. These rates were used to calculate the
      theoretical rate of corneal erosion happening at the same time as wearing a
      contact lens contaminated with gram-negative bacteria. This theoretical rate was
      then compared with the rates of MK reported in various epidemiological and
      clinical trials. RESULTS: Corneal erosions were more frequent during extended
      wear (0.6-2.6% of visits) compared with daily wear (0.01-0.05% of visits). No
      corneal erosions were observed for lenses worn on a daily disposable basis.
      Contamination rates for lenses worn on a daily disposable basis were the lowest
      (2.4%), whereas they were the highest for low Dk lenses worn on an extended wear
      basis (7.1%). The estimated rate of corneal erosions occurring at the same time
      as wearing lenses contaminated with gram-negative bacteria was the lowest during
      daily wear of low Dk lenses (1.56/10,000 [95% CI: 0.23-10.57]) and the highest
      during extended wear of high Dk lenses (38.55/10,000 [95% CI: 24.77-60.04]).
      These rates were similar in magnitude to the rates reported for MK of different
      hydrogel lenses worn on differing wear schedules. CONCLUSION: The coincidence of
      corneal erosions during lens wear with gram-negative bacterial contamination of
      lenses may account for the relative incidence of MK during lens wear with
      different lens materials and modes of use.

PMID- 20935568
TI  - Piggyback cosmetic contact lens as an occlusion therapy in a patient with
      familial dysautonomia.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this case report is to explore the treatment of ocular
      and visual complications secondary to familial dysautonomia (Riley-Day syndrome)
      on an 8 month-old baby. Treatments for corneal scarring,ocular protection, and
      amblyopia were achieved by fitting a scleral lens with a unique piggyback
      combination involving a cosmetic soft contact lens. METHOD: The patient was seen
      in February 2008, on referral from a corneal specialist, for a scleral lens
      fitting. This case was comanaged from Universite de Montreal with the help of the
      Boston Foundation for Sight.Examination revealed a right cornea with opacities.
      We planned to use scleral lenses to treat this eye and to protect the other one.
      Although the patient's ocular condition did improve, some concerns arose about
      potential impact on her visual development. Our treatment for amblyopia involved
      the use of atropine in both eyes and penalization of the good eye with a cosmetic
      opaque contact lens that we fitted onto a piggyback system over the scleral lens.
      The rationale behind this approach is explained in this article. RESULT: After
      the contact lens was fitted and after penalization and atropinization,the baby's
      visual condition improved. Time will tell to what degree this treatment is
      effective. CONCLUSION: Familial dysautonomia is a challenging condition for the
      eye because of the presence of alacrymia and lack of corneal sensitivity. Scleral
      contact lenses and cosmetic contact lenses offer a unique way of addressing many
      issues, such as corneal healing and amblyopia, raised in this case report. These
      devices may be considered for any other case that requires corneal tissue healing
      and visual development.

PMID- 20935570
TI  - Severe coronary artery spasm and subsequent coronary subclavian steal syndrome.

PMID- 20935569
TI  - Patient compliance during contact lens wear: perceptions, awareness, and
      behavior.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Patient noncompliance with recommended hygienic practices in contact
      lens wear is often considered a significant risk factor for microbial keratitis
      and adverse contact lens-related events. Despite advancements in lens materials
      and care solutions, noncompliant behavior continues to hinder efforts to maximize
      contact lens safety. The objective of this pilot study was to assess the
      relationship between perceived and actual compliance with awareness of risk and
      behavior. METHODS: One hundred sixty-two established contact lens wearers were
      sequentially evaluated after their routine contact lens examination at the
      Optometry Clinic at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at
      Dallas, TX. Each patient was questioned by a single trained interviewer regarding
      his or her lens care practices and knowledge of risk factors associated with lens
      wear. RESULTS: Eighty-six percent of patients believed they were compliant with
      lens wear and care practices; 14% identified themselves as noncompliant. Using a
      scoring model, 32% demonstrated good compliance, 44% exhibited average
      compliance, and 24% were noncompliant; age was a significant factor (P = 0.020).
      Only 34% of patients who perceived themselves as compliant exhibited a good level
      of compliance (P<0.001). Eighty percent of patients reported an awareness of risk
      factors, but awareness did not influence negative behavior. Replacing the lens
      case was the only behavior associated with a positive history for having
      experienced a prior contact lens-related complication (P = 0.002). CONCLUSIONS:
      Perceived compliance is not an indicator for appropriate patient behavior. A
      large proportion of patients remain noncompliant despite awareness of risk.
      Education alone is not a sufficient strategy to improve behavior; newer
      approaches aimed at improving compliance with lens care practices are urgently
      needed.

PMID- 20935571
TI  - The causality quandary in a patient with stroke, Takotsubo syndrome and severe
      coronary artery disease.
AB  - Takotsubo-like left ventricular dysfunction syndrome (TLVDS) and acute coronary
      syndrome have almost always the same clinical presentation and ECG findings. Both
      diseases may become a potential cardioembolic source to the cerebrovascular
      system. Stroke has been linked to TLVDS either as the trigger or as a
      complication. We report on a 67-year-old female patient who presented with an
      acute ischemic stroke confirmed by computed tomographic scan of the brain. She
      also had electrocardiographic features and laboratory findings suggestive of both
      acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and TLVDS. Coronary angiography revealed severe
      coronary artery stenoses but the coronary lesions did not have any of the
      features suggestive of an acute pathology. Echocardiography and left
      ventriculography showed a striking apical ballooning of the left ventricle, which
      resolved completely within 1 week, a clinical picture and course typical for
      TLVDS. There were no signs of left ventricular thrombus. A few burning questions
      arose from this case: what was the acute cardiac disease - TLVDS or AMI? Which
      disease came first - the stroke or the acute cardiac illness? An intricate cause
      effect relationship is discussed; and finally, does an obstructive coronary
      artery disease rule out TLVDS? 

PMID- 20935572
TI  - Percutaneous embolization of lung sequestration using a novel occluding device.

PMID- 20935573
TI  - Irregular coronary sinus parasystole due to second-degree entrance block.

PMID- 20935574
TI  - Anomalous intracavitary right coronary artery detected with cardiac computed
      tomography angiography: a rare but potentially lethal coronary anomaly.

PMID- 20935575
TI  - MMP-1 and MMP-3 polymorphism and arrhythmia recurrence after electrical
      cardioversion in patients with persistent atrial fibrillation.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Cardiac extracellular matrix structure is largely under the control
      of the matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) whose activity maintains a balance
      between connective tissue synthesis and degradation. MMP gene polymorphisms, by
      modifying the level of gene expression, may affect atrial structural remodelling
      and atrial fibrillation recurrence rate. The aim of this study was to evaluate
      the association between MMP-1 and MMP-3 polymorphisms and arrhythmia recurrence.
      METHODS: We studied 74 persistent atrial fibrillation patients who underwent
      electrical cardioversion to restore sinus rhythm. In both patient and reference
      control groups, identification of MMP-1 and MMP-3 gene polymorphisms was
      performed by means of polymerase chain reaction according to standard techniques.
      RESULTS: Distribution of MMP-1 and MMP-3 genotypes and alleles were similar in
      atrial fibrillation patients and controls. During a 3-week follow-up period, 37
      patients showed atrial fibrillation recurrences. Risk for atrial fibrillation
      recurrence significantly differed among groups (P = 0.0139) according to 5A and
      1G allele presence. In particular, atrial fibrillation recurred in 62% of the
      patients carrying both 5A and 1G alleles (reference group) compared with no
      recurrence in patients carrying neither of them. CONCLUSIONS: We observed a
      significant relationship between MMP-1 and MMP-3 polymorphism and atrial
      fibrillation recurrences in patients with persistent atrial fibrillation. These
      findings suggest that genetic factors contribute to determine arrhythmic
      recurrence rate in persistent atrial fibrillation.

PMID- 20935577
TI  - Heme oxygenase-1 induction restores high-blood-flow-dependent remodeling and
      endothelial function in mesenteric arteries of old rats.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Aging is associated with reduced structural and functional adaptation
      to chronic changes in blood flow (shear stress) in small arteries. As heme
      oxygenase-1 (HO-1) is induced by hemodynamic forces in vascular smooth muscle and
      endothelial cells, we hypothesized that it might improve flow-dependent
      remodeling in aging. METHOD: First-order mesenteric arteries from 3 and 16-month
      old rats were exposed to high, low, or normal flow by alternate ligation in vivo.
      Rats were treated with the HO-1 inducer, cobalt protoporphyrin (CoPP, 5 mg/kg) or
      vehicle. 14 days later, local blood flow was measured in vivo, and arteries were
      studied in vitro. RESULTS: Despite an equivalent change in blood flow, diameter
      enlargement in the high-flow arteries was blunted in old compared to young rats
      and was associated with decreased endothelium-dependent relaxation to
      acetylcholine. In old rats, HO-1 induction with CoPP restored outward remodeling,
      via a paradoxical reactive oxygen species-dependent mechanism, and was associated
      with a Mn-superoxide dismutase (SOD) overexpression, as well as a significant
      reduction of mitochondrial aconitase activity, used as a biomarker for oxidative
      stress. The heme oxygenase activity inhibitor, Sn-protoporphyrin, and the SOD
      mimetic, TEMPOL, prevented the effect of CoPP on remodeling and oxidative status
      in old rats. Furthermore, HO-1 induction improved endothelial function, in
      association with increased endothelial nitric oxide synthase protein expression
      and phosphorylation (Ser-1177). In low-flow arteries, inward remodeling was
      unaffected by aging or by CoPP. Thus, in old rats, CoPP-induced up-regulation of
      HO-1 restored high-flow-dependent remodeling (diameter enlargement) and improved
      endothelial function in mesenteric arteries. CONCLUSION: This opens new
      perspectives in the treatment of ischemic diseases in aging.

PMID- 20935576
TI  - LombardIMA: a regional registry for coronary angioplasty in ST-elevation
      myocardial infarction.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) has been shown to be the
      best reperfusion therapy for acute myocardial infarction with ST-elevation
      (STEMI), but data from registries show differences in patient populations and
      outcomes between randomized trials and real life. OBJECTIVES: We sought to
      provide information about the current status of this treatment with a registry
      collecting data in Lombardy, the most densely populated region in Italy, with
      widespread availability of cathlabs and a well-established network for the
      treatment of STEMI. METHODS AND RESULTS: Patient enrollment was performed by 32
      hub centres recruiting 3901 STEMI patients who underwent PCI procedures within 12
      h of the onset of symptoms, of whom 3317 patients underwent primary PCI, 376
      'facilitated' PCI, and 208 rescue PCI in cathlabs located, in 77% of cases, in
      the same hospital of admission. In-hospital and 30-day total death were 4.4 and
      6.6%, respectively. At multivariate analysis independent negative predictors of
      30-day mortality were Killip class 3-4, number of involved ECG leads, chronic
      renal failure and age, whereas positive predictors were ST resolution more than
      50% and postprocedural grade 3 thrombolysis in myocardial infarction flow.
      CONCLUSIONS: LombardIMA PCI registry enrolled STEMI patients representing a real
      world population treated with PCI. Findings presented in this study may provide a
      benchmark for similar registries undertaken in other Italian regions and may be
      helpful to assess future possible developments of care for STEMI patients.

PMID- 20935578
TI  - Treatment with valsartan stimulates endothelial progenitor cells and renal label
      retaining cells in hypertensive rats.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The pathogenesis of hypertension is dependent on tissue angiotensin
      (Ang) II, which induces cardiovascular and renal remodeling. The presence of
      label-retaining cells (LRCs) as renal stem cells has been reported in
      nephrotubulus. We examined effects of treatment with valsartan on endothelial
      progenitor cells (EPCs) and renal LRCs in stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive
      rats (SHR-SP). METHODS: SHR-SP were salt-loaded and treated with hydralazine or
      valsartan. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (MNCs) were cultured to assess EPC
      colony formation and migration. LRCs were labeled for 1 week with
      bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) and were detected after a 2-week chase period. We
      measured expression of c-kit and Pax-2 mRNAs in renal medulla. RESULTS: Colony
      formation and migration of EPCs were suppressed in salt-loaded SHR-SP. Treatment
      with valsartan markedly stimulated these EPC functions. There was no difference
      in the number of renal LRCs in normotensive Wistar-Kyoto rats and SHR-SP.
      Treatment with valsartan significantly improved renal tubular degeneration and
      increased the number of LRCs in renal medulla from salt-loaded SHR-SP. Treatment
      with valsartan significantly increased expression of c-kit and Pax-2 mRNAs in
      renal medulla from salt-loaded SHR-SP. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that
      ARBs have cardiovascular and renal protective effects through an antioxidative
      action that stimulates ECP function and increases the number of the self
      repairing renal LRCs.

PMID- 20935579
TI  - Apoptosis signal-regulating kinase 1 deficiency eliminates cardiovascular
      injuries induced by high-salt diet.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: High-salt diet is closely associated with the increase in
      cardiovascular events. However, the mechanism of high-salt-induced cardiovascular
      injury is unknown. The present study was undertaken to test our hypothesis that
      apoptosis signal-regulating kinase (ASK) 1 may be involved in salt-induced
      cardiovascular injury. METHODS: Wild-type and ASK1-/- mice were fed a low-salt or
      a high-salt diet for 10 weeks and the effects of high-salt diet on food intake,
      urinary volume and electrolyte excretion, and cardiovascular injury were compared
      between both groups of mice. RESULTS: High-salt diet in wild-type and ASK1-/-
      mice similarly increased food intake, water intake, urine volume, and urinary
      sodium excretion, and comparably decreased plasma renin activity and aldosterone.
      Thus, ASK1 appears to play a minor role in the increase in natriuresis and the
      decrease in plasma renin, and aldosterone caused by high-salt diet. High-salt
      diet enhanced the phosphorylation of cardiovascular ASK1 in wild-type mice. High
      salt diet in wild-type mice enhanced cardiac transforming growth factor-beta1,
      interstitial fibrosis, coronary perivascular fibrosis, and inflammatory cell
      infiltration, and these changes were associated with the increase in cardiac
      superoxide and Nox2. ASK1 deficiency abolished the above-mentioned high-salt
      induced cardiac injury. High-salt diet also caused the impairment of vascular
      endothelium-dependent relaxation by acetylcholine and increased vascular
      superoxide, and Nox2 in wild-type mice, whereas it did not cause vascular injury
      in ASK1-/- mice. CONCLUSION: ASK1 is implicated in cardiac inflammation and
      fibrosis, and vascular endothelial dysfunction caused by high-salt diet, through
      the enhancement of oxidative stress.

PMID- 20935580
TI  - Diagnostic breast evaluation: when to refer and what the results really mean.
AB  - Diagnostic breast imaging is an important tool in evaluating abnormal physical
      examination findings and assessing incomplete screening mammographic results. It
      is imperative for primary care providers to be knowledgeable regarding which
      patients would benefit from this evaluation to provide optimal healthcare.

PMID- 20935581
TI  - Diagnosis and treatment of abdominal angina.
AB  - Abdominal angina refers to abdominal pain in which perfusion to digestive tissues
      has been compromised, usually due to mesenteric atherosclerosis. Pathology can
      progress to necrosis of vital viscera, sepsis, or even death. Practitioners need
      to be aware of this serious medical condition, especially in the ever-growing
      elderly population.

PMID- 20935582
TI  - Health information from the patient's perspective.

PMID- 20935583
TI  - Effects of 0.05% racanisodamine on pupil size and accommodation.
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate the effect of a new non-selective muscarinic antagonist,
      0.05% racanisodamine eye drop, on pupil size and accommodative response in
      children. METHODS: Twenty healthy myopic children aged between 9 and 12 years
      were enrolled in the study. They were given two successive drops of 0.05%
      racanisodamine solution in one eye. Scotopic pupil sizes of both eyes were
      evaluated with an infrared open-field autorefractor before and 10, 20, 30, 45,
      60, 90, 120, 180, 240, 300, and 360 min after treatment. Accommodative responses
      to a Maltese cross at a distance of 50, 33, and 20 cm were measured at the same
      time intervals as pupil sizes. Subjective evaluation of photophobia and reading
      difficulty were recorded by questionnaires. Pupil sizes and accommodative
      responses were compared across time using repeated measurements of analysis of
      variance. RESULTS: The minimum pupil size of the treated eye came at 10 min after
      the second drop and maintained for the next 20 min. Then, it recovered to
      baseline value at 45 min and continued to enlarge to a peak size of about 0.75 +/
      0.22 mm larger than baseline value at 120 min (p = 0.036), followed by a
      recovering process. No significant change occurred to the contralateral untreated
      eye. Accommodative responses to near targets did not significantly change at any
      time during the procedure for both eyes. Only one subject experienced photophobia
      in the treated eye at the 120 and 180 min time points after treatment. None
      reported reading difficulty at any time. CONCLUSIONS: As a non-selective
      muscarinic antagonist, 0.05% racanisodamine has a significant but clinically
      moderate impact on pupil size and no effect on accommodative response.

PMID- 20935584
TI  - Valosin-containing protein is a novel autoantigen in patients with glaucoma.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identify novel autoantigens that react
      with specific serum autoantibodies in patients with glaucoma. METHODS: Sera from
      patients with glaucoma (n = 80) and healthy subjects without a known pathology (n
      = 20) were investigated by immunoblot performed with bovine optic nerve lysates
      and resolved by one- and two-dimensional electrophoresis. Proteins in the
      immunoreactive spots were selected and identified by liquid chromatography-tandem
      mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) data analysis. All the sera from subjects were
      assayed using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to identify autoantibodies.
      RESULTS: We selected two prominent bands with molecular weights of 100 and 220
      kDa by 8% sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis analysis, and
      these two bands were only found in the glaucoma patients. Using one-dimensional
      electrophoresis and LC-MS/MS analyses, we identified these proteins to be valosin
      containing protein (VCP) and fodrin, respectively, and using two-dimensional
      electrophoresis and LC-MS/MS analyses, VCP was identified to be a common target
      antigen. In patients with primary open angle glaucoma and normal tension
      glaucoma, the frequency of autoantibodies to recombinant human VCP was 42.0 and
      23.3%, respectively (p < 0.002). In the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay tests,
      autoantibody titers to recombinant human VCP were significantly higher than that
      in healthy controls (p < 0.025). CONCLUSIONS: VCP represents a potential
      candidate target for autoantibodies on the optic nerve in patients with glaucoma.

PMID- 20935585
TI  - Structure and function in patients with glaucomatous defects near fixation.
AB  - PURPOSE: To assess relations between perimetric sensitivity and neuroretinal rim
      area using high-resolution perimetric mapping in patients with glaucomatous
      defects within 10 degrees  of fixation. METHODS: One eye was tested in each of 31
      patients with open-angle glaucoma enrolled in a prospective study of perimetric
      defects within 10 degrees  of fixation. Norms were derived from 110 control
      subjects free of eye disease, aged 21 to 81 years. Perimetric sensitivity was
      measured using the 10-2 test pattern with the Swedish Interactive Threshold
      Algorithm (SITA) standard algorithm on the Humphrey Field Analyzer (HFA) II-i;
      Carl Zeiss Meditec), stimulus size III. Area of the temporal neuroretinal rim was
      measured using the Heidelberg retina tomograph 3. Decibel values were converted
      into linear units of contrast sensitivity averaged across locations corresponding
      to the temporal rim sector. Both measures were expressed as percent of mean
      normal, and the Bland-Altman method was used to assess agreement. Perimetric
      locations corresponding to the temporal sector were determined for six different
      optic nerve maps. RESULTS: Contrast sensitivity was moderately correlated with
      temporal rim area (r2 >30%, p < 0.005). For all six optic nerve maps, Bland
      Altman analysis found good agreement between perimetric sensitivity and rim area
      with both measures expressed as fraction of mean normal and confidence limits for
      agreement that were consistent with normal between-subject variability in control
      eyes. CONCLUSIONS: By using high-resolution perimetric mapping in patients with
      scotomas within 10 degrees  of fixation, we confirmed findings of linear
      relations between perimetric sensitivity and area of temporal neuroretinal rim
      and showed that the confidence limits for agreement in patients with glaucoma
      were consistent with normal between-subject variability.

PMID- 20935586
TI  - Study of Theories about Myopia Progression (STAMP) design and baseline data.
AB  - PURPOSE: The Study of Theories about Myopia Progression (STAMP) is a 2-year,
      double-masked, randomized clinical trial of myopic children 6 to 11 years of age.
      STAMP will evaluate the 1-year effect of progressive addition lenses (PALs)
      compared with single vision lenses (SVLs) on central refraction, peripheral
      refraction in four quadrants, and accommodative response and convergence. STAMP
      will also evaluate any changes 1 year after discontinuing PALs. Baseline
      characteristics of enrolled children are reported. METHODS: Eligible children had
      a high accommodative lag and either low myopia (less myopic than -2.25 diopter
      (D) spherical equivalent) or high myopia (more myopic than -2.25 D spherical
      equivalent) and esophoria at near. Children were randomly assigned to wear either
      PALs or SVLs for 1 year to determine the difference in myopia progression in the
      PAL group relative to the SVL group. All children will then wear SVLs for the 2nd
      year to evaluate the permanence of any treatment effect. Complete ocular
      biometric data are collected at 6-month intervals. RESULTS: Over 17 months, 192
      children were screened, and 85 (44%) were eligible and enrolled. Of these 85
      children, 44 (52%) were girls, and 54 (64%) were esophoric at near. The mean age
      (+/- SD) was 9.8 +/- 1.3 years. The right eye mean cycloplegic spherical
      equivalent refractive error was -1.95 +/- 0.78 D. Horizontal relative peripheral
      hyperopia (30 degrees  nasal retina + 0.56 +/- 0.59 D; 30 degrees  temporal
      retina + 0.61 +/- 0.77 D) and vertical relative peripheral myopia (30 degrees 
      superior retina -0.36 +/- 0.92 D; 20 degrees  inferior retina -0.48 +/- 0.83 D)
      were found. CONCLUSIONS: The baseline data for STAMP are reported. Asymmetry
      between vertical and horizontal meridian relative peripheral refraction was
      found. STAMP will use the ocular biometric changes associated with the PAL
      treatment effect to attempt to elucidate the mechanism responsible for the
      treatment effect.

PMID- 20935587
TI  - Utility of bedside angiography in the evaluation of vascular obstruction in the
      pediatric intensive care patient.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To review our experience with bedside angiography in order to
      demonstrate the utility of this technique for evaluation of blood vessels in the
      critically ill patient. DESIGN: Retrospective review. SETTING: Pediatric cardiac
      intensive care unit at a children's hospital. PATIENTS: Five patients aged 5 days
      to 17 yrs in the cardiac intensive care unit at our institution received bedside
      angiography. Indications for bedside angiography included abnormal radiographic
      appearance of central catheter location or clinical suspicion of vascular
      obstruction. Institutional review board approval for this retrospective review
      was obtained, and the waiver of consent was approved by the institutional review
      board. INTERVENTIONS: For angiographic evaluation of blood vessels, a
      radiographic plate was placed behind the area of blood vessels to be evaluated.
      Approximately 1 mL/kg of iohexol contrast was injected rapidly by hand into the
      blood vessel in question. Just at completion of the contrast injection, a
      radiograph was taken by portable radiograph equipment. MAIN RESULTS: A total of
      five patients with potential blood vessel compromise were evaluated by bedside
      angiography. All angiograms clearly demonstrated the vascular anatomy and
      catheter location, in addition to identifying areas of obstruction and collateral
      flow. There were no cases of renal compromise due to contrast use and no blood
      vessel compromise from contrast injection. CONCLUSIONS: Bedside angiography is a
      rapid, safe, and useful tool for the evaluation of complex vascular anatomy in
      critically ill patients. In cases where vascular ultrasound is unable to provide
      detailed anatomy or identify collateral flow, this technique may be useful in
      providing safe and accurate assessment of blood vessels associated with vascular
      access devices.

PMID- 20935588
TI  - Evaluation of multidisciplinary simulation training on clinical performance and
      team behavior during tracheal intubation procedures in a pediatric intensive care
      unit.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Tracheal intubation in the pediatric intensive care unit is often
      performed in emergency situations with high risks. Simulation has been recognized
      as an effective methodology to train both technical and teamwork skills. Our
      objectives were to develop a feasible tool to evaluate team performance during
      tracheal intubation in the pediatric intensive care unit and to apply the tool in
      the clinical setting to determine whether multidisciplinary teams with a higher
      number of simulation-trained providers exhibit more proficient performance.
      DESIGN: Prospective, observational pilot study. SETTING: Single tertiary
      children's hospital pediatric intensive care unit. SUBJECTS: Pediatric and
      emergency medicine residents, pediatric intensive care unit nurses, and
      respiratory therapists from October 2007 to June 2008. INTERVENTIONS: A pediatric
      intensive care unit on-call resident, a pediatric intensive care unit nurse, and
      a respiratory therapist received simulation-based multidisciplinary airway
      management training every morning. An assessment tool for team technical and
      behavioral skills was developed. Independent trained observers rated actual
      intubations in the pediatric intensive care unit by using this tool. MEASUREMENTS
      AND MAIN RESULTS: For observer training, two independent raters (research
      assistants 1 and 2) evaluated a total of 53 training sessions (research assistant
      1, 16; research assistant 2, 37). The correlation coefficient with the
      facilitator expert (surrogate standard) was .73 for research assistant 1 and .88
      for research assistant 2 (p <= .001 for both) in the total score, .84 for
      research assistant 1 and .77 for research assistant 2 (p < .001 for both) in the
      technical domain, and .63 for research assistant 1 (p = .009) and .84 for
      research assistant 2 (p < .001) in the behavioral domain. The correlation
      coefficient was lower in video-based observation (.62 vs. .88, on-site). For
      clinical observation, 15 intubations were observed in real time by raters. The
      performance by a team with two or more simulation-trained members was rated
      higher compared with the team with fewer than two trained members (total score:
      127 +/- 6 vs. 116 +/- 9, p = .012, mean +/- sd). CONCLUSIONS: It is feasible to
      rate the technical and behavioral performance of multidisciplinary airway
      management teams during real intensive care unit intubation events by using our
      assessment tool. The presence of two or more multidisciplinary simulation-trained
      providers is associated with improved performance during real events.

PMID- 20935589
TI  - Prospective operationalization and feasibility of a glycemic control protocol in
      critically ill children.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the feasibility and safe operationalization of a pediatric
      glycemic control protocol in the setting of a general pediatric intensive care
      unit in a developing country. DESIGN: Prospective, observational cohort study
      carried out over 12 months. SETTING: Fourteen-bed pediatric intensive care unit
      in Brazil. PATIENTS: Children requiring mechanical ventilation with at least one
      organ system dysfunction were included. INTERVENTIONS: Glucose was monitored and
      insulin used for persistent hyperglycemia (glucose >140 mg/dL [7.8 mmol/L] for at
      least two observations separated by at least a 1-hr interval), with a target
      glucose during insulin use of 60-140 mg/dL (3.3-7.8 mmol/L). RESULTS: Out of 410
      admissions, 144 children met the criteria for applying the protocol. One hundred
      fourteen of 144 (79%) children had at least one peak glucose level that was
      hyperglycemic, but only 44 (31%) children required insulin. Insulin infusion was
      most frequently started on day 1 (61%), with a glucose level at the time of 229
      +/- 79 mg/dL (12.7 +/- 4.4 mmol/L). The mean glucose level after 6 hrs of insulin
      was 172 +/- 87 mg/dL (9.6 +/- 4.8 mmol/L), and the time to achieve the target
      glucose range was 9.5 (2-20) hrs (median [interquartile range]). The overall
      duration of insulin was 24.5 (10-48) hrs, and the average dose required was 0.06
      +/- 0.03 U/kg/hr. In the whole series, the peak glucose level was 202 +/- 93
      mg/dL (11.2 +/- 5.2 mmol/L), with no difference between survivors and
      nonsurvivors. There was no difference in mortality when different glucose bands
      were considered and no association between glucose level and mortality. The
      overall rate of hypoglycemia (glucose <40 mg/dL [2.2 mmol/L]) was 8.3%, and it
      was more common in those receiving insulin (20% vs. 3%, p < .05). CONCLUSIONS:
      Hyperglycemia is frequent in critically ill children managed in a pediatric
      intensive care unit in a developing country. Using a glycemic control protocol,
      one-third of these children required insulin, but attendants should be aware of a
      significant risk of hypoglycemia in this setting. Based on these data, a trial to
      detect a 20% relative reduction in mortality (power 90%, p = .05) associated with
      insulin in a similar population would need to screen >10,000 patients.

PMID- 20935590
TI  - Epidemiology of cryptococcal infection in hospitalized children.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cryptococcus neoformans is a common opportunistic infection in adults
      with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), but cryptococcal infection (CI)
      has also been recognized in HIV-negative patients. Despite the fact that many
      studies were conducted in adults, limited data exist for pediatric patients.
      METHODS: The Pediatric Health Information System, a database containing
      administrative information from 42 United States children's hospitals, was used
      to identify children admitted for the treatment of CI between 2003 and 2008. All
      pediatric inpatients less than 19 years of age who received an ICD-9 code for
      cryptococcosis or cryptococcal meningitis (CM) were included. Data regarding
      presence of underlying medical conditions, antifungal therapies administered, and
      hospital discharge disposition were evaluated. RESULTS: A total of 63 cases of CI
      were identified, for a CI admission frequency of 6.2 cases per million
      hospitalizations. Most patients (63.5%) had an underlying immunocompromising
      medical condition, whereas 21% were immunocompetent and 16% were infected with
      HIV. Cryptococcosis not involving the central nervous system was more common than
      CM (62% vs. 38%). Most patients received a combination of fluconazole,
      amphotericin, and flucytosine in their treatment regimen; however, 9 patients
      received no antifungal medications. The overall in-hospital case fatality rate
      was 9.5%. CONCLUSIONS: The majority of pediatric cryptococcosis occurred in non
      HIV-infected patients. However, most patients had other immunocompromising
      medical conditions. Patients with CM usually received therapy in accordance with
      the Infectious Disease Society of America guidelines for adults, but patients
      with non-CM were more likely to receive therapies not supported by these
      guidelines.

PMID- 20935591
TI  - The efficacy of live attenuated influenza vaccine against influenza-associated
      acute otitis media in children.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Acute otitis media (AOM) is a frequent complication of influenza in
      young children. Influenza vaccination is known to protect against AOM by
      preventing influenza illness. We sought to determine the efficacy of the live
      attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV) against influenza-associated AOM compared
      with placebo and trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine (TIV). LAIV is approved
      for eligible children aged >= 2 years in the United States and in several other
      countries. METHODS: AOM incidence data from 6 randomized, double-blind, placebo
      controlled trials and 2 randomized, double-blind, TIV-controlled trials in
      children 6 to 83 months of age were pooled and analyzed. RESULTS: A total of 290
      cases of AOM were identified in 24,046 study subjects. LAIV efficacy against
      influenza-associated AOM was 85.0% (95% confidence interval [CI], 78.3%-89.8%)
      compared with placebo and 54.0% (95% CI, 27.0%-71.7%) compared with TIV. Efficacy
      trended higher in those >= 24 months of age compared with those aged 6 to 23
      months. In placebo-controlled trials, among children who acquired influenza
      despite vaccination, AOM was diagnosed in 10.3% of LAIV recipients and 16.8% of
      placebo recipients, representing a 38.2% (95% CI, 11.0%-58.2%) relative reduction
      in the development of AOM. In TIV-controlled studies, among subjects with
      breakthrough influenza illness, the proportions of LAIV and TIV recipients who
      developed AOM were similar. CONCLUSIONS: Children receiving LAIV had a high level
      of protection against influenza-associated AOM when compared with placebo or TIV.
      This was most evident in children older than 2 years, for whom LAIV is indicated.
      LAIV recipients who contracted breakthrough influenza illness despite vaccination
      developed AOM at a significantly lower rate than did unvaccinated children who
      developed influenza.

PMID- 20935592
TI  - Familial autosomal dominant sensorineural hearing loss associated with dilated
      cardiomyopathy.

PMID- 20935593
TI  - Children with type 2 diabetes mellitus and the prevalence of psychiatric
      disorders.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Type 2 diabetes is a common disease, afflicting more than 20 million
      Americans. Psychiatric disorders, particularly depression, have been previously
      correlated with diabetes. METHODS: The objectives of this study were to determine
      the frequency of psychiatric illnesses in a type 2 pediatric diabetic cohort and
      to examine if there were any significant demographic differences between diabetic
      children with psychiatric disorders and diabetic children without psychiatric
      disorders. A retrospective chart review was performed on patients from two
      southeastern children's hospitals. RESULTS: In our study, 26.2% (67 of 256) of
      diabetic patients were diagnosed with neuropsychiatric disorders (NPD). A
      comparison between gender frequencies of affected and unaffected patients
      suggested a statistical difference (P = 0.009). It appears that pediatric
      diabetic males are affected with NPD to a greater extent than females. Patients
      diagnosed with neurological disorders showed a body mass index average of 39.03,
      which was statistically different from non-diagnosed NPD patients (P = 0.0313).
      CONCLUSIONS: To our knowledge, this is the first report to demonstrate the
      frequency of psychiatric disorders in a cohort of pediatric type 2 diabetics in
      the southeastern US. This study provides information regarding children afflicted
      with type 2 diabetes mellitus and the frequency of neuropsychiatric morbidities.
      This information may be useful for crafting future health policies and quality
      improvement interventions.

PMID- 20935594
TI  - Human dimension in medical care: insights from Buber and Marcel.
AB  - Martin Buber's concept of inclusion and Gabriel Marcel's notion of availability
      are used to cast new light on the human dimension in medical care. Buber's notion
      of inclusion indicates that clinical empathy should involve both cognitive and
      affective elements. It is argued that empathy is more than simply labeling a
      feeling state. Including oneself in the inner reality of the patient involves
      recognizing what her suffering feels like. Marcel's work on availability is used
      to point out how crucially important it is for the clinician to open herself to
      the suffering of the patient if she is to offer genuinely compassionate care.
      Availability requires a fundamental openness to the other that Marcel refers to
      as "in-cohesion" or porosity. This is identified as an essential quality in the
      caring clinician. Marcel's approach to overcoming a lack of compassion is also
      discussed.

PMID- 20935595
TI  - Polyostotic Paget disease involving bones of the upper extremity.
AB  - Paget disease of bone (PD) is a common skeletal disease. It is usually
      polyostotic and most frequently involves the pelvis, femur, spine, skull, and
      tibia. The bones of the upper extremity in poly- or monostotic PD are rarely
      affected. A patient with PD involving the third left metacarpal bone and carpal
      bones of the right hand is described.

PMID- 20935596
TI  - Efficacy and safety of thymoglobulin induction as an alternative approach for
      steroid-free maintenance immunosuppression in pediatric renal transplantation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Given the recent withdrawal of daclizumab (DAC), the safety and
      efficacy of thymoglobulin (TMG) was tested as an alternative induction agent for
      steroid-free (SF) immunosuppression in pediatric kidney transplant recipients.
      METHODS: Thirteen pediatric renal transplant recipients meeting defined high-risk
      criteria at transplantation were offered TMG induction and SF immunosuppression
      with maintenance mycophenolate mofetil and tacrolimus between October 2008 and
      January 2010. Patients were closely monitored at baseline, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months
      posttransplant for protocol biopsy and clinical outcomes. Outcomes were compared
      with 13 consecutively transplanted low-risk patients receiving an established DAC
      based SF protocol (Sarwal et al., WA, American Transplant Congress 2003).
      RESULTS: There was a significant trend for overall decrease in the absolute
      lymphocyte counts in TMG group (F=5.86, mixed model group effect P=0.02),
      predominately at 3 months compared with DAC group (0.7+/-0.6 vs. 2.1+/-1.0,
      P=0.0004); however, lymphocyte count was recovered and was back to reference
      range by 6 months in TMG. There was trend toward more subclinical cytomegalovirus
      (15% vs. 0%) and BK viremia (17% vs. 0%) in the TMG group, with no differences in
      the incidence of subclinical Epstein Barr virus viremia (23% vs. 31%) or clinical
      viral disease. Mean graft function was excellent, and with a minimum follow-up of
      6 months, there were no episodes of acute rejection. CONCLUSION: TMG seems to be
      a safe alternative induction strategy in patients for SF immunosuppression in
      pediatric renal transplantation. Extended follow-up and greater enrollment are
      necessary to fully explore the impact of TMG dosing on viral replication
      posttransplantation.

PMID- 20935597
TI  - Distinctive gene expression profiles characterize donor biopsies from HCV
      positive kidney donors.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Because of the shortage of organs for transplantation, procurement of
      kidneys from extended criteria donors is inevitable. Frequently, donors infected
      with hepatitis C virus (HCV) are used. To elucidate an initial compromise of
      molecular pathways in HCV graft, gene expression profiles were evaluated.
      METHODS: Twenty-four donor allograft biopsies (n=12 HCV positive (+) and n=12 HCV
      negative (-)) were collected at preimplantation time and profiled using
      microarrays. Donors were age, race, gender, and cold and warm ischemia time
      matched between groups. Probe level data were read into the R programming
      environment using the affy Bioconductor package, and the robust multiarray
      average method was used to obtain probe set expression summaries. To identify
      probe sets exhibiting differential expression, a two sample t test was performed.
      Molecular and biologic functions were analyzed using Interaction Networks and
      Functional Analysis. RESULTS: Fifty-eight probe sets were differentially
      expressed between HCV (+) versus HCV (-) donors (P<0.001). The molecular
      functions associated with the two top scored networks from the analysis of the
      differentially expressed genes were connective tissue development and function
      and tissue morphology (score 34), cell death, cell signaling, cellular assembly,
      and organization (score 32). Among the differentially affected top canonical
      pathways, we found the role of RIG1-like receptors in antiviral innate immunity
      (P<0.001), natural killer cell signaling (P=0.007), interleukin-8 signaling
      (P=0.048), interferon signaling (P=0.0 11; INFA21, INFGR1, and MED14), ILK
      signaling (P=0.001), and apoptosis signaling. CONCLUSIONS: A unique gene
      expression pattern was identified in HCV (+) kidney grafts. Innate immune system
      and inflammatory pathways were the most affected.

PMID- 20935601
TI  - Algorithm to manage blood glucose in critically ill patients: who control the
      driver?

PMID- 20935602
TI  - The role of thyroid dysfunction in the critically ill: a review of the
      literature.
AB  - During critical illness, patients with no known history of thyroid disorders may
      experience multiple alterations in their serum thyroid hormone levels. Such
      alterations have been termed sick euthyroid syndrome or, more recently, non
      thyroidal illness syndrome (NTIS). The laboratory parameters of NTIS usually
      include low serum levels of triiodothyronine (T3), normal or low serum levels of
      thyroxine (T4) and normal or low serum levels of thyroid-stimulating hormone
      (TSH). The magnitude of the alteration in thyroid function correlates with the
      severity of the illness and its outcomes in critically ill patients with NTIS.
      The pathogenetic mechanisms involved in NTIS include a decreased conversion of T4
      to T3 in extrathyroidal tissues and alterations in thyroid hormones' binding to
      serum proteins. In cases of protracted critical illness, a decrease in the
      pulsatile frequency of TSH secretion, resulting from reduced thyrotropin-re
      leasing hormone (TRH) release by the hypothalamus, may also occur. Several
      medications or clinical conditions that are commonly present in critically ill
      patients may be responsible for lowering serum concentrations of thyroid hormone.
      Among those who study the condition, the question of whether NTIS is a protective
      adaptation of the organism to illness or a maladaptive response to a stressful
      insult remains unanswered. In either case, thyroid hormone abnormalities are
      likely to play a role in the critically ill patient.However, there is currently
      no convincing evidence to suggest that restoring physiological thyroid hormone
      concentrations in unselected patients with NTIS would be beneficial.

PMID- 20935603
TI  - The relationship between hospital volume and mortality following mechanical
      ventilation in the Intensive Care Unit.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A number of recent studies in North America and Europe have
      investigated the relationship between hospital volume and outcomes following
      mechanical ventilation in an Intensive Care Unit (ICU). All of these studies have
      revealed an association between worse outcomes and smaller-volume hospitals. This
      relationship has not been investigated recently in the UK. METHODS: A
      retrospective cohort study was performed using data from the Birmingham and Black
      Country Critical Care Network database. Adult patients who received mechanical
      ventilation for more than 24 hours from the period from April 1, 1996, to March
      31, 2006, were included in the study. The odds ratio for death in the ICU was
      calculated in relation to the hospital's volume of ventilation. Estimates
      accounted for clustering within hospitals and were adjusted for patient
      demographics (sex, age), APACHE II score, year of ventilation, length of ICU stay
      and urgency status. RESULTS: A total of 17132 adult patient episodes were
      included in the analysis. The adjusted odds ratio for death in the ICU following
      mechanical ventilation for more than 24 hours was 1.11 (95% confidence interval:
      0.91 to 1.35; P=0.297). CONCLUSION: There is no relationship between hospital
      volume and mortality following mechanical ventilation in the ICU. Further larger
      prospective studies are needed to confirm this apparent lack of a relationship
      between hospital volume and mortality following mechanical ventilation in ICUs in
      a network of hospitals in the UK.

PMID- 20935604
TI  - Macintosh and Glidescope(r) performance by Advanced Cardiac Life Support
      providers: a manikin study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of the present study was to assess whether the use of the
      Glidescope(r) would improve the success rates and the duration of intubation
      attempts during airway management when compared to direct laryngoscopy in
      Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) providers with no prior experience in
      videolaryngoscopy. METHODS: This cross-over randomized study involved 44 ACLS
      providers. The educational session for the participants included a brief
      presentation of the equipment and a demonstration of the Glidescope(r). All
      intubations were performed using a 7.5-mm endotracheal tube on an adult manikin.
      A size 3 Macintosh blade and a standard Glidescope(r) adult blade were used.
      Glidescope(r) videolaryngoscope was used. The primary endpoints were: duration of
      each endotracheal intubation attempt and success rate for each device. A
      secondary endpoint was the perception of ease of use with each device. Each
      participant was asked to assess the ease of use of each device using a visual
      analogue scale (0=extremely difficult and 10=extremely easy). RESULTS: No
      statistically significant difference was observed in the time required to
      successful intubation of the trachea with the Macintosh laryngoscope and the
      Glidescope(r). However, significantly fewer intubation attempts were required
      with the Glidescope(r) compared to the Macintosh laryngoscope. In addition, most
      candidates found that using the videolaryngoscope was easy. CONCLUSION: This
      study demonstrated that the Glidescope(r) videolaryngoscopy performed at least as
      well as conventional laryngoscopy in ACLS providers. Although simpler ventilation
      techniques should be applied first during critical airway management, this study
      suggests that, when intubation is needed, videolaryngoscopy cna be helpful.

PMID- 20935605
TI  - The effects of early aerobic exercise after single-level lumbar microdiscectomy:
      a prospective, controlled trial.
AB  - AIM: Although several rehabilitation programs to improve functioning and pain
      after lumbar microdiscectomy have been suggested, little is known about the most
      effective exercise program. We aimed to investigate the effects of aerobic
      exercise program starting one month after single-level lumbar microdiscectomy on
      pain and functioning. DESIGN: Prospective, non-randomized, controlled trial.
      SETTING: Outpatient clinic. POPULATION: Forty patients with single-level first
      time lumbar microdiscectomy were included in the study. Eighteen patients were
      allocated to the aerobic exercise group while 22 patients to the control group.
      METHODS: Both groups were given the same home exercise program. The exercise
      group received 20 sessions of treadmill exercise one month after the surgery in
      addition to the home exercise program. Low back pain and leg pain of the patients
      were evaluated by Visual Analogue Scale score (VAS), functioning was evaluated by
      Roland-Morris Disability Index (RMDI), anxiety and depressive symptoms were
      evaluated by Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI).
      Patients were evaluated within the last week before surgery, at the postoperative
      II and VIII month. RESULTS: Significant improvements of low back pain VAS, leg
      pain VAS, functioning score, BAI score, BDI score were found in both groups after
      surgery (P<0.05). There was no significant difference in pain score, BAI score,
      BDI score change at II and VIII months between the groups (P>0.05). Functional
      improvement was significantly more pronounced in the aerobic exercise group than
      in the control group at the end of the aerobic exercise program (P<0.05).
      However, there was no significant difference in the numeric change of RMDI scores
      at VIII month (P>0.05). CONCLUSION: The results of this study showed that aerobic
      exercise starting one month after first time single-level lumbar microdiscectomy
      resulted in a more pronounced functional improvement than the home exercise
      program during the exercise sessions. It was seen that functional recovery did
      not last when exercise program was discontinued. CLINICAL REHABILITATION IMPACT:
      We suggest that suitable patients with single-level microdiscectomy should be
      encouraged to participate in aerobic exercise program one month after the surgery
      to regain functioning.

PMID- 20935606
TI  - Prolonged duodenal paralysis after PEG placement in a patient with traumatic
      brain injury: a case report.
AB  - Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) has recently become a usual procedure
      for patients with prolonged disorders of consciousness after brain injuries.
      Despite a high rate of success and a very low procedure-related mortality,
      morbidity associated to PEG placement reaches 9.4% in a recent large meta
      analysis. This case report describes an uncommon complication of PEG placement in
      a patient with vegetative state after traumatic brain injury: the development of
      prolonged duodenal paralysis. This patient was treated by placement of a
      transient jejunostomy until recovery of duodenal functional activity, to permit
      adequate nutrition. This procedure-related complication is previously unreported
      in scientific literature.

PMID- 20935607
TI  - Surgical access and damage extent after total hip arthroplasty influence early
      gait pattern and guide rehabilitation treatment.
AB  - AIM: Different surgical approaches are used in total hip arthroplasty. The
      present study confronted two surgical techniques, analysing functional recovery
      in terms of activities of daily living, and ambulation using gait analysis, after
      a standardized rehabilitation protocol. Our hypothesis was that the increased
      surgical damage could modify the gait pattern and functional recovery. METHODS:
      Thirty patients were randomly assigned to two homogeneous groups: Group A was
      treated with intermuscular minimally invasive surgery (MIS); Group B was treated
      with standard lateral transmuscular approach. Follow up was planned at 30 and 90
      days. Instrumental evaluation using gait analysis and functional evaluation using
      validated scales were performed at follow up. RESULTS: No differences could be
      found as for functional scales. At the first follow up, the MIS approach proved
      to be the most favourable: data showed a longer duration of the swing phase, an
      improved range of motion of the non-treated hip, a reduced adduction (all
      P<0.005) and a correct timing of activation of the gluteus medium muscle on the
      treated side. At the second evaluation, gait analysis demonstrated some benefits
      of the intermuscular approach (a better flexion of both hips, and a minor
      obliquity of the pelvis during the terminal stance), but also advantages in the
      transmuscular group (better hip extension). CONCLUSION: Gait pattern after THA
      seems to be strictly dependent on surgical access and on the extent and location
      of surgical damage. It appears important to consider these elements in order to
      correctly manage the rehabilitation treatment after surgery.

PMID- 20935608
TI  - Liver transplant perioperative pathways: which way towards high-quality care and
      better outcomes?

PMID- 20935609
TI  - Biomarkers of sepsis in long-term critically ill patients.

PMID- 20935610
TI  - NIRS: a useful light in a dark world?

PMID- 20935611
TI  - Biomarkers of acute kidney injury: early recognition and timely intervention is a
      need of the hour.

PMID- 20935612
TI  - Therapeutic mild hypothermia in cardiac arrest: a history of success?

PMID- 20935613
TI  - Propofol versus sevoflurane for fiberoptic intubation under spontaneous breathing
      anesthesia in patients difficult to intubate.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The most recommended technique for the management of patients with a
      difficult airway is fiberoptic intubation (FOI). The aim of this study was to
      compare propofol and sevoflurane for FOI performance in patients who were
      difficult to intubate. METHODS: Seventy-eight patients scheduled for maxillo
      facial surgery were included in this prospective, randomized study. The airway
      was topically anesthetized with lidocaine 5% before performance of FOI with
      propofol TCI (group P) or sevoflurane (group S). The following parameters were
      recorded: rate of success, duration of the induction and of the FOI, BIS and
      PETCO2 values. A visual analogic scale (VAS) was used to monitor the technical
      difficulties as well as the recall of patients and their satisfaction. The
      respiratory and hemodynamic complications were also evaluated. RESULTS: Induction
      and procedure duration were significantly shorter in group S compared with group
      P. The rate of successful FOI was not different: 38 cases (97%) in group P and 35
      cases (90%) in group S. No significant differences were observed between groups
      regarding BIS values and VAS values for technical difficulties and for patient
      recall and satisfaction. The incidence of hypertension or tachycardia was
      significantly higher in group S compared with group P. The incidence of
      respiratory complications was not significantly different between the groups, but
      three patients experienced obstructive dyspnea with hypoxemia. CONCLUSION:
      Propofol and sevoflurane provide a high success rate for the performance of FOI
      in patients who are difficult to intubate.

PMID- 20935615
TI  - Central venous pressure during the post-anhepatic phase is not associated with
      early postoperative outcomes following orthotopic liver transplantation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Fluid management during orthotopic liver transplantation poses unique
      challenges for the anesthesiologist. Maintenance of hypovolemia as indicated by
      low central venous pressure has been associated with reduced blood loss and
      improved outcomes in some studies, but with higher 30-day mortality and increased
      incidence of renal dysfunction in others. The primary aim was to evaluate the
      association of central venous pressure management after liver allograft
      reperfusion with immediate postoperative patient outcomes. METHODS: This was a
      retrospective investigation evaluating the intraoperative and postoperative
      records of 144 consecutive patients who underwent orthotopic liver
      transplantation at a single institution. RESULTS: We did not find any important
      association between central venous pressure management after graft reperfusion
      and postoperative patient outcomes. Specifically, these data do not support the
      hypothesis that maintenance of lower central venous pressure during the post
      anhepatic phase of orthotopic liver transplantation is associated with improved
      immediate postoperative allograft function (except for a steeper decrease in post
      operative days 1-3 in 2 of the 3 liver function test: alanine aminotransferase
      and bilirubin) or overall patient survival, graft survival, composite
      graft/patient survival, intensive care length of stay, hospital length of stay or
      the occurrence of infections. CONCLUSION: Maintaining a lower central venous
      pressure during the post-anhepatic phase during orthotopic liver transplantation
      is not associated with any benefit in terms of immediate postoperative allograft
      function, graft survival or patient survival.

PMID- 20935614
TI  - The effect of homocysteine on the clinical outcomes of ventilated patients with
      severe sepsis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is considerable evidence that elevated plasma homocysteine
      levels are associated with a prothrombotic milieu, whereas activation of the
      coagulation cascade is an important component of the pathogenesis of sepsis. The
      protein C pathway has been reported to play a central role both in the
      propagation of sepsis and a hyperhomocysteinemia-induced hypercoagulable state.
      Our primary aim was to measure plasma homocysteine levels in mechanically
      ventilated patients with severe sepsis/septic shock and to assess the association
      of these levels with relevant clinical outcomes. METHODS: The study cohort
      included 102 mechanically ventilated patients with severe sepsis or septic shock.
      Demographics, comorbidities, clinical data and severity scores were recorded.
      Plasma homocysteine, vitamin B12, folate, creatinine, and protein C levels were
      measured in all study subjects upon enrollment, and genotyping for the C677T and
      A1298C polymorphisisms of the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene
      and for factor V Leiden (FVL) mutations was performed as well. The primary
      outcomes were mortality at 28 and 90 days; secondary outcomes included the number
      of days without renal or cardiovascular failure and the ventilator-free days
      during the study period. RESULTS: Homocysteine levels were not significantly
      associated with any primary or secondary outcomes in the multivariable analysis.
      In addition, a synergistic effect of homocysteine with protein C levels was not
      detected. CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that plasma homocysteine levels may not
      inform the prognosis of mechanically ventilated patients with severe
      sepsis/septic shock.

PMID- 20935617
TI  - Daily monitoring of biomarkers of sepsis in complicated long-term ICU-patients:
      can it support treatment decisions?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Diagnosis/grading of infection and the systemic response to infection
      may be difficult on admission to the intensive care unit, but it is even more
      complicated for severely ill patients with long intensive care stays. The ACCP
      SCCM criteria are difficult to apply for such patients, and objective, validated
      biomarkers would be of great use in this setting. METHODS: Long-term (>6 days)
      critically ill patients in the general ICU of University Hospital were
      prospectively enrolled in the study. All patients were assessed daily by the
      attending physician using the ACCP-SCCM classification. C-reactive protein (CRP,
      mg/dL), procalcitonin (PCT, ng/mL), and interleukin-6 (IL-6, pg/mL) of daily
      stored sera were measured after each patient's discharge. After discharge, an
      independent, overall clinical evaluation and an a posteriori ACCP-SCCM
      classification were chosen as the reference standard for all comparisons. The
      assessor was aware of the patient's clinical course but was blinded to levels of
      biomarkers. RESULTS: We studied clinical variables and biomarkers of 26 patients
      over a total of 592 patient days. The day-by-day ACCP-SCCM classification of the
      attending physician overestimated the severity of the inflammatory response to
      infection. The diagnostic discriminative ability of severe-sepsis/septic-shock
      for PCT was high (ROC area 0.952 [0.931-0.973]) and had a best threshold value of
      1.58 (83.7% sensitivity, 94.6 % specificity). IL-6 had better discriminative
      ability than CRP, but both were worse than PCT. CONCLUSION: PCT > 0.43 ng/mL
      could add to the clinical propensity for sepsis vs. SIRS not related to
      infection. Values higher than 1.58 ng/mL may support the bedside clinical
      diagnosis of severe-sepsis. PCT between 0.5 and 1.0 suggest tight daily
      monitoring of clinical conditions and re-evaluation of PCT.

PMID- 20935616
TI  - Multimodal prevention of pain, nausea and vomiting after breast cancer surgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Despite many one- or two-modal attempts to relieve postoperative
      nausea and vomiting (PONV) and pain, postoperative issues following breast cancer
      surgery remain a substantial problem. Therefore, the aim of this explorative,
      hypothesis-generating study was to evaluate the effect of a multimodal, opiate
      sparing, evidence-based regimen for prevention of PONV and pain. METHODS: Two
      hundred consecutive patients scheduled for breast cancer surgery were included.
      The prevention regimen included a package consisting of preoperative paracetamol,
      dextromethorphan, celecoxib, gabapentin, dexamethasone, total intravenous
      anaesthesia and intraoperative ondansetron. The patients were prospectively
      scored according to PONV, pain during rest and mobilization and major side
      effects. RESULTS: Of 200 consecutive breast cancer patients, 191 received the
      full package. During the first 36 postoperative hours, 79.1% reported no PONV at
      all and only 3.7% reported severe PONV. At rest, 69.6% reported no or light pain
      and 3.1% reported severe pain, with corresponding values of 59.7% and 8.9% during
      arm mobilization. Mean postoperative morphine consumption was 2.2 mg. The only
      significant side effect was transient dizziness. CONCLUSION: A multimodal, opiate
      sparing regimen to prevent pain and PONV seems to be more effective than one- or
      two-component regimens on PONV and pain after breast cancer surgery, a result
      which calls for large-scale multi-center or randomized studies.

PMID- 20935618
TI  - Pseudomonas aeruginosa: acute lung injury or ventilator-associated pneumonia?
AB  - Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) is a Gram-negative, aerobic, rod-shaped
      and polar-flagella bacterium with unipolar motility. Furthermore, it is an
      opportunistic pathogen responsible for ventilator-acquired pneumonia (VAP). VAP
      due to P. aeruginosa is usually multidrug-resistant and associated with severe
      infection and increased mortality. The goals of this review are as follows: (I)
      to present selected recent epidemiological literature characterizing the
      population at risk of P. aeruginosa pneumonia, (II) to describe some of the
      virulence factors of P. aeruginosa that are related to infection, and (III) to
      illustrate clinical outcomes of ventilated patients with large burdens of P.
      aeruginosa as well as the mechanism by which this bacterium may evade the host
      immune response.

PMID- 20935619
TI  - Content development for EUROPEAN GUIDELINES on the use of opioids for cancer
      pain: a systematic review and Expert Consensus Study.
AB  - Workpackage 3.1 (WP 3.1), within the European Palliative Research Collaborative
      (EPCRC), was aimed at critically revising and updating the European Association
      for Palliative Care recommendations on cancer pain management. The aim of this
      paper is to report the results of the first phase in the revision process which
      consists of a literature review and an expert consensus about the contents to be
      considered relevant in the development of the new guidelines. A systematic
      literature search was carried out from 2001 to 2008 through various databases
      including Medline, Cinahl, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Embase and
      Google. Through this process, guideline quality was evaluated, content was
      compared with EAPC recommendations and a first set of key-points was developed. A
      modified two-round Delphi method was applied to choose the most relevant topics
      for future systematic literature reviews. Fourteen guidelines on cancer pain
      management, published or updated after 2000, were retrieved. A comparison of
      these guidelines with the EAPC recommendations led to the formulation of 37 key
      points, which were submitted to a panel of experts through a Delphi method.
      Through the responses given by the experts (25 after the first round and 19 after
      the second) and after a revision by the WP 3.1 local and steering committees, a
      final list of 22 topics was generated to answer all identified key-points. Each
      of these topics will be the object of systematic literature reviews. The final
      version of the "Evidence-based guidelines for the use of opioid analgesics in the
      treatment of cancer pain: the EAPC recommendations" will be based on the results
      of the 22 systematic literature reviews.

PMID- 20935620
TI  - Vasopressin in sepsis and septic shock.
AB  - Arginine vasopressin (AVP) and its synthetic, long-acting analog terlipressin
      (TP) are potent alternative vasoconstrictors in the treatment of septic patients
      with catecholamine-refractive vasodilatatory shock. The results from one large
      randomized clinical trial suggest that AVP plus norepinephrine (NE) infusion is
      as safe and effective as treatment with NE alone in patients with septic shock.
      Because the desired effects of vasopressin analogs are basically related to their
      vasopressinergic effects via the V1a receptor, more selective V1 agonists, such
      as TP, may be more potent in reversing sepsis-related arterial hypotension. In
      this regard, recent evidence from small-scale studies suggests that continuous
      low-dose infusion rather than intermittent bolus injection of TP is associated
      with fewer side effects, such as depression of cardiac output and rebound
      arterial hypotension. However, because clinical data on the administration of TP
      in patients with sepsis are limited, it should not currently be used beyond the
      scope of controlled trials. The optimal time point for the initiation of therapy
      with vasopressin analogs has yet to be determined. While AVP and TP are commonly
      used as last-resort therapies in severe septic shock, some evidence supports the
      initiation of treatment in a less severe state of the disease.

PMID- 20935621
TI  - Coagulopathy and platelet disorders in critically ill patients.
AB  - Coagulation disorders are common among intensive care patients and may range from
      isolated thrombocytopenia or prolonged global clotting tests to complex defects,
      such as disseminated intravascular coagulation. There are many causes for
      deranged coagulation in critically ill patients and each of these underlying
      disorders may require specific therapeutic management. Hence, a proper
      differential diagnosis and the initiation of adequate (supportive) treatment
      strategies are crucial to reduce morbidity and mortality in critically ill
      patients with coagulation abnormalities.

PMID- 20935622
TI  - Genetics of acute lung injury: past, present and future.
AB  - Acute lung injury (ALI) and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) are major
      health problems worldwide. Critical care physicians have long recognized that
      there are patients who progress poorly despite therapy while others do
      unexpectedly better than it might be predicted. It is now well accepted that
      these responses might be related to variations in the genome. However, little is
      known about the genes that are responsible for susceptibility and outcome in ALI
      and ARDS. The search for genetic variants determining susceptibility and
      predicting outcome is still a developing field. The identification of important
      associations between genotype and clinical outcomes will have an impact on the
      development of more efficient genotype- or phenotype-guided therapies for
      patients with ALI/ARDS. Using this point of view, we will discuss some of the
      advances in genetic association studies in relation to the occurrence and
      severity of ALI/ARDS. In addition, we will also discuss the strategic and medical
      implications of using genetic testing to detect or predict the occurrence and
      prognosis of ALI/ARDS.

PMID- 20935623
TI  - Boerhaave's syndrome - rapidly evolving pleural effusion; a radiographic clue.
AB  - Boerhaave's syndrome is the rare and often fatal condition of spontaneous
      esophageal rupture. Meckler's triad of vomiting, pain and subcutaneous emphysema
      are characteristic features of Boerhaave's syndrome. When these symptoms are
      absent, diagnosis is frequently late and often occurs as the result of incidental
      investigation. This contributes to the observed high morbidity and mortality.
      Unless specifically considered in the differential diagnosis, this rare disease
      is frequently overlooked. The authors described the case of a patient in whom the
      diagnosis was made several days following presentation by observing that a large
      pleural effusion had evolved rapidly on chest radiographs. This uncommon
      radiological sign has relatively few causes and prompted a review of the history
      and diagnosis, followed by the initiation of additional investigations that
      confirmed Boerhaave's syndrome.

PMID- 20935624
TI  - Central venous catheter-induced delayed hydrothorax via progressive erosion of
      central venous wall.
AB  - Central venous catheter (CVC)-induced hydrothorax is a delayed complication after
      the placement of an indwelling subclavian or internal jugular central venous
      catheter. The catheter tips may cause long-lasting mechanical damages that lead
      to a slow erosion of the wall of the superior vena cava (SVC), thereby resulting
      in hydrothorax. The damage may stem from the catheter tips being positioned
      inappropriately or from the relocation of the catheter tip that was initially
      ideally positioned. We describe an 80-year-old woman with CVC-induced
      hydrothorax. She presented with spinal subdural hematoma and preoperatively
      underwent a multiple-lumen CVC insertion through her left subclavian vein. Her
      recovery course was uneventful after surgical hematoma removal and spinal cord
      decompression. However, thirty hours after the CVC placement, the patient began
      to suffer from an increasing dyspnea. The chest X-ray showed right-sided, massive
      pleural effusion and a widened mediastinum, requiring the removal of the CVC and
      the drainage of the pleural fluid. After these procedures, the respiratory status
      improved rapidly. The present case report suggests that the complication of a
      hydrothorax may occur after a patient's position changes, and it usually occurs
      in cases where the catheter tip was initially placed in the ideal position.
      Operators responsible for CVC placement have to be aware of this delayed
      complication and have the catheter tips remain in a consistently appropriate
      position.

PMID- 20935625
TI  - Direct dynamin-actin interactions regulate the actin cytoskeleton.
AB  - The large GTPase dynamin assembles into higher order structures that are thought
      to promote endocytosis. Dynamin also regulates the actin cytoskeleton through an
      unknown, GTPase-dependent mechanism. Here, we identify a highly conserved site in
      dynamin that binds directly to actin filaments and aligns them into bundles.
      Point mutations in the actin-binding domain cause aberrant membrane ruffling and
      defective actin stress fibre formation in cells. Short actin filaments promote
      dynamin assembly into higher order structures, which in turn efficiently release
      the actin-capping protein (CP) gelsolin from barbed actin ends in vitro, allowing
      for elongation of actin filaments. Together, our results support a model in which
      assembled dynamin, generated through interactions with short actin filaments,
      promotes actin polymerization via displacement of actin-CPs.

PMID- 20935626
TI  - Recent decline in the global land evapotranspiration trend due to limited
      moisture supply.
AB  - More than half of the solar energy absorbed by land surfaces is currently used to
      evaporate water. Climate change is expected to intensify the hydrological cycle
      and to alter evapotranspiration, with implications for ecosystem services and
      feedback to regional and global climate. Evapotranspiration changes may already
      be under way, but direct observational constraints are lacking at the global
      scale. Until such evidence is available, changes in the water cycle on land-a key
      diagnostic criterion of the effects of climate change and variability-remain
      uncertain. Here we provide a data-driven estimate of global land
      evapotranspiration from 1982 to 2008, compiled using a global monitoring network,
      meteorological and remote-sensing observations, and a machine-learning algorithm.
      In addition, we have assessed evapotranspiration variations over the same time
      period using an ensemble of process-based land-surface models. Our results
      suggest that global annual evapotranspiration increased on average by 7.1 +/- 1.0
      millimetres per year per decade from 1982 to 1997. After that, coincident with
      the last major El Nino event in 1998, the global evapotranspiration increase
      seems to have ceased until 2008. This change was driven primarily by moisture
      limitation in the Southern Hemisphere, particularly Africa and Australia. In
      these regions, microwave satellite observations indicate that soil moisture
      decreased from 1998 to 2008. Hence, increasing soil-moisture limitations on
      evapotranspiration largely explain the recent decline of the global land
      evapotranspiration trend. Whether the changing behaviour of evapotranspiration is
      representative of natural climate variability or reflects a more permanent
      reorganization of the land water cycle is a key question for earth system
      science.

PMID- 20935627
TI  - Video imaging of walking myosin V by high-speed atomic force microscopy.
AB  - The dynamic behaviour of myosin V molecules translocating along actin filaments
      has been mainly studied by optical microscopy. The processive hand-over-hand
      movement coupled with hydrolysis of adenosine triphosphate was thereby
      demonstrated. However, the protein molecules themselves are invisible in the
      observations and have therefore been visualized by electron microscopy in the
      stationary states. The concomitant assessment of structure and dynamics has been
      unfeasible, a situation prevailing throughout biological research. Here we
      directly visualize myosin V molecules walking along actin tracks, using high
      speed atomic force microscopy. The high-resolution movies not only provide
      corroborative 'visual evidence' for previously speculated or demonstrated
      molecular behaviours, including lever-arm swing, but also reveal more detailed
      behaviours of the molecules, leading to a comprehensive understanding of the
      motor mechanism. Our direct and dynamic high-resolution visualization is a
      powerful new approach to studying the structure and dynamics of biomolecules in
      action.

PMID- 20935628
TI  - Efficient hepatitis C virus particle formation requires diacylglycerol
      acyltransferase-1.
AB  - Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is closely tied to the lipid metabolism of
      liver cells. Here we identify the triglyceride-synthesizing enzyme diacylglycerol
      acyltransferase-1 (DGAT1) as a key host factor for HCV infection. DGAT1 interacts
      with the viral nucleocapsid core and is required for the trafficking of core to
      lipid droplets. Inhibition of DGAT1 activity or RNAi-mediated knockdown of DGAT1
      severely impairs infectious virion production, implicating DGAT1 as a new target
      for antiviral therapy.

PMID- 20935631
TI  - Rmi1 stimulates decatenation of double Holliday junctions during dissolution by
      Sgs1-Top3.
AB  - A double Holliday junction (dHJ) is a central intermediate of homologous
      recombination that can be processed to yield crossover or non-crossover
      recombination products. To preserve genomic integrity, cells possess mechanisms
      to avoid crossing over. We show that Saccharomyces cerevisiae Sgs1 and Top3
      proteins are sufficient to migrate and disentangle a dHJ to produce exclusively
      non-crossover recombination products, in a reaction termed "dissolution." We show
      that Rmi1 stimulates dHJ dissolution at low Sgs1-Top3 protein concentrations,
      although it has no effect on the initial rate of Holliday junction (HJ)
      migration. Rmi1 serves to stimulate DNA decatenation, removing the last linkages
      between the repaired and template DNA molecules. Dissolution of a dHJ is a highly
      efficient and concerted alternative to nucleolytic resolution that prevents
      crossing over of chromosomes during recombinational DNA repair in mitotic cells
      and thereby contributes to genomic integrity.

PMID- 20935632
TI  - Rad51 protects nascent DNA from Mre11-dependent degradation and promotes
      continuous DNA synthesis.
AB  - The role of Rad51 in an unperturbed cell cycle has been difficult to distinguish
      from its DNA repair function. Here, using EM to visualize replication
      intermediates assembled in Xenopus laevis egg extract, we show that Rad51 is
      required to prevent the accumulation of single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) gaps at
      replication forks and behind them. ssDNA gaps at forks arise from extended
      uncoupling of leading- and lagging-strand DNA synthesis. In contrast, ssDNA gaps
      behind forks, which are prevalent on damaged templates, result from Mre11
      dependent degradation of newly synthesized DNA strands and are suppressed by
      inhibition of Mre11 nuclease activity. These findings reveal direct roles for
      Rad51 at replication forks, demonstrating that Rad51 protects newly synthesized
      DNA from Mre11-dependent degradation and promotes continuous DNA synthesis.

PMID- 20935633
TI  - Structural polymorphism in F-actin.
AB  - Actin has maintained an exquisite degree of sequence conservation over large
      evolutionary distances for reasons that are not understood. The desire to explain
      phenomena from muscle contraction to cytokinesis in mechanistic detail has driven
      the generation of an atomic model of the actin filament (F-actin). Here we use
      electron cryomicroscopy to show that frozen-hydrated actin filaments contain a
      multiplicity of different structural states. We show (at ~10 A resolution) that
      subdomain 2 can be disordered and can make multiple contacts with the C terminus
      of a subunit above it. We link a number of disease-causing mutations in the human
      ACTA1 gene to the most structurally dynamic elements of actin. Because F-actin is
      structurally polymorphic, it cannot be described using only one atomic model and
      must be understood as an ensemble of different states.

PMID- 20935634
TI  - The Fas-FADD death domain complex structure reveals the basis of DISC assembly
      and disease mutations.
AB  - The death-inducing signaling complex (DISC) formed by the death receptor Fas, the
      adaptor protein FADD and caspase-8 mediates the extrinsic apoptotic program.
      Mutations in Fas that disrupt the DISC cause autoimmune lymphoproliferative
      syndrome (ALPS). Here we show that the Fas-FADD death domain (DD) complex forms
      an asymmetric oligomeric structure composed of 5-7 Fas DD and 5 FADD DD, whose
      interfaces harbor ALPS-associated mutations. Structure-based mutations disrupt
      the Fas-FADD interaction in vitro and in living cells; the severity of a mutation
      correlates with the number of occurrences of a particular interaction in the
      structure. The highly oligomeric structure explains the requirement for hexameric
      or membrane-bound FasL in Fas signaling. It also predicts strong dominant
      negative effects from Fas mutations, which are confirmed by signaling assays. The
      structure optimally positions the FADD death effector domain (DED) to interact
      with the caspase-8 DED for caspase recruitment and higher-order aggregation.

PMID- 20935629
TI  - Meta-analysis identifies 13 new loci associated with waist-hip ratio and reveals
      sexual dimorphism in the genetic basis of fat distribution.
AB  - Waist-hip ratio (WHR) is a measure of body fat distribution and a predictor of
      metabolic consequences independent of overall adiposity. WHR is heritable, but
      few genetic variants influencing this trait have been identified. We conducted a
      meta-analysis of 32 genome-wide association studies for WHR adjusted for body
      mass index (comprising up to 77,167 participants), following up 16 loci in an
      additional 29 studies (comprising up to 113,636 subjects). We identified 13 new
      loci in or near RSPO3, VEGFA, TBX15-WARS2, NFE2L3, GRB14, DNM3-PIGC, ITPR2-SSPN,
      LY86, HOXC13, ADAMTS9, ZNRF3-KREMEN1, NISCH-STAB1 and CPEB4 (P = 1.9 * 10-9 to P
      = 1.8 * 10-40) and the known signal at LYPLAL1. Seven of these loci exhibited
      marked sexual dimorphism, all with a stronger effect on WHR in women than men (P
      for sex difference = 1.9 * 10-3 to P = 1.2 * 10-13). These findings provide
      evidence for multiple loci that modulate body fat distribution independent of
      overall adiposity and reveal strong gene-by-sex interactions.

PMID- 20935635
TI  - Cyclin-dependent kinases regulate epigenetic gene silencing through
      phosphorylation of EZH2.
AB  - The Polycomb group (PcG) protein, enhancer of zeste homologue 2 (EZH2), has an
      essential role in promoting histone H3 lysine 27 trimethylation (H3K27me3) and
      epigenetic gene silencing. This function of EZH2 is important for cell
      proliferation and inhibition of cell differentiation, and is implicated in cancer
      progression. Here, we demonstrate that under physiological conditions, cyclin
      dependent kinase 1 (CDK1) and cyclin-dependent kinase 2 (CDK2) phosphorylate EZH2
      at Thr 350 in an evolutionarily conserved motif. Phosphorylation of Thr 350 is
      important for recruitment of EZH2 and maintenance of H3K27me3 levels at EZH2
      target loci. Blockage of Thr 350 phosphorylation not only diminishes the global
      effect of EZH2 on gene silencing, it also mitigates EZH2-mediated cell
      proliferation and migration. These results demonstrate that CDK-mediated
      phosphorylation is a key mechanism governing EZH2 function and that there is a
      link between the cell-cycle machinery and epigenetic gene silencing.

PMID- 20935636
TI  - Microtubule and katanin-dependent dynamics of microtubule nucleation complexes in
      the acentrosomal Arabidopsis cortical array.
AB  - Microtubule nucleation in interphase plant cells primarily occurs through
      branching from pre-existing microtubules at dispersed sites in the cell cortex.
      The minus ends of new microtubules are often released from the sites of
      nucleation, and the free microtubules are then transported to new locations by
      polymer treadmilling. These nucleation-and-release events are characteristic
      features of plant arrays in interphase cells, but little is known about the
      spatiotemporal control of these events by nucleating protein complexes. We
      visualized the dynamics of two fluorescently-tagged gamma-tubulin complex
      proteins, GCP2 and GCP3, in Arabidopsis thaliana. These probes labelled motile
      complexes in the cytosol that transiently stabilized at fixed locations in the
      cell cortex. Recruitment of labelled complexes occurred preferentially along
      existing cortical microtubules, from which new microtubule was synthesized in a
      branching manner, or in parallel to the existing microtubule. Complexes localized
      to microtubules were approximately 10-fold more likely to display nucleation than
      were complexes recruited to other locations. Nucleating complexes remained stable
      until daughter microtubules were either completely depolymerized from their plus
      ends or released by katanin-dependent severing activity. These observations
      suggest that the nucleation complexes are primarily activated on association with
      microtubule lattices, and that nucleation complex stability depends on
      association with daughter microtubules and is regulated in part by katanin
      activity.

PMID- 20935637
TI  - Ascl1a regulates Muller glia dedifferentiation and retinal regeneration through a
      Lin-28-dependent, let-7 microRNA signalling pathway.
AB  - Unlike mammals, teleost fish mount a robust regenerative response to retinal
      injury that culminates in restoration of visual function. This regenerative
      response relies on dedifferentiation of Muller glia into a cycling population of
      progenitor cells. However, the mechanism underlying this dedifferentiation is
      unknown. Here, we report that genes encoding pluripotency factors are induced
      following retinal injury. Interestingly, the proneural transcription factor,
      Ascl1a, and the pluripotency factor, Lin-28, are induced in Muller glia within 6
      h following retinal injury and are necessary for Muller glia dedifferentiation.
      We demonstrate that Ascl1a is necessary for lin-28 expression and that Lin-28
      suppresses let-7 microRNA (miRNA) expression. Furthermore, we demonstrate that
      let-7 represses expression of regeneration-associated genes such as, ascl1a,
      hspd1, lin-28, oct4, pax6b and c-myc. hspd1, oct4 and c-myc(a) exhibit basal
      expression in the uninjured retina and let-7 may inhibit this expression to
      prevent premature Muller glia dedifferentiation. The opposing actions of Lin-28
      and let-7 miRNAs on Muller glia differentiation and dedifferentiation are similar
      to that of embryonic stem cells and suggest novel targets for stimulating Muller
      glia dedifferentiation and retinal regeneration in mammals.

PMID- 20935638
TI  - Epithelial septate junction assembly relies on melanotransferrin iron binding and
      endocytosis in Drosophila.
AB  - Iron is an essential element in many biological processes. In vertebrates, serum
      transferrin is the major supplier of iron to tissues, but the function of
      additional transferrin-like proteins remains poorly understood. Melanotransferrin
      (MTf) is a phylogenetically conserved, iron-binding epithelial protein. Elevated
      MTf levels have been implicated in melanoma pathogenesis. Here, we present a
      functional analysis of MTf in Drosophila melanogaster. Similarly to its human
      homologue, Drosophila MTf is a lipid-modified, iron-binding protein attached to
      epithelial cell membranes, and is a component of the septate junctions that form
      the paracellular permeability barrier in epithelial tissues. We demonstrate that
      septate junction assembly during epithelial maturation relies on endocytosis and
      apicolateral recycling of iron-bound MTf. Mouse MTf complements the defects of
      Drosophila MTf mutants. Drosophila provides the first genetic model for the
      functional dissection of MTf in epithelial junction assembly and morphogenesis.

PMID- 20935630
TI  - Association analyses of 249,796 individuals reveal 18 new loci associated with
      body mass index.
AB  - Obesity is globally prevalent and highly heritable, but its underlying genetic
      factors remain largely elusive. To identify genetic loci for obesity
      susceptibility, we examined associations between body mass index and ~ 2.8
      million SNPs in up to 123,865 individuals with targeted follow up of 42 SNPs in
      up to 125,931 additional individuals. We confirmed 14 known obesity
      susceptibility loci and identified 18 new loci associated with body mass index (P
      < 5 * 10-8), one of which includes a copy number variant near GPRC5B. Some loci
      (at MC4R, POMC, SH2B1 and BDNF) map near key hypothalamic regulators of energy
      balance, and one of these loci is near GIPR, an incretin receptor. Furthermore,
      genes in other newly associated loci may provide new insights into human body
      weight regulation.

PMID- 20935639
TI  - SUMOylation of the GTPase Rac1 is required for optimal cell migration.
AB  - The Rho-like GTPase, Rac1, induces cytoskeletal rearrangements required for cell
      migration. Rac activation is regulated through a number of mechanisms, including
      control of nucleotide exchange and hydrolysis, regulation of subcellular
      localization or modulation of protein-expression levels. Here, we identify that
      the small ubiquitin-like modifier (SUMO) E3-ligase, PIAS3, interacts with Rac1
      and is required for increased Rac activation and optimal cell migration in
      response to hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) signalling. We demonstrate that Rac1
      can be conjugated to SUMO-1 in response to hepatocyte growth factor treatment and
      that SUMOylation is enhanced by PIAS3. Furthermore, we identify non-consensus
      sites within the polybasic region of Rac1 as the main location for SUMO
      conjugation. We demonstrate that PIAS3-mediated SUMOylation of Rac1 controls the
      levels of Rac1-GTP and the ability of Rac1 to stimulate lamellipodia, cell
      migration and invasion. The finding that a Ras superfamily member can be
      SUMOylated provides an insight into the regulation of these critical mediators of
      cell behaviour. Our data reveal a role for SUMO in the regulation of cell
      migration and invasion.

PMID- 20935640
TI  - Fbw7 controls neural stem cell differentiation and progenitor apoptosis via Notch
      and c-Jun.
AB  - Neural stem and progenitor cells (NSCs/NPCs) give rise to neurons, astrocytes and
      oligodendrocytes. However, the mechanisms underlying the decision of a stem cell
      to either self-renew or differentiate are incompletely understood. We demonstrate
      here that Fbw7 (F-box and WD repeat domain containing-7), the substrate
      recognition component of an SCF (complex of SKP1, CUL1 and F-box protein)-type E3
      ubiquitin ligase, is a key regulator of NSC/NPC viability and differentiation.
      The absence of Fbw7 in the mouse brain caused severely impaired stem cell
      differentiation and increased progenitor cell death. Fbw7 deficiency resulted in
      accumulation of two SCF(Fbw7) substrates, the transcription factors active Notch1
      and N-terminally phosphorylated c-Jun. Genetic and pharmacological rescue
      experiments identified c-Jun as a key substrate of Fbw7 in controlling progenitor
      cell viability, whereas inhibition of Notch signaling alleviated the block in
      stem cell differentiation. Thus Fbw7 controls neurogenesis by antagonizing Notch
      and c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK)/c-Jun signaling.

PMID- 20935641
TI  - The MAP kinase phosphatase MKP-1 regulates BDNF-induced axon branching.
AB  - The refinement of neural circuits during development depends on a dynamic process
      of branching of axons and dendrites that leads to synapse formation and
      connectivity. The neurotrophin brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is
      essential for the outgrowth and activity-dependent remodeling of axonal arbors in
      vivo. However, the mechanisms that translate extracellular signals into the
      formation of axonal branches are incompletely understood. We found that MAP
      kinase phosphatase-1 (MKP-1) controls axon branching. MKP-1 expression induced by
      BDNF signaling caused spatiotemporal deactivation of c-jun N-terminal kinase
      (JNK), which reduced the phosphorylation of JNK substrates that destabilize
      microtubules. Indeed, neurons from mkp-1 null mice could not produce axon
      branches in response to BDNF. Our results identify a signaling mechanism that
      regulates axonal branching and provide a framework for studying the molecular
      mechanisms of innervation and axonal remodeling under normal and pathological
      conditions.

PMID- 20935642
TI  - The habenula is crucial for experience-dependent modification of fear responses
      in zebrafish.
AB  - The zebrafish dorsal habenula (dHb) shows conspicuous asymmetry in its connection
      with the interpeduncular nucleus (IPN) and is equivalent to the mammalian medial
      habenula. Genetic inactivation of the lateral subnucleus of dHb (dHbL) biased
      fish towards freezing rather than the normal flight response to a conditioned
      fear stimulus, suggesting that the dHbL-IPN pathway is important for controlling
      experience-dependent modification of fear responses.

PMID- 20935643
TI  - A crosstalk between beta1 and beta3 integrins controls glycine receptor and
      gephyrin trafficking at synapses.
AB  - The regulation of glycine receptor (GlyR) number at synapses is necessary for the
      efficacy of inhibition and the control of neuronal excitability in the spinal
      cord. GlyR accumulation at synapses depends on the scaffolding molecule gephyrin
      and is linked to GlyR synaptic dwell time. However, the mechanisms that tune GlyR
      synaptic exchanges in response to different neuronal environments are unknown.
      Integrins are cell adhesion molecules and signaling receptors. Using single
      quantum dot imaging and fluorescence recovery after photobleaching, we found in
      rats that beta1 and beta3 integrins adjust synaptic strength by regulating the
      synaptic dwell time of both GlyRs and gephyrin. beta1 and beta3 integrins
      crosstalked via calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II and adapted GlyR
      lateral diffusion and gephyrin-dependent trapping at synapses. This provides a
      mechanism for maintaining or adjusting the steady state of postsynaptic molecule
      exchanges and the level of glycinergic inhibition in response to neuron- and glia
      derived signals or extracellular matrix remodeling.

PMID- 20935644
TI  - Cross-modal plasticity in specific auditory cortices underlies visual
      compensations in the deaf.
AB  - When the brain is deprived of input from one sensory modality, it often
      compensates with supranormal performance in one or more of the intact sensory
      systems. In the absence of acoustic input, it has been proposed that cross-modal
      reorganization of deaf auditory cortex may provide the neural substrate mediating
      compensatory visual function. We tested this hypothesis using a battery of visual
      psychophysical tasks and found that congenitally deaf cats, compared with hearing
      cats, have superior localization in the peripheral field and lower visual
      movement detection thresholds. In the deaf cats, reversible deactivation of
      posterior auditory cortex selectively eliminated superior visual localization
      abilities, whereas deactivation of the dorsal auditory cortex eliminated superior
      visual motion detection. Our results indicate that enhanced visual performance in
      the deaf is caused by cross-modal reorganization of deaf auditory cortex and it
      is possible to localize individual visual functions in discrete portions of
      reorganized auditory cortex.

PMID- 20935645
TI  - Zebrafish atlastin controls motility and spinal motor axon architecture via
      inhibition of the BMP pathway.
AB  - To better understand hereditary spastic paraplegia (HSP), we characterized the
      function of atlastin, a protein that is frequently involved in juvenile forms of
      HSP, by analyzing loss- and gain-of-function phenotypes in the developing
      zebrafish. We found that knockdown of the gene for atlastin (atl1) caused a
      severe decrease in larval mobility that was preceded by abnormal architecture of
      spinal motor axons and was associated with a substantial upregulation of the bone
      morphogenetic protein (BMP) signaling pathway. Overexpression analyses confirmed
      that atlastin inhibits BMP signaling. In primary cultures of zebrafish spinal
      neurons, Atlastin partially colocalized with type I BMP receptors in late
      endosomes distributed along neurites, which suggests that atlastin may regulate
      BMP receptor trafficking. Finally, genetic or pharmacological inhibition of BMP
      signaling was sufficient to rescue the loss of mobility and spinal motor axon
      defects of atl1 morphants, emphasizing the importance of fine-tuning the balance
      of BMP signaling for vertebrate motor axon architecture and stability.

PMID- 20935646
TI  - The microRNA miR-182 is induced by IL-2 and promotes clonal expansion of
      activated helper T lymphocytes.
AB  - After being activated by antigen, helper T lymphocytes switch from a resting
      state to clonal expansion. This switch requires inactivation of the transcription
      factor Foxo1, a suppressor of proliferation expressed in resting helper T
      lymphocytes. In the early antigen-dependent phase of expansion, Foxo1 is
      inactivated by antigen receptor-mediated post-translational modifications. Here
      we show that in the late phase of expansion, Foxo1 was no longer post
      translationally regulated but was inhibited post-transcriptionally by the
      interleukin 2 (IL-2)-induced microRNA miR-182. Specific inhibition of miR-182 in
      helper T lymphocytes limited their population expansion in vitro and in vivo. Our
      results demonstrate a central role for miR-182 in the physiological regulation of
      IL-2-driven helper T cell-mediated immune responses and open new therapeutic
      possibilities.

PMID- 20935647
TI  - IL-37 is a fundamental inhibitor of innate immunity.
AB  - The function of interleukin 37 (IL-37; formerly IL-1 family member 7) has
      remained elusive. Expression of IL-37 in macrophages or epithelial cells almost
      completely suppressed production of pro-inflammatory cytokines, whereas the
      abundance of these cytokines increased with silencing of endogenous IL-37 in
      human blood cells. Anti-inflammatory cytokines were unaffected. Mice with
      transgenic expression of IL-37 were protected from lipopolysaccharide-induced
      shock, and showed markedly improved lung and kidney function and reduced liver
      damage after treatment with lipopolysaccharide. Transgenic mice had lower
      concentrations of circulating and tissue cytokines (72-95% less) than wild-type
      mice and showed less dendritic cell activation. IL-37 interacted intracellularly
      with Smad3 and IL-37-expressing cells and transgenic mice showed less cytokine
      suppression when endogenous Smad3 was depleted. IL-37 thus emerges as a natural
      suppressor of innate inflammatory and immune responses.

PMID- 20935648
TI  - IL-12 initiates tumor rejection via lymphoid tissue-inducer cells bearing the
      natural cytotoxicity receptor NKp46.
AB  - The potent tumoricidal activity of interleukin 12 (IL-12) is thought to be
      mediated by the activation and polarization of natural killer (NK) cells and T
      helper type 1 (T(H)1) cells, respectively. By systematic analysis of the IL-12
      induced immune response to subcutaneous melanoma (B16), we found that tumor
      suppression was mediated independently of T lymphocytes or NK cells. IL-12
      initiated local antitumor immunity by stimulating a subset of NKp46(+) lymphoid
      tissue-inducer (LTi) cells dependent on the transcription factor RORgammat. The
      presence of these NKp46(+) LTi cells induced upregulation of adhesion molecules
      in the tumor vasculature and resulted in more leukocyte invasion. Thus, this
      innate cell type is responsive to IL-12 and is a powerful mediator of tumor
      suppression.

PMID- 20935649
TI  - Trans-SILAC: sorting out the non-cell-autonomous proteome.
AB  - Non-cell-autonomous proteins are incorporated into cells that form tight contacts
      or are invaded by bacteria, but identifying the full repertoire of transferred
      proteins has been a challenge. Here we introduce a quantitative proteomics
      approach to sort out non-cell-autonomous proteins synthesized by other cells or
      intracellular pathogens. Our approach combines stable-isotope labeling of amino
      acids in cell culture (SILAC), high-purity cell sorting and bioinformatics
      analysis to identify the repertoire of relevant non-cell-autonomous proteins.
      This 'trans-SILAC' method allowed us to discover many proteins transferred from
      human B to natural killer cells and to measure biosynthesis rates of Salmonella
      enterica proteins in infected human cells. Trans-SILAC should be a useful method
      to examine protein exchange between different cells of multicellular organisms or
      pathogen and host.

PMID- 20935650
TI  - De novo assembly and analysis of RNA-seq data.
AB  - We describe Trans-ABySS, a de novo short-read transcriptome assembly and analysis
      pipeline that addresses variation in local read densities by assembling read
      substrings with varying stringencies and then merging the resulting contigs
      before analysis. Analyzing 7.4 gigabases of 50-base-pair paired-end Illumina
      reads from an adult mouse liver poly(A) RNA library, we identified known, new and
      alternative structures in expressed transcripts, and achieved high sensitivity
      and specificity relative to reference-based assembly methods.

PMID- 20935651
TI  - Chemical synthesis of the mouse mitochondrial genome.
AB  - We describe a one-step, isothermal assembly method for synthesizing DNA molecules
      from overlapping oligonucleotides. The method cycles between in vitro
      recombination and amplification until the desired length is reached. As a
      demonstration of its simplicity and robustness, we synthesized the entire 16.3
      kilobase mouse mitochondrial genome from 600 overlapping 60-mers.

PMID- 20935652
TI  - Specific gene transfer to neurons, endothelial cells and hematopoietic
      progenitors with lentiviral vectors.
AB  - We present a flexible and highly specific targeting method for lentiviral vectors
      based on single-chain antibodies recognizing cell-surface antigens. We generated
      lentiviral vectors specific for human CD105(+) endothelial cells, human CD133(+)
      hematopoietic progenitors and mouse GluA-expressing neurons. Lentiviral vectors
      specific for CD105 or for CD20 transduced their target cells as efficiently as
      VSV-G pseudotyped vectors but discriminated between endothelial cells and
      lymphocytes in mixed cultures. CD133-targeted vectors transduced CD133(+)
      cultured hematopoietic progenitor cells more efficiently than VSV-G pseudotyped
      vectors, resulting in stable long-term transduction. Lentiviral vectors targeted
      to the glutamate receptor subunits GluA2 and GluA4 exhibited more than 94%
      specificity for neurons in cerebellar cultures and when injected into the adult
      mouse brain. We observed neuron-specific gene modification upon transfer of the
      Cre recombinase gene into the hippocampus of reporter mice. This approach allowed
      targeted gene transfer to many cell types of interest with an unprecedented
      degree of specificity.

PMID- 20935653
TI  - DNA nanotechnology: steps towards automated synthesis.

PMID- 20935654
TI  - Autonomous multistep organic synthesis in a single isothermal solution mediated
      by a DNA walker.
AB  - Multistep synthesis in the laboratory typically requires numerous reaction
      vessels, each containing a different set of reactants. In contrast, cells are
      capable of performing highly efficient and selective multistep biosynthesis under
      mild conditions with all reactants simultaneously present in solution. If the
      latter approach could be applied in the laboratory, it could improve the ease,
      speed and efficiency of multistep reaction sequences. Here, we show that a DNA
      mechanical device--a DNA walker moving along a DNA track--can be used to perform
      a series of amine acylation reactions in a single solution without any external
      intervention. The products of these reactions are programmed by the sequence of
      the DNA track, but they are not related to the structure of DNA. Moreover, they
      are formed with speeds and overall yields that are significantly greater than
      those previously achieved by multistep DNA-templated small-molecule synthesis.

PMID- 20935655
TI  - Observation of long-range exciton diffusion in highly ordered organic
      semiconductors.
AB  - Excitons in polycrystalline and disordered films of organic semiconductors have
      been shown to diffuse over distances of 10-50 nm. Here, using polarization- and
      wavelength-dependent photoconductivity in the highly ordered organic
      semiconductor rubrene, we show that the diffusion of triplet excitons in this
      material occurs over macroscopic distances (2-8 MUm), comparable to the light
      absorption length. Dissociation of these excitons at the surface of the crystal
      is found to be the main source of photoconductivity in rubrene. In addition, we
      observe strong photoluminescence quenching and a simultaneous enhancement of
      photoconductivity when the crystal surface is functionalized with exciton
      splitters. In combination with time-resolved measurements, these observations
      strongly suggest that long-lived triplet excitons are indeed generated in
      molecular crystals by fission of singlets, and these triplets provide a
      significant contribution to the surface photocurrent generated in organic
      materials. Our findings indicate that the exciton diffusion bottleneck is not an
      intrinsic limitation of organic semiconductors.

PMID- 20935656
TI  - Fractal avalanche ruptures in biological membranes.
AB  - Bilayer membranes envelope cells as well as organelles, and constitute the most
      ubiquitous biological material found in all branches of the phylogenetic tree.
      Cell membrane rupture is an important biological process, and substantial rupture
      rates are found in skeletal and cardiac muscle cells under a mechanical load.
      Rupture can also be induced by processes such as cell death, and active cell
      membrane repair mechanisms are essential to preserve cell integrity. Pore
      formation in cell membranes is also at the heart of many biomedical applications
      such as in drug, gene and short interfering RNA delivery. Membrane rupture
      dynamics has been studied in bilayer vesicles under tensile stress, which
      consistently produce circular pores. We observed very different rupture mechanics
      in bilayer membranes spreading on solid supports: in one instance fingering
      instabilities were seen resulting in floral-like pores and in another, the
      rupture proceeded in a series of rapid avalanches causing fractal membrane
      fragmentation. The intermittent character of rupture evolution and the broad
      distribution in avalanche sizes is consistent with crackling-noise dynamics. Such
      noisy dynamics appear in fracture of solid disordered materials, in dislocation
      avalanches in plastic deformations and domain wall magnetization avalanches. We
      also observed similar fractal rupture mechanics in spreading cell membranes.

PMID- 20935657
TI  - An engineered anisotropic nanofilm with unidirectional wetting properties.
AB  - Anisotropic textured surfaces allow water striders to walk on water, butterflies
      to shed water from their wings and plants to trap insects and pollen. Capturing
      these natural features in biomimetic surfaces is an active area of research.
      Here, we report an engineered nanofilm, composed of an array of poly(p-xylylene)
      nanorods, which demonstrates anisotropic wetting behaviour by means of a pin
      release droplet ratchet mechanism. Droplet retention forces in the pin and
      release directions differ by up to 80 MUN, which is over ten times greater than
      the values reported for other engineered anisotropic surfaces. The nanofilm
      provides a microscale smooth surface on which to transport microlitre droplets,
      and is also relatively easy to synthesize by a bottom-up vapour-phase technique.
      An accompanying comprehensive model successfully describes the film's anisotropic
      wetting behaviour as a function of measurable film morphology parameters.

PMID- 20935659
TI  - The 12th Annual International Symposium in Obesity: Rediscovering brown adipose
      tissue.

PMID- 20935658
TI  - Orally delivered thioketal nanoparticles loaded with TNF-alpha-siRNA target
      inflammation and inhibit gene expression in the intestines.
AB  - Small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) directed against proinflammatory cytokines have
      the potential to treat numerous diseases associated with intestinal inflammation;
      however, the side-effects caused by the systemic depletion of cytokines demands
      that the delivery of cytokine-targeted siRNAs be localized to diseased intestinal
      tissues. Although various delivery vehicles have been developed to orally deliver
      therapeutics to intestinal tissue, none of these strategies has demonstrated the
      ability to protect siRNA from the harsh environment of the gastrointestinal tract
      and target its delivery to inflamed intestinal tissue. Here, we present a
      delivery vehicle for siRNA, termed thioketal nanoparticles (TKNs), that can
      localize orally delivered siRNA to sites of intestinal inflammation, and thus
      inhibit gene expression in inflamed intestinal tissue. TKNs are formulated from a
      polymer, poly-(1,4-phenyleneacetone dimethylene thioketal), that degrades
      selectively in response to reactive oxygen species (ROS). Therefore, when
      delivered orally, TKNs release siRNA in response to the abnormally high levels of
      ROS specific to sites of intestinal inflammation. Using a murine model of
      ulcerative colitis, we demonstrate that orally administered TKNs loaded with
      siRNA against the proinflammatory cytokine tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF
      alpha) diminish TNF-alpha messenger RNA levels in the colon and protect mice from
      ulcerative colitis.

PMID- 20935660
TI  - Transcriptional control of brown adipocyte development and thermogenesis.
AB  - Brown adipose tissue (BAT) is a specialized endothermic tissue in eutherian
      mammals that protects against hypothermia. Heat production by BAT may also be
      stimulated by overfeeding as an apparent counter regulatory mechanism to prevent
      excessive adipose accumulation. Genetic studies in rodents have overwhelmingly
      demonstrated an antiobesity effect for BAT. There is thus substantial biomedical
      interest in developing methods to increase the amount or function of BAT as a
      means to combat obesity. Furthermore, the recent discovery that adult humans have
      rather significant amounts of active BAT raises speculation that this tissue may
      naturally affect body weight in humans. Recent advances in our understanding of
      the transcriptional regulation of brown adipocyte development and adaptive
      thermogenesis are reviewed here.

PMID- 20935661
TI  - Brown fat thermogenesis and body weight regulation in mice: relevance to humans.
AB  - Physiological, pharmacological and genetic studies in dogs, mice and rats have
      established that the uncoupling protein-1 (UCP1)-based brown adipose tissue
      system has an important role in the regulation of body temperature. Although it
      may be possible to create laboratory conditions in which mice with inactivated
      Ucp1 can survive in a modestly cooled environment, data overwhelmingly support
      the conclusion that the UCP1/BAT system has evolved to maintain body temperature
      at 37  degrees C. The corollary to this conclusion is that any influence UCP1/BAT
      might have on body weight regulation is a secondary function. The idea that BAT
      prevents obesity by burning off excess energy to maintain energy balance seems
      incompatible with evolutionary biology. Premodern humans spent an enormous amount
      of energy either running to catch their meal or avoiding becoming a meal
      themselves; consequently, there was no obesity. Nevertheless, although secondary
      to body temperature regulation, UCP1/BAT is extraordinarily effective at reducing
      adiposity and insulin resistance in mice and rats. Variation among mice in
      susceptibility to diet-induced obesity is correlated with the induction of brown
      adipocytes in traditional white fat depots (wBAT). Both genetic and cell biology
      based experimentation have shown that the cellular origins of wBAT are different
      from those of interscapular-like brown adipocytes (iBAT). Do they have different
      functions? We have analyzed the effects of the early nutritional environment on
      the induction of brown adipocytes in inguinal fat to test the hypothesis that
      wBAT is primarily involved in body weight regulation. Although undernutrition
      during lactation severely suppresses wBAT at 21 days of age, undernourished mice
      fed a normal chow diet ad libitum at weaning recovered their normal wBAT and iBAT
      systems as young adults. The function of wBAT does not seem to be uniquely
      devoted to body weight regulation.

PMID- 20935662
TI  - Positive and negative control of Ucp1 gene transcription and the role of beta
      adrenergic signaling networks.
AB  - Adrenergic receptor signaling in adipocytes controls not only the hydrolysis of
      triglycerides as fuel for other organs but is also a driver of brown adipocyte
      thermogenesis and energy consumption. As the appearance of these mitochondria
      rich, thermogenically active cells in 'white' adipocyte depots is correlated with
      resistance to overnutrition and glucose intolerance, the molecular basis of their
      genesis and metabolic activity needs to be understood. beta-adrenergic receptors
      regulate the enzymatic machinery for lipolysis and fuel utilization. They also
      coordinately stimulate the transcription of genes that support the specific
      functions of white and brown adipocytes. They accomplish this through the
      activation of a network of signaling pathways that include cAMP-dependent protein
      kinase and members of the mitogen-activated protein kinase family. In brown
      adipocytes, these kinases control the transcription of nuclear factors such as
      peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma coactivator-1s, as well as other
      molecules discovered to respond to adrenergic signals, to increase mitochondrial
      biogenesis and uncoupling protein-1 (UCP1) expression. However, it is also
      important to understand the mechanisms that may actively repress these energy
      wasting processes. Toward that end, we provide evidence for an important role for
      the nuclear receptor LXRalpha as a cAMP- and oxysterol-dependent transcriptional
      repressor of the Ucp1 gene. Adipocytes from LXRalpha-null mice have increased
      expression of most 'markers' of brown adipocytes, increased mitochondrial mass
      and uncoupled respiration. These studies reveal potential new targets and
      directions for controlling the relative levels of white versus brown adipocytes
      as a means of metabolic fuel utilization in the struggle against obesity and
      related metabolic diseases.

PMID- 20935663
TI  - Biology of brown adipose tissue: view from the chair.
AB  - Brown adipose tissue is generally referred to as a specialized adipose tissue, as
      it presents many features of an adipose tissue. However, its specific morphology,
      innervation, vascularization and body location, as well as its unique
      physiological role in regulatable thermogenesis, highlight its peculiarity.
      Whereas the mechanism for energy dissipation by brown adipocytes as heat was
      elucidated several years ago, recent work has advanced our knowledge of these
      cells in terms of precursors, cell lineage and transcriptional regulators. The
      discovery of a proximity at the developmental level between brown adipocytes and
      myocytes will influence future research on human brown adipocytes with the aim of
      facilitating the burning of fatty acids in order to prevent or alleviate certain
      metabolic diseases.

PMID- 20935664
TI  - Physiology of BAT thermogenesis: a view from the chair.

PMID- 20935665
TI  - Sympathetic and sensory innervation of brown adipose tissue.
AB  - The innervation of brown adipose tissue (BAT) by the sympathetic nervous system
      (SNS) is incontrovertible and, with its activation, functions as the principal,
      if not exclusive, stimulator of BAT thermogenesis. The parasympathetic
      innervation of BAT only appears in two minor BAT depots, but not in the major
      interscapular BAT (IBAT) depot. BAT thermogenesis is triggered by the release of
      norepinephrine from its sympathetic nerve terminals, stimulating beta3
      adrenoceptors that turns on a cascade of intracellular events ending in
      activation of uncoupling protein-1 (UCP-1). BAT also has sensory innervation that
      may function to monitor BAT lipolysis, a response necessary for activation of UCP
      1 by fatty acids, or perhaps responding in a feedback manner to BAT temperature
      changes. The central sympathetic outflow circuits ultimately terminating in BAT
      have been revealed by injecting the retrograde viral transneuronal tract tracer,
      pseudorabies virus, into the tissue; moreover, there is a high degree of
      colocalization of melanocortin 4-receptor mRNA on these neurons across the neural
      axis. The necessary and sufficient central BAT SNS outflow sites that are
      activated by various thermogenic stimuli are not precisely known. In a chronic
      decerebration procedure, IBAT UCP-1 gene expression can be triggered by fourth
      ventricular injections of melanotan II, the melanocortin 3/4 receptor agonist,
      suggesting that there is sufficient hindbrain neural circuitry to generate
      thermogenic responses with this stimulation. The recent recognition of BAT in
      normal adult humans suggests a potential target for stimulation of energy
      expenditure by BAT to help mitigate increased body fat storage.

PMID- 20935666
TI  - Brown adipose tissue in humans.
AB  - Obesity is endemic in many regions of the world and a forerunner of several
      serious and sometimes fatal diseases such as ischemic heart disease, stroke,
      kidney failure and neoplasia. Although we know its origin--it results when energy
      intake exceeds energy expenditure--at present, the only proven therapy is
      bariatric surgery. This is a major abdominal procedure that, for reasons that are
      largely unknown (it cannot be explained solely by a reduction in ventricular
      volume), significantly reduces energy intake, but because of cost and limited
      availability, it will most likely be reserved for only a small fraction of those
      who stand to gain from effective antiobesity treatment. Clearly, alternative ways
      to treat obesity are needed. Another way to combat excessive accumulation of
      white adipose tissue would be to increase energy expenditure. Rodents,
      hibernators and human infants all have a specialized tissue--brown adipose tissue
      (BAT)--with the unique capacity to regulate energy expenditure by a process
      called adaptive thermogenesis. This process depends on the expression of
      uncoupling protein-1 (UCP1), which is a unique marker for BAT. UCP1 is an inner
      mitochondrial membrane protein that short circuits the mitochondrial proton
      gradient, so that oxygen consumption is no longer coupled to adenosine
      triphosphate synthesis. As a consequence, heat is generated. Mice lacking ucp-1
      are severely compromised in their ability to maintain normal body temperature
      when acutely exposed to cold and they are also prone to become obese. We have
      shown that, in mice, BAT protects against diet-induced obesity, insulin
      resistance and type 2 diabetes. This is based on prevention of excessive
      accumulation of triglyceride in non-adipose tissues such as muscle and liver.
      Ectopic triglyceride storage at these locations is associated with initiation of
      insulin resistance and, ultimately, development of type 2 diabetes.

PMID- 20935668
TI  - Metabolic consequences of the presence or absence of the thermogenic capacity of
      brown adipose tissue in mice (and probably in humans).
AB  - Only with the development of the uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1)-ablated mouse has it
      become possible to strictly delineate the physiological significance of the
      thermogenic capacity of brown adipose tissue. Considering the presence of active
      brown adipose tissue in adult humans, these insights may have direct human
      implications. In addition to classical nonshivering thermogenesis, all adaptive
      adrenergic thermogeneses, including diet-induced thermogenesis, is fully
      dependent on brown adipocyte activity. Any weight-reducing effect of beta(3)
      adrenergic agonists is fully dependent on UCP1 activity, as is any weight
      reducing effect of leptin (in excess of its effect on reduction of food intake).
      Consequently, in the absence of the thermogenic activity of brown adipose tissue,
      obesity develops spontaneously. The ability of brown adipose tissue to contribute
      to glucose disposal is also mainly related to thermogenic activity. However,
      basal metabolic rate, cold-induced thermogenesis, acute cold tolerance, fevers,
      nonadaptive adrenergic thermogenesis and processes such as angiogenesis in brown
      adipose tissue itself are not dependent on UCP1 activity. Whereas it is likely
      that these conclusions are also qualitatively valid for adult humans, the
      quantitative significance of brown adipose tissue for human metabolism--and the
      metabolic consequences for a single individual possessing more or less brown
      adipose tissue--awaits clarification.

PMID- 20935669
TI  - Novel genetic loci associated with prostate cancer in the Japanese population.

PMID- 20935667
TI  - Adaptive thermogenesis in humans.
AB  - The increasing prevalence of obesity and its comorbidities reflects the
      interaction of genes that favor the storage of excess energy as fat with an
      environment that provides ad libitum availability of energy-dense foods and
      encourages an increasingly sedentary lifestyle. Although weight reduction is
      difficult in and of itself, anyone who has ever lost weight will confirm that it
      is much harder to keep the weight off once it has been lost. The over 80%
      recidivism rate to preweight loss levels of body fatness after otherwise
      successful weight loss is due to the coordinate actions of metabolic, behavioral,
      neuroendocrine and autonomic responses designed to maintain body energy stores
      (fat) at a central nervous system-defined 'ideal'. This 'adaptive thermogenesis'
      creates the ideal situation for weight regain and is operant in both lean and
      obese individuals attempting to sustain reduced body weights. Much of this
      opposition to sustained weight loss is mediated by the adipocyte-derived hormone
      'leptin'. The multiple systems regulating energy stores and opposing the
      maintenance of a reduced body weight illustrate that body energy stores in
      general and obesity in particular are actively 'defended' by interlocking
      bioenergetic and neurobiological physiologies. Important inferences can be drawn
      for therapeutic strategies by recognizing obesity as a disease in which the human
      body actively opposes the 'cure' over long periods of time beyond the initial
      resolution of symptomatology.

PMID- 20935670
TI  - The Achilles heel of gamma-secretase: can we contain Alzheimer's disease by
      reducing synthesis of beta-amyloid?

PMID- 20935671
TI  - The tipping points in the initiation of B cell signalling: how small changes make
      big differences.
AB  - B cells are selected by the binding of antigen to clonally distributed B cell
      receptors (BCRs), triggering signalling cascades that result in B cell
      activation. With the recent application of high-resolution live-cell imaging, we
      are gaining an understanding of the events that initiate BCR signalling within
      seconds of its engagement with antigen. These observations are providing a
      molecular explanation for fundamental aspects of B cell responses, including
      antigen affinity discrimination and the value of class switching, as well as
      insights into the underlying causes of B cell tumorigenesis. Advances in our
      understanding of the earliest molecular events that follow antigen binding to the
      BCR may provide a general framework for the initiation of signalling in the
      adaptive immune system.

PMID- 20935672
TI  - Prognostic significance of BRMS1 expression in human melanoma and its role in
      tumor angiogenesis.
AB  - Breast cancer metastasis suppressor 1 (BRMS1) has been reported to suppress
      metastasis without significantly affecting tumorigenicity in breast cancer and
      ovarian cancer. To investigate the role of BRMS1 in human melanoma progression
      and prognosis, we established tissue microarray and BRMS1 expression was
      evaluated by immunohistochemistry in 41 dysplastic nevi, 90 primary melanomas and
      47 melanoma metastases. We found that BRMS1 expression was significantly
      decreased in metastatic melanoma compared with primary melanoma or dysplastic
      nevi (P=0.021 and 0.001, respectively, chi(2) test). In addition, reduced BRMS1
      staining was significantly correlated with American Joint Committee on Cancer
      stages (P=0.011, chi(2) test), but not associated with tumor thickness, tumor
      ulceration and other clinicopathological parameters. Furthermore, BRMS1
      expression was significantly correlated with disease-specific 5-year survival of
      melanoma patients (P=0.007, log-rank test). Multivariate Cox regression analysis
      revealed that BRMS1 staining was an independent prognostic factor for melanoma
      patients (relative risk=0.51; confidence interval=0.29-0.91; P=0.022). Moreover,
      we demonstrated that BRMS1 overexpression inhibited endothelial cell growth and
      tube formation ability by suppressing NF-kappaB activity and IL-6 expression in
      vitro. We also showed that knockdown of BRMS1 increased IL-6 expression and
      promoted endothelial cell growth and tube formation. In addition, our data
      revealed that the BRMS1-mediated IL-6 expression is dependent on NF-kappaB.
      Strikingly, our in vivo studies using nude mice confirmed that BRMS1 inhibited
      blood vessel formation and the recruitment of CD31-positive cells in matrigel
      plugs. Taken together, BRMS1 expression was decreased in metastatic melanomas,
      which resulted in deficient suppression of angiogenesis and contributed to
      melanoma progression. BRMS1 may serve an important prognostic marker and
      therapeutic target for melanoma patients.

PMID- 20935674
TI  - Towards novel paradigms for cancer therapy.
AB  - Cancer is a complex progressive multistep disorder that results from the
      accumulation of genetic and epigenetic abnormalities, which lead to the
      transformation of normal cells into malignant derivatives. Despite enormous
      progress in the understanding of cancer biology including the decryption of
      multiple regulatory networks governing cell growth and death, and despite the
      possibility of analyzing (epi)genetic deregulation at the genome-wide scale,
      cancer-targeted therapy is still the exception. In fact, to date there are still
      far too few examples of therapies leading to cure; treatment-derived toxicity is
      a major issue, and cancer remains to be one of the largest causes of death
      worldwide. The purpose of this review is to discuss the state of the art of
      cancer therapy with respect to the key issue of any treatment, namely its target
      selectivity. Therefore, we recapitulate and discuss current concepts and
      therapies targeting tumor-specific features, including oncofusion proteins,
      aberrant kinase activities and epigenetic tumor makeup. We analyze strategies
      designed to induce tumor-selective death such as the use of oncolytic virus,
      tumoricidal proteins (NS1, Eorf4, apoptin, HAMLET (human alpha-lactalbumin made
      lethal to tumor cells)) and activation of signaling pathways involved in tumor
      surveillance. We emphasize the potential of the tumor necrosis factor-related
      apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) pathway, an essential component of the
      evolutionary developed defense systems that eradicate malignant cells. Finally,
      we discuss the necessity of targeting tumor-initiating cells (TICs) to avoid
      relapse and increase the chances of complete remission, and describe emerging
      concepts that might provide novel avenues for cancer therapy.

PMID- 20935673
TI  - ROS-mediated upregulation of Noxa overcomes chemoresistance in chronic
      lymphocytic leukemia.
AB  - In recent years considerable progress has been made in treatment strategies for
      chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). However, the disease remains incurable
      because of the development of chemoresistance. Strategies to overcome resistance
      mechanisms are therefore highly needed. At least two mechanisms contribute to the
      development of resistance to drugs; acquired mutations resulting in a
      dysfunctional p53 response and shifts in the balance between apoptosis-regulating
      proteins. Platinum-based compounds have been successfully applied in relapsed
      lymphoma and recently also in high-risk CLL. In this study we investigated the
      efficacy and mechanism of action of cisplatinum (CDDP) in chemorefractory CLL.
      Independent of p53-functional status, CDDP acted synergistically with fludarabine
      (F-ara-A). The response involved generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS),
      which led to specific upregulation of the proapoptotic BH3-only protein Noxa.
      Induction of Noxa resulted in cell death by apoptosis as inhibition of caspase
      activation completely abrogated cell death. Furthermore, drug-resistance upon
      CD40-ligand stimulation, a model for the protective stimuli provided in lymph
      nodes, could also be overcome by CDDP/F-ara-A. ROS accumulation resulted in Noxa
      upregulation mainly at the transcriptional level and this was, at least in part,
      mediated by the mitogen-activated protein kinase p38. Finally, Noxa RNA
      interference markedly decreased sensitivity to CDDP/F-ara-A, supporting a key
      role for Noxa as mediator between ROS signaling and apoptosis induction. Our data
      indicate that interference in the cellular redox balance can be exploited to
      overcome chemoresistance in CLL.

PMID- 20935675
TI  - Loss of tumor progression locus 2 (tpl2) enhances tumorigenesis and inflammation
      in two-stage skin carcinogenesis.
AB  - Tumor progression locus 2 (Tpl2) is a serine/threonine kinase in the mitogen
      activated protein kinase signal transduction cascade known to regulate
      inflammatory pathways. Previously identified as an oncogene, its mutation or
      overexpression is reported in a variety of human cancers. To address its role in
      skin carcinogenesis, Tpl2(-/-) or wild-type (WT) C57BL/6 mice were subjected to a
      two-stage dimethylbenzanthracene/12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) mouse
      skin carcinogenesis model. Tpl2(-/-) mice developed a significantly higher
      incidence of tumors (80%) than WT mice (17%), as well as a reduced tumor latency
      and a significantly higher number of total tumors (113 vs 6). Moreover, Tpl2(-/-)
      mice treated with TPA experienced significantly higher nuclear factor kappaB (NF
      kappaB) activation, edema, infiltrating neutrophils and production of
      proinflammatory cytokines than did WT mice. We investigated the role of the p38,
      JNK, MEK and NF-kappaB signaling pathways both in vitro and in vivo in WT and
      Tpl2(-/-) mice by using inhibitors for each of these pathways. We confirmed that
      the proinflammatory effect in Tpl2(-/-) mice was due to heightened activity of
      the NF-kappaB pathway. These studies indicate that Tpl2 may serve more as a tumor
      suppressor than as an oncogene in chemically induced skin carcinogenesis, with
      its absence contributing to both tumorigenesis and inflammation.

PMID- 20935676
TI  - Infection with E1B-mutant adenovirus stabilizes p53 but blocks p53 acetylation
      and activity through E1A.
AB  - Wild-type adenovirus type 5 eliminates p53 through the E1B-55kDa and E4-34kDa
      gene products. Deletion or mutation of E1B-55kDa has long been thought to confer
      p53-selective replication of oncolytic viruses. We show here that infection with
      E1B-defective adenovirus mutants induces massive accumulation of p53, without
      obvious defects in p53 localization, phosphorylation, conformation and
      oligomerization. Nonetheless, p53 completely failed to induce its target genes in
      this scenario, for example, p21/CDKN1A, Mdm2 and PUMA. Two regions of the E1A
      gene products independently contributed to the suppression of p21 transcription.
      Depending on the E1A conserved region 3, E1B-defective adenovirus impaired the
      ability of the transcription factor Sp1 to bind the p21 promoter. Moreover, the
      amino terminal region of E1A, binding the acetyl transferases p300 and CREB
      binding protein, blocked p53 K382 acetylation in infected cells. Mutating either
      of these E1A regions, in addition to E1B, partially restored p21 mRNA levels. Our
      findings argue that adenovirus attenuates p53-mediated p21 induction, through at
      least two E1B-independent mechanisms. Other virus species and cancer cells may
      employ analogous strategies to impair p53 activity.

PMID- 20935677
TI  - A positive feedback loop of ER-alpha36/EGFR promotes malignant growth of ER
      negative breast cancer cells.
AB  - It is prevailingly thought that estrogen signaling is not involved in development
      of estrogen receptor (ER)-negative breast cancer. However, there is evidence
      indicating that ovariectomy prevents the development of both ER-positive and 
      negative breast cancer, suggesting that estrogen signaling is involved in the
      development of ER-negative breast cancer. Previously, our laboratory cloned a
      variant of ER-alpha, ER-alpha36, and found that ER-alpha36 mediated nongenomic
      estrogen signaling and is highly expressed in ER-negative breast cancer cells. In
      this study, we found that ER-alpha36 was highly expressed in 10/12 cases of
      triple-negative breast cancer. We investigated the role of mitogenic estrogen
      signaling mediated by ER-alpha36 in malignant growth of triple-negative breast
      cancer MDA-MB-231 and MDA-MB-436 cells that express high levels of ER-alpha36 and
      found that these cells strongly responded to mitogenic estrogen signaling both in
      vitro and in vivo. Knockdown of ER-alpha36 expression in these cells using the
      small hairpin RNA method diminished their responsiveness to estrogen. ER-alpha36
      physically interacted with the EGFR/Src/Shc complex and mediated estrogen-induced
      phosphorylation of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and Src. EGFR
      signaling activated ER-alpha36 transcription through an AP1 site in the ER
      alpha36 promoter, and ER-alpha36 expression was able to stabilize EGFR protein.
      Our results, thus demonstrated that ER-alpha36 mediates nongenomic estrogen
      signaling through the EGFR/Src/ERK signaling pathway in ER-negative breast cancer
      cells and suggested that a subset of ER-negative breast tumors that expresses ER
      alpha36, retains responsiveness to mitogenic estrogen signaling.

PMID- 20935678
TI  - Negative regulation of the tumor suppressor p53 gene by microRNAs.
AB  - The tumor suppressor p53, encoded by the TP53 gene, is recognized as the guardian
      of the human genome because it regulates many downstream genes to exercise its
      function in cell cycle and cell death. Recent studies have revealed that several
      microRNAs (miRNAs) are important components of the p53 tumor suppressor network
      with miR-125b and miR-504 directly targeting TP53. In this study, we use a
      screening method to identify that two miRNAs (miR-25 and miR-30d) directly target
      the 3'UTR of TP53 to downregulate p53 protein levels and reduce the expression of
      genes that are transcriptionally activated by p53. Correspondingly, both miR-25
      and miR-30d adversely affect apoptotic cell death, cell cycle arrest and cellular
      senescence. Inhibition of either miR-25 or miR-30d expression increases
      endogenous p53 expression and elevates cellular apoptosis in several cell lines,
      including one from multiple myeloma that has little TP53 mutations. Thus, beyond
      miR-125b and miR-504, the human TP53 gene is negatively regulated by two more
      miRNAs: miR-25 and miR-30d.

PMID- 20935679
TI  - Srg3, a mouse homolog of BAF155, is a novel p53 target and acts as a tumor
      suppressor by modulating p21(WAF1/CIP1) expression.
AB  - Some subunits of the SWI/SNF complex function as tumor suppressors. However,
      underlying mechanisms are still incompletely defined. Here, we show that Srg3, a
      mouse homolog of BAF155 that function as a core subunit of this complex,
      suppresses tumorigenesis in vivo. DNA damage signals promoted Srg3 degradation by
      inducing p53. Deficiency of Srg3 promoted G1 cell-cycle arrest, but antagonized
      apoptotic response to DNA damage by robustly inducing p53 and p21 proteins. Srg3
      heterozygous mice were prone to sarcoma formation, which was further enhanced by
      haploinsufficiency of p53. These tumors highly expressed p53 and p21 but lacked
      Srg3 expression. Our results establish a novel function of Srg3 in tumor
      suppression and provide insights into genetic pathways dictating tumor
      suppression by the SWI/SNF complex.

PMID- 20935680
TI  - Predicting PBSC harvest failure using circulating CD34 levels: developing target
      based cutoff points for early intervention.
AB  - PBSCs are usually mobilized using G-CSF with or without chemotherapy. With the
      emergence of newer mobilizing agents, predicting poor mobilization may allow
      early intervention and prevent the costs and complications associated with
      remobilization. We retrospectively evaluated a cohort of 1556 patients seen
      between January 2000 and September 2008 with multiple myeloma (565; 36%), non
      Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) (562; 36%), amyloidosis (345; 22%) or Hodgkin's disease
      (94; 6%), who were initially mobilized with single agent G-CSF. Sensitivity and
      specificity analysis was used to identify ideal peripheral blood CD34 count (PB
      CD34) cutoff points that predicted successful collection. In patients with plasma
      cell disorders, a PB-CD34 count of 11, 17, 21 and 28/MUL by day 4 or 5 was
      required to collect a target of 2, 4, 8 or 12 million cells/kg, respectively. A
      CD34 yield of <0.8 million cells/kg on first apheresis also predicted for <2
      million CD34 cells/kg. For patients with NHL or Hodgkin's disease, a PB-CD34
      count of <6 and <15/MUL on day 4 or 5 predicted failure to achieve a target
      collection of 2 and 4 million cells/kg, respectively. This study suggests that PB
      CD34 thresholds should be based on collection target to allow for early
      intervention and to prevent collection failures.

PMID- 20935681
TI  - Preferences of patients and physicians concerning treatment options for relapsed
      follicular lymphoma: a discrete choice experiment.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to elicit relative preferences for common treatment
      options of relapsed follicular lymphoma, and their associated attributes, amongst
      lymphoma patients in Alberta, and lymphoma-treating physicians in Canada, using a
      discrete choice experiment (DCE). Treatment administration, toxicity, survival
      free of relapse and cost were the attributes evaluated for four treatment
      options: standard chemotherapy (CT), radioimmunotherapy (RIT), high-dose CT and
      auto-SCT, and allo-SCT. For the 81 patients and 48 physicians who participated in
      this study, survival free of relapse was a positive influence on choice
      (P<0.001), whereas negative influences on choice included toxicity of allo-SCT
      (P<0.001 for patients, P=0.005 for physicians) and cost (P=0.001 for physicians
      only). The estimated uptake of the treatment options for patients was as follows:
      auto-SCT (69%), RIT (14%), CT (11%) and allo-SCT (7%). The distribution for
      physicians was similar (56, 20, 19 and 4%, respectively). In conclusion, patients
      with relapsed follicular lymphoma are able to consider the different attributes
      of various treatment options and are willing to trade off the need for
      hospitalization, associated toxicity and cost associated with autologous
      transplantation in order to benefit from an increased PFS.

PMID- 20935682
TI  - Risks and benefits of ovarian shielding in female patients undergoing TBI: a
      decision analysis.

PMID- 20935683
TI  - Transmural penetration of intravenously applied microbubbles during contrast
      enhanced ultrasound as a new diagnostic feature in patients with GVHD of the
      bowel.
AB  - GVHD is a common complication in patients after allo-SCT. Early detection is
      important because early therapy may improve the outcome. We evaluated contrast
      enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) in patients with GVHD to assess typical imaging
      features. CEUS was performed in nine patients with histologically proven GVHD. As
      a control four healthy volunteers and six patients with Crohn's disease (CD) were
      examined. We employed a high-resolution multi-frequency transducer (6-9 MHz) with
      contrast harmonic imaging. After the injection of 2.4 mL SonoVue (Bracco, Milan,
      Italy) intravenously data were acquired and stored digitally. Regions of interest
      were manually placed over the surrounding mesenteric fat, bowel wall and bowel
      lumen. Maximum signal increase of each compartment was calculated. Patients with
      CD and GVHD showed significant contrast uptake in the bowel wall. In contrast to
      CD patients and healthy volunteers, patients with GVHD showed transmural
      penetration of microbubbles into the bowel lumen. We assume that the damaged gut
      mucosal barrier in GVHD enables the microbubbles to penetrate through the bowel
      wall into the bowel lumen. The penetration of microbubbles into the bowel lumen
      may serve as a novel diagnostic feature for GVHD if confirmed in controlled
      clinical trials.

PMID- 20935684
TI  - Clinical feasibility of TBI with helical tomotherapy.
AB  - Our purpose was to present the clinical feasibility of TBI with helical
      tomotherapy (HT) in four patients with AML. Treatment planning, delivery, dose
      verification and summation, toxicity and patient outcomes for each patient are
      presented. TBI prescription was set in such a manner that 80% of the clinical
      target volume received 12 Gy in six fractions, at two fractions per day. Dose
      reconstruction was carried out by recontouring the regions of interest in the
      daily pretreatment megavoltage computed tomography of each individual fraction
      and calculating its corresponding dose. A deformable registration model was used
      for dose summation of all individual fractions. Differences between planned and
      delivered doses were calculated. Average planned and delivered doses to the
      regions of interest differed by up to 2.7%. TBI toxicity was limited to
      radiotherapy oncology group grade 1 dermatitis in all patients and grade 1
      headache in one patient. Two patients are alive with no evidence of disease and
      no GVHD. Two patients died of GVHD, but there was no evidence of disease at the
      time of death. We conclude that HT simplifies the process of TBI. Dose
      verification is possible with HT showing small differences between plan and
      delivered doses.

PMID- 20935685
TI  - Trends in day 100 and 2-year survival after auto-SCT for AL amyloidosis: outcomes
      before and after 2006.
AB  - The role of auto-SCT in the management of Ig light-chain (AL) amyloidosis remains
      undefined. In this study, we report 422 patients who received auto-SCT for AL
      amyloidosis to compare outcomes of patients treated before January 2006 with
      those treated from January 2006 to 1 December 2009. Day 100 all-cause mortality
      decreased over this time period from 12 to 7% (P=0.09). Survival at 2 years
      increased from 78 to 82%. The major determinants of early mortality (before day
      100) were the presence of cardiac involvement by amyloid with increased levels of
      cardiac biomarkers, lower serum albumin, higher serum creatinine and a higher
      number of organs involved. On multivariate survival analysis, higher levels of
      serum troponin T and N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide were the only
      predictors of early mortality after auto-SCT. Improved supportive care and
      refined patient selection have improved the safety margin of patients undergoing
      auto-SCT; short-term mortality showed a more than 40% decrease after 2005.

PMID- 20935686
TI  - Fatal intracranial hemorrhage following administration of recombinant
      thrombomodulin in a patient after cord blood transplantation.

PMID- 20935688
TI  - Visual improvement in established central retinal vein  occlusion with long
      standing macular edema following  systemic eculizumab treatment.

PMID- 20935689
TI  - Changes in intraocular pressure during strabismus surgery.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine whether the alterations in intraocular pressure (IOP)
      after cutting off a lateral rectus muscle during exotropia surgery could reflect
      the degree of muscle contracture. DESIGN: Prospective study. PARTICIPANTS: Sixty
      eyes of 31 patients that had undergone lateral rectus recession surgery for
      correction of exotropia. METHODS: IOP was measured using a Tono-pen XL before and
      after detaching lateral rectus muscles during the surgery. The changes in IOP
      were measured and their correlations with age, duration of disease, intermittency
      of exotropia, amount of exodeviation, laterality of the deviated eye, and tendon
      width of the muscle operated on were analyzed. RESULTS: The mean baseline IOP was
      16.3 (SD 2.2) mm Hg when measured 5 minutes after tracheal intubation and showed
      a significant decline to 13.5 (SD 2.8) mm Hg when measured immediately before
      detachment of a muscle. However, the IOP decline over this period of preparation
      for muscle detachment was not correlated with any clinical variable tested. The
      mean IOP also showed a significant reduction, to 10.8 (SD 2.3) mm Hg, immediately
      after the muscles were cut off the globe. The peridetachment IOP reduction was
      positively correlated with constant exodeviation (p < 0.001), whereas there was
      no significant correlation with age, duration of exotropia, or tendon width.
      CONCLUSIONS: The changes in IOP seen after detaching an extraocular muscle during
      strabismus surgery may serve as a surrogate parameter to reflect the muscle
      contracture.

PMID- 20935690
TI  - Change in outflow pathway of porcine eyes in vitro by nonpenetrating filtering
      surgery.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To study the change in different outflow pathways of porcine eyes in
      vitro by nonpenetrating filtering surgery. DESIGN: Experimental study.
      PARTICIPANTS: Sixty-four enucleated porcine eyes were studied. METHODS: Deep
      sclerectomy was performed on isolated porcine eyes (Group 1A), then the
      superficial scleral flap was watertight sealed (Group 1B), and finally the
      oracles and the exterior wall of the Schlemm canal were watertight sealed (Group
      1C). In another series of experiments, deep sclerectomy was performed with the
      scleral lake volume of 4 mm * 4 mm * 0.5 mm (Group 2A), 4 mm * 2 mm * 0.5 mm
      (Group 2B), and 4 mm * 1 mm * 0.5 mm (Group 2C), respectively; then the
      superficial scleral flap was watertight sealed. The control eye (Groups 1D and
      2D) underwent creation and watertight sealing of a superficial scleral flap.
      Intraocular pressure (IOP) and outflow facility were determined preoperatively
      and postoperatively. RESULTS: Compared with the preoperative value, IOP was
      decreased and outflow facility was increased in Groups 1A, 1B, and 1C (p < 0.05).
      In deep sclerectomy, the outflow facility was decreased by more than 0.18
      uL/min/mm Hg after the conjunctival pathway was blocked. After the oracles and
      external wall of the Schlemm canal were blocked, the outflow facility decreased
      further by more than 0.09 uL/min/mm Hg but was still 0.06 uL/min/mm Hg higher
      than before surgery. There was a positive linear correlation between the deep
      sclerectomy volume and the ratio of IOP decrease or outflow facility increase
      postoperatively. CONCLUSIONS: Deep sclerectomy can increase the outflow of
      porcine eyes in vitro. The major factors maintaining the postoperative outflow
      increase include the subconjunctival pathway, the functional deep scleral lake,
      and the opening of the Schlemm canal.

PMID- 20935691
TI  - Retinoblastoma: postenucleation orbital recurrence.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was (i) to identify clinicopathological
      variables that significantly influence the frequency of postenucleation orbital
      recurrence and (ii) to create an awareness regarding follow-up, to pre-empt
      orbital recurrence. DESIGN: Retrospective, case-controlled, longitudinal study.
      PARTICIPANTS: A total of 176 children with retinoblastoma who were admitted and
      treated at Khyber Teaching Hospital between August 1, 1978, and July 31, 1998.
      METHODS: This study was undertaken by reviewing the appropriate charts. The data
      of children with primary enucleation were analyzed to extract cases of orbital
      recurrence. RESULTS: The mean age was 3.8 years (range 1-10 years). Of 176
      patients, 83 (47.3%) presented with proptosis and fungating mass. Of 136 patients
      who were enucleated, 80 (58.82%) presented with proptosis and fungating mass. The
      31 patients who had been diagnosed as having had orbital recurrence had a mean
      age of 4.09 years. The duration between enucleation and orbital recurrence was 1
      12 months in 28 patients (90.4%). Histopathology reports of only 8 patients (26%)
      could be traced. Follow-up was recorded in only 9.6% of cases. CONCLUSIONS: The
      failure to identify clinical and pathological parameters in the course of the
      disease in retinoblastoma children results in human misery caused by poor follow
      up and gross negligence.

PMID- 20935692
TI  - Penetration of topically applied diclofenac and ketorolac into the aqueous humour
      and subretinal fluid: randomized clinical trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the level of intraocular penetration of diclofenac sodium
      and ketorolac tromethamine into the aqueous humour and subretinal fluid. DESIGN:
      Prospective randomized clinical trial. PARTICIPANTS: Twenty eyes scheduled for
      retinal detachment surgery and 17 eyes scheduled for cataract surgery. METHODS:
      Patients with retinal detachment were randomly assigned to receive either topical
      ketorolac (n = 11) or topical diclofenac (n = 9). Subretinal fluid samples were
      collected 30-60 minutes after the administration of the last dose. In addition,
      17 patients with cataract were randomly assigned to receive topical ketorolac (n
      = 9) or topical diclofenac (n = 8). The aqueous humour samples were collected 30
      minutes after the administration of the last dose. Drug concentrations were
      determined by high-performance liquid chromatography fluorescence. RESULTS: The
      mean diclofenac concentration in the subretinal fluid was 42.31 (SD 24.89) ng/uL.
      Ketorolac was undetectable in the subretinal fluid in all patients who received
      it because ketorolac tromethamine levels were under the limit of detection. In
      the aqueous humour, mean diclofenac concentration was 4.98 (SD 4.56) ng/uL, and
      mean ketorolac concentration was 20.17 (SD 12.21) ng/uL. Topical administration
      of diclofenac sodium yielded 8.4 times greater drug concentration in the
      subretinal fluid than in the aqueous humour. Aqueous humour concentrations of
      ketorolac were higher than those of diclofenac (p = 0.019). CONCLUSIONS: The
      concentration in the subretinal fluid of topically applied diclofenac was higher
      than that of ketorolac; and topical ketorolac penetrated into the aqueous humour
      better than diclofenac did. This suggests that diclofenac can be used more
      effectively in events related to posterior segment and ketorolac in anterior
      segment events.

PMID- 20935693
TI  - The effect of changing oxygen saturation protocols on the incidence of laser
      treatment for retinopathy of prematurity.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare the incidence of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) requiring
      laser treatment among infants with birth weights of <= 1250 g before and after
      the implementation of a new oxygen saturation protocol in the neonatal intensive
      care unit of British Columbia Children's Hospital. DESIGN: Retrospective,
      comparative review of medical records. PARTICIPANTS: Premature infants with birth
      weights of <= 1250 g who were screened for retinopathy of prematurity from
      November 2003 to October 2005 and February 2006 to January 2008 (269 patients).
      METHODS: The hospital's ROP database was reviewed, and the patients were divided
      into 2 groups. The preprotocol group (November 2003-October 2005) consisted of
      patients who were screened before the new oxygen monitoring protocol was
      instituted and the postprotocol group (February 2006-January 2008) consisted of
      patients screened after its implementation. RESULTS: A total of 141 patients were
      in the preprotocol group and 128 patients in the postprotocol group. The mean
      birth weight and gestational age of the 2 groups were comparable (p = 0.81, 0.71,
      respectively). There was a 30% reduction in the incidence of laser treatment in
      the postprotocol group (preprotocol group = 22/141 [15.6%] vs postprotocol group
      = 13/128 [10.2%]; p = 0.19). CONCLUSIONS: We observed a decrease in the rate of
      severe ROP requiring laser treatment after the implementation of the new oxygen
      monitoring protocol. While not statistically significant, this is consistent with
      what has been found at other centres.

PMID- 20935694
TI  - Control of steroid-induced glaucoma with surgical excision of sub-Tenon
      triamcinolone acetonide deposits: a clinical and biochemical approach.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the efficacy of surgical excision of sub-Tenon triamcinolone
      acetonide (TA) deposits in the control of steroid-induced glaucoma. DESIGN:
      Prospective, nonrandomized, interventional case series. PARTICIPANTS: Eighteen
      eyes of 14 subjects with increased IOP within 6 months of sub-Tenon TA injection
      who did not respond to medical antiglaucomatous treatment were included in the
      study. METHODS: Under topical anaesthesia, steroid deposits were completely
      excised and placed in ethyl alcohol for the determination of the TA amount using
      high-performance liquid chromatography. The patients were followed up for 6
      months and a paired-sample t test was used to compare mean IOP before and after
      excision of sub-Tenon TA deposits. RESULTS: The mean IOP levels before and after
      the sub-Tenon steroid injections were 15.9 (SD 2.9) mm Hg and 36.4 (SD 8.4) mm
      Hg, respectively (p < 0.001). IOP levels decreased significantly after the
      removal of the deposits (mean 15.3 [SD 2.1] mm Hg) (p < 0.001). Within 6 months
      of follow-up, all glaucoma medications were stopped in 9 subjects without further
      IOP increase, whereas IOP control in 5 subjects necessitated using glaucoma
      medications. The median TA amount was found to be 7.35 mg (range 3.3-29.68 mg).
      IOP decrease after the excision showed no correlation with the amount of TA (p =
      0.8). CONCLUSIONS: Surgical excision of the sub-Tenon steroid deposit should be
      considered as the primary treatment for steroid-induced glaucoma refractory to
      medical treatment.

PMID- 20935695
TI  - Effect of face washing with soap and water and cleaning with antiseptics on upper
      lid bacteria of surgical eye patients.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the effect of face washing with soap and water and
      cleaning with povidone iodine and cetrimide/chlorhexidine gluconate (Savlon) on
      upper-lid bacteria. DESIGN: Prospective, nonrandomized clinical trial.
      PARTICIPANTS: Eighty patients attending the Eye Clinic, University College
      Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria. METHODS: Eighty patients assigned to 4 groups had
      swabs of the upper eyelid skin taken before and after face wash with soap and
      water, and cleansing with Savlon and 5% povidone iodine. Specimens were cultured
      and Gram stained. Bacterial counts were carried out using standard techniques.
      RESULTS: Face washing with soap and water increased the proportion of patients
      with bacterial isolates from 80.0% to 87.5%. The average colony count increased
      from 187.1 to 318.5 colony units per mL (p = 0.02). Application of 5% povidone
      iodine without face washing with soap and water reduced the proportion of
      patients with bacterial isolates from 82.6% (mean count 196.5) to 28.6% (mean
      count 34.1)(p = 0.001); in comparison, the application of 5% povidone iodine
      after face washing with soap and water reduced the proportion from 71.4% (mean
      count 133.9) to 40.0% (mean count 69.0)(p = 0.01). Application of Savlon without
      face washing with soap and water reduced the proportion of patients with
      bacterial isolates from 100% (mean count 310.9) to 41.2% (mean count 19.8)(p =
      0.004) compared with the application after face washing, which reduced the
      proportion from 89.5% (mean count 240.3) to 41.2% (mean count 82.9)(p = 0.02).
      CONCLUSIONS: Both povidone and Savlon are effective in reducing periocular
      bacteria in an African setting. Prior face washing with soap and water had no
      added benefit in reducing bacterial colony count.

PMID- 20935696
TI  - Sum-frequency mixing of radiation from two extended-cavity laser diodes using a
      doubly resonant external cavity for laser cooling of trapped ytterbium ions.
AB  - Over 100 MUW of continuous-wave tunable ultraviolet radiation at 370 nm is
      generated by the sum-frequency mixing of radiation from two extended-cavity laser
      diodes having powers of 60 mW at 822 nm and 8 mW at 671 nm in a lithium iodate
      crystal. The crystal is placed in an external cavity that enhances the powers of
      two fundamental beams simultaneously by approximately 40. This light source is
      successfully applied to the laser cooling of trapped ytterbium ions.

PMID- 20935697
TI  - Improved field scanner incorporating parabolic optics. Part 2: Experimental
      verification and potential for volume scanning.
AB  - We investigated the experimental performance of an afocal scan engine employing
      two off-axis parabolic reflectors and it was found not to introduce astigmatism
      when compared to a freely propagated beam. The performance of the new afocal
      engine is very similar to an ideal single-mirror scan engine in terms of spot
      size and beam spot profile (or point spread function) and has an improved
      flatness of field over other two-dimensional laser scan engines. The parabolic
      scan engine is contrasted with a comparable spherical mirror arrangement and
      found to produce superior performance at the intermediate image plane when
      focused through a scan lens. Further modeling and experimentation point toward
      volume scanning applications. The significant performance improvement provided by
      this design, now verified experimentally, will result in superior image quality
      for fast scanning confocal and two-photon microscopy in particular.

PMID- 20935698
TI  - Simultaneous line center and linewidth measurement using dual frequency
      modulation spectroscopy.
AB  - We propose a method to simultaneously measure the center frequency of a spectral
      feature and the frequency linewidth of the feature. The method relies on dual
      frequency modulation of a carrier frequency, which probes the spectral feature,
      and phase sensitive detection of the transmitted signal at the two modulation
      frequencies. The detected signals provide two servo-stabilization signals for
      frequency control of the carrier frequency to the resonance line center and one
      of the modulation frequencies to the resonance linewidth.

PMID- 20935699
TI  - Effect of defects on long-pulse laser-induced damage of two kinds of optical thin
      films.
AB  - In order to study the effect of defects on the laser-induced damage of different
      optical thin films, we carried out damage experiments on two kinds of thin films
      with a 1 ms long-pulse laser. Surface-defect and subsurface-defect damage models
      were used to explain the damage morphology. The two-dimensional finite element
      method was applied to calculate the temperature and thermal-stress fields of
      these two films. The results show that damages of the two films are due to
      surface and subsurface defects, respectively. Furthermore, the different dominant
      defects for thin films of different structures are discussed.

PMID- 20935700
TI  - New aerosol models for the retrieval of aerosol optical thickness and normalized
      water-leaving radiances from the SeaWiFS and MODIS sensors over coastal regions
      and open oceans.
AB  - We describe the development of a new suite of aerosol models for the retrieval of
      atmospheric and oceanic optical properties from the SeaWiFS and MODIS sensors,
      including aerosol optical thickness (tau), angstrom coefficient (alpha), and
      water-leaving radiance (L(w)). The new aerosol models are derived from Aerosol
      Robotic Network (AERONET) observations and have bimodal lognormal distributions
      that are narrower than previous models used by the Ocean Biology Processing
      Group. We analyzed AERONET data over open ocean and coastal regions and found
      that the seasonal variability in the modal radii, particularly in the coastal
      region, was related to the relative humidity. These findings were incorporated
      into the models by making the modal radii, as well as the refractive indices,
      explicitly dependent on relative humidity. From these findings, we constructed a
      new suite of aerosol models. We considered eight relative humidity values (30%,
      50%, 70%, 75%, 80%, 85%, 90%, and 95%) and, for each relative humidity value, we
      constructed ten distributions by varying the fine-mode fraction from zero to 1.
      In all, 80 distributions (8 Rh*10 fine-mode fractions) were created to process
      the satellite data. We also assumed that the coarse-mode particles were
      nonabsorbing (sea salt) and that all observed absorptions were entirely due to
      fine-mode particles. The composition of the fine mode was varied to ensure that
      the new models exhibited the same spectral dependence of single scattering albedo
      as observed in the AERONET data. The reprocessing of the SeaWiFS data show that,
      over deep ocean, the average tau(865) values retrieved from the new aerosol
      models was 0.100+/-0.004, which was closer to the average AERONET value of
      0.086+/-0.066 for tau(870) for the eight open-ocean sites used in this study. The
      average tau(865) value from the old models was 0.131+/-0.005. The comparison of
      monthly mean aerosol optical thickness retrieved from the SeaWiFS sensor with
      AERONET data over Bermuda and Wallops Island show very good agreement with one
      another. In fact, 81% of the data points over Bermuda and 78% of the data points
      over Wallops Island fall within an uncertainty of +/-0.02 in optical thickness.
      As a part of the reprocessing effort of the SeaWiFS data, we also revised the
      vicarious calibration gain factors, which resulted in significant improvement in
      angstrom coefficient (alpha) retrievals. The average value of alpha from the new
      models over Bermuda is 0.841+/-0.171, which is in good agreement with the AERONET
      value of 0.891+/-0.211. The average value of alpha retrieved using old models is
      0.394+/-0.087, which is significantly lower than the AERONET value.

PMID- 20935701
TI  - Range accuracy limitation of pulse ranging systems based on Geiger mode single
      photon detectors.
AB  - Geiger mode single-photon detectors have been used in pulse ranging system and
      three-dimensional imaging systems due to high sensitivity and easy integration.
      The ranging accuracy and precision is influenced by many factors. Based on
      statistical theory, five main factors are discussed in this article, namely, echo
      signal intensity, pulse width, detector quantum efficiency, target position, and
      background noise. An analytical relationship among the ranging accuracy,
      precision, and these factors is obtained for a Q-switched laser pulse. Through
      this relationship, it is shown that the echo signal intensity and pulse width are
      more important than other factors and higher echo signal intensity and narrower
      pulse width can result in better accuracy and precision.

PMID- 20935702
TI  - Analysis and fabrication of corner cube array based on laser direct writing
      technology.
AB  - A detailed analysis of corner cube array (CCA) structure is carried out using the
      commercially available ray-tracing software ZEMAX. The retroreflective properties
      of CCA for short-range and long-range propagation are compared. An improved CCA
      structure with a relatively low structural depth (compared with rectangular CCA)
      is designed and analyzed. Higher retroreflectance (compared with triangular CCA)
      at a specific incident angle is proved by ray tracing. Two kinds of CCA
      structures, including the improved CCA, have been fabricated using laser direct
      writing technology. The fabrication results are qualified by three-dimensional
      shape measurement and ray tracing.

PMID- 20935704
TI  - Compact, stable 1 GHz femtosecond Er-doped fiber lasers.
AB  - We demonstrate a high-repetition-rate soliton fiber laser that is based on highly
      doped anomalously dispersive erbium-doped fiber. By splicing an 11 mm single-mode
      fiber to the erbium-doped fiber, the thermal damage of the butt-coupled saturable
      Bragg reflector (SBR) is overcome. The laser generates 187 fs pulses at a
      repetition rate of 967 MHz with a measured long-term stability of more than 60 h.

PMID- 20935705
TI  - Diffractive-optics-based sensor as a tool for detection of biocompatibility of
      titanium and titanium-doped hydrocarbon samples.
AB  - Adsorption of the elongated human plasma fibrinogen (HPF) and globular human
      serum albumin molecules on a titanium-based surface is monitored by analyzing
      permittivity and optical roughness of protein-modified surfaces by using a
      diffractive optical element (DOE)-based sensor and variable angle spectro
      ellipsometry (VASE). Both DOE and VASE confirmed that fibrinogen forms a thicker
      and more packed surface adlayer compared to a more porous and weakly adsorbed
      albumin adlayer. A linear relation of the permittivity (epsilon(')) and
      dielectric loss (epsilon('')) was found for some of the dry titanium-doped
      hydrocarbon (TDHC) surfaces with excellent HPF adsorption ability. We discuss
      some aspects of TDHC's aging and its possible effects on fibrinogen adsorption.

PMID- 20935706
TI  - Extrinsic fiber-optic Fabry-Perot interferometer sensor for refractive index
      measurement of optical glass.
AB  - A simple fiber-optic sensor based on Fabry-Perot interference for refractive
      index measurement of optical glass is investigated both theoretically and
      experimentally. A broadband light source is coupled into an extrinsic fiber Fabry
      Perot cavity formed by the surfaces of a sensing fiber end and the measured
      sample. The interference signals from the cavity are reflected back into the same
      fiber. The refractive index of the sample can be obtained by measuring the
      contrast of the interference fringes. The experimental data meet with the
      theoretical values very well. The proposed technique is a new method for glass
      refractive index measurement with a simple, solid, and compact structure.

PMID- 20935707
TI  - Faraday modulation spectrometry of nitric oxide addressing its electronic X2Pi -
      A2Sigma+ band: I. Theory.
AB  - We give a simple two-transition model of Faraday modulation spectrometry (FAMOS)
      addressing the electronic X(2)Pi(nu('') = 0) - A(2)Sigma(+)(nu(') = 0) band in
      nitric oxide. The model is given in terms of the integrated line strength, S, and
      first Fourier coefficients for the magnetic-field-modulated dispersive line shape
      function. Although the two states addressed respond differently to the magnetic
      field (they adhere to the dissimilar Hund coupling cases), it is shown that the
      technique shares some properties with FAMOS when rotational-vibrational Q
      transitions are targeted: the line shapes have a similar form and the signal
      strength has an analogous magnetic field and pressure dependence. The differences
      are that the maximum signal appears for larger magnetic field amplitudes and
      pressures, ~1500 G and ~200 Torr, respectively.

PMID- 20935708
TI  - Faraday modulation spectrometry of nitric oxide addressing its electronic X2Pi -
      A2Sigma+ band: II. Experiment.
AB  - A first demonstration of Faraday modulation spectrometry (FAMOS) of nitric oxide
      (NO) addressing its strong electronic X(2)Pi(nu" = 0) - A(2)Sigma(+)(nu(') = 0)
      band is presented. The instrumentation was constructed around a fully diode-laser
      based laser system producing mW powers of ultraviolet light targeting the
      overlapping Q(22)(21/2) and R(12)Q(21/2) transitions at ~226.6 nm. The work
      verifies a new two-transition model of FAMOS addressing the electronic
      transitions in NO given in an accompanying work. Although the experimental
      instrumentation could address neither the parameter space of the theory nor the
      optimum conditions, the line shapes and the pressure dependence could be verified
      under low-field conditions. NO could be detected down to a partial pressure of 13
      uTorr, roughly corresponding to 10 ppb.m for an atmospheric pressure sample,
      which demonstrates the feasibility of FAMOS for sensitive detection of NO
      addressing its strong electronic band.

PMID- 20935709
TI  - Study of the effect of source signal bandwidth on ratiometric wavelength
      measurement.
AB  - We derive an analytic equation for a ratiometric wavelength measurement system
      and analyze the influence of the optical source signal bandwidth. Our
      investigation shows that in a particular optical sensing system, the higher the
      bandwidth of the optical signal, the better resolution the system will achieve.
      Experiments based on two types of optical signals (output signal of a tunable
      laser and a fiber Bragg grating) were carried out, and experimental results
      verified both the simulation results and the theoretical analysis.

PMID- 20935710
TI  - Image encryption by encoding with a nonuniform optical beam in gyrator transform
      domains.
AB  - Based on an optical gyrator transform system, an image encryption algorithm is
      designed and studied. An original secret image is regarded as the output
      intensity of the second gyrator transform. A coherent nonuniform optical beam is
      converted into the input of the first gyrator transform. A Gerchberg-Saxton phase
      retrieval algorithm is employed for obtaining the compensation phases in the
      first gyrator transform pair. The compensation phases are regarded as the
      encrypted image and key in this algorithm. The parameters of the laser beam and
      gyrator transform can serve as the additional key of encryption method. The
      decryption process of this encryption algorithm can be achieved with an optical
      system. Numerical simulations are performed to test the validity and capability
      of the encryption algorithm.

PMID- 20935711
TI  - Analysis of the resonant frequency of the octagonal split resonant rings with
      metal wires.
AB  - The resonant frequency determined by octagonal split resonant rings (SRRs) is
      presented and analyzed. The simulated results show that the resonant frequency
      improves when the opening size of the SRRs becomes larger, and that enhancement
      of the coupling degree can improve the resonant frequency and widen the band.
      Four samples are designed to implement the experimental measurement. The results
      show that the bandwidth of the resonant frequency becomes wider when the
      thickness of the substrate becomes thinner, and the resonant frequency is shifted
      by changing the cell size. It is demonstrated that the experimental results show
      good agreement with the theoretical analysis.

PMID- 20935712
TI  - Accurate measurement of interferometer group delay using field-compensated
      scanning white light interferometer.
AB  - Interferometers are key elements in radial velocity (RV) experiments in astronomy
      observations, and accurate calibration of the group delay of an interferometer is
      required for high precision measurements. A novel field-compensated white light
      scanning Michelson interferometer is introduced as an interferometer calibration
      tool. The optical path difference (OPD) scanning was achieved by translating a
      compensation prism, such that even if the light source were in low spatial
      coherence, the interference stays spatially phase coherent over a large
      interferometer scanning range. In the wavelength region of 500-560 nm, a
      multimode fiber-coupled LED was used as the light source, and high optical
      efficiency was essential in elevating the signal-to-noise ratio of the
      interferogram signal. The achromatic OPD scanning required a one-time
      calibration, and two methods using dual-laser wavelength references and an iodine
      absorption spectrum reference were employed and cross-verified. In an experiment
      measuring the group delay of a fixed Michelson interferometer, Fourier analysis
      was employed to process the interferogram data. The group delay was determined at
      an accuracy of 1*10(-5), and the phase angle precision was typically 2.5*10(-6)
      over the wide wavelength region.

PMID- 20935713
TI  - Generalized free-space diffuse photon transport model based on the influence
      analysis of a camera lens diaphragm.
AB  - The camera lens diaphragm is an important component in a noncontact optical
      imaging system and has a crucial influence on the images registered on the CCD
      camera. However, this influence has not been taken into account in the existing
      free-space photon transport models. To model the photon transport process more
      accurately, a generalized free-space photon transport model is proposed. It
      combines Lambertian source theory with analysis of the influence of the camera
      lens diaphragm to simulate photon transport process in free space. In addition,
      the radiance theorem is also adopted to establish the energy relationship between
      the virtual detector and the CCD camera. The accuracy and feasibility of the
      proposed model is validated with a Monte-Carlo-based free-space photon transport
      model and physical phantom experiment. A comparison study with our previous
      hybrid radiosity-radiance theorem based model demonstrates the improvement
      performance and potential of the proposed model for simulating photon transport
      process in free space.

PMID- 20935714
TI  - Coupling characterization and noise studies of the optical metrology system
      onboard the LISA Pathfinder mission.
AB  - We describe the first investigations of the complete engineering model of the
      optical metrology system (OMS), a key subsystem of the LISA Pathfinder science
      mission to space. The latter itself is a technological precursor mission to LISA,
      a spaceborne gravitational wave detector. At its core, the OMS consists of four
      heterodyne Mach-Zehnder interferometers, a highly stable laser with an external
      modulator, and a phase meter. It is designed to monitor and track the
      longitudinal motion and attitude of two floating test masses in the optical
      reference frame with (relative) precision in the picometer and nanorad range,
      respectively. We analyze sensor signal correlations and determine a physical
      sensor noise limit. The coupling parameters between motional degrees of freedom
      and interferometer signals are analytically derived and compared to measurements.
      We also measure adverse cross-coupling effects originating from system
      imperfections and limitations and describe algorithmic mitigation techniques to
      overcome some of them. Their impact on system performance is analyzed within the
      context of the Pathfinder mission.

PMID- 20935715
TI  - Low-noise solar-blind photodetectors based on LaAlO3 single crystal with
      transparent indium-tin-oxide electrode as detection window.
AB  - The low-noise solar-blind photodetectors of indium-tin-oxide/LaAlO(3)/Ag
      (ITO/LAO/Ag) have been fabricated based on the properties of LAO bandgap
      excitation and the transparent conductance of ITO thin film. The ITO thin films
      are epitaxially grown on LAO wafers as the electrodes and detection windows of
      the photodetectors. The photodetectors have low noise and excellent
      electromagnetic shielding. The influence of the thickness of ITO thin films on
      the responsivity of the photodetectors has been studied. The photocurrent
      responsivity can reach 10.3 mA/W under the irradiation of 200-220 nm for a
      photodetector with 5 nm thick ITO film. The noise current is 1 pA order magnitude
      under the sunlight at midday. The experiment results suggest that ITO/LAO/Ag is
      one of the promising structures for the solar-blind deep-ultraviolet
      photodetectors.

PMID- 20935716
TI  - Fiber-optic Mach-Zehnder interferometer as a high-precision temperature sensor:
      effects of temperature fluctuations on surface biosensing.
AB  - In this article, we report the use of a fiber-optic Mach-Zehnder interferometer
      as a high-precision temperature sensor, and we investigate the effects of small
      temperature fluctuations on the reliability of the device as a surface biosensor.
      We found that typical temperature fluctuations generally cause sensor responses
      large enough that they must be compensated for before reliable surface chemistry
      measurements can be undertaken. These findings are particularly relevant in light
      of the recent surge of interest in fiber-optic based biosensors of various
      designs.

PMID- 20935717
TI  - Patents.
AB  - 5,166,507; 5,187,538; 5,202,743; 5,202,743; 5,206,502; 5,245,473; 5,262,644;
      5,270,851; 5,206,526; 5,233,157; 5,256,872; 5,256,887; 5,257,126; 5,262,659;
      5,264,957; 5,272,558; 5,275,168;

PMID- 20935718
TI  - Transmission of a Gaussian beam through a Fabry-Perot interferometer.
AB  - The transmission of a Gaussian beam through a Fabry-Perot interferometer (FPI)
      has been investigated. The equation for the electric field of the transmitted
      beam was derived and then the transmitted irradiance I(t) was numerically
      calculated for different selected parameters of both the FPI and the beam. The
      results show that the energy profile of the transmitted beam has been distorted
      to different degrees depending on the various parameters of the Gaussian beam and
      the FPI. Moreover the results show that the positions of the peaks of the
      transmitted beam are shifted, especially for intermediate waists for which the
      arctan term is nonlinear. The results also show that for nonnormal incidence
      successive transmitted beams are spatially separated and are not interfering
      appreciably with each other.

PMID- 20935719
TI  - Dielectric barrier discharge pumped N(2) laser.
AB  - A pulsed transverse dielectric barrier discharge has been used to excite N(2)/He
      (1:10) gas mixtures. Laser action in 337.1 nm was attained at pressures between
      400 mbars and 1.3 bars. The maximum pulse energy was 1.4 uJ, with an efficiency
      of 0.002% and a pulse width of 8 ns.

PMID- 20935720
TI  - Mode-hop suppression of Littrow grating-tuned lasers: comment.
AB  - Mode-hop-less tuning is achievable in a Littrow cavity for an axis of rotation at
      the intersection of the grating plane with a front mirror.

PMID- 20935721
TI  - Mode-hop suppression of Littrow grating-tuned lasers: erratum.
AB  - A recent paper [Appl. Opt. 32, 269-274 (1993)) contained an analysis of the
      conditions required to suppress mode hops when one is tuning a Littrow grating
      loaded laser cavity. Although the model was correct, an algebraic mistake led to
      a wrong conclusion. The corrected results are given and tend to recommend a
      previously investigated configuration.

PMID- 20935722
TI  - Experimental demonstration of an optical phased array antenna for laser space
      communications.
AB  - The feasibility of an optical phased array antenna applicable for spaceborne
      laser communications was experimentally demonstrated. Heterodyne optical phase
      locked loops provide for a defined phase relationship between the collimated
      output beams of three single-mode fibers. In the far field the beams interfere
      with a measured efficiency of 99%. The main lobe of the interference pattern can
      be moved by phase shifting the subaperture output beams. The setup permitted
      agile beam steering within an angular range of 1 mr and a response time of 0.7
      ms. We propose an operational optical phased array antenna fed by seven lasers,
      featuring high transmit power and redundance.

PMID- 20935723
TI  - Temperature distribution in a uniform medium heated by linear absorption of a
      Gaussian light beam.
AB  - The linear-diffusion equation is considered for a positive half-space with heat
      sources represented by Gaussian functions in the transverse plane and by
      exponential decay along the longitudinal axis. The exact solution is presented as
      a single quadrature of the complementary error function (erfc). The approximate
      solution is suggested in the form of the product of two Gaussian functions and
      the hyperbolic secant function. Comparison with the exact solution shows that the
      error of this approximation is near 10%. The approximation may be used in
      different medical applications, e.g., laser angioplasty.

PMID- 20935724
TI  - Algebraic approach to characterizing paraxial optical systems.
AB  - The paraxial propagation formalism for ABCD systems is reviewed and written in
      terms of quantum mechanics. This formalism shows that the propagation based on
      the Collins integral can be generalized so that, in addition, the problem of beam
      quality degradation that is due to aberrations can be treated in a natural way.
      Moreover, because this formalism is well elaborated and reduces the problem of
      propagation to simple algebraic calculations, it seems to be less complicated
      than other approaches. This can be demonstrated with an easy and unitary
      derivation of several results, which were obtained with different approaches, in
      each case matched to the specific problem. It is first shown how the canonical
      decomposition of arbitrary (also complex) ABCD matrices introduced by Siegman
      [Lasers, 2nd ed. (Oxford U. Press, London, 1986)] can be used to establish the
      group structure of geometric optics on the space of optical wave functions. This
      result is then used to derive the propagation law for arbitrary moments in eneral
      ABCD systems. Finally a proper generalization to nonparaxial propagation
      operators that allows us to treat arbitrary aberration effects with respect to
      their influence on beam quality degradation is presented.

PMID- 20935725
TI  - Ti:sapphire laser cavity mode and pump-laser mode calculations.
AB  - Comprehensive calculations of the cavity mode size throughout a Ti:sapphire
      laser, made with the ABCD Gaussian beam formalism are reported. These
      calculations show that the beam is not collimated, in general, in what are
      normally referred to as the collimated arms of the laser cavity. Additionally,
      the mode size and volume (in the gain medium) of the argon-ion laser, which is
      used to pump the Ti:sapphire laser optically, are evaluated for different
      focusing geometries, and graphs that can be used to select suitable mode-matching
      optics are produced. It is concluded that an appropriate strategy for mode
      matching the pump beam to the Ti:sapphire laser mode is to use a zoom telescope
      to tailor the collimated pump-laser beam diameter to an optimum value. Finally,
      comparisons of the pump-laser mode and the Ti:sapphire laser mode are presented
      for selected pumping geometries.

PMID- 20935726
TI  - Solid-state multiple-prism grating dye-laser oscillators.
AB  - Compact solid-state multiple-prism grating dye-laser oscillators are shown to
      yield in excess of 9% conversion efficiency at Deltav ~ 1.12 GHz and a tuning
      range of 47 nm.

PMID- 20935730
TI  - High-brightness femtosecond laser using titanium-sapphire technology and
      amplification in dyes.
AB  - We modify a conventional picosecond dye-amplifier system to achieve maximum
      brightness for 100-fs pulses derived from a titanium-sapphire oscillator. We
      obtain near transform-limited 4-GW pulses by using efficient chirped-pulse
      amplification and compression based on a prism-pair stretcher and a glass-block
      compressor. Good beam quality and minimum beam divergence are obtained with a
      Bethune cell final amplifier. The system is shown to be capable of generating
      beam brightness in excess of 2 * 10(7) W cm(-2) sr(-1), within a factor of 2 of
      that expected for a diffraction-limited beam.

PMID- 20935729
TI  - All-optical switching in an asymmetric silicon Fabry-Perot etalon based on the
      free-carrier plasma effect.
AB  - We demonstrate all-optical switching at 1.3 and 1.5 um in the reflection mode of
      an asymmetric silicon Fabry-Perot etalon by a control beam at 0.85 um. Both
      switch-on and switch-off operations are demonstrated at different locations of
      the etalon. Based on the free-carrier plasma effect, a modulation depth as large
      as 10% is obtained and a frequency response as high as 0.5 GHz is achieved.

PMID- 20935734
TI  - Surface temperature imaging below 300 K using La(2)O(2)S:Eu.
AB  - Surface temperature images obtained by the ratioing of visible (5)D(2) and
      (5)D(1), emissions from a La(2)O(2)S:Eu phosphor coating are demonstrated. The
      visible phosphor emissions permit imaging with standard CCD cameras. Temperature
      resolution to 1 K is achieved over a temperature range of 193-293 K.

PMID- 20935727
TI  - Compact, high-gain pulsed dye amplifier for weak cw sources.
AB  - A compact two-cuvette dye amplifier capable of pulse amplifying weak cw visible
      sources by factors in excess of 10(9) has been demonstrated. Seeded with a 300-uW
      single-frequency He-Ne laser and without the need for a Faraday isolator, the
      preamplifier yields >40-uJ pulses of 4.5-ns duration and 1.4* transform-limited
      linewidths around 140 MHz. Subsequent power amplification yields 4-ns FWHM, 2-mJ
      pulses with excellent pulse-to-pulse stability and linewidths around 170 MHz.
      Scaling of the operational envelope and extension to pulse amplification of cw
      single-mode tunable diode lasers is discussed.

PMID- 20935732
TI  - Effects of mechanical stress on the transmission properties of optical fiber
      packaged in a composite structure.
AB  - Optical circuit boards for system-level interconnection may be fabricated by
      bonding segments of optical fiber, in the configuration necessary for signal
      distribution, to a substrate such as a printed wiring board. To measure the
      effects of mechanical stress on optical transmission, a four-point bend test is
      applied to prototype optical circuit boards. The results show that flexing a
      board to a strain of approximately 0.3% leads to a decrease in loss of 0.012 +/-
      0.002 dB for multimode fiber. Flexing of a thin board, in two directions, around
      40-in.- (101.6-cm-) bend-radius mandrels decreases fiber loss by almost 1 dB
      after 700 cycles. Single-mode fiber bonded to aboard, however, exhibits an
      increase in loss of 0.11 +/- 0.05 dB under an induced strain of 0.3%, a change
      that is not significant relative to typical loss-per-line budgets in real
      systems.

PMID- 20935728
TI  - Experimental tests of a novel Raman cell for vacuum ultraviolet generation to
      below Lyman-alpha.
AB  - A novel-type Raman cell especially suitable for the generation of tunable vacuum
      ultraviolet (VUV) radiation with pump radiation from a frequency-doubled dye
      laser is described. This hydrogen-filled Raman cell permits the generation of
      narrow-bandwidth radiation to below 114 nm. Absolute VUV energies in the various
      anti-Stokes orders and measurements of pulse durations and pressure dependences
      are given.

PMID- 20935731
TI  - 100-megabit-per-second resonant-cavity phase modulator for coherent optical
      communications.
AB  - A resonant-cavity electro-optic phase modulator is designed, implemented, and
      experimentally verified to operate at a data rate of 100 Mbits/s. The cavity is
      made up of a highly reflective backmirror and the partially reflective end of an
      electro-optic crystal. A voltage signal applied to the electro-optic crystal
      erturbs the effective optical path length inside the cavity and hence its
      resonance frequency. Because the phase of the reflected optical signal from the
      cavity is highly dispersive when the cavity is tuned near resonance, a cw
      incident signal will experience a large phase shift as the cavity is electro
      optically tuned on and off resonance. This phase-dispersion effect can be used in
      the construction of an optical phase modulator capable of modulating the signal
      at data rate in excess of 100 Mbits/s. The performance of the modulator was
      measured by first heterodyne detecting the signal to an intermediate frequency
      andthen measuring the spectral characteristics with a radio frequency spectrum
      analyzer. The measured phase shift is shown to be in good agreement with
      theoretical predictions.

PMID- 20935733
TI  - Theoretical description of fiber Bragg reflectors prepared by Fresnel diffraction
      images.
AB  - The theory of Fresnel diffraction images is applied to Bragg-grating formation in
      a germanium-doped silica fiber. Fresnel diffraction images arise from the near
      field diffraction at a periodic mask. The diffraction images are calculated as a
      function of the propagation distance for several mask configurations. The average
      of the diffraction-image intensities is calculated for a single longitudinal
      repetitive interval, and it is shown that the period of the resulting average
      intensity field is twice that of the original mask period. In some cases the
      periodic mask can be predicted for a desired average intensity field by
      calculation of the magnitude of its Fourier coefficients.

PMID- 20935735
TI  - General self-imaging properties in N * N multimode interference couplers
      including phase relations.
AB  - Self-imaging properties of generalized N * N multimode interference couplers are
      derived. Positions, amplitudes, and phases of the self-images are directly
      related to the lengths and widths of the coupler by solving the eigenmode
      superposition equation analytically for any arbitrary length. Devices of length
      (M/N) 3L(c), where M is the multiple occurrence of the N self-images, are
      analyzed in detail. The general formalism is applied to practical N * N couplers
      used in integrated optics, and simple phase relations are obtained.

PMID- 20935736
TI  - Mirror-orientation noise in a Fabry-Perot interferometer gravitational wave
      detector.
AB  - The influence of angular mirror-orientation errors on the length of a Fabry-Perot
      resonator is analyzed geometrically. Under conditions in which dominant errors
      are static or vary slowly over time, the analysis permits a simple prediction of
      the spectrum of short-term cavity length fluctuations resulting from mirror
      orientation noise. The resulting model is applicable to the design of mirror
      control systems for the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory,
      which will monitor separations between mirrored surfaces of suspended inertial
      test bodies as a way to measure astrophysical gravitational radiation. The
      analysis is verified by measuring the response of the Laser Interferometer
      Gravitational- Wave Observatory's 40-m interferometer test-bed to the rotation of
      its mirrors.

PMID- 20935737
TI  - Optical properties of hollow calcium aluminate glass waveguides.
AB  - Calcium aluminate glass has a refractive index less than 1 at 10.6 u, and
      therefore it is a good candidate for a hollow fiber for the transmission of CO(2)
      laser energy. We have drawn hollow calcium aluminate glass fibers with inner
      diameters ranging from 380 to 500 u. The loss for our 500-um inner-diameter
      hollow glass fibers measured at 10.6 um is 8.6 dB/m.

PMID- 20935738
TI  - Development of a scanning, solar-blind, water Raman lidar.
AB  - The need for an instrument capable of measuring water-vapor fluxes over mixed
      canopy and large areas has long been recognized. Such a device would greatly
      enhance the study of evapotranspiration processes and has great practical value
      for water management. To address this problem, a scanning water Raman lidar has
      been designed and constructed. Analytical methods have also been developed to
      take advantage of the type of information that this lidar can generate. The lidar
      is able to measure the absolute water content and calculate the evaporative flux
      quickly over relatively large areas. This capability provides new opportunities
      for the study of microscale atmospheric processes. The variogram data indicate
      that the spatial sampling size must be of the order of 10 m if fluxes and scalars
      are to be properly represented. Examples of data are presented.

PMID- 20935739
TI  - Sensitivity of surface reflectance retrieval to uncertainties in aerosol optical
      properties.
AB  - We formulate a procedure to investigate the sensitivity of surface reflectances
      retrieved from satellite sensor data to uncertainties in aerosol optical
      properties. Aerosol optical characteristics encompassed in the study include the
      aerosol optical depth, the Junge parameter (i.e., spectral dependence), and the
      imaginary part of the refractive index (i.e., aerosol absorption). The study
      includes both clear and hazy atmospheric conditions, wavelengths of 0.550 and
      0.870 um, three solar zenith angles, and five viewing geometries. Key results are
      presented graphically in terms of accuracy requirements on the aerosol property
      under consideration for a 5% uncertainty in predicted surface reflectance.

PMID- 20935740
TI  - Injection-seeded pulsed alexandrite laser for differential absorption lidar
      application.
AB  - We describe a Q-switched alexandrite laser injection seeded with a cw single-mode
      titanium-sapphire laser. The reported experimental results show that this system
      meets the frequency stabilization required for differential absorption lidar
      measurement of humidity, pressure, and temperature. The emission of the cw
      titanium-sapphire master oscillator is locked to an atmospheric absorption line
      by means of a servoloop with derivative spectroscopy. The spectral position is
      stabilized within +/-3.5 * 10(-4) cm(-1) (10 MHz) of the peak of the line over 1
      hr. The alexandrite laser emits pulses of 30 mJ in 500 ns, with a spectral
      linewidth of ~ 3.3 * 10(-3) cm(-1) (100 MHz). The position of the centroid of the
      emitted spectrum has a standard deviation of 6 * 10(-4) cm(-1) (18 MHz) and is
      held within +/-1.3 * 10(-3) cm(-1) (40 MHz) of the peak of the absorption line
      over 1 h.

PMID- 20935741
TI  - Enhancement of coherent laser radar performance by predetection amplification.
AB  - A long-path carbon dioxide laser amplifier, based on a coaxial radio frequency
      discharge gain medium combined with a Herriott cell folding system, is
      investigated as a predetection amplifier in a coherent laser radar system. The
      amplifier signal gain and noise characteristics are measured, and the signal-to
      noise enhancement produced in a Doppler radar system is determined over a range
      of operating conditions of the amplifier. A maximum enhancement factor of 12.4 dB
      is measured for a cw gain cell, which is in good agreement with the theoretical
      prediction.

PMID- 20935742
TI  - Comparison between measurements and modeling of UV-B irradiance for clear sky: a
      case study.
AB  - We compare the TJV-B global and direct irradiances computed with a radiative
      transfer model (discrete ordinate method) and measured during a European
      intercomparison campaign in Greece in July 1991, with clear sky. The agreement
      between the model and the measurements is within 6%. The sensitivity of the model
      to the accuracy of the input parameters as well as the potential of modeling for
      instrument calibration is discussed.

PMID- 20935743
TI  - Effect of inhomogeneous turbulence on imaging through turbulent layers.
AB  - An analysis of the effect of inhomeogeneous turbulence on the point-spread
      function for imaging through a turbulent layer has been performed. The
      formulation retains the concept of the modulation-transfer function that has been
      used in the past for homogeneous turbulence layers, but the integration now
      depends on more than just the separation distance rho in the plane of the
      aperture. An example is chosen in which the rms optical path difference increases
      by a factor of 3.51 from one side of the aperture to the other in the flow
      direction. It was found that the results were insensitive to the angle between
      the separation-distance vector rho and the flow direction. Surprisingly it was
      found that the detailed resultswere within a few percent of those obtained with
      constant-turbulence parameters evaluated at the center line of the aperture.

PMID- 20935744
TI  - Sensitive in situ detection of chlorinated hydrocarbons in gas mixtures.
AB  - We detect chlorinated hydrocarbons (CHC's) in gas mixtures by dissociating the
      CHC's with a 193-nm laser and measuring the subsequent concentration of the CCl
      fragmentation by means of laser-induced fluorescence. Sub-ppm detection, where
      ppm indicates parts in 10(6), is achieved for C(2)H(5)Cl with a 10-mm(3)
      measurement volume and integration over 50 laser shots. Every other CHC tested is
      also detectable, with the same or better detection limits. The CCl forms promptly
      during the fragmentation laser pulse through unimolecular dissociation of the
      parent CHC's. The technique should be a useful diagnostic for CHC incineration
      systems.

PMID- 20935745
TI  - Beam-propagation method applied to the deflection of a laser beam across a hot
      plate subject to jet impingement.
AB  - We describe an application of the beam-propagation method of Fleck et al. [Appl.
      Phys. 10, 129-160 (1976)], whereby we consider a laser beam propagating initially
      parallel to a hot plate subject to jet impingement; we also compute the intensity
      profile of the beam as it emerges from the boundary layer. A comparison with a
      calculation based on ray tracing illustrates the significant role of wave effects
      (as treated by the beam-propagation method) in this case. We describe a method
      for measuring the rate of heat transfer q????#x0307???? in the viscous sublayer
      that is applicable in the ray-tracing limit but that cannot be utilized here
      (other than to provide an upper limit to q????#x0307????) because of the
      substantial wave effects.

PMID- 20935746
TI  - Quantitative imaging of temperature and OH in turbulent diffusion flames by using
      a single laser source.
AB  - We describe a diagnostic technique for obtaining quantitative, simultaneous, and
      instantaneous images of temperature and the concentration of the hydroxyl radical
      OH in turbulent flames. The technique uses a single laser source and a single
      intensified CCD camera. A stoichiometric premixed flame is used for calibration.
      We use detailed calculations of laminar flames of similar fuels to estimate the
      effects of quenching and ground-state population on the OH signal. A factor
      combining both effects is generated as a function of temperature. We validate the
      technique by comparing measured temperature and OH number density with calculated
      values in laminar diffusion flames. Absolute errors of 10-20% and 20-30% are
      estimated on the measured temperature and OH number density, respectively. The
      technique is applicable to regions of the flames where the Rayleigh cross section
      is close to that of air.

PMID- 20935747
TI  - Application of quantitative two-line OH planar laser-induced fluorescence for
      temporally resolved planar thermometry in reacting flows.
AB  - A temporally resolved approach for measurement of two-dimensional temperature
      fields in reacting flows is experimentally investigated. The method, based on
      planar laser-induced fluorescence of the hydroxyl (OH) radical, is applicable in
      many combustion environments, including variable density flow fields. As a means
      of examining the accuracy of the technique, temperature images, from 1300 to 3000
      K and 0.4 to 3 atm, have been acquired in shock-heated H(2)-O(2)-Ar flows with a
      two-laser, two-image ratio scheme. A complete measurement system for producing
      accurate, effectively instantaneous temperature images is described; the system
      includes single-shot monitors for laser-sheet energy distributions and spectral
      profiles. Temperature images obtained with the OH A(2)Sigma(+) ? X(2)II (1, 0)
      P(1)(7)-Q(2)(11) transition pair exhibit a systematic error of only 7% over the
      entire range of conditions, with the error most likely dominated by shot-to-shot
      fluctuations in the lasers'spectral profiles. The largest error source in the
      instantaneous temperature images is photon shot noise. A group of OH transition
      pairs that provide good temperature sensitivity and strong signals for reduced
      shot-noise error over a range of flow-field conditions is also presented.

PMID- 20935748
TI  - Light scattering at oblique incidence on two coaxial cylinders.
AB  - A solution for the problem of a plane wave at oblique incidence on two coaxial
      cylinders is presented. The solution of the wave equation is determined for
      various geometric regions, and boundary conditions are applied at the material
      interfaces. The resulting solution consists of a system of eight equations in
      eight unknown coefficients. Expressions for two of the Mueller-scattering matrix
      elements (S(11) and S(12)) and the extinction, scattering, and backscattering
      cross sections are derived. A numerical algorithm for the solution is developed
      and implemented. The algorithm is tested for several limiting cases: homogeneous,
      hollow, and metal-core cylinders at various angles of incidence for TM and TE
      waves. Comparisons of the results of the algorithm with the results of studies
      reported in the literature are made. The comparisons are favorable, achieving
      good agreement with published work. For two coaxial cylinders, the numerical
      calculations show that if one is to use light scattering as a diagnostic tool,
      both of the Mueller-scattering matrix elements S(11) and S(12) must be measured
      simultaneously. In addition, the backscattering cross section is very sensitive
      for monitoring change in the radii of the cylinders.

PMID- 20935749
TI  - Inversion of light-scattering measurements for particle size and optical
      constants: theoretical study.
AB  - We invert the Fredholm equation representing the light scattered by a single
      spherical particle or a distribution of spherical particles to obtain the
      particle size distribution function and refractive index. We obtain the solution
      by expanding the distribution function as a linear combination of a set of
      orthonormal basis functions. The set of orthonormal basis functions is composed
      of Schmidt-Hilbert eigenfunctions and a set of supplemental basis functions,
      which have been orthogonalized with respect to the Schmidt-Hilbert eigenfunctions
      by using the Gram-Schmidt orthogonalization procedure. We use the orthogonality
      properties of the basis functions and of the eigenvectors of the kernel
      covariance matrix to obtain the solution that minimizes the residual errors
      subject to a trial function constraint. The inversion process is described, and
      results from the inversion of several simulated data sets are presented.

PMID- 20935750
TI  - Inversion of light-scattering measurements for particle size and optical
      constants: experimental study.
AB  - Measurements of the light scattered by a sample contain information regarding the
      physical properties of the sample. Laser light-scattering measurements can be
      made unobtrusively in environments that are inaccessible to other types of
      measurements, so laser light-scattering techniques have become an important tool
      in aerosol research. The primary difficulty associated with using light
      scattering techniques to determine aerosol particle properties is inverting the
      measurements or extracting the desired information from the measurements. In this
      study we use a 15-channel polar nephelometer to measure the light-scattering
      patterns of monodisperse polystyrene spheres. The light-scattering measurements
      are inverted, and the particle size distribution function and optical properties
      of the particles are retrieved. The results of these inversions are presented
      after a brief description of the calibration and operation of the nephelometer.

PMID- 20935751
TI  - Estimating aerosol optical properties over the oceans with the multiangle imaging
      spectroadiometer: some preliminary studies.
AB  - The multiangle imaging spectroradiometer (MISR) scheduled to be flown on the
      first platform of the Earth Observing System in 1998 provides an opportunity to
      enhance considerably the accuracy with which aerosol properties over the ocean
      can be retrieved through passive sensing from Earth orbit. As opposed to most
      radiometers in space that scan the earth in a plane normal to the subsatellite
      path, the MISR will scan the earth simultaneously in nine planes and thus provide
      the radiance exiting the atmosphere over a given pixel in nine different
      directions and at four wavelengths. We examine the problem of extracting the
      aerosol optical thickness (tau(a)) over the oceans from MISR data, and we produce
      two algorithms, a single-band algorithm and a spectral or two-band algorithm, for
      deriving tau(a). The algorithms are based on the use of realistic aerosol models
      as candidates on which to base an estimation of the aerosol optical properties.
      They take into account all orders of multiple scattering. Simulations suggest
      that for nonabsorbing or mildly absorbing aerosol (single-scattering albedo
      omega(a) > 0.90) the error in the recovered tau(a) is ? 10%, as long as the
      candidate models adequately cover the size refractive index distribution range of
      the expected aerosols. In the special case of a strongly absorbing aerosol
      (omega(a) ? 0.75), the error in tau(a) becomes large; however, the combination
      omega(a)tau(a) (the scattering optical thickness) can still be recovered with an
      error of ? 20%, although it is always underestimated. The reason for this
      decrease in accuracy is that multiple-scattering effects are a strong function of
      omega(a). A simple extension of the two-band algorithm permits the retrieval of
      the aerosol scattering phase function with surprising accuracy.

PMID- 20935752
TI  - Diffraction and scattering at antiglare structures for display devices.
AB  - Antiglare layers for display devices feature a rough surface structure that
      scatters the incident light and thereby reduces the specular reflectivity of the
      screen. The same structure will, however, also diffuse part of the light from the
      phosphor layer, resulting in a degradation of image quality. The microstructure,
      light-scattering properties, and effects on image contrast and resolution of some
      relevant antiglare structures are examined. A model based on scalar diffraction
      theory that relates the various optical properties to the surface microstructure
      is presented.

PMID- 20935753
TI  - Radiometric analysis and simulation of signal power function in a short-range
      laser radar.
AB  - A key issue in designing laser radar devices for short-range applications is the
      ability to estimate accurately the power seen by the receiver as a function of
      the measurement distance. To obtain a reasonable approximation of this power, the
      irradiance distribution over the sensor as well as the target surface, which is
      highly dependent on the type of the detector used, must be analyzed in detail.
      The calculation of signal power function by means of radiometry is discussed. A
      software package developed for simulating power transfer as a function of various
      optical parameters is presented. It can be applied to various types of laser
      sources, including high-power laser diodes (wide-stripe or stacked) and pigtailed
      laser diodes.

PMID- 20935754
TI  - Bistable optical devices with laser diodes coupled to absorbers of narrow
      spectral bandwidth.
AB  - An optical signal inverter was demonstrated with a combination of the following
      two effects: One is the decrease of the transmission of an Er-doped YAG crystal
      with increasing red shift of a laser diode resulting from an increase in the
      injection current, and the other is a negative nonlinear absorption in which the
      transmission decreases inversely with increasing laser intensity. Because a
      hysteresis characteristic exists in the relationship between the wavelength and
      the injection current of the laser diode, an optical bistability was observed in
      this system.

PMID- 20935755
TI  - Super-Gaussian resonators for long-pulse XeCl lasers.
AB  - Near-diffraction-limited laser beams of high energy have been achieved with a
      long-pulse (110-ns) XeCl laser fitted with a super-Gaussian unstable cavity of
      magnification M = 2.7. It has been found that when the super-Gaussian output
      coupler is replaced with a hard-edge aluminized mirror of radius equal to the
      super-Gaussian mirror spot size, the output laser energy is reduced by 10%,
      whereas the beam divergence increases more than 50%.

PMID- 20935756
TI  - Patents.
AB  - 5,148,235; 5,159,495; 5,170,284; 5,173,801; 5,192,982; 5,201,220; 5,218,423;
      5,227,923; 5,229,880; 5,237,548; 5,243,403; 5,245,406; 5,245,470; 5,249,080;
      5,251,008; 5,262,651; 5,263,073; 5,270,792; 5,270,793; 5,274,226; 5,274,503;
      5,276,321; 5,276,324; 5,276,546.

PMID- 20935757
TI  - Sub-Nyquist null aspheric testing using a computer-stored compensator.
AB  - A novel method to demodulate undersampled interferograms using a computer-stored
      undersampled compensator is presented. First, the sine and cosine of the computer
      stored wave front is correlated with the interferogram that emerges from the
      asphere under test. Afterward, these two correlation images are used to find the
      phase map. The detected phase of the correlation fringes is the estimated phase
      difference between the software compensator and the frame-grabbed interferogram.
      The prior information required for this method is a good knowledge of the wave
      front being tested to a few wavelengths of error. Complying with this prior
      knowledge, the undersampled interferogram under analysis may be easily
      demodulated. Given that the proposed method is based on the correlation of the
      frame-grabbed interferogram and the computer-stored one, the method also
      withstands noise.

PMID- 20935758
TI  - Pull testing of a glass fiber soldered into a ferrule: how long should the test
      specimen be?
AB  - A simple analytical model is developed for the evaluation of the bending stress
      caused by the misalignment of the ends of a glass fiber specimen soldered into a
      ferrule and subjected to tension during pull testing. It is shown that this
      stress can be reduced by use of sufficiently long specimens. It is also shown how
      the uncertainty in the prediction of the misalignment of the ends can be
      considered when one is establishing the appropriate specimen length.

PMID- 20935759
TI  - Analysis of light scattering from a cutting tool edge.
AB  - The scattering of light from cutting tools is studied. The contribution of
      cutting tool edge parameters (height and width) to scattering patterns and the
      influence of side surface roughness on scattering patterns are investigated. An
      angle-limited integrated scattering method is developed and analyzed for fast
      determination of edge parameters.

PMID- 20935760
TI  - Hartmann test modification for measuring ophthalmic progressive lenses.
AB  - We describe a modified verion of the Hartmann test in which the pattern of the
      holes is replaced with a circular scanning laser beam. A position-sensitive
      detector is used to acquire the coordinates of the deflected beam. Significant
      data are obtained when the Fourier transform of the detector output signals is
      considered. Application of this test method to the mapping of optical parameters
      of ophthalmic progressive addition lenses is presented. Prismatic deviation,
      spherical power, and astigmatism are measured with appropriate accuracy.

PMID- 20935761
TI  - Scatter rings in bismuth silicate illuminated by a single beam.
AB  - We have observed cones of diffracted light by illuminating a crystal of bismuth
      silicate with a single beam of light while applying an electric field across the
      crystal. The scatter rings are a result of the preferential amplification of
      noise, which we explain here using the Ewald sphere construction.

PMID- 20935762
TI  - Subdiffraction-limited focusing lens.
AB  - We describe techniques for making a diffractive optical element that produces a
      subdiffraction-limited spot size. We provide experimental verification, using a
      diffraction optical element that is constructed on a magneto-optic spatial light
      modulator.

PMID- 20935763
TI  - Focused-image holography as a dense-spray diagnostic.
AB  - The denser regions of sprays need to be probed for us to understand further the
      basic phenomena of the breakup of a bulk liquid into droplets and the subsequent
      drop dynamics. The instruments currently available to spray diagnosticians, the
      Malvern spray analyzer and the phase/Doppler particle analyzer, cannot be used in
      the denser regions of the spray and in regions where ligaments or nonspherical
      droplets exist. Holography, as applied in the past, has permitted the
      interrogation of nonspherical drops but in general has been applied to droplet
      dominated dilute regions of sprays. Using a focused-image holographic system,
      with the advantages of an imaging lens and side lighting, we can probe highly
      complex regions of sprays, such as those that include bubble explosions and
      complex ligament formation at the nozzle exit. In this paper we present
      components of a focused-image holographic system for spray analysis, advantages
      and limitations of that system, and how the longitudinal magnification varies as
      a funct on of the length of the object along the optical path.

PMID- 20935764
TI  - Real-time displacement measurement using a multicamera phase-stepping speckle
      interferometer.
AB  - Surface point displacements can be measured by using standard phase-stepping
      speckle interferometry, but the measured data are vulnerable to disturbances
      during the interferogram recordings. To overcome this an interferometer with a
      computational system has been developed to record three phase-stepped
      interferograms simultaneously and to calculate displacements. This system is
      evaluated by measurements of the out-of-plane rotation of a flat surface. The
      surface displacement is calculated at a rate of 25 times/s. If one reduces noise
      by filtering, hardware limitations decrease the speed to 12.5 displacement
      calculations/s. With this system displacements can be measured with an accuracy
      exceeding lambda/55 if filtering is applied.

PMID- 20935765
TI  - Validation of interferometric imaging from a pupil-masking experiment on a solar
      telescope.
AB  - We present the results of a pupil-masking experiment that uses the Sun as the
      source object. The goal of our experiment was a proof-of-concept validation for a
      Fizeau (image-plane) interferometric beam combination with a complex source that
      overfilled the field of view. We employed a phase-diversity technique to measure
      the optical phases required to recover the instantaneous optical transfer
      function for the masked pupil. We used a Wiener filter to deconvolve the dirty
      images.

PMID- 20935766
TI  - Phase-measuring interferometry: new methods and error analysis.
AB  - New methods that can be used to determine phase in phase-stepping interferometry
      are presented. It is shown that a combination of some of these methods can be
      used to reduce the error introduced by phase-stepper miscalibration and
      nonlinearity. Moreover these new algorithms can also be used to detect the
      presence of miscalibration or phase-shifter nonlinearity. A simplified approach
      to understanding the error introduced by miscalibration and nonlinearity of the
      phase stepper and its reduction in phase-shifting interferometry is also
      presented.

PMID- 20935767
TI  - Aberration compensation in a grating interferometer.
AB  - The transfer function of a grating interferometer with aberrated gratings is
      discussed. A geometrical configuration is developed that minimizes the
      aberrations of the output fringes in the interferometer, which is constructed
      with three hyperbolic gratings. Theoretical and experimental investigations show
      that it is possible to compensate for first-order aberrations of the
      interferometer and obtain straight output fringes if a suitable geometric
      configuration is used for both the recording of the grating components and the
      interferometer itself.

PMID- 20935768
TI  - Errors in film refractive-index determinations from interference fringes.
AB  - An analysis of interference fringes (channel spectra) in transmission or
      reflection spectroscopy of optical films can provide an accurate method for
      determining the refractive index or thickness of the film. If the index is
      changing and the common equation n = 1/(2tDeltav) determined from the positions
      of two adjacent maxima in the interference pattern is employed, the resulting
      refractive index does not lie between the correct values at the frequencies of
      the two maxima as intuitively expected but well outside this range. This error
      can be large and is not restricted to the previously discussed case of an index
      with a linear dependence on wavelength.

PMID- 20935769
TI  - Interpretation of fringes obtained with coherent gradient sensing.
AB  - An interference analysis for double-grating shearing interferometry called
      coherent gradient sensing is presented, and the results are compared with an
      earlier geometrical optics analysis and a Fourier optics analysis based on the
      Fresnel approximation. The influence of the order of approximation in these
      analyses and the equivalence of fringe interpretation in each case are discussed.

PMID- 20935770
TI  - Generalized nonimaging compound elliptical and compound hyperbolic luminaire
      designs for pair-overlap illumination applications.
AB  - Generalized nonimaging compound elliptical luminaires (CEL's) and compound
      hyperbolic luminaires (CHL's) are developed for pair-overlap illumination
      applications. A comprehensive analysis of CEL's and CHL's is presented. This
      includes the possibility of reflector truncation, as well as the extreme
      direction that spans the full range from positive to negative. Negative extreme
      direction devices have been overlooked in earlier studies and are shown to be
      well suited to illumination problems for which large cutoff angles are required.
      Flux maps can be calculated analytically without the need for computer ray
      tracing. It is demonstrated that, for a broad range of cutoff angles, adjacent
      pairs of CEL's and CHL's can generate highly uniform far-field illuminance while
      maintaining maximal lighting efficiency and excellent glare control. The trade
      off between luminaire compactness and flux homogeneity is also illustrated. For V
      troughs, being a special case of CHL's and being well suited to simple,
      inexpensive fabri ation, we identify geometries that closely approach the
      performance characteristics of the optimized CEL's and CHL's.

PMID- 20935771
TI  - Aspheric mirror with constant angular magnification II.
AB  - Differential equations for a constant-angular-magnification aspheric-mirror
      surface shape are derived for a general dependence of the camera image height on
      the camera field angle. The explicit equations of the constant-angular
      magnification mirror surface are given for some particular values of the angular
      magnification. For a series of odd integer values of the angular magnification,
      10th-order polynomial approximations of the mirror surface are presented. The
      imaging performance of such a mirror with an angular magnification of 7 is
      analyzed and compared with a spherical mirror. The main cause of image blur in
      all-sky cameras at the edge of the field of view was found to be a strong image
      curvature. We show that increasing the camera-to-mirror distance and/or stopping
      down the camera lens reduces the image blur.

PMID- 20935772
TI  - Mueller-matrix ellipsometry using the division-of-amplitude photopolarimeter: a
      study of depolarization effects.
AB  - A fully automated Mueller-matrix ellipsometer with a division-of-amplitude
      photopolarimeter as the polarization-state detector is described. This device
      achieves Mueller-matrix ellipsometry by measuring the Stokes parameters of
      reflected light as a function of the fast axis C of a quarter-wave retarder,
      which, in combination with a fixed linear polarizer, determines the polarization
      state of incident light. The reflected Stokes parameters were Fourier analyzed to
      give the 16 elements of the Mueller matrix. We investigated depolarization of
      polarized light on reflection from rough, heterogeneous, and anisotropic surfaces
      by obtaining measurements on rolled aluminum and plant leaves. The results
      demonstrate (1) a variation of degree of polarization of reflected light with the
      input polarization state, (2) the precision with which the measured matrices
      describe the depolarization results, (3) effects of surface anisotropy (rolling
      direction) on depolarization and cross polarization by reflection from aluminum
      surfaces, and (4) large values and differences in the depolarization effects from
      conifer and deciduous leaves. Depolarization of light reflected by the aluminum
      surfaces was most sensitive to the angle between the plane of incidence and the
      rolling direction when the incident Stokes parameters S(1), S(2), and S(3) were
      equal.

PMID- 20935773
TI  - Photometric calibration of the first three spectroscopic orders of an extreme
      ultraviolet spectrometer by use of synchrotron radiation.
AB  - We report here a technique for determining the quantum throughput of a high
      resolution, extreme-UV spectrometer by use of the National Institute of Standards
      and Technology's Synchroton Ultraviolet Radiation Facility at Gaithersburg, Md.
      (SURF-II). Observations were obtained at three different synchrotron operating
      energies with and without a magnesium fluoride filter and a tin-germanium filter.
      This calibration permits us to extract system efficiencies for three overlapping
      spectroscopic orders with uncertainties of 10-30%. The uncertainties quoted in
      this preliminary experiment were limited by the available time, and we propose
      that with minor refinements a significant improvement could be realized.

PMID- 20935774
TI  - Ultraviolet and visible imaging and spectrographic imaging instrument.
AB  - The Ultraviolet and Visible Imaging and Spectrographic Imaging experiment
      consists of five spectrographic imagers and four imagers. These nine sensors
      provide spectrographic and imaging capabilities from 110 to 900 nm. The
      spectrographic imagers share an off-axis design in which selectable slits
      alternate fields of view (1.00 degrees  * 0.10 degrees  or 1.00 degrees  * 0.05
      degrees ) and spectral resolutions between 0.5 and 4 nm. Image planes of the
      spectrographic imager have a programmable spectral dimension with 68, 136, or 272
      pixels across each individual spectral band, and a programmable spatial dimension
      with 5, 10, 20, or 40 pixels across the 1 degrees  slit length. A scan mirror
      sweeps the slit through a second spatial dimension to generate a 1 degrees  * 1
      degrees  spectrographic image once every 5, 10, or 20 s, depending on the scan
      rate. The four imagers provide narrow-field (1.28 degrees  * 1.59 degrees ) and
      wide-field (10.5 degrees  * 13.1 degrees ) viewing. Each imager has a six
      position filter wheel that selects various spectral regimes and neutral
      densities. The nine sensors ut lize intensified CCD detectors that have an
      intrascene dynamic range of ~ 10(3) and an interscene dynamic range of ~ 10(5);
      neutral-density filters provide an additional dynamic range of ~ 10(2-3). The
      detector uses an automatic gain control that permits the sensors to adjust to
      scenes of varying intensity. The sensors have common boresights and can operate
      separately, simultaneously, or synchronously. To be launched aboard the Midcourse
      Space Experiment spacecraft in the mid-1990's, the ultraviolet and visible
      imaging and spectrographic imaging instrument will investigate a multitude of
      celestial, atmospheric, and point sources during its planned 4-yr life.

PMID- 20935775
TI  - Broadband extreme-ultraviolet survey spectrometer for short-time-scale
      experiments.
AB  - A fast and inexpensive spectrometer system has been developed to record extreme
      UV impurity spectra in a magnetic-fusion-research device. To simplify the vacuum
      system, light is passed out of the spectrometer's vacuum to the detector with a
      sodium-salicylate-coated, fiber-optic coupler. This coupler is positioned so that
      the focal field is nearly flat over its aperture. The system's detector is a
      microchannelplate- intensified, linear, self-scanning photodiode array. The 1024
      pixel array covers a bandwidth greater than 80 nm and is read out once every
      millisecond. The readout, which is four times faster than the manufacturer's
      maximum rating, is fully synchronized to the experiment by a locally designed
      control circuit.

PMID- 20935776
TI  - Thermal stability of sputtered Mo/X and W/X (X = BN:O, B(4)C:O, Si, and C)
      multilayer soft-x-ray mirrors.
AB  - We prepared eight samples of Mo/X and W/X (X = BN:O, B(4)C:O, Si, and C)
      multilayers by magnetron sputtering. Analyses of x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy
      for the boron nitride and the B(4)C layers showed the concentration of O to be
      nonnegligible. We have evaluated the thermal stability by measuring soft-x-ray
      specular reflectances before and after thermal annealing occurs at temperatures
      as high as 700  degrees C. The results suggest that the thermal stability depends
      largely on the inclusion of low-density materials and not on the type of metal.
      Of the four low-density materials studied, BN:O is thermally the most stable, and
      the Mo/BN:O multilayer, the most stable among the eight samples, shows stability
      as high as 700  degrees C.

PMID- 20935777
TI  - Normal-incidence reflectance of crystalline K(6)C(60), Rb(6)C(60), and
      Cs(6)C(60).
AB  - The structure factors and normal-incidence reflectances of the alkali-metal-doped
      fulleride crystals M(6)C(60) (where M = K, Rb, or Cs) were calculated, and the
      peak reflectances are in the 2-20% range for incident wavelengths of 9-17 A,
      which indicates that C(60) may be a promising transmissive (spacer) material for
      normal-incidence mirrors that have relatively high normal-incidence reflectance
      in the x-ray region.

PMID- 20935778
TI  - Metal phosphate planar waveguides for biosensors.
AB  - Hard, impermeable, glassy, metal phosphate films have been fabricated
      inexpensively by the use of a spin-coating and low-temperature-curing technique.
      Films that are suitable for use as monomode waveguides in biosensors have been
      identified through an examination of the optical and chemical properties of films
      containing Fe, Al, Ga, In, Cr, or V. The refractive index is controlled over the
      range 1.49-1.78 by varying the film composition. The film thickness is controlled
      over the range 50-1200 nm by varying the spin speed and the deposition
      temperature. Films can be patterned by photolithography or by embossing. Input
      coupling through an embossed grating of 833-nm pitch is demonstrated.

PMID- 20935779
TI  - Particle image velocimetry: image labeling by use of adaptive optics to modify
      the point-spread function.
AB  - A simple method of labeling the first- and second-exposure images of a particle
      image-velocimetry recording is discussed. One achieves this method by changing
      the transfer characteristics of the recording optics between exposures by
      inserting a rotating optic into the iris plane of the camera objective. Spatial
      filtering can then be used to address the images recorded by each exposure
      independently, permitting cross-correlation analysis to be implemented. Two
      practical systems using either an aperture plate or a phase plate are
      demonstrated, and we show that the phase plate is significantly more light
      efficient. Finally, the feasibility of image labeling high-speed flows using
      electro-optic devices is discussed.

PMID- 20935780
TI  - Subsurface damage identification in optically transparent materials using a
      nondestructive method.
AB  - Total internal reflection microscopy has been applied to image subsurface damage
      sites in conventionally polished fused-silica flats. This technique can
      differentiate between surface and subsurface features by changing the
      illuminating polarization. The method is nondestructive, and no surface
      preparation is required other than a thorough cleaning of the surface. The
      intensity distributions in the illuminated region of interest are discussed. The
      technique has been used successfully as an optical fabrication in-process
      diagnostic.

PMID- 20935781
TI  - Two-dimensional polarimeter with a charge-coupled-device image sensor and a
      piezoelastic modulator.
AB  - We present the first measurements and scientific observations of the solar
      photosphere obtained with a new two-dimensional polarimeter based on piezoelastic
      modulators and synchronous demodulation in a CCD imager. This instrument, which
      is developed for precision solar-vector polarimetry, contains a specially masked
      CCD that has every second row covered with an opaque mask. During exposure the
      charges are shifted back and forth between covered and light-sensitive rows
      synchronized with the modulation. In this way Stokes I and one of the other
      Stokes parameters can be recorded. Since the charge shifting is performed at
      frequencies well above the seeing frequencies and both polarization states are
      measured with the same pixel, highly sensitive and accurate polarimetry is
      achieved. We have tested the instrument in laboratory conditions as well as at
      three solar telescopes.

PMID- 20935782
TI  - Graded-index polymer optical fiber for high-speed data communication.
AB  - We successfully obtained a high-bandwidth (1 GHz km) and low-loss (90 dB/km at
      0.572 um of wavelength) graded-index polymer optical fiber by using the
      interfacial-gel polymerization technique, in which we used an unreactive
      component to obtain the quadratic refractive-index distribution. This high
      bandwidth graded-index polymer optical fiber makes it possible to transmit a high
      speed optical signal in a short-range network, which is not possible when we use
      the step-index type of polymer optical fiber commercially available.

PMID- 20935783
TI  - Skin hydration state estimation using a fiber-optic refractometer.
AB  - A U-shaped fiber-optic refractometer is used to estimate the hydration state of
      human skin. The validity of the sensor in this application has been investigated
      by comparing the sensor output with the conductance of the skin to a high
      frequency electrical current of 3.5 MHz, which has been reported to be a good
      measure of the skin hydration state. Results indicate that there is a relatively
      close relationship between the optical sensor output and the electrical
      conductance. A water sorption-desorption test conducted to confirm the above
      relationship has revealed that the fiber-optic probe can provide a convenient
      means for estimating the skin hydration state in an easy manner.

PMID- 20935784
TI  - Scattered-light properties of diffraction gratings.
AB  - One of the many calibrations performed for a scientific-quality spectrometer is
      the characterization of its scattered-light properties. The scattered light can
      arise from any optical surface, and light leaks or scattering from baffles can
      also contribute to the instrumental stray-light level. For a diffraction-grating
      spectrometer the primary contribution to instrumental scattered light has been
      found to be the scattered light from the grating. The results from measuring the
      scattered-light properties of 10 diffraction gratings are discussed along with
      the application of these results in analyzing the total scattered light measured
      for three spectrometers. It has been found from these measurements that there are
      two components of the grating scattered light: a Lorentzian-type component and a
      constant background component. The Lorentzian component is predicted from the
      diffraction theory for a grating, and the constant background component is
      consistent with Rayleigh scattering from the microscopic surface im erfections.
      It was also discovered that multiple replicas of gratings from the same master
      grating exhibit significantly more scattered light than the preceding replica by
      factors of 1.1-2.

PMID- 20935785
TI  - Hyper-Rayleigh light scattering from an aqueous suspension of purple membrane.
AB  - Here we report the first observation of hyper-Rayleigh light scattering from
      bacteriorhodopsin in the form of an aqueous suspension of unoriented purple
      membranes. A typical purple membrane suspension used in our experiments contains
      approximately 10(8) randomly oriented purple membranes. Each purple membrane
      contains approximately 10(5) bacteriorhodopsin molecules in a two-dimensional
      crystallinearray. Hyper-Rayleigh light scattering is observed when the purple
      membrane suspension is illuminated with light that has a wavelength of 1064 nm.
      We propose that the 532-nm scattered light from each of the bacteriorhodopsin
      molecules in a single purple membrane is coherent, and that the scattered light
      from different purple membranes is incoherent. This proposal is supported by the
      following experimental observations: (a) the 532-nm light intensity is
      proportional to the square of the incident power, (b) the intensity of the 532-nm
      signal is linearly proportional to the concentration of purple membrane in
      solution, (c) the scattered 532-nm light is incoherent, (d) the scattered 532-nm
      light intensity decreases if the size of the purple membranes is reduced while
      the bacteriorhodopsin concentration is kept constant, and (e) the 532-nm light is
      due to the retinal chromophore of the bacteriorhodopsin molecule. The ratio of
      horizontal polarized hyper-Rayleigh scattered light to vertically polarized hyper
      Rayleigh scattered light gives the angle (23 +/- 4 degrees ) of the retinal axis
      with respect to the plane of the purple membrane. The hyperpolarizability of the
      bacteriorhodopsin molecule is found to be 5 +/- 0.4 * 10(-27) esu.

PMID- 20935786
TI  - Beam modes in graded-index media and topological phases.
AB  - The change in the polarization plane of light vector beams retaining their shape
      (beam modes) under propagation through gradient-index media is evaluated as a
      topological phase acquired by cyclic and noncyclic evolutions of these beams on
      their projective Hilbert space (momentum sphere). The polarization changes are
      evaluated by means of the characteristic parameters of the light beam selected.

PMID- 20935787
TI  - Effect of antireflection coating on the performance of Faraday rotators.
AB  - The transmission and reflection properties of Faraday rotators are investigated
      by use of the boundaryvalue approach. Transmission and reflection coefficient
      matrices are derived from boundary conditions and transmission and reflection
      functions. The performances of extinction ratio and insertion and return losses
      of Faraday rotators are calculated for yttrium iron garnet, bismuth-substituted
      iron garnet, and BiCaInVIG (a non-rare-earth iron garnet) Faraday rotators.

PMID- 20935788
TI  - Surface and bulk absorption characteristics of chemically vapor-deposited zinc
      selenide in the infrared.
AB  - <p>Chemically vapor-deposited zinc selenide exhibits outstanding properties in
      the infrared and has been established as a prime material for transmissive optics
      applications. Here we present and discuss data relating to the surface and the
      bulk absorption forward-looking infrared- (FLIR-) grade chemically vapor
      deposited ZnSe, at wavelengths (2-20 um) and temperatures (100-500 K) of current
      interest.</p><p>This investigation is based on both spectral emittance
      measurements and infrared transmission spectroscopy performed in the context of a
      systems development program. Surface effects can be detected at wavelengths of up
      to 14 um and usually predominate at wavelengths of less than 8 um. Fractional
      surface absorptions are temperature independent from approximately 200 to 400 K
      and can be fitted to a Fourier series, at wavelengths ranging from 3.5 to 13.5
      um. The bulk absorption coefficient (betav) is strongly dependent on temperature
      as well as wavelength, but it can be approximated by a bivariate polynomial
      expressin that yields recommended values. At wavelengths lambda ? 10 um, betav
      decreases with increasing temperature; it is shown that a wavelength-independent
      Debye-Waller factor provides a correct description of the temperature dependence,
      thus pointing to infrared-active localized modes. At wavelengths lambda ? 14 um,
      betav increases with temperature and exhibits temperature dependencies (T(1.7),
      T(2.6)) that reflect three- and four-phonon summation processes. Finally, an
      analysis of the temperature dependence of betav at 10.6 um demonstrates that the
      intrinsic lattice dynamical contribution to bulk absorption at this wavelength
      should be close to 4 * 10(-4) cm(-1), in accord with the results of earlier laser
      calorimetry tests performed on exceptionally pure laser-grade chemically vapor
      deposited ZnSe.</p>

PMID- 20935789
TI  - Absorption-coefficient-determination method for particulate materials.
AB  - A method is presented for determining the optical absorption coefficient, or the
      imaginary refractive index, of particulate material that has been collected from
      aerosols or hydrosols by means of filtration. The method, based on the Kubelka
      Munk theory of diffuse reflectance, is nondestructive and requires no other
      knowledge of the sample than the amount present, the specific gravity, and an
      estimate of the real index of refraction. The theoretical development of the
      method is discussed along with an analysis of photometric and gravimetric errors.
      We test the method by comparing results obtained for powdered didymium glass with
      measurements made before the glass was crushed. An example of the method's
      application to the determination of the absorption coefficient of atmospheric
      dust at UV, visible, and near-IR wavelengths is also presented.

PMID- 20935790
TI  - Compact reflection-grating-based phase conjugator in KNbO(3):Fe crystals.
AB  - We present the design and the results of experimental investigations of a self
      pumped phase conjugator through a reflection grating in a special-cut
      photorefractive KNbO(3):Fe crystal. High reflectivity, good phase-conjugate
      fidelity, and fast response time are obtained.

PMID- 20935791
TI  - Effects of recording-erasure dynamics of storage capacity of a wavelength
      multiplexed reflection-type photorefractive hologram.
AB  - We investigate the effects of the recording-erasure dynamics on the storage
      capacity of a wavelengthmultiplexed reflection-type photorefractive hologram by
      using a coupled-recording-wave approach. A closed-form expression for the
      diffraction efficiency for on-Bragg incidence is derived. The dependence of the
      equalized diffraction efficiency on the number of recordable holograms is
      analyzed. The result shows that the storage capacity of a reflection-type
      hologram is of the same order of a transmission-type hologram but higher than the
      previous predictions based on an uncoupled-recording-wave theory.

PMID- 20935792
TI  - Diffraction properties of a reflection photorefractive hologram.
AB  - Diffraction properties of a photorefractive hologram have been described
      previously in most cases with Kogelnik's uncoupled-recording-wave-theory, which
      was originally derived for nonphotorefractive holograms. Despite its simplicity
      and good approximation, the theory has shown its practical limitations and
      discrepancies when the refractive-index perturbation is large. We study the
      diffraction properties of a reflection photorefractive hologram using a coupled
      recording-wave approach. A closed-form expression for the diffraction efficiency
      is obtained. The important aspect of the new formula is that it predicts a lower
      cross-talk noise (or, a higher wavelength sensitivity) than Kogelnik's formula.
      This offers an explanation for the apodization phenomenon (i.e., lower cross-talk
      noise from the experiment as compared with the analytical result) as found by
      Rakuljic et al. [Opt. Lett. 17, 1471-1473 (1992)].

PMID- 20935793
TI  - Real-time holographic image correction using bacteriorhodopsin.
AB  - We present experimental results of one-way coherent imaging through a thin phase
      aberrating medium using a holographic technique with bacteriorhodopsin as a real
      time holographic material. Bacteriorhodopsin is well suited for the application
      when the aberration is time varying because of its real-time writing and erasing
      characteristics, sensitivity, and spatial resolution. We show results with final
      image resolution of greater than 20 line pairs/mm and high signal-to-noise ratio
      using a polarizationholcgraphy approach.

PMID- 20935794
TI  - Light-in-flight digital holography display.
AB  - We present a digital speckle-pattern interferometric setup that can be operated
      at TV frame rates (30 ms) to display the locus of the points at which the optical
      path difference between the reference and object beams is within the coherence
      length. Experimental results are shown.

PMID- 20935795
TI  - Phase statistics of interferograms with applications to synthetic aperture radar.
AB  - Interferometric methods are well established in optics and radio astronomy. In
      recent years, interferometric concepts have been applied successfully to
      synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and have opened up new possibilities in the area
      of earth remote sensing. However interferometric SAR applications require
      thorough phase control through the imaging process. The phase accuracy of SAR
      images is affected by decorrelation effects between the individual surveys. We
      analyze quantitatively the influence of decorrelation on the phase statistics of
      SAR interferograms. In particular, phase aberrations as they occur in typical SAR
      processors are studied in detail. The dependence of the resulting phase bias and
      variance on processor parameters is presented in several diagrams.

PMID- 20935796
TI  - Simultaneous multiple-viewpoint processing in digital speckle pattern
      interferometry.
AB  - Digital speckle pattern interferometry provides information on deformations
      equivalent to that given by image holography. Thus more than one viewpoint is
      necessary for the description of three-dimensional deformation vectors. We report
      the use of a diffraction-grating technique to process simultaneously the three or
      more required viewpoints of a digital holography experiment.

PMID- 20935797
TI  - Digital recording and reconstruction of holograms in hologram interferometry and
      shearography.
AB  - The fundamentals of digital recording and mathematical reconstruction of Fresnel
      holograms are described. The object is recorded in two different states, and the
      holograms are stored electronically with a charge-coupled-device detector. In the
      process of reconstruction the digitally sampled holograms are applied to the
      different coherent optical methods as hologram interferometry and shearography.
      If the holograms are superimposed and reconstructed jointly, a holographic
      interferogram results. If a shearing is introduced in the reconstruction process,
      a shearogram results. This means that the evaluation technique, e.g., hologram
      interferometry or shearography, can be influenced by numerical methods.

PMID- 20935798
TI  - Symmetrically recoded modified signed-digit optical addition and subtraction.
AB  - Symmetrically recoded modified signed-digit number algorithms are proposed for
      carry-free arithmetic. The superiority of the new algorithms is established over
      all other two-step-based symbolic-substitution optical implementations.

PMID- 20935799
TI  - Gray-tone image processing by threshold superposition in an optical cellular
      logic binary-image processor.
AB  - A parallel architecture for gray-tone image processing is proposed that utilizes
      the concept of threshold sum-superposition into a cellular two-layer logic binary
      image processor. Various processing functions constituted by gray-tone dilation,
      erosion, fuzzy-logic operations, and arithmetic operations are obtained. The
      optoelectronic implementation is illustrated.

PMID- 20935800
TI  - Parallel optical computing using recoded trinary signed-digit numbers.
AB  - We propose a simple recoded trinary signed-digit number representation for
      parallel optical computing. This technique performs multidigit carry-free
      addition and borrow-free subtraction in constant time, using only 50% of the,
      minterms required in the most recently reported trinary signed-digit arithmetic
      technique. One may use a single-step optoelectronic or a two step all-optical
      architecture to implement the proposed technique.

PMID- 20935801
TI  - Generation of continuous complex-valued functions for a joint transform
      correlator.
AB  - The principle of representing continuous complex-valued functions by their
      decomposition into three positive-valued ones is proposed for the generation of
      complex reference functions for a joint transform correlator. Three basic
      approaches involving coherent and incoherent superposition of the component
      functions are analyzed. The potentials and limitations of the techniques are
      discussed.

PMID- 20935802
TI  - Approximating fully complex spatial modulation with pseudorandom phase-only
      modulation.
AB  - Any desired diffraction pattern can be produced in the Fourier plane by the
      specification of a corresponding input-plane transparency. Complex-valued
      transmittance is generally required, but in practice phase-only transmittance is
      used. Many design procedures use numerically intensive, constrained optimization.
      We instead introduce a noniterative procedure that directly translates the
      desired but unavailable complex transparency into an appropriate phase
      transparency. At each pixel the value of phase is pseudorandomly selected from a
      random distribution whose standard deviation is specified by the desired
      amplitude. We also derive statistical expressions and use them to evaluate the
      approximation errors between the desired and achieved diffraction patterns.

PMID- 20935803
TI  - Thermal images generated by a line-scanning technique: statistical properties.
AB  - The analysis of statistical parameters of computer-generated therfial images by a
      line-scanning technique indicates an approach to efficient image transmission.

PMID- 20935804
TI  - Column-relaxed algebraic reconstruction algorithm for tomography with noisy data.
AB  - A tomographic reconstruction algorithm similar to the well-known algebraic
      reconstruction technique (ART) is presented. Similar to ART, the approximate
      algebraic reconstruction technique (AART) technique consists of a sequence of
      displacements of the image vector based on the projection error. AART is a column
      relaxation technique that is a series of vector displacements of the image vector
      parallel to its coordinate axes. AART is compared with ART, a standard conjugate
      gradient technique, and a conjugate-gradient technique augmented by
      nonnegativity. The use of relaxation parameters to improve the performance of
      both ART and AART in the presence of noise is discussed, and the use of an
      iteration termination criterion based on random generalized cross validation is
      illustrated.

PMID- 20935805
TI  - Iterative reconstruction method in phase-diversity imaging.
AB  - An object is iteratively reconstructed from two atmospherically degraded images,
      one of which is detected by shifting of a known amount of phase with respect to
      the other. The iterative reconstruction scheme is based on the ideas of the blind
      deconvolution method and the error-reduction algorithm. An optical system to do
      phase shifting is proposed in which a deformable mirror is employed. Several
      computer simulations are conducted to exemplify the usefulness of our method.

PMID- 20935806
TI  - Modified joint transform correlator binarized by error-diffusion. I. Spatially
      constant noise-dependent range limit.
AB  - Two error-diffusion-based binarization methods for joint transform correlator
      configurations, which adaptively take into account the effects of input-additive
      white Gaussian noise, are analyzed. Before binarization, the operations performed
      upon the joint power spectrum are either truncation and normalization or
      subtraction of a noise pedestal followed by truncation and normalization. The
      noise-pedestal value is defined as the measurable estimate of the noise power
      spectral density. Truncation and normalization are carried out with a spatially
      constant noise-dependent range limit, based on the statistical properties of the
      noise, and the noise-pedestal value. All required parameters, dependent on the
      input-noise level, can be measured from the joint power spectrum distribution and
      are updated for every new input scene. A computer-simulation comparison of
      correlation-peak characteristics demonstrates the advantages of the suggested
      approaches. Optical experiments with compatible results are also presented.

PMID- 20935807
TI  - Modified joint transform correlator binarized by error diffusion. II. Spatially
      variant range limit.
AB  - Nonlinear scaling of the joint power spectrum in one approach and noise
      subtraction followed by nonlinear scaling in a second approach are analyzed in
      conjunction with error-diffusion binarization for joint transform correlator
      configurations in the presence of input-additive white Gaussian noise. Nonlinear
      scaling is performed with a spatially variant range limit. For the second
      approach the subtracted noise value is an estimate of the noise power spectral
      density. Computer simulations and optical experiments demonstrate the advantages
      of the proposed error-diffusion-based joint transform correlator approaches. In
      particular the approach based on noise subtraction before nonlinear scaling is
      advantageous even for very high noise levels.

PMID- 20935808
TI  - Scale-invariant binary phase-only matched filter using a ferroelectric-liquid
      crystal spatial light modulator.
AB  - We describe the implementation of a scale-invariant binary phase-only matched
      filter using a 128 * 128 ferroelectric spatial light modulator. A 5-dB
      discrimination was obtained between a 10-image training set of highly correlated
      characters (E's and F's) over a scale range of 1.0 to 1.5.

PMID- 20935809
TI  - Optimum filter for detection of a target in nonoverlapping scene noise.
AB  - A filter function is derived for input signals containing a target that is
      spatially disjoint (that is, nonoverlapping) with the input scene noise. The
      optimization metric is the ratio of the square of the expected value of the
      correlation peak to the expected value of the output signal energy. In this model
      the effects of the nonwhiteness of the scene noise, the nonstationarity of the
      scene noise that is due to the limited size of the input scene, the
      nonoverlapping of the target and the scene noise, and the unknown variations of
      the target illumination are considered. We show that, for the nonoverlapping
      target and the scene noise, the target window and the scene-noise window strongly
      influence the optimum filter function.

PMID- 20935810
TI  - Six-feature star-pattern identification algorithm.
AB  - A six-feature all-sky star-field identification algorithm is developed. The
      minimum identifiable starpattern element consists of an oriented star triplet
      defined by three stars, their celestial coordinates, and their visual magnitudes.
      The performance of the star-pattern identification algorithm is verified through
      the use of software simulation.

PMID- 20935811
TI  - Multicriteria characterization of coding domains with optimal Fourier spatial
      light modulator filters.
AB  - A multicriteria optimization method is introduced in order to find optimal
      filters for implementation on arbitrary spatial light modulators in the Fourier
      plane of an optical correlator. This method is applied to the trade-offs between
      noise robustness, sharpness of the correlation peak, and optical efficiency. A
      fast and simple algorithm is given in this case, which is independent of the
      particular form of the spatial light modulator coding constraint. It is used to
      characterize and to compare typical coding domains through the performances of
      their associated optimal filters.

PMID- 20935812
TI  - Photon-echo amplification by an external-cavity amplifier.
AB  - We demonstrate as much as 2.5 * 10(5) amplification of a photon-echo signal using
      a simple external-cavity amplifier. The method may be useful in regeneration of
      photon echo and memory refresh in a dynamic photon-echo optical memory system. We
      propose an image storage system that is capable of regeneration and amplification
      of phase-conjugate images in a feedback loop.

PMID- 20935813
TI  - Reflection-grating self-pumped phase conjugation with optical feedback free of
      input conditions.
AB  - A reflection-grating self-pumped phase-conjugate mirror is demonstrated with a
      photorefractive KNbO(3) crystal in a novel ring configuration. The feedback beam
      in the ring configuration is made to track the input probe beam automatically so
      that the phase conjugation is sustained without readjustment of the optical
      feedback loop when the angle or the position of the input probe beam is changed.
      The tracking feedback is realized by means of a simple three-lens erect imaging
      system. The angular and the positional acceptances for a tightly focused input
      beam of 50-um diameter are Deltatheta(x). = 55 mrad, Deltatheta(y), = 67 mrad,
      and Delta(x) = 2.1 mm, Delta(y) = 4.2 mm, respectively.

PMID- 20935814
TI  - Dynamic range compression of images by two-wave mixing in photorefractive
      materials.
AB  - We propose and demonstrate a method for the dynamic-range compression of images
      using two-wave mixing in photorefractive materials. This method, in which an
      image is carried on the signal beam, permits a certain amount of control over the
      shape of the input and output curves by the variation of the pump intensity, the
      coupling constant, and the time at which the output image is examined. We also
      discuss the possible option of adding a feedback loop from the output image so
      that the range compression can be adapted to suit the intensity profile in the
      input image.

PMID- 20935815
TI  - Wafer fault measurement by coherent optical processor.
AB  - A microscope coherent optical processor based on the VanderLugt optical
      correlator is applied to the measurement of registration error in multilayer
      integrated-circuit wafers. A treatment of the effects of wafer faults on the
      correlation signal is given. Threshold criteria and fault-induced peak splitting
      of the correlation signal from reject production samples are exploited to
      demonstrate the easy and rapid detection of faults in partially processed
      integrated-circuit wafers.

PMID- 20935816
TI  - Phase-unwrapping algorithm for the measurement of three-dimensional object
      shapes.
AB  - A new phase-unwrapping algorithm is described that uses two phase images with
      different precision in the unwrapping; this technique can produce an
      approximately correct unwrapping in the presence of discontinuities. We introduce
      it into the measurement of a three-dimensional object shape and also present the
      experimental results.

PMID- 20935817
TI  - Matrix-matrix multiplication by using anisotropic self-diffraction in BaTiO(3).
AB  - We propose a matrix-matrix multiplication by using anisotropic self-diffraction
      in BaTiO(3). The input matrices are carried by the two incident beams with
      special Bragg-matched incident angles. The output matrices are produced by
      anisotropic self-diffraction with the polarization orthogonal to those of the
      incident matrices. By thresholding the output this architecture is particularly
      suitable for the applications of optical interconnects and an optical switch.

PMID- 20935818
TI  - Gaussian-beam profile shaping by acousto-optic Bragg diffraction.
AB  - We study how Gaussian laser-beam profiles can be modified into a desired form
      using acousto-optic Bragg diffraction. By exploiting the angular dependence of
      Bragg diffraction of plane waves by acoustic gratings, we demonstrate that the
      conversion from a Gaussian-profile beam into either a near-field or a far-field
      flattop profile is possible.

PMID- 20935819
TI  - Light and color in the open air-introduction by the feature editors.
AB  - The natural environment is still rich in new observable phenomena despite
      centuries of scientific observation. Reflecting this fact, the papers in this
      feature issue of Applied Optics report the observation and analysis of both new
      and well-known naked-eye optical phenomena.

PMID- 20935820
TI  - Observations of vertically elliptical halos.
AB  - The Finnish Amateur Astronomers' Network, working under the Ursa Astronomical
      Association, has photographed several vertically elliptical halo displays. Four
      of these observations with photographs are presented.

PMID- 20935821
TI  - The sylvanshine: retroreflection from dew-covered trees.
AB  - Some dew-covered plants are strongly retroreflective. The bright glow seen when
      the antisolar point falls on grass is known as the heiligenschein. Its widely
      accepted explanation requires that the grass be covered with hair. The discovery
      of the sylvanshine, a closely related phenomenon best seen at night, revealed
      that strong retroreflection can occur on hairless dew-covered plants. A simple
      model shows that below a contact angle of 90 degrees , the enhancement in the
      backscatter direction is virtually identical to that given by a diffusely
      reflecting surface, but as the contact angle climbs to 140 degrees , enhancement
      increases by 2 orders of magnitude. Plants that exhibit such large contact angles
      are not the norm, but can be found chiefly among coniferous trees, a few of which
      display the sylvanshine with great brilliance.

PMID- 20935822
TI  - Vertical elliptical coronas caused by pollen.
AB  - Near-forward scattering by cloud droplets is known to give rise to colored rings,
      centered on the Sun or the Moon, which are called the corona. Because of the
      spherical shape of the droplets, the corona can be circular. A Finnish amateur
      astronomers' network has found a corona, in a seemingly cloudless sky, with a
      regular vertically elliptical shape. The aspect ratio of these ellipses changes
      with the altitude of the Sun or the Moon. Some brightening in the coronas has
      also been reported. Because of observations of high pollen concentrations at the
      time of occurrence of these coronas, we propose that some coronas can be
      explained as a result of scatteringbybirch pollen grains, which are more or less
      spheroidal. To explain other observed coronas, pollen grains with more
      complicated shapes, such as pine and spruce pollen grains, must be invoked. Our
      analysis is limited to spheroidal grains, for which the Fraunhofer theory gives
      analytical expressions of simple form. The more complicated shapes require
      numerical simulations or laboratory experiments, which we have not done.

PMID- 20935823
TI  - Simulation and analysis of pollen coronas.
AB  - By numerical simulation of light scattering by birch and pine pollen grains, we
      create color plates of coronas with vertical elliptical shapes and strong
      brightenings, respectively. The shape of the pollen is modeled by the union of n
      ellipsoids. The Fraunhofer integral is solved by the use of the fast Hartley
      transform. The sensitivity of the patterns to pollen orientation, Sun elevation,
      and pollen shape and size is discussed. Good agreement is obtained with amazing
      photographs made by a Finnish network of amateur astonomers, in the case of
      strong vertical orientation of the pollen axis.

PMID- 20935824
TI  - Supernumerary ice-crystal halos?
AB  - Geometric-optics singularities in the intensity profiles of refraction halos
      formed by randomly oriented ice crystals are softened by diffraction and
      decorated with fine supernumerary fringes. If the crystals have a fixed symmetry
      axis (as in parhelia), the geometric singularity is a square-root divergence, as
      in the rainbow. However, the universal curve that describes diffraction is
      different from the rainbow's Airy function, with weak maxima (supernumerary
      fringes) on the geometrically dark region inside the halo (and even fainter
      fringes outside); these are much smaller than their counterparts on the light
      side of rainbows. If the crystals have no preferred orientation (as in the 22
      degrees  halo), the geometric singularity is a step. In this case the universal
      diffraction function has no maxima, and its supernumeraries are shoulders rather
      than maxima. The low contrast of the fringes is probably the main reason why
      supernumerary halos are rarely if ever seen.

PMID- 20935825
TI  - Halo polarization profiles and the interfacial angles of ice crystals.
AB  - Polarization and radiance of various types of refraction halo in ice-crystal
      swarms that extend to ground level were measured as a function of scattering
      angle. Simultaneously, samples of the crystals that produce these halos were
      collected and replicated. The halo polarization peaks are wider than the
      Fraunhofer theory of diffraction predicts for the observed size distribution of
      the replicated crystals. The explanation we put forward is that the angles
      between crystal prism faces are not always exact integer multiples of 60 degrees
      , and the basal faces are not always exactly parallel, as is usually assumed. The
      collected crystals confirm this. The widths of the halo polarization peaks can be
      explained if the distributions of the interfacial angles around their means reach
      their half-maximum values at a deviation of 0.49 degrees  +/- 0.05 degrees . This
      corresponds to a deviation of 0.35 degrees  +/- 0.03 degrees  of the face normals
      from their crystallographic positions. The presence of variation in interfacial
      angles in low-level halos seems to ari e from the fact that the crystals are
      growing. Some hitherto unexplained features in halo displays can be understood by
      considering variations in the interfacial angles.

PMID- 20935826
TI  - Subsuns, Bottlinger's rings, and elliptical halos.
AB  - Subsuns, Bottlinger's rings, and elliptical halos are simulated by the use of a
      Monte Carlo model; reflection of sunlight from almost horizontal ice crystals is
      assumed. Subsuns are circular or elliptical spots seen at the specular reflection
      point when one flies over cirrus or cirrostratus clouds. Bottlinger's rings are
      rare, almost elliptical rings centered about the subsun. Elliptical halos are
      small rings of light centered around the Sun or the Moon that rarely occur with
      other halo phenomena. Subsuns and Bottlinger's rings can be explained by
      reflection from a single crystal, whereas elliptical halos require reflection
      from two separate crystals. All three phenomena are colorless and vertically
      elongated with an eccentricity that increases with increasing solar zenith angle.
      For several cases of Bottlinger's rings the simulations are compared with density
      scans of photographs. Clouds that consist of large swinging or gyrating plates
      and dendritic crystals, which form near -15  degrees C, seem the most likely ca
      didates to produce the rings and elliptical halos. Meteorological evidence is
      presented that supports these conditions for elliptical halos. Simulations
      suggest that the most distinct elliptical halos may be produced by hybrid clouds
      that contain both horizontal and gyrating crystals.

PMID- 20935827
TI  - Effects of ice-crystal structure on halo formation: cirrus cloud experimental and
      ray-tracing modeling studies.
AB  - During the 1986 Project FIRE (First International Satellite Cloud Climatology
      Project Regional Experiment) field campaign, four 22 degrees  halo-producing
      cirrus clouds were studied jointly from a groundbased polarization lidar and an
      instrumented aircraft. The lidar data show the vertical cloud structure and the
      relative position of the aircraft, which collected a total of 84 slides by
      impaction, preserving the ice crystals for later microscopic examination.
      Although many particles were too fragile to survive impaction intact, a large
      fraction of the identifiable crystals were columns and radial bullet rosettes,
      with both displaying internal cavitations, and radial plate-column combinations.
      Particles that were solid or displayed only a slight amount of internal structure
      were relatively rare, which shows that the usual model postulated by halo
      theorists, i.e., the randomly oriented, solid hexagonal crystal, is inappropriate
      for typical cirrus clouds. With the aid of new ray-tracing simulations for
      hexagonal hollow ended column and bullet-rosette models, we evaluate the effects
      of more realistic ice-crystal structures on halo formation and lidar
      depolarization and consider why the common halo is not more common in cirrus
      clouds.

PMID- 20935828
TI  - Volcanic Bishop's ring: evidence for a sulfuric acid tetrahydrate particle
      aureole.
AB  - Following the massive 1883 Krakatoa volcanic eruption, a new atmospheric optical
      phenomeon was identified by Rev. S. E. Bishop. This inconspicuous one-ringed
      corona, or aureole, was immediately linked to the global spread of volcanic
      debris injected into the stratosphere, but little refinement in the mechanisms
      responsible for Bishop's ring has since been made. On the basis of our combined
      studies of sulfuric acid droplet-freezing theory and polarization (0.694-um)
      lidar measurements of Bishop's ring aerosols from the June 1991 Mt. Pinatubo
      eruption that show average linear depolarization ratios of ;~0.05, it appears
      that this solar diffraction phenomenon is caused by accumulations of nonspherical
      sulfuric acid tetrahydrate (SAT) particles. The diffraction-theory aureole
      derived SAT particle radius of ~0.8 um is consistent with the freezing of the
      large mode of volcanic acid droplets created by coagulation, which, according to
      theory, is necessary for concentrating a sufficient insoluble mass to promote het
      rogeneous drop freezing at temperatures below approximately -65  degrees C.

PMID- 20935829
TI  - Simulating rainbows and halos in color.
AB  - Geometric optics rainbows and ice-crystal halos that include some effects of a
      Rayleigh-scattering atmosphere and a cloud of finite optical thickness are
      simulated in color by the use of a Monte Carlo approach.

PMID- 20935830
TI  - Influence of a solar eclipse on twilight.
AB  - The morning twilight of the presunrise sky was measured at the Hoher-List
      Observatory during the total eclipse of 22 July 1990. The location of observation
      was far away from the central eclipse zone. The luminance showed a deep minimum
      in twilight during the main phase of the solar eclipse compared with normal
      conditions. A first order scattering model explains the observations reasonably
      well and shows that the sky radiation during the first phase of twilight at a
      location far away from the central umbra depends primarily on the height profile
      of the air pressure between ~ 100 and 200 km.

PMID- 20935831
TI  - Horizon brightness revisited: measurements and a model of clear-sky radiances.
AB  - Clear daytime skies persistently display a subtle local maximum of radiance near
      the astronomical horizon. Spectroradiometry and digital image analysis confirm
      this maximum's reality, and they show that its angular width and elevation vary
      with solar elevation, azimuth relative to the Sun, and aerosol optical depth.
      Many existing models of atmospheric scattering do not generate this near-horizon
      radiance maximum, but a simple second-order scattering model does, and it
      reproduces many of the maximum's details.

PMID- 20935832
TI  - Twilight and daytime colors of the clear sky.
AB  - Digital image analysis of the cloudless sky's daytime and twilight chromaticities
      challenges some existing ideas about sky colors. First, although the observed
      colors of the clear daytime sky do lie near the blackbody locus, their meridional
      chromaticity curves may resemble it very little. Second, analyses of twilight
      colors show that their meridional chromaticity curves vary greatly, with some
      surprising consequences for their calorimetric gamuts.

PMID- 20935833
TI  - Mirages with atmospheric gravity waves.
AB  - The temperature inversions that produce superior mirages are capable of
      supporting gravity (buoyancy) waves of very low frequency and long wavelength.
      This paper describes the optics of single mode gravity waves that propagate in a
      four-layer atmosphere. Images calculated by ray tracing show that (1) relatively
      short waves add a fine structure to the basic static mirage, and (2) long waves
      produce cyclic images, similar to those observed in the field, that display
      significant variation from a base image.

PMID- 20935834
TI  - Moving through a mirage.
AB  - We consider image motion in the visual field of an observer moving through a
      rigid environment under mirage conditions, in which light rays follow curved
      trajectories as a result of a nonuniform atmospheric refractive index. We show
      that, under these conditions, the translation motion field does not conform to
      the simple pattern observed in the absence of refraction; instead it depends on
      the transfer characteristic of the mirage. An interesting finding is that if the
      mirage has a transfer characteristic that folds, as occurs for example in the
      desert mirage, the motion field will, in general, be infinite at the fold point.

PMID- 20935835
TI  - Glory of clouds in the near infrared.
AB  - Spectrally resolved visible and infrared images of marine stratus clouds were
      acquired from the NASA ER-2 high-altitude aircraft during the 1987 First
      International Cloud Climatology Program Regional Experiment. The images were
      obtained by cross-track scanning radiometers. Data images at nearinfrared
      wavelengths show frequent and readily apparent brightness features that are due
      to glory single scattering. The observations and subsequent analysis by radiative
      transfer calculations show that the glory is a significant feature of near
      infrared solar reflectance from water clouds. Glory observations and calculations
      based on in-cloud microphysics measurements agree well. The most dramatic
      difference from the visible glory is that the scattering angles are significantly
      larger in the near infrared. The glory is also apparently more distinct in the
      near infrared than in the visible, as scattering size parameters are in a range
      that effectively produces a glory feature, and also there is less obscuration
      bymultipe-scattering reflectance because of absorption of radiation by droplets
      in the near infrared. For both the visible and the near infrared, the principal
      factors that wash out the glory are dispersion and, to a lesser degree, the
      effective radius of the cloud droplet-size distribution. The obscuration by
      multiple scattering in optically thick clouds is secondary. Rather than being a
      novelty, glory observations would be an accurate and unambiguous technique to
      sense the droplet size of water clouds remotely.

PMID- 20935836
TI  - Correlated light scattering by a dense distribution of condensation droplets on a
      window pane.
AB  - An analytical model of the scattering structure factor for an assembly of
      noninteracting hard disks has recently appeared in the literature [Phys. Rev. A
      42, 5978-5989 (1990)]. We employ this model to calculate correlated light
      scattering by monodispersions and binary mixtures of condensation droplets on a
      window pane. We find that an area fraction of f >= 0.6 is required for producing
      the near-forward direction scattering suppression and that a moderately wide
      polydispersion of droplet sizes is capable of producing the experimentally
      observed bright ring of colored light.

PMID- 20935837
TI  - Rainbow-enhanced forward glory from fused-silica spheres.
AB  - A tertiary rainbow enchances the forward glory scattering from a fused-silica
      sphere because of its refractive index m ? 1.465. The scattered light contains a
      strong cross-polarized component and varies rapidly in brightness with changes in
      m. In experiments m is varied by the use of a range of argon and dye laser
      wavelengths. The forward cross-polarized scattering is found to be in agreement
      with Mie theory calculations. A reflective coating on small areas around the
      equator and polar caps of the sphere increases the forward scattering by a factor
      of ~ 180.

PMID- 20935838
TI  - Rainbow scattering by a coated sphere.
AB  - We examine the behavior of the first-order rainbow for a coated sphere by using
      both ray theory and Aden-Kerker wave theory as the radius of the core a(12) and
      the thickness of the coating delta are varied. As the ratio delta/a(12) increases
      from 10(-4) to 0.33, we find three classes of rainbow phenomena that cannot occur
      for a homogeneous-sphere rainbow. For delta/a(12) ? 10(-3), the rainbow intensity
      is an oscillatory function of the coating thickness, for delta/a(12) ~ 10(-2),
      the first-order rainbow breaks into a pair of twin rainbows, and for delta/a(12)
      ~ 0.33, various rainbow-extinction transitions occur. Each of these effects is
      analyzed, and their physical interpretations are given. A Debye series
      decomposition of coated-sphere partial-wave scattering amplitudes is also
      performed and aids in the analysis.

PMID- 20935839
TI  - E(6) diffraction catastrophe of the primary rainbow of oblate water drops:
      observations with white-light and laser illumination.
AB  - Oblate drops of water illuminated perpendicular to their symmetry axis exhibit
      catastrophe patterns near the primary-rainbow scattering angle. Previous patterns
      include the hyperbolic umbilic focal section and separate lips events [see, e.g.,
      H. J. Simpson and P. L. Marston, Appl. Opt. 30, 3468 (1991)]. The present
      observations concern a much higher-order singularity analyzed by J. F. Nye [Proc.
      R. Soc. London Ser. A 438, 397 (1992)], the E(6) or symbolic umbilic, in the
      scattering by levitated drops with monochromatic and collimated white-light
      illumination. Photographs show the colors produced when the drop is illuminated
      by white light. The E(6) occurs when the Gaussian curvature of the scattered wave
      front vanishes in both principal directions, resulting in a high degree of
      directional focusing. This type of focusing, although only slightly explored, is
      applicable to the more general problem of scattering from penetrable spheroids.

PMID- 20935840
TI  - Hyperbolic umbilic and E(6) diffraction catastrophes associated with the
      secondary rainbow of oblate water drops: observations with laser illumination.
AB  - Previous observations of oblate drops of water illuminated perpendicular to their
      axis of symmetry exhibit catastrophe patterns near the primary-rainbow scattering
      angle [see, e.g., Appl. Opt. 30, 3468 (1991). The present research concerns
      observation of diffraction catastrophes near the secondary-rainbow scattering
      angle under similar experimental conditions. Illumination with laser light
      exhibits similar caustic structures in the secondary rainbow including the
      hyperbolic umbilic focal section and the E(6) or symbolic umbilic focal section.
      The range of drop aspect ratios explored includes aspect ratios as small as those
      found for freely falling drops in air as well as highly flattened drops. The new
      features of the secondary rainbow occur for highly flattened drops.

PMID- 20935841
TI  - Generalized rainbows and unfolded glories of oblate drops: organization for
      multiple internal reflections and extension of cusps into Alexander's dark band.
AB  - Oblate drops of water can produce caustics where, unlike a simple Airy caustic,
      more than two rays merge. We extend previous treatments of generalized primary
      rainbows based on catastrophe optics [Opt. Lett. 10, 588 (1985); Proc. R. Soc.
      (London) A 438, 397 (1992)] to rays having (p - 1) = 2 to 5 internal reflections.
      The analysis is for a horizontally illuminated ellipsoid with a vertical symmetry
      axis. Aspect ratios causing a vanishing of the vertical curvature at the equator
      for the outgoing wave front are found from generalized ray tracing. In response
      to infinitesimal deformation, the axial caustic of real glory rays unfolds
      producing cusps. Laboratory observations with laser illumination demonstrate that
      cusps resulting from rays with five internal reflections extend into Alexander's
      dark band when the drop's aspect ratio is near 1.08. The evolution of this p = 6
      scattering pattern as cusps meet the quinary rainbow is suggestive of an E(6)
      catastrophe. For ellipsoids of varying aspect ratio and refractive index N, there
      is an organizing singularity associated with an exceptionally flat outgoing wave
      front from spheres with N = p.

PMID- 20935842
TI  - Black-and-white fringes and the colors of caustics.
AB  - Fine-scale interference fringes that decorate caustics produced with white light
      appear black and white with high contrast. This is surprising, as the elementary
      expectation, supported by theory and computer simulation, is that the fringes
      should be highly colored. The fringe separation is several arc minutes and
      therefore close to the resolution limit of the eye. Under magnification (even of
      a photograph), the colors are revealed. Therefore black-and-white fringes are an
      illusion, giving a dramatic naked-eye illustration of the fact that the angular
      resolution of the visual system is better for luminance than for color.

PMID- 20935843
TI  - Blue shadows: physical, physiological, and psychological causes.
AB  - The apparent blueness of outdoor shadows has two main causes: the illumination of
      the shadows by blue skylight and the enhancement of the perception of blue by
      simultaneous color contrast. Other physiological mechanisms, such as brightness
      contrast and afterimages, can also affect the perception of a shadow's blueness.
      Preferential scattering by the cornea does not seem to make a major contribution.
      Despite these effects, color constancy causes most people to observe an
      empirically blue shadow as colorless.

PMID- 20935844
TI  - Mach bands and airplane shadows cast on dry terrain.
AB  - Luminous rings are often seen surrounding the shadow of a high-flying airplane.
      Some of these phenomena are due to water droplets (glories, the Heiligenschein),
      but a different sort of explanation is required when a luminous ring (sometimes
      simply a bright spot) is seen while the plane is flying over dry terrain.
      Demonstrations involving distances and shadows manyfold smaller than those of an
      airliner's shadow show that Mach bands can produce illusory luminance phenomena
      that greatly resemble those associated with a plane's shadow over dry terrain.
      Luminance rings have recently also been observed over dry, sparsely vegetated
      terrain, around the shadow of an adjacent airplane (i.e., far from the observer's
      antisolar point), thereby excluding all previous alternative interpretations;
      Mach bands are thus a likely explanation for at least some instances of dry
      terrain luminous rings around airplane shadows.

PMID- 20935845
TI  - Colors of the spectrum: Do you wonder where the yellow went?
AB  - The spectrum of white light dispersed by a prism or grating often appears as just
      three main colored bands, red, green, and blue, with yellow barely discernible.
      When this spectrum is compared with the appearance of narrow wavelength bands
      seen in isolation, the lack of color is surprising. An explanation is offered
      based on two factors: (1) The yellow-appearing wavelengths of the spectrum
      comprise only ~5% of the whole and have a luminance comparable with that of the
      adjacent red and green portions and (2) the response of double-opponent cells,
      observed in the primate visual cortex, could enhance the red and green and
      obscure the yellow in the spectral image.

PMID- 20935846
TI  - Appearance of the Sun and the Moon seen through clouds.
AB  - If the Sun can be seen at all through thin clouds it usually has a sharp edge,
      although occasionally it appears fuzzy, especially through altostratus, but
      rarely, if ever, through fog. Experiments with suspensions of polystyrene spheres
      of different sizes and optical thicknesses suggest that the range of cloud
      optical thicknesses over which a fuzzy Sun is seen increases with particle size.
      Nonsphericity, turbulence, and cloud horizontal inhomogeneity are not necessary
      for fuzziness. A possible explanation for what is observed is that, for a given
      optical thickness, the modulation contrast function of a cloud decreases more
      rapidly with increasing frequency the greater the particle size. Consequently the
      transition from optical thicknesses for which contrast is above the contrast
      threshold at all spatial frequencies to optical thicknesses for which contrast is
      below the threshold at high frequencies is sufficiently gradual to permit
      fuzziness of the Sun to be observed through clouds of constantly changing opt cal
      thickness.

PMID- 20935847
TI  - Color recognition and discrimination under full-moon light.
AB  - The ability to recognize and discriminate colors under full-moon light was
      measured Color naming was performed at three sizes (0.5 degrees , 2 degrees , and
      4 degrees ) by the use of one white and six colored chips that spanned the
      spectrum at two levels of saturation. The results show that correct color
      recognition is possible under full-moon light. However, the recognition rate
      depends on a complex interaction between hue, level of saturation, and size of
      test field. For small fields and desaturated colors, the recognition rate is low.
      However, for saturated colors, most hues can be recognized at better than chance
      levels, with red being recognized very accurately.

PMID- 20935848
TI  - Intraocular light scattering in vision, artistic painting, and photography.
AB  - Light scattering in the eye is reviewed, and its influence on vision is discussed
      in some detail. Isotropic scattering and formation of halos around point sources
      are described with reference to theory and experiments. Artists usually take
      intraocularly scattered light into account when painting natural scenes. A method
      to achieve similar effects in photography by the use of diffraction filters in
      front of the camera lens is demonstrated. A number of photos that illustrate the
      effects of such filters are shown.

PMID- 20935849
TI  - Disputing Viking navigation by polarized skylight.
AB  - The widely held notion that the Vikings utilized polarization of skylight on
      overcast days for navigational purposes is demonstrated to have no scientific
      basis. The use of polarized skylight for navigation under partly cloudfree skies
      should be treated with caution and skepticism.

PMID- 20935850
TI  - Possible halo depictions in the prehistoric rock art of Utah.
AB  - In western American rock art the concentric circle symbol, which is widely
      regarded as a sun symbol, is ubiquitous. We provide evidence from Archaic and
      Fremont Indian rock art sites in northwestern Utah that at least one depiction
      was motivated by an observation of a complex halo display. Cirrus cloud optical
      displays are linked in both folklore and meteorology to precipitation-producing
      weather situations, which, in combination with an abundance of weather-related
      rock art symbolism, indicate that such images reflected the ceremonial concerns
      of the indigenous cultures for ensuring adequate precipitation. As has been shown
      to be the case with rock art rainbows, conventionalization of the halo image may
      have resulted in simple patterns that lacked recognizable details of atmospheric
      optical phenomena. However, in one case in which an Archaic-style petroglyph
      (probably 1500 yr or more old) satisfactorily reproduced a complicated halo
      display that contained parhelia and tangent arcs, sufficient geometricinformation
      is rendered to indicate a solar elevation angle of ~ 40 degrees  at the time of
      observation.

PMID- 20935851
TI  - Target-plane intensity approximation for apertured Gaussian beams applied to
      heterodyne backscatter lidar systems.
AB  - With an application in lidar systems in mind, we investigate the effects of
      transmit-aperture truncation of Gaussian beams by employing the extended Huygens
      Fresnel principle. We derive an approximation to the top-hat aperture
      transmission function by defining an abstract Gaussian aperture-transmission
      function. The two fitting parameters of the latter are found when the beam radius
      and the on-axis intensity for both aperture cases are equated in the observation
      plane. Bounds for the applicability of the approximation are established, and its
      accuracy and usefulness is demonstrated through application to the calculation of
      the return signal of a heterodyne lidar system.

PMID- 20935852
TI  - Calculation of spectral linewidth reduction of external-cavity strong-feedback
      semiconductor lasers.
AB  - It is shown that, to calculate the spectral linewidth reduction of an external
      cavity semiconductor laser with strong external feedback, the complex laser field
      equation and the general linewidth-reduction equations must be modified to avoid
      inconsistencies. The resulting set of consistent equations and the consequent
      consistent linewidth reductions are discussed.

PMID- 20935853
TI  - Second-order nonlinear optical susceptibility measurement of crystal with a glass
      prism in total-reflection geometry.
AB  - Second-harmonic generation in a uniaxial crystal in total-reflection geometry is
      precisely measured. A Y-cut plate and a Z-cut plate of quartz crystals were used
      as samples. The incident wave is totally reflected by a glass prism in contact
      with the sample crystal, and an evanescent wave penetrates into the sample as a
      fundamental wave. The results gave the quantitative values of the components for
      a nonlinear optical susceptibility tensor with various polarizations and with Y
      cut and Z-cut quartz plates. This technique can be applied to various samples to
      evaluate their nonlinear optical efficiencies.

PMID- 20935854
TI  - Raman scattering in air: four-dimensional analysis.
AB  - Inertial confinement fusion requires propagation of high-intensity, pulse-shaped
      IR and UV laser beams through long air paths. Such beams are subject to energy
      losses and decreased beam quality as a result by stimulated rotational Raman
      scattering (SRRS). In this paper we describe how quantum fluctuations, stimulated
      Raman amplification, diffraction propagation, and optical aberrations interact
      during the propagation of short, high-power laser pulses using a four-dimensional
      (4-D) model of the optical beams and the medium. The 4-D model has been
      incorporated into a general optical-propagation computer program that allows the
      entire optical system to be modeled and that is implemented on high-end personal
      computers, workstations, and supercomputers. The numerical model is used to
      illustrate important phenomena in the evolution of the optical beams. In
      addition, the OMEGA Upgrade laser system is used as a design case to illustrate
      the various considerations for inertial confinement fusion laser design.

PMID- 20935855
TI  - Amplitude modulation and beam-steering properties of active binary phase gratings
      with reconfigurable absorption areas.
AB  - By combining a binary phase grating and materials with a controllable absorption,
      it is shown theoretically that it is possible to modulate the light in a zero
      order diffraction beam and that a high contrast level for the beam modulation can
      be obtained. The intensity of higher diffraction orders also changes, but it is
      calculated that high contrasts cannot be achieved for these higher-order beams
      with the active gratings that we examine. This specific modulator design that we
      use can be applied both for transmitted and for reflected light. Using the same
      ideas, one may build a beam-deflection device by varying the period of the
      grating by selectively changing the absorption levels in the grating. The
      deflection efficiency of the device can be improved compared with other designs
      by use of a grating with a reduced intensity of the nondeflected zero-order beam.

PMID- 20935856
TI  - Double ring and Fabry-Perot ring resonators: application for an optical fiber
      laser.
AB  - Two fiber-based resonators are studied. Their properties of light confinement are
      examined as a function of their couplers' parameters. Conditions for optimum
      performance of these devices as frequency filters or as laser resonators for a
      given pump wavelength are found.

PMID- 20935857
TI  - Operator approach to electromagnetic coupled-wave calculations of lamellar
      gratings: infrared optical properties of intrinsic silicon gratings.
AB  - The system of coupled-wave equations for electromagnetic calculations of lamellar
      gratings is transformed to a new operator-vector form. The numerical procedure is
      based on truncation of the transformed system and proves to be stable, to be free
      of ill conditioning, and to preserve the power-conservation requirement for a
      lossless dielectric with high accuracy. To execute the procedure a very compact
      MATLAB-based program is developed, and numerical simulations for thick intrinsic
      silicon gratings are performed. Zero-reflectance phenomena at normal incidence
      for both TE and TM polarizations are studied. The ratios of the grating
      dimensions to be wavelengths at which these anomalies occur are found
      numerically. It is shown that by keeping the period- and slot-width-towavelength
      ratios constant and by increasing the slot depth one can repeat the anomalies. An
      antiblazing property at oblique incidence is also considered. The connection with
      recent directional polarized-emission experiments on intrinsic silicon g atings
      is discussed.

PMID- 20935858
TI  - Effects of radiation-mode coherent coupling in integrated optics discontinuities.
AB  - We study the coupling of radiation modes in successive integrated optical
      discontinuities. This study is performed for the spectral domain of both the
      radiation and the guided local modes. Analytical expressions for the coupling
      between groups of radiation modes themselves for different types of
      discontinuities are developed. The effect of discretization, required for
      representation of a physical structure by successive discontinuities, is also
      studied. This study is a preliminary for the realization of a numerical
      propagation method. In an application, the effects of coherent coupling of
      radiation modes in successive abrupt bends are presented.

PMID- 20935859
TI  - Application of dynamic light scattering to the study of small marine particles.
AB  - Small particles ranging from approximately 0.1 um to several micrometers in size,
      which include detrital material, bacteria, and other planktonic microorganisms,
      make a significant contribution to light scattering in the upper ocean. The
      scattering properties of these particles are strongly dependent on their size,
      which is difficult to measure in the submicrometer range with commonly used
      electronic resistive counters and microscopic techniques. We examined the size of
      small marine particles by application of the dynamic light scattering (DLS)
      method. In this method the time-dependent autocorrelation function of scattered
      intensity by particles undergoing Brownian motion provides information about the
      size of particles. The samples were collected in clear oceanic waters off the
      coast of Southern California. The mean hydrodynamic diameter of particles,
      determined from the DLS measurements at a scattering angle of 45 degrees , was
      0.54u m. This indicates that the major contribution to scattering at this angle
      comes rom submicrometer particles. We also described an inverse method for
      estimating the general slope of the size distribution of small marine particles
      from the mean hydrodynamic diameter. This method is based on calculations of the
      size distribution weighted by distribution from Mie theory and assumes that a
      power-law approximation represents the actual particle scattered intensity. These
      calculations suggested that particulate assemblage in our seawater samples was
      best characterized by a differential size distribution with a slope of -4.35.
      This estimation was supported by independent measurements of particle size
      distribution and the spectral beam attenuation coefficient taken from the same
      samples as those used for the DLS measurements. We also demonstrated that
      multiangle DLS measurements may be used to determine the representative value of
      the refractive index of particles.

PMID- 20935860
TI  - Filling in of Fraunhofer lines in the ocean by Brillouin scattering.
AB  - We have investigated the relative contribution of Brillouin scattering to the
      filling in of both narrow and wide Fraunhofer lines in the ocean. The spectral
      behavior of the filling in was studied in two ways. First we studied Fraunhofer
      lines of variable width, such as the 455-nm Ba line with full-width at half
      maximum (FWHM) = 0.02 nm, the 486-nm H(beta) line (FWHM = 0.08 nm), and the 518
      nm Mg line (FWHM = 0.11 nm). We then used the 455-nm Ba line as a narrow-line
      model to calculate the spectral dependence of the filling in. We found that
      Brillouin scattering can play a significant role in the filling in of narrow
      Fraunhofer lines in the ocean. We have also shown that, compared with the filling
      in caused by Raman scattering, the filling in caused by Brillouin scattering has
      less dependence on both the wavelength and ocean depth but is strongly dependent
      on the linewidth of the Fraunhofer line.

PMID- 20935861
TI  - General method for calibrating Sun photometers.
AB  - A general method for calibrating Sun photometers that relaxes the constraints on
      atmospheric conditions is described. Instead of requiring constant extinction
      conditions the method requires only that the relative aerosol size distribution
      remains constant during observations over a range of air masses during a morning
      or afternoon. Provided that the relative aerosol extinction component
      [m(a)(t)delta(t, lambda(0))] can be obtained at wavelength lambda(0), the
      calibration at wavelength channel lambda can be calculated with simple least
      squares techniques. A variant of the method in which a Sun photometer is used to
      provide [m(a)(t)delta(t, lambda(0))] is detailed and is verified with both model
      atmospheres and Sun-photometer data for 1988-1991 from Cape Grim, Tasmania (41
      degrees S). The method produces calibration data having sample variances more
      than 5 times smaller than Langley method calibration results.

PMID- 20935862
TI  - Extensive measurements of H216O line frequencies and strengths: 5750 to 7965 cm(
      1).
AB  - High-resolution spectra of H(2)(16)O vapor covering the region from 5750 to 7965
      cm(-1) were used to determine experimental values of line positions and strengths
      of over 3750 vibration-rotation transitions in the (110)-(000), (011)-(000),
      (040)-(000), (120)-(000), (021)-(000), (200)-(000), (101)-(000), (002)-(000),
      (031)-(010), (210)-(010) and (111)-(010) bands from which rotational energy
      levels in the (040), (120), (021), (200), (101) and (002) vibrational states were
      obtained. The line strengths and frequencies reported here are considered to be a
      marked improvement over the values listed in the 1986 edition of the HITRAN
      database, and a preliminarly listing from this work has been included in the 1993
      HITRAN edition.

PMID- 20935863
TI  - Transition frequencies and strengths of H217O and H218O: 6600 to 7640 cm(-1).
AB  - High-resolution spectra of O(17)- and O(18)-enriched water-vapor samples have
      been recorded with a Fourier transform spectrometer covering the region between
      6600 and 7640 cmcm(-1). Experimental values of line positions and strengths of
      1807 absorptions in the (120)-(000), (021)-(000), (200)-(000), (101)-(000), (002)
      (000), bands of the two isotopic species were derived from the spectra. The
      analysis included the determination of accurate rotational levels belonging to
      the (120), (021), (200), (101), and (002) vibrational states of H(2)(17)O and
      H(2)(18)O.

PMID- 20935864
TI  - Remote sensing of atmospheric turbulence and transverse winds from wave-front
      slope measurements from crossed optical paths.
AB  - In the theory of atmospheric turbulence, the strength of the spatial variations
      of the index of refraction n is proportional to a parameter known as the
      atmospheric-structure constant. The atmosphericstructure constant is denoted
      C(2)(n)(z) and is a function of position along the optical path z. The
      characteristics of the temporal variations of the index of refraction are related
      to both C(2)(n)(z) and to the transverse wind velocity V(z). Current optical
      techniques for remotely sensing C(2)(n)(z) and V(z) rely primarily on the spatial
      or temporal cross-correlation properties of the intensity of the optical field.
      In the remote-sensing technique proposed here, we exploit the correlation
      properties of the wave-front slope measured from two point sources to obtain
      profiles of C(2)(n)(z) and V(z). The two sources are arranged to give crossed
      optical paths. The geometry of the crossed paths and the characteristics of the
      wave-front slope sensor determine the achievable resolution. The signal-to-noise
      ratio calculationsindicate the need for multiple measurements to obtain useful
      estimates of the desired quantities.

PMID- 20935865
TI  - Experiments concerning resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionization probe
      measurements of flame-species profiles.
AB  - Resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionization (REMPI) detection of radical species in
      low-pressure laboratory flames is a promising tool for the development and
      refinement of combustion models. For accurate REMPI species concentration
      measurements in flame zones with inherently high background ionization levels, an
      understanding of the influence of plasma sheaths on REMPI probe response is
      required. Proper probe response is found to depend on careful control of probe
      biasing and laserfocusing conditions. Only negatively biased probes are suitable,
      because of the influences of secondary ionization on the response of positively
      biased probes. In situ probe calibration procedures with the (2 + 2) REMPI of
      N(2) at 270.6 nm are described. Detection of O atoms in a stoichiometric 20-Torr
      methane-oxygen flame permits a precise comparison of both laser-induced
      fluorescence and REMPI measurements with flame-modeling results.

PMID- 20935866
TI  - Time-interval statistics applied to the analysis of low-polydispersity samples
      for low light-intensity levels.
AB  - A time-interval-statistics method that is based on the measurement of the Laplace
      transform of the probability function of the time intervals between two
      successive photoelectrons has been applied to experiments of light diffusion from
      low-polydispersity samples from which the scattered intensity is weak (less than
      1 photoelectron/characteristic fluctuation time). Computer-simulation methods
      have been used to simulate intensity fluctuations and positions of individual
      photoelectrons for different experimental situations. The parameters
      characterizing the diffusion-coefficient distribution function of the sample
      (mean and index of polydispersity) and their corresponding errors are obtained
      and analyzed as a function of the mean intensity and the polydispersity index.

PMID- 20935867
TI  - Single scattering of light by circular cylinders.
AB  - We consider two topics pertaining to light scattering by circular cylinders. (A)
      Scattering properties of cylinders with increasing aspect ratio are studied. It
      is shown that the solution for finite cylinders does not converge to the solution
      for infinitely long cylinders if the aspect ratio increases. This is due to
      differences in the treatment of diffraction for finite and infinite cylinders.
      (B) Finite cylinders have sharp edges, so their scattering properties differ from
      those of spheroids having the same aspect ratio. To illustrate these differences
      we present scattering matrix elements of cylinders and spheroids for a large set
      of aspect ratios. To handle the large amount of data, the scattering matrix
      elements as functions of aspect ratio and scattering angle are presented in so
      called three-dimensional figures.

PMID- 20935868
TI  - Variability in atmospheric light-scattering properties with altitude.
AB  - The altitudinal variability in angular scattering properties of the troposphere
      and stratosphere was measured with a balloonborne polar nephelometer. An analysis
      of interdependent experimental parameters provides information on the scattering
      phase function and inferred size distribution of aerosol particles as a function
      of altitude. These aerosol characteristics are extractable from the scattering
      dissymmetry index and its relationship to spectral dispersion in turbidity and
      the aerosol phase function. The problem of the correlation between backscatter
      and extinction is addressed from the perspectives of in situ observations.

PMID- 20935869
TI  - Effect of particulates on performance of optical communication in space and an
      adaptive method to minimize such effects.
AB  - Decreased signal-to-noise ratio and maximum bit rate as well as increased in
      error probability in optical digital communication are caused by particulate
      light scatter in the atmosphere and in space. Two effects on propagation of laser
      pulses are described: spatial widening of the transmitted beam and attenuation of
      pulse radiant power. Based on these results a model for reliability of digital
      optical communication in a particulate-scattering environment is presented.
      Examples for practical communication systems are given. An adaptive method to
      improve and in some cases to make possible communication is suggested. Comparison
      and analysis of two models of communication systems for the particulate
      scattering channel are presented: a transmitter with a high bit rate and a
      receiver with an avalanche photodiode and a transmitter with a variable bit rate
      and a new model for an adaptive circuit in the receiver. An improvement of more
      than 7 orders of magnitude in error probability under certain conditions is
      possible with the new adaptive system model.

PMID- 20935871
TI  - Color plates.

PMID- 20935870
TI  - Evaluation of Nd:YAG-pumped Raman shifter as a broad-spectrum light source.
AB  - We have examined the utility of a gas-filled, Nd:YAG-laser-pumped Raman shifter
      as a possible broad-spectrum light source. Six to nine new output frequencies
      with pulse energies above 1 uJ are produced when a pure-hydrogen or pure-methane
      Raman shifter is pumped with 40 mJ of secondharmonic, 20 mJ of third-harmonic, or
      11 mJ of fourth-harmonic pump pulse energy. Optimum output occurs at pressures of
      approximately 10 atm for the pure-gas experiments. We also report the output
      frequencies and pulse energies of a mixed hydrogen-methane Raman shifter pumped
      by 20 mJ of the third harmonic of the laser for various proportions of the two
      gases at pressures up to nearly 20 atm. Depending on composition and pressure,
      over a dozen new output lines with pulse energies over 1 uJ can be produced. We
      discuss the nonlinear processes involved, the optimum operating conditions, and
      the suitability of the source for our application of groundwater monitoring.

PMID- 20935872
TI  - Patents.
AB  - 5,029,979; 5,212,572; 5,243,449; 5,274,230; 5,274,231; 5,274,232; 5,274,240;
      5,278,402; 5,278,413; 5,278,696; 5,280,388; 5,280,513; 5,281,804; 5,283,433;
      5,285,314; 5,287,218; 5,289,001; 5,291,319.

PMID- 20935873
TI  - Apodizing of an achromatic lens by a gray-glass negative lens element.
AB  - The apodizing performance of a plano-concave lens made of gray glass was analyzed
      numerically. It was found that apodizing performance depends solely on the edge
      transmittance of the lens (a zero center thickness is assumed here) for any
      reasonable ratio of radius of curvature of the concave surface and the lens
      radius. If a modest increase in the size of the central diffraction peak and
      light losses introduced by such a lens can be accepted, it is possible to reduce
      energy diffracted into diffraction rings approximately tenfold.

PMID- 20935874
TI  - Talbot effect and Cornu's spiral.
AB  - Cornu's spiral is used in the testing and extension of a recent explanation of
      the Talbot effect, which occurs in the Fresnel domain. The results confirm all
      parts tested. They also indicate that each band of a Talbot plane is controlled
      primarily by light from only a few slits of the grating, contrary to earlier
      assumptions. Increases in slit width are found to limit the number of Talbot
      planes that can be observed.

PMID- 20935875
TI  - Spatial-frequency response of holographic gratings photodeposited from inorganic
      colloids.
AB  - Surface photodeposition is a photon-assisted process by which thin films are
      formed on substrates immersed in colloid solutions. We experimentally evaluate
      the resolution capabilities of the photodeposition process with amorphous
      selenium colloids by recording holographic gratings at different spatial
      frequencies, up to 2200 lines/mm. The experimental diffraction efficiencies are
      analyzed in terms of a theoretical model, which relates the spatial-frequency
      response to optical recording parameters and colloid particle sizes. The maximal
      experimental diffraction efficiency reaches 13% with a spatial frequency of f =
      1100 lines/mm. The diffraction efficiencies decrease monotonically with spatial
      frequency, and drop to half of the maximal diffraction efficiency at f ~ 1500
      lines/mm. These resolution capabilities are achieved with colloid particle sizes
      extending up to 80 nm. The theoretical derivation indicates that to obtain
      spatial frequencies above 3000 lines/mm, one should restrict the colloid particle
      size to a(max) <= 30 nm.

PMID- 20935876
TI  - Direct inclusion of the proximity effect in the calculation of kinoforms.
AB  - Within the direct inclusion method the proximity effect is already taken care of
      when one calculates the kinoform relief, whereas conventionally the proximity
      effect is compensated for after one has calculated the relief. In particular,
      when proximity effects are considerable, that is, for small structures, the
      direct inclusion method is shown to give significantly better results than the
      conventional two-step method. Provided that the proximity effect is correctly
      modeled, it is shown that for an 8 * 8 array illuminator nearly perfect
      uniformity can be achieved even for a kinoform with very small structures.

PMID- 20935877
TI  - Measurement of higher harmonics in periodic vibrations using phase-modulated TV
      holography with digital image processing.
AB  - We separately measure the higher harmonics vibration patterns of a periodic
      vibrating object by using time-average TV holography and phase modulation. During
      measurements the frequency of the phase modulation is adjusted to each harmonic
      component while the excitation of the object is set low enough to record all
      components on the linear part of the fringe function. Using acoustical phase
      stepping and calibration of the fringe function, we compute the amplitude and
      phase distributions of the frequency component. We measure components up to the
      65th harmonic by using square-wave excitation.

PMID- 20935878
TI  - Evaluation of an elastomeric holographic index-matching medium.
AB  - A transparent silicone elastomer is evaluated for suitability as an index
      matching material for holography. Transparency, index of refraction, adhesion,
      dimensional stability, and optical activity are determined. Trials conducted in a
      student laboratory yield positive results.

PMID- 20935879
TI  - Instrumental noise effect in an optical heterodyne profiler.
AB  - An optical heterodyne profiler has been developed for measuring surface roughness
      at Brookhaven National Laboratory. The height measurement sensitivity and lateral
      resolution are 1.1 A and 4 um, respectively, when a 40* objective is used. A
      Zeeman-split He-Ne laser is the light source. A noncontact measurement system is
      designed as an optical common-path interferometer. Optical and electronic common
      mode rejection techniques are employed to minimize the effects of environmental
      conditions. The effect of the system noise is analyzed in detail. The effect of
      varying the number of samples at each sampling point is shown. The comparisons of
      the system noises with different objectives, 5*, 10*, 20*, and 40*, are
      presented.

PMID- 20935880
TI  - Phase-shifting holographic interferometry for breast cancer detection.
AB  - Using a mild pressure stressing device and a pulsed ruby-laser system, we apply
      phase-shifted holographic interferometry to the detection of breast cancer. We
      compare a four-step algorithm and a Carre algorithm for their ability to evaluate
      the interferograms. The results show the feasibility of holographic
      interferometry in the detection of anomalies in the human female breast.

PMID- 20935881
TI  - Direct extraction of phase gradients from Fourier-transform and phase-step fringe
      patterns.
AB  - An approach to computing pixel-by-pixel gradients of optical phase directly from
      digitally encoded Fourier-transform or phase-stepped fringe patterns is
      described. This approach can be classified as a phase unwrapping but is really a
      sine-cosine demodulation technique that finds its roots in the differential cross
      multiplier phase-demodulation technique commonly used by the optical fiber sensor
      community. This technique is algorithmically simple, does not rely on a
      computation of the arctangent, and therefore is not subject to some of the
      limitations of the standard phase-unwrapping methodologies. The proposed phase
      gradient technique is demonstrated by the calculation of strain fields from moir6
      interferometric fringe patterns.

PMID- 20935882
TI  - Compensation of spacer-thickness variations in a holographic Fabry-Perot filter.
AB  - The fabrication of a solid, holographically recorded Fabry-Perot interferometer
      that uses plate glass for the spacer has recently been reported. The component
      produced sharp, circular Fabry-Perot fringes in spite of its use of a plate-glass
      spacer. We develop a general theoretical characterization of such a component
      that accounts for its low sensitivity to spacer-thickness variations. We use the
      Kogelnik theory of volume holograms to calculate the phase change on reflection
      from the mirrors. This phase change results from the position of the fringes
      formed throughout the two holographic media during the recording process. An
      expression for the wavelength location of the transmission peak versus spacer
      thickness variation is derived that agrees with the current experimental
      information available.

PMID- 20935883
TI  - Modulation transfer function measurement of sparse-array sensors using a self
      calibrating fringe pattern.
AB  - A simple method for the measurement of the pixel modulation transfer function
      (MTF) of sparse-array (extended MTF) sensors has been developed. We use a phase
      shifting Twyman-Green interferometer to generate a series of single spatial
      frequency fringe patterns incident on the sensor The resulting signal modulation
      is measured. We achieve self-calibration by restricting the measured spatial
      frequencies to multiples of the Nyquist frequency. The aliased patterns at these
      frequencies are unique and easily identifiable. Spatial frequencies of 480
      cycles/mm are generated and measured. This frequency value is more than ten times
      that of the sensor sampling frequency. The expected MTF shape is obtained at
      multiples of the sampling frequency. At odd multiples of the Nyquist frequency,
      the MTF's are affected by the electronic bandwidth and cross talk in the charge
      injection device sensor.

PMID- 20935884
TI  - Experimental demonstration of an automatic alignment system for optical
      interferometers.
AB  - An automatic alignment system, based on a differential phase-sensing technique
      described in a companion paper [Appl. Opt.33, 0000, (1994)], has been
      experimentally demonstrated on the 10-m prototype laser interferometric
      gravitational wave detector in Glasgow. The alignment system developed was used
      to control the orientations of two mirrors in a 10-m-long suspended Fabry-Perot
      cavity with respect to the direction defined by the input laser beam. The results
      of the test and a discussion of the performance of the system are given.

PMID- 20935885
TI  - Automatic alignment of optical interferometers.
AB  - We present a description of a system for automatic alignment of optical
      interferometers. The technique relies on using differential phase modulation to
      permit the detection of the phase difference between two fundamental-mode
      Gaussian beams at the output of an interferometer. Measurements of the spatially
      varying phase difference between the two beams by use of one or more multielement
      photodiodes permits information to be derived about the mismatch in overlap
      between the phase fronts at the output of the interferometer.

PMID- 20935886
TI  - White-light reconstruction setup for shearograms using optical-fiber waveguides.
AB  - A white-light reconstruction setup for shearograms using optical-fiber waveguides
      is presented. The setup is compact, is not susceptible to dust and scratches, and
      enables the two-dimensional fringe pattern on shearograms to be viewed directly
      under uniform and enhanced illumination with minimal image distortion.

PMID- 20935887
TI  - Two-wavelength phase-shifting interferometry insensitive to the intensity
      modulation of dual laser diodes.
AB  - We have constructed two-wavelength phase-shifting interferometry that is
      insensitive to the intensity changes in interferograms associated with the
      current variations in two laser-diode (LD) sources by using a newly developed
      phase-extraction algorithm. The tested phase at a synthetic wavelength can be
      measured from six interferograms with different phase shifts. The algorithm
      becomes a simple form for seven interferograms and reduces to a minimum of five
      phase-shifted data in the proper conditions. We shifted the phases equally in
      opposite directions to one another by separately varying the stepwise currents in
      dual LD's on an unbalanced interferometer. The measurement accuracy has been
      improved compared with that of the two-wavelength four-step method. The phase
      error caused by the power changes in the dual LD's has been investigated
      theoretically and experimentally. The experimental results are shown to measure a
      step object with a 4.6-um synthetic wavelength.

PMID- 20935888
TI  - Infrared emission from reactions of high-velocity atomic oxygen with black
      surfaces: Z306 paint, anodized aluminum, and Teflon.
AB  - Large optical telescopes are being placed into orbit at altitudes where the
      residual atmosphere can interact with the spacecraft to produce optical
      emissions, such as the visible shuttle glow. The near-field emissions produced
      from these interactions will reduce the far-field detection limits of these
      instruments. Here we present laboratory data on the intensities and spectral
      distributions of the infrared emissions created in the interaction at orbital
      velocity of the dominant atmospheric constituent, atomic oxygen, with optical
      baffle coating materials used on space observatory platforms: Z306 Chemglaze
      paint, black anodized aluminum, and black Teflon. Data over the 1.0-5.4-um
      spectral region are presented. Adsorbed contaminants dominate the spectra of the
      less reactive coatings. We present data on contaminant removal with oxygen
      fluence. We also include a simple assessment, based on these data, of the
      magnitude of this interaction and its effect on mission performance.

PMID- 20935889
TI  - Determination of the extinction coefficient of weakly absorbing dielectrics in
      the near-ultraviolet region.
AB  - A method is presented for obtaining the approximate values of the extinction
      coefficient of weakly absorbing dielectrics in the near-UV region. In the method
      we use only the transmittance data of a dielectric plate or film and do not need
      the dispersion data of the refractive index. The method was applied to the
      determination of the extinction coefficients of wrap films.

PMID- 20935890
TI  - Effects of substrate birefringence on focusing and tracking servo signals in
      magneto-optical disk data storage.
AB  - Using computer simulations based on the diffraction theory of high-N.A. systems,
      we examine the effects of substrate birefringence on servo signals in magneto
      optical disk drives. Our attention is confined to systems that use the methods of
      push-pull tracking and astigmatic focus-error detection. We show that the amounts
      of birefringence typically observed in polycarbonate substrates do not in
      themselves cause problems for the servo channels. However, the presence of
      residual aberrations in the optical path (astigmatism in particular) can have
      devastating effects on the magnitude of the track-error signal and the stability
      of the focusing servo. We show that the combination of substrate birefringence
      and residual beam astigmatism can either improve or deteriorate the performance
      of the focusing servo, depending on the orientation of the aberration relative to
      the principal axes of the substrate.

PMID- 20935891
TI  - Polarization aberrations. 1. Rotationally symmetric optical systems.
AB  - The polarization in isotropic radially symmetric lens and mirror systems in the
      paraxial approximation is examined. Polarized aberrations are variations in the
      phase, amplitude, and polarization state of the electromagnetic field across the
      exit pupil. Some are dependent on the incident polarization state and some are
      not. Expressions through fourth order for phase, amplitude, linear diattenuation,
      and linear retardance aberrations are derived in terms of the chief and marginal
      ray angles of incidence and the Taylor series expansion coefficients of the
      Fresnel equations for reflection and transmission at uncoated and thin-film
      coated interfaces. Applications to polarization ray tracing are discussed.

PMID- 20935892
TI  - Polarization aberrations. 2. Tilted and decentered optical systems.
AB  - In paper 1 [Appl. Opt. 33, this issue (1994)] we examined the polarization
      aberrations of rotationally symmetric systems. In this paper we extend
      polarization-aberrration theory to include two types of tilted and decentered
      systems composed of rotationally symmetric elements. One type is systems with
      collinear centers of curvatures but with decentered pupils. The symmetry in such
      systems permits the analysis to proceed along lines similar to those in paper 1.
      The other type is systems with arbitrary tilts and decenters. In these systems
      the field dependencies of the aberrations from each surface are not concentric.
      The extension is made by use of a polarization-aberration matrix with vector,
      instead of scalar, arguments.

PMID- 20935893
TI  - Inversion of transmission ellipsometric data for transparent films.
AB  - Transmission ellipsometry measures the real and imaginary parts of the ratio tau
      = t(p)/t(s), where t(s), and t(s) are the transmission amplitudes for thep and s
      polarizations. For a homogeneous layer, the unknowns to be determined are the
      layer dielectric constant epsilon = n(2) and the layer thickness Deltaz. For
      nonabsorbing films the thickness can be eliminated, and an algebraic equation for
      e results. This equation is reduced to a quadratic equation. The thickness is
      then analytically determined also. The effect of measurement errors on the
      deduced dielectric constant and layer thickness is discussed. Inversion of thin
      film data is also considered.

PMID- 20935894
TI  - Radiometric characterization of a Penning discharge in the vacuum ultraviolet.
AB  - We present a Penning discharge as a possible radiometric transfer standard source
      in the vacuum UV, primarily in the spectral region below 20 nm. Following the
      concept of Finley et al., we have designed a Penning source using NdFeB permanent
      magnets. Emphasis was put on simple operation, quick electrode exchangeability,
      and easy source readjustment. The radiant intensities of the emission lines from
      different ionization stages of both buffer gas atoms and atoms sputtered from the
      cathodes have been studied in various discharge conditions. For selected Al and
      buffer gas emission lines we determined the absolute radiant intensities by a
      comparison with the calculable spectral radiant power of the Berlin Electron
      Storage Ring. A comparison with data from our hollow-cathode transfer standard
      source is given.

PMID- 20935895
TI  - Automated multifilter rotating shadow-band radiometer: an instrument for optical
      depth and radiation measurements.
AB  - The multifilter rotating shadow-band radiometer is a ground-based instrument that
      uses independent interference-filter-photodiode detectors and the automated
      rotating shadow-band technique to make spectrally resolved measurements at seven
      wavelength passbands (chosen at the time of manufacture between 350 nm and 1.7
      um) of direct-normal, total-horizontal, and diffuse-horizontal irradiances. This
      instrument achieves an accuracy in direct-normal spectral irradiance comparable
      with that of tracking radiometers, and it is more accurate than conventional
      instruments for the determination of the diffuse and total-horizontal spectral
      irradiances because the angular acceptance function of the instrument closely
      approximates the ideal cosine response, and because the measured direct-normal
      component can be corrected for the remaining angular acceptance error. The three
      irradiance components are measured with the same detector for a given wavelength.
      Together with the automated shadow-band technique, this guarantees hat the
      calibration coefficients are identical for each, thus reducing errors when one
      compares them (as opposed to measurements made with independent instruments). One
      can use the direct-normal component observations for Langley analysis to obtain
      depths and to provide an ongoing calibration against the solar constant by
      extrapolation to zero air mass. Thus the long-term stability of all three
      measured components can be tied to the solar constant by an analysis of the
      routinely collected data.

PMID- 20935896
TI  - Objective algorithms for the retrieval of optical depths from ground-based
      measurements.
AB  - Optical depth retrieval by means of Langley regression is complicated by cloud
      transits and other time-varying interferences. An algorithm is described that
      objectively selects data points from a continuous time series and performs the
      required regression. The performance of this algorithm is compared by a double
      blind test with an analysis done subjectively. The limits to accuracy imposed by
      time-averaged data are discussed, and an additional iterative postprocessing
      algorithm is described that improves the accuracy of optical depth inferences
      made from data with time-averaging periods longer than 5 min. Such routine
      algorithms are required to provide intercomparable retrievals of optical depths
      from widely varying historical data sets and to support large networks of
      instruments such as the multifilter rotating shadow-band radiometer.

PMID- 20935897
TI  - Modular infrared microspectrometer with cryosampling capabilities.
AB  - A modular infrared spectrometer with microsampling and cryosampling capabilities
      has been designed, constructed, and tested. The main design features and
      preliminary results are discussed, and some strengths of the final instrument,
      when used in the optical characterization of superconducting materials, are
      presented.

PMID- 20935898
TI  - Optical performance of absorber structures for thermal detectors.
AB  - The concept of absorption by a metal-dielectric-metal structure is reexamined.
      The absorber system is modeled as a transparent medium between two absorbing
      films. We study the conditions for the parameters that ensure null reflectance
      and transmittance for a fixed wavelength of the incident radiation, and we
      present explicit expressions for the absorptance in each film. The absorption
      optimum conditions in a range of wavelengths are also analyzed.

PMID- 20935899
TI  - Discrete-Fourier-transform approach to inhomogeneous layer synthesis.

PMID- 20935900
TI  - Agile beam steering using phased-arraylike binary optics.
AB  - A method is demonstrated for two-dimensional steering of a laser beam by way of
      the mechanical translation of two phased-arraylike binary optics elements. The
      elements are translated over a 320-pum distance, resulting in the steering of a
      green He-Ne laser (lambda = 0.543 um) over a 6-deg field of view. Both
      theoretical development and experimental verification are presented.

PMID- 20935901
TI  - Inversion of reflection ellipsometric data.
AB  - The dielectric constant of an isotropic homogeneous layer on an isotropic
      substrate is shown to satisfy a quintic equation, with the coefficients
      determined by |rho|(2) and Re(rho), where rho = r(p)/r(s) is found
      ellipsometrically. This algebraic equation eliminates many (but not all) of the
      nonphysical roots in the inversion of ellipsometric data. A simple form is
      obtained if the angle of incidence is equal to the Brewster angle of the
      substrate. The problem of inversion for thin films is also discussed.

PMID- 20935902
TI  - Surface-plasmon sensor for absorption-sensitivity enhancement.
AB  - A method to enhance the absorption sensitivity of a sample by utilizing surface
      field enhancement with surface-plasmon resonance is proposed. The experimental
      setup is based on the configuration for the attenuated total internal reflection
      (ATR) method but with a thin metal film deposed on the substrate prism. The
      mechanism responsible for the sensitivity enhancement is analyzed theoretically;
      the best thickness for the metal film to have to attain optimum enhancement is
      numerically calculated. Experimental results are shown in which the proposed
      method compared with the conventional ATR method exhibits the sensitivity
      enhancement of the absorption measurement. The sensor applications for this
      technique are also discussed.

PMID- 20935903
TI  - Determination of two-dimensional planar displacement by moire fringes of
      concentric-circle gratings.
AB  - We investigate the moire fringe pattern of two concentric-circle gratings with
      the aim of measuring the relative two-dimensional planar displacement induced
      between the gratings. In the first stage we give a comprehensive mathematical
      approach for the analysis of fringe patterns. Then we suggest a fast
      computational measurement algorithm that uses a Fourier transformation technique.
      Finally, our experimental results prove that a measuring accuracy of 0.01 um can
      be achieved with this method.

PMID- 20935904
TI  - Transform method of processing for speckle strain-rate measurements.
AB  - We have developed a highly sensitive method for measuring thermal expansion,
      mechanical strain, and creep rates. We use the well-known technique of observing
      laser speckle with a pair of linear array cameras, but we employ a data
      processing approach based on a two-dimensional transform of the speckle histories
      from each camera. This technique can effect large gauge sizes, which are
      important in the assessment of the spatial statistics of creep. Further, the
      algorithm provides simultaneous global estimates of the strain rates at both
      small- and large-scale sizes. This feature may be of value in the investigation
      of materials with different short- and long-range orders. General advantages of
      our technique are compact design, modest resolution requirements, insensitivity
      to slow surface microstructure changes (as seen with oxidation), and
      insensitivity to zero-mean-noise processes such as turbulence and vibration.
      Herein we detail the theory of our technique and the results of a number of
      experiments. Thesetests are intended to demonstrate the performance advantages
      and limitations of the transform method of processing speckle strain-rate data.

PMID- 20935905
TI  - Optical transfer function of slit-coupled systems: double-pass monochromators.
AB  - The influence that the width of an intermediate slit has on the incoherent
      modulation optical transfer function of two identical systems coupled by a slit
      placed in the image plane of the first system is studied. The special case of a
      double-pass parabolized Ebert monochromator is considered in detail.

PMID- 20935906
TI  - Depth resolution in stereoscopic systems.
AB  - In television stereoscopic systems the magnification and the effective eye
      separation can be varied at will. This study shows that, under carefully chosen
      experimental conditions, depth resolution can be closely predicted by the use of
      geometrical optics and can be enhanced by increases in magnification and
      effective eye separation. The limited spatial resolution of conventional
      television or other photoelectronic systems may, however, prevent high levels of
      stereoacuity, comparable with naked-eye viewing, from being achieved in a wide
      field system. In more complex environments the inevitable conflict of perceptual
      cues might be expected to reduce depth resolution further.

PMID- 20935907
TI  - Single-mode, optical-fiber sensors and tunable wavelength filters based on the
      resonant excitation of metal-clad modes.
AB  - The resonant excitation of metal-clad modes, including fundamental and higher
      order modes, in a multilayer structure deposited on the polished cladding of a
      single-mode optical fiber is theoretically analyzed and experimentally
      demonstrated. The excitation of metal-clad modes is shown as a resonant power
      transfer from the fiber to the metal-clad mode that takes place for an external
      refractive-index value such that the effective index of the metal-clad mode
      reaches the cladding level. The observed attenuation on the TM polarization
      provides a suitable transducing mechanism for refractive-index sensor devices as
      well as the principle for developing tunable wavelength-polarized filters with a
      wide range of optical performance characteristics.

PMID- 20935908
TI  - Application of a fiber-speckle hologram to fiber sensing.
AB  - A sensitive fiber-speckle field sensor using a Ce:Fe-doped LiNbO(3)
      photorefractive fiber hologram is introduced. We have shown that the sensitivity
      of this photorefractive fiber specklegram sensor can be of the order of 0.05 um.
      The proposed system would offer the widespread use of practical fiber-sensing
      applications.

PMID- 20935909
TI  - Quantitative determination of the absorption spectra of chromophores in strongly
      scattering media: a light-emitting-diode based technique.
AB  - The absorption and scattering coefficient of a macroscopically homogeneous
      strongly scattering medium (lipid emulsion) containing Methylene Blue is
      quantitatively measured in the spectral range from 620 to 700 nm. We conduct the
      measurements in the frequency domain by using a light-emitting diode (LED) whose
      intensity is modulated at a frequency of 60 MHz. We derive an analytical
      expression for the absorption and scattering coefficients that is based on a two
      distance measurement technique. A comparison with other measurement protocols
      such as measurement at two modulation frequencies shows that the two-distance
      method gives a better determination of the scattering and absorption
      coefficients. This study highlights the efficiency and ease of use of the LED
      technique, which lends itself to in vivo spectroscopy of biological tissues.

PMID- 20935910
TI  - Lamellar metallic grating anomalies.
AB  - A detailed numerical investigation of anomalies in lossy metallic lamellar
      gratings is presented in a large interval of a wavelength-to-period lambda/d
      ratio. A substantial increase in absorption (a decrease in the total diffracted
      energy) is observed. If lambda/d is small enough (within the homogenized limit),
      the absorption can reach almost 100%. When the groove width is large enough, the
      anomalies are connected with mode resonances inside the grooves.

PMID- 20935911
TI  - Applications of limited-extent waves: an introduction.
AB  - This feature issue of Applied Optics is devoted to the theoretical and the
      experimental aspects of Gabor and wavelet transforms and to their optical
      implementations and applications. Subjects related to the Gabor scheme and
      wavelets have evolved under the influence of ideas originating primarily in
      physics and engineering. The powerful mathematical formalism and techniques that
      have been recently introduced, have, however, stimulated much greater interest
      among scientists of various disciplines and backgrounds. The purpose of this
      feature issue of Applied Optics is to further stimulate interest in this topic in
      the community of scientists working on optical techniques, in which it is
      expected that important applications of these concepts and techniques have yet to
      be developed.

PMID- 20935912
TI  - Gabor's signal expansion and the Zak transform.
AB  - Gabor's expansion of a signal into a discrete set of shifted and modulated
      versions of an elementary signal is introduced, and its relation to sampling of
      the sliding-window spectrum is shown. It is shown how Gabor's expansion
      coefficients can be found as samples of the sliding-window spectrum, in which the
      window function is related to the elementary signal in such a way that the set of
      shifted and modulated elementary signals is biorthonormal to the corresponding
      set of window functions. The Zak transform is introduced, and its intimate
      relationship to Gabor's signal expansion is demonstrated. It is shown how the Zak
      transform can be helpful in determining the window function that corresponds to a
      given elementary signal and how it can be used to find Gabor's expansion
      coefficients. The continuous-time and the discrete-time cases are considered,
      and, by sampling the continuous frequency variable that still occurs in the
      discrete-time case, the discrete Zak transform and the discrete Gabor transform
      are introduced. It is shown how the discrete transforms enable us to determine
      Gabor's expansion coefficients by a fast computer algorithm, which is analogous
      to the well-known fast Fourier-transform= algorithm.

PMID- 20935913
TI  - Algorithm of invariant image description by the use of a modified Gabor
      transform.
AB  - A scale-invariant algorithm of image description that is derived from the
      investigations of the neural structure of striate complex modules is proposed.
      First an image is preprocessed by difference-of-Gaussians functions, then the
      Gabor expansion in modules of different scales is used, and a group of the most
      excited modules is looked for with the help of scale weighting functions (SWF's).
      Finally, the image code is calculated as a linear combination of the output
      signals from the Gabor modules. The coefficients of this linear combination
      correspond to the SWF selected in the previous step. The scales of Gabor modules
      are chosen to be a logarithmic sequence with a half-octave step. Because of the
      SWF method, the described algorithm takes into account all the image sizes on a
      continuum between the minimum and the maximum scales of the Gabor modules.

PMID- 20935915
TI  - Two-dimensional optical wavelet transform in space domain and its performance
      analysis.
AB  - A new architecture of an optical wavelet transform system with a lenslet array is
      proposed, and its optical performance and optical limits are analyzed.

PMID- 20935914
TI  - Short-time Fourier transform and wavelet transform with Fourier-domain
      processing.
AB  - We discuss the semicontinuous short-time Fourier transform (STFT) and the
      semicontinual wavelet transform (WT) with Fourier-domain processing, which is
      suitable for optical implementation. We also systematically analyze the selection
      of the window functions, especially those based on the biorthogonality and the
      orthogonality constraints for perfect signal reconstruction. We show that one of
      the best substitutions for the Gaussian function in the Fourier domain is a
      squared sinusoid function that can form a biorthogonal window function in the
      time domain. The merit of a biorthogonal window is that it could simplify the
      inverse STFT and the inverse WT. A couple of optical architectures based on
      Fourier-domain processing for the STFT and the WT, by which real-time signal
      processing can be realized, are proposed.

PMID- 20935916
TI  - Optical wavelet transforms from computer-generated holography.
AB  - An optical implementation of a wavelet transform is presented. Optical Haar
      wavelets are created by the use of computer-generated holography. Two different
      holographic techniques are explored: (1) interferogram and (2) detour-phase. A
      discrete representation of a continuous wavelet transform is obtained by the
      optical correlation of an image with a Haar mother wavelet. Experimental results
      are compared with their digital simulations.

PMID- 20935917
TI  - Optoelectronic wavelet processors based on Smartt interferometry.
AB  - Optoelectronic wavelet-processor implementations based on Smartt interferometry
      are described for both one-dimensional (1-D) and two-dimensional (2-D) wavelet
      transforms. The 1-D processor study focuses on the processor's capability to
      perform the wavelet transform when the wavelets are defined in the time domain.
      The experimental results indicate that the system preserves all the phase
      information of the selected mother wavelets and thus delivers the true wavelet
      transform. The 2-D version of the processor is designed for the implementation of
      the complex wavelet transform. This processor will be valuable for applications,
      such as image coding-decoding, for which the preservation of phase information is
      necessary. A pair of prototype processors that incorporates.the 1-D and the 2-D
      systems has been built and tested to mechanical vibrations. High-quality
      reconstructed images were also obtained from the experimental data. The proposed
      systems have great potential for many practical applications.

PMID- 20935918
TI  - Optical wavelet matched filter.
AB  - A shift-invariant optical continuous wavelet transform is used for pattern
      recognition. We propose an Voptical wavelet matched filter that performs optical
      wavelet transforms for edge enhancement and the correlation between two wavelet
      transforms in a single step. This new bandpass matched filter shows improved
      discrimination capability with respect to the conventional matched filter and
      improved signal-to-noise ratio with respect to the phase-only matched filter. The
      wavelet matched filter provides flexibility of an adaptive choice of the scale
      factors of the wavelets that permit the selection of size and orientation of the
      smoothing function used in edge enhancement and the optimization of the
      performance of the filter. Optical experimental results are shown.

PMID- 20935919
TI  - Optical implementation of N-wavelet coding for pattern classification.
AB  - A novel method, N-wavelet coding, for pattern detection and classification based
      on wavelet transform and coding theory is introduced. With this detection and
      classification technique it is possible to reduce the false-alarm rate while
      maintaining a constant probability of detection and noise level. A set of
      periodic continuous waveforms comprising six classes that span a cross
      correlation coefficient between 0.68 and 0.99 is used to evaluate the N-wavelet
      coding technique. It is found that when the length N of the N-wavelet coding is
      increased it is possible to decrease the false-alarm rate while maintaining a
      constant probability of detection.

PMID- 20935920
TI  - Use of the wavelet transform in optimal receiver design.
AB  - Wavelet transforms as they apply to optimal receiver design are studied. We start
      with an overview of the Karhunen-Loeve transform and explore the relationship
      between wavelet bases and the Karhunen-Loeve transform. We show that the dyadic
      wavelet basic can constitute the eigenfunction basis of a random process. With
      the help of this foundation, the design of an optimal receiver by the use of a
      the wavelet expansion is described. The relationship of this receiver to the
      wavelet-transform-based adaptive filter is also established.

PMID- 20935921
TI  - Iteration algorithm for computer-aided speckle interferometry.
AB  - An iteration algorithm for the analysis of speckle interference patterns is
      presented. First, four digitized phase-shifted patterns are locally averaged. The
      phase information is then extracted by the usual phase shift algorithm. The
      wrapped phase is in turn used to reconstruct four new phase-shifted patterns.
      These three steps form a cycle. Repetition of the three steps has a great effect
      on suppressing speckle noise. Theoretical study shows that the iterated phase
      converges to a perfect result under ideal conditions. In general, the iteration
      causes little error but improves the phase information a great deal. The signal
      to-noise ratio rises when additional iterations are performed.

PMID- 20935922
TI  - Computer-generated multiple-phase-level holograms by use of color-printer
      techniques.
AB  - High-efficiency phase-only computer-generated holograms (CGH's) were produced
      expediently and inexpensively by a color-encoded discrete-phase-level process.
      Computer-generated-hologram gray levels were mapped to color with a high
      resolution color printer, and color was mapped to phase by a broad-spectral
      sensitivity high-resolution black-and-white film. Experimental results
      illustrating colorto optical-density and color-to-phase mapping are presented for
      Kodak 649F film. A variety of optical interconnection elements exhibiting high
      diffraction efficiencies and high contrast ratios for both on- and off-axis
      performance were fabricated by this technique. Typical experimental results are
      presented.

PMID- 20935923
TI  - Optical threshold-decomposed Boolean-based gray-scale filter.
AB  - Because of the advances made in optical technology, an extension can be made from
      the well-known stack filter to a new kind of gray-scale filter by using arbitrary
      Boolean functions instead of positive Boolean functions in the second step of a
      three-step process. Applications of these threshold-decomposed Boolean-based gray
      scale filters in image processing include image smoothing and feature detection.
      A general optical implementation approach of nonlinear threshold-decomposed
      Boolean-based gray-scale filters is also described that utilizes area coding,
      gray scale correlation and lookup table thresholding techniques. Some
      experimental results are demonstrated.

PMID- 20935924
TI  - Optical implementation of fuzzy-set reasoning.
AB  - New methods of optical fuzzy-logic operations and optical fuzzy-controller
      synthesis are proposed and experimentally demonstrated by use of optical fan-out
      elements to achieve multiple imaging and polarization-space/aperture data
      encoding to represent fuzzy variables in optics. Sixteen fuzzy-logic operations
      between two inputs are achieved by use of a simple polarization-space data
      encoding and kernel-operation scheme. In addition, a max-min composition-based
      fuzzy controller is implemented by use of an aperture-data-encoding and a double
      multi-imaging approach. Our systems exhibit a high operation speed, a large
      information throughput, and a high signal-to-noise ratio.

PMID- 20935925
TI  - Node-based reconfigurable volume interconnections. 1. Principles and optical
      design.
AB  - We present a general-purpose three-dimensional interconnection network that
      models various parallel operations between two data planes. This volume
      interconnection system exhibits reconfigurable capabilities because of parallel
      and externally weighted interconnection modules, called nodes. We propose a
      generic optical implementation based on the cascading of two planar hologram
      arrays, coupled with a bistable optically addressed spatial light modulator. The
      role of this component is discussed in terms of energy regeneration and spatial
      cross-talk limitation. As an example, a binary matrix-matrix multiplier is
      implemented that uses a ferroelectric liquid-crystal light valve.

PMID- 20935926
TI  - Reconfigurable array interconnection by photorefractive correlation.
AB  - Electronic parallel processors might communicate more effectively by photons sent
      through glass or air than by electrons sent through wires, but quickly routing
      thousands of optical signals remains a problem. Previous photorefractive
      interconnection networks have dedicated one hologram to each input channel.
      Instead, we compute a control image from the entire network configuration and
      store it as a single color-keyedvolume hologram. This lets us use hologram
      superposition for fast switchingbetween multiple prestored patterns. During
      operation, data signals from the input modulator array, powered by a shared
      wavelength-tunable laser, are correlated optically with one color-matched
      connection hologram to produce the output array. This decouples both data rate
      and interconnect switching speeds from the slow photorefractive response. We can
      display arbitrary connection weights using simple binary-phase spatial light
      modulators and gracefully accommodate modulator limitations by trading off
      control-image bandwidth for output signal-to-noise ratio. Experimental results
      with color-multiplexed reflection holograms in z-cut LiNbO(3) confirmed our
      theoretical predictions that this approach works best for densely connected
      networks with high fan-in to each output. We obtained an average aggregate signal
      to-noise ratio of more than 200:1 for 1024 inputs and outputs.

PMID- 20935927
TI  - Holographic polarization-separation elements.
AB  - Volume holographic optical elements exhibit a property that we call
      bidiffringence, in which the diffraction efficiency of the element is strongly
      dependent on the polarization of the incident beam. Dualelement, volume
      holographic polarization separators utilizing bidiffringence can provide high
      extinction ratios, and they can provide greater angular separation of the
      polarized beams and greater flexibility in the beam-separation parameters than
      conventional birefringent elements. We designed and constructed holographic
      polarization separators using dichromated gelatin as the holographic medium.
      Experimental results are compared with the results predicted by the Kogelnik
      coupled wave theory.

PMID- 20935928
TI  - Observation of ferroelectric 180 degrees  domains by microphotometry of
      holographic gratings.
AB  - A new holographic observation technique for 180 degrees  domains is demonstrated
      with a cerium-doped strontium barium niobate sample containing two antiparallel
      ferroelectric domains. The method relies on the fact that the phase shift of
      holographically written refractive-index gratings is +pi/2 or -pi/2 with respect
      to the initial light interference pattern depending on the orientation of the
      domains. As a consequence, readout of these gratings creates at the exit face of
      the sample new interference patterns shifted by 0 or pi with respect to the
      initial one. These patterns, providing an image of the domain structure, are
      observed by microscope.

PMID- 20935929
TI  - Real-time holographic frequency-division demultiplexing: theoretical aspects.
AB  - The multiplicative and low-band-pass filtering characteristics of real-time
      holograms in photorefractive media are proposed for use for frequency-division
      demultiplexing. Several aspects of the frequencydivision demultiplexer are
      discussed and derived. These aspects are baseband demodulation of optical images,
      demultiplexing limits, heterodyne cross talk, and nonlinear cross-talk effects
      that are due to second- and high-order nonlinearities. The nonlinear cross talk
      is calculated in two different approaches. Both approaches indicate that
      nonlinear effects enhance the performance of this demultiplexer.

PMID- 20935930
TI  - Characterization of the DuPont photopolymer for three-dimensional holographic
      storage.
AB  - DuPont's HRF-150 photopolymer film is investigated for use in three-dimensional
      holographic memories. Measurements of sensitivity, hologram persistence, the
      lateral spread of the photoinitiated reaction, and the variation of diffraction
      efficiency with modulation depth, spatial frequency and tilt angle, and intensity
      are reported. We observed that the diffraction efficiency of the HRF-150
      photopolymer for a given exposure decreases with increases in intensity and
      grating tilt angle. The holograms were nondestructively reconstructed for long
      periods of time at room temperature. The photoinitiated reaction spread less than
      100 um over a period of 16 h.

PMID- 20935931
TI  - Signal-to-noise ratio for astronomical imaging by deconvolution from wave-front
      sensing.
AB  - One method for improving the quality of astronomical images measured through a
      atmospheric turbulence uses simultaneous short-exposure measurements of both an
      image and the output of a wave-front sensor exposed to an image of the telescope
      pupil. The wave-front sensor measurements are used to reconstruct an estimate of
      the instantaneous generalized pupil function of the telescope, which is used to
      compute an estimate of the instantaneous optical transfer function, which is then
      used in a deconvolution procedure. This imaging method has been called both
      deconvolution from wave-front sensor (DWFS) measurements and self-referenced
      speckle holography. We analyze the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) behavior of this
      imaging method in the spatial frequency domain. The analysis includes effects
      arising from differences in the correlation properties of the incident and the
      estimated pupil phases and the fact that the object-spectrum estimator is a
      randomly filtered doubly stochastic Poisson random process. SNR resultsobtained
      for the DWFS method are compared with the speckle-imaging powerspectrum SNR for
      equivalent seeing conditions and light levels. It is shown that for unresolved
      stars the power-spectrum SNR is superior to the DWFS SNR. However, for extended
      objects the power-spectrum SNR and the DWFS SNR are similar. Since speckle
      imaging uses a separate Fourier phasereconstruction process not required by the
      DWFS method, the DWFS method provides an alternative to speckle imaging that uses
      simple postprocessing at the cost of a wave-front sensor measurement but with no
      loss of SNR performance for extended objects.

PMID- 20935932
TI  - Signal reconstruction from noisy-phase and -magnitude data.
AB  - Signal reconstruction based on knowing either the magnitude or the phase of the
      Fourier transform of the signal is important in numerous applications, and the
      problem of signal reconstruction from noisy-phase and noisy-magnitude data is
      addressed. The proposed procedure relates to the deviations of the available
      magnitude and phase estimates from their exact values in the reconstruction
      algorithm by use of spectral prototype constraint sets. The properties of these
      new constraint sets for the magnitude and the phase of the Fourier transform are
      analyzed, and the corresponding projection operators are constructed. Simulation
      results indicate improvement of the performance of reconstructions from noisy
      phase and -magnitude values based on these sets.

PMID- 20935933
TI  - Reconstruction of optical-source profiles from fixed-baseline two-pinhole
      spectral measurements.
AB  - Source masking by a cosine amplitude grating is shown to render possible the
      reconstruction of the intensity distribution associated with globally incoherent
      optical sources from spectral measurements performed with a Young's two-pinhole
      fixed-baseline interferometer. The effect of the mask is to map the low spatial
      frequencies of the source intensity onto accessible optical frequencies. The
      permissible parameter regimes are studied, and the feasibility of the technique
      is demonstrated by numerical simulations.

PMID- 20935934
TI  - Effects of systematic phase errors on phase-only correlation.
AB  - The performance of phase-only optical correlators is usually reduced if the
      filter-plane phase differs from that prescribed for the classical matched filter.
      Current spatial light modulators, which frequently produce less than 2pi phase
      modulation, and interface circuits, which quantize or incorrectly amplify signals
      placed on the spatial light modulator, both can produce systematic phase errors.
      We examine these effects using a model of correlation-peak amplitude as a
      function of phase error. The correlation peak is reasonably approximated as the
      product of an average of unity-amplitude error phasors multiplied by the average
      amplitude across the filter plane. The trends predicted by this new model compare
      favorably with computer simulations that use gray-scale images.

PMID- 20935935
TI  - Rotation-invariant joint transform correlator.
AB  - We propose a new method for a rotation-invariant joint transform correlator that
      uses a rotating reference image that can potentially be applied to machine
      vision.

PMID- 20935936
TI  - Implementation of a polychromatic Hamming net for color image classification.
AB  - A color exemplar-based Hamming net as applied to a color image classifier is
      presented. The color decomposition and composition techniques for constructing a
      polychromatic Hamming layer and winner-take-all (WTA) layer interconnection
      weight matrix (IWM) are discussed. We have simplified the WTA algorithm to reduce
      the number of iteration cycles in the WTA layer. To confirm the operation of the
      color Hamming net we provide simulation and experimental demonstrations.

PMID- 20935937
TI  - Optical signal inverter of erbium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet with red shift of
      laser diodes.
AB  - An optical signal inverter was demonstrated in a simple structure that combined a
      laser diode with Er-doped YAG crystal. The optical signal inversion occurred at a
      response time of 7 ns and was caused by the decrease of transmission of Er:YAG
      against the red shift of the wavelength of the laser diode.

PMID- 20935938
TI  - Photonic processors: a systems approach.
AB  - Symbolic representations for the functional transforms are introduced as an aid
      in developing and optimizing the architecture of a photonic processor. As an
      example of the methodology that follows from the introduction of these symbols, a
      structural model of a processor whose design function is real-time extraction of
      the spatial information content from image data is discussed.

PMID- 20935939
TI  - Colored pattern recognition with a neural network model.
AB  - An algorithm for multicolored pattern recognition is proposed. A scheme for
      recognizing patterns encoded in three basic colors, i.e., red, green, and blue,
      is presented. This scheme can be implemented optically with grating structures.
      Another advantage of this scheme is its capability of pattern recognition with
      gray levels. This can be accomplished by coding gray levels with different
      colors.

PMID- 20935940
TI  - Node-based reconfigurable volume interconnections. 2. Hologram encoding
      considerations.
AB  - We address free-space optical interconnections based on cascaded multifacet
      holographic elements, including an intermediate regeneration of the optical
      signals. Particular attention is paid to digital hologram encoding in the case of
      highly interconnected planes. Degrees of freedom selected in the reconstruction
      plane are used for satisfying both holographic-encoding and signal constraints.
      An iterative Fourier-transform algorithm is chosen because of its ability to
      incorporate constraint considerations.

PMID- 20935941
TI  - Temperature dependence of the third-order nonlinear susceptibility, chi((3)), Of
      CS(2) and dodecylbenzene.
AB  - The dependence of the third-order nonlinear susceptibility, chi((3)), of CS(2)
      and C(18)H(30) (dodecylbenzene) on temperature was measured by the method of
      degenerate four-wave mixing. The empirical formula for this dependence was
      obtained. An explanation of this relationship was also given through the
      application of the model of a polar molecule moving in a viscous medium under the
      action of a laser beam.

PMID- 20935942
TI  - Automatic alignment-control system for a suspended Fabry-Perot cavity.
AB  - In interferometric gravitational-wave detectors, most of the optical components
      are suspended by wires so that they are isolated from all kinds of forces except
      gravity. The requirement for the alignment of optical components to the laser
      beam is crucial. We have demonstrated a servo system developed for a Fabry-Perot
      cavity whose mirrors are suspended independently. We use mechanical modulation
      and a lock-in detection method to detect any misalignment. This system directly
      detects the relation between the axis of the laser beam and the axis of the
      cavity and automatically aligns the cavity to the laser beam. We confirmed that
      the intensity of the reflected light from the suspended Fabry-Perot cavity can be
      minimized with this system. Automated control of the alignment of the large-scale
      detectors is also discussed.

PMID- 20935943
TI  - Kalman filtering of tunable diode laser spectrometer absorbance measurements.
AB  - A recursive Kalman time-series filter was applied to absorbance measurements
      obtained with a tunable diode laser spectrometer. The spectrometer uses frequency
      modulation spectroscopy and a nearinfrared diode laser operating at 1.604 um to
      monitor the CO(2)-vapor concentration in a 30-cm absorption cell. The Kalman
      filter enhanced the signal-to-noise ratio of the spectrometer by an order of
      magnitude when an absorbance of 6 * 10(-5) was monitored.

PMID- 20935944
TI  - Time-resolved measurements of statistics for a Nd:YAG laser.
AB  - Time-resolved measurements of the fluctuating intensity of a multimode frequency
      doubled Nd:YAG laser have been performed. For various operating conditions the
      enhancement factors in nonlinear optical processes that use a fluctuating instead
      of a single-mode laser have been determined up to the sixth order. In the case of
      reduced flash-lamp excitation and a switched-off laser amplifier, the intensity
      fluctuations agree with the normalized Gaussian model for the fluctuations of the
      fundamental frequency, whereas strong deviations are found under usual operating
      conditions. The frequencydoubled light has in the latter case enhancement factors
      not so far from values of Gaussian statistics.

PMID- 20935945
TI  - Color separation of argon laser light with the effect of dispersion of optical
      activity.
AB  - A new approach for spatially separating the green and the blue components of an
      argon laser beam is presented. By exploiting the effect of dispersion of optical
      activity, this approach renders the vibration planes of the green and the blue
      components of a linearly polarized argon laser orthogonal to each other; this is
      done by passing the beam through an optically active crystal and then spatially
      separating the components with a Wollaston prism. Two methods for controlling the
      directions of the polarization of the transmitted beams are discussed. The new
      design is characterized by higher separation efficiency, lower energy loss, and
      system simplicity and symmetry. The measured data for the new design are also
      given.

PMID- 20935946
TI  - Wide-bandwidth adjustable Q switch based on rubidium dimers.
AB  - A new type of Q switching for a flash-lamp-pumped Nd:YAG laser based on the
      saturable absorption of rudibium dimers is demonstrated. The variation of laser
      parameters such as output energy, pulse length, and repetition rate by means of
      temperature-controlled vapor pressure is shown. For a temperature of 320 degrees
      C, a train of 40-ns pulses separated by 6-us intervals is generated. When the
      temperature is 360 degrees C, a single giant pulse with energy of 100 mJ and a
      pulse length of 10-15 ns is observed. Comparison with a solid-state passive Q
      switch based on LiF is provided. The new cell construction, consisting of a
      sealed-off sapphire cell containing rubidium vapor, is proposed for reliable,
      efficient, adjustable Q switchingthat is applicable to all types of solid-state
      lasers. The advantages of this mechanism of Q switching, such as thermal
      insensitivity, frequency locking and line narrowing, and wide spectral bandwidth,
      covering 0.6-1.3 um, are discussed.

PMID- 20935947
TI  - Operational stabilization of a high-power ultrashort dye oscillator-amplifiers
      laser chain.
AB  - Stable operation of a high-power ultrashort dye laser chain is achieved with an
      inexpensive heating technique. The femtosecond oscillator and its pumping laser
      are separately covered with boxes to isolate them from external temperature
      fluctuations. Both laser-isolating boxes are lined with a heating pellicle that
      permanently and uniformly warms the lasers to preset operating temperatures. The
      power, spectrum, and duration of the laser-chain output pulse remain constant
      from day to day. This technique could be applied to other ultrafast laser devices
      that require long-term performance stability.

PMID- 20935948
TI  - Properties of Cr:LiSrAIF(6) crystals for laser operation.
AB  - We have performed several physical and optical measurements on the Cr:LiSAF
      (LiSrAlF(6)) laser material that are relevant to its laser performance, including
      thermal and mechanical properties, water durabilities, and Auger upconversion
      constants. The expansion coefficient, Young's modulus, fracture toughness,
      thermal conductivity, and heat capacity are all used to determine an overall
      thermomechanical figure of merit for the crystal. An investigation of the water
      durability suggests that the cooling solution should be maintained at pH = 7 to
      ameliorate problems associated with water dissolution. The Auger constant was
      found to become much more significant at higher Cr doping, in which excited-state
      migration leads to a substantial increase in the upconversion rate. We propose a
      design for a 50-W Cr:LiSAF laser system that is based on a detailed knowledge of
      all the relevant material parameters.

PMID- 20935949
TI  - Gradient-index-mirror solid-state lasers.
AB  - The properties of diode-pumped lasers with gradient-index (GRIN)-mirror
      resonators are described. The total loss of typical GRIN elements is measured and
      is found to be comparable with conventional mirrors. The efficiency, threshold,
      and modal quality of GRIN-mirror Nd:YAG lasers are shown to compare favorably
      with conventional designs. In addition, a polarized single-frequency laser that
      uses GRIN elements in conjunction with metal-film etalons is constructed and is
      shown to deliver output powers comparable with those of more complicated single
      frequency designs.

PMID- 20935950
TI  - Noise characteristics of a Nd:YVO(4) laser pumped by laser diode modulated at
      high frequency.
AB  - We report, for the first time to our knowledge, on the noise characteristics of a
      Nd:YVO(4) laser pumped by a laser diode modulated at high frequency. We have
      investigated noise characteristics of a Nd:YVO(4) laser pumped by a laser diode
      that is oscillating in a stable multilongitudinal mode because of modulation by a
      high-frequency (several hundred megahertz) current. As a result, low-noise
      operations of -130 dB/Hz above frequencies of 1 MHz have been achieved. This
      noise level is comparable to the level obtained when pumping a Nd:YVO(4) laser
      with a laser diode that is oscillating in a single longitudinal mode. However, a
      noise peak corresponding to relaxation oscillations of the Nd:YVO(4) laser has
      appeared around a frequency of several hundred kilohertz.

PMID- 20935951
TI  - High-efficiency 1.06-um output in a monolithic Nd:YVO(4) laser.
AB  - A miniature 1.5-mm-long monolithic Nd:YVO(4) laser was end pumped with a Ti
      sapphire laser. The Nd-doping density was 3 at. %. The maximum output power
      obtained with 885 mW of absorbed pump power was 495 mW at 1.064 um. The maximum
      slope efficiency was 57%, and the output power was only slightly dependent on
      pump polarization. Laser diode pumping was also demonstrated. Thermal effects
      were observed to reduce the output power and required active cooling of the laser
      crystal.

PMID- 20935952
TI  - Automated phase sensing and control of an external Talbot cavity laser with phase
      contrast imaging.
AB  - We describe a novel phase-sensing and control system, based on phase-contrast
      imaging, operating within a linear external cavity laser consisting of 18 GaAlAs
      edge-emitting gain stripes. The system is used to achieve single-spatial-mode
      operation and diffraction-limited output from the linear cavity, which uses
      diffractive coupling at a Talbot plane to achieve coherent operation.

PMID- 20935953
TI  - Applications of an extremely short strong-feedback configuration of an external
      cavity laser diode system fabricated with GaAs-based integration technology.
AB  - A composite-cavity laser diode is used to monitor the reflectivity or the
      displacement of the external-cavity mirror for micromechanical photonics devices.
      Optical disk bits are read out in the near field from the difference in medium
      reflectivity with an antireflection-coated laser diode and a photodiode.
      Microbeam vibration is also detected in the near field from the phase difference
      with an uncoated laser diode and a photodiode. In both cases the carrier-to-noise
      ratio is very high (more than 45 dB) because of the lack of mode-hopping noise
      resulting from the extremely short (less than 3 um) external-cavity length and
      strong light feedback. These composite-cavity laser diode microdevices are
      fabricated on a gallium arsenide substrate to eliminate the need for optical
      alignment.

PMID- 20935954
TI  - Increased spatial frequency in interferential undulations of coupled cavity
      lasers.
AB  - Increased spatial frequency is experimentally observed in the interferential
      light-output undulation of coupled cavity lasers that use a Fabry-Perot laser
      diode. The frequencies correspond to undulation periods of lambda/4, lambda/6,
      lambda/8, and lambda/10, which are extremely short compared with the normal
      period of lambda/2. This increase is explained theoretically with a multiple-mode
      model in which one of the longitudinal modes of a coupled cavity laser with the
      lowest lasing threshold is selected as a lasing mode. This theoretical
      explanation is confirmed through experiments with a distributed feedback laser
      that shows a strong single-mode oscillation and yields light-output undulations
      with a spatial period of lambda/2.

PMID- 20935955
TI  - Possibilities for correcting aberrations of imaging laser systems by phase
      conjugation.
AB  - The reported method of using phase conjugation to correct distortions induced by
      projection optics was realized experimentally. In particular, the method was used
      on a low-quality 50-cm-diameter objective mirror to form laser radiation with a
      near diffraction-limited beam divergence of 2.4 * 10(-6) rad. The method could be
      applied to high-resolution imaging of objects in coherent light.

PMID- 20935956
TI  - Effects of multiple internal sample reflections on nonlinear refractive Z-scan
      measurements.
AB  - The effects that multiple internal sample reflections can have on Z-scan and
      eclipsed Z-scan measurements are investigated. The sample is treated as a
      combination of a nonlinear lens and an etalon. Under steady-state conditions with
      thin-lens and mean-field approximations, anABCD analysis is used to model the
      self-focusing and self-tuning effects of the beam and to determine the far-field
      transmittance of a beam in such experiments through an aperture or around an
      obscurant. The effects that result from such a treatment include a simulation of
      nonlinear absorption, amplification of transmittance signatures, and strong
      distortions of signatures in regimes of optical switching and bistability.

PMID- 20935957
TI  - Erbium-doped silica fiber modeling with overlapping factors.
AB  - A simple model describing the evolution of pump, signal, and amplified
      spontaneous emission powers in an erbium-doped silica fiber is presented. The
      model is based on overlapping factors, depending on pump- and signal-coupled
      powers, which are systematically studied. Accurate results for gain and amplified
      spontaneous emission are obtained when this model is used. Experiments to measure
      the characteristic parameters of the fiber appearing in the model are described.
      Two main advantages of this model are found: computation time is considerably
      reduced and fiber characterization does not make it necessary to measure the
      parameters of the fiber as a function of radial or azimuthal coordinates.

PMID- 20935958
TI  - Experimental study of a bow-tie-shaped optical fiber ring resonator with two 2 *
      2 fiber couplers.
AB  - An experimental study of a bow-tie-shaped double-coupler fiber ring resonator is
      presented. Multiple resonances of the transmitted output intensity and the
      splitting of the main resonance dip or peak have been observed. The experimental
      results are discussed and compared with theoretical results. The observed output
      property suggests the possible applications of the resonator as periodic
      Butterworth-like, narrow-band passing, and blocking filters.

PMID- 20935959
TI  - Practical coupling device based on a two-core optical fiber.
AB  - A practical coupling device that relies on a dual-core fiber in a loop
      configuration is presented. Its coupling properties are analyzed in terms of the
      optical path difference between the cores, which is controlled by the rotation of
      the fiber about its axis and by a small twist applied to it along the loop. The
      device actually acts as an anisotropic coupler, and the coupled power can be
      perfectly controlled from 0-100% by proper adjustment of the loop. A simple
      implementation of the device was used in the fabrication of a compact single
      fiber Michelson interferometer.

PMID- 20935960
TI  - Thermal-stress-induced birefringence in bow-tie optical fibers.
AB  - Birefringence induced by thermal stress in bow-tie optical fibers is studied in
      detail by the use of the finite-element method. Results of computer modeling show
      that a higher degree of birefringence can be obtained with the use of a larger
      cladding and larger stress-applying zones in the fiber.

PMID- 20935961
TI  - Linear-array apertures for in-flight dynamic solar calibration of radiometric
      channels for Earth radiation-budget applications.
AB  - The zero-frequency gain of nonimaging radiometers used in Earth radiation-budget
      applications is usually verified by a procedure that allows the instrument to
      view the Sun through an appropriate attenuating aperture and then equates its
      response to the known attenuated solar constant. However, channel intercomparison
      often requires that data from a low-resolution, relatively slow instrument such
      as an active-cavity radiometer be compared with data from a high-resolution, fast
      instrument such as a scanning thermistor-bolometer radiometer. In such a case,
      consideration of the difference in the dynamic responses of the two channels may
      be important. A novel technique for in-flight measurement of the radiometric
      transfer function of such instruments is described and then demonstrated through
      the use of a high-order dynamic model of the total, wide-field-of-view,
      nonscanning channel of NASA's Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE).

PMID- 20935962
TI  - Fiber-coupled self-mixing diode-laser Doppler velocimeter: technical aspects and
      flow velocity profile disturbances in water and blood flows.
AB  - The effects of disturbances of the flow pattern in front of the fiber facet of a
      fiber-coupled self-mixing diode-laser Doppler velocimeter system are
      investigated. This was done by comparing measurements and calculations of the
      Doppler frequency spectrum with the expected values. The calculated Doppler
      spectrum was obtained from the calculation of light scattered (with or without
      Doppler shift) by the moving particles in front of the fiber facet. The velocity
      profile of the particles was calculated with a finite-element method.
      Measurements were done with water (with polystyrene spheres) and whole blood as
      the samples. Good agreement between measurements and calculations were obtained.
      The velocimeter was modeled as a five-mirror setup. The reflectivity of the fiber
      facet closest to the laser turns out to have the most influence on the
      sensitivity and stability of the laser. Direct reflection of unwanted light back
      into the laser cavity was avoided by placing a glass plate in front of the fiber.
      Design consi ations are presented.

PMID- 20935963
TI  - Application of the variational-moment method to symmetric and nonsymmetric
      waveguides.
AB  - The variational-moment method is used to demonstrate the calculation of
      propagation constants for optical waveguides with arbitrary index profiles. For
      simplicity, and for comparison with exact numerical solutions, only a few one
      dimensional structures are considered. Examples include symmetric and
      nonsymmetric waveguides. Good agreement with the exact numerical solutions is
      obtained in most cases, even for the nonsymmetric waveguides.

PMID- 20935964
TI  - Full vectorial simulation of multilayer anisotropic waveguides with an accurate
      and automated finite-element program.
AB  - An efficient, accurate, and automated vectorial finite-element software package
      (named WAVEGIDE), which is implemented within a PDE/Protran problem-solving
      environment, has been extended to general multilayer anisotropic waveguides. With
      our system, through an interactive question-and-answer session, the problem can
      be simply defined with high-level PDE/Protran commands. The problem can then be
      solved easily and quickly by the main processor within this intelligent
      environment. In particular, in our system the eigenvalue of waveguide problems
      may be either a propagation constant (beta) or an operated light frequency (F).
      Furthermore, the cutoff frequencies of propagation modes in waveguides can be
      calculated. As an application of this approach, numerical results for both scalar
      and hybrid modes in multilayer anisotropic waveguides are presented and are also
      compared with results obtained with the domain-integral method. These results
      clearly illustrate the unique flexibility, accuracy, and the ease of use f the
      WAVEGIDE program.

PMID- 20935965
TI  - High-bandwidth laser-pulse generator using continuous-wave lasers.
AB  - A laser-pulse generator for the transfer of continous-wave (cw) absolute
      radiometric calibrations to high-speed pulse photodetectors is described. The cw
      input lasers are modulated by a spinning polygon mirror in a ring cavity to
      produce high-speed, constant-amplitude, constant-shape laser pulses.
      Constantamplitude outputs range temporally from cw to 15-ns full-width at half
      maximum (FWHM) Gaussian pulses. An all-reflective optical design permits
      operation of the device from the visible to the far-infrared spectral regions.
      Design and performance estimates for the pulse generator as well as experimental
      verification are presented.

PMID- 20935966
TI  - Pulsed heterodyne CO(2) laser rangefinder and velocimeter with chirp correction.
AB  - A pulsed hybrid CO(2) transversely excited atmosphere (TEA) laser has been used
      in a bistatic laser rangefinder-velocimeter system with heterodyne detection.
      Several techniques have been applied to improve the performance of the system.
      These include the stabilization of the hybrid CO(2) TEA-laser and the
      stabilization of the frequency offset of the local oscillator (better than +/-74
      kHz peak to peak), phase-front matching at the detector surface resulting in a
      heterodyne beat efficiency of 0.4-0.6, and chirp correction. With this system,
      targets at distances of up to 25 km can be detected with an accuracy of 15 m. The
      velocity of the targets can be estimated with an accuracy of approximately +/-0.5
      m/s.

PMID- 20935967
TI  - Atmospheric Raman depolarization-ratio measurements.
AB  - The nitrogen Raman depolarization ratio is measured with a lidar. The
      measurements show how a lidar profile of cloud parameters is affected by multiple
      scattering.

PMID- 20935968
TI  - New airborne scanning lidar system: applications for atmospheric remote sensing.
AB  - A new scanning airborne-aerosol lidar system that has the potential to be a
      valuable atmospheric remote-sensing tool has been developed. The system has the
      ability to scan both parallel and perpendicular to an aircraft's flight path, and
      this ability permits both the three-dimensional rendering of the aerosol
      structure below the aircraft and the measurement of aerosol extinction and
      optical depth. The system has been integrated into a NASA P-3 aircraft and during
      a recent flight was used to acquire excellent data with both scanning modes. The
      system design, the application of the across-track scanning data to the study of
      the atmospheric boundary layer, and the computation of optical depth derived from
      along-track scan data are reported.

PMID- 20935969
TI  - Mobile Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy monitoring of air pollution.
AB  - Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy is an efficient technique for the
      detection and quantification of molecules in gas mixtures. Measurement results
      from a mobile laboratory for ambient air analysis and for remote sensing of plume
      emission with the commercially available K300 spectrometer are reported. CO,
      CO(2), NO, NO(2), N(2)O, NH(3), CH(4), SO(2), H(2)O, HCl, and HCHO concentrations
      have been determined with good agreement with in situ results. The on-line
      multicomponent analysis software is based on line-by-line retrieval and least
      squares fitting procedures, including the effects of multiple aerosol scattering
      and cloud and rain influences.

PMID- 20935970
TI  - Derivation of Mount Pinatubo stratospheric aerosol mean size distribution by
      means of a multiwavelength lidar.
AB  - A multiwavelength lidar operated in Sodankyla, Finland, during the European
      Arctic Stratospheric Ozone Experiment (December 1991-March 1992). It produced
      vertical profiles of stratospheric aerosols at four wavelengths. The
      determination of aerosol mean size distribution has been performed by use of
      extinction/backscattering ratios as obtained from lidar data processing at 355,
      352, and 750 nm. Lognormal distributions of sulfuric particles with mode radius
      of r(m) = 0.12-0.25 um and corresponding widths of s = 2-1.6 have been retrieved
      as best fits of experimental data, in good agreement with in situ measurements. A
      successful attempt to derive bimodal log-normal distributions is also described,
      together with the experimental and theoretical problems involved.

PMID- 20935971
TI  - Airborne CO(2) coherent lidar for measurements of atmospheric aerosol and cloud
      backscatter.
AB  - An airborne CO(2) coherent lidar has been developed and flown on over 30 flights
      of the NASA DC-8 research aircraft to obtain aerosol and cloud backscatter and
      extinction data at a wavelength near 9um. Designed to operate in either zenith-
      or nadir-directed modes, the lidar can be used to measure vertical profiles of
      backscatter throughout the vertical extent of the troposphere and the lower
      stratosphere. Backscatter measurements in absolute units are obtained through a
      hard-target calibration methodology. The use of coherent detection results in
      high sensitivity and narrow field of view, the latter property greatly reducing
      multiple-scattering effects. Aerosol backscatter profile intercomparisons with
      other airborne and ground-based CO(2) lidars were conducted during instrument
      checkout flights over the NASA Ames Research Center before extended depolyment
      over the Pacific Ocean. Selected results from data taken during the flights over
      the Pacific Ocean are presented, emphasizing intercom arisons with backscatter
      profile data obtained at 1.06 um with a NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Nd:YAG
      lidar on the same flights.

PMID- 20935972
TI  - Fabrication and testing of large steering mirrors for a scanning lidar.
AB  - Large. inexpensive scanning mirrors for a lidar have been designed and built out
      of common float glass mirrors and aluminum honeycomb.The flatness of the scanning
      mirrors has been characterized with a modified Foucault knife-edge test.The peak
      to-peak surface slope error over the entire surface of the mirrors was found to
      be less than 1 mrad, with slope errors of 0.15 mrad over small areas. This
      performance was sufficient for use of the mirrors in a scanning CO(2) lidar
      system that uses direct detection.

PMID- 20935973
TI  - Numerical evaluation of the possibilities of remote laser sensing of fish
      schools.
AB  - The operation of an airborne lidar intended for the detection of fish schools is
      numerically simulated by the Monte Carlo method. The calculations are performed
      for schools located at small depths in order to study the regularities in the
      shaping of the lidar return accurately. Three models of the phase function of
      scattering of laser radiation in sea water are used. The signals reflected from
      surface waters that contain a school of fish are determined as a function of the
      lidar parameters, light scattering and absorption coefficients in the water,
      stratification of light scattering layers, and fish-school depth. The results
      obtained can be used for interpreting the signals of the fish-detection lidar.

PMID- 20935974
TI  - Model for the interpretation of hyperspectral remote-sensing reflectance.
AB  - Remote-sensing reflectance is easier to interpret for the open ocean than for
      coastal regions because the optical signals are highly coupled to the
      phytoplankton (e.g., chlorophyll) concentrations. For estuarine or coastal
      waters, variable terrigenous colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM), suspended
      sediments, and bottom reflectance, all factors that do not covary with the
      pigment concentration, confound data interpretation. In this research, remote
      sensing reflectance models are suggested for coastal waters, to which
      contributions that are due to bottom reflectance, CDOM fluorescence, and water
      Raman scattering are included. Through the use of two parameters to model the
      combination of the backscattering coefficient and the Q factor, excellent
      agreement was achieved between the measured and modeled remote-sensing
      reflectance for waters from the West Florida Shelf to the Mississippi River
      plume. These waters cover a range of chlorophyll of 0.2-40 mg/m(3) and gelbstoff
      absorption at 440 nm from 0.02-0.4 m(-1). Data with a spectral resolution of 10
      nm or better, which is consistent with that provided by the airborne visible and
      infrared imaging spectrometer (AVIRIS) and spacecraft spectrometers, were used in
      the model evaluation.

PMID- 20935975
TI  - Determination of the average orientation of DNA in the octopus sperm Eledone
      cirrhossa through polarized light scattering.
AB  - The coupled-dipole approximation has been used to model polarized light
      scattering data obtained from the sperm of the octopus Eledone cirrhosa. Mueller
      scattering-matrix elements (which describe how a sample alters the intensity and
      degree of polarization of scattered light) were measured as a function of angle.
      The sample was modeled as a helical fiber believed to correspond to a DNA protein
      complex. It was necessary to propose an inherent anisotropy in the polarizability
      of the fiber in order to fit the data. The direction of the principle axes of the
      polarizability were determined by comparing the model with experimental data. The
      results suggest that the 2-nm DNA fibers are perpendicular to the thick fiber
      that defines the helical geometry of the octopus sperm head.

PMID- 20935976
TI  - Four-stream solution for atmospheric radiative transfer over a non-Lambertian
      surface.
AB  - An analytical model characterizing the atmospheric radiance field over a non
      Lambertian surface divides the radiation field into three components: unscattered
      radiance, single-scattering radiance, and multiple-scattering radiance. The first
      two components are calculated exactly. A delta-four-stream approximation is
      extended to calculate the azimuth-independent multiple-scattering radiance over a
      non-Lambertian surface, which is modeled by a statistical bidirectional
      reflectance distribution function (BRDF). Accuracy is assessed with respect to
      the exact results computed from a Gauss-Seidel iterative algorithm. Experiments
      comparing the results obtained with Lambertian and non-Lambertian surfaces show
      that incorporating the BRDF into the four-stream approximation significantly
      improves the accuracy in calculating radiance as well as radiative flux.

PMID- 20935977
TI  - Biased estimators and object-spectrum estimation in the method of deconvolution
      from wave-front sensing.
AB  - The method of deconvolution from wave-front sensing (DWFS), which is a method for
      improving the quality of astronomical images measured through atmospheric
      turbulence, uses simultaneous shortexposure measurements of both an image and the
      output of a wave-front sensor exposed to an image of the telescope pupil. The
      wave-front sensor measurements are used to reconstruct an estimate of the
      instantaneous generalized pupil function of the telescope, which is used to
      compute an estimate of the instantaneous optical transfer function (OTF). This
      estimate of the OTF is then used in a deconvolution procedure. We point out the
      existence and origin of an unnoticed bias in the estimator for the DWFS method.
      This bias leads to nonrandom errors in the estimated object spectrum beyond those
      expected to arise by virtue of low-pass filtering and noise, including the
      possibility of an overall system transfer function greater than unity at some
      spatial frequencies. An alternative measurement and postprocessing scheme to
      overco e this source of error is suggested.

PMID- 20935978
TI  - Effects of global intermittency on laser propagation in the atmosphere.
AB  - The statistical description of atmospheric turbulence and laser propagation
      through the atmosphere is complicated by global intermittency, the slow
      variations in space and time of the basic turbulence parameters. The effects of
      global intermittency of atmospheric turbulence on the mutual coherence function
      and the irradiance spectrum are investigated with numerical simulation. The
      effects of global intermittency are negligible when the path length is of the
      order of 10 correlation scales of global intermittency. This condition is readily
      satisfied for typical atmospheric parameters. The higher moments of irradiance
      appear to be more sensitive to the effects of global intermittency.

PMID- 20935979
TI  - Edge technique for high-accuracy Doppler velocimetry.
AB  - The edge technique has been used in simple laboratory experiments to demonstrate
      velocity measurements with an experimental error, standard deviation, as small as
      12 cm/s, which represents a Doppler-shift measurement accuracy of 8 parts in
      10(10) of the laser frequency. An edge filter with a spectral width 140 times
      larger than the measurement accuracy achieved is used. The measurements are made
      in the presence of short-term frequency drifts equivalent to velocities of 5 to
      10 m/s, which are eliminated by the differential frequency measurement used in
      the edge technique. Long-term frequency drifts are compensated for by servo
      locking the edge to the laser frequency. High accuracy is achieved for a range of
      locations on the edge from 0.33 to 4.5 fringe half-widths (half-width at half
      maximum), a dynamic range greater than 500 times the measurement accuracy.

PMID- 20935980
TI  - Time-delayed detection of laser-induced incandescence for the two-dimensional
      visualization of soot in flames.
AB  - The time-delayed detection of soot incandescence is demonstrated to discriminate
      against other laser-induced signals that have shorter decay times. This technique
      exhibits high sensitivity and no need for any verification of the spectral
      content of the signal; it is promising for two-dimensional imaging applications
      in hostile environments, such as in practical flame and combustion chambers, in
      which it permits an easy visualization of sooty regions.

PMID- 20935981
TI  - Efficient method for the calculation of mean extinction. II. Analyticity of the
      complex extinction efficiency of homogeneous spheroids and finite cylinders.
AB  - The analyticity of the complex extinction efficiency is examined numerically in
      the size-parameter domain for homogeneous prolate and oblate spheroids and finite
      cylinders. The T-matrix code, which is the most efficient program available to
      date, is employed to calculate the individual particle-extinction efficiencies.
      Because of its computational limitations in the size-parameter range, a slightly
      modified Hilbert-transform algorithm is required to establish the analyticity
      numerically. The findings concerning analyticity that we reported for spheres
      (Astrophys. J. 399, 164-175, 1992) apply equally to these nonspherical particles.

PMID- 20935982
TI  - Analytic approximation to randomly oriented spheroid extinction.
AB  - An analytic semi-empirical approximation to the extinction efficiency Q(ext) for
      randomly oriented spheroids that is based on an extension of the anomalous
      diffraction formula is given and compared with the extended boundary condition
      method or T-matrix method. With this formula Q(ext) can be evaluated over 10(4)
      times faster than by previous methods. This approximation has been verified for
      complex refractive indices m = n - ik, where 1 <= n <= infinity and 0 <=k <=
      infinity, and aspect ratios from 0.2-5. We believe that the approximation is
      uniformly valid over all size parameters and aspect ratios. It has the correct
      Rayleigh, refractive-index, and large-particle asymptotic behaviors. The accuracy
      and limitations of this formula are discussed.

PMID- 20935983
TI  - Explosive boiling of water droplets irradiated with intense CO(2)-laser
      radiation: numerical experiments.
AB  - The results of numerical calculations of water-droplet explosions initiated by
      intense CO(2)-laser radiation are presented. The theoretical model for this
      process is based on the solution of the value of the thermal-boundary problem in
      an inhomogeneously heated droplet, including the kinetic equation describingvapor
      generation in a superheated liquid. The main characteristics of droplet
      explosions (e.g., degree of explosive evaporation and time of explosion) are
      calculated. It is established that these characteristics depend on the heating
      rate of the droplet and on its radius. The results point to the fact that two
      droplet-heating regimes can be distinguished-slow heating and rapid heating-based
      on the behavior of the explosive boiling process. This division represents the
      competition of real physical processes in an irradiated droplet and makes it
      possible to separate the basic, specific features of the explosion process.

PMID- 20935984
TI  - Three-channel solar radiometer for the determination of atmospheric columnar
      water vapor.
AB  - The design of a three-channel solar radiometer used to determine total columnar
      atmospheric water-vapor amounts is presented. The main channel is located in the
      0.94-um water-vapor band, and two other channels are located in adjacent
      nonabsorption regions of the solar spectrum and are used to remove scattering
      effects from the main channel. Water-vapor transmittance is determined by means
      of a modified Langley approach, and these transmittances are converted to
      columnar water vapor by means of a band model developed at the University of
      Arizona. Several cases are presented in which columnar water-vapor amounts are
      determined through the use of the instrument and method described here. These
      results are compared with sounding-balloon results. Tests of the method indicate
      that columnar water vapor may be retrieved with an uncertainty of less than 10%.

PMID- 20935985
TI  - Exact spread function for a pulsed collimated beam in a medium with small-angle
      scattering.
AB  - A solution has been obtained for the spatial and temporal distribution function
      for a pulsed fully collimated beam propagating through a homogeneous medium with
      Gaussian small-angle scattering. The solution was obtained first by separation of
      the general problem into two plane problems, which results in a partial
      differential equation in three variables. A Fourier transform on two projected
      variables (one angular and one spatial) and a Laplace transform on the projected
      temporal variable yielded a set of nonlinear differential equations, which were
      solved. A recursion relation for the moments of the distribution function was
      also obtained, and the software MATHEMATICA was used to evaluate these moments to
      high orders. The contractions on certain variables are also presented; they
      correspond to the solutions of less-general problems contained in the main
      problem. A change in the definition of the time-delay produces a remarkable
      change in the structure of the equations. These solutions should be quite useful
      for lidar studies in atmospheric and oceanic optics, x-ray and radio-wave
      scattering in the atmosphere and interstellar medium, and in medical physics.

PMID- 20935986
TI  - Unstable resonators with a distributed focusing gain.
AB  - The geometrical optics approximation is used to form a model of axisymmetric
      unstable resonators having distributed focus, gain, and loss. A tapered
      reflectivity feedback mirror is included. The rate equations for propagation
      through the focusing gain medium are derived. A unique grid is found for
      propagation without interpolation along eigenrays in each direction. Numerical
      examples show the effects of distributed gain and focus on the axial and
      transverse intensity distributions.

PMID- 20935987
TI  - Patents.
AB  - 5,278,532; 5,287,213; 5,293,271; 5,293,272; 5,295,014; 5,296,689; 5,296,958;
      5,298,972; 5,299,062.

PMID- 20935988
TI  - Optical profile of surface layers on a float glass determined by ellipsometry.
AB  - Window glass is principally produced by the float technique that causes the
      diffusion of tin into glass, creating a layer on each face. These have a
      refractive index (N(F)) that is slightly different from that found in the bulk of
      the glass (N(S)) and asymptotically approach this value. The Maxwell theory
      allows one to calculate the reflectance of the system (layer plus glass
      substrate) considering only the first order in the perturbation deltaN (N(F) =
      N(S) + deltaN). The depth profile of the complex refractive index of each layer
      may be determined with the assistance of multiangle ellipsometric measurements
      and the reflectance expression.

PMID- 20935989
TI  - Remote sensing of wind velocity and strength of refractive turbulence using a two
      spatial-filter receiver.
AB  - Wind velocity across an optical path and refractive turbulence strength can be
      measured by observing a light source through the atmosphere with a receiver that
      contains two spatial filters. The frequency of the detected signal gives the
      transverse velocity of the turbulent structure, whereas signal intensity is
      proportional to refractive turbulence strength. The size of turbulent eddies that
      produce signals is determined by the optical setup. The position along the
      detector's field of view at which the measurement is made depends on the
      separation of the filters, and profiles can be made by varying the separation and
      using a telescope. The system requires longer integration times than one which
      uses a spatial filter at each end of the optical path, but it has the advantage
      of being able to use a natural source such as the Sun or a planet. An analysis of
      the system is presented along with numerical simulations and results from a short
      range (several meters) laboratory experiment. The analysis assumes a single layer
      of refractive turbulence. Scales of the refractive turbulence in the inertial
      subrange from 5 to 20 cm will be of primary interest for this method.

PMID- 20935990
TI  - Platinum/carbon multilayer reflectors for soft-x-ray optics.
AB  - We have fabricated platinum/carbon (Pt/C) multilayer reflectors with 2d spacaings
      between 50 and 200 A, using an electron-beam evaporator. We investigated the
      effects of 2d values, the number of layer pairs, substrate temperature, coatings,
      and the long-term stability on the reflectivity performance by using
      characteristic x rays and monochromatized synchrotron radiation in the 0.8-8-keV
      region. In this study we show that Pt/C multilayers with 10-20 layer pairs
      exhibit high and stable soft-x-ray reflectivity. The interfacial roughness was
      measured in the range of 5 A and becomes lower for structures deposited at liquid
      nitrogen temperatures. Coating these reflectors with a 100-A-thick platinum layer
      increased the grazing angle reflectivity without significantly lowering the Bragg
      peak reflectivity.

PMID- 20935991
TI  - Design and characterization of coherent integrated fiber-optic imaging probes.
AB  - An integrated fiber-optic probe comprising a short length of multimode fiber that
      is fusion spliced to a monomode optical fiber has been fabricated for imaging and
      nonimaging applications. The fiber probe, typically 250 um in diameter, can
      deliver a focused Gaussian spot approximately 25 um in diameter at a distance of
      approximately 500 um from the tip. Two off-the-shelf graded-index multimode
      fibers have been used in the fabrication of imaging and nonimaging probes. These
      integrated probes have considerably improved the spatial resolution of
      backscatter lensless fiber probes being utilized in the dynamic light-scattering
      characterization of colloidal suspension.

PMID- 20935992
TI  - Influence of high temperatures on a fiber-optic probe for temperature
      measurement.
AB  - The use of optical fiber in a temperature probe or sensor for optical pyrometry
      in the 100-1000  degrees C range is affected by the low thermal stability of
      classical fibers. We have studied the different sources of perturbations induced
      by exposure to high temperature. Two specific fibers especially suited for a high
      temperature environment were tested and compared. Low (100  degrees C/min) and
      very fast (100  degrees C/s) fiber heating was performed to evaluate its
      influence on the guided flux and the induced error on temperature measurement.
      The metallic-coated fiber shows a reproducible temperature error that can be
      predicted. This important result permits the development of an uncooled fiber
      probe for temperature monitoring in high-temperature environments such as
      aerospace engines.

PMID- 20935993
TI  - Quantitative evaluation of chalcogenide glass fiber evanescent wave spectroscopy.
AB  - A quantitative theoretical model that describes the amount of evanescent field
      that is absorbed by an infinite cladding has been developed. The validity of this
      model has been confirmed by a series of experiments to determine the typical
      dependence of the abosrption on each parameter (fiber length, fiber diameter,
      light beam launching condition, and wavelength) separately, and the total amount
      of absorption as a function of all the parameters combined. The results show that
      this model can predict the amount of absorbed radiation with an error range of
      5%. It is therefore possible to analyze the infrared spectrum by quantitative
      data such as the ratio between two absorption lines or by deriving the absorbance
      coefficient of the absorption curve.

PMID- 20935994
TI  - Color modulation properties of a liquid-crystal device.
AB  - The color modulation properties of a twisted-nematic liquid-crystal device are
      studied based on the Jones calculus. The usefulness of Jones calculus is
      demonstrated for the blue mode of a supertwisted birefringent liquid-crystal
      device, after which some experimental results of the color modulation effect for
      a twisted-nematic liquid-crystal television are presented. We investigated the
      color dependence of the transmitted light on the applied voltage by using a
      chromaticity diagram. Most of the experimental results are well explained by the
      theory derived from the Jones calculus.

PMID- 20935995
TI  - Effect of energetic electron and proton bombardment on the reflectance of silicon
      carbide mirrors in the extreme-ultraviolet region.
AB  - Chemical-vapor-deposited silicon-carbide mirrors were exposed to bombardment by
      95-keV electrons and 100-keV protons with accumulated fluxes comparable with
      those expected in low-altitude Earth orbit for simulated periods of as many as 5
      years. The reflectances of four mirrors were measured at five wavelengths (58.4,
      73.6, 104.8, 121.6, and 161 nm) and at 11 angles of incidence from 5 degrees  to
      80 degrees . The electron and proton exposure resulted in no significant change
      in the reflectances of the mirrors.

PMID- 20935996
TI  - Effect of spatial coherence on knife-edge measurements of detector modulation
      transfer function.
AB  - When an image of an edge object is used in the determination of the modulation
      transfer function of a detector array, the partial coherence of the illumination
      is often ignored. Although this approximation is valid in some cases, it may not
      be satisfactory, particularly for the small detector elements characteristic of
      present-day charge-coupled devices. Here we demonstrate the effect of partial
      coherence on edge-based modulation transfer function determination for various
      pixel sizes, degrees of coherence, and f-numbers of the test optics.

PMID- 20935997
TI  - Transmission trap detectors.
AB  - Polarization-independent trap detectors, in which light is strongly absorbed
      through multiple reflections, are generically described in terms of the symmetry
      planes of a cube. The detailed design of a four-element transmission trap with
      coaxial input and output beams is presented. It is shown that such a trap retains
      polarization-dependent loss and that six detectors are required for a
      polarizationindependent transmission trap with coaxial beams.

PMID- 20935998
TI  - Index-distributed planar microlenses for three-dimensional micro-optics
      fabricated by silver-sodium ion exchange in BGG35 substrates.
AB  - Fabrication of planar microlens arrays by silver-sodium ion exchange is possible
      by using a new glass type, optimized for this technology. Because of its
      nonlinear diffusion response it is well suited to the fabrication of microlens
      arrays. We show that the diffusion coefficient can be described theoretically by
      an exponential concentration dependence. The parameters of the planar microlenses
      are measured interferometrically and by imaging experiments. Because of the
      specific index distribution, new evaluation techniques for the determination of
      lens parameters from interferometric measurements have been applied. We also
      present a simple model that relates the achievable lens parameters to the
      diffusion conditions.

PMID- 20935999
TI  - Multilevel phase gratings for array illuminators.
AB  - We describe a variety of multilevel phase structures that can be used to generate
      Lohmann's array illuminators. We report several experimental verifications of the
      synthesis of such multilevel phase structures by using simple binary curves in a
      conventional optical processor.

PMID- 20936000
TI  - Modified holographic recording setup for photopolymerizable/flexible recording
      materials.
AB  - An improvement in the conventional holographic recording setup has been done for
      liquid (photopolymerizable) or flexible recording materials. The new vertical
      recording setup that comprises a horizontal substrate holder permits holographic
      recording on such materials without positioning them between two substrates, as
      has been done until now. This setup can be conveniently used for the fabrication
      of transmission, reflection, Fourier transform, and computer-generated holograms
      with few simple modifications as indicated.

PMID- 20936001
TI  - Use of the fast Fourier transform method for analyzing linear and equispaced
      Fizeau fringes.
AB  - The Fourier transform method is applied to analyze the initial phase of linear
      and equispaced Fizeau fringes. We develop an algorithm for high-precision phase
      measurement by using the Fourier coefficient that corresponds to the spatial
      frequency of the Fizeau fringes, and we describe methods for determining the
      fringe carrier frequency. Errors caused by carrier frequency fluctuation and data
      truncation are studied theoretically and by computer simulation. To demonstrate
      the method we apply it to the real-time calibration of a piezoelectric transducer
      mirror in a Twyman-Green interferometer.

PMID- 20936002
TI  - Integrated optical Young interferometer.
AB  - The integrated optical configuration of a Young interferometer is proposed for
      refractometry and chemical sensing. We coupled light into an integrated optical
      Ybranch by fixing a laser diode directly at the input of the optical device. We
      solved the problem of ambiguity in the interference order by operating the laser
      diode at currents below threshold, resulting in visibility modulation of the
      interference fringes caused by the low coherence length of the emitted light. A
      very compact device results that measures the refractive index of liquids or
      gases. An electronic scanning technique by means of a CCD array provides a fast
      readout without the need for moving parts.

PMID- 20936003
TI  - Extending the unambiguous range of two-color interferometers.
AB  - The unambiguous distance measurement range in two-color interferometry is
      generally understood to be limited to the equivalent or synthetic wavelength,
      which is inversely proportional to the wavelength separation of the two colors.
      Here it is shown that one may extend the unambiguous range well beyond this limit
      by using optical phase information to determine the synthetic-wavelength fringe
      order.

PMID- 20936004
TI  - New integrated-optics interferometer in planar technology.
AB  - Glass ion exchange is an attractive method for fabricating integrated optical
      components. We investigate the feasibility of making a single-mode glass ion
      exchanged interferometer designed especially to obtain an interference pattern.
      The design of the interferometer is based on the use of tapered waveguides to
      obtain a collimated beam. This interferometer could be used as a chemical or
      biological sensor.

PMID- 20936005
TI  - Object illumination angle measurement in speckle interferometry.
AB  - Errors in measurement of the object illumination angle affect fringe
      interpretation accuracies in speckle interferometry. To measure the object
      illumination angle we propose a method based on the moire effect. The technique
      is easy to implement and was found to yield fast and accurate measurements.

PMID- 20936006
TI  - Ion-beam-deposited boron carbide coatings for the extreme ultraviolet.
AB  - The normal-incidence reflectance of ion-beam-deposited boron carbide thin films
      has been evaluated in the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) spectral region. High
      reflectance coatings have been produced with reflectances greater than 30%
      between 67 and 121.6 nm. This high reflectance makes ion-beam-deposited boron
      carbide an attractive coating for EUV applications.

PMID- 20936007
TI  - Digital processing of electronic speckle pattern interferometry addition fringes.
AB  - A digital image-processing method for analyzing double-pulsed electronic speckle
      pattern interferometry addition fringes is described. The procedure consists of
      three steps, forming a combination particularly suited to addressing some
      important practical limitations of the measurement system. In the first step it
      is shown that in certain cases fringe visibility may be enhanced by subtraction
      of a reference interferogram, so that a pattern with a quality similar to that of
      a subtraction one is obtained. In the second step noise is reduced by the
      application of a spectral subtraction image-restoration method. The third step
      concerns the calculation of the wrapped phase by means of a Fourier transform
      method with bandpass filtering. Preliminary experimental results that illustrate
      the performance of this approach are presented.

PMID- 20936008
TI  - Compact dielectric reflective elements. I. Half-sphere concentrators of radially
      emitted light.
AB  - Optical designs of aspheric internally reflective concentrators of divergent
      light emitted within a spatial angle of 2n sr are proposed and discussed. Four
      types of solid transparent element are considered: the divergence angle reducer,
      the small-spot illuminator, the point focuser, and the collimator. The output
      beam aperture in all cases is comparable with the light-source external
      dimensions. Expressions describing the profiles of beam-transforming surfaces and
      results from experiments with model devices are presented.

PMID- 20936009
TI  - Reststrahlen band studies of polycrystalline beryllium oxide.
AB  - New experimental bulk reflectance and emittance spectra from the 9-15-um
      reststrahlen band region of polycrystallline beryllium oxide are reported. Note
      that the polycrystalline material exhibits a dip at 10 pm, which is not present
      in spectra for single crystals. The possible origins of this feature are
      discussed including absorption by a surfaceboscillation excited at boundaries of
      20-um crystalline grains. Owing to the reststrahlen band, beryllium oxide is
      selectively low, emitting in the primary atmospheric window, which makes this
      material useful for frost prevention when electrical conductors cannot be used.
      This protection is susceptible to reduction by surface contaminants from air
      pollution. Using an established acceleration procedure, we simulated such
      pollution, and the increase in emittance was measured. It was observed that the
      emissivity increased from 0.31 for a clean surface to 0.36 for a surface heavily
      polluted by an industrial atmosphere.

PMID- 20936010
TI  - Mueller matrix analysis of infrared ellipsometry.
AB  - A Mueller analysis has been done of IR ellipsometry performed with imperfect
      optical components. Equations linking experimental and calculated Fourier
      coefficients have been derived and consistently solved. Correction routines for
      permittivity measurements are demonstrated and discussed with gold and SrTiO(3)
      as examples. It is shown that such effects as interferometer polarization,
      detector dichroism, transmission, and phase changes in polarizers can be
      calculated and effectively removed from the spectra. The problems of calibration
      and multiple reflections between IR polarizers are discussed, and error
      propagation in permittivity measurements is analyzed.

PMID- 20936011
TI  - Measuring distribution of the ellipsoid of birefringence through the thickness of
      optical disk substrates.
AB  - We have measured the birefringence of polycarbonate optical disk substrates,
      using ellipsometry. For a more comprehensive characterization, the probe beam was
      incident upon substrates in a wide range of polar angles and from different
      azimuths relative to track direction (o). Our measurements show that the
      ellipsoid of birefringence is tilted in the plane of radial (r) and normal (z)
      directions. The tilt angle varies through thickness, with a maximum value of
      approximately 10 degrees . For beams passing through the substrate in the o-z
      plane and at large incident angles, this tilt causes significant conversion (up
      to 100%) between p- and s-polarized components. Distributions of other
      parameters, such as the values of in-plane and vertical birefringence, are
      obtained simultaneously in the measurements.

PMID- 20936012
TI  - Effect of tilted ellipsoid of birefringence on readout signal in magneto-optical
      disk data storage.
AB  - In the 2* format for second-generation magneto-optical (MO) disks, there are
      recording tracks next to preformat pits. It has been observed that the MO signals
      from the tracks adjacent to the preformat pits can be affected. We present
      numerical modeling results on the effect of a tilted ellipsoid of substrate
      birefringence on the MO readout signal. Theoretical calculations show that the
      observed effects can be explained if a certain tilt of the ellipsoid of
      birefringence exists around the preformat pits.

PMID- 20936013
TI  - Polarized light reflectometer.
AB  - The modulated reflected and nonreflected light fluxes, measured as the azimuth of
      incident linearly polarized light is varied, yield the absolute reflectances
      R(p), and R(s), of a dielectric or semiconductor surface. Application to a
      reflective Si detector determines the refractive index and thickness of a SiO(2)
      film on the detector surface.

PMID- 20936014
TI  - Reflector design for illumination with extended sources: the basic solutions.
AB  - The goal of the optical design of luminaires and other radiation distributors is
      to attain the desired illumination on the target with a given source while
      minimizing losses. Whereas the required design procedure is well known for
      situations in which the source can be approximated as a point or as a line, the
      development of a general analytical design method for extended sources began only
      recently. One can obtain a solution for extended sources by establishing a one-to
      one correspondence between target points and edge rays. Here the possible
      solutions in two dimensions (cylindrical sources) are identified, based on only
      one reflection for the edge rays. The solutions depend on whether the "image" on
      the reflector is bound by rays from the near or the far edge of the source. For
      each case there are two solutions that could be called converging and diverging
      by analogy with imaging optics. Counting the topological choices for the
      boundaries of the "image" we obtain a complete classification of the
      buildingblocks from which luminaires can be designed. One can construct
      interesting hybrid configurations by combining these building blocks. Thus one
      can gain a great deal of flexibility for tailoring designs to specific
      requirements. The differential equation for the reflector is shown to have an
      analytical solution. Explicit results are presented for symmetric configurations
      with the target at infinity.

PMID- 20936015
TI  - Infrared radiance and solar glint at the ocean-sky horizon.
AB  - An analytic model is developed for the mean and clutter infrared radiance emitted
      from the ocean surface near the horizon and in the presence of solar glint. The
      model is based on the identification of a characteristic facet dimension over
      which the ocean surface is essentially flat. Fluctuations in the facet
      orientation generated by the water wave motion are modeled by a parameterized
      wave height power spectral density that provides the two orthogonal wave slope
      variances. The mean and root-meansquare facet radiances are calculated with
      Gaussian probability-density functions for the wave slopes. One can determine the
      number of facets within the field of view of a single detector by estimating the
      exposed ocean area and dividing by the facet area. This estimation takes into
      account shadowing effects of the swell wave, the swell wavelength, and the
      transverse detector field of view. The number of exposed facets together with the
      central-limit theorem permits computation of the radiance clutter as a function
      of look-down angle below the horizon. Vertical radiance profiles, parameterized
      by the azimuthal offset from the solar position, are calculated over a sensor
      look-down angle range of +/-50 mrad about the horizon. The results of this
      analysis are compared with infrared radiance measurements of the ocean surface
      near the horizon and in the presence of solar glint. Agreement between the
      measured and calculated values of the mean and clutter radiances is good.

PMID- 20936016
TI  - Single-pulse, Fourier-transform spectrometer having no moving parts.
AB  - A Wollaston prism is used in the design of a polarizing Fourier-transform
      spectrometer with no moving parts. The effective path difference between
      orthogonally polarized components varies across the aperture of the instrument,
      forming an interferogram in the spatial rather than temporal domain. The use of a
      charge-integrating linear detector array permits the entire interferogram to be
      sampled simultaneously so that a full spectrum is obtained for a single pulse of
      light.

PMID- 20936017
TI  - Radiation damage effects in far-ultraviolet filters, thin films, and substrates.
AB  - Advances in vacuum ultraviolet thin-film filter technology have been made through
      the use of filter designs with multilayers of materials such as Al(2)O(3),
      BaF(2), CaF(2), HfO(2), LaF(3), MgF(2), and SiO(2). Our immediate application for
      these filters will be in an imaging system to be flown on a satellite where a 2 *
      9 R(E) orbit will expose the instrument to approximately 250 krad of radiation.
      Because to our knowledge no previous studies have been made on the potential
      radiation damage of these materials in the thin-film format, we report on such an
      assessment here. Transmittances and reflectances of BaF(2), CaF(2), HfO(2),
      MgF(2), and SiO(2) thin films on MgF(2) substrates, Al(2)O(3) thin films on fused
      silica substrates, uncoated fused silica and MgF(2), and four multilayer filters
      made from these materials were measured from 120 to 180 nm beforeand after
      irradiation by 250 krad from a (60)Co gamma radiation source. No radiation
      induced losses in transmittance or reflectance occurred in this wavelength range.
      Additional postradiation measurements from 160 to 300 nm indicates 2-5% radiation
      induced absorption near 260 nm in some of the samples with MgF(2) substrates.
      From these measurements we conclude that far-ultraviolet filters made from the
      materials tested should experience less than 5% change from exposure to up to 250
      krad of high-energy radiation in space applications.

PMID- 20936018
TI  - Resonant metal-mesh bandpass filters for the far infrared.
AB  - The spectral performance of freestanding resonant metal-mesh bandpass filters
      operating with center frequencies ranging from 585 GHz to 2.1 THz is presented.
      These filters are made up of a 12-um-thick copper film with an array of cross
      shaped apertures that fill a circular area with a 50-mm diameter. The filters
      exhibit power transmission in the range 97-100% at their respective center
      frequencies and stop-band rejection in excess of 18 dB. The theoretically
      predicted nondiffracting properties of the meshes are experimentally verified
      through high-resolution beam mapping. Scalability of the filter spectra with mesh
      dimensions is demonstrated over a wide spectral range. Several modeling methods
      are considered, and results from the models are shown.

PMID- 20936020
TI  - Automatic three-dimensional spectrogoniometer for determination of optical
      properties and surface parameters.
AB  - An automatic three-dimensional spectrogoniometer is presented. The wavelength of
      ligth and angles of incidence and observation are variable, making it capable of
      performing different optical characterizations in an integrated way.

PMID- 20936019
TI  - Optical functions of transparent thin films of SrTiO(3), BaTiO(3), and SiO(x)
      determined by spectroscopic ellipsometry.
AB  - A procedure is presented for accurately determining the thickness, optical
      functions, and surfaceroughness characteristics of thin-film insulators from two
      channel spectroscopic polarization-modulation ellipsometry data. For films with
      minimal surface roughness, the optical functions can be determined over the
      entire measured spectrum; for rougher films, the analysis of the spectroscopic
      ellipsometry data yields meaningful values of the optical functions only in the
      transparent region. In general, the films must be transparent in a given range of
      wavelengths sampled by the ellipsometer so that at least two interference
      oscillations can be observed. The use of the procedure is illustrated with the
      determination of the optical functions of SrTiO(3) and BaTiO(3) thin films grown
      on MgO, and of SiO(x) films grown on Si. For SrTiO(3) and BaTiO(3), the thin-film
      results are compared with the measured optical functions of the respective bulk
      materials.

PMID- 20936021
TI  - Mirror system for collecting Thomson-scattered light in a tangential direction.
AB  - We describe an optical system for collecting Thomson-scattering light in the
      tangential direction of a tokamak. The key part of the optics is a set of mirrors
      arranged as a Venetian blind. This system makes it possible to look around the
      corner of the tokamak vessel. Design considerations and test performance are
      presented.

PMID- 20936022
TI  - Talbot interferometer with circular gratings for the measurement of temperature
      in axisymmetric gaseous flames.
AB  - A detailed study for measuring the temperature distribution in axisymmetric
      flames by using a Talbot interferometer with circular gratings is presented. We
      increased the sensitivity of the interferometer by optimizing the pitch of the
      grating and the Talbot plane. We compare the experimental results with the values
      that were measured with a thermocouple to an accuracy of +/-0.2% of full scale +/
      4 digits. Good agreement is seen between the temperatures measured by use of a
      thermocouple and those measured by use of Talbot interferometry.

PMID- 20936023
TI  - Slow-flow measurements and fluid dynamics analysis using the Fresnel drag effect.
AB  - We have employed a Sagnac interferometer to measure small optical phase shifts
      induced by the Fresnel drag effect on moving media. The system detects volumetric
      flow rates of water as slow as 43 uL/min while maintaining a small pressure drop
      across the measuring pipe. Velocity profiles and turbulence measurements of
      flowing water are also demonstrated and discussed.

PMID- 20936024
TI  - Cross-sensitivity effect in temperature-compensated sensors based on highly
      birefringent fibers.
AB  - We analyzed the influence of the measurand-temperature cross-sensitivity effect
      on temperature stability in fiber-optic cross-spliced sensors that employ highly
      birefringent fibers. We show that the ratio of the measurand-temperature cross
      sensitivity coefficient to the measurand first-order sensitivity determines the
      physical limit for temperature stability in cross-spliced sensors. Employing
      polarimetric as well as white-light interferometric methods, we experimentally
      determine a hydrostatic pressure-temperature cross-sensitivity coefficient in
      York bow-tie 800 fiber. From this we estimate the achievable limit for
      temperature stability of cross-spliced pressure sensors under environmental
      temperature changes.

PMID- 20936025
TI  - Rayleigh scattering limits for low-level bidirectional reflectance distribution
      function measurements.
AB  - The objective is to estimate the Rayleigh limit in bidirectional reflectance
      distribution function (BRDF) measurements caused by air in the laboratory, the
      wavelength, and the path length of light in the receiver field of view. Moreover,
      we intend to show the trend for the reduction of this limit by introducing a
      medium with small refractive index and by using a longer wavelength. Although the
      BRDF typically describes the angular distribution of scattered light from
      surfaces, the expression describing the equivalent BRDF caused by the optical
      scattering from gas molecules in the optical path is derived through the use of
      the Rayleigh scattering theory. The instrumentation is described, and the
      experimental results of the equivalent BRDF caused by gas scattering from
      molecules in clear air, nitrogen, and helium gases are reported. These results
      confirm the trends of the prediction.

PMID- 20936026
TI  - Stray-light corrections in integrating-sphere measurements on low-scattering
      samples.
AB  - A method for correcting integrating-sphere signals that considers differences in
      the angular distribution of scattered light is extended to sources of errors that
      are due to stray light from imperfect optical components. We show that it is
      possible to measure low levels of scattering, below 1%, by using a standard
      integrating sphere, provided that the various contributions to stray light are
      taken into account properly. For low-scattering samples these corrections are
      more important than those from the angular distribution of the scattering. A
      procedure for the experimental determination of stray-light components is
      suggested. Simple, easy to use, compact equations for the diffuse and specular
      reflectance and transmittance values of the sample as functions of the recorded
      signals are presented.

PMID- 20936027
TI  - Evaluation of correction factors for transmittance measurements in single-beam
      integrating spheres.
AB  - An integrating sphere for transmittance measurements at normal and oblique angles
      of incidence has been constructed. The sphere is a single-beam instrument that
      uses a small-area silicon diode as the detector. The entry port is only 0.37% of
      the total wall area and has an oblong shape to permit measurements at high angles
      of incidence for scattering samples. A small beam size has been made possible by
      using a low-noise preamplifier system for the detector circuit. The oblong port
      shape and a small beam size make it possible to perform simulated double-beam
      measurements at near-normal incidence. Modified correction factors for the sample
      reflectance have been derived. Special attention has been paid to the separation
      into a diffuse and a specular component of the transmitted light. Results have
      been compared with the results of measurements on a double-beam instrument, and
      the correction factors for specular and diffuse samples have been experimentally
      verified. The importance of using the right correctionfactors for different types
      of samples has been evaluated together with the influence of the sphere
      parameters.

PMID- 20936028
TI  - Characterization of the scattering properties of a mirror by speckle-field
      statistics.
AB  - The statistics of partially developed speckle patterns produced by reflection
      under coherent illumination can be used to determine the scattering properties of
      a mirror. The theory of the approach is presented, showing that in proper
      conditions the standard deviation of the speckle-field distribution expresses the
      finish grade of the reflecting surface. Interferometric measurements are
      described, and experiments on selected samples are reported.

PMID- 20936029
TI  - Reciprocal reflection interferometer for a fiber-optic Faraday current sensor.
AB  - A reciprocal fiber-optic reflection interferometer for remote measurement of
      electrical current through the Faraday effect is described. The effects of
      polarization cross coupling because of nonideal elements are eliminated with a
      low-coherence source. Nonreciprocal birefringence phase modulation is employed
      for detection of the Faraday phase shift. The theoretical predictions are
      confirmed by measurements with a piece of straight fiber as the sensing element
      in a 100-turn solenoid. Currents from 0 to 40 A have been measured with a linear
      response and a noise limit of ~0.015 A/?Hz.

PMID- 20936030
TI  - Colorimetric matching by minimum-square-error fitting.
AB  - Least-squares approximation can be used in image-based colorimetry once the set
      of sampling functions is selected. We discuss the accuracy obtained in earlier
      research, and we compare it with a better calculation method.

PMID- 20936031
TI  - Parallel optical image processing with image-logic algebra and a polynomial
      approach.
AB  - An interesting relationship between an optical parallel-processing single
      instruction-multiple-data generic language, called image-logic algebra, and a
      polynomial approach for processing binary images by electronic computers is
      shown. Using only two basic operations of the ILA, one can reformulate a number
      of algorithms developed earlier in the polynomial approach into algorithms in the
      ILA environment. Thus a large number of new algorithms for parallel optical
      processing of binary images can be developed in the ILA environment that are fast
      and efficient.

PMID- 20936032
TI  - Modified signed-digit arithmetic based on redundant bit representation.
AB  - Fully parallel modified signed-digit arithmetic operations are realized based on
      redundant bit representation of the digits proposed. A new truth-table minimizing
      technique is presented based on redundant-bitrepresentation coding. It is shown
      that only 34 minterms are enough for implementing one-step modified signed-digit
      addition and subtraction with this new representation. Two optical implementation
      schemes, correlation and matrix multiplication, are described. Experimental
      demonstrations of the correlation architecture are presented. Both architectures
      use fixed minterm masks for arbitrary-length operands, taking full advantage of
      the parallelism of the modified signed-digit number system and optics.

PMID- 20936033
TI  - Locality and decomposition of regular optical interconnection patterns.
AB  - Methods that a designer can use to optimize the placement of nodes in a large
      switching network to decrease the requirements on holographic interconnections
      are investigated. Localized interconnections between subdivided switches are
      combined with simpler global interconnections. The interconnections between
      subdivided switches can be implemented by use of metallic traces on smart-pixel
      arrays. The global interconnections would be provided by optical free-space
      techniques. Several advantages arise from this procedure: (1) The regular
      interconnection pattern is decomposed into several pipes (collection of light
      beams that form a complete pattern) without loss of functionality. (2) The
      interconnection pattern may be optimized by variation of the placement of the
      switches in a switching network (e.g., to obtain a minimum deflection angle). (3)
      The interconnection pattern may be adjusted to the need of an algorithm by an
      additional parameter (the dimension). The application to photonic switching
      networks and signal processing is discussed.

PMID- 20936034
TI  - Guided-wave and free-space optical interconnects for parallel-processing systems:
      a comparison.
AB  - Guided-wave and free-space optical interconnects are compared based on insertion
      loss, link efficiency, connection density, time delay, and power dissipation for
      three types of connection networks. Three types of free-space interconnect
      systems are analyzed that are representative of a wide variety of free-space
      systems: space-variant basis-set and space-invarient systems. Results indicate
      that the connection density of a space-variant free space system has a connection
      density roughly equivalent to a two level guided-wave system with a pitch of ~10
      um (for a 1-um wavelength) and a core refractive index of 2.0. It is also shown
      that the connection density of basis-set and space-invariant free-space systems
      can be several orders of magnitude higher than fundamental limits on the
      connection density of dual-level guided-wave interconnect systems when large
      scale highly connected networks are employed.

PMID- 20936035
TI  - High-speed free-space interconnect based on optical ring topology: experimental
      demonstration.
AB  - The design and implementation of a high-speed optical-ring-topology-based free
      space optical interconnect is described. This interconnect system operates at 500
      MHz and consists of 16 laser transmitters, a four-channel free-space
      interconnect, and a high-speed receiver. A nearest-neighbor interconnect is
      demonstrated. At the data rate of 500 MHz the total system throughput is 8
      Gbits/s. The system can easily be operated at much higher data rates since the
      rate is limited only by the electronic circuitry. A discussion is given about
      device issues such as optical switching devices, and practical system-design
      issues such as integration and interface with current electronic systems are
      considered. This interconnect is promising to the implementation of ultrafast
      massively parallel single-instruction multiple-data machines.

PMID- 20936036
TI  - Graded-index fibers, Wigner-distribution functions, and the fractional Fourier
      transform.
AB  - Two definitions of a fractional Fourier transform have been proposed previously.
      One is based on the propagation of a wave field through a graded-index medium,
      and the other is based on rotating a function's Wigner distribution. It is shown
      that both definitions are equivalent. An important result of this equivalency is
      that the Wigner distribution of a wave field rotates as the wave field propagates
      through a quadratic graded-index medium. The relation with ray-optics phase space
      is discussed.

PMID- 20936037
TI  - Lithium niobate guided-wave beam former for steering phased-array antennas.
AB  - We present the theoretical investigation, design, and simulation of a novel
      guided-wave optical processor for L-band-transmission beam forming in a linear
      array of phased active antennas. The proposed configuration includes two
      contradirectional surface acoustic-wave transducers, and it is based on a Y-cut,
      X-propagating Ti:LiNbO(3) planar waveguide supporting the lowest-order modes of
      both polarizations (TE(0) and TM(0)) at the free-space wavelength lambda = 0.85
      um. A detailed comparison between the processor we propose and other optical and
      electronic architectures reported in the literature is carried out, exhibiting a
      number of significant advantages in terms of weight, total chip size, and power
      consumption, when the number of antenna elements is greater than 50.

PMID- 20936038
TI  - Autofocusing based on power-spectra analysis.
AB  - An autofocusing mechanism based on the concept of autocorrelation is described.
      The method may be performed optically with ring detectors in the Fourier domain
      or electronically with a special computing chip or software.

PMID- 20936039
TI  - Viewing method for improving underwater visibility by reduction of backscatter.
AB  - For improved underwater visibility a method that uses a special intervallic
      series of light pulses and two acts of emitting and receiving is performed by two
      specially designed optical shutters and by control signals that are synchronously
      delayed. Calculations show that the apparent contrast of the target can be
      improved, and thus the distance over which it is visible can be increased. This
      method has several advantages that can make it practical for actual use, and its
      feasibility is demonstrated in experiments.

PMID- 20936040
TI  - Image classification with a chirp-encoded joint transform correlator.
AB  - We describe a method of performing image classification with a chirp-encoded
      joint transform correlator. In the proposed system the reference images and the
      input image that is to be classified are placed in different input planes of the
      joint transform correlator. As a result, different output planes of the
      correlator are associated with each reference image. The input image is
      classified on the basis of the intensity and the spatial position of the
      correlation peak. The reference images and the input image can be positioned in
      one input plane with glass blocks of different thicknesses placed on each
      reference image. This produces the same effect as having the reference images and
      the input image in different planes. Analytical expressions, computer
      simulations, and optical experiments are presented to investigate the performance
      of the chirp-encoded joint transform correlator for image classification.

PMID- 20936041
TI  - Optical angular mapping for pattern recognition using self-pumped phase
      conjugation.
AB  - An optical angular feature mapping of an object for pattern recognition is
      presented that uses self-pumped phase conjugation followed by a vertical
      projection. In this method the vertical contour features of an object are most
      enhanced and vertically projected at each angle as the object is rotated. The
      vertical enhancement of the contour and the projection are performed optically
      with self-pumped phase conjugation and a cylindrical lens, respectively. The
      peaks in the resulting projection at the angle are located and integrated to
      produce an angular signature function. The signature function is then energy
      normalized for scale invariance, and pattern recognition is performed by
      calculation of a cross correlation between two signature functions. The method
      exhibits invariance to shift, rotation, and variations in scale. Effects of a
      spatial filter and incident-beam conditions used for phase conjugation are also
      discussed along with experimental results.

PMID- 20936042
TI  - Optical bipolar kth-order neural network based on inner-product representation.
AB  - A new polarization-encoding scheme for a bipolar kth-order neural network based
      on inner-product representation is proposed. Bipolar data multiplication is
      achieved as the rotation of linearly polarized light. A compact architecture of
      the bipolar kth-order neural network is suggested. In the architecture, no
      subtractions are needed, and the threshold levels for the neurons are fixed.
      Also, we show that a liquid-crystal device such as a liquid-crystal television is
      acceptable as a polarization modulator in the proposed architecture by computer
      simulation.

PMID- 20936043
TI  - Pulse-coupled neural nets: translation, rotation, scale, distortion, and
      intensity signal invariance for images.
AB  - The linking-field neural network model of Eckhorn et al. [Neural Comput. 2, 293
      307 (1990)] was introduced to explain the experimentally observed synchronous
      activity among neural assemblies in the cat cortex induced by feature-dependent
      visual activity. The model produces synchronous bursts of pulses from neurons
      with similar activity, effectively grouping them by phase and pulse frequency. It
      gives a basic new function: grouping by similarity. The synchronous bursts are
      obtained in the limit of strong linking strengths. The linking-field model in the
      limit of moderate-to-weak linking characterized by few if any multiple bursts is
      investigated. In this limit dynamic, locally periodic traveling waves exist whose
      time signal encodes the geometrical structure of a two-dimensional input image.
      The signal can be made insensitive to translation, scale, rotation, distortion,
      and intensity. The waves transmit information beyond the physical interconnect
      distance. The model is implemented in an optical hybrid demonstration system.
      Results of the simulations and the optical system are presented.

PMID- 20936044
TI  - Sagnac fiber logic gates and their possible applications: a system perspective.
AB  - The Sagnac all-optical fiber logic gate functions as a two-input AND gate, a two
      input AND gate with one inverting input, or both. The fiber logic gate is
      pipelined and has a fixed latency. This latency has no effect on feed-forward
      combinatoric circuits. The latency can be used to time multiplex circuits or to
      time multiplex gates to emulate a circuit. Possible applications such as a bit
      jitter-tolerant communications system, an asynchronous communications system, a
      bit-interleaved self-routing switching system, an exchange/bypass permutation
      unit, and a folded universal state machine are discussed.

PMID- 20936045
TI  - The Skinny on Success: Body Mass, Gender and Occupational Standing Across the
      Life Course.
AB  - Several studies have analyzed the impact of obesity on occupational standing.
      This study extends previous research by estimating the influence of body mass on
      occupational attainment over three decades of the career using data from the
      Wisconsin Longitudinal Study. In a series of covariance structure analyses, we
      considered three mechanisms that may alter the career trajectories of heavy
      individuals: (1. employment-based discrimination, (2. educational attainment, and
      (3. marriage market processes. Unlike previous studies, we found limited evidence
      that employment-based discrimination impaired the career trajectories of either
      men or women. Instead, we found that heavy women received less post-secondary
      schooling than their thinner peers, which in turn adversely affected their
      occupational standing at each point in their careers.

PMID- 20936046
TI  - Friction Force Microscopy of Lubricin and Hyaluronic Acid between Hydrophobic and
      Hydrophilic Surfaces.
AB  - Lubricin and hyaluronic acid (HA), molecular constituents of synovial fluid, have
      long been theorized to play a role in joint lubrication and wear protection.
      While lubricin has been shown to function as a boundary lubricant, conflicting
      evidence exists as to the boundary lubricating ability of hyaluronic acid. Here,
      we use colloidal force microscopy to explore the friction behavior of these two
      molecules on the microscale between chemically uniform hydrophilic (hydroxyl
      terminated) and hydrophobic (methyl-terminated) surfaces in physiological buffer
      solution. Behaviors on both surfaces are physiologically relevant since the
      heterogeneous articular cartilage surface contains both hydrophilic and
      hydrophobic elements. Friction between hydrophobic surfaces was initially high
      (MU=1.1, at 100nN of applied normal load) and was significantly reduced by
      lubricin addition while friction between hydrophilic surfaces was initially low
      (MU=0.1) and was slightly increased by lubricin addition. At lubricin
      concentrations above 200 ug/ml, friction behavior on the two surfaces was similar
      (MU=0.2) indicating that nearly all interaction between the two surfaces was
      between adsorbed lubricin molecules rather than between the surfaces themselves.
      In contrast, addition of HA did not appreciably alter the frictional behavior
      between the model surfaces. No synergistic effect on friction behavior was seen
      in a physiological mixture of lubricin and HA. Lubricin can equally mediate the
      frictional response between both hydrophilic and hydrophobic surfaces, likely
      fully preventing direct surface-to-surface contact at sufficient concentrations,
      whereas HA provides considerably less boundary lubrication.

PMID- 20936047
TI  - Is miR-29 an oncogene or tumor suppressor in CLL?
AB  - B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), the most common leukemia in the
      Western world. CLL occurs in two forms, aggressive and indolent. Aggressive CLL
      is characterized by high ZAP-70 expression and unmutated IgH V(H); indolent CLL
      shows low ZAP-70 expression and mutated IgH V(H). We recently found that miR-29
      is up-regulated in indolent human B-CLL, compared to aggressive B-CLL and normal
      CD19(+) B-cells. To determine the role of miR-29 in CLL, we generated transgenic
      mice over-expressing miR-29 in mouse B-cells. Recently we reported that miR-29
      transgenic mice develop indolent CLL phenotype. Interestingly, our previous
      findings suggest that miR-29 targets expression of TCL1, a critical oncogene in
      aggressive CLL, indicating that miR-29 might function as a tumor suppressor in
      CLL. Here we discuss these results and provide additional insights into function
      of miR-29 in CLL.

PMID- 20936048
TI  - Effects of Garlic on Cytochromes P450 2C9- and 3A4-Mediated Drug Metabolism in
      Human Hepatocytes.
AB  - Several reports suggest garlic supplements may inhibit the metabolism of
      cytochrome P450 (CYP) 2C9 and CYP3A4 substrates, such as warfarin and saquinavir.
      To characterize the effects of garlic extract on CYP2C9 and CYP3A4 enzyme
      activity immortalized human hepatocytes (Fa2N-4 cells) were exposed to garlic
      extract (0-200 MUg/mL). CYP2C9 and CYP3A4 enzyme activities were evaluated in
      parallel with enzymatic activities, expression of respective RNA transcripts was
      also assessed.Exposure to increasing concentrations of garlic extract led to
      progressive reduction in Fa2N-4 CYP2C9 activity as detected by diclofenac
      hydroxylation. CYP2C9 mRNA expression also revealed a concentration-dependent
      reduction. Greater than 90% reduction in CYP2C9 activity was observed following
      four days of exposure to 50 MUg/mL garlic extract. In contrast, exposure to
      garlic extract had no effect on the CYP3A4 enzymatic activity or RNA transcript
      concentration in Fa2N-4. Therefore, suppression of CYP2C9 expression and activity
      is a heretofore unrecognized mechanism by which garlic extract may modulate CYP
      activity. Exposure of hepatocytes to garlic extract may reduce the expression and
      activity of CYP2C9 with no detectible effects on CYP3A4.

PMID- 20936049
TI  - Children's and Adults' Conceptualization and Evaluation of Lying and Truth
      telling.
AB  - The present study examined children's and adults' categorization and moral
      judgment of truthful and untruthful statements. 7-, 9-and 11-year-old Chinese
      children and college students read stories in which story characters made
      truthful or untruthful statements and were asked to classify and evaluate the
      statements. The statements varied in terms of whether the speaker intended to
      help or harm a listener and whether the statement was made in a setting that
      called for informational accuracy or politeness. Results showed that the
      communicative intent and setting factors jointly influence children's
      categorization of lying and truth-telling, which extends an earlier finding (Lee
      & Ross, 1997) to childhood. Also, we found that children's and adults' moral
      judgments of lying and truth-telling were influenced by the communicative intent
      but not the setting factor. The present results were discussed in terms of
      Sweetser's (1987) folkloristic model of lying.

PMID- 20936050
TI  - USE OF EXPERT RATINGS AS SAMPLING STRATA FOR A MORE COST-EFFECTIVE PROBABILITY
      SAMPLE OF A RARE POPULATION.
AB  - We consider situations in which externally observable characteristics allow
      experts to quickly categorize individual households as likely or unlikely to
      contain a member of a rare target population. This classification can form the
      basis of disproportionate stratified sampling such that households classified as
      "unlikely" are sampled at a lower rate than those classified as "likely," thereby
      reducing screening costs. Design weights account for this approach and allow
      unbiased estimates for the target population.We demonstrate that with sensitivity
      and specificity of expert classification at least 70%, and ideally at least 80%,
      our approach can economically increase effective sample size for a rare
      population. We develop heuristics for implementing this approach and demonstrate
      that sensitivity drives design effects and screening costs whereas specificity
      only drives the latter. We demonstrate that the potential gains from this
      approach increase as the target population becomes rarer. We further show that
      for most applications, unlikely strata should be sampled at 1/6 to 1/2 the rate
      of likely strata.This approach was applied to a survey of Cambodian immigrants in
      which the 82% of households rated "unlikely" were sampled at 1/4 the rate as
      "likely" households, reducing screening from 9.4 to 4.0 approaches per complete.
      Sensitivity and specificity were 86% and 91% respectively. Weighted estimation
      had a design effect of 1.26 so screening costs per effective sample size were
      reduced 47%. We also note that in this instance, expert classification appeared
      to be uncorrelated with survey outcomes of interest among eligibles.

PMID- 20936051
TI  - DETECTION PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS FOR TIME-OF-FLIGHT PET.
AB  - In this paper, we investigate the performance of time-of-flight (TOF) PET in
      improving lesion detectability. We present a theoretical approach to compare
      lesion detectability of TOF versus non-TOF systems. Computer simulations are
      performed to validate the theoretical predictions. A TOF PET tomograph is
      simulated using the SimSET software. Images are reconstructed from list-mode data
      using a maximum a posteriori (MAP) method. We use a channelized Hotelling
      observer (CHO) to assess the detection performance. Both the receiver operating
      characteristic (ROC) and localization ROC (LROC) curves are compared for the TOF
      and non-TOF PET systems. We also study the SNR gains for TOF PET with different
      scatter and random fractions. Simulation results match with the theoretical
      predictions very well. Both results show that the TOF information improves lesion
      detectability and the improvement is greater with larger fractions of randoms and
      scatters.

PMID- 20936053
TI  - Contrast-enhanced microwave imaging of breast tumors: a computational study using
      3-D realistic numerical phantoms.
AB  - The detection of early-stage tumors in the breast by microwave imaging is
      challenged by both the moderate endogenous dielectric contrast between healthy
      and malignant glandular tissues and the spatial resolution available from
      illumination at microwave frequencies. The high endogenous dielectric contrast
      between adipose and fibroglandular tissue structures increases the difficulty of
      tumor detection due to the high dynamic range of the contrast function to be
      imaged and the low level of signal scattered from a tumor relative to the clutter
      scattered by normal tissue structures. Microwave inverse scattering techniques,
      used to estimate the complete spatial profile of the dielectric properties within
      the breast, have the potential to reconstruct both normal and cancerous tissue
      structures. However, the ill-posedness of the associated inverse problem often
      limits the frequency of microwave illumination to the UHF band within which early
      stage cancers have sub-wavelength dimensions. In this computational study, we
      examine the reconstruction of small, compact tumors in three-dimensional
      numerical breast phantoms by a multiple-frequency inverse scattering solution.
      Computer models are also employed to investigate the use of exogenous contrast
      agents for enhancing tumor detection. Simulated array measurements are acquired
      before and after the introduction of the assumed contrast effects for two
      specific agents currently under consideration for breast imaging: microbubbles
      and carbon nanotubes. Differential images of the applied contrast demonstrate the
      potential of the approach for detecting the preferential uptake of contrast
      agents by malignant tissues.

PMID- 20936054
TI  - Children's Critical Thinking When Learning From Others.
AB  - A key component of critical thinking is the ability to evaluate the statements of
      other people. Because information that is obtained from others is not always
      accurate, it is important that children learn to reason about it critically. By
      as early as age 3, children understand that people sometimes communicate
      inaccurate information and that some individuals are more reliable sources than
      others. However, in many contexts, even older children fail to evaluate sources
      critically. Recent research points to the role of social experience in explaining
      why children often fail to engage in critical reasoning.

PMID- 20936055
TI  - Variable Selection and Updating In Model-Based Discriminant Analysis for High
      Dimensional Data with Food Authenticity Applications.
AB  - Food authenticity studies are concerned with determining if food samples have
      been correctly labelled or not. Discriminant analysis methods are an integral
      part of the methodology for food authentication. Motivated by food authenticity
      applications, a model-based discriminant analysis method that includes variable
      selection is presented. The discriminant analysis model is fitted in a semi
      supervised manner using both labeled and unlabeled data. The method is shown to
      give excellent classification performance on several high-dimensional multiclass
      food authenticity datasets with more variables than observations. The variables
      selected by the proposed method provide information about which variables are
      meaningful for classification purposes. A headlong search strategy for variable
      selection is shown to be efficient in terms of computation and achieves excellent
      classification performance. In applications to several food authenticity
      datasets, our proposed method outperformed default implementations of Random
      Forests, AdaBoost, transductive SVMs and Bayesian Multinomial Regression by
      substantial margins.

PMID- 20936057
TI  - Photo-Crosslinked Poly(epsilon-caprolactone fumarate) Networks: Roles of
      Crystallinity and Crosslinking Density in Determining Mechanical Properties.
AB  - We present a material design strategy of combining crystallinity and crosslinking
      to control the mechanical properties of polymeric biomaterials. Three
      polycaprolactone fumarates (PCLF530, PCLF1250, and PCLF2000) synthesized from the
      precursor polycaprolactone (PCL) diols with nominal molecular weights of 530,
      1250, and 2000 g.mol(-1), respectively, were employed to fabricate polymer
      networks via photo-crosslinking process. Five different amounts of photo
      crosslinking initiator were applied during fabrication in order to understand the
      role of photoinitiator in modulating the crosslinking characteristics and
      physical properties of PCLF networks. Thermal properties such as glass transition
      temperature (T(g)), melting temperature (T(m)), and degradation temperature
      (T(d)) of photo-crosslinked PCLFs were examined and correlated with their
      rheological and mechanical properties.

PMID- 20936058
TI  - Lewis Acid-Promoted Mukaiyama Aldol-Prins (MAP) Cyclizations of Acetals, Ketals,
      alpha-Acetoxy Ethers, and Orthoformates.
AB  - The Mukaiyama aldol-Prins (MAP) cyclization of acetals stereoselectively provided
      substituted tetrahydropyrans. The scope of the reaction has been expanded to
      include other electrophiles, including ketals and alpha-acetoxy ethers. Finally,
      a double MAP cyclization with orthoformates is described.

PMID- 20936059
TI  - Comparison of photopic negative response of full-field and focal
      electroretinograms in detecting glaucomatous eyes.
AB  - Purpose. To compare the photopic negative response (PhNR) of the full-field
      electroretinogram (ERG) to the PhNR of the focal ERGs in detecting glaucoma.
      Methods. One hundred and three eyes with glaucoma and 42 normal eyes were
      studied. Full-field ERGs were elicited by red stimuli on a blue background. The
      focal ERGs were elicited by a 15 degrees  white stimulus spot centered on the
      macula, the superotemporal or the inferotemporal areas of the macula. Results. In
      early glaucoma, the areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves
      (AUCs) were significantly larger for the focal PhNR (0.863-0.924) than those for
      the full-field PhNR (0.666-0.748) (P < .05). The sensitivity was significantly
      higher for the focal PhNR than for the full-field PhNR in early (P < .01) and
      intermediate glaucoma (P < .05). In advanced glaucoma, there was no difference in
      the AUCs and sensitivities between the focal and full-field PhNRs. Conclusions.
      The focal ERG has the diagnostic ability with higher sensitivity in detecting
      early and intermediate glaucoma than the full-field ERG.

PMID- 20936056
TI  - Diabetes: Models, Signals, and Control.
AB  - The control of diabetes is an interdisciplinary endeavor, which includes a
      significant biomedical engineering component, with traditions of success
      beginning in the early 1960s. It began with modeling of the insulin-glucose
      system, and progressed to large-scale in silico experiments, and automated closed
      loop control (artificial pancreas). Here, we follow these engineering efforts
      through the last, almost 50 years. We begin with the now classic minimal modeling
      approach and discuss a number of subsequent models, which have recently resulted
      in the first in silico simulation model accepted as substitute to animal trials
      in the quest for optimal diabetes control. We then review metabolic monitoring,
      with a particular emphasis on the new continuous glucose sensors, on the analyses
      of their time-series signals, and on the opportunities that they present for
      automation of diabetes control. Finally, we review control strategies that have
      been successfully employed in vivo or in silico, presenting a promise for the
      development of a future artificial pancreas and, in particular, discuss a modular
      architecture for building closed-loop control systems, including insulin delivery
      and patient safety supervision layers. We conclude with a brief discussion of the
      unique interactions between human physiology, behavioral events, engineering
      modeling and control relevant to diabetes.

PMID- 20936060
TI  - Cellular origin of spontaneous ganglion cell spike activity in animal models of
      retinitis pigmentosa.
AB  - Here we review evidence that loss of photoreceptors due to degenerative retinal
      disease causes an increase in the rate of spontaneous ganglion spike discharge.
      Information about persistent spike activity is important since it is expected to
      add noise to the communication between the eye and the brain and thus impact the
      design and effective use of retinal prosthetics for restoring visual function in
      patients blinded by disease. Patch-clamp recordings from identified types of ON
      and OFF retinal ganglion cells in the adult (36-210 d old) rd1 mouse show that
      the ongoing oscillatory spike activity in both cell types is driven by strong
      rhythmic synaptic input from presynaptic neurons that is blocked by CNQX. The
      recurrent synaptic activity may arise in a negative feedback loop between a
      bipolar cell and an amacrine cell that exhibits resonant behavior and
      oscillations in membrane potential when the normal balance between excitation and
      inhibition is disrupted by the absence of photoreceptor input.

PMID- 20936063
TI  - Maintaining parallel systems.

PMID- 20936061
TI  - Efficient transduction of feline neural progenitor cells for delivery of glial
      cell line-derived neurotrophic factor using a feline immunodeficiency virus-based
      lentiviral construct.
AB  - Work has shown that stem cell transplantation can rescue or replace neurons in
      models of retinal degenerative disease. Neural progenitor cells (NPCs) modified
      to overexpress neurotrophic factors are one means of providing sustained delivery
      of therapeutic gene products in vivo. To develop a nonrodent animal model of this
      therapeutic strategy, we previously derived NPCs from the fetal cat brain
      (cNPCs). Here we use bicistronic feline lentiviral vectors to transduce cNPCs
      with glial cell-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) together with a GFP reporter
      gene. Transduction efficacy is assessed, together with transgene expression level
      and stability during induction of cellular differentiation, together with the
      influence of GDNF transduction on growth and gene expression profile. We show
      that GDNF overexpressing cNPCs expand in vitro, coexpress GFP, and secrete high
      levels of GDNF protein-before and after differentiation-all qualities
      advantageous for use as a cell-based approach in feline models of neural
      degenerative disease.

PMID- 20936064
TI  - Searching for common ground: public access policy and the Scholarly Publishing
      Roundtable.

PMID- 20936066
TI  - Basic list of veterinary medical serials, third edition: using a decision matrix
      to update the core list of veterinary journals.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This paper presents the methods and results of a study designed to
      produce the third edition of the "Basic List of Veterinary Medical Serials,"
      which was established by the Veterinary Medical Libraries Section in 1976 and
      last updated in 1986. METHODS: A set of 238 titles were evaluated using a
      decision matrix in order to systematically assign points for both objective and
      subjective criteria and determine an overall score for each journal. Criteria
      included: coverage in four major indexes, scholarly impact rank as tracked in two
      sources, identification as a recommended journal in preparing for specialty board
      examinations, and a veterinary librarian survey rating. RESULTS: Of the 238
      titles considered, a minimum scoring threshold determined the 123 (52%) journals
      that constituted the final list. The 36 subject categories represented on the
      list include general and specialty disciplines in veterinary medicine. A ranked
      list of journals and a list by subject category were produced. CONCLUSION:
      Serials appearing on the third edition of the "Basic List of Veterinary Medical
      Serials" met expanded objective measures of quality and impact as well as
      subjective perceptions of value by both librarians and veterinary practitioners.

PMID- 20936065
TI  - Biomedical text summarization to support genetic database curation: using
      Semantic MEDLINE to create a secondary database of genetic information.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This paper examines the development and evaluation of an automatic
      summarization system in the domain of molecular genetics. The system is a
      potential component of an advanced biomedical information management application
      called Semantic MEDLINE and could assist librarians in developing secondary
      databases of genetic information extracted from the primary literature. METHODS:
      An existing summarization system was modified for identifying biomedical text
      relevant to the genetic etiology of disease. The summarization system was
      evaluated on the task of identifying data describing genes associated with
      bladder cancer in MEDLINE citations. A gold standard was produced using records
      from Genetics Home Reference and Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man. Genes in
      text found by the system were compared to the gold standard. Recall, precision,
      and F-measure were calculated. RESULTS: The system achieved recall of 46%, and
      precision of 88% (F-measure=0.61) by taking Gene References into Function
      (GeneRIFs) into account. CONCLUSION: The new summarization schema for genetic
      etiology has potential as a component in Semantic MEDLINE to support the work of
      data curators.

PMID- 20936067
TI  - Mapping the literature of health education: 2006-2008.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The study updates Schloman's 1997 study, "Mapping the Literature of
      Health Education." The authors identify an updated list of core health education
      journals and determine the coverage of these journals by electronic indexes.
      METHODS: Citations from four source journals for the years 2006 to 2008 were
      analyzed using the established methodology of the "Mapping the Literature of
      Allied Health Project." The cited journals were divided into three zones of
      productivity by using Bradford's Law of Scattering. RESULTS: There were 19,907
      citations in 602 source articles. Journal articles were the most commonly cited
      format type. Of the 1,896 journal titles cited, 20 (1.1%) made up the core
      journals. Together, the fields of medicine, health education, and psychology
      accounted for 85.0% of the journals in the core. Self-citation was found to be a
      common practice in the source journals. Scopus had the broadest journal coverage
      of the indexes examined. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study provide a new
      picture of the health education literature: The volume has grown significantly,
      cites older materials, and relies less on sexual health journals and more on
      psychology journals.

PMID- 20936068
TI  - Evaluating a health sciences library residency program: what have we learned?

PMID- 20936069
TI  - Providing access to licensed content for care providers statewide: lessons
      learned.

PMID- 20936070
TI  - Impact of online journals on citation patterns of dentistry, nursing, and
      pharmacy faculty.

PMID- 20936071
TI  - An analysis of reference services usage at a regional academic health sciences
      library.

PMID- 20936073
TI  - Immune thrombocytopenia in a challenging case of disseminated tuberculosis: a
      case report and review of the literature.
AB  - Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) continues to predominate the cause of morbidity,
      and mortality in the developing world. The disease affects all the organ systems,
      and presents in various pathologic disease states. We report an uncommon
      manifestation of this rather common infectious disease in a 19-year-old male.
      Immune-mediated thrombocytopenia occurring as a consequence of the tuberculosis
      infection itself is an exceedingly rare occurrence, and at the time of writing of
      this paper, only 15 such published reports exist in the English literature so
      far.

PMID- 20936072
TI  - The Roles of UmuD in Regulating Mutagenesis.
AB  - All organisms are subject to DNA damage from both endogenous and environmental
      sources. DNA damage that is not fully repaired can lead to mutations. Mutagenesis
      is now understood to be an active process, in part facilitated by lower-fidelity
      DNA polymerases that replicate DNA in an error-prone manner. Y-family DNA
      polymerases, found throughout all domains of life, are characterized by their
      lower fidelity on undamaged DNA and their specialized ability to copy damaged
      DNA. Two E. coli Y-family DNA polymerases are responsible for copying damaged DNA
      as well as for mutagenesis. These DNA polymerases interact with different forms
      of UmuD, a dynamic protein that regulates mutagenesis. The UmuD gene products,
      regulated by the SOS response, exist in two principal forms: UmuD(2), which
      prevents mutagenesis, and UmuD(2)', which facilitates UV-induced mutagenesis.
      This paper focuses on the multiple conformations of the UmuD gene products and
      how their protein interactions regulate mutagenesis.

PMID- 20936074
TI  - Characteristics of interstitial fibrosis and inflammatory cell infiltration in
      right ventricles of systemic sclerosis-associated pulmonary arterial
      hypertension.
AB  - Objective. Systemic sclerosis-associated pulmonary arterial hypertension (SScPAH)
      has a disturbed function of the right ventricle (RV) when compared to idiopathic
      PAH (IPAH). Systemic sclerosis may also affect the heart. We hypothesize that RV
      differences may occur at the level of interstitial inflammation and-fibrosis and
      compared inflammatory cell infiltrate and fibrosis between the RV of SScPAH,
      IPAH, and healthy controls. Methods. Paraffin-embedded tissue samples of RV and
      left ventricle (LV) from SScPAH (n = 5) and IPAH (n = 9) patients and controls (n
      = 4) were picrosirius red stained for detection of interstitial fibrosis, which
      was quantified semiautomatically. Neutrophilic granulocytes (MPO), macrophages
      (CD68), and lymphocytes (CD45) were immunohistochemically stained and only
      interstitial leukocytes were counted. Presence of epi- or endocardial
      inflammation, and of perivascular or intimal fibrosis of coronary arteries was
      assessed semiquantitatively (0-3: absent to extensive). Results. RV's of SScPAH
      showed significantly more inflammatory cells than of IPAH (cells/mm(2), mean +/-
      sd MPO 11 +/- 3 versus 6 +/- 1; CD68 11 +/- 3 versus 6 +/- 1; CD45 11 +/- 1
      versus 5 +/- 1 , P < .05) and than of controls. RV interstitial fibrosis was
      similar in SScPAH and IPAH (4 +/- 1 versus 5 +/- 1%, P = .9), and did not differ
      from controls (5 +/- 1%, P = .8). In 4 SScPAH and 5 IPAH RV's foci of replacement
      fibrosis were found. No differences were found on epi- or endocardial
      inflammation or on perivascular or intimal fibrosis of coronary arteries.
      Conclusion. SScPAH RVs display denser inflammatory infiltrates than IPAH, while
      they do not differ with respect to interstitial fibrosis. Whether increased
      inflammatory status is a contributor to altered RV function in SScPAH warrants
      further research.

PMID- 20936075
TI  - Serine protease variants encoded by Echis ocellatus venom gland cDNA: cloning and
      sequencing analysis.
AB  - Envenoming by Echis saw-scaled viper is the leading cause of death and morbidity
      in Africa due to snake bite. Despite its medical importance, there have been few
      investigations into the toxin composition of the venom of this viper. Here, we
      report the cloning of cDNA sequences encoding four groups or isoforms of the
      haemostasis-disruptive Serine protease proteins (SPs) from the venom glands of
      Echis ocellatus. All these SP sequences encoded the cysteine residues scaffold
      that form the 6-disulphide bonds responsible for the characteristic tertiary
      structure of venom serine proteases. All the Echis ocellatus EoSP groups showed
      varying degrees of sequence similarity to published viper venom SPs. However,
      these groups also showed marked intercluster sequence conservation across them
      which were significantly different from that of previously published viper SPs.
      Because viper venom SPs exhibit a high degree of sequence similarity and yet
      exert profoundly different effects on the mammalian haemostatic system, no
      attempt was made to assign functionality to the new Echis ocellatus EoSPs on the
      basis of sequence alone. The extraordinary level of interspecific and
      intergeneric sequence conservation exhibited by the Echis ocellatus EoSPs and
      analogous serine proteases from other viper species leads us to speculate that
      antibodies to representative molecules should neutralise (that we will exploit,
      by epidermal DNA immunization) the biological function of this important group of
      venom toxins in vipers that are distributed throughout Africa, the Middle East,
      and the Indian subcontinent.

PMID- 20936077
TI  - Developmental Patterns of Social Trust between Early and Late Adolescence: Age
      and School Climate Effects.
AB  - Social trust (i.e., beliefs that people are generally fair and trustworthy) is
      important to the functioning of democracies and trend studies show it has
      declined. We test hypotheses concerning the development of these beliefs in
      adolescence. Based on surveys of 1535 adolescents collected over two years, we
      find that middle and late adolescents had significantly lower levels of trust
      than early adolescents and that these beliefs became more stable and less related
      to interpersonal trust between early and late adolescence. Results of multiple
      group SEMs revealed that, regardless of age, adolescents' reports that a strong
      sense of student solidarity characterized their school significantly increased ST
      at T2, controlling for levels at T1, and opportunities to exchange perspectives
      with fellow students increased ST at T2 indirectly, through feelings of student
      solidarity. The study points to the role of schools in nurturing the democratic
      dispositions of younger generations.

PMID- 20936076
TI  - Aza-[3 + 3] Annulations: A New Unified Strategy in Alkaloid Synthesis.

PMID- 20936078
TI  - Predictors of Criminal Charges for Youth in Public Mental Health during the
      Transition to Adulthood.
AB  - Dual involvement with the mental health system and justice system is relatively
      frequent for young adults with mental health problems, yet the research on
      factors predictive of dual involvement is incomplete. This study extends past
      research on predictors of criminal charges for people in the public mental health
      system in four ways. First, this study expands the longitudinal study period to
      include the time of transition to adulthood, from 16 to 25 years of age. Second,
      this study separately predicts specific types of criminal charges, including
      violent, property, drug, and nuisance charges. Third, this study examines whether
      residential treatment or inpatient hospitalization are predictive of criminal
      charges. Fourth, this study stratifies prediction by gender. Findings indicated
      high levels of dual involvement during this time period. In general, males and
      people diagnosed with substance use disorder or conduct disorder were more likely
      to have a criminal charge. Other predictors of specific criminal charges varied
      by gender. Residential treatment, inpatient hospitalization, and anxiety disorder
      were generally not related to criminal charges. Implications for cross-system
      collaboration and early intervention are discussed.

PMID- 20936079
TI  - Screening and brief intervention for unhealthy drug use in primary care settings:
      randomized clinical trials are needed.
AB  - The efficacy of screening and brief intervention (SBI) for drug use in primary
      care patients is largely unknown. Because of this lack of evidence, US
      professional organizations do not recommend it. Yet, a strong theoretical case
      can be made for drug SBI. Drug use is common and associated with numerous health
      consequences, patients usually do not seek help for drug abuse and dependence,
      and SBI has proven efficacy for unhealthy alcohol use. On the other hand, the
      diversity of drugs of abuse and the high prevalence of abuse and dependence among
      those who use them raise concerns that drug SBI may have limited or no efficacy.
      Federal efforts to disseminate SBI for drug use are underway, and reimbursement
      codes to compensate clinicians for these activities have been developed. However,
      the discrepancies between science and policy developments underscore the need for
      evidence-based research regarding the efficacy of SBI for drug use. This article
      discusses the rationale for drug SBI and existing research on its potential to
      improve drug-use outcomes and makes the argument that randomized controlled
      trials to determine its efficacy are urgently needed to bridge the gap between
      research, policy, and clinical practice.

PMID- 20936081
TI  - Flexible Applications of the Coping Cat Program for Anxious Youth.
AB  - The current article offers suggestions for ways to adapt empirically supported
      treatments (ESTs). A specific manualized EST (Coping Cat; Kendall & Hedtke,
      2006a) is used to illustrate the concept of "flexibility within fidelity"
      (Kendall & Beidas, 2007; Kendall, Gosch, Furr, & Sood, 2008). Flexibility within
      fidelity stresses the importance of using ESTs while considering and taking into
      account individual client presentations. In this discussion, recommendations are
      offered for the use of the Coping Cat with younger youth, adolescents, and youth
      with secondary comorbidities (i.e., social skills deficits, inattentive symptoms,
      and depressive symptoms).

PMID- 20936080
TI  - Language in schizophrenia Part 1: an Introduction.
AB  - This is the first of two articles that discuss higher-order language and semantic
      processing in schizophrenia. This article reviews clinical characterizations of
      language output and the phenomenon of positive thought disorder, as well as more
      principled characterizations of language output in schizophrenia. It also gives
      an overview of evidence for the predominant theory of language dysfunction in
      schizophrenia: that it arises from abnormalities in (a) semantic memory and/or
      (b) working memory and executive function. The companion article (Part 2) focuses
      on the study of language in schizophrenia using online psycholinguistic methods
      and considers how the study of schizophrenia may inform our understanding of
      normal language processing.

PMID- 20936082
TI  - Efficient microwave-assisted one-pot preparation of angular 2,2-dimethyl-2H
      chromone containing compounds.
AB  - A novel and efficient microwave-assisted one-pot reaction was developed to
      synthesize angular 2,2-dimethyl-2H-chromone containing compounds, which is the
      first and key step in the synthesis of potent DCK and DCP anti-HIV agents. The
      newly developed microwave synthesis conditions dramatically shortened the
      reaction time from 2 days to 4 hours with improved yields.

PMID- 20936085
TI  - Cross-Field Differences in Creative Problem-Solving Skills: A Comparison of
      Health, Biological, and Social Sciences.
AB  - In the present study, 258 doctoral students working in the health, biological,
      and social sciences were asked to solve a series of field-relevant problems
      calling for creative thought. Proposed solutions to these problems were scored
      with respect to critical creative thinking skills such as problem definition,
      conceptual combination, and idea generation. Results indicated that health,
      biological, and social scientists differed with respect to their skill in
      executing various operations, or processes, involved in creative thought.
      Interestingly, no differences were observed as a function of the students' level
      of experience. The implications of these findings for understanding cross-field,
      and cross-experience level, differences in creative thought are discussed.

PMID- 20936084
TI  - Porphyrins as Molecular Electronic Components of Functional Devices.
AB  - The proposal that molecules can perform electronic functions in devices such as
      diodes, rectifiers, wires, capacitors, or serve as functional materials for
      electronic or magnetic memory, has stimulated intense research across physics,
      chemistry, and engineering for over 35 years. Because biology uses porphyrins and
      metalloporphyrins as catalysts, small molecule transporters, electrical conduits,
      and energy transducers in photosynthesis, porphyrins are an obvious class of
      molecules to investigate for molecular electronic functions. Of the numerous
      kinds of molecules under investigation for molecular electronics applications,
      porphyrins and their related macrocycles are of particular interest because they
      are robust and their electronic properties can be tuned by chelation of a metal
      ion and substitution on the macrocycle. The other porphyrinoids have equally
      variable and adjustable photophysical properties, thus photonic applications are
      potentiated. At least in the near term, realistic architectures for molecular
      electronics will require self-organization or nanoprinting on surfaces. This
      review concentrates on self-organized porphyrinoids as components of working
      electronic devices on electronically active substrates with particular emphasis
      on the effect of surface, molecular design, molecular orientation and matrix on
      the detailed electronic properties of single molecules.

PMID- 20936086
TI  - Parental Work Schedules and Adolescent Depression.
AB  - Using a large contemporary United States data set, the National Longitudinal
      Survey of Youth-Child Supplement (NLSY-CS), this paper examines the relationship
      between parental work schedules and adolescent depression at age 13 or 14, paying
      particular attention to the mechanisms that may explain this relationship.
      Analysis based on structural equation modeling showed that increased work at
      night by mothers was significantly associated with a lower quality of home
      environment and fewer meals together, and this mediator was significantly linked
      to increased risks for adolescent depression. In addition, evening work by
      fathers was significantly associated with lower paternal closeness and this
      mediator was significantly associated with increases in adolescent depression. In
      contrast, irregular shifts by both mothers and fathers increased the likelihood
      of mothers knowing where the child was and this relationship in turn reduced
      adolescent depression. Implications and avenues for future research were
      discussed.

PMID- 20936087
TI  - Subject Recruitment and Retention against Quadruple Challenges in an Intervention
      Trial of End-of-Life Communication.
AB  - Studies of end-of-life care face difficulties associated with enrollment and
      attrition. Information and exemplars can help end-of-life care researchers
      anticipate such difficulties and customize recruitment and retention strategies
      to achieve planned sample sizes. We analyzed data on recruitment and retention
      efforts used in a clinical trial of an end-of-life communication intervention
      that involved African American dialysis patients and their chosen surrogate
      decision makers. Despite the challenges the trial faced (e.g., recruiting a
      minority group of patients who were seriously ill, had a surrogate decision maker
      willing to join the study, and were willing to engage in end-of-life
      discussions), the planned sample size was met, and nearly 90% of the participants
      completed the study. Various strategies were used to sustain accrual during the
      study. Although a total of 16 contacts per dyad had been planned from enrollment
      to 3-months data collection, 27 contacts were actually needed. The strategies and
      procedures used in this study may be pertinent to other studies that involve
      African Americans with serious illness and require dyadic participation.

PMID- 20936088
TI  - On the incrementality of pragmatic processing: An ERP investigation of
      informativeness and pragmatic abilities.
AB  - In two event-related potential (ERP) experiments, we determined to what extent
      Grice's maxim of informativeness as well as pragmatic ability contributes to the
      incremental build-up of sentence meaning, by examining the impact of
      underinformative versus informative scalar statements (e.g. "Some people have
      lungs/pets, and...") on the N400 event-related potential (ERP), an
      electrophysiological index of semantic processing. In Experiment 1, only
      pragmatically skilled participants (as indexed by the Autism Quotient
      Communication subscale) showed a larger N400 to underinformative statements. In
      Experiment 2, this effect disappeared when the critical words were unfocused so
      that the local underinformativeness went unnoticed (e.g., "Some people have lungs
      that..."). Our results suggest that, while pragmatic scalar meaning can
      incrementally contribute to sentence comprehension, this contribution is
      dependent on contextual factors, whether these are derived from individual
      pragmatic abilities or the overall experimental context.

PMID- 20936089
TI  - ?
AB  - Comment aider les enfants a reussir a l'ecole et, plus generalement, a developper
      leurs capacites intellectuelles ? Les resultats de travaux fondamentaux en
      psychologie et en neurosciences permettent de proposer des methodes pedagogiques
      efficaces, bien qu'elles semblent parfois aller contre le bon sens.

PMID- 20936090
TI  - Hierarchically structured, hyaluronic acid-based hydrogel matrices via the
      covalent integration of microgels into macroscopic networks.
AB  - We aimed to develop biomimetic hydrogel matrices that not only exhibit structural
      hierarchy and mechanical integrity, but also present biological cues in a
      controlled fashion. To this end, photocrosslinkable, hyaluronic acid (HA)-based
      hydrogel particles (HGPs) were synthesized via an inverse emulsion crosslinking
      process followed by chemical modification with glycidyl methacrylate (GMA). HA
      modified with GMA (HA-GMA) was employed as the soluble macromer. Macroscopic
      hydrogels containing covalently integrated hydrogel particles (HA-c-HGP) were
      prepared by radical polymerization of HA-GMA in the presence of crosslinkable
      HGPs. The covalent linkages between the hydrogel particles and the secondary HA
      matrix resulted in the formation of a diffuse, fibrilar interface around the
      particles. Compared to the traditional bulk gels synthesized by photocrosslinking
      of HA-GMA, these hydrogels exhibited a reduced sol fraction and a lower
      equilibrium swelling ratio. When tested under uniaxial compression, the HA-c-HGP
      gels were more pliable than the HA-p-HGP gels and fractured at higher strain than
      the HA-GMA gels. Primary bovine chondrocytes were photoencapsulated in the HA
      matrices with minimal cell damage. The 3D microenvironment created by HA-GMA and
      HA HGPs not only maintained the chondrocyte phenotype but also fostered the
      production of cartilage specific extracellular matrix. To further improve the
      biological activities of the HA-c-HGP gels, bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP-2)
      was loaded into the immobilized HGPs. BMP-2 was released from the HA-c-HGP gels
      in a controlled manner with reduced initial burst over prolonged periods of time.
      The HA-c-HGP gels are promising candidates for use as bioactive matrices for
      cartilage tissue engineering.

PMID- 20936091
TI  - Quality Improvement in Nursing Homes: Identifying Depressed Residents is Critical
      to Improving Quality of Life.
AB  - The prevalence of depression in nursing home residents is three to five times
      higher than in older adults from the community.1 Depression is thought to be
      related to the gloomy institutionalized environment and an assortment of losses,
      including those associated with function, independence, social roles, friends and
      relatives, and past leisure activities.2 Despite the public's increased awareness
      of depression, it remains underrecognized and undertreated by professionals who
      care for older residents in nursing homes.3 It seems intuitive that depression
      must be recognized before it can be treated, yet our national long-term care
      system continues to utilize an unreliable scale from the Minimum Data Set as its
      foundation for assessment. Warnings of the scale's inadequacy have been sounded
      repeatedly almost since its conception4,5 and its potential role in lack of
      recognition and treatment of depression by nursing home staff, nurse
      practitioners, and physicians is a troubling one.The purpose of this article is
      to (1) report the prevalence of depression in a sub-sample of residents from a
      National Institutes of Health study whose depression was not detected by the MDS
      and, consequently, was previously untreated, (2) compare their nutritional and
      functional status with residents whose depressive states were previously detected
      by the MDS and treated, and (3) recommend quality improvement strategies for
      identification and treatment of depression in nursing home residents.

PMID- 20936092
TI  - Understanding the geographic distributions of apomictic plants: a case for a
      pluralistic approach.
AB  - Asexual organisms usually have larger, and in the Northern Hemisphere, more
      northern distributions than their sexual relatives. This phenomenon, called
      geographical parthenogenesis, has been attributed to predispositions in certain
      taxa, advantages of polyploidy and/or hybrid origin, advantages of uniparental
      reproduction, introgression of apomixis into sexuals, niche differentiation of
      clones, and biotic interactions. Here we focus on the role of uniparental
      reproduction in colonisation, and the importance of different developmental
      pathways, i.e. autonomous apomixis which does not require pollination and
      fertilisation of endosperm nuclei for successful seed set, and pseudogamous
      apomixis which does. A literature survey suggests that geographical
      parthenogenesis occurs frequently in species with autonomous apomixis, while the
      correlation with pseudogamy is poorly documented. However, taxonomic patterns
      (e.g. predominance of Asteraceae) and also methodological bias may influence
      estimates of frequencies of geographical parthenogenesis. We demonstrate that a
      flow cytometric seed screen (FCSS) is a powerful method for assessing
      pseudogamous vs. autonomous apomixis. We show that population genetic studies
      provide insights into the genetic diversity of apomicts, but do not give strong
      support for uniparental reproduction being the only explanation of geographical
      parthenogenesis. Molecular studies help elucidate the evolutionary and
      biogeographical history of apomictic complexes, and we conclude that
      multidisciplinary studies are needed to understand fully the phenomenon of
      geographical parthenogenesis.

PMID- 20936094
TI  - MARBIONC: Unleashing the Potential of NC's Marine Bio diversity.

PMID- 20936093
TI  - Behavioral Momentum: Translational Research in Intellectual and Developmental
      Disabilities.
AB  - Behavioral momentum theory (Nevin, 1992, Nevin & Grace, 2000) describes the
      relation between the characteristic level of reinforcement within a context and
      behavioral resistance to change within that context. This paper will describe the
      multiple-schedule-disrupter paradigm for basic behavioral momentum research and
      illustrate it with two representative examples from the literature with non-human
      subjects. The remainder of the paper will provide a review of translational
      research in human populations with intellectual and developmental disabilities
      (IDD) employing the multiple-schedule-disrupter paradigm and closely related
      variations. The results of this research show that the reinforcer-rate effects
      predicted by behavioral momentum theory are widely replicated in IDD populations.
      The intended audience for this paper is the practitioner interested in learning
      about the current status of translational research in behavioral momentum as a
      foundation for considering ways in which behavioral momentum theory may be
      relevant to clinical issues.

PMID- 20936095
TI  - Fluorine-18 chemistry in micro-reactors.
AB  - Recent applications of micro-reactor (microfluidics) technology to
      radiofluorination chemistry within our laboratory are presented, based on use of
      either a simple T-shaped glass micro-reactor or a more advanced microfluidics
      instrument. The topics include reaction optimization and radioligand production,
      in particular the study of the radiofluorination of diaryliodonium salts,
      [(18)F]fluoride ion exchange with xenon difluoride(,) esterification with
      [(18)F]2-fluoroethyl tosylate, and the syntheses of [(18)F]fallypride, [(18)F]FBR
      and [(18)F]SL702 from [(18)F]fluoride ion.

PMID- 20936096
TI  - Evaluating the Completeness of the SEER-Medicare Linked Database for Oral and
      Pharyngeal Cancer.
AB  - Oral and pharyngeal cancer is a persistent oral health problem. Baseline and
      trend data to measure progress are lacking. Our long-term goal is to create an
      algorithm using Medicare claims to identify oral and pharyngeal cancer cases
      among those ages 65 and older. The goal of this project was to assess the
      completeness of the SEER-Medicare linked database for identifying incident oral
      and pharyngeal cancer cases. We compared incidence rates from the "gold-standard"
      SEER limited-use database to those from the SEER-Medicare linked database using a
      quasi-likelihood extension of Poisson regression, allowing for over-dispersion.
      Adjustment for age, sex, race and ethnicity, and interaction terms between these
      explanatory variables with data source were used to assess the completeness of
      the SEER-Medicare linked database among these subgroups. Approximately 6.4% of
      the cases were missing from the SEER-Medicare linked database. The completeness
      varied by race and ethnicity (p=0.066). Future development of an algorithm to
      identify oral and pharyngeal cancer cases using Medicare claims alone can
      potentially identify over 93% of the cases; however, Hispanic, non-Hispanic
      black, and non-Hispanic other race and ethnicity subgroups will be less likely
      than non-Hispanic whites to be identified in such future algorithms.

PMID- 20936097
TI  - Cholesteryl Glucoside Stimulates Activation of Protein Kinase B/Akt in the Motor
      Neuron-Derived NSC34 Cell Line.
AB  - Steryl glycosides and related compounds are commonly found in the environment and
      have been associated with neurodegenerative changes in vulnerable individuals.
      However, their mechanisms of action in mammalian cells have not been well
      investigated. In the present study the effects of cholesterol glucoside (CG), a
      variant form of steryl glycoside, was investigated in the motor neuron-derived
      NSC34 cell line. Prolonged treatment with CG was found to induce cell death in a
      dose- and time-dependent manner. However, transient exposure of CG preconditioned
      NSC34 cells for stress from serum deprivation. To study the signaling pathways
      activated by CG, we employed the KinetworksTM KPSS 1.3 Phospho-site Screen to
      track the phosphorylation level of at least 35 diverse signaling proteins. The
      survival protein kinase B (PKB/Akt) displayed a 2-fold increase in
      phosphorylation at its Ser-473 activation site following CG stimulation. Akt
      signaling was important for conferring cytoprotection against serum deprivation
      induced stress. Inhibition of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K), which
      indirectly triggers Akt stimulation, completely abolished CG preconditioning
      against serum deprivation. Our findings revealed that there may be a PI3K
      independent pathway which also mediated Akt Ser-473 phosphorylation. Improved
      understanding of the mechanisms of action of CG should provide insights to the
      how other members of the steryl glycoside family induce toxicity in the mouse
      model of ALS-PDC, and how cells respond to these toxins.

PMID- 20936098
TI  - Conducting Functional Communication Training in Home Settings: A Case Study and
      Recommendations for Practitioners.
AB  - We coached a parent to conduct functional analysis and functional communication
      training (FCT) procedures in her home to reduce the destructive behavior
      displayed by her 2-year-old son. Descriptive assessment information and
      functional analysis results suggested that destructive behavior was maintained by
      escape from demands. After conducting a series of baseline probes, the parent
      implemented an FCT program to teach her son to comply with designated task
      requests and to mand for a break to play. Results showed that destructive
      behavior decreased and manding and independent task completion increased during
      FCT. Positive intervention outcomes were maintained for 1 year. Results are
      discussed with respect to developing an FCT program that is both efficient and
      acceptable for parents to implement in their homes.

PMID- 20936099
TI  - Soil Respiration in European Grasslands in Relation to Climate and Assimilate
      Supply.
AB  - Soil respiration constitutes the second largest flux of carbon (C) between
      terrestrial ecosystems and the atmosphere. This study provides a synthesis of
      soil respiration (R(s)) in 20 European grasslands across a climatic transect,
      including ten meadows, eight pastures and two unmanaged grasslands. Maximum rates
      of R(s) (R(s(max) )), R(s) at a reference soil temperature (10 degrees C; R(s(10)
      )) and annual R(s) (estimated for 13 sites) ranged from 1.9 to 15.9 MUmol CO(2)
      m(-2) s(-1), 0.3 to 5.5 MUmol CO(2) m(-2) s(-1) and 58 to 1988 g C m(-2) y(-1),
      respectively. Values obtained for Central European mountain meadows are amongst
      the highest so far reported for any type of ecosystem. Across all sites R(s(max)
      ) was closely related to R(s(10) ).Assimilate supply affected R(s) at timescales
      from daily (but not necessarily diurnal) to annual. Reductions of assimilate
      supply by removal of aboveground biomass through grazing and cutting resulted in
      a rapid and a significant decrease of R(s). Temperature-independent seasonal
      fluctuations of R(s) of an intensively managed pasture were closely related to
      changes in leaf area index (LAI). Across sites R(s(10) ) increased with mean
      annual soil temperature (MAT), LAI and gross primary productivity (GPP),
      indicating that assimilate supply overrides potential acclimation to prevailing
      temperatures. Also annual R(s) was closely related to LAI and GPP. Because the
      latter two parameters were coupled to MAT, temperature was a suitable surrogate
      for deriving estimates of annual R(s) across the grasslands studied. These
      findings contribute to our understanding of regional patterns of soil C fluxes
      and highlight the importance of assimilate supply for soil CO(2) emissions at
      various timescales.

PMID- 20936100
TI  - Novel neoclerodane diterpene derivatives from the smoke of salvinorin A.
AB  - Salvinorin A is a naturally-occurring potent and selective kappa opioid receptor
      agonist, and smoking salvinorin A produces the most intense hallucinogenic
      effects in human. Eight neoclerodane diterpene derivatives were isolated from the
      smoke of salvinorin A, and their structures were identified by spectroscopic
      methods. The major structural changes include epimerizations, eliminations, and
      rearrangements.

PMID- 20936103
TI  - Rapid increase in ownership and use of long-lasting insecticidal nets and
      decrease in prevalence of malaria in three regional States of ethiopia (2006
      2007).
AB  - Following recent large scale-up of malaria control interventions in Ethiopia,
      this study aimed to compare ownership and use of long-lasting insecticidal nets
      (LLIN), and the change in malaria prevalence using two population-based household
      surveys in three regions of the country. Each survey used multistage cluster
      random sampling with 25 households per cluster. Household net ownership tripled
      from 19.6% in 2006 to 68.4% in 2007, with mean LLIN per household increasing from
      0.3 to 1.2. Net use overall more than doubled from 15.3% to 34.5%, but in
      households owning LLIN, use declined from 71.7% to 48.3%. Parasitemia declined
      from 4.1% to 0.4%. Large scale-up of net ownership over a short period of time
      was possible. However, a large increase in net ownership was not necessarily
      mirrored directly by increased net use. Better targeting of nets to malaria-risk
      areas and sustained behavioural change communication are needed to increase and
      maintain net use.

PMID- 20936102
TI  - Developmental effects of perfluorononanoic Acid in the mouse are dependent on
      peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-alpha.
AB  - Perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA) is one of the perfluoroalkyl acids found in the
      environment and in tissues of humans and wildlife. Prenatal exposure to PFNA
      negatively impacts survival and development of mice and activates the mouse and
      human peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-alpha (PPARalpha). In the
      current study, we used PPARalpha knockout (KO) and 129S1/SvlmJ wild-type (WT)
      mice to investigate the role of PPARalpha in mediating PFNA-induced in vivo
      effects. Pregnant KO and WT mice were dosed orally with water (vehicle control:
      10 ml/kg), 0.83, 1.1, 1.5, or 2 mg/kg PFNA on gestational days (GDs) 1-18 (day of
      sperm plug = GD 0). Maternal weight gain, implantation, litter size, and pup
      weight at birth were unaffected in either strain. PFNA exposure reduced the
      number of live pups at birth and survival of offspring to weaning in the 1.1 and
      2 mg/kg groups in WT. Eye opening was delayed (mean delay 2.1 days) and pup
      weight at weaning was reduced in WT pups at 2 mg/kg. These developmental
      endpoints were not affected in the KO. Relative liver weight was increased in a
      dose-dependent manner in dams and pups of the WT strain at all dose levels but
      only slightly increased in the highest dose group in the KO strain. In summary,
      PFNA altered liver weight of dams and pups, pup survival, body weight, and
      development in the WT, while only inducing a slight increase in relative liver
      weight of dams and pups at 2 mg/kg in KO mice. These results suggest that
      PPARalpha is an essential mediator of PFNA-induced developmental toxicity in the
      mouse.

PMID- 20936101
TI  - Pharmacogenetics of Anti-Diabetes Drugs.
AB  - A variety of treatment modalities exist for individuals with type 2 diabetes
      mellitus (T2D). In addition to dietary and physical activity interventions, T2D
      is also treated pharmacologically with nine major classes of approved drugs.
      These medications include insulin and its analogues, sulfonylureas, biguanides,
      thiazolidinediones (TZDs), meglitinides, alpha-glucosidase inhibitors, amylin
      analogues, incretin hormone mimetics, and dipeptidyl peptidase 4 (DPP4)
      inhibitors. Pharmacological treatment strategies for T2D are typically based on
      efficacy, yet favorable responses to such therapeutics are oftentimes variable
      and difficult to predict. Characterization of drug response is expected to
      substantially enhance our ability to provide patients with the most effective
      treatment strategy given their individual backgrounds, yet pharmacogenetic study
      of diabetes medications is still in its infancy. To date, major pharmacogenetic
      studies have focused on response to sulfonylureas, biguanides, and TZDs. Here, we
      provide a comprehensive review of pharmacogenetics investigations of these
      specific anti-diabetes medications. We focus not only on the results of these
      studies, but also on how experimental design, study sample issues, and definition
      of 'response' can significantly impact our interpretation of findings.
      Understanding the pharmacogenetics of anti-diabetes medications will provide
      critical baseline information for the development and implementation of genetic
      screening into therapeutic decision making, and lay the foundation for
      "individualized medicine" for patients with T2D.

PMID- 20936104
TI  - Elevation of high-mobility group protein box-1 in serum correlates with severity
      of acute intracerebral hemorrhage.
AB  - High-mobility group protein box-1 (HMGB1) is a proinflammatory involved in many
      inflammatory diseases. However, its roles in intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH)
      remain unknown. The purpose of this study was to examine the correlation between
      changes in serum levels of HMGB1 following acute ICH and the severity of stroke
      as well as the underlying mechanism. Changes in serum levels of HMGB1 in 60
      consecutive patients with primary hemispheric ICH within 12 hours of onset of
      symptoms were determined. The correlation of HMGB1 with disease severity, IL-6,
      and TNF-alpha was analyzed. Changes in HMGB1 levels were detected with ELISA and
      Western blot. Compared with normal controls, patients with ICH had markedly
      elevated levels of HMGB1, which was significantly correlated with the levels of
      IL-6 and TNF-alpha, NIHSS score at the 10th day, and mRS score at 3 months. In
      comparison with the control group, the levels of HMGB1 in the perihematomal
      tissue in mice with ICH increased dramatically, peaked at 72 hours, and decreased
      at 5 days. Meanwhile, heme could stimulate cultured microglia to release large
      amounts of HMGB1 whereas Fe(2+/3+) ions failed to stimulate HMGB1 production from
      microglia. Our findings suggest that HMGB1 may play an essential role in the ICH
      caused inflammatory injury.

PMID- 20936105
TI  - Chromatin modifying agents in the in vitro production of bovine embryos.
AB  - The low efficiency observed in cloning by nuclear transfer is related to an
      aberrant gene expression following errors in epigenetic reprogramming. Recent
      studies have focused on further understanding of the modifications that take
      place in the chromatin of embryos during the preimplantation period, through the
      use of chromatin modifying agents. The goal of these studies is to identify the
      factors involved in nuclear reprogramming and to adjust in vitro manipulations in
      order to better mimic in vivo conditions. Therefore, proper knowledge of
      epigenetic reprogramming is necessary to prevent possible epigenetic errors and
      to improve efficiency and the use of in vitro fertilization and cloning
      technologies in cattle and other species.

PMID- 20936106
TI  - Unexpected high response rate to traditional therapy after dendritic cell-based
      vaccine in advanced melanoma: update of clinical outcome and subgroup analysis.
AB  - We reviewed the clinical results of a dendritic cell-based phase II clinical
      vaccine trial in stage IV melanoma and analyzed a patient subgroup treated with
      standard therapies after stopping vaccination. From 2003 to 2009, 24 metastatic
      melanoma patients were treated with mature dendritic cells pulsed with autologous
      tumor lysate and keyhole limpet hemocyanin and low-dose interleukin-2. Overall
      response (OR) to vaccination was 37.5% with a clinical benefit of 54.1%. All 14
      responders showed delayed type hypersensitivity positivity. Median overall
      survival (OS) was 15 months (95% CI, 8-33). Eleven patients underwent other
      treatments (3 surgery, 2 biotherapy, 2 radiotherapy, 2 chemotherapy, and 4
      biochemotherapy) after stopping vaccination. Of these, 2 patients had a complete
      response and 5 a partial response, with an OR of 63.6%. Median OS was 34 months
      (range 16-61). Our results suggest that therapeutic DC vaccination could favor
      clinical response in patients after more than one line of therapy.

PMID- 20936107
TI  - Toll-like receptor 3 in liver diseases.
AB  - Toll-like receptor 3 (TLR3) is a member of the TLR family that can recognize
      double-stranded RNA (dsRNA), playing an important role in antiviral immunity.
      Recent studies have shown that TLR3 is also expressed on parenchymal and
      nonparenchymal cells in the liver as well as on several types of immune cells. In
      this review, we summarize the role of TLR3 in liver injury, inflammation,
      regeneration, and liver fibrosis, and discuss the implication of TLR3 in the
      pathogenesis of human liver diseases including viral hepatitis and autoimmune
      liver disease.

PMID- 20936108
TI  - Changing concepts of "latent tuberculosis infection" in patients living with HIV
      infection.
AB  - One third of the world's population is estimated to be infected with
      Mycobacterium tuberculosis, representing a huge reservoir of potential
      tuberculosis (TB) disease. Risk of progression to active TB is highest in those
      with HIV coinfection. However, the nature of the host-pathogen relationship in
      those with "latent TB infection" and how this is affected by HIV coinfection are
      poorly understood. The traditional paradigm that distinguishes latent infection
      from active TB as distinct compartmentalised states is overly simplistic. Instead
      the host-pathogen relationship in "latent TB infection" is likely to represent a
      spectrum of immune responses, mycobacterial metabolic activity, and bacillary
      numbers. We propose that the impact of HIV infection might better be
      conceptualised as a shift of the spectrum towards poor immune control, higher
      mycobacterial metabolic activity, and greater organism load, with subsequent
      increased risk of progression to active disease. Here we discuss the evidence for
      such a model and the implications for interventions to control the HIV-associated
      TB epidemic.

PMID- 20936109
TI  - BRCA1 Forms a Functional Complex with gamma-H2AX as a Late Response to Genotoxic
      Stress.
AB  - Following genotoxic stress, the histone H2AX becomes phosphorylated at serine 139
      by the ATM/ATR family of kinases. The tumor suppressor BRCA1, also phosphorylated
      by ATM/ATR kinases, is one of several proteins that colocalize with phospho-H2AX
      (gamma-H2AX) at sites of active DNA repair. Both the precise mechanism and the
      purpose of BRCA1 recruitment to sites of DNA damage are unknown. Here we show
      that BRCA1 and gamma-H2AX form an acid-stable biochemical complex on chromatin
      after DNA damage. Maximal association of BRCA1 with gamma-H2AX correlates with
      reduced global gamma-H2AX levels on chromatin late in the repair process. Since
      BRCA1 is known to have E3 ubiquitin ligase activity in vitro, we examined H2AX
      for evidence of ubiquitination. We found that H2AX is ubiquitinated at lysines
      119 and 119 in vivo and that blockage of 26S proteasome function stabilizes gamma
      H2AX levels within cells. When BRCA1 levels were reduced, ubiquitination of H2AX
      was also reduced, and the cells retained higher levels of phosphorylated H2AX.
      These results indicate that BRCA1 is recruited into stable complexes with gamma
      H2AX and that the complex is involved in attenuation of the gamma-H2AX repair
      signal after DNA damage.

PMID- 20936110
TI  - Quiescent, slow-cycling stem cell populations in cancer: a review of the evidence
      and discussion of significance.
AB  - Long-lived cancer stem cells (CSCs) with indefinite proliferative potential have
      been identified in multiple epithelial cancer types. These cells are likely
      derived from transformed adult stem cells and are thought to share many
      characteristics with their parental population, including a quiescent slow
      cycling phenotype. Various label-retaining techniques have been used to identify
      normal slow cycling adult stem cell populations and offer a unique methodology to
      functionally identify and isolate cancer stem cells. The quiescent nature of CSCs
      represents an inherent mechanism that at least partially explains chemotherapy
      resistance and recurrence in posttherapy cancer patients. Isolating and
      understanding the cell cycle regulatory mechanisms of quiescent cancer cells will
      be a key component to creation of future therapies that better target CSCs and
      totally eradicate tumors. Here we review the evidence for quiescent CSC
      populations and explore potential cell cycle regulators that may serve as future
      targets for elimination of these cells.

PMID- 20936111
TI  - Etiological analysis of neurodevelopmental disabilities: single-center eight-year
      clinical experience in south China.
AB  - Etiology determination of neurodevelopmental disabilities (NDDs) currently
      remains a worldwide common challenge on child health. We herein reported the
      etiology distribution feature in a cohort of 285 Chinese patients with NDDs.
      Although concrete NDD etiologies in 48.4% of the total patients could not be
      identified, genetic diseases (with the proportion of 35.8% in the total cases)
      including inborn errors of metabolism (IEM) and congenital dysmorphic diseases,
      constituted the commonest etiology category for NDDs in this study. The two key
      experimental technologies in pediatric metabolomics, gas chromatography-mass
      spectrometry (GC-MS), and tandem mass spectrometry (MS-MS), proved to be
      substantially helpful for the exploration of the NDD etiologies in this clinical
      investigation. The findings in this paper provided latest epidemiologic
      information on the etiology distribution of NDDs in Chinese, and the syndromic
      NDDs caused by citrin deficiency and the novel chromosomal karyotype,
      respectively, further expanded the etiology spectrum of NDDs.

PMID- 20936112
TI  - Archaeal ubiquitin-like proteins: functional versatility and putative ancestral
      involvement in tRNA modification revealed by comparative genomic analysis.
AB  - The recent discovery of protein modification by SAMPs, ubiquitin-like (Ubl)
      proteins from the archaeon Haloferax volcanii, prompted a comprehensive
      comparative-genomic analysis of archaeal Ubl protein genes and the genes for
      enzymes thought to be functionally associated with Ubl proteins. This analysis
      showed that most archaea encode members of two major groups of Ubl proteins with
      the beta-grasp fold, the ThiS and MoaD families, and indicated that the ThiS
      family genes are rarely linked to genes for thiamine or Mo/W cofactor metabolism
      enzymes but instead are most often associated with genes for enzymes of tRNA
      modification. Therefore it is hypothesized that the ancestral function of the
      archaeal Ubl proteins is sulfur insertion into modified nucleotides in tRNAs, an
      activity analogous to that of the URM1 protein in eukaryotes. Together with
      additional, previously described genomic associations, these findings indicate
      that systems for protein quality control operating at different levels, including
      tRNA modification that controls translation fidelity, protein ubiquitination that
      regulates protein degradation, and, possibly, mRNA degradation by the exosome,
      are functionally and evolutionarily linked.

PMID- 20936113
TI  - ''Two-week waits"-are they leading to earlier diagnosis of soft-tissue sarcomas?
AB  - Introduction. The ''two-week wait" was established as a potential means of
      diagnosing malignant tumours earlier. This paper investigated whether these
      clinics are leading to earlier diagnosis of malignant soft-tissue lumps. Method.
      We identified all referrals to our centre from a database over a 4-year period.
      Results. 2225 patients were referred to our unit for investigation of a soft
      tissue mass. 576 (26%) were referred under the ''two-week wait" criteria. 153
      (27%) of which were found to have a malignant or borderline malignant diagnosis.
      1649 patients were referred nonurgently. 855 (52%) of which were diagnosed with a
      malignant or borderline lesion. The average size at diagnosis was 9.4 cm with no
      difference in size between the different referral routes. Conclusion. There is
      little evidence that the two-week wait clinic is leading to earlier diagnosis of
      soft-tissue sarcomas with the majority still being referred nonurgently.

PMID- 20936114
TI  - A model of insulin resistance in mice, born to diabetic pregnancy, is associated
      with alterations of transcription-related genes in pancreas and epididymal
      adipose tissue.
AB  - Objective. This study is conducted on a model of insulin-resistant (IR) mice born
      to dams which were rendered diabetic by the administration of streptozotocin.
      Methods. Adult IR and control offspring were selected and we determined the mRNA
      expression of transcription factors known to modulate pancreatic and adipose
      tissue activities and inflammation. Results. We observed that serum insulin
      increased, and the mRNA of insulin gene transcription factors, Pdx-1, Nkx6.1 and
      Maf-A, were upregulated in IR mice pancreas. Besides, their pancreatic functional
      capacity seemed to be exhausted as evidenced by low expression of pancreatic
      Glut2 and glucokinase mRNA. Though IR offspring exhibited reduced epididymal
      adipose tissue, their adipocytes seemed to be differentiated into macrophage-like
      cells, as they exhibited upregulated CD14 and CD68 antigens, generally expressed
      by macrophages. However, there was no peripheral macrophages infiltration into
      epididymal adipose tissue, as the expression of F4/80, a true macrophage marker,
      was undetectable. Furthermore, the expression of IL-6, TNF-alpha and TLR-2, key
      players of insulin resistance, was upregulated in the adipose tissue of IR
      offspring. Conclusion. Insulin resistant state in mice, born to diabetic
      pregnancy, alters the expression of function-related genes in pancreas and
      epididymal adipose tissue and these offspring are prone to develop metabolic
      syndrome.

PMID- 20936115
TI  - Intranasal immunization with chitosan/pCAGGS-flaA nanoparticles inhibits
      Campylobacter jejuni in a White Leghorn model.
AB  - Campylobacter jejuni is the most common zoonotic bacterium associated with human
      diarrhea, and chickens are considered to be one of the most important sources for
      human infection, with no effective prophylactic treatment available. We describe
      here a prophylactic strategy using chitosan-DNA intranasal immunization to induce
      specific immune responses. The chitosan used for intranasal administration is a
      natural mucus absorption enhancer, which results in transgenic DNA expression in
      chicken nasopharynx. Chickens immunized with chitosan-DNA nanoparticles, which
      carried a gene for the major structural protein FlaA, produced significantly
      increased levels of serum anti-Campylobacter jejuni IgG and intestinal mucosal
      antibody (IgA), compared to those treated with chitosan-DNA (pCAGGS). Chitosan
      pCAGGS-flaA intranasal immunization induced reductions of bacterial expellation
      by 2-3 log(10) and 2 log(10) in large intestine and cecum of chickens,
      respectively, when administered with the isolated C. jejuni strain. This study
      demonstrated that intranasal delivery of chitosan-DNA vaccine successfully
      induced effective immune response and might be a promising vaccine candidate
      against C. jejuni infection.

PMID- 20936116
TI  - Reoperation as a result of raised intracranial pressure associated with cyst
      formation in tumor cavity after intracranial tumor resection: a report of two
      cases.
AB  - Reoperation as a result of increased intracranial pressure (ICP) associated with
      cyst formation in an intracranial tumor resection cavity is a rare clinical
      condition. We report two cases of reoperation as a result of raised ICP
      associated with cyst formation in the tumor resection cavity, one arising after
      glioma resection and the other after meningioma resection. In both cases, a
      "valve"-like structure was noted intraoperatively in the roof region of the tumor
      resection cavity. Surgical resection of the "valve"-like structure led to slow
      regression over several months after the reoperation rather than to immediate
      disappearance of the cyst. Both cases illustrate that the "valve"-like structure
      formed in the roof region of the tumor resection cavity may be responsible for
      cyst formation. Surgical resection of it provides good long-term outcomes in such
      patients though short-term outcomes are unsatisfactory; we speculate that if the
      resection of the cortical tissue around the "valve"-like structure is enough
      wide, its return may be avoided.

PMID- 20936117
TI  - Role of PPARalpha in Hepatic Carbohydrate Metabolism.
AB  - Tight control of storage and synthesis of glucose during nutritional transitions
      is essential to maintain blood glucose levels, a process in which the liver has a
      central role. PPARalpha is the master regulator of lipid metabolism during
      fasting, but evidence is emerging for a role of PPARalpha in balancing glucose
      homeostasis as well. By using PPARalpha ligands and PPARalpha(-/-) mice, several
      crucial genes were shown to be regulated by PPARalpha in a direct or indirect
      way. We here review recent evidence that PPARalpha contributes to the adaptation
      of hepatic carbohydrate metabolism during the fed-to-fasted or fasted-to-fed
      transition in rodents.

PMID- 20936118
TI  - Insulin resistance, inflammation, and obesity: role of monocyte chemoattractant
      protein-1 (or CCL2) in the regulation of metabolism.
AB  - To maintain homeostasis under diverse metabolic conditions, it is necessary to
      coordinate nutrient-sensing pathways with the immune response. This coordination
      requires a complex relationship between cells, hormones, and cytokines in which
      inflammatory and metabolic pathways are convergent at multiple levels.
      Recruitment of macrophages to metabolically compromised tissue is a primary event
      in which chemokines play a crucial role. However, chemokines may also transmit
      cell signals that generate multiple responses, most unrelated to chemotaxis, that
      are involved in different biological processes. We have reviewed the evidence
      showing that monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1 or CCL2) may have a
      systemic role in the regulation of metabolism that sometimes is not necessarily
      linked to the traffic of inflammatory cells to susceptible tissues. Main topics
      cover the relationship between MCP-1/CCL2, insulin resistance, inflammation,
      obesity, and related metabolic disturbances.

PMID- 20936119
TI  - Mechanistic Studies with DNA Polymerases Reveal Complex Outcomes following Bypass
      of DNA Damage.
AB  - DNA is a chemically reactive molecule that is subject to many different covalent
      modifications from sources that are both endogenous and exogenous in origin. The
      inherent instability of DNA is a major obstacle to genomic maintenance and
      contributes in varying degrees to cellular dysfunction and disease in multi
      cellular organisms. Investigations into the chemical and biological aspects of
      DNA damage have identified multi-tiered and overlapping cellular systems that
      have evolved as a means of stabilizing the genome. One of these pathways supports
      DNA replication events by in a sense adopting the mantra that one must "make the
      best of a bad situation" and tolerating covalent modification to DNA through less
      accurate copying of the damaged region. Part of this so-called DNA damage
      tolerance pathway involves the recruitment of specialized DNA polymerases to
      sites of stalled or collapsed replication forks. These enzymes have unique
      structural and functional attributes that often allow bypass of adducted template
      DNA and successful completion of genomic replication. What follows is a selective
      description of the salient structural features and bypass properties of
      specialized DNA polymerases with an emphasis on Y-family members.

PMID- 20936120
TI  - Vaccines and immunotherapeutics for the treatment of malignant disease.
AB  - The employment of the immune system to treat malignant disease represents an
      active area of biomedical research. The specificity of the immune response and
      potential for establishing long-term tumor immunity compels researchers to
      continue investigations into immunotherapeutic approaches for cancer. A number of
      immunotherapeutic strategies have arisen for the treatment of malignant disease,
      including various vaccination schemes, cytokine therapy, adoptive cellular
      therapy, and monoclonal antibody therapy. This paper describes each of these
      strategies and discusses some of the associated successes and limitations.
      Emphasis is placed on the integration of techniques to promote optimal scenarios
      for eliminating cancer.

PMID- 20936121
TI  - Bmi-1 Regulates Snail Expression and Promotes Metastasis Ability in Head and Neck
      Squamous Cancer-Derived ALDH1 Positive Cells.
AB  - Recent studies suggest that ALDH1 is a putative marker for HNSCC-derived cancer
      stem cells. However, the regulation mechanisms that maintain the stemness and
      metastatic capability of HNSCC-ALDH1(+) cells remain unclear. Initially, HNSCC
      ALDH1(+) cells from HNSCC patient showed cancer stemness properties, and high
      expression of Bmi1 and Snail. Functionally, tumorigenic properties of HNSCC
      ALDH1(+) cells could be downregulated by knockdown of Bmi-1. Overexpression of
      Bmi-1 altered in expression property ALDH1(-) cells to that of ALDH1(+) cells.
      Furthermore, knockdown of Bmi-1 enhanced the radiosensitivity of radiation
      treated HNSCC-ALDH1(+) cells. Moreover, overexpression of Bmi-1 in HNSCC-ALDH1(-)
      cells increased tumor volume and number of pulmonary metastatic lesions by
      xenotransplant assay. Importantly, knock-down of Bmi1 in HNSCC-ALDH1(+) cells
      significantly decreased distant metastases in the lungs. Clinically, coexpression
      of Bmi-1/Snail/ALDH1 predicted the worst prognosis in HNSCC patients.
      Collectively, our data suggested that Bmi-1 plays a key role in regulating Snail
      expression and cancer stemness properties of HNSCC-ALDH1(+) cells.

PMID- 20936122
TI  - Navigating the human metabolome for biomarker identification and design of
      pharmaceutical molecules.
AB  - Metabolomics is a rapidly evolving discipline that involves the systematic study
      of endogenous small molecules that characterize the metabolic pathways of
      biological systems. The study of metabolism at a global level has the potential
      to contribute significantly to biomedical research, clinical medical practice, as
      well as drug discovery. In this paper, we present the most up-to-date metabolite
      and metabolic pathway resources, and we summarize the statistical, and machine
      learning tools used for the analysis of data from clinical metabolomics. Through
      specific applications on cancer, diabetes, neurological and other diseases, we
      demonstrate how these tools can facilitate diagnosis and identification of
      potential biomarkers for use within disease diagnosis. Additionally, we discuss
      the increasing importance of the integration of metabolomics data in drug
      discovery. On a case-study based on the Human Metabolome Database (HMDB) and the
      Chinese Natural Product Database (CNPD), we demonstrate the close relatedness of
      the two data sets of compounds, and we further illustrate how structural
      similarity with human metabolites could assist in the design of novel
      pharmaceuticals and the elucidation of the molecular mechanisms of medicinal
      plants.

PMID- 20936123
TI  - The S-layer glycoprotein of the crenarchaeote Sulfolobus acidocaldarius is
      glycosylated at multiple sites with chitobiose-linked N-glycans.
AB  - Glycosylation of the S-layer of the crenarchaea Sulfolobus acidocaldarius has
      been investigated using glycoproteomic methodologies. The mature protein is
      predicted to contain 31 N-glycosylation consensus sites with approximately one
      third being found in the C-terminal domain spanning residues L(1004)-Q(1395).
      Since this domain is rich in Lys and Arg and therefore relatively tractable to
      glycoproteomic analysis, this study has focused on mapping its N-glycosylation.
      Our analysis identified nine of the 11 consensus sequence sites, and all were
      found to be glycosylated. This constitutes a remarkably high glycosylation
      density in the C-terminal domain averaging one site for each stretch of 30-40
      residues. Each of the glycosylation sites observed was shown to be modified with
      a heterogeneous family of glycans, with the largest having a composition
      Glc(1)Man(2)GlcNAc(2) plus 6-sulfoquinovose (QuiS), consistent with the
      tribranched hexasaccharide previously reported in the cytochrome b(558/566) of S.
      acidocaldarius. S. acidocaldarius is the only archaeal species whose N-glycans
      are known to be linked via the chitobiose core disaccharide that characterises
      the N-linked glycans of Eukarya.

PMID- 20936124
TI  - Malignant fibrous histiocytoma of the kidney treated with nephrectomy and
      adjuvant radiotherapy: a case report.
AB  - Malignant fibrous histiocytoma (MFH) usually presents in the extremities or
      retroperitoneum. Cases involving the kidney are rare and portend a poor
      prognosis. Although radical nephrectomy is the most beneficial curative choice
      for this neoplasm, patients are often treated with adjuvant chemotherapy due to
      high risk of local recurrence and distant metastases. We describe a case of a 68
      year-old woman affected by MFH, treated with both nephrectomy and radiotherapy
      without systemic therapy showing an unexpected twenty-four-month postsurgery
      survival outcome.

PMID- 20936125
TI  - Accelerated atherosclerosis in systemic lupus erythematosus: role of
      proinflammatory cytokines and therapeutic approaches.
AB  - Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), a chronic multisystem autoimmune disease with
      a broad range of clinical manifestations, is associated with accelerated
      atherosclerosis (AT) and increased risk of cardiovascular complications. Relevant
      factors directly influencing the development of AT comprise immune complex
      generation, complement activation, and changes in the production and activity of
      a complex network of cytokines, including type I and II interferons, B lymphocyte
      stimulator (BLyS), TNFalpha, IL-6, IL-17 and migration macrophage inhibitor
      (MIF). Autoantibodies, also responsible for cytokine expression and activation,
      play a supplementary key role in the development of AT. Genomic and proteomic
      studies have contributed to the discovery of genes and proteins involved in AT,
      including some that may be suitable to be used as biomarkers. All that data has
      allowed the development of new drugs, most of them evaluated in clinical trials:
      inhibitors of IFN and TNFalpha, B cell directed therapies, synthetic
      oligodeoxynucleotides, intravenous immunoglobulin, or statins. The focus of the
      present paper is to summarize recent evidence showing the role of cytokines in
      the development of AT in SLE and the rationale, and safety concerns, in the use
      of combined therapy to prevent AT and cardiovascular disease.

PMID- 20936126
TI  - Unresectable retiform hemangioendothelioma treated with external beam radiation
      therapy and chemotherapy: a case report and review of the literature.
AB  - Retiform hemangioendothelioma (RH) is an infrequently encountered vascular
      neoplasm of intermediate or borderline malignancy. Treatment of RH is
      controversial. We present a case of a 44-year-old Asian male presenting with an
      unresectable RH of the pelvis. The patient was treated with concurrent low-dose
      Cisplatin and External beam Radiation (4140cGy in 180cGy per fraction). This is
      the first report of a clinical complete response and a long-term local control of
      this rare tumor. This has significant clinical implication, since it gives the
      first evidence of treatment of this rare tumor using concurrent low-dose
      chemotherapy and radiation.

PMID- 20936128
TI  - Elevated Levels of DNA Strand Breaks Induced by a Base Analog in the Human Cell
      Line with the P32T ITPA Variant.
AB  - Base analogs are powerful antimetabolites and dangerous mutagens generated
      endogenously by oxidative stress, inflammation, and aberrant nucleotide
      biosynthesis. Human inosine triphosphate pyrophosphatase (ITPA) hydrolyzes
      triphosphates of noncanonical purine bases (i.e., ITP, dITP, XTP, dXTP, or their
      mimic: 6-hydroxyaminopurine (HAP) deoxynucleoside triphosphate) and thus
      regulates nucleotide pools and protects cells from DNA damage. We demonstrate
      that the model purine base analog HAP induces DNA breaks in human cells and leads
      to elevation of levels of ITPA. A human polymorphic allele of the ITPA, 94C->A
      encodes for the enzyme with a P32T amino-acid change and leads to accumulation of
      nonhydrolyzed ITP. The polymorphism has been associated with adverse reaction to
      purine base-analog drugs. The level of both spontaneous and HAP-induced DNA
      breaks is elevated in the cell line with the ITPA P32T variant. The results
      suggested that human ITPA plays a pivotal role in the protection of DNA from
      noncanonical purine base analogs.

PMID- 20936129
TI  - Continuous production of lipase-catalyzed biodiesel in a packed-bed reactor:
      optimization and enzyme reuse study.
AB  - An optimal continuous production of biodiesel by methanolysis of soybean oil in a
      packed-bed reactor was developed using immobilized lipase (Novozym 435) as a
      catalyst in a tert-butanol solvent system. Response surface methodology (RSM) and
      Box-Behnken design were employed to evaluate the effects of reaction temperature,
      flow rate, and substrate molar ratio on the molar conversion of biodiesel. The
      results showed that flow rate and temperature have significant effects on the
      percentage of molar conversion. On the basis of ridge max analysis, the optimum
      conditions were as follows: flow rate 0.1 mL/min, temperature 52.1 degrees C, and
      substrate molar ratio 1 : 4. The predicted and experimental values of molar
      conversion were 83.31 +/- 2.07% and 82.81 +/- .98%, respectively. Furthermore,
      the continuous process over 30 days showed no appreciable decrease in the molar
      conversion. The paper demonstrates the applicability of using immobilized lipase
      and a packed-bed reactor for continuous biodiesel synthesis.

PMID- 20936130
TI  - Bilateral deep peroneal nerve paralysis following kerosene self-injection into
      external hemorrhoids.
AB  - Along with conventional therapies, some abrogated traditional treatment had been
      used for hemorrhoids like local Kerosene injection especially for extremely
      irritated external hemorrhoids. We report a rare case of Kerosene self-injection
      into the hemorrhoid. Despite antibiotics therapy, extent debridement, and
      colostomy, the patient died after 24 hours because of heart attack. Moreover, we
      discuss here the case with contact or injection of hydrocarbon materials and
      early care action to decrease the extensions of injury and side effects.

PMID- 20936127
TI  - Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha target genes.
AB  - The peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPARalpha) is a ligand
      activated transcription factor involved in the regulation of a variety of
      processes, ranging from inflammation and immunity to nutrient metabolism and
      energy homeostasis. PPARalpha serves as a molecular target for hypolipidemic
      fibrates drugs which bind the receptor with high affinity. Furthermore, PPARalpha
      binds and is activated by numerous fatty acids and fatty acid-derived compounds.
      PPARalpha governs biological processes by altering the expression of a large
      number of target genes. Accordingly, the specific role of PPARalpha is directly
      related to the biological function of its target genes. Here, we present an
      overview of the involvement of PPARalpha in lipid metabolism and other pathways
      through a detailed analysis of the different known or putative PPARalpha target
      genes. The emphasis is on gene regulation by PPARalpha in liver although many of
      the results likely apply to other organs and tissues as well.

PMID- 20936131
TI  - Gene Expression Profiling in Wild-Type and PPARalpha-Null Mice Exposed to
      Perfluorooctane Sulfonate Reveals PPARalpha-Independent Effects.
AB  - Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) is a perfluoroalkyl acid (PFAA) and a persistent
      environmental contaminant found in the tissues of humans and wildlife. Although
      blood levels of PFOS have begun to decline, health concerns remain because of the
      long half-life of PFOS in humans. Like other PFAAs, such as, perfluorooctanoic
      acid (PFOA), PFOS is an activator of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor
      alpha (PPARalpha) and exhibits hepatocarcinogenic potential in rodents. PFOS is
      also a developmental toxicant in rodents where, unlike PFOA, its mode of action
      is independent of PPARalpha. Wild-type (WT) and PPARalpha-null (Null) mice were
      dosed with 0, 3, or 10 mg/kg/day PFOS for 7 days. Animals were euthanized, livers
      weighed, and liver samples collected for histology and preparation of total RNA.
      Gene profiling was conducted using Affymetrix 430_2 microarrays. In WT mice, PFOS
      induced changes that were characteristic of PPARalpha transactivation including
      regulation of genes associated with lipid metabolism, peroxisome biogenesis,
      proteasome activation, and inflammation. PPARalpha-independent changes were
      indicated in both WT and Null mice by altered expression of genes related to
      lipid metabolism, inflammation, and xenobiotic metabolism. Such results are
      similar to studies done with PFOA and are consistent with modest activation of
      the constitutive androstane receptor (CAR), and possibly PPARgamma and/or
      PPARbeta/delta. Unique treatment-related effects were also found in Null mice
      including altered expression of genes associated with ribosome biogenesis,
      oxidative phosphorylation, and cholesterol biosynthesis. Of interest was up
      regulation of Cyp7a1, a gene which is under the control of various transcription
      regulators. Hence, in addition to its ability to modestly activate PPARalpha,
      PFOS induces a variety of PPARalpha-independent effects as well.

PMID- 20936132
TI  - Development of a FLIPR assay for the simultaneous identification of MrgD agonists
      and antagonists from a single screen.
AB  - MrgD, a member of the Mas-related gene family, is expressed exclusively in small
      diameter IB4(+) neurons in the dorsal root ganglion. This unique expression
      pattern, the presence of a single copy of MrgD in rodents and humans, and the
      identification of a putative ligand, beta-alanine, make it an experimentally
      attractive therapeutic target for pain with limited likelihood of side effects.
      We have devised a high throughput calcium mobilization assay that enables
      identification of both agonists and antagonists from a single screen for MrgD.
      Screening of the Library of Pharmacologically Active Compounds (LOPAC) validated
      this assay approach, and we identified both agonists and antagonists active at
      micromolar concentrations in MrgD expressing but not in parental CHO-DUKX cell
      line. Further characterization was performed using a subset of these screening
      hits. Our results demonstrated that the dual agonist/antagonist assay format is
      feasible and likely can be extended to most GPCRs with known agonist.

PMID- 20936133
TI  - Reduced expression of TCR zeta is involved in the abnormal production of
      cytokines by peripheral T cells of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.
AB  - Accumulating evidence suggests that dysfunction of T cells underlies the
      pathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). We revealed that SLE T cells
      produced an abnormally excessive amount of IFN-gammain vitro upon stimulation
      through TCR, and the expression level of TCR zeta was significantly reduced. The
      production of IFN-gamma by SLE T cells was negatively correlated with the
      expression level of TCR zeta. This correlation was abolished when the cells were
      stimulated with TPA and ionomycin, which bypass TCR and introduce signals
      directly into the cells, but the production of IFN-gamma by SLE T cells remained
      abnormally elevated. Taken together, these data suggest that regulatory
      mechanisms not only for the expression of TCR zeta but also for the production of
      IFN-gamma were impaired in SLE T cells. These impairments may be responsible for
      the aberrant responses of SLE T cells and partly involved in the development of
      SLE.

PMID- 20936134
TI  - New casemix classification as an alternative method for budget allocation in thai
      oral healthcare service: a pilot study.
AB  - This study aimed to develop a new casemix classification system as an alternative
      method for the budget allocation of oral healthcare service (OHCS). Initially,
      the International Statistical of Diseases and Related Health Problem, 10th
      revision, Thai Modification (ICD-10-TM) related to OHCS was used for developing
      the software "Grouper". This model was designed to allow the translation of
      dental procedures into eight-digit codes. Multiple regression analysis was used
      to analyze the relationship between the factors used for developing the model and
      the resource consumption. Furthermore, the coefficient of variance, reduction in
      variance, and relative weight (RW) were applied to test the validity. The results
      demonstrated that 1,624 OHCS classifications, according to the diagnoses and the
      procedures performed, showed high homogeneity within groups and heterogeneity
      between groups. Moreover, the RW of the OHCS could be used to predict and control
      the production costs. In conclusion, this new OHCS casemix classification has a
      potential use in a global decision making.

PMID- 20936135
TI  - An International, Web-Based, Prospective Cohort Study to Determine Whether the
      Use of ACE Inhibitors prior to the Onset of Scleroderma Renal Crisis Is
      Associated with Worse Outcomes-Methodology and Preliminary Results.
AB  - Background. To describe the methodology of a study designed to determine whether
      systemic sclerosis (SSc) patients with incident scleroderma renal crisis (SRC) on
      angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors prior to the onset of SRC have
      worse outcomes. Methods. Prospective, international cohort study of SRC subjects
      identified through an ongoing web-based survey. Every second Friday afternoon, an
      e-mail was sent to 589 participating physicians to identify new cases of SRC.
      Death or dialysis at one year after the onset of SRC will be compared in patients
      exposed or not to ACE inhibitors prior to the onset of SRC. Results. Fifteen
      months after the start of the survey, we had identified 76 incident cases of SRC.
      Of these, 66 (87%) had a hypertensive SRC and 10 (13%) a normotensive SRC. Twenty
      two percent (22%) of the patients were on an ACE inhibitor immediately prior to
      the onset of the SRC. To date, we have collected one-year follow-up data on
      approximately 1/3 of the cohort. Of these, over 50% have died or remain on
      dialysis at one year. Conclusion. An international, web-based cohort study design
      is a feasible method of recruiting a substantial number of patients to study an
      infrequent vascular manifestation of SSc.

PMID- 20936136
TI  - Constitutive high level expression of an endoxylanase gene from the newly
      isolated Bacillus subtilis AQ1 in Escherichia coli.
AB  - A xylanolytic bacterium was isolated from the sediment of an aquarium. Based on
      the 16S rDNA sequence as well as morphological and biochemical properties the
      isolate was identified and denoted as Bacillus subtilis (B. subtilis) AQ1 strain.
      An endoxylanase-encoding gene along with its indigenous promoter was PCR
      amplified and after cloning expressed in E. coli. In E. coli the recombinant
      enzyme was found in the extracellular, in the cytoplasmic, and in the periplasmic
      fraction. The specific activity of the extracellular AQ1 recombinant endoxylanase
      after 24-hour fermentation was very high, namely, 2173.6 +/- 51.4 and 2745.3 +/-
      11 U/mg in LB and LB-xylan medium, respectively. This activity was clearly
      exceeding that of the native B. subtilis AQ1 endoxylanase and that of 95%
      homologous recombinant one from B. subtilis DB104. The result shows that the
      original AQ1 endoxylanase promoter and the signal peptide gave a very high
      constitutive extracellular expression in E. coli and hence made the production in
      E. coli feasible.

PMID- 20936137
TI  - Induction of angiogenesis and neovascularization in adjacent tissue of plasma
      collagen-coated silicone implants.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Formation of encapsulating, avascular fibrous tissue is deemed to
      decrease implant's biocompatibility and versatility. We investigated whether
      plasma-mediated collagen coating possesses the ability to enhance
      neovascularization in the vicinity of silicone implants. METHODS: Plasma-treated
      collagen-I-coated silicone samples were placed into the dorsal skinfold chambers
      of female balb/c mice (n = 10). Conventional silicone served as control (n = 10).
      Intravital microscopy was performed within implant's surrounding tissue on days
      1, 5, and 10. Functional vessel density, intervascular distance, vessel diameter,
      microvascular permeability, red blood cell velocity, and leukocyte-endothelium
      interaction were determined. RESULTS: Enhanced angiogenesis in the tissue
      surrounding plasma-pretreated collagen-coated implants was noted. Significant
      increase of functional vessel density due to vascular new development was
      observed (t test, P < .05). Analyses of microvascular permeability and red blood
      cell velocity displayed stable perfusion of the vascular network neighboring the
      surface-modified implants. CONCLUSION: Intensified vascularity due to induced
      angiogenesis and neovascularization in the tissue surrounding plasma-collagen
      coated samples were observed. These results indicate that plasma-mediated
      collagen coating might be a promising technology in order to improve the
      biocompatibility and versatility of silicone implants.

PMID- 20936138
TI  - An unusual appearance of double right coronary artery.
AB  - Double right coronary artery (RCA) is an extremely rare coronary artery anomaly.
      We aimed to report an atherosclerotic double RCA which appeared after primary
      percutaneous intervention performed to treat acute inferior myocardial
      infarction. This is the first case in the literature, which the coronary arteries
      that can be accepted as double RCA have been hidden by total atherosclerotic
      occlusion of the proximal part of the RCA. In this paper, also the definition,
      correct diagnosis, and appropriate diagnostic methods for double RCA were
      discussed.

PMID- 20936139
TI  - Glucocorticoid-induced TNFR-related (GITR) protein and its ligand in antitumor
      immunity: functional role and therapeutic modulation.
AB  - The ability of the tumor necrosis factor receptor (TNFR) family member GITR to
      modulate immune responses has been the subject of multiple studies. Initially
      thought to be critically involved in governing functions of regulatory T cells,
      GITR and its ligand GITRL have meanwhile been found to modulate the reactivity of
      various different cell types and to influence a broad variety of immunological
      conditions including the immune response against tumors. Not only GITR, but also
      GITRL is capable of transducing signals, and the consequences of GITR-GITRL
      interaction may vary among different effector cell types, differ upon signal
      transduction via the receptor, the ligand, or both, depend on the level of an
      ongoing immune response, and even differ among mice and men. In this paper, we
      address available data on GITR and its ligand in immune responses and discuss the
      role and potential therapeutic modulation of this molecule system in antitumor
      immunity.

PMID- 20936140
TI  - Gene Expression during Survival of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in Soil and Water.
AB  - The in vitro survival of Escherichia coli O157:H7 at 15 degrees C under two
      experimental conditions (sterile soil and sterile natural water) was examined.
      DNA microarrays of the entire set of E. coli O157:H7 genes were used to measure
      the genomic expression patterns after 14 days. Although the populations declined,
      some E. coli O157:H7 cells survived in sterile stream water up to 234 days and in
      sterile soil for up to 179 days. Cells incubated in soil microcosms for 14 days
      expressed genes for antibiotic resistance, biosynthesis, DNA replication and
      modification, metabolism, phages, transposons, plasmids, pathogenesis and
      virulence, antibiotic resistance, ribosomal proteins, the stress response,
      transcription, translation, and transport and binding proteins at significantly
      higher levels than cells grown in Luria broth. These results suggest that E. coli
      O157:H7 may develop a different phenotype during transport through the
      environment. Furthermore, this pathogen may become more resistant to antibiotics
      making subsequent infections more difficult to treat.

PMID- 20936141
TI  - Understanding centenarians' psychosocial dynamics and their contributions to
      health and quality of life.
AB  - While it is understood that longevity and health are influenced by complex
      interactions among biological, psychological, and sociological factors, there is
      a general lack of understanding on how psychosocial factors impact longevity,
      health, and quality of life among the oldest old. One of the reasons for this
      paradox is that the amount of funded research on aging in the US is significantly
      larger in the biomedical compared to psychosocial domains. The goals of this
      paper are to highlight recent data to demonstrate the impact of four pertinent
      psychosocial domains on health and quality of life of the oldest old and
      supplement recommendations of the 2001 NIA Panel on Longevity for future
      research. The four domains highlighted in this paper are (1) demographics, life
      events, and personal history, (2) personality, (3) cognition, and (4)
      socioeconomic resources and support systems.

PMID- 20936142
TI  - Bone health should be an important concern in the care of patients affected by 21
      hydroxylase deficiency.
AB  - Osteoporosis has been an understandable concern for children and adult patients
      with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) who may receive or have received
      supraphysiological doses of glucocorticoids. Some previous reports on bone
      mineral density (BMD) in adult CAH patients showed no significant differences in
      BMD between patients with CAH and controls, but others have found lower BMD in
      CAH patients. In reports documenting the BMD reduction, this outcome has been
      attributed to an accumulated effect of prolonged exposure to excess
      glucocorticoids during infancy and childhood. We recently conducted a trial to
      establish the role of the total cumulative glucocorticoid dose on BMD. We
      established for the first time that there was a negative relationship between
      total cumulative glucocorticoid dose and lumbar and femoral BMD. Women might
      benefit from the preserving effect of estrogens compared to men. BMI (Body Mass
      Index) also appeared to protect patients from bone loss. In light of this,
      physicians should bear in mind the potential consequences of glucocorticoids on
      bone and therefore adjust the treatment and improve clinical and biological
      surveillance from infancy. Furthermore, preventive measures against
      corticosteroid-induced osteoporosis should be discussed right from the beginning
      of glucocorticoid therapy.

PMID- 20936143
TI  - Standardization of Assay Procedures for Analysis of the CSF Biomarkers Amyloid
      beta((1-42)), Tau, and Phosphorylated Tau in Alzheimer's Disease: Report of an
      International Workshop.
AB  - Large variation in assay performance and outcomes of CSF Abeta1-42, total Tau
      (Tau), and phosphorylated Tau (pTau) (at amino acid 181) levels is observed
      between laboratories. The aim of this study was to assess the differences in
      assay procedures between several experienced international laboratories, as
      potential sources of error. 14 groups performed the Abeta42, Tau, and pTau assays
      according to the guidelines of the manufacturer. Differences in analytical
      procedures between the laboratories were monitored. At least 23 items in assay
      procedures were identified that varied between the laboratories, including
      procedures for washing, pipetting, incubation, finishing, and sample handing. In
      general, the inter- and intra-assay variation between the groups was generally
      below 10% for all three assays. We concluded that 17 international centers that
      use the same assays for Abeta42, Tau and pTau on a regular basis do not uniformly
      adhere to the procedures recommended by the manufacturer. For harmonization of
      intercenter results of these biomarkers standardization of protocols is highly
      needed.

PMID- 20936144
TI  - A new scale for evaluating the risks for in-hospital falls of newborn infants: a
      failure modes and effects analysis study.
AB  - We aimed to develop a new scale for evaluating risks and preventive measures for
      in-hospital falls of newborn infants, from admission to discharge of the
      expectant mother. Our study was prepared in accordance with Failure Modes and
      Effects Analysis criteria. The risks and preventive measures for in-hospital
      falls of newborns were determined. Risk Priority Numbers (RPNs) were determined
      by multiplication of the scores of severity, probability of occurrence, and
      probability of detection. Analyses showed that risks having the highest RPNs were
      the mother with epidural anesthesia (RPN: 350 point), holding of the baby at the
      moment of delivery (RPN: 240), and transportation of baby right after delivery
      (RPN: 240). A reduction was detected in all RPNs after the application of
      preventive measures. Our risk model can function as a guide for obstetric clinics
      that need to form strategies to prevent newborn falls.

PMID- 20936145
TI  - Yeasts Occurring in Surface and Mouth Cavity of Two Chelonian Species, Podocnemis
      expansa Schweigger and P. unifilis Troschel (Reptilia: Chelonia: Pelomedusidae),
      in the Javaes River Border of Araguaia National Park in Brazil.
AB  - Thirty-eight specimens of free-ranging Podocnemis expansa (Amazon turtle) and 22
      of P. unifilis (Tracaja) were screened for yeast isolation from surface
      (plastron, skin, and nails), eye, and mouth cavity. A hundred and eighteen yeast
      isolates belonging to 39 species were obtained. Debaryomyces hansenii, Candida
      galli, C. sake, and Rhodotorula mucilaginosa were the most frequent species
      isolated from these chelonians. Species diversity measured by Shannon's index was
      shown to be low and a degree of dominance could be detected as species known as
      potential pathogens were commonly isolated. The effective number of species in
      plastron of P. expansa was higher than in mouth samples, but not in P. unifilis
      probably due to dietary factors. P. expansa animals were captured on the beaches,
      and the superficial yeast populations may include terrestrial species. P.
      unifilis animals were captured in the water and the yeasts from superficial sites
      may represent species from river water.

PMID- 20936146
TI  - Quality assessment of colonoscopy reporting: results from a statewide cancer
      screening program.
AB  - This paper aimed to assess quality of colonoscopy reports and determine if
      physicians in practice were already documenting recommended quality indicators,
      prior to the publication of a standardized Colonoscopy Reporting and Data System
      (CO-RADS) in 2007. We examined 110 colonoscopy reports from 2005-2006 through
      Maryland Colorectal Cancer Screening Program. We evaluated 25 key data elements
      recommended by CO-RADS, including procedure indications, risk/comorbidity
      assessments, procedure technical descriptions, colonoscopy findings, specimen
      retrieval/pathology. Among 110 reports, 73% documented the bowel preparation
      quality and 82% documented specific cecal landmarks. For the 177 individual
      polyps identified, information on size and morphology was documented for 87% and
      53%, respectively. Colonoscopy reporting varied considerately in the pre-CO-RADS
      period. The absence of key data elements may impact the ability to make
      recommendations for recall intervals. This paper provides baseline data to assess
      if CO-RADS has an impact on reporting and how best to improve the quality of
      reporting.

PMID- 20936147
TI  - Mus308 processes oxygen and nitrogen ethylation DNA damage in germ cells of
      Drosophila.
AB  - The D. melanogaster mus308 gene, highly conserved among higher eukaryotes, is
      implicated in the repair of cross-links and of O-ethylpyrimidine DNA damage,
      working in a DNA damage tolerance mechanism. However, despite its relevance, its
      possible role on the processing of different DNA ethylation damages is not clear.
      To obtain data on mutation frequency and on mutation spectra in mus308 deficient
      (mus308(-)) conditions, the ethylating agent diethyl sulfate (DES) was analysed
      in postmeiotic male germ cells. These data were compared with those corresponding
      to mus308 efficient conditions. Our results indicate that Mus308 is necessary for
      the processing of oxygen and N-ethylation damage, for the survival of fertilized
      eggs depending on the level of induced DNA damage, and for an influence of the
      DNA damage neighbouring sequence. These results support the role of mus308 in a
      tolerance mechanism linked to a translesion synthesis pathway and also to the
      alternative end-joinig system.

PMID- 20936149
TI  - Archaeal protein biogenesis: posttranslational modification and degradation.

PMID- 20936148
TI  - TLRs, NF-kappaB, JNK, and Liver Regeneration.
AB  - While hepatocytes rarely undergo proliferation in normal livers, they quickly
      induce proliferation in response to loss of liver mass by toxin or inflammation
      induced hepatocyte injury, trauma, or surgical resection, leading to a
      restoration of liver mass to its original size. Recent studies suggest that Toll
      like receptor (TLR) signaling participates in this regenerative response. Myeloid
      differentiation factor (MyD88), a common adaptor molecule in the TLR, IL-1 and IL
      18 receptor signaling, plays a key role, at least, in the early phase of liver
      regeneration. Currently, definite ligands which bind to TLRs and initiate this
      process are still unclear. TLRs stimulated by their corresponding ligands, as
      well as tumor necrosis factor (TNF) receptors (TNFRs), can activate downstream
      signal molecules, including transcription factor nuclear factor (NF)-kappaB and c
      Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK). Previous studies have revealed the important role of
      TNF receptor signaling, NF-kappaB, and JNK in liver regeneration by using
      hepatocyte-specific gene-modified animals. This review will summarize the current
      knowledge of TLR signaling and their related molecules in liver regeneration. We
      will also discuss whether modulating these factors may become new therapeutic
      strategies to promote liver regeneration in various clinical situations.

PMID- 20936151
TI  - Improving Breast Cancer Control via the Use of Community Health Workers in South
      Africa: A Critical Review.
AB  - Breast cancer is a growing concern in low- and middle-income countries (LMCs). We
      explore community health worker (CHW) programs and describe their potential use
      in LMCs. We use South Africa as an example of how CHWs could improve access to
      breast health care because of its middle-income status, existing cancer centers,
      and history of CHW programs. CHWs could assume three main roles along the cancer
      control continuum: health education, screening, and patient navigation. By
      raising awareness about breast cancer through education, women are more likely to
      undergo screening. Many more women can be screened resulting in earlier-stage
      disease if CHWs are trained to perform clinical breast exams. As patient
      navigators, CHWs can guide women through the screening and treatment process. It
      is suggested that these roles be combined within existing CHW programs to
      maximize resources and improve breast cancer outcomes in LMCs.

PMID- 20936150
TI  - T cell reactivity against mycolyl transferase antigen 85 of M. tuberculosis in
      HIV-TB coinfected subjects and in AIDS patients suffering from tuberculosis and
      nontuberculous mycobacterial infections.
AB  - The mycolyl transferase antigen 85 complex is a major secreted protein family
      from mycobacterial culture filtrate, demonstrating powerful T cell stimulatory
      properties in most HIV-negative, tuberculin-positive volunteers with latent
      M.tuberculosis infection and only weak responses in HIV-negative tuberculosis
      patients. Here, we have analyzed T cell reactivity against PPD and Ag85 in HIV
      infected individuals, without or with clinical symptoms of tuberculosis, and in
      AIDS patients with disease caused by nontuberculous mycobacteria. Whereas
      responses to PPD were not significantly different in HIV-negative and HIV
      positive tuberculin-positive volunteers, responses to Ag85 were significantly
      decreased in the HIV-positive (CDC-A and CDC-B) group. Tuberculosis patients
      demonstrated low T cell reactivity against Ag85, irrespective of HIV infection,
      and finally AIDS patients suffering from NTM infections were completely
      nonreactive to Ag85. A one-year follow-up of twelve HIV-positive tuberculin
      positive individuals indicated a decreased reactivity against Ag85 in patients
      developing clinical tuberculosis, highlighting the protective potential of this
      antigen.

PMID- 20936152
TI  - Artificial Neural Network-Based System for PET Volume Segmentation.
AB  - Tumour detection, classification, and quantification in positron emission
      tomography (PET) imaging at early stage of disease are important issues for
      clinical diagnosis, assessment of response to treatment, and radiotherapy
      planning. Many techniques have been proposed for segmenting medical imaging data;
      however, some of the approaches have poor performance, large inaccuracy, and
      require substantial computation time for analysing large medical volumes.
      Artificial intelligence (AI) approaches can provide improved accuracy and save
      decent amount of time. Artificial neural networks (ANNs), as one of the best AI
      techniques, have the capability to classify and quantify precisely lesions and
      model the clinical evaluation for a specific problem. This paper presents a novel
      application of ANNs in the wavelet domain for PET volume segmentation. ANN
      performance evaluation using different training algorithms in both spatial and
      wavelet domains with a different number of neurons in the hidden layer is also
      presented. The best number of neurons in the hidden layer is determined according
      to the experimental results, which is also stated Levenberg-Marquardt
      backpropagation training algorithm as the best training approach for the proposed
      application. The proposed intelligent system results are compared with those
      obtained using conventional techniques including thresholding and clustering
      based approaches. Experimental and Monte Carlo simulated PET phantom data sets
      and clinical PET volumes of nonsmall cell lung cancer patients were utilised to
      validate the proposed algorithm which has demonstrated promising results.

PMID- 20936154
TI  - Prediction of carbohydrate-binding proteins from sequences using support vector
      machines.
AB  - Carbohydrate-binding proteins are proteins that can interact with sugar chains
      but do not modify them. They are involved in many physiological functions, and we
      have developed a method for predicting them from their amino acid sequences. Our
      method is based on support vector machines (SVMs). We first clarified the
      definition of carbohydrate-binding proteins and then constructed positive and
      negative datasets with which the SVMs were trained. By applying the leave-one-out
      test to these datasets, our method delivered 0.92 of the area under the receiver
      operating characteristic (ROC) curve. We also examined two amino acid grouping
      methods that enable effective learning of sequence patterns and evaluated the
      performance of these methods. When we applied our method in combination with the
      homology-based prediction method to the annotated human genome database, H-invDB,
      we found that the true positive rate of prediction was improved.

PMID- 20936155
TI  - Prolonged use of ertapenem to treat infected diabetic foot ulcers.
AB  - We present the case of a diabetic man who was successfully treated with ertapenem
      for over 4 months for severe infection of his foot ulcers. After initial
      unsuccessful treatment with empirical intravenous antibiotics, ertapenem was
      started on microbiology advice and led to a marked improvement in the soft-tissue
      infection. Ertapenem was continued for a total of 137 days under close clinical
      and biochemical monitoring and produced a complete resolution of the foot
      infection. This is the first documented case that we know of in which ertapenem
      has been safely used for this duration of time.

PMID- 20936153
TI  - From melanocyte to metastatic malignant melanoma.
AB  - Malignant melanoma is one of the most aggressive malignancies in human and is
      responsible for almost 60% of lethal skin tumors. Its incidence has been
      increasing in white population in the past two decades. There is a complex
      interaction of environmental (exogenous) and endogenous, including genetic, risk
      factors in developing malignant melanoma. 8-12% of familial melanomas occur in a
      familial setting related to mutation of the CDKN2A gene that encodes p16. The aim
      of this is to briefly review the microanatomy and physiology of the melanocytes,
      epidemiology, risk factors, clinical presentation, historical classification and
      histopathology and, more in details, the most recent discoveries in biology and
      genetics of malignant melanoma. At the end, the final version of 2009 AJCC
      malignant melanoma staging and classification is presented.

PMID- 20936156
TI  - Hodgkin's Disease in Patients with HIV Infection.
AB  - Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) represents one of the most common non-AIDS-defining cancers
      with an increasing incidence overtime. Clinically, patients present advanced
      stages of disease with extranodal involvement in the majority of cases. In the
      last years, significant improvements in the treatment of patients with HL and HIV
      infection have been achieved. In the lack of randomized trials, several phase II
      studies have showed that in the era of highly active antiretroviral therapy
      (HAART) the same regimens employed in HIV-negative patients with HL can be used
      in HIV setting with similar results. Moreover, in the last years the feasibility
      of high dose chemotherapy and peripheral stem cell rescue has allowed to save
      those patients who failed the upfront treatment. Finally, in the near future, a
      better integration of diagnostic tools (including PET scan), chemotherapy
      (including new drugs), radiotherapy, HAART, and supportive care will
      significantly improve the outcome of these patients.

PMID- 20936157
TI  - Hydronephrosis Resulting from Bilateral Ureteral Stenosis: A Late Complication of
      Polyoma BK Virus Cystitis?
AB  - We report here a case of acute lymphoblastic leukemia in remission presenting a
      late-onset bilateral hydronephrosis probably due to polyoma BK virus-induced
      proliferation of bladder endothelium on both ostii. The diagnosis was made
      virologically by BK virus Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) detection in the
      absence of any other bladder disease. Awareness of this late complication is
      necessary not only in patients after renal transplantation but also in patients
      after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation from matched unrelated donor.

PMID- 20936158
TI  - Self-reported low vitality, poor mental health, and low dietary restraint are
      associated with overperception of physical exertion.
AB  - Objective. We investigated whether perceived exertion, in comparison to the
      physiological response to exercise, was associated with self-reported vitality,
      mental health, and physical function during daily activities, or weight control
      behaviors. Design. Weight-reduced, formerly overweight women (n = 126, aged 22-46
      years), completed health and dietary control questionnaires, and underwent a
      treadmill-walking task while heart rate, ventilation, respiratory exchange ratio,
      and ratings of perceived exertion were recorded. Results. Overperception of
      exertion (perceived exertion physiological exertion) was inversely associated
      with vitality (r = -0.190, P < .05), mental health (r = -0.188, P < .05), and
      dietary control (r values range -0.231 to -0.317, P < .05). In linear regression
      modeling, vitality or mental health, and cognitive dietary restraint were
      independently associated with accuracy of perceived exertion, independent of age,
      ethnicity, and engagement in exercise during weight loss. Each model explained 7%
      8% of the variance in accuracy of perceived exertion. Conclusion. Women with low
      vitality or poor mental health, and poor dietary control may overperceive
      exertion. Such overperception may be a barrier to engage in physical activity and
      thus increase susceptibility to weight gain.

PMID- 20936159
TI  - Simultaneous Screening of 24 Target Genes of Foodborne Pathogens in 35 Foodborne
      Outbreaks Using Multiplex Real-Time SYBR Green PCR Analysis.
AB  - A set of 8 multiplex real-time SYBR Green PCR (SG-PCR) assays including 3 target
      primers and an internal amplification control (IAC) primer was simultaneously
      evaluated in 3 h or less with regard to detection of 24 target genes of 23
      foodborne pathogens in 7 stool specimens of foodborne outbreak using a 96-well
      reaction plate. This assay, combined with DNA extraction (QIAamp DNA Stool Mini
      kit), offered detection of greater than 10(3)-10(4) foodborne pathogens per g in
      stool specimens. The products formed were identified using melting point
      temperature (Tm) curve analysis. This assay was evaluated for the detection of
      foodborne pathogens in 33 out of 35 cases of foodborne outbreak, using 4
      different PCR instruments in 5 different laboratories. No interference from the
      multiplex real-time SG-PCR assay, including IAC, was observed in stool specimens
      in any analysis. We found multiplex real-time SG-PCR assay for simultaneous
      detection of 24 target genes of foodborne pathogens to be comprehensive, rapid,
      inexpensive, accurate, of high selectivity, and good for screening probability.

PMID- 20936160
TI  - Childhood cryptosporidiosis: a case report.
AB  - Cryptosporidium has emerged as an important cause of diarrheal illness worldwide,
      especially amongst young children and patients with infectious or iatrogenic
      immune deficiencies. The authors describe a case of mild cryptosporidiosis in a
      well-nourished, immunocompetent, one-year-old child. Rapid clinical and
      parasitological improvement was observed after a 3-day course of nitazoxanide.

PMID- 20936161
TI  - Impact of Regular Exercise and Attempted Weight Loss on Quality of Life among
      Adults with and without Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.
AB  - Objective. To examine the association between exercising regularly and trying to
      lose weight, and quality of life among individuals with and without type 2
      diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Methods. Respondents to the US SHIELD baseline survey
      reported whether they had tried to lose weight during the previous 12 months and
      whether they exercised regularly for >6 months. Respondents completed the SF-12
      quality-of-life survey one year later. Differences between T2DM respondents (n =
      2419) and respondents with no diabetes (n = 6750) were tested using t-tests and
      linear regression models adjusting for demographics, body mass index (BMI), and
      diabetes status. Results. After adjustment, exercising regularly was
      significantly associated with higher subsequent physical and mental component
      scores (P < .001). After adjustment, trying to lose weight was not associated
      with higher physical component scores (P = .87), but was associated with higher
      mental component scores (P = .01). Conclusion. Respondents who reported
      exercising regularly had significantly better physical and mental quality of
      life, compared with respondents who did not exercise regularly. Despite
      exercising regularly, respondents with T2DM had significantly worse quality of
      life, compared with respondents without diabetes who exercised regularly.

PMID- 20936162
TI  - Genetic Basis of Ventricular Arrhythmias.
AB  - Sudden cardiac death (SCD) is a leading cause of total and cardiovascular
      mortality, and ventricular fibrillation is the underlying arrhythmia in the
      majority of cases. In the young, where the incidence of SCD is low, a great
      proportion of SCDs occur in the context of inherited disorders such as
      cardiomyopathy or primary electrical disease, where a monogenic hereditary
      component is a strong determinant of risk. Marked advancement has been made over
      the past 15 years in the understanding of the genetic basis of the primary
      electrical disorders, and this has had an enormous impact on the management of
      these patients. At older ages, the great majority of SCDs occur in the context of
      acute myocardial ischemia and infarction. Although epidemiologic studies have
      shown that heritable factors also determine risk in these cases, inheritance is
      likely complex and multifactorial, and progress in understanding the genetic and
      molecular mechanisms that determine susceptibility to these arrhythmias,
      affecting a greater proportion of the population, has been very limited. We
      review the most recent insights gained into the genetic basis of both the
      monogenic and the more complex ventricular arrhythmias.

PMID- 20936164
TI  - Do Spin-Offs Make the Academics' Heads Spin?: The Impacts of Spin-Off Companies
      on Their Parent Research Organisation.
AB  - As public research organisations are increasingly driven by their national and
      regional governments to engage in knowledge transfer, they have started to
      support the creation of companies. These research based spin-off companies
      (RBSOs) often keep contacts with the research institutes they originate from. In
      this paper we present the results of a study of four research institutes within
      two universities and two non-university public research organisations (PROs) in
      the Netherlands. We show that research organisations have distinct motivations to
      support the creation of spin-off companies. In terms of resources RBSOs
      contribute, mostly in a modest way, to research activities by providing
      information, equipment and monetary resources. In particular, RBSOs are helpful
      for researchers competing for research grants that demand participation of
      industry. Furthermore, RBSOs may be seen as a proactive response by Dutch public
      research organisations to demands of economic relevance from their institutional
      environment. RBSOs enhance the prestige of their parent organisations and create
      legitimacy for public funds invested in PROs. At the same time, most RBSOs do not
      have a significant impact on the direction of the research conducted at the PROs.

PMID- 20936163
TI  - High-Frequency EPR and ENDOR Spectroscopy on Semiconductor Quantum Dots.
AB  - It is shown that high-frequency electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and
      electron-nuclear double resonance (ENDOR) spectroscopy are excellent tools for
      the investigation of the electronic properties of semiconductor quantum dots
      (QDs). The great attractions of these techniques are that, in contrast to optical
      methods, they allow the identification of the dopants and provide information
      about the spatial distribution of the electronic wave function. This latter
      aspect is particularly attractive because it allows for a quantitative
      measurement of the effect of confinement on the shape and properties of the wave
      function. In this contribution EPR and ENDOR results are presented on doped ZnO
      QDs. Shallow donors (SDs), related to interstitial Li and Na and substitutional
      Al atoms, have been identified in this material by pulsed high-frequency EPR and
      ENDOR spectroscopy. The shallow character of the wave function of the donors is
      evidenced by the multitude of ENDOR transitions of the (67)Zn nuclear spins and
      by the hyperfine interaction of the (7)Li, (23)Na and (27)Al nuclear spins that
      are much smaller than for atomic lithium, sodium and aluminium. The EPR signal of
      an exchange-coupled pair consisting of a shallow donor and a deep Na-related
      acceptor has been identified in ZnO nanocrystals with radii smaller than 1.5 nm.
      From ENDOR experiments it is concluded that the deep Na-related acceptor is
      located at the interface of the ZnO core and the Zn(OH)(2) capping layer, while
      the shallow donor is in the ZnO core. The spatial distribution of the electronic
      wave function of a shallow donor in ZnO semiconductor QDs has been determined in
      the regime of quantum confinement by using the nuclear spins as probes. Hyperfine
      interactions as monitored by ENDOR spectroscopy quantitatively reveal the
      transition from semiconductor to molecular properties upon reduction of the size
      of the nanoparticles. In addition, the effect of confinement on the g-factor of
      SDs in ZnO as well as in CdS QDs is observed. Finally, it is shown that an almost
      complete dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) of the (67)Zn nuclear spins in the
      core of ZnO QDs and of the (1)H nuclear spins in the Zn(OH)(2) capping layer can
      be obtained. This DNP is achieved by saturating the EPR transition of SDs present
      in the QDs with resonant high-frequency microwaves at low temperatures. This
      nuclear polarization manifests itself as a hole and an antihole in the EPR
      absorption line of the SD in the QDs and a shift of the hole (antihole). The
      enhancement of the nuclear polarization opens the possibility to study
      semiconductor nanostructures with nuclear magnetic resonance techniques.

PMID- 20936165
TI  - The Effect of Wildfire on Soil Mercury Concentrations in Southern California
      Watersheds.
AB  - Mercury (Hg) stored in vegetation and soils is known to be released to the
      atmosphere during wildfires, increasing atmospheric stores and altering
      terrestrial budgets. Increased erosion and transport of sediments is well
      documented in burned watersheds, both immediately post-fire and as the watershed
      recovers; however, understanding post-fire mobilization of soil Hg within burned
      watersheds remains elusive. The goal of the current study is to better understand
      the impact of wildfire on soil-bound Hg during the immediate post-fire period as
      well as during recovery, in order to assess the potential for sediment-driven
      transport to and within surface waters in burned watersheds. Soils were collected
      from three southern California watersheds of similar vegetation and soil
      characteristics that experienced wildfire. Sampling in one of these watersheds
      was extended for several seasons (1.5 years) in order to investigate temporal
      changes in soil Hg concentrations. Laboratory analysis included bulk soil total
      Hg concentrations and total organic carbon of burned and unburned samples. Soils
      were also fractionated into a subset of grain sizes with analysis of Hg on each
      fraction. Low Hg concentrations were observed in surface soils immediately post
      fire. Accumulation of Hg coincident with moderate vegetative recovery was
      observed in the burned surface soils 1 year following the fire, and mobilization
      was also noted during the second winter (rainy) season. Hg concentrations were
      highest in the fine-grained fraction of unburned soils; however, in the burned
      soils, the distribution of soil-bound Hg was less influenced by grain size. The
      accelerated accumulation of Hg observed in the burned soils, along with the
      elevated risk of erosion, could result in increased delivery of organic- or
      particulate-bound Hg to surface waters in post-fire systems.

PMID- 20936166
TI  - BLM Deficiency Is Not Associated with Sensitivity to Hydroxyurea-Induced
      Replication Stress.
AB  - Bloom's syndrome (BS) displays one of the strongest known correlations between
      chromosomal instability and a high risk of cancer at an early age. BS cells
      combine a reduced average fork velocity with constitutive endogenous replication
      stress. However, the response of BS cells to replication stress induced by
      hydroxyurea (HU), which strongly slows the progression of replication forks,
      remains unclear due to publication of conflicting results. Using two different
      cellular models of BS, we showed that BLM deficiency is not associated with
      sensitivity to HU, in terms of clonogenic survival, DSB generation, and SCE
      induction. We suggest that surviving BLM-deficient cells are selected on the
      basis of their ability to deal with an endogenous replication stress induced by
      replication fork slowing, resulting in insensitivity to HU-induced replication
      stress.

PMID- 20936168
TI  - The emerging role of telomerase reverse transcriptase in mitochondrial DNA
      metabolism.
AB  - Telomerase is a reverse transcriptase specialized in telomere synthesis. The
      enzyme is primarily nuclear where it elongates telomeres but recent reports have
      shown that it also localizes to mitochondria. The function of TERT in
      mitochondria is largely unknown but the available findings point to a role in
      mitochondrial DNA metabolism. This paper discusses the available data on
      mitochondrial telomerase with particular emphasis on its effects upon the
      organellar DNA.

PMID- 20936167
TI  - Nonhomologous DNA end joining in cell-free extracts.
AB  - Among various DNA damages, double-strand breaks (DSBs) are considered as most
      deleterious, as they may lead to chromosomal rearrangements and cancer when
      unrepaired. Nonhomologous DNA end joining (NHEJ) is one of the major DSB repair
      pathways in higher organisms. A large number of studies on NHEJ are based on in
      vitro systems using cell-free extracts. In this paper, we summarize the studies
      on NHEJ performed by various groups in different cell-free repair systems.

PMID- 20936169
TI  - Effect of n3-methyladenine and an isosteric stable analogue on DNA
      polymerization.
AB  - N3-methyladenine (3-mA) is a cytotoxic lesion formed by the reaction of DNA with
      many methylating agents, including antineoplastic drugs, environmental agents and
      endogenously generated compounds. The toxicity of 3-mA has been attributed to its
      ability to block DNA polymerization. Using Me-lex, a compound that selectively
      and efficiently reacts with DNA to afford 3-mA, we have observed in yeast a
      mutational hotspot at the 5'-terminus of an A(4) tract. In order to explore the
      potential role of sequence-dependent DNA polymerase bypass of 3-mA, we developed
      an in vitro system to prepare 3-mA modified substrates using Me-lex. We detail
      the effects of 3-mA, its stable isostere analogue, 3-methyl-3-deazaadenine, 3
      deazaadenine and an THF abasic site on DNA polymerization within an A(4)
      sequence. The methyl group on 3-mA and 3-methyl-3-deazaadenine has a pronounced
      inhibitory effect on DNA polymerization. There was no sequence selectivity for
      the bypass of any of the lesions, except for the abasic site, which was most
      efficiently by-passed when it was on the 5'-terminus of the A(4) tract. The
      results indicate that the weak mutational pattern induced by Me-lex may result
      form the depurination of 3-mA to an abasic site that is bypassed in a sequence
      dependent context.

PMID- 20936170
TI  - Early Steps in the DNA Base Excision Repair Pathway of a Fission Yeast
      Schizosaccharomyces pombe.
AB  - DNA base excision repair (BER) accounts for maintaining genomic integrity by
      removing damaged bases that are generated endogenously or induced by genotoxic
      agents. In this paper, we describe the roles of enzymes functioning in the early
      steps of BER in fission yeast. Although BER is an evolutionarily conserved
      process, some unique features of the yeast repair pathway were revealed by
      genetic and biochemical approaches. AP sites generated by monofunctional DNA
      glycosylases are incised mainly by AP lyase activity of Nth1p, a sole
      bifunctional glycosylase in yeast, to leave a blocked 3' end. The major AP
      endonuclease Apn2p functions predominantly in removing the 3' block. Finally, a
      DNA polymerase fills the gap, and a DNA ligase seals the nick (Nth1p-dependent or
      short patch BER). Apn1p backs up Apn2p. In long patch BER, Rad2p endonuclease
      removes flap DNA containing a lesion after DNA synthesis. A UV-specific
      endonuclease Uve1p engages in an alternative pathway by nicking DNA on the 5'
      side of oxidative damage. Nucleotide excision repair and homologous recombination
      are involved in repair of BER intermediates including the AP site and single
      strand break with the 3' block. Other enzymes working in 3' end processing are
      also discussed.

PMID- 20936171
TI  - Translesion synthesis polymerases in the prevention and promotion of
      carcinogenesis.
AB  - A critical step in the transformation of cells to the malignant state of cancer
      is the induction of mutations in the DNA of cells damaged by genotoxic agents.
      Translesion DNA synthesis (TLS) is the process by which cells copy DNA containing
      unrepaired damage that blocks progression of the replication fork. The DNA
      polymerases that catalyze TLS in mammals have been the topic of intense
      investigation over the last decade. DNA polymerase eta (Pol eta) is best
      understood and is active in error-free bypass of UV-induced DNA damage. The other
      TLS polymerases (Pol iota, Pol kappa, REV1, and Pol zeta) have been studied
      extensively in vitro, but their in vivo role is only now being investigated using
      knockout mouse models of carcinogenesis. This paper will focus on the studies of
      mice and humans with altered expression of TLS polymerases and the effects on
      cancer induced by environmental agents.

PMID- 20936172
TI  - Characterization of a Y-Family DNA Polymerase eta from the Eukaryotic Thermophile
      Alvinella pompejana.
AB  - Human DNA polymerase eta (HsPoleta) plays an important role in translesion
      synthesis (TLS), which allows for replication past DNA damage such as UV-induced
      cis-syn cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers (CPDs). Here, we characterized ApPoleta
      from the thermophilic worm Alvinella pompejana, which inhabits deep-sea
      hydrothermal vent chimneys. ApPoleta shares sequence homology with HsPoleta and
      contains domains for binding ubiquitin and proliferating cell nuclear antigen.
      Sun-induced UV does not penetrate Alvinella's environment; however, this novel
      DNA polymerase catalyzed efficient and accurate TLS past CPD, as well as 7,8
      dihydro-8-oxoguanine and isomers of thymine glycol induced by reactive oxygen
      species. In addition, we found that ApPoleta is more thermostable than HsPoleta,
      as expected from its habitat temperature. Moreover, the activity of this enzyme
      was retained in the presence of a higher concentration of organic solvents.
      Therefore, ApPoleta provides a robust, human-like Poleta that is more active
      after exposure to high temperatures and organic solvents.

PMID- 20936173
TI  - Prevention of mutation, cancer, and other age-associated diseases by optimizing
      micronutrient intake.
AB  - I review three of our research efforts which suggest that optimizing
      micronutrient intake will in turn optimize metabolism, resulting in decreased DNA
      damage and less cancer as well as other degenerative diseases of aging. (1)
      Research on delay of the mitochondrial decay of aging, including release of
      mutagenic oxidants, by supplementing rats with lipoic acid and acetyl carnitine.
      (2) The triage theory, which posits that modest micronutrient deficiencies
      (common in much of the population) accelerate molecular aging, including DNA
      damage, mitochondrial decay, and supportive evidence for the theory, including an
      in-depth analysis of vitamin K that suggests the importance of achieving optimal
      micronutrient intake for longevity. (3) The finding that decreased enzyme binding
      constants (increased Km) for coenzymes (or substrates) can result from protein
      deformation and loss of function due to an age-related decline in membrane
      fluidity, or to polymorphisms or mutation. The loss of enzyme function can be
      compensated by a high dietary intake of any of the B vitamins, which increases
      the level of the vitamin-derived coenzyme. This dietary remediation illustrates
      the importance of understanding the effects of age and polymorphisms on optimal
      micronutrient requirements. Optimizing micronutrient intake could have a major
      effect on the prevention of cancer and other degenerative diseases of aging.

PMID- 20936175
TI  - Designing Efficient Spaced Seeds for SOLiD Read Mapping.
AB  - The advent of high-throughput sequencing technologies constituted a major advance
      in genomic studies, offering new prospects in a wide range of applications.We
      propose a rigorous and flexible algorithmic solution to mapping SOLiD color-space
      reads to a reference genome. The solution relies on an advanced method of seed
      design that uses a faithful probabilistic model of read matches and, on the other
      hand, a novel seeding principle especially adapted to read mapping. Our method
      can handle both lossy and lossless frameworks and is able to distinguish, at the
      level of seed design, between SNPs and reading errors. We illustrate our approach
      by several seed designs and demonstrate their efficiency.

PMID- 20936174
TI  - Architecture of y-family DNA polymerases relevant to translesion DNA synthesis as
      revealed in structural and molecular modeling studies.
AB  - DNA adducts, which block replicative DNA polymerases (DNAPs), are often bypassed
      by lesion-bypass DNAPs, which are mostly in the Y-Family. Y-Family DNAPs can do
      non-mutagenic or mutagenic dNTP insertion, and understanding this difference is
      important, because mutations transform normal into tumorigenic cells. Y-Family
      DNAP architecture that dictates mechanism, as revealed in structural and modeling
      studies, is considered. Steps from adduct blockage of replicative DNAPs, to
      bypass by a lesion-bypass DNAP, to resumption of synthesis by a replicative DNAP
      are described. Catalytic steps and protein conformational changes are considered.
      One adduct is analyzed in greater detail: the major benzo[a]pyrene adduct (B[a]P
      N(2)-dG), which is bypassed non-mutagenically (dCTP insertion) by Y-family DNAPs
      in the IV/kappa-class and mutagenically (dATP insertion) by V/eta-class Y-Family
      DNAPs. Important architectural differences between IV/kappa-class versus V/eta
      class DNAPs are discussed, including insights gained by analyzing ~400 sequences
      each for bacterial DNAPs IV and V, along with sequences from eukaryotic DNAPs
      kappa, eta and iota. The little finger domains of Y-Family DNAPs do not show
      sequence conservation; however, their structures are remarkably similar due to
      the presence of a core of hydrophobic amino acids, whose exact identity is less
      important than the hydrophobic amino acid spacing.

PMID- 20936176
TI  - Replication Past the gamma-Radiation-Induced Guanine-Thymine Cross-Link G[8,5
      Me]T by Human and Yeast DNA Polymerase eta.
AB  - gamma-Radiation-induced intrastrand guanine-thymine cross-link, G[8,5-Me]T,
      hinders replication in vitro and is mutagenic in mammalian cells. Herein we
      report in vitro translesion synthesis of G[8,5-Me]T by human and yeast DNA
      polymerase eta (hPol eta and yPol eta). dAMP misincorporation opposite the cross
      linked G by yPol eta was preferred over correct incorporation of dCMP, but
      further extension was 100-fold less efficient for G(*):A compared to G(*):C. For
      hPol eta, both incorporation and extension were more efficient with the correct
      nucleotides. To evaluate translesion synthesis in the presence of all four dNTPs,
      we have developed a plasmid-based DNA sequencing assay, which showed that yPol
      eta was more error-prone. Mutational frequencies of yPol eta and hPol eta were
      36% and 14%, respectively. Targeted G -> T was the dominant mutation by both DNA
      polymerases. But yPol eta induced targeted G -> T in 23% frequency relative to 4%
      by hPol eta. For yPol eta, targeted G -> T and G -> C constituted 83% of the
      mutations. By contrast, with hPol eta, semi-targeted mutations (7.2%), that is,
      mutations at bases near the lesion, occurred at equal frequency as the targeted
      mutations (6.9%). The kind of mutations detected with hPol eta showed significant
      similarities with the mutational spectrum of G[8,5-Me]T in human embryonic kidney
      cells.

PMID- 20936177
TI  - In vivo imaging of particle-induced inflammation and osteolysis in the calvariae
      of NFkappaB/luciferase transgenic mice.
AB  - Wear debris causes biological response which can result in periprosthetic
      osteolysis after total joint replacement surgery. Nuclear factor-kappa B
      (NFkappaB), a representative transcription factor involved in inflammation, is
      believed to play an important role in this event by regulating the production of
      proinflammatory mediators and osteoclastogenesis. In this study, we sought to
      determine whether activation of NFkappaB in response to stimulation by particles
      could be visualized by in vivo imaging. We loaded polyethylene (PE) particles
      onto the calvaria of NFkappaB/luciferase transgenic mouse, and detected
      luminescence generated by activation of NFkappaB. On day 7 after loading, the
      level of luminescence was maximal. Levels of luminescence were significantly
      correlated with the levels of luciferase activity, proinflammatory mediator
      mRNAs, and bone resorption parameters. This system, which enabled us to evaluate
      particle-induced inflammation and osteolysis without sacrificing mice,
      constitutes a useful tool for evaluating the efficacy of prophylaxis or
      treatments for particle-induced osteolysis.

PMID- 20936178
TI  - Parameters of Reserpine Analogs That Induce MSH2/MSH6-Dependent Cytotoxic
      Response.
AB  - Mismatch repair proteins modulate the cytotoxicity of several chemotherapeutic
      agents. We have recently proposed a "death conformation" of the MutS homologous
      proteins that is distinguishable from their "repair conformation." This
      conformation can be induced by a small molecule, reserpine, leading to DNA
      independent cell death. We investigated the parameters for a small reserpine-like
      molecule that are required to interact with MSH2/MSH6 to induce MSH2/MSH6
      dependent cytotoxic response. A multidisciplinary approach involving structural
      modeling, chemical synthesis, and cell biology analyzed reserpine analogs and
      modifications. We demonstrate that the parameters controlling the induction of
      MSH2/MSH6-dependent cytotoxicity for reserpine-analogous molecules reside in the
      specific requirements for methoxy groups, the size of the molecule, and the
      orientation of molecules within the protein-binding pocket. Reserpine analog
      rescinnamine showed improved MSH2-dependent cytotoxicity. These results have
      important implications for the identification of compounds that require
      functional MMR proteins to exhibit their full cytotoxicity, which will avoid
      resistance in MMR-deficient cells.

PMID- 20936179
TI  - metaP-server: a web-based metabolomics data analysis tool.
AB  - Metabolomics is an emerging field that is based on the quantitative measurement
      of as many small organic molecules occurring in a biological sample as possible.
      Due to recent technical advances, metabolomics can now be used widely as an
      analytical high-throughput technology in drug testing and epidemiological
      metabolome and genome wide association studies. Analogous to chip-based gene
      expression analyses, the enormous amount of data produced by modern kit-based
      metabolomics experiments poses new challenges regarding their biological
      interpretation in the context of various sample phenotypes. We developed metaP
      server to facilitate data interpretation. metaP-server provides automated and
      standardized data analysis for quantitative metabolomics data, covering the
      following steps from data acquisition to biological interpretation: (i) data
      quality checks, (ii) estimation of reproducibility and batch effects, (iii)
      hypothesis tests for multiple categorical phenotypes, (iv) correlation tests for
      metric phenotypes, (v) optionally including all possible pairs of metabolite
      concentration ratios, (vi) principal component analysis (PCA), and (vii) mapping
      of metabolites onto colored KEGG pathway maps. Graphical output is clickable and
      cross-linked to sample and metabolite identifiers. Interactive coloring of PCA
      and bar plots by phenotype facilitates on-line data exploration. For users of
      commercial metabolomics kits, cross-references to the HMDB, LipidMaps, KEGG,
      PubChem, and CAS databases are provided. metaP-server is freely accessible at
      http://metabolomics.helmholtz-muenchen.de/metap2/.

PMID- 20936180
TI  - Development of a Novel Fluorescence Assay Based on the Use of the Thrombin
      Binding Aptamer for the Detection of O-Alkylguanine-DNA Alkyltransferase
      Activity.
AB  - Human O(6)-alkylguanine-DNA alkyltransferase (hAGT) is a DNA repair protein that
      reverses the effects of alkylating agents by removing DNA adducts from the O(6)
      position of guanine. Here, we developed a real-time fluorescence hAGT activity
      assay that is based on the detection of conformational changes of the thrombin
      binding aptamer (TBA). The quadruplex structure of TBA is disrupted when a
      central guanine is replaced by an O(6)-methyl-guanine. The sequence also contains
      a fluorophore (fluorescein) and a quencher (dabsyl) attached to the opposite
      ends. In the unfolded structure, the fluorophore and the quencher are separated.
      When hAGT removes the methyl group from the central guanine of TBA, it folds back
      immediately into its quadruplex structure. Consequently, the fluorophore and the
      quencher come into close proximity, thereby resulting in decreased fluorescence
      intensity. Here, we developed a new method to quantify the hAGT without using
      radioactivity. This new fluorescence resonance energy transfer assay has been
      designed to detect the conformational change of TBA that is induced by the
      removal of the O(6)-methyl group.

PMID- 20936181
TI  - Current studies into the genotoxic effects of nanomaterials.
AB  - Nanotechnology has created opportunities for engineers to manufacture superior
      and more efficient devices and products. Nanomaterials (NMs) are now widely used
      in consumer products as well as for research applications. However, while the
      lists of known toxic effects of nanomaterials and nanoparticles (NPs) continue to
      grow, there is still a vast gap in our knowledge about the genotoxicity of NMs.
      In this paper, we highlight some NMs of interest and discuss the current in vivo
      and in vitro studies into genotoxic effects of NMs.

PMID- 20936182
TI  - Antioxidant capacities of peel, pulp, and seed fractions of Canarium
      odontophyllum Miq. fruit.
AB  - Antioxidant capacities of ethylacetate, butanol, and water fractions of peel,
      pulp, and seeds of Canarium odontophyllum Miq. (CO) were determined using various
      in vitro antioxidant models. Ethylacetate fraction of peel (EAFPE) exhibited the
      highest total phenolic (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), and antioxidant
      activities compared to pulp, seeds, and other solvent fractions. Antioxidant
      capacities were assayed by total antioxidant capability, 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl
      hydrazyl (DPPH) radical activity, ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), and
      hemoglobin oxidation assay. Total phenolic content of ethylacetate fractions was
      positively correlated with the antioxidant activity. This is the first report on
      the antioxidant activities from CO fruit fractions. Thus, EAFPE can be used
      potentially as a readily accessible source of natural antioxidants and as a
      possible pharmaceutical supplement.

PMID- 20936183
TI  - Preparation and characterization of a novel skin substitute.
AB  - Autologous epidermal cell cultures (CEA) represent a possibility to treat
      extensive burn lesions, since they allow a significative surface expansion which
      cannot be achieved with other surgical techniques based on autologous grafting.
      Moreover currently available CEA preparations are difficult to handle and their
      take rate is unpredictable. This study aimed at producing and evaluating a new
      cutaneous biosubstitute made up of alloplastic acellular glycerolized dermis
      (AAGD) and CEA to overcome these difficulties. A procedure that maintained an
      intact basement membrane was developed, so as to promote adhesion and growth of
      CEA on AAGD. Keratinocytes were seeded onto AAGD and cultured up to 21 days.
      Viability tests and immunohistochemical analysis with specific markers were
      carried out at 7, 14, and 21 days, to evaluate keratinocyte adhesion, growth, and
      maturation. Our results support the hypothesis that this newly formed skin
      substitute could allow its permanent engraftment in clinical application.

PMID- 20936184
TI  - Induction by TNF-alpha of IL-6 and IL-8 in cystic fibrosis bronchial IB3-1
      epithelial cells encapsulated in alginate microbeads.
AB  - We have developed a microencapsulation procedure for the entrapment and
      manipulation of IB3-1 cystic fibrosis cells. The applied method is based on
      generation of monodisperse droplets by a vibrational nozzle. Different
      experimental parameters were analyzed, including frequency and amplitude of
      vibration, polymer pumping rate and distance between the nozzle and the gelling
      bath. We have found that the microencapsulation procedure does not alter the
      viability of the encapsulated IB3-1 cells. The encapsulated IB3-1 cells were
      characterized in term of secretomic profile, analyzing the culture medium by Bio
      Plex strategy. The experiments demonstrated that most of the analyzed proteins,
      were secreted both by the free and encapsulated cells, even if in a different
      extent. In order to determine the biotechnological applications of this
      procedure, we determined whether encapsulated IB3-1 cells could be induced to pro
      inflammatory responses, after treatment with TNF-alpha. In this experimental set
      up, encapsulated and free IB3-1 cells were treated with TNF-alpha, thereafter the
      culture media from both cell populations were collected. As expected, TNF-alpha
      induced a sharp increase in the secretion of interleukins, chemokines and growth
      factors. Of great interest was the evidence that induction of interleukin-6 and
      interleukin-8 occurs also by encapsulated IB3-1 cells.

PMID- 20936186
TI  - TGF-beta signalling and tooth development.
AB  - Members of the transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) superfamily are
      critical regulators that control cell proliferation, differentiation and
      apoptosis. TGF-beta signalling also regulates the morphogenesis of many
      developing organs. The development of mouse tooth germ, which is a good model for
      organogenesis, provides a powerful tool for elucidating the molecular mechanisms
      that control organogenesis. As ectodermal appendages, the tooth organ arises from
      complex and progressive interactions between an ectoderm, the oral epithelium and
      an underlying mesenchyme. Their morphogenesis is regulated by conserved
      signalling pathways, including TGF-beta. In this review, the essential function
      of the TGF-beta superfamily will be discussed in detail, including TGF-beta, bone
      morphogenetic proteins (BMP), activin, etc, during tooth crown patterning and
      following tooth root development. The review also highlights recent advances in
      the understanding of Smad-dependent and Smad-independent pathways in regulating
      tissue-tissue interactions during patterning of tooth crown and root.

PMID- 20936187
TI  - Sialendoscopy-based diagnosis and treatment of salivary ductal obstructions.
AB  - Salivary gland ductal obstruction is traditionally treated by sialoadenectomy
      when conservative measures fail. During the last decade, sialendoscopy has become
      the preferred approach in the management of salivary ductal obstructions.
      Sialendoscopy can provide direct, accurate and reliable visualisation of the
      salivary duct lumen and ductal pathologies, and can eliminate pathologies with
      miniaturised instrumentation. Now, sialendoscopic surgery is a promising option
      for patients who can be offered a satisfactory clinical outcome while avoiding
      sialoadenectomy. The present article briefly outlines sialendoscopy-based
      diagnosis and treatment of salivary ductal obstructions.

PMID- 20936188
TI  - A systematic review of the uses of fluoroscopy in dentistry.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the quality of the evidence for the uses of fluoroscopy
      in dentistry. METHODS: A systematic review using Ovid and MEDLINE was conducted
      to identify papers showing the uses of fluoroscopy in dentistry published between
      1953 and September 2009. Human, animal and phantom/skull/mannequin studies on
      fluoroscopy with regard to its diagnostic value, research performance, and
      clinical and safety applications in dentistry were included in this analysis.
      Studies that were not in English, as well as those that employed fluoroscopy in
      dentistry without the use of image intensification, were excluded. Articles were
      evaluated, classified and graded by levels of evidence. RESULTS: Fifty-five out
      of 139 papers fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Amongst them, 19 were related to
      diagnosis, 15 to research, 12 to clinical and nine to safety applications.
      Fluoroscopy has contributed to nine different areas of dentistry. Also, it was
      used on 895 dental patients, 37 animals and 17 phantoms/skulls/mannequins. Two
      randomised controlled trials, two cohort studies, two case controls, 48 case
      reports and one expert opinion were found. CONCLUSION: Fluoroscopy with image
      intensification has been a useful, but not consistently used tool in dentistry
      for over 50 years. Several lines of evidence have shown fluoroscopy's diagnostic
      potential, research use, and clinical and safety applications in dentistry.

PMID- 20936189
TI  - Evaluation of dental root fracture using cone-beam computed tomography.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the application of cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) in
      the detection of dental root fractures and to analyse the demographic profile of
      these fractures. METHODS: The study group comprised 398 teeth that were examined
      by CBCT for determining whether they had a root fracture. Patient characteristics
      were recorded, and the location, fractured roots, fracture types and three
      dimensional images of the related skeletal structures were analysed. Two
      experienced oral radiologists independently analysed each case and reached a
      consensus, and the diagnosis was graded in one of the following three categories:
      fracture definitely present (FDP), fracture probably present (FPP) and no visible
      fracture (NVF). RESULTS: Among these teeth, 155 (39.0%) were diagnosed as FDP, 14
      (3.5%) as FPP and 229 (57.5%) as NVF in the consensus reading. During follow-up,
      all teeth diagnosed as FDP and 4 of the 14 teeth diagnosed as FPP were intra
      operatively demonstrated to be fractured. In FDP cases, 60.0% of the patients
      were aged from 50 to 69 years. In total, 107 FDP teeth were non-endodontically
      treated, and the remaining were endodontically treated with (n = 16) or without
      (n = 32) crown placement. The maxillary and mandibular molars were most
      frequently affected (81.9%). The fractured roots were mostly palatal (65.7%) in
      maxillary molars and mesial (84.2%) in mandibular molars. The fractures were
      characterised as vertical (n = 84), horizontal (n = 34), oblique (n = 5) and
      complicated (n = 32) fractures. CONCLUSION: The application of CBCT is valuable
      for the diagnosis of root fracture.

PMID- 20936190
TI  - Efficacy of functional training of the facial muscles for treatment of incomplete
      peripheral facial nerve injury.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the efficacy of functional training of facial mimic
      muscles for patients with incomplete peripheral facial nerve injury. METHODS:
      Ninety-two patients with 241 injured branches of incomplete peripheral facial
      nerve injury were divided into a treatment group and a control group. The
      treatment group consisted of 58 cases that received functional training of facial
      mimic muscles. The rest of the cases served as controls. Assessment parameters
      included the House-Brackmann grading system, a quantitative facial nerve function
      estimating system and electroneurography. According to the three assessments, the
      facial nerve injury was divided into four grades: normal, minor, moderate and
      severe. The treatment group started training facial mimic muscle activity 2 weeks
      after facial nerve injury. After follow-ups of 1 to 4 years, the outcomes were
      statistically analysed. RESULTS: In the minor facial nerve injury group, there
      was no significant difference in the time needed for initial recovery (Ti, the
      time needed for significant recovery of the facial nerve function after injury)
      and final recovery (Tf, the time point after which no further improvement of
      facial nerve function was obtained) between the two groups (P > 0.05). No adverse
      effect was found in these cases. In the moderate facial nerve injury group, the
      Ti and Tf of the treatment group were shorter than those of the control group (P
      < 0.05). One case had synkinesis. In the patients with severe facial nerve
      injury, the recovery rate of facial nerve function in the treatment group was
      higher than that of the control group and the sequelae were less. CONCLUSION:
      Functional training of facial mimic muscles cannot shorten the time of recovery
      for the patients with minor facial nerve injury but it can speed up the recovery
      and reduce the undesirable sequelae such as synkinesis and hemifacial spasm for
      the patients with moderate and severe facial nerve injury.

PMID- 20936191
TI  - Involvement of Notch signalling pathway in senescence of human dental pulp cells.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether the Notch signalling pathway is involved in the
      senescence of human dental pulp cells. METHODS: Human dental pulp cells were
      isolated and cultured. The Notch signalling pathway was blocked by adding DAPT (N
      [N-(3,5-difluorophenacetyl-L-alanyl)]-S-phenylglycine t-butyl ester, gamma
      secretase inhibitor, 5 MUmol/L) into the culture medium. Cell proliferation was
      evaluated by MTT assay. Cell senescence was evaluated through expression of
      senescenceassociated beta-galactosidase (SA-beta-Gal) using beta-galactosidase
      staining. RESULTS: The proliferation of the human dental pulp cells decreased
      dramatically after treatment with DAPT, compared with the control. SA-beta-Gal
      positive staining cells were seen in the DAPT group, but not in the control
      group. CONCLUSION: The Notch signalling pathway is involved in the senescence of
      human dental pulp cells.

PMID- 20936192
TI  - Progress of oral sequelae during head-neck radiotherapy.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate xerostomia, mucositis and dental caries during head and
      neck radiotherapy. METHODS: Twenty patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma were
      included. Oral examinations were conducted before radiotherapy, after dosage of
      2000 cGy irradiation, immediately after the termination of radiotherapy, and 1
      month and 6 months after termination of the radiotherapy. Oral hygiene
      instruction, effective oral care and dental intervention were performed during
      the treatment. Salivary flow rate was evaluated by modified Schirmer's test.
      Xerostomia, mucositis and dental caries status were evaluated based on oral
      examinations. RESULTS: Salivary flow rate decreased significantly after the first
      dosage of 2000 cGy, and was aggravated with the increase in irradiation dosage
      until the termination of radiotherapy. Xerostomia and mucositis were observed in
      parallel with the reduction of saliva flow rate, and were aggravated with the
      increase in irradiation dosage. Mucositis began to recover within 1 month after
      the termination of radiotherapy and fully recovered within 6 months after the
      termination of the radiotherapy. Six months after the termination of irradiation,
      new carious lesions were detected in two patients. CONCLUSION: Oral sequelae
      developed during radiotherapy of the head and neck. Oral health instructions and
      effective intervention were essential before, during and after the radiotherapy.

PMID- 20936193
TI  - Prevalence of traumatic dental injuries to permanent incisors among 12-year-old
      school children in Davangere, South India.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the prevalence and factors associated with traumatic
      injuries to permanent incisors of 12-year-old school children in Davangere,
      India. METHODS: In total, 1020 12-year-old school children were selected. Two
      trained and calibrated clinicians examined the children in the school environment
      using the World Health Organization Classification of Tooth Fracture (1978).
      Examination was also done for lip coverage and maxillary overjet using the
      Community Periodontal Index probe. Children were then interviewed using a
      structured questionnaire for demographic data and history of the injury. RESULTS:
      The overall prevalence rate of traumatic dental injuries (TDI) to permanent
      incisor teeth was 15.1%. The prevalence of TDI was higher in boys compared to
      girls. The major cause of TDI was falling followed by collision. The maxillary
      incisors were commonly injured, involving mainly enamel fracture. Children with
      excessive overjet and inadequate lip coverage were more likely to have injuries.
      CONCLUSION: TDI could be a serious dental public health problem among children.
      Thus, there is an urgent need to collect local data on dental injuries in order
      to obtain a more comprehensive picture of dental health.

PMID- 20936194
TI  - Multiple retentive means for prosthetic restoration of a large facial defect - a
      case report.
AB  - A 70-year-old man who suffered from extensive extra and intraoral defects was
      rehabilitated with a prosthesis using multiple retaining means. The treatment was
      performed in two parts: externally involving the construction of an episthesis
      supported only by the remaining intact boundaries of the defect and retained by
      mini-dental implants and spectacle frame with a modified ear hook; and
      intraorally by an acrylic resin obturator to restore the function of the hemi
      sectioned hard and soft palate. The episthesis was securely retained with minimal
      movement and/or dislodgment of the prosthesis during function. Multiple retentive
      techniques may be used to fix heavy external prostheses as an alternative to
      conventional implants or biological adhesives.

PMID- 20936195
TI  - One-stage operation for noma-induced bilateral ankylosis accompanied with mouth
      verrucous carcinoma - a case report and review of literature.
AB  - A rare case of a male patient who suffered from noma with sequelae of ankylosis
      in bilateral temporomandibular joints for 52 years and a neoplasm in the right
      commissure of the lips for 1 year, was operated on to resolve the ankylosis,
      remove the neoplasm and reconstruct the soft tissue defect with a forearm flap
      through a one-stage operation. The neoplasm pathology was verrucous carcinoma.

PMID- 20936196
TI  - Hyperplastic dental follicle - review of literature and report of two cases in
      one family.
AB  - Hyperplastic dental follicle is an extremely rare lesion. The practitioner should
      be able to differentiate it from a dentigerous cyst. The present article will
      review related literature and report on two cases in one family. A 12-year-old
      white female and her 15-year-old brother were referred for exposure of unerupted
      canines. No systemic diseases or syndromes were present. Intra-oral examinations
      were unremarkable, except for the absence of all eight canines. Radiographic
      examinations revealed impacted canines with each unerupted tooth surrounded by a
      well-demarcated radiolucency, which passed beyond the cementoenamel junction. The
      teeth were surgically exposed and tissue specimens surrounding the unerupted
      teeth were analysed histologically. Histology revealed fibrous connective tissue
      with areas demonstrating some ground substance and multiple odontogenic
      epithelial rests. Some surfaces were partially lined by reduced enamel
      epithelium. A diagnosis of hyperplastic dental follicle was made. Sometimes, it
      is difficult to differentiate hyperplastic dental follicle from odontogenic
      fibroma, both simple and central forms. A correct diagnosis should be based on
      clinical, radiographic and histological findings.

PMID- 20936197
TI  - Visual and fluorogenic detection of a nerve agent simulant via a Lossen
      rearrangement of rhodamine-hydroxamate.
AB  - A visual and fluorogenic detection method for a nerve agent simulant was
      developed based on a Lossen rearrangement of rhodamine-hydroxamate, in the
      presence of diethyl chlorophosphate, under alkaline conditions.

PMID- 20936198
TI  - The biological targets of acivicin inspired 3-chloro- and 3-bromodihydroisoxazole
      scaffolds.
AB  - Target analysis of acivicin derived 3-halodihydroisoxazoles scaffolds in living
      non-pathogenic and pathogenic bacteria.

PMID- 20936199
TI  - Generation of protein-derived redox cofactors by posttranslational modification.
AB  - Redox enzymes which catalyze the oxidation and reduction of substrates are
      ubiquitous in nature. These enzymes typically possess exogenous cofactors to
      allow them to perform catalytic functions which cannot be accomplished using only
      amino acid residues. It is now evident that nature also employs an alternative
      strategy of generating catalytic and redox-active sites in proteins by
      posttranslational modification of amino acid residues. This review describes the
      structures and functions of several of these protein-derived cofactors and the
      diverse mechanisms of posttranslational modification through which they are
      generated.

PMID- 20936200
TI  - A method for N-terminal de novo sequencing of Nalpha-blocked proteins by mass
      spectrometry.
AB  - A method for de novo sequencing of N(alpha)-blocked proteins by mass spectrometry
      (MS) is presented. The approach consists of enzymatic digestion of N(alpha)
      blocked protein, recovery of N-terminal peptide by depletion of non-N-terminal
      peptides from the digest pool, and selective derivatization of a C-terminal alpha
      carboxyl group of isolated N-terminal peptide. The C-terminal alpha-carboxyl
      group of the N-terminal peptide was selectively derivatized with 3-aminopropyl
      tris(2,4,6-trimethoxyphenyl)phosphonium bromide (TMPP-propylamine), according to
      oxazolone chemistry. The reagent TMPP-propylamine was designed to facilitate
      sequence analysis with MALDI-MS by mass- and charge-tagging. All of the
      identities and N-terminal sequences of two N(alpha)-acetylated proteins (rabbit
      phosphorylase b and bovine calmodulin) and human orexin A, which has pyroglutamic
      acid at the N-terminus, were successfully analyzed by allowing for the y-type
      ions almost exclusively.

PMID- 20936201
TI  - Stabilizing self-assembled Fmoc-F5-Phe hydrogels by co-assembly with PEG
      functionalized monomers.
AB  - Hydrogels derived from self-assembled Fmoc-F(5)-Phe fibrils are stabilized with
      respect to shear-response by co-assembly with C-terminal PEG-functionalized Fmoc
      F(5)-Phe.

PMID- 20936202
TI  - Controlling transformations in the assembly of polyoxometalate clusters:
      {Mo11V7}, {Mo17V8} and {Mo72V30}.
AB  - The reaction of molybdate with vanadium(V) in the presence of sulfite anions is
      explored showing how, via cation control, stepwise assembly through the
      {Mo(11)V(7)} cluster yields a {M(25)} cluster-based compound,
      [Mo(VI)(11)V(V)(5)V(IV)(2)O(52)(MU(9)-SO(3))(Mo(VI)(6)V(V)O(22))](10-) (1a),
      which was first discovered using cryospray mass spectrometry, whereas switching
      the cation away from ammonium allows the direct formation of the spherical
      'Keplerate' {Mo(72)V(30)} cluster.

PMID- 20936203
TI  - Catalytic hydrosilylation of olefins with organolanthanides: A DFT study. Part I:
      Hydrosilylation of propene by SiH4.
AB  - Investigation of the catalytic hydrosilylation of propene by primary silane in
      the presence of Cp(2)SmH has been carried out using DFT calculations. Using
      SiH(4) as a model, it is shown that a catalytic cycle based on the hydride
      complex is unlikely. The activation of silane after insertion of propene is not
      competitive compared to the allylic activation of propene or the silyl formation.
      An alternative catalytic cycle, based on a silyl complex, is proposed. This
      alternative pathway accounts for the experimental observation. The allylic
      activation of propene is shown to be one of the main routes for the catalyst
      deactivation.

PMID- 20936205
TI  - Functionalization of carbon nanotubes via Cu(I)-catalyzed Huisgen [3+2]
      cycloaddition "click chemistry".
AB  - Functionalization of carbon nanotubes is essential for achieving their
      mechanical, electrical, and biological functions and enhancing their dispersion
      in a polymer matrix. Cycloaddition reactions can play a significant role as an
      emerging route in this direction. This minireview focuses on covalent
      functionalization of carbon nanotubes using a facile approach via a Cu(I)
      catalyzed Huisgen [3+2] cycloaddition reaction. Through this reaction, an
      enormous variety of molecules can be coupled onto carbon nanotubes in a very
      controlled manner, and may be utilized for many potential applications from
      nanoelectronics to bio-applications.

PMID- 20936206
TI  - Functionalized graphene and graphene oxide solution via polyacrylate coating.
AB  - Water soluble graphene with various chemical- and biofunctionalities is essential
      for their different applications. However, exfoliated graphenes are insoluble in
      water and water soluble graphene oxide precipitate if they are chemically reduced
      to graphene. We have developed a polyacrylate coating method for graphene oxide
      and then chemically reduced it into graphene. We found that polyacrylate coating
      can improve the colloidal stability of both graphene and graphene oxide. The
      coated graphene has been characterized using XPS, FTIR, XRD and micro-Raman
      spectroscopy. The primary amine present on the coating backbone has been used to
      derive glucose functionalized water soluble graphene. Various other functional
      graphenes can be anticipated from the polyacrylate coated graphene.

PMID- 20936207
TI  - Analysis of NO and its metabolites by mass spectrometry. Comment on 'Detection of
      nitric oxide in tissue samples by ESI-MS' by Z. Shen, A. Webster, K. J. Welham,
      C. E. Dyer, J. Greenman and S. J. Haswell.
AB  - Recently, Shen et al. (Analyst, 2010, 135, 302) reported on a flow injection
      analysis (FIA) ESI-MS/MS approach for the determination of the short-lived
      gaseous nitric oxide (NO) in biological samples. This method is based on the
      reaction of NO, and presumably of other NO-derived oxides such as N(2)O(3), with
      the vicinal amino groups of methylpiperazinobenzendiamine to form a benzotriazole
      derivative. Under MS/MS conditions, the protonated derivative loses molecular
      nitrogen (N(2)) from the triazole ring and the product ion formed is utilized for
      quantitative analyses. This seems to be the first ESI-MS/MS method for authentic
      NO detection and quantification. However, the ESI-MS/MS method reported by Shen
      et al. deserves some critical discussion.

PMID- 20936209
TI  - Catalytic hydrosilylation of olefins with organolanthanide complexes: a DFT
      study. Part II: Influence of the substitution on olefin and silane.
AB  - The reaction mechanism of the catalytic hydrosilylation of olefins in the
      presence of the samarium hydride (eta(5)-C(5)H(5))(2)SmH has been investigated
      for several silanes and olefins with DFT calculations. For any substrate, the
      active species is the silyl complex, formed in situ from the reaction of the
      metal hydride with the silane. In agreement with the experimental data, the
      substitution of hydrogen by methyl groups in the silane decreases the catalytic
      turn-over. This result is shown to have electronic origins: the methyl group
      decreases the electron density on the silicon atom, which weakens the Sm-Si bond
      and decreases the ability for the silyl group to stabilise the positively charged
      group in a sigma-bond metathesis transition state. Substituting hydrogen by alkyl
      groups on the olefin modifies mostly steric effects, and, depending on the
      position of the substituting group, it can result in an increase or a decrease of
      the catalytic yield.

PMID- 20936210
TI  - The preparation and characterization of trans-platinum(IV) complexes with
      unusually high cytotoxicity.
AB  - The physical and biological properties have been determined for three Pt(IV)
      complexes with trans amine ligands: trans,trans,trans
      [PtCl(2)(OH)(2)(dimethylamine)(isopropylamine)] (1(IV)), trans,trans,trans
      [PtCl(2)(OH)(2)(dimethylamine)(methylamine)] (2(IV)) and trans,trans,trans
      [PtCl(2)(OH)(2)(isopropylamine)(methylamine)] (3(IV)). The crystal structures of
      2(IV) and 3(IV) reveal substantial strain resulting from repulsion between the
      amine ligands and the chlorido and hydroxido ligands. All three complexes have
      reduction potentials in the range -666 to -770 mV, values usually associated with
      high resistance to reduction and low cytotoxicity. However, the complexes all
      demonstrate surprisingly high cytotoxicity with values and trends that closely
      follow those seen for the Pt(II) congeners of these complexes. These results are
      consistent with more rapid reduction of the Pt(IV) complexes than would be
      expected based on the reduction potentials, perhaps associated with the trans
      arrangement of the chlorido ligands.

PMID- 20936211
TI  - Transition metal chemistry of cyclodiphosphanes containing phosphine and amide
      phosphine functionalities: formation of a stable dipalladium(II) complex
      containing a Pd-P sigma-bond.
AB  - Cyclodiphosphazanes containing phosphine or phosphine plus amide functionalities
      {((t)BuNP(OC(6)H(4)PPh(2)-o)}(2) (3), {(t)BuNP(OCH(2)CH(2)PPh(2))}(2) (4),
      {(t)BuHN((t)BuNP)(2)OC(6)H(4)PPh(2)-o} (5), and
      {(t)BuHN((t)BuNP)(2)OCH(2)CH(2)PPh(2)} (6) were synthesized by reacting cis
      {(t)BuNPCl}(2) (1) and cis-[(t)BuHN((t)BuNP)(2)Cl] (2) with corresponding
      phosphine substituted nucleophiles. The reactions of 3 and 5 with excess of
      elemental sulfur or selenium produce the corresponding tetra and
      trichalcogenides, {((t)BuNP(E)(OC(6)H(4)P(E)Ph(2)-o)}(2) (7, E = S; 8, E = Se)
      and {(t)BuHN((t)BuNP)(2)OC(6)H(4)P(E)Ph(2)-o} (9, E = S; 10, E = Se),
      respectively, in quantitative yields. The reactions between 3 and [Rh(COD)Cl](2)
      or [M(COD)Cl](2) (M = Pd or Pt) afford bischelated complexes
      [Rh(CO)Cl{(t)BuNP(OC(6)H(4)PPh(2)-o)}](2) (11), and
      [MCl(2){(t)BuNP(OC(6)H(4)PPh(2)-o)}](2) (12, M = Pd; 13, M = Pt) in good yield.
      The 1 : 2 reaction between 3 and [PdCl(eta(3)-C(3)H(5))](2) in dichloromethane
      resulted initially in the formation of a tripalladium complex of the type
      [Pd(3)Cl(4)(eta(3)-C(3)H(5))(2){(t)BuNPOC(6)H(4)PPh(2)}(2)] (14a) which readily
      reacts with moisture to form an interesting binuclear complex, [Cl(2)Pd{MU
      (PPh(2)C(6)H(4)OP(MU-(t)BuN)(2)P(O)}(MU-Cl)Pd(OC(6)H(4)PPh(2))] (14b). One of the
      palladium(II) atoms forms a simple six-membered chelate ring, whereas the other
      palladium(II) atom facilitates the moisture assisted cleavage of one of the
      endocyclic P-O bonds followed by the oxidation of P(III) to P(V) thus forming a
      Pd-P sigma-bond. The broken ortho-phosphine substituted phenoxide ion forms a
      five-membered palladacycle with the same palladium(II) atom. Similar reaction of
      5 with [PdCl(eta(3)-C(3)H(5))](2) also affords a binuclear complex [{PdCl(eta(3)
      C(3)H(5))}(t)BuNH{(t)BuNP}(2)OC(6)H(4)PPh(2){PdCl(2)}] (15) containing a PdCl(2)
      moiety which forms a six-membered chelate ring via ring-phosphorus and PPh(2)
      moieties on one side and a PdCl(eta(3)-C(3)H(5)) fragment coordinating to amide
      bound phosphorus atom on the other side of the ring. Treatment of 3 with four
      equivalents of AuCl(SMe(2)) produces a tetranuclear complex,
      [(AuCl)(4){(t)BuNP(OC(6)H(4)PPh(2))}(2)] (16), whereas a 1 : 3 reaction between 5
      and AuCl(SMe(2)) leads to the formation of a trinuclear complex,
      [(t)BuNH{(t)BuNP(AuCl)}(2)OC(6)H(4)P(AuCl)Ph(2)] (17). The crystal structures of
      3, 5, 9-11 and 13-17 are reported.

PMID- 20936212
TI  - Imaging of cancer by redox-mediated mechanism: a radical diagnostic approach.
AB  - The present study describes a new diagnostic approach for carcinogenesis based on
      the different tissue redox activity of normal and cancer-bearing mammalians and
      its visualization and estimation by cell permeable and DNA annealing probe
      (nitroxide-labeled nitrosourea) and magnetic resonance imaging.

PMID- 20936213
TI  - Imidazolium ionic liquids as promoters and stabilising agents for the preparation
      of metal(0) nanoparticles by reduction and decomposition of organometallic
      complexes.
AB  - The organometallic complexes ([Ru(COD)(2-methylallyl)2] and [Ni(COD)2] (COD=1,5
      cyclooctadiene) dissolved in imidazolium ionic liquids (ILs) undergo reduction
      and decomposition, respectively, to afford stable ruthenium and nickel metal(0)
      nanoparticles (Ru(0)-NPs and Ni(0)-NPs) in the absence of classical reducing
      agents. Depending on the case, the reduction/auto-decomposition is promoted by
      either the cation and/or anion of the neat imidazolium ILs.

PMID- 20936214
TI  - The two-step mechanism of nucleation of crystals in solution.
AB  - The formation of crystalline nanoparticles starts with nucleation and control of
      nucleation is crucial for the control of the number, size, perfection, polymorph
      modification and other characteristics of particles. Recently, there have been
      significant advances in the understanding of the mechanism of nucleation of
      crystals in solution. The most significant of these is the two-step mechanism of
      nucleation, according to which the crystalline nucleus appears inside pre
      existing metastable clusters of size several hundred nanometers, which consist of
      dense liquid and are suspended in the solution. While initially proposed for
      protein crystals, the applicability of this mechanism has been demonstrated for
      small-molecule organic and inorganic materials, colloids, and biominerals. This
      mechanism helps to explain several long-standing puzzles of crystal nucleation in
      solution: nucleation rates which are many orders of magnitude lower than
      theoretical predictions, nucleation kinetic dependencies with steady or receding
      parts at increasing supersaturation, the role of heterogeneous substrates for
      polymorph selection, the significance of the dense protein liquid, and others.
      More importantly, this mechanism provides powerful tools for control of the
      nucleation process by varying the solution thermodynamic parameters so that the
      volume occupied by the dense liquid shrinks or expands.

PMID- 20936216
TI  - Convenient route to water-sensitive sol-gel precursors using click chemistry.
AB  - The CuAAC-'click' reaction under anhydrous conditions is reported as a new tool
      for the preparation of moisture-sensitive triethoxysilyl compounds that are
      obtained in 5 minutes in excellent yield with simple purification.

PMID- 20936215
TI  - Diels-Alder cycloaddition of o-quinonedimethides and alkylidene-5H-furan-2-ones:
      new and rapid access to lambertellol cores and arthrinone derivatives.
AB  - An efficient synthesis of deoxy-lambertellols was reported through a highly chemo
      and diastereoselective intermolecular Diels-Alder cycloaddition between trans
      1,2-disiloxybenzocyclobutenes and 2-methylprotoanemonine. Such transformation
      with delta-substituted gamma-alkylidenebutenolides, to prepare new analogues of
      these tricyclic spirolactones, which would be very difficult to prepare by other
      ways, was also studied.

PMID- 20936217
TI  - Non-IPR fullerenes with properly closed shells.
AB  - Fullerenes with properly closed shells (having exactly half their adjacency
      eigenvalues strictly positive) are rare. All reported examples obey the isolated
      pentagon rule (IPR), usually considered a necessary condition of overall
      stability, and fall into three series (leapfrogs, carbon cylinders and sporadic
      closed shells). It is shown here that there also exist fullerenes with properly
      closed shells that violate the IPR ('super-sporadic' fullerenes). All have
      negative LUMO eigenvalues of small magnitude. Exhaustive search finds four
      examples with 160 or fewer vertices: one isomer of C(120), two of C(156) and one
      of C(160). The first three contain single pentagon pairs and the fourth, a linear
      triple of fused pentagons. Larger examples can be found. A capping construction
      gives a series of properly closed shell fullerenes of C(3)/C(3v) symmetry, each
      with a single fully fused triple of pentagons and >=632 vertices. Tubular
      extension of the C(120) example leads a series of C(1)/C(s) isomer pairs with
      >=168 vertices, retaining the single pentagon adjacency and approaching
      isospectrality with increasing size. Both constructions are conjectured to lead
      to an infinite number of super-sporadic fullerenes.

PMID- 20936219
TI  - Tuning of electronic transport characteristics of ZnO micro/nanowire piezotronic
      Schottky diodes by bending: threshold voltage shift.
AB  - We report the longitudinal and transverse PtIr-ZnO wire piezotronic Schottky
      diodes in a conductive atomic force microscope (C-AFM). The tuning of electronic
      transport characteristics by bending ZnO wire was investigated. For longitudinal
      transport, the threshold voltage can be tuned over a wide range (from 1 V to 8 V)
      during the bending process. For transverse transport, the threshold voltage can
      be positively tuned at the stretched side, and negatively tuned at the compressed
      side. The possible mechanisms are discussed.

PMID- 20936220
TI  - Two-color sum frequency generation study of poly(9,9-dioctylfluorene)/electrode
      interfaces.
AB  - The air/PFO and the buried electrode/PFO interfaces have been investigated by two
      color SFG spectroscopy. Due to the interface confinement effects, the planes of
      PFO rings are nearly parallel to the surface plane, and the optical band gaps
      become smaller at the interfaces than those of the bulk.

PMID- 20936218
TI  - Determination of relative tensor orientations by gamma-encoded chemical shift
      anisotropy/heteronuclear dipolar coupling 3D NMR spectroscopy in biological
      solids.
AB  - In this paper, we present 3D chemical shift anisotropy (CSA)/dipolar coupling
      correlation experiments, based on gamma-encoded R-type symmetry sequences. The
      gamma-encoded correlation spectra are exquisitely sensitive to the relative
      orientation of the CSA and dipolar tensors and can provide important structural
      and dynamic information in peptides and proteins. We show that the first-order (m
      = +/-1) and second-order (m = +/-2) Hamiltonians in the R-symmetry recoupling
      sequences give rise to different correlation patterns due to their different
      dependencies on the crystallite orientation. The relative orientation between CSA
      and dipolar tensors can be determined by fitting the corresponding correlation
      patterns. The orientation of (15)N CSA tensor in the quasi-molecular frame is
      determined by the relative Euler angles, alpha(NH) and beta(NH), when the
      combined symmetry schemes are applied for orientational studies of (1)H-(15)N
      dipolar and (15)N CSA tensors. The correlation experiments introduced here work
      at moderate magic angle spinning frequencies (10-20 kHz) and allow for
      simultaneous measurement of multiple sites of interest. We studied the
      orientational sensitivity of gamma-encoded symmetry-based recoupling techniques
      numerically and experimentally. The results are demonstrated on [(15)N]-N-acetyl
      valine (NAV) and N-formyl-Met-Leu-Phe (MLF) tripeptide.

PMID- 20936221
TI  - Selective heterolytic P-P bond cleavage of white phosphorus by a frustrated
      carbene-borane Lewis pair.
AB  - Frustrated carbene-borane Lewis pairs are able to affect the selective cleavage
      of one of the six P-P bonds in white phosphorus (P(4)) to afford an adduct, in
      which an abnormal carbene of the imidazolium-4-yl type and B(C(6)F(5))(3) are
      bound in a trans,trans fashion to a butterfly-like
      bicyclo[1.1.0]tetraphosphabutane moiety.

PMID- 20936222
TI  - Synthesis of natural products containing the pyrrolic ring.

PMID- 20936223
TI  - Slope-tunable Si nanorod arrays with enhanced antireflection and self-cleaning
      properties.
AB  - Slope-tunable Si nanorod arrays (NRAs) were fabricated with colloidal lithography
      and reactive ion etching (RIE). Sharpened NRAs fabricated by increasing the
      SF6/O2 flow ratio during RIE exhibit enhanced antireflection (AR) and hydrophobic
      properties, which are attributed to the smooth gradient in the effective
      refractive index of NRAs, and the enlarged water/air interface of the water drops
      in the NRA layers, respectively. Enhanced AR characteristics via modifying the
      slope of NRAs are accompanied by broad-band working ranges, omnidirectionality,
      and polarization insensitivity. Detailed experimental and theoretical analysis of
      slope-tunable NRAs should benefit the development of various self-cleaning
      optoelectronic devices with efficient light management.

PMID- 20936224
TI  - Protein thin film machines.
AB  - We report the first example of microcantilever beams that are reversibly driven
      by protein thin film machines fueled by cycling the salt concentration of the
      surrounding solution. We also show that upon the same salinity stimulus the drive
      can be completely reversed in its direction by introducing a surface coating
      ligand. Experimental results are throughout discussed within a general yet simple
      thermodynamic model.

PMID- 20936225
TI  - The synthesis of optically active calix[4]arenes with one or three substituents
      on the methylene bridges.
AB  - A facile synthesis of optically active mono and trisubstituted calix[4]arenes is
      described wherein the chirality at the methylene bridges arises from centers of
      chirality present in the diyne and the bis-carbene complex from which they are
      constructed.

PMID- 20936226
TI  - Functionalization of manganite nanoparticles and their interaction with
      biologically relevant small ligands: picosecond time-resolved FRET studies.
AB  - We report molecular functionalization of the promising manganite nanoparticles
      La0.67Sr0.33MnO3 (LSMO) for their solubilization in aqueous environments. The
      functionalization of individual NPs with the biocompatible citrate ligand, as
      confirmed by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, reveals that
      citrates are covalently attached to the surface of the NPs. UV-VIS spectroscopic
      studies on the citrate functionalized NPs reveals an optical band in the visible
      region. Uniform size selectivity (2.6 nm) of the functionalization process is
      confirmed from high resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM). In the
      present study we have used the optical band of the functionalized NPs to monitor
      their interaction with other biologically important ligands. Forster resonance
      energy transfer (FRET) of a covalently attached probe 4-nitrophenylanthranilate
      (NPA) with the capped NPs confirm the attachment of the NPA ligands to the
      surface functional group (-OH) of the citrate ligand. The FRET of a DNA base
      mimic, 2-aminopurine (2AP), with the NPs confirms the surface adsorption of 2AP.
      Our study may find relevance in the study of the interaction of individual
      manganite NPs with drug/ligand molecules.

PMID- 20936227
TI  - Magnetic resonance imaging methods for in situ studies in heterogeneous
      catalysis.
AB  - Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a very powerful instrument used extensively
      in modern medical diagnostics because of its ability to look inside a body in a
      non-invasive and non-destructive way. Furthermore, MRI is more than just a single
      tool for extracting structural information. It is more of a sophisticated and
      versatile toolkit able to provide all sorts of useful information about the
      internal properties of an object under study and various processes within it,
      including heat and mass transport, composition and chemical transformations, in a
      spatially resolved mode. While a living body is different from a catalyst body or
      a reactor, the in situ and Operando studies in catalysis can clearly benefit from
      the use of this non-destructive toolkit as a powerful complement to other
      available spectroscopic tools. This tutorial review gives an introduction to the
      field and describes the examples of the applications of MRI to the studies of the
      preparation, deactivation and regeneration of solid catalysts and to the
      spectroscopy, thermometry and imaging studies of heterogeneous catalysts and
      model catalytic reactors performed during actual catalytic processes.

PMID- 20936228
TI  - The design and testing of kinetically-appropriate operando spectroscopic cells
      for investigating heterogeneous catalytic reactions.
AB  - This tutorial review discusses some of the current designs of reaction cells used
      for operando spectroscopy (X-ray absorption, UV-vis, Raman, transmission FTIR and
      DRIFTS) and the relation to the apparent reaction kinetics. Beam effects, the
      control of the catalyst bed temperature and bed by-pass are some of the potential
      problems that may lead to flawed activity measurements. Finally, four examples
      are given in which a good agreement was obtained between the activity of a
      powdered catalyst measured in a conventional reactor and in a spectroscopic cell.
      It is proposed that such comparison between reactors should become a standard
      procedure, to ensure the correctness of the data collected over typically non
      ideal spectroscopic reaction cells.

PMID- 20936229
TI  - A synthesis of high-efficiency Pd-Cu-Cl(x)/Al(2)O(3) catalyst for low temperature
      CO oxidation.
AB  - Pd-Cu-Cl(x)/Al(2)O(3) catalysts were prepared by a NH(3) coordination
      impregnation method and exhibited an excellent activity for low-temperature CO
      oxidation and 100% CO conversion was obtained at -30  degrees C for 400 ppm CO
      and 1000 ppm H(2)O/air.

PMID- 20936230
TI  - Manganese(V)-oxo corroles in hydride-transfer reactions.
AB  - Hydride transfer from dihydronicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) analogues
      to manganese(V)-oxo corroles proceeds via proton-coupled electron transfer,
      followed by rapid electron transfer. The redox potentials (E(red)) of
      manganese(V)-oxo corroles exhibit a good correlation with their reactivity in
      hydride-transfer reactions.

PMID- 20936231
TI  - Anilide activation of adjacent C-H bonds in the palladium-catalysed Fujiwara
      Moritani reaction.
AB  - The Pd(II)-catalysed oxidative counterpart of the Heck reaction, originally
      described by Fujiwara and Moritani, has been studied in detail by a combination
      of NMR, single-crystal X-ray diffraction and substrate variation. The process
      involves a palladacycle that is a true intermediate in catalysis. Pd(OAc)(2) is
      first converted into a more electrophilic palladium species for effective
      catalysis, defining the main role of added acid. In the course of these studies,
      three palladacyclic intermediates have been characterised by X-ray diffraction,
      firstly the directly produced acetate complex 1, the camphorsulfonate complex 2,
      and additionally tosylate 3, isolated from a reacting system, demonstrating the
      accessibility of a cationic or comparably electrophilic palladium entity under
      turnover conditions. The isolated palladacycle 3 is also an effective catalyst.
      The reaction rate shows a first-order dependency on [anilide] and [Pd], but not
      on benzoquinone, alkene or p-TsOH. Acid, in the form of p-TsOH, is an essential
      component, whereas acetate is dispensable. A crossover experiment involving
      distinct substitution in reactant and palladacycle demonstrates that the
      palladacycle is directly involved in the catalysis.

PMID- 20936233
TI  - Crystal-like periodic mesoporous organosilica bearing pyridine units within the
      framework.
AB  - Periodic mesoporous organosilica with densely packed pyridine units within the
      framework and crystal-like molecular-scale periodicity was synthesized. The
      framework pyridines were chemically active and fully accessible for protonation
      and Cu(2+) adsorption.

PMID- 20936232
TI  - Strategies for improving the water solubility of new antitumour
      nitronaphthylbutadiene derivatives.
AB  - Different nitronaphthylbutadienes have been previously proved to have antitumour
      activity. The main drawback of these derivatives is their low water solubility.
      With the aim of facilitating the administration of these new drugs we have
      synthesized the hexyl (2Z,4E)-2-methylsulfanyl-5-(1-naphthyl)-4-nitro-2,4
      pentadienoate analogue (1-Naph-NHCB) which is demonstrated to be easily included
      into cyclodextrins and/or entrapped into liposomes. Its antitumour activity was
      revealed to be almost comparable with that of the previously studied methyl
      analogue ester (1-Naph-NMCB). On the other hand, in vitro studies with different
      cancer cell lines showed that the cytotoxic activity of both 1-Naph-NMCB and 1
      Naph-NHCB were fully preserved and in some cases also enhanced when entrapped
      into liposomal carriers.

PMID- 20936234
TI  - The art of stacking: structural folding and self-assembly of branched pi
      conjugation assisted by O-H...O and C-H...F hydrogen bonds.
AB  - An intimate interplay of O-H...O/C-H...F hydrogen bonds and pi-pi stacking
      interactions allows a phenyleneethynylene-based dendritic molecule to fold and
      self-assemble into two distinctively different molecular crystals as
      pseudopolymorphs.

PMID- 20936236
TI  - Nanocomposites of size-controlled gold nanoparticles and graphene oxide:
      formation and applications in SERS and catalysis.
AB  - In this paper, we describe the formation of Au nanoparticle-graphene oxide (Au
      GO) and -reduced GO (Au-rGO) composites by noncovalent attachment of Au
      nanoparticles premodified with 2-mercaptopyridine to GO and rGO sheets,
      respectively, viapi-pi stacking and other molecular interactions. Compared with
      in situ reduction of HAuCl4 on the surface of graphene sheets that are widely
      used to prepare Au-GO composites, the approach developed by us offers well
      controlled size, size distribution, and morphology of the metal nanoparticles in
      the metal-GO nanohybrids. Moreover, we investigated surface enhanced Raman
      scattering (SERS) and catalysis properties of the Au-graphene composites. We have
      demonstrated that the Au-GO composites are superior SERS substrates to the Au
      NPs. Similarly, a comparative study on the catalytic activities of the Au, Au-GO,
      and Au-rGO composites in the reduction of o-nitroaniline to 1,2-benzenediamine by
      NaBH4 indicates that both Au-GO and Au-rGO composites exhibit significantly
      higher catalytic activities than the corresponding Au nanoparticles.

PMID- 20936235
TI  - Microfluidic device generating stable concentration gradients for long term cell
      culture: application to Wnt3a regulation of beta-catenin signaling.
AB  - In developing tissues, proteins and signaling molecules present themselves in the
      form of concentration gradients, which determine the fate specification and
      behavior of the sensing cells. To mimic these conditions in vitro, we developed a
      microfluidic device designed to generate stable concentration gradients at low
      hydrodynamic shear and allowing long term culture of adhering cells. The gradient
      forms in a culture space between two parallel laminar flow streams of culture
      medium at two different concentrations of a given morphogen. The exact algorithm
      for defining the concentration gradients was established with the aid of
      mathematical modeling of flow and mass transport. Wnt3a regulation of beta
      catenin signaling was chosen as a case study. The highly conserved Wnt-activated
      beta-catenin pathway plays major roles in embryonic development, stem cell
      proliferation and differentiation. Wnt3a stimulates the activity of beta-catenin
      pathway, leading to translocation of beta-catenin to the nucleus where it
      activates a series of target genes. We cultured A375 cells stably expressing a
      Wnt/beta-catenin reporter driving the expression of Venus, pBARVS, inside the
      microfluidic device. The extent to which the beta-catenin pathway was activated
      in response to a gradient of Wnt3a was assessed in real time using the BARVS
      reporter gene. On a single cell level, the beta-catenin signaling was
      proportionate to the concentration gradient of Wnt3a; we thus propose that the
      modulation of Wnt3a gradients in real time can provide new insights into the
      dynamics of beta-catenin pathway, under conditions that replicate some aspects of
      the actual cell-tissue milieu. Our device thus offers a highly controllable
      platform for exploring the effects of concentration gradients on cultured cells.

PMID- 20936237
TI  - Molecular strategies to read and write at the nanoscale with far-field optics.
AB  - Diffraction prevents the focusing of ultraviolet and visible radiations within
      nanoscaled volumes and, as a result, the imaging and patterning of nanostructures
      with conventional far-field illumination. Specifically, the irradiation of a
      fluorescent or photosensitive material with focused light results in the
      simultaneous excitation of multiple chromophores distributed over a large area,
      relative to the dimensions of single molecules. It follows that the spatial
      control of fluorescence and photochemical reactions with molecular precision is
      impossible with conventional illumination configurations. However, the
      photochemical and photophysical properties of organic chromophores can be
      engineered to overcome diffraction in combination with patterned or reiterative
      illumination. These ingenious strategies offer the opportunity to confine excited
      chromophores within nanoscaled volumes and, therefore, restrict fluorescence or
      photochemical reactions within subdiffraction areas. Indeed, information can be
      "read" in the form of fluorescence and "written" in the form of photochemical
      products with resolution down to the nanometre level on the basis of these
      innovative approaches. In fact, these promising far-field optical methods permit
      the convenient imaging of biological samples and fabrication of miniaturized
      objects with unprecedented resolution and can have long-term and profound
      implications in biomedical research and information technology.

PMID- 20936238
TI  - NMR methods for unravelling the spectra of complex mixtures.
AB  - The main methods for the simplification of the NMR of complex mixtures by
      selective attenuation/suppression of the signals of certain components are
      presented. The application of relaxation, diffusion and PSR filters and other
      techniques to biological samples, pharmaceuticals, foods, living organisms and
      natural products are illustrated with examples.

PMID- 20936239
TI  - Airborne enzyme measurements to detect indoor mould exposure.
AB  - Mould in buildings constitutes a threat to health. Present methods to determine
      the moulds comprise counting of spores or determination of viable moulds which
      give imprecise measures of total mould cell biomass. Analysis of ergosterol and
      beta-glucan as markers of mould cell biomass is expensive and cumbersome. To
      evaluate if airborne enzyme activity was related to mould in buildings air
      samples were taken using an impinger technique or cellulose filters in 386 rooms
      in 141 buildings. The samples were analysed for the activity of N
      acetylhexosaminidase (NAHA) and expressed as enzyme units per m(3) (EU per m(3)).
      The highest value found in a building was used for the classification of the
      building and was related to the results from the subsequent technical inspection.
      In buildings without mould damage, the NAHA activity was generally below 20 EU
      per m(3). In buildings with mould damage, almost all the buildings had activities
      above 20 EU per m(3) (specificity 85%). At 30 EU per m(3) the specificity was
      100%. Measurements of airborne enzyme activity have a high sensitivity and
      specificity to identify buildings with mould problems. The method can be used in
      the investigations of building related symptoms or for home exposure
      characteristics when investigating diseases such as asthma that can be related to
      mould exposure.

PMID- 20936240
TI  - Active targeting of cancer cells using folic acid-conjugated platinum
      nanoparticles.
AB  - Interaction of nanoparticles with human cells is an interesting topic for
      understanding toxicity and developing potential drug candidates. Water soluble
      platinum nanoparticles were synthesized via reduction of hexachloroplatinic acid
      using sodium borohydride in the presence of capping agents. The bioactivity of
      folic acid and poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) capped platinum nanoparticles (Pt-nps) has
      been investigated using commercially available cell lines. In the cell viability
      experiments, PVP-capped nanoparticles were found to be less toxic (>80%
      viability), whereas, folic acid-capped platinum nanoparticles showed a reduced
      viability down to 24% after 72 h of exposure at a concentration of 100 MUg ml(-1)
      for MCF7 breast cancer cells. Such toxicity, combined with the possibility to
      incorporate functional organic molecules as capping agents, can be used for
      developing new drug candidates.

PMID- 20936241
TI  - Integrated biomimetic carbon nanotube composites for in vivo systems.
AB  - As interest in using carbon nanotubes for developing biologically compatible
      systems continues to grow, biological inspiration is stimulating new directions
      for in vivo approaches. The ability to integrate nanotechnology-based systems in
      the body will provide greater successes if the implanted material is made to
      mimic elements of the biological milieu especially through tuning physical and
      chemical characteristics. Here, we demonstrate the highly successful capacity for
      in vivo implantation of a new carbon nanotube-based composite that is, itself,
      integrated with a hydroxyapatite-polymethyl methacrylate to create a
      nanocomposite. The success of this approach is grounded in finely tailoring the
      physical and chemical properties of this composite for the critical demands of
      biological integration. This is accomplished through controlling the surface
      modification scheme, which affects the interactions between carbon nanotubes and
      the hydroxyapatite-polymethyl methacrylate. Furthermore, we carefully examine
      cellular response with respect to adhesion and proliferation to examine in vitro
      compatibility capacity. Our results indicate that this new composite accelerates
      cell maturation through providing a mechanically competent bone matrix; this
      likely facilitates osteointegration in vivo. We believe that these results will
      have applications in a diversity of areas including carbon nanotube,
      regeneration, chemistry, and engineering research.

PMID- 20936242
TI  - Single-step bifunctional coating for selectively conjugable nanoparticles.
AB  - A single-step method to coat and bifunctionalize water-reduced gold nanoparticles
      (NPs) with two distinct reactive groups is reported. The coating is based on a
      peptide that bonds to the NPs surface by its N-cysteine amino acid, terminates
      with a C-terminal lysine, and stabilizes the colloids, thanks to the surface
      organization provided by the rest of the non-polar chain. The process yields
      stable, non-cytotoxic NPs presenting reactive amine and carboxylic groups on the
      surface; these allow rapid, selective and modular conjugation of virtually any
      chosen biomolecule or fluorophore. Functionalized and conjugated nanostructures
      are analyzed by electrophoresis, SEM, SERS; their biocompatibility and delivery
      capability are tested by cellular-uptake experiments.

PMID- 20936243
TI  - Thermal contraction in silicon nanowires at low temperatures.
AB  - The thermal expansion effect of silicon nanowires (SiNW) in [100], [110] and
      [111] directions with different sizes is theoretically investigated. At low
      temperatures, all SiNW studied exhibit a thermal contraction effect due to the
      lowest energy of the bending vibration mode which has a negative effect on the
      coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE). The CTE in [110] direction is distinctly
      larger than the other two growth directions because of the anisotropy of the
      bending mode in SiNW. Our study reveals that CTE decreases with an increase of
      the structure ratio gamma=length/diameter, and is negative in the whole
      temperature range with gamma=1.3.

PMID- 20936244
TI  - Gold nanorods for platinum based prodrug delivery.
AB  - PEGylated gold nanorods (PEG-GNRs) conjugate with Pt(iv) prodrug as a drug
      delivery system, showing superior cytotoxicity compared to cisplatin against
      different types of cancer cells.

PMID- 20936245
TI  - Organogel based on beta-diketone-boron difluoride without alkyl chain and H
      bonding unit directed by optimally balanced pi-pi interaction.
AB  - Rigid boomerang shaped triphenylamine functionalized bis-beta-diketone-boron
      difluoride without alkyl chain and H-bonding unit exhibits good gelation ability
      in some mixed organic solvents directed by optimally balanced pi-pi interactions.

PMID- 20936246
TI  - Facile synthesis of concave gold nanoplates in hexagonal liquid crystal made of
      SDS/water system.
AB  - Concave gold nanoplates are obtained in hexagonal liquid crystal (LLC) made of
      SDS (sodium dodecyl sulfate)/glycine/HAuCl(4) aqueous solution system where
      glycine plays the key role. All plates are single-crystals, characterized by
      {111} facets, with concave centers of regular hexagonal or triangular shapes, and
      with better electrocatalytic activity than gold nanoplates.

PMID- 20936247
TI  - Controlled microparticle manipulation employing low frequency alternating
      electric fields in an array of insulators.
AB  - Low frequency alternating current insulator-based dielectrophoresis is a novel
      technique that allows for highly controlled manipulation of particles. By varying
      the shape of an AC voltage applied across a microchannel containing an array of
      insulating cylindrical structures it was possible to concentrate and immobilize
      microparticles in bands; and then, move the bands of particles to a different
      location. Mathematical modeling was performed to analyze the distribution of the
      electric field and electric field gradient as function of the shape of the AC
      applied potential, employing frequencies in the 0.2-1.25 Hz range. Three
      different signals were tested: sinusoidal, half sinusoidal and sawtooth.
      Experimental results demonstrated that this novel dielectrophoretic mode allows
      highly controlled particle manipulation.

PMID- 20936252
TI  - Suboptimal persistence with inhaled corticosteroid monotherapy among children
      with persistent asthma in the UK.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Long-term studies indicate that adherence to asthma controller
      therapy decreases over time, and persistence with therapy may be poor. METHODS:
      This primary care database study assessed persistence with therapy over one year
      after first prescription of inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) for children aged 2-14
      years with a diagnosis of asthma. Children with intermittent asthma were
      excluded. Discontinuation was defined as no ICS prescription during the last
      three months of the follow-up year. RESULTS: 2220 of 7375 children receiving a
      first prescription for ICS had persistent asthma. Mean (+/-SD) age was 7.3 (+/
      3.8) years; 59.5% were male. A total of 745 (33.6%) continued initial ICS, 133
      (6.0%) received add-on therapy, 150 (6.8%) switched to another asthma therapy,
      and 1192 (53.7%) discontinued therapy. These percentages were similar for
      children aged 2-5 or 6-14 years. CONCLUSION: Persistence with first-time ICS
      monotherapy is poor among children with persistent asthma.

PMID- 20936253
TI  - Glucose stimulates human beta cell replication in vivo in islets transplanted
      into NOD-severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) mice.
AB  - AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: We determined whether hyperglycaemia stimulates human beta cell
      replication in vivo in an islet transplant model METHODS: Human islets were
      transplanted into streptozotocin-induced diabetic NOD-severe combined
      immunodeficiency mice. Blood glucose was measured serially during a 2 week graft
      revascularisation period. Engrafted mice were then catheterised in the femoral
      artery and vein, and infused intravenously with BrdU for 4 days to label
      replicating beta cells. Mice with restored normoglycaemia were co-infused with
      either 0.9% (wt/vol.) saline or 50% (wt/vol.) glucose to generate glycaemic
      differences among grafts from the same donors. During infusions, blood glucose
      was measured daily. After infusion, human beta cell replication and apoptosis
      were measured in graft sections using immunofluorescence for insulin, and BrdU or
      TUNEL. RESULTS: Human islet grafts corrected diabetes in the majority of cases.
      Among grafts from the same donor, human beta cell proliferation doubled in those
      exposed to higher glucose relative to lower glucose. Across the entire cohort of
      grafts, higher blood glucose was strongly correlated with increased beta cell
      replication. Beta cell replication rates were unrelated to circulating human
      insulin levels or donor age, but tended to correlate with donor BMI. Beta cell
      TUNEL reactivity was not measurably increased in grafts exposed to elevated blood
      glucose. CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: Glucose is a mitogenic stimulus for
      transplanted human beta cells in vivo. Investigating the underlying pathways may
      point to mechanisms capable of expanding human beta cell mass in vivo.

PMID- 20936254
TI  - Spatial distribution of heavy metals in top soils around the industrial
      facilities of Cromatos de Mexico, Tultitlan Mexico.
AB  - The environmental damage caused by industrial activities in Cromatos de Mexico,
      (Tultitlan, Mexico) has been evaluated in terms of heavy metal concentrations in
      topsoils of the surrounding area. The concentrations of lead, copper and zinc
      demonstrate a significant enrichment with respect to unpolluted levels. Their
      maximum enrichment factors are 37.7, 21.1 and 9.6 mg kg-1, respectively; such
      increase is related to traffic emissions. Nickel concentrations show no
      significant difference in the analyzed samples. Total chromium concentrations
      show a significant decrease with distance from the industrial facilities, ranging
      from 15 to 1,837 mg kg-1. The enrichment factors of chromium (total), with
      respect to the background values reach up to 40.8 mg kg-1. In spite of this
      pronounced increase, only three analyzed samples show chromium (VI)
      concentrations over 0.5 mg kg-1 (instrumental detection limit) and do not exceed
      the values recommended by the Mexican official norm. The current results show
      that the chromium present in the studied area does not represent serious health
      risks and environmental damage in the zone, nevertheless, it is necessary to
      consider that the oxidation of chromium (III) is determinate by changes in redox
      and/or pH conditions which would imply significant impacts upon its toxic risk.
      This study suggests that the waste material generated during the industrial
      activities of Cromatos de Mexico represents a relevant metal pollution source for
      the area even 30 years after the closure of the industrial facilities.

PMID- 20936255
TI  - Quality of life after periurethral injection with polyacrylamide hydrogel for
      stress urinary incontinence.
AB  - INTRODUCTION AND HYPOTHESIS: The purpose of this observational study was to
      examine the effect of periurethral injections with polyacrylamide hydrogel (PAHG)
      on quality of life (QoL) in selected patients with stress urinary incontinence
      (SUI). METHODS: Fifty-four women with comorbidities or other reasons precluding
      other surgery received PAHG for SUI. Patient-reported outcomes were assessed with
      the "Incontinence Outcome Questionnaire" (IOQ) 9 months postoperatively. The IOQ
      is a 27-item, condition-specific instrument that assesses patient-reported
      outcomes after incontinence surgery. RESULTS: Forty-two women (78%) completed the
      questionnaire. Responses ranged from considerable (40%) and slight improvement
      (21%) to no change (29%) and worsening of symptoms (10%). CONCLUSION:
      Periurethral injections with PAHG are likely to provide relief of symptoms and
      improvement in QoL.

PMID- 20936256
TI  - Mesh kits for anterior vaginal prolapse are not cost effective.
AB  - INTRODUCTION AND HYPOTHESIS: To analyze the cost-effectiveness of traditional
      anterior colporrhaphy (AC), hand-cut mesh, and mesh kit anterior vaginal prolapse
      (AVP) repair. METHODS: A decision analysis model was built using mean operating
      room (OR) times, mesh extrusion rates, and recurrence rates obtained from a meta
      analysis along with Medicare reimbursement for surgeon fees and office visits,
      and hospital costs of supplies, OR time, and room and board. RESULTS: Non-kit
      mesh repair was $3,380, AC $3,461, and mesh kit $4,678. One-way sensitivity
      analyses demonstrated recurrence rate of AC would need to be 28% to be equally
      cost effective. Mesh kit repair did not reach cost equivalence even at 0 min OR
      time. Two-way sensitivity analysis comparing mesh extrusion and AC recurrence
      demonstrated AC is more cost effective if recurrence is <20% or extrusion >25%.
      CONCLUSIONS: Mesh kits for AVP repair are not cost effective, regardless of the
      OR time saved.

PMID- 20936257
TI  - Evaluation of the biocompatibility and mechanical properties of xenogeneic
      (porcine) extracellular matrix (ECM) scaffold for pelvic reconstruction.
AB  - INTRODUCTION AND HYPOTHESIS: Xenogeneic (porcine) extracellular matrix (ECM)
      scaffolds have been suggested as ideal biomaterials for regeneration medicine;
      however, ECM prepared from different tissue sources has shown distinctive
      biological properties. Therefore, a comprehensive understanding of biological
      characteristics of different tissue-derived ECM is essential in the design of
      scaffolds for pelvic reconstruction. METHODS: We compared the biological
      properties of ECM derived from different tissue sources of Bama miniature pigs as
      a pelvic biological patch in terms of histological structure, water absorption
      ability, biodegradation ability, mechanical properties, antimicrobial activity,
      and biocompatibility in vitro. RESULTS: Different ECM scaffolds have distinct
      structural differences, and all have good biocompatibility, and UBM exhibited
      better water uptake ability (above 500%), anti-biodegradation ability, mechanical
      properties, antimicrobial activity, and stem cell attachment properties than
      other tissue-derived ECM. CONCLUSIONS: Porcine UBM might serve as an ideal pelvic
      biological patch.

PMID- 20936258
TI  - The inter-system association between the simplified pelvic organ prolapse
      quantification system (S-POP) and the standard pelvic organ prolapse
      quantification system (POPQ) in describing pelvic organ prolapse.
AB  - INTRODUCTION AND HYPOTHESIS: The objective of this study is to determine the
      association between the POPQ and a simplified version of the POPQ. METHODS: This
      was an observational study. The subjects with pelvic floor disorder symptoms
      underwent two exams: a POPQ exam and a simplified POPQ. To compare with the
      simplified POPQ, vaginal segments of the POPQ exam were defined using points Ba,
      Bp, C, and D. Primary outcome was the association between the overall ordinal
      stages from each exam. RESULTS: One hundred forty-three subjects with mean age of
      56 +/- 13 years. Twenty three subjects were status post-hysterectomy. The
      Kendall's tau-b statistic for overall stage was 0.80, for the anterior vaginal
      wall the Kendall's tau-b was 0.71, for the posterior vaginal wall segment the
      Kendall's tau-b was 0.71, for the cervix the Kendall's tau-b was 0.88, for the
      posterior fornix/vaginal cuff the Kendall's tau-b was 0.85. CONCLUSIONS: There is
      substantial association between the POPQ and a simplified version of the POPQ.

PMID- 20936259
TI  - Identification and regulation of novel compatible solutes from hypersaline
      stromatolite-associated cyanobacteria.
AB  - Cyanobacteria are able to survive in various extreme environments via the
      production of organic compounds known as compatible solutes. In particular,
      cyanobacteria are capable of inhabiting hypersaline environments such as those
      found in intertidal regions. Cyanobacteria in these environments must possess
      regulatory mechanisms for surviving the changing osmotic pressure as a result of
      desiccation, rainfall and tidal fluxes. The objective of this study was to
      determine the compatible solutes that are accumulated by cyanobacteria from
      hypersaline regions, and specifically, the stromatolite ecosystems of Shark Bay,
      Western Australia. Previously, the cyanobacterial populations associated with
      these stromatolites were characterized in two separate studies. Compatible
      solutes were extracted from isolated cyanobacteria here and identified by nuclear
      magnetic resonance. As the media of isolation contained no complex carbon source,
      the solutes accumulated were likely synthesized by the cyanobacteria. The data
      indicate that from this one habitat taxonomically distinct cyanobacteria exposed
      to varying salinities accumulate a range of known compatible solutes. In
      addition, taxonomically similar cyanobacteria do not necessarily accumulate the
      same compatible solutes. Glucosylglycerol, a compatible solute unique to marine
      cyanobacteria was not detected; however, various saccharides, glycine betaine,
      and trimethylamine-N-oxide were identified as the predominant solutes. We
      conclude that the cyanobacterial communities from these hypersaline stromatolites
      are likely to possess more complex mechanisms of adaptation to osmotic stress
      than previously thought. The characterization of osmoregulatory properties of
      stromatolite microorganisms provides further insight into how life can thrive in
      such extreme environments.

PMID- 20936260
TI  - Rapid direct analysis in real time (DART) mass spectrometric detection of
      juvenile hormone III and its terpene precursors.
AB  - Direct analysis in real time (DART) is a plasma-based ambient ionization
      technique that enables rapid ionization of small molecules with high sample
      throughput. In this work, DART was coupled to an orthogonal (oa) time-of-flight
      (TOF) mass spectrometer and the system was optimized for analyzing a vital
      hormonal regulator in insects, juvenile hormone (JH) III and its terpene
      precursors, namely, farnesol, farnesoic acid, and methyl farnesoate. Optimization
      experiments were planned using design of experiments (DOE) full factorial models
      to identify the most significant DART variables contributing to JH III analysis
      sensitivity by DART-TOF mass spectrometry (MS). The optimized DART-TOF MS method
      had femtomole to sub-picomole detection limits for terpene standards, along with
      mass accuracies below 5 ppm. Finally, the possibility of distinguishing between
      two farnesol isomers by in-source-collision-induced dissociation (CID) in the
      first differentially pumped region of the oaTOF mass spectrometer was
      investigated. DART-MS enabled high-throughput, sensitive analysis with
      acquisition times ranging from 30 s to a minute. To the best of our knowledge,
      this is the first report on the application of DART-MS to the detection and
      identification of volatile or semi-volatile insect terpenoids, and on the use of
      DOE approaches to optimize DART-MS analytical procedures.

PMID- 20936261
TI  - A one-step etching method to produce gold nanoparticle coated silicon microwells
      and microchannels.
AB  - Gold (Au) nanoparticles (NPs) have large surface areas and novel optical
      properties and can be readily functionalized using thiol-based chemistry; hence,
      they are useful in bioanalytical chemistry. Here, we describe a one-step, plasma
      etching process that results in the spontaneous formation of Au NP coated
      recessed microstructures in silicon (Si). Mechanistically, the plasma etch rate
      of Si was enhanced in the vicinity of 10-100 nm thick Au patterns resulting in
      the formation of microwells or microchannels uniformly coated with 20-30 nm sized
      Au NPs. The methodology provides versatility in the types of microstructures that
      can be formed by varying the shape and dimensions of the Au patterns and the etch
      time. We also describe selective binding of antibodies to Au NP coated Si
      microwells using thiol-based surface modification.

PMID- 20936262
TI  - Development of a multiplexed chemiluminescent immunochemical imaging technique
      for the simultaneous localization of different proteins in painting micro cross
      sections.
AB  - The identification and localization of organic components in the complex
      stratigraphy of paintings play a crucial role in studies of painting techniques
      and authentication, restoration, and conservation of artworks. Much scientific
      effort has been expended for the development of analytical approaches suitable
      for the investigation and characterization of organic substances, allowing high
      sensitivity, specificity, and spatial resolution. Proteins (e.g., ovalbumin,
      casein, and collagen from different animal sources) are one of the classes of
      organic substances most widely used as painting materials. The analytical
      techniques commonly used for their analysis (micro Fourier transform infrared
      spectroscopy, chromatographic techniques, and proteomic approaches) have limits
      related to the lack of specificity or to the absence of information concerning
      the stratigraphic localization of the detected proteins. Immunological techniques
      are a promising alternative approach for the characterization of proteins in
      artworks. Thanks to the high specificity of antigen-antibody reactions, these
      techniques are widely used for the analysis of proteins in bioanalytical and
      clinical chemistry and recently they have been successfully applied in the field
      of science for conservation of cultural heritage. The present research aimed to
      develop an ultrasensitive chemiluminescent immunochemical procedure for the
      simultaneous localization of ovalbumin and bovine casein (two common proteins
      found in binding media or varnishes of artistic and archaeological samples) in
      resin-embedded painting micro cross-sections. The possibility of performing the
      simultaneous identification of different proteins in painting cross-sections is
      of particular relevance in the field of cultural heritage because samples are
      often small and available in a limited number; therefore, the maximum amount of
      information must be obtained from each of them.

PMID- 20936263
TI  - Determination of short-chain carbonyl compounds in drinking water matrices by bar
      adsorptive micro-extraction (BAMUE) with in situ derivatization.
AB  - In this contribution, bar adsorptive micro-extraction using polystyrene
      divinylbenzene sorbent phase and in situ derivatization with pentafluorophenyl
      hydrazine, followed by liquid desorption and high-performance liquid
      chromatography-diode array detection (BAMUE(PS-DVB)(PFPH in situ)-LD/HPLC-DAD),
      was developed for the determination of six short-chain carbonyl compounds
      (formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, propanal, acetone, butanone, and 2-hexenal) in
      drinking water matrices. PFPH presented very good specificity as an in situ
      derivatization agent for short-chain ketones and aldehydes in aqueous media,
      allowing the formation of adducts with remarkable sensitivity, selectivity and
      the absence of photodegradation. Assays performed on 30-mL water samples spiked
      at the 25.0 MUg L(-1) levels, under optimized experimental conditions, yielded
      recoveries ranging from 47.4 +/- 3.8% to 85.2 +/- 3.8%, in which the PS-DVB
      proved to be a convenient sorbent phase. The analytical performance showed good
      accuracy, suitable precision (RSD < 13.0%), detection limits in between 47 and
      132 ng L(-1) and remarkable linear dynamic ranges (r(2) > 0.9907) from 1.0 to
      80.0 MUg L(-1). By using the standard addition methodology, the application of
      the present method to drinking water samples treated with different
      disinfectants, namely, chloride, ozone and both, allowed very good performances
      to monitor these priority compounds at the trace level. The proposed methodology
      proved to be a feasible alternative for polar compound analysis, showing to be
      easy to implement, reliable, sensitive and requiring a low sample volume to
      monitor short-chain aldehydes and ketones in drinking water matrices.

PMID- 20936264
TI  - QSRR analysis of beta-lactam antibiotics on a penicillin G targeted MIP
      stationary phase.
AB  - The imprinting factors of the beta-lactam antibiotics penicillin V, methicillin,
      nafcillin, oxacillin, cloxacillin, dicloxacillin, and piperacillin on a
      poly(methacrylic acid-co-trimethylolpropane trimethacrylate) molecularly
      imprinted stationary phase targeted for penicillin G were correlated with
      molecular descriptors obtained by molecular computation. One-parameter linear
      regression and multivariate data analysis by principal component analysis and
      partial least square regression indicated that descriptors associated with
      molecular topology, shape, size, and volume were highly correlated with the
      imprinting factor and influential on the derived models.

PMID- 20936265
TI  - Biosilicated CdSe/ZnS quantum dots as photoluminescent transducers for
      acetylcholinesterase-based biosensors.
AB  - CdSe/ZnS core/shell quantum dots (QDs) are functionalized with mercaptoundecanoic
      acid (MUA) and subsequently covered with poly-L-lysine (PLL) as the template for
      the formation of the silica outer shell. This nanocomposite is used as a
      transduction and stabilization system for optical biosensor development. The
      covalent immobilization of the enzyme acetylcholinesterase from Drosophila
      melanogaster (AChE) during the formation of the biomimetically synthesized silica
      is used here as a model, relatively unstable enzyme, as a proof of principle. The
      enzyme is successfully immobilized onto the QDs and then stabilized by the PLL
      capping and the subsequent formation of the outer nanoporous silica thin shell,
      giving rise to the QD/AChE/PLL/silica biosensor. It is shown that the poly-L
      lysine templated silica outer shell does not modify the optical properties of the
      quantum dots, while it protects the enzyme from unfolding and denaturation. The
      small pores of the silica shell allow for the free diffusion of the analyte to
      the active center of the enzyme, while it does not allow for the proteases to
      reach the enzyme. The response of the QD/AChE/PLL/silica nano-biosensor to its
      substrate, acetylcholine chloride, is evaluated by monitoring the changes in the
      QDs' photoluminescence which are related to the changes in pH. These pH changes
      of the surrounding environment of the QDs are induced by the enzymatic reaction,
      and are associated with the analyte concentration in the solution. The
      biodetection system proposed is shown to be stable with a storage lifetime of
      more than 2 months. The data presented provides the grounds for the application
      of this nanostructured biosensor for the detection of AChE inhibitors.

PMID- 20936266
TI  - Simultaneous determination of copper, mercury and zinc in water with a tailored
      fluorescent bipyridine ligand entrapped in silica sol-gel.
AB  - A novel fluorescent ligand, (4-[(E)-2-(4'-methyl-2,2'-bipyridin-4
      yl)vinyl]phenol) (abbreviated BSOH), has been designed and prepared for
      simultaneous determination of heavy metals in water. Its photophysical and
      photochemical properties in the absence and in the presence of Cd(II), Cu(II),
      Hg(II), Ni(II) and Zn(II) were determined, and the respective complexation
      constants (7.4 * 10(3)-2.8 * 10(8) l mol(-1)) and stoichiometries were extracted
      thereof. The Stern-Volmer emission intensity and lifetime plots indicate an
      efficient static quenching of the indicator dye with the heavy metals. The BSOH
      fluorescent reagent has been successfully immobilised in a silica sol-gel matrix
      for automation of the analytical method, and the sensing phase demonstrated a
      reversible response to Cu(II), Hg(II) and Zn(II) but not to Cd(II) and Ni(II).
      Characterisation of the sensor showed that its response to those heavy metals is
      linear in the 2.5 to 50 MUmol l(-1) range, with a response time (t (90)) on the
      order of 100 min, providing detection limits of 9.0 * 10(-7), 4.7 * 10(-7) and
      2.9 * 10(-7) mol l (-1) for Zn(II), Cu(II) and Hg(II), respectively. Due to the
      stability of the immobilised ligand, which presented no leaching from the sol-gel
      matrix, the simultaneous determination of the three cations in water was feasible
      by employing multivariate calibration techniques coupled to fluorescence
      quenching measurements. The sensor was validated with recovery tests by addition
      of Cu(II) and Hg(II) ions to spring waters, providing results with standard
      errors lower than 4.1 MUmol l (-1).

PMID- 20936267
TI  - Constant activity of glutamine synthetase after morphine administration versus
      proteomic results.
AB  - Glutamine synthetase is a key enzyme which has a regulatory role in the brain
      glutamate pool. According to previously published proteomic analysis, it was
      shown that the expression level of this enzyme is affected by morphine
      administration. In our study, we examined the activity of glutamine synthetase in
      various structures of rat brain (cortex, striatum, hippocampus and spinal cord)
      that are biochemically and functionally involved in drug addiction and
      antinociception caused by morphine. We were not able to observe any significant
      changes in the enzyme activity between morphine-treated and control samples
      despite previously reported changes in the expression levels of this enzyme.
      These findings stressed the fact that changes observed in the expression of
      particular proteins during proteomic studies may not be correlated with its
      activity.

PMID- 20936268
TI  - Multivariate chemical mapping of pigments and binders in easel painting cross
      sections by micro IR reflection spectroscopy.
AB  - Paintings are composed of superimposed layers of inorganic and organic materials
      (pigments and binders). Knowledge of the stratigraphic sequence of these
      heterogeneous layers is fundamental for understanding the artist's painting
      technique and for conservation issues. In this study, micro-IR mapping
      experiments in reflection mode have been carried out on cross-sections taken from
      simulations of ancient easel paintings. The objective was to locate both organic
      binders and inorganic pigments. Chemical maps have been re-constructed using the
      common approach based on the integration of specific infrared bands. However,
      owing to the complexity of painting materials, this approach is not always
      applicable when dealing with broad and superimposed spectral features and with
      reststrahlen or derivative-like bands resulting from acquisition in reflection
      mode. To overcome these limitations, principal-component analysis has been
      successfully used for the re-construction of the image, extracting the relevant
      information from the complex full spectral data sets and obtaining reliable
      chemical distributions of the stratigraphy materials. Different pigment-binder
      combinations have been evaluated in order to understand limitations and strengths
      of the approach. Finally, the method has been applied for stratigraphic
      characterization of a cross-section from a 17th century wooden sculpture
      identifying both the original paint layer and the several overpaintings
      constituting the complex stratigraphy.

PMID- 20936270
TI  - HPLC direct purity assay using ultra-purified materials as primary standards.
AB  - Reference materials certified for purity are essential to ensure harmonization of
      analytical measurements. LGC is currently certifying these materials using an
      indirect multi-method approach quantifying impurities: Related substances using
      high-performance liquid chromatography, gas chromatography (GC), differential
      scanning calorimetry; Residual solvents using headspace GC coupled to mass
      spectrometry; Inorganic content using ashing, acid digest ion couple plasma mass
      spectrometry or thermogravimetric analysis; Water using oven coulometric Karl
      Fischer/direct addition coulometric Karl Fischer. Related substances are not
      straightforward to quantify without an appropriate standard due to possible
      difference in response factor for the impurity relative to the main compound. In
      this article, existing LGC RMs certified for purity were purified further using
      semi-preparative HPLC. These ultra-purified organic substances were virtually
      free of related substances making their purity assessment faster and more
      straightforward, i.e., no need to identify impurities and subsequently quantify
      them. After characterization, these ultra-purified standards were used as
      calibrants to determine directly the mass fraction of the analyte in the original
      CRM using exact matching single-point HPLC calibration. This new approach opens
      the possibility of certifying the purity of low purity substances with a relative
      small uncertainty without the need of identifying the impurities present in the
      sample.

PMID- 20936269
TI  - Effects of Lactobacillus rhamnosus on zebrafish oocyte maturation: an FTIR
      imaging and biochemical analysis.
AB  - The aim of this study was to verify the effects of probiotic Lactobacillus
      rhamnosus on zebrafish oocyte maturation using FPA (focal plane array) FTIR
      imaging together with specific biochemical assays (SDS-PAGE, real-time PCR and
      enzymatic assay). Oocyte growth is prevalently due to a vitellogenic process
      which consists of the hepatic synthesis of vitellogenin and its selective uptake
      during maturation. The administration of L. rhamnosus IMC 501 for 10 days induced
      chemical changes to oocyte composition, promoting the maturation process. Some
      interesting biochemical features, linked to protein secondary structure (amide I
      band) and to phospholipidic and glucidic patterns, were detailed by vibrational
      analysis. The spectroscopic results were supported by the early increase of the
      lysosomal enzyme involved in the final oocyte maturation, the cathepsin L. This
      enzyme increases during follicle maturation, with the highest levels in class IV
      oocytes. In treated females, class III oocytes showed higher cathepsin L gene
      expression and enzymatic activity, with levels comparable to class IV oocytes
      isolated from controls; this can be related to the proteolytic cleavage of the
      higher molecular mass yolk protein components, as evidenced by SDS-PAGE.

PMID- 20936272
TI  - Computational mass spectrometry for metabolomics: identification of metabolites
      and small molecules.
AB  - The identification of compounds from mass spectrometry (MS) data is still seen as
      a major bottleneck in the interpretation of MS data. This is particularly the
      case for the identification of small compounds such as metabolites, where until
      recently little progress has been made. Here we review the available approaches
      to annotation and identification of chemical compounds based on electrospray
      ionization (ESI-MS) data. The methods are not limited to metabolomics
      applications, but are applicable to any small compounds amenable to MS analysis.
      Starting with the definition of identification, we focus on the analysis of
      tandem mass and MS(n) spectra, which can provide a wealth of structural
      information. Searching in libraries of reference spectra provides the most
      reliable source of identification, especially if measured on comparable
      instruments. We review several choices for the distance functions. The
      identification without reference spectra is even more challenging, because it
      requires approaches to interpret tandem mass spectra with regard to the molecular
      structure. Both commercial and free tools are capable of mining general-purpose
      compound libraries, and identifying candidate compounds. The holy grail of
      computational mass spectrometry is the de novo deduction of structure hypotheses
      for compounds, where method development has only started thus far. In a case
      study, we apply several of the available methods to the three compounds,
      kaempferol, reserpine, and verapamil, and investigate whether this results in
      reliable identifications.

PMID- 20936271
TI  - Analysis of isoflavones and flavonoids in human urine by UHPLC.
AB  - A rapid, ultra high-performance liquid chromatographic (UHPLC) method has been
      developed and validated for simultaneous identification and analysis of the
      isoflavones genistein, daidzein, glycitin, puerarin, and biochanin A, and the
      flavonoids (+/-)-catechin, (-)-epicatechin, rutin, hesperidin, neohesperidin,
      quercitrin, and hesperetin in human urine. Urine samples were incubated with beta
      glucuronidase/sulfatase. UHPLC was performed with a Hypersil Gold (50 * 2.1 mm,
      1.9 MUm) analytical column. Elution was with a gradient prepared from aqueous
      trifluoroacetic acid (0.05%) and acetonitrile. UV detection was performed at 254
      and 280 nm. The calibration curves were indicative of good linearity (r(2) >=
      0.9992) in the range of interest for each analyte. LODs ranged between 15.4 and
      107.0 ng mL(-1) and 3.9 and 20.4 ng mL(-1) for flavonoids and isoflavones,
      respectively. Intra-day and inter-day precision (C.V., %) was less than 3.9% and
      3.8%, respectively, and accuracy was between 0.03% and 5.0%. Recovery was 70.35
      96.58%. The method is very rapid, simple, and reliable, and suitable for
      pharmacokinetic analysis. It can be routinely used for simultaneous determination
      of these five isoflavones and seven flavonoids in human urine. The method can
      also be applied to studies after administration of pharmaceutical preparations
      containing isoflavones and flavonoids to humans.

PMID- 20936273
TI  - Significance of epiphyseal cartilage enhancement defects in pediatric
      osteomyelitis identified by MRI with surgical correlation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Epiphyseal cartilage enhancement defects (ED) may occur in the
      setting of epiphyseal osteomyelitis (OM), and its significance is uncertain.
      OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to evaluate the incidence and clinical impact
      of epiphyseal cartilage ED in pediatric epiphyseal OM. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The
      13 children involved in this retrospective review were younger than 6 years of
      age and diagnosed with OM. They underwent contrast-enhanced MRI and surgical
      exploration yielding 14 study epiphyses. Seventeen age-matched children without
      evidence of infection who underwent contrast-enhanced MRI in the same period
      yielded 28 control epiphyses. Images were reviewed for focal/global ED,
      correlated with cartilage abscesses and compared with surgical reports. RESULTS:
      Study and control ED were respectively present in 10/14 (71.4%-6 global, 4 focal)
      and 6/28 (21.4%-0 global, 6 focal), P=0.0017. An analysis of ED patterns between
      study and control patients showed significant difference for global (P=0.0006),
      but no difference for focal ED (P=0.71). For the six study epiphyses with global
      ED, epiphyseal abscesses were present in two (33.3%). For the four study
      epiphyses with focal ED, epiphyseal abscesses were present in two (50%). For the
      controls, no abnormalities were found on follow-up of epiphyses with focal ED.
      CONCLUSION: ED are seen normally but more commonly in children with OM. ED should
      not be confused with epiphyseal abscesses.

PMID- 20936274
TI  - Abdominal and pelvic CT in cases of suspected abuse: can clinical and laboratory
      findings guide its use?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Incomplete history and concern for occult injury in suspected child
      abuse occasionally results in CT screenings of the abdomen and pelvis. At our
      institution, we noted that these exams were infrequently positive. OBJECTIVE: To
      identify clinical or laboratory criteria that may predict intra-abdominal injury
      and guide the use of abdominal and pelvic CT in this population. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: This retrospective review involved 68 children older than 36 months who
      had a CT of the abdomen/pelvis for suspected abuse. CT results and patient charts
      were reviewed for physical exam and historical and laboratory variables. RESULTS:
      CTs were positive in 16% of patients (11/68). Hypoactive/absent bowel sounds (P =
      0.01, specificity = 94.7%) and AST and ALT values greater than twice normal (P =
      0.004 and P = 0.003 respectively, NPV = 93.6%) were significantly associated with
      positive CTs. Multiple abnormal physical exam or laboratory findings were also
      significantly associated with positive CTs (P = 0.03 and P = 0.002 respectively,
      specificity = 91.3% and NPV = 93.6% respectively). CONCLUSION: CTs of the abdomen
      and pelvis are infrequently positive in cases of suspected abuse. To reduce
      radiation exposure, CTs should only be ordered if there are findings indicating
      that they may be positive. In our population, these findings include
      absent/hypoactive bowel sounds, LFTs greater than twice normal and >=2 abnormal
      labs or physical exam findings.

PMID- 20936275
TI  - Congenital nasal pyriform aperture stenosis.

PMID- 20936276
TI  - An alternative flexible conformation of the E. coli HUbeta2 protein: structural,
      dynamics, and functional aspects.
AB  - The histone-like HU protein is the major nucleoid-associated protein involved in
      the dynamics and structure of the bacterial chromosome. Under physiological
      conditions, the three possible dimeric forms of the E. coli HU protein
      (EcHUalpha2, EcHUbeta2, and EcHUalphabeta) are in thermal equilibrium between two
      dimeric conformations (N2 <-> I2) varying in their secondary structure content.
      High-temperature molecular dynamics simulations combined with NMR experiments
      provide information about structural and dynamics features at the atomic level
      for the N2 to I2 thermal transition of the EcHUbeta2 homodimer. On the basis of
      these data, a realistic 3D model is proposed for the major I2 conformation of
      EcHUbeta2. This model is in agreement with previous experimental data.

PMID- 20936277
TI  - Mechanisms of Bacillus cereus biofilm formation: an investigation of the
      physicochemical characteristics of cell surfaces and extracellular proteins.
AB  - Microbial biofilms contribute to biofouling in a wide range of processes from
      medical implants to processed food. The extracellular polymeric substances (EPS)
      are implicated in imparting biofilms with structural stability and resistance to
      cleaning products. Still, very little is known about the structural role of the
      EPS in Gram-positive systems. Here, we have compared the cell surface and EPS of
      surface-attached (biofilm) and free-floating (planktonic) cells of Bacillus
      cereus, an organism routinely isolated from within biofilms on different
      surfaces. Our results indicate that the surface properties of cells change during
      biofilm formation and that the EPS proteins function as non-specific adhesions
      during biofilm formation. The physicochemical traits of the cell surface and the
      EPS proteins give us an insight into the forces that drive biofilm formation and
      maintenance in B. cereus.

PMID- 20936278
TI  - Characterization of a novel dye-linked L-proline dehydrogenase from an aerobic
      hyperthermophilic archaeon, Pyrobaculum calidifontis.
AB  - The activity of a dye-linked L-proline dehydrogenase (dye-L: -proDH) was found in
      the crude extract of an aerobic hyperthermophilic archaeon, Pyrobaculum
      calidifontis JCM 11548, and was purified 163-fold through four sequential
      chromatography steps. The enzyme has a molecular mass of about 108 kDa and is a
      homodimer with a subunit molecular mass of about 46 kDa. The enzyme retained more
      than 90% of its activity after incubation at 100  degrees C for 120 min (pH 7.5)
      or after incubation at pHs 4.5-9.0 for 30 min at 50  degrees C. The enzyme
      catalyzed L-proline dehydrogenation to Delta(1)-pyroline-5-carboxylate using 2,6
      dichloroindophenol (DCIP) as the electron acceptor and the Michaelis constants
      for L-proline and DCIP were 1.67 and 0.026 mM, respectively. The prosthetic group
      on the enzyme was identified as flavin adenine dinucleotide by high-performance
      liquid chromatography. The subunit N-terminal amino acid sequence was MYDYVVVGAG.
      Using that sequence and previously reported genome information, the gene encoding
      the enzyme (Pcal_1655) was identified. The gene was then cloned and expressed in
      Escherichia coli and found to encode a polypeptide of 415 amino acids with a
      calculated molecular weight of 46,259. The dye-L-proDH gene cluster in P.
      calidifontis inherently differs from those in the other hyperthermophiles
      reported so far.

PMID- 20936279
TI  - Construction of kanamycin B overproducing strain by genetic engineering of
      Streptomyces tenebrarius.
AB  - Genetic engineering as an important approach to strain optimization has received
      wide recognition. Recent advances in the studies on the biosynthetic pathways and
      gene clusters of Streptomyces make stain optimization by genetic alteration
      possible. Kanamycin B is a key intermediate in the manufacture of the important
      medicines dibekacin and arbekacin, which belong to a class of antibiotics known
      as the aminoglycosides. Kanamycin could be prepared by carbamoylkanamycin B
      hydrolysis. However, carbamoylkanamycin B production in Streptomyces tenebrarius
      H6 is very low. Therefore, we tried to obtain high kanamycin B-producing strains
      that produced kanamycin B as a main component. In our work, aprD3 and aprD4 were
      clarified to be responsible for deoxygenation in apramycin and tobramycin
      biosynthesis. Based on this information, genes aprD3, aprQ (deduced apramycin
      biosynthetic gene), and aprD4 were disrupted to optimize the production of
      carbamoylkanamycin B. Compared with wild-type strain, mutant strain SPU313
      (DeltaaprD3, DeltaaprQ, and DeltaaprD4) produced carbamoylkanamycin B as a single
      antibiotic, whose production increased approximately fivefold. To construct a
      strain producing kanamycin B instead of carbamoylkanamycin B, the carbamoyl
      transfer gene tacA was inactivated in strain SPU313. Mutant strain SPU314
      (DeltaaprD3, DeltaaprQ, DeltaaprD4, and DeltatacA) specifically produced
      kanamycin B, which was proven by LC-MS. This work demonstrated careful genetic
      engineering could significantly improve production and eliminate undesired
      products.

PMID- 20936280
TI  - Acute upper thermal limits of three aquatic invasive invertebrates: hot water
      treatment to prevent upstream transport of invasive species.
AB  - Transport of aquatic invasive species (AIS) by boats traveling up rivers and
      streams is an important mechanism of secondary spread of AIS into watersheds.
      Because physical barriers to AIS movement also prevent navigation, alternate
      methods for preventing spread are necessary while allowing upstream navigation.
      One promising approach is to lift boats over physical barriers and then use hot
      water immersion to kill AIS attached to the hull, motor, or fishing gear.
      However, few data have been published on the acute upper thermal tolerance limits
      of potential invaders treated in this manner. To test the potential effectiveness
      of this approach for a planned boat lift on the Fox River of northeastern WI,
      USA, acute upper thermal limits were determined for three AIS, adult zebra
      mussels (Dreissena polymorpha), quagga mussels (Dreissena rostriformis bugensis),
      and spiny water fleas (Bythotrephes longimanus) from the local area employing
      temperatures from 32 to 54 degrees C and immersion times from 1 to 20 min.
      Mortality was determined after immersion followed by a 20-min recovery period.
      Immersion at 43 degrees C for at least 5 min was required to ensure 100%
      mortality for all three species, but due to variability in the response by
      Bythotrephes a 10 min immersion would be more reliable. Overall there were no
      significant differences between the three species in acute upper thermal limits.
      Heated water can be an efficient, environmentally sound, and cost effective
      method of controlling AIS potentially transferred by boats, and our results
      should have both specific and wide-ranging applications in the prevention of the
      spread of aquatic invasive species.

PMID- 20936281
TI  - Testing the indicative value of magnetic susceptibility measurements for
      concluding on site potentials and risks provoked by fly ash deposition.
AB  - The article presents results of testing the indicative value of magnetic
      susceptibility for fly ash deposition and its effects on forest site properties.
      Base saturation and concentrations of Ca and Mg were used as indicators for
      nutrient pools resulting from fly ash deposition. Concentrations of Fe, Al, Mn,
      Cd and Black Carbon were used as indicators for risks of leaching. The
      correlation of magnetic susceptibility with concentrations of nutrient, acidic
      cations, heavy metals, base saturation and Black Carbon was calculated.
      Additionally, we tested the suitability of magnetic susceptibility as a parameter
      in a linear regression based model to predict the concentrations of Ca, Mg, Fe,
      Al, Mn, Cd and Black Carbon. We were able to show a positive correlation between
      magnetic susceptibility and the selected indicators. In contrast to previous
      studies, we were also able to demonstrate the suitability of magnetic
      susceptibility to predict the size of fly ash deposition influenced nutrient
      pools mainly for humus layers, especially for Oa horizons. The spatial
      distribution of magnetic susceptibility showed also a positive correlation with
      regionalized base saturation. However, because of the data base and other factors
      impacting the measurement and modeling results, some shortcomings of using a
      linear regression model must be noted. From these results, we concluded that
      magnetic susceptibility might be a valuable parameter in a multiple regression
      based approach, but should not be used alone for predicting effects of fly ash
      deposition.

PMID- 20936282
TI  - Modeling the impacts of cetacean-focused tourism in Taiwan: observations from
      cetacean watching boats: 2002-2005.
AB  - Cetacean-focused tourism in Taiwan has grown rapidly since 1997. This
      development, measured in terms of both number of tour boats and visitors, has
      resulted in many resource management challenges stemming from the absence of
      regulation and scientific data. To fill this void in empirical evidence, we used
      464 sighting records from 2002 to 2005 to model the impact of cetacean-focused
      tourism. Cox proportional hazard analysis indicated cetacean avoidance responses
      to cetacean watching boats were strongly associated with pod size, mother-calf
      pairs, and cetacean-vessel distances. Mother-calf pairs abandoned their avoidance
      tactic by 55% compared to noncalf groups when tour boats approached. Second, the
      hazard ratio of abundance was 0.996, suggesting that the odds of encountering
      avoidance responses by the cetaceans decreased by 42% for every 100-member
      increase in the cetacean pod size. Last, distances maintained by boats from the
      cetaceans was positively related to avoidance responses (i.e., less avoidance
      behavior with closer interaction). Based on our findings, we have the following
      recommendations: (a) limit vessels from approaching mothers with calves, (b)
      limit vessels from approaching small groups of cetaceans, (c) reduced avoidance
      behavior to boat traffic may be a red flag for potential long-term disturbance,
      and (d) apply the "precautionary principle" based on the best scientific
      information available in cetacean-based tourism in Taiwan. These recommendations
      will help contribute to the sustainable development of cetacean-focused tourism
      in Taiwan.

PMID- 20936283
TI  - Axillary staging in breast cancer patients with exclusive lymphoscintigraphic
      drainage to the internal mammary chain.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to evaluate the need of axillary staging in
      breast cancer patients showing exclusive lymphatic drainage to the internal
      mammary chain (IMC). METHODS: A total of 2203 patients treated for breast
      carcinoma in three participating hospitals between July 2001 and July 2008 were
      analyzed. Only patients showing drainage to the IMC on preoperative
      lymphoscintigraphy were included. The number of harvested IMC sentinel lymph
      nodes (SLNs), axillary SLNs, and metastases were recorded. Finally, the follow-up
      of this group of patients was analyzed. RESULTS: In 25/426 patients, drainage was
      exclusively to the IMC. Exploration of the axilla resulted in the harvesting of
      blue SLNs in 9 patients (36%) and the retrieval of an enlarged lymph node in 1
      patient. In 4 of the remaining 15 patients, an axillary lymph node dissection
      (ALND) was done. Lymph node metastases were found in 3 patients who had blue
      axillary SLNs and in 1 patient who underwent ALND. In the 11 patients who had no
      blue SLNs and no ALND, no axillary recurrences were observed during follow-up
      (median = 26 months). CONCLUSIONS: Proper staging of the axilla remains crucial
      in patients showing exclusive drainage to the IMC. When no axillary node can be
      retrieved, ALND remains subject to discussion.

PMID- 20936284
TI  - Bone marrow nails created by percutaneous osteoplasty for long bone fracture:
      comparisons among acrylic cement alone, acrylic-cement-filled bare metallic
      stent, and acrylic-cement-filled covered metallic stent.
AB  - PURPOSE: This study was designed to compare the strength among bone marrow nails
      created to treat long bone fractures using interventional procedures. METHODS:
      Twelve resected intact tibiae of healthy swine were used. A circumferential bone
      fracture was made in nine tibiae and restored with the following created bone
      marrow nails: acrylic cement alone (ACA) (n=3), acrylic-cement-filled bare
      metallic stent (AC-FBMS) (n=3), and acrylic-cement-filled covered metallic (AC
      FCMS) stent (n=3). The remaining intact tibiae (n=3) were used as controls.
      RESULTS: A bone marrow nail was successfully achieved within 30 min in all swine.
      The maximum injection volume of acrylic cement for creating ACA, AC-FBMS, and AC
      FCMS was 1.7+/-0.3, 3.2+/-0.4, and 2.9+/-0.4 mL, respectively. The thickness of
      bone marrow nail created in the ACA, AC-FBMS, and AC-FCMS groups was 3.6+/-1.0,
      10.3+/-0.26, and 9.6+/-0.32 mm, respectively (AC-FBMS group versus AC-FCMS group,
      p=0.038), probably because of leakage of acrylic cement surrounding the
      interstices. The maximum bending power (kilonewton) and bending strength
      (newton/mm2) in the normal long bone, ACA, AC-FBMS, and AC-FCMS groups were:
      1.70+/-0.25 and 79.2+/-16.1; 0.21+/-0.11 and 8.8+/-2.8; 0.46+/-0.06 and 18.2+/
      1.6; and 0.18+/-0.04 and 7.8+/-2.7, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Although the
      maximum bending power and bending strength of AC-FBMS were not satisfactory, it
      was the most robust of the three marrow nails for restoring fractured long bone.

PMID- 20936285
TI  - Distal pancreatectomy with en bloc resection of the celiac trunk for extended
      pancreatic tumor disease: an interdisciplinary approach.
AB  - PURPOSE: Infiltration of the celiac trunk by adenocarcinoma of the pancreatic
      body has been considered a contraindication for surgical treatment, thus
      resulting in a very poor prognosis. The concept of distal pancreatectomy with
      resection of the celiac trunk offers a curative treatment option but implies the
      risk of relevant hepatic or gastric ischemia. We describe initial experiences in
      a small series of patients with left celiacopancreatectomy with or without
      angiographic preconditioning of arterial blood flow to the stomach and the liver.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between January 2007 and October 2009, six patients
      underwent simultaneous resection of the celiac trunk for adenocarcinoma of the
      pancreatic body involving the celiac axis. In four of these cases, angiographic
      occlusion of the celiac trunk before surgery was performed to enhance collateral
      flow from the gastroduodenal artery. Radiologic and surgical procedures,
      findings, and outcome were analyzed retrospectively. RESULTS: Complete tumor
      removal (R0) succeeded in two patients, whereas four patients underwent R1-tumor
      resection. After surgery, one of the two patients without angiographic
      preparation experienced an ischemic stomach perforation 1 week after surgery. The
      other patient died from severe bleeding from an ischemic gastric ulcer. Of the
      four patients with celiac trunk embolization, none presented ischemic
      complications after surgery. Mean survival was 371 days. CONCLUSION: In this
      small series, ischemic complications after celiacopancreatectomy occurred only in
      those patients who did not receive preoperative celiac trunk embolization.

PMID- 20936286
TI  - Intra-arterial hepatic chemotherapy: a comparison of percutaneous versus surgical
      implantation of port-catheters.
AB  - PURPOSE: To compare retrospectively the safety and efficacy of percutaneous and
      surgical implantations of port-catheters for intra-arterial hepatic chemotherapy
      (IAHC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between January 2004 and December 2008, 126
      consecutive patients (mean age 58 years) suffering from liver colorectal
      metastases were referred for intra-arterial hepatic chemotherapy (IAHC). Port
      catheters were percutaneously implanted (P) through femoral access with the
      patient under conscious sedation when no other surgery was planned or were
      surgically implanted (S) when laparotomy was performed for another purpose. We
      report the implantation success rate, primary functionality, functionality after
      revision, and complications of IAHC. RESULTS: The success rates of implantation
      were 97% (n = 65 of 67) for P and 98% (n = 58 of 59) for S. One hundred eleven
      patients received IAHC in our institution (n = 56P and n = 55S). Primary
      functionality was the same for P and S (4.80 vs. 4.82 courses), but functionality
      after revision was significantly higher for P (9.18 vs. 5.95 courses, p = 0.004)
      than for S. Forty-five complications occurred during 516 courses for P and 28
      complications occurred during 331 courses for S. The rates of discontinuation of
      IAHC linked to complications of the port-catheters were 21% (n = 12 of 56) for P
      and 34% (n = 19 of 55) for S. CONCLUSION: Overall, significantly better
      functionality and similar complication rates occurred after P versus S port
      catheters.

PMID- 20936287
TI  - The use of a tunneled ascitic drain to allow percutaneous radiologic insertion of
      a gastrostomy.

PMID- 20936288
TI  - Ovarian artery embolization in patients with collateral supply to symptomatic
      uterine leiomyomata.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the safety and outcome of ovarian artery embolization (OAE)
      in patients with collateral supply to symptomatic uterine leiomyomata. MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: Thirteen patients with relevant leiomyoma perfusion by way of
      enlarged ovarian arteries underwent additional OAE during the same (N = 10) or a
      second procedure (N = 3). Uterine artery embolization (UAE) was performed
      bilaterally in 10 and unilaterally in 2 patients with a single artery. One
      patient had no typical uterine arteries but bilaterally enlarged ovarian
      arteries, prompting bilateral OAE. OAE was accomplished with coil embolization in
      one and particle embolization in 12 patients. Symptoms before therapy and
      clinical outcome were assessed using a standardized questionnaire. Contrast
      enhanced magnetic resonance (MR) imaging after embolization was available in 11
      of 13 patients and was used to determine the percentage of fibroid infarction.
      RESULTS: UAE and OAE were technically successful in all patients. One patient
      experienced prolonged irritation at the puncture site. Median clinical follow-up
      time was 16 months (range 4-37). Ten of 13 patients showed improvement or
      complete resolution of clinical symptoms. One patient reported only slight
      improvement of her symptoms. These women presented with regular menses. Two
      patients (15%), 47 and 48 years, both with unilateral OAE, reported permanent
      amenorrhea directly after embolization. Their symptoms completely resolved. Seven
      patients showed complete and 4 showed >90% fibroid infarction after embolization
      therapy. CONCLUSION: OAE is technically safe and effective in patients with
      ovarian artery collateral supply to symptomatic uterine leiomyomata. The risk of
      permanent amenorrhea observed in this study is similar to the reported incidence
      after UAE.

PMID- 20936289
TI  - Endovascular mechanical recanalisation of acute carotid-T occlusions: a single
      center retrospective analysis.
AB  - PURPOSE: Acute carotid-T occlusion generally responds poorly to thrombolysis.
      Endovascular mechanical thrombectomy (EMT) seems to be a promising alternative.
      However, there are few data on EMT in carotid-T occlusions. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: We reviewed data of 14 consecutive patients with acute carotid-T
      occlusions treated with mechanical recanalisation devices. A clot
      separation/aspiration system was used in 11 patients; different other mechanical
      retriever devices were used in seven patients; and stents were used in four
      patients. Modified Rankin Scale scores at 90 days were recorded to assess
      functional outcome. RESULTS: Six women and eight men were included in the study.
      Mean patient age was 59.2 years; median National Institute of Health Stroke Scale
      score on admission was 19; and mean time to treatment was 4.2 h. Successful
      recanalisation (Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction [TIMI] score II and III)
      was achieved in 11 patients (78.6%). Seven patients (50.0%) were treated with
      more than one device, leading to successful recanalisation in six of these
      patients (85.7%). Subarachnoid haemorrhage and large space-occupying bleedings
      occurred in one (7.1%) and three (21.4%) patients, respectively. At follow-up,
      three patients (21.4%) were functionally independent, and six (42.9%) had died.
      CONCLUSION: When applying different mechanical devices, we found a high
      recanalisation rate. However, discrepancy between recanalisation and clinical
      outcome remained. More data are needed to assess the effect of the different
      methods on the prognoses of stroke patients.

PMID- 20936290
TI  - Leprosy as a genetic disease.
AB  - Leprosy (Hansen's disease) is a human infectious disease whose etiological agent,
      Mycobacterium leprae, was identified by G. H. A. Hansen in the 19th century.
      Despite the high efficacy of multidrug therapy (<0.1% annual relapse rate),
      transmission is persistent. In 2008, approximately 250,000 new cases were
      reported to the World Health Organization. Clinically, leprosy presents as either
      the paucibacillary (1-5 lesions) or the multibacillary (>5 lesions) subtype,
      highly reflective of a Th1 (cell-mediated) or Th2 (humoral) host immune response,
      respectively. Subsequent to Mycobacterium leprae exposure, epidemiological
      studies (e.g., twin studies and complex segregation analyses) maintain the
      importance of host genetics in susceptibility to leprosy. The results of genome
      wide analyses (linkage and association) and candidate gene studies suggest an
      independent genetic control over both susceptibility to leprosy per se and
      development of clinical subtype. Moreover, the emergence of a shared genetic
      background between leprosy and several inflammatory/autoimmune diseases suggests
      that leprosy is a suitable model for studying the genetic architecture and
      subsequent pathogenesis of both infectious and inflammatory/autoimmune diseases.
      We provide the example of NOD2 (Crohn's disease gene) and LTA (myocardial
      infarction gene) and the implication of a common genetic risk factor between
      these two diseases and leprosy. The value of leprosy as a model disease therefore
      extends far beyond this ancient disease to common afflictions of the 21st
      century.

PMID- 20936291
TI  - The role of the large-conductance voltage-dependent and calcium-activated
      potassium (BK(Ca)) channels in the regulation of rat ductus arteriosus tone.
AB  - The role of large-conductance voltage-dependent and calcium-activated potassium
      (BK(Ca)) channels in the regulation of ductus arteriosus (DA) tone is not clear.
      This study aimed to examine whether BK(Ca) alpha and beta subunits and BK(Ca)
      currents are present in the rat DA, as well as whether the BK(Ca) channels are
      involved in O2-induced ductal constriction. BK(Ca) alpha and beta subunit
      transcripts (mRNAs) were detected in the DA from premature (19D) and mature (21D)
      rat fetuses and full-term neonates (NB) by quantitative real-time PCR. The amount
      of BK(Ca) alpha mRNAs decreased with advancing development. beta1 was the
      dominant beta subunit in the DA, and the amount of beta1 mRNAs was greatest in
      the mature DA. Immunofluorescence staining showed that the majority of BK(Ca)
      alpha and beta1 proteins were colocated with alpha smooth muscle actin (alpha
      SMA) in the tunica media of the DA in all age groups. The protein expression of
      the alpha subunit was greatest in the mature DA, while the expression of the
      beta1 subunit did not differ among all three groups. The 19D and 21D ductus
      tensions were recorded under various conditions by myograph. The 19D ductus rings
      exhibited poor O2 sensitivity and no response to BK(Ca) inhibitor (paxilline) or
      activator (NS1619). The 21D ductus rings developed significant constriction
      induced by O2. Paxilline did not increase the 21D DA tension under either hypoxic
      or oxygenated conditions. NS1619 dilated the 21D DA only under oxygenated
      conditions. The recorded BK(Ca) currents were greatest in the 21D DA smooth
      muscle cells (SMCs) upon using a whole-cell patch clamp. Our study indicated that
      BK(Ca) channels exist in the DA but are not involved in O2-induced ductal
      constriction. Activation of BK(Ca) channels led to vasodilatation in the
      preconstricted DA induced by O2, possibly suggesting a way to maintain the
      patency of DA after birth.

PMID- 20936292
TI  - Re-elevation of D-dimer as a predictor of re-dissection and venous
      thromboembolism after Stanford type B acute aortic dissection.
AB  - D-dimer measurement is a useful complementary initial diagnostic marker in
      patients with acute aortic dissection (AAD). However, it has not been clarified
      whether serial measurements of D-dimer are useful during in-hospital management
      of Stanford type B AAD. We studied 30 patients who were admitted with diagnosis
      of Stanford type B AAD and treated conservatively. D-dimer was serially measured
      on admission and then every 5 days during hospitalization. Patients were divided
      into two groups according to the presence or absence of re-elevation of D-dimer
      during hospitalization, in which D-dimer transition were biphasic and latter peak
      >10.0 MUg/ml. Re-elevation of D-dimer was observed in 17 patients. There were no
      differences in atherosclerotic risk factors, blood pressure on admission, D-dimer
      level on admission, extent of AAD, and false lumen patency. Patients with re
      elevation of D-dimer showed higher incidence of re-dissection and/or venous
      thromboembolism (VTE). Peak D-dimer level in patients with re-dissection and/or
      VTE was significantly higher than that without these complications (p = 0.005).
      In conclusion, serial measurements of D-dimer are useful for early detection of
      re-dissection or VTE in patients with Stanford type B AAD, which may contribute
      to the prevention of disastrous consequences such as pulmonary embolism and
      extension of AAD.

PMID- 20936293
TI  - Aging modulates dispersion of ventricular repolarization in the very old of the
      geriatric population.
AB  - Aging plays an essential role in cardiac pathophysiology. Knowledge on the
      ventricular repolarization in very old individuals is limited. An increase of QT
      dispersion is associated with higher cardiovascular mortality. The purpose of
      this study is to investigate whether aging changes the QT dispersion in the very
      old. Heart rate, P wave duration, PR interval, QRS axis, QRS duration, QT
      interval, and QTc interval were measured from 12-lead resting ECG. QT dispersion
      (46 +/- 21, 47 +/- 17, 69 +/- 31 ms, p < 0.005) was significantly increased in
      the age group ?85 years (n = 29, 89 +/- 4 years) than in the age group 75-84
      years (n = 33, 79 +/- 3 years) and the age group 65-74 years (n = 32, 68 +/- 3
      years). Aging modulates dispersion of ventricular repolarization, which may
      contribute to the cardiac mortality in the very old Asian population.

PMID- 20936294
TI  - Mismatch between arterial stiffness increase and left ventricular diastolic
      dysfunction.
AB  - Previous studies which included patients with preserved left ventricular (LV)
      systolic function demonstrated that arterial stiffness progressively increased as
      LV diastolic function decreased. However, it was unknown whether this correlation
      was still present in a heterogeneous study population involving patients with a
      wide range of LV systolic function. Seventy-five patients with depressed LV
      systolic function were consecutively included and 192 patients with preserved LV
      systolic function were randomly selected from subjects arranged for
      echocardiography examination. Brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) was
      measured using an ABI-form device. Of the 267 subjects (mean age 58 +/- 14 years)
      included in the study, 105 had normal diastolic function, 74 had impaired
      relaxation, and 60 had pseudonormal and 28 restrictive diastolic dysfunction.
      BaPWV was only lower in patients with normal diastolic function than in those
      with abnormal diastolic function (p <= 0.001). It did not gradually rise as
      diastolic dysfunction grade increased. Multivariate analysis showed that
      increased age and systolic blood pressure and decreased LV ejection fraction,
      transmitral A velocity, and left atrial volume index (p <= 0.039) were correlated
      with increased baPWV. Our study showed that there were no positive correlation
      between echocardiographic LV diastolic parameters and baPWV. BaPWV did not
      progressively rise with increasing LV diastolic dysfunction grade. Therefore,
      patients with advanced LV diastolic dysfunction may not have increased arterial
      stiffness.

PMID- 20936295
TI  - Duration of wrinkle correction following repeat treatment with Juvederm
      hyaluronic acid fillers.
AB  - Many patients elect to have repeat treatments with hyaluronic acid dermal fillers
      to maintain wrinkle correction, but the clinical performance of these products
      after repeat treatments has not been formally assessed. The primary objective of
      this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of Juvederm injectable gel (Juvederm
      Ultra, Juvederm Ultra Plus, and Juvederm 30) through 1 year after repeat
      treatment of nasolabial folds (NLFs) that were previously treated with Juvederm
      or Zyplast 6-9 months prior to the repeat treatment. Upon completion of the
      pivotal IDE clinical trial for Juvederm, five of the original 11 study sites were
      selected to participate in an extended follow-up evaluation, and a total of 80
      subjects were enrolled. For the Juvederm-treated NLFs in each treatment group,
      the median injection volume was 1.5-1.6 mL for initial treatment but only 0.5-0.6
      mL for the repeat treatment (p < 0.0001). Mean Investigator-assigned NLF severity
      scores on a scale of 0-4 for the Juvederm-treated NLFs improved from 2.5-2.7
      (moderate to severe) at baseline to 1.2-1.5 (mild) just prior to repeat treatment
      (>24 weeks) and 0.7-0.9 (mild) at 4 weeks after repeat treatment. At 48 weeks
      post-repeat treatment, the mean NLF scores were 1.1-1.3 (mild), and 78-90% of
      subjects were considered responders (>=1 point improvement). Thus, subjects
      sustained a total of 18-21 months of wrinkle correction with a repeat treatment
      at 6-9 months and needed substantially less filler (60% less) for repeat
      treatment than for initial treatment, indicating that retreatment at this
      timepoint may be beneficial to patients.

PMID- 20936296
TI  - Therapy-refractory panic: current research areas as possible perspectives in the
      treatment of anxiety.
AB  - Panic disorder (PD) is characterized by recurrent panic attacks that are defined
      as distinct episodes of intense fear, accompanied by symptoms related to physical
      arousal. Because most patients interpret these symptoms as signs of serious
      somatic disease (e.g., a heart attack), utilization of healthcare services is
      high in PD sufferers. PD can become debilitating, interfering significantly with
      patients' lives. Fortunately, effective treatments are available, but a
      considerable proportion of patients do not respond sufficiently. The aim of this
      paper is to outline some promising research strategies aimed at improving
      established treatments.

PMID- 20936297
TI  - Psychopathic disorders and criminal responsibility in the USA.
AB  - The insanity defense in the United States is available to provide a legal excuse
      for those whose criminal acts were due to serious mental illness. To an
      underappreciated extent, the evolution of the insanity defense is integrally
      related to the evolution of conceptions of psychopathic disorders and their
      relevance, or determined lack thereof, to the insanity defense. As legal and
      mental health professionals discuss the ideal insanity defense and whether
      psychopathic disorders should be qualifying or disqualifying conditions, any
      practical outcome of such discussions must take into account the politics of the
      insanity defense. When this is done, it becomes apparent that the insanity
      defense itself, even for serious, psychotic mental disorders, is withering under
      relentless attack and must be advanced and defended without diluting its salient
      importance by including psychopathic disorders.

PMID- 20936298
TI  - Social reinforcement can regulate localized brain activity.
AB  - Social learning is essential for adaptive behavior in humans. Neurofeedback based
      on functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) trains control over localized
      brain activity. It can disentangle learning processes at the neural level and
      thus investigate the mechanisms of operant conditioning with explicit social
      reinforcers. In a pilot study, a computer-generated face provided a positive
      feedback (smiling) when activity in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) increased
      and gradually returned to a neutral expression when the activity dropped. One
      female volunteer without previous experience in fMRI underwent training based on
      a social reinforcer. Directly before and after the neurofeedback runs, neural
      responses to a cognitive interference task (Simon task) were recorded. We
      observed a significant increase in activity within ACC during the neurofeedback
      blocks, correspondent with the a-priori defined anatomical region of interest. In
      the course of the neurofeedback training, the subject learned to regulate ACC
      activity and could maintain the control even without direct feedback. Moreover,
      ACC was activated significantly stronger during Simon task after the
      neurofeedback training when compared to before. Localized brain activity can be
      controlled by social reward. The increased ACC activity transferred to a
      cognitive task with the potential to reduce cognitive interference. Systematic
      studies are required to explore long-term effects on social behavior and clinical
      applications.

PMID- 20936299
TI  - Financial and non-financial conflicts of interests in psychiatry.
AB  - A conflict of interests occurs when a doctor is unduly influenced by a secondary
      interest (i.e., a personal incentive) in his acts concerning one of the primary
      interests to which he is professionally committed (the welfare of patients, the
      progress of science, or the education of students or residents). One specific
      variety of conflicts of interests has monopolized the attention of the scientific
      and lay press: the financial conflicts of interests arising from the
      relationships between doctors and drug companies. A large literature has
      described the many, sometimes subtle, ways by which a psychiatrist can be
      influenced in his prescribing habits or research activities by his relationships
      with the industry. Some empirical evidence is now available in this area. On the
      other hand, it has been pointed out that the current debate on this issue is
      sometimes "affectively charged" or fails to take into account that the interests
      of patients, families and mental health professionals and those of the industry
      may be often convergent. Other types of conflicts of interests are beginning now
      to be discussed. There is evidence that the allegiance of a researcher to a given
      school of thought may influence the results of studies comparing different
      psychotherapeutic techniques, thus colliding with the primary interest
      represented by the progress of science. Political commitment is also emerging as
      a source of conflicts of interests. Financial and non-financial conflicts of
      interests are widespread in psychiatric practice and research. They cannot be
      eradicated, but must be managed more effectively than is currently the case.

PMID- 20936300
TI  - Early atrophy of pallidum and accumbens nucleus in Huntington's disease.
AB  - In Huntington's disease (HD) atrophy of the caudate nucleus and putamen has been
      described many years before clinical manifestation. Volume changes of the
      pallidum, thalamus, brainstem, accumbens nucleus, hippocampus, and amygdala are
      less well investigated, or reported with contradicting results. The aim of our
      study is to provide a more precise view of the specific atrophy of the
      subcortical grey matter structures in different stages of Huntington's disease,
      and secondly to investigate how this influences the clinical manifestations. All
      TRACK-HD subjects underwent standardised T1-weighted 3T MRI scans encompassing
      123 manifest HD (stage 1, n = 77; stage 2, n = 46), 120 premanifest HD (close to
      onset n = 58, far from onset n = 62) and 123 controls. Using FMRIB's FIRST and
      SIENAX tools the accumbens nucleus, amygdala, brainstem, caudate nucleus,
      hippocampus, pallidum, putamen, thalamus and whole brain volume were extracted.
      Results showed that volumes of the caudate nucleus and putamen were reduced in
      premanifest HD far from predicted onset (>10.8 years). Atrophy of accumbens
      nucleus and pallidum was apparent in premanifest HD in the close to onset group
      (0-10.8 years). All other structures were affected to some degree in the manifest
      group, although brainstem, thalamus and amygdala were relatively spared. The
      accumbens nucleus, putamen, pallidum and hippocampus had a strong significant
      correlation with functional and motor scores. We conclude that volume changes may
      be a sensitive and reliable measure for early disease detection and in this way
      serve as a biomarker for Huntington's disease. Besides the caudate nucleus and
      putamen, the pallidum and the accumbens nucleus show great potential in this
      respect.

PMID- 20936301
TI  - Capecitabine-based chemotherapy for metastatic colorectal cancer.
AB  - PURPOSE: Metastatic colorectal cancer (MCRC) remains a significant public health
      concern. The objectives of present study are to investigate the efficacy and
      safety profile of capecitabine-based chemotherapy in the treatment of MCRC.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: We performed a computerized search using combinations of
      the following keywords: "metastatic colorectal cancer," "Xeloda," "chemotherapy,"
      "capecitabine," or "5-fluorouracil." RESULTS: Treatment with capecitabine
      chemotherapy was associated with a significantly prolonged progression-free
      survival (WMD = 1.24; 95% CI, 0.04-2.44; P = 0.04), whereas overall survival was
      not statistically significant (WMD [random] = 0.29; P = 0.75). Patients in both
      capecitabine and 5-fluorouracil groups had equal 1-, 2-, and 3-year survival (OR
      = 0.82, 95% CI: 0.59-1.12, P = 0.21; OR = 0.84, 95% CI: 0.61-1.15, P = 0.27; OR =
      1.26, 95% CI: 0.78-2.05, P = 0.34; respectively). The analysis also demonstrates
      that the response rate of capecitabine-based chemotherapy was comparable to 5
      fluorouracil-based chemotherapy (OR = 1.02, 95% CI, 0.90-1.14; P = 0.80). When
      comparing single-agent capecitabine against 5-fluorouracil/leucovorin, our
      results showed an overall OR of 1.56 (95% CI, 1.16-2.09) in favor of the
      capecitabine arm. When toxicity was evaluated, a statistically significant
      benefit with capecitabine-based therapy was seen, especially for grade 3/4
      neutropenia (OR, 0.80; 95% CI, 0.71-0.91; P = 0.00005). CONCLUSIONS: Capecitabine
      based chemotherapy demonstrated a significantly superior progression-free
      survival, equivalent overall survival, and comparable response rate with 5
      fluorouracil-based chemotherapy. These observations support the use of
      capecitabine-based chemotherapy in the treatment of MCRC as a first-line or as a
      neoadjuvant modality.

PMID- 20936302
TI  - Innate immunity in the human lung: pathogen recognition and lung disease.
AB  - As the human lung is exposed to a variety of microbial pathogens in the
      environment, a first line of defense is built up by pulmonary cells like
      bronchial/alveolar epithelial cells and alveolar macrophages. These cells express
      several pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) recognizing highly conserved
      microbial motifs and initiating the production of chemokines and pro- and anti
      inflammatory cytokines acting as transmembrane or intracellular receptors. This
      might not only lead to acute but also to chronic inflammation which is discussed
      as an underlying mechanism in the pathogenesis of different lung diseases.

PMID- 20936303
TI  - Body surface area index predicts outcome in orthotopic liver transplantation.
AB  - BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: In living donor liver transplantation (LDLT), matching of
      liver volume between donor and recipient is critical to the success of the
      procedure; mismatch can result in 'small- or large-for-size syndrome'. In
      orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT), matching criteria are less stringent and
      non-uniform. We sought to determine whether a new parameter, the ratio of donor
      to recipient body surface area (BSAi), is predictive of size mismatch and/or post
      transplant morbidity or mortality. METHODS: We reviewed data on 1228 OLT
      recipients and stratified this data according to three categories: small-for-size
      (BSAi <0.6), control (BSAi = 0.6-1.4), and large-for-size (BSAi >1.4) donors.
      RESULTS: We found that: (1) matching of grafts at the upper and lower extremes of
      BSAi had significantly reduced graft survival; (2) matches with lower BSAi
      sustained a less severe form of intraoperative post-reperfusion syndrome, and the
      incidence of hepatic artery thrombosis was high postoperatively in these grafts;
      (3) BSAi and donor age correlated well with the severity of intraoperative post
      reperfusion hypotension; and (4) small-for-size (BSAi <0.6) and large-for-size
      (BSAi >1.4) grafts, as well as preoperative total bilirubin, were significant
      risk factors for decreased graft survival. CONCLUSION: We conclude that the BSAi
      can predict clinically significant size mismatch and adverse outcomes in
      cadaveric whole OLT.

PMID- 20936304
TI  - Large cystic acinar cell carcinoma of the pancreas.
AB  - Acinar cell carcinoma of the pancreas is a rare neoplasm exhibiting pancreatic
      enzyme production by the neoplastic cells. It has a highly characteristic
      cellular arrangement reflecting its acinar derivation, and a definite diagnosis
      is made based on immunohistochemical and ultrastructural results. Such tumors are
      often large but rather well circumscribed. Some cases have a cystic appearance
      due to hemorrhage or necrosis, but a large cystic mass appearing as a pseudocyst
      is quite rare. We present a large cystic acinar cell carcinoma of the pancreas.

PMID- 20936305
TI  - Prognosis and treatment of pancreaticoduodenal traumatic injuries: which factors
      are predictors of outcome?
AB  - BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: Abdominal trauma rarely causes injuries involving the
      duodenum and pancreas. Associated injuries occur in 46% of all pancreatic
      injuries. The morbidity and mortality of pancreaticoduodenal injuries remain
      high. METHODS: The present study is a retrospective review of our experience from
      1989 to 2008 in the surgical treatment of traumatic pancreaticoduodenal injuries.
      Mortality, morbidity, prognostic factors, and the value of surgical techniques
      were analyzed. RESULTS: In our level I Trauma Center, between 1989 and 2008, 55
      patients had a pancreaticoduodenal injury. In 68.5% of cases pancreatic injuries
      were found, 20.4% had duodenal injury, and 11.1% suffered combined
      pancreaticoduodenal injuries; 85.3% of the patients had blunt abdominal trauma,
      while 14.9% had penetrating injuries. We treated 78.1% of the patients with
      external drainage and/or simple suture; distal pancreatectomy was performed in 9%
      of cases and duodenal resection with anastomosis (3.7%) and diversion procedures
      (3.7%) were performed in an equal number of patients. Age, American Association
      for the Surgery of Trauma (AAST) grade, organ involved, hemodynamic status,
      intraoperative cardiac arrest, and operative time remained strongly predictive of
      mortality on multivariate analysis. The AAST grade represented, on multivariate
      analysis, the only independent prognostic factor predictive of overall morbidity.
      In the past decade we have used feeding jejunostomy more frequently, with a
      reduction of mortality and operating time, due also to a better approach from a
      dedicated trauma team. CONCLUSIONS: Optimal management and better outcome of
      pancreaticoduodenal injuries seem to be associated with shorter operative time,
      and with simple and fast damage control surgery (DCS), in contrast to definitive
      surgical procedures.

PMID- 20936306
TI  - A late neurological complication following posterior correction surgery of severe
      cervical kyphosis.
AB  - Though a possible cause of late neurological deficits after posterior cervical
      reconstruction surgery was reported to be an iatrogenic foraminal stenosis caused
      not by implant malposition but probably by posterior shift of the lateral mass
      induced by tightening screws and plates, its clinical features and
      pathomechanisms remain unclear. The aim of this retrospective clinical review was
      to investigate the clinical features of these neurological complications and to
      analyze the pathomechanisms by reviewing pre- and post-operative imaging studies.
      Among 227 patients who underwent cervical stabilization using cervical pedicle
      screws (CPSs), six patients who underwent correction of cervical kyphosis showed
      postoperative late neurological complications without any malposition of CPS (ND
      group). The clinical courses of the patients with deficits were reviewed from the
      medical records. Radiographic assessment of the sagittal alignment was conducted
      using lateral radiographs. The diameter of the neural foramen was measured on
      preoperative CT images. These results were compared with the other 14 patients
      who underwent correction of cervical kyphosis without late postoperative
      neurological complications (non-ND group). The six patients in the ND group
      showed no deficits in the immediate postoperative periods, but unilateral muscle
      weakness of the deltoid and biceps brachii occurred at 2.8 days postoperatively
      on average. Preoperative sagittal alignment of fusion area showed significant
      kyphosis in the ND group. The average of kyphosis correction in the ND was 17.6
      degrees  per fused segment (range 9.7 degrees -35.0 degrees ), and 4.5 degrees 
      (range 1.3 degrees -10.0 degrees ) in the non-ND group. A statistically
      significant difference was observed in the degree of preoperative kyphosis and
      the correction angles at C4-5 between the two groups. The diameter of the C4-5
      foramen on the side of deficits was significantly smaller than that of the
      opposite side in the ND group. Late postoperative neurological complications
      after correction of cervical kyphosis were highly associated with a large amount
      of kyphosis correction, which may lead foraminal stenosis and enhance posterior
      drift of the spinal cord. These factors may lead to both compression and traction
      of the nerves, which eventually cause late neurological deficits. To avoid such
      complications, excessive kyphosis correction should not be performed during
      posterior surgery to avoid significant posterior shift of the spinal cord and
      prophylactic foraminotomies are recommended if narrow neuroforamina were evident
      on preoperative CT images. Regardless of revision decompression or observation,
      the majority of this late neurological complication showed complete recovery over
      time.

PMID- 20936307
TI  - Posterior approach for cervical fracture-dislocations with traumatic disc
      herniation.
AB  - In the treatment algorithm for cervical spine fracture-dislocations, the
      recommended approach for treatment if there is a disc fragment in the canal is
      the anterior approach. The posterior approach is not common because of the
      disadvantage of potential neurological deterioration during reduction in
      traumatic cervical herniation patients. However, reports about the frequency of
      this deterioration and the behavior of disc fragments after reduction are scarce.
      Forty patients with traumatic disc herniation were observed. They represented
      29.2% of 137 consecutive patients with subaxial cervical spine fracture
      dislocations. Surgical planning was performed according to our two-stage
      algorithm. In the first stage, they were treated with posterior open reduction
      and posterior spine arthrodesis. In the second stage, anterior surgery was added
      for cases where neurological deterioration attributed to non-reduced disc
      fragments on postoperative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Neurological
      deterioration after posterior open reduction was not observed. Furthermore, 25%
      of total cases and 75% of incomplete paralysis cases improved postoperatively by
      >= 1 grade in the American Spinal Injury Association impairment scale. Reduction
      or reversal of disc herniation was observed in all cases undergoing postoperative
      MRI. For local sagittal alignment, preoperative 9.4 degrees  kyphosis was
      corrected to 6.9 degrees  lordosis postoperatively. The disc height ratio was
      72.4% preoperatively and 106.3% postoperatively. The second stage of our plan was
      not required after the posterior approach in this series. The incidence of
      neurological deterioration after posterior open reduction was zero, even in cases
      with traumatic cervical disc herniation. Favorable clinical and radiological
      outcomes could be obtained by the first stage alone. Although preparations for
      prompt anterior surgery should always be made to cover any contingency, the need
      for them is minimal.

PMID- 20936308
TI  - The mechanical response of the lumbar spine to different combinations of disc
      degenerative changes investigated using randomized poroelastic finite element
      models.
AB  - Degeneration of the intervertebral disc is related to progressive changes in the
      disc tissue composition and morphology, such as water loss, disc height loss,
      endplate calcification, osteophytosis. These changes may be present separately
      or, more frequently, in various combinations. This work is aimed to the
      biomechanical investigation of a wide range of clinical scenarios of disc
      degeneration, in which the most common degenerative changes are present in
      various combinations. A poroelastic non-linear finite element model of the
      healthy L4-L5 human spine segment was employed and randomly scaled to represent
      ten spine segments from different individuals. Six different degenerative
      characteristics (water loss in the nucleus pulposus and annulus fibrosus;
      calcification and thickness reduction of endplate cartilage; disc height loss;
      osteophyte formation; diffuse sclerosis) were modeled in 30 randomly generated
      models, 10 for each overall degree of degeneration (mild, moderate, severe). For
      each model, a daily loading cycle including 8 h of rest, 16 h in the standing
      position with superimposed two flexion-extension motion cycles was simulated. A
      tendency to an increase of stiffness with progressing overall degeneration was
      observed, in compression, flexion and extension. Hence, instability for mild
      degeneration was not predicted. Facet forces and fluid loss decreased with disc
      degeneration. Nucleus, annulus and endplate degeneration, disc height loss,
      osteophytosis and diffuse sclerosis all induced a statistically significant
      decrease in the total daily disc height variation, facet force and flexibility in
      flexion-extension. Therefore, grading systems for disc degeneration should
      include all the degenerative changes considered in this work, since all of them
      had a significant influence on the spinal biomechanics.

PMID- 20936309
TI  - The growth of different body length dimensions is not predictive for the peak
      growth velocity of sitting height in the individual child.
AB  - The aim of this study was to determine whether the differences in timing of the
      peak growth velocity (PGV) between sitting height, total body height, subischial
      leg length, and foot length can be used to predict whether the individual patient
      with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis is before or past his or her PGV of sitting
      height. Furthermore, ratios of growth of different body parts were considered in
      order to determine their value in prediction of the PGV of sitting height in the
      individual patient. Ages of the PGV were determined for sitting height (n=360),
      total body height (n=432), subischial leg length (n=357), and foot length
      (n=263), and compared for the whole group and for the individual child in
      particular. Furthermore, the ages of the highest and lowest ratios between the
      body length dimensions were determined and compared to the age of the PGV of
      sitting height. The mean ages of the highest and lowest ratios were significantly
      different from the mean age of the PGV of sitting height in 3 out of 12 ratios in
      girls and 8 out of 12 ratios in boys. The variation over children was large and
      the ratios were too small, leading to a too large influence of measurement
      errors. The mean ages of the PGV all differed significantly from the mean age of
      the PGV of sitting height. However, the variation over individual children of the
      age differences in PGV between body dimensions was large, and the differences in
      timing of the PGV were not useful to predict whether the individual child is
      before or past his or her PGV of sitting height.

PMID- 20936310
TI  - Influence of the loading frequency on the wear rate of a polyethylene-on-metal
      lumbar intervertebral disc replacement.
AB  - Pre-clinical wear testing of intervertebral disc prostheses is commonly carried
      out according to ISO 18192-1. Ten million multiaxial loading cycles are applied
      at a frequency of 1 Hz. At this frequency, testing takes about 4 months. Testing
      at higher frequencies would therefore be desirable. ISO 18192-1 also offers
      testing at 2 Hz; however, it says the impact on the implant material behaviour as
      well as on the accuracy of the test machine shall be investigated by the user.
      Since such data are not available so far, the aim of this study was to carry out
      comparative wear tests at 1 and 2 Hz. Seven Prodisc-L lumbar disc prostheses were
      tested. After a pre-soak period, the implants were placed in specimen cups filled
      with calf serum, mounted to a Spine Wear Simulator and loaded according to ISO
      18192-1. Testing was carried out at a temperature of 37 +/- 2  degrees C. Four
      million loading cycles were applied at 1 Hz and eight million at 2 Hz in an
      alternating sequence. Each time after 12 days of testing the implants were
      removed to measure the weight and the height of the polyethylene cores. Then, the
      test serum was exchanged and the implants were remounted to the testing machine.
      The mean wear rate was 5.6 +/- 2.3 mg per million cycles at 1 Hz and 7.7 +/- 1.6
      mg per million cycles at 2 Hz during the first six million loading cycles (p <
      0.05) and 2.0 +/- 0.6 and 4.1 +/- 0.7 mg per million cycles during the second six
      million cycles (p < 0.05). Similarly, the mean heightloss was also smaller at 1
      Hz than at 2 Hz (p < 0.05) with -0.02 +/- 0.02 mm versus -0.04 +/- 0.02 mm per
      million cycles during the first half of testing and -0.01 +/- 0.01 versus -0.02
      +/- 0.01 mm per million cycles during the second half. The accuracy of the test
      machine was within the limits described by ISO 18192-1 at both frequencies. The
      results showed that the wear rate was higher at the beginning than at the end of
      testing. Also, the results indicated that testing at 2 Hz increases the wear rate
      compared with 1 Hz in case of a polyethylene-on-metal implant design. In the
      absence of retrieval studies it is difficult to decide which rate results in a
      more physiological wear pattern. However, a loading frequency of 1 Hz is probably
      closer to physiology than 2 Hz since the loading amplitudes prescribed by ISO
      18192-1 are high. They rather represent movements like tying shoes or standing up
      from a chair than walking or sitting. The authors therefore suggest testing at 1
      Hz.

PMID- 20936311
TI  - Surgical treatment of choroid plexus tumors.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the results of microsurgical
      treatment for choroid plexus tumors (CPT) in adult patients. METHODS: From 1990
      to 2008, 14 patients >18 years were treated at our institution for CPT, including
      seven males and seven females with a mean age of 46 years. Mean follow-up was 40
      months. We reviewed the respective patients' charts, operative, and follow-up
      notes. Telephone interviews were performed as necessary. Neurological status was
      determined using the Karnofsky performance index pre- and post-operatively and at
      last follow-up. RESULTS: This series includes 12 plexus papillomas (CPP) and two
      atypical plexus papillomas (APP). Ten tumors were located in the fourth
      ventricle, two tumors in the cerebellopontine angle, one growth each in the third
      and lateral ventricle. In 12 cases, a complete tumor resection was achieved. No
      recurrence was observed in these cases. Two recurrent CPP were diagnosed 11 and
      25 years after the initial surgery. Brain stem infiltration prevented a complete
      tumor removal in one case. In the other, the degree of resection after the first
      operation could not be ascertained. None of the patients received adjuvant chemo-
      or radiotherapy. In four patients (29%), a permanent ventricular-peritoneal shunt
      was necessary. Three patients initially presented with a Karnofsky index of 60 or
      below. During follow-up, three patients (21%) never improved beyond a Karnofsky
      index of 60. CONCLUSIONS: Surgery aiming radical excision is the key to
      successful treatment of CPP and APP in adults. Postoperative outcomes may be less
      than satisfactory in some patients.

PMID- 20936312
TI  - Microsurgical anatomy of Liliequist's membrane demonstrating three-dimensional
      configuration.
AB  - OBJECT: Liliequist's membrane (LM) is an important arachnoid structure in the
      basal cisterns. The relevant anatomic descriptions of this membrane and how many
      leaves it has are still controversial. The existing anatomical theories do not
      satisfy the needs of minimally invasive neurosurgery. We aimed to establish the
      three-dimensional configuration of LM. METHODS: Fifteen adult formalin-fixed
      cadaver heads were dissected under a surgical microscope to carefully observe the
      arachnoid mater in the suprasellar and post-sellar areas and to investigate the
      arachnoid structure and its surrounding attachments. RESULTS: It was found that
      the LM actually consists of three types of membranes. The diencephalic membrane
      (DM) was usually attached by the mesencephalic membrane (MM) from underneath, and
      above DM it was usually a pair of hypothalamic membranes (HMs) extending
      superomedially. The pair of HMs was stretched between the DM (or MM) and the
      hypothalamus and were seldom attached to the carotid-chiasmatic walls between the
      carotid cistern and the chiasmatic cistern. These three types of membranes (DM,
      MM, and HM) comprised the main arachnoid structure in the anterior incisural
      space and often presented as four connected leaves. However, only two thirds of
      the specimens had all three types of membranes, and there was considerable
      variation in the characteristics and shapes of the membranes among the specimens.
      CONCLUSION: All three types of membranes comprising LM serve as important
      anatomical landmarks and interfaces for surgical procedures in this area.

PMID- 20936313
TI  - Can systematic analysis of morbidity and mortality reduce complication rates in
      neurosurgery?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Morbidity and mortality conferences (M&MC) are a traditional part of
      residency programs in a large number of countries to increase the training
      quality. The purpose of the present publication is to report our experience with
      a monthly M&MC over a 5-year period and, in particular, to describe the methods
      to identify critical cases, the system of analysis, classification of morbidity
      and mortality, and the resulted impact. METHOD: Monthly identification of M&M was
      done through a system of electronically coding hospital course at the time of
      discharge. Morbidity was classified as moderate if sequels resolved within 3
      months or otherwise as severe. Morbidity included management complications not
      directly related the neurosurgical procedure, such as pneumonia or
      thromboembolism. Mortality was classified as related to surgery or unrelated,
      e.g., after severe trauma. Mortality in relation to surgery was subclassified in
      terms of causal relation or not. Statistical comparison of incidence rates was
      calculated statistically. RESULTS: Overall management morbidity rate was 7.1%,
      and mortality with causal relation to surgery was 0.38%. The leading cause of
      morbidity was additional neurological deficit (25%) followed by postoperative
      hemorrhage (23%) and second unplanned surgery due to incomplete result of the
      primary procedure (14%). Overall, the monthly incidence varied without a
      discernable annual pattern. Over the years, there were only a handful of
      guideline updates triggered by incidents. CONCLUSION: Our system to identify
      complication proved to be reliable. During the study period, the M&MC developed
      into a well-accepted instrument of quality control and problem-oriented teaching,
      but the impact on quality improvement remained questionable.

PMID- 20936314
TI  - Clinical and antibacterial effect of an anti-inflammatory toothpaste formulation
      with Scutellaria baicalensis extract on experimental gingivitis.
AB  - It was the aim of the study to evaluate the clinical and antibacterial effect of
      a dentifrice containing an anti-inflammatory plant extract (SB) versus a placebo
      (PLA) using an experimental gingivitis model. Forty subjects (20 per group)
      discontinued all oral hygiene measures for four teeth for a period of 21 days
      using a shield (to generate a possible gingivitis) while they could brush the
      other teeth normally. After brushing, the shield was removed and teeth were
      treated with the randomly assigned toothpaste slurry for 1 min. Loe and Silness
      gingival index (GI), Silness and Loe plaque index (PI), and biofilm vitality
      (VF%) were assessed at days 0, 14, and 21, respectively. Subjects of the PLA
      group developed a GI of 0.82 +/- 0.342 (day 14) and 1.585 +/- 0.218 (day 21),
      while the data of the SB group were significantly reduced (0.355 +/- 0.243 and
      0.934 +/- 0.342, p < 0.001). While PI was significantly reduced at all follow-up
      appointments, reductions in VF reached the level of significance only at day 21.
      The results suggest that the new toothpaste formulation was able to significantly
      reduce the extent of gingivitis, plaque development, and vital flora.

PMID- 20936315
TI  - Inguinal hernia repair in a community setting: implications for the elderly.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Inguinal hernia repair is thought to be a relatively low morbidity
      operation. This study examined whether this tenet hold true in patients who are
      elderly with significant comorbidity. DESIGN: Case series. Retrospective review
      of a prospectively collected database. SETTING: Single surgeon practicing in
      Vermont over a period of 9 years. PATIENTS: Consecutive sample of 2,145 inguinal
      herniorraphies in 1,889 patients. INTERVENTION: Patients underwent an open
      inguinal hernia repair with mesh placement. A total of 81% of the repairs were
      performed under local anesthesia with intravenous sedation. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE:
      Presence of comorbid conditions and complications were compared between patients
      younger and older than 65 years. RESULTS: A total of 2,145 herniorraphies were
      performed on 1,889 patients (1,646 in younger patients and 499 in older
      patients). Hernia repairs in older patients were more likely associated with
      comorbid conditions than in their younger counterparts (74 vs 39%; OR = 4.55, P <
      0.0001). Specifically, hypertension (26 vs 9%; OR = 3.5, P < 0.0001), coronary
      artery disease (34 vs 6%; OR = 8.4, P < 0.0001) and benign prostatic hypertrophy
      (26 vs 4%; OR = 8.2, P < 0.0001) were more commonly present in older individuals.
      The commonest postoperative complications in both groups were recurrence (3%),
      hematoma (1%) and nerve entrapment (1%). There were no deaths. There was no
      significant difference in the rate of postoperative complications (6 vs 7%; OR =
      0.95, P = 0.88) or recurrence rates (2 vs 3%; OR = 0.82, P = 0.65) between
      groups. CONCLUSION: Inguinal herniorrhaphy under local anesthesia is a safe
      operation with a high success rate in the elderly. Patients with significant
      comorbidities are not at higher risk of complications or recurrences.

PMID- 20936316
TI  - Universal PCR assays for the differential detection of all Old World Leishmania
      species.
AB  - For the epidemiological monitoring and clinical case management of leishmaniasis,
      determination of the causative Leishmania species gains importance. Current
      assays for the Old World often suffer from drawbacks in terms of validation on a
      geographically representative sample set and the ability to recognize all species
      complexes. We want to contribute to standardized species typing for Old World
      leishmaniasis. We determined the ribosomal DNA internal transcribed spacer 1
      sequence of 24 strains or isolates, and validated four species-specific
      polymerase chain reactions (PCRs) amplifying this target. They discriminate L.
      aethiopica, L. tropica, L. major, and the L. donovani complex, use the same
      cycling conditions, and include an internal amplification control. Our PCRs
      amplify 0.1 pg of Leishmania DNA, while being 100% specific for species
      identification on an extensive panel of geographically representative strains and
      isolates. Similar results were obtained in an endemic reference laboratory in
      Kenya. Species could also be identified in clinical specimens. The presented PCRs
      require only agarose gel detection, and have several other advantages over many
      existing assays. We outline potential problems, suggest concrete solutions for
      transferring the technique to other settings, and deliver the proof-of-principle
      for analyzing clinical samples.

PMID- 20936317
TI  - False-negative test results in the Slidex Staph Plus (bioMerieux) agglutination
      test are mainly caused by spa-type t001 and t001-related strains.
AB  - The relative sensitivity of commercial agglutination kits for fast identification
      of S. aureus is usually given to be about 98%. This reported sensitivity has
      sometimes been questioned. In this study, three collections of molecularly
      defined, single-copy strains of S. aureus were used to compare the sensitivities
      of agglutination-based identification and the MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry-based
      identification using the Biotyper 2.0 database to a molecularly defined reference
      method. Clinical isolates (n = 363) of methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA)
      and 240 clinical isolates of methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) were
      included. In order to rule out a predominance of local MRSA-strains, a collection
      of 104 pulsed-field-gel electrophoresis divergent MRSA strains were also tested.
      MALDI-TOF MS using Biotyper database (Bruker) identified all isolates, whereas
      the Slidex Staph Plus (bioMerieux) detected only 98.0% of the MSSA, 94.5% of the
      MRSA and only 70.1% of the MRSA of the molecularly divergent strain collection.
      Interestingly, strains with a false-negative test result in the agglutination
      methods were mostly spa-type t001 and t001 related. The MALDI-TOF MS based
      identification can thus be used as an alternative identification method for
      suspected false-negative results from the agglutination tests, especially if the
      local prevalence of t001 and t001 related strains is high.

PMID- 20936318
TI  - A reverse genetics system for the Great Lakes strain of viral hemorrhagic
      septicemia virus: the NV gene is required for pathogenicity.
AB  - Viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSV), belonging to the genus Novirhabdovirus
      in the family of Rhabdoviridae, causes a highly contagious disease of fresh and
      saltwater fish worldwide. Recently, a novel genotype of VHSV, designated IVb, has
      invaded the Great Lakes in North America, causing large-scale epidemics in wild
      fish. An efficient reverse genetics system was developed to generate a
      recombinant VHSV of genotype IVb from cloned cDNA. The recombinant VHSV (rVHSV)
      was comparable to the parental wild-type strain both in vitro and in vivo,
      causing high mortality in yellow perch (Perca flavescens). A modified recombinant
      VHSV was generated in which the NV gene was substituted with an enhanced green
      fluorescent protein gene (rVHSV-DeltaNV-EGFP), and another recombinant was made
      by inserting the EGFP gene into the full-length viral clone between the P and M
      genes (rVHSV-EGFP). The in vitro replication kinetics of rVHSV-EGFP was similar
      to rVHSV; however, the rVHSV-DeltaNV-EGFP grew 2 logs lower. In yellow perch
      challenges, wtVHSV and rVHSV induced 82-100% cumulative per cent mortality (CPM),
      respectively, whereas rVHSV-EGFP produced 62% CPM and rVHSV-DeltaNV-EGFP caused
      only 15% CPM. No reversion of mutation was detected in the recovered viruses and
      the recombinant viruses stably maintained the foreign gene after several
      passages. These results indicate that the NV gene of VHSV is not essential for
      viral replication in vitro and in vivo, but it plays an important role in viral
      replication efficiency and pathogenicity. This system will facilitate studies of
      VHSV replication, virulence, and production of viral vectored vaccines.

PMID- 20936319
TI  - Enhancement of shrimp antiviral immune response through caspase-dependent
      apoptosis by small molecules.
AB  - Epidemic diseases cost large amount of economic loss in the shrimp aquaculture.
      To control the epidemic diseases, it is a very efficient approach to enhance the
      shrimp immunity by immunostimulants. In aquaculture, however, the applications of
      the available immunostimulants are very limited due to the lack of information
      about the roles of these immunostimulants in animal immunity. In the present
      study, a caspase protein (PjCaspase), required in shrimp antiviral apoptosis, was
      used as the target protein to screen for small molecules which would enhance the
      shrimp immunity. Based on screening using the EGFP-PjCaspase fusion protein in
      insect cells, four small molecules could enhance the activity of PjCaspase
      protein. Among them, IL-2 and evodiamine were further evidenced to enhance the
      apoptotic activity of shrimp hemocytes in vivo, suggesting that the small
      molecules improved the activity of apoptosis through the activation of the
      PjCaspase protein. The results indicated that the enhancement of apoptotic
      activity effectively inhibited the white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) infection in
      shrimp, which further led to the decrease of mortalities of WSSV-infected shrimp.
      Therefore, our study, for the first time, presented that the strategy using the
      key proteins in immune responses of aquatic organisms as the target proteins was
      a very efficient approach for the screening of immunostimulants to prevent the
      aquatic organisms from pathogen infections.

PMID- 20936320
TI  - Identification of copper-induced genes in the marine alga Ulva compressa
      (Chlorophyta).
AB  - In order to identify genes/proteins involved in copper tolerance, the marine alga
      Ulva compressa was cultivated with 10 MUM copper for 3 days. The activities of
      antioxidant enzymes ascorbate peroxidase (AP), peroxiredoxin (PRX), thioredoxin
      (TRX), and glutathione-S-transferase (GST) and the level of lipoperoxides were
      determined in the alga cultivated with and without copper addition. Antioxidant
      enzyme activities and lipoperoxides level increased in response to copper excess,
      indicating that the alga was under oxidative stress. A cDNA library was prepared
      using U. compressa cultivated with 10 MUM copper for 3 days. A total of 3 * 10(4)
      clones were isolated and 480 clones were sequenced, resulting in 235 non
      redundant ESTs, of which 104 encode proteins with known functions. Among them, we
      identified proteins involved in (1) antioxidant metabolism such as AP, PRX, TRX,
      GST, and metalothionein (MET), (2) signal transduction, such as calmodulin (CAM),
      (3) calcium-dependent protein kinase (CDPK) and nucleoside diphosphate kinase
      (NDK), (4) gene expression, (5) protein synthesis and degradation, and (6)
      chloroplast and mitochondria electron transport chains. Half of the identified
      proteins are potentially localized in organelles. The relative level of 18 genes,
      including those coding for AP, PRX, TRX, GST, MET, CAM, CDPK, and NDK were
      determined by quantitative RT-PCR in the alga cultivated with 10 MUM copper for 0
      to 7 days. Transcript levels increased in response to copper stress and most of
      them reached a maximum at days 3 and 5. Thus, the selected genes are induced by
      copper stress and they are probably involved in copper acclimation and tolerance.

PMID- 20936321
TI  - Musculoskeletal: what's different in children? Pushed by a friend, foot-rolled,
      now can't walk.

PMID- 20936322
TI  - Nematic-smectic-A-smectic-C multicritical point: An alternative model.
AB  - A new Landau-type phenomenological free-energy function to describe the nematic
      smectic-A transition, smectic-A-smectic-C transition and nematic-smectic-C
      transition is proposed. The influence of pressure on the these phase transitions
      is discussed by varying the coupling between various order parameters. The phase
      diagram of the thermodynamic parameters is studied and a possible nematic-smectic
      A-smectic-C bicritical point is predicted. We present a detailed analysis of the
      different phases that can occur and analyze the question under which conditions a
      bicritical point is observed in the phase diagram. The obtained topology of the
      pressure-temperature phase diagram is consistent with experimental results.

PMID- 20936323
TI  - Nonoperative treatment of closed displaced midshaft clavicle fractures.
AB  - BACKGROUND: closed displaced midshaft clavicle fractures used to be treated
      nonoperatively, and many studies have reported that nonoperative treatment gave
      good results. However, more recent studies have reported poorer results following
      nonoperative treatment, whereas the results of operative treatment have improved
      considerably. The aim of this paper was to report the results of treating closed
      displaced midshaft clavicle fractures nonoperatively. MATERIALS AND METHODS: one
      hundred Edinburgh type 2B clavicle fractures (69 type 2B1 and 31 type 2B2) in 100
      patients (78 males and 22 females) aged between 18 and 67 ears (mean 32 years)
      were treated. All patients were treated using a figure-of-eight bandage. Clinical
      and radiographic assessment was performed at the time of trauma, 1, 2 and 3
      months after the trauma, and then at an average follow-up of 3 years (range 1-5
      years). The outcome was rated at the last follow-up using the DASH score.
      RESULTS: ninety-seven of the 100 fractures healed. Three nonunions were observed.
      Average healing time was 9 weeks (range 8-12 weeks). No statistically significant
      correlation between the type of fracture and the healing time was observed. The
      average DASH score was 24 (range 0-78) and, based on this score, 81 patients
      presented excellent results, 12 good, 5 fair, and 2 poor. No statistically
      significant correlation between the type of the fracture and the score was
      observed. CONCLUSIONS: we believe that nonoperative treatment is still
      appropriate in most cases, as it yields good results without incurring the
      potential complications of surgery.

PMID- 20936325
TI  - Radiation-induced adult medulloblastoma: a two-case report and review of the
      literature.
AB  - Radiation-induced medulloblastoma is an exceedingly rare phenomenon for which
      treatment standards have not been established. The literature suggests that these
      tumors are high grade with aggressive behavior. We report two cases of radiation
      induced medulloblastoma which have been treated with full dose re-irradiation
      with curative intent. In both cases, treatment toxicity and tumor progression
      proved to be insurmountable obstacles. Further reports are necessary in order to
      fully characterize this clinical entity so that more effective therapies may be
      sought.

PMID- 20936324
TI  - Phase II trial of bryostatin-1 in combination with cisplatin in patients with
      recurrent or persistent epithelial ovarian cancer: a California cancer consortium
      study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The California Cancer Consortium has performed a Phase II trial of
      infusional bryostatin, a protein kinase C inhibitor isolated from the marine
      invertebrate bryozoan, Bugula Neritina, a member of the phylum Ectoprocta, in
      combination with cisplatin, in patients (pts) with recurrent platinum-sensitive
      or resistant ovarian cancer (OC). METHODS: Pts received bryostatin 45 mcg/m(2) as
      a 72 h continuous infusion followed by cisplatin 50 mg/m(2). Cycles were repeated
      every 3 weeks. Dosages were chosen based on phase I data obtained by the CCC in a
      population of pts with mixed tumor types. RESULTS: Eight pts with recurrent or
      persistent epithelial OC received 23 cycles of treatment. All pts had received
      previous platinum-based chemotherapy; two pts had received one prior course, five
      had received two prior courses, and one had received three prior courses of
      chemotherapy. The median age was 64 (range 32-72), and Karnofsky performance
      status 90 (range 80-100). A median of 3 cycles of chemotherapy were delivered
      (range: 1-5). The median progression-free and overall survivals were 3 and 8.2
      months respectively. Best responses included two partial responses (one in a
      platinum-resistant pt), three pts with stable disease, and three progressions.
      All pts experienced Grade 3 or 4 toxicities including severe
      myalgias/pain/fatigue/asthenia in six pts, and severe
      nausea/vomiting/constipation in two other pts. One pt experienced a seizure and
      liver function tests were elevated in one other. CONCLUSIONS: A modest response
      rate is observed in pts with recurrent or persistent ovarian cancer treated with
      the combination of bryostatin and cisplatin. The toxicity profile, however,
      observed in this pt population (primarily severe myalgias), precludes
      tolerability and prevents this combination from further investigation at this
      dose and schedule. It is possible that platinum pre-exposure in OC patients
      exacerbates observed toxicity. Phase II dosages of investigational agents in OC
      pts that are determined by phase I trials in pts with other tumor types should be
      chosen cautiously.

PMID- 20936326
TI  - Cysteine-to-serine shuffling using a Saccharomyces cerevisiae expression system
      improves protein secretion: case of a nonglycosylated mutant of miraculin, a
      taste-modifying protein.
AB  - PURPOSE OF WORK: Soluble protein expression is an important first step during
      various types of protein studies. Here, we present the screening strategy of
      secretable mutant. The strategy aimed to identify those cysteine residues that
      provoke protein misfolding in the heterologous expression system. Intentional
      mutagenesis studies should consider the size of the library and the time required
      for expression screening. Here, we proposed a cysteine-to-serine shuffling
      mutation strategy (CS shuffling) using a Saccharomyces cerevisiae expression
      system. This strategy of site-directed shuffling mutagenesis of cysteine-to
      serine residues aims to identify the cysteine residues that cause protein
      misfolding in heterologous expression. In the case of a nonglycosylated mutant of
      the taste-modifying protein miraculin (MCL), which was used here as a model
      protein, 25% of all constructs obtained from CS shuffling expressed MCL mutant,
      and serine mutations were found at Cys47 or Cys92, which are involved in the
      formation of the disulfide bond. This indicates that these residues had the
      potential to provoke protein misfolding via incorrect disulfide bonding. The CS
      shuffling can be performed using a small library and within one week, and is an
      effective screening strategy of soluble protein expression.

PMID- 20936327
TI  - Malignant melanoma as a target malignancy for the study of the anti-metastatic
      properties of the heparins.
AB  - The outlook for metastatic melanoma to the brain is dismal. New therapeutic
      avenues are therefore needed. The anti-metastatic mechanisms that may underpin
      the effects of low molecular weight heparins (LMWHs) in in vitro and preclinical
      melanoma models warrant translating to a clinical setting. This review outlines a
      rationale that supports our proposal that metastatic melanoma to the brain is a
      clinical setting in which to study the anti-metastatic potential of LMWHs.
      Prevention or delay of brain metastases in melanoma is a clinically relevant and
      measurable target. Studies to explore the effect of anticoagulants on cancer
      survival are underway in other malignancies such as lung, pancreas, ovary,
      breast, and stomach cancer. However, no study to our knowledge has a methodology
      that could produce clinical evidence in support of a mechanism for whatever
      benefit may be seen. The setting we propose would allow translation of the
      molecular knowledge of the metastatic pathways mediated by platelets and the
      selectins--all potential targets of heparin--in a "time to appearance" of brain
      metastases endpoint. Since brain metastases are so common and they have a
      singularly adverse impact on survival, the "biological neuroprotection" model we
      propose in metastatic melanoma could provide the translational evidence to
      support the benefit of LMWHs in melanoma. More significantly, this would open the
      door to a wider "anti-metastatic" approach that could have much greater impact in
      patients with minimal disease being treated in adjuvant settings for the more
      common malignancies such as breast and colon cancer.

PMID- 20936329
TI  - Projections from the brain to the spinal cord in the mouse.
AB  - The cells that project from the brain to the spinal cord have previously been
      mapped in a wide range of mammalian species, but have not been comprehensively
      studied in the mouse. We have mapped these cells in the mouse using retrograde
      tracing after large unilateral Fluoro-Gold (FG) and horseradish peroxidase (HRP)
      injections in the C1 and C2 spinal cord segments. We have identified over 30 cell
      groups that project to the spinal cord, and have confirmed that the pattern of
      major projections from the cortex, diencephalon, midbrain, and hindbrain in the
      mouse is typically mammalian, and very similar to that found in the rat. However,
      we report two novel findings: we found labeled neurons in the precuneiform area
      (an area which has been associated with the midbrain locomotor center in other
      species), and the epirubrospinal nucleus. We also found labeled cells in the
      medial division of central nucleus of the amygdala in a small number of cases.
      Our findings should be of value to researchers engaged in evaluating the impact
      of spinal cord injury and other spinal cord pathologies on the centers which give
      rise to descending pathways.

PMID- 20936328
TI  - Effects of exercise training combined with insulin treatment on cardiac NOS1
      signaling pathways in type 1 diabetic rats.
AB  - This study examined the effects of a dual treatment combining insulin treatment
      and exercise training on basal cardiac function and signaling pathways involving
      beta3-AR, NOS1, and RyR2 in type 1 diabetic rats. Male Wistar rats were assigned
      into a diabetic group receiving no treatment (D), an insulin-treated diabetic
      (Ins), a trained diabetic (TD), and a trained insulin-treated diabetic (TIns)
      group. Control group (C) was included in order to confirm the deleterious effects
      of diabetes. Insulin treatment and/or treadmill exercise training were conducted
      for 8 weeks. Basal cardiac function was evaluated by Langendorff technique.
      Cardiac protein expression of beta3-AR, NOS1, and RyR2 was assessed using Western
      blots. Diabetes induced a decrease of both basal diastolic and systolic (+/
      dP/dt) cardiac function (P < 0.05). Moreover, diabetes was associated with an
      increase of beta3-AR and NOS1 and a decrease of RyR2 expression (P < 0.05).
      Although combined treatment was not able to normalize -dP/dt, it succeeded to
      normalize +dP/dt of diabetic rats. Combined treatment led to an overexpression of
      RyR2. Effects of this combined treatment on +dP/dt and RyR2 were greater than the
      effects of insulin and exercise training, applied solely. Treatments, applied
      solely or in combination, resulted in a complete normalization of beta3-AR and in
      a down-regulation of NOS1 because this protein expression in all treated diabetic
      rats became lower than control values (P < 0.01). Our study shows that unlike
      single treatments, dual treatment combining insulin treatment and exercise
      training was able to normalize basal systolic function of diabetic rats by a
      specific regulation of beta3-AR-NOS1-RyR2 signaling pathways.

PMID- 20936330
TI  - Spectrofluorometric determination of methocarbamol in pharmaceutical preparations
      and human plasma.
AB  - A simple, sensitive and rapid spectrofluorometric method for determination of
      methocarbamol in pharmaceutical formulations and spiked human plasma has been
      developed. The proposed method is based on the measurement of the native
      fluorescence of methocarbamol in methanol at 313 nm after excitation at 277 nm.
      The relative fluorescence intensity-concentration plot was rectilinear over the
      range of 0.05-2.0 MUg/mL, with good correlation (r=0.9999), limit of detection of
      0.007 MUg/ mL and a lower limit of quantification of 0.022 MUg/ mL. The described
      method was successfully applied for the determination of methocarbamol in its
      tablets without interference from co-formulated drugs, such as aspirin,
      diclofenac, paracetamol and ibuprofen, The results obtained were in good
      agreement with those obtained using the official method (USP 30).The high
      sensitivity of the method allowed the determination of the studied drug in spiked
      human plasma with average percentage recovery of 99.42 +/- 3.84.

PMID- 20936331
TI  - Strong photoluminescence enhancement from colloidal quantum dot near silver nano
      island films.
AB  - We present the fabrication and optical investigation of highly random self
      assembled, nano-scale films, probing their influence on the luminescence
      properties of near surface CdSe/ZnS colloidal quantum dots. When compared to
      quantum dots distributed on unstructured quartz substrates, the average
      luminescence intensity is found to be enhanced by a factor of 160*. The silver
      nanoparticles are prepared using slow thermal evaporation on quartz substrates
      and post-deposition annealing to produce a randomly-arranged layer of smooth nano
      islands. Clear polarization dependent hot spots are observed. Such hot spots
      deliver a maximal enhancement of the emission intensity of 240* and have a
      spatial density of (0.050+/-0.002) MUm( -2). The results show that silver nano
      island films strongly enhance the optical efficiency of near quantum dots
      emitters.

PMID- 20936332
TI  - Fast separation ultra-performance liquid chromatography for determination of pre
      column derivative abamectin and ivermectin residues in vegetable.
AB  - A new residue method for quantification of abamectin and ivermectin in vegetable
      is described in the article. The derivative process is devised that acylating
      chemical is firstly performed by N-methylimidazole (MI) and trifluoroacetic
      anhydride (TFAA), then which reacted with hydroxyl function of abamerctin to make
      fluorescence. The influence of triethylamin (TEA) is examined. Separation is
      resolute by a short column of 1.7 MUm size and operated at high pressure values
      (10.000 psi). The optimal chromatographic condition and the highest sensitivity
      are achieved by acetonitrile: water (95: 5), 0.4 mL/min, 0.2 MUL injector. The
      detection limits of abamectin and ivermectin are 1 MUg/kg respectively.

PMID- 20936334
TI  - The potentially biasing effects of voir dire in juvenile waiver cases.
AB  - An analysis of transcripts from cases in which a juvenile is adjudicated in adult
      criminal court showed that potential jurors may be questioned about their
      attitudes toward juvenile waiver during voir dire. If jurors express concerns
      about trying juveniles in adult criminal court, they are excused from the jury
      for cause (Danielsen et al., Paper presented at the meetings of the American
      Psychology-Law Society, 2004). We conducted a series of three studies to examine
      whether questions about juvenile adjudication practices and juvenile offenders
      during voir dire influenced jurors' pretrial and post-trial judgments of
      defendant guilt. Jurors who viewed a juvenile qualification voir dire provided
      higher pretrial probabilities of defendant guilt than did jurors who watched a
      standard voir dire that did not contain juvenile qualification questions.
      However, this pretrial guilt bias as a function of voir dire type did not persist
      after the presentation of trial evidence. Jurors who viewed a juvenile
      qualification voir dire and jurors who viewed a standard voir dire did not differ
      in their post-trial judgments of defendant guilt. Implications for the abilities
      of juvenile defendants to receive a fair trial in adult court are discussed.

PMID- 20936333
TI  - Biophysical studies on the interactions of a classic mitochondrial uncoupler with
      bovine serum albumin by spectroscopic, isothermal titration calorimetric and
      molecular modeling methods.
AB  - The interaction between a classic uncoupler (2,4-dinitrophenol, DNP) and bovine
      serum albumin (BSA) was investigated by fluorescence spectroscopy under the
      physiological conditions. The fluorescence quenching constants were calculated by
      the Stern-Volmer equation, and based upon the temperature dependence of quenching
      constants, it was proved that DNP caused a static quenching of the intrinsic
      fluorescence of BSA. Owing to the static quenching mechanism, different
      associative binding constants at various temperatures were determined and thus
      the thermodynamic parameters, namely enthalpy (DeltaH=-21.12 kJ mol(-1)) and
      entropy changes (DeltaS=23.51 J mol(-1) K(-1)) could be calculated based on the
      binding constants. Moreover, the enthalpy and entropy changes are consistent with
      the "Enthalpy-Entropy Compensation" equation obtained from our previous work. The
      negative enthalpy and positive entropy indicated that the electrostatic
      interactions played a major role in DNP-BSA binding process. Site marker
      competitive displacement experiments were carried out by using fluorescence and
      isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) methods. These results showed that DNP
      bound with high affinity to Sudlow's site I (subdomain IIA) of BSA. The distance
      (r=3.78 nm) between donor (BSA) and acceptor (DNP) was obtained according to the
      mechanism of fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET). Furthermore, the
      results of synchronous fluorescence and circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopic
      studies indicated that the microenvironment and the secondary conformation of BSA
      were altered. The above results were supported by theoretical molecular modeling
      methods.

PMID- 20936335
TI  - Getting to the point: attempting to improve juror comprehension of capital
      penalty phase instructions.
AB  - This research examined the effects of several versions of capital penalty phase
      instructions on juror comprehension. Study One documented the impact of
      California's recently implemented "plain language" instruction. It showed that
      although the new instruction has clear advantages over the previous version,
      significant comprehension problems remain. Study Two evaluated several modified
      instructions designed to enhance comprehension. Participants heard either a
      standard patterned instruction or one of two alternatives-a psycholinguistically
      improved instruction, or a "pinpoint" instruction using case-related facts to
      illustrate key terms-in a simulated death penalty sentencing phase. Persons who
      heard modified instructions demonstrated higher levels of comprehension on
      virtually every measure as compared to those in the standard instruction
      condition.

PMID- 20936337
TI  - Risk perceptions, worry, or distrust: what drives pregnant women's decisions to
      accept the H1N1 vaccine?
AB  - To determine how risk perceptions, worry, and distrust relate to pregnant women's
      intentions to accept the H1N1 vaccine. Cross-sectional survey of 173 pregnant
      women recruited from two OB/GYN practices at an urban academic medical center.
      Survey items were adapted from validated measures of risk, worry, and health care
      distrust. Vaccination intention was analyzed as a dichotomous variable. Analyses
      were with student's t tests, chi squared tests, and logistic regression. Study
      participants were, on average, 25.6 years old with parity=2.8. 55% of respondents
      were Black; 32% completed a high school diploma or less; and half were publically
      or un- insured. 63% of the respondents reported that they "definitely" or
      "probably" would accept the H1N1 vaccine. Intention to receive the H1N1 vaccine
      did not vary by sociodemographic factors nor by source of health information. In
      univariate analysis, intention was related to higher risk perceptions about
      probability of and susceptibility to H1N1 influenza (57.9 vs. 31.8%, P=.001 and
      67.0 vs. 45.3%, P=.005, respectively), worry about getting H1N1 influenza (48.1
      vs. 15.6%, P=<.001), and less distrust in the health care system (mean score 1.07
      vs. 1.51, P<.001). In multivariable analysis, only worry about getting H1N1 was
      related to vaccination intention (OR=3.43, P=.04). Worry about acquiring disease
      was a stronger predictor of vaccine intention than risk perceptions, distrust, or
      worry about vaccine safety. With growing numbers of vaccines being offered during
      pregnancy and immediately postpartum, these results have important implications
      for future vaccination intervention, education, and messaging efforts in urban
      settings.

PMID- 20936336
TI  - Predictors of positive development in emerging adulthood.
AB  - This article responds to recent calls for a focus on successful development in
      young people and examination of its developmental precursors, in order to
      identify potentially modifiable targets for interventions. The current study
      examined child and adolescent precursors of positive functioning in emerging
      adulthood, including individual characteristics, relationship factors, and
      connections to the community, using a multidimensional positive development
      measure at 19-20 years. The sample consisted of 511 males and 647 females who
      were participants in the Australian Temperament Project, a population based
      longitudinal study that has followed young people's psychosocial adjustment from
      infancy to early adulthood. Higher levels of positive development in emerging
      adulthood were associated with stronger family and peer relationships, better
      adjustment to the school setting, higher family socioeconomic status, and better
      emotional control. Some significant gender differences were observed, with
      emotional control, family relationships, and community orientation all being
      stronger predictors of males' than of females' positive development. The findings
      provide possible targets for child and adolescent interventions to promote
      positive development in early adulthood.

PMID- 20936338
TI  - An open trial of in-home CBT for depressed mothers in home visitation.
AB  - Research has demonstrated that low income mothers participating in home
      visitation programs have high rates of depression. This study used an open trial
      design to evaluate In-Home Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (IH-CBT), an evidence
      based treatment for depression that is delivered in the home setting and has been
      adapted to address the needs of low income mothers participating in home
      visitation. 64 depressed mothers recruited from a home visitation program and who
      had completed IH-CBT were compared to 241 mothers from the same setting who met
      identical screening criteria at enrollment but did not receive the treatment. In
      addition, pre- and post-treatment measures of depression and related clinical
      features were contrasted in the 64 mothers receiving IH-CBT. There was a
      significantly greater reduction in depressive symptoms in the IH-CBT group
      relative to their counterparts who did not receive the treatment. Results from
      pre-post comparisons showed that treated mothers had decreased diagnosis of major
      depression, lower reported stress, increased coping and social support, and
      increased positive views of motherhood at post-treatment. Findings suggest that
      IH-CBT is a promising approach to addressing maternal depression in the context
      of home visitation and warrants further study. Public health implications for
      home visiting programs are discussed.

PMID- 20936339
TI  - Modeling extracellular potentials.

PMID- 20936340
TI  - High serum TGF-alpha predicts poor response to lapatinib and capecitabine in HER2
      positive breast cancer.
AB  - Lapatinib and capecitabine combination therapy is effective in trastuzumab
      resistant human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive breast cancer.
      We investigated the biomarkers from serum of patients receiving lapatinib and
      capecitabine Patients received lapatinib 1,250 mg once daily and capecitabine
      2,000 mg/m(2)/day, day 1-14, every 3 weeks. Serum samples were obtained before
      treatment initiation. Levels of transforming growth factor-alpha (TGF-alpha),
      epidermal growth factor (EGF), extracellular domains of EGFR and HER2 were
      measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The effect of TGF-alpha on in
      vitro sensitivity of SK-BR-3 cells to lapatinib was investigated. Sixty-four
      patients were included. Response rate was significantly higher in patients with
      low serum TGF-alpha (<= 3.75 pg/ml) compared to high TGF-alpha (>3.75 pg/ml)
      [61.1% (11/18) vs. 17.4% (8/46), respectively; P = 0.001]. Low serum TGF-alpha
      was independently associated with better response in multivariate analysis
      [adjusted odds ratio, 8.96; 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.4-34.2]. Time-to
      progression tended to be shorter in patients with high serum TGF-alpha compared
      to low TGF-alpha [median 3.8 months (95% CI 2.3-5.4) vs. 6.5 (95% CI 6.1-6.8),
      respectively; P = 0.067]. We confirmed that TGF-alpha diminished the sensitivity
      of SK-BR3-cells to lapatinib in vitro. The in vitro antiproliferative effect of
      cetuximab in combination with lapatinib was higher than that of lapatinib alone
      in SK-BR3-cells exposed to TGF-alpha. These data suggest that TGF-alpha plays a
      role in resistance to lapatinib and capecitabine therapy among HER2-positive
      breast cancer.

PMID- 20936341
TI  - No association of polymorphisms in the cell polarity gene SCRIB with breast
      cancer risk.
AB  - The human homolog of the Drosophila Scribble (SCRIB) tumor suppressor gene
      encodes a protein that regulates apical-basolateral polarity in mammalian
      epithelia and controls cell proliferation. Due to the role of cell polarity
      proteins in human cancers, we investigated whether genetic variability in SCRIB
      impacts breast carcinogenesis and tumor pathology. Five genetic variants were
      analyzed for an association with breast cancer risk and histopathological tumor
      parameters using a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) tagging approach.
      Genotyping of five tag SNPs was performed by TaqMan allelic discrimination and
      RFLP-based PCR using the GENICA population-based breast cancer case-control
      collection including 1,021 cases and 1,015 age-matched controls. Odds ratios (OR)
      and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated by ordinal logistic regression.
      None of the tag SNPs was associated with breast cancer risk or tumor
      characteristics. Our findings suggest that genetic variability in the SCRIB
      polarity gene does not contribute to breast cancer development.

PMID- 20936342
TI  - Improvement of recombinant protein production by an anti-apoptotic protein from
      hemolymph of Lonomia obliqua.
AB  - Apoptosis is a major problem in animal cell culture during production of
      biopharmaceuticals, such as recombinant proteins or viral particles. In the
      present work baculovirus-insect cell expression system (BEVS/IC) is used as model
      to produce rotavirus like-particles, composed by three layers of three different
      viral proteins (VP2, VP6 and VP7). In this model baculovirus infection also
      induces host cell death. Herein a new strategy to enhance cell life span and to
      increase recombinant rotavirus protein production of BEVS/IC system was
      developed. This strategy relies on hemolymph from Lonomia oblique (total extracts
      or a semi-purified fraction) medium supplementation. The total extract and a
      purified fraction from hemolymph of Lonomia obliqua were able to protect Sf-9
      cell culture against apoptosis triggered by oxidative stress (using the pro
      oxidant agents tert butylhydroperoxide and hydrogen peroxide) and by baculovirus
      infection. Furthermore, hemolymph enhance final recombinant protein production,
      as it was observed by the increased amounts of VP6 and VP7, which were measured
      by the semi-quantitative western blot method. In conclusion, hemolymph medium
      supplementation can be a promising strategy to improve cell viability and
      productivity of recombinant protein in BEVS/IC system.

PMID- 20936343
TI  - Enhancement of pheochromocytoma nerve cell growth by consecutive fractionization
      of Angelica gigas Nakai extracts.
AB  - This work was to investigate the effect of flavonoids from Angelica gigas Nakai
      on the proliferation and differentiation of PC12 cells. Several solvents
      including hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate, butanol and water consecutively
      partitioned. We determined the ethanol crude extract of Angelica gigas Nakai. The
      hexane fraction was shown to contain the highest number of flavonoids as follows;
      21.48 mg/g and the composition of the flavonoids was as follows: 12.24 mg/g of
      quercetin, 4.39 mg/g of myricetin and 2.58 mg/g of catechin. In addition, this
      hexane fraction greatly increased both cell growth and outgrowth of the neurite,
      and whose effects were three times higher than those of the other fractions. The
      length of the neurites was measured as ca. 110 MUm in adding 50 MUg/mL of the
      hexane fraction, which was about the same as the case of adding 50 ng/mL of NGF
      as a positive control. This result indicates that the differentiation of PC12
      cells by the addition of the hexane fraction was comparable to the case of adding
      NGF. The hexane fraction was also determined to prevent apoptosis of PC12 cells
      by suppressing DNA fragmentation. It is interesting that the mixture of three
      major flavonoids, quercetin, myricetin and catechin showed stronger activity on,
      both PC12 cell growth and neuritis outgrowth, than when adding each flavonoid
      alone. We believe this was due to the synergistic effects of the three
      flavonoids. The activities of these flavonoids from Angelica gigas Nakai are
      reported for the first time in this study.

PMID- 20936344
TI  - Over-expression of peptide deformylase in chloroplasts confers actinonin
      resistance, but is not a suitable selective marker system for plastid
      transformation.
AB  - Arabidopsis thaliana peptide deformylase PDF1B was expressed in tobacco
      chloroplasts using spectinomycin as the selective agent. The foreign protein
      accumulated in chloroplasts (6% of the total soluble protein) and was
      enzymatically active. Transplastomic plants were evaluated for resistance to the
      peptide deformylase inhibitor actinonin. In vitro seed germination in the
      presence of actinonin and in planta application of the inhibitor demonstrated the
      resistance of the transformed plants. In addition, transgenic leaf explants were
      able to develop shoots via organogenesis in the presence of actinonin. However,
      when the combination of the PDF1B gene and actinonin was used as the primary
      selective marker system for chloroplast transformation of tobacco, all developed
      shoots were escapes. Therefore, under the experimental conditions tested, the use
      of this system for plastid transformation would be limited to function as a
      secondary selective marker.

PMID- 20936345
TI  - Factors limiting the health of semi-scavenging ducks in Bangladesh.
AB  - Duck rearing is well suited to coastal and lowland areas in Bangladesh. It is an
      important component of sustainable livelihood strategies for poor rural
      communities as an additional source of household income. An epidemiological study
      was conducted during January 2005-June 2006 on 379 households in Chatkhil of the
      Noakhali District, Bangladesh which were using the recently devised "Bangladesh
      duck model". The overall objective of the study was to identify factors that
      significantly contributed to mortality and constrained productivity and to
      generate sufficient knowledge to enable establishment of a disease surveillance
      system for household ducks. The overall mortality was 15.0% in Chatkhil, with
      predation causing a significantly higher mortality compared with diseases (p <
      0.001). Common diseases were duck plague and duck cholera. Morbid ducks
      frequently displayed signs associated with diseases affecting the nervous and
      digestive systems. Haemorrhagic lesions in various organs and white multiple foci
      on the liver were frequently observed in dead ducks. Epidemiological analysis
      with a shared frailty model that accounted for clustering of data by farm was
      used to estimate the association between survival time and risk factors. The
      overall mortality rate due to disease was significantly lower in vaccinated than
      in non-vaccinated ducks in all zones except zone 2 (p < 0.001). Only vaccinated
      ducks survived in zone 1. In conclusion, duck mortality and untimely sale of
      ducks appeared to be important constraints for household duck production in
      Chatkhil. Vaccination against duck plague appears to be an effective preventive
      strategy in reducing the level of associated duck mortality. A successful network
      was established amongst farmers and the surveillance team through which dead
      ducks, with accompanying information, were readily obtained for analysis.
      Therefore, there is an opportunity for establishing a long-term disease
      surveillance programme for rural ducks in Chatkhil of the Noakhali District of
      Bangladesh.

PMID- 20936346
TI  - Monitoring the health and production of household Jinding ducks on Hatia Island
      of Bangladesh.
AB  - Duck rearing is an important component of sustainable living in poor rural
      communities, especially as a source of subsistence. A study was conducted on 118
      households (N = 1,373 Jinding ducks, Anas platyrhynchus) from December 2002 to
      February 2004 on Hatia Island in Bangladesh with the aim of identifying the
      factors that limit the health and production of Jinding ducks. Overall duck
      mortality was 29.3%, with disease (19.7%) being a more significant factor than
      predation (9.6%; p = 0.001). Duck mortality also varied significantly among study
      zones (p < 0.001). Common diseases were duck plague (21.1%) and duck cholera
      (32.1%). Helminth infection was prevalent, with endemic trematode (Prosthogonimus
      spp., Trichobilharzia spp., Echinostoma spp.) and nematode (Cyathostoma
      bronchialis, Amidostomum anseris, Heterakis gallinarum, Capillaria spp., and
      Echinuria spp.) infections and epidemic cestode infections due to Hymenolepsis
      setigera. The median egg production rate per duck per household was 93 for a 6
      month laying period. The odds of diminished egg production (average <= 93 eggs
      per duck per household for a 6-month laying period) was 25.4 times higher in
      ducks that were kept in traditional duck houses (p < 0.001) and 14.2 times higher
      in ducks that experienced delays in the onset of sexual maturity (days 191 and
      280; p < 0.001). Ducks that were provided snails for a shorter period of time
      over the laying period were 18.2 times more likely to produce fewer eggs than
      their longer fed peers (p = 0.002). In conclusion, duck mortalities due to
      diseases and predation and parasitic infections appear to be common constraints
      on household duck production on Hatia Island. Additionally, improving duck
      housing and providing longer nutritional supplementation with snails increased
      the production capabilities of household-raised Jinding ducks on Hatia Island.

PMID- 20936347
TI  - Effects of replacing fish meal with catfish (Pangasius hypophthalmus) processing
      waste water on the performance of growing pigs.
AB  - A feeding trial with growing pigs was carried out in which fish meal was replaced
      by different levels of Tra catfish (Pangasius hypophthalmus) by-product
      processing waste water (WW). A control diet included fish meal (FM) as the sole
      protein supplement (WW0), and there were four experimental diets in which 100%
      (WW100), 75% (WW75), 50% (WW50), and 25% (WW25), respectively, of the crude
      protein from FM in WW0 was replaced by WW. Thirty crossbred castrated (Yorkshire
      * Landrace) male pigs with an initial average body weight of 23.6 +/- 1.6 kg were
      allocated into 30 individual pens in a randomized complete block design with six
      replications. Average daily feed intake and essential amino acid intakes were
      higher (P < 0.01) in WW0 and WW25 compared with the other three diets, and ether
      extract intake was highest in WW100 (P < 0.01). The highest average daily gain
      was in WW0 (582 g/day) and lowest in WW100 (501 g/day; P < 0.01). Dry matter feed
      conversion ratio was lowest in WW100 (2.16 kg feed/kg gain) and highest in WW0
      (2.42 kg feed/kg gain) (P < 0.01).The cost/gain in pigs fed WW100 was lowest
      (12,476 VND/kg gain), and was highest in WW0 (18,312 VND/kg gain). In conclusion,
      although performance is reduced, it is possible to replace up to 100% of the fish
      meal by catfish by-product processing waste water in diets for growing pigs,
      resulting in much lower feed costs.

PMID- 20936348
TI  - Molecular survey of Toxoplasma infection in sheep and goat from Fars province,
      Southern Iran.
AB  - Toxoplasmosis is a widespread zoonotic disease that causes significant morbidity
      and mortality in human fetus and in immunocompromised patients. Moreover, it
      becomes a major cause of abortion in sheep and goats. Since consumption of meat
      of infected lamb and goat is considered as the main sources of human infection in
      Iran, this study was undertaken to determine the prevalence of Toxoplasma
      infection in edible tissues of sheep and goats in Shiraz in 2008. Samples of
      brain, tongue, liver, and muscles of neck, intercostals, and femoral were taken
      from 56 sheep and 22 goats and tested by PCR. The total prevalence of Toxoplasma
      infection among animals was found to be 33.3%. Five out of 22 goats (22.7%) and
      21 out of 56 sheep (37.5%) were infected by Toxoplasma. Differences between the
      prevalence rate of infection among females (nine out of 14 = 46%) and males
      animals (12 out of 45 = 29.5%) was significant (P = 0.013). Furthermore, a
      positive correlation was found between the age of animals and the rate of
      infection; animals greater than 2 years old showed a higher rate of infection
      (47%) in comparison with those less than 2 years old (25%, P = 0.04). The highest
      infected tissue was tongue (21.8%) followed by brain (19.2%) and femoral and
      intercostal muscles (17.9%). This study demonstrated a high level of Toxoplasma
      infection in slaughtered animals in Shiraz and these should be considered as the
      main sources of infection for human population in the region.

PMID- 20936349
TI  - Lack of grafted liver rejuvenation in adult-to-pediatric liver transplantation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A grafted donor liver should grow and survive under the different
      conditions presented by a liver transplantation recipient. It has remained
      unclear, however, whether the age of a grafted liver can be modulated by
      recipient factors. AIMS: This study investigated whether a grafted aged donor
      liver can be rejuvenated in a pediatric recipient. METHODS: Of 119 living donor
      liver transplants, ten pairs were adult-to-pediatric combinations. Senescence
      marker protein-30 (SMP-30), which is a protein that is remarkably reduced upon
      aging, was used as a senescence marker. Immunohistochemical staining for SMP-30
      was performed in biopsy specimen after living donor liver transplantation (LDLT).
      Re-expression of SMP-30 was investigated in a biopsied adult liver (n = 6) that
      had been transplanted in a pediatric recipient. RESULTS: A remarkable expression
      of SMP-30 was seen in a control pediatric normal liver in comparison with that in
      an aged adult donor biopsy. Re-expression or an increase in SMP-30 was not
      observed in the liver of any pediatric recipient who had received an adult liver.
      CONCLUSION: An adult grafted liver does not appear to rejuvenate in a pediatric
      recipient.

PMID- 20936350
TI  - Race and inflammatory bowel disease in an urban healthcare system.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is increasingly common among non
      Caucasian populations, but interracial differences in disease characteristics and
      management are not well-characterized. AIMS: We tested the hypothesis that
      disease characteristics and management vary by race among IBD patients in an
      ethnically diverse healthcare system. METHODS: A retrospective study of the
      safety net healthcare system of San Francisco, CA, from 1996 to 2009 was
      undertaken. Patient records with International Classification of Diseases, 9th
      Revision (ICD9) codes 555.xx, 556.xx, and 558.xx were reviewed. Adult patients
      with confirmed IBD diagnoses were included. Interracial variations in disease
      characteristics and management were assessed broadly; focused between-race
      comparisons identified specific differences. RESULTS: The 228 subjects included
      77 (33.4%) with Crohn's disease (CD), 150 (65.8%) with ulcerative colitis, and 1
      (0.4%) with IBD, type unclassified. The race distribution included 105 (46.1%)
      white, 34 (14.9%) black, 35 (15.4%) Hispanic, and 51 (22.4%) Asian subjects.
      Asians and Hispanics were diagnosed at older ages (41.0 and 37.1 years,
      respectively) and had shorter disease durations (5.4 and 5.2 years, respectively)
      than whites (30.5 years at diagnosis and 8.6 years duration, P < 0.05) and blacks
      (31.7 years at diagnosis and 12.1 years duration, P < 0.05). CD was more common
      among blacks (50% of subjects) than Asians (25.5% of subjects, P = 0.015). The
      Montreal classification of IBD was similar among races. Hispanics were less
      likely than others to be treated with 5-aminosalicylates (5-ASA),
      immunomodulators, and steroids. Medical and surgical management was otherwise
      similar among races. CONCLUSIONS: Modest race-based differences in IBD
      characteristics exist in this racially diverse healthcare system, but the
      management of IBD is similar among race groups.

PMID- 20936351
TI  - Fracture-associated hospitalizations in patients with inflammatory bowel disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Maintenance of bone health is an important concern in patients with
      inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). They may frequently have impaired bone density
      resulting in greater incidence of fractures. AIMS: To examine fracture-associated
      hospitalization costs in IBD patients from a nationwide representative sample,
      and to compare the risk factors for such fractures in IBD and non-IBD patients.
      METHODS: We identified discharges with IBD and coexisting codes for hip,
      vertebral or wrist fractures (IBD-Fr) from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample and
      compared them with IBD hospitalizations without codes for these fractures. A
      second analysis was performed using 2008 inpatient data from the Wisconsin
      Hospital Association (WHA) comparing characteristics of patients with IBD-Fr and
      non-IBD controls hospitalized for similar fractures. RESULTS: There were 1,653
      discharges in the IBD-Fr group accounting for 10,461 days of hospital stay and US
      $46 million in total hospitalization charges. On multivariate analysis, age>65
      years [odds ratio (OR) 28.8, 95% confidence interval (CI) 12.3-67.6] and female
      sex (OR 1.3, 95%CI 1.0-1.6) were associated with higher odds of hospitalization
      associated with fractures. We found no differences in age, gender, or race among
      IBD-Fr and non-IBD fracture controls. However, IBD-fractures were twice as likely
      to be associated with osteoporosis as non-IBD fractures (OR 2.19, 95%CI 1.10
      4.33). CONCLUSIONS: Older age, female sex, and osteoporosis were more commonly
      associated with hospitalization for fractures in IBD patients. Osteoporosis
      appears to be more common among IBD-Fr patients than non-IBD fracture controls.

PMID- 20936352
TI  - Protective effects of Kurozu and Kurozu Moromimatsu on dextran sulfate sodium
      induced experimental colitis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Kurozu, a traditional Japanese black vinegar made from unpolished
      rice, and Kurozu Moromimatsu (Kurozu-M), its sediment, are both consumed in Japan
      as health foods or supplements. However, it is not known whether they have anti
      colitis activity. AIMS: We examined the protective effects of Kurozu and Kurozu-M
      in an animal model of dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis. METHODS: DSS
      induced colitis was induced in C57 black 6 mice by orally administering 3.5% DSS
      solution for 12 days. The control group received basal CE-2 diet (n = 10), the
      Kurozu group received CE-2 containing Kurozu (n = 10), the Kurozu-M group
      received CE-2 containing Kurozu-M (n = 10), and the acetic acid group received CE
      2 containing acetic acid (n = 10), starting a week before DSS administration.
      Changes of body weight and bloody stool frequency were monitored. At 12 days
      after DSS administration, mice were killed for pathological examination and
      measurement of nitrotyrosine levels in rectal tissues. RESULTS: Kurozu
      significantly inhibited body weight loss during 6-12 days after DSS
      administration and reduced bloody stool frequency during 2-12 days, and also
      significantly decreased nitrotyrosine levels at 12 days, compared to the control
      group. Kurozu-M significantly inhibited body weight loss during 6-8 days after
      DSS administration and reduced bloody stool frequency during 2-12 days, but
      tissue nitrotyrosine level was not significantly different from the control.
      Acetic acid had no ameliorating effect on DSS-induced colitis compared to the
      control group. CONCLUSIONS: Kurozu and Kurozu-M have protective effects against
      DSS-induced colitis. Kurozu has anti-oxidative and anti-nitration activity.

PMID- 20936353
TI  - Establishment of a reflux esophago-laryngitis model in rats.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To investigate the pathophysiology of reflux laryngitis, an
      experimental model is required. AIM: The aim of this study is to establish an
      animal model of reflux esophago-laryngitis, modifying our previously reported
      model of chronic acid reflux esophagitis. METHODS: The modified chronic acid
      reflux esophagitis (m-RE) group (n = 10), in which the duodenum was wrapped with
      2.5 mm of Nelaton catheter, was not treated with any drugs. Also postoperatively,
      two treatment groups (n = 10 in each) received different dosages of rabeprazole
      (RPZ): 1.0 mg/kg/day (RPZ 1.0 group) or 10.0 mg/kg/day (RPZ 10.0 group). As a
      control group (n = 5), other rats underwent sham operation. The esophagus and
      larynx were resected on day 14 after the operation, and ulcer score of the
      esophagus was assessed. The epithelial thickness and leukocyte infiltration of
      the supraglottic and subglottic laryngeal mucosae were investigated. The number
      of interleukin (IL)-1beta-positive cells was also counted and defined as the IL
      1beta labeling index. RESULTS: In the m-RE group, the epithelial thickness,
      leukocyte infiltration, and IL-1beta labeling index of the supraglottic and
      subglottic laryngeal mucosae were increased compared with controls (P < 0.01). In
      the RPZ groups, not only the ulcer score of esophagus but also the epithelial
      thickness, leukocyte infiltration, and IL-1beta labeling index of both the
      supraglottic and subglottic laryngeal mucosae were decreased dose-dependently
      relative to the m-RE group (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Our modified chronic acid
      reflux esophagitis model proved useful in establishing a rat reflux esophago
      laryngitis model, with both pathological laryngeal findings and reflux
      esophagitis shown to be improved by administration of a proton pump inhibitor.

PMID- 20936355
TI  - The neutrophil respiratory burst and bacterial digestion in Crohn's disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Neutrophils are a key part of the innate immune defence against
      microbes, using the respiratory burst (RB) to optimise killing and digestion.
      Previous studies of the neutrophil RB in Crohn's disease (CD) have yielded
      conflicting results. METHODS: Superoxide production in response to phorbol
      myristyl acetate (PMA) was measured in neutrophils from 100 patients with CD
      compared to 50 healthy controls (HCs) and 50 patients with ulcerative colitis
      (UC). A further 22 CD and 10 HCs were studied using f-Met-Leu-Phe (fMLP), and
      digestion of E. coli by neutrophils was also evaluated. RESULTS: The mean +/- SEM
      PMA-stimulated RB (nmol O(2)/10(6) cells/min) was 10.86 +/- 0.26 in HCs, 9.76 +/-
      0.23 in CD (P=0.02) and 10.04 +/- 0.28 in UC (P=0.09 vs HC and 0.47 vs CD). No
      significant effect of age, gender or medication was observed. The RB in three
      patients with presumed CD was found to be in the range expected in patients with
      inherited neutrophil disorders. Stimulation with fMLP was calcium dependent and
      attenuated in patients on 5-ASA. Digestion of E. coli by neutrophils was not
      different in HC vs CD (21.6 vs 20.53%, P=0.60). CONCLUSION: The significant
      reduction in neutrophil RB in CD does not appear to result in defective bacterial
      digestion and is therefore unlikely play a major role in pathogenesis. Three
      patients in this cohort of patients with presumed idiopathic CD were found to
      have a profound defect of the neutrophil RB. A high index of suspicion for such
      patients is prudent, as their prognosis can be improved by altering or augmenting
      the conventional treatment regimens employed for CD.

PMID- 20936354
TI  - Monophosphoryl lipid A-induced delayed preconditioning in rat small intestine is
      mediated by calcitonin gene-related peptide.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Protective effects of ischemic preconditioning in rat small intestine
      have been shown to be related to the release of calcitonin gene-related peptide.
      AIMS: The purpose of the present study was to explore whether monophosphoryl
      lipid A participated in the protective process of the delayed ischemic
      preconditioning in the peripheral vascular bed (the anse intestinalis of rat),
      and whether endogenous calcitonin gene-related peptide is a mediator in this
      process. METHODS: Intestinal ischemia was induced by occlusion of the superior
      mesenteric artery for 30 min, followed by reperfusion for 60 min. The intestinal
      lesions were evaluated by the measurement of serum lactate dehydrogenase,
      myeloperoxidase levels, and small intestine tissue contents of malondialdehyde.
      In addition, calcitonin gene-related peptide in plasma and superior mesenteric
      vein effluent were also examined. RESULTS: Pretreatment with monophosphoryl lipid
      A (500 MUg/kg. i.p.) 24 h prior to ischemia-reperfusion significantly alleviated
      the intestinal tissue histology lesions, decreased serum levels of lactate
      dehydrogenase, myeloperoxidase, and reduced tissue content of malondialdehyde.
      Moreover, monophosphoryl lipid A markedly increased plasma concentrations of
      calcitonin gene-related peptide. Pretreatment with capsaicin, which specifically
      depletes the neurotransmitter content of sensory nerves or calcitonin gene
      related peptide-(8-37), a selective calcitonin gene-related peptide receptor
      antagonist, inhibited the increased calcitonin gene-related peptide release and
      subsequently abrogated the protection by monophosphoryl lipid A. CONCLUSIONS: In
      conclusion, monophosphoryl lipid A pharmacologically mimics delayed
      preconditioning and the protective effects are related to the stimulation of
      calcitonin gene-related peptide release in rat small intestine.

PMID- 20936356
TI  - Variable impact of CD39 in experimental murine colitis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Dysregulation of immune responses in inflammatory bowel diseases
      (IBD) results in intestinal inflammation and vascular injury while exacerbating
      systemic disease. CD39 is an ectonucleotidase, expressed by T regulatory cells
      and dendritic cells, that hydrolyzes extracellular nucleotides to modify those
      cellular immune responses implicated in IBD. Genetic polymorphisms of CD39 have
      been linked to Crohn's disease while gene deletion in mice exacerbates dextran
      sodium sulphate-induced colitis. AIM: The aim of this study was to test how
      global deletion of CD39 in mice impacts other models of experimental colitis.
      METHODS: Colitis was induced in CD39-null and -wt mice, using trinitrobenzene
      sulfonic acid (TNBS, 125 mg/kg) administered intrarectally. Oxazolone colitis
      (1.5% oxazolone in 50% alcohol) was induced in comparable groups. Morphology,
      clinical and molecular parameters, and FACS analyses of lamina propria
      mononuclear cells (LPMC) were examined in CD39-null mice. CD39 expression was
      analyzed in human IBD biopsies. RESULTS: Paradoxically, TNBS colitis in CD39-null
      mice was characterized by improved survival, favorable clinical scores, and
      decreased MPO activity, when compared to wt mice (P < 0.05). LPMC from TNBS
      colitis contained significantly increased amounts of T-cells (CD3(+) and CD4(+))
      and TNF-alpha mRNA expression were increased over those in CD39 null mice (P <
      0.05). In contrast, oxazolone treated CD39-null and wt mice had comparable
      outcomes. In both ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease, CD39 is present at high
      levels in intestinal tissue biopsies. CONCLUSIONS: TNBS colitis was attenuated in
      CD39-null mice whereas oxazolone-induced colitis was not impacted. Impaired
      adaptive cellular immune reactivity in the CD39-null environment appears
      protective in hapten-mediated Th1-type colitis. CD39 is expressed at high levels
      in clinical IBD tissues.

PMID- 20936357
TI  - The peri-appendiceal red patch in ulcerative colitis: review of the University of
      Chicago experience.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Previous case series have described patients with a limited extent of
      ulcerative colitis (UC) and an area in the cecum with focal activity surrounding
      the appendiceal orifice ["peri-appendiceal red patch" (PARP)]. The clinical
      significance and prognostic implications of this finding are unknown. We used a
      tertiary care center database to review the clinical characteristics of UC
      patients with PARP. METHODS: Patients with a clinical diagnosis of UC, less than
      pancolitis, and in whom a PARP was described were identified and clinical
      characteristics were reviewed at the University of Chicago. RESULTS: Of the 622
      UC patients, 367 did not have pancolitis. Twenty-nine (7.9%) patients had
      endoscopically described PARP. Of the 29 patients, 23 (79%) were male, eight had
      a history of smoking, and none had prior appendectomy. Twenty of 30 (67%) exams
      that obtained biopsies showed that the histologic activity in the PARP paralleled
      the activity of the distal colitis. Of the patients, 24 of 29 had a median of 8
      years follow-up (range 2-16 years), and these patients had a disease duration of
      median 12 years (range 0.08-22 years). Eleven of 21 patients with endoscopic
      follow-up had progression of the extent of disease. CONCLUSIONS: We have
      confirmed the association of peri-appendiceal inflammation in a subset of
      patients with the otherwise clinical features of UC. The lack of appendectomy,
      male preponderance, and parallel histologic activity to the distal colitis are
      important observations that warrant further investigation into the potential
      relationship of PARP and UC.

PMID- 20936358
TI  - Sphingosine-1-phosphate regulates the expression of adherens junction protein E
      cadherin and enhances intestinal epithelial cell barrier function.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The regulation of intestinal barrier permeability is important in the
      maintenance of normal intestinal physiology. Sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) has
      been shown to play a pivotal role in enhancing barrier function in several non
      intestinal tissues. The current study determined whether S1P regulated function
      of the intestinal epithelial barrier by altering expression of E-cadherin, an
      important protein in adherens junctions. METHODS: Studies were performed upon
      cultured differentiated IECs (IEC-Cdx2L1 line) using standard techniques.
      RESULTS: S1P treatment significantly increased levels of E-cadherin protein and
      mRNA in intestinal epithelial cells (IECs) and also led to E-cadherin localizing
      strongly to the cell-cell border. S1P also improved the barrier function as
      indicated by a decrease in 14C-mannitol paracellular permeability and an increase
      in transepithelial electrical resistance (TEER) in vitro. CONCLUSIONS: These
      results indicate that S1P increases levels of E-cadherin, both in cellular
      amounts and at the cell-cell junctions, and leads to improved barrier integrity
      in cultured intestinal epithelial cells.

PMID- 20936359
TI  - Activated Syndecan-1 shedding contributes to mice colitis induced by dextran
      sulfate sodium.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Syndecan-1(Sdc1) plays important roles in many steps of inflammatory
      responses. In ulcerative colitis patients, decreased Sdc1 expression was observed
      and Sdc1 analogue heparin could improve the disease course. A better
      understanding of how Sdc1 functions in colitis will benefit the disease
      intervention. AIMS: To evaluate the role of Sdc1 in dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)
      induced colitis. METHODS: BALB/c mice were grouped randomly into control, DSS,
      and heparin+DSS. The DSS group was given 4% DSS orally and heparin+DSS group was
      given 4% DSS with heparin (enoxaparin) subcutaneously, while the control was
      given distilled water orally. All mice were killed at day 7. Disease activities,
      histopathological changes, membrane-bound and free Sdc1 level and mRNA expression
      of Sdc1, IL-1, and IL-10 in colon mucosa were detected. RESULTS: Significant
      colitis was observed in the DSS group, but disease activity index and
      histological score showed significant lower in the heparin+DSS group than those
      in the DSS group. Compared to the control group, decreased Sdc1 protein
      expression was detected in colon mucosa of DSS-induced colitis while Sdc1
      ectodomain level in serum was much higher. Inhibited Sdc1 ectodomain shedding was
      detected in the heparin+DSS group compared to the DSS group. RT-PCR demonstrated
      that both IL-1 and IL-10 expression were up-regulated in DSS-induced colitis
      while heparin lessened the up-regulation extent. CONCLUSIONS: Sdc1 shedding is
      activated in DSS-induced colitis and heparin, which mimics Sdc1 functions,
      relieves colitis severity by inhibiting Sdc1 shedding and down-regulating
      cytokines expression.

PMID- 20936360
TI  - The characterization of beliefs in obsessive-compulsive disorder.
AB  - Beliefs are associated with most obsessions and compulsions in obsessive
      compulsive disorder (OCD). The characteristics of these beliefs can vary
      considerably, which has led to some of them being regarded as overvalued ideas or
      delusions and has contributed to confusion regarding the conceptualization and
      classification of OCD. This article proposes that beliefs arising in the context
      of OCD be assessed along the following, well-defined characteristics: conviction,
      fixity, fluctuation, resistance (to beliefs), insight pertaining to an awareness
      of the inaccuracy of one's belief, and insight referring to the ability to
      attribute the belief to an illness. This approach to the assessment of OCD
      related beliefs may allow a clearer distinction between non-delusional beliefs,
      overvalued ideas, and delusions. Although the characteristics of non-delusional
      beliefs may vary, especially on the dimension of awareness of the inaccuracy of
      belief, these beliefs can generally be distinguished from overvalued ideas and
      delusions in terms of lower levels of conviction and fixity and greater
      fluctuation, resistance and ability to attribute the belief to OCD. The
      development of an assessment tool using these well-defined characteristics will
      test the proposed model, which may lead to a more objective evaluation of OCD
      related beliefs. This is likely to have implications for diagnostic
      conceptualization and subtyping of OCD.

PMID- 20936361
TI  - In vitro antifungal activity of dihydroxyacetone against causative agents of
      dermatomycosis.
AB  - Dihydroxyacetone (DHA), a three-carbon sugar, is the browning ingredient in
      commercial sunless tanning formulations. DHA preparations have been used for more
      than 50 years and are currently highly popular for producing temporary
      pigmentation resembling an ultraviolet-induced tan. In this work, the in vitro
      antifungal activity of dihydroxyacetone was tested against causative agents of
      dermatomycosis, more specifically against dermatophytes and Candida spp. The
      antifungal activity was determined by the broth microdilution method according to
      the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute guidelines for yeasts and
      filamentous fungi. The data obtained show that the fungicidal activity varied
      from 1.6 to 50 mg ml(-1). DHA seems to be a promising substance for the treatment
      of dermatomycosis because it has antifungal properties at the same concentration
      used in artificial suntan lotions. Therefore, it is a potential low-toxicity
      antifungal agent that may be used topically because of its penetration into the
      corneal layers of the skin.

PMID- 20936362
TI  - The hyperinsulinism/hyperammonemia syndrome.
AB  - The hyperinsulinism/hyperammonemia (HI/HA) syndrome is the second most common
      form of congenital hyperinsulinism (HI). Children affected by this syndrome have
      both fasting and protein sensitive hypoglycemia combined with persistently
      elevated ammonia levels. Gain of function mutations in the mitochondrial enzyme
      glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) are responsible for the HI/HA syndrome. GDH is
      expressed in liver, kidney, brain, and pancreatic beta-cells. Patients with the
      HI/HA syndrome have an increased frequency of generalized seizures, especially
      absence-type seizures, in the absence of hypoglycemia. The hypoglycemia of the
      HI/HA syndrome is well controlled with diazoxide, a KATP channel agonist. GDH has
      also been implicated in another form of HI, short-chain 3-hydroxyacyl-CoA
      dehydrogenase (SCHAD) deficiency associated HI. The HI/HA syndrome provides a
      rare example of an inborn error of intermediary metabolism in which the effect of
      the mutation on enzyme activity is a gain of function.

PMID- 20936363
TI  - On the use of micron-sized iron oxide particles (MPIOS) to label resting
      monocytes in bone marrow.
AB  - PURPOSE: The use of MRI to monitor immune cell infiltration into various
      pathologies is well established. In an effort to boost the magnetic material
      within immune cells, this work attempted to label resting monocytes within bone
      marrow, in mice, by intravenous administration of micron-sized iron oxide
      particles (MPIOs), similar in fashion to the administration of (U)SPIO.
      PROCEDURES: MPIOs were incubated with various immune cells both in culture, and
      in whole blood. Flow cytometry and histology were used to analyze magnetic cell
      labeling. Also, MPIOs were injected intravenously into mice. In vivo, high
      resolution 3-D MRI was performed on mouse legs, and signal changes were
      quantified. Flow cytometry and histology were used to analyze magnetic cell
      labeling of bone marrow resident cells. RESULTS: It is demonstrated here that
      monocytes and neutrophils can indeed endocytose MPIOs both in cell culture and ex
      vivo in whole blood. However, despite rapid accumulation of MPIOs within the bone
      marrow following injection, MPIOs did not label monocytes or any other
      hematopoietic cell type in the marrow. Hypotheses are drawn to explain these
      results in light of recent usage of MPIOs for immune cell tracking. CONCLUSIONS:
      Systemic administration of various MPIO formulations showed that MPIOs arrive in
      bone marrow rapidly following injection and remain there for at least 7 days.
      Data also shows slow clearance of some particles from the tissue over this
      period. While MPIOs can efficiently label monocytes in culture and in whole blood
      ex vivo, they were not found to label bone marrow resident monocytes.

PMID- 20936364
TI  - Comparison of different SUV-based methods for response prediction to neoadjuvant
      radiochemotherapy in locally advanced rectal cancer by FDG-PET and MRI.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to compare different analysis methods of 2
      deoxy-2-[(18)F]fluoro-D-glucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) and
      magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data for prediction of histopathological
      response (HPR) to neoadjuvant radiochemotherapy (RCTx) in patients with advanced
      rectal cancer. PROCEDURES: Twenty-eight patients of a previously published
      clinical trial underwent serial FDG-PET/computed tomography scans at baseline, 14
      days after initiation, and after completion of RCTx. In addition, MRI was
      performed at baseline and after the end of therapy. Response prediction was
      correlated with different image analysis algorithms comprising pure metabolic
      parameters taking into account the FDG uptake, volume-based parameters measuring
      the lesion volume in either MRI or PET data, and integrated parameters combining
      metabolic and volumetric information. The established two-dimensional (2D)
      regions of interest (ROI; diameter 1.5 cm) served as standard of reference.
      Changes between the parameters at the defined time points were calculated and
      analyzed for their potential to predict HPR to RCTx using receiver operating
      characteristic (ROC) analysis. Additionally, the interobserver reliability of
      fixed-size algorithms was analyzed. RESULTS: Histopathology classified eight of
      28 patients as non-responders and 20 patients as responders to RCTx. ROC analysis
      of the standard 2D ROI technique revealed areas under the curve (AUCs) of 0.64
      and 0.71 for the early and late time points. Corresponding AUCs for three
      dimensional (3D) volume of interest technique resulted in AUCs of 0.75 for both
      early and late time points, respectively. Volumetric parameters showed AUCs
      ranging from 0.52 to 0.57 (early time points) and 0.46 to 0.76 (later time
      points), respectively. Corresponding AUCs for the integrated parameters were
      ranging between 0.70 and 0.73 (early time points) and 0.66 and 0.76 (late time
      points). Analysis of intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC) for three
      different readers resulted in the best intra-class correlation values for the
      changes of 3D standard uptake value (SUV(3D)), for both early (ICC = 0.96) and
      late (ICC = 0.96) time points, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Our study emphasizes
      that 3D-based approaches for assessing SUV values consistently belonged to the
      group of parameters with the highest AUC values for prediction of HPR to
      neoadjuvant RCTx in patients with rectal cancer. MRI was not a good predictor for
      therapy response; hence, the MRI information derived from combined anatomic and
      metabolic parameters showed unsatisfying results too.

PMID- 20936365
TI  - [Sentinel lymph node biopsy in breast cancer].
AB  - Complete axillary lymph node dissection has been the traditional operation to
      determine whether cancer has spread beyond the breast. In the large majority of
      patients with breast cancer, lymphatic mapping and gamma-probe-guided and/or blue
      dye sentinel node biopsy can be used to locate the first node in the axilla, and
      thereby provide important information about the status of axillary nodes.
      Patients without clinical involvement of the axilla should undergo sentinel node
      biopsy routinely. Thus, they may be spared complete axillary dissection if the
      sentinel node is negative. Decreased arm swelling and pain are associated with
      sentinel lymph node biopsy compared with axillary lymph node dissection.

PMID- 20936366
TI  - First annual report of the Austrian CML registry.
AB  - The Austrian chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) registry monitors individual disease
      courses, treatments applied, clinical outcome, and side effects of CML patients
      on a nationwide basis to provide data on the "real-life" situation and to
      complement the information and interpretation gained from the selected patient
      population observed in clinical trials. This report summarizes the Austrian CML
      registry data as of March 2009. A total of 179 patients have been registered with
      a median number of 1012 follow-up visits and median observation duration of 20
      months. At diagnosis most patients (n = 163) were in chronic phase (early, late,
      and secondary), whereas only 4 were in advanced phase. A total of 137 patients
      were treated with tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), of which 14 received first
      and second generation TKIs sequentially. Other treatment modalities included
      chemotherapy or interferon and stem cell transplantation (SCT). Cumulative
      incidence rates for complete hematological responses (CHR) were 91.6% and 94.4%
      at 12 and 24 months, respectively, compared to cumulative incidence rates of
      complete cytogenetical response rates of 64% and 80% at these timepoints. A total
      of 5 patients progressed from chronic phase to accelerated (n = 3) and blastic
      phase (n = 2) while receiving imatinib standard dose. Estimated overall survival
      (OS) rate at 60 months was 90% and progression free survival (PFS) according to
      European Leukemia Net (ELN) failure definition was 58%.

PMID- 20936367
TI  - Revisited Jatropha curcas as an oil plant of multiple benefits: critical research
      needs and prospects for the future.

PMID- 20936368
TI  - Understanding streaming in Dictyostelium discoideum: theory versus experiments.
AB  - Recent experimental work involving Dictyostelium discoideum seems to contradict
      several theoretical models. Experiments suggest that localization of the release
      of the chemoattractant cyclic adenosine monophosphate to the uropod of the cell
      is important for stream formation during aggregation. Yet several mathematical
      models are able to reproduce streaming as the cells aggregate without taking into
      account localization of the chemoattractant. A careful analysis of the
      experiments and the theory suggests the two major features of the system which
      are important to stream formation are random cell motion and chemotaxis to
      regions of higher cell density. Random cell motion acts to reduce streaming,
      whereas chemotaxis to regions of higher cell density reinforces streaming. With
      this understanding, the experimental results can be explained in a manner
      consistent with the theoretical results. In all the experiments, alterations in
      the two main factors of random motion and chemotaxis to regions of higher cell
      density, not the localization of the release of the chemoattractant, can explain
      the results as they relate to streaming. Additionally, a comparison of results
      from a mathematical model that simulates cells which localize the chemoattractant
      and cells which do not shows little difference in the streaming patterns.

PMID- 20936369
TI  - Comparison of postprandial oleic acid, 9c,11t CLA and 10t,12c CLA oxidation in
      healthy moderately overweight subjects.
AB  - Few studies report the individual effect of 9c,11t- and 10t,12c-CLA on human
      energy metabolism. We compared the postprandial oxidative metabolism of 9c,11t-
      and 10t,12c-CLA and oleic acid (9c-18:1) in 22 healthy moderately overweight
      volunteers. After 24 weeks supplementation with 9c,11t-, 10t,12c-CLA or 9c-18:1
      (3 g/day), subjects consumed a single oral bolus of the appropriate [1-(13)C]
      labeled fatty acid. 8 h post-dose, cumulative oxidation was similar for 9c-18:1
      and 10t,12c (P = 0.66), but significantly higher for 9c,11t (P < 0.01).

PMID- 20936371
TI  - Emotional engineers: toward morally responsible design.
AB  - Engineers are normally seen as the archetype of people who make decisions in a
      rational and quantitative way. However, technological design is not value
      neutral. The way a technology is designed determines its possibilities, which
      can, for better or for worse, have consequences for human wellbeing. This leads
      various scholars to the claim that engineers should explicitly take into account
      ethical considerations. They are at the cradle of new technological developments
      and can thereby influence the possible risks and benefits more directly than
      anybody else. I have argued elsewhere that emotions are an indispensable source
      of ethical insight into ethical aspects of risk. In this paper I will argue that
      this means that engineers should also include emotional reflection into their
      work. This requires a new understanding of the competencies of engineers: they
      should not be unemotional calculators; quite the opposite, they should work to
      cultivate their moral emotions and sensitivity, in order to be engaged in morally
      responsible engineering.

PMID- 20936370
TI  - Predictive value of POSSUM and ACPGBI scoring in mortality and morbidity of
      colorectal resection: a case-control study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Preoperative risk prediction to assess mortality and morbidity may be
      helpful to surgical decision making. The aim of this study was to compare
      mortality and morbidity of colorectal resections performed in a tertiary referral
      center with mortality and morbidity as predicted with physiological and operative
      score for enumeration of mortality and morbidity (POSSUM), Portsmouth POSSUM (P
      POSSUM), and colorectal POSSUM (CR-POSSUM). The second aim of this study was to
      analyze the accuracy of different POSSUM scores in surgery performed for
      malignancy, inflammatory bowel diseases, and diverticulitis. POSSUM scoring was
      also evaluated in colorectal resection in acute vs. elective setting. In
      procedures performed for malignancy, the Association of Coloproctology of Great
      Britain and Ireland (ACPGBI) score was assessed in the same way for comparison.
      METHODS: POSSUM, P-POSSUM, and CR-POSSUM predictor equations for mortality were
      applied in a retrospective case-control study to 734 patients who had undergone
      colorectal resection. The total group was assessed first. Second, the predictive
      value of outcome after surgery was assessed for malignancy (n = 386),
      inflammatory bowel diseases (n = 113), diverticulitis (n = 91), and other
      indications, e.g., trauma, endometriosis, volvulus, or ischemia (n = 144). Third,
      all subgroups were assessed in relation to the setting in which surgery was
      performed: acute or elective. In patients with malignancy, the ACPGBI score was
      calculated as well. In all groups, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves
      were constructed. RESULTS: POSSUM, P-POSSUM, and CR-POSSUM have a significant
      predictive value for outcome after colorectal surgery. Within the total
      population as well as in all four subgroups, there is no difference in the area
      under the curve between the POSSUM, P-POSSUM, and CR-POSSUM scores. In the
      subgroup analysis, smallest areas under the ROC curve are seen in operations
      performed for malignancy, which is significantly worse than for diverticulitis
      and in operations performed for other indications. For elective procedures, P
      POSSUM and CR-POSSUM predict outcome significantly worse in patients operated for
      carcinoma than in patients with diverticulitis. In acute surgical interventions,
      CR-POSSUM predicts mortality better in diverticulitis than in patients operated
      for other indications. The ACPGBI score has a larger area under the curve than
      any of the POSSUM scores. Morbidity as predicted by POSSUM is most accurate in
      procedures for diverticulitis and worst when the indication is malignancy.
      CONCLUSION: The POSSUM scores predict outcome significantly better than can be
      expected by chance alone. Regarding the indication for surgery, each POSSUM score
      predicts outcome in patients operated for diverticulitis or other indications
      more accurately than for malignancy. The ACPGBI score is found to be superior to
      the various POSSUM scores in patients who have (elective) resection of colorectal
      malignancy.

PMID- 20936372
TI  - HIV and STI exposure notification via the internet.

PMID- 20936373
TI  - Agrobacterium tumefaciens mediated transformation of ChiV gene to Trichoderma
      harzianum.
AB  - As a soil-borne filamentous fungus, Trichoderma harzianum exhibits biological
      control properties because it parasitizes a large variety of phytopathogenic
      fungi. In this study, the vectors pBI121 and pCAMBIA1301 and cloning vector pUC18
      were used to successfully construct expression vector pCA-GChiV for filamentous
      fungi transformation mediated by Agrobacterium tumefaciens.The ChiV gene was
      successfully transferred into the biocontrol fungus T. harzianum with an
      efficiency of 90-110 transformants per 10(7) spores using A. tumefaciens-mediated
      transformation. Putative transformants were analyzed to test the transformation
      by the southern blot, and the expression of ChiV was detected by reverse
      transcription PCR. The transformants were co-cultured to assay antifungal
      activities with Rhizoctonia solani. The inhibition rates of the transformants and
      no ChiV gene transferred T. harzianum were 98.56% and 82.42%, respectively, on
      the fourth day.The results showed that the ChiV transformants had significantly
      higher inhibition activity.

PMID- 20936374
TI  - Probing reactivity of PQQ-dependent carbohydrate dehydrogenases using artificial
      electron acceptor.
AB  - The kinetic parameters of carbohydrate oxidation catalyzed by Acinetobacter
      calcoaceticus pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ)-dependent glucose dehydrogenase
      (GDH) and Escherichia coli PQQ-dependent aldose sugar dehydrogenase (ASDH) were
      determined using various electron acceptors. The radical cations of organic
      compounds and 2,6-dichlorophenolindophenol are the most reactive with both
      enzymes in presence of glucose. The reactivity of dioxygen with ASDH is low; the
      bimolecular constant k (ox) = 660 M(-1) s(-1), while GDH reactivity with dioxygen
      is even less. The radical cation of 3-(10H-phenoxazin-10-yl)propionic acid was
      used as electron acceptor for reduced enzyme in the study of dehydrogenases
      carbohydrates specificity. Mono- and disaccharide reactivity with GDH is higher
      than the reactivity of oligosaccharides. For ASDH, the reactivity increased with
      the carbohydrate monomer number increase. The specificity of quinoproteins was
      compared with specificity of flavoprotein Microdochium nivale carbohydrate
      oxidase due to potential enzymes application for lactose oxidation.

PMID- 20936375
TI  - Selection for male-enforced uniparental cytoplasmic inheritance.
AB  - In most sexually reproducing species, including humans, mitochondria and other
      cytoplasmic elements are uniparentally (usually maternally) inherited. This
      phenomenon is of broad interest as a mechanism for countering the proliferation
      of selfish mitochondria. Uniparental inheritance can be enforced either by the
      female gametes excluding male cytoplasm or male gametes excluding their own from
      the zygote. Previous studies have shown that male-enforced uniparental
      inheritance is unlikely to evolve as a primary mechanism, because unlike female
      enforcement, the positive linkage disequilibrium between the modifier for
      eliminating the gamete's own mitochondria and a wild-type mitochondrial
      complement is broken from one generation to the next. However, it has been
      proposed that with a sufficiently high mutation rate and strong selection,
      elimination of the gamete's own mitochondria could be favored by selection. In
      this article, a series of numerical simulations confirm that this is indeed the
      case, although the conditions where male enforcement is favored are quite
      restrictive. Specifically, in addition to a high mutation rate to selfish
      mitochondria and strong selection against them, the cost of uniparental
      inheritance must be negligible.

PMID- 20936376
TI  - Impressive efficacy of sorafenib in a patient with an hepatocellular carcinoma
      and a portal vein thrombosis associated with a metastatic ENT cancer.
AB  - Sorafenib, a new antiangiogenic and antiproliferative agent, is currently used
      for hepatocellular and renal cell carcinoma. We report here the case of a patient
      with two cancers, a locally advanced cancer of the piriform sinus and a
      hepatocellular carcinoma, who was given sorafenib. Tumor response of both cancers
      might suggest that sorafenib could be effective against head and neck cancer.

PMID- 20936377
TI  - Decreased expression of p39 is associated with a poor prognosis in human
      hepatocellular carcinoma.
AB  - The aims of this study are to investigate the relationship between p39 expression
      and clinicopathological parameters of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and to
      evaluate the prognostic value of p39 for HCC patients. Real-time quantitative PCR
      and immunohistochemistry was used to measure p39 expression in tumor and adjacent
      nontumor samples. Relationships of p39 expression with clinical parameters and
      patient survival were analyzed. Real-time quantitative RT-PCR showed that the
      quantity of p39 mRNA in cancerous tissue was significantly lower than that in
      nontumor tissue (P < 0.001). Immunohistochemistry data confirmed that p39 protein
      was reduced in 64% of HCC. p39 expression was not influenced by chronic alcohol
      exposure or cirrhosis. Reduction in p39 was correlated with the HBV (P = 0.039),
      HCV (P = 0.011), and histological grade (P < 0.001). HCC patients with lower p39
      expression had poorer overall survival rate than that with high expression (HR,
      2.868; 95% CI, 1.451-5.670; P = 0.002). Together with other results, these
      results reveal that p39 expression was reduced in HCC tissue. p39 could be a
      useful clinical prognostic marker for hepatocellular carcinoma patients.

PMID- 20936378
TI  - Squamous cell carcinoma of the renal pelvis associated with kidney stones: a case
      report.
AB  - A 70-year-old female with a long-standing history of kidney calculi presented
      with vague abdominal pain. Work-up included a CT and MRI of the kidneys. A mass
      was demonstrated in the superior pole of the left kidney. The mass was biopsied
      percutaneously under CT guidance. Pathology revealed a poorly differentiated
      carcinoma, but was inconclusive for a definitive cell type. The patient
      subsequently underwent a nephrectomy that revealed squamous cell carcinoma of the
      renal collecting system. She had an uneventful postoperative recovery. Chronic
      renal calculi pose a risk for the development of squamous metaplasia that may
      lead to squamous cell carcinoma. Although this malignancy is rare in the upper
      urinary tracts, patients with long-standing nephrolithiasis should be monitored.
      This diagnosis should be included in one's differential when evaluating a renal
      mass that is associated with chronic inflammatory conditions.

PMID- 20936379
TI  - CNS neoplasm: a missed diagnosis.

PMID- 20936380
TI  - Nosocomial infections and multidrug-resistant bacterial organisms in the
      pediatric intensive care unit.
AB  - Nosocomial infections in Pediatric Intensive Care Units (PICUs) caused by
      multidrug-resistant bacterial organisms are increasing. This review attempts to
      report on significant findings in the current literature related to nosocomial
      infections in PICU settings with an international perspective. The types of
      nosocomial infections are addressed, including catheter-related bloodstream
      infections, ventilator-associated pneumonia, urinary tract infections,
      gastrointestinal infections and post-surgical wound infections. A review of
      emerging resistant bacterial pathogens includes methicillin-resistant
      Staphylococcus aureus, vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus sp., Clostridium
      difficile, extended-spectrum beta-lactamase producing Gram-negative organisms,
      Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase-producing strains and multi-drug resistant
      Acinetobacter baumannii. Basic and enhanced infection control methods for the
      management and control of multidrug-resistant organisms are also summarized with
      an emphasis on prevention.

PMID- 20936381
TI  - Infantile acute lymphoblastic leukemia and nephromegaly.

PMID- 20936382
TI  - Cervical facet arthropathy and occipital neuralgia: headache culprits.
AB  - Cervicogenic headache (CH) is pain referred from the neck. Two common causes are
      cervical facet arthropathy and occipital neuralgia. Clinical diagnosis is
      difficult because of the overlying features between primary headaches such as
      migraine, tension-type headache, and CH. Interventional pain physicians have
      focused on supporting the clinical diagnosis of CH with confirmatory blocks. The
      treatment of cervical facet arthropathy as the source of CH is best approached
      with a multidimensional plan focusing on physical therapy and/or manual therapy.
      The effective management of occipital neuralgia remains challenging, but both
      injections and neuromodulation are promising options.

PMID- 20936383
TI  - Resonance assignments of GTPase effector domain of dynamin in the aprotic solvent
      deuterated dimethyl sulfoxide.
AB  - The GTPase effector domain (GED) is a subunit of dynamin, a multi-domain protein
      involved in endocytosis. GED forms a megadalton-sized self-assembly in vitro. The
      core of such huge assemblies is inaccessible to detailed Nuclear Magnetic
      Resonance characterization by conventional methods due to line broadening
      effects. Till date, there have been no studies to directly identify the residues
      involved in the core of the assembly. In this background we report here the NMR
      resonance assignments of deuterated dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO-d6)-denatured GED
      from Homo sapiens. This will form the basis for probing the core of GED assembly
      and characterization of the association pathway driven by DMSO dilution.

PMID- 20936384
TI  - Successful salvage treatment of blastic natural killer cell lymphoma with
      methotrexate.
AB  - A 69-year-old man with blastic natural killer cell lymphoma (BNKL) was treated
      mainly with methotrexate (MTX). He presented with skin and bone marrow
      involvement at onset. Neoplastic cells were blastic in appearance with CD3-, CD4
      , CD8-, CD7-, CD16-, CD56+ and HLA-DR+ phenotype. Molecular studies showed
      germline configuration of both immunoglobulin H and T cell receptor genes, and
      negative results for Epstein-Barr virus-encoded small RNA (EBER). He was treated
      with standard acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) induction therapy, followed by 1
      cycle of high-dose MTX (HD-MTX) as consolidation therapy. However, BNKL relapsed
      during standard ALL maintenance therapy. Three cycles of HD-MTX were effective in
      achieving a second complete remission and then he received low dose MTX as
      maintenance therapy. BNKL remained well controlled for 4 years. Chemotherapeutic
      toxicity was mild and manageable. Since BNKL reportedly has a poor prognosis,
      this encouraging result warrants further investigation of MTX as either a single
      agent or in a combination regimen as a first-line treatment for patients with
      BNKL.

PMID- 20936385
TI  - A periacetabular osteotomy for the treatment of severe dysplastic hips.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We believe a curved periacetabular osteotomy is indicated for
      treatment of severe dysplastic hips with center-edge angles less than 0 degrees ,
      classified as Severin Group IV-b. However, the lower limit of the center-edge
      angle in hips classified as Severin Group IV-b is not clearly defined to
      determine which patients should receive periacetabular osteotomy alone.
      QUESTIONS/PURPOSES: We retrospectively compared the results of curved
      periacetabular osteotomies performed for the treatment of severe (Severin Group
      IV-b: center-edge angle < 0 degrees ) and moderate (Severin Groups III and IV-a:
      center-edge angle >= 0 degrees ) dysplastic hips. We investigated the lower limit
      of the center-edge angle, which was corrected by a curved periacetabular
      osteotomy alone in Severin Group IV-b hips. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We divided 191
      hips in 163 patients into moderate (147 hips) and severe (44 hips) dysplastic hip
      groups. Minimum followup was 2 years (mean, 70.9 and 70.6 months, respectively).
      Clinical evaluations were performed using the Harris hip score. Radiographic
      measurements included the center-edge angle, acetabular head index, acetabular
      roof obliquity, and head lateralization index. Complications were compared
      between the two groups. RESULTS: All clinical and radiographic postoperative
      parameters showed satisfactory improvement over the preoperative parameters in
      both groups. The postoperative acetabular roof obliquity and head lateralization
      index were equivalent between the two groups. Eleven hips deteriorated to end
      stage osteoarthritis. No complications were specifically associated with the
      severe dysplastic hips. CONCLUSIONS: Curved periacetabular osteotomy alone for
      treatment of severe dysplastic hips with preoperative center-edge angles as low
      as -20 degrees  and classified as Severin Group IV-b restored weightbearing area
      and medialization.

PMID- 20936386
TI  - The Otto Aufranc Award: enhanced biocompatibility of stainless steel implants by
      titanium coating and microarc oxidation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Stainless steel is one of the most widely used biomaterials for
      internal fixation devices, but is not used in cementless arthroplasty implants
      because a stable oxide layer essential for biocompatibility cannot be formed on
      the surface. We applied a Ti electron beam coating, to form oxide layer on the
      stainless steel surface. To form a thicker oxide layer, we used a microarc
      oxidation process on the surface of Ti coated stainless steel. Modification of
      the surface using Ti electron beam coating and microarc oxidation could improve
      the ability of stainless steel implants to osseointegrate. QUESTIONS/PURPOSES:
      The ability of cells to adhere to grit-blasted, titanium-coated, microarc
      oxidated stainless steel in vitro was compared with that of two different types
      of surface modifications, machined and titanium-coated, and microarc-oxidated.
      METHODS: We performed energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy and scanning electron
      microscopy investigations to assess the chemical composition and structure of the
      stainless steel surfaces and cell morphology. The biologic responses of an
      osteoblastlike cell line (SaOS-2) were examined by measuring proliferation (cell
      proliferation assay), differentiation (alkaline phosphatase activity), and
      attraction ability (cell migration assay). RESULTS: Cell proliferation, alkaline
      phosphatase activity, migration, and adhesion were increased in the grit-blasted,
      titanium-coated, microarc-oxidated group compared to the two other groups.
      Osteoblastlike cells on the grit-blasted, titanium-coated, microarc-oxidated
      surface were strongly adhered, and proliferated well compared to those on the
      other surfaces. CONCLUSIONS: The surface modifications we used (grit blasting,
      titanium coating, microarc oxidation) enhanced the biocompatibility
      (proliferation and migration of osteoblastlike cells) of stainless steel.
      CLINICAL RELEVANCE: This process is not unique to stainless steel; it can be
      applied to many metals to improve their biocompatibility, thus allowing a broad
      range of materials to be used for cementless implants.

PMID- 20936387
TI  - The anatomy of the supraclavicular nerve during surgical approach to the
      clavicular shaft.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Surgery for clavicular shaft fractures is becoming more common but
      incisional and chest wall numbness reportedly occurs in 10% to 29% of patients.
      This may be the result of iatrogenic injury to the supraclavicular nerve
      branches. QUESTIONS/PURPOSES: We determined if there was a predictable branching
      pattern of the supraclavicular nerve at the anterior clavicular border and
      determined the distances to these nerves from clavicular landmarks. METHODS: We
      performed an anatomic dissection along the anterior border of the long axis of
      the clavicle in 37 cadavers. The branches of the supraclavicular nerve were
      identified at the anterosuperior clavicular border and the distances from these
      nerves to palpable bony landmarks were measured. RESULTS: Ninety-seven percent of
      specimens had a medial and a lateral branch of the supraclavicular nerve. Nearly
      half (49%) possessed an additional intermediate branch. No branch was found
      within 2.7 cm of the sternoclavicular joint or within 1.9 cm of the
      acromioclavicular joint. Between these two positions, there was wide variability
      in nerve branch location. CONCLUSIONS: There were two or three branches of the
      supraclavicular nerve crossing the clavicle 97% of the time and a wide
      variability of the location of these branches outside the safe zones. CLINICAL
      RELEVANCE: There are safe zones within 2.7 cm of the sternoclavicular joint and
      1.9 cm of the acromioclavicular joint. Between these safe zones, the location of
      the nerve branches is variable and the surgeon must use meticulous dissection if
      he or she wishes to prevent transection.

PMID- 20936388
TI  - Avoiding short-term femoral neck fracture with imageless computer navigation for
      hip resurfacing.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Femoral neck fracture in hip resurfacing has been attributed to
      technical error during femoral head preparation. In the absence of fracture,
      several radiographic findings have been speculated to increase the risk of
      femoral component failure. QUESTIONS/PURPOSES: We examined whether (1) the use of
      navigation to reduce technical errors during femoral head preparation reduces the
      incidence of femoral neck fractures in the short-term followup period; and (2)
      alignment of the femoral component with the use of computer navigation reduces
      the incidence of femoral neck thinning, femoral stem radiolucencies, and stem
      migration. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the first 100 Birmingham Hip
      Resurfacings performed in 94 prospectively followed patients between October 2005
      and November 2007. We examined all radiographs on last followup. Eighty-six
      patients of the 94 patients had a minimum followup of 2 years (mean, 2.5 years;
      range, 2-4.1 years). RESULTS: There were no cases of femoral neck notching, varus
      femoral component alignment, or femoral neck fractures in the series. Neck
      thinning of greater than 10% was observed in three patients and perimetaphyseal
      stem lucencies were noted in 10 patients. In three patients, the metaphyseal stem
      showed varus migration relative to the postoperative stem-shaft angle at latest
      followup. There was one revision to a total hip arthroplasty for deep sepsis. The
      overall survivorship at 4 years was 99%. CONCLUSIONS: The use of imageless
      computer navigation to reduce technical errors in hip resurfacing may reduce the
      incidence of femoral neck fracture in the short-term. However, neck thinning,
      stem radiolucencies, and stem migration remain radiographic sequelae of hip
      resurfacing despite the use of navigation for placement of the femoral component.

PMID- 20936389
TI  - Identifying evidence-based competences required to deliver behavioural support
      for smoking cessation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: No systematic basis has yet been published for specifying competences
      needed to underpin behavioural support for smoking cessation. PURPOSE: The
      purpose of this study was to develop and apply a system for identifying
      competences required for the delivery of individual and group-based behavioural
      support for smoking cessation. METHODS: Sets of recommended competences for
      behavioural support were identified from a range of guidance documents. Where
      possible, these were compared with ones based on behaviour change techniques
      identified within behavioural support programmes found to be effective in
      randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and, for individual behavioural support, ones
      associated with higher success rates in the English Stop Smoking Services.
      RESULTS: Ninety-four competences were identified (71 individual and 23 additional
      group competences), of which 59 were cited in at least two guidance documents (51
      and 8, respectively). Fourteen of the individual competences and three of the
      group competences were supported by RCT evidence and, for individual competences,
      nine were supported by evidence from the services. CONCLUSIONS: It is possible to
      identify competences recommended for behavioural support for smoking cessation
      and subsets supported by different types of evidence. This approach can form the
      basis for the development of assessment and training of stop smoking
      practitioners and is currently doing so in a national programme in England. With
      further research, the list of evidence-based competences is likely to be
      extended.

PMID- 20936390
TI  - Development and validation of the health competence beliefs inventory in young
      adults with and without a history of childhood cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Adolescent and young adult survivors of childhood cancer are a
      vulnerable population. Health beliefs may be related to necessary follow-up care.
      PURPOSE: This study seeks to develop a measure of health beliefs for adolescents
      and young adults with and without a history of cancer. METHODS: Inductive and
      deductive methods and focus groups were used to develop the Health Competence
      Beliefs Inventory. Cancer survivors (n = 138) and comparison participants (n =
      130) completed the Health Competence Beliefs Inventory and other measures.
      Healthcare providers reported current medical problems. RESULTS: A series of
      iterative exploratory factor analyses generated a 21-item four-factor solution:
      (1) Health Perceptions; (2) Satisfaction with Healthcare; (3) Cognitive
      Competence; and (4) Autonomy. Survivors reported significantly different Health
      Competence Beliefs Inventory scale scores than comparisons (p < .05). The Health
      Competence Beliefs Inventory was associated with beliefs, affect, quality of
      life, posttraumatic stress symptoms, and medical problems. CONCLUSIONS: The
      Health Competence Beliefs Inventory is a promising measure of adolescent and
      young adult perceptions of health and well-being.

PMID- 20936391
TI  - Acute compartment syndrome of the forearm caused by calcific tendinitis of the
      distal biceps.
AB  - Acute compartment syndrome of the forearm requires immediate treatment to avoid
      damage of the soft tissues and a poor functional outcome for the forearm.
      Muscular and bone lesions are the main causes of acute compartment syndromes. We
      report a case of acute compartment syndrome of the forearm caused by a calcific
      tendinitis of the distal biceps.

PMID- 20936394
TI  - Validity of leg-to-leg bioelectrical impedance analysis to estimate body fat in
      obesity.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) is a safe and easy method of
      assessing body composition. Its accuracy to predict fat mass (FM) in obesity and
      the change in FM following weight loss is questioned. Our objective was to
      compare leg-to-leg BIA to dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) in the
      assessment of FM in a large population, the changes in FM after Roux-en-Y gastric
      bypass (RYGB) and to estimate between-method differences (bias) and limits of
      agreement. METHODS: BIA (Tanita BC-420MA) and DXA (Hologic Discovery W) were used
      in 5,740 consecutive patients (mean BMI, 37.7 +/- 8.2 kg/m(2)) examined in a
      clinical nutrition department and in 72 women undergoing RYGB (BMI, 47.2 +/- 7.2
      kg/m(2)). Analyses included correlations between methods and Bland Altman
      analysis. RESULTS: In the entire population, BIA significantly overestimated FM
      in comparison with DXA (1.1 +/- 6.1 kg, 0.8 +/- 5.6%). FM estimates by each
      method were significantly correlated in absolute value (kg; r(2) = 0.9 in the
      whole population), and in percentage (r(2) = 0.6). However, wide limits of
      agreement were observed. In surgery patients, BIA significantly overestimated FM
      both before and 12 months after bypass. BIA significantly overestimated changes
      in FM after RYGB at 3 months (2.9 +/- 5.0 kg) and at 12 months (1.9 +/- 3.9 kg)
      but not at 6 months (0.9 +/- 5.0 kg; p = 0.08). Estimates of changes in FM by
      each method were significantly correlated (r (2) = 0.4, 0.6, and 0.9,
      respectively). CONCLUSION: According to the wide limits of agreement, BIA seems
      more interesting for epidemiological rather than individual use to evaluate body
      FM and FM changes in obese women undergoing RYGB.

PMID- 20936395
TI  - [Plausibility of the therapy concept].

PMID- 20936392
TI  - A single session of intense exercise improves the inflammatory response in
      healthy sedentary women.
AB  - Physical activity has a great capacity for modulating the immune system,
      including the inflammatory response. However, the effects of exercise on the
      inflammatory response have rarely been studied in women, even though women are
      more susceptible than men to chronic inflammatory diseases. The aim of this study
      was to ascertain the effect of single sessions of exercise on the inflammatory
      response of sedentary women, evaluating neutrophil function and circulating
      concentrations of inflammatory cytokines. Exercise consisted of one session of
      cycling (1 h at ~70% of VO2 max) on a cycle ergometer. Blood samples were taken
      in the basal state and immediately after the exercise session. Neutrophil
      function was studied on isolated cells by evaluating their phagocytic capacity
      against latex beads and their oxygen-dependent microbicidal capacity as reflected
      in the superoxide anion (O2-) production. Circulating inflammatory cytokines were
      determined using a novel antibody-based protein micro-array method. The
      circulating concentration of IL-8 (a stimulatory cytokine for neutrophils) was
      also determined by ELISA. Exercise increased the phagocytic and the oxygen
      dependent microbicidal capacities of neutrophils in the sedentary women. No
      variations were found in IL-2, IL-3, IL-5, IL-6, IL-7, IL-8, IL-10, IL-13, IFN
      gamma, TNF-alpha and -beta, TGF-beta, MCP-2 and -3, MIG, G-CSF, and GM-CSF.
      However, while the circulating concentrations of GRO and MCP-1 increased after
      exercise, there was a decrease in that of RANTES, a pro-inflammatory cytokine.
      Exercise improves neutrophil function, possibly mediated, at least partially, by
      GRO (a potent neutrophil activator) but not by IL-8. This stimulation of
      neutrophil function does not seem to be accompanied by any harmful systemic
      inflammatory response since no changes in the main pro-inflammatory cytokines
      were observed, and there was a decrease in RANTES.

PMID- 20936398
TI  - Abstracts of Laser Florence 2010, 24th International Congress of Laser Medicine.
      November 5-6, 2010. Florence, Italy.

PMID- 20936396
TI  - [Adipose tissue in dermatology and aesthetics].

PMID- 20936399
TI  - Skeletal fluorosis due to excessive tea and toothpaste consumption.
AB  - We describe the case of a 53-year-old woman who presented with a metatarsal
      fracture and was found to have a bone mineral density (BMD) T-score of +11 in the
      lumbar spine and +7.6 in the hip. Subsequent investigation revealed very high
      serum, urine and tissue fluoride levels, associated with excessive tea and
      toothpaste consumption. The case emphasises the need to exclude fluorosis in
      individuals with unexpectedly high BMD levels.

PMID- 20936400
TI  - C-reactive protein predicts incident fracture in community-dwelling elderly
      Japanese women: the Muramatsu study.
AB  - SUMMARY: In a 6-year cohort study of 751 community-dwelling elderly Japanese
      women, we found that C-reactive protein (CRP) is a significant predictor of
      osteoporotic fracture in elderly Asian women, who have significantly lower CRP
      levels than Caucasians. Mechanisms explaining such an association should be
      further studied. INTRODUCTION: While CRP, a systemic inflammation marker, is
      thought to be associated with osteoporosis, evidence supporting this claim has
      been limited. We aimed to assess the association between CRP levels and incident
      osteoporotic fracture in elderly women. METHODS: We conducted a cohort study with
      a follow-up period of 6 years. The study included 751 Japanese women aged 69
      years or older. We measured serum high-sensitivity CRP (hs-CRP) levels as a major
      predictor. Covariates included age, body mass index, forearm bone mineral
      density, calcium intake, serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D, postural sway, osteoporosis
      medication, and physical activity. The primary outcome was incident limb and
      vertebral fractures. The Cox proportional hazards model was used to calculate the
      hazard ratio (HR) of fracture. RESULTS: Median hs-CRP values in study
      participants were 0.16 mg/L in the lowest tertile, 0.36 mg/L in the medium
      tertile, and 1.14 mg/L in the highest tertile. The hs-CRP values in these women
      were substantially lower than in their Caucasian counterparts. Limb or vertebral
      fractures occurred in 50 subjects during 4,250 person-years. Low CRP levels were
      associated with low incidence of limb or vertebral fractures (P for trend =
      0.035). The adjusted HRs of fracture for the medium and highest quartiles of hs
      CRP levels, compared to the lowest quartile, were 2.22 (95% CI, 1.02-4.84) and
      2.40 (95% CI, 1.10-5.24), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: CRP is a significant
      predictor of osteoporotic fracture in elderly Asian women who have substantially
      lower CRP levels than Caucasians. Mechanisms explaining such an association
      should be further studied.

PMID- 20936401
TI  - Cost-effectiveness of Denosumab for the treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis.
AB  - Denosumab is an injectable drug that reduces the risk of fractures. The objective
      was to estimate the cost-effectiveness of denosumab in a Swedish setting, also
      accounting for poor adherence to treatment. Denosumab is cost-effective,
      particularly for patients at high risk of fracture and low adherence to oral
      treatments. INTRODUCTION: Denosumab is a novel biologic agent developed for the
      treatment of osteoporosis and osteoporotic fractures that has been shown to
      reduce the risk of fractures in a phase III trial. The objective of this study
      was to estimate the cost-effectiveness of denosumab from a societal perspective
      compared with generic alendronate, branded risedronate, strontium ranelate, and
      no treatment in a Swedish setting. METHODS: A Markov cohort model was used to
      estimate the cost-effectiveness of denosumab given for up to 5 years to a typical
      Swedish patient population (women aged 71 years, T-score <= -2.5 SD and a
      prevalence of morphometric vertebral fractures of 34%). The model included
      treatment persistence and residual effect after discontinuation assumed to be
      equal to the time on treatment. Persistence with the comparator treatments and
      with denosumab was derived from prescription data and a persistence study,
      respectively. RESULTS: The base-case incremental cost-effectiveness ratios were
      estimated at ?27,000, ?12,000, ?5,000, and ?14,000, for denosumab compared with
      generic alendronate, risedronate, strontium ranelate, and no treatment,
      respectively. Sub-optimal persistence had the greatest impact in the comparison
      with generic alendronate, where the difference in drug cost was large.
      CONCLUSION: Improving persistence with osteoporosis treatment impacts positively
      on cost-effectiveness with a larger number of fractures avoided in the population
      targeted for treatment. Denosumab is a cost-effective alternative to oral
      osteoporosis treatments, particularly for patients at high risk of fracture and
      low expected adherence to oral treatments.

PMID- 20936402
TI  - Skeletal health in men with chronic lung disease: rates of testing, treatment,
      and fractures.
AB  - To advance our understanding of the burden of fractures among men, we studied a
      group of men at high risk for low bone strength due to lung disease. We found
      high rates of fractures but low rates of bone density testing that could predict
      fracture before it occurs. INTRODUCTION: To advance understanding of the burden
      of fragility fractures and attention to bone health among men with chronic
      obstructive lung disease (COPD), we quantified rates of fragility fracture, bone
      density testing, and anti-resorptive treatment and calculated the number needed
      to screen (NNS) to prevent one hip fracture in a cohort of men with COPD.
      METHODS: Veterans Administration (VA) and VA-Medicare administrative data
      permitted a retrospective cohort study of 87,360 men aged 50 and older, newly
      diagnosed with COPD between 1999 and 2003. Logistic regression models including
      patient characteristics, morbidities, and medication use assessed the effect of
      covariates on fracture and probability of testing or treatment. RESULTS: Mean age
      was 66.8. Hip and wrist fracture rates were 3.99 and 1.31 per 1,000 person years,
      respectively. Mean follow-up was 2.67 years; 4.4% underwent bone densitometry;
      2.8% filled anti-resorptive prescriptions. Age, white race/ethnicity, more COPD
      exacerbations, barbiturate use, and anti-Parkinson's drug use were significantly
      associated with fracture. Age, and systemic corticosteroids were most
      significantly associated with testing or treatment. Based on published adherence
      and treatment effects, the cohort's calculated NNS to prevent one hip fracture is
      432. CONCLUSIONS: Fracture rate was high and testing and treatment uncommon. The
      NNS of 432 to prevent one hip fracture is smaller than 731, the NNS for women
      aged 65-69 for whom universal screening is recommended. Attention to the bone
      health of this population is warranted. Future research must determine how
      testing and treatment impact overall quality of life and mortality of men with
      COPD.

PMID- 20936403
TI  - Osteoporosis in men: the value of laboratory testing.
AB  - Evaluation of 234 men referred for osteoporosis found many with undiagnosed
      secondary causes and multiple unrecognized risk factors. INTRODUCTION: Studies in
      women with postmenopausal osteoporosis suggest that many have unrecognized
      disorders affecting bone. Men are considered more likely to have underlying,
      possibly correctable causes. We studied the prevalence of risk factors, secondary
      causes, and laboratory abnormalities in men with and without previously known
      causes for osteoporosis. METHODS: We reviewed the charts of 234 men with
      osteoporosis diagnosed by bone mineral density testing. In addition to screening
      chemistries, 25-hydroxyvitamin D, testosterone, luteinizing hormone, follicle
      stimulating hormone, thyroid-stimulating hormone, and spot urinary calcium-to
      creatinine ratio were measured. RESULTS: The mean age was 70.6 years and mean
      weight was 76.4 kg. The mean T-score for spine, femoral neck, and forearm was 
      2.2, -2.4, and -2.3, respectively. Evaluation revealed secondary osteoporosis in
      75% overall including hypogonadism, vitamin D deficiency, hypercalciuria,
      subclinical hyperthyroidism, and hyperparathyroidism. In those men with known
      secondary osteoporosis at the time of dual energy X-ray absorptiometry testing,
      additional diagnoses were found in just over half. Vitamin D deficiency and
      insufficiency were very common, and other common risk factors for osteoporosis
      included age >65, current smoking, and prior fracture. Half of the subjects had
      >= 4 risk factors. CONCLUSION: Evaluation revealed a specific cause in about half
      of men thought to have primary osteoporosis. Among men with known secondary
      osteoporosis, additional risk factors and secondary causes were frequently
      identified. In conclusion, a relatively modest evaluation of men with
      osteoporosis will often provide useful information.

PMID- 20936404
TI  - Simple isotopic method using oral stable or radioactive tracers for estimating
      fractional calcium absorption in adult women.
AB  - We extended a simple oral method for estimating fractional calcium absorption
      determined by double isotopic methods using radioactive or stable isotope across
      wide age of adult women. Fractional calcium absorption can be estimated by using
      either a radioactive or stable oral isotope across the entire age spectrum of
      adult women. INTRODUCTION: A method for estimating fractional calcium absorption
      using a single serum collection following a single oral radioactive isotopic
      tracer has been validated against a classical double isotopic tracer ratio method
      in adults. Our goal was to extend this simplified method to include use of stable
      isotopes and a broad age range. METHODS: We used our database of 56 observations
      from 26 white adult women aged 19-67 years receiving either radioactive or stable
      isotopes. Reference values for fractional calcium absorption were determined from
      24-h double isotopic ratios in serum and urine and from full kinetic modeling.
      RESULTS: Equations for estimating fractional calcium absorption were developed
      from isotopic enrichment in serum and urine from an oral tracer and measures of
      body size using the multiple linear regression analysis. Equations using a 4- to
      6-h sample following an oral dose of either a stable or radioactive isotope
      corrected for body size were highly correlated with the reference values for
      fractional calcium absorption across different aged populations (r > 0.8, p <
      0.001). CONCLUSION: Fractional calcium absorption can be estimated by a single
      oral tracer method using either radioactive or stable calcium isotopes across the
      entire age spectrum in healthy white adult women.

PMID- 20936405
TI  - Effects of 2E,4E-decadienal on motility and aggregation of diatoms and on biofilm
      formation.
AB  - Phototrophic biofilm formation and dynamics result from the interaction between
      several parameters, including chemical interactions. Some of the secondary
      metabolites released by microalgae can influence the composition of benthic
      communities. We determined the effects of decadienal (DD), a polyunsaturated
      aldehyde produced by diatoms, on a benthic diatom, Fistulifera saprophila. At 5
      MUg ml(-1), DD reduced cell motility by 88% and cell adhesion to the substrate by
      91%. The effects occurred in less than 30 min. Using a fluorescent probe, we
      showed that DD could induce nitric oxide (NO) accumulation in F. saprophila
      cells. Cells exposed to a NO donor presented reduced adhesion and motility, which
      suggests the involvement of this cellular messenger in the mode of action of DD.
      Short-term experiments in microcosms showed that the presence of DD on a
      substrate strongly inhibited biofilm formation. Moreover, when the biofilm was
      bispecific, DD modified the proportion of the two species present. This indicates
      that the presence of DD-producing diatoms in a biofilm may favor the presence of
      certain microalgae at the expense of others. In addition to the effects on
      adhesion and motility, DD induced the formation of aggregates of F. saprophila
      cells. Aggregation was independent of NO production. Complementary experiments
      were performed with two other benthic diatoms, Nitzschia palea and Mayamea
      atomus. They showed that the effects of DD on adhesion and aggregation were
      species-dependent.

PMID- 20936406
TI  - Distribution of high bacterial taxa across the chronosequence of two alpine
      glacier forelands.
AB  - Little is known about the changes in abundance of microbial taxa in relation to
      the chronosequence of receding glaciers. This study investigated how the
      abundances of ten bacterial phyla or classes varied along successional gradients
      in two glaciers, Odenwinkelkees and Rotmoosferner, in the central Alps.
      Quantitative PCR was used to estimate the abundance of the different bacterial
      taxa in extended glacier chronosequences, including 10- to 160-year-old
      successional stages, the surface of the glacier, and a fully established soil.
      Actinobacteria (15-30%) was the dominant group within the chronosequences.
      Several taxa showed significant differences in the number of taxa-specific 16S
      rRNA gene copies per nanogram of DNA and/or in the ratio of taxa-specific to the
      total bacterial 16S rRNA gene copies (i.e., the relative abundance of the
      different taxa within the bacterial community) between the established soils or
      the glacier surface and the 10- to 160-year-old successional stages. A
      significantly higher proportion of Betaetaproteobacteria (20%) was observed on
      the surface of both glaciers. However, no differences were observed between the
      10- to 160-year-old successional stages in the number of taxa-specific 16S rRNA
      gene copies per nanogram of DNA or in the ratio of taxa-specific to the total
      bacterial 16S rRNA gene copies for the different taxa. Nevertheless, when the
      relative abundance data from all the studied taxa were combined and analyzed
      altogether, most of the sites could be distinguished from one other. This
      indicates that the overall composition of the bacterial community was more
      affected than the abundance of the targeted taxa by changes in environmental
      conditions along the chronosequences.

PMID- 20936408
TI  - Pathophysiologic correlates of 82Rb biodistribution in cardiac PET/CT.
AB  - PURPOSE: PET perfusion imaging with (82)Rb is a powerful tool for evaluating
      coronary artery disease (CAD). Little is known about normal patterns or
      significance of (82)Rb lung distribution in the setting of heart disease. Herein,
      PET/CT hybrid imaging was used to obtain insights into the frequency and
      potential radiomorphologic correlates of altered (82)Rb distribution. METHODS:
      Myocardial perfusion PET/CT studies of 58 patients referred for workup of CAD
      were analyzed [28 normal and 30 patients with low left ventricular ejection
      fraction (LVEF)]. Organ regions of interest were placed on PET images, and (82)Rb
      uptake was measured and compared under resting and stress conditions. RESULTS:
      Qualitatively increased lung uptake was observed in 13 patients-5 with normal
      LVEF(R) and 8 with reduced LVEF(R); 12 of 13 had lung infiltrates/atelectasis on
      CT. Lung to heart ratios in the normal and low EF groups were (mean +/- SD) 0.168
      +/- 0.047 and 0.171 +/- 0.075 at rest, and 0.128 +/- 0.035 and 0.147 +/- 0.067
      during stress (p = 0.87 and 0.18, respectively). Lung to liver ratios were not
      significantly different between the two groups under stress or rest conditions.
      CONCLUSION: Increased lung uptake of (82)Rb occurs in a subset of patients
      referred for workup of CAD by PET/CT and may be influenced by primary parenchymal
      abnormalities and LV dysfunction. Thus, the relevance of pulmonary (82)Rb uptake
      as a marker of cardiac outcome may be limited. Larger studies are needed to
      determine how non-cardiac (82)Rb uptake and CT findings may be integrated to
      increase the diagnostic and prognostic value of cardiac PET/CT.

PMID- 20936407
TI  - Two-compartment model of radioimmunotherapy delivered through cerebrospinal
      fluid.
AB  - PURPOSE: Radioimmunotherapy (RIT) using (131)I-3F8 injected into cerebrospinal
      fluid (CSF) was a safe modality for the treatment of leptomeningeal metastases
      (JCO, 25:5465, 2007). A single-compartment pharmacokinetic model described
      previously (JNM 50:1324, 2009) showed good fitting to the CSF radioactivity data
      obtained from patients. We now describe a two-compartment model to account for
      the ventricular reservoir of (131)I-3F8 and to identify limiting factors that may
      impact therapeutic ratio. METHODS: Each parameter was examined for its effects on
      (1) the area under the radioactivity concentration curve of the bound antibody
      (AUC[C(IAR)]), (2) that of the unbound antibody AUC[C(IA)], and (3) their
      therapeutic ratio (AUC[C(IAR)]/AUC[C(IA)]). RESULTS: Data fitting showed that CSF
      kBq/ml data fitted well using the two-compartment model (R = 0.95 +/- 0.03).
      Correlations were substantially better when compared to the one-compartment model
      (R = 0.92 +/- 0.11 versus 0.77 +/- 0.21, p = 0.005). In addition, we made the
      following new predictions: (1) Increasing immunoreactivity of (131)I-3F8 from 10%
      to 90% increased both (AUC[C(IAR)]) and therapeutic ratio
      ([AUC[C(IAR)]/AUC[C(IA)]] by 7.4 fold, (2) When extrapolated to the clinical
      setting, the model predicted that if (131)I-3F8 could be split into 4 doses of
      1.4 mg each and given at >=24 hours apart, an antibody affinity of K(D) of 4 *
      10(-9) at 50% immunoreactivity were adequate in order to deliver >=100 Gy to
      tumor cells while keeping normal CSF exposure to <10 Gy. CONCLUSIONS: This model
      predicted that immunoreactivity, affinity and optimal scheduling of antibody
      injections were crucial in improving therapeutic index.

PMID- 20936409
TI  - Interventricular delay measurement using equilibrium radionuclide angiography
      before resynchronization therapy should be performed outside the area of
      segmental wall motion abnormalities.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to demonstrate that only mechanical
      dyssynchrony outside the area of segmental wall motion abnormalities (WMA) can be
      reduced by cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT). METHODS AND RESULTS: Included
      in the study were 28 consecutive patients with nonischaemic cardiomyopathy
      selected for CRT. Equilibrium radionuclide angiography (ERNA) was carried out
      before and after implantation of a multisite pacemaker. Patients were separated
      into two groups depending on the presence or absence of segmental WMA. RESULTS: A
      reduction in QRS duration was observed in all patients after CRT. The
      interventricular delay (IVD) decreased significantly after CRT only in patients
      without WMA (homogeneous contraction, HG group; IVD 44 +/- 11.4 degrees  vs. 17
      +/- 3.1 degrees , p = 0.04). In contrast, no significant decrease was observed in
      patients with WMA (WMA group; IVD 51 +/- 6 degrees  vs. 38 +/- 6 degrees , p NS).
      However, when dyssynchrony was considered outside the WMA area, a significant
      reduction in IVD was obtained, in the same range as in the HG group (IVD 32 +/- 3
      degrees  vs. 19 +/- 3 degrees , p = 0.04). In 9 of 15 patients (60%) with a
      reduction in IVD after CRT, the left ventricle ejection fraction (LVEF) increased
      by about +10%. In contrast, in 13 of 13 patients (100%) with no reduction in IVD,
      no modification of LVEF was obtained. In the presence of segmental WMA without
      significant delays outside the WMA area, no reduction in IVD was observed and
      LVEF did not increase (IVD 34 +/- 5 degrees  before CRT vs. 37 +/- 7 degrees 
      after CRT; LVEF 19 +/- 4% before CRT vs. 22 +/- 3% after CRT, p NS). CONCLUSION:
      ERNA can be used to predict good mechanical resychronization (decrease in IVD) in
      patients after pacing. IVD has to be determined excluding the area of WMA in
      order to select patients who will show an increase in their left ventricle
      function after CRT.

PMID- 20936410
TI  - In vivo imaging of neuroinflammation in the rodent brain with [11C]SSR180575, a
      novel indoleacetamide radioligand of the translocator protein (18 kDa).
AB  - PURPOSE: Neuroinflammation is involved in neurological disorders through the
      activation of microglial cells. Imaging of neuroinflammation with radioligands
      for the translocator protein (18 kDa) (TSPO) could prove to be an attractive
      biomarker for disease diagnosis and therapeutic evaluation. The indoleacetamide
      derived 7-chloro-N,N,5-trimethyl-4-oxo-3-phenyl-3,5-dihydro-4H-pyridazino[4,5
      b]indole-1-acetamide, SSR180575, is a selective high-affinity TSPO ligand in
      human and rodents with neuroprotective effects. METHODS: Here we report the
      radiolabelling of SSR180575 with (11)C and in vitro and in vivo imaging in an
      acute model of neuroinflammation in rats. RESULTS: The image contrast and the
      binding of [(11)C]SSR180575 are higher than that obtained with the isoquinoline
      based TSPO radioligand, [(11)C]PK11195. Competition studies demonstrate that
      [(11)C]SSR180575 has high specific binding for the TSPO. CONCLUSION:
      [(11)C]SSR180575 is the first PET radioligand for the TSPO based on an
      indoleacetamide scaffold designed for imaging neuroinflammation in animal models
      and in the clinic.

PMID- 20936411
TI  - Can multimodality imaging using 18F-FDG/18F-FLT PET/CT benefit the diagnosis and
      management of patients with pulmonary lesions?
AB  - PURPOSE: Dual-tracer, (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose and (18)F-fluorodeoxythymidine
      ((18)F-FDG/(18)F-FLT), dual-modality (positron emission tomography and computed
      tomography, PET/CT) imaging was used in a clinical trial on differentiation of
      pulmonary nodules. The aims of this trial were to investigate if multimodality
      imaging is of advantage and to what extent it could benefit the patients in real
      clinical settings. METHODS: Seventy-three subjects in whom it was difficult to
      establish the diagnosis and determine management of their pulmonary lesions were
      prospectively enrolled in this clinical trial. All subjects underwent (18)F-FDG
      and (18)F-FLT PET/CT imaging sequentially. The images were interpreted with
      different strategies as either individual or combined modalities. The
      pathological or clinical evidence during a follow-up period of more than 22
      months served as the standard of truth. The diagnostic performance of each
      interpretation and their impact on clinical decision making was investigated.
      RESULTS: (18)F-FLT/(18)F-FDG PET/CT was proven to be of clinical value in
      improving the diagnostic confidence in 28 lung tumours, 18 tuberculoses and 27
      other benign lesions. The ratio between maximum standardized uptake values of
      (18)F-FLT and (18)F-FDG was found to be of great potential in separating the
      three subgroups of patients. The advantage could only be obtained with the full
      use of the multimodality interpretation. Multimodality imaging induced
      substantial change in clinical management in 31.5% of the study subjects and
      partial change in another 12.3%. CONCLUSION: Multimodality imaging using (18)F
      FDG/(18)F-FLT PET/CT provided the best diagnostic efficacy and the opportunity
      for better management in this group of clinically challenging patients with
      pulmonary lesions.

PMID- 20936412
TI  - Don't blame the bones!

PMID- 20936413
TI  - Diffusion weighted imaging in prostate cancer.
AB  - Diffusion-weighted imaging has generated substantial interest in the hope that it
      can be developed into a robust technique to improve the accuracy of MRI for the
      evaluation of prostate cancer. This technique has the advantages of short
      acquisition times, no need for intravenous administration of contrast medium, and
      the ability to study diffusion of water molecules that indirectly reflects tissue
      cellularity. In this article, we review the existing literature on the utility of
      DWI in tumour detection, localisation, treatment response, limitations of the
      technique, how it compares with other imaging techniques, technical
      considerations and future directions.

PMID- 20936416
TI  - Efficacy and safety of propranolol as first-line treatment for infantile
      hemangiomas.
AB  - Beta-blockers are a highly promising treatment modality for complicated infantile
      hemangiomas (IH). However, data on propranolol as first-line treatment, objective
      outcome measures and impact on hemodynamics in young infants is limited. We
      retrospectively evaluated a homogenous group of infants with proliferating
      complicated IH treated with propranolol (2 mg/kg/day). Outcome was assessed by
      blinded evaluation of clinical photographs by visual analogue scale (VAS),
      ultrasound examination and ophthalmological review (if appropriate). Tolerance
      and hemodynamic variables were recorded over time, including a 2-day in-patient
      observation at the initiation of therapy. Twenty-five infants (median age 3.6
      (1.5-9.1) months) were included in the study. The median follow-up-time was 14 (9
      20) months and 14 patients completed treatment at a median age of 14.3 (11.4
      22.1) months, after a duration of 10.5 (7.5-16) months. In all patients, there
      was significant fading of colour (with a VAS of -9 (-6 to -9) after 7 months) and
      significant decrease in size of the IH (with a VAS of -8 (-3 to -10) after 7
      months). Median thickness of the lesions assessed by ultrasound at baseline and
      after 1 month was 14 (7-28) mm and 10 (5-23) mm, respectively (p < 0.01). In
      children with periocular involvement, astigmatism and amblyopia resolved rapidly
      within 8 weeks. The overall tolerance of propranolol was good, and no relevant
      hemodynamic changes were noted. CONCLUSION: Our report supports the excellent
      effect and good tolerance of this novel therapy, and we propose the use of
      propranolol as first-line treatment for IH.

PMID- 20936417
TI  - The use of vitamin E for the prevention of chemotherapy-induced peripheral
      neuropathy: results of a randomized phase III clinical trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) continues to be a
      substantial problem for many cancer patients. Pursuant to promising appearing
      pilot data, the current study evaluated the use of vitamin E for the prevention
      of CIPN. METHODS: A phase III, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study
      was conducted in patients undergoing therapy with neurotoxic chemotherapy,
      utilizing twice daily dosing of vitamin E (400 mg)/placebo. The primary endpoint
      was the incidence of grade 2+ sensory neuropathy (SN) toxicity (CTCAE v 3.0) in
      each treatment arm, analyzed by chi-square testing. Planned sample size was 100
      patients per arm to provide 80% power to detect a difference in incidence of
      grade 2+ SN toxicity from 25% in the placebo group to 10% in the vitamin E group.
      RESULTS: Two-hundred seven patients were enrolled between December 1, 2006 and
      December 14, 2007, producing 189 evaluable cases for analysis. Cytotoxic agents
      included taxanes (109), cisplatin (8), carboplatin (2), oxaliplatin (50), or
      combination (20). There was no difference in the incidence of grade 2+ SN between
      the two arms (34%-vitamin E, 29%-placebo; P = 0.43). There were no significant
      differences between treatment arms for time to onset of neuropathy (P = 0.58),
      for chemotherapy dose reductions due to neuropathy (P = 0.21), or for secondary
      endpoints derived from patient-reported neuropathy symptom assessments. The
      treatment was well tolerated overall. CONCLUSIONS: Vitamin E did not appear to
      reduce the incidence of sensory neuropathy in the studied group of patients
      receiving neurotoxic chemotherapy.

PMID- 20936418
TI  - The pedunculopontine tegmental nucleus: from basic neuroscience to neurosurgical
      applications: arousal from slices to humans: implications for DBS.
AB  - One element of the reticular activating system (RAS) is the pedunculopontine
      nucleus (PPN), which projects to the thalamus to trigger thalamocortical rhythms
      and the brainstem to modulate muscle tone and locomotion. The PPN is a posterior
      midbrain site known to induce locomotion in decerebrate animals when activated at
      40-60 Hz, and has become a target for DBS in disorders involving gait deficits.
      We developed a research program using brainstem slices containing the PPN to
      study the cellular and molecular organization of this region. We showed that PPN
      neurons preferentially fire at gamma band frequency (30-60 Hz) when maximally
      activated, accounting for the effects of electrical stimulation. In addition, we
      developed the P13 midlatency auditory evoked potential, which is generated by PPN
      outputs, in freely moving rats. This allows the study of PPN cellular and
      molecular mechanisms in the whole animal. We also study the P50 midlatency
      auditory evoked potential, which is the human equivalent of the rodent P13
      potential, allowing us to study PPN-related processes detected in vitro,
      confirmed in the whole animal, and tested in humans. Previous findings on the P50
      potential in PD suggest that PPN output in this disorder is overactive. This
      translational research program led to the discovery of a novel mechanism of sleep
      wake control based on electrical coupling, pointing the way to a number of new
      clinical applications in the development of novel stimulants (e.g., modafinil)
      and anesthetics. In addition, it provides methods for monitoring therapeutic
      efficacy of DBS in humans and animal models.

PMID- 20936419
TI  - Review of current therapies for secondary hypertrophic pulmonary
      osteoarthropathy.
AB  - Hypertrophic osteoarthropathy (HOA) is a disabling condition that may occur
      secondarily to primary lung cancer. It is characterized by digital clubbing,
      arthralgia/arthritis, and periostosis of the tubular bones. The pain associated
      with HOA can be disabling and often refractory to conventional analgesics. We
      performed a comprehensive review of the literature using the PubMed database on
      treatment modalities available for HOA. We found 52 relevant articles-40 case
      reports, six case series, two review papers, and four combined case series and
      review papers. There were no randomized controlled trials reported. We then
      classified treatments used for HOA into two categories: (1) treatment of primary
      cause (i.e., resection of tumor, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, treatment of
      infection, etc.) and (2) symptomatic treatments (i.e., bisphosphonates,
      octreotide, NSAIDs, vagotomy, etc.). Subsequently, we summarized the main
      findings for each treatment. Although the clinical diagnosis of HOA has existed
      for over 100 years, the pathogenesis mechanism has not yet been elucidated, and
      treatment options for this condition remain experimental. Primary treatment is
      the most widely reported modality to be efficacious. In cases which primary
      therapy is not possible, several symptomatic treatment modalities are suggested,
      with various degree of success. Further research is needed to clarify the
      pathophysiological mechanism of HOA as to appropriately direct therapy.

PMID- 20936421
TI  - Linear accelerator-based stereotactic radiosurgery of intracranial meningiomas:
      results of the first 5 years of clinical practice.
AB  - Meningiomas are mostly benign but some are atypical or malignant. Surgical
      resection is curative when complete removal of benign meningiomas is
      contemplated. Incompletely excised and recurrent tumors are frequently treated
      with fractionated radiation therapy or stereotactic radiosurgery. The purpose of
      this study is to evaluate the short-term radiological and functional outcomes of
      a single center using linear accelerator (Linac) stereotactic radiosurgery for
      the treatment of intracranial meningiomas. Twenty-nine patients (12 males and 17
      females) with 30 meningiomas, in different brain locations (skull base and non
      skull base meningiomas), were treated with Linac-based stereotactic radiosurgery.
      The mean tumor volume was 6.3 cm3, and the mean tumor marginal and maximum doses
      were 10.9 and 15 Gy, respectively. The median prescribed isodose line was 80%.
      The patients were followed-up for a minimum of 3 years. Regarding radiological
      outcome, nine (30%) meningiomas demonstrated evident volume reduction, 19 (63.3%)
      meningiomas remained unchanged, and two (6.7%) meningiomas increased in size
      after radiosurgery. The local tumor control rates for skull base meningiomas and
      non-skull base meningiomas after radiosurgery were 90.9% and 100%, respectively.
      Regarding functional outcomes, 64% of patients presenting with cranial
      neuropathies showed improvement of their cranial nerve functions and 29% of
      patients remained unchanged. One patient had temporary trigeminal neuropathy.
      Although radiosurgery for meningiomas is generally effective and quite safe in
      achieving high control rates with minimum morbidity over short- and intermediate
      term periods of follow-up, tumor progression might occur in a delayed manner
      after initial apparent control for few years. We recommend continued follow-up
      for longer periods to better assess the long-term outcomes.

PMID- 20936422
TI  - Dekkera/Brettanomyces yeasts for ethanol production from renewable sources under
      oxygen-limited and low-pH conditions.
AB  - Industrial fermentation of lignocellulosic hydrolysates to ethanol requires
      microorganisms able to utilise a broad range of carbon sources and generate
      ethanol at high yield and productivity. D. bruxellensis has recently been
      reported to contaminate commercial ethanol processes, where it competes with
      Saccharomyces cerevisiae [4, 26]. In this work Brettanomyces/Dekkera yeasts were
      studied to explore their potential to produce ethanol from renewable sources
      under conditions suitable for industrial processes, such as oxygen-limited and
      low-pH conditions. Over 50 strains were analysed for their ability to utilise a
      variety of carbon sources, and some strains grew on cellobiose and pentoses. Two
      strains of D. bruxellensis were able to produce ethanol at high yield (0.44 g g(
      1) glucose), comparable to those reported for S. cerevisiae. B. naardenensis was
      shown to be able to produce ethanol from xylose. To obtain ethanol from synthetic
      lignocellulosic hydrolysates we developed a two-step fermentation strategy: the
      first step under aerobic conditions for fast production of biomass from mixtures
      of hexoses and pentoses, followed by a second step under oxygen limitation to
      promote ethanol production. Under these conditions we obtained biomass and
      ethanol production on synthetic lignocellulosic hydrolysates, with ethanol yields
      ranging from 0.2 to 0.3 g g(-1) sugar. Hexoses, xylose and arabinose were
      consumed at the end of the process, resulting in 13 g l(-1) of ethanol, even in
      the presence of furfural. Our studies showed that Brettanomyces/Dekkera yeasts
      have clear potential for further development for industrial processes aimed at
      production of ethanol from renewable sources.

PMID- 20936423
TI  - Stability of the MON 810 transgene in maize.
AB  - We analysed the DNA variability of the transgene insert and its flanking regions
      in maize MON 810 commercial varieties. Southern analysis demonstrates that
      breeding, since the initial transformation event more than 10 years ago, has not
      resulted in any rearrangements. A detailed analysis on the DNA variability at the
      nucleotide level, using DNA mismatch endonuclease assays, showed the lack of
      polymorphisms in the transgene insert. We conclude that the mutation rate of the
      transgene is not significantly different from that observed in the maize
      endogenous genes. Six SNPs were observed in the 5'flanking region, corresponding
      to a Zeon1 retrotransposon long terminal repeat. All six SNPs are more than 500
      bp upstream of the point of insertion of the transgene and do not affect the
      reliability of the established PCR-based transgene detection and quantification
      methods. The mutation rate of the flanking region is similar to that expected for
      a maize repetitive sequence. We detected low levels of cytosine methylation in
      leaves of different transgenic varieties, with no significant differences on
      comparing different transgenic varieties, and minor differences in cytosine
      methylation when comparing leaves at different developmental stages. There was
      also a reduction in cryIAb mRNA accumulation during leaf development.

PMID- 20936426
TI  - AV119, a natural sugar from avocado gratissima, modulates the LPS-induced
      proinflammatory response in human keratinocytes.
AB  - Keratinocytes play an active role in innate immune responses by secreting a
      variety of cytokines and chemokines. The release of critical proinflammatory
      cytokines, which are necessary to activate the immune response, is induced by the
      stimulation of Toll-like receptors (TLRs) by molecules present on pathogenic
      micro-organisms such as lipopolysaccharide (LPS). AV119, a patented blend of
      avocado sugars, induced the aggregation of Malassezia furfur, a dimorphic, lipid
      dependent yeast that is part of the normal human cutaneous commensal flora and
      inhibited its penetration into the keratinocytes. In the present study, the anti
      inflammatory effects of AV119 were investigated in LPS-induced inflammation of
      human keratinocytes. In particular, we analysed the modulation of the LPS-induced
      expression of proinflammatory cytokines and heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) by
      AV119 and the involvement of TLR-4. Our data show that AV119 is able to modulate
      significantly the proinflammatory response in human keratinocytes, blocking the
      NF-kB activation in human keratinocytes.

PMID- 20936427
TI  - Lichen recolonisation in an urban-industrial area of southern Poland as a result
      of air quality improvement.
AB  - Dynamics of epiphytic lichen distribution and diversity in the town of Skawina,
      one of the major industrial centres of southern Poland, over the last 30 years,
      was documented in relation to air quality changes. Fieldwork was conducted in
      2006-2007. A total of 34 species were recorded at 202 sites, which is similar to
      the historical data, however, significant qualitative changes occurred. Nitrogen-
      and dust-tolerant species have expanded and dominate, while some acidophytes,
      such as Lecanora conizaeoides, are in decline. Lichens have recolonised the
      former 'lichen desert' in the town centre. Species richness at study sites has
      increased; and an improvement in the health of lichen thalli was noted. These
      trends reflect air quality improvement, mainly SO(2) decline in the last few
      decades and transport-related compounds, mainly NO(x) and dust that have became
      the main pollutants. Host tree species and diameter diversity also contribute
      significantly to lichen species diversity in the study area. The recolonisation
      process seems far from complete and further changes in the lichen distribution
      and diversity in the study area are expected.

PMID- 20936425
TI  - A tailored approach to family-centered genetic counseling for cystic fibrosis
      newborn screening: the Wisconsin model.
AB  - This article describes the development of a tailored family-centered approach to
      genetic counseling following abnormal newborn screening (NBS) for cystic fibrosis
      (CF). A genetic counseling consortium reviewed research literature, selected
      theoretical frameworks, and incorporated counseling psychology micro skills. This
      innovative intervention integrated theories and empirically validated techniques.
      Pilot testing and parent feedback confirmed satisfaction with and feasibility of
      the approach designed to (a) minimize parents' distress, (b) facilitate parents'
      understanding, (c) increase parents' capacities to use genetic information, and
      (d) enhance parents' experiences with genetic counseling. Counselors engage in a
      highly interactive process of evaluating parents' needs and tailoring assessments
      and interventions that include a therapeutic environment, the family's emotional
      needs, parents' informational needs, and a follow-up plan. This promising new
      model is the first to establish a theory-driven, evidence-based standard for
      genetic counseling in the context of NBS for CF. Additional research will
      evaluate the model's efficacy in clinical practice.

PMID- 20936428
TI  - Geochemistry of groundwater and groundwater prospects evaluation, Anekal Taluk,
      Bangalore Urban District, Karnataka, India.
AB  - Anekal Taluk lies in the southern part of the of Bangalore urban district, known
      for Bannerghatta wildlife sanctuary, Jigani industrial estate, silk industry, and
      the electronics city, the pride of India and hub of Bangalore's information
      technology. In the present study, evaluation of geochemistry of 28 representative
      bore wells samples from Anekal Taluk was undertaken. It was found that most of
      the samples (92.9%) belong to Ca(2+ )-Mg(2+ )-Cl( - ) -SO2-4water type with Ca-Mg
      Cl and Ca-Cl hydrochemical facies. The groundwater sources were further
      categorized as normal chloride (32.14%) and normal sulfate (100%) water types
      based on Cl and SO(4) concentrations. Majority of the samples (64.3%) belong to
      C3-S1 water class, indicating water with high salinity and low sodium. Positive
      index of base exchange indicates the chloro-alkaline equilibrium in the study
      area. Groundwater potential zonation map for Anekal Taluk was generated using
      multiparametric and weighted overlay method using the spatial analyst tool in
      ArcGIS v9.2. Accordingly, five distinct classes corresponding to good(high),
      moderate (medium), moderate to poor (low), poor (very low), and poor to nil (very
      low) groundwater potential zones were identified in the region. Of this, 85.27%
      of the study area belongs to good/high to moderate/medium groundwater potential
      and only 14.73% belonging to moderate/poor to nil groundwater potential zones.

PMID- 20936429
TI  - Paracoccus niistensis sp. nov., isolated from forest soil, India.
AB  - A Gram-negative, non-motile, catalase-positive and oxidase-positive, aerobic
      bacterium designated as NII-0918(T) was isolated from soil sample in Western ghat
      forest, India. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis showed that strain NII-0918(T)
      belongs to the subclass alpha-Proteobacteria, being related to the genus
      Paracoccus, and sharing highest sequence similarity with Paracoccus chinensis
      NBRC 104937(T) (99.4%), Paracoccus marinus NBRC 100640(T) (97.3%), Paracoccus
      koreensis Ch05(T) (97.1%) and Paracoccus kondratievae GB(T) (97.0%). Other
      members of Paracoccus showed below 97.0% similarity. The DNA-DNA hybridization
      values between these four strains and NII-0918(T) were 44.7, 28, 32 and 41%,
      respectively. The major fatty acids of strain NII-0918(T) were summed feature 7
      (C18:1 omega7c/omega 9t/omega 12t) (83.0%) and C18:0 (12.5%). Ubiquinone Q-10 was
      detected as the major respiratory quinone. The G+C content of genomic DNA of NII
      0918(T) was 66.6 mol%. On the basis of physiological, morphological,
      chemotaxonomical and DNA-DNA hybridization data, it is proposed that strain NII
      0918(T) should be placed as a novel species, for which we propose Paracoccus
      niistensis sp. nov. The type strain is NII-0918(T) (CCTCC AA 209055(T) = NCIM
      5340(T) = KCTC 22789(T)).

PMID- 20936430
TI  - Tobacco use and interest in smoking cessation among Latinos attending community
      health fairs.
AB  - Health fairs are vital for reaching underserved Latinos providing access to
      health services including smoking cessation. The purpose of this study is to
      describe tobacco use and interest in smoking cessation among Latino smokers
      attending community health fairs. We surveyed 262 self-identified Latinos
      attending health fairs; we assessed smoking behavior and attitudes of 53 (20.2%)
      current smokers. Smokers were mostly uninsured (98.1%), male (54.7%), recent
      immigrants (96.2%) with limited English proficiency (60.4% spoke Spanish at
      home), and were mainly light (86.3%) and nondaily (58.7%) smokers. Although most
      participants attempted to quit smoking at least once in the past year, only 5.0%
      of current smokers reported ever using cessation medication and 94.3% were
      unaware of free-telephone counseling. The majority of smokers were ready to quit
      within 30 days and were interested in participating in cessation programs. Health
      fairs provide a unique opportunity to address smoking cessation among underserved
      Latinos with limited knowledge of access to, and use of effective cessation
      services.

PMID- 20936431
TI  - Do risk factors explain the increased prevalence of type 2 diabetes among
      California Asian adults?
AB  - Asian subgroup-specific information on type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) is scarce.
      Using the California Health Interview Survey 2007 data, we examined Chinese,
      Korean, Japanese, Filipinos, and Vietnamese adults (n = 3,688) and Caucasian
      adults (n = 33,981) for the prevalence of DM and risk factors. The age-adjusted
      prevalence of DM was the highest among Filipinos (8.05%) followed by Japanese
      (7.07%), Vietnamese (7.03%), and Koreans (6.3%). Chinese (5.93%) was the only
      Asian group studied whose prevalence was lower than Caucasians (5.94%). From
      multiple logistic regression, after adjusting for risk factors, Japanese had the
      highest likelihood of DM (OR = 1.75, CI = [1.12-2.73], P < 0.05), followed by
      Filipinos (1.66, [1.13-2.43], P < 0.01), and Koreans (1.59, [1.00-2.52], P <
      0.05), relative to Caucasians. Our results suggest that even after accounting for
      lifestyle and other risk factor differences between Caucasians and key Asian
      subgroups in California, Japanese, Filipinos, and Koreans have a 1.6-1.75 greater
      likelihood of DM compared to Caucasians.

PMID- 20936432
TI  - Incidence of sleep bruxism among children in Itanhandu, Brazil.
AB  - PURPOSE: Sleep bruxism (SB) in children may be related to headaches and causes
      extensive damage of primary teeth. This paper evaluates the incidence of SB in
      children from Itanhandu, MG, Brazil. METHODS: The presence of teeth wear facets
      was verified through clinical examinations on a sample of children, whose parents
      answered a questionnaire about their children's behavior and habits. Analysis of
      variance and chi-square tests (p = 0.05) were applied to identify possible
      correlations between the presence of SB and the parents' responses to the
      questionnaire. RESULTS: The sample comprised of 170 children, 51.76% (n = 88) of
      which were girls, while the average age was 4.37 (+/-1.69) years. A total of
      15.29% (n = 26) had been diagnosed as bruxers, 46.47% displayed restless
      behavior, and only 10% used medication. The average duration of breastfeeding was
      4.4 (+/-0.25) months. A positive correlation was found between restless behavior
      and the presence of SB (p < 0.001). No correlation was found between SB and
      medication (p = 0.573), or between the duration of breastfeeding and restless
      behavior (p = 0.102), SB (p = 0.565) and medication (p = 0.794). CONCLUSION:
      Restless behavior was positively correlated with SB, although no correlation was
      found between SB and medication or duration of breastfeeding.

PMID- 20936433
TI  - Effects of micro-magnetic field at the surface of 316L and NiTi alloy on blood
      compatibility.
AB  - We have established the micro-magnetic field on the surfaces of 316L stainless
      steel and NiTi alloy through the magnetization process of sol-gel prepared TiO(2)
      thin film with the powder of SrFe(12)O(19). The nano-sized with brown color of
      SrFe(12)O(19) powder was verified by transmission electron microscope. By using X
      ray diffraction, surface roughometer, and corrosion experimental test, the
      deposited thin film can decrease the etching of body fluid as well as prevent the
      hazardous Ni ions released from the metal. Moreover, with evaluation of dynamic
      cruor time test and blood platelets adhesion test, we found the micro-magnetic
      field of the thin film can improve the blood compatibility.

PMID- 20936434
TI  - Mutual information in natural position order of electroencephalogram is
      significantly increased at seizure onset.
AB  - Epilepsy affects an estimated 60 million people worldwide. As many as 50% of
      people with epilepsy will continue to have seizures despite therapeutic dosages
      of appropriately selected antiepileptic drugs. Among proposed treatment
      modalities for persons with medication refractory epilepsy are implantable
      devices that rapidly detect and abort seizures. Computational resources in these
      devices are limited and much effort is directed to improving the efficiency of
      seizure detection. The goal of this study is to determine if electroencephalogram
      (EEG) may be reduced by the method of natural position order in a way that
      increases computation speed and reduces system memory requirements while
      preserving features relevant to detecting seizure onset. In this study we show
      increased mutual information (MI) at seizure onset in simultaneous channels of
      EEG reduced by natural position order with a 40-fold reduction in computation
      time and a fivefold reduction in system memory requirements. The trade-offs to
      EEG reduction by natural position order include decreased bandwidth and increased
      noise sensitivity.

PMID- 20936436
TI  - Promotion of growth in mungbean (Phaseolus aureus Roxb.) by selenium is
      associated with stimulation of carbohydrate metabolism.
AB  - The mungbean plants were grown hydroponically in the absence (control) or
      presence of 0.1, 0.25, 0.50 and 0.75 ppm selenium (as sodium selenate) for 10
      days. The growth of shoots and roots increased with application of selenium with
      greater extent in shoots. With 0.5 and 0.75 ppm Se levels, the shoot growth was
      stimulated by 24% to 27% over control, respectively, while the roots showed a
      corresponding increase of 18-19%, respectively. The shoot-to-root ratio was
      enhanced significantly with Se application and maximum effects occurred at 0.75
      ppm Se. A significant increase was observed in chlorophyll and cellular
      respiration ability with 0.5 and 0.75 ppm selenium. The increase in growth by
      selenium was accompanied by elevation of starch, sucrose and reducing sugars. The
      activity of starch hydrolysing enzymes--amylases and sucrose hydrolysing enzyme-
      invertase was stimulated significantly with selenium. This was associated with
      elevation of activities of sucrose synthesising enzymes--sucrose synthase and
      sucrose phosphate synthase. It was concluded that increase in growth of shoots
      and roots by application of Se was possibly the result of up-regulation of
      enzymes of carbohydrate metabolism thus providing energy substrates for enhanced
      growth.

PMID- 20936435
TI  - Racial/ethnic differences in job loss for women with breast cancer.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: We examined race/ethnic differences in treatment-related job loss
      and the financial impact of treatment-related job loss, in a population-based
      sample of women diagnosed with breast cancer. METHODS: Three thousand two hundred
      fifty two women with non-metastatic breast cancer diagnosed (August 2005-February
      2007) within the Los Angeles County and Detroit Metropolitan Surveillance
      Epidemiology and End Results registries, were identified and asked to complete a
      survey (mean time from diagnosis = 8.9 months). Latina and African American women
      were over-sampled (n = 2268, eligible response rate 72.1%). RESULTS: One thousand
      one hundred eleven women (69.6%) of working age (<65 years) were working for pay
      at time of diagnosis. Of these women, 10.4% (24.1% Latina, 10.1% African
      American, 6.9% White, p < 0.001) reported that they lost or quit their job since
      diagnosis due to breast cancer or its treatment (defined as job loss). Latina
      women were more likely to experience job loss compared to White women (OR = 2.0,
      p = 0.013)), independent of sociodemographic factors. There were no significant
      differences in job loss between African American and White women, independent of
      sociodemographic factors. Additional adjustments for clinical and treatment
      factors revealed a significant interaction between race/ethnicity and
      chemotherapy (p = 0.007). Among women who received chemotherapy, Latina women
      were more likely to lose their job compared to White women (OR = 3.2, p < 0.001),
      however, there were no significant differences between Latina and White women
      among those who did not receive chemotherapy. Women who lost their job were more
      likely to experience financial strain (e.g. difficulty paying bills 27% vs. 11%,
      p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Job loss is a serious consequence of treatment for women
      with breast cancer. Clinicians and staff need to be aware of aspects of treatment
      course that place women at higher risk for job loss, especially ethnic minorities
      receiving chemotherapy.

PMID- 20936437
TI  - A rare cardiac finding in a morbidly obese patient with severe hypertension.

PMID- 20936438
TI  - The link between bipolar disorders and creativity: evidence from personality and
      temperament studies.
AB  - Although extensive literature supports connections between bipolar disorder and
      creativity, possible mechanisms underlying such relationships are only beginning
      to emerge. Herein we review evidence supporting one such possible mechanism,
      namely that personality/temperament contribute to enhanced creativity in
      individuals with bipolar disorder, a theory supported by studies showing that
      certain personality/temperamental traits are not only common to bipolar disorder
      patients and creative individuals but also correlate with measures of creativity.
      Thus, we suggest based on studies using three important personality/temperament
      measures-the Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Openness Personality Inventory (NEO);
      the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI); and the Temperament Evaluation of the
      Memphis, Pisa, Paris, and San Diego Autoquestionnaire (TEMPS-A)-that changeable
      (increased TEMPS-A-cyclothymia) and at times negative (increased NEO-neuroticism)
      affect and open-minded (increased NEO-openness) and intuitive (increased MBTI
      intuition) cognition may contribute importantly to enhanced creativity in
      individuals with bipolar disorder.

PMID- 20936439
TI  - Analysis of bead sizes for MR capsules labeled for sprinkle.
AB  - The bead sizes used in approved modified release capsules labeled for sprinkling
      on food was investigated to generate bead size guidelines for generic products
      labeled for sprinkling. The conclusions from a survey of FDA databases were
      corroborated with experimental data obtained by measuring the bead sizes of
      several reference-listed drugs on the market labeled for administration by
      sprinkling on food. The experimental data show that majority of the marketed
      products were found to have bead sizes of less than 1,500 microm (1.5 mm). Based
      on this information, a bead size of less than 1,500 microm should generally be
      considered acceptable for use in generic products labeled for sprinkling.

PMID- 20936440
TI  - Nicotine fast dissolving films made of maltodextrins: a feasibility study.
AB  - This work aimed to develop a fast-dissolving film made of low dextrose equivalent
      maltodextrins (MDX) containing nicotine hydrogen tartrate salt (NHT). Particular
      attention was given to the selection of the suitable taste-masking agent (TMA)
      and the characterisation of the ductility and flexibility under different
      mechanical stresses. MDX with two different dextrose equivalents (DEs), namely DE
      6 and DE 12, were selected in order to evaluate the effect of polymer molecular
      weight on film tensile properties. The bitterness and astringency intensity of
      NHT and the suppression effect of several TMA were evaluated by a Taste-Sensing
      System. The films were characterised in term of NHT content, tensile properties,
      disintegration time and drug dissolution test. As expected, placebo films made of
      MDX DE 6 appeared stiffer and less ductile than film prepared using MDX DE 12.
      The films disintegrated within 10 s. Among the tested TMA, the milk and mint
      flavours resulted particularly suitable to mask the taste of NHT. The addition of
      NHT and taste-masking agents affected film tensile properties; however, the
      effect of the addition of these components can be counterweighted by modulating
      the glycerine content and/or the MDX molecular weight. The feasibility of NHT
      loaded fast-dissolving films was demonstrated.

PMID- 20936442
TI  - [Early childhood intervention. A challenge for the intersectoral cooperation of
      the health care system and child and youth welfare].

PMID- 20936441
TI  - The effects of beta-adrenergic stimulation and exercise on NR4A3 protein
      expression in rat skeletal muscle.
AB  - beta-Adrenergic stimulation and exercise up-regulate the mRNA expression of
      nuclear receptor NR4A3, which is involved in the regulation of glucose and fatty
      acid utilization genes in skeletal muscle. The objective of our study was to
      examine the effects of beta-adrenergic stimulation and exercise on the expression
      of NR4A3 protein in rat skeletal muscle. A single subcutaneous injection of
      clenbuterol, which is a beta2-adrenergic receptor (beta2-AR) agonist, increased
      NR4A3 mRNA and protein expression in the fast-twitch glycolytic triceps muscle.
      On the other hand, an acute 3-h session of either treadmill running or swimming
      did not increase the NR4A3 protein level in the exercised muscle, although both
      treadmill running and swimming increased NR4A3 mRNA. Finally, loss of postural
      contractile activity because of hindlimb immobilization reduced NR4A3 mRNA and
      protein in the slow-twitch oxidative soleus muscle. These results suggest that:
      beta-adrenergic stimulation up-regulates not only NR4A3 mRNA but also NR4A3
      protein in fast-twitch glycolytic muscle; exercise may increase NR4A3 mRNA but
      not NR4A3 protein in skeletal muscle; and local postural contractile activity
      plays a crucial role in maintaining NR4A3 protein expression level in postural
      muscle.

PMID- 20936443
TI  - [Child protection from the perspective of child and adolescent medicine].
AB  - Demands for prevention in the areas of child protection, child development and
      early education are increasingly being discussed in the health care system,
      social services and the educational and school system. Concepts in health care
      include health promotion, risk assessment and primary and secondary prevention.
      Child protection promotes strategies such as early social support services and at
      risk screening and educational systems advocate early intervention and concepts
      to enhance child development. The complexity of children's developmental needs
      and their living environments require a comprehensive approach of all three
      systems and integration of services and interventions. Each child's needs must be
      individually analysed and services tailored appropriately. A case vignette
      demonstrates and analyses typical problems of interacting systems. A systemic
      view of systems of care allows planning of efficient and sustainable social and
      health care policies.

PMID- 20936444
TI  - [Insights into the state of data about neglect and abuse of children in Germany.
      Possibilities and limitations of health, crime and social statistics].
AB  - The present database concerning the extent of neglect and abuse of children in
      Germany and accordingly the endangerment of their health and well-being has to be
      considered as deficient. Yet the degree of danger is indicated by sporadic
      empirical research as well as the police statistics on criminality, the health
      statistics and the official statistics on child and youth welfare. In contrast to
      the general public opinion the analyses of the available data have shown a
      stagnation in the infanticide rate at a historically low level and even a decline
      in infanticide in recent years. Meanwhile, according to statistics the
      sensitivity to the threats of neglect and abuse of children is increasing.
      Especially the clarification of the order for protection in the Child and Youth
      Welfare Act (S 8a SGB VIII) contributed to the raised interest and attention from
      child and youth welfare services. However, these contexts are insufficiently
      researched, which makes an improvement of the database inevitable. Therefore, a
      continuous registration and documentation of cases of child neglect and abuse is
      necessary. A promising option to attain a significant database is a routine
      collection of data in the context of an official statistic by the child and youth
      welfare departments.

PMID- 20936445
TI  - [Capabilities from the very beginning. Analysis of early interventions for child
      protection within the 13th Children and Youth Report].
AB  - The 13th Children and Youth Report of the Federal Government was tasked with
      assessing the achievements attained in health-related prevention and health
      promotion by the Child and Youth Services and evaluating the goals still to be
      accomplished. Health-relevant development issues in the first phase of life are
      attachment and autonomy. The concept of early intervention is defined by the
      threefold responsibility entrusted to the Child and Youth Services: encouraging
      opportunities for development, providing assistance where resources are
      inadequate, and protecting children who are endangered or neglected. The greatest
      need for support is seen to involve children of impoverished or migrant families.
      The three specified goals require regional networks, which connect the existing
      support systems, in addition to the Child and Youth Services including pediatrics
      and child psychiatry, midwives, and early childhood intervention, to form
      integrated activity systems. Based on this foundation, the aim is then to
      strengthen parent competence through measures for family enrichment, to offer
      support related to the social sphere and family structure (e.g., early excellence
      programs, multigenerational homes, family centers, or family midwives) and to
      ensure effective child protective services.

PMID- 20936446
TI  - [A systemic approach to early childhood prevention. Outcomes of a first
      nationwide survey of Youth Welfare and Health Care System in Germany].
AB  - The objective of this survey is to record and describe the current development
      status of municipal support systems targeting early childhood prevention in
      Germany. Nearly all participating youth welfare offices and a large number of the
      participating public health departments report ongoing activities in setting up
      and strengthening such support systems. Most of them declare to be part of
      interdisciplinary networks acting across departments. However, comprehension of
      the actual implications of early prevention varies broadly among participants and
      is marked by two contradictory statements: early empowerment for all parents (to
      be) on the one hand and preventive child protection for families at risk on the
      other. Cooperation with many different partners is common and mostly found within
      the own system but sometimes also by crossing borders. Mandatory cooperation,
      however, is an exclusive attribute of the youth welfare system, originating from
      the legal requirements. One of the most striking results is the almost complete
      ignorance of the powers and resources of public health departments' by the youth
      welfare offices, mainly in charge for organizing municipal support systems for
      children and families. Improving the legal basis for funding and efforts for
      better qualification will be crucial for a sustainable development.

PMID- 20936447
TI  - [Child health check-ups as an instrument in child welfare. First results of
      compulsory check-up systems in German federal states].
AB  - Routine well-child visits, implemented as a means of secondary prevention and
      covered by health insurance, lead to early identification of disorders and
      abnormalities in child development."Guiding principles for children" (by the G
      BA) have determined the content of the eleven examinations, ranging from U1
      immediately after birth to J1 in adolescence; eight of them take place within the
      first four years of age. Since cases of child maltreatment, neglect, or abuse
      became public in 2007, almost all German federal states have established
      mandatory examination and notification processes in the new child welfare
      surveillance programs. First results in the German federal states (six of which
      are exemplarily illustrated) point out that mandatory requirements have
      collectively increased the frequency of medical check-ups in children, especially
      starting from four years of age and most significantly in families with social
      disadvantages (young/single parents, immigrant background, uneducated or socially
      disadvantaged families), which have so far been difficult to reach. Subsequently,
      provision of primary prevention (vaccinations and health promotion advice) by
      pediatricians has also increased. As a sole instrument for the complete
      identification of threats for children's welfare, however, systems inviting and
      reminding parents about check-ups are only of limited benefit.

PMID- 20936448
TI  - [Access to high-risk families through selected actors of the health care system.
      Results of an explorative questioning of early childhood intervention pilot
      projects].
AB  - A requirement for preventive child protection is an early and systematic access
      to high-risk families. Actors of the health care system, in particular doctors in
      private practice and midwives, are highly accepted within the population and
      therefore offer perfect requirements to provide this access. For this reason the
      aim in the context of early childhood intervention is a close cooperation of the
      Child and Youth Services with doctors and midwives. To what extent can these
      service providers of the health care system fulfill these expectations? The
      National Centre on Early Prevention tried to find an answer to this question with
      the support of 10 pilot projects which were set up within the framework of the
      action program "Early Prevention and Intervention for Parents and Children and
      Social Warning Systems". The comprehensive project presentation of selected
      results, insights and experiences concerning cooperation between agents of the
      Child and Youth Services and doctors in private practice and midwives is based on
      explorative written questioning of the 10 projects. The study shows from the
      point of view of the pilot projects that the cooperation with freelance midwives
      is promising. In contrast, the cooperation with doctors in private practice does
      not yet meet the hopes and expectations. To achieve an improvement of this
      situation, conditions have to be supported which promote a stronger commitment of
      the medical profession to early childhood intervention.

PMID- 20936449
TI  - [Gold standards for scientific proof of efficacy and effectiveness as
      prerequisites for the dissemination of intervention programs in the field of
      early intervention. Randomized controlled trials].
AB  - The necessity of early intervention is recognized both nationally and
      internationally. This however goes hand in hand with the legitimate request for
      proving the efficacy and effectiveness of prevention and intervention programs.
      There are many international studies on this. Some of these exhibit a number of
      problems, which often restricts the validity of the studies' results. A
      scientific evaluation of programs in Germany, on the other hand, is often missing
      entirely or the studies and evaluations are currently in progress. The article at
      hand using the example of the randomized controlled trial (RCT) gives an overview
      of which gold standards of evaluation are desirable or should be scientifically
      demanded to prove efficacy and effectiveness of prevention/intervention in the
      field of early intervention. Standards for efficacy refer to 1) specification of
      the program's efficacy, 2) program documentation, 3) evaluating the quality of
      how the program was carried out, 4) recording and evaluating expected changes, as
      well as 5) conclusions concerning the causality of results and generalizations.
      Standards for efficiency refer to 1) description of the intervention, 2)
      evaluation in real-life contexts and 3) cost-benefit analysis. Based on a
      presentation of these standards, recommendations are made for the dissemination
      of prevention and intervention programs.

PMID- 20936450
TI  - [Is the experimental gold standard actually worth a mint for evidence-based early
      support systems?].
AB  - The article discusses the capacities of experimental impact research in the
      practice of early support systems or primary prevention. It criticizes the
      conception of evidence-based child and youth welfare services relying on results
      of such experimental research. In the final section, the potentials of an
      alternative form of impact research, such as process-mechanism research, are
      discussed with respect to professional practice in child and youth welfare.

PMID- 20936451
TI  - [Research on psychological resilience. Relevance for prevention and health
      promotion].
AB  - Research on resilience and protective factors revolves around the question "What
      keeps people healthy?" Protective factors in the person, family and social
      surroundings contribute to resilient development of children and adolescents. The
      effects of these factors depend on risk constellations and environmental
      conditions. Although sufficient evidence is not yet available for all factors
      discussed in the literature, results suffice as starting points to develop
      preventive interventions meant to strengthen protective factors. This paper
      proposes a classification of interventions based on the age of the children and
      adolescents. In addition to personal factors it is important to target protective
      factors in the family and social surroundings. Successful prevention strategies
      begin early on and support children over the long term, in a systematic and
      development-oriented manner.

PMID- 20936452
TI  - [Screening for risk of child abuse and neglect. A practicable method?].
AB  - Selective primary prevention programs for child abuse and neglect depend on risk
      screening instruments that have the goal of systematically identifying families
      who can profit most from early help. Based on a systematic review of longitudinal
      studies, a set of established risk factors for early child abuse and neglect is
      presented. Nearly half of the items included in screening instruments can be seen
      as validated. Available studies indicate a high sensitivity of risk screening
      instruments. Positive predictive values, however, are low. Overall, the use of
      risk screening instruments in the area of primary prevention for families at risk
      represents a feasible method, as long as stigmatizing effects can be avoided and
      participating families also benefit beyond preventing endangerment.

PMID- 20936453
TI  - [Family midwives. Subjective impact on infant's and mother's health from the
      perspective of accompanied mothers].
AB  - Early intervention appears to be effective in terms of primary prevention for
      infants born to vulnerable families. Family midwives increasingly provide support
      for these families during the first year of life. The study investigates
      acceptance, availability, cooperation among providers and satisfaction of the
      clients. Health promotion for mothers and their infants is the overall goal of
      the program. Within a design of qualitative interviews and/or standardized
      questionnaires a sample of 67 families, 11 family midwives, 9 providers in other
      professions, 50 counseling services and 7 hospitals were involved. The results
      show that both acceptance and availability of family midwives ranked high within
      the views of service users. Health promotion, with a focus on the health of
      babies, was named as special trait of the support given by family midwives,
      associated with psychosocial support. A wide range of maternal needs and
      different forms of support received by the mothers was reported. Case control
      studies should follow.

PMID- 20936454
TI  - [Report on notifications pursuant to Section 21 of the German Transfusion Act for
      the years 2008 and 2009].
AB  - This report contains the data collected in 2008 and 2009, pursuant to Section 21
      of the German Transfusion Act (Transfusionsgesetz), as well as an overview of the
      supply situation during the last 10 years. In 2009, blood donation services
      reported a total of 7.5 million donations--the largest amount since 2000. At the
      same time, more than 4.7 million red blood cell concentrates and more than
      500,000 platelet concentrates were available. The number of therapeutic single
      plasma units decreased to 1.1 million units in 2009. The loss rate for red blood
      cell concentrates is still between 3% and 4% for the users, while for the
      manufacturers, it has decreased slightly to 1.4%. The loss rate, for platelet
      concentrates, on the other hand, increased in 2009, and--what is noteworthy-
      especially for manufacturers of pooled platelet concentrates. The loss rate for
      apheresis platelet concentrates accounted for 5.2% compared to 17.5% for pooled
      platelet concentrates. As far as the users were concerned, loss rates for
      platelet concentrates largely remained unchanged with rates between 5% and 6%.
      Based on the data collected, the supply of blood components for transfusion can
      be regarded as assured. Nearly 2.9 million liters of plasma for fractionation
      were collected in Germany in 2009. According to reports from the pharmaceutical
      industry, of these, 2.6 million liters remained on the German market, of which
      only 56% were fractionated in this country; no statement can be made on the use
      of the remaining amount. Many plasma derivatives are not manufactured in Germany,
      despite the large amount of plasma collected. The supply with these products,
      however, is assured by imports. Overall, 16,409 autologous and 9,435 allogeneic
      hematopoietic stem cell preparations were manufactured in 2009, of which 3,382
      allogeneic preparations were exported. A total of 3,181 autologous and 2,374
      allogeneic preparations were transplanted; 187 of these products from imports.
      The large number of exported stem cells and the small number of imported stem
      cells suggest that no serious shortages are to be expected for the supply with
      these products.

PMID- 20936455
TI  - [Circumstances of injury in childhood and adolescence. Data and epidemiology].
AB  - The population-related aspects of injuries in children and adolescents in Germany
      using data from different sources were compiled and analyzed. In contrast to
      clinical case studies, our focus was on risk groups, injury mechanisms, and
      context of injury. Sources of information used for this study included the
      following: Causes of Death Statistics, Hospital Diagnosis Statistics, Child and
      Adolescent Health Survey, Injury Database. Data for the period 1998 to 2008 on
      unintentional injuries, violence, and suicide were assessed by age group and
      gender and study results on sociodemographic risk factors were included. The
      analysis revealed that injuries display an age-specific dynamic: infants carry a
      high risk for fatal domestic injuries as well as for injuries due to violence,
      whereas in adolescents the majority of injuries result from fatal traffic
      injuries and from suicide. In addition, social factors were found to be related
      to specific mechanisms of injury (e.g., scalds) and intention (e.g., violence)
      only. Migration status has an age- and gender-related influence on injury rates.

PMID- 20936456
TI  - [Decision of the Technical Committee Virus Disinfection of the German Association
      against Virus Diseases Association (DVV) of 1 September 2010 on the exchange of
      vaccinia virus strain Elstree against the modified vaccinia Ankara (MVA) virus as
      a test under the Virus testing act according to the DVV / RKI guideline as
      amended on 01.08.2008.].

PMID- 20936457
TI  - Intensity-modulated radiotherapy for prostate cancer implementing molecular
      imaging with 18F-choline PET-CT to define a simultaneous integrated boost.
AB  - PURPOSE: To report the own experience with 66 patients who received 18F-choline
      PET-CT (positron emission tomography-computed tomography) for treatment planning.
      PATIENTS AND METHODS: Image acquisition followed 1 h after injection of 178-355
      MBq (18)F-choline. An intraprostatic lesion (GTV(PET) [gross tumor volume]) was
      defined by a tumor-to-background SUV (standard uptake value) ratio > 2. A dose of
      76 Gy was prescribed to the prostate in 2-Gy fractions, with a simultaneous
      integrated boost up to 80 Gy. RESULTS: A boost volume could not be defined for a
      single patient. One, two and three or more lesions were found for 36 (55%), 22
      (33%) and seven patients (11%). The lobe(s) with a positive biopsy correlated
      with a GTV(PET) in the same lobe in 63 cases (97%). GTV(PET) was additionally
      defined in 33 of 41 prostate lobes (80%) with only negative biopsies. GTV(PET),
      SUV(mean) and SUV(max) were found to be dependent on well-known prognostic risk
      factors, particularly T-stage and Gleason Score. In multivariate analysis,
      Gleason Score > 7 resulted as an independent factor for GTV(PET) > 8 cm(3)
      (hazard ratio 5.5; p = 0.02) and SUV(max) > 5 (hazard ratio 4.4; p = 0.04).
      Neoadjuvant hormonal treatment (NHT) did not affect SUV levels. The mean EUDs
      (equivalent uniform doses) to the rectum and bladder (55.9 Gy and 54.8 Gy) were
      comparable to patients (n = 18) who were treated in the same period without a
      boost (54.3 Gy and 55.6 Gy). CONCLUSION: Treatment planning with (18)F-choline
      PET-CT allows the definition of an integrated boost in nearly all prostate cancer
      patients - including patients after NHT - without considerably affecting EUDs for
      the organs at risk. GTV(PET) and SUV levels were found to be dependent on
      prognostic risk factors, particularly Gleason Score.

PMID- 20936458
TI  - Helical tomotherapy in cervical cancer patients: simultaneous integrated boost
      concept: technique and acute toxicity.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the acute toxicity of simultaneous integrated boost (SIB)
      technique for dose escalation with helical tomotherapy (HT) in patients with
      locally advanced cervical cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS: 20 patients (FIGO IB1 pN1
      IIIB) underwent primary chemoradiation. Prior to chemoradiation, a laparoscopic
      pelvic and para-aortic lymphadenectomy was performed. A boost region was defined
      using titanium clips during staging for planning target volume (PTV-B). Patients
      were treated with five weekly fractions of 1.8 Gy to a total dose of 50.4 Gy to
      the tumor region and the pelvic (para-aortic) lymph node region (PTV-A), and five
      weekly fractions of 2.12 Gy to a total dose of 59.36 Gy to the PTV-B.
      Chemotherapy consisted of weekly cisplatin 40 mg/m(2). 19 patients underwent
      brachytherapy. Dose-volume histograms were evaluated and acute gastrointestinal
      (GI), genitourinary (GU), and hematologic toxicity were documented (CTCAE v3.0).
      RESULTS: Pelvic and para-aortic lymph node metastases were confirmed in nine and
      four patients, respectively. Five patients refused laparoscopic staging. The mean
      volume of PTV-A and PTV-B was 1,570 +/- 404 cm(3) and 341 +/- 125 cm(3),
      respectively. The mean dose to the bladder, rectum, and small bowel was 47.85 Gy,
      45.76 Gy, and 29.71 Gy, respectively. No grade 4/5 toxicity was observed. Grade
      2/3 hematologic toxicity occurred in 50% of patients and 5% experienced grade 3
      diarrhea. There was no grade 3 GU toxicity. 19 patients underwent curettage 6-9
      weeks after chemoradiation without any evidence of tumor. CONCLUSION: The concept
      of SIB for dose escalation in patients with locally advanced cervical cancer is
      feasible with a low rate of acute toxicity. Whether dose escalation can translate
      into improved outcome will be assessed after a longer follow-up.

PMID- 20936459
TI  - Non-small cell lung cancer in stages I-IIIB: Long-term results of definitive
      radiotherapy with doses >= 80 Gy in standard fractionation.
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate therapeutic outcome of dose escalation >= 80 Gy in
      nonresected non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). PATIENTS AND METHODS: 124
      consecutive patients with histologically/cytologically proven NSCLC were
      enrolled. Tumor stage I, II, IIIA, and IIIB was diagnosed in 30, eight, 39, and
      47 patients, respectively. 38 patients (31%) had weight loss > 5% during the 3
      months before diagnosis. A median dose of 88.2 Gy (range 80.0-96.0 Gy), 69.3 Gy
      (63.0-88.0 Gy) and 56.7 Gy was applied to primary lesions, involved lymph nodes,
      and elective nodes (within a region of about 6 cm cranial to macroscopically
      involved nodes), respectively. Daily fractional ICRU doses of 2.0-2.2 Gy were
      delivered by the conformal target-splitting technique. 58 patients (47%) received
      induction chemotherapy, in median two cycles prior to radiotherapy. RESULTS:
      Median follow-up time of all patients was 19 months, of patients alive 72.4
      months (69-121 months). The cumulative actual overall survival rate at 2 and 5
      years amounts to 39% and 11.3%, respectively, resulting in a median overall
      survival time of 19.6 months. According to stages I, II, IIIA, and IIIB, the
      median overall survival times are 31.8, 31.4, 19.0, and 14.5 months,
      respectively. The locoregional tumor control rate at 2 years is 49%. Apart from
      one treatment-related death (pneumonitis), acute toxicity according to EORTC/RTOG
      scores was moderate: lung grade 2 (n = 7), grade 3 (n = 3); esophagus grade 1 (n
      = 11); heart grade 3 (n = 1, pericarditis). No late toxicity grade > 1 has been
      observed. CONCLUSION: Sequential, conventionally fractionated high-dose
      radiotherapy by conformal target splitting is well tolerated. The results for
      survival and locoregional tumor control seem to at least equalize the outcome of
      simultaneous chemoradiation approaches, which, at present, are considered "state
      of the art" for patients with nonresected NSCLC. A higher potential of radiation
      therapy might be reached by accelerated fractionation regimens.

PMID- 20936460
TI  - Single-arm phase II study of conformal radiation therapy and temozolomide plus
      fractionated stereotactic conformal boost in high-grade gliomas: final report.
AB  - PURPOSE: To assess survival, local control and toxicity using fractionated
      stereotactic conformal radiotherapy (FSCRT) boost and temozolomide in high-grade
      gliomas (HGGs). PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients affected by HGG, with a
      CTV(1)(clinical target volume, representing tumor bed +/- residual tumor + a
      margin of 5 mm) <= 8 cm were enrolled into this phase II study. Radiotherapy (RT,
      total dose 6,940 cGy) was administered using a combination of two different
      techniques: three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3D-CRT, to achieve a dose
      of 5,040 or 5,940 cGy) and FSCRT boost (19 or 10 Gy) tailored by CTV(1)diameter
      (<= 6 cm and > 6 cm, respectively). Temozolomide (75 mg/m(2)) was administered
      during the first 2 or 4 weeks of RT. After the end of RT, temozolomide (150-200
      mg/m(2)) was administered for at least six cycles. The sample size of 41 patients
      was assessed by the single proportion-powered analysis. RESULTS: 41 patients (36
      with glioblastoma multiforme [GBM] and five with anaplastic astrocytoma [AA])
      were enrolled; RTOG neurological toxicities G1-2 and G3 were 12% and 3%,
      respectively. Two cases of radionecrosis were observed. At a median follow-up of
      44 months (range 6-56 months), global and GBM median overall survival (OS) were
      30 and 28 months. The 2-year survival rate was significantly better compared to
      the standard treatment (63% vs. 26.5%; p < 0.00001). Median progression-free
      survival (PFS) was 11 months, in GBM patients 10 months. CONCLUSION: FSCRT boost
      plus temozolomide is well tolerated and seems to increase survival compared to
      the standard treatment in patients with HGG.

PMID- 20936461
TI  - Residual translational and rotational errors after kV X-ray image-guided
      correction of prostate location using implanted fiducials.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the residual errors and required safety margins after
      stereoscopic kilovoltage (kV) X-ray target localization of the prostate in image
      guided radiotherapy (IGRT) using internal fiducials. PATIENTS AND METHODS:
      Radiopaque fiducial markers (FMs) have been inserted into the prostate in a
      cohort of 33 patients. The ExacTrac/Novalis BodyTM X-ray 6d image acquisition
      system (BrainLAB AG, Feldkirchen, Germany) was used. Corrections were performed
      in left-right (LR), anterior-posterior (AP), and superior-inferior (SI)
      direction. Rotational errors around LR (x-axis), AP (y) and SI (z) have been
      recorded for the first series of nine patients, and since 2007 for the subsequent
      24 patients in addition corrected in each fraction by using the Robotic Tilt
      ModuleTM and Varian Exact CouchTM. After positioning, a second set of X-ray
      images was acquired for verification purposes. Residual errors were registered
      and again corrected. RESULTS: Standard deviations (SD) of residual translational
      random errors in LR, AP, and SI coordinates were 1.3, 1.7, and 2.2 mm. Residual
      random rotation errors were found for lateral (around x, tilt), vertical (around
      y, table), and longitudinal (around z, roll) and of 3.2 degrees , 1.8 degrees ,
      and 1.5 degrees . Planning target volume (PTV)-clinical target volume (CTV)
      margins were calculated in LR, AP, and SI direction to 2.3, 3.0, and 3.7 mm.
      After a second repositioning, the margins could be reduced to 1.8, 2.1, and 1.8
      mm. CONCLUSION: On the basis of the residual setup error measurements, the margin
      required after one to two online X-ray corrections for the patients enrolled in
      this study would be at minimum 2 mm. The contribution of intrafractional motion
      to residual random errors has to be evaluated.

PMID- 20936462
TI  - Towards a unified genetic map for diploid roses.
AB  - We have constructed the first integrated consensus map (ICM) for rose, based on
      the information of four diploid populations and more than 1,000 initial markers.
      The single population maps are linked via 59 bridge markers, on average 8.4 per
      linkage group (LG). The integrated map comprises 597 markers, 206 of which are
      sequence-based, distributed over a length of 530 cM on seven LGs. By using a
      larger effective population size and therefore higher marker density, the marker
      order in the ICM is more reliable than in the single population maps. This is
      supported by a more even marker distribution and a decrease in gap sizes in the
      consensus map as compared to the single population maps. This unified map
      establishes a standard nomenclature for rose LGs, and presents the location of
      important ornamental traits, such as self-incompatibility, black spot resistance
      (Rdr1), scent production and recurrent blooming. In total, the consensus map
      includes locations for 10 phenotypic single loci, QTLs for 7 different traits and
      51 ESTs or gene-based molecular markers. This consensus map combines for the
      first time the information for traits with high relevance for rose variety
      development. It will serve as a tool for selective breeding and marker assisted
      selection. It will benefit future efforts of the rose community to sequence the
      whole rose genome and will be useful for synteny studies in the Rosaceae family
      and especially in the section Rosoideae.

PMID- 20936463
TI  - Use of psychiatric inpatient capacities and diagnostic practice in
      Tashkent/Uzbekistan as compared to Berlin/Germany.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The present study shows a comparison of diagnoses used for the
      treatment of urban psychiatric inpatients in Tashkent/Uzbekistan and
      Berlin/Germany. Differential diagnostic practices related to different traditions
      in psychopathology between the two settings are analysed to explain part of the
      difference in relative frequencies of the diagnoses. METHODS: We conducted a
      cross-sectional survey of diagnoses used for the treatment of 845 inpatients
      including 17 out of 18 wards of the Tashkent psychiatric hospital and of all
      2,260 psychiatric and psychotherapeutic inpatients in Berlin in October 2008.
      Relative frequencies of diagnostic categories were calculated for each setting
      and compared between the two settings using the Chi-square test. A descriptive
      analysis of differential diagnostic practice is used to explain differences in
      relative frequencies. RESULTS: Patients diagnosed with schizophrenia (59.3 vs.
      21.0%), with organic mental disorders (20.5 vs. 8.3%), with mental retardation
      (6.9 vs. 0.2%) and with neurasthenia (1.4 vs. 0.0%) had larger relative
      frequencies of the psychiatric inpatient population in Tashkent than in Berlin.
      Patients diagnosed with unipolar depression (24.1 vs. 0.9%), substance use
      disorder (17.4 vs. 6.4%), adjustment disorder (6.0 vs. 0.4%), schizoaffective
      disorder (4.9 vs. 0.0%), mania and bipolar disorder (5.3 vs. 0.4%), personality
      disorder (3.2 vs. 2.0%) and anxiety disorder (3.1 vs. 0.1%) had larger relative
      frequencies in Berlin than in Tashkent. The diagnostic concept of schizophrenia
      in Tashkent includes patients with affective psychoses, schizoaffective psychoses
      and delusional disorders. In Tashkent, mental disorders are more readily
      associated with organic brain disease such as head trauma or vascular disease
      than in Berlin. CONCLUSIONS: In Tashkent, most of the psychiatric inpatient
      capacities are used for the treatment of schizophrenia and organic mental
      disorders, whereas in Berlin patients with affective disorders, schizophrenia and
      substance use disorders are most commonly treated as inpatients. The differences
      can in part be explained by differential diagnostic traditions between the
      Russian/post-Soviet nosology and the use of the ICD.

PMID- 20936464
TI  - Developmental trajectories of child to adolescent externalizing behavior and
      adult DSM-IV disorder: results of a 24-year longitudinal study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Childhood externalizing behavior is found to be relatively persistent.
      Developmental pathways within types of externalizing behavior have been
      recognized from childhood to adolescence. We aimed to describe the prediction of
      adult DSM-IV disorders from developmental trajectories of externalizing behavior
      over a period of 24 years on a longitudinal multiple birth cohort study of 2,076
      children. This has not been examined yet. METHODS: Trajectories of the four
      externalizing behavior types aggression, opposition, property violations, and
      status violations were determined separately through latent class growth analysis
      (LCGA) using data of five waves, covering ages 4-18 years. Psychiatric disorders
      of 1,399 adults were assessed with the CIDI. We used regression analyses to
      determine the associations between children's trajectories and adults'
      psychiatric disorders. RESULTS: All externalizing behavior types showed
      significant associations with disruptive disorder in adulthood. In all antisocial
      behavior types high-level trajectories showed the highest probability for
      predicting adult disorders. Particularly the status violations cluster predicted
      many disorders in adulthood. The trajectories most often predicted disruptive
      disorders in adulthood, but predicted also anxiety, mood, and substance use
      disorders. CONCLUSIONS: We can conclude that an elevated level of externalizing
      behavior in childhood has impact on the long-term outcome, regardless of the
      developmental course of externalizing behavior. Furthermore, different types of
      externalizing behavior (i.e., aggression, opposition, property violations, and
      status violations) were related to different adult outcomes, and children and
      adolescents with externalizing behavior of the status violations subtype were
      most likely to be affected in adulthood.

PMID- 20936465
TI  - Study on species differences in nephropathy induced by FYX-051, a xanthine
      oxidoreductase inhibitor.
AB  - To clarify the toxicological aspects of FYX-051, a xanthine oxidoreductase
      inhibitor, which is currently being developed as a therapeutic agent against gout
      and hyperuricemia, we performed the study focused on species differences in FYX
      051-induced nephropathy. In the repeated toxicology testing by oral
      administration, nephropathy was seen at 1 mg/kg and more in rats and at 100 mg/kg
      in dogs, in contrast to no toxicity even at the practical maximum dose (300
      mg/kg) in monkeys. The HPLC and LC-MS/MS analyses of intrarenal deposits in dogs
      have proven that the entity was xanthine. The study on dose dependency of
      pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, urinary xanthine excretion, and kidney
      xanthine content by oral administration at 0.3, 1, and 3 mg/kg to rats revealed
      the involvement of xanthine in the occurrence of nephropathy, thus suggesting
      that plasma concentrations of FYX-051 can contribute to species differences.
      Regarding the possible factors of species differences, the daily urinary
      excretion of total purine metabolites was 30.5- and 6.3-fold greater in rats and
      dogs, respectively, than in monkeys. Urinary xanthine solubility was 2.3- and 6.3
      fold higher in dogs and monkeys, respectively, than in rats. Plasma
      concentrations of FYX-051 were fivefold higher in rats than in dogs and monkeys,
      without differences between the latter two species. Therefore, the present study
      indicated that species differences in nephropathy were produced by the combined
      effects of purine metabolism, urinary xanthine solubility, and plasma
      concentrations of FYX-051.

PMID- 20936467
TI  - Benefits of an international working exchange in pediatric cardiology.
AB  - This report describes a 1-year exchange between members of two pediatric
      cardiology centers: one in Canada and one in Australia. Five cardiologists
      participated in sequence, fully engaging in the activities of the host
      department. The motivation of the exchange was broadly educational including
      clinical experience, shared expertise, teaching, and research collaboration.
      Structured debriefing confirmed the value of the exchange. In addition to the
      experience of working in a different medical system, eight research papers were
      developed, with two research projects ongoing as well as subsequent exchanges of
      nursing and technical personnel. Interchange between two academic departments can
      add strength to both and allow development of new skills and research activity.

PMID- 20936466
TI  - Knockdown of caveolin-1 decreases activity of breast cancer resistance protein
      (BCRP/ABCG2) and increases chemotherapeutic sensitivity.
AB  - The ATP-binding cassette transporter breast cancer resistance protein
      (BCRP/ABCG2) is supposed to be a major determinant of the multidrug resistance
      phenotype of tumors by extruding chemically diverse cytostatic drugs out of tumor
      cells. BCRP physically and possibly also functionally interacts with caveolin-1
      (CAV1, encoded by Cav1), an integral membrane protein of lipid rafts important
      for signal transduction and membrane trafficking. Moreover, Cav1 is linked to an
      aggressive phenotype of cancer cells in various tumors. We therefore investigated
      whether Cav1 plays a functional role in the regulation of BCRP transport activity
      and in the resistance against chemotherapeutics that are BCRP substrates. As a
      cell model, we used the BCRP overexpressing cell line MDCKII-BCRP and the
      corresponding parental cell line MDCKII as a control. Cav1 expression was down
      regulated using retrovirus-mediated RNA interference technology. BCRP activity
      was assessed by pheophorbide A efflux assay and the resistance towards cytostatic
      drugs was measured by proliferation assays. Efficient knockdown of Cav1 reduced
      Cav1 expression by 85-95% and BCRP activity by 35%. Concurrently, it reduced
      resistance towards the BCRP substrate mitoxantrone but not towards vincristine, a
      chemotherapeutic that is not extruded by BCRP. Western blot analysis of gradient
      ultracentrifugation fractions and immunofluorescence demonstrates that BCRP
      localization within the plasma membrane was largely unaltered in Cav1-deficient
      cells compared to controls. The diminished BCRP function after Cav1 knockdown is,
      thus, likely mediated by alterations in protein-protein interactions and suggests
      a positive regulation of BCRP function by CAV1.

PMID- 20936468
TI  - Acquired toxoplasmosis after orthotopic heart transplantation in a sulfonamide
      allergic patient.
AB  - We report the case of a young adult with a history of an allergic reaction to a
      sulfonamide antibiotic who developed toxoplasmosis after his second orthotopic
      heart transplant. As a result of this drug allergy, the patient did not receive
      prophylaxis with trimethoprim and sulfamethoxazole. He was successfully treated
      with clindamycin, pyrimethamine, and folic acid.

PMID- 20936469
TI  - Electrophysiologic studies and radiofrequency catheter ablation of ectopic atrial
      tachycardia in children.
AB  - Ectopic atrial tachycardia (EAT) often resists medical therapy, making
      radiofrequency catheter ablation (RFCA) the preferred treatment. This study
      reviewed the records of 35 patients who underwent electrophysiologic studies
      (EPS) and 39 RFCA procedures for EAT during a 10-year period. Of the 35 patients,
      10 (28%) presented with decreased ventricular function and tachycardia-induced
      cardiomyopathy (TIC). The EAT originated on the right atrial side in 19 patients
      (54%) and on the left atrial side in the remaining 16 patients (46%). The right
      atrial sites included the right atrial appendage (RAA) (n = 9, 25%), the
      tricuspid annulus (n = 7, 20%), and the crista terminalis (n = 3). The left
      atrial sites included the left atrial appendage (LAA) (n = 6, 17%), the pulmonary
      veins (n = 5, 14%), the mitral annulus (n = 3), and the posterior wall of the
      left atrium (n = 2). The mechanism of all EAT probably is automaticity. All EATs
      could be abolished using RFCA. Follow-up data were available for all patients 2
      to 8 years after RFCA. All 35 patients remained recurrence free, and ventricular
      function improved for all 10 patients with TIC. The origin of EAT in children
      differed from its origin in adults. The authors conclude that RFCA is a safe and
      effective treatment option for children with refractory EAT and should be
      considered early in the course of their illness.

PMID- 20936470
TI  - Percutaneous device closure of a bifurcated inferior vena cava and completion of
      the Kawashima procedure for the "difficult" univentricular heart.
AB  - Azygos continuation of inferior venacava (IVC) is well known in association with
      interrupted IVC. We report azygos connection of uninterrupted IVC in a young
      child with complex univentricular heart. This peculiar anatomy was made suitable
      for univentricular repair by combining percutaneous device closure of prehepatic
      right limb of IVC and bidirectional Glenn shunt. The azygos vein acted as a
      conduit for IVC flow to superior venacava as in Kawashima's operation. This case
      highlights a rare IVC morphology. Also this innovative strategy allowed simple
      solution to a challenging problem and is first time described in the literature.

PMID- 20936471
TI  - Nature-inspired novel drug design paradigm using nanosilver: efficacy on multi
      drug-resistant clinical isolates of tuberculosis.
AB  - Despite discovery of the pathogen more than 100 years ago, tuberculosis (TB)
      continues to be a major killer disease worldwide. Currently a third of world
      population is infected and multiple-drug-resistant (mdr) TB registers maximum
      mortality by a single pathogen. Nanomedicine provides enormous opportunity for
      developing novel drugs. We have recently demonstrated surface-modified-lipophilic
      nanosilica as drug to combat malaria and 100% lethal virus, BmNPV. Nanosilver
      possesses inherent antibacterial properties, but toxicity is a major concern. We
      hypothesized that capping with nature-inspired biomolecules, bovine serum albumin
      (BSA) and Poly-n-vinyl-pyrrolidone (PVP) used as blood volume extender, might
      insure biosafety. BSA-nano-Ag was found to be more stable than PVP-nano-Ag at
      physiological pH. In this first ever study on clinical isolates collected from TB
      endemic areas, we report, BSA-nano-Ag act as potent anti-TB drug. Further study
      with (human serum albumin)-nano-Ag and core-shell-nano-Ag could increase the
      biocompatibility of oral TB drug formulations without compromising on the
      efficacy of the drug.

PMID- 20936472
TI  - Paracoccus beibuensis sp. nov., isolated from the South China Sea.
AB  - A Gram-negative, non-motile, short rod-shaped or spherical bacterial strain that
      accumulates poly-beta-hydroxybutyrate (PHB) granules was isolated from the Beibu
      Gulf in the South China Sea. Cells have no polar or subpolar flagella, dividing
      by binary fission. Phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed
      that the strain formed a monophyletic branch at the periphery of the evolutionary
      radiation occupied by the genus Paracoccus, family Rhodobacteraceae, order
      Rhodobacterales, class Alphaproteobacteria. The closest neighbours were
      Paracoccus aestuarii strain B7(T) (97.2% similarity), Paracoccus
      zeaxanthinifaciens ATCC 21588(T) (97.1% similarity) and Paracoccus homiensis DD
      R11(T) (96.8%). The predominant fatty acids were C(18:1) omega7c (82.1%), and
      significant amounts of C(18:0) (5.6%), C(10:0) 3-OH (2.3%) and C(16:0) (1.5%)
      were present. The predominant respiratory ubiquinone of strain JLT1284(T) was Q
      10 and the DNA G+C content of strain JLT1284(T) was 67.0 mol%. The isolate was
      also distinguishable from members of the genus Paracoccus on the basis of
      phenotypic and biochemical characteristics. It is evident from the genotypic,
      chemotaxonomic and phenotypic data, therefore, that strain JLT1284(T) represents
      a novel species of the genus Paracoccus, for which the name Paracoccus beibuensis
      sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is JLT1284(T)=LMG 24871(T)=CGMCC
      1.7295(T)).

PMID- 20936473
TI  - Rhodanobacter xiangquanii sp. nov., a novel anilofos-degrading bacterium isolated
      from a wastewater treating system.
AB  - A Gram-staining-negative, oxidase-positive, catalase-positive, non-motile, non
      spore-forming, and rod-shaped bacterium, designated BJQ-6(T), was isolated from
      activated sludge of a waste-water treatment plant in Jiangsu Province, China.
      Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain BJQ
      6(T) belonged to the genus Rhodanobacter, and shared 98.7% similarity with
      Rhodanobacter lindaniclasticus LMG 18385(T) and <97% similarities with other
      Rhodanobacter species. The major fatty acids were iso-C15:0 (17.6%), iso-C16:0
      (19.3%), and Summed feature 9 (isoC17:1 omega9c and/or C16:0 10-methyl) (25.8%).
      The DNA G+C content of strain BJQ-6(T) was 64.8 mol%. Based on the phenotypic and
      phylogenetic considerations, strain BJQ-6(T) represents a novel species of the
      genus Rhodanobacter, for which the name Rhodanobacter xiangquanii sp. nov. is
      proposed. The type strain is BJQ-6(T) (=CCTCC AB 2010106(T) =KCTC 23100(T)).

PMID- 20936474
TI  - Introduction of large DNA inserts into the barley pathogenic fungus, Ustilago
      hordei, via recombined binary BAC vectors and Agrobacterium-mediated
      transformation.
AB  - Genetic transformation of organisms with large genome fragments containing
      complete genes, with regulatory elements or clusters of genes, can contribute to
      the functional analysis of such genes. However, large inserts, such as those
      found on bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) clones, are often not easy to
      transfer. We exploited an existing technique to convert BAC clones, containing
      genomic DNA fragments from the barley-covered smut fungus Ustilago hordei to
      binary BACs (BIBACs) to make them transferable by the Agrobacterium tumefaciens T
      DNA transfer machinery. Genetic transformation of U. hordei with BAC clones using
      polyethylene glycol or electroporation is difficult. As a proof of concept, two
      BAC clones were successfully converted into BIBAC vectors and transferred by A.
      tumefaciens into U. hordei and U. maydis, the related corn smut fungi. Molecular
      analysis of the transformants showed that the T-DNA containing the BAC clones
      with their inserts was stably integrated into the U. hordei genome. A
      transformation frequency of approximately 10-4 was achieved both for U. hordei
      sporidia and protoplasts; the efficiencies were 25-30 times higher for U. maydis.
      The combination of in vivo recombineering technology for BAC clones and A.
      tumefaciens-mediated transformation of Ustilago species should pave the way for
      functional genomics studies.

PMID- 20936475
TI  - Severity of appendicitis correlates with the pediatric appendicitis score.
AB  - PURPOSE: The pediatric appendicitis score (PAS) has been used as a diagnostic
      tool for the assessment of acute abdominal pain. Our institution has utilized
      this scoring system as part of a clinical pathway for acute appendicitis. We
      sought to discover if the PAS could also serve as a prognostic indicator.
      METHODS: Patients treated within the clinical pathway were divided into three
      groups (A, B, and C) based on the PAS assigned on admission. Data pertaining to
      intraoperative findings and length of hospital stay were collected prospectively.
      RESULTS: In 4 months, 112 patients were enrolled in the study (median age 10.5,
      range 1-18). 69 of these patients underwent early laparoscopic appendectomy. For
      group A, 75% had simple appendicitis and 5% were complex. For group B, 68.4%
      patients had simple appendicitis and 26.3% were complex. For group C, 27.3% were
      simple and 63.6% were complex. Mean length of hospital stay increased from 1.63
      +/- 0.34 for patients in group A to 5.9 +/- 1.37 for patients in group C.
      CONCLUSION: Our observational data suggests that the PAS may be a prognostic tool
      for acute appendicitis. It thereby may impact on preoperative management and
      postoperative clinical pathways. A larger cohort is necessary to validate our
      findings.

PMID- 20936476
TI  - Use of multi-detector row CT for postoperative follow-up of biliary atresia
      patients with sequelae.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: To evaluate the usefulness of multi-detector row computed
      tomography (MDCT) in the postoperative long-term follow-up of biliary atresia
      (BA) patients for detection of esophagogastric varices due to portal hypertension
      and intrahepatic bile duct (IHBD) dilatations. Well-developed esophagogastric
      varices can cause unexpected life-threatening rupture and contribute to the
      progression of hepatopulmonary vascular diseases. Dilated IHBDs can trigger
      cholangitis. METHODS: After corrective surgery, 29 BA patients (median age 14
      years, range 6 months to 27 years) with suspected long-term sequelae underwent 16
      slice MDCT. Esophagogastric varices and IHBD dilatations were evaluated using
      reconstructed images. Detection rates for esophagogastric varices were compared
      between MDCT and endoscopic findings. Differences in detection rates for IHBD
      dilatations between MDCT and ultrasonography (US) were also investigated.
      RESULTS: Detection rates for esophageal varices did not differ significantly
      between MDCT and endoscopy, while three cases positive only on MDCT, including
      one with hepatopulmonary syndrome, showed conspicuous peri-esophageal varices
      deep in the esophageal wall. MDCT showed a significantly higher detection rate
      than endoscopy (p = 0.03) for gastric fundal varices. MDCT with the maximum
      intensity projection disclosed IHBD dilatations in 17 postoperative BA cases, 15
      out of which had past history of cholangitis, while US detected them in 6 cases
      (p = 0.003). In addition, MDCT was more advantageous for detecting IHBD
      dilatations, particularly those located in the posterior lobe. CONCLUSIONS: Among
      postoperative BA patients, compared to endoscopy, MDCT had comparable and
      superior detection rates for esophageal and gastric fundal varices, respectively.
      MDCT also precisely demonstrated the location and extent of IHBD dilatations. In
      long-term follow-up of BA patients, MDCT can help determine follow-up strategies.

PMID- 20936477
TI  - Gastric perforation after corrosive ingestion.
AB  - PURPOSE: To describe a series of children with gastric perforation (GP) after
      corrosive ingestion. METHODS: Case notes of children treated for GP complicating
      corrosive ingestion between May 2001 and April 2010 were retrospectively
      reviewed. RESULTS: Seventy-six children with corrosive ingestion were treated
      during the study period of which 5 (6.6%) developed GP. This complication was
      evident on admission in one case and developed within 48 h in the others. The
      major clinical findings were abdominal pain, tenderness, and distension with
      radiologic evidence of pneumoperitoneum. Associated pathology included necrosis
      of the abdominal esophagus in one case and duodenal perforation in another. Two
      cases have died during surgery while three survived with free of complications
      related to GP repair. Two patients developed gastric outlet obstruction (one with
      an esophageal stricture) on follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: GP is a rare but major
      complication of corrosive ingestion. Children who swallow corrosives should be
      closely monitored and pediatric surgeons should be aware of this potential early
      complication. The possibility of associated pathology should be considered when
      undertaking surgical repair.

PMID- 20936478
TI  - Isolation and identification of cancer stem cells from a side population of a
      human hepatoblastoma cell line, HuH-6 clone-5.
AB  - PURPOSE: It has been thought that the persistence of even a small number of tumor
      cells in the body may increase each tumor cell in a similar manner and may allow
      the disease to proceed. However, only a few percent of such tumor cells exist in
      cancerous tissue. They are called "cancer stem cells (CSCs)". If an alternative
      method of annihilating CSCs is found, it will greatly deter relapse and
      metastasis. We attempted to identify and separate CSCs in hepatoblastoma aiming
      to develop a new therapy for hepatoblastoma. METHODS: The side population (SP)
      method was used as an indicator when extracting the CSC candidate group from the
      hepatoblastoma cells. The SP cells and non-SP cells were studied for
      tumourigenesis. RESULTS: Although tumors were formed when SP fraction cells were
      inoculated into mice, tumor formation was not observed in non-SP cells. SP cells
      had higher tumor formation ability compared to non-SP cells. CONCLUSION: Cancer
      stem-like cells were separated by the SP fraction method from hepatoblastoma
      cells. The in vivo experiment proved that SP fraction cells inoculated into mice
      were self-replicated, and the existence of cancer stem-like cells was identified.

PMID- 20936479
TI  - Protection against increased intestinal permeability and bacterial translocation
      induced by intestinal obstruction in mice treated with viable and heat-killed
      Saccharomyces boulardii.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There are substantial evidences suggesting that probiotics can
      protect the gastrointestinal tract against inflammatory or infectious episodes.
      The effects of oral treatment with viable or heat-killed cells of Saccharomyces
      boulardii (Sb) on bacterial translocation, intestinal permeability, histological
      aspect of the ileum, and some immunological parameters were evaluated in a murine
      intestinal obstruction (IO) model. RESULTS: Bacterial translocation and
      intestinal permeability in the IO group were significantly higher when compared
      to a Sham group (p < 0.05). Pretreatment with both viable and heat-killed S.
      boulardii prevented these increases, and the data obtained for IO + Sb and IO +
      heat-killed Sb groups were similar to those observed in the Sham group (p >
      0.05). Histological analysis showed preservation of the ileum mucosa in mice that
      received both forms of the yeast when compared to the lesions observed in the IO
      group. The levels of serum interleukin (IL)-10 and intestinal secretory
      immunoglobulin A (sIgA) were higher in the animals that received both yeast
      treatments when compared to those from IO and Sham groups. CONCLUSION: Oral
      treatment with viable or heat-killed cells of S. boulardii maintained intestinal
      integrity and modulated the immune system in a murine IO model, preventing
      bacterial translocation and intestinal lesions.

PMID- 20936480
TI  - Patterns of microRNA expression in normal and early Alzheimer's disease human
      temporal cortex: white matter versus gray matter.
AB  - MicroRNA (miRNA) expression was assessed in human cerebral cortical gray matter
      (GM) and white matter (WM) in order to provide the first insights into the
      difference between GM and WM miRNA repertoires across a range of Alzheimer's
      disease (AD) pathology. RNA was isolated separately from GM and WM portions of
      superior and middle temporal cerebral cortex (N = 10 elderly females, postmortem
      interval < 4 h). miRNA profiling experiments were performed using state-of-the
      art Exiqon((c)) LNA-microarrays. A subset of miRNAs that appeared to be strongly
      expressed according to the microarrays did not appear to be conventional miRNAs
      according to Northern blot analyses. Some well-characterized miRNAs were
      substantially enriched in WM as expected. However, most of the miRNA expression
      variability that correlated with the presence of early AD-related pathology was
      seen in GM. We confirm that downregulation of a set of miRNAs in GM (including
      several miR-15/107 genes and miR-29 paralogs) correlated strongly with the
      density of diffuse amyloid plaques detected in adjacent tissue. A few miRNAs were
      differentially expressed in WM, including miR-212 that is downregulated in AD and
      miR-424 which is upregulated in AD. The expression of certain miRNAs correlates
      with other miRNAs across different cases, and particular subsets of miRNAs are
      coordinately expressed in relation to AD-related pathology. These data support
      the hypothesis that patterns of miRNA expression in cortical GM may contribute to
      AD pathogenetically, because the aggregate change in miRNA expression observed
      early in the disease would be predicted to cause profound changes in gene
      expression.

PMID- 20936481
TI  - Two-gun suicide by simultaneous shots to the head: interdisciplinary
      reconstruction on the basis of scene investigation, autopsy findings, GSR
      analysis and examination of firearms, bullets and cartridge cases.
AB  - Suicidal shots fired simultaneously to the head from two handguns are rare. The
      authors report about a recent case in which a Smith & Wesson cal. 9 mm pistol and
      a Smith & Wesson cal. .357 Magnum revolver were used. Sitting on a sofa, a 33
      year-old man (member of a shooting club) fired two simultaneous shots to the
      head; the pistol held in the left hand was discharged into the left temple, and
      the revolver held in the right hand was fired into the mouth. Both weapons
      remained in the respective hands. An upside-down muzzle imprint in the left
      temporal region and recoil injuries of a mandibular incisor, and the lower lip
      indicated that both the pistol and the revolver had been held in an inverted
      manner at the time of discharge. Blood stains (backspatter) and gunshot residues
      were present on both firing hands, whereas forward spatter originating from the
      exit wounds was deposited on the wall behind the suicide's head.

PMID- 20936483
TI  - Required decrement time to predict time of awaking in effect-site concentration
      can be estimated by using that in predicted blood concentration displayed on the
      commercial TCI pump.

PMID- 20936482
TI  - Glycemic control influences lung membrane diffusion and oxygen saturation in
      exercise-trained subjects with type 1 diabetes: alveolar-capillary membrane
      conductance in type 1 diabetes.
AB  - Lung diffusing capacity (DLCO) is influenced by alveolar-capillary membrane
      conductance (D (M)) and pulmonary capillary blood volume (V (C)), both of which
      can be impaired in sedentary type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) subjects due to
      hyperglycemia. We sought to determine if T1DM, and glycemic control, affected
      DLNO, DLCO, D (M), V (C) and SaO(2) during maximal exercise in aerobically fit
      T1DM subjects. We recruited 12 T1DM subjects and 18 non-diabetic subjects
      measuring DLNO, DLCO, D (M), and V (C) along with SaO(2) and cardiac output (Q)
      at peak exercise. The T1DM subjects had significantly lower DLCO/Q and D (M)/Q
      with no difference in Q, DLNO, DLCO, D (M), or V (C) (DLCO/Q = 2.1 +/- 0.4 vs.
      1.7 +/- 0.3, D (M)/Q = 2.8 +/- 0.6 vs. 2.4 +/- 0.5, non-diabetic and T1DM, p <
      0.05). In addition, when considering all subjects there was a relationship
      between DLCO/Q and SaO(2) at peak exercise (r = 0.46, p = 0.01). Within the T1DM
      group, the optimal glycemic control group (HbA1c <7%, n = 6) had higher DLNO,
      DLCO, and D (M)/Q than the poor glycemic control subjects (HbA1c >= 7%, n = 6) at
      peak exercise (DLCO = 38.3 +/- 8.0 vs. 28.5 +/- 6.9 ml/min/mmHg, DLNO = 120.3 +/-
      24.3 vs. 89.1 +/- 21.0 ml/min/mmHg, D (M)/Q = 3.8 +/- 0.8 vs. 2.7 +/- 0.2,
      optimal vs. poor control, p < 0.05). There was a negative correlation between
      HbA1c with DLCO, D (M) and D (M)/Q at peak exercise (DLCO: r = -0.70, p = 0.01; D
      (M): r = -0.70, p = 0.01; D (M)/Q: r = -0.68, p = 0.02). These results
      demonstrate that there is a reduction in lung diffusing capacity in aerobically
      fit athletes with T1DM at peak exercise, but suggests that maintaining near
      normoglycemia potentially averts lung diffusion impairments.

PMID- 20936484
TI  - Artificial total disc replacement versus fusion for the cervical spine: a
      systematic review.
AB  - Cervical total disc replacement (CTDR) has been increasingly used as an
      alternative to fusion surgery in patients with pain or neurological symptoms in
      the cervical spine who do not respond to non-surgical treatment. A systematic
      literature review has been conducted to evaluate whether CTDR is more efficacious
      and safer than fusion or non-surgical treatment. Published evidence up to date is
      summarised qualitatively according to the GRADE methodology. After 2 years of
      follow-up, studies demonstrated statistically significant non-inferiority of CTDR
      versus fusion with respect to the composite outcome 'overall success'. Single
      patient relevant endpoints such as pain, disability or quality of life improved
      in both groups with no superiority of CTDR. Both technologies showed similar
      complication rates. No evidence is available for the comparison between CTDR and
      non-surgical treatment. In the long run improvement of health outcomes seems to
      be similar in CTDR and fusion, however, the study quality is often severely
      limited. After both interventions, many patients still face problems. A
      difficulty per se is the correct diagnosis and indication for surgical
      interventions in the cervical spine. CTDR is no better than fusion in alleviating
      symptoms related to disc degeneration in the cervical spine. In the context of
      limited resources, a net cost comparison may be sensible. So far, CTDR is not
      recommended for routine use. As many trials are ongoing, re-evaluation at a later
      date will be required. Future research needs to address the relative
      effectiveness between CTDR and conservative treatment.

PMID- 20936485
TI  - Re-operation for persistent hemifacial spasm after microvascular decompression
      with the aid of intraoperative monitoring of abnormal muscle response.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Microvascular decompression (MVD) is the only solution
      that can effectively control hemifacial spasm (HFS). Regarding treatment of the
      patients who failed the first operation, it is still controversial. We tried to
      evaluate the safety and efficiency of the early re-exploration for such kinds of
      patients. METHODS: Thirteen patients failed the first MVD and received a second
      MVD procedure. The spasm was not resolved at all or became even more severe after
      the first MVD. Abnormal muscle response (AMR) persisted during the first MVD
      operation or disappeared once but emerged again. The patient had a strong will to
      do the re-operation and was aware of the high risks of operative complications.
      RESULTS: All the 13 patients got good or excellent spasm resolution immediately
      after the re-operation, which involved whole-range exploration and intraoperative
      AMR monitoring; however, there were two cases (15.4%) of permanent facial
      weakness and three cases (23.0%) of transient facial weakness. CONCLUSIONS: Our
      experience on early repeat MVD is whole-range exploration and intraoperative AMR
      monitoring; in other words, re-operation cannot rely too much on experience.

PMID- 20936486
TI  - Isolation, culture, and characterization of smooth muscle cells from human
      intracranial aneurysms.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Smooth muscle cells (SMCs) play a critical role in the vascular wall
      and also participate in vascular repair mechanisms. Dysfunction of SMCs may also
      contribute to the formation of intracranial aneurysms (IAs) causing subarachnoid
      hemorrhage. Our aim was to investigate the possibility of using cultured SMCs as
      an in vitro model for the study of aneurysmal SMCs. METHODS: IA tissue was
      obtained during microsurgical ligation of IAs. By using the explant method, cell
      cultures were established from the aneurysmal tissue. The phenotype of cultured
      cells from passage to passage was studied using immunoperoxidase staining and
      Western blotting. Eight cell lines could be established from 29 IA samples. Four
      lines showing most rigorous growth were investigated more thoroughly. RESULTS:
      Abundant expression of SMC markers, alpha-smooth muscle cell actin and calponin,
      as well as of prolyl-4-hydroxylases, a key enzyme family in the synthesis of
      collagens, was observed in all of them. Aneurysmal SMCs in culture maintained
      their phenotype and SMC characteristics through the early passages of growth.
      CONCLUSION: This is the first documented successful culture of SMCs from human
      IAs. An access to living human cells of aneurysmal origin gives us a new tool in
      our research of the formation, growth, and rupture of IAs.

PMID- 20936487
TI  - The association of aggrecan gene polymorphism with the risk of intervertebral
      disc degeneration.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Intervertebral disc degeneration is now considered to be genetically
      determined in large part, with environmental factors also playing an important
      role. The human is known to uniquely exhibit variable numbers of tandem repeat
      polymorphism within the aggrecan CS1 domain. To date, the analysis of aggrecan's
      variable numbers of tandem repeat polymorphism has given inconsistent results
      with respect to the correlation between the allele's size and intervertebral disc
      degeneration. We wanted to investigate the patterns of the variable numbers of
      tandem repeat polymorphism in the aggrecan CS1 domain of Koreans, and we analyzed
      the association between the polymorphism and intervertebral disc degeneration.
      METHOD: A total of 66 males and 38 females participated in this study. Their ages
      ranged from 13 to 73 years. Genomic deoxyribonucleic acid was extracted from
      blood samples and PCR was carried out to detect the alleles of the aggrecan gene.
      The subjects were evaluated on MRI and they were classified by the number,
      severity, and morphology of disc degeneration. FINDINGS: The genotyping
      identified 11 alleles ranging from 21 to 36 repeats. Alleles 13, 18, 19, and 20
      were not found in this study. Of the 104 subjects, 29 (28%) were homozygotes and
      75 (72%) were heterozygotes. Allele 27 (39%) was the most common form together
      with alleles 26 (26%) and 28 (14%). The allele 36 is the longest among the
      alleles ever discovered. For the case that the analysis was limited to subjects
      with the fourth decades or less, the 21 allele was significantly overrepresented
      among the persons with multilevel disc degeneration (p < 0.006). CONCLUSIONS:
      Carrying a copy of the allele with 21 repeats might increase the risk of multiple
      disc degeneration in the subjects below the age of 40 years.

PMID- 20936488
TI  - Utility of diffusion tensor-imaged (DTI) motor fiber tracking for the resection
      of intracranial tumors near the corticospinal tract.
AB  - PURPOSE: Treatment of intracranial tumors near the corticospinal tract remains a
      surgical challenge. Several technical tools to map and monitor the motor tract
      have been implemented. The present study aimed to assess the utility of diffusion
      tensor imaging (DTI) fiber tracking in the surgical treatment of motor eloquent
      tumors at our institution. METHODS: Patients operated for intracranial tumors
      close to the motor tract with the use of intraoperative image guidance including
      DTI fiber tracking of the corticospinal tract and intraoperative motor evoked
      potential (MEP) monitoring were analyzed. The intraoperative utility of fiber
      tracking data was analyzed. Furthermore, preoperative MRI scans with and without
      motor fiber tracking were reevaluated post hoc for tumor relation to the motor
      tract, estimated resectability, and best approach. Thereby, the utility of fiber
      tracking in surgical planning was assessed. RESULTS: Nineteen patients were
      analyzed. The estimation of tumor localization in relation to the motor tract and
      of resectability was not influenced by fiber tracking in any of the cases. Only
      in one single case did evaluating surgeons change their surgical approach after
      the addition of the fiber tracking data. In all cases, fiber tracking included in
      image guidance did not change the intraoperative strategy, while MEP monitoring
      did. CONCLUSIONS: DTI fiber tracking did not influence the surgical planning or
      the intraoperative course. However, it is still used at our institution due to
      its ease in acquisition and its potential impact in a larger series. Furthermore,
      more experience with this technique is required to lead to a technical
      improvement.

PMID- 20936489
TI  - Theoretical and experimental studies of vibrational spectra and thermodynamical
      analysis of 3'-bromopropiophenone and 4'-bromo-3-chloropropiophenone.
AB  - Quantum chemical calculations of molecular geometries, vibrational wavenumbers
      and thermodynamical properties of 3'-bromopropiophenone and 4'-bromo-3
      chloropropiophenone were carried out using Hartree-Fock (HF) and density
      functional theory (DFT) using hybrid functional B3LYP with 6-31 G (d,p) as basis
      set. The optimized geometrical parameters obtained by HF and DFT calculations are
      in good agreement with the experimental FTIR and FT Raman spectral datas. The
      observed and the calculated frequencies are found to be in good agreement. The
      experimental spectra also coincide satisfactorily with those of theoretically
      constructed simulated spectrograms.

PMID- 20936490
TI  - Local imipenem activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa decreases in vivo in the
      presence of siliconized latex.
AB  - Zinc eluted from siliconized latex (SL) increases resistance of Pseudomonas
      aeruginosa to imipenem in vitro. A foreign body peritonitis model was used to
      evaluate the activity of imipenem using SL or silicone (S) implants. No
      differences were observed in mortality, positive blood cultures and tissue
      bacterial counts between SL and S implants. Implant-associated counts, however,
      were significantly higher in the SL group. It is concluded that SL decreases the
      activity of imipenem against P. aeruginosa.

PMID- 20936491
TI  - Predicting the pathogen of diabetic toe osteomyelitis by two consecutive ulcer
      cultures with bone contact.
AB  - In this study, we investigate the accuracy of two consecutive ulcer cultures with
      bone contact compared to bone biopsy for the diagnosis of diabetic toe
      osteomyelitis. The same nurse and orthopaedic surgeon obtained all samples:
      sample A-1: bone contact swabbing through the ulcer; sample A-2: a second culture
      swabbing from the bone surface within 24 h; sample B: surgical bone biopsy in the
      operating theatre. The kappa statistic measure between samples A-1 and A-2 (bone
      contact swabs) indicated 82.35% agreement. The sensitivity, specificity, positive
      and negative predictive values of the two samples A compared to B were 96%, 79%,
      92% and 88%, respectively, for the causative pathogen. These results were similar
      with prior antibiotic treatment, discordant bone surface swabs or with
      monomicrobial infections. As a conclusion, two consecutive diabetic toe cultures
      with bone contact accurately predict the pathogen of diabetic toe osteomyelitis
      in 90% of cases.

PMID- 20936492
TI  - Utility of aptamer-fluorescence in situ hybridization for rapid detection of
      Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

PMID- 20936493
TI  - The effect of manuka honey on the structure of Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of manuka honey on the
      structural integrity of Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853. The minimum inhibitory
      concentration (MIC) and the minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) of manuka
      honey for P. aeruginosa were determined by a microtitre plate method, and the
      survival of bacteria exposed to a bactericidal concentration of manuka honey was
      monitored. The effect of manuka honey on the structure of the bacteria was
      investigated using scanning and transmission electron microscopy (SEM and TEM,
      respectively). The MIC and MBC values of manuka honey against P. aeruginosa were
      9.5% (w/v) and 12% (w/v) respectively; a time-kill curve demonstrated a
      bactericidal rather than a bacteriostatic effect, with a 5 log reduction
      estimated within 257 min. Using SEM, loss of structural integrity and marked
      changes in cell shape and surface were observed in honey-treated cultures. With
      TEM, these changes were confirmed, and evidence of extensive cell disruption and
      lysis was found. Manuka honey does not induce the same structural changes in P.
      aeruginosa as those observed in staphylococci. Our results indicate that manuka
      honey has the potential to be an effective inhibitor of P. aeruginosa.

PMID- 20936494
TI  - Molecular modeling of class I and II alleles of the major histocompatibility
      complex in Salmo salar.
AB  - Knowledge of the 3D structure of the binding groove of major histocompatibility
      (MHC) molecules, which play a central role in the immune response, is crucial to
      shed light into the details of peptide recognition and polymorphism. This work
      reports molecular modeling studies aimed at providing 3D models for two class I
      and two class II MHC alleles from Salmo salar (Sasa), as the lack of experimental
      structures of fish MHC molecules represents a serious limitation to understand
      the specific preferences for peptide binding. The reliability of the structural
      models built up using bioinformatic tools was explored by means of molecular
      dynamics simulations of their complexes with representative peptides, and the
      energetics of the MHC-peptide interaction was determined by combining molecular
      mechanics interaction energies and implicit continuum solvation calculations. The
      structural models revealed the occurrence of notable differences in the nature of
      residues at specific positions in the binding groove not only between human and
      Sasa MHC proteins, but also between different Sasa alleles. Those differences
      lead to distinct trends in the structural features that mediate the binding of
      peptides to both class I and II MHC molecules, which are qualitatively reflected
      in the relative binding affinities. Overall, the structural models presented here
      are a valuable starting point to explore the interactions between MHC receptors
      and pathogen-specific interactions and to design vaccines against viral
      pathogens.

PMID- 20936495
TI  - Prophylaxis for venous thromboembolism: guidelines translated for the clinician.
AB  - Venous thromboembolism is a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide and
      most often affects hospitalized postoperative surgical and medical patients.
      Venous thromboembolism prophylaxis undoubtedly improves the care of these
      patients, as demonstrated by the current literature and guidelines. Failure to
      prescribe prophylaxis when indicated, however, remains a vital health care
      concern. The American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP) published their most
      recent guidelines regarding venous thromboembolism prophylaxis in 2008. In this
      review, we aim to summarize the most recent ACCP prophylaxis guidelines with
      practical application and interpretation for the practicing physician. Here we
      present the most practical information from these guidelines and summarize
      essential recommendations in key tables. We will briefly review the grading
      system used in the guidelines for the level of evidence and the strength of the
      recommendation. We will then discuss the recommendations for prophylaxis in the
      various patient populations described in these guidelines including general and
      orthopedic surgery, gynecologic surgery, urologic surgery, thoracic surgery,
      neurosurgery, trauma, medical conditions, cancer patients, and critical care. In
      addition, we will discuss recent clinical trials regarding novel anticoagulants
      for venous thromboembolism prophylaxis and share some conclusions.

PMID- 20936496
TI  - Inhibition of ErbB2 by herceptin reduces viability and survival, induces
      apoptosis and oxidative stress in Calu-3 cell line.
AB  - Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (ErbB2) amplification and overexpression
      has been seen in many cancer types including non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
      Thus, ErbB2 is an important target for cancer therapies. Increased ErbB2
      expression has been associated with drug resistance in cancer cells. Herceptin is
      a humanized monoclonal antibody that targets the extracellular domain of ErbB2.
      In this study, we aimed to block ErbB2 signaling with Herceptin and assess
      cytotoxicity and effects on apoptosis, oxidative stress, nuclear factor kappa-B
      (NF-kB), and Survivin expression in Calu-3 cell line. 3-(4,5-dimethyl-2
      thiazolyl)-2,5-diphenyl-2H-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay were used to assess
      cell viability as a marker of proliferation. Acridine orange/ethidium bromide
      (AO/EB) staining and caspase 3/7 activity were measured as the markers of
      apoptosis. The relative expressions of NF-kB-p50 and Survivin mRNAs were
      evaluated. Activities of antioxidant enzymes such as superoxide dismutase (SOD)
      and catalase (CAT), and the levels of glutathione (GSH) and reactive oxygen
      species (ROS) were determined in a time- and dose-dependent manner. Our results
      show that Herceptin treatment inhibits cell proliferation and activates apoptosis
      but without effects on Survivin and NF-kB expression in Calu-3 cell line.
      Intracellular glutathione levels and SOD and CAT activities were decreased in a
      time- and dose-dependent manner associated with oxidative stress. Also, ROS were
      increased at 24 h. These results provide evidence that Herceptin can be used as a
      cytotoxic and apoptotic agent in NSCLC.

PMID- 20936497
TI  - Interleukin-1beta enhances the intracellular accumulation of cholesterol by up
      regulating the expression of low-density lipoprotein receptor and 3-hydroxy-3
      methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase in podocytes.
AB  - The aim of this article is to investigate whether interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta)
      could regulate the intracellular accumulation of cholesterol and the expression
      of lipid-metabolism-related regulators in podocytes in vitro and the potential
      mechanisms. Podocytes were treated with 200 MUg/ml of low-density protein (LDL),
      20 ng/ml of IL-1beta, or 200 MUg/ml of LDL plus 5-20 ng/ml of IL-1beta for 24 h
      in vitro. The contents of intracellular cholesterol were determined by enzymatic
      assays and Oil Red O staining. The levels of LDL receptor (LDLr), 3-hydroxy-3
      methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase, sterol regulatory element binding
      protein 2 (SREBP-2), SREBP cleavage activating protein (SCAP), and insulin
      induced gene-1 (Insig-1) expression were characterized by real-time polymerase
      chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Western blot assays. Treatment with IL-1beta or LDL
      alone increased the contents of intracellular cholesterol (P < 0.05 for both) and
      lipid droplets, and treatment with both IL-1beta and LDL further increased the
      accumulation of intracellular cholesterol in podocytes (P < 0.05 vs. LDL alone).
      While loading with LDL significantly inhibited the expression of LDLr, HMG-CoA
      reductase, nuclear SREBP-2 (nSREBP-2), SCAP, and Insig-1 by 40-62% treatment with
      IL-1beta enhanced the expression of LDLr, HMG-CoA reductase and nSREBP-2, but not
      Insig-1, in podocytes (P < 0.05 vs. control). Treatment with both LDL and IL
      1beta significantly increased the levels of LDLr and HMG-CoA reductase expression
      and the ratio of SCAP to Insig-1, as compared with that in the LDL-treated
      podocytes (P < 0.05 vs. LDL alone). Our data indicated that IL-1beta mitigated
      the LDL-triggered SCAP-SREBP-2-mediated feedback inhibition on the expression of
      LDLr and HMG-CoA reductase, leading to the intracellular accumulation of LDL
      cholesterol in podocytes in vitro.

PMID- 20936498
TI  - env1 Mutant of VPS35 gene exhibits unique protein localization and processing
      phenotype at Golgi and lysosomal vacuole in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
AB  - The yeast vacuole is functionally and structurally equivalent to the mammalian
      lysosome. Delivery of resident and cargo proteins to the lysosome is vital for
      proper cellular operations, and failure to correctly target proteins to the
      organelle is correlated with the development of neurodegenerative and lysosomal
      storage diseases. We previously reported a novel mutant screen for vacuolar
      trafficking defects in yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae that resulted in the
      isolation of env1, an allelic mutant of VPS35. As a member of the retromer
      complex, Vps35p binds directly to cargos and facilitates their retrograde
      transport to trans Golgi from endosomes. Our previous studies established that
      env1 exhibits unique pleiotropic phenotype in comparison to other tested VPS35
      alleles including severe growth sensitivity to hygromycin B and internal
      accumulation of the precursor form of the vacuolar enzyme carboxypeptidase Y.
      Here, through a combination of sub-cellular fractionation and indirect
      immunofluorescence microscopy, we confirm and extend the unique phenotype of env1
      to processing and localization of additional proteins within the vacuolar
      trafficking pathway. In comparative studies with a null and an allelic mutant of
      VPS35, env1 exhibited unique processing defects of retromer-independent vacuolar
      membrane enzyme alkaline phosphatase at the vacuole and significant Golgi
      localization of retromer cargos Vps10p and Kex2p despite compromised trafficking
      at the Golgi and late endosome interface.

PMID- 20936500
TI  - Sleep and delinquency: does the amount of sleep matter?
AB  - Sleep, a key indicator of health, has been linked to a variety of indicators of
      well-being such that people who get an adequate amount generally experience
      greater well-being. Further, a lack of sleep has been linked to a wide range of
      negative developmental outcomes, yet sleep has been largely overlooked among
      researchers interested in adolescent delinquency. The purpose of this study was
      to explore the relationship between hours of sleep and delinquent behavior among
      adolescents by using data from Wave 1 of the National Longitudinal Study of
      Adolescent Health (n = 14,382; 50.2% female, 63.5% white). A series of negative
      binomial regressions showed that youth who typically sleep seven or fewer hours
      per night reported significantly more property delinquency than youth who sleep
      the recommended 8-10 h. Further, youth who reported sleeping 5 or fewer hours per
      night reported significantly more violent delinquency than youth who reported
      sleeping the recommended number of hours per night. The findings suggest that
      sleep is an important, and overlooked, dimension of delinquent behavior and
      studies that focus on adolescent health should further investigate the effects of
      insufficient sleep. Finally, the authors recommend that sleep and other relevant
      health behaviors be considered in the context of more comprehensive approaches to
      delinquency prevention and intervention.

PMID- 20936499
TI  - A dyadic approach to understanding the relationship of maternal knowledge of
      youths' activities to youths' problem behavior among rural adolescents.
AB  - Most studies that explore parental knowledge of youths' activities utilize
      parents' and youths' reports separately. Using a sample of 938 rural early
      adolescents (53% female; 84% White), we explore congruence between mothers' and
      youths' perceptions of maternal knowledge and its association with youth problem
      behaviors (delinquency, substance use, and attitudes towards substances).
      Maternal overestimation of knowledge (compared to youths' ratings) was positively
      associated with delinquency and negatively associated with healthy drug
      attitudes. Significant differences in problem behaviors were found between four
      groups created based on mothers' and youths' level of knowledge (High Youth and
      Mother, High Youth/Low Mother, Low Youth/High Mother, and Low Youth and Mother).
      The High Youth and Mother group demonstrated less substance use and healthier
      drug attitudes than the Low Youth and Mother group. The Low Youth/High Mother
      group had significantly higher levels of substance use and delinquency than the
      High Youth and Mother group. Intervention implications are discussed.

PMID- 20936501
TI  - Utilization of village midwives and other trained delivery attendants for home
      deliveries in Indonesia: results of Indonesia Demographic and Health Survey
      2002/2003 and 2007.
AB  - This study aimed to examine factors associated with utilization of village
      midwife and other trained delivery attendants for home deliveries. Information
      from 14,672 cases of the most recent home deliveries of mothers in the 5 year
      period prior to the Indonesia Demographic and Health Survey 2002/2003 and 2007
      were analysed. Multinomial logistic regression analysis was performed. The
      association between 26 factors categorised into external environment,
      predisposing, enabling, need and previous utilization of maternal health
      services, and utilization of village midwife and other trained delivery
      attendants, such as nurses, other midwives and doctors, for home deliveries was
      examined. The population attributable risk of selected significant predictors was
      calculated. The odds of using village midwives and other trained delivery
      attendants at childbirth for home deliveries increased with increasing household
      wealth index and levels of parental education. The odds increased among first
      birth, mothers who were exposed to mass media, mothers with knowledge of delivery
      complications, and mothers who had any delivery complications. However, mothers
      who attended less than four antenatal care visits, who had high parity, or who
      reported distance and transportation to health facilities was a major problem,
      had significantly reduced odds for utilizing any trained delivery attendants.
      Health promotion strategies to raise community awareness about the importance of
      safe delivery should target low educated parents, mothers from low household
      economic status, as well as high parity mothers. Efforts to promote antenatal
      care visits are likely to increase utilization of trained delivery attendants for
      home deliveries in Indonesia.

PMID- 20936502
TI  - Genetic polymorphisms of sulfotransferases (SULT1A1 and SULT1A2) in a Turkish
      population.
AB  - Sulfotransferases (SULTs) play a significant role in the biotransformation of a
      variety of xenobiotics and endogenous compounds. SULTs are genetically
      polymorphic enzymes; to date, 12 human cytosolic SULT isoforms have been
      identified. This study investigated SULT1A1 and SULT1A2 gene polymorphism using a
      PCR-RFLP method (n = 303). The frequency of the SULT1A1*1 allele was 76.2% and
      SULT1A1*2 was 23.8%. The SULT1A1*3 allele could not be identified. The SULT1A2
      frequencies were 69.2% (SULT1A2*1), 18.3% (SULT1A2*2), and 12.5% (SULT1A2*3). The
      SULT1A1 and SULT1A2 loci were in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (SULT1A1 chi2 = 0.58,
      P = 0.44; SULT1A2 chi2 = 7.28, P = 0.06). Linkage analysis indicated a close
      linkage between these two genes (chi2 = 5.31, P < 0.01); therefore, the
      statistical hypothesis that SULT1A1 and SULT1A2 alleles are independently
      distributed was rejected. Additionally, a strongly positive linkage was detected
      between SULT1A1*2 and SULT1A2*2 alleles in this population (D' = 0.79, chi2 =
      33.33).

PMID- 20936503
TI  - Mercury exposure and survival in free-living tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor).
AB  - Mercury has become a ubiquitous contaminant in food chains worldwide. A large
      body of literature detailing bioaccumulation and effects on birds has revealed
      the potential for mercury to adversely impact avian physiology and reproduction.
      However, the extent to which these effects impair survival remains poorly
      understood. The objective of this study was to determine whether mercury exposure
      was associated with reduced annual survivorship in tree swallows (Tachycineta
      bicolor) breeding at a site with legacy industrial contamination. From 2005 to
      2008, we captured and marked 932 adult swallows. We used Cormack-Jolly-Seber
      models and an information-theoretic approach to test our hypotheses that adult
      survival varied by sex, breeding location, and cumulative individual mercury
      exposure. Blood mercury was significantly elevated on contaminated sites (2005
      2007 combined mean +/- SE: 2.84 +/- 0.09 MUg/g; reference: 0.17 +/- 0.01 MUg/g).
      Model-averaged estimates of female apparent survival ranged from 0.483 to 0.488
      on reference sites and 0.473 to 0.477 on contaminated sites. For males, apparent
      survival ranged from 0.451 to 0.457 on reference sites and 0.444 to 0.448 on
      contaminated sites. Thus, we observed approximately a 1% difference in survival
      between mercury-contaminated and reference sites. Such a small difference is
      unlikely to impact population viability in this short-lived species; however,
      some songbirds accumulate mercury to a greater degree than tree swallows and do
      not possess the migratory behavior that removes swallows to less contaminated
      areas for the majority of the year. Identifying whether such species are at risk
      of suffering biologically significant reductions in survival should become a
      focus of future research.

PMID- 20936504
TI  - Amyloid-beta decreases nitric oxide production in cultured retinal neurons: a
      possible mechanism for synaptic dysfunction in Alzheimer's disease?
AB  - The neurotoxicity of the amyloid-beta peptide (Abeta) appears to be, at least in
      part, related to pathological activation of glutamate receptors by Abeta
      aggregates. However, the downstream signaling pathways leading to
      neurodegeneration are still incompletely understood. Hyperactivation of nitric
      oxide synthase (NOS) and increased nitric oxide (NO) production have been
      implicated in excitotoxic neuronal damage caused by overactivation of glutamate
      receptors, and it has been suggested that increased NO levels might also play a
      role in neurotoxicity in Alzheimer's disease. We have examined the effect of
      blockade of NO production on the neurotoxicity instigated by Abeta42 and by
      elevated concentrations of glutamate in chick embryo retinal neurons in culture.
      Results showed that L-nitroarginine methyl ester, a potent inhibitor of all NOS
      isoforms, had no protective effect against neuronal death induced by either
      Abeta42 (20 MUM) or glutamate (1 mM). Surprisingly, at short incubation times
      both Abeta and glutamate decreased NO production in retinal neuronal cultures in
      the absence of neuronal death. Thus, excitotoxic insults induced by Abeta and
      glutamate cause inhibition rather than activation of NO synthase in retinal
      neurons, suggesting that cell death induced by Abeta or glutamate is not related
      to increased NO production. On the other hand, considering the role of NO in long
      term potentiation and synaptic plasticity, the decrease in NO levels instigated
      by Abeta and glutamate suggests a possible mechanism leading to synaptic failure
      in AD.

PMID- 20936505
TI  - Comparative sequence analysis of B5R gene of zoonotic buffalo pox virus isolates
      with other orthopoxviruses.
AB  - The present paper describes the isolation of buffalo pox virus from scab lesions
      and its molecular characterization through B5R gene sequencing. During our study,
      pustular pox lesions were observed on the teats and mammary parenchyma of cattle
      and buffaloes, and the disease was of significant zoonotic importance since
      similar lesions were produced on the hands, legs, and face of people in close
      contact with the affected animals. The collected scab materials were subjected
      for virus isolation in 9-11-day-old chicken embryos by the chorioallontoic
      membrane route and in the Vero cell line. The virus was confirmed by a sensitive
      and rapid diagnostic polymerase chain reaction using the primers that amplify "A
      type inclusion" gene, and further, B5R gene of the virus was sequenced and
      compared with the corresponding sequences of other orthopoxviruses. The results
      showed high sequence homology of our isolates with other orthopoxviruses.

PMID- 20936506
TI  - Response shift effect on gastrointestinal quality of life index after
      laparoscopic cholecystectomy.
AB  - PURPOSE: Traditional pre- and post-surgery quality of life assessments are
      inadequate for assessing change in health-related quality of life (HRQoL) after
      laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC). This study examined whether a response shift,
      a change in the internal standards of a patient, occurs in patients who have
      received LC. METHODS: Self-administered gastrointestinal quality of life index
      (GIQLI) was used to evaluate preoperative, postoperative, and retrospective
      postoperative HRQoL. Response shifts, unadjusted treatment effects, adjusted
      treatment effects, and their effect sizes were calculated. RESULTS: In all GIQLI
      domains, a significant response shift was indicated by the significantly higher
      pre-test scores compared to then-test scores (P < 0.05). The effect size of the
      response shift ranged from 0.19 for the physical impairment domain of the GIQLI
      to 0.49 for the total GIQLI score. It was observed the treatment effect was
      greater after adjusting for the presence of response shift. CONCLUSION: Patients
      who have received LC undergo a response shift that affects their outcome
      measurement at 6 months postoperative. Response shift is a potentially
      confounding factor and should be considered when designing clinical studies that
      employ self-administered HRQoL measures. This evidence of confounding effects
      warrants further study of response shift at longer intervals after LC, after
      other health care interventions, and in patients with varying preoperative health
      status.

PMID- 20936507
TI  - Ireland's potential MDR-TB and XDR-TB problem.

PMID- 20936508
TI  - Self-reported complication rates following primary total hip arthroplasty in
      Ireland: fact or fiction.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There are little data available on complication rates following
      primary total hip arthroplasty (THA) surgery in Ireland. AIMS: To determine self
      reported complication rates and national data for primary THA. METHODS: A postal
      questionnaire surveyed Irish orthopaedic association consultant members.
      Additional data were obtained from the economic and social research institute
      (ESRI). RESULTS: We achieved an 83% response rate. 5,424 THAs were self-reported.
      Mean dislocation rates were 1%, but higher using a posterior surgical approach (p
      < 0.05). Mean deep infection rates were 0.4%. 29% were MRSA. No reduction was
      reported from additional barrier prophylaxes. Mean venous thrombo-embolism (VTE)
      rates were 3.5%. No reduction was reported from commencing prophylaxis
      preoperatively or extending treatment duration. National rates for dislocation,
      deep infection and VTE were 25.7, 0.87, and <0.1%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The
      creation of a National Hip Register is strongly recommended. A register would
      improve surgical practices and patient outcomes, and provide significant
      healthcare savings.

PMID- 20936509
TI  - Dyslipidemia amongst obese children in national capital territory (NCT) of Delhi.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Childhood obesity is associated with unfavorable lipid profile. Obese
      children have increased risk of development of coronary heart disease (CHD) in
      adult life. There is lack of data on association of dyslipidemia with obesity in
      children from India, hence, the present investigation was undertaken. METHODS:
      Study was conducted in NCT of Delhi. Thirty schools in each of the 3 socio
      economic groups i.e., LIG, MIG and HIG were selected. From each school, 170
      children were included in the survey. A total of 16,585 children were studied.
      Anthropometric measurements of weight and height were taken using standard
      methodology Four hundred and fifty one obese children (cases) were identified
      using IOTF classification. Equal number of children, matched for age, sex and
      socio-economic status, with optimal body weight were selected as control. The
      blood samples were collected for lipid profile estimation. Same investigations
      were undertaken, both in cases and controls. RESULTS: In obese children, mean
      total cholesterol, triglyceride and LDL-C levels were significantly higher as
      compared to their matched controls (p<0.001). BMI was significantly correlated
      with lipid profile. CONCLUSIONS: Obesity amongst children was associated with
      unfavorable lipid profile.

PMID- 20936510
TI  - Chemical shift assignments for F-plasmid TraI (381-569).
AB  - TraI, the F plasmid-encoded nickase, is a 1,756 amino acid protein essential for
      conjugative transfer of F plasmid DNA from one bacterium to another. While
      crystal structures of N- and C-terminal domains of F TraI have been determined,
      central domains of the protein are structurally unexplored. These middle domains
      (between residues 306 and 1,500) are known to both bind single-stranded DNA
      (ssDNA) and unwind DNA through a highly processive helicase activity. Of this
      central region, the more C-terminal portion (~900-1500) appears related to
      helicase RecD of the E. coli RecBCD complex. The more N-terminal portion (306
      900), however, shows limited sequence similarity to other proteins. In an attempt
      to define the structure of well-folded domains of this middle region and discern
      their function, we have isolated stable regions of TraI following limited
      proteolysis. One of these regions, TraI (381-569), was identified and a genetic
      construct encoding it was engineered. The protein was expressed, purified, and
      the sequence-specific chemical shifts for it were assigned.

PMID- 20936511
TI  - NMR assignments for the Sinorhizobium meliloti response regulator Sma0114.
AB  - Response regulators are terminal ends of bacterial two-component systems that
      undergo extensive structural reorganization in response to phosphoryl transfer
      from their cognate histidine kinases. The response regulator encoded by the gene
      sma0114 of Sinorhizobium meliloti is a part of a unique class of two-component
      systems that employ HWE histidine kinases. The distinct features of Sma0114
      include a PFxFATGY motif that houses the conserved threonine in the "Y-T
      coupling" conformational switch which mediates output response through downstream
      protein-protein interactions, and the replacement of the conserved
      phenylalanine/tyrosine in Y-T coupling by a leucine. Here we present (1)H, (15)N,
      and (13)C NMR assignments for Sma0114. We identify the secondary structure of the
      protein based on TALOS chemical shift analysis, (3)J(HNHalpha) coupling constants
      and hydrogen-deuterium exchange. The secondary structure determined by NMR is in
      good agreement with that predicted from the sequence. Both methods suggest that
      Sma0114 differs from standard CheY-like folds by missing the fourth alpha-helix.
      Our initial NMR characterization of Sma0114 paves the way to a full investigation
      of the structure and dynamics of this response regulator.

PMID- 20936512
TI  - Organochlorine pesticide residues in inland wetland fishes of Karnataka, India
      and their implications on human dietary intake.
AB  - As part of a larger study assessing contamination status of inland wetlands of
      India, we evaluated the organochlorine pesticide (OCP) residues in fishes
      collected from different inland wetlands in Karnataka, India and their
      suitability for human consumption. Among the OCPs tested, isomers of
      hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) were the most frequently detected with beta- and
      gamma-HCH as the main pollutants. Average concentration of ?HCH and ?DDT ranged
      from 2.1 to 51.7 MUg/kg and below detection level to 12.3 MUg/kg respectively.
      Other organochlorine pesticides such as heptachlor epoxide, dieldrin and
      endosulphan were found at lower levels. Among various fish species tested, the
      higher pesticide burden was recorded in Anguilla bicolor bicolour (77.9 MUg/kg)
      and the lower was in Heteropneustes fossilis (2.1 MUg/kg). OCPs detected in the
      present study were well below the tolerance limits recommended for fishes. The
      calculated daily dietary intake of OCPs in all the species examined was lower
      than the maximum acceptable dietary intake (ADI) limits prescribed for human
      consumption. However, continuous monitoring is recommended to facilitate the
      early identification of risks.

PMID- 20936513
TI  - Evaluation of acute toxicity, cytotoxicity and genotoxicity of a nickel mining
      waste to Oreochromis niloticus.
AB  - The pyrometallurgical process of mining for obtaining ferronickel involves a
      stage of calcinations. At this stage a residue is generated described as a
      calcination dust of fine black grains. Analysis of this material revealed a
      significant presence of Fe, around 53,000 ppm and Ni, around 14,000, beyond of
      other metals as Al, Mn, and Cr. Adults and larvae of Oreochromis niloticus were
      used to evaluate acute toxicity, cytotoxicity and genotoxicity, and
      histopathological effects. The data obtained show absence of toxicity in
      concentrations of 5, 10 and 50% but a considerable potential for bioaccumulation
      in the fish's body.

PMID- 20936514
TI  - BPA and environmental estrogen in potable water sources in Enugu municipality,
      South-East, Nigeria.
AB  - BPA and environmental estrogen levels were assayed in potable water samples (38
      tap water, 36 well water, 18 river water and 24 rain water samples) that were
      randomly collected from the different parts of Enugu metropolis, south-east
      Nigeria. The mean +/- SD estrogen levels in tap, well, river and rain water
      samples were 0.10 +/- 0.09, 0.05 +/- 0.02, 0.05 +/- 0.02 and 0.05 +/- 0.02 MUg/L
      respectively. Also, the mean BPA levels (MUg/L) in the different water sources
      were 0.20 +/- 0.07, 0.21 +/- 0.07, 0.18 +/- 0.04, and 0.40 +/- 0.16,
      respectively. There was statistically significant difference (p = 0.0227) in BPA
      levels between the harvested rain water and the drinking tap water.

PMID- 20936515
TI  - Primary protrusio acetabuli in childhood.

PMID- 20936516
TI  - Paradoxic hypertrophy of the sciatic nerve.

PMID- 20936517
TI  - Langerhans cell histiocytosis with intrathymic calcifications and cavitation.

PMID- 20936518
TI  - Rapunzel syndrome.

PMID- 20936519
TI  - Prominent middle genicular artery.

PMID- 20936520
TI  - Dual-energy-CT of hypervascular liver lesions in patients with HCC: investigation
      of image quality and sensitivity.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate dual-energy CT of hypervascular liver lesions in
      patients with HCC. METHODS: Forty patients with hepatocellular carcinomas were
      investigated with abdominal dual-energy CT. In each patient unenhanced and
      contrast-enhanced imaging with arterial und portovenous delay were performed.
      Hypervascular lesions were documented on arterial phase 80-kVp images, 140-kVp
      images, and the averaged arterial images by two radiologists. Subjective image
      quality (5-point scale, from 5 [excellent] to 1 [not interpretable]) was rated on
      all images. RESULTS: The mean number of hypervascular HCC lesions detected was
      3.37 +/- 1.28 on 80-kVp images (p < 0.05), 1.43 +/- 1.13 on 140-kVp images (p <
      0.05), and 2.57 +/- 1.2 on averaged images. The image quality was 0.3 +/- 0.5 for
      80-kVp (p < 0.05), 1.6 +/- 0.5 for 140-kVp (p < 0.05) and 3.2 +/- 0.4 for the
      averaged images. CONCLUSION: Low-kVp images of dual-energy datasets are more
      sensitive in detecting hypervascular liver lesions. However, this increase in
      sensitivity goes along with a decrease in the subjective image quality of low-kVp
      images.

PMID- 20936521
TI  - Local neck symptoms before and after thyroidectomy: a possible correlation with
      reflux laryngopharyngitis.
AB  - Local symptoms in the neck such as swallowing and voice disorders, and throat
      discomfort might be related to a goiter if present, but are also reported by
      patients suffering from reflux laryngopharyngitis. The aim of our study was to
      investigate the presence of reflux laryngopharyngitis in patients with nodular
      goiter before and after uncomplicated total thyroidectomy (TT) using a
      prospective study in University Hospital setting. We considered 25 patients,
      affected by non-toxic nodular goiter and candidates for TT, who complained of
      local symptoms in the neck. All the patients were carefully interviewed, with
      emphasis on swallowing and voice disorders, throat discomfort and reflux-related
      symptoms and underwent a videolaryngoscopy (VLS) and a videofluoroscopic
      swallowing study (VFSS) before and 3 months after TT. Before thyroidectomy,
      reflux laryngopharyngitis-related alterations were present in 68 and 50% at VLS
      and VFSS, respectively. After thyroidectomy, the swallowing and voice disorders
      persisted in 79 and 75%, respectively, while throat discomfort persisted in 91%.
      The results show that patients with a non-toxic nodular goiter who complain of
      local neck symptoms, before surgery it is appropriate to see if a reflux
      laryngopharyngitis is present; VLS and VFSS could be indicated for this and if
      necessary an antireflux treatment should be administered.

PMID- 20936522
TI  - Dent's disease: clinical features and molecular basis.
AB  - Dent's disease is an X-linked recessive renal tubulopathy characterized by low
      molecular-weight proteinuria (LMWP), hypercalciuria, nephrocalcinosis,
      nephrolithiasis, and progressive renal failure. LMWP is the most constant
      feature, while the other clinical manifestations show wide variability. Patients
      also present variable manifestations of proximal tubule dysfunctions, such as
      aminoaciduria, glucosuria, hyperphosphaturia, kaliuresis, and uricosuria,
      consistent with renal Fanconi syndrome. Dent's disease affects mainly male
      children, and female carriers are generally asymptomatic. In two-thirds of
      patients, the disease is caused by mutations in the CLCN5 gene, which encodes the
      electrogenic chloride/proton exchanger ClC-5. A few patients have mutations in
      OCRL1, the gene associated with the oculocerebrorenal syndrome of Lowe, which
      encodes a phosphatidylinositol-4,5-biphosphate-5-phosphatase (OCRL1). Both ClC-5
      and OCRL1 are involved in the endocytic pathway for reabsorption of LMW proteins
      in the proximal tubule. This review will provide an overview of the important
      phenotypic characteristics of Dent's disease and summarize the molecular data
      that have significantly increased our comprehension of the mechanisms causing
      this disease.

PMID- 20936523
TI  - Acute kidney injury in childhood: should we be worried about progression to CKD?
AB  - While emerging evidence indicates that the incidence of both acute kidney injury
      (AKI) and chronic kidney disease (CKD) in children is rising and that the
      etiologies are dramatically changing, relatively little is currently known
      regarding the potential for transition from AKI to CKD. Major barriers to
      assessing for a potential AKI to CKD link have included lack of a standard
      pediatric AKI definition, narrow focus only on children with AKI who receive
      renal replacement therapy, and reliance on serum creatinine as the main biomarker
      to detect and diagnose AKI and CKD. Recent data have validated a multi
      dimensional AKI classification system for children and have suggested chronic
      kidney sequelae in pediatric populations with AKI or at risk for AKI. In
      addition, a number of novel AKI biomarkers are being rigorously validated as
      early indicators of incipient CKD. Our goals for this article are to (1) review
      the recent changes in pediatric AKI and CKD epidemiology, (2) explore the
      evidence for a potential AKI to CKD link, and (3) propose new clinical and
      research paradigms to better elucidate the progression from AKI to CKD.

PMID- 20936525
TI  - A new 18F-labeled BBN-RGD peptide heterodimer with a symmetric linker for
      prostate cancer imaging.
AB  - A peptide heterodimer comprises two different receptor-targeting peptide ligands.
      Molecular imaging probes based on dual-receptor targeting peptide heterodimers
      exhibit improved tumor targeting efficacy for multi-receptor expressing tumors
      compared with their parent single-receptor targeting peptide monomers. Previously
      we have developed bombesin (BBN)-RGD (Arg-Gly-Asp) peptide heterodimers, in which
      BBN and RGD are covalently connected with an asymmetric glutamate linker (J Med
      Chem 52:425-432, 2009). Although (18)F-labeled heterodimers showed significantly
      better microPET imaging quality than (18)F-labeled RGD and BBN monomers in a PC-3
      xenograft model which co-expresses gastrin-releasing peptide receptor (GRPR) and
      integrin alphavbeta3, tedious heterodimer synthesis due to the asymmetric nature
      of glutamate linker restricts their clinical applications. In this study, we
      report the use of a symmetric linker AEADP [AEADP = 3,3'-(2
      aminoethylazanediyl)dipropanoic acid] for the synthesis of BBN-RGD peptide
      heterodimer. The (18)F-labeled heterodimer ((18)F-FB-AEADP-BBN-RGD) showed
      comparable microPET imaging results with glutamate linked BBN-RGD heterodimers,
      indicating that the replacement of glutamate linker with AEADP linker did not
      affect the biological activities of BBN-RGD heterodimer. The heterodimer
      synthesis is rather easy and straightforward. Because tumors often co-express
      multiple receptors, the use of a symmetric linker provides a general method of
      fast assembly of various peptide heterodimers for imaging multi-receptor
      expressing tumors.

PMID- 20936524
TI  - Traumatic brain injury and recovery mechanisms: peptide modulation of
      periventricular neurogenic regions by the choroid plexus-CSF nexus.
AB  - In traumatic brain injury (TBI), severe disruptions occur in the choroid plexus
      (CP)-cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) nexus that destabilize the nearby hippocampal and
      subventricular neurogenic regions. Following invasive and non-invasive injuries
      to cortex, several adverse sequelae harm the brain interior: (i) structural
      damage to CP epithelium that opens the blood-CSF barrier (BCSFB) to protein, (ii)
      altered CSF dynamics and intracranial pressure (ICP), (iii) augmentation of
      leukocyte traffic across CP into the CSF-brain, (iv) reduction in CSF sink action
      and clearance of debris from ventricles, and (v) less efficient provision of
      micronutritional and hormonal support for the CNS. However, gradual post-TBI
      restitution of the injured CP epithelium and ependyma, and CSF homeostatic
      mechanisms, help to restore subventricular/subgranular neurogenesis and the
      cognitive abilities diminished by CNS damage. Recovery from TBI is facilitated by
      upregulated choroidal/ependymal growth factors and neurotrophins, and their
      secretion into ventricular CSF. There, by an endocrine-like mechanism, CSF bulk
      flow convects the neuropeptides to target cells in injured cortex for aiding
      repair processes; and to neurogenic niches for enhancing conversion of stem cells
      to new neurons. In the recovery from TBI and associated ischemia, the modulating
      neuropeptides include FGF2, EGF, VEGF, NGF, IGF, GDNF, BDNF, and PACAP.
      Homeostatic correction of TBI-induced neuropathology can be accelerated or
      amplified by exogenously boosting the CSF concentration of these growth factors
      and neurotrophins. Such intraventricular supplementation via the CSF route
      promotes neural restoration through enhanced neurogenesis, angiogenesis, and
      neuroprotective effects. CSF translational research presents opportunities that
      involve CP and ependymal manipulations to expedite recovery from TBI.

PMID- 20936526
TI  - Intravitreal bevacizumab for persistent macular edema with proliferative diabetic
      retinopathy.
AB  - To evaluate the effectiveness of an intravitreal bevacizumab injection on retinal
      neovascularization and diabetic macular edema (DME) refractory to laser
      photocoagulation therapy. Thirty-four eyes of 22 patients with proliferative
      diabetic retinopathy and DME refractory to laser photocoagulation therapy
      received an intravitreal injection of 1.25 mg/0.05 ml of bevazicumab. Changes in
      mean best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), central macular thickness (CMT),
      regression of neovascularization over time, and correlation between BCVA and CMT
      were evaluated. Follow-up visits were at weeks 1, 2 and 4 and months 3 and 6.
      Mean BCVA was significantly better than baseline only at week 2 (P = 0.036). Mean
      CMT decreased significantly from baseline at weeks 1, 2, and 4 (P = 0.001). At
      months 3 and 6, mean CMT increased, albeit insignificantly (P = 0.804 and P =
      1.0). The decrease in fluorescein leakage was moderate in all eyes at the end of
      week 1. At week 2, there was total resolution of fluorescein leakage in 24
      (70.5%) eyes and moderate resolution in 10 (29.5%) eyes. At the end of month 3,
      the fluorescein leakage was fully resolved in 5 (14.7%) eyes, moderately resolved
      in 24 (70.5%) eyes, and was similar to baseline in 5 (14.7%) eyes. At month 6,
      the fluorescein leakage was fully resolved in 3 (8.8%) eyes, moderately resolved
      in 20 (58.8%) eyes, and was similar to baseline in 11 (32.4%) eyes. A moderate
      but insignificant negative correlation was found between visual acuity and CMT (P
      > 0.05). Persistence or recurrence of neovascular tissue after panretinal
      photocoagulation may be attributed to the production of vascular endothelial
      growth factor by the residual ischemic retina, which also results in persistent
      or recurrent DME despite macular grid photocoagulation.

PMID- 20936527
TI  - Immunohistochemical and transcriptional expression of matrix metalloproteinases
      in full-term human umbilical cord and human umbilical vein endothelial cells.
AB  - Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are extracellular zinc-dependent endopeptidases
      involved in the degradation and remodelling of extracellular matrix in
      physiological and pathological processes. MMPs also have a role on cell
      proliferation, migration, differentiation, angiogenesis and apoptosis. Umbilical
      cord is a special organ subjected to many changes during pre-natal life and whose
      cells can maintain a certain degree of plasticity also in post-natal period; for
      example recently they have been used as a source of stem cells. In this work we
      investigated the expression of MMPs in human umbilical cord and human umbilical
      vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) though immunohistochemistry, RT-PCR and gelatin
      zymography. MMP-2 protein is expressed in the amniotic epithelium of human
      umbilical cord and in few sub-epithelial fibroblasts, while MMP-3 and MMP-10 only
      in the umbilical epithelium. MMP-8, MMP-9 and MMP-13 immunoreactivity is
      localised in the epithelium and in Wharton's jelly mesenchymal cells.
      Immunocytochemistry also revealed protein expression for MMP-2, 3, 8, 9 and 10 in
      cultured HUVEC. In agreement with immunohistochemical data, RT-PCR analysis
      performed on samples of whole umbilical cord confirmed the transcriptional
      expression for the genes encoding all the six matrix metalloproteinases
      investigated, while in HUVEC only the expression of MMP-2, 3, 9, 10 and 13 mRNAs
      was detected. Gelatin zymography showed a clear MMP-2 and MMP-9 enzymatic
      activity in the conditioned medium of HUVEC at different culture passages,
      suggesting that HUVEC secrete gelatinases, that afterwards undergo extracellular
      activation, and this ability is not affected by passage number.

PMID- 20936528
TI  - Iron intake and markers of iron status and risk of Barrett's esophagus and
      esophageal adenocarcinoma.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association between iron intake and iron status
      with Barrett's esophagus (BE) and esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC). METHODS: A
      total of 220 BE patients, 224 EAC patients, and 256 frequency-matched controls
      completed a lifestyle and food frequency questionnaire and provided serum and
      toenail samples between 2002 and 2005. Using multiple logistic regression, odds
      ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were calculated within
      quartiles of intake/status. RESULTS: Comparing the fourth to the first quartile,
      ferritin (OR 0.47; 95% CI: 0.23, 0.97) and transferrin saturation (OR 0.41; 95%
      CI: 0.20, 0.82) were negatively associated with BE; while total iron binding
      capacity was positively associated per 50 MUg/dl increment (OR 1.47; 95% CI:
      1.12, 1.92). Comparing the fourth to the first quartile, iron intake (OR 0.50;
      95% CI: 0.25, 0.98), non-heme iron intake per 10 mg/day increment (OR 0.29; 95%
      CI: 0.08, 0.99), and toenail iron (OR 0.40; 95% CI: 0.17, 0.93) were negatively
      associated with EAC; while heme iron intake was positively associated (OR 3.11
      95% CI: 1.46, 6.61). PRINCIPAL CONCLUSION: In contrast to the hypothesis that
      increased iron intakes and higher iron stores are a risk factor for BE and EAC,
      this study suggests that higher iron intakes and stores may have a protective
      association with BE and EAC, with the exception of what was found for heme iron
      intake.

PMID- 20936529
TI  - Toenail selenium status and the risk of Barrett's esophagus: the Netherlands
      Cohort Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association between selenium and the risk of
      Barrett's esophagus (BE), the precursor lesion of esophageal adenocarcinoma.
      METHODS: Data from the prospective Netherlands Cohort Study were used. This
      cohort study was initiated in 1986, when 120,852 subjects aged 55-69 years
      completed a questionnaire on dietary habits and lifestyle, and provided toenail
      clippings for the determination of baseline selenium status. After 16.3 years of
      follow-up, 253 BE cases (identified through linkage with the nationwide Dutch
      pathology registry) and 2,039 subcohort members were available for case-cohort
      analysis. Cox proportional hazards models were used to calculate incidence rate
      ratios (RR). RESULTS: The multivariable-adjusted RR for the highest versus the
      lowest quartile of toenail selenium was 1.06 (95% CI 0.71-1.57). No dose-response
      trend was seen (p trend = 0.99). No association was found in subgroups defined by
      sex, smoking status, body mass index (BMI), or intake of antioxidants. For BE
      cases that later progressed to high-grade dysplasia or adenocarcinoma, the RR for
      a selenium level above the median vs. below the median was 0.64 (95% CI 0.24
      1.76). CONCLUSIONS: In this large prospective cohort study, we found no evidence
      of an association between selenium and risk of BE.

PMID- 20936530
TI  - Traceless synthesis of diketopiperazine fused tetrahydro-beta-carbolines on
      soluble polymer support.
AB  - The Pictet-Spengler reaction, using polyethylene glycol immobilized tryptophan
      ester with a variety of ketones, was achieved by refluxing condition in acidic
      chloroform. The linear as well as cyclic ketones were employed. All the ketones
      were reacted within 6-8 h to furnish soluble polymer-supported tetrahydro-beta
      carboline in good yields. Further expansion at N-terminus of tetrahydro-beta
      carbolines was achieved through a reaction with chloroacetyl chloride. Finally,
      the 2,5-diketopiperazine skeleton was constructed over a beta-carboline by
      amination of the resulting N-chloroacetamides and subsequent intramolecular
      cyclization leading to cleavage of the polymer; constitutes a traceless synthesis
      of tetracyclic molecular architecture. Significantly, this strategy affords a
      straightforward and efficient approach for the construction of biological
      promising molecules with high purity and good yields.

PMID- 20936531
TI  - Toxic effect of tetracycline exposure on growth, antioxidative and genetic
      indices of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.).
AB  - INTRODUCTION: More attention has been paid to tetracycline contamination in view
      of its rapid increasing concentration in the environment. Therefore, it is
      important to set up rapid, simple, and accurate methods for monitoring
      tetracycline ecotoxicity. METHODS: In the present study, a hydroponics experiment
      was conducted to examine toxic effects of tetracycline at the concentration range
      of 0.5 to 300 mg L(-1) on growth, antioxidative, and genetic indices of wheat
      (Triticum aestivum L.). RESULTS: The results indicated that tetracycline at 0.5
      10 mg L(-1) could stimulate seed germination, cell mitotic division, and growth
      of wheat seedlings and did not induce a significant increase in the activity of
      antioxidative enzymes. However, tetracycline at the high concentrations (10-300
      mg L(-1)) could significantly inhibit these parameters in the concentration
      dependent manner, including germination percentage (>=100 mg L(-1)), shoot height
      (>=100 mg L(-1)), root length (>=50 mg L(-1)), and mitotic index (>=50 mg L(-1)),
      and increased the activity of antioxidative enzymes (>=25 mg L(-1)) in the dose
      dependent manner, including superoxide dismutase, catalase, and peroxidase.
      Tetracycline at 5 mg L(-1) and above significantly augmented chromosome
      aberration frequency and malondialdehyde (MDA) content. On the other hand, MDA
      has positive correlation with the inhibition rates of seed germination, root
      length, shoot length, mitotic index, and antioxidative enzyme activities.
      CONCLUSION: Tetracycline may have potential physiological, biochemical, and
      genetic toxicity to plant cells, and chromosome aberration and MDA might be
      sensitive bioindicators for tetracycline contamination than the other plant
      characteristics.

PMID- 20936532
TI  - Evaluating quality of life of patients with chronic liver disease: quest for a
      questionnaire.

PMID- 20936533
TI  - Atypical manifestations of hepatitis A in children.

PMID- 20936534
TI  - Parvovirus-mediated fetal cardiomyopathy with atrioventricular nodal disease.
AB  - Acute parvovirus B19 infection (API) in pregnancy has been associated with fetal
      anemia and hydrops fetalis. Direct myocardial damage from API in a fetus and an
      infant has been described. This report presents a case of fetal second-degree
      heart block and cardiomyopathy secondary to API. A 19-year-old G4P1112 (gravida 4
      para 2 with 1 term delivery, 1 preterm delivery, 1 termination, and 2 living
      children) was referred at 20 weeks gestation for fetal bradycardia. A 2:1
      atrioventricular block was identified by fetal echocardiography at 23 weeks.
      Hydrops developed at 25 weeks. Amniocentesis and percutaneous umbilical blood
      sampling demonstrated API. At 31 weeks, the patient presented with preterm labor
      and delivered a viable female infant, who died of poor cardiac function and
      arrhythmia on the first day of life. In addition to fetal anemia and hydrops
      fetalis, API in pregnancy may cause direct fetal myocardial damage and conduction
      system disease.

PMID- 20936535
TI  - Thoracic spinal cord herniation in a patient with long-standing ankylosing
      spondylitis.
AB  - The objective of this study was to describe an adult male patient with ankylosing
      spondylitis (AS) associated with thoracic spinal cord herniation (TSCH). TSCH is
      a scarce entity presented as a displacement of thoracic cord through an anterior
      or anterolateral dural defect. More importantly, the co-occurrence of AS and
      thoracic spinal cord herniation is exceptional. To date, only one case of SCH in
      association with AS has been reported in the literature. A 56-year-old male
      patient presented with the progressive difficulty in walking and numbness of both
      lower limbs for the past 18 months. The patient was diagnosed as AS when he was
      30 years old. Sagittal MRI of thoracic spine showed dural defect of the posterior
      aspect of T11 and 12 vertebral bodies. Axial T2-weighted MRI demonstrated that
      spinal cord was displaced ventrally and to the right. The diagnosis of TSCH with
      AS was established. The prognosis was explained to the patient. We recommended
      duraplasty for dural repair to the patient, but he refused surgery. The results
      demonstrated that TSCH associated with long-standing AS was very uncommon, and
      MRI is recommended to rule out SCH in the long-standing AS patients with
      neurologic symptoms. The SCH in AS might be caused by inflammation, and
      thoracolumbar hyperkyphosis results from AS might be associated with the
      development of SCH.

PMID- 20936537
TI  - The university and the responsible conduct of research.

PMID- 20936536
TI  - The transcriptional regulation of regucalcin gene expression.
AB  - Regucalcin, which is discovered as a calcium-binding protein in 1978, has been
      shown to play a multifunctional role in many tissues and cell types; regucalcin
      has been proposed to play a pivotal role in keeping cell homeostasis and function
      for cell response. Regucalcin and its gene are identified in over 15 species
      consisting of regucalcin family. Comparison of the nucleotide sequences of
      regucalcin from vertebrate species is highly conserved in their coding region
      with throughout evolution. The regucalcin gene is localized on the chromosome X
      in rat and human. The organization of rat regucalcin gene consists of seven exons
      and six introns and several consensus regulatory elements exist upstream of the
      5'-flanking region. AP-1, NF1-A1, RGPR-p117, beta-catenin, and other factors have
      been found to be a transcription factor in the enhancement of regucalcin gene
      promoter activity. The transcription activity of regucalcin gene is enhanced
      through intracellular signaling factors that are mediated through the
      phosphorylation and dephosphorylation of nuclear protein in vitro. Regucalcin
      mRNA and its protein are markedly expressed in the liver and kidney cortex of
      rats. The expression of regucalcin mRNA in the liver and kidney cortex has been
      shown to stimulate by hormonal factors (including calcium, calcitonin,
      parathyroid hormone, insulin, estrogen, and dexamethasone) in vivo. Regucalcin
      mRNA expression is enhanced in the regenerating liver after partial hepatectomy
      of rats in vivo. The expression of regucalcin mRNA in the liver and kidney with
      pathophysiological state has been shown to suppress, suggesting an involvement of
      regucalcin in disease. Liver regucalcin expression is down-regulated in tumor
      cells, suggesting a suppressive role in the development of carcinogenesis. Liver
      regucalcin is markedly released into the serum of rats with chemically induced
      liver injury in vivo. Serum regucalcin has a potential sensitivity as a specific
      biochemical marker of chronic liver injury with hepatitis. Regucalcin has been
      proposed to be a key molecule in cellular regulation and metabolic disease.

PMID- 20936539
TI  - Factors associated with condom use: economic security and positive prevention
      among people living with HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean.
AB  - In the Caribbean region, an estimated 1.1% of the population aged 15-49 is living
      with HIV. We aimed to measure factors associated with condom use, the primary
      form of positive prevention in the Caribbean, among people living with HIV
      (PLHIV) in its major agency advocating on behalf of PLHIV (the Caribbean Regional
      Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS, or CRN +). Condom use at last sex was
      selected for analysis from a broad-ranging cross-sectional survey (n=394) among
      PLHIV who were members of or received services from CRN+ in Antigua and Barbuda,
      Grenada, Trinidad and Tobago. PLHIV from CRN+ traced potential participants,
      administered informed consent procedures and carried out structured interviews.
      Fifty-four percent of respondents reported using a condom the last time they had
      sex. Condom use was positively associated with partner being HIV negative,
      disclosure of HIV status, alcohol use, economic security, education level and
      being employed. Multivariate logistic regression found independent associations
      between condom use and economic security (p=0.031; odds ratio (OR) for "enough"
      income 5.06; 95% CI 1.47-17.39), partner being HIV negative (p=0.036; OR 2.85;
      95% CI 1.28-6.33) and being married (p=0.043; OR 2.86; 95% CI 1.03-7.91). Seventy
      three percent of respondents reported inadequate family income, 26% reported an
      HIV-negative partner and 9% were married. Condom use appears to be motivated by
      protection of HIV-negative partners and spouses. Low socioeconomic status is
      associated with the overall percentage using condoms. Restriction to members of
      CRN+ limits generalisability of the findings. Nevertheless, the findings support
      the view that programmes for the socioeconomic empowerment of PLHIV are needed to
      slow the Caribbean HIV epidemic. Expectations for protection of different types
      of partners should be further explored in order to develop culturally appropriate
      interventions with couples.

PMID- 20936538
TI  - Attenuation of arthritis in rodents by a novel orally-available inhibitor of
      sphingosine kinase.
AB  - Pro-inflammatory cytokines like TNF-alpha activate sphingosine kinase (SK).
      Therefore, inhibition of SK is a potential molecular target for the treatment of
      rheumatoid arthritis. AIMS: The primary goal of this study was to assess the
      efficacy of ABC249640 (a selective SK-2 inhibitor) in two models of rodent
      arthritis. A secondary goal was to evaluate the pharmacological profile of
      ABC294640, when given in combination with methotrexate. METHODS: The efficacy of
      ABC294640 was determined by paw diameter/volume measurements, histological
      evaluations, and micro-CT analyses. RESULTS: ABC294640 attenuated both collagen
      induced arthritis in mice, as well as adjuvant-induced arthritis in rats. With
      the adjuvant arthritis model, the prophylactic efficacy profile of ABC294640 was
      similar to indomethacin. Of note, ABC294640 reduced the bone and cartilage
      degradation, associated with adjuvant-induced arthritis. Rats treated with a
      suboptimal dose of MTX (50 MUg/kg/day) in combination with ABC249640 (100
      mg/kg/day) had better anti-arthritis effects in the adjuvant model, than
      treatment with either agent alone. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that ABC249640
      is an orally available drug candidate with a good pre-clinical efficacy profile
      for the prevention and/or treatment of RA.

PMID- 20936540
TI  - Altruism motivates participation in a therapeutic HIV vaccine trial (CTN 173).
AB  - This is the first study examining motivation to participate in an HIV therapeutic
      vaccine trial of Remune and ALVAC. Trial participants (N=49) completed
      psychological measures at baseline. While 69% reported some personal risk in
      participating, 100% felt hopeful for societal benefits. Trial participants also
      reported high levels of existential well-being (e.g., "I believe there is some
      real purpose for my life"). Results suggest that HIV therapeutic vaccine trial
      participants are highly motivated by altruism and that participating in research
      may contribute meaning to living with HIV. Fostering altruism and responsibly
      promoting the societal benefits of research may facilitate trial participation.

PMID- 20936541
TI  - The impact of premarital HIV testing: a perspective from selected countries from
      the Arabian Peninsula.
AB  - Although voluntary HIV testing is still more dominant than the mandatory form, in
      accordance with the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and
      Centers for Disease Control recommendations, there are still millions of people
      who are mandatorily tested before marriage. This article presents policies toward
      mandatory premarital HIV testing (PHT) in selected Arabian Peninsula countries,
      focusing on details of the testing as experienced by high-school students, who
      were participants of a recent research study conducted in the United Arab
      Emirates. With a high acceptance for mandatory premarital and periodical marital
      HIV testing among young Emirates, showing a feeling of vulnerability to
      contracting the infection, possible explanations for such feelings is also
      discussed. The advantages and disadvantages of PHT are presented with a focus on
      Arabian Peninsula countries. The author concludes that while a positive PHT
      result may be socially isolating, the challenge in Arab countries is to stimulate
      efforts into shifting social norms toward a destigmatization of disease,
      acceptance, and support of HIV-infected persons with reference to religion and
      compassion. Recommendations, which consider the specific nature of Arab
      countries, predominately governed by Islamic laws are formulated. A PHT program
      could benefit from adequate legislation acts followed by education and counseling
      based on government policy, religious body support, and an involvement of NGOs
      and international agencies.

PMID- 20936544
TI  - Relationship between anxiety and dyspnea on exertion in patients with chronic
      obstructive pulmonary disease.
AB  - Dyspnea limits exercise in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
      (COPD) and is known to induce anxiety. Little is known whether anxiety
      contributes to exercise-induced dyspnea, which in turn might influence the
      outcome of diagnostic tests. The aim of the present study was to examine the
      relationship between general anxiety and dyspnea on exertion in patients with
      COPD. Ninety patients with stable COPD participated; 44 men, mean age 61
      (standard deviation (SD) 10.4), and mean forced expiratory volume in 1 second
      (%pred.) 40.5 (SD 16.9). All participants performed pulmonary function tests and
      an incremental cycle ergometry. The Modified Borg Scale was used to measure the
      level of dyspnea on exertion. Anxiety symptoms were assessed with the Hospital
      Anxiety and Depression Scale. Data were analyzed using Spearman's correlations
      and multivariate regression. Dyspnea on exertion was correlated with general
      anxiety (r=.31), age (r=-.30), and exercise capacity (r=.27). Regression analysis
      showed that general anxiety was associated with dyspnea on exertion, adjusted for
      sex, age, baseline dyspnea, and exercise capacity. Consequently, it is reasoned
      that results of exercise training and activities in daily living may be
      influenced negatively by anxiety-worsened dyspnea. Attention should be given to
      anxiety management in patients with COPD to optimize exercise training.

PMID- 20936545
TI  - The effects of perpetrator age and abuse disclosure on the relationship between
      feelings provoked by child sexual abuse and posttraumatic stress.
AB  - The present study examined the relationship between feelings provoked by child
      sexual abuse (CSA) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom scores in a
      sample of 163 female survivors of CSA. Finkelhor and Browne's traumagenic
      dynamics model was applied. The interactive effects of provoked feelings with
      perpetrator age and the existence of abuse disclosure were also studied. Results
      showed an overall relationship between feelings provoked by CSA and PTSD symptom
      scores. Feelings of stigma, betrayal, and powerlessness as a result of CSA were
      associated with PTSD symptom score when the entire group of CSA victims was
      analyzed. The role of traumatic sexualization was relevant only when analyzed in
      interaction with the age of the perpetrator and disclosure. The relationship
      between traumatic sexualization and PTSD symptom scores was only significant when
      the abuse was committed by an adult perpetrator and when a disclosure was made
      during the time of abuse, or a short time after the abuse had occurred.

PMID- 20936546
TI  - Retrospective and prospective time deficits in childhood ADHD: The effects of
      task modality, duration, and symptom dimensions.
AB  - Time estimation is believed to be an adaptive function in human life. In the
      present study, prospective and retrospective time estimation are studied in both
      clinical-referred school-aged children with ADHD-C and healthy community control
      children, while examining more specifically the effects of type of time
      estimation task, length of time intervals (i.e., ranging from 3-90 s), and
      continuous scaling of the main ADHD symptom clusters (i.e., inattention vs.
      hyperactivity/impulsiveness). On a prospective verbal time estimation test,
      children with ADHD-C showed significant more overestimation compared to controls.
      For the majority of short-to-medium time intervals, this overestimation was
      predicted only by the continuous levels of impulsiveness or a disturbed self
      regulation, indicating a dysregulation of the internal clock in ADHD. The same
      holds for the retrospective time estimation task. In contrast, an ADHD-related
      underestimation on the prospective time reproduction task was found for the
      longer intervals. In contrast to verbal time estimation, levels of inattention,
      and not the levels of impulsiveness, predicted underestimation on the time
      reproduction task. Our results point thereby towards parallel networks for
      regulating attention/working memory versus impulse regulation/inhibition as
      potential loci for dysfunction. These results are in contrast to the frequently
      cited global inhibitory executive function deficit hypothesis.

PMID- 20936547
TI  - Proximal predictors of depressive symptomatology: perceived losses in self-worth
      and interpersonal domains and introjective and anaclitic mood states.
AB  - Although much research has demonstrated a relationship between negative life
      events and depressive symptoms, relatively little research has examined the
      mechanisms that may mediate this relationship. The theories of Blatt (1974),
      Bowlby (1980), and Gilbert (1992) each propose proximal predictors of depression.
      In accordance with these theories, this study examined the relationships among
      perceived losses in self-worth and interpersonal relationships, anaclitic
      (dependent) and introjective (self-critical) mood states, and depressive symptoms
      following a significant negative life event. A sample of 172 undergraduate
      students completed measures of depressive symptoms and depressive vulnerability
      factors and retrospectively described the worst period of their lives. They also
      rated the extent to which the events surrounding this worst period affected their
      self-worth and their relationships with close others. Structural equation
      modeling demonstrated that the effect of a perceived loss of self-worth on
      depressive symptoms was fully mediated by both introjective and anaclitic mood
      states, whereas the effect of a perceived loss of interpersonal relationships on
      depressive symptoms was fully mediated by an anaclitic mood state. Additionally,
      perceived losses of self-worth showed a stronger effect on introjective mood in
      highly self-critical individuals. Findings highlight the importance of perceived
      losses in both self-worth and interpersonal domains in response to adverse life
      events and suggest pathways through which perceived losses may affect depressive
      symptoms.

PMID- 20936548
TI  - Point and interval estimates of effect sizes for the case-controls design in
      neuropsychology: rationale, methods, implementations, and proposed reporting
      standards.
AB  - It is increasingly common for group studies in neuropsychology to report effect
      sizes. In contrast this is rarely done in single-case studies (at least in those
      studies that employ a case-controls design). The present paper sets out the
      advantages of reporting effect sizes, derives suitable effect size indexes for
      use in single-case studies, and develops methods of supplementing point estimates
      of effect sizes with interval estimates. Computer programs that implement
      existing classical and Bayesian inferential methods for the single case (as
      developed by Crawford, Garthwaite, Howell, and colleagues) are upgraded to
      provide these point and interval estimates. The upgraded programs can be
      downloaded from www.abdn.ac.uk/~psy086/dept/Single_Case_Effect_Sizes.htm.

PMID- 20936550
TI  - The re-production of homosexually-themed discourse in educationally-based
      organised sport.
AB  - In this study, we draw on findings from one year of participant observation and
      12 in-depth interviews with men in a highly-ranked English university rugby team
      in order to nuance theoretical understandings concerning the re-production of
      homosexually-themed discourse in organised sport. We use ethnographic data to
      theorise the complex relationship between language, homosocial masculine
      relationships and organised sport. In examining the political, intentional and
      inadvertent effects of these men's discourses, we define and discuss the notion
      of gay discourse as a form of heteronormativity that is dissimilar to the
      traditional use of homophobic discourse. Highlighting that homosexually-themed
      discourse is best understood as a continuum, we stress the importance of context
      in interpreting the meaning and explicating the effects of this kind of
      discourse.

PMID- 20936551
TI  - Race, space, place: notes on the racialisation and spatialisation of commercial
      sex work in Dubai, UAE.
AB  - This paper focuses on the perceived racialisation and resultant spatialisation of
      commercial sex in Dubai. In recent years, the sex industry in Dubai has grown to
      include women from the Middle East, Eastern Europe, East Asia and Africa. With
      the increase in sex workers of different nationalities has come a form of
      localised racism that is embedded in structures and desires seen within specific
      locations. The physical spatialisation of sex work hinges on perceived race and
      produces distinct income generating potential for women engaged in the sex
      industry in Dubai. The social and physical topography of Dubai is important in
      marginalising or privileging these various groups of sex workers, which
      correlates race, space and place with rights and assistance. I begin with a
      description of the multidirectional flows of causality between race, space, place
      and demand. I then discuss how these various groups are inversely spatialised
      within the discourse on assistance, protection and rights. The findings presented
      here are based on ethnographic research conducted with transnational migrants in
      the UAE in 2004, 2008 and 2009.

PMID- 20936552
TI  - 'We are ordinary men': MSM identity categories in Tbilisi, Georgia.
AB  - Men who have sex with men remain largely absent from the health statistics of
      many Eastern European countries. This relative dearth compared to other parts of
      the world may be attributed to the generally hidden nature of this population.
      The tendency to employ Western sexual identity labels, rather than locally
      meaningful categories of identity, may also make it difficult to identify men who
      have sex with other men. In a pilot study of HIV risk in Tbilisi (Georgia), we
      used a suite of qualitative techniques - focus groups, individual semi-structured
      interviews and pile-sort exercises - to probe the opinions, knowledge and
      experiences of 65 Georgian men. We identified locally meaningful men-who-have-sex
      with-men types, demonstrating a complex intersectionality of sexual preference,
      socio-economic status, behaviour and geography. Positioning within these types
      appeared to impact a man's exposure to the social stigma of homosexuality; the
      sexual, physical and mental health risks that he faced; and his access to
      treatment and counselling. Our results suggest the use of imported identity
      categories limits researchers' ability to identify men who have sex with other
      men in Georgia and that further research aimed at elucidating locally meaningful
      categories is needed - research likely to lead to more-effective group
      interventions and facilitate a better understanding of holistic individual health
      needs.

PMID- 20936555
TI  - Bioaccumulation of cyanuric acid in edible tissues of shrimp following
      experimental feeding.
AB  - Due to concerns that cyanuric acid (CYA)-contaminated feed had been used in
      aquaculture and could enter the human food chain, a method to quantify CYA
      residues in the edible tissues of fish and shrimp was previously developed and
      validated. This paper provides further data on the deliberate feeding of CYA to
      shrimp to determine the extent of residue accumulation in edible tissue. Liquid
      chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) was employed for the analysis
      of CYA in shrimp tissue. Edible tissue of shrimp fed 1666 or 3333 mg kg-1 CYA in
      their diet (approximately 55 and 124 mg kg-1 body weight) contained 0.767 and
      0.406 mg kg-1 CYA, respectively. The residue levels are below the World Health
      Organization (WHO) tolerable daily intake level for CYA and are generally
      considered unlikely to pose a human health risk.

PMID- 20936556
TI  - Multiple-stage extraction strategy for the determination of deoxynivalenol in
      maize.
AB  - The effects of single- and multiple-stage extraction procedures on the extraction
      yield of deoxynivalenol (DON) from maize were studied. Naturally contaminated
      maize samples with different DON levels were used for analyses. In the multiple
      stage procedure, extraction of the ground samples was sequentially performed up
      to five times with water as the extraction solvent. The extraction yield of DON
      was determined for each stage. When the results obtained by single-stage
      extraction were compared with the results from multiple-stage extraction, there
      was a considerable difference between the extraction yields. The results showed
      that a single-stage procedure underestimated the concentration in maize by a
      factor of up to 24% depending on the initial DON level. The extractability was an
      exponential function, which could be used to optimize the multiple extraction
      conditions during the analysis of maize for DON. In general, two extraction steps
      were acceptable for the extraction of approximately 90% of DON from maize. In the
      study, the effect of extraction time on the extractability was also investigated.
      The samples were extracted for different times at room temperature by single
      stage extraction procedure. Although, 15-min extraction was more effective than
      the shorter or longer extraction procedures, the differences were not
      statistically significant (p > 0.05).

PMID- 20936557
TI  - Stability of the mycotoxin deoxynivalenol (DON) during the production of flour
      based foods and wheat flake cereal.
AB  - Deoxynivalenol (DON) is a mycotoxin found in cereal grains and cereal-based
      foods. DON concentrations in finished products are reduced under some processing
      conditions, but not others. DON concentrations in flour, wheat and selected foods
      made from them under commercially relevant conditions were compared by GC with
      electron capture detection. Average concentrations (n = 9/item) in cookies,
      crackers and pretzels ranged from 61% (cookies) to 111% (pretzels) compared with
      flour (100% = 0.46 MUg g-1). Lesser amounts were found in donuts and bread: their
      respective DON concentrations were 44% and 30% that of flour. Mass balance
      estimates for DON (MUg g-1 flour equivalents) ranged from 50% (bread = 0.23 MUg g
      1 flour equivalents) to 120% (donuts), indicating that dilution by recipe
      ingredients contributed to DON reductions in bread and accounted for all of the
      apparent reduction in donuts. Mass balance estimates averaged 76% (crackers) to
      107% (pretzels) for the other flour products. DON concentrations were higher in
      cereal flakes (0.55 MUg g-1 in the finished product and 0.58 MUmg g-1 on a mass
      balance basis) than in wheat (0.40 MUg g-1), suggesting that DON concentrations
      might increase during processing of wheat cereals under some conditions. In
      summary, DON concentrations of finished food products were reduced >= 50% only in
      bread and donuts. Reduction in bread resulted from a combination of DON 'loss'
      and dilution by recipe ingredients whereas the reduction in donuts was due
      entirely to dilution. These results are further evidence of DON stability during
      the preparation of popular flour or wheat-based products.

PMID- 20936558
TI  - Microfinance and HIV mitigation among people living with HIV in the era of anti
      retroviral therapy: emerging lessons from Cote d'Ivoire.
AB  - The effects of HIV/AIDS have been far-reaching in Africa. Beyond adverse health
      outcomes and the tremendous toll on life, AIDS has serious economic impacts on
      households, increasing livelihood insecurity while simultaneously depleting socio
      economic resources. Although microfinance is believed to have the potential to
      mitigate the economic impacts of HIV by helping affected households and
      communities better prepare for and cope with HIV-related economic shocks, little
      empirical research exists on this subject. This qualitative study examines the
      socio-economic impacts of economic strengthening activities on people living with
      HIV (PLHIV) in the era of increased access to anti-retroviral therapy to
      determine if savings-led, community-managed microfinance is a justified activity
      for HIV programmes. Findings from a village savings and loan programme,
      implemented by CARE International in Cote d'Ivoire, revealed that when
      appropriate medical treatment is available PLHIV are capable of participating in
      and benefit from microfinance activities, which increased HIV-positive clients'
      access to money and economic self-sufficiency. By bringing individuals with
      similar experiences together, savings and loan groups also acted as self-support
      groups providing psychosocial support while reducing stigmatisation and
      increasing members' sense of dignity and self-worth.

PMID- 20936559
TI  - Reduced verbal fluency for proper names in nondemented patients with Parkinson's
      disease: a quantitative and qualitative analysis.
AB  - There has been an increasing interest within neuropsychology in comparing verbal
      fluency for different grammatical classes (e.g., verb generation vs. noun
      generation) in neurological populations, including Parkinson's disease (PD).
      However, to our knowledge, few studies have compared verbal fluency for common
      nouns and proper names in PD. Common nouns and proper names differ in terms of
      their semantic characteristics, as categories of common nouns are organized
      hierarchically based on semantics, while categories of proper nouns lack a well
      defined semantic organization. In addition, there is accumulating evidence that
      the retrieval of these distinct grammatical classes are subserved by somewhat
      distinct neural systems. Given that verbal fluency deficits are among the first
      impairments to emerge in PD, and that such deficits are predictors of future
      cognitive decline, it is important to examine all aspects of verbal fluency in
      this population. For the current study, we compared the performance of a group of
      32 nondemented PD patients with 32 healthy participants (HP) on verbal fluency
      tasks for common nouns (animals) and proper names (boys' first names). A
      significant interaction between verbal fluency task and diagnostic status
      emerged, as the PD group performed significantly worse on only the proper name
      fluency task. This finding may reflect the absence of well-defined semantic
      organization that structures the verbal search for first names, thus placing a
      greater onus on strategic or "executive" verbal retrieval processes.

PMID- 20936560
TI  - Deriving the aquatic predicted no-effect concentrations (PNECs) of three
      chlorophenols for the Taihu Lake, China.
AB  - The Predicted No-Effect Concentration (PNEC) is a key for ecological risk
      assessment. In this paper, the aquatic species existing widely in the Taihu Lake
      were selected, and their toxicity data to 2,4-dichlorophenol (2,4-DCP), 2,4,6
      trichlorophenol (2,4,6-TCP) and pentachlorophenol (PCP) were collected. The PNECs
      of 2,4-DCP; 2,4,6-TCP; and PCP were derived using three different approaches,
      i.e., the assessment factor (AF), species sensitivity distribution (SSD) as well
      as an eco-toxicological model (AQUATOX). As the results, PNEC(AF)s were 2.18 MUg
      L(-1), 2.53 MUg L(-1) and 0.26 MUg L(-1), and PNEC(SSD)s were 77 MUg L(-1), 197
      MUg L(-1) and 10 MUg L(-1), respectively for 2,4-DCP; 2,4,6-TCP; and PCP
      respectively. Based on the aquatic conditions of the Taihu Lake, the derived site
      specific PNEC(AQUATOX)s were 15 MUg L(-1), 67 MUg L(-1) and 4 MUg L(-1),
      respectively. In general, the PNECs for three chlorophenols derived from
      different approaches followed the declined order of PNEC(SSD) > PNEC(AQUATOX) >
      PNEC(AF). The ratios of PNEC(AF) to PNEC(SSD) and PNEC(AQUATOX) to PNEC(SSD) for
      three chlorophenols were 0.013-0.028 and 0.19-0.4, respectively. It indicated
      that PNECs obtained using different approaches may vary and the one based on the
      AF was the lowest. Therefore, PNEC(AF) can be seen as overprotective. The
      PNEC(AQUATOX) values for three chlorophenols were less than the corresponding
      PNEC(SSD) values, mostly because the indirect effects were considered in the
      ecological model.

PMID- 20936561
TI  - Effect of traffic loading on particle-bound water-soluble ions and carbons
      collected near a busy road and at an urban site.
AB  - This study examines size-resolved particle-bound water-soluble ions and carbons
      (element carbon (EC) and organic carbon (OC)) collected near a busy road and at
      an urban site. The traffic-related fine and coarse particles were collected using
      two manual dichotomous samplers (Dichots) equipped with Quartz filters. The
      PM(2.5)/PM(2.5-10) value during rush hour (3.57) exceeded that during slack time
      (2.72). During weekdays and weekends, although the roadside PM(2.5) concentration
      correlated well with traffic flow (R(2)= 0.91 and 0.81, respectively), the
      roadside PM(2.5-10) concentration did not. The lowest second aerosol
      concentrations were observed from 19:00 to 21:00 during weekdays and weekends.
      The average content of total water-soluble ions in PM(2.5) was 30.7% and 35.7%
      for weekday and weekend samples, respectively (a total average of 33.2%). In
      PM(2.5), the content of NO(3)(-) (8.95-11.0%) exceeded that of SO(4)(2-) (7.08
      8.10%) at the roadside site. Conversely, the content of PM(2.5)-bound SO(4)(2-)
      was higher than that of PM(2.5)-bound NO(3)(-) at the urban site. The mean
      content of PM(2.5)-bound TC was 35.8%, while that of PM(2.5-10)-bound TC was
      15.9%. Moreover, the R(2) values of traffic flow versus PM(2.5)-bound EC
      concentration on weekdays and weekends were 0.89 and 0.56, respectively, and were
      0.82 and 0.38, respectively, for those of traffic flow versus PM(2.5)-bound OC
      concentration.

PMID- 20936562
TI  - Recombinant human AhR-mediated GUS reporter gene assays for PCB congeners in
      transgenic tobacco plants in comparison with recombinant mouse and guinea pig
      AhRs.
AB  - Four expression plasmids for recombinant human aryl hydrocarbon receptor (hAhR)
      consisting of a ligand binding domain of hAhR, a DNA-binding domain of LexA and a
      transactivation domain of VP16 as well as beta-glucuronidase (GUS) reporter genes
      were constructed. All the expression plasmids were transformed into tobacco
      plants. The selected transgenic tobacco plants were used to assay. PCB congeners
      showed GUS activity in a TEF-dependent manner. The selected transgenic tobacco
      plant XhD4V17 was compared with the transgenic tobacco plants XmD4V26 and XgD2V23
      containing recombinant mouse (m) AhR-mediated GUS reporter gene expression
      cassette and recombinant guinea pig (g) AhR-mediated GUS reporter gene expression
      cassette for PCB congener-inducible GUS activity. The data revealed that the
      tobacco plant XgD2V23 was the most active in PCB congener-inducible GUS activity.
      In a 1:1 mixture of PCB126 and PCB80 a reduced PCB126-induced GUS activity was
      observed in plant XgD2V23, which could possibly be due to interaction between
      PCB126 and PCB80.

PMID- 20936564
TI  - Tolerance to agricultural pesticides of strains belonging to four genera of
      Rhizobiaceae.
AB  - In order to determine their tolerance to pesticides, 122 strains of rhizobia
      isolated from different geographical regions, and belonging to the genera
      Rhizobium, Mesorhizobium, Sinorhizobium and Bradyrhizobium were tested against
      eight herbicides, four fungicides and five insecticides. Sensitivity to the
      pesticides was measured by using the filter paper disk method at four
      concentrations, 0.45, 4.5, 45 and 450 MUg per disk. When the pesticides were used
      at 0.45 MUg per disk, a concentration similar to that found when pesticides are
      applied under field conditions, no inhibition was observed. Strains growth was
      affected at concentrations of 45 and 450 MUg pesticide per disk. These higher
      concentrations can be encountered when seeds are treated with pesticides.
      Pesticides tolerance level was correlated to pesticide function, i.e rhizobial
      strains were more tolerant to insecticides, followed by herbicides and then
      fungicides. Two fungicides, captan and mancozeb, inhibited the highest number of
      strains. Only one insecticide, carbaryl, affected the growth of some rhizobial
      strains. Strains isolated from the arctic (Mesorhizobium spp. and R.
      leguminosarum bv. viciae), a putative pesticides-free environment, were either
      less or equally affected by pesticides compared to strains isolated from
      agricultural regions.

PMID- 20936563
TI  - Effects of biosurfactants on assays of PCB congeners in transgenic arabidopsis
      plants carrying a recombinant guinea pig AhR-mediated GUS reporter gene
      expression system.
AB  - The transgenic Arabidopsis plants carrying a recombinant guinea pig (g) aryl
      hydrocarbon receptor (AhR)-mediated beta-glucuronidase (GUS) reporter gene
      expression system were generated for assays of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB)
      congeners. The selected transgenic Arabidopsis plant XgD2V11-6 exhibited a
      correlation between uptake of PCB126 and PCB126-induced GUS activity. Also, the
      plants showed induced GUS activity towards the supplemental indole 3-acetic acid
      (IAA). Thus, the GUS assay may reflect induction by both endogenous and exogenous
      AhR ligands. When biosurfactants, MEL-B, produced in the culture of yeast
      isolated from plants were used for assays of PCB congeners in the transgenic
      Arabidopsis plants, they showed marked PCB126 dose-dependent and toxic
      equivalency factor (TEF) dependent GUS activities. The effects of biosurfactants
      were clearer when the plants were cultivated on soils containing PCB congeners
      for 7 days as compared with on soils for 3 days as well as in the medium for 3
      days. Therefore, it was estimated that biosurfactants form micellae with PCB
      congeners, which are easily uptaken by the plants in a mode of passive diffusion,
      transport into the aerial parts and then induce GUS activity.

PMID- 20936565
TI  - Solid-phase extraction for multi-residue analysis of pesticides in honey.
AB  - A fast and simple multi-residue method for the analysis of 15 organophosphorus
      (OP), 17 organochlorine (OC), 8 pyrethroids (PYR), 12 N-methyl-carbamate (NMC)
      pesticide residues and bromopropylate in honey is presented. Ready-to-use
      EXtrelutNT 20 column, eluted with dichloromethane, was used to extract the
      pesticide residues from the aqueous-acetone honey sample, obtaining a clean
      extract directly analyzable. Determination was carried out by gas chromatography
      (GC) coupled with flame photometric detector (FPD) for OP compounds and by GC
      coupled with mass spectrometry detector (MSD) for OC and PYR pesticides and
      bromopropylate. The NMC pesticides were analysed by liquid chromatography-double
      derivatization coupled with spectrofluorimetric detector (LC/DD/Fl). This method
      allows the determination of the 53 pesticide residues at low concentrations
      (0.0005-0.074 mg/kg) and can be used to assess the compliance with the Maximum
      Residues Levels (MRLs) set by the European Union. The performance of the method
      was evaluated and specificity, linearity, recovery, repeatability,
      reproducibility, limit of quantification (LOQ) and limit of detection (LOD) were
      determined. A good linearity (r(2)>= 0.99) was found in the range 0.0005-0.074
      mg/kg for the majority of the compounds studied. Most of the pesticides had
      recoveries in the range 70-103 % and values of relative standard deviation (RSD)
      < 20 for repeatability and reproducibility, showing good accuracy and precision
      of the method. Aldicarb partially degraded in aldicarb sulphoxide during the
      analytical procedure, giving anomalous values. The LOQ for all pesticides
      investigated was from 0.0005 to 0.025 mg/kg while the LOD ranged from 0.0002 to
      0.008 mg/kg.

PMID- 20936566
TI  - Hot or not: visceral influences on coping planning for weight loss attempts.
AB  - The current studies aimed to examine how either or not being hungry (hot vs. cold
      state) affects uninformed (i.e. without specific instructions) coping planning
      for maintaining goal-directed behaviour in weight loss attempts. We hypothesised
      that being hungry is beneficial both for (1) increasing awareness of potentially
      challenging situations and for (2) planning how to cope with these situations.
      The first hypothesis was supported, whereas the second was not, as it was found
      that satiated participants constructed better quality coping plans than hungry
      participants. It appears that awareness of potentially challenging situations
      when hungry does not necessarily translate into better coping planning. Although
      coping planning appears to be a promising strategy for maintaining goal-directed
      behaviour, future research should focus on visceral states to improve its use.

PMID- 20936567
TI  - Predictors of relationship adjustment among couples coping with a high risk of
      developing breast/ovarian cancer.
AB  - This study investigated the association between supportive and collaborative
      processes and dyadic adjustment in 94 women at increased risk of breast/ovarian
      cancer and their partners. Participants were recruited through two familial
      cancer clinics. They completed mailed, self-report questionnaires that included
      measures of psychological distress, dyadic adjustment (consensus, cohesion and
      satisfaction) and couple predictor variables (perceived support and team
      approach). Most couples reported average-to-high levels of consensus, cohesion
      and satisfaction, with a small proportion of couples (6.4%) reporting scores that
      reached clinically significant levels of dyadic distress. Greater perceived
      support was associated with better dyadic consensus and satisfaction, and dyadic
      cohesion and satisfaction were higher among couples who reported greater use of a
      team approach. General distress did not moderate the association between dyadic
      coping and relationship quality. There were no significant relationships between
      intra-couple congruence on support or team approach, and dyadic adjustment. Most
      couples had a functional relationship in the face of the current health stressor,
      although a subgroup may be at elevated risk of negative psychological
      consequences, including further relationship strain. The results highlight that
      dyadic coping strategies are important factors involved in the quality of
      couples' relationship following genetic counselling for breast/ovarian cancer
      risk.

PMID- 20936568
TI  - Medical school preadmission interviews: are structured interviews more reliable
      than unstructured interviews?
AB  - BACKGROUND: The medical education research literature consistently recommends a
      structured format for the medical school preadmission interview. There is,
      however, little direct evidence to support this recommendation. PURPOSE: To shed
      further light on this issue, the present study examines the respective
      reliability contributions from the structured and unstructured interview
      components at the University of Iowa. METHODS: We conducted three univariate G
      studies on ratings from 3,043 interviews and one multivariate G study using
      responses from 168 applicants who interviewed twice. RESULTS: Examining
      interrater reliability and test-retest types of reliability, the unstructured
      format proved more reliable in both instances. Yet, combining measures from the
      two interview formats yielded a more reliable score than using either alone.
      CONCLUSIONS: At least from a reliability perspective, the popular advice
      regarding interview structure may need to be reconsidered. Issues related to
      validity, fairness, and reliability should be carefully weighed when designing
      the interview process.

PMID- 20936569
TI  - Reliability of a structured interview for admission to an emergency medicine
      residency program.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Interviews are most important in resident selection. Structured
      interviews are more reliable than unstructured ones. PURPOSE: We sought to
      measure the interrater reliability of a newly designed structured interview
      during the selection process to an Emergency Medicine residency program. METHODS:
      The critical incident technique was used to extract the desired dimensions of
      performance. The interview tool consisted of 7 clinical scenarios and 1 global
      rating. Three trained interviewers marked each candidate on all scenarios without
      discussing candidates' responses. Interitem consistency and estimates of variance
      were computed. RESULTS: Twenty-eight candidates were interviewed. The
      generalizability coefficient was 0.67. Removing the central tendency ratings
      increased the coefficient to 0.74. Coefficients of interitem consistency ranged
      from 0.64 to 0.74. CONCLUSIONS: The structured interview tool provided good
      although suboptimal interrater reliability. Increasing the number of scenarios
      improves reliability as does applying differential weights to the rating scale
      anchors. The latter would also facilitate the identification of those candidates
      with extreme ratings.

PMID- 20936570
TI  - Code status discussions: agreement between internal medicine residents and
      hospitalized patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Medical residents frequently participate in code status discussions,
      yet their competency in this role has not been evaluated. PURPOSE: The objective
      is to determine the quality of code status discussions from the perspective of
      both resident and patient. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional survey of
      consecutive pairs of hospitalized patients and admitting residents at Mayo Clinic
      in March 2007. We measured perceptions of occurrence and content of code status
      discussions, admission volume, and demographic information. RESULTS: Among the 41
      matched pairs, residents and patients agreed that a code status conversation
      occurred in 63% of cases. Agreement was more likely if residents performed less
      than 4 admissions (p= .02). Patients reported the inclusion of specific
      discussion components, such as resuscitation procedures (7%) and outcomes (0%),
      less frequently than residents (71% and 27%, respectively, p< .001). CONCLUSIONS:
      Residents and patients demonstrated poor agreement on the occurrence and
      components of code status conversations. Residency programs should identify ways
      to enhance residents' competency in eliciting patients' code status preferences
      and provide adequate time for code status discussions.

PMID- 20936571
TI  - Development of an audit method to assess the prevalence of the ACGME's general
      competencies in an undergraduate medical education curriculum.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Despite the use of competency-based frameworks to evaluate
      physicians, the role of competency-based objectives in undergraduate medical
      education remains uncertain. PURPOSE: By use of an audit methodology, we sought
      to determine how the six Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education
      (ACGME) competencies, conceptualized as educational domains, would map onto an
      undergraduate medical curriculum. METHODS: Standardized audit forms listing
      required activities were provided to course directors, who were then asked to
      indicate which of the domains were represented in each activity. Descriptive
      statistics were calculated. RESULTS: Of 1,500 activities, there was a mean of
      2.13 domains per activity. Medical Knowledge was the most prevalent (44%),
      followed by Patient Care (20%), Interpersonal and Communication Skills (12%),
      Professionalism (9%), Systems-Based Practice (8%), and Practice-Based Learning
      and Improvement (7%). There was considerable variation by year and course.
      CONCLUSIONS: The domains provide a useful framework for organizing didactic
      components. Faculty can also consider activities in light of the domains,
      providing a vocabulary for instituting curricular change and innovation.

PMID- 20936572
TI  - The Texas A&M experience with class size and campus expansion: evaluation of
      first year using distance learning and on-site curriculum delivery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Texas A&M College of Medicine was traditionally a small 2+2
      institution where students spent 2 years on one campus for basic science study
      and 2 years on another campus for clinical study. PURPOSE: To answer calls for an
      increased physician workforce, we more than doubled our class size and our number
      of fully matriculating branch campuses. This article describes the 1st full
      year's experience with expansion. Distance learning was a key part of the
      experience. METHODS: After extensive planning and pilot study, 1st-year students
      were fully matriculated at 1 of 2 campuses. Year-end comparisons were made on
      students' achievement and a satisfaction questionnaire. RESULTS: No statistically
      significant differences were found on any achievement measures and only several
      questionnaire items. CONCLUSIONS: Expansion from the 2+2 system to 2 fully
      matriculating campuses with a larger student body was successful during its 1st
      year. Some persistent problems and planned solutions are reported.

PMID- 20936573
TI  - Dental students' attitudes and behavior toward smoking cessation as part of their
      professional education.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Dental professionals have a major role in promoting tobacco use
      cessation (TUC). PURPOSE: The objective is to assess dental students' knowledge,
      attitudes, behavior, and perception regarding their potential expected role.
      METHODS: Self-administered anonymous questionnaires were used for all students of
      the Jerusalem Dental Medicine School. RESULTS: Among 275 responding students, 17%
      reported smoking. Most students reported asking patients about smoking,
      counseling against smoking, and advising to quit. Only a minority reported
      providing antismoking educational material, suggesting nicotine replacements, and
      arranging follow-ups. Most students did not consider a list of suggested
      potential obstacles (lack of resources, not their role, etc.) as true barriers.
      Analysis by stage of studies revealed significant differences in reported TUC
      strategies and positive attitudes and decreases in perceived potential obstacles.
      CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate specific and practical areas for promoting
      antismoking intervention. Dental schools need to emphasize their role in
      preparing the next generation with a clear dedication toward TUC.

PMID- 20936574
TI  - Using standardized patients to assess professionalism: a generalizability study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Assessment of professionalism in undergraduate medical education is
      challenging. One approach that has not been well studied in this context is
      performance-based examinations. PURPOSE: This study sought to investigate the
      reliability of standardized patients' scores of students' professionalism in
      performance-based examinations. METHODS: Twenty students were observed on 4
      simulated cases involving professional challenges; 9 raters evaluated each
      encounter on 21 professionalism items. Correlational and multivariate
      generalizability (G) analyses were conducted. RESULTS: G coefficients were .75,
      .53, and .68 for physicians, standardized patients (SPs), and lay raters,
      respectively. Composite G coefficient for all raters reached acceptable level of
      .86. Results indicated SP raters were more variable than other rater types in
      severity with which they rated students, although rank ordering of students was
      consistent among SPs. CONCLUSIONS: SPs' ratings were less reliable and consistent
      than physician or lay ratings, although the SPs rank ordered students more
      consistently than the other rater types.

PMID- 20936575
TI  - Introduction of a direct observation program into a pediatric resident continuity
      clinic: feasibility, acceptability, and effect on resident feedback.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Direct observations of trainee performance are essential to the
      evaluation of clinical skills, and are now required by the Accreditation Council
      on Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). PURPOSE: We sought to describe the
      feasibility and acceptability of a direct observation program in a pediatric
      resident clinic, and evaluate its effect on feedback. METHODS: We modified the
      Structured Clinical Observation (SCO) for use in a pediatric resident clinic.
      Preceptors and residents were asked about the frequency and content of feedback
      given before and after the introduction of the observations. RESULTS: One-hundred
      sixty-six structured clinical observations were performed. Their use increased
      the frequency of feedback provided, and resulted in more feedback on listening
      skills and less feedback on medical knowledge and decision making. CONCLUSIONS:
      Structured clinical observations can be successfully introduced into a pediatric
      resident continuity clinic. This is a valuable supplement to the traditional
      precepting, and fulfills the mandate to include direct observations in the
      assessment of residents' clinical competence.

PMID- 20936576
TI  - Improving quality of NSAID prescribing by internal medicine trainees with an
      educational intervention.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Prescribing nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) for older
      adults is a safety concern. Education innovations in postgraduate training
      designed to improve patient safety should comply with the Accreditation Council
      for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). PURPOSE: The objective is to evaluate a
      seven-component education program for internal medicine trainees designed to
      change prescribing practices while addressing ACGME competencies. METHODS:
      Pretest, posttest data collection. RESULTS: The baseline chart review found that
      28.7% (79/275) patients age 70 or older were prescribed NSAIDs. Approximately 1
      year later, the proportion of patients prescribed NSAIDs had declined to 16.4%
      (30/183; p= .002). The proportion of patients prescribed NSAIDs in conjunction
      with a diuretic similarly declined from 13.6% (38/278) to 7% (13/187; p= .024).
      CONCLUSION: A systematically applied education program targeted to a specific
      prescribing pattern produced significant improvement among internal medicine
      trainees. This model may assist training programs in reducing polypharmacy, or in
      other areas of trainee practice.

PMID- 20936577
TI  - Evaluating pelvic examination training: does faculty involvement make a
      difference? A randomized controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: As medical schools continue to strive to deliver high quality
      education with diminishing resources, the need to evaluate long-standing teaching
      techniques becomes imperative. The use of gynecological teaching associates to
      teach pelvic exam skills to medical students is an example of an education
      intervention that deserves thorough evaluation. PURPOSE: The objective was to
      evaluate effects of two pelvic examination training methods on OB/GYN clerkship
      students with respect to costs, students' performance, and perception. METHOD:
      During the academic year 2007-08, 106 medical students were randomized to receive
      either pelvic examination training by a gynecological teaching associate (GTA)
      alone or a standardized patient (SP) accompanied by an obstetrics and gynecology
      faculty member. Students participated in an objective structured clinical exam
      (OSCE) and completed questionnaires regarding the educational intervention at the
      end of the clerkship. RESULTS: The two training methods produced comparable OSCE
      scores, and students in both groups felt more confident after training and found
      the training sessions to be valuable. There was a significant cost-savings
      associated with using GTAs for pelvic exam training. CONCLUSIONS: Faculty time
      and effort need not be utilized for pelvic exam training exercises, since using
      GTAs for pelvic exam training produces comparable results.

PMID- 20936578
TI  - Felder-Soloman's Index of Learning Styles: internal consistency, temporal
      stability, and factor structure.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Strategies to facilitate learning include using knowledge of
      students' learning style preferences to inform students and their teachers.
      PURPOSE: Aims of this study were to evaluate the factor structure, internal
      consistency, and temporal stability of medical student responses to the Index of
      Learning Styles (ILS) and determine its appropriateness as an instrument for
      medical education. METHODS: The ILS assesses preferences on four dimensions:
      sensing/intuitive information perceiving, visual/verbal information receiving,
      active/reflective information processing, and sequential/global information
      understanding. Students entering the 2002-2007 classes completed the ILS; some
      completed the ILS again after 2 and 4 years. RESULTS: Analyses of responses
      supported the ILS's intended structure and moderate reliability. Students had
      moderate preferences for sensing and visual learning. CONCLUSIONS: This study
      provides evidence supporting the appropriateness of the ILS for assessing
      learning style preferences in medical students.

PMID- 20936579
TI  - Including resident photographs on electronic evaluations: is a picture worth a
      thousand words?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Trends toward electronic course evaluation make it possible to
      personalize evaluations in many ways, such as including resident photographs. The
      purpose of the present project was to explore the impact of adding photos to
      electronic evaluations of residents by faculty. DESCRIPTION: T tests were used to
      examine faculty responses to determine if resident outcomes were affected by the
      inclusion/exclusion of photographs from the perspective of the resident receiving
      the evaluation and the faculty giving the evaluation. A qualitative analysis of
      comments was performed. EVALUATION: Almost no significant differences were found
      on the level of resident or faculty (all but one p> .05) Qualitative analysis of
      the comments did reveal common themes, but no significant differences were
      apparent between groups with/without photographs (all ps > .05). CONCLUSION:
      Including or excluding photographs on evaluation forms did not impact resident
      outcomes. Future study should explore the effect of elapsed completion time on
      resident evaluation.

PMID- 20936580
TI  - A "medical student practice profile" as the foundation for a case-based
      curriculum revision.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In 2001, the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern
      California initiated a major curriculum reform with fully integrated teaching of
      the basic sciences. DESCRIPTION: The new curriculum integrated a set of selected
      clinical cases called the student practice profile (SPP). The SPP cases were
      designed to (a) define the core target knowledge base and essential clinical
      experience of all graduating students, (b) to improve the relevance of basic
      science teaching, and (c) to serve as the overarching organizational structure
      for the 4-year curriculum. EVALUATION: Evaluation data demonstrated that
      implementation of the SPP project has been moderately successful and students
      have reported high exposure to the SPP cases and confidence in their ability to
      diagnose and manage problems. Improvement in teaching the basic sciences in a
      clinically relevant manner is suggested by a small continued improvement in USMLE
      scores since the SPP project was fully implemented. CONCLUSIONS: The SPP design
      represents a uniquely successful pathway to curriculum redesign.

PMID- 20936581
TI  - Integrated Cases Section: a course designed to promote clinical reasoning in year
      2 medical students.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Medical students often have difficulty applying basic science
      knowledge within clinical contexts as they transition into clerkships.
      DESCRIPTION: To enhance clinical reasoning skills in 2nd-year medical students,
      we developed a 7-week transition course called the Integrated Cases Section.
      Curricular instruction incorporated analytic and nonanalytic clinical reasoning
      models. Practice with variable case scenarios enhanced students' application of
      basic science knowledge to clinical problem solving. EVALUATION: We evaluated
      curricular design and objectives by measuring student perceptions during the
      course and following completion of 2 clerkship rotations. To obtain measurement
      of students' clinical reasoning ability we administered a script concordance test
      immediately before and after the course. CONCLUSIONS: Students reported increased
      confidence in their diagnostic reasoning ability during the course and after
      completion of 2 clerkships. Students' clinical reasoning showed a significant
      gain after the Integrated Cases Section on a script concordance test. Student
      support has solidified Integrated Cases Section in the curriculum.

PMID- 20936582
TI  - Getting started on your research: practical advice for medical educators.
AB  - Guidance and mentorship benefit faculty who having little or no background
      conducting research in medical education. From his experience the author suggests
      three characteristics that distinguish medical educators who are especially
      productive in their scholarly activities: intrinsic rather than extrinsic
      motivation, collaboration with colleagues, and the personal qualities of patience
      and organization. He then expands on these characteristics by offering practical
      advice in the form of eight tips for faculty seeking to acquire or improve their
      medical education research skills.

PMID- 20936583
TI  - Teaching bioethics: the tale of a "soft" science in a hard world.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although bioethics is considered essential to the practice of
      medicine, medical students often view it as a "soft" subject that is secondary in
      importance to the other courses in their basic science and clinical curriculum.
      This perspective may be a consequence of the heavy reliance on students' aptitude
      in the quantitative sciences as a criterion for entry into medical school and as
      a barometer of academic success after admission. It is exacerbated by the
      widespread impression that bioethics is imprecise and culturally relativistic.
      SUMMARY: In an effort to redress this imbalance, we propose an approach to
      teaching bioethics to medical students which emphasizes that the intellectual
      basis and the degree of certainty of knowledge is comparable in all medical
      subjects ranging from basic science courses to clinical rotations to bioethics
      tutorials. CONCLUSIONS: Adopting these pedagogical steps may promote greater
      integration of the various elements-bioethics and clinical science-in the medical
      school curriculum.

PMID- 20936584
TI  - Response to "Relationship between COMLEX and USMLE scores among osteopathic
      medical students who take both examinations".

PMID- 20936590
TI  - Naming digits in a semantic blocking paradigm.
AB  - It is widely agreed that word numerals are processed similar to other words, and,
      thus, they can be named without semantic mediation. However, there is no
      consensus about Arabic digits. Although digits seem to have a preferential link
      to magnitude representation, there is some evidence indicating a possible
      asemantic route to access phonological information. In the present study, we used
      a semantic blocking paradigm to explore this question. In Experiment 1,
      participants were asked to name digits and pictures or numeral words and name of
      objects in a semantic blocked context and in a mixed context. For both types of
      numerical notation we found facilitation in the blocked condition relative to the
      mixed condition. In Experiment 2, participants named two-digit numbers in a
      blocked condition (short numerical distance) or in a mixed condition (large
      numerical distance). Again, facilitation was found for the blocked condition
      relative to the mixed condition. This pattern of results seems to indicate that
      Arabic digits, like number words, might be named through an asemantic route.

PMID- 20936591
TI  - Reproducibility of limb power outputs and cardiopulmonary responses to exercise
      using a novel swimming training machine.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to determine the reproducibility of limb power
      outputs and cardiopulmonary responses, to incremental whole-body exercise using a
      novel swimming training machine. 8 swimmers with a mean age of 23.7 +/- 4.6
      (yrs), stature 1.77 +/- 0.13 (m) and body mass of 74.7 +/- 2.8 (kg) gave informed
      consent and participated in repeat exercise testing on the machine. All subjects
      performed 2 incremental exercise tests to exhaustion using front crawl movements.
      From these tests peak oxygen consumption (VO(2peak)), peak heart rate (HR(peak)),
      peak power output (W (peak)) and individual limb power outputs were determined.
      Results showed there were no significant differences between test 1 and 2 for any
      variable at exhaustion, and the CV% ranged from 2.8 to 3.4%. The pooled mean
      values were; VO(2peak) 3.7 +/- 0.65 L.min-1, HR (peak) 178.7 +/- 6.6 b.min-1 and
      W (peak) 349.7 +/- 16.5 W. The mean contributions to the total power output from
      the legs and arms were (37.3 +/- 4.1% and 62.7 +/- 5.1% respectively). These
      results show that it is possible to measure individual limb power outputs and
      cardiopulmonary parameters reproducibly during whole-body exercise using this
      training machine, at a range of exercise intensities.

PMID- 20936592
TI  - Association between the ACTN3 R577X polymorphism and female endurance athletes in
      China.
AB  - The alpha-actinin 3 ( ACTN3) gene is absent in 18% of healthy white individuals
      owing to homozygosity for a premature stop codon polymorphism (rs1815739) and is
      only expressed in the Z line of fast glycolytic muscle fibres. Previous studies
      have shown highly significant association between ACTN3 genotype and sprint/power
      performance, while the nonfunctional allele (577X) was believed to provide an
      advantage for endurance performance. In this study we tested whether XX genotype
      was over-represented in Chinese endurance athletes compared to the general
      population. In a study of 250 Chinese endurance athletes of provincial or
      national competitive standard and 450 controls, we proved that the ACTN3 XX
      genotype (21.2 vs. 15.8%; P=0.02) and X allele (51.3 vs. 41.1%; P=0.019) were
      significantly over-represented in female endurance athletes compared to controls,
      while no genotype-related differences were observed in male endurance athletes.
      Besides, the frequency of the ACTN3 XX genotype (28.6%) was the highest in a
      group of highly elite athletes compared with other groups, which supported the
      hypothesis that the absence of alpha-actinin-3 provided some sort of advantage
      for endurance athletes. Our results indicated that ACTN3 R577X polymorphism was
      associated with endurance performance in female athletes but not male athletes in
      China.

PMID- 20936593
TI  - [The use of DensiProbeTM in hindfoot arthrodesis. Can fusion failure be predicted
      by mechanical bone strength determination?].
AB  - AIM: Bone quality is a main factor in implant fixation. After having shown
      promising results, we have further investigated the use of the DensiProbeTM as an
      intraoperative measurement tool for evaluation of calcaneal bone quality and
      prediction of nailed hindfoot arthrodesis failure. METHOD: In this add-on study
      19 nail arthrodeses were performed using a conventional screw plus a locked blade
      (n = 6) or plus a locked screw (n = 13) in the calcaneus. A specially devised
      tool was inserted at the fixation sites of the screws and the cancellous break
      away torque was measured. The constructs were then cyclically loaded to failure.
      RESULTS: We saw a wide range of BMD (1.9-185.9 mgHA/cm3, mean 102.4 mg/cm3, SD
      53.5). The peak torque was 0.47-1.78 Nm (mean 0.92 Nm, SD 0.46) at the proximal
      screw site (PSS) and 0.24 and 1.2 Nm (mean 0.63 Nm, SD 0.37) at the distal screw
      site (DSS), respectively, and 0.42 and 1.52 Nm (mean 1.00 Nm, SD 0.36) in the
      screw plus blade group (PSS). The number of cycles correlated with peak torque
      (two screws group PSS: p = 0.002, r2 = DSS: 0.61 p = 0.001, r2 = 0.90; screw plus
      blade group PSS: p = 0.001, r2 = 0.99). Peak torque also correlated with BMD in
      both groups (two screws group PSS: p = 0.01, r2 = 0.71; DSS: p = 0.001; r2 =
      0.83; screw plus blade group PSS: 0.42 and 1.52 Nm, mean 1.00 Nm, SD 0.36).
      CONCLUSION: A mechanical bone measurement tool like the DensiProbeTM seems to be
      suitable for predicting tibiotalocalcaneal arthrodesis failure in a biomechanical
      test set-up. As a restriction in clinical practice failure is multifactorial and
      prediction cannot be based upon these measurements only.

PMID- 20936594
TI  - [Operative treatment of the unicompartmental knee arthritis - results of a
      nationwide survey in 2008].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Despite good long-term results of primary total knee arthroplasty, it
      is a commonly accepted aim to stave off joint replacement as long as possible,
      particularly in younger patients. In this situation the surgeon has to make a
      careful decision whether an arthroscopic procedure will be promising, a
      corrective osteotomy may be sensible or a joint replacement due to the patient's
      age is acceptable. High tibial osteotomy had become increasingly popular by use
      of the opened wedge technique combined with locking compression plates fixation
      in the past decades while it has been replaced step by step by total knee
      arthroplasty. In spite of this fact the German national agency of quality
      management (BQS) showed that the number of total knee replacements in Germany
      increased from 90 000 in 2003 to 146 000 in 2008. The share of unicompartmental
      knee replacements in this period doubled from 5.3 % to almost 10 %. The aim of
      the present study was to inquire current data regarding particular surgical
      treatment concepts of unicompartmental knee arthritis in Germany. MATERIAL AND
      METHODS: In a nationwide anonymous survey in May 2009 220 departments of
      orthopaedics and 230 departments of trauma surgery were asked about their
      treatment strategies in unicompartmental knee arthritis in middle-aged patients
      (30 to 60 years) with unilateral Outerbridge grade III-IV lesions. Overall 46
      questions in 6 subject areas (structure of the department, number of treated
      patients, surgical methods, anaesthesiological procedures, perioperative
      management, postoperative treatment) were posed. With regard to the item
      "operative treatment" we asked for the importance of arthroscopic procedures,
      corrective osteotomies and different procedures of joint replacement. The
      interpretation was done with invariant data analysis by indication of numerical
      frequency and percentage distribution of selected options. RESULTS:
      Questionnaires were returned by 51.1 % of the surveyed departments. This
      represents a total number of 76,028 procedures in unicompartmental knee arthritis
      in middle-aged patients. First of all, arthroscopic procedures were applied (50.4
      %), followed by knee replacements (43.4 %, of which 87.3 % were total knee
      replacements, 12.3 % unicompartmental knee replacements and 0.4 % tibial
      hemiarthroplasties) and corrective osteotomies (6.1 %). In 59.8 % of the 38,376
      arthroscopic procedures a microfracturing and in 28.2 % an abrasion arthroplasty
      was done. Most of the corrective osteotomies were performed at the proximal tibia
      (90.9 %) using an open wedge technique (73 %) and internal fixation with locking
      compression plates (72 %). 75.2 % of the responders performed cemented
      unicompartmental arthroplasties (97.8 %) with an average number of 23.2 per year.
      43.4 % believe that bicompartmental arthroplasty in case of additional affection
      of the femoropatellar joint is an option and 22.6 % believe in the expected
      advantages of patient-specific unicompartmental implants. Total knee
      arthroplasties are performed with an average of 197.4 per year, most frequently
      using the free-hand technique (85.5 %) and medial-parapatellar approach (82 %).
      Interpositional knee devices were only used in 9.1 % of responding departments
      with an average number of 6.6 per year. Only procedures with low difficulty level
      such as arthroscopies were done by residents in a higher number (16.9 %).
      Procedures with higher difficulty level were mainly done by consultants, senior
      or chief surgeons. CONCLUSION: In total, arthroscopic procedures still play an
      essential role in the treatment of unicompartmental knee arthritis prior to joint
      replacement. Total knee arthroplasty was preferred even though the number of
      unicompartmental knee replacements was only slightly increasing. Periarticular
      corrective osteotomies have gained in importance since the introduction of
      locking compression plates. Interpositional knee devices play a minor role in the
      treatment of unilateral knee arthritis in Germany.

PMID- 20936597
TI  - The ultrasound detection of simulated long bone fractures by U.S. Army Special
      Forces Medics.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: U.S. Army Special Forces Medics (18Ds) operate in austere
      environments where decisions regarding patient management may be limited by
      available resources. Portable ultrasound may allow for the detection of fractures
      in environments where other imaging modalities such as radiography are not
      readily available or practical. OBJECTIVE: We used a simulation training model
      for the ultrasound diagnosis of long bone fractures to study the ability of 18Ds
      to detect the presence or absence of a fracture using a portable ultrasound.
      METHODS: The fracture simulation model is composed of a bare turkey leg bone that
      is mechanically fractured and housed in a shallow plastic container within an
      opaque gelatin base solution. Five fracture patterns were created: transverse,
      segmental, oblique, comminuted, and no fracture. After a brief orientation
      session, twenty 18Ds evaluated the models in a blinded fashion with a SonoSite M
      Turbo portable ultrasound device for the presence or absence of a fracture.
      RESULTS: 18Ds demonstrated 100% sensitivity (95% CI: 94.2% to 100%) in fracture
      detection and an overall specificity of 90% (95% CI: 66.8-98.2%) due to two false
      positive assessments of the no fracture model. CONCLUSIONS: Using a portable
      ultrasound device, 18Ds were able to correctly detect the presence or absence of
      a simulated long bone fracture with a high degree of sensitivity and specificity.
      Future studies are needed to investigate the clinical impact of this diagnostic
      ability.

PMID- 20936598
TI  - Fracture detection in a combat theater: four cases comparing ultrasound to
      conventional radiography.
AB  - Ultrasound (US) is rapid, non-invasive, simple, effective, and presents a viable
      and practical alternative to conventional radiography (CR) for the Special Forces
      Medical Sergeant (18D), particularly in the deployed setting. The authors present
      four cases that illustrate the ability of US used by the 18D to detect fractures
      in a combat theater. This success invites a debate as to what extent the Special
      Operations Forces (SOF) community should field US as it demonstrates a number of
      distinct advantages over the existing gold standard of portable conventional
      radiography.

PMID- 20936599
TI  - Special operator level clinical ultrasound: an experience in application and
      training.
AB  - Over the past few decades, ultrasound has evolved from a radiology and
      subspecialist-centric instrument, to a common tool for bedside testing in a
      variety of specialties. The SOF community is now recognizing the relevancy of
      training medics to employ this technology for multiple clinical indications in
      the austere operating environment. In the Fall 2008 issue of Journal of Special
      Operations Medicine two of the authors described the concept of training SOF
      medics to employ portable ultrasound as a diagnostic aid. After over two years of
      concerted effort, the authors trained 29 out of 40 medics of a Special Forces
      battalion. Retrospective analysis of the quality assurance data for ultrasound
      studies conducted placed the 109 studies into six categories, allowing inference
      of trends in clinical indication for ultrasound exams as determined by the SOF
      medic-ultrasonographer. The resulting distribution suggests that indications for
      fractures and superficial applications are as prevalent as those for focused
      abdominal sonography in trauma (FAST) and pneumothorax exams. This analysis
      focuses on Special Operator Level Clinical Ultrasound (SOLCUS), an ultrasound
      training curriculum specifically for SOF medics, and helps appropriately
      prioritize its objectives. Despite the success of this experience, there are
      several issues requiring resolution before being able to integrate ultrasound
      training and fielding into the SOF medical armamentarium.

PMID- 20936600
TI  - Injury profile for airborne operations utilizing the SF-10A maneuverable
      parachute.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this investigation was to determine the injury profile of
      the steerable, SF-10A, static-line parachute. METHODS: The investigation
      evaluated prospectively 972 low-level static-line training jumps for major
      injuries that required CASEVAC from the drop zone and for minor injuries that
      allowed the jumpers to continue with their training mission. RESULTS: The
      investigation found overall injury rates to be 8.23 per 1000 jumps, with 2.03 per
      1000 jumps requiring CASEVAC. CONCLUSIONS: Overall attrition rates of the
      steerable SF-10A parachute were below those of previously reported non-steerable
      parachutes, suggesting further evaluation is warranted of maneuverable parachutes
      in all military services.

PMID- 20936601
TI  - Special Forces Medic (18D) and medical training.
AB  - As I retrace my journey through the Special Forces ranks as a Medical Sergeant
      (18D) and finally a Sergeant Major (18Z) in preparation for retirement, I find
      myself reading years of forgotten evaluations, citations, and awards. Some cause
      me to pause in an attempt to recall the particulars; others summon a smirk and
      laugh as I remember the fine men and women who played a very important role in
      making it happen. One particular Noncommissioned Officer Evaluation Report
      (NCOER) caused me to think, not that I had been immune to this before, but on
      this occasion, I was grappling with the words on the page. Had I truly been
      prepared to carry out the enormous strategic and operational scheme of maneuvers
      described before me? The words read:?Supervises and manages field medical
      activities in a conventional or unconventional warfare environment. Advises and
      provides tactical and technical guidance to the Detachment Commander, indigenous
      and allied personnel. Responsible for the planning, execution, and supervision of
      cross-training of detachment members in medical skills. In an unconventional
      warfare environment, instructs medical personnel; manages guerilla hospitals and
      field evacuation nets; coordinates the operation, interaction, and activities of
      medical facilities within an area of operation; manages a battalion-size troop
      medical clinic and its administrative and logistical support. Establishes a base
      stock of medical supplies and equipment, using internal or external procurement,
      storage, security, and distribution of those items. Coordinates veterinary
      training and support for an area requiring animal transportation or use. When
      directed, conducts operational and intelligence planning, preparation, and
      execution of detachment missions.?

PMID- 20936602
TI  - Surface grafting thermoresponsive PEO-PPO-PEO chains.
AB  - The objective of this study was to engineer surfaces comprising covalently bound
      polyethylene oxide-polypropylene oxide-polyethylene oxide (PEO-PPO-PEO) chains,
      able to coil and uncoil in aqueous media, as a function of temperature.
      Thermoresponsive surfaces can be used in diverse areas, such as tissue
      engineering and 'on-command' drug delivery. The grafting scheme was exemplified
      using a poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) film and started with the exposure of
      the substrate to plasma of ammonia, whereby amine groups were formed on the film.
      In the next stage, the amine moieties reacted with the hydroxyterminated
      thermoresponsive PEO-PPO-PEO triblocks via the hexamethylene diisocyanate (HDI)
      coupling agent. XPS analysis of the PET film after being exposed to plasma of
      ammonia revealed substantial amounts of nitrogen, as revealed by the sizeable N1s
      peak observed at 400.2 eV. A large increase in the C1s ether peak at 286.5 eV was
      apparent after binding the PEO-PPO-PEO triblocks to the substrate. These findings
      were confirmed by FTIR spectroscopy and supported by water contact angle
      measurements. PEO-PPO-PEO triblocks were chain extended by reacting them with
      HDI, whereby longer polyether urethane chains were formed. The long
      thermoresponsive chains produced (P-F127) were then tethered to the PET surface,
      following the procedure used to graft the shorter F127 triblocks. The
      thermoresponsiveness of the surface was demonstrated by measuring the water
      contact angle of the P-F127-containing surfaces as a function of temperature.

PMID- 20936603
TI  - Pediatric outcome of children with the prenatal diagnosis of isolated septal
      agenesis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Isolated Septal Agenesis (SA) is a rare disease with clinical
      outcomes (especially neurological outcomes) that are unknown. The purpose of this
      study was to evaluate the clinical outcome of these children. METHODS: We
      conducted a retrospective multicenter study of 17 children with an isolated SA or
      SA combined with a moderate ventricular dilatation (VD) that was diagnosed
      antenatally and confirmed by a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) performed in the
      antenatal period. RESULTS: Of the 17 children, 14 had normal neurological
      examinations, 2 had language development delay and visuo-spatial dyspraxia, and 3
      of the 17 children had behavioral problems. Eight children had neuropsychological
      evaluations, and the results were normal in six cases. There were 3 cases of
      septo-optic dysplasia (SOD) diagnosed postnatally, which highlighted the
      difficulties in assessing the optic tract and hypothalamic-pituitary region in
      antenatal imaging. Language delay and behavioral disorders were the main
      abnormalities at follow-up. CONCLUSION: The discovery of an isolated SA reveals
      the difficulties of prenatal diagnosis to correlate the neurological and
      functional prognosis to morphological findings. The prognosis seemed to be good.
      It appears necessary to improve the diagnostic performance of fetal brain imaging
      and to follow-up these children prospectively to assess their long-term cognitive
      behavioral outcomes.

PMID- 20936604
TI  - Prevention of type 1 diabetes: today and tomorrow.
AB  - The aim of therapeutic interventions for type 1 diabetes is to suppress
      pathogenic autoreactivity and to preserve/restore beta-cell mass and function to
      physiologically sufficient levels to maintain good metabolic control. During the
      natural history of type 1 diabetes, several strategies have been applied at
      various stages in the form of primary, secondary or tertiary prevention
      approaches. Clinical trials using antigen-specific (e.g. DiaPep277, human
      glutamic acid decarboxylase 65 (GAD65)) or non-specific immune therapies (e.g.
      anti-CD3 monoclonal antibodies) have shown some benefit in the modulation of the
      autoimmune process and prevention of the insulin secretion loss in the short term
      after diagnosis of diabetes. A single long-term effective therapy has not been
      identified yet, and it is likely that in most cases a rationally designed
      combinatorial approach using immunotherapeutic methods coupled with islet
      regeneration or replacement will prove to be most effective.

PMID- 20936605
TI  - A novel mechanism regulates H(2) S and SO(2) production in Saccharomyces
      cerevisiae.
AB  - Sulfite (SO(2) ) plays an important role in flavour stability in alcoholic
      beverages, whereas hydrogen sulfide (H(2) S) has an undesirable aroma. To
      discover the cellular processes that control SO(2) and H(2) S production, we
      screened a library of Saccharomyces cerevisiae deletion mutants. Deletion of 12
      genes led to increased H(2) S productivity. Ten of these genes are known to be
      involved in sulfur-containing amino acid metabolism, whereas UBI4 functions in
      the ubiquitin-proteasome system and SKP2 encodes an F-box-containing protein
      whose function is unknown. We found that the skp2 mutant accumulated H(2) S and
      SO(2) , because the adenosylphophosulfate kinase Met14p is a substrate of
      SCF(Skp2) and more stable in the skp2 mutant than in the wild-type strain.
      Furthermore, the skp2 mutant grew more slowly than the wild-type strain under
      nutrient-limited conditions. Metabolome analysis showed that the concentration of
      intracellular cysteine is lower in the skp2 mutant than in the wild-type strain.
      The slow growth of the skp2 mutant was due to a lower concentration of
      intracellular cysteine, because the addition of cysteine suppressed the slow
      growth. In the skp2 mutant, the cysteine biosynthesis proteins Str2p, Str3p and
      Str4p are more stable than in the wild-type strain. Moreover, supplementation
      with methionine, S-adenosylmethionine, S-adenosylhomocysteine and homocysteine
      also suppressed the slow growth. Overexpression of STR1 or STR4 caused a more
      severe defect in the skp2 mutant. These results suggest that the balance of
      methionine and cysteine biosynthesis is important for yeast cell growth. Thus,
      Skp2p is one of the key components regulating this balance and H(2) S/SO(2)
      production.

PMID- 20936607
TI  - Evidence-based health impact assessment (EBHIA): a situation report.
AB  - This research was carried out to ascertain the different types and sources of
      evidence commonly applied to the Health Impact Assessment (HIA) process in the
      United Kingdom; and to also examine the factors that influence the derivation and
      usage of the different types of evidence. A questionnaire survey of 52 HIA
      practitioners who had conducted a total of 103 HIAs over a 3-year period was
      carried out, followed by semi-structured interviews of 11 practitioners to gain
      deeper insights into the questionnaire findings. Ten different sources of
      evidence were seen to have been applied to the HIA process. Literature review was
      discovered to be the most commonly utilized source of evidence, having been used
      by 37 out of 52 practitioners (71.2%) and in 83.5% of the 103 HIAs. Engagement
      with local residents was second in terms of usage by practitioners (69.2%) and
      expert opinion was third, having been used by 67.3% of respondents. Other sources
      of evidence included completed HIA reports, survey, modelling and Delphi
      exercises. The findings point to efforts to ensure that predictions are grounded
      on robust sources of evidence, although several issues need to be addressed in
      the pursuit of evidence-based HIA (EBHIA).

PMID- 20936606
TI  - A vector set for systematic metabolic engineering in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
AB  - A set of shuttle vectors was constructed to facilitate expression of genes for
      metabolic engineering in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Selectable markers include the
      URA3, TRP1, MET15, LEU2-d8, HIS3 and CAN1 genes. Differential expression of genes
      can be achieved as each marker is available on both CEN/ARS- and 2 u-containing
      plasmids. Unique restriction sites downstream of TEF1, PGK1 or HXT7-391 promoters
      and upstream of the CYC1 terminator allow insertion of open-reading frame
      cassettes for expression. Furthermore, a fragment appropriate for integration
      into the genome via homologous recombination can be readily generated in a
      polymerase chain reaction. Vector marker genes are flanked by loxP recognition
      sites for the CreA recombinase to allow efficient site-specific marker deletion
      and recycling. Expression and copy number were characterized for representative
      high- and low-copy vectors carrying the different marker and promoter sequences.
      Metabolic engineering typically requires the stable introduction of multiple
      genes and genomic integration is often preferred. This requires an expanded
      number of stable expression sites relative to standard gene expression studies.
      This study demonstrated the practicality of polymerase chain reaction
      amplification of an expression cassette and genetic marker, and subsequent
      replacement of endogenous retrotransposons by homologous recombination with
      flanking sequences. Such reporters were expressed comparably to those inserted at
      standard integration loci. This expands the number of available characterized
      integration sites and demonstrates that such sites provide a virtually
      inexhaustible pool of integration targets for stable expression of multiple
      genes. Together these vectors and expression loci will facilitate combinatorial
      gene expression for metabolic engineering.

PMID- 20936608
TI  - Metal-mediated oxidative cross-coupling of terminal alkynes: a promising strategy
      for alkyne synthesis.

PMID- 20936609
TI  - Tunable nanosynthesis of composite materials by electron-impact reaction.

PMID- 20936610
TI  - Noncovalent DNA-binding metallo-supramolecular cylinders prevent DNA transactions
      in vitro.

PMID- 20936611
TI  - Graphene oxide framework materials: theoretical predictions and experimental
      results.

PMID- 20936612
TI  - Halide-directed assembly of multicomponent systems: highly ordered Au(I)-Ag(I)
      molecular aggregates.

PMID- 20936613
TI  - Electron tomography: from 3D statics to 4D dynamics.

PMID- 20936614
TI  - A general catalyst for the beta-selective C-H bond arylation of thiophenes with
      iodoarenes.

PMID- 20936617
TI  - Recent developments in the application of Baeyer-Villiger monooxygenases as
      biocatalysts.
AB  - Baeyer-Villiger monooxygenases (BVMOs) represent a specific class of
      monooxygenases that are capable of catalyzing a variety of oxidation reactions,
      including Baeyer-Villiger oxidations. The recently elucidated BVMO crystal
      structures have provided a more detailed insight into the complex mechanism of
      these flavin-containing enzymes. Biocatalytic studies on a number of newly
      discovered BVMOs have shown that they are very potent oxidative biocatalysts. In
      addition to catalyzing the regio- and enantioselective Baeyer-Villiger oxidations
      of a wide range of carbonylic compounds, epoxidations, and enantioselective
      sulfoxidations have also been shown to be part of their catalytic repertoire.
      This review provides an overview on the recent developments in BVMO-mediated
      biocatalytic processes, identification of the catalytic role of these enzymes in
      metabolic routes and prodrug activation, as well as the efforts in developing
      effective biocatalytic methodologies to apply BVMOs for the synthesis of high
      added value compounds.

PMID- 20936618
TI  - A mild and efficient palladium-catalyzed cyanation of aryl mesylates in water or
      tBuOH/water.

PMID- 20936620
TI  - Strength in numbers: effects of acceptor abundance on FRET efficiency.
AB  - Fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) is a strongly distance-dependent
      process between a donor and an acceptor molecule, which can be used for sensitive
      distance measurements and characterization of molecular interactions at the
      nanometer level. The original mathematical description of this process, however,
      is only valid for the interaction of one donor with one acceptor. This criterion
      is not always met, especially in biological systems, where multiple structures
      can interact simultaneously, often making distance estimations based on transfer
      efficiency values error-prone. Herein we investigate how the interaction of
      multiple acceptors and donors influences the transfer efficiency value in an
      intramolecular cellular FRET system by manipulating the fluorophore/protein ratio
      of the fluorophore-conjugated antibodies. We show that the labeling ratio of the
      acceptor has the largest influence on measured transfer efficiency and decreasing
      or increasing the acceptor labeling ratio can be utilized to manipulate the FRET
      response of the acceptor-donor pair and therefore is a tool for optimizing
      sensitivity of FRET measurements.

PMID- 20936621
TI  - Toward the first nonpeptidic molecular tong inhibitor of wild-type and mutated
      HIV-1 protease dimerization.
AB  - Herein we describe the synthesis and HIV-1 protease (PR) inhibitory activity of
      16 new peptidomimetic molecular tongs with a naphthalene scaffold. Their peptidic
      character was progressively decreased. Two of these molecules exhibited the best
      dimerization inhibition activity toward HIV-1 wild-type and multimutated ANAM-11
      proteases obtained to date for this class of molecules (~40 nM for wild-type PR
      and 100 nM for ANAM-11 PR). Although the peptidic character of one molecular tong
      was completely suppressed, the mechanism of inhibition and inhibitory potency
      toward both proteases were maintained.

PMID- 20936622
TI  - Thalidomide derivatives for the treatment of neuroinflammation.
AB  - The precise mechanism-of-action of thalidomide remains uncertain and might differ
      between diseases and under different clinical condition. With implications in the
      treatment of a variety of inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, as well as for
      use as an anticancer agent, alone or in combination with established
      therapeutics, it is clear that thalidomide and its derivatives deserve further
      scrutiny. In particular, thalidomide was shown to be effective in a mouse model
      of multiple sclerosis (MS), an autoimmune inflammatory disorder, called
      experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). Herein, we describe the
      synthesis and preliminary biological evaluation of new macromolecular prodrugs of
      thalidomide bearing an aminoalkyl group on the phthalimide ring. The
      effectiveness of these compounds to limit EAE was investigated, and it was shown
      that, at 100 mg kg-1 thalidomide-equivalent dose, they abrogated the clinical and
      pathological features of EAE.

PMID- 20936623
TI  - Synthesis, in vitro and in vivo release kinetics, and anti-HIV activity of a
      sustained-release prodrug (mPEG-AZT) of 3'-azido-3'-deoxythymidine (AZT,
      Zidovudine).
AB  - A poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) conjugate of 3'-azido-3'- deoxythymidine (AZT,
      zidovudine) was designed and synthesized as a novel sustained-release prodrug. In
      the synthetic process, a succinate diester spacer was used to covalently couple
      AZT with methoxy poly(ethylene glycol) (mPEG; MW=2000). The conjugate was
      characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and NMR spectroscopies and
      matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight (MALDI-TOF) mass
      spectrometry (MS). The in vitro release was determined in hydrochloride (HCl)
      solution (pH 1.2) and phosphate-buffered solution (PBS; pH 6.8), which showed the
      release rate of AZT from the conjugate was slower than that from the free drug,
      suggesting its possible increased retention in gastrointestinal conditions.
      Pharmacokinetic properties were evaluated experimentally by oral administration
      in mice. Compared to free AZT, the absorption half-life (t1/2ka) and elimination
      half life (t1/2beta) of AZT released from the conjugate were both extended to
      0.51+/-0.03 h (p <0.01) and 2.94+/-0.24 h (p <0.01), respectively. Evaluation of
      the in vitro anti-HIV activities showed mPEG-AZT exhibited good inhibition of HIV
      1, with an EC(50) value of 0.0634 MUM, but it is lower than that of free AZT.
      These results show that the conjugate is capable of releasing the parent drug in
      a sustained profile, potentially providing a feasible alternative to oral
      administration of AZT in a clinical setting.

PMID- 20936624
TI  - The reasons why eating disorder patients drink.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To explore the reasons why eating disorder patients consume non
      alcoholic fluids and to examine variables associated with poor and excessive
      drinking. METHODS: A sample of 115 patients admitted for inpatient treatment to a
      specialist eating disorder facility completed a semi-standardised retrospective
      fluid intake history of type and amount of fluid and of reasons for drinking.
      ANOVA, chi-square and factor analysis were performed. RESULTS: The main reasons
      for consuming fluids were for fullness and appetite suppression; for feelings of
      control including feeling empty; to assist with purging; and for physiological
      reasons such as drinking when thirsty, after exercising and to increase energy
      levels via caffeine ingestion. DISCUSSION: An eating disorder needs to be
      considered a disorder of fluid intake, as much as a disorder of food intake.
      Factors affecting the fluid intake of eating disorder patients are related to the
      presence of eating disorder behaviours.

PMID- 20936625
TI  - The role of the minimum clinically important difference and its impact on
      designing a trial.
AB  - The minimum clinically important difference (MCID) between treatments is
      recognized as a key concept in the design and interpretation of results from a
      clinical trial. Yet even assuming such a difference can be derived, it is not
      necessarily clear how it should be used. In this paper, we consider three
      possible roles for the MCID. They are: (1) using the MCID to determine the
      required sample size so that the trial has a pre-specified statistical power to
      conclude a significant treatment effect when the treatment effect is equal to the
      MCID; (2) requiring with high probability, the observed treatment effect in a
      trial, in addition to being statistically significant, to be at least as large as
      the MCID; (3) demonstrating via hypothesis testing that the effect of the new
      treatment is at least as large as the MCID. We will examine the implications of
      the three different possible roles of the MCID on sample size, expectations of a
      new treatment, and the chance for a successful trial. We also give our opinion on
      how the MCID should generally be used in the design and interpretation of results
      from a clinical trial.

PMID- 20936626
TI  - Detecting data fabrication in clinical trials from cluster analysis perspective.
AB  - Detecting data fabrication is of great importance in clinical trials. As the role
      of statisticians in detecting abnormal data patterns has grown, a large number of
      statistical procedures have been developed, most of which are based on
      descriptive statistics. Based upon the fact that substantial data fabrication
      cases have certain clustering structures, this paper discusses the potential for
      the use of statistical clustering method in fraud detection. Three clustering
      patterns, angular, neighborhood and repeated measurements clustering, are
      identified and explored. Correspondingly, simple and efficient test statistics
      are proposed and randomization tests are carried out. The proposed methods are
      applied to a 12-week multi-center study for illustration. Extensive simulations
      are conducted to validate the effectiveness of the procedures.

PMID- 20936627
TI  - Anomalous stoichiometry, layered structure, and magnetic ordering for the
      Prussian blue analogue [NEt4]2[Mn(II)3(CN)8].

PMID- 20936628
TI  - Exogenous and endogenous glucocorticoids in rheumatic diseases.

PMID- 20936629
TI  - Combined pulmonary fibrosis and emphysema syndrome in connective tissue disease.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Connective tissue diseases (CTDs) are associated with several
      interstitial lung diseases. The aim of this study was to describe the recently
      individualized syndrome of combined pulmonary fibrosis and emphysema (CPFE) in a
      population of patients with CTD. METHODS: In this multicenter study, we
      retrospectively investigated data from patients with CTD who also have CPFE. The
      demographic characteristics of the patients, the results of pulmonary function
      testing, high-resolution computed tomography, lung biopsy, and treatment, and the
      outcomes of the patients were analyzed. RESULTS: Data from 34 patients with CTD
      who were followed up for a mean+/-SD duration of 8.3+/-7.0 years were analyzed.
      Eighteen of the patients had rheumatoid arthritis (RA), 10 had systemic sclerosis
      (SSc), 4 had mixed or overlap CTD, and 2 had other CTDs. The mean+/-SD age of the
      patients was 57+/-11 years, 23 were men, and 30 were current or former smokers.
      High-resolution computed tomography revealed emphysema of the upper lung zones
      and pulmonary fibrosis of the lower zones in all patients, and all patients
      exhibited dyspnea during exercise. Moderately impaired pulmonary function test
      results and markedly reduced carbon monoxide transfer capacity were observed.
      Five patients with SSc exhibited pulmonary hypertension. Four patients died
      during followup. Patients with CTD and CPFE were significantly younger than an
      historical control group of patients with idiopathic CPFE and more frequently
      were female. In addition, patients with CTD and CPFE had higher lung volumes,
      lower diffusion capacity, higher pulmonary pressures, and more frequently were
      male than those with CTD and lung fibrosis without emphysema. CONCLUSION: CPFE
      warrants inclusion as a novel, distinct pulmonary manifestation within the
      spectrum of CTD-associated lung diseases in smokers or former smokers, especially
      in patients with RA or SSc.

PMID- 20936630
TI  - Antinuclear antibody-positive patients should be grouped as a separate category
      in the classification of juvenile idiopathic arthritis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We undertook this study to test the hypothesis that in the
      International League of Associations for Rheumatology (ILAR) classification of
      juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), patients with similar characteristics can be
      classified into different categories. We sought to investigate whether
      antinuclear antibody (ANA)-positive patients having disease in the ILAR
      categories of oligoarthritis, rheumatoid factor-negative polyarthritis, psoriatic
      arthritis, and undifferentiated arthritis share homogeneous features and to
      compare these features with those of ANA-negative patients having the same
      categories of disease. METHODS: We identified JIA patients who had been followed
      up during a 22-year period. ANA positivity was defined as >=2 positive results at
      a titer of >=1:160. Demographic and clinical features were recorded
      retrospectively and compared between ANA-positive and ANA-negative patients.
      RESULTS: Of a total of 971 patients, 711 were ANA positive, 149 were ANA
      negative, and 111 had an indeterminate ANA status. Patients with indeterminate
      ANA status were excluded. ANA-positive patients in the different ILAR categories
      were similar in terms of age at disease presentation, female-to-male ratio, and
      frequency of asymmetric arthritis and iridocyclitis. Compared with ANA-positive
      patients, the ANA-negative group was older at disease presentation and had a
      lower prevalence of females, a lower frequency of iridocyclitis and asymmetric
      arthritis, a greater number of affected joints over time, and a different pattern
      of arthritis. The close relationship between the presence of ANAs and younger age
      at disease presentation, female predominance, asymmetric arthritis, development
      of iridocyclitis, lower number of affected joints over time, and lack of hip
      involvement was also confirmed by multivariate and multiple correspondence
      analysis. CONCLUSION: Our findings substantiate the hypothesis that ANA-positive
      patients classified into different JIA categories by current ILAR criteria
      constitute a homogeneous patient population.

PMID- 20936631
TI  - Combination treatment in Chlamydia-triggered reactive arthritis: comment on the
      article by Carter et al.

PMID- 20936632
TI  - CCN2 is required for bleomycin-induced skin fibrosis in mice.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: No therapy for fibrotic disease is available. The proadhesive
      matricellular protein connective tissue growth factor CCN2 is a marker of
      fibrotic cells; however, the specific role of CCN2 in connective tissue biology
      in general and in fibrogenesis in particular is unclear. The aim of this study
      was to assess whether adult mice bearing a smooth muscle cell/fibroblast-specific
      deletion of CCN2 are resistant to bleomycin-induced skin scleroderma. METHODS:
      Cutaneous fibrosis was induced in mice by subcutaneous injection of bleomycin.
      Untreated control groups were injected with phosphate buffered saline. Mice
      bearing a fibroblast/smooth muscle cell-specific deletion of CCN2 were
      investigated for changes in dermal thickness, collagen content, and the number of
      alpha-smooth muscle actin (alpha-SMA)-positive cells. Dermal fibroblasts were
      isolated to assess whether the induction of collagen and alpha-SMA messenger RNA
      in response to transforming growth factor beta (TGFbeta) was impaired. RESULTS:
      The loss of CCN2 resulted in resistance to bleomycin-induced skin fibrosis. In
      response to bleomycin, wild-type mice possessed, but CCN2-deficient mice lacked,
      abundant alpha-SMA-expressing myofibroblasts within fibrotic lesions. Fibroblast
      responses to TGFbeta, a potent inducer of myofibroblast differentiation, were not
      affected. Collectively, these results indicate that CCN2 is essential for
      bleomycin-induced skin fibrosis, likely due to a defect in myofibroblast
      recruitment. CONCLUSION: These data indicate that therapeutic strategies that
      involve blocking CCN2 in vivo may be of benefit in combating fibrotic skin
      disease.

PMID- 20936633
TI  - Cigarette smoking in patients with systemic sclerosis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the effects of cigarette smoking on vascular,
      gastrointestinal, and respiratory outcomes in patients with systemic sclerosis
      (SSc). METHODS: Subjects were patients enrolled in the Canadian Scleroderma
      Research Group cohort. Smoking history was obtained by patient self-report. The
      effect of smoking was assessed using multiple regression analysis of each SSc
      clinical outcome of interest (vascular, gastrointestinal, and respiratory).
      Smoking was modeled both as categorical variables (current, past, and never) and
      using the Comprehensive Smoking Index (CSI), which integrates smoking intensity,
      duration of smoking, and time since cessation into a single covariate of smoking
      effect. All regression models were adjusted for age, sex, disease duration, and
      limited or diffuse skin involvement. RESULTS: This study included 606 patients
      with SSc, of whom 87% were women and 90% were white, and the mean age was 55
      years, mean disease duration was 11 years, and 36% had diffuse disease. Of these
      patients, 16% were current smokers, 42% were past smokers, and 42% were never
      smokers. The regression analyses showed that smoking had a significant negative
      effect on almost all vascular, gastrointestinal, and respiratory outcomes. The
      effects of smoking were in some cases long-lasting (e.g., persistent respiratory
      abnormalities), and smoking cessation appeared beneficial with respect to some
      outcomes (e.g., reduced severity of Raynaud's phenomenon). CONCLUSION: Physicians
      caring for patients with SSc should prioritize smoking cessation as a
      recommendation to patients, and resources directed to supporting smoking
      cessation in patients with SSc should be more readily available.

PMID- 20936636
TI  - Detection of a prenatal mature tumor arising from the external genitalia in a
      female fetus: fetus-in-fetu or teratoma?

PMID- 20936634
TI  - A secreted variant of cartilage oligomeric matrix protein carrying a
      chondrodysplasia-causing mutation (p.H587R) disrupts collagen fibrillogenesis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Mutations in human cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP) cause
      multiple epiphyseal dysplasia or pseudoachondroplasia. Electron microscopic
      analyses of patient biopsy tissue have shown that, in most cases, mutated COMP is
      retained in granular or lamellar inclusions in the endoplasmic reticulum of
      chondrocytes. However, some mutations that do not interfere with protein
      trafficking, resulting in normal secretion of the mutated protein, have been
      identified. These mutations are likely to cause the chondrodysplasia phenotype,
      via events that occur after secretion. The aim of the present study was to
      identify such extracellular mechanisms associated with the pathogenesis of
      chondrodysplasias. METHODS: A mutated but secreted COMP variant, p.H587R, as well
      as wild-type COMP were recombinantly expressed and purified from cell culture
      supernatants. Since recent studies have shown that COMP can facilitate collagen
      fibrillogenesis in vitro, the effect of the p.H587R mutation on this process was
      determined by analyzing the kinetics of fibrillogenesis in vitro and determining
      the structure of the collagen fibrils formed by immunogold electron microscopy.
      RESULTS: Mutated p.H587R COMP accelerated fibril formation by type I collagen in
      vitro to a slightly greater extent than that with wild-type COMP. However,
      p.H587R COMP induced aggregation and disorganization of fibril intermediates and
      end products. Mixtures of cartilage collagens or of type XI collagen alone
      produced similar results. The addition of p.H587R COMP to preformed fibrils
      induced aggregation and fusion of the fibrils, whereas wild-type COMP had little
      effect. CONCLUSION: The mutant COMP variant p.H587R generally interferes with
      normal collagen organization during fibrillogenesis. This constitutes a novel
      pathogenetic mechanism of COMP-associated chondrodysplasias.

PMID- 20936637
TI  - Subtelomeric MLPA: is it really useful in prenatal diagnosis?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the usefulness of subtelomeric multiplex ligation
      dependent probe amplification (MLPA) in both the detection of subtelomeric
      rearrangements in fetuses with ultrasound abnormalities and normal karyotype, and
      the characterization of cytogenetically detectable rearrangements. METHOD: We
      studied by subtelomeric MLPA 229 pregnancies with ultrasound findings and normal
      karyotype (Group 1) and five pregnancies with a cytogenetically visible but not
      microscopically characterizable rearrangement (Group 2). The detected imbalances
      were confirmed by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and parents were also
      studied. RESULTS: In Group 1, two clinically relevant subtelomeric imbalances
      (14qter deletion and 20pter deletion) and one subtelomeric imbalance of uncertain
      significance (X/Ypter duplication) were diagnosed, showing a detection rate of
      cryptic subtelomeric imbalances in these pregnancies of 1.3%. However, only
      14qter deletion seems to be clearly associated with the observed prenatal
      findings. In Group 2, MLPA contributed to the precise description of the
      chromosome abnormalities. CONCLUSION: The low detection rate of subtelomeric
      imbalances and the poor genotype-phenotype correlations in pregnancies with
      ultrasound abnormalities and normal karyotype suggest that subtelomeric MLPA is
      not a crucial tool in the prenatal diagnosis of these cases. However, our work
      provides evidence that MLPA is very useful for the characterization of unbalanced
      karyotypes. Copyright (c) 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID- 20936639
TI  - Confined placental mosaicism and pregnancy outcome: a distinction needs to be
      made between types 2 and 3.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To study the influence of types 2 and 3 confined placental mosaicism
      (CPM) on pregnancy outcome. METHOD: From 13 809 chorionic villus samplings
      (CVSs), karyotype after long-term cultured villi (LTC-villi) was systematically
      performed. Next, in case of suspicion of CPM, karyotype after short-term cultured
      villi (STC-villi) was established to define type 2 CPM (chromosomal abnormality
      limited to the mesenchymal core) or type 3 CPM (chromosomal abnormality found
      both in the cytotrophoblast and the mesenchymal core). Confirmatory amniocentesis
      was performed to exclude fetal mosaicism. Uniparental disomy (UPD) testing was
      carried out when the abnormal cell line involved chromosomes 5, 6, 7, 15 or 16.
      RESULTS: Fifty-seven CPM cases were observed (57/13 809 = 0.41%) and of these, 37
      were type 2 and 20 were type 3 CPM. Incidence of preterm infants, neonatal
      hypotrophy and adverse pregnancy outcome were comparable between patients in whom
      type 2 CPM was demonstrated and the control population. In contrast, for the type
      3 CPM the incidence of these factors was higher than for the control population.
      CONCLUSION: When a CPM is suspected, it appears essential to determine type,
      since type 2 has no effect on fetal development and type 3 is associated with
      preterm infants, low birth weight and adverse pregnancy outcome.

PMID- 20936638
TI  - Predicting the risk of pre-eclampsia between 11 and 13 weeks' gestation by
      combining maternal characteristics and serum analytes, PAPP-A and free beta-hCG.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine if a simplified model for predicting pre-eclampsia (PEC)
      can be developed by combining first-trimester serum analytes, pregnancy
      associated plasma protein A (PAPP-A) and free beta human chorionic gonadotrophin
      (beta-hCG), and maternal characteristics. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study
      of patients seen for first-trimester aneuploidy screening from 2003 to 2009. The
      5th, 10th, 90th, and 95th percentiles for the analyte multiples of the medians
      (MoMs) for our population were determined and evaluated for association with PEC.
      Univariate and backward stepwise logistic regression analyses were performed and
      the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves [area under
      curve (AUC)] used to determine the best models for predicting PEC. RESULTS: Among
      4020 women meeting the inclusion criteria, outcome data was available for 3716
      (93%). There were 293 cases of PEC. The final model identified a history of pre
      gestational diabetes [aOR 2.6, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.7-3.9], chronic
      hypertension (cHTN) (aOR 2.6, 95% CI 1.7-3.9), maternal body mass index (BMI) >
      25 (aOR 2.5, 95% CI 1.9-3.4), African American race (aOR 1.8, 95% CI 1.3-2.6),
      and PAPP-A MoM < 10th percentile (aOR 1.6, 95% CI 1.1-2.4) to be significant
      predictors of PEC (AUC = 0.70, 95% CI 0.65-0.72). CONCLUSION: Low first-trimester
      PAPP-A levels are associated with the development of PEC; however, the model was
      only modestly efficient in its predictive ability.

PMID- 20936640
TI  - Effects of Manduca sexta allatostatin and an analogue on the peach-potato aphid
      Myzus persicae (hemiptera: aphididae) and degradation by enzymes in the aphid
      gut.
AB  - The oral toxicity of the C-type allatostatin, Manduca sexta allatostatin (Manse
      AS) and the analogue deltaR3deltaR5Manse-AS, where R residues were replaced by
      their D-isomers, were tested against the peach-potato aphid Myzus persicae by
      incorporation into an artificial diet. Both peptides had significant dose
      dependent effects on mortality, growth, and fecundity compared with control
      insects. The analogue, deltaR3deltaR5Manse-AS, had an estimated LC50 of 0.31
      ug/ul diet and was more potent than Manse-AS (estimated LC50 of 0.58 ug/ul diet).
      At a dose of 0.35 ug deltaR3deltaR5Manse-AS/ul diet, 76% of the aphids were dead
      after 6 days and all were dead after 10 days. In comparison, three times the dose
      of Manse-AS was required to achieve 74% mortality after 8 days and 98% mortality
      after 16 days. The degradation of both peptides by extracts prepared from the gut
      of M. persicae was investigated. The estimated half-life of Manse-AS, when
      incubated with the gut extract from M. persicae, was 31 min. Degradation was due
      to a cathepsin L-like cysteine protease, carboxypeptidase-like activity,
      endoprotease activity with glutamine specificity, pyroglutamate aminopeptidase
      activity, and possibly trypsin-like proteases. The half-life of the
      deltaR3deltaR5 Manse-AS analogue was enhanced (73 min) with the D-isomers of R
      appearing to prevent cleavage around the R residues by cathepsin L-like cysteine
      proteases or from trypsin-like proteases. The greater stability of the analogue
      may explain its increased potency in M. persicae. This work demonstrates the
      potential use of Manse-AS and analogues, with greater resistance to enzymatic
      attack, in aphid control strategies.

PMID- 20936641
TI  - Screening of T7 phage displayed Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel) antenna cDNA library
      against chemosensory protein.
AB  - Recent studies have shown that chemosensory proteins (CSPs) were involved in
      diverse life activities such as insect feeding, development, mating, immune
      regulation, as well as other important circadian rhythms, etc. To screen the
      proteins involved in the BdorCSP-related physiological activity, a cDNA library
      of the Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel) antenna expressed on the surface of T7 phage
      was screened against BdorCSP. After four rounds of screening, ELISA-positive
      samples of selected phages were sequenced and identified as protein disulfide
      isomerase (PDI), trypsin-like serine protease (Ser), TakeOut (TO), and a new
      protein by GenBank blast, respectively. Real-time quantitative PCR results showed
      that the expression levels of Ser, TO, and the new protein were the highest in
      antenna, sharing similar expression pattern with BdorCSP. These results reveal
      that these proteins might be involved in the BdorCSP-related physiological or
      metabolic activities. This work paves a new way for exploring the function of
      CSPs.

PMID- 20936642
TI  - Comparative analyses of proteolytic activities in seven species of synanthropic
      acaridid mites.
AB  - Microplate assays with 96 wells were optimized to screen proteolytic activities
      in mite homogenates. Whole-mite extracts of Acarus siro, Aleuroglyphus ovatus,
      Tyrophagus putrescentiae, Tyroborus lini, Carpoglyphus lactis, Lepidoglyphus
      destructor, and Dermatophagoides farinae exhibited non-specific proteolytic
      activity in buffers from pH 2 to 12, and three peaks of highest activity at pH 3,
      5-6, and 10 were distinguished. The reducing agent Tris(2-carboxyethyl)phosphine
      hydrochloride decreased general proteolytic activity on azocasein at pH 5 and 6.
      The results obtained on two non-specific substrates, azocasein and azoalbumin,
      showed highly different ranks of the species at pH 5 and 6. Proteolytic
      activities toward N(alpha)-Benzoyl-D,L-arginine 4-nitroanilide hydrochloride, N
      Succinyl-L-alanyl-L-alanyl-L-prolyl-L-phenylalanine 4-nitroanilide, N-Succinyl-L
      alanyl-L-alanyl-L-alanine 4-nitroanilide, Benzyloxycarbonyl-L-arginine-L-arginyl
      4-nitroanilide, and N-Methoxysuccinyl-L-alanyl-L-alanyl-L-prolyl-L-methionine 4
      nitroanilide (MAAPMpNA) were highest at alkaline pH, but the activity toward
      MAAPMpNA was also high at pH 5 and 6. In contrast, N-Succinyl-L-alanyl-L-alanyl-L
      phenylalanine 4-nitroanilide (AAPpNA) and L-arginyl 4-nitroanilide (ArgpNA) had
      the highest activity recorded at pH 6. The high activities observed on AAPpNA,
      ArgpNA, and MAAPMpNA at digestive pH suggest that enzymes present in these
      extracts could have the majority of proteolysis in the mite gut. Evidence of the
      presence of proteolytic activities on all tested substrates and in all the tested
      mite homogenates suggests that the proteolytic activities may contribute to
      allergenicity. Poor or undetected hydrolytic activities of mite extracts toward
      substrates for keratin and collagen at digestive pH underline the importance of
      ecological interactions between mites and microorganisms in the utilization of
      such substrates.

PMID- 20936643
TI  - Environmental biosafety in the age of synthetic biology: do we really need a
      radical new approach? Environmental fates of microorganisms bearing synthetic
      genomes could be predicted from previous data on traditionally engineered
      bacteria for in situ bioremediation.

PMID- 20936644
TI  - Selective colorimetric sensor for Hg2+ ions using a mixture of thiourea
      derivatives and gold nanoparticles stabilized with adenosine triphosphate.

PMID- 20936645
TI  - Water splitting over new niobate photocatalysts with tungsten-bronze-type
      structure and effect of transition metal-doping.
AB  - Photophysical properties and photocatalytic activities for water splitting over
      KM(2)Nb(5)O(15) (M = Sr and Ba) and K(2)LnNb(5)O(15) (Ln = La, Pr, Nd, and Sm)
      with tungsten bronze-type structure were investigated. Single phases of
      KM(2)Nb(5)O(15) and K(2)LnNb(5)O(15) were successfully prepared by solid-state
      reaction (SSR) method and polymerizable complex (PC) method. The band gaps of
      these niobates were estimated to be 3.1-3.5 eV. These metal oxides loaded with an
      activated NiO(x) cocatalyst showed photocatalytic activities for water splitting
      into H(2) and O(2) under UV irradiation. When K(2)LaNb(5)O(15) was doped by Rh
      ions, a new visible-light absorption band was observed around 400-500 nm in
      addition to the band gap absorption band of the K(2)LaNb(5)O(15) host.
      K(2)LaNb(5)O(15):Rh showed photocatalytic activities for H(2) or O(2) evolution
      from an aqueous solution containing a sacrificial reagent under visible-light
      irradiation.

PMID- 20936646
TI  - Hydrolysis of cellulose by using catalytic amounts of FeCl2 in ionic liquids.
AB  - Microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) is hydrolyzed to an appreciable extent (70 %) by
      using 1-(4-sulfonic acid) butyl-3-methylimidazolium hydrogen sulfate (IL-1) as
      effective catalyst. Valuable chemicals, such as 5-hydroxymethyl furfural (HMF)
      and furfural, are obtained in relatively high yields (15 % and 7 %,
      respectively). Interestingly, the introduction of FeCl2 as catalyst into IL-1
      further enhances the catalytic activity, as proved by the higher conversion of
      MCC (84 %) and higher yields of HMF and furfural (34 % and 19 %, respectively)
      under the same experimental conditions, although small amounts of levulinic acid
      (LA) and total reducing sugars (TRS) were also found. The hydrolysis of MCC
      scarcely proceeded, or showed a lower efficiency, in the absence of catalyst (4
      %) or with Al2O3 (7 %), inorganic acids (<=65 %), or several other ionic liquids
      (<=24 %) as catalyst. Dimers of furan compounds were detected as the main
      byproducts, as analyzed by HPLC-MS; from the mass spectrometry analysis, the
      components of the gas-phase products were determined to be methane, ethane, CO,
      CO2, and H2. A mechanism to explain the high activity of FeCl2 in the IL-1 system
      is proposed. Recycling of the IL-1 catalyst showed an almost constant activity
      during five successive trials. The simple and effective catalyst system may prove
      valuable in facilitating the energy-efficient and cost-effective conversion of
      biomass into biofuels and platform chemicals.

PMID- 20936647
TI  - Redox-responsive switching in bacterial respiratory pathways involving
      extracellular electron transfer.

PMID- 20936648
TI  - High conductivity perfluorosulfonic acid nanofiber composite fuel-cell membranes.

PMID- 20936649
TI  - Absorption of CH330331, a novel 4-anilinoquinazoline inhibitor of epidermal
      growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase: comparative studies using in vitro, in
      situ and in vivo models.
AB  - CH330331 is a prototype of a new class of synthetic small molecule tyrosine
      kinase inhibitors (TKIs). In vitro Caco-2 cell monolayers, the in situ single
      pass rat intestinal perfusion (SPIP) technique with mesenteric vein cannulated
      and an in vivo animal model were employed to investigate its permeability and
      transepithelial transport mechanisms. The Caco-2 model showed that the transport
      of CH330331 across the monolayers from the apical (AP) to basolateral (BL) side
      was 6- to 10-fold higher than that from the BL to AP side. The apparent
      permeability coefficient (P(app) ) values of CH330331 at 5-20 ug/ml from the AP
      to BL and from BL to AP side were 5.30-2.21 * 10(-6)  cm/s, with a decrease in
      P(app) values from the AP to BL side at increased CH330331 concentrations. In the
      perfused rat intestinal model, a concentration dependent change in permeability
      was detected where P(blood) at 5 ug/ml (1.66 +/- 0.69 * 10(-6)  cm/s) and 10
      ug/ml (1.80 +/- 0.45 * 10(-6)  cm/s) was significantly different from P(blood) at
      20 ug/ml (0.98 +/- 0.31 * 10(-6)  cm/s, p<0.05). Some inhibitors could also
      change the transepithelial transport of CH330331. Moreover, the in vivo study
      showed that the oral bioavailability of CH330331 was 82.7% in the rat. All the
      results confirmed that the transepithelial transport of CH330331 was rapid and
      saturable, which might involve an active mechanism. The oral bioavailability of
      CH330331 was relatively high in vivo.

PMID- 20936650
TI  - Testicular development evaluation in rats exposed to 60 Hz and 1 mT
      electromagnetic field.
AB  - Society has been increasingly exposed to low-frequency electromagnetic fields
      (EMF), mainly from electricity distribution networks and electro-electronic
      devices. Aiming to clarify the extension of possible interactions between EMF and
      testicular development, this study evaluated the effects of exposure to 60 Hz and
      1 mT EMF in the maturation of testicular components. Wistar rats were exposed to
      EMF three times per day for 30 min, between the 13th day of gestation and the
      21st postnatal day. Results showed a decrease in the following parameters:
      tubular diameter and seminiferous tubules area; seminiferous epithelium height;
      total volume of seminiferous tubule; tubular lumen; seminiferous epithelium; and
      Leydig cells. On the other hand, an increase was observed in connective tissue
      cells and blood vessels volume. Plasma testosterone, Sertoli cells population,
      tubular length and gonadosomatic index did not change when exposed to EMF.
      Histomorphometric analysis showed that exposure to EMF can promote a delay in
      testicular development.

PMID- 20936651
TI  - Comparison of intracellular signalling by insulin and the hypermitogenic AspB10
      analogue in MCF-7 breast adenocarcinoma cells.
AB  - We compared mitogenicity and intracellular signalling by human insulin and the
      AspB10 (X-10) human insulin analogue in MCF-7 human mammary adenocarcinoma cells.
      By flow analysis of phosphorylated histone H3 or cell cycle distributions,
      insulin and X-10 were mitogenic at physiologically relevant concentrations (2 nm
      to 74 pm range), with X-10 being approximately 3-fold more mitogenic than
      insulin. By western blotting with phospho-specific antibodies, insulin induced
      phosphorylation of IRS-1, Akt, p70S6K, S6 ribosomal protein, 4E-BP1, FoxO3a,
      FoxO1, p44/42 MAPK and the EGFR. Blocking with wortmannin, rapamycin and U0126
      showed that these signalling events conformed to the canonical PI3K pathway. IRS
      1 (Ser302) phosphorylation was abolished by wortmannin and rapamycin, suggesting
      a feedback from the PI3K pathway on insulin signalling. Compared with equimolar
      insulin, X-10 caused up to 2-fold higher phosphorylation of all proteins examined
      in this study. The phosphorylation sites that responded most strongly to insulin
      were not generally the same as those responding most strongly to X-10. In the
      PI3K pathway, the most X-10-sensitive protein localized to the translation
      regulating arm (p70S6K), with FoxO3a and FoxO1 transcription factors showing a
      more comparable response to insulin and X-10. Using flow analysis, we confirmed
      the correlation between insulin-triggered translational activation in G0/G1 (S6
      phosphorylation) and S-phase entry by MCF-7 cells. In summary, our findings
      implicate asymmetrical PI3K pathway activation and specifically stimulation of
      protein translation in the hypermitogenic effect of insulin analogues such as X
      10. It remains to be shown whether these findings are relevant to other human
      mammary cancer cell types.

PMID- 20936652
TI  - Toxicity and recovery in the pregnant mouse after gestational exposure to the
      cyanobacterial toxin, cylindrospermopsin.
AB  - Cylindrospermopsin (CYN) is a tricyclic alkaloid toxin produced by fresh water
      cyanobacterial species worldwide. CYN has been responsible for both livestock and
      human poisoning after oral exposure. This study investigated the toxicity of CYN
      to pregnant mice exposed during different segments of gestation. The course of
      recovery and individual responses to the toxin were evaluated. Adverse effects of
      CYN were monitored up to 7 weeks post-dosing by clinical examination,
      histopathology, biochemistry and gene expression. Exposure on gestational days
      (GD) 8-12 induced significantly more lethality than GD13-17 exposure.
      Periorbital, gastrointestinal and distal tail hemorrhages were seen in both
      groups. Serum markers indicative of hepatic injury (alanine amino transferase,
      aspartate amino transferase and sorbitol dehydrogenase) were increased in both
      groups; markers of renal dysfunction (blood urea nitrogen and creatinine) were
      elevated in the GD8-12 animals. Histopathology was observed in the liver
      (centrilobular necrosis) and kidney (interstitial inflammation) in groups
      exhibiting abnormal serum markers. The expression profiles of genes involved in
      ribosomal biogenesis, xenobiotic and lipid metabolism, inflammatory response and
      oxidative stress were altered 24 h after the final dose. One week after dosing,
      gross, histological and serum parameters had returned to normal, although
      increased liver/body weight ratio and one instance of gastrointestinal bleeding
      was found in the GD13-17 group. Gene expression changes persisted up to 2 weeks
      post-dosing and returned to normal by 4 weeks. Responses of individual animals to
      CYN exposure indicated highly significant inter-animal variability within the
      treated groups.

PMID- 20936653
TI  - Amphiphilic cationic [dendritic poly(L-lysine)]-block-poly(L-lactide)-block
      [dendritic poly(L-lysine)]s in aqueous solution: self-aggregation and interaction
      with DNA as gene delivery carriers.
AB  - A new series of triblock [dendritic poly(L-lysine)]-block-PLLA-block-[dendritic
      poly(L-lysine)]s (DL(2) -PLLA-DL(2) ) with PLLA block lengths of 11.5-26.5 and
      double 2-generation PLL dendrons DL(2) as model cationic amphiphiles were
      synthesized and characterized. Their CAC, self-aggregation and plasmid DNA
      binding affinities in pure water and PBS were studied. The PLLA block length
      dependence of particle size, morphology and xi potential for organized
      pDNA/amphiphile polyplex aggregates were examined. Finally, toxicities of these
      DL(2) -PLLA-DL(2) amphiphiles and their polyplexes were assayed by MTT with HeLa,
      SMMC-7721 and COS-7 cells, and COS-7 cell luciferase and eGFP gene transfection
      efficacies with these amphiphiles as the delivery carriers were investigated.

PMID- 20936661
TI  - Wnt/calcium signaling mediates axon growth and guidance in the developing corpus
      callosum.
AB  - It has been shown in vivo that Wnt5a gradients surround the corpus callosum and
      guide callosal axons after the midline (postcrossing) by Wnt5a-induced repulsion
      via Ryk receptors. In dissociated cortical cultures we showed that Wnt5a
      simultaneously promotes axon outgrowth and repulsion by calcium signaling. Here
      to test the role of Wnt5a/calcium signaling in a complex in vivo environment we
      used sensorimotor cortical slices containing the developing corpus callosum.
      Plasmids encoding the cytoplasmic marker DsRed and the genetically encoded
      calcium indicator GCaMP2 were electroporated into one cortical hemisphere.
      Postcrossing callosal axons grew 50% faster than pre-crossing axons and higher
      frequencies of calcium transients in axons and growth cones correlated well with
      outgrowth. Application of pharmacological inhibitors to the slices showed that
      signaling pathways involving calcium release through IP3 receptors and calcium
      entry through TRP channels regulate post-crossing axon outgrowth and guidance. Co
      electroporation of Ryk siRNA and DsRed revealed that knock down of the Ryk
      receptor reduced outgrowth rates of postcrossing but not precrossing axons by 50%
      and caused axon misrouting. Guidance errors in axons with Ryk knockdown resulted
      from reduced calcium activity. In the corpus callosum CaMKII inhibition reduced
      the outgrowth rate of postcrossing (but not precrossing) axons and caused severe
      guidance errors which resulted from reduced CaMKII-dependent repulsion downstream
      of Wnt/calcium. We show for the first time that Wnt/Ryk calcium signaling
      mechanisms regulating axon outgrowth and repulsion in cortical cultures are also
      essential for the proper growth and guidance of postcrossing callosal axons which
      involve axon repulsion through CaMKII.

PMID- 20936663
TI  - Colloidal microcapsules: self-assembly of nanoparticles at the liquid-liquid
      interface.
AB  - Colloidal microcapsules (MCs) are highly modular, inherently multiscale
      constructs of capsules stabilized by nano-/microparticle shells, with
      applications in many areas of materials and biological sciences, such as drug
      delivery, encapsulation, and microreactors. Until recently, fabrication of
      colloidal MCs focused on the use of submicron-sized particles because the smaller
      nanoparticles (NPs) are inherently unstable at the interface owing to thermal
      disorder. However, stable microcapsules can now be obtained by tuning the
      interactions between the nanometer-sized building blocks at the liquid-liquid
      interface. This Review highlights recent developments in the fabrication of
      colloidal MCs using NPs.

PMID- 20936660
TI  - Development of NMDA NR2 subunits and their roles in critical period maturation of
      neocortical GABAergic interneurons.
AB  - The goals of this research are to (1) determine the changes in the composition of
      NMDA receptor (NMDAR) subunits in GABAergic interneurons during critical period
      (CP); and (2) test the effect of chronic blockage of specific NR2 subunits on the
      maturation of specific GABAergic interneurons. Our data demonstrate that: (1) The
      amplitude of NMDAR mediated EPSCs (EPSCs(NMDAR) ) was significantly larger in the
      postCP group. (2) The coefficient of variation (CV), tau(decay) and half-width of
      EPSCs(NMDAR) were significantly larger in the preCP group. (3) A leftward shift
      in the half-activation voltages in the postCP vs. preCP group. (4) Using subunit
      specific antagonists, we found a postnatal shift in NR2 composition towards more
      NR2A mediated EPSCs(NMDAR) . These changes occurred within a two-day narrow
      window of CP and were similar between fast-spiking (FS) and regular spiking
      (RSNP) interneurons. (5) Chronic blockage of NR2A, but not NR2B, decreased the
      expression of parvalbumin (PV), but not other calcium binding proteins in layer
      2/3 and 4 of barrel cortex. (6) Chronic blockage of NR2A selectively affected the
      maturation of IPSCs mediated by FS cells. In summary, we have reported, for the
      first time, developmental changes in the molecular composition of NMDA NR2
      subunits in interneurons during CP, and the effects of chronic blockage of NR2A
      but not NR2B on PV expression and inhibitory synaptic transmission from FS cells.
      These results support an important role of NR2A subunits in developmental
      plasticity of fast-spiking GABAergic circuits during CP.

PMID- 20936662
TI  - Short duration of sleep increases risk of colorectal adenoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Short duration and poor quality of sleep have been associated with
      increased risks of obesity, cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus, and total
      mortality. However, few studies have investigated their associations with risk of
      colorectal neoplasia. METHODS: In a screening colonoscopy-based case-control
      study, the Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) was administered to 1240 study
      participants before colonoscopy. RESULTS: Three hundred thirty-eight (27.3%) of
      the participants were diagnosed with incident colorectal adenomas. Although there
      was no appreciable difference in the overall PSQI score between cases and adenoma
      free controls (5.32 vs 5.11; P = .37), the authors found a statistically
      significant association of colorectal adenoma with the PSQI component 3, which
      corresponds to sleep duration (P = .02). Cases were more likely to average less
      than 6 hours of sleep per night (28.9% vs 22.1% in controls, P = .01). In
      multivariate regression analysis adjusted for age, gender, race, smoking, family
      history of colorectal cancer, and waist-to-hip ratio, individuals averaging less
      than 6 hours per night had an almost 50% increase in risk of colorectal adenomas
      (OR = 1.47; CI = 1.05-2.06, P for trend = .02) as compared with individuals
      sleeping at least 7 hours per night. Cases were also more likely to report being
      diagnosed with sleep apnea (9.8% vs 6.5%, P = .05) and more likely to have worked
      alternate shifts (54.0% vs 46.1%, P = .01), although these differences were not
      significant in multivariate models. CONCLUSIONS: Shorter duration of sleep
      significantly increases risk of colorectal adenomas. The authors' results suggest
      sleep duration as a novel risk factor for colorectal neoplasia.

PMID- 20936664
TI  - Alternating and diblock donor-acceptor conjugated polymers based on diindeno[1,2
      b:2',1'-d]thiophene structure: synthesis, characterization, and photovoltaic
      applications.
AB  - Pentacyclic diindeno[1,2-b:2',1'-d]thiophene (DIDT) unit is a rigid and coplanar
      conjugated molecule. To the best of our knowledge, this attractive molecule has
      never been incorporated into a polymer and thus its application in polymer solar
      cells has never been explored. For the first time, we report the detailed
      synthesis of the tetra-alkylated DIDT molecule leading to its dibromo- and
      diboronic ester derivatives, which are the key monomers for preparation of DIDT
      based polymers. Two donor-acceptor alternating polymers, poly(diindenothiophene
      alt-benzothiadiazole) PDIDTBT and poly(diindenothiophene-alt
      dithienylbenzothiadiazole) PDIDTDTBT, were synthesized by using Suzuki
      polymerization. Copolymer PTDIDTTBT was also prepared by using Stille
      polymerization. Although PTDIDTTBT is prepared through a manner of random
      polymerization, we found that the different reactivities of the dibromo-monomers
      lead to the resulting polymer having a block copolymer arrangement. With the
      higher structural regularity, PTDIDTTBT, symbolized as (thiophene-alt-DIDT)(0.5)
      block-(thiophene-alt-BT)(0.5), shows the higher degree of crystallization,
      stronger pi-pi stacking, and broader absorption spectrum in the solid state, as
      compared to its alternating PDIDTDTBT analogue. Bulk heterojunction photovoltaic
      cells based on ITO/PEDOT:PSS/polymer:PC(71)BM/Ca/Al configuration were fabricated
      and characterized. PDIDTDTBT/PC(71)BM and PTDIDTTBT/PC(71)BM systems exhibited
      promising power-conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of 1.65 % and 2.00 %,
      respectively. Owing to the complementary absorption spectra, as well as the
      compatible structures of PDIDTDTBT and PTDIDTTBT, the PCE of the device based on
      the ternary blend PDIDTDTBT/PTDIDTTBT/PC(71)BM was further improved to 2.40 %.

PMID- 20936665
TI  - Double-pillaring strategy for silacyclophanes: synthesis and structures of
      disilanyl double-pillared bisanthracenes.
AB  - A new series of silacyclophanes with two disilanyl pillars has been synthesized
      using a straightforward method. A silylation reaction of 1,8-dilithioanthracenes
      allowed the connection of two anthracene rings with two Si-Si bonds to afford
      disilanyl double-pillared bisanthracenes ((Si)DPBAs). The major product had an
      anti geometry of the anthracene rings, and a unique steplike structure favorable
      for sigma-pi conjugations was revealed by X-ray crystallographic analysis. Upon
      introducing a substituent at the 10-position of anthracene, we obtained a U
      shaped isomer with syn geometry that yielded an excimer upon excitation and can
      decompose without steric protection.

PMID- 20936666
TI  - Total synthesis of dictyodendrins A-E.
AB  - A highly efficient total synthesis of dictyodendrins A-E was accomplished. The
      synthesis features a novel benzyne-mediated one-pot indoline formation/cross
      coupling sequence for the construction of a highly substituted key indoline
      intermediate. Peripheral substituents were introduced onto this intermediate in a
      modular fashion to complete the total synthesis of dictyodendrins A-E.

PMID- 20936667
TI  - Carbocations or cyclopropyl gold carbenes in cyclizations of enynes.
AB  - Theoretical and experimental studies on the gold(I)-catalyzed formal [4+2]
      cycloaddition of dienynes are consistent with a mechanism that proceeds by means
      of cyclopropyl gold(I) carbenes instead of simple carbocations. This work shows
      that homoallylic stabilization is significant even for systems in which the
      tertiary carbocation is stabilized by two methyl groups.

PMID- 20936668
TI  - Renewable high-octane gasoline by aqueous-phase hydrodeoxygenation of C5 and C6
      carbohydrates over Pt/Zirconium phosphate catalysts.

PMID- 20936669
TI  - A tandem water-splitting device based on a bio-inspired manganese catalyst.

PMID- 20936670
TI  - Secretion of human superoxide dismutase in Escherichia coli using the condensed
      single-protein-production system.
AB  - A secretion vector, pColdV for the Single-Protein-Production (SPP) system was
      constructed using the E. coli OmpA signal peptide. Using this vector, human
      superoxide dismutase (hSOD) was co-expressed with MazF, an ACA-specific mRNA
      interferase, allowing E. coli cells to produce only hSOD, which was secreted into
      the periplasmic space with a yield of ~20% of total cellular proteins. The signal
      peptide was properly cleaved. Using cells overproducing DsbA protein, two S-S
      bridges were also properly formed to yield enzymatically active SOD. A well
      resolved heteronuclear single quantum coherence (HSQC) spectrum of hSOD isotope
      labeled in the condensed SPP (cSPP) system was obtained by simply isolating the
      periplasmic fraction. These results indicate that human secretory proteins can be
      expressed well in the cSPP system using pColdV.

PMID- 20936671
TI  - PCRless library mutagenesis via oligonucleotide recombination in yeast.
AB  - The directed evolution of biomolecules with new functions is largely performed in
      vitro, with PCR mutagenesis followed by high-throughput assays for desired
      activities. As synthetic biology creates impetus for generating biomolecules that
      function in living cells, new technologies are needed for performing mutagenesis
      and selection for directed evolution in vivo. Homologous recombination, routinely
      exploited for targeted gene alteration, is an attractive tool for in vivo library
      mutagenesis, yet surprisingly is not routinely used for this purpose. Here, we
      report the design and characterization of a yeast-based system for library
      mutagenesis of protein loops via oligonucleotide recombination. In this system, a
      linear vector is co-transformed with single-stranded mutagenic oligonucleotides.
      Using repair of nonsense codons engineered in three different active-site loops
      in the selectable marker TRP1 as a model system, we first optimized the
      recombination efficiency. Single-loop recombination was highly efficient,
      averaging 5%, or 4.0*10(5) recombinants. Multiple loops could be simultaneously
      mutagenized, although the efficiencies dropped to 0.2%, or 6.0*10(3)
      recombinants, for two loops and 0.01% efficiency, or 1.5*10(2) recombinants, for
      three loops. Finally, the utility of this system for directed evolution was
      tested explicitly by selecting functional variants from a mock library of 1:10(6)
      wild-type:nonsense codons. Sequencing showed that oligonucleotide recombination
      readily covered this large library, mutating not only the target codon but also
      encoded silent mutations on either side of the library cassette. Together these
      results establish oligonucleotide recombination as a simple and powerful library
      mutagenesis technique and advance efforts to engineer the cell for fully in vivo
      directed evolution.

PMID- 20936672
TI  - A microfluidic positioning chamber for long-term live-cell imaging.
AB  - We report a microfluidic positioning chamber (MPC) that can rapidly and
      repeatedly relocate the same imaging area on a microscope stage. The "roof" of
      the microfluidic chamber was printed with serials of coordinate numbers that act
      as positioning marks for mammalian cells that grow attached to the "floor" of the
      microfluidic chamber. MPC cell culture chamber provided a simple solution for
      tracking the same cell or groups of cells over days or weeks. The positioning
      marks were used to register time-lapse images of the same imaging area to single
      pixel accuracy. Using MPC cell culture chamber, we tracked the migration,
      division, and differentiation of individual PC12 cells for over a week using
      bright field and fluorescence imaging.

PMID- 20936673
TI  - High-resolution imaging and nano-manipulation of biological structures on
      surface.
AB  - In this mini-review we discuss our recent findings on imaging and manipulation of
      biological macromolecular structures by atomic force microscopy (AFM). In the
      first part of this review, we focus on high-resolution imaging of selected
      biological samples. AFM images of membrane proteins have revealed detailed
      conformational features related to identifiable biological functions. Different
      self-assembling behaviors of short peptides into supramolecular structures on
      various substrates under controlled environmental conditions have been
      systematically studied with AFM imaging. In the second part, we present a novel
      nano-manipulation technique for manipulating, isolating, amplifying, and
      sequencing of individual DNA molecules, which may find unique applications in the
      analysis of difficult sequence structures. Finally, we discuss how to
      characterize the elasticity of individual biomolecules and live cells. These
      results demonstrate that not only the high resolution capacity of the AFM is
      suited to resolve certain biological questions, but can also be applied to single
      molecule isolation and biomechanical analysis with its unique advantages.

PMID- 20936674
TI  - Ultrastructural aspects of lingual papillae in squirrel monkey (Saimiri
      sciureus).
AB  - Saimiri sciureus is one of the smallest Cebidae native of Amazon region and also
      found at the biological reserve of northeast Atlantic forest. It is an omnivore
      animal, with diversified diet that directly influences the lingual mucosa, which
      includes certain types of papillae with different organization levels. The
      present study attempted to describe the morphological and ultrastructure aspects
      of the dorsal surface of the S. sciureus. Five tongues of de S. sciureus were
      analyzed from three males and two females who died from natural causes and were
      obtained from breeding colonies of CENP-Ananindeua-PA. Main macroscopic features
      were a general triangular shape with a craniocaudal elongation pointed apex.
      Tissue samples--apex, body, and root of tongue--were fixed in modified Karnovsky
      solution, following standard scanning protocol, mounted in stubs, coated by gold,
      and analyzed by Scanning Electron Macroscopy (SEM). Four types of papillae were
      described: filiform (along all tissue extension with 154 MUm of diameter),
      fungiform (along all tissue extension with 272 MUm of diameter), vallate [just
      three units in caudal (dorsal) portion with 830 MUm of diameter] and foliate (one
      pair at caudolateral surface with ~ 13 projections and 3000 MUm in length). Data
      analysis indicates that the distribution and ultra structural morphology of the
      S. sciureus lingual papillae are some similar to other primates.

PMID- 20936675
TI  - Effect of arsenic absorption on the water-refilling speed of Pteris cretica.
AB  - Heavy metals are largely responsible for soil and water pollution. Recently,
      phytoremediation is receiving a large attention as a plant-based technology for
      removing metals from contaminated soil and water in an environment-friendly and
      cost-effective way. In such context, some species of ferns such as Pteris cretica
      were found to be a hyper-accumulator of arsenic (As). In this study, we first
      explored the validity of measuring the water-refilling process in xylem vessels
      of Pteris cretica using the synchrotron X-ray microimaging technique. Then we
      investigated the effects of arsenic concentration on the water-refilling speed
      inside the xylem vessel. The methodology to measure the water-refilling speed was
      consistent within five repetitions and 3 hours after the stem sample was cut from
      the plant. The water-refilling speed in the xylem vessels of the Pteris grown in
      arsenic solution was faster than that in normal water. Arsenic concentration of 0
      1,000 MUM was tested and the maximum speed was obtained at 500 MUM. Conclusively,
      the experimental methodology developed in this study allowed to obtain some
      interesting results for understanding how arsenic affect the xylem sap flow
      transport and the mechanism by which growth is enhanced in the presence of heavy
      metal.

PMID- 20936676
TI  - The science of ethics: Deception, the resilient self, and the APA code of ethics,
      1966-1973.
AB  - This paper has two aims. The first is to shed light on a remarkable archival
      source, namely survey responses from thousands of American psychologists during
      the 1960s in which they described their contemporary research practices and
      discussed whether the practices were "ethical." The second aim is to examine the
      process through which the American Psychological Association (APA) used these
      survey responses to create principles on how psychologists should treat human
      subjects. The paper focuses on debates over whether "deception" research was
      acceptable. It documents how members of the committee that wrote the principles
      refereed what was, in fact, a disagreement between two contemporary research
      orientations. The paper argues that the ethics committee ultimately built the
      model of "the resilient self" into the APA's 1973 ethics code. At the broadest
      level, the paper explores how prevailing understandings of human nature are
      written into seemingly universal and timeless codes of ethics.

PMID- 20936677
TI  - Local knowledge, state power, and the science of industrial labor relations:
      William Leiserson, David Saposs, and American labor economics in the interwar
      years.
AB  - Recent scholarship has frequently emphasized modern states' use of social science
      to impose universalized conceptions of rationality and order upon diverse, highly
      localized settings. The New Deal era experiences of William M. Leiserson and
      David J. Saposs, however, provide an analytical alternative. As students of the
      pioneering labor economist John R. Commons, Leiserson and Saposs sought to create
      mechanisms for state oversight of industrial labor relations that recognized
      local practices and arrangements. Although their approach failed to take hold
      within the National Labor Relations Board, localized institutional and political
      contingencies, and not a hegemonic modernism, account best for their frustrated
      aspirations in the late 1930s.

PMID- 20936678
TI  - A special relationship: Race, child study, and Rockefeller philanthropy.
AB  - In 1928, the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial granted funds to the University
      of Cincinnati to establish a child study and parent education program for African
      Americans. This paper traces the origin of the idea for this program to a special
      relationship between the family of John D. Rockefeller, Sr., and Spelman College,
      an African American women's college in Atlanta, Georgia. This relationship
      embodied Rockefeller's interest in women and children, in Baptist charities, in
      higher education (especially in the South), and race. The case study of this
      relationship addresses the larger question: To what purpose was the African
      American woman to be educated?

PMID- 20936681
TI  - Performance of ZDOCK and ZRANK in CAPRI rounds 13-19.
AB  - We report the performance of the ZDOCK and ZRANK algorithms in CAPRI rounds 13-19
      and introduce a novel measure atom contact frequency (ACF). To compute ACF, we
      identify the residues that most often make contact with the binding partner in
      the complete set of ZDOCK predictions for each target. We used ACF to predict the
      interface of the proteins, which, in combination with the biological data
      available in the literature, is a valuable addition to our docking pipeline.
      Furthermore, we incorporated a straightforward and efficient clustering algorithm
      with two purposes: (1) to determine clusters of similar docking poses
      (corresponding to energy funnels) and (2) to remove redundancies from the final
      set of predictions. With these new developments, we achieved at least one
      acceptable prediction for targets 29 and 36, at least one medium-quality
      prediction for targets 41 and 42, and at least one high-quality prediction for
      targets 37 and 40; thus, we succeeded for six out of a total of 12 targets.

PMID- 20936683
TI  - Fear conditioning is associated with synaptogenesis in the lateral amygdala.
AB  - Fear conditioning in the rat typically involves pairing a conditioned stimulus
      (tone) with an aversive unconditioned stimulus (foot shock) which elicits a
      freeze response. Although the circuitry that underlies this form of learning is
      well defined, potential synaptic changes associated with this form of learning
      have not been fully investigated. This experiment examined synaptic structural
      plasticity in the lateral amygdala which is critical for the acquisition of the
      conditioned fear response. Adult male rats were randomly allocated to either a
      paired, unpaired or tone only condition. One day after the initial fear
      conditioning session and 1 h after a probe trial confirmation of a conditioned
      fear response, the rats were perfused and the relevant tissue was embedded for
      electron microscopic analysis. Synaptic changes were quantified in the lateral
      amygdala using a stereological approach. The results showed a significant
      increase in the number of synapses in the conditioned animals compared to
      controls. This finding suggests that an increase in synaptic compliment in the
      amygdala may underlie the acquisition of the conditioned fear response.

PMID- 20936682
TI  - Targeted mutations in the Na,K-ATPase alpha 2 isoform confer ouabain resistance
      and result in abnormal behavior in mice.
AB  - Sodium and potassium-activated adenosine triphosphatases (Na,K-ATPase) are
      ubiquitous, participate in osmotic balance and membrane potential, and are
      composed of alpha, beta, and gamma subunits. The alpha subunit is required for
      the catalytic and transport properties of the enzyme and contains binding sites
      for cations, ATP, and digitalis-like compounds including ouabain. There are four
      known alpha isoforms; three that are expressed in the CNS in a regional and cell
      specific manner. The alpha2 isoform is most commonly found in astrocytes,
      pyramidal cells of the hippocampus in adults, and developmentally in several
      other neuronal types. Ouabain-like compounds are thought to be produced
      endogenously in mammals, bind the Na,K-ATPase, and function as a stress-related
      hormone, however, the impact of the Na,K-ATPase ouabain binding site on
      neurobehavioral function is largely unknown. To determine if the ouabain binding
      site of the alpha2 isoform plays a physiological role in CNS function, we
      examined knock-in mice in which the normally ouabain-sensitive alpha2 isoform was
      made resistant (alpha2(R/R) ) while still retaining basal Na,K-ATPase enzymatic
      function. Egocentric learning (Cincinnati water maze) was impaired in adult
      alpha2(R/R) mice compared to wild type (WT) mice. They also exhibited decreased
      locomotor activity in a novel environment and increased responsiveness to a
      challenge with an indirect sympathomimetic agonist (methamphetamine) relative to
      WT mice. The alpha2(R/R) mice also demonstrated a blunted acoustic startle reflex
      and a failure to habituate to repeated acoustic stimuli. The alpha2(R/R) mice
      showed no evidence of altered anxiety (elevated zero maze) nor were they impaired
      in spatial learning or memory in the Morris water maze and neither group could
      learn in a large Morris maze. These results suggest that the ouabain binding site
      is involved in specific types of learning and the modulation of dopamine-mediated
      locomotor behavior.

PMID- 20936684
TI  - The AT1 angiotensin II receptor blockade attenuates the development of
      amphetamine-induced behavioral sensitization in a two-injection protocol.
AB  - It has been shown that a single exposure to amphetamine is sufficient to induce
      long-term behavioral, neurochemical, and neuroendocrine sensitization in rats.
      Dopaminergic neurotransmission in the nucleus accumbens and the caudate-putamen
      plays a critical role in the addictive properties of drugs of abuse. Angiotensin
      (Ang) II receptors are found on the soma and terminals of mesolimbic dopaminergic
      neurons and it has been shown that Ang II acting through its AT1 receptors
      facilitates dopamine release. The hypothesis was tested that Ang II AT1 receptors
      are involved in the neuroadaptative changes induced by a single exposure to
      amphetamine and that such changes are related to the development of behavioral
      and neurochemical sensitization. For this purpose, the study examined the
      expression of amphetamine-enhanced (0.5 mg kg-1 i.p.) locomotor activity in
      animals pretreated with candesartan, an AT1 blocker, (3 mg kg-1 p.o. x 5 days), 3
      weeks after an amphetamine injection (5 mg kg-1 i.p.). Dopaminergic
      hyperreactivity was tested by measuring the 3H-DA release in vitro from caudate
      putamen and nucleus accumbens slices, induced by K+ stimulus. It was confirmed
      the behavioral sensitization in the two-injection protocol and candesartan
      pretreatment attenuate this response. It was also found that AT1 blockade
      pretreatment did not affect the locomotor response to dopamine agonists. In
      respect to the neurochemical sensitization tested using ex vivo 3H-DA release
      experiments it was found that AT1 receptor pretreatment blunted the enhanced
      response induced by K+ stimulus. The results support the idea that the
      development of neuroadaptive changes induced by amphetamine involves brain AT1
      Ang II receptor activation.

PMID- 20936685
TI  - In vitro and in vivo comparison of [3H](+)-PHNO and [3H]raclopride binding to rat
      striatum and lobes 9 and 10 of the cerebellum: a method to distinguish dopamine
      D3 from D2 receptor sites.
AB  - In vitro binding characteristics of the dopamine D3/D2 antagonist [3H]raclopride
      were compared to the D3/D2 agonist [3H](+)-PHNO in membrane preparations from rat
      striatum, cerebellum Lobules 9 and 10 (CB L9,10), and other cerebellar regions.
      In striatum, both radioligands labeled a single binding site. [3H](+)-PHNO showed
      higher affinity, though lower B(max) , compared with [3H]raclopride and was
      sensitive to inhibition by Gpp(NH)p. [3H](+)-PHNO showed significant specific
      binding to CB L9,10 membranes with higher affinity compared to striatal
      membranes. [3H](+)-PHNO binds to a high- and a low-affinity binding site in CB
      L9,10 membranes; the high-affinity site was not Gpp(NH)p-sensitive. [3H](+)-PHNO
      did not significantly bind cerebellum left hemisphere membranes. Very low
      specific binding of [3H]raclopride was found in CB L9,10. The selective dopamine
      D3 antagonist SB-277011 did not displace the binding of either ligand to striatal
      membranes but potently inhibited the binding of [3H](+)-PHNO in CB L9,10
      membranes. The highly selective D2 antagonist SV-156 showed the opposite profile.
      In vivo experiments were consistent with and supported by in vitro results. In
      summary, [3H](+)-PHNO and [3H]raclopride mainly label dopamine D2 receptors in
      rat striatum, with [3H](+)-PHNO labeling a D2(High) population. In vitro and in
      vivo, [3H](+)-PHNO labels CB L9,10 dopamine D3 receptors that are apparently in a
      high affinity state whereas [3H]raclopride gave only very low signal in this
      region. The present approaches appear useful for selectively labeling dopamine D3
      and D2 receptors in different rat brain regions and offer the possibility to
      demonstrate D3 versus D2 receptor selectivity of compounds using native rat brain
      tissue.

PMID- 20936686
TI  - Dopaminergic modulation of the caudal photoreceptor in crayfish.
AB  - In our study we investigated the influence of dopamine (DA) on the caudal
      photoreceptor (CPR) in crayfish. Here we report the following: (a) the
      chromatographic determination of DA in the sixth abdominal ganglion (6th AG)
      shows a variation in the content during a 24-h cycle with the maximum value at
      dawn. (b) There are possibly dopaminergic neurons in the 6th AG with antityrosine
      hydroxylase antibodies. Immunopositive neurons (164) were located in the anterior
      and posterior regions of the 6th AG with the mean (+/- SE) diameter of their
      somata 23 +/- 1 MUm. In addition, there is immunopositive staining in axons,
      neuropilar fibers, and varicosities. (c) We also identified, using
      immunohistochemistry, 108 neurons in the sixth AG that contain dopamine D1-like
      receptors, with the mean (+/-SE) diameter of their somata 18 +/- 1 MUm. (d) We
      examined the exogenous action of DA on the electrical activity of the CPR in the
      isolated sixth AG by conventional extracellular-recording methods. This CPR
      displays spontaneous activity and phasic-tonic responses to light pulses. Topical
      application of dopamine to ganglia kept in the dark increased the spontaneous
      firing rate of the CPR, whereas the photoresponse of the CPR remained unchanged.
      The effect on the spontaneous activity is dose-dependent with an ED50 of 33 MUM,
      and is blocked by the dopamine D1-like antagonist SCH23390. These observations
      suggested that the DA is playing the role of a neurotransmitter or a
      neuromodulator of the CPR in the 6th AG in both species of crayfish, Procambarus
      clarkii and Cherax quadricarinatus.

PMID- 20936687
TI  - Dopamine transporter inhibition is necessary for cocaine-induced increases in
      dendritic spine density in the nucleus accumbens.
AB  - Repeated exposure to cocaine produces changes in the nervous system that
      facilitate drug-seeking behaviors. These drug-seeking behaviors have been studied
      with animal models, such as cocaine-induced locomotor sensitization. Cocaine is
      hypothesized to induce locomotor sensitization by neural changes, including an
      increase in the density of spines on the dendrites of neurons in the nucleus
      accumbens (NAC). However, how cocaine increases dendritic spine density in the
      NAC has been difficult to discern because cocaine inhibits the function of
      multiple targets, including the transporters for dopamine, serotonin, and
      norepinephrine. Previously, our lab created a tool that is useful for determining
      how inhibiting the dopamine transporter (DAT) contributes to the effects of
      cocaine by generating mice that express a cocaine-insensitive DAT (DAT-CI mice).
      In this study, we used DAT-CI mice to determine the contribution of DAT
      inhibition in cocaine-induced increases in dendritic spine density in the NAC. We
      repeatedly injected DAT-CI mice with either cocaine or saline, and measured both
      dendritic spine density in the NAC and locomotor activity. Unlike wild-type mice,
      DAT-CI mice did not show an increase in dendritic spine density in the NAC or in
      locomotor activity in response to repeated injections of cocaine. These data show
      that cocaine-induced increases in dendritic spine density in the NAC require DAT
      inhibition. Thus, DAT-inhibition may play a role in mediating the long-lasting
      neural changes associated with drug addiction.

PMID- 20936688
TI  - Serotonergic mechanism underlying tranylcypromine enhancement of nicotine self
      administration.
AB  - Although nicotine is generally considered to be the main psychoactive component
      of tobacco, growing evidence highlights the importance of nonnicotine compounds
      in smoking reinforcement. Monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibition is a major
      consequence of smoking and MAO inhibitors, such as tranylcypromine, increase
      nicotine reinforcement. Tranylcypromine has multiple pharmacological effects,
      increasing monoamine release for a few hours immediately after its administration
      and blocking MAO activity for several days. To assess the relative role of these
      two actions, adult male rats were tested in consecutive daily 3-h sessions for
      self-administration of nicotine (3 MUg kg-1) inj-1, i.v.) either 20 or 1 h
      following administration of tranylcypromine (3 mg kg-1). Both paradigms were
      shown to produce highly significant inhibition of MAO activity. However, whereas
      animals readily acquired self-administration when pretreated with tranylcypromine
      1 h prior to testing, they did not with the longer pretreatment interval. Such
      animals did immediately acquire nicotine self-administration when the
      tranylcypromine pretreatment interval was switched to 1 h prior to testing on Day
      4, indicating that an acute effect of the MAO inhibitor was responsible for
      enhanced nicotine reinforcement. Several lines of evidence implicate serotonin (5
      HT) as the mediator of this enhancement: (1) Tranyclypromine-enhanced nicotine
      reinforcement was blocked by the 5-HT2 receptor antagonists, ritanserin and
      ketanserin; (2) parachloroamphetamine (PCA), a 5-HT releaser, also enhanced
      nicotine self-administration in animals in which MAO activity was inhibited; (3)
      pretreatment with tranylcypromine increased PCA-induced 5-HT overflow in the
      nucleus accumbens. These findings suggest that MAO inhibition enhances
      serotonergic transmission, which serves a critical role in the reinforcing
      effects of nicotine.

PMID- 20936689
TI  - Direct observation of minimum-sized amyloid fibrils using solution NMR
      spectroscopy.
AB  - It is challenging to investigate the structure and dynamics of amyloid fibrils at
      the residue and atomic resolution because of their high molecular weight and
      heterogeneous properties. Here, we used solution nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)
      spectroscopy to characterize the conformation and flexibility of amyloid fibrils
      of beta2-microglobulin (beta2m), for which direct observation of solution NMR
      could not be made. Ultrasonication led to fragmentation producing a solution of
      minimum-sized fibrils with a molecular weight of around 6 MDa. In 1H-15N
      heteronuclear single-quantum correlation measurements, five signals, derived from
      N-terminal residues (i.e., Ile1, Gln2, Arg3, Thr4, and Lys6), were newly
      detected. Signal strength decreased with the distance from the N-terminal end.
      Capping experiments with the unlabeled beta2m monomer indicated that the signals
      originated from molecules located inside the fibrils. Ultrasonication makes the
      residues with moderate flexibility observable by reducing size of the fibrils.
      Thus, solution NMR measurements of ultrasonicated fibrils will be promising for
      studying the structure and dynamics of fibrils.

PMID- 20936690
TI  - Increased flexibility decreases antifreeze protein activity.
AB  - Antifreeze proteins protect several cold-blooded organisms from subzero
      environments by preventing death from freezing. The Type I antifreeze protein
      (AFP) isoform from Pseudopleuronectes americanus, named HPLC6, is a 37-residue
      protein that is a single alpha-helix. Mutational analysis of the protein showed
      that its alanine-rich face is important for binding to and inhibiting the growth
      of macromolecular ice. Almost all structural studies of HPLC6 involve the use of
      chemically synthesized protein as it requires a native N-terminal aspartate and
      an amidated C-terminus for full activity. Here, we examine the role of C-terminal
      amide and C-terminal arginine side chain in the activity, structure, and dynamics
      of nonamidated Arg37 HPLC6, nonamidated HPLC6 Ala37, amidated HPLC6 Ala37, and
      fully native HPLC6 using a recombinant bacterial system. The thermal hysteresis
      (TH) activities of the nonamidated mutants are 35% lower compared with amidated
      proteins, but analysis of the NMR data and circular dichroism spectra shows that
      they are all still alpha-helical. Relaxation data from the two nonamidated
      mutants indicate that the C-terminal residues are considerably more flexible than
      the rest of the protein because of the loss of the amide group, whereas the
      amidated Ala37 mutant has a C-terminus that is as rigid as the wild-type protein
      and has high TH activity. We propose that an increase in flexibility of the AFP
      causes it to lose activity because its dynamic nature prevents it from binding
      strongly to the ice surface.

PMID- 20936691
TI  - Environmental impacts of engineered nanoparticles.

PMID- 20936692
TI  - Redox proteomics in aging rat brain: involvement of mitochondrial reduced
      glutathione status and mitochondrial protein oxidation in the aging process.
AB  - Increasing evidence supports the notion that increased oxidative stress is a
      fundamental cause in the aging process and in neurodegenerative diseases. As a
      result, a decline in cognitive function is generally associated with brain aging.
      Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are highly reactive intermediates, which can modify
      proteins, nucleic acids, and polyunsaturated fatty acids, leading to neuronal
      damage. Because proteins are major components of biological systems and play key
      roles in a variety of cellular functions, oxidative damage to proteins represents
      a primary event observed in aging and age-related neurodegenerative disorders. In
      the present study, with a redox proteomics approach, we identified mitochondrial
      oxidatively modified proteins as a function of brain aging, specifically in those
      brain regions, such as cortex and hippocampus, that are commonly affected by the
      aging process. In all brain regions examined, many of the identified proteins
      were energy-related, such as pyruvate kinase, ATP synthase, aldolase, creatine
      kinase, and alpha-enolase. These alterations were associated with significant
      changes in both cytosolic and mitochondrial redox status in all brain regions
      analyzed. Our finding is in line with current literature postulating that free
      radical damage and decreased energy production are characteristic hallmarks of
      the aging process. In additon, our results further contribute to identifying
      common pathological pathways involved both in aging and in neurodegenerative
      disease development.

PMID- 20936693
TI  - Induction of neuronal cell death by paraneoplastic Ma1 antigen.
AB  - Paraneoplastic Ma1 (PNMA1) is a member of a family of proteins involved in an
      autoimmune disorder called paraneoplastic neurological syndrome. Although it is
      widely expressed in brain, nothing is known about the function of PNMA1 in
      neurons. We find that PNMA1 expression is highest in the perinatal brain, a
      period during which developmentally regulated neuronal death occurs. PNMA1
      expression increases in cerebellar granule neurons (CGNs) induced to die by low
      potassium (LK) and in cortical neurons following homocysteic acid (HCA) treament.
      Elevated PNMA1 expression is also observed in the degenerating striatum in two
      separate mouse models of Huntington's disease, the R6/2 transgenic model and the
      3-nitropropionic acid-induced chemical model. Suppression of endogenous PNMA1
      expression inhibits LK-induced neuronal apoptosis. Ectopic expression of PNMA1
      promotes apoptosis even in medium containing high potassium, a condition that
      normally ensures survival of CGNs. Deletion of the N-terminal half of the PNMA1
      protein abrogates its apoptotic activity, whereas deletion of the C-terminal half
      renders the protein more toxic. Within the N-terminal half, the ability to induce
      neuronal death depends on the presence of a BH3-like domain. In addition to being
      necessary for apoptosis, the BH3-like domain is necessary for self-association of
      PNMA1. Apoptosis by PNMA1 expression is inhibited by overexpression of Bcl2,
      suggesting that PNMA1-induced neuronal death may depend on the binding of a
      proapoptotic member of the Bcl2 family to the BH3 domain. Taken together, our
      results suggest that PNMA1 is a proapoptotic protein in neurons, elevated
      expression of which may contribute to neurodegenerative disorders.

PMID- 20936694
TI  - Transplantation of neuronal cells induced from human mesenchymal stem cells
      improves neurological functions after stroke without cell fusion.
AB  - The options for treating stroke are limited, but stem cells hold promise as a
      therapy because of their multipotency. Neuronal cells derived from mesenchymal
      stem cells (MSC) were reported to have more therapeutic effect than MSCs. For
      elucidating the therapeutic mechanism of neuronal cells, here we generated a
      model of focal cerebral infarction by performing left common carotid artery
      occlusion in adult gerbils. We transfected human trabecular bone-derived MSCs
      (hMSCs) with the Notch intracellular domain to induce their differentiation into
      neuronal cells (hN-MSCs). These cells were stereotaxically transplanted into the
      local ischemic hemisphere 4 days after the occlusion. Behavioral analyses were
      conducted 28 days after transplantation, and then fluorescence in situ
      hybridization (FISH) and a histological evaluation were performed.
      Histologically, transplanted cells were distributed around the periinfarct
      region, and approximately 8.5% and 4.2% of hN-MSCs and hMSCs survived,
      respectively; 53.2% +/- 9.6% of hN-MSCs were microtubule-associated protein 2(+)
      (MAP-2(+) ) and extended neurites, whereas only 0.9% +/- 0.3% of hMSCs were MAP
      2(+) . In FISH, human nucleus-specific signals were detected in both hN-MSCs and
      hMSCs grafted brains, but no transplanted cell had a merged gerbil-specific
      nuclear signals. hN-MSC-transplanted animals showed significantly better recovery
      than animals given control vehicle in the T-maze, bilateral asymmetry, and open
      field tests. These findings suggested that hN-MSCs have greater therapeutic
      potential than hMSCs for stroke and that cell fusion does not primarily
      contribute to the therapeutic mechanism of MSC transplantation.

PMID- 20936695
TI  - Hypoxic preconditioning failure in aging hippocampal neurons: impaired gene
      expression and rescue with intracellular calcium chelation.
AB  - Hypoxic preconditioning in the brain (HPC), a phenomenon whereby noninjurious
      hypoxia induces resistance to cell death following ischemia, requires the
      expression of specific genes. Declines in signal transduction pathway activity
      with aging may decrease the genomic response to HPC and limit its neuroprotective
      efficacy. To test this, we determined how signal transduction gene expression,
      intracellular Ca(2+) levels, and phosphorylation of the survival-associated
      kinase Akt differ in hippocampal slice cultures (HSCs) made from postnatal day 7
      10 (P7-10) and 2-year-old rats following HPC. HPC neuroprotection decreased with
      increasing source animal age, and HPC could not be demonstrated in HCSs made from
      animals >6 months of age, despite adjusting the duration of hypoxic exposure.
      Preconditioning protection required the survival kinase Akt in P10 hippocampal
      slices cultures. In P9 cultures, HPC increased Akt phosphorylation and the
      expression of prosurvival genes, including Bcl-2, heat shock proteins, protein
      kinases, c-jun, and NfkappaB. Lack of increased Akt phosphorylation and a greatly
      diminished signaling pathway gene response were found in HSCs from aging animals.
      Moderate and transient increases in [Ca(2+) ](i) during HPC occurred in P7-10
      HSCs, but [Ca(2+) ](i) was persistently increased at 1 and 24 hr after
      preconditioning in HSCs from 2-year-old rats. The intracellular Ca(2+) chelator
      BAPTA-AM facilitated HPC neuroprotection in 2-year-old HSCs and restored the
      pattern of post-HPC gene expression seen in immature animals. We conclude that
      age-related loss of preconditioning may be due to altered intracellular Ca(2+)
      homeostasis (excess and sustained increase in [Ca(2+) ](i) ) and is a lesion that
      prevents critical elements of neuroprotective signal transduction.

PMID- 20936696
TI  - p120 catenin/alphaN-catenin are molecular targets in the neuroprotection and
      neuronal plasticity mediated by atorvastatin after focal cerebral ischemia.
AB  - Atorvastatin (ATV), a 3-hydroxy 3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase
      inhibitor, exerts beneficial effects on stroke through several pleiotropic
      mechanisms. However, its role following cerebral ischemia is not completely
      understood yet. We evaluated the effect of ATV treatment on the synaptic adhesion
      proteins after a transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (t-MCAO) model in
      rats. Ischemic male Wistar rats were treated with 10 mg/kg ATV. The first dose
      was 6 hr after reperfusion, then every 24 hr for 3days. Our findings showed that
      ATV treatment produced an increase in pAkt ser473 and a decrease in pMAPK 44/42
      protein levels 12 and 24 hr postischemia in the cerebral cortex and the
      hippocampus. However, p120 catenin and alphaN-catenin became drastically
      increased throughout the temporal course of postischemia treatment (12-72 hr),
      mainly in the hippocampus. Neurological recovery was observed at 48 and 72 hr,
      supported by a significant reduction of infarct volume, neuronal loss, and glial
      hyperreactivity after 72 hr of postischemia treatment with ATV. ATV treatment
      also up-regulated the association of p120(ctn) , alphaN-catenin to PSD-95,
      accompanied by a reduction of RhoA activation and the recovery of MAP2
      immunoreactivity, these being significantly affected by the focal cerebral
      ischemia. Our findings suggested that p120(ctn) and alphaN-catenin synaptic
      adhesion proteins are crucial molecular targets in ATV-mediated neuroprotection
      and neuronal plasticity after focal cerebral ischemia.

PMID- 20936697
TI  - Central amplification and fibromyalgia: disorder of pain processing.
AB  - Fibromyalgia (FM), a complex chronic pain disorder affecting a heterogeneous
      patient population, is an area of active basic and clinical research. Although
      diagnostic criteria for FM have been available for 2 decades, there remains no
      definitive diagnostic and no consensus regarding its etiology. Accumulating
      evidence suggests the underlying cause of FM pain results from abnormal pain
      processing particularly in the central nervous system rather than from
      dysfunction in peripheral tissues where pain is perceived. In this review, we
      examine recent studies investigating abnormalities in central pain processing as
      a component of FM in both preclinical models of generalized muscle
      hypersensitivity and clinical research in patients with FM. We focus our
      discussion on two areas where strong evidence exists for abnormalities in sensory
      signaling: the reduction of descending control, including suppression of
      descending inhibitory pathways and/or enhancement of descending facilitatory
      pathways, and changes in key neurotransmitters associated with central
      sensitization. Finally, we discuss currently available pharmacological treatments
      indicated for the management of pain in FM patients, based on their proposed
      mechanism of action and efficacy.

PMID- 20936698
TI  - Regulation of inhibitory neurotransmission by the scaffolding protein ankyrin
      repeat-rich membrane spanning/kinase D-interacting substrate of 220 kDa.
AB  - Scaffolding proteins play a critical role in the proper development and function
      of neural circuits. In contrast to the case for excitatory circuits, in which the
      role of several scaffolding proteins has been characterized, less is known about
      the scaffolding proteins that regulate inhibitory neurotransmission. The ankyrin
      repeat-rich membrane spanning (ARMS)/kinase D-interacting substrate of 220 kDa
      (Kidins220) scaffolding protein is expressed during the establishment of gamma
      aminobutyric acid (GABA) neurotransmission and is highly regulated by activity.
      To evaluate whether ARMS/Kidins220 expression affects GABAergic
      neurotransmission, we modified the ARMS/Kidins220 levels during the period of its
      maximum expression in culture (DIV 1-10). Whereas a decrease in ARMS/Kidins220
      levels suppressed GABAergic neurotransmission, overexpression of ARMS/Kidins220
      produced an increase in GABAergic neurotransmission in hippocampal neurons. In
      addition, we found that ARMS/Kidins220 regulates GABAergic neurotransmission by a
      presynaptic mechanism. Our results suggest that the ARMS/Kidins220 scaffold
      protein plays a critical role in the regulation of inhibitory transmission in
      hippocampal neurons.

PMID- 20936699
TI  - Correlation of matrix metalloproteinases-2 and -9 with proinflammatory cytokines
      in Guillain-Barre syndrome.
AB  - The role of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and cytokines in the pathogenesis of
      Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) largely remains unknown. We studied the role of MMP
      2, MMP-9, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), and interleukin-1beta (IL
      1beta) in disease progression and recovery of patients with GBS. Sixty-five
      patients with GBS and 68 healthy controls were enrolled in the study. Serum
      levels of MMP-2, MMP-9, TNF-alpha, and IL-1beta were analyzed by ELISA, and
      activities of MMPs were measured by zymography. Expression of MMP-9, TNF-alpha,
      and IL-1beta was higher in the progressive phase and lower in the recovery phase
      of GBS than in controls. A positive correlation of MMP-2 with IL-1beta and MMP-9
      with TNF-alpha and IL-1beta was observed with progressive-phase GBS. The study
      shows that up-regulation of MMP-9 along with proinflammatory cytokines (TNF-alpha
      and IL-1beta) in the early course appears to be associated with immune-mediated
      disease progression resulting from inflammation in the peripheral nervous system,
      whereas, during the later phase, down-regulation of MMP-9 and proinflammatory
      cytokines is implicated in recovery from the disease.

PMID- 20936700
TI  - Amyloid beta accelerates phosphorylation of tau and neurofibrillary tangle
      formation in an amyloid precursor protein and tau double-transgenic mouse model.
AB  - In Alzheimer's disease, Abeta deposits are considered the initial cardinal events
      that induce tauopathy secondarily. However, the relationship between Abeta
      amyloidosis and tauopathy has not been determined in detail. We produced double
      transgenic mice, 2*TgTau(+/-) APP(+/-) , by mating Tg2576 mice that exhibit Abeta
      amyloidosis and TgTauP301L mice that show tauopathy, and statistically analyzed
      the effect of Abeta accumulation on tauopathy. There was no significant
      difference in theprogression of Abeta accumulation among 2*TgTau(+/-) APP(+/-)
      and 1*TgTau(-/-) APP(+/-) , and tau accumulation among 2*TgTau(+/-) APP(+/-) and
      1*Tg Tau(+/-) APP(-/-) . The appearance rates of phosphorylated tau developing in
      neurons and processes were significantly accelerated in 2*TgTau(+/-) APP(+/-)
      mice compared with those in 1*TgTau(+/-) APP(-/-) mice at 23 months of age.
      Accumulation of phosphorylated and confomationally altered tau and GSK3beta in
      neuronal processes was accelerated in the white matter in 2*TgTau(+/-) APP(+/-) .
      The level of phosphorylated tau in the sarkosyl-insoluble fraction was increased
      in 2*TgTau(+/-) APP(+/-) brains compared with that in 1*TgTau(+/-) APP(-/-)
      brains. Thus, Abeta amyloid partially enhances tauopathy through accumulation of
      insoluble, phosphorylated, and conformationally changed tau in neuronal cytoplasm
      and processes in the late stage.

PMID- 20936701
TI  - Regulation of the galanin system by repeated electroconvulsive seizures in mice.
AB  - Even though induction of seizures by electroconvulsive stimulation (ECS) is a
      treatment widely used for major depression in humans, the working mechanism of
      ECS remains uncertain. The antiepileptic effect of ECS has been suggested to be
      involved in mediating the therapeutic effect of ECS. The neuropeptide galanin
      exerts antiepileptic and antidepressant-like effects and has also been implicated
      in the pathophysiology of depression. To explore a potential role of galanin in
      working mechanisms of ECS, the present study examined effects of repeated ECS on
      the galanin system using QRT-PCR, in situ hybridization, and [(125) I]galanin
      receptor binding. ECS was administered to adult mice daily for 14 days, and this
      paradigm was confirmed to exert antidepressant-like effect in the tail suspension
      test. Prominent increases in galanin gene expression were found in several brain
      regions involved in regulation of epileptic activity and depression, including
      the piriform cortex, hippocampal dentate gyrus, and amygdala. Likewise, GalR2
      gene expression was up-regulated in both the central and the medial amygdala,
      whereas GalR1 gene expression showed a modest down-regulation in the medial
      amygdala. [(125) I]galanin receptor binding in the piriform cortex, hippocampus,
      and amygdala was found to be significantly down-regulated. These data show that
      the galanin system is regulated by repeated ECS in a number of brain regions
      implicated in seizure regulation and depression. These changes may play a role in
      the therapeutic effect of ECS.

PMID- 20936702
TI  - Extracellular calcium induces quiescence of the low-frequency embryonic motor
      rhythm in the mouse isolated brainstem.
AB  - Although extracellular calcium ionic concentration ([Ca](o) ) is known to
      increase during late gestation and to drop after parturition, little is known
      about the influence of [Ca](o) on fetal brain function. We have investigated the
      influence of [Ca](o) , calcium-sensing receptors/nonselective cation currents
      (CaSR/NSCC), and GABAergic inhibitions on maturation of brainstem-spinal motor
      activities: the primary low-frequency embryonic rhythm [LF; silent since
      embryonic day (E)16] and the fetal respiratory rhythm (RR; emerging at E14-E15).
      Using in vitro isolated brainstem-spinal cord preparations of mice at different
      fetal and postnatal (P) stages (E16-P1), we demonstrate that reducing fetal
      [Ca](o) from 1.2 mM to 0.7 mM at E16-E18 or blocking GABA(A) receptors at E16-P0
      reactivates LF and reveals LF-related disturbance of RR at E16-E18. This LF is
      stopped by adding gadolinium or spermidine (CaSR/NSCC agonists) at E18-P0 or
      GABA(A) receptor agonists at E16-E18. In contrast, [Ca](o) -induced slowing of RR
      at E16-E18 is not reproduced by gadolinium and spermidine. We conclude that
      perinatal CaSR/NSCC and GABA(A) inhibition allow quiescence of the LF, thereby
      improving functional maturation of the RR.

PMID- 20936703
TI  - Green tea polyphenols potentiate the action of nerve growth factor to induce
      neuritogenesis: possible role of reactive oxygen species.
AB  - Exogenously administered nerve growth factor (NGF) repairs injured axons, but it
      does not cross the blood-brain barrier. Thus, agents that could potentiate the
      neuritogenic ability of endogenous NGF would be of great utility in treating
      neurological injuries. Using the PC12 cell model, we show here that
      unfractionated green tea polyphenols (GTPP) at low concentrations (0.1 MUg/ml)
      potentiate the ability of low concentrations of NGF (2 ng/ml) to induce
      neuritogenesis at a level comparable to that induced by optimally high
      concentrations of NGF (50 ng/ml) alone. In our experiments, GTPP by itself did
      not induce neuritogenesis or increase immunofluorescent staining for beta-tubulin
      III; however, it increased expression of mRNA and proteins for the neuronal
      markers neurofilament-L and GAP-43. Among the polyphenols present in GTPP,
      epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) alone appreciably potentiated NGF-induced
      neurite outgrowth. Although other polyphenols present in GTPP, particularly
      epigallocatechin and epicatechin, lack this activity, they synergistically
      promoted this action of EGCG. GTPP also induced an activation of extracellular
      signal-regulated kinases (ERKs). PD98059, an inhibitor of the ERK pathway,
      blocked the expression of GAP-43. K252a, an inhibitor of TrkA-associated tyrosine
      kinase, partially blocked the expression of these genes and ERK activation.
      Antioxidants, catalase (cell-permeable form), and N-acetylcysteine (both L and D
      forms) inhibited these events and abolished the GTPP potentiation of NGF-induced
      neuritogenesis. Taken together, these results show for the first time that GTPP
      potentiates NGF-induced neuritogenesis, likely through the involvement of
      sublethal levels of reactive oxygen species, and suggest that unfractionated GTPP
      is more effective in this respect than its fractionated polyphenols.

PMID- 20936704
TI  - Hypothermia-induced increase of oligodendrocyte precursor cells: Possible
      involvement of plasmalemmal voltage-dependent anion channel 1.
AB  - Hypothermia is believed to suppress cell proliferation by inducing
      apoptosis/necrosis and phase-specific/nonspecific cell cycle arrest, which are,
      directly or indirectly, related to a reduced energy supply. Intriguingly,
      hypothermia is known to improve neurological recovery of animals and humans
      exposed to focal brain hypoxic-ischemic injury. The underlying mechanism of the
      neuroprotective effect of hypothermia is unclear, although the prevention of
      neural cell apoptosis is thought to play a role. Herein we demonstrate that in
      vitro cell culture of oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) under conditions of
      mild hypothermia (31.5 degrees C) results in an increase in cell number relative
      to cells cultured under normothermic conditions (37 degrees C). Cell cycle
      analysis, immunoblotting of cyclins, TUNEL assay, and immunocytochemistry of OPC
      differentiation markers suggest that hypothermia shifts the balance between
      proliferation and apoptosis/differentiation toward proliferation. A combination
      of transcriptome analysis, pharmacological intervention, and immunoaffinity-based
      assays suggests a possible involvement of the Galpha13-Rho GTPase Cdc42-ERK1/2
      signaling cascade and voltage-dependent anion channel 1 (VDAC1), which associate
      or dissociate with Galpha13 protein at 37 degrees C and 31.5 degrees C,
      respectively. Immunoelectron microscopy revealed the presence of VDAC1 in the
      plasma membrane of OPCs. Furthermore, the exogenous addition of impermeable VDAC1
      inhibitors enhanced proliferation of OPCs at 37 degrees C. These results may
      contribute to the elucidation of the mechanism of hypothermic neuroprotection as
      well as the possible novel role of plasmalemmal VDAC1.

PMID- 20936705
TI  - The wheat germ agglutinin-fractionated proteome of subjects with Alzheimer's
      disease and mild cognitive impairment hippocampus and inferior parietal lobule:
      Implications for disease pathogenesis and progression.
AB  - Lectin affinity chromatography is a powerful separation technique that
      fractionates proteins by selectively binding to specific carbohydrate moieties
      characteristic of protein glycosylation type. Wheat germ agglutinin (WGA)
      selectively binds terminal N-acetylglucosamine (O-GlcNAc) and sialic acid
      moieties characteristic of O-linked glycosylation. The current study utilizes WGA
      affinity chromatography to fractionate proteins from hippocampus and inferior
      parietal lobule (IPL) from subjects with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and arguably
      its earliest form, mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Proteins identified by
      proteomics that were fractionated from MCI and AD hippocampus by WGA affinity
      chromatography with altered levels compared with age-matched controls included
      GP96, gamma-enolase, glutamate dehydrogenase, glucosidase IIalpha, 14-3-3epsilon,
      14-3-3gamma, 14-3-3zeta, tropomyosin-2, calmodulin 2, gelsolin, beta-synuclein,
      alpha1-antichymotrypsin, and dimethylguanosine tRNA methyltransferase. Proteins
      identified by proteomics that were fractionated from MCI and AD IPL by WGA
      affinity chromatography showing altered levels compared with age-matched controls
      included protein disulfide isomerase, calreticulin, and GP96. The proteins
      described in this study are involved in diverse processes, including glucose
      metabolism, endoplasmic reticulum (ER) functions, chaperoning, cytoskeletal
      assembly, and proteolysis, all of which are affected in AD. This study, the first
      to use proteomics to identify WGA-fractionated proteins isolated from brains from
      subjects with MCI and AD, provides additional information about the active
      proteome of the brain throughout AD progression.

PMID- 20936706
TI  - Hierarchization of myogenic and adipogenic progenitors within human skeletal
      muscle.
AB  - Skeletal muscle cells constitute a heterogeneous population that maintains muscle
      integrity through a high myogenic regenerative capacity. More unexpectedly, this
      population is also endowed with an adipogenic potential, even in humans, and
      intramuscular adipocytes have been found to be present in several disorders. We
      tested the distribution of myogenic and adipogenic commitments in human muscle
      derived cells to decipher the cellular basis of the myoadipogenic balance. Clonal
      analysis showed that adipogenic progenitors can be separated from myogenic
      progenitors and, interestingly, from myoadipogenic bipotent progenitors. These
      progenitors were isolated in the CD34(+) population on the basis of the
      expression of CD56 and CD15 cell surface markers. In vivo, these different cell
      types have been found in the interstitial compartment of human muscle. In vitro,
      we show that the proliferation of bipotent myoadipogenic CD56(+)CD15(+)
      progenitors gives rise to myogenic CD56(+)CD15(-) progenitors and adipogenic
      CD56(-)CD15(+) progenitors. A cellular hierarchy of muscle and fat progenitors
      thus occurs within human muscle. These results provide cellular bases for
      adipogenic differentiation in human skeletal muscle, which may explain the fat
      development encountered in different muscle pathological situations.

PMID- 20936707
TI  - Characterizing the contribution of stem/progenitor cells to tumorigenesis in the
      Pten-/-TP53-/- prostate cancer model.
AB  - Loss of PTEN is one of the most common mutations in prostate cancer, and loss of
      wild-type TP53 is associated with prostate cancer progression and castrate
      resistance. Modeling prostate cancer in the mouse has shown that while Pten
      deletion in prostate epithelial cells leads to adenocarcinoma, combined loss of
      Pten and TP53 results in rapidly developing disease with greater tumor burden and
      early death. TP53 contributes significantly to the regulation of stem cell self
      renewal, and we hypothesized that loss of Pten/TP53 would result in measurable
      changes in prostate cancer stem/progenitor cell properties. Clonogenic assays
      that isolate progenitor function in primary prostate epithelial cells were used
      to measure self-renewal, differentiation, and tumorigenic potential. Pten/TP53
      null as compared with wild-type protospheres showed increased self-renewal
      activity and modified lineage commitment. Orthotopic transplantation of Pten/TP53
      null cells derived from protospheres produced invasive Prostatic Intraepithelial
      Neoplasia (PIN)/adenocarcinoma, recapitulating the pathology seen in primary
      tumors. Pten/TP53 null progenitors relative to wild type also demonstrated
      increased dependence on the AKT/mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1)
      and androgen receptor (AR) pathways for clonogenic and tumorigenic growth. These
      data demonstrate roles for Pten/TP53 in prostate epithelial stem/progenitor cell
      function, and moreover, as seen in patients with castrate-resistant prostate
      cancer, suggest for the involvement of an AR-dependent axis in the clonogenic
      expansion of prostate cancer stem cells.

PMID- 20936708
TI  - An immunoprotective privilege of corneal epithelial stem cells against Th17
      inflammatory stress by producing glial cell-derived neurotrophic factor.
AB  - Adult stem cells are well known for their self-renewal and regenerative capacity.
      The mechanisms protecting these cells from inflammatory damage have not been well
      elucidated. This study investigated the immunoprotective properties of corneal
      epithelial stem cells from inflammation by producing glial cell-derived
      neurotrophic factor (GDNF). Primary human limbal epithelial cells (HLECs)
      cultured from limbal explants were treated with interleukin (IL)-17A, tumor
      necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha, or hyperosmotic media, with or without GDNF or
      nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kappaB) inhibitor (NF-kappaB-I) for 4-48 hours.
      Inflammatory mediators and Th17-inducing cytokines were determined by real-time
      polymerase chain reaction, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and immunobead
      assays. NF-kappaB activation was detected by p65 phosphorylation, immunostaining
      and Western blotting. GDNF and its receptor, GDNF family receptor alpha-1, were
      exclusively immunolocalized in the basal layer of limbal epithelium, whereas IL
      17 receptor was negative in these cells. Exogenous IL-17A stimulated the
      expression and production of inflammatory cytokines (TNF-alpha, IL-6, and IL
      1beta) and chemokine IL-8 by HLECs. Th17-inducing cytokines, transforming growth
      factor (TGF)-beta1, IL-6, IL-23, and IL-1beta, were significantly increased at
      mRNA and protein levels by HLECs exposed to TNF-alpha or hyperosmotic media. IL
      17 activated NF-kappaB by p65 phosphorylation at serine 536 and nuclear
      translocation. GDNF or NF-kappaB-I blocked IL-17-induced NF-kappaB p65 activation
      and production of inflammatory mediators. Furthermore, GDNF suppressed the
      production of Th17-inducing cytokines through inhibiting NF-kappaB activation.
      These findings demonstrate that limbal progenitor cell-produced neurotrophic
      factor GDNF suppresses IL-17-mediated inflammation via NF-kappaB signaling
      pathway. This may represent a unique immunoprotective property of limbal stem
      cells against inflammatory challenges on the ocular surface.

PMID- 20936709
TI  - In vivo optical imaging of early-stage apoptosis in mouse brain after transient
      cerebral ischemia.
AB  - Apoptosis is one of the mechanisms contributing to neuronal degeneration in
      ischemic stroke. In vivo imaging of annexin V (A5) was performed at 12 hr, 24 hr,
      48 hr, and 4 days after 90-min transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (tMCAO)
      in mice with a fluorescent protein Cy5.5. Immunohistochemistry for heat shock
      protein 70 (HSP70), A5, and TUNEL were also performed with brain sections after
      the tMCAO. In vivo fluorescence was strongly observed at 48 hr over the head,
      especially with removal of both head skin and skull bone. Zonal ex vivo
      fluorescent signals were surrounding the ischemic core, and double-positive cells
      with Cy5.5/exogenous A5 antibody were found in this area. HSP70 was observed at
      the peak time of 24 hr; A5 became detectable at 12 hr, with increasing numbers
      until 48 hr. The number of TUNEL-positive cells increased at 24 hr and retained
      the high level until 4 days, showing a dissociating temporal pattern with A5.
      Double-positive cells for A5/TUNEL reached their peak at 48 hr. All the data
      suggest that some cells still have a chance to be rescued for a long period after
      acute cerebral ischemia. The in vivo Cy5.5 fluorescence representing A5 signal
      spatially surrounding the ischemic core temporally detects an early-stage
      apoptosis after cerebral ischemia.

PMID- 20936710
TI  - Optimizing quantitative in vivo fluorescence imaging with near-infrared quantum
      dots.
AB  - Quantum dots (QDs) are fluorescent nanoparticles with broad excitation and
      narrow, wavelength-tunable emission spectra. They are used extensively for in
      vitro fluorescence imaging studies and more recently for in vivo small animal and
      pre-clinical studies. To date there has been little concern about the selection
      of QD size (and thus emission wavelength peak) and excitation wavelengths, as
      they have little relevance to the results of in vitro studies. In vivo imaging,
      however, poses additional constraints, such as the scattering and absorption by
      tissue, which may influence the signal intensity at the body surface. Here, we
      demonstrate that longer-wavelength excitation and emission yield less
      quantization error in measured relative fluorescence intensity, using three near
      infrared QDs (QD655, QD705 and QD800) applied to in vivo lymphatic imaging, and a
      range of excitation wavelengths from the blue to the red. Statistically
      significant differences in quantization error were observed between nearly all
      pairs of excitation wavelengths (445-490, 503-555, 575-605, 615-665 and 671-705
      nm). Similarly, quantization error decreased with longer emission wavelengths
      (655, 705 and 800 nm). Light absorbance and scattering were demonstrated to be
      more potent factors than absorbance efficiency of QDs in producing quantization
      error in the measured fluorescence intensity. As a result, while wavelengths can
      be adjusted for qualitative experiments, the longest possible wavelengths should
      be used if quantification is desired during QD imaging experiments.

PMID- 20936711
TI  - Localization, mechanism and reduction of renal retention of technetium-99m
      labeled epidermal growth factor receptor-specific nanobody in mice.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Nanobodies are single-domain antigen binding fragments derived from
      functional heavy-chain antibodies elicited in Camelidae. They are powerful probes
      for radioimmunoimaging, but their renal uptake is relatively high. In this study
      we have evaluated the role of megalin on the renal uptake of anti-EGFR (99m)Tc
      7C12 nanobody and the potency of gelofusine and/or lysine to reduce renal uptake
      of (99m)Tc-7C12. METHODS: First we compared the renal uptake of (99m)Tc-7C12 in
      megalin-deficient and megalin-wild-type mice using pinhole SPECT/microCT and ex
      vivo analysis. The effect of gelofusine and lysine administration on renal
      accumulation of (99m)Tc-7C12 was analyzed in CD-1 mice divided into lysine
      preload at 30 min before tracer injection (LysPreload), LysPreload + gelofusine
      coadministration (LysPreload + GeloCoad), lysine coadministration (LysCoad),
      gelofusine coadministration (GeloCoad) and LysCoad + GeloCoad. The combined
      effect of gelofusine and lysine on tumor uptake was tested in mice xenografts.
      RESULTS: Renal uptake of (99m)Tc-7C12 was 44.22 +/- 3.46% lower in megalin
      deficient compared with megalin-wild-type mice. In CD-1 mice, lysine preload had
      no effect on the renal retention whereas coinjection of lysine or gelofusine with
      the tracer resulted in 25.12 +/- 2.99 and 36.22 +/- 3.07% reduction,
      respectively. The combined effect of gelofusine and lysine was the most
      effective, namely a reduction of renal retention of 45.24 +/- 2.09%. Gelofusine
      and lysine coadministration improved tumor uptake. CONCLUSION: Megalin
      contributes to the renal accumulation of (99m)Tc-7C12. Gelofusine and lysine
      coinjection with the tracer reduces the renal uptake while tumor uptake is
      improved. Although this methodology allows for optimization of imaging protocol
      using nanobodies, further improvements are needed before using these molecules
      for radionuclide therapy.

PMID- 20936712
TI  - Dynamic changes in 1H-MR relaxometric properties of cell-internalized
      paramagnetic liposomes, as studied over a five-day period.
AB  - Molecular imaging based on MRI requires the use of amplification strategies in
      order to achieve sufficient sensitivity for the detection of low-level molecular
      markers. Recently, we described a combination of two amplification methods: (i)
      the use of paramagnetic liposomes that can be prepared with a high payload of
      Gd(3+)-containing lipid; and (ii) targeting to a cell-surface receptor that can
      undergo multiple rounds of nanoparticle delivery in the cell, followed by
      recycling to the cell membrane. Liposome uptake was monitored over a period of 24
      h and was found to lead to massive delivery in subcellular compartments. The
      present study aimed to monitor the longer-term fate of the cell-internalized
      contrast material by studying its relaxometric properties over 5 days, following
      an initial 24 h loading period. Circa 25% of the Gd(3+)-content delivered to the
      cells via integrin-targeted liposomes was lost in the first 24 h, which led to 65
      and 77% reductions in R(1) and R(2), respectively, as compared with the original
      R(1) and R(2) enhancements. This implies that the remaining cell-associated
      gadolinium had relatively low effective r(1) and r(2) relaxivities. It is
      proposed that this is due to gradual release of Gd(3+) from the chelate in the
      cell, followed by sequestration in an MR silent state. Most of the gadolinium
      internalized by cells following incubation with non-targeted liposomes was
      released in the 5-day follow-up period.

PMID- 20936713
TI  - Social problem solving and depression in couples coping with cancer.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: When one person in a couple has cancer, both members may experience
      depressive symptoms and may react as an emotional system. However, the variables
      that influence this depressive system have not been identified. This study
      examined whether social problem solving, an important moderator of individual
      cancer-related depression, is related to depression in the couple system.
      METHODS: Sixty-three couples with one partner diagnosed with cancer completed
      self-report questionnaires regarding depressive symptoms, social problem solving,
      and relationship satisfaction. RESULTS: Multiple regression correlations
      supported the hypothesis that depression occurs in an emotional system (patient
      depression predicted partner depression and partner depression predicted patient
      depression). When examining how partner social problem solving impacts
      transmission from patient to partner, hierarchical multiple regression
      demonstrated that one social problem-solving component (positive problem
      orientation) eliminated the prediction of partner depression by patient
      depression. No other component of partner social problem solving eliminated the
      prediction of partner depression by patient depression. Partner social problem
      solving had no effect on whether partner depression predicted patient depression.
      CONCLUSIONS: Partners with more positive beliefs about solving problems were less
      likely to experience depression together with the patients. Further investigation
      into the role of social problem solving in the interpersonal depression system is
      warranted.

PMID- 20936714
TI  - A ratio-to-control Williams-type test for trend.
AB  - Under certain conditions, many multiple contrast tests based on the difference of
      treatment means can also be conveniently expressed in terms of ratios. In this
      paper, a Williams test for trend is defined as ratios-to-control for ease of
      interpretation and to obtain directly comparable confidence intervals.
      Simultaneous confidence intervals for percentages are particularly helpful for
      interpretations in the case of multiple endpoints. Methods for constructing
      simultaneous confidence intervals are discussed under both homogeneous and
      heterogeneous error variances. This approach is available in the R extension
      package mratios. The proposed method is used to test for trend in an
      immunotoxicity study with several endpoints as an example.

PMID- 20936715
TI  - A new type of Schwann cell graft transplantation to promote optic nerve
      regeneration in adult rats.
AB  - Like other parts of the central nervous system, the adult mammalian optic nerve
      is difficult to regenerate after injury. Transplantation of the peripheral nerve
      or a Schwann cell (SC) graft can promote injured axonal regrowth. We tried to
      develop a new type of tissue-engineered SC graft that consisted of SCs seeded
      onto a poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid)/chitosan conduit. Meanwhile, SCs were
      transfected along the ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) gene in vitro by
      electroporation to increase their neurotrophic effect. Four weeks after
      transplantation, GAP-43 labelled regenerating axons were found in the SC grafts,
      and axons in the CNTF-SC graft were longer than those in the SC graft. Tissue
      engineered SC grafts can provide a feasible environment for optic nerve
      regeneration and may become an alternative for bridging damaged nerves and
      repairing nerve defects in the future.

PMID- 20936716
TI  - [Strategies for prevention and treatment of sepsis].

PMID- 20936717
TI  - [Effects of hydrogen gas inhalation on serum high mobility group box 1 levels in
      severe septic mice].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of hydrogen gas inhalation on survival rate
      and serum high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) levels in severe septic mice.
      METHODS: Severe sepsis was induced by cecal ligation and puncture (CLP) operation
      in mice.A total of 248 mice were randomly divided into four groups: sham
      operation group (sham), sham operation with hydrogen gas inhalation group
      (sham+H2), severe CLP group (severe CLP) and severe CLP with hydrogen gas
      inhalation group (severe CLP+H2). Hydrogen gas inhalation was given for 1 h at
      1st and 6th h after CLP or sham operation, respectively. The survival rates and
      serum HMGB1 levels of all groups at different time points were measured. RESULT:
      The 7-d survival rates of severe CLP mice was 0 % (Compared with Sham group, P
      <0.05), and the serum HMBG1 levels from h2 to h32 after CLP operation were
      significantly increased in severe CLP mice (Compared with Sham group, P <0.05).
      Hydrogen gas treatment increased the 7-d survival rate of severe CLP mice to 60 %
      (Compared with severe sepsis group, P <0.05) and significantly reduced the serum
      HMGB1 levels at different time points (Compared with severe sepsis group, P
      <0.05). CONCLUSION: Hydrogen gas inhalation can decrease the serum HMGB1 levels
      and increase the survival rate of rats with severe sepsis.

PMID- 20936718
TI  - [Inhibitory effect of extrinsic CO-releasing molecules-2 (CORM-2) on inflammatory
      responses in mice with LPS-induced acute lung injury].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of extrinsic CO-releasing molecules-2 (CORM
      2) on attenuating pulmonary injury and the inflammatory response in LPS-induced
      acute lung injury of mice. METHODS: Fifty-three mice were assigned to four
      groups. Mice in sham group (n= 8) underwent sham inhalation, whereas mice in ALI
      (n= 15) received inhalation of LPS for 30 min, mice in ALI+iCORM (n= 15)
      underwent LPS inhalation with immediate administration of inactive CORM-2 (8
      mg/kg, i.v.), mice in ALI+CORM (n= 15) underwent LPS inhalation with immediate
      administration of CORM-2 (8 mg/kg, i.v.). PMN accumulation (MPO assay) in mice
      lungs and TNF-alpha and IL-1 beta in BAL fluid were determined. Activation of NF
      kB and expression level of ICAM-1 in the lung were assessed. RESULT: Treatment of
      ALI mice with CORM-2 attenuated PMN accumulation and prevented activation of NF
      kB in the lung. This was accompanied by a decrease of the expression of ICAM-1.
      In parallel, CORM-2 markedly decreased the production of inflammatory mediators
      in BAL fluid. CONCLUSION: CORM-2 attenuates the inflammatory response in the lung
      of LPS-induced ALI by decreasing leukocyte sequestration and interfering with NF
      kB activation, expression of ICAM-1 and therefore suppressing endothelial cells
      pro-adhesive phenotype.

PMID- 20936719
TI  - [Effects of isoflurane, sevoflurane and desflurane on expression of ICAM-1 and
      VCAM-1 in LPS-induced rat lung microvascular endothelial cells].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of isoflurane, sevoflurane and desflurane on
      the expression of ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 in LPS-induced rat lung microvascular
      endothelial cells (RLMVECs). METHODS: Cultured LPS-treated RLMVECs were exposed
      to 0.7, 1.0 or 2.0 minimum alveolar concentration (MAC) iosoflurane, sevoflurane
      or desflurane in 6 h. The protein expression of ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 was determined
      by Western blot analysis. The expression of ICAM-1 mRNA was detected by reverse
      transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). RESULT: Isoflurane at
      concentration of 1.0 MAC up-regulated the expression of ICAM-1 in LPS-induced
      RLMVECs (P <0.05); while same concentrations of sevoflurane and desflurane down
      regulated the expression of ICAM-1 (P<0.05). Desflurane at concentration of 2.0
      MAC up-regulated the expression of ICAM-1 in non-LPS-induced RLMVECs. All the
      volatile anesthetics down-regulated the expression of VCAM-1 in a dose-dependent
      manner. CONCLUSION: Compared to isoflurane, 1.0 MAC sevoflurane and desflurane
      down-regulate the expression of ICAM-1, which may be the molecule mechanism of
      their protective effect in acute lung injury.

PMID- 20936720
TI  - [A proteomic study of peripheral blood mononuclear cells in patients undergoing
      cardiopulmonary bypass].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To explore the effect of cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) on the profile
      of protein expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). METHODS:
      Eleven patients undergoing cardiac surgery under cardiopulmonary bypass were
      enrolled in the study. Peripheral blood samples were collected before CPB (T0), 1
      h after CPB (T1) and at the end of operation (T2), and PBMCs were obtained by
      gradient centrifugation. The profile of protein expression was analyzed using 2-D
      gel electrophoresis (2-DE) and mass spectrometry. The candidate proteins were
      further identified by Western blotting. RESULT: Compared to protein profile at
      T0, 12 protein spots were identified to be up-regulated in PBMCs at T1 (P <0.05),
      among which S100A9 reached the peak level at T1 and decreased after operation,but
      not returned to its initial level. CONCLUSION: Results indicate that 12 proteins
      are likely to be involved in CPB, however, their roles need to be elucidated.

PMID- 20936721
TI  - [Construction and evaluation of recombinant plasmid containing human triggering
      receptor expressed on myeloid cells-1 gene].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To construct a eukaryotic expression plasmid containing human
      triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells-1(TREM-1) gene. METHODS: The
      entire gene coding region of human TREM-1 was amplified from total RNA of human
      peripheral blood by means of RT-PCR. The fragment of TREM-1 was cloned to vector
      pUCm-T. After digestion by restriction endonuclease BamH I and Pst I, the
      fragment was subcloned into the eukaryotic expressing vector pEGFP-C3. This
      recombinant vector was transfected into 293 cells using liposome. The expression
      level of TREM-1 was determined by fluorescence microscope and Western blot assay.
      The recombinant TREM-1 vector was transfected into THP-1 cells. After stimulation
      with 100 ng/ml LPS for 24 h, the mRNA levels of TNF-alpha and IL-1beta were
      measured using RT-PCR. RESULT: The expression vector was constructed, and the
      result of the DNA sequencing showed that the constructed plasmid containing the
      TREM-1 gene. Fluorescence microscope and Western blot analysis showed that TREM-1
      protein was expressed in 293 cells successfully. After transfection into THP-1
      cells, recombinant TREM-1 could upregulate the mRNA levels of TNF-alpha and IL
      1beta. CONCLUSION: Eukaryotic expression plasmid pEGFP-TREM-1 is successfully
      constructed and showed biological activity.

PMID- 20936722
TI  - [Early high-volume hemofiltration treatment in severe sepsis].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of early application of high-volume
      hemofiltration treatment (HVHF) on the levels of lactic acid, pro-inflammatory
      cytokines and C-reactive protein (CRP) in plasma, as well as APACHE II score in
      patients suffering from severe sepsis. METHODS: Thirty patients meeting the
      diagnosis of severe sepsis were enrolled in the trial within 24 hours of insults.
      The level of lactic acid, interleukin-6 (IL-6) and CRP in plasma were measured
      before HVHF and at 24, 48 or 72 h following HVHF treatment. RESULT: The plasma
      levels of lactic acid and IL-6 decreased significantly at 24 h, 48 h, 72 h after
      HVHF (P <0.05), while, IL-10 did not differ significantly following HVHF
      (P>0.05), when compared with that before HVHF. CONCLUSION: The early application
      of HVHF could clear the plasma lactic acid and pro-inflammatory cytokines, and
      improve the tissue oxygenation in severe sepsis.

PMID- 20936723
TI  - [Research advances of inflammasome and its role in sepsis].
AB  - Inflammasomes are high-molecular-weight, multiprotein complexes in cells, which
      are assembled after cytoplasmic nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain like
      receptors (NLRs) sense pathogens and danger signals. The inflammasome can
      activate caspase-1, and later makes the pro-IL-1beta, proIL-18 precursor mature
      by cleavaging, thereby mediates the innate immunity. Dysregulation of
      inflammasomes plays an important role in the development of sepsis and other
      immune inflammatory diseases, thus inflammasome may be a new target for
      prevention and treatment of sepsis.

PMID- 20936724
TI  - [Effect of sea cucumber cerebroside on lipid metabolism in fatty liver rats].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of sea cucumber cerebroside (SCC) on the
      lipid metabolism in rats with orotic acid-induced fatty liver. METHODS: The non
      alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) model was established by adding orotic acid
      to the diets in rats. The rats were randomly assigned to four groups:control
      group, NAFLD group, NAFLD + low SCC group and NAFLD + high SCC group. After 10
      days of feeding, the serum and hepatic lipid concentrations and the aminopherase
      activities were measured; the composition of hepatic fatty acids was also
      analyzed. RESULT: The serum TC and TG levels reduced significantly in the NAFLD
      group as compared with the controls (P<0.05), while the sea cucumber cereborside
      feeding raised the serum lipid concentrations (P<0.05). The hepatic TC and TG
      levels dramatically increased in the NAFLD group in comparison with the controls
      (P<0.05, P<0.01), while the hepatic lipid accumulations decreased in both SCC
      groups (P<0.05, P<0.01). The ALT and AST activities in the NAFLD group increased
      markedly when compared with the controls (P<0.05, P <0.01), while the sea
      cucumber cerebroside feeding attenuated the hepatic injury levels (P<0.05,
      P<0.01). Compared with the control group, the stearoyl-CoA desaturase (SCD)
      activity increased significantly in the NAFLD group (P<0.05), but decreased in
      SCC groups (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Sea cucumber cerebroside can attenuate the rat
      fatty liver induced by orotic acid.

PMID- 20936725
TI  - [Construction of RegIalpha over-expression vector and its effect on proliferation
      and apoptosis of gastric cancer cells].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To construct RegIalpha over-expression vector and to evaluate the
      effect of RegIalpha on the proliferation and apoptosis of gastric cancer MKN28
      cells in vitro. METHODS: Full sequence of RegIalpha cDNA was amplified from
      normal gastric tissue samples by RT-PCR and cloned into pIRES2-EGFP vector. RT
      PCR and Western blot were performed to detect expression levels of RegIalpha in
      MKN28 cells. The effects of over-expression RegIalpha on cell proliferation was
      measured by MTT assay and apoptosis was detected by flow cytometry. RESULT:
      RegIalpha cDNA over-expression vector of pIRES2-RegIalpha-EGFP was successfully
      constructed. The expressions of RegIalpha in MKN28 cells, including mRNA and
      protein levels, were significantly increased after stable transfection, which
      resulted in cell proliferation and anti-apoptotic effect induced by H(2)O(2).
      CONCLUSION: The over-expression of RegIalpha can promote cell proliferation and
      reduce cell apoptosis when induced by H(2)O(2) in gastric cancer cells.

PMID- 20936726
TI  - [Clinical significance of heterozygosity loss at Mfn2 gene in hepatocellular
      carcinoma].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the loss of heterozygosity (LOH) at mitofusin-2 (Mfn2)
      gene in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and its clinicopathological significance.
      METHODS: Four high polymorphic microsatellite markers flanking Mfn2 were selected
      for LOH analysis in 29 cases of HCC. RESULT: The frequencies of LOH on D1S2667,
      D1S2740, D1S434 and D1S228 were 21%, 23%, 21% and 22%, respectively. LOH at Mfn2
      was closely correlated with tumor size, age, capsule, differentiation and t HBV
      infection (P<0.05), not with gender, thrombosis, cirrhosis and serum AFP levels
      (P>0.05). CONCLUSION: LOH at Mfn2 gene in HCC is associated with the
      clinicopathological features of patients.

PMID- 20936727
TI  - [Effects of simvastatin on expression of CTGF and alpha-SMA in renal
      tubulointerstitium of rats with diabetic nephropathy].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of low-dose simvastatin on the expression
      of connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) and alpha-smooth muscle actin (alpha
      SMA) in the renal tubulointerstitium of rats with diabetic nephropathy. METHODS:
      Sixty male SD rats were randomly divided into three groups: Group C (control
      group), Group D, in which diabetes was induced by stroptozotocin (STZ) and Group
      DS, in which STZ-induced diabetic rats were treated with low-dose (no cholesterol
      lowering effect) simvastatin. The following parameters were measured after 6
      weeks and 12 weeks in each groups, respectively: body weight and kidney weight,
      24-h urinary albumin excretion (UAE), biochemical indexes including blood glucose
      (GLU), low density lipoprotein (LDL), high density lipoprotein (HDL),
      triglycerides (TG) and serum creatinine (SCr). The expression of CTGF and alpha
      SMA in renal tubulointerstitium was assessed by immunohistochemical method.
      RESULT: After 6 and 12 weeks, there were no significant differences in SCr, LDL,
      HDL and TG levels among all three groups. The expression levels of CTGF and alpha
      SMA in the tubulointerstitium of Group DS were significantly decreased compared
      with those of Group D at week 6 (P<0.05); there were no significant differences
      compared with Group C (P>0.05). After 12 weeks, CTGF and alpha-SMA expressions in
      Group DS were also lower than those in Group D (P<0.05); while higher than those
      in Group C (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Simvastatin with a under cholesterol-lowering
      dose, can decrease the expression levels of CTGF and alpha-SMA in renal
      tubulointerstitium of rats with diabetic nephropathy, by which the progression of
      the tubulointerstitial fibrosis would be delayed.

PMID- 20936728
TI  - [Effect of chronic exposure to ultraviolet on skin barrier function].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of chronic ultraviolet (UV) exposure on skin
      barrier function and photoaging process. METHODS: One hundred and fifty-six
      volunteers from Hanghzou areas were enrolled in the study. UV-exposed skin areas
      (neck, dorsum of hand or frontier chest) and UV-unexposed areas (waist, buttock
      or abdomen) were tested. Probe CM 825 of skin multi-functional detector MPA9 was
      applied to test the skin water content; probe TM 300 was applied to test
      transepidermal water loss (TEWL) and probe RVM 600 was applied to detect skin
      elasticity (Ur/Uf). Relative perfusion unit (PU) of the skin was detected by
      laser doppler flowmetry (LDF). RESULT: Skin water content value at UV-exposed
      skin areas was 12.78 +/- 2.36 in elderly group (>50y), which was significantly
      lower than that of UV-unexposed skin areas(23.68 +/- 3.24, P= 0.036). Highest
      level of TEWL (12.98 +/- 2.86) g . m(-2) . h(-1) was detected at UV-exposed areas
      in elderly group; there were trends of increasing TEWL levels at UV-exposed areas
      than at UV-unexposed areas in all age groups, however, there were no statistical
      differences (P>0.05). The elasticity of Ur/Uf value at UV-exposed skin areas in
      elderly group was 0.11 +/- 0.07, which was remarkably lower than that of UV
      unexposed skin areas (0.32 +/- 0.1, P=0.028). No significant difference of skin
      perfusion was observed between UV-exposed and UV-unexposed areas. CONCLUSION:
      Chronic exposure to UV may damage skin barrier function and therefore play a role
      in skin photoaging process.

PMID- 20936730
TI  - [Value of (99m)Tc-MIBI/(18)F-FDG-dual-isotope simultaneous acquisition in
      diagnosis and treatment of myocardial infarction].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the value of(99m)Tc-MIBI/(18)F-FDG-dual-isotope
      simultaneous acquisition (DISA) in diagnosis and treatment of patients with
      myocardial infarction. METHODS: Sixty-three patients with myocardial infarction
      who underwent DISA before and after treatment were enrolled in the study. All
      cases were divided into subgroups based on different treatment and myocardial
      viability: Group A1 (n = 16) with coronary revascularization and viable
      myocardium, A2 (n = 9) same as A1 but no viable myocardium; B1 (n = 6) with
      coronary revascularization + stem cell transplantation and viable myocardium, B2
      (n = 7) same as B1 but no vital myocardium; C1 (n = 8) with stem cell
      transplantation and viable myocardium, C2 (n = 17) same as C1 but on viable
      myocardium. The changes of uptake rate of (99m)Tc-MIBI/(18)F-FDG before and after
      treatment were analyzed with SPSS 13.0 software. RESULT: There were statistical
      significances in DF value of (99m)Tc-MIBI or (18)F-FDG imaging before and after
      treatment in all groups (P <0.05), except Group A2 (P>0.05). The improvement of
      blood perfusion and metabolism in cardiac survival groups was more marked than
      that in non-cardiac survival groups after treatment (P<0.05). Furthermore, Group
      B1 was superior to Groups A1 and C1; Group B2 was superior to Group A2 and Group
      C2 (P<0.05 or<0.01). CONCLUSION: (99m)Tc-MIBI/(18)F-FDG DISA can detect
      myocardial viability and is of value for patients with myocardial infarction to
      choose appropriate therapeutic strategies. The degree of cardiac improvement
      after treatment can be evaluated by DISA.

PMID- 20936729
TI  - [Betulinic acid ameliorates impairment of endothelium-dependent relaxation
      induced by oxidative stress in rat aorta].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of betulinic acid (BA) on relaxation in
      isolated rat aortic rings and its antioxidant property on oxidative stress of
      blood vessels. METHODS: Aortic rings were isolated and BA was cumulatively added
      into organ bath. Isometric tension of endothelium intact or endothelium denuded
      thoracic aortic rings previously contracted by phenylephrine (PE) was recorded.
      Then aortic rings were randomly divided into normal control group, BA control
      group, H(2)O(2) group and BA+H(2)O(2) group, after being previously contracted by
      PE, isometric tension of endothelium-dependent relaxation induced by Ach was
      recorded. RESULT: Exposure of intact endothelium rings previously contracted by
      PE to BA at the concentrations of 10(-7) mol/L-10(-4) mol/L evoked a significant
      concentration dependent relaxation, which was inhibited by pretreatment with N
      omega-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME, 10(-4)mol/L), but not by indometacin
      (10(-5)mol/L). The pD2 value of BA was 5.24 +/- 0.04, and the EC(50)value was
      2.45 x 10(-6)mol/L. Exposure of endothelium denuded rings previously contracted
      by PE to BA did not affect the relaxation in isolated aortic rings. ACh induced a
      dose-dependent relaxation that was weakened by pretreatment with H(2)O(2) (5 10(
      4) mol/L) for 15 min. The EC(50) of BA markedly attenuated the inhibition of
      relaxation induced by H(2)O(2). CONCLUSION: BA can evoke a concentration
      dependent relaxation in aortic rings previously contracted by PE, which may be
      mediated by NO. And the decrease of endothelium-dependent relaxation in rat
      aortic rings exposed to H(2)O(2) can be markedly attenuated by BA, which may be
      mediated by reducing oxidative stress and maintaining the activity of NO in
      aortic rings.

PMID- 20936731
TI  - [New developments for endoscopic management of Barrett's esophagus with high
      grade dysplasia].
AB  - Barrett's esophagus is now clearly recognized as a preneoplasic condition.
      Progression of metaplasia through dysplasia to adenocarcinoma is a widely
      accepted theory for esophageal carcinogenesis. That high grade dysplasia is
      frequently found in association with esophageal adenocarcinoma. Long-term
      endoscopic surveillance of high grade dysplasia in Barrett's esophagus
      facilitates detection and treatment of esophageal cancers in the early stage.

PMID- 20936732
TI  - [Mechanisms of carbapenems resistance in acinetobacter and progress of
      treatment].
AB  - Acinetobacter has been the major pathogen of nosocomial infection. With the wide
      use of carbapenems, the emergence of multi-resistant isolates especially those
      resistant to carbapenem, brings a great problem to clinical treatment. The
      production of inactive enzymes is the main mechanism for antibiotic resistance,
      particularly the production of carbapenemases mediated by chromosome or plasmid.
      Combinations of beta-lactam antibiotics and sulbactam may show synergism or
      partial synergism for acinetobacter isolates.

PMID- 20936733
TI  - [Bilateral diffusive benign fibrous histiocytoma in retrobulbar muscle cone: a
      case report].

PMID- 20936734
TI  - Hearing impairment affects older people's ability to drive in the presence of
      distracters.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate the effects of hearing impairment and distractibility
      on older people's driving ability, assessed under real-world conditions. DESIGN:
      Experimental cross-sectional study. SETTING: University laboratory setting and an
      on-road driving test. PARTICIPANTS: One hundred seven community-living adults
      aged 62 to 88. Fifty-five percent had normal hearing, 26% had a mild hearing
      impairment, and 19% had a moderate or greater impairment. MEASUREMENTS: Hearing
      was assessed using objective impairment measures (pure-tone audiometry, speech
      perception testing) and a self-report measure (Hearing Handicap Inventory for the
      Elderly). Driving was assessed on a closed road circuit under three conditions:
      no distracters, auditory distracters, and visual distracters. RESULTS: There was
      a significant interaction between hearing impairment and distracters, such that
      people with moderate to severe hearing impairment had significantly poorer
      driving performance in the presence of distracters than those with normal or mild
      hearing impairment. CONCLUSION: Older adults with poor hearing have greater
      difficulty with driving in the presence of distracters than older adults with
      good hearing.

PMID- 20936735
TI  - Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease diagnosis and management in older adults.
AB  - Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in older adults is a complex
      disorder with several unique age-related aspects. Underlying changes in pulmonary
      lung function and poor sensitivity to bronchoconstriction and hypoxia with
      advancing age can place older adults at greater risk of mortality or other
      complications from COPD. The establishment of the Global Initiative for
      Obstructive Lung Disease criteria, which can be effectively applied to older
      adults, has more rigorously defined the diagnosis and management of COPD. An
      important component of this approach is the use of spirometry for disease
      staging, a procedure that can be performed in most older adults. The management
      of COPD includes smoking cessation, influenza and pneumococcal vaccinations, and
      the use of short-and long-acting bronchodilators. Unlike with asthma,
      corticosteroid inhalers represent a third-line option for COPD. Combination
      therapy is frequently required. When using various inhaler designs, it is
      important to note that older adults, especially those with more-severe disease,
      may have inadequate inspiratory force for some dry-powder inhalers, although many
      older adults find the dry-powder inhalers easier to use than metered-dose
      inhalers. Other important treatment options include pulmonary rehabilitation,
      oxygen therapy, noninvasive positive airway pressure, and depression and
      osteopenia screening. Clinicians caring for older adults with an acute COPD
      exacerbation should also guard against prognostic pessimism. Although COPD is
      associated with significant disability, there is a growing range of treatment
      options to assist patients.

PMID- 20936736
TI  - Comparative effectiveness research priorities at federal agencies: the view from
      the Department of Veterans Affairs, National Institute on Aging, and Agency for
      Healthcare Research and Quality.
AB  - In the last year, attention has been focused on translating federally sponsored
      health research into better health for Americans. Since the passage of the
      American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) on February 17, 2009, ARRA funds to
      support Comparative Effectiveness Research (CER) have increased this focus. A
      large proportion of topical areas of interest in CER affects the older segment of
      the population. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the National Institute
      on Aging (NIA), and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) have
      supported robust research portfolios focused on aging populations that meet the
      varying definitions of CER. This short article briefly describes the research
      missions of the AHRQ, NIA, and VA. The various definitions of CER as the
      Congressional Budget Office, the Institute of Medicine, and the ARRA-established
      Federal Coordinating Council have put forward, as well as important topics for
      which CER is particularly needed, are then reviewed. Finally, approaches in which
      the three agencies support CER involving the aging population are set forth and
      opportunities for future CER research outlined.

PMID- 20936737
TI  - Every patient needs a Shirley.

PMID- 20936739
TI  - Future job markets for Oregon's nurse.

PMID- 20936738
TI  - Hidden costs: the case for ergonomics and safe patient handling.

PMID- 20936740
TI  - Elastic laminae in vascular development and disease.
AB  - The activities of vascular cells, including adhesion, proliferation, and
      migration, are mediated by extracellular matrix components, including collagen
      matrix and elastic fibers or laminae. Whereas the collagen matrix stimulates
      vascular cell adhesion, proliferation, and migration, the elastic laminae inhibit
      these activities. Coordinated regulation of cell activities by these matrix
      components is an essential process for controlling the development and remodeling
      of the vascular system. This article summarizes recent development on the role of
      arterial elastic laminae in regulating the development of smooth muscle-like
      cells from bone marrow-derived progenitor cells as well as in mediating cell
      adhesion, proliferation, and migration with a focus on the molecular mechanisms
      and physiological significance.

PMID- 20936741
TI  - Studies of biaxial mechanical properties and nonlinear finite element modeling of
      skin.
AB  - The objective of this research is to conduct mechanical property studies of skin
      from two individual but potentially connected aspects. One is to determine the
      mechanical properties of the skin experimentally by biaxial tests, and the other
      is to use the finite element method to model the skin properties. Dynamic biaxial
      tests were performed on 16 pieces of abdominal skin specimen from rats. Typical
      biaxial stress-strain responses show that skin possesses anisotropy, nonlinearity
      and hysteresis. To describe the stress-strain relationship in forms of strain
      energy function, the material constants of each specimen were obtained and the
      results show a high correlation between theory and experiments. Based on the
      experimental results, a finite element model of skin was built to model the
      skin's special properties including anisotropy and nonlinearity. This model was
      based on Arruda and Boyce's eight-chain model and Bischoff et al.'s finite
      element model of skin. The simulation results show that the isotropic, nonlinear
      eight-chain model could predict the skin's anisotropic and nonlinear responses to
      biaxial loading by the presence of an anisotropic prestress state.

PMID- 20936742
TI  - Differential MMP-2 activity induced by mechanical compression and inflammatory
      factors in human synoviocytes.
AB  - The anterior cruciate ligament, posterior cruciate ligament, cartilage and
      meniscus in human knee joint have poor healing ability. Accumulation of MMPs in
      the joint fluids due to knee injury has been considered as the main reason. Our
      previous experiments showed that synovium may be the major regulator of MMPs in
      joint cavity after injury. In this paper, we used human synoviocytes harvested
      from synovium to determine whether mechanical injury and inflammatory factors
      will induce MMP-2 production in synoviocytes. With zymography, we found that
      mechanical compression increased the MMP-2 production by 23% under 6%
      compressions, 61% under 12% compression and 109% under 14% compressions. In
      addition, TNF-alpha can also elevate the activity of MMP-2 in a dose dependent
      manner, while IL-1alpha does not. However, mixture of these two factors
      dramatically increased MMP-2 production by 201%. In addition, mechanical injury
      had a strong synergistic effect on MMP-2 production with TNF-alpha, IL-1alpha and
      their mixture, increasing by 207%, 354% and 468% individually. The generic MMP
      activity assayrevealed that mechanical compression increased the generic
      activity. APMA treatment increased the generic activity of MMPs induced by
      compres-

PMID- 20936743
TI  - The profile of MMP and TIMP in injured rat ACL.
AB  - Human anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) has poor healing ability after injury. The
      devastating effects of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) excess expression are
      regarded as the main reason. Tissue inhibitor metalloproteinases (TIMPs) may be
      independent of MMPs inhibition. In this paper, a rat ACL rotating injury
      apparatus was designed to produce ACL injury. After inducing injury, joint fluids
      and ACL tissue total proteins were immediately extracted. In addition, ACL tissue
      was isolated in a culture plate with 1%FBS medium for the ex vivo study. We found
      MMP-2 in joint fluids increased significantly by 4 folds after ACL injury as a
      function of time. Ex vivo study showed MMP-2 in the medium and ACL cultured
      tissue increased significantly respectively to 3 folds and to 6 folds. The joint
      fluids global MMP increased to 3.5 folds with non-treatment and APMA-treatment in
      day three. On the gene expression level, the changes in MMP-1 and CD147 have the
      similar tendency. The ratio of MMP-1/TIMP-1 increased with time after ACL injury.
      We conclude that MMP-2 increased significantly in the early phase in the joint
      cavity after ACL injury. The ex vivo study demonstrated the same tendency.
      Generic MMP Activity Assay (global MMP assay) an dzymography also showed
      significant increase in MMP activity in joint fluids. These results showed ACL
      having poor healing ability after injury may not be only due to ACL release of
      large quantities of MMPs. The important factor may be the alterations in the
      whole joint cavity's internal environment.

PMID- 20936745
TI  - Meta-analysis and moderation.

PMID- 20936744
TI  - Intellectual function in Mexican children living in a mining area and
      environmentally exposed to manganese.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Excessive exposure to manganese (Mn), an essential trace element, has
      been shown to be neurotoxic, especially when inhaled. Few studies have examined
      potential effects of Mn on cognitive functions of environmentally exposed
      children. OBJECTIVE: This study was intended to estimate environmental exposure
      to Mn resulting from mining and processing and to explore its association with
      intellectual function of school-age children. METHODS: Children between 7 and 11
      years of age from the Molango mining district in central Mexico (n = 79) and
      communities with similar socioeconomic conditions that were outside the mining
      district (n = 93) participated in the cross-sectional evaluation. The revised
      version of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children adapted for the Mexican
      population was applied. Concentrations of Mn in blood (MnB) and hair (MnH) were
      used as biomarkers of exposure. RESULTS: Exposed children had significantly
      higher median values for MnH (12.6 MUg/g) and MnB (9.5 MUg/L) than did nonexposed
      children (0.6 MUg/g and 8.0 MUg/L, respectively). MnH was inversely associated
      with Verbal IQ [beta = -0.29; 95% confidence interval (CI), -0.51 to -0.08],
      Performance IQ (beta = -0.08; 95% CI, -0.32 to 0.16), and Total Scale IQ (beta = 
      0.20; 95% CI, -0.42 to 0.02). MnB was inversely but nonsignificantly associated
      with Total and Verbal IQ score. Age and sex significantly modified associations
      of MnH, with the strongest inverse associations in young girls and little
      evidence of associations in boys at any age. Associations with MnB did not appear
      to be modified by sex but appeared to be limited to younger study participants.
      CONCLUSIONS: The findings from this study suggest that airborne Mn environmental
      exposure is inversely associated with intellectual function in young school-age
      children.

PMID- 20936746
TI  - Steal phenomenon-induced lung perfusion defects in pulmonary arteriovenous
      fistulas: assessment with automated perfusion SPECT-CT fusion images.
AB  - PURPOSE: Lung perfusion impairment in patients with pulmonary arteriovenous
      fistula (AVF) was evaluated by automated deep inspiratory breath-hold (DIBrH)
      perfusion single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT)-CT fusion images.
      METHODS: Participants were 14 patients with a single (N=6) or multiple nodular
      AVFs (N=8) diagnosed by contrast-enhanced CT scan and/or pulmonary angiography.
      After the injection of 185MBq Tc-99m-macroaggregated albumin, a whole-body scan
      was obtained to quantify an intrapulmonary right-to-left shunt. Subsequently,
      DIBrH SPECT was obtained using the continuous rotating acquisition mode of a dual
      headed SPECT system, which was automatically coregistered with DIBrH CT. The
      anatomic relationship between AVF and perfusion defects was assessed on the
      fusion images. RESULTS: The whole-body scan depicted systemic organs indicating
      the presence of an intrapulmonary right-to-left shunt in all the patients. DIBrH
      SPECT showed 34 perfusion defects in these patients, which were located at the
      AVF and in the surrounding lungs of the AVF on the fusion images, regardless of
      the absence of morphologic abnormality on CT in all the patients. These defects
      were considered to be caused by the 'steal phenomenon' associated with the high
      and fast pulmonary arterial flow to each AVF, which were more extensive and
      severe in the multiple AVFs compared with a single AVF (P=0.0012), occasionally
      extending to the entire lobe with AVF or even to the adjacent lobe. In five
      patients, the fusion images detected a total of six tiny AVFs with unexpectedly
      extensive 'steal phenomenon'-induced defects, which had been missed by other
      radiological imaging techniques. The summed value of the shunt index estimated by
      the whole-body scan and the lung perfusion defect extent estimated by DIBrH SPECT
      was significantly correlated with PaO2 in all the patients (P < 0.0001), with a
      better correlation compared with the shunt index alone. CONCLUSION: In addition
      to the right-to-left shunt, 'steal phenomenon'-induced perfusion defects are
      common in the surrounding lung of pulmonary nodular AVF and cause hypoxemia.
      DIBrH SPECT-CT fusion images contribute to the objective evaluation of 'steal
      phenomenon'-induced lung perfusion impairment in AVF and the detection of tiny,
      subtle AVFs that may be missed by other radiological imaging techniques.

PMID- 20936747
TI  - Cancer: Potential new role for antimalarial agents in the treatment of
      gastrointestinal stromal tumors.

PMID- 20936749
TI  - uPAINTing the plasma membrane.

PMID- 20936748
TI  - Perceived glossiness in high dynamic range scenes.
AB  - We investigated how spatial pattern, background, and dynamic range affect
      perceived gloss in brightly lit real scenes. Observers viewed spherical objects
      against uniform backgrounds. There were three possible objects. Two were black
      matte spheres with circular matte white dots painted on them (matte-dot spheres).
      The third sphere was painted glossy black (glossy black sphere). Backgrounds were
      either black or white matte, and observers saw each of the objects in turn on
      each background. Scenes were illuminated by an intense collimated source. On each
      trial, observers matched the apparent albedo of the sphere to an albedo reference
      scale and its apparent gloss to a gloss reference scale. We found that matte-dot
      spheres and the black glossy sphere were perceived as glossy on both backgrounds.
      All spheres were judged to be significantly glossier when in front of the black
      background. In contrast with previous research using conventional computer
      displays, we find that background markedly affects perceived gloss. This finding
      is surprising because darker surfaces are normally perceived as glossier (F.
      Pellacini, J. A. Ferwerda, & D. P. Greenberg, 2000). We conjecture that there are
      cues to surface material signaling glossiness present in high dynamic range
      scenes that are absent or weak in scenes presented using conventional computer
      displays.

PMID- 20936750
TI  - Trey Ideker.

PMID- 20936751
TI  - Salience.

PMID- 20936752
TI  - [Forensic psychiatric patients and deinstitutionalization].

PMID- 20936753
TI  - Transitional experiences of women with breast cancer within the first year
      following diagnosis.
AB  - AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To explore the experiences of 12 women with breast cancer,
      involved in a large longitudinal qualitative study designed to explore the
      experiences of people with cancer within the first year following diagnosis.
      BACKGROUND: To understand experiences of breast cancer further as a chronic
      illness, this study draws on biographically informed and embodied perspectives of
      chronic illness. DESIGN: Qualitative, longitudinal study. METHOD: Interviews were
      conducted at three time-points within the first year following diagnosis with 12
      women with breast cancer. Drawing on the constant comparative method, a
      descriptive and thematic approach to data analysis was adopted. To move beyond
      the descriptive level, we drew on the concepts of biographical disruption and
      embodiment to further explore and explain the disruption that was evident in
      these women's lives as a result of their diagnosis. RESULTS: Two key concepts
      emerged from the data: 'Identity Transition: moving between health and illness'
      and 'Making the Transition to the Future? Living with breast cancer and moving
      on'. Identity transition emerged as a result of the changes and adaptations
      participants were required to make as a result of their diagnosis. Making the
      transition to the future emerged as a result of the challenges these women faced
      living with cancer. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that the longitudinal
      exploration of the experiences of cancer within the first year following
      diagnosis provides a vital understanding of the impact cancer can have on one's
      identity from the moment of diagnosis onwards. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE:
      This study has implications for cancer services because it highlights the need
      for interventions that support people to both successfully manage the experience
      of cancer diagnosis and treatment and equip themselves with the necessary
      techniques to negotiate transitions towards the future and living with cancer.

PMID- 20936754
TI  - Commentary on Kocaman G, Seren S, Lash AA, Kurt S, Bengu N &Yurumezoglu HA.
      Barriers to research usage by staff nurses in a university hospital. Journal of
      Clinical Nursing 19, 1908-1918.

PMID- 20936755
TI  - Retraction. Periurethral injection of autologous adipose-derived stem cells for
      the treatment of stress urinary incontinence in patients undergoing radical
      prostatectomy: report of two initial cases.

PMID- 20936756
TI  - The role of the bidet in pruritus ani.

PMID- 20936757
TI  - Steroid related  osteoporosis.

PMID- 20936758
TI  - Prescription shoppers.

PMID- 20936759
TI  - Bicyclists and other cyclists.

PMID- 20936760
TI  - Rivals no more. MedAssets to scoop up Broadlane for $850 million.

PMID- 20936761
TI  - Protecting investors. SEC hearings could lead to new legislation for municipal
      markets.

PMID- 20936762
TI  - Rx roundup. DEA aims to collect unused prescription drugs.

PMID- 20936763
TI  - By way of Cleveland. Famed clinic steps into management education.

PMID- 20936764
TI  - Meanwhile in court ... lawsuit challenging reform moves forward.

PMID- 20936765
TI  - Executive influence 'It's really not the technology that is the driving success
      factor'. Interview by Joseph Conn.

PMID- 20936766
TI  - How far can providers go? Regulators grapple with antitrust, fraud-and-abuse
      issues under reform.

PMID- 20936767
TI  - The increase in suicide as a cause of death in men aged 40 to 59 years in Japan:
      a comparison between 1958 and 1998.

PMID- 20936768
TI  - In Memoriam: William E. Connor (1921-2009).

PMID- 20936769
TI  - Plant Physiology. On the inside.

PMID- 20936770
TI  - Microscope harmonies.

PMID- 20936771
TI  - Reading cells from within.

PMID- 20936772
TI  - Expanding HapMap.

PMID- 20936773
TI  - Seeing more with less.

PMID- 20936774
TI  - Olfactory ensheathing cells for human spinal cord injury.

PMID- 20936775
TI  - Olfactory ensheathing cells for human spinal cord injury.

PMID- 20936776
TI  - SNIPer pulls the trigger.

PMID- 20936777
TI  - Stem cell whiplash.

PMID- 20936778
TI  - [Nerve compression syndromes of the upper extremity].
AB  - The nerve compression syndromes of the upper extremity, the common carpal and
      cubital tunnel syndromes are described, but also the less common entrapments such
      as thoracic outlet syndrome,suprascapular-, interosseus-posterior- and anterior
      entrapments and the Loge-de-Guyon and Wartenberg syndromes are mentioned. Besides
      history, symptoms and physical examination electrodiagnostic and imaging are
      necessary for establishing the correct diagnosis. The conservative treatment is
      less successful than the operative therapy. Surgical procedures and techniques
      are discussed as well as complications. The prognosis is in most cases good-
      provided that indication and technique were correct.

PMID- 20936780
TI  - [Japanese revision of fee for medical services in 2010].

PMID- 20936779
TI  - A human MAP kinase interactome.
AB  - Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathways form the backbone of signal
      transduction in the mammalian cell. Here we applied a systematic experimental and
      computational approach to map 2,269 interactions between human MAPK-related
      proteins and other cellular machinery and to assemble these data into functional
      modules. Multiple lines of evidence including conservation with yeast supported a
      core network of 641 interactions. Using small interfering RNA knockdowns, we
      observed that approximately one-third of MAPK-interacting proteins modulated MAPK
      mediated signaling. We uncovered the Na-H exchanger NHE1 as a potential MAPK
      scaffold, found links between HSP90 chaperones and MAPK pathways and identified
      MUC12 as the human analog to the yeast signaling mucin Msb2. This study makes
      available a large resource of MAPK interactions and clone libraries, and it
      illustrates a methodology for probing signaling networks based on functional
      refinement of experimentally derived protein-interaction maps.

PMID- 20936781
TI  - Semi-targeted plasma proteomics discovery workflow utilizing two-stage protein
      depletion and off-line LC-MALDI MS/MS.
AB  - A quantitative proteomics workflow was implemented that provides extended plasma
      protein coverage by extensive protein depletion in combination with the
      sensitivity and breadth of analysis of two-dimensional LC-MS/MS shotgun analysis.
      Abundant proteins were depleted by a two-stage process using IgY and Supermix
      depletion columns in series. Samples are then extensively fractionated by two
      dimensional chromatography with fractions directly deposited onto MALDI plates.
      Decoupling sample fractionation from mass spectrometry facilitates a targeted
      MS/MS precursor selection strategy that maximizes measurement of a consistent set
      of peptides across experiments. Multiplexed stable isotope labeling provides
      quantification relative to a common reference sample and ensures an identical set
      of peptides measured in the set of samples (set of eight) combined in a single
      experiment. The more extensive protein depletion provided by the addition of the
      Supermix column did not compromise overall reproducibility of the measurements or
      the ability to reliably detect changes in protein levels between samples. The
      implementation of this workflow is presented for a case study aimed at generating
      molecular signatures for prediction of first heart attack.

PMID- 20936782
TI  - Using triplex-forming oligonucleotide probes for the reagentless, electrochemical
      detection of double-stranded DNA.
AB  - We report a reagentless, electrochemical sensor for the detection of double
      stranded DNA targets that employs triplex-forming oligonucleotides (TFOs) as its
      recognition element. These sensors are based on redox-tagged TFO probes strongly
      chemisorbed onto an interrogating gold electrode. Upon the addition of the
      relevant double-stranded DNA target, the probe forms a rigid triplex structure
      via reverse Hoogsteen base pairing in the major groove. The formation of the
      triplex impedes contact between the probe's redox moiety and the interrogating
      electrode, thus signaling the presence of the target. We first demonstrated the
      proof of principle of this approach by using a well-characterized 22-base
      polypurine TFO sequence that readily detects a synthetic, double-stranded DNA
      target. We then confirmed the generalizability of our platform with a second
      probe, a 19-base polypyrimidine TFO sequence that targets a polypurine tract
      (PPT) sequence conserved in all HIV-1 strains. Both sensors rapidly and
      specifically detect their double-stranded DNA targets at concentrations as low as
      ~10 nM and are selective enough to be employed directly in complex sample
      matrices such as blood serum. Moreover, to demonstrate real-world applicability
      of this new sensor platform, we have successfully detected unpurified, double
      stranded PCR amplicons containing the relevant conserved HIV-1 sequence.

PMID- 20936783
TI  - Rapid microwave-assisted chemical cleavage - mass spectrometric method for the
      identification of hemoglobin variants in blood.
AB  - A sensitive, rapid analytical method has been developed for the characterization
      of human hemoglobin disorders with very small volumes (<1 MUL) of blood. As an
      alternative to conventional enzymatic digestion, a site-specific chemical
      cleavage method has been established using 0.05% formic acid under microwave
      irradiation conditions for short time intervals, for example, less than 10 min.
      Peptide analysis was performed by MALDI TOF MS and capillary liquid
      chromatographic ESI MS/MS. The cleavage of the hemoglobin chains with formic acid
      occurred at either side or at both sides (C- and N-terminal) of aspartic acid
      residues, but preferentially N-terminally. The method has been applied to blood
      samples from hemoglobin S carrier heterozygotes and hemoglobin S thalassaemia
      compound heterozygotes with a reduced expression level of hemoglobin S. Both
      MALDI TOF MS and ESI MS/MS analysis allowed the identification of the hemoglobin
      S "signature" peptide. This alternative method of sample preparation is
      compatible with MS techniques and is expected to significantly contribute to the
      further development of rapid, robust, reproducible and sensitive analytical
      methods in proteomics and biomedical diagnostics where protein variant
      characterization is a crucial factor for biomarker discovery and disease
      identification. 

PMID- 20936784
TI  - Performance characteristics of diffusive gradients in thin films equipped with a
      binding gel layer containing precipitated ferrihydrite for measuring arsenic(V),
      selenium(VI), vanadium(V), and antimony(V).
AB  - Measurements at high spatial resolution by DGT (diffusive gradients in thin
      films) require a binding agent that is homogeneously distributed in the binding
      layer. Formation of ferrihydrite by in situ precipitation within a hydrogel has
      been previously shown to meet these requirements for the measurement of oxyanions
      by DGT. Here, we report for the first time detailed performance characteristics
      of the binding gel and associated DGT devices obtained by deployment in known
      solutions. To allow comparison of measured and theoretical accumulation of As(V),
      Se(VI), V(V), and Sb(V), their diffusion coefficients were determined using an
      independent diffusion cell. Theoretical responses were obtained irrespective of
      ionic strength (1-100 mmol L(-1)) and pH (3-8), except for Se above pH 7.8 and V
      below pH 5. Calculated detection limits, based on deployment times of 1 day, were
      lower than those for devices made with a binding gel cast with a ferrihydrite
      slurry, and the measured capacity of the binding layer was also superior. There
      was no evidence for interference from other oxyanions, but binding performance
      showed some deterioration after 38 days of storage. The potential capability for
      measuring labile forms of these oxyanions in acidic to neutral, fresh to brackish
      waters was demonstrated. 

PMID- 20936786
TI  - Microwave-assisted alkylation of [CB11H12]- and related anions.
AB  - A total of 19 permethylated derivatives of substituted [CB(11)H(12)](-) anions
      have been prepared using alkylation with microwave assistance. The reactions
      proceed much faster and more cleanly than under ordinary conditions. Microwave
      assistance is especially convenient for the permethylation of carborane anions
      carrying electron-withdrawing groups in positions 1 and/or 12. Even [1-F
      CB(11)H(11)](-) can be undecamethylated, whereas under ordinary heating, it has
      only been hexamethylated.

PMID- 20936785
TI  - Biocompatibility and reduced drug absorption of sol-gel-treated poly(dimethyl
      siloxane) for microfluidic cell culture applications.
AB  - Poly(dimethyl siloxane) (PDMS)-based microfluidic devices are now commonly used
      for a wide variety of biological experiments, including cell culture assays.
      However, the porous, hydrophobic polymer matrix of PDMS rapidly absorbs small
      hydrophobic molecules, including hormones and most small-molecule drugs. This
      makes it challenging to perform experiments that require such substances in PDMS
      microfluidic devices. This study presents evidence that a sol-gel treatment of
      PDMS that fills the polymer matrix with silica nanoparticles is effective at
      reducing the absorption of drugs into the material while preserving its
      biocompatibility, transparency, and oxygen permeability. We show that the
      absorption of two anticancer drugs, camptothecin and a kinase inhibitor, is
      reduced to such an extent that on-chip microfluidic cell culture experiments can
      recapitulate the results obtained off-chip. 

PMID- 20936787
TI  - Site-differentiated solid solution in (Na(1-x)Cu(x))2Ta4O11 and its electronic
      structure and optical properties.
AB  - The (Na(1-x)Cu(x))(2)Ta(4)O(11) (0 <= x <= 0.78) solid-solution was synthesized
      within evacuated fused-silica vessels and characterized by powder X-ray
      diffraction techniques (space group: R3c (#167), Z = 6, a = 6.2061(2)-6.2131(2)
      A, c = 36.712(1)-36.861(1) A, for x = 0.37, 0.57, and 0.78). The structure
      consists of single layers of TaO(7) pentagonal bipyramids as well as layers of
      isolated TaO(6) octahedra surrounded by Na(+) and Cu(+) cations. Full-profile
      Rietveld refinements revealed a site-differentiated substitution of Na(+) cations
      located in the 12c (Wyckoff) crystallographic site for Cu(+) cations in the 18d
      crystallographic site. This site differentiation is driven by the linear
      coordination geometry afforded at the Cu(+) site compared to the distorted seven
      coordinate geometry of the Na(+) site. Compositions more Cu-rich than x ~ 0.78,
      that is, closer to "Cu(2)Ta(4)O(11)", could not be synthesized owing to the
      destabilizing Na(+)/Cu(+) vacancies that increase with x up to the highest
      attainable value of ~26%. The UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectra show a
      significant red-shift of the bandgap size from ~4.0 eV to ~2.65 eV with
      increasing Cu(+) content across the series. Electronic structure calculations
      using the TB-LMTO-ASA approach show that the reduction in bandgap size arises
      from the introduction of Cu 3d(10) orbitals and the formation of a new higher
      energy valence band. A direct bandgap transition emerges at k = Gamma that is
      derived from the filled Cu 3d(10) and the empty Ta 5d(0) orbitals, including a
      small amount of mixing with the O 2p orbitals. The resulting conduction and
      valence band energies are determined to favorably bracket the redox potentials
      for water reduction and oxidation, meeting the thermodynamic requirement for
      photocatalytic water-splitting reactions.

PMID- 20936788
TI  - Chemically modified firefly luciferase is an efficient source of near-infrared
      light.
AB  - Bioluminescence and bioluminescence resonance energy transfer (BRET) are two
      naturally occurring light emission phenomena that have been adapted to a wide
      variety of important research applications including in vivo imaging and enzyme
      assays. The luciferase enzyme from the North American firefly, which produces
      yellow-green light, is a key component of many of these applications. Recognizing
      the heightened interest in the potential of near-infrared (nIR) light to improve
      these technologies, we have demonstrated that spectral emissions with maxima of
      705 and 783 nm can be efficiently produced by a firefly luciferase variant
      covalently labeled with nIR fluorescent dyes. In one case, an outstanding BRET
      ratio of 34.0 was achieved emphasizing the importance of selective labeling with
      fluorescent dyes and the efficiency provided by the intramolecular BRET process.
      Additionally, we constructed a biotinylated fusion protein that similarly
      produced nIR light. This novel material was immobilized on solid supports
      containing streptavidin, demonstrating, in principle, that it may be used for
      receptor-based imaging. Also, the matrix-bound labeled fusion protein was used to
      measure factor Xa activity at physiological concentrations in blood. We believe
      this to be the first report of bright nIR light sources produced by chemical
      modification of a beetle luciferase.

PMID- 20936790
TI  - Effect of chitosan-based coatings on the shelf life of salmon (Salmo salar).
AB  - This study aimed at determining the effect of chitosan coating on shelf life
      extension of salmon ( Salmo salar ) fillets. The success of edible coatings
      depends highly on their effective wetting capacity of the surfaces on which they
      are applied. In this context in a first stage the surface properties of salmon
      fillets and the wetting capacity of the coatings on fish were evaluated. In terms
      of wettability there were no significant differences (p > 0.05) between the
      solutions presenting higher values (solutions 1-4); therefore, solution 1 with a
      spreading coefficient (Ws) of -4.73 mN m(-1), was chosen to be subsequently
      analyzed and applied on fish fillets. For shelf life analyses the fillets were
      coated and stored at 0  degrees C for 18 days. The control and coated fish
      samples were analyzed periodically for total aerobic plate count (TPC), pH, total
      volatile base nitrogen (TVB-N), trimethylamine (TMA), thiobarbituric acid (TBA),
      and ATP breakdown products (K value). The results showed that fish samples coated
      with chitosan presented a significant reduction (p < 0.05) for pH and K value
      after 6 days and for TVB, TMA, and TBA values after 9 days of storage, when
      compared to control samples. In terms of microbial growth, a slower increase in
      TPC was observed for the coated fish, indicating that chitosan-based coatings
      were effective in extending for an additional 3 days the shelf life of the
      salmon. These results demonstrate that chitosan-based coatings may be an
      alternative for extending the shelf life of salmon fillets during storage at 0 
      degrees C. 

PMID- 20936789
TI  - Aminopyrazine inhibitors binding to an unusual inactive conformation of the
      mitotic kinase Nek2: SAR and structural characterization.
AB  - We report herein the first systematic exploration of inhibitors of the mitotic
      kinase Nek2. Starting from HTS hit aminopyrazine 2, compounds with improved
      activity were identified using structure-based design. Our structural biology
      investigations reveal two notable observations. First, 2 and related compounds
      bind to an unusual, inactive conformation of the kinase which to the best of our
      knowledge has not been reported for other types of kinase inhibitors. Second, a
      phenylalanine residue at the center of the ATP pocket strongly affects the
      ability of the inhibitor to bind to the protein. The implications of these
      observations are discussed, and the work described here defines key features for
      potent and selective Nek2 inhibition, which will aid the identification of more
      advanced inhibitors of Nek2.

PMID- 20936791
TI  - A diverse series of substituted benzenesulfonamides as aldose reductase
      inhibitors with antioxidant activity: design, synthesis, and in vitro activity.
AB  - We have previously reported the successful replacement of a carboxylic acid
      functionality with that of a difluorophenolic group on the known aldose reductase
      inhibitors (ARIs) of 2-(phenylsulfonamido)acetic acid chemotype. In the present
      work, based on bioisosteric principles, additional 2,6-difluorophenol and
      tetrazole, methylsulfonylamide, and isoxazolidin-3-one phenylsulfonamide
      derivatives were synthesized and tested in vitro in protocols primarily related
      to the long-term diabetic complications. Most of the compounds were found as ARIs
      at IC(50) < 100 MUM, while the introduction of the 4-bromo-2-fluorobenzyl group
      in a phenylsulfonamidodifluorophenol structure resulted in a compound (4c)
      presenting a submicromolar inhibitory profile. However, the derivatives of
      tetrazole, methylsulfonylamine, and the (R)-enantiomer of isoxazolidin-3-one did
      not exhibit appreciable ARI activity. The selectivity of the active ARIs is also
      discussed. Furthermore, the synthesized compounds exhibited potent antioxidant
      potential (homogeneous and heterogeneous systems).

PMID- 20936793
TI  - Caspase sensitive gold nanoparticle for apoptosis imaging in live cells.
AB  - We developed a new apoptosis imaging probe with gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). A
      near-infrared fluorescence dye was attached to AuNP surface through the bridge of
      peptide substrate (DEVD). The fluorescence was quenched in physiological
      conditions due to the quenching effect of AuNP, and the quenched fluorescence was
      recovered after the DEVD had been cleaved by caspase-3, the enzyme involved in
      apoptotic process. The adhesion of DEVD substrates on AuNP surface was
      accomplished by conjugation of the 3,4-dihydroxy phenylalanine (DOPA) groups
      which are adhesive to inorganic surface and rich in mussels. This surface
      modification with DEVD substrates by DOPA groups resulted in increased stability
      of AuNP in cytosol condition for hours. Moreover, the cleavage of substrate and
      the dequenching process are very fast, and the cells did not need to be fixed for
      imaging. Therefore, the real-time monitoring of caspase activity could be
      achieved in live cells, which enabled early detection of apoptosis compared to a
      conventional apoptosis kit such as Annexin V-FITC. Therefore, our apoptosis
      imaging has great potential as a simple, inexpensive, and efficient apoptosis
      imaging probe for biomedical applications.

PMID- 20936792
TI  - Cationic porphycenes as potential photosensitizers for antimicrobial photodynamic
      therapy.
AB  - Structures of typical photosensitizers used in antimicrobial photodynamic therapy
      are based on porphyrins, phthalocyanines, and phenothiazinium salts, with
      cationic charges at physiological pH values. However, derivatives of the
      porphycene macrocycle (a structural isomer of porphyrin) have barely been
      investigated as antimicrobial agents. Therefore, we report the synthesis of the
      first tricationic water-soluble porphycene and its basic photochemical
      properties. We successfully tested it for in vitro photoinactivation of different
      Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, as well as a fungal species (Candida)
      in a drug-dose and light-dose dependent manner. We also used the cationic
      porphycene in vivo to treat an infection model comprising mouse third degree
      burns infected with a bioluminescent methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus
      strain. There was a 2.6-log(10) reduction (p < 0.001) of the bacterial
      bioluminescence for the PDT-treated group after irradiation with 180 J.cm(-2) of
      red light.

PMID- 20936794
TI  - Cobalt nanocluster-filled carbon nanotube arrays: engineered photonic bandgap and
      optical reflectivity.
AB  - Perfect vertically aligned and periodically arranged arrays of multidielectric
      heterostructures are ideal platforms both for photonic crystals and photonic
      bandgap materials. Carbon nanotubes grown inside anodic alumina templates form a
      novel class of heterostructured materials ideally suited for building such
      platforms. By engineering metallic (cobalt) nanoclusters inside the nanotubes, we
      present a novel method for tailoring the photonic bandgap as well as the
      magnitude of the reflectivity in these systems. We present spectroscopic
      ellipsometry (SE) and reflectivity measurements to investigate the effect of the
      presence of cobalt clusters on the optical response of multiwall carbon nanotubes
      (MWNT) grown in anodized alumina template. The real (epsilon(1)) and imaginary
      (epsilon(2)) part of the pseudodielectric function of the MWNT and Co-MWNT system
      have been studied in a wide energy range (1.4-5 eV). We found that the cobalt
      filling modifies the electronic structure of the nanotubes, suggesting that the
      insertion of the clusters leads to a semiconductor behavior. Angle-resolved
      reflectivity measurements further show that the metal filling drastically
      enhances the optical response up to 2 orders of magnitude.

PMID- 20936795
TI  - An all-electric single-molecule motor.
AB  - Many types of molecular motors have been proposed and synthesized in recent
      years, displaying different kinds of motion, and fueled by different driving
      forces such as light, heat, or chemical reactions. We propose a new type of
      molecular motor based on electric field actuation and electric current detection
      of the rotational motion of a molecular dipole embedded in a three-terminal
      single-molecule device. The key aspect of this all-electronic design is the
      conjugated backbone of the molecule, which simultaneously provides the potential
      landscape of the rotor orientation and a real-time measure of that orientation
      through the modulation of the conductivity. Using quantum chemistry calculations,
      we show that this approach provides full control over the speed and continuity of
      motion, thereby combining electrical and mechanical control at the molecular
      level over a wide range of temperatures. Moreover, chemistry can be used to
      change all key parameters of the device, enabling a variety of new experiments on
      molecular motors.

PMID- 20936796
TI  - Electrospun nanofibers of p-type NiO/n-type ZnO heterojunctions with enhanced
      photocatalytic activity.
AB  - One-dimensional electrospun nanofibers of p-type NiO/n-type ZnO heterojunctions
      with different molar ratios of Ni to Zn were successfully synthesized using a
      facile electrospinning technique. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron
      microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy, transmission
      electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), UV-vis diffuse
      reflectance (DR) spectroscopy, resonant Raman spectroscopy, photoluminescence
      (PL) spectroscopy, and surface photovoltage spectroscopy (SPS) were used to
      characterize the as-synthesized nanofibers. The results indicated that the p-n
      heterojunctions formed between the cubic structure NiO and hexangular structure
      ZnO in the NiO/ZnO nanofibers. Furthermore, the photocatalytic activity of the as
      electrospun NiO/ZnO nanofibers for the degradation of rhodamine B (RB) was much
      higher than that of electrospun NiO and ZnO nanofibers, which could be ascribed
      to the formation of p-n heterojunctions in the NiO/ZnO nanofibers. In particular,
      the p-type NiO/n-type ZnO heterojunction nanofibers with the original Ni/Zn molar
      ratio of 1 exhibited the best catalytic activity, which might be attributed to
      their high separation efficiency of photogenerated electrons and holes. Notably,
      the electrospun nanofibers of p-type NiO/n-type ZnO heterojunctions could be
      easily recycled without a decrease of the photocatalytic activity due to their
      one-dimensional nanostructural property.

PMID- 20936797
TI  - Magnetic behavior control in niccolite structural metal formate frameworks
      [NH2(CH3)2][Fe(III)M(II)(HCOO)6] (M = Fe, Mn, and Co) by varying the divalent
      metal ions.
AB  - By changing template cation but introducing trivalent iron ions in the known
      niccolite structural metal formate frameworks, three complexes formulated
      [NH(2)(CH(3))(2)][Fe(III)M(II)(HCOO)(6)] (M = Fe for 1, Mn for 2, and Co for 3)
      were synthesized and magnetically characterized. The variation in the
      compositions of the complexes leads to three different complexes: mixed-valent
      complex 1, heterometallic but with the same spin state complex 2, and
      heterometallic heterospin complex 3. The magnetic behaviors are closely related
      to the divalent metal ions used. Complex 1 exhibits negative magnetization
      assigned as Neel N-Type ferrimagnet, with an asymmetric magnetization reversal in
      the hysteresis loop, and complex 2 is an antiferromagnet with small spin canting
      (alpha(canting) ~ 0.06 degrees  and T(canting) = 35 K), while complex 3 is a
      ferrimagnet with T(N) = 32 K.

PMID- 20936798
TI  - Gold(I)-catalyzed asymmetric synthesis of planar chiral arene chromium complexes.
AB  - Gold(I)-catalyzed asymmetric cyclization of 1,3-dihydroxymethyl-2-alkynylbenzene
      chromium complexes gave planar chiral isochromene chromium complexes with high
      enantioselectivity. Enantiomeric excess of the cyclization products was largely
      affected by a combination of axially chiral diphosphine(AuCl)(2) precatalysts and
      silver salts. A system of segphos(AuCl)(2) with AgBF(4) resulted in the formation
      of the corresponding antipode.

PMID- 20936799
TI  - Polyfluorination using IF(5).
AB  - The polyfluorination of alpha-(arylthio)carbonyl compounds was achieved by a
      successive application of polyfluorination using IF(5), Friedel-Crafts arylation,
      and desulfurizing fluorination using IF(5). Three to six fluorine atoms were
      selectively introduced to the carbons located between the aromatic ring and the
      carbonyl group.

PMID- 20936800
TI  - pH-Responsive chitosan-mediated graphene dispersions.
AB  - Homogeneous aqueous suspensions of graphene have been prepared by chemical
      reduction of graphene oxide in the presence of chitosan. The graphene sheets in
      thus prepared suspensions can be switched reversibly between a well dispersed and
      a more aggregated state with pH as a stimulus.

PMID- 20936801
TI  - One-pot preparation and uranyl adsorption properties of hierarchically porous
      zirconium titanium oxide beads using phase separation processes to vary macropore
      morphology.
AB  - A simple and engineering friendly one-step process has been used to prepare
      zirconium titanium mixed oxide beads with porosity on multiple length scales. In
      this facile synthesis, the bead diameter and the macroporosity can be
      conveniently controlled through minor alterations in the synthesis conditions.
      The precursor solution consisted of poly(acrylonitrile) dissolved in dimethyl
      sulfoxide to which was added block copolymer Pluronic F127 and metal alkoxides.
      The millimeter-sized spheres were fabricated with differing macropore dimensions
      and morphology through dropwise addition of the precursor solution into a
      gelation bath consisting of water (H(2)O beads) or liquid nitrogen (LN(2) beads).
      The inorganic beads obtained after calcination (550  degrees C in air) had
      surface areas of 140 and 128 m(2) g(-1), respectively, and had varied pore
      architectures. The H(2)O-derived beads had much larger macropores (5.7 MUm) and
      smaller mesopores (6.3 nm) compared with the LN(2)-derived beads (0.8 MUm and 24
      nm, respectively). Pluronic F127 was an important addition to the precursor
      solution, as it resulted in increased surface area, pore volume, and compressive
      yield point. From nonambient XRD analysis, it was concluded that the zirconium
      and titanium were homogeneously mixed within the oxide. The beads were analyzed
      for surface accessibility and adsorption rate by monitoring the uptake of uranyl
      species from solution. The macropore diameter and morphology greatly impacted
      surface accessibility. Beads with larger macropores reached adsorption
      equilibrium much faster than the beads with a more tortuous macropore network.

PMID- 20936802
TI  - Synthesis of dihydrobenzisoxazoles by the [3 + 2] cycloaddition of arynes and
      oxaziridines.
AB  - Dihydrobenzisoxazoles are readily prepared in good yields by the [3 + 2]
      cycloaddition of oxaziridines and arynes. The reaction involves an unusual
      cleavage of the C-O bond of the oxaziridine and tolerates a variety of
      substituents on the oxaziridine and the o-(trimethylsilyl)aryl triflate to form
      aryl-, heteroaryl-, alkyl-, and naphthyl-substituted dihydrobenzisoxazoles. The
      resulting halogen-substituted dihydrobenzisoxazoles are readily elaborated to
      more complex products using palladium-catalyzed crossing-coupling processes.

PMID- 20936803
TI  - Layer-by-layer quantum dot constructs using self-assembly methods.
AB  - We describe the creation of CdSe/ZnS quantum dot assemblies using layer-by-layer
      construction strategies, using self-assembly. In the first approach, a dithiol
      linker was used to make multilayers of CdSe/ZnS quantum dots, while in the second
      biotin- and streptavidin-conjugated CdSe/ZnS quantum dots were used to make
      multilayer constructs. Both the chemical bonding nature and fluorescence
      spectroscopic properties of quantum dot films were characterized using X-ray
      photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and fluorescence spectroscopy.

PMID- 20936804
TI  - Retinylisoflavonoid as a novel membrane antioxidant.
AB  - We report a novel molecular dyad as an antioxidant, retinylisoflavonoid, with a
      retinal analogue C(22)-aldehyde and the isoflavonoid daidzein covalently linked.
      Its physicochemical properties, pK(a) (pK(a1) = 8.45, pK(a2) = 11.42), oxidation
      potential (1.03 V vs NHE), and Log(10) partition (Log P = 1.96), as well as the
      Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC = 0.4), have been characterized.
      Spectroscopic and quantum chemical investigations have revealed the following
      unique structural characters: (i) Either free in solution or included in
      liposomal membranes, the C(22)-aldehyde moiety of retinylisoflavonoid is coplanar
      with the B-ring of daidzein owing to the strong intramolecular hydrogen bonding
      C(14')=O...HO-B4'. Accordingly, the C(22)-aldehyde moiety extends its pi
      conjugation significantly to the B-ring. (ii) The inherent amphiphilicity of
      retinylisoflavonoid allows the C(22)-aldehyde moiety embedded in the lipid phase
      of the liposomes, whereas the daidzein counterpart stays at the membrane surface,
      in effect facilitating interior-to-surface radical communication. As the result,
      the antilipooxidation activity of retinylisoflavonoid is improved significantly
      in protecting membrane lipids compared to the parent compounds alone or in
      combination, and importantly, the performance is more prominent under higher
      level oxidative stress. This work provides an advanced case study of new
      antioxidant development based on optimized electronic and molecular structures.

PMID- 20936805
TI  - Improved colloidal stability of bacterial cellulose nanocrystal suspensions for
      the elaboration of spin-coated cellulose-based model surfaces.
AB  - Well-dispersed suspensions are a prerequisite when preparing smooth model
      surfaces based on neutral bacterial cellulose nanocrystals (BCNs). However,
      neutral nanocrystal suspensions present pronounced particle aggregation.
      Carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) or xyloglucan (XG) was therefore added to
      aggregated BCN suspensions. Turbidity measurements, polysaccharide content, and
      transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis revealed that aggregation of BCNs
      in CMC/BCN and XG/BCN suspensions is dependent on the concentration of CMC and XG
      in the suspensions. CMC enhances BCN dispersion above the concentration ratio of
      0.05. In the case of XG, a better colloidal stability is observed above the
      concentration ratio of 0.5. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) investigations
      demonstrated that cellulose-based model surfaces, spin-coated from CMC/BCN or
      XG/BCN solutions, exhibited more uniform topography and less roughness than the
      reference BCN model surface. 

PMID- 20936806
TI  - Solid-phase thermodynamic interpretation of ion desorption in matrix-assisted
      laser desorption/ionization.
AB  - This work demonstrates a quantitative interpretation of ion desorption in matrix
      assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI). The theoretical modeling
      incorporates transition state theory for the desorption of surface ions, assuming
      chemical and thermal equilibrium in the solid state prior to desorption. It is
      distinct from conventional models that assume chemical equilibrium in the gas
      phase. This solid-state thermodynamic interpretation was used to examine the
      desorption of pure 2,4,6-trihydroxyacetophenone (THAP) and of angiotensin I mixed
      with THAP. It successfully described the changes in ion yield with the effective
      temperature under various laser fluence and initial temperature conditions. The
      analysis also revealed the key role played by ion concentration in the modeling
      to provide the best fit of the model to observations. On the other hand,
      divergence of the ion beam with laser fluence was examined using an imaging
      detection method, and the signal saturation normally seen at high fluence was
      appropriately reduced by ion focusing. Simplified but deceptive theoretical
      interpretations were obtained when the analysis was conducted without adequate
      calibration of the instrument bias.

PMID- 20936807
TI  - Enantioselective synthesis of cyclic, quaternary oxonitriles.
AB  - Quaternary oxonitriles are stereoselectively generated from the union of five-,
      six-, and seven-membered 2-chloroalkenecarbonitriles with chiral alcohols via a
      Claisen rearrangement. The strategy rests on a new conjugate addition-elimination
      of allylic alkoxides to 2-chlorocycloalkenecarbonitriles to afford substituted 2
      alkoxyalkenenitriles. Subsequent thermolysis unmasks a cyclic oxonitrile while
      selectively forming a new quaternary center with enantiomeric ratios typically
      greater than 9:1. The overall alkylation strategy addresses the challenge of
      enantioselectively generating hindered, quaternary centers while simultaneously
      installing ketone, nitrile, and olefin functionalities.

PMID- 20936808
TI  - Conformational dynamics in human purine nucleoside phosphorylase with reactants
      and transition-state analogues.
AB  - Dynamic motions of human purine nucleoside phosphorylase (hPNP) in complex with
      transition-state analogues and reactants were studied using 10 ns explicit
      solvent molecular dynamics simulations. hPNP is a homotrimer that catalyzes the
      phosphorolysis of purine 6-oxynucleosides. The ternary complex of hPNP includes
      the binding of a ligand and phosphate to the active site. Molecular dynamics
      simulations were performed on the ternary complex of six ligands including the
      picomolar transition-state analogues, Immucillin-H (K(d) = 56 pM), DADMe
      Immucillin-H (K(d) = 8.5 pM), DATMe-Immucillin-H (K(d) = 8.6 pM), SerMe
      Immucillin-H (K(d) = 5.2 pM), the substrate inosine, and a complex containing
      only phosphate. Protein-inhibitor complexes of the late transition-state
      inhibitors, DADMe-Imm-H and DATMe-Imm-H, are inflexible. Despite the structural
      similarity of SerMe-Imm-H and DATMe-Imm-H, the protein complex of SerMe-Imm-H is
      flexible, and the inhibitor is highly mobile within the active sites. All
      inhibitors exhibit an increased number of nonbonding interactions in the active
      site relative to the substrate inosine. Water density within the catalytic site
      is lower for DADMe-ImmH, DATMe-Imm-H, and SerMe-Imm-H than that for the substrate
      inosine. Tight binding of the picomolar inhibitors results from increased
      interactions within the active site and a reduction in the number of water
      molecules organized within the catalytic site relative to the substrate inosine.

PMID- 20936809
TI  - Superresolution imaging of targeted proteins in fixed and living cells using
      photoactivatable organic fluorophores.
AB  - Superresolution imaging techniques based on sequential imaging of sparse subsets
      of single molecules require fluorophores whose emission can be photoactivated or
      photoswitched. Because typical organic fluorophores can emit significantly more
      photons than average fluorescent proteins, organic fluorophores have a potential
      advantage in super-resolution imaging schemes, but targeting to specific cellular
      proteins must be provided. We report the design and application of HaloTag-based
      target-specific azido DCDHFs, a class of photoactivatable push-pull fluorogens
      which produce bright fluorescent labels suitable for single-molecule
      superresolution imaging in live bacterial and fixed mammalian cells.

PMID- 20936812
TI  - Cationic polyelectrolytes as drug delivery vectors: calorimetric and fluorescence
      study of Rutin partitioning.
AB  - The interaction between hydrophobically modified cationic polysaccharides based
      on dextran and a flavonoid drug (Rutin) was studied by isothermal titration
      calorimetry (ITC) and fluorescence spectroscopy, in order to assess the factors
      responsible for the interaction and characterize its energetics, as well as for
      evaluating their encapsulation capacity, for possible applicability of these
      polymers as drug delivery vectors. To address the importance of the hydrophobic
      pendant groups in the solution behavior of these polymer/drug systems, we also
      studied the interaction of Rutin with a cationic surfactant,
      cetyltrimethylammonium chloride (CTAC). The interaction enthalpies and drug
      binding constants for D40R30/Rutin systems were derived from ITC through a simple
      binding model. The binding constants were independently derived from fluorescence
      results, with fair agreement between the parameters obtained from both methods.
      By changing the Rutin concentration, we were able to get evidence for a
      solubility enhancement induced by the presence of the polymers, a promising
      effect regarding its use to improve bioavailability.

PMID- 20936810
TI  - Context-dependent effects of asparagine glycosylation on Pin WW folding kinetics
      and thermodynamics.
AB  - Asparagine glycosylation is one of the most common and important post
      translational modifications of proteins in eukaryotic cells. N-glycosylation
      occurs when a triantennary glycan precursor is transferred en bloc to a nascent
      polypeptide (harboring the N-X-T/S sequon) as the peptide is cotranslationally
      translocated into the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). In addition to facilitating
      binding interactions with components of the ER proteostasis network, N-glycans
      can also have intrinsic effects on protein folding by directly altering the
      folding energy landscape. Previous work from our laboratories (Hanson et al.
      Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 2009, 109, 3131-3136; Shental-Bechor, D.; Levy, Y.
      Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 2008, 105, 8256-8261) suggested that the three
      sugar residues closest to the protein are sufficient for accelerating protein
      folding and stabilizing the resulting structure in vitro; even a monosaccharide
      can have a dramatic effect. The highly conserved nature of these three proximal
      sugars in N-glycans led us to speculate that introducing an N-glycosylation site
      into a protein that is not normally glycosylated would stabilize the protein and
      increase its folding rate in a manner that does not depend on the presence of
      specific stabilizing protein-saccharide interactions. Here, we test this
      hypothesis experimentally and computationally by incorporating an N-linked GlcNAc
      residue at various positions within the Pin WW domain, a small beta-sheet-rich
      protein. The results show that an increased folding rate and enhanced
      thermodynamic stability are not general, context-independent consequences of N
      glycosylation. Comparison between computational predictions and experimental
      observations suggests that generic glycan-based excluded volume effects are
      responsible for the destabilizing effect of glycosylation at highly structured
      positions. However, this reasoning does not adequately explain the observed
      destabilizing effect of glycosylation within flexible loops. Our data are
      consistent with the hypothesis that specific, evolved protein-glycan contacts
      must also play an important role in mediating the beneficial energetic effects on
      protein folding that glycosylation can confer.

PMID- 20936813
TI  - One-pot synthesis of optically active allyl esters via lipase-vanadium combo
      catalysis.
AB  - The combination of vanadium-oxo compounds (3 or 4) with a lipase produced the
      regio- and enantioconvergent transformation of racemic allyl alcohols (1 or 2)
      into optically active allyl esters. In this system, the vanadium compounds
      catalyzed the continuous racemization of the alcohols along with the
      transposition of the hydroxyl group, while the lipase effected the chemo- and
      enantioselective esterification to achieve the dynamic kinetic resolution.

PMID- 20936814
TI  - Chromatography-free Wittig reactions using a bifunctional polymeric reagent.
AB  - The first example of a polystyrene bearing two distinct reagent groups has been
      prepared. This phosphine and amine functionalized material was used in one-pot
      Wittig reactions with an aldehyde and either an alpha-halo-ester, -ketone, or 
      amide. Due to the heterogeneous nature of the polymer, the desired alkene product
      of these reactions could be isolated in excellent yield in essentially pure form
      after only filtration and solvent removal.

PMID- 20936815
TI  - Termitomycamides A to E, fatty acid amides isolated from the mushroom
      Termitomyces titanicus, suppress endoplasmic reticulum stress.
AB  - Five fatty acid amides, termitomycamides A to E (1 to 5), were isolated from the
      giant edible mushroom Termitomyces titanicus. The structures of 1-5 were
      determined by the interpretation of spectral data and/or synthesis. Compounds 2
      and 5 showed protective activity against endoplasmic reticulum stress-dependent
      cell death.

PMID- 20936816
TI  - Asymmetric deprotonation using s-BuLi or i-PrLi and chiral diamines in THF: the
      diamine matters.
AB  - The solution structures of [(6)Li]-i-PrLi complexed to (-)-sparteine and the (+)
      sparteine surrogate in Et(2)O-d(10) and THF-d(8) at -80  degrees C have been
      determined using (6)Li and (13)C NMR spectroscopy. In Et(2)O, i-PrLi/(-)
      sparteine is a solvent-complexed heterodimer, whereas i-PrLi/(+)-sparteine
      surrogate is a head-to-tail homodimer. In THF, there was no complexation of (-)
      sparteine to i-PrLi until >=3.0 equiv (-)-sparteine and with 6.0 equiv (-)
      sparteine, a monomer was characterized. In contrast, the (+)-sparteine surrogate
      readily complexed to i-PrLi in THF, and with 1.0 equiv (+)-sparteine surrogate,
      complete formation of a monomer was observed. The NMR spectroscopic study
      suggested that it should be possible to carry out highly enantioselective
      asymmetric deprotonation reactions using i-PrLi or s-BuLi/(+)-sparteine surrogate
      in THF. Hence, three different asymmetric deprotonation reactions (lithiation
      trapping of N-Boc pyrrolidine, an O-alkyl carbamate, and a phosphine borane) were
      investigated; it was shown that reactions with (-)-sparteine in THF proceeded
      with low enantioselectivity, whereas the corresponding reactions with the (+)
      sparteine surrogate occurred with high enantioselectivity. These are the first
      examples of highly enantioselective asymmetric deprotonation reactions using
      organolithium/diamine complexes in THF.

PMID- 20936817
TI  - Stereoselective synthesis of 2,4,5-trisubstituted piperidines via radical
      cyclization.
AB  - A novel approach to 2,4,5-trisubstituted piperidines is reported, involving the 6
      exo cyclization of stabilized radicals onto alpha,beta-unsaturated esters. Only
      two of the four possible diastereoisomers are observed, with diastereomeric
      ratios ranging from 3:2 to 40:1 when the radical stabilizing group is vinyl or
      phenyl. Cyclization of a (triethylsilyl)vinyl-stabilized radical gives the
      corresponding piperidine radical as a single diastereoisomer that may either be
      trapped by tributyltin hydride to afford the 2,4,5-trisubstituted piperidine or
      undergo a second 5-endo cyclization onto the (triethylsilyl)vinyl substituent to
      produce the 3,5,7-trisubstituted octahydro[2]pyrindene as a single
      diastereoisomer.

PMID- 20936818
TI  - Arsenic localization, speciation, and co-occurrence with iron on rice (Oryza
      sativa L.) roots having variable Fe coatings.
AB  - Arsenic contamination of rice is widespread, but the rhizosphere processes
      influencing arsenic attenuation remain unresolved. In particular, the formation
      of Fe plaque around rice roots is thought to be an important barrier to As
      uptake, but the relative importance of this mechanism is not well characterized.
      Here we elucidate the colocalization of As species and Fe on rice roots with
      variable Fe coatings; we used a combination of techniques--X-ray fluorescence
      imaging, MUXANES, transmission X-ray microscopy, and tomography--for this
      purpose. Two dominant As species were observed in fine roots-inorganic As(V) and
      As(III) -with minor amounts of dimethylarsinic acid (DMA) and arsenic
      trisglutathione (AsGlu(3)). Our investigation shows that variable Fe plaque
      formation affects As entry into rice roots. In roots with Fe plaque, As and Fe
      were strongly colocated around the root; however, maximal As and Fe were
      dissociated and did not encapsulate roots that had minimal Fe plaque. Moreover,
      As was not exclusively associated with Fe plaque in the rice root system; Fe
      plaque does not coat many of the young roots or the younger portion of mature
      roots. Young, fine roots, important for solute uptake, have little to no iron
      plaque. Thus, Fe plaque does not directly intercept (and hence restrict) As
      supply to and uptake by rice roots but rather serves as a bulk scavenger of As
      predominantly near the root base.

PMID- 20936819
TI  - Novel method for synthesizing spiro[4.5]cyclohexadienones through a Pd-catalyzed
      intramolecular ipso-Friedel-Crafts allylic alkylation of phenols.
AB  - The first successful Pd-catalyzed intramolecular ipso-Friedel-Crafts allylic
      alkylation of phenols, which provided a new access to
      spiro[4.5]cyclohexadienones, is described. The present method could be applied to
      catalytic enantioselective construction of an all-carbon quaternary spirocenter.

PMID- 20936820
TI  - Water-soluble J-type rosette nanotubes with giant molar ellipticity.
AB  - A new self-assembling tricyclic module (*K1) featuring the Watson-Crick H-bonding
      arrays of guanine and cytosine fused to an internal pyridine ring was
      synthesized. When dissolved in water at room temperature, this module rapidly
      self-assembles into hexameric rosettes, which then stack to form J-type rosette
      nanotubes (RNTs) with increased inner/outer diameters and the largest molar
      ellipticity ever reported (4 * 10(6) deg.M(-1).m(-1)). Using a combination of
      imaging and spectroscopic techniques we established the structure of *K1-RNT and
      have shown that the extended pi system of the self-assembling module resulted in
      a new family of J-type RNTs with enhanced intermodular electronic communication.

PMID- 20936821
TI  - Selective Hg(II) sensing with improved Stokes shift by coupling the internal
      charge transfer process to excitation energy transfer.
AB  - Versatile chemistry of the Bodipy chromophore allows modular assembly of an
      excitation energy donor, acceptor, and a cation selective ligand in just a couple
      of steps. The new approach should be applicable in other designs which target
      molecular sensors with large Stokes shifts and red to near IR emission.

PMID- 20936822
TI  - Studies on cellular accumulation of satraplatin and its major metabolite JM118
      and their interactions with glutathione.
AB  - Before the active form of a Pt drug reaches its major pharmacological target in
      the cell nucleus, the Pt complex has to accumulate in cells, and during its
      transportation into cells and inside cells, it reacts with various biomolecules.
      Satraplatin is the first orally administered Pt drug under active clinical
      investigation. The major metabolite of this Pt(IV) complex is its Pt(II) analogue
      (JM118), which also has significant anticancer properties. Here we report the
      role of active transport in cellular entry of satraplatin and JM118 and
      interactions of these Pt complexes with glutathione. The results reveal that the
      organic cation transporters may play a more important role in the mechanism of
      cytotoxicity of JM118 than in the cytotoxicity of cisplatin. In contrast,
      satraplatin is a poor substrate of these transporters. In addition, satraplatin
      reacts with glutathione with the rate markedly lower than JM118 and cisplatin.
      Interestingly, satraplatin can be activated by glutathione allowing it to react
      with DNA, although to a much lower extent than in the case of another Pt(IV) drug
      tetraplatin.

PMID- 20936824
TI  - Mechanisms of ESI-MS selectivity and sensitivity enhancements when detecting
      anions in the positive mode using cationic pairing agents.
AB  - Recently, we have shown that dilute multivalent cationic reagents can be paired
      with analyte anions in ESI-MS, thereby allowing them to be detected in the
      positive mode at very low limits of detection. However, there can be differences
      in the efficiency of this technique depending on the nature of the cationic
      pairing agent and the anion being analyzed. In this study, three dicationic ion
      pairing agents and four singly charged anionic species were examined in a series
      of experiments to elucidate the mechanism of action that allows for such
      sensitive detection and the profound differences in the selectivity of this ion
      pairing method. The binding constants for the dication/anion complexes were
      determined by NMR and ESI-MS. The results indicated that the binding of these
      species is greatly enhanced as they move from the solution phase to the gas
      phase. Furthermore, surface tension measurements for the complexes were
      performed. This test revealed that, as the dication pairs with the anion, it
      creates a surface-active species within the ESI droplet. This is determined to be
      one of the major factors that leads to the overall sensitivity enhancement. This
      has led to a better understanding of how this ion-pairing technique produces
      unprecedented limits of detection for anions and why there are selectivity
      differences in pairing agents of different structures. 

PMID- 20936825
TI  - Synthesis of 2-alkoxy(aroxy)-3-substituted quinolines by DABCO-promoted
      cyclization of o-alkynylaryl isocyanides.
AB  - Diversified 2-alkoxy- and 2-aroxy-3-substituted quinolines were synthesized from
      o-alkynylaryl isocyanides and alcohols and phenols promoted by DABCO,
      respectively. The reaction was initiated by nucleophilic addition of DABCO to
      isocyanide and subsequent cycliztion, leading to a DABCO-quinoline-based adduct
      as the reactive intermediate, followed by substitution of the DABCO moiety with
      oxygenated nucleophiles.

PMID- 20936823
TI  - The critical role of the constant region in thermal stability and aggregation of
      amyloidogenic immunoglobulin light chain.
AB  - Light chain (LC) amyloidosis (AL) is a fatal disease in which immunoglobulin LC
      deposit as fibrils. Although the LC amyloid-forming propensity is attributed
      primarily to the variable region, fibrils also contain full-length LC comprised
      of variable-joining (V(L)) and constant (C(L)) regions. To assess the role of
      C(L) in fibrillogenesis, we compared the thermal stability of full-length LC and
      corresponding V(L) and C(L) fragments. Protein unfolding and aggregation were
      monitored by circular dichroism and light scattering. A full-length lambda6 LC
      purified from urine of a patient with AL amyloidosis showed irreversible
      unfolding coupled to aggregation. The transition temperature decreased at slower
      heating rates, indicating kinetic effects. Next, we studied five recombinant
      lambda6 proteins: full-length amyloidogenic LC, its V(L), germline LC, germline
      V(L), and C(L). Amyloidogenic and germline proteins showed similar rank order of
      stability, V(L) < LC < C(L); hence, in the full-length LC, V(L) destabilizes
      C(L). Amyloidogenic proteins were less stable than their germline counterparts,
      suggesting that reduction in V(L) stability destabilizes the full-length LC.
      Thermal unfolding of the full-length amyloidogenic and germline LC required high
      activation energy and involved irreversible aggregation, yet the unfolding of the
      isolated V(L) and C(L) fragments was partially reversible. Therefore, compared to
      their fragments, full-length LCs are more likely to initiate aggregation during
      unfolding and provide a template for the V(L) deposition. The kinetic barrier for
      this aggregation is regulated by the stability of the V(L) region. This
      represents a paradigm shift in AL fibrillogenesis and suggests C(L) region as a
      potential therapeutic target.

PMID- 20936826
TI  - The molecular recognition mechanism for superoxide dismutase presequence binding
      to the mitochondrial protein import receptor Tom20 from Oryza sativa involves an
      LRTLA motif.
AB  - Most mitochondrial proteins are synthesized in the cytosol as precursor and
      imported into the mitochondria by Tom complexes (translocase of outer membrane
      complexes). Knowledge of the binding mechanism between precursor and Tom20 in
      plants is very limited. Here, computational methods are employed to improve our
      understanding of the interactions between both molecules. To this end, we model
      mitochondrial superoxide dismutase precursor (pSOD) in complex with Tom20 in
      Oryza sativa (OsTom20). In a first stage, five main binding modes were generated
      using clustering analysis, energy minimization, and expert knowledge. In a second
      stage, the quality and validity of the resulting complexes is assessed by
      molecular dynamics (MD) simulations with a generalized Born solvation model. The
      change in binding free energies is estimated using a computational alanine
      scanning technique. We identified a particularly favorable complex between pSOD
      and OsTom20, exhibiting the lowest binding free energy among all candidates and
      correlating well with experimental data. Furthermore, three independent explicit
      solvent MD simulations of this structure, each of 100 ns duration, reveal that
      hydrophobic interactions occur between pSOD and OsTom20, in particular between
      L158 of pSOD and W81 of OsTom20, as evidenced by analysis of intermolecular
      distances and corresponding relative free energy landscapes. L158 is part of an
      interacting LRTLA motif. These results provide new insight into the structural
      basis and dynamics of precursor recognition by Tom20 in plant, and their
      generality is supported by sequence alignments with seven other plants.

PMID- 20936827
TI  - Phosphoproteomics profiling suggests a role for nuclear betaIotaPKC in
      transcription processes of undifferentiated murine embryonic stem cells.
AB  - Protein kinase C (PKC) plays a key role in embryonic stem cell (ESC)
      proliferation, self-renewal, and differentiation. However, the function of
      specific PKC isoenzymes have yet to be determined. Of the PKCs expressed in
      undifferentiated ESCs, betaIPKC was the only isoenzyme abundantly expressed in
      the nuclei. To investigate the role of betaIotaPKC in these cells, we employed a
      phosphoproteomics strategy and used two classical (cPKC) peptide modulators and
      one betaIPKC-specific inhibitor peptide. We identified 13 nuclear proteins that
      are direct or indirect betaIotaPKC substrates in undifferentiated ESCs. These
      proteins are known to be involved in regulating transcription, splicing, and
      chromatin remodeling during proliferation and differentiation. Inhibiting
      betaIotaPKC had no effect on DNA synthesis in undifferentiated ESCs. However,
      upon differentiation, many cells seized to express betaIotaPKC and betaIotaPKC
      was frequently found in the cytoplasm. Taken together, our results suggest that
      betaIPKC takes part in the processes that maintain ESCs in their undifferentiated
      state.

PMID- 20936828
TI  - Water-compatible iminium activation: highly enantioselective organocatalytic
      Michael addition of malonates to alpha,beta-unsaturated enones.
AB  - The highly enantioselective Michael addition of malonates to alpha,beta
      unsaturated ketones in water was reported to be catalyzed by a primary-secondary
      diamine catalyst containing a long alkyl chain. This asymmetric Michael addition
      process was found to be effective for a variety of alpha,beta-unsaturated
      ketones.

PMID- 20936829
TI  - Membrane interactions and conformational preferences of human and avian prion N
      terminal tandem repeats: the role of copper(II) ions, pH, and membrane mimicking
      environments.
AB  - The flexible N-terminal domain of the prion protein (PrP(c)) is believed to play
      a pivotal role in both trafficking of the protein through the cell membrane and
      its pathogenic conversion into the beta sheet-rich scrapie isoform (PrP(sc)).
      Unlike mammalian PrP(c), avian prion proteins are not known to undergo any
      pathogenic conformational conversions. Consequently, some critical advances in
      our understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying prion pathogenesis are
      expected from comparative studies of the biophysical properties of the N-terminal
      domains of the two proteins. The present study addresses the role played by
      different environmental factors, i.e., copper(II), pH, and membrane-mimicking
      environments, in assisting the conformational preferences of huPrP60-91 and
      chPrP53-76, two soluble peptides encompassing the N-terminal copper(II) binding
      domains of the human and chicken prion proteins, respectively. Moreover, the
      membrane interactions of huPrP60-91, chPrP53-76, and their copper(II) complexes
      were evaluated by Trp fluorescence in conjunction with measurements of the
      variation in thermotropic properties of 1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3
      phosphocholine (DPPC) unilamellar vesicles. Circular dichroism experiments
      revealed that huPrP60-91 adopts a predominant polyproline II conformation in
      aqueous solution that is destabilized at basic pH or in the presence of
      trifluoroethanol (TFE). Unlike anionic sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), which seems
      to stabilize the polyproline II conformation further, zwitterionic
      dodecylphosphocholine (DPC) micelles do not affect the peptide structure. On the
      contrary, copper(II) promptly promotes an increase in beta-turn-rich structures.
      Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and Trp fluorescence assays carried out
      on DPPC model membranes after incubation with huPrP60-91 showed a marked tendency
      of the peptide to slowly penetrate the lipid bilayer with a concomitant
      conformational transition toward an extended beta-sheet-like structure. Such an
      event, which was ascribed to the hydrophobic Trp side chain residues, was shown
      to also depend on the level of copper(II) occupancy along the peptide.
      Conversely, the CD spectra of chPrP53-76 aqueous solutions indicated the presence
      of a mixture of random-coil/beta-turn-like structures whose resulting equilibrium
      was influenced by SDS and copper(II) addition. Furthermore, chPrP53-76 did not
      exhibit any tendency to interact with model membranes in either the presence or
      absence of copper(II). The results reported here provide evidence of the
      different roles played by environmental factors in affecting the conformation and
      membrane activity of human and avian prion N-terminal domains.

PMID- 20936830
TI  - An in vivo method for characterization of protein interactions within sulfur
      trafficking systems of E. coli.
AB  - Sulfur trafficking systems are multiprotein systems that synthesize sulfur
      containing cofactors such as iron-sulfur clusters. The sulfur is derived
      enzymatically from cysteine and transferred between nucleophilic cysteine
      residues within proteins until incorporation into the relevant cofactor. As these
      systems are poorly understood, we have developed an in vivo method for
      characterizing these interactions and have applied our method to the SUF system
      of Escherichia coli, which is responsible for iron-sulfur cluster biogenesis
      under oxidative stress and iron limitation. Proteins that interact covalently
      with SufE were trapped in vivo, purified, and identified by mass spectrometry. We
      identified SufE-SufS and SufE-SufB interactions, interactions previously
      demonstrated in vitro, indicating that our method has the ability to identify
      physiologically relevant interactions. The sulfur acceptor function of SufE is
      likely due to the low pK(a) of its active site C51, which we determined to be 6.3
      +/- 0.7. We found that SufE interacts with several Fe-S cluster proteins, further
      supporting the validity of the method, and with tryptophanase, glutaredoxin-3,
      and glutaredoxin-4, possibly suggesting a role for these enzymes in iron-sulfur
      biogenesis by the SUF system. Our results indicate that this method could serve
      as a general tool for the determination of sulfur trafficking mechanisms.

PMID- 20936831
TI  - Photophysical and DNA-binding properties of cytochrome c modified with a
      platinum(II) complex.
AB  - Cytochrome c (cyt c) derivatives modified with a platinum(II) complex at the
      lysine residue, cyt c(III)-[Pt(bpy)(dapap)](1) {bpy = 2,2'-bipyridine, and dapap
      = 3-(2,3-diaminopropionylamino)propionic acid}, have been prepared. The modified
      residues are Lys8, Lys13, Lys55, Lys60, Lys73, and Lys88. In the case of the cyt
      c(III)-[Pt(bpy)(dapap)](1) dyad, the photoexcited singlet state of
      (1)([Pt(bpy)(dapap)](1))* was quenched by the heme Fe(III) moiety through the
      intramolecular photoinduced energy-transfer reaction via a through-space
      mechanism. Next, in the presence of calf thymus (CT)-DNA, the DNA-responsive
      fluorescence properties of cyt c(III)-[Pt(bpy)(dapap)](1) isomers were
      investigated. The order of the obtained binding constants between the cyt c(III)
      [Pt(bpy)(dapap)](1) isomer and CT-DNA in an aqueous solution suggested that the
      electrostatic interaction is one of the important factors to stabilize the cyt c
      DNA complex. Finally, we discussed the rotational motion of the
      [Pt(bpy)(dapap)](2+) moiety at the surface of cyt c by fluorescence anisotropy
      measurement. The increase in the anisotropy parameter, r, for each cyt c isomer
      clearly revealed that the noncovalent recognition of the [Pt(bpy)(dapap)](2+)
      moiety by CT-DNA is an essential event in the formation of the cyt c-DNA complex
      and generation of DNA-sensitive fluorescence signals.

PMID- 20936832
TI  - A base-triggerable catanionic mixed lipid system: isothermal titration
      calorimetric and single-crystal X-ray diffraction studies.
AB  - Lipid-based, base-triggerable systems will be useful for colon specific targeted
      delivery of drugs and pharmaceuticals. In light of this, a catanionic surfactant
      system, composed of O-lauroylethanolamine hydrochloride (OLEA.HCl) and sodium
      dodecyl sulfate (SDS), has been designed. The aggregates formed by near equimolar
      mixtures of OLEA.HCl-SDS have shown lability at basic pH, indicating that the
      system may be useful for developing colon specific drug delivery system(s).
      Turbidimetric and isothermal titration calorimetric studies revealed that
      OLEA.HCl forms a 1:1 (mol/mol) complex with SDS. The three-dimensional structure
      of the equimolar OLEA-SDS complex has been solved by single-crystal X-ray
      diffraction. Analysis of the molecular packing and intermolecular interactions in
      the crystal lattice revealed a hydrogen bonding belt in the headgroup region of
      the complex and dispersion interactions among the acyl chains as the main factors
      stabilizing the complex. These observations will be useful in understanding
      specific interactions between lipids in more complex systems, e.g., biomembranes.

PMID- 20936834
TI  - Anisotropic and hindered diffusion of colloidal particles in a closed cylinder.
AB  - Video microscopy and particle tracking were used to measure the spatial
      dependence of the diffusion coefficient (D(alpha)) of colloidal particles in a
      closed cylindrical cavity. Both the height and radius of the cylinder were equal
      to 9.0 particle diameters. The number of trapped particles was varied between 1
      and 16, which produced similar results. In the center of the cavity, D(alpha)
      turned out to be 0.75D(0) measured in bulk liquid. On approaching the cylindrical
      wall, a transition region of about 3 particle diameters wide was found in which
      the radial and azimuthal components of D(alpha) decrease to respective values of
      0.1D(0) and 0.4D(0), indicating asymmetrical diffusion. Hydrodynamic simulations
      of local drag coefficients for hard spheres produced very good agreement with
      experimental results. These findings indicate that the hydrodynamic particle-wall
      interactions are dominant and that the complete 3D geometry of the confinement
      needs to be taken into account to predict the spatial dependence of diffusion
      accurately.

PMID- 20936833
TI  - On the performance of spin diffusion NMR techniques in oriented solids: prospects
      for resonance assignments and distance measurements from separated local field
      experiments.
AB  - NMR spin diffusion experiments have the potential to provide both resonance
      assignment and internuclear distances for protein structure determination in
      oriented solid-state NMR. In this paper, we compared the efficiencies of three
      spin diffusion experiments: proton-driven spin diffusion (PDSD), cross-relaxation
      driven spin diffusion (CRDSD), and proton-mediated proton transfer (PMPT). As
      model systems for oriented proteins, we used single crystals of N-acetyl-L-(15)N
      leucine (NAL) and N-acetyl-L-(15)N-valyl-L-(15)N-leucine (NAVL) to probe long and
      short distances, respectively. We demonstrate that, for short (15)N/(15)N
      distances such as those found in NAVL (3.3 A), the PDSD mechanism gives the most
      intense cross-peaks, while, for longer distances (>6.5 A), the CRDSD and PMPT
      experiments are more efficient. The PDSD was highly inefficient for transferring
      magnetization across distances greater than 6.5 A (NAL crystal sample), due to
      small (15)N/(15)N dipolar couplings (<4.5 Hz). Interestingly, the mismatched
      Hartmann-Hahn condition present in the PMPT experiment gave more intense cross
      peaks for lower (1)H and (15)N RF spinlock amplitudes (32 and 17 kHz,
      respectively) rather than higher values (55 and 50 kHz), suggesting a more
      complex magnetization transfer mechanism. Numerical simulations are in good
      agreement with the experimental findings, suggesting a combined PMPT and CRDSD
      effect. We conclude that, in order to assign SLF spectra and measure short- and
      long-range distances, the combined use of homonuclear correlation spectra, such
      as the ones surveyed in this work, are necessary.

PMID- 20936835
TI  - On the adsorption of extended viologens at the electrode|electrolyte interface.
AB  - Extended viologens represent a group of organic molecules intended to be used as
      molecular wires in molecular electronic devices. Adsorption properties of a novel
      series of extended viologen molecules were studied at the mercury
      electrode|electrolyte interface. These compounds form compact monolayers around
      the potential of zero charge with a constant differential capacitance value of
      2.5 +/- 0.2 MUF cm(-2) independent of temperature, length of the molecule, and
      its bulk concentration. At more negative potentials their reduction in the
      adsorbed state takes place. We showed that the adsorption process is diffusion
      controlled and time needed to fully cover the electrode surface is independent of
      the electrode potential. A modified Koryta equation was employed for the
      calculation of the surface concentration of the adsorbates leading to the value
      of 5.3 * 10(-11) mol cm(-2) for the shortest wire and to 1.6 * 10(-11) mol cm(-2)
      for the longest one. Based on the space filling model and the differential
      capacitance value in the compact film region, it was postulated that these
      molecules lay flat on the electrode surface.

PMID- 20936836
TI  - Are nanoscale ion aggregates present in aqueous solutions of guanidinium salts?
AB  - A detailed investigation using broadband dielectric relaxation spectroscopy (DRS)
      has been made of the aqueous solutions of guanidinium chloride and carbonate,
      GdmCl(aq) and Gdm2CO3(aq), at 25  degrees C. The spectra indicate that Gdm(+)
      ions, C(NH2)3(+), do not bind strongly to water nor are they hydrophobically
      hydrated; rather they appear to have a most unusual ability to dissolve in water
      without altering its dynamics. Although DRS is particularly sensitive to the
      presence of ion pairs, only weak ion pairing was detected in Gdm2CO3(aq)
      solutions and none at all in GdmCl(aq). Surprisingly, no evidence was found for
      the existence of the higher order homo- and heteroionic nanoscale aggregates that
      have been identified in recent years by Mason and co-workers using molecular
      dynamics simulations and neutron diffraction. Possible reasons for this
      discrepancy are discussed. The present DR spectra and other solution properties
      of GdmCl(aq) and Gdm2CO3(aq), such as apparent molar volumes and electrical
      conductivities, are shown to have strong similarities to those of the
      corresponding Na+ salts. However, such solutions also differ remarkably from
      their Na(+) analogues (and all other simple electrolytes in aqueous solution) in
      that their average water relaxation times correlate strongly with their bulk
      viscosities. The biological implications of the present results are briefly
      discussed.

PMID- 20936837
TI  - A computational study of the mechanism of the selective crystallization of alpha-
      and beta-glycine from water and methanol-water mixture.
AB  - Understanding the control of polymorphism in organic crystals is of paramount
      importance to the pharmaceutical, chemical, and food industries. In this work, we
      investigated two mechanisms described in the literature about the selective
      crystallization of alpha- and beta-glycine from water and from mixtures of water
      and methanol using molecular simulations. The link hypothesis (J. Phys. Chem. B
      2008, 112, 7794; Cryst. Growth Des. 2006, 6, 1788; J. Inclusion Phenom. Mol.
      Recognit. Chem. 1990, 8, 395; J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1986, 108, 5871.), which tries to
      relate the structure of the polymorph obtained from crystallization to the
      structure of the prenucleation aggregates in the solutions, says the abundance of
      glycine cyclic dimers in aqueous solutions leads to the crystallization of alpha
      glycine, the polymorph using cyclic dimers as the packing units. This hypothesis
      was studied first. We revisited the self-assembly of glycine molecules in
      solution using molecular dynamics to address the debate (Phys. Rev. Lett. 2007,
      99, 115702; J. Phys. Chem. B 2008, 112, 7280; J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2008, 130,
      13973.) about which is the dominating species in the glycine aqueous solutions
      and whether there is a link between the solution chemistry and the polymorphic
      outcome of crystallization. The structures of the glycine clusters were
      characterized using a structural parameter called cyclic dimer fraction. The
      glycine clusters in methanol-water mixtures have higher cyclic dimer compositions
      than those in the pure aqueous solutions. Moreover, the glycine open-chain dimer
      is more stable than the cyclic dimer regardless of the presence of methanol. All
      these suggest that the link hypothesis does not work for the polymorphic system
      of glycine, and the selective crystallization of alpha- and beta-glycine from
      water and methanol-water mixture, respectively, is not due to the abundance of
      glycine aggregates in the solution phase with a similar structure to the
      crystallizing solid form. The hypothesis of the methanol inhibition on the growth
      of alpha-glycine {010} and {010} faces, proposed by Weissbuch (Angew. Chem., Int.
      Ed. 2005, 44, 3226.), was also studied. The interfaces between the {010} and
      {010} faces of both crystal forms (alpha and beta) and both solvents (water and
      methanol-water 3:7 mixture) were studied using molecular simulation. No strong
      binding of methanol onto the {010} and {010} faces of both crystal forms was
      observed, and the addition of methanol dilutes the crystal-solvent interactions
      on all faces. Therefore, the selective crystallization of beta and alpha-glycine
      with and without methanol does not follow either of the two mechanisms in the
      literature.

PMID- 20936838
TI  - Relation between volume expansion and hydrogen bond networks for CO2-alcohol
      mixtures at 40  degrees C.
AB  - We experimentally determined the density and mole fraction of CO(2) (x(CO(2)))
      for CO(2)-alcohol (methanol, ethanol, propanol, butanol, isopropyl alcohol, and
      tert-butyl alcohol) mixtures and performed molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to
      study the mechanisms of volume expansion at 40  degrees C. The volume as
      calculated by vapor-liquid equilibrium (VLE) data increased with decreasing alkyl
      chain length, although there was no effect of branched alkyl groups. Analysis of
      the hydrogen bond network showed that the average number of hydrogen bonds per
      alcohol molecule decreased with increasing branched methyl groups. At pure
      alcohol condition, large size hydrogen bond networks were made. With further
      addition of CO(2) molecules, it became difficult to contain the large hydrogen
      bond networks. Furthermore, the hydrogen bond networks changed to a cyclic
      pentamer or tetramer, and volume expansion occurred.

PMID- 20936839
TI  - Kinetic study on the reentrant condensation of oligonucleotide in trivalent salt
      solution.
AB  - The reentrant condensation of 21-bp oligonucleotide in the presence of spermidine
      was investigated by laser light scattering and capillary electrophoresis. 21-bp
      oligonucleotide showed a bimodal distribution in 1 * TE buffer, with the slow
      mode being the characteristic diffusion of polyelectrolyte in solution without
      enough salt. At the fixed spermidine concentration, the reentry of
      oligonucleotide underwent aggregation, phase separation, and disassociation in
      sequence with time, and the kinetics was extremely slow. For example, it took
      more than 1200 h (50 days) for the reentry to complete at 21 mM spermidine.
      Higher spermidine concentration led to faster kinetics. After reentry, the slow
      mode disappeared, and the charges of oligonucleotide were at least partially
      neutralized. No prominent charge inversion was observed. The kinetics of
      oligonucleotide reentry in the presence of spermidine gained insight in the
      interactions of polyelectrolyte in aqueous solution.

PMID- 20936841
TI  - Fabrication of apatite-type La(9.33)(SiO4)6O2 hollow nanoshells as energy-saving
      oxidative catalysts.
AB  - Apatite-type La(9.33)(SiO(4))(6)O(2) hollow nanoshells were successfully
      synthesized by a controlled route. These oxide-ion-conducting hollow nanoshells
      were used to catalyze oxidative coupling of methane, and an enhanced catalytic
      performance at relatively low temperature was realized. The high-activity and
      energy-saving features were attributed to their hollow nanostructures and oxide
      ion conductivity.

PMID- 20936840
TI  - Immunoaffinity enrichment and liquid chromatography-selected reaction monitoring
      mass spectrometry for quantitation of carbonic anhydrase 12 in cultured renal
      carcinoma cells.
AB  - Liquid chromatography-selected reaction monitoring (LC-SRM) is a highly specific
      and sensitive mass spectrometry (MS) technique that is widely being applied to
      selectively qualify and validate candidate markers within complex biological
      samples. However, in order for LC-SRM methods to take on these attributes, target
      specific optimization of sample processing is required, in order to reduce
      analyte complexity, prior to LC-SRM. In this study, we have developed a targeted
      platform consisting of protein immunoaffinity enrichment on magnetic beads and LC
      SRM for measuring carbonic anhydrase 12 (CA12) protein in a renal cell carcinoma
      (RCC) cell line (PRC3), a candidate biomarker for RCC whose expression at the
      protein level has not been previously reported. Sample processing and LC-SRM
      assay were optimized for signature peptides selected as surrogate markers of CA12
      protein. Using LC-SRM coupled with stable isotope dilution, we achieved limits of
      quantitation in the low fmol range sufficient for measuring clinically relevant
      biomarkers with good intra- and interassay accuracy and precision (<=17%). Our
      results show that using a quantitative immunoaffinity capture approach provides
      specific, accurate, and robust assays amenable to high-throughput verification of
      potential biomarkers. 

PMID- 20936842
TI  - Effect of electrode orientations on charge transport in alkanedithiol single
      molecule junctions.
AB  - Using first-principles calculations based on the density functional theory and
      the nonequilibrium Green's functions approach, we study the charge transport in
      Au-alkanedithiol-Au single-molecule junctions with different electrode
      orientations and molecular lengths. We attribute the recently measured high-/low
      conductance in these heterostructures to two distinct electrode orientations,
      [100] and [111], which can control the electrode-molecule coupling as well as the
      tunneling strength by way of diverse band structures. Our detailed analysis on
      the transmission spectra suggests that even a single alkanedithiol junction can
      serve as a double quantum-dot system to yield tunable quantum interference.

PMID- 20936843
TI  - Lagunamides A and B: cytotoxic and antimalarial cyclodepsipeptides from the
      marine cyanobacterium Lyngbya majuscula.
AB  - Lagunamides A (1) and B (2) are new cyclic depsipeptides isolated from the marine
      cyanobacterium Lyngbya majuscula obtained from Pulau Hantu Besar, Singapore. The
      planar structural characterization of these molecules was achieved by extensive
      spectroscopic analysis, including 2D NMR experiments. In addition to Marfey's
      method and (3)J(H-H) coupling constant values, a modified method based on
      Mosher's reagents and analysis using LC-MS was deployed for the determination of
      the absolute configuration. Lagunamides A and B displayed significant
      antimalarial properties, with IC(50) values of 0.19 and 0.91 MUM, respectively,
      when tested against Plasmodium falciparum. Lagunamides A and B also possessed
      potent cytotoxic activity against P388 murine leukemia cell lines, with IC(50)
      values of 6.4 and 20.5 nM, respectively. Furthermore, these cyanobacterial
      compounds exhibited moderate antiswarming activities when tested against
      Pseudomonas aeruginosa PA01.

PMID- 20936844
TI  - Influence of the backbone structure on the release of bioactive volatiles from
      maleic acid-based polymer conjugates.
AB  - Poly(maleic acid monoester)-based beta-mercapto ketones were synthesized and
      investigated as potential delivery systems for the controlled release of
      bioactive, volatile, alpha,beta-unsaturated enones (such as damascones and
      damascenones) by retro 1,4-addition. The bioconjugates were prepared in a one-pot
      synthesis using 2-mercaptoethanol as a linker. The thiol group of 2
      mercaptoethanol adds to the double bond of the enone to form a beta-mercapto
      ketone, which was then grafted via nucleophilic ring-opening of the remaining
      alcohol function onto a series of alternating copolymers of maleic anhydride and
      1-octadecene, ethylene, isobutylene, and methyl vinyl ether. The influence of
      copolymer backbones on the release of delta-damascone was investigated in
      buffered aqueous solution as a function of pH and time. In the presence of a
      cationic surfactant, the polymer conjugates were transferred from an aqueous
      medium to a cotton surface. The deposition and the release of delta-damascone
      from the cotton surface as a function of the polymer backbone structure were
      measured by fluorescence spectroscopy and dynamic headspace analysis,
      respectively. All polymer conjugates were found to deliver higher amounts of the
      volatile into the headspace than the reference consisting of unmodified delta
      damascone. Polymers with a hydrophobic backbone were generally efficiently
      deposited on the cotton surface, but released delta-damascone only moderately in
      solution. Conjugates with a more hydrophilic backbone release the active compound
      more efficiently in water, but are deposited to a lower extent onto the target
      surface. A good balance of the hydrophobicity and hydrophilicity of the polymer
      backbone is the key factor to maximize the deposition of the conjugates on the
      target surface and to optimize the release of the bioactive volatiles.

PMID- 20936845
TI  - Spatially controlled DNA nanopatterns by "click" chemistry using oligonucleotides
      with different anchoring sites.
AB  - DNA patterning on surfaces has broad applications in biotechnology,
      nanotechnology, and other fields of life science. The common patterns make use of
      the highly selective base pairing which might not be stable enough for further
      manipulations. Furthermore, the fabrication of well-defined DNA nanostructures on
      solid surfaces usually lacks chemical linkages to the surface. Here we report a
      template-free strategy based on "click" chemistry to fabricate spatially
      controlled DNA nanopatterns immobilized on surfaces. The self-assembly process
      utilizes DNA with different anchoring sites. The position of anchoring is of
      crucial importance for the self-assembly process of DNA and greatly influences
      the assembly of particular DNA nanopatterns. It is shown that the anchoring site
      in a central position generates tunable nanonetworks with high regularity,
      compared to DNAs containing anchoring sites at terminal and other positions. The
      prepared patterns may find applications in DNA capturing and formation of pores
      and channels and can serve as templates for the patterning using other molecules.

PMID- 20936846
TI  - Synthesis and characterization of polycarbonyl compounds via their BF2-adducts.
AB  - A cobalt-catalyzed 1,4-hydrovinylation reaction is the key step in the synthesis
      of 1,3-dicarbonyl and higher tri- and tetracarbonyl compounds after ozonolysis of
      the 1,4-diene intermediates. For the isolation and characterization of the
      products, the 1,3-dicarbonyl subunits were complexed with a BF(2)- or a BR(2)
      fragment eliminating the keto-enol tautomerisation. Other 2,3-disubstituted 1,3
      butadienes can be generated by a Grubbs enyne metathesis of a symmetrical
      internal alkyne with ethene. After hydrovinylation and ozonolysis, other 1,3
      diketones are accessible.

PMID- 20936847
TI  - Synthesis and antimalarial assessment of a new series of orally active amino
      functionalized spiro 1,2,4-trioxanes.
AB  - Keto-trioxanes 7a-d, easily accessible in two steps from allylic alcohols 5a-d,
      underwent reductive amination with substituted anilines to furnish amino
      functionalized trioxanes 8a-i, 9a-i, 10a-i, and 11a-i. All these new trioxanes
      were assessed for their oral antimalarial activity against multidrug-resistant
      Plasmodium yoelii nigeriensis in Swiss mice. 2-Naphthalene-based trioxanes 9c and
      9i, the most active compounds of the series, provided 100% protection to the
      malaria-infected mice at 24 mg/kg * 4 days, while the related trioxane 9b and
      phenanthrene-based trioxane 11e provided a similar level of protection at 48
      mg/kg * 4 days. All other trioxanes, except 10c, 10d, and 10g, provided 100%
      protection at 96 mg/kg * 4 days. In this model, beta-arteether provided 100%
      protection at 48 mg/kg * 4 days and 20% protection at 24 mg/kg * 4 days.

PMID- 20936848
TI  - Biosynthesis of monomers for plastics from renewable oils.
AB  - Omega-hydroxyfatty acids are excellent monomers for synthesizing a unique family
      of polyethylene-like biobased plastics. However, omega-hydroxyfatty acids are
      difficult and expensive to prepare by traditional organic synthesis, precluding
      their use in commodity materials. Here we report the engineering of a strain of
      the diploid yeast Candida tropicalis to produce commercially viable yields of
      omega-hydroxyfatty acids. To develop the strain we identified and eliminated 16
      genes encoding 6 cytochrome P450s, 4 fatty alcohol oxidases, and 6 alcohol
      dehydrogenases from the C. tropicalis genome. We also show that fatty acids with
      different chain lengths and degrees of unsaturation can be more efficiently
      oxidized by expressing different P450s within this strain background.
      Biocatalysis using engineered C. tropicalis is thus a potentially attractive
      biocatalytic platform for producing commodity chemicals from renewable resources.

PMID- 20936849
TI  - Gold-catalyzed cascade cyclization-oxidative alkynylation of allenoates.
AB  - A gold(I)-catalyzed cascade cyclization-oxidative cross-coupling process has been
      applied to prepare beta-alkynyl-gamma-butenolides directly from allenoates and
      various terminal alkynes. Following an initial gold-catalyzed C-O bond forming
      allenoate cyclization, a mechanism based on a Au(I)/Au(III) redox cycle has been
      proposed with Selectfluor acting as the external oxidant.

PMID- 20936850
TI  - Functionalization of hafnium oxamidide complexes prepared from CO-induced N2
      cleavage.
AB  - Functionalization of the nitrogen atoms in the hafnocene oxamidide complexes
      [Me(2)Si(eta(5)-C(5)Me(4))(eta(5)-C(5)H(3)-3-(t)Bu)Hf](2)(N(2)C(2)O(2)) and
      [(eta(5)-C(5)Me(4)H)(2)Hf](2)(N(2)C(2)O(2)), prepared from CO-induced N(2) bond
      cleavage, was explored by cycloaddition and by formal 1,2-addition chemistry. The
      ansa-hafnocene variant, [Me(2)Si(eta(5)-C(5)Me(4))(eta(5)-C(5)H(3)-3
      (t)Bu)Hf](2)(N(2)C(2)O(2)), undergoes facile cycloaddition with heterocumulenes
      such as (t)BuNCO and CO(2) to form new N-C and Hf-O bonds. Both products were
      crystallographically characterized, and the latter reaction demonstrates that an
      organic ligand can be synthesized from three abundant and often inert small
      molecules: N(2), CO, and CO(2). Treatment of [Me(2)Si(eta(5)-C(5)Me(4))(eta(5)
      C(5)H(3)-3-(t)Bu)Hf](2)(N(2)C(2)O(2)) with I(2) yielded the monomeric
      iodohafnocene isocyanate, Me(2)Si(eta(5)-C(5)Me(4))(eta(5)-C(5)H(3)-3
      (t)Bu)Hf(I)(NCO), demonstrating that C-C bond formation is reversible. Alkylation
      of the oxamidide ligand in [(eta(5)-C(5)Me(4)H)(2)Hf](2)(N(2)C(2)O(2)) was
      explored due to the high symmetry of the complex. A host of sequential 1,2
      addition reactions with various alkyl halides was discovered and both N- and N,N'
      alkylated products were obtained. Treatment with Bronsted acids such as HCl or
      ethanol liberates the free oxamides, H(R(1))NC(O)C(O)N(R(2))H, which are useful
      precursors for N,N'-diamines, N-heterocyclic carbenes, and other heterocycles.
      Oxamidide functionalization in [(eta(5)-C(5)Me(4)H)(2)Hf](2)(N(2)C(2)O(2)) was
      also accomplished with silanes and terminal alkynes, resulting in additional N-Si
      and N-H bond formation, respectively.

PMID- 20936852
TI  - Manganese eta2-complexes as auxiliaries for stereoselective aldol synthesis of
      allenyl carbinols.
AB  - A convenient and robust manganese auxiliary was linked via an eta(2)-bond to
      alkynyl esters and ketones using a mild complexation reaction with
      methylcyclopentadienyl manganese tricarbonyl. This complex readily underwent
      aldol reactions with exclusive alpha-substitution and in good
      diastereoselectivities especially with aryl ketone substrates. This selectivity
      has been rationalized using a cyclic transition state model in which the
      manganese auxiliary plays a critical role in promoting E(O)-geometry of the
      cumulenolate intermediate.

PMID- 20936851
TI  - Efficient ring-closing metathesis of alkenyl bromides: the importance of
      protecting the catalyst during the olefin approach.
AB  - We present the first productive ring-closing metathesis reaction that leads to
      the construction of cyclic alkenyl bromides. Efficient catalysis employing
      commercially available Grubbs II catalyst is possible through appropriate
      modification of the starting bromoalkene moiety.

PMID- 20936853
TI  - Sequential organocatalytic Stetter and Michael-Aldol condensation reaction:
      asymmetric synthesis of fully substituted cyclopentenes via a [1 + 2 + 2]
      annulation strategy.
AB  - A stereoselective synthesis of fully substituted cyclopentenes has been achieved
      by a sequential organocatalyzed Stetter and Michael-aldol condensation of
      aromatic aldehydes, nitroalkenes, and alpha,beta-unsaturated aldehydes via the [1
      + 2 + 2] annulation strategy with excellent diastereoselectivities and
      enantioselectivities (up to >99% ee).

PMID- 20936854
TI  - "One-pot" access to 4H-chromenes with formation of a chiral quaternary
      stereogenic center by a highly enantioselective iminium-allenamine involved oxa
      Michael-aldol cascade.
AB  - An unprecedented organocatalytic highly enantioselective cascade Michael-aldol
      reaction has been developed in high yields under mild reaction conditions. The
      "one-pot" process affords an efficient approach to the synthetically and
      biologically important chiral 4H-chromenes bearing a quaternary stereogenic
      center. The study significantly expands the scope of less explored
      organocatalytic iminium-allenamine chemistry.

PMID- 20936855
TI  - Synthesis of a dimer of beta-(1,4)-L-arabinosyl-(2S,4R)-4-hydroxyproline inspired
      by Art v 1, the major allergen of mugwort.
AB  - Nalpha-tert-Butoxycarbonyl-L-trans-4-hydroxyproline allyl ester (Boc-Hyp-OAll)
      was glycosylated with 2,3,5-tri-O-benzyl-L-arabinose p-cresylthioglycoside in 60%
      yield with 4:1 beta:alpha stereoselectivity. Deprotection of N- and C-terminii
      independently gave a prolyl amine and prolyl carboxylate respectively that were
      coupled under standard conditions with 1-[bis-(dimethylamino)methylene]-1H-1,2,3
      triazolo-[4,5,b]-pyridininium hexafluorophosphate 3-oxide (N-HATU) to give the
      dimer 1 in 46% yield. These results represent the first steps toward the
      production of homogeneous oligomers to determine the minimal epitope of the Art v
      1 allergen.

PMID- 20936856
TI  - Total synthesis of clathculins A and B.
AB  - Clathculins A and B represent a new class of vic-diamine alkaloids containing a
      PA2 unit as the basic structure. We report the first total syntheses of 1 and 2,
      which confirm the assigned structure of each. Dependence of their NMR
      spectroscopic behavior as a function of protonation state has been observed.

PMID- 20936857
TI  - gamma-Oxygenation of alpha,beta-unsaturated esters by vinylogous O-nitroso
      Mukaiyama aldol reaction.
AB  - A practical procedure has been developed for gamma-oxygenation of alpha,beta
      unsaturated esters by a vinylogous O-nitroso Mukaiyama aldol reaction followed by
      a one-pot N-O bond heterolysis of the in situ generated gamma-aminoxy-alpha,beta
      unsaturated esters.

PMID- 20936858
TI  - Direct functionalization of indoles: copper-catalyzed malonyl carbenoid
      insertions.
AB  - Indoles, when treated with dimethyl diazomalonate under catalysis by Cu(acac)(2),
      undergo C-H insertion reactions regioselectively depending on the substitution
      pattern on the indole moiety. Indoles where the 3-position is substituted give
      high yields of the C2-H insertion product. Microwave conditions are also
      disclosed which show comparable yields with reduced reaction times.

PMID- 20936860
TI  - Diastereoselective silver-catalyzed 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of azomethine
      ylides with fluorinated imine.
AB  - We described hereby an instance of diastereoselective silver-catalyzed 1,3
      dipolar cycloaddition of azomethine ylides with imine compounds. This new method
      provided synthetically useful, highly substituted tetrahydroimidazole derivatives
      with efficiency and high diastereoselectivity. We can conveniently obtain
      fluorinated dihydroimidazole, imidazole, and diamino esters through simple
      modification.

PMID- 20936859
TI  - Total synthesis of the proposed structure of briarellin J.
AB  - The total synthesis of the originally proposed structure of briarellin J is
      reported in 15 steps from a known compound and in 23 steps from readily available
      materials. Key reactions include an exo-selective intramolecular Diels-Alder and
      a substrate-controlled hydroboration. Discrepancies in the spectroscopic data of
      the synthetic and natural material led to a revision of the assigned structure.

PMID- 20936861
TI  - Regioselective one-pot protection of D-glucosamine.
AB  - A highly regioselective one-pot transformation of 2-azido-2-deoxy-1,3,4,6-tetra-O
      trimethylsilyl-d-glucopyranose via sequential additions of various reagents was
      systematically studied, yielding the fully protected derivatives and the 1-, 3-,
      4-, as well as 6-alcohols, respectively.

PMID- 20936862
TI  - Isoreticular chiral metal-organic frameworks for asymmetric alkene epoxidation:
      tuning catalytic activity by controlling framework catenation and varying open
      channel sizes.
AB  - A family of isoreticular chiral metal-organic frameworks (CMOFs) of the primitive
      cubic network topology was constructed from [Zn(4)(MU(4)-O)(O(2)CR)(6)] secondary
      building units and systematically elongated dicarboxylate struts that are derived
      from chiral Mn-Salen catalytic subunits. CMOFs 1-5 were synthesized by directly
      incorporating three different chiral Mn-Salen struts into the frameworks under
      solvothermal conditions, and they were characterized by a variety of methods,
      including single-crystal X-ray diffraction, PXRD, TGA, and (1)H NMR. Although the
      CMOFs 1 vs 2 and CMOFs 3 vs 4 pairs were constructed from the same building
      blocks, they exhibit two-fold interpenetrated or non-interpenetrated structures,
      respectively, depending on the steric sizes of the solvents that were used to
      grow the MOF crystals. For CMOF-5, only a three-fold interpenetrated structure
      was obtained due to the extreme length of the Mn-Salen-derived dicarboxylate
      strut. The open channel and pore sizes of the CMOF series vary systematically,
      owing to the tunable dicarboxylate struts and controllable interpenetration
      patterns. CMOFs 1-5 were shown to be highly effective catalysts for asymmetric
      epoxidation of a variety of unfunctionalized olefins with up to 92% ee. The rates
      of epoxidation reactions strongly depend on the CMOF open channel sizes, and the
      catalytic activities of CMOFs 2 and 4 approach that of a homogeneous control
      catalyst. These results suggest that, although the diffusion of bulky alkene and
      oxidant reagents can be a rate-limiting factor in MOF-catalyzed asymmetric
      reactions, the catalytic activity of the CMOFs with large open channels (such as
      CMOFs 2 and 4 in the present study) is limited by the intrinsic reactivity of the
      catalytic molecular building blocks. The CMOF catalysts are recyclable and
      reusable and retain their framework structures after epoxidation reactions. This
      work highlights the potential of generating highly effective heterogeneous
      asymmetric catalysts via direct incorporation of well-defined homogeneous
      catalysts into framework structures of MOFs.

PMID- 20936863
TI  - Phosphine-catalyzed tandem reaction of allenoates with nitroalkenes.
AB  - A P(p-FC(6)H(4))(3)-catalyzed tandem reaction between ethyl 2,3-butadienoate and
      nitroalkenes has been developed, which involves a [3 + 2] cycloaddition and a
      subsequent umpolung addition. The asymmetric version of this tandem reaction has
      also been investigated by using chiral phosphanes.

PMID- 20936864
TI  - Effects of a block copolymer as multifunctional fillers on ionic conductivity,
      mechanical properties, and dimensional stability of solid polymer electrolytes.
AB  - Solid polymer electrolytes with high ionic conductivities, good mechanical
      properties, dimensional stability, and easy processability were obtained from
      poly(ethylene oxide)-block-polyethylene (PEO-b-PE)-loaded poly(ethylene oxide)
      (PEO)/lithium perchlorate (LiClO(4)). In this article, we reported that the ionic
      conductivity and mechanical properties were remarkably increased due to the
      addition of the PEO-b-PE compared to that of PEO/LiClO(4) electrolyte. Scanning
      electron microscope (SEM), optical micrograph, and X-ray diffraction (XRD)
      results indicate that the addition of the copolymer, PEO-b-PE, decreased the
      defects of the PEO electrolyte films. Good dimensional stability was observed by
      dynamic rheological techniques up to 100  degrees C (higher than the melting
      point of PEO, 65  degrees C). A bicontinuous phase structure, that is crystalline
      PE domains within a matrix of PEO/salt, was proposed as the mechanism for such
      comprehensive enhancements in the ionic conductivity, mechanical properties, and
      dimensional stability obtained simultaneously in this study through a facile
      approach based on incorporation of a copolymer.

PMID- 20936865
TI  - Catalytic enantioselective Friedlander condensations: facile access to quinolines
      with remote stereogenic centers.
AB  - Enamine catalysis enables the first catalytic enantioselective Friedlander
      reaction. The desymmetrization of 4-substituted cyclohexanones upon reaction with
      o-aminobenzaldehydes allows for the synthesis of quinolines with remote
      stereogenic centers. These heterocycles, which are obtained with high levels of
      enantioselectivity, serve as precursors for chiral tacrine analogues.

PMID- 20936867
TI  - Size-dependent reactions of ammonium bisulfate clusters with dimethylamine.
AB  - The reaction kinetics of ammonium bisulfate clusters with dimethylamine (DMA) gas
      were investigated using Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass
      spectrometry (FTICR-MS). Clusters ranged in size from 1 to 10 bisulfate ions.
      Although displacement of the first several ammonium ions by DMA occurred with
      near unit efficiency, displacement of the final ammonium ion was cluster size
      dependent. For small clusters, all ammonium ions are exposed to incoming DMA
      molecules, allowing for facile exchange ("surface" exchange). However, with
      increasing cluster size, an ammonium ion can be trapped in an inaccessible region
      of the cluster ("core" exchange), thereby rendering exchange difficult. DMA was
      also observed to add onto existing dimethylaminium bisulfate clusters above a
      critical size, whereas ammonia did not add onto ammonium bisulfate clusters. The
      results suggest that as the cluster size increases, di-dimethylaminium sulfate
      formation becomes more favorable. The results of this study give further evidence
      to suggest that ambient sub-3 nm diameter particles are likely to contain aminium
      salts rather than ammonium salts.

PMID- 20936866
TI  - Subtype selectivity of dopamine receptor ligands: insights from structure and
      ligand-based methods.
AB  - Subtype selective dopamine receptor ligands have long been sought after as
      therapeutic and/or imaging agents for the treatment and monitoring of neurologic
      disorders. We report herein on a combined structure- and ligand-based approach to
      explore the molecular mechanism of the subtype selectivity for a large class of
      D2-like dopamine receptor ligands (163 ligands in total). Homology models were
      built for both human D(2L) and D3 receptors in complex with haloperidol. Other
      ligands, which included multiple examples of substituted phenylpiperazines, were
      aligned against the binding conformations of haloperidol, and three-dimensional
      quantitative structure activity relationship (3D-QSAR) analyses were carried out.
      The receptor models show that although D2 and D3 share highly similar folds and
      3D conformations, the slight sequence differences at their extracellular loop
      regions result in the binding cavity in D2 being comparably shallower than in D3,
      which may explain why some larger ligands bind with greater affinity at D3
      compared to D2 receptors. The QSAR models show excellent correlation and high
      predictive power even when evaluated by the most stringent criteria. They confirm
      that the origins of subtype selectivity for the ligands arise primarily due to
      differences in the contours of the two binding sites. The predictive models
      suggest that while both steric and electrostatic interactions contribute to the
      compounds' binding affinity, the major contribution arises from hydrophobic
      interactions, with hydrogen bonding conferring binding specificity. The current
      work provides clues for the development of more subtype selective dopamine
      receptor ligands. Furthermore, it demonstrates the possibility of being able to
      apply similar modeling methods to other subtypes or classes of receptors to study
      GPCR receptor-ligand interactions at a molecular level.

PMID- 20936868
TI  - Dissociation rates of urea in the presence of NiOOH catalyst: a DFT analysis.
AB  - Single molecule reactions have been studied between nickel oxyhydroxide, urea,
      and the hydroxide ion to understand the process of urea dissociation into
      ammonia, isocyanic acid, cyanate ion, carbon dioxide, and nitrogen. In the
      absence of hydroxide ions, nickel oxyhydroxide will catalyze urea to form ammonia
      and isocyanic acid with the rate-limiting step being the formation of ammonia
      with a rate constant of 1.5 * 10-6 s-1. In the presence of hydroxide, the
      evolution of ammonia was also the rate-limiting step with a rate constant of 1.4
      * 10-26 s-1. In addition, desorption of the cyanate ion presented an energy
      barrier of 6190 kJ mol-1 suggesting that the cyanate ion cannot be separated from
      NiOOH unless further reactions occurred. Finally, elementary dissociation
      reactions with hydroxide ions deprotonating urea to produce nitrogen and carbon
      dioxide were analyzed. These elementary reactions were investigated along three
      paths differing in the order that protons were removed and the nitrogen atoms
      were rotated. The rate-limiting step was found to be the removal of carbon
      dioxide with a rate constant of 4.3 * 10-65 s-1. Therefore, the catalyst could be
      deactivated by the surface blockage caused by carbon dioxide adsorption.

PMID- 20936869
TI  - Stereoselective alpha,alpha'-annelation reactions of 1,3-dioxan-5-ones.
AB  - Pyrrolidine enamines derived from three 1,3-dioxan-5-ones undergo alpha,alpha'
      annelation reactions with methyl alpha-(bromomethyl)acrylate to produce bridged
      2,4-dioxabicyclo[3.3.1]nonane ring systems with complete stereocontrol.
      Stereochemical outcomes have been rationalized based on steric and
      stereoelectronic interactions in intermediate boat-like conformations of the 1,3
      dioxane ring and subsequent kinetic protonation to set an axial ester group on
      the cyclohexanone ring. Base-mediated ester epimerization provides the
      stereochemical array found in the highly oxygenated cyclohexane ring of
      phyllaemblic acid and glochicoccins B and D.

PMID- 20936872
TI  - Nanocrystal superlattices with thermally degradable hybrid inorganic-organic
      capping ligands.
AB  - Colloidal metallic and semiconductor nanocrystals (NCs) functionalized with metal
      chalcogenide complexes (MCCs) have shown a promise for designing materials that
      combine high carrier mobility with the electronic structure of strongly quantum
      confined solids. Here we report a simple and general methodology for switching
      the repulsive forces responsible for colloidal stabilization of MCC-capped NCs
      from long-range electrostatic to short-range steric through the formation of
      tight ionic pairs with cationic surfactants. This noncovalent surface
      modification remarkably improved the ability of MCC-capped NCs to self-assemble
      into long-range ordered superlattices. These NCs are highly soluble in nonpolar
      solvents and compatible with various technologically relevant organic molecules
      and polymers. The hybrid inorganic-organic coating can be thermally decomposed at
      significantly lower temperatures compared to those required for removal of
      conventional organic ligands.

PMID- 20936873
TI  - Spectroscopic and photophysical properties of ZnTPP in a room temperature ionic
      liquid.
AB  - The steady-state absorption and emission spectra and the time-resolved Soret- and
      Q-band excited fluorescence profiles of the model metalloporphyrin, ZnTPP, have
      been measured in a highly purified sample of the common room temperature ionic
      liquid, [bmim][PF6]. S2-S0 emission resulting from Soret-band excitation behaves
      in a manner completely consistent with that of molecular solvents of the same
      polarizability. The ionic nature of the solvent and its slow solvation relaxation
      times have no significant effect on the nature of the radiationless decay of the
      S2 state, which decays quantitatively to S1 at a population decay rate that is
      consistent with the weak coupling case of radiationless transition theory (energy
      gap law). The ratio of the intensities of the Qalpha:Qbeta (0-0:1-0) bands is
      consistent with the solvatochromic shift correlation data obtained for molecular
      solvents. The temporal S1 fluorescence decay profiles measured at a single
      emission wavelength are biexponential; the longer-lived major component is
      similar to that observed for ZnTPP in molecular solvents, and the minor shorter
      lived component is attributed to solvent relaxation processes on a nanosecond
      time scale.

PMID- 20936874
TI  - Synthesis and biological analysis of prostate-specific membrane antigen-targeted
      anticancer prodrugs.
AB  - Ligand-targeted therapeutics have increased in prominence because of their
      potential for improved potency and reduced toxicity. However, with the advent of
      personalized medicine, a need for greater versatility in ligand-targeted drug
      design has emerged, where each tumor-targeting ligand should be capable of
      delivering a variety of therapeutic agents to the same tumor, each therapeutic
      agent being selected for its activity on a specific patient's cancer. In this
      report, we describe the use of a prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA)
      targeting ligand to deliver multiple unrelated cytotoxic drugs to human prostate
      cancer (LNCaP) cells. We demonstrate that the PSMA-specific ligand, 2-[3-(1, 3
      dicarboxy propyl)ureido] pentanedioic acid, is capable of mediating the targeted
      killing of LNCaP cells with many different therapeutic warheads. These results
      suggest that flexibility can be designed into ligand-targeted therapeutics,
      enabling adaptation of a single targeting ligand for the treatment of patients
      with different sensitivities to different chemotherapies.

PMID- 20936875
TI  - Geometries, stabilities, and electronic properties of small anion Mg-doped gold
      clusters: a density functional theory study.
AB  - First-principle density functional theory is used for studying the anion gold
      clusters doped with magnesium atom. By performing geometry optimizations, the
      equilibrium geometries, relative stabilities, and electronic and magnetic
      properties of [Au(n)Mg]- (n = 1-8) clusters have been investigated systematically
      in comparison with pure gold clusters. The results show that doping with a single
      Mg atom dramatically affects the geometries of the ground-state Au(n+1)- clusters
      for n = 2-7. Here, the relative stabilities are investigated in terms of the
      calculated fragmentation energies, second-order difference of energies, and
      highest occupied-lowest unoccupied molecular orbital energy gaps, manifesting
      that the ground-state [Au(n)Mg]- and Au(n+1)- clusters with odd-number gold atoms
      have a higher relative stability. In particular, it should be noted that the
      [Au3Mg]- cluster has the most enhanced chemical stability. The natural population
      analysis reveals that the charges in [Au(n)Mg]- (n = 2-8) clusters transfer from
      the Mg atom to the Au frames. In addition, the total magnetic moments of
      [Au(n)Mg]- clusters exhibit an odd-even oscillation as a function of cluster
      size, and the magnetic effects mainly come from the Au atoms.

PMID- 20936876
TI  - Capturing the essence of organic synthesis: from bioactive natural products to
      designed molecules in today's medicine.
AB  - In this Perspective, I outline my group's research involving the chemical
      syntheses of medicinally important natural products, exploration of their
      bioactivity, and the development of new asymmetric carbon-carbon bond-forming
      reactions. This paper also highlights our approach to molecular design and
      synthesis of conceptually novel inhibitors against target proteins involved in
      the pathogenesis of human diseases, including AIDS and Alzheimer's disease.

PMID- 20936879
TI  - Revealing different systems responses to brown planthopper infestation for pest
      susceptible and resistant rice plants with the combined metabonomic and gene
      expression analysis.
AB  - Brown planthopper (BPH) is a notorious pest of rice plants attacking leaf sheaths
      and seriously affecting global rice production. However, how rice plants respond
      against BPH remains to be fully understood. To understand systems metabolic
      responses of rice plants to BPH infestation, we analyzed BPH-induced metabolic
      changes in leaf sheaths of both BPH-susceptible and resistant rice varieties
      using NMR-based metabonomics and measured expression changes of 10 relevant genes
      using quantitative real-time PCR. Our results showed that rice metabonome was
      dominated by more than 30 metabolites including sugars, organic acids, amino
      acids, and choline metabolites. BPH infestation caused profound metabolic changes
      for both BPH-susceptible and resistant rice plants involving transamination, GABA
      shunt, TCA cycle, gluconeogenesis/glycolysis, pentose phosphate pathway, and
      secondary metabolisms. BPH infestation caused more drastic overall metabolic
      changes for BPH-susceptible variety and more marked up-regulations for key genes
      regulating GABA shunt and biosynthesis of secondary metabolites for BPH-resistant
      variety. Such observations indicated that activation of GABA shunt and shikimate
      mediated secondary metabolisms was vital for rice plants to resist BPH
      infestation. These findings filled the gap of our understandings in the
      mechanistic aspects of BPH resistance for rice plants and demonstrated the
      combined metabonomic and qRT-PCR analysis as an effective approach for
      understanding plant-herbivore interactions.

PMID- 20936877
TI  - Symptomatic relief of botulinum neurotoxin/a intoxication with aminopyridines: a
      new twist on an old molecule.
AB  - Botulinum neurotoxins (BoNT) are the etiological agents responsible for botulism,
      a disease characterized by peripheral neuromuscular blockade and a characteristic
      flaccid paralysis of humans. BoNT/A is the most toxic protein known to man and
      has been classified by the Centers of Disease Control (CDC) as one of the six
      highest-risk threat agents for bioterrorism. Of particular concern is the
      apparent lack of clinical interventions that can reverse cellular intoxication.
      Efforts to uncover molecules that can act within an intoxicated cell so as to
      provide symptomatic relief to BoNT/A are paramount. Aminopyridines have shown
      clinical efficacy for multiple sclerosis treatment as well as BoNT/A
      intoxication; yet, aminopyridines for BoNT/A treatment has been abandoned because
      of blood brain barrier (BBB) penetration producing undesired neurotoxic side
      effects. Two aminopyridines (5 and 11) exhibited inhibitory activity toward
      Shaker-IR voltage-gated potassium (K(V)1.x) channels with potencies similar to
      that of the previous "gold-standard", 3,4-diaminopyridine (3,4-DAP), including
      reversal of symptoms from BoNT-induced paralysis in phrenic nerve-hemidiaphragm
      preparations. Importantly, pharmacokinetic experiments revealed a lack of BBB
      penetration of 5, which is a significant advancement toward resolving the
      neurotoxicity issues associated with prolonged 3,4-DAP treatments. Finally, 5 was
      found to be as effective as 3,4-DAP in rescuing BoNT-poisoned mice in the mouse
      lethality assay, signifying an optimized balance between the undesired
      permeability across the BBB and the required permeability across lipid cellular
      membranes. The results demonstrate that 5 is the most promising small molecule
      K(+) channel inhibitor discovered to date for the treatment of BoNT/A
      intoxication.

PMID- 20936880
TI  - Leave-cluster-out cross-validation is appropriate for scoring functions derived
      from diverse protein data sets.
AB  - With the emergence of large collections of protein-ligand complexes complemented
      by binding data, as found in PDBbind or BindingMOAD, new opportunities for
      parametrizing and evaluating scoring functions have arisen. With huge data
      collections available, it becomes feasible to fit scoring functions in a QSAR
      style, i.e., by defining protein-ligand interaction descriptors and analyzing
      them with modern machine-learning methods. As in each data modeling ansatz, care
      has to be taken to validate the model carefully. Here, we show that there are
      large differences measured in R (0.77 vs 0.46) or R2 (0.59 vs 0.21) for a
      relatively simple scoring function depending on whether it is validated against
      the PDBbind core set or validated in a leave-cluster-out cross-validation. If
      proteins from the same family are present in both the training and validation
      set, the estimated prediction quality from standard validation techniques looks
      too optimistic.

PMID- 20936881
TI  - New prescription for the Spanish drug sector: fighting against public deficit
      without wasting ammunition.

PMID- 20936882
TI  - An analysis of NICE's 'restricted' (or 'optimized') decisions.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A common way of describing UK National Institute for Health and
      Clinical Excellence (NICE) decisions is to distinguish between cases where NICE
      recommended use of a healthcare technology by all relevant patients ('yes');
      those where it did not recommend use ('no'); and those where its decisions are a
      mixture of 'yes' to some patient subgroups, and 'no' to others. Over half of
      NICE's decisions are of this mixed type, which involve restricting (or
      'optimizing') patient use in some way. OBJECTIVE: To report an attempt to develop
      a robust and defensible means of measuring and describing the degree of patient
      access in mixed NICE decisions. METHODS: A list of mixed decisions made from 2006
      to the end of 2009 was identified using HTAinSiteTM. The following calculation
      was used: M = (p/P) * 100, where M is a measure of the level of patient access (0
      = no access, 100 = full access), P is the set of patients considered in the
      guidance as Potential candidates for treatment (given the licensed use and the
      scope of NICE's appraisal), and p is a subset of those patients, for whom NICE
      did recommend treatment. M can be estimated either for a specific product or for
      a group of technologies (Multiple Technology Appraisals). Both product-specific
      and overall M were estimated, using estimates of p obtained from NICE costing
      templates. These data are subject to some important limitations, so the results
      should be regarded as illustrative. RESULTS: Of the 69 medicines that have
      received a mixed decision since January 2006, 34 included details that allowed
      the estimation of M. Of these 34 decisions, 24 (71%) had a product-specific M
      <=50, 16 (47%) M <=25 and 11 (32%) M <=10. That is, in just under three-quarters
      of the mixed decisions for which P and p were available, NICE recommended use for
      less than half of patients for whom the medicine is licensed, and in nearly one
      third of these sorts of decisions, NICE recommended use in <=10% of potential
      patients. The estimates of M for groups of technologies provide a slightly
      different picture: for example, grouped M was <=10 in <20% of decisions.
      CONCLUSIONS: The measure of patient access, M, proposed here has the potential to
      provide a more informative way of reporting all NICE decisions, particularly
      'restricted' (or 'optimized') decisions.

PMID- 20936883
TI  - Methods of model calibration: observations from a mathematical model of cervical
      cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mathematical models are commonly used to predict future benefits of
      new therapies or interventions in the healthcare setting. The reliability of
      model results is greatly dependent on accuracy of model inputs but on occasion,
      data sources may not provide all the required inputs. Therefore, calibration of
      model inputs to epidemiological endpoints informed by existing data can be a
      useful tool to ensure credibility of the results. OBJECTIVE: To compare different
      computational methods of calibrating a Markov model to US data. METHODS: We
      developed a Markov model that simulates the natural history of human
      papillomavirus (HPV) infection and subsequent cervical disease in the US. Because
      the model consists of numerous transition probabilities that cannot be directly
      estimated from data, calibration to multiple disease endpoints was required to
      ensure its predictive validity. Goodness of fit was measured as the mean
      percentage deviation of model-predicted endpoints from target estimates. During
      the calibration process we used the manual, random and Nelder-Mead calibration
      methods. RESULTS: The Nelder-Mead and manual calibration methods achieved the
      best fit, with mean deviations of 7% and 10%, respectively. Nelder-Mead
      accomplished this result with substantially less analyst time than the manual
      method, but required more intensive computing capability. The random search
      method achieved a mean deviation of 39%, which we considered unacceptable despite
      the ease of implementation of that method. CONCLUSIONS: The Nelder-Mead and
      manual techniques may be preferable calibration methods based on both performance
      and efficiency, provided that sufficient resources are available.

PMID- 20936884
TI  - Cost effectiveness of pharmacogenomics: a critical and systematic review.
AB  - The use of pharmacogenetic testing in clinical practice is limited thus far. A
      potential barrier to the widespread implementation of pharmacogenetic testing is
      the lack of evidence on whether testing provides good value for money. The
      objective of this review was to provide a systematic and critical review of
      economic evaluations of pharmacogenetic testing. A literature search using
      publically available databases was performed for articles published up to October
      2009. To be included, studies had to meet the definition of being a
      pharmacogenomic study (defined as use of information on human genetic variation
      to target drug therapy) and an economic evaluation (defined as an evaluation of
      both costs and clinical outcomes). Articles that met these criteria were
      subsequently reviewed and graded using the Quality of Health Economic Studies
      (QHES) instrument. Lastly, the evidence for biomarker validity and utility were
      qualitatively assessed using expert opinion. A total of 34 articles were
      identified using our defined criteria. The most common disease category was
      thromboembolic-related diseases (26%), while the most common biomarkers were
      thiopurine methyltransferase and cytochrome P450 2C9 (18% each). Almost all
      studies were published after 2004 (91%). Two types of studies were identified:
      cost-effectiveness studies and cost-utility studies, with roughly half of the
      overall studies being cost-utility studies (53%) and a majority of these
      published within the last 3 years. The average quality score was 77 (range 29
      99). Of the biomarkers reviewed, it was estimated that most had demonstrated
      clinical validity, but only two had demonstrated clinical utility. Despite a
      recent increase in the number of economic evaluations of pharmacogenetic
      applications, further studies examining the clinical validity and utility of
      these biomarkers are needed to support cost-effectiveness assessments.

PMID- 20936885
TI  - Economic implications of sleep disorders.
AB  - Sleep disorders such as insomnia, obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA), excessive
      daytime sleepiness (EDS) and fatigue, sleep deprivation and restless legs
      syndrome (RLS) are increasingly seen in clinical practice. Sleep is considered
      vital for preserving daytime cognitive function and physiological well-being.
      Sleep insufficiency may have deleterious effects on work-life balance, overall
      health and safety. The consequential economic burden at both the individual and
      societal levels is significant. Moreover, sleep disorders are commonly associated
      with other major medical problems such as chronic pain, cardiovascular disease,
      mental illness, dementias, gastrointestinal disorders and diabetes mellitus.
      Thus, in order to properly care for patients presenting with sleep-related
      morbidity, and to reduce the consequential economic burden, accurate screening
      efforts and efficacious/cost-effective treatments need to be developed and
      employed.

PMID- 20936886
TI  - Economic evaluation of cinacalcet in the treatment of secondary
      hyperparathyroidism in Italy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Imbalanced levels of parathyroid hormone (PTH), serum calcium (Ca)
      and phosphorous (P) are associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular (CV)
      death and fracture in dialysis patients with secondary hyperparathyroidism
      (SHPT). The calcimimetic agent cinacalcet can attenuate the mineral and hormonal
      imbalances characteristic of SHPT and may improve outcomes in such patients. Here
      we describe a cost-utility analysis of cinacalcet for SHPT in dialysis patients
      in Italy. METHODS: We developed a probabilistic Markov model to simulate the
      effect of cinacalcet on Ca, P and PTH levels in dialysis patients with SHPT,
      based on data from a European, multicentre, open-label study. The model then
      correlated these levels with mortality and morbidity (CV events, fractures and
      parathyroidectomies) using data from the literature, and incorporated Italian
      data for dialysis, drugs and management of events according to the national cost
      structure. The simulation horizon was patient lifetime; simulated treatment
      alternatives were standard treatment (mainly vitamin D sterols and phosphate
      binders) and cinacalcet + standard treatment. A 3.5% discount rate was applied to
      life expectancy (LE), quality-adjusted life-expectancy (QALE), costs and times
      below the upper ranges (time in range [TiR]) recommended by the National Kidney
      Foundation - Kidney Disease Outcomes Quality initiative for PTH, Ca, P and Ca *
      P. Utilities were derived from the published literature and took into account
      dialysis and the impairment of quality of life due to the occurrence of CV events
      and fractures. Costs were evaluated in year 2009 values from the perspective of
      the Italian National Healthcare System. RESULTS: Baseline results were calculated
      with 10,000 iterations. Compared with standard treatment alone, addition of
      cinacalcet was associated with a mean (SD) increase in TiR of 5.26 (6.59), 3.63
      (6.87), 1.70 (6.66) and 2.68 (5.55) discounted patient-years for PTH, Ca and P,
      respectively, and combined PTH, Ca, P and Ca * P. Cinacalcet increased LE by 1.20
      (3.75) life-years (LYs) and QALE by 0.89 (2.59) QALYs. When including the cost
      for dialysis, the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) was ?50,012 per LY
      and ?67,361 per QALY, while, if dialysis costs were not included, the ICER was
      ?23,473 per LY and ?31,616 per QALY. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that
      cinacalcet treatment could be considered cost effective for treatment of SHPT in
      the Italian healthcare setting, but further investigations are needed to confirm
      these findings.

PMID- 20936888
TI  - Catechin inhibits adhesion and migration of peripheral blood B cells by blocking
      CD11b.
AB  - CONTEXT: Previously, we demonstrated that CD11b is expressed on peripheral blood
      memory B cells, and it plays an important role in the migration of B cells. And
      epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), a bioactive component of green tea, by binding
      to CD11b, expressed on CD8(+) cytotoxic T cells, inhibited their migratory
      ability, one possible mechanism of the antiallergic activity of EGCG. OBJECTIVE:
      Here, we investigated whether EGCG also affected CD11b expressed on B cells,
      similar to cytotoxic T cells. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Isolated peripheral blood
      CD19(+) B cells were treated with EGCG and the change in the expression of CD11b
      was analyzed using flow cytometry. The effects of EGCG on the ability of B cells
      to adhere to and to transmigrate through the endothelial cell layer were
      evaluated using the transwell assay. RESULTS: EGCG significantly suppressed the
      apparent expression of CD11b on B cells, in the flow-cytometric analysis, and
      this apparent suppression was speculated to be dependent on the competitive
      binding of EGCG to CD11b. EGCG also significantly suppressed CD11b-mediated
      migration and adhesion of B cells to endothelial cells. DISCUSSION AND
      CONCLUSION: EGCG has a strong suppressive activity on the adhesive and migratory
      abilities of peripheral blood B cells. This suppressive activity was mediated by
      the binding of EGCG to CD11b on B cells, and the consequent suppression of B-cell
      extravasation to the extravascular space. Because B cell plays an important role
      in the humoral immunity, EGCG could be a promising drug for the prevention and/or
      treatment of allergic and/or autoimmune diseases.

PMID- 20936889
TI  - Shall we view brains as a rain forest?

PMID- 20936887
TI  - Cost effectiveness of imiquimod 5% cream compared with methyl aminolevulinate
      based photodynamic therapy in the treatment of non-hyperkeratotic, non
      hypertrophic actinic (solar) keratoses: a decision tree model.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Actinic keratosis (AK) is caused by chronic exposure to UV radiation
      (sunlight). First-line treatments are cryosurgery, topical 5-fluorouracil (5-FU)
      and topical diclofenac. Where these are contraindicated or less appropriate,
      alternatives are imiquimod and photodynamic therapy (PDT). OBJECTIVE: To compare
      the cost effectiveness of imiquimod and methyl aminolevulinate-based PDT (MAL
      PDT) from the perspective of the UK NHS. METHODS: A decision tree model was
      populated with data from a literature review and used to estimate costs and QALYs
      gained and incremental cost effectiveness over 1 year. The model simulated
      patients who were in secondary care, who had four to nine AK lesions, and for
      whom cryosurgery, 5-FU and diclofenac were contraindicated or considered less
      appropriate. RESULTS: Over 1 year, imiquimod cost L174 less than MAL-PDT (year
      2006 values) but resulted in 0.005 fewer QALYs gained. The incremental cost
      effectiveness ratio (ICER) of MAL-PDT over imiquimod was L34,576. In the
      probabilistic sensitivity analysis, there was a 75% probability that imiquimod
      was cost effective compared with MAL-PDT at a threshold of L20,000 per QALY
      gained, falling to 73% at L30,000. CONCLUSIONS: Imiquimod may be the more cost
      effective treatment at conventional cost-effectiveness thresholds. A direct head
      to-head study of MAL-PDT versus imiquimod is required to reduce uncertainty.

PMID- 20936890
TI  - Mothers' everyday experiences of having an adult child who suffers from long-term
      mental illness.
AB  - This paper aims to describe everyday life experiences of mothers who have an
      adult child with a long-term mental illness. Sixteen mothers were interviewed. A
      content analysis resulted in one main theme: My adult child who is struggling
      with mental illness is always on my mind, and three subthemes: (1) living a life
      under constant strain, (2) living with an emotional burden, and (3) seeing light
      in the darkness despite difficulties. Knowledge of mothers&#x2019; everyday life
      experiences is of great importance in order to support them and thereby increase
      the possibility of these mothers being a source of strength for their child.

PMID- 20936891
TI  - Impact of traumatic birth experience on Latina adolescent mothers.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The childbirth experience can be a wonderful event, or one of horror.
      One in 3 adult mothers appraises her childbirth experience as traumatic, with up
      to 10% of women reporting a severe traumatic stress response post-delivery. The
      impact of the birth experience on adolescents is unknown. METHODS: Eighty-five
      Latinas ages 13 to 19 appraised their childbirth experience and reported symptoms
      of trauma impact as measured via the Impact of Event Scale (IES) within 72 hours
      of delivery. Descriptive statistics included demographic, obstetrical, and
      personal factors, and trauma scores. ANOVAs were used to examine differences in
      birth appraisal and trauma impact by demographic, obstetrical, and personal
      factors. Spearman rho and Pearson's r was used to compute correlations between
      birth appraisal, depression, and trauma impact. RESULTS: One-third of adolescents
      appraised their childbirth as traumatic; one-half displayed symptoms of trauma
      impact. Items influencing appraisal of the birth experience included marital
      status, fear of dying, fear of loss of control, and partner violence. Birth
      appraisal and symptoms of depression were found to influence trauma impact.
      CONCLUSIONS: One-third of teens appraised childbirth as traumatic with 50%
      displaying symptoms suggestive of acute trauma at immediate postpartum. Nursing
      recommendations focus on providing a non-traumatic birth experience and follow-up
      by mental health professionals for assessment of potential chronic trauma,
      posttraumatic stress and depression. Teens can enter labor and delivery with
      stressors, depression, and past traumas; collaboration of care between maternal
      child and mental health professionals is encouraged.

PMID- 20936892
TI  - Forensic learning disability nursing skills and competencies: a study of forensic
      and non-forensic nurses.
AB  - This paper reports on an investigation into the skills and competencies of
      forensic learning disability nurses in the United Kingdom. The two sample
      populations were forensic learning disability nurses from the high, medium, and
      low secure psychiatric services and non-forensic learning disability nurses from
      generic services. An information gathering schedule was used to collect the data;
      of 1200 schedules, 643 were returned for a response rate of 53.5%. The data
      identified the "top ten" problems that forensic learning disability nurses may
      encounter, the skills and competencies necessary to overcome them, and the areas
      that need to be developed in the future. The results indicated that the forensic
      learning disability nurses tended to focus on the physical aspects to the role
      whilst the non-forensic learning disability nurses tended to perceive the
      forensic role in relational terms. This has implications for practice, policy,
      and procedures.

PMID- 20936893
TI  - Contemporary mental health program implementation and evaluation.
AB  - Evaluation is a burgeoning field of health care program research. Experimental
      designs and meta-analyses have traditionally been considered the most suitable
      means of assessing program effectiveness. Qualitative methods also have been
      widely adopted. Mixed-methods designs have now emerged as a promising
      alternative. This paper highlights the key features of contemporary mental health
      program implementation and evaluation. Realistic Evaluation is identified as a
      relatively new methodology that is more concerned with a deeper process-oriented
      inquiry and appreciates that any program must be understood within the given
      context. Two projects applying Realistic Evaluation are cited to illustrate the
      value of this methodology to mental health program research.

PMID- 20936894
TI  - A lesson in vigilance? Mental health nursing training in Western Australia, 1903
      1958.
AB  - Researching examples of historical hospital-based training can provide some
      measure of the improvements in mental health nursing education which have taken
      place over time. Claremont Hospital for the Insane was the only major stand-alone
      psychiatric institution in Western Australia, and recent research into its mental
      health nursing training program between 1903 and 1958 provides an example of how
      nursing training could suffer in the hospital setting. There is much to learn
      from Claremont's experience: Not just to measure how far mental health nursing
      has progressed since that time, but also as a reminder of why and how
      accountability, supervision, and independent auditing all help to ensure quality
      delivery of training.

PMID- 20936895
TI  - Feasibility and initial efficacy testing of an HIV prevention intervention for
      Black adolescent girls.
AB  - HIV is disproportionately prevalent among Blacks. Black women most often contract
      HIV from having risky sex, and adolescence is a time when risky sex behaviors
      peak. This study tested the feasibility and initial efficacy of an intervention
      designed to help Black adolescent girls avoid risky sex behaviors. The
      intervention included group education for girls followed by a service learning
      opportunity in which the girls practiced the assertiveness and communication
      skills they had learned in the education sessions, and individual education for
      the girls&#x2019; mothers. The intervention was guided by a risk and protective
      factors framework and by the goal of promoting racial/ethnic pride in the girls.
      We determined that the intervention was feasible. Schools allowed recruitment of
      potential participants and the use of their facilities for meeting with the
      girls. We encountered little participant dropout from the study, and the
      intervention was highly regarded by the girls who participated and their mothers.
      We found improvements in aspects of the girls&#x2019; relationships with their
      mothers, their sexual assertiveness, and their self-efficacy to use condoms.

PMID- 20936896
TI  - The path to intervention: community partnerships and development of a cognitive
      behavioral intervention for ethnic minority adolescent females.
AB  - Reproductive health needs for ethnic minority adolescents are a national priority
      given the population growth of minority adolescents in the United States. United
      States census reports predict minority adolescents will comprise one-third of all
      young persons less than 20 years of age early in the twenty-first century.
      Developing culturally sensitive interventions for minority adolescents includes
      ecological assessments of cultural priorities, community resources, disease
      burden, and socioeconomic conditions. These assessments must be accomplished in
      partnership with the local community. Understanding reproductive health needs
      necessarily includes an evaluation of the absence of reproductive health, namely,
      the prevalence of sexually transmitted infection (STI), sexual or physical abuse,
      unplanned pregnancy, and the risk factors that contribute to such adverse
      outcomes. This article describes the methodological processes utilized to conduct
      an ecological assessment of a community including the health, economic, and
      psychosocial status of, and resources available to, a target population prior to
      the implementation of a community-based, cognitive behavioral intervention to
      reduce STI, abuse, and unplanned pregnancy.

PMID- 20936897
TI  - DSM proposed changes, part II: reclassifying pediatric bipolar disorder.

PMID- 20936898
TI  - Nurses and assertive community treatment teams: a critical combination.

PMID- 20936899
TI  - Lithium: a regeneration of interest.

PMID- 20936901
TI  - Assessment of serum levels of asymmetric dimethylarginine, symmetric
      dimethylarginine and L-arginine in coronary artery disease.
AB  - Serum asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA), symmetric dimethylarginine (SDMA), L
      arginine, and C-reactive protein (hsCRP) levels were assessed in 100 Egyptian
      male 35-50-year-old patients with coronary artery disease (CAD), classified into:
      patients under conservative medical treatment, patients directed for percutaneous
      coronary interventions, patients directed for coronary artery bypass graft
      operation and patients suffering from acute myocardial infarction. Age- and sex
      matched controls (n=100) were included. Correlation between serum levels of
      biomarkers and dimethylarginine dimethylaminohydrolase-2 (DDAH-2) genotypes was
      studied. No association between biomarkers and carriage of the specific DDAH2
      SNP2 (-449C/G, rs805305) genotype was detected. Further studies are required to
      confirm the contribution of the biomarkers in the predisposition of CAD.

PMID- 20936902
TI  - Reprogramming Huntington monkey skin cells into pluripotent stem cells.
AB  - Induced pluripotent Huntington's disease monkey stem cells (rHD-iPSCs) were
      established by the overexpression of rhesus macaque transcription factors (Oct4,
      Sox2, and Klf4) in transgenic Huntington's monkey skin fibroblasts. The rHD-iPSCs
      were pluripotent and capable of differentiating into neuronal cell types in vitro
      and developed teratoma in immune compromised mice. We also demonstrated the
      upregulation of endogenous Oct4 and Sox2 after successful reprogramming to
      pluripotency in rHD-iPSCs, which was not expressed in skin fibroblasts. rHD-iPSCs
      also developed cellular features comparable to Huntington's disease (HD),
      including the accumulation of mutant huntingtin (htt) aggregate and the formation
      of intranuclear inclusions (NIs) paralleling neural differentiation in vitro.
      Induced pluripotent stem cells from transgenic HD monkeys open a new era of
      nonhuman primate modeling of human diseases. rHD-iPSCs that develop key HD
      cellular features and parallel neural differentiation can be a powerful platform
      for investigating the developmental impact on HD pathogenesis and developing new
      therapies, which can be evaluated in HD monkeys from whom the rHD-iPSCs were
      derived.

PMID- 20936903
TI  - Investigating the potential of genes preferentially expressed in oocyte to induce
      chromatin remodeling in somatic cells.
AB  - The oocyte capacity to rejuvenate a differentiated nucleus to restart the proper
      embryonic program has been highly conserved between vertebrate species. In view
      of the recent progress to induce pluripotency in somatic cells with stemness
      genes, we investigated the potential of oocyte genes to contribute to chromatin
      rearrangements in somatic cells. We selected conserved genes that are naturally
      expressed mainly in oocytes and that were susceptible to play a role in
      reprogramming during early embryogenesis. We induced their expression by
      transient transfection in HEK293 cells. We then assessed whether they had a
      global impact on epigenetic events such as histone core modifications, and also
      on transcription and expression of pluripotency-associated transcription factors.
      Nucleoplasmin 2 (NPM2), activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AICDA), and
      Geminin (GMNN) overexpression induced differences in histone core modifications
      (methylation and acetylation). AICDA and NPM2 also influenced RNA neosynthesis.
      NPM2, GMNN, and STELLA induced overexpression of well-known pluripotency
      transcription factors. Overall, AICDA, GMNN, NPM2, and STELLA influenced at least
      one of the aspects analyzed. Their potential could be useful in increasing the
      cell receptivity to pluripotency induction.

PMID- 20936904
TI  - Reprogramming factors involved in hybrids and cybrids of human embryonic stem
      cells fused with hepatocytes.
AB  - Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) have the potential to reprogram somatic cells into
      ESC-like cells through cell fusion. In the present study, the potential of human
      (h)ESC cytoplasts and karyoplasts to reprogram human hepatocytes was evaluated.
      Green fluorescent protein (GFP) transfected hESCs (ENVY cells) were fused with
      SNARF-1 (CellTracker)-labeled human hepatocytes using polyethylene glycol (PEG)
      and fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) to produce hESC-hepatocyte
      hybrids. Immunocytochemical analysis of ESC markers showed that the hybrids
      expressed OCT4, TRA-1-60, TRA-1-81, SSEA-4, and GCTM-2. However, SSEA-1, which is
      typically low or absent on hESCs, was detected on hESC-hepatocyte hybrids.
      Moreover, reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) showed that
      alpha-fetoprotein, which is highly expressed in hepatocytes, was erased in the
      hybrids. These results indicated that hESCs have the potential to reprogram
      hepatocyte phenotype to a relatively undifferentiated state, but such hybrid
      cells are not identical to hESCs. Although hESC-hepatocyte hybrids were
      aneuploid, they were able to differentiate into embryoid bodies and some types of
      somatic cells. Furthermore, cybrids of enucleated hESCs and hepatocytes were
      produced by cell fusion, but the cybrids were unable to self-renew in the same
      way as hESCs. Presumably, the reprogramming factors are associated with the
      karyoplast and not the cytoplast of hESCs.

PMID- 20936905
TI  - Cloned Guangxi Bama minipig (Sus scrofa) and its offspring have normal
      reproductive performance.
AB  - Xenotransplantation is a rapidly expanding field of research, and cloned
      miniature pigs are considered to be good model animals for its development.
      Although many animal species have been cloned, the success rate is very low,
      especially in the pig. To optimize the protocols for somatic cell nuclear
      transfer in the Guangxi Bama minipig, the relationship between cell cycle
      synchronization and nuclear histone acetylation levels were investigated. The
      results showed that the cells were efficiently synchronized by either serum
      starvation or contact inhibition. The level of nuclear histone acetylation in
      G0/G1 donor cells had similar variation trends in serum starvation and contact
      inhibition groups. When the synchronized donor cells were introduced into the
      enucleated oocytes, 8.8% (serum starvation group) or 9.7% (contact inhibition
      group) of the reconstructed embryos developed to blastocysts. After embryo
      transfer, one healthy male Guangxi Bama minipig was obtained. To evaluate the
      fertility of the cloned pig and its offspring, a series of mating experiments
      were done. Ninety-eight F1 generation crossbred piglets were born, of which 93
      piglets survived. Also, the F1 pigs gave birth to 22 F2 generation piglets, of
      which 14 piglets survived. In conclusion, a Guangxi Bama minipig was successfully
      cloned from cultured newborn male gonad fibroblast cells, and the cloned minipig
      and its offspring had normal fertility.

PMID- 20936906
TI  - The four reprogramming factors and embryonic development in mice.
AB  - The transcription factors (Oct4, Sox2, c-Myc, and Klf4) play an important role in
      the generation of induced pluripotent stem cells. These factors are expressed in
      metaphase II oocytes and embryonic stem cells (ESCs). The mechanisms responsible
      for the reprogramming of ooplasm during nuclear transfer are expected to be
      associated with the four factors. Here, we show that different paternal genetic
      backgrounds are able to influence the in vitro development of parthenogenetic and
      cloned embryos. Using real- time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) we found that
      the expression level of Oct4 in oocytes was less than that of ESCs, whereas
      oocytes from KM x C3H females showed the highest expression level of Sox2 than
      the other strains tested or in G1 ESCs. c-Myc mRNA levels in oocytes from KM mice
      were greater than those found in ESCs or oocytes of KM x C3H mice. These data
      demonstrate that the expression of the four transcription factors was different
      among the oocytes, which may be a contributing factor for the different
      efficiencies of parthenogenesis and the development of cloned embryos in vitro.

PMID- 20936907
TI  - The efficient generation of cell lines from bovine parthenotes.
AB  - The generation of embryonic stem cell (ESC) lines from parthenogenetically
      activated oocytes can provide transplantable cells, which are immunocompatible
      for the oocyte donors as well as an invaluable tool for genetic engineering and
      epigenetic studies. We report the efficient isolation of eight putative bovine
      parthenogenetic embryonic stem cell (bpESC) lines from 15 in vitro produced
      parthenotes. Five of these cell lines were maintained for more than 15 passages
      (>140 days) and analyzed. The cells displayed typical ESC morphology, stained
      positive for alkaline phosphate by histochemical staining, expressed Oct4, Nanog,
      and either stage-specific embryonic antigens, SSEA1, or SSEA4, detected by
      immunofluorescence staining. RT-PCR analysis of the cells demonstrated expression
      of Oct4, Rex1, SSEA1, and ALP. All the cell lines except one had a normal
      karyotype of 60, XX. The cells differentiated in suspension culture to form
      embryoid bodies (EBs) expressing markers of the three embryonic germ layers as
      assessed by RT-PCR. In conclusion, we report efficient derivation of putative
      ESCs from bovine parthenogenetic embryos. The cells express pluripotent markers,
      have the ability to form EBs, and differentiate into cells of the three embryonic
      germ layers. This is the first report of characterized putative parthenogenetic
      bovine ESC lines.

PMID- 20936908
TI  - Isolation, characterization, and nuclear reprogramming of cell lines derived from
      porcine adult liver and fat.
AB  - Genetic manipulation of porcine genome to produce genetically modified pigs with
      high efficiency has been hampered by the unavailability of an ideal cell type.
      The cell type currently used for various genetic manipulations is fetal
      fibroblasts. These cells have very limited life span in culture, and efficiency
      of gene targeting is very low. In this study, we developed a simple but novel
      strategy to derive cell lines from adult porcine liver and adipose tissues with
      long life span. Small colonies with few cells became visible as early as 2 to 3
      days on collagen-coated plates, and a full-grown colony took 10 to 14 days to
      form. These cells maintained a steady growth up to 80 population doublings with
      normal karyotype. Transfection of these cells with a plasmid containing a
      neomycin resistance gene and selected under G418 yielded clones with stable
      genetic modifications and extended expression of the transgene. Further, these
      cells were used as nuclear donors to produce somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT)
      embryos. The average fusion rates were 86.8, 80.5, and 90.4% for liver-derived
      cell lines (LDCs), fat-derived cell lines (FDCs), and fetal fibroblasts (FFs),
      respectively. We achieved a pregnancy rate of 50% with both LDCs and FDCs at day
      30 and the efficiencies of generating fetuses from cloned embryos were 3.5, 2.1,
      and 4.0% for LDCs, FDCs and FFs, respectively.

PMID- 20936909
TI  - Reprogramming of ovine somatic cells with Xenopus laevis oocyte extract prior to
      SCNT improves live birth rate.
AB  - The birth of live animals following somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) has
      demonstrated that oocytes can reprogram the genome of differentiated cells.
      However, in all species the frequency of development of healthy offspring is low;
      for example, in sheep, approximately only 5% of blastocysts transferred develop
      to term, and less than 3% develop to adulthood. Such low efficiencies, coupled
      with the occurrence of developmental abnormalities, have been attributed to
      incomplete or incorrect reprogramming. Cytoplasmic extracts from both mammalian
      and amphibian oocytes can alter the epigenetic state of mammalian somatic nuclei
      and reprogram gene expression to more resemble that of pluripotent cells.
      Therefore, it may be possible to increase the frequency or success of normal
      development by pretreating somatic cells to be used as nuclear donors prior to
      SCNT. In the present study, permeabilized ovine fetal fibroblasts were pretreated
      with a cytoplasmic extract produced from germinal vesicle (GV) stage Xenopus
      laevis oocytes. No increase in the frequency of development to blastocyst stage
      or pregnancy rate was observed; however, live birth and survival rates were
      significantly improved. Development to term of blastocysts transferred increased
      from 3.1% in the control group, to 14.7% in the treated group (a 4.7-fold
      increase), and even though the subsequent survival of lambs produced from treated
      cells was reduced by 60%, the percentage of lambs surviving to adulthood of
      blastocysts transferred (5.9%) increased 1.9-fold compared to controls. This
      study is the first to report the birth of live offspring and an increase in
      cloning efficiency, after crossspecies pre-reprogramming using Xenopus GV stage
      oocyte extract.

PMID- 20936910
TI  - Interferon-gamma release assay for tuberculosis screening of healthcare workers
      at a Korean tertiary hospital.
AB  - The aim of this study was to evaluate the annual incidence of tuberculosis
      infection among newly employed doctors and nurses in Korea. The annual incidence
      of tuberculosis infection ranged from 3.3% to 5.7%, based on the definition of
      conversion of an interferon-gamma release assay, which suggests that stricter
      preventive strategies against nosocomial TB infection should be employed. Follow
      up interferon-gamma levels measured after 3 months of isoniazid and rifampicin
      treatment showed considerable variation. Therefore, serial testing with
      interferon-gamma release assays after treatment of latent TB infection may be
      insufficient for evaluating the effects of treatment due to the variable
      responses.

PMID- 20936911
TI  - Carolus Linnaeus, the ash, worm-wood and other anti-malarial plants.
AB  - In 1735 Carolus Linnaeus wrote that quinine was the preferred treatment for
      malaria but that the bark of the ash (Fraxinus excelsior) and worm-wood
      (Artemisia absinthium) also had effects on the disease. We here report that lipo-
      and hydrophilic extracts of the bark of the ash inhibit the in vitro growth of
      the asexual stages of P. falciparum. The data suggests that the knowledge of the
      treatment of malaria was already available in Europe some 300 years ago.

PMID- 20936912
TI  - The prevalence and clinical significance of intestinal parasites in HIV-infected
      patients in Denmark.
AB  - To investigate the prevalence and clinical significance of intestinal parasites
      in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients, faecal specimens from 96
      HIV-infected patients were submitted to microbiological analyses, including
      microscopy and polymerase chain reaction for protozoa and enteropathogenic
      bacteria. Results of microbiological analyses were compared with self-reported
      gastrointestinal complaints collected using a validated questionnaire. Thirty-two
      (33%) patients were positive for parasites. However, opportunistic parasites
      (Isospora and Cryptosporidium) were detected in only 2 instances. Entamoeba
      dispar was detected in 10 cases, 9 of which represented men who have sex with men
      (MSM). Despite generally low HIV RNA loads and high CD4+ T-cell counts, 42% of
      the 76 patients reporting symptoms complained of diarrhoea, 31% of whom were
      parasite-positive. The presence of diarrhoea was not associated with the presence
      or absence of parasites; neither was it associated with receiving highly active
      anti-retroviral therapy (HAART) in general, or protease inhibitors (PI) in
      particular. A CD4+ T-cell count <200 cells/mm3 was not associated with parasitic
      infection or with diarrhoea. The data show that diarrhoea is a common symptom
      among HIV-infected patients in Denmark, but do not indicate that the diarrhoea is
      due to intestinal parasites.

PMID- 20936913
TI  - Value of consecutive galactomannan determinations for the diagnosis and prognosis
      of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis in critically ill chronic obstructive
      pulmonary disease.
AB  - Critically ill chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients who are
      admitted to intensive care units (ICU) are at particular risk for invasive
      pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA). The objective of this investigation was to assess
      the value of consecutive galactomannan (GM) tests in determining the diagnosis
      and prognosis of IPA in this patient population. We studied 90 critically ill
      COPD patients admitted to our ICU between February 2007 and November 2009. Two
      consecutive serum GM tests were done on the first and fourth days of their ICU
      admissions. Patients were classified as proven IPA (n = 1), probable IPA (n =
      18), or non-IPA (n = 71). The sensitivities, specificities, and positive and
      negative predictive values of GM test results for (i) the first test, (ii) the
      second test, (iii) at least one positive of two consecutive tests and (iv) two
      positive consecutive GM tests were, respectively, 57.9%/64.7%/70.6%/47.1%;
      87.3%/84.6%/80.8%/94.2%; 55.0%/57.9%/54.5%/72.7%; and 88.6%/88.0%/89.4%/84.5%.
      The mortality values of IPA patients with (i) a positive first GM test, (ii) at
      least one of two tests positive, and (iii) both tests positive were (a) 81.8%
      (9/11), (b) 83.3% (10/12), and (c) 72.7% (8/11), respectively. These results
      indicate that at least one positive result of two consecutive GM tests appears to
      be useful in the diagnosis of IPA in critically ill COPD patients in an ICU. In
      addition, positive serum GM results combined with the isolation of Aspergillus
      from respiratory samples may be a potential marker of high mortality.

PMID- 20936914
TI  - Microsporum audouinii tinea capitis in a Swiss school: assessment and management
      of patients and asymptomatic carriers.
AB  - We report three cases involving 7- to 8-year-old children from a Swiss school who
      had refractory tinea capitis due to an unusual strain of Microsporum audouinii
      which perforates hair in vitro. The patients showed no response to modern oral
      antifungal drugs like terbinafine and fluconazole. After switching to oral
      griseofulvin, two of the patients had a complete recovery, while the third was
      cured after the introduction of oral itraconazole. Given the high potential for
      contagion of this anthropophilic dermatophyte, all family members and three
      entire school classes were screened using the 'toothbrush technique'. Three
      family members and five class-mates were found to be asymptomatic carriers of M.
      audouinii and were consequently treated to avoid further transmission or
      reinfection of the treated patients. This is the first report of an outbreak of
      M. audouinii in Switzerland and underlines the importance of screening all
      contacts of patients with M. audouinii tinea capitis. Further, the effectiveness
      of griseofulvin in Microsporum tinea capitis has been corroborated, while newer
      antimycotic drugs like fluconazole or terbinafine failed.

PMID- 20936915
TI  - Exposure to inhaled nickel nanoparticles causes a reduction in number and
      function of bone marrow endothelial progenitor cells.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Particulate matter (PM), specifically nickel (Ni) found on or in
      PM, has been associated with an increased risk of mortality in human population
      studies and significant increases in vascular inflammation, generation of
      reactive oxygen species, altered vasomotor tone, and potentiated atherosclerosis
      in murine exposures. Recently, murine inhalation of Ni nanoparticles have been
      shown to cause pulmonary inflammation that affects cardiovascular tissue and
      potentiates atherosclerosis. These adverse cardiovascular outcomes may be due to
      the effects of Ni on endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs), endogenous semi
      pluripotent stem cells that aid in endothelial repair. Thus, we hypothesize that
      Ni nanoparticle exposures decrease cell count and cause impairments in function
      that may ultimately have significant effects on various cardiovascular diseases,
      such as, atherosclerosis. METHODS: Experiments involving inhaled Ni nanoparticle
      exposures (2 days/5 h/day at ~1200 ug/m(3), 3 days/5 h/day at ~700 ug/m(3), and 5
      days/5 h/day at ~100 ug/m(3)), were performed in order to quantify bone marrow
      resident EPCs using flow cytometry in C57BL/6 mice. Plasma levels of human
      stromal cell-derived factor 1alpha (SDF-1alpha) and vascular endothelial growth
      factor (VEGF) were assessed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and in vitro
      functional assessments of cultured EPCs were conducted. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS:
      Significant EPC count differences between exposure and control groups for Ni
      nanoparticle exposures were observed. Differences in EPC tube formation and
      chemotaxis were also observed for the Ni nanoparticle exposed group. Plasma VEGF
      and SDF-1alpha differences were not statistically significant. In conclusion,
      this study shows that inhalation of Ni nanoparticles results in functionally
      impaired EPCs and reduced number in the bone marrow, which may lead to enhanced
      progression of atherosclerosis.

PMID- 20936916
TI  - Sex differences in gingivitis relate to interaction of oral health behaviors in
      young people.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although many epidemiologic surveys have shown that gingivitis is
      more prevalent in males than in females, few studies have clearly explained what
      causes this difference. The objective of the present study is to explain the sex
      difference in gingivitis based on the interaction between oral health behaviors
      and related factors, such as knowledge, attitude, and lifestyle, in young people.
      METHODS: The study was comprised of 838 subjects (440 males and 398 females),
      aged 18 and 19 years. Gingivitis was assessed by the percentage of bleeding on
      probing (%BOP). Additional information was collected regarding oral hygiene
      status, oral health behaviors, and related factors. Structural equation modeling
      was used to test pathways from these factors to %BOP. Multiple-group modeling was
      also conducted to test for sex differences. RESULTS: Females had greater
      knowledge, a more positive attitude, a healthier lifestyle, and higher level of
      oral health behaviors than males. There were significant differences in the paths
      (i.e., from lifestyle, knowledge, and attitude to %BOP) through oral health
      behaviors and oral health status. CONCLUSIONS: Sex-based differences in
      gingivitis in young people can be explained by oral health behaviors and hygiene
      status, which are influenced by lifestyle, knowledge, and attitude. To prevent
      gingivitis, different approaches to males and females may be useful.

PMID- 20936917
TI  - The biomechanical analysis of relative position between implant and alveolar
      bone: finite element method.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study is to analyze biomechanical interactions in
      the alveolar bone surrounding implants with smaller-diameter abutments by
      changing position of the fixture-abutment interface, loading direction, and
      thickness of cortical bone using the finite element method. METHODS: Twenty
      different finite element models including four types of cortical bone thickness
      (0.5, 1, 1.5, and 2 mm) and five implant positions relative to bone crest
      (subcrestal 1, implant shoulder 1 mm below bone crest; subcrestal 0.5, implant
      shoulder 0.5 mm below bone crest; at crestal implant shoulder even with bone
      crest; supracrestal 0.5, implant shoulder 0.5 mm above bone crest; and
      supracrestal 1, implant shoulder 1 mm above bone crest) were analyzed. All models
      were simulated under two different loading angles (0 and 45 degrees) relative to
      the long axis of the implant, respectively. The three factors of implant
      position, loading type, and thickness of cortical bone were computed for all
      models. RESULTS: The results revealed that loading type and implant position were
      the main factors affecting the stress distribution in bone. The stress values of
      implants in the supracrestal 1 position were higher than all other implant
      positions. Additionally, compared with models under axial load, the stress values
      of models under off-axis load increased significantly. CONCLUSIONS: Both loading
      type and implant position were crucial for stress distribution in bone. The
      supracrestal 1 implant position may not be ideal to avoid overloading the
      alveolar bone surrounding implants.

PMID- 20936918
TI  - Shear stress and inflammation: are we getting closer to the prediction of
      vulnerable plaque?

PMID- 20936919
TI  - Is midlife spread causing a midlife stroke crisis for women in the USA?

PMID- 20936921
TI  - Current status of the Xience V(r) everolimus-eluting coronary stent system.
AB  - The introduction of drug-eluting stents has led to a marked reduction of
      restenosis, which is a major limitation of percutaneous coronary intervention for
      coronary artery disease. The next-generation Xience V(r) (Abbott Vascular, CA,
      USA) everolimus-eluting stent was designed to address the limitations of first
      generation drug-eluting stents. The cobalt-chromium stent platform with an open
      cell design offers excellent deliverability. Moreover, the combination of a thin
      fluoropolymer eluting the antirestenotic drug everolimus provides both an
      effective suppression of neointimal tissue and rapid re-endothelialization above
      and between stent struts in preclinical studies. Large randomized clinical trials
      comparing the everolimus-eluting stent with the Taxus Express(r) and Liberte(r)
      (Boston Scientific, MA, USA) paclitaxel-eluting stents have shown reduced rates
      of repeat revascularization, myocardial infarction and stent thrombosis at 1-year
      follow-up with the everolimus-eluting stent. However, we will have to await long
      term (5-year) data from these randomized clinical trials with the everolimus
      eluting stent to determine whether the observed benefit is robust. Furthermore,
      data are currently limited the clinical performance of the everolimus-eluting
      stent relative to drug-eluting stents other than the Taxus Express and Liberte
      paclitaxel-eluting stents, although a large number of trials are now being
      conducted to address these questions. In this article, we provide a comprehensive
      overview of (pre)clinical studies with the everolimus-eluting stent.

PMID- 20936922
TI  - 7th meeting on hypertension and atherosclerosis.
AB  - The 7th Meeting on Hypertension and Atherosclerosis was organized in
      collaboration with the Society of Hypertension and Atherosclerosis and endorsed
      by the European Society of Hypertension. From basic sciences to clinical aspects,
      the congress covered the wide spectrum of cardiovascular health, providing a
      venue for the conversation of scientists from all around the world. At the end of
      the 5 days, participants had the opportunity discuss the main topics and updates
      on hypertension and atherosclerosis.

PMID- 20936923
TI  - Carotid stenting or surgical carotid endarterectomy to prevent strokes?
AB  - Stroke has a high incidence and is associated with a dramatic degree of morbidity
      and mortality. Carotid stenosis is responsible for approximately 20% of strokes
      in all patient populations, and is especially prevalent in elderly patients.
      Therapies to decrease the risk of stroke are urgently warranted. The first
      established therapy was surgical endarterectomy. Over the last few years,
      however, carotid artery stenting has evolved as a less invasive approach.
      Hitherto, the paper under evaluation (the North American Carotid
      Revascularization Endarterectomy versus Stenting Trial [CREST]) is the largest
      and most important study comparing these two treatment modalities. The study
      demonstrates comparable effectiveness for carotid stenting and carotid
      artertectomy to reduce the risk for future strokes.

PMID- 20936924
TI  - The impact of catheter-tracking technologies on efficacy and safety in cardiac
      electrophysiology.
AB  - Usage of nonfluoroscopic mapping systems is increasingly common in invasive
      cardiac electrophysiology. Novel technologies have resulted in numerous systems
      potentially leading to improved outcomes of the procedures. Apart from the
      improvement in procedural outcomes, usage of these systems is associated with a
      significant reduction in x-ray exposure.

PMID- 20936925
TI  - Acute ischemic stroke therapy.
AB  - Data from the European Cooperative Acute Stroke Study (ECASS) III trial
      demonstrated that tissue plasminogen activator given up to 4.5 h after stroke
      onset improves outcome and treatment guidelines support its use during this time
      window. Intra-arterial therapy with tissue plasminogen activator or devices is
      commonly used at large tertiary centers up to 6-8 h after stroke onset, but
      conclusive evidence of efficacy remains lacking. During the acute phase after
      stroke onset, blood pressure elevations should be reduced as should substantial
      elevations in blood glucose. Statins are recommended in essentially all non
      cardioembolic stroke patients. The most important future directions for acute
      stroke therapy are to extend the therapeutic time window and to increase the
      proportion of patients treated within the currently documented 4.5-h time window.
      Imaging-guided selection of appropriate patients will likely be a key factor for
      extending the therapeutic time window and both diffusion/perfusion MRI and
      perfusion computed tomography will be useful imaging modalities in this effort.

PMID- 20936926
TI  - Timing of carotid surgery after acute stroke.
AB  - Carotid endarterectomy (CEA) has been proven to reduce the risk of stroke and
      death in both asymptomatic and symptomatic patients with carotid occlusive
      disease. Stroke is the third leading cause of death in the USA. Since up to one
      third of stroke patients have a stroke secondary to carotid occlusive disease, it
      is important to offer CEA to this subgroup of patients that meet indications for
      surgery. Historically, literature has suggested that the optimal timing to
      perform CEA is approximately 6 weeks after an acute stroke. This was concluded
      owing to high perioperative morbidity and mortality if CEA was performed too
      early. However, data are increasingly showing that some patients do benefit from
      CEA earlier than 6 weeks after an acute stroke. This article discusses mid-20th
      Century literature and focuses on more recent 21st Century literature discussing
      the timing of CEA after acute stroke. Although there are data to support delayed
      CEA, it is reasonable to perform early CEA in select stroke patient populations.
      Candidates for early CEA should have complete or near resolution of symptoms,
      small infarcts on imaging and ipsilateral carotid stenosis.

PMID- 20936927
TI  - Prevention of cardioembolic stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation.
AB  - Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common cardiac arrhythmia and an important
      independent stroke risk factor, especially in the elderly. This article provides
      the reader with an overview as well as an update on primary and secondary stroke
      prevention strategies in patients with AF. Vitamin K antagonists remain the
      cornerstone therapy in AF patients at high risk of stroke. Both aspirin
      monotherapy and the combination of aspirin and clopidogrel are inferior to
      vitamin K antagonists in patients with AF. The new direct thrombin inhibitor
      dabigatran is at least as effective as warfarin and leads to a significant and
      clinically relevant decrease in hemorrhagic stroke and intracranial bleeds.
      Interventional therapies such as percutaneous closure of the left atrial
      appendage or radiofrequency catheter ablation have not yet been proven to
      decrease the stroke risk in patients with AF.

PMID- 20936929
TI  - Epidemiology, diagnosis and management of intracranial atherosclerotic disease.
AB  - Intracranial atherosclerotic disease (ICAD) is a major cause of ischemic stroke,
      with higher occurrence rates in Asian, black and Hispanic individuals than in
      white individuals. Important risk factors for ICAD include age, hypertension,
      diabetes mellitus and metabolic syndrome. ICAD patients have a 10&#x2013;20%
      annual risk of stroke, with greater risk in patients with high-grade stenosis
      (70&#x2013;99%). Given the high risk of stroke recurrence in symptomatic ICAD
      patients, effective secondary prevention strategies are needed. Currently, there
      is no strong evidence supporting the use of anticoagulants in ICAD patients;
      antiplatelet drugs are still the preferred medication. Recently, angioplasty and
      stenting for ICAD has emerged as an alternative approach to medical treatment,
      owing to high technical success rates and low risk of periprocedural
      complications. However, the rate of in-stent restenosis is moderate, and the long
      term benefit of endovascular treatment is not well established. High-quality
      randomized trials comparing angioplasty/stenting with the best medical therapy in
      ICAD patients are anticipated.

PMID- 20936928
TI  - Systematic review of reversible cerebral vasoconstriction syndrome.
AB  - Reversible cerebral vasoconstriction syndrome (RCVS) is a cerebrovascular
      disorder associated with multifocal arterial constriction and dilation. RCVS is
      associated with nonaneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage, pregnancy and exposure to
      certain drugs. The primary clinical manifestation is recurrent sudden-onset and
      severe (&#x2018;thunderclap&#x2019;) headaches over 1&#x2013;3 weeks, often
      accompanied by nausea, vomiting, photophobia, confusion and blurred vision. The
      primary diagnostic dilemma is distinguishing RCVS from primary CNS arteritis.
      Diagnosis requires demonstration of the characteristic &#x2018;string of
      beads&#x2019; on cerebral angiography with resolution within 1&#x2013;3 months,
      although many patients will initially have normal vascular imaging. Many
      treatments have been reported to ameliorate the headaches of RCVS, but it is
      unclear whether they prevent hemorrhagic or ischemic complications.

PMID- 20936930
TI  - Engineering blood vessels using stem cells: innovative approaches to treat
      vascular disorders.
AB  - Vascular disease is the leading cause of mortality in the USA, providing the
      impetus for new treatments and technologies. Current therapies rely on the
      implantation of stents or grafts to treat injured blood vessels. However, these
      therapies may be immunogenic or may incompletely recover the functional integrity
      of the vasculature. In light of these shortcomings, cell-based therapies provide
      new treatment options to heal damaged areas with more suitable substitutes.
      Current clinical trials employing stem cell-based therapies involve the
      transfusion of harvested endothelial progenitor cells. While the results from
      these trials have been encouraging, utilizing tissue-engineered approaches could
      yield technologically advanced solutions. This article discusses engineered stem
      cell-based therapies from three angles: the differentiation of adult stem cells,
      such as mesenchymal stem cells and endothelial progenitor cells, into vascular
      lineages; investigation of human embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent
      stem cells as inexhaustible sources of vascular cells; and tissue-engineering
      approaches, which incorporate these vascular progenitor cells into biomimetic
      scaffolds to guide regeneration. The optimal solution to vascular disease lies at
      the interface of these technologies--embedding differentiated cells into
      engineered scaffolds to impart precise control over vascular regeneration.

PMID- 20936931
TI  - Advances in diagnostic imaging for peripheral arterial disease.
AB  - Refinements in both noninvasive and invasive imaging techniques have led to
      significant improvements in both the diagnosis and treatment of peripheral
      arterial disease. Multiple complementary imaging modalities are available for
      evaluating these patients. This article reviews the advantages, disadvantages and
      recent advances in the commonly used clinical applications of duplex
      ultrasonography, magnetic resonance angiography, computed tomographic
      angiography, digital subtraction angiography and intravascular ultrasound for
      arterial imaging in the lower extremities. It also discusses experimental imaging
      techniques more recently applied to peripheral arterial disease such as PET,
      hyperspectral imaging and molecular imaging of atherosclerosis. As more is
      understood about both lesion and patient characteristics that affect their
      response to peripheral interventions, clinician selection of the various imaging
      modalities as well as different peripheral interventions will allow for more
      effective treatment of patients with peripheral arterial disease.

PMID- 20936932
TI  - New evidence for nicotinic acid treatment to reduce atherosclerosis.
AB  - Nicotinic acid (at a daily dose of grams) has been shown to induce potent anti
      atherosclerotic effects in human and animal models. Evidence from clinical
      studies performed in the 1950s has shown that nicotinic acid treatment remarkably
      improves the plasma lipid profile. Large clinical studies showed that nicotinic
      acid improves clinical cardiovascular outcomes. Given the protective effects of
      niacin, basic research studies were designed to explore additional anti
      atherosclerotic pathways, such as those involved in cardiovascular inflammation.
      After the discovery of the nicotinic acid receptor GPR109A on adipocytes and
      immune cells, novel direct immunomodulatory properties of nicotinic acid have
      been identified. Importantly, the regulation of the release of inflammatory
      mediators from adipose tissue was observed, independent of lipid level
      amelioration. Less is known about the possible direct anti-inflammatory
      activities of nicotinic acid in other cells (such as hepatocytes, endothelial and
      vascular cells) previously indicated as key players in atherogenesis. Thus,
      further studies are needed to clarify this promising topic. Emerging evidence
      from clinical and basic research studies indicates that novel direct anti
      atherosclerotic properties might mediate nicotinic acid-induced cardiovascular
      protection. Despite some limitations in its clinical use (mainly due to the
      incidence of adverse events, such as cutaneous flushing and hepatotoxicity),
      nicotinic acid should be considered as a very potent therapeutic approach to
      reduce atherosclerosis. Promising research developments are warranted in the near
      future.

PMID- 20936933
TI  - Biomechanical structural stresses of atherosclerotic plaques.
AB  - Atherosclerotic plaques may rupture without warning, causing fatal clinical
      events such as myocardial infarction and stroke. Degree of stenosis, which is the
      current criterion for assessment of atherosclerotic disease severity, has been
      observed to have poor correlation with plaque vulnerability. Under physiological
      conditions, plaque undertakes mechanical loadings due to blood pressure and flow.
      From the material view point, rupture possibly occurs when the extra loading
      exceeds the material strength of the plaque. Therefore, morphological and
      mechanical features should be considered in an integrated way for a more accurate
      assessment of plaque vulnerability and for identification of the at-risk patient.
      Biomechanical stress analysis is a technique that allows such comprehensive
      assessment. This article focuses on the mechanical stresses in the plaque
      structure, which are believed to be of greater magnitude than the associated wall
      shear stress and are thought to be more closely associated with plaque rupture.
      We discuss the basic mechanics that govern plaque behavior, the material
      properties of atherosclerotic tissues and the studies investigating the
      association between high biomechanical stresses and plaque rupture. Parameter
      studies investigating the effect of morphologic factors on the critical
      biomechanical stresses and limitations of current simulation models are also
      reviewed.

PMID- 20936934
TI  - Why should a doctor be interested in oral disease?
AB  - Oral health has been implicated in systemic disease throughout the ages; however,
      the understanding of the relationship between oral disease and systemic diseases
      such as cardiovascular disease and Type 2 diabetes mellitus is still emerging
      today. Chronic periodontal disease is widespread in the general population and a
      significant proportion of adults suffer from the most severe form of the disease.
      Dental plaque biofilm is necessary for the development of chronic periodontal
      disease with genetic and environmental factors contributing towards the
      pathogenesis. The putative biological mechanisms of the association between oral
      disease and atherogenesis are discussed, although there is insufficient evidence
      to establish causality at this time. Regardless of a direct causal relationship
      between oral disease and cardiovascular disease, treatment of oral disease leads
      to both a reduction in the systemic inflammatory burden as reflected in
      inflammatory markers and an improvement in endothelial function and hence
      improved overall health outcomes. A brief overview of periodontal disease
      including etiology, pathogenesis, screening and therapeutic implications is
      presented.

PMID- 20936936
TI  - The acute respiratory distress syndrome: pathogenesis and treatment.
AB  - The acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) causes 40% mortality in
      approximately 200,000 critically ill patients annually in the United States. ARDS
      is caused by protein-rich pulmonary edema that causes severe hypoxemia and
      impaired carbon dioxide excretion. The clinical disorders associated with the
      development of ARDS include sepsis, pneumonia, aspiration of gastric contents,
      and major trauma. The lung injury is caused primarily by neutrophil-dependent and
      platelet-dependent damage to the endothelial and epithelial barriers of the lung.
      Resolution is delayed because of injury to the lung epithelial barrier, which
      prevents removal of alveolar edema fluid and deprives the lung of adequate
      quantities of surfactant. Lymphocytes may play a role in resolution of lung
      injury. Mortality has been markedly reduced with a lung-protective ventilatory
      strategy. However, there is no effective pharmacologic therapy, although cell
      based therapy and other therapies currently being tested in clinical trials may
      provide novel treatments for ARDS.

PMID- 20936938
TI  - Mouse models of cancer.
AB  - Genetically engineered mouse models have significantly contributed to our
      understanding of cancer biology. They have proven to be useful in validating gene
      functions, identifying novel cancer genes and tumor biomarkers, gaining insight
      into the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying tumor initiation and
      multistage processes of tumorigenesis, and providing better clinical models in
      which to test novel therapeutic strategies. However, mice still have significant
      limitations in modeling human cancer, including species-specific differences and
      inaccurate recapitulation of de novo human tumor development. Future challenges
      in mouse modeling include the generation of clinically relevant mouse models that
      recapitulate the molecular, cellular, and genomic events of human cancers and
      clinical response as well as the development of technologies that allow for
      efficient in vivo imaging and high-throughput screening in mice.

PMID- 20936939
TI  - Renin release: sites, mechanisms, and control.
AB  - In the adult organism, systemically circulating renin almost exclusively
      originates from the juxtaglomerular cells in the afferent arterioles of the
      kidneys. These cells share similarities with pericytes and myofibro-blasts. They
      store renin in a vesicular network and granules and release it in a regulated
      fashion. The release mode of renin is not understood; in particular, the
      involvement of SNARE proteins is unknown. Renin release is acutely increased via
      the cAMP signaling pathway, which is triggered mainly by catecholamines and other
      G(s)-coupled agonists, and is inhibited by calcium-related pathways that are
      commonly activated by vasoconstrictors. Renin release from juxtaglomerular cells
      is directly modulated in an inverse fashion by the blood pressure inside the
      afferent arterioles and by the chloride content in the tubule fluid at the macula
      densa segment of the distal tubule. Renin release is stimulated by nitric oxide
      and by prostanoids released by neighboring endothelial and macula densa cells.
      Steady-state renin concentrations in the plasma are determined essentially by the
      number of renin-producing cells in the afferent arterioles, which changes in
      parallel with challenges to the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system.

PMID- 20936937
TI  - Disorders of bone remodeling.
AB  - The skeleton provides mechanical support for stature and locomotion, protects
      vital organs, and controls mineral homeostasis. A healthy skeleton must be
      maintained by constant bone modeling to carry out these crucial functions
      throughout life. Bone remodeling involves the removal of old or damaged bone by
      osteoclasts (bone resorption) and the subsequent replacement of new bone formed
      by osteoblasts (bone formation). Normal bone remodeling requires a tight coupling
      of bone resorption to bone formation to guarantee no alteration in bone mass or
      quality after each remodeling cycle. However, this important physiological
      process can be derailed by a variety of factors, including menopause-associated
      hormonal changes, age-related factors, changes in physical activity, drugs, and
      secondary diseases, which lead to the development of various bone disorders in
      both women and men. We review the major diseases of bone remodeling, emphasizing
      our current understanding of the underlying pathophysiological mechanisms.

PMID- 20936940
TI  - Regulation of renal NaCl transport by nitric oxide, endothelin, and ATP: clinical
      implications.
AB  - NaCl absorption along the nephron is regulated not just by humoral factors but
      also by factors that do not circulate or act on the cells where they are
      produced. Generally, nitric oxide (NO) inhibits NaCl absorption along the
      nephron. However, the effects of NO in the proximal tubule are controversial and
      may be biphasic. Similarly, the effects of endothelin on proximal tubule
      transport are biphasic. In more distal segments, endothelin inhibits NaCl
      absorption and may be mediated by NO. Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) inhibits
      sodium bicarbonate absorption in the proximal tubule, NaCl absorption in thick
      ascending limbs via NO, and water reabsorption in collecting ducts. Defects in
      the effects of NO, endothelin, and ATP increase blood pressure, especially in a
      NaCl-sensitive manner. In diabetes, disruption of NO-induced inhibition of
      transport may contribute to increased blood pressure and renal damage. However,
      our understanding of how NO, endothelin, and ATP work, and of their role in
      pathology, is rudimentary at best.

PMID- 20936942
TI  - Effects of oxygen on growth and size: synthesis of molecular, organismal, and
      evolutionary studies with Drosophila melanogaster.
AB  - Drosophila melanogaster is a model genetic organism with an exceptional hypoxia
      tolerance relative to mammals. Forward genetic, microarray, and P-element
      manipulations and selection experiments have revealed multiple mechanisms of
      severe hypoxia tolerance, including RNA editing, downregulation of metabolism,
      and prevention of protein unfolding. Drosophila live in microbe-rich, semiliquid
      food in which hypoxia likely indicates deteriorating environments. Hypoxia
      reduces growth and size by multiple mechanisms, influencing larval feeding rates,
      protein synthesis, imaginal cell size, and control of molting. In moderate
      hypoxia, these effects appear to occur without ATP limitation and are instead
      mediated by signaling systems, including hypoxia-inducible factor and atypical
      guanyl cyclase sensing of oxygen, with downstream actions on behavior, anabolism,
      and the cell cycle. In hypoxia, flies develop smaller sizes, but size does not
      evolve, whereas in hyperoxia, flies evolve larger sizes without exhibiting
      developmental size plasticity, suggesting differential evolutionary responses to
      natural versus novel directions of oxygen change.

PMID- 20936943
TI  - Terminal differentiation in epithelia: the role of integrins in hensin
      polymerization.
AB  - Epithelia, the most abundant cell type, differentiate to protoepithelia from stem
      cells by developing apical and basolateral membrane domains and form sheets of
      cells connected by junctions. Following this differentiation step, the cells
      undergo a second step (terminal differentiation), during which they acquire a
      mature phenotype, which unlike the protoepithelial one is tissue and organ
      specific. An extracellular matrix (ECM) protein termed hensin (DMBT1) mediates
      this differentiation step in the kidney intercalated cells. Although hensin is
      secreted as a soluble monomer, it requires polymerization and deposition in the
      ECM to become active. The polymerization step is mediated by the activation of
      inside-out signaling by integrins and by the secretion of two proteins: cypA (a
      cis-trans prolyl isomerase) and galectin 3.

PMID- 20936944
TI  - Molecular mechanisms and treatment options for muscle wasting diseases.
AB  - Loss of muscle mass can be the consequence of pathological changes, as observed
      in muscular dystrophies; or it can be secondary to cachexia-inducing diseases
      that cause muscle atrophy, such as cancer, heart disease, or chronic obstructive
      pulmonary disease; or it can be a consequence of aging or simple disuse. Although
      muscular dystrophies are rare, muscle loss affects millions of people worldwide.
      We discuss the molecular mechanisms involved in muscular dystrophy and in muscle
      atrophy and present current strategies aimed at ameliorating these diseases.
      Finally, we discuss whether lessons learned from studying muscular dystrophies
      will also be helpful for halting muscle loss secondary to nondystrophic diseases
      and whether strategies to halt muscle atrophy have potential for the treatment of
      muscular dystrophies.

PMID- 20936941
TI  - Tight junction pore and leak pathways: a dynamic duo.
AB  - Tissue barriers that restrict passage of liquids, ions, and larger solutes are
      essential for the development of multicellular organisms. In simple organisms
      this allows distinct cell types to interface with the external environment. In
      more complex species, the diversity of cell types capable of forming barriers
      increases dramatically. Although the plasma membranes of these barrier-forming
      cells prevent flux of most hydrophilic solutes, the paracellular, or shunt,
      pathway between cells must also be sealed. This function is accomplished in
      vertebrates by the zonula occludens, or tight junction. The tight junction
      barrier is not absolute but is selectively permeable and is able to discriminate
      between solutes on the basis of size and charge. Many tight junction components
      have been identified over the past 20 years, and recent progress has provided new
      insights into the proteins and interactions that regulate structure and function.
      This review presents these data in a historical context and proposes an
      integrated model in which dynamic regulation of tight junction protein
      interactions determines barrier function.

PMID- 20936945
TI  - Mechanisms of the anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory actions of vitamin D.
AB  - Calcitriol, the hormonally active form of vitamin D, is being evaluated in
      clinical trials as an anti-cancer agent. Calcitriol exerts multiple anti
      proliferative, pro-apoptotic, and pro-differentiating actions on various
      malignant cells and retards tumor growth in animal models of cancer. Calcitriol
      also exhibits several anti-inflammatory effects including suppression of
      prostaglandin (PG) action, inhibition of p38 stress kinase signaling, and the
      subsequent production of pro-inflammatory cytokines and inhibition of NF-kappaB
      signaling. Calcitriol also decreases the expression of aromatase, the enzyme that
      catalyzes estrogen synthesis in breast cancer, both by a direct transcriptional
      repression and indirectly by reducing PGs, which are major stimulators of
      aromatase transcription. Other important effects include the suppression of tumor
      angiogenesis, invasion, and metastasis. These calcitriol actions provide a basis
      for its potential use in cancer therapy and chemoprevention. We summarize the
      status of trials involving calcitriol and its analogs, used alone or in
      combination with known anti-cancer agents.

PMID- 20936946
TI  - Mechanisms of monoclonal antibody-drug interactions.
AB  - The concept of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) as pharmacotherapeutics was validated
      in the mid-1980s with the successful clinical development of the fully murine mAb
      muromonab-CD3 for prevention of acute organ rejection. However, clinical
      applications of fully murine mAbs are restricted, owing to the high incidence of
      serious immune-mediated side effects, particularly upon repeated exposure. The
      rate and severity of immune-mediated toxicities of these agents were
      significantly attenuated by the development of mouse/human chimeric, fully human,
      and humanized mAbs. These refinements in molecular structure allowed repeated,
      long-term administration, where therapeutically warranted, which, in turn,
      broadened the scope of indications for this class of therapy. Presently, numerous
      mAbs are approved or are undergoing clinical evaluation for treatment of
      oncologic and chronic inflammatory diseases. The current experimental development
      landscape spans respiratory, metabolic, and central nervous system disorders as
      well as infectious disease. A consequence of the expanding numbers of mAb
      indications is concomitant administration of these agents with established small
      molecule pharmacotherapies, which necessitates a comprehensive understanding of
      mAb-small molecule drug interactions as well as mAb-mAb interactions. Current
      knowledge indicates that mAbs do not elicit a direct effect on the
      metabolic/clearance pathways for small molecular therapeutics. However, the
      immunomodulatory properties of mAbs can indirectly alter clearance of certain
      small molecule entities through the attenuation of noncatabolic enzymatic
      pathways.

PMID- 20936947
TI  - Spatiotemporal regulation of small GTPases as revealed by probes based on the
      principle of Forster Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET): Implications for signaling
      and pharmacology.
AB  - Low molecular weight ("small") GTPases are key regulators of a number of
      signaling cascades. Each GTPase is regulated by numerous guanine nucleotide
      exchange factors (GEFs) and GTPase-activating proteins (GAPs), and each GTPase
      binds to numerous effector proteins in a GTP-dependent manner. In many instances,
      individual regulators activate more than one GTPase, and each effector binds to
      one or more GTPases belonging to the same family. To untangle these complex
      networks, probes based on the principle of Forster resonance energy transfer
      (FRET) are widely used. Here, we provide an overview of the probes based on FRET
      and examples of discoveries achieved with them. In the process, we attempt to
      delineate the merits, current limitations, and future applications of this
      technique to pharmacological studies.

PMID- 20936948
TI  - From 2D to 3D: an algorithm to derive normal values for 3-dimensional
      computerized assessment.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To test the accuracy of a mathematical model (algorithm) that corrects
      measurements made on conventional lateral head films to corresponding dimensions
      observed in a cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) scan in human subjects.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirteen subjects had lateral cephalograms taken with a
      conventional cephalometric machine as well as a CBCT scan. Measurements of
      midface length, mandibular length, and lower anterior face height (LAFH) from
      both examinations were calculated. Two other groups of measurements were derived
      mathematically from the dimensions directly quantified on the lateral
      cephalogram: the magnification correction group and the algorithm correction
      group. The data were analyzed statistically, using repeated measures analysis of
      variance (ANOVA). RESULTS: All measurements from the lateral cephalogram were
      significantly different from the corresponding measurements derived from the
      CBCT. Simply taking into account the image magnification did not correct the 2
      dimensional (2D) linear measurement obtained from a conventional cephalogram into
      a 3-dimensional (3D) linear measurement made on a CBCT scan, unless the
      structures from which the distance will be measured are located on the
      midsagittal plane. When the algorithm was used to correct the 2D measurements,
      however, there were no statistically significant differences between the CBCT
      group and the algorithm group. CONCLUSIONS: Using the mathematical formula
      presented herein, 2D cephalometric measurements from landmarks both on and off
      the midsagittal plane can be corrected into a 3D CBCT measurement with accuracy.
      By applying this algorithm to other existing cephalometric longitudinal growth
      studies, control groups and standards for CBCT images could be derived without
      exposing untreated subjects to radiation.

PMID- 20936949
TI  - Comparison of common hard tissue cephalometric measurements between computed
      tomography 3D reconstruction and conventional 2D cephalometric images.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare cephalostat two-dimensional (2D) measurements to 3D
      computed tomography (CT) measurements in order to determine the compatibility of
      CT landmarks identification for orthodontic purposes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ten
      human skulls were x-rayed in conventional lateral cephalogram and then scanned
      with spiral CT. Twenty-eight linear and angular cephalometric measurements were
      registered on the 2D lateral cephalogram and compared to the same measurement on
      the 3D CT scan. Significance of the results was determined by t-test for paired
      differences (P < .05). RESULTS: No difference was found between 2D and 3D images
      for linear or ratio measurements. As for the angular cephalometric measurements,
      only the sella turcica dependent measurements, showed significant difference
      between 2D and 3D. CONCLUSIONS: The compatibility of using most of the common
      orthodontic examined cephalometric measurements on 3D volume rendered image was
      proven except for the angular measurements that included sella anatomic landmark.

PMID- 20936950
TI  - Evaluation of the CT scanogram for assessment of craniofacial morphology.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this prospective laboratory study was to investigate
      the suitability of the computed tomography scanogram (CT) as compared with
      conventional (CC) or storage phosphor digital (SP) lateral cephalograms.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty intact, adult-sized, dry human skulls were used.
      Each skull was fixed in a custom-made plastic box and imaged in each of the three
      radiographic machines. All 60 hard copy radiographs were directly digitized using
      a customized cephalometric program, and all skulls were measured with an external
      caliper. All measurements were carried out twice, 2 weeks apart. "A priori"
      ranges were defined in advance for all 18 craniofacial parameters. Linear
      measurements were corrected for radiographic magnification. Data were analyzed
      using coefficients of repeatability, limits of agreement, and paired t-tests.
      RESULTS: Direct skull, anterior face height, sella-nasion, and cephalometric
      SnMx, SNA, SNB, and ANB (except CT) measurements were repeatable. Sella-basion,
      basion-nasion, most posterior face height measurements, MxMn, and incisor
      angulations were either not repeatable or not in agreement. When statistical
      significance was noted, however, the mean difference was of small magnitude for
      nearly all parameters. CONCLUSION: Depending on the clinical situation and the
      degree of precision required, the scanogram is a viable alternative to lateral
      cephalometry for assessment of sella-nasion, anterior face height, skeletal
      planes angles (SnMx, MxMn), SNA, SNB, and ANB, but not of sella-basion, basion
      nasion, posterior face height measurements, and incisor angulations.

PMID- 20936951
TI  - Accuracy and reliability of craniometric measurements on lateral cephalometry and
      3D measurements on CBCT scans.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare the accuracy of craniometric measurements made on lateral
      cephalograms and on cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) images. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: Ten fiducial markers were placed on known craniometric landmarks of 25
      dry skulls with stable occlusions. CBCT scans and conventional lateral headfilms
      subsequently were taken of each skull. Direct craniometric measurements were
      compared with CBCT measurements and with cephalometric measurements using
      repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA). All measurements were repeated
      within a 1-month interval, and intraclass correlations were calculated. RESULTS:
      No statistically significant difference was noted between CBCT measurements and
      direct craniometric measurements (mean difference, 0.1 mm). All cephalometric
      measurements were significantly different statistically from direct craniometric
      measurements (mean difference, 5 mm). Significant variations among measurements
      were noted. Some measurements were larger on the lateral cephalogram and some
      were smaller, but a pattern could be observed: midsagittal measurements were
      enlarged uniformly, and Co-Gn was changed only slightly; Co-A was always smaller.
      CONCLUSION: CBCT craniometric measurements are accurate to a subvoxel size and
      potentially can be used as a quantitative orthodontic diagnostic tool. Two
      dimensional cephalometric norms cannot be readily used for three-dimensional
      measurements because of differences in measurement accuracy between the two
      exams.

PMID- 20936952
TI  - Early post-treatment changes of circumaxillary sutures in young patients treated
      with rapid maxillary expansion.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To test the null hypothesis that circumaxillary sutures do not show
      bony displacement in response to rapid maxillary expansion (RME) therapy.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Subjects consisted of eight growing patients (two male and
      six female) with Angle Class I malocclusion, bilateral posterior crossbite,
      transverse maxillary deficiency, deep palatal vault, and dental crowding at the
      start of the treatment. A Hyrax palatal expander was used for each patient, and
      activation protocol required the screw to be turned three times per day (0.25 mm
      per turn) for an average of 18 days for all subjects. Multislice computed
      tomography (CT) scans were performed before rapid palatal expansion (time T0) and
      again at the end of the active expansion phase (time T1) without removing the
      expander. Measurements were carried out directly on the CT image using the OsiriX
      Imaging software program. Data were analyzed statistically by using the Wilcoxon
      signed rank test. RESULTS: All linear measurements showed an increase between T0
      and T1 and RME determined a widening of suture; however, sutures far from the
      maxilla showed a smaller degree of disarticulation. CONCLUSIONS: The hypothesis
      is rejected. Early treatment with RME produced a significant bony displacement by
      circumaxillary suture opening. The amount of changes of sutures depends on
      different factors relating to the subjects and varies between different sutures,
      showing that sutures that articulate directly with the maxilla face a greater
      influence by the RME compared with those located further away.

PMID- 20936953
TI  - Rapid maxillary expansion compared to surgery for assistance in maxillary face
      mask protraction.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare the treatment outcomes of rapid maxillary expansion (RME)
      plus face mask (FM) and LeFort 1 osteotomy + FM during maxillary protraction.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study was carried on 34 patients all having maxillary
      retrognathic, anterior cross-bite, Class III skeletal and dental malocclusion
      characteristics and a concave profile. Eighteen patients with milder maxillary
      retrognathism were treated with RME + FM. Sixteen other patients with moderate to
      severe maxillary retrognathism were treated with an incomplete LeFort 1 osteotomy
      + FM therapy. Cephalometric data were evaluated statistically. RESULTS:
      Significantly higher values of maxillary advancement and reduced treatment time
      were achieved with surgically assisted FM therapy. CONCLUSIONS: The surgically
      assisted FM treatment was more rapid and effective in maxillary protraction
      compared to the RME + FM treatment.

PMID- 20936954
TI  - Age-related changes of the soft tissue profile from the second to the fourth
      decades of life.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To describe the age-related changes of the soft tissue facial profile
      from the second to fourth decades of life. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Cephalograms
      from the same subjects in their 20s, 30s, and 40s were analyzed. A coordinate
      system analysis based on stable landmarks is used. A line connecting Walker's
      point (W) and sphenoethmoidal (SE) created the x-axis. Walker's point was origin.
      Depending on data distribution, landmark displacements from T1 to T2, from T2 to
      T3, and from T1 to T3 were analyzed using the paired t-test or the Wilcoxon test
      for zero expected change versus a two-sided alternative. For each landmark the
      mean, standard deviation, P value, and lower and higher 95% confidence intervals
      were calculated. RESULTS: During T2-T1, for males, the whole profile was
      displaced anteriorly and slightly superiorly, and for females, the lower facial
      profile was displaced in a posterior and inferior direction. Greater changes
      occurred in the female profile than the male profile. During T3-T2, the female
      profile changed slightly while the male profile underwent great changes: the
      upper facial profile was displaced anteriorly, and the lower profile was
      displaced posteriorly. The whole profile was displaced in the inferior direction.
      CONCLUSIONS: Significant changes occurred in the soft tissue facial profile from
      the second to fourth decades. Aging of the male facial profile began 10 years
      later than for females; however, when the changes did occur, they were of greater
      magnitude. The upper facial profile was displaced in the anterior direction and
      the whole profile was displaced inferiorly for both sexes.

PMID- 20936955
TI  - Discovery of pathologies by orthodontists on lateral cephalograms.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the frequency of significant pathologies on lateral
      cephalograms discovered by orthodontists during their careers. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: A five-statement survey was sent to the 417 active and affiliate members
      of the Edward H. Angle Society of Orthodontists. The survey asked orthodontists
      to identify any significant radiographic pathology that they had discovered on
      lateral cephalograms during their careers to date. The data were analyzed
      statistically. RESULTS: Of the 417 surveys, 201 were returned for a 48% response
      rate. Ninety-nine respondents or 49.3% of the sample had discovered at least one
      significant pathology. Of the 1.3 million patients observed by the orthodontists
      in the sample, 268 patients (0.02%) with significant pathologies had been
      identified. Younger orthodontists had a statistically greater potential to
      discover pathologies than older orthodontists. The general types of pathologies
      discovered were musculoskeletal (38%), glandular (28%), and dental groups (12%).
      CONCLUSIONS: About 50% of orthodontists will likely discover a significant,
      potentially life-affecting pathology on a lateral cephalogram.

PMID- 20936956
TI  - Skeletal anteroposterior discrepancy and vertical type effects on lower incisor
      preoperative decompensation and postoperative compensation in skeletal Class III
      patients.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the initial compensation, preoperative decompensation,
      and postoperative compensation of the lower incisors according to the skeletal
      anteroposterior discrepancy and vertical type in skeletal Class III patients.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: The samples consisted of 68 skeletal Class III patients
      treated with two-jaw surgery and orthodontic treatment. Lateral cephalograms were
      taken before preoperative orthodontic treatment (T0) and before surgery (T1) and
      after debonding (T2). According to skeletal anteroposterior discrepancy/vertical
      type (ANB, criteria  =  -4 degrees ; SN-GoMe, criteria  =  35 degrees ) at the T0
      stage, the samples were allocated into group 1 (severe anteroposterior
      discrepancy/hypodivergent vertical type, N  =  17), group 2 (moderate
      anteroposterior discrepancy/hypodivergent vertical type, N  =  17), group 3
      (severe anteroposterior discrepancy/hyperdivergent vertical type, N  =  17), or
      group 4 (moderate anteroposterior discrepancy/hyperdivergent vertical type, N  = 
      17). After measurement of variables, one-way analysis of variance with Duncan's
      multiple comparison test, crosstab analysis, and Pearson correlation analysis
      were performed. RESULTS: At T0, groups 3 and 2 exhibited the most and least
      compensated lower incisors. In group 2, good preoperative decompensation and
      considerable postoperative compensation resulted in different values for T0, T1,
      and T2 (IMPA, T0 < T2 < T1; P < .001). However, group 3 did not show significant
      changes in IMPA between stages. Therefore, groups 2 and 3 showed different
      decompensation achievement ratios (P < .05). Group 3 exhibited the worst ratios
      of decompensation and stability (24% and 6%, respectively, P < .001).
      Anteroposterior discrepancy/vertical type (ANB: P < .01 at T0 and T1, P < .001 at
      T2; SN-GoMe: P < .01, all stages) were strongly correlated with relative
      percentage ratio of IMPA to norm value. CONCLUSIONS: Skeletal anteroposterior
      discrepancy/vertical type results in differences in the amount and pattern of
      initial compensation, preoperative decompensation, and postoperative compensation
      of lower incisors in Class III patients.

PMID- 20936957
TI  - Pharyngeal airway in children with prognathism and normal occlusion.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To test the hypothesis that there is no difference in the pharyngeal
      airway width and the position of the maxillofacial skeleton between prognathic
      and normal children. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-five girls with prognathism
      (mean, 7.9 +/- 0.9 years old) and 15 girls with normal occlusion (mean, 8.4 +/-
      1.5 years) participated in this study. On each girl's lateral cephalogram, the
      coordinates of all points were marked and systematically digitized using a
      mechanical three-dimensional digitizing system. An independent-groups t-test was
      used to detect significant upper and lower pharyngeal width differences between
      the two groups. Correlations between the horizontal positions of each point and
      upper and lower pharyngeal widths were examined. RESULTS: Prognathic girls had a
      significantly wider lower pharyngeal airway compared with those with normal
      occlusion (P = .01). Furthermore, the horizontal coordinate of Ar was
      significantly positively correlated with lower pharyngeal airway width in both
      groups of girls. CONCLUSIONS: The hypothesis is rejected. The mandible in
      prognathic girls tends to be positioned more anteriorly, resulting in a wider
      lower pharyngeal airway.

PMID- 20936958
TI  - Hyoid bone position in subjects with different vertical jaw dysplasias.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To test the hypothesis that there is no difference in hyoid bone
      position among subjects with different vertical jaw dysplasias. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: Seventy-one North Indian adult male and female subjects in the age range
      of 15 to 25 years were selected for the study. Based on the vertical growth
      pattern of the face, subjects were divided into Group I (n = 24; subjects in whom
      both Frankfort mandibular plane angle [FMA] and basal plane angle measured 20 to
      25 degrees), Group II (n = 17; subjects in whom both FMA and basal plane angle
      measured <15 degrees), and Group III (n = 30; subjects in whom both FMA and basal
      plane angle measured >30 degrees). Lateral cephalograms with the mandible in rest
      position were traced and analyzed manually for evaluation of hyoid bone position.
      RESULTS: The anteroposterior position of the hyoid bone was significantly forward
      in subjects with short face syndrome compared with normal subjects (P < .05) and
      subjects with long face syndrome (P < .001). The vertical position of the hyoid
      bone was comparable among subjects with different vertical jaw dysplasias. The
      axial inclination of the hyoid bone was more oblique in subjects with long face
      syndrome than in those with short face syndrome (P < .01). CONCLUSION: The
      anteroposterior position of the hyoid bone was more forward in subjects with
      short face syndrome. The vertical position of the hyoid bone was comparable among
      subjects with different vertical jaw dysplasias. The axial inclination of the
      hyoid bone closely followed the axial inclination of the mandible.

PMID- 20936959
TI  - Perceptions of laypersons and orthodontists regarding the buccal corridor in long
      and short-face individuals.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the perception of orthodontists and laypersons regarding
      the size of the dark spaces in the buccal corridors and how that affects smile
      esthetics in individuals with long and short faces. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Images
      of eight smiling individuals were modified to create five sizes of dark spaces in
      the buccal corridors (2%, 10%, 15%, 22%, and 28%) and were submitted to a group
      of laypersons and a group of orthodontists. RESULTS: Laypersons were more
      critical in their evaluation than orthodontists. Laypersons could not distinguish
      the gradation of dark spaces in the buccal corridor unless it was very plain.
      Orthodontists perceived this gradation beginning at 15%. Female evaluators were
      more critical than male evaluators in both groups. CONCLUSIONS: The presence or
      absence of dark spaces in the buccal corridors has little influence over smile
      esthetics. While this aspect must be considered in the orthodontic diagnosis,
      there is no justification for expanding the buccal corridor to eliminate dark
      spaces unless they are very evident.

PMID- 20936960
TI  - The biological mechanisms of PCNA and BMP in TMJ adaptive remodeling.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To histologically and immunohistochemically assess the pattern of
      expression of bone morphogenic proteins 2 and 4 (BMP2/4) and proliferating cell
      nuclear antigen (PCNA) in response to bite jumping appliances in the condylar
      cartilage and the glenoid fossa. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fifty-five 4-week-old
      female Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into four experimental and four
      control groups. Bite-jumping appliances were fitted to the experimental animals.
      The rats were sacrificed at 3, 14, 21, and 30 days, and the temporomandibular
      structures were analyzed histologically and immunohistochemically. RESULTS: The
      expression of BMP2/4 in response to bite-jumping appliances was statistically
      significant in the condylar cartilage and the glenoid fossa. Cell proliferation
      was not significant. CONCLUSION: BMP2/4 plays an important role in bone formation
      in response to mandibular advancement by accelerating and enhancing the
      differentiation of mesenchymal cells into bone-forming cells.

PMID- 20936961
TI  - Overexpression of osteoprotegerin promotes preosteoblast differentiation to
      mature osteoblasts.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The hypothesis of the present study is that overexpression of
      osteoprotegerin (OPG) promotes preosteoblast maturation. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      The preosteoblast cell line MC3T3-E1 was transfected with OPG overexpression. OPG
      expression was confirmed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and Western
      blot. Changes in the transcription factors in OPG-expressing cells were assessed
      by real-time polymerase quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR).
      Alkaline phosphate (ALP) expression was measured by ELISA. RESULTS: The success
      of stable transfection of MC3T3-E1 cells with OPG overexpression was confirmed by
      MoFlow sorting followed by G418 selection. RT-qPCR showed that expression of
      RunX2, the most important osteoblast differentiation controlling factor, was
      suppressed. Smad1 and Akt1, as well as ALP, were upregulated in the OPG
      overexpressing cells. CONCLUSION: Results from the present study provide evidence
      that overexpression of OPG in preosteoblasts promotes its differentiation into
      mature osteoblasts.

PMID- 20936962
TI  - Three-dimensional assessment of nose and lip morphology in North Sudanese
      subjects with Down syndrome.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To detail the nasolabial morphologic characteristics of North Sudanese
      subjects with Down syndrome (DS). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Nasolabial morphology
      was assessed three-dimensionally in 64 North Sudanese subjects with DS aged 4 to
      34 years and in 682 sex- and age-matched controls. Three-dimensional facial
      coordinates were collected using a laser scan, and selected distances, angles,
      areas, and volumes were computed. Subject and reference data were compared by
      computing z-scores and Student's t-tests. RESULTS: The nose was significantly
      smaller (area) in subjects with DS than in reference subjects, and it had a
      different shape (more flat angle of alar slope, more acute nasal tip angle). The
      vertical (nasal bridge length, nose height) and anteroposterior (nasal tip
      protrusion) dimensions were reduced, while the horizontal dimensions (alar base
      width, inferior widths of the nostrils) were increased. The nasolabial angle was
      increased. The cutaneous lip volume was significantly smaller, while the
      vermilion lip area was larger in the subjects with DS. The mouth and philtrum
      widths were significantly reduced, while the vermilion height was significantly
      increased. CONCLUSION: Analyzed subjects with DS had a hypoplastic nose and
      different upper and lower lips than did reference, normal subjects.

PMID- 20936963
TI  - Facial features of patients with sickle cell anemia.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To characterize the craniofacial features of patients with sickle cell
      anemia (SCA). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fifty patients with SCA in the north of
      Minas Gerais, Brazil, were evaluated using standardized photographs (front and
      profile) for a subjective facial analysis and digital radiographs for a
      computerized cephalometric analysis. To obtain linear and angular measurements,
      cephalometric points were marked on the digital images by a single examiner,
      using the program Radiocef 6.0, and facial analyses were performed by four
      different orthodontists. RESULTS: Of the population studied, 28 patients were
      female with a mean age of 27.7 years. Most of the patients (64%) had their faces
      classified as esthetically acceptable, although results showed a predominance of
      convex profiles (72%). The mean of the SNA angle was 84.56 degrees , diagnosing
      proper positioning of the maxilla from the base of the skull. The prevalence of
      pattern II was 32%, and 31% showed maxillary protrusion; the effective length of
      the maxilla was reduced in 64%. Retrusion of the mandible was observed in 30%,
      and 76% had reduced mandibular length. Four measurements (mandibular length,
      maxillary length, anterior face height, and maxillomandibular difference) showed
      statistically significant differences between genders, where these measurements
      were higher for males than for females. CONCLUSION: Most patients did not show
      compensatory maxillary expansion, which was determined by the prevalence of
      decreased maxillary length (64%) and by the absence of maxillary protrusion in
      69% of the SCA patients evaluated.

PMID- 20936964
TI  - Effect of maxillary incisor labiolingual inclination and anteroposterior position
      on smiling profile esthetics.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To test the null hypothesis that there is no effect of maxillary
      incisor labiolingual inclination and anteroposterior (AP) position on smiling
      profile esthetics in young adult females. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A facial smiling
      profile photograph of a Chinese woman with a normal profile, a Class I occlusion,
      and a Class I skeletal pattern was digitized. The digital image was modified to
      obtain four series comprising 29 smiling profiles. The sample of individuals
      rating these pictures comprised 21 orthodontic professionals and 66
      undergraduates. Post hoc tests were done with the Student Newman Keuls method to
      analyze the data. RESULTS: Significant differences (P < .001) were detected when
      each photograph's ratings were compared. The smiling profile with the highest
      score was the one with 5 degrees  lingual inclination, while the ones with 15
      degrees  labial inclination or 4-mm retrusion had lower scores than the others.
      Maxillary incisor protrusion and lingual inclination were preferable compared
      with retruded or flared incisors. There was no significant discrepancy between
      the professional and nonprofessional groups in terms of their assessments.
      CONCLUSIONS: The hypothesis is rejected. Both maxillary incisor labiolingual
      inclination and AP position play an essential role in the esthetics of the
      smiling profile. However, when formulating treatment plans, dentists should never
      underestimate the labiolingual inclination's influence on the smiling profile.

PMID- 20936965
TI  - Tooth size discrepancies in Irish orthodontic patients among different
      malocclusion groups.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of tooth size discrepancies (TSDs) in an
      Irish orthodontic population among different malocclusion groups. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: From 850 pretreatment sets of orthodontic models at a university clinic,
      240 were selected with 30 female and 30 male sets for each malocclusion (Class I,
      Class II division 1, Class II division 2, and Class III). Digital models were
      produced, and the mesial and distal contact points were digitized to calculate
      overall and anterior tooth size ratios. The differences between the male and
      female groups and among the malocclusion groups were analyzed using two-way
      analysis of variance (ANOVA) (P < .05). RESULTS: A clinically significant
      anterior TSD (more than two standard deviations from the Bolton means) existed in
      37.9% of the subjects. No differences existed in the prevalence of overall TSDs
      between the male and female groups (P  =  .5913) or among the malocclusion groups
      (P  =  .0809). For the mean anterior tooth size ratios in the male group, the
      values for Class III and Class II division 2 were higher than in Class II
      division 1, and the value for Class II division 2 was higher than in Class I (P 
      =  .0184). CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of anterior tooth size discrepancies in
      this sample of Irish orthodontic patients was 37.9%. There were no statistically
      significant differences in the prevalence of mean overall TSDs with regard to
      malocclusion or gender. In the male group, the mean anterior tooth size ratio was
      higher in Class III and in Class II division 2 malocclusion than in Class II
      division 1 and higher in Class II division 2 malocclusion than in Class I
      malocclusion.

PMID- 20936966
TI  - Does the amount of filler content in sealants used to prevent decalcification on
      smooth enamel surfaces really matter?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine how filler content and an acidic environment affect the
      retention of sealants placed on smooth enamel surfaces. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A
      sample of 120 teeth was randomly divided into six subsamples. Three experimental
      sealants with identical formulas, with the exception of the amount of filler
      content (18%, 30%, 50%), were applied according to manufacturers'
      recommendations. Half of the subsamples were exposed to an acid environment (pH
      of 2.5) for 96 hours. With the use of a tooth-brushing simulator, each tooth was
      exposed to 15,000 brushing strokes, while a slurry of 1 : 3 toothpaste/neutral
      sodium bicarbonate cycled through the machine. Initial and final photographs were
      analyzed subjectively and objectively. Scanning electron microscope
      photomicrographs were used to evaluate the tooth surface. RESULTS: Subjective
      analyses showed significant (P < .05) filler effects, with the 18% filled sealant
      showing the least change, followed by the 30% sealant, then the 50% filled
      sealant, which showed the greatest loss. Objective analyses showed the same
      pattern of loss, but the differences between sealants were not statistically
      significant. Exposure to an acidic environment had no significant effect on
      sealant retention. SEMS showed a layer of sealant remaining on all of the sealed
      teeth evaluated. CONCLUSIONS: Filler content of resin sealant material affects
      the retention of sealants on smooth enamel surfaces; exposure to an acid
      environment has no effect on sealant retention. Within the limits of this study,
      highly filled resin sealants once saturated have the ability to endure the oral
      environment and remain on a smooth enamel surface, regardless of the amount of
      filler content.

PMID- 20936967
TI  - Effects of a diamond-like carbon coating on the frictional properties of
      orthodontic wires.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To test the hypothesis that a diamond-like carbon coating does not
      affect the frictional properties of orthodontic wires. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two
      types of wires (nickel-titanium and stainless steel) were used, and diamond-like
      carbon (DLC) films were deposited on the wires. Three types of brackets, a
      conventional stainless steel bracket and two self-ligating brackets, were used
      for measuring static friction. DLC layers were observed by three-dimensional
      scanning electron microscopy (3D-SEM), and the surface roughness was measured.
      Hardness and elastic modulus were obtained by nanoindentation testing. Frictional
      forces and surface roughness were compared by the Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney
      U-tests. The hardness and elastic modulus of the wires were compared using
      Student's t-test. RESULTS: When angulation was increased, the DLC-coated wires
      showed significantly less frictional force than the as-received wires, except for
      some wire/bracket combinations. Thin DLC layers were observed on the wire
      surfaces by SEM. As-received and DLC-coated wires had similar surface
      morphologies, and the DLC-coating process did not affect the surface roughness.
      The hardness of the surface layer of the DLC-coated wires was much higher than
      for the as-received wires. The elastic modulus of the surface layer of the DLC
      coated stainless steel wire was less than that of the as-received stainless steel
      wire, whereas similar values were found for the nickel-titanium wires.
      CONCLUSIONS: The hypothesis is rejected. A DLC-coating process does reduce the
      frictional force.

PMID- 20936968
TI  - Influence of enamel sandblasting prior to etching on shear bond strength of
      indirectly bonded lingual appliances.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To test the null hypothesis was that there is no difference in the
      mean shear bond strength of indirectly bonded lingual brackets prepared with or
      without sandblasting prior to acid etching. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty
      extracted human premolars were obtained and randomly divided into two groups of
      20 each: group I (control), phosphoric acid and indirect bonding with Maximum
      Cure and Phase II (Reliance, Itasca, Ill); and group II, sandblasting with 50 MUm
      aluminum oxide (Microetcher, Danville Engineering, Danville, Calif) prior to
      etching and indirect bonding. All products were used according to the
      manufacturer's instructions. Instron universal testing machine was used to apply
      an occlusogingival shear force directly onto the enamel-bracket interface at a
      speed of 0.5 mm/min. The groups were compared using unpaired Student's t-test.
      Kaplan-Meir survival plots and log-rank test were done to compare the survival
      distribution between the two groups. RESULTS: Mean (SD) shear bond strength for
      group I was 13.17 (4.33) MPa and for the group II was 16.42 (5.41) MPa.
      Significant difference was observed in the bond strengths of the two groups
      evaluated (P = .048). However, the log-rank test demonstrated that clinical
      performance of the groups evaluated was not significantly different (P = .091).
      The adhesive remnant index (ARI) was significantly higher when using sandblasting
      prior to acid etching than in the control group (P = .011). CONCLUSIONS:
      Intraoral sandblasting prior to enamel etching increased the bond strength of
      lingual brackets, but the clinical performance of the groups was not
      significantly different.

PMID- 20936969
TI  - Influence of orthodontic treatment, midline position, buccal corridor and smile
      arc on smile attractiveness.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the scientific evidence of the influence of some variables
      on smile attractiveness: orthodontic treatment, midline position, axial midline
      angulation, buccal corridor, and smile arc. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Literature was
      searched through PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and All EBM Reviews. The
      inclusion criteria consisted of studies written in English; published in the past
      three decades; concerning the influence of orthodontic treatment, midline
      position, axial midline angulation, buccal corridor, and smile arc on smile
      esthetics; and judged by a minimum of 10 raters. Quality features evaluated were
      adequate description of samples, absence of confounding factors, and description
      of methods used to evaluate the smiles and statistical analyses. RESULTS:
      Initially, 203 articles were retrieved. Of these, 20 abstracts met the initial
      inclusion criteria and were selected. Thirteen articles were classified as high
      quality, seven as average, and none as low quality. CONCLUSION: Four-premolar
      extraction or nonextraction treatment protocols seem to have no predictable
      effect on overall smile esthetics, meaning that if well indicated, extraction in
      orthodontics does not necessarily have a deleterious effect on facial esthetics.
      The selected articles recommend that a small dental midline deviation of 2.2 mm
      can be considered acceptable by both orthodontists and laypeople, whereas an
      axial midline angulation of 10 degrees  (2 mm measured from the midline papilla
      and the incisal edges of the incisors) is already very apparent, and considering
      studies dealing with real smiles, buccal corridor sizes and smile arc alone do
      not seem to affect smile attractiveness.

PMID- 20936970
TI  - Efficacy of short-term chincup therapy for mandibular growth retardation in Class
      III malocclusion.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the efficacy of chincup therapy for mandibular growth
      retardation in early orthopedic treatment of Class III malocclusion. MATERIALS
      AND METHODS: An electronic search for articles reporting randomized clinical
      trials, controlled clinical trials, and cohort studies testing the efficacy of
      chincup appliance for Class III malocclusion published up to the present was done
      through four databases: Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL;
      to March 2010), MEDLINE (1950-March 2010), EMBASE (1980-March 2010), and CBM
      (1978-March 2010). Study quality assessment and data extraction were done by two
      reviewers independently. Meta-analysis was done with the assistance of Revman
      5.01. RESULTS: The search resulted in 50 articles. After selection following the
      established criteria, four cohort studies qualified for the final review
      analysis. The results showed that chincup therapy decreased SNB angle and
      increased ANB angle; the total pooled weighted mean difference values (95%
      confidence interval) were -1.18 (-1.69, -0.67; P < .00001) and 1.90 (0.60, 3.21;
      P = .004), respectively. Two studies showed a increase in Gonial angle (P < .05)
      but no significant change in the mandibular length (Cd-Gn; P = .059 and .39,
      respectively). One study indicated that chincup therapy exerted no effect on
      mandibular growth retardation, and mandibular growth continued after the
      treatment in a downward direction. CONCLUSION: There are insufficient data in
      these studies to make clear recommendations regarding the efficacy of chincup
      therapy in the retardation of mandibular growth.

PMID- 20936971
TI  - Facial reconstruction of an 11-year-old female resident of 430 BC Athens.
AB  - Although modern standards of ideal proportions and facial esthetics are based
      mostly on observations of human faces as depicted in Classical Greek masterpieces
      of art, the real faces of ordinary ancient Greeks have, until now, remained
      elusive and subject to the imagination. Objective forensic techniques of facial
      reconstruction have never been applied before, because human skeletal material
      from Classical Greece has been extremely scarce, since most decent burials of
      that time required cremation. Here, the authors show stage by stage the facial
      reconstruction of an 11-year-old girl whose skull was unearthed in excellent
      condition from a mass grave with victims of the Plague that struck Athens of 430
      bc. The original skull was replicated via three-dimensional modeling and rapid
      prototyping techniques. The reconstruction followed the Manchester method, laying
      the facial tissues from the surface of the skull outward by using depth-marker
      pegs as thickness guides. The shape, size, and position of the eyes, ears, nose,
      and mouth were determined according to features of the underlying skeletal
      tissues, whereas the hairstyle followed the fashion of the time. This is the
      first case of facial reconstruction of a layperson residing in Athens of the
      Golden Age of Pericles. It is ironic, however, that this unfortunate girl who
      lived such a short life in ancient Athens, will now, 2500 years later, have the
      chance to travel and be universally recognizable in a world much bigger than
      anybody in ancient Athens could have ever imagined.

PMID- 20936973
TI  - Long-term impact of a multifaceted prevention program on ventilator-associated
      pneumonia in a medical intensive care unit.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP), the most common hospital
      acquired infection in intensive care units, increases mortality and health care
      costs. We describe the long-term impact of a multifaceted program for decreasing
      VAP rates that markedly improved compliance with 8 targeted preventive measures.
      METHODS: We compared VAP rates during a 45-month baseline period and a 30-month
      intervention period in a cohort of patients who received mechanical ventilation
      for > 48 h. VAP was diagnosed on the basis of quantitative cultures of distal
      specimens. VAP incidence density rates were expressed as total VAP episodes over
      total mechanical ventilation duration and as first VAP episodes over mechanical
      ventilation duration at VAP or hospital discharge. We used segmented regression
      analysis and a Cox proportional hazard model to assess the impact of the program
      on first VAP occurrence. RESULTS: Baseline and intervention VAP rates were 22.6
      and 13.1 total VAP episodes over total mechanical ventilation duration per 1000
      ventilation-days, respectively, and 26.1 and 14.9 first VAP episodes over
      mechanical ventilation duration at VAP or hospital discharge per 1000 procedure
      days, respectively (P < .001). VAP rates decreased by 43% in both statistical
      analyses and remained significant after adjustment for confounders (Cox adjusted
      hazard ratio, 0.58; 95% confidence interval, 0.46-0.72; P < .001). Daily VAP
      hazard rates on ventilation days 5, 10, and 15 were 2.6%, 3.5%, and 3.4%,
      respectively, during the baseline period and 1.4%, 2.3%, and 2%, respectively,
      during the intervention period. CONCLUSION: Our preventive program produced
      sustained VAP rate decreases in the long term. However, VAP rates remained
      substantial despite high compliance with preventive measures, suggesting that
      eliminating VAP in the intensive care unit may be an unrealistic goal.

PMID- 20936972
TI  - Innate antifungal immunity: the key role of phagocytes.
AB  - Fungal diseases have emerged as significant causes of morbidity and mortality,
      particularly in immune-compromised individuals, prompting greater interest in
      understanding the mechanisms of host resistance to these pathogens. Consequently,
      the past few decades have seen a tremendous increase in our knowledge of the
      innate and adaptive components underlying the protective (and nonprotective)
      mechanisms of antifungal immunity. What has emerged from these studies is that
      phagocytic cells are essential for protection and that defects in these cells
      compromise the host's ability to resist fungal infection. This review covers the
      functions of phagocytes in innate antifungal immunity, along with selected
      examples of the strategies that are used by fungal pathogens to subvert these
      defenses.

PMID- 20936974
TI  - Tumefactive demyelination-an unusual neurological presentation of HIV.
AB  - We describe 3 individuals infected with human immunodeficiency virus with unusual
      focal brain syndromes; magnetic resonance imaging revealed "open-ring" pattern
      space occupying lesions. After deterioration while the patients were receiving
      anti-Toxoplasma therapy, brain biopsy was performed, which revealed aggressive
      demyelination consistent with tumefactive demyelination. Treatment with high-dose
      steroids resulted in complete recovery in all cases.

PMID- 20936977
TI  - Ventilator-associated pneumonia: is zero possible?

PMID- 20936975
TI  - Long-acting neuraminidase inhibitor laninamivir octanoate versus oseltamivir for
      treatment of influenza: A double-blind, randomized, noninferiority clinical
      trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A single administration of laninamivir octanoate, a long-acting
      neuraminidase inhibitor, against influenza infection has been proven effective in
      nonclinical studies. This study evaluated the clinical efficacy of laninamivir
      octanoate for the treatment of adult influenza patients. METHODS: A double-blind,
      randomized controlled trial examined whether laninamivir octanoate was
      noninferior to oseltamivir. A total of 1003 patients aged >= 20 years with
      febrile influenza symptoms for no more than 36 h were randomized to receive
      either 40 mg of laninamivir octanoate, 20 mg of laninamivir octanoate, or
      oseltamivir. Laninamivir octanoate was inhaled once on day 1, and oseltamivir (75
      mg) was administered orally twice daily for 5 days. The primary end point was the
      time to illness alleviation. RESULTS: A total of 996 patients were included in
      the primary analysis (40-mg laninamivir octanoate, n = 334; 20-mg laninamivir
      octanoate, n = 326; and oseltamivir, n = 336). The median time to illness
      alleviation in the 40-mg laninamivir octanoate, 20-mg laninamivir octanoate, and
      oseltamivir groups was 73.0, 85.8, and 73.6 h, respectively. The difference
      between laninamivir octanoate and oseltamivir was -0.6 h (95% confidence
      interval, -9.9 to 6.9 h) for the 40-mg group and 12.2 h (95% confidence interval,
      -1.5 to 17.2 h) for the 20-mg group. The upper limits of the 95% confidence
      intervals were less than the prespecified noninferiority margin (18 h). The
      proportion of patients shedding virus at day 3 was significantly lower in the 40
      mg laninamivir octanoate group than in the oseltamivir group (P = .006).
      CONCLUSIONS: A single inhalation of laninamivir octanoate is effective for the
      treatment of seasonal influenza, including that caused by oseltamivir-resistant
      virus, in adults. CLINICAL TRIALS REGISTRATION: NCT00803595.

PMID- 20936976
TI  - Seroprevalence of cytomegalovirus (CMV) and risk factors for infection in
      adolescent males.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a leading cause of disability,
      including sensorineural hearing loss, developmental delay, and mental
      retardation. Although the seroprevalence of CMV and associated exposure and
      behavioral risk factors have been reported in adolescent females, few data exist
      about males. METHODS: Serum samples were obtained from males aged 12-17 years
      from June 2006 through July 2007 in Cincinnati, Ohio; Galveston, Texas; and
      Nashville, Tennessee. The samples were tested for CMV immunoglobulin G antibody
      with a commercial assay. Participants completed a computer-assisted screening
      interview to assess 7 risk categories. RESULTS: A total of 397 adolescent males
      were screened, and 165 (47%) were seropositive. African American race, older age,
      and exposure to children <= 3 years of age in the home were significant
      predictors of CMV infection in the univariate analysis. Hispanic ethnicity, group
      living situations, saliva-sharing behaviors, and intimate sexual contact were not
      associated with CMV infection. However, among those with a history of sexual
      contact, the number of life-time partners was associated with CMV. In the final
      multivariate model, CMV seroprevalence was significantly higher in African
      American subjects (odds ratio [OR], 1.93; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.27
      2.95) and subjects >= 14 years of age (OR, 1.1; 95% CI, 1.0-1.28). With each
      additional risk factor, males had a 1.6 times increased risk of CMV. CONCLUSIONS:
      CMV infections are common in adolescent males and are associated with African
      American race and increasing age. Further study is needed to understand these
      risk factors in preparation for a CMV vaccine targeted at both adolescent males
      and females.

PMID- 20936978
TI  - Detection of xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus in normal and tumor
      tissue of patients from the southern United States with prostate cancer is
      dependent on specific polymerase chain reaction conditions.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There are questions regarding the prevalence of xenotropic murine
      leukemia virus-related virus (XMRV) in patients with prostate cancer and its
      association with the RNASEL R462Q polymorphism. We therefore investigated whether
      XMRV infection could be found in patients with prostate cancer from the southern
      United States, and we sought to verify the association with the R462Q. METHODS:
      Prostate tissue specimens of 144 patients with prostate cancer from the southern
      United States were genotyped for R462Q by real time polymerase chain reaction
      allelic discrimination and were screened for XMRV proviral DNA by nested
      polymerase chain reaction specific for the env gene. RESULTS: The R462Q
      polymorphism was found at an allelic frequency of 0.33. XMRV was detected in 32
      (22%) of the 144 patients. Patients were significantly more likely to test
      positive for XMRV in both tumor and normal tissue rather than either alone (kappa
      = 0.64). A positive result for XMRV was not significantly correlated with the
      R462Q polymorphism (P = .82) or clinical pathological parameters of prostate
      cancer, including Gleason score (P = .29). CONCLUSIONS: XMRV is detectable in
      normal and tumor prostate tissue from patients with prostate cancer, independent
      of R462Q. The presence of XMRV in normal tissue suggests that infection may
      precede cancer onset.

PMID- 20936979
TI  - Accelerated hepatitis B vaccination schedule among drug users: a randomized
      controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hepatitis B vaccine provides a model for improving uptake and
      completion of multidose vaccinations in the drug-using community. METHODS: The
      Drugs, AIDS, STDs, and Hepatitis (DASH) project conducted a randomized controlled
      trial among not-in-treatment current drug users in 2 urban neighborhoods.
      Neighborhoods were cluster-randomized to receive a standard behavioral
      intervention (which provided information on human immunodeficiency virus [HIV])
      or an enhanced behavioral intervention (designed to increase acceptance of or
      adherence to the hepatitis B vaccination protocol). Participants within clusters
      were randomized to a standard vaccination schedule (vaccines at 0, 1, and 6
      months) or an accelerated vaccination schedule (vaccines at 0, 1, and 2 months).
      The outcomes were completion of the 3-dose vaccine and seroprotection against
      hepatitis B virus (HBV). RESULTS: Of participants with negative screening results
      for HIV and HBV, 77% accepted hepatitis B vaccination, and 75% of vaccinees
      received all 3 doses. Injection drug users (IDUs) on the accelerated schedule
      were significantly more likely to receive 3 doses (76%) than those on the
      standard schedule (66%; P = .04), although for drug users as a whole the
      corresponding adherence rates were 77% and 73%, respectively. No difference in
      adherence was observed between the behavioral intervention groups. Predictors of
      adherence were older age, African American race, stable housing, and alcohol use.
      Cumulative HBV seroprotection (>=10 mIU/mL) was gained within 12 months by 65% of
      those completing the schedule. Seroprotection at 6 months was greater for those
      on the accelerated schedule. CONCLUSION: The accelerated vaccination schedule
      improves hepatitis B vaccination adherence among IDUs.

PMID- 20936980
TI  - Xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus prevalence in patients with
      chronic fatigue syndrome or chronic immunomodulatory conditions.
AB  - We investigated the prevalence of xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus
      (XMRV) among 293 participants seen at academic hospitals in Boston,
      Massachusetts. Participants were recruited from the following 5 groups of
      patients: chronic fatigue syndrome (n = 32), human immunodeficiency virus
      infection (n = 43), rheumatoid arthritis (n = 97), hematopoietic stem-cell or
      solid organ transplant (n = 26), or a general cohort of patients presenting for
      medical care (n = 95). XMRV DNA was not detected in any participant samples. We
      found no association between XMRV and patients with chronic fatigue syndrome or
      chronic immunomodulatory conditions.

PMID- 20936981
TI  - Current status of xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related retrovirus in chronic
      fatigue syndrome and prostate cancer: reach for a scorecard, not a prescription
      pad.

PMID- 20936982
TI  - Failure to detect xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus in blood of
      individuals at high risk of blood-borne viral infections.
AB  - A xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus (XMRV) has recently been
      reported in association with prostate cancer and chronic fatigue syndrome, with a
      prevalence of up to 3.7% in the healthy population. We looked for XMRV in 230
      patients with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 or hepatitis C infection. XMRV
      was undetectable in plasma or peripheral blood mononuclear cells by polymerase
      chain reaction targeting XMRV gag or env. T cell responses to XMRV Gag were
      undetectable in peripheral blood mononuclear cells by ex vivo gamma interferon
      enzyme-linked immunospot assay. In our cohorts, XMRV was not enriched in patients
      with blood-borne or sexually transmitted infections from the United Kingdom and
      Western Europe.

PMID- 20936983
TI  - Cellular differentiation in primary cell cultures from single zebrafish embryos
      as a model for the study of myogenesis.
AB  - Culturing cells in vitro can produce a uniform population for the study of
      cellular differentiation, which is especially useful for the quantification of
      gene expression or the observation of subcellular structures. In zebrafish, a
      handful of immortalized cell lines have been used for these purposes, despite
      being heavily selected by passaging. Methods for primary cell culture of
      zebrafish embryonic blastomeres have been previously reported, but require
      combining a large number of genetically heterogeneous embryos, meaning that
      subsequent cell cultures are not clonal. Without genetically uniform cultures,
      this model system cannot exploit the wealth of available embryonic lethal mutants
      in zebrafish. We therefore describe methods for the generation of zebrafish
      embryonic blastomere cell cultures from single genetically characterized embryos.
      We examined myogenic differentiation and gene expression in single-embryo
      cultures from early wild-type embryos, as well as embryos containing an embryonic
      lethal mutation of unc45b, a myosin chaperone known to be required for sarcomere
      organization during myogenesis. We also demonstrated the practical usefulness of
      this technique by experimentally manipulating expression of specific genes in
      individual embryos before cell culture using standard tools of zebrafish biology
      such as morpholino-oligonucleotide gene knockdown and transgene-mediated gene
      expression.

PMID- 20936984
TI  - A novel method for rearing first-feeding larval zebrafish: polyculture with Type
      L saltwater rotifers (Brachionus plicatilis).
AB  - Promoting high rates of growth and survival can be a major challenge in zebrafish
      culture, especially during the first-feeding stage. Here we describe a new
      rearing technique in which zebrafish larvae are polycultured in static tanks with
      Type "L" saltwater rotifers (Brachionus plicatilis) for the first 5 days of
      feeding (days 5-9 postfertilization). To demonstrate the effectiveness of this
      technique, we conducted rearing trials using fish from two different strains: AB
      and nacre. Growth, survival, water quality, and rotifer density were assayed
      daily through the polyculture phase (days 5-9), and during the transition to
      standard rearing conditions (days 10-12). After that point, once the fish were
      fully integrated onto recirculating systems, parameters were measured once per
      week out to day 30. In all trials, the fish displayed high rates of growth and
      survival throughout the three phases (polyculture, transition, and recirculating
      flow), indicating that this method may be employed during the critical first
      feeding stage to help improve rearing performance in zebrafish facilities.
      Additionally, water quality parameters observed during the polyculture phase of
      the trials reveal that early zebrafish larvae are much more tolerant of elevated
      levels of ammonia and salinity than previously believed.

PMID- 20936986
TI  - Systemic lupus erythematosus exhibits a dynamic and continuum spectrum of
      effector/regulatory T cells.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The identification of regulatory T cells (Treg cells) as
      CD4(+)CD25(high) cells may be upset by the increased frequency of activated
      effector T cells (Teff cells) in inflammatory diseases such as systemic lupus
      erythematosus (SLE). This study aimed to evaluate the frequency of T-cell subsets
      according to the expression of CD25 and CD127 in active (A-SLE) and inactive SLE
      (I-SLE). METHODS: Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from 26 A-SLE
      patients (SLE Disease Activity Index (SLEDAI) = 10.17 +/- 3.7), 31 I-SLE patients
      (SLEDAI = 0), and 26 healthy controls (HC) were analysed by multicolour flow
      cytometry. RESULTS: CD25(high) cell frequency was increased in A-SLE (5.2 +/-
      5.7%) compared to I-SLE (3.4 +/- 3.4%) and HC (1.73 +/- 0.8%) (p < 0.01).
      However, the percentage of FoxP3(+) cells in the CD25(high) subset was decreased
      in A-SLE (24.6 +/- 16.4%) compared to I-SLE (33.7 +/- 16) and HC (45 +/- 25.1%)
      (p < 0.01). This was partly due to the increased frequency of Teff cells
      (CD25(high)CD127(+)FoxP3(O)) in A-SLE (10.7 +/- 7.3%) compared to I-SLE (8.5 +/-
      6.5) and HC (6.1 +/- 1.8%) (p = 0.02). Hence the frequency of Treg cells
      (CD25(+/high)CD127(low/O)FoxP3(+)) was equivalent in A-SLE (1.4 +/- 0.8%), I-SLE
      (1.37 +/- 1.0%), and HC (1.13 +/- 0.59%) (p = 0.42). A-SLE presented an increased
      frequency of CD25(+)CD127(+)FoxP3(+) and CD25(O)FoxP3(+)CD127(low/O) T cells,
      which may represent intermediate phenotypes between Treg and Teff cells.
      CONCLUSIONS: The present study has provided data supporting normal Treg cell
      frequency in A-SLE and I-SLE as well as increased frequency of Teff cells in A
      SLE. This scenario reflects a Treg/Teff ratio imbalance that may favour the
      inflammatory phenotype of the disease. In addition, the increased frequency of T
      cells with putative intermediate phenotypes may be compatible with a highly
      dynamic immune system in SLE.

PMID- 20936987
TI  - Treatment of Schnitzler's syndrome with anakinra: report of three cases and
      review of the literature.

PMID- 20936988
TI  - Small molecules regulating apoptosis in the synovium in rheumatoid arthritis.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To study the rate of apoptosis and expression of pro- and anti
      apoptotic molecules in the synovial membrane in early and late rheumatoid
      arthritis (RA). METHODS: Samples of the synovium, cartilage, synovial fluid, and
      blood serum were obtained from patients with seropositive RA. The localization of
      Bcl-2-, p53- and TUNEL-immunoreactive cells in the synovial membrane was studied.
      The level of the soluble Fas (sFas) receptor was determined in the blood serum
      and synovial fluid using an immunoassay. RESULTS: In early RA, p53-immunoreactive
      synovial cells of type A were found to form rare aggregates in the intima. In
      late RA, on the contrary, these cells increased in number and occurred
      predominantly in the synovial stroma. Bcl-2-immunoreactive synovial cells were
      observed in lymphocytic infiltrates in the intima. They were found mainly in
      early RA. In late RA, their number decreased. The apoptotic index determined from
      the proportion of TUNEL-reactive synovial cell nuclei reached a maximum in late
      RA. The temporal differences in the rate of apoptosis were correlated with the
      humoral level of sFas, which increased significantly in late RA. On the contrary,
      in the synovial fluid, the sFas level decreased monotonically from early to late
      RA. CONCLUSION: In early RA, in the synovial membrane, the rate of apoptosis and
      p-53-immunostaining intensity were low, and Bcl-2-immunostaining intensity was
      high. The sFas level in synovial fluid was high. In late RA, the rate of
      apoptosis and p-53-immunostaining intensity increased, Bcl-2-immunostaining
      intensity decreased, as did the sFas level.

PMID- 20936990
TI  - Racial differences in treatment effect among men in a substance abuse and
      domestic violence program.
AB  - BACKGROUND: It is unclear whether racial differences in treatment effect exist
      for individuals in substance abuse and domestic violence programs. OBJECTIVES:
      This study examined racial differences in treatment effect among substance
      dependent Caucasian and African-American male intimate partner violence (IPV)
      offenders court mandated to an integrated substance abuse and domestic violence
      treatment. METHODS: From baseline to completion of treatment (week 12), 75
      participants (39 Caucasian; 36 African-American) were assessed on demographics,
      substance use, legal characteristics, and use of violence (physical, verbal, and
      psychological). RESULTS: African-American men served more months incarcerated in
      their life than Caucasian men. Both groups showed decreases in their use of
      physical violence and alcohol abuse over treatment. Caucasian men also showed a
      decrease in their use of verbal abuse. CONCLUSIONS AND SCIENTIFIC SIGNIFICANCE:
      At treatment completion, both groups showed a reduction in physical abuse and
      alcohol abuse. Caucasian men showed a reduction in their use of verbal abuse, but
      African-American men did not. Substance dependent African-American male IPV
      offenders may benefit from interventions that thoroughly target communication
      skills in addition to issues of substance abuse and IPV to reduce use of verbal
      abuse and improve treatment outcomes among African American men.

PMID- 20936991
TI  - Cannabis use and obesity and young adults.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is shortage of evidence about the relationship between use of
      cannabis and obesity. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to examine the association
      between cannabis use and overweight/obesity in young adults. METHODS: Data were
      from a 21-year follow-up of mothers and their children recruited into the Mater
      University of Queensland Study of Pregnancy (MUSP), a longitudinal pre-birth
      cohort. The study is based on 2566 young adults (1264 males and 1302 females) who
      had data available on cannabis use and age of initiation to use of cannabis and
      BMI at the 21-year follow-up (MUSP children). Those who did not provide data on
      cannabis use and BMI were excluded from the analysis. RESULTS: Frequency of
      cannabis use and body mass index (BMI) was assessed at the 21-year follow-up.
      Potential confounders were prospectively measured between the child's birth and
      the 21-year follow-up. Some 50.9% of young adults reported use of cannabis in the
      last month or year and 34.1% had BMI <= 25. Multivariate analysis showed that
      those who had used cannabis were less likely to be categorised in the BMI >= 25
      group with the least prevalence of overweight/obesity being observed in every day
      cannabis users (odds ratio = .2; 95% confidence interval [CI]:.1-.4). CONCLUSIONS
      AND SCIENTIFIC SIGNIFICANCE: The existing data suggest lower prevalence of
      overweight and obesity among young adult cannabis users. Further research is
      needed to examine the mechanism of this association.

PMID- 20936992
TI  - Exhaled NO among inner-city children in New York City.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) has been proposed as a
      biomarker of airway inflammation for cohort studies of asthma. OBJECTIVES: To
      assess the association between FeNO and asthma symptoms among 7-year-old children
      living in an inner-city community. To test the association between environmental
      tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure (previous and current) and FeNO among these
      children. METHODS: As part of a longitudinal study of asthma, children recruited
      in Head Start centers at age 4 had offline FeNO and lung function testing at age
      7. Children with allergen-specific immunoglobulin E (IgE) (>=0.35 IU/mL) at age 7
      were considered seroatopic. ETS exposure at ages 4 and 7 was assessed by
      questionnaire. RESULTS: Of 144 participating children, 89 had complete
      questionnaire data and achieved valid FeNO and lung function tests. Children with
      reported wheeze in the previous 12 months (n = 19) had higher FeNO than those
      without wheeze (n = 70) (geometric means 17.0 vs. 11.0 ppb, p = .005). FeNO
      remained significantly associated with wheeze (p = .031), after adjusting for
      seroatopy and forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) in multivariable
      regression. FeNO at age 7 was positively associated with domestic ETS exposure at
      age 4 (29%) (beta = 0.36, p = .015) but inversely associated with ETS exposure at
      age 7 (16%) (beta = -0.74, p < .001). CONCLUSIONS: Given its association with
      current wheeze, independent of seroatopy and lung function, FeNO provides a
      relevant outcome measure for studies in inner-city communities. While compelling,
      the positive association between ETS exposure at age 4 and a marker of airway
      inflammation at age 7 should be confirmed in a larger study.

PMID- 20936993
TI  - Use of lung function tests in asthmatic children is associated with lower risk of
      hospitalization. A Danish population-based follow-up study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Asthma is the most common chronic disease in childhood. Large
      variations in hospitalization rates are observed and adherence to and
      appropriateness of guidelines are often subject of discussion. The aim was to
      examine if adherence to guidelines concerning use of lung function tests at time
      of diagnosis and during the first year after the start of medical treatment was
      associated with risk of hospitalization. RESEARCH DESIGN: A Danish nationwide
      population-based cohort study was performed for the study period 1999-2004 using
      data from five nationwide registries linked by a unique personal registration
      number. METHODS: Risk of hospitalization was examined in relation to whether
      asthmatic children aged 6-14 had a lung function test at the start of treatment
      and during the first year of follow-up and a medication ratio of controller-to
      total medication of at least 0.5. Cox regression analysis was used to calculate
      hazard ratios (HRs) adjusted for sex, age, socioeconomic factors, care provider,
      and severity of disease. RESULTS: A total of 27,193 asthmatic children were
      followed for at least 1 year after the start of medication. The adjusted HR for
      hospitalization was 0.64 (95% confidence interval: 0.55-0.74) for having had a
      lung function test at the start of treatment; 0.82 (0.68-1.00) for having had a
      lung function test during the first 6 months of follow-up; 0.67 (0.55-0.81) for
      having a medication ratio of at least 0.5. Children from low-income families and
      children aged 6-8 had an increased risk of hospitalization. CONCLUSION: Adherence
      to the guidelines concerning use of lung function test for asthmatic children was
      associated with a reduced risk of hospitalization. Likewise, a medication ratio
      of controller-to-total medication of at least 0.5 was associated with a lower
      risk of hospitalization.

PMID- 20936994
TI  - A phase I randomized, placebo-controlled, dose-exploration study of single-dose
      inhaled montelukast in patients with chronic asthma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The efficacy of oral montelukast has been well established in asthma
      and allergic rhinitis in adults and children. The purpose of this study was to
      evaluate dose-related bronchodilation and tolerability of inhaled montelukast.
      METHODS: Randomized, double-blind, crossover, adaptive-design study comparing
      single-dose administration of inhaled montelukast versus placebo in patients age
      15-65 years with chronic asthma (n = 68). Montelukast was delivered as a
      witnessed dose through dry powder inhaler at doses of 25, 250, or 1000 MUg, and
      doses of 50, 100, and 500 MUg could be used if needed based on a prespecified
      dose-response algorithm. Each administration was followed by a 4- to 7-day
      washout period before crossing over to the next treatment. The primary endpoint
      was the change from baseline in a forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1)
      over the first 4 hours after administration, calculated as a time-weighted
      average (DeltaFEV1 [0-4 hours]). Other endpoints included the onset and duration
      of bronchodilation and the effect of albuterol when added to inhaled montelukast.
      RESULTS: Over 4 hours postdose, and compared with placebo (least-squares [LS]
      mean 0.03 L), inhaled montelukast 100 MUg (0.13 L; p <= .001), 250 MUg (0.10 L; p
      < .01), and 1000 MUg (0.12 L; p <= .001) had significantly greater DeltaFEV1 (0-4
      hours). At 24 hours postdose, inhaled montelukast 100 MUg (0.10 L) and 1000 MUg
      (0.09 L) had significantly greater bronchodilation compared with placebo (0.02 L;
      p < .05 vs. montelukast). Montelukast 1000 MUg provided significant
      bronchodilation versus placebo within 20 minutes of administration (0.03 L vs. 
      0.05 L), whereas montelukast 100 MUg provided significant bronchodilation
      relative to placebo within 2 hours of dosing (0.09 L vs. 0.01 L). Montelukast
      (pooled doses) plus albuterol was significantly more effective than montelukast
      plus placebo for DeltaFEV1 (0-90 minutes) (0.34 L vs. 0.15 L; p = .015). The
      tolerability of inhaled montelukast was similar to that of placebo. No serious
      adverse experiences were reported. CONCLUSIONS: Inhaled montelukast provided
      significant bronchodilation compared with placebo as early as 20 minutes after
      the administration that persisted for 24 hours and provided additive
      bronchodilation to albuterol.

PMID- 20936995
TI  - Effects of reverberation on acceptable noise level measurements in younger and
      older adults.
AB  - Acceptable noise level (ANL) test materials were digitally modified to create
      five reverberant conditions by applying different values of reverberation time
      (RT) to a non-reverberant condition (RT = 0, 0.4, 0.7, 1.2, and 2 s). Two groups
      of 12 subjects participated: younger individuals (22-29 years, M = 24.3) and
      older adults (50-69 years, M = 57.5). Mean hearing threshold levels (250 to 8000
      Hz) for both groups were 30 dB HL or better. Most comfortable listening level
      (MCL) and background noise level (BNL) measurements were completed in each
      reverberant condition, and from these measurements, ANLs were calculated.
      Significant main effects for age and reverberation were not found for ANL or MCL.
      These results suggest that reverberation does not affect the amount of background
      noise individuals are willing to accept, or the level of speech individuals
      choose as the MCL. These results can be used by clinical audiologists to counsel
      patients regarding the use of communication strategies. Additionally, these
      results can be used to support previous findings that ANL is not related to the
      intelligibility of the speech signal.

PMID- 20936997
TI  - Modelling the speech reception threshold in non-stationary noise in hearing
      impaired listeners as a function of level.
AB  - The extended speech intelligibility index (ESII) model (Rhebergen et al, 2006)
      forms an upgrade to the conventional speech intelligibility index model. For
      normal-hearing listeners the ESII model is able to predict the speech reception
      threshold (SRT) in both stationary and non-stationary noise maskers. In this
      paper, a first attempt is made to evaluate the ESII with SRT data obtained by de
      Laat and Plomp (1983), and Versfeld and Dreschler (2002) of hearing-impaired
      listeners in stationary, 10-Hz interrupted, and non-stationary speech-shaped
      noise measured at different noise levels. The results show that the ESII model is
      able to describe the SRT in different non-stationary noises for normal-hearing
      listeners at different noise levels reasonably well. However, the ESII model is
      less successful in the case of predicting the SRT in non-stationary noise for
      hearing-impaired subjects. As long as the present audibility models cannot
      describe the auditory processing in a listener with cochlear hearing loss
      accurately, it is difficult to distinguish between raised SRTs due to supra
      threshold deficits or factors such as cognition, age, and language skills.

PMID- 20937000
TI  - Evidence of fast serotonin transmission in frog slowly adapting type 1 responses.
AB  - The Merkel cell-neurite (MCN) complex generates slowly adapting type 1 (SA1)
      response when mechanically stimulated. Both serotonin (5-HT) and glutamate have
      been implicated in the generation of normal SA1 responses, but previous studies
      have been inconclusive as to what their roles are or how synaptic transmission
      occurs. In this study, excised dorsal skin patches from common water frogs (Rana
      ridibunda) were stimulated by von Frey hairs during perfusion in a tissue bath,
      and single-unit spike activity was recorded from SA1 fibres. Serotonin had no
      significant effect on the SA1 response at low (10 uM) concentration,
      significantly increased activity in a force-independent manner at 100 uM, but
      decreased activity with reduced responsiveness to force at 1 mM. Glutamate showed
      no effect on the responsiveness to force at 100 uM. MDL 72222 (100 uM), an
      ionotropic 5-HT3 receptor antagonist, completely abolished the responsiveness to
      force, suggesting that serotonin is released from Merkel cells as a result of
      mechanical stimulation, and activated 5-HT3 receptors on the neurite. The
      metabotropic 5-HT2 receptor antagonist, ketanserin, greatly reduced the SA1
      fibre's responsiveness to force, as did the non-specific glutamate receptor
      antagonist, kynurenic acid. This supports a role for serotonin and glutamate as
      neuromodulators in the MCN complex, possibly by activation and/or inhibition of
      signalling cascades in the Merkel cell associated with vesicle release.
      Additionally, it was observed that SA1 responses contained a force-independent
      component, similar to a dynamic response observed during mechanical vibrations.

PMID- 20937001
TI  - Explaining functioning outcomes across musculoskeletal conditions: a multilevel
      modelling approach.
AB  - PURPOSE: To determine whether changes in health outcomes result from changes in
      domains of functioning and relevant environmental factors in musculoskeletal
      conditions. METHOD: Longitudinal observational study on a convenience sample of
      291 patients with low back pain, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, rheumatoid
      arthritis and chronic widespread pain. The study was part of the MHADIE project.
      Data collection was performed at baseline, after 4 and 8 weeks using the ICF Core
      Sets for the corresponding musculoskeletal conditions. Multilevel models for
      change were used to determine which ICF categories explain the variability and
      change over time of the general, physical and mental health according to the SF
      36. RESULTS: There are only small fluctuations in the health outcomes. These are
      related to functions of the locomotor apparatus, such as muscle power, and to
      activities and participation domains related to them, such as lifting and
      carrying objects. A large amount of baseline variance is explained with a
      relatively small number of ICF categories of functioning. CONCLUSIONS: This study
      presents a list of functioning problems and environmental factors relevant to map
      out both the patterns and the variations in the experience of living with a
      chronic and painful condition. These are intervention targets common across MSC
      conditions.

PMID- 20937002
TI  - Pro-inflammatory cytokine levels in postmenopausal women with the metabolic
      syndrome.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Prevalence of the metabolic syndrome (METS) and its components
      significantly increase after the menopause. Related increased cardiovascular risk
      may partially be explained by a pro-inflammatory state. OBJECTIVE: To assess pro
      inflammatory cytokine serum levels in postmenopausal women with and without the
      METS. METHODS: Serum of 90 postmenopausal women who previously participated in a
      METS screening programme was analysed for tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF
      alpha) and interleukin 6 (IL-6). Cytokine levels were compared among those with
      and without the syndrome, and for each of its components. Linear relationships
      were also assessed between cytokine levels and several continuous variables
      including each diagnostic METS criteria and menopausal symptoms assessed with the
      Menopause Specific Quality of Life tool (MENQOL). RESULTS: For all studied women
      mean age was 55.1 +/- 7.3 years with 63.3% having abdominal obesity, 15.6%
      hyperglycaemia, 58.9% high triglycerides, 44.4% hypertension and 25.6% high total
      cholesterol levels. Women with the METS (n = 45) significantly had higher body
      mass index values, and higher rates of abdominal obesity, hyperglycaemia,
      hypertriglyceridemia, hypertension and lower HDL-C levels. Cytokine levels did
      not differ among women with or without the METS; however, independent of METS
      diagnosis those with abdominal obesity displayed significantly higher IL-6 levels
      and those with hypertension higher levels of both cytokines. Levels of both
      cytokines positively correlated with age and time since menopause, IL-6
      positively correlating with waist circumference values and TNF-alpha positively
      with both systolic and diastolic blood pressure levels. A significant positive
      correlation was also found between the number of positive METS criteria (0-5) and
      both cytokine levels. Cytokine levels did not correlate with vasomotor and psycho
      social MENQOL scores. CONCLUSION: Pro-inflammatory cytokine levels in this
      postmenopausal series positively correlated with age, time since the menopause,
      abdominal circumference, blood pressures levels and the number of positive METS
      diagnostic criteria. There is a need for more research in this regard.

PMID- 20937003
TI  - Menstrual cycles are influenced by sunshine.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The study determined the effect of seasons and meteorological
      variables on ovarian-menstrual function. METHODS: Women (N=129) living in
      Novosibirsk (55 degrees N), Russia, provided data on normal menstrual cycles for
      over 1 year between 1999 and 2008. Of these, 18 together with 20 other healthy
      women were investigated once in winter and once in summer in 2006-2009. The
      investigated variables included serum levels of follicle-stimulating hormone
      (FSH), luteinising hormone (LH) and prolactin on day ~ 7 of the menstrual cycle,
      ovary follicle size (by ultrasound) on day ~ 12 and ovulation occurrence on
      subsequent days. RESULTS: In summer vs. winter, there was a trend towards
      increased FSH secretion, significantly larger ovarian follicle size, higher
      frequency of ovulation (97% vs. 71%) and a shorter menstrual cycle (by 0.9 days).
      LH and prolactin levels did not change. In all seasons combined, increased
      sunshine (data derived from local meteorological records) 2-3 days before the
      presumed ovulation day (calculated from the mean menstrual cycle) led to a
      shorter cycle length. Air/perceived temperature, atmospheric pressure, moon
      phase/light were not significant predictors. CONCLUSIONS: Ovarian activity is
      greater in summer vs. winter in women living in a continental climate at
      temperate latitudes; sunshine is a factor that influences menstrual cycle.

PMID- 20937004
TI  - In vitro assessment of metabolic drug-drug interaction potential of AZD2624,
      neurokinin-3 receptor antagonist, through cytochrome P(450) enzyme
      identification, inhibition, and induction studies.
AB  - AZD2624 was pharmacologically characterized as a NK3 receptor antagonist intended
      for treatment of schizophrenia. The metabolic drug-drug interaction potential of
      AZD2624 was evaluated in in vitro studies. CYP3A4 and CYP3A5 appeared to be the
      primary enzymes mediating the formation of pharmacologically active ketone
      metabolite (M1), whereas CYP3A4, CYP3A5, and CYP2C9 appeared to be the enzymes
      responsible for the formation of the hydroxylated metabolite (M2). The apparent
      K(m) values were 1.5 and 6.3 uM for the formation of M1 and M2 in human liver
      microsomes, respectively. AZD2624 exhibited an inhibitory effect on microsomal
      CYP3A4/5 activities with apparent IC(50) values of 7.1 and 19.8 uM for midazolam
      and testosterone assays, respectively. No time-dependent inactivation of CYP3A4/5
      activity (midazolam 1'-hydroxylation) by AZD2624 was observed. AZD2624
      demonstrated weak to no inhibition of CYP1A2, CYP2B6, CYP2C8, CYP2C9, CYP2C19,
      and CYP2D6. AZD2624 was not an inducer of CYP1A2 or CYP2B6. Although AZD2624
      induced CYP3A4 activity in hepatocytes, the potential of AZD2624 to cause
      inductive drug interactions of this enzyme was low at relevant exposure
      concentration. Together with targeted low efficacious concentration, the results
      of this study demonstrated AZD2624 has a relatively low metabolic drug-drug
      interaction potential towards co-administered drugs. However, metabolism of
      AZD2624 might be inhibited when co-administrated with potent CYP3A4/5 inhibitors.

PMID- 20937005
TI  - One-hour post-glucola results and pre-pregnancy body mass index are associated
      with the need for insulin therapy in women with gestational diabetes.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to analyze the relationship of 1-h post
      glucola (PG) screening results and the need for insulin therapy in women with
      gestational diabetes (GDM). METHODS: The study group was comprised of women with
      GDM treated at a single institution during calendar years 2000-2004. Women with
      singleton, term (>= 37 weeks gestation), liveborn fetuses were included. The
      association of 1-h PG results and other perinatal risk factors to the need for
      subsequent insulin therapy was analyzed using multivariable logistic regression
      models. RESULTS: Of the 1451 women were included in the analysis, 18.1% required
      insulin treatment. The mean 1-h PG result was 170.0 +/- 26.1 mg/dl (range 140-414
      mg/dl). We determined that a 1-h PG >= 190 mg/dl (p < 0.0001), an obese body mass
      index (BMI) (p < 0.0001), an overweight BMI (p = 0.0019), prior GDM (p = 0.0019),
      and prior macrosomia (p = 0.0210) were each highly associated with the need for
      subsequent insulin therapy during the pregnancy. CONCLUSIONS: A 1-h PG >= 190
      mg/dl was strongly associated with the need for insulin therapy in women with
      GDM. These data may be helpful in counseling and managing women with GDM.

PMID- 20937006
TI  - Cord blood erythropoietin and interleukin-6 for prediction of intraventricular
      hemorrhage in the preterm neonate.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate cord blood erythropoietin (EPO) and interleukin-6 (IL-6)
      levels to predict preterm infants at risk of developing intraventricular
      hemorrhage (IVH). METHODS: Levels of umbilical cord EPO, acid-base status and IL
      6 were analyzed in 116 consecutive, preterm newborns (GA at delivery: 29 [23-34 ]
      weeks) born to mothers who had a clinically indicated amniocentesis to rule out
      infection. Early-onset neonatal sepsis (EONS) was diagnosed using symptoms,
      hematological criteria and blood cultures. RESULTS: IVH was diagnosed by cranial
      ultrasounds. The prevalence of IVH in our population was 25% (29/116). There was
      a direct relationship between cord blood EPO and cord blood IL-6 concentration (r
      = 0.225, p = 0.014), independent of GA at birth. Elevated cord blood EPO levels
      (r = 0.182, p = 0.016) and GA at birth (r =  -0.236, p = 0.004) remained
      significant independent factors associated with the risk of IVH, when evaluated
      with stepwise logistic regression analyses. Cord blood IL-6, pH, and EONS were
      not associated with IVH. These relationships remained following correction for GA
      at birth (p = 0.027). CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that elevation in cord
      blood EPO may predict newborns at risk for IVH, independent of fetal inflammatory
      status. Further studies are warranted to confirm this association.

PMID- 20937007
TI  - Gonadal status and physical performance in older men.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To test the relationship between gonadal status and objective measures
      and determinants of physical performance in older men and their determinants.
      METHODS: The study included 455 >= 65 year older men of InCHIANTI study, Italy,
      with complete data on testosterone levels, hand grip strength, cross-sectional
      muscle area (CSMA), short physical performance battery (SPPB). Linear models were
      used to test the relationship between gonadal status and determinants of physical
      performance. RESULTS: Three different groups of older men were created: (1)
      severely hypogonadal (N=23), total testosterone levels <= 230 ng /dl; (2)
      moderately hypogonadal (N=88), total testosterone >230 and < 350 ng/dl) and (3)
      eugonadal (N=344), testosterone levels >= 350 ng/dl. With increased severity of
      hypogonadal status, participants were significantly older while their BMI was
      substantially similar. In the age and BMI adjusted analysis, there was a
      significant difference in haemoglobin levels, hand grip strength and SPPB score
      (p for trend < 0.001) among three groups, with severely hypogonadal men having
      lower values of haemoglobin, muscle strength and physical performance. We found
      no association between testosterone group assignment and calf muscle mass and 4 m
      walking speed. In the multivariate analysis grip strength (p for trend = 0.004)
      and haemoglobin (p for trend < 0.0001) but not SPPB and other determinants of
      physical performance were significantly different between the three groups.
      CONCLUSIONS: In older men, gonadal status is independently associated with some
      determinants (haemoglobin and muscle strength) of physical performance.

PMID- 20937008
TI  - Daily or monthly ibandronate prevents or restores deteriorations of bone mass,
      architecture, biomechanical properties and markers of bone turnover in androgen
      deficient aged rats.
AB  - AIM: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of the bisphosphonate
      ibandronate (IBN) in a male osteoporosis animal model. METHODS: Two studies were
      performed in 9-month-old orchidectomised (ORX) or sham-operated rats. In
      prevention study, subcutaneous IBN was administered daily (1 MUg/kg) or monthly
      (28 MUg/kg every 28 days) starting on day of surgery for 5 months. In treatment
      study, the same treatment started 6 months after ORX. After sacrifice, bone
      analyses by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, 3-dimensional micro-computed
      tomography, and 3-point bending were performed in femora or vertebrae. Serum
      tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase 5b (TRAP-5b) and aminoterminal propeptide of
      collagen I (PINP) were analysed for resorption and osteocalcin (BGP) for bone
      formation. RESULTS: In both studies, ORX resulted in significant femoral and
      vertebral bone loss and microarchitectural deterioration after 5 months of ORX,
      and became more pronounced after 11 months. Biomechanical strength was also
      decreased. Serum levels for TRAP-5b and BGP increased while PINP levels were
      reduced or unchanged. Both daily and monthly IBN prevented or even restored ORX
      induced changes in both studies, with the intermittent regimen showing a
      improvement in efficacy with respect to many of the biomechanical parameters.

PMID- 20937009
TI  - Barriers to prostate cancer screening: psychological aspects and descriptive
      variables---is there a correlation?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate psychological and demographic aspects of men who received
      DRE during the PCa screening in an outpatient clinical setting. METHODS: Patients
      (345) who underwent DRE for the first time from February 2006 to December 2007
      were evaluated for their psychological reactions and feelings after the
      examination. RESULTS: The average age of the patients was 52.8 years (25 - 85
      years); 40.94% had felt fear (examination fear 15.94%, and diagnosis fear 25%),
      26.45% shame and 48.26% indicated they were not thinking about anything. There
      was no correlation between age, educational level and emotional reactions. Most
      patients (96.8%) would undergo a DRE again and 52.35% had considered it better
      than they had imagined. Of these patients, 41.81% were illiterate/incomplete
      elementary school. Only 4.12% described having a negative experience. The factors
      that persuaded the patients to book an appointment were: 50.1% made their own
      decision, 26.67% were recommended by a physician, 18.55% family/friends and 6.67%
      were influenced by the media. Wives booked 24.06% of the consultations. Although
      85.47% of patients had some previous knowledge about the examination, 80.81% felt
      they had further clarification afterward. Lower educational level was related to
      lack of information about DRE, while 52.38% who made their own decision had
      previous knowledge of the importance of DRE. CONCLUSION: The majority of the
      patients found DRE less awkward than they had imagined it to be and would repeat
      the examination in the future. Fear and shame before the examination are present
      and are barriers to the DRE.

PMID- 20937010
TI  - MK615, a prospective anti-proliferative agent, enhances CD4/CD8 ratio after
      exposure to irradiation.
AB  - PURPOSE: Recently, it was found that MK615 possessed an anti-proliferative
      ability on treated cancer cells as a consequence of triterpenoid compounds. It is
      well known that radiation affects cellular-mediated immunity in cancer patients
      who are treated with radiotherapy. Similarly, the ability of triterpenoid
      compounds to enhance the cellular-mediated immunity has been observed. Therefore,
      in the present study, we attempted to investigate the effect of MK615 on both
      cancer cells and cellular-mediated immunity after irradiation. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: After mice were inoculated with mouse mammary carcinoma (FM3A) cells,
      they were categorised as follows: Non-treated, irradiated with 5 Gy, treated with
      660 MUg/day MK615 (MK615, an extract from the Japanese apricot) and lastly
      exposed to both irradiation and MK615. Afterward, mice were sacrificed and
      spleens were utilised to measure the cluster of differentiation 4 and 8 (CD4 and
      CD8) using flowcytometry. Simultaneously, in vitro study, human alveolar basal
      epithelial carcinomic (A549), mouse lymphoma (EL4) and FM3A cell lines were
      examined. Growth inhibition was assessed via colony, cell viability and apoptotic
      assays. RESULTS: The median survival was in favour of the MK615-treated group
      (26.1 +/- 1.9 days) compared with non-treated group (22.3 +/- 2.3 days) (p <
      0.05). Approximately 50% reduction of the CD4/CD8 ratio was observed following
      the exposure to irradiation alone. However, this ratio was comparable between the
      non-treated and both MK615-treated groups. Additionally, only the dual treatment
      was associated with tumour volume reduction. In contrast, in vitro study showed
      that MK615 had no significant (p >= 0.1) effect on the selected cell lines with
      or without irradiation. CONCLUSION: MK615 has a potential to reduce tumour volume
      and may normalise cellular-mediated immunity level following the exposure to
      irradiation.

PMID- 20937011
TI  - Working with youth in-care: implications for vocational rehabilitation practice.
AB  - PURPOSE: Youth in-care face a range of barriers that hinder their career
      development, not least of which is the high prevalence of mental health,
      emotional and behavioural problems among this population and lack of access to
      vocational rehabilitation services. The aim of this article is to provide an
      overview of the factors that impede the school-to-work transition of youth in
      care from their perspective and that of the key stakeholders in their lives.
      METHOD: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 65 youth in-care, 27
      carers, 14 caseworkers and 21 guidance officers in Queensland, Australia.
      RESULTS: There is a range of social, psychological and environmental factors that
      impact the career development of youth in-care, some of which are unique to this
      population. Factors include the effect of placement stability, negative in-care
      experiences, negative perceptions about them, limited access to caseworkers, lack
      of resources, poor educational planning and lack of vocational guidance and
      career exploration. CONCLUSIONS: These findings have a number of implications for
      practice, including the need for rehabilitation counsellors to understand and
      address the multiple barriers facing youth in-care, to provide vocational
      rehabilitation services throughout the school-to-work transition period and to
      coordinate support from carers, caseworkers and guidance officers.

PMID- 20937012
TI  - Pain as a confounding factor in postnatal depression screening.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Postnatal depression (PND) is one of the most serious complications
      following delivery in developed countries today. Thus, early screening strategies
      by first-line healthcare workers are of primary importance. Pain following
      childbirth has been proposed as a possible risk-marker for later depressive
      disorder. We tested this assumption and explored the possible link between pain
      and overestimation of PND risk in routine clinical screenings. METHODS: We
      assessed 320 women between the third and fifth day after delivery as well as at 8
      weeks post-partum (PP). Midwives were asked to evaluate the risk of later PND
      upon discharge from the maternity unit; additionally, pain measurements were
      obtained using the Visual Analogic Scale (VAS) over the same time period. A
      stepwise logistic regression analysis was performed to identify the risk markers
      linked to a positive depressive disorder diagnosis (according to the MINI-DSM-IV)
      at 8 weeks PP. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Multivariate risk analysis showed no
      statistical link between physical pain shortly after childbirth and subsequent
      PND diagnosis at 8 weeks PP. However, VAS measurements for pain were
      significantly higher for women that the midwives estimated to be at risk for PND
      (|Z| = 2.78, p = 0.005), suggesting the routine clinical screening for PND is
      susceptible for false-positives. Psychiatrists should encourage midwives to have
      an empathetic approach, to increase the detection as well as treatment of mental
      and physical suffering in early postpartum. At the same time, adequate education
      programmes for early PND screening should be proposed to non-psychiatric staffs
      to demonstrate that women at risk of PND often show minimal physical symptoms.

PMID- 20937014
TI  - Error tolerant indexing and alignment of short reads with covering template
      families.
AB  - The rapid adoption of high-throughput next generation sequence data in biological
      research is presenting a major challenge for sequence alignment tools
      specifically, the efficient alignment of vast amounts of short reads to large
      references in the presence of differences arising from sequencing errors and
      biological sequence variations. To address this challenge, we developed a short
      read aligner for high-throughput sequencer data that is tolerant of errors or
      mutations of all types-namely, substitutions, deletions, and insertions. The
      aligner utilizes a multi-stage approach in which template-based indexing is used
      to identify candidate regions for alignment with dynamic programming. A template
      is a pair of gapped seeds, with one used with the read and one used with the
      reference. In this article, we focus on the development of template families that
      yield error-tolerant indexing up to a given error-budget. A general algorithm for
      finding those families is presented, and a recursive construction that creates
      families with higher error tolerance from ones with a lower error tolerance is
      developed.

PMID- 20937013
TI  - Age and sex differences in hospitalizations associated with diabetes.
AB  - AIM: To evaluate national trends in hospitalizations and hospital charges
      associated with diabetes over a recent 14-year period. METHODS: We evaluated
      hospital discharges with a primary or secondary diagnosis of diabetes (250.xx)in
      the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (1993-2006). Outcomes included population
      adjusted estimates of hospital discharges and hospital charges (2006 $U.S.).
      RESULTS: Overall, discharges associated with diabetes increased 65.3%
      (1,384/100,000 in 1993, 2,288/100,000 in 2006) over the 14-year period (p < 0.001
      test for trend). The largest increase in hospitalizations occurred among adults
      30-39 years of age, representing a 102% increase. Among young adults, increases
      among women were ~1.3 times greater compared with men, for the 20-29 year (63%
      vs. 46%) and 30-39 year (118% vs. 85%) age groups, even after excluding pregnancy
      related hospitalizations. Overall, women had higher rates of hospitalizations
      associated with diabetes compared with men, but there was evidence of an age by
      sex interaction, with higher rates of hospitalizations among women in the younger
      age groups and among men in the older age groups. Annual inflation-adjusted total
      charges for hospitalizations with diabetes increased 220% over the period.
      CONCLUSIONS: Large increases in diabetes hospitalizations occurring among adults
      aged 30-39 years and young women signal a shift in the hospital burden of
      diabetes.

PMID- 20937015
TI  - On the maximal interval subgraph of a tree.
AB  - We study the problem of finding the maximum interval subgraph in a tree. This
      problem is related to the Double Digestion Problem of DNA physical mapping. We
      show that the complexity of an algorithm of Wang is O(n). We also present a
      linear algorithm of our own. We study the case when the edges of the tree is
      weighted as well. An algorithm with complexity O(n3) is presented.

PMID- 20937016
TI  - Haplotype inferring via galled-tree networks is NP-complete.
AB  - The problem of determining haplotypes from genotypes has gained considerable
      prominence in the research community since the beginning of the HapMap project.
      Here the focus is on determining the sets of SNP values of individual chromosomes
      (haplotypes), since such information better captures the genetic causes of
      diseases. One of the main algorithmic tools for haplotyping is based on the
      assumption that the evolutionary history for the original haplotypes satisfies
      perfect phylogeny. This tool can be applied only on individual blocks of
      chromosomes, in which it is assumed that recombinations do not happen. However,
      exact determination of blocks is usually not possible. It would be desirable to
      develop a method for haplotyping which can account for recombinations, and thus
      can be applied on multiblock sections of chromosomes. A natural candidate for
      such a method is haplotyping via phylogenetic networks (which model
      recombinations) or their simplified version: galled-tree networks. However, even
      haplotyping via galled-tree networks appears hard, as the efficient algorithms
      exist only for very special cases: the galled-tree network has either a single
      gall or only small galls with two mutations each. Building on our previous
      results, we show that, in general, haplotyping via galled-tree networks is NP
      complete, and it remains NP-complete when galls are allowed to have at most k
      mutations, for any k >= 3.

PMID- 20937017
TI  - A near-linear time algorithm for haplotype determination on general pedigrees.
AB  - Abstract An O(nm&#x03B1;(m)) time algorithm is given for inferring haplotypes
      from genotypes of non-recombinant pedigree data, where n is the number of
      members, m is the number of sites, and &#x03B1;(m) is the inverse of the
      Ackermann function. The algorithm works on both tree and general pedigree
      structures with cycles. Constraints between pairs of heterozygous sites are used
      to resolve unresolved sites for the pedigree, enabling the algorithm to avoid
      problems previously experienced for non-tree pedigrees.

PMID- 20937018
TI  - Emerging therapeutic targets and agents for glioblastoma therapy - part I.

PMID- 20937019
TI  - The role of calcium in intracellular trafficking.
AB  - The molecular mechanism of membrane fusion essential to vital cellular activities
      such as intracellular transport, hormone secretion, enzyme release, or
      neurotransmission, involve the assembly and disassembly of a specialized set of
      proteins in opposing bilayers. Recent evidences shed new light on the role Ca(2+)
      has in the regulation of this mechanism in which the Golgi apparatus works as a
      central station; from here, Ca(2+) ions are released into and recovered from the
      cytosol during the different steps of the cargo progression. In fact, transient
      cytosolic Ca(2+) fluctuations take a crucial role to recruit proteins and enzymes
      Ca(2+)-sensitive on Golgi membranes where they are involved in membranes
      remodelling which is fundamental process for the fusion events that allow protein
      trafficking. Here I provide an overview of the role Ca(2+) plays in intra-Golgi
      trafficking underlying some interesting aspects to clarify the mechanisms of
      cargo progression.

PMID- 20937020
TI  - Potentialities of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells for treatment of diseases.
AB  - Induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell research has been growing a new height
      throughout the world due to its potentialities in medical applications. We can
      explore several therapeutic applications through the iPS cell research. In this
      review, we have first discussed the development of iPS cells, reprogramming
      factors, and effectiveness of iPS cells. Then we have emphasized the potential
      applications of iPS cells in pharmaceutical and medical sectors, such as, study
      of cellular mechanisms for spectrum of disease entities, disease-specific iPS
      cell lines for drugs discovery and development, toxicological studies of drugs
      development, personalized medicine, and regenerative medicine.

PMID- 20937022
TI  - Monocyte and macrophage dysfunction as a cause of HIV-1 induced dysfunction of
      innate immunity.
AB  - HIV-1 can establish both long lived and productive infection of macrophages
      (Mphi) but circulating monocytes are less permissive to infection. Multiple
      studies have identified extensive changes to monocyte and Mphi phenotype,
      differentiation or function. These include alterations in Toll-like receptor
      signaling and resultant changes to cytokine responses, specific defects in
      phagocytosis and microbial killing and modulation of apoptotic responses, all of
      which may perturb the important role of these cells in innate immunity.
      Interpretation of contradictory data however, is complicated by the use of
      different experimental models and many of the reported effects may be an indirect
      consequence of HIV 1 infection that result from exposure to viral products or
      from disruption of cellular and cytokine networks in the immune system, rather
      than the direct consequence of productive HIV 1 infection. Future research should
      focus on refining experimental models and on elucidating the physiological
      mechanisms of monocyte/ Mphi dysfunction during HIV 1 infection.

PMID- 20937023
TI  - Optimizing tumor-reactive gammadelta T cells for antibody-based cancer
      immunotherapy.
AB  - Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) constitute the most rapidly growing class of human
      therapeutics and the second largest class of drugs after vaccines. The treatment
      of B-cell malignancies and HER2/Neu(+) breast cancer has benefited considerably
      from the use of therapeutic mAbs, either alone or in combination with standard
      chemotherapy. Frequent relapses, however, demonstrate that the bioactivity of
      these mAbs is still suboptimal. The concept of improving the anti-tumor activity
      of mAbs is well established and potentiating the cytotoxicity induced by
      anticancer mAbs can be achieved by strategies that target the downstream
      cytolytic effector cells. The recruitment of Fcgamma receptor-dependent functions
      appears well suited in this regard, because several lines of evidence suggest
      that enhancing antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) induced by
      therapeutic mAbs may directly improve their clinical efficacy. The cytolytic
      effector cells involved in ADCC are FcgammaR-expressing natural killer (NK)
      cells, but also gammadelta T cells can be amplified and finetuned for stronger
      ADCC activity. gammadelta T cells are raising a considerable interest in the
      immunotherapy community given their intrinsic antitumor activity that can be
      boosted by stimulation with synthetic phosphoantigens (PAgs), or with drugs that
      cause their accumulation into target cells, like aminobisphosphonates (N-BPs),
      and low doses interleukin (IL)-2. The field is interesting, and several papers
      have already explored this approach in solid and haematological malignancies.
      Thus, we propose that enhancing the efficacy of mAbs by combination with
      gammadelta T cell activation may have considerable therapeutic potential for a
      variety of malignancies, most especially for patients whose FcgammaR alleles
      impair ADCC.

PMID- 20937021
TI  - Defining the molecular nexus of cancer, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular
      disease.
AB  - The metabolic syndrome is characterized by a state of metabolic dysfunction
      resulting in the development of several chronic diseases that are potentially
      deadly. These metabolic deregulations are complex and intertwined and it has been
      observed that many of the mechanisms and pathways responsible for diseases
      characterizing the metabolic syndrome such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular
      disease are linked with cancer development as well. Identification of molecular
      pathways common to these diverse diseases may prove to be a critical factor in
      disease prevention and development of potential targets for therapeutic
      treatments. This review focuses on several molecular pathways, including AMPK,
      PPARs and FASN that interconnect cancer development, type 2 diabetes and
      cardiovascular disease. AMPK, PPARs and FASN are crucial regulators involved in
      the maintenance of key metabolic processes necessary for proper homeostasis. It
      is critical to recognize and identify common pathways deregulated in interrelated
      diseases as it may provide further information and a much more global picture in
      regards to disease development and prevention. Thus, this review focuses on three
      key metabolic regulators, AMPK, PPARs and FASN, that may potentially serve as
      therapeutic targets.

PMID- 20937024
TI  - Use of transgenic mice as models for prostate cancer chemoprevention.
AB  - Prostate cancer is a long latency type of tumor that usually develops in men
      older than 50 years of age. Prostate epithelial neoplasia (PIN), the initial
      malignant lesion, progresses to invasive carcinoma over the course of years.
      Because of the particular features of prostate carcinogenesis, this type of tumor
      may represent a paradigm for cancer prevention. Several clinical trials have
      evaluated the effect of different compounds on prostate tumor development,
      including finasteride, selenium, vitamin E, and carotenes. Although some results
      are promising, no conclusive data have been achieved as to recommend any of these
      compounds as preventive agents. Results from some trials, such as SELECT, where
      supplementation of selenium and/or vitamin-E was used, have been rather
      disappointing. However, many novel chemopreventive agents that target different
      cancer-related pathways are being developed lately. Appropriate animal models (in
      particular, genetically modified mice) are being used to assess the efficacy of
      these novel compounds. The transgenic adenocarcinoma of the mouse prostate
      (TRAMP) model has been validated as an accurate model to test a variety of
      preventive agents. Genistein, alpha-difluoromethylornithine, toremifene, R
      flurbiprofen, celecoxib, and green tea polyphenols have been shown to prevent
      prostate cancer development in TRAMP mice. In conclusion, new chemopreventive
      compounds which are effective in animal models are likely to be tested soon in
      clinical trials, with the final goal of reducing prostate cancer incidence in
      men.

PMID- 20937025
TI  - MicroRNAs: macro challenges on understanding human biological functions and
      neurological diseases.
AB  - MicroRNAS (miRNAs) are a class of endogenously single-stranded non-coding RNA
      molecules that can negatively modulate the expression of target messenger RNAs by
      3' UTR base pairing. During the processing of a miRNA, a network of orchestrated
      molecular events provides a dynamic manner to posttranscriptionally modulate gene
      expression. Recent research has demonstrated that although these molecules are
      small, they are involved in several crucial biological functions, as well as, in
      a broad spectrum of human diseases. In this review, we highlighted the current
      knowledge on the miRNA pathway field, focusing on how the disruption of the miRNA
      mediated silencing pathways could lead to the pathogenesis of neurological
      disorders. The potential use of miRNAs as diagnostic/prognostic markers and the
      possibility of reversing the effects of some miRNA polymorphisms/mutations by
      promising therapeutics procedures have brought new perspectives into the
      treatment of human pathologies.

PMID- 20937026
TI  - Bioprecursor prodrugs: molecular modification of the active principle.
AB  - A large number of therapeutic medications have undesirable properties that may
      generate pharmacological, pharmaceutical, or pharmacokinetic barriers in clinical
      drug applications. Metabolism of drugs by Phase-I & Phase-II metabolic pathways
      for possibility of active metabolites, which could in turn useful for rational
      designing of bioprecursor prodrugs of the active principle of interest. This
      review summarizes various approaches & development of drugs, namely bioprecursor
      prodrugs and active metabolites related to bioprecursor prodrugs.

PMID- 20937027
TI  - Microbial exo-polysaccharides for biomedical applications.
AB  - The productions and applications of various microbial exopolysaccharides have
      been under intensive researches over the past few decades. Some of these
      exopolysaccharides are commercial available and some are currently under
      intensive development; they include ionic heteropolysaccharide and neutral
      homopolysaccharide. These extracellular polymers constitute a structurally
      diverse class of biological macromolecules with a wide range of physiochemical
      properties which are the basis for the different applications in the broad fields
      of pharmacy and medicine. They have found applications in such diverse biomedical
      fields as ophthalmology, orthopedic surgery, tissue engineering, implantation of
      medical devices and artificial organs, prostheses, dentistry, bone repair and
      drug delivery.

PMID- 20937028
TI  - Microsatellite instability (MSI) as genomic markers in endometrial cancer: toward
      scientific evidences.
AB  - Endometrial Cancer is the most frequent tumor in western world nations, with
      142,000 new cases each year and 42,000 casualties. This form of cancer typically
      affects women between 55 and 65 years of age, and ranks fourth among female
      tumors. Endogenous predisposing conditions to endometrial cancer development are:
      late menopause, early menarche and hyperestrogenism, while hormone replacement
      therapy, obesity, alcohol, diabetes, and a diet rich in animal fats as well as
      chronic liver disease, are the exogenous factors. This tumor may also have an
      hereditary predisposition, as in the Lynch Syndrome or in HNPCC (Hereditary
      NonPolyposis Colorectal Cancer), since genetic modifications induced by the
      "MisMatch Repair" genes lead to a tumoral development susceptibility, not only in
      the colon. The phenotypical consequences of these genetic modifications may be
      found in the microsatellite instability (MSI) and in the loss of heterozygosity
      (LOH), which generate the replication errors in positive phenotypes repeats.
      These express the incapability to repair short nucleotide insertions or
      deletions, generated by a wrong DNA replication. Due to such genetic
      modifications, new allelic variants arise in the endometrial tissue, confirming
      the high degree of this genetic disorder. Recent studies showed that the MSI and
      LOH in endometrial cells may be associated with the possible loss in the
      expression of cellular control and with the possible degeneration of the cell
      growth phenomenon. There is also a possibility of utilizing these new genetic
      markers in the endometrial mucosa to study these tissues and to detect any
      possible neoplastic transformations, thanks to Genomics.

PMID- 20937029
TI  - Substituted benzimidazole derivatives as angiotensin II-AT1 receptor antagonist:
      a review.
AB  - The renin angiotensin system (RAS) plays an important role in regulation of blood
      pressure and fluid-electrolyte homeostasis. The renin-angiotensin system consists
      of a cascade of enzymatic reactions producing angiotensin II (Ang II). Ang II is
      a vasoconstrictive peptide hormone that exerts a wide variety of physiological
      actions on cardiovascular, renal, endocrine and central nervous systems. The RAS
      can be inhibited at various points to control pathogenesis of hypertension. Renin
      inhibitors and angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors were the earliest
      RAS blocking agents. A relatively new class of compounds known as Ang II receptor
      antagonists (SARTANs) is developed for the treatment of hypertension. They exert
      their action by blocking the binding of Ang II on AT(1) receptor. Angiotensin
      converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors are associated with incident of side effects
      such as cough and angioedema while clinical trials with Ang II receptor
      antagonists have confirmed that these drugs are safe and efficacious for the
      treatment of hypertension. Based upon the understanding of molecular interaction
      of Ang II receptor antagonists with AT(1) receptor some of the common structural
      features have been identified, such as a heterocyclic (nitrogen atom) ring
      system, an alkyl side chain and an acidic tetrazole group. Research efforts for
      development of new molecules with similar structural features have led to the
      discovery of various non-peptidic Ang II receptor antagonists with different
      substituted heterocyclic such as imidazole (losartan) and benzimidazole
      (candesartan and telmisartan). In this study we have critically reviewed various
      benzimidazole substituted compounds as Ang II-AT(1) receptor antagonists and
      explored other potential clinical uses for this class of compounds.

PMID- 20937030
TI  - Vitamin Bs, one carbon metabolism and prostate cancer.
AB  - Somatic genetic and epigenetic alterations have been suggested to be crucially
      involved in development and progression of cancers including prostate cancer
      (PCa). Epigenetic alterations such as chemical modification of chromatin
      associated proteins and DNA methylation can largely affect gene expression that
      may be important for early normal organ development, and also produces favorable
      conditions for cancer cell formation, growth, and survival. Aberrant DNA
      methylation (hyper- or hypo-methylation) may lead to chromosomal instability, and
      transcriptional gene silencing for tumor suppressors or overexpression for
      oncogenes. Vitamin Bs play important roles in one carbon metabolism that provides
      critical metabolites for DNA methylation, DNA repair and nucleic acid synthesis.
      Nutrition uptake and circulating levels of these vitamin Bs as well as genetic
      polymorphisms of related key enzymes in the one carbon metabolism pathway may
      govern bioavailability of the metabolites, and therefore to affect the phenotypic
      changes (e.g., cellular malignancy) via genetic and epigenetic alterations. This
      article will summarize recent new findings from laboratory, epidemiological or
      clinical trial studies regarding influence of vitamin B and one carbon metabolism
      on PCa development or progression.

PMID- 20937031
TI  - Counter effect of sucrose on ethanol-induced aggregation of protein.
AB  - The present paper is an attempt to study the mechanism of ethanol induced
      aggregation of chicken egg albumin and to stabilize the protein against ethanol
      induced aggregation. The protein aggregation was determined by monitoring the
      light scattering of protein aggregates spectrophotometrically. The protein
      undergoes certain structural changes in water-ethanol solution and the degree of
      aggregation was found to be linearly depending upon the concentration of alcohol
      used. The intrinsic fluorescence study showed a large blue shift in the
      lambda(max) (16 nm) in the presence of 50% ethanol. The ANS fluorescence
      intensity was found to be gradually increasing with increasing concentration of
      ethanol. This indicates an increase in the hydrophobic cluster on the protein
      surface and as a result the hydrophobic interaction is the major driving force
      for the aggregate formation. Addition of sucrose significantly reduced the
      ethanol-induced protein aggregation. In presence of 50% sucrose the ethanol the
      aggregation was reduced to 5%. The study reveals that addition of sucrose brings
      out changes in the solvent distribution and prevents the structural changes in
      protein which lead the aggregation.

PMID- 20937032
TI  - Comparing the interaction of cyclophosphamide monohydrate to human serum albumin
      as opposed to holo-transferrin by spectroscopic and molecular modeling methods:
      evidence for allocating the binding site.
AB  - The interaction between cyclophosphamide monohydrate with human serum albumin
      (HSA) and human serum transferrin (hTf) was studied with UV absorption,
      fluorescence and circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopies as well as molecular
      modeling. Based on the fluorescence quenching results, it was determined that HSA
      and hTf had two classes of apparent binding constants and binding sites at
      physiological conditions. The K(SV1), K(SV2), n(1) and n(2) values for HSA were
      found to be 8.6 x 10(8) Lmol(-1), 6.34 x 10(8) Lmol(-1), 0.7 and 0.8,
      respectively, and the corresponding results for hTf were 6.08 x 10(7) Lmol(-1),
      4.65 x 10(7) Lmol(-1), 1.3 and 2.6, respectively. However, the binding affinity
      of cyclophosphamide monohydrate to HSA was more significant than to hTf. Circular
      dichroism results demonstrated that the binding of cyclophosphamide to HSA and
      hTf induced secondary changes in the structure and that the a-helix content
      became altered into b-sheet, turn and random coil forms. The participation of
      tyrosyl and tryptophan residues of proteins was also estimated in the drug-HSA
      and hTf complexes by synchronous fluorescence. The micro-environment of the HSA
      and hTf fluorophores was transferred to hydrophobic and hydrophilic conditions,
      respectively. The distance r between donor and acceptor was obtained by the
      Forster energy according to fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) and
      found to be 1.84 nm and 1.73 nm for HSA and hTf, respectively. This confirmed the
      existence of static quenching for both proteins in the presence of
      cyclophosphamide monohydrate. Site marker competitive displacement experiments
      demonstrated that cyclophosphamide bound with high affinity to Site II, sub
      domain IIIA of HSA, and for hTf, the C-lobe constituted the binding site.
      Furthermore, a study of molecular modeling showed that cyclophosphamide situated
      in domain II in HSA was bound through hydrogen bonding with Arg 257 and Ser 287,
      and that cyclophosphamide was situated in the C-lobe in hTf, presenting hydrogen
      bonding with Asp 625 and Arg 453. The modeling data thus confirmed the
      experimental results.

PMID- 20937033
TI  - Transient expression of chicken antimicrobial peptides by mouse mammary carcinoma
      cells C127.
AB  - Fowlicidin-3 and fowlicidin-1 are cathelicidin-type antimicrobial peptides found
      in chicken. They effectively inhibit the proliferation of many gram-positive and
      gram-negative bacteria. To obtain sufficient amounts of these peptides for
      possible use in therapeutic applications, DNA encoding each full-length gene,
      including all exons and introns, was fused to the beta-casein promoter in a pBC1
      vector that was then introduced into C127 cells. The full-length precursor
      proteins were expressed in response to a mixture of insulin, hydrocortisone, and
      prolactin. Processed fowlicidin-1 and fowlicidin-3, as well as their precursors,
      were found in the cell culture media, which suggested that they could be
      processed and secreted. These transgenic peptides had antibacterial activity.
      Thus, transfected C127 cells may serve as an in vitro transgenic cell system that
      can be used to evaluate if specific gene constructs can be efficiently expressed
      in the mammary glands of transgenic mice.

PMID- 20937034
TI  - Surface-templated fibril growth of peptide fragments from the shaft domain of the
      adenovirus fibre protein.
AB  - Here we present a study of five analogues of a fragment from the shaft domain of
      the adenovirus fibre protein that readily form fibrils under a range of
      conditions. Using atomic force microscopy the fibrillisation of these peptides at
      the liquid/solid interface utilizing ordered crystalline substrates has been
      investigated. Our results demonstrate that the assembly pathway at the
      liquid/solid interface enables only the formation of truncated fibrillar
      structures, which align along the substrate's underlying atomic lattice during
      growth. Furthermore, that the concentration and volume of solution applied can be
      used to directly control the density of fibrillar coverage at the surface.

PMID- 20937035
TI  - Nucleolar localization signals of LIM kinase 2 function as a cell-penetrating
      peptide.
AB  - LIM Kinase 2 (LIMK2) is a LIM domain-containing protein kinase which regulates
      actin polymerization thorough phosphorylation of the actin depolymerizing factor
      cofilin. It is also known to function as a shuttle between the cytoplasm and
      nucleus in endothelial cells. A basic amino acid-rich motif in LIMK2 was
      previously identified to be responsible for this shuttling function, as a
      nucleolar localization signal (NoLS). Here it is shown that this nucleolar
      localization signal sequence also has the characteristic function of a cell
      penetrating peptide (CPP). We synthesized LIMK2 NoLS-conjugated peptides and a
      protein and analyzed their cell-penetrating abilities in various types of cells.
      The BC-box motif of the Von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) protein was used for the peptide.
      This motif previously has been reported to be involved in the neural
      differentiation of bone marrow stromal cells and skin-derived precursor cells.
      Green fluorescence protein (GFP) was used as a large biologically active
      biomolecule for the protein. The LIMK2 NoLS-conjugated peptides and protein
      translocated across the cell membranes of fibroblast cells, neural stem cells,
      and even iPS cells. These results suggest that LIMK2 NoLS acts as a cell
      penetrating peptide and its cell-penetrating ability is not restricted by cell
      type. Moreover, from an in vivo assay using a mouse brain, it was confirmed that
      NoLS has potential for transporting biomolecules across the blood-brain barrier.

PMID- 20937036
TI  - Prediction of interaction between enzymes and small molecules in metabolic
      pathways through integrating multiple classifiers.
AB  - Information about interactions between enzymes and small molecules is important
      for understanding various metabolic bioprocesses. In this article we applied a
      majority voting system to predict the interactions between enzymes and small
      molecules in the metabolic pathways, by combining several classifiers including
      AdaBoost, Bagging and KNN together. The advantage of such a strategy is based on
      the principle that a predictor based majority voting systems usually provide more
      reliable results than any single classifier. The prediction accuracies thus
      obtained on a training dataset and an independent testing dataset were 82.8% and
      84.8%, respectively. The prediction accuracy for the networking couples in the
      independent testing dataset was 75.5%, which is about 4% higher than that
      reported in a previous study. The web-server for the prediction method presented
      in this paper is available at http://chemdata.shu.edu.cn/small-enz.

PMID- 20937037
TI  - Analysis of the conformations corresponding to hexapeptide and large sequences
      characterized by continuous single amino acid repeats in proteins.
AB  - The analysis of conformations corresponding to continuous amino acid repeat
      peptides (CARPs) comprising six or more residues in proteins of known three
      dimensional structure revealed that alanine, glycine, glutamic acid, proline,
      valine, histidine, aspartic acid, glutamine and lysine were associated as
      repeating amino acid residues. Alanine, glycine and histidine CARPs were most
      common, although the histidine hexapeptide and large CARPs mainly correspond to
      affinity tags and are not part of the native protein sequence. The Ala and Glu
      CARPs were observed either as part of helix, or coil or a combination of these
      conformations. The octapeptide Ala CARP in six-hairpin glycosidases was observed
      as part of strand and coil conformation. The Gly and Pro CARPs were mainly
      associated with coil conformation. Majority of the coil regions in CARPs
      contained beta and gamma-turn structural motifs. The conformations of the Asp,
      Glu and Lys hexapeptide or larger CARPs were not defined in the corresponding
      protein three-dimensional structures analyzed. The longest CARP of known
      conformation was observed for alanine as a decapeptide in a lysozyme-like protein
      that corresponds to helix. A feature of CARPs is that a majority are exposed to
      solvent with accessible surface area greater than 200 A(2) units in the protein
      three-dimensional structure.

PMID- 20937038
TI  - Predicting protein solubility with a hybrid approach by pseudo amino acid
      composition.
AB  - Protein solubility plays a major role for understanding the crystal growth and
      crystallization process of protein. How to predict the propensity of a protein to
      be soluble or to form inclusion body is a long but not fairly resolved problem.
      After choosing almost 10,000 protein sequences from NCBI database and eliminating
      the sequences with 90% homologous similarity by CD-HIT, 5692 sequences remained.
      By using Chou's pseudo amino acid composition features, we predict the soluble
      protein with the three methods: support vector machine (SVM), back propagation
      neural network (BP Neural Network) and hybrid method based on SVM and BP Neural
      Network, respectively. Each method is evaluated by re-substitution test and 10
      fold cross-validation test. In the re-substitution test, the BP Neural Network
      performs with the best results, in which the accuracy achieves 0.9288 and
      Matthews Correlation Coefficient (MCC) achieves 0.8513. Meanwhile, the other two
      methods are better than BP Neural Network in 10-fold cross-validation test. The
      hybrid method based on SVM and BP Neural Network is the best. The average
      accuracy is 0.8678 and average MCC is 0.7233. Although all of the three methods
      achieve considerable evaluations, the hybrid method is deemed to be the best,
      according to the performance comparison.

PMID- 20937039
TI  - Quantitative effects of magnesium chloride stress on aggregation of Sup35p in
      [psi-] yeast cells.
AB  - [PSI(+)] phenotype can be transiently induced when Magnesium chloride (MgCl(2))
      was the selective pressure in SUP35 repeat-expansion mutant [psi(-)] yeast
      strains. We further investigated [PSI(+)] phenotype change under different
      MgCl(2) conditions with native Sup35p and quantified the Sup35p status changes
      with fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) and semi-denaturing
      detergent-agarose gel electrophoresis (SDD-AGE) analysis. It was found that the
      [PSI(+)] phenotype presented a dose-dependent relationship with the
      concentrations of MgCl(2). Furthermore, Sup35p aggregated in MgCl(2) treated
      cells but did not form large aggregates as it does in [PSI(+)] cells, and the
      size of Sup35p aggregates showed a time-dependent relationship with the MgCl(2)
      application. The aggregation of Sup35p strictly depended on the presence of
      MgCl(2) stress in our strains.

PMID- 20937040
TI  - Unity and diversity in the human adenoviruses: exploiting alternative entry
      pathways for gene therapy.
AB  - Human Ads (adenoviruses) have been extensively utilized for the development of
      vectors for gene transfer, as they infect many cell types and do not integrate
      their genome into host-cell chromosomes. In addition, they have been widely
      studied as cytolytic viruses, termed oncolytic adenoviruses in cancer therapy.
      Ads are non-enveloped viruses with a linear double-stranded DNA genome of 30-38
      kb which encodes 30-40 genes. At least 52 human Ad serotypes have been identified
      and classified into seven species, A-G. The Ad capsid has icosahedral symmetry
      and is composed of 252 capsomers, of which 240 are located on the facets of the
      capsid and consist of a trimeric hexon protein and the remaining 12 capsomers,
      the pentons, are at the vertices and comprise the penton base and projecting
      fibre protein. The entry of Ads into human cells is a two-step process. In the
      first step, the fibre protein mediates a primary interaction with the cell,
      effectively tethering the virus particle to the cell surface via a cellular
      attachment protein. The penton base then interacts with cell-surface integrins,
      leading to virus internalization. This interaction of the fibre protein with a
      number of cell-surface molecules appears to be important in determining the
      tropism of adenoviruses. Ads from all species, except species B and certain
      serotypes of species D, utilize CAR (coxsackie and adenovirus receptor) as their
      primary cellular-attachment protein, whereas most species B Ads use CD46, a
      complement regulatory protein. Such species-specific differences, as well as
      adaptations or modifications of Ads required for applications in gene therapy,
      form the major focus of the present review.

PMID- 20937041
TI  - Review article: gene therapy, recent developments and future prospects in
      gastrointestinal oncology.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Gene therapy consists of the introduction of genetic material into
      cells for a therapeutic purpose. A wide range of gene therapy vectors have been
      developed and used for applications in gastrointestinal oncology. AIM: To review
      recent developments and published clinical trials concerning the application of
      gene therapy in the treatment of liver, colon and pancreatic cancers. METHODS:
      Search of the literature published in English using the PubMed database. RESULTS:
      A large variety of therapeutic genes are under investigation, such as tumour
      suppressor, suicide, antiangiogenesis, inflammatory cytokine and micro-RNA genes.
      Recent progress concerns new vectors, such as oncolytic viruses, and the synergy
      between viral gene therapy, chemotherapy and radiation therapy. As evidence of
      these basic developments, recently published phase I and II clinical trials,
      using both single agents and combination strategies, in adjuvant or advanced
      disease settings, have shown encouraging results and good safety records.
      CONCLUSIONS: Cancer gene therapy is not yet indicated in clinical practice.
      However, basic and clinical advances have been reported and gene therapy is a
      promising, new therapeutic approach for the treatment of gastrointestinal
      tumours.

PMID- 20937042
TI  - Meta-analysis: re-treatment of genotype I hepatitis C nonresponders and relapsers
      after failing interferon and ribavirin combination therapy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The efficacy of re-treating genotype I hepatitis C virus (HCV)
      patients who failed combination therapy with interferon/pegylated interferon (PEG
      IFN) and ribavirin remains unclear. AIMS: To quantify sustained virological
      response (SVR) rates with different re-treatment regimens through meta-analysis
      of randomized controlled trials (RCTs). METHODS: Randomized controlled trials of
      genotype I HCV treatment failure patients that compared currently available re
      treatment regimens were selected. Two investigators independently extracted data
      on patient population, methods and results. The pooled relative risk of SVR for
      treatment regimens was computed using a random effects model. RESULTS: Eighteen
      RCTs were included. In nonresponders to standard interferon/ribavirin, re
      treatment with high-dose PEG-IFN combination therapy improved SVR compared with
      standard PEG-IFN combination therapy (RR=1.49; 95% CI: 1.09-2.04), but SVR rates
      did not exceed 18% in most studies. In relapsers to standard
      interferon/ribavirin, re-treatment with high-dose PEG-IFN or prolonged CIFN
      improved SVR (RR=1.57; 95% CI: 1.16-2.14) and achieved SVR rates of 43-69%.
      CONCLUSIONS: In genotype I HCV treatment failure patients who received
      combination therapy, re-treatment with high-dose PEG-IFN combination therapy is
      superior to re-treatment with standard combination therapy, although SVR rates
      are variable for nonresponders (<=18%) and relapsers (43-69%). Re-treatment may
      be appropriate for select patients, especially relapsers and individuals with
      bridging fibrosis or compensated cirrhosis.

PMID- 20937043
TI  - Clinical trial: colectomy after rescue therapy in ulcerative colitis - 3-year
      follow-up of the Swedish-Danish controlled infliximab study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The long-term efficacy of infliximab as rescue therapy in steroid
      refractory ulcerative colitis is not well described. AIM: To examine the long
      term efficacy of infliximab as a rescue therapy through a 3-year follow-up of a
      previous placebo-controlled trial of infliximab in acute steroid-refractory
      ulcerative colitis. METHOD: In the original study, 45 patients were randomized to
      a single infusion of infliximab 5 mg/kg or placebo, and at 3 months, 7/24
      patients given infliximab were operated vs. 14/21 patients given placebo. Three
      years or later, patients were asked to participate in a clinical follow-up.
      RESULTS: Another seven patients underwent colectomy during follow-up: five in the
      infliximab group and two in the placebo group. After 3 years, a total of 12/24
      (50%) patients given infliximab and 16/21 (76%) given placebo (P = 0.012) had a
      colectomy. None of eight patients in endoscopic remission at 3 months later had a
      colectomy compared with 7/14 (50%) patients who were not in remission (P=0.02).
      There was no mortality. CONCLUSION: The benefit of rescue therapy with infliximab
      in steroid-refractory acute ulcerative colitis remained after 3 years. The main
      advantage of infliximab treatment occurred during the first 3 months, whereas
      subsequent colectomy rates were similar in the two groups. Mucosal healing at 3
      months influenced later risk of colectomy.

PMID- 20937044
TI  - Clinical trial: once-daily mesalamine granules for maintenance of remission of
      ulcerative colitis - a 6-month placebo-controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic relapsing and remitting
      idiopathic inflammatory bowel disorder. AIM: To evaluate once-daily mesalamine
      (mesalazine) granules (MG) for maintenance of remission of UC. METHODS:
      Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of patients (n=209 MG, n=96
      placebo) with UC in remission [revised Sutherland Disease Activity Index (SDAI)
      rectal bleeding=0, mucosal appearance <2] who took MG 1.5 g or placebo once-daily
      for up to 6 months. Primary efficacy endpoint: the percentage of patients who
      remained relapse-free at month 6/end of treatment. Relapse was defined as SDAI
      rectal bleeding score >=1 and a mucosal appearance score >=2, a UC flare, or
      initiation of medication to treat a UC flare. RESULTS: The percentage of relapse
      free patients at month 6/end of treatment was higher with MG than placebo (78.9%
      vs. 58.3%, P < 0.001) in the intent-to-treat analysis. Significant differences (P
      <= 0.025) favouring MG were observed for most secondary endpoints including
      improvement in rectal bleeding, physician's disease activity rating, stool
      frequency, the SDAI at month 6/end of treatment, patients classified as a
      treatment success and relapse-free duration. The incidence of adverse events was
      similar between groups. CONCLUSIONS: Once-daily mesalamine (mesalazine) was
      effective in maintaining remission of UC for 6 months.

PMID- 20937045
TI  - Clinical trial: the combination of rifaximin with partially hydrolysed guar gum
      is more effective than rifaximin alone in eradicating small intestinal bacterial
      overgrowth.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Abnormal intestinal clearance is involved in the pathogenesis of
      small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO). It is known that partially
      hydrolysed guar gum affects intestinal motility. Eradication therapy of SIBO is
      based on antibiotic treatment: no data are available on the role of fibre
      supplementation in eradicating SIBO. AIM: To assess whether the combination of
      partially hydrolysed guar gum and rifaximin is more effective than rifaximin
      alone in the treatment of SIBO. METHODS: A 50 g-glucose breath test was given to
      500 consecutive patients. Patients with a positive glucose breath test and
      predisposing conditions to SIBO entered into the study, and were randomized to
      receive rifaximin 1200 mg/day or rifaximin 1200 mg/day plus partially hydrolysed
      guar gum 5 g/day for 10 days. Patients completed a symptom questionnaire and
      glucose breath test both in basal condition and 1 month after withdrawal of
      therapy. RESULTS: Seventy-seven patients had SIBO. Eradication rate of SIBO was
      62.1% in the rifaximin group (both on per-protocol and intention-to-treat
      analyses), and 87.1% (per-protocol, P=0.017) and 85.0% (intention-to-treat,
      P=0.036) in the rifaximin-plus-partially hydrolysed guar gum group. Clinical
      improvement was observed in 86.9% and 91.1% of eradicated cases in rifaximin and
      rifaximin-plus-partially hydrolysed guar gum groups respectively (P=0.677).
      CONCLUSION: The combination of rifaximin with partially hydrolysed guar gum seems
      to be more useful in eradicating SIBO compared with rifaximin alone.

PMID- 20937047
TI  - Methotrexate in paediatric ulcerative colitis: a retrospective survey at a single
      tertiary referral centre.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Patients with ulcerative colitis often receive thiopurines as
      immunomodulators (IMs) to maintain remission and avoid corticosteroids. If
      unresponsive or intolerant to these agents, patients are treated with
      methotrexate, an antimetabolite never assessed in paediatric ulcerative colitis.
      AIM: To describe the experience with methotrexate in children with ulcerative
      colitis. METHODS: Thirty-two patients (median age 13.9 years) received
      methotrexate. Pediatric Ulcerative Colitis Activity Index (PUCAI) and use of
      corticosteroids were the main outcomes evaluated at baseline and at 3, 6 and 12
      months. RESULTS: Indications to methotrexate were azathioprine unresponsiveness
      in 18 patients, azathioprine intolerance/toxicity in 10 and spondyloarthropathy
      in four. Response or remission was achieved in 72%, 63% and 50% of patients at 3,
      6 and 12 months respectively. Mean PUCAI were 49.5 +/- 23.3 at baseline and 32.9
      +/- 21.9, 29.5 +/- 21.8 and 29.4 +/- 19.9 at 3, 6 and 12 months respectively (P:
      0.03). At the beginning of methotrexate, 16 patients (50%) received
      corticosteroids that were discontinued in 13 of them (81%) by 6 months. At the
      end of the study, 11 patients (33%) needed short courses of corticosteroids for
      disease relapse. CONCLUSIONS: Methotrexate may be useful in treating children
      with ulcerative colitis, although large, controlled trials are warranted to
      define better its effectiveness.

PMID- 20937046
TI  - Appropriateness of therapy for fistulizing Crohn's disease: findings from a
      national inflammatory bowel disease cohort.
AB  - BACKGROUND: About 30-50% of patients with Crohn's disease (CD) develop fistulae,
      implying significant disease burden and complicated clinical management. AIM: To
      assess appropriate use of therapy for fistulizing CD patients enrolled in the
      Swiss Inflammatory Bowel Disease Cohort using criteria developed by the European
      Panel on the Appropriateness of Crohn's disease Therapy. METHODS: Specific
      questionnaires were used to gather information on disease and its management. We
      assessed appropriateness of therapy at enrolment for adult CD patients with one
      or several fistulae. RESULTS: Two hundred and eighty-eight CD patients had
      fistulizing disease, of which 80% had complex fistulae and 32% currently had
      active draining fistulae. Mean age (s.d.) at diagnosis was 27 years (11), 51%
      males. Of the patients, 78% were judged as having globally an appropriate
      therapy, which was more often given for complex fistulae (87%) than for simple
      fistulae (67%). Antibiotics, azathioprine/MP, methotrexate and conservative
      surgery were almost always appropriate. Anti-tumor necrosis factor alpha was
      considered globally appropriate (91%), although most often with an uncertain
      indication. The 5ASA compounds, steroids and aggressive surgery were most often
      inappropriate (84%, 58% and 86% respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Formal
      appropriateness criteria for CD therapy were applied to a national cohort of IBD
      patients. For more than three-quarters of the patients with fistulizing CD,
      therapy was globally appropriate.

PMID- 20937048
TI  - The effects of high-dose esomeprazole on gastric and oesophageal acid exposure
      and molecular markers in Barrett's oesophagus.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Acid reflux is often difficult to control medically. AIM: To assess
      the effect of 40 mg twice daily esomeprazole (high-dose) on gastric and
      oesophageal pH and symptoms, and biomarkers relevant to adenocarcinoma, in
      patients with Barrett's oesophagus (BO). METHODS: Eighteen patients, treated with
      proton pump inhibitors as prescribed by their treating doctor, had their therapy
      increased to high-dose esomeprazole for 6 months. RESULTS: At entry into the
      study, 9/18 patients had excessive 24-h oesophageal acid exposure, and gastric pH
      remained <4 for >16 h in 8/18. With high-dose esomeprazole, excessive acid
      exposure occurred in 2/18 patients, and gastric pH <4 was decreased from 38% of
      overall recording time and 53% of the nocturnal period to 15% and 17%,
      respectively (P < 0.001). There was a reduction in self-assessed symptoms of
      heartburn (P = 0.0005) and regurgitation (P < 0.0001), and inflammation and
      proliferation in the Barrett's mucosa. There was no significant change in p53,
      MGMT or COX-2 expression, or in aberrant DNA methylation. CONCLUSIONS: High-dose
      esomeprazole achieved higher levels of gastric acid suppression and control of
      oesophageal acid reflux and symptoms, with significant decreases in inflammation
      and epithelial proliferation. There was no reversal of aberrant DNA methylation.

PMID- 20937049
TI  - The quality of sleep in patients with coeliac disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Coeliac disease is a chronic disease with a various clinical
      presentation, including anxiety and depression. AIM: To investigate the quality
      of sleep in coeliac disease. METHODS: The participants were coeliacs at
      diagnosis; coeliacs on a gluten-free diet at follow-up and healthy volunteers.
      Participants completed the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), SF36, Zung and
      Fatigue scales and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). RESULTS: The PSQI score
      was higher in coeliacs at diagnosis and in a gluten-free diet than in healthy
      volunteers (P < 0.001). A gluten-free diet did not improve the PSQI score (P =
      0.245) in coeliac disease. The other test scores were similar between coeliacs at
      diagnosis and those on a gluten-free diet, whereas significant differences were
      found between coeliacs and volunteers. PSQI score was inversely associated with
      the quality of the physical (r = -0.327, P = 0.002) and mental (r = -0.455, P <
      0.001) component scores. The sleep quality scores were related to depression (r =
      0.633, P < 0.001), fatigue (r = 0.377, P < 0.001), state anxiety (r = 0.484, P <
      0.001) and trait anxiety (r = 0.467, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Sleep disorders are
      common in coeliac disease not only at diagnosis but also during treatment with a
      gluten-free diet. Sleep disorders are related to depression, anxiety and fatigue,
      and inversely related to quality of life scale scores.

PMID- 20937050
TI  - Risk of colorectal adenomas in patients with coeliac disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Coeliac disease is associated with an increased risk of lymphoma and
      small bowel malignancy, but most studies have found no increased risk of
      colorectal cancer. AIM: To compare the prevalence of colorectal adenomas in
      coeliac disease patients with that in non-coeliac disease controls. METHODS: We
      identified all coeliac disease patients who underwent colonoscopy at our
      institution during a 44-month period. We matched each patient with non-coeliac
      disease controls by age, gender and endoscopist. We compared the adenoma
      prevalence between these groups, and used multivariate analysis to assess the
      independent association of coeliac disease with adenomas. RESULTS: We identified
      180 patients with coeliac disease and 346 controls. At least one adenoma was
      present in 13% of coeliac disease patients and 17% of controls (P = 0.20). On
      multivariate analysis, age (OR per year 1.04, 95% CI 1.02-1.07) and male gender
      (OR 2.33, 95% CI 1.36-3.98) were associated with adenomas, while the relationship
      between coeliac disease and adenomas remained null (OR 0.75, 95% CI 0.41-1.34).
      CONCLUSIONS: Coeliac disease is not associated with an increased risk of
      colorectal neoplasia. The lack of increased risk of colorectal cancer observed in
      population studies is related to a true average risk of colorectal neoplasia,
      rather than artifactually reflecting increased colonoscopy and associated
      polypectomies in the coeliac population.

PMID- 20937052
TI  - Managing multiple masculinities in donor insemination: doctors configuring
      infertile men and sperm donors in Taiwan.
AB  - This article investigates how doctors configured infertile men and sperm donors
      in the development of donor insemination (DI) in Taiwan. In the initial stage
      (1950s-1970s) doctors adjusted clinical procedures to repair the deformed gender
      identities of infertile men. To expand DI in the late 1970s and early 1980s,
      doctors stressed the positive eugenics of DI by spotlighting the high
      intelligence of donors, playing down biological patrilineage and re-emphasising
      the contribution of men of higher rank in society. In the mid-1980s, when donors
      came to be seen as potential carriers of fatal diseases like acquired immune
      deficiency syndrome, doctors managed to associate risky donors with socially
      stigmatised men, and therefore perpetuate the conventional hierarchy of
      masculinities. As the intracytoplasmic sperm injection emerged in the early 1990s
      doctors quickly presented infertile men as universally longing for biological
      fatherhood and hence devalued DI in an attempt to augment paternal masculinity.
      These diverse configuration activities come together to create a socio-technical
      network of DI that most of the time perpetuates the reigning gender order, rather
      than destabilising it. I argue the importance of incorporating various types of
      participants in analysis to understand the changing dynamics of multiple
      masculinities along with the development of DI.

PMID- 20937051
TI  - The effects of midodrine on the natriuretic response to furosemide in cirrhotics
      with ascites.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Resistance to loop diuretics is common in patients with ascites.
      Diminished glomerular filtration rate (GFR) is thought to mediate resistance to
      loop diuretics. Midodrine, a commonly used alpha-1 agonist, has been shown to
      improve GFR in non-azotemic patients with cirrhosis. AIM: To conduct a
      randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over study to test the
      hypothesis that midodrine significantly increases natriuretic response of IV
      furosemide in non-azotemic cirrhotics with ascites. METHODS: All subjects
      participated in both phases, which were (i) furosemide IV infusion + oral
      midodrine 15 mg administered 30 min before furosemide (ii) furosemide IV infusion
      + oral placebo administered 30 min before furosemide. Primary outcomes were 6-h
      urine sodium excretion and 6-h total urine volume. RESULTS: A total of 15
      patients (men: 8; age: 52.7 +/- 7.6 years; serum creatinine: 1.06 +/- 0.2 mg/dL)
      were studied. Total 6-h urine sodium excretion was 109 +/- 42 mmol in the
      furosemide + midodrine treatment phase and was not significantly different from
      that in the furosemide + placebo treatment phase (126 +/- 69 mmol, P = 0.6).
      Similarly, mean 6-h total urine volume was not significantly different between
      two groups (1770 +/- 262 mL vs. 1962 +/- 170 mL, P = 0.25). CONCLUSIONS: Oral
      midodrine does not increase the natriuretic response to furosemide in non
      azotemic cirrhotic patients with ascites. Orally administered midodrine does not
      increase natriuretic response to furosemide in non-azotemic cirrhotic patients
      with ascites.

PMID- 20937053
TI  - 'One wants to know what a chromosome is': the internet as a coping resource when
      adjusting to life parenting a child with a rare genetic disorder.
AB  - The internet has democratised access to health and diagnostic information,
      enabling patients to mobilise social support from peers and advocate their
      interests in encounters with medical personnel. Research has shown that these
      possibilities are particularly important for patients and caregivers confronting
      a rare medical condition. However, little research has focused on how the act of
      searching for and accumulating information via the internet can be important for
      coping emotionally with a situation characterised by uncertain prospects and
      inadequate information from health personnel. This paper explores the experiences
      of 10 Norwegian parents whose children have different rare genetic disorders and
      who used the internet as a resource. The analysis draws on the theoretical
      framework of the medical sociologist Aaron Antonovsky, who emphasises people's
      inherent ability to manage extremely stressful life experiences. Analysing the
      process of adjusting to and coping with life parenting a child suffering from a
      rare genetic disorder, this study shows that becoming knowledgeable about a
      child's condition is essential for gradually comprehending and managing a
      situation that initially seems unmanageable and distressful. It also suggests
      that as parents adjust, so do the frequency and purpose of their internet
      searches.

PMID- 20937054
TI  - Disclosure of STI testing activities by young adults: the influence of emotions
      and social networks.
AB  - Thirty young adults (between 18 and 29 years of age) who had sought STI testing
      were interviewed about their experiences of 'passing' during the STI testing
      process (keeping their testing practices a secret from other individuals), and
      also their experiences of disclosing to other individuals the fact that they had
      sought STI testing. Respondents kept their STI testing practices secret from
      others in order to preserve their identities as 'normal' individuals. They feared
      that their identities would become stigmatised if other people were to find out
      about their testing practices. Keeping their practices a secret was difficult and
      emotionally draining. Consequently, respondents usually chose to inform a few key
      individuals about their testing activities. These individuals provided
      respondents with emotional support and helped them to pass as normal. Healthcare
      professionals were a particular, valued group to whom respondents disclosed their
      need for STI testing. A number of respondents reported experiencing stigmatising
      reactions from healthcare professionals, however, which had deleterious
      consequences for these respondents' willingness to seek treatment for their STI.
      Findings are discussed in relation to Goffman's impression management framework
      (1959, 1963) and develop Goffman's work by highlighting the roles played by
      emotions and social networks in impression management activities.

PMID- 20937055
TI  - Challenges in measuring efficacy of psychoeducation for caregivers of Indian
      patients with schizophrenia.

PMID- 20937056
TI  - Tell me what you eat and I'll tell you when you fly: diet can predict
      phenological changes in response to climate change.
AB  - Changes in phenology are correlated with climate change. However, we still
      struggle to understand the traits making species susceptible to climate change,
      and the implications of species' reactions for communities and food webs.
      Butterflies and moths are an ecologically important group that have shown
      pronounced phenological changes over the last decades. Tests using a > 150-year
      dataset from 566 European butterfly and moth species demonstrated that variation
      in phenological change was strongly related to traits describing plant-herbivore
      interactions (larval diet breadth, diet composition), and the life cycle. The
      results indicate that climate change related shifts in phenology are correlated
      with the seasonal availability and palatability of food plants. Lepidopterans
      feeding on herbaceous plants showed smaller shifts in flight periods but larger
      increases in voltinism than lepidopterans feeding on woody plants. Consequently,
      the effect of herbivorous lepidopterans may increase in herb-rich grassland
      ecosystems under warmer conditions, and not in forest ecosystems.

PMID- 20937057
TI  - Consequences of adaptive behaviour for the structure and dynamics of food webs.
AB  - Species coexistence within ecosystems and the stability of patterns of temporal
      changes in population sizes are central topics in ecological theory. In the last
      decade, adaptive behaviour has been proposed as a mechanism of population
      stabilization. In particular, widely distributed adaptive trophic behaviour
      (ATB), the fitness-enhancing changes in individuals' feeding-related traits due
      to variation in their trophic environment, may play a key role in modulating the
      dynamics of feeding relationships within natural communities. In this article, we
      review and synthesize models and results from theoretical research dealing with
      the consequences of ATB on the structure and dynamics of complex food webs. We
      discuss current approaches, point out limitations, and consider questions ripe
      for future research. In spite of some differences in the modelling and analytic
      approaches, there are points of convergence: (1) ATB promotes the complex
      structure of ecological networks, (2) ATB increases the stability of their
      dynamics, (3) ATB reverses May's negative complexity-stability relationship, and
      (4) ATB provides resilience and resistance of networks against perturbations.
      Current knowledge supports ATB as an essential ingredient for models of community
      dynamics, and future research that incorporates ATB will be well positioned to
      address questions important for basic ecological research and its applications.

PMID- 20937059
TI  - Is uridine a treatment for asthma?

PMID- 20937060
TI  - The role of food allergy in the atopic march.

PMID- 20937061
TI  - Lupin allergy: a hidden killer at home, a menace at work; occupational disease
      due to lupin allergy.
AB  - The products of the flowering plant, lupin, are increasingly used as a human food
      product, particularly in baking. Occupational sensitization to lupin with
      occupational rhinitis, conjunctivitis and asthma was first described in 2001, and
      confirmed in a larger cross-sectional study in a food processing company in 2006.
      Sensitization by inhalation may result in occupational asthma, work-exacerbated
      asthma, occupational rhinitis and conjunctivitis. The incidence of occupational
      sensitization may be as high as 29%. The relationship with exposure intensity is
      as yet unclear, and requires further clarification. Although there is little
      information from long-term studies, these diseases are likely to improve after
      cessation of exposure. Cross-sensitization to other legumes, particularly
      peanuts, has been shown by skin prick testing, with potential for serious
      anaphylactic reactions. This review summarizes the available literature on
      occupational sensitization to lupin products. It is one of two reviews, one
      covering the problem of lupin allergy in the home, while the present article
      deals with lupin sensitization in the workplace. Increased awareness is needed of
      this occupational hazard to avoid future cases of occupational disease and their
      accompanying morbidity and potential mortality.

PMID- 20937062
TI  - High-affinity immunoglobulin E receptor expression is increased in large and
      small airways in fatal asthma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: IgE and its high-affinity receptor FcERI play an important role in
      allergy and asthma. The distribution of FcERI expression in the airways and
      within the airway wall, however, is largely unknown. OBJECTIVE: In this study, we
      aimed to map the distribution of FcERI in different layers of large airways (LA)
      and small airways (SA) in lung tissue from non-smoking and smoking patients who
      died of asthma [fatal asthma (FA)] and non-smoking controls (CTR). METHODS:
      Postmortem lung tissue from 24 cases of non-smoking FA, 13 smoking FA patients
      and from 19 subjects who died of non-pulmonary causes (CTR) was
      immunohistochemically stained for FcERI and AA1 (mast cell tryptase marker). The
      expression of these markers was analysed in inner, muscle, and outer layers of
      both LA and SA by image analysis. RESULTS: FcERI expression was higher in non
      smoking and smoking FA compared with CTR in the inner and outer layer of SA. In
      the outer layer of LA, FcERI expression was higher in non-smoking FA compared
      with CTR. AA1 was higher in non-smoking FA compared with smoking FA and CTR in
      the outer layer of the SA, which was correlated with FcERI in this layer.
      CONCLUSION: Our results show that the expression of FcERI is higher in both LA
      and SA in FA compared with CTR. These differences are predominantly found in the
      outer layer where they can be attributed in part to the increased mast cell
      numbers. These results indicate an increased capacity to mount IgE-mediated
      reactions in FA, both in LA and SA.

PMID- 20937063
TI  - Subcutaneous and sublingual immunotherapy and T regulatory cells: there is
      clinical relevance.

PMID- 20937065
TI  - Nasal inflammation and reversible bronchial obstruction in asymptomatic allergic
      children.

PMID- 20937068
TI  - 'Sick', irritable infant with fever, vomiting, bloody stool and abdominal
      distention (Case Presentation). Diagnosis: Hereditary tyrosinaemia type I
      presenting as E. coli septicaemia.

PMID- 20937069
TI  - Vaccination of children - summary and conclusions from a systematic review.

PMID- 20937070
TI  - Challenges in gynaecological oncology.

PMID- 20937071
TI  - The impact of Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) programmes on
      maternal health care in resource-poor settings: looking beyond the PMTCT
      programme--a systematic review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is increasing debate about the impact of scaled-up HIV/AIDS
      programmes on fragile healthcare systems in low-income countries. OBJECTIVES: To
      contribute to the understanding of the relation between HIV/AIDS programmes and
      healthcare systems, this systematic review focuses on the impact of Prevention of
      Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) programmes on maternal health care. SEARCH
      STRATEGY: Publications describing the effect of PMTCT programmes on maternal
      healthcare services were sought through computerised searches in five electronic
      databases. SELECTION CRITERIA: Abstracts of publications were evaluated for
      appropriateness for inclusion based on whether they met the inclusion criteria.
      DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Copies of all selected publications were obtained.
      A classification system was developed to group the relevant publications. MAIN
      RESULTS: The findings show that empirical evidence of the effect of PMTCT
      programmes on maternal health care is scarce and further research is badly
      needed. Twenty-one studies that were included in the systematic review showed
      that PMTCT programmes are often semi-integrated in maternal health care with
      positive as well as negative effects on various aspects of maternal health care.
      AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: It appears that PMTCT programmes miss the opportunity to
      have an overall positive effect on maternal health care because of their
      verticality.

PMID- 20937072
TI  - A longitudinal study of patient and surgeon goal achievement 2 years after
      surgery following pelvic floor dysfunction surgery.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare patient goal achievement in prolapse and continence surgery
      with objective/subjective outcomes; secondarily, to compare patient goal
      achievement with overall satisfaction and with that of the surgeon. DESIGN:
      Prospective longitudinal observational study, over 2 years. SETTING: Tertiary
      urogynaecology centre. POPULATION: Women with prolapse or stress incontinence due
      for surgery. METHODS: Patients and surgeons listed five goals that they hoped to
      achieve following surgery. Objective assessment was with Pelvic Organ Prolapse
      Quantification System (POP-Q) and videocystourethrography (VCU). Quality of life
      (QoL) was assessed with a Prolapse QoL questionnaire (PQoL), Kings Health
      questionnaire (KHQ) and Golombok-Rust Inventory of Sexual Satisfaction (GRISS)
      and satisfaction was assessed with the Patient Global Impression of Improvement
      (PGI-I). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Goal achievement was measured on a 100-mm visual
      analogue scale (VAS); objective cure of prolapse by POP-Q and of stress
      incontinence by VCU; QoL was assessed by KHQ, PQoL and GRISS; and satisfaction by
      PGI-I. RESULTS: Complete data were available for 112 women. POP-Q scores
      significantly improved (P<0.05); objective cure of incontinence (from VCU) was
      88.8%. All QoL questionnaires and PGI-I scores showed significant improvement
      (P<0.01). Mean goal achievement was 85.1% for patients and 89.6% for surgeons.
      Patient goal achievement for prolapse surgery was observed sooner and correlated
      more with other measures of success than continence surgery. Continence-related
      goals based on symptom relief were achieved more than those based on body image
      and sexuality. Surgeons reported a high achievement rate in anatomical
      restoration and functional improvement goals. CONCLUSIONS: Patient goal
      achievement correlates significantly with other measures of 'success' as well as
      with overall satisfaction. Surgeons and women have varying expectations of the
      outcome of surgery. Nearly 90% of goals are still achieved 2 years following
      surgery.

PMID- 20937073
TI  - Socio-economic disparities in maternal mortality in China between 1996 and 2006.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: China's economic reforms have raised concerns over rising inequalities
      in maternal mortality, but it is not known whether the gap across socio-economic
      regions has increased over time. DESIGN: A population-based, longitudinal,
      ecological correlation study. SETTING: China. SAMPLE: Records from the National
      Maternal and Child Mortality Surveillance System between 1996 and 2006. METHODS:
      We report levels, causes and timing of maternal deaths, and examine crude and
      adjusted time trends in the overall and cause-specific maternal mortality ratio
      in five socio-economic regions (using Poisson regression). We examine whether
      socio-economic disparities have widened over time using concentration curves.
      MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: All-causes and cause-specific maternal mortality ratios.
      RESULTS: Maternal mortality (MMR) declined by 6% per year (yearly rate ratio, RR,
      0.94; 95% CI 0.93-0.96). The decline was most pronounced in the wealthiest rural
      type-I counties (RR 0.89; 95% CI 0.85-0.93), and in the poorest rural type-IV
      counties (RR 0.90; 95% CI 0.82-1.00). There were declines in almost all causes of
      maternal death. Postpartum haemorrhage (PPH) was by far the leading cause of
      maternal death (32%, 997/3164). The decline in MMR was largely explained by the
      increased uptake of institutional births. Concentration curves suggest that
      wealth-related regional inequalities did not increase over time. CONCLUSIONS:
      China's extraordinary economic growth has not adversely affected disparities in
      MMR across socio-economic regions over time, but poor rural women remain at
      disproportionate risk. Other emerging economies can learn from China's focus on
      the supply and quality of maternity services along with more general health
      systems strengthening.

PMID- 20937074
TI  - A report of two cases of the management of cervical cancer in pregnancy by cone
      biopsy and laparoscopic pelvic node dissection.

PMID- 20937076
TI  - A systematic review of the effectiveness of training in emergency obstetric care
      in low-resource environments.

PMID- 20937077
TI  - Child behaviour following low to moderate maternal drinking in pregnancy.

PMID- 20937081
TI  - Dynamic transcriptomic profiles of zebrafish gills in response to zinc
      supplementation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Dietary zinc supplementation may help to promote growth, boost the
      immune system, protect against diabetes, and aid recovery from diarrhoea. We
      exploited the zebrafish (Danio rerio) gill as a unique vertebrate ion
      transporting epithelium model to study the time-dependent regulatory networks of
      gene-expression leading to homeostatic control during zinc supplementation. This
      organ forms a conduit for zinc uptake whilst exhibiting conservation of zinc
      trafficking components. RESULTS: Fish were maintained with either zinc
      supplemented water (4.0 MUM) and diet (2023 mg zinc kg-1) or water and diet
      containing Zn2+ at 0.25 MUM and 233 mg zinc kg-1, respectively. Gill tissues were
      harvested at five time points (8 hours to 14 days) and transcriptome changes
      analysed in quintuplicate using a 16 K microarray with results anchored to gill
      Zn2+ influx and whole body nutrient composition (protein, carbohydrate, lipid,
      elements). The number of regulated genes increased up to day 7 but declined as
      the fish acclimated. In total 525 genes were regulated (having a fold-change more
      than 1.8 fold change and an adjusted P-value less than 0.1 which is controlling a
      10% False discovery rate, FDR) by zinc supplementation, but little overlap was
      observed between genes regulated at successive time-points. Many genes displayed
      cyclic expression, typical for homeostatic control mechanisms. Annotation
      enrichment analysis revealed strong overrepresentation of "transcription
      factors", with specific association evident with "steroid hormone receptors". A
      suite of genes linked to "development" were also statistically overrepresented.
      More specifically, early regulation of genes was linked to a few key
      transcription factors (e.g. Mtf1, Jun, Stat1, Ppara, Gata3) and was followed by
      hedgehog and bone morphogenic protein signalling. CONCLUSIONS: The results
      suggest that zinc supplementation reactivated developmental pathways in the gill
      and stimulated stem cell differentiation, a response likely reflecting gill
      remodelling in response to its altered environment. This provides insight to the
      role of zinc during cell differentiation and illustrates the critical nature of
      maintaining zinc status. The study also highlights the importance of temporal
      transcriptomics analysis in order resolve the discrete elements of biological
      processes, such as zinc acclimation.

PMID- 20937082
TI  - Challenges in microarray class discovery: a comprehensive examination of
      normalization, gene selection and clustering.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cluster analysis, and in particular hierarchical clustering, is
      widely used to extract information from gene expression data. The aim is to
      discover new classes, or sub-classes, of either individuals or genes. Performing
      a cluster analysis commonly involve decisions on how to; handle missing values,
      standardize the data and select genes. In addition, pre-processing, involving
      various types of filtration and normalization procedures, can have an effect on
      the ability to discover biologically relevant classes. Here we consider cluster
      analysis in a broad sense and perform a comprehensive evaluation that covers
      several aspects of cluster analyses, including normalization. RESULT: We
      evaluated 2780 cluster analysis methods on seven publicly available 2-channel
      microarray data sets with common reference designs. Each cluster analysis method
      differed in data normalization (5 normalizations were considered), missing value
      imputation (2), standardization of data (2), gene selection (19) or clustering
      method (11). The cluster analyses are evaluated using known classes, such as
      cancer types, and the adjusted Rand index. The performances of the different
      analyses vary between the data sets and it is difficult to give general
      recommendations. However, normalization, gene selection and clustering method are
      all variables that have a significant impact on the performance. In particular,
      gene selection is important and it is generally necessary to include a relatively
      large number of genes in order to get good performance. Selecting genes with high
      standard deviation or using principal component analysis are shown to be the
      preferred gene selection methods. Hierarchical clustering using Ward's method, k
      means clustering and Mclust are the clustering methods considered in this paper
      that achieves the highest adjusted Rand. Normalization can have a significant
      positive impact on the ability to cluster individuals, and there are indications
      that background correction is preferable, in particular if the gene selection is
      successful. However, this is an area that needs to be studied further in order to
      draw any general conclusions. CONCLUSIONS: The choice of cluster analysis, and in
      particular gene selection, has a large impact on the ability to cluster
      individuals correctly based on expression profiles. Normalization has a positive
      effect, but the relative performance of different normalizations is an area that
      needs more research. In summary, although clustering, gene selection and
      normalization are considered standard methods in bioinformatics, our
      comprehensive analysis shows that selecting the right methods, and the right
      combinations of methods, is far from trivial and that much is still unexplored in
      what is considered to be the most basic analysis of genomic data.

PMID- 20937083
TI  - Investigation of Toll-like receptors in the pathogenesis of fibrotic and
      granulomatous disorders: a bronchoalveolar lavage study.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIM: Toll-like receptors (TLRs), a key component of innate
      immunity, have recently been implicated in the pathogenesis of interstitial lung
      diseases (ILDs). As the involvement of TLRs has not yet been fully elucidated,
      the aim of the current study was to examine the expression of various TLRs in the
      bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) of patients with ILDs. PATIENTS AND METHODS:
      We studied prospectively three groups of patients: (1) one group of 35 patients
      with fibrotic disorders, 16 with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and 19 with
      fibrotic interstitial pneumonias associated with collagen tissue disorders (CTD
      IPs); (2) one group of 14 patients with pulmonary sarcoidosis; and (3) 11 normal
      subjects. We evaluated TLR expression with flow cytometry and mRNA expression
      with real-time PCR. RESULTS: An overexpression of TLR-3 mRNA was found in
      fibrotic disorders (CTD-IPs/IPF) in comparison with sarcoidosis (mean +/- SD,
      1.104 +/- 1.087 versus 0.038 +/- 0.03; P = 0.04). Additionally, TLR-3 mRNA was
      increased in CTD-IPs in comparison with IPF (P = 0.001), sarcoidosis (P = 0.002)
      and controls (P = 0.05). An upregulation in TLR-7 and -9 mRNA expression was
      detected in IPF (P = 0.05) and sarcoidosis (P = 0.05), respectively, when
      compared to controls. A higher percentage of TLR-9-expressing cells was found in
      BALF of CTD-IPs when compared to IPF (mean +/- SD, 36.7 +/- 7.06 versus 14.85 +/-
      3.82; P = 0.025). CONCLUSION: We observed distinct profiles of TLR expression in
      fibrotic and granulomatous disorders. It is likely that they could play a key
      role in the pathogenesis of these diseases and represent future therapeutic
      targets.

PMID- 20937084
TI  - Distinct modulation of microglial amyloid beta phagocytosis and migration by
      neuropeptides (i).
AB  - Microglial activation plays an integral role in the development and course of
      neurodegeneration. Although neuropeptides such as bradykinin (BK), somatostatin
      (SST), and endothelin (ET) are known to be important mediators of inflammation in
      the periphery, evidence of a similar function in brain is scarce. Using
      immunocytochemistry, we demonstrate the expression of receptors for BK (B1, B2
      subtypes), ET (ETA, ETB subtypes) and SST (SST 2, 3, 4 subtypes) in primary
      microglia and microglial cell lines. Exposure of BV2 and N9, as well as primary
      microglial cells to BK or SST increased Abeta uptake in a concentration-dependent
      manner, whereas endothelin decreased Abeta uptake. This was caused by increased
      phagocytosis of Abeta since the rate of intracellular Abeta degradation remained
      unaffected. All neuropeptides increased chemotactic activity of microglia. In
      addition, BK reduced Abeta-induced expression of proinflammatory genes including
      iNOS and COX-2. ET decreased the Abeta-induced expression of monocyte
      chemoattractant protein 1 and interleukin-6. These results suggest that
      neuropeptides play an important role in chemotaxis and Abeta clearance and
      modulate the brain's response to neuroinflammatory processes.

PMID- 20937085
TI  - Improving quality of malaria treatment services: assessing inequities in
      consumers' perceptions and providers' behaviour in Nigeria.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Information about quality of malaria treatment services of different
      healthcare providers is needed to know how to improve the treatment of malaria
      since inappropriate service provision leads to increased burden of malaria.
      Hence, the study determined the technical and perceived quality of malaria
      treatment services of different types of providers in three urban and three rural
      areas in southeast Nigeria. METHODS: Questionnaire was used to interview randomly
      selected healthcare providers about the technical quality of their malaria
      treatment services. Exit polls were used to obtain information about perceived
      quality from consumers. A socio-economic status (SES) index and comparison of
      data between urban and rural areas was used to examine socio-economic status and
      geographic differences in quality of services. RESULTS: The lowest technical
      quality of services was found from patent medicine dealers. Conversely, public
      and private hospitals as well as primary healthcare centres had the highest
      quality of services. Householders were least satisfied with quality of services
      of patent medicine dealers and pharmacy shops and were mostly satisfied with
      services rendered by public and private hospitals. The urbanites were more
      satisfied with the overall quality of services than the rural dwellers.
      CONCLUSION: These findings provide areas for interventions to equitably improve
      the quality of malaria treatment services, especially for patent medicine dealers
      and pharmacy shops, that are two of the most common providers of malaria
      treatment especially with the current change of first line drugs from the
      relatively inexpensive drugs to the expensive artemisinin-based combination
      therapy, so as to decrease inappropriate drug prescribing, use, costs and
      resistance to artemisinin-based combination therapy.

PMID- 20937086
TI  - Predictors of pain intensity and persistence in a prospective Italian cohort of
      patients with herpes zoster: relevance of smoking, trauma and antiviral therapy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Herpes zoster (HZ) is a common disease, characterized by rash
      associated localized pain. Its main complication, post-herpetic neuralgia (PHN),
      is difficult to treat and may last for months to years in the wake of rash
      resolution. Uncertainties remain as to the knowledge of predictors of HZ-related
      pain, including the role of antiviral therapy in preventing PHN in ordinary
      clinical practice. This prospective cohort study was aimed at investigating pain
      intensity at HZ presentation and its correlates, as well as the incidence of PHN
      and its predictors. METHODS: Patients diagnosed with HZ were consecutively
      enrolled by a network of Italian General Practitioners and Hospital Units in the
      health district of Pescara, Italy, over two years. Uncertain cases were referred
      for microbiological investigation. Data were collected through electronic case
      report form (e-CRFs) at enrollment and at 1, 3, 6 and 12 months after enrollment.
      Pain intensity was coded on a five-degree semi-quantitative scale at each time
      point. PHN was defined as pain of any intensity during follow-up and quantified
      using an area-under-the-curve (AUC) method. RESULTS: Four hundred and forty-one
      patients composed the final sample. Mean age was 58.1 years (SD = 20.4 years);
      43.5% of patients were males; 7.9% did not receive prescription of antivirals.
      Intense/very intense pain at presentation was reported by 25.2% of patients and
      was significantly associated with female gender, older age, cigarette smoking,
      trauma and/or surgery at HZ site (logistic regression). PHN was diagnosed in
      51.2% of patients at one month and in 30.0% of patients at three months. PHN was
      significantly associated with pain intensity at presentation, age, smoking,
      trauma and missed antiviral prescription (generalized estimating equations
      model). The same factors were also independent predictors of the overall pain
      burden as described by the AUC method (linear regression). CONCLUSIONS: Smoking,
      traumas and surgery at the HZ site emerged as new predictors of both HZ-related
      pain intensity and persistence, opening new perspectives in the prevention of HZ
      related pain. An independent line of evidence was provided for the efficacy of
      antiviral therapy in preventing PHN and reducing total pain burden.

PMID- 20937087
TI  - Retrieval of the Alzheimer's amyloid precursor protein from the endosome to the
      TGN is S655 phosphorylation state-dependent and retromer-mediated.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Retrograde transport of several transmembrane proteins from endosomes
      to the trans-Golgi network (TGN) occurs via Rab 5-containing endosomes, mediated
      by clathrin and the recently characterized retromer complex. This complex and one
      of its putative sorting receptor components, SorLA, were reported to be
      associated to late onset Alzheimer's disease (AD). The pathogenesis of this
      neurodegenerative disorder is still elusive, although accumulation of
      amyloidogenic Abeta is a hallmark. This peptide is generated from the sucessive
      beta- and gamma- secretase proteolysis of the Alzheimer's amyloid precursor
      protein (APP), events which are associated with endocytic pathway compartments.
      Therefore, APP targeting and time of residence in endosomes would be predicted to
      modulate Abeta levels. However, the formation of an APP- and retromer-containing
      protein complex with potential functions in retrieval of APP from the endosome to
      the TGN had, to date, not been demonstrated directly. Further, the motif(s) in
      APP that regulate its sorting to the TGN have not been characterized. RESULTS:
      Through the use of APP-GFP constructs, we show that APP containing endocytic
      vesicles targeted for the TGN, are also immunoreactive for clathrin-, Rab 5- and
      VPS35. Further, they frequently generate protruding tubules near the TGN,
      supporting an association with a retromer-mediated pathway. Importantly, we show
      for the first time, that mimicking APP phosphorylation at S655, within the APP
      653YTSI656 basolateral motif, enhances APP retrieval via a retromer-mediated
      process. The phosphomimetic APP S655E displays decreased APP lysosomal targeting,
      enhanced mature half-life, and decreased tendency towards Abeta production. VPS35
      downregulation impairs the phosphorylation dependent APP retrieval to the TGN,
      and decreases APP half-life. CONCLUSIONS: We reported for the first time the
      importance of APP phosphorylation on S655 in regulating its retromer-mediated
      sorting to the TGN or lysosomes. Significantly, the data are consistent with
      known interactions involving the retromer, SorLA and APP. Further, these findings
      add to our understanding of APP targeting and potentially contribute to our
      knowledge of sporadic AD pathogenesis representing putative new targets for AD
      therapeutic strategies.

PMID- 20937089
TI  - Association of phospholipase A2 receptor 1 polymorphisms with idiopathic
      membranous nephropathy in Chinese patients in Taiwan.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Idiopathic membranous nephropathy (IMN) is one of the most common
      forms of autoimmune nephritic syndrome in adults. The purpose of this study is to
      evaluate whether polymorphisms of PLA2R1 affect the development of IMN. METHODS:
      Taiwanese-Chinese individuals (129 patients with IMN and 106 healthy controls)
      were enrolled in this study. The selected single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs)
      in PLA2R1 were genotyped by real-time polymerase chain reaction using TaqMan
      fluorescent probes, and were further confirmed by polymerase chain reaction
      restriction fragment length polymorphism. The roles of the SNPs in disease
      progression were analyzed. RESULTS: Genotype distribution was significantly
      different between patients with IMN and controls for PLA2R1 SNP rs35771982 (p =
      0.015). The frequency of G allele at rs35771982 was significantly higher in
      patients with IMN as compared with controls (p = 0.005). In addition, haplotypes
      of PLA2R1 may be used to predict the risk of IMN (p = 0.004). Haplotype H1 plays
      a role in an increased risk of IMN while haplotype H3 plays a protective role
      against this disease. None of these polymorphisms showed a significant and
      independent influence on the progression of IMN and the risk of end-stage renal
      failure and death (ESRF/death). High disease progression in patients having C/T
      genotype at rs6757188 and C/G genotype at rs35771982 were associated with a low
      rate of remission. CONCLUSIONS: Our results provide new evidence that genetic
      polymorphisms of PLA2R1 may be the underlying cause of IMN, and the polymorphisms
      revealed by this study warrant further investigation.

PMID- 20937088
TI  - A second generation genetic linkage map of Japanese flounder (Paralichthys
      olivaceus).
AB  - BACKGROUND: Japanese flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus) is one of the most
      economically important marine species in Northeast Asia. Information on genetic
      markers associated with quantitative trait loci (QTL) can be used in breeding
      programs to identify and select individuals carrying desired traits. Commercial
      production of Japanese flounder could be increased by developing disease
      resistant fish and improving commercially important traits. Previous maps have
      been constructed with AFLP markers and a limited number of microsatellite
      markers. In this study, improved genetic linkage maps are presented. In contrast
      with previous studies, these maps were built mainly with a large number of
      codominant markers so they can potentially be used to analyze different families
      and populations. RESULTS: Sex-specific genetic linkage maps were constructed for
      the Japanese flounder including a total of 1,375 markers [1,268 microsatellites,
      105 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and two genes]; 1,167 markers are
      linked to the male map and 1,067 markers are linked to the female map. The
      lengths of the male and female maps are 1,147.7 cM and 833.8 cM, respectively.
      Based on estimations of map lengths, the female and male maps covered 79 and 82%
      of the genome, respectively. Recombination ratio in the new maps revealed F:M of
      1:0.7. All linkage groups in the maps presented large differences in the location
      of sex-specific recombination hot-spots. CONCLUSIONS: The improved genetic
      linkage maps are very useful for QTL analyses and marker-assisted selection (MAS)
      breeding programs for economically important traits in Japanese flounder. In
      addition, SNP flanking sequences were blasted against Tetraodon nigroviridis
      (puffer fish) and Danio rerio (zebrafish), and synteny analysis has been carried
      out. The ability to detect synteny among species or genera based on homology
      analysis of SNP flanking sequences may provide opportunities to complement
      initial QTL experiments with candidate gene approaches from homologous
      chromosomal locations identified in related model organisms.

PMID- 20937092
TI  - Improving the interpretation of quality of life evidence in meta-analyses: the
      application of minimal important difference units.
AB  - Systematic reviews of randomized trials that include measurements of health
      related quality of life potentially provide critical information for patient and
      clinicians facing challenging health care decisions. When, as is most often the
      case, individual randomized trials use different measurement instruments for the
      same construct (such as physical or emotional function), authors typically report
      differences between intervention and control in standard deviation units (so
      called "standardized mean difference" or "effect size"). This approach has
      statistical limitations (it is influenced by the heterogeneity of the population)
      and is non-intuitive for decision makers. We suggest an alternative approach:
      reporting results in minimal important difference units (the smallest difference
      patients experience as important). This approach provides a potential solution to
      both the statistical and interpretational problems of existing methods.

PMID- 20937090
TI  - Clostridium sticklandii, a specialist in amino acid degradation:revisiting its
      metabolism through its genome sequence.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Clostridium sticklandii belongs to a cluster of non-pathogenic
      proteolytic clostridia which utilize amino acids as carbon and energy sources.
      Isolated by T.C. Stadtman in 1954, it has been generally regarded as a "gold
      mine" for novel biochemical reactions and is used as a model organism for
      studying metabolic aspects such as the Stickland reaction, coenzyme-B12- and
      selenium-dependent reactions of amino acids. With the goal of revisiting its
      carbon, nitrogen, and energy metabolism, and comparing studies with other
      clostridia, its genome has been sequenced and analyzed. RESULTS: C. sticklandii
      is one of the best biochemically studied proteolytic clostridial species. Useful
      additional information has been obtained from the sequencing and annotation of
      its genome, which is presented in this paper. Besides, experimental procedures
      reveal that C. sticklandii degrades amino acids in a preferential and sequential
      way. The organism prefers threonine, arginine, serine, cysteine, proline, and
      glycine, whereas glutamate, aspartate and alanine are excreted. Energy
      conservation is primarily obtained by substrate-level phosphorylation in
      fermentative pathways. The reactions catalyzed by different ferredoxin
      oxidoreductases and the exergonic NADH-dependent reduction of crotonyl-CoA point
      to a possible chemiosmotic energy conservation via the Rnf complex. C.
      sticklandii possesses both the F-type and V-type ATPases. The discovery of an as
      yet unrecognized selenoprotein in the D-proline reductase operon suggests a more
      detailed mechanism for NADH-dependent D-proline reduction. A rather unusual
      metabolic feature is the presence of genes for all the enzymes involved in two
      different CO2-fixation pathways: C. sticklandii harbours both the glycine
      synthase/glycine reductase and the Wood-Ljungdahl pathways. This unusual pathway
      combination has retrospectively been observed in only four other sequenced
      microorganisms. CONCLUSIONS: Analysis of the C. sticklandii genome and additional
      experimental procedures have improved our understanding of anaerobic amino acid
      degradation. Several specific metabolic features have been detected, some of
      which are very unusual for anaerobic fermenting bacteria. Comparative genomics
      has provided the opportunity to study the lifestyle of pathogenic and non
      pathogenic clostridial species as well as to elucidate the difference in
      metabolic features between clostridia and other anaerobes.

PMID- 20937091
TI  - Fall prevention and vitamin D in the elderly: an overview of the key role of the
      non-bone effects.
AB  - Preventing falls and fall-related fractures in the elderly is an objective yet to
      be reached. There is increasing evidence that a supplementation of vitamin D
      and/or of calcium may reduce the fall and fracture rates. A vitamin D-calcium
      supplement appears to have a high potential due to its simple application and its
      low cost. However, published studies have shown conflicting results as some
      studies failed to show any effect, while others reported a significant decrease
      of falls and fractures. Through a 15-year literature overview, and after a brief
      reminder on mechanism of falls in older adults, we reported evidences for a
      vitamin D action on postural adaptations - i.e., muscles and central nervous
      system - which may explain the decreased fall and bone fracture rates and we
      underlined the reasons for differences and controversies between published data.
      Vitamin D supplementation should thus be integrated into primary and secondary
      fall prevention strategies in older adults.

PMID- 20937093
TI  - Nebulized heparin is associated with fewer days of mechanical ventilation in
      critically ill patients: a randomized controlled trial.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Prolonged mechanical ventilation has the potential to aggravate or
      initiate pulmonary inflammation and cause lung damage through fibrin deposition.
      Heparin may reduce pulmonary inflammation and fibrin deposition. We therefore
      assessed whether nebulized heparin improved lung function in patients expected to
      require prolonged mechanical ventilation. METHODS: Fifty patients expected to
      require mechanical ventilation for more than 48 hours were enrolled in a double
      blind randomized placebo-controlled trial of nebulized heparin (25,000 U) or
      placebo (normal saline) 4 or 6 hourly, depending on patient height. The study
      drug was continued while the patient remained ventilated to a maximum of 14 days
      from randomization. RESULTS: Nebulized heparin was not associated with a
      significant improvement in the primary end-point, the average daily partial
      pressure of oxygen to inspired fraction of oxygen ratio while mechanically
      ventilated, but was associated with improvement in the secondary end-point,
      ventilator-free days amongst survivors at day 28 (22.6 +/- 4.0 versus 18.0 +/-
      7.1, treatment difference 4.6 days, 95% CI 0.9 to 8.3, P = 0.02). Heparin
      administration was not associated with any increase in adverse events.
      CONCLUSIONS: Nebulized heparin was associated with fewer days of mechanical
      ventilation in critically ill patients expected to require prolonged mechanical
      ventilation. Further trials are required to confirm these findings. TRIAL
      REGISTRATION: The Australian Clinical Trials Registry (ACTR-12608000121369).

PMID- 20937094
TI  - Cost effectiveness of OptiMal(r) rapid diagnostic test for malaria in remote
      areas of the Amazon Region, Brazil.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In areas with limited structure in place for microscopy diagnosis,
      rapid diagnostic tests (RDT) have been demonstrated to be effective. METHOD: The
      cost-effectiveness of the Optimal(r) and thick smear microscopy was estimated and
      compared. Data were collected on remote areas of 12 municipalities in the
      Brazilian Amazon. Data sources included the National Malaria Control Programme of
      the Ministry of Health, the National Healthcare System reimbursement table,
      hospitalization records, primary data collected from the municipalities, and
      scientific literature. The perspective was that of the Brazilian public health
      system, the analytical horizon was from the start of fever until the diagnostic
      results provided to patient and the temporal reference was that of year 2006. The
      results were expressed in costs per adequately diagnosed cases in 2006 U.S.
      dollars. Sensitivity analysis was performed considering key model parameters.
      RESULTS: In the case base scenario, considering 92% and 95% sensitivity for thick
      smear microscopy to Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax, respectively, and
      100% specificity for both species, thick smear microscopy is more costly and more
      effective, with an incremental cost estimated at US$549.9 per adequately
      diagnosed case. In sensitivity analysis, when sensitivity and specificity of
      microscopy for P. vivax were 0.90 and 0.98, respectively, and when its
      sensitivity for P. falciparum was 0.83, the RDT was more cost-effective than
      microscopy. CONCLUSION: Microscopy is more cost-effective than OptiMal(r) in
      these remote areas if high accuracy of microscopy is maintained in the field.
      Decision regarding use of rapid tests for diagnosis of malaria in these areas
      depends on current microscopy accuracy in the field.

PMID- 20937095
TI  - Factors that predict fertility desires for people living with HIV infection at a
      support and treatment centre in Kabale, Uganda.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Studies from different contexts worldwide indicate that HIV positive
      patients manifest high-risk sexual behavior characterized by fertility
      intentions, multiple sexual partners, non-use of contraceptives and non
      disclosure of HIV status to their sex partners. The objective was to analyze
      fertility desires among persons living with HIV at a treatment centre in Kabale
      Hospital, Southwestern Uganda. METHODS: From January to August 2009, we
      interviewed 400 HIV positive patients seeking care using an interviewer
      administered questionnaire. We assessed socio-demographic variables, reproductive
      history, sexuality and fertility desires. At bivariate and multivariate analysis,
      characteristics of participants who reported or did not report desire to have a
      child in the near future were compared. RESULTS: Of the 400 respondents, (25.3%)
      were male, 47.3% were aged 25-34 years, over 85% were currently married or had
      ever been married, and the 62% had primary level of education or less. Over 17%
      had produced a child since the HIV diagnosis was made, and 28.6% reported that
      they would like to have a child in the near future. Age of the respondent, being
      single (versus being ever-married) and whether any of the respondents' children
      had died were inversely associated with fertility intentions. CONCLUSION: Factors
      inversely associated with fertility intentions were age of the respondent,
      marital status and whether any of the respondents' children had died. Use of
      antiretroviral therapy was not associated with fertility intentions.

PMID- 20937096
TI  - A maximum pseudo-likelihood approach for estimating species trees under the
      coalescent model.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Several phylogenetic approaches have been developed to estimate
      species trees from collections of gene trees. However, maximum likelihood
      approaches for estimating species trees under the coalescent model are limited.
      Although the likelihood of a species tree under the multispecies coalescent model
      has already been derived by Rannala and Yang, it can be shown that the maximum
      likelihood estimate (MLE) of the species tree (topology, branch lengths, and
      population sizes) from gene trees under this formula does not exist. In this
      paper, we develop a pseudo-likelihood function of the species tree to obtain
      maximum pseudo-likelihood estimates (MPE) of species trees, with branch lengths
      of the species tree in coalescent units. RESULTS: We show that the MPE of the
      species tree is statistically consistent as the number M of genes goes to
      infinity. In addition, the probability that the MPE of the species tree matches
      the true species tree converges to 1 at rate O(M -1). The simulation results
      confirm that the maximum pseudo-likelihood approach is statistically consistent
      even when the species tree is in the anomaly zone. We applied our method, Maximum
      Pseudo-likelihood for Estimating Species Trees (MP-EST) to a mammal dataset. The
      four major clades found in the MP-EST tree are consistent with those in the
      Bayesian concatenation tree. The bootstrap supports for the species tree
      estimated by the MP-EST method are more reasonable than the posterior probability
      supports given by the Bayesian concatenation method in reflecting the level of
      uncertainty in gene trees and controversies over the relationship of four major
      groups of placental mammals. CONCLUSIONS: MP-EST can consistently estimate the
      topology and branch lengths (in coalescent units) of the species tree. Although
      the pseudo-likelihood is derived from coalescent theory, and assumes no gene flow
      or horizontal gene transfer (HGT), the MP-EST method is robust to a small amount
      of HGT in the dataset. In addition, increasing the number of genes does not
      increase the computational time substantially. The MP-EST method is fast for
      analyzing datasets that involve a large number of genes but a moderate number of
      species.

PMID- 20937097
TI  - Bio-psychosocial determinants of cardiovascular disease in a rural population on
      Crete, Greece: formulating a hypothesis and designing the SPILI-III study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In 1988, the SPILI project was established in order to evaluate the
      cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk profile of the inhabitants of Spili, in rural
      Crete, Greece. The first reports from this project revealed that against the
      unfavourable risk factors' profile observed, only a few men with a previous
      myocardial infarction were encountered. A follow-up study (SPILI II) was
      performed twelve years after the initial examination, and the unfavourable
      cardiovascular risk profile was re-confirmed. PRESENTATION OF THE HYPOTHESIS:
      This paper presents a hypothesis formulated on the basis of previous research to
      investigate if dynamic psycho-social determinants, including social coherence of
      the local community, religiosity and spirituality, are protective against the
      development of coronary heart disease in a well-defined population. TESTING THE
      HYPOTHESIS: A follow-up examination of this Cretan cohort is currently being
      performed to assess the link between psychosocial factors and CVD. Psychosocial
      factors including sense of control, religiosity and spirituality are assessed in
      together with conventional CVD risk factors. Smoking and alcohol consumption, as
      well as dietary habits and activity levels are recorded. Oxidative stress and
      inflammatory markers, as well as ultrasound measurement of carotid intima media
      thickness, a preclinical marker of atherosclerosis, will also be measured.
      IMPLICATIONS OF THE HYPOTHESIS TESTED: The issue of the cardio-protective effect
      of psycho-social factors would be revisited based on the results of this Cretan
      cohort; nevertheless, further research is needed across different sub-populations
      in order to establish a definite relationship. A comprehensive approach based on
      the aspects of bio-social life may result in more accurate CVD risk management.

PMID- 20937099
TI  - The ubiquitous interleukin-6: a time for reappraisal.
AB  - Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is a multifunctional cytokine regulating humoral and
      cellular responses and playing a central role in inflammation and tissue injury.
      Its effects are mediated through interaction with its receptor complex, IL-6Rbeta
      (also known as gp130). It plays an important role in the pathogenesis of coronary
      artery disease and large quantities of IL-6 are found in human atherosclerotic
      plaques. IL-6 levels positively correlate with higher all-cause mortality,
      unstable angina, left ventricular dysfunction, propensity to diabetes and its
      complications, hypertension, obesity and several types of cancer. IL-6 levels
      augmentation demonstrates a remarkable parallel with another biomarkers
      reflecting harmful processes, like tumor necrosis factor alpha, interleukins 8
      and 18, YKL-40, C reactive protein and resistin. Due to these facts, IL-6 was
      classified as a noxious interleukin. Nonetheless, there are several facts that
      challenge this usually accepted point of view. Since IL-6 has also anti
      inflammatory activity, it seems reasonable to assume that favorable aspects
      exist. These aspects are two: 1. protection against bacterial infections,
      inactivating proinflammatory mediators, mitigating the course of septic shock and
      inducing the production of cortisol; and 2. influence on insulin sensitivity
      during exercise; this aspect is even more important. During exercise IL-6 is
      synthesized and released by muscles, with enhanced insulin action immediately at
      early recovery. Skeletal muscle may be considered as an endocrine organ;
      contracting muscles produce IL-6 and release it into the blood exerting its
      effects on other organs. The increase in circulating levels of IL-6 after
      exercise is consistent and proportional to exercise duration, intensity, muscle
      mass involved and endurance capacity. Thus, the fascinating possibility that the
      plenteous beneficial health effects of exercise could be ultimately mediated by
      IL-6 merits further elucidation. Interleukins were termed "good" or "bad",
      probably due to a tendency to see things in black and white, with no gray area in
      between. Calling IL-6 "a molecule with both beneficial and destructive
      potentials" would be a more equitable approach. In the literary creatures of Dr.
      Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, a good and an evil personality are found in the same
      individual. IL-6 playing the role of Dr. Jekyll is emerging; the time for IL-6
      reappraisal is coming.

PMID- 20937100
TI  - Public perception of mental health in Iraq.
AB  - BACKGROUND: People who suffer from mental illness, the professionals who treat
      them, and indeed the actual concept of mental illness are all stigmatised in
      public perception and often receive very negative publicity. This paper looks at
      Iraq, which has a population of 30 million who are mainly Moslem. Mental health
      services and professionals have historically been sparse in Iraq with 1
      psychiatrist per 300,000 before 2003 falling to 1 per million until recently and
      1 primary care centre (40 Healthcare Workers including 4 General Practitioners)
      to 35,000 population, compared with 1 GP per 1700 population in the UK. METHODS:
      We aimed to assess public attitudes and perceptions to mental illness.
      Participants were asked to complete a questionnaire (additional file 1), which
      was designed specifically for Iraqi contexts and was made available in 2
      languages. The survey was carried out in 500 participants' homes across 2
      districts of Baghdad. RESULTS: The response rate of the survey was 86.4%. The
      paper shows respondents views on the aetiology of mental illness, perceptions of
      people with mental illness and attitudes towards care and treatment of people
      with mental illness. CONCLUSIONS: This survey of public attitudes towards mental
      illness in Iraq has shown that community opinion about the aetiology of mental
      illness is broadly compatible with scientific evidence, but understanding of the
      nature of mental illness, its implications for social participation and
      management remains negative in general.

PMID- 20937098
TI  - Response of swine spleen to Streptococcus suis infection revealed by
      transcription analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Streptococcus suis serotype 2 (SS2), a major swine pathogen and an
      emerging zoonotic agent, has greatly challenged global public health.
      Systematical information about host immune response to the infection is important
      for understanding the molecular mechanism of diseases. RESULTS: 104 and 129
      unique genes were significantly up-regulated and down-regulated in the spleens of
      pigs infected with SS2 (WT). The up-regulated genes were principally related to
      immune response, such as genes involved in inflammatory response; acute
      phase/immune response; cell adhesion and response to stress. The down-regulated
      genes were mainly involved in transcription, transport, material and energy
      metabolism which were representative of the reduced vital activity of SS2
      influenced cells. Only a few genes showed significantly differential expression
      when comparing avirulent isogenic strain (DeltaHP0197) with mock-infected
      samples. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicated that highly pathogenic SS2 could
      persistently induce cytokines mainly by Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) pathway, and
      the phagocytosis-resistant bacteria could induce high level of cytokines and
      secrete toxins to destroy deep tissues, and cause meningitis, septicaemia,
      pneumonia, endocarditis, and arthritis.

PMID- 20937101
TI  - Follicular dendritic cell sarcoma: a report of six cases and a review of the
      Chinese literature.
AB  - GOALS: The main purpose of this study is to broaden the clinicopathological
      spectrum and increase recognition of follicular dendritic cell sarcoma (FDCS)
      through analysis of the clinical and pathological features of 50 cases. METHODS:
      The clinicopathological features of total 50 cases of FDCS were analyzed
      including a review of 44 cases reported in Chinese literature before October 2009
      and six original cases from the pathology files conducted by the authors.
      RESULTS: The youngest patient came under observation in this study is only seven
      years old. Including the cases contributed by the authors, our literary review
      indicated that male dominated the tumor cases (M: F = 3: 2). 28 cases (56%)
      present with this disease in extranodal sites. Tumor cells demonstrated positive
      staining for the follicular dendritic cell markers CD21 (47/49), CD35 (43/45),
      CD23 (20/23) and CD68 (23/25). In situ hybridization for Epstein-Barr virus
      encoded RNA was performed in 10 cases. Nevertheless, EBV expression was absent in
      all these cases. The follow-up analysis of all cases shows that 26 (81.2%)
      patients were alive and disease free; 6 (18.8%) patients were alive with
      recurrent disease or metastasis; and nobody had died of this disease at the time
      of last follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: The diagnosis of the FDCS is based on the
      findings of morphology and immunohistochemistry. The FDCS occurred in China
      should be viewed and treated as a low-grade sarcoma, and the role of the EBV in
      the pathogenesis of this tumor is still uncertain. There is a possibility that
      the tumor might be racial or geographic correlated, because most cases were
      reported from Eastern Asia area; it's particular the case of the liver or spleen
      tumor.

PMID- 20937103
TI  - Influence of growth stage on activities of polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) polymerase
      and PHA depolymerase in Pseudomonas putida U.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Medium chain length (mcl-) polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) are
      synthesized by many bacteria in the cytoplasm as storage compounds for energy and
      carbon. The key enzymes for PHA metabolism are PHA polymerase (PhaC) and
      depolymerase (PhaZ). Little is known of how mcl-PHA accumulation and degradation
      are controlled. It has been suggested that overall PHA metabolism is regulated by
      the beta-oxidation pathway of which the flux is governed by intracellular ratios
      of [NADH]/[NAD] and [acetyl-CoA]/[CoA]. Another level of control could relate to
      modulation of the activities of PhaC and PhaZ. In order to investigate the
      latter, assays for in vitro activity measurements of PhaC and PhaZ in crude cell
      extracts are necessary. RESULTS: Two in vitro assays were developed which allow
      the measurement of PhaC and PhaZ activities in crude cell extracts of Pseudomonas
      putida U. Using the assays, it was demonstrated that the activity of PhaC
      decreased 5-fold upon exponential growth on nitrogen limited medium and
      octanoate. In contrast, the activity of PhaZ increased only 1.5-fold during
      growth. One reason for the changes in the enzymatic activity of PhaC and PhaZ
      could relate to a change in interaction with the phasin surface proteins on the
      PHA granule. SDS-PAGE analysis of isolated PHA granules demonstrated that during
      growth, the ratio of [phasins]/[PHA] decreased. In addition, it was found that
      after eliminating phasins (PhaF and PhaI) from the granules PhaC activity
      decreased further. CONCLUSION: Using the assays developed in this study, we
      followed the enzymatic activities of PhaC and PhaZ during growth and correlated
      them to the amount of phasins on the PHA granules. It was found that in P. putida
      PhaC and PhaZ are concomitantly active, resulting in parallel synthesis and
      degradation of PHA. Moreover PhaC activity was found to be decreased, whereas
      PhaZ activity increased during growth. Availability of phasins on PHA granules
      affected the activity of PhaC.

PMID- 20937102
TI  - Moving towards supraspinal TRPV1 receptors for chronic pain relief.
AB  - Transient receptor potential vanilloid type 1 (TRPV1) receptor is a non selective
      ligand-gated cation channel activated by capsaicin, heat, protons and endogenous
      lipids termed endovanilloids. As well as peripheral primary afferent neurons and
      dorsal root ganglia, TRPV1 receptor is also expressed in spinal and supraspinal
      structures such as those belonging to the endogenous antinociceptive descending
      pathway which is a circuitry of the supraspinal central nervous system whose task
      is to counteract pain. It includes periaqueductal grey (PAG) and rostral
      ventromedial medulla (RVM) whose activation leads to analgesia. Such an effect is
      associated with a glutamate increase and the activation of OFF and inhibition of
      ON cell population in the rostral ventromedial medulla (RVM). Activation of the
      antinociceptive descending pathway via TPRV1 receptor stimulation in the PAG may
      be a novel strategy for producing analgesia in chronic pain. This review will
      summarize the more recent insights into the role of TRPV1 receptor within the
      antinociceptive descending pathway and its possible exploitation as a target for
      new pain-killer agents in chronic pain conditions, with particular emphasis on
      the most untreatable pain state: neuropathic pain.

PMID- 20937104
TI  - Population genetics of foxtail millet and its wild ancestor.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Foxtail millet (Setaria italica (L.) P. Beauv.), one of the most
      ancient domesticated crops, is becoming a model system for studying biofuel crops
      and comparative genomics in the grasses. However, knowledge on the level of
      genetic diversity and linkage disequilibrium (LD) is very limited in this crop
      and its wild ancestor, green foxtail (Setaria viridis (L.) P. Beauv.). Such
      information would help us to understand the domestication process of cultivated
      species and will allow further research in these species, including association
      mapping and identification of agricultural significant genes involved in
      domestication. RESULTS: In this study, we surveyed DNA sequence for nine loci
      across 50 accessions of cultivated foxtail millet and 34 of its wild progenitor.
      We found a low level of genetic diversity in wild green foxtail (theta = 0.0059),
      theta means Watterson's estimator of theta. Despite of a 55% loss of its wild
      diversity, foxtail millet still harbored a considerable level of diversity (theta
      = 0.0027) when compared to rice and sorghum (theta = 0.0024 and 0.0034,
      respectively). The level of LD in the domesticated foxtail millet extends to 1
      kb, while it decayed rapidly to a negligible level within 150 bp in wild green
      foxtail. Using coalescent simulation, we estimated the bottleneck severity at k =
      0.6095 when rho/theta = 1. These results indicated that the domestication
      bottleneck of foxtail millet was more severe than that of maize but slightly less
      pronounced than that of rice. CONCLUSIONS: The results in this study establish a
      general framework for the domestication history of foxtail millet. The low level
      of genetic diversity and the increased level of LD in foxtail millet are mainly
      caused by a population bottleneck, although gene flow from foxtail millet to
      green foxtail is another factor that may have shaped the pattern of genetic
      diversity of these two related gene pools. The knowledge provided in this study
      will benefit future population based studies in foxtail millet.

PMID- 20937105
TI  - Application of computational approaches to study signalling networks of nuclear
      and Tyrosine kinase receptors.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Nuclear receptors (NRs) and Receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) are
      essential proteins in many cellular processes and sequence variations in their
      genes have been reported to be involved in many diseases including cancer.
      Although crosstalk between RTK and NR signalling and their contribution to the
      development of endocrine regulated cancers have been areas of intense
      investigation, the direct coupling of their signalling pathways remains elusive.
      In our understanding of the role and function of nuclear receptors on the cell
      membrane the interactions between nuclear receptors and tyrosine kinase receptors
      deserve further attention. RESULTS: We constructed a human signalling network
      containing nuclear receptors and tyrosine kinase receptors that identified a
      network topology involving eleven highly connected hubs.We further developed an
      integrated knowledge database, denominated NR-RTK database dedicated to human
      RTKs and NRs and their vertebrate orthologs and their interactions. These
      interactions were inferred using computational tools and those supported by
      literature evidence are indicated. NR-RTK database contains links to other
      relevant resources and includes data on receptor ligands. It aims to provide a
      comprehensive interaction map that identifies complex dynamics and potential
      crosstalk involved. AVAILABILITY: NR-RTK database is accessible at
      http://www.bioinfo-cbs.org/NR-RTK/ CONCLUSIONS: We infer that the NR-RTK
      interaction network is scale-free topology. We also uncovered the key receptors
      mediating the signal transduction between these two types of receptors.
      Furthermore, NR-RTK database is expected to be useful for researchers working on
      various aspects of the molecular basis of signal transduction by RTKs and NRs.

PMID- 20937106
TI  - Trends in dermatomyositis- and polymyositis-related mortality in the state of Sao
      Paulo, Brazil, 1985-2007: multiple cause-of-death analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Dermatomyositis (DM) and polymyositis (PM) are rare systemic
      autoimmune rheumatic diseases with high fatality rates. There have been few
      population-based mortality studies of dermatomyositis and polymyositis in the
      world, and none have been conducted in Brazil. The objective of the present study
      was to employ multiple-cause-of-death methodology in the analysis of trends in
      mortality related to dermatomyositis and polymyositis in the state of Sao Paulo,
      Brazil, between 1985 and 2007. METHODS: We analyzed mortality data from the Sao
      Paulo State Data Analysis System, selecting all death certificates on which DM or
      PM was listed as a cause of death. The variables sex, age and underlying,
      associated or total mentions of causes of death were studied using mortality
      rates, proportions and historical trends. Statistical analysis were performed by
      chi-square and H Kruskal-Wallis tests, variance analysis and linear regression. A
      p value less than 0.05 was regarded as significant. RESULTS: Over a 23-year
      period, there were 318 DM-related deaths and 316 PM-related deaths. Overall,
      DM/PM was designated as an underlying cause in 55.2% and as an associated cause
      in 44.8%; among 634 total deaths females accounted for 71.5%. During the study
      period, age- and gender-adjusted DM mortality rates did not change significantly,
      although PM as an underlying cause and total mentions of PM trended lower (p <
      0.05). The mean ages at death were 47.76 +/- 20.81 years for DM and 54.24 +/-
      17.94 years for PM (p = 0.0003). For DM/PM, respectively, as underlying causes,
      the principal associated causes of death were as follows: pneumonia (in
      43.8%/33.5%); respiratory failure (in 34.4%/32.3%); interstitial pulmonary
      diseases and other pulmonary conditions (in 28.9%/17.6%); and septicemia (in
      22.8%/15.9%). For DM/PM, respectively, as associated causes, the following were
      the principal underlying causes of death: respiratory disorders (in 28.3%/26.0%);
      circulatory disorders (in 17.4%/20.5%); neoplasms (in 16.7%/13.7%); infectious
      and parasitic diseases (in 11.6%/9.6%); and gastrointestinal disorders (in
      8.0%/4.8%). Of the 318 DM-related deaths, 36 involved neoplasms, compared with 20
      of the 316 PM-related deaths (p = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS: Our study using multiple
      cause of deaths found that DM/PM were identified as the underlying cause of death
      in only 55.2% of the deaths, indicating that both diseases were underestimated in
      the primary mortality statistics. We observed a predominance of deaths in women
      and in older individuals, as well as a trend toward stability in the mortality
      rates. We have confirmed that the risk of death is greater when either disease is
      accompanied by neoplasm, albeit to lesser degree in individuals with PM. The
      investigation of the underlying and associated causes of death related to DM/PM
      broaden the knowledge of the natural history of both diseases and could help
      integrate mortality data for use in the evaluation of control measures for DM/PM.

PMID- 20937107
TI  - Estradiol, progesterone, testosterone profiles in human follicular fluid and
      cultured granulosa cells from luteinized pre-ovulatory follicles.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The production of sex steroids by follicular cells is proposed to be
      influenced by the maturity of the incumbent oocyte. Thus steroid levels may
      reflect suitability of an oocyte for IVF. We examined follicular fluids and
      granulosa cell production of steroid from IVF patients in order to test the
      relationship between steroid levels and fertilization. METHODS: Follicular fluid
      and granulosa cells were extracted from 206 follicles of 35 women undergoing
      controlled ovarian stimulation. Follicular fluid was assayed for estradiol,
      progesterone and testosterone. Granulosa cells were cultured from individual
      follicles and their culture media assayed for production of these hormones after
      24 hrs in vitro. Levels of steroids were correlated with follicular diameter,
      oocyte recovery and subsequent fertilization. RESULTS: Follicular fluid levels of
      progesterone were 6100 times higher than that of estradiol, and 16,900 times
      higher that of testosterone. Despite the size of follicle triggered after
      controlled luteinization, the levels of progesterone and testosterone were
      maintained at relatively constant levels (median 98.1 micromoles/L for
      progesterone, and 5.8 nanomoles/L for testosterone). However, estradiol levels
      were slightly lower in the larger follicles (follicular diameter 10-15 mm, median
      25.3 nanomoles/L; follicles > = 15 mm, median 15.1 nanomoles/L; linear
      correlation r = -0.47, p < 0.0001). With respect to oocyte recovery, no steroid
      showed a significant association in follicular fluid levels. Similarly no
      difference in follicular fluid steroid levels was found for those oocytes that
      did or did not fertilize. Significant quantities of progesterone were produced by
      the granulosa cells but production was constant regardless of the size of
      follicle from which the cells originated. Estradiol levels were only detectable
      in 10 of 121 cultures examined, and testosterone in none. Interestingly, when an
      oocyte was present follicular estradiol levels correlated with progesterone
      levels. However, when absent, follicular estradiol levels correlated with
      testosterone levels but not with progesterone. CONCLUSIONS: The principle steroid
      product of luteinized pre-ovulatory granulosa is progesterone, a differentiation
      triggered by the gonadotropin surge. However, absolute steroid levels are
      associated with follicular size, not oocyte maturation/ability to fertilize.

PMID- 20937108
TI  - Influence of comorbidity with depression on interdisciplinary therapy: outcomes
      in patients with chronic low back pain.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Our previous work showed higher tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha
      levels in patients with chronic low back pain (cLBP) compared to healthy
      controls. However, patients with depression as a comorbidity did not have higher
      TNF-alpha levels in comparison to patients without depression. In this study we
      investigated the influence of depression on therapy outcomes such as TNF-alpha
      serum levels, pain intensity and back function in patients with cLBP. Our
      hypothesis was that patients with both cLBP and depression benefit no less than
      patients with cLBP alone from the multidisciplinary pain therapy. METHODS: A
      total of 58 patients with cLBP alone or with both cLBP and depression were age-
      and sex-matched with 29 healthy controls. Serum concentrations of TNF-alpha were
      assayed at the beginning of the study (T0) and 10 days (T1), 21 days (T2), and
      180 days (T3) later. The clinical outcomes such as pain intensity, as well as
      back function, sleep, exercise, alcohol and nicotine consumption were documented.
      In the first three weeks, all patients underwent multidisciplinary therapy based
      upon biological, psychological, physical and psychosocial components. RESULTS:
      Over the whole course there were no differences in TNF-alpha level between cLBP
      patients with and without depression. At T0, both cLBP patients with (cLBP+DE)
      and without (cLBP) depression showed significantly higher TNF-alpha serum levels
      (P = 0.002 for cLBP+DE, P = 0.004 for cLBP) than healthy controls (HC) that
      normalized after 10 days of therapy and remained similar to healthy controls.
      During the follow-up, the depression scales were normalised and pain intensity
      was significantly reduced. Both evidences processed parallel to the reduction of
      TNF-alpha levels, which correlates neither with depression score nor with pain
      intensity at any time point. CONCLUSIONS: Depression as a comorbidity to chronic
      low back pain did not influence the serum TNF-alpha level in the course of six
      months, but seemed to affect the success of therapy. cLBP patients with
      comorbidity of depression benefit from multidisciplinary pain therapy not only to
      the same extent but also to a greater degree than cLBP patients without
      depression.

PMID- 20937109
TI  - Influence of depression symptoms on serum tumor necrosis factor-alpha of patients
      with chronic low back pain.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Patients with chronic low back pain (cLBP) have high rates of
      comorbid psychiatric disorders, mainly depression. Recent evidence suggests that
      depressive symptoms and pain, as interacting factors, have an effect on the
      circulating levels of inflammatory markers relevant to coronary artery disease.
      Our previous work showed a higher serum level of an inflammatory marker tumour
      necrosis factor-alpha (TNFalpha) in patients with cLBP, which did not correlate
      with intensity of low back pain alone. In the present study we investigated the
      cross-sectional associations of depressive symptoms, low back pain and their
      interaction with circulating levels of TNFalpha. METHODS: Each group of 29
      patients with cLBP alone or with both cLBP and depression was age-matched and sex
      matched with 29 healthy controls. All subjects underwent a blood draw for the
      assessment of serum TNFalpha and completed a standardised questionnaire regarding
      medication, depression scores according to the German version of Centre for
      Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), pain intensity from a visual
      analogue scale, and back function using the Roland and Morris questionnaire. The
      correlations between TNFalpha level and these clinical parameters were analysed.
      RESULTS: There were no differences in TNFalpha level between cLBP patients with
      and without depression. Both cLBP patients with (median = 2.51 pg/ml, P = 0.002)
      and without (median = 2.58 pg/ml, P = 0.004) depression showed significantly
      higher TNFalpha serum levels than healthy controls (median = 0 pg/ml). The pain
      intensity reported by both patient groups was similar, while the patients with
      depression had higher CES-D scores (P < 0.001) and worse back function (P <
      0.001). The variance analysis showed that the interaction between TNFalpha level
      and pain intensity, CES-D scores, sex, body mass index and medication was
      statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: Depression as a comorbidity to cLBP did
      not influence the serum TNFalpha level. It seems that TNFalpha somehow acts as a
      mediator in both cLBP and depression, involving similar mechanisms that will be
      interesting to follow in further studies.

PMID- 20937110
TI  - Screening of the DNA mismatch repair genes MLH1, MSH2 and MSH6 in a Greek cohort
      of Lynch syndrome suspected families.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Germline mutations in the DNA mismatch repair genes predispose to
      Lynch syndrome, thus conferring a high relative risk of colorectal and
      endometrial cancer. The MLH1, MSH2 and MSH6 mutational spectrum reported so far
      involves minor alterations scattered throughout their coding regions as well as
      large genomic rearrangements. Therefore, a combination of complete sequencing and
      a specialized technique for the detection of genomic rearrangements should be
      conducted during a proper DNA-testing procedure. Our main goal was to
      successfully identify Lynch syndrome families and determine the spectrum of MLH1,
      MSH2 and MSH6 mutations in Greek Lynch families in order to develop an efficient
      screening protocol for the Greek colorectal cancer patients' cohort. METHODS:
      Forty-two samples from twenty-four families, out of which twenty two of Greek,
      one of Cypriot and one of Serbian origin, were screened for the presence of
      germline mutations in the major mismatch repair genes through direct sequencing
      and MLPA. Families were selected upon Amsterdam criteria or revised Bethesda
      guidelines. RESULTS: Ten deleterious alterations were detected in twelve out of
      the twenty-four families subjected to genetic testing, thus our detection rate is
      50%. Four of the pathogenic point mutations, namely two nonsense, one missense
      and one splice site change, are novel, whereas the detected genomic deletion
      encompassing exon 6 of the MLH1 gene has been described repeatedly in the LOVD
      database. The average age of onset for the development of both colorectal and
      endometrial cancer among mutation positive families is 43.2 years. CONCLUSION:
      The mutational spectrum of the MMR genes investigated as it has been shaped by
      our analysis is quite heterogeneous without any strong indication for the
      presence of a founder effect.

PMID- 20937111
TI  - The candidate tumor suppressor gene ECRG4 inhibits cancer cells migration and
      invasion in esophageal carcinoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The esophageal cancer related gene 4 (ECRG4) was initially identified
      and cloned in our laboratory from human normal esophageal epithelium (GenBank
      accession no.AF325503). ECRG4 was a new tumor suppressor gene in esophageal
      squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) associated with prognosis. In this study, we
      investigated the novel tumor-suppressing function of ECRG4 in cancer cell
      migration, invasion, adhesion and cell cycle regulation in ESCC. METHODS:
      Transwell and Boyden chamber experiments were utilized to examined the effects of
      ECRG4 expression on ESCC cells migration, invasion and adhesion. And flow
      cytometric analysis was used to observe the impact of ECRG4 expression on cell
      cycle regulation. Finally, the expression levels of cell cycle regulating
      proteins p53 and p21 in human ESCC cells transfected with ECRG4 gene were
      evaluated by Western blotting. RESULTS: The restoration of ECRG4 expression in
      ESCC cells inhibited cancer cells migration and invasion (P < 0.05), which did
      not affect cell adhesion capacity (P > 0.05). Furthermore, ECRG4 could cause cell
      cycle G1 phase arrest in ESCC (P < 0.05), through inducing the increased
      expression of p53 and p21 proteins. CONCLUSION: ECRG4 is a candidate tumor
      suppressor gene which suppressed tumor cells migration and invasion without
      affecting cell adhesion ability in ESCC. Furthermore, ECRG4 might cause cell
      cycle G1 phase block possibly through inducing the increased expression of p53
      and p21 proteins in ESCC.

PMID- 20937112
TI  - Interpreting scores on multiple sclerosis-specific patient reported outcome
      measures (the PRIMUS and U-FIS).
AB  - BACKGROUND: The PRIMUS is a Multiple Sclerosis (MS)-specific suite of outcome
      measures including assessments of QoL (PRIMUS QoL, scored 0-22) and activity
      limitations (PRIMUS Activities, scored 0-30). The U-FIS is a measure of fatigue
      impact (scored 0-66). These measures have been fully validated previously using
      an MS sample with mixed diagnoses. The aim of the present study was to validate
      the measures further in a specifically Relapse Remitting MS (RRMS) sample and to
      provide preliminary evidence of the responder definitions (RD; also known as
      minimal important difference) for these instruments. METHODS: Data were derived
      from a multi-country efficacy trial of MS patients with assessments at baseline
      and 12 months. Baseline data were used to assess the internal reliability and
      validity of the measures. Both anchor-based and distribution-based approaches
      were employed for estimating RD. Anchor-based estimates were based on published
      RD values for the EQ-5D and were assessed for those improving and deteriorating
      separately. Distribution-based estimates were based on standard error of
      measurement (SEM), change score equivalent to 0.30, and change score equivalent
      to 0.50, effect sizes (ES). RESULTS: The sample included 911 RRMS patients (67.3%
      female, age mean (SD) 36.2 (8.4) years, duration of MS mean (SD) 4.8 (5.2)
      years). Results showed that the PRIMUS and U-FIS had good internal consistency.
      Appropriate correlations were observed with comparator instruments and both
      measures were able to distinguish between participants based on Expanded
      Disability Status Scale scores and time since diagnosis. The anchor-based and
      distribution-based RD estimates were: PRIMUS Activities range = 1.2-2.3, PRIMUS
      QoL range = 1.0-2.2, and U-FIS range = 2.4-7.0. CONCLUSIONS: The results show
      that the PRIMUS and U-FIS are valid instruments for use with RRMS patients. The
      analyses provide preliminary information on how to interpret scores on the
      scales. These data will be useful for assessing treatment efficacy and for
      powering clinical studies. TRIAL REFERENCE NUMBER: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier
      NCT00340834.

PMID- 20937113
TI  - Genome-wide expression patterns in physiological cardiac hypertrophy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Genome-wide expression patterns in physiological cardiac hypertrophy.
      Co-expression patterns in physiological cardiac hypertrophy RESULTS: In this
      study, the first large-scale analysis of publicly available genome-wide
      expression data of several in vivo murine models of physiological LVH was carried
      out using network analysis. On evaluating 3 million gene co-expression patterns
      across 141 relevant microarray experiments, it was found that physiological
      adaptation is an evolutionarily conserved processes involving preservation of the
      function of cytochrome c oxidase, induction of autophagy compatible with cell
      survival, and coordinated regulation of angiogenesis. CONCLUSION: This analysis
      not only identifies known biological pathways involved in physiological LVH, but
      also offers novel insights into the molecular basis of this phenotype by
      identifying key networks of co-expressed genes, as well as their topological and
      functional properties, using relevant high-quality microarray experiments and
      network inference.

PMID- 20937114
TI  - Mating alters gene expression patterns in Drosophila melanogaster male heads.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Behavior is a complex process resulting from the integration of
      genetic and environmental information. Drosophila melanogaster rely on multiple
      sensory modalities for reproductive success, and mating causes physiological
      changes in both sexes that affect reproductive output or behavior. Some of these
      effects are likely mediated by changes in gene expression. Courtship and mating
      alter female transcript profiles, but it is not known how mating affects male
      gene expression. RESULTS: We used Drosophila genome arrays to identify changes in
      gene expression profiles that occur in mated male heads. Forty-seven genes
      differed between mated and control heads 2 hrs post mating. Many mating
      responsive genes are highly expressed in non-neural head tissues, including an
      adipose tissue called the fat body. One fat body-enriched gene, female-specific
      independent of transformer (fit), is a downstream target of the somatic sex
      determination hierarchy, a genetic pathway that regulates Drosophila reproductive
      behaviors as well as expression of some fat-expressed genes; three other mating
      responsive loci are also downstream components of this pathway. Another mating
      responsive gene expressed in fat, Juvenile hormone esterase (Jhe), is necessary
      for robust male courtship behavior and mating success. CONCLUSIONS: Our study
      demonstrates that mating causes changes in male head gene expression profiles and
      supports an increasing body of work implicating adipose signaling in behavior
      modulation. Since several mating-induced genes are sex-determination hierarchy
      target genes, additional mating-responsive loci may be downstream components of
      this pathway as well.

PMID- 20937115
TI  - Ex-vivo expanded human NK cells express activating receptors that mediate
      cytotoxicity of allogeneic and autologous cancer cell lines by direct recognition
      and antibody directed cellular cytotoxicity.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The possibility that autologous NK cells could serve as an effective
      treatment modality for solid tumors has long been considered. However,
      implementation is hampered by (i) the small number of NK cells in peripheral
      blood, (ii) the difficulties associated with large-scale production of GMP
      compliant cytolytic NK cells, (iii) the need to activate the NK cells in order to
      induce NK cell mediated killing and (iv) the constraints imposed by autologous
      inhibitory receptor-ligand interactions. To address these issues, we determined
      (i) if large numbers of NK cells could be expanded from PBMC and GMP compliant
      cell fractions derived by elutriation, (ii) their ability to kill allogeneic and
      autologous tumor targets by direct cytotoxicity and by antibody-mediated cellular
      cytotoxicity and (iii) defined NK cell specific receptor-ligand interactions that
      mediate tumor target cell killing. METHODS: Human NK cells were expanded during
      14 days. Expansion efficiency, NK receptor repertoire before and after expansion,
      expression of NK specific ligands, cytolytic activity against allogeneic and
      autologous tumor targets, with and without the addition of chimeric EGFR
      monoclonal antibody, were investigated. RESULTS: Cell expansion shifted the NK
      cell receptor repertoire towards activation and resulted in cytotoxicity against
      various allogeneic tumor cell lines and autologous gastric cancer cells, while
      sparing normal PBMC. Blocking studies confirmed that autologous cytotoxicity is
      established through multiple activating receptor-ligand interactions.
      Importantly, expanded NK cells also mediated ADCC in an autologous and allogeneic
      setting by antibodies that are currently being used to treat patients with select
      solid tumors. CONCLUSION: These data demonstrate that large numbers of cytolytic
      NK cells can be generated from PBMC and lymphocyte-enriched fractions obtained by
      GMP compliant counter current elutriation from PBMC, establishing the preclinical
      evidence necessary to support clinical trials utilizing autologous expanded NK
      cells, both directly and in combination with monoclonal antibodies in future cell
      based immunotherapy in select solid tumors.

PMID- 20937116
TI  - Patients with chronic fatigue syndrome performed worse than controls in a
      controlled repeated exercise study despite a normal oxidative phosphorylation
      capacity.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to investigate the possibility that a
      decreased mitochondrial ATP synthesis causes muscular and mental fatigue and
      plays a role in the pathophysiology of the chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS/ME).
      METHODS: Female patients (n = 15) and controls (n = 15) performed a
      cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET) by cycling at a continuously increased work
      rate till maximal exertion. The CPET was repeated 24 h later. Before the tests,
      blood was taken for the isolation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC),
      which were processed in a special way to preserve their oxidative
      phosphorylation, which was tested later in the presence of ADP and phosphate in
      permeabilized cells with glutamate, malate and malonate plus or minus the complex
      I inhibitor rotenone, and succinate with rotenone plus or minus the complex II
      inhibitor malonate in order to measure the ATP production via Complex I and II,
      respectively. Plasma CK was determined as a surrogate measure of a decreased
      oxidative phosphorylation in muscle, since the previous finding that in a group
      of patients with external ophthalmoplegia the oxygen consumption by isolated
      muscle mitochondria correlated negatively with plasma creatine kinase, 24 h after
      exercise. RESULTS: At both exercise tests the patients reached the anaerobic
      threshold and the maximal exercise at a much lower oxygen consumption than the
      controls and this worsened in the second test. This implies an increase of
      lactate, the product of anaerobic glycolysis, and a decrease of the mitochondrial
      ATP production in the patients. In the past this was also found in patients with
      defects in the mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation. However the oxidative
      phosphorylation in PBMC was similar in CFS/ME patients and controls. The plasma
      creatine kinase levels before and 24 h after exercise were low in patients and
      controls, suggesting normality of the muscular mitochondrial oxidative
      phosphorylation. CONCLUSION: The decrease in mitochondrial ATP synthesis in the
      CFS/ME patients is not caused by a defect in the enzyme complexes catalyzing
      oxidative phosphorylation, but in another factor. TRIAL REGISTRATION:  CLINICAL
      TRIALS REGISTRATION NUMBER: NL16031.040.07.

PMID- 20937117
TI  - A direct comparison of strategies for combinatorial RNA interference.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Combinatorial RNA interference (co-RNAi) is a valuable tool for
      highly effective gene suppression of single and multiple-genes targets, and can
      be used to prevent the escape of mutation-prone transcripts. There are currently
      three main approaches used to achieve co-RNAi in animal cells; multiple
      promoter/shRNA cassettes, long hairpin RNAs (lhRNA) and miRNA-embedded shRNAs,
      however, the relative effectiveness of each is not known. The current study
      directly compares the ability of each co-RNAi method to deliver pre-validated
      siRNA molecules to the same gene targets. RESULTS: Double-shRNA expression
      vectors were generated for each co-RNAi platform and their ability to suppress
      both single and double-gene reporter targets were compared. The most reliable and
      effective gene silencing was achieved from the multiple promoter/shRNA approach,
      as this method induced additive suppression of single-gene targets and equally
      effective knockdown of double-gene targets. Although both lhRNA and microRNA
      embedded strategies provided efficient gene knockdown, suppression levels were
      inconsistent and activity varied greatly for different siRNAs tested.
      Furthermore, it appeared that not only the position of siRNAs within these multi
      shRNA constructs impacted upon silencing activity, but also local properties of
      each individual molecule. In addition, it was also found that the insertion of up
      to five promoter/shRNA cassettes into a single construct did not negatively
      affect the efficacy of each individual shRNA. CONCLUSIONS: By directly comparing
      the ability of shRNAs delivered from different co-RNA platforms to initiate
      knockdown of the same gene targets, we found that multiple U6/shRNA cassettes
      offered the most reliable and predictable suppression of both single and multiple
      gene targets. These results highlight some important strengths and pitfalls of
      the currently used methods for multiple shRNA delivery, and provide valuable
      insights for the design and application of reliable co-RNAi.

PMID- 20937118
TI  - A randomized two arm phase III study in patients post radical resection of liver
      metastases of colorectal cancer to investigate bevacizumab in combination with
      capecitabine plus oxaliplatin (CAPOX) vs CAPOX alone as adjuvant treatment.
AB  - BACKGROUND: About 50% of patients with colorectal cancer are destined to develop
      hepatic metastases. Radical resection is the most effective treatment for
      patients with colorectal liver metastases offering five year survival rates
      between 36-60%. Unfortunately only 20% of patients are resectable at time of
      presentation. Radiofrequency ablation is an alternative treatment option for
      irresectable colorectal liver metastases with reported 5 year survival rates of
      18-30%. Most patients will develop local or distant recurrences after surgery,
      possibly due to the outgrowth of micrometastases present at the time of liver
      surgery. This study aims to achieve an improved disease free survival for
      patients after resection or resection combined with RFA of colorectal liver
      metastases by adding the angiogenesis inhibitor bevacizumab to an adjuvant
      regimen of CAPOX. METHODS/DESIGN: The Hepatica study is a two-arm, multicenter,
      randomized, comparative efficacy and safety study. Patients are assessed no more
      than 8 weeks before surgery with CEA measurement and CT scanning of the chest and
      abdomen. Patients will be randomized after resection or resection combined with
      RFA to receive CAPOX and Bevacizumab or CAPOX alone. Adjuvant treatment will be
      initiated between 4 and 8 weeks after metastasectomy or resection in combination
      with RFA. In both arms patients will be assessed for recurrence/new occurrence of
      colorectal cancer by chest CT, abdominal CT and CEA measurement. Patients will be
      assessed after surgery but before randomization, thereafter every three months
      after surgery in the first two years and every 6 months until 5 years after
      surgery. In case of a confirmed recurrence/appearance of new colorectal cancer,
      patients can be treated with surgery or any subsequent line of chemotherapy and
      will be followed for survival until the end of study follow up period as well.
      The primary endpoint is disease free survival. Secondary endpoints are overall
      survival, safety and quality of life. CONCLUSION: The HEPATICA study is designed
      to demonstrate a disease free survival benefit by adding bevacizumab to an
      adjuvant regime of CAPOX in patients with colorectal liver metastases undergoing
      a radical resection or resection in combination with RFA. TRIAL REGISTRATION:
      ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT00394992.

PMID- 20937119
TI  - Attenuation of circulatory shock and cerebral ischemia injury in heat stroke by
      combination treatment with dexamethasone and hydroxyethyl starch.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Increased systemic cytokines and elevated brain levels of monoamines,
      and hydroxyl radical productions are thought to aggravate the conditions of
      cerebral ischemia and neuronal damage during heat stroke. Dexamethasone (DXM) is
      a known immunosuppressive drug used in controlling inflammation, and hydroxyethyl
      starch (HES) is used as a volume-expanding drug in cerebral ischemia and/or
      cerebral injury. Acute treatment with a combined therapeutic approach has been
      repeatedly advocated in cerebral ischemia experiments. The aim of this study is
      to investigate whether the combined agent (HES and DXM) has beneficial efficacy
      to improve the survival time (ST) and heat stroke-induced cerebral ischemia and
      neuronal damage in experimental heat stroke. METHODS: Urethane-anesthetized rats
      underwent instrumentation for the measurement of colonic temperature, mean
      arterial pressure (MAP), local striatal cerebral blood flow (CBF), heart rate,
      and neuronal damage score. The rats were exposed to an ambient temperature (43
      degrees centigrade) to induce heat stroke. Concentrations of the ischemic and
      damage markers, dopamine, serotonin, and hydroxyl radical productions in corpus
      striatum, and the serum levels of interleukin-1 beta, tumor necrosis factor-alpha
      and malondialdehyde (MDA) were observed during heat stroke. RESULTS: After heat
      stroke, the rats displayed circulatory shock (arterial hypotension), decreased
      CBF, increased the serum levels of cytokines and MDA, increased cerebral striatal
      monoamines and hydroxyl radical productions release, and severe cerebral ischemia
      and neuronal damage compared with those of normothermic control rats. However,
      immediate treatment with the combined agent at the onset of heat stroke confers
      significant protection against heat stroke-induced circulatory shock, systemic
      inflammation; cerebral ischemia, cerebral monoamines and hydroxyl radical
      production overload, and improves neuronal damage and the ST in rats.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that the combination of a colloid substance with
      a volume-expanding effect and an anti-inflammatory agent may provide a better
      resuscitation solution for victims with heat stroke.

PMID- 20937120
TI  - Combined treatment of malignant salivary gland tumours with intensity-modulated
      radiation therapy (IMRT) and carbon ions: COSMIC.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Local control in malignant salivary gland tumours is dose dependent.
      High local control rates in adenoid cystic carcinomas could be achieved by highly
      conformal radiotherapy techniques and particle (neutron/carbon ion) therapy.
      Considering high doses are needed to achieve local control, all malignant
      salivary gland tumours probably profit from the use of particle therapy, which in
      case of carbon ion treatment, has been shown to be accompanied by only mild side
      effects. METHODS/DESIGN: The COSMIC trial is a prospective, mono-centric, phase
      II trial evaluating toxicity (primary endpoint: mucositis >= CTCAE degrees 3) and
      efficacy (secondary endpoint: local control, disease-free survival) in the
      combined treatment with IMRT and carbon ion boost in 54 patients with
      histologically proved (>=R1-resected, inoperable or Pn+) salivary gland
      malignancies. Patients receive 24 GyE carbon ions (8 fractions) and IMRT (50 Gy
      at 2.0 Gy/fraction). DISCUSSION: The primary objective of COSMIC is to evaluate
      toxicity and feasibility of the proposed treatment in all salivary gland
      malignancies. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Clinical trial identifier NCT 01154270.

PMID- 20937121
TI  - Death-related gastric necrosis after laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding in
      the early post-operative period.
AB  - We report a case of a rare complication of laparoscopic adjustable gastric
      banding (LAGB) as a cause of death in the immediate post-operative period. The
      number of relevant reports and postmortem images presented in the literature is
      extremely restricted. Gastric necrosis may constitute a cause of death after LAGB
      in the early post-operative period. Postmortem examination reveals the extension
      of gastric ischemia and necrosis, responsible for the lethal outcome. To date,
      only one case of gastric necrosis after LAGB in the immediate post-operative
      period leading to death has been reported, according to authors' knowledge. The
      diagnosis of this complication may be delayed on the grounds of its rarity. In
      our opinion, surgeons should be aware of the clinical state implying gastric
      ischemia early after LAGB, so as to recognize and, in turn, to treat it promptly.

PMID- 20937122
TI  - Renal impairment after switching from stavudine/lamivudine to
      tenofovir/lamivudine in NNRTI-based antiretroviral regimens.
AB  - BACKGROUND: During stavudine phase-out plan in developing countries, tenofovir is
      used to substitute stavudine. However, knowledge regarding whether there is any
      difference of the frequency of renal injury between
      tenofovir/lamivudine/efavirenz and tenofovir/lamivudine/nevirapine is lacking.
      METHODS: This prospective study was conducted among HIV-infected patients who
      were switched NRTI from stavudine/lamivudine to tenofovir/lamivudine in efavirenz
      based (EFV group) and nevirapine-based regimen (NVP group) after two years of an
      ongoing randomized trial. All patients were assessed for serum phosphorus, uric
      acid, creatinine, estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), and urinalysis at
      time of switching, 12 and 24 weeks. RESULTS: Of 62 patients, 28 were in EFV group
      and 34 were in NVP group. Baseline characteristics and eGFR were not different
      between two groups. At 12 weeks, comparing mean +/- SD measures between EFV group
      and NVP group were: phosphorus of 3.16 +/- 0.53 vs. 2.81 +/- 0.42 mg/dL (P =
      0.005), %patients with proteinuria were 15% vs. 38% (P = 0.050). At 24 weeks,
      mean +/- SD phosphorus and median (IQR) eGFR between the corresponding groups
      were 3.26 +/- 0.78 vs. 2.84 +/- 0.47 mg/dL (P = 0.011) and 110 (99-121) vs. 98
      (83-112) mL/min (P = 0.008). In NVP group, comparing week 12 to time of
      switching, there was a decrement of phosphorus (P = 0.007) and eGFR (P = 0.034).
      By multivariate analysis, 'receiving nevirapine', 'old age' and 'low baseline
      serum phosphorus' were associated with hypophosphatemia at 24 weeks (P < 0.05).
      Receiving nevirapine and low baseline eGFR were associated with lower eGFR at 24
      weeks (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The frequency of tenofovir-associated renal
      impairment was higher in patients receiving tenofovir/lamivudine/nevirapine
      compared to tenofovir/lamivudine/efavirenz. Further studies regarding patho
      physiology are warranted.

PMID- 20937123
TI  - Utility of waist-to-height ratio in assessing the status of central obesity and
      related cardiometabolic risk profile among normal weight and overweight/obese
      children: the Bogalusa Heart Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Body Mass Index (BMI) is widely used to assess the impact of obesity
      on cardiometabolic risk in children but it does not always relate to central
      obesity and varies with growth and maturation. Waist-to-Height Ratio (WHtR) is a
      relatively constant anthropometric index of abdominal obesity across different
      age, sex or racial groups. However, information is scant on the utility of WHtR
      in assessing the status of abdominal obesity and related cardiometabolic risk
      profile among normal weight and overweight/obese children, categorized according
      to the accepted BMI threshold values. METHODS: Cross-sectional cardiometabolic
      risk factor variables on 3091 black and white children (56% white, 50% male), 4
      18 years of age were used. Based on the age-, race- and sex-specific percentiles
      of BMI, the children were classified as normal weight (5th - 85th percentiles)
      and overweight/obese (>= 85th percentile). The risk profiles of each group based
      on the WHtR (<0.5, no central obesity versus >= 0.5, central obesity) were
      compared. RESULTS: 9.2% of the children in the normal weight group were centrally
      obese (WHtR >=0.5) and 19.8% among the overweight/obese were not (WHtR < 0.5). On
      multivariate analysis the normal weight centrally obese children were 1.66, 2.01,
      1.47 and 2.05 times more likely to have significant adverse levels of LDL
      cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, triglycerides and insulin, respectively. In
      addition to having a higher prevalence of parental history of type 2 diabetes
      mellitus, the normal weight central obesity group showed a significantly higher
      prevalence of metabolic syndrome (p < 0.0001). In the overweight/obese group,
      those without central obesity were 0.53 and 0.27 times less likely to have
      significant adverse levels of HDL cholesterol and HOMA-IR, respectively (p <
      0.05), as compared to those with central obesity. These overweight/obese children
      without central obesity also showed significantly lower prevalence of parental
      history of hypertension (p = 0.002), type 2 diabetes mellitus (p = 0.03) and
      metabolic syndrome (p < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: WHtR not only detects central
      obesity and related adverse cardiometabolic risk among normal weight children,
      but also identifies those without such conditions among the overweight/obese
      children, which has implications for pediatric primary care practice.

PMID- 20937124
TI  - The non-syndromic familial thoracic aortic aneurysms and dissections maps to
      15q21 locus.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Thoracic aortic aneurysms and dissections (TAAD) is a critical
      condition that often goes undiagnosed with fatal consequences. While majority of
      the cases are sporadic, more than 20% are inherited as a single gene disorder.
      The most common familial TAA is Marfan syndrome (MFS), which is primarily caused
      by mutations in fibrillin-1 (FBN1) gene. Patients with FBN1 mutations are at
      higher risk for dissection compared to other patients with similar size
      aneurysms. METHODS: Fifteen family members were genotyped using Affymetrix-10K
      genechips. A genome-wide association study was carried out using an autosomal
      dominant model of inheritance with incomplete penetrance. Mutation screening of
      all exons and exon-intron boundaries of FBN1 gene which reside near the peak Lod
      score was carried out by direct sequencing. RESULTS: The index case presented
      with agonizing substernal pain and was found to have TAAD by transthoracic
      echocardiogram. The family history was significant for 3 first degree relatives
      with TAA. Nine additional family members were diagnosed with TAA by
      echocardiography examinations. The affected individuals had no syndromic
      features. A genome-wide analysis of linkage mapped the disease gene to a single
      locus on chromosome 15q21 with a peak Lod score of 3.6 at fibrillin-1 (FBN1) gene
      locus (odds ratio > 4000:1 in favour of linkage), strongly suggesting that FBN1
      is the causative gene. No mutation was identified within the exons and exon
      intron boundaries of FBN1 gene that segregated with the disease. Haplotype
      analysis identified additional mutation carriers who had previously unknown
      status due to borderline dilation of the ascending aorta. CONCLUSIONS: A familial
      non-syndromic TAAD is strongly associated with the FBN1 gene locus and has a
      malignant disease course often seen in MFS patients. This finding indicates the
      importance of obtaining detailed family history and echocardiographic screening
      of extended relatives of patients with non-syndromic TAAD to improve the outcome.
      In addition, association of non-syndromic TAAD with the Marfan disease gene locus
      poses the question whether secondary prevention strategies employed for Marfan
      syndrome patients should be applied to all patients with familial TAAD.

PMID- 20937125
TI  - Exposure-in-vivo containing interventions to improve work functioning of workers
      with anxiety disorder: a systematic review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Anxiety disorders are associated with functional disability, sickness
      absence, and decreased productivity. Effective treatments of anxiety disorders
      can result in remission of symptoms. However the effects on work related outcomes
      are largely unknown. Exposure in vivo is potentially well fit to improve work
      related outcomes. This study systematically reviews the effectiveness of exposure
      in-vivo containing interventions in reducing work-related adverse outcomes in
      workers with anxiety disorders. METHODS: A systematic study search was conducted
      in Medline, Cinahl, Embase and Psycinfo. Two reviewers independently extracted
      data and from each study assessed the quality of evidence by using the GRADE
      approach. We performed a meta-analysis if data showed sufficient clinical
      homogeneity. RESULTS: Seven studies containing 11 exposure-in-vivo interventions
      were included. Four studies were focused on Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD),
      two on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and one on a mixed group of OCD and
      severe phobias. The studies were grouped according to type of anxiety disorder
      and subsequently according to type of comparisons. For OCD, exposure-in-vivo
      containing interventions can yield better work-related outcomes compared to
      medication (SSRIs) and relaxation but not better compared to response prevention.
      The results on anxiety outcomes were similar. The net contribution of exposure in
      vivo in two OCD intervention programs is also presented as a meta-analysis and
      shows significant positive results on work role limitations. The calculated
      pooled effect size with 95% confidence interval was 0.72 (0.28, 1.15). For PTSD,
      exposure-in-vivo containing interventions can yield better work-related and
      anxiety-related outcomes compared to a waiting-list but not better compared to
      imaginal exposure. CONCLUSIONS: Exposure in vivo as part of an anxiety treatment
      can reduce work-related adverse outcomes in workers with OCD and PTSD better than
      various other anxiety treatments or a waiting-list. We recommend that it should
      be studied how the results of these studies can be transferred to the practice of
      occupational health professionals and how clinicians can make better use of them
      to improve work-related outcomes. In future research, priority should be given to
      high-quality randomised controlled trials (RCTs) in which exposure-in-vivo
      containing interventions are applied to a variety of anxiety disorders and
      compared with other clinical anxiety treatments such as SSRIs. Work-related
      outcomes, in particular work functioning and sickness absence, need to be
      assessed with reliable and valid measures.

PMID- 20937126
TI  - Molecular mechanisms of tiling and self-avoidance in neural development.
AB  - Recent studies have begun to unravel the molecular basis of tiling and self
      avoidance, two important cellular mechanisms that shape neuronal circuitry during
      development in both invertebrates and vertebrates. Dscams and Turtle (Tutl), two
      Ig superfamily proteins, have been shown to mediate contact-dependent homotypic
      interactions in tiling and self-avoidance. By contrast, the Activin pathway
      regulates axonal tiling in a contact-independent manner. These cell surface
      signals may directly or indirectly regulate the activity of the Tricornered
      kinase pathway and/or other intracellular signaling pathways to prevent the
      overlap between same-type neuronal arbors in the sensory or synaptic input field.

PMID- 20937127
TI  - Open-label add-on treatment trial of minocycline in fragile X syndrome.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is a disorder characterized by a variety of
      disabilities, including cognitive deficits, attention-deficit/hyperactivity
      disorder, autism, and other socio-emotional problems. It is hypothesized that the
      absence of the fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP) leads to higher levels
      of matrix metallo-proteinase-9 activity (MMP-9) in the brain. Minocycline
      inhibits MMP-9 activity, and alleviates behavioural and synapse abnormalities in
      fmr1 knockout mice, an established model for FXS. This open-label add-on pilot
      trial was conducted to evaluate safety and efficacy of minocycline in treating
      behavioural abnormalities that occur in humans with FXS. METHODS: Twenty
      individuals with FXS, ages 13-32, were randomly assigned to receive 100 mg or 200
      mg of minocycline daily. Behavioural evaluations were made prior to treatment
      (baseline) and again 8 weeks after daily minocycline treatment. The primary
      outcome measure was the Aberrant Behaviour Checklist-Community Edition (ABC-C)
      Irritability Subscale, and the secondary outcome measures were the other ABC-C
      subscales, clinical global improvement scale (CGI), and the visual analog scale
      for behaviour (VAS). Side effects were assessed using an adverse events
      checklist, a complete blood count (CBC), hepatic and renal function tests, and
      antinuclear antibody screen (ANA), done at baseline and at 8 weeks. RESULTS: The
      ABC-C Irritability Subscale scores showed significant improvement (p < 0.001), as
      did the VAS (p = 0.003) and the CGI (p < 0.001). The only significant treatment
      related side effects were minor diarrhea (n = 3) and seroconversion to a positive
      ANA (n = 2). CONCLUSIONS: Results from this study demonstrate that minocycline
      provides significant functional benefits to FXS patients and that it is well
      tolerated. These findings are consistent with the fmr1 knockout mouse model
      results, suggesting that minocycline modifies underlying neural defects that
      account for behavioural abnormalities. A placebo-controlled trial of minocycline
      in FXS is warranted. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov Open-Label Trial
      NCT00858689.

PMID- 20937129
TI  - TGFbeta signaling in the brain increases with aging and signals to astrocytes and
      innate immune cells in the weeks after stroke.
AB  - BACKGROUND: TGFbeta is both neuroprotective and a key immune system modulator and
      is likely to be an important target for future stroke therapy. The precise
      function of increased TGF-beta1 after stroke is unknown and its pleiotropic
      nature means that it may convey a neuroprotective signal, orchestrate glial
      scarring or function as an important immune system regulator. We therefore
      investigated the time course and cell-specificity of TGFbeta signaling after
      stroke, and whether its signaling pattern is altered by gender and aging.
      METHODS: We performed distal middle cerebral artery occlusion strokes on 5 and 18
      month old TGFbeta reporter mice to get a readout of TGFbeta responses after
      stroke in real time. To determine which cell type is the source of increased
      TGFbeta production after stroke, brain sections were stained with an anti-TGFbeta
      antibody, colocalized with markers for reactive astrocytes, neurons, and
      activated microglia. To determine which cells are responding to TGFbeta after
      stroke, brain sections were double-labelled with anti-pSmad2, a marker of TGFbeta
      signaling, and markers of neurons, oligodendrocytes, endothelial cells,
      astrocytes and microglia. RESULTS: TGFbeta signaling increased 2 fold after
      stroke, beginning on day 1 and peaking on day 7. This pattern of increase was
      preserved in old animals and absolute TGFbeta signaling in the brain increased
      with age. Activated microglia and macrophages were the predominant source of
      increased TGFbeta after stroke and astrocytes and activated microglia and
      macrophages demonstrated dramatic upregulation of TGFbeta signaling after stroke.
      TGFbeta signaling in neurons and oligodendrocytes did not undergo marked changes.
      CONCLUSIONS: We found that TGFbeta signaling increases with age and that
      astrocytes and activated microglia and macrophages are the main cell types that
      undergo increased TGFbeta signaling in response to post-stroke increases in
      TGFbeta. Therefore increased TGFbeta after stroke likely regulates glial scar
      formation and the immune response to stroke.

PMID- 20937128
TI  - Innate immunity against HIV: a priority target for HIV prevention research.
AB  - This review summarizes recent advances and current gaps in understanding of
      innate immunity to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, and identifies
      key scientific priorities to enable application of this knowledge to the
      development of novel prevention strategies (vaccines and microbicides). It builds
      on productive discussion and new data arising out of a workshop on innate
      immunity against HIV held at the European Commission in Brussels, together with
      recent observations from the literature.Increasing evidence suggests that innate
      responses are key determinants of the outcome of HIV infection, influencing
      critical events in the earliest stages of infection including the efficiency of
      mucosal HIV transmission, establishment of initial foci of infection and local
      virus replication/spread as well as virus dissemination, the ensuing acute burst
      of viral replication, and the persisting viral load established. They also impact
      on the subsequent level of ongoing viral replication and rate of disease
      progression. Modulation of innate immunity thus has the potential to constitute a
      powerful effector strategy to complement traditional approaches to HIV
      prophylaxis and therapy. Importantly, there is increasing evidence to suggest
      that many arms of the innate response play both protective and pathogenic roles
      in HIV infection. Consequently, understanding the contributions made by
      components of the host innate response to HIV acquisition/spread versus control
      is a critical pre-requisite for the employment of innate immunity in vaccine or
      microbicide design, so that appropriate responses can be targeted for up- or down
      modulation. There is also an important need to understand the mechanisms via
      which innate responses are triggered and mediate their activity, and to define
      the structure-function relationships of individual innate factors, so that they
      can be selectively exploited or inhibited. Finally, strategies for achieving
      modulation of innate functions need to be developed and subjected to rigorous
      testing to ensure that they achieve the desired level of protection without
      stimulation of immunopathological effects. Priority areas are identified where
      there are opportunities to accelerate the translation of recent gains in
      understanding of innate immunity into the design of improved or novel vaccine and
      microbicide strategies against HIV infection.

PMID- 20937130
TI  - Effect of duration of postherpetic neuralgia on efficacy analyses in a
      multicenter, randomized, controlled study of NGX-4010, an 8% capsaicin patch
      evaluated for the treatment of postherpetic neuralgia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) is a painful and difficult to treat
      complication of acute herpes zoster. Current treatment options provide only
      partial relief and are often limited by poor tolerability. We evaluated the
      safety and efficacy of a single 60-minute application of NGX-4010, an 8%
      capsaicin patch, in patients with PHN. METHODS: This multicenter, double-blind,
      controlled study randomized 155 patients 2:1 to receive either NGX-4010 or a
      0.04% capsaicin control patch. Patients were at least 18 years old with PHN for
      at least 3 months, and an average Numeric Pain Rating Scale (NPRS) score of 3 to
      9. The primary efficacy endpoint was the percentage change in NPRS score from
      baseline to weeks 2-8. RESULTS: The mean percent reduction in "average pain for
      the past 24 hours" NPRS scores from baseline to weeks 2-8 was greater in the NGX
      4010 group (36.5%) compared with control (29.9%) although the difference was not
      significant (p = 0.296). PGIC analysis demonstrated that more NGX-4010 recipients
      considered themselves improved (much, or very much) compared with control at
      weeks 8 and 12, but the differences did not reach statistical significance. Post
      hoc analyses of patients with PHN for at least 6 months showed significantly
      greater reductions in "average pain for the past 24 hours" NPRS scores from
      baseline to weeks 2-8 in NGX-4010 patients compared to controls (37.6% versus
      23.4%; p = 0.0291). PGIC analysis in this subgroup demonstrated that
      significantly more NGX-4010 recipients considered themselves much or very much
      improved compared with control at week 12 (40% versus 20%; p = 0.0403;).
      CONCLUSIONS: Although treatment appeared to be safe and well tolerated, a single
      60-minute application of NGX-4010 failed to show efficacy in this study which
      included patients with PHN for less than 6 months. Large reductions in pain
      observed among control patients with pain for less than 6 months may have been
      due to spontaneous resolution of PHN, may have confounded the results of the
      prespecified analyses, and should be taken into account when designing PHN
      studies. TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT00068081.

PMID- 20937131
TI  - High-throughput sequencing and analysis of the gill tissue transcriptome from the
      deep-sea hydrothermal vent mussel Bathymodiolus azoricus.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Bathymodiolus azoricus is a deep-sea hydrothermal vent mussel found
      in association with large faunal communities living in chemosynthetic
      environments at the bottom of the sea floor near the Azores Islands.
      Investigation of the exceptional physiological reactions that vent mussels have
      adopted in their habitat, including responses to environmental microbes, remains
      a difficult challenge for deep-sea biologists. In an attempt to reveal genes
      potentially involved in the deep-sea mussel innate immunity we carried out a high
      throughput sequence analysis of freshly collected B. azoricus transcriptome using
      gills tissues as the primary source of immune transcripts given its strategic
      role in filtering the surrounding waterborne potentially infectious
      microorganisms. Additionally, a substantial EST data set was produced and from
      which a comprehensive collection of genes coding for putative proteins was
      organized in a dedicated database, "DeepSeaVent" the first deep-sea vent animal
      transcriptome database based on the 454 pyrosequencing technology. RESULTS: A
      normalized cDNA library from gills tissue was sequenced in a full 454 GS-FLX run,
      producing 778,996 sequencing reads. Assembly of the high quality reads resulted
      in 75,407 contigs of which 3,071 were singletons. A total of 39,425 transcripts
      were conceptually translated into amino-sequences of which 22,023 matched known
      proteins in the NCBI non-redundant protein database, 15,839 revealed conserved
      protein domains through InterPro functional classification and 9,584 were
      assigned with Gene Ontology terms. Queries conducted within the database enabled
      the identification of genes putatively involved in immune and inflammatory
      reactions which had not been previously evidenced in the vent mussel. Their
      physical counterpart was confirmed by semi-quantitative quantitative Reverse
      Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reactions (RT-PCR) and their RNA transcription
      level by quantitative PCR (qPCR) experiments. CONCLUSIONS: We have established
      the first tissue transcriptional analysis of a deep-sea hydrothermal vent animal
      and generated a searchable catalog of genes that provides a direct method of
      identifying and retrieving vast numbers of novel coding sequences which can be
      applied in gene expression profiling experiments from a non-conventional model
      organism. This provides the most comprehensive sequence resource for identifying
      novel genes currently available for a deep-sea vent organism, in particular,
      genes putatively involved in immune and inflammatory reactions in vent
      mussels.The characterization of the B. azoricus transcriptome will facilitate
      research into biological processes underlying physiological adaptations to
      hydrothermal vent environments and will provide a basis for expanding our
      understanding of genes putatively involved in adaptations processes during post
      capture long term acclimatization experiments, at "sea-level" conditions, using
      B. azoricus as a model organism.

PMID- 20937132
TI  - Interaction of mumps virus V protein variants with STAT1-STAT2 heterodimer:
      experimental and theoretical studies.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mumps virus V protein has the ability to inhibit the interferon
      mediated antiviral response by inducing degradation of STAT proteins. Two virus
      variants purified from Urabe AM9 mumps virus vaccine differ in their replication
      and transcription efficiency in cells primed with interferon. Virus
      susceptibility to IFN was associated with insertion of a non-coded glycine at
      position 156 in the V protein (VGly) of one virus variant, whereas resistance to
      IFN was associated with preservation of wild-type phenotype in the V protein
      (VWT) of the other variant. RESULTS: VWT and VGly variants of mumps virus were
      cloned and sequenced from Urabe AM9 vaccine strain. VGly differs from VWT protein
      because it possesses an amino acid change Gln103Pro (Pro103) and the Gly156
      insertion. The effect of V protein variants on components of the interferon
      stimulated gene factor 3 (ISGF3), STAT1 and STAT2 proteins were experimentally
      tested in cervical carcinoma cell lines. Expression of VWT protein decreased
      STAT1 phosphorylation, whereas VGly had no inhibitory effect on either STAT1 or
      STAT2 phosphorylation. For theoretical analysis of the interaction between V
      proteins and STAT proteins, 3D structural models of VWT and VGly were predicted
      by comparing with simian virus 5 (SV5) V protein structure in complex with STAT1
      STAT2 heterodimer. In silico analysis showed that VWT-STAT1-STAT2 complex occurs
      through the V protein Trp-motif (W174, W178, W189) and Glu95 residue close to the
      Arg409 and Lys415 of the nuclear localization signal (NLS) of STAT2, leaving
      exposed STAT1 Lys residues (K85, K87, K296, K413, K525, K679, K685), which are
      susceptible to proteasome degradation. In contrast, the interaction between VGly
      and STAT1-STAT2 heterodimer occurs in a region far from the NLS of STAT2 without
      blocking of Lys residues in both STAT1 and STAT2. CONCLUSIONS: Our results
      suggest that VWT protein of Urabe AM9 strain of mumps virus may be more efficient
      than VGly to inactivate both the IFN signaling pathway and antiviral response due
      to differences in their finest molecular interaction with STAT proteins.

PMID- 20937134
TI  - Overexpression of biotin synthase and biotin ligase is required for efficient
      generation of sulfur-35 labeled biotin in E. coli.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Biotin is an essential enzyme cofactor that acts as a CO2 carrier in
      carboxylation and decarboxylation reactions. The E. coli genome encodes a
      biosynthetic pathway that produces biotin from pimeloyl-CoA in four enzymatic
      steps. The final step, insertion of sulfur into desthiobiotin to form biotin, is
      catalyzed by the biotin synthase, BioB. A dedicated biotin ligase (BirA)
      catalyzes the covalent attachment of biotin to biotin-dependent enzymes. Isotopic
      labeling has been a valuable tool for probing the details of the biosynthetic
      process and assaying the activity of biotin-dependent enzymes, however there is
      currently no established method for 35S labeling of biotin. RESULTS: In this
      study, we produced [35S]-biotin from Na35SO4 and desthiobiotin with a specific
      activity of 30.7 Ci/mmol, two orders of magnitude higher than previously
      published methods. The biotinylation domain (PfBCCP-79) from the Plasmodium
      falciparum acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) was expressed in E. coli as a
      biotinylation substrate. We found that overexpression of the E. coli biotin
      synthase, BioB, and biotin ligase, BirA, increased PfBCCP-79 biotinylation 160
      fold over basal levels. Biotinylated PfBCCP-79 was purified by affinity
      chromatography, and free biotin was liberated using acid hydrolysis. We verified
      that we had produced radiolabeled biologically active [D]-biotin that
      specifically labels biotinylated proteins through reuptake in E. coli.
      CONCLUSIONS: The strategy described in our report provides a simple and effective
      method for the production of [35S]-biotin in E. coli based on affinity
      chromatography.

PMID- 20937133
TI  - Cerebrovascular expression of proteins related to inflammation, oxidative stress
      and neurotoxicity is altered with aging.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Most neurodegenerative diseases are age-related disorders; however,
      how aging predisposes the brain to disease has not been adequately addressed. The
      objective of this study is to determine whether expression of proteins in the
      cerebromicrovasculature related to inflammation, oxidative stress and
      neurotoxicity is altered with aging. METHODS: Brain microvessels are isolated
      from Fischer 344 rats at 6, 12, 18 and 24 months of age. Levels of interleukin
      (IL)-1beta and IL-6 RNA are determined by RT-PCR and release of cytokines into
      the media by ELISA. Vessel conditioned media are also screened by ELISA for IL
      1alpha, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), tumor necrosis factor-alpha,
      (TNFalpha), and interferon gamma (IFNgamma). Immunofluorescent analysis of brain
      sections for IL-1beta and IL-6 is performed. RESULTS: Expression of IL-1beta and
      IL-6, both at RNA and protein levels, significantly (p < 0.01) decreases with
      age. Levels of MCP-1, TNFalpha, IL-1alpha, and IFNgamma are significantly (p <
      0.05-0.01) lower in 24 month old rats compared to 6 month old animals.
      Immunofluorescent analysis of brain vessels also shows a decline in IL-1beta and
      IL-6 in aged rats. An increase in oxidative stress, assessed by increased
      carbonyl formation, as well as a decrease in the antioxidant protein manganese
      superoxide dismutase (MnSOD) is evident in vessels of aged animals. Finally,
      addition of microvessel conditioned media from aged rats to neuronal cultures
      evokes significant (p < 0.001) neurotoxicity. CONCLUSIONS: These data demonstrate
      that cerebrovascular expression of proteins related to inflammation, oxidative
      stress and neurotoxicity is altered with aging and suggest that the
      microvasculature may contribute to functional changes in the aging brain.

PMID- 20937135
TI  - Low salivary testosterone levels in patients with breast cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Correlation between circulating sex steroid levels and breast cancer
      has been controversial, with measurement of free, or bioavailable hormone rarely
      available. Salivary hormone levels represent the bioavailable fraction. To
      further elucidate the role of endogenous hormones in breast cancer, we aimed to
      assess correlation between salivary sex steroid levels and breast cancer
      prevalence. METHODS: Salivary hormone levels of testosterone (T), Estradiol (E2),
      Progesterone (P), Estriol (E3), Estrone (E1), DHEAS and Cortisol (C) were
      measured by Enzyme Immunoassay (EIA) in 357 women with histologically verified
      breast cancer and 184 age-matched control women. RESULTS: Salivary T and DHEAS
      levels were significantly lower in breast cancer cases vs. controls (27.2+13.9
      vs. 32.2+17.5 pg/ml, p < 0.001 for T and 5.3+4.3 vs. 6.4+4.5 ng/ml, p = 0.007 for
      DHEAS). E2 and E1 levels were elevated and E3 levels were lowered in cases vs.
      controls. CONCLUSIONS: Salivary T levels, representing the bioavailable hormone,
      are significantly lower in women with breast cancer compared to age-matched
      control women. These findings support the protective role of bioavailable
      testosterone in counteracting the proliferative effects of estrogens on mammary
      tissue.

PMID- 20937136
TI  - Brain size and brain/intracranial volume ratio in major mental illness.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This paper summarizes the findings of a long term study addressing
      the question of how several brain volume measure are related to three major
      mental illnesses in a Colorado subject group. It reports results obtained from a
      large N, collected and analyzed by the same laboratory over a multiyear period,
      with visually guided MRI segmentation being the primary initial analytic tool.
      METHODS: Intracerebral volume (ICV), total brain volume (TBV), ventricular volume
      (VV), ventricular/brain ratio (VBR), and TBV/ICV ratios were calculated from a
      total of 224 subject MRIs collected over a period of 13 years. Subject groups
      included controls (C, N = 89), and patients with schizophrenia (SZ, N = 58),
      bipolar disorder (BD, N = 51), and schizoaffective disorder (SAD, N = 26).
      RESULTS: ICV, TBV, and VV measures compared favorably with values obtained by
      other research groups, but in this study did not differ significantly between
      groups. TBV/ICV ratios were significantly decreased, and VBR increased, in the SZ
      and BD groups compared to the C group. The SAD group did not differ from C on any
      measure. CONCLUSIONS: In this study TBV/ICV and VBR ratios separated SZ and BD
      patients from controls. Of interest however, SAD patients did not differ from
      controls on these measures. The findings suggest that the gross measure of TBV
      may not reliably differ in the major mental illnesses to a degree useful in
      diagnosis, likely due to the intrinsic variability of the measures in question;
      the differences in VBR appear more robust across studies. Differences in some of
      these findings compared to earlier reports from several laboratories finding
      significant differences between groups in VV and TBV may relate to
      phenomenological drift, differences in analytic techniques, and possibly the
      "file drawer problem".

PMID- 20937137
TI  - An RNA replication-center assay for high content image-based quantifications of
      human rhinovirus and coxsackievirus infections.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Picornaviruses are common human and animal pathogens, including polio
      and rhinoviruses of the enterovirus family, and hepatitis A or food-and-mouth
      disease viruses. There are no effective countermeasures against the vast majority
      of picornaviruses, with the exception of polio and hepatitis A vaccines. Human
      rhinoviruses (HRV) are the most prevalent picornaviruses comprising more than one
      hundred serotypes. The existing and also emerging HRVs pose severe health risks
      for patients with asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Here, we
      developed a serotype-independent infection assay using a commercially available
      mouse monoclonal antibody (mabJ2) detecting double-strand RNA. RESULTS:
      Immunocytochemical staining for RNA replication centers using mabJ2 identified
      cells that were infected with either HRV1A, 2, 14, 16, 37 or coxsackievirus (CV)
      B3, B4 or A21. MabJ2 labeled-cells were immunocytochemically positive for newly
      synthesized viral capsid proteins from HRV1A, 14, 16, 37 or CVB3, 4. We optimized
      the procedure for detection of virus replication in settings for high content
      screening with automated fluorescence microscopy and single cell analysis. Our
      data show that the infection signal was dependent on multiplicity, time and
      temperature of infection, and the mabJ2-positive cell numbers correlated with
      viral titres determined in single step growth curves. The mabJ2 infection assay
      was adapted to determine the efficacy of anti-viral compounds and small
      interfering RNAs (siRNAs) blocking enterovirus infections. CONCLUSIONS: We report
      a broadly applicable, rapid protocol to measure infection of cultured cells with
      enteroviruses at single cell resolution. This assay can be applied to a wide
      range of plus-sense RNA viruses, and hence allows comparative studies of viral
      infection biology without dedicated reagents or procedures. This protocol also
      allows to directly compare results from small compound or siRNA infection screens
      for different serotypes without the risk of assay specific artifacts.

PMID- 20937138
TI  - Combined ablation of atrial fibrillation and minimally invasive mitral valve
      surgery: a case report.
AB  - A partial lower inverted J sternotomy and an extended transseptal incision
      provide excellent exposure for minimally invasive mitral valve surgery. However,
      the extended trasnsseptal incision causes dividing the sinus node artery, which
      may result in conduction system disturbance and need for permanent pacemaker
      implantation. Therefore, there is a challenge in the patient who requires
      concomitant ablation for atrial fibrillation because of possible conduction
      system disturbance caused by extended transseptal incision. We describe a new
      strategy for combined ablation of atrial fibrillation with minimally invasive
      cardiac surgery by a transseptal approach to the mitral valve through a partial
      lower sternotomy incision. Cryoablation was performed using a T-shaped cryoprobe
      with a lesion set of pulmonary vein isolation and ablation of the left and right
      isthmus in performing mitral annuloplasty, tricuspid annuloplasty, and atrial
      septal defect closure through a limited sternotomy incision. This technique might
      minimize possible conduction system disturbance and provide good surgical result
      for the patients who undergo mitral valve surgery and ablation of atrial
      fibrillation.

PMID- 20937140
TI  - Evidence based practice profiles: differences among allied health professions.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Most previous studies of allied health professionals' evidence based
      practice (EBP) attitudes, knowledge and behaviours have been conducted with
      profession specific questionnaires of variable psychometric strength. This study
      compared the self-report EBP profiles of allied health professionals/trainees in
      an Australian university. METHODS: The Evidence-Based Practice Profile (EBP2)
      questionnaire assessed five domains (Relevance, Terminology, Practice,
      Confidence, Sympathy) in 918 subjects from five professional disciplines. One and
      2-way factorial analysis of variance (ANOVA) and t-tests analysed differences
      based on prior exposure to EBP, stage of training, professional discipline, age
      and gender. RESULTS: There were significant differences between stages of
      training (p < 0.001) for all domains and between EBP exposure groups for all but
      one domain (Sympathy). Professional discipline groups differed for Relevance,
      Terminology, Practice (p < 0.001) and Confidence (p = 0.006). Males scored higher
      for Confidence (p = 0.002) and females for Sympathy (p = 0.04), older subjects (>
      24 years) scored higher for all domains (p < 0.05). Age and exposure affected all
      domains (p < 0.02). Differences in stages of training largely explained age
      related differences in Confidence and Practice (p <= 0.001) and exposure-related
      differences in Confidence, Practice and Sympathy (p <= 0.023). CONCLUSIONS:
      Across five allied health professions, self-report EBP characteristics varied
      with EBP exposure, across stages of training, with profession and with age.

PMID- 20937139
TI  - Sphingolipids: the nexus between Gaucher disease and insulin resistance.
AB  - Sphingolipids constitute a diverse array of lipids in which fatty acids are
      linked through amide bonds to a long-chain base, and, structurally, they form the
      building blocks of eukaryotic membranes. Ceramide is the simplest and serves as a
      precursor for the synthesis of the three main types of complex sphingolipids;
      sphingomyelins, glycosphingolipids and gangliosides. Sphingolipids are no longer
      considered mere structural spectators, but bioactive molecules with functions
      beyond providing a mechanically stable and chemically resistant barrier to a
      diverse array of cellular processes. Although sphingolipids form a somewhat minor
      component of the total cellular lipid pool, their accumulation in certain cells
      forms the basis of many diseases. Human diseases caused by alterations in the
      metabolism of sphingolipids are conventionally inborn errors of degradation, the
      most common being Gaucher disease, in which the catabolism of glucosylceramide is
      defective and accumulates. Insulin resistance has been reported in patients with
      Gaucher disease and this article presents evidence that this is due to
      perturbations in the metabolism of sphingolipids. Ceramide and the more complex
      sphingolipids, the gangliosides, are constituents of specialised membrane
      microdomains termed lipid rafts. Lipid rafts play a role in facilitating and
      regulating lipid and protein interactions in cells, and their unique lipid
      composition enables them to carry out this role. The lipid composition of rafts
      is altered in cell models of Gaucher disease which may be responsible for
      impaired lipid and protein sorting observed in this disorder, and consequently
      pathology. Lipid rafts are also necessary for correct insulin signalling, and a
      perturbed lipid raft composition may impair insulin signalling. Unravelling
      common nodes of interaction between insulin resistance and Gaucher disease may
      lead to a better understanding of the biochemical mechanisms behind pathology.

PMID- 20937141
TI  - Evolutionary history of tall fescue morphotypes inferred from molecular
      phylogenetics of the Lolium-Festuca species complex.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The agriculturally important pasture grass tall fescue (Festuca
      arundinacea Schreb. syn. Lolium arundinaceum (Schreb.) Darbysh.) is an
      outbreeding allohexaploid, that may be more accurately described as a species
      complex consisting of three major (Continental, Mediterranean and rhizomatous)
      morphotypes. Observation of hybrid infertility in some crossing combinations
      between morphotypes suggests the possibility of independent origins from
      different diploid progenitors. This study aims to clarify the evolutionary
      relationships between each tall fescue morphotype through phylogenetic analysis
      using two low-copy nuclear genes (encoding plastid acetyl-CoA carboxylase [Acc1]
      and centroradialis [CEN]), the nuclear ribosomal DNA internal transcribed spacer
      (rDNA ITS) and the chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) genome-located matK gene. Other taxa
      within the closely related Lolium-Festuca species complex were also included in
      the study, to increase understanding of evolutionary processes in a taxonomic
      group characterised by multiple inter-specific hybridisation events. RESULTS:
      Putative homoeologous sequences from both nuclear genes were obtained from each
      polyploid species and compared to counterparts from 15 diploid taxa. Phylogenetic
      reconstruction confirmed F. pratensis and F. arundinacea var. glaucescens as
      probable progenitors to Continental tall fescue, and these species are also
      likely to be ancestral to the rhizomatous morphotype. However, these two
      morphotypes are sufficiently distinct to be located in separate clades based on
      the ITS-derived data set. All four of the generated data sets suggest independent
      evolution of the Mediterranean and Continental morphotypes, with minimal affinity
      between cognate sequence haplotypes. No obvious candidate progenitor species for
      Mediterranean tall fescues were identified, and only two putative sub-genome
      specific haplotypes were identified for this morphotype. CONCLUSIONS: This study
      describes the first phylogenetic analysis of the Festuca genus to include
      representatives of each tall fescue morphotype, and to use low copy nuclear gene
      derived sequences to identify putative progenitors of the polyploid species. The
      demonstration of distinct tall fescue lineages has implications for both taxonomy
      and molecular breeding strategies, and may facilitate the generation of
      morphotype and/or sub-genome-specific molecular markers.

PMID- 20937142
TI  - Variables associated with children's physical activity levels during recess: the
      A-CLASS project.
AB  - BACKGROUND: School recess provides a daily opportunity for children to engage in
      physically active behaviours. However, few studies have investigated what factors
      may influence children's physical activity levels in this context. Such
      information may be important in the development and implementation of recess
      interventions. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between a
      range of recess variables and children's sedentary, moderate and vigorous
      physical activity in this context. METHODS: One hundred and twenty-eight children
      (39% boys) aged 9-10 years old from 8 elementary schools had their physical
      activity levels observed during school recess using the System for Observing
      Children's Activity and Relationships during Play (SOCARP). Playground variables
      data were also collected at this time. Multilevel prediction models identified
      variables that were significantly associated with children's sedentary, moderate
      and vigorous physical activity during recess. RESULTS: Girls engaged in 13.8%
      more sedentary activity and 8.2% less vigorous activity than boys during recess.
      Children with no equipment provision during recess engaged in more sedentary
      activity and less moderate activity than children provided with equipment. In
      addition, as play space per child increased, sedentary activity decreased and
      vigorous activity increased. Temperature was a significant negatively associated
      with vigorous activity. CONCLUSIONS: Modifiable and unmodifiable factors were
      associated with children's sedentary, moderate and vigorous physical activity
      during recess. Providing portable equipment and specifying areas for activities
      that dominate the elementary school playground during recess may be two
      approaches to increase recess physical activity levels, though further research
      is needed to evaluate the short and long-term impact of such strategies.

PMID- 20937143
TI  - Effects of polymerase, template dilution and cycle number on PCR based 16 S rRNA
      diversity analysis using the deep sequencing method.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The primer and amplicon length have been found to affect PCR based
      estimates of microbial diversity by pyrosequencing, while other PCR conditions
      have not been addressed using any deep sequencing method. The present study
      determined the effects of polymerase, template dilution and PCR cycle number
      using the Solexa platform. RESULTS: The PfuUltra II Fusion HS DNA Polymerase
      (Stratagene) with higher fidelity showed lower amount of PCR artifacts and
      determined lower taxa richness than the Ex Taq (Takara). More importantly, the
      two polymerases showed different efficiencies for amplifying some of very
      abundant sequences, and determined significantly different community structures.
      As expected, the dilution of the DNA template resulted in a reduced estimation of
      taxa richness, particularly at the 200 fold dilution level, but the community
      structures were similar for all dilution levels. The 30 cycle group increased the
      PCR artifacts while comparing to the 25 cycle group, but the determined taxa
      richness was lower than that of the 25 cycle group. The PCR cycle number did not
      changed the microbial community structure significantly. CONCLUSIONS: These
      results highlight the PCR conditions, particularly the polymerase, have
      significant effect on the analysis of microbial diversity with next generation
      sequencing methods.

PMID- 20937144
TI  - A feeder-free culture using autogeneic conditioned medium for undifferentiated
      growth of human embryonic stem cells: comparative expression profiles of mRNAs,
      microRNAs and proteins among different feeders and conditioned media.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Human embryonic stem (hES) cell lines were derived from the inner
      cell mass of human blastocysts, and were cultured on mouse embryonic fibroblast
      (MEF) feeder to maintain undifferentiated growth, extensive renewal capacity, and
      pluripotency. The hES-T3 cell line with normal female karyotype was previously
      used to differentiate into autogeneic fibroblast-like cells (T3HDF) as feeder to
      support the undifferentiated growth of hES-T3 cells (T3/HDF) for 14 passages.
      RESULTS: A feeder-free culture on Matrigel in hES medium conditioned by the
      autogeneic feeder cells (T3HDF) was established to maintain the undifferentiated
      growth of hES-T3 cells (T3/CMHDF) for 8 passages in this investigation. The gene
      expression profiles of mRNAs, microRNAs and proteins between the undifferentiated
      T3/HDF and T3/CMHDF cells were shown to be very similar, and their expression
      profiles were also found to be similar to those of T3/MEF and T3/CMMEF cells
      grown on MEF feeder and feeder-free Matrigel in MEF-conditioned medium,
      respectively. The undifferentiated state of T3/HDF and T3/CMHDF as well as T3/MEF
      and T3/CMMEF cells was evidenced by the very high expression levels of "stemness"
      genes and low expression levels of differentiation markers of ectoderm, mesoderm
      and endoderm in addition to the strong staining of OCT4 and NANOG. CONCLUSION:
      The T3HDF feeder and T3HDF-conditioned medium were able to support the
      undifferentiated growth of hES cells, and they would be useful for drug
      development and toxicity testing in addition to the reduced risks of xenogeneic
      pathogens when used for medical applications such as cell therapies.

PMID- 20937145
TI  - Prognostic significance of Oct4 and Sox2 expression in hypopharyngeal squamous
      cell carcinoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Oct4 and Sox2 are two major transcription factors related to the stem
      cell self-renewal and differentiation. The aim of this study was to examine the
      association between Oct4 and Sox2 expression levels with both the
      clinicopathological characteristics and prognoses of patients with hypopharyngeal
      squamous cell carcinoma. METHOD: Tumor tissue samples from 85 patients with
      hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma were collected, and the clinical follow-up
      data of these patients were recorded, and expression status of Oct4 and Sox2 were
      examined in these tissue samples by immunohistochemistry (IHC). RESULTS: Oct4
      expression was found to be an independent predictive factor for overall survival
      (p = 0.004) in patients with hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma and was
      independently related to loco-regional control (p = 0.001). Although Sox2
      expression status showed no significant association with overall survival (p =
      0.166), disease-free survival (p = 0.680) or loco-regional control (p = 0.383),
      when using a subgroup analysis, the subgroup with both high Oct4 and Sox2
      expression had the best prognosis (p = 0.000). Sox2 expression could be a
      potential prognostic predictor for patients with hypopharyngeal squamous cell
      carcinoma. Simultaneous analyses of Oct4 and Sox2 expression could be more
      effective in evaluating the prognoses of patients with hypopharyngeal squamous
      cell carcinoma. CONCLUSION: Oct4 expression is an independent predictive factor
      for patients with hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma, suggesting that Oct4
      expression may be a useful indicator for predicting the prognosis of
      hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma.

PMID- 20937146
TI  - Why don't some women attend antenatal and postnatal care services?: a qualitative
      study of community members' perspectives in Garut, Sukabumi and Ciamis districts
      of West Java Province, Indonesia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Antenatal, delivery and postnatal care services are amongst the
      recommended interventions aimed at preventing maternal and newborn deaths
      worldwide. West Java is one of the provinces of Java Island in Indonesia with a
      high proportion of home deliveries, a low attendance of four antenatal services
      and a low postnatal care uptake. This paper aims to explore community members'
      perspectives on antenatal and postnatal care services, including reasons for
      using or not using these services, the services received during antenatal and
      postnatal care, and cultural practices during antenatal and postnatal periods in
      Garut, Sukabumi and Ciamis districts of West Java province. METHODS: A
      qualitative study was conducted from March to July 2009 in six villages in three
      districts of West Java province. Twenty focus group discussions (FGDs) and 165 in
      depth interviews were carried out involving a total of 295 respondents. The
      guidelines for FGDs and in-depth interviews included the topics of community
      experiences with antenatal and postnatal care services, reasons for not attending
      the services, and cultural practices during antenatal and postnatal periods.
      RESULTS: Our study found that the main reason women attended antenatal and
      postnatal care services was to ensure the safe health of both mother and infant.
      Financial difficulty emerged as the major issue among women who did not fulfil
      the minimum requirements of four antenatal care services or two postnatal care
      services within the first month after delivery. This was related to the cost of
      health services, transportation costs, or both. In remote areas, the limited
      availability of health services was also a problem, especially if the village
      midwife frequently travelled out of the village. The distances from health
      facilities, in addition to poor road conditions were major concerns, particularly
      for those living in remote areas. Lack of community awareness about the
      importance of these services was also found, as some community members perceived
      health services to be necessary only if obstetric complications occurred. The
      services of traditional birth attendants for antenatal, delivery, and postnatal
      care were widely used, and their roles in maternal and child care were considered
      vital by some community members. CONCLUSIONS: It is important that public health
      strategies take into account the availability, affordability and accessibility of
      health services. Poverty alleviation strategies will help financially deprived
      communities to use antenatal and postnatal health services. This study also
      demonstrated the importance of health promotion programs for increasing community
      awareness about the necessity of antenatal and postnatal services.

PMID- 20937147
TI  - Cyclosporin A increases recovery after spinal cord injury but does not improve
      myelination by oligodendrocyte progenitor cell transplantation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Transplantation of oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) is an
      attractive therapy for demyelinating diseases. Cyclosporin A (CsA) is one of the
      foremost immunosuppressive agents and has widespread use in tissue and cell
      transplantation. However, whether CsA affects survival and differentiation of
      engrafted OPCs in vivo is unknown. In this study, the effect of CsA on
      morphological, functional and immunological aspects, as well as survival and
      differentiation of engrafted OPCs in injured spinal cord was explored. RESULTS:
      We transplanted green fluorescent protein (GFP) expressed OPCs (GFP-OPCs) into
      injured spinal cords of rats treated with or without CsA (10 mg/kg). Two weeks
      after cell transplantation, more GFP-positive cells were found in CsA-treated
      rats than that in vehicle-treated ones. However, the engrafted cells mostly
      differentiated into astrocytes, but not oligodendrocytes in both groups. In the
      CsA-treated group, a significant decrease in spinal cord lesion volume along with
      increase in spared myelin and neurons were found compared to the control group.
      Such histological improvement correlated well with an increase in behavioral
      recovery. Further study suggested that CsA treatment could inhibit infiltration
      of T cells and activation of resident microglia and/or macrophages derived from
      infiltrating monocytes in injured spinal cords, which contributes to the survival
      of engrafted OPCs and repair of spinal cord injury (SCI). CONCLUSIONS: These
      results collectively indicate that CsA can promote the survival of engrafted OPCs
      in injured spinal cords, but has no effect on their differentiation. The
      engrafted cells mostly differentiated into astrocytes, but not oligodendrocytes.
      The beneficial effect of CsA on SCI and the survival of engrafted cells may be
      attributed to its neuroprotective effect.

PMID- 20937148
TI  - Randomised controlled trial of an automated, interactive telephone intervention
      to improve type 2 diabetes self-management (Telephone-Linked Care Diabetes
      Project): study protocol.
AB  - BACKGROUND: An estimated 285 million people worldwide have diabetes and its
      prevalence is predicted to increase to 439 million by 2030. For the year 2010, it
      is estimated that 3.96 million excess deaths in the age group 20-79 years are
      attributable to diabetes around the world. Self-management is recognised as an
      integral part of diabetes care. This paper describes the protocol of a randomised
      controlled trial of an automated interactive telephone system aiming to improve
      the uptake and maintenance of essential diabetes self-management behaviours.
      METHODS/DESIGN: A total of 340 individuals with type 2 diabetes will be
      randomised, either to the routine care arm, or to the intervention arm in which
      participants receive the Telephone-Linked Care (TLC) Diabetes program in addition
      to their routine care. The intervention requires the participants to telephone
      the TLC Diabetes phone system weekly for 6 months. They receive the study
      handbook and a glucose meter linked to a data uploading device. The TLC system
      consists of a computer with software designed to provide monitoring, tailored
      feedback and education on key aspects of diabetes self-management, based on
      answers voiced or entered during the current or previous conversations. Data
      collection is conducted at baseline (Time 1), 6-month follow-up (Time 2), and 12
      month follow-up (Time 3). The primary outcomes are glycaemic control (HbA1c) and
      quality of life (Short Form-36 Health Survey version 2). Secondary outcomes
      include anthropometric measures, blood pressure, blood lipid profile,
      psychosocial measures as well as measures of diet, physical activity, blood
      glucose monitoring, foot care and medication taking. Information on utilisation
      of healthcare services including hospital admissions, medication use and costs is
      collected. An economic evaluation is also planned. DISCUSSION: Outcomes will
      provide evidence concerning the efficacy of a telephone-linked care intervention
      for self-management of diabetes. Furthermore, the study will provide insight into
      the potential for more widespread uptake of automated telehealth interventions,
      globally. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ACTRN12607000594426.

PMID- 20937149
TI  - The calculation of information and organismal complexity.
AB  - BACKGROUND: It is difficult to measure precisely the phenotypic complexity of
      living organisms. Here we propose a method to calculate the minimal amount of
      genomic information needed to construct organism (effective information) as a
      measure of organismal complexity, by using permutation and combination formulas
      and Shannon's information concept. RESULTS: The results demonstrate that the
      calculated information correlates quite well with the intuitive organismal
      phenotypic complexity defined by traditional taxonomy and evolutionary theory.
      From viruses to human beings, the effective information gradually increases, from
      thousands of bits to hundreds of millions of bits. The simpler the organism is,
      the less the information; the more complex the organism, the more the
      information. About 13% of human genome is estimated as effective information or
      functional sequence. CONCLUSIONS: The effective information can be used as a
      quantitative measure of phenotypic complexity of living organisms and also as an
      estimate of functional fraction of genome.

PMID- 20937150
TI  - Robot-assisted complete excision of choledochal cyst type I, hepaticojejunostomy
      and extracorporeal Roux-en-y anastomosis: a case report and review literature.
AB  - For Choledochal cyst type I, complete excision of cyst with Roux-en-Y
      hepaticojejunostomy anastomosis is the treatment of choice. It has been performed
      laparoscopically with the advancement of laparoscopic skill. Recently, a
      telemanipulative robotic surgical system was introduced, providing laparoscopic
      instruments with wrist-arm technology and 3-dimensional visualization of the
      operative field. We present a case of robot-assisted total excision of a
      choledochal cyst type I and biliary reconstruction in a 14-year-old girl. No
      intraoperative complications or technical problems were encountered. An
      intraabdominal collection occurred and was successfully treated with continuous
      percutaneous drainage. At one-year follow-up, she is doing well without evidence
      of recurrent cholangitis.

PMID- 20937151
TI  - Low cholesteryl ester transfer protein and phospholipid transfer protein
      activities are the factors making tree shrew and beijing duck resistant to
      atherosclerosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Tree shrew and beijing duck are regarded as animal models resistant
      to atherosclerosis (AS). This study was carried out to discover the potential
      mechanism. METHODS: Blood samples were collected from healthy men and male
      animals. Plasma lipid profile and activities of cholesteryl ester transfer
      protein (CETP) and phospholipid transfer protein (PLTP) were measured, compared
      and analyzed in human, tree shrew, and Beijing duck. RESULTS: The results showed
      that there were species differences on plasma lipid profile and activities of
      CETP and PLTP in the three species. Compared with human, tree shrew and beijing
      duck had higher high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C)/total cholesterol
      (TC) and HDL-C/low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) ratios, but lower CETP
      and PLTP activities. In the three species, CETP and PLTP activities were
      negatively related with the ratio of HDL-C/LDL-C. CONCLUSIONS: The present study
      suggested that low plasma CETP and PLTP activities may lead to a high HDL-C/LDL-C
      ratio and a high resistance to AS finally in tree shrew and beijing duck.
      Moreover, low PLTP activity may also make the animals resistant to AS by the
      relative high vitamin E content of apoB-containing lipoproteins and high anti
      inflammatory and antioxidative properties of HDL particles. A detailed study in
      the future is recommended.

PMID- 20937152
TI  - Boolean versus ranked querying for biomedical systematic reviews.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The process of constructing a systematic review, a document that
      compiles the published evidence pertaining to a specified medical topic, is
      intensely time-consuming, often taking a team of researchers over a year, with
      the identification of relevant published research comprising a substantial
      portion of the effort. The standard paradigm for this information-seeking task is
      to use Boolean search; however, this leaves the user(s) the requirement of
      examining every returned result. Further, our experience is that effective
      Boolean queries for this specific task are extremely difficult to formulate and
      typically require multiple iterations of refinement before being finalized.
      METHODS: We explore the effectiveness of using ranked retrieval as compared to
      Boolean querying for the purpose of constructing a systematic review. We conduct
      a series of experiments involving ranked retrieval, using queries defined
      methodologically, in an effort to understand the practicalities of incorporating
      ranked retrieval into the systematic search task. RESULTS: Our results show that
      ranked retrieval by itself is not viable for this search task requiring high
      recall. However, we describe a refinement of the standard Boolean search process
      and show that ranking within a Boolean result set can improve the overall search
      performance by providing early indication of the quality of the results, thereby
      speeding up the iterative query-refinement process. CONCLUSIONS: Outcomes of
      experiments suggest that an interactive query-development process using a hybrid
      ranked and Boolean retrieval system has the potential for significant time
      savings over the current search process in the systematic reviewing.

PMID- 20937153
TI  - Anti-apoptotic effect of claudin-1 in tamoxifen-treated human breast cancer MCF-7
      cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Claudin-1 is a membrane protein of tight junctions, and is associated
      with the development of various cancers. However, the significance of claudin-1
      expression in cancer cells is not well understood. Here, we showed for the first
      time the anti-apoptotic effect of claudin-1 in human breast cancer MCF-7 cells.
      METHODS: Human breast cancer MCF-7 and T47 D cells were treated with or without
      tamoxifen, siRNA against claudin-1, or tamoxifen and claudin-1 siRNA. The samples
      were analyzed by RT-PCR, Western blotting or immunofluorescent staining. RESULTS:
      The expression of claudin-1 was upregulated in tamoxifen-treated MCF-7 cells,
      whereas the expression of claudin-1 was not altered in tamoxifen-treated T47 D
      cells. Knockdown of claudin-1 by siRNA increased the amount of poly (ADP-ribose)
      polymerase (PARP) regardless of tamoxifen treatment in MCF-7 cells, but not T47 D
      cells. In the cell membranes of the MCF-7 cells, tamoxifen treatment increased
      the amount of claudin-1, but decreased the amount of beta-catenin. Claudin-1
      siRNA increased the amount of E-cadherin in the cytoplasm of the MCF-7 cells as
      well as the amount of beta-catenin in their cell membranes. CONCLUSION: These
      results indicate that claudin-1 has anti-apoptotic effects, and is involved in
      the regulation of the expression and subcellular localization of beta-catenin and
      E-cadherin in MCF-7, but not T47 D cells.

PMID- 20937154
TI  - Study of house-level risk factors associated in the transmission of Indian Kala
      azar.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In visceral leishmaniasis (VL), phlebotomine vectors are the main
      target to reduce for control measures. An attempt has been taken to delineate the
      association between Phlebotomous argentipes and housing characteristics between
      two districts e.g. endemic and non-endemic. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was
      conducted on 240 households for both the endemic (Vaishali district) and non
      endemic (Lohardaga district) site. Logistic regression analysis was used to
      identify factors related to housing characteristics influencing suitable habitats
      for P. argentipes. Vector density estimated using a CDC light trap. RESULTS: The
      proportion of P. argentipes in both endemic and non-endemic areas was
      significantly much higher (P < 0.001) when compared with the proportion of
      Sergentomiya and P. papatasi. The results of multilevel logistic regression
      analysis showed that mud plastered wall (P value = 0.001), mixed dwelling (P
      value = 0.002) and area (P value = 0.001) were strongly associated with the
      presence of vectors. CONCLUSION: Result of the studied household characteristics
      provides an accurate, rapid assessment of house-level variation in risk. The
      results also have implications for maximizing surveillance efficacy of sandflies,
      which is likely to become increasingly important while formulating any control
      strategy.

PMID- 20937155
TI  - Paradoxical risk perception and behaviours related to Avian Flu outbreak and
      education campaign, Laos.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In Laos, small backyard poultry systems predominate (90%). The first
      lethal human cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) occurred in 2007.
      Few studies have addressed the impact of outbreaks and education campaigns on a
      smallholder producer system. We evaluated awareness and behaviours related to
      educational campaigns and the 2007 HPAI outbreaks. METHODS: During a national 2
      stage cross-sectional randomised survey we interviewed 1098 households using a
      pre-tested questionnaire in five provinces representative of the Southern to
      Northern strata of Laos. We used multivariate analysis (Stata, version 8; Stata
      Corporation, College Station, TX, USA) to analyse factors affecting recollection
      of HPAI educational messages, awareness of HPAI, and behaviour change. RESULTS:
      Of the 1098 participants, 303 (27.6%) received training on HPAI. The level of
      awareness was similar to that in 2006. The urban population considered risk to be
      decreased, yet unsafe behaviours persisted or increased. This contrasted with an
      increase in awareness and safe behaviour practices in rural areas. Reported
      behaviour changes in rural areas included higher rates of cessation of poultry
      consumption and dead poultry burial when compared to 2006. No participants
      reported poultry deaths to the authorities. Overall, 70% could recall an
      educational message but the content and accuracy differed widely depending on
      training exposure. Washing hands and other hygiene advice, messages given during
      the HPAI educational campaign, were not recalled. Trained persons were able to
      recall only one message while untrained participants recalled a broader range of
      messages. Factors associated with an awareness of a threat of AI in Laos were:
      having received HPAI training, literacy level, access to TV, recent information,
      living in rural areas. CONCLUSION: We report a paradoxical relationship between
      unsafe behaviours and risk perception in urban areas, as well as exposure to HPAI
      training and message misinterpretation. Future educational campaigns need to be
      tailored to specific target populations and farming styles, for example, small
      holder farms as compared to commercial farms. Special attention must be given to
      varying risk perceptions and the risk of misinterpretation of key messages,
      economic hardship, and real life consequences of reporting.

PMID- 20937156
TI  - A comparison of DNA sequencing and the hydrolysis probe analysis (TaqMan assay)
      for knockdown resistance (kdr) mutations in Anopheles gambiae from the Republic
      of the Congo.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Knockdown resistance (kdr) caused by a single base pair mutation in
      the sodium channel gene is strongly associated with pyrethroid insecticide
      resistance in Anopheles gambiae in West-Central Africa. Recently, various
      molecular techniques have been developed to screen for the presence of the kdr
      mutations in vector populations with varying levels of accuracy. In this study,
      the results of the hydrolysis probe analysis for detecting the kdr mutations in
      An. gambiae s.s. from the Republic of the Congo were compared with DNA sequence
      analysis. METHODS: A total of 52 pyrethroid and DDT resistant An. gambiae from
      Pointe-Noire (Congo-Brazzaville) were tested for detection of the two kdr
      mutations (kdr-e and kdr-w) that are known to occur in this species. Results from
      the hydrolysis probe analysis were compared to DNA sequencing to verify the
      accuracy of the probe analysis for this vector population. RESULTS: Fifty-one
      specimens were found to be An. gambiae S-form and one was a M/S hybrid. DNA
      sequencing revealed that more than half of the specimens (55.8%) carried both the
      kdr-e and kdr-w resistance mutations, seven specimens (13.5%) were homozygous for
      the kdr-e mutation, and 14 specimens (26.9%) were homozygous for the kdr-w
      mutation. A single individual was genotyped as heterozygous kdr-e mutation (1.9%)
      only and another as heterozygous kdr-w mutation (1.9%) only. Analysis using
      hydrolysis probe analysis, without adjustment of the allelic discrimination axes
      on the scatter plots, revealed six specimens (11.5%) carrying both mutations, 30
      specimens (57.8%) as homozygous kdr-w, six specimens (11.5%) homozygous for the
      kdr-e mutation, one specimen (1.9%) heterozygous for the kdr-w mutation and one
      specimen (1.9%) present in wild type form. Eight of the specimens (15.4%) could
      not be identified using unadjusted hydrolysis probe analysis values. No
      heterozygous kdr-e mutations were scored when adjustment for the allelic
      discrimination axes was omitted. However, when the axes on the scatter plots were
      adjusted the results were consistent with those of the DNA sequence analysis,
      barring two individuals that were mis-scored in the hydrolysis probe analysis.
      CONCLUSION: Both the kdr-e and kdr-w mutations were abundant in An. gambiae S
      form from Pointe-Noire. The hydrolysis probe analysis can lead to misleading
      results if adjustment to allelic discrimination axes is not investigated. This is
      mainly relevant when both kdr-e and kdr-w are present in a population in a high
      frequency. This report highlights the importance of concurrent screening for both
      mutations. Therefore, performing routine assay protocols blindly can result in
      the misinterpretation of results. Although hydrolysis probe analysis of kdr is
      still held as the gold standard assay, this paper highlights the importance of
      kdr mutation confirmation via sequencing especially in regions where kdr
      frequency has never been reported before or where both the kdr-e and kdr-w
      mutations are present simultaneously.

PMID- 20937157
TI  - The importance of education to increase the use of bed nets in villages outside
      of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Malaria is the most prominent disease in the Democratic Republic of
      the Congo (DRC), and long-lasting insecticide-treated nets (LLINs) have been
      distributed free of charge since 2006 to combat the disease. However, the success
      of this bed net campaign depends on sufficient bed net use in all age groups.
      This study was designed to examine the factors affecting bed net use in villages
      outside of Kinshasa. METHODS: Two villages along the Congo River, totalling 142
      households with 640 residents, were surveyed using a standard questionnaire. The
      interview determined the number, ages, and sexes of family members; the education
      level of the family head; the number, colour, and type of nets owned; and the
      number of nets used in the previous night. The size of house was also measured,
      and numbers of rooms and beds were recorded. These variables were examined to
      reveal important factors that affect bed net use. RESULTS: A total of 469 nets
      were counted, and nearly all nets were white LLINs. Of these nets, 229 (48.8%)
      nets were used by 284 (44.4%) residents. Bed nets were used by over 90% of
      children 5 to 15 years of age, whereas less than 50% of the residents in other
      age groups used bed nets. The important variables affecting bed net use were
      numbers of beds and rooms in the house and the education level of the family head
      of household. CONCLUSION: Education was the most important factor affecting bed
      net use in the villages outside Kinshasa. Development of an educational
      programme, particularly one directed toward parents, is necessary to reduce
      misconceptions and increase prevalence of bed net use among all age groups.

PMID- 20937158
TI  - Trust and ambivalence in midwives' views towards women developing pelvic pain
      during pregnancy: a qualitative study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Swedish midwife plays a significant role in the antenatal care
      (ANC) system, and a majority of pregnant women are satisfied with their ANC.
      Pelvic pain during pregnancy (PP) is prevalent. The study investigated the views,
      perceptions and attitudes of midwives currently working in ANC regarding PP
      during pregnancy. METHODS: The informants were ten midwives between the ages of
      35 to 64 years, with a combined experience of 250 years of midwifery. In-depth
      interviews (n = 4) and one focus group discussion (n = 6) were conducted. The
      data were interpreted using a qualitative content analysis design. RESULTS: PP
      was considered a common, clinical problem that had most likely increased in
      prevalence in recent decades and could feature prominently in a woman's
      experience of pregnancy. The informants had developed a strategy for supporting
      pregnant women affected by PP. The pregnant woman's fear of not being believed
      concerning her symptoms and the risk of being regarded as a malingerer were
      acknowledged. Mistrust between a midwife and a woman might occur when the
      patient's symptoms were vague and ill defined. PP was not considered as something
      that complicated delivery, and women experiencing it were advised to await 'the
      natural course of the pregnancy'. CONCLUSIONS: PP was considered a common,
      clinical problem and the informants had developed a strategy for supporting
      pregnant women affected by PP. However, the woman's fear of not being believed
      concerning her symptoms of PP was acknowledged and mistrust might occur between a
      midwife and a woman if vague symptoms were reported.

PMID- 20937159
TI  - Robust tests for matched case-control genetic association studies.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Cochran-Armitage trend test (CATT) is powerful in detecting
      association between a susceptible marker and a disease. This test, however, may
      suffer from a substantial loss of power when the underlying genetic model is
      unknown and incorrectly specified. Thus, it is useful to derive tests obtaining
      the plausible power against all common genetic models. For this purpose, the
      genetic model selection (GMS) and genetic model exclusion (GME) methods were
      proposed recently. Simulation results showed that GMS and GME can obtain the
      plausible power against three common genetic models while the overall type I
      error is well controlled. RESULTS: Although GMS and GME are powerful
      statistically, they could be seriously affected by known confounding factors such
      as gender, age and race. Therefore, in this paper, via comparing the difference
      of Hardy-Weinberg disequilibrium coefficients between the cases and the controls
      within each sub-population, we propose the stratified genetic model selection
      (SGMS) and exclusion (SGME) methods which could eliminate the effect of
      confounding factors by adopting a matching framework. Our goal in this paper is
      to investigate the robustness of the proposed statistics and compare them with
      other commonly used efficiency robust tests such as MAX3 and chi2 with 2 degrees
      of freedom (df) test in matched case-control association designs through
      simulation studies. CONCLUSION: Simulation results showed that if the mean
      genetic effect of the heterozygous genotype is between those of the two
      homozygous genotypes, then the proposed tests and MAX3 are preferred. Otherwise,
      chi2 with 2 df test may be used. To illustrate the robust procedures, the
      proposed tests are applied to a real matched pair case-control etiologic study of
      sarcoidosis.

PMID- 20937160
TI  - Repair of olecranon fractures using fiberWire without metallic implants: report
      of two cases.
AB  - Olecranon fractures are a common injury in fractures. The tension band technique
      for olecranon fractures yields good clinical outcomes; however, it is associated
      with significant complications. In many patients, implants irritate overlying
      soft tissues and cause pain. This is mostly due to protrusion of the proximal
      ends of the K-wires or by the twisted knots of the metal wire tension band. Below
      we described 2 cases of olecranon fractures treated with a unique technique using
      FiberWire without any metallic implants. Technically, the fragment was reduced,
      and two K-wires were inserted from the dorsal cortex of the distal segment to the
      tip of the olecranon. K-wire was exchanged for a suture retriever, and 2 strands
      of FiberWire were retrieved twice. Each of the two FiberWires was manually
      tensioned and knotted on the posterior surface of the olecranon. Bony unions
      could be achieved, and patients had no complaint of pain and skin irritation.
      There was only a small loss of flexion and extension in comparison with that of
      the contralateral side, and the patient did not feel inconvenienced in his daily
      life. Using the method described, difficulty due to K-wire or other metallic
      implants was avoided.

PMID- 20937161
TI  - Genetic background modifies neurodegeneration and neuroinflammation driven by
      misfolded human tau protein in rat model of tauopathy: implication for
      immunomodulatory approach to Alzheimer's disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Numerous epidemiological studies demonstrate that genetic background
      modifies the onset and the progression of Alzheimer's disease and related
      neurodegenerative disorders. The efficacious influence of genetic background on
      the disease pathway of amyloid beta has been meticulously described in rodent
      models. Since the impact of genetic modifiers on the neurodegenerative and
      neuroinflammatory cascade induced by misfolded tau protein is yet to be
      elucidated, we have addressed the issue by using transgenic lines expressing the
      same human truncated tau protein in either spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR)
      or Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) genetic background. METHODS: Brains of WKY and SHR
      transgenic rats in the terminal stage of phenotype and their age-matched non
      transgenic littermates were examined by means of immunohistochemistry and
      unbiased stereology. Basic measures of tau-induced neurodegeneration (load of
      neurofibrillary tangles) and neuroinflammation (number of Iba1-positive
      microglia, their activated morphology, and numbers of microglia immunoreactive
      for MHCII and astrocytes immunoreactive for GFAP) were quantified with an optical
      fractionator in brain areas affected by neurofibrillary pathology (pons, medulla
      oblongata). The stereological data were evaluated using two-way ANOVA and
      Student's t-test. RESULTS: Tau neurodegeneration (neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs),
      axonopathy) and neuroinflammation (microgliosis, astrocytosis) appeared in both
      WKY and SHR transgenic rats. Although identical levels of transgene expression in
      both lines were present, terminally-staged WKY transgenic rats displayed
      significantly lower final NFT loads than their SHR transgenic counterparts.
      Interestingly, microglial responses showed a striking difference between
      transgenic lines. Only 1.6% of microglia in SHR transgenic rats expressed MHCII
      in spite of having a robust phagocytic phenotype, whereas in WKY transgenic rats,
      23.2% of microglia expressed MHCII despite displaying a considerably lower extent
      of transformation into phagocytic phenotype. CONCLUSIONS: These results show that
      the immune response represents a pivotal and genetically variable modifying
      factor that is able to influence vulnerability to neurodegeneration. Therefore,
      targeted immunomodulation could represent a prospective therapeutic approach to
      Alzheimer's disease.

PMID- 20937162
TI  - Effects of Curcuma longa (turmeric) on postprandial plasma glucose and insulin in
      healthy subjects.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Previous animal studies have shown that Curcuma (C.) longa lowers
      plasma glucose. C. longa may thus be a promising ingredient in functional foods
      aimed at preventing type 2 diabetes. The purpose of the study is to study the
      effect of C. longa on postprandial plasma glucose, insulin levels and glycemic
      index (GI) in healthy subjects. METHODS: Fourteen healthy subjects were assessed
      in a crossover trial. A standard 75 g oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) was
      administered together with capsules containing a placebo or C. longa. Finger
      prick capillary and venous blood samples were collected before, and 15, 30, 45,
      60, 90, and 120 min after the start of the OGTT to measure the glucose and
      insulin levels, respectively. RESULTS: The ingestion of 6 g C. longa had no
      significant effect on the glucose response. The change in insulin was
      significantly higher 30 min (P = 0.03) and 60 min (P = 0.041) after the OGTT
      including C. longa. The insulin AUCs were also significantly higher after the
      ingestion of C. longa, 15 (P = 0.048), 30 (P = 0.035), 90 (P = 0.03), and 120 (P
      = 0.02) minutes after the OGTT. CONCLUSIONS: The ingestion of 6 g C. longa
      increased postprandial serum insulin levels, but did not seem to affect plasma
      glucose levels or GI, in healthy subjects. The results indicate that C. longa may
      have an effect on insulin secretion.

PMID- 20937163
TI  - Q&A: H1N1 pandemic influenza--what's new?

PMID- 20937165
TI  - Intergenerational transmission of reproductive behaviour in Botswana.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to investigate intergenerational transmission of
      reproductive behaviour in Botswana. The major source of data was the 2001
      Botswana AIDS Impact Survey where a nationally representative random sample of
      men and women aged 10-64 years was selected using a stratified two-stage
      probability sample design. Covariates in the analysis include age, education,
      marital status, religion, age at first birth, residence, duration at residence
      and contraceptive use. The main analytical technique is linear regression. The
      results indicate that the reproductive behaviour of older generations has a
      significantly positive influence on the reproductive behaviour of the subsequent
      generation, but does not affect the subsequent generation homogeneously. The
      effect appeared much stronger for women who initiated childbearing at an older
      age, for women who had never been to school, and for the cohort aged 50-59 years.
      These findings suggest that number of siblings, as a reproductive behaviour
      determinant, may very well have confounded previous reproductive behaviour
      analyses in Botswana. The study draws attention to the importance of the effect
      of origin family size in determining reproductive behaviour outcomes in Botswana.

PMID- 20937164
TI  - Entorhinal cortex volume in older adults: reliability and validity considerations
      for three published measurement protocols.
AB  - Measuring the entorhinal cortex (ERC) is challenging due to lateral border
      discrimination from the perirhinal cortex. From a sample of 39 nondemented older
      adults who completed volumetric image scans and verbal memory indices, we
      examined reliability and validity concerns for three ERC protocols with different
      lateral boundary guidelines (i.e., Goncharova, Dickerson, Stoub, & deToledo
      Morrell, 2001; Honeycutt et al., 1998; Insausti et al., 1998). We used three
      novice raters to assess inter-rater reliability on a subset of scans (216 total
      ERCs), with the entire dataset measured by one rater with strong intra-rater
      reliability on each technique (234 total ERCs). We found moderate to strong inter
      rater reliability for two techniques with consistent ERC lateral boundary
      endpoints (Goncharova, Honeycutt), with negligible to moderate reliability for
      the technique requiring consideration of collateral sulcal depth (Insausti). Left
      ERC and story memory associations were moderate and positive for two techniques
      designed to exclude the perirhinal cortex (Insausti, Goncharova), with the
      Insausti technique continuing to explain 10% of memory score variance after
      additionally controlling for depression symptom severity. Right ERC-story memory
      associations were nonexistent after excluding an outlier. Researchers are
      encouraged to consider challenges of rater training for ERC techniques and how
      lateral boundary endpoints may impact structure-function associations.

PMID- 20937166
TI  - Fertility among HIV-infected Indian women: the biological effect and its
      implications.
AB  - In India, nearly one million women of childbearing age are infected with HIV.
      This study sought to examine the biological effect of HIV on the fertility of HIV
      infected Indian women. This is relevant for the provision of pregnancy-related
      counselling and care to the infected women, and for estimating the HIV prevalence
      among women and children. The study used retrospectively collected data from the
      National Family Health Survey (2005-2006) and applied a matched case control
      study design to compare the effect of HIV on conception, pregnancy rates and
      pregnancy outcomes among HIV-infected (N=69) and HIV-non-infected (N=345) women,
      both unaware of their HIV status. Pregnancy rates and pregnancy outcomes were
      compared through non-parametric statistical tests, whereas the effect of HIV on
      fecundity was studied by analysing the interval between last two pregnancies
      using Cox regression. The pregnancy rate was observed to be lower among HIV
      infected than HIV-non-infected women (RR=0.77). The difference, however, was not
      statistically significant (p=0.064). There was also no statistically significant
      difference in the interval between last two pregnancies (p=0.898). Significantly
      higher number of pregnancies among HIV-infected women resulted in termination
      because of miscarriage or stillbirths (p=0.004). Therefore, while providing
      clinical care and counselling to infected women, the possibility of adverse
      pregnancy outcomes should be considered. Due to the higher rate of adverse
      pregnancy outcomes, attendance of HIV-infected women at antenatal clinics might
      be greater, which could lead to overestimation of HIV prevalence derived from
      antenatal care surveillance sites.

PMID- 20937167
TI  - From the gut to the peripheral tissues: the multiple effects of butyrate.
AB  - Butyrate is a natural substance present in biological liquids and tissues. The
      present paper aims to give an update on the biological role of butyrate in
      mammals, when it is naturally produced by the gastrointestinal microbiota or
      orally ingested as a feed additive. Recent data concerning butyrate production
      delivery as well as absorption by the colonocytes are reported. Butyrate cannot
      be detected in the peripheral blood, which indicates fast metabolism in the gut
      wall and/or in the liver. In physiological conditions, the increase in
      performance in animals could be explained by the increased nutrient
      digestibility, the stimulation of the digestive enzyme secretions, a modification
      of intestinal luminal microbiota and an improvement of the epithelial integrity
      and defence systems. In the digestive tract, butyrate can act directly (upper
      gastrointestinal tract or hindgut) or indirectly (small intestine) on tissue
      development and repair. Direct trophic effects have been demonstrated mainly by
      cell proliferation studies, indicating a faster renewal of necrotic areas.
      Indirect actions of butyrate are believed to involve the hormono-neuro-immuno
      system. Butyrate has also been implicated in down-regulation of bacteria
      virulence, both by direct effects on virulence gene expression and by acting on
      cell proliferation of the host cells. In animal production, butyrate is a helpful
      feed additive, especially when ingested soon after birth, as it enhances
      performance and controls gut health disorders caused by bacterial pathogens. Such
      effects could be considered for new applications in human nutrition.

PMID- 20937168
TI  - Novel management of cervical necrotising fasciitis in a developing country: case
      report.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We report a rare case of cervical necrotising fasciitis arising from
      poorly managed acute tonsillitis. CASE REPORT: A 23-year-old woman presented with
      a two-week history of fever and an eight-day history of painful neck swelling.
      Nine days before presentation, she had received digital manipulation of her
      throat by a neighbour, which had worsened her throat pain. There was associated
      progressive generalised neck swelling, odynophagia, dysphagia and dyspnoea. An X
      ray of the neck soft tissue showed multiple gas collections. CONCLUSION: Cervical
      necrotising fasciitis is rare and usually odontogenic in origin. It is associated
      with a high mortality rate. Our patient responded to aggressive daily bedside
      wound debridements and dressings, appropriate intravenous antibiotics and high
      protein nutritional support. In this way, exploration under general anaesthesia
      was avoided, in a developing country with limited facilities.

PMID- 20937169
TI  - Manipulation of fractured nose using mallet and champagne cork.
AB  - We describe an alternative method of manipulating fractured nasal bones using a
      surgical mallet and a champagne cork. This method enables accurate fracture
      reduction with minimal skin trauma, by affording the surgeon a high level of
      control. This method may be applied successfully to late-presenting fractures.

PMID- 20937170
TI  - Cognitive function and risk for depression in old age: a meta-analysis of
      published literature.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We assessed the relationship between cognitive impairment (including
      mild cognitive impairment with no signs of dementia, and dementia) and risk for
      depression in old age (60 years and older). METHODS: MEDLINE, EMBASE and the
      Cochrane Library database were used to identify potential studies. All of the
      clinical studies that produced data on the association between cognitive function
      and risk of depression among individuals aged 55 years or older were identified
      and included in this review. The studies were classified into cross-sectional and
      longitudinal subsets. The quantitative meta-analysis of cross-sectional and
      longitudinal studies were performed. For prevalence and incidence rates of
      depression, odds risk (OR) and relative risk (RR) were calculated, respectively.
      RESULTS: Since all but two studies found in the search were for individuals aged
      60 years or over, we assessed and reported on results for this larger group only.
      In this review we included 13 cross-sectional and four prospective longitudinal
      studies. The quantitative meta-analysis showed that, in old age, individuals with
      non-dementia cognitive impairment had neither significant higher prevalence nor
      incidence rates of depression than those without (odds risk (OR): 1.48, 95%
      confidence intervals (95% CI): 0.87-2.52; relative risk (RR): 1.12, 95% CI: 0.62
      2.01). In old age, individuals with dementia had both significant higher
      prevalence and incidence rates of depression than those without (OR: 1.82, 95%
      CI: 1.15-2.89; RR: 3.92, 95% CI: 1.93-7.99). CONCLUSIONS: Despite the
      methodological limitations of this meta-analysis, we found that in old age, there
      was no association between depression and cognitive impairment with no dementia;
      however, there was a definite association between depression and dementia and
      thus dementia might be a risk for depression.

PMID- 20937172
TI  - Child pneumonia: current status, future prospects.

PMID- 20937174
TI  - Human tuberculosis caused by Mycobacterium bovis in the United States, Latin
      America and the Caribbean.
AB  - Human tuberculosis (TB) caused by Mycobacterium bovis appears to be rare in most
      of the region of the Americas, although some localities have reported an
      unusually high prevalence of M. bovis among human TB cases (e.g., San Diego, CA,
      USA; parts of Mexico). As surveillance data are lacking in many countries, there
      is substantial uncertainty regarding actual incidence. M. bovis is most often not
      identified, as the diagnosis of TB is made by smear microscopy alone or using egg
      containing culture media lacking pyruvate. Where human M. bovis cases have been
      studied in the region, they appear to be associated with ingestion of
      unpasteurized dairy products, or with airborne acquired infection in animal
      keepers and meat industry workers from countries where bovine TB remains a
      problem. Human-to-human transmission of M. bovis does occur, but appears to
      account for a very small proportion of cases. Efforts to eradicate M. bovis in
      humans in the Americas should therefore be directed at eradicating the disease in
      cattle, increasing pasteurization of dairy products and providing education about
      the dangers of consuming unpasteurized dairy products.

PMID- 20937173
TI  - Oxygen is an essential medicine: a call for international action.
AB  - Hypoxaemia is commonly associated with mortality in developing countries, yet
      feasible and cost-effective ways to address hypoxaemia receive little or no
      attention in current global health strategies. Oxygen treatment has been used in
      medicine for almost 100 years, but in developing countries most seriously ill
      newborns, children and adults do not have access to oxygen or the simple test
      that can detect hypoxaemia. Improving access to oxygen and pulse oximetry has
      demonstrated a reduction in mortality from childhood pneumonia by up to 35% in
      high-burden child pneumonia settings. The cost-effectiveness of an oxygen systems
      strategy compares favourably with other higher profile child survival
      interventions, such as new vaccines. In addition to its use in treating acute
      respiratory illness, oxygen treatment is required for the optimal management of
      many other conditions in adults and children, and is essential for safe surgery,
      anaesthesia and obstetric care. Oxygen concentrators provide the most consistent
      and least expensive source of oxygen in health facilities where power supplies
      are reliable. Oxygen concentrators are sustainable in developing country settings
      if a systematic approach involving nurses, doctors, technicians and
      administrators is adopted. Improving oxygen systems is an entry point for
      improving the quality of care. For these broad reasons, and for its vital
      importance in reducing deaths due to lung disease in 2010: Year of the Lung,
      oxygen deserves a higher priority on the global health agenda.

PMID- 20937175
TI  - Age-related risk of hepatotoxicity in the treatment of latent tuberculosis
      infection: a systematic review.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the age-related risk of hepatotoxicity under currently
      recommended treatment regimens for latent tuberculosis (TB) infection (LTBI).
      METHODS: A systematic review of the MEDLINE and EMBASE databases (from database
      inception to 2008) was performed to determine the risk of isoniazid (INH) and/or
      rifampicin hepatotoxicity in LTBI treatment stratified by patient age. Study
      selection, study quality assessment and data extraction were performed using
      piloted proformas. Rate data were meta-analysed to generate summary rates with
      95%CI within age-related subgroups using a random effects model. RESULTS: Seven
      relevant studies (18,610 participants, including 115 cases of hepatotoxicity) met
      the selection criteria. The median rate of hepatotoxicity was 1.8% (range 0.07
      11.9). On average, rates were higher among those aged >= 35 years (1.7%, 95%CI
      1.4-2.2) than those aged <35 years (0.2%, 95%CI 0.1-0.3). CONCLUSION: The rates
      of hepatotoxicity were low. Summary estimates of risks generated in this review
      can be used for counselling individuals for whom chemoprophylaxis is recommended.
      The use of INH for the treatment of LTBI is safe in older patients with clinical
      or biochemical monitoring.

PMID- 20937176
TI  - Diagnostic value of adenosine deaminase in cerebrospinal fluid for tuberculous
      meningitis: a meta-analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the accuracy of adenosine deaminase (ADA) measurements in
      the diagnosis of tuberculous meningitis (TBM). DESIGN: After a systematic review
      of English language studies, the sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of ADA
      concentrations in the diagnosis of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) were evaluated using
      random effects models. Summary receiver operating characteristic curves were used
      to summarise overall test performance. RESULTS: Ten studies met our inclusion
      criteria. The sensitivity of ADA in the diagnosis of TBM was 0.79 (95%CI 0.75
      0.83), specificity 0.91 (95%CI 0.89-0.93), positive likelihood ratio 6.85 (95%CI
      4.11-11.41), negative likelihood ratio 0.29 (95%CI 0.19-0.44) and diagnostic odds
      ratio 26.93 (95%CI 12.73-56.97). CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that ADA in the CSF
      can be a sensitive and specific target and a critical criteria for the diagnosis
      of TBM.

PMID- 20937177
TI  - Screening for tuberculosis in asylum seekers: comparison of chest radiography
      with an interview-based system.
AB  - SETTING: Mandatory initial screening of asylum seekers for tuberculosis (TB) in
      Switzerland, 2004-2005 and 2007-2008. OBJECTIVE: To compare the yield of
      screening by chest radiography with an individual assessment based on geographic
      origin, personal history and symptoms. DESIGN: Cross-sectional retrospective
      comparison of two 2-year periods. RESULTS: The prevalence of detected TB cases
      was defined as the proportion of screenees starting anti-tuberculosis treatment
      for culture-confirmed pulmonary TB within 90 days. TB prevalence was 14.3 per
      10,000 asylum seekers screened (31/21,727) using chest radiography and 12.4
      (29/23,402) using individual assessment. The sensitivity of radiography was 100%
      vs. 55% for individual assessment, but its specificity was lower (89.9% vs.
      96.0%, respectively). The higher sensitivity of radiography meant shorter delays
      between screening and start of treatment (median 6 vs. 25 days). Its lower
      specificity led to a larger proportion of screenees needing further
      investigations for suspicion of TB (12% vs. 4%). CONCLUSION: The interview-based
      system initially missed more cases, but the ultimate 90-day yield was comparable
      for the two periods. The main difference is the delay until start of treatment,
      which potentially increases transmission and secondary cases. The radiograph
      system was more burdensome to both the health care system and the screenees, as
      more suspects required further investigations.

PMID- 20937178
TI  - Spatial patterns of pulmonary tuberculosis incidence and their relationship to
      socio-economic status in Vitoria, Brazil.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate spatial patterns of the incidence of pulmonary
      tuberculosis (TB) and its relationship with socio-economic status in Vitoria,
      Espirito Santo, Brazil. DESIGN: In a 4-year, retrospective, territory-based
      surveillance study of all new pulmonary TB cases conducted in Vitoria between
      2002 and 2006, spatial patterns of disease incidence were compared using spatial
      clustering statistics (Anselin's local indicators of spatial association [LISA]
      and Getis-Ord Gi* statistics), smoothed empirical Bayes estimates and model
      predicted incidence rates. Spatial Poisson models were fit to examine the
      relationship between socio-economic status and TB incidence. RESULTS: A total of
      651 TB cases were reported across 78 neighborhoods, with rates ranging from 0 to
      129 cases per 100,000 population. Moran's I indicated strong spatial
      autocorrelation among incidence rates (0.399, P < 0.0001), and four areas of high
      incidence were identified by LISA and Gi* statistics. Smoothed spatial empirical
      Bayes estimates demonstrate that two of these areas range from 70 to 90
      cases/100,000, while the other two range from 40 to 70 cases/100,000. TB
      incidence and socio-economic status had a significant curvilinear relationship (P
      = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: Data derived from these spatial statistical tools will help
      TB control programs to allocate TB resources to those populations most at risk of
      increasing TB rates and to target areas where TB control efforts need to be
      concentrated.

PMID- 20937179
TI  - Delay in diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis at a primary health clinic in
      Vitoria, Brazil.
AB  - SETTING: Primary health clinics in Vitoria, Espirito Santo, Brazil. OBJECTIVE: To
      identify risk factors associated with patient and health care delays among
      patients seeking care at primary health clinics. METHODS: A prospective study
      among tuberculosis (TB) patients diagnosed in Vitoria between 1 January 2003 and
      30 December 2007. A questionnaire ascertained the date of onset and duration of
      TB symptoms and medical records were reviewed. Between-group distributions of
      delay were compared and multivariate logistic regression was performed. RESULTS:
      Of 304 patients, 296 (97%) reported at least one TB symptom presenting for the
      first time to a qualified health service; 244 (80%) reported cough > 3 weeks.
      Median health care delay was 30 days (range 5-68), and median total delay was 110
      days (range 26-784). Multivariate analysis revealed any cough (OR(adj) 7.35,
      95%CI 2.40-22.5) and weight at TB diagnosis < 60 kg (OR(adj) 5.92, 95%CI 1.83
      19.1) to be associated with patient delay of >= 30 days. Factors increasing risk
      of prolonged delay (>= 90 days) were age >= 30 years (OR(adj) 1.93, 95%CI 1.09
      3.43) and chest pain (OR(adj) 2.42, 95%CI 1.29-4.53). CONCLUSION: Improving
      health care workers' education regarding TB symptoms and implementing active case
      finding in targeted populations may reduce delays.

PMID- 20937180
TI  - Predictors of failure to complete tuberculosis treatment in London, 2003-2006.
AB  - SETTING: London, 2003-2006. OBJECTIVES: To investigate tuberculosis (TB)
      treatment completion failure in London and associated risk factors during 2003
      2006. DESIGN: Cross-sectional analysis of treatment outcome and other explanatory
      variables in a cohort of TB patients reported to the London TB Register from 2003
      to 2006. METHODS: An innovative definition of TB treatment outcome more suitable
      for low-incidence industrialised countries, such as the United Kingdom, was
      adopted. A multivariable logistic approach was used to assess predictors of
      unsuccessful outcome. RESULTS: A total of 12,929 TB cases were notified from 2003
      to 2006, of which 12% (n = 1536) failed to complete TB treatment. The proportion
      of cases failing to complete treatment showed a significant decrease from 2003 to
      2006 (13% in 2003 vs. 10% in 2006). Males, the elderly, hospitalised patients,
      short- and long-term immigrants, Whites and the least deprived were more likely
      to fail to complete treatment. CONCLUSIONS: The proportion of TB treatment
      success in London exceeded the World Health Organization recommended threshold of
      85%. Some specific categories of patients that are more likely to fail to
      complete treatment should be targeted by health services to enhance their
      engagement and adherence to the treatment regimen.

PMID- 20937181
TI  - Risk of relapse and failure after retreatment with the Category II regimen in
      Nepal.
AB  - SETTING: Kathmandu Valley urban area, Nepal. OBJECTIVE: To study the
      probabilities of failure and relapse and of amplifying drug resistance to
      isoniazid (INH) and rifampicin (RMP) after the Category II retreatment regimen.
      DESIGN: Cohort study of smear-positive tuberculosis (TB) retreatment cases.
      RESULTS: Of 250 cases started on Category II retreatment, 209 were relapse cases;
      of these, 18 were INH-resistant RMP-susceptible, 18 were INH+RMP-resistant and
      nine were culture-negative. Of 19 return after interruption cases, two were INH
      resistant RMP-susceptible and one was INH+RMP-resistant. Among 22 failures, no
      case was INH-resistant RMP-susceptible, six were INH+RMP-resistant and 14 were
      culture-negative. No INH-susceptible RMP-resistant cases were observed. Among 182
      INH+RMP-susceptible cases, one failed and four relapsed during follow-up. Two of
      the five cases became INH+RMP-resistant and the remaining three remained
      susceptible. Among 20 INH-resistant RMP-susceptible cases, two failed and none
      relapsed. One of the two became INH+RMP-resistant and the other case remained INH
      resistant RMP-susceptible. DISCUSSION: The proportion of resistance among
      retreatment cases in Kathmandu Valley was not high. The risk of relapse with
      amplification of RMP resistance among INH-resistant RMP-susceptible cases on the
      Category II retreatment regimen was 5% (1/20), and that among INH+RMP-susceptible
      cases was 1% (2/182).

PMID- 20937182
TI  - Anti-tuberculosis drug resistance in new and previously treated pulmonary
      tuberculosis cases in Burkina Faso.
AB  - SETTING: National Tuberculosis (TB) Control Centre in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
      OBJECTIVE: To evaluate Mycobacterium tuberculosis drug resistance among newly
      diagnosed and previously treated cases. METHODS: A total of 416 M. tuberculosis
      complex strains were isolated from 323 new and 93 previously treated patients
      under DOTS. Susceptibility to four anti-tuberculosis drugs (isoniazid [INH],
      rifampicin [RMP], streptomycin [SM] and ethambutol [EMB]) was determined using
      the proportion method. Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) status was determined
      in 316 patients, 249 new and 67 previously treated cases, with informed consent.
      RESULTS: Among new cases, 12.4% of strains were resistant to any drug, and 3.4%
      were multidrug-resistant (MDR). Resistance rates were very high in previously
      treated patients: INH (66.7%), RMP (51.6%), SM (44.1%), EMB (50.5%) and MDR
      (INH+RMP; 50.5%). Of 316 patients tested, 28.7% were HIV-positive. There was no
      statistically significant association between HIV status and MDR-TB in new (P =
      0.95) and previously treated patients (P = 0.5). CONCLUSION: Drug resistance is
      high in Burkina Faso. Early detection of infectious patients and completion of
      treatment are essential.

PMID- 20937183
TI  - Latent tuberculosis infection among close contacts of multidrug-resistant
      tuberculosis patients in central Taiwan.
AB  - SETTING: Both the tuberculin skin test (TST) and the QuantiFERON(r)-TB Gold In
      Tube test (QFT-GIT) may be used to detect Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection. A
      positive reaction to either test can indicate latent tuberculosis infection
      (LTBI). These tests can be used to study the rate of infection in contacts of
      multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) patients. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the
      transmission status of MDR-TB patients in Taiwan by examining their close
      contacts and to compare the efficiency of TST and QFT-GIT. DESIGN: Chest
      radiographs, TST and QFT-GIT were performed in household contacts of confirmed
      MDR-TB patients to determine their infection status. RESULTS: A total of 78 close
      contacts of confirmed MDR-TB patients were included in the study. The majority of
      the MDR-TB patients were parents of the close contacts and lived in the same
      building; 46% of the subjects were TST-positive and 19% were QFT-GIT-positive,
      indicating LTBI that was likely to develop into active MDR-TB. There was a lack
      of consistency between TST and QFT-GIT results in subjects with previous bacille
      Calmette-Guerin vaccination. CONCLUSION: Household contacts of MDR-TB patients
      are likely to develop LTBI; thus, follow-up and monitoring are mandatory to
      provide treatment and reduce the occurrence of active infection.

PMID- 20937184
TI  - Concomitant increases in spectrum and level of drug resistance in Mycobacterium
      tuberculosis isolates.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the drug resistance spectrum and resistance levels of
      extensively drug-resistant (XDR-) and multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB)
      and TB resistant to either rifampicin (RMP, R) or isoniazid (INH, H; R/H-DR).
      DESIGN: Of 142 drug-resistant clinical isolates examined, 13 were XDR-TB, 66 were
      MDR-TB and 63 were R/H-DR. The drug resistance spectrum was tested by the
      absolute two-concentration method. Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) were
      determined for the strains by agar dilution method on Lowenstein-Jensen slants.
      RESULTS: The drug resistance spectrum of XDR-TB, MDR-TB and R/H-DR TB isolates
      ranged from 4 to 9, 2 to 6 and 1 to 5 drugs, respectively. Over half of all XDR
      TB (53.8%), MDR-TB (66.7%) and R/H-DR (54.0%) isolates were resistant to two
      other anti-tuberculosis drugs; 38.5% of XDR-TB, 24.2% of MDR-TB and 28.6% of R/H
      DR TB isolates were resistant to >= 3 additional anti-tuberculosis drugs in
      addition to those originally defined, demonstrating that the MIC values and the
      proportions of strains with higher MICs followed a trend of XDR-TB > MDR-TB > R/H
      DR for INH, RMP, ofloxacin and ethambutol. CONCLUSION: XDR-TB, MDR-TB and R/H-DR
      TB isolates exhibited both increasingly broader resistance spectra and a higher
      percentage of strains with high MICs to more frequently resistant drugs, which
      might be related to patterns of TB chemotherapy.

PMID- 20937185
TI  - Uptake of provider-initiated counselling and testing among tuberculosis suspects,
      Ethiopia.
AB  - SETTING: Twenty-seven health centres in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. OBJECTIVE: To
      assess the uptake of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) testing among
      tuberculosis (TB) suspects in Addis Ababa, and to determine reasons for non
      acceptance of the test. DESIGN: From February to March 2009, new TB suspects
      identified in 27 health centres in Addis Ababa were offered HIV testing. Patients
      were interviewed by trained nurses using a pretested questionnaire. RESULT: Of
      the 506 TB suspects, 59% were tested for HIV and accepted the test result.
      Individuals with knowledge about HIV counselling and testing procedures were 2.5
      times more likely to be tested than individuals with poor knowledge. TB suspects
      who had previously been tested for HIV were twice as likely to accept HIV testing
      and to receive the result of the test (OR = 2.0, 95%CI 1.4-2.9). Government
      employees (OR = 2.8, 95%CI 1.2-6.3) and merchants (OR = 2.7, 95%CI 1.2-5.7) were
      more likely to be tested for HIV as compared to jobless individuals. CONCLUSION:
      The TB control programme in Ethiopia should increase its educational efforts
      among all TB suspects, but especially among jobless individuals, to increase the
      uptake of HIV testing.

PMID- 20937186
TI  - Low BMI and falling BMI predict HIV-associated tuberculosis: a prospective study
      in Tanzania.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Low body mass index (BMI) is a known risk factor for tuberculosis
      (TB) in people without human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), but there are no
      prospective studies linking BMI to the risk of HIV-associated TB. DESIGN: In HIV
      infected adults with CD4 counts >= 200 cells/MUl receiving placebo in a TB
      booster vaccine trial in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, we measured BMI at baseline and
      Year 1, and related baseline BMI and change in BMI to the risk of developing TB.
      RESULTS: We documented 92 cases of TB among 979 subjects followed for a mean of
      3.2 years. Compared to subjects who did not develop TB, subjects who developed TB
      had a lower baseline BMI (23.2 vs. 24.6 kg/m(2), P = 0.006), and a greater BMI
      decline from baseline to Year 1 (-0.4 vs. 0.6 kg/m(2), P < 0.001). In
      multivariate analyses, baseline BMI was associated with the risk of developing TB
      (hazard ratio [HR] per kg/m(2) 0.94, 95%CI 0.90-0.99, P = 0.028), as was the
      change in BMI from baseline to Year 1 (HR per kg/m(2) 0.79, 95%CI 0.71-0.87, P <
      0.001). Subjects with a baseline BMI < 17 kg/m(2) were more likely to develop TB
      (HR 3.72, 95%CI 1.16-12.0, P = 0.028). CONCLUSION: Low and falling BMI predict
      HIV-associated TB.

PMID- 20937187
TI  - Relative bioavailability of rifampicin in a three-drug fixed-dose combination
      formulation.
AB  - SETTING: In a previous monitoring study of rifampicin (RMP) in tuberculosis (TB)
      patients treated with a generic formulation of a three-drug fixed-dose
      combination (3FDC), very low RMP levels were found. This led us to investigate
      the bioavailability of the product. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relative
      bioavailability of RMP from a generic 3FDC formulation used in the Mexican health
      care system, in comparison to the reference product, in healthy volunteers.
      DESIGN: Two-period, two-sequence crossover study. RESULTS: Mean pharmacokinetic
      parameter values obtained for the test and reference product were respectively
      3.13 +/- 2.01 MUg/ml and 9.95 +/- 2.66 MUg/ml for peak plasma concentration
      (C(max)), 15.51 +/- 9.77 MUg.h/ml and 58.03 +/- 16.1 MUg.h/ml for area under the
      concentration (AUC) time curve to the last measurable concentration (AUC(0-12h))
      and 17.92 +/- 10.66 and 68.43 +/- 22.39 MUg.h/ml for AUC up to time infinity
      (AUC(0-infinity)). The test/reference ratio of the means (90%CI) was 25.36%
      (17.33-37.10) for C(max), 21.25% (14.61-30.89) for AUC(0-12h) and 22.08% (15.44
      31.56) for AUC(0-infinity). These results did not meet the criteria for
      bioequivalence. CONCLUSION: The test product displayed delayed absorption and
      markedly inferior RMP bioavailability in comparison to the reference product. RMP
      containing generic formulations should only be used if their bioavailability has
      been evaluated to ensure interchangeability with the reference product and to
      avoid the risk of markedly inferior RMP exposure through the use of such a
      product.

PMID- 20937188
TI  - The TDR Tuberculosis Specimen Bank: a resource for diagnostic test developers.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases
      established a specimen bank in 1999 to support the development and evaluation of
      new tuberculosis (TB) diagnostic tools. OBJECTIVE: To provide a narrative of the
      bank's development and discuss lessons learned, the bank's limitations and
      potential future applications. RESULTS: Collection sites were selected in high-
      and low-prevalence settings. Patients with TB symptoms, consenting to participate
      and to undergo human immunodeficiency virus testing were enrolled and diagnosed.
      Serum, sputum, saliva and urine samples were collected and sent to the bank's
      repositories. The bank has stocked 41,437 samples from 2524 patients at 11 sites
      worldwide. Ninety-five requests for specimens have been reviewed and 67 sets have
      been approved. Approved applicants have received sets of 20 or 200 samples. The
      bank allowed an evaluation of 19 commercial lateral flow tests and showed that
      none of them had broad global utility for TB diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS: The
      establishment and development of the specimen bank have provided a wealth of
      experience. It is fulfilling a need to provide quality specimens, but the type
      and number of samples may not fulfil the demands of future end-users. Plans are
      underway to review the mechanisms of specimen collection and distribution to
      maximise their impact on product development.

PMID- 20937189
TI  - The MIT D-lab electricity-free PortaThermTM incubator for remote testing with the
      QuantiFERON(r)-TB Gold In-Tube assay.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Use of the QuantiFERON(r)-TB Gold In-Tube assay (QFT-GIT) in remote
      areas is limited by the need to incubate blood samples within 12 h of collection.
      PortaThermTM is a portable, electricity-free, phase-change incubator previously
      used for field collection of microbiological samples. OBJECTIVE: To determine
      whether the PortaTherm can be used for the reliable incubation of QFT-GIT
      samples, thus enabling QFT-GIT use in settings distant from laboratory
      facilities. METHODS: In a prospective comparative study in Peru, blood samples
      were collected from 50 participants and processed in three parallel QFT-GIT tests
      per participant; two were incubated in a conventional incubator; the third was
      incubated in the PortaTherm. RESULTS: All 150 QFT-GIT tests gave definitive
      results, and for 46 of the 50 participants all three tests were concordant, eight
      of which were positive. Four participants had one discordant result: two due to
      discordance of a conventional incubator QFT-GIT result, and two due to discordant
      PortaTherm QFT-GIT results. CONCLUSION: The QFT-GIT inter-incubator variability
      between the PortaTherm and conventional incubator was no greater than the intra
      incubator variability for the conventional incubator, indicating that the
      PortaTherm is a suitable tool for incubating QFT-GIT whole blood samples in
      remote settings where access to a laboratory or electricity is limited.

PMID- 20937190
TI  - MODS accreditation process for regional reference laboratories in Peru:
      validation by GenoType(r) MTBDRplus.
AB  - SETTING: Although considerable effort has been put into the development and
      evaluation of new diagnostics for tuberculosis (TB) and multidrug-resistant TB
      (MDR-TB), little attention has thus far been paid to the technical aspects of
      initiating quality-assured routine service use. For implementation of the
      microscopic-observation drug susceptibility (MODS) methodology in the Peruvian
      reference laboratory network, a laboratory accreditation process was devised;
      MODS results from an expert reference laboratory (Universidad Peruana Cayetano
      Heredia [UPCH]) were used as the standard against which implementing laboratory
      MODS results were judged to ensure that, prior to use for patient care,
      implementing laboratories achieved the same high performance with MODS as
      previously demonstrated in the research laboratory. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the
      validity of MODS-based accreditation and the concordance of MODS drug
      susceptibility testing (DST) with molecular testing. DESIGN: Head-to-head
      comparison of MODS DST results from implementing Peruvian regional reference
      laboratories and the accrediting expert MODS laboratory (UPCH) with GenoType(r)
      MTBDRplus DST. RESULTS: The concordance of phenotypic MODS rifampicin (RMP) DST
      with GenoType MTBDRplus was respectively 97.4%, 97.9% and 97.1% for the two
      implementing regional laboratories and UPCH, and respectively 94.7%, 95.7% and
      94.6% for isoniazid (INH) DST. CONCLUSION: High and consistent levels of
      MODS/MTBDRplus concordance for INH and RMP DST confirm the validity of the use of
      rapid methods as reference standards for accreditation.

PMID- 20937191
TI  - Three phenotypes of obstructive lung disease in the elderly.
AB  - SETTING: Eleven referring hospitals in South Korea. OBJECTIVE: To classify the
      phenotypes in elderly subjects with obstructive lung disease (OLD). METHODS: We
      analysed 191 subjects aged >= 60 years with chronic respiratory symptoms and
      either obstructive spirometry or bronchial hyperresponsiveness. Factor analysis
      was performed using commonly measured variables and revealed four significant
      variables: 1) the ratio of inspiratory capacity to total lung capacity, 2) the
      total score on the St George's Respiratory Questionnaire, 3) the volume fraction
      of the lung less than 950 Hounsfield Unit at full inspiration on volumetric
      computed tomography and 4) post-bronchodilator forced expiratory volume in 1
      second (FEV(1)) changes. We performed a cluster analysis on these four variables.
      RESULTS: The mean age was 68.5 (+/- 5.2 SD) years and the mean post
      bronchodilator FEV(1) was 52.4% (+/- 16.5) predicted. Three clusters with the
      following phenotypes were identified: Cluster 1 included subjects with moderate
      to severe airflow obstruction and bronchodilator reversibility; Cluster 2
      subjects had moderate airflow obstruction without bronchodilator reversibility,
      and Cluster 3 subjects had severe airflow obstruction without bronchodilator
      reversibility. CONCLUSIONS: We identified three phenotypes in elderly subjects
      with OLD. Follow-up studies are needed to explore the clinical significance of
      each phenotype.

PMID- 20937192
TI  - Russian health care workers' knowledge of tuberculosis and infection control.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Lack of knowledge may contribute to a higher risk of nosocomial
      tuberculosis (TB) among Russian TB health care workers (HCWs). DESIGN: Community
      based participatory study. Russian TB HCWs at five TB facilities (n = 96) were
      surveyed to assess knowledge specific to TB and infection control. RESULTS:
      Overall scores were low. Analysis of variance showed a significant difference in
      knowledge by job category. Physicians scored significantly higher than nurses,
      laboratory staff and support staff. Nurses and laboratory technicians scored
      significantly higher than support staff. The biggest area of knowledge deficit
      was in infection control. CONCLUSION: Knowledge level of TB among HCWs could
      influence the prevalence of nosocomial TB infection.

PMID- 20937193
TI  - Multi-recipient donor-transmitted tuberculosis.
AB  - Tuberculosis (TB) rates among transplant recipients are 20-74 times higher than
      in the general population, and have a mortality rate of up to 30%. The majority
      are potentially preventable. Most cases are reactivated latent infection after
      immune suppression. Donor-transmitted TB is very rare. We report three cases of
      TB that were transmitted by organ transplantation from a single donor.

PMID- 20937194
TI  - CD4+ T-cell count and cerebrospinal fluid findings in HIV-infected patients with
      tuberculous meningitis.

PMID- 20937195
TI  - Tuberculosis reactivation during invasive pneumococcal disease: report of two
      cases.

PMID- 20937199
TI  - The difficult ureter: what is the incidence of pre-stenting?
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Difficulty may be encountered with retrograde access for rigid and
      flexible ureterorenoscopy (URS) due to anatomic abnormalities, a narrow ureteric
      lumen, tortuous ureteric path or previous instrumentation. Ureteric dilatation
      using a balloon or tapered dilator can occasionally fail and will usually lead to
      the placement of a ureteric stent. We present our experience and incidence of pre
      stenting after failed standard access and dilatation techniques, the aim being to
      quote a figure for the patient at the time of consent. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Data
      were collected prospectively from a single surgeon at a regional tertiary
      referral stone unit. The outcomes of those patients pre-stented, for failed
      access, were recorded. RESULTS: Between December 2007 and December 2008, a total
      of 119 patients underwent flexible and rigid URS. Mean patient age was 49 years
      (range, 19-86 years). Of these, 107 cases were undertaken for urolithiasis and 12
      cases for diagnosis of upper tract malignancy. 12% (13/107) of cases were for
      pain and non-diagnostic imaging and 8.4% (9/107) of patients were pre-stented
      because of failed access, without complication, and subsequently had successful
      interval treatment. Of the remaining successful cases of confirmed urolithiasis,
      33% (28/85) and 67% (56/85) were undertaken for ureteric and renal calculi,
      respectively. Stone clearance rates were 83% (19/23) and 75% (3/4) for lower pole
      renal calculi 5-10 mm and > 10 mm in size, respectively. The overall clearance
      rate for lower pole calculi was 81% (22/27). The ureteric stone clearance rate
      was 86% (24/28) rising to 92% (24/26) in those solitary stones less than 10 mm in
      size. CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of ureteric pre-stenting in a tertiary referral
      unit was 8% and should be considered and indeed discussed with patients when
      obtaining pre-operative consent, especially for purely elective, non-urgent,
      upper tract cases. The alternative for these difficult, tight ureters is
      extensive balloon dilatation, with the risk of trauma and the potential for long
      term stricture formation.

PMID- 20937200
TI  - Hip fractures: public perceptions.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Hip fractures are common injuries in elderly patients presenting to
      the trauma surgeon. Mortality following such injuries approaches 10% at one
      month, rising to 30% at one year. Of those who survive, most experience a
      decrease in mobility and independence. The authors believe that the general
      public are not aware of these facts and in particular do not perceive hip
      fractures to be injuries of serious consequence. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: This study
      aims to assess the perception of hip fractures amongst the general public.
      Subjects were recruited from a population attending a general orthopaedic clinic
      in a district general hospital during March 2008. All participants were asked to
      fill out a questionnaire relating to their perception of hip fracture
      epidemiology, aetiology, presentation, treatment and both physical and social
      outcomes. RESULTS: A total of 142 people completed a questionnaire. Of those, 27
      (19%) had been filled out by either hip fracture patients or their relatives. A
      significant majority of subjects underestimated both the hospital length of stay
      and mortality figures; however, most people did know that some form of surgery
      would be required. CONCLUSIONS: This study underlines the need for detailed
      counselling of the patient and relatives following a hip fracture in order to
      create realistic expectations and to allow those involved to prepare for
      potential outcomes. Written patient information may also be useful to allow
      patients and relatives the opportunity to digest relevant information and to pose
      questions relating to what they have read.

PMID- 20937201
TI  - How does the media profile of cancer compare with prevalence?
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Knowledge and understanding of disease can influence time to
      presentation and potentially, therefore, cancer survival rates. The media is one
      of the most important sources of public health information and it influences the
      awareness and perception of cancer. It is not known if the reportage of cancer by
      the media is representative to the true incidence of disease. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: The top 10 UK daily newspapers were assessed over a 1-year period for
      the 10 most common UK cancers via their on-line search facilities. RESULTS: Of
      the 5832 articles identified, there was marked over-representation of breast,
      kidney and stomach cancer with ratios of prevalence to reporting of 1.4, 1.9 and
      3.2 to 1, respectively. Colorectal, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, bladder and oesophageal
      cancers are all markedly under-represented with ratios of 0.4, 0.2, 0.6 and 0.4
      to 1, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: A policy of media advocacy by health
      professionals could enhance the information provided by the media and thus
      reflect the true extent of disease. A partnership between health professionals
      and journalists could result in articles that are relevant to the population,
      informative and in a style and format that is easily comprehendible. Targeted
      public health information could highlight the 'red-flag' symptoms and break down
      any stigma associated with cancer. This enhanced awareness could improve the
      health-seeking behaviour of the general population and reduce the delay from
      symptoms to diagnosis.

PMID- 20937202
TI  - [The key points and direction of basic research on lung cancer of the 21 century
      in China.].

PMID- 20937203
TI  - [A study on the allelic deletion of nm23 genes in human lung cancer.].
AB  - BACKGROUND: To explore the role of allelic deletions of nm23 genes in human lung
      cancer. METHODS: Allelic deletions of nm23 genes were detected in 52 lung cancer
      tissue samples and their corresponding normal tissues as control by Southern
      blotting. RESULTS: Loss of heterozygosity (LOH) of nm23-H1 gene was found in 14
      out of 52 informative lung cancers , with a LOH rate of 26. 92 %; 2 of the 47
      informative lung cancer tissues existed allelic deletion of nm23-H2 gene , with a
      allelic deletion rate of 4. 26 %. The LOH rate of nm23-H1 gene in cancer with
      lymph node or distant metastasis (42. 86 %) was significantly higher than that in
      lung cancer without metastasis (8. 33 %) ( P < 0. 01) . nm23-H1 LOH rate was also
      remarkably higher in undifferentiated and poor differentiated cancer (45. 45 %)
      than in moderate to well differentiated cancer (13. 33 %) ( P < 0. 05) . No
      relationship was found among the allelic deletion of the nm23-H1 and
      histoclassification of the tumor , P-TNM stages , size of the primary tumor ,
      location of the cancer , and age of the patients ( P > 0. 05) . CONCLUSIONS: nm23
      gene may be involved in the differentiation and metastasis of human lung cancer ,
      and nm23-H1 gene may play a more important role in the regulation of cell
      differentiation and metastasis of lung cancer than nm23-H2 gene.

PMID- 20937204
TI  - [Mismatch repair gene mRNA expression in lung cancer tissues.].
AB  - BACKGROUND: To explore the expression of mismatch repair (MMR) gene mRNA in lung
      cancer and the relationship between mRNA expression and microsatellite
      alterations. METHODS: The mRNA expression of five MMR genes and six
      microsatellite markers were detected in 46 primary lung cancer tissues by RT-PCR
      and PCR-denature polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis-silver staining methods.
      RESULTS: Reduced expression of five MMR gene mRNA was detected in 13. 0 %-32. 6 %
      of all 46 primary lung cancer tissues , and 58. 7 %(27/ 46) had one or more MMR
      gene mRNA expression reduced and 39. 1 %(18/ 46) had two or more MMR gene mRNA
      expression reduced. The reduced expression of MMR gene mRNA was more frequent in
      patients with lymph node metastasis (20/ 27 , 74. 1 %) than those without lymph
      node metastasis (7/ 19 ,36. 8 %) ( P < 0. 025) . Among microsatellite instability
      (MSI) and/ or loss of heterozygosity (LOH) (at 2 or more loci) positive samples ,
      95. 8 %(23/ 24) had decreased expression of MMR gene mRNA , but among MSI and/ or
      LOH negative samples , only 18. 2 %(4/ 22) had reduced expression of MMR gene
      mRNA , the difference was significant ( P < 0. 005) . CONCLUSIONS: The function
      of MMR decreases in lung cancer tissue , and correlates with microsatellite
      alterations. MMR genes might play a role in carcinogenesis of lung cancer.

PMID- 20937205
TI  - [Study on the transcript expression of p73 gene in human non-small cell lung
      cancer tissues.].
AB  - BACKGROUND: To explore the relationship among the p73 gene transcript expression
      and the oncogenesis , development of human non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) .
      METHODS: The expression of p73 mRNA was detected in 32 human NSCLC tissues , para
      cancer tissues , 7 lung benign lesion tissues and matched non-cancer lung tissues
      by semiquantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) .
      RESULTS: Overexpression of p73 mRNA was found in 28/ 32 NSCLC tissues. The
      positive expression rate of the p73 mRNA in the cancer tissues was significantly
      higher than that in the para-cancer tissues and benign lesion tissues either ( P
      < 0. 01) . No significant relationship was observed among p73 expression and
      differentiated grades , histoclassification and P-TNM stages of the cancer ( P >
      0. 05) . CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that there is an overexpression of p73
      mRNA in lung cancer tissues and it may paly an important role in the
      tumorigenesis and development in NSCLC.

PMID- 20937206
TI  - [Allele-specific chromosome 3p deletion in primary non-small cell lung cancer.].
AB  - BACKGROUND: To investigate the relationship between loss of heterozygosity (LOH)
      of the allele genes on 3p and the pathogenesis of NSCLC. METHODS: Using
      polymerase chain reaction-based assays for dinucleotide repeat polymorphisms to
      analyze allele loss of 3p in 162 NSCLC samples. RESULTS: Of the 162 cases with
      NSCLC , 108 (66. 67 %) had LOH on 3p. Among them , 65 cases (40. 12 %) had LOH at
      3p14 , 84 cases (51. 85 %) had LOH at 3p25 , and 41 cases (25. 31 %) occured co
      deletion of 3p14 and 3p25. No 3p LOH were observed in 85 paracancerous lung
      tissues and 5 tissues of the pulmonary benign diseases. The total frequency of
      LOH at 3p did not relate to TNM staging and pathological classification in NSCLC
      ( P > 0. 05) . However , the co2deletion rate of 3p14 and 3p25 was significantly
      higher in adenocarcinoma (38 % , 19/ 50) than that in squamous cell carcinoma
      (19. 51 % ,16/82) ( P < 0. 05) . And 3p LOH rate in stage II(51. 28 % ,20/ 39)
      and stage III(44. 93 % ,31/ 69) were both remarkably higher than that of stage
      I(25. 93 % ,14/ 54) ( P < 0. 05) . CONCLUSIONS: 3p LOH occur commonly in human
      NSCLC. It suggests that each region harbor one or more tumor suppressor genes ,
      the inactivation of which might be critical for the oncogenesis and development
      of lung cancer.

PMID- 20937207
TI  - [Detection of lung cancer micrometastasis in regional lymph nodes by assays of
      CK19 reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction.].
AB  - BACKGROUND: To set up a molecular method(RT-PCR) which can be used to detect
      micrometastasis of regional lymph nodes (LNs) in patients with lung cancer.
      METHODS: Primary lung cancer tissues ( n = 20) and regional LNs ( n = 159) were
      obtained from 20 patients with lung cancer who underwent lobectomy. Each LN was
      halved. One half of a LN was subjected to histological examination (HE) and the
      other half was subjected to RT-PCR amplification of CK19 mRNA. Serial dilution
      study using LC-5 cells was performed to detect sensitivity of the CK19 RT-PCR
      method. RESULTS: Serial dilution study for LC-5 cells demonstrated that CK19 mRNA
      was detectable at a concentration as low as 10 LC-5 cells in 1 *10(7) LN cells.
      CK19 mRNA was found in 42 LNs that were proved to have metastasis by HE. Of the
      other 117 LNs which were diagnosed as no metastasis by HE , however , twenty five
      LNs were found to express CK19 mRNA by RT-PCR. CONCLUSIONS: Comparing with HE
      method , the RT-PCR method can make more accurate assessment of metastatic status
      in LNs.

PMID- 20937208
TI  - [The relation between MSI and the clinicopathologic factors of NSCLC.].
AB  - BACKGROUND: To explore the relationship between microsatellite instability (MSI)
      and various clinicopathologic factors in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) .
      METHODS: Ninety-four lung cancer specimens resected from patients with NSCLC were
      investigated. We used a very precise microdissection technique to obtain the
      genomic DNA from tumor tissue and paired normal tissue , followed by PCR
      amplification of 4 polymorphic genomic sequences (D3S1067 ,D3S659 ,D3S966 and AR)
      . MSI and its relationship with clinicopathological factors were analyzed.
      RESULTS: Sixty-one of 94 (64. 89 %) NSCLC patients showed MSI at single or
      multiple loci. Statistically significant correlation was found between MSI and
      lymph node metastasis (Chi-Square = 9. 945 , P = 0. 002) . MSI-positive patients
      had significantly shorter survival time than MSI-negative ones had ( P = 0. 0001)
      . Cox-proportional-hazard-regression-model analysis confirmed that MSI was a very
      important prognostic indicator for NSCLC patients (Chi-Square = 15. 4126 , P = 0.
      0001) , and lymph node metastasis had some prognostic significance in NSCLC
      patients (Chi-Square = 6. 6108 , P = 0. 0101) . CONCLUSIONS: MSI closely
      correlates with lymph node metastasis of NSCLC and it is a crucial factor in
      predicting the survival time and prognosis of NSCLC patients.

PMID- 20937209
TI  - [Detection of mutant p53 gene at resection margin of the bronchus and cancer
      tissues to predict lung cancer recurrence.].
AB  - BACKGROUND: To investigate the mutations of p53 gene at the resection margins of
      the bronchus and cancer tissues , and to predict lung cancer recurrence. METHODS:
      PCR-SSCP technique was used to detect mutation of p53 gene at the resection
      margin of the bronchus (no cancer cells remained by gross pathological
      examination) , cancer tissue and normal tissue of the lungs in 50 patients with
      lung cancers and 7 patients with non-cancerous pulmonary diseases. Local
      recurrence at the resection margin of bronchus and distant metastasis were
      investigated. RESULTS: Of the 50 patients , 14 cases (28 %) had p53 gene mutation
      at the resection margin of bronchus , and 28 cases (56 %) had p53 gene mutations
      in their cancer tissue. The mutations were not found in normal tissues of the 50
      patients and in tissues of the 7 control patients. The mutation rate of p53 gene
      in cancer tissue was 100 %(2/ 2) for small cell lung cancer , 65 %(13/ 20) for
      squamous-cell carcinoma , 60 %(6/ 10) for adenosquamous cell carcinoma , 38. 9
      %(7/ 18) for adenocarcinoma. Mutation rate of p53 gene was 72. 7 %(16/ 22) in
      stage III lung cancer , 58. 3 %(7/ 12) in stage II, 25 %(4/ 16) in stage I.
      During follow-up (ranged from 3 months to 16 months) , 6 of 14 patients (42. 9 %)
      with mutant p53 gene at the resection margin had local recurrence. There was no
      recurrence in patients without mutant p53 gene at the resection margin. Seventeen
      of 28 patients (60. 7 %) with mutant p53 gene in cancer tissue had recurrence or
      metastasis , but only 5 of 22 patients (22. 7 %) without mutant p53 gene had
      local recurrence ( P < 0. 05) . CONCLUSIONS: By testing mutations of p53 gene at
      the resection margins of bronchus , we may predict local recurrence of lung
      cancer. Patients with mutant p53 gene in cancer tissue appear to have a
      substantially increased risk of recurrence and metastasis of lung cancer.

PMID- 20937210
TI  - [An establishment of murine drug-resistant cell line transfected with human MDR-1
      gene.].
AB  - BACKGROUND: To investigate the relationship between MDR-1 gene expression and
      drug resistance in lung cancer cells. METHODS: The multidrug resistant cell line
      (3LL-MDR-1) was established by transfecting human MDR-1 gene expressing vector
      into a murine Lewis lung cancer cell line (3LL) . Drug resistance and the effect
      of valapamil (VLP) on the resistance were evaluated by MTT assay. The expression
      of MDR-1 gene product , P-gp , was measured immunohistochemically. The influx and
      efflux of Rhodamine 123 was tested with flow cytometry. RESULTS: The MDR cell
      line expressing P-gp was established , which exhibited a typical drug resistance
      to vincristine (VCR) , vindesin (VDS) , etoposide (VP-16) , mitomycin (MMC) ,
      taxol and navelbine (NOR) . Valapamil was able to reverse the resistance of the
      gene-transfected cells and the reversion was dose-dependent. Flow cytometric
      analysis showed that the resistant cells had much higher ability to export
      Rhodamine 123 than the parent cells did. The expression of P-gp protein was
      visualized immunohistochemically. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate that drug
      resistance in lung cancer cells is closely related to the MDR-1 gene expression.

PMID- 20937211
TI  - [The clinicopathologic significance of the p16 gene expression in primary lung
      cancer.].
AB  - BACKGROUND: To explore the relationship between p16 gene expression and
      oncogenesis , and development of human lung cancer. METHODS: Immunohistochemistry
      was employed to detect the expression of p16 protein in 114 paraffin-embedded
      primary lung cancer tissues. Loss of p16 INK4 gene exon 2 (E2) was analyzed using
      PCR technique in 62 cancer samples with p16 protein-negative stain and 14
      paracancerous lung tissues. RESULTS: The positive rates of p16 protein expression
      in squamous cell carcinoma , adenocarcinoma and small cell lung cancer (SCLC)
      were 43. 3 % , 48. 2 % and 27. 0 % respectively , and no significant difference
      was found among them ( P > 0. 05) . The expression level of p16 protein was
      closely correlated with histological grade and lymph node metastasis of lung
      cancer. The deletion of p16 E2 was 45. 2 % in NSCLC and closely related to lymph
      node metastasis and histological grade ( P < 0. 05) . No deletion was observed in
      37 cases of SCLC and 14 paracancerous lung tissues. CONCLUSIONS: Alteration of
      p16 gene and protein is closely related to the histological grade and lymph node
      metastasis of NSCLC. It may play an important role in the oncogenesis ,
      development and lymph node metastasis of NSCLC.

PMID- 20937212
TI  - [Risky factors of post-operative respiratory failure in patients with lung
      cancer.].
AB  - BACKGROUND: To analyze the risky factors of post-operative respiratory failure in
      patients with lung cancer. METHODS: Thirty-six cases of lung cancer with post
      operative respiratory failure and 72 controls were analyzed by Chi-Square
      analysis and Logistic Regression. RESULTS: MVV , RV/ TLC , FEV1 , BR , V25 , MMEF
      and DLCO in respiratory failure group were all significantly lower than those in
      control group ( P < 0. 05) . The post-operative chest drainage and perioperative
      intravenous perfussion in respiratory failure group were significantly more than
      those in control group ( P < 0. 05) . The odds of respiratory failure was much
      lower in sleeve resection and lobectomy group than in pneumonectomy group.
      CONCLUSIONS: Severe obstruction of small airway , diffusion capacity and large
      amount perioperative intravenous infusion are the risky factors of post-operative
      respiratory failure in lung cancer patients , and bronchoplastic or/ and
      pulmonary artery reconstruction as a curative operation can significantly prevent
      the post-operative respiratory failure.

PMID- 20937213
TI  - [Expression of HLA-DR antigen in lung cancer.].
AB  - BACKGROUND: To investigate the expression of HLA-DR antigen in lung cancer and
      the relationship with histologic types and lymphocyte infiltration around tumor
      cells. METHODS: Cancer tissues from 56 patients with lung cancer were examined
      immunohistochemically , while the expression of HLA-DR antigen induced by
      recombinant IFN-gamma in two cells lines of lung cancer was examined with
      flowcytometry. RESULTS: Twenty two cases of adenocarcinoma (22/ 29 ,76 %) and two
      cases of squamous cell carcinoma (2/ 24 , 8 %) were positive for the HLA-DR
      antigen , and no positive expression showed in 3 cases of small cell carcinoma.
      The positive expression rate in adenocarcinoma was significantly higher than that
      in squamous cell carcinoma ( P < 0. 05) . Marked lymphocyte infiltration was seen
      around the tumor cells in HLA-DR antigen positive patients. In vitro , IFN-gamma
      could stimulate HLA-DR antigen expression in two lung cancer cell lines , which
      was dose-dependent. CONCLUSIONS: The expression of HLA-DR antigen in lung cancer
      is correlated with histologic types and lymphocyte infiltration around the cancer
      cells , and may influence the host immune response to tumor.

PMID- 20937214
TI  - [The experimental study of radioimmunoguided surgery for lung cancer.].
AB  - BACKGROUND: To determine the sensitivity , specificity and reliability of
      radioimmunoguided surgery in detecting the tumor micrometastases of the mice
      models bearing pulmonary adenocarcinoma. METHODS: Radioimmunoguided surgery was
      performed on mice models bearing pulmonary adenocarcinoma with antihuman lung
      adenocarcinoma monoclonal antibody (LC-1) by biotin-avidin pretargeting
      technique. RESULTS: The result of gamma-camera radioimmunoimaging and the data of
      radioactivity biodistribution provided by standard gamma well counts showed : as
      early as 2 hours after injection , radioactivity had accumulated in tumors of the
      biotinylated monoclonal antibodies pretargeting mice. The T/ NT ratios of the
      primary tumors and the metastases in the lung were significantly higher in the
      biotinylated monoclonal antibodies pretargeting mice than those without
      undergoing such treatment ( P < 0. 01) . Based on the application of GDP to
      identify the metastases in the lung ,the sensitivity , specificity and accuracy
      of RIGSwere 96 % , 98 % and 97 % respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Biotin-avidin
      pretargeting techniques could remarkably enhance the radio-active deposition on
      tumors of the biotinylated LC-1 pretargeting mice. The primary tumors and the
      micrometastases in the lung could be detected in vivo by GDP.

PMID- 20937215
TI  - Expression of cell adhesion molecule L1 in the long head of biceps tendon.
AB  - Several studies have proposed that the nervous system participates in nociception
      and tendon healing process. The neural cell adhesion molecule L1 (L1&mdash;CAM),
      which has an important role in neural development and nociceptive pathways, has
      been described in the past in the skeletal muscles and tendino&mdash;muscular
      junction. The role of this protein in tendon pathology is unknown. Here, we show
      that L1&mdash;CAM is expressed in human tendons. Samples of the long head of the
      biceps tendon (LHB) from six patients undergoing shoulder surgery were studied.
      Both Western blot and immunofluorescence revealed a strong expression pattern of
      L1&mdash;CAM. These L1&mdash;CAM positive cells were also Tuj1 positive,
      suggesting a neuronal origin. To our knowledge this is the first unequivocal
      evidence of the presence of L1 CAM in human tendons suggesting that it may play a
      role in organization of extracellular matrix and tendon pain.

PMID- 20937216
TI  - Combined effects of arginine and hydroxyurea on BFU-E derived colony growth and
      HbF synthesis in erythroid progenitors isolated from sickle cell blood.
AB  - Hydroxyurea (HU) increases HbF synthesis in sickle cell disease (SCD). Recent
      studies suggest HU-induced HbF synthesis is mediated through a NO-cGMP pathway.
      Since arginine is the main precursor of NO, we investigated the effects of
      arginine and HU mixtures on HbF synthesis and burst forming unit erythroid (BFU
      E) proliferation. Mixtures of HU (0, 15, 25, 100MUM) and arginine (0, 25, 50, and
      100MUM) resulting in optimal HbF synthesis and minimal HU-induced cytotoxicity in
      erythroid progenitors were determined. HU dose-dependently attenuated growth of
      BFU-E colonies and stimulated HbF synthesis. In contrast, arginine dose
      dependently increased BFU-E colonies without affecting HbF synthesis.
      Furthermore, arginine at concentrations >100MUM in combination with varying
      concentrations of HU, decreased HbF synthesis compared to HU controls. HU, 15
      25MUM, in combination with 25-50MUM arginine not only minimized cytotoxicity, but
      also increased HbF synthesis when compared with HU controls. NG-nitro-L-arginine
      methyl ester (L-NAME; 100MUM), a nitric oxide synthase inhibitor, attenuated the
      effects of HU+arginine on HbF synthesis compared to HU and HU+arginine controls.
      These results suggest HU+arginine-induced HbF synthesis in human erythroid
      progenitors is NO dependent. The synergistic effect on HbF synthesis seen with
      combinations HU+arginine is an important observation in understanding potential
      therapeutic uses of HU and arginine.

PMID- 20937217
TI  - Characterization of HuH6, Hep3B, HepG2 and HLE liver cancer cell lines by
      WNT/beta - catenin pathway, microRNA expression and protein expression profile.
AB  - Somatic mutations in the genes members of WNT/beta-catenin pathway, especially in
      CTNNB1 codifying for beta-catenin, have been found to play an important role in
      hepatocarcinogenesis. The purpose of this work is to characterize alterations of
      the WNT/beta-catenin signalling pathway, and to study the expression pattern of a
      panel of microRNAs and proteins potentially involved in the pathogenesis of liver
      cancer. In this respect, the molecular characterization of the most used liver
      cancer cell lines HuH6, Hep3B, HepG2, and HLE, could represent a useful tool to
      identify novel molecular markers for hepatic tumour. A significant modulation of
      FZD7, NLK, RHOU, SOX17, TCF7L2, TLE1, SLC9A3R1 and WNT10A transcripts was
      observed in all the four liver cancer cell lines. The analysis of selected
      microRNAs showed that miR-122a, miR-125a and miR-150 could be suitable candidates
      to discriminate tumoural versus normal human primary hepatocytes. Finally, Grb-2
      protein expression resulted to be increased more than two-fold in liver cancer
      cell lines in comparison to normal human primary hepatocytes. These advances in
      the knowledge of molecular mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of liver
      cancer may provide new potential biomarkers and molecular targets for the
      diagnosis and therapy.

PMID- 20937218
TI  - The trypanocidal activity of the alkaloid oliverine involves inhibition of DNA
      synthesis.
AB  - The Trypanosoma cruzi parasite is an etiologic agent of the American
      trypanosomiasis called Chagas disease. This pathology affects more than 24
      million persons and represents one of the most important public health problems
      in Latin America. Taking into account this, it is necessary the search of new
      antitrypanosomal agents that show a major level of efficacy and minor indexes of
      toxicity in affected patients. Vast source of them are the natural products from
      plants with enormous structural diversity. A particular type of these compounds
      is represented by aporphinoid alkaloids. In our experiments, anonaine (2),
      oliverine (3) and guatterine (5) displayed antitrypanosomal activity. The
      compound 3 showed the most important activity with an IC50 = 12.00 +/- 0.36
      &#956;M. Its mechanism of action may include inhibition of DNA synthesis.

PMID- 20937219
TI  - Occurrence OF Pectobacterium carotovorum strains isolated from potato soft rot in
      Morocco.
AB  - Pectobacterium carotovorum subsp. carotovorum, Pectobacterium astrosepticum and
      Pectobacterium chrysanthemi are the soft rot tuber of potatoes pathogens (Solanum
      tuberosum). The aim of this study was to determine the occurrence of these
      pathogens in Moroccan regions producing potatoes. Fifty three isolates of
      Pectobacterium were isolated on medium Crystal Violet Pectate. The comparison of
      their bacteriological characteristics with standard strains allowed us to
      conclude that all the isolates belonged to the Pectobacterium. With regard to
      phenotype characteristics, the variability that was found included 32 typical
      Pectobacetrium carotovorum subsp. carotovorum, 3 typical Pectobacterium
      atrosepticum, and 18 atypical Pectobacterium carotovorum subsp. carotovorum.
      Three strains of the atypical group; showed that the biochemical properties
      overlap among the Pectobacterium carotovorum and Pectobacterium chrysanthemi.
      These data were needed molecular characterization. However, the PCR amplification
      of total genomic DNA of 53 isolates with the two primers Y1/Y2 and P143/P145
      yielded an amplified fragment of the expected size (434 bp) only with Y1/Y2,
      indicated that all the isolates collected and tested belonged to the
      Pectobacterium carotovorum species. On the basis the pathogenicity tests, these
      strains revealed that they were pectinolytic, and showed differences in
      aggressiveness against potato and leaves of tobacco.

PMID- 20937220
TI  - Drde-07: a possible antidote for sulphur mustard toxicity.
AB  - Chemical Warfare Agents are classified in various categories and vesicating
      agents are one among them. Vesicating agents are mostly mustard agents. Sulphur
      mustard which is chemically known as bis(2-chloro ethyl) sulphide (SM), was first
      used in World War-I and in recent past in Iran-Iraq war. Its possible use by the
      terrorist groups can't be overlooked in the present scenario. As the mode of its
      action is still lacking, no specific treatment is so far known against SM induced
      systemic toxicity. The major drawback with the development of antidote against
      sulphur mustard is low efficacy of the potential compounds in vivo models. This
      review summarizes the current update about the work done so far and the future
      strategies.

PMID- 20937221
TI  - Inhibition in radiation mediated cellular toxicity by minimizing free radical
      flux: one of the possible mechanisms of biological protection against lethal
      ionizing radiation by a sub- fraction of Podophyllum hexandrum.
AB  - The study has focused on exploring the mechanism of action of Podophyllum
      hexandrum sub-fraction (G-001M) exhibiting >90% protection in lethally irradiated
      mice. Currently, G-001M was assessed for antioxidant characteristics by
      evaluating DPPH, superoxide and hydrogen peroxide radical formation, anti-lipid
      per oxidation, metal chelation and total flavonoid content. To affirm
      cytoprotective efficacy of G-001M, plasmid DNA protection, blood WBC counts,
      marker for lipid peroxidation (MDA) and antioxidant status (GSH) in mice
      splenocytes and thymocytes were studied. G-001M, having high amount of total
      phenolic contents (200+/-10mg, w/w), exhibited dose dependent inhibition in DPPH
      and superoxide radical formation. Hydrogen peroxide radical scavenging was higher
      than standards. With pre-treatment of G-001M, plasmid DNA was also maximally
      restored to supercoiled form. Radiation modulated MDA and GSH values in
      splenocytes and thymocytes of mice altered significantly after 24 hrs and at
      later intervals, values were close to the controls. Radiation mediated losses in
      WBC counts were significantly regained (p<0.001) in G-001M pre-treated irradiated
      mice. The above findings explicitly conveyed that G-001M has successfully
      minimized radiation inflicted free radicals generation and their multiplication.
      This activity of G-001M could be undoubtedly among one of the major modes of
      action in extending whole body survival in lethally irradiated mice.

PMID- 20937222
TI  - The study of the tumor stem cell properties of CD133+CD44+ cells in the human
      lung adenocarcinoma cell line A549.
AB  - We studied the tumor stem cell properties of the CD133+CD44+ subpopulation in the
      human lung adenocarcinoma cell line A549. A549 cells were classified into
      subpopulations based on differential expression patterns for CD133 and CD44.
      Cells from different subpopulations were cultured and subcutaneously injected
      into 32 nude mice. Our results as following, (1) The majority of A549 cells died,
      whereas only about 4.11% of cells divided and proliferated to form cell clones.
      (2) The expression of CD133 and CD44 in proliferative cancer cells was
      statistically significantly different from that in normal A549 cells (p < 0.001).
      (3) Cell proliferation in group A (CD133+CD44+) was the fastest among all groups.
      Cell proliferation in A549 cells was slower than in group A but faster than in
      groups B (CD133-CD44-), C (CD133-CD44+), and D (CD133+CD44-). (4) The tumorigenic
      capacity in cells from group A was significantly higher than that in cells from
      groups B (p<0.001), C (p<0.001) and D (p<0.04). In conclusion, CD133+CD44+ cells
      in the adenocarcinoma cell line A549 have expressive significant cancer stem cell
      properties with continuous proliferative capacity and differentiation potential.

PMID- 20937223
TI  - Generation of mammalian cell lines with gene knock-down for human MCHR2.
AB  - Appetite regulating neuropeptide melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH) has been
      implicated in obesity. It functions through its two receptors MCHR1 and MCHR2.
      While MCH and MCHR1 have been studied more extensively, the function of MCHR2
      remains largely unknown, due to the lack of suitable in vitro and in vivo models.
      To create an in vitro system of genetic knock-down of MCHR2 in mammalian cells,
      we constructed four small hairpin RNAs (shRNAs) against human MCHR2 in eukaryotic
      expression vector, and transfected the plasmids into CHO cells that stably
      express human MCHR2. Using the empty vector or a negative shRNA control plasmid,
      we show that MCHR2-shRNAs suppressed 45.8% - 66.4% of MCHR2 expression at both
      mRNA and protein levels. As the result, in cells carrying the MCHR2-shRNAs,
      binding of MCHR2 to MCH was decreased by 39.4% - 78.7% accompanied by a similar
      decrease in affinity of the receptor to ligand by 40.9% - 81.9%. These cells
      still respond to MCH treatment, but intracellular Ca2+ release as the downstream
      signaling event was also decreased by 114.8% - 822.4%. Together, this study
      generated a set of shRNAs and cell lines as valuable reagents for further study
      on MCHR2 functions. These results will ultimately help to advance our knowledge
      about appetite regulating neuropeptide receptors.

PMID- 20937224
TI  - Cisplatin induces programmed death-1-ligand 1(PD-L1) over-expression in hepatoma
      H22 cells via Erk /MAPK signaling pathway.
AB  - Cisplatin has been widely used in cancer treatment. However, the prognosis of the
      cancer patients following chemotherapy has not been substantially improved and
      several different mechanisms could be involved. Clinically alternative strategies
      such as immunotherapy and their combinations with chemotherapy have being used.
      Cancer immunoresistance and immune escape are major obstacles in chemotherapy.
      However, the effects of cisplatin on the immune responses of cancer cells are not
      clear. In the present studies, we investigate the expression of immunoresistance
      moleculor PD-L1 (the negative regulator programmed death-1-ligand 1) on cisplatin
      induced hepatoma H22 cells, which can interact with PD-1 on T cells to mediate
      cancer immunoresistance. Hepatoma H22 cells were treated with cisplatin in vivo
      or in vitro to analysis the expression of PD-L1 by flow cytometry (FACS).
      Erk1/Erk2 phosphorylation expressions were examined by western blotting. We
      demonstrated that cisplatin was able to induce H22 cell apoptosis and when the
      concentration less than IC50 cisplatin could up-regulate PD-L1 expression in
      hepatoma H22 cells. The optimal concentration of cisplatin for the highest
      expression of PD-L1 was 0.5 MUg/ml in vitro. Meanwhile, cisplatin could induce
      the phosphorylation of Erk1/2.The lack of effect during treatment with a specific
      MAPK pathway inhibitor PD98059, demonstrated that cisplatin-induced PD-L1
      expression is dependent of Erk1/2 phosphorylation. Our studies reveal a potential
      link between chemotherapy and cancer immunoresistance. PD-L1 and its signaling
      pathway appear to be a potential therapeutic target for the cisplatin treatment
      of hepatoma.

PMID- 20937225
TI  - EGFR, p16INK4a and E-cadherin immuno-histochemistry and EGFR point mutations
      analyses in invasive cervical cancer specimens from Moroccan women.
AB  - The involvement of human papillomavirus in the development of cervical cancer has
      been firmly established. However, better management of cervical cancer rests on
      good diagnosis and an effective therapy. In this study we evaluated the frequency
      of point mutations in epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) for future use of
      tyrosine kinase inhibitors in clinical treatment and to assess the use of EGFR,
      p16INK4a and E-cadherin as biomarkers in cervical cancer diagnosis with
      immunohistochemistry. Fifty-three patient specimens of cervical cancer were
      analysed for HPV infection, for EGFR mutations in exons 18 through 21, and for
      expression of EGFR, p16INK4a and E-cadherin by immunostaining. Results showed
      that 79.24% of the cases (42/53) are HPV positive and the HPV types more closely
      associated with risk are HPV 16 and 18. In all 53 analysed specimens, any
      mutation affecting the EGFR kinase domain in exons 18 through 21 was observed.
      Expressions of EGFR, p16INK4a and E-cadherin were detected in 88,67% (47/53),
      92,45% (49/53) and 79,24% (42/53) of analysed specimens respectively. Thus, EGFR,
      p16INK4a and E-cadherin would be excellent tools for IHC analysis during the
      cervical cancer development. EGFR and p16INK4a can be used for early diagnosis
      and E-cadherin for cancer progression and cell migration. However, treatment of
      cervical cancer with TKIs may not be effective and the identification of other
      EGFR inhibitors is needed.

PMID- 20937226
TI  - [Screening of breast cancer antigen from a phage display random peptide library].
AB  - AIM: to isolate novel breast cancer antigen for developing cancer marker and
      vaccine, a phage display peptide library was screened with serum antibody from
      breast cancer patients. METHODS: a phage display peptide library was screened
      with serum IgG from six breast cancer patients, and then identified the positive
      clones by ELISA. According to the sequences of the positive clones, the
      synthesized oligonucleotides of one small peptide (P15) was cloned into PGEX-4T
      1. Finally the fusion protein (GST-P15), which was purified from E.coli. BL21,
      was checked its binding activity with two kinds of serum antibodies (20 breast
      cancer patients and 20 normal people) by ELISA. RESULTS: 38 positive clones which
      specifically bound with serum IgG from breast cancer patients were screened. Some
      of these clones had the same DNA sequence. A small peptide (P15) and purified its
      fusion protein (GST-P15) was obtained successfully. ELISA assay showed GST-P15
      had higher affinity with the serum antibody from breast cancer patients than with
      the normal serum and there was a significant difference (P<0.01). CONCLUSION: the
      peptide P15 can be recognized specifically by serum antibody from the breast
      cancer patients and they will be helpful for isolate new cancer antigen from
      breast cancer.

PMID- 20937227
TI  - [Expression of PTCH-1 and SMO mRNA in nasopharyngeal carcinoma].
AB  - AIM: to detect the expression of Hedgehog pathway components PTCH-1 and SMO mRNA
      in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), and discuss its biological significance.
      METHODS: expression of PTCH-1 and SMO mRNA was evaluated by real-time
      fluorescence quantitative PCR in 32 cases of NPC and 32 cases of nasopharyngitis.
      According to Livak (2(-delta;Ct);) relative quantitative analysis method, with
      nasopharyngitis as control, to calculate the expression level of PTCH-1 and SMO
      in NPC. RESULTS: all detected NPC and nasopharyngitis tissues had the expression
      of PTCH-1 and SMO. Compared with nasopharyngitis, the negative expression rate of
      PTCH-1 in NPC was 75% (24/32), and the positive expression rate of SMO in NPC was
      68.8% (22/32), the differences were statistically significant (P<0.05). In
      addition, the positive expression rate of PTCH-1 in NPC was 18.7% (6/32), and the
      negative expression rate of SMO in NPC was 15.6% (5/32), the differences were not
      statistically significant (P>0.05). CONCLUSION: the expression level of SMO in
      NPC is generally high, but the expression level of PTCH-1 was relatively low. The
      down-regulate of PTCH-1 and up-regulate of SMO may cause the abnormal activation
      of hedgehog signaling pathway in NPC, speculated that the genesis and development
      of NPC may be associated with the abnormal activation of hedgehog signaling
      pathway.

PMID- 20937228
TI  - [Expression profiles of microRNA in colon adenocarcinoma].
AB  - AIM: to investigate the difference of microRNA (miRNA) expression profiles in
      colon adenocarcinoma and adjacent non-tumorous tissue (NT), for further studies
      on molecular mechanism of miRNA on colon adenocarcinoma. METHODS: the fresh
      samples of 3 colon adenocarcinoma and NT were obtained and total RNA was isolated
      with TRIzol reagent. Hybridization was carried out on miRNA microarray chip.
      Quantitative Real Time polymerasechain reaction (qRT-PCR) was performed to
      confirm results obtained by microarray analysis. RESULTS: 80 miRNAs with more
      than 2-fold change could be differentially expressed between NT and colon
      adenocarcinoma. 27 human miRNAs were found significantly down-regulated, while 2
      miRNAs was found significantly up-regulated (P<0.05). The expression of miRNAs
      measured by qRT-PCR were consistent with that by miRNA microarray analysis in the
      same samples. CONCLUSION: there were differentially expressed miRNAs in colon
      adenocarcinoma and NT. These different miRNAs might be correlated to the process
      of carcinogenesis and progression of colon adenocarcinoma. The miRNAs expression
      profiles might be an important molecular biomarker in the diagnosis of colon
      adenocarcinoma and target gene for tumor therapy.

PMID- 20937229
TI  - [Construction of SOD1 eukaryotic expression vector and its expression].
AB  - AIM: to construction of eukaryotic expression vector of the human SOD1 (Cu/Zn
      superoxide dismutase, SOD1) and expression in HeLa cells. METHODS: the open
      reading frame (ORF) of SOD1 was amplified from human peripheral blood by RT-PCR.
      TA cloning strategy was used to insert the target fragments into pUCm-T vector.
      The recombinant plasmid was identified and noted as pUCm-T-SOD1. Then, SOD1 was
      subcloned into pTracer-CMV/Bsd, a eukaryotic expression vector. The plasmid of
      pTracer-CMV/Bsd-SOD1 was sequenced and was introduced into HeLa cells by
      Lipofectamine(TM); 2000. The expression of green fluorescence protein (GFP) was
      observed by the fluorescence microscope. The expression of SOD1 was detected by
      RT-PCR and Western blot after screening by blasticidin for 4 weeks. RESULTS: the
      eukaryotic expression plasmid pTracer-CMV/Bsd-SOD1 was successfully constructed.
      The GFP was observed in transfected cells by the fluorescence microscope. The
      expression of SOD1 was detected in transfected cells by RT-PCR and Western blot.
      CONCLUSION: the recombinant eukaryotic expression vector of pTracer-CMV/Bsd-SOD1
      has been constructed successfully which could express GFP and SOD1, respectively,
      providing a tool for further gene therapy study.

PMID- 20937230
TI  - [Expression of TLR3 and IL-8, Eotaxin in the airway smooth muscle cells induced
      by PolyI:C].
AB  - AIM: to observe the effect of PolyI:C on the expression of TLR3 and inflammation
      cytokine in the airway smooth muscle cells ASMCs of rat, to investigate
      relationship between the expression of Toll-like receptor 3 (TLR3) in the airway
      smooth muscle cells and airway inflammation. METHODS: airway smooth muscle cells
      were derived from rat airway tissue and were cultured in vitro, ASMCs were
      divided into 2 groups: control group and PolyI:C group, PolyI:C group was divided
      into the different time spots. The mRNA expression of TLR3 was measured by RT
      PCR. The level of NF-kappaB was measured by Western blot. The concertration of IL
      8 and Eotaxin in ASMCs supernatant were determined by ELISA. RESULTS: the
      expression of TLR3 mRNA and NF-kappaB protein in the ASMCs in PolyI:C group was
      significantly higher than those in control group(P<0.05), the concentration of IL
      8 and Eotaxin in the ASMCs in PolyI:C group was significantly higher compared to
      control group (P<0.05); and have time dependent manner. CONCLUSION: poly I:C
      promoted the expression of TLR3 in ASMCs, activated NF-kappaB, incresead the
      concentration of IL-8 and Eotaxin, involved in airway inflammation of asthma.

PMID- 20937231
TI  - [Interleukin-10 inhibits the expression of interferon regulatory factor-1 with
      anoxia-reoxygenation in vitro].
AB  - AIM: to explore the effects of IL-10 on the expression of interferon regulatory
      factor-1 (IRF-1) after anoxia-reoxygenation in vitro. METHODS: brain
      microvascular endothelial cells (BMEC) and neutrophil (PMN) were co-cultured
      exposed to eight hours of anoxia followed by two hours of reoxygenation to
      establish anoxia-reoxygenation model in vitro. The co-cultured BMEC and PMN were
      randomly divided into the following groups: normal group, anoxia-reoxygenation
      group, 1 microg/L IL-10 treatment group, 10 microg/L IL-10 treatment group, and
      30 microg/L IL-10 treatment group. The expression of IRF-1 was detected by RT-PCR
      and Western blot method. RESULTS: the expression of IRF-1 was significantly
      upregulated after anoxia-reoxygenation. IL-10 inhibited the expression of IRF-1
      in a dose-dependent manner compared with anoxia-reoxygenation group, and the peak
      of inhibitive effects occurred at the dose of 30 MUg/L. CONCLUSION: IL-10 can
      inhibit the expression of interferon regulatory factor-1 with anoxia
      reoxygenation in vitro.

PMID- 20937232
TI  - [ZNF185 gene cloning and the localization in mouse testis].
AB  - AIM: we Clone the ZNF185 gene and detect the position of ZNF185 in the mouse
      testis. METHODS: extracted from mouse testis RNA, by RT-PCR, and then the
      obtained fragment was cloned and identified; extracted from mouse liver, testis
      and ovary proteins were Western blot analysis; preparation of frozen sections of
      mouse testes, immunofluorescence techniques analysis. RESULTS: (1) ZNF185 gene
      cloning was correct. (2) Western blot showed that the most abundant in the testes
      ZNF185. (3) Immunofluorescence showed, ZNF185 located in Leydig cells and sperm,
      Leydig cells in the weak, and in round spermatids and mature sperm were highly
      expressed. CONCLUSION: the gene cloning of ZNF185 was successful and initially
      proved the position of ZNF185 in the mouse testis.

PMID- 20937233
TI  - [The effects of ICA on the cell-immunosuppressive and bone-marrow-suppressive
      mice after chemotherapy].
AB  - AIM: to observe the effect of ICA on the immunosuppressive and bone-marrow
      suppressive mice after chemotherapy, and explore the machanism of hematopoietic
      and immunologic function in mice accentuated by ICA. METHODS: mice were injected
      Cy intraperitoneally except control group , then randomly divided into mode
      group(saline), positive (Shenqi, 1 mL/d)group, ICA groups(150, 80, 40 mg/kg.d).
      All mice were treated respectively for 10 successive days. The pathological
      changes of thymus were observed by HE staining. Killing activity of peritoneal
      macrophage were measured by LDH kits and its production of TNF-alpha and IL-12
      was measured by ELISA kits. Population of white blood cells (WBC), red blood cell
      (RBC) and platelet (PLT) in the peripheral blood were detected with automated
      blood cell counter (ABCC). Hemogram of peripheral blood and bone marrow
      morphology were observed under the microscope. RESULTS: ICA could protect the
      thymus and bone marrow from damage. The proliferation of lymphocyte and killing
      activity of macrophage cells in ICA treatment groups was all enhanced, moreover,
      the population of WBC, RBC and PLT were increased significantly. CONCLUSION: ICA
      can improve the state of immunosuppressive and myelosuppressive mice caused by Cy
      thus could alleviate the side effect of chemotherapy effectively.

PMID- 20937234
TI  - [The study of the inducing donor specific immunological tolerance by GM-CSF and
      TGF-betatreated donor's marrow cell].
AB  - AIM: to observe whether the donor's marrow (BM) cells treated by GM-CSF and TGF
      beta in vitro were beneficial in inducing specific hypoergia to donor's
      lymphocyte in recipient. METHODS: donor's marrow cell were cultured with GM-CSF
      and TGF-beta in vitro and its maturities were tested by treating with LPS. BALB/c
      mice were divided into three groups and received treatment as following: (1) BM
      pretreatment group: donor's BM cell mentioned above were injected into caudal
      vein with 10(5); cell each mouse; (2) donor's splenocyte group: C57BL/6 mouse's
      splenocyte were injected through caudal vein with 10(5); cell each mouse; (3)
      Negative control group: PBS with the same volume were injected through caudal
      vein. The treatment were performed twice with one week internal in each group.
      One week after the second treatment, all of the mice were challenged by
      splenocyte of C57BL/6 mouse in abdominal cavity with 10(5); cell each mouse.
      Three days later, the allo-reactivities were tested: the proliferation of
      recipient mouse lymphocyte to donor's lymphocyte were test by single mix
      lymphocyte reaction, the level of serum IFN-gamma and IL-10 were tested with
      ELISA methods. CD4(+);CD25(high); Treg cell and expression of killer cell lectin
      like receptor G1 (KLRG1) on NK cell were tested with flow cytometric technique
      and the NK cytotoxicity were measured by LDH release method. RESULTS: the donor's
      marrow cell treated by GM-CSF and TGF-beta in vitro could resist the maturation
      promotion by LPS. Compared with donor's lymphocyte pretreatment, pre-treatment
      with BM cell induced decreased IL-10, increased CD4(+);CD25(high); Treg cell in
      spleen, decreased proliferation to donor's lymphocyte in vitro. Additionally, NK
      cell cytotoxicity was also decreased. CONCLUSION: the donor's marrow cell treated
      by GM-CSF and TGF-betacan induce the donor specific tolerance in some degree, and
      modulation of NK cell maybe participate in inducing immunological tolerance.

PMID- 20937235
TI  - [Regulation on phenotypic and functional maturation of dendritic cells by
      apolipoprotein A-I].
AB  - AIM: to investigate the effects of apolipoprotein A-I (ApoA-I) on the peripherial
      blood dendritic cell (PBDC) and monocyte derived DC (MDDC) in vitro. METHODS:
      isolate PBDC or monocyte by cell isolation kit, monocyte were induced to MDDC by
      treated with GM-CSF plus IL-4 for 6 days, and then collect PBDC and MDDC treated
      them with apoA-I, LPS or TNF-alpha for 24 hours. Then check the cell surface
      marker and phagocytic capacity by flow cytometry. ELISA was used to detect the
      levels of cytokine secretion. T cells were stained with CFSE and T cell
      proliferation was assessed by flow cytometry. RESULTS: collect the PBDC and MDDC
      with high purity. In the presence of ApoA-I, the surface markers on MDDC, such as
      CD40, CD86 and MHC-II, were up-regulated which were detected by flow cytometry.
      CD83 expression on both PBDC and MDDC was remarkably increased. ApoA-I DC
      demonstrated decreased the phagocytic capacity. ApoA-I also stimulated MDDC to
      produce IL-12 and TNF-alpha. Furthermore, ApoA-I can induce considerable Th cell
      proliferation. CONCLUSION: ApoA-I can induce the maturation and activation of
      MDDC and PBDC, including the cytokine secretion, specific antigen presentation
      and T cell proliferation and decreasing the phagocytic capacity. Therefore, ApoA
      I may attribute to the immune response in AS process.

PMID- 20937236
TI  - [Effects of human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells on cytokines secretion from
      allogeneic dendritic cell activated cytokine-induced killer cells].
AB  - AIM: to study the effect of human bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells
      (hMSCs) on cytokines secretion (IFN-gamma, TNF-alpha, IL-10, IL-6, IL-4 and IL-2)
      of allogeneic DC-CIK cells (in co-culture of CIK cells with DC), which
      investigate the mechanism of immunoregulation induced by hMSCs. METHODS: the
      hMSCs from bone marrow were isolated, expanded and identified by cell morphology,
      differentiation into neuron-like cells with NSE, fat-like cells with red-oil
      stain, and expression of CD29, CD44. The DC and CIK cells from peripheral blood
      were isolated, expanded and identified by CD1alpha, HLA-DR or CD3(+);CD56(+);.
      The hMSCs were co-cultured with DC-CIK cells according to ratio 1:10. The
      expression of the six cytokines in supernatant was evaluated by flow cytometry
      after 4 days of DC-activated CIK cells in co-culture with hMSCs. RESULTS: the
      hMSCs displayed a fibroblast-like morphology and the positive cells of CD29 and
      CD44 were 96.6%, 94.6%, which have the capacity of differentiation into neuron
      like cells with expressed NSE as well as fat-like cells with red-oil stain
      positive. The expression of CD1alpha, HLA-DR in DC was (91.9 +/- 10.04)% and
      (88.8 +/- 8.92)%. The CD3(+);CD56(+); double positive cells in DC-CIK cells was
      (29.23 +/- 12.23)% compared to CIK cells with (15.98 +/- 2.49)%. The cytokines
      secretion of DC-CIK cells in co-culture with hMSCs was IFN-gamma (135.05 +/-
      48.19) ng/L; TNF-alpha (11.33 +/- 1.42) ng/L; IL-10 (10.15 +/- 2.25) ng/L; IL-6
      (494.63 +/- 235.222) ng/L; IL-4 (7.07 +/- 2.30) ng/L and IL-2 (1074.6 3 +/-
      303.74) ng/L. In control group (DC-CIK cells) the secretion of IFN-gamma, TNF
      alpha, IL-10, IL-6, IL-4 and IL-2 was (717.6 +/- 248.15) ng/L; (17.78 +/- 7.52)
      ng/L; (29.95 +/- 12.76) ng/L; (8.03 +/- 0.21) ng/L, (9.08 +/- 3.07) ng/L as well
      as IL-2 1 250 ng/L. CONCLUSION: the secretion of IFN-gamma and IL-10 were down
      regulated. It probably implied that hMSCs had the effect of immunoregulation on
      DC-CIK cells.

PMID- 20937237
TI  - [Effect of inhibitors of phospholipase A(2); on the metastasis potentials of
      human ovarian cancer cells].
AB  - AIM: it is important to find inhibitors for metastasis of ovarian cancer (OC). OC
      cells (OCC) produce Lysophosphophatidic acid (LPA), which promotes the OC
      development. Phospholipase A(2); (PLA(2);) is responsible for LPA production.
      This study is to investigate the effect of PLA(2); inhibitors on the metastasis
      of OC. METHODS: cell migration and adhesion were measured by Transwell assay. The
      expression and activation of PLA(2); were detected by Western blot. Invasion into
      the peritoneal monolayer was detected through ECIS. LPA concentration was
      measured by mass spectrum. Metastasis was detected through in vivo OC model.
      RESULTS: (1) LPA promoted the migration and adhesion of SKOV3 in a dose-dependent
      manner in vitro; (2) iPLA(2); and cPLA(2); expressed highly and activated in
      SKOV3. (3)AACOCF3 and HELSS significantly inhibited LPA secretion from SKOV3;
      (4)AACOCF3 and HELSS significantly inhibited the distant metastasis of SKOV3 in
      mude mice model. CONCLUSION: LPA significantly enhanced the migration, adhesion
      and invasion of SKOV3. AACOCF3 and HELSS significantly inhibited the LPA
      secretion, migration and invasion of SKOV3. They also inhibited the distant
      metastasis of SKOV3 in vivo. Our data suggest AACOCF3 and HELSS may be the
      potential inhibitors of metastasis of OC.

PMID- 20937238
TI  - [Relationship between the expression of occludin and tumor genesis and
      development in the gastric carcinoma].
AB  - AIM: to investigate the expression of occludin mRNA and protein in the gastric
      cancer, to seek the relationship between the expression of occludin and tumor
      genesis and development. METHODS: the expression of occludin was examined in the
      gastric carcinoma by immunohistochemical technique with the tissue microarray and
      by real time fluorescence quantitative PCR, and to study the association of
      occludin expression and clinicopathological features in the gastric
      adenocarcinomas. RESULTS: the expression levels of occludin protein in the
      paraneoplastic normal gastric mucosa is obviously higher than that in the
      carcinoma(96.9% vs 85.4%, 84.6%, 89.2%, 78.5%)(P<0.05), the expression level in
      the gastric adenocarcinomas is related with the histologic differentiation and
      the grade of TNM (P<0.05). The real time fluorescence quantitative PCR show that
      the expression of occludin mRNA in the gastric cancer is not obviously different
      from that in paracancerous tissues (P>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: the expression levels
      of occludin protein in the gastric adenocarcinomas is negative correlation with
      tumor genesis and development.

PMID- 20937239
TI  - Exploring O-acetylserine sulfhydrylase-B isoenzyme from Salmonella typhimurium by
      fluorescence spectroscopy.
AB  - The pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (PLP)-dependent enzyme O-acetylserine sulfhydrylase
      (OASS) catalyzes the synthesis of cysteine in bacteria and plants. In bacteria
      two isoenzymes are present, OASS-A and OASS-B, with distinct structural,
      functional, and regulatory properties. In order to gain a deeper insight into
      OASS-B dynamic and functional properties, single and double mutants of the three
      tryptophan residues, Trp28, Trp159, and Trp212, were prepared and their
      fluorescence emission properties were characterized in the absence and presence
      of substrate and ligands by steady-state and time-resolved spectrofluorimetry.
      Residue Trp28 was found to be mainly responsible for Trp fluorescence emission,
      whereas Trp212, located in a highly flexible region near the active site, is
      mainly responsible for an energy-transfer to PLP leading to an emission at 500
      nm. Not surprisingly, mutation of Trp212 affects OASS-B activity. Trp159 slightly
      contributes to both direct emission and energy transfer to PLP. Time-resolved
      fluorescence measurements confirmed these findings, observing a third longer
      tryptophan lifetime for apo-OASS-B, in addition to the two lifetimes that are
      present in the holo-enzyme and mutants. A comparison with the emissions
      previously determined for OASS-A indicates that OASS-B active site is likely to
      be more polar and flexible, in agreement with a broader substrate specificity and
      higher catalytic efficiency.

PMID- 20937240
TI  - Calcium as a mediator between erythropoietin and protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B.
AB  - Erythropoietin (Epo) is crucial for promoting the survival, proliferation, and
      differentiation of mammalian erythroid progenitors. The central role played by
      tyrosine phosphorylation of erythropoietin receptor (EpoR) in Epo-cell activation
      has focused attention on protein tyrosine phosphatases (PTPs) as candidates
      implicated in the pathogenesis of the resistance to therapy with human
      recombinant Epo. Prototypic member of the PTP family is PTP1B, which has been
      implicated in the regulation of EpoR signaling pathways. In previous reports we
      have shown that PTP1B is reciprocally modulated by Epo in undifferentiated UT-7
      cell line. However, no information is available with respect to the modulation of
      this phosphatase in non-Epo depending cells or at late stages of erythroid
      differentiation. In order to investigate these issues we induced UT-7 cells to
      differentiate and studied their PTP1B expression pattern. Simultaneous
      observations were performed in TF-1 cells which can be cultured either with GM
      CSF, IL-3 or Epo. We found that Epo induced PTP1B cleaveage in TF-1 and
      differentiated UT-7 cells. This pattern of PTP1B modulation may be due to an
      increased TRPC3/TRPC6 expression ratio which could explain the larger and
      sustained calcium response to Epo and calpain activation in Epo treated TF-1 and
      differentiated UT-7 cells.

PMID- 20937241
TI  - Expression and processing of the TMEM70 protein.
AB  - TMEM70 protein represents a novel ancillary factor of mammalian ATP synthase. We
      have investigated import and processing of this factor in human cells using GFP-
      and FLAG-tagged forms of TMEM70 and specific antibodies. TMEM70 is synthesized as
      a 29kDa precursor protein that is processed to a 21kDa mature form.
      Immunocytochemical detection of TMEM70 showed mitochondrial colocalization with
      MitoTracker Red and ATP synthase. Western blot of subcellular fractions revealed
      the highest signal of TMEM70 in isolated mitochondria and mitochondrial location
      was confirmed by mass spectrometry analysis. Based on analysis of
      submitochondrial fractions, TMEM70 appears to be located in the inner
      mitochondrial membrane, in accordance with predicated transmembrane regions in
      the central part of the TMEM70 sequence. Two-dimensional electrophoretic analysis
      did not show direct interaction of TMEM70 with assembled ATP synthase but
      indicated the presence of dimeric form of TMEM70. No TMEM70 protein could be
      found in cells and isolated mitochondria from patients with ATP synthase
      deficiency due to TMEM70 c.317-2A>G mutation thus confirming that TMEM70
      biosynthesis is prevented in these patients.

PMID- 20937242
TI  - Probing the quinone binding site of photosystem II from Thermosynechococcus
      elongatus containing either PsbA1 or PsbA3 as the D1 protein through the binding
      characteristics of herbicides.
AB  - The main cofactors involved in Photosystem II (PSII) oxygen evolution activity
      are borne by two proteins, D1 (PsbA) and D2 (PsbD). In Thermosynechococcus
      elongatus, a thermophilic cyanobacterium, the D1 protein is predominantly encoded
      by either the psbA(1) or the psbA(3) gene, the expression of which depends on the
      environmental conditions. In this work, the Q(B) site properties in PsbA1-PSII
      and PsbA3-PSII were probed through the binding properties of DCMU, a urea-type
      herbicide, and bromoxynil, a phenolic-type herbicide. This was done by using
      helium temperature EPR spectroscopy and by monitoring the time-resolved changes
      of the redox state of Q(A) by absorption spectroscopy in PSII purified from a
      His(6)-tagged WT strain expressing PsbA1 or from a His(6)-tagged strain in which
      both the psbA(1) and psbA(2) genes have been deleted and which therefore only
      express PsbA3. It is shown that, in both PsbA1-PSII and PsbA3-PSII, bromoxynil
      does not bind to PSII when Q(B) is in its semiquinone state which indicates a
      much lower affinity for PSII when Q(A) is in its semiquinone state than when it
      is in its oxidized state. This is consistent with the midpoint potential of Q(A)(
      )/Q(A) being more negative in the presence of bromoxynil than in its absence
      [Krieger-Liszkay and Rutherford, Biochemistry 37 (1998) 17339-17344]. The
      addition in the dark of DCMU, but not that of bromoxynil, to PSII with a
      secondary electron acceptor in the Q(B)(-) state induces the oxidation of the non
      heme iron in a fraction of PsbA3-PSII but not in PsbA1-PSII. These results are
      explained as follows: i) bromoxynil has a lower affinity for PSII with the non
      heme iron oxidized than DCMU therefore, ii) the midpoint potential of the
      Fe(II)/Fe(III) couple is lower with DCMU bound than with bromoxynil bound in
      PsbA3-PSII; and iii) the midpoint potential of the Fe(II)/Fe(III) couple is
      higher in PsbA1-PSII than in PsbA3-PSII. The observation of DCMU-induced
      oxidation of the non-heme iron leads us to propose that Q(2), an electron
      acceptor identified by Joliot and Joliot [FEBS Lett. 134 (1981) 155-158], is the
      non-heme iron.

PMID- 20937243
TI  - Experimental evidence that the membrane-spanning helix of PufX adopts a bent
      conformation that facilitates dimerisation of the Rhodobacter sphaeroides RC-LH1
      complex through N-terminal interactions.
AB  - The PufX polypeptide is an integral component of some photosynthetic bacterial
      reaction center-light harvesting 1 (RC-LH1) core complexes. Many aspects of the
      structure of PufX are unresolved, including the conformation of its long membrane
      spanning helix and whether C-terminal processing occurs. In the present report,
      NMR data recorded on the Rhodobacter sphaeroides PufX in a detergent micelle
      confirmed previous conclusions derived from equivalent data obtained in organic
      solvent, that the alpha-helix of PufX adopts a bent conformation that would allow
      the entire helix to reside in the membrane interior or at its surface. In support
      of this, it was found through the use of site-directed mutagenesis that
      increasing the size of a conserved glycine on the inside of the bend in the helix
      was not tolerated. Possible consequences of this bent helical structure were
      explored using a series of N-terminal deletions. The N-terminal sequence
      ADKTIFNDHLN on the cytoplasmic face of the membrane was found to be critical for
      the formation of dimers of the RC-LH1 complex. It was further shown that the C
      terminus of PufX is processed at an early stage in the development of the
      photosynthetic membrane. A model in which two bent PufX polypeptides stabilise a
      dimeric RC-LH1 complex is presented, and it is proposed that the N-terminus of
      PufX from one half of the dimer engages in electrostatic interactions with
      charged residues on the cytoplasmic surface of the LH1alpha and beta polypeptides
      on the other half of the dimer.

PMID- 20937244
TI  - The electron transfer flavoprotein: ubiquinone oxidoreductases.
AB  - Electron transfer flavoprotein: ubiqionone oxidoreductase (ETF-QO) is a component
      of the mitochondrial respiratory chain that together with electron transfer
      flavoprotein (ETF) forms a short pathway that transfers electrons from 11
      different mitochondrial flavoprotein dehydrogenases to the ubiquinone pool. The X
      ray structure of the pig liver enzyme has been solved in the presence and absence
      of a bound ubiquinone. This structure reveals ETF-QO to be a monotopic membrane
      protein with the cofactors, FAD and a [4Fe-4S](+1+2) cluster, organised to
      suggests that it is the flavin that serves as the immediate reductant of
      ubiquinone. ETF-QO is very highly conserved in evolution and the recombinant
      enzyme from the bacterium Rhodobacter sphaeroides has allowed the mutational
      analysis of a number of residues that the structure suggested are involved in
      modulating the reduction potential of the cofactors. These experiments, together
      with the spectroscopic measurement of the distances between the cofactors in
      solution have confirmed the intramolecular pathway of electron transfer from ETF
      to ubiquinone. This approach can be extended as the R. sphaeroides ETF-QO
      provides a template for investigating the mechanistic consequences of single
      amino acid substitutions of conserved residues that are associated with a mild
      and late onset variant of the metabolic disease multiple acyl-CoA dehydrogenase
      deficiency (MADD).

PMID- 20937245
TI  - The transmembrane domain 6 of vacuolar H(+)-pyrophosphatase mediates protein
      targeting and proton transport.
AB  - Vacuolar H(+)-pyrophosphatase (V-PPase; EC 3.6.1.1) plays a significant role in
      the maintenance of the pH in cytoplasm and vacuoles via proton translocation from
      the cytosol to the vacuolar lumen at the expense of PP(i) hydrolysis. The
      topology of V-PPase as predicted by TopPred II suggests that the catalytic site
      is putatively located in loop e and exposed to the cytosol. The adjacent
      transmembrane domain 6 (TM6) is highly conserved and believed to participate in
      the catalytic function and conformational stability of V-PPase. In this study,
      alanine-scanning mutagenesis along TM6 of the mung bean V-PPase was carried out
      to identify its structural and functional role. Mutants Y299A, A306S and L317A
      exhibited gross impairment in both PP(i) hydrolysis and proton translocation.
      Meanwhile, mutations at L307 and N318 completely abolished the targeting of the
      enzyme, causing broad cytosolic localization and implicating a possible role of
      these residues in protein translocation. The location of these amino acid
      residues was on the same side of the helix wheel, suggesting their involvement in
      maintaining the stability of enzyme conformation. G297A, E301A and A305S mutants
      showed declines in proton translocation but not in PP(i) hydrolysis, consequently
      resulting in decreases in the coupling efficiency. These amino acid residues
      cluster at one face of the helix wheel, indicating their direct/indirect
      participation in proton translocation. Taken together, these data indicate that
      TM6 is crucial to vacuolar H(+)-pyrophosphatase, probably mediating protein
      targeting, proton transport, and the maintenance of enzyme structure.

PMID- 20937246
TI  - Laurdan and di-4-ANEPPDHQ do not respond to membrane-inserted peptides and are
      good probes for lipid packing.
AB  - Laurdan and di-4-ANEPPDHQ are used as probes for membrane order, with a blue
      shift in emission for membranes in liquid-ordered (lo) phase relative to
      membranes in liquid-disordered (ld) phase. Their use as membrane order probes
      requires that their spectral shifts are unaffected by membrane proteins, which we
      have examined by using membrane inserting peptides and large unilamellar vesicles
      (LUVs). The transmembrane polypeptides, mastoparan and bovine prion protein
      derived peptide (bPrPp), were added to LUVs of either lo or ld phase, up to 1:10
      peptide/total lipid ratio. The excitation and emission spectra of laurdan and di
      4-ANEPPDHQ in both lipid phases were unaltered by peptide addition. The integrity
      and size distribution of the LUVs upon addition of the polypeptides were
      determined by dynamic light scattering. The insertion efficiency of the
      polypeptides into LUVs was determined by measuring their secondary structure by
      circular dichroism. Mastoparan had an alpha-helical and bPrPp a beta-strand
      conformation compatible with insertion into the lipid bilayer. Our results
      suggest that the presence of proteins in biological membranes does not influence
      the spectra of laurdan and di-4-ANEPPDHQ, supporting that the dyes are
      appropriate probes for assessing lipid order in cells.

PMID- 20937247
TI  - Gemini surfactant dimethylene-1,2-bis(tetradecyldimethylammonium bromide)-based
      gene vectors: a biophysical approach to transfection efficiency.
AB  - Cationic liposomes have been proposed as biocompatible gene delivery vectors,
      able to overcome the barriers imposed by cell membranes. Besides lipids, other
      surfactant molecules have been successfully used in the composition of gene
      carriers. In the present work, we used a Gemini surfactant, represented by the
      general structure
      [C(14)H(29)(CH(3))(2)N(+)(CH(2))(2)N(+)(CH(3))(2)C(14)H(29)]2Br(-) and herein
      designated 14-2-14, to prepare cationic gene carriers, both as the sole component
      and in combination with neutral helper lipids, cholesterol and DOPE. The
      effectiveness of three Gemini-based formulations, namely neat 14-2-14, 14-2
      14:Chol (1:1 molar ratio) and 14-2-14:Chol:DOPE (2:1:1 molar ratio), to mediate
      gene delivery was evaluated in DNA mixtures of +/- charge ratios ranging from 1/1
      to 12/1. After ruling out cytotoxicity as responsible for the differences
      observed in the transfection competence, structural and physical properties of
      the vector were investigated, using several techniques. The size and surface
      charge density (zeta potential) of surfactant-based structures were determined by
      conventional techniques and the thermotropic behaviour of aqueous dispersions of
      surfactant/lipid/DNA formulations was monitored by fluorescence polarization of
      DPH and DPH-PA probes. The capacity of lipoplexes to interact with membrane
      mimicking lipid bilayers was evaluated, using the PicoGreen assay and a FRET
      technique. Our data indicate inefficiency of the neat 14-2-14 formulation for
      gene delivery, which could result from the large dimensions of the particles
      and/or from its relative incompetence to release DNA upon interaction with
      anionic lipids. The addition of cholesterol or cholesterol and DOPE conferred to
      Gemini-based gene carrier transfection activity at specific ranges of +/- charge
      ratios. Fluorescence polarization data suggest that an order parameter within a
      specific range was apparently needed for complexes to display maximal
      transfection efficiency. The transfection-competent formulations showed to be
      efficiently destabilized by interaction with different anionic and zwitterionic
      bilayers, including those containing PS and cardiolipin. These data are discussed
      in terms of the potential of these formulations to address different
      intracellular targets.

PMID- 20937248
TI  - NMR evidence of GM1-induced conformational change of Substance P using isotropic
      bicelles.
AB  - Substance P (SP) is one of the target neurotransmitters associated with diseases
      related to chronic inflammation, pain and depression. The selective receptor for
      SP, NK(1)R is located in the heterogeneous microdomains or caveolae in membrane.
      Gangliosides, specifically GM1, are markers of these heterogeneous sites. Also,
      gangliosides are considered as important regulatory elements in cell-cell
      recognition and cell signaling. In the present work, we describe the
      conformations of Substance P in the presence of ternary membrane systems
      containing GM1 at the physiological concentration. SP is mostly unstructured in
      water, but appears as extended 3(10) helical or turn III in isotropic bicelles,
      more pronounced in the presence of GM1. NMR results suggest that, in the GM1
      containing bicelles, the peptide is more inserted into the membrane with its C
      terminus, while N-terminus lies close to the membrane-water interface. The NMR
      derived conformation of SP in GM1 bicelles is docked on homology modeled NK(1)R
      and resulting interactions satisfy reported mutagenesis, fluorescence, photo
      affinity labeling and modeling data. The results highlight efficacy of GM1 in
      membrane in providing structure in an otherwise flexible neurotransmitter
      Substance P; thus providing indication that it may be useful also for other
      neurotransmitter peptides/proteins associated with membrane.

PMID- 20937249
TI  - Novel GPR119 agonist AS1535907 contributes to first-phase insulin secretion in
      rat perfused pancreas and diabetic db/db mice.
AB  - G protein-coupled receptor (GPR) 119 is highly expressed in pancreatic beta-cells
      and enhances the effect of glucose-stimulated insulin secretion (GSIS) on
      activation. The development of an oral GPR119 agonist that specifically targets
      the first phase of GSIS represents a promising strategy for the treatment of type
      2 diabetes. In the present study, we evaluated the therapeutic potential of a
      novel small molecule GPR119 agonist, AS1535907, which was modified from the
      previously identified 2,4,6-tri-substituted pyrimidine core agonist AS1269574.
      AS1535907 displayed an EC50 value of 4.8 MUM in HEK293 cells stably expressing
      human GPR119 and stimulated insulin secretion in rat islets only under high
      glucose (16.8 mM) conditions. In isolated perfused pancreata from normal rats,
      AS1535907 enhanced the first phase of insulin secretion at 16.8 mM glucose, but
      had no effect at 2.8mM glucose. In contrast, the sulfonylurea glibenclamide
      predominantly induced insulin release in the second phase at 16.8 mM glucose and
      also markedly stimulated insulin secretion at 2.8 mM glucose. In in vivo studies,
      a single 10 MUM administration of AS1535907 to diabetic db/db mice reduced blood
      glucose levels due to the rapid secretion of insulin secretion following oral
      glucose loading. These results demonstrate that GPR119 agonist AS1535907 has the
      ability to stimulate the first phase of GSIS, which is important for preventing
      the development of postprandial hypoglycemia. In conclusion, the GPR119 agonist
      AS1535907 induces a more rapid and physiological pattern of insulin release than
      glibenclamide, and represents a novel strategy for the treatment of type 2
      diabetes.

PMID- 20937250
TI  - Identification of miR-1 as a micro RNA that supports late-stage differentiation
      of growth cartilage cells.
AB  - The process of endochondral ossification is strictly regulated by a variety of
      extracellular and intracellular factors. Recently, it has become recognized that
      specific miRNAs are involved in this process by regulating the expression of the
      relevant genes at the post-transcriptional level. In this present study we
      obtained the first evidence of the involvement of a specific micro RNA (miRNA) in
      the regulation of the chondrocyte phenotype during late stages of
      differentiation. By use of the microarray technique, miR-1 was identified as this
      miRNA, the expression of which was most repressed upon hypertrophic
      differentiation. Transfection of human chondrocytic HCS-2/8 cells and chicken
      normal chondrocytes with miR-1 led to repressed expression of aggrecan, the major
      cartilaginous proteoglycan gene. Therefore, miR-1 was found to be involved in the
      regulation of the chondrocytic phenotype and thus to play an important role in
      chondrocytes during the late stage of the differentiation process, maintaining
      the integrity of the cartilage tissue.

PMID- 20937251
TI  - Dependency of gamma-secretase complex activity on the structural integrity of the
      bilayer.
AB  - gamma-secretase is a membrane protein complex associated with the production of
      Abeta peptides that are pathogenic in Alzheimer's disease. We have characterized
      the activity of gamma-secretase complexes under a variety of detergent
      solubilization and reconstitution conditions, and the structural state of
      proteoliposomes by electron microscopy. We found that gamma-secretase activity is
      highly dependent on the physical state or integrity of the membrane bilayer-
      partial solubilization may increase activity while complete solubilization will
      abolish it. The activity of well-solubilized gamma-secretase can be restored to
      near native levels when properly reconstituted into a lipid bilayer environment.

PMID- 20937252
TI  - Overexpression of phosphoinositide-3-kinase class II alpha enhances mesenchymal
      stem cell survival in infarcted myocardium.
AB  - The efficacy of mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) therapy for myocardial regeneration
      is limited by the poor survival of stem cells after transplantation into the
      infarcted heart. To improve the cell survival of MSCs in the infarcted heart,
      MSCs were genetically engineered to overexpress phosphoinositide-3-kinase class
      II alpha (PI3K-C2alpha). PI3K-C2alpha overexpression increased PI3K expression
      and the cell viability of MSCs. Furthermore, levels of survival-related
      phosphorylation were elevated in PI3K-C2alpha-MSCs. But, the level of apoptotic
      proteins downregulated and the number of PI-positive cells decreased in PI3K
      C2alpha-MSCs compared to hypoxic MSCs. Nine rats per group had 1*10(6) cells (20
      MUl PBS) transplanted after myocardial infarction. One week after
      transplantation, infarct size and area of fibrosis were reduced in the PI3K
      C2alpha-MSC-transplanted group. The number of TUNEL positive cells declined,
      while the mean microvessel count per field was higher in the PI3K-C2alpha-MSC
      group than the MSC-injected group. Heart function was improved in the PI3K
      C2alpha-MSCs group as assessed using a Millar catheter at 3weeks after
      transplantation. These findings suggest that overexpression of PI3K-C2alpha in
      MSCs can assist cell survival and enhance myocardial regeneration.

PMID- 20937253
TI  - Serine496 of beta2 subunit of L-type Ca2+ channel participates in molecular
      crosstalk between activation of (Na++K+)-ATPase and the channel.
AB  - Activation of (Na++K+)-ATPase (NKA) regulates cardiac L-type Ca2+ channel (LTCC)
      function through molecular crosstalk. The mechanism underlying NKA-LTCC crosstalk
      remains poorly understood. We have previously shown that activation of NKA leads
      to phosphorylation of LTCC alpha1 Ser1928. Here we investigated whether LTCC
      beta2 subunit is modulated by NKA activation and found that LTCC beta2 Ser496 is
      phosphorylated in response to activation of NKA. Src inhibitor PP1 and Erk1/2
      inhibitor PD98059 abolish LTCC beta2 Ser496 phosphorylation, suggesting that NKA
      mediated beta2 Ser496 phosphorylation is dependent of Src/Erk1/2 signaling
      pathway. Protein kinase G (PKG) inhibitor KT5823 failed to inhibit the
      phosphorylation of beta2 Ser496, indicating that the NKA-LTCC crosstalk is
      independent of PKG activity. The results of nifedipine sensitive 45Ca influx
      experiments suggest that phosphorylation of beta2 Ser496 may play a key down
      regulation role in attenuating the accelerated activity of alpha1 subunit of the
      channel. Ouabain does not cause a phosphorylation on beta2 Ser496, indicating a
      fundamental difference between activation and inhibition of NKA-mediated
      biological processes. This study provides the first evidence to demonstrate that
      LTCC beta2 subunit is coupled with the movement of signals in the mechanism of
      activation of NKA-mediated crosstalk with LTCC.

PMID- 20937254
TI  - Role of leukotriene B4 in celecoxib-mediated anticancer effect.
AB  - Celecoxib, a selective cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitor, has anticancer effect
      on many cancers associated with chronic inflammation by both COX-2-dependent and
      COX-2-independent mechanisms. The non-COX-2 targets of celecoxib, however, are
      still a matter of research. Leukotriene B4 (LTB4) has been implicated in prostate
      and colon carcinogenesis, but little is known about the potential role of LTB4 in
      celecoxib-mediated anticancer effect. In this study, we evaluated whether LTB4
      was involved in celecoxib-mediated inhibitory effect on human colon cancer HT-29
      cells and human prostate cancer PC-3 cells. Our data showed that survival of both
      cell lines was obviously suppressed after celecoxib treatment for 72 h in a
      concentration-dependent manner. However, only in HT-29 cells, this inhibitory
      effect could be reversed by LTB4, which promoted survival of HT-29 cells rather
      than PC-3 cells. Consistent with these results, lioxygenase (LOX) potent
      inhibitor nordihydroguaiaretic acid (NDGA) had a higher inhibitory effect on HT
      29 cells than PC-3 cells. Additionally, ELISA results showed that celecoxib could
      suppress expression of LTB4 in both cell lines, whereas, inhibition of PGE2 was
      only detected in HT-29 cells. These results indicate that the anticancer effect
      of celecoxib is COX-2-independent in HT-29 and PC-3 cells and in HT-29 cells
      primarily via down-regulating LTB4 production.

PMID- 20937255
TI  - Neuronal activity and the expression of clathrin-assembly protein AP180.
AB  - The clathrin-assembly protein AP180 is known to promote the assembly of clathrin
      coated vesicles in the neuron. However, it is unknown whether the expression of
      AP180 is influenced by neuronal activity. In this study, we report that chronic
      depolarization results in a reduction of AP180 from hippocampal neurons, while
      acute depolarization causes a dispersed synaptic distribution of AP180. Activity
      induced effects are observed only for AP180, but not for the structurally-related
      clathrin-assembly proteins CALM, epsin1, or HIP1. These findings suggest that
      AP180 levels and synaptic distribution are highly sensitive to neuronal activity.

PMID- 20937256
TI  - Gene disruption of caspase-3 prevents MPTP-induced Parkinson's disease in mice.
AB  - The development of Parkinson's disease is accompanied by concurrent activation of
      caspase-3 and apoptosis of dopaminergic neurons of human patients and rodent
      models. The role of caspase-3, a final executioner of apoptosis, in the
      pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease, however, remains to be determined. Here, we
      show that gene disruption of caspase-3 protects mice from 1-methyle-4-phenyl
      1,2,3,6-tetrahmydropyridine (MPTP)-induced Parkinsonian syndrome, as reflected by
      reversal of MPTP-induced bradykinesia and decreased tyrosine hydroxylase
      expression in the nigra-striatum. MPTP treatment resulted in increased caspase-3
      activation and apoptosis in the substantia nigra of wild-type mice at 24 h after
      the inception of MPTP treatment, as compared with vehicle-treated control
      animals. Gene disruption of caspase-3 prevented MPTP-induced apoptosis in the
      substantia nigra. At 7 days after MPTP treatment, tyrosine hydroxylase expression
      was suppressed and infiltration of activated microglia and astrocytes was
      markedly increased in the nigra-striatum of wild-type mice. All of these
      alterations following MPTP treatment were blocked by disruption of caspase-3 in
      mice. These results clearly indicate that caspase-3 activation is required for
      the development of MPTP-induced Parkinson's disease in mice. These findings
      suggest that activation of caspase-3-mediated apoptosis of dopaminergic neurons
      in the early stage may play an important role in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's
      disease.

PMID- 20937257
TI  - ERK phosphorylation and tumor necrosis factor-alpha production by monocytes are
      persistent in response to immobilized IgG.
AB  - Engagement of Fcgamma receptors on leukocytes by immune complexes induces both
      cytokine production and immune complex internalization. The relationship between
      these processes is unclear. In many disease states, Fcgamma receptors encounter
      their ligands in deposited forms that cannot be readily internalized. In this
      study, we examined the kinetics of ERK1/2 phosphorylation and TNF-alpha secretion
      in primary human monocytes in response to soluble heat-aggregated IgG or surface
      bound IgG, to mimic soluble immune complexes and tissue-deposited IgG,
      respectively. Soluble aggregated IgG induced transient signaling, leading to peak
      phosphorylation of ERK1/2 by 15 min and peak TNF-alpha levels by 1h, whereas
      surface-bound IgG caused sustained responses over the course of several hours.
      Treatment with the vacuolar ATPase inhibitor bafilomycin led to increased
      persistence of ERK1/2 phosphorylation in response to aggregated IgG. When
      monocytes were incubated with both soluble aggregated IgG and surface-bound IgG
      simultaneously, ERK1/2 phosphorylation was transient. These results suggest that
      Fcgamma receptor internalization is an important step in termination of
      inflammatory signaling, and that small immune complexes can exert an overall down
      modulatory effect when encountered in the presence of immobilized IgG.

PMID- 20937258
TI  - Unexpected heterogeneity due to recessive and de novo dominant mutations of GJB2
      in an Iranian family with nonsyndromic hearing loss: implication for genetic
      counseling.
AB  - Mutations in the GJB2 gene are the most common cause of nonsyndromic autosomal
      recessive sensorineural hearing loss (HL). A few mutations in GJB2 have also been
      reported to cause dominant nonsyndromic HL. Here we report a large inbred family
      including two individuals with nonsyndromic sensorineural hearing loss. A
      dominant GJB2 mutation, c.551G>A (p.R184Q), was detected in the proband, yet his
      parents were negative for the mutation. The second affected person had
      heterozygous c.35delG mutation, which was inherited from his father. Large
      deletions of the GJB6 gene were not detected in this family. This study
      highlights the importance of mutation analysis in all affected cases within a
      pedigree.

PMID- 20937259
TI  - Effect of ethanol on spectral binding, inhibition, and activity of CYP3A4 with an
      antiretroviral drug nelfinavir.
AB  - Cytochrome P450 3A4 (CYP3A4) is the most abundant CYP enzyme in the liver and
      metabolizes approximately 50% of the drugs, including antiretrovirals. Although
      CYP3A4 induction by ethanol and impact of CYP3A4 on drug metabolism and toxicity
      is known, CYP3A4-ethanol physical interaction and its impact on drug binding,
      inhibition, or metabolism is not known. Therefore, we studied the effect of
      ethanol on binding and inhibition of CYP3A4 with a representative protease
      inhibitor, nelfinavir, followed by the effect of alcohol on nelfinavir
      metabolism. Our initial results showed that methanol, ethanol, isopropanol,
      isobutanol, and isoamyl alcohol bind in the active site of CYP3A4 and exhibit
      type I spectra. Among these alcohol compounds, ethanol showed the lowest K(D)
      (5.9+/-0.34mM), suggesting its strong binding affinity with CYP3A4. Ethanol
      (20mM) decreased the K(D) of nelfinavir by >5-fold (0.041+/-0.007 vs. 0.227+/
      0.038MUM). Similarly, 20mM ethanol decreased the IC(50) of nelfinavir by >3-fold
      (2.6+/-0.5 vs. 8.3+/-3.1MUM). These results suggest that ethanol facilitates
      binding of nelfinavir with CYP3A4. Furthermore, we performed nelfinavir
      metabolism using LCMS. Although ethanol did not alter k(cat), it decreased the
      K(m) of nelfinavir, suggesting a decrease in catalytic efficiency (k(cat)/K(m)).
      This is an important finding because alcoholism is prevalent in HIV-1-infected
      persons and alcohol is shown to decrease the response to antiretroviral therapy.

PMID- 20937260
TI  - Oleate and eicosapentaenoic acid attenuate palmitate-induced inflammation and
      apoptosis in renal proximal tubular cell.
AB  - Free fatty acid (FFA)-bound albumin, which is filtrated through the glomeruli and
      reabsorbed into proximal tubular cells, is one of the crucial mediators of
      tubular damage in proteinuric kidney disease. In this study, we examined the role
      of each kind of FFA on renal tubular damage in vitro and tried to identify its
      molecular mechanism. In cultured proximal tubular cells, a saturated fatty acid,
      palmiate, increased the expression of monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1),
      but this effect was abrogated by co-incubation of monounsaturated fatty acid,
      oleate, or omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA).
      Palmitate led to intracellular accumulation of diacylglycerol (DAG) and
      subsequent activation of protein kinase C protein family. Among the several PKC
      inhibitors, rottlerin, a PKCtheta inhibitor, prevented palmitate-induced MCP-1
      expression via inactivation of NFB pathway. Overexpression of dominant-negative
      PKCtheta also inhibited palmitate-induced activation of MCP-1 promoter.
      Furthermore, palmitate enhanced PKCtheta-dependent mitochondrial apoptosis, which
      was also prevented by co-incubation with oleate or EPA through restoration of pro
      survival Akt pathway. Moreover, oleate and EPA inhibited palmitate-induced
      PKCtheta activation through the conversion of intracellular DAG to triglyceride
      with the restoration of diacylglycerol acyltransferase 2 expression. These
      results suggest that oleate and EPA have protective effects against the palmitate
      induced renal tubular cell damage by inhibiting PKCtheta activation.

PMID- 20937261
TI  - Combined use of bFGF and GDF-5 enhances the healing of medial collateral ligament
      injury.
AB  - Basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) and growth and differentiation factor (GDF)
      5 stimulate the healing of medial collateral ligament (MCL) injury. However, the
      effect of isolated and combined use of bFGF/GDF-5 remains still unclear. We
      investigated cellular proliferation and migration responding to bFGF/GDF-5 using
      rabbit MCL fibroblasts. Rabbit MCL injury was treated by bFGF and/or GDF-5 with
      peptide hydrogels. Gene expression and deposition of collagens in healing tissues
      were evaluated. bFGF/GDF-5 treatment additively enhanced cell proliferation and
      migration. bFGF/GDF-5 hydrogels stimulated Col1a1 expression without increasing
      Col3a1 expression. Combined use of bFGF/GDF-5 stimulated type I collagen
      deposition and the reorganization of fiber alignment, and induced better
      morphology of fibroblasts in healing MCLs. Our study indicates that combined use
      of bFGF/GDF-5 might enhance MCL healing by increasing proliferation and migration
      of MCL fibroblasts, and by regulating collagen synthesis and connective fiber
      alignment.

PMID- 20937262
TI  - Aligning strategies for using EEG as a surrogate biomarker: a review of
      preclinical and clinical research.
AB  - Electroencephalography (EEG) and related methodologies offer the promise of
      predicting the likelihood that novel therapies and compounds will exhibit
      clinical efficacy early in preclinical development. These analyses, including
      quantitative EEG (e.g. brain mapping) and evoked/event-related potentials
      (EP/ERP), can provide a physiological endpoint that may be used to facilitate
      drug discovery, optimize lead or candidate compound selection, as well as afford
      patient stratification and Go/No-Go decisions in clinical trials. Currently, the
      degree to which these different methodologies hold promise for translatability
      between preclinical models and the clinic have not been well summarized. To
      address this need, we review well-established and emerging EEG analytic
      approaches that are currently being integrated into drug discovery programs
      throughout preclinical development and clinical research. Furthermore, we present
      the use of EEG in the drug development process in the context of a number of
      major central nervous system disorders including Alzheimer's disease,
      schizophrenia, depression, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and pain.
      Lastly, we discuss the requirements necessary to consider EEG technologies as a
      biomarker. Many of these analyses show considerable translatability between
      species and are used to predict clinical efficacy from preclinical data.
      Nonetheless, the next challenge faced is the selection and validation of EEG
      endpoints that provide a set of robust and translatable biomarkers bridging
      preclinical and clinical programs.

PMID- 20937264
TI  - Genetic variants in eleven telomere-associated genes and the risk of incident
      cardio/cerebrovascular disease: The Women's Genome Health Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Candidate genes associated with telomere length maintenance, an
      important molecular marker for biological aging, represent potential risk
      predictors for cardiovascular disease (CVD). To date, no prospective data are
      available. METHODS: The associations between 154 tag-single nucleotide
      polymorphisms (tSNPs) of 11 telomere-associated candidate genes (TERT, POT1,
      TNKS, TERF1, TNKS2, UCP2, TEP1, ACD, TERF2, TERF2IP, and TERC) were investigated
      in 23,294 Caucasian participants of the Women's Genome Health Study. All were
      free of known CVD and cancer at baseline. The primary outcome measure was a
      composite CVD end point (incident ischemic stroke, myocardial infarction (MI), or
      death due to ischemic CVD); other measures were incident MI and ischemic stroke.
      During follow-up, 1178 total incident CVD, 315 incident MI cases, and 323
      incident ischemic stroke events were identified. Multivariable Cox regression
      analysis and a haplotype-based approach were performed to investigate the
      relationship between genotypes/haplotypes and CVD risk, assuming an additive
      model. RESULTS: In a marker-by-marker analysis, 7 (TEP1, TNKS, and ACD), 11
      (TEP1, ACD, and TERT), and 24 (TEP1, TNKS, TERT, TERF2IP, TNKS2, and UCP2) SNPs
      were associated-at the level of p < 0.05-with the total CVD, MI, and ischemic
      stroke risk, respectively. Further analysis using a haplotype-based approach
      showed similar findings. Although none remained significant after the correction
      of multiple testing, the false discovery rate analysis revealed 28% of the
      nominally significant SNPs with true associations in relation to ischemic stroke
      risk. CONCLUSIONS: The present large prospective study encourages further
      investigation of the biological role of telomere-associated pathway genes in the
      pathogenesis and early assessment of vascular events.

PMID- 20937263
TI  - Nitrous oxide-induced NO-dependent neuronal release of beta-endorphin from the
      rat arcuate nucleus and periaqueductal gray.
AB  - Nitrous oxide (N(2)O)-induced antinociception is thought to result from nitric
      oxide (NO)-dependent neuronal release of endogenous opioid peptides in the
      central nervous system. The present study employed microdialysis to determine
      whether exposure to N(2)O stimulates proopiomelanocortin (POMC) neurons to
      release beta-endorphin in the arcuate nucleus (ARC) of the hypothalamus and the
      periaqueductal gray (PAG) of the midbrain. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were
      stereotaxically implanted with microdialysis probes in the ARC or PAG. Exposure
      to 70% N(2)O significantly increased dialysate levels of oxidation products of NO
      as well as beta-endorphin, compared to levels in fractions collected under room
      air. These increases in the ARC and PAG were abolished by systemic pretreatment
      with L-N(G)-nitro arginine methyl ester (L-NAME). These findings suggest an
      association between increased NO activity and the stimulated release of beta
      endorphin during exposure of rats to N(2)O.

PMID- 20937265
TI  - Association of polymorphisms in the genes of the urokinase plasminogen activation
      system with susceptibility to and severity of non-small cell lung cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Urokinase plasminogen activating (uPA) system is implicated in
      neoplastic progression. High tissue levels of uPA system components correlate
      with a poor prognosis in lung cancer. The present study examined the single
      nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of uPA and the corresponding receptor, uPAR, for
      exploring their roles in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). METHODS: The allele
      frequencies and genotype distributions of uPA rs4065 C/T and uPAR rs344781 (-516
      T/C) among 375 NSCLC cases and 380 healthy controls were examined using
      polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment-length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP)
      analysis. Putative association between the above SNPs and clinicopathological
      characteristics of NSCLC were also analyzed. RESULTS: The genotype frequencies of
      the variant homozygotes of uPA and uPAR were significantly different between
      NSCLC and control subjects. Significant association was also observed between the
      examined genotypes and disease stage of NSCLC. Logistic regression analysis
      revealed that individuals with uPA rs4065 TT genotype have higher odds ratios
      (ORs) for lung cancer. Whereas, subjects with uPAR-344781 CC genotype have lower
      ORs for lung cancer. The patients carrying a homozygous TT genotype at uPA
      rs4065, or at least a T allele at uPAR-344781 (-516), had a tendency to develop
      advanced disease. CONCLUSIONS: Our results revealed that genetic polymorphisms of
      the uPA rs4065 C/T and uPAR rs344781 (-516 T/C) were associated with the
      susceptibility and severity of NSCLC.

PMID- 20937266
TI  - UPLC MS/MS method for quantification of mycophenolic acid and metabolites in
      human plasma: Application to pharmacokinetic study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We described the development and full validation of a rapid, high
      throughput sensible and accurate UPLC method using tandem mass spectrometry
      detection for mycophenolate acid (MPA) and its metabolites, MPA glucuronide
      (MPAG) and acyl MPA glucuronide (AcMPAG) concentration determination with MPA-D3
      as internal standard in human plasma. METHODS: Plasma pretreatment involved a one
      step protein precipitation with acetonitrile. The separation was performed by
      reverse-phase chromatography on a Waters BEH HSST3 100 mm*2.1 mm*1.8 MUm column.
      The multiple reaction monitoring transitions used for quantification were m/z
      321.04->303.02 for MPA, 524.09->303.02 for AcMPAG and MPAG and 324.03->306.04 for
      MPA-D3 in the electrospray positive ionization mode. RESULTS: The method was
      linear over the concentration range of 0.1-20mg/L for MPA and AcMPAG and 1
      200mg/L for MPAG respectively. The intra- and inter-day precision values were
      below 14% and accuracy was from 94.0 to 103.3% at all quality control levels. The
      lower LOQ was 0.1 mg/L for MPA and AcMPAG, 1 mg/L for MPAG. CONCLUSION: Sample
      analysis time was reduced to 7 min including sample preparation. The present
      method was successfully applied to a pharmacokinetic study following oral
      administration of enterocoated sodium mycophenolate in de novo renal
      transplantation.

PMID- 20937267
TI  - Cryosolvent interaction with cellular actin using 3T3-L1cells as a model system.
AB  - Previous immunolocalisation studies using intact cells have identified
      modification of the cytoskeleton by cryoprotectants. In the present study we have
      used a proteomics approach to directly resolve the interactive effects of 3T3
      L1cells exposed to two cryoprotectants, dimethyl sulphoxide (Me(2)SO) and 1,2
      propanediol (PROH) in 5,10, 20 and 50(v/v) percent solutions, respectively. Two
      dimensional protein electrophoresis and Western blot analysis of the cell
      extracts identified a range of immunoreactive actin fragments with varying
      molecular weights and isoelectric points at all cryoprotectant concentrations.
      The addition of either 10mM l-cysteine or reduced glutathione to the cells prior
      to cryprotectant exposure modified the actin fragmentation. In this preliminary
      report, we have provided direct evidence of actin fragmentation when exposed to
      cryoprotectants and have demonstrated that the use of redox agents can modify the
      cryprotectant action.

PMID- 20937268
TI  - Regulation of lin-4 miRNA expression, organismal growth and development by a
      conserved RNA binding protein in C. elegans.
AB  - Transcription and multiple processing steps are required to produce specific 22
      nucleotide microRNAs (miRNAs) that can regulate the expression of target genes.
      In C. elegans, mature lin-4 miRNA accumulates at the end of the first larval
      stage to repress its direct targets lin-14 and lin-28, allowing the progression
      of several somatic cell types to later larval fates. In this study, we
      characterized the expression of endogenous lin-4 and found that temporally
      regulated independent transcripts, but not constitutive lin-4 containing RNAs
      derived from an overlapping gene, are processed to mature lin-4 miRNA. Through an
      RNAi screen, we identified a conserved RNA binding protein gene rbm-28
      (R05H10.2), homologous to the human RBM28 and yeast Nop4p proteins, that is
      important for lin-4 expression in C. elegans. We also demonstrate that rbm-28
      genetically interacts with the lin-4 developmental timing pathway and uncover a
      previously unrecognized role for lin-14 and lin-28 in coordinating organismal
      growth.

PMID- 20937269
TI  - Aubergine is a component of a nanos mRNA localization complex.
AB  - Localization of nanos (nos) mRNA to the posterior pole of the Drosophila oocyte
      is essential for abdominal segmentation and germline development during
      embryogenesis. Posterior localization is mediated by a complex cis-acting
      localization signal in the nos 3' untranslated region that comprises multiple
      partially redundant elements. Genetic analysis suggests that this signal is
      recognized by RNA-binding proteins and associated factors that package nos mRNA
      into a localization competent ribonucleoprotein complex. However, functional
      redundancy among localization elements has made the identification of individual
      localization factors difficult. Indeed, only a single direct-acting nos
      localization factor, Rumpelstiltskin (Rump), has been identified thus far.
      Through a sensitized genetic screen, we have now identified the Argonaute family
      member Aubergine (Aub) as a nos localization factor. Aub interacts with nos mRNA
      in vivo and co-purifies with Rump in an RNA-dependent manner. Our results support
      a role for Aub, independent of its function in RNA silencing, as a component of a
      nos mRNA localization complex.

PMID- 20937270
TI  - Developmental ablation of Id1 and Id3 genes in the vasculature leads to postnatal
      cardiac phenotypes.
AB  - The Id1 and Id3 genes play major roles during cardiac development, despite their
      expression being confined to non-myocardial layers (endocardium-endothelium
      epicardium). We previously described that Id1Id3 double knockout (dKO) mouse
      embryos die at mid-gestation from multiple cardiac defects, but early lethality
      precluded the studies of the roles of Id in the postnatal heart. To elucidate
      postnatal roles of Id genes, we ablated the Id3 gene and conditionally ablated
      the Id1 gene in the endothelium to generate conditional KO (cKO) embryos. We
      observed cardiac phenotypes at birth and at 6 months of age. Half of the Id cKO
      mice died at birth. Postnatal demise was associated with cardiac enlargement and
      defects in the ventricular septum, trabeculation and vasculature. Surviving Id
      cKO mice exhibited fibrotic vasculature, cardiac enlargement and decreased
      cardiac function. An abnormal vascular response was also observed in the healing
      of excisional skin wounds of Id cKO mice. Expression patterns of vascular,
      fibrotic and hypertrophic markers were altered in the Id cKO hearts, but addition
      of Insulin-Like Growth Factor binding protein-3 (IGFbp3) reversed gene expression
      profiles of vascular and fibrotic, but not hypertrophic markers. Thus, ablation
      of Id genes in the vasculature leads to distinct postnatal cardiac phenotypes.
      These findings provide important insights into the role/s of the endocardial
      network of the endothelial lineage in the development of cardiac disease, and
      highlight IGFbp3 as a potential link between Id and its vascular effectors.

PMID- 20937271
TI  - NFAT5 regulates transcription of the mouse telomerase reverse transcriptase gene.
AB  - We aimed to clarify the transcription-regulation mechanisms of the mouse
      telomerase reverse transcriptase gene (mTERT). First, we searched for the
      promoter region required for transcriptional activation of mTERT and identified
      an enhancer cis-element (named mTERT-EE) located between -200 and -179bp of the
      mouse TERT gene (mTERT). EMSA results suggested that nuclear factor of activated
      T cells (NFAT) member proteins bind to mTERT-EE. We then identified NFAT5 as the
      factor binding to mTERT-EE and found that it activates the transcription of the
      mTERT core promoter. The results that siRNA directed against NFAT5 significantly
      reduced mTERT expression and mTERT core promoter activity and that the
      expressions of NFAT5 and mTERT were well correlated in various mouse tissues
      except liver suggest that NFAT5 dominantly and directly regulates mTERT
      expression. To clarify their functionality further, we investigated the effect of
      hypertonic stress, a known stimulus affecting the expression and transcriptional
      activity of NFAT5, on mTERT expression. The result indicated that hypertonic
      stress activates mTERT transcription via the activation and recruitment of NFAT5
      to the mTERT promoter. These results provide useful information about the
      transcription-regulation mechanisms of mTERT.

PMID- 20937272
TI  - Activation of STAT1 is required for interferon-alpha-mediated cell death.
AB  - Interferon-alpha (IFNalpha)-induced cell death of tumor cells is likely mediated
      through several signaling pathways. We previously demonstrated that blocking the
      activation of phosphoinositide-3-kinase, PI3K, or mammalian target of rapamycin,
      mTOR, partially inhibited apoptosis induced by IFNalpha. Here, we postulate using
      pharmacological inhibition and dominant negative mutants that activation of
      signal transducer and activator of transcription-1, STAT1, is also required for
      the cell death induced by IFNalpha. Inhibition of STAT1 tyrosine phosphorylation
      and DNA binding by a naturally occurring rotenoid deguelin also rescued U266
      myeloma cell lines from IFNalpha-induced apoptosis. Deguelin had no effect on
      upstream Jak kinases or STAT2 phosphorylation suggesting the involvement of a yet
      unknown mechanism. Inhibition of STAT1 tyrosine phosphorylation and activity was
      independent of the known effects of deguelin on PI3K, Akt or mTOR as shown using
      selective pharmacological inhibitors against these kinases. The combination of
      deguelin and PI3K or mTOR antagonists further inhibited apoptosis suggesting that
      both the Jak-STAT and the PI3K/mTOR pathways contribute to the induction of
      apoptosis by IFNalpha in these cells. Over-expression of STAT1-Y701A or K410/413A
      mutants in Rhek-1 keratinocytes largely inhibited apoptosis further supporting
      the importance of STAT1 phosphorylation and activity for IFNalpha-induced cell
      death. Thus, at least two signaling pathways, one of which requires STAT1
      activation, cooperate to mediate IFNalpha-induced apoptosis.

PMID- 20937273
TI  - MALAT-1 enhances cell motility of lung adenocarcinoma cells by influencing the
      expression of motility-related genes.
AB  - MALAT-1, a long non-coding RNA, is associated with metastasis, but its role in
      the metastatic process remains unknown. Here, we show that short-interfering RNA
      mediated MALAT-1 silencing impaired in vitro cell motility of lung cancer cells
      and influenced the expression of numerous genes. In these genes, knockdown of any
      one of CTHRC1, CCT4, HMMR, or ROD1 clearly inhibited cell migration. In MALAT-1
      knockdown cells, pre-mRNA levels were decreased in some but not all genes. Thus,
      our findings suggest that MALAT-1 is a novel class of non-coding RNA that
      promotes cell motility through transcriptional and post-transcriptional
      regulation of motility related gene expression.

PMID- 20937274
TI  - Protein kinase CMU mediates adenosine-stimulated steroidogenesis in primary rat
      adrenal cells.
AB  - Adenosine (Ado), an endogenous nucleoside, can stimulate corticosterone synthesis
      in adrenal cells via the A(2A)/A(2B) adenosine receptors (ARs). This study
      evaluated the contribution of protein kinase C (PKC) isoforms in Ado-induced
      steroidogenesis. The PKC inhibitor calphostin c blocked Ado-induced
      steroidogenesis, the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MEK)-extracellular signal
      related regulated kinase (ERK)-cyclic AMP responsive element-binding protein
      cascade, and the mRNA expression of steroidogenic acute regulatory protein and
      CYP11B1. Further analyses revealed that PKCMU was indeed activated by Ado.
      Moreover, downregulation of PKCMU by small interfering RNA (siRNA) inhibited Ado
      stimulated steroidogenesis and ERK phosphorylation. Finally, inhibition of either
      A(2A)AR or A(2B)AR led to the suppression of PKCMU phosphorylation. Together,
      these findings suggest that A(2)AR-PKCMU-MEK signaling mediates Ado-stimulated
      adrenal steroidogenesis.

PMID- 20937275
TI  - NMR study of hydrogen exchange during the B-Z transition of a DNA duplex induced
      by the Zalpha domains of yatapoxvirus E3L.
AB  - The Yaba-like disease viruses (YLDV) are members of the Yatapoxvirus family and
      have double-stranded DNA genomes. The E3L protein, which is essential for
      pathogenesis in the vaccinia virus, consists of two domains: an N-terminal Z-DNA
      binding domain and a C-terminal RNA binding domain. The crystal structure of the
      E3L orthologue of YLDV (yabZalpha(E3L)) bound to Z-DNA revealed that the overall
      structure of yabZalpha(E3L) and its interaction with Z-DNA are very similar to
      those of hZalpha(ADAR1). Here we have performed NMR hydrogen exchange experiments
      on the complexes between yabZalpha(E3L) and d(CGCGCG)(2) with a variety of
      protein-to-DNA molar ratios. This study revealed that yabZalpha(E3L) could
      efficiently change the B-form helix of the d(CGCGCG)(2) to left-handed Z-DNA via
      the active-mono B-Z transition pathway like hZalpha(ADAR1).

PMID- 20937276
TI  - Studying base pair open-close kinetics of tRNALeu by TROSY-based proton exchange
      NMR spectroscopy.
AB  - The millisecond conformational flexibility is functionally important for nucleic
      acids and can be studied through probing the base pair open-close kinetics by
      proton exchange nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Here, the
      traditional imino proton exchange NMR experiments were modified with transverse
      relaxation optimized spectroscopy and were applied to accurately measure imino
      proton exchange rates of all base pairs in Escherichia coli tRNA(Leu) (CAG), and
      their dependence on magnesium ion concentration. Finally, we correlated
      millisecond conformational flexibility with aminoacylation of tRNA(Leu) and
      proposed that the flexibility of the acceptor stem and the core region might
      contribute to aminoacylation of tRNA(Leu).

PMID- 20937277
TI  - Delta160p53 is a novel N-terminal p53 isoform encoded by Delta133p53 transcript.
AB  - p53 gene expresses several protein isoforms modulating p53-mediated responses
      through regulation of gene expression. Here, we identify a novel p53 isoform,
      Delta160p53, lacking the first 159 residues. By knockdown experiments and site
      directed mutagenesis, we show that Delta160p53 is encoded by Delta133p53
      transcript using ATG160 as translational initiation site. This hypothesis is
      supported by endogenous expression of Delta160p53 in U2OS, T47D and K562 cells,
      the latter ones carrying a premature stop codon that impairs p53 and Delta133p53
      protein expression but not the one of Delta160p53. Overall, these results show
      that the Delta133p53 transcript generates two different p53 isoforms, Delta133p53
      and Delta160p53.

PMID- 20937278
TI  - Observations on the radiation of lobe-finned fishes, ray-finned fishes, and
      cartilaginous fishes: phylogeny of the opioid/orphanin gene family and the 2R
      hypothesis.
AB  - At the close of the Devonian Period the rapid decline in the diversity of the
      lobe-finned fishes was countered by the emergence and diversification of the ray
      finned fishes and the cartilaginous fishes that now dominate marine and
      freshwater ecosystems. All of these jawed vertebrates were derived from the
      ancestral gnathostomes; a chordate lineage that had experienced two genome
      duplication events during the evolution of the phylum. This review analyzes
      trends in the phylogeny of the opioid/orphanin gene family (four
      prohormone/neuropeptide precursor-coding genes) in the major classes of
      gnathostomes that survived the extinction events at the close of the Devonian
      Period and focuses on some features of this gene family that appear to set the
      cartilaginous fishes (class Chondrichthyes) apart from class Sarcopterygii (lobe
      finned fishes and tetrapods) and class Actinopterygii (the ray-finned fishes).

PMID- 20937279
TI  - Response to exogenous kisspeptin varies according to sex and reproductive
      condition in Siberian hamsters (Phodopus sungorus).
AB  - Most animals experience marked changes in reproductive status across development
      that are regulated by changes in the hypothalamo-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis.
      The upstream mechanisms regulating this axis remain less well understood. The
      neuropeptide kisspeptin serves as a positive regulator of reproduction; the
      precise actions of kisspeptin on the HPG axis in animals of differing
      developmental and seasonal reproductive states, however, remain unresolved.
      Further, sex differences in response to kisspeptin have not been fully explored.
      In Experiment 1, we investigated whether sensitivity to a broad range of
      kisspeptin doses differed in adult male and female Siberian hamsters held on
      reproductively inhibitory or stimulatory photoperiods. In Experiment 2, we asked
      whether the response to kisspeptin differed across stages of reproductive
      development. Males and females displayed elevated luteinizing hormone (LH) in
      response to kisspeptin; however, the sexes differed in this response, with males
      showing greater LH responses to kisspeptin than females. Hamsters responded to
      kisspeptin across all stages of reproductive development, although the magnitude
      of this response differed between animals of differental ages and between the
      sexes. Males showed significant increases in LH at an earlier developmental age
      than females; females also showed blunted LH responses during early adulthood
      whereas males remained relatively constant in their response to kisspeptin. These
      findings suggest that reproductively active and inactive hamsters are responsive
      to kisspeptin, but that the sexes differ in their responsiveness. Collectively,
      these data provide further insight into the basic actions of kisspeptin in the
      regulation of reproduction and provide a potential mechanism for the regulation
      of differential reproductive responses between the sexes.

PMID- 20937280
TI  - Molecular and functional characterization of catfish (Heteropneustes fossilis)
      aquaporin-1b: changes in expression during ovarian development and hormone
      induced follicular maturation.
AB  - The oocytes of the freshwater catfish Heteropneustes fossilis hydrate during
      hormone-induced meiotic maturation. To investigate if this process may be
      mediated by aquaporins (AQPs), as it occurs in marine fish producing highly
      hydrated eggs, the cloning of ovarian AQPs in catfish was carried out. Using
      degenerate primers for conserved domains of the major intrinsic protein (MIP)
      family, and 5' and 3'end amplification procedures, a full-length cDNA encoding
      for an AQP1-like protein was isolated. The predicted protein showed the typical
      six transmembrane domains and two Asn-Pro-Ala (NPA) motifs conserved among the
      members of the AQP superfamily. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that the catfish
      AQP clustered with the teleost-specific aquaporin-1b subfamily, and accordingly
      it was termed HfAqp1b. Heterologous expression in Xenopus laevis oocytes
      indicated that HfAqp1b encoded for a functional AQP, water permeability being
      enhanced by cAMP. Site-directed mutagenesis revealed that cAMP induced the
      translocation of HfAqp1b into the oocyte plasma membrane most likely through the
      phosphorylation of HfAqp1b Ser(227). In adult catfish, hfaqp1b transcripts were
      detected exclusively in ovary and brain and showed significant seasonal
      variations; in the ovary, hfaqp1b was maximally expressed during the pre-spawning
      period, whereas in the brain the highest expression was detected during spawning.
      In vitro stimulation of isolated catfish ovarian follicles with vasotocin (VT) or
      human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), which induce oocyte maturation and hydration,
      elevated the hfaqp1b transcript levels after 6 or 16 h of incubation,
      respectively. These results suggest that HfAqp1b may play a role during VT- and
      hCG-induced oocyte hydration in catfish, and that VT may regulate HfAqp1b at the
      transcriptional and post-translational level in a manner similar to the
      vasopressin-dependent mammalian AQP2.

PMID- 20937281
TI  - Toxocara infection and diminished lung function in a nationally representative
      sample from the United States population.
AB  - The relevance of parasitic infection for the increasing incidence of asthma is a
      topic of considerable debate. Large population-based studies examining the
      association between helminth infection and specific measures of lung function in
      humans are lacking. This report sought to examine this association by exploring
      the differences in forced expiratory volume in 1s (FEV(1)) among participants
      with and without infection with Toxocara spp. using data from the Third National
      Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, undertaken by the United States
      Department of Health and Human Services, during 1988-1994. The results showed a
      significant association between diminished lung function and previous infection
      with Toxocara spp. Those with antibody evidence of Toxocara infection displayed
      FEV(1) that was 105.3mL less than those without previous infection. This
      relationship persisted while controlling for age, sex, education level, BMI,
      smoking status, ethnicity, immigration, rural residence and dog ownership (fully
      adjusted difference=73mL). These findings suggest diminished lung function in the
      presence of Toxocara infection and illustrate the urgent need for longitudinal
      data to more clearly define the immunological relationship with helminth
      infection and its potential influence on lung function.

PMID- 20937282
TI  - Immunosuppression induced by entomopathogens is rescued by addition of
      apolipophorin III in the diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella.
AB  - Apolipophorin III (ApoLpIII) has been known to play critical roles in lipid
      transport and immune activation in insects. This study reports a partial ApoLpIII
      gene cloned from the diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella. It showed that the
      gene was expressed in all developmental stages of P. xylostella. In larval stage,
      it was expressed in all tested tissues of hemocyte, fat body, gut, and epidermis.
      In response to bacterial challenge, the larvae showed an enhanced level of
      ApoLpIII expression by a quantitative real-time RT-PCR. RNA interference of
      ApoLpIII by its specific double stranded RNA (dsRNA) caused significant knockdown
      of its expression level and resulted in significant suppression in hemocyte
      nodule formation in response to bacterial challenge. However, larvae treated with
      the dsRNA exhibited a significant recovery in the cellular immune response by
      addition of a recombinant ApoLpIII. Parasitization by an endoparasitoid wasp,
      Cotesia plutellae, suppressed expression of ApoLpIII and resulted in a
      significant suppression in the hemocyte nodule formation. The addition of the
      recombinant ApoLpIII to the parasitized larvae significantly restored the
      hemocyte activity. Infection of an entomopathogenic bacterium, Xenorhabdus
      nematophila, caused potent pathogenicity of P. xylostella. However, the addition
      of the recombinant ApoLpIII to the infected larvae significantly prevented the
      lethal pathogenicity. This study suggests that ApoLpIII limits pathogenicity
      induced by parasitization or bacterial infection in P. xylostella.

PMID- 20937283
TI  - Fibronectin increases the force production of mouse papillary muscles via
      alpha5beta1 integrin.
AB  - The extracellular matrix (ECM) protein-integrin-cytoskeleton axis plays a central
      role as a mechanotransducing protein assemblage in many cell types. However, how
      the process of mechanotransduction and the mechanically generated signals arising
      from this axis affect myofilament function in cardiac muscle are not completely
      understood. We hypothesize that ECM proteins can regulate cardiac function
      through integrin binding, and thereby alter the intracellular calcium
      concentration ([Ca(2+)](i)) and/or modulate myofilament activation processes.
      Force measurements made in mouse papillary muscle demonstrated that in the
      presence of the soluble form of the ECM protein, fibronectin (FN), active force
      was increased significantly by 40% at 1 Hz, 54% at 2 Hz, 35% at 5 Hz and 16% at 9
      Hz stimulation frequencies. Furthermore, increased active force in the presence
      of FN was associated with 12-33% increase in [Ca(2+)](i) and 20-50% increase in
      active force per unit Ca(2+). A function blocking antibody for alpha5 integrin
      prevented the effects of the FN on the changes in force and [Ca(2+)](i), whereas
      a function blocking alpha3 integrin antibody did not reverse the effects of FN.
      The effects of FN were reversed by an L-type Ca(2+) channel blocker, verapamil or
      PKA inhibitor. Freshly isolated cardiomyocytes exhibited a 39% increase in
      contraction force and a 36% increase in L-type Ca(2+) current in the presence of
      FN. Fibers treated with FN showed a significant increase in the phosphorylation
      of phospholamban; however, the phosphorylation of troponin I was unchanged. These
      results demonstrate that FN acts via alpha5beta1 integrin to increase force
      production in myocardium and that this effect is partly mediated by increases in
      [Ca(2+)](i) and Ca(2+) sensitivity, PKA activation and phosphorylation of
      phospholamban.

PMID- 20937284
TI  - Presence of tubular and reticular structures in the nucleus of human vascular
      smooth muscle cells.
AB  - In recent decades, studies addressing nuclear calcium (Ca(2+)) homeostasis and
      signaling contributed to redefining the role of the nucleus. Yet many aspects of
      nuclear Ca(2+) signaling and homeostasis are only modestly understood. The
      present study aimed at investigating the presence of nuclear structures which
      could contribute to the regulation of nuclear Ca(2+) homeostasis. Using real 3D
      confocal microscopy, coupled to utilization of appropriate organelle probes and
      specific antibodies, we identified two entities in the nuclei of intact human
      vascular smooth muscle cells (hVSMCs) as well as in isolated hVSMCs nuclei. Our
      results demonstrate the presence of an ER-like nuclear reticular structure in
      nuclei of intact hVSMCs and in isolated nuclei. Similar to the ER/SR, this
      structure possesses thapsigargin binding sites, IP(3)Rs and RyRs, thus it was
      named nucleoplasmic reticulum (NR). Furthermore, nuclear tubular structures were
      also detected. The latter, similar to the nuclear envelope membranes, possess
      nuclear pores, thapsigargin binding sites, Angiotensin II receptor AT(2), and are
      associated with Lamin A/C. However, unlike the NR and the nuclear envelope
      membranes, these tubular structures disappeared when the nuclei were isolated
      from the cells. The nuclear tubular structures were called Nuclear T-Tubules
      (NTTs). Our calcium studies in isolated nuclei utilizing IP(3) and Ryanodine
      suggest that the NR may participate in nuclear Ca(2+) signaling. On the other
      hand, presence of nuclear pores on the NTTs suggests that these structures can
      play a role in cytosol-nucleus exchange. In conclusion, two distinct structures
      are present in the nucleus of hVSMCs and might play an important role in nuclear
      Ca(2+) homeostasis.

PMID- 20937285
TI  - Calmodulin kinase II inhibition prevents arrhythmias in RyR2(R4496C+/-) mice with
      catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia.
AB  - Catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia (CPVT) is an inherited
      arrhythmogenic disease characterized by life-threatening arrhythmias elicited by
      adrenergic activation. CPVT is caused by mutations in the cardiac ryanodine
      receptor gene (RyR2). In vitro studies demonstrated that RyR2 mutations respond
      to sympathetic activation with an abnormal diastolic Ca(2+) leak from the
      sarcoplasmic reticulum; however the pathways that mediate the response to
      adrenergic stimulation have not been defined. In our RyR2(R4496C+/-) knock-in
      mouse model of CPVT we tested the hypothesis that inhibition of Ca(2+)/calmodulin
      dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) counteracts the effects of adrenergic
      stimulation resulting in an antiarrhythmic activity. CaMKII inhibition with KN-93
      completely prevented catecholamine-induced sustained ventricular tachyarrhythmia
      in RyR2(R4496C+/-) mice, while the inactive congener KN-92 had no effect. In
      ventricular myocytes isolated from the hearts of RyR2(R4496C+/-) mice, CaMKII
      inhibition with an autocamtide-2 related inhibitory peptide or with KN-93 blunted
      triggered activity and transient inward currents induced by isoproterenol.
      Isoproterenol also enhanced the activity of the sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca(2+)
      ATPase (SERCA), increased spontaneous Ca(2+) release and spark frequency. CaMKII
      inhibition blunted each of these parameters without having an effect on the SR
      Ca(2+) content. Our data therefore indicate that CaMKII inhibition is an
      effective intervention to prevent arrhythmogenesis (both in vivo and in vitro) in
      the RyR2(R4496C+/-) knock-in mouse model of CPVT. Mechanistically, CAMKII
      inhibition acts on several elements of the EC coupling cascade, including an
      attenuation of SR Ca(2+) leak and blunting catecholamine-mediated SERCA
      activation. CaMKII inhibition may therefore represent a novel therapeutic target
      for patients with CPVT.

PMID- 20937287
TI  - Dispersal effects on a discrete two-patch model for plant-insect interactions.
AB  - A two-patch discrete time plant-insect model coupled through insect dispersal is
      studied. The model is based on three different phases: Plant growth is followed
      by the dispersal of insects followed by insect attacks. Our objective is to
      understand how different intensities of dispersal impact both local and global
      population dynamics of the two-patch model. Special attention is paid to two
      situations: When the single-patch model (i.e., in the absence of dispersal) is
      permanent and when the single-patch model exhibits Allee-like effects. The
      existence and stability of synchronous and asynchronous dynamics between two
      patches is explored. If the single-patch system is permanent, the permanence of
      the system in two patches is destroyed by extremely large dispersals and large
      attacking rates of insects, thus creating multiple attractors. If the single
      patch model exhibits Allee-like effects, analytical and numerical results
      indicate that small intensity of dispersals can generate source-sink dynamics
      between two patches, while intermediate intensity of dispersals promote the
      extinction of insects in both patches for certain parameter ranges. Our study
      suggests a possible biology control strategy to stop the invasion of a pest by
      controlling its migration between patches.

PMID- 20937286
TI  - Protein kinase Calpha as a heart failure therapeutic target.
AB  - Heart failure afflicts ~5 million people and causes ~300,000 deaths a year in the
      United States alone. Heart failure is defined as a deficiency in the ability of
      the heart to pump sufficient blood in response to systemic demands, which results
      in fatigue, dyspnea, and/or edema. Identifying new therapeutic targets is a major
      focus of current research in the field. We and others have identified critical
      roles for protein kinase C (PKC) family members in programming aspects of heart
      failure pathogenesis. More specifically, mechanistic data have emerged over the
      past 6-7 years that directly implicate PKCalpha, a conventional PKC family
      member, as a nodal regulator of heart failure propensity. Indeed, deletion of the
      PKCalpha gene in mice, or its inhibition in rodents with drugs or a dominant
      negative mutant and/or inhibitory peptide, has shown dramatic protective effects
      that antagonize the development of heart failure. This review will weigh all the
      evidence implicating PKCalpha as a novel therapeutic target to consider for the
      treatment of heart failure. This article is part of a special issue entitled "Key
      Signaling Molecules in Hypertrophy and Heart Failure."

PMID- 20937288
TI  - Analysis of a mathematical model for tuberculosis: What could be done to increase
      case detection.
AB  - This paper presents qualitative and quantitative study of a TB mathematical model
      to test results from a survey carried out in Benin City, Nigeria. The purpose of
      the survey was to determine factors that could enhance the case detection rate of
      tuberculosis. Results from the survey identified four key factors that must be
      combined for an effective control of TB and increase the case detection rate:
      effective awareness programme, active cough identification, associated cost
      factor for treatment of identified cases and effective treatment. The overall
      effect of these factors on the basic reproduction number under treatment, R(T),
      of the TB model was considered. In all, a serious concentration on tuberculosis
      awareness programmes and active cough identification as a marker for someone
      having TB was shown to significantly reduce the value of the reproduction number,
      hereby reducing the severity of the disease in the presence of treatment.

PMID- 20937289
TI  - Mutant hypoxia inducible factor-1alpha improves angiogenesis and tissue perfusion
      in ischemic rabbit skeletal muscle.
AB  - Hypoxia-inducible factor-1alpha (HIF-1alpha) is one of the most potent angiogenic
      growth factors. It regulates genes involved in angiogenesis, but is inactivated
      rapidly by normoxia. Ad-HIF-1alpha-Trip was constructed by transforming Pro402,
      Pro564, and Asn803 in HIF-1alpha to alanine in order to delay degradation and
      create a constitutive transcriptional activator. In this study, we investigated
      whether Ad-HIF-1alpha-Trip could induce functional mature angiogenesis and the
      possible mechanisms involved. We found that Ad-HIF-1alpha-Trip increased the
      expression of multiple angiogenic genes in cultured HMVEC-Ls, including VEGF,
      PLGF, PAI-1, and PDGF. In a rabbit model of acute hind limb ischemia, Ad-HIF
      1alpha-Trip improved tissue perfusion and collateral vessels, as measured by
      contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEU), CT angiography, and vascular casting. Ad-HIF
      1alpha-Trip also produced more histologically identifiable capillaries, which
      were verified by immunostaining, compared with controls. Interestingly,
      inhibition of CBP/p300 by curcumin prevented HIF-1alpha from inducing the
      expression of several angiogenic genes. The present study suggests that Ad-HIF
      1alpha-Trip can induce mature angiogenesis and improve tissue perfusion in
      ischemic rabbit skeletal muscle. CBP/p300, which interacts with the
      transactivation domains of HIF-1alpha, is important for HIF-1alpha-induced
      transcription of angiogenic genes.

PMID- 20937290
TI  - Contrast sensitivity for motion detection and direction discrimination in
      adolescents with autism spectrum disorders and their siblings.
AB  - The magnocellular (M) pathway hypothesis proposes that impaired visual motion
      perception observed in individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) might be
      mediated by atypical functioning of the subcortical M pathway, as this pathway
      provides the bulk of visual input to cortical motion detectors. To test this
      hypothesis, we measured luminance and chromatic contrast sensitivity, thought to
      tap M and Parvocellular (P) pathway processing, respectively. We also tested the
      hypothesis that motion processing is impaired in ASD using a novel paradigm that
      measures motion processing while controlling for detectabilty. Specifically, this
      paradigm compares contrast sensitivity for detection of a moving grating with
      contrast sensitivity for direction-of-motion discrimination of that same moving
      grating. Contrast sensitivities from adolescents with ASD were compared to
      typically-developing adolescents, and also unaffected siblings of individuals
      with ASD (SIBS). The results revealed significant group differences on P, but not
      M, pathway processing, with SIBS showing higher chromatic contrast sensitivity
      than both participants with ASD and TD participants. This atypicality, unique to
      SIBS, suggests the possible existence of a protective factor in these individuals
      against developing ASD. The results also revealed impairments in motion
      perception in both participants with ASD and SIBS, which may be an endophenotype
      of ASD. This impairment may be driven by impairments in motion detectors and/or
      by reduced input from neural areas that project to motion detectors, the latter
      possibility being consistent with the notion of reduced connectivity between
      neural areas in ASD.

PMID- 20937291
TI  - Interaction between behavioral despair and addictive behaviors in rats.
AB  - It has been suggested that depression can be either a cause or a consequence of
      drug abuse, providing a possible explanation for the fact that the prevalence of
      depression is almost 3-fold higher in drug abusers than in the general
      population. However, the interaction between depression and drug abuse has not
      been fully elucidated. To examine the interaction between behavioral despair and
      addictive behaviors, we used the Porsolt's forced swim test (FST) as a model of
      behavioral despair, and we used morphine conditioned place preference (CPP) and
      repeated morphine exposure as models of addictive behaviors. We found that rats
      exposed to a standard FST (15min on day 0 training) rather than a weak FST (10min
      on day 0 training) exhibited behavioral despair, which selectively potentiated
      morphine CPP (mCPP) but not food CPP (fCPP). The antidepressant imipramine
      (15mg/kg, i.p.), which blocked the behavioral despair, prevented the standard FST
      potentiated morphine CPP. Conversely, repeated exposure to morphine (10mg/kg,
      s.c.) for 6, 12 or 20days decreased, had no effect on, or increased the
      immobility time, respectively, in the subsequent standard FST. Furthermore,
      repeated morphine exposure for 20days exacerbated the pre-existing behavioral
      despair. Thus, our findings suggest that behavioral despair may increase the
      vulnerability of individuals to opiate abuse, which may in turn enhance
      behavioral despair.

PMID- 20937292
TI  - Aging-related changes in the effects of social isolation on social behavior in
      rats.
AB  - Aging is generally associated with cognitive dysfunction and alterations in
      emotional response. Moreover, in social situations, aging decreases social
      interaction with unfamiliar individuals, suggesting the decline of social
      cognition/motivation and a high level of anxiety. Although it is known that
      isolation housing has various effects on subsequent behavior, including social
      interaction depending on the age at isolation, the effects of isolation on aged
      subjects have not been examined. In the present study, we investigated the
      effects of aging and different periods of isolation housing on social interaction
      in male F344/N rats. Young (3-4months old) and aged (24-25months old) rats were
      either group-housed or socially isolated for 2 or 4weeks. The rats were tested
      with age-matched and group-housed unfamiliar males in a social interaction test,
      and social (e.g. approach/following and sniffing) and non-social behaviors (e.g.
      self-grooming and ambulation) were recorded. The results indicated that group
      housed aged rats showed less approach/following, sniffing, and ambulation than
      group-housed young rats. Moreover, in young rats, isolation housing gradually
      increased approach/following and sniffing depending on the isolation period. In
      contrast, in aged rats, more prolonged isolation (4weeks) attenuated the 2-week
      isolation-induced increase of sniffing behavior and had no effect on
      approach/following. The present study suggests that aging decreases social
      investigation and induces high emotional response to a novel social environment,
      and that the behaviors can be differentially affected by social isolation
      depending on the age at isolation and the period of isolation.

PMID- 20937293
TI  - Adaptive evolutionary walks require neutral intermediates in RNA fitness
      landscapes.
AB  - In RNA fitness landscapes with interconnected networks of neutral mutations,
      neutral precursor mutations can play an important role in facilitating the
      accessibility of epistatic adaptive mutant combinations. I use an exhaustively
      surveyed fitness landscape model based on short sequence RNA genotypes (and their
      secondary structure phenotypes) to calculate the minimum rate at which mutants
      initially appearing as neutral are incorporated into an adaptive evolutionary
      walk. I show first, that incorporating neutral mutations significantly increases
      the number of point mutations in a given evolutionary walk when compared to
      estimates from previous adaptive walk models. Second, that incorporating neutral
      mutants into such a walk significantly increases the final fitness encountered on
      that walk - indeed evolutionary walks including neutral steps often reach the
      global optimum in this model. Third, and perhaps most importantly, evolutionary
      paths of this kind are often extremely winding in their nature and have the
      potential to undergo multiple mutations at a given sequence position within a
      single walk; the potential of these winding paths to mislead phylogenetic
      reconstruction is briefly considered.

PMID- 20937294
TI  - The UV-absorber benzophenone-4 alters transcripts of genes involved in hormonal
      pathways in zebrafish (Danio rerio) eleuthero-embryos and adult males.
AB  - Benzophenone-4 (BP-4) is frequently used as UV-absorber in cosmetics and
      materials protection. Despite its frequent detection in the aquatic environment
      potential effects on aquatic life are unknown. In this study, we evaluate the
      effects of BP-4 in eleuthero-embryos and in the liver, testis and brain of adult
      male fish on the transcriptional level by focusing on target genes involved in
      hormonal pathways to provide a more complete toxicological profile of this
      important UV-absorber. Eleuthero-embryos and males of zebrafish were exposed up
      to 3 days after hatching and for 14 days, respectively, to BP-4 concentrations
      between 30 and 3000 MUg/L. In eleuthero-embryos transcripts of vtg1, vtg3, esr1,
      esr2b, hsd17beta3, cyp19b cyp19a, hhex and pax8 were induced at 3000 MUg/L BP-4,
      which points to a low estrogenic activity and interference with early thyroid
      development, respectively. In adult males BP-4 displayed multiple effects on gene
      expression in different tissues. In the liver vtg1, vtg3, esr1 and esr2b were
      down-regulated, while in the brain, vtg1, vtg3 and cyp19b transcripts were up
      regulated. In conclusion, the transcription profile revealed that BP-4 interferes
      with the expression of genes involved in hormonal pathways and steroidogenesis.
      The effects of BP-4 differ in life stages and adult tissues and point to an
      estrogenic activity in eleuthero-embryos and adult brain, and an antiestrogenic
      activity in the liver. The results indicate that BP-4 interferes with the sex
      hormone system of fish, which is important for the risk assessment of this UV
      absorber.

PMID- 20937295
TI  - Venom physiology and composition in a litter of Common Death Adders (Acanthophis
      antarcticus) and their parents.
AB  - Metabolic expenditure has been shown to increase abruptly in several snake
      species directly after venom expenditure, while the later stages of venom
      replenishment seem to involve minor costs. This study examines the dependence of
      increases in metabolic rate following venom expenditure on the stage of venom
      replenishment that the venom producing tissue is in at the time of venom
      extraction in the Common Death Adder, Acanthophis antarcticus. Potential changes
      in venom composition during venom replenishment are also explored to elucidate
      whether replenishment is achieved via low rates of synthesis of all venom
      components or by non-parallel protein production, i.e. initial production of some
      venom components and subsequent synthesis of others. The results of this study
      indicate that venom expenditure is followed by a sudden increase in metabolic
      rate when snakes have previously not expended venom for at least two days,
      suggesting that repetitive venom expenditure does not further increase the
      activity of venom gland tissue in this initial time period but that a second
      upregulation occurs when the tissue is past the initial activation stage. In
      addition, venom composition appears to remain constant during replenishment
      within an individual, while substantial variations can be observed even between
      siblings.

PMID- 20937297
TI  - Tactual perception of material properties.
AB  - This paper reviews tactual perception of material properties such as roughness,
      compliance, coldness and friction. Psychophysical functions relating physical
      properties to perception are discussed, as well as discrimination thresholds.
      Also, the neural codes mediating some of these sensations are discussed.
      Furthermore, we take a look into how sensation of these material properties can
      be induced artificially in haptic displays. Lastly, the interactions between
      perception of the different material properties are explored.

PMID- 20937296
TI  - Inhibition of APE1/Ref-1 redox activity with APX3330 blocks retinal angiogenesis
      in vitro and in vivo.
AB  - This study examines the role of APE1/Ref-1 in the retina and its potential as a
      therapeutic target for inhibiting retinal angiogenesis. APE1/Ref-1 expression was
      quantified by Western blot. The role of APE1/Ref-1 redox function in endothelial
      cell in vitro angiogenesis was examined by treating retinal vascular endothelial
      cells (RVECs) with APX3330, a small molecule inhibitor of APE1/Ref-1 redox
      activity. In vitro methods included a proliferation assay, a transwell migration
      assay, a Matrigel tube formation assay, and a Real-Time Cell Analysis (RTCA)
      using the xCELLigence System. In vivo functional studies of APE1/Ref-1 were
      carried out by treating very low density lipoprotein (VLDL) receptor knockout
      mice (Vldlr(-/-)) with intravitreal injection of APX3330, and subsequent
      measurement of retinal angiomatous proliferation (RAP)-like neovascularization
      for one week. APE1/Ref-1 was highly expressed in the retina and in RVECs and
      pericytes in mice. APX3330 (1-10 MUM) inhibited proliferation, migration and tube
      formation of RVECs in vitro in a dose-dependent manner. Vldlr(-/-) RVECs were
      more sensitive to APX3330 than wild-type RVECs. In Vldlr(-/-) mice, a single
      intravitreal injection of APX3330 at the onset of RAP-like neovascularization
      significantly reduced RAP-like neovascularization development. APE1/Ref-1 is
      expressed in retinal vascular cells. APX3330 inhibits RVEC angiogenesis in vitro
      and significantly reduces RAP-like neovascularization in Vldlr(-/-) mice. These
      data support the conclusion that APE1/Ref-1 redox function is required for
      retinal angiogenesis. Thus, APE1/Ref-1 may have potential as a therapeutic target
      for treating neovascular age-related macular degeneration and other neovascular
      diseases.

PMID- 20937298
TI  - Face adaptation improves gender discrimination.
AB  - Adaptation to a visual pattern can alter the sensitivities of neuronal
      populations encoding the pattern. However, the functional roles of adaptation,
      especially in high-level vision, are still equivocal. In the present study, we
      performed three experiments to investigate if face gender adaptation could affect
      gender discrimination. Experiments 1 and 2 revealed that adapting to a
      male/female face could selectively enhance discrimination for male/female faces.
      Experiment 3 showed that the discrimination enhancement induced by face
      adaptation could transfer across a substantial change in three-dimensional face
      viewpoint. These results provide further evidence suggesting that, similar to low
      level vision, adaptation in high-level vision could calibrate the visual system
      to current inputs of complex shapes (i.e. face) and improve discrimination at the
      adapted characteristic.

PMID- 20937299
TI  - Reversed tilt effect for dichoptic stimulation in vertical meridian.
AB  - The orientation of a test line appears shifted away from that of contextual
      contours. This repulsion in the orientation domain manifests itself in, for
      example, the tilt aftereffect, the simultaneous orientation contrast, and the
      Zollner illusion. Attractive rather than repulsive interaction has been reported
      for collinear inducing configurations at small inducing angles. Here it is shown
      that the tilt induced in a monocular vertical foveal test line by a single
      centered inducing line is repulsive when both are in the same eye, but becomes
      attractive for dichoptic stimulation. This occurs for only a narrow range of test
      line/inducing-line separations and varies somewhat between and, by ocularity,
      within observers. The phenomenon might be related to stereoscopy which involves
      the processing of dichoptic orientation differences around the vertical.

PMID- 20937302
TI  - Characterization of tyrosine-rich Antheraea pernyi silk fibroin hydrolysate.
AB  - Antheraea pernyi silk fibroin (SF) hydrolysate were characterized using UV-VIS
      spectrometer, amino acid composition and heavy metal contents to explore its
      potential sources for food or cosmetic additives. The hydrolyzed A. pernyi SF was
      separated into two parts: (a) SFA, alanine-rich fraction and (b) SFB, tyrosine
      rich fraction. SFB exhibited strong absorption peaks at 210 and 280 nm due to the
      presence of the tyrosine. Heavy metal analysis showed that arsenic and mercury
      did not detect. Other heavy metals, which includes lead, cadmium, etc., were
      recorded only a trace amount. Therefore, A. pernyi SF hydrolysate could be safely
      used as sources of food, cosmetic and pharmaceuticals.

PMID- 20937301
TI  - Combination of escitalopram and a 5-HT(1A) receptor antagonist selectively
      decreases the extracellular levels of dopamine in the nucleus accumbens relative
      to striatum through 5-HT(2C) receptor stimulation; suggestive of antipsychotic
      potential.
AB  - Serotonin 5-HT(2C) receptors are widely distributed throughout the brain located
      on GABAergic interneurons and afferent neurons in the ventral tegmental area and
      substantia nigra. Consequently, activation of this receptor modulates the
      dopaminergic neurotransmission. The antipsychotic potential of the combined
      treatment with escitalopram, in therapeutic relevant doses, and the 5-HT(1A)
      receptor antagonist, WAY-100635, has been evaluated by assessment of conditioned
      avoidance (CAR) behaviour and the use of microdialysis in freely moving rats. The
      combined treatment was found to decrease both CAR behaviour without affecting
      escape failures and the basal extracellular levels of dopamine (DA) in the
      nucleus accumbens (NAc) acutely without affecting DA levels in the striatum,
      suggesting an antipsychotic-like effect with mesolimbic selectivity. The
      escitalopram/WAY-100635-induced changes in CAR behaviour and DA were prevented by
      pretreatment with the 5-HT(2C) receptor antagonist, SB242084, indicating that the
      effects are mediated by stimulation of the 5-HT(2C) receptor. Thus, indirect
      activation of the 5-HT(2C) receptor may induce antipsychotic-like effects. The
      observations on DA levels were in line with the findings made with the selective
      5-HT(2C) receptor agonist, vabicaserin, which was also shown to produce a
      mesolimbic selective decrease in DA levels in the present study. In addition, it
      was demonstrated that escitalopram, in combination with the partial 5-HT(1A)
      agonist, (-)-pindolol, decreased basal DA levels in the NAc. A potential
      therapeutic effect could readily be assessed, since both escitalopram and (-)
      pindolol are already on the market.

PMID- 20937300
TI  - Neuropeptide Y (NPY)-induced reductions in alcohol intake during continuous
      access and following alcohol deprivation are not altered by restraint stress in
      alcohol-preferring (P) rats.
AB  - Administration of neuropeptide Y (NPY) reduces anxiety-like behavior and alcohol
      intake in alcohol-preferring rats. The present experiment examined whether the
      effects of NPY on alcohol drinking are modulated by stress exposure during
      continuous access or following ethanol deprivation. Female P rats underwent 6
      weeks of continuous access to 15% v/v ethanol and water prior to
      intracerebroventricular (ICV) cannula implantation. Deprived rats underwent two
      cycles of 5 days of ethanol exposure followed by 2 days of ethanol deprivation,
      while non-deprived rats had uninterrupted access to ethanol. Stressed rats in
      both ethanol access groups were exposed to restraint stress for 1h 4-6h after
      ethanol was removed from the deprived group in both cycles. ICV infusions of 5.0
      MUg NPY or aCSF were administered 48 h following the deprivation/stress
      procedure, after which ethanol was returned. Rats showed increased ethanol intake
      following ethanol deprivation compared to non-deprived controls. Food and water
      intake were increased, while ethanol intake was decreased, in rats infused with
      NPY. Stress did not increase ethanol intake or alter the response to NPY.
      Although no stress effects were found, the present experiment replicates previous
      findings regarding the effectiveness of NPY in reducing ethanol consumption.
      Future studies aimed at determining the extent to which stress may affect relapse
      to ethanol drinking and response to NPY would benefit from implementing different
      stress paradigms and varying the pattern of ethanol access.

PMID- 20937303
TI  - Inflammation-like glial response in rat brain induced by prenatal PFOS exposure.
AB  - Numerous studies have indicated the neurotoxicity of perfluorooctane sulfonate
      (PFOS), a persistent and bioaccumulative compound, particularly during
      developmental stages of higher organisms. To explore the pro-inflammatory effect
      in the developmental neurotoxicity, effects of prenatal exposure to PFOS on glial
      activation in hippocampus and cortex were examined in offspring rats. Dams
      received 0.1, 0.6 and 2.0mg/kg bw PFOS by gavage from gestational day 2 (GD2) to
      GD21. Astrocyte activation markers, glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and
      S100 calcium binding protein B (S-100beta) in hippocampus and cortex were both
      upregulated on postnatal day 0 (PND0) or PND21. In addition, the astrocyte
      activation was accompanied with the elevation of pro-inflammatory cytokines
      interleukin (IL-1beta) and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha. The mRNA levels of
      pro-inflammatory transcription factors, including activation protein-1 (AP-1),
      nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB), and cAMP response element-binding protein
      (CREB) were also increased, at least in the 2.0mg/kg group. In addition to the
      inflammatory response, two synaptic proteins, synapsin 1 (Syn1) and synaptophysin
      (Syp) were reduced in cortex on PND0 and PND21. In hippocampus, the Syn1 were
      also reduced, while the Syp were increased in cortex on either PND0 or PND21.
      Obtained results indicated chronic glial activation with coexisting inflammatory
      and synapse injury features as a new mechanism of PFOS developmental
      neurotoxicity, and enhanced expression of AP-1, NF-kappaB and CREB may
      contributed to the adverse effect.

PMID- 20937304
TI  - The epicardium in cardiac repair: from the stem cell view.
AB  - During heart development, the epicardium provides cardiogenic progenitor cells
      and, together with the myocardium, directs lineage specification and coordinates
      both myocardial growth and coronary vasculature formation. In the adult heart,
      the established function of the epicardium is to provide a smooth surface that,
      together with the pericardium, favors heart movement during contraction and
      relaxation. Recently, epicardial precursor cells with the ability to
      differentiate into cardiomyocytes and vascular cells have been identified and the
      quiescent nature of the adult epicardium has been questioned. Interestingly, the
      signaling pathways involved in this process appear to be regulated, in the adult
      heart, by mechanisms similar to those in the embryonic heart. This review will
      summarize the properties of the embryonic epicardium and will focus on recent
      advances on the role of the adult epicardium in cardiac regeneration.
      Specifically, we will present aspects of epicardial cell biology that may be
      relevant to the development of new therapeutic approaches aimed at inducing heart
      repair following injury.

PMID- 20937305
TI  - An update of MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry in lipid research.

PMID- 20937308
TI  - Altered sialylation on the cell-surface proteins of dexamethasone-treated human
      macrophages contributes to augmented uptake of apoptotic neutrophils.
AB  - Macrophages eliminate apoptotic granulocytes before their secondary necrosis
      during resolution of inflammation. A well-known glucocorticoid, the anti
      inflammatory dexamethasone augments phagocytosis capacity of macrophages with a
      so far not fully clarified mechanism. We have found that sialylation of cell
      surface proteins on human macrophages is markedly altered by dexamethasone.
      Compared to non-treated cells, dexamethasone-treated macrophages can bind
      significantly less Sambucus nigra lectin specific for sialic acids on their
      surfaces as a result of undersialylation of annexin-II and an HLA-II protein. Non
      treated macrophages covered by S. nigra lectin had increased uptake of apoptotic
      cells; however, the significantly higher phagocytosis capacity of dexamethasone
      treated macrophages could not be stimulated further this way. Our results suggest
      that dexamethasone treatment leads to decreased number of sialic acids on the
      surfaces of human macrophages promoting recognition and uptake of apoptotic
      cells.

PMID- 20937307
TI  - Global DNA methylation, DNMT1, and MBD2 in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate the associations of DNA methylation levels and mRNA
      expressions of DNA cytosine-5-methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1) and methyl CpG-binding
      domain 2 (MBD2) with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). METHODS: The global methylation
      status of DNA was measured in 65 patients with RA and 64 healthy controls by the
      ELISA method. DNMT1 and MBD2 mRNA were also detected in 177 RA patients and 95
      controls using the quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction method.
      RESULTS: The global methylation of DNA was significantly decreased in the RA
      patients compared to the controls (p=0.005, 95% CI=0.0835-0.4503). The patients
      with RA had higher expressions of DNMT1 and MBD2 mRNA than the controls (p<0.001,
      95% CI=-0.0024 to -0.0053 and p<0.001, 95% CI=-0.0079 to -0.0167, respectively).
      We also found that the MBD2 mRNA level was not related to the disease activity of
      RA. However, the expression of DNMT1 mRNA tended to be associated with the
      disease activity of RA (p=0.08). The levels of DNA methylation and DNMT1 mRNA
      were significantly decreased in the patients with anti-CCP antibody compared with
      those without (p=0.005, 95% CI=-0.7333 to -0.1373 and p=0.003, 95% CI=-0.0071 to 
      0.0022, respectively). The differences in the methylation level and expressions
      of DNMT1 and MBD2 were not significant between the patients treated with and
      without anti-TNFalpha biological agents (Enbrel or Humira). CONCLUSION: This
      study demonstrated that the RA patients have a significantly lower level of DNA
      methylation than the controls. Moreover, RA patients have higher expressions of
      DNMT1 and MBD2 mRNA. The anti-TNFalpha biological agents do not seem to affect
      DNA methylation and mRNA expressions of DNMT1 and MBD2 in RA patients.

PMID- 20937309
TI  - Effects of restraint stress on NALT structure and nasal IgA levels.
AB  - The effects of stress on the mucosal immune responses in inflammatory disorders
      of the gut, as well as on salivary and intestinal IgA levels are well known.
      However, its effects on the structure and function of the NALT have not yet been
      reported, and are examined in the present study. Balb/c mice were submitted to
      restraint stress for 3h per day during 4 or 8d. The immunohistochemistry and flow
      cytometric analysis revealed that repeated restraint stress (4 and 8d) decreased
      the percentage, compared to the control group, of CD3(+) and CD4(+) T cells,
      without affecting the percentage of CD8(+) T cells or B220(+) cells (B cells).
      The numbers of IELs (CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells) were lower at 4d of stress and
      higher at 8d. IgA(+) cells in NALT and nasal IgA levels showed a similar pattern,
      being significantly lower at 4d of stress and significantly higher at 8d. In
      summary, repeated restraint stress altered the distribution and number of
      lymphocytes and IgA(+) cells in nasal mucosa, probably due to changes in
      norepinephrine and corticosterone levels.

PMID- 20937310
TI  - Population and risk group uptake of H1N1 influenza vaccine in mainland France
      2009-2010: results of a national vaccination campaign.
AB  - A mass vaccination campaign against influenza A/H1N1 was launched in France in
      October 2009. Vaccination was offered free of charge to the entire population
      according to a pre-defined order of priority. Demographic data and data on
      vaccinations given were recorded in a dedicated database. We analysed vaccine
      uptake by age, sex and region in the overall population and in certain risk
      groups, including pregnant women. Overall vaccine uptake was 8% and varied by age
      group and sex. Vaccine uptake in pregnant women was 22.7%. These low uptakes may
      reflect controversies around the vaccine and vaccination policy and have
      important implications for future pandemic vaccination strategies.

PMID- 20937311
TI  - Mycobacterial cell-wall skeleton as a universal vaccine vehicle for antigen
      conjugation.
AB  - Mycobacterial cell-wall skeleton (CWS) is an immunoactive and biodegradable
      particulate adjuvant and has been used for immunotherapy in patients with cancer.
      The CWS of Mycobacterium bovis bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG-CWS) was studied as
      a universal vaccine vehicle for antigen conjugation, to develop potentially
      effective and safe vaccines. Here, we describe experiments in which protein
      antigens, such as keyhole limpet haemocyanin (KLH), ovalbumin (OVA) and bovine
      serum albumin (BSA) were highly efficiently coupled to 1-ethyl-3-(3
      dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide and N-hydroxysuccinimide (EDC/NHS)-activated
      carboxyl groups of BCG-CWS, and tested the immunogenicity of OVA-conjugated BCG
      CWS vaccine. We found that a strong immune response was induced in mice immunised
      with OVA-conjugated BCG-CWS, which was similar to the enhancement of the immune
      responses in mice immunised with OVA and complete Freund's adjuvant. Covalent
      conjugation of OVA to BCG-CWS was essential for Th1-skewed immune responses, with
      prominent expression of IFN-gamma. Furthermore, antigen-conjugated BCG-CWS
      vaccine is simple to manufacture, safe, and easy to use. Our results suggest that
      mycobacterial CWS as a universal vaccine vehicle for conjugation of a wide
      variety of antigens constitutes a breakthrough for development of the most
      promising vaccines for infections, allergic diseases, and cancer.

PMID- 20937306
TI  - The unipolar brush cell: a remarkable neuron finally receiving deserved
      attention.
AB  - Unipolar brush cells (UBC) are small, glutamatergic neurons residing in the
      granular layer of the cerebellar cortex and the granule cell domain of the
      cochlear nuclear complex. Recent studies indicate that this neuronal class
      consists of three or more subsets characterized by distinct chemical phenotypes,
      as well as by intrinsic properties that may shape their synaptic responses and
      firing patterns. Yet, all UBCs have a unique morphology, as both the dendritic
      brush and the large endings of the axonal branches participate in the formation
      of glomeruli. Although UBCs and granule cells may share the same excitatory and
      inhibitory inputs, the two cell types are distinctively differentiated.
      Typically, whereas the granule cell has 4-5 dendrites that are innervated by
      different mossy fibers, and an axon that divides only once to form parallel
      fibers after ascending to the molecular layer, the UBC has but one short dendrite
      whose brush engages in synaptic contact with a single mossy fiber terminal, and
      an axon that branches locally in the granular layer; branches of UBC axons form a
      non-canonical, cortex-intrinsic category of mossy fibers synapsing with granule
      cells and other UBCs. This is thought to generate a feed-forward amplification of
      single mossy fiber afferent signals that would reach the overlying Purkinje cells
      via ascending granule cell axons and their parallel fibers. In sharp contrast to
      other classes of cerebellar neurons, UBCs are not distributed homogeneously
      across cerebellar lobules, and subsets of UBCs also show different, albeit
      overlapping, distributions. UBCs are conspicuously rare in the expansive lateral
      cerebellar areas targeted by the cortico-ponto-cerebellar pathway, while they are
      a constant component of the vermis and the flocculonodular lobe. The presence of
      UBCs in cerebellar regions involved in the sensorimotor processes that regulate
      body, head and eye position, as well as in regions of the cochlear nucleus that
      process sensorimotor information suggests a key role in these critical functions;
      it also invites further efforts to clarify the cellular biology of the UBCs and
      their specific functions in the neuronal microcircuits in which they are
      embedded. High density of UBCs in specific regions of the cerebellar cortex is a
      feature largely conserved across mammals and suggests an involvement of these
      neurons in fundamental aspects of the input/output organization as well as in
      clinical manifestation of focal cerebellar disease.

PMID- 20937312
TI  - Serum HBeAg sero-conversion correlated with decrease of HBsAg and HBV DNA in
      chronic hepatitis B patients treated with a therapeutic vaccine.
AB  - Currently, there are various approaches for developing therapeutic vaccines for
      chronic hepatitis B patients. Previously, an antigen-antibody-based therapeutic
      vaccine (YIC) has been conducted in a double-blind placebo controlled phase IIb
      clinical trial in 242 chronic hepatitis B patients. At the end of follow-up for
      24 weeks, HBeAg sero-conversion rate was 21.6% in the 60 MUg immunized group,
      compared to 9% in the alum immunized control group (p=0.03). To analyze the
      correlation between HBeAg-seroconversion, and decrease of serum HBsAg and HBV
      DNA, serum samples were back quantified for serum HBsAg and HBV DNA collected at
      baseline, end of treatment, and end of follow-up from patients who were treated
      either with 60 MUg of YIC, or with placebo. Patients were dichotomized to HBeAg
      sero-converted and non-converted groups in comparison with patients in the
      placebo group. The correlations between HBeAg seroconversion and the decrease of
      HBsAg, HBV DNA and ALT levels during study period were analyzed using a logistic
      regression model. Results showed marked and sustained reduction of HBsAg, HBV DNA
      and ALT level in HBeAg sero-converted patients compared to those in patients of
      HBeAg non-converted and placebo groups. Reduction of HBV DNA and elevation of ALT
      was markedly associated with HBeAg seroconversion with an adjusted OR of 0.09
      (95%CI: 0.01-0.62) and 0.08 (95%CI: 0.02-0.37) respectively after adjusted by age
      and sex, while reduction of HBsAg level was close to of significance (p=0.054).
      Analysis indicated that HBeAg sero-conversion was a reasonable endpoint for
      therapeutic vaccination.

PMID- 20937313
TI  - Influenza vaccination for healthcare workers who work with the elderly:
      systematic review.
AB  - AIM: To identify studies of influenza vaccination of HCWs and influenza in
      elderly residents in long-term care facilities. SCOPE: We searched seven
      electronic databases for randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and non-RCTs. Two
      reviewers independently extracted data and assessed trial quality. CONCLUSIONS:
      The key outcomes are serologically proven influenza, pneumonia, and deaths from
      pneumonia, and pooled data from three C-RCTs showed no effect. Pooled data from
      three C-RCTs showed lower resident all-cause mortality, but as influenza
      constituted less than 10% of all deaths even in epidemic years we question the
      appropriateness of this outcome measure. Pooled data from three C-RCTs showed
      vaccination of HCWs reduced ILI and data from one C-RCT that HCW vaccination
      reduced GP consultations for ILI, but as influenza constitutes less than 25% of
      ILI and we did not show that HCW influenza vaccination reduced serologically
      proven influenza we question whether this effect is due to confounding.

PMID- 20937314
TI  - Vaccination with dendritic cells charged with apoptotic/necrotic B16 melanoma
      induces the formation of subcutaneous lymphoid tissue.
AB  - Antigen presentation by dendritic cells (DC) is of key importance for the
      initiation of the primary immune response. Mice vaccinated with DC charged with
      apoptotic/necrotic B16 cells (DC-Apo/Nec) are protected against B16 challenge.
      The aim of this study was to assess vaccine cell migration in our system and to
      find out if there is an immunological response taking place at the vaccination
      site. The formation of a pseudocapsule, peripheral node addresin expression in
      small venules, and the recruitment of a wide variety of cellular populations,
      including macrophages, polymorphonuclear lymphocytes, and CD8+ and CD4+ T
      lymphocytes found in association with DC, evidenced the formation of tertiary
      lymphoid tissue in the vaccination site in our experimental system.

PMID- 20937315
TI  - Regulation of the activity of an adeno-associated virus vector cancer vaccine
      administered with synthetic Toll-like receptor agonists.
AB  - Recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV) is being tested as a vaccine vector,
      but the cellular immune responses elicited in animal tumor models have not been
      completely protective. The adjuvant effects of the TLR7 agonist, imiquimod, and
      the TLR9 agonist, ODN1826, were tested with rAAV expressing the melanoma antigen,
      Trp2. Mice immunized with rAAV-TRP2 and either TLR agonist alone generated T
      helper-1 antitumor immune responses. Antitumor activity in all experiments was
      still incomplete. Furthermore, antitumor activity was not achieved when the
      combination of ODN1826 and imiquimod was used as adjuvant. In vitro, the
      combination increased IL-10 production by dendritic cells. In vivo, the
      combination reduced T-helper-1 response and dendritic cell activation and
      increased myeloid suppressor cells; regulatory T cells were not significantly
      modulated. Depletion of myeloid derived suppressor cells enhanced the antitumor
      activity of immunization with rAAV-TRP2 and the imiquimod-ODN1826 combination;
      depletion of regulatory T cells did not. TLR7 and TLR9 agonists can be used to
      enhance the immune response to rAAV immunogens, but antagonism can be observed
      when combined. Suppressor mechanisms, including those mediated by myeloid cells,
      may negatively regulate the antitumor immune response.

PMID- 20937316
TI  - Biochemical characterizations of Escherichia coli-expressed protective antigen
      Ag473 of Neisseria meningitides group B.
AB  - Polysaccharide-based vaccines against Neisseria meningitidis (Nm) serogroups A,
      C, Y and W135 have been available since 1970, but similar vaccine candidates
      developed for Nm group B (NmB) have not been successful due to both poor
      immunogenicity and their potential immunological cross-reactivity with human
      neurological tissue. In previous reports, a protective antigen and vaccine
      candidate, Ag473, was identified using proteomics and NmB-specific bactericidal
      monoclonal antibody. To initiate human phase one clinical trials, antigen
      production and characterization, pre-clinical toxicology and animal studies are
      required. In the present study, we report the biochemical characterization of
      Escherichia coli-expressed recombinant Ag473 (rAg473). Using MALDI-TOF mass
      analysis, chromatographically purified rAg473 was found to have two major
      isoforms that have molecular masses of 11,306 and 11,544amu, respectively. The
      isoforms were separated using RP-HPLC and pooled into two fractions. Based on the
      chromatogram, the ratio of lipoproteins in fractions #1 and #2 was found to be 1
      2. GC-MS analysis of lipoproteins was performed, and the acylated fatty acids
      were identified. The results indicated that the first lipoproteins in fraction #1
      contained the lipids palmitic acid (C16:0), cyclopropaneoctanoic acid (C17:1)
      and, predominately, stearic acid (C18:0). A different lipid composition of
      cyclopropaneoctanoic acid (C17:1), oleic acid (C18:1) and, predominately,
      palmitic acid (C16:0) was found in the second lipoprotein fraction. Both
      lipoprotein isoforms were tested and found to have Toll-like receptor (TLR)
      agonist activity in stimulating cytokine secretion from THP-1 cells. Circular
      dichroism (CD) analysis showed the secondary structure of rAg473 to be dominated
      by alpha-helices (48%), and the overall protein structure was stable up to 60
      degrees C and could refold after having been exposed to a temperature cycle from
      20 to 90 degrees C. In addition, the solubility of rAg473 (5mg/mL) was not
      affected after several freeze-thaw cycles. These biophysical and immunological
      properties make rAg473 a good vaccine candidate against NmB.

PMID- 20937317
TI  - Comparison of T cell immune responses induced by vectored HIV vaccines in non
      human primates and humans.
AB  - Following the disappointing outcome of the phase IIb test-of-concept step study
      in which Merck's adenovirus type 5 (Ad5) HIV-1 clade B gag/pol/nef vaccine failed
      to demonstrate efficacy in HIV high-risk individuals, an extensive review of the
      trial and preclinical studies which supported the trial is ongoing. One point of
      interest is how well preclinical nonhuman primate immunogenicity studies
      predicted what was observed in humans. Here we compare the HIV-1-specific
      cellular immune responses elicited in nonhuman primates and human clinical trial
      subjects to several HIV-1 vaccine candidates. We find that although rhesus
      macaques are immunologically more responsive to vaccination than humans, the
      hierarchy in potency of single-modality prime-boost regimens using several vector
      approaches (adenovirus, DNA, and pox vectors) was well predicted. Vaccine
      approaches using complex formulations such as novel adjuvants (DNA+CRL1005) or
      mixed-modality prime-boost (DNA/Ad5; Ad5/ALVAC) did not correlate as well between
      rhesus macaques and humans. Although the immunogenicity of the vaccines and
      vaccine regimens evaluated were not all accurately predicted, testing in rhesus
      macaques generally offers an indispensable tool for ranking the immunological
      potential of HIV-1 vaccine candidates.

PMID- 20937318
TI  - Immunological parameters related to the adjuvant effect of the ordered mesoporous
      silica SBA-15.
AB  - In 2006, the first report of a nanostructured material as adjuvant was described
      establishing the effectiveness of the ordered mesoporous SBA-15 silica as an
      immune adjuvant. The present study evaluated the SBA-15 capacity to modulate the
      immune responsiveness of High and Low responder mice immunized with BSA
      encapsulated/adsorbed in SBA-15 by the intramuscular or oral route and the
      adjuvant effect was compared with the responsiveness induced by BSA in aluminum
      hydroxide salts or emulsified in Incomplete Freund adjuvant. These results
      demonstrate the ability of the non-toxic SBA-15 nanoparticles to increase the
      immunogenicity and repair the responsiveness of the constitutively low responder
      individuals inducing both the IgG2a and the IgG1 isotypes, independently of the
      immune cell committed and conditioning the low phenotype. This new adjuvant may
      reveal novel therapeutic targets for immune modulation and vaccine design.

PMID- 20937319
TI  - Seroprevalence of rubella in female migrant factory workers in Shenzhen, China.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Rubella remains a common disease in Mainland China and is a major
      cause of severe birth defects from Congenital Rubella Syndrome (CRS). Rubella
      containing vaccines were not included in China's National Expanded Program of
      Immunization (NEPI) until December 2007. In Shenzhen, women of childbearing age
      make up a large percentage of its migrant factory worker population.
      Understanding their immunity to rubella is critical in furthering efforts towards
      rubella vaccination programs. OBJECTIVES: To investigate the seronegativity of
      rubella antibodies and evaluate potential associates of rubella immunity among
      female migrant factory workers in Shenzhen, China. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Serum
      samples were collected from 518 female migrant workers, aged 18-55, working in 44
      randomly selected factories in Shenzhen, China during May through June of 2009.
      Samples were tested for Rubella Immunoglobulin G (IgG) using a commercial Enzyme
      linked immunosorbant assay kit. Self-reported vaccination histories and socio
      demographic information were also collected. RESULTS: Of 518 female workers, 402
      (77.6%) were immune to rubella. Significant differences in seronegativity were
      dependent on region of origin, being without a job contract, age group, marital
      status and seronegativity of measles. CONCLUSIONS: Seroprevalence of antibodies
      to rubella in Shenzhen, China amongst female migrant workers is too low to
      provide immunity in the population. Given the high numbers of women of
      childbearing age amongst Shenzhen migrant factory workers coming from many
      provinces across China, local health authorities in Shenzhen should consider
      combining new rubella immunization programs with existing measles immunization
      efforts in this population.

PMID- 20937320
TI  - Generation of an immune microenvironment as a novel mechanism for myotoxins to
      potentiate genetic vaccines.
AB  - We recently reported that administration of low doses of myotoxins at vaccination
      sites potentiated antigen-specific T-cell immunity induced by genetic cancer
      vaccines in mice, an effect which was superior to TLR agonists. In the current
      study, we found unexpectedly that the mechanism of this potent adjuvant effect
      was immune-mediated. Myotoxins induced sterile inflammation at vaccination sites,
      associated with a predominant infiltration of dendritic cells (DC). Inhibition of
      DC recruitment abrogated the immune stimulation effect of myotoxins, suggesting
      the requirement for DC. Genetic profiling of myotoxin-treated tissues revealed
      characteristics of an immune microenvironment with up-regulation of chemokines,
      proinflammatory cytokines, Toll-like receptors (TLR) and their endogenous
      ligands, and activation of innate immunity. Mechanistic experiments in vivo also
      elucidated the requirement for genes triggering DC maturation including TLR
      signaling and CD40. These studies suggest that myotoxins-induced sterile
      inflammation generates a favorable microenvironment that promotes multiple stages
      in the development of adaptive immunity. This novel mechanism of immune
      potentiation may be exploited for development of adjuvants for genetic vaccines
      against infectious pathogens and cancer.

PMID- 20937321
TI  - Passive protection effect of chicken egg yolk immunoglobulins on enterovirus 71
      infected mice.
AB  - The objective of this study is to evaluate the passive protective efficiency of
      immunoglobulin in yolk (IgY) specific against human enterovirus type 71 (EV71).
      The antibody was raised by intramuscular immunization to 10 White Leghorn hens,
      with inactivated human EV71 serving as the antigen. The titer and specificity of
      the antibody were analyzed from purified IgY in the egg yolks of immunized hens.
      Results indicate that the titer of IgY specific against EV71 increased from the
      third week after the first immunization. The content of total IgY was 190 +/- 26
      mg/yolk, with an average concentration of specific IgY of 6.34 +/- 3.38 mg/yolk
      in the eggs from 3 to 18 wk after immunization. The results of the neutralization
      effect of specific IgY in EV71-challenged mice demonstrate that the EV71-specific
      IgY, either by intraperitoneal injection or oral administration, was able to
      significantly reduce the morbidity and mortality in EV71 infected mice pups.

PMID- 20937322
TI  - Serologic testing to verify the immune status of internationally adopted children
      against vaccine preventable diseases.
AB  - Definitive immunization guidelines for internationally adopted children are
      lacking. We examined whether these children had serologic evidence of protection
      against vaccine-preventable diseases. For children with >=3 vaccine doses,
      overall protection was high for diphtheria (85%), tetanus (95%), polio (93%),
      hepatitis B (77%), and Hib (67%). For children >=12 months of age with >=1 dose
      of measles, mumps, or rubella vaccines, 95%, 72%, and 94% were immune,
      respectively. Children without immunization documentation had lower immunity.
      Serologic testing was useful in verifying the immunization status in
      internationally adopted children with and without documentation of immunizations.

PMID- 20937323
TI  - Immunogenicity and protective efficacy of a DNA vaccine encoding a chimeric
      protein of avian influenza hemagglutinin subtype H5 fused to CD154 (CD40L) in
      Pekin ducks.
AB  - The potential of CD154 (CD40L) as a powerful immunological adjuvant has been
      shown in various strategies. In this study we examine the immunogenicity and
      protective efficacy of a CD40-targeting avian influenza hemagglutinin (HA)
      subunit DNA vaccine in ducks. DNA constructs encoded the ectodomain of the HA
      protein of LPAI A/mallard/BC/373/2005 (H5N2) with or without fusion to the
      ectodomain of duck CD154. CD40-targeting significantly accelerated and enhanced
      humoral responses to the vector-encoded HA protein. In viral challenge
      experiments with A/chicken/Vietnam/14/2005 (H5N1), DNA immunization conferred
      partial protection against the genetically distant HPAI. The observed improved
      kinetics and magnitude of immune induction suggest that CD40-targeting holds
      promise for influenza A vaccine development.

PMID- 20937324
TI  - Endemic diphtheria in Ho Chi Minh City; Viet Nam: a matched case-control study to
      identify risk factors of incidence.
AB  - From 1999 to 2004, Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), Vie Nam reported 401 clinically
      suspected and 90 laboratory-confirmed diphtheria. To identify risk factors, a
      matched case-control study was conducted during 2005 and 2006. In total, 88 cases
      that occurred in 2003 and 2004 and 352 age- and sex-matched controls were
      studied. No DPT/DT immunisation (odds ratio, 9.9 [95% CI, 1.9-52.3]) and bathing
      only once a day or less (OR 1.7 [95% CI, 1.0-2.9]) were associated with
      diphtheria incidence. Estimated vaccine efficacy of three or more DPT/DT doses
      was 88%. Immunising children with zero-dose status of diphtheria toxoid
      inoculation, rather than the introduction of booster doses, and the promotion of
      skin hygiene were considered to be the priority interventions in controlling the
      endemic diphtheria in HCMC.

PMID- 20937325
TI  - Effects of intraaccumbens amphetamine on production of 50 kHz vocalizations in
      three lines of selectively bred Long-Evans rats.
AB  - Effects of direct injections of amphetamine into the shell of the nucleus
      accumbens were studied in three lines of Long-Evans rats, two of which had been
      selected for low and high rates of 50 kHz calls in adolescence in response to a
      standard social stimulation, and compared to results from randomly selected rats.
      Injections of amphetamine into the medial shell of the nucleus accumbens
      significantly increased the number of 50 kHz vocalizations in the high line but
      not low line, as compared to the random controls. This response was shell
      specific and antagonized by raclopride. Rats of the high line emitted
      significantly more frequency-modulated calls, with broader bandwidth and higher
      mean peak frequency than rats of all other lines. It is concluded that the high
      line of Long-Evans rats represents animals prone to positively valenced emotional
      states dependent on endogenous shell dopamine, as compared to the low line
      animals. Low line rats were less vocal than high and random line rats and not
      significantly responsive to intraaccumbens amphetamine. Selection of rats on the
      basis of the number of emitted 50 kHz calls is a useful model for studying brain
      mechanisms of different emotional phenotypes. The results also indicate that
      accumbens shell dopamine responsivity may be critical in determining the positive
      or negative emotional phenotype of the organism.

PMID- 20937326
TI  - Effects of the enteric bacterial metabolic product propionic acid on object
      directed behavior, social behavior, cognition, and neuroinflammation in
      adolescent rats: Relevance to autism spectrum disorder.
AB  - Recent evidence suggests that a variety of environmental factors, including
      dietary and gastrointestinal agents, may contribute to autism spectrum disorders
      (ASD). Here we administered propionic acid (PPA), a short chain fatty acid that
      is used as a food preservative and also is a metabolic end-product of enteric
      bacteria in the gut, to adolescent (41 +/- 4 days) male rats in a study of
      restricted/repetitive behavior, social behavior, and cognition. The goal was to
      further evaluate the effects of PPA in young rodents. PPA (4 MUl of 0.26 M
      solution) was administered intracerebroventricularly prior to each behavioral
      test. Rats treated with PPA displayed restricted behavioral interest to a
      specific object among a group of objects, impaired social behavior, and impaired
      reversal in a T-maze task compared to controls given phosphate buffered saline.
      Immunohistochemical analysis of brain tissue from PPA rats revealed reactive
      astrogliosis and activated microglia, indicating an innate neuroinflammatory
      response. These findings are consistent with our earlier findings of ASD-relevant
      behavioral and brain events in adult rats given PPA, and support further study of
      effects of PPA in young rodents by establishing similar effects in adolescent
      animals.

PMID- 20937327
TI  - Adaptation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and glucose to repeated
      immobilization or restraint stress is not influenced by associative signals.
AB  - Repeated exposure to the same stressor very often results in a reduction of some
      prototypical stress responses, namely those related to the hypothalamic-pituitary
      adrenal (HPA) and sympatho-medullo-adrenal (SMA) axes. This reduced response to
      repeated exposure to the same (homotypic) stressor (adaptation) is usually
      considered as a habituation-like process, and therefore, a non-associative type
      of learning. However, there is some evidence that contextual cues and therefore
      associative processes could contribute to adaptation. In the present study we
      demonstrated in two experiments using adult male rats that repeated daily
      exposure to restraint (REST) or immobilization on boards (IMO) reduced the HPA
      (plasma levels of ACTH and corticosterone) and glucose responses to the homotypic
      stressor and such reduced responses remained intact when all putative cues
      associated to the procedure (experimenter, way of transporting to the stress
      room, stress boxes, stress room and colour of the restrainer in the case of REST)
      were modified on the next day. Therefore, the present results do not favour the
      view that adaptation after repeated exposure to a stressor may involve
      associative processes related to signals predicting the imminence of the
      stressors, but more studies are needed on this issue.

PMID- 20937328
TI  - Effect of one week of stress on emotional reactivity and learning and memory
      performances in Japanese quail.
AB  - Chronic stress is known to induce long term alterations of emotional behaviours
      as well as cognitive performances leading thereby to welfare or husbandry
      problems. These stress-induced consequences are observed following long periods
      of stress lasting from several weeks to several years. The current study examined
      whether a shorter period of stress (one week) produced similar impairing effects.
      Two-week old Japanese quail were either submitted to a series of aversive events
      over consecutive 8 days, at unpredictable times each day (treated animals) or
      left undisturbed (controls). Following the treatment period, animals were weighed
      and basal as well as aversive events-induced levels of plasma corticosterone were
      quantified. Quail were also tested for emotional reactivity in three tests (the
      tonic immobility test, the hole-in-the-wall and novel object tests) and for
      spatial reference memory. Although there was no difference in corticosterone
      levels between the two groups, the treated animals had lower body weight than
      controls. Behavioural investigations after the treatment period did not reveal
      any difference between the groups in the three emotional reactivity tests. In the
      spatial task, treated quail displayed enhanced behavioural flexibility as
      revealed by their higher performances during the reversal phase of the task. The
      alteration of growth suggests that a short period of repetitive exposures to
      unpredictable aversive events can be perceived by quail as stressful. Such a
      stress period can improve spatial learning performances in quail supporting the
      critical role played by the duration of the stress period on cognitive
      performance.

PMID- 20937329
TI  - Phenylephrine into the median raphe nucleus evokes an anxiolytic-like effect in
      free-feeding rats but does not alter food intake in free feeding rats.
AB  - This study investigated the role of MnR alpha1-adrenergic receptors in the
      control of anxiety-like and feeding behaviors and attempted to reveal a possible
      functional association between both behaviors. The alpha1-adrenergic agonist
      phenylephrine (PHE) (at doses of 0.2, 2, 6, 20 nmol) or saline was injected into
      the MnR or into the pontine nucleus (Pn) of free-feeding rats. The animals were
      exposed to the elevated plus maze to analyse spatial-temporal and ethological
      variables. Subsequently, the ingestive and non-ingestive behaviors were recorded
      during 30 min and feeding and drinking behaviors were measured. Both in the
      elevated plus-maze and in the feeding chamber, all PHE doses injected into the
      MnR decreased the risk assessment frequency, an ethological parameter of
      anxiolytic-like effect. The spatial-temporal variables remained unchanged after
      PHE treatment. Feeding behavior was not affected by PHE into the MnR. The anxiety
      like or ingestive behaviors were not affected by PHE treatment in the Pn, an area
      adjacent to the MnR. These data indicate that alpha1-adrenergic receptors within
      MnR participate in the control of anxiety-like behaviors. The absence of effects
      on feeding behavior after MnR alpha1-adrenergic activation could be due to an
      elevated alpha1-adrenergic tonus and its possible strong facilitatory influence
      on 5-HT neurons within MnR. Furthermore, the present results suggest that anxiety
      like and feeding behaviors controled by MnR adrenergic circuits operate by
      independent neural pathways.

PMID- 20937330
TI  - Chemical stimulation of the lateral hypothalamus induces conditioned place
      preference in rats: Involvement of OX1 and CB1 receptors in the ventral tegmental
      area.
AB  - Orexinergic projection originated from the lateral hypothalamus (LH) to the
      ventral tegmental area (VTA) has an important role in the acquisition of morphine
      conditioned place preference (CPP). However, little if any is known about the
      function and/or effect of orexin on CPP in rats. In the present study, we
      investigated the direct effect of orexinergic neurons on acquisition of CPP by
      chemical stimulation of LH and involvement of orexin-A and CB1 receptors within
      the VTA in development of reward-related behaviors. 129 adult male albino Wistar
      rats weighing 220-320 g were unilaterally implanted by two separate cannulae into
      the LH and VTA. The CPP paradigm was done; conditioning score and locomotor
      activity were recorded by Ethovision software. The results showed that unilateral
      intra-LH administration of carbachol (62.5, 125 and 250 nmol/0.5 MUl saline) as a
      cholinergic agonist, during conditioning phase, induced CPP in a dose-dependent
      manner. The maximal effect was shown at the dose of 250 nmol (P<0.001) compared
      to vehicle (saline) group. However, intra-VTA administration of SB334867 as a
      selective orexin-A receptor antagonist (0.1, 1 and 10 nmol/0.3 MUl DMSO) and
      AM251 (5, 25 and 125 nmol/0.3 MUl DMSO) as a CB1 receptor antagonist, just 5 min
      before carbachol during the 3-day conditioning phase, could dose-dependently
      inhibit the development of LH stimulation-induced CPP in the rats. It is supposed
      that the orexinergic projection from LH to VTA is involved in LH chemical
      stimulation-induced CPP and orexin-A receptor in the VTA has a substantial role
      in this phenomenon. Our findings also suggest the existence of cross-talk between
      cannabinoid and orexinergic systems within the VTA in conditioned place
      preference paradigm.

PMID- 20937331
TI  - Effects of cannabinoid CB1 receptor antagonist rimonabant on acquisition and
      reinstatement of psychostimulant reward memory in mice.
AB  - Drug addiction processes are considered to be mainly controlled by the
      mesocorticolimbic dopamine system. Cannabinoids, a class of psychoactive drugs of
      abuse, elicit their rewarding and pharmacological effects through the
      endocannabinoid system. Previous research has indicated that dopaminergic neurons
      in the mesocorticolimbic system are also under the control of the endocannabinoid
      system. Recently, evidence has suggested that the endocannabinoid system may also
      participate in the modulation of the common reward system. The present study
      examined whether rimonabant, a cannabinoid CB1 receptor antagonist, disrupts the
      acquisition and reinstatement of psychostimulant reward memory measured by
      conditioned place preference (CPP). Mice were trained to acquire methamphetamine
      or cocaine-induced CPP. A priming injection of methamphetamine (0.5 mg/kg, i.p.)
      or cocaine (5 mg/kg, i.p.) was respectively given to reinstate methamphetamine or
      cocaine-induced CPP after extinction. Vehicle or rimonabant (1 or 3 mg/kg, i.p.)
      was administered at different time-points: 30 min before each CPP training
      session (acquisition) or 30 min before the priming injection (reinstatement).
      Rimonabant at doses of 1 and 3 mg/kg significantly inhibited the acquisition of
      methamphetamine- and cocaine-induced CPP. At the high dose (3 mg/kg), rimonabant
      disrupted the reinstatement of extinguished methamphetamine- or cocaine-induced
      CPP. These findings indicate that cannabinoid CB1 receptors play a major role in
      psychostimulant reward memory, and rimonabant may be a potential pharmacotherapy
      for psychostimulant addiction.

PMID- 20937332
TI  - Activation of the melanocortin-4 receptor causes enhanced excitation in
      presympathetic paraventricular neurons in obese Zucker rats.
AB  - Sympathetic nerve activity is increased in obesity-related hypertension. However,
      the central mechanisms involved in the increased sympathetic outflow remain
      unclear. The hypothalamic melanocortin system is important for regulating energy
      balance and sympathetic outflow. To understand the mechanisms by which the
      melanocortin systems regulates sympathetic outflow, we investigated the role of
      melanocortin 4 receptors (MC4R) in regulating presympathetic paraventricular
      nucleus (PVN) neurons. We performed whole-cell patch-clamp recordings on
      retrogradely labeled PVN neurons projecting to the rostral ventrolateral medulla
      in brain slices from obese zucker rats (OZRs) and lean zucker rats (LZRs). The
      MC4R agonists melanotan II (MTII) and alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (alpha
      MSH) increased the firing activity and depolarized the labeled PVN neurons from
      both LZRs and OZRs in a concentration-dependent manner. MTII produced significant
      greater increase in the firing activity in OZRs than in LZRs. Blocking MC4R with
      the specific antagonist SHU9119 had no effect on the basal firing rate but
      abolished the MTII-induced increase in the firing rate in both OZRs and LZRs.
      Furthermore, intracellular dialysis of guanosine 5'-O-(2-thodiphosphate), but not
      bath application of kynurenic acid and bicuculline, eliminated the MTII-induced
      increase in firing activity. In addition, MTII had no effect on the frequency and
      amplitude of glutamatergic excitatory postsynaptic currents and GABAergic
      inhibitory postsynaptic currents in labeled PVN neurons. Collectively, our
      findings suggest that MC4R contributes to the elevated excitability of PVN
      presympathetic neurons, which may be involved in obesity-related hypertension.

PMID- 20937333
TI  - Complete inactivation of HIV-1 using photo-labeled non-nucleoside reverse
      transcriptase inhibitors.
AB  - We demonstrate that a photo-labeled derivative of the non-nucleoside reverse
      transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI) dapivirine termed DAPY, when used together with
      exposure to ultraviolet light, was able to completely and irreversibly inactivate
      both HIV-1 RT activity as well as infectiousness in each of a T cell line and
      peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Control experiments using various
      concentrations of DAPY revealed that a combination of exposure to ultraviolet
      light together with use of the specific, high affinity photo-labeled compound was
      necessary for complete inactivation to occur. This method of HIV RT inactivation
      may have applicability toward preservation of an intact viral structure and
      warrants further investigation in regard to the potential of this approach to
      elicit a durable, broad protective immune response.

PMID- 20937334
TI  - Theranostic agents that co-deliver therapeutic and imaging agents?

PMID- 20937335
TI  - Preparing meals under time stress. The experience of working mothers.
AB  - The present study quantitatively explored the effects of mothers' perceived time
      pressure, as well as meal-related variables including mothers' convenience
      orientation and meal preparation confidence, on the healthiness of evening meals
      served to school-aged children (5-18 years old) over a 7-day period. A sample of
      120 employed mothers, who identified themselves as the chief meal-preparers in
      their households, completed a brief, self-report, meal-related questionnaire.
      Results revealed that mothers' perceived time pressure did not significantly
      predict meal healthiness. Mothers' confidence in their ability to prepare a
      healthy meal was the only unique, significant predictor of a healthy evening
      meal. Mothers who were more confident in their ability to prepare a healthy meal
      served healthier evening meals than those who were less confident. In addition,
      mothers' perceived time pressure and convenience orientation were negatively
      related to healthy meal preparation confidence. Results suggest that mothers'
      perceived time pressure and convenience orientation, may indirectly compromise
      meal healthiness, by decreasing mothers' meal preparation confidence. Practical
      and theoretical implications of the study's findings are discussed.

PMID- 20937336
TI  - Plasma nesfatin-1 concentrations in restricting-type anorexia nervosa.
AB  - Restricting-type anorexia nervosa (AN-R) is characterized by chronic food
      restriction and severe emaciation due to various cognitive biases such as a
      distorted self-image. In spite of several treatments, AN-R continues to be a
      refractory disease because of its unknown pathogenesis. Although previous studies
      have shown that changes in feeding regulatory peptides such as ghrelin are
      involved in anorexia, few reports have described the relationship between AN-R
      and nesfatin-1, a recently identified satiety peptide. Therefore, we examined the
      plasma nesfatin-1 levels in AN-R patients to determine its role in AN-R. A total
      of 15 women participated in the study; 7 patients with AN-R and 8 age-matched
      healthy controls (average BMI, 13.02 +/- 0.30 vs. 21.57 +/- 0.48, respectively).
      Our results showed that plasma nesfatin-1 levels were significantly lower in AN-R
      group than in control group (6.23 +/- 0.70 ng/ml vs. 8.91 +/- 0.85 ng/ml,
      respectively, P<0.05). Plasma acyl ghrelin and des-acyl ghrelin levels were
      significantly higher in AN-R group than in control group (acyl ghrelin: 62.4 +/-
      10.15 fmol/ml vs. 27.20 +/- 5.60 fmol/ml, P<0.01 and des-acyl ghrelin: 300.17 +/-
      55.95 fmol/ml vs. 107.34 +/- 40.63 fmol/ml, P<0.05). Although AN-R is associated
      with emaciation for a prolonged period, our result suggested that nesfatin-1
      levels may be regulated by nutrition status and response to starvation.

PMID- 20937337
TI  - Tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interleukin-10 contribute to immunoparalysis in
      patients with acute pancreatitis.
AB  - Immunoparalysis, defined as downregulation of human leukocyte antigen-DR (HLA-DR)
      expression on monocytes, is strongly associated with septic complications of
      acute pancreatitis. However, the possible causes of this immunoparalysis have
      been largely unknown. A prospective case control study was performed in 54
      patients with acute pancreatitis and 24 normal volunteers. HLA-DR expression on
      monocytes and serum cytokine levels were measured. In addition, monocytes from
      normal volunteers treated with tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha in vitro were
      evaluated for HLA-DR expression and cytokine release. HLA-DR expression was
      significantly lower in patients with severe pancreatitis than in those with mild
      acute pancreatitis and healthy volunteers (42.28% +/- 11.49% vs. 86.85% +/-
      14.56% vs. 93.92% +/- 7.40%, p < 0.0001). Pearson correlation analysis showed
      that serum TNF-alpha and serum interleukin-10 levels were both correlated with
      HLA-DR expression. In addition, exogenous TNF-alpha could enhance IL-10 secretion
      from normal monocytes in a dose-response manner. In addition, TNF-alpha could
      downregulate the HLA-DR expression on monocytes even in the presence of anti-IL
      10 antibodies. Therefore, both TNF-alpha and IL-10 contributed to the development
      of immunoparalysis in patients with acute pancreatitis.

PMID- 20937338
TI  - HLA-A, -B, -C, -DQB1, and -DRB1,3,4,5 allele and haplotype frequencies in the
      Costa Rica Central Valley Population and its relationship to worldwide
      populations.
AB  - The human leukocyte antigen (HLA) system is the most polymorphic in humans. Its
      allele, genotype, and haplotype frequencies vary significantly among different
      populations. Molecular typing data on HLA are necessary for the development of
      stem cell donor registries, cord blood banks, HLA-disease association studies,
      and anthropology studies. The Costa Rica Central Valley Population (CCVP) is the
      major population in this country. No previous study has characterized HLA
      frequencies in this population. Allele group and haplotype frequencies of HLA
      genes in the CCVP were determined by means of molecular typing in a sample of 130
      unrelated blood donors from one of the country's major hospitals. A comparison
      between these frequencies and those of 126 populations worldwide was also carried
      out. A minimum variance dendrogram based on squared Euclidean distances was
      constructed to assess the relationship between the CCVP sample and populations
      from all over the world. Allele group and haplotype frequencies observed in this
      study are consistent with a profile of a dynamic and diverse population, with a
      hybrid ethnic origin, predominantly Caucasian-Amerindian. Results showed that
      populations genetically closest to the CCVP are a Mestizo urban population from
      Venezuela, and another one from Guadalajara, Mexico.

PMID- 20937339
TI  - Functional assessment of Toll-like receptor 2 and its relevance in patients with
      Staphylococcus aureus infection of joint prosthesis.
AB  - Staphylococcus aureus induces inflammation in experimental models through Toll
      like receptor 2 (TLR2). The clinical relevance of this observation is debated. We
      evaluated the relationship between TLR2 R753Q single nucleotide polymorphism
      (SNP) and S aureus infection of joint prosthesis. Human embryonic kidney 293
      (HEK293) cells transfected with wild-type and mutant R753Q TLR2 gene were
      assessed for response to S aureus peptidoglycan. Real-time polymerase chain
      reaction and gene sequencing of DNA were performed to assess TLR2 R753Q SNP in 76
      patients with S aureus prosthetic joint infection (PJI) and 208 noninfected
      controls. HEK293 cells expressing wild-type TLR2 gene responded robustly to S
      aureus peptidoglycan, while cells with mutant R753Q TLR2 gene did not. The
      prevalence of R753Q SNP was high in S aureus PJI patients (heterozygous in 8%,
      and homozygous in 22%), although not significantly different from controls (12%
      and 27%, respectively). The TLR2 variant allele was not significantly associated
      with the risk or survival free of recurrent PJI S aureus. In conclusion, TLR2
      R753Q SNP disabled the cellular response to S aureus peptidoglycan in vitro.
      However, TLR2 R753Q SNP was not significantly associated with the risk or outcome
      of PJI due to S aureus in human patients.

PMID- 20937340
TI  - Ficolin-2 levels and genetic polymorphisms of FCN2 in malaria.
AB  - Human ficolin-2 (L-ficolin; FCN2) is a serum protein binding to sugar moieties of
      different human micro-pathogens forcing phagocytosis. Here, we investigate the
      clinical significance of FCN2 in African children with either mild or severe
      malaria (n = 130 and n = 108, respectively) from Gabon by analyzing three
      promoter SNPs (-986G>A, -602G>A, and -4A>G) and one single nucleotide
      polymorphisms (SNP) in exon 8 (+6424G>T) using quantitative TaqMan, real-time
      polymerase chain reaction (PCR). In addition, we measured the ficolin-2 plasma
      levels at two time points: on admission (t(0), acute disease) and 4 weeks after
      treatment (t(1), healthy phase). Comparison of ficolin-2 plasma levels shows that
      ficolin-2 concentration is highest during acute severe disease. In addition, we
      determined polymorphisms in the promoter and all coding regions of FCN2 in 40
      Gabonese. Linkage disequilibrium data revealed polymorphic allelic combination
      patterns in the FCN2 promoter region; strong allelic combinations at -986 and -4,
      and -557 and -64 were found. No FCN2 promoter haplotypes were significantly
      distributed between mild and severe cases.

PMID- 20937341
TI  - Safety evaluation of biological drugs: what are toxicology studies in primates
      telling us?
AB  - A total of 26 toxicology studies performed with biological drugs (monoclonal
      antibodies and related immunoglobulins as well as recombinant human proteins) in
      the primate have been evaluated to give an insight into the types of study
      designs used and results. The evaluation involved examination of pivotal repeat
      dose studies which ranged from 2 to 13 weeks in duration, used to support early
      clinical investigation. Either no findings were seen or restricted to those which
      could largely be explained by the drug's pharmacology. Based on these results and
      supporting findings from a literature review of other similar drugs in
      development or approved for marketed use, a case has been made to revisit aspects
      of the standard design approach of toxicology studies for biological drugs. Thus,
      consideration should be given to a move away from the use of three drug-treated
      and numerous non-dose recovery groups currently used to support initial clinical
      entry to a robust toxicological assessment that could be achieved in many cases
      with one control and one or two drug-treated groups and with non-dose recovery
      groups only for the control and highest level used. An argument for not routinely
      measuring for anti-drug antibodies unless there is a specific drug-related reason
      is also made.

PMID- 20937342
TI  - Estimation and correlation of cigarette smoke exposure in Canadian smokers as
      determined by filter analysis and biomarkers of exposure.
AB  - A clinical study conducted in Canada compared two methods of estimating exposure
      to cigarette smoke in 192 volunteer subjects: 43 smokers of 4-6 mg, 49 of 8-12 mg
      and 50 of 14-15 mg ISO tar yield cigarettes and 50 non-smokers. Estimates of
      mouth level exposure (MLE) to nicotine, 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1
      butanone (NNK), pyrene and acrolein were obtained by chemical analysis of spent
      cigarette filters. Estimates of smoke constituent uptake were achieved by
      analysis of urinary biomarkers for total nicotine equivalents (nicotine,
      cotinine, trans-3'-hydroxycotinine plus their glucuronide conjugates), NNK (total
      4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanol (NNAL) plus glucuronide), pyrene (1
      hydroxy pyrene plus glucuronide) and acrolein (3-hydroxylpropyl-mercapturic acid)
      plus the nicotine metabolite cotinine in plasma and saliva. The objective of our
      study was to confirm the correlations between measures of human exposure obtained
      by filter analysis and biomarkers. Significant correlations (p<0.001) were found
      between MLE and the relevant biomarker for each smoke constituent. The adjusted
      values of the Pearson correlation coefficients (r) were 0.80 (nicotine), 0.77
      (acrolein) and 0.44 (pyrene). NNK correlations could not be obtained because of
      the low NNK yield of Canadian cigarettes. Unexpectedly high levels of acrolein
      biomarker found in non-smokers urine on one of the two days sampled emphasised
      the need for more than one sampling occasion per period and an awareness of non
      tobacco sources of smoke constituents under investigation. No consistent dose
      response, in line with ISO tar yield smoked, of MLE estimates was found for
      nicotine, pyrene and acrolein and respective biomarkers. The influence of
      demographics on our results has also been examined.

PMID- 20937343
TI  - A survey of mouth level exposure to cigarette smoke in the United States.
AB  - Smoke yields determined by a machine-based smoking method cannot adequately
      predict exposures experienced by human smokers. In this work, a filter analysis
      technique which addresses this fundamental limitation was used to measure mouth
      level exposures (MLE) to tar and nicotine in 1330 smokers of 26 brand-styles of
      US cigarettes covering a wide range of machine-generated yields. Despite the high
      degree of variability observed among individual smokers, MLEs were significantly
      correlated with machine-derived tar and nicotine yields (r=0.423 for nicotine
      MLE/cigarette; r=0.493 for tar MLE/cigarette; p<0.001 for both). Mean tar and
      nicotine MLE was higher for males than for females. Mean MLE across races was
      generally similar. Menthol cigarettes tended toward lower MLE than non-menthol
      cigarettes and King-Size cigarettes (~ 83 mm) tended toward lower MLE than 100's
      cigarettes (~ 100 mm), though those trends were not statistically significant.
      There were good agreements between MLEs measured in a group of 159 subjects
      smoking their usual cigarette brand-style on two separate occasions and between
      two independent groups of subjects smoking the same brand-styles. The results
      indicated that the filter analysis method used had sufficient precision to show
      similarity among groups.

PMID- 20937344
TI  - Subchronic toxicity of Sipjeondaebo-tang (SDT) in Sprague-Dawley rats.
AB  - Sipjeondaebo-tang (SDT, Juzen-taiho-to in Japanese), a traditional Korean herbal
      medicine, is used as a supplemental treatment for the adverse effects of
      chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and surgical treatment. However, limited
      information is available about the long-term safety of SDT. Therefore, we
      evaluated the potential adverse effects of SDT in Sprague-Dawley rats over a
      period of 13-weeks. The SDT was administered once daily by gavage to male and
      female rats at dose levels of 0, 250, 500, 1000 and 2000 mg/kg/day for 13 weeks.
      The SDT treatment did not result in any toxicologically significant changes in
      mortality, clinical signs, body weights, food and water consumption,
      ophthalmoscopy, urinalysis, hematology, serum biochemistry, gross findings, organ
      weights, histopathology, estrus cycle, serum testosterone levels and sperm
      analysis. We concluded that the 13-week repeated oral administration of SDT did
      not cause any adverse effects in rats at dose levels of <= 2000 mg/kg/day. Under
      these experimental conditions, the no-observed-adverse-effect level (NOAEL) was
      more than 2000 mg/kg/day for both genders. Here, we demonstrated the safety of a
      13-week repeated oral dose and considered that it is a safe herbal medicine for
      human consumption.

PMID- 20937345
TI  - Introduction: clinical findings related to alterations of the intracellular
      calcium homeostasis in schizophrenia.

PMID- 20937346
TI  - Fate in digestion in vitro of several food components, including some toxic
      compounds coming from omega-3 and omega-6 lipids.
AB  - In this study it was proved the formation of oxygenated alpha,beta-unsaturated
      aldehydes (OalphabetaUAs) of 6, 7, 9 and 10 carbon atoms during the thermal
      treatment (190 degrees C with aeration) of a commercial vegetable oil rich in
      omega-3 and omega-6 acyl groups, which also contained small amounts of added
      proteins and carbohydrates to produce barbecue aroma when heated. The
      OalphabetaUAs detected by Solid Phase Microextraction (SPME) followed by Gas
      Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry (GC/MS) were: 4-hydroxy-2-hexenal, 4-oxo-2
      hexenal and 4,5-epoxy-2-heptenals, coming from omega-3 acyl groups; and 4-hydroxy
      2-nonenal, 4-oxo-2-nonenal and 4,5-epoxy-2-decenals, coming from omega-6 acyl
      groups. Mixtures of this oil, either thermodegraded or not, with standard food
      were submitted to an in vitro digestion model. The study of the digestion
      products obtained revealed that OalphabetaUAs remained unaltered, being
      bioaccessible in the gastrointestinal tract and so able to reach the systemic
      circulation. Besides, it was evidenced that during digestion Maillard,
      esterification and oxidation reactions take place.

PMID- 20937347
TI  - Effect of feeding blended and interesterified vegetable oils on antioxidant
      enzymes in rats.
AB  - The present study was undertaken to evaluate the effect of feeding blended and
      interesterified oils prepared using coconut oil (CNO) with rice bran oil (RBO) or
      sesame oil (SESO), with a polyunsaturated/saturated (P/S) ratio of 0.8-1.0, on
      oxidative stress and endogenous antioxidant system. Feeding blended oils resulted
      in significantly increased hepatic lipid peroxide levels in rats given blended
      oil CNO+RBO or CNO+SESO by 1.3 and 1.6-fold, respectively compared to rats fed
      diet containing CNO. The lipid peroxide level in erythrocyte membrane also
      increased in rats fed blended oil compared to rats fed with CNO. Rats fed
      interesterified oils prepared from these blended oils also showed increased lipid
      peroxide level compared to rats given CNO diet, however it was not significantly
      different from rats fed with their respective blends. There was a significant
      increase in the activity of endogenous antioxidant enzymes super oxide dismutase,
      catalase, glutathione peroxidase and glutathione-s-transferase after feeding
      blended and interesterified oils. The activities of Na(+)/K(+)-ATPase and
      Ca(2+)/Mg(2+)-ATPase were increased in rats fed blended and interesterified oils.
      These results indicated that the P/S ratio of dietary fat is an important factor
      in determining the oxidative stress, activity of endogenous antioxidant enzymes
      and activity of membrane bound enzymes.

PMID- 20937348
TI  - Interleukin-1 receptor antagonist ameliorates neonatal lipopolysaccharide-induced
      long-lasting hyperalgesia in the adult rats.
AB  - An increasing amount of data show that central inflammation contributes to many
      debilitating diseases and produces spontaneous pain and hyperalgesia (an
      increased sensitivity to painful stimuli), and these processes may be associated
      with the production of proinflammatory cytokines by activated microglia. In the
      present study, we demonstrate that neonatal intracerebral injection of
      lipopolysaccharide (LPS) (1mg/kg) in postnatal day 5 (P5) rats produced
      hyperalgesia that lasted into adulthood as indicated by decreased latency in the
      tail-flick test. Neonatal LPS administration resulted in a long-lasting increase
      in the number of activated microglial in the P70 rat brain. The effects of
      interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta) and IL-1 receptor antagonists on hyperalgesia were
      determined to examine the possible role of inflammatory cytokines in LPS-induced
      hyperalgesia. Our data show that neonatal intracerebral injection of IL-1beta (1
      MUg/kg) produced a hyperalgesic tendency similar to that induced by LPS. Neonatal
      administration of an IL-1 receptor antagonist (0.1mg/kg) significantly attenuated
      long-lasting hyperalgesia induced by LPS and reduced the number of activated
      microglia in the adult rat brain. These data reveal that neonatal intracerebral
      LPS exposure results in long-lasting hyperalgesia and an elevated number of
      activated microglia in later life. This effect is similar to that induced by IL
      1beta and can be prevented by an IL-1 receptor antagonist. The present study
      suggests that an IL-1 receptor antagonist effectively attenuates or blocks long
      lasting hyperalgesia and microglia activation produced by LPS exposure in the
      neonatal period of rats.

PMID- 20937349
TI  - Development of an in vitro alternative assay method for vaginal irritation.
AB  - The vaginal mucosa is commonly exposed to chemicals and therapeutic agents that
      may result in irritation and/or inflammation. In addition to acute effects,
      vaginal irritation and inflammation can make women more susceptible to infections
      such as HIV-1 and herpes simplex virus 2 (HSV-2). Hence, the vaginal irritation
      potential of feminine care formulations and vaginally administered therapeutic
      agents is a significant public health concern. Traditionally, testing of such
      materials has been performed using the rabbit vaginal irritation (RVI) assay. In
      the current study, we investigated whether the organotypic, highly differentiated
      EpiVaginalTM tissue could be used as a non-animal alternative to the RVI test.
      The EpiVaginal tissue was exposed to a single application of ingredients commonly
      found in feminine hygiene products and the effects on tissue viability (MTT
      assay), barrier disruption (measured by transepithelial electrical resistance,
      TEER and sodium fluorescein (NaFl) leakage), and inflammatory cytokine release
      (interleukin (IL)-1alpha, IL-1beta, IL-6, and IL-8) patterns were examined. When
      compared to untreated controls, two irritating ingredients, nonoxynol 9 and
      benzalkonium chloride, reduced tissue viability to <40% and TEER to <60% while
      increasing NaFl leakage by 11-24% and IL-1alpha and IL-1beta release by >100%.
      Four other non-irritating materials had minimal effects on these parameters.
      Assay reproducibility was confirmed by testing the chemicals using three
      different tissue production lots and by using tissues reconstructed from cells
      obtained from three different donors. Coefficients of variation between tissue
      lots reconstructed with cells obtained from the same donor or lots reconstructed
      with cells obtained from different donors were less than 10% and 12%,
      respectively. In conclusion, decreases in tissue viability and barrier function
      and increases in IL-1alpha and IL-1beta release appear to be useful endpoints for
      preclinical screening of topically applied chemicals and formulations for their
      vaginal irritation potential.

PMID- 20937351
TI  - Distinct interactions of alphaA-crystallin with homologous substrate proteins,
      delta-crystallin and argininosuccinate lyase, under thermal stress.
AB  - delta-Crystallin is a taxon-specific eye lens protein that was recruited from
      argininosuccinate lyase (ASL) through gene sharing. ASL is a metabolic enzyme
      that catalyzes the reversible conversion of argininosuccinate into arginine and
      fumarate and shares about 70% sequence identity and similar overall topology with
      delta-crystallin. ASL has a lower thermal stability than delta-crystallin. In
      this study, we show that the small heat shock protein, alphaA-crystallin,
      functions as a molecular chaperone, and enhanced thermal stability of both delta
      crystallin and ASL. The stoichiometry for efficient protection of the two
      substrate proteins by alphaA-crystallin was determined by slowly increasing the
      temperature. N- or C-terminal truncated mutants of delta-crystallin co-incubated
      with alphaA-crystallin showed higher thermal stability than wild-type enzyme, and
      the stoichiometry for efficient protection was the same. Thermal unfolding of
      delta-crystallin or ASL in the presence of alphaA-crystallin followed a similar
      three-state model, as determined by circular dichroism analyses. A stable
      intermediate which retained about 30% alpha-helical structure was observed.
      Protection from thermal denaturation by alphaA-crystallin was by interaction with
      partly unfolded ASL or delta-crystallin to form high molecular weight
      heteroligomers, as judged by size-exclusive chromatography and SDS-PAGE analyses.
      Aggregate formation of ASL was significantly reduced in the presence of alphaA
      crystallin. The extent of protection of ASL and delta-crystallin at different
      ratios of alphaA-crystallin were described by hyperbolic and sigmoidal curves,
      respectively. These results suggest the preferential recognition of partly
      unfolded ASL by alphaA-crystallin. In contrast, unstable delta-crystallin might
      trigger a cooperative interaction by higher stoichiometries of alphaA-crystallin
      leading to fuller protection. The different interactions of alphaA-crystallin
      with the two homologous but functionally different substrate proteins show its
      behavior as a chaperone is variable.

PMID- 20937350
TI  - A 2-year in vitro evaluation of a chlorhexidine-containing acid on the durability
      of resin-dentin interfaces.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study evaluated the effect of 2% chlorhexidine-containing acid
      (Ac/CHX) and 2% chlorhexidine digluconate solution (CHX) on immediate (IM) and 2
      year (2Y) resin-dentin bond strength (BS) and silver nitrate uptake (SNU) for two
      simplified etch-and-rinse adhesives. METHODS: Forty-two caries-free extracted
      molars had a flat dentin surface exposed. In the control groups (groups 1), the
      surfaces were acid etched with conventional phosphoric acid and the adhesives
      Prime&Bond NT (PB) or Adper Single Bond 2 (SB) was applied after rinsing, drying
      and rewetting with water. In groups 2, Ac/CHX groups the adhesives were applied
      in a similar manner; however a 2% CHX-containing acid was previously applied. In
      groups 3, the adhesives were applied according to the control group; however the
      rewetting procedure was performed with an aqueous solution of 2% CHX for 60s.
      Composite build-ups were constructed incrementally and microtensile specimens
      (0.8mm(2)) were prepared for microtensile bond strength testing in the IM or 2Y
      periods at 0.5mm/min. For SNU, 2 bonded sticks from each tooth were coated with
      nail varnish, placed in the silver nitrate, polished down with SiC papers and
      analysed by EDX-SEM. The data from each adhesive was submitted to a two-way
      repeated measures ANOVA and Tukey's test (alpha=0.05). RESULTS: After 2Y,
      significant reductions of BS were observed for both adhesives in the control
      group (p<0.05). In Ac/CHX or CHX groups the BS remained stable for both systems.
      SNU was more evident in the control than in the experimental groups (p<0.05) both
      in IM and 2Y periods. The use of CHX in an aqueous solution or associated with
      the acid conditioner was effective to reduce the degradation of dentin bonds over
      a 2-year period. SIGNIFICANCE: The addition of CHX digluconate in the acidic
      conditioner may be an excellent tool to increase the long-term stability of
      collagens fibrils within the hybrid layer against host-derived metalloproteinases
      without the need for additional steps for the bonding protocol.

PMID- 20937352
TI  - Interleukin-17A induces cathepsin K and MMP-9 expression in osteoclasts via
      celecoxib-blocked prostaglandin E2 in osteoblasts.
AB  - Interleukin-17 (IL-17) is a cytokine secreted primarily by T(H)-17 cells that can
      stimulate the development of osteoclasts (osteoclastogenesis) in the presence of
      osteoblasts. IL-17, through osteoblasts, has indirect effects on the expression
      of bone resorption-related enzymes in osteoclasts, which have not been well
      clarified. Here, using MC3T3-E1 cells and RAW264.7 cells as osteoblasts and
      osteoclast precursors, we aimed to clarify these effects of IL-17A. MC3T3-E1
      cells were cultured in the presence or absence of IL-17A for 72 h and the
      conditioned media collected (in the presence of soluble receptor activator of NF
      kB ligand) and used to culture RAW264.7 cells. To assess osteoclast
      differentiation, adherent cells were fixed and stained for tartrate-resistant
      acid phosphatase (TRAP). Our analyses demonstrated that the number of TRAP
      positive multinucleated cells increases after 3 days of culture in conditioned
      medium from IL-17A-treated cells compared to untreated controls. In addition, we
      observed that the levels of cathepsin K and MMP-9 increase in the conditioned
      medium from IL-17A-treated cells, whereas CA II expression levels remain
      unaffected. PGE(2) production from MC3T3-E1 cells increased in the presence of IL
      17A. Celecoxib, a specific inhibitor of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), blocked both
      the IL-17A-stimulated increase in TRAP-positive multinucleated cells and the
      expression of cathepsin K and MMP-9. Furthermore, when MC3T3-E1 cells were
      transformed with small interfering RNA to silence COX-2 expression before IL-17A
      treatment, the resulting conditioned medium was less effective at inducing
      cathepsin K and MMP-9 expression in RAW264.7 cells. These results suggest that IL
      17A induces the differentiation and function of osteoclasts via celecoxib-blocked
      prostaglandin, mainly PGE(2), in osteoblasts.

PMID- 20937353
TI  - Transcription factor GABP/NRF-2 controlling biogenesis of mitochondria regulates
      basal expression of peroxiredoxin V but the mitochondrial function of
      peroxiredoxin V is dispensable in the dog.
AB  - Peroxiredoxins (PRDXs) represent a conserved family of six antioxidant proteins
      which are widely expressed in different organisms. Human PRDX5 is detected in the
      cytosol and nucleus and can also target peroxisomes and mitochondria. However, it
      remains unknown if mitochondrial localization of PRDX5 is essential for its
      functions. Here we studied whether the known regulator of mitochondrial
      biogenesis, transcription factor GABP/NRF-2, is required for the basal expression
      of the human PRDX5 gene and what the significance is of the mitochondrial
      targeting of the PRDX5 protein. It was found that mutation-mediated inactivation
      of all potential binding sites for GAPB in the PRDX5 promoter lead to ~80%
      inhibition of its basal activity in a reporter gene assay. Co-transfection of
      plasmids expressing GABP-alpha and GABP-beta stimulated activity of the non
      mutated PRDX5 promoter but had no effect on the mutated promoter, suggesting that
      basal expression of the human PRDX5 gene is regulated by GABP. We found that the
      dog c-Myc-tagged PRDX5 did not target the mitochondria of human cells.
      Endogenously expressed PRDX5 also showed no association with mitochondria in the
      dog cells. It appears, therefore, that during evolution the dog PRDX5 gene lost
      its upstream ATG codon and mitochondrial targeting signal without major
      functional consequences.

PMID- 20937354
TI  - In vivo electroporation of the central nervous system: a non-viral approach for
      targeted gene delivery.
AB  - Electroporation is a widely used technique for enhancing the efficiency of DNA
      delivery into cells. Application of electric pulses after local injection of DNA
      temporarily opens cell membranes and facilitates DNA uptake. Delivery of plasmid
      DNA by electroporation to alter gene expression in tissue has also been explored
      in vivo. This approach may constitute an alternative to viral gene transfer, or
      to transgenic or knock-out animals. Among the most frequently electroporated
      target tissues are skin, muscle, eye, and tumors. Moreover, different regions in
      the central nervous system (CNS), including the developing neural tube and the
      spinal cord, as well as prenatal and postnatal brain have been successfully
      electroporated. Here, we present a comprehensive review of the literature
      describing electroporation of the CNS with a focus on the adult brain. In
      addition, the mechanism of electroporation, different ways of delivering the
      electric pulses, and the risk of damaging the target tissue are highlighted.
      Electroporation has been successfully used in humans to enhance gene transfer in
      vaccination or cancer therapy with several clinical trials currently ongoing.
      Improving the knowledge about in vivo electroporation will pave the way for
      electroporation-enhanced gene therapy to treat brain carcinomas, as well as CNS
      disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and depression.

PMID- 20937355
TI  - LRH-1 and Nanog regulate Dax1 transcription in mouse embryonic stem cells.
AB  - Dax1, an atypical orphan nuclear receptor expressed in steroidogenic tissues, has
      recently been shown to be expressed in mouse embryonic stem (mES) cells and is
      required for pluripotency. While the mechanisms of transcriptional regulation of
      Dax1 in steroidogenic organs have been well characterized, those in mES cells
      have not. Here we report that 500 bp of the Dax1 gene promoter sequence are
      sufficient to drive expression in mES cells. In steroidogenic tissues, NR5A1
      (Sf1) binds to nuclear receptor binding sites within this sequence to regulate
      Dax1 expression. In mES cells, while NR5A1 (Sf1) is not expressed, NR5A2 (LRH-1)
      expression is robust. Luciferase assays, EMSA and overexpression/knockdown
      studies demonstrate that LRH-1 binds the -128 site and regulates Dax1 in mES
      cells. Predicated on recent work indicating that Nanog binds to the Dax1 intron,
      we have used chromatin immunoprecipitation experiments (ChIP) to define an
      intronic site that is bound by Nanog. Overexpression and knockdown of Nanog in
      mES cells result in alteration of Dax1 expression, and luciferase assays reveal
      that this sequence can enhance transcription of a Dax1 reporter construct. These
      data indicate that LRH-1 and Nanog cooperate to regulate Dax1 expression in mES
      cells.

PMID- 20937356
TI  - Phenotypic and molecular characterization of proliferating and differentiated
      GnRH-expressing GnV-3 cells.
AB  - GnRH neurons provide the primary driving force upon the neuroendocrine
      reproductive axis. Here we used GnV-3 cells, a model of conditionally
      immortalized GnRH-expressing neurons, to perform an analysis of cell cycle and
      compare the gene expression profile of proliferating cells with differentiated
      cells. In the proliferation medium, 45 +/- 1.5% of GnV-3 cells are in S-phase by
      FACS analysis. In the differentiation medium, only 9 +/- 0.9% of them are in S
      phase, and they acquire the characteristic bipolar shape displayed by preoptic
      GnRH neurons in vivo. In addition, GnV-3 cells in the differentiated state
      exhibit electrophysiological properties characteristic of neurons. Transcriptomic
      analysis identified up-regulation of 1931 genes and down-regulation of 1270 genes
      in cells grown in the differentiation medium compared to cells in the
      proliferation medium. Subsequent gene ontology study indicated that genes over
      expressed in proliferating GnV-3 cells were mainly involved in cell cycle
      regulations, whereas genes over-expressed in differentiated cells were mainly
      involved in processes of differentiation, neurogenesis and neuronal
      morphogenesis. Taken together, these data demonstrate the occurrence of
      morphological and physiological changes in GnV-3 cells between the proliferating
      and the differentiated state. Moreover, the genes differentially regulated
      between these two different states are providing novel pathways potentially
      important for a better understanding of the physiology of mature GnRH neurons.

PMID- 20937357
TI  - The bioactivity of human bone morphogenetic protein-15 is sensitive to C-terminal
      modification: characterization of the purified untagged processed mature region.
AB  - Oocyte-derived bone morphogenetic protein-15 (BMP15) is critical for the
      regulation of mammalian fertility. Previously we have found that a C-terminal
      His(6)-tag destroys the bioactivity of growth differentiation-9 (GDF9, a homolog
      of BMP15). In this study we found that recombinant human BMP15 is produced by HEK
      293T cells in an active form, but the bioactivity is lost by C-terminal
      modification, specifically, fusion to a Flag tag. After purification the mature
      BMP15 wt is active in transcriptional reporter assays specific for Smad1/5/8 in
      human granulosa-luteal (hGL) and COV434 granulosa tumor cells, whereas BMP15 with
      a carboxy-terminal Flag tag remains inactive. Using these same cell models we
      found that treatment with purified mature BMP15 wt causes a rapid phosphorylation
      of Smad1. The purified BMP15 wt is a potent stimulator of rat granulosa cell DNA
      synthesis, which could be antagonized by the BMPRII ectodomain-Fc fusion
      molecule, whereas the BMP15C-Flag was completely inactive. Further, the BMP15 wt
      form is a potent stimulator of inhibin B production in hGL cells. We found that
      the purified BMP15 wt consists of P16 and -17, both of which are post
      translationally modified forms. This is the first characterization of a purified
      untagged human BMP15 mature region, which is stable and highly bioactive in human
      and rodent granulosa cells and as such is of importance for studies on human
      fertility.

PMID- 20937358
TI  - Purinergic activation of dorsal root ganglion neurones in vivo.
AB  - Functional relevance of non-synaptic purinergic receptors on dorsal root ganglion
      cells was tested in vivo by the influence of ATP using 2P-LSM and Ca imaging.
      Within a few seconds after local application of ATP, neurones in dorsal root
      ganglion were activated indicated by an increase of their calcium signal. The
      signal reached its maximum within a few seconds and declined to control values
      after about 30 s. Purinergic action seems to include non-synaptic cell-to-cell
      communication within dorsal root ganglia.

PMID- 20937359
TI  - Discrimination of AD and normal subjects from MRI: anatomical versus statistical
      regions.
AB  - This work is a feature-extraction and classification study between Alzheimer's
      disease (AD) patients and normal subjects. Voxel-wise morphological features of
      brain MRI are defined as the Jacobian determinants that measure the local volume
      change between each subject and a given atlas. The goal of this work is to
      determine the region of interest (ROI) which is best suited for classification.
      Two types of ROIs are considered: anatomical regions, that were automatically
      segmented in the atlas (amygdalae, hippocampi and lateral ventricles); and
      statistical regions, defined from group comparison statistical maps.
      Classification performance was assessed with five classifiers on 20 pairs of
      matched training and test groups of subjects from the ADNI database. In this
      study the statistical masks provided the best classification performance.

PMID- 20937360
TI  - Adaptive response to stress of acute myocardial infarction leads to apoptosis of
      retinal cells of rats.
AB  - Evidence indicates that adaptive responses to systemic stress occur in retina, as
      indicated by the changes in sympathetic and sensory afferent neurotransmitters in
      the retina when under stressful stimulation, such as acute myocardial infarction.
      The aim of this study was to investigate the potential association of the
      adaptive responses with retina injury, indicated as apoptosis of retinal cells of
      the rats suffering from acute stress evoked by coronary artery occlusion (CAO).
      The apoptotic rate of retinal cells and activity of caspase-3 in retina were
      examined and analyzed over 6 h of CAO using TUNEL and caspase assay. It was
      observed that the rate of apoptosis of the retinal cells was significantly
      increased to 16.8%+/-6% (n=10, vs. control, p<0.05) and 26.9%+/-6.1% (n=10, vs.
      control, p<0.05), mainly in ganglion cells of the retina, at 3 and 6h of CAO,
      respectively. And the activity of caspase-3 was also up-regulated to 2.16+/-0.77
      at 3h of CAO (vs. 1.00+/-0.32 of the control, p<0.05, n=10) and 2.72+/-1.11 at 6h
      of CAO (vs. 1.37+/-0.76 of control, p<0.05, n=10). The findings may indicate that
      the adaptive responses to acute stressful simulation, such as acute myocardial
      infarction, could result in retinal cell injury, presented as increase in
      apoptosis of retinal cells.

PMID- 20937361
TI  - Anti-oxidative effects of d-allose, a rare sugar, on ischemia-reperfusion damage
      following focal cerebral ischemia in rat.
AB  - The present study investigates the anti-oxidative effects of D-allose on ischemic
      damage. Rats were subjected to transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO)
      for 1 h under pentobarbital anesthesia. D-allose was intravenously infused during
      occlusion and a further 1 h after reperfusion (400 mg/kg). The effects of D
      allose on focal cerebral ischemia were examined by measuring brain damage
      (infarction and atrophy volume) and behavioral deficits 7 days after MCAO. In
      another set of rats, apurnic/apyrimidic abasic sites (AP-sites) and 8-hydroxy-2'
      deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), oxidative stress markers, were investigated 24 h after
      MCAO to examine the anti-oxidative effects of D-allose. Brain damage and
      behavioral deficits were significantly decreased by D-allose administration
      compared to vehicle. The number of AP-sites and 8-OHdG levels were also reduced
      by D-allose. Thus, the present study suggests that D-allose has anti-oxidative
      effects and induces neuroprotection in focal cerebral ischemia.

PMID- 20937362
TI  - Serum levels of soluble receptor for advanced glycation endproducts (sRAGE) in
      patients with different psychiatric disorders.
AB  - Evidence suggests that psychiatric patients are at an increased vascular risk. In
      this exploratory pilot study, we hypothesized that low levels of the soluble
      receptor for advanced glycation endproducts (sRAGE) might be found in psychiatric
      patients due to its association with atherothrombosis. We recruited 74 patients
      with different psychiatric disorders (39 schizophrenia, 10 major depression, 13
      bipolar disorder and 12 personality disorder) and 74 healthy controls. Serum
      levels of sRAGE were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay. In
      univariate analysis, serum sRAGE levels of the patient groups with schizophrenia,
      major depression and bipolar disorder were significantly lower than that of the
      control group. The median sRAGE levels of these diagnostic groups were comparable
      with those reported in patients with prior atherothrombotic events. After
      allowance for potential confounders, the odds of reduced sRAGE remained
      independently associated with schizophrenia and major depression. Although
      subject to future confirmation, our findings suggest that the reduced serum sRAGE
      may contribute to increased cardiovascular risk in schizophrenia and major
      depression.

PMID- 20937364
TI  - Altered expression of parvalbumin and calbindin in interneurons within the
      primary visual cortex of neonatal enucleated hamsters.
AB  - In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that the expression of calcium
      binding proteins (CaBPs), parvalbumin (PV), calretinin (CR) and calbindin (CB),
      is dependent upon sensory experience as emphasized in visual deprivation and
      deafferentation studies. The expression of CaBPs was studied in interneurons
      within the primary and extrastriate visual cortices (V1, V2M, V2L) and auditory
      cortex (AC) of adult hamsters enucleated at birth. The effects of enucleation
      were mainly confined to area V1 where there was a significant volume reduction
      (26%) and changes in the laminar distribution of PV and CB immunoreactive (IR)
      cells. The density of PV-IR cell bodies was significantly increased in layer IV
      and reduced in layer V. Moreover, the density of CB-IR neurons was inferior in
      layer V of V1 in enucleated hamsters (EH) compared to controls. These results
      suggest that some features of the laminar distribution of specific CaBPs, in
      primary sensory cortices, are dependent upon or modulated by sensory input.

PMID- 20937363
TI  - GABAergic regulation of auditory sensory gating in low- and high-anxiety rats
      submitted to a fear conditioning procedure.
AB  - The inferior colliculus (IC) is primarily involved in the processing of acoustic
      stimuli, being in a position to send auditory information to motor centers that
      participate in behaviors such as prey catching and predators' avoidance. The role
      of the central nucleus of the IC (CIC) on fear and anxiety has been suggested on
      the basis that rats are able to engage in tasks to decrease the aversiveness of
      CIC stimulation, increased Fos immunolabeling during diverse aversive states and
      increased CIC auditory evoked potentials (AEP) induced by conditioned fear
      stimuli. Additionally, it was shown that brainstem AEP, represented by wave V,
      for which the main generator is the IC, is increased during experimentally
      induced anxiety. Rats segregated according to their low or high emotional
      reactivity have been used as an important tool in the study of fear and anxiety.
      The IC contains a high density of GABA receptors. Since the efficacy of an
      anxiolytic compound is a function of the animal's anxiety level, it is possible
      that GABA-benzodiazepine (Bzp) agents affect LA and HA animals differently. In
      this study we investigated the GABA-Bzp influence on the modulation of AEP in
      rats with low- (LA) or high-anxiety (HA) levels, as assessed by the elevated plus
      maze test (EPM). GABA-Bzp modulation on the unconditioned AEP response was
      analyzed by using intra-CIC injections (0.2 MUl) of the GABA-Bzp agonists
      muscimol (121 ng) and diazepam (30 MUg), or the GABA inhibitors bicuculline (10
      ng) and semicarbazide (7 MUg). In a second experiment, we evaluate the effects of
      contextual aversive conditioning on AEP using foot-shocks as unconditioned
      stimuli. On the unconditioned fear paradigm GABA inhibition increased AEP in LA
      rats and decreases this measure in HA counterparts. Muscimol was effective in
      reducing AEP in both LA and HA rats. Contextual fear stimuli increased the
      magnitude of AEP. In spite of no effect obtained with diazepam in LA rats the
      drug inhibited AEP in HA animals. The specificity of the regulatory mechanisms
      mediated by GABA-Bzp for the ascending neurocircuits responsible for the
      acquisition of aversive information in LA and HA animals shed light on the
      processing of sensory information underlying the generation of defensive
      reactions.

PMID- 20937365
TI  - The effects of aging on dopaminergic neurotransmission: a microPET study of [11C]
      raclopride binding in the aged rodent brain.
AB  - Rodent models are frequently used in aging research to investigate biochemical
      age effects and aid in the development of therapies for pathological and non
      pathological age-related degenerative processes. In order to validate the use of
      animal models in aging research and pave the way for longitudinal intervention
      based animal studies, the consistency of cerebral aging processes across species
      needs to be evaluated. The dopaminergic system seems particularly susceptible to
      the aging process, and one of the most consistent findings in human brain aging
      research is a decline in striatal D2-like receptor (D2R) availability,
      quantifiable by positron emission tomography (PET) imaging. In this study, we
      aimed to assess whether similar age effects can be discerned in rat brains, using
      in vivo molecular imaging with the radioactive compound [(11)C]-raclopride. We
      observed a robust decline in striatal [(11)C]-raclopride uptake in the aged rats
      in comparison to the young control group, comprising a 41% decrement in striatal
      binding potential. In accordance with human studies, these results indicate that
      substantial reductions in D2R availability can be measured in the aged striatal
      complex. Our findings suggest that rat and human brains exhibit similar
      biochemical alterations with age in the striatal dopaminergic system, providing
      support for the pertinence of rodent models in aging research.

PMID- 20937366
TI  - Cigarette smoke enhances abdominal aortic aneurysm formation in angiotensin II
      treated apolipoprotein E-deficient mice.
AB  - Cigarette smoke, hyperlipidemia, and hypertension with the risk of development
      and progression of atherosclerosis and associated pathologies such as abdominal
      aortic aneurysm (AAA) are correlated. We examined the interaction of cigarette
      mainstream smoke (MS) and angiotensin-II (Ang II)-induced hypertension in the
      atherosclerotic process using hyperlipidemic apolipoprotein E-knockout (ApoE(-/
      )) mice. ApoE(-/-) mice were treated with Ang II for 4 weeks and then further
      exposed to MS or to fresh air for 4 weeks. AAA formation was observed in all mice
      treated with Ang II, regardless of smoke exposure; however, smoke exposure
      increased the incidence of AAA in these mice. Ang II treatment resulted in higher
      gene expression of matrix metalloproteinases (MMP)-2, -3, -8, -9, and -12 in the
      abdominal aortas, which was further increased by MS exposure. The proteolytic
      activity of MMP-2 and MMP-9 was also enhanced in Ang II-treated mice exposed to
      MS, but only minor changes were seen with either smoke exposure or Ang II
      treatment alone. This study shows for the first time that both formation and
      severity of AAA in hypertensive ApoE(-/-) mice are accelerated by exposure to MS
      and that the proteolytic activity of MMPs is enhanced by the combination of Ang
      II and MS.

PMID- 20937367
TI  - Mycotoxin deoxynivalenol (DON) mediates biphasic cellular response in intestinal
      porcine epithelial cell lines IPEC-1 and IPEC-J2.
AB  - The Fusarium derived mycotoxin deoxynivalenol (DON) is frequently found in
      cereals used for human and animal nutrition. We studied effects of DON in non
      transformed, non-carcinoma, polarized epithelial cells of porcine small
      intestinal origin (IPEC-1 and IPEC-J2) in a low (200 ng/mL) and a high (2000
      ng/mL) concentration. Application of high DON concentrations showed significant
      toxic effects as indicated by a reduction in cell number, in cellular reduction
      capacity measured by MTT assay, reduced uptake of neutral red (NR) and a decrease
      in cell proliferation. High dose toxicity was accompanied by disintegration of
      tight junction protein ZO-1 and increase of cell cycle phase G2/M. Activation of
      caspase 3 was found as an early event in the high DON concentration with an
      initial maximum after 6-8 h. In contrast, application of 200 ng/mL DON exhibited
      a response pattern distinct from the high dose DON toxicity. The cell cycle, ZO-1
      expression and distribution as well as caspase 3 activation were not changed.
      BrdU incorporation was significantly increased after 72 h incubation with 200
      ng/mL DON and NR uptake was only transiently reduced after 24 h. Low dose effects
      of DON on intestinal epithelial cells were triggered by mechanisms different from
      those responsible for the high dose toxicity.

PMID- 20937368
TI  - Gene expression profiling of murine hepatic steatosis induced by tamoxifen.
AB  - Tamoxifen is an antiestrogenic agent used widely in the treatment of estrogen
      receptor-positive breast cancer. However, hepatic steatosis has been reported
      during clinical trials of tamoxifen. To explore the mechanism responsible for
      this tamoxifen-induced hepatic steatosis, we used microarray analysis to profile
      the gene expression pattern of mouse liver after tamoxifen treatment. Tamoxifen
      was administered orally as a single dose of 10mg/kg (low dose), 50mg/kg (medium
      dose), or 100mg/kg (high dose) to C57BL/6 mice, and the livers were removed 2h,
      4h, 8h, and 24h later. From microarray data obtained from the liver samples, 414
      genes were selected as tamoxifen-responsive genes (P<0.05, two-way ANOVA; cutoff
      >= 1.5-fold response). These genes were classified into three groups: 308 of the
      414 genes showed a time-dependent response, nine genes showed a dose-dependent
      response, and 97 genes showed a time- and dose-dependent response. Most of the
      308 time-dependent-responsive genes were associated predominantly with the
      biological processes involved in lipid metabolism. Overrepresented transcription
      factor binding site analysis showed that the following nuclear receptors that are
      important in lipid and carbohydrate metabolism were overrepresented: the androgen
      receptor (AR), nuclear receptor subfamily 2 group F member 1 (NR2F1), hepatocyte
      nuclear factor 4alpha (HNF4alpha), and retinoic acid receptor-related orphan
      receptor alpha 1 (RORalpha1). Reporter gene analysis further revealed that
      tamoxifen repressed the 5alpha-dihydrotestosterone-induced activation of the AR
      and the intrinsic transactivation function of RORalpha1, HNF4alpha, and NR2F1.
      Taken together, these data provide a better understanding of the molecular
      mechanism underlying tamoxifen-induced steatogenic hepatotoxicity and useful
      information for predicting steatogenic hepatotoxicity.

PMID- 20937369
TI  - Monitoring of internal pH gradients within multi-layer tablets by optical methods
      and EPR imaging.
AB  - The high variability of gastrointestinal pH is a general challenge regarding
      constant release from oral drug delivery systems, especially for ionisable drugs.
      These drugs often show a pH-dependent solubility and therewith associated intra-
      and inter-individual variability of emerging drug plasma levels. Several
      strategies have been investigated with the intention to influence the
      microenvironmental pH (pH(M)) within solid formulations and therefore achieve pH
      independent release profiles. Because of the heterogeneity of solid systems, a
      precise prediction of the occurring pH(M) is rather difficult. It is therefore
      important to monitor the pH(M) within the formulations to achieve requested
      release as well as to minimise pH-dependent degradation processes of the active
      compound. The purpose of the current study was the analysis of pH(M) gradients
      within 2- and 3-layer tablets during hydration using 3 different techniques for
      comparison intensions, in particular a pH indicator dye, fluorescence imaging and
      EPR imaging. The influence of the presence or absence of pH modifying substances
      and of an additional lipophilic inter layer on the pH(M) was investigated as well
      as the variation of matrix forming excipient and buffer pH. The influence of the
      pH(M) on drug release was analysed as well. In addition, benchtop MRI was
      accomplished to gain a deeper insight on the hydration and erosion behaviour of 2
      and 3-layer tablets.

PMID- 20937370
TI  - Development of biodegradable porous starch foam for improving oral delivery of
      poorly water soluble drugs.
AB  - A biodegradable porous starch foam (BPSF) was developed for the first time as a
      carrier in order to improve the dissolution and enhance the oral bioavailability
      of lovastatin - defined as a model poorly water soluble BCS type II drug. In this
      paper, BPSF was prepared by the solvent exchange method and characterized by
      scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and nitrogen adsorption/desorption analysis in
      order to perform the morphological and structural characterization of BPSF.
      Lovastatin was loaded by immersion/solvent evaporation into the BPSF which
      provided a stable hydrophilic matrix with a nano-porous structure. The solid
      state properties of the loaded BPSF samples were characterized by SEM, Fourier
      transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD) and
      differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). In vitro and in vivo drug release
      studies showed that when BPSF was used as a carrier it allowed immediate release
      of lovastatin and enhanced the dissolution rate in comparison with crystalline
      lovastatin and commercial capsules. These results provide important information
      about the mechanism of drug adsorption and release from BPSF as a carrier.
      Accordingly, BPSF has a promising future as a device for the oral delivery of
      poorly water soluble drugs.

PMID- 20937371
TI  - Toxicity evaluation of a standardised 50% ethanol extract of Orthosiphon
      stamineus.
AB  - AIM OF THE STUDY: The present investigation was carried out to evaluate the
      safety of standardised 50% ethanol extract of Orthosiphon stamineus plant by
      determining its potential toxicity after acute and subchronic administration in
      rats. MATERIALS AND METHODS: For acute toxicity study, up and down method (limit
      dose) was adapted. A single dose of 5000 mg/kg of the standardised 50% ethanol
      extract of O. stamineus was given orally to 5 healthy Sprague-Dawley (SD) female
      adult rats. The rats were observed for mortality and clinical signs for 3 h and
      then periodically for 14 days. While in the subchronic toxicity study, the
      extract was administered orally at doses of 1250, 2500 and 5000 mg/kg per day for
      28 days to female and male SD rats, respectively. The animals were sacrificed,
      followed by examination of their organs and blood serum. RESULTS: In the acute
      toxicity study, standardised 50% ethanol extract of O. stamineus at a dose of
      5000 mg/kg caused neither visible signs of toxicity nor mortality. All five rats
      survived until the end of observation period. While in subchronic toxicity,
      administration of the standardised 50% ethanol extract of O. stamineus at 1250,
      2500, and 5000 mg/kg for 28 days did not produce any mortality and there were no
      significant differences in the general condition, growth, organ weights,
      hematological parameters, clinical chemistry values, or gross and microscopic
      appearance of the organs from the treatment groups as compared to the control
      group. CONCLUSIONS: Standardised 50% ethanol extract of O. stamineus did not
      cause any death nor did it cause abnormalities in necropsy and histopathology
      findings. There were no acute or subchronic toxicity observed and this extract
      could be devoid of any toxic risk. The NOAEL for the standardised 50% ethanol
      extract of O. stamineus is 5000 mg/kg per day for 28 days.

PMID- 20937372
TI  - A biochemical comparison of the in vivo effects of Bulbine frutescens and Bulbine
      natalensis on cutaneous wound healing.
AB  - AIM OF THE STUDY: In South Africa the local population relies extensively on
      indigenous plants in the formulation of traditional medicines to treat skin
      ailments. The scientific merits of many of these plants used to treat wounds and
      burns are yet to be validated. Bulbine natalensis and Bulbine frutescens of the
      Asphodelaceae family are indigenous to only southern Africa and are widely used
      as a skin remedy. This study aimed to explore the scientific value of these
      plants through investigating the in vivo biochemical effects of Bulbine
      natalensis and Bulbine frutescens on cutaneous wounds. MATERIAL AND METHODS:
      Excisional and incisional wounds treated with either B. natalensis or B.
      frutescens and mirrored control wounds were created on the back of 12 domestic
      pigs. Wound contraction was recorded daily. The excisional wounds, biopsied at
      days 2, 4, 7, 10 and 16, were used to analyse the biochemical composition of the
      wounds by estimating the total amount of protein, DNA, collagen and hexosamine
      present. The incisional wounds, biopsied at day 16, were used to test the tensile
      strength of the healed wounds using a tensiometer. RESULTS: Wound contraction
      following treatment with Bulbine natalensis on days 2, 4 and 10 (p=.004, 0.007
      and 0.03, respectively), and Bulbine frutescens on day 4 (p=0.004) increased
      significantly when compared to the corresponding untreated wounds. The tensile
      strength of the wounds treated with the leaf gels was significantly stronger than
      that of the untreated wounds. There was also a significant increase in the
      collagen, protein and DNA content of the Bulbine natalensis- and Bulbine
      frutescens-treated wounds compared with that of the untreated wounds (collagen
      content: p=0.014 and 0.018; protein content: p=0.03 and 0.04; DNA content p=0.04
      and 0.04; respectively) over the 16-day experimental period. Treatment with both
      leaf gels followed the same pattern in hexosamine content with a maximum
      hexosamine content on day 4 followed by a steady decrease to day 16. No
      significant difference between the hexosamine content of the wounds of animals
      treated with either Bulbine frutescens or Bulbine natalensis was found.
      CONCLUSIONS: These findings validate the traditional use of the leaf gel extracts
      of B. frutescens and B. natalensis in the treatment of wounds and may warrant
      further investigation towards producing a low-cost effective topical treatment
      for wounds.

PMID- 20937373
TI  - Hypoglycemic and antihyperglycemic effect of Witheringia solanacea in normal and
      alloxan-induced hyperglycemic rats.
AB  - AIM OF THE STUDY: Witheringia solanacea is a small shrub that belongs to the
      Solanaceae family. The plant is used as an antidiabetic in Costa Rican herbal
      medicine. The aim of this study was to evaluate the hypoglycemic and
      antihyperglycemic activity of the aqueous extract of W. solanacea leaves in
      rodent models. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A crude extract of W. solanacea leaves was
      prepared in boiling water and the aqueous filtrate was lyophilized. A single oral
      dose of 250, 500 and 1000 mg/kg of the extract was evaluated for hypoglycemic
      activity in a glucose tolerance test in normal rats and for antihyperglycemic
      activity in alloxan-induced (140 mg/kg) diabetic rats. The blood glucose level
      was determined at different times by the glucose oxidase method. RESULTS: Dosage
      of 500 and 1000 mg/kg of the extract significantly decreased (p<0.05) blood
      glucose levels in the glucose tolerance test in normal rats after 1 h, there was
      no significant difference observed at 250 mg/kg. Dose of 500 mg/kg of the extract
      significantly reduced (p<0.05) blood glucose levels in alloxan induced
      hyperglycemic rats at 4 and 5 h. CONCLUSIONS: In the present study, the
      hypoglycemic and antihyperglycemic potential of the W. solanacea was demonstrated
      in rats. These results give support to the traditional use of W. solanacea as
      antidiabetic herbal medicine.

PMID- 20937374
TI  - Hypotensive effect of aqueous extract of Averrhoa carambola L. (Oxalidaceae) in
      rats: an in vivo and in vitro approach.
AB  - AIM OF THE STUDY: Averrhoa carambola L. (Oxalidaceae) leaves are used in
      Brazilian traditional medicine to treat hypertension. This study was conducted to
      evaluate the hypotensive effect of the aqueous extract of Averrhoa carambola
      (AEAc) and its underlying mechanisms in the isolated rat aorta. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: The effect of AEAc on the mean arterial pressure (MAP) was determined in
      vivo in anesthetized rats. In vitro, thoracic aortic rings were isolated and
      suspended in organ baths, and the effects of AEAc were studied by means of
      isometric tension recording experiments. In HPLC analysis, the fingerprint
      chromatogram of AEAc was established. RESULTS: In normotensive rats, AEAc (12.5
      50.0 mg/kg, i.v.) induced dose-dependent hypotension. In vitro, AEAc caused a
      depression in the E(max) response to phenylephrine without a change in
      sensibility. Also, in a depolarized Ca(2+)-free medium, AEAc inhibited CaCl(2)
      induced contractions and caused a concentration-dependent rightward shift of the
      response curves, indicating that AEAc inhibited the contractile mechanisms
      involving extracellular Ca(2+) influx. CONCLUSIONS: These results demonstrate the
      hypotensive effects of AEAc, and these effects may, in part, be due to the
      inhibition of Ca(2+), which supports previous claims of its traditional use.

PMID- 20937375
TI  - Folk medicinal use of fauna in Mapimi, Durango, Mexico.
AB  - AIM OF THE STUDY: To document the use of animal species in traditional medicine
      from the municipality of Mapimi, Durango, Mexico. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Direct
      interviews were performed in several short visits with inhabitants from the
      municipality of Mapimi, Durango. The interviews were analyzed with two
      quantitative tools. The informant consensus factor that estimates the level of
      agreement between interviewees over which animals to use for each category and
      the fidelity level which indicates the percentage of informants claiming the use
      of a certain animal species for the same medicinal purpose. RESULTS: A total of
      18 animal species, belonging to 17 families and four taxonomic categories, were
      reported by interviewees as used for medicinal purposes. Thirteen medicinal
      species were identified not previously reported. The results of the informant
      consensus factor showed that the dermatological, diabetes and reproductive
      categories had the greatest agreement. The most important species according to
      their fidelity level are: Mephitis macroura and Crotalus atrox. CONCLUSION: This
      study demonstrates that many animal species play an important role in healing
      practices among inhabitants from Mapimi, Durango. Further experiments with
      medicinal fauna from Mapimi are needed to be carried out to obtain experimental
      information about their traditional uses, especially with C. atrox.

PMID- 20937377
TI  - From the vasodilator and hypotensive effects of an extract fraction from
      Agelanthus dodoneifolius (DC) Danser (Loranthaceae) to the active compound
      dodoneine.
AB  - AIM OF THE STUDY: Effects of the different fractions obtained by partition of
      ethanolic extract (EE) of Agelanthus dodoneifolius through column chromatography
      were investigated on rat blood pressure and aortic relaxation and compared to
      those observed in the presence of crude EE. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The acute
      hypotensive activity of EE, fractions and dodoneine, administrated intravenously,
      was evaluated in anaesthetized rats using the invasive method of blood pressure
      recording. Bioassay-guided fractionation using rat aorta pre-contracted by
      norepinephrine to monitor the relaxant activity led to the isolation of
      dodoneine. RESULTS: In normotensive rats, injection of EE (0.01-10 mg/kg)
      produced a dose-dependent decrease in both systolic and diastolic blood pressure
      without any significant change in heart rate. In a similar way, the EE (0.001-3
      mg/mL) caused relaxation of rat pre-contracted aorta in a concentration-dependent
      manner. Fractionation of the EE afforded 14 fractions, F1-F14, that were tested
      on rat precontracted aortic rings. At the concentration level of 1 mg/mL, a
      maximum relaxation effect was observed for fractions F2-F5. F4 was the most
      effective to elicit a concentration-dependent relaxation effect with an
      ED(50)=160+/-1.1 MUg/mL (n=5) and to decreased systolic and diastolic control
      pressure by 56.9% and 81.6% respectively. F4 contains most of the dihydropyranone
      dodoneine, with 93% of the sample mass. Dodoneine separated from this fraction
      was also able to decrease both systolic and diastolic arterial pressure by 32.5%
      and 38.7% at 100 MUg/kg, respectively. CONCLUSION: For the first time, this study
      demonstrates the hypotensive property of the dodoneine present in Agelanthus
      dodoneifolius.

PMID- 20937376
TI  - Isoimperatorin, cimiside E and 23-O-acetylshengmanol-3-xyloside from Cimicifugae
      rhizome inhibit TNF-alpha-induced VCAM-1 expression in human endothelial cells:
      involvement of PPAR-gamma upregulation and PI3K, ERK1/2, and PKC signal pathways.
AB  - ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: The methanol extract of Cimicifugae Rhizome has
      been traditionally used in various disorders including inflammation. AIM OF THE
      STUDY: The aim of the study is to explore whether anti-inflammatory action of 3
      active compounds, two triterpenoid glycosides (cimiside E, 23-O-actylshengmanol-3
      xyloside) and one furanocoumarin (isoimperatorin), isolated from Cimicifugae
      Rhizome is related with peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma (PPAR
      gamma) expression in human umbilical endothelial cell line, EA.hy926 cells.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Cell viability and production of reactive oxygen species
      were performed. In addition, adhesion of monocyte into endothelial cells and
      western blot for expression of adhesion molecules and signal proteins were
      investigated in tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha)-activated cells. RESULTS:
      Pretreatment of test compounds significantly reduced reactive oxygen species
      (ROS) production and expression of vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1),
      but not intercellular cell adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1). Three compounds all dose
      dependently increased not only PPAR-gamma expression in EA.hy926 cells but
      inhibited TNF-alpha-induced phosphorylation of Akt, extracellular-signal
      regulated kinase (ERK) and protein kinase C (PKC) with different specificity.
      Finally, they prevented TNF-alpha-induced adhesion of U937 monocytic cells to
      EA.hy926 cells. CONCLUSIONS: The present results show that cimiside E, 23-O
      actylshengmanol-3-xyloside, isoimperatorin isolated from Cimicifugae Rhizome
      selectively inhibits TNF-alpha-induced expression of VCAM-1 at least by
      upregulation of PPAR-gamma, and signals for ERK1/2, PI3K, and PKC are involved in
      this effect.

PMID- 20937378
TI  - Developmentally regulated expression of Sox9 and microRNAs 124, 128 and 23 in
      neuroepithelial stem cells in the developing spinal cord.
AB  - Central nervous system development is a complex process involving many
      interacting factors. MicroRNAs have recently been identified as playing key
      intrinsic roles in development however few of their specific targets have been
      identified in vivo. The transcription factor Sox9 has recently been identified as
      a target of miR-124 in the adult mouse sub-ventricular zone. Here we investigate
      the expression of the microRNAs miR-124, miR-128 and miR-23 and that of
      transcription factor Sox9, in neuroepithelial stem cells in the developing spinal
      cord. Furthermore we investigate if neurogenesis in embryonic neuroepithelial
      cells in the spinal cord might also be regulated by the interaction of Sox9 and
      miR-124. We provide evidence of the spatial and temporal regulation of miR-124,
      miR-128, miR-23 and Sox9, and taken together with recent findings we provide
      evidence that Sox9 may also be target of miR-124 in developing spinal cord
      neuroepithelial cells.

PMID- 20937379
TI  - Cardiac-specific overexpression of catalase attenuates paraquat-induced
      myocardial geometric and contractile alteration: role of ER stress.
AB  - Paraquat, a quaternary nitrogen herbicide, is a highly toxic pro-oxidant that
      causes multiorgan failure including that of the heart via generation of reactive
      oxygen species, although the underlying mechanism has not been well elucidated.
      This study examined the influence of cardiac-specific overexpression of catalase,
      an antioxidant detoxifying H(2)O(2), on paraquat-induced myocardial geometric and
      functional alterations, with a focus on ER stress. FVB and catalase transgenic
      mice were administered paraquat for 48h. Myocardial geometry, contractile
      function, apoptosis, and ER stress were evaluated using echocardiography, edge
      detection, caspase-3 activity, and immunoblotting. Our results revealed that
      paraquat treatment significantly enlarged left ventricular (LV) end diastolic and
      systolic diameters; increased LV mass and resting myocyte length; reduced
      fractional shortening, cardiomyocyte peak shortening, and maximal velocity of
      shortening/relengthening; and prolonged relengthening duration in the FVB group.
      Whereas the catalase transgene itself did not alter myocardial geometry and
      function, it mitigated or significantly attenuated paraquat-elicited myocardial
      geometric and functional changes. Paraquat promoted overt apoptosis and ER stress
      as evidenced by increased caspase-3 activity, apoptosis, and ER stress markers
      including Bax, Bcl-2, GADD153, calregulin, and phosphorylated JNK, IRE1alpha, and
      eIF2alpha; all were ablated by the catalase transgene. Paraquat-induced
      cardiomyocyte dysfunction was mitigated by the ER stress inhibitor
      tauroursodeoxycholic acid. Moreover, the JNK inhibitor SP600125 reversed paraquat
      induced ER stress as evidenced by enhanced GADD153 and IRE1alpha phosphorylation.
      Taken together, these data revealed that catalase may rescue paraquat-induced
      myocardial geometric and functional alteration possibly by alleviating JNK
      mediated ER stress.

PMID- 20937381
TI  - Phenylketonuria as a protein misfolding disease: The mutation pG46S in
      phenylalanine hydroxylase promotes self-association and fibril formation.
AB  - The missense mutation pG46S in the regulatory (R) domain of human phenylalanine
      hydroxylase (hPAH), associated with a severe form of phenylketonuria, generates a
      misfolded protein which is rapidly degraded on expression in HEK293 cells. When
      overexpressed as a MBP-G46S fusion protein, soluble and fully active
      tetrameric/dimeric forms are assembled and recovered in a metastable
      conformational state. When MBP is cleaved off, G46S undergoes a conformational
      change and self-associates with a lag phase and an autocatalytic growth phase
      (tetramers?dimers), as determined by light scattering. The self-association is
      controlled by pH, ionic strength, temperature, protein concentration and the
      phosphorylation state of Ser16; the net charge of the protein being a main
      modulator of the process. A superstoichiometric amount of WT dimers revealed a 2
      fold enhancement of the rate of G46S dimer self-association. Electron microscopy
      demonstrates the formation of higher-order oligomers and linear polymers of
      variable length, partly as a branching network, and partly as individual long and
      twisted fibrils (diameter ~145-300A). The heat-shock proteins Hsp70/Hsp40, Hsp90
      and a proposed pharmacological PAH chaperone (3-amino-2-benzyl-7-nitro-4-(2
      quinolyl)-1,2-dihydroisoquinolin-1-one) partly inhibit the self-association
      process. Our data indicate that the G46S mutation results in a N-terminal
      extension of alpha-helix 1 which perturbs the wild-type alpha-beta sandwich motif
      in the R-domain and promotes new intermolecular contacts, self-association and
      non-amyloid fibril formation. The metastable conformational state of G46S as a
      MBP fusion protein, and its self-association propensity when released from MBP,
      may represent a model system for the study of other hPAH missense mutations
      characterized by misfolded proteins.

PMID- 20937382
TI  - Estradiol-dependent regulation of angiopoietin expression in breast cancer cells.
AB  - Angiopoietin-1 (Ang-1) is a ligand for Tie-2 receptors and a promoter of
      angiogenesis. Angiogenesis plays an important role in breast cancer, as it is one
      of the critical events required for tumors to grow and metastasize. In this
      study, we investigated the influence of estradiol (E2) on the expression of
      angiopoietins in breast cancer cell lines. Ang-1 mRNA and protein expressions
      were significantly higher in estrogen receptor-negative (ERalpha-) breast cancer
      cells than in estrogen receptor-positive (ERalpha+) cells. Exposure of ERalpha+
      cells to E2 resulted in further reductions of Ang-1 levels. In mouse mammary pads
      inoculated with breast cancer cells, both tumor size and Ang-1 production were
      significantly lower in ERalpha+ cell-derived xenografts, as compared to those
      derived from ERalpha- cells. Reduction of circulating levels of E2 by ovariectomy
      eliminated this response. Overall, these results indicate that Ang-1 mRNA and
      protein expressions: (1) negatively correlate with the level of ERalpha in breast
      cancer cell lines; (2) are downregulated by E2 in an ERalpha dependent manner;
      and (3) positively correlate with the degree of angiogenesis in vivo. We conclude
      that Ang-1 is an important modulator of growth and progression of ERalpha- breast
      cancers.

PMID- 20937380
TI  - Menadione triggers cell death through ROS-dependent mechanisms involving PARP
      activation without requiring apoptosis.
AB  - Low levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) can function as redox-active
      signaling messengers, whereas high levels of ROS induce cellular damage.
      Menadione generates ROS through redox cycling, and high concentrations trigger
      cell death. Previous work suggests that menadione triggers cytochrome c release
      from mitochondria, whereas other studies implicate the activation of the
      mitochondrial permeability transition pore as the mediator of cell death. We
      investigated menadione-induced cell death in genetically modified cells lacking
      specific death-associated proteins. In cardiomyocytes, oxidant stress was
      assessed using the redox sensor RoGFP, expressed in the cytosol or the
      mitochondrial matrix. Menadione elicited rapid oxidation in both compartments,
      whereas it decreased mitochondrial potential and triggered cytochrome c
      redistribution to the cytosol. Cell death was attenuated by N-acetylcysteine and
      exogenous glutathione or by overexpression of cytosolic or mitochondria-targeted
      catalase. By contrast, no protection was observed in cells overexpressing Cu,Zn
      SOD or Mn-SOD. Overexpression of antiapoptotic Bcl-X(L) protected against
      staurosporine-induced cell death, but it failed to confer protection against
      menadione. Genetic deletion of Bax and Bak, cytochrome c, cyclophilin D, or
      caspase-9 conferred no protection against menadione-induced cell death. However,
      cells lacking PARP-1 showed a significant decrease in menadione-induced cell
      death. Thus, menadione induces cell death through the generation of oxidant
      stress in multiple subcellular compartments, yet cytochrome c, Bax/Bak, caspase
      9, and cyclophilin D are dispensable for cell death in this model. These studies
      suggest that multiple redundant cell death pathways are activated by menadione,
      but that PARP plays an essential role in mediating each of them.

PMID- 20937384
TI  - Collagenase-2 (MMP-8) as a point-of-care biomarker in periodontitis and
      cardiovascular diseases. Therapeutic response to non-antimicrobial properties of
      tetracyclines.
AB  - Neutrophil collagenase or collagenase-2 (matrix metalloproteinase [MMP]-8)
      belongs to the collagenase subgroup of the MMP superfamily of calcium- and zinc
      dependent neutral proteinases. MMP-8 is catalytically the most competent
      proteinase to initiate type I collagen and extracellular matrix degradation
      associated with periodontal and peri-implant tissue destruction leading to tooth
      and dental implant loss. Regarding cardiovascular diseases, pathologically
      excessive MMP-8 has been implicated in atherosclerotic plaque destabilization and
      rupture probably through its proteolytic ability to thin the protecting
      collagenous fibrous cap lining coronary and other arteries. During the initiation
      and course of inflammatory responses in periodontitis, peri-implantitis and
      cardiovascular diseases, proinflammatory mediators including especially MMP-8 are
      up-regulated not only in affected tissues but also in the secreted, disease
      affected, oral fluids (gingival crevicular fluid [GCF], peri-implant sulcular
      fluid [PISF], mouthrinse and saliva) as well as in serum and plasma. Regarding
      periodontitis, peri-implantitis and cardiovascular diseases, the oral fluid and
      serum MMP-8 analysis has proven to be a sensitive and an objective biomarker as
      an indicator of health, pathologic processes and pharmacologic response to
      therapeutic intervention including doxycycline medication as an MMP inhibitor.
      Oral fluids, i.e., GCF, PISF, mouthrinse and saliva are easily and non-invasively
      collected for the site- and patient-specific diagnostic analysis in periodontitis
      and peri-implantitis, whereas serum and/or plasma sample collection is required
      for diagnosis and monitoring of cardiovascular diseases. Research in
      periodontology and cardiology has identified a need for the development of
      innovative point-of-care diagnostic tests for MMP-8. We summarize and review the
      recent studies on these topics.

PMID- 20937385
TI  - Inflammation: friend or foe?

PMID- 20937386
TI  - Clinical applications of non-antimicrobial tetracyclines in dermatology.
AB  - There are many proposed non-antimicrobial actions of tetracyclines. Pathways
      affected by these medications are often overexpressed in various dermatologic
      conditions. Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are enzymes best known for breaking
      down connective tissue proteins and are upregulated in conditions involving
      dermal destruction. Inhibition of MMPs by tetracyclines has been emphasized as
      one major non-antimicrobial action. Other effects of tetracyclines that are
      important in dermatology include inflammatory cytokine regulation, inhibition of
      leukocyte chemotaxis and activation, and anti-oxidation. Dermatologists have
      utilized the non-antimicrobial benefits of using tetracycline, through their
      success in treating disorders that do not have a primary infectious etiology such
      as rosacea. Even in acne, there is believed to be overactive inflammation to a
      normally commensal organism which is inhibited by tetracyclines. These
      medications have also been reported as successful in cases of less common skin
      conditions, such as pyoderma gangrenosum and bullous pemphigoid, both of which
      involve inflammation and dermal destruction which are inhibited by tetracyclines.
      The pathologic mechanisms of several dermatologic conditions are reviewed,
      followed by evidence of how tetracyclines and chemically modified tetracyclines
      (CMTs; structurally altered tetracyclines to remove antimicrobial properties
      while retaining non-antimicrobial properties) affect these pathways. Clinical
      testing of sub-antimicrobial doxycycline, in both 20mg twice daily and 40 mg once
      daily (controlled release; 30 mg immediate release, 10mg delayed release) forms,
      in rosacea and acne is reviewed as evidence that non-antimicrobial actions are
      valuable for treatment. Chemically modified tetracycline-3 (CMT-3) for Kaposi's
      sarcoma is highlighted as the only clinical evidence available for CMTs in
      dermatology. Certain evidence of success using antimicrobial tetracyclines in
      inflammatory conditions of the skin is reviewed as well, because they are likely
      working through non-antimicrobial properties. Finally, dermatologic side effects
      of non-antimicrobial tetracyclines are assessed.

PMID- 20937383
TI  - Cholinotrophic basal forebrain system alterations in 3xTg-AD transgenic mice.
AB  - The cholinotrophic system, which is dependent upon nerve growth factor and its
      receptors for survival, is selectively vulnerable in Alzheimer's disease (AD).
      But, virtually nothing is known about how this deficit develops in relation to
      the hallmark lesions of this disease, amyloid plaques and tau containing
      neurofibrillary tangles. The vast majority of transgenic models of AD used to
      evaluate the effect of beta amyloid (Abeta) deposition upon the cholinotrophic
      system over-express the amyloid precursor protein (APP). However, nothing is
      known about how this system is affected in triple transgenic (3xTg)-AD mice, an
      AD animal model displaying Abeta plaque- and tangle-like pathology in the cortex
      and hippocampus, which receive extensive cholinergic innervation. We performed a
      detailed morphological and biochemical characterization of the cholinotrophic
      system in young (2-4 months), middle-aged (13-15 months) and old (18-20 months)
      3xTg-AD mice. Cholinergic neuritic swellings increased in number and size with
      age, and were more conspicuous in the hippocampal-subicular complex in aged
      female than in 3xTg-AD male mice. Stereological analysis revealed a reduction in
      choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) positive cells in the medial septum/vertical
      limb of the diagonal band of Broca in aged 3xTg-AD mice. ChAT enzyme activity
      levels decreased significantly in the hippocampus of middle-aged 3xTg-AD mice
      compared to age-matched non-transgenic (or wild type) mice. ProNGF protein levels
      increased in the cortex of aged 3xTg-AD mice, whereas TrkA protein levels were
      reduced in a gender-dependent manner in aged mutant mice. In contrast, p75(NTR)
      protein cortical levels were stable but increased in the hippocampus of aged 3xTg
      AD mice. These data demonstrate that cholinotrophic alterations in 3xTg-AD mice
      are age- and gender-dependent and more pronounced in the hippocampus, a structure
      more severely affected by Abeta plaque pathology.

PMID- 20937387
TI  - Introduction and background.
AB  - The rationale for this issue, dedicated to the non-antimicrobial activities of
      tetracyclines (TCs) as matrix metalloproteinase (and cytokine) - inhibitors, and
      clinical applications of these properties, is addressed in this introduction.
      From a historical perspective, the author describes two "breakthrough"
      experiments that opened this field: (1) the discovery of animal collagenase, the
      first of a series of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) which are now known to be
      essential mediators of collagen-and connective tissue-destruction including bone
      loss during various diseases; and (2) the discovery by the author and his team of
      the unexpected ability of TCs to inhibit these MMPs, and by mechanisms unrelated
      to the antibiotic activity of these drugs. This led to the development of (i) non
      antimicrobial formulations of TCs, ie., sub-antimicrobial-dose doxycycline which
      resulted in two approved drugs, one for the treatment of periodontal disease, the
      other for a chronic inflammatory skin disease, and (ii) non-antimicrobial
      compositions of TCs, ie., the chemically-modified TCs or CMTs or COLs--one of
      which has shown evidence of efficacy as an anti-angiogenesis agent in human
      clinical trials on a type of cancer. The development of the CMTs also resulted in
      the identification of the active site of the TC molecule as an MMP-inhibitor, the
      calcium and zinc binding site at carbon-11 and 12. And finally, the recently
      recognized importance of not excessively inhibiting the MMPs because basal levels
      are needed for various physiologic functions, and the therapeutic potential of
      TCs as inhibitors of intracellular not just extracellular MMP activity, are both
      introduced.

PMID- 20937388
TI  - Using tetracyclines to treat osteoporotic/osteopenic bone loss: from the basic
      science laboratory to the clinic.
AB  - Periodontitis (progressive inflammatory disease characterized by alveolar bone
      loss, a major cause of tooth loss worldwide) is associated with both systemic
      osteoporosis and its milder form, osteopenia. Tetracyclines, by virtue of their
      non-antimicrobial pro-anabolic and anti-catabolic properties, are excellent
      candidate pharmaceuticals to simultaneously treat these local and systemic
      disorders. This paper reviews the foundational basic science and translational
      research which lead to a pivotal multicenter randomized clinical trial in
      postmenopausal women with both periodontitis and systemic (skeletal) osteopenia.
      This trial was designed primarily to examine whether subantimicrobial dose
      doxycycline (SDD) could reduce progressive alveolar (oral) bone loss associated
      with periodontitis and, secondarily, whether SDD could reduce systemic bone loss
      in the same subjects. This paper describes the efficacy and safety findings from
      this clinical trial and also outlines future directions using this promising and
      novel approach to manage both oral and systemic bone loss.

PMID- 20937389
TI  - Mutator phenotype in cancer: origin and consequences.

PMID- 20937390
TI  - Heme conjugated magnetic beads to isolate heme-binding proteins from complex
      mixtures.
AB  - The cofactor heme (Fe-protoporphyrin IX) plays many important roles in biology.
      Identification of novel proteins for the transport, chaperoning and delivery of
      heme in cells is of widespread interest. Here, we describe the use of heme
      conjugated magnetic beads for the isolation of heme-binding proteins from complex
      protein mixtures. The reagent is straightforward to use, sensitive and specific.

PMID- 20937391
TI  - The binding of synthetic triiodo l-thyronine analogs to human transthyretin:
      molecular basis of cooperative and non-cooperative ligand recognition.
AB  - Transthyretin (TTR) is a tetrameric beta-sheet-rich transporter protein directly
      involved in human amyloid diseases. Several classes of small molecules can bind
      to TTR delaying its amyloid fibril formation, thus being promising drug
      candidates to treat TTR amyloidoses. In the present study, we characterized the
      interactions of the synthetic triiodo L-thyronine analogs and thyroid hormone
      nuclear receptor TRbeta-selective agonists GC-1 and GC-24 with the wild type and
      V30M variant of human transthyretin (TTR). To achieve this aim, we conducted in
      vitro TTR acid-mediated aggregation and isothermal titration calorimetry
      experiments and determined the TTR:GC-1 and TTR:GC-24 crystal structures. Our
      data indicate that both GC-1 and GC-24 bind to TTR in a non-cooperative manner
      and are good inhibitors of TTR aggregation, with dissociation constants for both
      hormone binding sites (HBS) in the low micromolar range. Analysis of the crystal
      structures of TTRwt:GC-1(24) complexes and their comparison with the TTRwt X-ray
      structure bound to its natural ligand thyroxine (T4) suggests, at the molecular
      level, the basis for the cooperative process displayed by T4 and the non
      cooperative process provoked by both GC-1 and GC-24 during binding to TTR.

PMID- 20937392
TI  - Graphene: Substrate preparation and introduction.
AB  - This technical note describes the transfer of continuous, single-layer, pristine
      graphene to standard Quantifoil TEM grids. We compare the transmission properties
      of pristine graphene substrates to those of graphene oxide and thin amorphous
      carbon substrates. Positively stained DNA imaged across amorphous carbon is
      typically indiscernible and requires metal shadowing for sufficient contrast.
      However, in a practical illustration of the new substrates properties, positively
      stained DNA is imaged across pristine graphene in striking contrast without the
      need of metal shadowing. We go onto discuss technical considerations and the
      potential applications of pristine graphene substrates as well as their ongoing
      development.

PMID- 20937393
TI  - Neural correlates of own- and other-race face perception: spatial and temporal
      response differences.
AB  - Humans show an "other-race effect" for face recognition, with more accurate
      recognition of own- versus other-race faces. We compared the neural
      representations of own- and other-race faces using functional magnetic resonance
      imaging (fMRI) data in combination with a multi-voxel pattern classifier. Neural
      activity was recorded while Asians and Caucasians viewed Asian and Caucasian
      faces. A pattern classifier, applied to voxels across a broad range of ventral
      temporal areas, discriminated the brain activity maps elicited in response to
      Asian versus Caucasian faces in the brains of both Asians and Caucasians.
      Classification was most accurate in the first few time points of the block and
      required the use of own-race faces in the localizer scan to select voxels for
      classifier input. Next, we examined differences in the time-course of neural
      responses to own- and other-race faces and found evidence for a temporal "other
      race effect." Own-race faces elicited a larger neural response initially that
      attenuated rapidly. The response to other-race faces was weaker at first, but
      increased over time, ultimately surpassing the magnitude of the own-race response
      in the fusiform "face" area (FFA). A similar temporal response pattern held
      across a broad range of ventral temporal areas. The pattern-classification
      results indicate the early availability of categorical information about own-
      versus other-race face status in the spatial pattern of neural activity. The
      slower, more sustained, brain response to other-race faces may indicate the need
      to recruit additional neural resources to process other-race faces for
      identification.

PMID- 20937395
TI  - Strategy in short-term memory for pictures in childhood: a near-infrared
      spectroscopy study.
AB  - In Baddeley's working memory model, verbalizable visual material such as pictures
      are recoded into a phonological form and then rehearsed, while auditory material
      is rehearsed directly. The recoding and rehearsal processes are mediated by
      articulatory control process in the left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC).
      Developmentally, the phonological strategy for serially-presented visual material
      emerges around 7 years of age, while that for auditory material is consistently
      present by 4 years of age. However, the strategy change may actually be
      correlated with memory ability as this usually increases with age. To investigate
      the relationship between the strategy for pictures and memory ability, we
      monitored the left VLPFC activation in 5 to 11 year-old children during free
      recall of visually- or auditorily-presented familiar objects using event-related
      near-infrared spectroscopy. We hypothesized that the phonological strategy of
      rehearsal and recoding for visual material would provoke greater activation than
      only rehearsal for auditory material in the left VLPFC. Therefore, we presumed
      that the activation difference for visual material compared with auditory
      material in the left VLPFC may represent the tendency to use a phonological
      strategy. We found that the activation difference in the left VLPFC showed a
      significant positive correlation with memory ability but not with age, suggesting
      that children with high memory ability make more use of phonological strategy for
      pictures. The present study provides functional evidence that the strategy in
      short-term memory for pictures shifts gradually from non-phonological to
      phonological as memory ability increases in childhood.

PMID- 20937394
TI  - Involvement of the anterior cingulate and frontoinsular cortices in rapid
      processing of salient facial emotional information.
AB  - The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and frontoinsular cortex (FI) have been
      implicated in processing information across a variety of domains, including those
      related to attention and emotion. However, their role in rapid information
      processing, for example, as required for timely processing of salient stimuli, is
      not well understood. Here, we designed an emotional face priming paradigm and
      employed functional magnetic resonance imaging to elucidate their role in these
      mechanisms. Target faces with either neutral or fearful emotion were briefly
      primed by either neutral or fearful faces, or by blank ovals. The pregenual ACC
      and the FI, together with other regions, such as the amygdala, were
      preferentially activated in response to fearful face priming, suggesting that
      these regions are involved in the rapid processing of salient facial emotional
      information.

PMID- 20937397
TI  - Phase delays within visual cortex shape the response to steady-state visual
      stimulation.
AB  - Although the spatial organization of visual areas can be revealed by functional
      Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), the synoptic, non-invasive access to the
      temporal characteristics of the information flow amongst distributed visual
      processes remains a technical and methodological challenge. Using frequency
      encoded steady-state visual stimulation together with a combination of time
      resolved functional magnetic source imaging from magnetoencephalography (MEG) and
      anatomical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), this study evidences maps of
      visuotopic sustained oscillatory neural responses distributed across the visual
      cortex. Our results further reveal relative phase delays across responding
      striate and extra-striate visual areas, which thereby shape the chronometry of
      neural processes amongst these regions. The methodology developed in this study
      points at further developments in time-resolved analyses of distributed visual
      processes in the millisecond range, and to new ways of exploring the dynamics of
      functional processes within the human visual cortex non-invasively.

PMID- 20937396
TI  - Spatiotemporal tuning of brain activity and force performance.
AB  - The spatial and temporal features of visual stimuli are either processed
      independently or are conflated in specific cells of visual cortex. Although
      spatial and temporal features of visual stimuli influence motor performance, it
      remains unclear how spatiotemporal information is processed beyond visual cortex
      in brain regions that control movement. We used functional magnetic resonance
      imaging to examine how brain activity and force control are influenced by visual
      gain at a high visual feedback frequency of 6.4 Hz and a low visual feedback
      frequency of 0.4 Hz. At 6.4 Hz, increasing visual gain led to improved force
      performance and increased activity in classic areas of the visuomotor system-V5,
      IPL, SPL, PMv, SMA-proper, and M1. At 0.4 Hz, increasing gain also led to
      improved force performance. In addition to activation in M1/PMd and IPL in the
      visuomotor system, increasing visual gain at 0.4 Hz also corresponded with
      activity in the striatal-frontal circuit including DLPFC, ACC, and widespread
      activity in putamen, caudate, and SMA-proper. This study demonstrates that the
      frequency of visual feedback drives where in the brain visual gain mediated
      reductions in force error are regulated.

PMID- 20937398
TI  - An evolutionary conserved motif is responsible for immunoglobulin heavy chain
      packing in the B cell membrane.
AB  - All species of vertebrates synthesize immunoglobulin molecules, which differ in
      an number of aspects but also share a few common features responsible for their
      function, such as the presence of a transmembrane domain in the membrane bound
      form of the immunoglobulin heavy chain (IgTMD) that ensures communication with
      the signal transducing Igalpha-Igbeta peptides. We have analyzed the gene
      sequence encoding the IgTMD of different heavy chain isotypes of very distant
      species, from shark to mammals. The IgTMD sequences show a high degree of
      sequence identity and their encoding nucleotide sequences were shown to be
      subject to purifying selection at most sites. We have built molecular models of
      seven IgTMDs from different vertebrate species and have investigated the
      formation of homodimer in a palmitoyl oleoyl phosphatidylcholine (POPC) lipid
      bilayer by molecular dynamics simulations. We found that the conserved
      FXXXFXXS/TXXXS motif, never observed to date in protein transmembrane chains, is
      responsible for the two heavy chains association through two pairs of Phe-Phe
      hydrophobic interactions and two pairs of Ser/Thr-Ser/Ser hydrogen bonds. This
      interaction pattern, which stabilizes the dimer conformation in the lipid
      bilayer, was unique, being different from any other pattern identified in
      transmembrane helices to date.

PMID- 20937399
TI  - Molecular systematics and diversification of the Asian scimitar babblers
      (Timaliidae, Aves) based on mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences.
AB  - The Asian scimitar babblers, including the genus Pomatorhinus and Xiphirhynchus,
      are a small group of babblers characterized by long down-curved bills and a
      distribution throughout East and Southeast Asia. To infer the molecular phylogeny
      of this group and their divergence time, we examined sequences of multiple
      fragments including two entire mitochondrial genes and four nuclear introns (4352
      bp in total) from multiple samples of eight of the nine recognized species of
      Asian scimitar babblers. The phylogeny resulting from the concatenated multi
      locus dataset suggests that Pomatorhinus is paraphyletic. Due to its paraphyly,
      we propose dividing the traditional genus Pomatorhinus into two morphologically
      and genetically diagnosable genera: Pomatorhinus and Erythrogenys. Results of the
      molecular dating based on the conventional mitochondrial DNA divergence rate
      indicates that the diversification of these babblers is likely congruent with the
      historical climatic events. Our findings shed light on the diversification of
      avian species in southern Asia, a poorly studied biodiversity hotspot.

PMID- 20937400
TI  - The fungal metabolite, citrinin, inhibits lipopolysaccharide/interferon-gamma
      induced nitric oxide production in glomerular mesangial cells.
AB  - The mycotoxin, citrinin (CTN), is a secondary metabolite of the fermented
      products of Monascus. The mycotoxin can either suppress or stimulate immune
      responses. In the present study, the immunomodulatory role of CTN in nitric oxide
      (NO) production, a proinflammatory mediator in the process of inflammation, was
      investigated. NO is well known as a mediator of immune responses. Overproduction
      of NO catalyzed by inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) protects host cells
      against microbial invasion, while aberrant iNOS induction is associated with the
      pathophysiology of inflammatory events. Herein, we report that CTN significantly
      suppressed lipopolysaccharide (LPS)/interferon (IFN)-gamma-induced NO production
      in MES-13 cells, a glomerular mesangial cell line. The percentage of NO reduction
      caused by CTN was far greater than that of the decline in cell viability. CTN
      decreased iNOS gene and protein expressions in concentration-dependent manners.
      CTN caused declines in LPS/IFN-gamma-induced signal transducer and activator of
      transcription-1alpha (STAT-1alpha) phosphorylation. Furthermore, LPS/IFN-gamma's
      induction of interferon response factor-1 (IRF-1) mRNA expression was inhibited
      by CTN. Moreover, CTN attenuated IkappaB-alpha phosphorylation and reduced NF
      kappaB's translocation to the nuclear fraction. Taken together, our data
      indicated that CTN significantly suppressed NO and iNOS expressions in MES-13
      cells via inhibition of the JAK/STAT-1alpha and NF-kappaB signaling pathways.

PMID- 20937401
TI  - Anti-inflammatory effects of cordycepin via suppression of inflammatory mediators
      in BV2 microglial cells.
AB  - Cordyceps militaris, a traditional medicinal mushroom, produces the bioactive
      compound cordycepin (3'-deoxyadenosine). Although cordycepin has been shown to
      have pharmacological, immunological stimulating, anti-cancer, and anti
      inflammatory activities, its activities and cellular mechanisms during microglial
      activation have yet to be elucidated. Thus, we evaluated the anti-inflammatory
      effect of cordycepin on the production of inflammatory mediators in
      lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated murine BV2 microglia. We also investigated
      the effects of cordycepin on LPS-induced nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB)
      activation and on phosphorylation of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs).
      After LPS stimulation, nitric oxide (NO), prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), and pro
      inflammatory cytokine production was detected in BV2 microglia. However, we found
      that cordycepin significantly inhibited the excessive production of NO, PGE2, and
      pro-inflammatory cytokines in a concentration-dependent manner without causing
      cytotoxicity. In addition, cordycepin suppressed NF-kappaB translocation by
      blocking IkappaB-alpha (IkappaB-alpha) degradation and inhibited the
      phosphorylation of Akt, ERK-1/2, JNK, and p38 kinase. Our results indicate that
      the inhibitory effect of cordycepin on LPS-stimulated inflammatory mediator
      production in BV2 microglia is associated with the suppression of the NF-kappaB,
      Akt, and MAPK signaling pathways. Therefore, cordycepin may be useful in treating
      neurodegenerative diseases by inhibiting inflammatory mediator production in
      activated microglia.

PMID- 20937402
TI  - The airway sensory hyperreactivity syndrome.
AB  - After exclusion of diverse pulmonary illnesses, the remaining explanations for
      chronic cough include medication with angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE)
      inhibitor, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), and post-nasal drip. Different
      clinics report shifting frequencies for both the causes of chronic cough and the
      success of treatment. However, after all evaluations, differential diagnosis
      still leaves a group of patients with unexplained cough. This unexplained cough
      is also known as chronic idiopathic cough (CIC), though there are widely varying
      opinions as to its existence. Among patients previously diagnosed with CIC, a
      subgroup has been identified with both upper and lower airway symptoms, including
      cough induced by odours and chemicals, and with increased cough sensitivity to
      inhaled capsaicin, which is known to stimulate the airway sensory nerves. A
      suggested explanation for this condition is a hyperreactivity of the sensory
      nerves of the entire airways, and hence the condition is known as sensory
      hyperreactivity (SHR). SHR affects more than 6% of the adult population in
      Sweden. It is a longstanding condition, and is clearly associated with
      significant social and psychological impacts.

PMID- 20937403
TI  - Cough in the elderly: a novel strategy for preventing aspiration pneumonia.
AB  - Management of cough in the elderly with a deteriorated physical and mental status
      has received little focus. Since an aged population is rapidly increasing in
      developed countries, the research in this population are warranted. Cough reflex
      sensitivity in the elderly was shown to be hypersensitive, normosensitive and
      hyposensitive. The hypersensitive cough reflex is mostly due to gastro-esophageal
      reflux in nursing home patients. Impaired cough reflex sensitivity is assumed to
      play a crucial role in the development of pneumonia in the elderly. A marked
      depression of cough reflex sensitivity is reported in elderly patients with
      aspiration pneumonia. The impairment of the cough reflex in patients with
      aspiration pneumonia can involve both cortical facilitatory pathways for cough
      and medullary reflex pathways. We found the urge-to-cough in patients with
      aspiration pneumonia was also down-regulated, suggesting the involvement of
      supramedullary dysfunction in the etiology of aspiration pneumonia in the
      elderly. In order to prevent aspiration pneumonia in the elderly, restoration of
      cough reflex sensitivity is essential. We found several methods to restore cough
      reflex sensitivity in the elderly. They also improved the swallowing reflex,
      another important airway protective reflex, in the elderly. In the treatment of
      aspiration pneumonia, one of the most challenging steps is the start of eating
      for patients who usually fast at the time of hospitalization. By combining the
      methods to restore the cough reflex sensitivity and swallowing reflex, we
      developed a protocol to start eating in the elderly patients with aspiration
      pneumonia. Using the protocol, we reduced the incidence of re-aspiration due to
      start of eating in patients with aspiration pneumonia to one third of the
      patients without the protocol.

PMID- 20937404
TI  - Effect of mometasone furoate (MF)/formoterol fumarate (F) combination (MF/F) on
      late-phase responses in allergen-challenged Brown Norway rats.
AB  - Mometasone furoate (MF)/formoterol fumarate (F) combination is a new inhaIed
      corticosteroid/long-acting beta2-adrenergic agonist (ICS/LABA). The purpose of
      this study was to evaluate the effects of different dose combinations of MF/F on
      a variety of late-phase responses to aerosolized antigen challenge in ovalbumin
      sensitized Brown Norway rats. Late-phase responses were assessed by reductions in
      lung function, measured by forced vital capacity (FVC) and increased numbers of
      inflammatory cells and pro-inflammatory cytokines in the bronchoalveolar lavage
      (BAL) fluid of ovalbumin challenged rats. Intratracheal administration of MF/F 5
      h before aerosolized ovalbumin challenge inhibited the increase in inflammatory
      cells, including eosinophils and levels of interleukin (IL)-4, IL-5, IL-13 and
      tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) appearing in the bronchoalveolar lavage
      fluid 24 h after the antigen challenge. The combination index for inhibition of
      both inflammatory cells and cytokines was consistently <1 suggesting a
      synergistic interaction between MF and F. Intratracheal MF/F given 24 h after the
      aerosolized ovalbumin challenge reversed the reduction in FVC with statistically
      significant effects seen over a 24 h period after drug whereas MF and F alone
      reversed the antigen-induced reduction in FVC at selected times only. At 5 h
      after drug administration, when both MF and F were partially active, the
      combination index for MF/F was <1 suggesting a synergistic interaction between MF
      and F for reversal of the lung function. These results demonstrate that MF/F
      combination inhibits a variety of late-phase responses induced by allergen
      challenge and it is likely that MF/F will have a significant benefit in clinical
      asthma to suppress lung inflammation and improve lung function.

PMID- 20937405
TI  - Cell volume regulation following hypotonic shock in hepatocytes isolated from
      Sparus aurata.
AB  - The response of isolated hepatocytes of Sparus aurata to hypotonic shock was
      studied by the aid of videometric and light scattering methods. The isolated
      cells exposed to a rapid change (from 370 to 260 mOsm/kg) of the osmolarity of
      the bathing solution swelled but thereafter underwent a decrease of cell volume
      tending to recovery the original size. This homeostatic response RVD (regulatory
      volume decrease) was inhibited in the absence of extracellular Ca2+ and in the
      presence of TMB8, an inhibitor of Ca2+ release from intracellular stores. It is
      likely that Ca2+ entry through verapamil sensitive Ca2+-channels, probably
      leading to a release of Ca2+ from intracellular stores, is responsible for RVD
      since the blocker impaired the ability of the cell to recover its volume after
      the hypotonic shock. RVD tests performed in the presence of various inhibitors of
      different transport mechanisms, such as BaCl2, quinine, glybenclamide and
      bumetanide as well as in the presence of a KCl activator, NEM, led us to suggest
      that the recovery of cell volume in hypotonic solution is accomplished by an
      efflux of K+ and Cl- through conductive pathways paralleled by the operation of
      the KCl cotransport, followed by an obliged water efflux from the cells.

PMID- 20937406
TI  - Allometric estimation of metabolic rates in animals.
AB  - The relationship between body mass (M) and metabolic rate (MR) typically accounts
      for most (>90%) of the inter-specific variation in MR. As such, when measurement
      of a species of interest is not possible, its MR can often be predicted using M.
      However, choosing an appropriate relationship to make such predictions is
      critical, and the choice is complicated by ongoing debate about the structure of
      the relationship between M and MR. The present study examines a range of methods
      including ordinary least squares (OLS), reduced major axis (RMA), and
      phylogenetically-informed (PI) approaches for estimating log(MR) from log(M), as
      well as non-linear approaches for estimating the relationship between MR and M
      without the need for log-transformation. Using data for the basal metabolic rates
      of mammals, it is shown that RMA regression overestimates the scaling exponent of
      MR (b, where MR=aM(b)), suggesting that OLS regression is appropriate for these
      data. PI approaches are preferred over non-PI ones, and the best estimates of
      log(MR) are obtained by including information on body temperature, climate,
      habitat, island endemism, and use of torpor in addition to log(M). However, the
      use of log-transformed data introduces bias into estimates of MR, while the use
      of non-linear regression underestimates MR for small mammals. This suggests that
      no single relationship is appropriate for describing the relationship between MR
      and M for all mammals, and that relationships for more narrow taxonomic groups or
      body mass ranges should be used when predicting MR from M.

PMID- 20937407
TI  - Molecular characterization of hypoxia and hypoxia-inducible factor 1 alpha (HIF
      1alpha) from Taiwan voles (Microtus kikuchii).
AB  - Hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF-1) is a transcription factor that senses and
      adapts cells to hypoxic environmental conditions. HIF-1 is composed of an oxygen
      regulated alpha subunit (HIF-1alpha) and a constitutively expressed beta subunit
      (HIF-1beta). Taiwan voles (Microtus kikuchii) are an endemic species in Taiwan,
      found only in mountainous areas greater than 2000m above sea level. In this
      study, the full-length HIF-1alpha cDNA was cloned and sequenced from liver
      tissues of Taiwan voles. We found that HIF-1alpha of Taiwan voles had high
      sequence similarity to HIF-1alpha of other species. Sequence alignment of HIF
      1alpha functional domains indicated basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH), PER-ARNT-SIM
      (PAS) and C-terminal transactivation (TAD-C) domains were conserved among
      species, but sequence variations were found between the oxygen-dependent
      degradation domains (ODDD). To measure Taiwan vole HIF-1alpha responses to
      hypoxia, animals were challenged with cobalt chloride, and HIF-1alpha mRNA and
      protein expression in brain, lung, heart, liver, kidney, and muscle was assessed
      by quantitative RT-PCR and Western blot analysis. Upon induction of hypoxic
      stress with cobalt chloride, an increase in HIF-1alpha mRNA levels was detected
      in lung, heart, kidney, and muscle tissue. In contrast, protein expression levels
      showed greater variation between individual animals. These results suggest that
      the regulation of HIF-1alpha may be important to the Taiwan vole under cobalt
      chloride treatments. But more details regarding the evolutionary effect of
      environmental pressure on HIF-1alpha primary sequence, HIF-1alpha function and
      regulation in Taiwan voles remain to be identified.

PMID- 20937408
TI  - Bleomycin treatment of A549 human lung cancer cells results in association of
      MGr1-Ag and caveolin-1 in lipid rafts.
AB  - Bleomycin treatment of A549 cells induces senescence rather than apoptosis, a
      more usual response of cancer cells to cytotoxic drugs. We have previously shown
      that upregulation of caveolin-1, the main structural component of caveolae, plays
      a key role in this process. In order to gain a better understanding of the
      molecular basis of this phenomenon, caveolin-1-enriched microdomains of untreated
      and bleomycin-treated growth-arrested A549 cells were analysed for differential
      protein expression using 2-D DIGE followed by LC-MS/MS. One of these
      differentially expressed proteins was found to be the multidrug resistance
      associated protein (MGr1-Ag). We show that MGr1-Ag becomes partly localised in
      lipid rafts following bleomycin treatment, and that MGr1-Ag and caveolin-1 occur
      in a common protein complex in vivo using co-immunoprecipitation studies. GST
      pull-down assays demonstrated an increased interaction between MGr1-Ag and
      caveolin-1 following bleomycin treatment in vitro. Our results reveal MGr1-Ag as
      a novel lipid raft protein; its increased association with caveolin-1 in
      bleomycin-induced cell cycle arrest and subsequent cellular senescence might
      contribute to the success of chemotherapy.

PMID- 20937409
TI  - Activation-induced internalization differs for the tetraspanins CD9 and Tspan8:
      Impact on tumor cell motility.
AB  - Exosomes are most important intercellular communicators and
      tetraspanins/tetraspanin-complexes have been suggested to play an important role
      in exosomal target cell selection. We have shown that only exosomes expressing a
      Tspan8-CD49d complex preferentially bind endothelial cells, which initiates
      angiogenesis. This finding was unexpected as in the exosome donor cell Tspan8 is
      associated with CD49c and the tetraspanins CD9 and CD151. In view of the
      discussed therapeutic power of exosomes as message/drug transporter, it became
      important to clarify the mechanisms accounting for the distinct Tspan8-web in the
      cell membrane versus exosomes. We therefore compared the route of Tspan8 and
      Tspan8-chimera internalization, where the N- and/or C-terminal regions were
      exchanged with the corresponding regions of CD9 or CD151. Activation-induced
      Tspan8-internalization proceeds more rapidly than CD9 internalization and is
      accompanied by disassembly of the Tspan8-CD9-CD151 membrane complex in resting
      cells. Tspan8-internalization relies on the association of the Tspan8 N-terminal
      region with intersectin-2, a multimodular complex involved in clathrin-coated pit
      internalization. Internalization and recovery of Tspan8 in early endosomes is
      further promoted by the recruitment of CD49d such that only in PMA-activated
      cells a Tspan8-INS2-CD49d-clathrin complex is recovered in cholesterol-depletion
      resistant membrane microdomains. PMA-induced Tspan8-internalization promotes cell
      migration, but reduces matrix and cell adhesion. Thus, stimulation initiates
      tetraspanin-web rearrangements, which have strong functional consequences for the
      cell, exosome-delivery and exosome target selection. This knowledge will be
      essential for generating tailored therapeutic exosomes.

PMID- 20937410
TI  - Genotoxicity evaluation of sesamin and episesamin.
AB  - Sesamin is a major lignan that is present in sesame seeds and oil. Sesamin is
      partially converted to its stereoisomer, episesamin, during the refining process
      of non-roasted sesame seed oil. We evaluated the genotoxicity of these substances
      through the following tests: a bacterial reverse mutation assay (Ames test), a
      chromosomal aberration test in cultured Chinese hamster lung cells (CHL/IU), a
      bone marrow micronucleus (MN) test in Crlj:CD1 (ICR) mice, and a comet assay
      using the liver of Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats. Episesamin showed negative results
      in the Ames test with and without S9 mix, in the in vitro chromosomal aberration
      test with and without S9 mix, and in the in vivo comet assay. Sesamin showed
      negative results in the Ames test with and without S9 mix. In the in vitro
      chromosomal aberration test, sesamin did not induce chromosomal aberrations in
      the absence of S9 mix, but induced structural abnormalities at cytotoxic
      concentrations in the presence of S9 mix. Oral administration of sesamin at doses
      up to 2.0g/kg did not cause a significant increase in either the percentage of
      micronucleated polychromatic erythrocytes in the in vivo bone marrow MN test or
      in the % DNA in the comet tails in the in vivo comet assay of liver cells. These
      findings indicate that sesamin does not damage DNA in vivo and that sesamin and
      episesamin have no genotoxic activity.

PMID- 20937411
TI  - Field studies on the relation between the accumulation of heavy metals and
      metabolic and HSR in the bearded horse mussel Modiolus barbatus.
AB  - The present study aims to examine whether the seasonal changes in the levels of
      heavy metals Cd and Pb in the gills of sublittoral mussel Modiolus barbatus from
      populations distributed in Thermaikos Gulf are correlated to seasonal molecular
      (Heat Shock Response) and metabolic stress responses of this species. Our results
      indicate a season effect in the accumulation of heavy metals in the gills of
      bivalves in the area of Thermaikos Gulf, possibly implicating biological
      (reproductive cycle), natural (rivers' flow) and anthropogenic factors. Among the
      members of heat shock proteins (Hsps) examined, inducible Hsp70 seemed to play a
      major cytoprotective role against toxicity of metals. However, bivalves'
      tolerance against heavy metals may decrease during warming, arising further
      questions for their survival in context of global warming.

PMID- 20937412
TI  - Genetic diversity of liver flukes (Fasciola hepatica) from Eastern Europe.
AB  - The genetic diversity of liver fluke populations in three different countries
      from Eastern Europe (Greece, Bulgaria, and Poland) was determined and compared
      with available data from other countries. Specifically, SNPs from regions of two
      nuclear genes, 28S rDNA, beta-tubulin 3 and an informative region of the
      mitochondrial genome were examined. Two major lineages for the 28S rDNA gene
      based on the highly polymorphic 105th nucleotide position were found. These
      lineages were widely and almost equally spread not only through the countries
      studied but also in other investigated geographical areas. Two basic lineages and
      additional haplotypes were defined for the mtDNA gene region which consisted of
      the cytochrome c oxidase subunit III gene, transfer RNA histidine gene and
      cytochome b gene. The basic lineages were observed within Greek, Bulgarian, and
      Polish Fasciola hepatica populations but the distribution of additional
      haplotypes differed between the populations from the three countries. For the
      beta-tubulin 3 gene multiple polymorphic sites were revealed but no explicit
      clades. The SNPs were spread unequally in all studied geographical regions with
      an evident distinction between the Greek and Polish specimens. Additional
      genotypes for the 28S rDNA region as well as haplotypes of the mtDNA region that
      were typical for the Greek or Polish populations were observed. Significant
      polymorphisms for beta-tubulin 3 gene were displayed with decreasing percentage
      of presence within populations from Greece to Poland. There was an amino acid
      substitution in beta-tubulin 3 protein found only among Polish specimens. It is
      hypothesized that genotypic differences between Greek, Bulgarian, and Polish
      liver fluke populations are due to territorial division and genetic drift in past
      epochs.

PMID- 20937413
TI  - Influence of N-acetylcysteine administration on pulmonary O2 uptake kinetics and
      exercise tolerance in humans.
AB  - We investigated the influence of the antioxidant N-acetylcysteine (NAC) on plasma
      nitrite concentration ([NO2-]), pulmonary oxygen uptake (V(O2)) kinetics and
      exercise tolerance. Eight males completed 'step' moderate- and severe-intensity
      cycle exercise tests following infusion of either NAC (125 mg kg-1 h-1 for 15 min
      followed by 25 mg kg-1 h-1 until the termination of exercise) or Placebo (PLA;
      saline). Following the initial loading phase, NAC infusion elevated plasma free
      sulfhydryl groups compared to placebo (PLA: 4 +/- 2 vs. NAC: 13 +/- 3 MU M g-1; P
      < 0.05) and this elevation was preserved throughout the protocol. The
      administration of NAC did not significantly influence plasma [NO2-] or V(O2)
      kinetics during either moderate- or severe-intensity exercise. Although NAC did
      not significantly alter severe-intensity exercise tolerance at the group mean
      level (PLA: 776 +/- 181 vs. NAC: 878 +/- 284 s; P > 0.05), there was appreciable
      inter-subject variability in the response: four subjects had small reductions in
      exercise tolerance with NAC compared to PLA (-4%, -8%, -11%, and -14%) while the
      other four showed substantial improvements (+24%, +24%, +40%, and +69%). The
      results suggest that exercise-induced redox perturbations may contribute to
      fatigue development in recreationally-active adults.

PMID- 20937414
TI  - Chest wall volume changes during inspiratory loaded breathing.
AB  - We assessed the effect of inspiratory loaded breathing (ILB) on respiratory
      muscle strength and investigated the extent to which respiratory muscle fatigue
      is associated with chest wall volume changes during ILB. Twelve healthy subjects
      performed ILB at 76 +/- 11% of maximal inspiratory mouth pressure (MIP) for 1h.
      MIP and breathing pattern during 3 min of normocapnic hyperpnea (NH) were
      measured before and after ILB. Breathing pattern and chest wall volume changes
      were assessed by optoelectronic plethysmography. After ILB, six subjects
      decreased MIP significantly (-16 +/- 10%; p < 0.05), while the other six subjects
      did not (0 +/- 7%, p = 0.916). Only subjects with decreased MIP after ILB lowered
      end-expiratory rib cage volume (volume at which inspiration is initiated) below
      resting values during ILB. During NH after ILB, tidal volume was smaller in
      subjects with decreased MIP (-19 +/- 16%, p < 0.05), while it remained unchanged
      in the other group (-3 +/- 11%, p = 0.463). These results suggest that
      respiratory muscle fatigue depends on the lung volume from which inspiratory
      efforts are made during ILB.

PMID- 20937415
TI  - Mathematical modeling of degradation for bulk-erosive polymers: applications in
      tissue engineering scaffolds and drug delivery systems.
AB  - The degradation of polymeric biomaterials, which are widely exploited in tissue
      engineering and drug delivery systems, has drawn significant attention in recent
      years. This paper aims to develop a mathematical model that combines stochastic
      hydrolysis and mass transport to simulate the polymeric degradation and erosion
      process. The hydrolysis reaction is modeled in a discrete fashion by a
      fundamental stochastic process and an additional autocatalytic effect induced by
      the local carboxylic acid concentration in terms of the continuous diffusion
      equation. Illustrative examples of microparticles and tissue scaffolds
      demonstrate the applicability of the model. It is found that diffusive transport
      plays a critical role in determining the degradation pathway, whilst
      autocatalysis makes the degradation size dependent. The modeling results show
      good agreement with experimental data in the literature, in which the hydrolysis
      rate, polymer architecture and matrix size actually work together to determine
      the characteristics of the degradation and erosion processes of bulk-erosive
      polymer devices. The proposed degradation model exhibits great potential for the
      design optimization of drug carriers and tissue scaffolds.

PMID- 20937416
TI  - Increased osteoblast functions in the presence of hydroxyapatite-coated iron
      oxide nanoparticles.
AB  - Hydroxyapatite (HA) has been widely used in the biomedical community, especially
      for orthopedic applications (such as reversing osteoporosis). In order to use HA
      as injectable nanoparticles that can be directed at will to various locations in
      the body to treat bone defects, HA was coated onto iron oxide nanoparticles in
      this study. Specifically, magnetite (Fe3O4) nanoparticles were synthesized and
      coated with HA. The resulting nanoparticles were treated hydrothermally to
      control the crystalline properties of the coating. Nanoparticles were
      characterized via transmission electron microscopy (TEM), dynamic light
      scattering, X-ray diffraction, Zetaeta potential and vibrating sample
      magnetometry. Nanoparticle uptake by osteoblasts was studied using TEM.
      Osteoblast density was measured after 1, 3 and 5 days in the presence of Fe3O4
      nanoparticles alone and HA-coated Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles. Long-term
      osteoblast experiments demonstrated greater alkaline phosphatase activity, total
      protein synthesis, collagen synthesis and calcium deposition after 7, 14 and 21
      days in the presence of greater concentrations (up to 200 MUg ml(-1)) of HA
      coated iron oxide nanoparticles. In summary, the results of this study showed
      that HA-coated magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles should be further studied for
      various orthopedic applications in which such particles could be injected, their
      location controlled using an external magnetic source and bone growth promoted.

PMID- 20937417
TI  - Accuracy of multidetector CT scans in staging of renal carcinoma.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to determine the diagnostic accuracy of
      multidetector-row computed tomography (MDCT) compared to histopathological
      findings in tumor staging of renal cell carcinoma, with the focus on tumor size
      and stage, renal vein involvement, and peri-renal infiltration. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: In a retrospective study, a total of 98 consecutive patients with renal
      cell carcinoma were preoperatively assessed for tumor staging using multidetector
      row CT. Triphasic CT imaging (i.e., noncontrast, arterial, and parenchymal phase)
      was performed using multidetector-row CT with the slice thickness of 5 mm and
      using multi planar reconstructions to define the tumor characteristics. A single
      blinded reader evaluated the CT scans independently who reviewed the scan on
      multi planar reconstructions. The results were then correlated with the
      histopathological results. RESULTS: A total of 98 renal cell carcinomas were
      proven on histopathology. There was a significant (p 0.05) difference in the mean
      maximum radiological and maximum pathological diameter of the tumor with
      radiological diameter being greater. Twenty seven tumors were down staged and
      only 1 was up staged. The specificity of CT for capsular invasion, nodal disease
      and adrenal involvement was 85, 82 and 98% respectively. The specificity was over
      97% for tumor thrombus in renal vein and IVC. CONCLUSIONS: The multi planar
      reconstruction capability of multidetector-row CT allowed good specificity in
      predicting renal vein, IVC involvement, capsular invasion and nodal disease.

PMID- 20937418
TI  - Risk factors predictive of severe diverticular hemorrhage.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Diverticular disease is a common cause for lower gastrointestinal
      bleeding. Although the hemorrhage often resolves spontaneously, some patients
      will require massive transfusions and emergency surgery. In this study we report
      risk factors predictive of severe diverticular bleeds. METHODS: We completed a
      retrospective analysis of 99 patients, admitted with lower gastrointestinal
      bleeding and colonoscopic evidence of diverticulosis and no other cause of the
      hemorrhage between January 1995 and December 2005. A database was generated and
      univariate and multivariate analyses were carried out. RESULTS: Of the 99
      patients, 23 patients were classified as having a severe bleed defined as having
      a systolic blood pressure below 90 mm Hg, requirement for more than 6 units of
      transfusion, or emergent surgery. Multiple logistic regression showed that the
      initial hemoglobin (p = 0.001), INR >= 1.5 (p = 0.003), initial diastolic blood
      pressure (p = 0.024), initial heart rate (p = 0.047), and blood pressure
      medications (p = 0.049) predicted severe diverticular hemorrhage. CONCLUSIONS:
      The identified predictor variables are all quantifiable at the time of initial
      presentation, and these may help identify severe cases of diverticular bleeding
      requiring urgent management.

PMID- 20937419
TI  - Familial Mediterranean fever in a large Lebanese family: multiple MEFV mutations
      and evidence for a Founder effect of the p.[M694I] mutation.
AB  - Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is an autoinflammatory autosomal recessive
      disease characterized by recurrent fever crises and serous inflammation. The MEFV
      gene responsible for the disease was identified on chromosome 16, and 5 of the
      mutations discovered so far in the gene are most frequently encountered in FMF
      patients: p.[M694V], p.[V726A], p.[M680I] and p.[M694I] in exon 10, and p.[E148Q]
      in exon 2. The present work describes multiple MEFV mutations and the
      corresponding haplotypes for 31 FMF patients as well as 32 "healthy" individuals
      of a large consanguineous Lebanese family. The DNAs were screened for MEFV
      mutations, and determination of the corresponding haplotypes was performed for
      all individuals by genotyping 4 microsatellites surrounding the gene. Five
      different mutations were detected in this one family, which is unexpected in such
      a genetic isolate. A phenotypic variability was also observed. The haplotype
      carrying the p.[M694I] allele, detected in all the family branches, was well
      conserved and therefore seems to be the ancestral one.

PMID- 20937420
TI  - Finding stable cellulase and xylanase: evaluation of the synergistic effect of pH
      and temperature.
AB  - Ethanol from lignocellulosic biomass has been recognized as one of the most
      promising alternatives for the production of renewable and sustainable energy.
      However, one of the major bottlenecks holding back its commercialization is the
      high costs of the enzymes needed for biomass conversion. In this work, we studied
      the enzymes produced from a selected strain of Aspergillus niger under solid
      state fermentation. The cellulase and xylanase enzymatic cocktail was
      characterized in terms of pH and temperature by using response surface
      methodology. Thermostability and kinetic parameters were also determined. The
      statistical analysis of pH and temperature effects on enzymatic activity showed a
      synergistic interaction of these two variables, thus enabling to find a pH and
      temperature range in which the enzymes have a higher activity. The results
      obtained allowed the construction of mathematical models used to predict
      endoglucanase, beta-glucosidase and xylanase activities under different pH and
      temperature conditions. Optimum temperature values for all three enzymes were
      found to be in the range between 35 degrees C and 60 degrees C, and the optimum
      pH range was found between 4 and 5.5. The methodology employed here was very
      effective in estimating enzyme behavior under different process conditions.

PMID- 20937424
TI  - Management of esophageal cancer.

PMID- 20937421
TI  - Short-term low-strain vibration enhances chemo-transport yet does not stimulate
      osteogenic gene expression or cortical bone formation in adult mice.
AB  - Development of low-magnitude mechanical stimulation (LMMS) based treatment
      strategies for a variety of orthopaedic issues requires better understanding of
      mechano-transduction and bone adaptation. Our overall goal was to study the
      tissue and molecular level changes in cortical bone in response to low-strain
      vibration (LSV: 70 Hz, 0.5 g, 300 MUepsilon) and compare these to changes in
      response to a known anabolic stimulus: high-strain compression (HSC: rest
      inserted loading, 1000 MUepsilon). Adult (6-7 months) C57BL/6 mice were used for
      the study and non-invasive axial compression of the tibia was used as a loading
      model. We first studied bone adaptation at the tibial mid-diaphysis, using
      dynamic histomorphometry, in response to daily loading of 15 min LSV or 60 cycles
      HSC for 5 consecutive days. We found that bone formation rate and mineral
      apposition rate were significantly increased in response to HSC but not LSV. The
      second aim was to compare chemo-transport in response to 5 min of LSV versus 5
      min (30 cycles) of HSC. Chemo-transport increased significantly in response to
      both loading stimuli, particularly in the medial and the lateral quadrants of the
      cross section. Finally, we evaluated the expression of genes related to mechano
      responsiveness, osteoblast differentiation, and matrix mineralization in tibias
      subjected to 15 min LSV or 60 cycles HSC for 1 day (4-h time point) or 4
      consecutive days (4-day time point). The expression level of most of the genes
      remained unchanged in response to LSV at both time points. In contrast, the
      expression level of all the genes changed significantly in response to HSC at the
      4-h time point. We conclude that short-term, low-strain vibration results in
      increased chemo-transport, yet does not stimulate an increase in mechano
      responsive or osteogenic gene expression, and cortical bone formation in tibias
      of adult mice.

PMID- 20937425
TI  - Data rules; but theory understands: an introduction to a special issue on
      "Mathematical models of visual coding".

PMID- 20937426
TI  - Management of chronic spine-related conditions: consensus recommendations of a
      multidisciplinary panel.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Chronic spine-related conditions are very problematic in terms of
      treatment and indemnity costs, diagnostic complexity, and appropriate case
      management. Currently no chiropractic-directed guideline exists related to
      chiropractic management of the chronic spine pain patient. The purpose of this
      project was to develop a broad-based multidisciplinary consensus of medical and
      chiropractic clinical experts representing mainstream medical and chiropractic
      practice to produce a document designed to provide standardized parameters of
      care and documentation. METHODS: Background materials were provided to the
      panelists prior to the consensus process and served as the basis for the 29 seed
      statements. Delphi rounds were conducted electronically, and the Nominal Group
      Panel was conducted via conference call. The RAND/UCLA methodology was used to
      reach consensus, which was considered present if both the median rating was 7 or
      higher and at least 80% of panelists rated the statement 7 or higher. Consensus
      was reached through a combination of Delphi rounds and Nominal Group Panel. Of 29
      panelists, 5 were non-doctors of chiropractic. RESULTS: Specific recommendations
      regarding treatment, frequency and duration, as well as outcome assessment and
      contraindications for manipulation, were agreed upon by the panel. CONCLUSIONS: A
      multidisciplinary panel of experienced practitioners was able to reach a high
      level (80%) of consensus regarding specific aspects of the chiropractic approach
      to care for complex patients with chronic spine-related conditions, based on both
      the scientific evidence and their clinical experience.

PMID- 20937427
TI  - Exploration of somatosensory impairments in subjects with mechanical idiopathic
      neck pain: a preliminary study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to investigate the differences in
      pressure and thermal pain hypersensitivity between patients with acute and
      chronic neck pain and healthy subjects. METHODS: Five patients with acute neck
      pain, 7 patients with chronic neck pain, and 6 matched controls participated.
      Pressure pain thresholds (PPTs) were assessed over the supraorbital,
      infraorbital, mental, median, ulnar, and radial nerves; the C5-C6 zygapophyseal
      joint; the second metacarpal; and the tibialis anterior muscle by an assessor
      blinded to the subjects' condition. Head pain threshold and cold pain threshold
      (CPT) were measured over the cervical region and over the tibialis anterior
      muscle. RESULTS: The analysis of variance found significant differences between
      groups, but not between sides, for PPT over the supraorbital, mental, median,
      ulnar and radial nerves; the C5-C6 joint; the second metacarpal; and the tibialis
      anterior muscle: patients with chronic neck pain showed bilateral lower PPTs as
      compared with controls (P < .01). Patients with acute neck pain also showed lower
      PPT (P < .01) over the median and ulnar nerves. No significant differences
      between groups or sides for head pain threshold over the cervical area or the
      tibialis anterior muscle were found. Significant differences between groups, but
      not between sides, for CPT over the neck and the tibialis anterior muscles were
      found: CPT was also reduced in patients with chronic, but not acute, neck pain (P
      < .01). CONCLUSIONS: We found widespread decreased PPT in patients with chronic,
      but not acute, mechanical neck pain as compared with controls. Patients with
      chronic neck pain also showed cold pain hypersensitivity as compared with
      patients with acute neck pain and controls. These results support the existence
      of different sensitization mechanisms between patients with acute and chronic
      mechanical insidious neck pain.

PMID- 20937428
TI  - Global postural reeducation and static stretching exercises in the treatment of
      myogenic temporomandibular disorders: a randomized study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to compare 2 different interventions,
      global postural reeducation (GPR) and static stretching exercises (SS), in the
      treatment of women with temporomandibular disorders (TMDs). METHODS: A total of
      28 subjects with TMDs were randomized into 2 treatment groups: GPR, where therapy
      involved muscle global chain stretching, or SS, with conventional static
      stretching; but only 24 completed the study. Eight treatment sessions lasting 40
      minutes each (weekly) were performed. Assessments were conducted at baseline,
      immediately after treatment end, and 2 months later. Measurements included pain
      intensity at the temporomandibular joint, headache, cervicalgia, teeth clenching,
      ear symptoms, restricted sleep, and difficulties for mastication, using a visual
      analogue scale. In addition, electromyographic activity and pain thresholds were
      measured at the masseter, anterior temporalis, sternocleidomastoid, and upper
      trapezius muscles. Two-way analysis of variance with Tukey post hoc test was used
      for between-group comparisons. Significance level was .05. RESULTS: Comparing the
      pain assessments using the visual analogue scale, no significant differences were
      seen with the exception of severity of headaches at treatment end (GPR, 3.92 +/-
      2.98 cm; SS, 1.64 +/- 1.66 cm; P < .024). In addition, no significant differences
      were seen for pain thresholds and for electromyographic activity (P > .05).
      CONCLUSIONS: For the subjects in this study, both GPR and SS were similarly
      effective for the treatment of TMDs with muscular component. They equally reduced
      pain intensity, increased pain thresholds, and decreased electromyographic
      activity.

PMID- 20937429
TI  - Zygapophyseal joint adhesions after induced hypomobility.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Adhesions (ADH) have been previously identified in many hypomobile
      joints, but not in the zygapophyseal (Z) joints of the spine. The objective of
      this study was to determine if connective tissue ADH developed in lumbar Z joints
      after induced intervertebral hypomobility (segmental fixation). METHODS: Using an
      established rat model, 3 contiguous segments (L4, L5, L6) were fixed with
      specially engineered, surgically implanted, vertebral fixation devices. Z joints
      of experimental rats (17 rats, 64 Z joints) with 4, 8, 12, or 16 weeks of induced
      hypomobility were compared with Z joints of age-matched control rats (23 rats, 86
      Z joints). Tissue was prepared for brightfield microscopy, examined, and
      photomicrographed. A standardized grading system identified small, medium, and
      large ADH and the average numbers of each per joint were calculated. RESULTS:
      Connective tissue ADH were characterized and their location within Z joints
      described. Small and medium ADH were found in rats from all study groups.
      However, large ADH were found only in rats with 8, 12, or 16 weeks of
      experimentally induced intervertebral hypomobility. Significant differences among
      study groups were found for small (P < .003), medium (P < .000), and large (P <
      .000) ADH. The average number of medium and large ADH per joint increased with
      the length of experimentally induced hypomobility in rats with 8 and 16 weeks of
      induced hypomobility. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that hypomobility results in time
      dependent ADH development within the Z joints. Such ADH development may have
      relevance to spinal manipulation, which could theoretically break up Z joint
      intra-articular ADHs.

PMID- 20937430
TI  - Are Swiss chiropractors different than other chiropractors? Results of the job
      analysis survey 2009.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: With the start of a new chiropractic program in the faculty of
      medicine, University of Zurich, an in-depth look at chiropractic practice in
      Switzerland was needed to help direct the undergraduate and postgraduate
      education. The purposes of this study were (1) to identify specific
      characteristics of chiropractic practice in Switzerland to ensure that relevant
      key competencies particular to practice in this country are covered in the
      undergraduate and postgraduate chiropractic programs and (2) to compare
      chiropractic practice in Switzerland to other countries who have completed
      similar surveys. METHODS: Using the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners
      (United States) job analysis survey as a template and adapting questions from the
      General Chiropractic Council United Kingdom survey, a Swiss questionnaire was
      created and tested for face and content validity before being placed online for
      completion by the 260 members of the Swiss Association for Chiropractors.
      Participation was voluntary and anonymous. Data were entered into an Excel
      spreadsheet, and descriptive statistics were calculated. RESULTS: The response
      rate was 70%. Similarities between Swiss chiropractors and their international
      counterparts were found in the most common conditions treated, the common
      etiologies of these conditions, the most common age groups seen, and the most
      common treatment methods used. Differences were found in the high proportion of
      patients referred directly to chiropractors from varying medical specialists in
      Switzerland, the fact that the most common category of patient to be seen by
      chiropractors in Switzerland is the acute followed by the subacute patient, the
      much higher requirement for continuing education hours in Switzerland, and the
      reduced use of diagnostic imaging compared with practitioners from the United
      States. CONCLUSIONS: Chiropractic practice in Switzerland is a government
      recognized medical profession with significant interprofessional referrals
      resulting in earlier chiropractic treatment for many patients. However, Swiss
      chiropractic practitioners still retain their professional identity and focus of
      practice.

PMID- 20937431
TI  - A retrospective study of chiropractic treatment of 276 danish infants with
      infantile colic.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to investigate if the outcome of
      excessively crying infants treated with chiropractic manipulation (1) was
      associated with age and/or (2), at least partially, can be explained by age
      according to the natural decline in crying. METHODS: This was a retrospective
      evaluation of clinical records of 749 infants from a private Danish chiropractic
      practice. All of the infants were healthy, thriving infants born to term within
      the age of 0 to 3 months who fulfilled the diagnostic criteria for excessively
      crying infants (infantile colic), whose parents sought chiropractic treatment.
      The infants were treated using chiropractic management as decided by the treating
      doctor of chiropractic, and changes in crying based upon the parents' report were
      noted as improved, uncertain, or nonrecovered. Age predictor groups were cross
      tabulated against the outcome variables, and difference between classification
      groups was tested with chi(2) tables and confidence intervals. RESULTS: Slightly
      older age was found to be linked to excessively crying infants who experienced
      clinical improvement. However, no apparent link between the clinical effect of
      chiropractic treatment and a natural decline in crying was found for this group
      of infants. CONCLUSION: The findings of this study do not support the assumption
      that effect of chiropractic treatment of infantile colic is a reflection of the
      normal cessation of this disorder.

PMID- 20937432
TI  - Quantifying the high-velocity, low-amplitude spinal manipulative thrust: a
      systematic review.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to systematically review studies that
      quantify the high-velocity, low-amplitude (HVLA) spinal thrust, to qualitatively
      compare the apparatus used and the force-time profiles generated, and to
      critically appraise studies involving the quantification of thrust as an
      augmented feedback tool in psychomotor learning. METHODS: A search of the
      literature was conducted to identify the sources that reported quantification of
      the HVLA spinal thrust. MEDLINE-OVID (1966-present), MANTIS-OVID (1950-present),
      and CINAHL-EBSCO host (1981-present) were searched. Eligibility criteria included
      that thrust subjects were human, animal, or manikin and that the thrust type was
      a hand-delivered HVLA spinal thrust. Data recorded were single force, force-time,
      or displacement-time histories. Publications were in English language and after
      1980. The relatively small number of studies, combined with the diversity of
      method and data interpretation, did not enable meta-analysis. RESULTS: Twenty
      seven studies met eligibility criteria: 17 studies measured thrust as a primary
      outcome (13 human, 2 cadaver, and 2 porcine). Ten studies demonstrated changes in
      psychomotor learning related to quantified thrust data on human, manikin, or
      other device. CONCLUSIONS: Quantifiable parameters of the HVLA spinal thrust
      exist and have been described. There remain a number of variables in recording
      that prevent a standardized kinematic description of HVLA spinal manipulative
      therapy. Despite differences in data between studies, a relationship between
      preload, peak force, and thrust duration was evident. Psychomotor learning
      outcomes were enhanced by the application of thrust data as an augmented feedback
      tool.

PMID- 20937433
TI  - Heart rate variability modulation after manipulation in pain-free patients vs
      patients in pain? The importance of controlling for respiration rate changes.

PMID- 20937435
TI  - A global prescription for adult immunization: time is catching up with us.

PMID- 20937438
TI  - Hypertension and hypertensive heart disease. Foreword.

PMID- 20937436
TI  - Tailoring subunit vaccine immunogenicity: maximizing antibody and T cell
      responses by using combinations of adenovirus, poxvirus and protein-adjuvant
      vaccines against Plasmodium falciparum MSP1.
AB  - Subunit vaccination modalities tend to induce particular immune effector
      responses. Viral vectors are well known for their ability to induce strong T cell
      responses, while protein-adjuvant vaccines have been used primarily for induction
      of antibody responses. Here, we demonstrate in mice using a Plasmodium falciparum
      merozoite surface protein 1 (PfMSP1) antigen that novel regimes combining
      adenovirus and poxvirus vectored vaccines with protein antigen in Montanide
      ISA720 adjuvant can achieve simultaneous antibody and T cell responses which
      equal, or in some cases surpass, the best immune responses achieved by either the
      viral vectors or the protein vaccine alone. Such broad responses can be achieved
      either using three-stage vaccination protocols, or with an equally effective two
      stage protocol in which viral vectors are admixed with protein and adjuvant, and
      were apparent despite the use of a protein antigen that represented only a
      portion of the viral vector antigen. We describe further possible advantages of
      viral vectors in achieving consistent antibody priming, enhanced antibody
      avidity, and cytophilic isotype skew. These data strengthen the evidence that
      tailored combinations of vaccine platforms can achieve desired combinations of
      immune responses, and further encourage the co-administration of antibody
      inducing recombinant protein vaccines with T cell- and antibody-inducing
      recombinant viral vectors as one strategy that may achieve protective blood-stage
      malaria immunity in humans.

PMID- 20937437
TI  - [Extracorporeal lung assist in severe respiratory failure and ARDS. Current
      situation and clinical applications].
AB  - Despite improvements in ventilation support techniques, lung protection
      strategies, and the application of new support treatment, acute respiratory
      distress syndrome continues to have a high mortality rate. Many strategies and
      treatments for this syndrome have been investigated over the last few year.
      However, the only therapeutic measure that has systematically shown to be able to
      improve survival is that of low volume lung protective ventilation. Thus, using a
      low tidal volume prevents added lung damage by the same mechanical ventilation
      that is essential for life support. In this context, the use of extracorporeal
      lung assist systems is considered an exceptional use rescue treatment in extreme
      cases. On the other hand, it could be a potentially useful complementary method
      for an ultra-protective ventilation strategy, that is, by using even lower tidal
      volumes. The currently available extracorporeal lung assist systems are described
      in this article, including high flow systems such as traditional extracorporeal
      membrane oxygenation, CO2 removal systems (interventional lung assist or iLA,
      with or without associated centrifugal pumps), and the new low flow and less
      invasive systems under development. The aim of this review is to update the
      latest available clinical and experimental data, the indications for these
      devices in adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), and their potential
      indications in other clinical situations, such as the bridge to lung
      transplantation, multiple organ dysfunction syndrome, or COPD.

PMID- 20937439
TI  - Preface: hypertension and hypertensive heart disease.

PMID- 20937440
TI  - Pathogenesis and clinical physiology of hypertension.
AB  - Significant advances have been made in understanding the pathogenesis and
      clinical physiology of primary hypertension. This article presents an overview of
      the physiology of normal blood pressure control and the pathophysiologic
      mechanisms that predispose individuals and populations to primary hypertension.
      The role of genetics, environment, and the gene-environment interaction is
      discussed. The spectrum of changes in physiologic states that result in chronic
      increases of arterial blood pressure are reviewed. The nature and characteristics
      of feedback loops and the primary modulating systems, the central and peripheral
      nervous systems, and circulating and tissue hormones are reviewed. The role of
      the endothelium of the artery and its production of endothelin, nitric oxide,
      angiotensin II, as well as other vasoactive substances in response to various
      stimuli, is also discussed. A unifying pathway for the development of
      hypertension and the practical implications for the prevention and control of
      hypertension are discussed.

PMID- 20937441
TI  - Prehypertension: an opportunity for a new public health paradigm.
AB  - From 2005 to 2006, approximately 3 of 8 adults in the United States had blood
      pressure (BP) in the prehypertensive range of 120 to 139/80 to 89 mm Hg and
      roughly 1 in 8 adults had BP in the range of 130 to 139/85 to 89 mm Hg, which is
      referred to as high normal BP or stage 2 prehypertension. Adults with stage 2
      prehypertension are also roughly twice as likely as adults with normotension to
      suffer cardiovascular disease. The Seventh Report of the Joint National Committee
      on Hypertension recommended only lifestyle changes for most prehypertensive
      patients. BP in the range of 120 to 129/80 to 84 mm Hg is also associated with
      increased risk but roughly half of that of stage 2 prehypertension.

PMID- 20937443
TI  - Initial clinical encounter with the patient with established hypertension.
AB  - The initial encounter with the patient with hypertension presents the opportunity
      to reprogram the trajectory of overall cardiovascular risk in the patient with
      suspected or established hypertension. The practicing clinician should strive to
      recognize other important considerations beyond drug prescription and treatment
      guidelines, such as the patient's level of health literacy, social and economic
      implications of lifelong drug therapy and health care costs, and readiness for
      and effectiveness of patient self-management. This should be followed by delivery
      of patient education that is appropriate for literacy level. Self-monitoring
      should be a tool to engage patients in active participation. Comprehensive risk
      stratification should be encouraged in all patients. Careful clinician adherence
      to established practice guidelines in overall risk assessment and treatment and
      control of blood pressure to target levels remain crucial.

PMID- 20937444
TI  - Management of high blood pressure in children and adolescents.
AB  - Hypertension in childhood is now recognized to be a common and serious problem
      with a prevalence of 2% to 5%. Large epidemiologic studies have established
      normative tables for blood pressure beginning in early childhood based on age,
      gender, and height. Making a diagnosis of hypertension in a child or adolescent
      identifies an individual at increased risk for early-onset cardiovascular disease
      who requires specific treatment. Routine blood pressure measurement is
      recommended at every health care encounter beginning at 3 years of age, but often
      this is not being accomplished. This measurement is especially important in
      relation to the obesity epidemic, because approximately one-third of obese
      children have high blood pressure. Hypertension can be effectively managed with
      effective lifestyle change and medication when necessary.

PMID- 20937442
TI  - Principles and techniques of blood pressure measurement.
AB  - Although the mercury sphygmomanometer is widely regarded as the gold standard for
      office blood pressure measurement, the ban on use of mercury devices continues to
      diminish their role in office and hospital settings. To date, mercury devices
      have largely been phased out in United States hospitals. This situation has led
      to the proliferation of nonmercury devices and has changed (probably forever) the
      preferable modality of blood pressure measurement in clinic and hospital
      settings. In this article, the basic techniques of blood pressure measurement and
      the technical issues associated with measurements in clinical practice are
      discussed. The devices currently available for hospital and clinic measurements
      and their important sources of error are presented. Practical advice is given on
      how the different devices and measurement techniques should be used. Blood
      pressure measurements in different circumstances and in special populations such
      as infants, children, pregnant women, elderly persons, and obese subjects are
      discussed.

PMID- 20937445
TI  - Treatment and control of high blood pressure in adults.
AB  - Hypertension and prehypertension are major public health challenges. Prevention
      and control of prehypertension through lifestyle changes and the treatment of
      hypertension to goal blood pressure (BP) are important objectives. In most
      patients, 2 or more medications with complementary mechanisms of action should be
      used in combination. Referral for evaluation of resistant hypertension should be
      made when goal BP is not attained while patients are adherent on 3 or more
      appropriately dosed antihypertensive medications, including a diuretic. There are
      compelling indications for the use of specific drugs in patients with underlying
      ischemic heart disease, chronic heart failure, diabetes, chronic kidney disease,
      stroke, peripheral arterial disease, left ventricular hypertrophy, obesity, and
      metabolic syndrome. Adverse drug effects should be identified early and managed
      promptly to address patient safety and adherence. Other factors that affect
      adherence include the patient's health literacy level and ability to self-manage.
      The social, environmental, cultural, and financial sources of support in care
      must be addressed to achieve the full benefits of treatment and control of
      hypertension and prehypertension.

PMID- 20937446
TI  - Hypertension in special populations: chronic kidney disease, organ transplant
      recipients, pregnancy, autonomic dysfunction, racial and ethnic populations.
AB  - The benefits of appropriate blood pressure (BP) control include reductions in
      proteinuria and possibly a slowing of the progressive loss of kidney function.
      Overall, medication therapy to lower BP during pregnancy should be used mainly
      for maternal safety because of the lack of data to support an improvement in
      fetal outcome. The major goal of hypertension treatment in those with
      baroreceptor dysfunction is to avoid the precipitous, severe BP elevations that
      characteristically occur during emotional stimulation. The treatment of
      hypertension in African Americans optimally consists of comprehensive lifestyle
      modifications along with pharmacologic treatments, most often with combination,
      not single-drug, therapy.

PMID- 20937447
TI  - Resistant hypertension, secondary hypertension, and hypertensive crises:
      diagnostic evaluation and treatment.
AB  - Hypertension is a very common modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular morbidity
      and mortality. Patients with hypertension represent a diverse group. In addition
      to those with primary hypertension, there are patients whose hypertension is
      attributable to secondary causes, those with resistant hypertension, and patients
      who present with a hypertensive crisis. Secondary causes of hypertension account
      for less than 10% of cases of elevated blood pressure (BP), and screening for
      these causes is warranted if clinically indicated. Patients with resistant
      hypertension, whose BP remains uncontrolled in spite of use of 3 or more
      antihypertensive agents, are at increased cardiovascular risk compared with the
      general hypertensive population. After potentially correctible causes of
      uncontrolled BP (pseudoresistance, secondary causes, and intake of interfering
      substances) are eliminated, patients with true resistant hypertension are managed
      by encouraging therapeutic lifestyle changes and optimizing the antihypertensive
      regimen, whereby the clinician ensures that the medications are prescribed at
      optimal doses using drugs with complementary mechanisms of action, while adding
      an appropriate diuretic if there are no contraindications. Mineralocorticoid
      receptor antagonists are formidable add-on agents to the antihypertensive
      regimen, usually as a fourth drug, and are effective in reducing BP even in
      patients without biochemical evidence of aldosterone excess. In the setting of a
      hypertensive crisis, the BP has to be reduced within hours in the case of a
      hypertensive emergency (elevated BP with evidence of target organ damage) using
      parenteral agents, and within a few days if there is hypertensive urgency, using
      oral antihypertensive agents.

PMID- 20937448
TI  - Patient self-management support: novel strategies in hypertension and heart
      disease.
AB  - Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) have become the leading cause of death and
      disability in most countries in the world. This article addresses how patient
      self-management is a crucial component of effective high-quality health care for
      hypertension and CVD. The patient must be a collaborator in this process, and
      methods of improving patients' ability and confidence for self-management are
      needed. Successful self-management programs have often supplemented the
      traditional patient-physician encounter by using nonphysician providers, remote
      patient encounters (telephone or Internet), group settings, and peer support for
      promoting self-management. Several factors need to be considered in self
      management. Given the health care system's inability to achieve several quality
      indicators using traditional office-based physician visits, further consideration
      is needed to determine the degree to which these interventions and programs can
      be integrated into primary care, their effectiveness in different groups, and
      their sustainability for improving chronic disease care.

PMID- 20937449
TI  - The role of diets, food, and nutrients in the prevention and control of
      hypertension and prehypertension.
AB  - Hypertension is the leading risk factor for death worldwide, even surpassing
      tobacco use, high blood glucose, high blood cholesterol, and obesity. Globally,
      the estimated prevalence of hypertension is nearly 1 billion persons with an
      annual mortality of almost 7.5 million deaths. In the United States, hypertension
      affects an estimated 65 million Americans, and is the leading risk-factor cause
      of death in women and only second to tobacco use as a contributory cause of death
      in men. Multiple sources of data from prospective observational, cohort, and
      randomized controlled clinical trials show that hypertension and its
      complications are highly preventable when the raised blood pressure is prevented,
      or treated and controlled. To promote positive behavior change and create a
      broader impact on public health, it has become necessary to leverage multilevel
      stakeholders such as all health care providers, researchers, policy makers,
      schools, the food industry, and the general public to drive policy changes and
      future innovation from research and development endeavors, and to emphasize the
      importance of diet-related lifestyle modifications to effectively prevent and
      control hypertension and prehypertension.

PMID- 20937450
TI  - Prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of hypertensive heart disease.
AB  - Hypertensive heart disease (HHD), a result of long-standing hypertension, is
      characterized by changes in the myocardial structure and function in the absence
      of other primary cardiovascular abnormalities. Although increased blood pressure
      is the initiating stimulus, neurohormonal factors, particularly the renin
      angiotensin system, play a key role in remodeling of cardiac chamber geometry and
      walls. Optimal antihypertensive therapy in the setting of therapeutic lifestyle
      changes is crucial in the prevention and control of HHD. Regression of left
      ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) is achievable and associated with improved
      prognosis. However, prevention of myocardial remodeling before LVH establishes
      would further increase the benefits to cardiac function and prognosis.
      Antihypertensive agents exhibit variable effectiveness in inducing LVH
      regression. Currently, renin-angiotensin system blocking agents seem to be the
      most effective approach for LVH regression and reverse remodeling in these
      patients.

PMID- 20937451
TI  - Infectious Disease Clinics of North America. Diseases of the gastrointestinal
      tract and associated infections. Preface.

PMID- 20937452
TI  - Infectious Disease Clinics of North America. Diseases of the gastrointestinal
      tract and associated infections. Dedication.

PMID- 20937453
TI  - Infectious causes of esophageal cancer.
AB  - There are very few data linking infectious agents and esophageal cancer. There
      are conflicting data for some viruses, notably human papillomavirus, but very few
      data for bacteria, parasites, fungi, or yeast. Esophageal cancer is increasing in
      Western countries and the reasons for this remain unknown.

PMID- 20937456
TI  - Infectious diseases and the gallbladder.
AB  - Infections of the gastrointestinal tract can often involve the gallbladder.
      Infection probably plays a role in the formation of gallstones but is more
      commonly thought to contribute to acute illness in patients. Acute calculous
      cholecystitis caused by an impacted gallstone is often complicated by secondary
      bacterial infection and is a major cause of morbidity and even mortality in
      patients. A wide variety of organisms can be associated with acute acalculous
      cholecystitis, a less common but potentially more severe form of acute
      cholecystitis. This review focuses on infections and their role in the above
      mentioned processes involving the gallbladder.

PMID- 20937455
TI  - Cholangiocarcinoma: new insights into disease pathogenesis and biology.
AB  - Cholangiocarcinomas are rare malignant tumors whose incidence is increasing
      worldwide. Risk factors for this malignancy include both infectious and non
      infectious diseases characterized by chronic inflammation of the bile duct
      epithelia. Diagnosis of these cancers remains difficult because of the lack of
      sensitive diagnostic tests. The prognosis is poor probably because of the lack of
      effective treatments for unresectable cancer.

PMID- 20937454
TI  - Gastric cancer: an infectious disease.
AB  - The role of infectious agents and chronic inflammation in carcinogenesis is being
      increasingly recognized. It has been estimated that about 18% of cancers are
      directly linked to infections, particularly gastric adenocarcinoma (Helicobacter
      pylori), cervical carcinoma (human papilloma viruses), and hepatocarcinoma
      (hepatitis B and C viruses). Multiple clinical trials of COX-2 inhibitors and
      other antiinflammatory agents have shown a beneficial effect on the development
      of diverse tumors, such as those of the colon, stomach, prostate, and breast.
      However, their mechanism of action is not completely understood and may differ
      among the infectious agents and tumor types. Because gastric adenocarcinomas
      account for more than 90% of all gastric malignancies, this review focuses on
      adenocarcinomas.

PMID- 20937458
TI  - Acute pancreatitis with an emphasis on infection.
AB  - Acute pancreatitis is an inflammatory disease that is mild and self-limiting in
      about 80% of cases. However, severe necrotizing disease still has a mortality of
      up to 30%. Differentiated multimodal treatment concepts are needed for these
      patients, including a multidisciplinary team (intensivists, gastroenterologists,
      interventional radiologists, and surgeons). The primary therapy is supportive.
      Patients with infected pancreatic necrosis who are septic undergo interventional
      or surgical treatment, ideally not before the fourth week after onset of
      symptoms. This article reviews the pathophysiologic mechanisms of acute
      pancreatitis and describes clinical pathways for diagnosis and management based
      on the current literature and guidelines.

PMID- 20937459
TI  - Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth.
AB  - Despite the current increase in interest in the role of the microbiota in health
      and disease and the recognition, for over 50 years, that an excess of colonic
      type flora in the small intestine could lead to a malabsorption syndrome, small
      intestinal overgrowth remains poorly defined. This lack of clarity owes much to
      the difficulties that arise in attempting to arrive at consensus with regard to
      the diagnosis of this condition: there is currently no gold standard and the
      commonly available methodologies (the culture of jejunal aspirates and a variety
      of breath tests) suffer from considerable variations in their performance and
      interpretation, leading to variations in the prevalence of overgrowth in a
      variety of clinical contexts. Treatment is similarly supported by a scant
      evidence base and the most commonly used antibiotic regimens owe more to custom
      than clinical trials.

PMID- 20937457
TI  - Epidemiology and management of hepatocellular carcinoma.
AB  - Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a major world health problem because of the
      high incidence and case fatality rate. In most patients, the diagnosis of HCC is
      made at an advanced stage, which limits the application of curative treatments.
      Most HCCs develop in patients with underlying chronic liver disease. Chronic
      viral hepatitis B and C are the major causes of liver cirrhosis and HCC. Recent
      improvements in treatment of viral hepatitis and in methods for surveillance and
      therapy for HCC have contributed to better survival of patients with HCC. This
      article reviews the epidemiology, cause, prevention, clinical manifestations,
      surveillance, diagnosis, and treatment approach for HCC.

PMID- 20937460
TI  - Pathogenic factors involved in the development of irritable bowel syndrome: focus
      on a microbial role.
AB  - Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a symptom complex characterized by recurrent
      abdominal pain or discomfort, and accompanied by abnormal bowel habits, in the
      absence of any discernible organic abnormality. Its origin remains unclear,
      partly because multiple pathophysiologic mechanisms are likely to be involved. A
      significant proportion of patients develop IBS symptoms after an episode of
      gastrointestinal infection. In addition to gastrointestinal pathogens, recent
      evidence suggests that patients with IBS have abnormal composition and higher
      temporal instability of their intestinal microbiota. Because the intestinal
      microbiota is an important determinant of normal gut function and immunity, this
      instability may constitute an additional mechanism that leads to symptom
      generation and IBS. More importantly, a role for altered microbiota composition
      in IBS raises the possibility of therapeutic interventions through selective
      antibiotic or probiotic administration. The new concept of functional bowel
      diseases incorporates the bidirectional communication between the gut and the
      central nervous system (gut-brain axis), which may explain the multiple facets of
      IBS by linking emotional and cognitive centers of the brain with peripheral
      functioning of the gastrointestinal tract and vice versa.

PMID- 20937461
TI  - Influences of intestinal bacteria in human inflammatory bowel disease.
AB  - Microbes that reside in the human intestinal tract and interact with immune and
      epithelial cells are strongly implicated as causative or predisposing agents of
      inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Recent studies using metagenomic approaches
      have revealed differences in the fecal and mucosa-associated microbiota of
      patients with IBD, but it remains unclear whether this is a cause or consequence
      of chronic intestinal inflammation. A few microbes have been singled out as
      candidate pathogens in IBD and remain the subject of ongoing study. Complex
      imbalances in gut bacterial community structure and/or deficiencies in their
      functional capabilities may be a greater issue in IBD development. A more
      complete understanding of host-microbiota interactions in IBD is hampered by
      several remaining but surmountable methodological and technical challenges.

PMID- 20937462
TI  - Infectious causes of appendicitis.
AB  - The pathologic spectrum of the inflamed appendix encompasses a wide range of
      infectious entities, some with specific histologic findings, and others with
      nonspecific findings that may require an extensive diagnostic evaluation. The
      appendix is exclusively involved in some of these disorders, and in others may be
      involved through extension from other areas of the gastrointestinal tract. This
      review discusses the pathologic features of bacterial, viral, fungal, and
      parasitic infections affecting the appendix, including adenovirus;
      cytomegalovirus; Yersinia, Actinomyces, Mycobacterium, or Histoplasma species;
      Enterobius vermicularis; schistosomiasis; and Strongyloides stercoralis.
      Pertinent ancillary diagnostic techniques and the clinical context and
      significance of the various infections are also discussed.

PMID- 20937463
TI  - Infectious causes of colorectal cancer.
AB  - Colorectal cancer is a major cause of cancer-related morbidity and mortality in
      the United States and many other regions of the world. Our understanding of the
      pathogenesis of colorectal cancer, from the precursor adenomatous polyp to
      adenocarcinoma, has evolved rapidly. Colorectal carcinogenesis is a sequential
      process characterized by the accumulation of multiple genetic and molecular
      alterations in colonic epithelial cells. However, the development of colorectal
      cancer involves more then just a genetic predisposition. External or
      environmental factors presumably play a significant role, and inflammatory bowel
      diseases, obesity, alcohol consumption, and a diet high in fat and low in fiber
      have all been implicated as risk factors for the development of either colonic
      adenomas or carcinomas. We are becoming increasingly aware of microbes as causes
      of malignancies. This article reviews the various microbes that have been
      associated with the development of colorectal carcinomas.

PMID- 20937464
TI  - Future perspectives on infections associated with gastrointestinal tract
      diseases.
AB  - There are a vast number of infectious agents that are associated with
      gastrointestinal (GI) tract diseases. The epidemiology of GI diseases is
      changing, with a greater number of conditions increasing in incidence. Challenges
      exist with establishing cause-and-effect relationships because of the ubiquitous
      nature of these organisms and the milieu in which they exist. Advances in
      technology should provide novel methods for identifying and diagnosing these
      organisms and the relationship they have with a specific digestive disease.

PMID- 20937465
TI  - Lysenko rising.

PMID- 20937466
TI  - Grasses.

PMID- 20937467
TI  - Dogs showing separation-related behaviour exhibit a 'pessimistic' cognitive bias.

PMID- 20937468
TI  - Sex determination: a worm does it by elimination.
AB  - Parasitic nematode worms of the genus Strongyloides have an alternation of many
      asexual, all-female generations with a sexual generation composed of males and
      females. Males of S. papillosus have now been shown to be produced by elimination
      of chromosomal material that constitutes the X chromosome in its close relatives.

PMID- 20937469
TI  - Plant development: early events in lateral root initiation.
AB  - How are the lateral root founder cells specified in the pericycle to initiate
      lateral root development? An Aux/IAA28 signaling module activates transcription
      factor GATA23 to control founder cell identity.

PMID- 20937470
TI  - Intracellular transport: ER and mitochondria meet and greet along designated
      tracks.
AB  - A recent study shows that contacts between the endoplasmic reticulum and
      mitochondria occur preferentially on acetylated microtubules, providing
      physiological support for the microtubule track selectivity of molecular motors.

PMID- 20937471
TI  - Insect vision: a few tricks to regulate flight altitude.
AB  - A recent study sheds new light on the visual cues used by Drosophila to regulate
      flight altitude. The striking similarity with previously identified steering
      mechanisms provides a coherent basis for novel models of vision-based flight
      control in insects and robots.

PMID- 20937472
TI  - Cyanotoxins: a poison that frees phosphate.
AB  - Autotrophic organisms obtain phosphorus from the environment by secreting
      alkaline phosphatases that act on esters, resulting in inorganic phosphate that
      is then taken up. New work shows that the cyanobacterium Aphanizomenon
      ovalisporum obtains inorganic phosphate by secreting the cyanotoxin
      cylindrospermopsin, which induces alkaline phosphatase in other phytoplankton
      species.

PMID- 20937473
TI  - Motor control: exploring the neurochemistry of subliminal inhibition.
AB  - A new study links individual differences in unconsciously triggered motor control
      to variability in GABA neurotransmitter concentration in the supplementary motor
      area of the human brain.

PMID- 20937474
TI  - Community ecology: top-down turned upside-down.
AB  - Within African savannas, elephants often damage individual trees to the extent
      that they influence tree density. New research shows that mutualistic ants
      inhabiting certain species of Acacia protect trees from catastrophic herbivory by
      elephants. Protection by the ants stabilizes tree cover across savannas in what
      is otherwise a highly dynamic biome.

PMID- 20937475
TI  - Behavioural ecology: social networking for dullards.
AB  - A recent paper shows that dull-plumaged male house finches can improve their
      mating success by moving to a different social network, where their plumage is
      brighter relative to that of other males.

PMID- 20937477
TI  - Project HealthDesign: advancing the vision of consumer-clinician-computer
      collaborations.

PMID- 20937476
TI  - Emerging roles for natural microRNA sponges.
AB  - Recently, a non-coding RNA expressed from a human pseudogene was reported to
      regulate the corresponding protein-coding mRNA by acting as a decoy for microRNAs
      (miRNAs) that bind to common sites in the 3' untranslated regions (UTRs). It was
      proposed that competing for miRNAs might be a general activity of pseudogenes.
      This study raises questions about the potential ability of thousands of non
      coding transcripts to interact with miRNAs and influence the expression of miRNA
      target genes. Three years ago, artificial miRNA decoys termed 'miRNA sponges'
      were introduced as a means to create loss-of-function phenotypes for miRNA
      families in cell culture and in virally infected tissue and transgenic animals.
      Given the efficacy of miRNA sponges expressed from stable chromosomal insertions,
      it seemed plausible that natural non-coding RNAs might have evolved to sequence
      specifically sequester miRNAs. The first such endogenous sponge RNA was
      discovered in plants and found to attenuate a miRNA-mediated response to an
      environmental stress. More recently, a viral non-coding RNA was observed to
      sequester and promote the degradation of a cellular miRNA in infected primate
      cells. In this review we discuss the potential and proven roles for endogenous
      miRNA sponges and consider some criteria for screening candidate sponge RNAs.

PMID- 20937478
TI  - Towards a Personal Health Management Assistant.
AB  - We describe design and prototyping efforts for a Personal Health Management
      Assistant for heart failure patients as part of Project HealthDesign. An
      assistant is more than simply an application. An assistant understands what its
      users need to do, interacts naturally with them, reacts to what they say and do,
      and is proactive in helping them manage their health. In this project, we focused
      on heart failure, which is not only a prevalent and economically significant
      disease, but also one that is very amenable to self-care. Working with patients,
      and building on our prior experience with conversational assistants, we designed
      and developed a prototype system that helps heart failure patients record
      objective and subjective observations using spoken natural language conversation.
      Our experience suggests that it is feasible to build such systems and that
      patients would use them. The system is designed to support rapid application to
      other self-care settings.

PMID- 20937479
TI  - Evolution of a web-based, prototype Personal Health Application for diabetes self
      management.
AB  - Behaviors carried out by the person with diabetes (e.g., healthy eating, physical
      activity, judicious use of medication, glucose monitoring, coping and problem
      solving, regular clinic visits, etc.) are of central importance in diabetes
      management. To assist with these behaviors, we developed a prototype PHA for
      diabetes self-management that was based on User-Centered Design principles and
      congruent with the anticipatory vision of Project Health Design (PHD). This
      article presents aspects of the prototype PHA's functionality as conceived under
      PHD and describes modifications to the PHA now being undertaken under new
      sponsorship, in response to user feedback and timing tests we have performed. In
      brief, the prototype Personal Health Application (PHA) receives data on the major
      diabetes management domains from a Personal Health Record (PHR) and analyzes and
      provides feedback based on clinically vetted educational content. The information
      is presented within "gadgets" within a portal-based website. The PHR used for the
      first implementation was the Common Platform developed by PHD. Key changes
      include a re-conceptualization of the gadgets by topic areas originally defined
      by the American Association of Diabetes Educators, a refocusing on low-cost
      approaches to diabetes monitoring and data entry, and synchronization with a new
      PHR, Microsoft(r) HealthVaultTM.

PMID- 20937480
TI  - Colorado Care Tablet: the design of an interoperable Personal Health Application
      to help older adults with multimorbidity manage their medications.
AB  - Medication errors are common and cause serious health issues during care
      transitions, particularly for older adults with multiple chronic conditions. In
      this paper, we discuss the design and evaluation of the Colorado Care Tablet, a
      Personal Health Application (PHA) that helps older adults and their lay
      caregivers manage their medication regimes during care transitions. We created a
      PHA that older adults with limited computing experience could easily use by
      designing an application based on their real world artifacts and workflows.

PMID- 20937481
TI  - MyMediHealth - designing a next generation system for child-centered medication
      management.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The last mile of the medication use system requires tools to help
      patients comply with medication administration rules and monitor for side
      effects. Personal health records (PHR) and emerging user-adopted communication
      tools promise to change the landscape of medication management; however, no
      research has been done to demonstrate how these tools might be constructed to
      support children with special healthcare needs. The overarching goal of the
      MyMediHealth project was to investigate ways in which PHRs and supported
      applications can improve the safety and quality of medication delivery in this
      population. DESIGN APPROACH: This project employed user-centered design to
      identify requirements for a child-centered medication management system. We
      collected information through site visits, facilitated group discussions, and
      iterative design sessions with adult caregivers. Once design requirements were
      articulated and validated, we constructed an initial prototype medication
      scheduler, which was evaluated by 202 parents using scripted activities completed
      using an online interactive prototype. The results of this analysis informed the
      development of a working prototype. STATUS: We have completed a working prototype
      of a scheduling system, a text-message-based alert and reminder system, and a
      medication administration record based on web-entered patient data. IMPLICATIONS:
      Pilot testing of the working prototype by stakeholders yielded strong endorsement
      and helpful feedback for future modifications, which are now underway as a part
      of an expanded project to test this system in a real-world environment.

PMID- 20937482
TI  - Project HealthDesign: rethinking the power and potential of personal health
      records.
AB  - Project HealthDesign, a multi-year, multi-site project sponsored by the Robert
      Wood Johnson Foundation with additional support from the California HealthCare
      Foundation, is designed to stimulate innovation in personal health records
      (PHRs). Project HealthDesign teams employed user-centered design processes to
      create designs and prototypes of computer-based applications to support and
      enhance human health for a wide range of patients, from children with chronic
      health conditions to elders transitioning from hospital to home. A program design
      philosophy encouraged designers to envision PHRs as a suite of personal health
      information management tools, or applications, separate from, but drawing upon,
      personal health data from a variety of sources. In addition to information
      contained in one's medical record, these personal health data included patient
      supplied clinical parameters such as blood glucose and daily weights; as well as
      patient-generated observations of daily living (ODLs) - the unique, idiosyncratic
      cues, such as sleep adequacy or confidence in self care, that inform patients
      about their abilities to manage health challenges and take healthy action. A
      common technical platform provided infrastructure services such as data standards
      and identity-management protocols, and helped to demonstrate a scalable,
      efficient approach to user-centered design of personal health information
      management systems. The program's ethical, legal and social issues consultancy
      identified challenges to acceleration of action-focused PHRs: personal control of
      privacy choices, management of privacy in home conditions, and rebalancing power
      structures in shared decision making.

PMID- 20937483
TI  - Design of a handheld electronic pain, treatment and activity diary.
AB  - Effective tools for recording and analyzing data on patients' pain experience,
      use of pain treatments, and physical function are needed to improve communication
      between providers and patients with noncancer chronic pain. A handheld electronic
      diary (HED) that can be used throughout the day may provide more useful and
      accurate information about pain, treatments, and function than available paper
      and on-line diaries that are designed to be used once daily, weekly or less
      often. Based on user-specified requirements we designed and built a prototype HED
      with 7 modules. Diary queries are followed by multiple choice responses
      customized to the patients' expected responses. Usability testing confirmed user
      comprehension and acceptability of the queries, response sets, and interface.

PMID- 20937484
TI  - Designing mobile support for glycemic control in patients with diabetes.
AB  - We assessed the feasibility and acceptability of using mobile phones as part of
      an existing Web-based system for collaboration between patients with diabetes and
      a primary care team. In design sessions, we tested mobile wireless glucose meter
      uploads and two approaches to mobile phone-based feedback on glycemic control.
      Mobile glucose meter uploads combined with graphical and tabular data feedback
      were the most desirable system features tested. Participants had a mixture of
      positive and negative reactions to an automated and tailored messaging feedback
      system for self-management support. Participants saw value in the mobile system
      as an adjunct to the Web-based program and traditional office-based care. Mobile
      diabetes management systems may represent one strategy to improve the quality of
      diabetes care.

PMID- 20937485
TI  - Ethical, legal and social issues for personal health records and applications.
AB  - Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Project HealthDesign included funding of an
      ethical, legal and social issues (ELSI) team, to serve in an advisory capacity to
      the nine design projects. In that capacity, the authors had the opportunity to
      analyze the personal health record (PHR) and personal health application (PHA)
      implementations for recurring themes. PHRs and PHAs invert the long-standing
      paradigm of health care institutions as the authoritative data-holders and data
      processors in the system. With PHRs and PHAs, the individual is the center of his
      or her own health data universe, a position that brings new benefits but also
      entails new responsibilities for patients and other parties in the health
      information infrastructure. Implications for law, policy and practice follow from
      this shift. This article summarizes the issues raised by the first phase of
      Project HealthDesign projects, categorizing them into four topics: privacy and
      confidentiality, data security, decision support, and HIPAA and related legal
      regulatory requirements. Discussion and resolution of these issues will be
      critical to successful PHR/PHA implementations in the years to come.

PMID- 20937486
TI  - The Communication and Care Plan: a novel approach to patient-centered clinical
      information systems.
AB  - The US health care system and its information access models are organized around
      institutions and providers. Patient-centered functionality is rarely present in
      prevailing information systems and, if present, it typically does not ideally
      support shared decision making about important treatment events. We sought to
      better understand the functional needs of providers and patients around the
      process of care plan decision making, and used this information to develop a
      prototype decision support tool, using women with newly diagnosed breast cancer
      as our clinical scenario. This paper describes the user-centered design process
      we undertook and the resulting prototype system, the Communication and Care Plan
      (CCP).

PMID- 20937487
TI  - Living Profiles: design of a health media platform for teens with special
      healthcare needs.
AB  - Living Profiles is a health media platform in development that aggregates
      multiple data flows to help teens with special healthcare needs (SHCN),
      particularly with regard to self-management and independence. A teen-oriented
      personal health record (PHR) incorporates typical teen behaviors and attitudes
      about health and wellness, encompasses how teens perceive and convey quality of
      life, and aligns with data related to their chronic medical condition. We have
      conceived a secure personalized user interface called the Quality of Life
      Timeline, which will assist with the transition from pediatric care to an adult
      provider through modules that include a mood meter, reminder device, and teleport
      medicine. With this personalized PHR, teens with SHCN can better understand their
      condition and its effects on daily activities and life goals and vice versa;
      additionally, use of this PHR allows for better information sharing and
      communication between providers and patients. The use of a teen-oriented tool
      such as Living Profiles can impact teens' overall quality of life and disease
      self-management, important attributes for a successful transition program.

PMID- 20937494
TI  - Update on the diagnosis and management of Isospora spp infections in dogs and
      cats.

PMID- 20937495
TI  - Update on the diagnosis and management of Toxoplasma gondii infection in cats.

PMID- 20937496
TI  - Update on the diagnosis and management of Hepatozoon spp infections in dogs in
      the United States.

PMID- 20937497
TI  - Update on the diagnosis and management of Tritrichomonas foetus infections in
      cats.

PMID- 20937498
TI  - Update on the diagnosis and management of Leishmania spp infections in dogs in
      the United States.

PMID- 20937499
TI  - Update on the diagnosis and management of Giardia spp infections in dogs and
      cats.

PMID- 20937500
TI  - Update on the diagnosis and management of Cryptosporidium spp infections in dogs
      and cats.

PMID- 20937501
TI  - Update on the diagnosis and management of Neospora caninum infections in dogs.

PMID- 20937502
TI  - Time course of visual attention across perceptual levels and objects.
AB  - Theories of shifts of visual attention based on attentional blink or dwell time
      do not directly address shifts of attention across different levels (global or
      local) involving multiple objects. Two experiments were conducted employing the
      attentional dwell time paradigm to investigate the shifts of visual attention
      between objects selected at same or different levels. Participants were
      instructed to identify two successive compound stimuli at a pre-specified level
      (global or local) presented at two different locations with variable SOA. The
      initial pair of locations in which the stimulus was presented was fixed in
      Experiment 1 but not in Experiment 2. Experiment 1 results showed very little
      impairment for second target identification when both the targets were at the
      global level. Attentional shift was better with both targets at the same level
      compared to different levels. Experiment 2 results showed that local followed by
      global target identification is difficult at short SOAs compared to other
      conditions. The results indicate that scope of attention affects the time course
      of visual attention. Global processing could be performed with very little
      capacity limitation simultaneously with distributed attention. The default mode
      of attention might be distributed and attention becomes focused for target
      identification. Different mechanisms may underlie shifts in focused attention
      between different locations and changes in attentional set required by changes in
      perceptual levels.

PMID- 20937503
TI  - The effect of behavioral response on affective evaluation.
AB  - In the present research we investigated how action influences affective
      evaluation. In three experiments, participants conducted a sequence of go/no-go
      tasks, then evaluated the pleasantness of a novel shape. The results of
      Experiments 1 and 2 show that participants evaluated the shapes that appeared in
      the go trials more positively than the shapes that appeared in the no-go trials.
      In Experiment 3, the go/no-go task was conducted without the to-be-evaluated
      shapes present in the display. The results show that the shape stimuli following
      the go trials were evaluated more positively than the shape stimuli following the
      no-go trials, even when the shapes were not directly associated with the go/no-go
      task. Based on the present study, we suggest that activating or inhibiting a
      motoric action may play a critical role in modifying one's affective evaluation.
      Additionally, the present results suggest that effortful and non-default
      responses can negatively modulate affective evaluation by taxing an individual's
      cognitive load. Furthermore, we argue that individuals can potentially control
      their affective states through behavioral activation and inhibition.

PMID- 20937504
TI  - Reappraisal of surgical indications and approach for liver hemangioma: single
      center experience on 74 patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Liver hemangiomas are rarely large, symptomatic, or presenting
      atypical imaging patterns. Surgery is rarely needed; indications and choice of
      the best technique remain not precisely defined. METHODS: Features of hemangiomas
      and surgical indications were assessed in 74 patients (mean follow-up 63.2
      months). In 40 operated patients, the results of liver resection versus
      enucleation were compared. RESULTS: Most hemangiomas (60/74, 81.1%) showed no
      size increment. In 40 operated patients (40/74, 54.1%) the mean tumor size (11.9
      cm, range 2.6-46.0) was larger than in nonoperated patients (11.9 vs 6.0 cm, P =
      .0002). Surgical indications were specific symptoms, tumor enlargement, Kasabach
      Merritt syndrome, and uncertain diagnosis. Mortality (nil), morbidity (10.0%),
      and transfusion rate (15.0%) were similar for 28 liver resections versus 12
      enucleations; bleeding was more related to large hemangioma size than to the
      choice of either technique. Liver ischemia techniques, autotransfusion, and
      intraoperative blood salvage reduced the risk of transfusion. CONCLUSIONS:
      Surgery is rarely indicated, has a low risk, and has similar results for liver
      resection versus enucleation. Risk of bleeding is related more to the large size
      of the hemangioma than to the type of surgery (resection or enucleation). In
      these patients, management, the need for surgery, and the choice of technique
      should be carefully individualized.

PMID- 20937505
TI  - Phenolic Glycosides with antiproteasomal activity from Centaurea urvillei DC.
      subsp. urvillei.
AB  - A new flavanone glycoside, naringenin-7-O-beta-D-glucuronopyranoside, and a new
      flavonol glycoside, 6-hydroxykaempferol-7-O-beta-D-glucuronopyranoside were
      isolated together with 12 known compounds, 5 flavone glycoside; hispidulin-7-O
      beta-D-glucuronopyranoside, apigenin-7-O-beta-D-methylglucuronopyranoside,
      hispidulin-7-O-beta-D-methylglucuronopyranoside, hispidulin-7-O-beta-D
      glucopyranoside, apigenin-7-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside, a flavonol; kaempferol, two
      flavone; apigenin, and luteolin, a flavanone glycoside; eriodictyol-7-O-beta-D
      glucuronopyranoside, and three phenol glycoside; arbutin, salidroside, and 3,5
      dihydroxyphenethyl alcohol-3-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside from Centaurea urvillei
      subsp. urvillei. The structure elucidation of the new compounds was achieved by a
      combination of one- ((1)H and (13)C) and two-dimensional NMR techniques (G-COSY,
      G-HMQC, and G-HMBC) and LC-ESI-MS. The isolated compounds were tested for their
      antiproteasomal activity. The results indicated that kaempferol, a well known and
      widely distributed flavonoid in the plant kingdom, was the most active
      antiproteasomal agent, followed by apigenin, eriodictyol-7-O-beta-D
      glucuronopyranoside, 3,5-dihydroxyphenethyl alcohol-3-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside,
      and salidroside, respectively.

PMID- 20937506
TI  - Aripiprazole versus haloperidol treatment in early-stage schizophrenia.
AB  - We conducted a secondary analysis of a completed study of the differential
      efficacy and side effects of aripiprazole versus haloperidol in early-stage
      schizophrenia (ESS), a subpopulation of patients which does not include first
      episode or chronic patients. A subpopulation of 360 individuals with ESS were
      identified from a randomized, multi-center, double-blind study of 1294
      individuals with schizophrenia at different stages of illness who were randomized
      to treatment with aripiprazole (ESS = 237) or haloperidol (ESS = 123) for one
      year. The primary outcome measure was response rate based on a 50% reduction of
      Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) total scores. Secondary outcomes
      included several efficacy and safety measures, as well as treatment
      discontinuation. More individuals in the aripiprazole group (48%) than in the
      haloperidol group (28%; p < 0.01) completed the study. Response rates were
      greater in the aripiprazole group (38% [N = 91]) than in the haloperidol group
      (22% [N = 27]; p < 0.01). Aripiprazole was associated with fewer extrapyramidal
      side effects. ESS subjects in the haloperidol group were more likely than those
      in the aripiprazole group to discontinue the study drug due to an adverse event
      other than worsening illness (29% and 11%, respectively; p < 0.01), and efficacy
      differences were reduced by interventions to mitigate side effects (decreasing
      antipsychotic dose with or without adding antiparkinsonian medication).
      Aripiprazole has a favorable efficacy/safety profile in ESS and appeared to be
      superior to haloperidol on a number of efficacy and safety outcomes. However,
      excessive dosing of the antipsychotic medications, in particular haloperidol, may
      have played an important role in accounting for the differences between
      aripiprazole and haloperidol in this study.

PMID- 20937507
TI  - Suicidal ideation and suicide attempts among Hispanic subgroups in the United
      States: 1991-1992 and 2001-2002.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare the prevalence of suicidal ideation/attempts among Hispanic
      subgroups in the US in 1991-1992 and 2001-2002, and identify high-risk groups.
      METHOD: Data were drawn from the 1991-1992 National Longitudinal Alcohol
      Epidemiologic Survey (NLAES, n = 42,862) and the 2001-2002 National
      Epidemiological Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC, n = 43,093),
      two nationally representative surveys of individuals aged 18 years and older.
      RESULTS: 1) Puerto Ricans are the Hispanic ethnic subgroup with the highest rates
      of suicide attempts; 2) 45- to 64-year-old Puerto Rican women are a high-risk
      group for suicide attempts; 3) Over the 10 year period between the two surveys,
      the lifetime prevalence of suicide attempts significantly increased among 18- to
      24-year-old Puerto Rican women and Cuban men, and among 45- to 64-year-old Puerto
      Rican men. CONCLUSION: Hispanics in the US are not a homogeneous group. We
      identify high-risk groups among Hispanics. Specific interventions for subgroups
      of Hispanics at high risk for suicidal behaviors may be required.

PMID- 20937509
TI  - Outcomes of Thai patients with acute ischemic stroke after intravenous
      thrombolysis.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to assess outcomes in Thai patients after treatment
      with intravenous recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rtPA) and to determine
      the factors associated with good outcome and death. METHODS: Patients with acute
      ischemic stroke who were treated with intravenous rtPA at Thammasat University
      Hospital between June 2007 and April 2010 were included. The measured outcome
      variables were good outcome (mRS 0,1) and death at 3 months. Stepwise
      multivariable analyses were performed by including the prespecified factors that
      were associated with the measured outcome variables in the univariate analysis.
      RESULTS: The sample size was 197 patients. At 3 months, 93 patients (47%) had
      good outcomes while 23 patients (12%) died within the same period. Severe stroke
      (OR 0.19, 95% CI 0.08-0.44, p-value <0.0001) and history of hypertension (OR
      0.39, 95% CI 0.16-0.93, p-value=0.033) were independently related to bad outcome
      at 3 months, while receiving intravenous nicardipine (OR 2.76, 95% CI 1.09-6.94,
      p-value=0.032) was associated with good outcome. Severe stroke (OR 5.89, 95% CI
      1.29-26.85, p-value=0.022) and pretreatment high blood glucose levels (OR 8.06,
      95% CI 1.21-53.62, p-value=0.031) each were independently associated with patient
      death. CONCLUSIONS: Standard-dose intravenous rtPA in a cohort of Thai patients
      led to better clinical outcomes and comparable death rates when compared to other
      Asian cohorts receiving intravenous rtPA. Several factors were independently
      associated with patient outcomes at 3 months.

PMID- 20937510
TI  - New molecular findings in congenital myopathies due to selenoprotein N gene
      mutations.
AB  - Selenoprotein N-related myopathy (SEPN1-RM) is an early-onset muscle disorder
      that can manifest clinically as congenital muscular dystrophy with spinal
      rigidity and can result in specific pathological entities such as multiminicore
      disease, desmin-related myopathy with Mallory body-like inclusions, and
      congenital fiber-type disproportion. Here we describe the clinical,
      histopathological, muscle magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and genetic findings
      of three Italian SEPN1-RM families. Proband 1 is a 31-year-old female who was
      floppy at birth and developed axial and mild lower limb-girdle weakness. The
      second proband is a 13-year-old boy with RSMD1. Probands 3 and 4 were brothers
      showing clinical phenotype of congenital myopathy. Muscle MRI demonstrated
      selective involvement of sartorius, gluteal muscles and distal gastrocnemius and
      sparing of rectus femoris and gracilis. Muscle histopathology showed in proband 1
      myopathic changes with mild connective tissue increase and some fibres lacking
      the Z-line, while probands 2 and 3 had multiminicores. SEPN1 gene analysis
      revealed five mutations, three of which are novel. Proband 1 was a compound
      heterozygote for a 92-bp (exon 1) and a 1-bp deletion (exon 9); proband 2 had a
      99-bp deletion and a 10-bp duplication in exon 1, and proband 3 presented a novel
      homozygous mutation in intron 10 acceptor splice site.

PMID- 20937512
TI  - Application of fractal dimensions to study the structure of flocs formed in lime
      softening process.
AB  - The use of fractal dimensions to study the internal structure and settling of
      flocs formed in lime softening process was investigated. Fractal dimensions of
      flocs were measured directly on floc images and indirectly from their settling
      velocity. An optical microscope with a motorized stage was used to measure the
      fractal dimensions of lime softening flocs directly on their images in 2 and 3D
      space. The directly determined fractal dimensions of the lime softening flocs
      were 1.11-1.25 for floc boundary, 1.82-1.99 for cross-sectional area and 2.6-2.99
      for floc volume. The fractal dimension determined indirectly from the flocs
      settling rates was 1.87 that was different from the 3D fractal dimension
      determined directly on floc images. This discrepancy is due to the following
      incorrect assumptions used for fractal dimensions determined from floc settling
      rates: linear relationship between square settling velocity and floc size
      (Stokes' Law), Euclidean relationship between floc size and volume, constant
      fractal dimensions and one primary particle size describing entire population of
      flocs. Floc settling model incorporating variable floc fractal dimensions as well
      as variable primary particle size was found to describe the settling velocity of
      large (>50 MUm) lime softening flocs better than Stokes' Law. Settling velocities
      of smaller flocs (<50 MUm) could still be quite well predicted by Stokes' Law.
      The variation of fractal dimensions with lime floc size in this study indicated
      that two mechanisms are involved in the formation of these flocs: cluster-cluster
      aggregation for small flocs (<50 MUm) and diffusion-limited aggregation for large
      flocs (>50 MUm). Therefore, the relationship between the floc fractal dimension
      and floc size appears to be determined by floc formation mechanisms.

PMID- 20937511
TI  - Non-productive HIV-1 infection of human glomerular and urinary podocytes.
AB  - Podocyte damage induced by HIV-1 is critical to the pathogenesis of HIV-1
      associated nephropathy (HIVAN) and is believed to result from productive
      replication of the virus. Here we demonstrate that HIV-1 readily enters human
      podocytes by a dynamin-mediated endocytosis but does not establish productive
      infection. We provide evidence suggesting that viral nucleic acids and proteins
      detected in podocytes are delivered by viral particles internalized by the cells.
      Endocytosed HIV-1 is only transiently harbored by podocytes and is subsequently
      released to the extracellular milieu as fully infectious virus. Similarly,
      primary podocytes established from normal human urine do not support productive
      infection by HIV-1 but sustain replication of VSV-G pseudotyped virus that
      bypasses HIV-1 entry receptors. Moreover, transfected podocytes expressing CD4
      and CXCR4 receptors support productive replication of HIV-1. This further
      confirms that lack of HIV-1 entry receptors is the major barrier preventing
      productive infection of podocytes in vitro.

PMID- 20937513
TI  - Characterisation of aquatic humic and non-humic matter with size-exclusion
      chromatography--organic carbon detection--organic nitrogen detection (LC-OCD
      OND).
AB  - Size-exclusion chromatography in combination with organic carbon detection (SEC
      OCD) is an established method to separate the pool of NOM into major fractions of
      different sizes and chemical functions and to quantify these on the basis of
      organic carbon. One specific approach, also known as LC-OCD-OND, is based on the
      Grantzel thin-film UV-reactor. This approach is described with recent
      improvements in fraction assignation (humic substances, biopolymers, building
      blocks, low molecular weight organic acids and neutrals, hydrophobic organic
      carbon), the coupling of a novel organic nitrogen detector (OND), and an improved
      diagram for the characterisation of aquatic humic substances (HS-diagram). The
      diagram replaces the operational distinction between humic and fulvic acids by a
      continuum ranging from aquagenic fulvic acids to pedogenic humic acids.

PMID- 20937514
TI  - Ultrasound-assisted emulsification-microextraction of fragrance allergens in
      water.
AB  - A method based on ultrasound-assisted emulsification-microextraction (USAEME) and
      gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) has been developed for the analysis
      of regulated fragrance allergens in water. Extraction conditions such as the type
      of solvent, extraction temperature, irradiation time, and salting-out effect were
      optimized using a multivariate approach. Compounds were extracted during 2 min in
      an acoustically emulsified media formed by 100 MUL chloroform and 10 mL sample.
      The USAEME process provided an efficient and exhaustive extraction (enrichment
      factor ~100) and, after centrifugation, the extract was ready for GC analysis.
      Validation was performed using spiked ultrapure water as well as other most
      complex matrices such as sewage water. Recoveries between 75% and 110% were
      generally obtained, and precision was characterized by RSD values <10% in most
      cases. The limits of detection (LODs) were at the sub-nanogram per millilitre
      level. The proposed procedure was applied to the determination of allergens in
      several real samples including tap water, baby bathwater, recreational place
      water, public washing place water, and sewage water. The presence of some of the
      target compounds was confirmed in all the samples excluding tap water,
      demonstrating the ubiquity of this group of cosmetic and personal care products
      ingredients.

PMID- 20937515
TI  - No bioavailability of 17alpha-ethinylestradiol when associated with nC60
      aggregates during dietary exposure in adult male zebrafish (Danio rerio).
AB  - The C(60) fullerene is a manufactured carbon nanoparticle (CNP) that could pose a
      risk to humans and other organisms after release into the environment. In surface
      waters, C(60) is likely to be present as aggregates of nC(60) and these
      aggregates can associate with other substances that are toxic. Our goal was to
      evaluate the association of a model contaminant [17alpha-ethinylestradiol (EE2)]
      with nC(60) and determine bioavailability of EE2 after accumulation by a filter
      feeding organism [Brine shrimp (BS) Artemia sp.] and subsequent dietary exposure
      in zebrafish. Aqueous suspensions of nC(60) were prepared (600 mg C(60)/900 mL, 6
      month water stirred method) with/without EE2 (1 MUg/L) and BS were exposed to
      these preparations. Accumulation of nC(60) in gut of BS was assessed by light
      microscopy, and C(60) were extracted from BS and concentration analyzed by HPLC.
      Adult male zebrafish were fed (5d) live BS according to the following treatments:
      BS (control); BS containing nC(60); BS containing nC(60)+EE2; or BS containing
      EE2. Liver was excised from exposed fish and total RNA was extracted for
      assessment of vitellogenin gene (vtg1A/B) expression. The vtg1A/B was highly up
      regulated in fish exposed to BS containing EE2, but expression of vtg1A/B did not
      differ from controls in other treatments. The EE2 associated with nC(60) did not
      become bioavailable in zebrafish during passage through the intestinal tract of
      zebrafish. Results have implications on the effect of nC(60) on the
      bioavailability of co-contaminants in organisms during dietary exposure.

PMID- 20937516
TI  - Bacterial stimulation of copper phytoaccumulation by bioaugmentation with
      rhizosphere bacteria.
AB  - Copper contaminated areas pose environmental health risk to living organisms.
      Remediation processes are thus required for both crop production and industrial
      activities. This study employed bioaugmentation with copper resistant bacteria to
      improve phytoremediation of vineyard soils and copper mining waste contaminated
      with high copper concentrations. Oatmeal plant (Avena sativa L.) was used for
      copper phytoextraction. Three copper resistant bacterial isolates from oatmeal
      rhizosphere (Pseudomonas putida A1; Stenotrophomonas maltophilia A2 and
      Acinetobacter calcoaceticus A6) were used for the stimulation of copper
      phytoextraction. Two long-term copper contaminated vineyard soils (Mollisol and
      Inceptisol) and copper mining waste from Southern Brazil were evaluated. Oatmeal
      plants substantially extracted copper from vineyard soils and copper mining
      waste. As much as 1549 mg of Cu kg-1 dry mass was extracted from plants grown in
      Inceptisol soil. The vineyard Mollisol copper uptake (55 mg Cu kg-1 of dry mass)
      in the shoots was significantly improved upon inoculation of oatmeal plants with
      isolate A2 (128 mg of Cu kg-1 of shoot dry mass). Overall oatmeal plant biomass
      displayed higher potential of copper phytoextraction with inoculation of
      rhizosphere bacteria in vineyard soil to the extent that 404 and 327 g ha-1 of
      copper removal were respectively observed in vineyard Mollisol bioaugmented with
      isolate A2 (S. maltophilia) and isolate A6 (A. calcoaceticus). Results suggest
      potential application of bacterial stimulation of phytoaccumulation of copper for
      biological removal of copper from contaminated areas.

PMID- 20937517
TI  - Predator-prey interactions between Synbranchus marmoratus (Teleostei:
      Synbranchidae) and Hypsiboas pulchellus tadpoles (Amphibia: Hylidae): importance
      of lateral line in nocturnal predation and effects of fenitrothion exposure.
AB  - Environmental contaminants can disrupt interactions between aquatic species by
      altering community structure. We explored predator-prey interactions between
      marbled swamp juvenile eels (Synbranchus marmoratus; predator) and anuran
      tadpoles (Hypsiboas pulchellus; prey) in relation to two aspects: the importance
      of lateral line in the predator and whether the absence of light modifies
      predation rates; and the effect of a sub-lethal concentration of fenitrothion on
      both predator and prey. Eels were tested under two sensory conditions (lateral
      line intact and lateral line blocked by cobalt chloride) in dark conditions.
      Predation rates were evaluated using different treatments that combined predator
      and prey exposed or not to insecticide. Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and
      butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) activities were also measured in muscle samples of
      eels and tadpoles to explore whether fenitrothion affects predator and prey
      differentially. Marbled swamp eels were more efficient in feeding on tadpoles
      during the night than during the day, showing that lateral line makes an
      important contribution to prey detection and capture. Regarding pesticide
      effects, short-term (6 h) exposure to an ecologically relevant fenitrothion dose
      of 2.5 mg L(-1) altered the predator-prey relationship by changing prey
      behaviour, reducing prey detection and therefore increasing tadpole survival. At
      this concentration, the outcome of the predator-prey relationship appears biased
      in favor of the exposed tadpoles, which were released from predation risk,
      despite their altered behaviour and the higher inhibition percentages of tail
      BChE (70%) and AChE (51%) than in control individuals. Our study involving these
      model species and agrochemicals demonstrates that fenitrothion affected the
      outcome of a predator-prey relationship. Further studies are needed, in these
      species and other native amphibians, to investigate the nature of the mechanisms
      responsible for the adverse effects of pesticides on antipredator behaviour and
      predation efficiency.

PMID- 20937518
TI  - Development of normalization factors for Canada and the United States and
      comparison with European factors.
AB  - In Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), normalization calculates the magnitude of an
      impact (midpoint or endpoint) relative to the total effect of a given reference.
      The goal of this work is to calculate normalization factors for Canada and the US
      and to compare them with existing European normalization factors. The differences
      between geographical areas were highlighted by identifying and comparing the main
      contributors to a given impact category in Canada, the US and Europe. This
      comparison verified that the main contributors in Europe and in the US are also
      present in the Canadian inventory. It also showed that normalized profiles are
      highly dependent on the selected reference due to differences in the industrial
      and economic activities. To meet practitioners' needs, Canadian normalization
      factors have been calculated using the characterization factors from LUCAS
      (Canadian), IMPACT 2002+ (European), and TRACI (US) respectively. The main
      sources of uncertainty related to Canadian NFs are data gaps (pesticides, metals)
      and aggregated data (metals, VOC), but the uncertainty related to CFs generally
      remains unknown. A final discussion is proposed based on the comparison of
      resource extraction and resource consumption and raises the question of the
      legitimacy of defining a country by its geographical borders.

PMID- 20937519
TI  - Effects of Mediterranean dehesa management on epiphytic lichens.
AB  - Spanish holm oak (Quercus ilex subsp. ballota) open woodlands (dehesas) maintain
      a high diversity of plants and animals compared to other forested Mediterranean
      habits, but little is known about the responses of epiphytic lichens to different
      management regimes that are applied to this woodland type. The present study was
      carried out in central-southern Spain and included four management regimes:
      agriculture, grazing of sheep, grassland grazed by wild ungulates (deer), and
      abandoned dehesas covered by shrubs. Total species richness and cover exhibited
      considerable variation among management regimes. Both parameters tended to
      decrease with the intensity of management, abandoned dehesas maintaining a higher
      number of species than more intensively managed habitats. Lichen composition also
      significantly differed among the four regimes. Nitrophytic species were clearly
      associated with more intensive management regimes (farming or livestock
      management), whereas non-nitrophytic species favored abandoned dehesas.

PMID- 20937520
TI  - Implications for wildlife and humans of dietary exposure to lead from fragments
      of lead rifle bullets in deer shot in the UK.
AB  - Lead poisoning caused by ingested spent lead shotgun pellets has long been known
      to be a cause of unnecessary mortality in waterfowl and has led to legislation
      limiting its use in many countries. Recent evidence has shown that the problem
      extends to terrestrial ecosystems and to fragmented rifle bullets eaten by
      scavengers as well as shotgun pellets. Dietary exposure of human consumers to
      lead from spent ammunition in game meat also poses potential risks to human
      health. To assess the degree of fragmentation of lead bullets used to kill wild
      deer, twelve deer were shot in the thorax using copper-jacketed lead-cored
      bullets, as part of planned deer management operations. The thoracic region of
      the eviscerated carcasses and the abdominal viscera of each deer were X-rayed. An
      average of 356 metal fragments was visible on radiographs of the carcass and 180
      fragments in the viscera. The weight of fragments was estimated by reference to
      an X-rayed scale of fragments of known weight. The average total weight of metal
      fragments, likely to be mostly lead, was estimated to be 1.2g for the carcass and
      0.2g for the viscera. The total estimated weight of fragments in the entire
      carcass was estimated to be 17% of the weight of the bullet. Most fragments were
      small in size, with those in the viscera being smaller than those in the carcass.
      Metal fragments in the viscera were sufficiently small that at least 80% of the
      metallic bullet-derived lead in the viscera would be expected to be ingested by
      scavenging birds, such as buzzards and eagles, which feed on them.

PMID- 20937521
TI  - Decreasing DOC trends in soil solution along the hillslopes at two IM sites in
      southern Sweden--geochemical modeling of organic matter solubility during
      acidification recovery.
AB  - Numerous studies report increased concentrations of dissolved organic carbon
      (DOC) during the last two decades in boreal lakes and streams in Europe and North
      America. Recently, a hypothesis was presented on how various spatial and temporal
      factors affect the DOC dynamics. It was concluded that declining sulphur
      deposition and thereby increased DOC solubility, is the most important driver for
      the long-term DOC concentration trends in surface waters. If this recovery
      hypothesis is correct, the DOC levels should increase both in the soil solution
      as well as in the surrounding surface waters as soil pH rises and the ionic
      strength declines due to the reduced input of SO(4)(2-) ions. In this project a
      geochemical model was set up to calculate the net humic charge and DOC solubility
      trends in soils during the period 1996-2007 at two integrated monitoring sites in
      southern Sweden, showing clear signs of acidification recovery. The Stockholm
      Humic Model was used to investigate whether the observed DOC solubility is
      related to the humic charge and to examine how pH and ionic strength influence
      it. Soil water data from recharge and discharge areas, covering both podzols and
      riparian soils, were used. The model exercise showed that the increased net
      charge following the pH increase was in many cases counteracted by a decreased
      ionic strength, which acted to decrease the net charge and hence the DOC
      solubility. Thus, the recovery from acidification does not necessarily have to
      generate increasing DOC trends in soil solution. Depending on changes in pH,
      ionic strength and soil Al pools, the trends might be positive, negative or
      indifferent. Due to the high hydraulic connectivity with the streams, the
      explanations to the DOC trends in surface waters should be searched for in
      discharge areas and peat lands.

PMID- 20937522
TI  - Persistent organic pollutants and methoxylated PBDEs in harbour porpoises from
      the North Sea from 1990 until 2008: Young wildlife at risk?
AB  - In the European North Sea, harbour porpoises are top predators with relatively
      long life spans and a limited capacity for metabolic biotransformation of
      contaminants compared to some other marine mammal species. As such, they are
      exposed to a mixture of persistent pollutants, such as polychlorinated biphenyls
      (PCBs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), DDT and metabolites (DDXs),
      hexachlorobenzene (HCB) and chlordanes (CHLs) that bioaccumulate in their
      tissues. We report here on the levels of persistent organic pollutants and of the
      naturally-produced methoxylated PBDEs (MeO-PBDEs) in blubber, liver and kidney of
      harbour porpoise neonates (n=3), calves (n=15), juveniles (n=6) and adults (n=4)
      of the southern North Sea. Concentrations of almost all contaminant classes
      decrease slightly in all age groups over the period 1990-2008. For some classes
      (e.g. PCBs and DDXs) however, levels seem to increase little in harbour porpoise
      calves. In all animals, blubber had the highest concentrations, followed by liver
      and kidney, whereas liver and kidney were the preferred tissues for several
      compounds, such as octa- and deca-PCBs. Our data suggest that harbour porpoises
      calves are exposed to higher or comparable concentrations of POPs and of MeO
      PBDEs and somewhat different patterns of selected POPs than adults, potentially
      placing them, and the entire population, at a disproportionate risk for exposure
      related health effects.

PMID- 20937523
TI  - Purification, characterization and in vivo studies of salmon heparin.
AB  - Heparin was purified from gills and intestines from farmed Atlantic salmon (Salmo
      salar). Heparin activity was determined after size exclusion chromatography in
      the molecular weight range from above 8,000 to near 1,500. A specific activity of
      110.1 antifactor Xa units/mg was measured in the less than 3,500 molecular weight
      fraction while 136.8 antifactor Xa units/mg was detected in a 8,000-3,500
      molecular weight fraction. The presence of high affinity salmon heparin was
      demonstrated by using chromatography on antithrombin-Sepharose. Heparin with
      molecular weights lower than 3,500 was found both in high and low affinity
      fractions. NMR-analysis detected N- and O-sulfated oligosaccharides essential for
      heparin activity. The amount of salmon heparin with molecular weight lower than
      8,000 varied from 12% to almost 100%. The factors determining this variation is
      not known, but appears to reside in the fish at the time of slaughter. The in
      vivo effect of salmon heparin was tested in rabbits using dalteparin as control.
      Salmon heparin activity was recovered in plasma samples expressed as antifactor
      Xa activity after intravenous administration. Based on a small number of samples
      and animals, the results indicate that in vivo half-life time of salmon heparin
      was higher than that of dalteparin.

PMID- 20937524
TI  - Vaginal intraepithelial neoplasia (VAIN) after radiation therapy for gynecologic
      malignancies: a clinically recalcitrant entity.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Vaginal dysplasia is associated with prior radiation therapy (RT) for
      gynecologic malignancies. We reviewed our institution's experience with VAIN in
      patients who were treated with radiation therapy for a gynecologic malignancy.
      METHODS: A retrospective review of patients treated for VAIN was performed. All
      cases of patients followed and treated for VAIN after radiation therapy were
      identified (n=10), along with a cohort of patients with VAIN who did not have
      radiation therapy (n=23). RESULTS: Mean follow-up after initial diagnosis of VAIN
      was 37.6 months (range: 12 to 72). Cytologic screening events after diagnosis of
      VAIN (n=105) showed that patients with prior RT were more than twice as likely to
      have recurrent dysplasia (OR 3.625, 95% CI=from 1.454 to 9.0376) after treatment.
      Of patients who recurred, the mean time to first recurrence was 12.3 months in
      cases and 15.3 months in controls, which was not statistically significant
      (p=0.31). Screening practices at our institution ranged from 3 month to 12 month
      intervals. 3 patients in the RT group and 1 patient in the control group
      developed invasive squamous cell cancer of the vagina. CONCLUSIONS: Vaginal
      dysplasia after radiation therapy is more refractory to treatment than dysplasia
      not associated with radiation therapy, more likely to recur after surgical and
      ablative therapy, and may also be more likely to progress to invasive cancer.
      These data support the need for further study to determine the optimal follow-up
      screening interval and whether aggressive surgical or ablative treatment stems
      disease progression in this clinical scenario.

PMID- 20937525
TI  - Aurora-A overexpression and aneuploidy predict poor outcome in serous ovarian
      carcinoma.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Aurora-A is a potential oncogene and therapeutic target in ovarian
      carcinoma. It is involved in mitotic events and overexpression leads to
      centrosome amplification and chromosomal instability. The objective of this study
      was to evaluate the clinical significance of Aurora-A and DNA ploidy in serous
      ovarian carcinoma. METHODS: Serous ovarian carcinomas were analysed for Aurora-A
      protein by immunohistochemistry (n=592), Aurora-A copy number by CISH (n=169),
      Aurora-A mRNA by real-time PCR (n=158) and DNA ploidy by flowcytometry (n=440).
      RESULTS: Overexpression of Aurora-A was found in 27% of the tumors, cytoplasmic
      overexpression in 11% and nuclear in 17%. The cytoplasmic and nuclear
      overexpression were nearly mutually exclusive. Both cytoplasmic and nuclear
      overexpression were associated with shorter survival, high grade, high
      proliferation index and aberrant p53. Interestingly, only cytoplasmic expression
      was associated with aneuploidy and expression of phosphorylated Aurora-A. DNA
      ploidy was associated with poor patient outcome as well as aggressive
      clinicopathological parameters. In multivariate analysis, Aurora-A overexpression
      appeared as an independent prognostic factor for disease-free survival, together
      with grade, stage and ploidy. CONCLUSIONS: Aurora-A protein expression is
      strongly linked with poor patient outcome and aggressive disease characteristics,
      which makes Aurora-A a promising biomarker and a potential therapeutic target in
      ovarian carcinoma. Cytoplasmic and nuclear Aurora-A protein may have different
      functions. DNA aneuploidy is a strong predictor of poor prognosis in serous
      ovarian carcinoma.

PMID- 20937527
TI  - Regeneration of full-thickness abdominal wall defects in rats using collagen
      scaffolds loaded with collagen-binding basic fibroblast growth factor.
AB  - Biomaterials are increasingly used in the repair of tissue defects. The aim of
      the present study was to evaluate a new composite biomaterial for reconstruction
      of a 2 * 2.5 cm full-thickness abdominal wall defect. In this study, the collagen
      membrane was activated with the engineered human basic fibroblast growth factor
      (bFGF). To enhance the binding of bFGF to collagen membranes, a specific peptide
      of collagen-binding domain (CBD) was fused to the N-terminal of bFGF. After
      implantation, little adhesion was caused in collagen/CBD-bFGF, collagen/NAT-bFGF
      and collagen/PBS groups. Moreover, collagen/CBD-bFGF group could effectively
      promote the vascularization at 30 d after surgery and significantly accelerate
      the integration of myofibers into the collagen material at 90 d after surgery
      compared to the other two groups. Due to the replacement of the myofibers in
      materials, the mechanical strength of implanted biomaterials in collagen/CBD-bFGF
      group was also greater than the other two groups at 90 d after surgery. Thus, the
      collagen/CBD-bFGF composite biomaterial was promising for the treatment of full
      thickness abdominal wall defect.

PMID- 20937528
TI  - Cognitive impairment and happiness in old people in low and middle income
      countries: results from the 10/66 study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Recent studies indicate that happiness increases with age, except in
      those with dementia-related diseases. We investigated the relationship between
      cognitive decline and happiness, hypothesising that this relationship is modified
      by social networks and depression. METHOD: The 10/66 study involved cross
      sectional representative surveys of residents aged 65+ in India, China and Latin
      America. 14,769 (98.7%) participants answered the single item happiness measure.
      We used the Community Screening Instrument for Dementia, and the Geriatric Mental
      State to identify depression. RESULTS: 12,150 (82.3%) participants reported they
      were very or fairly happy. Better cognition was associated with greater
      happiness, after controlling for sociodemographic characteristics and physical
      disability (t=3.3, p=0.001). This association was no longer significant after
      controlling for social network type as a main effect (t=1.9, p=0.06) and as an
      interaction term with cognition (t=0.07, p=0.94). People with more cognitive
      impairment were happier if they had "family dependent" rather than "private"
      social networks characterised by minimal social contact (beta=-1.0, p<0.001).
      LIMITATIONS: This is a cross-sectional survey, so we cannot show direction of
      causality. CONCLUSION: Most of the older people reported that they were very or
      fairly happy, and happiness increased with age. Cognitive impairment was not
      associated with unhappiness after controlling for the modifying effect of social
      network type. Unhappiness is therefore not inevitable in those with cognitive
      loss, and supporting social networks are important in maintaining happiness.
      Trials of interventions to strengthen social support in those with cognitive
      impairment are indicated to determine whether this approach promotes happiness.

PMID- 20937526
TI  - A functionalizable reverse thermal gel based on a polyurethane/PEG block
      copolymer.
AB  - Injectable reverse thermal gels have great potentials as biomaterials for tissue
      engineering and drug delivery. However, most existing gels lack functional groups
      that can be modified with biomolecules that can guide cell/material interactions.
      We created an amine-functionalized ABA block copolymer, poly(ethylene glycol)
      poly(serinol hexamethylene urethane), or ESHU. This reverse thermal gel consists
      of a hydrophobic block (B): poly(serinol hexamethylene urethane) and a
      hydrophilic block (A): poly(ethylene glycol). The polymer was characterized by
      GPC, FTIR and (1)H FTNMR. Rheological study demonstrated that ESHU solution in
      phosphate-buffered saline initiated phase transition at 32  degrees C and reached
      maximum elastic modulus at 37  degrees C. The in vitro degradation tests
      performed in PBS and cholesterol esterase solutions revealed that the polymer was
      hydrolyzable and the presence of cholesterol esterase greatly accelerated the
      hydrolysis. The in vitro cytotoxicity tests carried out using baboon smooth
      muscle cells demonstrated that ESHU had good cytocompatibility with cell
      viability indistinguishable from tissue culture treated polystyrene. Subcutaneous
      implantation in rats revealed well tolerated accurate inflammatory response with
      moderate ED-1 positive macrophages in the early stages, which largely resolved 4
      weeks post-implantation. We functionalized ESHU with a hexapeptide, Ile-Lys-Val
      Ala-Val-Ser (IKVAVS), which gelled rapidly at body temperature. We expect this
      new platform of functionalizable reverse thermal gels to provide versatile
      biomaterials in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.

PMID- 20937529
TI  - Association analysis of serotonin and catecholamine system candidate genes in
      obsessive-compulsive disorder in the Chinese population.
AB  - Serotonin and catecholamine system studies provide increasing evidence for the
      importance of genetic factors in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD); we found
      that genetic linkage disequilibrium with OCD existed in the 5-HT2A-receptor
      promoter polymorphism -1438G/A. The results of our research strongly suggested
      that the -1438G/A promoter polymorphism plays a role in the psychopathology of
      OCD.

PMID- 20937530
TI  - Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy.
AB  - Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) is a disease of the central
      nervous system (CNS) with destructive infection of oligodendrocytes by JC virus.
      PML belongs to the opportunistic infections. It is observed in patients with HIV
      infection, lymphoid malignancies, after organ- and stem cell transplantations and
      more recently in the context of modern immune-therapies with monoclonal
      antibodies (mAb) like natalizumab, rituximab, infliximab and efalizumab. The
      natural course of PML is fatal within months. More recently, the Immune
      Reconstitution Inflammatory Syndrome (IRIS) has been observed in patients with
      HIV infection treated with combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) as well as
      patients in whom the PML-inducing immune therapy has been terminated. In PML-IRIS
      the immune system contributes to the elimination of JC virus from the CNS and if
      PML-IRIS emerges, PML can be survived but can lead as well to catastrophic
      outcomes with brain herniation and death. Therefore the management of IRIS
      requires special knowledge in JC virus biology and patient care. JC virus
      infection is possibly involved in a variety of additional neurological conditions
      and cancer. Much will be learned within the next years that could change our view
      on the understanding of JC virus and human disease.

PMID- 20937531
TI  - Immunosuppression alters disease severity in juvenile Batten disease mice.
AB  - Autoantibodies to brain proteins are present in Juvenile Neuronal Ceroid
      Lipofuscinosis (Batten disease) patients and in the Cln3-/- mouse model of this
      disease, suggesting an autoimmune component to pathogenesis. Using genetic or
      pharmaceutical approaches to attenuate this immune response in Cln3-/- mice, we
      demonstrate decreased neuroinflammation, decreased deposition of immunoglobulin G
      in the brain and protection of vulnerable neuron populations. Moreover, immune
      suppression results in a significant improvement in motor performance providing
      for the first plausible therapeutic approach for juvenile Batten disease.

PMID- 20937532
TI  - Influence of leukotriene biosynthesis inhibition on heart rate in patients with
      atrial fibrillation.

PMID- 20937533
TI  - Embolisation of a non-culprit coronary artery complicating thrombus aspiration in
      acute myocardial infarction: the "drag and drop" effect of the thrombus
      aspiration catheter.

PMID- 20937534
TI  - Myocardial dysfunction in the critically ill patient: is it really reversible?

PMID- 20937535
TI  - The role of 3-D CT angiography reconstruction in the diagnosis of vascular
      closure device complications.

PMID- 20937536
TI  - Right ventricular-left ventricular interaction in adults with Tetralogy of
      Fallot: a combined cardiac magnetic resonance and echocardiographic speckle
      tracking study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To assess ventricular dysfunction and ventricular interaction after
      repair of Tetralogy of Fallot (ToF) employing echocardiography speckle-tracking
      and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR). BACKGROUND: Severe pulmonary
      regurgitation and right ventricular (RV) dysfunction are common after repair of
      ToF and may also affect the shape and function of the left ventricle (LV). Recent
      studies suggest that LV dysfunction may be of particular prognostic value.
      METHODS AND RESULTS: Twenty-one consecutive adults with repaired ToF (15 male,
      mean age 38 +/- 11 years, 7 with severe PR) underwent a comprehensive
      echocardiographic exam including speckle-tracking analysis, CMR and
      cardiopulmonary exercise testing. Twenty-one subjects without relevant heart
      disease served as controls. Echocardiographically measured RV diameters
      correlated with RV volumes obtained from CMR (r=0.63; p=0.006). In addition, a
      close correlation was found between RV and LV function on CMR (r=0.74, p=0.002),
      speckle-tracking LV and RV peak longitudinal 2D strain (r=0.66, p=0.003) and
      mitral and tricuspid annular plain systolic excursion (r=0.71, p=0.0003). While
      LV ejection fraction was normal in the majority of patients and not different
      from controls, LV longitudinal strain was significantly reduced in ToF patients (
      16.5 +/- 3.3 vs. -20.5 +/- 2.7%, p=0.0001). CONCLUSION: Left and right
      ventricular function both by CMR and speckle-tracking is interrelated in adults
      with repaired ToF. Despite normal LV ejection fraction, 2D longitudinal strain is
      significantly reduced in ToF patients, suggesting subclinical LV myocardial
      damage. Considering the potential prognostic value of LV dysfunction in ToF, this
      measurement may gain importance and should be included in future outcome studies.

PMID- 20937537
TI  - Simple quantitative analysis of Escherichia coli K-12 internalized in baby
      spinach using Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy.
AB  - Bacterial contamination continues to be a serious concern for food safety.
      Although washing fresh produce helps in reducing pathogen levels, pathogen
      internalization often limits the effectiveness of washing. When pathogens
      internalize in leafy vegetables, the method of identification and quantitative
      measurement would be called into question. This study was aimed to use Fourier
      Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy integrated with an attenuated total
      reflectance kit for quantification of Escherichia coli K-12 internalized in baby
      spinach. The bacteria were inoculated into vascular and intracellar tissues of
      spinach leaves by syringe injection and the distribution of internalized E. coli
      K-12 cells was confirmed under scanning electron microscopy (SEM). FTIR
      measurement following the preparation of bacterial suspension from spinach leaves
      with high speed pulverizing enabled to detect the absorbance peaks in the amide
      II region between 1590 and 1490 cm-1 as a fingerprint for the microbes. It was
      found that the estimated concentrations of E. coli K-12 agreed well with the
      concentrations determined by plate counting with R2 values of 0.98 and 0.97 in
      peptone water and spinach extracts, respectively. The results demonstrated that
      FTIR can identify and quantify E. coli K-12 in baby spinach extracts at a limit
      of detection of approximately 100 CFU/mL in 5 min. The developed method is
      expected to be suitable for the analysis of pathogenic E. coli strains and other
      bacterial species in fresh vegetables.

PMID- 20937538
TI  - Optimization of honey-must preparation and alcoholic fermentation by
      Saccharomyces cerevisiae for mead production.
AB  - Mead fermentation is a time-consuming process, often taking several months to
      complete. Despite of the use of starter cultures several problems still persist
      such as lack of uniformity of the final products, slow or premature fermentation
      arrest and the production of off-flavors by yeast. Thus the aim of this study was
      to optimize mead production through the use of an appropriate honey-must
      formulation to improve yeast performance alcoholic fermentation and thereby
      obtain a high quality product. Honey-must was centrifuged to reduce insoluble
      solids, pasteurized at 65 degrees C for 10 min, and then subjected to different
      conditions: nitrogen supplementation and addition of organic acids. Although the
      addition of diammonium phosphate (DAP) reduced fermentation length, it did not
      guarantee the completeness of the fermentation process, suggesting that other
      factors could account for the reduced yeast activity in honey-must fermentations.
      Sixteen yeast-derived aroma compounds which contribute to the sensorial quality
      of mead were identified and quantified. Global analysis of aromatic profiles
      revealed that the total concentration of aroma compounds in meads was higher in
      those fermentations where DAP was added. A positive correlation between nitrogen
      availability and the levels of ethyl and acetate esters, associated to the fruity
      character of fermented beverages, was observed whereas the presence of potassium
      tartrate and malic acid decreased, in general, their concentration. This study
      provides very useful information that can be used for improving mead quality.

PMID- 20937539
TI  - Hepatitis B virus X protein stimulates IL-6 expression in hepatocytes via a MyD88
      dependent pathway.
AB  - BACKGROUND & AIMS: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) X protein (HBx) has been implicated in
      HBV-associated carcinogenesis by activating signal transduction pathways and
      influencing gene transcription in liver cells. We aimed to investigate the
      underlying mechanisms for HBx-induced production of interleukin-6 (IL-6), one of
      the major inflammatory mediators that stimulate hepatocellular carcinoma
      development. METHODS: HBx was overexpressed in hepatic and hepatoma cell lines
      and IL-6 expression levels were measured by quantitative RT-PCR and ELISA. The
      activation of IRAK-1, ERKs/p38, and NF-kappaB was determined by Western blotting
      using specific anti-phosphoprotein antibodies. The role of MyD88 in these
      processes was analyzed by MyD88 RNAi and expression of an inactive MyD88 mutant.
      RESULTS: Expression of HBx in hepatic and hepatoma cells led to a dramatic
      enhancement of IL-6 synthesis and secretion. Dysfunction of MyD88 in these cells
      prevented the HBx-triggered IL-6 production. HBx expression also activated
      downstream signaling proteins of MyD88 including IRAK-1, ERKs/p38, and NF-kappaB.
      Inactivation of these signaling molecules blocked IL-6 synthesis as well. HBx
      stimulated the expression of MyD88. CONCLUSIONS: In hepatocytes and hepatoma
      cells, HBx stimulates the production of IL-6 in a MyD88-dependent manner,
      indicating that parenchymal liver cells are an additional source of high levels
      of IL-6 in the HBV-infected liver microenvironment. HBx could be involved in HBV
      mediated liver carcinogenesis, through this mechanism of action.

PMID- 20937540
TI  - Assessment of transport of two polyelectrolyte-stabilized zero-valent iron
      nanoparticles in porous media.
AB  - This study investigated the breakthrough patterns of carboxymethyl cellulose- and
      polyacrylic acid-stabilized zero-valent iron (Fe(0)) nanoparticles (NZVI) from
      packed sand columns under a range of pore water velocities of 0.02, 0.2 and 1 cm
      min(-1) and NZVI influent concentrations of 0.1, 0.5 and 3 g L(-1). The NZVI
      effluent relative concentrations of both types of particles decreased with slower
      flow velocities and increasing particle concentrations. PAA-NZVI exhibited slower
      elution from the columns than CMC-NZVI under identical experimental conditions,
      and this is attributed to more rapid aggregation kinetics of PAA-NZVI. The
      elution patterns of PAA-NZVI showed a stronger trend of gradually increasing
      effluent concentrations with flushing of additional pore volumes, especially at
      low flushing velocities and higher influent particle concentrations and this
      phenomenon too can be attributed to increasing aggregate sizes with time which
      caused decreases in the values of the single collector efficiency and thus the
      deposition rate constant. A 7 nm increase in CMC-NZVI aggregate size over 60 min
      was observed using nanoparticle tracking analysis. The reduction in colloidal
      stability due to aggregation of CMC- and PAA-NZVI was verified using
      sedimentation tests, and it was found that PAA-NZVI were less stable than CMC
      NZVI. There were also notable inherent differences in the two NZVI particles. The
      CMC-NZVI were monodisperse with a mean diameter of 5.7 +/- 0.9 nm, whereas PAA
      NZVI had a bimodal particle size distribution with a small sub-population of
      particles with mean size of 30 +/- 21 nm and a more abundant population of 4.6 +/
      0.8 nm diameter particles. Furthermore, PAA-NZVI had a lower surface potential.
      These characteristics are also responsible for the different elution patterns CMC
      and PAA-NZVI.

PMID- 20937541
TI  - On the isomerisation of cefozopran in solution.
AB  - In this study, we first described the two configurations of cephalosporins by
      cefozopran, then determined their molecular structure and finally evaluated the
      stability and biological activity of the two configurations. Our results showed
      that cefozopran existed as two different configurations in the aqueous solution
      with acetonitrile. Using mass spectrometry with liquid chromatography, nuclear
      magnetic resonance with liquid chromatography and optical rotation detection
      technology, we determined the spatial structures of both configurations and the
      detailed mechanism for change. By molecular docking and determining their
      antimicrobial activities, we showed that the biological activity of cis-isomer
      was stronger than that of trans-isomer.

PMID- 20937542
TI  - New amino acid esters of salicylanilides active against MDR-TB and other
      microbes.
AB  - Eleven halogenated (S)-2-(phenylcarbamoyl)phenyl 2-acetamido-3-phenylpropanoates
      (3a-3k) were designed and synthesized as potential antimicrobial agents. They
      were evaluated in vitro against some mycobacterial, bacterial and fungal strains.
      These compounds were active against drug-sensitive and atypical mycobacterial
      strains with general MIC values from 0.25 to 16 MUmol/L. The most active
      compounds were (S)-4-chloro-2-(4-(trifluoromethyl)phenylcarbamoyl)phenyl 2
      acetamido-3-phenylpropanoate (3i) and (S)-4-bromo-2-(4
      (trifluoromethyl)phenylcarbamoyl)phenyl 2-acetamido-3-phenylpropanoate (3k) which
      exhibited activity against MDR and XDR-TB strains with MICs from 1 to 2 MUmol/L.
      3k was shown to be less cytotoxic with higher IC50. Some compounds exhibited low
      MICs on Gram-positive bacteria (MICs>=0.98 MUmol/L) and on fungi (MICs>=3.9
      MUmol/L).

PMID- 20937543
TI  - Overestimated serum albumin levels in patients with hip fracture.

PMID- 20937544
TI  - Short-term individual nutritional care as part of routine clinical setting
      improves outcome and quality of life in malnourished medical patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND & AIMS: Strategies to treat malnutrition lack practicability in the
      hospital setting. The present study aimed at developing and evaluating a
      routinely manageable concept for an improved nutritional care of malnourished in
      hospital patients. METHODS: A randomized controlled intervention study was
      conducted. 132 risk patients defined by Nutritional Risk Screening 2002, were
      randomized to individualised nutrition support (intervention group [n = 66]) or
      standard hospital care (control group [n = 66]). Body weight, plasma vitamin
      levels, quality of life, complications, antibiotic therapies, readmissions and
      mortality were assessed. RESULTS: Nutrition interventions led to higher intakes
      (mean [standard deviation]) in energy (1553 [341] kcal vs. 1115 [381] kcal, p <
      0.001) and protein (65.4 [16.4] g vs. 43.9 [17.2] g, p < 0.001). Intervention
      patients (n = 66) kept their body weight in comparison to control patients (n =
      66; 0.0 [2.9] kg vs. -1.4 [3.2] kg, p = 0.008). Positive effects on plasma
      ascorbic acid level (46.7 [26.7] MUmol/l vs. 34.1 [24.2] MUmol/l, p = 0.010), SF
      36 function summary scale (37 [11] % vs. 32 [9] %, p = 0.030), number of
      complications (4/66 vs. 13/66, p = 0.035), antibiotic therapies (1/66 vs. 8/66, p
      = 0.033) and readmissions (17/64 vs. 28/61, p = 0.027) were recorded.
      CONCLUSIONS: Malnourished patients profit from nutrition support regarding
      nutrition status and quality of life. They have fewer complications, need fewer
      antibiotics and are less often re-hospitalised.

PMID- 20937546
TI  - Temperature calibration formula for activated charcoal radon collectors.
AB  - Radon adsorption by activated charcoal collectors such as PicoRad radon detectors
      is known to be largely affected by temperature and relative humidity.
      Quantitative models are, however, still needed for accurate radon estimation in a
      variable environment. Here we introduce a temperature calibration formula based
      on the gas adsorption theory to evaluate the radon concentration in air from the
      average temperature, collection time, and liquid scintillation count rate. On the
      basis of calibration experiments done by using the 25 m3 radon chamber available
      at the National Institute of Radiological Sciences in Japan, we found that the
      radon adsorption efficiency may vary up to a factor of two for temperatures
      typical of indoor conditions. We expect our results to be useful for establishing
      standardized protocols for optimized radon assessment in dwellings and
      workplaces.

PMID- 20937547
TI  - Determining contamination level of heavy metals in road dust from busy traffic
      areas with different characteristics.
AB  - This study identified the levels and sources of heavy metal contamination in road
      dust from busy traffic areas in a typical industrial city in Korea. This study
      compared the total concentrations, as determined by aqua regia digestions and
      atomic absorption spectroscopy, of cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), lead (Pb), zinc
      (Zn) and nickel (Ni) in the road dust from areas with different characteristics
      such as traffic rotaries, downtown areas, circulation roads, and asphalt and
      concrete highways. The contamination levels of the heavy metals in the road dust
      were evaluated using the contamination factor and the degree of contamination.
      The contamination levels of the heavy metals in the road dust were highly
      dependent on traffic volume and atmospheric dispersion from traffic rotaries.
      Industrial emissions and the frequency of brake use and vehicles coming to a
      complete stop were additional factors that affected the contamination levels in
      downtown areas. The concrete highway had higher contamination levels of the heavy
      metals than the asphalt highway. Vehicle speed was also a strong contributing
      factor to the degree of contamination of heavy metals in the road dust from the
      circulation roads and highways.

PMID- 20937548
TI  - Taking a peek into pain, from skin to brain with ENFD and QST.

PMID- 20937549
TI  - Bidirectional immunoregulation of calcineurin inhibitor tacrolimus on FOXP3
      transcription?
AB  - The imbalance between regulatory T cells (Treg) and effector T cells is important
      for maintaining of psoriasis vulgaris. FOXP3 is a master control transcription
      factor for the development and function of Tregs and is critical for
      transcriptional repression. Tacrolimus is effective in treatment of psoriasis
      vulgaris. Data show that tacrolimus has multiple impacts on FOXP3, but the exact
      pharmacological mechanism of tacrolimus on FOXP3 have yet to be elucidated. We
      herein suggest the bidirectional immunoregulation of tacrolimus on FOXP3. High
      concentration of tacrolimus renders the cooperation of NFAT with STAT6 and NF
      kappaB to activate GATA3 transcription. On the contrary, low concentration of
      tacrolimus results in higher nucleus level of NFAT, which directly binds to FOXP3
      enhancer and/or cooperates with Smad3 to activate FOXP3 transcription. Further
      studies using loss of function and over-expression methods are needed to
      determine the detailed molecules involved in this bidirectional immunoregulation
      of tacrolimus on FOXP3.

PMID- 20937550
TI  - The effect of heat shrink treatment and storage temperature on the time of onset
      of "blown pack" spoilage.
AB  - This study determined the effects of (a) the short "heat shrink" treatment
      frequently applied to vacuum packed meats within normal commercial production,
      and (b) chill holding storage temperature, on the subsequent time to onset (TTO)
      of "blown pack" spoilage (BPS). Beef or lamb steaks were inoculated with 103
      CFU/cm2 of spore suspensions of five gas producing clostridia, vacuum packed (VP)
      and treated as follows: no heat, 50 degrees C/15 s, 70 degrees C/10 s or 90
      degrees C/3 s. Samples were stored at -1.5, 1 or 4 degrees C and examined daily
      to determine TTO of BPS. For each strain, pack treatment and storage temperature
      had significant (P<0.05 and P<0.001 respectively) effects on TTO of BPS, i.e. 90
      degrees C/3 s<70 degrees C/10 s<50 degrees C/15 s<="no heat", and 4 degrees C<1
      degrees C<-1.5 degrees C. The study suggested that the meat industry could reduce
      the risks of BPS by avoiding higher temperature (90 degrees C/3 s or 70 degrees
      C/10 s) heat shrinking, and by storing VP meats at lower temperatures (e.g. -1.5
      degrees C).

PMID- 20937551
TI  - CPAP combined with inhaled nitric oxide for treatment of lung hypoplasia and
      persistent foetal circulation due to prolonged PPROM.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Second trimester preterm premature rupture of the membranes (PPROM)
      before 24 weeks of gestation is associated with a high morbidity and mortality
      rate. AIM: To demonstrate the efficacy of early continuous positive airway
      pressure (CPAP) combined with inhaled nitric oxide (iNO) for treatment of preterm
      infants with lung hypoplasia and persistent foetal circulation (PFC) due to very
      early PPROM and prolonged severe oligohydramnios. METHODS: Seven infants with
      prolonged PPROM, lung hypoplasia, respiratory distress and persistent foetal
      circulation were intubated in the delivery room for subsequent surfactant and iNO
      application. As our new treatment strategy was to keep the period of mechanical
      ventilation as short as possible, all infants were switched on nasal CPAP
      combined with iNO within the first 24 hours. RESULTS: Mean gestational age at
      PPROM was 19+6 weeks (range 14+2 to 23+6 weeks) and the average latency period
      between rupture of membranes and delivery was 10+3 weeks (7+3 to 16+4 weeks).
      Infants were born at 30+3 weeks of gestation (28+3 to 33+1 weeks) with an average
      birth weight of 1468g (884 to 2200g). In all neonates CPAP combined with iNO
      reversed PFC and 6 patients stabilised without the need for reintubation and
      mechanical ventilation. One infant had to be reintubated following 12 hours of
      CPAP combined with iNO due to respiratory insufficiency. All seven infants
      survived to discharge. CONCLUSION: CPAP combined with iNO might be a promising
      approach for therapy of preterm infants with lung hypoplasia and persistent
      foetal circulation due to very early PPROM.

PMID- 20937552
TI  - Sleep health and asynchronization.
AB  - Recent surveys in Japan reported that more than half of children interviewed
      complained of daytime sleepiness, approximately one quarter reported insomnia,
      and some complained of both nocturnal insomnia and daytime sleepiness. To explain
      the pathophysiology of this type of sleep disturbance, a novel clinical concept
      of asynchronization has been proposed. Asynchronization involves disturbances in
      various aspects of biological rhythms that normally exhibit circadian
      oscillations. The putative major triggers for asynchronization include a
      combination of nighttime light exposure, which can disturb the biological clock
      and decrease melatonin secretion, and a lack of morning light exposure, which can
      prohibit normal synchronization of the biological clock to a 24-h cycle and
      decrease activity in the serotonergic system. The early phase of asynchronization
      may be caused by inadequate sleep hygiene, is likely to be functional, and to be
      relatively easily resolved by establishing a regular sleep-wakefulness cycle.
      However, without adequate intervention, these disturbances may gradually worsen,
      resulting into the chronic phase. No single symptom appears to be specific for
      the clinical phases, and the chronic phase is defined in terms of the response to
      interventions. The factors causing the transition from the early to chronic phase
      of asynchronization and those producing the difficulties of recovering patients
      with the chronic phase of asynchronization are currently unclear.

PMID- 20937554
TI  - Methodological remarks concerning the recent meta-analysis on p53 codon 72
      polymorphism and colorectal cancer risk.

PMID- 20937556
TI  - LCA of local strategies for energy recovery from waste in England, applied to a
      large municipal flow.
AB  - An intense waste management (WM) planning activity is currently undergoing in
      England to build the infrastructure necessary to treat residual wastes, increase
      recycling levels and the recovery of energy from waste. From the analyses of
      local WM strategic and planning documents we have identified the emerging of
      three different energy recovery strategies: established combustion of residual
      waste; pre-treatment of residual waste and energy recovery from Solid Recovered
      Fuel in a dedicated plant, usually assumed to be a gasifier; pre-treatment of
      residual waste and reliance on the market to accept the 'fuel from waste' so
      produced. Each energy recovery strategy will result in a different solution in
      terms of the technology selected; moreover, on the basis of the favoured
      solution, the total number, scale and location of thermal treatment plants built
      in England will dramatically change. To support the evaluation and comparison of
      these three WM strategy in terms of global environmental impacts, energy recovery
      possibilities and performance with respect to changing 'fuel from waste' market
      conditions, the LCA comparison of eight alternative WM scenarios for a real case
      study dealing with a large flow of municipal wastes was performed with the
      modelling tool WRATE. The large flow of waste modelled allowed to formulate and
      assess realistic alternative WM scenarios and to design infrastructural systems
      which are likely to correspond to those submitted for approval to the local
      authorities. The results show that all alternative scenarios contribute to saving
      abiotic resources and reducing global warming potential. Particularly relevant to
      the current English debate, the performance of a scenario was shown to depend not
      from the thermal treatment technology but from a combination of parameters, among
      which most relevant are the efficiency of energy recovery processes (both
      electricity and heat) and the calorific value of residual waste and pre-treated
      material. The contribution and relative importance of recycling and
      treatment/recovery processes change with the impact category. The lack of
      reprocessing plants in the area of the case study has shown the relevance of
      transport distances for recyclate material in reducing the efficiency of a WM
      system. Highly relevant to the current English WM infrastructural debate, these
      results for the first time highlight the risk of a significant reduction in the
      energy that could be recovered by local WM strategies relying only on the market
      to dispose of the 'fuel from waste' in a non dedicated plant in the case that the
      SRF had to be sent to landfill for lack of treatment capacity.

PMID- 20937555
TI  - Chronic stress and impaired glutamate function elicit a depressive-like phenotype
      and common changes in gene expression in the mouse frontal cortex.
AB  - Major depression might originate from both environmental and genetic risk
      factors. The environmental chronic mild stress (CMS) model mimics some
      environmental factors contributing to human depression and induces anhedonia and
      helplessness. Mice heterozygous for the synaptic vesicle protein (SVP) vesicular
      glutamate transporter 1 (VGLUT1) have been proposed as a genetic model of
      deficient glutamate function linked to depressive-like behaviour. Here, we aimed
      to identify, in these two experimental models, gene expression changes in the
      frontal cortex, common to stress and impaired glutamate function. Both VGLUT1(+/
      ) and CMS mice showed helpless and anhedonic-like behavior. Microarray studies in
      VGLUT1(+/-) mice revealed regulation of genes involved in apoptosis,
      neurogenesis, synaptic transmission, protein metabolic process or learning and
      memory. In addition, RT-PCR studies confirmed gene expression changes in several
      glutamate, GABA, dopamine and serotonin neurotransmitter receptors. On the other
      hand, CMS affected the regulation of 147 transcripts, some of them involved in
      response to stress and oxidoreductase activity. Interestingly, 52 genes were
      similarly regulated in both models. Specifically, a dowregulation in genes that
      promote cell proliferation (Anapc7), cell growth (CsnK1g1), cell survival
      (Hdac3), and inhibition of apoptosis (Dido1) was observed. Genes linked to
      cytoskeleton (Hspg2, Invs), psychiatric disorders (Grin1, MapK12) or an
      antioxidant enzyme (Gpx2) were also downregulated. Moreover, genes that inhibit
      the MAPK pathways (Dusp14), stimulate oxidative metabolism (Eif4a2) and enhance
      glutamate transmission (Rab8b) were upregulated. We suggest that these genes
      could form part of the altered "molecular context" underlying depressive-like
      behaviour in animal models. The clinical relevance of these findings is
      discussed.

PMID- 20937557
TI  - Optimal utilization of waste-to-energy in an LCA perspective.
AB  - Energy production from two types of municipal solid waste was evaluated using
      life cycle assessment (LCA): (1) mixed high calorific waste suitable for
      production of solid recovered fuels (SRF) and (2) source separated organic waste.
      For SRF, co-combustion was compared with mass burn incineration. For organic
      waste, anaerobic digestion (AD) was compared with mass burn incineration. In the
      case of mass burn incineration, incineration with and without energy recovery was
      modelled. Biogas produced from anaerobic digestion was evaluated for use both as
      transportation fuel and for heat and power production. All relevant consequences
      for energy and resource consumptions, emissions to air, water and soil, upstream
      processes and downstream processes were included in the LCA. Energy substitutions
      were considered with respect to two different energy systems: a present-day
      Danish system based on fossil fuels and a potential future system based on 100%
      renewable energy. It was found that mass burn incineration of SRF with energy
      recovery provided savings in all impact categories, but co-combustion was better
      with respect to Global Warming (GW). If all heat from incineration could be
      utilized, however, the two alternatives were comparable for SRF. For organic
      waste, mass burn incineration with energy recovery was preferable over anaerobic
      digestion in most impact categories. Waste composition and flue gas cleaning at
      co-combustion plants were critical for the environmental performance of SRF
      treatment, while the impacts related to utilization of the digestate were
      significant for the outcome of organic waste treatment. The conclusions were
      robust in a present-day as well as in a future energy system. This indicated that
      mass burn incineration with efficient energy recovery is a very environmentally
      competitive solution overall.

PMID- 20937558
TI  - Oncogenic mutations in gastric cancer with microsatellite instability.
AB  - AIM: Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascade and phosphatidylinositol 3
      kinase (PI3K) survival pathways are frequently activated in the progression of
      gastrointestinal malignancies. In this study, we aimed to determine the frequency
      of gene mutations in members of these pathways--Epithelial Growth Factor Receptor
      (EGFR), KRAS, BRAF, PIK3CA and MLK3 in a series of 63 gastric carcinomas with
      high levels of microsatellite instability (MSI). METHODS: Gene mutation analysis
      was performed by PCR amplification followed by direct sequencing. In selected
      tumour cases, EGFR expression was evaluated by immunohistochemistry. Association
      studies between molecular data and clinicopathologic characteristics were
      performed. RESULTS: Mutations in EGFR (3'-untranslated region [UTR] polyA
      repeat), KRAS, PIK3CA and MLK3 genes occurred in 30 (47.6%), 11 (17.5%), 9
      (14.3%) and 2 (3.2%) of the MSI gastric cancer (GC) cases, respectively. No BRAF
      or EGFR hotspot mutations were identified. Overall, mutations in at least one of
      these genes were found in 55.6% (35/63) of gastric carcinomas. From those mutant
      cases 40.0% (14/35) of them had concomitant gene mutations, always involving EGFR
      polyA deletions. Interestingly, we observed significant associations between
      oncogenic mutations and female gender (p = 0.046) old age of diagnosis (p =
      0.001) and intestinal subtype (p = 0.043). CONCLUSION: Our results show that MSI
      gastric carcinoma frequently shows activation of EGFR-MAPK and PI3K pathways.
      Within all alterations found, deletions of the A13 repeats of EGFR were common,
      suggesting this molecular event as an important biomarker for stratification of
      GC patients for treatment with EGFR inhibitors.

PMID- 20937559
TI  - Superimposing the 27 crystal protein/inhibitor complexes of beta-secretase to
      calculate the binding affinities by the linear interaction energy method.
AB  - BACE-1 is an important target for designing therapeutic agents for the treatment
      of Alzheimer's disease. An improved linear interaction energy (LIE) model has
      been developed to calculate the binding free energies of beta-secretase (BACE-1)
      by superimposing the 27 crystal BACE-1/inhibitor complexes to put a diverse set
      of 27 co-crystallized ligands into the binding pocket. These co-crystallized
      conformations of ligands were set as the initial binding conformations for LIE
      simulation. The effects of two protein conformations (i.e., 1W51 and 1FKN), two
      sampling methods (i.e., energy minimization and hybrid Monte Carlo [HMC]), and
      energy terms were studied. Using 1W51 crystal structure and HMC sampling
      technique, the best binding affinity model for the full set of ligands was found
      to have a root-mean-square error of 0.996 kcal/mol.

PMID- 20937560
TI  - Pyrazolo[1',5':1,6]pyrimido[4,5-d]pyridazin-4(3H)-ones as selective human A(1)
      adenosine receptor ligands.
AB  - A series of pyrazolo[1',5':1,6]pyrimido[4,5-d]pyridazin-4(3H)-ones was
      synthesized and tested in radioligand binding assays to determine their
      affinities for the human adenosine A(1), A(2A), A(2B) and A(3) receptors. Results
      indicated that this scaffold is appropriate for adenosine receptor subtype A(1)
      ligands and that the best arranged groups around this scaffold are 3- and 4
      pyridinyl at position 1, benzyl at position 3, hydrogen at position 6 and 3
      thienyl or phenyl at position 9. The most interesting compounds showed K(i) for
      A1 in the nanomolar range and an appreciable selectivity for other receptor
      subtypes.

PMID- 20937561
TI  - Halogenation of 4-hydroxy/amino-3-methoxyphenyl acetamide TRPV1 agonists showed
      enhanced antagonism to capsaicin.
AB  - As an extension of our analysis of the effect of halogenation on thiourea TRPV1
      agonists, we have now modified selected 4-hydroxy(or 4-amino)-3-methoxyphenyl
      acetamide TRPV1 agonists by 5- or 6-halogenation on the aromatic A-region and
      evaluated them for potency for TRPV1 binding and regulation and for their pattern
      of agonism/antagonism (efficacy). Halogenation shifted the functional activity at
      TRPV1 toward antagonism with a greater extent of antagonism as the size of the
      halogen increased (I>Br>Cl), as previously observed for the thiourea series. The
      extent of antagonism was greater for halogenation at the 5-position than at the 6
      position, in contrast to SAR for the thiourea series. In this series, compounds
      55 and 75 showed the most potent antagonism, with K(i) (ant)=2.77 and 2.19nM,
      respectively, on rTRPV1 expressed in Chinese hamster ovary cells. The compounds
      were thus ca. 40-60-fold more potent than 6'-iodononivamide.

PMID- 20937562
TI  - Design, synthesis and inhibitory effect of pentapeptidyl chloromethyl ketones on
      proteinase K.
AB  - The synthesis and proteolytic inhibitor function of new modified pentapeptide
      MeOSuc-AAAPF-CH(2)Cl 6 is described. The efficacy of 6 in inhibiting the
      proteolytic activity of proteinase K at a concentration of 0.10 mM allows a
      signal to be obtained for an exogenous target ('Xeno RNA') at 29 PCR cycles
      (i.e., Ct=29), whereas the control MeOSuc-AAAPV-CH2Cl 1 requires a 7.5-fold
      higher concentration (0.75 mM) to produce the same Ct.

PMID- 20937563
TI  - Neuromyelitis optica-IgG+ optic neuritis associated with celiac disease and
      dysgammaglobulinemia: a role for tacrolimus?
AB  - We present a pediatric case of recurrent optic neuritis, celiac disease, partial
      IgA and IgG3 deficiency in the context of anti-aquaporin-4 auto-immunity and
      familial IgA deficiency with celiac disease. Treatment with tacrolimus was
      successful in preventing disease relapses. This case stresses the relevance of
      central nervous system anti-aquaporin-4 auto-immunity in a broader context of
      immune dysregulation and neuro-immunology.

PMID- 20937564
TI  - 3He lung morphometry technique: accuracy analysis and pulse sequence
      optimization.
AB  - The (3)He lung morphometry technique (Yablonskiy et al., JAP, 2009), based on MRI
      measurements of hyperpolarized gas diffusion in lung airspaces, provides unique
      information on the lung microstructure at the alveolar level. 3D tomographic
      images of standard morphological parameters (mean airspace chord length, lung
      parenchyma surface-to-volume ratio, and the number of alveoli per unit lung
      volume) can be created from a rather short (several seconds) MRI scan. These
      parameters are most commonly used to characterize lung morphometry but were not
      previously available from in vivo studies. A background of the (3)He lung
      morphometry technique is based on a previously proposed model of lung acinar
      airways, treated as cylindrical passages of external radius R covered by alveolar
      sleeves of depth h, and on a theory of gas diffusion in these airways. The
      initial works approximated the acinar airways as very long cylinders, all with
      the same R and h. The present work aims at analyzing effects of realistic acinar
      airway structures, incorporating airway branching, physiological airway lengths,
      a physiological ratio of airway ducts and sacs, and distributions of R and h. By
      means of Monte-Carlo computer simulations, we demonstrate that our technique
      allows rather accurate measurements of geometrical and morphological parameters
      of acinar airways. In particular, the accuracy of determining one of the most
      important physiological parameter of lung parenchyma - surface-to-volume ratio -
      does not exceed several percent. Second, we analyze the effect of the
      susceptibility induced inhomogeneous magnetic field on the parameter estimate and
      demonstrate that this effect is rather negligible at B(0) <= 3T and becomes
      substantial only at higher B(0) Third, we theoretically derive an optimal choice
      of MR pulse sequence parameters, which should be used to acquire a series of
      diffusion-attenuated MR signals, allowing a substantial decrease in the
      acquisition time and improvement in accuracy of the results. It is demonstrated
      that the optimal choice represents three not equidistant b-values: b(1)=0, b(2)~2
      s/cm(2), b(3)~8 s/cm(2).

PMID- 20937565
TI  - Fitting of EPR spectra: the importance of a flexible bandwidth.
AB  - Utilizing a standard spin Hamiltonian for an S=32 spin system, we fit complete X
      band powder EPR spectra of the Cr(oxalate)(3)(3-) anion diluted into
      K(3)[Co(oxalate)(3)].3H(2)O. By using models for the bandshape and bandwidths of
      varying degree of flexibility, we show that the successful outcome of such a
      fitting endeavour very much depends on the used bandshape-bandwidth model. The
      best results are obtained when the bandwidth model incorporates anisotropic
      intrinsic bandwidths in addition to being able to account for inhomogeneous line
      broadening caused by distributions of the spin Hamiltonian parameters.

PMID- 20937566
TI  - Alkaline protease from Bacillus cereus VITSN04: Potential application as a
      dehairing agent.
AB  - The objective of this work is to use protease enzyme as an ecofriendly
      alternative to chemicals in dehairing. An alkaline protease producing bacterium
      was isolated from protein-rich soil sample. The bacterium was identified as
      Bacillus cereus VITSN04 by 16S rRNA gene sequencing method. Growth
      characteristics and protease activity were studied in yeast, malt, beef, nutrient
      broth and soybean casein digest media and the enzyme secretion was found to
      correspond with growth. Maximum protease production was obtained in soybean
      casein digest medium at 16h with the activity of 200.1+/-0.68U/ml and a
      correlation coefficient of 0.965 between growth and enzyme production. The crude
      enzyme was found to have maximum activity at 30 degrees C and pH 8.0. The
      protease was purified by ammonium sulphate precipitation, Sephadex G-50 and G-100
      gel filtration chromatography. The purified protease was homogeneous on non
      denaturing PAGE and its molecular weight was estimated to be 32kDa. The purified
      protease was of the serine type as it was inhibited by phenylmethylsulphonyl
      fluoride. The crude enzyme preparation was found to be effective in dehairing
      goat skins in leather processing.

PMID- 20937567
TI  - Adjunctive lamotrigine XR for primary generalized tonic-clonic seizures in a
      randomized, placebo-controlled study.
AB  - Efficacy and tolerability of once-daily adjunctive lamotrigine extended-release
      (XR) for primary generalized tonic-clonic (PGTC) seizures in epilepsy were
      evaluated. Patients (n = 153) >= 13 years old diagnosed with epilepsy with PGTC
      seizures were randomized to once-daily adjunctive lamotrigine XR or placebo in a
      double-blind, parallel-group trial comprising a baseline phase, a 7-week double
      blind escalation phase, and a 12-week double-blind maintenance phase. Lamotrigine
      XR was more effective than placebo with respect to median percentage reduction
      from baseline in weekly PGTC seizure frequency (primary endpoint-19-week
      treatment phase: 75.4% vs 32.1%, P<0.0001; escalation phase: 61.9% vs 30.6%, P =
      0.0016; maintenance phase: 89.7% vs 33.3%, P<0.0001). Lamotrigine XR was more
      effective than placebo with respect to the percentage of patients with >=50%
      reduction in PGTC seizure frequency. Significant separation from placebo for
      >=50% reduction in PGTC seizures was observed beginning on treatment day 8. The
      most common adverse event was headache (lamotrigine XR 14%, placebo 16%).

PMID- 20937568
TI  - Ketogenic diet treatment in adults with refractory epilepsy.
AB  - The ketogenic diet (KD) is an effective treatment for refractory epilepsy in
      children. It has been little studied in adults. We evaluated the efficacy of,
      safety of, and compliance with adjunctive KD treatment in adults with refractory
      epilepsy in a prospective open-label pilot study. Seizure frequency was evaluated
      for 4 baseline months, 4 months of adjunctive KD treatment with a 3:1
      [fat]:[carbohydrate+protein] weight ratio and 1600 kcal/day, and subsequent
      elective open-ended KD treatment. A 3:1 ratio was used instead of the 4:1 ratio
      employed in children because of greater palatability. Average monthly seizure
      frequency and seizure-free months at baseline were compared with KD months 1-4
      (phase 1) and all KD treatment (phase 2). Diet compliance was evaluated with
      daily urine ketone body and monthly serum beta-hydroxybutyrate levels. Twelve
      subjects were treated for up to 26 months. Three stopped treatment early for
      psychosocial reasons (n=2) or lack of efficacy. Seven of the 12 subjects were
      fully compliant, 4 were partially compliant, and 1 was noncompliant. Mean seizure
      frequency declined by 38.4 and 44.1% for phases 1 and 2, respectively (P=0.04).
      Forty-two percent and 50% of subjects had a >50% reduction during phases 1 and 2,
      respectively. Four of 12 subjects (33%) had a >85% seizure reduction. Twenty
      percent of subject-months were seizure free at baseline versus 56% during both
      study phases (P=0.04). Adverse effects were mild: nausea, vomiting, diarrhea,
      constipation, and weight loss.

PMID- 20937569
TI  - Factors contributing to Korean adolescents' perceptions of stigma with respect to
      epilepsy.
AB  - We assessed knowledge and perceptions of epilepsy held by Korean adolescents in
      the general population, and investigated factors important in adolescents'
      perceptions of stigma with respect to epilepsy. Surveys were distributed to
      students at 22 schools. A total of 1377 students participated. Fewer than half of
      all students (45.1%) reported hearing or reading about epilepsy. Overall,
      students showed a general lack of familiarity with and knowledge of epilepsy.
      Stigma perception scores were significantly higher in boys than in girls (P<0.05)
      and in middle school than in high school (P<0.05) students. We also found that
      stigma perception scores were significantly correlated with both younger age (r=
      0.074, P=0.006) and lower knowledge scores (r=-0.404, P=0.000). Linear regression
      analysis showed that stigma-related perception was associated with lower
      knowledge scores (P<0.001) and middle school (P<0.05). These results indicate a
      need for public education of adolescents in the general population to decrease
      the stigma associated with epilepsy.

PMID- 20937570
TI  - Presynaptic stimulus-release and postsynaptic compensatory changes in mice
      lacking the N-type calcium channel alpha(1B)-subunit.
AB  - N-type (Ca(v)2.2) voltage-dependent calcium channels (VDCC) play an important
      role in presynaptic neurotransmitter release in the autonomic nervous system and
      may be clinically relevant in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. The
      physiological impact of N-type VDCC ablation on cardiac function, stimulus
      release coupling and cardiac autonomic regulation was studied using mice
      deficient in the alpha(1B) subunit of the N-type channel (N-type-/-).The positive
      inotropic effect (increase in +dP/dt) secondary to high frequency field
      stimulation (HFFS), mediated by the sympathetic nervous system, was decreased by
      33 +/- 12.6% in N-type-/- versus 89 +/- 11.4% in Wild-Type (WT)(P<0.01), whereas
      the negative inotropic response (decrease in +dP/dt) following HFFS in the
      presence of propranolol, mediated by the parasympathetic nervous system, was
      similar to that in Wild-type (WT) animals 34 +/- 5.0% and 35 +/- 5.4%,
      respectively. There were no changes in the postsynaptic beta-adrenergic
      responsiveness, beta-adrenoreceptor density or adenylyl cyclase activity. N-type
      /- hearts demonstrated an increased contractile response to alpha(1)
      adrenoreceptor (alpha(1)-ADR) stimulation with 10(-5)M phenylephrine in the
      presence of the beta-blocker propranolol, which might be attributed to an
      increased expression of PLCbeta1. Protein abundance of other signal transducers
      for alpha(1) ADR transduction protein was not changed in the N-type-/- hearts.
      These results suggest that selective impairment of sympathetic inflow does not
      modulate postsynaptic beta-adrenergic responsiveness, but causes increased
      functional response to alpha(1)-adrenergic stimulation.

PMID- 20937572
TI  - Computational analysis of the structural basis of ligand binding to the
      crustacean retinoid X receptor.
AB  - Homodimerization of the retinoid X receptor (RXR) occurs upon binding of ligands
      to the receptor, but little is known about structural mechanisms involved in RXR
      ligand binding. In the present study, binding of known ligands (5
      Hydroxytryptamine, dopamine and naloxone) to the Celuca pugilator RXR was modeled
      computationally using the human RXR-alpha as a homology template. Docking scores
      calculated for these ligands showed reasonably good binding interactions to C.
      pugilator RXR. Furthermore, RXR is the receptor that mediates the different
      activities of neurotransmitters and opioid against naloxone in crustaceans and
      possibly other species. These results indicate that 5-hydroxytryptamine and
      naloxone might have similar functions. These also results suggest a 3-D model of
      C. pugilator RXR that describes the binding of ligands at a single RXR receptor
      binding site and offers further insight into the binding of structurally diverse
      ligands to this receptor. Further, computational studies showed that crustacean
      RXRs might be closer to vertebrate RXR than to insect RXR. The predicted binding
      models for C. pugilator RXR may allow for better design of experimental studies,
      such as site-directed mutagenesis and affinity labeling studies that may yield
      valuable information concerning structure-activity relationship studies of RXR
      and its ligands.

PMID- 20937573
TI  - Intra-lesional steroid for the management of symptomatic Infantile Digital
      Fibromatosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Infantile Digital Fibromatosis (IDF) is a benign, often asymptomatic
      nodular proliferation of fibrous tissue occurring almost exclusively on the
      extremities. Conventional treatment has included radical surgery but this is
      associated with a high level of recurrence. Whilst some authors suggest a
      strictly conservative approach, this is unacceptable when lesions become
      symptomatic from pain, contracture formation or functional deformity METHODS: We
      present a retrospective analysis of 12 symptomatic lesions of which 7 were
      treated with a novel technique of intra-lesional steroid. From 2004-2009, a total
      of ten patients received treatment for symptomatic IDFs. Patients were followed
      up for an average of 5 years 9 months (range 8-131 months). RESULTS:
      Corticosteroid was well tolerated with no significant complications and was
      associated with lower morbidity that compared with surgery. There was no
      significance difference between rate of recurrence (1/7 vs. 5/10) for those
      treated with corticosteroid than compared to those patients who underwent surgery
      (p = 0.3) but the study is underpowered. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first ever
      study to look at the role of intra-lesional steroid in the management of IDF.
      Whilst the majority of asymptomatic Infantile Digital Fibromatoses can be safely
      observed until natural resolution, intra-lesional corticosteroid is a safe and
      well-tolerated alternative to surgery for all symptomatic digital fibromatoses of
      infancy. We suggest it replaces surgery as first-line treatment but look forward
      to a large multicentre trial to allow comparison.

PMID- 20937571
TI  - Phosphoproteomics in cancer.
AB  - Reversible protein phosphorylation serves as a basis for regulating a number of
      cellular processes. Aberrant activation of kinase signaling pathways is commonly
      associated with several cancers. Recent developments in
      phosphoprotein/phosphopeptide enrichment strategies and quantitative mass
      spectrometry have resulted in robust pipelines for high-throughput
      characterization of phosphorylation in a global fashion. Today, it is possible to
      profile site-specific phosphorylation events on thousands of proteins in a single
      experiment. The potential of this approach is already being realized to
      characterize signaling pathways that govern oncogenesis. In addition, chemical
      proteomic strategies have been used to unravel targets of kinase inhibitors,
      which are otherwise difficult to characterize. This review summarizes various
      approaches used for analysis of the phosphoproteome in general, and protein
      kinases in particular, highlighting key cancer phosphoproteomic studies.

PMID- 20937574
TI  - Homogeneous time-resolved fluorescence-based assay to screen for ligands
      targeting the growth hormone secretagogue receptor type 1a.
AB  - The growth hormone secretagogue receptor type 1a (GHS-R1a) belongs to class A G
      protein-coupled receptors (GPCR). This receptor mediates pleiotropic effects of
      ghrelin and represents a promising target for dysfunctions of growth hormone
      secretion and energy homeostasis including obesity. Identification of new
      compounds which bind GHS-R1a is traditionally achieved using radioactive binding
      assays. Here we propose a new fluorescence-based assay, called Tag-lite binding
      assay, based on a fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) process between a
      terbium cryptate covalently attached to a SNAP-tag fused GHS-R1a (SNAP-GHS-R1a)
      and a high-affinity red fluorescent ghrelin ligand. The long fluorescence
      lifetime of the terbium cryptate allows a time-resolved detection of the FRET
      signal. The assay was made compatible with high-throughput screening by using
      prelabeled cells in suspension under a 384-well plate format. K(i) values for a
      panel of 14 compounds displaying agonist, antagonist, or inverse agonist
      properties were determined using both the radioactive and the Tag-lite binding
      assays performed on the same batches of GHS-R1a-expressing cells. Compound
      potencies obtained in the two assays were nicely correlated. This study is the
      first description of a sensitive and reliable nonradioactive binding assay for
      GHS-R1a in a format amenable to high-throughput screening.

PMID- 20937575
TI  - Participating in a community of practice as a prerequisite for becoming a nurse -
      Trajectories as final year nursing students.
AB  - Participating in a community of practice (CoP) is essential for final year
      nursing students. The article describes the opportunities of student nurses to
      participate as members of a CoP, and how these opportunities were exploited. Ten
      students in their final clinical practice were included. Empirical data were
      generated through participant observation and individual interviews, focusing on
      the participants' interaction with the staff and were analysed within a
      phenomenological-hermeneutic framework. The results showed that the students were
      to a greater or lesser extent participatory in the CoP, depending on what both
      the students and the members of the staff did to make participation possible. The
      conclusion is that the students' participation is strengthened by the students
      and nurses showing interest in getting to know each other professionally and
      socially and by the students having the opportunity to contribute their
      knowledge. There must be an awareness of the unfortunate consequence of
      formalisation of learning in practice which can create a distancing learning
      space in the informal learning landscape by drawing students out of active
      participation in community of practice. Depending on the extent to which these
      aspects are present, participation can become an essential factor in the clinical
      phase of nursing education.

PMID- 20937576
TI  - [Post-marketing safety profile of avocado-soybean unsaponifiables].
AB  - AIM: To determine the post-marketing safety profile of avocado-soybean
      unsaponifiables since their commercialization in France until 2008. METHODS: We
      used data provided by French spontaneous reporting system via the network of
      National Pharmacovigilance centres. We analysed all suspected adverse drug
      reactions (ADRs) concerning avocado-soybean unsaponifiables (ASU) reported
      between 1978 and 2008 and notified in the French Pharmacovigilance Database.
      RESULTS: We kept 117 ADRs concerning 117 patients (mean age 65.5 years, 72%
      female). ADRs (35.9%) were "serious" (resulted in hospitalisation or prolonged
      it). No death was reported. In most of cases, causality of ASU was "possible" and
      others drugs were also suspected. The most frequently reported ADRs were
      cutaneous (32.5% of all ADRs, with eczemas or urticaria), hepatic (16.2%, mostly
      hepatocellular injuries) and gastrointestinal (12%, with 9 cases of colitis
      and/or diarrhea) ADRs. In these cases, dechallenge of ASU allowed rapid
      regression of symptoms. Others significant ADRs were coagulation and platelet
      (6.8%), neurological (6%) and metabolic or nutritional (4.3%) disorders.
      DISCUSSION-CONCLUSION: This Pharmacovigilance analysis of ASU notified since
      their commercialisation in France highlights the diversity of ADRs with several
      class-organ involved. Cutaneous, hepatic and gastro-intestinal disorders were the
      most frequently reported ADRs. Since ASU is largely prescribed in France,
      incidence of their ADRs seems to be "very rare" (although we did not take into
      account the part of under-notification). These safety data should be discussed in
      the light of the poor expected clinical benefit of ASU in rheumatology (low
      "Service Medical Rendu") or in stomatology (insufficient "Service Medical
      Rendu").

PMID- 20937577
TI  - Time-varying autoregressive model-based multiple modes particle filtering
      algorithm for respiratory rate extraction from pulse oximeter.
AB  - We present a particle filtering algorithm, which combines both time-invariant
      (TIV) and time-varying autoregressive (TVAR) models for accurate extraction of
      breathing frequencies (BFs) that vary either slowly or suddenly. The algorithm
      sustains its robustness for up to 90 breaths/min (b/m) as well. The proposed
      algorithm automatically detects stationary and nonstationary breathing dynamics
      in order to use the appropriate TIV or TVAR algorithm and then uses a particle
      filter to extract accurate respiratory rates from as low as 6 b/m to as high as
      90 b/m. The results were verified on 18 healthy human subjects (16 for metronome
      and 2 for spontaneous measurements), and the algorithm remained accurate even
      when the respiratory rate suddenly changed by 24 b/m (either increased or
      decreased by this amount). Furthermore, simulation examples show that the
      proposed algorithm remains accurate for SNR ratios as low as -20 dB. We are not
      aware of any other algorithms that are able to provide accurate TV BF over a wide
      range of respiratory rates directly from pulse oximeters.

PMID- 20937578
TI  - Point set registration using Havrda-Charvat-Tsallis entropy measures.
AB  - We introduce a labeled point set registration algorithm based on a family of
      novel information-theoretic measures derived as a generalization of the well
      known Shannon entropy. This generalization, known as the Havrda-Charvat-Tsallis
      entropy, permits a fine-tuning between solution types of varying degrees of
      robustness of the divergence measure between multiple point sets. A variant of
      the traditional free-form deformation approach, known as directly manipulated
      free-form deformation, is used to model the transformation of the registration
      solution. We provide an overview of its open source implementation based on the
      Insight Toolkit of the National Institutes of Health. Characterization of the
      proposed framework includes comparison with other state of the art kernel-based
      methods and demonstration of its utility for lung registration via labeled point
      set representation of lung anatomy.

PMID- 20937580
TI  - On the improvement of neural cryptography using erroneous transmitted information
      with error prediction.
AB  - Neural cryptography deals with the problem of "key exchange" between two neural
      networks using the mutual learning concept. The two networks exchange their
      outputs (in bits) and the key between the two communicating parties is eventually
      represented in the final learned weights, when the two networks are said to be
      synchronized. Security of neural synchronization is put at risk if an attacker is
      capable of synchronizing with any of the two parties during the training process.
      Therefore, diminishing the probability of such a threat improves the reliability
      of exchanging the output bits through a public channel. The synchronization with
      feedback algorithm is one of the existing algorithms that enhances the security
      of neural cryptography. This paper proposes three new algorithms to enhance the
      mutual learning process. They mainly depend on disrupting the attacker confidence
      in the exchanged outputs and input patterns during training. The first algorithm
      is called "Do not Trust My Partner" (DTMP), which relies on one party sending
      erroneous output bits, with the other party being capable of predicting and
      correcting this error. The second algorithm is called "Synchronization with
      Common Secret Feedback" (SCSFB), where inputs are kept partially secret and the
      attacker has to train its network on input patterns that are different from the
      training sets used by the communicating parties. The third algorithm is a hybrid
      technique combining the features of the DTMP and SCSFB. The proposed approaches
      are shown to outperform the synchronization with feedback algorithm in the time
      needed for the parties to synchronize.

PMID- 20937579
TI  - Compressed-sensing MRI with random encoding.
AB  - Compressed sensing (CS) has the potential to reduce magnetic resonance (MR) data
      acquisition time. In order for CS-based imaging schemes to be effective, the
      signal of interest should be sparse or compressible in a known representation,
      and the measurement scheme should have good mathematical properties with respect
      to this representation. While MR images are often compressible, the second
      requirement is often only weakly satisfied with respect to commonly used Fourier
      encoding schemes. This paper investigates the use of random encoding for CS-MRI,
      in an effort to emulate the "universal" encoding schemes suggested by the
      theoretical CS literature. This random encoding is achieved experimentally with
      tailored spatially-selective radio-frequency (RF) pulses. Both simulation and
      experimental studies were conducted to investigate the imaging properties of this
      new scheme with respect to Fourier schemes. Results indicate that random encoding
      has the potential to outperform conventional encoding in certain scenarios.
      However, our study also indicates that random encoding fails to satisfy
      theoretical sufficient conditions for stable and accurate CS reconstruction in
      many scenarios of interest. Therefore, there is still no general theoretical
      performance guarantee for CS-MRI, with or without random encoding, and CS-based
      methods should be developed and validated carefully in the context of specific
      applications.

PMID- 20937581
TI  - Decoding stimulus-reward pairing from local field potentials recorded from monkey
      visual cortex.
AB  - Single-trial decoding of brain recordings is a real challenge, since it pushes
      the signal-to-noise ratio issue to the limit. In this paper, we concentrate on
      the single-trial decoding of stimulus-reward pairing from local field potentials
      (LFPs) recorded chronically in the visual cortical area V4 of monkeys during a
      perceptual conditioning task. We developed a set of physiologically meaningful
      features that can classify and monitor the monkey's training performance. One of
      these features is based on the recently discovered propagation of waves of LFPs
      in the visual cortex. Time-frequency features together with spatial features
      (phase synchrony and wave propagation) yield, after applying a feature selection
      procedure, an exceptionally good single-trial classification performance, even
      when using a linear classifier.

PMID- 20937582
TI  - Experimental analysis of mobile-robot teleoperation via shared impedance control.
AB  - In this paper, Internet-based teleoperation of mobile robots for obstacle
      avoidance is analyzed. A shared impedance-control scheme is presented, and the
      results of an experimental study for the evaluation of the effects of different
      teleoperation parameters are reported. In the experimental study, the effects of
      time delay, operator training, image-display alternatives (virtual model versus
      real images), viewpoint, and force-reflection method were studied. For this
      purpose, several hypotheses were formulated and tested through the experiments
      using the introduced quantitative and qualitative measures. A fuzzy force
      reflection controller is also proposed as an alternative force-reflection
      technique, and its performance is compared with a conventional proportional
      derivative-type force-reflection method. The experimental scheme was implemented
      using MATLAB XPC Target and Simulink. The results could serve as guidelines in
      the design of teleoperation systems for obstacle avoidance and could also provide
      directions for further investigations.

PMID- 20937583
TI  - Statistical inference for assessing functional connectivity of neuronal ensembles
      with sparse spiking data.
AB  - The ability to accurately infer functional connectivity between ensemble neurons
      using experimentally acquired spike train data is currently an important research
      objective in computational neuroscience. Point process generalized linear models
      and maximum likelihood estimation have been proposed as effective methods for the
      identification of spiking dependency between neurons. However, unfavorable
      experimental conditions occasionally results in insufficient data collection due
      to factors such as low neuronal firing rates or brief recording periods, and in
      these cases, the standard maximum likelihood estimate becomes unreliable. The
      present studies compares the performance of different statistical inference
      procedures when applied to the estimation of functional connectivity in neuronal
      assemblies with sparse spiking data. Four inference methods were compared:
      maximum likelihood estimation, penalized maximum likelihood estimation, using
      either l(2) or l(1) regularization, and hierarchical Bayesian estimation based on
      a variational Bayes algorithm. Algorithmic performances were compared using well
      established goodness-of-fit measures in benchmark simulation studies, and the
      hierarchical Bayesian approach performed favorably when compared with the other
      algorithms, and this approach was then successfully applied to real spiking data
      recorded from the cat motor cortex. The identification of spiking dependencies in
      physiologically acquired data was encouraging, since their sparse nature would
      have previously precluded them from successful analysis using traditional
      methods.

PMID- 20937584
TI  - Chondrodermatitis of the auricle in patients with atopic dermatitis.

PMID- 20937585
TI  - Warfarin-induced alopecia after repeated chemotherapy.

PMID- 20937586
TI  - Successful cryotherapy for a cutaneous alternariosis in a renal transplant
      recipient.

PMID- 20937587
TI  - Confluent and reticulated papillomatosis associated with hyperthyroidism.

PMID- 20937588
TI  - Are corticosteroids and immunosuppressors an efficacious treatment for bullous
      lupus erythematosus with systemic manifestations?

PMID- 20937589
TI  - Generalized lichen nitidus successfully treated with narrowband UVB phototherapy.

PMID- 20937590
TI  - [Announcing cancer diagnosis: which communication difficulties from professional
      and from patient's side? Which possible improvements?].
AB  - Announcing a cancer diagnosis, but also a relapse, a progression of the disease,
      or transition towards palliative care constitute particularly difficult
      communication issues for the patient as well as for the clinician, during the
      trajectory of care. The objectives of this article is to present the clinical
      stakes of these situations, to describe the difficulties in establishing a "good"
      doctor-patient relationship, to provide indications or even recommendations on
      the ways to facilitate communication in order to ensure a optimal quality of
      care, responding to patients needs and ensuring the continuity of the care.
      Communication relates to the relation and the information delivered between
      patient and clinician, but also within the medical team. We analyse here the
      essential components of the process of "diagnosis consultation", organised in
      many cancer centers around France. In addition, we present the diverse training
      programs on communication skills that have been developed and tested in the
      setting of oncology, open to all professionals. Its specificity relates to its
      multidisciplinary character; the quality of the doctor-patient communication also
      depends on the quality of the communication and coordination within the team.
      This dimension is the subject of specific attention carried by supportive care
      teams.

PMID- 20937592
TI  - Context-dependent role of angiopoietin-1 inhibition in the suppression of
      angiogenesis and tumor growth: implications for AMG 386, an angiopoietin-1/2
      neutralizing peptibody.
AB  - AMG 386 is an investigational first-in-class peptide-Fc fusion protein
      (peptibody) that inhibits angiogenesis by preventing the interaction of
      angiopoietin-1 (Ang1) and Ang2 with their receptor, Tie2. Although the
      therapeutic value of blocking Ang2 has been shown in several models of
      tumorigenesis and angiogenesis, the potential benefit of Ang1 antagonism is less
      clear. To investigate the consequences of Ang1 neutralization, we have developed
      potent and selective peptibodies that inhibit the interaction between Ang1 and
      its receptor, Tie2. Although selective Ang1 antagonism has no independent effect
      in models of angiogenesis-associated diseases (cancer and diabetic retinopathy),
      it induces ovarian atrophy in normal juvenile rats and inhibits ovarian
      follicular angiogenesis in a hormone-induced ovulation model. Surprisingly, the
      activity of Ang1 inhibitors seems to be unmasked in some disease models when
      combined with Ang2 inhibitors, even in the context of concurrent vascular
      endothelial growth factor inhibition. Dual inhibition of Ang1 and Ang2 using AMG
      386 or a combination of Ang1- and Ang2-selective peptibodies cooperatively
      suppresses tumor xenograft growth and ovarian follicular angiogenesis; however,
      Ang1 inhibition fails to augment the suppressive effect of Ang2 inhibition on
      tumor endothelial cell proliferation, corneal angiogenesis, and oxygen-induced
      retinal angiogenesis. In no case was Ang1 inhibition shown to (a) confer superior
      activity to Ang2 inhibition or dual Ang1/2 inhibition or (b) antagonize the
      efficacy of Ang2 inhibition. These results imply that Ang1 plays a context
      dependent role in promoting postnatal angiogenesis and that dual Ang1/2
      inhibition is superior to selective Ang2 inhibition for suppression of
      angiogenesis in some postnatal settings.

PMID- 20937593
TI  - Curcumin enhances the effect of cisplatin in suppression of head and neck
      squamous cell carcinoma via inhibition of IKKbeta protein of the NFkappaB
      pathway.
AB  - Previous experiments have shown that curcumin or cisplatin treatment suppresses
      growth of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). To study the potential
      cooperative effect of both agents, two HNSCC cell lines were treated with
      curcumin or cisplatin alone or in combination. In vivo studies consisted of
      intravenous tail vein injection of liposomal curcumin, with intraperitoneal
      cisplatin, into nude mice growing xenograft HNSCC tumors. Introduction of
      curcumin and suboptimal concentrations of cisplatin showed a significant
      suppressive effect compared with treatment with either agent alone. Reduced
      expression of cyclin D1, IkappaBalpha, phospho-IkappaBalpha, and IKKbeta occurred
      in cisplatin- and curcumin-treated cell lines. Confocal microscopy showed
      expression of IKKbeta in the nucleus of the cell lines. Chromatin
      immunoprecipitation assay on DNA isolated from IKKbeta immunoprecipitated samples
      showed PCR amplification of interleukin-8 promoter sequences, a binding site of
      NFkappaB, indicating an interaction between IKKbeta and NFkappaB. Curcumin
      inhibited IKKbeta in the cytoplasm and nucleus, leading to reduced NFkappaB
      activity, with no effect on phospho-AKT. In vivo studies showed significant
      growth inhibition of xenograft tumors treated with a combination of liposomal
      curcumin and cisplatin. The suppressive effect of curcumin was mediated through
      inhibition of cytoplasmic and nuclear IKKbeta, resulting in inhibition of
      NFkappaB activity. Cisplatin treatment led to cellular senescence, indicating an
      effect mediated by p53 activation. The mechanisms of the two agents through
      different growth signaling pathways suggest potential for the clinical use of
      subtherapeutic doses of cisplatin in combination with curcumin, which will allow
      effective suppression of tumor growth while minimizing the toxic side effects of
      cisplatin.

PMID- 20937594
TI  - Maytansine and cellular metabolites of antibody-maytansinoid conjugates strongly
      suppress microtubule dynamics by binding to microtubules.
AB  - Maytansine is a potent microtubule-targeted compound that induces mitotic arrest
      and kills tumor cells at subnanomolar concentrations. However, its side effects
      and lack of tumor specificity have prevented successful clinical use. Recently,
      antibody-conjugated maytansine derivatives have been developed to overcome these
      drawbacks. Several conjugates show promising early clinical results. We evaluated
      the effects on microtubule polymerization and dynamic instability of maytansine
      and two cellular metabolites (S-methyl-DM1 and S-methyl-DM4) of antibody
      maytansinoid conjugates that are potent in cells at picomolar levels and that are
      active in tumor-bearing mice. Although S-methyl-DM1 and S-methyl-DM4 inhibited
      polymerization more weakly than maytansine, at 100 nmol/L they suppressed dynamic
      instability more strongly than maytansine (by 84% and 73%, respectively, compared
      with 45% for maytansine). However, unlike maytansine, S-methyl-DM1 and S-methyl
      DM4 induced tubulin aggregates detectable by electron microscopy at
      concentrations >=2 MUmol/L, with S-methyl-DM4 showing more extensive aggregate
      formation than S-methyl-DM1. Both maytansine and S-methyl-DM1 bound to tubulin
      with similar K(D) values (0.86 +/- 0.2 and 0.93 +/- 0.2 MUmol/L, respectively).
      Tritiated S-methyl-DM1 bound to 37 high-affinity sites per microtubule (K(D), 0.1
      +/- 0.05 MUmol/L). Thus, S-methyl-DM1 binds to high-affinity sites on
      microtubules 20-fold more strongly than vinblastine. The high-affinity binding is
      likely at microtubule ends and is responsible for suppression of microtubule
      dynamic instability. Also, at higher concentrations, S-methyl-DM1 showed low
      affinity binding either to a larger number of sites on microtubules or to
      sedimentable tubulin aggregates. Overall, the maytansine derivatives that result
      from cellular metabolism of the antibody conjugates are themselves potent
      microtubule poisons, interacting with microtubules as effectively as or more
      effectively than the parent molecule.

PMID- 20937595
TI  - Maytansinoid-antibody conjugates induce mitotic arrest by suppressing microtubule
      dynamic instability.
AB  - Maytansine and its analogues (maytansinoids) are potent microtubule-targeted
      compounds that inhibit proliferation of cells at mitosis. Antibody-maytansinoid
      conjugates consisting of maytansinoids (DM1 and DM4) attached to tumor-specific
      antibodies have shown promising clinical results. To determine the mechanism by
      which the antibody-DM1 conjugates inhibit cell proliferation, we examined the
      effects of the cleavable anti-EpCAM-SPP-DM1 and uncleavable anti-EpCAM-SMCC-DM1
      conjugates on MCF7 human breast tumor cells. We also examined the effects of the
      free maytansinoids, maytansine and S-methyl DM1 (a version of DM1 that is stable
      in cell culture medium), for comparison. Both the conjugates and free
      maytansinoids potently inhibited MCF7 cell proliferation at nanomolar and
      subnanomolar concentrations, respectively, by arresting the cells in mitotic
      prometaphase/metaphase. Arrest occurred in concert with the internalization and
      intracellular processing of both conjugates under conditions that induced
      abnormal spindle organization and suppressed microtubule dynamic instability.
      Microtubule depolymerization occurred only at significantly higher drug
      concentrations. The results indicate that free maytansinoids, antibody
      maytansinoid conjugates, and their metabolites exert their potent antimitotic
      effects through a common mechanism involving suppression of microtubule dynamic
      instability.

PMID- 20937596
TI  - Pre-calculated protein structure alignments at the RCSB PDB website.
AB  - SUMMARY: With the continuous growth of the RCSB Protein Data Bank (PDB),
      providing an up-to-date systematic structure comparison of all protein structures
      poses an ever growing challenge. Here, we present a comparison tool for
      calculating both 1D protein sequence and 3D protein structure alignments. This
      tool supports various applications at the RCSB PDB website. First, a structure
      alignment web service calculates pairwise alignments. Second, a stand-alone
      application runs alignments locally and visualizes the results. Third, pre
      calculated 3D structure comparisons for the whole PDB are provided and updated on
      a weekly basis. These three applications allow users to discover novel
      relationships between proteins available either at the RCSB PDB or provided by
      the user. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION: A web user interface is available at
      http://www.rcsb.org/pdb/workbench/workbench.do. The source code is available
      under the LGPL license from http://www.biojava.org. A source bundle, prepared for
      local execution, is available from http://source.rcsb.org CONTACT:
      andreas@sdsc.edu; pbourne@ucsd.edu.

PMID- 20937597
TI  - A classification model for G-to-A hypermutation in hepatitis B virus ultra-deep
      pyrosequencing reads.
AB  - MOTIVATION: G -> A hypermutation is an innate antiviral defense mechanism,
      mediated by host enzymes, which leads to the mutational impairment of viruses.
      Sensitive and specific identification of host-mediated G -> A hypermutation is a
      novel sequence analysis challenge, particularly for viral deep sequencing
      studies. For example, two of the most common hepatitis B virus (HBV) reverse
      transcriptase (RT) drug-resistance mutations, A181T and M204I, arise from G -> A
      changes and are routinely detected as low-abundance variants in nearly all HBV
      deep sequencing samples. RESULTS: We developed a classification model using
      measures of G -> A excess and predicted indicators of lethal mutation and applied
      this model to 325 920 unique deep sequencing reads from plasma virus samples from
      45 drug treatment-naive HBV-infected individuals. The 2.9% of sequence reads that
      were classified as hypermutated by our model included most of the reads with
      A181T and/or M204I, indicating the usefulness of this model for distinguishing
      viral adaptive changes from host-mediated viral editing. AVAILABILITY: Source
      code and sequence data are available at
      http://hivdb.stanford.edu/pages/resources.html. CONTACT:
      ereuman@stanfordalumni.org SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Supplementary data are
      available at Bioinformatics online.

PMID- 20937598
TI  - Switching to volumetric left atrial measurements: impact on routine
      echocardiographic practice.
AB  - AIMS: To define the change in the prevalence of reported left atrial enlargement
      (LAE) brought by using volumetric rather than linear measurements and to detect
      whether individuals with LAE that would have been missed by linear measurements
      represent a distinct subgroup of patients. METHODS AND RESULTS: Left atrial (LA)
      linear dimensions and volumes were obtained and correlated with clinical and
      echocardiographical variables in 168 consecutive patients (age: 69 +/- 10 years)
      undergoing routine echocardiographic studies. LAE was diagnosed in 109 out of 168
      patients (65%) by volume criteria as opposed to 68 out of 168 patients (40%) by
      linear dimension criteria, resulting in a 'missing rate' of 37% for the latter.
      Patients with LAE diagnosed by volume but not by diameter measurements had a
      lower left ventricular mass index (LVMI). CONCLUSION: Adopting volume
      measurements for the LA may result in almost 40% increase in the number of
      patients reported as having LAE. The lower LVMI found in these patients suggests
      that volume-based measurements are more sensitive and detect LAE at an earlier
      stage than diameter-based measurements, although the prognostic and management
      impact of this finding remains to be established.

PMID- 20937599
TI  - Tri-leaflet mitral valve in combination with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

PMID- 20937600
TI  - Clinical features and prognosis of a unilateral fibroadenoma of the breast in a
      16-month-old female.
AB  - Fibroadenoma of the breast is a common benign disease, occurring mainly in
      females younger than 30 years of age. Infant fibroadenoma is extremely rare.
      Here, we report on a 16-month-old female with a 6 month history of unilateral
      progressive breast enlargement. Upon clinical evaluation, a palpable mass was
      observed in the upper and outer quarter of the right breast. The single tumor was
      solid and well circumscribed. Various clinical examinations were performed,
      including determination of hormone levels, ultrasound, mammography, magnetic
      resonance imaging, as well as the collection of a fine needle aspiration. The
      results showed that the sex hormones were present at normal levels. The size of
      the tumor was approximately 3 * 3 * 3 cm. Enlarged lymph nodes were not detected
      in the axillary region or any other regions. The tumor was removed surgically and
      fibroadenoma was diagnosed post-operatively. The patient was followed up for 38
      months and no tumor recurrence was observed.

PMID- 20937601
TI  - Phase I study of topotecan and cisplatin in patients with small cell lung cancer.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: A single-agent topotecan has an indication for the treatment of small
      cell lung cancer in Japan. Previous studies demonstrated that topotecan combined
      with a platinum agent could provide additional antitumor efficacy. This study was
      to find the recommended dose of topotecan in combination with cisplatin and
      preferred administration sequence in untreated patients with extensive disease
      small cell lung cancer for Phase II study. METHODS: Patients received topotecan
      as a 30 min infusion for 5 days in escalating doses (starting at 0.5
      mg/m(2)/day), and cisplatin at a fixed dose of 60 mg/m(2), 3 weeks cycle. This
      study employed the following stages: cisplatin was given before topotecan on day
      1 to previously treated patients (Stage 1). After the maximum-tolerated dose
      level was achieved, the same schedule was applied for untreated patients (Stage
      2). Subsequently, cisplatin was given after topotecan on day 5 to untreated
      patients (Stage 3). The recommended doses of cisplatin on day 1 and 5 schedules
      were estimated by considering results obtained from Stages 2 and 3, respectively.
      RESULTS: A total of 34 patients were enrolled. The maximum-tolerated doses in
      Stages 1-3 were estimated at 0.65, 0.65, and 1.4 mg/m(2), respectively. The
      recommended doses of cisplatin on day 1 and 5 schedules in untreated patients
      were determined at 0.65 and 1.0 mg/m(2), respectively. The major toxicity in this
      combination was hematological events. CONCLUSIONS: For treatment-naive patients,
      the combined use of 0.65/60 mg/m(2) topotecan/cisplatin with cisplatin on day 1
      schedule or 1.0/60 mg/m(2) topotecan/cisplatin with cisplatin on day 5 schedule
      is recommended for Phase II study.

PMID- 20937602
TI  - A randomized Phase II/III trial of 3 weekly intraperitoneal versus intravenous
      carboplatin in combination with intravenous weekly dose-dense paclitaxel for
      newly diagnosed ovarian, fallopian tube and primary peritoneal cancer.
AB  - Retrospective studies and a Phase II trial demonstrated the promising efficacy
      and safety of intraperitoneal administration of carboplatin in ovarian, fallopian
      tube and primary peritoneal cancer. A Japanese Gynecologic Oncology Group 3016
      randomized Phase III trial for these cancers showed dose-dense weekly
      administration of paclitaxel significant improvement of progression-free survival
      and overall survival over every 3-week administration. From June 2010, we have
      been conducting a randomized Phase II/III trial of intravenous versus
      intraperitoneal administration of carboplatin every 3 week in combination with
      dose-dense weekly administration of paclitaxel. The purpose of this trial is to
      prove the superiority of intraperitoneal administration of carboplatin over
      intravenous administration. Primary endpoint is progression-free survival and
      secondary endpoints include overall survival, quality of life assessment and cost
      benefit. The first 120 patients will be evaluated for the feasibility of
      intraperitoneal arm and a total of 746 patients will be enrolled in a Phase III
      study.

PMID- 20937603
TI  - Underexposed polar residues and protein stabilization.
AB  - Increasing protein stability is interesting for practical reasons and because it
      tests our understanding of protein energetics. We explore here the feasibility of
      stabilizing proteins by replacing underexposed polar residues by apolar ones of
      similar size and shape. We have compared the stability of wild-type apoflavodoxin
      with that of a few carefully selected mutants carrying Y -> F, Q -> L, T -> V or
      K -> M replacements. Although a clear inverse correlation between native solvent
      exposures of replaced polar residues and stability of mutants is observed, most
      mutations fail to stabilize the protein. The promising exceptions are the two Q 
      > L mutations tested, which characteristically combine the greatest reduction in
      polar burial with the greatest increase in apolar burial relative to wild type.
      Analysis of published stability data corresponding to a variety of mutant
      proteins confirms that, unlike Y -> F or T -> V replacements, Q -> L mutations
      tend to be stabilizing, and it suggests that N -> L mutations might be
      stabilizing as well. On the other hand, we show that the stability changes
      associated to the apoflavodoxin mutations can be rationalized in terms of
      differential polar and apolar burials upon folding plus a generic destabilizing
      penalty term. Simple equations combining these contributions predict stability
      changes in a large data set of 113 mutants (Y -> F, Q -> L or T -> V) similarly
      well as more complex algorithms available on the Internet.

PMID- 20937604
TI  - Broker genes in human disease.
AB  - Genes that underlie human disease are important subjects of systems biology
      research. In the present study, we demonstrate that Mendelian and complex disease
      genes have distinct and consistent protein-protein interaction (PPI) properties.
      We show that five different network properties can be reduced to two independent
      metrics when applied to the human PPI network. These two metrics largely coincide
      with the degree (number of connections) and the clustering coefficient (the
      number of connections among the neighbors of a particular protein). We
      demonstrate that disease genes have simultaneously unusually high degree and
      unusually low clustering coefficient. Such genes can be described as brokers in
      that they connect many proteins that would not be connected otherwise. We show
      that these results are robust to the effect of gene age and inspection bias
      variation. Notably, genes identified in genome-wide association study (GWAS) have
      network patterns that are almost indistinguishable from the network patterns of
      nondisease genes and significantly different from the network patterns of complex
      disease genes identified through non-GWAS means. This suggests either that GWAS
      focused on a distinct set of diseases associated with an unusual set of genes or
      that mapping of GWAS-identified single nucleotide polymorphisms onto the causally
      affected neighboring genes is error prone.

PMID- 20937605
TI  - Triptan persistency among newly initiated users in a pharmacy claims database.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Our study was conducted to describe prescription refill patterns among
      patients newly treated with triptans. BACKGROUND: Although triptans are
      efficacious in treating migraine headache, the persistency of triptan use among
      newly initiated users has not been well described. METHODS: From a US pharmacy
      claims database, we identified patients receiving new triptan monotherapy
      prescriptions from 2001 to 2005. Prescription refill information was gathered for
      two years for each patient. Persistency was defined as sustained refills of the
      index triptan prescription, regardless of duration between refills. RESULTS: Of
      40,892 patients receiving a new triptan prescription, 53.8% (N = 22031) did not
      persistently refill their index triptan. Of these, 25.5% discontinued
      prescription migraine therapy, 7.4% switched to a different triptan, and 67.1%
      switched to a non-triptan migraine medication at the time of their first refill.
      Only 46.2% of patients received at least one persistent refill. CONCLUSIONS:
      Migraine patients were more likely to discontinue their triptan after their index
      prescription than at any other time in their prescription refill history. The
      majority of patients did not persistently refill triptans, but filled
      prescriptions for non-specific migraine therapies such as opioids and non
      steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Reasons for triptan discontinuation warrant
      further investigation.

PMID- 20937606
TI  - Sustained pain freedom and no adverse events as an endpoint in clinical trials of
      acute migraine treatments: application to patient-level data from a trial of the
      CGRP receptor antagonist, telcagepant, and zolmitriptan.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Endpoints used to evaluate the efficacy of acute anti-migraine drugs
      do not measure the tolerability. Sustained pain-free response with no adverse
      events has been recommended as a composite endpoint which measures the efficacy
      and tolerability attributes that patients desire. METHODS: The aim of this study
      was to evaluate new composite efficacy-plus-tolerability endpoints based on a
      post-hoc analysis of patient-level data from a previous randomized, placebo
      controlled trial of the calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) receptor
      antagonist, telcagepant, and zolmitriptan in the acute treatment of migraine.
      Endpoints were 2-24-hour sustained pain freedom and no adverse events from 0-24
      hours (SPF24NAE), 2-24 hour sustained pain relief and no adverse events from 0-24
      hours (SPR24NAE), pain freedom at 2 hours and no adverse events from 0-24 hours
      (PF2NAE), and pain relief at 2 hours and no adverse events from 0-24 hours
      (PR2NAE). RESULTS: Compared with placebo, both telcagepant 300 mg and 150 mg
      achieved nominal superiority (p values <.05) for SPF24NAE, SPR24NAE, PF2NAE and
      PR2NAE. Zolmitriptan 5 mg showed nominal superiority versus placebo for SPF24NAE,
      SPR24NAE and PF2NAE, but not PR2NAE. Telcagepant 300 mg showed nominal
      superiority versus zolmitriptan for SPF24NAE, SPR24NA and PR2NAE. CONCLUSION:
      Composite efficacy-plus-tolerability endpoints may be useful for facilitating
      comparisons between treatments.

PMID- 20937607
TI  - Cerebrospinal fluid phospholipase C activity increases in migraine.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Adrenaline, serotonin, cannabinoid and estrogen receptors are
      involved in migraine pathophysiology. The signaling of these receptors change
      phosphatidylcholine-specific phospholipase C (PC-PLC) activity, but there have
      been no reported PC-PLC studies in migraine. METHODS: We identified PC-PLC
      activity in blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), and quantified it in samples
      from ictal and interictal migraineurs without aura and healthy controls. RESULTS:
      Pre-incubation with a specific PC-PLC inhibitor, D609, inhibited enzyme activity
      (p < .0001) and confirms its presence in CSF. PC-PLC activity was higher in the
      CSF from ictal migraineurs compared to controls (mean relative fluorescence unit
      [RFU]/ug/min [standard deviation, SD] 13.1 [3.07] vs. 9.3 [1.97]; p = .002) and,
      in a paired analysis, in migraineurs during ictal compared to interictal states
      (11.7 [1.6] vs. 7.9 [1.5]; p = .02). CSF PC-PLC activity in the ictal state
      correlated negatively with migraine frequency (r = -0.82). Plasma PC-PLC activity
      was 250-300 times less than in CSF and did not increase in migraine, implicating
      the brain as the source of the CSF enzyme changes. CONCLUSION: This is the first
      report of PC-PLC activity in CSF and of its alteration in migraine. We propose
      that these PC-PLC changes in CSF reflect the overall receptor fluctuations in
      migraine.

PMID- 20937608
TI  - MicroRNA gene regulation cascades during early stages of plant development.
AB  - MicroRNAs (miRNAs) regulate various developmental programs of plants. This review
      focuses on miRNA involvement in early events of plant development, such as seed
      germination, seedling development and the juvenile to adult phase transition.
      miR159 and miR160 are involved in the regulation of seed germination through
      their effects on the sensitivity of seeds to ABA. miR156 and miR172 play critical
      roles in the emergence of vegetative leaves at post-germinative stages, which is
      important for the transition to autotrophic growth. The phase transition from the
      juvenile to adult stage in both monocots and dicots is also regulated by miR156
      and miR172. In these early developmental processes, there are miRNA gene
      regulation cascades where the miR156 pathway acts upstream of the miR172 pathway.
      Moreover, targets of miR156 and miR172 exert positive feedback on the expression
      of MIR genes that suppress themselves. The early events of plant development
      appear to be controlled by complex mechanisms involving sequential expression of
      different miRNA pathways and feedback loops among miRNAs and their target genes.

PMID- 20937609
TI  - Differential DNA rearrangements of plastid genes, psbA and psbD, in two species
      of the dinoflagellate Alexandrium.
AB  - Plastomes of the peridinin-containing dinoflagellates are composed of a limited
      number of genes, which are carried individually on small circular molecules,
      termed 'minicircles'. Although the prevalent plastid chromosome of most algae and
      plants has only a single copy of each gene, our previous study showed that low
      copy numbers of multiple variants of the gene psbA co-exist with the 'ordinary'
      gene encoding the D1 protein in minicircles of Alexandrium tamarense. Although
      none of the psbA variants encoded the entire protein, they persisted in culture.
      In this study, we compared the distribution and structure of psbA and psbD
      variants in two species of Alexandrium to characterize DNA rearrangement within
      these genes. In addition to four previously reported psbA variants, three psbD
      variants were found in A. tamarense minicircles. The ordinary psbA and psbD genes
      also co-existed with variants in another species, A. catenella. The sequences of
      the ordinary genes were virtually identical in the two species. All the variants
      comprised insertion or deletion mutations, with no base substitutions being
      identified. Duplicated parts of the coding sequences were contained in most of
      the insertions. Short direct repeats (4-14 bp) and/or adenine + thymine-rich
      motifs were present in all mutation regions, although the position and/or the
      sequence of each DNA rearrangement was unique to each variant. The results
      indicated that replication-based repeat-mediated recombination was responsible
      for generation of the variants.

PMID- 20937610
TI  - Maize DELLA proteins dwarf plant8 and dwarf plant9 as modulators of plant
      development.
AB  - DELLA proteins are nuclear-localized negative regulators of gibberellin signaling
      found ubiquitously throughout higher plants. Dominant dwarfing mutations of DELLA
      proteins have been primarily responsible for the dramatic increases in harvest
      index of the 'green revolution'. Maize contains two genetic loci encoding DELLA
      proteins, dwarf plant8 (d8) and dwarf plant 9 (d9). The d8 gene and three of its
      dominant dwarfing alleles have been previously characterized at the molecular
      level. Almost 20 years after the initial description of the mutant, this
      investigation represents the first molecular characterization of d9 and its
      gibberellin-insensitive mutant, D9-1. We have molecularly, subcellularly and
      phenotypically characterized the gene products of five maize DELLA alleles in
      transgenic Arabidopsis. In dissecting the molecular differences in D9-1, a
      critical residue for normal DELLA function has been uncovered, corresponding to
      E600 of the D9 protein. The gibberellin-insensitive D9-1 was found to produce
      dwarfing and, notably, earlier flowering in Arabidopsis. Conversely,
      overexpression of the D9-1 allele delayed flowering in transgenic maize, while
      overexpression of the d9 allele led to earlier flowering. These results
      corroborate findings that DELLA proteins are at the crux of many plant
      developmental pathways and suggest differing mechanisms of flowering time control
      by DELLAs in maize and Arabidopsis.

PMID- 20937611
TI  - Inappropriate use of high doses of transdermal fentanyl at admission to a
      palliative care unit.
AB  - A retrospective study was conducted to determine the patterns of strong opioid
      use in patients admitted to a hospice inpatient unit, with special attention to
      the use of the transdermal fentanyl patch. This study was conducted to validate
      or negate the subjective feeling that many patients, treated at admittance with
      the fentanyl patch, received inappropriately high doses compared to patients
      treated with oral or parenteral opioids. The case notes of 1154 patients were
      reviewed and data collected on age, sex, diagnosis, care settings, opioid form
      and dose on referral, maximal dose during admission and opioid use during the
      last 24 hours of their life. At admission opioids had been prescribed for 47% of
      patients. Thirty-two percent of these patients received oral morphine. The median
      dose at admission of those patients was 60 mg (oral morphine equivalent (OME)).
      Thirty-six percent of the patients on opioids were using the fentanyl patch. The
      median dose at admission was triple that of the orally treated patients (median
      180 mg OME). In the 199 patients using transdermal fentanyl at admission, in most
      patients the dose of the patch was gradually diminished and finally stopped in
      58% of patients. Only 83 kept it until the last 24 hours. We would like to draw
      attention to the fact that (sometimes inappropriately) high doses of fentanyl
      were used at admission, probably due to lack of knowledge of the relative
      strength of the opioid involved and to the failure to recognize the phenomenon of
      opioid-induced hyperalgesia. In addition, in our experience the long action of
      the patch can be a disadvantage during the last days and weeks of life, due to
      the difficulty of dose adjustment and the risk for toxicity.

PMID- 20937612
TI  - Non-cancer patients in specialized palliative care in Germany: what are the
      problems?
AB  - To determine the role of non-cancer palliative care in inpatient services in
      Germany, data from the Hospice and Palliative Care Evaluation (HOPE) were
      analysed. Since 1999, a three-month census has been conducted annually in German
      palliative care units. Pooled data from 2002-2005 were tested for differences
      between non-cancer patients (NCs) and cancer patients (Cs). A total of 4182
      patients (NC: 3.5%; C: 96.5%) were documented; functional status (using Eastern
      Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) measures) in NCs was lower compared to Cs (p =
      0.009). NCs suffered more often from dyspnoea (40%; C: 29%; p = 0.004), weakness
      (92,3%; C: 84,5%; p = 0.011) and tiredness (75.4%; C: 66.7%; p = 0.03) and less
      from nausea (17.1%; C: 28.9%; p = 0.002), vomiting (8.2%; C: 19.4%; p = 0.001) or
      loss of appetite (55.5%; C: 67.9%; p = 0.002). There were no differences in pain
      and constipation. Other problems (nursing, psychological) were more frequent for
      NCs, in particular the need for support in the activities of daily life (90.3%;
      C: 72.8%; p < 0.001) and disorientation/confusion (32.1%; C: 17.2%; p < 0.001).
      There were no differences in social problems. NCs are still rare in specialized
      inpatient palliative care institutions in Germany. The palliative care needs in
      patients with non-malignant disease will challenge the health care system as the
      workload for these services will grow over proportionally.

PMID- 20937613
TI  - Variation in the use of palliative radiotherapy at end of life: examining
      demographic, clinical, health service, and geographic factors in a population
      based study.
AB  - Palliative radiotherapy (PRT) can improve quality of life for people dying of
      cancer. Variation in the delivery of PRT by factors unrelated to need may
      indicate that not all patients who may benefit from PRT receive it. In this
      study, 13,494 adults who died of cancer between 2000 and 2005 in Nova Scotia,
      Canada, were linked to radiotherapy records. Multivariate logistic regression was
      used to examine the relationships among demographic, clinical, service, and
      geographic variables, and PRT consultation and treatment. Among the decedents,
      4188 (31.0%) received PRT consultation and 3032 (22.3%) treatment. PRT declined
      with increased travel time and community deprivation. Females, older persons, and
      nursing home residents also had lower PRT rates. Variations were observed by
      cancer site and previous oncology care. Variations in PRT use should be discussed
      with referring physicians, and improved means of access to PRT considered.
      Benchmarks for optimal rates of PRT are needed.

PMID- 20937614
TI  - Mixture interactions in moth olfactory physiology: examining the effects of
      odorant mixture, concentration, distal stimulation, and antennal nerve
      transection on sensillar responses.
AB  - The insect olfactory system is challenged to decipher valid signals from among an
      assortment of chemical cues present in the airborne environment. In the moth,
      Heliothis virescens, males rely upon detection and discrimination of a unique
      blend of components in the female sex pheromone to locate mates. The effect of
      variable odor mixtures was used to examine physiological responses from neurons
      within sensilla on the moth antenna sensitive to female sex pheromone components.
      Increasing concentrations of heliothine sex pheromone components applied in
      concert with the cognate stimulus for each neuronal type resulted in mixture
      suppression of activity, except for one odorant combination where mixture
      enhancement was apparent. Olfactory receptor neuron (ORN) responses were compared
      between moths with intact and transected antennal nerves to determine whether
      specific instances of suppression might be influenced by central mechanisms. Type
      A sensilla showed little variation in response between transected and intact
      preparations; however, recordings from type B sensilla with transected antennal
      nerves exhibited reduced mixture suppression. Testing by parallel stimulation of
      distal antennal segments while recording and stimulating proximal segments
      dismissed the possibility of interneuronal or ephaptic effects upon sensillar
      responses. The results indicate that increasing concentrations of "noncognate"
      odorants in an odor mixture or antennal nerve transection can produce variation
      in the intensity and temporal dynamics of physiological recordings from H.
      virescens ORNs.

PMID- 20937615
TI  - Effects of acute alcohol consumption on the perception of eye gaze direction.
AB  - Alcohol consumption is associated with increases in aggressive behaviour, but the
      mechanisms underlying this relationship are poorly understood. One mechanism by
      which alcohol consumption may influence behaviour is via alterations in the
      processing of social cues such as gaze. We investigated the effects of acute
      alcohol consumption on the perception of gaze, using a task in which participants
      determined whether a stimulus face was looking towards or away from them. Gaze
      direction varied across trials, allowing calculation of a threshold at which
      participants considered gaze to switch from direct to averted. Target faces
      varied in both sex and attractiveness. Thirty social drinkers attended three
      randomized experimental sessions. At each session, participants consumed 0.0, 0.2
      or 0.4 g/kg alcohol, and completed the gaze perception task. A significant three
      way interaction involving target sex, participant sex and alcohol dose indicated
      that alcohol increased the cone of gaze for females viewing male targets (i.e.
      females were biased towards making a direct gaze judgement), but decreased the
      cone of gaze for males viewing male targets. Our data indicate that alcohol
      consumption influences gaze perception, but that these effects vary across sex of
      both stimulus and rater. These effects may have important implications for
      alcohol-related violence.

PMID- 20937616
TI  - Salvia divinorum use and phenomenology: results from an online survey.
AB  - Salvia divinorum is a hallucinogenic plant with ethnopharmacological and
      recreational uses. It differs from classic serotonergic hallucinogens such as LSD
      and psilocin in both phenomenology and potent agonist activity of the active
      component salvinorin A at kappa-opioid receptors. Awareness of S. divinorum has
      grown recently, with both an increase in its public representation and concern
      over its potential harmful effects. This discussion is particularly relevant as
      S. divinorum is legal to use in many countries and regions and easily available
      through online retailers. Drawing upon previous investigations of S. divinorum
      and other hallucinogens, this study surveyed 154 recent users and questioned them
      on their use behaviours, consequences of use and other attitudinal measures.
      Although reporting an extensive substance use history, and considering the
      limitations of online surveys, there was little evidence of dysfunctional S.
      divinorum use, and few reports of troubling adverse consequences of use.
      Furthermore, there was no evidence that users exhibited increased schizotypy.
      Respondents reported that S. divinorum produced mixed hallucinogenic and
      dissociative effects, which lends support to assertions that it
      phenomenologically differs from other hallucinogens with primary serotonergic
      activity. The functions of use changed with greater experiences with the drug,
      and although many respondents reported use of S. divinorum as an alternative to
      illegal drugs it, was apparent that legal proscription would be unlikely to
      dissuade them from use. These results are discussed with reference to
      psychopharmacologically informed public health responses to substance use.

PMID- 20937617
TI  - Monoterpenoid extract of sage (Salvia lavandulaefolia) with cholinesterase
      inhibiting properties improves cognitive performance and mood in healthy adults.
AB  - Extracts of sage (Salvia officinalis/lavandulaefolia) with terpenoid constituents
      have previously been shown to inhibit cholinesterase and improve cognitive
      function. The current study combined an in vitro investigation of the
      cholinesterase inhibitory properties and phytochemical constituents of a S.
      lavandulaefolia essential oil, with a double-blind, placebo-controlled, balanced
      crossover study assessing the effects of a single dose on cognitive performance
      and mood. In this latter investigation 36 healthy participants received capsules
      containing either 50 uL of the essential oil or placebo on separate occasions, 7
      days apart. Cognitive function was assessed using a selection of computerized
      memory and attention tasks and the Cognitive Demand Battery before the treatment
      and 1-h and 4-h post-dose. The essential oil was a potent inhibitor of human
      acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and consisted almost exclusively of monoterpenoids.
      Oral consumption lead to improved performance of secondary memory and attention
      tasks, most notably at the 1-h post-dose testing session, and reduced mental
      fatigue and increased alertness which were more pronounced 4-h post-dose. These
      results extend previous observations of improved cognitive performance and mood
      following AChE inhibitory sage extracts and suggest that the ability of well
      tolerated terpenoid-containing extracts to beneficially modulate cholinergic
      function and cognitive performance deserves further attention.

PMID- 20937618
TI  - Monitoring of leachate quality stored in gas ventilation pipes for evaluating the
      degree of landfill stabilization.
AB  - Monitoring of leachate quality is the essential measure in aftercare for
      evaluating landfill stabilization. Generally, the most common way of leachate
      monitoring is executed at the inlet of the leachate treatment facility. However,
      it does not necessarily reflect the actual state of the site. Thus, methodologies
      which focus on both the discharge, in order to determine when the post-closure
      care of the facility should terminate, and on the degree of waste stabilization
      in the landfill are required. In the present study, monitoring of leachate
      quality stored in 68 gas ventilation pipes was conducted and the degree of waste
      stabilization at each location in the landfill was estimated by a statistical
      approach using the results obtained by monitoring. Leachate characteristics
      varied significantly for each pipe but seemed to reflect the waste condition of
      the nearby location. Correlation among the analysed items was quite high. Namely,
      the difference of leachate quality seemed to be categorized only by the level of
      concentration but not by the specific characteristics. To confirm this, Euclidean
      distances of dissimilarity were calculated by multidimensional scaling using six
      items of leachate quality and temperature. Two factors (thickness of leachate and
      concentration of total organic carbon (TOC) and electric conductivity (EC)) that
      distinguish leachate characteristics appeared. To indicate the degree of
      stabilization by location, the spatial distribution of TOC, total nitrogen (TN),
      inorganic carbon (IC), and chloride ion were estimated by using the ordinary
      Kriging methodology. As the result, it was estimated that the concentration of
      leachate existing within the landfill, especially TN, was higher than the
      completion criteria for leachate in most parts of the investigated area.

PMID- 20937619
TI  - Long-term performance of landfill covers - results of lysimeter test fields in
      Bavaria (Germany).
AB  - A comprehensive study was conducted to examine the performance and possible
      changes in the effectiveness of landfill surface covers. Three different profiles
      of mineral landfill caps were examined. The results of precipitation and flow
      measurements show distinct seasonal differences which are typical for middle
      European climatic conditions. In the case of the simple landfill cap design
      consisting of a thick layer of loamy sand, approximately 100-200 L m(-2) of
      annual seepage into the landfill body occurs during winter season. The three
      layer systems of the two other test fields performed much better. Most of the
      water which percolated through the top soil profile drained sideways in the
      drainage layer. Only 1-3% of precipitation percolated through the sealing layer.
      The long-term effectiveness of the mineral sealing layer depended on the ability
      of the top soil layer to protect it from critical loss of soil water/critical
      increase of suction. In dry summers there was even a loss in soil water content
      at the base of the 2.0 m thick soil cover. The results of this study demonstrate
      the importance of the long-term aspect when assessing the effectiveness of
      landfill covers: The hydraulic conductivity at the time of construction gives
      only an initial (minimum) value. The hydraulic conductivity of the compacted clay
      layer or of the geosynthetic clay liner may increase substantially, if there is
      no long-lasting protection against desiccation (by a thick soil cover or by a
      geomembrane). This has to be taken into account in landfill cover design.

PMID- 20937620
TI  - Sustainability of composting as an alternative waste management option for
      developing countries: a case study of the City of Tshwane.
AB  - Excessive MSW production is a growing management problem for cities in developing
      countries, such as South Africa. This study addresses these challenges with
      particular focus on the City of Tshwane. A major problem in Tshwane is that all
      the MSW generated in the city, including garden waste, is currently being
      landfilled. A waste stream analysis of Tshwane reveals the largest fraction of
      MSW is organic and biodegradable, and therefore suitable for compost production.
      The study proposes that Tshwane will have to address composting the biodegradable
      fraction of the MSW stream. This study attempts to understand the economics of
      composting practices in Tshwane, whether composting in Tshwane is financially
      viable. A comparative study, applying the dome aeration technology on a
      conventional static windrow, was conducted with the objective of investigating
      and proposing alternative improved composting technologies for green waste.
      Although the study focused on Tshwane, it can be argued that the findings could
      be implemented in any other South African municipality, and even implemented in
      other emerging countries.

PMID- 20937621
TI  - Techno-economic evaluation for the improvement of MSW collection in Somaliland
      and Puntland.
AB  - This paper is based on a study, which aim is to provide an overview of the
      current MSW management in the main cities in Somaliland and Puntland and to
      identify strategies to improve the present situation. In particular, this article
      illustrates assessments concerning waste collection and technical solutions
      identified for its improvement, whereas waste treatment and disposal phases will
      be discussed in a further paper. The survey, which has been carried out in close
      collaboration with local administrators and technicians, has shown that MSW
      management is very lacking and needs both structural and operational actions.
      Waste collection in the surveyed cities covers 65% of population at its best,
      whereas it is substantially absent in Gardo and Sheik. The extension of waste
      collection service to the entire population of each city would need investment
      costs varying between 17,500 USD for Sheik and 200,000 USD for Galkayo, whereas
      total operational costs would vary between 1.17 USD/ inh/y in Boroma and 5.73
      USD/inh/y in Garowe. Anyway, technical interventions are necessary to provide a
      larger number of citizens with a regular waste collection service and they should
      be preceded and accompanied by public awareness campaigns on environmental
      protection and capacity building services addressed to local administrators and
      technicians.

PMID- 20937622
TI  - Depression predicts self-reported disease activity in systemic lupus
      erythematosus.
AB  - Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease that can
      significantly impact both physiological and psychological functioning. In order
      to examine the relationship between psychological functioning and disease
      activity in SLE, we administered instruments that collected sociodemographic
      information and measured indices of disease activity and psychosocial functioning
      from 125 adult Hispanic and White patients with SLE. Patients were recruited from
      four healthcare settings in the greater Southern California area. Both cross
      sectional and longitudinal relationships between depression and disease activity
      were evaluated. Cross-sectional findings revealed that depression and ethnicity
      were independently correlated with self-reported disease activity.
      Longitudinally, depression alone predicted self-reported disease activity. These
      data suggest that depression may play a significant role in the health status of
      SLE patients and serve as an important target for clinical intervention.

PMID- 20937623
TI  - Serum procalcitonin does not differentiate between infection and disease flare in
      patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.
AB  - Systemic erythematosus lupus (SLE) is a common autoimmune disease. Disease flares
      may mimic infection with fever, inflammatory syndrome and chills, sometimes
      resulting in a difficult differential diagnosis. Elevated serum procalcitonin
      (PCT) levels have been reported to be predictive of bacterial infections, but
      with conflicting results. The value of serum procalcitonin has not been assessed
      in large series of SLE. We aimed to describe the distribution of PCT levels in
      SLE patients with and without flares, to assess the factors associated with
      increased PCT levels, and to determine the positive and negative predictive
      values of increased PCT for bacterial infection in SLE patients. Hospitalized SLE
      patients were included in a retrospective study. Serum PCT had been assayed, or a
      serum sample had been frozen on admission, before treatment modification. Serum
      PCT, measured by an automated immunofluorometric assay, and SLEDAI were assessed
      at the same time. Some 53 women (median age: 33.7 years, range 16-76) and seven
      men (median age: 52.5 years +/- 19) were included. The median SLEDAI for patients
      with flare (n = 16, 28%) was 2 (range: 0-29). Five patients (8%) had systemic
      infection. Only one patient had increased PCT levels. Men had significantly
      higher PCT levels than women (0.196 +/- 0.23 versus 0.066 +/- 0.03, p < 0.01) and
      a significant correlation was observed between PCT, age, erythrocyte
      sedimentation rate, and C-reactive protein. We conclude that PCT levels were
      within the normal range in infected and non-infected SLE patients and there was
      no ability to differentiate SLE patients with or without bacterial infection.

PMID- 20937624
TI  - Total serum IgE levels in systemic lupus erythematosus and associations with
      childhood onset allergies.
AB  - Elevated serum IgE has been described in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), but
      associations with disease risk and characteristics remain unresolved. We assessed
      total serum IgE levels and atopy (IgE > 100 IU/ml) in recently diagnosed SLE
      patients (n = 228) compared with population controls (n = 293) and in relation to
      disease activity, autoantibodies, clinical features, total immunoglobulins, C
      reactive protein, and allergy history. Multivariate models estimated determinants
      of IgE and atopy in patients and controls, and associations of SLE with allergy
      and atopy. Total IgE levels were higher in patients than controls (median = 42
      vs. 29 IU/ml); 32% of patients and 25% of controls were atopic (p = 0.06). IgE
      levels were significantly higher in non-Whites and patients reporting childhood
      onset (<18 years) asthma and hives, and in controls reporting childhood asthma,
      hay fever, eczema, and adult onset hives. After accounting for racial
      differences, atopy was not associated with SLE, nephritis, or other clinical and
      laboratory parameters. In sum, our findings provide limited evidence of a direct
      association between total serum IgE and SLE overall or with other disease
      characteristics after adjusting for demographic characteristics and allergy
      history. Future studies may want to explore potentially shared risk factors for
      development of allergy, atopy, and SLE.

PMID- 20937625
TI  - The effects of amitrole on thyroglobulin and iodide uptake in FRTL-5 cells.
AB  - Thyroid is a frequent target for endocrine effects of pesticides. Thyroglobulin
      (TG) and iodide uptake are crucial to thyroid hormone synthesis and may be
      targets of thyroid-disrupting chemicals. In our study, thyroid follicular FRTL-5
      cells were treated with amitrole, an inhibitor of the thyroid peroxidase (TPO),
      and the effects on TG and total iodide uptake were observed. The results showed
      that 1-100 mg/L amitrole had no marked effects on FRTL-5 cell proliferation and
      DNA synthesis. However, it significantly increased the transcription of tg gene
      and inhibited the total iodide uptake. And 10-100 mg/L amitrole significantly
      decreased TG in the culture medium. The data suggests amitrole may disrupt the
      expression and secretion of TG and iodide uptake.

PMID- 20937626
TI  - Toxicological aspects of cadmium and occupational health activities to prevent
      workplace exposure in Japan: A narrative review.
AB  - Chemicals are an essential part of modern manufacture processes. Their use must
      be managed with great attention in occupational settings to avoid serious
      detrimental effects to the health of employees. For example, cadmium compounds
      are indispensable for the production of nickel-cadmium rechargeable batteries or
      as chemical stabilizer in plastics. It is an exceptionally toxic heavy metal and
      personnel exposed to cadmium in the workplace meet with potential health risks
      that can lead to the development of kidney, skeletal and respiratory disorders.
      In consequence, proactive and systematical development of occupational hygiene
      and health activities are necessary to reduce chemical exposure to cadmium in the
      workplace. This review describes the known facts of cadmium toxicity, the
      biological effects of cadmium exposure, possible regulation measures to prevent
      occupational cadmium exposure in three industrial health management systems and
      discusses future cooperation programs in these systems, proactive safety
      activities and occupational safety and health management strategies.

PMID- 20937627
TI  - Thyroid functions in paints production workers and the mechanism of oxidative
      antioxidants status.
AB  - Assessment of occupational exposure to paints production chemicals mainly organic
      solvents in production of thyroid dysfunction and the mechanism of oxidative
      antioxidant imbalance. Triiodothyronine (T(3)), thyroxine (T(4)), malondialdehyde
      (MDA), nitric oxide (NO) and total antioxidants was measured in 36 workers and 40
      controls. T(3) and T(4) were elevated in 18.8% and 44.4% of the workers,
      respectively. T(3), T(4), MDA and NO levels were significantly higher in workers
      compared to controls. Total antioxidants was significantly lower in workers than
      in controls. T(3) and T(4) were significantly correlated with duration of
      exposure, while, total antioxidants was inversely correlated. In workers, T(3)
      was significantly correlated with MDA and inversely correlated with total
      antioxidants levels. MDA and NO were significantly higher in workers with
      abnormal T( 4) than normal workers. Workers exposed to organic solvents proved to
      be at risk for hyperthyroidism. Oxidative-antioxidant imbalance was found to have
      a significant role in development of hyperthyroidism with increasing duration of
      exposure.

PMID- 20937628
TI  - Biomarker expression in lung of rabbit with pulmonary fibrosis induced by
      ammonium perchlorate.
AB  - Ammonium perchlorate (AP), an oxidizer, has been used in solid propellants.
      Although AP exposure has been suspected as a risk factor for the development of
      pulmonary fibrosis, data are still inconclusive. To evaluate the pulmonary
      toxicity and the potential pulmonary fibrosis caused by occupational exposure to
      this compound, 25 male rabbits were randomly allocated into five groups to
      receive AP or bleomycin or saline by intratracheal injection. All rabbits were
      sacrificed and total RNA from the lungs was extracted. Expressions of types I and
      III collagens, transforming growth factor-beta(1) (TGF-beta(1)) and tumour
      necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) messenger RNA (mRNA) were measured by reverse
      transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The expressions of type I and
      III collagen mRNA in low, moderate and high dose AP groups were significantly
      higher (p < 0.01 or p < 0.05) than that in the saline group. There was also a
      significant increased level of TGF-beta(1) and TNF-alpha mRNA in the three AP
      groups compared with saline control group (p < 0.01 or p < 0.05). These results
      reveal that AP can increase gene expressions of types I, III collagens, TGF
      beta(1) and TNF-alpha in lung of rabbits exposed to AP. The overexpression of
      these biomarkers were considered as effective indicator linking to the
      development of pulmonary fibrosis and finally demonstrated that AP has potential
      to induce pulmonary fibrosis.

PMID- 20937629
TI  - Ice-COLD-PCR enables rapid amplification and robust enrichment for low-abundance
      unknown DNA mutations.
AB  - Identifying low-abundance mutations within wild-type DNA is important in several
      fields of medicine, including cancer, prenatal diagnosis and infectious diseases.
      However, utilizing the clinical and diagnostic potential of rare mutations is
      limited by sensitivity of the molecular techniques employed, especially when the
      type and position of mutations are unknown. We have developed a novel platform
      that incorporates a synthetic reference sequence within a polymerase chain
      reaction (PCR) reaction, designed to enhance amplification of unknown mutant
      sequences during COLD-PCR (CO-amplification at Lower Denaturation temperature).
      This new platform enables an Improved and Complete Enrichment (ice-COLD-PCR) for
      all mutation types and eliminates shortcomings of previous formats of COLD-PCR.
      We evaluated ice-COLD-PCR enrichment in regions of TP53 in serially diluted
      mutant and wild-type DNA mixtures. Conventional-PCR, COLD-PCR and ice-COLD-PCR
      amplicons were run in parallel and sequenced to determine final mutation
      abundance for a range of mutations representing all possible single base changes.
      Amplification by ice-COLD-PCR enriched all mutation types and allowed
      identification of mutation abundances down to 1%, and 0.1% by Sanger sequencing
      or pyrosequencing, respectively, surpassing the capabilities of other forms of
      PCR. Ice-COLD-PCR will help elucidate the clinical significance of low-abundance
      mutations and our understanding of cancer origin, evolution, recurrence-risk and
      treatment diagnostics.

PMID- 20937630
TI  - T1DBase: update 2011, organization and presentation of large-scale data sets for
      type 1 diabetes research.
AB  - T1DBase (http://www.t1dbase.org) is web platform, which supports the type 1
      diabetes (T1D) community. It integrates genetic, genomic and expression data
      relevant to T1D research across mouse, rat and human and presents this to the
      user as a set of web pages and tools. This update describes the incorporation of
      new data sets, tools and curation efforts as well as a new website design to
      simplify site use. New data sets include curated summary data from four genome
      wide association studies relevant to T1D, HaemAtlas-a data set and tool to query
      gene expression levels in haematopoietic cells and a manually curated table of
      human T1D susceptibility loci, incorporating genetic overlap with other related
      diseases. These developments will continue to support T1D research and allow easy
      access to large and complex T1D relevant data sets.

PMID- 20937631
TI  - Adhesion molecules are promising candidates to establish surrogate markers for
      natalizumab treatment.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Natalizumab is the first monoclonal antibody therapy approved for
      multiple sclerosis (MS). Its therapeutic mechanism is the blockade of the alpha4
      integrin subunit of the adhesion molecule (AM) very late activation antigen-4
      (VLA-4), which leads to an inhibition of immune cell extravasation into the
      central nervous system (CNS). METHODS: We investigated changes in the expression
      levels of unblocked alpha4-integrin and further AM (intercellular adhesion
      molecule-1, -2, -3 (cICAM-1, -2, -3), leukocyte function associated antigen-1
      (LFA-1)) on peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) determined by flow
      cytometry from 25 patients with MS before the first natalizumab infusion and
      before the fourth infusion. In 15 MS patients AM expression was evaluated every 3
      months over 1 year. RESULTS: We found a significant decrease (p < 0.0001) of
      unblocked alpha4-integrin cell surface expression on all investigated PBMC
      subsets (T cells -61.7%, B cells -69.1%, monocytes/macrophages -46.4%) in the
      blood of MS patients after 3 months of natalizumab treatment. Moreover, a
      continuous decrease (p < 0.05) of unblocked alpha4-integrin expression levels was
      seen after 3, 6, 9, and 12 months. As a secondary effect, expression levels of
      the other investigated AM were differentially affected. CONCLUSIONS: Results show
      a sustained decrease of unblocked alpha4-integrin expression not only in all
      patients but also in all investigated PBMC subsets. This probably results in a
      continuously decreasing transmigration of PBMC into the CNS and may explain the
      improved clinical efficacy in the second treatment year and also the increasing
      risk of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy during long-term natalizumab
      therapy. We conclude that AM expression profiles are promising candidates for the
      development of a biomarker system to determine both natalizumab treatment
      response and patients at risk for opportunistic CNS infections.

PMID- 20937632
TI  - Risk of gastric cancer and peptic ulcers in relation to ABO blood type: a cohort
      study.
AB  - Blood group A was found to be associated with gastric cancer in the 1950s.
      Strikingly, for peptic ulcers an increased risk has been shown for blood group O.
      However, previous investigations have generally been poorly conducted and have
      failed to take a unifying approach to these observations. Using the Scandinavian
      Donations and Transfusions (referred to as "SCANDAT") database, the authors
      established a cohort of Swedish and Danish blood donors with known blood type and
      followed these for the occurrence of gastric cancer and peptic ulcers through
      December 31, 2002. Cases were ascertained by using nationwide cancer and hospital
      registers. Altogether, 1,089,022 donors were followed for up to 35 years, during
      which 688 gastric cancer cases and 5,667 peptic ulcer cases accrued. Poisson
      regression analyses confirmed an increased risk of gastric cancer among
      individuals with blood group A (incidence rate ratio = 1.20, 95% confidence
      interval: 1.02, 1.42) and conversely that peptic ulcer risk was instead highest
      among those with blood group O. In this large, population-based cohort study, the
      authors have confirmed the association between blood group A and gastric cancer.
      In addition, they give further support to the notion that individuals with blood
      group O have a higher risk of peptic ulcers than those with other blood groups.

PMID- 20937633
TI  - A practical method for collecting food record data in a prospective cohort study
      of breast cancer survivors.
AB  - Multiple-day diet records can be unsuitable for cohort studies because of high
      administrative and analytical costs. Costs could be reduced if a subsample of
      participants were analyzed in a nested case-control study. However, completed
      records are usually reviewed ("documented") with participants to correct errors
      and omissions before analysis. The authors evaluated the suitability of using
      undocumented 3-day food records in 2 samples of women in a Northern California
      cohort study of breast cancer survivorship (2006-2009). One group of participants
      (n = 130) received an introduction to the food record at enrollment, while
      another (n = 70) received more comprehensive instruction. Food records were
      mailed to participants 6 months later for follow-up and were analyzed as received
      and after phone documentation. Error rates for adequate completion were high in
      the first group but substantially lower among persons receiving instruction;
      prevalences of missing data on serving size and incomplete food descriptions
      changed from 30% to 4% and from 32% to 6%, respectively (P < 0.0001).
      Correlations between nutrient intakes calculated from undocumented and documented
      records were 0.72-0.93 in the first group and were significantly stronger (0.84
      0.99) among persons receiving instruction. Documentation had little effect on
      intraclass correlation coefficients across days, but training increased the
      coefficients for many nutrients. When participants receive proper instruction,
      undocumented food records can be satisfactory for large epidemiologic studies.

PMID- 20937634
TI  - Cigarette smoking, genetic variants in carcinogen-metabolizing enzymes, and
      colorectal cancer risk.
AB  - The risk of colorectal cancer associated with smoking is unclear and may be
      influenced by genetic variation in enzymes that metabolize cigarette carcinogens.
      The authors examined the colorectal cancer risk associated with smoking and 26
      variants in carcinogen metabolism genes in 1,174 colorectal cancer cases and
      1,293 population-based controls recruited in Canada by the Ontario Familial
      Colorectal Cancer Registry from 1997 to 2001. Adjusted odds ratios were
      calculated by multivariable logistic regression. Smoking for >27 years was
      associated with a statistically significant increased colorectal cancer risk
      (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 1.25, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.02, 1.53) in
      all subjects. Colorectal cancer risk associated with smoking was higher in males
      for smoking status, duration, and intensity. The CYP1A1-3801-CC (AOR = 0.47, 95%
      CI: 0.23, 0.94) and CYP2C9-430-CT (AOR = 0.82, 95% CI: 0.68, 0.99) genotypes were
      associated with decreased risk, and the GSTM1-K173N-CG (AOR = 1.99, 95% CI: 1.21,
      3.25) genotype was associated with an increased risk of colorectal cancer.
      Statistical interactions between smoking and genetic variants were assessed by
      comparing logistic regression models with and without a multiplicative
      interaction term. Significant interactions were observed between smoking status
      and SULT1A1-638 (P = 0.02), NAT2-857 (P = 0.01), and CYP1B1-4390 (P = 0.04)
      variants and between smoking duration and NAT1-1088 (P = 0.02), SULT1A1-638 (P =
      0.04), and NAT1-acetylator (P = 0.03) status. These findings support the
      hypothesis that prolonged cigarette smoking is associated with increased risk of
      colorectal cancer and that this risk may be modified by variation in carcinogen
      metabolism genes.

PMID- 20937635
TI  - Use of a web-based questionnaire in the Black Women's Health Study.
AB  - The authors assessed the utility and cost-effectiveness of using a World Wide Web
      based questionnaire in a large prospective cohort study, the Black Women's Health
      Study (BWHS). In 1995, 59,000 African-American women were recruited into the BWHS
      through a paper questionnaire. Follow-up paper questionnaires have been mailed
      every 2 years since then. During the 2003, 2005, and 2007 questionnaire cycles,
      participants were given the option of completing a Web-based questionnaire. The
      cost of developing and processing a returned paper questionnaire was 4 times that
      of a returned Web questionnaire, primarily because of return postage costs and
      greater processing time for paper questionnaires. The proportion of respondents
      who completed a Web questionnaire doubled from 2003 to 2007, from 10.1% to 19.9%,
      but the characteristics of those completing the Web questionnaire remained the
      same. Web response was greatest at younger ages (20.9% of those aged <30 years)
      and declined with age to 3.6% among women aged 60 years or more. Web
      questionnaires were filled out more completely than paper questionnaires,
      regardless of the sensitivity of a question. The use of a Web questionnaire in
      the BWHS resulted in cost savings and more complete responses. Although there are
      advantages to using a Web questionnaire, the use of multiple means of soliciting
      questionnaire responses is still needed.

PMID- 20937636
TI  - Fruit and vegetable intake in relation to risk of breast cancer in the Black
      Women's Health Study.
AB  - The authors prospectively examined the relation of fruit and vegetable intake to
      breast cancer risk among 51,928 women aged 21-69 years at enrollment in 1995 in
      the Black Women's Health Study. Dietary intake was assessed by using a validated
      food frequency questionnaire. Cox proportional hazards models were used to
      estimate incidence rate ratios and 95% confidence intervals, adjusted for breast
      cancer risk factors. During 12 years of follow-up, there were 1,268 incident
      cases of breast cancer. Total fruit, total vegetable, and total fruit and
      vegetable intakes were not significantly associated with overall risk of breast
      cancer. However, total vegetable consumption was associated with a decreased risk
      of estrogen receptor-negative/progesterone receptor-negative breast cancer
      (incidence rate ratio = 0.57, 95% confidence interval: 0.38, 0.85, for >=2
      servings/day relative to <4/week; P(trend) = 0.02). In addition, there was some
      evidence of inverse associations with breast cancer risk overall for cruciferous
      vegetable intake (P(trend) = 0.06) and for carrot intake (P(trend) = 0.02). Study
      findings suggest that frequent consumption of vegetables is inversely associated
      with risk of estrogen receptor-negative/progesterone receptor-negative breast
      cancer, and that specific vegetables may be associated with a decreased risk of
      breast cancer overall.

PMID- 20937637
TI  - Sesquiterpene lactones from Carpesium rosulatum with potential cytotoxicity
      against five human cancer cell lines.
AB  - In search for plant-derived cytotoxicity compound against human cancer cells
      (A549, SK-OV-3, SK-MEL-2, XF498, HCT15), it was found that the chloroform
      extracts obtained from the whole plant of Carpesium rosulatum MlQ. (Compositae)
      exhibited significant cytotoxic activity. Four sesquiterpene lactone, CRC1
      (2alpha, 5-epoxy-5,10-dihydroxy-6-angeloyl-oxy-9beta-isobutyloxy-germacran
      8alpha,12-olide), CRC2 (2alpha,5-epoxy-5,10-dihydroxy-6alpha,9beta-diangeloyloxy
      germacran-8alpha,12-olide), CRC3 (2alpha,5-epoxy-5,10-dihydroxy-6alpha
      angeloyloxy-9beta-(3-methyl-butanoyloxy)-gemacran-8alpha,12-olide), CRC4 (2beta,5
      epoxy-5,10-dihydroxy-6alpha,9beta-diangeloyloxy-germacran-8alpha,12-olide) were
      isolated from the whole parts of C. rosulatum. 2alpha,5-epoxy-5,10-dihydroxy
      6alpha,9beta-diangeloyloxy-germacran-8alpha,12-olide (CRC2) showed the most
      potent cytotoxicity with IC(50) value of 6.01 MUM against SK-MEL-2.

PMID- 20937638
TI  - Aconitine intoxication mimicking acute myocardial infarction.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Cardiotoxicity in acute aconitine intoxication is well known;
      however, elevation of troponin I level and abnormal scintigraphy findings had not
      previously been reported. CASE REPORT: A 60-year-old man developed chest
      tightness, syncope and convulsion after ingesting processed Aconitum carmichaeli
      (Chuanwu) extract for treatment of headache. Electrocardiogram showed first
      degree atrioventricular (AV) block. Troponin I level was elevated at 14.8 ng/mL
      13 hours post-ingestion. Creatine kinase was also increased to 414 U/L. However,
      echocardiography did not show any abnormal cardiac wall motion. Tc-99m-PYP
      scintigraphy revealed diffusely increased uptake in the myocardium, suggesting
      the presence of myocardial necrosis or myocarditis. DISCUSSION: Aconitine
      poisoning can mimic acute myocardial infarction with chest tightness and elevated
      cardiac enzymes. Increased cardiac markers and myocardial insult seen in this
      patient were likely to be related to the toxicity of aconitine. Care should be
      taken in making the diagnosis in such instances. Management is primarily
      supportive.

PMID- 20937639
TI  - Apigenin induces apoptosis in human lung cancer H460 cells through caspase- and
      mitochondria-dependent pathways.
AB  - Apigenin (4,5,7-trihydroxyflavone), a promising chemopreventive agent presented
      in fruits and vegetables, has been shown to induce cell cycle arrest and
      apoptosis in many types of human cancer cell lines. However, there is no
      available information to address the effects of apigenin on human lung cancer
      H460 cells. In the present studies, H460 cells were treated with apigenin for
      different time and then were analyzed for the morphological changes, induction of
      apoptosis, protein levels associated with apoptosis and results in dose-dependent
      induction of morphological changes, decrease in the percentage of viability,
      induced DNA damage and apoptosis; down-modulation of the protein expression of
      Bid, Bcl-2, procaspase-8; up-regulation of protein levels of Bax, caspase-3, AIF,
      cytochrome c, GRP78 and GADD153; decreased the levels of mitochondrial membrane
      potential and increased the productions of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and
      Ca(2+) in H460 cells. Taken together, this is the first systematic in vitro study
      showing the involvement of apoptosis regulatory proteins as potential molecular
      targets of apigenin in human lung cancer H460 cells.

PMID- 20937640
TI  - Serotonin: a new start for an old friend?

PMID- 20937641
TI  - A systematic review and meta-analysis: tailoring asthma treatment on eosinophilic
      markers (exhaled nitric oxide or sputum eosinophils).
AB  - Asthma severity and control can be measured both subjectively and objectively.
      Traditionally asthma treatments have been individualised using symptoms and
      spirometry/peak flow. Increasingly treatment tailored in accordance with
      inflammatory markers (sputum eosinophil counts or fractional exhaled nitric oxide
      (FeNO) data) is advocated as an alternative strategy. The objective of this
      review was to evaluate the efficacy of tailoring asthma interventions based on
      inflammatory markers (sputum analysis and FeNO) in comparison with clinical
      symptoms (with or without spirometry/peak flow) for asthma-related outcomes in
      children and adults. Cochrane Airways Group Specialised Register of Trials, the
      Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), MEDLINE, EMBASE and
      reference lists of articles were searched. The last searches were in February
      2009. All randomised controlled comparisons of adjustment of asthma treatment
      based on sputum analysis or FeNO compared with traditional methods (primarily
      clinical symptoms and spirometry/peak flow) were selected. Results of searches
      were reviewed against predetermined criteria for inclusion. Relevant studies were
      selected, assessed and data extracted independently by at least two people. The
      trial authors were contacted for further information. Data were analysed as
      'intervention received' and sensitivity analyses performed. Six (2 adults and 4
      children/adolescent) studies utilising FeNO and three adult studies utilising
      sputum eosinophils were included. These studies had a degree of clinical
      heterogeneity including definition of asthma exacerbations, duration of study and
      variations in cut-off levels for percentage of sputum eosinophils and FeNO to
      alter management in each study. Adults who had treatment adjusted according to
      sputum eosinophils had a reduced number of exacerbations compared with the
      control group (52 vs. 77 patients with >=1 exacerbation in the study period;
      p=0.0006). There was no significant difference in exacerbations between groups
      for FeNO compared with controls. The daily dose of inhaled corticosteroids at the
      end of the study was decreased in adults whose treatment was based on FeNO in
      comparison with the control group (mean difference -450.03 MUg, 95% CI -676.73 to
      -223.34; p<0.0001). However, children who had treatment adjusted according to
      FeNO had an increase in their mean daily dose of inhaled corticosteroids (mean
      difference 140.18 MUg, 95% CI 28.94 to 251.42; p=0.014). It was concluded that
      tailoring of asthma treatment based on sputum eosinophils is effective in
      decreasing asthma exacerbations. However, tailoring of asthma treatment based on
      FeNO levels has not been shown to be effective in improving asthma outcomes in
      children and adults. At present, there is insufficient justification to advocate
      the routine use of either sputum analysis (due to technical expertise required)
      or FeNO in everyday clinical practice.

PMID- 20937642
TI  - Exosomes in lungs of patients with sarcoidosis: a contributor to immune
      pathogenesis or just another by-product of heightened immune activity?

PMID- 20937643
TI  - Assessing airway inflammation.

PMID- 20937644
TI  - British Thoracic Society survey of knowledge of healthcare professionals managing
      patients with acute hypercapnic exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary
      disease requiring non-invasive ventilation.

PMID- 20937645
TI  - Metabolic syndrome and endometrial cancer risk.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Various studies reported direct associations between endometrial
      cancer risk and individual components of the metabolic syndrome (MetS), i.e.
      obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and dyslipidemia, but only a few epidemiological
      studies considered the association with MetS overall. METHODS: We analyzed data
      from a case-control study including 454 women with incident endometrial cancer
      and 798 controls admitted to the same hospitals as cases for acute conditions.
      Different definitions of MetS were considered, including a combination of self
      reported history of diabetes, drug-treated hypertension, drug-treated
      hyperlipidemia, and various measures of (central) obesity. Odds ratios (ORs) were
      computed from unconditional logistic regression models, adjusted for major
      confounding factors. RESULTS: The multivariate ORs of endometrial cancer were
      2.18 for type 2 diabetes, 1.77 for hypertension, 1.20 for hyperlipidemia, between
      1.62 and 2.23 for various definitions of central obesity, and 3.83 for women with
      a body mass index (BMI) >30 kg/m(2). The risk of endometrial cancer was
      significantly increased for subjects with MetS, the ORs ranging between 1.67 and
      2.77 when waist circumference was included in MetS definition, and 8.40 when BMI
      was considered instead. CONCLUSIONS: This study indicates a direct association
      between various MetS components, besides overweight, with the risk of endometrial
      cancer.

PMID- 20937646
TI  - Indicators of homologous recombination deficiency in breast cancer and
      association with response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Tumors with homologous recombination deficiency (HRD), such as BRCA1
      associated breast cancers, are not able to reliably repair DNA double-strand
      breaks (DSBs) and are therefore highly sensitive to both DSB-inducing
      chemotherapy and poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitors. We have studied markers
      that may indicate the presence of HRD in HER2-negative breast cancers and related
      them to neoadjuvant chemotherapy response. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Array
      comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH), BRCA1 promoter methylation, BRCA1
      messenger RNA (mRNA) expression and EMSY amplification were assessed in 163 HER2
      negative pretreatment biopsies from patients scheduled for neoadjuvant
      chemotherapy. RESULTS: Features of BRCA1 dysfunction were frequent in triple
      negative (TN) tumors: a BRCA1-like aCGH pattern, promoter methylation and reduced
      mRNA expression were observed in, respectively, 57%, 25% and 36% of the TN
      tumors. In ER+ tumors, a BRCA2-like aCGH pattern and the amplification of the
      BRCA2 inhibiting gene EMSY were frequently observed (43% and 13%, respectively)
      and this BRCA2-like profile was associated with a better response to neoadjuvant
      chemotherapy. CONCLUSIONS: Abnormalities associated with BRCA1 inactivation are
      present in about half of the TN breast cancers but were not predictive of
      chemotherapy response. In ER+/HER2- tumors, a BRCA2-like aCGH pattern was
      predictive of chemotherapy response. These findings should be confirmed in
      independent series.

PMID- 20937647
TI  - Baseline nutritional evaluation in metastatic lung cancer patients: Mini
      Nutritional Assessment versus weight loss history.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cancer cachexia adversely affects survival and quality of life but
      its timely recognition is problematic. Nutritional questionnaires, like the Mini
      Nutritional Assessment (MNA), could identify early those patients at risk. The
      aim of the study was to compare MNA with 5% weight loss, a common criterion used
      in oncologic evaluation. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The nutritional status of 171
      chemotherapy-naive patients with metastatic lung cancer was evaluated by both
      methods. The results were compared and correlated with clinical and laboratory
      values and with clinical outcome. RESULTS: The incidence of malnourished or
      patients at risk was higher according to the MNA (P<0.001). Both methods
      correlated with the performance status (P<0.001) but MNA was further correlated
      with the number of metastatic sites (P=0.007) and the presence of brain
      metastasis (P=0.022). Of 14 laboratory values studied, 9 were correlated with MNA
      and 5 with the weight loss history. Both methods were correlated with response to
      first-line therapy, time to progression and survival but MNA had a better
      predictive (P<0.001) and prognostic (P < 0.001) value. CONCLUSIONS: MNA
      outperforms weight loss history as a baseline nutritional screening method in
      patients with metastatic lung cancer and could further refine prognostication.

PMID- 20937648
TI  - Negative impact of bone metastasis on outcome in clear-cell renal cell carcinoma
      treated with sunitinib.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of our study was to determine whether the presence of bone
      metastases affects outcomes in patients with metastatic clear-cell renal cell
      carcinoma (m-ccRCC) receiving sunitinib. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We reviewed the
      charts of all patients in four academic centers in Belgium and France who started
      first-line sunitinib (50 mg/day; 4 weeks on and 2 weeks off) between January 2005
      and December 2008. Data were collected on known prognostic factors for metastatic
      renal cell carcinoma and metastatic sites. Response and progression were
      evaluated by computed tomography scan (according to RECIST). RESULTS: Two hundred
      twenty-three patients were identified. With a median follow-up of 40 months,
      median progression-free survival (PFS) and median overall survival (OS) were
      significantly shorter in patients with bone metastases than in those without:
      respectively, 8.2 versus 19.1 months (P<0.0001) and 19.5 versus 38.5 months
      (P<0.0001). On multivariate analysis, taking on account platelet count, Eastern
      Cooperative Oncology Group performance status, number of metastatic sites,
      neutrophil count, corrected serum calcium, time from diagnosis to systemic
      treatment, and the presence of bone metastases, bone metastasis was the
      independent variable most significantly associated with poor PFS (P<0.0001) and
      OS (P=0.001). CONCLUSION: The presence of bone metastases in m-ccRCC patients has
      a significant and clinically relevant negative impact on outcome on sunitinib.

PMID- 20937649
TI  - Silent hereditary hematochromatosis as a susceptibility factor of doxorubicin
      induced acute cardiac failure.

PMID- 20937650
TI  - Early intervention improves cognitive outcomes for preterm infants: randomized
      controlled trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The goal was to examine the effectiveness of an early intervention on
      cognitive and motor outcomes at corrected ages of 3 and 5 years for children with
      birth weights (BWs) of <2000 g. METHODS: A randomized controlled trial of a
      modified version of the Mother-Infant Transaction Program was performed. Outcomes
      were assessed with the Bayley Scales of Infant Development II and the Wechsler
      Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence-Revised at 3 and 5 years,
      respectively. McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities and the grooved pegboard
      test were used to test motor outcomes at 5 years. RESULTS: A total of 146 infants
      were assigned randomly (intervention group: 72 infants; control group: 74
      infants). The mean BWs were 1396 +/- 429 g for the intervention group and 1381 +/
      436 g for the control group. After adjustment for maternal education, a
      nonsignificant difference in Mental Developmental Index scores at 3 years of 4.5
      points (95% confidence interval: -0.3 to 9.3 points) in favor of the intervention
      group was found, whereas the intervention effect on full-scale IQ scores at 5
      years was 6.4 points (95% confidence interval: 0.6-12.2 points). Significantly
      more children in the intervention group had IQ scores of >= 85 at 3 and 5 years.
      There were no differences between the groups with respect to motor outcomes.
      CONCLUSION: This modified version of the Mother-Infant Transaction Program
      improved cognitive outcomes at corrected age of 5 years for children with BWs of
      <2000 g.

PMID- 20937651
TI  - Hepatitis A in internationally adopted children: screening for acute and previous
      infections.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The goal was to determine the prevalence of acute hepatitis A virus
      (HAV) infection and immunity among internationally adopted children. METHODS:
      Children seen at the International Adoption Center between September 25, 2006,
      and September 30, 2008, and were screened for HAV within 4 months after their
      arrival in the United States were eligible for the study. The age- and country
      specific prevalence of acute HAV infection and immunity were determined. RESULTS:
      Overall, 288 children underwent HAV serological testing. Of the 279 with total
      HAV serological results, 29% had positive findings. Immunity varied according to
      region and country. The prevalence was lowest among children born in Asia/Pacific
      Rim region (17%) and highest among children born in Africa (72%). Only 13% of
      children <2 years of age were immune, compared with 80% of children 12 to 17
      years of age (P = .002). Increasing age and birth region were associated
      independently with immunity. Positive HAV immunoglobulin M test results were
      found for 3 (1%) of 270 children; all were without symptoms. Their ages were 18,
      27, and 41 months, and they were born in Kazakhstan, Russia, and the Latin
      America/Caribbean region, respectively. The father of 1 child developed HAV
      infection after arriving home. CONCLUSIONS: HAV immunity among internationally
      adopted children varied according to age and country of origin; 1% had acute
      infections. HAV screening is useful for determination of the need for HAV
      immunization and for prevention of transmission to family members and close
      contacts.

PMID- 20937652
TI  - Neonatal jaundice, autism, and other disorders of psychological development.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The goals were to study the association between neonatal jaundice and
      disorders of psychological development in a national, population-based cohort and
      to study whether gestational age, parity, and season of birth influenced that
      association. METHODS: A population-based, follow-up study of all children born
      alive in Denmark between 1994 and 2004 (N = 733,826) was performed, with data
      collected from 4 national registers. Survival analysis was used to calculate
      hazard ratios (HRs). RESULTS: Exposure to jaundice in neonates was associated
      with increased risk of disorders of psychological development for children born
      at term. The excess risk of developing a disorder in the spectrum of
      psychological development disorders after exposure to jaundice as a neonate was
      between 56% (HR: 1.56 [95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.05-2.30]) and 88% (HR:
      1.88 [95% CI: 1.17-3.02]). The excess risk of infantile autism was 67% (HR: 1.67
      [95% CI: 1.03-2.71]). This risk for infantile autism was higher if the child was
      conceived by a parous woman (HR: 2.71 [95% CI: 1.57-4.66]) or was born between
      October and March (HR: 2.21 [95% CI: 1.24-3.94]). The risk for infantile autism
      disappeared if the child was conceived by a primiparous woman (HR: 0.58 [95% CI:
      0.18-1.83]) or was born between April and September (HR: 1.02 [95% CI: 0.41
      2.50]). Similar risk patterns were found for the whole spectrum of autistic
      disorders. CONCLUSIONS: Neonatal jaundice in children born at term is associated
      with disorders of psychological development. Parity and season of birth seem to
      play important roles.

PMID- 20937653
TI  - Clinical utility of the Vanderbilt ADHD Rating Scale for ruling out comorbid
      learning disorders.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The goal was to examine the clinical utility of using the Vanderbilt
      Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) Rating Scale (VARS) to determine
      when to refer children with ADHD for learning disorder (LD) evaluations. METHODS:
      A total of 128 stimulant-naive children with ADHD, 7 to 11 years of age, were
      included in the study. The parents and teachers of 128 children with diagnosed
      ADHD completed the VARS. The reading, numerical operations, and spelling subtests
      from the Wechsler Individual Achievement Test, Second Edition, were used to
      identify children with a comorbid LD. We examined the predictive validity and
      clinical utility of the VARS performance items for ruling in/out the presence of
      a comorbid LD. RESULTS: Thirty-eight percent of the samples met the criteria for
      a comorbid LD. A cutoff score of 7.5 for the sum of the VARS parent and teacher
      reading items had excellent clinical utility for ruling out both reading and
      spelling LDs. Cutoff scores of 4 for the VARS teacher reading and writing items
      had excellent utility for ruling out comorbid reading and spelling LDs,
      respectively. None of the VARS performance items effectively identified or ruled
      out math LDs. CONCLUSION: The VARS performance items should be used with an
      interview about school functioning and a review of school records to rule out the
      presence of a comorbid reading or spelling LD for children with diagnosed ADHD.

PMID- 20937654
TI  - The effect of intrauterine growth on verbal IQ scores in childhood: a study of
      monozygotic twins.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Given the adverse neurobiological effects of suboptimal nutrition on
      the developing brain, it is of social and medical importance to determine if the
      global prevalence of poor intrauterine growth causes lasting cognitive deficits.
      We examined whether suboptimal intrauterine growth relates to impaired cognitive
      outcome by comparing birth weight and cognition in monozygotic twins and
      considered whether children within-pair differences in birth weight were related
      to within-pair differences in IQ scores. METHODS: A total of 71 monozygotic twin
      pairs (aged 7 years 11 months to 17 years 3 months) participated. The Wechsler
      Intelligence Scale for Children, Third Edition, was administered, and verbal IQ
      (VIQ) and performance IQ (PIQ) scores were calculated. Regression was used to
      relate within-pair differences in birth weight to within-pair differences in IQ
      scores. RESULTS: VIQ but not PIQ score was affected by prenatal growth
      restriction. The results suggest that the mean advantage for heavier twins
      relative to their lighter co-twins can be as much as half an SD in VIQ points. In
      pairs with minimal discordance, heavier twins had lower VIQ scores than their
      lighter co-twins. CONCLUSIONS: Our study results suggest that lower birth weight
      in monozygotic twins can also have a negative long-term impact on cognition both
      in infants who are small at birth and also those with birth weights across the
      spectrum. Studying monozygotic twins enabled us to examine the effect of reduced
      intrauterine growth on cognition independently of confounding factors, including
      parental IQ and education and infant gender, age, genetic characteristics, and
      gestation.

PMID- 20937655
TI  - High mortality rates for very low birth weight infants in developing countries
      despite training.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The goal was to determine the effect of training in newborn care and
      resuscitation on 7-day (early) neonatal mortality rates for very low birth weight
      (VLBW) infants. The study was designed to test the hypothesis that these training
      programs would reduce neonatal mortality rates for VLBW infants. METHODS: Local
      instructors trained birth attendants from 96 rural communities in 6 developing
      countries in protocol and data collection, the World Health Organization
      Essential Newborn Care (ENC) course, and a modified version of the American
      Academy of Pediatrics Neonatal Resuscitation Program (NRP), by using a train-the
      trainer model. To test the impact of ENC training, data on infants of 500 to 1499
      g were collected by using a before/after, active baseline, controlled study
      design. A cluster-randomized, controlled trial design was used to test the impact
      of the NRP. RESULTS: A total of 1096 VLBW (500-1499 g) infants were enrolled, and
      98.5% of live-born infants were monitored to 7 days. All-cause, 7-day neonatal
      mortality, stillbirth, and perinatal mortality rates were not affected by ENC or
      NRP training. CONCLUSIONS: Neither ENC nor NRP training of birth attendants
      decreased 7-day neonatal, stillbirth, or perinatal mortality rates for VLBW
      infants born at home or at first-level facilities. Encouragement of delivery in a
      facility where a higher level of care is available may be preferable when
      delivery of a VLBW infant is expected.

PMID- 20937656
TI  - Isolation of tracheal aspirate mesenchymal stromal cells predicts
      bronchopulmonary dysplasia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We have isolated mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) from tracheal
      aspirates of premature infants with respiratory distress. Under the influence of
      transforming growth factor beta, MSCs differentiate into alpha-smooth-muscle
      actin-expressing myofibroblasts. Myofibroblasts are increased in the lungs of
      patients with bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), a chronic lung disease of
      prematurely born infants. OBJECTIVE: We tested whether isolation of MSCs from
      tracheal aspirates of premature infants with respiratory distress during the
      first week of life correlates with BPD. METHODS: Eighty-four infants born at a
      gestational age of <33 weeks and requiring mechanical ventilation were studied.
      Aspirates were collected during suctioning and centrifuged. Cell pellets were
      resuspended in culture medium and plated. Adherent cells were grown to
      confluence. RESULTS: MSCs were isolated from the tracheal aspirates of 56
      infants; 28 aspirate samples showed no MSCs. There was no statistical difference
      in gestational age or birth weight between the MSC and no-MSC groups. In the MSC
      group, 12 infants died and 25 developed BPD, as defined by a requirement for
      supplemental oxygen at 36 weeks' postmenstrual age. In the no-MSC group, 6
      infants died and 1 developed BPD. Accounting for potential influences of gender,
      birth weight, gestational age, number of tracheal aspirate samples taken, and the
      duration of endotracheal intubation (up to 7 days), isolation of MSCs increased
      the adjusted odds ratio of BPD more than 21-fold (95% confidence interval: 1.82
      265.85). CONCLUSIONS: Isolation of tracheal aspirate MSCs predicts the
      development of BPD, which suggests that MSCs play an important role in the
      pathogenesis of this disease.

PMID- 20937657
TI  - The effect of protein and glycemic index on children's body composition: the
      DiOGenes randomized study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of protein and glycemic index (GI) on body
      composition among European children in the randomized, 6-month dietary
      intervention DiOGenes (diet, obesity, and genes) family-based study. PATIENTS AND
      METHODS: In the study, 827 children (381 boys and 446 girls), aged 5 to 18 years,
      completed baseline examinations. Families with parents who lost >= 8% of their
      weight during an 8-week run-in low-calorie diet period were randomly assigned to
      1 of 5 ad libitum diets: low protein (LP)/low glycemic index (LGI); LP/high GI
      (HGI); high protein (HP)/LGI; HP/HGI; and control diet. The target difference was
      15 GI U between the LGI/HGI groups and 13 protein percentage points between the
      LP/HP groups. There were 658 children examined after 4 weeks. Advice on food
      choice modification was provided at 6 visits during this period. No advice on
      weight loss was provided because the focus of the study was the ability of the
      diets to affect outcomes through appetite regulation. Anthropometric measurements
      and body composition were assessed at baseline, week 4, and week 26. RESULTS: In
      the study, 465 children (58.1%) completed all assessments. The achieved
      differences between the GI and protein groups were 2.3 GI U and 4.9 protein
      percentage points, respectively. The LP/HGI group increased body fat percentage
      significantly more than the other groups (P = .040; partial eta(2) = 0.039), and
      the percentage of overweight/obese children in the HP/LGI group decreased
      significantly during the intervention (P = .031). CONCLUSIONS: Neither GI nor
      protein had an isolated effect on body composition. However, the LP/HGI
      combination increased body fat, whereas the HP/LGI combination was protective
      against obesity in this sample of children.

PMID- 20937658
TI  - Analgesic effects of sweet-tasting solutions for infants: current state of
      equipoise.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The goal was to review published studies of analgesic effects of sweet
      solutions, to ascertain areas with sufficient evidence of effectiveness and areas
      of uncertainty. METHODS: Databases searched included Medline, Embase, the
      Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature database, and PsycINFO,
      using the terms pain*, infant*, neonat*, newborn*, sucrose, glucose, and
      alternative sugars. Publications were sorted according to type, year, painful
      procedure studied, placebo/no-treatment groups, population studied, and country
      of publication. RESULTS: A total of 298 relevant unique publications involving
      human infants were identified; 125 (42%) were primary research studies, of which
      116 (93%) were randomized controlled trials. Healthy preterm or term newborns
      were included in 82 studies (65%), and sick or very low birth weight infants were
      included in 22 (18%). Most studies included single episodes of painful
      procedures, with only 3 (2%) conducted over long periods. Procedures investigated
      most frequently were heel lance (49%), venipuncture (14%), and intramuscular
      injection (14%). Placebo or no-treatment groups were included in 111 studies
      (89%); in 103 (93%) of those studies, sweet solutions reduced behavioral
      responses, compared with placebo/ no treatment. CONCLUSION: Clinical equipoise
      relating to analgesic effects of sweet solutions no longer exists for single
      episodes of procedures for healthy preterm and term newborn infants.
      Uncertainties include outcomes after prolonged use of sweet solutions,
      concomitant use of other analgesics, and effectiveness beyond the newborn period.
      Future research should focus on addressing these knowledge and research gaps.

PMID- 20937659
TI  - Newborn care training of midwives and neonatal and perinatal mortality rates in a
      developing country.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study was designed to test the hypothesis that 2 training
      programs would reduce incrementally 7-day neonatal mortality rates for low-risk
      institutional deliveries. METHODS: Using a train-the-trainer model, certified
      research midwives sequentially trained the midwives who performed deliveries in
      low-risk, first-level, urban, community health clinics in 2 cities in Zambia in
      the protocol and data collection, in the World Health Organization Essential
      Newborn Care (ENC) course (universal precautions and cleanliness, routine
      neonatal care, resuscitation, thermoregulation, breastfeeding, kangaroo care,
      care of small infants, and common illnesses), and in the American Academy of
      Pediatrics Neonatal Resuscitation Program (in-depth basic resuscitation). Data
      were collected during 3 periods, after implementation of each training course.
      RESULTS: A total of 71 689 neonates were enrolled in the 3 study periods. All
      cause, 7-day neonatal mortality rates decreased from 11.5 deaths per 1000 live
      births to 6.8 deaths per 1000 live births after ENC training (relative risk: 0.59
      [95% confidence interval: 0.48-0.77]; P < .001), because of decreases in rates of
      deaths attributable to birth asphyxia and infection. Perinatal mortality rates
      but not stillbirth rates decreased. The 7-day neonatal mortality rate was
      decreased further after Neonatal Resuscitation Program training, after correction
      for loss to follow-up monitoring. CONCLUSIONS: ENC training for midwives reduced
      7-day neonatal mortality rates in low-risk clinics. Additional in-depth basic
      training in neonatal resuscitation may reduce mortality rates further.

PMID- 20937660
TI  - Evidence for an association between infant mortality and a carnitine
      palmitoyltransferase 1A genetic variant.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Alaska Native and other circumpolar indigenous populations have
      historically experienced high infant mortality rates, for unknown reasons.
      Through routine newborn screening, Alaskan and Canadian indigenous infants have
      been found to have a high frequency of a single sequence variant (c.1436C->T) in
      the gene coding for carnitine palmitoyltransferase type 1A (CPT1A). We sought to
      determine whether these 2 findings were related. METHODS: As part of a quality
      control exercise at the Alaskan Newborn Metabolic Screening Program, we conducted
      genotyping for 616 consecutively born, Alaska Native infants and reviewed their
      medical records. We conducted an ecological analysis comparing Census area-level
      variant CPT1A allele frequency and historical Alaska Native infant, postneonatal,
      and neonatal mortality rates. RESULTS: Infant death was identified for 5 of 152
      infants homozygous for the c.1436C->T sequence variant (33 deaths per 1000 live
      births), 2 of 219 heterozygous infants (9 deaths per 1000 live births), and 0 of
      245 infants carrying no copies of the variant allele (chi(2) = 9.2; P = .01). All
      7 cases of infant death had some evidence of an infectious process at the time of
      death, including 5 with respiratory infections. Census areas with the highest
      frequency of the variant allele had the highest historical infant, postneonatal,
      and neonatal mortality rates. CONCLUSIONS: Our data provide preliminary evidence
      that a highly prevalent CPT1A variant found among Alaska Native and other
      indigenous circumpolar populations may help explain historically high infant
      mortality rates. Larger definitive studies are needed.

PMID- 20937661
TI  - Children's screen viewing is related to psychological difficulties irrespective
      of physical activity.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We hypothesized that greater screen use would be associated with
      greater psychological difficulties and that children with high levels of screen
      entertainment use and low levels of physical activity would have the most
      negative psychological profiles. METHODS: Participants were 1013 children (age,
      mean +/- SD: 10.95 +/- 0.41 years), who self-reported average daily television
      hours and computer use and completed the Strengths and Difficulties
      Questionnaire. Sedentary time (minutes per day with <100 cpm) and
      moderate/vigorous physical activity (MVPA) (minutes with >= 2000 cpm) were
      measured by using accelerometers. Multivariate regression models examined the
      association between television viewing, computer use, sedentary time, and
      Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire scores, with adjustment for MVPA, age,
      gender, level of deprivation, and pubertal status. RESULTS: Greater television
      and computer use were related to higher psychological difficulty scores after
      adjustment for MVPA, sedentary time, and confounders. However, sedentary time was
      inversely related to psychological difficulties after adjustment. Children who
      spent >2 hours per day watching television or using a computer were at increased
      risk of high levels of psychological difficulties (television, odds ratio [OR]:
      1.61 [95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.20-2.15]; computer, OR: 1.59 [95% CI: 1.32
      1.91]), and this risk increased if the children also failed to meet physical
      activity guidelines (television, OR: 1.70 [95% CI: 1.09-2.61]; computer, OR: 1.81
      [95% CI: 1.02-3.20]). CONCLUSION: Both television viewing and computer use are
      important independent targets for intervention for optimal well-being for
      children, irrespective of levels of MVPA or overall sedentary time.

PMID- 20937662
TI  - Metabolic syndrome in 25% of older people with intellectual disability.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Life expectancy of people with intellectual disabilities (IDs) is
      rapidly normalizing, as are prevalences of age-related cardiovascular disease in
      this group. We investigated the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome in the older
      population with ID and associations with patient characteristics. METHODS:
      Prevalence of the metabolic syndrome, according to National Cholesterol Education
      Program-Adult Treatment Panel III criteria, was assessed with standardized
      physical examinations in 470 Dutch adults with ID, aged >=50 years, who receive
      residential care from three Dutch care providing organizations. Because of
      skewing towards an overrepresentation of females and more moderate to severe ID
      in the study population, reweighting was applied to obtain a representative
      population prevalence. Correlations with patient characteristics were analysed
      with logistic regression analyses. RESULTS: Four hundred and twelve participants
      completed all assessments. The weighted prevalence of the metabolic syndrome was
      25.1% [95% confidence interval (CI) 21.0-29.3%], with a significantly higher risk
      for people with mild ID. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of the metabolic syndrome in
      the population with ID is significantly higher than that in the general Dutch
      population aged >=50 years (15.7%, 95% CI 13.5-17.9%).

PMID- 20937663
TI  - Diagnosis of depressed young people in primary health care--a validation of HSCL
      10.
AB  - BACKGROUND: According to the World Health Organization, depression ranks as a
      major contributor to the global burden of disease. A large proportion of adult
      depressions had their first appearance in adolescence. AIM: Because primary
      health care professionals lack valid instruments for early identification of
      depression, we sought to validate HSCL-10. The design of study is a GP
      multicentre study conducted in Norway and Denmark. The setting of the study is
      adolescents (14-16 years) responded by answering a questionnaire and later
      completed a Composite International Diagnostic Interview, which was used as the
      gold standard. Depression was defined by International Classification of Diseases
      10 (ICD-10). Both internal and external validity were examined, the likelihood
      between pretest and posttest measured and a cut-off point for depression
      calculated by using the Youden index. RESULTS: The Hopkins Symptom Checklist-10
      test (HSCL-10) met the criteria for external and internal validity. When analysed
      separately, the criteria were met both in Denmark and in Norway and both for
      paper and web. The optimal cut-off point for the HSCL-10 test was 16 (HSCL-10 =
      16/10 items = 1.6), with no gender differences. For girls and boys, respectively,
      it yielded a sensitivity of 87.5% and 87.5%, specificity of 72.4% and 87.9% and
      likelihood of 3.2 and 7.2. CONCLUSION: HSCL-10 is a suitable and valid instrument
      for detecting depression in young people in primary care.

PMID- 20937664
TI  - Does thoracic epidural analgesia improve outcome after lung transplantation?
AB  - A best evidence topic was constructed according to a structured protocol. The
      question addressed was whether the use of preoperative or early postoperative
      thoracic epidural analgesia (TEA) is effective in improving outcomes--reducing
      duration of mechanical ventilation, intensive care unit (ICU) length of stay and
      respiratory complications--in patients undergoing lung transplantation (LTx). Of
      the 42 papers found using a report search, five presented the best evidence to
      answer the clinical question. The authors, journal, date and country of
      publication, study type, group studied, relevant outcomes and results of these
      papers are given. We conclude that, on the whole, four out of the five retrieved
      studies clearly supported the use of TEA as the cornerstone of a multi-faceted
      strategy for improving outcomes after LTx. Indeed, the interest and benefit was
      shown not only in terms of duration of mechanical ventilation, but also in
      reducing the ICU length of stay and the number of respiratory complications.
      Hence, current evidence suggests TEA to be safe and effective in alleviating
      postoperative pain and in improving patient recovery, thus enhancing the choice
      of available medical care and bettering outcome after LTx. However, given the low
      level of evidence of published studies, prospective trials are warranted to
      confirm those encouraging results.

PMID- 20937665
TI  - A simple bypass technique for superior vena cava reconstruction.
AB  - Superior vena cava (SVC) clamping can be required during thoracic surgery for SVC
      replacement or repair. In such cases, bypass techniques can be necessary to avoid
      hemodynamic instability, cerebral venous hypertension and hypoperfusion. Here, we
      report a novel and simple SVC bypass technique which does not require full
      systemic heparinization, specialized cannulation techniques or pumping devices
      and which can be applied percutaneously in the preoperative phase or
      intraoperatively. The preoperative shunt consisted in two Swan-Ganz catheters
      inserted in the jugular and femoral veins and connected by perfusion tubing with
      a three way stopcock. The intraoperative shunt consisted of a Pruitt((r))
      catheter inserted in the left innominate vein and connected to a femoral Swan
      Ganz catheter by perfusion tubing. We validated our system in seven patients
      undergoing SVC reconstruction. We monitored the systemic arterial blood
      pressures, the heart rate and vasoactive peptide requirements throughout the
      procedure. We also determined the neurological status and the in-hospital
      morbidity and mortality for each patient. Using this bypass, SVC clamping caused
      no hemodynamic instability, no neurological impairments and no in-hospital
      complications or deaths. This simple temporary SVC bypass procedure is safe and
      avoids hemodynamic instability and cerebral venous hypertension.

PMID- 20937666
TI  - Is the preservation of the phrenic nerve important after pneumonectomy?
AB  - A best evidence topic in cardiac surgery was written according to a structured
      protocol. The question addressed was: is the preservation of the phrenic nerve
      important after pneumonectomy? Altogether more than 49 papers were found using
      the reported search, of which four represented the best evidence to answer the
      clinical question. The authors, journal, date and country of publication, patient
      group studied, study type, relevant outcomes and results of these papers are
      tabulated. We conclude that care should be taken to preserve the integrity of the
      phrenic nerve wherever possible. The abnormal diaphragmatic motion which occurs
      as a consequence of phrenic nerve damage significantly reduces expiratory lung
      volumes, gas exchange and exercise capacity in already compromised patients.
      Phrenic nerve injury can also lead to a prolonged need for mechanical
      ventilation; this alone carries a risk of complication, such as infection.
      Plication of the paralyzed hemi-diaphragm has proved effective in reducing
      respiratory insufficiency after pneumonectomy. The aim of this is to fix and
      flatten the diaphragm, thus mimicking the role of a functioning phrenic nerve.
      Furthermore, the function of a preserved phrenic nerve remains normal for up to
      11 years post pneumonectomy. Therefore, deterioration in function may highlight a
      recurrence in disease or a change in the post pneumonectomy space.

PMID- 20937667
TI  - Endothelial, sympathetic, and cardiac function in inherited (6R)-L-erythro
      5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-L-biopterin deficiency.
AB  - BACKGROUND: (6R)-5,6,7,8-Tetrahydro-l-biopterin (BH4) is a cofactor for enzymes
      involved in catecholamine and nitric oxide generation whose synthesis is
      initiated by GTP cyclohydrolase I (GTPCH-1), encoded by GCH1. In the absence of a
      potent, specific GTPCH-1 inhibitor, natural BH4 deficiency caused by mutations in
      GCH1 in the rare movement disorder, DOPA-responsive dystonia (OMIM DYT5), offers
      the opportunity to study the role of endogenous BH4 in humans. METHODS AND
      RESULTS: In 16 DOPA-responsive dystonia patients with mutations predicted to
      affect GTPCH-1 expression or function and in age- and sex-matched control
      subjects, we measured plasma biopterin and nitrogen oxides by high-performance
      liquid chromatography and the Griess reaction, respectively, endothelial function
      by brachial artery flow-mediated dilation (FMD), sympathetic function by
      measurement of plasma norepinephrine, epinephrine, and heart rate and blood
      pressure in response. Cardiac function and structure were assessed by
      echocardiography. Plasma biopterin was lower in patients (5.76+/-0.53 versus
      8.43+/-0.85 nmol/L, P=0.03), but plasma NO(2)(-)/NO(3)(-) (NOx) (median, 9.06
      [interquartile range, 5.35 to 11.04] versus 8.40 [interquartile range, 5.28 to
      11.44] MUmol/L, P=1) and FMD were not lower (7.7+/-0.8% versus 7.9+/-0.9%,
      P=0.91). In patients but not control subjects, FMD was insensitive to nitric
      oxide synthase inhibition (FMD at baseline, 6.7+/-2.1%; FMD during l-NMMA
      infusion, 6.2+/-2.5, P=0.68). The heart rate at rest was higher in patients, but
      the heart rate and blood pressure response to sympathetic stimulation did not
      differ in patients and control subjects despite lower concentrations of
      norepinepherine (264+/-8 pg/mL versus 226+/-9 pg/mL, P=0.006) and epinephrine
      (33.8+/-5.2 pg/mL versus 17.8+/-4.6 pg/mL, P=0.03) in patients. There was also no
      difference in cardiac function and structure. CONCLUSIONS: Sympathetic, cardiac,
      and endothelial functions are preserved in patients with GCH1 mutations despite a
      neurological phenotype, reduced plasma biopterin, and norepinepherine and
      epinephrine concentrations. Lifelong endogenous BH4 deficiency may elicit
      developmental adaptation through mechanisms that are inaccessible during acquired
      BH4 deficiency in adulthood.

PMID- 20937668
TI  - Alternative lengthening of telomeres pathway: recombination-mediated telomere
      maintenance mechanism in human cells.
AB  - Unlimitedly proliferating cells need to acquire the telomere DNA maintenance
      mechanism, to counteract possible shortening through multiple rounds of
      replication and segregation of linear chromosomes. Most human cancer cells
      express telomerase whereas the other cells utilize the alternative lengthening of
      telomeres (ALT) pathway to elongate telomere DNA. It is suggested that ALT
      depends on the recombination between telomere repetitive DNAs. However, the
      molecular details remain unknown. Recent studies have provided evidence of
      special structures of telomere DNA and genes essential for the phenotypes of ALT
      cells. The molecular models of the ALT pathway should be validated to elucidate
      recombination-mediated telomere maintenance and promote the applications to anti
      cancer therapy.

PMID- 20937669
TI  - Effect of flexural strength of orthodontic resin cement on bond strength of metal
      brackets to enamel surfaces.
AB  - Three types of experimental resin cements with different curing systems, dual,
      light, and chemical, were designed. The relationship between the flexural
      strengths of the three experimental and five commercial (Beauty Ortho Bond,
      TransbondTM XT, Light Cure Bond, Kurasper(r) F, and Super Bond) orthodontic resin
      cements on the tensile bond strength (TBS) and shear bond strength (SBS) of metal
      brackets to enamel was determined. Seven specimen bars of each resin were
      prepared for measuring the flexural strengths of the resins. Bonded specimens of
      each resin were prepared, seven for measuring TBS and seven SBS for after bonding
      of a metal bracket to a maxillary central human labial anterior tooth using
      experimental and commercial resin cements. The results were analysed by one-way
      analysis of variance and Scheffe's multiple comparison tests. The level of
      statistical significance was set at 0.05. Increases in the flexural strength of
      the resin cements were related to increases in the TBS and SBS of the metal
      bracket. While the light-curing cements exhibited a strong linear correlation
      between flexural strengths and TBS or SBS, the dual- and chemical-curing cements
      exhibited a different flexural strength effect on both TBS and SBS. This was a
      result of the adhesive layer under the metal bracket, which could be chemically
      cured, in contrast to the light-curing cement. To control setting time and to
      obtain higher initial TBS and SBS by polymerizing the resin cement under the
      bracket, a dual-curing system, that combines both light- and chemical-curing
      systems, is essential.

PMID- 20937670
TI  - Are health care providers still smoking? Data from the 2003 and 2006/2007 Tobacco
      Use Supplement-Current Population Surveys.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Smoking by health care professionals poses a barrier to
      interventions with patients. This study reports smoking status changes among
      health care professionals using the Tobacco Use Supplement-Current Population
      Surveys (TUS-CPS). METHODS: TUS-CPS self-reported smoking status (current,
      former, and never) identified by occupation (physicians, physician assistants,
      registered nurses [RNs], licensed practical nurses [LPNs], respiratory
      therapists, dentists, and dental hygienists), were analyzed for the 2003 (N =
      4,095) and 2006/2007 (N = 3,976) cohorts. Quit ratios among U.S. health care
      professionals were calculated by dividing the number of former smokers by the
      number of ever-smokers using weighted estimates. RESULTS: In 2006/2007, LPNs
      (20.55%) and respiratory therapists (19.28%) had the highest smoking prevalence.
      Physicians (2.31%), dentists (3.01%), pharmacists (3.25%), and RNs (10.73%) had
      the lowest prevalence. Data from 2006/2007 indicate that physicians, pharmacists,
      dentists, and physician assistants had the highest quit ratios; all groups had
      quit ratios higher than the general public, except LPNs (.52 vs. .46,
      respectively). Current smoking varied by group but did not significantly decline
      from 2003 to 2006/2007. The majority of health care professionals were never
      smokers. CONCLUSIONS: These data indicate that only 4 health care professional
      groups met the Healthy People 2010 goal of 12% smoking prevalence. LPNs were the
      only group with quit ratios lower than the general population. The lack of
      significant decline in smoking rates among health professionals was similar to
      the "flat" rate seen among adults in the United States. This is of concern as
      smoking among health care professionals limits their interventions with smokers
      and their involvement in tobacco control.

PMID- 20937672
TI  - A comparative study of periarticular bone lesions in rheumatoid arthritis and
      psoriatic arthritis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are both
      destructive arthritides but may differ substantially in their periarticular bone
      changes. OBJECTIVES: To investigate the differences in the structural changes of
      periarticular bone in patients with PsA and RA by a high-resolution imaging
      technique designed to visualise the bone architecture. METHODS: 30 patients with
      PsA and 58 patients with RA received a uCT scan to compare structural bone
      changes in the metacarpophalangeal joints of the dominantly affected hand.
      Number, extent, form and distribution of bone erosions, osteophytes and cortical
      thinning were recorded. In addition, the size and depth of bone erosions and the
      size of osteophytes were determined. RESULTS: Patients with PsA and RA had the
      same number of bone erosions, but they were less severe and overall smaller in
      size and depth in PsA. Erosions in PsA were mostly Omega-shaped and tubule
      shaped, whereas U-shaped lesions were most typical for RA. Erosions in PsA were
      more evenly distributed, lacking the strong preponderance for the radial sites
      found in RA. Osteophytes were increased in number, extent and size in PsA as
      compared with RA, often affecting the entire circumference of bone ('bony
      corona'). CONCLUSIONS: High-resolution uCT imaging shows profound differences in
      periarticular bone changes between PsA and RA. Smaller Omega-shaped and tubule
      shaped bone erosions as well as large sometimes corona-shaped osteophytes are
      typical for PsA. These data suggest that mechanisms of bone repair may be more
      active in PsA than in RA.

PMID- 20937673
TI  - 'I woke up after I joined Stepping Stones': meanings of an HIV behavioural
      intervention in rural South African young people's lives.
AB  - Evaluation of the Stepping Stones human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention
      programme in South Africa showed sustained reduction in men and women's herpes
      simplex type 2 virus incidence and male violence, but no impact on HIV in women.
      Companion qualitative research was undertaken to explore how participants made
      meaning from the programme and how it influenced their lives. In-depth interviews
      were conducted with 10 men and 11 women before the intervention (one to three
      interviews per person). Then 9-12 months later, 18 follow-up interviews and 4
      focus groups were held. Stepping Stones empowered participants and engendered
      self-reflection, in a process circumscribed by social and cultural context.
      Participants generally sought to be 'better', rather than 'different', men and
      women. Men shaped a more benign patriarchy, i.e. less violent and anti-social,
      and sought to avoid potential risks, ranging from imprisonment, witchcraft to
      HIV. While some women showed greater assertiveness and some agency in HIV risk
      reduction, most challenged neither their male partners nor the existing cultural
      norms of conservative femininities. This may explain the lack of impact of the
      intervention on HIV in women, since they lacked the power to embrace a greater
      feminist consciousness. Stepping Stones might be more effective for women when
      combined with other structural interventions.

PMID- 20937674
TI  - Relation between maximum replicative capacity and oxidative stress-induced
      responses in human skin fibroblasts in vitro.
AB  - Cellular senescence, an important factor in ageing phenotypes, can be induced by
      replicative exhaustion or by stress. We investigated the relation between maximum
      replicative capacity, telomere length, stress-induced cellular senescence, and
      apoptosis/cell death in human primary fibroblast strains obtained from
      nonagenarians of the Leiden 85-plus Study. Fibroblast strains were cultured until
      replicative senescence and stressed with rotenone at low passage. Telomere
      length, senescence-associated-beta-galactosidase activity, sub-G1 content, and
      Annexin-V/PI positivity were measured in nonstressed and stressed conditions.
      Fibroblast strains with a higher replicative capacity had longer telomeres (p =
      .054). In nonstressed conditions, replicative capacity was not associated with
      beta-gal activity (p = .07) and negatively with sub-G1 (p = .008). In rotenone
      stressed conditions, replicative capacity was negatively associated with beta-gal
      activity (p = .034) and positively with sub-G1 (p = .07). Summarizing, fibroblast
      strains with a higher maximum replicative capacity have longer telomeres, are
      less prone to go into stress-induced cellular senescence, and more prone to die
      after stress.

PMID- 20937671
TI  - Inhibition of joint damage and improved clinical outcomes with rituximab plus
      methotrexate in early active rheumatoid arthritis: the IMAGE trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Rituximab is an effective treatment in patients with established
      rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The objective of the IMAGE study was to determine the
      efficacy of rituximab in the prevention of joint damage and its safety in
      combination with methotrexate (MTX) in patients initiating treatment with MTX.
      METHODS: In this double-blind randomised controlled phase III study, 755 MTX
      naive patients with active RA were randomly assigned to MTX alone, rituximab
      2*500 mg + MTX or rituximab 2*1000 mg + MTX. The primary end point at week 52 was
      the change in joint damage measured using a Genant-modified Sharp score. RESULTS:
      249, 249 and 250 patients were randomly assigned to MTX alone, rituximab 2*500 mg
      + MTX or rituximab 2*1000 mg + MTX, respectively. At week 52, treatment with
      rituximab 2*1000 mg + MTX compared with MTX alone was associated with a reduction
      in progression of joint damage (mean change in total modified Sharp score 0.359
      vs 1.079; p=0.0004) and an improvement in clinical outcomes (ACR50 65% vs 42%;
      p<0.0001); rituximab 2*500 mg + MTX improved clinical outcomes (ACR50 59% vs 42%;
      p<0.0001) compared with MTX alone but did not significantly reduce the
      progression of joint damage. Safety outcomes were similar between treatment
      groups. CONCLUSIONS: Treatment with rituximab 2*1000 mg in combination with MTX
      is an effective therapy for the treatment of patients with MTX-naive RA.
      ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT00299104.

PMID- 20937675
TI  - Adaptive senectitude: the prolongevity effects of aging.
AB  - In the past, it has been assumed that all the biological and medical changes that
      occur in old age are deleterious. It has therefore been concluded that treatment
      and prevention of such changes in old age should increase healthspan and delay
      death. However, accruing epidemiological and clinical trial evidence in older
      humans suggests that this is not the case. Some studies have shown that
      antioxidants and hormone supplements increase mortality, whereas high blood
      pressure, obesity, and metabolic syndrome are often associated with improved
      outcomes in very elderly people. Perhaps, some of these supposedly detrimental
      changes accompanying old age are in fact evolutionary adaptations to prolong life
      after reproduction in humans. Indeed, a form of reverse antagonistic pleiotropy
      or adaptive senectitude might be occurring. Some common biological and medical
      changes in old age might actually enhance longevity and represent novel targets
      for improving health in older people.

PMID- 20937676
TI  - Type 1 and type 2 iodothyronine deiodinases in the thyroid gland of patients with
      3,5,3'-triiodothyronine-predominant Graves' disease.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: 3,5,3'-triiodothyronine-predominant Graves' disease (T(3)-P-GD) is
      characterized by a persistently high serum T(3) level and normal or even lower
      serum thyroxine (T(4)) level during antithyroid drug therapy. The source of this
      high serum T(3) level has not been clarified. Our objective was to evaluate the
      contribution of type 1 and type 2 iodothyronine deiodinase (D1 (or DIO1) and D2
      (or DIO2) respectively) in the thyroid gland to the high serum T(3) level in T(3)
      P-GD. METHODS: We measured the activity and mRNA level of both D1 and D2 in the
      thyroid tissues of patients with T(3)-P-GD (n=13) and common-type GD (CT-GD)
      (n=18) who had been treated with methimazole up until thyroidectomy. RESULTS:
      Thyroidal D1 activity in patients with T(3)-P-GD (492.7+/-201.3 pmol/mg prot per
      h) was significantly higher (P<0.05) than that in patients with CT-GD (320.7+/
      151.9 pmol/mg prot per h). On the other hand, thyroidal D2 activity in patients
      with T(3)-P-GD (823.9+/-596.4 fmol/mg prot per h) was markedly higher (P<0.005)
      than that in patients with CT-GD (194.8+/-131.6 fmol/mg prot per h). There was a
      significant correlation between the thyroidal D1 activity in patients with T(3)-P
      GD and CT-GD and the serum FT(3)-to-FT(4) ratio (r=0.370, P<0.05). Moreover,
      there was a strong correlation between the thyroidal D2 activity in those
      patients and the serum FT(3)-to-FT(4) ratio (r=0.676, P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Our
      results suggest that the increment of thyroidal deiodinase activity, namely D1
      and especially D2 activities, may be responsible for the higher serum FT(3)-to
      FT(4) ratio in T(3)-P-GD.

PMID- 20937677
TI  - Pathologist in Sally Clark case may resume doing autopsies for coroners.

PMID- 20937678
TI  - Surgeon is warned for undertaking "adventurous" procedure without consent.

PMID- 20937681
TI  - Public health will suffer if GP commissioning groups are too small or the
      specialty is consigned to junior posts in local councils.

PMID- 20937679
TI  - Investigating easy bruising in a child.

PMID- 20937686
TI  - A1C and cardiovascular outcomes in type 2 diabetes: a nested case-control study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Type 2 diabetes is associated with increased cardiovascular risk. The
      role of aggressive glycemic control in preventing cardiovascular events is
      unclear. A nested case-control study design was used to evaluate the association
      between average A1C and cardiovascular outcomes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS:
      Adults with type 2 diabetes were identified among members of Kaiser Permanente
      Southern California. Type 2 diabetes was identified based on ICD-9 diagnosis
      codes and either A1C >7.5% or prescriptions for hypoglycemic agents. Case
      subjects were defined based on nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke,
      or death attributed to cardiovascular events during a 3-year window. Four type 2
      diabetes control subjects were matched to each case subject based on age, sex,
      and index date for the corresponding case. A conditional logistic regression
      model was used to estimate the odds ratio of cardiovascular events and compare
      three patient groups based on average A1C measured in the preindex period (<=6,
      >6-8, >8%). RESULTS: A total of 44,628 control subjects were matched to 11,157
      case subjects. Patients with an average A1C <=6% were 20% more likely to
      experience a cardiovascular event than the group with an average A1C of >6-8% (P
      < 0.0001). Patients with an average A1C >8% experienced a 16% increase in the
      likelihood of a cardiovascular event (P < 0.0001). We found evidence of
      statistical interaction with A1C category and LDL level (P = 0.0002), use of
      cardiovascular medications (P = 0.02), and use of antipsychotics (P = 0.001).
      CONCLUSIONS: High-risk patients with type 2 diabetes who achieved mean A1C levels
      of <=6% or failed to decrease their A1C to <8% are at increased risk for
      cardiovascular events.

PMID- 20937687
TI  - Retinal and gingival hemorrhaging and chronic hyperglycemia.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the hypothesis that retinopathies are indicative of systemic
      microvascular injury. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: The only U.S. national survey
      assessing microvascular hemorrhaging at two distinct anatomical sites was the
      National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (1988-1994). The systemic
      microvascular injury hypothesis was assessed by modeling the association of
      retinal and gingival hemorrhaging and the factors that explain this association.
      RESULTS: Individuals in whom one or more in five gingival sites was hemorrhaging
      had a 57% increased odds for retinal hemorrhaging (95% CI: 1.26-1.94). This
      association between retinal and gingival hemorrhaging was 51% explained by A1C
      concentrations. Retinal and gingival hemorrhaging exhibited the signature J
      shaped prevalence patterns when plotted as a function of A1C concentrations.
      CONCLUSIONS: Gingival hemorrhaging reflected on retinal hemorrhaging, and both
      shared chronic hyperglycemia as an explanatory marker. These epidemiological
      findings support the hypothesis that retinopathies are reflective of systemic
      microvascular injury.

PMID- 20937688
TI  - Meta-analysis of the significance of asymptomatic bacteriuria in diabetes.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether asymptomatic bacteriuria (ASB) is more common in
      patients with diabetes than among control subjects. In addition, we wanted to
      clarify the clinical significance of ASB in patients with diabetes. RESEARCH
      DESIGN AND METHODS: We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of
      published data since 1966. Twenty-two studies fulfilled the inclusion criteria of
      the meta-analysis. RESULTS: ASB was present in 439 of 3,579 (12.2%) patients with
      diabetes and in 121 of 2,702 (4.5%) healthy control subjects. ASB was more common
      both in patients with type 1 diabetes (odds ratio 3.0 [95% CI 1.1-8.0]) and type
      2 diabetes (3.2 [2.0-5.2]) than in control subjects. The point prevalence of ASB
      was higher in both women (14.2 vs. 5.1%; 2.6 [1.6-4.1]) and men (2.3 vs. 0.8%;
      3.7 [1.3-10.2]) as well as in children and adolescents (12.9 vs. 2.7%; 5.4 [2.7
      11.0]) with diabetes than in healthy control subjects. Albuminuria was more
      common in patients with diabetes and ASB than those without ASB (2.9 [1.7-4.8]).
      History of urinary tract infections was associated with ASB (1.6 [1.1-2.3]).
      CONCLUSIONS: We were able to show that the prevalence of ASB is higher in all
      patients with diabetes compared with control subjects. We also found that
      diabetic subjects with ASB more often had albuminuria and symptomatic urinary
      tract infections.

PMID- 20937689
TI  - Prevalence, metabolic features, and prognosis of metabolically healthy obese
      Italian individuals: the Cremona Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Some obese individuals have normal insulin sensitivity. It is
      controversial whether this phenotype is associated with increased all-cause
      mortality risk. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Fifteen-year all-cause mortality
      data were obtained through the Regional Health Registry for 2,011 of 2,074
      Caucasian middle-aged individuals of the Cremona Study, a population study on the
      prevalence of diabetes in Italy. Individuals were divided in four categories
      according to BMI (nonobese: <30 kg/m2; obese: >=30 kg/m2) and estimated insulin
      resistance (insulin sensitive: homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance
      <2.5; insulin resistant >=2.5). RESULTS: Obese insulin-sensitive subjects
      represented 11% (95% CI 8.1-14.5) of the obese population. This phenotype had
      similar BMI but lower waist circumference, blood pressure, fasting glucose,
      triglycerides, and fibrinogen and higher HDL cholesterol than obese insulin
      resistant subjects. In the 15-year follow-up, 495 deaths (cardiovascular disease
      [CVD]: n = 221; cancer: n = 180) occurred. All-cause mortality adjusted for age
      and sex was higher in the obese insulin-resistant subjects (hazard ratio 1.40
      [95% CI 1.08-1.81], P = 0.01) but not in the obese insulin-sensitive subjects
      (0.99 [0.46-2.11], P = 0.97) when compared with nonobese insulin-sensitive
      subjects. Also, mortality for CVD and cancer was higher in the obese insulin
      resistant subjects but not in the obese insulin-sensitive subjects when compared
      with nonobese insulin-sensitive subjects. CONCLUSIONS: In contrast to obese
      insulin-resistant subjects, metabolically healthy obese individuals are less
      common than previously thought and do not show increased all-cause, cancer, and
      CVD mortality risks in a 15-year follow-up study.

PMID- 20937690
TI  - High levels of education are associated with an increased risk of latent
      autoimmune diabetes in adults: results from the Nord-Trondelag health study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether the risk for autoimmune diabetes in adults
      differs between socioeconomic groups and to compare such risk with that for type
      2 diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: The inhabitants of the Norwegian county
      of Nord-Trondelag were investigated by questionnaires and clinical examinations
      on three occasions during 1984-2008. We used information from a subset consisting
      of 56,296 subjects (participating in at least two surveys), including 122
      incident cases of autoimmune diabetes in adults (aged >=35 and anti-GAD positive)
      and 1,555 cases of type 2 diabetes (aged >=35 and anti-GAD negative). Hazard
      ratios (HRs) of diabetes associated with self-reported education and occupation
      were estimated by Cox proportional hazards models. RESULTS: High levels of
      education (university versus primary school) were associated with an increased
      risk of autoimmune diabetes (HR 1.98 [95% CI 1.21-3.26]), after adjustment for
      BMI, lifestyle factors, and family history of diabetes. Case subjects with high
      levels of education had lower levels of C-peptide, tended to have higher levels
      of anti-GAD, and were more often treated with insulin. Conversely, these subjects
      had a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes (HR 0.69 [95% CI 0.57-0.82]), a risk that
      was partly explained by lower BMI and more physical activity (adjusted HR 0.89
      [95% CI 0.74-1.06]). CONCLUSIONS: High levels of education are associated with an
      increased risk of autoimmune diabetes in adults, a finding that may be mediated
      by effects on autoimmune activity. Because the association is not explained by
      traditional risk factors, other, currently unidentified, environmental factors
      are likely to be involved.

PMID- 20937691
TI  - The podocyte as a direct target of immunosuppressive agents.
AB  - Podocytes play a key role in maintaining the blood-urine barrier for high
      molecular-weight proteins. They are considered to be terminally differentiated,
      and podocyte loss cannot be compensated by regenerative proliferation. Various
      diseases leading to podocyte damage and loss result in proteinuria and cause
      nephrotic syndrome. Therefore, direct therapeutical strategies to protect
      podocytes in disease situations are a logical concept to prevent disease or to
      delay disease progression. Acquired podocytopathies like idiopathic focal
      segmental glomerulosclerosis and minimal change disease are historically
      considered as immunological diseases. Therefore, immunosuppressive agents such as
      steroids and calcineurin inhibitors are the commonly used treatment strategies.
      However, the causative disease mechanisms behind these treatment strategies
      remain elusive. Recent evidence shows that immunosuppressive agents, in addition
      to the effect on the immune system, directly influence the unique structure and
      function of podocytes. In this context, the actin cytoskeleton of the podocyte
      and cytokines such as vascular endothelial growth factor play a pivotal role. In
      this review, we summarize the direct effects on podocytes obtained in vivo and in
      vitro after treatment with calcineurin inhibitors, mTOR inhibitors and
      glucocorticoids. These direct effects could play a key role in the treatment
      concepts of podocytopathies with an important impact on the long-term renal
      function in patients with pharmacological immunosuppression.

PMID- 20937692
TI  - SCAM analysis of Panx1 suggests a peculiar pore structure.
AB  - Vertebrates express two families of gap junction proteins: the well-characterized
      connexins and the pannexins. In contrast to connexins, pannexins do not appear to
      form gap junction channels but instead function as unpaired membrane channels.
      Pannexins have no sequence homology to connexins but are distantly related to the
      invertebrate gap junction proteins, innexins. Despite the sequence diversity,
      pannexins and connexins form channels with similar permeability properties and
      exhibit similar membrane topology, with two extracellular loops, four
      transmembrane (TM) segments, and cytoplasmic localization of amino and carboxy
      termini. To test whether the similarities extend to the pore structure of the
      channels, pannexin 1 (Panx1) was subjected to analysis with the substituted
      cysteine accessibility method (SCAM). The thiol reagents maleimidobutyryl
      biocytin and 2-trimethylammonioethyl-methanethiosulfonate reacted with several
      cysteines positioned in the external portion of the first TM segment (TM1) and
      the first extracellular loop. These data suggest that portions of TM1 and the
      first extracellular loop line the outer part of the pore of Panx1 channels. In
      this aspect, the pore structures of Panx1 and connexin channels are similar.
      However, although the inner part of the pore is lined by amino-terminal amino
      acids in connexin channels, thiol modification was detected in carboxyterminal
      amino acids in Panx1 channels by SCAM analysis. Thus, it appears that the inner
      portion of the pores of Panx1 and connexin channels may be distinct.

PMID- 20937693
TI  - Molecular mechanism of allosteric modification of voltage-dependent sodium
      channels by local anesthetics.
AB  - The hallmark of many intracellular pore blockers such as tetra-alkylammonium
      compounds and local anesthetics is their ability to allosterically modify the
      movement of the voltage sensors in voltage-dependent ion channels. For instance,
      the voltage sensor of domain III is specifically stabilized in the activated
      state when sodium currents are blocked by local anesthetics. The molecular
      mechanism underlying this long-range interaction between the blocker-binding site
      in the pore and voltage sensors remains poorly understood. Here, using scanning
      mutagenesis in combination with voltage clamp fluorimetry, we systematically
      evaluate the role of the internal gating interface of domain III of the sodium
      channel. We find that several mutations in the S4-S5 linker and S5 and S6 helices
      dramatically reduce the stabilizing effect of lidocaine on the activation of
      domain III voltage sensor without significantly altering use-dependent block at
      saturating drug concentrations. In the wild-type skeletal muscle sodium channel,
      local anesthetic block is accompanied by a 21% reduction in the total gating
      charge. In contrast, point mutations in this critical intracellular region reduce
      this charge modification by local anesthetics. Our analysis of a simple model
      suggests that these mutations in the gating interface are likely to disrupt the
      various coupling interactions between the voltage sensor and the pore of the
      sodium channel. These findings provide a molecular framework for understanding
      the mechanisms underlying allosteric interactions between a drug-binding site and
      voltage sensors.

PMID- 20937694
TI  - Voltage-dependent inactivation gating at the selectivity filter of the MthK K+
      channel.
AB  - Voltage-dependent K(+) channels can undergo a gating process known as C-type
      inactivation, which involves entry into a nonconducting state through
      conformational changes near the channel's selectivity filter. C-type inactivation
      may involve movements of transmembrane voltage sensor domains, although the
      mechanisms underlying this form of inactivation may be heterogeneous and are
      often unclear. Here, we report on a form of voltage-dependent inactivation gating
      observed in MthK, a prokaryotic K(+) channel that lacks a canonical voltage
      sensor and may thus provide a reduced system to inform on mechanism. In single
      channel recordings, we observe that Po decreases with depolarization, with a half
      maximal voltage of 96 +/- 3 mV. This gating is kinetically distinct from blockade
      by internal Ca(2+) or Ba(2+), suggesting that it may arise from an intrinsic
      inactivation mechanism. Inactivation gating was shifted toward more positive
      voltages by increasing external [K(+)] (47 mV per 10-fold increase in [K(+)]),
      suggesting that K(+) binding at the extracellular side of the channel stabilizes
      the open-conductive state. The open-conductive state was stabilized by other
      external cations, and selectivity of the stabilizing site followed the sequence:
      K(+) ~ Rb(+) > Cs(+) > Na(+) > Li(+) ~ NMG(+). Selectivity of the stabilizing
      site is weaker than that of sites that determine permeability of these ions,
      suggesting that the site may lie toward the external end of the MthK selectivity
      filter. We could describe MthK gating over a wide range of positive voltages and
      external [K(+)] using kinetic schemes in which the open-conductive state is
      stabilized by K(+) binding to a site that is not deep within the electric field,
      with the voltage dependence of inactivation arising from both voltage-dependent
      K(+) dissociation and transitions between nonconducting (inactivated) states.
      These results provide a quantitative working hypothesis for voltage-dependent,
      K(+)-sensitive inactivation gating, a property that may be common to other K(+)
      channels.

PMID- 20937695
TI  - The scaffolding protein EBP50 regulates microvillar assembly in a phosphorylation
      dependent manner.
AB  - The mechanisms by which epithelial cells regulate the presence of microvilli on
      their apical surface are largely unknown. A potential regulator is EBP50/NHERF1
      (ERM-binding phosphoprotein of 50 kD/Na(+)-H(+) exchanger regulatory factor), a
      microvillar scaffolding protein with two PDZ domains followed by a C-terminal
      ezrin-binding domain. Using RNAi and expression of RNAi-resistant EBP50 mutants
      we systematically show that EBP50 is necessary for microvillar assembly and
      requires that EBP50 has both a functional first PDZ domain and an ezrin-binding
      site. Expression of mutants mimicking Cdc2 or PKC phosphorylation are
      nonfunctional in microvillar assembly. Biochemical analysis reveals that these
      mutants are defective in PDZ1 accessibility when PDZ2 is occupied, and can be
      rendered functional in vivo by additional mutation of PDZ2. EBP50 is not
      necessary for mitotic cell microvilli, and PKC activation causes a rearrangement
      of microvilli on cells due to phosphorylation-dependent loss of EBP50 function.
      Thus, EBP50 is a critical factor that regulates microvilli assembly and whose
      activity is regulated by signaling pathways and occupation of its PDZ2 domain.

PMID- 20937696
TI  - Release of Mps1 from kinetochores is crucial for timely anaphase onset.
AB  - Mps1 kinase activity is required for proper chromosome segregation during mitosis
      through its involvements in microtubule-chromosome attachment error correction
      and the mitotic checkpoint. Mps1 dynamically exchanges on unattached kinetochores
      but is largely removed from kinetochores in metaphase. Here we show that Mps1
      promotes its own turnover at kinetochores and that removal of Mps1 upon
      chromosome biorientation is a prerequisite for mitotic checkpoint silencing.
      Inhibition of Mps1 activity increases its half-time of recovery at unattached
      kinetochores and causes accumulation of Mps1 protein at these sites. Strikingly,
      preventing dissociation of active Mps1 from kinetochores delays anaphase onset
      despite normal chromosome attachment and alignment, and high interkinetochore
      tension. This delay is marked by continued recruitment of Mad1 and Mad2 to
      bioriented chromosomes and is attenuated by Mad2 depletion, indicating chronic
      engagement of the mitotic checkpoint in metaphase. We propose that release of
      Mps1 from kinetochores is essential for mitotic checkpoint silencing and a fast
      metaphase-to-anaphase transition.

PMID- 20937697
TI  - Aurora B kinase controls the targeting of the Astrin-SKAP complex to bioriented
      kinetochores.
AB  - During mitosis, kinetochores play multiple roles to generate interactions with
      microtubules, and direct chromosome congression, biorientation, error correction,
      and anaphase segregation. However, it is unclear what changes at the kinetochore
      facilitate these distinct activities. Here, we describe a complex of the spindle-
      and kinetochore-associated protein Astrin, the small kinetochore-associated
      protein (SKAP), and the dynein light chain LC8. Although most dynein-associated
      proteins localize to unaligned kinetochores in an Aurora B-dependent manner,
      Astrin, SKAP, and LC8 localization is antagonized by Aurora B such that they
      target exclusively to bioriented kinetochores. Astrin-SKAP-depleted cells fail to
      maintain proper chromosome alignment, resulting in a spindle assembly checkpoint
      dependent mitotic delay. Consistent with a role in stabilizing bioriented
      attachments, Astrin and SKAP bind directly to microtubules and are required for
      CLASP localization to kinetochores. In total, our results suggest that tension
      dependent Aurora B phosphorylation can act to control outer kinetochore
      composition to provide distinct activities to prometaphase and metaphase
      kinetochores.

PMID- 20937698
TI  - Rescue of myogenic defects in Rb-deficient cells by inhibition of autophagy or by
      hypoxia-induced glycolytic shift.
AB  - The retinoblastoma tumor suppressor (pRb) is thought to orchestrate terminal
      differentiation by inhibiting cell proliferation and apoptosis and stimulating
      lineage-specific transcription factors. In this study, we show that in the
      absence of pRb, differentiating primary myoblasts fuse to form short myotubes
      that never twitch and degenerate via a nonapoptotic mechanism. The shortened
      myotubes exhibit an impaired mitochondrial network, mitochondrial perinuclear
      aggregation, autophagic degradation, and reduced adenosine triphosphate
      production. Bcl-2 and autophagy inhibitors restore mitochondrial function and
      rescue muscle degeneration, leading to formation of long, twitching myotubes that
      express normal levels of muscle-specific proteins and stably exit the cell cycle.
      A hypoxia-induced glycolytic switch also rescues the myogenic defect after either
      chronic or acute inactivation of Rb in a hypoxia-inducible factor-1 (HIF-1)
      dependent manner. These results demonstrate that pRb is required to inhibit
      apoptosis in myoblasts and autophagy in myotubes but not to activate the
      differentiation program, and they also reveal a novel link between pRb and cell
      metabolism.

PMID- 20937699
TI  - RAD18-mediated ubiquitination of PCNA activates the Fanconi anemia DNA repair
      network.
AB  - The Fanconi anemia (FA) network is important for the repair of interstrand DNA
      cross-links. A key event in FA pathway activation is the monoubiquitylation of
      the FA complementation group I (FANCI)-FANCD2 (ID) complex by FA complementation
      group L (FANCL), an E3 ubiquitin ligase. In this study, we show that RAD18,
      another DNA damage-activated E3 ubiquitin ligase, also participates in ID complex
      activation by ubiquitylating proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) on Lys164,
      an event required for the recruitment of FANCL to chromatin. We also found that
      monoubiquitylated PCNA stimulates FANCL-catalyzed FANCD2 and FANCI
      monoubiquitylation. Collectively, these experiments identify RAD18-mediated PCNA
      monoubiquitination as a central hub for the mobilization of the FA pathway by
      promoting FANCL-mediated FANCD2 monoubiquitylation.

PMID- 20937700
TI  - Functional central spindle assembly requires de novo microtubule generation in
      the interchromosomal region during anaphase.
AB  - The central spindle forms between segregating chromosomes during anaphase and is
      required for cytokinesis. Although anaphase-specific bundling and stabilization
      of interpolar microtubules (MTs) contribute to formation of the central spindle,
      it remains largely unknown how these MTs are prepared. Using live imaging of MT
      plus ends and an MT depolymerization and regrowth assay, we show that de novo MT
      generation in the interchromosomal region during anaphase is important for
      central spindle formation in human cells. Generation of interchromosomal MTs and
      subsequent formation of the central spindle occur independently of preanaphase
      MTs or centrosomal MT nucleation but require augmin, a protein complex implicated
      in nucleation of noncentrosomal MTs during preanaphase. MTs generated in a
      hepatoma up-regulated protein (HURP)-dependent manner during anaphase also
      contribute to central spindle formation redundantly with preanaphase MTs. Based
      on these results, a new model for central spindle assembly is proposed.

PMID- 20937702
TI  - Tim3 binding to galectin-9 stimulates antimicrobial immunity.
AB  - T cell immunoglobulin and mucin domain 3 (Tim3) is a negative regulatory molecule
      that inhibits effector T(H)1-type responses. Such inhibitory signals prevent
      unintended tissue inflammation, but can be detrimental if they lead to premature
      T cell exhaustion. Although the role of Tim3 in autoimmunity has been extensively
      studied, whether Tim3 regulates antimicrobial immunity has not been explored.
      Here, we show that Tim3 expressed on T(H)1 cells interacts with its ligand,
      galectin-9 (Gal9), which is expressed by Mycobacterium tuberculosis-infected
      macrophages to restrict intracellular bacterial growth. Tim3-Gal9 interaction
      leads to macrophage activation and stimulates bactericidal activity by inducing
      caspase-1-dependent IL-1beta secretion. We propose that the T(H)1 cell surface
      molecule Tim3 has evolved to inhibit growth of intracellular pathogens via its
      ligand Gal9, which in turn inhibits expansion of effector T(H)1 cells to prevent
      further tissue inflammation.

PMID- 20937701
TI  - Family-wide characterization of the DENN domain Rab GDP-GTP exchange factors.
AB  - A key requirement for Rab function in membrane trafficking is site-specific
      activation by GDP-GTP exchange factors (GEFs), but the majority of the 63 human
      Rabs have no known GEF. We have performed a systematic characterization of the 17
      human DENN domain proteins and demonstrated that they are specific GEFs for 10
      Rabs. DENND1A/1B localize to clathrin patches at the plasma membrane and activate
      Rab35 in an endocytic pathway trafficking Shiga toxin to the trans-Golgi network.
      DENND2 GEFs target to actin filaments and control Rab9-dependent trafficking of
      mannose-6-phosphate receptor to lysosomes. DENND4 GEFs target to a tubular
      membrane compartment adjacent to the Golgi, where they activate Rab10, which
      suggests a function in basolateral polarized sorting in epithelial cells that
      compliments the non-DENN GEF Sec2 acting on Rab8 in apical sorting. DENND1C,
      DENND3, DENND5A/5B, MTMR5/13, and MADD activate Rab13, Rab12, Rab39, Rab28, and
      Rab27A/27B, respectively. Together, these findings provide a basis for future
      studies on Rab regulation and function.

PMID- 20937703
TI  - Tbata modulates thymic stromal cell proliferation and thymus function.
AB  - Niche availability provided by stromal cells is critical to thymus function.
      Thymi with diminished function contain fewer stromal cells, whereas thymi with
      robust function contain proliferating stromal cell populations. Here, we show
      that the thymus, brain, and testes-associated gene (Tbata; also known as SPATIAL)
      regulates thymic epithelial cell (TEC) proliferation and thymus size. Tbata is
      expressed in thymic stromal cells and interacts with the enzyme Uba3, thereby
      inhibiting the Nedd8 pathway and cell proliferation. Thymi from aged Tbata
      deficient mice are larger and contain more dividing TECs than wild-type
      littermate controls. In addition, thymic reconstitution after bone marrow
      transplantation occurred more rapidly in Rag2(-/-)Tbata(-/-) mice than in Rag2(-/
      )Tbata(+/+) littermate controls. These findings suggest that Tbata modulates
      thymus function by regulating stromal cell proliferation via the Nedd8 pathway.

PMID- 20937704
TI  - Filamin A regulates focal adhesion disassembly and suppresses breast cancer cell
      migration and invasion.
AB  - The actin cross-linking protein filamin A (FLNa) functions as a scaffolding
      protein and couples cell cytoskeleton to extracellular matrix and integrin
      receptor signaling. In this study, we report that FLNa suppresses invasion of
      breast cancer cells and regulates focal adhesion (FA) turnover. Two large
      progression tissue microarrays from breast cancer patients revealed a significant
      decrease of FLNa levels in tissues from invasive breast cancer compared with
      benign disease and in lymph node-positive compared with lymph node-negative
      breast cancer. In breast cancer cells and orthotopic mouse breast cancer models,
      down-regulation of FLNa stimulated cancer cell migration, invasion, and
      metastasis formation. Time-lapse microscopy and biochemical assays after FLNa
      silencing and rescue with wild-type or mutant protein resistant to calpain
      cleavage revealed that FLNa regulates FA disassembly at the leading edge of
      motile cells. Moreover, FLNa down-regulation enhanced calpain activity through
      the mitogen-activated protein kinase-extracellular signal-regulated kinase
      cascade and stimulated the cleavage of FA proteins. These results document a
      regulation of FA dynamics by FLNa in breast cancer cells.

PMID- 20937705
TI  - The innate immune system in host mice targets cells with allogenic mitochondrial
      DNA.
AB  - Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) has been proposed to be involved in respiratory
      function, and mtDNA mutations have been associated with aging, tumors, and
      various disorders, but the effects of mtDNA imported into transplants from
      different individuals or aged subjects have been unclear. We examined this issue
      by generating trans-mitochondrial tumor cells and embryonic stem cells that
      shared the syngenic C57BL/6 (B6) strain-derived nuclear DNA background but
      possessed mtDNA derived from allogenic mouse strains. We demonstrate that
      transplants with mtDNA from the NZB/B1NJ strain were rejected from the host B6
      mice, not by the acquired immune system but by the innate immune system. This
      rejection was caused partly by NK cells and involved a MyD88-dependent pathway.
      These results introduce novel roles of mtDNA and innate immunity in tumor
      immunology and transplantation medicine.

PMID- 20937706
TI  - Cyclin-dependent kinase 5 activity is required for T cell activation and
      induction of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis.
AB  - Cyclin-dependent kinase 5 (Cdk5) is a ubiquitously expressed serine/threonine
      kinase. However, a requirement for Cdk5 has been demonstrated only in postmitotic
      neurons where there is abundant expression of its activating partners p35 and/or
      p39. Although hyperactivation of the Cdk5-p35 complex has been found in a variety
      of inflammatory neurodegenerative disorders, the potential contribution of
      nonneuronal Cdk5-p35 activity has not been explored in this context. We describe
      a previously unknown function of the Cdk5-p35 complex in T cells that is required
      for induction of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). T cell receptor
      (TCR) stimulation leads to a rapid induction of Cdk5-p35 expression that is
      required for T lymphocyte activation. Chimeric mice lacking Cdk5 gene expression
      in hematopoietic tissues (Cdk5(-/-C)) are resistant to induction of EAE, and
      adoptive transfer of either Cdk5(-/-C) or p35(-/-) encephalitogenic lymphocytes
      fails to transfer disease. Moreover, our data reveal a novel mechanism involving
      Cdk5-mediated phosphorylation of the actin modulator coronin 1a on threonine 418.
      Cdk5-deficient lymphocytes lack this posttranslational modification of coronin 1a
      and exhibit defective TCR-induced actin polarization and reduced migration toward
      CCL-19. These data define a distinct role for Cdk5 in lymphocyte biology and
      suggest that inhibition of this kinase may be beneficial in the treatment of T
      cell-mediated inflammatory disorders.

PMID- 20937707
TI  - Patterns of residential crowding among Hispanics in later life: immigration,
      assimilation, and housing market factors.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We describe patterns of residential crowding among older Hispanics and
      non-Hispanic Whites. We also examine hypotheses about the relationship of
      residential crowding with assimilation (language and duration of residence) and
      housing market characteristics. METHODS: We employ a multilevel research design,
      using data from the 2000 U.S. Census of Population. Hierarchical linear models
      are utilized to estimate the association between residential crowding and both
      individual and housing market factors. RESULTS: Approximately one third of older
      Hispanics in metropolitan areas live in crowded housing compared with only one
      tenth of older non-Hispanic Whites. Foreign-born older persons report higher
      levels of crowding than U.S.-born older persons. Residential crowding differences
      between older Hispanics and non-Hispanics are not eliminated after controls are
      included. Older Hispanics who report better English language skills and a longer
      duration of residence in the United States live in less crowded housing. We do
      not find evidence for a relationship between crowding and residential
      segregation, but we find consistent evidence for an association between
      residential crowding and relative size of the Hispanic population. DISCUSSION:
      The forces that shape household composition and access to housing among older
      Hispanics appear to result in higher levels of residential crowding for this
      population.

PMID- 20937708
TI  - Alcohol consumption and domain-specific cognitive function in older adults:
      longitudinal data from the Johns Hopkins Precursors Study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The association of alcohol consumption with performance in different
      cognitive domains has not been well studied. METHODS: The Johns Hopkins
      Precursors Study was used to examine associations between prospectively collected
      information about alcohol consumption ascertained on multiple occasions starting
      at age 55 years on average with domain-specific cognition at age 72 years.
      Cognitive variables measured phonemic and semantic fluency, attention, verbal
      memory, and global cognition. RESULTS: Controlling for age, hypertension, smoking
      status, sex, and other cognitive variables, higher average weekly quantity and
      frequency of alcohol consumed in midlife were associated with lower phonemic
      fluency. There were no associations with four other measures of cognitive
      function. With respect to frequency of alcohol intake, phonemic fluency was
      significantly better among those who drank three to four alcoholic beverages per
      week as compared with daily or almost daily drinkers. A measure of global
      cognition was not associated with alcohol intake at any point over the follow-up.
      DISCUSSION: Results suggest that higher alcohol consumption in midlife may impair
      some components of executive function in late life.

PMID- 20937709
TI  - A low fluence Q-switched Nd:YAG laser modifies the 3D structure of melanocyte and
      ultrastructure of melanosome by subcellular-selective photothermolysis.
AB  - Laser treatment using low fluence for melasma was previously introduced to
      overcome postinflammatory hypermelanosis after Q-switched laser therapy. However,
      research on the mechanism of this treatment is very limited. In this study, a
      collimated low fluence 1064 nm Q-switched Nd:YAG laser with a pulse width of <7
      ns was applied using top-hat beam mode. The aim of this study was to investigate
      the mode of action of this laser treatment through electron microscopy. The
      effectiveness of this treatment was confirmed by clinical photos, melasma area
      and severity index and spectrophotometer. To understand the mode of action, the
      three-dimensional structure of melanocytes in the epidermis was analyzed using
      serial images acquired by a 3VIEW surface block face scanning electron
      microscope. In the epidermis, after laser treatment, fewer dendrites in the
      melanocytes were observed compared with pretreatment. In addition,
      ultrastructural changes in the melanosome were studied using transmission
      electron microscopy, which showed that laser treatment caused selective
      photothermolysis on Stage IV melanosome. Therefore, this treatment should be
      regarded as an effective method for treating melasma through subcellular
      selective photothermolysis.

PMID- 20937710
TI  - Phenotypic distinctions between neural crest and placodal derived vagal C-fibres
      in mouse lungs.
AB  - Two major types of nociceptors have been described in dorsal root ganglia (DRGs).
      In comparison, little is known about the vagal nociceptor subtypes. The vagus
      nerves provide much of the capsaicin-sensitive nociceptive innervation to
      visceral tissues, and are likely to contribute to the overall pathophysiology of
      visceral inflammatory diseases. The cell bodies of these afferent nerves are
      located in the vagal sensory ganglia referred to as nodose and jugular ganglia.
      Neurons of the nodose ganglion are derived from the epibranchial placodes,
      whereas jugular ganglion neurons are derived from the neural crest. In the adult
      mouse, however, there is often only a single ganglionic structure situated alone
      in the vagus nerve. By employing Wnt1Cre/R26R mice, which express beta
      galactosidase only in neural crest derived neurons, we found that this single
      vagal sensory ganglion is a fused ganglion consisting of both neural crest
      neurons in the rostral portion and non-neural crest (nodose) neurons in the more
      central and caudal portions of the structure. Based on their activation and gene
      expression profiles, we identified two major vagal capsaicin-sensitive nociceptor
      phenotypes, which innervated a defined target, namely the lung in adult mice. One
      subtype is non-peptidergic, placodal in origin, expresses P2X2 and P2X3
      receptors, responds to alpha,beta-methylene ATP, and expresses TRKB, GFRalpha1
      and RET. The other phenotype is derived from the cranial neural crest and does
      not express P2X2 receptors and fails to respond to alpha,beta-methylene ATP. This
      population can be further subdivided into two phenotypes, a peptidergic TRKA(+)
      and GFRalpha3(+) subpopulation, and a non-peptidergic TRKB(+) and GFRalpha1(+)
      subpopulation. Consistent with their similar embryonic origin, the TRPV1
      expressing neurons in the rostral dorsal root ganglia were more similar to
      jugular than nodose vagal neurons. The data support the hypothesis that vagal
      nociceptors innervating visceral tissues comprise at least two major subtypes.
      Due to distinctions in their gene expression profile, each type will respond to
      noxious or inflammatory conditions in their own unique manner.

PMID- 20937711
TI  - Sympathetic neural activation: an ordered affair.
AB  - Is there an ordered pattern in the recruitment of postganglionic sympathetic
      neurones? Using new multi-unit action potential detection and analysis techniques
      we sought to determine whether the activation of sympathetic vasomotor neurones
      during stress is governed by the size principle of recruitment. Multi-unit
      postganglionic sympathetic activity (fibular nerve) was collected from five male
      subjects at rest and during periods of elevated sympathetic stress (end
      inspiratory apnoeas; 178 +/- 37 s(mean +/- S.D.)). Compared to baseline (0.24 +/-
      0.04 V), periods of elevated stress resulted in augmented sympathetic burst size
      (1.34 +/- 0.38 V, P < 0.05). Increased burst size was directly related to both
      the number of action potentials within a multi-unit burst of postganglionic
      sympathetic activity (r = 0.88 +/- 0.04, P < 0.001 in all subjects), and the
      amplitude of detected action potentials (r = 0.88 +/- 0.06, P < 0.001 in all
      subjects). The recruitment of larger, otherwise silent, neurons accounted for
      approximately 74% of the increase in detected action potentials across burst
      sizes. Further, action potential conduction velocities (inverse of latencies)
      were increased as a function of action potential size (R2 = 0.936, P = 0.001). As
      axon diameter is positively correlated with action potential size and conduction
      velocity, these data suggest that the principle of ordered recruitment based on
      neuronal size applies to postganglionic sympathetic vasomotor neurones. This
      information may be pertinent to our understanding of reflex-specific recruitment
      strategies in postganglionic sympathetic nerves, patterns of vasomotor control
      during stress, and the malleability of sympathetic neuronal properties and
      recruitment in health and disease.

PMID- 20937712
TI  - Acute hyperbilirubinaemia induces presynaptic neurodegeneration at a central
      glutamatergic synapse.
AB  - There is a well-established link between hyperbilirubinaemia and hearing loss in
      paediatrics, but the cellular mechanisms have not been elucidated. Here we used
      the Gunn rat model of hyperbilirubinaemia to investigate bilirubin-induced
      hearing loss. In vivo auditory brainstem responses revealed that Gunn rats have
      severe auditory deficits within 18 h of exposure to high bilirubin levels. Using
      an in vitro preparation of the auditory brainstem from these rats, extracellular
      multi-electrode array recording from the medial nucleus of the trapezoid body
      (MNTB) showed longer latency and decreased amplitude of evoked field potentials
      following bilirubin exposure, suggestive of transmission failure at this synaptic
      relay. Whole-cell patch-clamp recordings confirmed that the electrophysiological
      properties of the postsynaptic MNTB neurons were unaffected by bilirubin, with no
      change in action potential waveforms or current-voltage relationships. However,
      stimulation of the trapezoid body was unable to elicit large calyceal EPSCs in
      MNTB neurons of hyperbilirubinaemic rats, indicative of damage at a presynaptic
      site. Multi-photon imaging of anterograde-labelled calyceal projections revealed
      axonal staining and presynaptic profiles around MNTB principal neuron somata.
      Following induction of hyperbilirubinaemia the giant synapses were largely
      destroyed. Electron microscopy confirmed loss of presynaptic calyceal terminals
      and supported the electrophysiological evidence for healthy postsynaptic neurons.
      MNTB neurons express high levels of neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS). Nitric
      oxide has been implicated in mechanisms of bilirubin toxicity elsewhere in the
      brain, and antagonism of nNOS by 7-nitroindazole protected hearing during
      bilirubin exposure. We conclude that bilirubin-induced deafness is caused by
      degeneration of excitatory synaptic terminals in the auditory brainstem.

PMID- 20937713
TI  - Cellular mechanisms underlying temporal changes in skeletal muscle protein
      synthesis and breakdown during chronic {beta}-adrenoceptor stimulation in mice.
AB  - Chronic stimulation of beta-adrenoceptors with beta-adrenoceptor agonists (beta
      agonists) can induce substantial skeletal muscle hypertrophy, but the mechanisms
      mediating this muscle growth have yet to be elucidated. We investigated whether
      chronic beta-adrenoceptor stimulation in mice with the beta-agonist formoterol
      alters the muscle anabolic response following beta-adrenoceptor stimulation.
      Twelve-week-old C57BL/6 mice were treated for up to 28 days with a once-daily
      injection of either saline (control, n = 9) or formoterol (100 MUg kg-1; n = 9).
      Rates of muscle protein synthesis were assessed at either 1, 7 or 28 days of
      treatment, 6 h after injection. Protein synthesis rates were higher in formoterol
      treated mice at day 7 (~1.5-fold, P < 0.05), but not at day 1 or 28. The
      increased muscle protein synthesis was associated with increased phosphorylation
      of S6K1 (r = 0.49, P < 0.01). Formoterol treatment acutely reduced maximal
      calpain activity by ~25% (P < 0.05) but did not affect atrogin-1 protein levels
      and proteasome-mediated proteolytic activity, despite significantly enhanced
      phosphorylation of Akt (P < 0.05). Formoterol increased CREB phosphorylation by
      ~30% (P < 0.05) and PPARgamma coactivator-1alpha (PGC-1alpha) by 11-fold (P <
      0.05) on day 1 only. These observations identify that formoterol treatment
      induces muscle anabolism, by reducing calpain activity and by enhancing protein
      synthesis via increased PI-3 kinase/Akt signalling.

PMID- 20937714
TI  - Life of mice - development of cardiac energetics.

PMID- 20937715
TI  - Adaptation of vestibular signals for self-motion perception.
AB  - A fundamental concern of the brain is to establish the spatial relationship
      between self and the world to allow purposeful action. Response adaptation to
      unvarying sensory stimuli is a common feature of neural processing, both
      peripherally and centrally. For the semicircular canals, peripheral adaptation of
      the canal-cupula system to constant angular-velocity stimuli dominates the
      picture and masks central adaptation. Here we ask whether galvanic vestibular
      stimulation circumvents peripheral adaptation and, if so, does it reveal central
      adaptive processes. Transmastoidal bipolar galvanic stimulation and platform
      rotation (20 deg s-1) were applied separately and held constant for 2 min while
      perceived rotation was measured by verbal report. During real rotation, the
      perception of turn decayed from the onset of constant velocity with a mean time
      constant of 15.8 s. During galvanic-evoked virtual rotation, the perception of
      rotation initially rose but then declined towards zero over a period of ~100 s.
      For both stimuli, oppositely directed perceptions of similar amplitude were
      reported when stimulation ceased indicating signal adaptation at some level. From
      these data the time constants of three independent processes were estimated: (i)
      the peripheral canal-cupula adaptation with time constant 7.3 s, (ii) the central
      'velocity-storage' process that extends the afferent signal with time constant
      7.7 s, and (iii) a long-term adaptation with time constant 75.9 s. The first two
      agree with previous data based on constant-velocity stimuli. The third component
      decayed with the profile of a real constant angular acceleration stimulus,
      showing that the galvanic stimulus signal bypasses the peripheral transformation
      so that the brainstem sees the galvanic signal as angular acceleration. An
      adaptive process involving both peripheral and central processes is indicated.
      Signals evoked by most natural movements will decay peripherally before
      adaptation can exert an appreciable effect, making a specific vestibular
      behavioural role unlikely. This adaptation appears to be a general property of
      the internal coding of self-motion that receives information from multiple
      sensory sources and filters out the unvarying components regardless of their
      origin. In this instance of a pure vestibular sensation, it defines the afferent
      signal that represents the stationary or zero-rotation state.

PMID- 20937717
TI  - Periprocedural stroke and atrial fibrillation ablation: to do transoesophageal
      echocardiography, or not to do transoesophageal echocardiography, that is the
      question.

PMID- 20937716
TI  - Segregation of chromatic and luminance signals using a novel grating stimulus.
AB  - Segregation of chromatic and luminance signals in afferent pathways are
      investigated with a grating stimulus containing luminance and chromatic
      components of different spatial frequencies. Ganglion cell recordings were
      obtained from the retinae of macaques (Macaca fascicularis). Cell responses to
      the 'compound' gratings were compared to responses to standard chromatic and
      luminance gratings. Parvocellular (PC) pathway cell responses to compound and
      chromatic gratings were very similar, as were magnocellular (MC) cell responses
      to compound and luminance gratings. This was the case over a broad range of
      spatial and temporal frequencies and contrasts. In psychophysical experiments
      with human observers, discrimination between grating types was possible close to
      detection threshold. These results are consistent with chromatic and luminance
      structure in complex patterns being strictly localized in different afferent
      pathways. This novel stimulus may prove useful in identifying afferent inputs to
      cortical neurons.

PMID- 20937718
TI  - Sugammadex for reversal of neuromuscular block after rapid sequence intubation: a
      systematic review and economic assessment.
AB  - Sugammadex 16 mg kg-1 can be used for the immediate reversal of neuromuscular
      block 3 min after administration of rocuronium and could be used in place of
      succinylcholine for emergency intubation. We have systematically reviewed the
      efficacy and cost-effectiveness and made an economic assessment of sugammadex for
      immediate reversal. The economic assessment investigated whether sugammadex
      appears cost-effective under various assumptions about the value of any reduction
      in recovery time with sugammadex, the likelihood of a 'can't intubate, can't
      ventilate' (CICV) event, the age of the patient, and the length of the procedure.
      Three trials were included in the efficacy review. Sugammadex administered 3 or 5
      min after rocuronium produced markedly faster recovery than placebo or
      spontaneous recovery from succinylcholine-induced block. No published economic
      evaluations were found. Our economic analyses showed that sugammadex appears more
      cost-effective, where the value of any reduction in recovery time is greater,
      where the reduction in mortality compared with succinylcholine is greater, and
      where the patient is younger, for lower probabilities of a CICV event and for
      long procedures which do not require profound block throughout. Because of the
      lack of evidence, the value of some parameters remains unknown, which makes it
      difficult to provide a definitive assessment of the cost-effectiveness of
      sugammadex in practice. The use of sugammadex in combination with high-dose
      rocuronium is efficacious. Further research is needed to clarify key parameters
      in the analysis and to allow a fuller economic assessment.

PMID- 20937719
TI  - Intentional infection of vulnerable populations in 1946-1948: another tragic
      history lesson.

PMID- 20937720
TI  - Noninvasive diagnosis of electroanatomic abnormalities in arrhythmogenic right
      ventricular cardiomyopathy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The diagnostic reliability and pathophysiologic relevance of
      different noninvasive diagnostic criteria for arrhythmogenic right ventricular
      cardiomyopathy (ARVC) are undefined. We tested the association between
      noninvasive diagnostic criteria for ARVC and the presence of low-voltage areas
      (LVAs) detected at electroanatomic voltage mapping (EAM). METHODS AND RESULTS:
      Noninvasive diagnostic criteria, including ECG, signal-averaged ECG (SAECG), and
      cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) criteria, were compared with the presence and
      location of LVAs detected at right ventricular (RV) EAM in 17 patients (9 men)
      aged 50 +/- 16 years with biopsy specimen-proven ARVC. LVAs were found in 15
      (88%) patients. Patients with surface ECG abnormalities showed a higher degree of
      RV involvement than those without ECG abnormalities (number of LVAs, 1.8 +/- 0.5
      versus 0.9 +/- 0.6, respectively; P < 0.01). A significant association was found
      between SAECG abnormalities and LVAs in the RV outflow tract (P = 0.03) but not
      between SAECG parameters and LVAs in other RV regions. Among CMR findings, RV
      delayed enhancement was more significantly associated with the distribution of
      LVAs (free wall, P < 0.01; outflow tract, P < 0.01; posteroinferior wall, P =
      0.02). Regional RV dysfunction also showed a good correlation with LVAs, with the
      most significant association being found with the free wall (P = 0.01), whereas
      RV fat infiltration at CMR was not correlated with LVAs. CONCLUSION: In patients
      with ARVC, SAECG abnormalities correlate with the presence of LVAs selectively in
      the RV outflow tract, whereas surface ECG abnormalities are associated with a
      more diffuse RV involvement. Myocardial delayed enhancement is the CMR finding
      more strongly associated with LVAs, thus supporting the appropriateness of its
      inclusion among diagnostic criteria for ARVC.

PMID- 20937721
TI  - Fibrillatory conduction in the atrial free walls of goats in persistent and
      permanent atrial fibrillation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Over a time course of months, the stability of atrial fibrillation
      (AF) gradually increases and the efficacy of pharmacological cardioversion
      declines both in humans and in animal models. Changes in fibrillatory conduction
      over this period largely are unexplored. METHODS AND RESULT: Goats were
      instrumented with an atrial endocardial pacemaker lead and a burst pacemaker. AF
      was maintained for 3 weeks (short-term AF [ST], n = 10) or 6 months (long-term AF
      [LT], n = 7). AF could be cardioverted pharmacologically at the early time point
      (persistent AF), but not at the later time point (permanent AF). At follow-up, a
      high-resolution mapping electrode was used to record epicardial conduction
      patterns in the free walls of the right atrium (RA) and left atrium (LA). A new
      method for mapping of fibrillation waves was used to describe AF conduction
      patterns. Wavefronts propagated uniformly during slow pacing in both groups,
      although conduction velocity was significantly lower in the LT group (LA, 93 +/-
      14 versus 72 +/- 10 cm/s; RA, 94 +/- 8 versus 78 +/- 8 cm/s). Median AF cycle
      length (AFCL) was not significantly different between the groups. However, the LT
      group showed highly complex activation patterns during AF, with an increased
      number of simultaneously propagating waves (LT group RA, 8.4 +/- 3.0 waves/AFCL;
      LA, 12.8 +/- 2.4 waves/AFCL; versus ST group RA, 4.3 +/- 2.2 waves/AFCL; LA, 4.5
      +/- 2.5 waves/AFCL). Fibrillation waves in the LT group showed pronounced
      dissociation with large activation time differences. The incidence of waves newly
      appearing within the recording area also was increased in both atria. These
      alterations in conduction were accompanied by myocyte hypertrophy and increased
      endomysial fibrosis. CONCLUSIONS: Long-term AF in goats leads to dissociated
      conduction in the atrial free walls that may contribute to increased AF
      stability.

PMID- 20937722
TI  - Determinants of postinfarction ventricular tachycardia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Structural factors contributing to the development of postinfarction
      ventricular tachycardia (VT) are unclear. The purpose of this study was to
      analyze infarct architecture and electrogram characteristics in patients with and
      without inducible VT and to identify correlates of postinfarction VT. METHODS AND
      RESULTS: Twenty-four postinfarction patients (median age, 64 [53, 70] years) were
      referred for radiofrequency catheter ablation of VT (n = 12) or frequent
      symptomatic premature ventricular contractions (PVCs) (n = 12). Delayed-enhanced
      (DE) MRI was obtained before ablation. Electroanatomical mapping was performed
      and scar area and electrogram characteristics of the scar tissue compared in
      patients with and without inducible VT. The median ejection fraction in patients
      with and without inducible VT was 27% (22%, 43%) and 43% (40%, 47%), respectively
      (P = 0.085). Subendocardial infarct area determined by DE-MRI was larger in
      patients with inducible VT (43 [38, 62] cm(2)) than in those with noninducible VT
      (8 [4, 11] cm(2); P = 0.002), and unipolar and bipolar voltages on
      electroanatomical maps were significantly lower in patients with inducible VT
      (both P<0.05). An infarct volume of >14% identified 11 of 12 patients with
      inducible VT (area under the curve, 0.94; P = 0.007). On electroanatomical
      mapping, distinct sites with isolated potentials (IPs) were more prevalent in
      patients with inducible VT than in those without (13.2% versus 1.1% of points
      within scar; P < 0.001). The number of inducible VTs correlated with the number
      of distinct sites with IPs (R = 0.87; P<0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: Scar tissue in
      postinfarction patients with inducible VT shows quantitative and qualitative
      differences from scars in patients without inducible VT. Scar size and IPs are
      correlated with VT inducibility.

PMID- 20937723
TI  - Remote magnetic navigation with irrigated tip catheter for ablation of paroxysmal
      atrial fibrillation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The remote magnetic navigation system (MNS) has been used with a
      nonirrigated magnetic catheter for atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation. The
      objective of this study was to evaluate the feasibility and efficiency of the
      newly available irrigated tip magnetic catheter for index pulmonary vein
      isolation (PVI) in patients with paroxysmal AF (PAF). METHODS AND RESULTS:
      Between January 2008 and June 2009, 30 consecutive patients with drug-resistant
      PAF underwent circular mapping catheter-guided PVI with MNS (MNS group). The
      outcomes were compared retrospectively with those of a conventional hand
      controlled ablation technique during the same period in 44 consecutive patients
      (manual group). All 4 pulmonary veins were successfully isolated in both groups
      except in 4 patients in the MNS group. Radiofrequency and procedure duration were
      higher in the MNS group (60 +/- 27 versus 43 +/- 16 minutes; P = 0.0019) than in
      the manual group (246 +/- 50 versus 153 +/- 51 minutes; P < 0.0001). In the
      patients who underwent only PVI, total fluoroscopic time also was longer in the
      MNS group than in the manual group (58 +/- 24 versus 40 +/- 14 minutes; P =
      0.0002). At 12-month follow-up after a single procedure, 69.0% of the patients in
      MNS group and 61.8% of patients in manual group were free of atrial
      tachyarrhythmia without antiarrhythmic drugs. There was no significant difference
      in the atrial tachyarrhythmia-free survival between the 2 groups (P = 0.961).
      Cardiac tamponade occurred in 1 patient in the manual group. CONCLUSIONS: In
      patients with PAF, MNS-guided PVI with the newly available irrigated tip magnetic
      catheter backed up with manual ablation whenever required is feasible. However,
      it requires longer ablation, fluoroscopy, and procedural times than the
      conventional approach in the early experience stage.

PMID- 20937724
TI  - Manganese induces tau hyperphosphorylation through the activation of ERK MAPK
      pathway in PC12 cells.
AB  - Manganese has long been known to induce neurological degenerative disorders.
      Emerging evidence indicates that hyperphosphorylated tau is associated with
      neurodegenerative diseases, but whether such hyperphosphorylation plays a role in
      manganese-induced neurotoxicity remains unclear. To fill this gap, we
      investigated the effects of manganese on tau phosphorylation in PC12 cells. In
      our present research, treatment of cells with manganese increased the
      phosphorylation of tau at Ser199, Ser202, Ser396, and Ser404 as detected by
      Western blot. Moreover, this manganese-induced tau phosphorylation paralleled the
      activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) mitogen-activated
      protein kinase (MAPK). The mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase-1 (MEK1)
      inhibitor PD98059, which inhibits the activation of ERK MAPK, partially
      attenuated manganese-induced tau hyperphosphorylation and cytotoxicity. Moreover,
      the activation of ERK MAPK was involved in the activation of glycogen synthase
      kinase-3beta (GSK-3beta) kinase, which also contributed to the
      hyperphosphorylation of tau and the cytotoxicity in PC12 cells induced by
      manganese. Taken together, we found for the first time that the exposure to
      manganese can cause the hyperphosphorylation of tau, which may be connected with
      the activation of ERK MAPK.

PMID- 20937725
TI  - Developmental immunotoxicology assessment of rituximab in cynomolgus monkeys.
AB  - Rituximab is a chimeric murine/human-engineered immunoglobulin (Ig) G1 anti-CD20
      monoclonal antibody, selectively depleting CD20-expressing cells in peripheral
      blood and lymphoid tissues. As part of the rituximab registration-enabling
      program for rheumatoid arthritis, cynomolgus monkey embryo-fetal development and
      pre- and postnatal developmental toxicity studies were performed. In both
      studies, female cynomolgus monkeys were administered rituximab iv at doses of
      0/0, 15/20, 37.5/50, and 75/100 mg/kg (loading dose/study dose) from gestation
      day (GD) 20 to 50 for the embryo-fetal development study and GD 20 to postpartum
      (pp) day 28 for the pre- and postnatal study. In the embryo-fetal development
      study, although maternal dosing ended during the first trimester at GD 50,
      placental transfer of rituximab to fetuses was demonstrated at GD 100.
      Consequently, fetuses demonstrated B-cell depletion in lymphoid tissues at GD
      100. Repletion of B cells was demonstrated in infants in a follow-up pre- and
      postnatal study following fetal and neonatal exposure. In the pre- and postnatal
      study, despite B-cell depletion, there was no significant functional consequence
      on the infant's ability to mount T-cell-dependent antibody responses following
      vaccination or antigenic challenge. Overall, rituximab was well tolerated at
      maximum feasible doses up to 100 mg/kg in pregnant cynomolgus monkeys and their
      infants after exposure from the period of organogenesis throughout pregnancy,
      parturition, and postnatal development. Importantly, the preclinical data have
      been concordant with the clinical data in children for cases where rituximab was
      administered during pregnancy.

PMID- 20937727
TI  - Neuronal circuits involved in the middle-ear acoustic reflex.
AB  - Human and animal studies have shown that certain aromatic solvents such as
      toluene can cause hearing loss and can exacerbate the effects of noise. The
      latter effects might be due to a modification of responses of motoneurons
      controlling the middle-ear acoustic reflex. In the present investigation, the
      audition of Long-Evans rats was evaluated by measuring cubic (2f1 - f2)
      distortion otoacoustic emissions (f1 = 8000 Hz; f2 = 9600 Hz; f1/f2 = 1.2) prior
      to, during, and after activation of the middle-ear acoustic reflex. A noise
      suppressor was used to modify the amplitude of the 2f1 - f2 distortion
      otoacoustic emissions. It was delivered either contralaterally (band noise
      centered at 4 kHz), or ipsilaterally (3.5 kHz sine wave) to test the role played
      by the central auditory nuclei. This audiometric approach was used to study the
      physiological efficiency of the middle-ear acoustic reflex during an injection of
      a bolus of Intralipid (as a vehicle) containing 58.4, 87.4, or 116.2mM toluene
      via the carotid artery. The results showed that toluene could either increase or
      decrease middle-ear acoustic reflex efficiency, depending on the toluene
      concentration and the ear receiving noise suppressor. A new neuronal circuit of
      the middle-ear acoustic reflex has been proposed to explain findings obtained in
      this investigation. Finally, the depressing action of toluene on the central
      auditory nuclei driving the middle-ear acoustic reflex might explain the
      synergistic effects of a co-exposure to noise and aromatic solvents.

PMID- 20937726
TI  - Carcinogenic effects of "whole-life" exposure to inorganic arsenic in CD1 mice.
AB  - In a previously developed mouse model, arsenic exposure in utero induces tumors
      at multiple sites in the offspring as adults, often duplicating human targets.
      However, human environmental inorganic arsenic exposure occurs during the entire
      life span, not just part of gestation. Thus, "whole-life" inorganic arsenic
      carcinogenesis in mice was studied. CD1 mice were exposed to 0, 6, 12, or 24 ppm
      arsenic in the drinking water 2 weeks prior to breeding, during pregnancy,
      lactation, and after weaning through adulthood. Tumors were assessed in offspring
      until 2 years of age. Arsenic induced dose-related increases in lung
      adenocarcinoma (both sexes), hepatocellular carcinoma (both sexes), gallbladder
      tumors (males), and uterine carcinomas. Arsenic induced dose-related increases in
      ovarian tumors (including carcinomas) starting with the lowest dose. Adrenal
      tumors increased at all doses (both sexes). Arsenic-induced lung and liver
      cancers were highly enriched for cancer stem cells, consistent with prior work
      with skin cancers stimulated by prenatal arsenic. Reproductive tract tumors
      overexpressed cyclooxygenase-2 and estrogen receptor-alpha. Arsenic target sites
      were remarkably similar to prior transplacental studies, although tumors from
      whole-life exposure were generally more aggressive and frequent. This may
      indicate that arsenic-induced events in utero dictate target site in some
      tissues, whereas other exposure periods of arsenic enhance incidence or
      progression, though other factors could be at play, like cumulative dose. Whole
      life arsenic exposure induced tumors at dramatically lower external doses than in
      utero arsenic only while more realistically duplicating human exposure.

PMID- 20937729
TI  - Sugar signalling is involved in the sex expression response of monoecious
      cucumber to low temperature.
AB  - This study aimed to investigate how low temperature alters the sex expression of
      monoecious cucumbers (Cucumis sativus L.). Plants were grown under different
      day/night temperature regimes, 28  degrees C/18  degrees C (12 h/12 h), 18 
      degrees C/12  degrees C, 28  degrees C/12  degrees C, and 28  degrees C/(6 h 18 
      degrees C+6 h 12  degrees C). It was found that plant femaleness is highest in
      the 28  degrees C/(6 h 18  degrees C+6 h 12  degrees C) treatment. Analysis of
      endogenous phytohormones and sugars in the shoot apex revealed that plant
      femaleness is positively correlated with the levels of ethylene, abscisic acid
      (ABA), glucose, and sucrose. Exogenous application experiments suggest that ABA
      and ethylene biosynthesis, as well as plant femaleness, was enhanced by glucose,
      sucrose, and mannose, but not by 3-O-methylglucose. Exogenous ABA had no
      significant effect on ethylene biosynthesis and plant femaleness. Both low
      temperature- and sugar-induced ABA biosynthesis, ethylene evolution, and plant
      femaleness can be antagonized by the hexokinase inhibitor glucosamine and the ABA
      biosynthesis inhibitor nordihydroguaiaretic acid. It is concluded that the
      enhancement of cucumber femaleness under various temperature regimes is induced
      by elevated levels of glucose and sucrose in the shoot apex through a sugar
      signalling pathway involving hexokinase.

PMID- 20937728
TI  - Gender, social support, and depression in criminal justice-involved adolescents.
AB  - Knowing where criminal justice-involved teens look for support and whether those
      supports reduce depression has important and possibly gender-specific treatment
      implications for this vulnerable population. This study examines the
      relationships between social support and depression in a mixed-gender sample of
      198 incarcerated adolescents. Greater support from families and overall and
      greater satisfaction with supports predicted lower depression for boys and girls.
      Support from siblings and extended family strongly predicted lower depression;
      support from parents and from friends was either not related or only weakly
      related to depression. Girls reported higher levels of depression, more support
      from friends and extended family, and less support from parents than did boys.
      Family, sibling, and overall support were stronger predictors of depression for
      girls than for boys. Results suggest that nonparent family members, especially
      siblings and extended family, provide important emotional resources for teens in
      the criminal justice system.

PMID- 20937730
TI  - Mechanistic study of mitochondria-dependent programmed cell death induced by
      aluminium phytotoxicity using fluorescence techniques.
AB  - Recent studies have suggested that aluminium (Al) induces programmed cell death
      (PCD) in plants. To investigate possible mechanisms, fluorescence techniques were
      used to monitor the behaviour of mitochondria in vivo, as well as the activation
      of caspase-3-like activity during protoplast PCD induced by Al. A quick burst of
      mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (ROS) was detected in Al-treated
      protoplasts. The mitochondrial swelling and mitochondrial transmembrane potential
      (MTP) loss occurred prior to cell death. Pre-incubation with ascorbic acid (AsA,
      antioxidant molecule) retarded mitochondrial swelling and MTP loss. The real-time
      detection of caspase-3-like activation was achieved by measuring the degree of
      fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET). At 30 min after exposure to Al,
      caspase-3-like protease activation, indicated by the decrease in the FRET ratio,
      occurred, taking about 1 h to reach completion in single living protoplasts. The
      mitochondrial permeability transition pore (MPTP) inhibitor, cyclosporine (CsA)
      gave significant protection against MTP loss and subsequent caspase-3-like
      activation. Our data also showed that Al-induced mitochondrial ROS possibly
      originated from complex I and III damage in the respiratory chain through the
      interaction between Al and iron-sulphur (Fe-S) protein. Alternative oxidase
      (AOX), the unique respiratory terminal oxidase in plants, was demonstrated to
      play protective roles in Al-induced protoplast death. Our results showed that
      mitochondrial swelling and MTP loss, as well as the generation of mitochondrial
      ROS play important roles in Al-induced caspase-3-like activation and PCD, which
      provided new insight into the signalling cascades that modulate Al phytotoxicity
      mechanism.

PMID- 20937731
TI  - BAK1 regulates the accumulation of jasmonic acid and the levels of trypsin
      proteinase inhibitors in Nicotiana attenuata's responses to herbivory.
AB  - BAK1 is a co-receptor of brassinosteroid (BR) receptor BRI1, and plays a well
      characterized role in BR signalling. BAK1 also physically interacts with the
      flagellin receptor FLS2 and regulates pathogen resistance. The role of BAK1 in
      mediating Nicotiana attenuata's resistance responses to its specialist herbivore,
      Manduca sexta, was examined here. A virus-induced gene-silencing system was used
      to generate empty vector (EV) and NaBAK1-silenced plants. The wounding- and
      herbivory-induced responses were examined on EV and NaBAK1-silenced plants by
      wounding plants or simulating herbivory by treating wounds with larval oral
      secretions (OS). After wounding or OS elicitation, NaBAK1-silenced plants showed
      attenuated jasmonic acid (JA) and JA-isoleucine bursts, phytohormone responses
      important in mediating plant defences against herbivores. However, these
      decreased JA and JA-Ile levels did not result from compromised MAPK activity or
      elevated SA levels. After simulated herbivory, NaBAK1-silenced plants had EV
      levels of defensive secondary metabolites, namely, trypsin proteinase inhibitors
      (TPIs), and similar levels of resistance to Manduca sexta larvae. Additional
      experiments demonstrated that decreased JA levels in NaBAK1-VIGS plants, rather
      than the enzymatic activity of JAR proteins or Ile levels, were responsible for
      the reduced JA-Ile levels observed in these plants. Methyl jasmonate application
      elicited higher levels of TPI activity in NaBAK1-silenced plants than in EV
      plants, suggesting that silencing NaBAK1 enhances the accumulation of TPIs
      induced by a given level of JA. Thus NaBAK1 is involved in modulating herbivory
      induced JA accumulation and how JA levels are transduced into TPI levels in N.
      attenuata.

PMID- 20937732
TI  - The Solanum lycopersicum AUXIN RESPONSE FACTOR 7 (SlARF7) mediates cross-talk
      between auxin and gibberellin signalling during tomato fruit set and development.
AB  - Transgenic tomato plants (Solanum lycopersicum L.) with reduced mRNA levels of
      AUXIN RESPONSE FACTOR 7 (SlARF7) form parthenocarpic fruits with morphological
      characteristics that seem to be the result of both increased auxin and
      gibberellin (GA) responses during fruit growth. This paper presents a more
      detailed analysis of these transgenic lines. Gene expression analysis of auxin
      responsive genes show that SlARF7 may regulate only part of the auxin signalling
      pathway involved in tomato fruit set and development. Also, part of the GA
      signalling pathway was affected by the reduced levels of SlARF7 mRNA, as
      morphological and molecular analyses display similarities between GA-induced
      fruits and fruits formed by the RNAi SlARF7 lines. Nevertheless, the levels of
      GAs were strongly reduced compared with that in seeded fruits. These findings
      indicate that SlARF7 acts as a modifier of both auxin and gibberellin responses
      during tomato fruit set and development.

PMID- 20937733
TI  - Specification of reproductive meristems requires the combined function of SHOOT
      MERISTEMLESS and floral integrators FLOWERING LOCUS T and FD during Arabidopsis
      inflorescence development.
AB  - In Arabidopsis floral meristems are specified on the periphery of the
      inflorescence meristem by the combined activities of the FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT)
      FD complex and the flower meristem identity gene LEAFY. The floral specification
      activity of FT is dependent upon two related BELL1-like homeobox (BLH) genes
      PENNYWISE (PNY) and POUND-FOOLISH (PNF) which are required for floral evocation.
      PNY and PNF interact with a subset of KNOTTED1-LIKE homeobox proteins including
      SHOOT MERISTEMLESS (STM). Genetic analyses show that these BLH proteins function
      with STM to specify flowers and internodes during inflorescence development. In
      this study, experimental evidence demonstrates that the specification of flower
      and coflorescence meristems requires the combined activities of FT-FD and STM. FT
      and FD also regulate meristem maintenance during inflorescence development. In
      plants with reduced STM function, ectopic FT and FD promote the formation of
      axillary meristems during inflorescence development. Lastly, gene expression
      studies indicate that STM functions with FT-FD and AGAMOUS-LIKE 24 (AGL24)
      SUPPRESSOR OF OVEREXPRESSION OF CONTANS1 (SOC1) complexes to up-regulate flower
      meristem identity genes during inflorescence development.

PMID- 20937734
TI  - Molecular convergence of infrared vision in snakes.
AB  - It has been discovered that the transient receptor potential ankyrin 1 (TRPA1)
      proteins of Boidae (boas), Pythonidae (pythons), and Crotalinae (pit vipers) are
      used to detect infrared radiation, but the molecular mechanism for detecting the
      infrared radiation is unknown. Here, relating the amino acid substitutions in
      their TRPA1 proteins and the functional differentiations, we propose that three
      parallel amino acid changes (L330M, Q391H, and S434T) are responsible for the
      development of infrared vision in the three groups of snakes. Protein modeling
      shows that the three amino acid changes alter the structures of the central
      region of their ankyrin repeats.

PMID- 20937735
TI  - The impact of natural selection on an ABCC11 SNP determining earwax type.
AB  - A nonsynonymous single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), rs17822931-G/A (538G>A;
      Gly180Arg), in the ABCC11 gene determines human earwax type (i.e., wet or dry)
      and is one of most differentiated nonsynonymous SNPs between East Asian and
      African populations. A recent genome-wide scan for positive selection revealed
      that a genomic region spanning ABCC11, LONP2, and SIAH1 genes has been subjected
      to a selective sweep in East Asians. Considering the potential functional
      significance as well as the population differentiation of SNPs located in that
      region, rs17822931 is the most plausible candidate polymorphism to have undergone
      geographically restricted positive selection. In this study, we estimated the
      selection intensity or selection coefficient of rs17822931-A in East Asians by
      analyzing two microsatellite loci flanking rs17822931 in the African (HapMap-YRI)
      and East Asian (HapMap-JPT and HapMap-CHB) populations. Assuming a recessive
      selection model, a coalescent-based simulation approach suggested that the
      selection coefficient of rs17822931-A had been approximately 0.01 in the East
      Asian population, and a simulation experiment using a pseudo-sampling variable
      revealed that the mutation of rs17822931-A occurred 2006 generations (95%
      credible interval, 1,023-3,901 generations) ago. In addition, we show that
      absolute latitude is significantly associated with the allele frequency of
      rs17822931-A in Asian, Native American, and European populations, implying that
      the selective advantage of rs17822931-A is related to an adaptation to a cold
      climate. Our results provide a striking example of how local adaptation has
      played a significant role in the diversification of human traits.

PMID- 20937736
TI  - Endovascular treatment of intracranial aneurysms: review of current practice.
AB  - Subarachnoid haemorrhage remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality
      throughout the world. Of those suffering the condition, 15% are known to die
      before they reach hospital and half of all patients die within 1 month of
      presentation. Of those patients who survive the initial 30 days, just under half
      are believed to remain dependent for their normal activities of daily living. In
      the vast majority of cases, SAH results from the rupture of an intracranial
      aneurysm. After patient stabilisation, primary treatment is focused on the
      prevention of re-bleeding. Until recently, this exclusively involved the surgical
      clipping of the ruptured aneurysm via a craniotomy. The early 1990s, with the
      introduction of aneurysmal coiling via endovascular intervention, heralded the
      dawn of a new treatment option. Presently, endovascular therapy largely
      supersedes surgical intervention in the management of intracranial aneurysms in
      the developed world. Moreover, with the emergence of new technologies and
      approaches for the treatment of aneurysms, the field of neurovascular
      intervention is only likely to expand further. However, due to its relative
      infancy, unanswered questions regarding long term endovascular outcome remain.
      This is particularly pertinent to newer techniques of embolisation for which data
      on complete aneurysmal occlusion rates are limited. Thus, to understand fully the
      capability and limitations of this treatment, further well constructed randomised
      controlled trials are a necessity.

PMID- 20937737
TI  - Masculinity and health in late life men.
AB  - Masculinity is a social construction that defines itself according to context.
      Older men constitute an unseen minority when it comes to their health, and thus
      the study of masculinity as it relates to health in older men requires deeper
      understanding. This article offers insights into how gender, health, and ageing
      interact for older men and explores how men negotiate the concept of masculinity
      in later life. The findings from two complementary studies are presented and
      discussed. The first study, a qualitative analysis of focus group discussions
      held with 48 community-dwelling older men, indicates that the desire to uphold
      hegemonic ideals of independence, self-reliance, and imperviousness to pain and
      illness are embedded in older men's health-related beliefs and behaviors. Ill
      health and help seeking are often perceived as a threat to the masculine
      identity, and taking action for health is considered only when health status
      jeopardizes independence. In the second study, more than 2,000 men aged 55 to 97
      years responded to a postal survey on health behaviors and masculinity. Results
      of the survey indicated that age predicts health behaviors and health care
      seeking better than scores on a masculinity index, which tended to remain stable
      regardless of age. Both the qualitative and quantitative findings support the
      hypothesis that with age men will succeed in incorporating actions into their
      daily lives in a way that does not conflict with their perceived resilience to
      frailty and weakness, even if such actions involve seeking help for illness or
      adopting healthier lifestyle behaviors.

PMID- 20937738
TI  - Weight status and high blood pressure among low-income African American men.
AB  - Obesity is a biological risk factor or comorbidity that has not received much
      attention from scientists studying hypertension among African American men. The
      purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between weight status and
      high blood pressure among African American men with few economic resources. The
      authors used surveillance data collected from low-income adults attending
      community- and faith-based primary care clinics in West Tennessee to estimate
      pooled and group-specific regression models of high blood pressure. The results
      from group-specific logistic regression models indicate that the factors
      associated with hypertension varied considerably by weight status. This study
      provides a glimpse into the complex relationship between weight status and high
      blood pressure status among African American men. Additional research is needed
      to identify mechanisms through which excess weight affects the development and
      progression of high blood pressure.

PMID- 20937739
TI  - Effectiveness of ranibizumab for neovascular age-related macular degeneration
      using clinician-determined retreatment strategy.
AB  - AIMS: To report the effectiveness of intravitreal ranibizumab treatment for
      neovascular age-related macular degeneration in a tertiary centre. METHODS: 1
      year prospective cohort study of patients with a diagnosis of neovascular age
      related macular degeneration on fundus fluorescein angiography treated with
      ranibizumab. Patients received three consecutive monthly treatments, followed by
      a clinician-determined re-treatment strategy. Data collected included demographic
      details, baseline and subsequent follow-up visit measurements, refraction
      protocol best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), contrast sensitivity (CS) and
      central foveal thickness (CFT) on optical coherence tomography. RESULTS: 81
      patients were included in the study. The mean age was 79.5 years with a
      male:female ratio 32:49. The mean number of treatments was 5.6 +/- 2.3. Visual
      outcomes at 12 months showed 17.1% gained >= 15 letters BCVA, 97.4% lost <15
      letters and 2.5% lost >= 15 letters. Mean changes at 12 months were: BCVA +3.7 +/
      11.1 (p<0.01); CS +2.3 +/- 5.1 letters (p<0.001); CFT -100.1 +/- 111.9 MUm
      (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Clinician-determined re-treatment after a three-dose
      initiation phase appears to be less effective in improving BCVA than in
      randomised controlled trials.

PMID- 20937740
TI  - Roles of dietary inorganic nitrate in cardiovascular health and disease.
AB  - Inorganic nitrate from dietary and endogenous sources is emerging as a substrate
      for in vivo generation of nitric oxide (NO) and other reactive nitrogen oxides.
      Dietary amounts of nitrate clearly have robust NO-like effects in humans,
      including blood pressure reduction, inhibition of platelet aggregation, and
      vasoprotective activity. In animal models, nitrate protects against ischaemia
      reperfusion injuries and several other types of cardiovascular disorders. In
      addition, nitrate most surprisingly decreases whole body oxygen cost during
      exercise with preserved or even enhanced maximal performance. Oxidative stress
      and reduced NO bioavailability are critically linked to development of
      hypertension and other forms of cardiovascular diseases. Mechanistically, a
      central target for the effects of nitrate and its reaction products seems to be
      the mitochondrion and modulation of oxidative stress. All in vivo effects of
      nitrate are achievable with amounts corresponding to a rich intake of vegetables,
      which are particularly rich in this anion. A theory is now emerging suggesting
      nitrate as an active component in vegetables contributing to the beneficial
      health effects of this food group, including protection against cardiovascular
      disease and type-2 diabetes.

PMID- 20937741
TI  - Post-operative cyclic oral contraceptive use after gonadotrophin-releasing
      hormone agonist treatment effectively prevents endometrioma recurrence.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Currently, no standard post-operative medical therapy has been shown
      to be superior in reducing the recurrence of endometrioma. This retrospective
      study was performed to evaluate the efficacy of post-operative cyclic oral
      contraceptive (OC) use after GnRH agonist (GnRHa) treatment for the prevention of
      endometrioma recurrence. METHODS: This retrospective study included 362
      reproductive-aged patients who had undergone pelviscopic surgery for
      endometrioma. Patients were divided into two groups: a group that received
      cyclic, low-dose, monophasic OCs after GnRHa treatment (n = 175) and a group that
      received only GnRHa treatment (n = 187). Endometrioma recurrence was evaluated by
      an ultrasound. RESULTS: During the follow-up period (median, 35 months; range, 12
      114 months), recurrent endometriomas were detected in 67 patients (18.5%).
      Patients receiving cyclic OCs after GnRHa treatment showed a significantly
      reduced recurrence risk of endometrioma, when compared with patients receiving
      GnRHa alone (odds ratio = 0.20; 95% confidence interval, 0.10-0.38). The
      cumulative proportion of recurrent endometrioma after 60 months was significantly
      lower in OC users than in non-users (6.1 versus 43.3%; P < 0.001), and a
      statistically significant difference was first detected at 30 months of follow-up
      (5.1 versus 17.1%; P = 0.018). The number of GnRHa injections (3 versus 6) did
      not affect the recurrence rate for up to 60 months in OC non-users or users.
      CONCLUSIONS: Post-operative cyclic OC use after GnRHa treatment effectively
      reduces the recurrence of endometrioma.

PMID- 20937742
TI  - Expression and possible role of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug-activated
      gene-1 (NAG-1) in the human endometrium and endometriosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID)-activated gene-1 (NAG-1)
      is involved in cellular processes such as inflammation, apoptosis and
      tumorigenesis. However, little is known about the expression and function of NAG
      1 in the endometrium. This study aimed to evaluate the expression of NAG-1 in the
      endometrium and in the absence or presence of endometriosis and to investigate
      the effect of celecoxib, a selective cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 inhibitor, on NAG-1
      mRNA levels and apoptosis in human endometrial stromal cells (HESCs). METHODS:
      Eutopic endometrial samples were obtained during surgery from 40 patients with,
      and 40 patients without, endometriosis. Real-time PCR was used to quantify NAG-1
      mRNA levels and immunohistochemistry was used to localize NAG-1 protein in the
      endometrium. To investigate the effects of celecoxib, HESCs were isolated and
      cultured with different concentrations of celecoxib or with 100 uM celecoxib at
      different times. Apoptosis was assessed by flow cytometry. RESULTS: NAG-1 mRNA
      levels and immunoreactivity showed cyclical changes through the menstrual cycle,
      increasing during the late secretory and menstrual phases. NAG-1 mRNA and protein
      levels were significantly lower in patients with endometriosis, compared with the
      control group. Celecoxib induced NAG-1 mRNA levels and apoptosis in cultured
      HESCs, with the effects dependent on drug concentrations and duration of
      treatment. Celecoxib treatment had no effect on prostaglandin E(2) levels in the
      culture supernatants. CONCLUSIONS: NAG-1 may be important in maintaining
      homeostasis in the normal endometrium and alterations in NAG-1 expression may be
      associated with the establishment of endometriosis. NAG-1 might be a therapeutic
      target for endometriosis.

PMID- 20937743
TI  - Hereditary thrombophilia and recurrent pregnancy loss: a retrospective cohort
      study of pregnancy outcome and obstetric complications.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The association among hereditary thrombophilia, recurrent pregnancy
      loss (RPL) and obstetric complications is yet uncertain. The objective of the
      study was to assess the prognostic value of the factor V Leiden (FVL) and
      prothrombin (PT) mutations for the subsequent chance of live birth for women with
      RPL. METHODS: Pregnancy outcome was recorded in a retrospective cohort of 363
      women with a minimum of three consecutive pregnancy losses (early miscarriage,
      late miscarriage or stillbirth/neonatal death) who were not treated with
      anticoagulation therapy. RESULTS: Of the 363 women, 29 were FVL-mutation carriers
      and 6 were PT-mutation carriers. The unadjusted live birth rate was 45.7% in
      FVL/PT carriers versus 63.4% in FVL/PT non-carriers, P = 0.04. The adjusted odds
      ratio for live birth in FVL/PT carriers was 0.48 (95% CI = 0.23-1.01), P = 0.05.
      Among the obstetric complications, only excessive bleeding was found to be
      associated with FVL/PT mutations. CONCLUSIONS: In the unadjusted analysis, FVL
      and PT mutations have a negative prognostic impact on the live birth rate in
      women with RPL; however, when adjusting for significant covariates, the results
      no longer reach statistical significance. Strong conclusions on the association
      between obstetric complications and hereditary thrombophilia cannot be drawn from
      this study. Whether anticoagulation therapy would improve the prognosis in women
      with RPL and FVL/PT mutations remains to be documented in large randomized
      controlled trials.

PMID- 20937744
TI  - The (TTTA)n polymorphism of aromatase (CYP19) gene is associated with age at
      menarche.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Twin studies have shown that age at menarche may be subject to
      hereditary influences but the specific determinants are unknown. Estrogens are
      known to have an important role in menarche. Since the enzyme aromatase is
      responsible for the conversion of androgens to estrogens, the aromatase (CYP19)
      gene could be a candidate gene for the regulation of menarche. The aim of this
      study was to investigate the possible association of the CYP19(TTTA)(n)
      polymorphism with age at menarche. METHODS: We studied 130 healthy adolescent
      females from a closed community in North-Western Greece. Information on menarche
      was obtained through interviews. The BMI was recorded. The CYP19(TTTA)(n)
      polymorphism was genotyped. RESULTS: The mean age at menarche was 12.9 +/- 1.2
      years and the BMI = 19.8 +/- 2.3 kg/m(2). Genotype analysis revealed 5
      CYP19(TTTA)(n) alleles containing 7-11 TTTA repeats. Girls homozygous for the
      allele with 7 TTTA repeats had earlier menarche (12.45 +/- 0.9 years) than girls
      carrying other genotypes (13.0 +/- 1.2 years, P = 0.025), whereas the BMI was not
      different between these two subgroups. Carriers of the allele with 11 TTTA
      repeats had later menarche compared with non-carriers (14.1 +/- 0.75 versus 12.8
      +/- 1.2 years, P< 0.001), whereas no difference was found in BMI values.
      Comparing girls with early menarche (<12 years, 25th percentile) with girls with
      late menarche (>13.75 years, 75th percentile), we found that 31% of the girls
      with early menarche were homozygous for the (TTTA)(7) allele compared with 6.9%
      among girls with late menarche (P = 0.018). In addition, none of the girls
      carrying the (TTTA)(11) allele was found among the subgroup with early menarche,
      whereas 24.1% of girls with late menarche had the (TTTA)(11) allele (P = 0.001).
      No association between other alleles and age at menarche was found. CONCLUSIONS:
      There is evidence for a genetic contribution of the CYP19 gene to the age at
      menarche.

PMID- 20937745
TI  - Understanding follicle growth in vivo.
AB  - Ovarian reserve is determined by the number of primordial follicles in the ovary.
      Quiescent primordial follicles are activated for growth and pass through stages
      of development before they reach the antral stage. Then a cohort of antral
      follicles is recruited for further growth, dominance and ovulation under the
      cyclic stimulation of gonadotrophins. What triggers the initiation of growth in
      primordial follicles has remained a mystery for decades. However, recent studies
      on mutant mouse models have shown that primordial follicles are maintained in a
      dormant state by the actions of various inhibitory molecules to preserve the
      follicle pool, such as the transcription factor Foxo3a, PTEN (phosphotase and
      tensin homolog deleted on chromosome 10) and Tsc-1 (tumour suppressor tuberous
      schlerosis complex). Mice with deletions of these oocyte-specific genes exhibit
      premature activation of dormant primordial follicles, and all primordial
      follicles become depleted in early adulthood, causing premature ovarian failure.
      Other oocyte and somatic cell-derived growth factors are also involved in the
      early, gonadotrophin-independent phase of follicle growth via autocrine and
      paracrine interactions. Interestingly, some of these factors also play critical
      roles at later stages of follicle growth, such as the process of selecting the
      dominant follicle, by modifying the response of the follicles to gonadotrophins
      and inhibiting premature luteinization. Therefore, a thorough understanding of
      the molecular aspects of folliculogenesis is of paramount importance in the
      context of translational medicine and future clinical applications in human
      reproduction.

PMID- 20937746
TI  - Treating pulmonary arterial hypertension: is it worth it?

PMID- 20937747
TI  - TAVI as a threat to surgical practice: "much ado about nothing" or "the quiet
      before the storm"?

PMID- 20937748
TI  - Implantable loop recorders in the investigation of unexplained syncope: a state
      of the art review.
AB  - Since its introduction 15&emsp14;years ago, the implantable loop recorder (ILR)
      has become the investigative tool of choice in recurrent unexplained syncope
      following negative initial investigations. This is based on very few randomised
      controlled clinical trials and modestly sized observational studies. Further
      controlled data are required to inform clinical practice with attention focused
      on empowering ILR-guided diagnosis, establishing the optimal timing of ILR use in
      syncope and embracing new technological advancements.

PMID- 20937749
TI  - Comparison of glucose-insulin-potassium and insulin-glucose as adjunctive therapy
      in acute myocardial infarction: a contemporary meta-analysis of randomised
      controlled trials.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is conflicting evidence regarding two different insulin
      regimens for acute myocardial infarction (AMI), one focusing on delivering
      insulin ('insulin focus', glucose-insulin-potassium (GIK)) and one focusing on
      tight glycaemic control ('glycaemia focus', insulin-glucose). A longstanding
      controversy has focused on which strategy provides the greatest reduction in
      mortality. The aim of this study was to perform a meta-analysis of randomised
      controlled trials (RCTs) comparing GIK or insulin-glucose therapy versus standard
      therapy for AMI in the reperfusion era. METHODS: A MEDLINE/EMBASE/CENTRAL search
      was conducted of RCTs evaluating GIK or insulin-glucose as adjunctive therapy for
      AMI. The primary endpoint was all-cause mortality. The data were analysed with a
      random effect model. RESULTS: A total of 11 studies (including 23 864 patients)
      were identified, eight evaluating insulin focus with GIK and three evaluating
      glycaemia focus with insulin-glucose. Overall, insulin focus with GIK was not
      associated with a statistically significant effect on mortality (RR 1.07, 95% CI
      0.89 to 1.29, p=0.487). Before the use of reperfusion, GIK also had no clear
      impact on mortality (RR 0.92, 95% CI 0.70 to 1.20, p=0.522). Pooled data from the
      three studies evaluating glycaemia focus showed that insulin-glucose did not
      reduce mortality in the absence of glycaemia control in patients with AMI with
      diabetes (RR 1.07, 95% CI 0.85 to 1.36, p=0.547). CONCLUSIONS: Current evidence
      suggests that GIK with insulin does not reduce mortality in patients with AMI.
      However, studies of glycaemia are inconclusive and it remains possible that
      glycaemic control is beneficial.

PMID- 20937750
TI  - Impact of prosthesis-patient mismatch on mitral regurgitation after aortic valve
      replacement.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mitral regurgitation is frequently observed in patients undergoing
      aortic valve replacement (AVR) for aortic stenosis and often improves
      postoperatively, mainly due to left ventricular remodelling and changes in
      loading conditions. Aortic prosthesis-patient mismatch (PPM) is associated with
      poor outcome and lesser left ventricular remodelling. This study tested the
      hypothesis that aortic PPM affects mitral regurgitation. METHODS AND RESULTS:
      Echocardiography was performed preoperatively and before discharge in 42 patients
      with aortic stenosis undergoing isolated AVR and presenting mitral regurgitation
      with an effective regurgitant orifice (ERO) of 10&emsp14;mm(2) or greater, as
      assessed by the proximal isovelocity surface area method. Postoperatively, mitral
      ERO and the regurgitant volume decreased from 16+/-5mm(2) to 12+/-6mm(2)
      (p<0.001) and from 28+/-8ml to 16+/-9ml (p<0.0001), respectively. PPM (indexed
      effective prosthetic valve area (EOAi) <=0.85cm(2)/m(2)), present in 23 patients
      (55%), was associated with a smaller decrease in regurgitant volume (p=0.0025)
      and ERO (p=0.02). A functional aetiology of mitral regurgitation was associated
      with a larger improvement in mitral regurgitation. In the whole cohort, EOAi
      correlated with the changes in mitral regurgitation severity (ERO r=0.44, p=0.01;
      regurgitant volume r=0.47, p=0.003). However, these relationships were no longer
      significant in the subset of patients with functional mitral regurgitation in
      whom mitral regurgitation changes were mainly related to postoperative changes in
      mitral valve deformation. CONCLUSIONS: The presence of PPM after AVR attenuates
      postoperative mitral regurgitation changes, mainly in patients with organic
      mitral regurgitation.

PMID- 20937751
TI  - What is the impact of providing a transcatheter aortic valve implantation service
      on conventional aortic valve surgical activity: patient risk factors and outcomes
      in the first 2 years.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To assess the impact of introducing a transcatheter aortic valve
      implantation (TAVI) service on aortic valve surgical activity and outcomes.
      DESIGN: A retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data. SETTING:
      University hospital of south Manchester. PATIENTS: 815 consecutive patients
      undergoing isolated aortic valve replacement (AVR) or coronary artery bypass
      grafting plus AVR from January 2006 to December 2009. Fifty consecutive patients
      who underwent TAVI from January 2008 to December 2009. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:
      Aortic valve surgical activity in the 2years before the introduction of a TAVI
      service and in the 2years following. Outcomes following conventional aortic valve
      surgery and TAVI. RESULTS: In the 2years following the introduction of TAVI at
      this centre, conventional AVR activity has increased by 37% compared with an 8%
      increase nationally (p<0.001). Compared with the 2years before TAVI there was no
      change in the mean logistic EuroSCORE (7.4 vs 7.9 p=0.16) or crude mortality rate
      (2.9% vs 2.1% p=0.48). Fifty high-risk patients underwent TAVI with a 30-day
      mortality rate of 0%. The mean logistic EuroSCORE of the TAVI patients was 25.3.
      CONCLUSIONS: TAVI is an emerging alternative to AVR in high-risk patients. Since
      the introduction of a TAVI service at this centre, conventional AVR activity has
      increased. Despite a trend of increasing mean logistic EuroSCORE indicating that
      more complex cases are being undertaken, there has been a non-significant
      reduction in the crude mortality rate. Offering a TAVI service has a positive
      impact on the volume of conventional AVR surgical activity.

PMID- 20937752
TI  - Listeria myocarditis with an atypical intracavitary vegetation/thrombus.

PMID- 20937753
TI  - Systematic survey of variants in TBX1 in non-syndromic tetralogy of Fallot
      identifies a novel 57 base pair deletion that reduces transcriptional activity
      but finds no evidence for association with common variants.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) is common in individuals with hemizygous
      deletions of chromosome 22q11.2 that remove the cardiac transcription factor
      TBX1. OBJECTIVE: To assess the contribution of common and rare TBX1 genetic
      variants to TOF. DESIGN: Rare TBX1 variants were sought by resequencing coding
      exons and splice-site boundaries. Common TBX1 variants were investigated by
      genotyping 20 haplotype-tagging SNPs capturing all the common variations present
      at the locus. Association analysis was performed using the program UNPHASED.
      PATIENTS: TBX1 exons were sequenced in 93 patients with non-syndromic TOF. Single
      nucleotide polymorphism analysis was performed in 356 patients with TOF, their
      parents and healthy controls. RESULTS: Three novel variants not present in 1000
      chromosomes from healthy ethnically matched controls were identified. One of
      these variants, an in-frame 57 base-pair deletion in the third exon which removed
      19 evolutionarily conserved residues, decreased transcriptional activity by 40%
      in a dual luciferase assay (p=0.008). Protein expression studies demonstrated
      that this mutation affected TBX1 protein stability. After correction for multiple
      comparisons, no significant associations between common genetic variants and TOF
      susceptibility were found. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates that rare TBX1
      variants with functional consequences are present in a small proportion of non
      syndromic TOF.

PMID- 20937754
TI  - Cardiac outcomes after pregnancy in women with congenital heart disease.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Women with congenital heart disease (CHD) are at risk for adverse
      cardiac events during pregnancy; however, the risk of events late after pregnancy
      (late cardiac events; LCE) has not been well studied. A study was undertaken to
      examine the frequency and determinants of LCE in a large cohort of women with
      CHD. DESIGN: Baseline characteristics and pregnancy were prospectively recorded.
      LCE (>6months after delivery) were determined by chart review. Survival analysis
      was used to determine the risk factors for LCE. SETTING: A tertiary care referral
      hospital. PATIENTS: The outcomes of 405 pregnancies were studied (318 women;
      median follow-up 2.6&emsp14;years). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: LCE included cardiac
      death/arrest, pulmonary oedema, arrhythmia or stroke. RESULTS: LCE occurred after
      12% (50/405) of pregnancies. The 5-year rate of LCE was higher in women with
      adverse cardiac events during pregnancy than in those without (27+/-9% vs 15+/
      3%, HR 2.2, p=0.02). Women at highest risk for LCE were those with functional
      limitations/cyanosis (HR 3.9, 95% CI 1.2 to 13.0), subaortic ventricular
      dysfunction (HR 3.0, 95% CI 1.4 to 6.6), subpulmonary ventricular dysfunction
      and/or significant pulmonary regurgitation (HR 3.2, 95% CI 1.6 to 6.6), left
      heart obstruction (HR 2.6, 95% CI 1.2 to 5.2) and cardiac events before or during
      pregnancy (HR 2.6, 95% CI 1.3 to 4.9). In women with 0, 1 or >1 risk predictors
      the 5-year rate of LCE was 7+/-2%, 23+/-5% and 44+/-10%, respectively (p<0.001).
      CONCLUSIONS: In women with CHD, pre-pregnancy maternal characteristics can help
      to identify women at increased risk for LCE. Adverse cardiac events during
      pregnancy are important and are associated with an increased risk of LCE.

PMID- 20937755
TI  - Early management of unstable angina and non-ST-segment elevation myocardial
      infarction: summary of NICE guidance.

PMID- 20937756
TI  - Use and interpretation of genetic tests in cardiovascular genetics.

PMID- 20937757
TI  - The adult with repaired coarctation of the aorta.

PMID- 20937758
TI  - Direct stenting should be attempted by default whenever possible.

PMID- 20937759
TI  - Assessment of the relative merits of a few methods to detect evolutionary trends.
AB  - Some of the most basic questions about the history of life concern evolutionary
      trends. These include determining whether or not metazoans have become more
      complex over time, whether or not body size tends to increase over time (the Cope
      Deperet rule), or whether or not brain size has increased over time in various
      taxa, such as mammals and birds. Despite the proliferation of studies on such
      topics, assessment of the reliability of results in this field is hampered by the
      variability of techniques used and the lack of statistical validation of these
      methods. To solve this problem, simulations are performed using a variety of
      evolutionary models (gradual Brownian motion, speciational Brownian motion, and
      Ornstein-Uhlenbeck), with or without a drift of variable amplitude, with variable
      variance of tips, and with bounds placed close or far from the starting values
      and final means of simulated characters. These are used to assess the relative
      merits (power, Type I error rate, bias, and mean absolute value of error on slope
      estimate) of several statistical methods that have recently been used to assess
      the presence of evolutionary trends in comparative data. Results show widely
      divergent performance of the methods. The simple, nonphylogenetic regression (SR)
      and variance partitioning using phylogenetic eigenvector regression (PVR) with a
      broken stick selection procedure have greatly inflated Type I error rate (0.123
      0.180 at a 0.05 threshold), which invalidates their use in this context. However,
      they have the greatest power. Most variants of Felsenstein's independent
      contrasts (FIC; five of which are presented) have adequate Type I error rate,
      although two have a slightly inflated Type I error rate with at least one of the
      two reference trees (0.064-0.090 error rate at a 0.05 threshold). The power of
      all contrast-based methods is always much lower than that of SR and PVR, except
      under Brownian motion with a strong trend and distant bounds. Mean absolute value
      of error on slope of all FIC methods is slightly higher than that of phylogenetic
      generalized least squares (PGLS), SR, and PVR. PGLS performs well, with low Type
      I error rate, low error on regression coefficient, and power comparable with some
      FIC methods. Four variants of skewness analysis are examined, and a new method to
      assess significance of results is presented. However, all have consistently low
      power, except in rare combinations of trees, trend strength, and distance between
      final means and bounds. Globally, the results clearly show that FIC-based methods
      and PGLS are globally better than nonphylogenetic methods and variance
      partitioning with PVR. FIC methods and PGLS are sensitive to the model of
      evolution (and, hence, to branch length errors). Our results suggest that
      regressing raw character contrasts against raw geological age contrasts yields a
      good combination of power and Type I error rate. New software to facilitate batch
      analysis is presented.

PMID- 20937760
TI  - Characterization of a Staphylococcus aureus surface virulence factor that
      promotes resistance to oxidative killing and infectious endocarditis.
AB  - Staphylococcus aureus is a prominent human pathogen and a leading cause of
      community- and hospital-acquired bacterial infections worldwide. Herein, we
      describe the identification and characterization of the S. aureus 67.6-kDa
      hypothetical protein, named for the surface factor promoting resistance to
      oxidative killing (SOK) in this study. Sequence analysis showed that the SOK gene
      is conserved in all sequenced S. aureus strains and homologous to the myosin
      cross-reactive antigen of Streptococcus pyogenes. Immunoblotting and
      immunofluorescence analysis showed that SOK was copurified with membrane
      fractions and was exposed on the surface of S. aureus Newman and RN4220.
      Comparative analysis of wild-type S. aureus and an isogenic deletion strain
      indicated that SOK contributes to both resistance to killing by human neutrophils
      and to oxidative stress. In addition, the S. aureus sok deletion strain showed
      dramatically reduced aortic valve vegetation and bacterial cell number in a
      rabbit endocarditis model. These results, plus the suspected role of the
      streptococcal homologue in certain diseases such as acute rheumatic fever,
      suggest that SOK plays an important role in cardiovascular and other
      staphylococcal infections.

PMID- 20937761
TI  - Domains of the Shigella flexneri type III secretion system IpaB protein involved
      in secretion regulation.
AB  - Type III secretion systems (T3SSs) are key determinants of virulence in many Gram
      negative bacterial pathogens. Upon cell contact, they inject effector proteins
      directly into eukaryotic cells through a needle protruding from the bacterial
      surface. Host cell sensing occurs through a distal needle "tip complex," but how
      this occurs is not understood. The tip complex of quiescent needles is composed
      of IpaD, which is topped by IpaB. Physical contact with host cells initiates
      secretion and leads to assembly of a pore, formed by IpaB and IpaC, in the host
      cell membrane, through which other virulence effector proteins may be
      translocated. IpaB is required for regulation of secretion and may be the host
      cell sensor. It binds needles via its extreme C-terminal coiled coil, thereby
      likely positioning a large domain containing its hydrophobic regions at the
      distal tips of needles. In this study, we used short deletion mutants within this
      domain to search for regions of IpaB involved in secretion regulation. This
      identified two regions, amino acids 227 to 236 and 297 to 306, the presence of
      which are required for maintenance of IpaB at the needle tip, secretion
      regulation, and normal pore formation but not invasion. We therefore propose that
      removal of either of these regions leads to an inability to block secretion prior
      to reception of the activation signal and/or a defect in host cell sensing.

PMID- 20937762
TI  - Investigation of the mechanisms by which Listeria monocytogenes grows in porcine
      gallbladder bile.
AB  - The food-borne pathogen Listeria monocytogenes is known to colonize the lumen of
      the gallbladder in infected mice and to grow rapidly in this environment (J.
      Hardy et al., Science 303:851-853, 2004). However, relatively little is known
      about the mechanisms utilized by the pathogen to survive and grow in this
      location. We utilized gallbladder bile (GB bile) isolated directly from porcine
      gallbladders as an ex vivo model of gallbladder growth. We demonstrate that GB
      bile is generally nontoxic for bacteria and can readily support growth of a
      variety of bacterial species including L. monocytogenes, Lactococcus lactis,
      Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium, and Escherichia coli. Significantly, L.
      monocytogenes grew at the same rate as the nonpathogenic species Listeria
      innocua, indicating that the pathogen does not possess specialized mechanisms
      that enable growth in this environment. However, when we reduced the pH of GB
      bile to pH 5.5 in order to mimic the release of bile within the small intestine,
      the toxicity of GB bile increased significantly and specific resistance
      mechanisms (Sigma B, BSH, and BilE) were essential for survival of the pathogen
      under these conditions. In order to identify genetic loci that are necessary for
      growth of L. monocytogenes in the gallbladder, a mariner transposon bank was
      created and screened for mutants unable to replicate in GB bile. This led to the
      identification of mutants in six loci, including genes encoding enzymes involved
      in purine metabolism, amino acid biosynthesis, and biotin uptake. Although GB
      bile does not represent a significant impediment to bacterial growth, specific
      metabolic processes are required by L. monocytogenes in order to grow in this
      environment.

PMID- 20937763
TI  - Conjunctival transcriptome in scarring trachoma.
AB  - Trachoma is a poorly understood immunofibrogenic disease process, initiated by
      Chlamydia trachomatis. Differences in conjunctival gene expression profiles
      between Ethiopians with trachomatous trichiasis (with [TTI] or without [TT]
      inflammation) and controls (C) were investigated to identify relevant host
      responses. Tarsal conjunctival swab samples were collected for RNA isolation and
      C. trachomatis PCR. Transcriptome-wide microarray experiments were conducted on
      42 samples (TTI, n = 13; TT, n = 15; C, n =14). Specific results were confirmed
      by using multiplex quantitative reverse transcription-PCR for 16 mRNA targets in
      an independent collection of case-control samples: 386 case-control pairs (TTI, n
      = 244; TT, n = 142; C, n = 386). The gene expression profiles of cases were
      consistent with squamous metaplasia (keratins, SPRR), proinflammatory cytokine
      production (IL1beta, CXCL5, and S100A7), and tissue remodeling (MMP7, MMP9,
      MMP12, and HAS3). There was no difference in the level of IFNgamma between cases
      and controls. However, cases had increased INDO, NOS2A, and IL13RA2 and reduced
      IL13. C. trachomatis was detected in 1/772. Cases show evidence of ongoing
      inflammation and tissue remodeling, which were more marked where clinical
      inflammation was also present. Significantly, these processes appear to be active
      in the absence of current C. trachomatis infection. There was limited evidence of
      a T(H)1 response (INDO and NOS2A) and no association between a T(H)2 response and
      cases. The epithelium appears to be actively involved in late cicatricial stages
      of trachoma through the production of proinflammatory factors (IL1beta, CXCL5,
      and S100A7). Longitudinal studies are needed to investigate which etiological
      factors and pathways are associated with progressive scarring and whether simply
      controlling chlamydial infection will halt progression in people with established
      cicatricial disease.

PMID- 20937764
TI  - Leukocytes infiltrate the skin and draining lymph nodes in response to the
      protozoan Leishmania infantum chagasi.
AB  - The vector-borne protozoan Leishmania infantum chagasi causes minimal
      inflammation after inoculation into skin but disseminates to cause fatal visceral
      leishmaniasis. To define the inflammatory response at the parasite inoculation
      site, we introduced metacyclic L. infantum chagasi promastigotes intradermally
      into BALB/c mouse ears and studied inflammatory cells over 7 days. Ly6G(+)
      neutrophils rapidly infiltrated the dermis, peaking after 6 to 24 h. Macrophages
      and NK cells next infiltrated the dermis, and NK followed by B cells expanded in
      draining lymph nodes. Parasite-containing phagocytes were tracked with
      fluorescent mCherry-labeled L. infantum chagasi. Ly6G(+) neutrophils contained
      the greatest proportion of intracellular parasites 6 to 24 h after inoculation,
      whereas dermal macrophages harbored the majority of intracellular parasites after
      2 to 7 days. These observations were validated microscopically. Low doses of
      antibody transiently depleted mice of neutrophils, leaving other cells intact.
      Combined results of in vivo imaging, flow cytometry, and quantitative PCR showed
      that neutrophil depletion slowed the clearance of extracellular (luciferase
      positive) promastigotes during the first 24 h after inoculation yet decreased the
      numbers of leukocytes containing intracellular (mCherry-positive) parasites. From
      3 days onward, total L. infantum chagasi-containing dermal leukocytes and total
      L. infantum chagasi parasites in draining lymph nodes were similar in both
      groups. Nonetheless, a second wave of L. infantum chagasi-containing neutrophils
      occurred 7 days after parasite inoculation into neutrophil-depleted mice,
      corresponding to the time of neutrophil recovery. Thus, neutrophils were
      recruited to the dermis even late after inoculation, and L. infantum chagasi
      trafficked through neutrophils in both neutrophil-depleted and control mice,
      albeit with different kinetics. Recruitment of neutrophils and transient parasite
      residence in neutrophils may play a role in nonulcerative forms of leishmaniasis.

PMID- 20937765
TI  - The early secretory pathway contributes to the growth of the Coxiella-replicative
      niche.
AB  - Coxiella burnetii is a Gram-negative obligate intracellular bacterium. After
      internalization, this bacterium replicates in a large parasitophorous vacuole
      that has features of both phagolysosomes and autophagosomal compartments. We have
      previously demonstrated that early after internalization Coxiella phagosomes
      interact with both the endocytic and the autophagic pathways. In this report, we
      present evidence that the Coxiella-replicative vacuoles (CRVs) also interact with
      the secretory pathway. Rab1b is a small GTPase responsible for the anterograde
      transport between the endoplasmic reticulum and the Golgi apparatus. We present
      evidence that Rab1b is recruited to the CRV at later infection times (i.e., after
      6 h of infection). Interestingly, knockdown of Rab1b altered vacuole growth,
      indicating that this protein was required for the proper biogenesis of the CRV.
      In addition, overexpression of the active GTPase-defective mutant (GFP-Rab1b
      Q67L) affected the development of the Coxiella-replicative compartment inhibiting
      bacterial growth. On the other hand, disruption of the secretory pathway by
      brefeldin A treatment or by overexpression of Sar1 T39N, a defective dominant
      negative mutant of Sar1, affected the typical spaciousness of the CRVs. Taken
      together, our results show for the first time that the Coxiella-replicative niche
      also intercepts the early secretory pathway.

PMID- 20937766
TI  - Human airway epithelial cell responses to Neisseria lactamica and purified porin
      via Toll-like receptor 2-dependent signaling.
AB  - The human airway epithelium is constantly exposed to microbial products from
      colonizing organisms. Regulation of Toll-like receptor (TLR) expression and
      specific interactions with bacterial ligands is thought to mitigate exacerbation
      of inflammatory processes induced by the commensal flora in these cells. The
      genus Neisseria comprises pathogenic and commensal organisms that colonize the
      human nasopharynx. Neisseria lactamica is not associated with disease, but N.
      meningitidis occasionally invades the host, causing meningococcal disease and
      septicemia. Upon colonization of the airway epithelium, specific host cell
      receptors interact with numerous Neisseria components, including the PorB porin,
      at the immediate bacterial-host cell interface. This major outer membrane protein
      is expressed by all Neisseria strains, regardless of pathogenicity, but its amino
      acid sequence varies among strains, particularly in the surface-exposed regions.
      The interaction of Neisseria PorB with TLR2 is essential for driving TLR2/TLR1
      dependent cellular responses and is thought to occur via the porin's surface
      exposed loop regions. Our studies show that N. lactamica PorB is a TLR2 ligand
      but its binding specificity for TLR2 is different from that of meningococcal
      PorB. Furthermore, N. lactamica PorB is a poor inducer of proinflammatory
      mediators and of TLR2 expression in human airway epithelial cells. These effects
      are reproduced by whole N. lactamica organisms. Since the responsiveness of human
      airway epithelial cells to colonizing bacteria is in part regulated via TLR2
      expression and signaling, commensal organisms such as N. lactamica would benefit
      from expressing a product that induces low TLR2-dependent local inflammation,
      likely delaying or avoiding clearance by the host.

PMID- 20937767
TI  - Anaphase-promoting complex/cyclosome participates in the acute response to
      protein-damaging stress.
AB  - The ubiquitin E3 ligase anaphase-promoting complex/cyclosome (APC/C) drives
      degradation of cell cycle regulators in cycling cells by associating with the
      coactivators Cdc20 and Cdh1. Although a plethora of APC/C substrates have been
      identified, only a few transcriptional regulators are described as direct targets
      of APC/C-dependent ubiquitination. Here we show that APC/C, through substrate
      recognition by both Cdc20 and Cdh1, mediates ubiquitination and degradation of
      heat shock factor 2 (HSF2), a transcription factor that binds to the Hsp70
      promoter. The interaction between HSF2 and the APC/C subunit Cdc27 and
      coactivator Cdc20 is enhanced by moderate heat stress, and the degradation of
      HSF2 is induced during the acute phase of the heat shock response, leading to
      clearance of HSF2 from the Hsp70 promoter. Remarkably, Cdc20 and the proteasome
      20S core alpha2 subunit are recruited to the Hsp70 promoter in a heat shock
      inducible manner. Moreover, the heat shock-induced expression of Hsp70 is
      increased when Cdc20 is silenced by a specific small interfering RNA (siRNA). Our
      results provide the first evidence for participation of APC/C in the acute
      response to protein-damaging stress.

PMID- 20937768
TI  - Pygo2 associates with MLL2 histone methyltransferase and GCN5 histone
      acetyltransferase complexes to augment Wnt target gene expression and breast
      cancer stem-like cell expansion.
AB  - Resent studies have identified Pygopus as a core component of the beta-catenin/T
      cell factor (TCF)/lymphoid-enhancing factor 1 (LEF) transcriptional activation
      complex required for the expression of canonical Wg/Wnt target genes in
      Drosophila. However, the biochemical involvement of mammalian Pygopus proteins in
      beta-catenin/TCF/LEF gene activation remains controversial. In this study, we
      perform a series of molecular/biochemical experiments to demonstrate that Pygo2
      associates with histone-modifying enzymatic complexes, specifically the MLL2
      histone methyltransferase (HMT) and STAGA histone acetyltransferase (HAT)
      complexes, to facilitate their interaction with beta-catenin and to augment Wnt1
      induced, TCF/LEF-dependent transcriptional activation in breast cancer cells. We
      identify a critical domain in Pygo2 encompassing the first 47 amino acids that
      mediates its HMT/HAT interaction. We further demonstrate the importance of this
      domain in Pygo2's ability to transcriptionally activate both artificial and
      endogenous Wnt target genes and to expand breast cancer stem-like cells in
      culture. This work now links mechanistically Pygo2's role in histone modification
      to its enhancement of the Wnt-dependent transcriptional program and cancer stem
      like cell expansion.

PMID- 20937769
TI  - Genome-wide profiling of the core clock protein BMAL1 targets reveals a strict
      relationship with metabolism.
AB  - Circadian rhythms are common to most organisms and govern much of homeostasis and
      physiology. Since a significant fraction of the mammalian genome is controlled by
      the clock machinery, understanding the genome-wide signaling and epigenetic basis
      of circadian gene expression is essential. BMAL1 is a critical circadian
      transcription factor that regulates genes via E-box elements in their promoters.
      We used multiple high-throughput approaches, including chromatin
      immunoprecipitation-based systematic analyses and DNA microarrays combined with
      bioinformatics, to generate genome-wide profiles of BMAL1 target genes. We reveal
      that, in addition to E-boxes, the CCAATG element contributes to elicit robust
      circadian expression. BMAL1 occupancy is found in more than 150 sites, including
      all known clock genes. Importantly, a significant proportion of BMAL1 targets
      include genes that encode central regulators of metabolic processes. The database
      generated in this study constitutes a useful resource to decipher the network of
      circadian gene control and its intimate links with several fundamental
      physiological functions.

PMID- 20937770
TI  - CPEB4 is a cell survival protein retained in the nucleus upon ischemia or
      endoplasmic reticulum calcium depletion.
AB  - The RNA binding protein CPEB (cytoplasmic polyadenylation element binding)
      regulates cytoplasmic polyadenylation and translation in germ cells and the
      brain. In neurons, CPEB is detected at postsynaptic sites, as well as in the cell
      body. The related CPEB3 protein also regulates translation in neurons, albeit
      probably not through polyadenylation; it, as well as CPEB4, is present in
      dendrites and the cell body. Here, we show that treatment of neurons with
      ionotropic glutamate receptor agonists causes CPEB4 to accumulate in the nucleus.
      All CPEB proteins are nucleus-cytoplasm shuttling proteins that are retained in
      the nucleus in response to calcium-mediated signaling and alpha
      calcium/calmodulin-dependent kinase protein II (CaMKII) activity. CPEB2, -3, and 
      4 have conserved nuclear export signals that are not present in CPEB. CPEB4 is
      necessary for cell survival and becomes nuclear in response to focal ischemia in
      vivo and when cultured neurons are deprived of oxygen and glucose. Further
      analysis indicates that nuclear accumulation of CPEB4 is controlled by the
      depletion of calcium from the ER, specifically, through the inositol-1,4,5
      triphosphate (IP3) receptor, indicating a communication between these organelles
      in redistributing proteins between subcellular compartments.

PMID- 20937771
TI  - Nbr1 is a novel inhibitor of ligand-mediated receptor tyrosine kinase
      degradation.
AB  - Neighbor of BRCA1 (Nbr1) is a highly conserved multidomain scaffold protein with
      proposed roles in endocytic trafficking and selective autophagy. However, the
      exact function of Nbr1 in these contexts has not been studied in detail. Here we
      investigated the role of Nbr1 in the trafficking of receptor tyrosine kinases
      (RTKs). We report that ectopic Nbr1 expression inhibits the ligand-mediated
      lysosomal degradation of RTKs, and this is probably done via the inhibition of
      receptor internalization. Conversely, the depletion of endogenous NBR1 enhances
      RTK degradation. Analyses of truncation mutations demonstrated that the C
      terminus of Nbr1 is essential but not sufficient for this activity. Moreover, the
      C terminus of Nbr1 is essential but not sufficient for the localization of the
      protein to late endosomes. We demonstrate that the C terminus of Nbr1 contains a
      novel membrane-interacting amphipathic alpha-helix, which is essential for the
      late endocytic localization of the protein but not for its effect on RTK
      degradation. Finally, autophagic and late endocytic localizations of Nbr1 are
      independent of one another, suggesting that the roles of Nbr1 in each context
      might be distinct. Our results define Nbr1 as a negative regulator of ligand
      mediated RTK degradation and reveal the interplay between its various regions for
      protein localization and function.

PMID- 20937772
TI  - Cytosolic Ras supports eye development in Drosophila.
AB  - Ras proteins associate with cellular membranes as a consequence of a series of
      posttranslational modifications of a C-terminal CAAX sequence that include
      prenylation and are thought to be required for biological activity. In Drosophila
      melanogaster, Ras1 is required for eye development. We found that Drosophila Ras1
      is inefficiently prenylated as a consequence of a lysine in the A(1) position of
      its CAAX sequence such that a significant pool remains soluble in the cytosol. We
      used mosaic analysis with a repressible cell marker (MARCM) to assess if various
      Ras1 transgenes could restore photoreceptor fate to eye disc cells that are null
      for Ras1. Surprisingly, we found that whereas Ras1 with an enhanced efficiency of
      membrane targeting could not rescue the Ras1 null phenotype, Ras1 that was not at
      all membrane targeted by virtue of a mutation of the CAAX cysteine was able to
      fully rescue eye development. In addition, constitutively active Ras1(12V,C186S)
      not targeted to membranes produced a hypermorphic phenotype and stimulated
      mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling in S2 cells. We conclude that
      the membrane association of Drosophila Ras1 is not required for eye development.

PMID- 20937773
TI  - Cdk1/cyclin B1 controls Fas-mediated apoptosis by regulating caspase-8 activity.
AB  - Caspase activation is a hallmark of apoptosis. However, the molecular mechanisms
      underlying the regulation of caspase-8 activation within the extrinsic death
      pathway are not well understood. In this study, we demonstrate that procaspase-8
      is phosphorylated in mitotic cells by Cdk1/cyclin B1 on Ser-387, which is located
      at the N terminus of the catalytic subunit p10. This phosphorylation of
      procaspase-8 on Ser-387 occurs in cancer cell lines, as well as in primary breast
      tissues and lymphocytes. Furthermore, RNA interference-mediated silencing of
      cyclin B1 or treatment with the Cdk1 inhibitor RO-3306 enhances the Fas-mediated
      activation and processing of procaspase-8 in mitotic cells. A nonphosphorylatable
      procaspase-8 (S387A) facilitates Fas-induced apoptosis during mitosis. Our
      findings suggest that Cdk1/cyclin B1 activity shields human cells against
      extrinsic death stimuli and unravel the molecular details of the cross talk
      between cell cycle and extrinsic apoptotic pathways. Finally, this new mechanism
      may also contribute to tumorigenesis.

PMID- 20937774
TI  - Oligomerization of the mitochondrial protein voltage-dependent anion channel is
      coupled to the induction of apoptosis.
AB  - Accumulating evidence implicates that the voltage-dependent anion channel (VDAC)
      functions in mitochondrion-mediated apoptosis and as a critical player in the
      release of apoptogenic proteins, such as cytochrome c, triggering caspase
      activation and apoptosis. The mechanisms regulating cytochrome c release and the
      molecular architecture of the cytochrome c-conducting channel remain unknown.
      Here the relationship between VDAC oligomerization and the induction of apoptosis
      was examined. We demonstrated that apoptosis induction by various stimuli was
      accompanied by highly increased VDAC oligomerization, as revealed by cross
      linking and directly monitored in living cells using bioluminescence resonance
      energy transfer technology. VDAC oligomerization was induced in all cell types
      and with all apoptosis inducers used, including staurosporine, curcumin,
      As(2)O(3), etoposide, cisplatin, selenite, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF
      alpha), H(2)O(2), and UV irradiation, all acting through different mechanisms yet
      all involving mitochondria. Moreover, correlation between the levels of VDAC
      oligomerization and apoptosis was observed. Furthermore, the apoptosis inhibitor
      4,4'-diisothiocyanostilbene-2,2'-disulfonic acid (DIDS) inhibited VDAC
      oligomerization. Finally, a caspase inhibitor had no effect on VDAC
      oligomerization and cytochrome c release. We propose that VDAC oligomerization is
      involved in mitochondrion-mediated apoptosis and may represent a general
      mechanism common to numerous apoptogens acting via different initiating cascades.
      Thus, targeting the oligomeric status of VDAC, and hence apoptosis, offers a
      therapeutic strategy for combating cancers and neurodegenerative diseases.

PMID- 20937775
TI  - The protein kinase C cascade regulates recruitment of matrix metalloprotease 9 to
      podosomes and its release and activation.
AB  - Podosomes are transient cell surface structures essential for degradation of
      extracellular matrix during cell invasion. Protein kinase C (PKC) is involved in
      the regulation of podosome formation; however, the roles of individual PKC
      isoforms in podosome formation and proteolytic function are largely unknown.
      Recently, we reported that PDBu, a PKC activator, induced podosome formation in
      normal human bronchial epithelial cells. Here, we demonstrate that phorbol-12,13
      dibutyrate (PDBu)-induced podosome formation is mainly mediated through
      redistribution of conventional PKCs, especially PKCalpha, from the cytosol to the
      podosomes. Interestingly, although blocking atypical PKCzeta did not affect PDBu
      induced podosome formation, it significantly reduced matrix degradation at
      podosomes. Inhibition of PKCzeta reduced recruitment of matrix metalloprotease 9
      (MMP-9) to podosomes and its release and activation. Downregulation of MMP-9 by
      small interfering RNA (siRNA) or neutralization antibody also significantly
      reduced matrix degradation. The regulatory effects of PKCzeta on matrix
      degradation and recruitment of MMP-9 to podosomes were PKCzeta kinase activity
      dependent. PDBu-induced recruitment of PKCzeta and MMP-9 to podosomes was blocked
      by inhibition of novel PKC with rottlerin or PKCdelta siRNA. Our data suggest
      that multiple PKC isozymes form a signaling cascade that controls podosome
      formation and dynamics and MMP-9 recruitment, release, and activation in a
      coordinated fashion.

PMID- 20937776
TI  - Genome-wide distribution of macroH2A1 histone variants in mouse liver chromatin.
AB  - Studies of macroH2A histone variants indicate that they have a role in regulating
      gene expression. To identify direct targets of the macroH2A1 variants, we
      produced a genome-wide map of the distribution of macroH2A1 nucleosomes in mouse
      liver chromatin using high-throughput DNA sequencing. Although macroH2A1
      nucleosomes are widely distributed across the genome, their local concentration
      varies over a range of 100-fold or more. The transcribed regions of most active
      genes are depleted of macroH2A1, often in sharply localized domains that show
      depletion of 4-fold or more relative to bulk mouse liver chromatin. We used
      macroH2A1 enrichment to help identify genes that appear to be directly regulated
      by macroH2A1 in mouse liver. These genes functionally cluster in the area of
      lipid metabolism. All but one of these genes has increased expression in
      macroH2A1 knockout mice, indicating that macroH2A1 functions primarily as a
      repressor in adult liver. This repressor activity is further supported by the
      substantial and relatively uniform macroH2A1 enrichment along the inactive X
      chromosome, which averages 4-fold. Genes that escape X inactivation stand out as
      domains of macroH2A1 depletion. The rarity of such genes indicates that few genes
      escape X inactivation in mouse liver, in contrast to what has been observed in
      human cells.

PMID- 20937778
TI  - An oracle: antituberculosis pharmacokinetics-pharmacodynamics, clinical
      correlation, and clinical trial simulations to predict the future.
AB  - Antimicrobial pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) science and clinical trial
      simulations have not been adequately applied to the design of doses and dose
      schedules of antituberculosis regimens because many researchers are skeptical
      about their clinical applicability. We compared findings of preclinical PK/PD
      studies of current first-line antituberculosis drugs to findings from several
      clinical publications that included microbiologic outcome and pharmacokinetic
      data or had a dose-scheduling design. Without exception, the antimicrobial PK/PD
      parameters linked to optimal effect were similar in preclinical models and in
      tuberculosis patients. Thus, exposure-effect relationships derived in the
      preclinical models can be used in the design of optimal antituberculosis doses,
      by incorporating population pharmacokinetics of the drugs and MIC distributions
      in Monte Carlo simulations. When this has been performed, doses and dose
      schedules of rifampin, isoniazid, pyrazinamide, and moxifloxacin with the
      potential to shorten antituberculosis therapy have been identified. In addition,
      different susceptibility breakpoints than those in current use have been
      identified. These steps outline a more rational approach than that of current
      methods for designing regimens and predicting outcome so that both new and older
      antituberculosis agents can shorten therapy duration.

PMID- 20937780
TI  - Inhibition of bacterial multidrug resistance by celecoxib, a cyclooxygenase-2
      inhibitor.
AB  - Multidrug resistance (MDR) is a major problem in the treatment of infectious
      diseases and cancer. Accumulating evidence suggests that the cyclooxygenase-2
      (COX-2)-specific inhibitor celecoxib would not only inhibit COX-2 but also help
      in the reversal of drug resistance in cancers by inhibiting the MDR1 efflux pump.
      Here, we demonstrate that celecoxib increases the sensitivity of bacteria to the
      antibiotics ampicillin, kanamycin, chloramphenicol, and ciprofloxacin by
      accumulating the drugs inside the cell, thus reversing MDR in bacteria.

PMID- 20937779
TI  - In vivo and in vitro efficacy of chloroquine against Plasmodium malariae and P.
      ovale in Papua, Indonesia.
AB  - Reports of potential drug-resistant strains of Plasmodium malariae in western
      Indonesia raise concerns that chloroquine resistance may be emerging in P.
      malariae and P. ovale. In order to assess this, in vivo and in vitro efficacy
      studies were conducted in patients with monoinfection in Papua, Indonesia.
      Consecutive patients with uncomplicated malaria due to P. ovale or P. malariae
      were enrolled in a prospective clinical trial, provided with supervised
      chloroquine treatment, and followed for 28 days. Blood from patients with P.
      malariae or P. ovale parasitemia greater than 1,000 per microliter underwent in
      vitro antimalarial drug susceptibility testing using a modified schizont
      maturation assay. Of the 57 evaluable patients in the clinical study (P.
      malariae, n = 46; P. ovale, n = 11), none had recurrence with the same species
      during follow-up. The mean parasite reduction ratio at 48 h was 86 (95%
      confidence interval [CI], 57 to 114) for P. malariae and 150 (95% CI, 54 to 245)
      for P. ovale (P = 0.18). One patient infected with P. malariae, with 93% of
      parasites at the trophozoite stage, was still parasitemic on day 4. In vitro drug
      susceptibility assays were carried out successfully for 40 isolates (34 infected
      with P. malariae and 6 with P. ovale). The P. malariae infections at trophozoite
      stages had significantly higher chloroquine 50% effective concentrations
      (EC(50)s) (median, 127.9 nM [range, 7.9 to 2,980]) than those initially exposed
      at the ring stage (median, 14.0 nM [range, 3.5 to 27.0]; P = 0.01). The EC(50)
      for chloroquine in P. ovale was also higher in an isolate initially at the
      trophozoite stage (23.2 nM) than in the three isolates predominantly at ring
      stage (7.8 nM). Chloroquine retains adequate efficacy against P. ovale and P.
      malariae, but its marked stage specificity of action may account for reports of
      delayed parasite clearance times.

PMID- 20937781
TI  - PA-824 exhibits time-dependent activity in a murine model of tuberculosis.
AB  - PA-824 is one of two nitroimidazoles in phase II clinical trials to treat
      tuberculosis. In mice, it has dose-dependent early bactericidal and sterilizing
      activity. In humans with tuberculosis, PA-824 demonstrated early bactericidal
      activity (EBA) at doses ranging from 200 to 1,200 mg per day, but no dose
      response effect was observed. To better understand the relationship between drug
      exposure and effect, we performed a dose fractionation study in mice. Dose
      ranging pharmacokinetic data were used to simulate drug exposure profiles.
      Beginning 2 weeks after aerosol infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis, total
      PA-824 doses from 144 to 4,608 mg/kg were administered as 3, 4, 8, 12, 24, or 48
      divided doses over 24 days. Lung CFU counts after treatment were strongly
      correlated with the free drug T(>MIC) (R(2) = 0.87) and correlated with the free
      drug AUC/MIC (R(2) = 0.60), but not with the free drug C(max)/MIC (R(2) = 0.17),
      where T(>MIC) is the cumulative percentage of the dosing interval that the drug
      concentration exceeds the MIC under steady-state pharmacokinetic conditions and
      AUC is the area under the concentration-time curve. When the data set was limited
      to regimens with dosing intervals of <=72 h, both the T(>MIC) and the AUC/MIC
      values fit the data well. Free drug T(>MIC) of 22, 48, and 77% were associated
      with bacteriostasis, a 1-log kill, and a 1.59-log kill (or 80% of the maximum
      observed effect), respectively. Human pharmacodynamic simulations based on phase
      I data predict 200 mg/day produces free drug T(>MIC) values near the target for
      maximal observed bactericidal effect. The results support the recently
      demonstrated an EBA of 200 mg/day and the lack of a dose-response between 200 and
      1,200 mg/day. T(>MIC), in conjunction with AUC/MIC, is the parameter on which
      dose optimization of PA-824 should be based.

PMID- 20937782
TI  - Mode-of-action studies of the novel bisquaternary bisnaphthalimide MT02 against
      Staphylococcus aureus.
AB  - Screening of various bisquaternary bisnaphthalimides against a variety of human
      pathogens revealed one compound, designated MT02, with strong inhibitory effects
      against Gram-positive bacteria. The MICs ranged from 0.31 MUg/ml against
      community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) lineage
      USA300 to 20 MUg/ml against Streptococcus pneumoniae. Radioactive whole-cell
      labeling experiments indicated a strong impact of MT02 on bacterial DNA
      replication. DNA microarray studies generated a transcriptional signature
      characterized by stronger expression of genes involved in DNA metabolism, DNA
      replication, SOS response, and transport of positively charged compounds.
      Furthermore, surface plasmon resonance and gel retardation experiments
      demonstrated direct binding of MT02 to DNA in a concentration-dependent,
      reversible, and non-sequence-specific manner. The data presented suggest that the
      bisquaternary bisnaphthalimide MT02 exerts anti-Gram-positive activity by binding
      to DNA and thereby preventing appropriate DNA replication.

PMID- 20937783
TI  - High levels and safety of oseltamivir carboxylate plasma concentrations after
      nasogastric administration in critically ill children in a pediatric intensive
      care unit.
AB  - During the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemics, the concentrations of oseltamivir (O)
      and its active metabolite (oseltamivir carboxylate [OC]) were determined in 11
      children (1 month to 16 years of age) admitted to intensive care units for
      presumed severe H1N1 infection. They received oseltamivir phosphate (OP)
      nasogastrically at doses between 1.5 and 6.8 mg/kg of body weight. High OC
      concentrations were found, with a mean level of 678 +/- 535 MUg/liter. The mean
      OP concentration was 27 +/- 52 MUg/liter. No marked side effect was reported.

PMID- 20937784
TI  - A novel insertion sequence, ISAba10, inserted into ISAba1 adjacent to the bla(OXA
      23) gene and disrupting the outer membrane protein gene carO in Acinetobacter
      baumannii.
AB  - We investigated an outbreak caused by carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter
      baumannii carrying the bla(OXA-23) gene. A novel insertion sequence (IS), named
      ISAba10, was found to be inserted into the ISAba1 element preceding the bla(OXA
      23) gene in a group of isolates showing higher carbapenem MICs. The presence of
      ISAba10 was associated with increased OXA-23 expression, likely by providing
      additional promoter sequences. ISAba10 was also inserted into the carO outer
      membrane protein gene in most of these isolates.

PMID- 20937785
TI  - Structural and biochemical analysis of the pentapeptide repeat protein EfsQnr, a
      potent DNA gyrase inhibitor.
AB  - The chromosomally encoded Qnr homolog protein from Enterococcus faecalis
      (EfsQnr), when expressed, confers to its host a decreased susceptibility to
      quinolones and consists mainly of tandem repeats, which is consistent with
      belonging to the pentapeptide repeat family of proteins (PRPs). EfsQnr was cloned
      with an N-terminal 6* His tag and purified to homogeneity. EfsQnr partially
      protected DNA gyrase from fluoroquinolone inhibition at concentrations as low as
      20 nM. EfsQnr inhibited the ATP-dependent supercoiling activity of DNA gyrase
      with a 50% inhibitory concentration (IC(50)) of 1.2 MUM, while no significant
      inhibition of ATP-independent relaxation activity was observed. EfsQnr was
      cytotoxic when overexpressed in Escherichia coli, resulting in the clumping of
      cells and a loss of viability. The X-ray crystal structure of EfsQnr was
      determined to 1.6-A resolution. EfsQnr exhibits the right-handed quadrilateral
      beta-helical fold typical of PRPs, with features more analogous to MfpA
      (mycobacterium fluoroquinolone resistance pentapeptide) than to the PRPs commonly
      found in cyanobacteria.

PMID- 20937786
TI  - Novel compounds containing multiple guanide groups that bind the HIV coreceptor
      CXCR4.
AB  - The G-protein-coupled receptor CXCR4 acts as a coreceptor for human
      immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection, as well as being involved in
      signaling cell migration and proliferation. Compounds that block CXCR4
      interactions have potential uses as HIV entry inhibitors to complement drugs such
      as maraviroc that block the alternate coreceptor CCR5 or in cancer therapy. The
      peptide T140, which contains five arginine residues, is the most potent
      antagonist of CXCR4 developed to date. In a search for nonpeptide CXCR4 ligands
      that could inhibit HIV entry, three series of compounds were synthesized from 12
      linear and branched polyamines with 2, 3, 4, 6, or 8 amino groups, which were
      substituted to produce the corresponding guanidines, biguanides, or
      phenylguanides. The resulting compounds were tested for their ability to compete
      with T140 for binding to the human CXCR4 receptor expressed on mammalian cells.
      The most effective compounds bound CXCR4 with a 50% inhibitory concentration of
      200 nM, and all of the compounds had very low cytotoxicity. Two series of
      compounds were then tested for their ability to inhibit the infection of TZM-bl
      cells with X4 and R5 strains of HIV-1. Spermine phenylguanide and spermidine
      phenylguanide inhibited infection by X4 strains, but not by R5 strains, at low
      micromolar concentrations. These results support further investigation and
      development of these compounds as HIV entry inhibitors.

PMID- 20937787
TI  - Overexpression of patA and patB, which encode ABC transporters, is associated
      with fluoroquinolone resistance in clinical isolates of Streptococcus pneumoniae.
AB  - Fifty-seven clinical isolates of Streptococcus pneumoniae were divided into four
      groups based on their susceptibilities to the fluoroquinolones ciprofloxacin and
      norfloxacin and the dyes ethidium bromide and acriflavine. Comparative reverse
      transcription-PCR was used to determine the level of expression of the genes patA
      and patB, which encode putative ABC transporters. Overexpression was observed in
      14 of the 15 isolates that were resistant to both fluoroquinolones and dyes and
      in only 3 of 24 of those resistant to fluoroquinolones only. Isolates
      overexpressing patA and patB accumulated significantly less of the fluorescent
      dye Hoechst 33342 than wild-type isolates, suggesting that PatA and PatB are
      involved in efflux. Inactivation of patA and patB by in vitro mariner mutagenesis
      conferred hypersusceptibility to ethidium bromide and acriflavine in all isolates
      tested and lowered the MICs of ciprofloxacin in the patAB-overproducing and/or
      fluoroquinolone-resistant isolates. These data represent the first observation of
      overexpression of patA and patB in clinical isolates and show that PatA and PatB
      play a clinically relevant role in fluoroquinolone resistance.

PMID- 20937788
TI  - Activities of TMC207, rifampin, and pyrazinamide against Mycobacterium
      tuberculosis infection in guinea pigs.
AB  - The experimental compound TMC207 is showing promise against infections caused by
      Mycobacterium tuberculosis both in a variety of animal studies and in the field.
      In this study, we used the guinea pig model, a species that shows several
      similarities to human tuberculosis, including the hallmark of primary granuloma
      necrosis, to determine the efficacy of a combination regimen combining TMC207
      with rifampin and pyrazinamide. This drug regimen rapidly reduced the bacterial
      load in the lungs to undetectable levels by 8 weeks of treatment. This reduction
      was associated with a substantial improvement in lung pathology, but despite this
      effect areas of residual necrosis still remained. In the draining lymph nodes,
      however, tissue damage was rapid and not significantly reversed by the drug
      treatment. Approximately 10 to 11 months after the treatment had ended, the
      animals began to trigger a Karnovsky scale indicating bacterial regrowth and
      potential relapse, an event confirmed by the new development of both pulmonary
      and extrapulmonary granulomatous lesions. Interestingly, a similar rate of
      relapse was also seen in animals receiving 24 weeks of rifampin, pyrazinamide,
      and isoniazid standard chemotherapy. These data indicate that TMC207 could be a
      useful addition to current treatment regimens for tuberculosis.

PMID- 20937789
TI  - Caspofungin affects growth of Paracoccidioides brasiliensis in both morphological
      phases.
AB  - Five Paracoccidioides brasiliensis isolates were grown in the presence of
      caspofungin (0 to 1 MUg/ml). Inhibition of the yeast phase ranged from 20 to 65%,
      while in the mycelial form it ranged from 75% to 82%. Such variability was
      loosely related to the amount of cell wall beta-1,3-glucan. No association with
      point mutations in the beta-1,3-glucan synthase was detected. Caspofungin induced
      physical changes and cytoplasmic deterioration in both fungal phases.

PMID- 20937790
TI  - Novel dengue virus-specific NS2B/NS3 protease inhibitor, BP2109, discovered by a
      high-throughput screening assay.
AB  - Dengue virus (DENV) causes disease globally, with an estimated 25 to 100 million
      new infections per year. At present, no effective vaccine is available, and
      treatment is supportive. In this study, we identified BP2109, a potent and
      selective small-molecule inhibitor of the DENV NS2B/NS3 protease, by a high
      throughput screening assay using a recombinant protease complex consisting of the
      central hydrophilic portion of NS2B and the N terminus of the protease domain.
      BP2109 inhibited DENV (serotypes 1 to 4), but not Japanese encephalitis virus
      (JEV), replication and viral RNA synthesis without detectable cytotoxicity. The
      compound inhibited recombinant DENV-2 NS2B/NS3 protease with a 50% inhibitory
      concentration (IC(50)) of 15.43 +/- 2.12 MUM and reduced the reporter expression
      of the DENV-2 replicon with a 50% effective concentration (EC(50)) of 0.17 +/-
      0.01 MUM. Sequencing analyses of several individual clones derived from BP2109
      resistant DENV-2 RNAs revealed that two amino acid substitutions (R55K and E80K)
      are found in the region of NS2B, a cofactor of the NS2B/NS3 protease complex. The
      introduction of R55K and E80K double mutations into the dengue virus NS2B/NS3
      protease and a dengue virus replicon construct conferred 10.3- and 73.8-fold
      resistance to BP2109, respectively. The E80K mutation was further determined to
      be the key mutation conferring dengue virus replicon resistance (61.3-fold) to
      BP2109, whereas the R55K mutation alone did not affect resistance to BP2109. Both
      the R55K and E80K mutations are located in the central hydrophilic portion of the
      NS2B cofactor, where extensive interactions with the NS3pro domain exist. Thus,
      our data provide evidence that BP2109 likely inhibits DENV by a novel mechanism.

PMID- 20937791
TI  - Plasma and intracellular (peripheral blood mononuclear cells) pharmacokinetics of
      once-daily raltegravir (800 milligrams) in HIV-infected patients.
AB  - The aim of this study was to evaluate the plasma and intracellular
      pharmacokinetics of raltegravir in HIV-infected patients receiving once-daily
      raltegravir. Five HIV-infected patients on stable therapy with lopinavir
      ritonavir monotherapy whose HIV-1 RNA load was <50 copies/ml were included in
      this open-label, pilot study. Raltegravir was added to the antiretroviral regimen
      at a dose of 800 mg once daily from days 0 to 10. On day 10, a full
      pharmacokinetic profile was obtained for each participant. Raltegravir
      concentrations in plasma and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were
      determined by high-performance liquid chromatography with a fluorescence detector
      and by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), respectively.
      The values of the raltegravir pharmacokinetic parameters in plasma and PBMCs were
      calculated by noncompartmental analysis. Raltegravir was well tolerated, and all
      participants completed the study. No differences in the times to the maximum
      concentration of raltegravir in plasma or the raltegravir half-lives were
      observed between plasma and PBMCs. The geometric mean raltegravir maximum
      concentration, the concentration at the end of the dosing interval, and the area
      under the concentration-time curve during the dose interval in plasma versus
      PBMCs were 2,640 ng/ml (range, 887 to 10,605 ng/ml) versus 199 ng/ml (range, 82
      to 857 ng/ml) (geometric mean ratio [GMR], 13.30; 95% confidence interval [CI],
      3.11 to 56.89; P = 0.003); 89 ng/ml (range, 51 to 200 ng/ml) versus 7 ng/ml
      (range, 2 to 15 ng/ml) (GMR, 13.21; 95% CI, 3.94 to 44.26; P = 0.001); and 12,200
      ng.h/ml (range, 5,152 to 30,130 ng.h/ml) versus 909 ng.h/ml (range, 499 to 2,189
      ng.h/ml) (GMR, 13.43; 95% CI, 5.13 to 35.16; P < 0.001), respectively.
      Raltegravir does not accumulate in PBMCs, with intracellular concentrations being
      about 1/10 of the concentrations in plasma. Despite once-daily dosing, mean
      raltegravir concentrations at the end of the dosing interval in plasma and PBMCs
      exceeded the reported protein-binding-adjusted 95% inhibitory concentration
      (IC(95)) and IC(50) for wild-type viral strains, respectively.

PMID- 20937792
TI  - Low tigecycline concentrations in the cerebrospinal fluid of a neutropenic
      patient with inflamed meninges.

PMID- 20937793
TI  - The treatment of sex offenders: evidence, ethics, and human rights.
AB  - Public policy is necessarily a political process with the law and order issue
      high on the political agenda. Consequently, working with sex offenders is fraught
      with legal and ethical minefields, including the mandate that community
      protection automatically outweighs offender rights. In addressing community
      protection, contemporary sex offender treatment is based on management rather
      than rehabilitation. We argue that treatment-as-management violates offender
      rights because it is ineffective and unethical. The suggested alternative is to
      deliver treatment-as-rehabilitation underpinned by international human rights law
      and universal professional ethics. An effective and ethical community-offender
      balance is more likely when sex offenders are treated with respect and dignity
      that, as human beings, they have a right to claim.

PMID- 20937794
TI  - Paternalism and the good lives model of sex offender rehabilitation.
AB  - The lives of sex offenders are often confused and disorganized. Modern sex
      offender rehabilitation approaches such as the good lives model emphasize
      holistic aims such as helping offenders to live more satisfying and fulfilling
      lives, rather than merely teaching them to avoid risk. The appeal of the model
      lies in its justification by paternalism: Whatever harms are inflicted on
      offenders during the rehabilitation process are ultimately for their own good.
      But paternalism has its limitations, which include potential infringements on
      offenders' autonomy and human rights, the risk of therapists imposing their own
      values and attitudes, and false claims that harmful interventions are justified
      by their benefit for offenders. Furthermore, some recent empirical studies
      suggest that offenders themselves do not necessarily prefer personal well-being
      goals over risk management techniques and that some offenders find it
      distressingly easy to incorporate "good lives" principles into an ongoing
      antisocial lifestyle. These limitations need to be taken into account when
      applying a good lives approach.

PMID- 20937795
TI  - "But I didn't do it!": ethical treatment of sex offenders in denial.
AB  - This article addresses ethical questions and issues related to the treatment of
      sex offenders in denial, using the empirical research literature and the ethical
      codes of American Psychological Association (APA) and National Association of
      Social Workers (NASW) to guide the ethical decision-making process. The empirical
      literature does not provide an unequivocal link between denial and recidivism,
      though some studies suggest that decreased denial and increased accountability
      appear to be associated with greater therapeutic engagement and reduced
      recidivism for some offenders. The ethical codes of APA and NASW value the
      client's self-determination and autonomy, and psychologists and social workers
      have a duty to empower individual well-being while doing no harm to clients or
      others. Clinicians should view denial not as a categorical construct but as a
      continuum of distorted cognitions requiring clinical attention. Denial might also
      be considered as a responsivity factor that can interfere with treatment
      progress. Offering a reasonable time period for therapeutic engagement might
      provide a better alternative than automatically refusing treatment to categorical
      deniers.

PMID- 20937796
TI  - Daily use of complementary and other therapies for symptoms among older adults:
      study design and illustrative results.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This article describes research designed to specify complementary
      therapies used among older adults by obtaining daily use data and the specific
      purposes for use. DESIGN: Two hundred African American and White participants
      completed a baseline interview and up to six sets of three daily-diary interviews
      at monthly intervals. RESULTS: Participants provided retrospective information on
      complementary therapy use and information on the use of therapies for specific
      symptoms experienced across 3,070 person days. Retrospective information
      indicated that most participants used complementary therapies (e.g., 85.0% used
      home remedies in the past year). The use of complementary or other therapies and
      the number of days the therapies were used varied for specific symptoms. For
      example, home remedies were used on 86 (9.1%) of the 944 person days for which
      joint pain was reported. DISCUSSION: The daily-diary design provides detailed
      information for delineating how elders include complementary and other therapies
      in their health self-management.

PMID- 20937797
TI  - Drosophila Myc interacts with host cell factor (dHCF) to activate transcription
      and control growth.
AB  - The Myc proto-oncoproteins are transcription factors that recognize numerous
      target genes through hexameric DNA sequences called E-boxes. The mechanism by
      which they then activate the expression of these targets is still under debate.
      Here, we use an RNAi screen in Drosophila S2 cells to identify Drosophila host
      cell factor (dHCF) as a novel co-factor for Myc that is functionally required for
      the activation of a Myc-dependent reporter construct. dHCF is also essential for
      the full activation of endogenous Myc target genes in S2 cells, and for the
      ability of Myc to promote growth in vivo. Myc and dHCF physically interact, and
      they colocalize on common target genes. Furthermore, down-regulation of dHCF
      associated histone acetyltransferase and histone methyltransferase complexes in
      vivo interferes with the Myc biological activities. We therefore propose that
      dHCF recruits such chromatin-modifying complexes and thereby contributes to the
      expression of Myc targets and hence to the execution of Myc biological
      activities.

PMID- 20937798
TI  - Tonoplast-localized Abc2 transporter mediates phytochelatin accumulation in
      vacuoles and confers cadmium tolerance.
AB  - Phytochelatins mediate tolerance to heavy metals in plants and some fungi by
      sequestering phytochelatin-metal complexes into vacuoles. To date, only
      Schizosaccharomyces pombe Hmt1 has been described as a phytochelatin transporter
      and attempts to identify orthologous phytochelatin transporters in plants and
      other organisms have failed. Furthermore, recent data indicate that the hmt1
      mutant accumulates significant phytochelatin levels in vacuoles, suggesting that
      unidentified phytochelatin transporters exist in fungi. Here, we show that
      deletion of all vacuolar ABC transporters abolishes phytochelatin accumulation in
      S. pombe vacuoles and abrogates (35)S-PC(2) uptake into S. pombe microsomal
      vesicles. Systematic analysis of the entire S. pombe ABC transporter family
      identified Abc2 as a full-size ABC transporter (ABCC-type) that mediates
      phytochelatin transport into vacuoles. The S. pombe abc1 abc2 abc3 abc4 hmt1
      quintuple and abc2 hmt1 double mutant show no detectable phytochelatins in
      vacuoles. Abc2 expression restores phytochelatin accumulation into vacuoles and
      suppresses the cadmium sensitivity of the abc quintuple mutant. A novel,
      unexpected, function of Hmt1 in GS-conjugate transport is also shown. In contrast
      to Hmt1, Abc2 orthologs are widely distributed among kingdoms and are proposed as
      the long-sought vacuolar phytochelatin transporters in plants and other
      organisms.

PMID- 20937799
TI  - Ligand- and subunit-specific conformational changes in the ligand-binding domain
      and the TM2-TM3 linker of {alpha}1 {beta}2 {gamma}2 GABAA receptors.
AB  - Cys-loop receptor ligand binding sites are located at subunit interfaces where
      they are lined by loops A-C from one subunit and loops D-F from the adjacent
      subunit. Agonist binding induces large conformational changes in loops C and F.
      However, it is controversial as to whether these conformational changes are
      essential for gating. Here we used voltage clamp fluorometry to investigate the
      roles of loops C and F in gating the alpha1 beta2 gamma2 GABA(A) receptor.
      Voltage clamp fluorometry involves labeling introduced cysteines with
      environmentally sensitive fluorophores and inferring structural rearrangements
      from ligand-induced fluorescence changes. Previous attempts to define the roles
      of loops C and F using this technique have focused on homomeric Cys-loop
      receptors. However, the problem with studying homomeric receptors is that it is
      difficult to eliminate the possibility of bound ligands interacting directly with
      attached fluorophores at the same site. Here we show that ligands binding to the
      beta2-alpha1 interface GABA binding site produce conformational changes at the
      adjacent subunit interface. This is most likely due to agonist-induced loop C
      closure directly altering loop F conformation at the adjacent alpha1-beta2
      subunit interface. However, as antagonists and agonists produce identical alpha1
      subunit loop F conformational changes, these conformational changes appear
      unimportant for gating. Finally, we demonstrate that TM2-TM3 loops from adjacent
      beta2 subunits in alpha1 beta2 receptors can dimerize via K24'C disulfides in the
      closed state. This result implies unexpected conformational mobility in this
      crucial part of the gating machinery. Together, this information provides new
      insights into the activation mechanisms of Cys-loop receptors.

PMID- 20937800
TI  - Functional characterization of the promiscuous prenyltransferase responsible for
      furaquinocin biosynthesis: identification of a physiological polyketide substrate
      and its prenylated reaction products.
AB  - Furaquinocin is a natural polyketide-isoprenoid hybrid (meroterpenoid) that
      exhibits antitumor activity and is produced by the Streptomyces sp. strain KO
      3988. Bioinformatic analysis of furaquinocin biosynthesis has identified Fur7 as
      a possible prenyltransferase that attaches a geranyl group to an unidentified
      polyketide scaffold. Here, we report the identification of a physiological
      polyketide substrate for Fur7, as well as its reaction product and the
      biochemical characterization of Fur7. A Streptomyces albus transformant (S.
      albus/pWHM-Fur2_del7) harboring the furaquinocin biosynthetic gene cluster
      lacking the fur7 gene did not produce furaquinocin but synthesized the novel
      intermediate 2-methoxy-3-methyl-flaviolin. After expression and purification from
      Escherichia coli, the recombinant Fur7 enzyme catalyzed the transfer of a geranyl
      group to 2-methoxy-3-methyl-flaviolin to yield 6-prenyl-2-methoxy-3-methyl
      flaviolin and 7-O-geranyl-2-methoxy-3-methyl-flaviolin in a 10:1 ratio. The
      reaction proceeded independently of divalent cations. When 6-prenyl-2-methoxy-3
      methyl-flaviolin was added to the culture medium of S. albus/pWHM-Fur2_del7,
      furaquinocin production was restored. The promiscuous substrate specificity of
      Fur7 was demonstrated with respect to prenyl acceptor substrates and prenyl donor
      substrates. The steady-state kinetic constants of Fur7 with each prenyl acceptor
      substrate were also calculated.

PMID- 20937801
TI  - Functional properties of the Arabidopsis peptide transporters AtPTR1 and AtPTR5.
AB  - The Arabidopsis di- and tripeptide transporters AtPTR1 and AtPTR5 were expressed
      in Xenopus laevis oocytes, and their selectivity and kinetic properties were
      determined by voltage clamping and by radioactive uptake. Dipeptide transport by
      AtPTR1 and AtPTR5 was found to be electrogenic and dependent on protons but not
      sodium. In the absence of dipeptides, both transporters showed proton-dependent
      leak currents that were inhibited by Phe-Ala (AtPTR5) and Phe-Ala, Trp-Ala, and
      Phe-Phe (AtPTR1). Phe-Ala was shown to reduce leak currents by binding to the
      substrate-binding site with a high apparent affinity. Inhibition of leak currents
      was only observed when the aromatic amino acids were present at the N-terminal
      position. AtPTR1 and AtPTR5 transport activity was voltage-dependent, and
      currents increased supralinearly with more negative membrane potentials and did
      not saturate. The voltage dependence of the apparent affinities differed between
      Ala-Ala, Ala-Lys, and Ala-Asp and was not conserved between the two transporters.
      The apparent affinity of AtPTR1 for these dipeptides was pH-dependent and
      decreased with decreasing proton concentration. In contrast to most proton
      coupled transporters characterized so far, -I(max) increased at high pH,
      indicating that regulation of the transporter by pH overrides the importance of
      protons as co-substrate.

PMID- 20937802
TI  - Diverse pathways for maturation of the Na,K-ATPase beta1 and beta2 subunits in
      the endoplasmic reticulum of Madin-Darby canine kidney cells.
AB  - Proper folding of the Na,K-ATPase beta subunits followed by assembly with the
      alpha subunits is necessary for their export from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER).
      Here we examine roles of the ER lectin chaperone, calnexin, and non-lectin
      chaperone, BiP, in folding and quality control of the beta(1) and beta(2)
      subunits in Madin-Darby canine kidney cells. Short term prevention of glycan
      calnexin interactions by castanospermine slightly increases ER retention of
      beta(1), suggesting minor involvement of calnexin in subunit folding. However,
      both prolonged incubation with castanospermine and removal of N-glycosylation
      sites do not affect the alpha(1)-assembly or trafficking of beta(1) but increase
      the amount of the beta(1)-bound BiP, showing that BiP can compensate for calnexin
      in assisting beta(1) folding. In contrast to beta(1), prevention of either N
      glycosylation or glycan-calnexin interactions abolishes the alpha(1)-assembly and
      export of beta(2) from the ER despite increased beta(2)-BiP binding. Mutations in
      the alpha(1)-interacting regions of beta(1) and beta(2) subunits impair alpha(1)
      assembly but do not affect folding of the beta subunits tested by their
      sensitivity to trypsin. At the same time, these mutations increase the amount of
      beta-bound BiP but not of beta-bound calnexin and increase ER retention of both
      beta-isoforms. BiP, therefore, prevents the ER export of folded but alpha(1)
      unassembled beta subunits. These alpha(1)-unassembled beta subunits are degraded
      faster than alpha(1)-bound beta subunits, preventing ER overload. In conclusion,
      folding of the beta(1) and beta(2) subunits is assisted predominantly by BiP and
      calnexin, respectively. Folded beta(1) and beta(2) either assemble with alpha(1)
      or bind BiP. The alpha(1)-bound beta subunits traffic to the Golgi, whereas BiP
      bound beta subunits are retained and degraded in the ER.

PMID- 20937803
TI  - Identification of a gene, Desiccate, contributing to desiccation resistance in
      Drosophila melanogaster.
AB  - Suitable alterations in gene expression are believed to allow animals to survive
      drastic changes in environmental conditions. Drosophila melanogaster larvae cease
      eating and exit moist food to search for dry pupation sites after the foraging
      stage in what is known as the wandering stage. Although the behavioral change
      from foraging to wandering causes desiccation stress, the mechanism by which
      Drosophila larvae protect themselves from desiccation remains obscure. Here, we
      identified a gene, CG14686 (designated as Desiccate (Desi)), whose expression was
      elevated during the wandering stage. The Desi expression level was reversibly
      decreased by transferring wandering larvae to wet conditions and increased again
      by transferring them to dry conditions. Elevation of Desi expression was also
      observed in foraging larvae when they were placed in dry conditions. Desi encoded
      a 261-amino acid single-pass transmembrane protein with notable motifs, such as
      SH2 and PDZ domain-binding motifs and a cAMP-dependent protein kinase
      phosphorylation motif, in the cytoplasmic region, and its expression was observed
      mainly in the epidermal cells of the larval integuments. Overexpression of Desi
      slightly increased the larval resistance to desiccation stress during the second
      instar. Furthermore, Desi RNAi larvae lost more weight under dry conditions, and
      subsequently, their mortalities significantly increased compared with control
      larvae. Under dry conditions, consumption of carbohydrate was much higher in Desi
      RNAi larvae than control larvae. Based on these results, it is reasonable to
      conclude that Desi contributes to the resistance of Drosophila larvae to
      desiccation stress.

PMID- 20937804
TI  - Gating of a G protein-sensitive mammalian Kir3.1 prokaryotic Kir channel chimera
      in planar lipid bilayers.
AB  - Kir3 channels control heart rate and neuronal excitability through GTP-binding
      (G) protein and phosphoinositide signaling pathways. These channels were the
      first characterized effectors of the betagamma subunits of G proteins. Because we
      currently lack structures of complexes between G proteins and Kir3 channels,
      their interactions leading to modulation of channel function are not well
      understood. The recent crystal structure of a chimera between the cytosolic
      domain of a mammalian Kir3.1 and the transmembrane region of a prokaryotic
      KirBac1.3 (Kir3.1 chimera) has provided invaluable structural insight. However,
      it was not known whether this chimera could form functional K(+) channels. Here,
      we achieved the functional reconstitution of purified Kir3.1 chimera in planar
      lipid bilayers. The chimera behaved like a bona fide Kir channel displaying an
      absolute requirement for PIP(2) and Mg(2+)-dependent inward rectification. The
      channel could also be blocked by external tertiapin Q. The three-dimensional
      reconstruction of the chimera by single particle electron microscopy revealed a
      structure consistent with the crystal structure. Channel activity could be
      stimulated by ethanol and activated G proteins. Remarkably, the presence of both
      activated Galpha and Gbetagamma subunits was required for gating of the channel.
      These results confirm the Kir3.1 chimera as a valid structural and functional
      model of Kir3 channels.

PMID- 20937805
TI  - Metabolic flux analysis of the mixotrophic metabolisms in the green sulfur
      bacterium Chlorobaculum tepidum.
AB  - The photosynthetic green sulfur bacterium Chlorobaculum tepidum assimilates CO(2)
      and organic carbon sources (acetate or pyruvate) during mixotrophic growth
      conditions through a unique carbon and energy metabolism. Using a (13)C-labeling
      approach, this study examined biosynthetic pathways and flux distributions in the
      central metabolism of C. tepidum. The isotopomer patterns of proteinogenic amino
      acids revealed an alternate pathway for isoleucine synthesis (via citramalate
      synthase, CimA, CT0612). A (13)C-assisted flux analysis indicated that carbons in
      biomass were mostly derived from CO(2) fixation via three key routes: the
      reductive tricarboxylic acid (RTCA) cycle, the pyruvate synthesis pathway via
      pyruvate:ferredoxin oxidoreductase, and the CO(2)-anaplerotic pathway via
      phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase. During mixotrophic growth with acetate or
      pyruvate as carbon sources, acetyl-CoA was mainly produced from acetate (via
      acetyl-CoA synthetase) or citrate (via ATP citrate lyase). Pyruvate:ferredoxin
      oxidoreductase converted acetyl-CoA and CO(2) to pyruvate, and this growth-rate
      control reaction is driven by reduced ferredoxin generated during phototrophic
      growth. Most reactions in the RTCA cycle were reversible. The relative fluxes
      through the RTCA cycle were 80~100 units for mixotrophic cultures grown on
      acetate and 200~230 units for cultures grown on pyruvate. Under the same light
      conditions, the flux results suggested a trade-off between energy-demanding CO(2)
      fixation and biomass growth rate; C. tepidum fixed more CO(2) and had a higher
      biomass yield (Y(X/S), mole carbon in biomass/mole substrate) in pyruvate culture
      (Y(X/S) = 9.2) than in acetate culture (Y(X/S) = 6.4), but the biomass growth
      rate was slower in pyruvate culture than in acetate culture.

PMID- 20937806
TI  - Tumor necrosis factor alpha-induced inflammation is increased but apoptosis is
      inhibited by common food additive carrageenan.
AB  - Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha, a homotrimeric, pleiotropic cytokine, is
      secreted in response to inflammatory stimuli in diseases such as rheumatoid
      arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease. TNF-alpha mediates both apoptosis and
      inflammation, stimulating an inflammatory cascade through the non-canonical
      pathway of NF-kappaB activation, leading to increased nuclear RelB and p52. In
      contrast, the common food additive carrageenan (CGN) stimulates inflammation
      through both the canonical and non-canonical pathways of NF-kappaB activation and
      utilizes the adaptor molecule BCL10 (B-cell leukemia/lymphoma 10). In a series of
      experiments, colonic epithelial cells and mouse embryonic fibroblasts were
      treated with TNF-alpha and carrageenan in order to simulate the possible effects
      of exposure to dietary CGN in the setting of a TNF-alpha-mediated inflammatory
      disease process. A marked increase in secretion of IL-8 occurred, attributable to
      synergistic effects on phosphorylated NF-kappaB-inducing kinase (NIK) in the non
      canonical pathway. TNF-alpha induced the ubiquitination of TRAF2 (TNF receptor
      associated factor 2), which interacts with NIK, and CGN induced phosphorylation
      of BCL10, leading to increased NIK phosphorylation. These results suggest that
      TNF-alpha and CGN in combination act to increase NIK phosphorylation, thereby
      increasing activation of the non-canonical pathway of NF-kappaB activation. In
      contrast, the apoptotic effects of TNF-alpha, including activation of caspase-8
      and PARP-1 (poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase 1) fragmentation, were markedly reduced
      in the presence of CGN, and CGN caused reduced expression of Fas. These findings
      demonstrate that exposure to CGN drives TNF-alpha-stimulated cells toward
      inflammation rather than toward apoptotic cell death and suggest that CGN
      exposure may compromise the effectiveness of anti-TNF-alpha therapy.

PMID- 20937807
TI  - Ca2+ release to lumen from ADP-sensitive phosphoenzyme E1PCa2 without bound K+ of
      sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+-ATPase.
AB  - During Ca(2+) transport by sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca(2+)-ATPase, the conformation
      change of ADP-sensitive phosphoenzyme (E1PCa(2)) to ADP-insensitive phosphoenzyme
      (E2PCa(2)) is followed by rapid Ca(2+) release into the lumen. Here, we find that
      in the absence of K(+), Ca(2+) release occurs considerably faster than E1PCa(2)
      to E2PCa(2) conformation change. Therefore, the lumenal Ca(2+) release pathway is
      open to some extent in the K(+)-free E1PCa(2) structure. The Ca(2+) affinity of
      this E1P is as high as that of the unphosphorylated ATPase (E1), indicating the
      Ca(2+) binding sites are not disrupted. Thus, bound K(+) stabilizes the E1PCa(2)
      structure with occluded Ca(2+), keeping the Ca(2+) pathway to the lumen closed.
      We found previously (Yamasaki, K., Wang, G., Daiho, T., Danko, S., and Suzuki, H.
      (2008) J. Biol. Chem. 283, 29144-29155) that the K(+) bound in E2P reduces the
      Ca(2+) affinity essential for achieving the high physiological Ca(2+) gradient
      and to fully open the lumenal Ca(2+) gate for rapid Ca(2+) release (E2PCa(2) ->
      E2P + 2Ca(2+)). These findings show that bound K(+) is critical for stabilizing
      both E1PCa(2) and E2P structures, thereby contributing to the structural changes
      that efficiently couple phosphoenzyme processing and Ca(2+) handling.

PMID- 20937808
TI  - The translocon Sec61beta localized in the inner nuclear membrane transports
      membrane-embedded EGF receptor to the nucleus.
AB  - Accumulating evidence indicates that endocytosis plays an essential role in the
      nuclear transport of the ErbB family members, such as epidermal growth factor
      receptor (EGFR) and ErbB-2. Nevertheless, how full-length receptors embedded in
      the endosomal membrane pass through the nuclear pore complexes and function as
      non-membrane-bound receptors in the nucleus remains unclear. Here we show that
      upon EGF treatment, the biotinylated cell surface EGFR is trafficked to the inner
      nuclear membrane (INM) through the nuclear pore complexes, remaining in a
      membrane-bound environment. We further find that importin beta regulates EGFR
      nuclear transport to the INM in addition to the nucleus/nucleoplasm.
      Unexpectedly, the well known endoplasmic reticulum associated translocon
      Sec61beta is found to reside in the INM and associate with EGFR. Knocking down
      Sec61beta expression reduces EGFR level in the nucleoplasm portion and
      accumulates it in the INM portion. Thus, the Sec61beta translocon plays an
      unrecognized role in the release of the membrane-anchored EGFR from the lipid
      bilayer of the INM to the nucleus. The newly identified Sec61beta function
      provides an alternative pathway for nuclear transport that can be utilized by
      membrane-embedded proteins such as full-length EGFR.

PMID- 20937809
TI  - WAVE forms hetero- and homo-oligomeric complexes at integrin junctions in
      Drosophila visualized by bimolecular fluorescence complementation.
AB  - Dynamic actin polymerization drives a variety of morphogenetic events during
      metazoan development. Members of the WASP/WAVE protein family are central
      nucleation-promoting factors. They are embedded within regulatory networks of
      macromolecular complexes controlling Arp2/3-mediated actin nucleation in time and
      space. WAVE (Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome protein family verprolin-homologous
      protein) proteins are found in a conserved pentameric heterocomplex that contains
      Abi, Kette/Nap1, Sra-1/CYFIP, and HSPC300. Formation of the WAVE complex
      contributes to the localization, activity, and stability of the various WAVE
      proteins. Here, we established the Bimolecular Fluorescence Complementation
      (BiFC) technique in Drosophila to determine the subcellular localization of the
      WAVE complex in living flies. Using different split-YFP combinations, we are able
      to visualize the formation of the WAVE-Abi complex in vivo. We found that WAVE
      also forms dimers that are capable of forming higher order clusters with
      endogenous WAVE complex components. The N-terminal WAVE homology domain (WHD) of
      the WAVE protein mediates both WAVE-Abi and WAVE-WAVE interactions. Detailed
      localization analyses show that formation of WAVE complexes specifically takes
      place at basal cell compartments promoting actin polymerization. In the wing
      epithelium, hetero- and homooligomeric WAVE complexes co-localize with Integrin
      and Talin suggesting a role in integrin-mediated cell adhesion. RNAi mediated
      suppression of single components of the WAVE and the Arp2/3 complex in the wing
      further suggests that WAVE-dependent Arp2/3-mediated actin nucleation is
      important for the maintenance of stable integrin junctions.

PMID- 20937810
TI  - Impaired Orai1-mediated resting Ca2+ entry reduces the cytosolic [Ca2+] and
      sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ loading in quiescent junctophilin 1 knock-out
      myotubes.
AB  - In the absence of store depletion, plasmalemmal Ca(2+) permeability in resting
      muscle is very low, and its contribution in the maintenance of Ca(2+) homeostasis
      at rest has not been studied in detail. Junctophilin 1 knock-out myotubes (JP1
      KO) have a severe reduction in store-operated Ca(2+) entry, presumably caused by
      physical alteration of the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) and T-tubule junction,
      leading to disruption of the SR signal sent by Stim1 to activate Orai1. Using JP1
      KO myotubes as a model, we assessed the contribution of the Orai1-mediated Ca(2+)
      entry pathway on overall Ca(2+) homeostasis at rest with no store depletion. JP1
      KO myotubes have decreased Ca(2+) entry, [Ca(2+)](rest), and intracellular Ca(2+)
      content compared with WT myotubes and unlike WT myotubes, are refractory to BTP2,
      a Ca(2+) entry blocker. JP1 KO myotubes show down-regulation of Orai1 and Stim1
      proteins, suggesting that this pathway may be important in the control of resting
      Ca(2+) homeostasis. WT myotubes stably transduced with Orai1(E190Q) had similar
      alterations in their resting Ca(2+) homeostasis as JP1 KO myotubes and were also
      unresponsive to BTP2. JP1 KO cells show decreased expression of TRPC1 and -3 but
      overexpress TRPC4 and -6; on the other hand, the TRPC expression profile in
      Orai1(E190Q) myotubes was comparable with WT. These data suggest that an
      important fraction of resting plasmalemmal Ca(2+) permeability is mediated by the
      Orai1 pathway, which contributes to the control of [Ca(2+)](rest) and resting
      Ca(2+) stores and that this pathway is defective in JP1 KO myotubes.

PMID- 20937811
TI  - Angiotensin-converting enzyme overexpression in mouse myelomonocytic cells
      augments resistance to Listeria and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.
AB  - Gene targeting in ES cells was used to substitute control of angiotensin
      converting enzyme (ACE) expression from the endogenous promoter to the mouse c
      fms promoter. The result is an animal model called ACE 10/10 in which ACE is
      overexpressed by monocytes, macrophages, and other myelomonocytic lineage cells.
      To study the immune response of these mice to bacterial infection, we challenged
      them with Listeria monocytogenes or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus
      (MRSA). ACE 10/10 mice have a significantly enhanced immune response to both
      bacteria in vivo and in vitro. For example, 5 days after Listeria infection, the
      spleen and liver of ACE 10/10 mice had 8.0- and 5.2-fold less bacteria than wild
      type mice (WT). In a model of MRSA skin infection, ACE 10/10 mice had 50-fold
      less bacteria than WT mice. Histologic examination showed a prominent infiltrate
      of ACE-positive mononuclear cells in the skin lesions from ACE 10/10. Increased
      bacterial resistance in ACE 10/10 is directly due to overexpression of ACE, as it
      is eliminated by an ACE inhibitor. Critical to increased immunity in ACE 10/10 is
      the overexpression of iNOS and reactive nitrogen intermediates, as inhibition of
      iNOS by the inhibitor 1400W eliminated all in vitro and in vivo differences in
      innate bacterial resistance between ACE 10/10 and WT mice. Increased resistance
      to MRSA was transferable by bone marrow transplantation. The overexpression of
      ACE and iNOS by myelomonocytic cells substantially boosts innate immunity and may
      represent a new means to address serious bacterial infections.

PMID- 20937812
TI  - Resistance profiles of novel electrostatically constrained HIV-1 fusion
      inhibitors.
AB  - Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) gp41 plays a key role in viral fusion; the N-
      and C-terminal heptad repeats (N-HR and C-HR) of gp41 form a stable 6-helical
      conformation for fusion. Therefore, HR-derived peptides, such as enfuvirtide (T
      20), inhibit HIV-1 fusion by acting as decoys, and have been used for the
      treatment of HIV-1 infection. However, the efficacy of T-20 is attenuated by
      resistance mutations in gp41, including V38A and N43D. To suppress the resistant
      variants, we previously developed electrostatically constrained peptides, SC34
      and SC34EK, and showed that both exhibited potent anti-HIV-1 activity against
      wild-type and T-20-resistant variants. In this study, to clarify the resistance
      mechanism to this next generation of fusion inhibitors, we selected variants with
      resistance to SC34 and SC34EK in vitro. The resistant variants had multiple
      mutations in gp41. All of these mutations individually caused less than 6-fold
      resistance to SC34 and SC34EK, indicating that there is a significant genetic
      barrier for high-level resistance. Cross-resistance to SC34 and SC34EK was
      reduced by a simple difference in the polarity of two intramolecular
      electrostatic pairs. Furthermore, the selected mutations enhanced the
      physicochemical interactions with N-HR variants and restored activities of the
      parental peptide, C34, even to resistant variants. These results demonstrate that
      our approach of designing gp41-binding inhibitors using electrostatic constraints
      and information derived from resistance studies produces inhibitors with enhanced
      activity, high genetic barrier, and distinct resistance profile from T-20 and
      other inhibitors. Hence, this is a promising approach for the design of future
      generation peptide fusion inhibitors.

PMID- 20937813
TI  - Identification and functions of amino acid residues in PotB and PotC involved in
      spermidine uptake activity.
AB  - Amino acid residues on PotB and PotC involved in spermidine uptake were
      identified by random and site-directed mutagenesis. It was found that Trp(8),
      Tyr(43), Trp(100), Leu(110), and Tyr(261) in PotB and Trp(46), Asp(108),
      Glu(169), Ser(196), Asp(198), and Asp(199) in PotC were strongly involved in
      spermidine uptake and that Tyr(160), Glu(172), and Leu(274) in PotB and Tyr(19),
      Tyr(88), Tyr(148), Glu(160), Leu(195), and Tyr(211) in PotC were moderately
      involved in spermidine uptake. Among 11 amino acid residues that were strongly
      involved in spermidine uptake, Trp(8) in PotB was important for insertion of PotB
      and PotC into membranes. Tyr(43), Trp(100), and Leu(110) in PotB and Trp(46),
      Asp(108), Ser(196), and Asp(198) in PotC were found to be involved in the
      interaction with PotD. Leu(110) and Tyr(261) in PotB and Asp(108), Asp(198), and
      Asp(199) in PotC were involved in the recognition of spermidine, and Trp(100) and
      Tyr(261) in PotB and Asp(108), Glu(169), and Asp(198) in PotC were involved in
      ATPase activity of PotA. Accordingly, Trp(100) in PotB was involved in both PotD
      recognition and ATPase activity, Leu(110) in PotB was involved in both PotD and
      spermidine recognition, and Tyr(261) in PotB was involved in both spermidine
      recognition and ATPase activity. Asp(108) and Asp(198) in PotC were involved in
      PotD and spermidine recognition as well as ATPase activity. These results suggest
      that spermidine passage from PotD to the cytoplasm is coupled to the ATPase
      activity of PotA through a structural change of PotA by its ATPase activity.

PMID- 20937814
TI  - Effects of the prosegment and pH on the activity of PCSK9: evidence for
      additional processing events.
AB  - PCSK9, a target for the treatment of dyslipidemia, enhances the degradation of
      the LDL receptor (LDLR) in endosomes/lysosomes, up-regulating LDL-cholesterol
      levels. Whereas the targeting and degradation of the PCSK9-LDLR complex are under
      scrutiny, the roles of the N- and C-terminal domains of PCSK9 are unknown.
      Although autocatalytic zymogen processing of PCSK9 occurs at Gln(152)?, here we
      show that human PCSK9 can be further cleaved in its N-terminal prosegment at
      Arg(46)? by an endogenous enzyme of insect High Five cells and by a cellular
      mammalian protease, yielding an ~4-fold enhanced activity. Removal of the
      prosegment acidic stretch resulted in ~3-fold higher binding to LDLR in vitro, in
      >=4-fold increased activity on cellular LDLR, and faster cellular internalization
      in endosome/lysosome-like compartments. Finally, swapping the acidic stretch of
      PCSK9 with a similar one found in the glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored
      heparin-binding protein 1 does not impair PCSK9 autoprocessing, secretion, or
      activity and confirmed that the acidic stretch acts as an inhibitor of PCSK9
      function. We also show that upon short exposure to pH values 6.5 to 5.5, an ~2.5
      fold increase in PCSK9 activity on total and cell surface LDLR occurs, and PCSK9
      undergoes a second cleavage at Arg(248), generating a two-chain PCSK9
      DeltaN(248). At pH values below 5.5, PCSK9 dissociates from its prosegment and
      loses its activity. This pH-dependent activation of PCSK9 represents a novel
      pathway to further activate PCSK9 in acidic endosomes. These data enhance our
      understanding of the functional role of the acidic prosegment and on the effect
      of pH in the regulation of PCSK9 activity.

PMID- 20937815
TI  - Rapamycin inhibits cytoskeleton reorganization and cell motility by suppressing
      RhoA expression and activity.
AB  - The mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) functions in cells at least as two
      complexes, mTORC1 and mTORC2. Intensive studies have focused on the roles of mTOR
      in the regulation of cell proliferation, growth, and survival. Recently we found
      that rapamycin inhibits type I insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1)-stimulated
      lamellipodia formation and cell motility, indicating involvement of mTOR in
      regulating cell motility. This study was set to further elucidate the underlying
      mechanism. Here we show that rapamycin inhibited protein synthesis and activities
      of small GTPases (RhoA, Cdc42, and Rac1), crucial regulatory proteins for cell
      migration. Disruption of mTORC1 or mTORC2 by down-regulation of raptor or rictor,
      respectively, inhibited the activities of these proteins. However, only
      disruption of mTORC1 mimicked the effect of rapamycin, inhibiting their protein
      expression. Ectopic expression of rapamycin-resistant and constitutively active
      S6K1 partially prevented rapamycin inhibition of RhoA, Rac1, and Cdc42
      expression, whereas expression of constitutively hypophosphorylated 4E-BP1 (4EBP1
      5A) or down-regulation of S6K1 by RNA interference suppressed expression of the
      GTPases, suggesting that both mTORC1-mediated S6K1 and 4E-BP1 pathways are
      involved in protein synthesis of the GTPases. Expression of constitutively active
      RhoA, but not Cdc42 and Rac1, conferred resistance to rapamycin inhibition of IGF
      1-stimulated lamellipodia formation and cell migration. The results suggest that
      rapamycin inhibits cell motility at least in part by down-regulation of RhoA
      protein expression and activity through mTORC1-mediated S6K1 and 4E-BP1-signaling
      pathways.

PMID- 20937816
TI  - The regulatory mechanism of extracellular Hsp90{alpha} on matrix
      metalloproteinase-2 processing and tumor angiogenesis.
AB  - Heat shock protein 90alpha (Hsp90alpha) is a ubiquitously expressed molecular
      chaperone that is essential for eukaryotic homeostasis. Hsp90alpha can also be
      secreted extracellularly, where it has been shown to be involved in tumor
      metastasis. Extracellular Hsp90alpha interacts with and promotes the proteolytic
      activity of matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2). However, the regulatory mechanism
      of Hsp90alpha on MMP-2 activity is still unknown. Here we show that Hsp90alpha
      stabilizes MMP-2 and protects it from degradation in tumor cells. Further
      investigation reveals that this stabilization effect is isoform-specific, ATP
      independent, and mediated by the interaction between the Hsp90alpha middle domain
      and the MMP-2 C-terminal hemopexin domain. Moreover, this mechanism also applies
      to endothelial cells that secrete more Hsp90alpha in their proliferating status.
      Furthermore, endothelial cell transmigration, Matrigel plug, and tumor
      angiogenesis assays demonstrate that extracellular Hsp90alpha promotes
      angiogenesis in an MMP-2-dependent manner. In sum, this study provides new
      insights into the molecular mechanism of how Hsp90alpha regulates its
      extracellular client proteins and also reveals for the first time the function of
      extracellular Hsp90alpha in promoting tumor angiogenesis.

PMID- 20937817
TI  - Gyrase B inhibitor impairs HIV-1 replication by targeting Hsp90 and the capsid
      protein.
AB  - Chemical genetics is an emerging approach to investigate the biology of host
      pathogen interactions. We screened several inhibitors of ATP-dependent DNA motors
      and detected the gyrase B inhibitor coumermycin A1 (C-A1) as a potent
      antiretroviral. C-A1 inhibited HIV-1 integration and gene expression from acutely
      infected cell, but the two activities mapped to distinct targets. Target
      discovery identified Hsp90 as the C-A1 target affecting viral gene expression.
      Chromatin immunoprecipitation revealed that Hsp90 associates with the viral
      promoter and may directly regulate gene expression. Molecular docking suggested
      that C-A1 binds to two novel pockets at the C terminal domain of Hsp90. C-A1
      inhibited Hsp90 dimer formation, suggesting that it impairs viral gene expression
      by preventing Hsp90 dimerization at the C terminus. The inhibition of HIV-1
      integration imposed by C-A1 was independent of Hsp90 and mapped to the capsid
      protein, and a point mutation at residue 105 made the virus resistant to this
      block. HIV-1 susceptibility to the integration block mediated by C-A1 was
      influenced by cyclophilin A. Our chemical genetic approach revealed an unexpected
      function of capsid in HIV-1 integration and provided evidence for a role of Hsp90
      in regulating gene expression in mammalian cells. Both activities were amenable
      to inhibition by small molecules and represent novel antiretroviral drug targets.

PMID- 20937818
TI  - Profilin II regulates the exocytosis of kainate glutamate receptors.
AB  - The trafficking of ionotropic glutamate receptors to and from synaptic sites is
      regulated by proteins that interact with their cytoplasmic C-terminal domain.
      Profilin IIa (PfnIIa), an actin-binding protein expressed in the brain and
      recruited to synapses in an activity-dependent manner, was shown previously to
      interact with the C-terminal domain of the GluK2b subunit splice variant of
      kainate receptors (KARs). Here, we characterize this interaction and examine the
      role of PfnIIa in the regulation of KAR trafficking. PfnIIa directly and
      specifically binds to the C-terminal domain of GluK2b through a diproline motif.
      Expression of PfnIIa in transfected COS-7 cells and in cultured hippocampal
      neurons from PfnII-deficient mice decreases the level of extracellular of
      homomeric GluK2b as well as heteromeric GluK2a/GluK2b KARs. Our data suggest a
      novel mechanism by which PfnIIa exerts a dual role on the trafficking of KARs, by
      a generic inhibition of clathrin-mediated endocytosis through its interaction
      with dynamin-1, and by controlling KARs exocytosis through a direct and specific
      interaction with GluK2b.

PMID- 20937819
TI  - Regulation of mitochondrial glutathione redox status and protein
      glutathionylation by respiratory substrates.
AB  - Brain and liver mitochondria isolated by a discontinuous Percoll gradient show an
      oxidized redox environment, which is reflected by low GSH levels and high GSSG
      levels and significant glutathionylation of mitochondrial proteins as well as by
      low NAD(P)H/NAD(P) values. The redox potential of brain mitochondria isolated by
      a discontinuous Percoll gradient method was calculated to be -171 mV based on GSH
      and GSSG concentrations. Immunoblotting and LC/MS/MS analysis revealed that
      succinyl-CoA transferase and ATP synthase (F(1) complex, alpha-subunit) were
      extensively glutathionylated; S-glutathionylation of these proteins resulted in a
      substantial decrease of activity. Supplementation of mitochondria with complex I
      or complex II respiratory substrates (malate/glutamate or succinate,
      respectively) increased NADH and NADPH levels, resulting in the restoration of
      GSH levels through reduction of GSSG and deglutathionylation of mitochondrial
      proteins. Under these conditions, the redox potential of brain mitochondria was
      calculated to be -291 mV. Supplementation of mitochondria with respiratory
      substrates prevented GSSG formation and, consequently, ATP synthase
      glutathionylation in response to H(2)O(2) challenges. ATP synthase appears to be
      the major mitochondrial protein that becomes glutathionylated under oxidative
      stress conditions. Glutathionylation of mitochondrial proteins is a major
      consequence of oxidative stress, and respiratory substrates are key regulators of
      mitochondrial redox status (as reflected by thiol/disulfide exchange) by
      maintaining mitochondrial NADPH levels.

PMID- 20937820
TI  - P0 (protein zero) mutation S34C underlies instability of internodal myelin in
      S63C mice.
AB  - P0 constitutes 50-60% of protein in peripheral nerve myelin and is essential for
      its structure and stability. Mutations within the P0 gene (MPZ) underlie a
      variety of hereditary neuropathies. MpzS63C transgenic mice encode a P0 with a
      serine to cysteine substitution at position 34 in the extracellular domain of
      mature P0 (P0S34C), associated with the hypomyelinating Dejerine-Sottas syndrome
      in human. S63C mice develop a dysmyelinating neuropathy, with packing defects in
      peripheral myelin. Here, we used x-ray diffraction to examine time-dependent
      packing defects in unfixed myelin. At ~7 h post-dissection, WT and S63C(+/+)
      myelin showed native periods (175 A) with the latter developing at most a few
      percent swollen myelin, whereas up to ~50% of S63C(+/-) (mutant P0 on
      heterozygous P0 null background) or P0(+/-) myelin swelled to periods of ~205 A.
      In the same time frame, S63C(-/-) myelin was stable, remaining swollen at ~210 A.
      Surprisingly, treatment of whole S63C(-/-) nerves with a reducing agent
      completely reverted swollen arrays to native spacing and also normalized the
      swollen arrays that had formed in S63C(+/-) myelin, the genotype most closely
      related to the human disorder. Western blot revealed P0-positive bands at ~27 and
      ~50 kDa, and MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry showed these bands consisted of Ser(34)
      containing peptides or P0 dimers having oxidized Cys(34) residues. We propose
      that P0S34C forms ectopic disulfide bonds in trans between apposed Cys(34) side
      chains that retard wrapping during myelin formation causing hypomyelination.
      Moreover, the new bonds create a packing defect by stabilizing swollen membrane
      arrays that leads to demyelination.

PMID- 20937821
TI  - Role and regulation of sperm gelsolin prior to fertilization.
AB  - To acquire fertilization competence, spermatozoa should undergo several
      biochemical changes in the female reproductive tract, known as capacitation. The
      capacitated spermatozoon can interact with the egg zona pellucida resulting in
      the occurrence of the acrosome reaction, a process that allowed its penetration
      into the egg and fertilization. Sperm capacitation requires actin polymerization,
      whereas F-actin must disperse prior to the acrosome reaction. Here, we suggest
      that the actin-severing protein, gelsolin, is inactive during capacitation and is
      activated prior to the acrosome reaction. The release of bound gelsolin from
      phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP(2)) by PBP10, a peptide containing the
      PIP(2)-binding domain of gelsolin, or by activation of phospholipase C, which
      hydrolyzes PIP(2), caused rapid Ca(2+)-dependent F-actin depolymerization as well
      as enhanced acrosome reaction. Using immunoprecipitation assays, we showed that
      the tyrosine kinase SRC and gelsolin coimmunoprecipitate, and activating SRC by
      adding 8-bromo-cAMP (8-Br-cAMP) enhanced the amount of gelsolin in this
      precipitate. Moreover, 8-Br-cAMP enhanced tyrosine phosphorylation of gelsolin
      and its binding to PIP(2(4,5)), both of which inactivated gelsolin, allowing
      actin polymerization during capacitation. This actin polymerization was blocked
      by inhibiting the Src family kinases, suggesting that gelsolin is activated under
      these conditions. These results are further supported by our finding that PBP10
      was unable to cause complete F-actin breakdown in the presence of 8-Br-cAMP or
      vanadate. In conclusion, inactivation of gelsolin during capacitation occurs by
      its binding to PIP(2) and tyrosine phosphorylation by SRC. The release of
      gelsolin from PIP(2) together with its dephosphorylation enables gelsolin
      activation, resulting in the acrosome reaction.

PMID- 20937822
TI  - Protein kinase WNK1 promotes cell surface expression of glucose transporter GLUT1
      by regulating a Tre-2/USP6-BUB2-Cdc16 domain family member 4 (TBC1D4)-Rab8A
      complex.
AB  - One mechanism by which mammalian cells regulate the uptake of glucose is the
      number of glucose transporter proteins (GLUT) present at the plasma membrane. In
      insulin-responsive cells types, GLUT4 is released from intracellular stores
      through inactivation of the Rab GTPase activating protein Tre-2/USP6-BUB2-Cdc16
      domain family member 4 (TBC1D4) (also known as AS160). Here we describe that
      TBC1D4 forms a protein complex with protein kinase WNK1 in human embryonic kidney
      (HEK293) cells. We show that WNK1 phosphorylates TBC1D4 in vitro and that the
      expression levels of WNK1 in these cells regulate surface expression of the
      constitutive glucose transporter GLUT1. WNK1 was found to increase the binding of
      TBC1D4 to regulatory 14-3-3 proteins while reducing its interaction with the
      exocytic small GTPase Rab8A. These effects were dependent on the catalytic
      activity because expression of a kinase-dead WNK1 mutant had no effect on binding
      of 14-3-3 and Rab8A, or on surface GLUT1 levels. Together, the data describe a
      pathway regulating constitutive glucose uptake via GLUT1, the expression level of
      which is related to several human diseases.

PMID- 20937823
TI  - High mobility group box 1 release from hepatocytes during ischemia and
      reperfusion injury is mediated by decreased histone deacetylase activity.
AB  - The mobilization and extracellular release of nuclear high mobility group box-1
      (HMGB1) by ischemic cells activates inflammatory pathways following liver
      ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury. In immune cells such as macrophages, post
      translational modification by acetylation appears to be critical for active HMGB1
      release. Hyperacetylation shifts its equilibrium from a predominant nuclear
      location toward cytosolic accumulation and subsequent release. However,
      mechanisms governing its release by parenchymal cells such as hepatocytes are
      unknown. In this study, we found that serum HMGB1 released following liver I/R in
      vivo is acetylated, and that hepatocytes exposed to oxidative stress in vitro
      also released acetylated HMGB1. Histone deacetylases (HDACs) are a family of
      enzymes that remove acetyl groups and control the acetylation status of histones
      and various intracellular proteins. Levels of acetylated HMGB1 increased with a
      concomitant decrease in total nuclear HDAC activity, suggesting that suppression
      in HDAC activity contributes to the increase in acetylated HMGB1 release after
      oxidative stress in hepatocytes. We identified the isoforms HDAC1 and HDAC4 as
      critical in regulating acetylated HMGB1 release. Activation of HDAC1 was
      decreased in the nucleus of hepatocytes undergoing oxidative stress. In addition,
      HDAC1 knockdown with siRNA promoted HMGB1 translocation and release. Furthermore,
      we demonstrate that HDAC4 is shuttled from the nucleus to cytoplasm in response
      to oxidative stress, resulting in decreased HDAC activity in the nucleus.
      Together, these findings suggest that decreased nuclear HDAC1 and HDAC4
      activities in hepatocytes following liver I/R is a mechanism that promotes the
      hyperacetylation and subsequent release of HMGB1.

PMID- 20937824
TI  - Novel functions for TAF7, a regulator of TAF1-independent transcription.
AB  - The transcription factor TFIID components TAF7 and TAF1 regulate eukaryotic
      transcription initiation. TAF7 regulates transcription initiation of TAF1
      dependent genes by binding to the acetyltransferase (AT) domain of TAF1 and
      inhibiting the enzymatic activity that is essential for transcription. TAF7 is
      released from the TAF1-TFIID complex upon completion of preinitiation complex
      assembly, allowing transcription to initiate. However, not all transcription is
      TAF1-dependent, and the role of TAF7 in regulating TAF1-independent transcription
      has not been defined. The IFNgamma-induced transcriptional co-activator CIITA
      activates MHC class I and II genes, which are vital for immune responses, in a
      TAF1-independent manner. Activation by CIITA depends on its intrinsic AT
      activity. We now show that TAF7 binds to CIITA and inhibits its AT activity,
      thereby repressing activated transcription. Consistent with this TAF7 function,
      siRNA-mediated depletion of TAF7 resulted in increased CIITA-dependent
      transcription. A more global role for TAF7 as a regulator of transcription was
      revealed by expression profiling analysis: expression of 30-40% of genes affected
      by TAF7 depletion was independent of either TAF1 or CIITA. Surprisingly, although
      TAF1-dependent transcripts were largely down-regulated by TAF7 depletion, TAF1
      independent transcripts were predominantly up-regulated. We conclude that TAF7,
      until now considered only a TFIID component and regulator of TAF1-dependent
      transcription, also regulates TAF1-independent transcription.

PMID- 20937825
TI  - Abl kinases are required for invadopodia formation and chemokine-induced
      invasion.
AB  - The Abl tyrosine kinases, Abl and Arg, play a role in the regulation of the actin
      cytoskeleton by modulating cell-cell adhesion and cell motility. Deregulation of
      both the actin cytoskeleton and Abl kinases have been implicated in cancers. Abl
      kinase activity is elevated in a number of metastatic cancers and these kinases
      are activated downstream of several oncogenic growth factor receptor signaling
      pathways. However, the role of Abl kinases in regulation of the actin
      cytoskeleton during tumor progression and invasion remains elusive. Here we
      identify the Abl kinases as essential regulators of invadopodia assembly and
      function. We show that Abl kinases are activated downstream of the chemokine
      receptor, CXCR4, and are required for cancer cell invasion and matrix degradation
      induced by SDF1alpha, serum growth factors, and activated Src kinase. Moreover,
      Abl kinases are readily detected at invadopodia assembly sites and their
      inhibition prevents the assembly of actin and cortactin into organized
      invadopodia structures. We show that active Abl kinases form complexes with
      membrane type-1 matrix metalloproteinase (MT1-MMP), a critical invadopodia
      component required for matrix degradation. Further, loss of Abl kinase signaling
      induces internalization of MT1-MMP from the cell surface, promotes its
      accumulation in the perinuclear compartment and inhibits MT1-MMP tyrosine
      phosphorylation. Our findings reveal that Abl kinase signaling plays a critical
      role in invadopodia formation and function, and have far-reaching implications
      for the treatment of metastatic carcinomas.

PMID- 20937826
TI  - Nature of pharmacophore influences active site specificity of proteasome
      inhibitors.
AB  - Proteasomes degrade most proteins in mammalian cells and are established targets
      of anti-cancer drugs. The majority of proteasome inhibitors are composed of short
      peptides with an electrophilic functionality (pharmacophore) at the C terminus.
      All eukaryotic proteasomes have three types of active sites as follows:
      chymotrypsin-like, trypsin-like, and caspase-like. It is widely believed that
      active site specificity of inhibitors is determined primarily by the peptide
      sequence and not the pharmacophore. Here, we report that active site specificity
      of inhibitors can also be tuned by the chemical nature of the pharmacophore.
      Specifically, replacement of the epoxyketone by vinyl sulfone moieties further
      improves the selectivity of beta5-specific inhibitors NC-005, YU-101, and PR-171
      (carfilzomib). This increase in specificity is likely the basis of the decreased
      cytotoxicity of vinyl sulfone-based inhibitors to HeLa cells as compared with
      that of epoxyketone-based inhibitors.

PMID- 20937827
TI  - Mitotic inhibition of GRASP65 organelle tethering involves Polo-like kinase 1
      (PLK1) phosphorylation proximate to an internal PDZ ligand.
AB  - GRASP65 links cis-Golgi cisternae via a homotypic, N-terminal PDZ interaction,
      and its mitotic phosphorylation disrupts this activity. Neither the identity of
      the PDZ ligand involved in the GRASP65 self-interaction nor the mechanism by
      which phosphorylation inhibits its interaction is known. Phospho-mimetic mutation
      of known cyclin-dependent kinase 1/cyclin B sites, all of which are in the C
      terminal "regulatory domain" of the molecule, failed to block organelle
      tethering. However, we identified a site phosphorylated by Polo-like kinase 1
      (PLK1) in the GRASP65 N-terminal domain for which mutation to aspartic acid
      blocked tethering and alanine substitution prevented mitotic Golgi unlinking.
      Further, using interaction assays, we discovered an internal PDZ ligand adjacent
      to the PLK phosphorylation site that was required for tethering. These results
      reveal the mechanism of phosphoinhibition as direct inhibition by PLK1 of the PDZ
      ligand underlying the GRASP65 self-interaction.

PMID- 20937828
TI  - The C terminus of Rpt3, an ATPase subunit of PA700 (19 S) regulatory complex, is
      essential for 26 S proteasome assembly but not for activation.
AB  - PA700, the 19 S regulatory subcomplex of the 26 S proteasome, contains a
      heterohexameric ring of AAA subunits (Rpt1 to -6) that forms the binding
      interface with a heteroheptameric ring of alpha subunits (alpha1 to -7) of the 20
      S proteasome. Binding of these subcomplexes is mediated by interactions of C
      termini of certain Rpt subunits with cognate binding sites on the 20 S
      proteasome. Binding of two Rpt subunits (Rpt2 and Rpt5) depends on their last
      three residues, which share an HbYX motif (where Hb is a hydrophobic amino acid)
      and open substrate access gates in the center of the alpha ring. The relative
      roles of other Rpt subunits for proteasome binding and activation remain poorly
      understood. Here we demonstrate that the C-terminal HbYX motif of Rpt3 binds to
      the 20 S proteasome but does not promote proteasome gating. Binding requires the
      last three residues and occurs at a dedicated site on the proteasome. A C
      terminal peptide of Rpt3 blocked ATP-dependent in vitro assembly of 26 S
      proteasome from PA700 and 20 S proteasome. In HEK293 cells, wild-type Rpt3, but
      not Rpt3 lacking the HbYX motif was incorporated into 26 S proteasome. These
      results indicate that the C terminus of Rpt3 was required for cellular assembly
      of this subunit into 26 S proteasome. Mutant Rpt3 was assembled into intact
      PA700. This result indicates that intact PA700 can be assembled independently of
      association with 20 S proteasome and thus may be a direct precursor for 26 S
      proteasome assembly under normal conditions. These results provide new insights
      to the non-equivalent roles of Rpt subunits in 26 S proteasome function and
      identify specific roles for Rpt3.

PMID- 20937829
TI  - Combination of two separate binding domains defines stoichiometry between type
      III secretion system chaperone IpgC and translocator protein IpaB.
AB  - Type III secretion systems (TTSSs) utilized by enteropathogenic bacteria require
      the presence of small, acidic virulence-associated chaperones for effective host
      cell infection. We adopted a combination of biochemical and cellular techniques
      to define the chaperone binding domains (CBDs) in the translocators IpaB and IpaC
      associated with the chaperone IpgC from Shigella flexneri. We identified a novel
      CBD in IpaB and furthermore precisely mapped the boundaries of the CBDs in both
      translocator proteins. In IpaC a single binding domain associates with IpgC. In
      IpaB, we show that the binding of the newly characterized CBD is essential in
      maintaining the ternary arrangement of chaperone-translocator complex. This
      hitherto unknown function is reflected in the co-crystal structure as well, with
      an IpgC dimer bound to an IpaB fragment comprising both CBDs. Moreover, in the
      absence of this novel CBD the IpaB/IpgC complex aggregates. This dual-recognition
      of a domain in the protein by the chaperone in facilitating the correct chaperone
      substrate organization describes a new function for the TTSS associated chaperone
      substrate complexes.

PMID- 20937830
TI  - The tetraspanin CD151 is required for Met-dependent signaling and tumor cell
      growth.
AB  - CD151, a transmembrane protein of the tetraspanin family, is implicated in the
      regulation of cell-substrate adhesion and cell migration through physical and
      functional interactions with integrin receptors. In contrast, little is known
      about the potential role of CD151 in controlling cell proliferation and survival.
      We have previously shown that beta4 integrin, a major CD151 partner, not only
      acts as an adhesive receptor for laminins but also as an intracellular signaling
      platform promoting cell proliferation and invasive growth upon interaction with
      Met, the tyrosine kinase receptor for hepatocyte growth factor (HGF). Here we
      show that RNAi-mediated silencing of CD151 expression in cancer cells impairs HGF
      driven proliferation, anchorage-independent growth, protection from anoikis, and
      tumor progression in xenograft models in vivo. Mechanistically, we found that
      CD151 is crucially implicated in the formation of signaling complexes between Met
      and beta4 integrin, a known amplifier of HGF-induced tumor cell growth and
      survival. CD151 depletion hampered HGF-induced phosphorylation of beta4 integrin
      and the ensuing Grb2-Gab1 association, a signaling pathway leading to MAPK
      stimulation and cell growth. Accordingly, CD151 knockdown reduced HGF-triggered
      activation of MAPK but not AKT signaling cascade. These results indicate that
      CD151 controls Met-dependent neoplastic growth by enhancing receptor signaling
      through beta4 integrin-mediated pathways, independent of cell-substrate adhesion.

PMID- 20937831
TI  - Indoxyl sulfate induces leukocyte-endothelial interactions through up-regulation
      of E-selectin.
AB  - Despite a positive correlation between chronic kidney disease and
      atherosclerosis, the causative role of uremic toxins in leukocyte-endothelial
      interactions has not been reported. We thus examined the effects of indoxyl
      sulfate, a uremic toxin, on leukocyte adhesion to activated endothelial cells and
      the underlying mechanisms. Pretreatment of human umbilical vein endothelial cells
      (HUVEC) with indoxyl sulfate significantly enhanced the adhesion of human
      monocytic cells (THP-1 cell line) to TNF-alpha-activated HUVEC under
      physiological flow conditions. Treatment with indoxyl sulfate enhanced the
      expression level of E-selectin, but not that of ICAM-1 or VCAM-1, in HUVEC.
      Indoxyl sulfate treatment enhanced the activation of JNK, p38 MAPK, and NF-kappaB
      in TNF-alpha-activated HUVEC. Inhibitors of JNK and NF-kappaB attenuated indoxyl
      sulfate-induced E-selectin expression in HUVEC and subsequent THP-1 adhesion.
      Furthermore, treatment with the NAD(P)H oxidase inhibitor apocynin and the
      glutathione donor N-acetylcysteine inhibited indoxyl sulfate-induced enhancement
      of THP-1 adhesion to HUVEC. Next, we examined the in vivo effect of indoxyl
      sulfate in nephrectomized chronic kidney disease model mice. Indoxyl sulfate
      induced leukocyte adhesion to the femoral artery was significantly reduced by
      anti-E-selectin antibody treatment. These findings suggest that indoxyl sulfate
      enhances leukocyte-endothelial interactions through up-regulation of E-selectin,
      presumably via the JNK- and NF-kappaB-dependent pathway.

PMID- 20937832
TI  - Temperature and Mg2+ sensing by a novel PhoP-PhoQ two-component system for
      regulation of virulence in Edwardsiella tarda.
AB  - The PhoP-PhoQ two-component system is commonly used by bacteria to sense
      environmental factors. Here we show that the PhoP-PhoQ system of Edwardsiella
      tarda detects changes in environmental temperature and Mg(2+) concentration as
      well as regulates the type III and VI secretion systems through direct activation
      of esrB. Protein secretion is activated from 23 to 35  degrees C or at low Mg(2+)
      concentrations, but it is suppressed at or below 20  degrees C, at or above 37 
      degrees C, or at high Mg(2+) concentrations. The effects of temperature and
      Mg(2+) concentration are additive. The PhoQ sensor domain has a low T(m) of 37.9 
      degrees C, and it detects temperatures through a conformational change of its
      secondary structure. Mutation of specific Pro or Thr residues increased the
      stability of the PhoQ sensor drastically, altering its temperature-sensing
      ability. The PhoQ sensor detects Mg(2+) concentration through the direct binding
      of Mg(2+) to a cluster of acidic residues (DDDSAD) and through changes that
      likely affect its tertiary structure. Here, we describe for the first time the
      use of PhoP-PhoQ as a temperature sensor for bacterial virulence control.

PMID- 20937833
TI  - Long range interactions regulate Igf2 gene transcription during skeletal muscle
      differentiation.
AB  - The differentiation, maintenance, and repair of skeletal muscle is controlled by
      interactions between genetically determined transcriptional programs regulated by
      myogenic transcription factors and environmental cues activated by growth factors
      and hormones. Signaling through the insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1) receptor
      by locally produced IGF2 defines one such pathway that is critical for normal
      muscle growth and for regeneration after injury. IGF2 gene and protein expression
      are induced as early events in muscle differentiation, but the responsible
      molecular mechanisms are unknown. Here we characterize a distal DNA element
      within the imprinted mouse Igf2-H19 locus with properties of a muscle
      transcriptional enhancer. We find that this region undergoes a transition to open
      chromatin during differentiation, whereas adjacent chromatin remains closed, and
      that it interacts in differentiating muscle nuclei but not in mesenchymal
      precursor cells with the Igf2 gene found more than 100 kb away, suggesting that
      chromatin looping or sliding to bring the enhancer in proximity to Igf2 promoters
      is also an early event in muscle differentiation. Because this element directly
      stimulates the transcriptional activity of an Igf2 promoter-reporter gene in
      differentiating myoblasts, our results indicate that we have identified a bona
      fide distal transcriptional enhancer that supports Igf2 gene activation in
      skeletal muscle cells. Because this DNA element is conserved in the human IGF2
      H19 locus, our results further suggest that its muscle enhancer function also is
      conserved among different mammalian species.

PMID- 20937834
TI  - Structure and molecular assignment of lactococcal phage TP901-1 baseplate.
AB  - P335 lactococcal phages infect the gram(+) bacterium Lactococcus lactis using a
      large multiprotein complex located at the distal part of the tail and termed
      baseplate (BP). The BP harbors the receptor-binding proteins (RBPs), which allow
      the specific recognition of saccharidic receptors localized on the host cell
      surface. We report here the electron microscopic structure of the phage TP901-1
      wild-type BP as well as those of two mutants bppL (-) and bppU(-), lacking BppL
      (the RBPs) or both peripheral BP components (BppL and BppU), respectively. We
      also achieved an electron microscopic reconstruction of a partial BP complex,
      formed by BppU and BppL. This complex exhibits a tripod shape and is composed of
      nine BppLs and three BppUs. These structures, combined with light-scattering
      measurements, led us to propose that the TP901-1 BP harbors six tripods at its
      periphery, located around the central tube formed by ORF46 (Dit) hexamers, at its
      proximal end, and a ORF47 (Tal) trimer at its distal extremity. A total of 54
      BppLs (18 RBPs) are thus available to mediate host anchoring with a large
      apparent avidity. TP901-1 BP exhibits an infection-ready conformation and differs
      strikingly from the lactococcal phage p2 BP, bearing only 6 RBPs, and which needs
      a conformational change to reach its activated state. The comparison of several
      Siphoviridae structures uncovers a close organization of their central BP core
      whereas striking differences occur at the periphery, leading to diverse
      mechanisms of host recognition.

PMID- 20937835
TI  - Peptidylarginine deiminase 2 suppresses inhibitory {kappa}B kinase activity in
      lipopolysaccharide-stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophages.
AB  - Peptidylarginine deiminases (PADs) are enzymes that convert arginine to
      citrulline in proteins. In this study, we examined PAD-mediated citrullination
      and its effect on pro-inflammatory activity in the macrophage cell line RAW
      264.7. Citrullination of 45-65-kDa proteins was induced when cells were treated
      with lipopolysaccharide (LPS; 1 MUg/ml). Protein citrullination was suppressed by
      the intracellular calcium chelator BAPTA/AM (30 MUM). LPS treatment up-regulated
      COX-2 levels in cells. Interestingly, overexpressing PAD2 reduced LPS-mediated
      COX-2 up-regulation by 50%. PAD2 overexpression also reduced NF-kappaB activity,
      determined by NF-kappaB-driven luciferase activity. The effect of PAD2 on NF
      kappaB activity was further examined by using HEK 293 cells transfected with NF
      kappaB luciferase, IkappaB beta/gamma kinase (IKKbeta/gamma) subunits, and PAD2.
      IKKbeta increased NF-kappaB activity, but this increase was markedly suppressed
      when PAD2 was present in cells. IKKbeta-mediated NF-kappaB activation was further
      enhanced by IKKgamma in the presence of calcium ionophore A23187. However, this
      stimulatory effect of IKKbeta/gamma was abolished by PAD2. Coimmunoprecipitation
      of cell lysates showed that IKKgamma and PAD2 can coimmunoprecipitate in the
      presence of the Ca(2+) ionophore. IKKgamma coimmunoprecipitated truncation
      mutants, PAD2(1-385) and PAD2(355-672). The substitution of Gln-358 (a putative
      ligand for Ca(2+) binding) with an Ala abolished coimmunoprecipitation.
      Conversely, PAD2 coimmunoprecipitated truncation mutants IKKgamma(1-196) and
      IKKgamma(197-419). In other experiments, treating RAW 264.7 cells with LPS
      induced citrullination in the immunoprecipitates of IKKgamma. In vitro
      citrullination assay showed that incubation of purified PAD2 and IKKgamma
      proteins in the presence of Ca(2+) citrullinated IKKgamma. These results
      demonstrate that PAD2 interacts with IKKgamma and suppresses NF-kappaB activity.

PMID- 20937836
TI  - Naturally occurring osmolytes modulate the nanomechanical properties of
      polycystic kidney disease domains.
AB  - Polycystin-1 (PC1) is a large membrane protein that is expressed along the renal
      tubule and exposed to a wide range of concentrations of urea. Urea is known as a
      common denaturing osmolyte that affects protein function by destabilizing their
      structure. However, it is known that the native conformation of proteins can be
      stabilized by protecting osmolytes that are found in the mammalian kidney. PC1
      has an unusually long ectodomain with a multimodular structure including 16 Ig
      like polycystic kidney disease (PKD) domains. Here, we used single-molecule force
      spectroscopy to study directly the effects of several naturally occurring
      osmolytes on the mechanical properties of PKD domains. This experimental approach
      more closely mimics the conditions found in vivo. We show that upon increasing
      the concentration of urea there is a remarkable decrease in the mechanical
      stability of human PKD domains. We found that protecting osmolytes such as
      sorbitol and trimethylamine N-oxide can counteract the denaturing effect of urea.
      Moreover, we found that the refolding rate of a structurally homologous archaeal
      PKD domain is significantly slowed down in urea, and this effect was counteracted
      by sorbitol. Our results demonstrate that naturally occurring osmolytes can have
      profound effects on the mechanical unfolding and refolding pathways of PKD
      domains. Based on these findings, we hypothesize that osmolytes such as urea or
      sorbitol may modulate PC1 mechanical properties and may lead to changes in the
      activation of the associated polycystin-2 channel or other intracellular events
      mediated by PC1.

PMID- 20937837
TI  - Conformational states of human rat sarcoma (Ras) protein complexed with its
      natural ligand GTP and their role for effector interaction and GTP hydrolysis.
AB  - The guanine nucleotide-binding protein Ras exists in solution in two different
      conformational states when complexed with different GTP analogs such as GppNHp or
      GppCH(2)p. State 1 has only a very low affinity to effectors and seems to be
      recognized by guanine nucleotide exchange factors, whereas state 2 represents the
      high affinity effector binding state. In this work we investigate Ras in complex
      with the physiological nucleoside triphosphate GTP. By polarization transfer
      (31)P NMR experiments and effector binding studies we show that
      Ras(wt).Mg(2+).GTP also exists in a dynamical equilibrium between the weakly
      populated conformational state 1 and the dominant state 2. At 278 K the
      equilibrium constant between state 1 and state 2 of C-terminal truncated wild
      type Ras(1-166) K(12) is 11.3. K(12) of full-length Ras is >20, suggesting that
      the C terminus may also have a regulatory effect on the conformational
      equilibrium. The exchange rate (k(ex)) for Ras(wt).Mg(2+).GTP is 7 s(-1) and thus
      18-fold lower compared with that found for the Ras.GppNHp complex. The intrinsic
      GTPase activity substantially increases after effector binding for the switch I
      mutants Ras(Y32F), (Y32R), (Y32W), (Y32C/C118S), (T35S), and the switch II mutant
      Ras(G60A) by stabilizing state 2, with the largest effect on Ras(Y32R) with a 13
      fold increase compared with wild-type. In contrast, no acceleration was observed
      in Ras(T35A). Thus Ras in conformational state 2 has a higher affinity to
      effectors as well as a higher GTPase activity. These observations can be used to
      explain why many mutants have a low GTPase activity but are not oncogenic.

PMID- 20937838
TI  - Phosphoinositides function asymmetrically for membrane fusion, promoting
      tethering and 3Q-SNARE subcomplex assembly.
AB  - Phosphatidylinositol 3-phosphate (PI(3)P) and phosphatidylinositol 4,5
      bisphosphate (PI(4,5)P(2)) are essential for rapid SNARE-dependent fusion of
      yeast vacuoles and other organelles. These phosphoinositides also regulate the
      fusion of reconstituted proteoliposomes. The reconstituted reaction allows
      separate analysis of phosphoinositide-responsive subreactions: fusion with SNAREs
      alone, with the addition of the HOPS tethering factor, and with the further
      addition of the SNARE complex disassembly chaperones Sec17p and Sec18p. Using
      assays of membrane tethering, trans-SNARE pairing, and lipid mixing, we found
      that PI(3)P and PI(4,5)P(2) have distinct functions that are asymmetric with
      respect to R-SNARE (Nyv1p) and the 3Q-SNAREs (Vam3p, Vti1p, and Vam7p). Fusion
      reactions with the Q-SNAREs and R-SNARE on separate membranes showed that PI(3)P
      has two distinct functions. PI(3)P on Q-SNARE proteoliposomes promoted Vam7p
      binding and association with the other two Q-SNAREs. PI(3)P on R-SNARE
      proteoliposomes was recognized by the PX domain of Vam7p on Q-SNARE
      proteoliposomes to promote tethering, although this function could be supplanted
      by the tethering activity of HOPS. PI(4,5)P(2) stimulated fusion when it was on R
      SNARE proteoliposomes, apposed to Q-SNARE proteoliposomes bearing PI(3)P. These
      functions are essential for the phosphoinositide-dependent synergy between HOPS
      and Sec17p/Sec18p in promoting rapid fusion.

PMID- 20937839
TI  - Cell fate determination factor Dachshund reprograms breast cancer stem cell
      function.
AB  - The cell fate determination factor Dachshund was cloned as a dominant inhibitor
      of the hyperactive epidermal growth factor receptor ellipse. The expression of
      Dachshund is lost in human breast cancer associated with poor prognosis. Breast
      tumor-initiating cells (TIC) may contribute to tumor progression and therapy
      resistance. Here, endogenous DACH1 was reduced in breast cancer cell lines with
      high expression of TIC markers and in patient samples of the basal breast cancer
      phenotype. Re-expression of DACH1 reduced new tumor formation in serial
      transplantations in vivo, reduced mammosphere formation, and reduced the
      proportion of CD44(high)/CD24(low) breast tumor cells. Conversely, lentiviral
      shRNA to DACH1 increased the breast (B)TIC population. Genome-wide expression
      studies of mammary tumors demonstrated DACH1 repressed a molecular signature
      associated with stem cells (SOX2, Nanog, and KLF4) and genome-wide ChIP-seq
      analysis identified DACH1 binding to the promoter of the Nanog, KLF4, and Lin28
      genes. KLF4/c-Myc and Oct4/Sox2 antagonized DACH1 repression of BTIC. Mechanistic
      studies demonstrated DACH1 directly repressed the Nanog and Sox2 promoters via a
      conserved domain. Endogenous DACH1 regulates BTIC in vitro and in vivo.

PMID- 20937840
TI  - Differential regulation of interleukin-1 receptor-associated kinase-1 (IRAK-1)
      and IRAK-2 by microRNA-146a and NF-kappaB in stressed human astroglial cells and
      in Alzheimer disease.
AB  - Specific microRNAs (miRNAs), small non-coding RNAs that support homeostatic gene
      expression, are significantly altered in abundance in human neurological
      disorders. In monocytes, increased expression of an NF-kappaB-regulated miRNA
      146a down-regulates expression of the interleukin-1 receptor-associated kinase-1
      (IRAK-1), an essential component of Toll-like/IL-1 receptor signaling. Here we
      extend those observations to the hippocampus and neocortex of Alzheimer disease
      (AD) brain and to stressed human astroglial (HAG) cells in primary culture. In 66
      control and AD samples we note a significant up-regulation of miRNA-146a coupled
      to down-regulation of IRAK-1 and a compensatory up-regulation of IRAK-2. Using
      miRNA-146a-, IRAK-1-, or IRAK-2 promoter-luciferase reporter constructs, we
      observe decreases in IRAK-1 and increases in miRNA-146a and IRAK-2 expression in
      interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta) and amyloid-beta-42 (Abeta42) peptide-stressed HAG
      cells. NF-kappaB-mediated transcriptional control of human IRAK-2 was localized
      to between -119 and +12 bp of the immediate IRAK-2 promoter. The NF-kappaB
      inhibitors curcumin, pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate or CAY10512 abrogated both IRAK
      2 and miRNA-146a expression, whereas IRAK-1 was up-regulated. Incubation of a
      protected antisense miRNA-146a was found to inhibit miRNA-146a and restore IRAK
      1, whereas IRAK-2 remained unaffected. These data suggest a significantly
      independent regulation of IRAK-1 and IRAK-2 in AD and in IL-1beta+Abeta42 peptide
      stressed HAG cells and that an inducible, NF-kappaB-sensitive, miRNA-146a
      mediated down-regulation of IRAK-1 coupled to an NF-kappaB-induced up-regulation
      of IRAK-2 expression drives an extensively sustained inflammatory response. The
      interactive signaling of NF-kappaB and miRNA-146a further illustrate interplay
      between inducible transcription factors and pro-inflammatory miRNAs that regulate
      brain IRAK expression. The combinatorial use of NF-kappaB inhibitors with miRNA
      146a or antisense miRNA-146a may have potential as a bi-pronged therapeutic
      strategy directed against IRAK-2-driven pathogenic signaling.

PMID- 20937842
TI  - Matriptase-2- and proprotein convertase-cleaved forms of hemojuvelin have
      different roles in the down-regulation of hepcidin expression.
AB  - Hemojuvelin (HJV) is an important regulator of iron metabolism. Membrane-anchored
      HJV up-regulates expression of the iron regulatory hormone, hepcidin, through the
      bone morphogenic protein (BMP) signaling pathway by acting as a BMP co-receptor.
      HJV can be cleaved by the furin family of proprotein convertases, which releases
      a soluble form of HJV that suppresses BMP signaling and hepcidin expression by
      acting as a decoy that competes with membrane HJV for BMP ligands. Recent studies
      indicate that matriptase-2 binds and degrades HJV, leading to a decrease in cell
      surface HJV. In the present work, we show that matriptase-2 cleaves HJV at
      Arg(288), which produces one major soluble form of HJV. This shed form of HJV has
      decreased ability to bind BMP6 and does not suppress BMP6-induced hepcidin
      expression. These results suggest that the matriptase-2 and proprotein convertase
      cleavage products have different roles in the regulation of hepcidin expression.

PMID- 20937841
TI  - Allosteric peptide activators of pro-hepatocyte growth factor stimulate Met
      signaling.
AB  - Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) binds to its target receptor tyrosine kinase, Met,
      as a single-chain form (pro-HGF) or as a cleaved two-chain disulfide-linked
      alpha/beta-heterodimer. However, only two-chain HGF stimulates Met signaling.
      Proteolytic cleavage of the Arg(494)-Val(495) peptide bond in the zymogen-like
      pro-HGF results in allosteric activation of the serine protease-like beta-chain
      (HGF beta), which binds Met to initiate signaling. We use insights from the
      canonical trypsin-like serine protease activation mechanism to show that isolated
      peptides corresponding to the first 7-10 residues of the cleaved N terminus of
      the beta-chain stimulate Met phosphorylation by pro-HGF to levels that are ~25%
      of those stimulated by two-chain HGF. Biolayer interferometry data demonstrate
      that peptide VVNGIPTR (peptide V8) allosterically enhances pro-HGF beta binding
      to Met, resulting in a K(D)(app) of 1.6 MUm, only 8-fold weaker than the Met/HGF
      beta-chain affinity. Most notably, in vitro cell stimulation with peptide V8 in
      the presence of pro-HGF leads to Akt phosphorylation, enhances cell survival, and
      facilitates cell migration between 75 and 100% of that found with two-chain HGF,
      thus revealing a novel approach for activation of Met signaling that bypasses
      proteolytic processing of pro-HGF. Peptide V8 is unable to enhance Met binding or
      signaling with HGF proteins having a mutated activation pocket (D672N).
      Furthermore, Gly substitution of the N-terminal Val residue in peptide V8 results
      in loss of all activity. Overall, these findings identify the activation pocket
      of the serine protease-like beta-chain as a "hot spot" for allosteric regulation
      of pro-HGF and have broad implications for developing selective allosteric
      activators of serine proteases and pseudoproteases.

PMID- 20937843
TI  - Lymphatic endothelial murine chloride channel calcium-activated 1 is a ligand for
      leukocyte LFA-1 and Mac-1.
AB  - The lymphatic circulation mediates drainage of fluid and cells from the periphery
      through lymph nodes, facilitating immune detection of lymph-borne foreign Ags.
      The 10.1.1 mAb recognizes a lymphatic endothelial Ag, in this study purified by
      Ab-affinity chromatography. SDS-PAGE and mass spectrometry identified murine
      chloride channel calcium-activated 1 (mCLCA1) as the 10.1.1 Ag, a 90-kDa cell
      surface protein expressed in lymphatic endothelium and stromal cells of spleen
      and thymus. The 10.1.1 Ab-affinity chromatography also purified LFA-1, an
      integrin that mediates leukocyte adhesion to endothelium. This mCLCA1-LFA-1
      interaction has functional consequences, as lymphocyte adhesion to lymphatic
      endothelium was blocked by 10.1.1 Ab bound to endotheliumor by LFA-1 Ab bound to
      lymphocytes. Lymphocyte adhesion was increased by cytokine treatment of lymphatic
      endothelium in association with increased expression of ICAM-1, an endothelial
      surface protein that is also a ligand for LFA-1. By contrast, mCLCA1 expression
      and the relative contribution of mCLCA1 to lymphocyte adhesion were unaffected by
      cytokine activation, demonstrating that mCLCA1 and ICAM-1 interactions with LFA-1
      are differentially regulated. mCLCA1 also bound to the LFA-1-related Mac-1
      integrin that is preferentially expressed on leukocytes. mCLCA1-mediated adhesion
      of Mac-1- or LFA-1-expressing leukocytes to lymphatic vessels and lymph node
      lymphatic sinuses provides a target for investigation of lymphatic involvement in
      leukocyte adhesion and trafficking during the immune response.

PMID- 20937844
TI  - Inducible microRNA-155 feedback promotes type I IFN signaling in antiviral innate
      immunity by targeting suppressor of cytokine signaling 1.
AB  - Effective recognition of viral infection and subsequent triggering of antiviral
      innate immune responses are essential for the host antiviral defense, which is
      tightly regulated by multiple regulators, including microRNAs. Our previous study
      showed that a panel of microRNAs, including miR-155, was markedly upregulated in
      macrophages upon vesicular stomatitis virus infection; however, the biological
      function of miR-155 during viral infection remains unknown. In this paper, we
      show that RNA virus infection induces miR-155 expression in macrophages via
      TLR/MyD88-independent but retinoic acid-inducible gene I/JNK/NF-kappaB-dependent
      pathway. And the inducible miR-155 feedback promotes type I IFN signaling, thus
      suppressing viral replication. Furthermore, suppressor of cytokine signaling 1
      (SOCS1), a canonical negative regulator of type I IFN signaling, is targeted by
      miR-155 in macrophages, and SOCS1 knockdown mediates the enhancing effect of miR
      155 on type I IFN-mediated antiviral response. Therefore, we demonstrate that
      inducible miR-155 feedback positively regulates host antiviral innate immune
      response by promoting type I IFN signaling via targeting SOCS1.

PMID- 20937845
TI  - CXCL1 regulates pulmonary host defense to Klebsiella Infection via CXCL2, CXCL5,
      NF-kappaB, and MAPKs.
AB  - Pulmonary bacterial infections are a leading cause of death. Since the
      introduction of antibiotics, multidrug-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae became an
      escalating threat. Therefore, development of methods to augment antibacterial
      defense is warranted. Neutrophil recruitment is critical to clear bacteria, and
      neutrophil migration in the lung requires the production of ELR(+) CXC
      chemokines. Although lung-specific CXCL1/keratinocyte cell-derived chemokine (KC)
      transgene expression causes neutrophil-mediated clearance of K. pneumoniae, the
      mechanisms underlying KC-mediated host defense against K. pneumoniae have not
      been explored. In this study, we delineated the host defense functions of KC
      during pulmonary K. pneumoniae infection using KC(-/-) mice. Our findings
      demonstrate that KC is important for expression of CXCL2/MIP-2 and CXCL5/LPS
      induced CXC chemokine, and activation of NF-kappaB and MAPKs in the lung.
      Furthermore, KC derived from both hematopoietic and resident cells contributes to
      host defense against K. pneumoniae. Neutrophil depletion in mice before K.
      pneumoniae infection reveals no differences in the production of MIP-2 and LPS
      induced CXC chemokine or activation of NF-kappaB and MAPKs in the lung. Using
      murine bone marrow-derived and alveolar macrophages, we confirmed KC-mediated
      upregulation of MIP-2 and activation of NF-kappaB and MAPKs on K. pneumoniae
      infection. Moreover, neutralizing KC in bone marrow-derived macrophages before K.
      pneumoniae challenge decreases bacteria-induced production of KC and MIP-2, and
      activation of NF-kappaB and MAPKs. These findings reveal the importance of KC
      produced by hematopoietic and resident cells in regulating pulmonary host defense
      against a bacterial pathogen via the activation of transcription factors and
      MAPKs, as well as the expression of cell adhesion molecules and other neutrophil
      chemoattractants.

PMID- 20937846
TI  - Memory T cells are enriched in lymph nodes of selectin-ligand-deficient mice.
AB  - Fucosyltransferase-IV and -VII double knockout (FtDKO) mice reveal profound
      impairment in T cell trafficking to lymph nodes (LNs) due to an inability to
      synthesize selectin ligands. We observed an increase in the proportion of
      memory/effector (CD44(high)) T cells in LNs of FtDKO mice. We infected FtDKO mice
      with lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus to generate and track Ag-specific
      CD44(high)CD8 T cells in secondary lymphoid organs. Although frequencies were
      similar, total Ag-specific effector CD44(high)CD8 T cells were significantly
      reduced in LNs, but not blood, of FtDKO mice at day 8. In contrast, frequencies
      of Ag-specific memory CD44(high)CD8 T cells were up to 8-fold higher in LNs of
      FtDKO mice at day 60. Because wild-type mice treated with anti-CD62L treatment
      also showed increased frequencies of CD44(high) T cells in LNs, we hypothesized
      that memory T cells were preferentially retained in, or preferentially migrated
      to, FtDKO LNs. We analyzed T cell entry and egress in LNs using adoptive transfer
      of bone fide naive or memory T cells. Memory T cells were not retained longer in
      LNs compared with naive T cells; however, T cell exit slowed significantly as T
      cell numbers declined. Memory T cells were profoundly impaired in entering LNs of
      FtDKO mice; however, memory T cells exhibited greater homeostatic proliferation
      in FtDKO mice. These results suggest that memory T cells are enriched in LNs with
      T cell deficits by several mechanisms, including longer T cell retention and
      increased homeostatic proliferation.

PMID- 20937847
TI  - The regulation of Th1 responses by the p38 MAPK.
AB  - IL-12 is a dimeric cytokine that is produced primarily by APCs. In this study we
      examined the role that the p38 MAPKs (MAPK/p38) play in regulating IL-12
      production. We show that inhibition of p38 dramatically increased IL-12
      production upon stimulation, while decreasing TNF-alpha. This reciprocal effect
      on these two cytokines following MAPK/p38 inhibition occurred in many different
      APCs, following a variety of different stimuli. IL-12 production was also
      increased in macrophages treated with small interfering RNA to limit p38alpha
      expression, and in macrophages deficient in MKK3, a kinase upstream of p38. The
      increase in IL-12 production following MAPK/p38 inhibition appears to be due to
      enhanced IL-12 (p40) mRNA stability. We show that MAPK/p38 inhibition can promote
      Th1 immune responses and thereby enhance vaccine efficacy against leishmaniasis.
      In a mouse model of Leishmania major infection, vaccination with heat-killed L.
      major plus CpG and SB203580 elicited complete protection against infection
      compared with heat-killed L. major plus CpG without SB203580. Thus, this work
      suggests that MAPK/p38 inhibitors may be applied as adjuvants to bias immune
      responses and improve vaccinations against intracellular pathogens.

PMID- 20937848
TI  - The neuroimmune semaphorin-3A reduces inflammation and progression of
      experimental autoimmune arthritis.
AB  - Semaphorin-3A (Sema3A), a member of a large family of conserved proteins
      originally implicated in axon guidance, is expressed by activated T cells and
      downmodulates T cell activation in vitro. This study examined the effect and
      mechanism of action of Sema3A overexpression in a mouse model of collagen-induced
      arthritis. Prophylactic i.p. administration of plasmid DNA encoding Sema3A
      markedly reduced the incidence, disease severity, and articular inflammation
      compared with control plasmid without insert. Treatment of Sema3A reduced
      anticollagen IgG levels and suppressed collagen-specific proinflammatory cytokine
      (IFN-gamma and IL-17) release, but increased IL-10 concentration in the serum. In
      line with results in arthritic mice, Sema3A expression is defective in CD4(+) T
      cells derived from patients with rheumatoid arthritis. In contrast, increased
      expression of the Sema3A receptor neuropilin-1 (NP-1) is detected in the same
      cells. The CD4(+)NP-1(+) T cells are a T cell subset involved in the control of
      the immune responses. They express greater amounts of IL-10 and show suppressive
      activities on autologous CD4(+) T cells. Sema3A acted directly on CD4(+)NP-1(+) T
      cells, because it could increase IL-10 production and influence the regulatory
      function on CD4(+) T cell growth. Therefore, I propose that Sema3A increases the
      CD4(+)NP-1(+) T cell ability to suppress alloresponses, that its transient
      expression is altered in rheumatoid inflammation, and that reintroduction of
      Sema3A is sufficient to attenuate collagen-induced arthritis, supporting its
      therapeutic potential in the treatment of autoimmune disorders.

PMID- 20937849
TI  - A new mouse model reveals a critical role for host innate immunity in resistance
      to Rift Valley fever.
AB  - Rift Valley fever (RVF) is an arthropod-borne viral disease repeatedly reported
      in many African countries and, more recently, in Saudi Arabia and Yemen. RVF
      virus (RVFV) primarily infects domesticated ruminants, resulting in miscarriage
      in pregnant females and death for newborns and young animals. It also has the
      ability to infect humans, causing a feverish syndrome, meningoencephalitis, or
      hemorrhagic fever. The various outcomes of RVFV infection in animals and humans
      argue for the existence of host genetic determinants controlling the disease. We
      investigated the susceptibility of inbred mouse strains to infection with the
      virulent RVFV ZH548 strain. Compared with classical BALB/cByJ mice, wild-derived
      Mus m. musculus MBT/Pas mice exhibited earlier and greater viremia and died
      sooner, a result in sharp contrast with their resistance to infection with West
      Nile virus and influenza A. Infection of mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) from
      MBT/Pas mice with RVFV also resulted in higher viral production. Microarray and
      quantitative RT-PCR experiments showed that BALB/cByJ MEFs displayed a
      significant activation of the type I IFN pathway. In contrast, MBT/Pas MEFs
      elicited a delayed and partial type I IFN response to RVFV infection. RNA
      interference-mediated inhibition of genes that were not induced by RVFV in
      MBT/Pas MEFs increased viral production in BALB/cByJ MEFs, thus demonstrating
      their functional importance in limiting viral replication. We conclude that the
      failure of MBT/Pas murine strain to induce, in due course, a complete innate
      immune response is instrumental in the selective susceptibility to RVF.

PMID- 20937850
TI  - Comparison of identical and functional Igh alleles reveals a nonessential role
      for EMU in somatic hypermutation and class-switch recombination.
AB  - Somatic hypermutation (SHM), coupled with Ag selection, provides a mechanism for
      generating Abs with high affinity for invading pathogens. Class-switch
      recombination (CSR) ensures that these Abs attain pathogen-appropriate effector
      functions. Although the enzyme critical to both processes, activation-induced
      cytidine deaminase, has been identified, it remains unclear which cis-elements
      within the Ig loci are responsible for recruiting activation-induced cytidine
      deaminase and promoting its activity. Studies showed that Ig gene-transcription
      levels are positively correlated with the frequency of SHM and CSR, making the
      intronic, transcriptional enhancer EMU a likely contributor to both processes.
      Tests of this hypothesis yielded mixed results arising, in part, from the
      difficulty in studying B cell function in mice devoid of EMU. In EMU's absence,
      V(H) gene assembly is dramatically impaired, arresting B cell development. The
      current study circumvented this problem by modifying the murine Igh locus through
      simultaneous insertion of a fully assembled V(H) gene and deletion of EMU. The
      behavior of this allele was compared with that of a matched allele carrying the
      same V(H) gene but with EMU intact. Although IgH transcription was as great or
      greater on the EMU-deficient allele, CSR and SHM were consistently, but modestly,
      reduced relative to the allele in which EMU remained intact. We conclude that EMU
      contributes to, but is not essential for, these complex processes and that its
      contribution is not as a transcriptional enhancer but, rather, is at the level of
      recruitment and/or activation of the SHM/CSR machinery.

PMID- 20937851
TI  - CCR10 is important for the development of skin-specific gammadeltaT cells by
      regulating their migration and location.
AB  - Unlike conventional alphabeta T cells, which preferentially reside in secondary
      lymphoid organs for adaptive immune responses, various subsets of unconventional
      T cells, such as the gammadelta T cells with innate properties, preferentially
      reside in epithelial tissues as the first line of defense. However, mechanisms
      underlying their tissue-specific development are not well understood. We report
      in this paper that among different thymic T cell subsets fetal thymic precursors
      of the prototypic skin intraepithelial Vgamma3(+) T lymphocytes (sIELs) were
      selected to display a unique pattern of homing molecules, including a high level
      of CCR10 expression that was important for their development into sIELs. In fetal
      CCR10-knockout mice, the Vgamma3(+) sIEL precursors developed normally in the
      thymus but were defective in migrating into the skin. Although the earlier defect
      in skin-seeding by sIEL precursors was partially compensated for by their normal
      expansion in the skin of adult CCR10-knockout mice, the Vgamma3(+) sIELs
      displayed abnormal morphology and increasingly accumulated in the dermal region
      of the skin. These findings provide definite evidence that CCR10 is important in
      sIEL development by regulating the migration of sIEL precursors and their
      maintenance in proper regions of the skin and support the notion that unique
      homing properties of different thymic T cell subsets play an important role in
      their peripheral location.

PMID- 20937853
TI  - R gene-controlled host specificity in the legume-rhizobia symbiosis.
AB  - Leguminous plants can enter into root nodule symbioses with nitrogen-fixing soil
      bacteria known as rhizobia. An intriguing but still poorly understood property of
      the symbiosis is its host specificity, which is controlled at multiple levels
      involving both rhizobial and host genes. It is widely believed that the host
      specificity is determined by specific recognition of bacterially derived Nod
      factors by the cognate host receptor(s). Here we describe the positional cloning
      of two soybean genes Rj2 and Rfg1 that restrict nodulation with specific strains
      of Bradyrhizobium japonicum and Sinorhizobium fredii, respectively. We show that
      Rj2 and Rfg1 are allelic genes encoding a member of the Toll-interleukin
      receptor/nucleotide-binding site/leucine-rich repeat (TIR-NBS-LRR) class of plant
      resistance (R) proteins. The involvement of host R genes in the control of
      genotype-specific infection and nodulation reveals a common recognition mechanism
      underlying symbiotic and pathogenic host-bacteria interactions and suggests the
      existence of their cognate avirulence genes derived from rhizobia. This study
      suggests that establishment of a root nodule symbiosis requires the evasion of
      plant immune responses triggered by rhizobial effectors.

PMID- 20937854
TI  - ErbB2 receptor controls microtubule capture by recruiting ACF7 to the plasma
      membrane of migrating cells.
AB  - Microtubules (MTs) contribute to key processes during cell motility, including
      the regulation of focal adhesion turnover and the establishment and maintenance
      of cell orientation. It was previously demonstrated that the ErbB2 receptor
      tyrosine kinase regulated MT outgrowth to the cell cortex via a complex including
      Memo, the GTPase RhoA, and the formin mDia1. But the mechanism that linked this
      signaling module to MTs remained undefined. We report that ErbB2-induced
      repression of glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK3) activity, mediated by Memo and
      mDia1, is required for MT capture and stabilization. Memo-dependent inhibition of
      GSK3 allows the relocalization of APC (adenomatous polyposis coli) and
      cytoplasmic linker-associated protein 2 (CLASP2), known MT-associated proteins,
      to the plasma membrane and ruffles. Peripheral microtubule extension also
      requires expression of the plus-end binding protein EB1 and its recently
      described interactor, the spectraplakin ACF7. In fact, in migrating cells, ACF7
      localizes to the plasma membrane and ruffles, in a Memo-, GSK3-, and APC
      dependent manner. Finally, we demonstrate that ACF7 targeting to the plasma
      membrane is both required and sufficient for MT capture downstream of ErbB2. This
      function of ACF7 does not require its recently described ATPase activity. By
      defining the signaling pathway by which ErbB2 allows MT capture and stabilization
      at the cell leading edge, we provide insights into the mechanism underlying cell
      motility and steering.

PMID- 20937855
TI  - The zebrafish foxj1a transcription factor regulates cilia function in response to
      injury and epithelial stretch.
AB  - Cilia are essential for normal organ function and developmental patterning, but
      their role in injury and regeneration responses is unknown. To probe the role of
      cilia in injury, we analyzed the function of foxj1, a transcriptional regulator
      of cilia genes, in response to tissue damage and renal cyst formation. Zebrafish
      foxj1a, but not foxj1b, was rapidly induced in response to epithelial distension
      and stretch, kidney cyst formation, acute kidney injury by gentamicin, and crush
      injury in spinal cord cells. Obstruction-induced up-regulation of foxj1a was not
      inhibited by cycloheximide, identifying foxj1a as a primary response gene to
      epithelial injury. Foxj1 was also dramatically up-regulated in murine cystic
      kidney disease epithelia [jck/jck (nek8) and Ift88Tg737Rpw(-/-)] as well as in
      response to kidney ischemia-reperfusion injury. Obstruction of the zebrafish
      pronephric tubule caused a rapid increase in cilia beat rate that correlated
      tightly with expanded tubule diameter and epithelial stretch. Zebrafish foxj1a
      was specifically required for cilia motility. Enhanced foxj1a expression in
      obstructed tubules induced cilia motility target genes efhc1, tektin-1, and
      dnahc9. foxj1a-deficient embryos failed to up-regulate efhc1, tektin-1, and
      dnahc9 and could not maintain enhanced cilia beat rates after obstruction,
      identifying an essential role for foxj1 in modulating cilia function after
      injury. These studies reveal that activation of a Foxj1 transcriptional network
      of ciliogenic genes is an evolutionarily conserved response to multiple forms of
      tissue damage and highlight enhanced cilia function as a previously
      uncharacterized component of organ homeostasis.

PMID- 20937856
TI  - p53-dependent regulation of autophagy protein LC3 supports cancer cell survival
      under prolonged starvation.
AB  - The p53 tumor suppressor is mutated in a high percentage of human tumors.
      However, many other tumors retain wild-type (wt) p53 expression, raising the
      intriguing possibility that they actually benefit from it. Recent studies imply a
      role for p53 in regulation of autophagy, a catabolic pathway by which eukaryotic
      cells degrade and recycle macromolecules and organelles, particularly under
      conditions of nutrient deprivation. Here, we show that, in many cell types, p53
      confers increased survival in the face of chronic starvation. We implicate
      regulation of autophagy in this effect. In HCT116 human colorectal cancer cells
      exposed to prolonged nutrient deprivation, the endogenous wt p53
      posttranscriptionally down-regulates LC3, a pivotal component of the autophagic
      machinery. This enables reduced, yet sustainable autophagic flux. Loss of p53
      impairs autophagic flux and causes excessive LC3 accumulation upon starvation,
      culminating in apoptosis. Thus, p53 increases cell fitness by maintaining better
      autophagic homeostasis, adjusting the rate of autophagy to changing
      circumstances. We propose that some cancer cells retain wt p53 to benefit from
      the resultant increased fitness under limited nutrient supply.

PMID- 20937857
TI  - A triple urocortin knockout mouse model reveals an essential role for urocortins
      in stress recovery.
AB  - Responding to stressful events requires numerous adaptive actions involving
      integrated changes in the central nervous and neuroendocrine systems. Numerous
      studies have implicated dysregulation of stress-response mechanisms in the
      etiology of stress-induced psychopathophysiologies. The urocortin neuropeptides
      are members of the corticotropin-releasing factor family and are associated with
      the central stress response. In the current study, a triple-knockout (tKO) mouse
      model lacking all three urocortin genes was generated. Intriguingly, these
      urocortin tKO mice exhibit increased anxiety-like behaviors 24 h following stress
      exposure but not under unstressed conditions or immediately following exposure to
      acute stress. The inability of these mutants to recover properly from the
      exposure to an acute stress was associated with robust alterations in the
      expression profile of amygdalar genes and with dysregulated serotonergic function
      in stress-related neurocircuits. These findings position the urocortins as
      essential factors in the stress-recovery process and suggest the tKO mouse line
      as a useful stress-sensitive mouse model.

PMID- 20937858
TI  - Middle Pleistocene lower back and pelvis from an aged human individual from the
      Sima de los Huesos site, Spain.
AB  - We report a nearly complete lumbar spine from the Middle Pleistocene site of the
      Sima de los Huesos (SH) that is assigned to the previously published SH male
      Pelvis 1 [Arsuaga JL, et al. (1999). Nature 399: 255-258]. The "SH Pelvis 1
      individual" is a unique nearly complete lumbo-pelvic complex from the human
      Middle Pleistocene fossil record, and offers a rare glimpse into the anatomy and
      past lifeways of Homo heidelbergensis. A revised reconstruction of Pelvis 1,
      together with the current fossil evidence, confirms our previous hypothesis that
      the morphology of this pelvis represents the primitive pattern within the genus
      Homo. Here we argue that this primitive pattern is also characterized by sexual
      dimorphism in the pelvic canal shape, implying complicated deliveries. In
      addition, this individual shows signs of lumbar kyphotic deformity,
      spondylolisthesis, and Baastrup disease. This suite of lesions would have
      postural consequences and was most likely painful. As a result, the individual's
      daily physical activities would have been restricted to some extent.
      Reexamination of the age-at-death agrees with this individual being over 45 y
      old, relying on the modern human pattern of changes of the articular surfaces of
      the os coxae. The presence of degenerative pathological lesions and the advanced
      age-at-death of this individual make it the most ancient postcranial evidence of
      an aged individual in the human fossil record. Additional nonpathological SH
      lumbo-pelvic remains are consistent with previous hypotheses, suggesting a less
      pronounced sagittal spinal curvature in Neandertals compared with Homo sapiens.

PMID- 20937859
TI  - Invasive honeysuckle eradication reduces tick-borne disease risk by altering host
      dynamics.
AB  - Despite the ubiquity of invasive organisms and their often deleterious effects on
      native flora and fauna, the consequences of biological invasions for human health
      and the ecological mechanisms through which they occur are rarely considered.
      Here we demonstrate that a widespread invasive shrub in North America, Amur
      honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii), increases human risk of exposure to ehrlichiosis,
      an emerging infectious disease caused by bacterial pathogens transmitted by the
      lone star tick (Amblyomma americanum). Using large-scale observational surveys in
      natural areas across the St. Louis, Missouri region, we found that white-tailed
      deer (Odocoileus virginianus), a preeminent tick host and pathogen reservoir,
      more frequently used areas invaded by honeysuckle. This habitat preference
      translated into considerably greater numbers of ticks infected with pathogens in
      honeysuckle-invaded areas relative to adjacent honeysuckle-uninvaded areas. We
      confirmed this biotic mechanism using an experimental removal of honeysuckle,
      which caused a decrease in deer activity and infected tick numbers, as well as a
      proportional shift in the blood meals of ticks away from deer. We conclude that
      disease risk is likely to be reduced when honeysuckle is eradicated, and suggest
      that management of biological invasions may help ameliorate the burden of vector
      borne diseases on human health.

PMID- 20937860
TI  - Selectivity of externally facing ion-binding sites in the Na/K pump to alkali
      metals and organic cations.
AB  - The Na/K pump is a P-type ATPase that exchanges three intracellular Na(+) ions
      for two extracellular K(+) ions through the plasmalemma of nearly all animal
      cells. The mechanisms involved in cation selection by the pump's ion-binding
      sites (site I and site II bind either Na(+) or K(+); site III binds only Na(+))
      are poorly understood. We studied cation selectivity by outward-facing sites
      (high K(+) affinity) of Na/K pumps expressed in Xenopus oocytes, under voltage
      clamp. Guanidinium(+), methylguanidinium(+), and aminoguanidinium(+) produced two
      phenomena possibly reflecting actions at site III: (i) voltage-dependent
      inhibition (VDI) of outwardly directed pump current at saturating K(+), and (ii)
      induction of pump-mediated, guanidinium-derivative-carried inward current at
      negative potentials without Na(+) and K(+). In contrast, formamidinium(+) and
      acetamidinium(+) induced K(+)-like outward currents. Measurement of ouabain
      sensitive ATPase activity and radiolabeled cation uptake confirmed that these
      cations are external K(+) congeners. Molecular dynamics simulations indicate that
      bound organic cations induce minor distortion of the binding sites. Among tested
      metals, only Li(+) induced Na(+)-like VDI, whereas all metals tested except Na(+)
      induced K(+)-like outward currents. Pump-mediated K(+)-like organic cation
      transport challenges the concept of rigid structural models in which ion
      specificity at site I and site II arises from a precise and unique arrangement of
      coordinating ligands. Furthermore, actions by guanidinium(+) derivatives suggest
      that Na(+) binds to site III in a hydrated form and that the inward current
      observed without external Na(+) and K(+) represents cation transport when normal
      occlusion at sites I and II is impaired. These results provide insights on
      external ion selectivity at the three binding sites.

PMID- 20937861
TI  - Global demographic trends and future carbon emissions.
AB  - Substantial changes in population size, age structure, and urbanization are
      expected in many parts of the world this century. Although such changes can
      affect energy use and greenhouse gas emissions, emissions scenario analyses have
      either left them out or treated them in a fragmentary or overly simplified
      manner. We carry out a comprehensive assessment of the implications of
      demographic change for global emissions of carbon dioxide. Using an energy
      economic growth model that accounts for a range of demographic dynamics, we show
      that slowing population growth could provide 16-29% of the emissions reductions
      suggested to be necessary by 2050 to avoid dangerous climate change. We also find
      that aging and urbanization can substantially influence emissions in particular
      world regions.

PMID- 20937862
TI  - Pheochromocytoma in rats with multiple endocrine neoplasia (MENX) shares gene
      expression patterns with human pheochromocytoma.
AB  - Pheochromocytomas are rare neoplasias of neural crest origin arising from
      chromaffin cells of the adrenal medulla and sympathetic ganglia (extra-adrenal
      pheochromocytoma). Pheochromocytoma that develop in rats homozygous for a loss-of
      function mutation in p27Kip1 (MENX syndrome) show a clear progression from
      hyperplasia to tumor, offering the possibility to gain insight into tumor
      pathobiology. We compared the gene-expression signatures of both adrenomedullary
      hyperplasia and pheochromocytoma with normal rat adrenal medulla. Hyperplasia and
      tumor show very similar transcriptome profiles, indicating early determination of
      the tumorigenic signature. Overrepresentation of developmentally regulated neural
      genes was a feature of the rat lesions. Quantitative RT-PCR validated the up
      regulation of 11 genes, including some involved in neural development: Cdkn2a,
      Cdkn2c, Neurod1, Gal, Bmp7, and Phox2a. Overexpression of these genes precedes
      histological changes in affected adrenal glands. Their presence at early stages
      of tumorigenesis indicates they are not acquired during progression and may be a
      result of the lack of functional p27Kip1. Adrenal and extra-adrenal
      pheochromocytoma development clearly follows diverged molecular pathways in MENX
      rats. To correlate these findings to human pheochromocytoma, we studied nine
      genes overexpressed in the rat lesions in 46 sporadic and familial human
      pheochromocytomas. The expression of GAL, DGKH, BMP7, PHOX2A, L1CAM, TCTE1, EBF3,
      SOX4, and HASH1 was up-regulated, although with different frequencies.
      Immunohistochemical staining detected high L1CAM expression selectively in 27
      human pheochromocytomas but not in 140 nonchromaffin neuroendocrine tumors. These
      studies reveal clues to the molecular pathways involved in rat and human
      pheochromocytoma and identify previously unexplored biomarkers for clinical use.

PMID- 20937864
TI  - Spontaneous emergence of social influence in online systems.
AB  - Social influence drives both offline and online human behavior. It pervades
      cultural markets, and manifests itself in the adoption of scientific and
      technical innovations as well as the spread of social practices. Prior empirical
      work on the diffusion of innovations in spatial regions or social networks has
      largely focused on the spread of one particular technology among a subset of all
      potential adopters. Here we choose an online context that allows us to study
      social influence processes by tracking the popularity of a complete set of
      applications installed by the user population of a social networking site, thus
      capturing the behavior of all individuals who can influence each other in this
      context. By extending standard fluctuation scaling methods, we analyze the
      collective behavior induced by 100 million application installations, and show
      that two distinct regimes of behavior emerge in the system. Once applications
      cross a particular threshold of popularity, social influence processes induce
      highly correlated adoption behavior among the users, which propels some of the
      applications to extraordinary levels of popularity. Below this threshold, the
      collective effect of social influence appears to vanish almost entirely, in a
      manner that has not been observed in the offline world. Our results demonstrate
      that even when external signals are absent, social influence can spontaneously
      assume an on-off nature in a digital environment. It remains to be seen whether a
      similar outcome could be observed in the offline world if equivalent experimental
      conditions could be replicated.

PMID- 20937863
TI  - Light at night increases body mass by shifting the time of food intake.
AB  - The global increase in the prevalence of obesity and metabolic disorders
      coincides with the increase of exposure to light at night (LAN) and shift work.
      Circadian regulation of energy homeostasis is controlled by an endogenous
      biological clock that is synchronized by light information. To promote optimal
      adaptive functioning, the circadian clock prepares individuals for predictable
      events such as food availability and sleep, and disruption of clock function
      causes circadian and metabolic disturbances. To determine whether a causal
      relationship exists between nighttime light exposure and obesity, we examined the
      effects of LAN on body mass in male mice. Mice housed in either bright (LL) or
      dim (DM) LAN have significantly increased body mass and reduced glucose tolerance
      compared with mice in a standard (LD) light/dark cycle, despite equivalent levels
      of caloric intake and total daily activity output. Furthermore, the timing of
      food consumption by DM and LL mice differs from that in LD mice. Nocturnal
      rodents typically eat substantially more food at night; however, DM mice consume
      55.5% of their food during the light phase, as compared with 36.5% in LD mice.
      Restricting food consumption to the active phase in DM mice prevents body mass
      gain. These results suggest that low levels of light at night disrupt the timing
      of food intake and other metabolic signals, leading to excess weight gain. These
      data are relevant to the coincidence between increasing use of light at night and
      obesity in humans.

PMID- 20937865
TI  - Constitutively active H-ras accelerates multiple forms of plasticity in
      developing visual cortex.
AB  - Experience-dependent cortical plasticity has been studied by using loss-of
      function methods. Here, we take the complementary approach of using a genetic
      gain-of-function that enhances plasticity. We show that a constitutively active
      form of H-ras (H-ras(G12V)), expressed presynaptically at excitatory synapses in
      mice, accelerates and enhances multiple, mechanistically distinct forms of
      plasticity in the developing visual cortex. In vivo, H-ras(G12V) not only
      increased the rate of ocular dominance change in response to monocular
      deprivation (MD), but also accelerated recovery from deprivation by reverse
      occlusion. In vitro, H-ras(G12V) expression decreased baseline presynaptic
      release probability and enhanced presynaptically expressed long-term potentiation
      (LTP). H-ras(G12V) expression also accelerated the increase following MD in the
      frequency of miniature excitatory potentials, mirroring accelerated plasticity in
      vivo. These findings demonstrate accelerated neocortical plasticity, which offers
      an avenue toward future therapies for many neurological and neuropsychiatric
      disorders.

PMID- 20937866
TI  - Ion sensing in the RCK1 domain of BK channels.
AB  - BK-type K(+) channels are activated by voltage and intracellular Ca(2+), which is
      important in modulating muscle contraction, neural transmission, and circadian
      pacemaker output. Previous studies suggest that the cytosolic domain of BK
      channels contains two different Ca(2+) binding sites, but the molecular
      composition of one of the sites is not completely known. Here we report, by
      systematic mutagenesis studies, the identification of E535 as part of this Ca(2+)
      binding site. This site is specific for binding to Ca(2+) but not Cd(2+).
      Experimental results and molecular modeling based on the X-ray crystallographic
      structures of the BK channel cytosolic domain suggest that the binding of Ca(2+)
      by the side chains of E535 and the previously identified D367 changes the
      conformation around the binding site and turns the side chain of M513 into a
      hydrophobic core, providing a basis to understand how Ca(2+) binding at this site
      opens the activation gate of the channel that is remotely located in the
      membrane.

PMID- 20937867
TI  - Ecological convergence in a rocky intertidal shore metacommunity despite high
      spatial variability in recruitment regimes.
AB  - In open ecological systems, community structure can be determined by physically
      modulated processes such as the arrival of individuals from a regional pool and
      by local biological interactions. There is debate centering on whether niche
      differentiation and local interactions among species are necessary to explain
      macroscopic community patterns or whether the patterns can be generated by the
      neutral interplay of dispersal and stochastic demography among ecologically
      identical species. Here we evaluate how much of the observed spatial variation
      within a rocky intertidal metacommunity along 800 km of coastline can be
      explained by drift in the structure of recruits across 15 local sites. Our
      results show that large spatial changes in recruitment do not explain the
      observed spatial variation in adult local structure and that, in comparison with
      the large drift in structure of recruits, local adult communities converged to a
      common, although not unique, structure across the region. Although there is no
      unique adult community structure in the entire region, the observed variation
      represents only a small subset of the possible structures that would be expected
      from passive recruitment drift. Thus, in this diverse system our results do not
      support the idea that rocky intertidal metacommunities are structured by neutral
      mechanisms.

PMID- 20937868
TI  - Two abundant proteasome subtypes that uniquely process some antigens presented by
      HLA class I molecules.
AB  - Most antigenic peptides presented by MHC class I molecules result from the
      degradation of intracellular proteins by the proteasome. In lymphoid tissues and
      cells exposed to IFNgamma, the standard proteasome is replaced by the
      immunoproteasome, in which all of the standard catalytic subunits beta1, beta2,
      and beta5 are replaced by their inducible counterparts beta1i, beta2i, and
      beta5i, which have different cleavage specificities. The immunoproteasome thereby
      shapes the repertoire of antigenic peptides. The existence of additional forms of
      proteasomes bearing a mixed assortment of standard and inducible catalytic
      subunits has been suggested. Using a new set of unique subunit-specific
      antibodies, we have now isolated, quantified, and characterized human proteasomes
      that are intermediate between the standard proteasome and the immunoproteasome.
      They contain only one (beta5i) or two (beta1i and beta5i) of the three inducible
      catalytic subunits of the immunoproteasome. These intermediate proteasomes
      represent between one-third and one-half of the proteasome content of human
      liver, colon, small intestine, and kidney. They are also present in human tumor
      cells and dendritic cells. We identified two tumor antigens of clinical interest
      that are processed exclusively either by intermediate proteasomes beta5i (MAGE
      A3(271-279)) or by intermediate proteasomes beta1i-beta5i (MAGE-A10(254-262)).
      The existence of these intermediate proteasomes broadens the repertoire of
      antigens presented to CD8 T cells and implies that the antigens presented by a
      given cell depend on their proteasome content.

PMID- 20937869
TI  - Constitutively active calcineurin induces cardiac endoplasmic reticulum stress
      and protects against apoptosis that is mediated by alpha-crystallin-B.
AB  - Cardiac-specific overexpression of a constitutively active form of calcineurin A
      (CNA) leads directly to cardiac hypertrophy in the CNA mouse model. Because
      cardiac hypertrophy is a prominent characteristic of many cardiomyopathies, we
      deduced that delineating the proteomic profile of ventricular tissue from this
      model might identify novel, widely applicable therapeutic targets. Proteomic
      analysis was carried out by subjecting fractionated cardiac samples from CNA mice
      and their WT littermates to gel-free liquid chromatography linked to shotgun
      tandem mass spectrometry. We identified 1,918 proteins with high confidence, of
      which 290 were differentially expressed. Microarray analysis of the same tissue
      provided us with alterations in the ventricular transcriptome. Because
      bioinformatic analyses of both the proteome and transcriptome demonstrated the up
      regulation of endoplasmic reticulum stress, we validated its occurrence in adult
      CNA hearts through a series of immunoblots and RT-PCR analyses. Endoplasmic
      reticulum stress often leads to increased apoptosis, but apoptosis was minimal in
      CNA hearts, suggesting that activated calcineurin might protect against
      apoptosis. Indeed, the viability of cultured neonatal mouse cardiomyocytes (NCMs)
      from CNA mice was higher than WT after serum starvation, an apoptotic trigger.
      Proteomic data identified alpha-crystallin B (Cryab) as a potential mediator of
      this protective effect and we showed that silencing of Cryab via lentivector
      mediated transduction of shRNAs in NCMs led to a significant reduction in NCM
      viability and loss of protection against apoptosis. The identification of Cryab
      as a downstream effector of calcineurin-induced protection against apoptosis will
      permit elucidation of its role in cardiac apoptosis and its potential as a
      therapeutic target.

PMID- 20937870
TI  - Beta-adrenergic-regulated phosphorylation of the skeletal muscle Ca(V)1.1 channel
      in the fight-or-flight response.
AB  - Ca(V)1 channels initiate excitation-contraction coupling in skeletal and cardiac
      muscle. During the fight-or-flight response, epinephrine released by the adrenal
      medulla and norepinephrine released from sympathetic nerves increase muscle
      contractility by activation of the beta-adrenergic receptor/cAMP-dependent
      protein kinase pathway and up-regulation of Ca(V)1 channels in skeletal and
      cardiac muscle. Although the physiological mechanism of this pathway is well
      defined, the molecular mechanism and the sites of protein phosphorylation
      required for Ca(V)1 channel regulation are unknown. To identify the regulatory
      sites of phosphorylation under physiologically relevant conditions, Ca(V)1.1
      channels were purified from skeletal muscle and sites of phosphorylation on the
      alpha1 subunit were identified by mass spectrometry. Two phosphorylation sites
      were identified in the proximal C-terminal domain, serine 1575 (S1575) and
      threonine 1579 (T1579), which are conserved in cardiac Ca(V)1.2 channels (S1700
      and T1704, respectively). In vitro phosphorylation revealed that Ca(V)1.1-S1575
      is a substrate for both cAMP-dependent protein kinase and calcium/calmodulin
      dependent protein kinase II, whereas Ca(V)1.1-T1579 is a substrate for casein
      kinase 2. Treatment of rabbits with isoproterenol to activate beta-adrenergic
      receptors increased phosphorylation of S1575 in skeletal muscle Ca(V)1.1 channels
      in vivo, and treatment with propranolol to inhibit beta-adrenergic receptors
      reduced phosphorylation. As S1575 and T1579 in Ca(V)1.1 channels and their
      homologs in Ca(V)1.2 channels are located at a key regulatory interface between
      the distal and proximal C-terminal domains, it is likely that phosphorylation of
      these sites in skeletal and cardiac muscle is directly involved in calcium
      channel regulation in response to the sympathetic nervous system in the fight-or
      flight response.

PMID- 20937871
TI  - IL-33 is a crucial amplifier of innate rather than acquired immunity.
AB  - IL-33, a member of the IL-1-related cytokines, is considered to be a proallergic
      cytokine that is especially involved in Th2-type immune responses. Moreover, like
      IL-1alpha, IL-33 has been suggested to act as an "alarmin" that amplifies immune
      responses during tissue injury. In contrast to IL-1, however, the precise roles
      of IL-33 in those settings are poorly understood. Using IL-1- and IL-33-deficient
      mice, we found that IL-1, but not IL-33, played a substantial role in induction
      of T cell-mediated type IV hypersensitivity such as contact and delayed-type
      hypersensitivity and autoimmune diseases such as experimental autoimmune
      encephalomyelitis. Most notably, however, IL-33 was important for innate-type
      mucosal immunity in the lungs and gut. That is, IL-33 was essential for
      manifestation of T cell-independent protease allergen-induced airway inflammation
      as well as OVA-induced allergic topical airway inflammation, without affecting
      acquisition of antigen-specific memory T cells. IL-33 was significantly involved
      in the development of dextran-induced colitis accompanied by T cell-independent
      epithelial cell damage, but not in streptozocin-induced diabetes or Con A-induced
      hepatitis characterized by T cell-mediated apoptotic tissue destruction. In
      addition, IL-33-deficient mice showed a substantially diminished LPS-induced
      systemic inflammatory response. These observations indicate that IL-33 is a
      crucial amplifier of mucosal and systemic innate, rather than acquired, immune
      responses.

PMID- 20937872
TI  - Coordination of IL-7 receptor and T-cell receptor signaling by cell-division
      cycle 42 in T-cell homeostasis.
AB  - T-cell homeostasis is essential for normal functioning of the immune system. IL-7
      receptor (IL-7R) and T-cell receptor (TCR) signaling are pivotal for T-cell
      homeostatic regulation. The detailed mechanisms regulating T-cell homeostasis and
      how IL-7R and TCR signaling are coordinated are largely unknown. Here we
      demonstrate that T cell-specific deletion of cell-division cycle 42 (Cdc42)
      GTPase causes a profound loss of mature T cells. Deletion of Cdc42 leads to a
      markedly increased expression of growth factor independence-1 (Gfi-1) and
      represses expression of IL-7Ralpha. In the absence of Cdc42, aberrant ERK1/2 MAP
      kinase activity results in enhanced, TCR-mediated T-cell proliferation. In vivo
      reconstitution of effector-binding-defective Cdc42 mutants and the effector p21
      protein-activated kinase 1 (PAK1) into Cdc42-deficient T cells showed that PAK1
      is both necessary and sufficient for Cdc42-regulated T-cell homeostasis. Thus, T
      cell homeostasis is maintained through a concerted regulation of Gfi-1-IL-7R
      controlled cytokine responsiveness and ERK-mediated TCR signaling strength by the
      Cdc42-PAK1 signaling axis.

PMID- 20937873
TI  - Human oral, gut, and plaque microbiota in patients with atherosclerosis.
AB  - Periodontal disease has been associated with atherosclerosis, suggesting that
      bacteria from the oral cavity may contribute to the development of
      atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease. Furthermore, the gut microbiota may
      affect obesity, which is associated with atherosclerosis. Using qPCR, we show
      that bacterial DNA was present in the atherosclerotic plaque and that the amount
      of DNA correlated with the amount of leukocytes in the atherosclerotic plaque. To
      investigate the microbial composition of atherosclerotic plaques and test the
      hypothesis that the oral or gut microbiota may contribute to atherosclerosis in
      humans, we used 454 pyrosequencing of 16S rRNA genes to survey the bacterial
      diversity of atherosclerotic plaque, oral, and gut samples of 15 patients with
      atherosclerosis, and oral and gut samples of healthy controls. We identified
      Chryseomonas in all atherosclerotic plaque samples, and Veillonella and
      Streptococcus in the majority. Interestingly, the combined abundances of
      Veillonella and Streptococcus in atherosclerotic plaques correlated with their
      abundance in the oral cavity. Moreover, several additional bacterial phylotypes
      were common to the atherosclerotic plaque and oral or gut samples within the same
      individual. Interestingly, several bacterial taxa in the oral cavity and the gut
      correlated with plasma cholesterol levels. Taken together, our findings suggest
      that bacteria from the oral cavity, and perhaps even the gut, may correlate with
      disease markers of atherosclerosis.

PMID- 20937874
TI  - Scaffolding to build a rational vaccine design strategy.

PMID- 20937875
TI  - Individuality in gut microbiota composition is a complex polygenic trait shaped
      by multiple environmental and host genetic factors.
AB  - In vertebrates, including humans, individuals harbor gut microbial communities
      whose species composition and relative proportions of dominant microbial groups
      are tremendously varied. Although external and stochastic factors clearly
      contribute to the individuality of the microbiota, the fundamental principles
      dictating how environmental factors and host genetic factors combine to shape
      this complex ecosystem are largely unknown and require systematic study. Here we
      examined factors that affect microbiota composition in a large (n = 645) mouse
      advanced intercross line originating from a cross between C57BL/6J and an ICR
      derived outbred line (HR). Quantitative pyrosequencing of the microbiota defined
      a core measurable microbiota (CMM) of 64 conserved taxonomic groups that varied
      quantitatively across most animals in the population. Although some of this
      variation can be explained by litter and cohort effects, individual host genotype
      had a measurable contribution. Testing of the CMM abundances for cosegregation
      with 530 fully informative SNP markers identified 18 host quantitative trait loci
      (QTL) that show significant or suggestive genome-wide linkage with relative
      abundances of specific microbial taxa. These QTL affect microbiota composition in
      three ways; some loci control individual microbial species, some control groups
      of related taxa, and some have putative pleiotropic effects on groups of
      distantly related organisms. These data provide clear evidence for the importance
      of host genetic control in shaping individual microbiome diversity in mammals, a
      key step toward understanding the factors that govern the assemblages of gut
      microbiota associated with complex diseases.

PMID- 20937876
TI  - Critical role of DNAX accessory molecule-1 (DNAM-1) in the development of acute
      graft-versus-host disease in mice.
AB  - Acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) is a life-threatening complication
      following bone marrow transplantation; however, no effective molecular-targeting
      therapy has been determined. Here, we show that mice that received allogeneic
      splenocytes deficient in DNAX accessory molecule-1 (DNAM-1) had significantly
      milder GVHD and lower mortality than those that received allogeneic WT
      splenocytes. Donor CD8(+) T cells deficient in DNAM-1 showed significantly less
      proliferation and infiltration of the liver and intestines of recipient mice and
      produced less IFN-gamma after coculture with allogeneic splenocytes than WT
      CD8(+) T cells. Mice prophylactically treated with an anti-DNAM-1 antibody showed
      milder GVHD and lower mortality than those treated with a control antibody.
      Moreover, treatment with a single administration of the antibody after the overt
      onset of GVHD ameliorated GVHD and prolonged survival. Finally, we show that the
      anti-DNAM-1 antibody therapy also ameliorated the overt GVHD in lethally
      irradiated mice after MHC-matched, minor antigen-mismatched bone marrow
      transplantation. These results indicate that DNAM-1 plays an important role in
      the development of GVHD and is an ideal molecular target for therapeutic
      approaches to GVHD.

PMID- 20937877
TI  - A chromatin localization screen reveals poly (ADP ribose)-regulated recruitment
      of the repressive polycomb and NuRD complexes to sites of DNA damage.
AB  - Many proteins that respond to DNA damage are recruited to DNA lesions. We used a
      proteomics approach that coupled isotopic labeling with chromatin fractionation
      and mass spectrometry to uncover proteins that associate with damaged DNA, many
      of which are involved in DNA repair or nucleolar function. We show that polycomb
      group members are recruited by poly(ADP ribose) polymerase (PARP) to DNA lesions
      following UV laser microirradiation. Loss of polycomb components results in IR
      sensitivity of mammalian cells and Caenorhabditis elegans. PARP also recruits two
      components of the repressive nucleosome remodeling and deacetylase (NuRD)
      complex, chromodomain helicase DNA-binding protein 4 (CHD4) and metastasis
      associated 1 (MTA1), to DNA lesions. PARP plays a role in removing nascent RNA
      and elongating RNA polymerase II from sites of DNA damage. We propose that PARP
      sets up a transient repressive chromatin structure at sites of DNA damage to
      block transcription and facilitate DNA repair.

PMID- 20937878
TI  - Cell-permeable Foxp3 protein alleviates autoimmune disease associated with
      inflammatory bowel disease and allergic airway inflammation.
AB  - Foxp3 is a key transcription factor for differentiation and function of
      regulatory T (Treg) cells that is critical for maintaining immunological self
      tolerance. Therefore, increasing Treg function by Foxp3 transduction to regulate
      an inflammatory immune response is an important goal for the treatment of
      autoimmune and allergic diseases. Here we have generated a cell-permeable Foxp3
      protein by fusion with the unique human HHph-1-PTD (protein transduction domain),
      examined its regulatory function in T cells, and characterized its therapeutic
      effect in autoimmune and allergic disease models. HHph-1-Foxp3 was rapidly and
      effectively transduced into cells within 30 min and conferred suppressor function
      to CD4(+)CD25(-) T cells as well as directly inhibiting T-cell activation and
      proliferation. Systemic delivery of HHph-1 Foxp3 remarkably inhibited the
      autoimmune symptoms of scurfy mice and the development of colitis induced by
      scurfy or wild-type CD4 T cells. Moreover, intranasal delivery of HHph-1-Foxp3
      strongly suppressed ovalbumin-induced allergic airway inflammation. These results
      demonstrate the clinical potential of the cell-permeable recombinant HHph-1-Foxp3
      protein in autoimmune and hypersensitive allergic diseases.

PMID- 20937879
TI  - Inhibition of ceramide biosynthesis preserves photoreceptor structure and
      function in a mouse model of retinitis pigmentosa.
AB  - Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a genetic disease causing progressive apoptotic
      death of photoreceptors and, ultimately, incurable blindness. Using the retinal
      degeneration 10 (rd10) mouse model of RP, we investigated the role of ceramide, a
      proapoptotic sphingolipid, in retinal degeneration. We also tested the
      possibility that photoreceptor loss can be slowed or blocked by interfering with
      the ceramide signaling pathway of apoptosis in vivo. Retinal ceramide levels
      increased in rd10 mice during the period of maximum photoreceptor death. Single
      intraocular injections of myriocin, a powerful inhibitor of serine palmitoyl-CoA
      transferase, the rate-limiting enzyme of ceramide biosynthesis, lowered retinal
      ceramide levels to normal values and rescued photoreceptors from apoptotic death.
      Noninvasive treatment was achieved using eye drops consisting of a suspension of
      solid lipid nanoparticles loaded with myriocin. Short-term noninvasive treatment
      lowered retinal ceramide in a manner similar to intraocular injections,
      indicating that nanoparticles functioned as a vector permitting transcorneal drug
      administration. Prolonged treatment (10-20 d) with solid lipid nanoparticles
      increased photoreceptor survival, preserved photoreceptor morphology, and
      extended the ability of the retina to respond to light as assessed by
      electroretinography. In conclusion, pharmacological targeting of ceramide
      biosynthesis slowed the progression of RP in a mouse model, and therefore may
      represent a therapeutic approach to treating this disease in humans. Transcorneal
      administration of drugs carried in solid lipid nanoparticles, as experimented in
      this study, may facilitate continuous, noninvasive treatment of patients with RP
      and other retinal pathologies.

PMID- 20937880
TI  - Glycosylation of surface Ig creates a functional bridge between human follicular
      lymphoma and microenvironmental lectins.
AB  - Surface Ig (sIg) of follicular lymphoma (FL) is vital for tumor cell survival. We
      found previously that the Ig in FL is unusual, because the variable region genes
      carry sequence motifs for N-glycan addition. These are introduced by somatic
      mutation and are tumor specific. Unexpectedly, added glycans terminate at high
      mannose, suggesting a potentially important interaction of FL cells with mannose
      binding lectins of the innate immune system. We have now identified mannosylated
      IgM at the surface of primary lymphoma cells. Recombinant lectin domains of the
      mannose receptor (MR) or DC-SIGN bind mannosylated Igs in vitro and bind to FL
      cells, signaling sIgM-associated increases in intracellular Ca(2+). Lectins also
      bind to normal B cells but fail to signal. In contrast, anti-Ig signaled
      similarly in both FL and normal B cells. Mannosylation patterns were mimicked by
      FL Ig-derived single-chain Fvs (scFv), providing probes for potential receptors.
      Mannosylated scFv bound specifically to the lectin domains of the MR and DC-SIGN
      and blocked signaling. Mannosylated scFv also bound to DC-SIGN on the surface of
      dendritic cells. This unique lymphoma-specific interaction of sIg with lectins of
      innate immunity reveals a potential route for microenvironmental support of tumor
      cells, mediated via the key B-cell receptor.

PMID- 20937881
TI  - Methionine sulfoxide reductase A down-regulation in human breast cancer cells
      results in a more aggressive phenotype.
AB  - Breast cancer is one of the most frequent of human malignancies, and it is
      therefore fundamental to identify the underlying molecular mechanisms leading to
      cancer transformation. Among other causative agents in the development of breast
      cancers, an important role for reactive oxygen species (ROS) has emerged.
      However, most studies on the role of ROS in cancer have not reached specific
      conclusions, and many issues remain controversial. In the present study, we show
      that methionine sulfoxide reductase A (MsrA), which is known to protect proteins
      from oxidation and which acts as a ROS scavenger, is down-regulated in a number
      of breast cancers. Moreover, levels of MsrA correlate with advanced tumor grade.
      We therefore investigated the functional role of MsrA in breast cancer cells. Our
      data show that reduction of MsrA levels results in increased cell proliferation
      and extracellular matrix degradation, and consequently in a more aggressive
      cellular phenotype, both in vivo and in vitro. We also show that the underlying
      molecular mechanisms involve increased ROS levels, resulting in reduction of
      phosphatase and tensin homolog deleted on chromosome ten protein (PTEN), and
      activation of the phosphoinositide 3-kinase pathway. In addition, MsrA down
      regulation results in up-regulation of VEGF, providing additional support for
      tumor growth in vivo.

PMID- 20937882
TI  - Acceleration of wound healing by growth hormone-releasing hormone and its
      agonists.
AB  - Despite the well-documented action of growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH) on
      the stimulation of production and release of growth hormone (GH), the effects of
      GHRH in peripheral tissues are incompletely explored. In this study, we show that
      GHRH plays a role in wound healing and tissue repair by acting primarily on wound
      associated fibroblasts. Mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) in culture and wound
      associated fibroblasts in mice expressed a splice variant of the receptors for
      GHRH (SV1). Exposure of MEFs to 100 nM and 500 nM GHRH or the GHRH agonist JI-38
      stimulated the expression of alpha-smooth muscle actin (alphaSMA) based on
      immunoblot analyses as well as the expression of an alphaSMA-beta-galactosidase
      reporter transgene in primary cultures of fibroblasts isolated from transgenic
      mice. Consistent with this induction of alphaSMA expression, results of transwell
      based migration assays and in vitro wound healing (scratch) assays showed that
      both GHRH and GHRH agonist JI-38 stimulated the migration of MEFs in vitro. In
      vivo, local application of GHRH or JI-38 accelerated healing in skin wounds of
      mice. Histological evaluation of skin biopsies showed that wounds treated with
      GHRH and JI-38 were both characterized by increased abundance of fibroblasts
      during the early stages of wound healing and accelerated reformation of the
      covering epithelium at later stages. These results identify another function of
      GHRH in promoting skin tissue wound healing and repair. Our findings suggest that
      GHRH may have clinical utility for augmenting healing of skin wounds resulting
      from trauma, surgery, or disease.

PMID- 20937883
TI  - Contribution of calcium-dependent facilitation to synaptic plasticity revealed by
      migraine mutations in the P/Q-type calcium channel.
AB  - The dynamics, computational power, and strength of neural circuits are essential
      for encoding and processing information in the CNS and rely on short and long
      forms of synaptic plasticity. In a model system, residual calcium (Ca(2+)) in
      presynaptic terminals can act through neuronal Ca(2+) sensor proteins to cause
      Ca(2+)-dependent facilitation (CDF) of P/Q-type channels and induce short-term
      synaptic facilitation. However, whether this is a general mechanism of plasticity
      at intact central synapses and whether mutations associated with human disease
      affect this process have not been described to our knowledge. In this report, we
      find that, in both exogenous and native preparations, gain-of-function missense
      mutations underlying Familial Hemiplegic Migraine type 1 (FHM-1) occlude CDF of
      P/Q-type Ca(2+) channels. In FHM-1 mutant mice, the alteration of P/Q-type
      channel CDF correlates with reduced short-term synaptic facilitation at
      cerebellar parallel fiber-to-Purkinje cell synapses. Two-photon imaging suggests
      that P/Q-type channels at parallel fiber terminals in FHM-1 mice are in a basally
      facilitated state. Overall, the results provide evidence that FHM-1 mutations
      directly affect both P/Q-type channel CDF and synaptic plasticity and that
      together likely contribute toward the pathophysiology underlying FHM-1. The
      findings also suggest that P/Q-type channel CDF is an important mechanism
      required for normal synaptic plasticity at a fast synapse in the mammalian CNS.

PMID- 20937885
TI  - Adaptation to diverse nitrogen-limited environments by deletion or
      extrachromosomal element formation of the GAP1 locus.
AB  - To study adaptive evolution in defined environments, we performed evolution
      experiments with Saccharomyces cerevisiae (yeast) in nitrogen-limited chemostat
      cultures. We used DNA microarrays to identify copy-number variation associated
      with adaptation and observed frequent amplifications and deletions at the GAP1
      locus. GAP1 encodes the general amino acid permease, which transports amino acids
      across the plasma membrane. We identified a self-propagating extrachromosomal
      circular DNA molecule that results from intrachromosomal recombination between
      long terminal repeats (LTRs) flanking GAP1. Extrachromosomal DNA circles
      (GAP1(circle)) contain GAP1, the replication origin ARS1116, and a single hybrid
      LTR derived from recombination between the two flanking LTRs. Formation of the
      GAP1(circle) is associated with deletion of chromosomal GAP1 (gap1Delta) and
      production of a single hybrid LTR at the GAP1 chromosomal locus. The GAP1(circle)
      is selected following prolonged culturing in L-glutamine-limited chemostats in a
      manner analogous to the selection of oncogenes present on double minutes in human
      cancers. Clones carrying only the gap1Delta allele were selected under various
      non-amino acid nitrogen limitations including ammonium, urea, and allantoin
      limitation. Previous studies have shown that the rate of intrachromosomal
      recombination between tandem repeats is stimulated by transcription of the
      intervening sequence. The high level of GAP1 expression in nitrogen-limited
      chemostats suggests that the frequency of GAP1(circle) and gap1Delta generation
      may be increased under nitrogen-limiting conditions. We propose that this genomic
      architecture facilitates evolvability of S. cerevisiae populations exposed to
      variation in levels and sources of environmental nitrogen.

PMID- 20937886
TI  - SET DOMAIN GROUP2 is the major histone H3 lysine [corrected] 4
      trimethyltransferase in Arabidopsis.
AB  - Posttranslational modifications of histones play important roles in modulating
      chromatin structure and regulating gene expression. We have previously shown that
      more than two thirds of Arabidopsis genes contain histone H3 methylation at
      lysine 4 (H3K4me) and that trimethylation of H3K4 (H3K4me3) is preferentially
      located at actively transcribed genes. In addition, several Arabidopsis mutants
      with locus-specific loss of H3K4me have been found to display various
      developmental abnormalities. These findings suggest that H3K4me3 may play
      important roles in maintaining the normal expression of a large number of genes.
      However, the major enzyme(s) responsible for H3K4me3 has yet to be identified in
      plants, making it difficult to address questions regarding the mechanisms and
      functions of H3K4me3. Here we described the characterization of SET DOMAIN GROUP
      2 (SDG2), a large Arabidopsis protein containing a histone lysine
      methyltransferase domain. We found that SDG2 homologs are highly conserved in
      plants and that the Arabidopsis SDG2 gene is broadly expressed during
      development. In addition, the loss of SDG2 leads to severe and pleiotropic
      phenotypes, as well as the misregulation of a large number of genes. Consistent
      with our finding that SDG2 is a robust and specific H3K4 methyltransferase in
      vitro, the loss of SDG2 leads to a drastic decrease in H3K4me3 in vivo. Taken
      together, these results suggest that SDG2 is the major enzyme responsible for
      H3K4me3 in Arabidopsis and that SDG2-dependent H3K4m3 is critical for regulating
      gene expression and plant development.

PMID- 20937887
TI  - Ecosystem-specific selection pressures revealed through comparative population
      genomics.
AB  - Bacterial populations harbor vast genetic diversity that is continually shaped by
      abiotic and biotic selective pressures, as well as by neutral processes.
      Individuals coexisting in the same geographically defined population often have
      significantly different gene content, but whether this variation is largely
      adaptive or neutral remains poorly understood. Here we quantify heterogeneity in
      gene content for two model marine microbes, Prochlorococcus and Pelagibacter,
      within and between populations in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, to begin to
      understand the selective pressures that are shaping these "population genomes."
      We discovered a large fraction of genes that are rare in each population,
      reflecting continual gene transfer and loss. Despite this high variation within
      each population, only a few genes significantly differ in abundance between the
      two biogeochemically distinct environments; nearly all of these are related to
      phosphorus acquisition and are enriched in the Atlantic relative to the Pacific.
      Moreover, P-related genes from the two sites form phylogenetically distinct
      clusters, whereas housekeeping genes do not, consistent with a recent spread of
      adaptive P-related genes in the Atlantic populations. These findings implicate
      phosphorus availability as the dominant selective force driving divergence
      between these populations, and demonstrate the promise of this approach for
      revealing selective agents in more complex microbial systems.

PMID- 20937888
TI  - Clostridium thermocellum cellulosomal genes are regulated by extracytoplasmic
      polysaccharides via alternative sigma factors.
AB  - Clostridium thermocellum produces a highly efficient cellulolytic extracellular
      complex, termed the cellulosome, for hydrolyzing plant cell wall biomass. The
      composition of the cellulosome is affected by the presence of extracellular
      polysaccharides; however, the regulatory mechanism is unknown. Recently, we have
      identified in C. thermocellum a set of putative sigma and anti-sigma factors that
      include extracellular polysaccharide-sensing components [Kahel-Raifer et al.
      (2010) FEMS Microbiol Lett 308:84-93]. These factor-encoding genes are homologous
      to the Bacillus subtilis bicistronic operon sigI-rsgI, which encodes for an
      alternative sigma(I) factor and its cognate anti-sigma(I) regulator RsgI that is
      functionally regulated by an extracytoplasmic signal. In this study, the binding
      of C. thermocellum putative anti-sigma(I) factors to their corresponding sigma
      factors was measured, demonstrating binding specificity and dissociation
      constants in the range of 0.02 to 1 MUM. Quantitative real-time RT-PCR
      measurements revealed three- to 30-fold up-expression of the alternative sigma
      factor genes in the presence of cellulose and xylan, thus connecting their
      expression to direct detection of their extracellular polysaccharide substrates.
      Cellulosomal genes that are putatively regulated by two of these sigma factors,
      sigma(I1) or sigma(I6), were identified based on the sequence similarity of their
      promoters. The ability of sigma(I1) to direct transcription from the sigI1
      promoter and from the promoter of celS (encodes the family 48 cellulase) was
      demonstrated in vitro by runoff transcription assays. Taken together, the results
      reveal a regulatory mechanism in which alternative sigma factors are involved in
      regulating the cellulosomal genes via an external carbohydrate-sensing mechanism.

PMID- 20937889
TI  - Dual selection mechanisms drive efficient single-gene reverse genetics for
      rotavirus.
AB  - Current methods for engineering the segmented double-stranded RNA genome of
      rotavirus (RV) are limited by inefficient recovery of the recombinant virus. In
      an effort to expand the utility of RV reverse genetics, we developed a method to
      recover recombinant viruses in which independent selection strategies are used to
      engineer single-gene replacements. We coupled a mutant SA11 RV encoding a
      temperature-sensitive (ts) defect in the NSP2 protein with RNAi-mediated
      degradation of NSP2 mRNAs to isolate a virus containing a single recombinant gene
      that evades both selection mechanisms. Recovery is rapid and simple; after two
      rounds of selective passage the recombinant virus reaches titers of >=10(4)
      pfu/mL. We used this reverse genetics method to generate a panel of viruses with
      chimeric NSP2 genes. For one of the chimeric viruses, the introduced NSP2
      sequence was obtained from a pathogenic, noncultivated human RV isolate,
      demonstrating that this reverse genetics system can be used to study the
      molecular biology of circulating RVs. Combining characterized RV ts mutants and
      validated siRNA targets should permit the extension of this "two-hit" reverse
      genetics methodology to other RV genes. Furthermore, application of a dual
      selection strategy to previously reported reverse genetics methods for RV may
      enhance the efficiency of recombinant virus recovery.

PMID- 20937890
TI  - Plasma membrane-localized transporter for aluminum in rice.
AB  - Aluminum (Al) is the most abundant metal in the Earth's crust, but its trivalent
      ionic form is highly toxic to all organisms at low concentrations. How Al enters
      cells has not been elucidated in any organisms. Herein, we report a transporter,
      Nrat1 (Nramp aluminum transporter 1), specific for trivalent Al ion in rice.
      Nrat1 belongs to the Nramp (natural resistance-associated macrophage protein)
      family, but shares a low similarity with other Nramp members. When expressed in
      yeast, Nrat1 transports trivalent Al ion, but not other divalent ions, such as
      manganese, iron, and cadmium, or the Al-citrate complex. Nrat1 is localized at
      the plasma membranes of all cells of root tips except epidermal cells. Knockout
      of Nrat1 resulted in decreased Al uptake, increased Al binding to cell wall, and
      enhanced Al sensitivity, but did not affect the tolerance to other metals.
      Expression of Nrat1 is up-regulated by Al in the roots and regulated by a C2H2
      zinc finger transcription factor (ART1). We therefore concluded that Nrat1 is a
      plasma membrane-localized transporter for trivalent Al, which is required for a
      prior step of final Al detoxification through sequestration of Al into vacuoles.

PMID- 20937891
TI  - Nematogalectin, a nematocyst protein with GlyXY and galectin domains,
      demonstrates nematocyte-specific alternative splicing in Hydra.
AB  - Taxonomically restricted genes or lineage-specific genes contribute to
      morphological diversification in metazoans and provide unique functions for
      particular taxa in adapting to specific environments. To understand how such
      genes arise and participate in morphological evolution, we have investigated a
      gene called nematogalectin in Hydra, which has a structural role in the formation
      of nematocysts, stinging organelles that are unique to the phylum Cnidaria.
      Nematogalectin is a 28-kDa protein with an N-terminal GlyXY domain (glycine
      followed by two hydrophobic amino acids), which can form a collagen triple helix,
      followed by a galactose-binding lectin domain. Alternative splicing of the
      nematogalectin transcript allows the gene to encode two proteins, nematogalectin
      A and nematogalectin B. We demonstrate that expression of nematogalectin A and B
      is mutually exclusive in different nematocyst types: Desmonemes express
      nematogalectin B, whereas stenoteles and isorhizas express nematogalectin B early
      in differentiation, followed by nematogalectin A. Like Hydra, the marine
      hydrozoan Clytia also has two nematogalectin transcripts, which are expressed in
      different nematocyte types. By comparison, anthozoans have only one
      nematogalectin gene. Gene phylogeny indicates that tandem duplication of
      nematogalectin B exons gave rise to nematogalectin A before the divergence of
      Anthozoa and Medusozoa and that nematogalectin A was subsequently lost in
      Anthozoa. The emergence of nematogalectin A may have played a role in the
      morphological diversification of nematocysts in the medusozoan lineage.

PMID- 20937892
TI  - Electrical transport along bacterial nanowires from Shewanella oneidensis MR-1.
AB  - Bacterial nanowires are extracellular appendages that have been suggested as
      pathways for electron transport in phylogenetically diverse microorganisms,
      including dissimilatory metal-reducing bacteria and photosynthetic cyanobacteria.
      However, there has been no evidence presented to demonstrate electron transport
      along the length of bacterial nanowires. Here we report electron transport
      measurements along individually addressed bacterial nanowires derived from
      electron-acceptor-limited cultures of the dissimilatory metal-reducing bacterium
      Shewanella oneidensis MR-1. Transport along the bacterial nanowires was
      independently evaluated by two techniques: (i) nanofabricated electrodes
      patterned on top of individual nanowires, and (ii) conducting probe atomic force
      microscopy at various points along a single nanowire bridging a metallic
      electrode and the conductive atomic force microscopy tip. The S. oneidensis MR-1
      nanowires were found to be electrically conductive along micrometer-length scales
      with electron transport rates up to 10(9)/s at 100 mV of applied bias and a
      measured resistivity on the order of 1 Omega.cm. Mutants deficient in genes for c
      type decaheme cytochromes MtrC and OmcA produce appendages that are
      morphologically consistent with bacterial nanowires, but were found to be
      nonconductive. The measurements reported here allow for bacterial nanowires to
      serve as a viable microbial strategy for extracellular electron transport.

PMID- 20937893
TI  - Bayesian model of dynamic image stabilization in the visual system.
AB  - Humans can resolve the fine details of visual stimuli although the image
      projected on the retina is constantly drifting relative to the photoreceptor
      array. Here we demonstrate that the brain must take this drift into account when
      performing high acuity visual tasks. Further, we propose a decoding strategy for
      interpreting the spikes emitted by the retina, which takes into account the
      ambiguity caused by retinal noise and the unknown trajectory of the projected
      image on the retina. A main difficulty, addressed in our proposal, is the
      exponentially large number of possible stimuli, which renders the ideal Bayesian
      solution to the problem computationally intractable. In contrast, the strategy
      that we propose suggests a realistic implementation in the visual cortex. The
      implementation involves two populations of cells, one that tracks the position of
      the image and another that represents a stabilized estimate of the image itself.
      Spikes from the retina are dynamically routed to the two populations and are
      interpreted in a probabilistic manner. We consider the architecture of neural
      circuitry that could implement this strategy and its performance under measured
      statistics of human fixational eye motion. A salient prediction is that in high
      acuity tasks, fixed features within the visual scene are beneficial because they
      provide information about the drifting position of the image. Therefore, complete
      elimination of peripheral features in the visual scene should degrade performance
      on high acuity tasks involving very small stimuli.

PMID- 20937894
TI  - Early deficits in synaptic mitochondria in an Alzheimer's disease mouse model.
AB  - Synaptic dysfunction and the loss of synapses are early pathological features of
      Alzheimer's disease (AD). Synapses are sites of high energy demand and extensive
      calcium fluctuations; accordingly, synaptic transmission requires high levels of
      ATP and constant calcium fluctuation. Thus, synaptic mitochondria are vital for
      maintenance of synaptic function and transmission through normal mitochondrial
      energy metabolism, distribution and trafficking, and through synaptic calcium
      modulation. To date, there has been no extensive analysis of alterations in
      synaptic mitochondria associated with amyloid pathology in an amyloid beta
      (Abeta)-rich milieu. Here, we identified differences in mitochondrial properties
      and function of synaptic vs. nonsynaptic mitochondrial populations in the
      transgenic mouse brain, which overexpresses the human mutant form of amyloid
      precursor protein and Abeta. Compared with nonsynaptic mitochondria, synaptic
      mitochondria showed a greater degree of age-dependent accumulation of Abeta and
      mitochondrial alterations. The synaptic mitochondrial pool of Abeta was detected
      at an age as young as 4 mo, well before the onset of nonsynaptic mitochondrial
      and extensive extracellular Abeta accumulation. Abeta-insulted synaptic
      mitochondria revealed early deficits in mitochondrial function, as shown by
      increased mitochondrial permeability transition, decline in both respiratory
      function and activity of cytochrome c oxidase, and increased mitochondrial
      oxidative stress. Furthermore, a low concentration of Abeta (200 nM)
      significantly interfered with mitochondrial distribution and trafficking in
      axons. These results demonstrate that synaptic mitochondria, especially Abeta
      rich synaptic mitochondria, are more susceptible to Abeta-induced damage,
      highlighting the central importance of synaptic mitochondrial dysfunction
      relevant to the development of synaptic degeneration in AD.

PMID- 20937895
TI  - Local DNA hypomethylation activates genes in rice endosperm.
AB  - Cytosine methylation silences transposable elements in plants, vertebrates, and
      fungi but also regulates gene expression. Plant methylation is catalyzed by three
      families of enzymes, each with a preferred sequence context: CG, CHG (H = A, C,
      or T), and CHH, with CHH methylation targeted by the RNAi pathway. Arabidopsis
      thaliana endosperm, a placenta-like tissue that nourishes the embryo, is globally
      hypomethylated in the CG context while retaining high non-CG methylation. Global
      methylation dynamics in seeds of cereal crops that provide the bulk of human
      nutrition remain unknown. Here, we show that rice endosperm DNA is hypomethylated
      in all sequence contexts. Non-CG methylation is reduced evenly across the genome,
      whereas CG hypomethylation is localized. CHH methylation of small transposable
      elements is increased in embryos, suggesting that endosperm demethylation
      enhances transposon silencing. Genes preferentially expressed in endosperm,
      including those coding for major storage proteins and starch synthesizing
      enzymes, are frequently hypomethylated in endosperm, indicating that DNA
      methylation is a crucial regulator of rice endosperm biogenesis. Our data show
      that genome-wide reshaping of seed DNA methylation is conserved among angiosperms
      and has a profound effect on gene expression in cereal crops.

PMID- 20937896
TI  - Initiation of the proton pump of cytochrome c oxidase.
AB  - Cytochrome c oxidase is the terminal enzyme of the respiratory chain that is
      responsible for biological energy conversion in mitochondria and aerobic
      bacteria. The membrane-bound enzyme converts free energy from oxygen reduction to
      an electrochemical proton gradient by functioning as a redox-coupled proton pump.
      Although the 3D structure and functional studies have revealed proton conducting
      pathways in the enzyme interior, the location of proton donor and acceptor groups
      are not fully identified. We show here by time-resolved optical and FTIR
      spectroscopy combined with time-resolved electrometry that some mutant enzymes
      incapable of proton pumping nevertheless initiate catalysis by proton transfer to
      a proton-loading site. A conserved tyrosine in the so-called D-channel is
      identified as a potential proton donor that determines the efficiency of this
      reaction.

PMID- 20937898
TI  - Persistence of climate changes due to a range of greenhouse gases.
AB  - Emissions of a broad range of greenhouse gases of varying lifetimes contribute to
      global climate change. Carbon dioxide displays exceptional persistence that
      renders its warming nearly irreversible for more than 1,000 y. Here we show that
      the warming due to non-CO(2) greenhouse gases, although not irreversible,
      persists notably longer than the anthropogenic changes in the greenhouse gas
      concentrations themselves. We explore why the persistence of warming depends not
      just on the decay of a given greenhouse gas concentration but also on climate
      system behavior, particularly the timescales of heat transfer linked to the
      ocean. For carbon dioxide and methane, nonlinear optical absorption effects also
      play a smaller but significant role in prolonging the warming. In effect,
      dampening factors that slow temperature increase during periods of increasing
      concentration also slow the loss of energy from the Earth's climate system if
      radiative forcing is reduced. Approaches to climate change mitigation options
      through reduction of greenhouse gas or aerosol emissions therefore should not be
      expected to decrease climate change impacts as rapidly as the gas or aerosol
      lifetime, even for short-lived species; such actions can have their greatest
      effect if undertaken soon enough to avoid transfer of heat to the deep ocean.

PMID- 20937897
TI  - Role of the synaptobrevin C terminus in fusion pore formation.
AB  - Neurotransmitter release is mediated by the SNARE proteins synaptobrevin II
      (sybII, also known as VAMP2), syntaxin, and SNAP-25, generating a force transfer
      to the membranes and inducing fusion pore formation. However, the molecular
      mechanism by which this force leads to opening of a fusion pore remains elusive.
      Here we show that the ability of sybII to support exocytosis is inhibited by
      addition of one or two residues to the sybII C terminus depending on their energy
      of transfer from water to the membrane interface, following a Boltzmann
      distribution. These results suggest that following stimulation, the SNARE complex
      pulls the C terminus of sybII deeper into the vesicle membrane. We propose that
      this movement disrupts the vesicular membrane continuity leading to fusion pore
      formation. In contrast to current models, the experiments suggest that fusion
      pore formation begins with molecular rearrangements at the intravesicular
      membrane leaflet and not between the apposed cytoplasmic leaflets.

PMID- 20937899
TI  - Regional US carbon sinks from three-dimensional atmospheric CO2 sampling.
AB  - Studies diverge substantially on the actual magnitude of the North American
      carbon budget. This is due to the lack of appropriate data and also stems from
      the difficulty to properly model all the details of the flux distribution and
      transport inside the region of interest. To sidestep these difficulties, we use
      here a simple budgeting approach to estimate land-atmosphere fluxes across North
      America by balancing the inflow and outflow of CO(2) from the troposphere. We
      base our study on the unique sampling strategy of atmospheric CO(2) vertical
      profiles over North America from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
      Administration/Earth System Research Laboratory aircraft network, from which we
      infer the three-dimensional CO(2) distribution over the continent. We find a
      moderate sink of 0.5 +/- 0.4 PgC y(-1) for the period 2004-2006 for the
      coterminous United States, in good agreement with the forest-inventory-based
      estimate of the first North American State of the Carbon Cycle Report, and
      averaged climate conditions. We find that the highest uptake occurs in the
      Midwest and in the Southeast. This partitioning agrees with independent estimates
      of crop uptake in the Midwest, which proves to be a significant part of the US
      atmospheric sink, and of secondary forest regrowth in the Southeast. Provided
      that vertical profile measurements are continued, our study offers an independent
      means to link regional carbon uptake to climate drivers.

PMID- 20937900
TI  - Dimerization of a viral SET protein endows its function.
AB  - Histone modifications are regarded as the most indispensible phenomena in
      epigenetics. Of these modifications, lysine methylation is of the greatest
      complexity and importance as site- and state-specific lysine methylation exerts a
      plethora of effects on chromatin structure and gene transcription. Notably,
      paramecium bursaria chlorella viruses encode a conserved SET domain
      methyltransferase, termed vSET, that functions to suppress host transcription by
      methylating histone H3 at lysine 27 (H3K27), a mark for eukaryotic gene
      silencing. Unlike mammalian lysine methyltransferases (KMTs), vSET functions only
      as a dimer, but the underlying mechanism has remained elusive. In this study, we
      demonstrate that dimeric vSET operates with negative cooperativity between the
      two active sites and engages in H3K27 methylation one site at a time. New atomic
      structures of vSET in the free form and a ternary complex with S-adenosyl
      homocysteine and a histone H3 peptide and biochemical analyses reveal the
      molecular origin for the negative cooperativity and explain the substrate
      specificity of H3K27 methyltransferases. Our study suggests a "walking"
      mechanism, by which vSET acts all by itself to globally methylate host H3K27,
      which is accomplished by the mammalian EZH2 KMT only in the context of the
      Polycomb repressive complex.

PMID- 20937901
TI  - Large-scale in vivo femtosecond laser neurosurgery screen reveals small-molecule
      enhancer of regeneration.
AB  - Discovery of molecular mechanisms and chemical compounds that enhance neuronal
      regeneration can lead to development of therapeutics to combat nervous system
      injuries and neurodegenerative diseases. By combining high-throughput
      microfluidics and femtosecond laser microsurgery, we demonstrate for the first
      time large-scale in vivo screens for identification of compounds that affect
      neurite regeneration. We performed thousands of microsurgeries at single-axon
      precision in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans at a rate of 20 seconds per
      animal. Following surgeries, we exposed the animals to a hand-curated library of
      approximately one hundred small molecules and identified chemicals that
      significantly alter neurite regeneration. In particular, we found that the PKC
      kinase inhibitor staurosporine strongly modulates regeneration in a concentration
      and neuronal type-specific manner. Two structurally unrelated PKC inhibitors
      produce similar effects. We further show that regeneration is significantly
      enhanced by the PKC activator prostratin.

PMID- 20937902
TI  - Crowding and hydrodynamic interactions likely dominate in vivo macromolecular
      motion.
AB  - To begin to elucidate the principles of intermolecular dynamics in the crowded
      environment of cells, employing brownian dynamics (BD) simulations, we examined
      possible mechanism(s) responsible for the great reduction in diffusion constants
      of macromolecules in vivo from that at infinite dilution. In an Escherichia coli
      cytoplasm model comprised of 15 different macromolecule types at physiological
      concentrations, BD simulations of molecular-shaped and equivalent sphere
      representations were performed with a soft repulsive potential. At cellular
      concentrations, the calculated diffusion constant of GFP is much larger than
      experiment, with no significant shape dependence. Next, using the equivalent
      sphere system, hydrodynamic interactions (HI) were considered. Without adjustable
      parameters, the in vivo experimental GFP diffusion constant was reproduced.
      Finally, the effects of nonspecific attractive interactions were examined. The
      reduction in diffusivity is very sensitive to macromolecular radius with the
      motion of the largest macromolecules dramatically slowed down; this is not seen
      if HI dominate. In addition, long-lived clusters involving the largest
      macromolecules form if attractions dominate, whereas HI give rise to significant,
      size independent intermolecular dynamic correlations. These qualitative
      differences provide a testable means of differentiating the importance of HI vs.
      nonspecific attractive interactions on macromolecular motion in cells.

PMID- 20937903
TI  - Bankruptcy risk model and empirical tests.
AB  - We analyze the size dependence and temporal stability of firm bankruptcy risk in
      the US economy by applying Zipf scaling techniques. We focus on a single risk
      factor--the debt-to-asset ratio R--in order to study the stability of the Zipf
      distribution of R over time. We find that the Zipf exponent increases during
      market crashes, implying that firms go bankrupt with larger values of R. Based on
      the Zipf analysis, we employ Bayes's theorem and relate the conditional
      probability that a bankrupt firm has a ratio R with the conditional probability
      of bankruptcy for a firm with a given R value. For 2,737 bankrupt firms, we
      demonstrate size dependence in assets change during the bankruptcy proceedings.
      Prepetition firm assets and petition firm assets follow Zipf distributions but
      with different exponents, meaning that firms with smaller assets adjust their
      assets more than firms with larger assets during the bankruptcy process. We
      compare bankrupt firms with nonbankrupt firms by analyzing the assets and
      liabilities of two large subsets of the US economy: 2,545 Nasdaq members and
      1,680 New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) members. We find that both assets and
      liabilities follow a Pareto distribution. The finding is not a trivial
      consequence of the Zipf scaling relationship of firm size quantified by employees
      -although the market capitalization of Nasdaq stocks follows a Pareto
      distribution, the same distribution does not describe NYSE stocks. We propose a
      coupled Simon model that simultaneously evolves both assets and debt with the
      possibility of bankruptcy, and we also consider the possibility of firm mergers.

PMID- 20937904
TI  - Structure and mechanism of the complex between cytochrome P4503A4 and ritonavir.
AB  - Ritonavir is a HIV protease inhibitor routinely prescribed to HIV patients that
      also potently inactivates cytochrome P4503A4 (CYP3A4), the major human drug
      metabolizing enzyme. By inhibiting CYP3A4, ritonavir increases plasma
      concentrations of other anti-HIV drugs oxidized by CYP3A4 thereby improving
      clinical efficacy. Despite the importance and wide use of ritonavir in anti-HIV
      therapy, the precise mechanism of CYP3A4 inhibition remains unclear. The
      available data are inconsistent and suggest that ritonavir acts as a mechanism
      based, competitive or mixed competitive-noncompetitive CYP3A4 inactivator. To
      resolve this controversy and gain functional and structural insights into the
      mechanism of CYP3A4 inhibition, we investigated the ritonavir binding reaction by
      kinetic and equilibrium analysis, elucidated how the drug affects redox
      properties of the hemoprotein, and determined the 2.0 A X-ray structure of the
      CYP3A4-ritonavir complex. Our results show that ritonavir is a type II ligand
      that perfectly fits into the CYP3A4 active site cavity and irreversibly binds to
      the heme iron via the thiazole nitrogen, which decreases the redox potential of
      the protein and precludes its reduction with the redox partner, cytochrome P450
      reductase.

PMID- 20937905
TI  - ELOVL1 production of C24 acyl-CoAs is linked to C24 sphingolipid synthesis.
AB  - Very long-chain fatty acids (VLCFAs) exert a variety of cellular functions and
      are associated with numerous diseases. However, the precise pathway behind their
      elongation has remained elusive. Moreover, few regulatory mechanisms for VLCFAs
      synthesis have been identified. Elongases catalyze the first of four steps in the
      VLCFA elongation cycle; mammals have seven elongases (ELOVL1-7). In the present
      study, we determined the precise substrate specificities of all the ELOVLs by in
      vitro analyses. Particularly notable was the high activity exhibited by ELOVL1
      toward saturated and monounsaturated C20- and C22-CoAs, and that it was essential
      for the production of C24 sphingolipids, which are unique in their capacity to
      interdigitate within the membrane as a result of their long chain length. We
      further established that ELOVL1 activity is regulated with the ceramide synthase
      CERS2, an enzyme essential for C24 sphingolipid synthesis. This regulation may
      ensure that the production of C24-CoA by elongation is coordinated with its
      utilization. Finally, knockdown of ELOVL1 caused a reduction in the activity of
      the Src kinase LYN, confirming that C24-sphingolipids are particularly important
      in membrane microdomain function.

PMID- 20937906
TI  - Unfolding free energy of a two-domain transmembrane sugar transport protein.
AB  - Understanding how an amino acid sequence folds into a functional, three
      dimensional structure has proved to be a formidable challenge in biological
      research, especially for transmembrane proteins with multiple alpha helical
      domains. Mechanistic folding studies on helical membrane proteins have been
      limited to unusually stable, single domain proteins such as bacteriorhodopsin.
      Here, we extend such work to flexible, multidomain proteins and one of the most
      widespread membrane transporter families, the major facilitator superfamily, thus
      showing that more complex membrane proteins can be successfully refolded to
      recover native substrate binding. We determine the unfolding free energy of the
      two-domain, Escherichia coli galactose transporter, GalP; a bacterial homologue
      of human glucose transporters. GalP is reversibly unfolded by urea. Urea causes
      loss of substrate binding and a significant reduction in alpha helical content.
      Full recovery of helical structure and substrate binding occurs in
      dodecylmaltoside micelles, and the unfolding free energy can be determined. A
      linear dependence of this free energy on urea concentration allows the free
      energy of unfolding in the absence of urea to be determined as +2.5 kcal.mol(-1).
      Urea has often been found to be a poor denaturant for transmembrane helical
      structures. We attribute the denaturation of GalP helices by urea to the dynamic
      nature of the transporter structure allowing denaturant access via the substrate
      binding pocket, as well as to helical structure that extends beyond the membrane.
      This study gives insight into the final, critical folding step involving recovery
      of ligand binding for a multidomain membrane transporter.

PMID- 20937907
TI  - Structural characterization of a beta-turn mimic within a protein-protein
      interface.
AB  - beta-Turns are secondary structure elements not only exposed on protein surfaces,
      but also frequently found to be buried in protein-protein interfaces. Protein
      engineering so far considered mainly the backbone-constraining properties of
      synthetic beta-turn mimics as parts of surface-exposed loops. A beta-turn mimic,
      Hot?Tap, that is available in gram amounts, provides two hydroxyl groups that
      enhance its turn-inducing properties besides being able to form side-chain-like
      interactions. NMR studies on cyclic hexapeptides harboring the Hot?Tap dipeptide
      proved its strong beta-turn-inducing capability. Crystallographic analyses of the
      trimeric fibritin-foldon/Hot?Tap hybrid reveal at atomic resolution how Hot?Tap
      replaces a betaI'-turn by a betaII'-type structure. Furthermore, Hot?Tap adapts
      to the complex protein environment by participating in several direct and water
      bridged interactions across the foldon trimer interface. As building blocks, beta
      turn mimics capable of both backbone and side-chain mimicry may simplify the
      design of synthetic proteins.

PMID- 20937908
TI  - Monitoring ion-channel function in real time through quantum decoherence.
AB  - In drug discovery, there is a clear and urgent need for detection of cell
      membrane ion-channel operation with wide-field capability. Existing techniques
      are generally invasive or require specialized nanostructures. We show that
      quantum nanotechnology could provide a solution. The nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center
      in nanodiamond is of great interest as a single-atom quantum probe for nanoscale
      processes. However, until now nothing was known about the quantum behavior of a
      NV probe in a complex biological environment. We explore the quantum dynamics of
      a NV probe in proximity to the ion channel, lipid bilayer, and surrounding
      aqueous environment. Our theoretical results indicate that real-time detection of
      ion-channel operation at millisecond resolution is possible by directly
      monitoring the quantum decoherence of the NV probe. With the potential to scan
      and scale up to an array-based system, this conclusion may have wide-ranging
      implications for nanoscale biology and drug discovery.

PMID- 20937910
TI  - Kinetics of fiber solidification.
AB  - Many synthetic or natural fibers are produced via the transformation of a liquid
      solution into a solid filament, which allows the wet processing of high molecular
      weight polymers, proteins, or inorganic particles. Synthetic wet-spun fibers are
      used in our everyday life from clothing to composite reinforcement applications.
      Spun fibers are also common in nature. Silk solidification results from the
      coagulation of protein solutions. The chemical phenomena involved in the
      formation of all these classes of fibers can be quite different but they all
      share the same fundamental transformation from a liquid to a solid state. The
      solidification process is critical because it governs the production rate and the
      strength that fibers can sustain to be drawn and wound. An approach is proposed
      in this work to investigate the kinetics of fiber solidification. This approach
      consists in circulating solidifying fibers in the extensional flow of a
      surrounding liquid. Such as polymers in extensional flows, the fibers break if
      resultant drag forces exceed the fiber tensile strength. The solidification
      kinetics of nanotube composite fibers serves as a validation example of this
      approach. The method could be extended to other systems and advance thereby the
      science and technology of fiber and textile materials. It is also a way to
      directly visualize the scission of chain-like systems in extensional flows.

PMID- 20937909
TI  - Structural basis for recognition of arginine methylated Piwi proteins by the
      extended Tudor domain.
AB  - Arginine methylation modulates diverse cellular processes and represents a
      molecular signature of germ-line-specific Piwi family proteins. A subset of Tudor
      domains recognize arginine methylation modifications, but the binding mechanism
      has been lacking. Here we establish that, like other germ-line Tudor proteins,
      the ancestral staphylococcal nuclease domain-containing 1 (SND1) polypeptide is
      expressed and associates with PIWIL1/Miwi in germ cells. We find that human SND1
      binds PIWIL1 in an arginine methylation-dependent manner with a preference for
      symmetrically dimethylated arginine. The entire Tudor domain and a bifurcated SN
      domain are required for this binding activity, whereas the canonical Tudor domain
      alone is insufficient for methylarginine ligand binding. Crystal structures show
      that the intact SND1 extended Tudor domain forms a wide and negatively charged
      binding groove, which can accommodate distinct symmetrically dimethylated
      arginine peptides from PIWIL1 in different orientations. This analysis explains
      how SND1 preferentially recognizes symmetrical dimethylarginine via an aromatic
      cage and conserved hydrogen bonds, and provides a general paradigm for the
      binding mechanisms of methylarginine-containing peptides by extended Tudor
      domains.

PMID- 20937911
TI  - Probability landscape of heritable and robust epigenetic state of lysogeny in
      phage lambda.
AB  - Computational studies of biological networks can help to identify components and
      wirings responsible for observed phenotypes. However, studying stochastic
      networks controlling many biological processes is challenging. Similar to
      Schrodinger's equation in quantum mechanics, the chemical master equation (CME)
      provides a basic framework for understanding stochastic networks. However, except
      for simple problems, the CME cannot be solved analytically. Here we use a method
      called discrete chemical master equation (dCME) to compute directly the full
      steady-state probability landscape of the lysogeny maintenance network in phage
      lambda from its CME. Results show that wild-type phage lambda can maintain a
      constant level of repressor over a wide range of repressor degradation rate and
      is stable against UV irradiation, ensuring heritability of the lysogenic state.
      Furthermore, it can switch efficiently to the lytic state once repressor
      degradation increases past a high threshold by a small amount. We find that
      beyond bistability and nonlinear dimerization, cooperativity between repressors
      bound to O(R)1 and O(R)2 is required for stable and heritable epigenetic state of
      lysogeny that can switch efficiently. Mutants of phage lambda lack stability and
      do not possess a high threshold. Instead, they are leaky and respond to gradual
      changes in degradation rate. Our computation faithfully reproduces the hair
      triggers for UV-induced lysis observed in mutants and the limitation in
      robustness against mutations. The landscape approach computed from dCME is
      general and can be applied to study broad issues in systems biology.

PMID- 20937912
TI  - Appropriation of the MinD protein-interaction motif by the dimeric interface of
      the bacterial cell division regulator MinE.
AB  - MinE is required for the dynamic oscillation of Min proteins that restricts
      formation of the cytokinetic septum to the midpoint of the cell in gram negative
      bacteria. Critical for this oscillation is MinD-binding by MinE to stimulate MinD
      ATP hydrolysis, a function that had been assigned to the first ~30 residues in
      MinE. Previous models based on the structure of an autonomously folded dimeric C
      terminal fragment suggested that the N-terminal domain is freely accessible for
      interactions with MinD. We report here the solution NMR structure of the full
      length MinE dimer from Neisseria gonorrhoeae, with two parts of the N-terminal
      domain forming an integral part of the dimerization interface. Unexpectedly,
      solvent accessibility is highly restricted for residues that were previously
      hypothesized to directly interact with MinD. To delineate the true MinD-binding
      region, in vitro assays for MinE-stimulated MinD activity were performed. The
      relative MinD-binding affinities obtained for full-length and N-terminal peptides
      from MinE demonstrated that residues that are buried in the dimeric interface
      nonetheless participate in direct interactions with MinD. According to results
      from NMR spin relaxation experiments, access to these buried residues may be
      facilitated by the presence of conformational exchange. We suggest that this
      concealment of MinD-binding residues by the MinE dimeric interface provides a
      mechanism for prevention of nonspecific interactions, particularly with the lipid
      membrane, to allow the free diffusion of MinE that is critical for Min protein
      oscillation.

PMID- 20937913
TI  - Coupling of tandem Smad ubiquitination regulatory factor (Smurf) WW domains
      modulates target specificity.
AB  - Smad ubiquitination regulatory factor 2 (Smurf2) is an E3 ubiquitin ligase that
      participates in degradation of TGF-beta receptors and other targets. Smurf2 WW
      domains recognize PPXY (PY) motifs on ubiquitin ligase target proteins or on
      adapters, such as Smad7, that bind to E3 target proteins. We previously
      demonstrated that the isolated WW3 domain of Smurf2, but not the WW2 domain, can
      directly bind to a Smad7 PY motif. We show here that the WW2 augments this
      interaction by binding to the WW3 and making auxiliary contacts with the PY motif
      and a novel E/D-S/T-P motif, which is N-terminal to all Smad PY motifs. The WW2
      likely enhances the selectivity of Smurf2 for the Smad proteins. NMR titrations
      confirm that Smad1 and Smad2 are bound by Smurf2 with the same coupled WW domain
      arrangement used to bind Smad7. The analogous WW domains in the short isoform of
      Smurf1 recognize the Smad7 PY peptide using the same coupled mechanism. However,
      a longer Smurf1 isoform, which has an additional 26 residues in the inter-WW
      domain linker, is only partially able to use the coupled WW domain binding
      mechanism. The longer linker results in a decrease in affinity for the Smad7
      peptide. Interdomain coupling of WW domains enhances selectivity and enables the
      tuning of interactions by isoform switching.

PMID- 20937914
TI  - Hospice use and high-intensity care in men dying of prostate cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hospice programs improve the quality of life and quality of death for
      men dying of cancer. We sought to characterize hospice use by men dying of
      prostate cancer and to compare the use of high-intensity care between those who
      did or did not enroll in hospice. METHODS: We used linked Surveillance,
      Epidemiology, and End Results-Medicare data to identify a cohort of Medicare
      beneficiaries who died of prostate cancer between 1992 and 2005. We created 2
      multivariable logistic regression models, one to identify factors associated with
      hospice use and one to determine the association of hospice use with the receipt
      of diagnostic and interventional procedures and physician visits at the end of
      life. RESULTS: Of 14,521 men dying of prostate cancer, 7646 (53%) used hospice
      for a median of 24 days. Multivariable modeling demonstrated that African
      American ethnicity (odds ratio [OR], 0.78; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.68
      0.88) and higher Charlson comorbidity index (OR, 0.49; 95% CI, 0.44-0.55) were
      associated with lower odds of hospice use, while having a partner (OR, 1.23; 95%
      CI, 1.14-1.32) and more recent year of death (OR, 1.12; 95% CI, 1.11-1.14) were
      associated with higher odds of hospice use. Men dying of prostate cancer who
      enrolled in hospice were less likely (OR, 0.82; 95% CI, 0.74-0.91) to receive
      high-intensity care, including intensive care unit admissions, inpatient stays,
      and multiple emergency department visits. CONCLUSIONS: The proportion of
      individuals using hospice is increasing, but the timing of hospice referral
      remains poor. Those who enroll in hospice are less likely to receive high
      intensity end-of-life care.

PMID- 20937915
TI  - Resource use in the last 6 months of life: what does it mean for patients?

PMID- 20937916
TI  - Resource use in the last 6 months of life among medicare beneficiaries with heart
      failure, 2000-2007.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Heart failure is a common cause of death among Medicare
      beneficiaries, but little is known about health care resource use at the end of
      life. METHODS: In a retrospective cohort study of 229,543 Medicare beneficiaries
      with heart failure who died between January 1, 2000, and December 31, 2007, we
      examined resource use in the last 180 days of life, including all-cause
      hospitalizations, intensive care unit days, skilled nursing facility stays, home
      health, hospice, durable medical equipment, outpatient physician visits, and
      cardiac procedures. We calculated overall costs to Medicare and predictors of
      costs. RESULTS: Approximately 80% of patients were hospitalized in the last 6
      months of life; days in intensive care increased from 3.5 to 4.6 (P<.001). Use of
      hospice increased from 19% to nearly 40% of patients (P<.001). Unadjusted mean
      costs to Medicare per patient rose 26% from $28,766 to $36,216 (P<.001). After
      adjustment for age, sex, race, comorbid conditions, and geographic region, costs
      increased by 11% (cost ratio, 1.11; 95% confidence interval, 1.10-1.13).
      Increasing age was strongly and independently associated with lower costs. Renal
      disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and black race were independent
      predictors of higher costs. CONCLUSIONS: Among Medicare beneficiaries with heart
      failure, health care resource use at the end of life increased over time with
      higher rates of intensive care and higher costs. However, the use of hospice
      services also increased markedly, representing a shift in patterns of care at the
      end of life.

PMID- 20937917
TI  - Lack of follow-up after fecal occult blood testing in older adults: inappropriate
      screening or failure to follow up?
AB  - BACKGROUND: It is unclear whether lack of follow-up after screening fecal occult
      blood testing (FOBT) in older adults is due to screening patients whose
      comorbidity or preferences do not permit follow-up vs failure to complete follow
      up in healthy patients. METHODS: A prospective cohort study of 2410 patients 70
      years or older screened with FOBT was conducted at 4 Veteran Affairs (VA) medical
      centers from January 1 to December 31, 2001. The main outcome measure was receipt
      of follow-up within 1 year of FOBT based on national VA and Medicare data. For
      patients with positive FOBT results, age and Charlson comorbidity scores were
      evaluated as potential predictors of receiving a complete colon evaluation
      (colonoscopy or sigmoidoscopy plus barium enema), and medical records were
      reviewed to determine reasons for lack of follow-up. RESULTS: A total of 212
      patients (9%) had positive FOBT results; 42% received a complete colon evaluation
      within 1 year. Age and comorbidity were not associated with receipt of a complete
      follow-up, which was similar among patients 70 to 74 years old with a Charlson
      score of 0 compared with patients 80 years or older with a Charlson score of 1 or
      higher (48% vs 41%; P=.28). The VA site, number of positive FOBT cards, and
      number of VA outpatient visits were predictors. Of 122 patients who did not
      receive a complete follow-up within 1 year, 38% had documentation that
      comorbidity or preferences did not permit follow-up, and over the next 5 years
      76% never received a complete follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: While follow-up after
      positive FOBT results was low regardless of age or comorbidity, screening
      patients in whom complete evaluation would not be pursued substantially
      contributes to lack of follow-up. Efforts to improve follow-up should address the
      full chain of decision making, including decisions to screen and decisions to
      follow up.

PMID- 20937918
TI  - Resource use in the last 6 months of life among patients with heart failure in
      Canada.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Heart failure (HF) is a debilitating and chronic condition associated
      with significant morbidity and mortality. However, much less is known about end
      of-life (EOL) costs among patients with HF. METHODS: To examine trends in
      resource use and costs during the last 6 months of life among elderly patients
      with HF, we evaluated data regarding all patients 65 years or older with HF who
      died between January 1, 2000, to December 31, 2006, in Alberta, Canada, and
      examined costs associated with all-cause hospitalizations, intensive care,
      emergency department visits, outpatient visits, physician office visits, and
      outpatient drugs in the 180 days before death. Overall costs and predictors of
      costs to the health care system were also examined. RESULTS: The study population
      included 33,144 patients with HF who died. The mean age at death was 83 years.
      The clinical profile of patients changed during the study period, with an
      increasing comorbidity burden over time. Between 2000 and 2006, the percentage of
      patients hospitalized during the last 6 months of life decreased from 84% to 76%
      (P<.01); and the percentage dying in hospital decreased from 60% to 54% (P<.01).
      In 2006, the average EOL cost was $27,983 in Canadian dollars. In multivariate
      analyses, increasing age was inversely associated with EOL costs and comorbid
      conditions were associated with higher costs. CONCLUSIONS: Resource use in the
      last 6 months of life among patients with HF in Alberta is changing, with a
      reduction in hospitalizations, in-hospital deaths, and an increase in the use of
      outpatient services. However, EOL costs are substantial and continue to increase.

PMID- 20937919
TI  - Effects of lowering homocysteine levels with B vitamins on cardiovascular
      disease, cancer, and cause-specific mortality: Meta-analysis of 8 randomized
      trials involving 37 485 individuals.
AB  - Elevated plasma homocysteine levels have been associated with higher risks of
      cardiovascular disease, but the effects on disease rates of supplementation with
      folic acid to lower plasma homocysteine levels are uncertain. Individual
      participant data were obtained for a meta-analysis of 8 large, randomized,
      placebo-controlled trials of folic acid supplementation involving 37 485
      individuals at increased risk of cardiovascular disease. The analyses involved
      intention-to-treat comparisons of first events during the scheduled treatment
      period. There were 9326 major vascular events (3990 major coronary events, 1528
      strokes, and 5068 revascularizations), 3010 cancers, and 5125 deaths. Folic acid
      allocation yielded an average 25% reduction in homocysteine levels. During a
      median follow-up of 5 years, folic acid allocation had no significant effects on
      vascular outcomes, with rate ratios (95% confidence intervals) of 1.01 (0.97
      1.05) for major vascular events, 1.03 (0.97-1.10) for major coronary events, and
      0.96 (0.87-1.06) for stroke. Likewise, there were no significant effects on
      vascular outcomes in any of the subgroups studied or on overall vascular
      mortality. There was no significant effect on the rate ratios (95% confidence
      intervals) for overall cancer incidence (1.05 [0.98-1.13]), cancer mortality
      (1.00 [0.85-1.18]) or all-cause mortality (1.02 [0.97-1.08]) during the whole
      scheduled treatment period or during the later years of it. Dietary
      supplementation with folic acid to lower homocysteine levels had no significant
      effects within 5 years on cardiovascular events or on overall cancer or mortality
      in the populations studied.

PMID- 20937920
TI  - The vital amines: too much of a good thing?: comment on "Effects of lowering
      homocysteine levels with B vitamins on cardiovascular disease, cancer, and cause
      specific mortality".

PMID- 20937921
TI  - Pharmacist-physician comanagement of hypertension and reduction in 24-hour
      ambulatory blood pressures.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pharmacist-physician comanagement of hypertension has been shown to
      improve office blood pressures (BPs). We sought to describe the effect of such a
      model on 24-hour ambulatory BPs. METHODS: We performed a prospective, cluster
      randomized, controlled clinical trial, enrolling 179 patients with uncontrolled
      hypertension from 5 primary care clinics in Iowa City, Iowa. Patients were
      randomized by clinic to receive pharmacist-physician collaborative management of
      hypertension (intervention) or usual care (control) for a 9-month period. In the
      intervention group, pharmacists helped patients to identify barriers to BP
      control, counseled on lifestyle and dietary modifications, and adjusted
      antihypertensive therapy in collaboration with the patients' primary care
      providers. Patients were seen by pharmacists a minimum of every 2 months.
      Ambulatory BP was measured at baseline and at study end. RESULTS: Baseline and
      end-of-study ambulatory BP profiles were evaluated for 175 patients. Mean (SD)
      ambulatory systolic BPs (SBPs), reported in millimeters of mercury, were reduced
      more in the intervention group than in the control group: daytime change in
      (Delta) SBP, 15.2 (11.5) vs 5.5 (13.5) (P < .001); nighttime DeltaSBP, 12.2
      (14.8) vs 3.4 (13.3) (P < .001); and 24-hour DeltaSBP, 14.1 (11.3) vs 5.5 (12.5)
      (P < .001). More patients in the intervention group than in the control group had
      their BP controlled at the end of the study (75.0% vs 50.7%) (P < .001), as
      defined by overall 24-hour ambulatory BP monitoring. CONCLUSION: Pharmacist
      physician collaborative management of hypertension achieved consistent and
      significantly greater reduction in 24-hour BP and a high rate of BP control.
      Trial Registration  clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT00201045.

PMID- 20937922
TI  - Engaging physicians and pharmacists in providing smoking cessation counseling.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Health professionals have a proven, positive impact on patients'
      ability to quit smoking, yet few integrate cessation counseling into routine
      practice.The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of continuing education
      training on physicians' and pharmacists' cessation counseling. METHODS: A group
      randomized trial of health care providers (87 physicians and 83 pharmacists) from
      16 Texas communities compared smoking cessation training (intervention group)
      with skin cancer prevention training (control group). Pretraining, posttraining,
      and extended follow-up surveys were collected from providers. Perceived ability,
      confidence, and intention (ACI) to address smoking with patients were assessed
      with a composite ACI index. Patient exit interviews (at baseline, 1452 patients
      completed interviews; after 12 months, 1303 completed interviews) assessed
      counseling practices. RESULTS: There was a significant increase in the percentage
      of physicians with a high ACI index in the intervention group from pretraining to
      posttraining (27% to 73%; P < .001) vs the control group (27% to 34%; P = .42)
      and for pharmacists (4% to 60%; P < .001) vs the control group (10% to 14%; P =
      .99). Similar results were seen from pretraining to extended follow-up. At
      baseline, fewer pharmacy patients reported being asked about smoking compared
      with patients seen by physicians (7% vs 33%; P = .001). There was an increase in
      assisting patients to quit (6% to 36%; P = .002) by physicians (baseline vs 12
      months) in the intervention group, but not in the control group. CONCLUSIONS:
      Training led to significant and lasting improvement in counseling among
      physicians. Low levels of counseling were seen among pharmacists.

PMID- 20937923
TI  - A prescription for improved chronic disease management: have community
      pharmacists function at the top of their training: comment on "Engaging
      physicians and pharmacists in providing smoking cessation counseling".

PMID- 20937924
TI  - Feasibility study of a systematic approach for discontinuation of multiple
      medications in older adults: addressing polypharmacy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Polypharmacy and inappropriate medication use is a problem in elderly
      patients, who are more likely to experience adverse effects from multiple
      treatments and less likely to obtain the same therapeutic benefit as younger
      populations. The Good Palliative-Geriatric Practice algorithm for drug
      discontinuation has been shown to be effective in reducing polypharmacy and
      improving mortality and morbidity in nursing home inpatients. This study reports
      the feasibility of this approach in community-dwelling older patients. METHODS:
      The Good Palliative-Geriatric Practice algorithm was applied to a cohort of 70
      community-dwelling older patients to recommend drug discontinuations. Success
      rates of discontinuation, morbidity, mortality, and changes in health status were
      recorded. RESULTS: The mean (SD) age of the 70 patients was 82.8 (6.9) years.
      Forty-three patients (61%) had 3 or more and 26% had 5 or more comorbidities. The
      mean follow-up was 19 months. Participants used a mean (SD) of 7.7 (3.7)
      medications. Protocol indicated that discontinuation was recommended for 311
      medications in 64 patients (58% of drugs; mean [SD], 4.4 [2.5] drugs per patient
      overall, 4.9 per patient who had discontinuation). Of the discontinued drug
      therapies, 2% were restarted because of recurrence of the original indication.
      Taking nonconsent and failures together, successful discontinuation was achieved
      in 81%. Ten elderly patients (14%) died after a mean follow-up of 13 months, with
      the mean age at death of 89 years. No significant adverse events or deaths were
      attributable to discontinuation, and 88% of patients reported global improvement
      in health. CONCLUSIONS: It is feasible to decrease medication burden in community
      dwelling elderly patients. This tool would be suitable for larger randomized
      controlled trials in different clinical settings.

PMID- 20937925
TI  - Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome After an Escherichia coli O111 Outbreak.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In August 2008, the largest known US serotype 1 Escherichia coli O111
      outbreak occurred in Oklahoma, causing 341 illnesses, including hemolytic uremic
      syndrome (HUS). HUS is not well described in non-O157 E coli outbreaks but occurs
      in 2% to 15% of O157 infections, predominantly among children. We examined
      outbreak-related hospitalizations to characterize E coli O111 illness, the HUS
      attack rate, and factors associated with subsequent HUS diagnosis among
      hospitalized patients. METHODS: Medical records were reviewed for clinical
      presentation and evidence of HUS among hospitalized patients identified during
      the outbreak investigation. Characteristics of hospitalized patients with vs
      without HUS were compared. RESULTS: HUS was identified in 26 of 156 (16.7%)
      confirmed or probable E coli O111 infections; 65.4% of patients with HUS required
      dialysis, and 1 patient died. The median age of patients with HUS was 43.5 years
      (age range, 1-88 years); adults composed 57.7% of HUS cases. Characteristics at
      hospital admission associated with subsequent HUS diagnosis included white blood
      cell count of at least 20 000/MUL (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 11.3; 95%
      confidence interval [CI], 1.7-75.3), elevated serum creatinine level for age
      (9.7; 1.4-69.2), and vomiting before hospital admission (6.8; 1.5-31.3).
      Administration of antimicrobial agents (risk ratio [RR], 1.0; 95% CI, 0.5-1.8) or
      medication with antimotility effects (1.4; 0.6-2.9) was not associated with
      subsequent HUS. CONCLUSIONS: The HUS attack rate in this E coli O111 outbreak was
      comparable to that for E coli O157-related illnesses, but most cases occurred
      among adults. On admission, factors associated with subsequent HUS can identify
      patients who require close monitoring and early aggressive supportive care to
      improve outcomes.

PMID- 20937926
TI  - Outpatient follow-up visit and 30-day emergency department visit and readmission
      in patients hospitalized for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Readmissions in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
      (COPD) are common and costly. We examined the effect of early follow-up visit
      with patient's primary care physician (PCP) or pulmonologist following acute
      hospitalization on the 30-day risk of an emergency department (ER) visit and
      readmission. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of fee-for
      service Medicare beneficiaries with an identifiable PCP who were hospitalized for
      COPD between 1996 and 2006. Three or more visits to a PCP in the year prior to
      the hospitalization established a PCP for a patient. We performed a Cox
      proportional hazard regression with time-dependent covariates to determine the
      risk of 30-day ER visit and readmission in patients with or without a follow-up
      visit to their PCP or pulmonologist. RESULTS: Of the 62 746 patients admitted for
      COPD, 66.9% had a follow-up visit with their PCP or pulmonologist within 30 days
      of discharge. Factors associated with lower likelihood of outpatient follow-up
      visit were longer length of hospital stay, prior hospitalization for COPD, older
      age, black race, lower socioeconomic status, and emergency admission. Those
      receiving care at nonteaching, for-profit, and smaller-sized hospitals were more
      likely to have a follow-up visit. In a multivariate, time-dependent analysis,
      patients who had a follow-up visit had a significantly reduced risk of an ER
      visit (hazard ratio [HR], 0.86; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.83-0.90) and
      readmission (HR, 0.91; 95% CI, 0.87-0.96). CONCLUSION: Continuity with patient's
      PCP or pulmonologist after an acute hospitalization may lower rates of ER visits
      and readmission in patients with COPD.

PMID- 20937927
TI  - A longitudinal examination of continuity of care and avoidable hospitalization:
      evidence from a universal coverage health care system.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Few studies have examined the effect of continuity of care on
      avoidable hospitalization, and the results have been inconclusive. This study
      aimed to examine the effects of continuity of care on avoidable hospitalization
      and hospital admission for any condition in a health care system with a high
      level of access to care. METHODS: We used a longitudinal design to examine claims
      data that captured health care utilization between January 1, 2000, and December
      31, 2006, under a universal coverage health insurance program in Taiwan. In
      total, 30 830 randomly selected subjects with 3 or more physician visits per year
      between 2000 and 2006 were analyzed in 3 age groups. The main outcome was
      avoidable hospitalization and hospital admission for any condition. A random
      intercept logistic regression model was used to control for age, sex, low-income
      status, health status, time effect, and random subject effect. RESULTS: Higher
      continuity of care was significantly associated with lower likelihood of
      avoidable hospitalization in all 3 age groups. Similar associations were found
      for hospital admission for any condition in the 3 age groups. CONCLUSIONS: Better
      continuity of care is associated with fewer avoidable hospitalizations and fewer
      hospital admissions for any condition in a health care system with easy access to
      care. Therefore, improvement of continuity of care is an appropriate path to
      follow in a universal coverage health care system.

PMID- 20937929
TI  - Postmenopausal hormone use and the risk of nephrolithiasis: results from the
      Women's Health Initiative hormone therapy trials.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Observational studies examining the role of estrogen in the risk of
      kidney stone formation have shown conflicting results. However, randomized trial
      evidence on nephrolithiasis risk with estrogen therapy in postmenopausal women is
      lacking. METHODS: We reviewed the incidence of nephrolithiasis in the Women's
      Health Initiative estrogen-alone and estrogen plus progestin trials conducted at
      40 US clinical centers. A total of 10 739 postmenopausal women with hysterectomy
      were randomized to receive 0.625 mg/d of conjugated equine estrogens (CEE) or
      placebo, and 16 608 postmenopausal women without hysterectomy were randomized to
      receive placebo or estrogen plus progestin given as CEE plus medroxyprogesterone
      acetate (2.5 mg/d). The incidence of nephrolithiasis was determined for an
      average follow-up of 7.1 years for the CEE trial and 5.6 years for the estrogen
      plus progestin trial. RESULTS: Baseline demographic characteristics and risk
      factors for nephrolithiasis were similar in the placebo and treatment arms.
      Estrogen therapy was associated with a significant increase in nephrolithiasis
      risk from 34 to 39 cases per 10 000 person-years (hazard ratio, 1.21; 95%
      confidence interval, 1.03-1.44). Censoring data from women when they ceased to
      adhere to study medication increased the hazard ratio to 1.39 (95% confidence
      interval, 1.08-1.78). The increased nephrolithiasis risk was independent of
      progestin coadministration, and effects did not vary significantly according to
      prerandomization history of nephrolithiasis. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that
      estrogen therapy increases the risk of nephrolithiasis in healthy postmenopausal
      women. These findings should be considered in decision making regarding
      postmenopausal estrogen use. The mechanisms underlying this higher susceptibility
      remain to be determined. Trial Registration clinicaltrials.gov Identifier:
      NCT0000611.

PMID- 20937931
TI  - Body size misperception: a novel determinant in the obesity epidemic.

PMID- 20937930
TI  - Somatic symptoms in patients with cancer experiencing pain or depression:
      prevalence, disability, and health care use.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The adverse impact of a high somatic symptom burden is well
      established for primary care and other noncancer populations with chronic medical
      disorders. METHODS: This study examines the impact of somatic symptom burden on
      disability and health care use in patients with cancer experiencing pain,
      depression, or both. We performed secondary analyses of baseline data from 405
      patients with cancer enrolled in a telecare management trial for pain or
      depression. Somatic symptom burden was measured using a 22-item scale.
      Multivariable models were conducted to determine the association of somatic
      symptom burden with the Sheehan Disability Scale (SDS) score, the number of self
      reported disability days in the past 3 months, and health care use. Models were
      adjusted for sociodemographic characteristics, medical comorbidity, and
      depression and pain severity. RESULTS: Somatic symptoms were highly prevalent,
      with 15 of the 22 symptoms reported by more than 50% of patients. The somatic
      symptom burden was similar across different types and phases of cancer. The mean
      SDS score (scored 0-10 [not at all disabled to unable to carry out any
      activities]) was 5.4, and the mean number of self-reported disability days in the
      past 4 weeks was 16.9. In multivariable models, somatic symptom burden was
      associated with SDS score (P < .001) and the likelihood of at least 14 disability
      days in the past 4 weeks (odds ratio, 1.51; 95% confidence interval, 1.19-1.92)
      but not with increased health care use. CONCLUSIONS: The somatic symptom burden
      is high in patients with cancer who experience pain or depression. Given the
      strong association with disability and the high prevalence of many types of
      symptoms, recognizing and managing somatic symptoms may be important in improving
      quality of life and functional status regardless of type or phase of cancer.
      Trial Registration clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT00313573.

PMID- 20937932
TI  - Proton pump inhibitor dose for ulcer bleeding: is less really more?

PMID- 20937933
TI  - High-dose vs non-high-dose PPIs after endoscopic treatment in patients with
      bleeding peptic ulcer: current evidence is insufficient to claim equivalence.

PMID- 20937934
TI  - High-dose PPIs in patients with variceal hemorrhage.

PMID- 20937935
TI  - High or low doses of PPIs for patients with peptic ulcer bleeding?

PMID- 20937936
TI  - Deep brain stimulation for Parkinson disease: an expert consensus and review of
      key issues.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To provide recommendations to patients, physicians, and other health
      care providers on several issues involving deep brain stimulation (DBS) for
      Parkinson disease (PD). DATA SOURCES AND STUDY SELECTION: An international
      consortium of experts organized, reviewed the literature, and attended the
      workshop. Topics were introduced at the workshop, followed by group discussion.
      DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS: A draft of a consensus statement was presented and
      further edited after plenary debate. The final statements were agreed on by all
      members. CONCLUSIONS: (1) Patients with PD without significant active cognitive
      or psychiatric problems who have medically intractable motor fluctuations,
      intractable tremor, or intolerance of medication adverse effects are good
      candidates for DBS. (2) Deep brain stimulation surgery is best performed by an
      experienced neurosurgeon with expertise in stereotactic neurosurgery who is
      working as part of a interprofessional team. (3) Surgical complication rates are
      extremely variable, with infection being the most commonly reported complication
      of DBS. (4) Deep brain stimulation programming is best accomplished by a highly
      trained clinician and can take 3 to 6 months to obtain optimal results. (5) Deep
      brain stimulation improves levodopa-responsive symptoms, dyskinesia, and tremor;
      benefits seem to be long-lasting in many motor domains. (6) Subthalamic nuclei
      DBS may be complicated by increased depression, apathy, impulsivity, worsened
      verbal fluency, and executive dysfunction in a subset of patients. (7) Both
      globus pallidus pars interna and subthalamic nuclei DBS have been shown to be
      effective in addressing the motor symptoms of PD. (8) Ablative therapy is still
      an effective alternative and should be considered in a select group of
      appropriate patients.

PMID- 20937937
TI  - Mass spectrometric-based proteomic analysis of amyloid neuropathy type in nerve
      tissue.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the specific type of amyloid from nerve biopsies using
      laser microdissection (LMD) and mass spectrometric (MS)-based proteomic analysis.
      DESIGN, SETTING, AND PATIENTS: Twenty-one nerve biopsy specimens (17 sural, 3
      sciatic, and 1 root amyloidoma) infiltrated by amyloid were studied.
      Immunohistochemical subtyping was unable to determine the specific amyloid type
      for these 21 cases, but the clinical diagnosis was made based on additional
      testing. Clinical diagnosis was made through evaluation of serum monoclonal
      proteins, biopsy of bone marrow for acquired monoclonal immunoglobulin light
      chain amyloidosis, and kindred evaluations with DNA sequencing of transthyretin
      (TTR) and gelsolin (GSN) genes. Our study included 8 cases of acquired monoclonal
      immunoglobulin light chain amyloidosis, 11 cases of transthyretin amyloidosis (3
      with the Val30Met mutation, 2 with the Val32Ala mutation, 2 with the Thr60Ala
      mutation, 1 with the Ala109Ser mutation, 1 with the Phe64Leu mutation, 1 with the
      Ala97Ser mutation, and 1 not sequenced), and 2 cases of gelsolin amyloidosis (1
      with the Asp187Asn mutation and 1 not sequenced). One patient with transthyretin
      amyloidosis and 1 patient with gelsolin amyloidosis with no specific mutation
      identified were diagnosed based on genetic confirmation in their first-degree
      relative. Congophilic proteins in the tissues of these 21 cases underwent LMD,
      were digested into tryptic peptides, and were analyzed using liquid
      chromatography electrospray tandem MS. Identified proteins were reviewed using
      bioinformatics tools with interpreters blinded to clinical information. MAIN
      OUTCOME MEASURE: Specific amyloid type was ascertained by LMD tandem MS and
      compared with clinical diagnosis. RESULTS: Specific types of amyloid were
      accurately detected by LMD/MS in all cases (8 cases of acquired monoclonal
      immunoglobulin light chain amyloidosis, 2 cases of gelsolin amyloidosis, and 11
      cases of transthyretin amyloidosis). Incidental serum monoclonal proteins did not
      interfere with detection of transthyretin amyloidosis in 2 patients.
      Additionally, specific TTR mutations were identified in 10 cases by LMD/MS. Serum
      amyloid P-component and apolipoprotein E proteins were commonly found among all
      cases. CONCLUSIONS: Proteomic analysis of nerve tissue using LMD/MS distinguishes
      specific types of amyloid independent of clinical information. This new proteomic
      approach will enhance both diagnostic and research efforts in amyloidosis and
      other neurologic diseases.

PMID- 20937938
TI  - Default mode network disruption secondary to a lesion in the anterior thalamus.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To describe the neuroanatomical correlations of an isolated lesion in
      the anterior thalamus using functional imaging in a 40-year-old man with multiple
      sclerosis. DESIGN: Case report with 10 cognitively normal controls. SETTING: Mayo
      Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota. PATIENT: A 40-year-old man with a 2-week course of
      acute-onset amnesia, abulia, poor concentration, hypersomnolence, and
      reclusiveness. INTERVENTION: Functional magnetic resonance imaging. RESULTS:
      Magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated a large gadolinium-enhancing plaque in
      the left anterior thalamus and other demyelinating plaques in the subcortical and
      periventricular white matter, consistent with the diagnosis of multiple
      sclerosis. His symptoms persisted at the 7-month follow-up. The patient's resting
      state functional magnetic resonance image demonstrated an asymmetric disruption
      of the posterior cingulate portion of the default mode network ipsilateral to the
      left thalamic lesion. CONCLUSIONS: A large multiple sclerosis plaque in the deep
      gray matter altered the resting state functional connectivity in a patient
      presenting with pure cognitive dysfunction. Such altered connectivity may
      underlie cognitive symptoms in neurologic disease. In addition, this case
      provides lesional evidence of default mode network circuitry involving the
      pathways of the circuit of Papez.

PMID- 20937939
TI  - Of horse races, trials, meta-analyses, and carotid artery stenosis.

PMID- 20937940
TI  - Immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome in patients with multiple sclerosis
      following cessation of natalizumab therapy.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess clinical consequences of temporary natalizumab dosage
      suspension. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study. SETTING: Multiple sclerosis (MS)
      center at an academic medical center in the United States. PATIENTS: Thirty-two
      patients with MS who had received at least 12 consecutive natalizumab infusions.
      MAIN OUTCOMES MEASURES: Recurrent MS disease activity, defined as a clinically
      documented exacerbation with objective findings and/or the development of 1 or
      more new gadolinium-enhancing lesions on magnetic resonance imaging. RESULTS:
      Thirty-eight percent of patients with relapsing-remitting and secondary
      progressive MS experienced relapses during therapy interruption or shortly after
      restarting natalizumab therapy (9 of 24 and 3 of 8, respectively), but relapses
      were severe with unusually widespread evidence of inflammatory activity on
      magnetic resonance imaging in several patients with secondary progressive MS with
      greater inflammatory disease activity prior to starting natalizumab therapy.
      Imaging and cerebrospinal fluid findings in these cases were suggestive of an
      immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome. Overall, relapses occurred more
      often in younger patients with fewer natalizumab infusions prior to therapy
      interruption. The number of gadolinium-enhancing lesions at the time of relapse
      after therapy interruption was modestly correlated with the number of gadolinium
      enhancing lesions prior to starting natalizumab therapy (r = 0.51; P = .45).
      Prior disease control resumed after reinstitution of natalizumab therapy in all
      patients. CONCLUSIONS: In this cohort of patients with MS who had disease
      refractive to multiple therapeutics before starting natalizumab treatment,
      magnetic resonance imaging and clinical disease activity returned, often
      aggressively, following discontinuation of natalizumab therapy. These findings
      suggest we should consider strategies to minimize the risk of immune
      reconstitution inflammatory syndrome after natalizumab discontinuation.

PMID- 20937941
TI  - Carotid artery stenting vs carotid endarterectomy: meta-analysis and diversity
      adjusted trial sequential analysis of randomized trials.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The role of carotid artery stenting (CAS) when compared with carotid
      endarterectomy (CEA) is controversial, with recent trials showing an increased
      risk of harm with CAS. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the periprocedural and intermediate
      to long-term benefits and harms of CAS compared with CEA. DATA SOURCES AND STUDY
      SELECTION: PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials
      searches for randomized clinical trials until June 2010 of CAS compared with CEA
      for carotid artery disease. Periprocedural (<=30-day) outcomes (death, myocardial
      infarction [MI], or stroke; death or any stroke; any stroke; and MI) and
      intermediate to long-term outcomes (outcomes as in the Stenting and Angioplasty
      With Protection in Patients at High Risk for Endarterectomy [SAPPHIRE] trial:
      composite of periprocedural death, MI, or stroke plus ipsilateral stroke or death
      thereafter; periprocedural death or stroke plus ipsilateral stroke thereafter;
      death or any stroke; and any stroke) were evaluated. DATA EXTRACTION: Two of us
      independently extracted data in duplicate. Baseline characteristics, inclusion
      and exclusion criteria, use of an embolic protection device, US vs non-US study,
      and the earlier-mentioned outcomes of interest were extracted from each trial.
      DATA SYNTHESIS: We identified 13 randomized clinical trials randomizing 7477
      participants. Carotid artery stenting was associated with an increased risk of
      periprocedural outcomes of death, MI, or stroke (odds ratio = 1.31; 95%
      confidence interval, 1.08-1.59), 65% and 67% increases in death or stroke and any
      stroke, respectively, but with 55% and 85% reductions in the risk of MI and
      cranial nerve injury, respectively, when compared with CEA. The trial sequential
      monitoring boundary was crossed by the cumulative z curve, suggesting firm
      evidence for at least a 20% relative risk increase of periprocedural death or
      stroke and any stroke and at least a 15% reduction in MI with CAS compared with
      CEA. Similarly, CAS was associated with 19%, 38%, 24%, and 48% increases in the
      intermediate to long-term outcomes of SAPPHIRE-like outcome, periprocedural death
      or stroke and ipsilateral stroke thereafter, death or any stroke, and any stroke,
      respectively. The trial sequential monitoring boundary was crossed by the
      cumulative z curve, suggesting firm evidence for at least a 20% relative risk
      increase of any stroke. CONCLUSIONS: In this largest and most comprehensive meta
      analysis to date using outcomes that are standard in contemporary studies, CAS
      was associated with an increased risk of both periprocedural and intermediate to
      long-term outcomes, but with a reduction in periprocedural MI and cranial nerve
      injury. Strategies are urgently needed to identify patients who are best served
      by CAS vs CEA.

PMID- 20937942
TI  - Translational research in neurology and neuroscience 2010-2011.

PMID- 20937943
TI  - Insulin resistance a possible causal and treatable risk factor for ischemic
      stroke.

PMID- 20937944
TI  - Beclin 1 complex in autophagy and Alzheimer disease.
AB  - Beclin 1 is a protein involved in the regulation of autophagy and has been shown
      to be reduced in patients with Alzheimer disease. This review summarizes the
      current research data that link disturbances in autophagy, a cellular degradation
      and maintenance pathway, to the development of Alzheimer disease and related
      neurodegenerative diseases. It also provides a brief overview of the existing
      pharmacological interventions available to modulate autophagy activity in
      mammalian cells.

PMID- 20937946
TI  - Insulin resistance and risk of ischemic stroke among nondiabetic individuals from
      the northern Manhattan study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Whether insulin resistance predicts ischemic stroke (IS) is still a
      matter of debate. OBJECTIVE: To determine the association between insulin
      resistance (IR) and risk of first ischemic stroke in a large, multiethnic, stroke
      free cohort without diabetes. DESIGN: Prospective, population-based cohort study.
      SETTING: Longitudinal epidemiologic study. PARTICIPANTS: A cohort of 1509
      nondiabetic participants from the Northern Manhattan Study (mean [SD] age, 11
      [10] years; 64.2% women; 58.9% Hispanics). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Insulin
      sensitivity, expressed by the homeostasis model assessment (HOMA) of insulin
      sensitivity (HOMA index = [fasting insulin * fasting glucose] / 22.5). Insulin
      resistance was defined by a HOMA-IR index in the top quartile (Q4). Cox
      proportional hazards models were used to determine the effect of HOMA-IR on the
      risk of incident IS, myocardial infarction (MI), vascular death, and combined
      outcomes (IS, MI, and vascular death). RESULTS: The mean (SD) HOMA-IR was 2.3
      (2.1), and Q4 was at least 2.8. During mean follow-up of 8.5 years, vascular
      events occurred in 180 participants; 46 had fatal or nonfatal IS, 45 had fatal or
      nonfatal MI, and 121 died of vascular causes. The HOMA-IR Q4 vs less than Q4
      significantly predicted the risk of IS only (adjusted hazard ratio, 2.83; 95%
      confidence interval, 1.34-5.99) but not other vascular events. This effect was
      independent of sex, race/ethnicity, traditional vascular risk factors, and
      metabolic syndrome and its components. CONCLUSIONS: Insulin resistance estimated
      using the HOMA is a marker of increased risk of incident stroke in nondiabetic
      individuals. These findings emphasize the need to better characterize individuals
      at increased risk for IS and the potential role of primary preventive therapies
      targeted at IR.

PMID- 20937947
TI  - Quantification and functional characterization of antibodies to native aquaporin
      4 in neuromyelitis optica.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Antibodies targeting membrane proteins play an important role in
      various autoimmune diseases of the nervous system. So far, assays allowing proper
      analysis of such autoantibodies are largely missing. A serum autoantibody to
      aquaporin 4 (AQP4) is associated with neuromyelitis optica (NMO). Although
      several assays are able to detect this autoantibody, they do not allow
      determination of the biological activity of anti-AQP4 antibodies. OBJECTIVE: To
      develop a bioassay for quantification and characterization of human anti-AQP4
      antibodies. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: We developed a novel bioassay for
      quantification and characterization of human anti-AQP4 antibodies based on high
      level expression of native AQP4 (nAQP4) protein on the surface of human
      astroglioma cells. The test was validated in 2 independent cohorts of patients
      with NMO spectrum disease. RESULTS: We detected anti-nAQP4-IgG with a sensitivity
      of 57.9% and specificity of 100% in patients with NMO spectrum diseases,
      suggesting that our bioassay is at least as sensitive and specific as the gold
      standard NMO-IgG assay. The anti-AQP4 antibodies belonged predominantly to the
      IgG1 isotype and bound with high affinity to the extracellular domain of nAQP4.
      Our data suggest that the autoantibody exerts pathological properties because
      nAQP4-IgG-positive sera induced cell death of nAQP4-expressing cells by antibody
      dependent cellular natural killer cell cytotoxic effect and complement
      activation. Furthermore, nAQP4-IgG titers strongly correlated with in vitro
      cytotoxic effect. CONCLUSIONS: In NMO, this assay may help to unravel the
      biological function of anti-nAQP4-IgG. Our findings demonstrate the potential of
      bioassays to characterize biologically relevant antibodies in human autoimmune
      diseases.

PMID- 20937945
TI  - Safety and immunological effects of mesenchymal stem cell transplantation in
      patients with multiple sclerosis and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the feasibility, safety, and immunological effects of
      intrathecal and intravenous administration of autologous mesenchymal stem cells
      (MSCs) (also called mesenchymal stromal cells) in patients with multiple
      sclerosis (MS) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). DESIGN: A phase 1/2 open
      safety clinical trial. Patients  Fifteen patients with MS (mean [SD] Expanded
      Disability Status Scale [EDSS] score, 6.7 [1.0]) and 19 with ALS (mean [SD]
      Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Functional Rating Scale [ALSFRS] score, 20.8 [8.0])
      were enrolled. Intervention  After culture, a mean (SD) of 63.2 * 10(6) (2.5 *
      10(6)) MSCs was injected intrathecally (n = 34) and intravenously (n = 14). In 9
      cases, MSCs were magnetically labeled with the superparamagnetic iron oxide
      ferumoxides (Feridex). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The main outcome measure was the
      recording of side effects. Follow-up (<=25 months) included adverse events
      evaluation, neurological disability assessment by means of the EDSS, magnetic
      resonance imaging to exclude unexpected pathologies and track the labeled stem
      cells, and immunological tests to assess the short-term immunomodulatory effects
      of MSC transplantation. RESULTS: Twenty-one patients had injection-related
      adverse effects consisting of transient fever, and 15 reported headache. No major
      adverse effects were reported during follow-up. The mean ALSFRS score remained
      stable during the first 6 months of observation, whereas the mean (SD) EDSS score
      improved from 6.7 (1.0) to 5.9 (1.6). Magnetic resonance imaging visualized the
      MSCs in the occipital horns of the ventricles, indicating the possible migration
      of ferumoxides-labeled cells in the meninges, subarachnoid space, and spinal
      cord. Immunological analysis revealed an increase in the proportion of
      CD4(+)CD25(+) regulatory T cells, a decrease in the proliferative responses of
      lymphocytes, and the expression of CD40(+), CD83(+), CD86(+), and HLA-DR on
      myeloid dendritic cells at 24 hours after MSC transplantation. CONCLUSION:
      Transplantation of MSCs in patients with MS and ALS is a clinically feasible and
      relatively safe procedure and induces immediate immunomodulatory effects. Trial
      Registration  clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT00781872.

PMID- 20937948
TI  - ACCESS: acute cerebrovascular care in emergency stroke systems.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Our primary objective was to determine the proportion of the
      population able to achieve acute cerebrovascular care in emergency stroke systems
      (ACCESS) in the United States. In addition, we examined how policy changes,
      including allowing ground ambulances to cross state lines and allowing air
      ambulances to transport patients from the prehospital setting to primary stroke
      centers (PSCs), would affect population access to stroke care. DESIGN: Data were
      obtained via the US Census Bureau, The Joint Commission, and the Atlas and
      Database of Air Medical Services. Driving distances, ambulance driving speeds,
      and prehospital times were estimated using validated models and adjusted for
      population density. Access was determined by summing the population that could
      reach a PSC within the specified time intervals. SETTING/ PARTICIPANTS: US
      population. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Thirty-, 45-, and 60-minute access by ground
      and air ambulance to PSCs. RESULTS: Fewer than 1 in 4 Americans (22.3%) have
      access to a PSC within 30 minutes, less than half (43.2%) have access within 45
      minutes, and just over half (55.4%) have access within 60 minutes. The use of air
      ambulances to deliver patients to PSCs would increase access from 22.3% to 26.0%
      for 30 minutes, 43.2% to 65.5% for 45 minutes, and from 55.4% to 79.3% for 60
      minutes. The combination of prehospital regionalization and air ambulance
      transport of patients with acute stroke would reduce the 135.7 million Americans
      without 60-minute access to a PSC by half, to 62.9 million. CONCLUSIONS: About
      half of the US population has timely access to a PSC. The use of air ambulances
      to triage patients with ischemic stroke to a PSC would increase the percentage of
      the US population with prompt access to stroke care. These data have implications
      for the ongoing design of the US stroke system.

PMID- 20937949
TI  - Watershed infarctions are more prone than other cortical infarcts to cause early
      onset seizures.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Early-onset seizures(ESs) have been reported in 2% to 6% of strokes.
      Most previous studies have been retrospective and did not systematically perform
      cerebral magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence
      and determinants of ESs in a prospective cohort. DESIGN: Prospective cohort
      study. SETTING: Stroke unit in an academic hospital. PATIENTS: Six hundred sixty
      one consecutive individuals admitted to our stroke unit during an 18-month period
      for suspected stroke. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Initial investigations
      systematically included cerebral MRI. Among patients with MRI-confirmed cerebral
      infarction, individuals with ES, defined as occurring within 14 days of stroke,
      were identified. RESULTS: Three hundred twenty-eight patients had MRI-confirmed
      cerebral infarcts and 178 had cortical involvement. The ESs, all initially
      partial seizures, occurred in 14 patients (4.3%) and at stroke onset in 5
      patients. The ESs occurred exclusively in patients with cortical involvement (P
      <.001). With infarcts involving the cerebral cortex, there was a higher risk of
      ESs in watershed infarctions than in territorial strokes (6 of 26 [23.1%] vs 8 of
      152 [5.3%], P = .007). Logistic regression analysis showed an almost 4-fold
      increased risk of ES in patients with watershed infarctions compared with other
      cortical infarcts (odds ratio, 4.7; 95% confidence interval, 1.5- 15.4; P = .01).
      Age, sex, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, smoking, National Institutes of Health
      Stroke Scale score, and cardioembolic origin were not significant risk factors
      for ES. CONCLUSIONS: The cortical hemispheric location of ischemic strokes is
      associated with a higher risk of ES. Among these patients, the watershed
      mechanism is a strong and independent determinant of stroke-related ES.

PMID- 20937950
TI  - Retinopathy and lobar intracerebral hemorrhage: insights into pathogenesis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The vascular pathogenesis underlying lobar intracerebral hemorrhage
      (ICH) is unclear. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether certain retinal microvascular
      signs are associated with lobar ICH to improve understanding of its underlying
      cerebral vasculopathy. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study. SETTING: Royal Melbourne
      Hospital and Westmead Hospital. PATIENTS: Of 655 patients with acute stroke, 25
      had lobar ICH, 51 had deep ICH, 93 had lacunar infarction, and 486 had nonlacunar
      cerebral infarction. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Retinal photographs were assessed for
      retinopathy lesions (microaneurysms, retinal hemorrhages, cotton-wool spots, and
      hard exudates) and retinal arteriolar wall signs (focal arteriolar narrowing,
      arteriovenous nicking, and enhanced arteriolar wall light reflex) masked to the
      cerebral pathologic abnormalities and the study hypothesis. RESULTS: In patients
      without diabetes mellitus, retinopathy lesions were more likely to be present in
      persons with lobar ICH than in those with either lacunar infarction (47.8% vs
      30.4%; adjusted odds ratio, 3.5; 95% confidence interval, 1.1-10.9) or nonlacunar
      cerebral infarction (47.8% vs 24.6%; 3.3;1.4-8.1). Most retinal arteriolar wall
      signs were less frequent in lobar ICH than in deep ICH, although this difference
      was significant only for focal arteriolar narrowing. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with
      lobar ICH were more likely than patients with lacunar or nonlacunar cerebral
      infarction to have retinopathy lesions, suggesting breakdown of the blood-retina
      barrier in patients with lobar ICH. These findings support a distinct
      vasculopathy in lobar ICH compared with other acute stroke subtypes resulting
      from cerebral small vessel disease or ischemic infarction.

PMID- 20937951
TI  - Brain structure and cerebrovascular risk in cognitively impaired patients:
      Shanghai Community Brain Health Initiative-pilot phase.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the associations among brain morphologic changes as
      seen on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), cerebrovascular risk (CVR), and
      clinical diagnosis and cognition in elderly patients with mild cognitive
      impairment and dementia living in urban Shanghai. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study
      performed from May 1, 2007, to November 31, 2008. SETTING: Memory Disorders
      Clinic of the Huashan Hospital and the Shanghai community. PARTICIPANTS: Ninety
      six older people: 32 with normal cognition (NC), 30 with amnestic mild cognitive
      impairment (aMCI), and 34 with dementia. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: For each patient,
      we administered a neurologic and physical examination, neuropsychological
      evaluation, and brain MRI and genotyped the apolipoprotein E-epsilon4 (APOE
      epsilon4) gene. The volumes determined by MRI were assessed using a semiautomatic
      method. RESULTS: Brain volume was significantly smaller in the dementia patients
      compared with the NC (P < .001) and aMCI patients (P = .04). Hippocampal volume
      (HV) was lower and white matter hyperintensity (WMH) volume was higher in those
      with aMCI (HV: P = .03; WMH volume: P = .04) and dementia (HV: P < .001; WMH
      volume: P = .002) compared with NC participants. The presence of APOE-epsilon4
      was significantly associated with reduced HV (P = .02). Systolic blood pressure
      was positively associated with CVR score (P = .04); diastolic blood pressure (P =
      .02) and CVR score (P = .04) were positively associated with WMH volume. The WMH
      volume (P = .03) and CVR score (P = .03) were higher among dementia patients
      compared with NC participants. CONCLUSIONS: Brain structure changes seen on MRI
      were significantly associated with clinical diagnosis. In addition, blood
      pressure was highly associated with CVR score and WMH volume. These results
      suggest that MRI is a valuable measure of brain injury in a Chinese cohort and
      can serve to assess the effects of various degenerative and cerebrovascular
      diseases.

PMID- 20937953
TI  - Association of plastin 3 expression with disease severity in spinal muscular
      atrophy only in postpubertal females.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the potential association of plastin 3 (PLS3)
      expression levels in the blood with disease severity in spinal muscular atrophy
      (SMA). DESIGN: Measurement of PLS3 messenger RNA levels in the blood of patients
      with types I, II, and III SMA. SETTING: Pediatric Neuromuscular Clinical Research
      Network SMA Natural History study. PARTICIPANTS: A cohort of 88 patients of both
      sexes who had SMA. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Levels of PLS3 messenger RNA in
      relation to SMA type and SMN2 copy number. RESULTS: Prepubertal female and
      younger male (<11 years) patients had approximately 2-fold-higher levels of PLS3
      expression than did postpubertal female and older male (>=11 years) patients,
      respectively (P <= .001). Expression of PLS3 in male patients did not correlate
      with SMA clinical type or SMN2 copy number in either age group (P > .10). In
      postpubertal female patients, PLS3 expression was greatest in patients with type
      III SMA, was intermediate in patients with type II SMA, and was lowest in
      patients with type I SMA. Expression of PLS3 correlated with SMA type, SMN2 copy
      number, and the gross motor function measure only in postpubertal female
      patients. CONCLUSION: The PLS3 gene may be an age- and/or puberty-specific and
      sex-specific modifier of SMA.

PMID- 20937952
TI  - Pathological 43-kDa transactivation response DNA-binding protein in older adults
      with and without severe mental illness.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Major psychiatric diseases such as schizophrenia and mood disorders
      have not been linked to a specific pathology, but their clinical features overlap
      with some aspects of the behavioral variant of frontotemporal lobar degeneration.
      Although the significance of pathological 43-kDa (transactivation response) DNA
      binding protein (TDP-43) for frontotemporal lobar degeneration was appreciated
      only recently, the prevalence of TDP-43 pathology in patients with severe mental
      illness vs controls has not been systematically addressed. OBJECTIVE: To examine
      patients with chronic psychiatric diseases, mainly schizophrenia, for evidence of
      neurodegenerative TDP-43 pathology in comparison with controls. DESIGN:
      Prospective longitudinal clinical evaluation and retrospective medical record
      review, immunohistochemical identification of pathological TDP-43 in the central
      nervous system, and genotyping for gene alterations known to cause TDP-43
      proteinopathies including the TDP-43 (TARDBP) and progranulin (GRN) genes.
      SETTING: University health system. PARTICIPANTS: One hundred fifty-one subjects
      including 91 patients with severe mental illness (mainly schizophrenia) and 60
      controls. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Clinical medical record review, neuronal and
      glial TDP-43 pathology, and TARDP and GRN genotyping status. RESULTS: Significant
      TDP-43 pathology in the amygdala/periamygdaloid region or the
      hippocampus/transentorhinal cortex was absent in both groups in subjects younger
      than 65 years but present in elderly subjects (29% [25 of 86] of the psychiatric
      patients and 29% [10 of 34] of control subjects). Twenty-three percent (8 of 35)
      of the positive cases showed significant TDP-43 pathology in extended brain
      scans. There were no evident differences between the 2 groups in the frequency,
      degree, or morphological pattern of TDP-43 pathology. The latter included (1)
      subpial and subependymal, (2) focal, or (3) diffuse lesions in deep brain
      parenchyma and (4) perivascular pathology. A new GRN variant of unknown
      significance (c.620T>C, p.Met207Thr) was found in 1 patient with schizophrenia
      with TDP-43 pathology. No known TARDBP mutations or other variants were found in
      any of the subjects studied herein. CONCLUSIONS: The similar findings of TDP-43
      pathology in elderly patients with severe mental illness and controls suggest
      common age-dependent TDP-43 changes in limbic brain areas that may signify that
      these regions are affected early in the course of a cerebral TDP-43 multisystem
      proteinopathy. Finally, our data provide an age-related baseline for the
      development of whole-brain pathological TDP-43 evolution schemata.

PMID- 20937954
TI  - Mapping of autosomal dominant cerebellar ataxia without the pathogenic PPP2R2B
      mutation to the locus for spinocerebellar ataxia 12.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To map the disease locus and to identify a gene mutation in a
      Japanese family with autosomal dominant cerebellar ataxia. DESIGN: A genome-wide
      linkage analysis was performed using the Affymetrix genome-wide human single
      nucleotide polymorphism array containing 909 622 single-nucleotide polymorphisms.
      Direct nucleotide sequencing of a candidate gene was performed. SETTING: Hokkaido
      University Graduate School of Medicine and Tokyo University Graduate School of
      Medicine. Patients  Four affected and 6 healthy individuals in a family with
      autosomal dominant cerebellar ataxia. RESULTS: One locus on chromosome 5q had a
      multipoint logarithm of odds score of 2.408, the theoretical maximum. This locus
      was flanked by markers rs681591 and rs32582 and includes PPP2R2B (protein
      phosphatase 2, regulatory subunit B, beta isoform), the causative gene of
      autosomal dominant spinocerebellar ataxia 12 (SCA12). However, unlike SCA12, no
      CAG repeat expansions in the promoter region and no nucleotide substitution or
      insertion-deletion mutations in the exons of the PPP2R2B gene were found.
      CONCLUSION: Autosomal dominant cerebellar ataxia mapping to 5q31-q33.1 has no CAG
      repeat expansion or other mutations of the PPP2R2B gene.

PMID- 20937955
TI  - Translational medicine in neurology: the time is right.

PMID- 20937956
TI  - Sample tracking and use in published genome-wide association studies.

PMID- 20937957
TI  - Superficial siderosis of the central nervous system due to bilateral jugular vein
      thrombosis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To describe a novel cause of meningeal siderosis due to intermittent
      subarachnoid bleeding caused by chronic bilateral jugular vein thrombosis.
      DESIGN: Case report and review of literature. PATIENT: A 51-year-old man with a
      distant history of cervical injury who presented with transient aphasia in the
      setting of progressive cognitive decline. INTERVENTION: Neurological examination,
      magnetic resonance imaging, lumbar puncture, and angiogram. RESULTS: The patient
      had intermittent subarachnoid bleeding resulting from extensive venous
      collaterals in the neck and cervical spine due to chronic bilateral jugular vein
      thrombosis. CONCLUSION: Unexplained neurological deterioration and history of
      cervical trauma warrants diagnostic consideration of superficial siderosis and
      jugular vein thrombosis.

PMID- 20937958
TI  - Complete heart block complicating the head impulse test.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Symptoms of acute vestibular syndrome include dizziness, nausea,
      vomiting, and postural instability. The cause may be a peripheral or central
      lesion. Distinguishing between these two causes is critical because the
      treatments differ completely. One bedside test to help make this distinction
      clinically is the head impulse test (HIT), sometimes called the head thrust test.
      OBJECTIVE: To describe a case of complete heart block associated with performance
      of the HIT. DESIGN: Case report. SETTING: Academic medical center. PATIENT: A 52
      year-old woman presented to the emergency department with sudden onset of
      dizziness. INTERVENTION: The HIT. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Use of the HIT to help
      distinguish between a peripheral or central lesion in a patient with dizziness.
      RESULTS: Complete heart block occurred immediately after performance of the HIT.
      CONCLUSIONS: Physicians may perform this test in an office, emergency department,
      or inpatient setting and should be aware that occasionally patients may have a
      severe vagal reaction including complete heart block.

PMID- 20937959
TI  - Cerebral infarcts in the setting of eosinophilia: three cases and a discussion.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To describe 3 cases of stroke associated with hypereosinophilic
      syndrome and discuss the pathogenesis of such strokes. DESIGN: Retrospective
      medical record review. SETTING: University hospital. PARTICIPANTS: Three patients
      who had strokes temporally correlating with eosinophilia with no other obvious
      causes of stroke. INTERVENTION: Retrospective review of the hospital course,
      laboratory data, imaging, treatment, and outcome. RESULTS: All 3 patients had
      multiple strokes in both hemispheres. Two patients with modest eosinophilia that
      was controlled quickly had infarcts mostly in arterial border zones and had good
      outcomes. The third patient with severe and more refractory eosinophilia had a
      poor outcome. CONCLUSIONS: Cardiac emboli and direct eosinophil toxicity
      contribute to strokes in hypereosinophilic syndrome. Prognosis is variable with
      use of anticoagulation and antiplatelet agents but rapid lowering of the
      eosinophil count results in a better outcome.

PMID- 20937960
TI  - Outer contour of middle cerebral artery revealed by sylvian vallecula-parallel
      anatomic scanning-magnetic resonance imaging: a method useful for detecting
      dissection.

PMID- 20937961
TI  - Agenesis of internal carotid artery with unusual fetal collateral circulation.

PMID- 20937962
TI  - Increasing aerobic exercise in the community: the adult playground in Beijing,
      China.

PMID- 20937963
TI  - Lipid profile components and risk of ischemic stroke: a role for the pleiotropic
      effects of statins.

PMID- 20937964
TI  - Dietary patterns and protection against Alzheimer disease and cognitive decline.

PMID- 20937965
TI  - Potential role of iron in a Mediterranean-style diet.

PMID- 20937966
TI  - Novel mechanisms and prevention for sudden unexpected death related to medullary
      brain lesions.

PMID- 20937967
TI  - Adrenal cortex remodeling and functional zona glomerulosa hyperplasia in primary
      aldosteronism.
AB  - Primary aldosteronism is the most common form of secondary hypertension with
      hypokalemia and suppressed renin-angiotensin system caused by autonomous
      aldosterone production. Our aim was to compare zona glomerulosa (ZG) structure
      and function between control adrenals and the peritumoral tissue from patients
      operated on for aldosterone-producing adenoma. ZG morphology and CYP11B1,
      CYP11B2, and disabled 2 expression were studied in 15 control adrenals and 25
      adrenals with aldosterone-producing adenoma. A transcriptome analysis was done
      using publicly available data sets. In control adrenals, ZG was discontinuous,
      and CYP11B2 expression was focal or partly continuous and localized to 3
      structures, foci, megafoci, and aldosterone-producing cell clusters. CYP11B2
      expression was restricted to a limited number of ZG cells expressing Dab2 but not
      CYP11B1; aldosterone-producing cell clusters were composed of cells with an
      intermediate phenotype expressing CYP11B2 but not disabled 2 or CYP11B1. In
      peritumoral tissue, large remodeling of the adrenal cortex was observed with
      increased nodulation and decreased vascularization that were not correlated with
      CYP11B2 expression. In 17 out of 25 adrenals, hyperplasia of adjacent ZG was
      observed with persistent expression of CYP11B2 that was extended to the entire
      ZG. In all of the adrenals from patients with aldosterone-producing adenoma,
      CYP11B2 expression was present in foci, megafoci, and aldosterone-producing cell
      clusters. Transcriptome profiling indicates a close relationship between
      peritumoral and control adrenal cortex. In conclusion, adrenal cortex remodeling,
      reduced vascularization, and ZG hyperplasia are major features of adrenals with
      aldosterone-producing adenoma. Transcriptional phenotyping is not in favor of
      this being an intermediate step toward the formation of aldosterone-producing
      adenoma.

PMID- 20937968
TI  - Morning surge in blood pressure and cardiovascular risk: evidence and
      perspectives.

PMID- 20937970
TI  - Vitamin D and hypertension: current evidence and future directions.

PMID- 20937969
TI  - Macrophage migration inhibitory factor in the paraventricular nucleus plays a
      major role in the sympathoexcitatory response to salt.
AB  - Central hyperosmotic stimulation (HS) evokes increases in sympathetic nerve
      activity mediated by activation of angiotensin type 1 receptors in the
      hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN). Macrophage inhibitory migration
      factor (MIF) is an intracellular inhibitory regulator of angiotensin type 1
      receptor-mediated actions of angiotensin II within neurons of the PVN. MIF
      mediates its actions via its intrinsic thiol-protein oxidoreductase activity. We
      demonstrate that intracerebroventricular injection of hypertonic saline into
      Sprague-Dawley rats elicits a significant (~112%) increase in MIF mRNA expression
      in the PVN. Next, we evaluated the effect of viral-mediated expression of either
      MIF or [C60S]-MIF (which lacks thiol-protein oxidoreductase activity) in the PVN
      on the sympathoexcitation evoked by HS. We used a decorticate, arterially
      perfused in situ preparation of male Wistar rats (60 to 80 g). HS was induced by
      raising perfusate osmolality from 290 to 380 milliosmoles for 40 seconds. Seven
      to 10 days before experiments, rats were injected bilaterally (500 nL per side)
      with 0.9% saline (control) or with adenoassociated virus to express MIF, [C60S]
      MIF, or enhanced green fluorescent protein in the PVN. HS produced
      sympathoexcitation in both the 0.9% saline and enhanced green fluorescent protein
      groups (sympathetic nerve activity increase of +27+/-4% and +25+/-4%,
      respectively; P<0.05), an effect that was not observed in the MIF group (+4+/
      5%). Conversely, the HS-induced increase in sympathetic nerve activity was
      potentiated in the [C60S]-MIF group (+45+/-6%; P<0.05). We propose that MIF
      acting within the PVN is a major counterregulator of HS-induced
      sympathoexcitation, an effect that depends on thiol-protein oxidoreductase
      activity.

PMID- 20937971
TI  - Silent cerebral embolism during catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation: how
      concerned should we be?

PMID- 20937972
TI  - Beyond the P value: The quest for improving health status in patients with
      ischemic heart disease.

PMID- 20937973
TI  - Anterior mitral leaflet curvature during the cardiac cycle in the normal ovine
      heart.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The dynamic changes of anterior mitral leaflet (AML) curvature are of
      primary importance for optimal left ventricular filling and emptying but are
      incompletely characterized. METHODS AND RESULTS: Sixteen radiopaque markers were
      sutured to the AML in 11 sheep, and 4-dimensional marker coordinates were
      acquired with biplane videofluoroscopy. A surface subdivision algorithm was
      applied to compute the curvature across the AML at midsystole and at maximal
      valve opening. Septal-lateral (SL) and commissure-commissure (CC) curvature
      profiles were calculated along the SL AML meridian (M(SL))and CC AML meridian
      (M(CC)), respectively, with positive curvature being concave toward the left
      atrium. At midsystole, the M(SL) was concave near the mitral annulus, turned from
      concave to convex across the belly, and was convex along the free edge. At
      maximal valve opening, the M(SL) was flat near the annulus, turned from slightly
      concave to convex across the belly, and flattened toward the free edge. In
      contrast, the M(CC) was concave near both commissures and convex at the belly at
      midsystole but convex near both commissures and concave at the belly at maximal
      valve opening. CONCLUSIONS: While the SL curvature of the AML along the M(SL) is
      similar across the belly region at midsystole and early diastole, the CC
      curvature of the AML along the M(CC) flips, with the belly being convex to the
      left atrium at midsystole and concave at maximal valve opening. These curvature
      orientations suggest optimal left ventricular inflow and outflow shapes of the
      AML and should be preserved during catheter or surgical interventions.

PMID- 20937974
TI  - Vascular endothelial growth factor-B acts as a coronary growth factor in
      transgenic rats without inducing angiogenesis, vascular leak, or inflammation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Vascular endothelial growth factor-B (VEGF-B) binds to VEGF receptor
      1 and neuropilin-1 and is abundantly expressed in the heart, skeletal muscle, and
      brown fat. The biological function of VEGF-B is incompletely understood. METHODS
      AND RESULTS: Unlike placenta growth factor, which binds to the same receptors,
      adeno-associated viral delivery of VEGF-B to mouse skeletal or heart muscle
      induced very little angiogenesis, vascular permeability, or inflammation. As
      previously reported for the VEGF-B(167) isoform, transgenic mice and rats
      expressing both isoforms of VEGF-B in the myocardium developed cardiac
      hypertrophy yet maintained systolic function. Deletion of the VEGF receptor-1
      tyrosine kinase domain or the arterial endothelial Bmx tyrosine kinase inhibited
      hypertrophy, whereas loss of VEGF-B interaction with neuropilin-1 had no effect.
      Surprisingly, in rats, the heart-specific VEGF-B transgene induced impressive
      growth of the epicardial coronary vessels and their branches, with large arteries
      also seen deep inside the subendocardial myocardium. However, VEGF-B, unlike
      other VEGF family members, did not induce significant capillary angiogenesis,
      increased permeability, or inflammatory cell recruitment. CONCLUSIONS: VEGF-B
      appears to be a coronary growth factor in rats but not in mice. The signals for
      the VEGF-B-induced cardiac hypertrophy are mediated at least in part via the
      endothelium. Because cardiomyocyte damage in myocardial ischemia begins in the
      subendocardial myocardium, the VEGF-B-induced increased arterial supply to this
      area could have therapeutic potential in ischemic heart disease.

PMID- 20937975
TI  - Radiofrequency catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation: a cause of silent
      thromboembolism? Magnetic resonance imaging assessment of cerebral
      thromboembolism in patients undergoing ablation of atrial fibrillation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Radiofrequency left atrial catheter ablation has become a routine
      procedure for treatment of atrial fibrillation. The aim of this study was to
      assess with preprocedural and postprocedural cerebral magnetic resonance imaging
      the thromboembolic risk, either silent or clinically manifest, in the context of
      atrial fibrillation ablation. The secondary end point was the identification of
      clinical or procedural parameters that correlate with cerebral embolism. METHODS
      AND RESULTS: A total of 232 consecutive patients with paroxysmal or persistent
      atrial fibrillation who were candidates for radiofrequency left atrial catheter
      ablation were included in the study. Pulmonary vein isolation or pulmonary vein
      isolation plus linear lesions plus atrial defragmentation with the use of
      irrigated-tip ablation catheters was performed. All of the patients underwent
      preprocedural and postablation cerebral magnetic resonance imaging. A
      periprocedural symptomatic cerebrovascular accident occurred in 1 patient (0.4).
      Postprocedural cerebral magnetic resonance imaging was positive for new embolic
      lesions in 33 patients (14). No clinical parameters such as age, hypertension,
      diabetes mellitus, previous history of stroke, type of atrial fibrillation, and
      preablation antithrombotic treatment showed significant correlation with ischemic
      cerebral embolism. Procedural parameters such as activated clotting time value
      and, in particular, electric or pharmacological cardioversion to sinus rhythm
      correlated with an increased incidence of cerebral embolism. Cardioversion was
      also associated with an increased risk of 2.75 (95 confidence interval, 1.29 to
      5.89; P=0.009). CONCLUSIONS: Radiofrequency left atrial catheter ablation carries
      a low risk of symptomatic cerebral ischemia but is associated with a substantial
      risk of silent cerebral ischemia detected on magnetic resonance imaging.
      Independent risk factors for cerebral thromboembolism are the level of activated
      clotting time and, in particular, the electric or pharmacological cardioversion
      to sinus rhythm during the procedure.

PMID- 20937976
TI  - Multimarker approach for the prediction of heart failure incidence in the
      community.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Several biological pathways are activated in ventricular remodeling
      and in overt heart failure (HF). There are no data, however, on the incremental
      utility of a parsimonious set of biomarkers (reflecting pathways implicated in
      HF) for predicting HF risk in the community. METHODS AND RESULTS: We related a
      multibiomarker panel to the incidence of a first HF event in 2754 Framingham
      Heart Study participants (mean age, 58 years; 54 women) who were free of HF and
      underwent routine assays for 6 biomarkers (C-reactive protein, plasminogen
      activator inhibitor-1, homocysteine, aldosterone-to-renin ratio, B-type
      natriuretic peptide, and urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio). We estimated model
      c statistic, calibration, and net reclassification improvement to assess the
      incremental predictive usefulness of biomarkers. We also related biomarkers to
      the incidence of nonischemic HF in participants without prevalent coronary heart
      disease. On follow-up (mean, 9.4 years), 95 first HF events occurred (54 in men).
      In multivariable-adjusted models, the biomarker panel was significantly related
      to HF risk (P=0.00005). On backward elimination, B-type natriuretic peptide and
      urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio emerged as key biomarkers predicting HF risk;
      hazards ratios per 1-SD increment in log marker were 1.52 (95 confidence
      interval, 1.24 to 1.87) and 1.35 (95 confidence interval, 1.11 to 1.66),
      respectively. B-type natriuretic peptide and urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio
      significantly improved the model c statistic from 0.84 (95 confidence interval,
      0.80 to 0.88) in standard models to 0.86 (95 confidence interval, 0.83 to 0.90),
      enhanced risk reclassification (net reclassification improvement=0.13; P=0.002),
      and were independently associated with nonischemic HF risk. CONCLUSION: Using a
      multimarker strategy, we identified B-type natriuretic peptide and urinary
      albumin-to-creatinine ratio as key risk factors for new-onset HF with incremental
      predictive utility over standard risk factors.

PMID- 20937977
TI  - Lasofoxifene and cardiovascular events in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis:
      Five-year results from the Postmenopausal Evaluation and Risk Reduction with
      Lasofoxifene (PEARL) trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In the Postmenopausal Evaluation and Risk Reduction With Lasofoxifene
      (PEARL) trial, women assigned to lasofoxifene 0.5 mg/d had a lower risk of major
      coronary heart disease (CHD) events and stroke, whereas women assigned to
      lasofoxifene 0.25 mg/d had a lower risk of stroke. Both doses of lasofoxifene
      increased the risk of venous thromboembolic events. In this report, we provide
      comprehensive cardiovascular end-point data, including component events
      comprising the composite end point of major CHD events, and evaluate whether the
      effect of lasofoxifene 0.5 mg/d is consistent across different categories of CHD
      risk. METHODS AND RESULTS: In this study, 8556 women 59 to 80 years of age with
      osteoporosis received lasofoxifene 0.25 mg/d, lasofoxifene 0.5 mg/d, or placebo
      for 5 years. Cardiovascular events, including major CHD events, were prespecified
      secondary end points. Compared with placebo, lasofoxifene 0.5 mg/d reduced the
      risk of major CHD events 32% (hazard ratio, 0.68; 95% confidence interval, 0.50
      to 0.93), including the risk of coronary revascularization (hazard ratio, 0.56,
      95% confidence interval, 0.32 to 0.98). Reductions in risk of hospitalization for
      unstable angina (hazard ratio, 0.55; 95% confidence interval, 0.29 to 1.04) and
      diagnosis of new ischemic heart disease (hazard ratio, 0.52; 95% confidence
      interval, 0.26 to 1.04) nearly reached significance (P=0.06 for both
      comparisons). Although both hazard ratios were <1.0, no significant effect of
      lasofoxifene at 0.5 mg/d was demonstrated for coronary death or nonfatal
      myocardial infarction. The reduction in CHD events with lasofoxifene 0.25 mg/d
      was not significant (hazard ratio, 0.76; 95% confidence interval, 0.56 to 1.03;
      P=0.08). The effectiveness of lasofoxifene 0.5 mg/d in reducing CHD events was
      similar across strata of major cardiovascular risk factors. CONCLUSIONS: In
      postmenopausal women with osteoporosis, lasofoxifene 0.5 mg/d for 5 years reduced
      the risk of CHD events, regardless of the presence or absence of risk factors for
      cardiovascular disease. The significant reduction in risk of CHD events with
      lasofoxifene 0.5 mg/d was due primarily to lower risks of coronary
      revascularization procedures, hospitalization for unstable angina, and diagnosis
      of new ischemic heart disease. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: URL:
      http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT00141323.

PMID- 20937978
TI  - Health status after treatment for coronary artery disease and type 2 diabetes
      mellitus in the Bypass Angioplasty Revascularization Investigation 2 Diabetes
      trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Health status is a key outcome for comparing treatments, particularly
      when mortality does not differ significantly. METHODS AND RESULTS: Bypass
      Angioplasty Revascularization Investigation 2 Diabetes (BARI 2D) randomized 2368
      patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and stable ischemic heart disease to (1)
      prompt revascularization versus medical therapy and (2) insulin sensitization
      versus insulin provision. Randomization was stratified by the intended method of
      revascularization, coronary artery bypass graft surgery or percutaneous coronary
      intervention. The Duke Activity Status Index and RAND Energy, Health Distress,
      and Self-Rated Health scales were assessed at study entry and annually
      thereafter; linear mixed models were used to evaluate the effect of randomized
      treatment on these measures. Health status improved significantly from baseline
      to 1 year (P<0.001) in each randomized treatment group. Compared with medical
      therapy, prompt revascularization was associated with significantly greater
      improvements in Duke Activity Status Index (1.32 points; P<0.001), Energy (1.36
      points; P=0.02), and Self-rated Health (1.77 points; P=0.007) but not Health
      Distress (-0.47; P=0.46). These treatment effects were largely maintained over 4
      years of follow-up. The effect of revascularization on the Duke Activity Status
      Index was significantly larger in the subgroup of patients intended for coronary
      artery bypass graft surgery compared with the subgroup intended for percutaneous
      coronary intervention. Health status did not differ significantly on any of the 4
      measures between the insulin provision and insulin sensitization strategies.
      CONCLUSIONS: Prompt coronary revascularization was associated with small yet
      statistically significant improvements in health status compared with initial
      medical therapy among patients with diabetes mellitus and stable ischemic heart
      disease. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique
      identifier: NCT00006305.

PMID- 20937979
TI  - Electropathological substrate of longstanding persistent atrial fibrillation in
      patients with structural heart disease: epicardial breakthrough.
AB  - BACKGROUND: During persistent atrial fibrillation (AF), waves with a focal spread
      of activation are frequently observed. The origin of these waves and their
      relevance for the persistence of AF are unknown. METHODS AND RESULTS: In 24
      patients with longstanding persistent AF and structural heart disease, high
      density mapping of the right and left atria was performed during cardiac surgery.
      In a reference group of 25 patients, AF was induced by rapid pacing. For data
      analysis, a mapping algorithm was developed that separated the fibrillatory
      process into its individual wavelets and identified waves with a focal origin.
      During persistent AF, the incidence of focal fibrillation waves in the right
      atrium was almost 4-fold higher than during acute AF (median, 0.46 versus 0.12
      per cycle per 1 cm2 (25th to 75th percentile, 0.40 to 0.77 and 0.01 to 0.27;
      P<0.0001). They were widely distributed over both atria and were recorded at 46
      +/- 18 of all electrodes. A large majority (90.5) occurred as single events.
      Repetitive focal activity (>3) happened in only 0.8. The coupling interval was
      not more than 11 ms shorter than the average AF cycle length (P=0.04), and they
      were not preceded by a long interval. Unipolar electrograms at the site of origin
      showed small but clear R waves. These data favor epicardial breakthrough rather
      than a cellular focal mechanism as the underlying mechanism. Often, conduction
      from a site of epicardial breakthrough was blocked in 1 or more directions. This
      generated separate multiple wave fronts propagating in different directions over
      the epicardium. CONCLUSIONS: Focal fibrillation waves are due to epicardial
      breakthrough of waves propagating in deeper layers of the atrial wall. In
      patients with longstanding AF, the frequency of epicardial breakthroughs was 4
      times higher than during acute AF. Because they provide a constant source of
      independent fibrillation waves originating over the entire epicardial surface,
      they offer an adequate explanation for the high persistence of AF in patients
      with structural heart disease.

PMID- 20937981
TI  - Acute heart failure syndromes: emergency department presentation, treatment, and
      disposition: current approaches and future aims: a scientific statement from the
      American Heart Association.

PMID- 20937980
TI  - High-resolution magnetic resonance imaging enhanced with superparamagnetic
      nanoparticles measures macrophage burden in atherosclerosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Macrophages contribute to the progression and acute complications of
      atherosclerosis. Macrophage imaging may serve as a biomarker to identify
      subclinical inflamed lesions, to predict future risk, and to aid in the
      assessment of novel therapies. METHODS AND RESULTS: To test the hypothesis that
      nanoparticle-enhanced, high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can
      measure plaque macrophage accumulation, we used 3-T MRI with a macrophage
      targeted superparamagnetic nanoparticle preparation (monocrystalline iron oxide
      nanoparticles-47 [MION-47]) in cholesterol-fed New Zealand White rabbits 6 months
      after balloon injury. In vivo MRI visualized thickened abdominal aortas on both
      T1- and T2-weighted spin-echo images (T1 spin echo, 20 axial slices per animal;
      T2 spin echo, 28 slices per animal). Seventy-two hours after MION-47 injection,
      aortas exhibited lower T2 signal intensity compared with before contrast imaging
      (signal intensity ratio, aortic wall/muscle: before, 1.44 +/- 0.26 versus after,
      0.95 +/- 0.22; 164 slices; P<0.01), whereas T1 spin echo images showed no
      significant change. MRI on ex vivo specimens provided similar results.
      Histological studies colocalized iron accumulation with immunoreactive
      macrophages in atheromata. The magnitude of signal intensity reduction on T2 spin
      echo in vivo images further correlated with macrophage areas in situ (150 slices;
      r=0.73). Treatment with rosuvastatin for 3 months yielded diminished macrophage
      content (P<0.05) and reversed T2 signal intensity changes (P<0.005). Signal
      changes in rosuvastatin-treated rabbits correlated with reduced macrophage burden
      (r=0.73). In vitro validation studies showed concentration-dependent MION-47
      uptake by human primary macrophages. CONCLUSION: The magnitude of T2 signal
      intensity reduction in high-resolution MRI after administration of
      superparamagnetic phagocytosable nanoparticles can assess macrophage burden in
      atheromata, providing a clinically translatable tool to identify inflamed plaques
      and to monitor therapy-mediated changes in plaque inflammation.

PMID- 20937982
TI  - Serial glycosylated hemoglobin levels and risk of colorectal neoplasia among
      patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hyperglycemia may increase the risk of colorectal neoplasia by
      serving as an energy source for neoplastic growth. We sought to determine whether
      glycemic control measured by serial hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) was associated with
      the risk of colorectal adenoma. METHODS: Among a cohort of patients with type 2
      diabetes mellitus who received health care within the Kaiser Permanente Northern
      California from 1994 to 2005, we conducted 2 case-control analyses. Cases had at
      least 1 colorectal adenoma identified at either colonoscopy (analysis 1) or
      sigmoidoscopy (analysis 2). Controls had no colorectal neoplasia identified at
      the corresponding endoscopic examination. Serial HbA1c levels between the cases
      and the controls were compared using a longitudinal model. RESULTS: Case-control
      analysis 1 included 4,248 patients, of whom 1,296 (31%) had at least 1 adenoma.
      The adjusted mean HbA1c levels among those without any adenomas was 8.20% versus
      8.26% among those with at least 1 adenoma, a difference of 0.06% (95% CI = -0.02
      to 0.14, P = 0.16). Case-control analysis 2 included 9,813 patients, of whom 951
      (10%) had at least 1 distal adenoma. The adjusted mean HbA1c levels among those
      without any distal adenomas was 8.32% versus 8.37% among those with at least 1
      distal adenoma, a difference of 0.05% (95% CI = -00.04 to 0.14, P = 0.25). The
      results were similar for advanced adenomas. CONCLUSIONS: Glycemic control was not
      associated with the risk of colorectal adenoma among diabetic persons. IMPACT:
      These results would suggest that glycemic control is unlikely to confound the
      reported association between diabetes medications and the risk of colorectal
      cancer.

PMID- 20937983
TI  - Cardiology patient page. Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome and accessory pathways.

PMID- 20937984
TI  - Unusual cause of stroke after mitral valve replacement.

PMID- 20937985
TI  - Letter by Dardas and Aaronson regarding article, "Impact of implantable
      cardioverter-defibrillator, amiodarone, and placebo on the mode of death in
      stable patients with heart failure: analysis from the sudden cardiac death in
      heart failure trial".

PMID- 20937987
TI  - Selecting a noninvasive imaging study after an inconclusive exercise test.

PMID- 20937988
TI  - Iatrogenic giant Osborn waves.

PMID- 20937989
TI  - Another confirmation of the inactivity of topotecan in ovarian cancer.

PMID- 20937990
TI  - Re: Overdiagnosis in cancer.

PMID- 20937991
TI  - Improved estimates of cancer-specific survival rates from population-based data.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Accurate estimates of cancer survival are important for assessing
      optimal patient care and prognosis. Evaluation of these estimates via relative
      survival (a ratio of observed and expected survival rates) requires a population
      life table that is matched to the cancer population by age, sex, race and/or
      ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and ideally risk factors for the cancer under
      examination. Because life tables for all subgroups in a study may be unavailable,
      we investigated whether cause-specific survival could be used as an alternative
      for relative survival. METHODS: We used data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology,
      and End Results Program for 2,330,905 cancer patients from January 1, 1992,
      through December 31, 2004. We defined cancer-specific deaths according to the
      following variables: cause of death, only one tumor or the first of multiple
      tumors, site of the original cancer diagnosis, and comorbidities. Estimates of
      relative survival and cause-specific survival that were derived by use of an
      actuarial method were compared. RESULTS: Among breast cancer patients who were
      white, black, or of Asian or Pacific Islander descent and who were older than 65
      years, estimates of 5-year relative survival (107.5%, 106.6%, and 103.0%,
      respectively) were higher than estimates of 5-year cause-specific survival
      (98.6%, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 98.4% to 98.8%; 97.4%, 95% CI = 96.2% to
      98.2%; and 99.2%, 95% CI = 98.4%, 99.6%, respectively). Relative survival methods
      likely underestimated rates for cancers of the oral cavity and pharynx (eg, for
      white cancer patients aged >=65 years, relative survival = 54.2%, 95% CI = 53.1%
      to 55.3%, and cause-specific survival = 60.1%, 95% CI = 59.1% to 60.9%) and the
      lung and bronchus (eg, for black cancer patients aged >=65 years, relative
      survival = 10.5%, 95% CI = 9.9% to 11.2%, and cause-specific survival = 11.9%,
      95% CI = 11.2 % to 12.6%), largely because of mismatches between the population
      with these diseases and the population used to derive the life table.
      Socioeconomic differences between groups with low and high status in relative
      survival estimates appeared to be inflated (eg, corpus and uterus socioeconomic
      status gradient was 13.3% by relative survival methods and 8.8% by cause-specific
      survival methods). CONCLUSION: Although accuracy of the cause of death on a death
      certificate can be problematic for cause-specific survival estimates, cause
      specific survival methods may be an alternative to relative survival methods when
      suitable life tables are not available.

PMID- 20937992
TI  - Advanced ovarian cancer: phase III randomized study of sequential cisplatin
      topotecan and carboplatin-paclitaxel vs carboplatin-paclitaxel.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Topotecan has single-agent activity in recurrent ovarian cancer. It
      was evaluated in a novel combination compared with standard frontline therapy.
      METHODS: Women aged 75 years or younger with newly diagnosed stage IIB or greater
      ovarian cancer, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Performance Status of 1 or
      less, were stratified by type of primary surgery and residual disease, treatment
      center, and age; then randomly assigned to one of the two 21-day intravenous
      regimens. Patients in arm 1 (n = 409) were administered four cycles of cisplatin
      50 mg/m(2) on day 1 and topotecan 0.75 mg/m(2) on days 1-5, then four cycles of
      paclitaxel 175 mg/m(2) over 3 hours on day 1 followed by carboplatin (area under
      the curve = 5) on day 1. Patients in arm 2 (n = 410) were given paclitaxel plus
      carboplatin as in arm 1 for eight cycles. We compared progression-free survival
      (PFS), overall survival, and cancer antigen-125 normalization rates in the two
      treatment arms. A stratified log-rank test was used to assess the primary
      endpoint, PFS. All statistical tests were two-sided. RESULTS: A total of 819
      patients were randomly assigned. At baseline, the median age of the patients was
      57 years (range = 28-78); 81% had received debulking surgery, and of these, 55%
      had less than 1 cm residual disease; 66% of patients were stage III and 388
      (47.4%) patients had measurable disease. After a median follow-up of 43 months,
      650 patients had disease progression or died without documented progression and
      406 had died. Patients in arm 1 had more hematological toxicity and
      hospitalizations than patients in arm 2; PFS was 14.6 months in arm 1 vs 16.2
      months in arm 2 (hazard ratio = 1.10, 95% confidence interval = 0.94 to 1.28, P =
      .25). Among patients with elevated baseline cancer antigen-125, fewer in arm 1
      than in arm 2 had levels return to normal by 3 months after random assignment
      (51.6% vs 63.3%, P = .007) CONCLUSIONS: Topotecan and cisplatin, followed by
      carboplatin and paclitaxel, were more toxic than carboplatin and paclitaxel
      alone, but without improved efficacy. Carboplatin plus paclitaxel remains the
      standard of care for advanced epithelial ovarian cancer.

PMID- 20937993
TI  - Air vs perfluoropropane gas in pneumatic retinopexy: a randomized noninferiority
      trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether air is as effective as perfluoropropane gas in
      treating rhegmatogenous retinal detachment by pneumatic retinopexy. METHODS: In a
      double-blind, randomized, clinically controlled noninferiority trial, eligible
      patients were randomized into 2 treatment groups by using block randomization and
      treated by pneumatic retinopexy using filtered air or perfluoropropane gas. MAIN
      OUTCOME MEASURES: Retinal reattachment rate and final visual recovery. RESULTS:
      One hundred twenty-six patients were recruited. Half (63 patients) were assigned
      to receive filtered air during pneumatic retinopexy and half received
      perfluoropropane gas. The single-procedure reattachment rate was higher for the
      perfluoropropane gas group (73.0%[46 patients]) than for the air group (60.3%
      [38]), but the difference was not statistically significant (risk difference, 
      12.7%; 95% confidence interval, -29.0% to 3.6%). The final reattachment rate
      after additional pneumatic retinopexy and/or surgical procedures was 92.1% (58)
      in the air group and 96.8% (61) in the perfluoropropane gas group. This result
      showed an equivalent effect on the final reattachment rate (risk difference, 
      4.7%; 95% confidence interval, -12.7% to 3.2%). Final visual acuity did not
      differ significantly between groups. CONCLUSION: Pneumatic retinopexy using
      filtered air is associated with a nonsignificantly lower initial reattachment
      rate than using perfluoropropane gas but results in an equivalent final
      reattachment rate and final visual recovery. APPLICATION TO CLINICAL PRACTICE:
      Air is an acceptable alternative to perfluoropropane gas when treating
      rhegmatogenous retinal detachment by pneumatic retinopexy. TRIAL REGISTRATION:
      clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT00120445.

PMID- 20937994
TI  - Frequent loss of nyctohemeral rhythm of intraocular pressure restored by nCPAP
      treatment in patients with severe apnea.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess 24-hour intraocular pressure (IOP) and ocular perfusion
      pressure rhythms in newly diagnosed apneic patients before and after nasal
      continuous positive airway pressure (nCPAP) treatment. METHODS: Intraocular
      pressure (using a Tonopen XL) and ambulatory blood pressure, measured hourly for
      24 hours, were analyzed in 18 consecutive patients with obstructive sleep apnea
      for nyctohemeral rhythmicity (cosinor model). Twelve of 18 patients were
      reassessed after nCPAP use. RESULTS: Before treatment, 28% of the patients with
      obstructive sleep apnea demonstrated a nocturnal acrophase, 22% a diurnal
      acrophase, and 50% absence of 24-hour rhythm of IOP. The ocular perfusion
      pressure rhythm was nocturnal in 78% of cases and absent in 22%. Using nCPAP, the
      mean (standard error of the mean) nocturnal IOP increased from 14.8 (0.8) to 18.3
      (1.2) mm Hg (P < .03). Among patients with initial abnormal IOP rhythm (ie,
      rhythm with diurnal acrophase or absence of rhythm), 67% shifted to a normal 24
      hour IOP profile after treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Normal IOP nyctohemeral rhythm is
      lost in most patients with severe apnea. Nasal continuous positive airway
      pressure use restored a normal 24-hour IOP profile in most cases.

PMID- 20937995
TI  - Vision- and health-related quality of life in patients with Behcet uveitis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate vision- and health-related quality of life in patients
      with Behcet disease. METHODS: Fifty-one consecutive patients with Behcet uveitis
      were enrolled in the study from January 1 through June 30, 2008. The National Eye
      Institute Visual Functioning Questionnaire (NEI-VFQ-25) and the 36-Item Short
      Form Health Survey (SF-36) were administered. Sociodemographic and clinical data
      were also collected. Main outcome measures were comparison of the NEI-VFQ-25 and
      SF-36 subscale item scores among subgroups and multivariate analysis of the NEI
      VFQ-25 and SF-36 subscale item scores. RESULTS: Patients rated the general health
      subscale score of the NEI-VFQ-25 and all subscale item scores of the SF-36 lower
      than the NEI-VFQ-25 subscales related to vision. The NEI-VFQ-25 subscale item
      scores showed significant differences with respect to age, educational level,
      Behcet uveitis activity and severity, and visual acuity in the better and worse
      eyes. The SF-36 subscale item scores revealed significant differences according
      to sex, educational level, and the systemic treatment used. In the best model of
      linear regression, independent variables accounted for 57.0% of the variance in
      the NEI-VFQ-25 subscale item (color vision subscale; adjusted R2 = 0.57, P <
      .001) and for only 23.0% of the variance in the SF-36 subscale item score (role
      limitation owing to emotional problems subscale; adjusted R2 = 0.23, P = .004).
      CONCLUSIONS: General health is more affected than visual functioning in patients
      with Behcet uveitis. Sociodemographic and clinical variables had a significant
      effect on vision- and health-related quality of life. Multivariate analysis of
      the NEI-VFQ-25 and SF-36 subscales revealed that each subscale item score is
      affected by additional factor(s) other than those analyzed here.

PMID- 20937996
TI  - Risks of mortality, myocardial infarction, bleeding, and stroke associated with
      therapies for age-related macular degeneration.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To examine associations between therapies for age-related macular
      degeneration and risks of all-cause mortality, incident myocardial infarction,
      bleeding, and incident stroke. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study
      of 146,942 Medicare beneficiaries 65 years or older with a claim for age-related
      macular degeneration between January 1, 2005, and December 31, 2006. On the basis
      of claims for the initial treatment, we assigned beneficiaries to 1 of 4 groups.
      The active control group included patients who received photodynamic therapy. The
      other groups included patients who received intravitreous pegaptanib octasodium,
      bevacizumab, or ranibizumab. We censored data from patients when they received a
      therapy different from the initial therapy. The main outcome measures were
      associations between photodynamic, pegaptanib, bevacizumab, and ranibizumab
      therapies and the risks of all-cause mortality, incident myocardial infarction,
      bleeding, and incident stroke. RESULTS: After adjustment for baseline
      characteristics and comorbid conditions, we found significant differences in the
      rates of mortality and myocardial infarction by treatment group. Specifically,
      the hazard of mortality was significantly lower with ranibizumab therapy than
      with photodynamic therapy (hazard ratio, 0.85; 99% confidence interval, 0.75
      0.95) or pegaptanib use (0.84; 0.74-0.95), and the hazard of myocardial
      infarction was significantly lower with ranibizumab use than with photodynamic
      therapy (0.73; 0.58-0.92). There were no significant differences in the hazard of
      mortality or myocardial infarction between bevacizumab use and the other
      therapies. We found no statistically significant relationship between treatment
      group and bleeding events or stroke. CONCLUSION: Bevacizumab and ranibizumab use
      was not associated with increased risks of mortality, myocardial infarction,
      bleeding, or stroke compared with photodynamic therapy or pegaptanib use.

PMID- 20937997
TI  - Monocyte chemoattractant protein 1, intercellular adhesion molecule 1, and
      vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 in exudative age-related macular degeneration.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To examine intraocular concentrations of monocyte chemoattractant
      protein 1 (MCP-1), soluble intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (sICAM-1), soluble
      vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 (sVCAM-1), and vascular endothelial growth
      factor (VEGF) in eyes with exudative age-related macular degeneration (AMD).
      METHODS: The investigation included a study group of 28 patients (28 eyes) with
      exudative AMD and a control group of 25 patients (25 eyes) with cataract. The
      concentrations of MCP-1, sICAM-1, sVCAM-1, and VEGF in aqueous humor samples
      obtained during surgery were measured using a solid-phase chemiluminescence
      immunoassay. RESULTS: The study group as compared with the control group had
      higher aqueous concentrations of sICAM-1 (mean [SD], 844 [2073] vs 246 [206]
      pg/mL, respectively; P < .001), sVCAM-1 (mean [SD], 7978 [7120] vs 2999 [1426]
      pg/mL, respectively; P < .001), and MCP-1 (mean [SD], 587 [338] vs 435 [221]
      pg/mL, respectively; P = .07). The concentration of VEGF did not vary
      significantly between the groups (P = .76). The MCP-1 concentration was
      significantly associated with macular thickness (r = 0.40; P = .004). It
      decreased significantly with the type of subfoveal neovascular membrane (classic
      membrane type, occult membrane, retinal pigment epithelium detachment) (P =
      .009). The concentrations of sICAM-1, sVCAM-1, and VEGF were not significantly
      associated with membrane type and macular thickness (P >= .18). CONCLUSIONS:
      Concentrations of MCP-1, sICAM-1, and sVCAM-1 are significantly associated with
      exudative AMD, even in the presence of normal VEGF concentrations. Intraocular
      MCP-1 concentrations are correlated with the subfoveal neovascular membrane type
      and the amount of macular edema. One may infer that MCP-1, sICAM-1, and sVCAM-1
      could potentially be additional target molecules in therapy for exudative AMD.

PMID- 20937998
TI  - Natural history of retinopathy of prematurity in infants born before 27 weeks'
      gestation in Sweden.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the natural history of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP)
      in 506 extremely preterm infants born before 27 weeks' gestation in Sweden during
      a 3-year period. METHODS: A national population-based study was performed in
      Sweden from April 1, 2004, to March 31, 2007. According to the study protocol,
      initial eye examinations were to be performed at postnatal week 5, and
      examinations were repeated until the retina was completely vascularized or until
      criteria for treatment were met. The examinations were to be performed weekly,
      enabling study of the course and severity of ROP. In infants without ROP or with
      mild ROP without progression during the latest examinations, further examinations
      were performed weekly or every other week from postmenstrual age 35 weeks.
      RESULTS: During the study, 368 infants (72.7%) developed ROP. Postmenstrual age
      at onset of ROP was significantly related to severity of ROP, even when
      controlling for gestational age (ie, the earlier the onset of ROP, the higher the
      risk of developing severe ROP). Site of onset of ROP was significantly related to
      gestational age at birth. The risk of nasal onset was almost doubled for every
      week of decrease in gestational age at birth. Nasal onset was associated with
      severe ROP, even after adjusting for gestational age at birth. CONCLUSION: This
      population-based study confirms results of the Cryotherapy for Retinopathy of
      Prematurity study and shows new correlations regarding time and site of onset of
      ROP, both of which are associated with disease severity.

PMID- 20937999
TI  - Hepatitis C virus infection in ocular adnexal lymphomas.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the influence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection on
      disease appearance and outcome of ocular adnexal non-Hodgkin lymphoma (ONHL).
      DESIGN: Retrospective comparative study (from January 1, 1992, through December
      31, 2006). METHODS: The medical records of 129 patients with ONHL were
      retrospectively reviewed. All the patients were tested serologically for the
      presence of HCV infection. Patients were divided into 2 groups according to the
      presence or absence of HCV infection. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Prevalence of HCV
      infection, staging to evaluate the extent of disease at the onset, and clinical
      outcome data on overall and disease-free survival. RESULTS: The prevalence of HCV
      infection among the patients with ONHL was 17.8%. Seropositivity for HCV
      infection was significantly associated with extraorbital lymphoma at the onset (P
      = .006). High prevalence of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue disease (79.8%) was
      registered. Protocol therapy included radiotherapy and chemotherapy, depending on
      the stage of the disease. Complete remission was achieved in 99 patients (76.7%).
      A total of 23.6% of patients with HCV-seronegative status and 21.7% of those with
      HCV-seropositive status experienced relapse of the lymphomatous disease. No
      significant differences in the 5-year overall survival and disease-free survival
      between the 2 groups were observed. CONCLUSIONS: Prevalence of HCV infection in
      patients with ONHL is a relevant issue, accounting for 17.8% of the examined
      patients. Infection with HCV may influence the initial appearance of ONHL because
      it is associated with more widespread disease at the onset. However, the overall
      and disease-free survival of the infected patients are not statistically
      different than that of patients who are not infected.

PMID- 20938000
TI  - Biological and ultrastructural properties of acelagraft, a freeze-dried gamma
      irradiated human amniotic membrane.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To compare the biological and ultrastructural properties of a
      commercially available decellularized and dehydrated human amniotic membrane
      (DDHAM) product with cryopreserved human amniotic membrane (CHAM) and to
      demonstrate the feasibility of DDHAM transplant in a case of chronic ocular
      surface disease. METHODS: Histologic examination, immunohistochemical examination
      for extracellular matrix molecules and growth factors, transmission and scanning
      electron microscopy, and atomic force microscopy were performed on both DDHAM and
      CHAM specimens. A DDHAM transplant was performed in a patient with chronic
      bullous keratopathy and ocular surface instability. RESULTS: Histologic
      examination and transmission electron microscopy revealed the disruption of the
      trilaminar structure of the basement membrane compared with CHAM, and
      immunohistochemical examination confirmed the loss of collagen IV and VII,
      laminin, and fibronectin in DDHAM. Lower levels of several growth factors were
      also seen in DDHAM compared with CHAM. Clinical transplant of DDHAM was, however,
      successful, with rapid reepithelialization. CONCLUSION: Significant differences
      in composition and ultrastructure exist between DDHAM and CHAM but do not appear
      to compromise cell survival in vivo. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: The ease of storage and
      handling of DDHAM make it potentially valuable in ocular surface surgery, but its
      biological properties have not been well characterized, and there are also few
      data on its clinical application.

PMID- 20938001
TI  - Circulating stem cell populations in preterm infants: implications for the
      development of retinopathy of prematurity.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association among different circulating stem cell
      (SC) populations, the levels of selected growth factors and chemokines regulating
      SC migration in the peripheral blood, and the incidence of retinopathy of
      prematurity (ROP). METHODS: We evaluated 88 participants in this study: 29
      preterm infants with ROP, 29 preterm infants without ROP, and 30 healthy full
      term infants. Peripheral blood samples collected 10 weeks after delivery were
      analyzed using flow cytometry, immunofluorescence, real-time reverse
      transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
      The following cell populations were analyzed: (1) lin-CXCR4(+)CD45- (enriched in
      very small embryonic-like SCs), (2) lin-CXCR4(+)CD45(+) (enriched in
      hematopoietic SCs), and (3) CD34(+)CD133(+)CD144(+) (early endothelial progenitor
      cells) [lin indicates lineage]. The concentrations of vascular endothelial growth
      factor, basic fibroblast growth factor, hepatocyte growth factor, and stromal
      cell-derived factor 1 were measured in the plasma. RESULTS: The very small
      embryonic-like SCs and early endothelial progenitor cells expressing neural and
      endothelial markers were significantly increased in the preterm infants. The
      number of early endothelial progenitor cells in the peripheral blood was
      significantly greater in the preterm infants with ROP than in the preterm infants
      without ROP. An accompanying increase in the concentrations of vascular
      endothelial growth factor and hepatocyte growth factor was found in the
      peripheral blood of the preterm infants with ROP. No significant associations
      were found between hematopoietic SCs and ROP or prematurity. CONCLUSIONS: The
      increased number of early endothelial progenitor cells along with elevated levels
      of vascular endothelial growth factor and hepatocyte growth factor in preterm
      infants with ROP suggest that circulating vasculogenic factors may play a role in
      the development and progression of ROP. The increased number of very small
      embryonic-like SCs in preterm infants suggests that the development of immature
      tissues and organs, including the retina, may require a contribution of
      circulating SCs.

PMID- 20938002
TI  - Diagnostic performance of anterior chamber angle measurements for detecting eyes
      with narrow angles: an anterior segment OCT study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the diagnostic performance of angle measurements from
      anterior segment optical coherence tomography (AS-OCT) images for identifying
      eyes with narrow angles. METHODS: We conducted a community-based cross-sectional
      study of individuals 50 years or older who had phakic eyes and who underwent AS
      OCT imaging in the dark by a single operator and gonioscopy by an ophthalmologist
      masked to AS-OCT findings. An eye was considered to have narrow angles if the
      posterior pigmented trabecular meshwork was not visible for at least 180 degrees 
      on gonioscopy. Horizontal AS-OCT images were analyzed for the following
      measurements using customized software: angle opening distance (AOD) at 250, 500,
      and 750 MUm from the scleral spur; trabecular-iris space area (TISA) at 500 and
      750 MUm; and angle recess area (ARA) at 750 MUm. Areas under the receiver
      operating characteristic curves (AUCs) were generated for AOD, TISA, and ARA to
      assess the performance of these measurements in detecting eyes with narrow
      angles. RESULTS: Of 2047 individuals examined, 582 were excluded mostly because
      of poor image quality or inability to locate the scleral spur. Of the remaining
      1465 participants, 315 (21.5%) had narrow angles on gonioscopy. Mean (SD) age was
      62.7 (7.7) years, 54.1% were women, and 90.0% were Chinese. The AUCs were highest
      for AOD750 in the nasal (0.90 [95% confidence interval, 0.89-0.92]) and temporal
      (0.91 [0.90-0.93]) quadrants. CONCLUSIONS: The AOD750 is the most useful angle
      measurement for identifying individuals with gonioscopic narrow angles in
      gradable AS-OCT images. Poor definition of the scleral spur precludes
      quantitative analysis in approximately 25% of AS-OCT images.

PMID- 20938003
TI  - Predictors of early acceptance of free spectacles provided to junior high school
      students in China.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To examine factors influencing adherence to spectacle wear and
      perceived value within a prospective 1-month trial of ready-made and custom
      spectacles in school-aged children with uncorrected refractive error in urban
      China. METHODS: A total of 428 students aged 12 to 15 years with at least 1
      diopter of uncorrected refractive error were given free spectacles and evaluated
      1 month later at an unannounced visit. Demographic factors, vision, optical
      effects, and perceptions were modeled as predictors of observed use and perceived
      value using logistic regression adjusted for spectacle allocation. RESULTS: Of
      415 students, 388 (93.5%) planned to use their spectacles, 227 (54.7%) valued
      their spectacles highly, 204 (49.2%) had their spectacles on hand, and 13 (3.0%)
      were lost to follow-up. Female students were 1.72 times (95% confidence interval
      [CI], 1.10-2.68), students from lower income households were 1.78 times (1.32
      2.39), and those not concerned over appearance were 2.04 times (1.25-3.36) more
      likely to have spectacles on hand. Students with a pupil size of 4 mm or greater
      were 2.55 times (95% CI, 1.61-4.03) and students with spectacle vision worse than
      20/20 were 2.06 times (1.20-3.49) more likely to have spectacles on hand. Self
      report of high perceived value was 2.23 times (95% CI, 1.30-3.80) more likely
      with 20/20 spectacle vision, 1.63 times (1.06-2.52) more likely with base-in
      prismatic effects of 0.5 prism diopters or more, 3.52 times (2.03-6.13) more
      likely when students would not tolerate blur to avoid wearing spectacles, and
      2.16 times (1.24-3.76) more likely with disbelief that spectacles would make
      vision worse. Spectacle type had no effect. CONCLUSIONS: Although most students
      planned to use their spectacles, only half were observed using them. Day-to-day
      use might increase if students were less concerned over appearance. Optical
      factors and beliefs surrounding spectacles are also predictive of acceptance.
      These findings provide further understanding of spectacle acceptance in
      teenagers.

PMID- 20938004
TI  - Use of retinal procedures in medicare beneficiaries from 1997 to 2007.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To observe how the treatment of retinal conditions changed over the
      preceding decade. METHODS: Medicare fee-for-service data claims filed between
      1997 and 2007 were analyzed. RESULTS: Fewer than 5000 intravitreal injections of
      a pharmacological agent were performed annually between 1997 and 2001.
      Thereafter, the annual number of intravitreal injections more than doubled every
      year through 2006, reaching a high of 812,413 in 2007. Photodynamic therapy
      procedures decreased 83% from a peak of 133,565 procedures in 2004 to 22,675
      procedures in 2007, while laser treatment of choroidal lesions or
      neovascularization decreased 83% from a peak of 82,089 in 1999 to a minimum of
      13,821 in 2007. Vitrectomies for primary retinal detachment (with or without
      scleral buckling) increased 72% over the study period from 11,212 in 1997 to
      19,923 in 2007, while scleral buckles performed without vitrectomy decreased 69%
      from 8691 to 2660. Substantial volume increases were also observed for vitrectomy
      with retinal membrane stripping (90% increase from 29,426 in 1997 to 56,051 in
      2007) or endolaser panretinal photocoagulation (86% increase from 10,319 in 1997
      to 19,154 in 2007). Volumes of pneumatic retinopexy, laser prophylaxis for
      retinal detachment, laser treatment for retinal edema, and laser treatment for
      retinopathy all changed less than 25% from 1997 and 2007. CONCLUSIONS: Marked
      changes in the use of several retinal procedures occurred between 1997 and 2007,
      particularly in the treatment of macular degeneration and retinal detachment.
      These changes point to greater acceptance and incorporation of vitrectomy and
      intravitreal injection as treatment modalities.

PMID- 20938005
TI  - Novel frizzled-4 gene mutations in chinese patients with familial exudative
      vitreoretinopathy.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To search for mutations in the Frizzled-4 gene (FZD4) in Chinese
      patients with familial exudative vitreoretinopathy (FEVR) and to delineate the
      mutation-associated clinical features. METHODS: Forty-eight Chinese patients with
      FEVR and 100 unrelated control subjects were recruited and had complete
      ophthalmic examinations performed. The coding regions of FZD4 were screened for
      mutations by polymerase chain reaction and direct sequencing. Multiple sequence
      alignment was conducted to evaluate the conservation of residues among different
      FZD4 homologs and the human Frizzled family. Genotype-phenotype correlations were
      also analyzed. RESULTS: Twelve putative disease-causing mutations were identified
      in total, 9 of which were novel: 1 deletion (P14fsX57), 1 nonsense mutation
      (S491X), and 7 missense mutations (G22E, E180K, T237R, R253C, F328S, A339T, and
      D470N). Three reported FZD4 mutations were also detected: H69Y, M105V, and W496X.
      Remarkably, 2 patients who harbored compound heterozygous mutations (H69Y with
      E180K or W496X) had a more severe ocular phenotype than carriers of a single H69Y
      mutation. CONCLUSIONS: FZD4 mutations were responsible for FEVR in 15 of 48
      Chinese patients (31.3%) in this study, similar to other ethnic groups. This
      study supports the highly polymorphic nature of FZD4 with a differential mutation
      profile in the Chinese population. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: The profile of the
      mutations obtained in FZD4 further illustrates the complexity of FEVR and
      provides a better understanding of the genotype-phenotype correlations.

PMID- 20938006
TI  - Medicare coverage for vision assistive equipment.
AB  - Vision loss that cannot be corrected medically, surgically, or by refractive
      means is considered low vision. Low vision often results in impairment of daily
      activities, loss of independence, increased risk of fractures, excess health care
      expense, and reduced physical functioning, quality of life, and life expectancy.
      Vision rehabilitation can enable more independent functioning for individuals
      with low vision. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services recognizes the
      importance of rehabilitation for achieving medically necessary goals but has
      denied Medicare coverage for vision assistive equipment that is necessary to
      complete these goals, although they provide coverage for assistive equipment to
      provide compensation for other disabilities. We believe that this is
      discriminatory and does not comport with congressional intent. The Centers for
      Medicare and Medicaid Services should provide coverage for vision assistive
      equipment, allowing beneficiaries with vision loss to benefit fully from Medicare
      covered rehabilitation to achieve the cost-effective results of these services.

PMID- 20938007
TI  - Current challenges of ophthalmology in France.

PMID- 20938009
TI  - Familial congenital grouped albinotic retinal pigment epithelial spots.

PMID- 20938008
TI  - Aquarium coral keratoconjunctivitis.

PMID- 20938010
TI  - Immune choroiditis following contralateral acute retinal necrosis.

PMID- 20938011
TI  - Rapid response of refractory ocular surface dysplasia to combination treatment
      with topical all-trans retinoic acid and interferon alfa-2b.

PMID- 20938012
TI  - Prostaglandin E receptor 4 expression in human conjunctival epithelium and its
      downregulation in devastating ocular surface inflammatory disorders.

PMID- 20938013
TI  - Subconjunctival mycetoma as an unusual cause of tears with black deposits.

PMID- 20938014
TI  - Inadvertent vitreous staining with trypan blue in pseudoexfoliation syndrome.

PMID- 20938015
TI  - Imaging the macula through a black occlusive intraocular lens.

PMID- 20938016
TI  - Blue sclera with and without corneal fragility (brittle cornea syndrome) in a
      consanguineous family harboring ZNF469 mutation (p.E1392X).

PMID- 20938017
TI  - Histological evidence of tissue reaction to gold weights used for mechanical
      ptosis.

PMID- 20938018
TI  - Refractive surgery in the pediatric population.

PMID- 20938019
TI  - In memoriam: Arthur L. Rosenbaum, MD (1940-2010).

PMID- 20938020
TI  - In utero diagnosis of Norrie disease and early laser preserves visual acuity.

PMID- 20938022
TI  - Child neurology: past, present, and future: part 3: the future.
AB  - This is the last of a 3-part series exploring the past, present, and future of
      the field of child neurology. This article addresses the 2 fundamental challenges
      facing child neurology. The most important challenge is our inadequate workforce;
      based on current numbers, recruitment patterns, and projected retirement, the
      child neurology clinical and research workforce shortage will likely worsen. The
      second challenge involves adapting our training to prepare child neurologists for
      changes ahead. We propose that these 2 issues are related, and that solutions
      need to include consideration of career options in research, education, and
      patient care.

PMID- 20938023
TI  - Teaching NeuroImages: vanishing calvarium in Gorham disease.

PMID- 20938024
TI  - Infertility in women with epilepsy: what's the risk and why?

PMID- 20938025
TI  - Incidence of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy in patients without HIV.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To estimate the incidence rate (IR) of progressive multifocal
      leukoencephalopathy (PML) in patients without HIV. METHODS: Within a large US
      health insurer database between January 2000 and June 2008, we conducted a
      retrospective observational study. We identified people with autoimmune diseases,
      chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), or history of
      bone marrow or solid organ transplantation, and a general population cohort. We
      developed a PML case-finding algorithm and validated PML diagnoses in medical
      charts. RESULTS: There were 138,469 patients with autoimmune diseases, 25,706
      with NHL or CLL, and 8,778 with transplants. Among 699 people who met screening
      criteria for potential PML, 89 had a claim diagnosis of PML (International
      Classification of Diseases-9 046.3). Medical records were sought for 24 patients
      without HIV, and 6 had confirmed PML upon review of medical records. The PML IR
      was 2.4 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.06-13.18) in the systemic lupus
      erythematosus cohort and 10.8 (95% CI 0.27-60.39) in the autoimmune vasculitis
      cohort per 100,000 person-years. In the NHL and CLL cohorts, the IR was 8.3 (95%
      CI 1.71-24.24) and 11.1 (0.28-61.74) per 100,000 person-years. The IR among
      patients with bone marrow transplantation was 35.4 per 100,000 person-years (95%
      CI 0.90-197.29). There were no cases of PML among patients with rheumatoid
      arthritis (95% CI 0.0-2.24), multiple sclerosis (95% CI 0.0-5.24), Sjogren
      disease (95% CI 0.0-21.84), or solid organ transplantation (95% CI 0.0-26.81).
      CONCLUSIONS: In this large population-based investigation of PML with thorough
      case finding and a known source population, the IR of medical record-confirmed
      PML was rare in non-HIV patient cohorts.

PMID- 20938026
TI  - Polytherapy increases the risk of infertility in women with epilepsy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Reproductive capability is an important concern for women with
      epilepsy (WWE). We aimed to ascertain the magnitude of infertility in a cohort of
      WWE who were anticipating pregnancy. METHODS: A prospective cohort of WWE
      enrolled in the Kerala Registry of Epilepsy and Pregnancy (1998-2007) in the
      preconception stage. The endpoint was occurrence of pregnancy. They were divided
      into those who remained infertile (IG group) and those who had become pregnant
      during the follow-up period (FG). RESULTS: Out of 375 women followed up for 1-10
      years, 231 had pregnancy and 144 remained infertile (38.4%). Pregnancy occurred
      within 2 years of follow-up for most patients in the FG group. The IG group had
      higher mean age, lower education, and longer follow-up when compared to the FG
      group. Infertility was least (7.1%) for those with no antiepileptic drug (AED)
      exposure and higher (p = 0.001) with AED exposure (31.8% with 1 AED, 40.7% with 2
      AED, and 60.3% with 3 or more AED exposure). Those exposed to phenobarbital had
      significant risk of infertility, but no such trend was observed with valproate or
      other drugs. On multiple logistic regression, use of 3 AEDs or more (odds ratio
      [OR] 17.9; 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.14-149.48), older age (OR 1.32; 95% CI
      0.84-2.09), and low education (OR 2.91; 95% CI 1.82-4.65) remained as the
      important predictors of infertility. CONCLUSION: More than a third (38.4%) of WWE
      had infertility. The important predictors of infertility were exposure to
      multiple AEDs, older age, and lower education.

PMID- 20938027
TI  - Phenotypic spectrum of patients with PLA2G6 mutation and PARK14-linked
      parkinsonism.
AB  - BACKGROUND: PLA2G6 is the causative gene for infantile neuroaxonal dystrophy,
      neurodegeneration associated with brain iron accumulation, and Karak syndrome.
      Based on previous reports, patients with PLA2G6 mutations could show axonal
      dystrophy, dystonia, dementia, and cerebellar signs. Recently, PLA2G6 was also
      reported as the causative gene for early-onset PARK14-linked dystonia
      parkinsonism. METHODS: To clarify the role of PLA2G6 mutation in parkinsonism, we
      conducted mutation analysis in 29 selected patients with very early-onset (<= 30,
      mean 21.2 +/- 8.4 years, +/- SD) parkinsonism. These patients had other clinical
      features (e.g., mental retardation/dementia [14/29], psychosis [15/29], dystonia
      [11/29], and hyperreflexia [11/29]). RESULTS: Two novel compound heterozygous
      PLA2G6 mutations were detected (patient A: p.F72L/p.R635Q; patients B1 and B2:
      p.Q452X/p.R635Q). All 3 patients had early-onset l-dopa-responsive parkinsonism
      with dementia and frontotemporal lobar atrophy. Disease progression was
      relatively rapid. SPECT in patient B1 showed frontotemporal lobar hypoperfusion.
      MRI in patient A showed iron accumulation in the substantia nigra and striatum.
      CONCLUSIONS: Although the clinical presentation of PLA2G6-associated
      neurodegeneration was reported to be homogeneous, our findings suggest patients
      with PLA2G6 mutation could show heterogeneous phenotype such as dystonia
      parkinsonism, dementia, frontotemporal atrophy/hypoperfusion, with or without
      brain iron accumulation. Based on the clinical heterogeneity, the functional
      roles of PLA2G6 and the roles of PLA2G6 variants including single heterozygous
      mutations should be further elucidated in patients with atypical parkinsonism,
      dementia, or Parkinson disease. PLA2G6 mutations should be considered in patients
      with early-onset l-dopa-responsive parkinsonism and dementia with frontotemporal
      lobar atrophy.

PMID- 20938028
TI  - Epidemiology of Parkinson disease in the city of Kolkata, India: a community
      based study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: No well-designed longitudinal study on Parkinson disease (PD) has been
      conducted in India. Therefore, we planned to determine the prevalence, incidence,
      and mortality rates of PD in the city of Kolkata, India, on a stratified random
      sample through a door-to-door survey. METHOD: This study was undertaken between
      2003 to 2007 with a validated questionnaire by a team consisting of 4 trained
      field workers in 3 stages. Field workers screened the cases, later confirmed by a
      specialist doctor. In the third stage, a movement disorders specialist undertook
      home visits and reviewed all surviving cases after 1 year from last screening.
      Information on death was collected through verbal autopsy. A nested case-control
      study (1:3) was also undertaken to determine putative risk factors. The rates
      were age adjusted to the World Standard Population. RESULT: A total population of
      100,802 was screened. The age-adjusted prevalence rate (PR) and average annual
      incidence rate were 52.85/100,000 and 5.71/100,000 per year, respectively. The
      slum population showed significantly decreased PR with age compared with the
      nonslum population. The adjusted average annual mortality rate was 2.89/100,000
      per year. The relative risk of death was 8.98. The case-control study showed that
      tobacco chewing protected and hypertension increased PD occurrence. CONCLUSION:
      This study documented lower prevalence and incidence of PD as compared with
      Caucasian and a few Oriental populations. The mortality rates were comparable.
      The decreased age-specific PR among slum populations and higher relative risk of
      death need further probing.

PMID- 20938029
TI  - Motor and mental dysfunction in mother-daughter transmitted FXTAS.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Fragile X-associated tremor/ataxia syndrome (FXTAS) is a late-onset
      neuropsychiatric degenerative disorder that occurs predominantly in male FMR1
      premutation carriers. Recently, a broader FXTAS spectrum that, besides the core
      features of tremor and gait ataxia, also includes neuropsychiatric symptoms and
      neuropathy as further clinically relevant symptoms has been described among
      females. Herein 2 fragile X syndrome families with a mother-daughter FXTAS
      transmission are described in detail in order to shed more light on the female
      FXTAS phenotype. METHODS: Molecular characterization included CGG repeat length,
      X-chromosome inactivation pattern determination, as well as FMR1 mRNA and FMRP
      levels quantification. Neuroradiologic examination was performed by 3-T MRI.
      Neuropsychological assessment included global cognitive, attention, and executive
      prefrontal functions, verbal fluencies, verbal memory, and visuospatial
      perception. RESULTS: Molecular, neurologic, neuropsychiatric, psychological,
      cognitive, and neuroradiologic features description of 2 fragile X syndrome
      families with a mother-daughter FXTAS transmission in which dementia is present
      in both mothers. CONCLUSIONS: Although it is not yet clear to what extent FXTAS
      shortens lifespan, our findings show that FXTAS progresses from mild tremor
      and/or ataxia to disabling motor and cognitive impairment, compromising the
      patients' quality of life. Furthermore, our results show that FXTAS in women can
      also develop as a multisystem neurodegenerative disorder with central and
      peripheral nervous system involvement, and both motor and mental disturbances.

PMID- 20938030
TI  - Long-term therapy with high doses of subcutaneous immunoglobulin in multifocal
      motor neuropathy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In multifocal motor neuropathy (MMN), high dose of IV immunoglobulin
      (IVIg) is the only established treatment. Subcutaneous self-infusion with
      immunoglobulin G (IgG) (SCIG) increases patient autonomy and treatment
      flexibility, and might be associated with fewer side effects due to lower peak
      IgG levels. In a recent study of 9 patients with MMN, we reported that SCIG
      preserves muscle strength for a few months of treatment. Five patients preferred
      to continue SCIG after the trial and another patient chose to apply SCIG.
      METHODS: In this case series study of 6 IVIg-responsive patients with MMN on long
      term SCIG maintenance therapy, a dose equivalent to their previous IVIg regimen
      was given for 2 years. Patients were evaluated before and after 3, 6, 9, 18, and
      24 months of initiation of treatment using isokinetic strength examination of
      affected muscle groups, scores of neuropathy impairment and disability, and
      recording of side effects. The dosage of SCIG varied between 13 and 51 g per
      week, corresponding to a volume of 80 to 320 mL infused twice or thrice weekly.
      RESULTS: No major side events were reported, local skin reactions being mild and
      transient. The impairment and disability scores remained unchanged. Isokinetic
      muscle strength was stable with a median (range) 3.7% (-8.8 to 14.5) increase at
      follow-up. CONCLUSION: Our study shows that long-term SCIG therapy is an
      alternative approach to IVIg that is desirable for some patients. CLASSIFICATION
      OF EVIDENCE: This 2-year follow-up study provides Class IV evidence of
      tolerability and safety in a small (n = 6) case series of patients with MMN
      preferring SCIG to IVIg.

PMID- 20938032
TI  - IgG4-related sclerosing pachymeningitis causing spinal cord compression.

PMID- 20938031
TI  - Hippocampal CA1 apical neuropil atrophy in mild Alzheimer disease visualized with
      7-T MRI.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: In Alzheimer disease (AD), mounting evidence points to a greater role
      for synaptic loss than neuronal loss. Supporting this notion, multiple postmortem
      studies have demonstrated that the hippocampal CA1 apical neuropil is one of the
      earliest sites of pathology, exhibiting tau aggregates and then atrophy before
      there is substantial loss of the CA1 pyramidal neurons themselves. In this cross
      sectional study, we tested whether tissue loss in the CA1 apical neuropil layer
      can be observed in vivo in patients with mild AD. METHODS: We performed ultra
      high-field 7-T MRI on subjects with mild AD (n = 14) and age-matched normal
      controls (n = 16). With a 2-dimensional T2*-weighted gradient-recalled echo
      sequence that was easily tolerated by subjects, we obtained cross-sectional
      slices of the hippocampus at an in-plane resolution of 195 MUm. RESULTS: On
      images revealing the anatomic landmarks of hippocampal subfields and strata, we
      observed thinning of the CA1 apical neuropil in subjects with mild AD compared to
      controls. By contrast, the 2 groups exhibited no difference in the thickness of
      the CA1 cell body layer or of the entire CA1 subfield. Hippocampal volume,
      measured on a conventional T1-weighted sequence obtained at 3T, also did not
      differentiate these patients with mild AD from controls. CONCLUSIONS: CA1 apical
      neuropil atrophy is apparent in patients with mild AD. With its superior spatial
      resolution, 7-T MRI permits in vivo analysis of a very focal, early site of AD
      pathology.

PMID- 20938033
TI  - A case of definite IgG4-related pachymeningitis.

PMID- 20938034
TI  - Dominant perivenular enhancement of tumefactive demyelinating lesions in multiple
      sclerosis.

PMID- 20938035
TI  - Assessment: symptomatic treatment for muscle cramps (an evidence-based review):
      report of the Therapeutics and Technology Assessment Subcommittee of the American
      Academy of Neurology.

PMID- 20938037
TI  - Review article: combination of clopidogrel and proton pump inhibitors:
      implications for clinicians.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: to evaluate the existing literature on a proposed interaction between
      clopidogrel and proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) and discuss its implications for
      clinicians treating patients with this combination therapy. BACKGROUND: each year
      millions of patients receive antiplatelet therapy. A number of these patients are
      prescribed PPIs concomitantly to reduce the risk of gastrointestinal side effects
      associated with antiplatelet therapy. Several studies have been published
      recently addressing a potential adverse drug-drug interaction between clopidogrel
      and PPIs. METHODS: literature was evaluated through Pubmed using the terms
      clopidogrel, PPI, prasugrel, cytochrome P450, genetic polymorphisms, H( 2)
      blockers, famotidine, genetic cytochrome P450 polymorphisms, and drug
      interaction. Articles with these terms were considered for evaluation. In
      addition, reference citations from publications identified in the searches were
      further reviewed and analyzed. RESULTS: none of the currently published studies
      were specifically designed to evaluate this drug-drug interaction or address the
      clinical relevance of this interaction prospectively. Conflicting evidence raised
      concerns but the information did not conclude with certainty a cause-and-effect
      relationship between concomitant use of the drugs and emerging safety issues.
      However, the Food and Drug Administration issued a public-health warning on the
      possible interaction between clopidogrel and PPIs, predominantly with omeprazole,
      in November 2009. CONCLUSIONS: controversies exist on a potential drug-drug
      interaction between clopidogrel and PPIs. Although further studies are warranted,
      several studies indicated that there was a drug-drug interaction through this
      combination therapy with detrimental clinical outcomes and increased costs.
      Studies suggested that the use of a PPI may make clopidogrel less effective
      resulting in a higher risk of myocardial infarction, stroke, or death. Until
      additional information becomes available clinicians should consider discontinuing
      PPI use if no clear indication is documented. Alternative options like H(2)
      receptor antagonists should be considered. Upon availability, genetic testing may
      provide additional valuable information.

PMID- 20938038
TI  - Protective effect of L-arginine in experimentally induced myocardial ischemia:
      comparison with aspirin.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Coronary artery diseases including myocardial ischemia (MI) remain one
      of the leading causes of death worldwide. This study was designed to compare the
      protective effect of L-arginine versus aspirin from the biochemical changes
      associated with MI injury. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: Four groups of male New Zealand
      white rabbits were investigated. Normal group (n = 8) rabbits were fed standard
      chow pellets, untreated MI group (n = 16), where hypercholesterolemia was induced
      by feeding the animals with a diet containing 2% cholesterol for 28 days, L
      arginine group (n = 12) rabbits were fed a 2% cholesterol-enriched diet in
      conjunction with L-arginine (2.25 g %) in drinking water for 28 days, and aspirin
      group (n = 12) rabbits were fed 2% cholesterol-enriched diet in conjunction with
      aspirin administered orally (0.7 mg/kg per d) for 28 days. After 28 days, MI was
      induced in all groups, except the normal group, by a single subcutaneous (sc)
      injection of isoproterenol hydrochloride (0.2 mg/kg body weight [bw]). Animals
      were sacrificed 6 hours later. RESULTS: Our results showed that L-arginine was
      more effective than aspirin in reducing platelet aggregation, reducing low
      density lipoprotein (LDL) oxidizability, preventing aortic intimal thickening,
      and maintaining histological architecture of the myocardium. Both drugs, however,
      had similar positive effects on plasma fibrinogen levels and on the prevention of
      myocardial release of cardiac troponin I and creatine kinase-MB. The effect on
      hypercholesterolemia was insignificant for both drugs. Aspirin was more effective
      than L-arginine in prolonging prothrombin time. CONCLUSION: L-arginine
      supplementation represents a potentially novel nutritional strategy for
      preventing and treating coronary artery diseases especially in cases of aspirin
      resistance and/or hypersensitivity.

PMID- 20938039
TI  - A randomized trial of aspirin at clinically relevant doses and nitric oxide
      formation in humans.
AB  - BACKGROUND: we performed the first test in humans of whether aspirin at
      clinically relevant doses increases nitric oxide (NO) formation. METHODS: seventy
      primary prevention patients with metabolic syndrome were randomly assigned to 81
      mg, 162.5 mg, 325 mg, 650 mg, or 1300 mg aspirin daily for 12 weeks to test
      changes in heme oxygenase (HO-1), a downstream target of NO formation and
      asymmetrical dimethylarginine (ADMA), a competitive inhibitor of NO synthase.
      FINDINGS: for HO-1, the mean was 29.37 nanograms per milliliter at baseline and
      57.45 at 12 weeks giving a mean ratio (MR) of 1.96 (P < .001) and 95% confidence
      interval (CI) from 1.91 to 2.00. There was no effect modification by dose or
      gender (P = .341). For ADMA, the mean was 1.70 micromoles per liter at baseline
      and 0.81 at 12 weeks, giving an MR of 0.48 (P < .001) and CI from 0.46 to 0.49.
      There was no effect modification by dose but a possible difference by gender (P =
      .055). INTERPRETATION: in high-risk primary prevention patients, aspirin
      significantly increases markers of NO formation. All doses produce similar
      increases in HO-1 and decreases in ADMA. The antiplatelet properties of aspirin
      to irreversibly inhibit platelet dependent cyclooxygenase are sufficient to
      explain benefits in patients with occlusive vascular diseases. Nonetheless, these
      data contribute to the formulation of the hypothesis that aspirin has additional
      beneficial effects mediated through NO formation. Further research, including
      direct randomized comparisons on atherosclerosis using noninvasive techniques as
      well as on occlusive vascular disease events, is necessary to test whether this
      hypothesis has clinical or public health relevance.

PMID- 20938040
TI  - Roles of cyclooxygenase 2 in sevoflurane- and olprinone-induced early phase of
      preconditioning and postconditioning against myocardial infarction in rat hearts.
AB  - PURPOSE: It is known that selective cyclooxygenase 2(COX-2) inhibitors increase
      mortality in patients with previous myocardial infarction, and it has been
      suggested that COX-2 plays an important role in cardioprotection against
      ischemia. The current study was carried out to determine whether COX-2 is
      involved in the mechanisms of sevoflurane- and olprinone-induced early-phase
      preconditioning (E-PreC) and postconditioning (PostC) in rat hearts. METHODS:
      Male Sprague-Dawley rats were anesthetized with sodium pentobarbital. After
      opening the chest, all rats underwent 30-minute occlusion of left anterior
      descending coronary artery followed by 2-hour reperfusion, and the infarct size
      was measured after the reperfusion. The rats were randomly assigned to groups
      with pre- and postischemic exposure to sevoflurane and administration of
      olprinone with or without a selective COX-2 inhibitor, NS-398. RESULTS: The
      infarct size in the control group was 42% +/- 6% of the area at risk. Infarct
      size was significantly reduced by pre- and postischemic administration of
      sevoflurane (16% +/- 7% and 17% +/- 6%, respectively), as well as by olprinone
      (14% +/- 4% and 15% +/- 10%, respectively). NS-398 prevented the protective
      effects of both pre- and postischemic exposure to sevoflurane (35% +/- 8% and 42%
      +/- 10%, respectively), whereas the protective effect of both pre- and
      postischemic administration of olprinone was not influenced by NS-398 (12% +/- 5%
      and 19% +/- 7%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Cyclooxygenase 2 could be a critical
      mediator of sevoflurane-induced but not olprinone-induced E-PreC or PostC in rat
      hearts.

PMID- 20938041
TI  - Postconditioning: from the bench to bedside.
AB  - Infarct size is determined not only by the severity of ischemia but also by
      pathological processes initiated at reperfusion. Accumulating experimental
      evidence indicates that lethal reperfusion injury might account for up to half of
      the final size of the myocardial infarct. Ischemic postconditioning (brief
      repeated periods of ischemia-reperfusion applied at the onset of coronary reflow)
      has been recently described as a powerful cardioprotection mechanism that
      prevents lethal reperfusion injury. This is the first method proven to reduce the
      final infarct size by about 50% in several in vivo models and to be confirmed in
      recent preliminary human studies. The molecular pathways are incompletely mapped
      but they probably converge to a mitochondrial key target: the mitochondrial
      permeability transition pore (PTP) which opening during early reperfusion is an
      event that promotes myocardial cell death. In different animal models and
      experimental settings, pharmacological PTP inhibition at the onset of reperfusion
      reproduces all the cardioprotective effects of ischemic postconditioning. In a
      recent proof-of-concept trial, the administration (just before percutaneous
      coronary intervention) of cyclosporine A, a potent PTP inhibitor, was associated
      with smaller infarct size. This review will focus on the physiological
      preclinical data on both ischemic and pharmacological postconditioning that are
      relevant to their translation to clinical therapeutics.

PMID- 20938042
TI  - Genetic causes of frontotemporal degeneration.
AB  - The purpose of this review is to provide a comprehensive update on the genetic
      causes of frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD). Approximately 40% to 50% of
      patients diagnosed with FTLD have a family history of a ''related disorder,''
      whereas 10% to 40% have an autosomal dominant family history for the disease. At
      this time, mutations occurring in 2 independent genes located on the same
      chromosome (MAPT and GRN) have been shown to cause the majority of cases of
      autosomal dominant FTLD. Specific genetic, molecular, pathological, and
      phenotypic variations associated with each of these gene mutations are discussed,
      as well as markers that may help differentiate the 2. In addition, 3 relatively
      rare, additional genes known to cause familial FTLD are examined in brief.
      Lastly, genetic counseling issues which may be important to the community
      clinician are discussed.

PMID- 20938044
TI  - The prion diseases.
AB  - The prion diseases are a family of rare neurodegenerative disorders that result
      from the accumulation of a misfolded isoform of the prion protein (PrP), a normal
      constituent of the neuronal membrane. Five subtypes constitute the known human
      prion diseases; kuru, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), Gerstmann-Straussler
      Scheinker syndrome (GSS), fatal insomnia (FI), and variant CJD (vCJD). These
      subtypes are distinguished, in part, by their clinical phenotype, but primarily
      by their associated brain histopathology. Evidence suggests these phenotypes are
      defined by differences in the pathogenic conformation of misfolded PrP. Although
      the vast majority of cases are sporadic, 10% to 15% result from an autosomal
      dominant mutation of the PrP gene (PRNP). General phenotype-genotype correlations
      can be made for the major subtypes of CJD, GSS, and FI. This paper will review
      some of the general background related to prion biology and detail the clinical
      and pathologic features of the major prion diseases, with a particular focus on
      the genetic aspects that result in prion disease or modification of its risk or
      phenotype.

PMID- 20938045
TI  - Assay development and high-throughput screening of small molecular c-Abl kinase
      activators.
AB  - A 2-step kinase assay was developed and used in a high-throughput screen (HTS) of
      more than 1 million compounds in an effort to identify c-Abl tyrosine kinase
      activators. This assay employed a 2-step phosphorylation reaction: in the first
      step, purified recombinant c-Abl was activated by incubating with compound in the
      presence of adenosine triphosphate (ATP). In the second step, the TAMRA-labeled
      IMAP Abltide substrate was added to allow phosphorylation of the substrate to
      occur. The assay was calibrated such that inactive c-Abl protein was activated by
      ATP alone to a degree that it not only demonstrated a measurable c-Abl activity
      but also maintained a robust assay window for screening. The screen resulted in
      8624 primary hits with >30% response. Further analysis showed that 1024 had
      EC(50) <10 uM with a max % response of >50%. These hits were structurally and
      chemically diverse with possibly different mechanisms for activating c-Abl. In
      addition, selective hits were shown to be cell permeable and were able to induce
      c-Abl activation as determined by In-Cell Western (ICW) analysis of HEK-MSRII
      cells transduced with BacMam virus expressing full-length c-Abl.

PMID- 20938046
TI  - A real-time screening assay for GIRK1/4 channel blockers.
AB  - The cardiac acetylcholine-activated K(+) channel (I(K,Ach)) represents a novel
      target for drug therapy in the treatment of atrial fibrillation (AF). This
      channel is a member of the G-protein-coupled inward rectifier K(+) (GIRK) channel
      superfamily and is composed of the GIRK1/4 (Kir3.1 and Kir3.4) subunits. The goal
      of this study was to develop a cell-based screening assay for identifying new
      blockers of the GIRK1/4 channel. The mouse atrial HL-1 cell line, expressing the
      GIRK1/4 channel, was plated in 96-well plate format, loaded with the fluorescent
      membrane potential-sensitive dye bis-(1,3-dibutylbarbituric acid) trimethine
      oxonol (DiBAC(4)(3)) and measured using a fluorescent imaging plate reader
      (FLIPR). Application of the muscarinic agonist carbachol to the cells caused a
      rapid, time-dependent decrease in the fluorescent signal, indicative of K(+)
      efflux through the GIRK1/4 channel (carbachol vs. control solution, Z' factor =
      0.5-0.6). The GIRK1/4 channel fluorescent signal was blocked by BaCl(2) and
      enhanced by increasing the driving force for K(+) across the cell membrane. To
      test the utility of the assay for screening GIRK1/4 channel blockers, cells were
      treated with a small compound library of Na(+) and K(+) channel modulators.
      Analogues of amiloride and propafenone were identified as channel blockers at
      concentrations less than 1 uM. Thus, the GIRK1/4 channel assay may be used in the
      development of new and selective agents for treating AF.

PMID- 20938047
TI  - Combinatorial semisynthesis of biomarker-IgM complexes.
AB  - Circulating immune complexes formed by tumor antigens and immunoglobulin M (IgM)
      represent a novel class of biomarkers with diagnostic value for early cancer
      detection. The quantitative analysis of these immune complexes is achieved by
      enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) methods using a purified calibrator
      from samples of patients with cancer. These complexes obtained from samples of
      human origin are not suitable for cost-effective production processes with high
      safety standards. Given the ill-defined biomarker/IgM ratio in these complexes,
      semisynthesis with retention of functional properties is difficult to achieve and
      may vary widely according to the batch-to-batch heterogeneity of starting
      biological preparations. Here the authors describe the development of a
      combinatorial method for defining the optimal reaction conditions for the
      reproducible semisynthesis of biomarker-IgM complexes by exploiting the biotin
      avidin technology. The method relies on screening by ELISA the 3D composition
      space defined by the combinatorial variation of biotinylated-biomarker,
      biotinylated-IgM, and avidin concentrations aiming to select those conditions
      leading to biomarker-IgM complexes with the highest immunoreactivity. The method
      allows the reproducible synthesis of species with immunoreactivity comparable to
      that of natural immune complexes and endowed with sufficient stability to be used
      as calibrators in ELISA.

PMID- 20938043
TI  - The genetics of Parkinson disease.
AB  - Parkinson disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder. In
      most instances, PD is thought to result from a complex interaction between
      multiple genetic and environmental factors, though rare monogenic forms of the
      disease do exist. Mutations in 6 genes (SNCA, LRRK2, PRKN, DJ1, PINK1, and
      ATP13A2) have conclusively been shown to cause familial parkinsonism. In
      addition, common variation in 3 genes (MAPT, LRRK2, and SNCA) and loss-of
      function mutations in GBA have been well-validated as susceptibility factors for
      PD. The function of these genes and their contribution to PD pathogenesis remain
      to be fully elucidated. The prevalence, incidence, clinical manifestations, and
      genetic components of PD are discussed in this review.

PMID- 20938048
TI  - Novel WDR72 mutation and cytoplasmic localization.
AB  - The proven candidate genes for amelogenesis imperfecta (AI) are AMELX, ENAM,
      MMP20, KLK4, FAM83H, and WDR72. We performed mutation analyses on seven families
      with hypomaturation AI. A novel WDR72 dinucleotide deletion mutation
      (g.57,426_57,427delAT; c.1467_ 1468delAT; p.V491fsX497) was identified in both
      alleles of probands from Mexico and Turkey. Haplotype analyses showed that the
      mutations arose independently in the two families. The disease perfectly
      segregated with the genotype. Only persons with both copies of the mutant allele
      were affected. Their hypomineralized enamel suffered attrition and orange-brown
      staining following eruption. Expression of WDR72 fused to green fluorescent
      protein showed a cytoplasmic localization exclusively and was absent from the
      nucleus. We conclude that WDR72 is a cytoplasmic protein that is critical for
      dental enamel formation.

PMID- 20938049
TI  - Human DJ-1-specific transcriptional activation of tyrosine hydroxylase gene.
AB  - Loss-of-function mutation in the DJ-1 gene causes a subset of familial Parkinson
      disease. The mechanism underlying DJ-1-related selective vulnerability in the
      dopaminergic pathway is, however, not known. DJ-1 has multiple functions,
      including transcriptional regulation, and one of transcriptional target genes for
      DJ-1 is the tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) gene, the product of which is a key enzyme
      for dopamine biosynthesis. It has been reported that DJ-1 is a neuroprotective
      transcriptional co-activator that sequesters a transcriptional co-repressor
      polypyrimidine tract-binding protein-associated splicing factor (PSF) from the TH
      gene promoter. In this study, we found that knockdown of human DJ-1 by small
      interference RNA in human dopaminergic cell lines attenuated TH gene expression
      and 4-dihydroxy-L-phenylalanine production but that knockdown or knock-out of
      mouse DJ-1 in mouse cell lines or in mice did not affect such expression and TH
      activity. In reporter assays using the human TH gene promoter linked to the
      luciferase gene, stimulation of TH promoter activity was observed in human cells,
      but not mouse cells, that had been transfected with DJ-1. Although human DJ-1 and
      mouse DJ-1 were associated either with human or with mouse PSF, TH promoter
      activity inhibited by PSF was restored by human DJ-1 but not by mouse DJ-1.
      Chromatin immunoprecipitation assays revealed that the complex of PSF with DJ-1
      bound to the human but not the mouse TH gene promoter. These results suggest a
      novel species-specific transcriptional regulation of the TH promoter by DJ-1 and
      one of the mechanisms for no reduction of TH in DJ-1-knock-out mice.

PMID- 20938050
TI  - Grainyhead-like 2 enhances the human telomerase reverse transcriptase gene
      expression by inhibiting DNA methylation at the 5'-CpG island in normal human
      keratinocytes.
AB  - We recently identified Grainyhead-like 2 (GRHL2) as a novel transcription factor
      that binds to and regulates the activity of the human telomerase reverse
      transcriptase (hTERT) gene promoter. In this study, we investigated the
      biological functions of GRHL2 and the molecular mechanism underlying hTERT gene
      regulation by GRHL2. Retroviral transduction of GRHL2 in normal human
      keratinocytes (NHK) led to a significant extension of replicative life span,
      whereas GRHL2 knockdown notably repressed telomerase activity and cell
      proliferation. Using promoter magnetic precipitation coupled with Western
      blotting, we confirmed the binding of GRHL2 to the hTERT promoter and mapped the
      minimal binding region at -53 to -13 of the promoter. Furthermore, mutation
      analysis revealed the three nucleotides from -21 to -19 to be critical for GRHL2
      binding. Because hTERT expression is regulated in part by DNA methylation, we
      determined the effects of GRHL2 on the methylation status of the hTERT promoter.
      Senescent NHK exhibited hypermethylation of the CpG island, which occurred with
      the loss of hTERT expression. On the contrary, the promoter remained
      hypomethylated in GRHL2-transduced NHK, irrespective of cell proliferation
      status. Also, knockdown of endogenous GRHL2 led to hypermethylation of the
      promoter. These results indicate that GRHL2 regulates the hTERT expression
      through an epigenetic mechanism and controls the cellular life span.

PMID- 20938051
TI  - A novel heme-responsive element mediates transcriptional regulation in
      Caenorhabditis elegans.
AB  - Hemes are prosthetic groups that participate in diverse biochemical pathways
      across phylogeny. Although heme can also regulate broad physiological processes
      by directly modulating gene expression in Metazoa, the regulatory pathways for
      sensing and responding to heme are not well defined. Caenorhabditis elegans is a
      heme auxotroph and relies solely on environmental heme for sustenance. Worms
      respond to heme availability by regulating heme-responsive genes such as hrg-1,
      an intestinal heme transporter that is up-regulated by >60-fold during heme
      depletion. To identify the mechanism for the heme-dependent regulation of hrg-1,
      we interrogated the hrg-1 promoter. Deletion and mutagenesis studies of the hrg-1
      promoter revealed a 23-bp heme-responsive element that is both necessary and
      sufficient for heme-dependent regulation of hrg-1. Furthermore, our studies show
      that the heme regulation of hrg-1 is mediated by both activation and repression
      in conjunction with ELT-2 and ELT-4, transcription factors that specify
      intestinal expression.

PMID- 20938053
TI  - Swansea criteria for diagnosis of acute fatty liver of pregnancy.

PMID- 20938054
TI  - How accurate are the Swansea criteria to diagnose acute fatty liver of pregnancy
      in predicting hepatic microvesicular steatosis?

PMID- 20938052
TI  - Alternative splicing of SLC39A14 in colorectal cancer is regulated by the Wnt
      pathway.
AB  - Alternative splicing is a crucial step in the generation of protein diversity and
      its misregulation is observed in many human cancer types. By analyzing 143
      colorectal samples using exon arrays, SLC39A14, a divalent cation transporter,
      was identified as being aberrantly spliced in tumor samples. SLC39A14 contains
      two mutually exclusive exons 4A and 4B and the exon 4A/4B ratio was significantly
      altered in adenomas (p = 3.6 * 10(-10)) and cancers (p = 9.4 * 10(-11)),
      independent of microsatellite stability status. The findings were validated in
      independent exon array data sets and by quantitative real-time reverse
      transcription PCR (qRT-PCR). Aberrant Wnt signaling is a hallmark of colorectal
      tumorigenesis and is characterized by nuclear beta-catenin. Experimental
      inactivation of Wnt signaling in DLD1 and Ls174T cells by knockdown of beta
      catenin or overexpression of dominant negative TCFs (TCF1 and TCF4) altered the
      4A/4B ratio, indicating that SLC39A14 splicing is regulated by the Wnt pathway.
      An altered 4A/4B ratio was also observed in gastric and lung cancer where Wnt
      signaling is also known to be aberrantly activated. The splicing factor SRSF1 and
      its regulator, the kinase SRPK1, were found to be deregulated upon Wnt
      inactivation in colorectal carcinoma cells. SRPK1 was also found up-regulated in
      both adenoma samples (p = 1.5 * 10(-5)) and cancer samples (p = 5 * 10(-4)). In
      silico splicing factor binding analysis predicted SRSF1 to bind predominantly to
      the cancer associated exon 4B, hence, it was hypothesized that SRPK1 activates
      SRSF1 through phosphorylation, followed by SRSF1 binding to exon 4B and
      regulation of SLC39A14 splicing. Indeed, siRNA-mediated knockdown of SRPK1 and
      SRSF1 in DLD1 and SW480 colorectal cancer cells led to a change in the 4A/4B
      isoform ratio, supporting a role of these factors in the regulation of SLC39A14
      splicing. In conclusion, alternative splicing of SLC39A14 was identified in
      colorectal tumors and found to be regulated by the Wnt pathway, most likely
      through regulation of SRPK1 and SRSF1.

PMID- 20938055
TI  - The history of the founding of Societe de Psychopathologie de L'Expression (SIPE)
      and the early development.
AB  - The Societe de Psychopathologie de L'Expression (SIPE) was founded in 1959 in
      Verona, Italy, during the International Congress on Lombroso. Robert Volmat asked
      us to get together for discussing the possibility of establishing a society for
      the research of the art of the insane. The author introduces the most important
      events and publications after the initiation of the research on the
      psychopathology of expression.

PMID- 20938056
TI  - Sixty years of dynamic examination of drawings.
AB  - Dynamic examination of drawing is a serial-comparative follow-up of drawings
      asking the patients to draw a person and an animal, - before, during the course
      and after - the treatment. We follow and compare clinical, psychopathological
      changes with the graphic ones based on dynamic psychopathologic processes. The
      material collected over 60 years consists of 85714 drawings, with 4710 series,
      including extended time observation of more than 10 years with 454 patients.
      Contrary to projective-associative methods, the emphasis here is placed on the
      changes of formal, dynamic elements and afterwards on the content. Some aspects
      of our evaluation are the following: alterations of line, impoverishment
      enrichment, disproportion-proportion, deformation-harmony, deficiency
      completeness, regression progression, and reintegration. Personality levels of
      drawings is one of the most important category, various types of adult drawings
      similar but not identical to children developmental phases of drawings. By the
      aid of personality levels of drawings comparison of the members of series
      regression could be more precisely stated, just as the grade of recovery. Dynamic
      examination of drawing has been practiced in outpatient and inpatient
      circumstances, differing from the atelier situation. It does not need special
      expensive technical equipments, or conditions and you can use it for evaluating
      pathologic and therapeutic processes, states and progression.

PMID- 20938057
TI  - [Machinery and mechanical eroticism. A study on the phenomenology of
      schizophrenia in two painters' artworks in the Reuter Collection (Pecs)].
AB  - In this essay, I introduce two schizophrenic artists from the Reuter's
      Psychopathological Art Collection (Pecs, Hungary), who had been treated in the
      1920es.One artist drew a number of sketches of machines; the other created a
      serial of mechanically erotic pictures. Pictures are analyzed from an
      intersubjective-phenomenological perspective. Schizophrenic patients' subjective
      experiences i.e. the experience of reification as well as the intrusivity and
      uncontrollability of sexuality are particularly emphasized.

PMID- 20938058
TI  - [Pollock, Warhol, Basquiat, Haring 20th century American painters from a
      psychological perspective].
AB  - Pollock, Warhol, Basquiat and Haring made an international reputation for
      themselves with their art foremost of the American artists of the 20th century,
      and became pop cultural icons for the man in the street and for the media as
      well. Accordingly to the habits of the consumer society their art and even
      themselves become product and consumer's goods. Their not mistaken, individual
      style - which also became their trademark - makes that possible. The connection
      between the four artists is that each of them had a dependent personality, their
      fine art activity was arguable in their period, and after all themselves and his
      artworks get into the increased attention of the media. These four artists embody
      the brand-new artist type, who steps into a star status. Besides the artworks the
      artist also get into the focus of interest. Through psychological aspect their
      artworks tell a lot about their way of life, their personality, and the social
      estate around them. Four of them were catalysts, they set new art trends. The
      influence of Basquiat and Haring stretched over to the 21st century, and keeps
      going in the graffiti street-art which gets into the "high art" at last, and
      captivates the art galleries and critics as well.

PMID- 20938059
TI  - [Art therapy and "art brut"].
AB  - The authors in this article explor the most important steps of the development of
      the research on the psychopathology of expression. They introduce the development
      of Art Brut and it's place in art history. They deal with the characteristics of
      art therapy.

PMID- 20938060
TI  - [Psychological conceptions of the Self in Nietzsche's writings].
AB  - The author explores the psychological descriptions of the Self in the writings of
      Nietzsche. He emphasizes that beside the introduction of the body-Self,
      Nietzsche's conceptions of the Self show similarities with current postmodern
      views. The author explores the similarities between perspectivism and social
      constructivism.

PMID- 20938061
TI  - [Artistic creativity in the light of Jungian analytical psychology].
AB  - C.G. Jung's analytical psychology points at important issues in the psychological
      understanding of creativity. The theories of the Collective Unconscious and the
      Archetypes contributed to important discoveries in the interpretation of artistic
      creativity. Jung was concerned to show the relevance of Analytical Psychology to
      the understanding of European Modernism. Our paper deals with a short Jungian
      interpretation of Csontvary's art, too.

PMID- 20938062
TI  - Template-based 3D model fitting using dual-domain relaxation.
AB  - We introduce a template fitting method for 3D surface meshes. A given template
      mesh is deformed to closely approximate the input 3D geometry. The connectivity
      of the deformed template model is automatically adjusted to facilitate the
      geometric fitting and to ascertain high quality of the mesh elements. The
      template fitting process utilizes a specially tailored Laplacian processing
      framework, where in the first, coarse fitting stage we approximate the input
      geometry with a linearized biharmonic surface (a variant of LS-mesh), and then
      the fine geometric detail is fitted further using iterative Laplacian editing
      with reliable correspondence constraints and a local surface flattening mechanism
      to avoid foldovers. The latter step is performed in the dual mesh domain, which
      is shown to encourage near-equilateral mesh elements and significantly reduces
      the occurrence of triangle foldovers, a well-known problem in mesh fitting. To
      experimentally evaluate our approach, we compare our method with relevant state
      of-the-art techniques and confirm significant improvements of results. In
      addition, we demonstrate the usefulness of our approach to the application of
      consistent surface parameterization (also known as cross-parameterization).

PMID- 20938063
TI  - The pulsatility curve-the relationship between mean intracranial pressure and
      pulsation amplitude.
AB  - The amplitude of cardiac-related pulsations in intracranial pressure has recently
      been suggested as useful for selecting patients for shunt surgery in
      hydrocephalus. To better understand how shunting affects these pulsations, we aim
      to model the relationship between mean pressure and pulsation amplitude in a wide
      range, including low pressures typically found after shunt surgery. Twenty-five
      patients with probable idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus were examined
      with lumbar constant pressure infusion investigations including drainage of
      cerebrospinal fluid. Mean pressure and pulsation amplitude were determined for
      consecutive 1.5 s intervals, starting at peak pressure (ca 35 mmHg), after
      infusion, continuing during spontaneous return to baseline and drainage to 0
      mmHg. The amplitude versus pressure relationship revealed a linear phase at
      higher pressures (14-32 mmHg, lack of fit test: p = 0.79), a transitional phase
      and an essentially constant phase at low pressures (0-10 mmHg, slope = -0.02,
      lack of fit test: p = 0.88). Individual patients' baseline values were found in
      all three phases. The model and methodology presented in this paper can be used
      to preoperatively identify patients with potential for postoperative amplitude
      decrease and to predict how much the amplitude can be reduced.

PMID- 20938064
TI  - Reconstruction convergence and speed enhancement in electrical impedance
      tomography for domains with known internal boundaries.
AB  - An improved approach for electrical impedance tomography (EIT) image
      reconstruction, based on modifying the forward and inverse solutions, is
      proposed. In this approach, the EIT forward problem is solved via the finite
      element method (FEM) using two types of elements. The inverse problem is solved
      by the modified Newton-Raphson method, whereas the condition number of the
      Hessian matrix is being monitored. At the early stage of the reconstruction,
      first-order elements are used, and if the condition number exceeds the allowable
      limit, the algorithm restarts. Otherwise, if the reconstruction error becomes
      lower than a predefined threshold, second-order elements are employed in the
      forward solution in order to preserve the precision of the final results. The
      latter stage converges in very few iterations. Since the solution speed with the
      first-order FEM is considerably higher than the second-order FEM, the
      reconstruction speed improves considerably by this approach, whereas the accuracy
      of the results is guaranteed by the well-conditioned Hessian matrix. Numerical
      simulations and experiments are followed by comparisons with other reconstruction
      methods which demonstrate the reliability and high solution speed of this
      approach. According to the results, the convergence of the proposed method is
      significantly improved, and its speed is 2-200 times higher than the previously
      developed methods with the same level of precision.

PMID- 20938065
TI  - Optimization of an NLEO-based algorithm for automated detection of spontaneous
      activity transients in early preterm EEG.
AB  - We propose here a simple algorithm for automated detection of spontaneous
      activity transients (SATs) in early preterm electroencephalography (EEG). The
      parameters of the algorithm were optimized by supervised learning using a gold
      standard created from visual classification data obtained from three human
      raters. The generalization performance of the algorithm was estimated by leave
      one-out cross-validation. The mean sensitivity of the optimized algorithm was 97%
      (range 91-100%) and specificity 95% (76-100%). The optimized algorithm makes it
      possible to systematically study brain state fluctuations of preterm infants.

PMID- 20938066
TI  - Measurement of the 3D arterial wall strain tensor using intravascular B-mode
      ultrasound images: a feasibility study.
AB  - Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) elastography is a promising tool for studying
      atherosclerotic plaque composition and assessing plaque vulnerability. Current
      IVUS elastography techniques can measure the 1D or 2D strain of the vessel wall
      using various motion tracking algorithms. Since biological soft tissue tends to
      deform non-uniformly in 3D, measurement of the complete 3D strain tensor is
      desirable for more rigorous analysis of arterial wall mechanics. In this paper,
      we extend our previously developed method of 2D arterial wall strain measurement
      based on non-rigid image registration into 3D strain measurement. The new
      technique registers two image volumes acquired from the same vessel segment under
      different levels of luminal pressure and longitudinal stress. The 3D displacement
      field obtained from the image registration is used to calculate the local 3D
      strain tensor. From the 3D strain tensor, radial, circumferential and
      longitudinal strain distributions can be obtained and displayed. This strain
      tensor measurement method is validated and evaluated using IVUS images of healthy
      porcine carotid arteries subjected to a luminal pressure increase and
      longitudinal stretch. The ability of the algorithm to overcome systematic noise
      was tested, as well as the consistency of the results under different
      longitudinal frame resolutions.

PMID- 20938067
TI  - Projection correlation based view interpolation for cone beam CT: primary fluence
      restoration in scatter measurement with a moving beam stop array.
AB  - Scatter correction is an open problem in x-ray cone beam (CB) CT. The measurement
      of scatter intensity with a moving beam stop array (BSA) is a promising technique
      that offers a low patient dose and accurate scatter measurement. However, when
      restoring the blocked primary fluence behind the BSA, spatial interpolation
      cannot well restore the high-frequency part, causing streaks in the reconstructed
      image. To address this problem, we deduce a projection correlation (PC) to
      utilize the redundancy (over-determined information) in neighbouring CB views. PC
      indicates that the main high-frequency information is contained in neighbouring
      angular projections, instead of the current projection itself, which provides a
      guiding principle that applies to high-frequency information restoration. On this
      basis, we present the projection correlation based view interpolation (PC-VI)
      algorithm; that it outperforms the use of only spatial interpolation is
      validated. The PC-VI based moving BSA method is developed. In this method, PC-VI
      is employed instead of spatial interpolation, and new moving modes are designed,
      which greatly improve the performance of the moving BSA method in terms of
      reliability and practicability. Evaluation is made on a high-resolution voxel
      based human phantom realistically including the entire procedure of scatter
      measurement with a moving BSA, which is simulated by analytical ray-tracing plus
      Monte Carlo simulation with EGSnrc. With the proposed method, we get visually
      artefact-free images approaching the ideal correction. Compared with the spatial
      interpolation based method, the relative mean square error is reduced by a factor
      of 6.05-15.94 for different slices. PC-VI does well in CB redundancy mining;
      therefore, it has further potential in CBCT studies.

PMID- 20938068
TI  - Intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) by a dynamic-jaws-only (DJO)
      technique in rotate-translate mode.
AB  - In this note it is shown how the use of a rotate-translate methodology employing
      only jaws, which move dynamically with the beam continuously on, can lead to a
      delivery of a two-dimensional intensity-modulated beam wherein the modulation is
      spatially slowly varying. All that is necessary is that a pair of jaws sweep
      across the face of an accelerator with the aperture between them suitably varying
      in width and defined by a position-time trajectory function for each jaw. This is
      then repeated, at the same gantry angle, with the jaws rotated to a different
      head twist and with a different jaw-pair trajectory for a number of sequential
      head twists. The result of superposing the individual beams at the same gantry
      angle is a two-dimensional variation of fluence at this gantry angle. A powerful
      theorem is developed which shows that there is an infinity of jaw trajectories
      for some specified number of head twists, each of which corresponds to the same
      delivered two-dimensional modulated beam.

PMID- 20938069
TI  - An optimum method for pulsed high intensity focused ultrasound treatment of large
      volumes using the InSightec ExAblate(r) 2000 system.
AB  - Pulsed high intensity focused ultrasound (pHIFU) is a method for delivering
      ultrasound to tissue while avoiding high temperatures. The technique has been
      suggested for non-destructively enhancing local uptake of drugs. Side effects
      include thermal necrosis; therefore, real-time monitoring of tissue temperature
      is advantageous. This paper outlines a method for improving the treatment
      efficiency of pHIFU using the MR image-guided InSightec ExAblate(r) 2000 system,
      an ultrasound system integrated into a whole body human MRI scanner with the
      ability to measure temperature at the treatment location in near real time.
      Thermal measurements obtained during treatment of a tissue phantom were used to
      determine appropriate heating parameters, and compared to in vivo treatment of
      rabbit muscle. Optimization of the treatment procedure and ultrasound transducer
      steering patterns was then conducted with the goal of minimizing treatment time
      while avoiding overheating. The optimization was performed on the basis of
      approximate solutions to the standard bioheat equation. The commercial system
      software of the Exablate(r) system was modified to assist in this optimization.
      Depending on the size of the treatment volume, the presented results demonstrate
      that it is possible to use the technique described to cut treatment times
      significantly, up to one-third of that required by the current standard treatment
      cycle.

PMID- 20938070
TI  - Dual energy CT using slow kVp switching acquisition and prior image constrained
      compressed sensing.
AB  - Dual energy computed tomography (DECT) is currently a subject of extensive
      investigation. DECT is currently implemented using either a dual source scanner
      with high and low kVp data acquired from separate sources or a single source
      scanner with both high and low kVp data acquired in an alternating manner. Both
      methods require dedicated hardware to enable data acquisition and image
      reconstruction for DECT. In this paper, we present a method to enable DECT using
      a single x-ray source with a slow kVp switching data acquisition. The enabling
      reconstruction technique allowing for the reduction in slew rate is the prior
      image constrained compressed sensing (PICCS) algorithm. When a slow kVp switching
      data acquisition method is used, the projection data with high and low kVp values
      are undersampled and the conventional filtered backprojection (FBP) image
      reconstruction does not enable streaking artifact-free images for material
      decomposition in DECT. In this paper, all of the acquired high and low kVp
      projection data were used to generate a prior image using the conventional FBP
      method. The PICCS algorithm was then used to reconstruct both high and low kVp
      images to enable material decomposition in the image domain. Both numerical
      simulations and physical phantom experimental studies were conducted to validate
      the proposed DECT scheme. The results demonstrate that a slew rate corresponding
      to 123 views at high and low kVp (high and low kVp values used for dual energy
      decomposition) is sufficient for the PICCS-based DECT method. In contrast, the
      slew rate should be high enough to obtain over 500 projections at each kVp for
      artifact-free reconstruction using an FBP-based DECT method.

PMID- 20938071
TI  - On developing B-spline registration algorithms for multi-core processors.
AB  - Spline-based deformable registration methods are quite popular within the medical
      imaging community due to their flexibility and robustness. However, they require
      a large amount of computing time to obtain adequate results. This paper makes two
      contributions towards accelerating B-spline-based registration. First, we propose
      a grid-alignment scheme and associated data structures that greatly reduce the
      complexity of the registration algorithm. Based on this grid-alignment scheme, we
      then develop highly data parallel designs for B-spline registration within the
      stream-processing model, suitable for implementation on multi-core processors
      such as graphics processing units (GPUs). Particular attention is focused on an
      optimal method for performing analytic gradient computations in a data parallel
      fashion. CPU and GPU versions are validated for execution time and registration
      quality. Performance results on large images show that our GPU algorithm achieves
      a speedup of 15 times over the single-threaded CPU implementation whereas our
      multi-core CPU algorithm achieves a speedup of 8 times over the single-threaded
      implementation. The CPU and GPU versions achieve near-identical registration
      quality in terms of RMS differences between the generated vector fields.

PMID- 20938072
TI  - Irrespective of your profession, we all need to be evidence-based practitioners.

PMID- 20938073
TI  - Empowering occupational therapists to become evidence-based work rehabilitation
      practitioners.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Occupational therapists (OTs) engage in continuing education to
      integrate best available knowledge and skills into their practice. However, many
      barriers influence the degree to which they are currently able to integrate
      research evidence into their clinical decision making process. The specific
      objectives were to explore the clinical decision-making processes they used, and
      to describe the empowerment process they developed to become evidence-based
      practitioners. PARTICIPANTS: Eight OTs, who had attended a four-day workshop on
      evidence-based work rehabilitation, were recruited to participate to a reflective
      practice group. METHODS: A collaborative research methodology was used. The group
      was convened for 12 meetings and held during a 15-month period. The data
      collected was analyzed using the grounded theory method. RESULTS: The results
      revealed the different decision-making modes used by OTs: defensive, repressed,
      cautious, autonomous intuitive and autonomous thoughtful. These modes influenced
      utilization of evidence and determined the stances taken toward practice change.
      Reflective learning facilitated their utilization of an evidence-based practice
      model through a three-level empowerment process: deliberateness, client
      centeredness and system mindedness. CONCLUSIONS: During the course of this study,
      participants learned to become evidence-based practitioners. This process had an
      impact on how they viewed their clients, their practice and the work
      rehabilitation system.

PMID- 20938074
TI  - Ergonomic design and evaluation of pliers.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: In the present study, bent-handled needle-nose pliers, designed from
      an ergonomic perspective as an improvement over the conventional plier were
      investigated. PARTICIPANTS: A convenience sample of fourteen volunteer male
      university students aged between (20 and 24 years old) participated in the study.
      METHODS: Three angles to the jaws of plier (0 degrees , 10 degrees  and 20
      degrees ) were provided in the redesigned pliers to reduce ulnar deviation of
      wrist. Other two angles (0 degrees  and 5 degrees ) of jaws with respect to the
      vertical plane. From this, (3 * 2) six redesigned pliers were investigated.
      Dependent variables were discomfort--scored on 10~cm Visual Analogue Scale (VAS)
      and difference in systolic and dysystolic blood pressure (BP). RESULTS: The
      results of ANOVA showed that the main and interaction effects of the angle to
      prevent ulnar deviation of wrist and angle to prevent extension of wrist were
      highly significant (i.e., p< 0.001) on discomfort score. Effect of angle to
      prevent ulnar deviation of wrist was only found significant on difference in
      systolic blood pressure. Of the redesigned pliers, the pliers with 10 degrees 
      angle of handle from jaw to prevent ulnar deviation, and 5 degrees  angle of
      handle to prevent extension of wrist was found to give the minimum level of
      discomfort score. CONCLUSIONS: Hence it is concluded that bent handle pliers up
      to certain angles may reduce discomfort, and after that discomfort will increases
      drastically. These finding will be very significant for the designers to use one
      more angle as per the requirement of the comfortable use of pliers. Many
      ergonomically redesigned pliers are available. However none was found be
      considering angle to give extension of the wrist based on scientific findings.

PMID- 20938075
TI  - Construction firm practices and manager beliefs regarding the employment and
      safety of teenaged employees: a North Carolina based study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to examine the reported practices of
      construction firms and the beliefs of firm managers/supervisors with respect to
      employing youth under age 18 and ensuring their safety. PARTICIPANTS: The
      participants in this study were firm representatives from 54, mostly small to
      medium sized, construction firms in North Carolina. METHODS: Survey responses
      were analyzed for the entire sample and within strata of firm size (1-10, 11+
      employees) using descriptive statistics. Percentages and 95% confidence intervals
      were calculated. Chi-square tests were used to test for statistical significance
      in differences between firm sizes. RESULTS: The findings suggest limits in the
      adequacy of safety training given to youth in construction, particularly in light
      of the minimal experience firms require of young hires, that managers' beliefs
      about the causes of young worker injury are largely focused on worker behaviors
      rather than on the presence of hazards, and that managers' compliance with child
      labor laws may be hampered by their lack of knowledge of these laws and an
      ambivalence toward their usefulness and enforcement. CONCLUSIONS: While larger
      studies are needed to confirm and advance these findings, when considered along
      with prior studies, they demonstrate the need to improve the safety of the
      construction environment for youth. The development of new educational
      interventions by health and safety professionals targeted at construction firms
      are supported, as are efforts by government regulators to increase enforcement
      and employer knowledge of the child labor laws.

PMID- 20938076
TI  - Professional supervision in the work rehabilitation arena in one Australian
      state.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study examined the methods and frequency of professional
      supervision in Queensland's work rehabilitation sector. Professional supervision
      is regarded as an important aspect of professional development and hence,
      critical to the improvement of services delivered by practitioners. However,
      there is little documented on the extent of supervision of practitioners in this
      setting and even less on the impact and effectiveness of supervision.
      PARTICIPANTS: Eighty-two (82) work rehabilitation professionals participated in
      the study. METHODS: The majority of participants (76) responded to a web-based
      survey that had been sent to them by a web-link, and 6 completed a paper based
      survey version of the survey, which evaluated the extent, practice methods, and
      barriers to the delivery and receipt of supervision. A follow-up focus group was
      held with key opinion holders to examine possible barriers to supervision in the
      industry. RESULTS: 59% of the participants had not received any form of
      supervision in the past two years. Those who received or delivered supervision
      reported it to be a valuable practice. The follow-up focus group identified
      barriers to supervision as being pressures of commercial targets, lack of
      exposure to work rehabilitation in university curricula, high staff turn-over,
      relative inexperience of case managers and purchasers dictating product outcomes.
      CONCLUSIONS: The development of industry standards for supervision practice is
      recommended to overcome the barriers to supervision.

PMID- 20938077
TI  - Desire, longing and vanity: emotions behind successful return to work for women
      on long-term sick leave.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to identify situations and phenomena that
      have simplified returning to work for women on long-term sick leave.
      PARTICIPANTS: Seven women who were exposed to a relatively large number of risk
      factors that normally are associated with difficulties in returning to work.
      METHODS: In-depth interviews with qualitative content analysis. RESULTS: The
      analysis indicated four main categories of factors: The Individual, Interactions,
      Surrounding Resources, and Situations. In each of the main categories structural
      factors exist and it appears that these have been of significant importance to
      the women in their return to work. These are presented as Key Factors and they
      are: clarification of--and the need for--support in the personal process of
      change; desire, longing, and vanity; respectful interactions between the
      individual and people in her surroundings; the structure and content of the
      rehabilitation clinic; the importance of the perceived reality; and the
      individual's sense of control during the work related rehabilitation process.
      CONCLUSIONS: The results mostly revealed phenomena that have been indicated and
      described in earlier research studies. However, emotions such as desire, longing
      and vanity as motivation and driving forces behind a return to work have not been
      earlier described.

PMID- 20938078
TI  - Improved injury management at an Australian aluminium smelter.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This longitudinal study sought to determine the effectiveness of
      interventions to improve injury management in an industrial setting.
      PARTICIPANTS: Study participants were workers from three production departments
      of a large aluminium smelter. METHODS: The interventions introduced were to
      encourage active participation in rehabilitation procedures by injured workers,
      improve communication with all stakeholders, identify and manage psychosocial
      issues, and focus the workforce on occupational health and safety matters. Linear
      regression modelling was used to determine the effectiveness of the interventions
      using data collected for fourteen months before and fifteen months after the
      introduction of interventions. Outcomes compared were the number of injuries,
      number of persons on restricted duty, and lost hours per month. RESULTS:
      Modelling showed the intervention significantly reduced the number of injuries in
      the potrooms (from 14 to 6 per month). The number of persons on restricted duties
      was reduced in all departments (potrooms: from 12 to 7 persons per month, cast
      house: 3 to 1 person per month, carbon plant: 3 to 1 person per month). Lost
      hours were significantly reduced in the potrooms (from 244 to 61 hours per
      month). CONCLUSION: These findings demonstrate the effectiveness of the revised
      injury management process introduced.

PMID- 20938079
TI  - Sickness absence, social relations, and self-esteem: a qualitative study of the
      importance of relationships with family, workmates, and friends among persons
      initially long-term sickness absent due to back diagnoses.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to explore and analyze accounts of
      social interactions and relationships with family, workmates, and friends
      supplied by persons with experience of sickness absence due to back, neck, or
      shoulder diagnoses. The focus was on experiences that seemed to involve positive
      and negative self-evaluative aspects, and therefore may be important to the self
      conception and self-esteem of the absentee, and possibly to return to work.
      PARTICIPANTS: The interviewees were women and men between 25 to 34 years of age
      who had been sickness certified due to back, neck, or shoulder diagnosis.
      METHODS: A descriptive and explorative method was used to analyze data from five
      focus-group interviews. RESULTS: The importance of being supported and encouraged
      by family members, and the importance of feeling needed at work as well as being
      part of a social context were aspects stressed by the respondents. CONCLUSIONS:
      Our results indicate that these interactions and relations are important to the
      absentees' self-esteem, and that this should be taken into account when
      discussing rehabilitation efforts.

PMID- 20938080
TI  - Feeling double locked-in at work: Implications for health and job satisfaction
      among municipal employees.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to examine the double locked-in phenomenon at
      work (i.e., being in a non-preferred occupation and non-preferred work place),
      and its associations to psychological health, physical health and job
      satisfaction. METHODS: A total of 136 municipal employees who visited a career
      coaching center (response rate 59%) participated in the questionnaire study.
      RESULTS: The results showed that 61% of the participants were double locked-in
      and half of them perceived rather much or very much stress. Multiple regression
      analyses showed that a feeling of being double locked-in predicted psychological
      health (GHQ-12) and job satisfaction, even after optimism and perceived stress
      were controlled for, whereas double locked-in did not predict physical health.
      CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that the locked-in phenomenon and its underlying
      causes and consequences need to be studied further in future research. To
      counteract the negative effects of the double locked-in phenomenon it is
      important to facilitate employees' mobility in different ways.

PMID- 20938081
TI  - Occupational exposure to pesticides, metals, and solvents: the impact on
      mortality rates in the Honolulu Heart Program.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the impact of occupational exposure to pesticides,
      metals, and solvents on mortality. PARTICIPANTS: Middle-aged Japanese-American
      men (n = 7,540) who had participated in the Honolulu Heart Program during 1965
      1968. METHODS: Industrial hygienists assessed participants' potential for
      exposure based on their primary job. Cumulative exposure scores were categorized
      as none, low, medium, and high. The underlying cause of death was ascertained by
      a physician panel. All associations were assessed using Cox proportional hazards
      models. RESULTS: A total of 4, 485 deaths occurred. Compared to no exposure,
      pesticide exposure was significantly associated with mortality from all causes,
      circulatory diseases, stroke, and all cancers. Results for all-cause mortality at
      the 0-yr lag after risk-factor adjustment were: Low, hazard ratio (HR) = 0.85,
      95% confidence interval (CI)=0.68-1.08; medium, HR = 1.18, 95% CI = 1.01-1.37;
      and high, HR = 1.29, 95% CI = 1.06-1.57; trend, p=0.002. Exposure to metals and
      solvents was significantly associated with mortality from all causes, cancer, and
      respiratory disease, and exposure to solvents was additionally associated with
      mortality from circulatory disease. Associations were strongest at the 15-yr lag.
      CONCLUSIONS: Results show that occupational exposures to pesticides, metals, and
      solvents during mid-life are independently associated with increased mortality,
      and indicate potential importance of exposures that occurred approximately 15
      years prior to death.

PMID- 20938082
TI  - Health professionals, advocacy and return to work: taking up the challenge.

PMID- 20938083
TI  - Cancer biomarker discovery: speed-bumps and tire shredders.

PMID- 20938084
TI  - Autoantibodies for cancer detection: still cause for excitement?
AB  - The identification of circulating biomarkers of early stage malignancy is a
      critical component of ongoing efforts aimed at reducing the overall public and
      personal impact of human cancer through early detection. The human immune system
      is capable of identifying and reporting the presence of tumor-derived factors
      appearing during the initial events of tumorigenesis with a sensitivity and
      specificity far beyond currently developed biochemical assays. Tapping into the
      process of immune surveillance through the identification and evaluation of
      autoantibodies against tumor-associated antigens (TAAs) represents a promising
      avenue of biomarker development. Here we review a diverse series of reports
      describing the use of TAA-specific autoantibodies for the discrimination of
      cancer from control groups. A description of the major technical platforms being
      utilized as well as specific innovations implemented for the detection of
      autoantibody biomarkers is included. This review provides an objective survey of
      results obtained using individual TAA-specific autoantibodies as well as multi
      autoantibody panels in order to identify and assess emerging trends in this field
      of research. Such trends provide a basis for the discernment of the specific
      challenges currently facing autoantibody biomarker development, and lay the
      groundwork for future innovations aimed at overcoming those challenges.

PMID- 20938085
TI  - Autoantibody profiles as biomarkers of breast cancer.
AB  - Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in women in the United
      States. While mammography and breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) improve
      detection of early disease, there remains an unmet need for biomarkers for risk
      stratification, early detection, prediction, and disease prognosis. Sera from
      patients with breast cancer contain specific autoantibodies (AAb) to tumor
      antigens that develop as part of the natural immune response to cancer-associated
      changes in protein structure and expression. The recent development of proteomic
      tools for AAb detection, including protein microarrays, reverse-phase protein
      immunoblots, and phage display have identified a number of potential AAb
      biomarkers for clinical development. Immune response signatures have been
      identified that are highly specific, but with variable sensitivities for cancer
      detection. This review focuses on the detection and application of AAb signatures
      as biomarkers for breast cancer detection and monitoring.

PMID- 20938087
TI  - Developing recombinant antibodies for biomarker detection.
AB  - Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) have an essential role in biomarker validation and
      diagnostic assays. A barrier to pursuing these applications is the reliance on
      immunization and hybridomas to produce mAbs, which is time-consuming and may not
      yield the desired mAb. We recommend a process flow for affinity reagent
      production that utilizes combinatorial protein display systems (e.g., yeast
      surface display or phage display) rather than hybridomas. These systems link a
      selectable phenotype--binding conferred by an antibody fragment--with a means for
      recovering the encoding gene. Recombinant libraries obtained from immunizations
      can produce high-affinity antibodies (<10 nM) more quickly than other methods.
      Non-immune libraries provide an alternate route when immunizations are not
      possible, or when suitable mAbs are not recovered from an immune library.
      Directed molecular evolution (DME) is an integral part of optimizing mAbs
      obtained from combinatorial protein display, but can also be used on hybridoma
      derived mAbs. Variants can easily be obtained and screened to increase the
      affinity of the parent mAb (affinity maturation). We discuss examples where DME
      has been used to tailor affinity reagents to specific applications. Combinatorial
      protein display also provides an accessible method for identifying antibody
      pairs, which are necessary for sandwich-type diagnostic assays.

PMID- 20938086
TI  - Usage of cancer associated autoantibodies in the detection of disease.
AB  - Efforts toward deciphering the complexity of the tumor specific proteome by
      profiling immune responses generated against tumor associated antigens (TAAs)
      holds great promise for predicting the presence of cancer long before the
      development of clinical symptoms. The immune system is capable of sensing
      aberrant expression of certain cellular components involved in tumorigenesis and
      the resultant autoantibody response provides insights to the targets that are
      responsible for eliciting immunogenicity to these cellular components. Analysis
      of the cancer-specific humoral immune response has led to panels of biomarkers
      that are specific and sensitive biomarkers of disease. Using multianalyte-based
      in vitro analytical discovery platforms which can be easily adapted into clinical
      diagnostic screening tests, body fluids such as serum, plasma saliva, or urine
      can be interrogated to detect autoantibodies against natural or recombinant
      antigens, which may possess etiologic significance to cancer. Non-invasive
      screening tests exhibiting high specificity and sensitivity to detect early stage
      cancer in the heterogeneous population of cancer patients potentially have the
      greatest impact in decreasing mortality rates. Overall, this review summarizes
      different experimental approaches in the development of diagnostic screening
      tests for the early detection of cancer and their implementation in the
      development of clinical multianalyte biomarker assays.

PMID- 20938088
TI  - Antibody microarrays for high-throughput, multianalyte analysis.
AB  - Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) microarray technology promises to be a
      powerful tool for detecting and validating protein biomarkers, especially panels
      of biomarkers. ELISA microarrays are capable of high-throughput analysis of
      multiple proteins using small sample volumes. In this chapter we review the
      literature on the use of antibody microarrays for biomarker discovery and
      validation. We also described the methodologies we employ to obtain high-quality
      data through protocol optimization and data calibration.

PMID- 20938089
TI  - Antibodies in cancer immunotherapy.
AB  - Monoclonal antibodies are currently being used as potential therapeutics against
      cancer. So far, eight monoclonal antibodies have been approved by FDA for human
      use and all these antibodies are effective in the treatment of patients with
      variety of cancers. Also, there is a long list of several antibodies which are in
      late stage clinical trials awaiting potential approval by the FDA for use in the
      clinic. Monoclonal antibodies exert their effects on tumor cells either directly
      or indirectly thereby eliminating or reducing the tumor burden in cancer
      patients. In this review we will focus our discussion on different monoclonal
      antibodies that are currently being used for immunotherapy of different types of
      cancers, their mechanism of action, several strategies that are being used to
      improve the effectiveness of these monoclonal antibodies and their potential use
      in combination therapy approaches along with different chemotherapeutic agents.
      The field of antibody therapy has ushered in a new and vast research paradigm
      that is definitely impacting public health.

PMID- 20938090
TI  - Development of a new logistic model for microbial growth in foods.
AB  - Mathematical models are essentially needed to quantitatively predict microbial
      growth in food products during their production and distribution. Recently we
      developed a new logistic model for microbial growth. The model is an extended
      logistic model, which shows a sigmoid curve on a semi-log plot. The model could
      precisely describe and predict bacterial growth at constant and dynamic
      temperatures in broth, on nutrient agar plates, and in pouched food. Prediction
      results with our model were very similar to those with the Baranyi model, which
      is well known worldwide. The model also predicted the amount of metabolites
      (toxins) that would be produced by a microorganism. Namely, with the growth model
      and the kinetics of staphylococcal enterotoxin A production, the amount of the
      toxins produced by Staphylococcus aureus in milk was successfully predicted. Our
      model could be a tool in the alert system and the quantitative risk assessment of
      harmful microbes in food.

PMID- 20938091
TI  - Bacterial contamination of stock solutions in storage cases for contact lens, and
      the disinfectant-resistance of isolates.
AB  - To investigate the bacterial contamination of preservative solutions for contact
      lenses, contact lens cases were swabbed and the swabs were cultured. Various
      bacteria were isolated from 26 of 100 samples (26.0%). By preservative solution,
      the bacterial presence was low (16.7%) in the 30 samples from cases using ReNu,
      which was the most frequently employed solution, and 27.3% in 11 samples from
      cases using Complete, which was the second most frequently employed solution. Of
      34 strains isolated and identified, gram-negative bacilli-glucose non-fermenting
      bacteria were the most frequently isolated, accounting for 61.8% (21 strains);
      particularly, 10 isolates were Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, accounting for
      29.4%. The biofilm-forming ability of these isolates was investigated by
      staining. The mean absorbance of the gram-negative rods was 0.369, which was
      about 3 times higher than that (0.107) of the Staphylococcus group, confirming
      marked biofilm-forming ability. In addition, the bactericidal effects of the
      preservative solutions on the isolates were investigated. The effect varied among
      the preservative solutions in the suspension experiment, but the highest
      disinfection rate, which was achieved by Complete, was 99.9->99.99%, showing a
      favorable bactericidal effect. In contrast, none of the 3 test preservative
      solutions showed any bactericidal effect in the adhesion experiment.

PMID- 20938092
TI  - Distribution of filamentous fungi in a manufacturing factory for plastic caps for
      soft drinks.
AB  - The distribution of filamentous fungi was studied in a production line for
      plastic caps for soft drinks. Of 52 samples from both the swab and air sampling
      tests, a total of 47 filamentous fungi were isolated. Of those 47 fungi, 32
      (68.0%) were found in the swab test samples. As for the swab test results, the
      area where most of the filamentous fungi were isolated was the
      printing/inspection room followed by the resin storage room. The breakdown of the
      filamentous fungi showed Cladosporium: 14.9%; Penicillium: 10.6%; Acremonium:
      8.5%; Trichoderma: 8.5%; Arthrinium: 6.4%; and Aureobasidium: 6.4%. The fungal
      count of raw material (MPN/100g) was zero for the base resin, 0.36 for the master
      batch and 4.3 for the liner material, respectively. Those fungal counts seemed to
      be very low and it was concluded that the hygienic conditions of the plastic cap
      production line were very good.

PMID- 20938093
TI  - Evaluation of an enzyme-linked fluorescent assay for the detection of Listeria
      monocytogenes from food.
AB  - The VIDAS Listeria monocytogenes II (LMO2) method, which is an automated enzyme
      linked fluorescent immunoassay (ELFA), was used for rapidly, specifically and
      sensitively detecting L. monocytogenes in food samples. All 31 L. monocytogenes
      strains examined gave positive results. The other bacterial species except
      Salmonella showed completely negative results, but it was suspected that
      Salmonella spp. had given a false-positive reaction to the assay. As the
      detectable limit of the assay was 106 cfu/ml in a food suspension, food samples
      were required to be enriched in order to increase the number of the bacteria to
      the detectable limit. However, the ELFA was reconfirmed to be applied
      satisfactorily as a rapid and precise method for the detection of L.
      monocytogenes in various food samples, even if the culture had to be enriched for
      12 h prior to the assay.

PMID- 20938094
TI  - Cytotoxicity of topical medications used for infection and inflammation control
      after cataract surgery in cultured corneal endothelial cells.
AB  - Postoperative vision-threatening corneal edema sometimes occurs after eye
      surgery, and corneal endothelial damage may be caused or exacerbated by drug
      toxicity. A range of commercially available antibiotic and anti-inflammatory
      ophthalmic solutions used postoperatively, namely levofloxacin, moxifloxacin,
      gatifloxacin, cefmenoxime, diclofenac, bromfenac, pranoprofen, betamethasone, and
      fluoromethorone, were assessed by using human corneal endothelial cells (HCECs).
      Propylparaoxybenzoate and methylparaoxybenzoate were also examined. Cell survival
      after 48 h exposure to the drugs was evaluated using the WST assay. Cefmenoxime
      and betamethasone were the least toxic antibiotic and anti-inflammatory drug,
      respectively. Cell survival was concentration dependent and increased markedly to
      >= 80% with dilutions of 100-fold or more. Two preservatives seemed to cause
      minimal cytotoxicity among those tested. Antibiotic cytotoxicity to HCEC was
      ranked as cefmenoxime < levofloxacin = gatifloxacin < moxifloxacin, while the
      toxicity of anti-inflammatory drugs was dependent on benzalkonium chloride and
      polysorbate. These drugs are unlikely to cause HCEC damage at the concentrations
      used under the usual conditions. Preservatives are essential ingredients in
      ophthalmic solutions to control postoperative infection and inflammation and we
      should be aware of their toxicity as well as efficacy.

PMID- 20938095
TI  - Environmental monitoring and bactericidal efficacy of chlorine dioxide gas in a
      dental office.
AB  - We monitored the quantity of airborne microorganisms at 11 points (points A to K)
      in a dental office on a routine day of use, and tested the bactericidal efficacy
      of chlorine dioxide (ClO2) gas in the dental operatory after consulting hours.
      Fallen airborne microorganisms were collected under air-conditioning (AC) in the
      dental office, and under four conditions in the operatory. Specimens of the
      microbes were cultivated on nutrient and Sabouraud agar media (NAM and SAM). Many
      colonies were observed at the entrance hall and on the cabinet in a disinfection
      room in the NAM and SAM tests, respectively, while no colony was observed at the
      foot position of the operating table and treatment bed, and above the head
      position of the operating room in the NAM and SAM tests, respectively. In the
      bactericidal efficacy test using ClO2 gas, the dental operatory could be kept
      clean by the use of 4 mg/L-ClO2 gas in addition to the use of an AC with a plasma
      filter and the HEPA filter.

PMID- 20938096
TI  - Growth characteristics of four fungal species in bathrooms.
AB  - The growth of four fungal species (four isolates) from bathrooms was examined
      under various environmental conditions. These fungi were found several times in
      bathrooms and washing machines, but not in other indoor environments such as
      house dust or windows. The four species (Ramichloridium strelitziae,
      Cyphellophora laciniata, Phoma fimeti, and Exophiala sp.) were identified using
      DNA and morphological analyses. These bathroom fungi were able to consume
      surfactants, soap and shampoo, but were unable to grow well in high-temperature
      or dry conditions. Soap and shampoo seem to affect fungal flora in the bathroom.

PMID- 20938097
TI  - Ecological study of Vibrio cholerae in aquatic environments, Okayama.
AB  - An ecological and molecular-epidemiological study of Vibrio cholerae in some
      aquatic environments of Okayama was carried out. The strains of non-O1/non-O139
      were isolated frequently, and unconventional O1 strains were rarely observed.
      These non-O1/non-O139 strains did not have ctxA, the gene of choleratoxin, the
      major pathogenic factor of epidemic cholera, but possessed hlyA, a gene encoding
      hemolysin thought to be a pathogenic factor for sporadic diarrhea or food
      poisoning. Furthermore these strains also had toxR, a gene controlling the
      pathogenic island of the V. cholerae genome, suggesting the potentia of these
      strains for accepting the horizontal transfer of virulence factor genes. Thus,
      continuous survey of the vibrio is to ensure the food safety of fishery products.

PMID- 20938100
TI  - The prevalence of hyperprolactinaemia in overt and subclinical hypothyroidism.
AB  - The aims of this study were to: 1) determine the prevalence of
      hyperprolactinaemia in patients with newly diagnosed subclinical and overt
      hypothyroidism, and 2) investigate the change in PRL levels with treatment. In
      this observational study, patients with a new diagnosis of hypothyroidism in our
      endocrinology clinic were approached for participation, as were healthy controls.
      Patients with medical reasons for having elevated PRL levels, lactating and
      pregnant women were excluded from the study. No patient had kidney or liver
      disease. After examination to determine if clinical causes of PRL elevation were
      present, serum levels of thyrotropin (TSH), free thyroxine, free triiodothyronine
      and PRL were measured and correlation of PRL levels with the severity of
      hypothyroidism (overt or subclinical) was performed. Fifty-three patients (45
      women, 8 men, mean age 45.3 +/- 12.2 years) had overt hypothyroidism. One hundred
      forty-seven patients (131 women, 16 men, mean age 42.9 +/- 12.6 years) had
      subclinical hypothyroidism. One hundred healthy persons (85 women, 15 men, mean
      age 43.9 +/- 11.4 years) participated as controls. The same blood tests were
      repeated in patients after normalization of TSH levels with L-thyroxine
      treatment. PRL elevation was found in 36% of patients with overt hypothyroidism,
      and in 22% of patients with subclinical hypothyroidism. PRL levels decreased to
      normal in all patients after thyroid functions normalized with L-thyroxine
      treatment. In the hypothyroid patients (overt and subclinical) a positive
      correlation was found between TSH and PRL levels (r=0.208, p=0.003). PRL
      regulation is altered in overt and subclinical hypothyroidism, and PRL levels
      normalize with appropriate L-thyroxine treatment.

PMID- 20938099
TI  - Characteristics of revascularization treatment for arteriosclerosis obliterans in
      patients with and without hemodialysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Limb ischemia is a major complication in patients who are receiving
      hemodialysis (HD). In this study, distinctive features and factors affecting the
      outcome of HD patients with limb ischemia are identified. METHODS AND RESULTS:
      One hundred and eighty consecutive symptomatic limb ischemic patients who were or
      were not receiving HD and who successfully underwent surgical bypass grafting
      (bypass, n=75) or endovascular angioplasty (percutaneous transluminal angioplasty
      (PTA), n=105) were retrospectively compared at our hospital. The endpoint of this
      study was amputation of the ischemic leg or death. Median follow up was 2.25
      years. The amputation-free survival of HD patients was significantly lower than
      that of non-HD patients (P<0.0001). In the bypass group, the amputation-free
      survival of HD patients was significantly lower than that of non-HD patients
      (P=0.0002), even if the graft was patented or not (P=0.77). In contrast, in the
      PTA group, the amputation-free survival of HD patients was lower than that of non
      HD patients (P=0.03), and with a significantly lower patency rate (P=0.0004).
      Predictors of amputation-free survival differed between HD and non-HD patients;
      predictors were diabetes mellitus and gender in HD patients, while they were
      Fontaine classification and hyperlipidemia in non-HD patients. The infectious
      death rate was higher in HD patients than in non-HD patients (53% vs 22%,
      P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: This study clearly showed a poorer prognosis in HD patients
      than in non-HD patients especially after bypass surgery, even if the the graft
      was patented or not.

PMID- 20938098
TI  - Three-month dual antiplatelet therapy after implantation of zotarolimus-eluting
      stents: the DATE (Duration of Dual Antiplatelet Therapy AfterImplantation of
      Endeavor Stent) registry.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The optimal duration of dual antiplatelet therapy remains
      controversial. METHODS AND RESULTS: Between December 2006 and March 2008, 823
      patients were enrolled in a prospective multicenter registry for 3-month dual
      antiplatelet therapy (aspirin 100-200mg+clopidogrel 75 mg daily) followed by
      aspirin mono-therapy after zotarolimus-eluting stents (ZES). Major exclusion
      criteria were: cardiogenic shock, stent thrombosis (ST)-segment elevation
      myocardial infarction (MI) within 48h, previous drug-eluting stent implantation,
      severe left ventricular dysfunction, bifurcation lesions requiring 2-stenting,
      left main and graft lesions. The primary outcome was a composite of cardiac
      death, MI, or ST at 1 year. The median duration of dual antiplatelet therapy was
      95 days (interquartile range 90-101). At 1 year, 3 patients (0.4%) had cardiac
      deaths, 3 patients (0.4%) had MI, and 4 patients (0.5%) had definite or probable
      ST, leading to the primary outcome in 5 patients (0.6%). Death, MI, or any
      revascularization occurred in 68 patients (8.3%). Among patients who were event
      free at 3 months (n=812), clopidogrel was discontinued at 3 months in 661
      patients and was continued for longer than 3 months in 151 patients.
      Discontinuation of clopidogrel at 3 months did not increase the primary outcome
      (HR 0.90; 95%CI, 0.09-9.02), death, MI, or any revascularization (HR 0.89; 95%CI,
      0.48-1.67) after adjustment for the propensity score. CONCLUSIONS: Three-month
      dual antiplatelet therapy seems to be feasible after ZES implantation in
      relatively low-risk patients.

PMID- 20938101
TI  - Menstrual disturbances in various thyroid diseases.
AB  - The prevalence of menstrual disturbances, including secondary amenorrhea,
      hypomenorrhea, oligomenorrhea, hypermenorrhea, polymenorrhea and irregular
      menstrual cycle were prospectively examined in 586 patients with hyperthyroidism
      due to Graves' disease, 111 with hypothyroidism, 558 with euthyroid chronic
      thyroiditis, 202 with painless thyroiditis and 595 with thyroid tumor. In the
      overall patient group, the prevalence did not different from that in 105 healthy
      controls. However, patients with severe hyperthyroidism showed a higher
      prevalence of secondary amenorrhea (2.5%) and hypomenorrhea (3.7%) than those
      (0.2% and 0.9%, respectively) with mild or moderate hyperthyroidism. Moreover,
      patients with severe hypothyroidism had a higher prevalence (34.8%) of menstrual
      disturbances than mild-moderate cases (10.2%). Menstrual disturbances in thyroid
      dysfunction were less frequent than previously thought.

PMID- 20938102
TI  - Point mutation (C to T) of the LCAT gene resulting in A140C substitution.
AB  - Familial lecithin: cholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT) deficiency is an autosomal
      recessive disorder characterized by corneal opacity, hemolytic anemia,
      proteinuria, and a low serum level of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL
      C). Also, LCAT activity is remarkably decreased or absent. A 57-year-old Japanese
      man presented with corneal opacity, proteinuria, and a very low serum level of
      HDL-C. His LCAT activity was too low to measure. From clinical observations and
      results of examinations, we suspected LCAT deficiency. We performed a kidney
      biopsy and gene analysis. Light microscopy revealed the vacuolation of glomerular
      capillary tufts. Electron microscopy revealed small deposits in the glomerular
      basement membrane (GBM), extracellular matrix, and vascular endothelial cells. We
      identified a homozygous C to T point mutation at nucleotide 501 (g.501 C>T) of
      exon 4 at codon 140, resulting in an arginine (Arg) to cysteine (Cys) amino acid
      substitution (A140C) in the patient. These findings were characteristic of LCAT
      deficiency, which was confirmed to be due to a mutation that has only been
      reported in Japan.

PMID- 20938103
TI  - Congo red, an amyloid-inhibiting compound, alleviates various types of cellular
      dysfunction triggered by mutant protein kinase cgamma that causes spinocerebellar
      ataxia type 14 (SCA14) by inhibiting oligomerization and aggregation.
AB  - Several missense mutations in the protein kinase Cgamma (gammaPKC) gene have been
      found to cause spinocerebellar ataxia type 14 (SCA14), an autosomal dominant
      neurodegenerative disease. We previously demonstrated that the mutant gammaPKC
      found in SCA14 is susceptible to aggregation that induces apoptotic cell death.
      Congo red is widely used as a histological dye for amyloid detection. Recent
      evidence has revealed that Congo red has the property to inhibit amyloid
      oligomers and fibril formation of misfolded proteins. In the present study, we
      examine whether Congo red inhibits aggregate formation and cytotoxicity of mutant
      gammaPKC. Congo red likely inhibits aggregate formation of mutant gammaPKC -
      green fluorescent protein (GFP) without affecting its expression level in SH-SY5Y
      cells. Congo red counteracts the insolubilization of recombinant mutant gammaPKC,
      suggesting that the dye inhibits aggregation of mutant gammaPKC by a direct
      mechanism. Congo red also inhibits aggregation and oligomerization of mutant
      gammaPKC-GFP in primary cultured cerebellar Purkinje cells. Moreover, the dye
      reverses the improper development of dendrites and inhibits apoptotic cell death
      in Purkinje cells that express mutant gammaPKC-GFP. These results indicate that
      amyloid-inhibiting compounds like Congo red may be novel therapeutics for SCA14.

PMID- 20938104
TI  - TEK/Tie2 is a novel gene involved in endoplasmic reticulum stress.
AB  - Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress has been implicated in the pathogenesis of
      diseases such as neurodegenerative disease. In the present study, we established
      the ER stress-resistant SH-SY5Y cell line, and through microarray analysis, we
      found that TEK/Tie2 expression is up-regulated in this cell line. Moreover, we
      found that TEK/Tie2 expression was markedly decreased in ER-stressed cells. The
      effect was time-dependent (2 - 24 h), which began to decrease from 2-h time
      point. Our findings suggest that TEK/Tie2 expression is involved in cell
      survival, whereas when severe ER stress occurs, TEK/Tie2 expression is down
      regulated, resulting in cell death.

PMID- 20938105
TI  - Retrospective study of canine nasal tumor treated with hypofractionated
      radiotherapy.
AB  - The object of this study was to evaluate hypofractionated multiportal field and
      two-portion (rostral and caudal portions divided by the eyelid) radiation therapy
      for canine nasal tumors. Sixty-three dogs underwent multiportal hypofractionated
      radiation therapy. The radiation field was divided into rostral and caudal
      portions by the eyelid. Treatments were performed four times for 57 dogs. The
      median irradiation dose/fraction was 8 Gy (range, 5-10 Gy); the median total dose
      was 32 Gy (10-40 Gy). Improvement of clinical symptoms was achieved in 53 (84.1%)
      of 63 cases. Median survival time was 197 days (range, 2-1,080 days). Median
      survival times with and without destruction of the cribriform plate before
      radiotherapy were 163 and 219 days, respectively. There was no significant
      difference between them. No other factors were related to survival according to a
      univariate analysis. All radiation side effects, except one, were grade I
      according to the VRTOG classification. It was not necessary to treat any dogs for
      skin side effects. One dog (1.6%) developed an oronasal fistula 1 year after
      completion of radiation therapy. This radiation protocol may be useful in
      reducing radiation side effects in dogs with cribriform plate destruction.

PMID- 20938106
TI  - Molecular and phenotypic characteristics of Salmonella enterica serovar 4,5,12:i:
      isolated from cattle and humans in Iwate Prefecture, Japan.
AB  - A total of 15 isolates of Salmonella enterica serovar 4,5,12:i:- obtained from
      diseased cows and patients in Iwate Prefecture, Japan, were characterized to
      clarify the genetic basis of this serovar. S. Typhimurium- specific IS200 was
      detected from all the isolates. A 94-kb plasmid and the spvB gene were detected
      from all but one of the 15 isolates. The results of PCR mapping of the fljAB
      operon and its flanking regions indicate that there are deletions or mutations in
      this chromosomal region. These data suggest that the 15 isolates are monophasic
      variants of S. Typhimurium. Epidemiological relationships between the isolates
      obtained from cattle and humans were not suspected based on the comparison of
      data employing plasmid profiling and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis.

PMID- 20938107
TI  - [Kampo therapy in gastroenterology].

PMID- 20938108
TI  - [Role of Kampo medicine in the treatment of dyspepsia and anorexia].

PMID- 20938109
TI  - [Gastrointestinal motility and Kanpo medicine].

PMID- 20938110
TI  - [Gastrointestinal perception and Kampo].

PMID- 20938111
TI  - [Diseases of the digestive system and Kanpo: discussion].

PMID- 20938112
TI  - [Evaluations and strategies for acceleration of practical use of practical
      guidelines].

PMID- 20938113
TI  - [A case of congenital esophageal stenosis that remained untreated until adulthood
      and was improved by endoscopic balloon dilatation].
AB  - A 20-year-old man had suffered from dysphagia since primary school. Upper
      gastrointestinal and endoscopy examinations revealed severe circumferential
      stenosis of the upper intra-thoracic esophagus. Secondary stenosis due to factors
      such as inflammation did not appear present, so congenital esophageal stenosis
      (CES) was diagnosed. Dysphagia improved after two endoscopic balloon dilatations.
      Almost all cases of CES are treated in baby-hood, and individuals who remain
      untreated until adulthood are rare. Check ups and diagnoses should be made taking
      CES into consideration, even in adults.

PMID- 20938114
TI  - [Gastric emphysema, a critical condition accompanied by eating disorders: a case
      report].
AB  - Gastric emphysema encompasses a broad spectrum of diseases. A 31-year-old woman
      presented with severe vomiting and epigastric pain. She had lost body weight for
      several months, and was later diagnosed as having anorexia nervosa. A
      radiological study demonstrated intramural gas with huge gastric dilatation and
      portal venous gas. She underwent total gastrectomy and was rescued from extensive
      gastric necrosis. Her clinical findings suggest that extraordinary dilation of
      the stomach increased the intraluminal pressure, thereby resulting in perfusion
      disturbance and extensive gastric necrosis. There are five other case reports of
      gastric emphysema associated with eating disorders in the literature. All but one
      were young women, and one of 4 patients with massive gastric necrosis died due to
      septic shock. Eating disorders cause gastric emphysema through several unique
      mechanisms, including gastric muscular atrophy, occlusion of the gastroesophageal
      junction, and delayed gastric emptying. Gastric emphysema in relation to eating
      disorders carries a risk of life-threatening complications and requires urgent
      diagnosis and treatment.

PMID- 20938115
TI  - [A case of juvenile polyposis limited to the stomach accompanied by double
      gastric cancers and Menetrier's disease].
AB  - A 48-year-old woman who had innumerable polyps in her stomach for 4 years visited
      our hospital to receive further examinations. Her younger brother had undergone
      gastrectomy because of cancer with gastric polyposis. Gastrography and
      gastroscopy showed numerous reddish polyps finger-like in form with much mucin in
      the antrum. On the other hand, polyposis in the corpus and fornix was nodular
      which formed giant folds. There was no polyps in other organs, therefore, we
      diagnosed juvenile polyposis limited to the stomach accompanied with Menetrier
      disease. Double carcinoma were proved histologically after total gastrectomy.
      55.8% of juvenile poplyposis limited to the stomach are accompanied with
      neoplasms, however, the rate of preoperatively correctly diagnosed neoplasms was
      55%, so total gastrectomy was recommended.

PMID- 20938116
TI  - [A case of adult neuroblastoma with fatal outcome].
AB  - The patient was a 52-year-old woman in whom CT revealed a huge tumor located
      mainly in the mesenterium. On the 5(th) day, clinical symptoms progressed rapidly
      and chemotherapy for malignant lymphoma was performed after percutaneous core
      needle biopsy. However, the patient died on the 9(th) day. After her death, the
      pathological diagnosis proved to be neuroblastoma based on the core needle
      biopsy. This disease is extremely rare in adults, but should be taken into
      consideration since rapid progression may sometimes occur.

PMID- 20938117
TI  - [A case of hemorrhage from varices of an interposed jejunum after
      choledochojejunostomy treated successfully by endoscopic injection using alpha
      cyanoacrylate monomer].
AB  - A 73-year-old woman was admitted with gastrointestinal bleeding. She had
      undergone pylorus-preserving pancreaticoduodenectomy, hepaticojejunostomy and
      pancreatojejunostomy for pancreatic cancer a year earlier. Gastrointestinal
      endoscopy revealed bleeding from varices in an interposed jejunum. Enhanced CT
      showed an extrahepatic portal venous obstruction and cavernous transformation of
      the portal vein, which were complications of these operations. We performed
      endoscopic injection using alpha-cyanoacrylate monomer for the varices. After 4
      treatments, the bleeding stopped. We concluded that endoscopic injection using
      alpha-cyanoacrylate monomer was effective and useful treatment for bleeding from
      hepatopetal varices, including cavernous transformation of the portal vein. This
      method is also useful in emergency situations.

PMID- 20938118
TI  - [Successful intervention with a longitudinal pancreaticojejunostomy for chronic
      pancreatitis due to obstruction of the pancreatogastrostomy after
      pancreatoduodenectomy].
AB  - A 50-year-old man with a cancer of the papilla of Vater underwent pylorus
      preserving pancreatoduodenectomy reconstructed with pancreatogastrostomy in 2002.
      He began to complain of upper abdominal and back pain in April 2008. Abdominal CT
      scan revealed pancreatolithiasis with dilatation of the remnant main pancreatic
      duct. An upper intestinal endoscopy could not discern the orifice of the
      pancreatic duct. He was treated by transgastric EUS-guided drainage of the
      pancreatic duct several times, and ESWL for pancreatolithiasis. However, he had
      repeated pancreatitis. Surgical intervention was carried out to treat the
      obstructive pancreatitis in April 2009. Longitudinal pancreaticojejunostomy was
      performed without resection of the obstructive pancreatogastrostomy. The
      postoperative recovery was uneventful, and the patient remains asymptomatic after
      the second operation. We concluded that the longitudinal pancreaticojejunostomy
      is a safe and effective alternative for chronic pancreatitis after stenotic
      pancreatico-digestive tract anastomosis following pancreatoduodenectomy,
      especially for cases in which endoscopic stenting is ineffective.

PMID- 20938120
TI  - Dawn of hemodiafiltration.
AB  - A brief history of hemodialysis, hemofiltration and hemodiafiltration (HDF) is
      reviewed with special interest on the development of HDF, including development
      of dialysis/ultrafiltration membranes, ultrafiltration rate controllers, dialysis
      fluid delivery systems, and guidelines for water quality required for online HDF
      treatment.

PMID- 20938119
TI  - [A case of hemolytic uremic syndrome after adjuvant chemotherapy with gemcitabine
      in a patient with pancreatic cancer].
AB  - A 63-year-old man with Stage IVa pancreas tail cancer was admitted for a distal
      pancreatectomy and splenectomy; adjuvant chemotherapy with gemcitabine was also
      administered. The chemotherapy was terminated after 16 courses due to hemolytic
      anemia, thrombocytopenia and renal dysfunction. Plasma exchange was performed;
      however the patient's renal function was diminished, requiring chronic
      hemodialysis. Physicians should be cautious of hemolytic uremic syndrome as a
      possible adverse reaction to gemcitabine and be aware that tests are needed for
      its early detection.

PMID- 20938121
TI  - Hemodiafiltration - state of the art.
AB  - Many observational studies have consistently shown that high-flux hemodialysis
      (hf-HD) has positive effects on the survival and morbidity of chronic kidney
      disease stage 5 dialysis (CKD5D) patients when compared with low-flux
      hemodialysis, but the primary analysis of the prospective randomized Hemodialysis
      Outcomes (HEMO) study showed that the use of hf-HD was not associated with a
      significant reduction of the relative risk of mortality. More recently, the
      Membrane Permeability Outcome (MPO) study found that survival could be
      significantly improved by use hf-HD compared with low-flux dialysis in high-risk
      patients as identified by serum albumin <=4 g/dl and, in a post-hoc analysis, in
      diabetic patients. Online hemodiafiltration (HDF) is reported as the most
      efficient technique of using high-flux membranes. Clearances of small solutes
      like urea are higher than in hemofiltration and of middle solutes like beta(2)
      microglobulin are higher than in hf-HD. As the number of randomized prospective
      trials comparing HDF and hf-HD is still very limited, no conclusive data are
      available concerning the effect of increased convection of online HDF on survival
      and morbidity in CKD5D patients. A large, randomized controlled study is needed
      to clinically confirm the theoretical advantages of online HDF.

PMID- 20938122
TI  - Hemodiafiltration: Evolution of a technique towards better dialysis care.
AB  - Technological developments in the fields of membranes, machines and fluids have
      contributed to making hemodiafiltration (HDF) a safe and effective technique.
      Synthetic membranes with combined hydrophilic-hydrophobic structure and reduced
      wall thickness allowed to combine diffusion and convection into a unique
      technique. Accurate volumetric ultrafiltration control systems in dialysis
      machines reduce the risk for fluid balance errors and allow to perform safe and
      efficient online HDF. In fact, modern dialysis machines are equipped with
      specific balancing systems to manage fluid reinfusion and ultrafiltration
      simultaneously. Online preparation of sterile and pyrogen-free solutions for
      infusion is today possible, allowing the safe infusion of large fluid volumes
      during a HDF session. Dedicated software and enhanced user interfaces of modern
      dialysis machines simplify the procedures and reduce both operator workload and
      error. Emerging evidence suggests that these therapies may be superior to classic
      diffusive hemodialysis in terms of morbidity, and perhaps even mortality. There
      is a need for better understanding of the mechanisms involved, as well as further
      confirmation of these encouraging findings with prospective controlled trials.
      Nevertheless, HDF appears a promising therapy that likely will improve patient
      outcomes. Based on these considerations, HDF has the potential to become the new
      gold standard for dialysis in the years to come.

PMID- 20938123
TI  - Optimal therapeutic conditions for online hemodiafiltration.
AB  - The safety of online hemodiafiltration (ol-HDF) relies on very strict rules of
      use. The use of ultrapure water to feed an ol-HDF machine is a basic requirement
      for ol-HDF. Technical aspects and microbial monitoring have been precisely
      described in the European Best Practice Guidelines. Specifically designed and
      certified ol-HDF machines are needed. All these machines share the production of
      substitution fluid by the cold sterilization process of fresh dialysate based on
      ultrafilters. Hygiene handling is a crucial measure to ensure permanent safety of
      the ol-HDF system. Frequent disinfection of the water treatment system and
      dialysis machine, destruction of biofilm by chemical agents and/or thermochemical
      disinfection, change of filters at regular intervals, and maintenance of a
      permanent circulation of water are among the basic measures required to ensure
      ultra-purity of water and dialysis fluid. Optimal performances of ol-HDF require
      the use of high blood flow (300-400 ml/min), highly permeable and adequately
      sized hemodiafilters, a high volume of substitution (5-6 l/h) and high dialysate
      flow (500 ml/min). The site and type of substitution (pre-, post-, mixed, and mid
      dilution) should be customized to each patient according to its blood
      hemorheology and its filtration fraction limitation (transmembrane pressure). All
      attempts should be made to maximize the fluid volume exchange per session
      (convective dose) in any cases. The treatment schedule in terms of session
      duration and weekly frequency need to be adjusted individually to improve
      hemodynamic tolerance, to facilitate correction of fluid overload and to increase
      dialysis dose (for middle-sized solutes) in order to reduce circulating levels of
      major uremic toxins. ol-HDF is the more advanced form of renal replacement
      therapy offering high efficiency over a large spectrum of toxins, high
      biocompatibility profile and high flexible modality. ol-HDF may help to improve
      global care of chronic kidney disease patients and may be considered the renal
      replacement therapy of the future.

PMID- 20938124
TI  - Effect of hemodiafiltration on mortality, inflammation and quality of life.
AB  - Online hemodiafiltration may improve clinical outcome in end-stage kidney
      disease. The supposed mechanism is the improved clearance of uremic toxins by the
      convective transport which is added to the standard diffusive transport. This
      review summarizes the effects of hemodiafiltration on mortality, inflammation and
      health-related quality of life.

PMID- 20938125
TI  - How to prescribe hemodialysis or hemodiafiltration in order to ameliorate
      dialysis-related symptoms and complications.
AB  - The golden target for dialysis therapy should guarantee longer survival and a
      higher quality of life without dialysis-related complications. In order to
      achieve this target, dialysis prescriptions have been modified by increasing the
      efficiency of uremic solute removal and improving biocompatibility of dialysis
      membranes. Chronic dialysis patients frequently complain about uncomfortable
      symptoms such as insomnia, itchy skin, and irritability. Some of these symptoms
      are well known as independent mortality risk factors. Although these symptoms are
      serious problems for the patients, they have not yet been a parameter for
      prescribing a dialysis modality. In our recent experience, dialysis patients had
      preferences or some feelings concerning their dialysis therapy, for example they
      favored dialysis membranes which were composed of polymethylmethacrylate,
      ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer, and polyacrylnitrate (AN69), and also preferred
      predilution online HDF. The common characteristics of these modalities are the
      nutritional advantage, fewer uremic symptoms and a higher survival rate. The
      mechanisms of these favorable effects were supposed to be caused by well-balanced
      removal of small solute and low-molecular-weight protein, and by being free from
      the influence of chemical compositions of dialysis membrane material. The
      patients' preferences were surely proven to have a scientific basis and could be
      a useful parameter to prescribe a dialysis modality.

PMID- 20938126
TI  - Optimizing home dialysis: role of hemodiafiltration.
AB  - Over the last 40 years the technical obstacles which prevented a convective
      contribution to diffusive dialysis have been overcome. Hemodiafiltration
      represents a natural evolution of intermittent extracorporeal blood purification
      and the technology is now available to offer this as standard treatment in
      center. The first randomized control trial of dialysis dose (National Cooperative
      Dialysis Study) showed that for three times weekly dialysis a critical level of
      urea clearance was necessary to ensure complication-free survival, the effect
      being noticeable by 3 months. Following this, observational studies suggested
      that higher doses improved longer term outcome. In a second large randomized
      controlled study (HEMO), higher small molecule clearance did not further improve
      outcome, but high-flux membranes, which permitted enhanced clearance of middle
      molecules, appeared to confer survival benefit in patients who had already been
      on dialysis > 3.7 years. Recently, outcomes from the Membrane Permeability
      Outcome study confirmed a survival benefit of high-flux membranes in high-risk
      patients. These studies indicate that in the medium term survival is critically
      dependent on achieving a minimum level of small solute removal. However, longer
      term survival (measured in years or decades) not only requires better small
      solute clearance but also enhanced clearance of middle molecules, the toxicity of
      which manifest over longer time scales. The rationale for convective treatment is
      strongest, therefore in those patients who have the greatest potential for long
      term survival. Patients who opt for self-care at home to allow frequent dialysis
      generally are constituents of this group. Hemodiafiltration is likely to become
      standard therapy in-center and in the home.

PMID- 20938127
TI  - Quality management of dialysis fluid for online convective therapies.
AB  - Increasing evidence supports use of convective therapies, such as
      hemodiafiltration, to improve outcomes for hemodialysis patients. Maximizing
      convection requires large volumes of substitution solution, which is practical
      only if online technology is used for its preparation. Substitution solution must
      be sterile and non-pyrogenic. Since it is not practical to test solutions
      prepared online for sterility and non-pyrogenicity before use, they must be
      prepared using processes that have been validated to produce solutions of the
      required quality. Preparation of substitution solution begins with treatment of
      municipal water to produce dialysis water, followed by proportioning of that
      water with concentrates to provide dialysis fluid, and ends with sequential
      filtration of the dialysis fluid with bacteria- and endotoxin-retentive filters
      to provide substitution solution. Whether dialysis fluid is prepared centrally or
      using individual dialysis machines, production of sterile, non-pyrogenic
      substitution solution requires maintenance of a hygienic chain from the beginning
      to the end of the fluid-handling pathway. Maintaining the integrity of that
      hygienic chain under routine operating conditions requires a comprehensive
      quality management program involving the design, operation and maintenance of all
      fluid-handling systems and ongoing training of the staff responsible for all
      aspects of their use.

PMID- 20938128
TI  - Biocompatibility of dialysis fluid for online HDF.
AB  - We investigated the effects of online hemodiafiltration (HDF) using acetate-free
      bicarbonate dialysis (AFD) fluid on bioincompatibility as represented by
      inflammatory markers in patients undergoing maintenance hemodialysis therapy and
      compared it with conventional acetate-containing bicarbonate dialysis (ACD)
      fluid. A total of 24 maintenance hemodialysis patients were registered for cross
      over design during the 6-month study period (13 males and 11 females, aged 58.2
      +/- 14.5 years, mean duration of dialysis 10.0 +/- 8.0 years, chronic glomerular
      nephritis in 20 patients, diabetic nephropathy in 2 patients, polycystic kidney
      in 1 patient, and nephrosclerosis in 1 patient). These patients were subjected to
      ACD for the first 3 months followed by AFD fluid for the latter 3 months. Blood
      variables of C-reactive protein and interleukin-6 were determined after each of
      the first and latter 3-month periods. The filters (membrane surface area, raw
      material), the conditions of HDF (blood flow rate, dialysate flow rate, dialysis
      time, dry weight, pre-dilution mode and convective volume) and drug regimen
      including erythrocyte-simulating agent (drug type, dosage) were unchanged
      throughout the cross-over study. There appeared to be significantly higher levels
      of predialysis blood pH and bicarbonate in the AFD phase than in the ACD phase.
      Blood C-reactive protein and interleukin-6 levels were significantly decreased in
      AFD group as compared with those seen in ACD group. From these results, it can be
      suggested that online HDF using AFD fluid contributes to alleviating
      microinflammation, a prognostic factor for bioincompatible events in hemodialysis
      patients.

PMID- 20938129
TI  - Characteristics of central dialysis fluid delivery system and single patient
      dialysis machine for HDF.
AB  - The central dialysis fluid delivery system (CDDS), with which dialysis fluid is
      prepared at a single location and sent to each patient station, was developed as
      a unique system of dialysis in Japan and has been widely used. Maintenance
      hemodialysis using the single patient dialysis machine (SPDM), with which reverse
      osmosis water is first sent to each dialysis unit, and the dialysis fluid is
      prepared and used at each patient station, is used in many areas worldwide other
      than Japan and some Asian regions. Purification of dialysis fluid is essential
      for online hemodiafiltration, and it is possible to achieve the target
      purification level with both CDDS and SPDM by keeping the appropriate procedure.
      It is therefore desirable to understand the characteristics of both systems and
      make a selection based on the scale of the facility and the concept of treatment.

PMID- 20938130
TI  - Fully automated dialysis system for online hemodiafiltration built into the
      central dialysis fluid delivery system.
AB  - The fully automated dialysis system was developed as an improvement over a
      previous patient monitor used in the treatment of hemodialysis, with the aim of
      standardizing and promoting labor-saving in such treatment. This system uses
      backfiltration dialysis fluid to perform priming, blood rinse back and rapid
      fluid replenishment, and causes guiding of blood into the dialyzer by the
      drainage pump for ultrafiltration. This requires that the dialysis fluid used be
      purified to a high level. This paper is a report on the author's experience using
      dialysis fluid maintained at such a high level of purification for the fully
      automated dialysis system with an online hemodiafiltration function built into
      the central dialysis fluid delivery system.

PMID- 20938131
TI  - New uremic toxins - which solutes should be removed?
AB  - Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is characterized by the progressive retention of a
      myriad of compounds, several of which play a role in cardiovascular damage, a
      major cause of mortality in CKD. Over the past years, especially protein-bound
      compounds (e.g. indoxylsulfate and p-cresylsulfate) and/or middle molecules (e.g.
      AGEs, cytokines and dinucleoside polyphosphates) have been identified as some of
      the main toxins involved in vascular lesions affecting endothelial cell,
      leukocyte, platelet and/or vascular smooth muscle cell function in CKD. Many of
      these solutes, however, are difficult to remove by standard dialysis strategies.
      The removal of protein-bound solutes remains limited because only the free
      fraction of the solute is available for, mostly diffusive, removal, while removal
      of the larger middle molecules (mostly larger peptidic compounds) can be obtained
      by increasing dialyzer pore size and by applying convective strategies. In
      addition, new therapeutic strategies pursuing specific removal (e.g. by
      adsorption) and/ or pharmacological neutralization of the molecular impact of the
      responsible compounds are explored, aiming at an improved outcome in CKD
      patients.

PMID- 20938132
TI  - Beta-2-microglobulin as a uremic toxin: the Japanese experience.
AB  - Gejyo and coworkers identified beta(2)-microglobulin (beta(2)-MG) as the major
      constitutional protein of dialysis-related amyloidosis (DRA) a quarter of a
      century ago. Since then, beta(2)-MG has been the most extensively studied low
      molecular weight protein in end-stage renal disease. The onset of DRA may be
      prevented by the use of high-flux dialysis membranes, especially when high-volume
      hemodiafiltration is used in the treatment of uremic patients. Adsorption therapy
      is another choice to improve the removal of beta(2)-MG. There seems to be a
      relative risk reduction in mortality when patients are treated with dialysis
      membranes that have a higher clearance of beta(2)-MG.

PMID- 20938133
TI  - Markers and possible uremic toxins: Japanese experiences.
AB  - Oxidative stress and resultant accumulation of advanced glycation end products
      (AGEs) are closely related to the development of cardiovascular disease, which is
      the major cause of death among end-stage renal disease patients. Several markers
      of oxidative stress, such as malondialdehyde, oxidized low-density lipoprotein,
      AGEs and 8-hydroxyde-oxyguanosine, are significantly elevated in circulating
      blood and/or tissue levels. Vitamin E is one of the scavengers opposed to
      oxidative stress and has been bonded to the dialyzer membrane surface to suppress
      oxidative stress related to hemodialysis itself. Vitamin E-coated dialyzers are
      widely used in Japan and several favorable clinical effects have been reported.
      Improved biocompatibility leads to decreased activation of circulating blood
      cells and these are related to reduced doses of heparin, improvement of anemia,
      and dose reduction in erythropoiesis-stimulating agents. Improvement of the
      cytokine network and immunological system is also suggested. It is expected that
      regression of atherosclerosis and slowed vascular calcification might occur
      parallel with reduction of oxidative stress by vitamin E-coated dialyzer. An
      improvement of endothelial function and dialysis hypotension during dialysis has
      also been reported. In small studies in Japan, improvement of nutritional state,
      insulin resistance and quality of life have been suggested. Although a larger
      scale control study will be needed, hemodialysis with vitamin E-coated membrane
      might become another powerful treatment modality other than hemodiafiltration.

PMID- 20938134
TI  - Biocompatibility of the dialysis membrane.
AB  - Biocompatibility of dialysis membranes can be defined as the sum of specific
      interactions between blood and the dialysis membranes. In the early phase of
      hemodialysis therapy, acute side effects are the main issues for treatments of
      ESRD patients and biocompatibility of dialysis membranes are evaluated from
      aspects of acute reactions. Recently, chronic reactions that are not specifically
      acutely detrimental to the patients are focused for biocompatibility of dialysis
      membranes. These reactions include for example complement activation, contact
      pathway activation, platelet activation, monocyte activation and neutrophil
      activation during the hemodialysis treatments. In this paper, blood-membrane
      inter actions will be emphasized for evaluating the biocompatibility of dialysis
      membranes.

PMID- 20938135
TI  - Choice of dialyzers for HDF.
AB  - Commercial dialyzers were investigated both in vivo and in vitro for a better
      selection of dialyzers for hemodiafiltration (HDF) therapy. In in vivo online
      HDF, since a reduction rate of alpha(1)-microglobulin (alpha(1)-MG) was
      determined by the amount of albumin loss regardless of blood flow rate (Q(B)),
      ultrafiltration rate (Q(F)), and the performance of dialyzer, there is no
      preference for choice of dialyzers to remove alpha(1)-MG except for albumin
      sieving. It was clinically verified that albumin leakage mainly occurred in the
      first 60 min of treatment even in HD with a polysulfone dialyzer. Ultrafiltration
      may be more carefully started in order to reduce albumin loss. In an in vitro
      study, the sieving coefficient for albumin took a peak value at the beginning of
      the experiment in all polysulfone membrane dialyzers, which corresponded well
      with the clinical results stated above. Although polymethylmethacrylate membrane
      dialyzers allowed to penetrate only a limited amount of albumin, they could
      adsorb a bigger amount of albumin than that penetrated. If dialyzers are used
      under high Q(B), post-dilution may be preferred because pre-dilution should
      increase the apparent blood flow rate as well as blood pressure at the inlet. If
      dialyzers are used under relatively low Q(B), either one of two dilution methods
      can be applied; however, with pre-dilution it may be easier to control the loss
      of albumin than with the post-dilution technique. In other words, I would be
      recommended to employ less albumin-leakage dialyzers when a post-dilution HDF is
      performed with a large amount of fluid exchange.

PMID- 20938136
TI  - Estimation of internal filtration flow rate in high-flux dialyzers by Doppler
      ultrasonography.
AB  - Several types of dialyzer with enhanced internal filtration have been introduced
      for clinical application as a means of improving the efficiency of solute
      removal, and the enhanced internal filtration in these dialyzers has increased
      the convective transport of the solute besides the diffusive transport. The
      internal filtration flow rates (Q(IF)) of the dialyzer, however, have never been
      evaluated precisely. In this study, blood flow velocity in a cross-sectional
      plane of a dialyzer was measured by pulse Doppler ultrasonography to evaluate
      Q(IF). An in vitro study using bovine blood was carried out to determine the
      local blood flow velocity profile with a probe slider that enables the probe to
      move in parallel along a dialyzer. A good correlation between observed blood
      velocity (u(B)(0)) and blood flow rate (Q(B)(0)) at the inlet portion of the
      dialyzer was obtained during the in vitro study. Blood flow rate profiles along
      the dialyzer (Q(B)(z)) could be estimated from the product of blood velocity
      u(B)(z) and the total cross-sectional area of the blood flow path (S(B)) of the
      hollow fibers. The maximum internal filtration flow rate value (Q(IF-Max)) was
      estimated as Q(B)(0) - [Q(B)(z)](Min), where [Q(B)(z)](Min) is the minimum value
      of Q(B)(z). The Doppler ultrasonography described in this paper is a useful
      method for bedside monitoring of Q( IF) in several dialyzers, because it is
      noninvasive to the patient and produces reliable data with higher
      reproducibility.

PMID- 20938137
TI  - Management of anemia by convective treatments.
AB  - Anemia secondary to chronic kidney disease is a complex syndrome. Adequate
      dialysis can contribute to its correction by removing small and possibly
      medium/large molecules that may inhibit erythropoiesis. A clear relationship
      among hemoglobin, erythropoiesis stimulating agent (ESA) dose and increase in
      dialysis dose has been pointed out by a number of prospective and retrospective
      studies. Increasing attention has also been paid to the relationship between
      dialysis, increased inflammatory stimulus and ESA response, as dialysate
      contamination and low compatible treatments may increase cytokine production and
      consequently inhibit erythropoiesis. As medium/large molecular weight inhibitors
      can be removed only by more permeable membranes, convective treatment sand,
      particularly, online treatments, could theoretically improve anemia correction by
      two mechanisms: higher removal of medium and large solutes (possibly containing
      bone marrow inhibitors) and reduced microbiological and pyrogenic contamination
      of the dialysate. Unfortunately, available results are conflicting. Large,
      prospective, randomized studies on this topic are still needed.

PMID- 20938138
TI  - Clinical evaluation indices for hemodialysis/hemodiafiltration in Japan.
AB  - Japanese hemodialysis (HD) patients have two remarkable characteristics, that is
      they have a longer period of chronic HD and better clinical outcome than American
      and European HD patients. This might be partly explained by the very low
      prevalence of renal transplantation in Japan. As a result, younger HD patients
      without serious comorbid conditions, whose prognosis should be good, have not
      been transplanted but have been treated by chronic HD therapy for a long period.
      Other potential explanations might be higher prevalence of biocompatible high
      flux membrane dialyzers and lower prevalence of arteriovenous graft in Japan than
      Western countries. Although online hemodiafiltration has potential advantage over
      high-flux HD, the impact of this therapy has not been evident because of its low
      prevalence in chronic dialysis therapy in Japan.

PMID- 20938140
TI  - Who needs acetate-free biofiltration?
AB  - Acetate-free biofiltration (AFB) is a hemodiafiltration (HDF) technique that is
      performed with a base-free dialysate and simultaneous infusion of sodium
      bicarbonate solution. In Japan 3 years ago, a new form of acetate-free dialysate
      containing 2.0 mEq/l citric acid was approved. Recently, we have had a 76-year
      old male subject who switched from AFHD to AFB, mainly because of cardiovascular
      stability. Several factors may contribute to hemodynamic adaptation during AFB.
      One theory is that an increase in peripheral vascular tone and vascular refilling
      rate is caused by the high sodium concentration of the substitution fluid. AFB
      has all the premises for being a perfectly biocompatible technique capable of
      satisfying even the demands of critical patients laden with comorbidities.

PMID- 20938139
TI  - Effect of large-size dialysis membrane and hemofiltration/hemodiafiltration
      methods on long-term dialysis patients.
AB  - Over 2,000 substances have been reported as uremic substances that are
      accumulated or produced due to renal failure that causes various clinical
      symptoms and complications. These substances include many medium to large
      molecular weight (MW) substances such as beta(2)-microglobulin (beta(2)-MG). In
      hemofiltration/hemodiafiltration (HD/HDF) therapy using high-performance membrane
      targeting less albumin loss and removal of beta(2)-MG with a MW of 11,800, many
      cases showed insufficient improvement in the clinical outcome contrary to the
      decrease in serum beta(2)-MG concentration. Focusing on these facts, HD/HDF
      therapy, which associates albumin loss, was implemented targeting the substances
      in the regions whose MWs are larger than beta(2)-MG. HD/HDF therapy with protein
      permeable membrane, compared to the therapy without protein-permeable membrane,
      achieved higher success in the removal of larger MW substances including beta(2)
      MG, cytokine, homocysteine and complement factor D, and higher clinical outcomes
      were reported, such as prevention of development of amyloidosis, anemia,
      osteoarthritis and pruritus, and improvement in life prognosis and
      biocompatibility in Japan. Therefore, in the current circumstances, it is
      essential to administer a treatment that can get as close to the glomerular
      basement membrane as possible, use dialysis membrane to effectively remove a wide
      range of substances, and aim to remove all of the substances accumulated in the
      body of patients with kidney dysfunction.

PMID- 20938141
TI  - Improvement of autonomic nervous regulation by blood purification therapy using
      acetate-free dialysis fluid - clinical evaluation by laser Doppler flowmetry.
AB  - In Japan, acetate-free biofiltration (AFBF) became commercially available in the
      year 2000, and these products have been reported to be clinically effective for
      controlling the decrease of blood pressure during dialysis or various types of
      dialysis intolerance. And more, acetate-free dialysis fluid was made clinically
      available in 2007, acetate-free hemodialysis (AFHD) is expected to inhibit the
      malnutrition-inflammation-atherosclerosis syndrome, improve anemia and the
      nutritional status of patients, stabilize hemodynamics, and reduce inflammation
      and oxidative stress. In a broad sense, AFBF can be classified as
      hemodiafiltration (HDF), and its clinical effects seem to be associated with
      multiple factors, including use of acetate-free dialysis fluid, massive removal
      of low molecular weight proteins by convection, and the sodium concentration of
      the replacement fluid. Therefore, the clinical significance of acetate-free
      dialysis fluid could be demonstrated more clearly by comparing AFHD with
      conventional hemodialysis (conv. HD) using dialysis fluid containing about 10
      mEq/l acetate. Since 2005, we have been investigating the efficacy of various
      modalities of blood purification therapy by continuously monitoring changes of
      tissue blood flow in the lower limbs and earlobes (head) using non-invasive
      continuous monitoring method (NICOMM). In this report, we assess the clinical
      effectiveness of AFHD on the basis of clinical findings and head stability index
      (head SI) obtained by NICOMM, particularly with respect to the influence on
      autonomic regulation. After switching to AFHD from conv. HD, anemia, stored iron
      utilization, and the frequency of treatments for dialysis hypotension and of
      muscle cramps were significantly improved. Further, the head SI was also
      significantly smaller with AFHD than conv. HD. This finding suggests that AFHD
      improved the maintenance of homeostasis by the autonomic nervous regulation
      system. In addition, we could not find clinical features of excessive alkalosis
      during an observation period of about 1 year, even if online HDF using acetate
      free dialysis fluid as the substitution fluid. Our conclusion is that the advent
      of acetate-free dialysis fluid has led to investigations into new clinical
      effectiveness of AFHD or online HDF/HF using ultrapurified acetate-free dialysis
      fluid as the substitution fluid.

PMID- 20938142
TI  - Preservation of residual renal function with HDF.
AB  - Previous studies have shown that the presence of the residual renal function
      (RRF) is associated with a lower mortality risk in hemodialysis (HD) patients. A
      factor promoting a decrease in the RRF has been reported to be dehydration.
      Therefore, we performed HD or online hemodiafiltration (HDF) without water
      removal, in which intravascular dehydration due to water removal during dialysis
      are avoided. We also examined the RRF-maintaining effects of online HDF. Water
      removal-free dialysis study: The subjects were 44 HD patients within 3 months
      after the introduction of dialysis. They were divided into two groups: a group
      undergoing water removal-free dialysis at least for more than 3 months (group A)
      and a group undergoing dialysis with water removal (group B). Group A consisted
      of 28 patients including 5 in whom online HDF was initially introduced. Group B
      consisted of 16 patients on HD with water removal. In each group, the 24-hour
      urine volume was examined. The follow-up period was 36 months. In group A, the
      daily urine volume after 6 months or more was significantly larger. The mean
      water removal-free dialysis period was 18.1 +/- 16.2 months. Study of the effects
      of online HDF on the RRF: The subjects were 49 patients undergoing maintenance
      dialysis. The 24-hour urine volume was measured. We compared an online HDF group
      (n = 37) with a HD group (n = 12). We examined the relationship between the
      duration of dialysis and urine volume. In the HDF group the r value was 0.333 (p
      = 0.044) and in the HD group it was 0.834 (p = 0.007). There was a significant
      difference in the correlation coefficient between the two groups (p = 0.024),
      suggesting that HDF is more useful than HD for maintaining the urine volume for a
      prolonged period. CONCLUSION: The online HDF and dialysis without water removal
      are useful to preserve the RRF.

PMID- 20938143
TI  - Birth of modern psychiatry and the death of alienism: the legacy of Jean-Martin
      Charcot.
AB  - At the time of Jean-Martin Charcot, Paris--the main center for studies on the
      nervous system and its disorders--was home to critical exchanges between the
      developing discipline of neurology and psychiatry. Contrary to the commonly held
      view, and in spite of an established tradition concerning mental diseases,
      emerging neurology had a much stronger influence on psychiatry ('alienism') than
      the reverse. This was largely due to the school built up by Jean-Martin Charcot
      himself, which was organized around the study and management of hysteria.
      Although Charcot always claimed to be uninterested in mental medicine, he
      stimulated the development of an original scientific approach to nervous system
      conditions, based on Claude Bernard's method, along with structured academic
      teaching. Conversely, alienism paradoxically remained stuck in organicism, after
      Antoine Bayle's report in 1822 of 'arachnitis' as the substratum of general
      paresis of the insane. Contrary to alienism, the young neurological school was
      capable of self-criticism, and progressively highlighted mental factors in
      hysteria. This led to the paradox that neurologists were active in a disease with
      no organic cerebral lesion, while alienists were postulating brain lesions in all
      mental disorders. Pushed by Charcot, the academic evolution led to the launch of
      a faculty chair of mental and brain diseases in 1875, which was taken over for
      nearly half a century by his direct pupils Benjamin Ball, Alix Joffroy and
      Gilbert Ballet, who held the position until 1916, supporting the development of
      modern psychiatry in general hospitals, while alienism progressively disappeared
      at the turn of the century.

PMID- 20938144
TI  - Jean-Martin Charcot's house officers at La Salpetriere Hospital.
AB  - From the time he became chef de service at La Salpetriere Hospital in 1866 until
      his death in 1893, Jean-Martin Charcot oversaw 32 house officers. Some of them
      became famous, such as D.M. Bourneville, E. Brissaud, P. Marie and G. Gilles de
      la Tourette. Others are less well known. The fact remains that Charcot knew how
      to surround himself with fine students and leverage their talents in order to
      make the neurological discoveries by which he would become famous throughout the
      world. Here, we present the biographies of H. Soulier (1862), J. Cotard (1865),
      R. Lepine (1867), A. Gombault (1872), A. Pierret (1874), A. Pitres (1876), P.
      Oulmont (1877), G. Guinon (1885), P. Blocq(1887), E. Huet (1888), E. Parmentier
      (1890) and A. Souques(1893). Each of these men with their unique paths and
      interests helped lay the foundations for the birth of neurology at the end of the
      19th century in Paris. As Emile Littre said: 'La science de la Medecine, si elle
      ne veut pas etre rabaissee au rang de metier, doit s'occuper de son histoire et
      soigner les vieux monuments que les temps passes lui ont legues', which could be
      translated as 'to avoid being reduced to a trade, the science of medicine must
      attend to its history and take care of the old monuments handed down by time'.

PMID- 20938145
TI  - The chair of mental and brain diseases: Charcot's pupils--Benjamin Ball, Alix
      Joffroy and Gilbert Ballet.
AB  - Benjamin Ball (1833-1893), Alix Joffroy (1844-1908) and Gilbert Ballet (1853
      1916) were three pupils of the great Charcot (1825-1893). They were successive
      holders of the chair for mental illness and encephalon at its creation in 1877
      until the First World War: Benjamin Ball from 1877 to 1893, Alix Joffroy from
      1893 to 1908, and Gilbert Ballet from 1908 to 1916. After describing the context
      surrounding the creation of this chair and the choice of its representative and
      successors, we will examine their neurological work on the brain derived from a
      method influenced by a current of thought careful to list the symptoms of the
      disease and to look for the anatomical causes in the brain. The renowned 19th
      century French neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot was a huge influence. With their
      acquired experience and progress in the fields of morphology and histology and
      cerebral cortex functioning, they greatly contributed to the evolution of
      neurological, clinical anatomical and psychological-physiological findings--thus
      allowing certain pathologies to be considered as organic diseases rather than
      neurotic symptoms--while all the time recognizing the importance of the cortical
      cell in mental illness.

PMID- 20938146
TI  - Edouard Brissaud, Fulgence Raymond and the succession of Charcot.
AB  - At the time of his death in 1893, Jean-Martin Charcot (1825-1893) had reigned
      supreme over neurology in Paris for some 10 years. The problem of finding a
      successor was not easy to solve, and it was initially agreed that a temporary
      replacement should be found. Edouard Brissaud (1852-1909), one of Charcot's
      students and close associates, was charged with this mission. With the support of
      some of Charcot's other former students, he held the position of chair for
      diseases of the nervous system for 1 year. In theory, there were a number of
      potential successors, but only three were officially declared: Edouard Brissaud,
      Jules Dejerine (1849-1917) and Fulgence Raymond (1844- 1910). Other students of
      Charcot such as Pierre Marie (1853-1940), Alix Joffroy (1844-1908), Joseph
      Babinski (1857-1932) and Georges Gilles de la Tourette (1857-1904) had to
      withdraw their candidature for various reasons. The election culminated in the
      appointment of Fulgence Raymond as Charcot's successor. Although such an
      impossible succession was beyond Raymond, his work in neurology, which is often
      unrecognised, made him one of the most important neurologists of the early 20th
      century.

PMID- 20938147
TI  - Great careers: Cornil, Bouchard, Bourneville and Proust.
AB  - Several French physicians of the 19th century are considered to be the pioneers
      of modern neurology, especially Jean-Martin Charcot. Later, the pupils of Charcot
      -interns at La Salpetriere Hospital in Paris, including Cornil, Bouchard and
      Bourneville--went on to make great contributions to the field of neurology with
      their own discoveries. Specifically, with their mentor, they made the following
      contributions: Bouchard is responsible for first-ever description of cerebral
      hemorrhage pathogenesis; Bourneville arranged for the publication of Charcot's
      works; Cornil demonstrated histological evidence that supported Guillaume
      Duchenne's hypothesis regarding the cause of paralysis in poliomyelitis and he
      made the first diagnosis of chronic childhood arthritis. Besides these
      physicians, Adrien Proust, the father of the novelist Marcel, who had met Charcot
      at the Salpetriere during the early part of his career, was a renowned physician,
      who also contributed greatly to research through his published works on stroke,
      aphasia, hysteria and neurasthenia.

PMID- 20938148
TI  - Keeping the fire burning: Georges Gilles de la Tourette, Paul Richer, Charles
      Fere and Alfred Binet.
AB  - Jean-Martin Charcot (1825-1893) was the one of the world's leading physicians
      during the final third of the 19th century. Rewarded in 1882 with the creation of
      the first chair in the diseases of the nervous system, he was extremely
      successful at recruiting loyal and talented students. Charcot himself never
      produced a general treatise on hysteria, but instead encouraged his pupils to
      write their own books. Here, we describe how the work on hysteria of Georges
      Gilles de la Tourette, Paul Richer, Charles Fere and Alfred Binet was closely
      associated with Charcot, and how they remained faithful to their mentor. We will
      highlight the unusual personality of G. Gilles de la Tourette and the tragic end
      to his life, the exceptional artistic talent of P. Richer (writer and painter of
      his magnificently illustrated thesis), the prolific writing capacity of C. Fere
      (bearing witness to his broad fields of interest) and A. Binet (blessed with an
      extraordinary capacity for work, and author of The Psychology of Reasoning,
      before presenting his metric scale of intelligence).

PMID- 20938149
TI  - Renewing the fire: Joseph Babinski.
AB  - Joseph Babinski (1857-1932), a French neurologist of Polish origin, was a
      physician of the Paris hospitals and member of the Academy of Medicine. Two main
      periods must be distinguished in his scientific activity. Early in his career,
      Babinski, working as an anatomo-pathologist and his tologist under the direction
      of Victor Cornil, Alfred Vulpian and Louis Ranvier, reported on several
      observations of general pathology and neuropathology. After his chief residency
      under Charcot (from 1885 to 1887), Babinski abandoned his previous interests and
      became increasingly involved with hysteria. He thus became a semiologist, eager
      to detect objective neurological signs that would allow the clinician to
      distinguish between organic (due to a lesion) and functional (hysterical)
      illnesses. He is well-known for the discovery of the sign (the toes phenomenon)
      which bears his name. Beyond the sign, his semiological work in the field of
      neurology is also important (particularly cutaneous and osteotendinous reflexes,
      cer-ebellar and vestibular semiology, hysteria and pithiatism, physiopathic
      disorders and also syphilis of the nervous system, tabes, pupillar reflex).
      Several other signs and syndromes bear his name. Unlike Charcot and the majority
      of his fellow neurologists, Babinski was deeply committed to therapeutics. He had
      a determinant role in the birth of the French neurosurgery, especially in guiding
      Thierry de Martel and Clovis Vincent in their choice of career. The personality
      of Joseph Babinski is complex. He was addicted to work, extremely scrupulous and
      a perfectionist. With his beloved brother Henri, who wrote Gastronomie pratique
      under the pen name Ali-Bab, he had formed an exceptional team, within which each
      contributed to the other's professional interests.

PMID- 20938150
TI  - Paul Sollier: the first clinical neuropsychologist.
AB  - Paul Sollier (1861-1933) is perhaps the most unjustly forgotten follower of Jean
      Martin Charcot. He studied with Desire Bourneville, Charcot's second interne, and
      was considered by Leon Daudet as the cleverest collaborator of Charcot, along
      with Joseph Babinski. Charcot assigned him the task of summarizing the theories
      on memory, which led to two major books, in 1892 and 1900, that anticipated
      several contemporary concepts by several decades. In 1905-1906, the novelist
      Marcel Proust spent 6 weeks with Sollier in his sanatorium at Boulogne
      Billancourt, and it is now obvious that several of Proust's ideas on involuntary
      memories which appear inside In Search of Lost Time (published 8 years later) had
      been inspired by Sollier's theories on the 'surge of reminiscences'. Sollier also
      designed the framework which led to the intellectual quotient (IQ) and made
      interesting studies on hysteria and behavioral issues in neurological diseases,
      activities that may make him the first modern clinical neuro psychologist.
      Sollier was also the first to correlate clinical findings with neurophysiological
      concepts, which makes him a precursor of our current approach to neurology and
      psychiatry.

PMID- 20938151
TI  - Pierre Janet, Sigmund Freud and Charcot's psychological and psychiatric legacy.
AB  - A key moment in the history of psychiatry occurred during Charcot's time at La
      Salpetriere. Though his studies on hysteria and hypnotism, the founder of
      neurology inspired the work of two of his alumni: a Viennese Nervenartz and a
      French philosopher interested in the dissociation of personality. Even though
      neither of them was originally an alienist, their respective work allowed the
      field of neurosis--then belonging to internal medicine--to pass to psychiatry.
      The parallel lives of these freres enemis, both of whom were treated differently
      by fame, developed inside a very complex cultural and scientific milieu.
      Therefore, it is necessary to consider them together with other physicians, some
      of whom are much less well-known nowadays, who one way or another carried
      Charcot's influence into psychiatry, psychology and psychotherapy. The fates of
      the Dioscuri have been reversed--the fame and success of Freudian psychoanalysis
      ran parallel to Janet's oblivion and his long 'purgatory', but now the
      'renaissance' of his work coincides with the decline of psychoanalysis as a
      theoretical explanation for mental pathology.

PMID- 20938152
TI  - Jules Bernard Luys in Charcot's penumbra.
AB  - Jules Bernard Luys (1828-1897) is a relatively unknown figure in 19th century
      French neuropsychiatry. Although greatly influenced by Jean-Martin Charcot (1825
      1893), Luys worked in the shadow of the 'master of La Salpetriere' for about a
      quarter of a century. When he arrived at this institution in 1862, he used
      microscopy and photomicrography to identify pathological lesions underlying
      locomotor ataxia and progressive muscular atrophy. He later made substantial
      contributions to our knowledge of normal human brain anatomy, including the
      elucidation of thalamic organization and the discovery of the subthalamic
      nucleus. Luys's name has long been attached to the latter structure (corps de
      Luys), which is at the center of our current thinking about the functional
      organization of basal ganglia and the physiopathology of Parkinson's disease. As
      head of the Maison de sante d'Ivry, Luys developed a highly original view of the
      functional organization of the normal human brain, while improving our
      understanding of the neuropathological and clinical aspects of mental illnesses.
      In 1886, Luys left La Salpetriere and became chief physician at La Charite
      hospital. Following Charcot, whom he considered as the father of scientific
      hypnotism, Luys devoted the last part of his career to hysteria and hypnosis.
      However, Luys ventured too deeply into the minefield of hysteria. He initiated
      experiments as unconventional as the distant action of medication, and became one
      of the most highly caricatured examples of the fascination that hysteria exerted
      upon neurologists as well as laypersons at the end of the 19th century.

PMID- 20938153
TI  - Hysteria after Charcot: back to the future.
AB  - The studies on hysteria and hypnotism probably constitute the most important long
      term work of Jean-Martin Charcot and his school, starting around 1870 until
      Charcot's death in 1893. Desire Bourneville, Charcot's sixth interne at La
      Salpetriere, was probably instrumental in stimulating his mentor's interest in
      hysteria, while Charles Richet's 1875 article on somnambulism was the trigger for
      Charcot to introduce hypnotism into the management of hysterics. Albert Pitres,
      Paul Richer, Georges Gilles de la Tourette, Paul Sollier, Joseph Babinski,
      Sigmund Freud and Pierre Janet became the most famous of Charcot's collaborators
      on hysteria, either as 'guardians of the temple' (Richer, Gilles de la Tourette,
      who defended their mentor's concepts against Hippolyte Bernheim and the Nancy
      school in the dispute during the 1880-1890s), or in renewing the field in
      psychology (Janet and Freud, in the 1890s) or clinical neurology (Babinski in the
      1900s). In 1908, a 'quarrel of hysteria' led several of Charcot's pupils into
      opposition with each other, from which Babinski was considered victorious against
      Charcot's successor Fulgence Raymond, despite the weaknesses of his theory on
      'pithiatism'. During World War I, there was a new surge of interest in hysteria
      associated with war psycho-neuroses, and several students of Charcot became
      actively involved in medical military care (Sollier, Babinski, Gilbert Ballet,
      Achille Souques). Babinski's pupil Clovis Vincent developed a treatment called
      torpillage (torpedoing) against war hysteria, associating painful galvanic
      current discharges with 'persuasion', but this was dismissed after the soldiers,
      considering it as torture, rebelled. After World War I, the neurological and
      psychiatric interest in hysteria again faded away, and this condition largely
      went back to the no-man's land, where it had been before Charcot initiated his
      studies. A comprehensive look at the evolution of ideas on hysteria in the
      followers of Charcot shows that contrary to a common and artificially maintained
      view over the years, the modernity of several of his concepts remains remarkable,
      including: (1) his traumatic theory, which encompassed sexual factors nearly 20
      years before Freud; (2) his evolution towards psychological and emotional issues,
      which opened the way for Janet and Freud, but unfortunately was largely ignored
      by Babinski; (3) his strong claim against Bernheim of the similarity of mental
      states in hypnotism and hysteria, which has recently been confirmed by functional
      magnetic resonance imaging; (4) his 'dynamic lesion' hypothesis, which now
      correlates well with neurophysiological mechanisms also demonstrated by
      functional imaging.

PMID- 20938154
TI  - Jules Joseph Dejerine versus Pierre Marie.
AB  - Pierre Marie was one of Charcot's favorite pupils, and had hoped to succeed his
      great mentor at the Hospice de La Salpetriere as professor of diseases of the
      nervous system. Charcot's friend and collaborator Alfred Vulpian was a senior
      physician at the Hopital Bicetre, a somewhat less prestigious hospital, and Jules
      Dejerine was his student. When Charcot died, Marie was too junior to be even a
      candidate, and Fulgence Raymond won the election in front of Dejerine and
      Brissaud. Dejerine succeeded Raymond in 1910, and Marie had to wait Dejerine's
      death in 1918 to get his position at La Salpetriere. Before World War I, Pierre
      Marie made the localization of aphasia the centerpiece of his personal feud with
      Jules Dejerine. In his extensive research on aphasia, Marie sharply contested the
      generally accepted views of Paul Broca and Carl Wernicke on the localization of
      the speech centre, while Dejerine strongly defended more localizationist views.
      This debate lacked a clear winner, but was fundamental because it questioned the
      relevance of anatomical findings in understanding higher brain function.

PMID- 20938155
TI  - Neurology outside Paris following Charcot.
AB  - The Middle Ages saw the development of numerous universities in the different
      provinces that later became the kingdom of France. In 1794, Napoleon I
      established 3 medical schools in Paris, Montpellier and Strasbourg, which were
      transformed into medical faculties in 1808. France had always been a highly
      centralized country, but during the 19th century, this trend started to change
      with the creation of medical faculties in Nancy (1872), Lille (1877), Lyon
      (1878), Bordeaux (1879), Toulouse (1891), Algiers (1910) and Marseille (1930).
      Following the creation of the 12 foundation courses, specialized chairs were
      progressively established in Paris, but for a long time this remained restricted
      to the French capital. However, with the emergence of medicine as an academic
      discipline in several towns outside Paris, came the development of neurology.
      This was greatly influenced by former students of Jean-Martin Charcot, local
      personalities, and the interactions between the two. Leading figures included
      Albert Pitres in Bordeaux, Leon Ingelrans in Lille, Eugene Devic and Jules
      Froment in Lyon, Lucien Cornil in Marseille, Joseph Grasset in Montpellier, and
      Marcel Riser in Toulouse. The interaction between French and Germanic medical
      communities also developed at this turbulent time under the influence of several
      great physicians such as Wilhelm Waldeyer, Adolf Kussmaul, and later Jean
      Alexandre Barre in Strasbourg, and Hippolyte Bernheim in Nancy. There are a
      number of other university towns outside Paris in which the development of
      neurology was probably influenced by the same interactions with psychiatry. It
      would be worth carrying out a thorough analysis of these towns in order to
      present an exhaustive overview of the development of neurology in France.

PMID- 20938156
TI  - Birth and death of Charcot's scientific journals.
AB  - In this chapter, we present an analytical and critical inventory of Charcot's
      scientific journals. This was undertaken by searching the files at Charcot's
      library at the Salpetriere, the Bibliotheque Nationale de France and a review of
      literature. One can distinguish four kinds of Charcot's scientific journals. (1)
      The journals co-founded by Charcot: the Archives de physiologie normale et
      pathologique founded in 1868, by Brown-Sequard, Charcot and Vulpian with Joffroy
      as vice-director; the Revue de medecine whose founders in 1881 were Bouchard,
      Charcot and Vulpian and the editors Landouzy and Raphael Lepine; the Revuede
      l'hypnotisme experimental et therapeutique founded in 1887 by Charcot among
      others, with Berillon as editor. (2) The journals founded under the direction of
      Charcot: the Iconographie photographique de la Salpetriere, founded in 1877 by
      Bourneville and Regnard; the Archives de Neurologie, Revue des maladies nerveuses
      et mentales founded by Bourneville in 1880; the Archives de medecine
      experimentale et d'anatomie pathologique founded in 1889 by Grancher, Lepine,
      Straus and Joffroy; the Nouvelle Iconographie de la Salpetriere, in 1888 by
      Richer, Gilles de la Tourette and Londe. (3) The journals founded by Charcot's
      followers with his blessing: Le Progres medical by Bourneville in 1873 and the
      Revue neurologique by Brissaud and Pierre Marie in 1893. (4) Another journal
      founded by Charcot's followers: the Archives slaves de neurologie by Mendelssohn
      and Richet. In conclusion, Charcot was neither a journalist nor a true editor,
      but he appreciated his name being well-placed on the cover of the reviews founded
      by his followers.

PMID- 20938158
TI  - Advanced neuroimaging in children with nonaccidental trauma.
AB  - Physical abuse associated with nonaccidental trauma (NAT) affects approximately
      144,000 children per year in the USA and, frequently, these injuries affect the
      developing brain. Most infants with suspected NAT are initially evaluated by
      skull X-rays and computed tomography to determine whether fractures are present,
      the severity of the acute injury and the need for urgent neurosurgical
      intervention. Increasingly, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is conducted as it
      provides additional diagnostic and prognostic information about the extent and
      nature of the injury. In this review, we examine 4 MRI techniques as they apply
      to children who present acutely after NAT. Susceptibility-weighted imaging is a 3
      D high-resolution MRI technique that is more sensitive than conventional imaging
      in detecting hemorrhagic lesions that are often associated with diffuse axonal
      injury (DAI). Magnetic resonance spectroscopy acquires metabolite information
      reflecting neuronal integrity and function from multiple brain regions and
      provides a sensitive, noninvasive assessment of neurochemical alterations that
      offers early prognostic information regarding outcome. Diffusion-weighted imaging
      (DWI) is based on differences in the diffusion of water molecules within the
      brain and has been shown to be very sensitive in the early detection of ischemic
      injury. It is now being used to study the direct effects of traumatic injury as
      well as those due to secondary ischemia. Diffusion tensor imaging is a form of
      DWI and allows better evaluation of white matter fiber tracts by taking advantage
      of the intrinsic directionality (anisotropy) of water diffusion in the human
      brain. It has been shown to be useful in identifying white matter abnormalities
      after DAI when conventional imaging appears normal. Although these imaging
      methods have been studied primarily in adults and children with accidental
      traumatic brain injury, it is clear that they have the potential to provide
      additional value in the imaging and clinical evaluation of children with NAT.

PMID- 20938157
TI  - Dendritic spine alterations in neocortical pyramidal neurons following postnatal
      neuronal Nogo-A knockdown.
AB  - The myelin-associated protein Nogo-A is a well-known inhibitor of axonal
      regeneration and compensatory plasticity, yet functions of neuronal Nogo-A are
      not as clear. The present study examined the effects of decreased levels of
      neuronal Nogo-A on dendritic spines of developing neocortical neurons. Decreased
      Nogo-A levels in these neurons resulted in lowered spine density and an increase
      in filopodial type protrusions. These results suggest a role for neuronal Nogo-A
      in maintaining a spine phenotype in neocortical pyramidal cells.

PMID- 20938159
TI  - Patient perspectives on group benefits and harms in genetic research.
AB  - BACKGROUND: It is unclear how the possible effects of genetic research on
      socially identifiable groups may impact patient willingness to donate biological
      samples for future genetic studies. METHODS: Telephone interviews with patients
      at 5 academic medical centers in the U.S. examined how patients' beliefs about
      benefits and harms to ones racial or ethnic group shape decisions to participate
      in genetic research. RESULTS: Of the 1,113 patients who responded to questions
      about group harms and benefits, 61% of respondents indicated that potential
      benefits to their own racial or ethnic group would be a big or moderate part of
      their decision to donate a sample for genetic research. 63% of black respondents
      and 57% of white respondents indicated that they were 'very' or 'moderately
      concerned' about genetic research findings being used to discriminate against
      people by race or ethnicity. 64% of black and 34% of white respondents reported
      that their willingness to donate a blood sample would be substantially reduced
      due to these concerns. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that a key factor in many
      patients' decisions to donate samples for genetic research is how those studies
      may impact identifiable racial and ethnic groups. Given the importance of these
      considerations to many patients, our study highlights a need to address patients'
      concerns about potential group benefits and harms in the design of future
      research studies and DNA biobanks.

PMID- 20938160
TI  - Association of alveolar nitric oxide levels with pulmonary function and its
      reversibility in stable asthma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Inflammation of peripheral airways is implicated in the
      pathophysiology of severe asthma. However, contributions of peripheral airway
      inflammation to airway caliber/function in patients with stable asthma, including
      those with mild to moderate disease, remain to be confirmed. OBJECTIVES: To
      determine whether peripheral airway inflammation affects airway function in
      patients with asthma. METHODS: In 70 patients with mild to severe asthma,
      alveolar nitric oxide [CANO(TMAD)] levels were examined as a noninvasive
      biomarker of peripheral airway/alveolar inflammation. CANO(TMAD) and maximal
      nitric oxide (NO) flux in the airway compartment, J'awNO, were estimated with a
      model that incorporated trumpet-shaped airways and axial diffusion using exhaled
      NO output at different flow rates. Measures of pulmonary function were then
      assessed by spirometry and an impulse oscillometry system, and their
      bronchodilator reversibility was examined. RESULTS: CANO(TMAD) levels were not
      correlated with pre- or postbronchodilator spirometric values, but were
      significantly associated with prebronchodilator reactance at low frequency (Xrs5)
      (rho = -0.31, p = 0.011), integrated area of low-frequency Xrs (AX) (rho = 0.35,
      p = 0.003) and negative frequency dependence of resistance (Rrs5-Rrs20) (rho =
      0.35, p = 0.004). Furthermore, CANO(TMAD) levels were associated with
      bronchodilator reversibility of FEV(1), FEF(25-75%), Xrs5 and AX (rho = 0.35,
      0.31, -0.24 and -0.31, respectively; p <= 0.05 for all). No variables were
      related to J'awNO. CONCLUSIONS: Elevated CANO(TMAD), but not J'awNO, partly
      reflects reversible airway obstruction originating in the peripheral airway.
      These findings indicate the involvement of peripheral airway inflammation in
      physiological abnormalities in asthma.

PMID- 20938161
TI  - The diagnostic yield and safety of ultrasound-assisted transthoracic fine-needle
      aspiration of drowned lung.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Proximal lung tumors, though not discernable by means of
      transthoracic ultrasound (US), may cause varying degrees of pulmonary collapse
      and postobstructive pneumonitis which may give rise to a 'drowned lung'
      appearance on chest computed tomography (CT) and US. The diagnostic yield for
      malignancy of US-assisted transthoracic fine-needle aspiration (FNA) of these
      areas of drowned lung is unknown. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to explore the feasibility
      of US-assisted FNA in this setting by prospectively investigating its diagnostic
      yield and safety. METHODS: We enrolled 31 patients (aged 59.4 +/- 9.7 years, 17
      males) with central tumors and secondary drowned lung on CT scan. A respiratory
      physician performed transthoracic US to identify the target drowned lung tissue.
      Three US-assisted superficial FNA passes (<=20 mm from the pleura) were followed
      by 3 deeper FNA passes (>20 mm) aimed in the direction of a visible or
      approximated central mass. Rapid on-site evaluation of specimens was used.
      RESULTS: Superficial FNA was diagnostic in 11 patients (35.5%), whereas deeper
      FNA was diagnostic in 23 patients (74.2%, p = 0.002). Deeper FNA confirmed
      malignancy in all cases with diagnostic superficial FNA. We observed no
      pneumothoraces or major hemorrhage. All patients were ultimately diagnosed with
      malignancy (bronchogenic carcinoma, n = 30; lymphoma, n = 1). CONCLUSIONS: US
      assisted FNA of drowned lung has an acceptable diagnostic yield and is safe.

PMID- 20938162
TI  - Mild clinical phenotype of Kindler syndrome associated with late diagnosis and
      skin cancer.
AB  - Kindler syndrome (KS) is a heritable skin disorder with a complex phenotype
      consisting of congenital skin blistering, photosensitivity, progressive
      generalized poikiloderma and extensive skin atrophy. Here we describe 2 siblings
      with KS, who are, to the best of our knowledge, the oldest patients reported so
      far in the literature. The diagnosis was established in their seventh and eighth
      decades of life, and confirmed by mutation analysis. Both patients were
      homozygous for the recurrent FERMT1 mutation, c.328C->T, p.R110X. Because of a
      relatively mild course of the disease, mucosal membranes in the eyes and
      oesophagus being predominantly affected in recent years, they had been treated
      under other diagnoses, such as scleroderma. Cutaneous precancerous lesions and
      epithelial skin cancer arose in both siblings after the age of 50 years and were
      treated in an early stage. Taken together, we describe the natural course of KS,
      the morphological abnormalities occurring in the skin of older KS patients, we
      discuss the differential diagnosis and the association between KS and squamous
      cell carcinoma.

PMID- 20938163
TI  - An asymptomatic patient with severe airway obstruction.

PMID- 20938164
TI  - 19p13.3 aberrations are associated with dysmorphic features and deviant
      psychomotor development.
AB  - Here, we describe 2 patients with de novo genomic imbalances of 19p13.3. Using
      high-resolution microarray analysis, we detected a 1.25-Mb deletion in one
      patient and a 0.81- Mb duplication in another. The resulting phenotypes are quite
      different; one is a 2-year-old boy with macrocephaly and normal growth, while the
      other is a 9-year-old boy with microcephaly and growth retardation since birth.
      Both have dysmorphic features and psychomotor developmental delay. This report
      gives evidence of the effect of small aberrations of chromosome 19 and describes
      the phenotypes arising from a duplication and deletion of the same location at
      19p13.3.

PMID- 20938165
TI  - Characterization and genomic organization of PERI, a repetitive DNA in the
      Drosophila buzzatii cluster related to DINE-1 transposable elements and highly
      abundant in the sex chromosomes.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: Transposable elements (TEs) are dynamic components of eukaryotic
      genomes. We aimed to characterize TEs to help elucidate their impact on the
      genomic architecture, diversity and evolution of chromosomes in the D. buzzatii
      cluster of species (repleta group). METHODS: A full TE element of D. buzzatii,
      named PERI, was identified in a BAC clone available in GenBank. PERI was further
      analysed using bioinformatics tools, PCR and in-situ hybridization to metaphase
      chromosomes and DNA fibers. RESULTS: PERI shares several structures in common
      with DINE-1, an abundant TE found widespread along the Drosophila genus. The
      central region of PERI is very dynamic but revealed a disrupted pattern of
      nucleotide variability among its internal tandem repeats. The minimal sequence
      variation in D. serido suggests recent amplification. PERI accumulates near or at
      heterochromatic regions of all 6 pairs of chromosomes, especially on the sex
      chromosomes, with some clustering. CONCLUSIONS: PERI is an abundant type of DINE
      1 transposon but with characteristic sequence signatures and probably restricted
      to the buzzatii complex. The conservation of different central domains and
      association with genes suggests selective constraints. Although at or near
      heterochromatin, the distribution of PERI does not overlap with satDNAs, probably
      a consequence of functional or molecular constraints.

PMID- 20938166
TI  - Effects of estrogen on beta-amyloid-induced cholinergic cell death in the nucleus
      basalis magnocellularis.
AB  - Alzheimer disease is characterized by accumulation of beta-amyloid (Abeta) and
      cognitive dysfunctions linked to early loss of cholinergic neurons. As estrogen
      based hormone replacement therapy has beneficial effects on cognition of demented
      patients, and it may prevent memory impairments, we investigated the effect of
      estrogen-pretreatment on Abeta-induced cholinergic neurodegeneration in the
      nucleus basalis magnocellularis (NBM). We tested which Abeta species induces the
      more pronounced cholinotoxic effect in vivo. We injected different Abeta
      assemblies in the NBM of mice, and measured cholinergic cell and cortical fiber
      loss. Spherical Abeta oligomers had the most toxic effect. Pretreatment of
      ovariectomized mice with estrogen before Abeta injection decreased cholinergic
      neuron loss and partly prevented fiber degeneration. By using proteomics, we
      searched for proteins involved in estrogen-mediated protection and in Abeta
      toxicity 24 h following injection. The change in expression of, e.g., DJ-1, NADH
      ubiquinone oxidoreductase, ATP synthase, phosphatidylethanolamine-binding protein
      1, protein phosphatase 2A and dimethylarginine dimethylaminohydrolase 1 support
      our hypothesis that Abeta induces mitochondrial dysfunction, decreases MAPK
      signaling, and increases NOS activation in NBM. On the other hand, altered
      expression of, e.g., MAP kinase kinase 1 and 2, protein phosphatase 1 and 2A by
      Abeta might increase MAPK suppression and NOS signaling in the cortical target
      area. Estrogen pretreatment reversed most of the changes in the proteome in both
      areas. Our experiments suggest that regulation of the MAPK pathway, mitochondrial
      pH and NO production may all contribute to Abeta toxicity, and their regulation
      can be prevented partly by estrogen pretreatment.

PMID- 20938167
TI  - Treatment of acute lung injury: time to think outside the box?

PMID- 20938168
TI  - High prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection in Greek patients with
      myelodysplastic syndromes.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS/METHODS: To determine the frequency of Helicobacter pylori
      infection (Hp-I) in 73 patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and 40
      controls, serologic analyses of Hp and 13C-urease breath tests (INFAI) were
      performed. Gastric mucosal biopsy specimens were obtained to determine the
      presence of Hp-I using a rapid urease test, i.e. the Campylobacter-like organism
      (CLO) test, and cresyl violet staining. Peripheral blood (PB) flow cytometry for
      CD3, CD4, CD8, CD14, CD19 and CD34 was conducted in 35 patients and in controls.
      RESULTS: Hp-I was detected by: (a) serology in 75.34% of patients (p = 0.000),
      (b) INFAI in 57.69% of patients, (c) CLO in 60.71% of patients and (d)
      histological confirmation in 80.36% of patients (p = 0.001). No correlation
      between Hp-I and CD3, CD4, CD8, CD14, CD19 expression, leukemic transformation or
      death was observed. However, in 20 cases, significant variation in the PB
      lymphocytic proportion possibly attributable to Hp-I was ascertained, in contrast
      to the expected MDS ratio. CONCLUSION: Although there is no evidence for a causal
      relationship between Hp-I and MDS, the increased prevalence of Hp-I among the MDS
      patients is an interesting finding that deserves further investigation as it may
      indicate a common factor causing susceptibilities to both MDS and Hp-I or that Hp
      might influence the pathophysiology of MDS.

PMID- 20938169
TI  - Clofarabine-based regimen as useful bridge therapy for allogeneic transplantation
      in myeloid blast crisis of Philadelphia-positive chronic myeloid leukemia
      resistant to imatinib and dasatinib.

PMID- 20938170
TI  - Sorafenib treatment in 13 patients with acute myeloid leukemia and activating
      FLT3 mutations in combination with chemotherapy or as monotherapy.

PMID- 20938171
TI  - Prevalence of the JAK2 V617F and MPL mutations in stroke, abdominal and
      peripheral venous thrombosis.

PMID- 20938172
TI  - beta-globin gene cluster haplotypes in a cohort of 221 children with sickle cell
      anemia or Sbeta0-thalassemia and their association with clinical and
      hematological features.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: beta(S)-Haplotype prevalence and its associations with clinical
      and hematological characteristics were assessed in Brazilian children with sickle
      cell anemia or Sbeta0-thalassemia. METHODS: A retrospective randomized cohort
      study was undertaken with 208 SS and 13 Sbeta0-thalassemia children derived from
      the Newborn Screening Program of the state of Minas Gerais. beta(S)-Haplotypes
      were determined by PCR-RFLP. RESULTS: Thirty-nine percent of the SS subjects had
      the CAR/CAR genotype, 33% had CAR/Ben, 24% had Ben/Ben, 1% had CAR/Atp, 1% had
      Ben/Atp, and 1% had Arab-Indian/Ben; 1% could not be characterized. Of the Sbeta0
      thalassemia children, 5 were CAR/undefined, 2 were Ben/undefined, and 1 was
      CAM/undefined. There was no significant association between beta(S)-haplotypes
      and the total Hb, Hb F, MCV, MCH, WBC, and reticulocyte count among the SS
      children. Likewise, no significant association was detected between beta(S)
      haplotypes and the frequency of acute chest syndrome episodes, blood
      transfusions, splenic sequestration, or cerebrovascular disease (high
      risk/conditional transcranial Doppler ultrasonography or clinical stroke). A
      limited number of Sbeta0-thalassemia children precluded valid analyses.
      CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of beta(S)-haplotypes in this study is in agreement
      with the historical records of African slaves brought to the state of Minas
      Gerais. Furthermore, beta(S)-haplotypes CAR and Ben were not associated with any
      analyzed feature of children with sickle cell anemia.

PMID- 20938173
TI  - Serum cytokine profiles at the onset of severe, diffuse alveolar hemorrhage
      complicating allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, treated
      successfully with pulse intravenous cyclophosphamide.
AB  - A 59-year-old man with lymphoma-type adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma was admitted
      to hospital for treatment of a skin relapse on day 398 after allogeneic
      hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT). To induce a graft-versus
      adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma effect, we discontinued methylprednisolone and
      tacrolimus. About a month after the discontinuation, he developed grade II acute
      graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) with a high fever. Soon after the development of
      GVHD, all the skin lesions regressed in size and finally vanished. However, he
      developed diffuse alveolar hemorrhage (DAH), which was resistant to high-dose
      corticosteroid therapy. He was intubated for respiratory insufficiency on day
      451. Cyclophosphamide pulse therapy was administered at a dose of 1 g per day for
      2 days and his oxygen saturation then improved, and ventilatory support was
      released on day 465. On analysis of cytokine profiles at the onset of DAH, we
      found elevated serum levels of T-helper 2 cytokines as well as T-helper 1
      cytokines, suggesting that both T-helper 1 and T-helper 2 cytokines might play a
      role in the occurrence of DAH following allo-HSCT. Pulse cyclophosphamide
      treatment might be very effective in suppressing the exaggerated allogeneic
      immune response in DAH.

PMID- 20938174
TI  - Decreased susceptibility to azithromycin and doxycycline in clinical isolates of
      Chlamydia trachomatis obtained from recurrently infected female patients in
      India.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Recurrent genital Chlamydia trachomatis infection often results in
      serious sequelae and has a major impact on reproductive health. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: Recurrent infections were determined in symptomatic female patients. In
      vitro susceptibility assay was performed for azithromycin and doxycycline using
      the cell culture technique against 21 clinical isolates obtained from C.
      trachomatis-positive patients including those who were recurrently infected.
      RESULTS: Thirteen isolates (61.9%) were found to be susceptible to azithromycin
      and doxycycline with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values <=0.125 and
      <=0.25 MUg/ml, respectively. Eight isolates (38%) were found to be less
      susceptible to the drugs. Two of them had MICs of 8 MUg/ml for both the drugs and
      could not be completely eradicated as observed by minimum bactericidal
      concentration assay. CONCLUSIONS: Decreased antibiotic susceptibility to the
      current first-line drugs (azithromycin and doxycycline) for chlamydial infection
      treatment was observed in isolates obtained from recurrently infected patients.

PMID- 20938175
TI  - A phase II study of antofloxacin hydrochloride, a novel fluoroquinolone, for the
      treatment of acute bacterial infections.
AB  - AIMS: To evaluate the clinical and bacterial efficacies and the safety of
      antofloxacin hydrochloride tablets in the treatment of acute exacerbations of
      chronic bronchitis (AECB) and acute pyelonephritis (AP). PATIENTS AND METHODS: A
      randomized, controlled, multicenter, double-blind, double-dummy clinical trial
      was conducted at 6 hospitals in China. The patients in the investigational group
      took an oral 400-mg loading dose of antofloxacin on the first day followed by 200
      mg daily. Control group patients took 200 mg of levofloxacin orally twice daily
      for 7-14 days. RESULTS: A total of 284 patients were enrolled into the study,
      including 140 cases of AECB and 144 cases of AP; 141 patients were in the
      antofloxacin group and 143 patients were in the levofloxacin group. Two hundred
      fifty-four patients completed the entire treatment and follow-up and comprised
      the per-protocol analysis data set; 30 patients were excluded because of informed
      consent withdrawal, loss to follow-up, protocol violations, or adverse drug
      events. Treatment was ceased in 3 patients in the antofloxacin group and in 1
      patient in the levofloxacin group because of skin rashes, dizziness, or adverse
      gastrointestinal effects. At the end of the 2-regimen treatment, the observed
      effectiveness rates for AECB were 90.3 and 87.7% for the treatment and control
      groups, respectively, and 96.9 and 92.1% for AP. The overall bacterial
      eradication rates were 95.9 and 92.4%, and drug-related adverse events were
      observed in 13.1 and 10.1% of patients, respectively. There were no severe
      adverse effects. No statistical differences in drug efficacy and safety were
      detected between the 2 treatment groups (p > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Antofloxacin
      hydrochloride is an effective and well-tolerated new fluoroquinolone that
      demonstrates clinical and bacteriological efficacies similar to levofloxacin for
      the treatment of AECB and AP.

PMID- 20938177
TI  - Reduced precuneus deactivation during object naming in patients with mild
      cognitive impairment, Alzheimer's disease, and frontotemporal lobar degeneration.
AB  - The precuneus is part of the default network of the human brain, which exhibits a
      high level of activity during the resting state and lower activity during task
      related behavior. Typically, the posterior midline areas show this characteristic
      response in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies. In Alzheimer's
      disease (AD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI), subjects exhibit a lack of this
      typical deactivation. The interpretation of these findings, however, is
      obfuscated by the presence of local pathology and atrophy in AD. In contrast to
      AD, in patients with early frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD), the
      precuneus is virtually free of local neuropathology. In this study, we
      demonstrate reduced fMRI signal in the precuneus in a group of patients with FTLD
      during a confrontation naming task. We show that this effect in FTLD patients was
      (1) similar to that observed in AD and MCI and (2) not related to the degree of
      gray matter atrophy in the precuneus. We hypothesize that reduced deactivation of
      the default network is not related to local pathology but to a lack of
      connectivity, which decreases in both FTLD and AD, the major cortical dementias.

PMID- 20938176
TI  - The effects of isolated versus multiple lipid disorders on resource utilization
      among metabolic syndrome patients with lipid abnormalities despite Lipid
      modifying treatment.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to compare resource utilization among
      metabolic syndrome (MetS) patients with multiple (>= 2) lipid disorders (MLD)
      versus isolated (any 1) lipid disorder (ILD). METHODS: Data for MetS patients on
      lipid-modifying therapy (LMT) were collected from the 2006 Adelphi Metabolic
      Syndrome Disease Specific Programme((c)) cross-sectional study of patients from 5
      European countries. The presence of MetS and lipid disorders, including elevated
      low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and triglycerides (TG), and low high
      density lipoprotein (HDL-C), were based on the National Cholesterol Education
      Program definitions. Analyses compared primary care physician (PCP) and
      specialist visits over the past 6 months among ILD versus MLD patients. RESULTS:
      Among 4,836 MetS patients, 2,843 had >= 1 lipid disorders and were on LMT.
      Controlling for other risk factors, MLD patients had significantly higher
      physician visits than those with ILD (p = 0.009), but hospitalizations were not
      significantly different. Patients experiencing all 3 lipid disorders had
      significantly more endocrinologist visits (p = 0.002) as compared with ILD
      patients, while patients with elevated LDL-C and abnormal HDL-C and/or TG
      compared with isolated elevated LDL-C had significantly more PCP (p = 0.001) and
      cardiologist visits (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Among MetS patients on LMT, presence
      of MLD resulted in significantly higher PCP and specialist visits compared with
      ILD.

PMID- 20938178
TI  - Baseline predictors of clinical progression among patients with dysexecutive mild
      cognitive impairment.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: There are few studies that evaluate the clinical outcomes of
      individuals with non-amnestic mild cognitive impairment (MCI). The purpose of
      this study was to evaluate baseline predictors of clinical progression after 2
      years for patients with dysexecutive MCI (dMCI), a single-domain non-amnestic MCI
      subgroup. METHODS: We evaluated clinical progression in a sample of 31 older
      adults with dMCI. Clinical progression was defined as a worsening on the Clinical
      Dementia Rating sum of boxes at the 2-year visit, whereas patients were
      classified as stable if the score did not worsen over 2 years. We compared
      baseline brain MRI, neuropsychological tests, and health risk factors. RESULTS:
      Twelve individuals with dMCI progressed clinically, and 19 individuals remained
      stable over 2 years. Compared to the stable dMCI patients, the dMCI patients who
      progressed showed brain atrophy in the bilateral insula and left lateral temporal
      lobe on MRI. dMCI patients who progressed were also older, had lower baseline
      performance on category fluency and a spatial location task, and reported fewer
      dysexecutive symptoms. Health risk factors, except hypertension, did not differ
      between groups. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that dMCI patients who progress
      relatively quickly over 2 years may have unique clinical and brain MRI features.

PMID- 20938179
TI  - Review of dairy consumption and cognitive performance in adults: findings and
      methodological issues.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Diet is a modifiable factor that could be targeted as an appropriate
      intervention to optimise cognitive health and well-being in ageing. AIM: The aim
      of this systematic review was to consider current evidence for an association
      between dairy intake and cognitive functioning. METHODS: Searches of the
      electronic databases Medline, Embase, Web of Science, CINAHL, and PsychInfo were
      undertaken to identify peer-reviewed journal articles that reported on
      associations between dairy consumption and cognitive outcomes. RESULTS: Three
      cross-sectional and 5 prospective studies were identified. Poorer cognitive
      function and an increased risk for vascular dementia were found to be associated
      with a lower consumption of milk or dairy products. However, the consumption of
      whole-fat dairy products may be associated with cognitive decline in the elderly.
      CONCLUSION: Methodological variability and study limitations do not enable
      conclusions regarding optimal dairy intake and cognitive performance to be drawn.
      Randomised controlled trials are needed to confirm the relationship between dairy
      intake and cognition.

PMID- 20938180
TI  - Evaluation of surgical outcome scores according to ISGPS definitions in patients
      undergoing pancreatic resection.
AB  - AIMS: To evaluate the role of the Physiological and Operative Severity Score for
      the enUmeration of Mortality and Morbidity (POSSUM), the Portsmouth variant (p
      POSSUM) and the Glasgow Prognostic Score (GPS) in predicting outcome after
      pancreatic surgery with reference to the International Study Group of Pancreatic
      Surgery (ISGPS) definitions of post-pancreatectomy complications. METHODS: All
      consecutive patients undergoing major pancreatic resection over a 32- month
      period were included. POSSUM, p-POSSUM and GPS score were calculated for each
      patient and correlated against the observed mortality and morbidity using the
      ISGPS definitions. RESULTS: The observed:expected ratios for POSSUM mortality,
      POSSUM morbidity and p-POSSUM mortality were 0.24 (p < 0.0001), 0.86 (p < 0.0001)
      and 0.79 (p = 0.09), respectively. POSSUM had a 'poor fit' with respect to
      predicting morbidity (chi(2) = 16.4, 8 d.f., p = 0.04). Multifactorial regression
      analysis revealed the GPS as an independent predictor of post-operative outcome
      (GPS 1, p = 0.03, OR 2.99, 95% CI 1.4-7.9, and GPS 2, p = 0.02, OR 4.3, 95% CI
      1.8-15.5). CONCLUSION: POSSUM has a limited role as an outcome score in
      pancreatic resection. The GPS may be a novel alternative to POSSUM as a pre
      operative predictor of outcome.

PMID- 20938181
TI  - Which treatment to choose for portal biliopathy with extensive portal thrombosis?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Portal biliopathy refers to abnormalities of the biliary tract
      developing in relation to portal hypertension. Portosystemic splenorenal or
      mesenterico-caval shunting is a safe and effective method to relieve biliary
      obstruction in symptomatic patients but is unfeasible in cases of extensive
      thrombosis of the splenic and superior mesenteric veins. In such cases, a
      makeshift portosystemic shunt between a suitable portal varix and the caval
      system can be an interesting alternative. METHODS: This study describes 3
      patients admitted for symptomatic portal biliopathy caused by idiopathic portal
      cavernoma associated with extensive portal thrombosis. A makeshift portosystemic
      shunt was carried out after preoperative portal imaging had demonstrated the
      presence of a suitable splanchnic varix. RESULTS: The makeshift portosystemic
      shunt was performed by direct anastomosis in 2 patients and by prosthetic
      interposition in 1 case. Shunting was between a splanchnic varix and the inferior
      vena cava in 2 cases and the left renal vein in 1 case. Postoperative morbidity
      was nil and follow-up ranging from 2 to 12 years showed good results with no
      recurrence of biliary obstruction. CONCLUSION: In patients presenting symptomatic
      portal biliopathy associated with extensive thrombosis of the portal system, a
      makeshift portosystemic shunt is preferable to repeated endoscopic procedures or
      intrahepatic biliodigestive bypass, provided that a suitable varix is available.

PMID- 20938182
TI  - Laparoscopic and open cholecystectomy in surgical training.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Open cholecystectomy (OC) may still be necessary in surgical training
      to perform safe conversions of laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC). Our aim was to
      study the outcome of LCs and OCs performed by surgical trainees. METHODS: All
      consecutive cholecystectomies (1,581 LCs and 984 OCs) were retrospectively
      analyzed from 1995 until 2008. Operative complications were compared between the
      cholecystectomies performed by 20 trainees alone (n = 822), assisted operations
      (n = 754, trainees/specialist surgeons) and 9 specialists alone (n = 989).
      RESULTS: Surgical trainees performed 787 (50%) LCs and 789 (80%) OCs either alone
      or assisted. The conversion rate of LC for trainees and specialist surgeons were
      34 (7.0%) and 44 (5.5%), respectively. Complication rates and mortality were
      similar between the trainees and specialist surgeons. No bile duct injuries were
      associated with LCs or OCs performed by trainees alone. LCs were associated with
      9 (0.57%) cases of bile leakage from cystic stump and 2 (0.13%) other bile duct
      injuries. CONCLUSION: Surgical trainees performed over half of our
      cholecystectomies with good results. The patient selection for LC versus OC was
      good, because no total transection of the common bile duct was observed in over
      1,500 LC operations.

PMID- 20938183
TI  - Reversal of Hartmann's procedure after perforated diverticulitis through the
      stomal side without additional incisions: the SIR procedure.
AB  - AIMS: Reversal of Hartmann's procedure (HP) is a complex operation and only
      performed in 50-60% of the patients. Stomal incision reversal (SIR), a new
      minimally invasive procedure for HP reversal, was assessed and compared to the
      standard surgical approach. METHODS: 16 patients who had undergone HP for
      perforated diverticulitis underwent HP reversal by SIR. The only incision in SIR
      is the one to release the end colostomy. Intra-abdominal adhesiolysis is done
      manually. A stapled end-to-end colorectal anastomosis is created. The 16 patients
      who underwent SIR were compared with 32 control patients who were matched
      according to gender, age, American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA)
      classification and Hinchey stage. RESULTS: The operation time was shorter after
      SIR than after reversal by laparotomy [75 min (58-208) vs. 141 min (85-276); p <
      0.001]. Patients after SIR had a shorter hospital stay than patients after
      laparotomy [4 days (2-22) vs. 9 days (4-64); p < 0.001]. The numbers of total
      postoperative surgical complications (early and late) were not different (p =
      0.13). The anastomotic leakage rate was similar in both groups (6%). The
      conversion rate in the SIR group was 19% (n = 3). CONCLUSION: SIR compared
      favorably with HP reversal by laparotomy in terms of operation time and hospital
      stay, without increasing the number of postoperative complications.

PMID- 20938184
TI  - Outcome of 232 morbidly obese patients treated with laparoscopic adjustable
      gastric banding between 1995-2003.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB) is widely used for the
      treatment of morbidly obese patients. We prospectively evaluated the effect of
      LAGB since 1995. METHODS: Between March 1995 and August 2003, 232 morbidly obese
      patients underwent LAGB. The pars flaccida technique was used in the majority of
      the patients. Data were prospectively collected. RESULTS: The median age was 35
      years and 93% were female. Initial median body weight was 129 kg with a median
      BMI of 46. After 5 years of follow-up, median BMI decreased to 36 and the median
      body weight decreased to 98 kg. Median excess weight loss was 37% after 1 year,
      42% after 3 years and 42% after 5 years of follow-up. Late postoperative
      complications were pouch dilatation (n = 33), port revision (n = 19), erosion (n
      = 4) and necrosis (n = 1). CONCLUSION: LAGB is a safe and successful treatment
      for patients with morbid obesity. Maximal weight reduction is achieved within 12
      months and remains stable up to at least 5 years. These results suggest that LAGB
      could have a positive outcome on morbid obesity-associated morbidity and overall
      life expectancy.

PMID- 20938185
TI  - Temporary end ileostomy with subcutaneously buried efferent limb: results and
      potential advantages.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the results of a modified technique of creating a
      defunctioning end ileostomy. METHODS: Medical records of all consecutive patients
      with a defunctioning end ileostomy with buried efferent limb operated at our
      hospital between January 2000 and December 2007 were reviewed. The defunctioning
      end ileostomy with buried efferent limb is created by closing the distal limb and
      positioning it in the subcutis. Parameters studied were: stomal and reversal
      related complications. RESULTS: 66 patients were included. Between construction
      and closure of the stoma, a total of 21 patients (31.8%) developed stoma-related
      complications. In 1 patient (1.5%) high output occurred, in 6 (9%) stomal
      retraction and in 4 (6.1%) a parastomal hernia occurred. Peristomal skin problems
      were observed in 14 patients (21.2%) in the early postoperative period,
      decreasing to 6 patients (9.1%) after 3 weeks. In 1 patient, stoma closure could
      not be performed through a local approach and formal laparotomy was necessary.
      Complications of loop ileostomy as reported in the literature show relatively
      high rates of peristomal skin and leakage problems. CONCLUSIONS: Our results
      suggest that end ileostomy with subcutaneous buried efferent limb offers
      advantages over loop ileostomy with regard to the risk of developing peristomal
      skin and leakage problems.

PMID- 20938186
TI  - Sex hormone receptors in vocal fold tissue: a theory about the influence of sex
      hormones in the larynx.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The larynx is considered a secondary sexual organ. To demonstrate that
      sex hormones can directly influence laryngeal function, specific receptors in the
      vocal cord must be identified. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We searched for estrogen,
      progesterone and androgen receptors, using an immunohistochemical method, in
      normal human vocal cords (from 3 cadavers) and in samples of healthy vocal cords
      and of laryngeal carcinomas from 15 live subjects. Breast and prostate carcinoma
      were used as controls. RESULTS: In all the normal samples tested, the results
      were negative; there was only a nonspecific cytoplasmatic response in the
      subepithelial glands (false positives). In the neoplastic tissue, 2 samples had a
      weak nuclear focal positivity for estrogen and progesterone receptors; all 15
      subjects studied were negative for androgen receptors. CONCLUSIONS: Since our
      data show that sex hormone receptors are absent in the vocal cords, other
      theories must be considered to explain the fact that hormones influence the
      quality of the voice. This study discusses the possibility that the changes of
      voice according to gender and throughout life might be linked with a different
      expression of some growth factors in the laryngeal tissue and that this
      expression might in turn be influenced by hormonal variations.

PMID- 20938187
TI  - Comparison of subjective assessment of voice disorders and objective voice
      measurement.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Apart from perceptual and acoustic parameters of a voice disorder,
      the patient's individual concerns are important because dysphonia can lead to
      relevant mental and physical stress. The purpose of our study was to analyze the
      relationship between patients' self-assessed concerns over different voice
      disorders and objective acoustic parameters of their voice. METHODS: The Voice
      Handicap Index 12 (VHI-12) and the Gottingen Hoarseness Diagram (GHD) were
      evaluated in 226 patients with voice disorders. Individual VHI-12 items were
      correlated with the parameters of acoustic sound analysis. RESULT: The
      frequencies of items classified as negative voice experiences ranked one to
      three. Patients with unilateral vocal fold paralysis were most affected by their
      voice disorder. Partially significant Pearson's correlations were found between
      the VHI-12 items and the acoustic parameters from the GHD. DISCUSSION: The
      results of our studies show that voice disorders are very impairing to the
      affected patients and that vocalizing was rated as particularly strenuous.
      However, self-assessment and sound analysis provide different information about
      voice function. Both findings have an important role in comprehensive voice
      diagnostics.

PMID- 20938188
TI  - Vowel selection and its effects on perturbation and nonlinear dynamic measures.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Acoustic analysis of voice is typically conducted on recordings of
      sustained vowel phonation. This study applied perturbation and nonlinear dynamic
      analyses to the vowels /a/, /i/, and /u/ in order to determine vowel selection
      effects on analysis. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Forty subjects (20 males and 20
      females) with normal voices participated in recording. Traditional parameters of
      fundamental frequency, signal-to-noise ratio, percent jitter, and percent shimmer
      were calculated for the signals using CSpeech. Nonlinear dynamic parameters of
      correlation dimension and second-order entropy were also calculated. RESULTS:
      Perturbation analysis results were largely incongruous in this study and in
      previous research. Fundamental frequency results corroborated previous work,
      indicating higher fundamental frequency for /i/ and /u/ and lower fundamental
      frequency for /a/. Signal-to-noise ratio results showed that /i/ and /u/ have
      greater harmonic levels than /a/. Results of nonlinear dynamic analysis suggested
      that more complex activity may be evident in /a/ than in /i/ or /u/. CONCLUSION:
      Percent jitter and percent shimmer may not be useful for description of acoustic
      differences between vowels. Fundamental frequency, signal-to-noise ratio, and
      nonlinear dynamic parameters may be applied to characterize /a/ as having lower
      frequency, higher noise, and greater nonlinear components than /i/ and /u/.

PMID- 20938189
TI  - Speech and voice after laryngectomy: perceptual and acoustical analyses of
      tracheoesophageal speech related to voice handicap index.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To perform perceptual and acoustical analyses of tracheoesophageal
      (TE) speech and relate these analyses to self-reported voice handicap. METHODS:
      Recordings of 35 TE speakers were perceptually assessed by 5 speech-language
      pathologists. Acoustical analyses were made of voice aspects and temporal speech
      aspects. Self-assessments of voice were made with the Voice Handicap Index (VHI).
      RESULTS: Perceptual assessment of TE speech showed significant correlations
      between overall degree of deviation and low speaking rate, deviant articulation,
      monotonous intonation, roughness and low pitch. The overall degree of deviation
      correlated significantly with acoustical measurements of speaking rate,
      articulation rate, and phrase length. Significant correlations were also found
      between assessed pitch and measured fundamental frequency, between assessed
      speaking rate and measured number of words per minute, and between assessed
      phrase length and measured number of syllables per breath. Self-assessments of
      VHI were significantly correlated with voice intensity and temporal speech
      aspects such as total reading time, phrase length, and percent pause time. No
      significant correlations were found between perceptual assessment and VHI degree.
      CONCLUSION: The listeners' ratings of overall degree of deviation in TE speech
      showed relations to both voice quality and temporal aspects in speech. The TE
      speakers' voice handicap degree were mainly related to changes in temporal
      aspects of speech.

PMID- 20938190
TI  - Voice activity and participation profile in assessing the effects of voice
      disorders on quality of life: estimation of the validity, reliability and
      responsiveness of the Finnish version.
AB  - AIM: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the validity, reliability and
      responsiveness of the Finnish version of the Voice Activity and Participation
      Profile (VAPP), a self-assessment questionnaire to measure psychosocial
      limitations caused by voice disorders. METHODS: The study was conducted in
      Tampere University Hospital in 2004 and 2005. Voice patients (n = 142) with
      diverse chronic voice pathologies received 3-5 sessions of voice therapy.
      Controls were known individuals with healthy voices (n = 127). The VAPP form was
      completed before attending hospital, at the first visit to hospital and before
      and after voice therapy. RESULTS: When comparing patients with healthy controls
      significant differences were found in score means. After brief voice therapy, the
      VAPP values improved moderately as 60% of patients had effect size of 0.27 or
      over. Physicians' advice did not improve VAPP scores. The VAPP question profile
      was regarded as consistent. Cronbach's alpha for the question profile was 0.958
      and for the subsections 0.865. CONCLUSIONS: VAPP appeared to be valid and
      responsive to the intervention. In test-retest reliability, although intraclass
      correlation was high (0.905), there was a trend for the second answers to be
      better than the first. Some proposals are given to improve the practicality of
      the VAPP form.

PMID- 20938191
TI  - Voice handicap and health-related quality of life after treatment for small
      laryngeal carcinoma.
AB  - Treatment of small carcinoma of the larynx may lead to voice handicap and
      restricted quality of life. The relationship between the two is revealed. Sixty
      five patients aged 62.1 +/- 10.0 years rated their voice handicap and quality of
      life after treatment of T1 (n = 35) or T2 (n = 30) laryngeal carcinoma during
      regular out-patient examinations. For the self-assessment of the voice, the Voice
      Handicap Index (VHI) and the disease-independent Short Form-36 Health Survery (SF
      36) questionnaires were used. Voice handicap (total score 38.9 +/- 26.0) did not
      differ in the two tested groups, T1 and T2, and the data of SF-36 (physical score
      43.0 +/- 10.7; mental score 50.2 +/- 9.1) showed significant differences for the
      mental score. Patients rated their voice handicap worse than healthy persons did
      after treatment of laryngeal carcinoma. VHI and SF-36 data were strongly
      correlated. Voice handicap is significantly related to the quality of life,
      especially affecting the mental domain. Thus, the rehabilitation of voice
      disorders should have a beneficial impact on quality of life.

PMID- 20938192
TI  - Lyapunov exponents for Japanese vowels in normal adult and cleft palate speakers.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to explore the possibility of using
      Lyapunov exponents (LE) to evaluate the voice and speech in cleft palate (CP)
      patients. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Fifty healthy adults (25 males and 25 females)
      and 17 adult patients (10 males and 7 females) with repaired CP, who had no
      hypernasality, were enrolled. Five Japanese vowels were recorded at 44.1 kHz.
      Nasalance scores were measured simultaneously. The first LE was computed for each
      1-second interval, and the mean for the first LE from all intervals (mLE(1)) was
      then calculated. The delay time and embedding dimension were estimated at 13, 40,
      34, 27 and 22 points for the vowels /a/, /i/, /u/, /e/ and /o/, respectively, and
      at 8 points for all vowels. RESULTS: The mLE(1)s for all vowels did not differ
      between normal males and females. The mLE(1)s for /a/ were significantly higher
      both in males and females with CP than in normal individuals. The correlation
      coefficient between the mLE(1)s and nasalance scores for all vowels was not
      significant for both normal and CP subjects. CONCLUSION: The LE seemed to be
      related to pathological disorders of the vocal cords in CP patients, but was
      independent of resonance parameters.

PMID- 20938193
TI  - Respiratory retraining therapy in long-term treatment of paradoxical vocal fold
      dysfunction.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Paradoxical vocal fold dysfunction (PVFD) is a disorder in the larynx
      featuring involuntary adduction of the vocal folds during the inspiratory phase
      of breathing. The symptoms include acute episodes of dyspnea and bouts of
      coughing. To date, there is no universally acknowledged treatment for PVFD,
      though respiratory retraining therapy is the treatment of choice. AIMS: The
      purpose of this work was to evaluate the results of long-term respiratory
      retraining therapy in cases of PVFD. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We treated 20 patients
      with PVFD for 2 years: 10 subjects were submitted to a cycle of respiratory
      retraining therapy every 12 months (receiving a total of 3 cycles) while 10 were
      given a cycle every 3 months (for a total of 9 cycles) no matter what their
      clinical conditions were. RESULTS: The results show that long-term respiratory
      retraining is particularly efficacious if the cycles of treatment are repeated,
      no matter what clinical conditions are present. In fact, when only one cycle of
      retraining treatment is given a year, there is initial improvement followed by
      progressive worsening. CONCLUSIONS: Long-term respiratory rehabilitation is
      effective, especially if the treatment is given at least once every 3 months.

PMID- 20938194
TI  - Subjective breathing impairment in unilateral vocal fold paralysis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Dysphonia is considered a major symptom of unilateral vocal fold
      paralysis (UVFP). Besides this, many patients complain of further symptoms such
      as dysphagia and dyspnea, which might not be expected to such an extent. The aim
      of this survey was to elucidate these symptoms in a cohort of patients with UVFP.
      SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Sixty-three patients (22 men, 41 women) suffering from UVFP
      were interviewed. Therefore we developed a questionnaire dealing with each of the
      three symptom categories: voice production, swallowing and breathing. RESULTS:
      All of the surveyed patients reported voice impairment, almost 60% complained of
      swallowing problems after the onset of paralysis. Seventy-five percent reported a
      subjectively impaired breathing sensation, not just phonatory dyspnea but during
      everyday physical activity as well. DISCUSSION: Our study revealed a certain
      discrepancy between objectively assessed laryngoscopic findings and subjective
      symptoms. A majority of patients suffered from an impairment in each of the three
      laryngeal functions (dysphonia, dysphagia and dyspnea). The latter two differ
      from the classic approach to this condition but must be considered as well in
      clinical diagnostics and therapy.

PMID- 20938195
TI  - Effect of nonlinguistic auditory training on phonological and reading skills.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To analyze the effect of nonverbal auditory training on reading and
      phonological awareness tasks in children with dyslexia and the effect of age in
      relation to post-training learning considering the ages from 7 to 14. METHODS: In
      experiment 1, one group with dyslexia (total = 12) was trained and compared with
      a group of untrained dyslexic subjects (total = 28). In experiment 2, the
      performance of the trained dyslexic group (total = 18) was compared at three
      different moments: 2 months before, at the beginning, and at the end of training.
      Training was carried out for 2 months using a computer program responsible for
      training discrimination skills. RESULTS: The group receiving nonverbal auditory
      training demonstrated significant improvements (mainly for the group from 7 to 10
      years old), not only in the nonverbal auditory skills trained (p < 0.001), but
      also in phonological awareness syllable tasks (synthesis, segmentation,
      manipulation and syllable transposition) in experiment 1 (p < 0.003), and
      phonemic tasks (p < 0.001) and text reading (p < 0.001) in experiment 2.
      CONCLUSION: The results suggest a link between verbal and nonverbal skills, in
      addition to corroborating studies regarding the existence of a critical learning
      period.

PMID- 20938196
TI  - A comparison of vowel productions in prelingually deaf children using cochlear
      implants, severe hearing-impaired children using conventional hearing aids and
      normal-hearing children.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to compare vowel productions by deaf
      cochlear implant (CI) children, hearing-impaired hearing aid (HA) children and
      normal-hearing (NH) children. PATIENTS AND METHODS: 73 children [mean age: 9;14
      years (years;months)] participated: 40 deaf CI children, 34 moderately to
      profoundly hearing-impaired HA children and 42 NH children. For the 3 corner
      vowels [a], [i] and [u], F(1), F(2) and the intrasubject SD were measured using
      the Praat software. Spectral separation between these vowel formants and vowel
      space were calculated. RESULTS: The significant effects in the CI group all
      pertain to a higher intrasubject variability in formant values, whereas the
      significant effects in the HA group all pertain to lower formant values. Both
      hearing-impaired subgroups showed a tendency toward greater intervowel distances
      and vowel space. CONCLUSION: Several subtle deviations in the vowel production of
      deaf CI children and hearing-impaired HA children could be established, using a
      well-defined acoustic analysis. CI children as well as HA children in this study
      tended to overarticulate, which hypothetically can be explained by a lack of
      auditory feedback and an attempt to compensate it by proprioceptive feedback
      during articulatory maneuvers.

PMID- 20938197
TI  - Air pulse deformation measurement: a preliminary method for noninvasive vocal
      fold pliability analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: A new method, air pulse pliability measurement, is presented, with
      which the pliability and elasticity of the vocal folds was measured in vitro and
      in vivo using air pulses. The size of the mucosal movements induced by air pulse
      stimulation was measured with a laser-based technique. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The
      air pulses fed via a 2-mm tubing, introduced through the working channel of a
      flexible endoscope. Both in vitro and in vivo tests were performed. Nine normal,
      vocally healthy subjects were examined by air pulse stimulations of the vocal
      folds, of the skin (cheek and dorsum of the hand) and of the inside of the lips.
      RESULTS: The in vitro tests showed a coefficient of variation of 5% within a
      range of 1-5 mm from the probe to the surface. The elasticity data showed no
      differences between vocal folds, lips or cheek. The hand data showed a
      significantly higher stiffness as compared to the other 3 measuring points (p <
      0.001). The coefficient of variation was about 35% for all measuring points, but
      in ideal conditions on skin it was 9%. CONCLUSION: The results show that the
      technique allows automatic, quantitative, noninvasive vocal fold pliability
      measurements on awake subjects.

PMID- 20938198
TI  - The Arabic vowels: features and possible clinical application in communication
      disorders.
AB  - Most scholars, old and modern, agree that the vowel system of the Arabic language
      is composed of 3 vowels only, namely /i/, /epsilon/ and /u/. The spoken Cairo
      dialect suggests that there are 6 identifiable vowels, with a short and long
      variant for each. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to test the validity of the
      notion that there are 6 * 2 distinct vowels, with a more central one. SUBJECTS
      AND METHODS: Spectral analysis was used to measure F(1) and F(2) for the vowels
      of 14 real words. Data was collected from 60 healthy adult informants, 30 males
      and 30 females. They were native Egyptians speaking the colloquial Cairene
      dialect. RESULTS: The values of the 6 long and short vowels plus the central one
      are presented. A significant difference was found between each of them. The long
      and short vowels differed only in the duration but did not differ in their
      formant values. CONCLUSION: The study illustrates the distinctive features of the
      vowels of the Arabic language. Each of the 7 vowels represents a distinct entity.
      This will have important implications in assessment and management of language,
      speech and voice disorders in children and adults.

PMID- 20938199
TI  - The impact of rate reduction and increased loudness on fundamental frequency
      characteristics in dysarthria.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study examined the extent to which articulatory rate reduction
      and increased loudness were associated with adjustments in utterance-level
      measures of fundamental frequency (F(0)) variability for speakers with dysarthria
      and healthy controls that have been shown to impact on intelligibility in
      previously published studies. More generally, the current study sought to compare
      and contrast how a slower-than-normal rate and increased vocal loudness impact on
      a variety of utterance-level F(0) characteristics for speakers with dysarthria
      and healthy controls. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Eleven speakers with Parkinson's
      disease, 15 speakers with multiple sclerosis, and 14 healthy control speakers
      were audio recorded while reading a passage in habitual, loud, and slow
      conditions. Magnitude production was used to elicit variations in rate and
      loudness. Acoustic measures of duration, intensity and F(0) were obtained.
      RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: For all speaker groups, a slower-than-normal
      articulatory rate and increased vocal loudness had distinct effects on F(0)
      relative to the habitual condition, including a tendency for measures of F(0)
      variation to be greater in the loud condition and reduced in the slow condition.
      These results suggest implications for the treatment of dysarthria.

PMID- 20938200
TI  - Vowel contrast and speech intelligibility in dysarthria.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: This study examined the spectral characteristics of American
      English vowels in dysarthria associated with cerebral palsy (CP), and
      investigated the relationship between a speaker's overall speech intelligibility
      and vowel contrast. METHODS: The data were collected from 12 American English
      native speakers (9 speakers with a diagnosis of CP and 3 controls). Primary
      measures were F(1) and F(2) frequencies of 3 corner vowels /i, a, u/ and 3
      noncorner vowels /I, 3, */. Six acoustic variables were derived from the formant
      measures, and were regressed against intelligibility: corner vowel space,
      noncorner vowel space, mean distance between vowels, F(1) and F(2) variability,
      and overlap degree among vowels. RESULTS: First, the effect of vowel was
      significant for both F(1) and F(2) measures for all speakers, but post hoc
      analysis revealed a reduced distinction at lower intelligibility. Second,
      regression functions relating intelligibility and acoustic variables were
      significant for overlap degree among vowels, F(1) variability, corner vowel space
      and mean distance between vowels. Overlap degree among vowels accounted for the
      greatest amount of variance in intelligibility scores. CONCLUSION: A speaker's
      overall intelligibility in dysarthric speech is better represented by the overlap
      degree among vowels than by the vowel space.

PMID- 20938201
TI  - Substance use disorders: findings from a longitudinal study of individuals with
      and without a history of developmental language disorders.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To study the prevalence and types of substance use disorders (SUDs) in
      adults diagnosed during childhood as having a developmental language disorder
      (DLD). PATIENTS AND METHODS: The prevalence rates and types of SUDs in a clinical
      sample of 469 individuals diagnosed during childhood as having a DLD were
      compared with SUDs in 2,345 matched controls from the general population without
      a known history of DLD using data from the nationwide Danish Psychiatric Central
      Register (DPCR). The average observation time was 34.7 years, and the mean age at
      follow-up was 35.8 years. RESULTS: Of the 469 individuals with DLD, 12 (2.6%)
      appeared in the DPCR with an SUD diagnosis, compared with 46 (2.0%) in the
      control group (p = 0.41; OR 1.3; 95% CI 0.7-2.5). Specific SUDs occurred with a
      low frequency in both groups. Only cocaine-related disorders were significantly
      associated with DLD (p = 0.03). Variables at assessment in childhood, i.e.
      gender, IQ, the presence of a receptive language disorder, and the degrees of
      receptive and expressive language disorders were not associated with an SUD
      diagnosis in the DPCR at follow-up. CONCLUSION: Our findings do not support the
      hypothesis that DLD is a risk factor for SUD in adulthood.

PMID- 20938202
TI  - A documentation system to save time and ensure proper application of the
      fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES(r)).
AB  - A properly performed fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES((r)))
      is comprehensive and time-consuming. Editing times of FEES protocols and attempts
      for efficiency maximization are unknown. Here, the protocol editing times of
      completed FEES examinations were determined. The present study reports the time
      savings and quality gains of a newly developed documentation system tailored to
      the FEES standard of Langmore. Four independent examiners analyzed twelve videos
      of FEES procedures, six without and six with the documentation system.
      Effectiveness of the documentation system was evaluated according to the times
      for total evaluation, interpretation, documentation, report writing, and for
      report completeness. The documentation system reduced editing times and increased
      report completeness with large effect sizes. Averaged total evaluation time
      decreased from 42 to 27 min, report completeness increased from 55 to 80%. The
      use of the documentation system facilitates and improves the assessment of the
      swallowing process.

PMID- 20938203
TI  - School teachers' vocal use, risk factors, and voice disorder prevalence:
      guidelines to detect teachers with current voice problems.
AB  - Teachers' voice problems are widely recognized as a consequence of their work.
      The measurement of vocal demands and risk factors is essential for adjusting
      occupational safety and health services to this population's needs. OBJECTIVES:
      To correlate vocal behavior and symptomatology with risk factors and voice
      disorders, and to further analyze gender influence on these variables. SUBJECTS
      AND METHODS: 282 kindergarten and elementary education teachers were surveyed in
      a cross-sectional study using a self-administered questionnaire. For the purpose
      of this study, voice disorder prevalence was estimated based on the presence of a
      vocal effort plus 2 frequent symptoms. RESULTS: 81.5% of teachers reported some
      degree of vocal effort; more than 60% of subjects evidenced frequent throat
      paresthesias or vocal fatigue at the end of a working day, and about 55% reported
      hoarseness. Voice disorder prevalence was 59%. Multivariate logistic regression
      analysis revealed that female gender, time required to alleviate vocal symptoms,
      perceived general state of health, prolonged use of the voice, and pupils'
      indiscipline significantly increased the odds of having vocal problems.
      CONCLUSIONS: Voice disorders affected most teachers and had a multifactorial
      nature. Vocal health care is particularly necessary for those subjects reporting
      vocal effort and more than 2 frequent symptoms.

PMID- 20938204
TI  - Allometry and evolution in the galago skull.
AB  - To probe the ontogenetic bases of morphological diversity across galagos, we
      performed the first clade-wide analyses of growth allometries in 564 adult and
      non-adult crania from 12 galagid taxa. In addition to evaluating if variation in
      galago skull form results from the differential extension/truncation of common
      ontogenetic patterns, scaling trajectories were employed as a criterion of
      subtraction to identify putative morphological adaptations in the feeding
      complex. A pervasive pattern of ontogenetic scaling is observed for facial
      dimensions across galagids, with 2 genera also sharing relative growth
      trajectories for masticatory proportions (Galago, Galagoides). As the facial
      growth series and adult data are largely coincidental, interspecific variation
      may result from character displacement and consequent selection for size
      differentiation among sister taxa. Derived configurations of the jaw joint and
      jaw muscle mechanical advantage in Otolemur and Euoticus appear to facilitate
      increased gape during scraping behaviors. Differences in aspects of masticatory
      growth and form characterizing these 2 genera highlight selection to uncouple
      shared ontogenetic patterns, which occurred via transpositions that retained
      ancestral scaling patterns. Due to the lack of increased robusticity of load
      resisting mandibular elements in Otolemur and Euoticus, there is little evidence
      to suggest that exudativory in galagos results in correspondingly higher
      masticatory stresses.

PMID- 20938205
TI  - Androgen therapy in hypogonadal adolescent males.
AB  - Androgen treatment represents a main aspect of clinical management of boys with
      hypogonadism from adolescence onwards. Androgen replacement therapy is required
      to induce secondary sexual characteristics and adult male body composition, to
      optimize the accrual of bone mineral content and muscle mass, and to promote
      physical and social well-being. Testosterone is the only sex steroid hormone
      suitable for treatment in hypogonadal boys as it fulfils all the physiological
      requirements. However, the optimal regimens for androgen replacement therapy
      during adolescence remain to be defined. The new testosterone formulations
      (patch, gel, transbuccal and long-acting) have been designed for use in adults
      and the available dosages are probably too high to induce and manage puberty in
      adolescents properly. The aim of this paper is to provide practical indications
      for androgen treatment in male adolescents with hypogonadism.

PMID- 20938206
TI  - Inhibition of inducible nitric oxide synthase promotes vein graft neoadventitial
      inflammation and remodelling.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Grafting veins into the arterial circulation causes endothelial
      damage and neointimal hyperplasia. However, the remodelling of vein grafts and
      the contribution of the endothelium is not well understood. Since nitric oxide
      (NO) has a crucial role in vascular function, we investigated the importance of
      NO synthases (NOSs) in vein graft re-endothelialization and remodelling in this
      study. METHODS AND RESULTS: Mouse isogenic vena cava was grafted into the carotid
      artery. Progressive remodelling of the grafted veins was evidenced by re
      endothelialization at 2 weeks and subsequent appearance of vasomotor function at
      4 weeks. Pharmacological inhibition of inducible NOS (iNOS) with the specific
      inhibitor 1400W, administered between 2 and 4 weeks after grafting, when re
      endothelialization was complete, resulted in neoadventitial inflammation,
      neoadventitial thickening and impaired functional remodelling. CONCLUSION:
      Completion of re-endothelialization is pivotal in vein graft remodelling in the
      mouse and is associated with a series of changes in inflammation, proliferation
      and initiation of vascular functional remodelling. After re-endothelialization,
      iNOS upregulation may be an important mechanism to prevent secondary
      neoadventitial inflammation and preserve ongoing functional remodelling. iNOS
      activity could therefore be beneficial for long-term patency of the vein graft.

PMID- 20938207
TI  - Hypoxia in abdominal aortic aneurysm supports a role for HIF-1alpha and Ets-1 as
      drivers of matrix metalloproteinase upregulation in human aortic smooth muscle
      cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: We sought to determine whether hypoxia is an initiating factor
      in the matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) up-regulation observed in abdominal
      aortic aneurysm (AAA) and whether hypoxia-inducible factor-1alpha (HIF-1alpha) or
      Ets-1 are mediating factors. METHODS: Human AAA and normal aorta were analysed
      for MMP-2, HIF-1alpha and Ets-1 by immunohistochemistry. Human aortic smooth
      muscle cell (HASMC) cultures exposed to experimental hypoxia were analysed for
      hypoxia-induced proteins using gelatin zymography and immunoblotting. Multiplex
      PCR was used to detect MMP-1, membrane-type (MT)-MMP-1, MMP-2, MMP-3, MMP-7 and
      MMP-9. RESULTS: AAA tissues expressed HIF-1alpha, MMP-2 and Ets-1 strongly within
      smooth muscle cells and inflammatory infiltrate of the tunica media. Up-regulated
      MMP-2 was detected in hypoxia-exposed HASMC (p < 0.05), with MMP-9 elevations
      after exposure to sequential O(2) decreases (p < 0.05). Immunoblotting confirmed
      HIF-1alpha, Ets-1, VEGF and MMP-2 are up-regulated in HASMC exposed to hypoxia (p
      < 0.05), while transcription for MMP-1, MT-MMP-1, MMP-9, MMP-2 and MMP-7 (p <
      0.05) increased in hypoxic HASMCs. CONCLUSION: Hypoxia facilitates HIF-1alpha,
      Ets-1 and VEGF up-regulation in addition to driving enhanced secretion of MMP-2
      and MMP-9 by HASMC. Enhanced transcription of factors relevant to aneurysmal
      disease in hypoxia indicates possible roles in disease progression and potential
      targets for therapeutic intervention.

PMID- 20938208
TI  - Absence of the adenosine A2A receptor confers pulmonary arterial hypertension and
      increased pulmonary vascular remodeling in mice.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is characterized by sustained
      elevation of pulmonary vascular resistance resulting from endothelial and smooth
      muscle cell dysfunction and collagen deposition in pulmonary vascular walls. In
      this study, we investigated the role of the adenosine A(2A) receptor (A(2A)R) in
      the development of PAH by determining the effect of genetic inactivation of
      A(2A)Rs on pulmonary vascular remodeling in mice. METHODS AND RESULTS: We
      characterized hemodynamic, histological and ultrastructural changes in pulmonary
      vascular remodeling in A(2A)R knockout (KO) mice compared with their wild-type
      (WT) littermates after exposure to normoxia and hypoxic conditions. After
      exposure to normoxia, compared to WT mice, A(2A)R KO mice displayed: (1)
      increased right ventricular systolic pressures and an elevated ratio of the right
      ventricle over left ventricle plus septum (Fulton index), (2) increased wall area
      and thickness as well as enhanced smooth muscle actin immunoreactivity in
      pulmonary resistance vessels, (3) increased proliferating cell nuclear antigen
      positive cells in pulmonary resistance vessels and (4) increased smooth muscle
      cells hypertrophy and collagen deposition in the adventitia of pulmonary
      arteriole walls as revealed by electron microscope. By contrast, histological
      analysis revealed no features of hypertensive nephropathy in A(2A)R KO mice and
      there was no significant difference in systemic blood pressure, and left
      ventricular masses among the 3 genotypes. Furthermore, following chronic exposure
      to hypoxia, A(2A)R KO mice exhibited exacerbated elevation in right ventricular
      systolic pressure, hypertrophy of pulmonary resistance vessels and increased cell
      proliferation in pulmonary resistance vessels, compared to WT littermates. Thus,
      genetic inactivation of A(2A)Rs selectively produced PAH and associated increased
      smooth muscle proliferation and collagen deposition. CONCLUSIONS: Extracellular
      adenosine acting at A(2A)Rs represents an important regulatory mechanism to
      control the development of PAH and pulmonary vascular remodeling.

PMID- 20938209
TI  - Construction of a new sensitive molecular tool for the study of gene expression
      in Enterococcus faecalis.
AB  - A promoter-probe vector designated pVEPhoZ-P has been developed to provide a
      convenient system to analyze transcription activities of promoters. It was
      constructed on the basis of pVE14218, a plasmid which lacks the replication
      protein and in which the 5' part of alkaline phosphatase (AP) phoZ gene of
      Enterococcus faecalis was inserted. The pVEPhoZ vector was used to clone
      promoters of interest. The resulting promoter-probe vectors were integrated in
      the phoZ chromosomal locus by homologous recombination. This procedure generates
      recombinant clones with a single copy of phoZ functional allele placed under the
      control of the desired promoter. This system was investigated with different
      promoters of E. faecalis genes, namely those of sigV encoding an ECF sigma
      factor, croRS encoding a two-component system and dhaK operon. In all cases,
      expression data obtained previously for the three promoters were properly
      reported for this new tool. The pVEPhoZ-P promoter-probe vector is easy to use
      and it showed higher reporter activity in comparison to systems based on beta
      galactosidase. Therefore, this system constitutes a useful molecular tool for the
      study of promoters in E. faecalis or other bacterial species that possess a
      homologous phoZ gene.

PMID- 20938210
TI  - Effects of cAMP and beta-adrenergic receptor antagonists on the function of
      peripheral T helper lymphocytes in patients with heart failure.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To observe the effects of cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) in
      peripheral lymphocytes on T helper 1 (TH1)/TH2 cytokine ratios and to investigate
      the potential impact and mechanism of beta-adrenergic receptor antagonists on
      immune function in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF). METHODS: Sixty-nine
      patients with New York Heart Association functional class II-IV CHF and a
      radionuclide left ventricular ejection fraction of less than 45% received
      carvedilol or metoprolol in a randomized fashion. Thirty healthy persons were
      studied as controls. Interferon (IFN)-gamma and interleukin (IL)-10 in CD4+ T
      lymphocytes were quantified by three-color flow cytometry. cAMP levels in
      peripheral blood mononuclear cells were tested by radioimmunoassay at baseline
      and 6 months after treatment. RESULTS: The levels of lymphocyte cAMP in CHF
      patients were significantly lower than in normal controls (p < 0.01). The IFN
      gamma/IL-10 ratio was significantly higher in CHF patients (p < 0.01). The levels
      of cAMP, IFN-gamma and IL-10 among CHF patients with different pathogenic factors
      displayed no significant differences (p > 0.05). The lymphocyte cAMP level was
      negatively correlated with the IFN-gamma/IL-10 ratio (p < 0.01). After treatment
      with metoprolol and carvedilol, the IFN-gamma/IL-10 ratio in the CHF patients was
      dramatically decreased (p < 0.01 for each drug) and lymphocyte cAMP was
      remarkably increased (p < 0.01 for each drug). CONCLUSION: These results suggest
      that the decrease of cAMP affects the TH1/TH2 phenotype in peripheral lymphocytes
      of CHF patients. beta-Blocking medications appear to have a beneficial effect on
      the TH1/TH2 balance and on the immune system through increasing production of
      cAMP, offering further evidence to support the use of beta-adrenergic receptor
      blockers to treat CHF.

PMID- 20938211
TI  - MPTP-induced neuroinflammation increases the expression of pro-inflammatory
      cytokines and their receptors in mouse brain.
AB  - Parkinson's disease (PD) is a common neurodegenerative disease characterised by a
      slow and progressive degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra
      (SN). Despite intensive research, the cause of neuronal loss in PD is poorly
      understood. Inflammatory mechanisms have been implicated in the pathophysiology
      of PD. In this study, conducted on an experimental 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6
      tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) mouse model, we investigated the expression of
      interleukin (IL)-1beta, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha, IL-6 and their
      receptors (IL-1RI, TNF-alphaRI, IL-6Ralpha) at the SN and caudate-putamen (CP)
      levels. In MPTP-treated animals we observed a significant increase in IL-1beta,
      TNF-alpha and IL-6 mRNA expression levels both in the SN and CP in comparison
      with untreated mice. In addition, both mRNA and protein levels of IL-1RI, TNF
      alphaRI and IL-6Ralpha were significantly enhanced in the SN of MPTP-treated mice
      in comparison to controls, whereas no significant differences were observed in
      the CP between treated and untreated mice. Overall, these results indicate a role
      of both pro-inflammatory cytokines and their receptors in the pathogenesis of PD.

PMID- 20938212
TI  - A review of ranibizumab clinical trial data in exudative age-related macular
      degeneration and how to translate it into daily practice.
AB  - The results of randomized controlled clinical trials of ranibizumab for the
      treatment of age-related macular degeneration established a new standard of care
      with the prospect of improved vision in many patients. Subsequent trials have
      explored different strategies to increase response rates and reduce treatment
      frequency. This review analyzes the key clinical trial data for ranibizumab on
      the basis of which the author proposes a new treatment regimen with the aim of
      rationalizing treatment frequency without compromising improvements in vision-
      the FUSION regimen. This consists of an initiation phase followed by pro re nata
      (PRN) retreatment combined with fixed injections after a period of disease
      inactivity of 2-4 months (depending on the time elapsed since the last
      injection). A randomized clinical trial is recommended for comparing monthly, PRN
      and the FUSION regimens.

PMID- 20938213
TI  - Retinal vein occlusion: current treatment.
AB  - Retinal vein occlusion (RVO) is a pathology noted for more than 150 years.
      Although a lot has been written on the matter, it is still a frequent condition
      with multifactorial etiopathogenesis with many unclear aspects. The RVO
      pathogenesis has varied systemic and local implications that make it difficult to
      elaborate treatment guidelines. The management of the patient with RVO is very
      complex and a multidisciplinary approach is required in order to identify and
      correct the associated risk factors. Laser therapy remains the gold standard in
      RVO, but only modest functional improvement has been shown in branch retinal
      occlusion forms. Multicenter studies of intravitreal drugs present them as an
      option to combine with laser. Anti-vascular endothelial growth factor,
      corticosteroids and sustained-release implants are the future weapons to stop
      disease progression and get a better visual outcome. Consequently, it is useful
      to clarify some aspects of the pathology that allow a better patient management.

PMID- 20938214
TI  - Genistein prevents myocardial hypertrophy in 2-kidney 1-clip renal hypertensive
      rats by restoring eNOS pathway.
AB  - Genistein has been shown to increase nitric oxide (NO) production derived from
      endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS). This study was to investigate whether
      genistein could prevent myocardial hypertrophy in the 2-kidney 1-clip (2K1C)
      renohypertensive rat through the NO pathway and to clarify the underlying
      mechanisms. After the 2K1C operation, plasma angiotensin II increased, and the
      rats developed significant left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) and increased
      collagen I expression. Phosphorylated eNOS, NOS activity, NO production and cGMP
      contents were markedly decreased in ventricular tissues of 2K1C rats. Chronic
      administration of genistein to 2K1C rats restored NO, NOS activity,
      phosphorylated eNOS expression, cGMP in ventricular tissues, and the restoration
      was parallel with the improvement of LVH and attenuated the excessive ventricular
      collagen I expression. Genistein also elevated angiotensin II type 2 receptor
      (AT2) expression, and the effects of genistein on LVH could be completely
      abolished by an AT2 antagonist, PD123319. The antagonist also reversed the
      increase in eNOS activity, NO and cGMP restored by genistein in hypertensive
      rats. We further explored the mechanisms by which genistein restored NO in
      hypertension and found that genistein significantly enhanced phosphorylated eNOS
      but left relatively unchanged total eNOS and the eNOS dimer/monomer ratio. In
      addition, genistein decreased the binding of eNOS with caveolin 3 and
      simultaneously promoted its binding with calmodulin and heat shock protein 90. We
      conclude that the preventive effects of genistein on cardiac remodeling induced
      by 2K1C hypertension are mediated by AT2-dependent NO production.

PMID- 20938217
TI  - Endocrinopathy-induced osteoporosis. Impact on health and economics of
      osteoporosis.

PMID- 20938215
TI  - Enhancement of parthenolide-induced apoptosis by a PKC-alpha inhibition through
      heme oxygenase-1 blockage in cholangiocarcinoma cells.
AB  - Cholangiocarcinoma (CC) is a chemoresistant intrahepatic bile duct carcinoma with
      a poor prognosis. The aims of this study were to identify molecular pathways that
      enhance sesquiterpene lactone parthenolide (PTL)-induced anticancer effects on CC
      cells. The effects of PTL on apoptosis and hemoxygenase-1 (HO-1) induction were
      examined in CC cell lines. The enhancement of PTL-mediated apoptosis by
      modulation of HO-1 expression and the mechanisms involved were also examined in
      an in vitro cell system. Low PTL concentrations (5 to 10 microM) led to Nrf2
      dependent HO-1 induction, which attenuated the apoptogenic effect of PTL in Choi
      CK and SCK cells. PTL-mediated apoptosis was enhanced by the protein kinase C
      alpha inhibitor Ro317549 (Ro) through inhibition of expression and nuclear
      translocation of Nrf2, resulting in blockage of HO-1 expression. Finally, HO-1
      silencing resulted in enhancement of apoptotic cell death in CC cells. The
      combination of PTL and Ro efficiently improved tumor growth inhibition compared
      to treatment with either agent alone in an in vivo subcutaneous tumor model. In
      conclusion, the modulation of HO-1 expression substantially improved the
      anticancer effect of PTL. The combination of PTL and Ro could prove to be a
      valuable chemotherapeutic strategy for CC.

PMID- 20938218
TI  - Relationship between bone metabolism and adipogenesis.
AB  - Several findings indicate that adipose tissue and bone have a complex reciprocal
      relationship. The two cells lineages share a common progenitor, and adipocyte
      endocrine activity may influence bone metabolism. Recent evidence from animal
      models suggests that bone cells may contribute regulating energy metabolism.

PMID- 20938219
TI  - The role of PPARgamma for the osteoblastic differentiation.
AB  - Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARgamma) is a ligand
      activated transcription factor that belongs to the nuclear hormone receptor
      superfamily and functions as a heterodimer with a retinoid X receptor by binding
      to PPAR responsive elements. PPARgamma plays an important role in adipocyte
      differentiation and is activated by long-chain fatty acid, peroxisome
      proliferators, and thiazolidinedione (TZD). TZD are agonists of PPARgamma, act as
      insulin-sensitizing agents, and are widely prescribed in the management of
      different conditions characterized by insulin resistance. Osteoblasts and marrow
      adipocytes derive from common multipotential mesenchymal stem cell (MSC)
      progenitors. Lineage commitment of MSC is determined by expression and/or
      activation of specific transcription factors, such as Runx2 and Osterix in the
      case of osteoblasts, and PPARgamma in the case of adipocytes. Many evidences
      indicate an important role of PPARgamma in bone metabolism. Heterozygous
      PPARgamma-deficient (PPARgamma +/-) mice exhibit enhanced bone formation with
      increased osteoblastogenesis. Embryonic stem cells derived from PPARgamma +/-
      mice spontaneously differentiate into osteoblasts. In mice and rats, the
      activation of PPARgamma by TZD treatment, such as rosiglitazone (Rosi), causes
      bone loss, which results from an increase of marrow adipocytes and a decrease of
      osteoblasts, leading to a reduction of bone formation rate. Human studies have
      shown that pre- and post-menopausal women treated with Rosi have an increased
      risk of fracture compared to women treated with metformin and glyburide.
      Moreover, the modulation of the PPARgamma expression is also implicated in the
      effects of mechanical loading on bone and in age-related bone loss.

PMID- 20938220
TI  - Bone organic matrix components: their roles in skeletal physiology.
AB  - Bone matrix is composed mainly of inorganic materials, while the bone organic
      compartment is a minor and complex structural entity, surrounding and supporting
      cells. Three major classes of biomolecules are involved in this organic part:
      structural proteins, specialized proteins, and proteoglycans. This review will
      briefly summarize our knowledge about the role and regulation of these specific
      bone components.

PMID- 20938221
TI  - Glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis and parathyroid hormone.
AB  - Glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis (GIO) is the most common form of secondary
      osteoporosis. Bisphosphonates are considered the first-line treatment option for
      the majority of glucocorticoid-treated patients at increased risk of fractures.
      However, the anti-resorptive mechanism of bisphosphonates does not address the
      major pathophysiological mechanisms of impaired bone formation during chronic
      glucocorticoid treatment. PTH, when administered intermittently and at low doses,
      has effects on bone formation opposite to those of glucocorticoids and therefore
      is conceptually a more attractive approach. Teriparatide (1-34PTH) has been
      studied in patients with GIO with effects on bone mineral density and on fracture
      risk which were shown to be superior to those obtained with alendronate.

PMID- 20938222
TI  - Role of IGF-I on PTH effects on bone.
AB  - IGF-I and PTH have synergistic actions on bone and some effects of the anabolic
      actions of PTH are mediated by local production of IGF-I, as has been shown in
      vitro and in vivo studies both in animals and humans. PTH can induce skeletal IGF
      I expression both in vitro and in vivo. In chondrocytes, IGF-I synthesis is under
      GH control, whereas in osteoblasts its synthesis is fundamentally under the
      control of PTH. PTH stimulates the synthesis of IGF-I via a cAMP-dependent
      mechanism, and this factor has pro-differentiating and prosurvival effects on
      osteoblasts. In in vitro studies, IGF-I and PTH have shown a synergistic action
      on the osteoblasts of bone marrow. Human clinical data confirm the interactions
      between PTH and GH-IGF-I axis on bone. PTH is involved in the development of
      osteoporosis in adult patients with GH deficiency (GHD). In fact, patients with
      GHD show renal, skeletal, and intestinal cell insensitivity to PTH, leading to a
      mild state of PTH resistance and increased serum PTH levels. In addition, GH
      replacement in these patients restores PTH secretory rhythm, increases bone
      turnover markers, 1,25-dihydroxy vitamin D concentration, and Ca
      absorption/reabsorption, thus contributing to the positive effects of GH on bone.
      On the other hand, in post-menopausal women with primary hyperparathyroidism a
      reduced secretion of GH is observed, in association with a greater impairment of
      bone mass. GH administration resulted in increased IGF-I concentration, decreased
      PTH concentration, and increased nephrogenous cAMP. In conclusion, the anabolic
      action of PTH requires paracrine and autocrine effects of IGF-I.

PMID- 20938223
TI  - Male pubertal development: role of androgen therapy on bone mass and body
      composition.
AB  - Puberty is the developmental period during which rapid somatic changes and
      attainment of reproductive capacity take place. The sine qua non event for the
      onset of puberty is the increase in pulsatile GnRH release from GnRH neurons.
      GnRH neurons originate in the nasal placode and migrate, from the nasal
      compartment through the basal forebrain, before they attain their positions in
      the hypothalamus. Failure of GnRH neurons to migrate, mainly due to genetic
      alterations, leads to a clinical condition defined congenital hypogonadotropic
      hypogonadism. Other important factors demonstrated a permissive role for GnRH
      secretion at time of puberty, such as the kisspeptin G-protein-coupled receptor
      54 (GPR54, now called KISS-1R) and its ligand, as well as neurokinin B (NKB) and
      the neurokinin 3 (NK3) receptor. Kisspeptin and neurokinin B colocalized in a
      subset of hypothalamic neurons that regulate GnRH secretion by GnRH neurons.
      Indeed, loss of function mutations in the above-mentioned and other genes result
      in hypogonadotrophic hypogonadism with absence of pubertal development. In males,
      pubertal increase of androgens levels seems to be required for the attainment of
      a normal bone density and male-specific body composition. However, also genetic
      variants of genes involved in bone metabolism as well as in osteoblast/osteoclast
      activation are associated to bone mineral density.

PMID- 20938224
TI  - Bone fragility in men: where are we?
AB  - Osteoporosis in men is an increasingly important clinical issue. About one in
      three osteoporotic fractures occur in men, and the consequences of these
      fractures are generally more severe than in women. Despite these evidences,
      osteoporosis remains under-recognized and undertreated in men. This review
      provides a summary of recent developments about the causes, pathogenesis, and
      treatment of osteoporosis in men.

PMID- 20938225
TI  - Skeletal effect of natural early menopause.
AB  - It is well-known that women with spontaneous or natural early menopause (NEM)
      (between ages of 40 and 45 yr) experience an increased risk of overall mortality,
      cardiovascular diseases, osteoporosis, neurological and/or psychiatric diseases,
      and other sequelae. On the contrary, the role of NEM is more contentious on the
      long-term bone consequences. The published data highlight that NEM has an
      ambiguous effect on bone mineral density, and is associated with an increased
      incidence of fractures, likely related to other risk factors rather than to
      osteoporosis. Therefore, an estrogen treatment should be considered for these
      women, especially if osteopenia is present at age of menopause.

PMID- 20938226
TI  - AFRRI special issue of ORS.

PMID- 20938227
TI  - Biodosimetry Assessment Tool (BAT) software-dose prediction algorithms.
AB  - PURPOSE: Medical management of suspected radiation casualties requires use of
      multiparameter biodosimetry because no single biodosimetric measurement is
      sufficiently robust. This report describes the design and algorithms used in a
      radiation exposure assessment software application that serves as a diagnostic
      utility for triage and medical treatment formulation, as well as to convey
      psychological reassurance, for early-phase assessment of radiation exposures, and
      for surge response assessment for mass radiological casualties. METHODS: The
      Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute's Biological Dosimetry Research
      Program developed the integrated multiparameter Biodosimetry Assessment Tool
      computer program using Microsoft Visual Basic 6 with various second party plug
      ins and add-ons. Dose-predicting algorithms were adopted by analyzing data from
      merged databases of human radiation exposure incidents and normal controls (non
      irradiated) volunteers. The results are summarized in user-friendly screens.
      SUMMARY: BAT algorithms are presented and compared to other previously published
      dose assessment algorithms based on biological indicators (i.e., onset of
      vomiting, lymphocyte depletion kinetics). These new algorithms are incorporated
      into a computer-based program that assists responders and medical providers in
      recording relevant diagnostic information and assessing significant radiation
      exposures. It promotes early-phase (<10 d) data collection after a radiation
      exposure incident and provides data templates for entry of diagnostic information
      using multiparameter indices. It allows for recording of relevant clinical
      information and summarizes diagnostic information such as estimated
      multiparameter doses. Data can be printed and archived in accordance with
      civilian and military guidelines.

PMID- 20938229
TI  - Clinical application of the AFRRI BAT computer program.
AB  - The Biodosimetry Assessment Tool (BAT) is a computer program developed by the
      Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute (AFRRI) as an aid to provide early
      diagnostic information (clinical signs and symptoms, physical dosimetry, etc.) to
      health care providers responsible for the initial management of radiation
      casualties after a major radiation incident. It is designed primarily to permit
      collection, integration, and archiving of data obtained from patients
      accidentally exposed to ionizing radiation. BAT also provides an early estimate
      of radiation dose using the timing of prodromal symptoms, clinical data, and
      various aspects of the time-dependent hematology profile. Collection of relevant
      data is facilitated by use of structured templates and user-friendly software.
      The BAT software is illustrated here using five historical cases from the U.S.
      Radiation Accident Registry maintained by the Radiation Emergency Assistance
      Center/Training Site (REAC/TS) for the U.S. Department of Energy.

PMID- 20938228
TI  - Biodosimetry medical recording-use of the Biodosimetry Assessment Tool.
AB  - Effective and dynamic recording of radiation exposure and medical diagnostic
      information for individuals suspected or known to have been exposed to ionizing
      radiation contributes to appropriate formulation of medical treatment strategies
      and radiation protection management. The objectives of this article are to report
      the database entry templates or screens, provide general use guidelines, and
      discuss the application to selected radiation exposure scenarios for the Armed
      Forces Radiobiology Research Institute's software application, Biodosimetry
      Assessment Tool (BAT). BAT data entry screens were developed based on consensus
      generic guidance and organized into discrete categories (i.e., physical
      dosimetry, contamination, prodromal symptoms, hematology, lymphocyte
      cytogenetics, erythema/wound, and infection) to facilitate its practical use
      during the early-phase response for radiological incidents. The summary report
      provides a concise output of information on radiation exposure, radionuclide
      contamination, dose assessment based on biological indicators (i.e., cytogenetic
      chromosome aberration bioassays, time to onset of vomiting, lymphocyte cell
      counts or depletion kinetics), and relevant clinical signs and symptoms. The BAT
      report template is compliant with NATO and international guidance for recording
      ionizing radiation exposures for medical purposes.

PMID- 20938230
TI  - Attributable risk for radiation in the presence of other risk factors.
AB  - Two motivations for studying radiation risk are (1) to quantify the magnitude of
      risk as an aid to setting radiation protection standards and (2) to understand
      causality as an aid to assigning compensation for radiation exposed individuals
      whose disease or death may have been related to radiation exposure. Although it
      has long been known that radiation risk is modified by factors such as sex, age,
      and time, it is now apparent that radiation risk may also be modified by other
      risk factors, such as smoking, inflammation, genotype, and certain pathogens.
      Even apart from considerations of etiological interaction, the relative
      contribution of radiation to total burden of disease or death may depend on the
      level of background (spontaneous) risk of disease or death owing to those other
      factors if the joint effects do not multiply. Therefore, ignoring those other
      factors in assessing probability of causation for radiation (attributable
      fraction in epidemiological data) involves making a strong assumption about the
      joint effects. The concepts are discussed in detail and illustrated using results
      from studies on the Japanese atomic-bomb survivors.

PMID- 20938231
TI  - Standard Model of Particle Physics--a health physics perspective.
AB  - The Standard Model of Particle Physics is reviewed with an emphasis on its
      relationship to the physics supporting the health physics profession. Concepts
      important to health physics are emphasized and specific applications are
      presented. The capability of the Standard Model to provide health physics
      relevant information is illustrated with application of conservation laws to
      neutron and muon decay and in the calculation of the neutron mean lifetime.

PMID- 20938232
TI  - Investigation of the practical aspects of an additional 0.1 mm copper x-ray
      spectral filter for cine acquisition mode imaging in a clinical care setting.
AB  - Minimizing the x-ray radiation dose is an important aspect of patient safety
      during interventional fluoroscopy procedures. This work investigates the
      practical aspects of an additional 0.1 mm Cu x-ray beam spectral filter applied
      to cine acquisition mode imaging on patient dose and image quality. Measurements
      were acquired using clinical interventional imaging systems. Acquisition images
      of Solid Water phantoms (15-40 cm) were acquired using x-ray beams with the x-ray
      tube inherent filtration and using an additional 0.1 mm Cu x-ray beam spectral
      filter. The skin entrance air kerma (dose) rate was measured and the signal
      difference to noise ratio (SDNR) of an iodine target embedded into the phantom
      was calculated to assess image quality. X-ray beam parameters were recorded and
      analyzed and a primary x-ray beam simulation was performed to assess additional x
      ray tube burden attributable to the Cu filter. For all phantom thicknesses, the
      0.1 mm Cu filter resulted in a 40% reduction in the entrance air kerma rate to
      the phantoms and a 9% reduction in the SDNR of the iodine phantom. The expected
      additional tube load required by the 0.1 mm Cu filter ranged from 11% for a 120
      kVp x-ray beam to 43% for a 60 kVp beam. For these clinical systems, use of the
      0.1 mm Cu filter resulted in a favorable compromise between reduced skin dose
      rate and image quality and increased x-ray tube burden.

PMID- 20938233
TI  - Influence of mobile phone traffic on base station exposure of the general public.
AB  - The influence of mobile phone traffic on temporal radiofrequency exposure due to
      base stations during 7 d is compared for five different sites with Erlang data
      (representing average mobile phone traffic intensity during a period of time).
      The time periods of high exposure and high traffic during a day are compared and
      good agreement is obtained. The minimal required measurement periods to obtain
      accurate estimates for maximal and average long-period exposure (7 d) are
      determined. It is shown that these periods may be very long, indicating the
      necessity of new methodologies to estimate maximal and average exposure from
      short-period measurement data. Therefore, a new method to calculate the fields at
      a time instant from fields at another time instant using normalized Erlang values
      is proposed. This enables the estimation of maximal and average exposure during a
      week from short-period measurements using only Erlang data and avoids the
      necessity of long measurement times.

PMID- 20938234
TI  - Environmental problems associated with decommissioning the Chernobyl Nuclear
      Power Plant Cooling Pond.
AB  - Decommissioning of nuclear power plants and other nuclear fuel cycle facilities
      associated with residual radioactive contamination of their territories is an
      imperative issue. Significant problems may result from decommissioning of cooling
      ponds with residual radioactive contamination. The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant
      (ChNPP) Cooling Pond is one of the largest self-contained water reservoirs in the
      Chernobyl region and Ukrainian and Belorussian Polesye region. The 1986 ChNPP
      Reactor Unit Number Four significantly contaminated the ChNPP Cooling Pond. The
      total radionuclide inventory in the ChNPP Cooling Pond bottom deposits are as
      follows: 137Cs: 16.28 +/- 2.59 TBq; 90Sr: 2.4 +/- 0.48 TBq; and 239+240Pu:
      0.00518 +/- 0.00148 TBq. The ChNPP Cooling Pond is inhabited by over 500 algae
      species and subspecies, over 200 invertebrate species, and 36 fish species. The
      total mass of the living organisms in the ChNPP Cooling Pond is estimated to
      range from about 60,000 to 100,000 tons. The territory adjacent to the ChNPP
      Cooling Pond attracts many birds and mammals (178 bird species and 47 mammal
      species were recorded in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone). This article describes
      several options for the ChNPP Cooling Pond decommissioning and environmental
      problems associated with its decommissioning. The article also provides
      assessments of the existing and potential exposure doses for the shoreline biota.
      For the 2008 conditions, the estimated total dose rate values were 11.4 40 MUGy h
      1 for amphibians, 6.3 MUGy h-1 for birds, 15.1 MUGy h-1 for mammals, and 10.3
      MUGy h-1 for reptiles, with the recommended maximum dose rate being equal to 40
      MUGy h-1. However, drying the ChNPP Cooling Pond may increase the exposure doses
      to 94.5 MUGy h-1 for amphibians, 95.2 MUGy h-1 for birds, 284.0 MUGy h-1 for
      mammals, and 847.0 MUGy h-1 for reptiles. All of these anticipated dose rates
      exceed the recommended values.

PMID- 20938235
TI  - Creation and use of adjustable 3D phantoms: application for the lung monitoring
      of female workers.
AB  - In vivo counting measurements, used for the monitoring of workers with internal
      contamination risks, are based on the use of calibration physical phantoms.
      However, such phantoms do not exist for female subjects. Computational
      calibration using numerical representations, Mesh and non-uniform rational basis
      spline (NURBS) geometries, was thus considered. The study presented here is
      focused on the creation of different female thoracic phantoms with various breast
      sizes and chest girths. These 3D models are used to estimate the radiation
      attenuation with morphology and the resulting variation of the calibration
      coefficient of a typical 4-germanium in vivo counting system. A basic Mesh female
      thoracic phantom was created from the International Commission on Radiological
      Protection Adult Female Reference Computational Phantom. Using this basic
      phantom, different chest girths (85, 90, 100, 110, and 120) and cup sizes (A to
      F) were created representing the most common thoracic female morphologies, as
      recommended by the available and relevant literature. Variation of breast tissue
      composition and internal organ volumes with morphology were also considered. As a
      result, 34 thoracic female phantoms were created combining different cup sizes
      and chest girths. For the 85 chest girth, at very low energies (15 keV), a
      relative counting efficiency variation of about 85% was observed between the A
      and E cups. As a result of this study, breast size dependent calibration
      coefficients, between 15 keV and 1.4 MeV, were obtained and tabulated for a
      typical lung counting germanium system.

PMID- 20938236
TI  - Determination of the internal exposure hazard from plutonium work in an open
      front hood.
AB  - The particle size and quantity of a plutonium dioxide surrogate escaping an open
      front hood during routine work was measured. Aerosols were collected using a
      cascade impactor, and the amount of surrogate on each stage of the impactor was
      measured using neutron activation analysis. The aerodynamic mass median diameter
      of particles in the breathing zone of a worker was found to be 0.35 +/- 5.1 MUm.
      During a 2-h period when normal work activities were mimicked, an average of 3%
      of the material or 11.13 +/- 0.54 MUg escaped the hood. This was calculated to be
      equivalent to 10,000 +/- 487 Bq (239Pu). The activity in the breathing zone of
      the worker is estimated, based on other research, to be 36 times less than this,
      or approximately 280 Bq. Worker occupancy factors were considered and a committed
      effective dose equivalent of 5 mSv was calculated. The cost-benefit analysis
      showed the use of the open front hood as a reasonable protective measure.
      Although worker exposure may approach the International Commission on
      Radiological Protection limit, the cost of the ergonomic injuries caused by work
      in a glove box is 5,000 times greater than the dose received by the worker.
      Protective measures such as respiratory protection should be evaluated on a case
      by case basis to keep worker exposure as low as reasonably achievable.

PMID- 20938237
TI  - Comparative biokinetics of radiocarbon ingested as compounds or foods in rats.
AB  - The biokinetics of radiocarbon (14C) in rats continuously ingested in the forms
      of amino acids (glycine and leucine) or as foods (wheat and rapeseed) were
      examined and compared with each other. The differences in the biokinetics between
      14C-amino acids and 14C-foods were observed in the excretion of 14C in feces and
      in the incorporation and retention of 14C in the rat tissues. At the 10 week of
      continuous ingestion of 14C-amino acids, the integrated activities of 14C in all
      the tissues were within 5% of the ingested activity. The integrated activities in
      each tissue coming from 14C-food ingestion were higher by a factor of more than 2
      compared to those coming from 14C-amino acid ingestion. Radiation dose rates
      estimated at the 10 week showed that the dose rates to the individual tissues
      coming from 14C-food ingestion were 2-5 times higher than those coming from 14C
      amino acid ingestion. The difference in the dose rate between 14C-amino acid and
      14C-food was more significant in adipose tissue by a factor of 7-30.

PMID- 20938238
TI  - Chemical and radioactive carcinogens in cigarettes: associated health impacts and
      responses of the tobacco industry, U.S. Congress, and federal regulatory
      agencies.
AB  - 210Po and 210Pb were discovered in tobacco in 1964. This was followed by detailed
      assessments of the nature of their deposition, and accompanying dose rates to the
      lungs of cigarette smokers. Subsequent studies revealed: (1) the sources and
      pathways through which they gain access to tobacco; (2) the mechanisms through
      which they preferentially deposit in key segments of the bronchial epithelium;
      and (3) the fact that the accompanying alpha radiation plays a synergistic role
      in combination with the chemical carcinogens, to increase the fatal cancer risk
      coefficient in cigarette smokers by a factor of 8 to 25. Nonetheless, it was not
      until 2009 that Congress mandated that the Food and Drug Administration require
      that the cigarette industry reveal the presence of these carcinogens. In the
      meantime, cigarette smoking has become not only the number one source of cancer
      deaths in the United States, but also a major contributor to heart disease and
      other health impacts. If the latter effects are included, smoking is estimated to
      have caused an average of 443,000 deaths and 5.1 million years of potential life
      lost among the U.S. population each year from 2000 through 2004. The estimated
      associated collective dose is more than 36 times that to the workers at all the
      U.S. nuclear power plants, U.S. Department of Energy nuclear weapons facilities,
      and crews of all the vessels in the U.S. Nuclear Navy. This unnecessary source of
      lung cancer deaths demands the utmost attention of the radiation protection and
      public health professions.

PMID- 20938239
TI  - Radiation effects on communication performance of radio frequency identification
      tags.
AB  - Radioactive materials (sources) are managed by bookkeeping and stocktaking. The
      radiation protection section staffs should check the sources manually. Annual
      effective dose concerning stocktaking of them are estimated at some mSv
      concerning fingers. A radio frequency identification (RFID) tag's absorbed dose
      is estimated at some dozen Gy. RFID for stocktaking automatically was devised.
      Radiation effects on the communication performance of RFID tags were investigated
      by using response times and read ranges as indices. The RFID system was composed
      of a computer, a detector, and transponders (tag) consisting of an integrated
      circuit chip and an antenna. The tag is joined to the source for identification.
      The tags were irradiated at doses between 5 and 5,000 Gy by an x-ray irradiator.
      The response times and the read ranges were tracked from 40 to 23,200 min after
      irradiation. Relative read ranges fluctuated between 0.9 and 1.1 in the dose
      region less than 2,000 Gy, but fluctuated greatly in the dose region beyond 2,000
      Gy. Malfunctioning tags appeared from 3,000 Gy, and all tags malfunctioned in the
      dose region over 4,500 Gy. The threshold dose leading to malfunction was
      determined to be 2,100 Gy. Time variation of relative read ranges was classified
      into four patterns. The pattern shifted from pattern 1 to 4 when the dose was
      increased. The relative read ranges lengthened in pattern 1. The relative read
      rages were approximately 1.0 in pattern 2. The read ranges tentatively shortened,
      then recovered in pattern 3. The tags malfunctioned in pattern 4. Once the tags
      malfunctioned, they never recovered their performance. Radiation enhances or
      deteriorates communication performance depending on dosage. Tags can
      spontaneously recover from radiation deterioration. The time variation of the
      read ranges can be illustrated by enhancement, deterioration, and recovery. The
      mechanism of four patterns is explained based on the variation of the frequency
      harmonization strength and activation voltage by irradiation. The annual
      effective dose of radiation protection section staffs can be reduced
      considerably.

PMID- 20938240
TI  - Image quantification for radiation dose calculations--limitations and
      uncertainties.
AB  - Radiation dose calculations in nuclear medicine depend on quantification of
      activity via planar and/or tomographic imaging methods. However, both methods
      have inherent limitations, and the accuracy of activity estimates varies with
      object size, background levels, and other variables. The goal of this study was
      to evaluate the limitations of quantitative imaging with planar and single photon
      emission computed tomography (SPECT) approaches, with a focus on activity
      quantification for use in calculating absorbed dose estimates for normal organs
      and tumors. To do this we studied a series of phantoms of varying complexity of
      geometry, with three radionuclides whose decay schemes varied from simple to
      complex. Four aqueous concentrations of 99mTc, 131I, and 111In (74, 185, 370, and
      740 kBq mL-1) were placed in spheres of four different sizes in a water-filled
      phantom, with three different levels of activity in the surrounding water. Planar
      and SPECT images of the phantoms were obtained on a modern SPECT/computed
      tomography (CT) system. These radionuclides and concentration/background studies
      were repeated using a cardiac phantom and a modified torso phantom with liver and
      "tumor" regions containing the radionuclide concentrations and with the same
      varying background levels. Planar quantification was performed using the
      geometric mean approach, with attenuation correction (AC), and with and without
      scatter corrections (SC and NSC). SPECT images were reconstructed using
      attenuation maps (AM) for AC; scatter windows were used to perform SC during
      image reconstruction. For spherical sources with corrected data, good accuracy
      was observed (generally within +/-10% of known values) for the largest sphere
      (11.5 mL) and for both planar and SPECT methods with 99mTc and 131I, but were
      poorest and deviated from known values for smaller objects, most notably for
      111In. SPECT quantification was affected by the partial volume effect in smaller
      objects and generally showed larger errors than the planar results in these cases
      for all radionuclides. For the cardiac phantom, results were the most accurate of
      all of the experiments for all radionuclides. Background subtraction was an
      important factor influencing these results. The contribution of scattered photons
      was important in quantification with 131I; if scatter was not accounted for,
      activity tended to be overestimated using planar quantification methods. For the
      torso phantom experiments, results show a clear underestimation of activity when
      compared to previous experiment with spherical sources for all radionuclides.
      Despite some variations that were observed as the level of background increased,
      the SPECT results were more consistent across different activity concentrations.
      Planar or SPECT quantification on state-of-the-art gamma cameras with appropriate
      quantitative processing can provide accuracies of better than 10% for large
      objects and modest target-to-background concentrations; however when smaller
      objects are used, in the presence of higher background, and for nuclides with
      more complex decay schemes, SPECT quantification methods generally produce better
      results.

PMID- 20938241
TI  - Requirements for radiation emergency urine bioassay techniques for the public and
      first responders.
AB  - Following a radiation emergency, the affected public and the first responders may
      need to be quickly assessed for internal contamination by the radionuclides
      involved. Urine bioassay is one of the most commonly used methods for assessing
      radionuclide intake and radiation dose. This paper attempts to derive the
      sensitivity requirements (from inhalation exposure) for the urine bioassay
      techniques for the top 10 high-risk radionuclides that might be used in a
      terrorist attack. The requirements are based on a proposed reference dose to
      adults of 0.1 Sv (CED, committed effective dose). In addition, requirements
      related to sample turnaround time and field deployability of the assay techniques
      are also discussed. A review of currently available assay techniques summarized
      in this paper reveals that method development for 241Am, 226Ra, 238Pu, and 90Sr
      urine bioassay is needed.

PMID- 20938245
TI  - Experiences of driving and driving restrictions in recipients with an implantable
      cardioverter defibrillator--the patient perspective.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) is a
      lifesaving device for treating patients who have experienced (secondary
      prevention), or are likely to experience (primary prevention), sudden cardiac
      death due to ventricular arrhythmias. Individuals with an ICD are prohibited from
      driving for a restricted period after the implantation and after recurrence of a
      ventricular arrhythmia, which may affect the ICD recipient in daily life. The aim
      of this study was therefore to describe how ICD recipients perceive driving and
      the driving restriction. METHODS: Fourteen men and 6 women, aged 43 to 82 years,
      with driving restrictions due to both secondary and primary ICD indications, were
      interviewed. Data were analyzed using phenomenography. RESULTS: The analysis
      resulted in the main category, the individual's unique relationship to driving,
      based on the categories: (1) achieving adherence on driving restrictions, (2)
      emotional influence of driving restriction, and (3) altered views on driving. The
      information was sometimes conceived as insufficient and unclear, and the
      willingness to accept the restriction differed. The ICD recipients perceived a
      loss of independence and changed self-image. Some patients had changed their
      driving behavior because of uncertainty of their driving abilities or fear of
      having arrhythmias/shocks while driving. They had different views on their future
      driving. CONCLUSIONS: Handling driving restrictions after ICD implantation and
      shocks is a complex and delicate issue in clinical practice and should be
      addressed in a dialogue with the ICD recipient. More individualized and
      structured information and support should be given according to the ICD
      recipients' experiences and needs.

PMID- 20938247
TI  - Perceptions of cardiac risk factors and risk-reduction behavior in women with
      known coronary heart disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Risk factor reduction has been linked to personal perceptions of
      risk, yet few data exist about women's personal perceptions of coronary heart
      disease (CHD) risk, especially women who have experienced a cardiac event or
      intervention. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to explore perceptions of
      risk for CHD and to examine perceptions of risk-reducing behaviors in women with
      known CHD. METHODS: Because women's attitudes are conceptualized to be embedded
      in their everyday practices, an interpretative qualitative approach was chosen to
      reveal this phenomenon. The purposive sample consisted of 7 women with CHD.
      Interviews were conducted and transcribed verbatim. Data collection continued
      until saturation occurred. Efforts were made to increase trustworthiness through
      participant review of transcripts, peer debriefing, and using field notes.
      RESULTS: Three major themes emerged from the data: "out of sight, out of mind,"
      "why doesn't he talk to me like that?" and "it's scary." The women indicated
      their CHD was currently not a major problem because they were asymptomatic or did
      not "feel sick," which led to decreased focus on their CHD, including risk factor
      reduction. They expressed the desire to return to normal, rather than focus on
      the chronicity of CHD. Participants felt that physicians treated them differently
      because they were women and that their concerns were taken less seriously. They
      perceived that the patient-physician relationship lacked open dialogue. Fear was
      experienced by all women, and many feared the unknown, especially not knowing
      when something was wrong with their heart. CONCLUSIONS: Data indicated that,
      during stable periods in the CHD trajectory, women may not understand the
      chronicity of their disease and may not recognize the importance of reducing
      their risk for future cardiac events. Helping women understand CHD chronicity
      even when they may not feel sick may assist them in engaging in risk-reducing
      behaviors.

PMID- 20938249
TI  - Prevalence and risk factors associated with prehypertension: identification of
      foci for primary prevention of hypertension.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND RESEARCH OBJECTIVE: Prehypertension (pre-HT) has become an
      important public health issue in China because it identifies people at higher
      risk for hypertension (HT) and cardiovascular diseases. The aims of this study
      were to (1) examine the prevalence of pre-HT, (2) identify risk factors of pre
      HT, and (3) identify factors that increase the likelihood of developing HT among
      the pre-HT group. SUBJECT AND METHODS: This was a cross-sectional descriptive
      study. Community-dwelling residents of an urban district in Wuhan, central China
      (obtained from stratified random sampling), aged between 35 and 74 years
      completed the study. Data were collected by using a structured self-reporting
      questionnaire and a standardized protocol for blood pressure measurement and risk
      screening. Blood pressure categories were defined according to the results of the
      seventh report of the Joint National Committee on the Prevention, Detection and
      Treatment of High Blood Pressure. RESULTS: Among the 1,448 participants, 618
      (42.7%) had pre-HT. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed the risk
      factors of being overweight (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 1.93; 95% confidence
      interval [CI], 1.26-2.98) or obese (aOR, 8.9; 95% CI, 1.14-62.3) and having above
      optimal triglyceride level (aOR, 1.67; 95% CI, 1.24-2.26) were associated with
      pre-HT. Age and lower educational level were also associated with pre-HT risk.
      There was a clear trend toward an increased risk of HT among the pre-HT group
      with every 10-year increment in age starting from 45 years (aORs were 3.47, 6.82,
      and 7.58, respectively). Participants with Pre-HT currently engaging in sedentary
      work were also found to have a higher risk of developing HT. Other risk factors
      for HT included being overweight (aOR, 2.0; 95% CI, 1.50-2.68), a known family
      history of HT (aOR, 2.54; 95% CI, 1.98-3.26), and presence of diabetes mellitus
      (aOR, 2.51; 95% CI, 1.66-3.80). CONCLUSION: Prehypertension is common among
      residents in an urban district in central China. Findings of this study serve to
      identify the at-risk groups. Targeting these people early with therapeutic
      lifestyle changes may provide important long-term benefit for HT prevention.

PMID- 20938248
TI  - Psychological factors are important correlates of dietary pattern in overweight
      adults.
AB  - INTRODUCTION AND PURPOSE: Abdominal obesity, the central distribution of adipose
      tissue, is a well-established cardiometabolic disease risk factor. The prevalence
      has steadily increased since 1988, and now more than 50% of adults have abdominal
      obesity. Psychological distress coupled with increased dietary energy density
      (ED) may contribute to abdominal obesity. Guided by the stress and coping model,
      this study examined the relationship between psychological factors (perceived
      stress and depressive symptoms) and dietary ED in overweight, working adults. The
      first hypothesis tested if psychological factors explained a significant amount
      of food and beverage ED variance above that accounted for by demographic factors.
      The second hypothesis tested if psychological factors explained a significant
      amount of food and nonalcoholic beverage ED variance above that accounted for by
      demographic factors. Post hoc analyses compared macronutrient composition and
      food group pattern between overweight, working adults with and without depressive
      symptoms. METHODS: This descriptive, cross-sectional, correlation study was
      composed of 87 overweight, working adults (mean age, 41.3 [SD, 10.2] years; mean
      body mass index, 32.1 [SD, 6.1] kg/m2; 73.6% women; 50.6% African American).
      Participants completed the Beck Depression Inventory II and Perceived Stress
      Scale and weighed-3-day-food record analyzed for caloric intake (kilocalories)
      and weight (in grams) of consumed foods and beverages that were used to calculate
      ED (in kilocalories/gram). Height and weight were measured to calculate body mass
      index. Descriptive statistics, Mann-Whitney U test, and sequential regression
      modeling were used for data analysis. RESULTS: Depressive symptoms were reported
      by 21.9% of participants and explained variance in food and beverage ED above
      that accounted for by African American race and reporting adequate caloric
      intake. Depressive symptoms explained variance in food and nonalcoholic beverage
      ED above that accounted for male sex, African American race, and reporting
      adequate caloric intake. Perceived stress and depressive symptoms were positively
      correlated; however, perceived stress was not a significant predictor of food and
      beverage ED. CONCLUSIONS: Depressive symptoms, potentially modifiable, were 4
      times that found in the general population and independently predicted increased
      food and beverage ED. Further research is needed to determine if improvements in
      depressive symptoms alter dietary ED, potentially reducing cardiometabolic
      disease risk.

PMID- 20938250
TI  - Sublingual nitroglycerin practices in patients with coronary artery disease in
      Australia.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND RESEARCH OBJECTIVE: Sublingual nitroglycerin (SLNTG) medications
      are a recommended treatment for people with coronary artery disease (CAD);
      however, prescription and knowledge may be suboptimal. This study set out to
      determine how often SLNTG is prescribed and the knowledge and factors associated
      in patients with CAD. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Patients (n = 142) were recruited
      from cardiac rehabilitation and surveyed regarding SLNTG prescription and key
      knowledge areas related to SLNTG in those prescribed (n = 89). Multiple
      regression analysis was used to determine independent predictors of knowledge.
      RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Despite having CAD, 37% were not prescribed SLNTG, and
      of those prescribed, only 43% received related instruction. Knowledge of SLNTG
      was low at a mean 7.11 (SD, 2.05) points of a possible 14. Most participants
      (96%) knew to use SLNTG to treat chest pain/discomfort, and no participant
      described inappropriate symptoms for treatment. Although most patients (80%) knew
      to have the SLNTG available at all times, only 46% did so in reality. One in 5
      participants reported that they would not call an ambulance if chest pain was
      unrelieved by SLNTG. Participants had more SLNTG knowledge if they were married,
      were male, and had been instructed about SLNTG and had less knowledge if their
      hospital discharge diagnosis included angina. The reporting of calling an
      ambulance for unrelieved symptoms was increased by having more knowledge of
      SLNTG, but decreased if participants had prior use of SLNTG, were married, or had
      more comorbidities. Consideration of prescription for SLNTG and related
      instruction, particularly for their chest-pain action plan, needs to be provided
      more systematically for patients with CAD.

PMID- 20938251
TI  - Prehospital delay for acute coronary syndrome in China.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Despite the effectiveness of timely reperfusion therapy for acute
      coronary syndrome, prehospital delay remains a global concern. OBJECTIVE: This
      article assesses the state-of-the-science regarding prehospital delay for acute
      coronary syndrome in China. METHOD: Electronic databases and hand searching were
      undertaken using key words such as prehospital delay, care-seeking delay,
      coronary heart disease, heart disease, acute coronary syndrome, unstable angina
      pain, acute myocardial infarction, cardiovascular disease, chest pain, and Chin
      (China/Chinese). The Chinese search was supervised by a Chinese health librarian.
      RESULTS: Based on the search criteria, 28 studies were identified and reviewed
      using a standardized data extraction tool. Older age, attribution of symptoms to
      noncardiac causes, lack of health insurance coverage, poor access to
      transportation, and female sex were identified as contributing to prehospital
      delay. CONCLUSION: Health system reforms in China are necessary, particularly
      with regard to addressing the needs of older people, women, and other vulnerable
      populations in the context of the rising number of people with coronary heart
      disease. Developing targeted strategies, learned from both national and
      international experience, are required to develop targeted interventions.

PMID- 20938252
TI  - Self-reported health-related quality of life and sleep disturbances in Taiwanese
      people with heart failure.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND RESEARCH OBJECTIVE: Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) has
      been viewed as the most important clinical outcome of heart failure (HF)
      management. However, information about the predictors of HRQOL in Taiwanese
      people with HF is limited, especially for the effects of sleep disturbances on
      HF. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identify predictors of HRQOL in
      Taiwanese people with HF, especially focusing on the extent to which sleep
      variables are related to HRQOL. METHODS: A cross-sectional, descriptive
      correlational design was used. A nonprobability sample of 125 participants was
      recruited from the outpatient departments of 2 hospitals located in southern
      Taiwan. Participants were face-to-face individually interviewed to complete the
      Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, Epworth
      Sleepiness Scale, and Charlson Comorbidity Index. Data for concomitant health
      problems and HF characteristics were collected from the medical records. RESULTS:
      The mean Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire overall summary score for HRQOL
      in this sample was 70.50 (SD, 19.63). Health-related quality of life physical
      symptom had the highest score, and the psychological satisfaction domain had the
      lowest. Six predictors of the HRQOL were identified by using a 3-step
      hierarchical multiple regression analysis with forward method. The predictors
      were education (R2 = 0.09), New York Heart Association functional class (R2 =
      0.398), Charlson Comorbidity Index number (R2 = 2.6), subjective sleep quality
      (R2 = 0.037), sleep disturbances (R2 = 0.015), and sleep latency (R2 = 0.018),
      and together they accounted for a total of 58.5% of the variance in HRQOL.
      CONCLUSIONS: Nurses should use a holistic perspective to help patients understand
      and manage the impact of HF on their daily lives. Effective interventions for
      improving HRQOL should be designed based on patients' needs and lifestyles. The
      study findings could serve as a baseline for further longitudinal studies to
      explore the long-term effects of correlates and causal relationships among the
      variables in this Taiwanese population with HF.

PMID- 20938253
TI  - Microsurgical replantation and salvage procedures in traumatic ear amputation.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to present our experience with patients who
      underwent traumatic ear amputation. METHODS: Between January 1988 and April 2002,
      10 patients sustained ear amputations. Of these, six patients underwent
      microvascular replantation (arterial anastomosis only and arterial and venous
      anastomosis in three patients each), and replantation was attempted in one
      patient. However, no suitable vessel could be found for the anastomosis, and the
      amputated ear was treated as a composite graft and buried in a retroauricular
      pocket. Staged costal cartilage reconstruction was performed in three patients
      who lost the ear replant after trauma (two patients) or due to infection (one
      patient). RESULTS: The ear replant survived and showed good cosmetic results in
      the three patients who underwent arterial and venous anastomoses. The patients
      who had artery anastomosis only required intrareplant heparin injection (chemical
      leech) to resolve venous congestion and sustained partial loss of the replanted
      ear. Secondary procedures were necessary to repair the reconstructions, including
      an advancement, temporoparietal fascia, or retroauricular flap. Those who
      underwent staged ear reconstruction had late ear deformities. CONCLUSION:
      Microvascular replantation is the best method for reattaching an amputated ear,
      giving excellent esthetic results. If only arterial anastomosis is performed, a
      chemical leech is an option for decompressing the venous congestion. In those
      patients without a suitable vessel for microanastomosis, nonmicrosurgical methods
      are suggested, such as a temporoparietal fascia flap, retroauricular pocket
      procedure, or staged-costal cartilage reconstruction, depending on the ear
      defect.

PMID- 20938254
TI  - Unusual pneumoperitoneum secondary to ruptured liver abscess.

PMID- 20938255
TI  - Pancreatic transection after a sports injury.

PMID- 20938256
TI  - Traumatic pacemaker lead fracture.

PMID- 20938257
TI  - Tropical plant needle causing recurrent cardiac tamponade in a pediatric patient.

PMID- 20938258
TI  - Suicidal hanging attempt: poor symptoms for a potentially lethal injury.

PMID- 20938259
TI  - Pulmonary aspergillosis in a non-neutropenic critical patient.

PMID- 20938260
TI  - Neurotrauma: 50th anniversary year review article of the Journal of Trauma.

PMID- 20938261
TI  - Effects of fluid resuscitation with hypertonic saline dextrane or Ringer's
      acetate after nonhemorrhagic shock caused by pulmonary contusion.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Injured lungs are sensitive to fluid resuscitation after trauma. Such
      treatment can increase lung water content and lead to desaturation. Hypertonic
      saline with dextran (HSD) has hyperosmotic properties that promote plasma volume
      expansion, thus potentially reducing these side effects. The aim of this study
      was to (1) evaluate whether fluid treatment counteracts hypotension and improves
      survival after nonhemorrhagic shock caused by lung contusion and (2) analyze
      whether resuscitation with HSD is more efficient than treatment with Ringer's
      acetate (RA) in terms of blood oxygenation, the amount of lung water, circulatory
      effects, and inflammatory response. METHODS: Twenty-nine pigs, all wearing body
      armor, were shot with a 7.62-mm assault rifle to produce a standardized pulmonary
      contusion. These animals were allocated into three groups: HSD, RA, and an
      untreated shot control group. Exposed animals were compared with animals not
      treated with fluid and shot with blank ammunition. For 2 hours after the shot,
      the inflammatory response and physiologic parameters were monitored. RESULTS: The
      impact induced pulmonary contusion, desaturation, hypotension, increased heart
      rate, and led to an inflammatory response. No change in blood pressure was
      observed after fluid treatment. HSD treatment resulted in significantly less lung
      water (p < 0.05) and tended to give better Pao2 (p = 0.09) than RA treatment.
      Tumor necrosis factor-alpha release and heart rate were significantly lower in
      animals given fluids. CONCLUSION: Fluid treatment does not affect blood pressure
      or mortality in this model of nonhemorrhagic shock caused by lung contusion.
      However, our data indicate that HSD, when compared with RA, has advantages for
      the injured lung.

PMID- 20938262
TI  - Intrathoracic pressure impulse predicts pulmonary contusion volume in ballistic
      blunt thoracic trauma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Blunt thoracic trauma including behind armour blunt trauma or impact
      from a less lethal kinetic weapon (LLKW) projectile may cause injuries, including
      pulmonary contusions that can result in potentially lethal secondary
      complications. These lung injuries may be caused by intrathoracic pressure waves.
      The aim of this study was to observe dynamic changes in intrathoracic hydrostatic
      pressure during ballistic blunt thoracic trauma and to find correlations between
      these hydrostatic pressure parameters (especially the impulse parameter) and
      physical damages. METHODS: Thirty anesthetized pigs sustained a blunt thoracic
      trauma. In group 1 (n = 20), pigs were protected by a National Institute of
      Justice class III or IV bulletproof vest and shot with 7.62 NATO bullets. In
      group 2 (n = 10), pigs were shot by an LLKW. Intrathoracic pressure was recorded
      with an intraesophageal pressure sensor and three parameters were determined:
      intrathoracic maximum pressure, intrathoracic maximum pressure impulse (PI(max)),
      and the Pd.P/dt(max), derived from Viano's viscous criterion. Relative right
      lower lung lobe contusion volume was also measured. RESULTS: Different thoracic
      loading conditions were obtained. PI(max) best correlated with relative pulmonary
      contusion volume (R2 = 0.64 and p < 0.0001). This result was homogenous for all
      experiments and was not related to the type of chest impact (LLKW-induced trauma
      or behind armour blunt trauma). CONCLUSIONS: The PI(max) is a good predictor of
      pulmonary contusion volume after ballistic blunt thoracic trauma. It is a useful
      criterion when the kinetic energy record or thoracic wall displacement data are
      unavailable, and the recording and calculation of this physical value are quite
      simple on animals.

PMID- 20938263
TI  - Thoracic gunshot wounds: alterations to pulmonary function and respiratory muscle
      strength.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The impact on respiratory function of gunshot injuries to the chest
      is unknown. The objective is to assess pulmonary function and respiratory muscle
      strength (RMS) in patients who have recently sustained an isolated gunshot injury
      to the chest. METHODS: After institutional review board approval, patients with
      isolated gunshot injuries to the chest were prospectively identified. Study
      patients underwent pulmonary function testing and an assessment of RMS and gas
      exchange. RESULTS: Ten male patients sustaining an isolated pulmonary gunshot
      wound were prospectively enrolled with a mean age of 29 years +/- 10 years and
      mean Injury Severity Score of 15 +/- 5. All patients had an associated
      pneumothorax (n = 1), hemothorax (n = 4), or a combination of both (n = 5). After
      removal of all thoracostomy tubes and before discharge [7.4 days +/- 5.4 days
      (range, 2-21 days)], patients underwent respiratory function testing. Lung volume
      subdivisions were reduced by 25% to 60% of predicted and diffusion capacity by
      37% with preservation of the normal ratio of diffusion capacity to alveolar
      volume. In the six subjects able to perform spirometry in seated and supine
      postures, forced vital capacity decreased by 20% when changing posture (p =
      0.046). Arterial blood gas analysis showed significant reduction in the
      P(AO)2/FIO2 ratio (or increase in AaDO2). Maximal respiratory pressures were
      severely reduced from predicted values, the maximal inspiratory pressure by 60%
      and the maximal expiratory pressure by 78%. CONCLUSIONS: Lung volumes and RMS are
      decreased moderately to severely in patients who have sustained an isolated
      pulmonary gunshot wound. Expiratory muscle force generation is more severely
      affected than inspiratory muscle force. Further investigation of the long-term
      impact of these injuries on respiratory function is warranted.

PMID- 20938264
TI  - FACTS survey: focused assessment with sonography in trauma use among Canadian
      residents training in general surgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A survey of all Canadian residents training in general surgery was
      conducted to determine the prevalence and nature of focused assessment with
      sonography in trauma (FAST) training. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey of all
      549 residents in 16 Canadian general surgery programs was administered using the
      Tailored Design Method between December 2008 and February 2009. RESULTS: With a
      response rate of 58.5% (321 of 549), the prevalence of FAST training among
      Canadian residents was 21.2% (95% confidence interval: 17.2-25.2). The median
      number of practice and patient examinations completed was 5 (interquartile range
      [IQR]: 2-10.5) and 11.5 (IQR: 1.75-50), respectively. Only 38.8% of residents
      with training felt comfortable making treatment decisions based on their FAST
      examinations. Those residents who were comfortable had completed more practice
      and patient examinations (median, 12.5 vs. 4, p = 0.001 and 30 vs. 4.5, p <=
      0.001, respectively) and were less likely to have didactic only training (7.7%
      vs. 19.5%, p = 0.002). Most residents (80%) indicated that they would need 20
      practice examinations or more (median, 30 examinations; IQR, 20-40) before they
      would feel comfortable. Residents with FAST training were more likely to be from
      a program that offered FAST training (54.5% vs. 10%, p <= 0.001) and were less
      likely to perceive a turf war with other specialties over FAST use (29.9% vs.
      48.2%, p = 0.007). CONCLUSIONS: The situation with FAST training in Canada seems
      inadequate with few general surgery residents being trained, and of those
      trained, only a few are comfortable with the technique. If FAST skills are to be
      expected of future surgeons, initiatives must be put in place to address barriers
      and improve training opportunities.

PMID- 20938265
TI  - Beta-adrenergic blockade and traumatic brain injury: protective?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Catecholamine surge after traumatic brain injury (TBI) is associated
      with infectious morbidity and potentially preventable mortality. Previous studies
      have supported the protective effect of beta-adrenergic blockade in patients with
      TBI. We hypothesize that suppression of the catecholamine surge in multiple
      injured TBI patients with beta-adrenergic blockade decreases mortality. METHODS:
      The trauma registry at an urban Level I trauma center was queried for blunt TBI
      from June 1, 2003, to December 31, 2007. Patients who received more than one dose
      of beta-blockers (BB) were identified by a review of the hospital pharmacy order
      database. chi2 and Student's t tests were used where appropriate. After adjusting
      for age, injury severity score, admission Glasgow Coma Score, and transfusions
      multivariable logistic regression was performed to analyze whether receiving BB
      was protective in patients sustaining TBI. RESULTS: A total of 2,601 patients
      were admitted with blunt TBI during the study period. Of these, 506 patients
      (20%) received BB. Despite higher age (51 years vs. 38 years, p < 0.0001) and
      more severe head injury (head Abbreviated Injury Scale score 4.14 vs. 3.81, p <
      0.0001), there was no difference in mortality (15% vs. 16%). Multivariable
      logistic regression identified BB as protective in patients sustaining head
      injury (odds ratio, 0.347; confidence interval, 0.246-0.490), when compared with
      those who did not receive BB, reducing mortality by 65%. CONCLUSIONS: BB are
      associated with significantly reduced mortality in patients with TBI. This
      simple, inexpensive intervention may have a profound effect on mortality in this
      population of injured patients and requires further prospective study.

PMID- 20938266
TI  - Postconcussion syndrome after mild traumatic brain injury in Western Greece.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The prevalence of postconcussion syndrome (PCS) in the first weeks
      after mild traumatic brain injury varies from 40% to 80%. However, as many as 50%
      of patients report symptoms for up to 3 months and 10% to 15% for more than a
      year. The objective of this study is to analyze the characteristics and estimate
      the prevalence of PCS in an adult Greek population. METHODS: This prospective
      study was performed in the University Hospital of Patras in Western Greece.
      Patients with mild traumatic brain injury (n = 539) were randomly recruited on
      admission between May 2006 and May 2008. Overall, 223 patients (223 of 539,
      41.5%) met the Colorado Medical Society guidelines for concussion; 141 men (63%)
      and 82 women (37%) with a median age of 30 years (range, 18.5-57.5 years) were
      included in the study. Patient follow-up consisted of telephone interviews at 1
      month, 3 months, and 6 months postinjury, when they were asked about experiencing
      common postconcussion symptoms (International Classification of Diseases-10th
      revision criteria). RESULTS: The rate of PCS at 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months
      postinjury was estimated to be 10.3%, 6%, and 0.9%, respectively. The syndrome
      was more frequent among women (17%) and individuals with bleeding diathesis (26%)
      compared with men (6.4%) and patients without clotting disorders (8.5%),
      respectively. In addition, higher rates of PCS affected patients who sustained
      assaults compared with other types of accidents. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of
      PCS was remarkably higher in previous studies. Cultural differences regarding
      symptom expectation and the lack of compensation might explain the low rate of
      chronic symptoms in Greeks.

PMID- 20938267
TI  - Normal presenting vital signs are unreliable in geriatric blunt trauma victims.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Normal vital signs are typically associated with improved outcomes in
      trauma patients. Whether this association is true for geriatric patients is
      unclear. METHODS: A Level 1 trauma center retrospective chart review of vital
      signs on presentation (heart rate [HR] and blood pressure) in young (aged 17-35
      years) and geriatric (aged 65 years or older) blunt trauma victims from September
      2003 to September 2008 was preformed. Generalized nonlinear using piecewise
      regression for the linear portion of standard logistic models was used to model
      risk of mortality as a function of HR and blood pressure. Independent models were
      selected for elderly and young trauma patients based on blood pressure and HR.
      Models of the same complexity were then fit within each gender and age. RESULTS:
      There were 2,194 geriatric and 2,081 young patients. Two hundred fifty-one
      (11.4%) geriatric and 49 (2.4%) young patients died. At all points of
      "normality," the mortality of the geriatric patients was higher than the young
      group. Mortality increases considerably in the elderly patients for HRs >90 beats
      per minute (bpm), an association not seen until HR of 130 bpm in the young group.
      Mortality significantly increases with systolic blood pressure (SBP) <110 mm Hg
      in the geriatric patients but not until a SBP of 95 mm Hg in the young patients.
      HR and mortality association was most variable in the male geriatric patients.
      CONCLUSIONS: Vital signs on presentation are less predictive of mortality in
      geriatric blunt trauma victims. Geriatric blunt trauma patients warrant increased
      vigilance despite normal vital signs on presentation. New trauma triage set
      points of HR >90 or SBP <110 mm Hg should be considered in the geriatric blunt
      trauma patients.

PMID- 20938268
TI  - Ground level falls are associated with significant mortality in elderly patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Falls from height are considered to be high risk for multisystem
      injury. Ground-level falls (GLF) are often deemed a low-energy mechanism of
      injury (MOI) and not a recommended triage criterion for trauma team activation.
      We hypothesize that in elderly patients, a GLF may represent a high-risk group
      for injury and concurrent comorbidities that warrant trauma service evaluation
      and should be triaged appropriately. METHODS: This is a retrospective study based
      on the National Trauma Data Bank. All patients with MOI consistent with GLF were
      identified. Demographics, type and severity of injuries, and outcomes were
      analyzed. RESULTS: We identified 57,302 patients with GLF. The group had 34% men,
      with mean age of 68 years +/- 17 years and injury severity score of 8 +/- 5.
      Overall mortality was 3.2%. There were 32,320 elderly patients (older than 70
      years). The mortality in the elderly was significantly higher than the nonelderly
      (4.4% vs. 1.6%, p < 0.0001). The elderly were more likely to sustain long-bone
      fracture (54.5% vs. 35.9%, p < 0.0001), pelvic fracture (7.6% vs. 2.4%, p <
      0.0001), and intracranial injury (10.6% vs. 8.7%, p<0.0001). Multivariate
      analysis showed that Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score <15 (odds ratio, 4.98) and
      older than 70 years (odds ratio, 2.75) were significant predictors of mortality
      inpatients after GLF. CONCLUSIONS: Patients older than 70 years and with GCS
      score <15 represent a group with significant inhospital mortality.

PMID- 20938269
TI  - Diagnostic accuracy, biohazard safety, and cost effectiveness-the Lodox/Statscan
      provides a beneficial alternative for the primary evaluation of patients with
      multiple injuries.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Lodox/Statscan is a new digital X-ray machine with a low dose of
      radiation exposure that provides rapid, whole-body scans. In the setting of acute
      trauma management, the importance of image study is well recognized. Here, we
      report the accuracy of diagnoses made using Lodox/Statscan in patients with
      multiple injuries. We analyze the cost effectiveness, biohazard safety, and
      detection rate for treatment using the Lodox/Statscan and evaluate whether it is
      a viable alternative to the conventional trauma X-ray. METHODS: We
      retrospectively reviewed patients who received a Lodox/Statscan between November
      2007 and January 2009. All patients who had received both a Lodox/Statscan and a
      computed tomographic (CT) scan were enrolled. The CT scan was used to make the
      final diagnosis. The detection rate for treatment, sensitivity, and specificity
      of the Lodox/Statscan in diagnosis was analyzed. RESULTS: One hundred eighty-four
      patients were eligible for the study during the 15-month study period. The
      detection rates for treatment using the Lodox/Statscan for pneumothorax, pelvic
      fracture, cervical spine injury, and thoracic-lumbar spine injury were 95%,
      96.0%, and 57.1%, and 100%, respectively. CONCLUSION: In our series, the
      Lodox/Statscan provided similar quality images and conventional series to the CT
      scans. Although the Lodox/Statscan missed some injuries, most of the subsequent
      treatments were not changed. Overall, there were several advantages to using this
      system, including the short interval of study, low-radiation exposure, and low
      cost. The Lodox/Statscan could therefore be used as an alternative to the
      traditional trauma X-ray for evaluation of acute trauma patients.

PMID- 20938270
TI  - Hepcidin in trauma: linking injury, inflammation, and anemia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Anemia is almost universal in trauma patients admitted to the
      intensive care unit (ICU). Hepcidin is a liver-derived peptide that is a negative
      regulator of iron stores. Hepcidin synthesis is suppressed by erythropoiesis and
      iron deficiency and upregulated by iron overload and inflammation. Hepcidin has
      been shown to have an important role in the anemia of chronic inflammatory
      diseases but has not been previously studied in the setting of trauma. We sought
      to define the link between traumatic injury, hepcidin, and inflammation. METHODS:
      One hundred fifty trauma patients admitted to the ICU were prospectively enrolled
      in the study. Urine was collected at regular time points for hepcidin
      measurement. Serum for iron studies and measurement of those cytokines associated
      with acute inflammation was also collected. RESULTS: The study population
      comprised 73% men. Mean age was 46 years, with a median Injury Severity Score
      (ISS) of 27. The mean lactate level was 2.9 mmol/L, and mean hemoglobin was 12.4
      g/dL. More than 50% of patients were anemic on ICU admission, and nearly all were
      anemic by postinjury day 10. Urinary hepcidin levels were among the highest
      reported to date and had a rightward skew. Iron studies confirmed functional iron
      deficiency. Log hepcidin values were positively correlated with ISS and
      negatively correlated with admission Pao2/FiO2. Every increase in ISS by 10 was
      associated with a 40% increase in hepcidin. Initial hepcidin levels were
      positively correlated with duration of anemia. CONCLUSIONS: Hepcidin levels rise
      to extremely high but variable levels after trauma and are positively correlated
      with injury severity measured by ISS and duration of anemia and negatively
      correlated with hypoxia. Hepcidin is likely a key factor in the impaired
      erythropoiesis seen in critically injured trauma patients.

PMID- 20938271
TI  - Ventilator-associated pneumonia in trauma patients is associated with lower
      mortality: results from EU-VAP study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Differences in trauma patients developing ventilator-associated
      pneumonia (VAP) are described regarding etiology and risk factors associated. We
      aim to describe the differences in outcomes in trauma and nontrauma patients with
      VAP. METHODS: A prospective, observational study conducted in 27 intensive care
      units from nine European countries. We included patients requiring invasive
      mechanical ventilation for >48 hours who developed VAP. Logistic regression model
      was used to assess the factors independently associated with mortality in trauma
      patients with VAP. RESULTS: A total of 2,436 patients were evaluated; 465
      developed VAP and of these 128 (27.5%) were trauma patients. Trauma patients were
      younger than nontrauma (45.3 +/- 19.4 vs. 61.1 +/- 16.7, p < 0.0001). Nontrauma
      had higher simplified acute physiology score II compared with trauma patients
      (45.5 +/- 16.3 vs. 41.1 +/- 15.2, p = 0.009). Most prevalent pathogens in trauma
      patients with early VAP were Enterobacteriaceae spp. (46.9% vs. 27.8%, p = 0.06)
      followed by methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus (30.6% vs. 13%, p =
      0.03) and then Haemophilus influenzae (14.3% vs. 1.9%, p = 0.02), and the most
      prevalent pathogen in late VAP was Acinetobacter baumannii (12.2% vs. 44.4%, p <
      0.0001). Mortality was higher in nontrauma patients than in trauma patients
      (42.6% vs. 17.2%, p < 0.001, odds ratio [OR] = 3.55, 95%CI = 2.14-5.88). A
      logistic regression model adjusted for sex, age, severity of illness at intensive
      care unit admission, and sepsis-related organ failure assessment score at the day
      of VAP diagnosis confirmed that trauma was associated with a lower mortality
      compared with nontrauma patients (odds ratio [OR] = 0.37, 95%CI = 0.21-0.65).
      CONCLUSIONS: Trauma patients developing VAP had different demographic
      characteristics and episodes of etiology. After adjustment for potential
      confounders, VAP episodes in trauma patients are associated with lower mortality
      when compared with nontrauma patients.

PMID- 20938272
TI  - Utility of ampicillin-sulbactam for empiric treatment of ventilator-associated
      pneumonia in a trauma population.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Ampicillin-sulbactam is guideline-recommended treatment for early
      onset ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP). However, intensive care unit
      clinicians are encountering increasing resistance to ampicillin-sulbactam. We
      sought to analyze the time period for early-onset VAP in our trauma population by
      using daily evaluation of resistance to ampicillin-sulbactam. METHODS: A
      retrospective cohort study was completed on all mechanically ventilated trauma
      patients admitted to a rural level-1 trauma center from January 2003 to December
      2008 who were diagnosed with VAP. Daily bacterial resistance to ampicillin
      sulbactam > 15% was defined as the threshold for early empiric antibiotic failure
      for the first episode of VAP. A univariate analysis of risk factors for multi
      drug resistant pathogens (MDRPs) and comorbidities was completed to assess for
      predisposing factors for ampicillin-sulbactam resistance. RESULTS: One hundred
      sixty-three pathogens were identified in 121 trauma patients diagnosed with VAP.
      Of these isolates, 71% were gram-negative, 28% were gram-positive, and 1% was
      fungal. Methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus (23.9%), H aemophilus
      influenzae (20.9%), and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (11.7%) were the most common
      infecting organisms. Daily ampicillin-sulbactam resistance was 40%, 26%, 32%,
      43%, 50%, and 60% on days 3 to 7 and >= 8 days, respectively. Only the presence
      of MDRP risk factors (89% vs. 65%, p < 0.01) and hospital LOS (36.8 [22.8-49.0]
      vs. 25.7 days [19.0-32.5], p < 0.01) was different between ampicillin- sulbactam
      resistant and ampicillin-sulbactam susceptible VAP groups. On univariate
      analysis, hospital length of stay >4 days and antibiotic use within 90 days were
      associated with ampicillin-sulbactam resistant VAP (p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS:
      Ampicillin-sulbactam is not an effective empiric therapy for early-onset VAP in
      our rural trauma population. The utility of ampicillin-sulbactam should be
      reviewed at other institutions to assess for appropriate empiricism.

PMID- 20938273
TI  - A systematic method for follow-up improves removal rates for retrievable inferior
      vena cava filters in a trauma patient population.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Retrievable inferior vena cava filters (rIVCF) reduce the short-term
      risk of pulmonary embolism without the filter and inferior vena cava (IVC)
      thrombosis that have been reported with the use of permanent filters. Studies
      have shown that most rIVCFs are not removed, leaving patients at risk for
      thrombotic complications of rIVCF retention. We hypothesize that the application
      of a systematic follow-up for rIVCF will improve filter removal rates, providing
      patients short-term prophylaxis from pulmonary embolism whereas avoiding
      complications of permanent filter retention. METHODS: The trauma registry of a
      Level I trauma center was queried to identify patients who underwent placement of
      IVCFs between January 1, 2003, and June 30, 2008. The medical records were
      reviewed and details of the patient's injuries, indications for filter placement,
      repositioning, and retrieval were collected. Radiographic images were reviewed to
      confirm ultimate filter retention or removal. RESULTS: Between January 1, 2003,
      and June 30, 2008, rIVCFs were placed in 118 patients, 44% had known venous
      thromboembolic event. Three patients died before rIVCFs could be considered for
      extraction, leaving 115 patients for evaluation. Filters were removed in 80
      patients (70%) overall. Of the 35 patients in whom filters were not removed, 11
      were lost to follow-up, 4 failed removal attempts, and 20 had indications for
      filter retention. The rIVCFs were retrieved in 75% of patients not lost to follow
      up and 92% of patients who did not have contraindications for filter removal.
      CONCLUSION: A dedicated system for following-up patients with rIVCFs markedly
      improves removal rates of retrievable filters.

PMID- 20938274
TI  - Aortoiliac vascular injuries after misplacement of fixation screws.
AB  - PURPOSE: To report our experience with the diagnosis and treatment of aortoiliac
      vascular injuries caused by misplaced orthopedic fixation screws. MATERIALS: Six
      patients (age range, 35-60 years; mean, 52 years) were diagnosed with seven
      arterial injuries related to misplacement of fixation screws. The location of the
      injuries were thoracic aorta (n = 4) and common iliac arteries (n = 3). There was
      vessel wall penetration in five injuries resulting in active bleeding in two
      patients, contained penetrations in two patients, and vessel occlusion in one
      patient. One patient had associated inferior vena cava injury and pulmonary
      embolism. Two patients had asymptomatic impingement of the aortic wall by the
      screws. RESULTS: Vascular injuries resulted in death in one patient and limb
      amputation in another patient. Three patients were treated with placement of
      stent grafts and screw removal. Screw replacement was performed in one patient.
      Conservative observation was done in one patient. CONCLUSIONS: Vascular injuries
      related to misplacement of fixation screws are relatively infrequent but
      potential life and limb-threatening complications that require early recognition
      with prompt repair of vascular lesions and screw reposition.

PMID- 20938275
TI  - Does fracture pattern predict death with lateral compression type 1 pelvic
      fractures?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Our goal was to analyze whether radiographic fracture pattern
      correlates with mortality of patients with lateral compression type 1 (LC1)
      fractures. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective case-controlled study at a Level
      I trauma center. Radiographs and outcome data were obtained for 52 patients with
      LC1 fractures who died and 63 who lived. LC1 fractures were classified by Denis
      zone of sacral injury and presence of fracture displacement. Our main outcome
      measurement was mortality during index hospital admission. RESULTS: No difference
      was observed in frequency of higher energy Denis zone II sacral fractures between
      patients with LC1 fractures who died (73.1%) and those who lived (69.8%, p =
      0.86, chi2). No difference was observed in number of displaced fractures (50.0%
      vs. 34.9%, p = 0.15, chi2). Patients who died were more likely to have
      significant brain injury (69.2% vs. 14.2%, p < 0.0001, chi2), chest injury (73.1%
      vs. 49.2%, p < 0.05, chi2), or abdominal injury (30.8% vs. 9.5%, p < 0.05, chi2)
      than those who lived. CONCLUSION: Sacral fracture pattern does not seem to be
      predictive of mortality for patients with LC1 pelvic fractures The presence of
      associated injuries seems to be the key driver of mortality.

PMID- 20938276
TI  - Stress radiograph to detect true extent of symphyseal disruption in presumed
      anteroposterior compression type I pelvic injuries.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The differentiation between anteroposterior compression (APC)-I and
      APC-II pelvic fracture patterns is critical in determining operative versus
      nonoperative treatment. We instituted a protocol in which a stress examination
      was performed for patients presenting with an APC-I injury diagnosed with static
      radiographs to reveal the true extent of the injury. METHODS: During a 4-year
      study period, we performed 22 stress radiographs in patients with a presumed APC
      I injury, which showed symphyseal diastasis >= 1.0 cm but <2.5 cm on initial
      anteroposterior (AP) radiographs of the pelvis or on axial images of the pelvis
      on computed tomography (CT) scans. In the operating room, a radiopaque marker of
      known diameter was placed on the skin over the pubic symphysis. A direct AP load
      was manually applied to both anterior superior iliac spines, and diastasis of the
      pubic symphysis was measured on stress fluoroscopic images. RESULTS: The mean
      distance of symphyseal diastasis was 1.8 cm on the AP radiographs, 1.4 cm on the
      CT scans, and 2.5 cm on fluoroscopic images under a stress examination. Six of 22
      patients (27.2%) demonstrated a symphyseal diastasis of >2.5 cm during the stress
      examination, which changed their treatment from nonoperative to operative.
      CONCLUSIONS: Measurements of symphyseal diastasis can significantly vary
      depending on the radiographic modality (CT vs. plain films) and during
      application of a stress force. The use of stress examination under general
      anesthesia in the acute setting of pelvic injury can be beneficial in accurately
      diagnosing the severity of injury and choosing appropriate treatment.

PMID- 20938277
TI  - Incidence and analysis of simultaneous bilateral radial head and neck fractures
      at a level I trauma center.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Reviewing the current literature, very few reports are given on
      simultaneous bilateral radial head and neck fractures. There are no reports on
      this entity's incidence. Thus, the purpose of this study was to analyze the
      incidence and outcome of simultaneous bilateral radial head fractures. METHODS:
      This study reviewed the clinical records and trauma database of this Level I
      Trauma Center and identified all adult patients with fractures of the radial head
      or neck who were admitted between 1992 and 2007. From a database of 2,296 adult
      trauma victims with radial head or neck fractures, an analysis of clinical
      records revealed 34 patients suffering from simultaneous bilateral injuries (68
      fractures) being classified according to Mason. For clinical examination, range
      of motion, local pain, and activities of daily living were assessed. To quantify
      the clinical results, the patients were asked to grade their functional outcome
      according to the Mayo Elbow Performance Score (MEPS). RESULTS: The incidence of
      simultaneous bilateral fractures was 1.48%. Nonoperative treatment was performed
      in 86.8% (n = 59) of the cases. Solid bony union was achieved in all patients.
      Full satisfaction concerning treatment was achieved in 97% of the patients. The
      Mayo Elbow Performance Score showed an overall functional outcome score of 97.1.
      DISCUSSION: Reviewing the literature, the frequency of this injury was assessed
      for the first time. An incidence of 1.48% of all radial head fractures was
      explored. Our material was representative and included 2,296 injuries covering a
      15-year period.

PMID- 20938278
TI  - Protection of children restrained in child safety seats in side impact crashes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The performance of child restraint systems (CRS) in side impact motor
      vehicle crashes has been under study due to the injury and fatality burden of
      these events. Although previous research has quantified injury risk or described
      injured body regions, safety advances require an understanding of injury
      causation. Therefore, the objective was to delineate injury causation scenarios
      for CRS-restrained children in side impacts and document probable contact points
      in the vehicle interior. METHODS: Two in-depth crash investigation databases, the
      Crash Injury Research and Engineering Network and the Partners for Child
      Passenger Safety Study, were queried for rear-seated, CRS-restrained children in
      side impact crashes who sustained Abbreviated Injury Scale 2+ injury. These cases
      were reviewed by a multidisciplinary team of physicians and engineers to describe
      injury patterns, injury causation, and vehicle components that contributed to the
      injuries. RESULTS: Forty-one occupants (average age, 2.6 years) met the inclusion
      criteria. Twenty-four were near side to the crash, 7 were far side, and 10 were
      center seated. The most common injuries were to the skull and brain with an
      increasing proportion of skull fracture as age increased. Head and spine injuries
      without evidence of head contact were rare but present. All thoracic injuries
      were lung contusions and no rib fractures occurred. Near-side head and face
      contacts points were along the rear vertical plane of the window and the
      horizontal plane of the window sill. Head and face contact points for center- and
      far-side occupants were along the edges of the front seat back and front seat
      head restraint. CONCLUSIONS: Head injuries are the target for injury prevention
      for children in CRS in side impact crashes. Most of these injuries are due to the
      contact; for near-side occupants, contact with the CRS structure and the door
      interior, for far- or center-seated occupants, contact with the front seat back.
      These data are useful in developing both educational and technological
      interventions to reduce the burden of injury to these children.

PMID- 20938279
TI  - M-study from an urban trauma center in Tokyo.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The original Trauma and Injury Severity Score (TRISS) methodology
      from the Major Trauma Outcome Study (MTOS) is the most widely used outcome
      prediction model. The coefficients from the MTOS cohorts are still used in the
      Japan Trauma Data Bank for evaluating the quality of patient care. The purposes
      are to determine whether the database of this institution is well matched to the
      MTOS study and whether the original TRISS coefficients are accurate predictors of
      the patient outcome in Japan. METHODS: The M-statistic score was calculated based
      on the trauma registry data from 2000 to 2003 in Teikyo University. RESULTS:
      Eight hundred fifty-four cases were analyzed. The crude mortality rate was 10.5%.
      The mean Injury Severity Score was 15.8 +/- 13.6. The mean Revised Trauma Score
      was 7.00 +/- 1.4. The M-statistic score was 0.811. CONCLUSION: The trauma
      populations in this study differed significantly from the MTOS. The Modified
      TRISS coefficients should be adapted for outcome assessment based on the location
      of the injured population. This is the first report of an M-study from Japan to
      be published in the English literature.

PMID- 20938280
TI  - The prominent role of plastic surgery in the Wenchuan earthquake disaster.
AB  - BACKGROUND: : On May 12, 2008, an earthquake of magnitude 8.0 on Richter scale
      struck Sichuan Province of China and destroyed Wenchuan County. Two days later, a
      field hospital from the Second Military Medical University (Shanghai, China)
      arrived at Anxian County near the epicenter as a reinforcement hospital before
      rehabilitation of the local medical facilities. Surgical services in the field
      hospital were supplied by general, orthopedic, plastic, anesthetic, obstetrical
      surgeons, and two physicians. The plastic surgeons were responsible for
      assessment of all soft tissue injuries at the hospital and patient needs for
      plastic surgery services in a crisis intervention field hospital. METHODS: :
      Information was gathered regarding soft tissue injuries throughout the activities
      of the hospital. In addition, patient charts, operation reports, and entry and
      evacuation logs were reviewed for all patients who were admitted and treated in
      the field hospital. RESULTS: : Of 1,013 patients who were treated in the field
      hospital in Wenchuan; 102 (10.07%) sought aid for soft tissue injuries, all of
      which were earthquake related. Twenty-one percent of the operations performed in
      the hospital were concerned with the treatment of soft tissue injuries, and 15%
      of the hospital beds were reserved for plastic surgery patients. CONCLUSION: :
      Plastic surgery services at a field hospital play a prominent and irreplaceable
      role in rescuing casualties in formidable conditions especially in a serious
      earthquake situation.

PMID- 20938281
TI  - The hanging drop to locate the pleural space: a safer method for decompression of
      suspected tension pneumothorax?

PMID- 20938282
TI  - Ty-raps in trauma: a novel closing technique of extremity fasciotomy wounds.
AB  - The challenge of closing extremity fasciotomy wounds is well known to every
      trauma and orthopedic surgeon. We developed a new, easy, and inexpensive
      dermatotraction technique based on the simple use of Ty-Raps and report on the
      first pilot study using this novel technique for the closure of 23 extremity
      fasciotomy wounds. The Ty-Rap system consists of several combinations of two Ty
      Raps and four surgical staples. Immediately after fasciotomy, the system is
      secured to the skin by the surgical staples, and once the swelling of the
      affected limb is subsided, the Ty-Raps are tightened every 24 hours to 48 hours
      until full approximation of the skin edges is achieved. We recorded the time to
      closure of the wound, the time to removal of the Ty-Raps, and the complications
      related to the procedure. Also, a cost analyses was calculated. The mean time of
      approximation of the skin was 6.3 days, and after a further 9.4 days, the Ty-Raps
      could be removed. The majority of the wounds (91%) healed without complications,
      and only one patient in our series required a secondary surgical procedure for
      the closure of one fasciotomy wound. The total cost to close a fasciotomy wound
      of 30 cm with the use of Ty-Raps is US dollar 23.33. We regard the use of Ty-Raps
      a good alternative for the current closing techniques of extremity fasciotomy
      wounds. We value its low cost, general availability, effectiveness, and the fact
      that, in this pilot study, both the application and the tightening of the Ty-Raps
      were well tolerated by our patients with a minimal need for secondary procedures.
      Knowledge of this technique is a useful adjunct to the existing surgical array
      for every trauma and orthopedic surgeon for the closure of extremity fasciotomy
      wounds, especially in austere or military environments.

PMID- 20938283
TI  - Damage control resuscitation: the new face of damage control.

PMID- 20938284
TI  - Where should we implement emergency department secondary prevention programs for
      youth injured by violence?
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Victims of violence are likely to become repeat victims of
      violence. Emergency department-based secondary prevention initiatives have been
      proposed to help break the cycle of violence for these youth. Trauma centers, by
      nature of their designation, are often charged with the responsibility of
      developing these prevention initiatives. We hypothesize that the majority of
      youth who are injured by violence are treated in nontrauma centers. Given the
      goal is to prevent recurrent injury, trauma center-based initiatives may be
      misdirected. METHODS: We used a retrospective population-based cohort study
      design in the province of Ontario to evaluate the type of facility (trauma center
      vs. nontrauma center) where injured youth (aged 15-24 years) presented for
      assessment after intentional injury. The National Ambulatory Care Reporting
      System database was used to identify all subjects during the years 2003-2007.
      Intentional injury was analyzed through E-codes and hospital identifiers were
      linked to trauma center status. Descriptive statistics and multiple logistic
      regression were performed to evaluate demographic and injury characteristics
      predictive of patients presenting to a trauma center. RESULTS: The cohort
      included 51,487 patients presenting to 193 hospitals in Ontario. The mean age was
      19.4 years and 80% were men. Eighty percent (80%) of youth injured by violence
      were treated at nontrauma centers. Patients with injuries caused by blunt objects
      (odds ratio [OR], 1.51 [95% confidence interval {CI}: 1.39-1.65]), stab wounds
      (OR, 1.62 [95% CI: 1.50-1.75]), and gunshot wounds (OR, 4.18 [95% CI: 3.21-5.45])
      were more likely to attend trauma centers than those with injuries because of
      bodily force. Patients who attended trauma centers were more likely to be
      admitted (OR, 3.58 [95% CI: 3.25-3.96]) or die in hospital (OR, 2.18 [95% CI:
      1.12-4.26]). CONCLUSIONS: Given the vast majority of patients are not seen at
      trauma centers, any prevention initiatives located here will not achieve the
      goals of preventing recurrent injury on a population basis. Secondary prevention
      initiatives should be implemented and evaluated in nontrauma centers.

PMID- 20938285
TI  - Computed tomography findings of a traumatic pericardial tamponade.

PMID- 20938286
TI  - Delayed presentation of a huge mediastinal hematoma after blunt chest trauma with
      extrapericardial cardiac tamponade: a multiphase-multidetector spiral computed
      tomography study.

PMID- 20938287
TI  - Triage in blunt trauma.

PMID- 20938288
TI  - Ultrasound and prehospital triage: a tool for limiting the undertriage.

PMID- 20938289
TI  - "Live Tissue" is not the answer.

PMID- 20938290
TI  - Triage protocol: both undertriage and overtriage need to be evaluated.

PMID- 20938291
TI  - Trauma training using the live tissue model.

PMID- 20938292
TI  - Compliance and confident.

PMID- 20938293
TI  - Penetrating trauma and the United States, a shifting paradigm?

PMID- 20938296
TI  - Shock index and "crump factor".

PMID- 20938298
TI  - Inferior vena cava filters in trauma: balancing pulmonary embolism prevention
      with the risk of deep venous thrombosis.

PMID- 20938299
TI  - Arterial acidosis faster than venous potassium in hemorrhagic shock.

PMID- 20938303
TI  - Comparison of tracheal intubation using airway scope and macintosh laryngoscope
      in manikin study.

PMID- 20938300
TI  - Should intra-aortic balloon occlusion be used to stop bleeding from severe pelvic
      fractures?

PMID- 20938305
TI  - Forging new frontiers-A welcome to the best of the proceedings of the Annual
      Meeting of the Injury Free Coalition, Fort Lauderdale, FL, November 29, 2009, to
      December 2, 2009.

PMID- 20938306
TI  - What works and what doesn't.

PMID- 20938307
TI  - A comparative analysis of serious injury and illness among homeless and housed
      low income residents of New York City.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Delivery of effective primary, secondary, and tertiary injury
      prevention in homeless populations is complex and could be greatly aided by an
      improved understanding of contributing factors. METHODS: Injury and health
      conditions were examined for hospitalized New York City homeless persons (n =
      326,073) and low socioeconomic status (SES) housed residents (n = 1,202,622)
      using 2000 to 2002 New York statewide hospital discharge data (Statewide Program
      and Research Cooperative System). Age- and gender-adjusted odds ratios with 95%
      confidence intervals were calculated within age groups of 0.1 years to 9 years,
      10 years to 19 years, 20 years to 64 years, and >=65 years, with low SES housed
      as the comparison group. RESULTS: Comorbid conditions, injury, and injury
      mechanisms varied by age, gender, race or ethnicity, and housing status. Odds of
      unintentional injury in homeless versus low SES housed were higher in younger
      children aged 0 years to 9 years (1.34, 1.27-1.42), adults (1.13, 1.09-1.18), and
      elderly (1.25, 1.20-1.30). Falls were increased by 30% in children, 14% in
      adolescents or teenagers, and 47% in the elderly. More than one-quarter (26.9%)
      of fall hospitalizations in homeless children younger than 5 years were due to
      falls from furniture with more than threefold differences observed in both 3 year
      and 4 year olds (p = 0.0001). Several comorbid conditions with potential to
      complicate injury and postinjury care were increased in homeless including
      nutritional deficiencies, infections, alcohol and drug use, and mental disorders.
      CONCLUSIONS: Although homelessness presents unique, highly complex social and
      health issues that tend to overshadow the need for and the value of injury
      prevention, this study highlights potentially fruitful areas for primary,
      secondary, and tertiary prevention.

PMID- 20938308
TI  - Epidemiology of pediatric forearm fractures in Washington, DC.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pediatric forearm fractures result in substantial morbidity and
      costs. Despite the success of public health efforts in the prevention of other
      injuries, the incidence of pediatric forearm fractures is increasing. Our
      objective is to characterize the epidemiology of forearm fractures in Washington,
      DC, children evaluated in an urban pediatric emergency department (ED). METHODS:
      This retrospective study includes Washington, DC, children, aged 0 years to 17
      years, treated for an isolated forearm fracture in the Children's National
      Medical Center ED from 2003 to 2006. Patients with bone mineralization disorders
      and repeat ED visits for the same fracture event were excluded. Chart review was
      done to obtain demographic and clinical data. Descriptive epidemiologic and
      bivariate analyses were conducted. RESULTS: This preliminary analysis included
      929 patients. The majority of patients are male (64%) and African American (80%).
      The mean age (+/- standard deviation) is 8.4 years (+/-3.9). Weight-for-age
      percentile was >=95% in 24.1% of cases. Most forearm fractures occurred during
      the spring season. The most common mechanism of injury was fall-related (83%)
      whereas direct trauma caused 10% of fractures. "Fall from monkey bars" was the
      specific mechanism of injury in 17% of all cases. The majority of forearm
      fractures (58%) resulted from minor trauma. CONCLUSIONS: Falls from monkey bars
      and minor trauma are implicated in the majority of childhood forearm fractures.
      The prevention strategies should target playground safety. Further research is
      needed to evaluate factors, including obesity and bone health, which may
      contribute to forearm fracture risk associated with minor trauma.

PMID- 20938309
TI  - Sledding injuries: a rationale for helmet usage.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sledding is a popular and seeming innocuous winter sport, but we
      hypothesize that sled injuries are much like bicycle injuries. Current literature
      supports helmet usage in other winter sports, but little information can be found
      to clarify the use of helmets in sledding. The objectives of the study are to
      assess the injury patterns of sled riders and clarify the need for helmet usage
      and to locate specific geographic catchments in which resources can be better
      focused. METHODS: After Institutional Review Board approval, the registry of a
      Level I pediatric trauma center was evaluated from 2000 to 2005. Information
      regarding unhelmeted bicyclists and sled riders was obtained. Injuries involving
      motorized vehicles were excluded. Demographics, injury patterns, and outcomes
      were evaluated. Descriptive statistics, Student's t test, and Fisher's exact or
      chi2 analyses were preformed. GIS evaluation was performed using ArcGIS.
      Statistical significance was defined as p < 0.05. RESULTS: One hundred thirty-six
      patients sustained trauma on sleds; 509 patients were injured on bicycles. Head
      injuries represented the largest percentage of injuries in both groups. Handlebar
      or crossbar-related injuries (abdomen and perineum) were more common in the
      bicycle group. Injuries occurred with equal frequency in urban and rural regions.
      CONCLUSION: We conclude that the injury patterns between sledding and unhelmeted
      bicycling are similar. Helmet usage is strongly recommended to prevent head
      injuries to bike riders; therefore, this study supports the routine usage of
      helmets in sledding and the need for widespread education on helmet usage in both
      rural and urban regions.

PMID- 20938310
TI  - Using trauma registry data to guide injury prevention program activities.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Injury prevention programs should be based on objective injury data.
      This study demonstrates how local injury data can be used to help guide injury
      prevention programs. METHODS: We reviewed trauma registry data (2004-2006) from a
      Level I pediatric trauma center. Data included demographic information, anatomic
      location of injury, mechanism of injury, safety device utilization, Injury
      Severity Score (ISS), and temporal and geographic variables. The Injury
      Prevention Priority Score for each mechanism of injury was calculated. RESULTS:
      There were 1,874 trauma patients. Most admissions were among white males, aged 11
      years to 15 years (mean, 7.9 years +/- 5.2 years). Most admissions occurred
      during summertime and on weekend evenings. Blunt injuries (92%) and fractures
      (56%) predominated (mean ISS, 5.9). A severe ISS >15 was highest among 11 year to
      15 year and lowest among patients older than 15 years (p < 0.01). Falls, cut, or
      pierce, ATV, and off-road motorcycle ranked highest in the Injury Prevention
      Priority Score. Of the 134 motor vehicle occupants, 52% (n = 70) were restrained
      in car seats/seat belts. Only 15% of bicyclists, 24% of motorcyclists, and 58% of
      ATV riders wore helmets. CONCLUSION: A significant percentage of injured children
      and adolescents were not using proven effective injury prevention devices at the
      time of their injury. These data identified areas for further study and will help
      guide community injury prevention programs at our institution.

PMID- 20938311
TI  - Supervision of young children with fall injuries.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Specific information about the supervision of young children with
      injuries related to falls is limited. In this study, we describe the supervision
      and physical environment of falls resulting in medical care in the emergency
      department. METHODS: We enrolled a convenience sample of 108 children younger
      than 7 years with fall injuries. RESULTS: The average age was 3 years, and 56%
      were male. Seventy-six (70%) were a fall from a height including 16 that involved
      stairs. Among caretakers in a nongroup setting (n = 95), most (61%) were
      supervising more than one child. The attention to the child was holding or
      playing with the child (13%), observing (45%), usually constantly, or listening
      for the child (19%); 9% reported no supervision at the time of the fall. Thirty
      two percent stated they were touching or within reach of the child. Of falls
      indoors (n = 56), the supervisor was in the same room as the child for more than
      half of cases. There was no association between the number of children supervised
      and fall type (height vs. same level). When compared with those with same level
      falls, children with falls from a height were more often supervised with
      listening or no supervision (vs. observation, holding, or playing with the child)
      chi2, p = 0.004. CONCLUSIONS: Many children were supervised at the time of their
      fall. Most caretakers had visual contact, and up to a third were touching or
      within reach of the child. The strategies used in these apparently low-risk
      situations were insufficient to prevent the falls we report.

PMID- 20938312
TI  - Outdoor play: A survey of parent's perceptions of their child's safety.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Anecdotal reports suggest that parents may be restricting outdoor
      play in response to a perceived lack of safety and fear of violence and crime in
      urban environments. The study objective was to determine whether parents who
      perceived their neighborhood as unsafe would be most likely to restrict their
      child's outdoor play and report the greatest worries related to neighborhood
      characteristics. METHODS: A convenience sample of primary caregivers of children
      aged 5 years to 7 years were recruited from a pediatric primary care center based
      at an urban academic children's hospital. Study participants completed a 23
      question survey available in English and Spanish. RESULTS: Two hundred fifty-four
      parents completed the survey. Most were English speakers (69%), female (89%), and
      aged between 21 years and 35 years (76%). Sixty-two percent let their child play
      outside often or sometimes; whereas 19% reported never allowing their child to
      play outside. Parents were less likely to allow outside play as their degree of
      worry increased about traffic (p < 0.0001), rundown parks (p < 0.003), crime (p <
      0.0001), witnessing violence (p < 0.0001), being a victim of violence (p <
      0.0009), drugs (p < 0.0001), gangs (p < 0.004), and weapons (p < 0.003).
      Frequency of outdoor play was not correlated with the sex or age of the child or
      number of children in the family. Spanish speakers were less likely to allow
      outside play (p < 0.008) but more likely to allow unsupervised play (p < 0.03).
      CONCLUSIONS: Decreased frequency of outdoor play correlated with increased
      parental concerns about safety, however, many parents still report allowing
      outdoor play at least sometimes.

PMID- 20938313
TI  - Do perceptions of effective distractive driving public service announcements
      differ between adults and teens?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Motor vehicle crashes remain the leading cause of death and
      disability in teenagers. Graduated licensing laws, enforcement of a legal
      drinking age of 21 years, zero tolerance, and mandatory restraints have been
      successful in reducing crashes and fatalities. Media safety campaigns have been
      less successful. This study was designed to analyze whether perceived
      effectiveness of public service announcements (PSAs) differed between teens and
      adults. We hypothesized that adult-derived intent differs from teen perception.
      METHODS: High-school students attending an annual municipal student safety
      exposition were asked to rank order six PSAs that were previously judged by an
      almost all adult committee. Additionally, students were asked to rate the PSAs on
      an agreement Likert scale assessing interest, understandability, and
      believability and to indicate potential effect on driving behavior. Students
      further graded their agreement with 10 top-published driving distracters and were
      asked to list additional perceived driving distracters. RESULTS: Of the 330
      surveys collected, 201 students aged 14 years to 19 years selected at least one
      choice and 181 ranked-ordered >1 PSA. The PSA #3 selected by the original adult
      judges was ranked second (33%) by teens with PSA #1 in first place (34%). PSA 1
      was not considered as effective by the adult judges. Student age, race, grade, or
      gender did not produce statistically significant differences. A cohort of 186
      teens responded to nationally noted driving distracters with >86% in agreement.
      Eating and applying cosmetics were additional distracters noted by students
      completing the survey. CONCLUSION: Preventative media messages should include
      teen stakeholder review. The components of effective adolescent safety messages
      continue to require further study.

PMID- 20938314
TI  - Risk factors for dating violence among adolescent females presenting to the
      pediatric emergency department.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Intimate partner violence (IPV) among the adolescent population is an
      increasing concern. This study was designed to assess the prevalence, associated
      risk factors, and best ways to identify IPV among teens presenting to a pediatric
      emergency room. METHODS: This prospective, convenience study was conducted in a
      busy, pediatric emergency department. Young women, aged 15 years to 21 years,
      presenting with any chief complaint were enrolled. Adolescents completed a
      verbally assisted survey, and responses were recorded. Surveys consisted of three
      sections: demographic information, an eight-item date violence screening tool,
      and a risk factor assessment tool. Teens who screened positive for IPV were
      offered immediate social services assistance. Analysis was performed to compare
      youth risk factors between young women who were screened positive and negative
      for IPV. All eight of the date violence screening questions were reviewed to
      analyze whether a set of questions were consistently positive in all the teens
      who were screened. RESULTS: A total of 246 of 270 (91%) approached were enrolled.
      The prevalence of IPV was 36.6%. Many of the risk-taking behaviors assessed
      correlated with dating violence. The most significant included having tried
      alcohol (odds ratio [OR], 2.4; confidence interval [CI], 1.3-4.4), having ridden
      in a car with a partner who was doing drugs (OR, 2.4; CI, 1.1-5.0) or alcohol
      (OR, 2.5; CI, 1.0-6.3), fighting with peers (OR, 3.5; CI, 1.6-7.8), and history
      of sexually transmitted disease (OR, 2.2; CI, 1.2-4.2). Four questions were
      identified that detected 99% of positive screens for adolescent dating violence.
      CONCLUSIONS: IPV among female adolescents presenting to a pediatric emergency
      department is high. Certain risk-taking behaviors are correlated with adolescent
      dating violence. Four specific questions, if asked in this setting, can capture
      teens at risk.

PMID- 20938315
TI  - A randomized trial of a home safety education intervention using a safe home
      model.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Young children are at risk for injuries in the home. This study was
      to compare a safe house model to The Injury Prevention Program (TIPP) sheet for
      providing injury prevention information. METHODS: Parents of children who were
      younger than 6 years were randomized to injury prevention education using a safe
      home model or an age appropriate TIPP sheet. There was a pretest before the
      intervention. The recall of injury prevention information was assessed by a
      telephone posttest 4 weeks to 6 weeks after the intervention. To obtain a sample
      broadly representative of community demographics, we recruited families in the
      dermatology clinic of a teaching hospital. RESULTS: We collected complete
      information for 371 families of which 181 were in the safe home model group and
      190 were in the TIPP group. There were no differences between groups in percent
      minority race, education, or insurance; the parents in the safe home group were
      slightly older (34.4 +/- 6.5 vs. 32.9 +/- 5.8). More than 80% in each group had
      education beyond high school. There was no difference between groups in pretest
      scores, 8.0 +/- 1.3 for the safe home model group and 8.1 +/- 1.1 for the TIPP
      group. There was no difference between groups in posttest scores, 9.0 +/- 0.8 for
      the safe home model group and 9.1 +/- 0.9 for the TIPP group. CONCLUSIONS: The
      safe home model and the TIPP sheets were both effective in improving safety
      knowledge. The use of a safe home model complements current strategies to improve
      injury prevention knowledge.

PMID- 20938316
TI  - Baby safety showers: effective, but not sufficient.

PMID- 20938317
TI  - Implementing and evaluating an injury prevention curriculum within a pediatric
      residency program.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Many pediatric residency programs struggle to incorporate injury
      prevention training into their curricula. OBJECTIVE: To analyze whether a 2-week
      injury prevention course helps pediatric residents to learn and retain more
      information than their peers who receive the standard education on injury
      prevention topics. METHODS: A mandatory 2-week injury prevention course is
      provided for all interns at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
      (CCHMC). Residents at CCHMC, completed a 50-question test on basic injury
      prevention topics at intern orientation and at the end of their first and third
      years of training. A control group of two intern classes from comparable
      children's hospitals who did not receive the injury prevention course were given
      the identical test at similar time periods. Data were analyzed using SPSS, and t
      tests were used to calculate and compare the mean percent change in test scores.
      RESULTS: Seventy-six pediatric interns were enrolled (33 intervention and 43
      controls). After internship, posttests were obtained on 29 (88%) intervention
      residents and 38 (88%) controls. On completing residency, posttests were received
      from 16 (48%) CCHMC residents and 22 (51%) controls. There was no difference in
      demographics or prior injury prevention training between the groups at study
      enrollment. A total of 63.6% of controls reported receiving injury prevention
      training by the end of their residency. There was a significant difference in the
      improvement of mean test scores between the intervention and control groups after
      internship (14.1% vs. 3.2%; p < 0.001) and again after the third year (11.9% vs.
      5.5%; p = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: An injury prevention curriculum for pediatric
      residents can significantly increase and sustain their fund of knowledge on these
      important topics.

PMID- 20938318
TI  - The impact of residents, interns, and attendings on inpatient laboratory ordering
      patterns: a report from one university's hospitalist service.
AB  - PURPOSE: To examine the laboratory test ordering patterns of interns to determine
      the effects of more senior residents' and attendings' supervision on trainees'
      patterns and residents' perceptions of control in test ordering. METHOD: In a
      2007 cohort study of 2,066 patients cared for by 85 interns, 56 residents, and 27
      attendings on the University of Pennsylvania general medical hospitalist service,
      the authors studied variation in laboratory test utilization and costs in 10,908
      patient-days. Ordinary least squares regression was used to partition variance
      among supervised and supervising physicians. Interns and residents were surveyed
      about their perceived control over lab test ordering. RESULTS: Forty-five percent
      (95% confidence interval [CI]: 39-53) of the variation in laboratory test
      utilization was attributable to interns' ordering, 26% (95% CI: 21-34) to
      residents, and 9% (95% CI: 7-16) to attendings; 20% (95% CI: 6-25) could not be
      uniquely attributed to a particular level of the care team. Similar results were
      obtained for variation in laboratory costs. Interns underestimated their control
      over laboratory test utilization, residents overestimated their control, and both
      groups had inaccurate assessments of their utilization relative to peers.
      CONCLUSIONS: Attending faculty had relatively little impact on laboratory
      ordering patterns. This may reflect a consistent baseline impact of attending
      physicians on laboratory use, but it may also represent a missed opportunity to
      reduce practice variation and improve patient care. Observing variation in
      trainee practice patterns in the face of different supervisors represents a new
      approach to measuring the supervision in clinical settings.

PMID- 20938319
TI  - Comparative analysis of outcome in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma
      exceeding the milan criteria treated with liver transplantation versus partial
      hepatectomy.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Proponents of orthotopic liver transplantation (TXP) for the
      treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) advocate expanding the Milan
      criteria. We performed a matched analysis comparing patients treated with TXP to
      patients treated with partial hepatectomy (PHX) for HCC exceeding the Milan
      criteria. METHODS: From the United Network for Organ Sharing registry, we
      identified 92 US patients with HCC exceeding the Milan criteria who underwent TXP
      between 2002 and 2005. During the same period, 94 patients with similar tumor
      size criteria underwent PHX at a single center. Data were analyzed using chi(2),
      parametric, nonparametric, and Kaplan-Meier methods. RESULTS: TXP patients were
      more commonly male (82% vs. 65%, P=0.01) and had a higher Model for End Stage
      Liver Disease score (median 11 vs. 7, P<0.001). Pathologic cirrhosis (79% TXP vs.
      38% PHX, P<0.001), particularly secondary to hepatitis C virus (29% TXP vs. 5%
      PHX, P<0.001), was more common among TXP patients. Mean cumulative tumor size was
      10.0 cm (63% exceeding University of California at San Francisco criteria) among
      PHX patients compared with 6.4 cm (20% exceeding University of California at San
      Francisco criteria) for TXP patients (P<0.001). With a median follow-up of 34
      months (range, 1-86), 3-year survival was similar between the cohorts (66%+/-10%
      for TXP vs. 66%+/-10% for PHX, P=0.97). Cancer deaths (26/37, 70%) were more
      prevalent among PHX patients, whereas noncancer deaths (25/37, 68%) were common
      in TXP patients (P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Among heterogeneous patients with HCC who
      exceed the Milan criteria, TXP and PHX achieve similar overall survival. Further
      study is needed to ensure appropriate patient selection for these disparate
      therapies.

PMID- 20938320
TI  - Integrating radioembolization ((90)Y microspheres) into current treatment options
      for liver tumors: introduction to the international working group report.
AB  - Liver-directed therapies for unresectable cancers in the liver are evolving with
      increased efficacy and decreasing toxicity. One of these approaches uses
      radioactive microspheres delivered to hepatic tumors via the hepatic artery
      system-radioembolization. Use of this therapy is rapidly increasing worldwide
      with over 20,000 patients treated thus far. Therefore, greater understanding of
      its potential and optimal positioning of this therapy in the multimodality
      management of cancers affecting the liver is needed. This task has been
      undertaken by a group of the most experienced clinicians in radioembolization
      from multiple disciplines involved in this therapy.

PMID- 20938321
TI  - Weekly docetaxel in patients with recurrent and/or metastatic squamous cell
      carcinoma of the head and neck.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Single-agent docetaxel, administered as a 3-weekly infusion has
      encouraging clinical activity against squamous cell carcinoma of the head and
      neck (SCCHN). Weekly administration of docetaxel is feasible and showed a
      favorable toxicity profile in phase I studies. We studied a weekly docetaxel
      regimen in heavily pretreated patients with head and neck cancer. PATIENTS AND
      METHODS: A total of 30 patients with proven metastatic or recurrent SCCHN were
      treated with docetaxel 36 mg/m weekly for 6 weeks in an 8-week schedule.
      Dexamethasone 20 mg or methylprednisolone 32 mg was administered 12 and 3 hours
      before docetaxel. No prophylactic antibiotics or growth factors were given. The
      primary end point was objective response rate and the secondary end points
      included time to progression and overall survival. RESULTS: Patients received a
      median of 6 administrations (range, 1-27). A partial response was documented in 2
      patients (6.7%). The disease control rate defined the percentage of patients with
      responding or stable disease was 33.3%. The median progression-free survival was
      7.4 weeks (95% confidence interval, 5.5-9.3 weeks) and the median overall
      survival was 17.9 weeks (95% confidence interval, 10.1-25.6 weeks). There were no
      episodes of grade 4 neutropenia, thrombocytopenia, or nonhematological toxicity.
      CONCLUSIONS: Weekly docetaxel at a dose of 36 mg/m has a mild to moderate
      toxicity profile in SCCHN patients. However, the response rate in predominantly
      pretreated patients is low and the overall survival is short.

PMID- 20938322
TI  - Self-neglect: adaptation of a clinical tool to the practice of the medical
      examiner.
AB  - Self-neglect is the inability or unwillingness to provide for oneself the goods
      and services needed to live safely and independently. It is the most common
      allegation reported to Adult Protective Services agencies throughout the United
      States. Unfortunately, it seems that most medical examiners and their teams are
      not trained appropriately on self-neglect and forget to ask pertinent questions
      and document relevant observations. The most important aspect of self-neglect for
      the medical examiner is to recognize the diagnosis to avoid confusion with other
      forms of elder abuse, particularly neglect from a third party. In this context, a
      self-neglect scale could be a useful tool to assist the death investigation team.
      In the clinical field, a self-neglect severity scale was developed by the
      Consortium for Research in Elder Self-Neglect of Texas. It is here proposed that
      a self-neglect severity scale for medical examiners should be developed, to
      assist the investigative team in assessing these common cases. This scale is
      developed by modifying the clinical scale to adapt it to the particular needs of
      death investigation. This scale can help the medical examiner and his team in
      approaching these deaths in a systematic and comprehensive way.

PMID- 20938323
TI  - An unusual accidental death from positional asphyxia.
AB  - Death from postural or positional asphyxia takes place in circumstances when the
      victim's body assumes an abnormal position compromising the process of
      respiration. The diagnosis is usually based on circumstantial evidence in
      conjunction with excluding other significant underlying causes of death. This
      case report is about a 37-year-old man who had been drinking the previous night
      and was found dead in the morning in a knee-chest position. The forensic medical
      examiner had the opportunity to examine and photograph the scene of death while
      the body was still in its original position. Apart from a blood alcohol level of
      290 mg/100 mL, marked congestion of the face, and petechial hemorrhages on the
      conjunctivae, autopsy findings were unremarkable. There were no injuries or
      pathological findings to account for his death. Death was certified as due to
      postural asphyxia secondary to intoxication by alcohol.

PMID- 20938324
TI  - Ingestion of drugs by "parachuting": a unique drug delivery technique.
AB  - "Parachuting" is a technique of drug delivery where medications or illicit drugs
      are ingested by wrapping the drug of choice in a covering, which then will
      dissolve or unravel in the gastrointestinal tract, thereby releasing the drug for
      absorption. Parachuting of drugs can entail crushing of a pill prior to packaging
      to theoretically increase the surface area for absorption or may involve the
      packaging of a higher than usual dose of a drug in attempts to attain a sustained
      release effect as the "parachute" dissolves or unravels. A case is presented in
      which a prescription drug abuser known to parachute his medications dies from
      obstruction of his airway by the inhaled packet. Risks of parachuting any drug
      would include overdose and fatal toxic effect from the drug itself and adverse
      effects from the packaging including bowel obstruction or perforation, or airway
      obstruction.

PMID- 20938325
TI  - Disseminated fungal infection with renal infarction simulating homicide.
AB  - Renal infarction is an uncommon finding at autopsy most often related to
      occlusive thromboembolism or to trauma. A 42-year-old woman is reported who
      presented with persistent right flank pain after an alleged assault with injury
      to the area 3 weeks previously. Renal infarction necessitated a right nephrectomy
      that was followed by multiorgan failure and death. Given the possible link
      between the assault and the renal pathology, a homicide investigation was
      initiated. Although renal infarction had been confirmed by hospital pathologists,
      microscopy with special staining of both kidneys and the heart after autopsy
      revealed multifocal areas of angioinvasion by fungi having morphologic
      characteristics of mucormycosis. The only other finding of significance was
      alcohol-related micronodular cirrhosis of the liver. Renal infarction had
      therefore been caused by an angioinvasive fungal infection predisposed to by
      immunocompromise associated with alcoholism and not by trauma-induced arterial
      dissection. This case demonstrates that careful histological assessment of
      tissues from medicolegal autopsies may occasionally identify unexpected and rare
      disorders that have been confused with the sequelae of inflicted injury.

PMID- 20938326
TI  - Elderly deaths due to ground-level falls.
AB  - This study analyzed 237 fatal ground-level falls occurring in decedents aged 65
      years or older reported to the Seattle-King County Medical Examiner's Office
      during the year 2007. Head injuries accounted for 109 (46%) of the deaths, and
      nonhead injuries accounted for 128 (54%) of the deaths. Falls occurred in similar
      locations in both groups. Compared with those of nonhead injuries, decedents of
      head injuries were younger (82 vs 87.5 years), were more often male (58% vs 45%),
      died sooner after their injury (9 days vs 23 days), and were more likely treated
      with anticoagulants, especially warfarin (48% vs 16%). Subdural hematoma was the
      most common specific traumatic lesion, occurring in 86% of the decedents of head
      injury; skull fractures occurred in 13%. Decedents of head injury who were
      treated with anticoagulants, on average, sustained less severe head injury than
      those who were not treated with anticoagulants.

PMID- 20938327
TI  - Drug-related deaths with evidence of intracorporeal drug concealment at autopsy:
      five case reports.
AB  - Intracorporeal concealment of illicit drugs is a rare observation at coronial
      autopsy examinations. The article reports 5 cases of accidental drug overdoses at
      the Westmead Coronial Morgue, Sydney New South Wales, over a 6-year period with
      evidence of intracorporeal drug concealment known as body packing or body
      stuffing. Three different forms of anatomic concealment of drugs are illustrated,
      Case 2 involving therapeutic medication in the form of glass ampoules for
      parenteral injection not previously reported. Three deaths were the result of
      acute toxicity due to polydrug abuse rather than as a consequence of the body
      packing behavior and rupture of the drug packaging, with the intracorporeal drug
      concealments an adjunct finding at the autopsy examinations. The cause of death
      in Case 3 was the direct result of acute cocaine intoxication due to rupture of
      drug packages in the rectum and mucosal absorption. The article details forensic
      sociological aspects of drug concealment and subcultural group human behavior
      that can assist in providing information for the initiation of investigations.

PMID- 20938328
TI  - Recent Iowa trends in sudden unexpected infant deaths: the importance of public
      health collaboration with medical examiners' offices.
AB  - During the winter in 2008, Iowa experienced an increase in sudden unexplained
      infant deaths (SUIDs). SUIDs and infectious causes of infant deaths generally
      average 3 monthly (SD = 1.0) in Iowa. However, in January 2008, 9 infant deaths
      were reported to the Iowa Department of Public Health and the Iowa Office of the
      State Medical Examiner. Between January and March of 2008, joint investigation of
      22 SUIDs was conducted. The investigations required the involvement of multiple
      medical examiners from various jurisdictions, testing for pathogens at the
      University Hygienic Laboratory, epidemiologic support from the Iowa Department of
      Public Health, and consultation with the Centers for Disease Control and
      Prevention. The preliminary hypotheses for the increase in the infant mortality
      included viral respiratory disease and/or possible novel respiratory viral
      infections being the cause. Collaboration between public health and the medical
      examiner offices resulted in timely assessment of the cases. While no single
      causative agent was responsible for the increase seen in the number of infant
      deaths, respiratory pathogens played a role in the deaths of 15 of 22 children.

PMID- 20938330
TI  - Regional anesthesia and eye surgery.

PMID- 20938331
TI  - Case scenario: emergency reversal of oral anticoagulation.

PMID- 20938333
TI  - Evaluation of pregabalin as an adjuvant to patient-controlled epidural analgesia
      during late termination of pregnancy.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Late termination of pregnancy combines psychological distress with
      severe physical pain. The present study evaluated the benefit of adding oral
      pregabalin to epidural analgesia during this procedure. METHODS: Healthy women
      were randomly allocated to receive either oral pregabalin 150 mg/12 h or prazepam
      10 mg/12 h at the induction of the late termination of pregnancy procedure. When
      they felt abdominal pain (numerical rating scale ranging from 0 [no pain] to 100
      [worst pain possible]), patient-controlled epidural analgesia was activated and
      set to deliver ropivacaine 0.1% with sufentanil 0.25 MUg/ml, 5 ml/h with a bolus
      dose of 5 ml/30 min. Rescue analgesia was available as needed by administration
      of 10 ml ropivacaine 0.1% (pain score less than 60/100) or 0.2% (at least
      60/100). The primary outcome was the consumption of epidural analgesics. RESULTS:
      Forty-eight patients participated in the study. Demographic and obstetric data
      were similar. Pregabalin reduced total ropivacaine consumption 11.3 +/- 3.2 mg/h
      (mean +/- SD) versus 15.1 +/- 4.9 mg/h in the prazepam group (P = 0.005), an
      effect related to a decrease in the need for rescue analgesia. In the pregabalin
      group, fewer women asked for rescue dose (75 vs. 96%; P = 0.048), and the number
      of rescue doses per patient was reduced (1 [0-2] vs. 2 [1-3]); median
      [interquartile range], P = 0.005), particularly the need for ropivacaine 0.2%.
      DISCUSSION: This is the first study considering the use of pregabalin for labor
      pain associated with late termination of pregnancy, showing that pregabalin 150
      mg/12 h is a helpful adjuvant to epidural analgesia. Modulation of both visceral
      sensitization and affective component of pain may contribute to the benefits
      observed.

PMID- 20938335
TI  - Critical role of the small GTPase RhoA in the development of pulmonary edema
      induced by Pseudomonas aeruginosa in mice.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogen that can cause
      severe pneumonia in critically ill patients. We have reported previously that P.
      aeruginosa exotoxins S and T mediate in vitro the increase in protein
      permeability across lung endothelial cell monolayers via a RhoA-dependent
      mechanism. However, whether inhibition of RhoA would significantly attenuate P.
      aeruginosa-mediated lung injury in mice is unknown. METHODS: P. aeruginosa
      induced paracellular protein permeability was measured across bovine lung
      endothelial and rat alveolar epithelial type II cell monolayers with I-albumin.
      Some cell monolayers were pretreated with RhoA inhibitor CGX0287 1 h before P.
      aeruginosa exposure. At 4 h after exposure, lung endothelial and epithelial
      permeability, bacterial counts, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid levels of
      keratinocyte-derived chemokine, myeloperoxidase activity, and alveolar fluid
      clearance were measured. Some mice were treated intraperitoneally with CGX0287 1
      h before or after airspace instillation of P. aeruginosa. RESULTS: RhoA
      inhibition attenuated in vitro P. aeruginosa-mediated increase in lung
      endothelial and epithelial permeability to protein and in vivo the development of
      pulmonary edema and inhibition of alveolar fluid clearance associated with P.
      aeruginosa pneumonia. Furthermore, RhoA inhibition decreased the systemic
      dissemination of P. aeruginosa and neutrophil activity in the lung tissue
      observed after airspace instillation of these bacteria. CONCLUSIONS: The small
      GTPase RhoA plays a critical role in mediating lung injury associated with P.
      aeruginosa pneumonia in mice. Thus, transient blockade of RhoA could attenuate
      lung damage caused by P. aeruginosa in critically ill patients.

PMID- 20938337
TI  - Purinergic P2X receptor regulates N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor expression and
      synaptic excitatory amino acid concentration in morphine-tolerant rats.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The present study examined the effect of P2X receptor antagonist
      2',3'-O-(2,4,6-trinitrophenyl) adenosine 5'-triphosphate (TNP-ATP) on morphine
      tolerance in rats. METHODS: Male Wistar rats were implanted with two intrathecal
      catheters with or without a microdialysis probe, then received a continuous
      intrathecal infusion of saline (control) or morphine (tolerance induction) for 5
      days. RESULTS: Long-term morphine infusion induced antinociceptive tolerance and
      up-regulated N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor subunits NR1 and NR2B expression in
      both total lysate and synaptosome fraction of the spinal cord dorsal horn. TNP
      ATP (50 MUg) treatment potentiated the antinociceptive effect of morphine, with a
      5.5-fold leftward shift of the morphine dose-response curve in morphine-tolerant
      rats, and this was associated with reversal of the up-regulated NR1 and NR2B
      subunits in the synaptosome fraction. NR1/NR2B-specific antagonist ifenprodil
      treatment produced a similar effect as TNP-ATP; it also potentiated the
      antinociceptive effect of morphine. On day 5, morphine challenge resulted in a
      significant increase in aspartate and glutamate concentration in the
      cerebrospinal fluid dialysates of morphine-tolerant rats, and this effect was
      reversed by TNP-ATP treatment. Moreover, the amount of immunoprecipitated
      postsynaptic density-95/NR1/NR2B complex was increased in morphine-tolerant rats,
      and this was prevented by the TNP-ATP treatment. CONCLUSIONS: The findings
      suggest that attenuation of morphine tolerance by TNP-ATP is attributed to down
      regulation of N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor subunits NR1 and NR2B expression in
      the synaptosomal membrane and inhibition of excitatory amino acids release in
      morphine-tolerant rats. The TNP-ATP regulation on the N-methyl-d-aspartate
      receptor expression may be involved in a loss of scaffolding proteins
      postsynaptic density-95.

PMID- 20938334
TI  - Disrupted sleep and delayed recovery from chronic peripheral neuropathy are
      distinct phenotypes in a rat model of metabolic syndrome.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Sleep apnea, hypertension, atherosclerosis, and obesity are features
      of metabolic syndrome associated with decreased restorative sleep and increased
      pain. These traits are relevant for anesthesiology because they confer increased
      risks of a negative anesthetic outcome. This study tested the one-tailed
      hypothesis that rats bred for low intrinsic aerobic capacity have enhanced
      nociception and disordered sleep. METHODS: Rats were developed from a breeding
      strategy that selected for low aerobic capacity runners (LCR) and high aerobic
      capacity runners (HCR). Four phenotypes were quantified. Rats underwent von Frey
      sensory testing (n = 12), thermal nociceptive testing (n = 12), electrographic
      recordings of sleep and wakefulness (n = 16), and thermal nociceptive testing (n
      = 14) before and for 6 weeks after a unilateral chronic neuropathy of the sciatic
      nerve. RESULTS: Paw withdrawal latency to a thermal nociceptive stimulus was
      significantly (P < 0.01) lower in LCR than HCR rats. There were also significant
      differences in sleep, with LCR rats spending significantly (P < 0.01) more time
      awake (18%) and less time in nonrapid eye movement sleep (-19%) than HCR rats.
      Nonrapid eye movement sleep episodes were of shorter duration (-34%) in LCR than
      HCR rats. Rapid eye movement sleep of LCR rats was significantly more fragmented
      than rapid eye movement sleep of HCR rats. LCR rats required 2 weeks longer than
      HCR rats to recover from peripheral neuropathy. CONCLUSIONS: Rodents with low
      aerobic capacity exhibit features homologous to human metabolic syndrome. This
      rodent model offers a novel tool for characterizing the mechanisms through which
      low aerobic function and obesity might confer increased risks for anesthesia.

PMID- 20938338
TI  - Wandering epidural catheter.

PMID- 20938339
TI  - Temozolomide-induced severe myelosuppression: analysis of clinically associated
      polymorphisms in two patients.
AB  - Genotyping of putative determinants of temozolomide (TMZ)-induced life
      threatening bone marrow suppression was performed in two patients with glioma
      treated with adjuvant TMZ and radiation therapy. DNA was extracted from the
      patients' mononuclear cells and genotyping of O-methylguanine-DNA
      methyltransferase (MGMT), multidrug resistance (MDR1; also known as ABCB1), NQO1,
      and GSTP1 genes and analysis for the epigenetic silencing of specific MGMT gene
      promoters were carried out to evaluate the possible genetic determinants of
      increased risk of severe TMZ-induced myelosuppression. Although both patients
      were heterozygous for all ABCB1 single nucleotide polymorphisms and for rs12917
      and rs1803965 in the MGMT gene, patient 1 was heterozygous for rs1695 in GSTP1
      and rs2308327 in the MGMT gene. This patient also exhibited GG genotype for the
      MGMT single nucleotide polymorphisms, rs2308321, which is noteworthy for its 0.7%
      frequency globally. Epigenetic silencing of MGMT gene was not detected in either
      patient. Two single nucleotide polymorphisms identified in patient 1 (missense
      I143V and K178R polymorphisms; rs2308321 and rs2308327, respectively) have
      recently been shown to correlate with an increased risk of severe TMZ-induced
      myelosuppression. The polymorphisms identified in patient 2 have not been
      associated with an increased risk of severe TMZ-induced myelosuppression.
      Genotyping analyses of larger patient populations administered TMZ are required
      to validate the genetic determinants of severe TMZ-induced myelosuppression.

PMID- 20938340
TI  - Molecular basis of hypertension side effects induced by sunitinib.
AB  - Over the past decade a number of vascular complications have emerged, such as
      newly developed or worsened hypertension, in patients who were administered with
      new cancer treatments for several types of cancer that were untreatable earlier.
      Hypertension is emerging as one of the most common adverse effects of therapy
      with angiogenesis inhibitors. Small-molecule inhibitors of vascular endothelial
      growth factor signalling are associated with a high proportion of patients with
      hypertension. The mechanisms underlying the development of hypertension are not
      well known, although there seem to be several mechanisms. Physiopathology of
      hypertension implicates abnormalities in endothelial function and angiogenesis.
      Several features of hypertensive patients are reduced number of arterioles and
      capillaries, alterations of the microvascular network, decrease in vascular wall
      compliance and flexibility, reduced nitric oxide bioactivity and increases in
      plasma vascular endothelial growth factor. Treatment with tyrosine kinase
      inhibitors (TKIs) is associated with a significant and sustained increase in
      blood pressure. We suspect that TKIs exert their hypertensive effects directly at
      the level of the microvascular network through processes such as vascular
      rarefaction, endothelial dysfunction and/or altered nitric oxide metabolism. This
      study shows the vascular complications of treatment with a TKI, sunitinib
      (SU11248), with special emphasis on hypertension.

PMID- 20938341
TI  - Successful combined use of Impella Recover 2.5 device and intra-aortic balloon
      pump support in cardiogenic shock from acute myocardial infarction.
AB  - Ventricular assist devices (VADs) and intra-aortic balloon pumps (IABPs) are
      important tools that provide hemodynamic support to patients in cardiogenic
      shock. The Impella Recover 2.5 is a percutaneous VAD that provides temporary
      circulatory support. We report the case of a patient who required the combined
      support of both an IABP and the Impella device.

PMID- 20938342
TI  - Mean hearing thresholds among school children in Taiwan.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The primary aim of this study was to obtain the mean hearing
      thresholds among school-age children residing in the Datong and Jhongshan
      Districts of Taipei City, Taiwan. DESIGN: Hearing thresholds were obtained from a
      stratified sample of 1411 students in grades 1, 4, 7, and 10 based on their
      participation in the annual health examination of school-age children carried out
      by the Taipei City Government. After otoscopic examination, audiometric testing
      was undertaken at 0.5 to 4 kHz along with tympanometric screening. The means and
      SDs obtained from these examinations are reported by grade, gender, ear, and
      frequency. RESULTS: The mean hearing thresholds ranged between 6.8 and 16.7 dB
      HL, with the highest (poorest) hearing threshold being obtained at a test
      frequency of 0.5 kHz. At all the tested frequencies, the hearing thresholds of
      boys were found to be higher than those of girls. Logistic regressions
      demonstrating that those students with the highest odds ratios of hearing loss
      were to be found in the sample of children in grade 1. The odds ratios of hearing
      loss were also found to be higher among boys than girls and for the left ear
      rather than the right. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that the mean
      thresholds among the study sample were well above (meaning poorer) the pure-tone
      average of 15 dB HL, as recommended in a previous study. Therefore, the results
      of this study suggest the need to further determine the etiology of hearing loss
      among children in grades 1, 4, 7, and 10 in the Datong and Jhongshan Districts of
      Taipei City and perhaps Taiwan.

PMID- 20938343
TI  - Training innovations in gastroenterology and educational resources: a new vision
      of gastrointestinal education across Europe.
AB  - To define a new educational strategy for the United European Gastroenterology
      Federation (UEGF) to be followed and implemented in the near future. UEGF
      organized a consensus-based strategy meeting with stakeholders and key decision
      makers in European Gastroenterology on Training Innovations in Gastroenterology
      and Educational Resources. In May 2010, in an 'open-face conference' at
      Starnberg, Germany, 59 specialists in gastroenterology, hepatology, and related
      fields from 15 countries and 16 societies participated. Breakout sessions
      identified the key problem areas, possible solutions, and formulated statements
      subsequently voted upon in plenum. A majority of the formulated statements (59%)
      reached a strong agreement. Topics in which UEGF should focus are the future
      educational activities that include developing ways to advocate
      multidisciplinarity and integration between levels of care and specialties, ways
      to improve quality of care, and the development of training tools. The successful
      outcome of the Training Innovations in Gastroenterology and Educational Resources
      conference was achieved with the production of a strategy layout for new UEGF
      educational activities. There was an agreement that improvement in topics related
      to multidisciplinarity and professionalism, which is crucial for further
      development. An open-face conference, such as that embodied by the Training
      Innovations in Gastroenterology and Educational Resources meeting, was shown to
      be an effective tool in identifying the key problem areas in education and in
      formulating new strategies.

PMID- 20938344
TI  - Clinical, biological, and skin histopathologic effects of ionic macrocyclic and
      nonionic linear gadolinium chelates in a rat model of nephrogenic systemic
      fibrosis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: the purpose of this study was to compare the clinical, pathologic, and
      biochemical effects of repeated administrations of ionic macrocyclic or nonionic
      linear gadolinium chelates (GC) in rats with impaired renal function. MATERIAL
      AND METHODS: rats submitted to subtotal nephrectomy were allocated to single
      injections of 2.5 mmol/kg of gadodiamide (nonionic linear chelate), nonformulated
      gadodiamide (ie, without the free ligand caldiamide), gadoterate (ionic
      macrocyclic chelate), or saline for 5 consecutive days. Blinded semi-quantitative
      histopathologic and immunohistochemical examinations of the skin were performed,
      as well as clinical, hematological, and biochemical follow-up. Rats were killed
      at day 11. Long-term (up to day 32) follow-up of rats was also performed in an
      auxiliary study. RESULTS: epidermal lesions (ulcerations and scabs) were found in
      4 of the 10 rats treated with nonformulated gadodiamide. Two rats survived the
      study period. Inflammatory signs were observed in this group. No clinical,
      hematological, or biochemical signs were observed in the saline and gadoterate-
      or gadodiamide-treated groups. Plasma fibroblast growth factor-23 levels were
      significantly higher in the gadodiamide group than in the gadoterate group (day
      11). Decreased plasma transferrin-bound iron levels were measured in the
      nonformulated gadodiamide group. Histologic lesions were in the range:
      nonformulated gadodiamide (superficial epidermal lesions, inflammation, necrosis,
      and increased cellularity in papillary dermis) > gadodiamide (small superficial
      epidermal lesions and signs of degradation of collagen fibers in the dermis) >
      gadoterate (very few pathologic lesions, similar to control rats). CONCLUSIONS:
      repeated administration of the nonionic linear GC gadodiamide to renally impaired
      rats is associated with more severe histologic lesions and higher FGF-23 plasma
      levels than the macrocyclic GC gadoterate.

PMID- 20938345
TI  - Indeterminate focal liver lesions incidentally discovered at gray-scale US: role
      of contrast-enhanced sonography.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: to assess the role of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) in the
      characterization of focal liver lesions (FLLs) incidentally discovered but
      indeterminate at gray-scale ultrasound (US). MATERIALS AND METHODS: one hundred
      forty-two consecutive patients with 174 FLLs (169 benign and 5 malignant)
      incidentally discovered but indeterminate at gray-scale US, underwent CEUS after
      the administration of SonoVue. Two readers independently reviewed CEUS scans and:
      (1) classified each lesion as malignant or benign on a 5-point scale of
      confidence by means of definite diagnostic criteria; (2) provided if possible a
      specific diagnosis; (3) were requested if further imaging was needed for lesion
      characterization. Sensitivity, specificity, and areas under the receiver
      operating characteristic curve (Az) as well as interobserver agreement were
      calculated. RESULTS: at CEUS, both readers correctly differentiated benign from
      malignant lesions in 168 of 174 (96.5%) cases (P < 0.0001). A specific correct
      diagnosis was provided in 123 of 174 (70.7%) and 127 of 174 (72.9%) cases for
      reader 1 and 2, respectively (P < 0.0001). A further imaging study to
      characterize the lesion after CEUS was requested in 67 cases (38.5%) for reader 1
      (P < 0.001) and 46 cases (26.4%) for reader 2 (P < 0.001). Receiver-operating
      characteristic analysis after CEUS revealed Az value of 1 for both readers and
      sensitivity and specificity values of 100% and 97.04% for reader 1 and 100% and
      96.45 for reader 2 respectively (P < 0.0001). Inter-reader agreement at CEUS was
      good (weighted k = 0.779). CONCLUSION: CEUS improves the diagnostic performance
      of radiologists in the characterization of indeterminate FLLs incidentally
      discovered at US and reduces the need for further radiologic work-up.

PMID- 20938346
TI  - The role of residual gadolinium in the induction of nephrogenic systemic fibrosis
      like skin lesions in rats.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Nephrogenic systemic fibrosis (NSF) is an acquired, idiopathic
      disorder. Most of the cases are observed in patients with end stage renal disease
      (ESRD). The objective of this nonclinical animal study was to test the hypothesis
      that gadolinium (Gd) deposits play a role in the induction of NSF lesions. In
      addition, we evaluated whether an acute response to Gd exposure can initiate a
      process that results in fibrosis of the skin. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Han-Wistar
      rats were administered 3 intravenous injections of Gd-DTPA-BMA formulated without
      Gd-free excess ligand (Gadodiamide without Caldiamide) at a dose of 2.5 mmol/kg
      of body weight (b.w.) per injection given at 24-hour or 14-, 28-, or 56-day
      intervals. The occurrence and development of NSF-like fibrosing dermopathy
      lesions were followed. The Gd concentration was determined by Inductively Coupled
      Plasma Mass Spectrometry in skin biopsies taken during the study and organ
      samples taken at the end of the study.In a separate study, after injection of a
      single intravenous dose of 2.5 mmol/kg b.w. Gd-DTPA-BMA administered to Han
      Wistar rats, the expression of cytokines and signaling molecules in serum and
      skin tissue was determined by quantitative RT-PCR and Luminex technology 6 hours
      or 14, 28, or 56 days. RESULTS: The occurrence of NSF-like macroscopic skin
      lesions differed between the injection groups. Shorter injection intervals
      resulted in more severe skin reactions. In contrast, the injection interval did
      not influence the long-term presence and level of accumulation of Gd
      concentration in tissue. The single injection of Gd-DTPA-BMA was followed by a
      rapid and transient induction of signaling molecules in the serum (MCP1, MCP3,
      IL1, IP-10, Osteopontine SCF and Timp1) as well as in the skin (MCP1 and TGFb).
      CONCLUSION: The presence of NSF-like fibrosing dermopathy in rats was found to be
      dependent on the injection interval and not on the amount of Gd in tissue. Our
      findings suggest the possibility of a more acute intrinsic reaction on
      administration of Gd-DTPA-BMA that triggers events leading to the development of
      skin lesions. The finding that single injections of Gd-DTPA-BMA were accompanied
      by a fast and transient induction of signaling molecules that are known to be
      involved in several fibrotic events provides additional support for this
      hypothesis. The study findings, however, do not support the theory that the long
      term presence of Gd plays a relevant role in the development of NSF.

PMID- 20938348
TI  - Transcranial magnetic stimulation for depression after a traumatic brain injury:
      a case study.
AB  - Depression after a traumatic brain injury (TBI) is very common, yet there is a
      lack of evidence-based treatment options for people who experience depression
      after a TBI. Traditionally, a history of TBI has been considered an exclusion
      criterion for transcranial magnetic stimulation trials because of the increased
      risk of seizure after a TBI. We present what we believe to be the first case of a
      patient with depression after a TBI treated with transcranial magnetic
      stimulation.

PMID- 20938347
TI  - Successful use of maintenance electroconvulsive therapy in the treatment of
      clozapine-associated obsessive-compulsive symptoms in schizophrenia: a case
      report.
AB  - Denovo obsessive-compulsive (OC) symptoms are associated with the use of atypical
      antipsychotics, clozapine in particular. Treatment of clozapine-associated OC
      symptoms is challenging and often difficult because continuation of clozapine can
      result in worsening of OC symptoms, whereas discontinuation may result in
      worsening of psychosis. We report, for the first time, the use of maintenance
      electroconvulsive therapy, in clozapine-associated OC symptoms, in a patient with
      schizophrenia.

PMID- 20938349
TI  - Long-term results of electroconvulsive therapy in severe Gilles de la Tourette
      syndrome.
AB  - To avoid chronic distress and increasing social isolation, patients with severe,
      medication-resistant Gilles de la Tourette syndrome (GTS) require treatment
      alternatives. Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is such an alternative treatment,
      which, however, is rarely mentioned in the literature: a Pubmed search revealed
      only 7 reports on GTS and ECT, and there were no long-term data on continuously
      applied maintenance ECT in GTS. This report is the first to document a 5-year
      long, full remission from severe GTS after long-term ECT.

PMID- 20938350
TI  - Electroconvulsive therapy training and confidence in administration: a national
      survey of psychiatric trainees in Ireland.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: : As the lack of on-site electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) facilities
      in many psychiatric hospitals in Ireland may impact negatively on ECT training,
      we conducted a national survey of trainees with the aims of establishing the
      current standard of ECT training and to assess trainees' confidence in their
      abilities in ECT administration. METHODS: : A national postal survey of 415
      trainees was conducted in September 2008 using a self-designed 15-item
      questionnaire for the purpose of the study, containing no identification data and
      incorporating relevant questionnaire items from similar published trainee survey.
      Reminders were distributed to the entire study sample 4 weeks afterward within a
      sampling time frame of 3 months. Trainee responses were coded and converted to
      anonymized data, which the lead author held. RESULTS: : The overall response rate
      was 61%. Ninety-one percent of trainees had worked in ECT centers, of which 36%
      had given ECT on an occasion without direct consultant supervision. Overall, 12%
      of trainees had never administered or observed ECT, which includes 2 trainees on
      the national senior registrar scheme, and 19% of trainees had nil or minimal
      confidence in their ability to administer ECT. CONCLUSIONS: : Our findings
      indicate deficiencies in training and supervision, which is reflected in the
      proportion of trainees reporting nil or minimal confidence in their ability to
      administer ECT. Greater collaboration between training scheme coordinators,
      clinical tutors, and the College of Psychiatry of Ireland is essential to ensure
      ongoing monitoring and implementation of standards.

PMID- 20938351
TI  - Stimulus pulse-frequency-dependent efficacy and cognitive adverse effects of
      ultrabrief-pulse electroconvulsive therapy in patients with major depression.
AB  - BACKGROUND: : Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a highly effective treatment for
      major depression. New ECT devices with shorter pulse widths seem to induce
      seizures more effectively at a lower seizure threshold and with fewer cognitive
      adverse effects. Suprathreshold right unilateral (RUL) ultrabrief-pulse ECT with
      pulse widths between 0.25 and 0.30 millisecond seem to be especially effective
      with regard to efficacy and cognitive adverse effects. A lower pulse frequency
      (50 pulses per second) in RUL ECT was found to be more efficient than a higher
      pulse frequency (200 pulses per second) in inducing seizures. However, effective
      stimulus dose can often be achieved only with high stimulus frequency, whereas
      the impact of increased stimulus frequency on antidepressant efficacy and
      cognitive adverse effects is not known. METHODS: : Forty patients with major
      depression according to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders,
      Fourth Edition were randomly assigned to 2 groups of 20 patients each and
      stimulated with either 40 or 100 Hz with equal initial stimulus doses in 9
      sessions of suprathreshold RUL ultrabrief-pulse ECT. Depressive symptoms and
      measures of verbal and working memory were assessed for both groups. RESULTS: :
      Patients in the 40-Hz condition showed significantly more improvement in Hamilton
      Rating Scale for Depression scores compared with patients in the 100-Hz condition
      after 9 ECT sessions. Frequency group had no significant impact on measures of
      verbal and working memory. CONCLUSIONS: : Within the discussed limitations, our
      preliminary data suggest an advantage for administering stimulus dose in
      suprathreshold RUL ultrabrief-pulse ECT with a lower stimulus frequency (40 Hz)
      as compared with a higher frequency (100 Hz). Further studies are needed to
      assess whether increasing pulse widths or frequency is the better option for
      augmenting stimulus dose once other stimulus parameters are at a maximum.

PMID- 20938352
TI  - Cognitive, mood, and electroencephalographic effects of noninvasive cortical
      stimulation with weak electrical currents.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: : The use of noninvasive cortical electrical stimulation with weak
      currents has significantly increased in basic and clinical human studies.
      Initial, preliminary studies with this technique have shown encouraging results;
      however, the safety and tolerability of this method of brain stimulation have not
      been sufficiently explored yet. The purpose of our study was to assess the
      effects of direct current (DC) and alternating current (AC) stimulation at
      different intensities in order to measure their effects on cognition, mood, and
      electroencephalogram. METHODS: : Eighty-two healthy, right-handed subjects
      received active and sham stimulation in a randomized order. We conducted 164
      ninety-minute sessions of electrical stimulation in 4 different protocols to
      assess safety of (1) anodal DC of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC); (2)
      cathodal DC of the DLPFC; (3) intermittent anodal DC of the DLPFC and; (4) AC on
      the zygomatic process. We used weak currents of 1 to 2 mA (for DC experiments) or
      0.1 to 0.2 mA (for AC experiment). RESULTS: : We found no significant changes in
      electroencephalogram, cognition, mood, and pain between groups and a low
      prevalence of mild adverse effects (0.11% and 0.08% in the active and sham
      stimulation groups, respectively), mainly, sleepiness and mild headache that were
      equally distributed between groups. CONCLUSIONS: : Here, we show no
      neurophysiological or behavioral signs that transcranial DC stimulation or AC
      stimulation with weak currents induce deleterious changes when comparing active
      and sham groups. This study provides therefore additional information for
      researchers and ethics committees, adding important results to the safety pool of
      studies assessing the effects of cortical stimulation using weak electrical
      currents. Further studies in patients with neuropsychiatric disorders are
      warranted.

PMID- 20938353
TI  - The National Football League (NFL) combine: does normalized data better predict
      performance in the NFL draft?
AB  - The objective of this study was to investigate the predictive ability of National
      Football League (NFL) combine physical test data to predict draft order over the
      years 2005-2009. The NFL combine provides a setting in which NFL personnel can
      evaluate top draft prospects. The predictive ability of combine data in its raw
      form and when normalized in both a ratio and allometric manner was examined for
      17 positions. Data from 8 combine physical performance tests were correlated with
      draft order to determine the direction and strength of relationship between the
      various combine measures and draft order. Players invited to the combine and
      subsequently drafted in the same year (n = 1,155) were included in the study. The
      primary finding was that performance in the combine physical test battery,
      whether normalized or not, has little association with draft success. In terms of
      predicting draft order from outcomes of the 8 tests making up the combine
      battery, normalized data provided no advantage over raw data. Of the 8
      performance measures investigated, straight sprint time and jumping ability seem
      to hold the most weight with NFL personnel responsible for draft decisions. The
      NFL should consider revising the combine test battery to reflect the physical
      characteristics it deems important. It may be that NFL teams are more interested
      in attributes other than the purely physical traits reflected in the combine test
      battery. Players with aspirations of entering the NFL may be well advised to
      develop mental and technical skills in addition to developing the physical
      characteristics necessary to optimize performance.

PMID- 20938354
TI  - Physiological determinants of the candidate physical ability test in
      firefighters.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to examine the relative importance of physiological
      characteristics during firefighting performance, as assessed by the Candidate
      Physical Ability Test (CPAT). Subjects included career and volunteer firefighters
      aged 18-39 (N = 33). Upper- and lower-body strength, muscle endurance, lower body
      muscle power, body composition analysis, aerobic capacity, anaerobic fitness, and
      the heart rate (HR) and blood pressure response to stair climbing were assessed
      to determine the physiological characteristics of the subjects. To quantify
      firefighting performance, the CPAT was administered by members of the fire
      service. Absolute and relative mean power during the Wingate anaerobic cycling
      test (WAnT), relative peak power during the WAnT, and absolute maximal oxygen
      uptake (VO2max) were significantly higher in those who passed the CPAT (N = 18),
      compared to those who failed (N = 15; p < 0.01). Mean power during the WAnT,
      fatigue index during WAnT, absolute VO2max, upper body strength, grip strength,
      and the HR response to stair climbing were significantly related to CPAT
      performance time (p < 0.01). Absolute VO2max and anaerobic fatigue resistance
      during WAnT best predicted CPAT performance (Adj. R2 = 0.817; p < 0.001).
      Performance on the ceiling breach and pull was the only CPAT task that was not
      significantly related to the physiological characteristics assessed. Measures of
      anaerobic and cardiovascular fitness best predict overall CPAT performance, and
      individual task performance. Remedial programs aimed at improving firefighting
      performance should target anaerobic and aerobic fitness qualities.

PMID- 20938355
TI  - Physiological and skill demands of 'on-side' and 'off-side' games.
AB  - This study investigated the physiological and skill demands of 'on-side' and 'off
      side' games in elite rugby league players. Sixteen male rugby league players
      participated in 'on-side' and 'off-side' games. Both small-sided games were
      played in a 40- * 40-m playing area. The 'off-side' game permitted players to
      have 3 'plays' while in possession of the ball. Players were permitted to pass
      backward or forward (to an 'off-side' player). The 'on-side' game also permitted
      players to have 3 'plays' while in possession of the ball. However, players were
      only permitted to pass backward to players in an 'on-side' position. Heart rate
      and movement patterns (via global positioning system) were recorded continuously
      throughout both games. Data were collected on the distance covered, number of
      high-acceleration and velocity efforts, and recovery between efforts. Video
      footage was also taken to track the performance of the players. Post hoc
      inspection of the footage was undertaken to count the number of possessions and
      the number and quality of disposals. In comparison to 'on-side' games, 'off-side'
      games had a greater number of involvements ("touches"), passes, and effective
      passes. However, the cognitive demands of 'on-side' games were greater than 'off
      side' games. 'Off-side' games resulted in a greater total distance covered,
      greater distance covered in mild and moderate accelerations, and greater distance
      covered in low, moderate, and high-velocity efforts. There were also a greater
      number of short duration recovery periods between efforts in 'off-side' games.
      The results of this study demonstrate that 'off-side' games provide greater
      physiological and skill demands than 'on-side' games. 'Off-side' games may
      provide a practical alternative to 'on-side' games for the development of skill
      and fitness in elite rugby league players.

PMID- 20938356
TI  - Physical demands on young elite European female basketball players with special
      reference to speed, agility, explosive strength, and take-off power.
AB  - The aim of the study was to determine and analyze the level of certain motor
      abilities (acceleration and agility, the explosive strength of arms, and take-off
      power) of young elite European female basketball players. We also wanted to
      establish whether there were any differences between 3 groups of female
      basketball players who differed in terms of their playing performance. The sample
      of subjects consists of 65 female basketball players aged 14.49 (+/- 0.61) years
      who were divided into 3 groups (divisions A, B, and C of the European
      Championships). We compare the groups by using 8 motor tests. p Values <0.05 were
      considered statistically significant. The results show that the division C
      players achieved below-average results in all tests and thus differ from the
      players from divisions A and B whose test results were relatively homogeneous.
      The division C players differ from those from divisions A and B mainly in the 6 *
      5-m sprint dribble (discriminant ratio coefficients [DRC] = 0.435), medicine ball
      throw (DRC = 0.375), and 20-m sprint (DRC = 0.203). Discriminatory power in the 6
      * 5-m sprint dribble and 20-m sprint tests is preserved even after eliminating
      the effect of body height. We assume that, besides the deficit in body height and
      training status, this is also 1 of the key reasons for these players' lower
      playing efficiency compared to those from divisions A and B. We hope the findings
      of this study will enable the generation of model values, which can assist
      basketball coaches for this age category in basketball clubs, high schools,
      national teams, and basketball camps.

PMID- 20938357
TI  - Effects of a plyometric training program with and without added load on jumping
      ability in basketball players.
AB  - The purpose of this investigation was to examine the effect of a standard
      plyometric training protocol with or without added load in improving vertical
      jumping ability in male basketball players. Twenty-seven players were randomly
      assigned to 3 groups: a control group (no plyometric training), plyometric
      training group (PG), and loaded plyometric group (LPG, weighted vests 10-11% body
      mass). Before and after the 10-week training program, all the players were tested
      for the 5-jump test (5JT), the squat jump (SJ), and the countermovement jump
      (CMJ). The PG and LPG groups performed 2 and 3 training sessions per week, during
      the first 3 and the last 7 weeks, respectively. The results showed that SJ, CMJ,
      and 5JT were significantly improved only in the PG and LPG groups. The best
      effects for jumps were observed in LPG (p < 0.01), which showed significantly
      higher gains than the PG (p < 0.05). In conclusion, it appears that loads added
      to standard plyometric training program may result in greater vertical and
      horizontal-jump performances in basketball players.

PMID- 20938358
TI  - Influence of exercise order on maximum strength and muscle volume in nonlinear
      periodized resistance training.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of exercise order on
      strength and muscle volume (MV) after 12 weeks of nonlinear periodized resistance
      training. The participants were randomly assigned into 3 groups. One group began
      performing large muscle group exercises and progressed to small muscle group
      exercises (LG-SM), whereas another group started with small muscle group
      exercises and advanced to large muscle group exercises (SM-LG). The exercise
      order for LG-SM was bench press (BP), machine lat pull-down (LPD), triceps
      extension (TE), and biceps curl (BC). The order for the SM-LG was BC, TE, LPD,
      and BP. The third group did not exercise and served as a control group (CG).
      Training frequency was 2 sessions per week with at least 72 hours of rest between
      sessions. Muscle volume was assessed at baseline and after 6 weeks and 12 weeks
      of training by ultrasound techniques. One repetition maximum strength for all
      exercises was assessed at baseline and after 12 weeks of training. Effect size
      data demonstrated that differences in strength and MV were exhibited based on
      exercise order. Both training groups demonstrated greater strength improvements
      than the CG, but only BP strength increased to a greater magnitude in the LG-SM
      group as compared with the SM-LG. In all other strength measures (LPD, TE, and
      BC), the SM-LG group showed significantly greater strength increases. Triceps MV
      increased in the SM-LG group; however, biceps MV did not differ significantly
      between the training groups. In conclusion, if an exercise is important for the
      training goals of a program, then it should be placed at the beginning of the
      training session, regardless of whether or not it is a large muscle group
      exercise or a small muscle group exercise.

PMID- 20938359
TI  - Upper body muscle strength and endurance in relation to peak exercise capacity
      during cycling in healthy sedentary male subjects.
AB  - The aim of this study was to investigate the relation between upper body muscle
      strength and endurance, and exercise capacity during an incremental cycle
      exercise test in sedentary healthy male subjects before and after 6 months of
      combined supervised group training. Exercise capacity was measured as maximal
      oxygen consumption (VO2peak) and maximum work rate (WR(peak)). Muscle strength
      and endurance of the upper body were assessed by bench press and isometric
      measurement of trunk extensor and flexor maximum voluntary contraction (MVC) and
      trunk extensor and flexor endurance. Thirty-one subjects were studied before and
      after the training period. Bench press and trunk extensor MVC correlated to
      exercise capacity at baseline and after training. Training improved VO2peak and
      WR(peak). The correlation between trunk extensor MVC and exercise capacity
      improved after training. Upper body strength may affect exercise capacity by
      increasing the rider's ability to generate force on the handlebar that can be
      transmitted to the pedals. Resistance training of the arms, chest, and trunk may
      help improve cycling performance.

PMID- 20938360
TI  - In-vitro IL-2 or IFN-alpha-induced NKG2D and CD161 NK cell receptor expression
      indicates novel aspects of NK cell activation in metastatic melanoma patients.
AB  - In metastatic melanoma (MM) immunomodulating agents, such as interleukin-2 (IL-2)
      and interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha), have shown therapeutic benefit as they enhance
      antitumor immune response. Considering tumor-induced suppression of natural
      killer (NK) cell activity, it is of interest to study the affect of these
      cytokines on the functional and receptor characteristics of CD16-defined NK cells
      and their dim and bright subsets. Peripheral blood lymphocytes of MM patients in
      clinical stage IV were treated in vitro for 18 h with IFN-alpha (250 U/ml) and
      rhIL-2 (200 U/ml) at 37 degrees C. Both the cytokines induced significant in
      vitro enhancement of NK cell activity. NKG2D receptor was induced by IL-2,
      whereas both the NKG2D and CD161 receptor expression was induced by IFN-alpha on
      NK cells and CD16(bright) NK cell subset. However, only IL-2 mediated induction
      of NKG2D on CD3-CD16(+) NK cells correlates with enhanced NK cytotoxicity by this
      cytokine, whereas, on the cytotoxic CD16(bright) subset NKG2D induction by both
      cytokines correlates with their induction of NK cell activity. In contrast, the
      observed induction of these receptors on the regulatory CD16(dim) subset shows no
      correlation with the obtained augmentation of cytotoxicity. We found substantial
      specific inducibility of pSTAT1 and pSTAT5, as well as induction of interferon
      regulatory transcription factor-1 transcription by investigated cytokines in
      peripheral blood lymphocytes of MM patients. As NK cell-mediated killing of tumor
      cells depends on the balance between stimulatory and inhibitory signaling,
      induction of activating NKG2D receptor by IL-2 and IFN-alpha, especially in
      CD16(bright) NK cell subset, gives insight to novel aspects of NK cell activation
      by these cytokines that are applied in immunotherapy.

PMID- 20938361
TI  - Hypoxic preconditioning increases gap-junctional graft and host communication.
AB  - Gap-junctional intercellular communication between grafted neural stem cells
      (NSCs) and host cells seems to be essential for many of the functional and
      beneficial interactions after NSC engraftment. Gap-junctional communication is
      also known to increase in the central nervous system after hypoxia and ischemia.
      We therefore hypothesized that controlled hypoxic preconditioning of murine NSCs
      (C17.2) before the engraftment is a reliable method to increase connexin 43
      expression and improve subsequent graft and host communication. Data indicated
      that 3-h exposure to hypoxia increased the number of connexin 43 aggregates in
      treated NSCs by 31%. This was paralleled by enhanced hemichannel function showed
      by faster calcein dye efflux and an augmentation of the early functional graft
      and host communication.

PMID- 20938362
TI  - Temporal integration affects intensity change detection in human auditory cortex.
AB  - The aim of this paper was to clarify the effects of temporal integration on the
      auditory evoked response elicited by sounds of varying intensity. We measured
      auditory evoked fields in response to tones with different intervals of intensity
      change. The amplitude of the N1m', occurring approximately 100 ms after the
      intensity change, remained constant when the interval was longer than 250 ms. The
      recovery function we observed suggests that the neural populations underlying the
      N1m' are close to those underlying the late anterior N1m component. The N1m'
      amplitude decreased with decreasing intervals of intensity change at intervals
      less than 250 ms. This finding supports the notion that a disinhibitory process
      is caused by the offset of the sound.

PMID- 20938363
TI  - Localization of HtrA2/Omi immunoreactivity in brains affected by Alzheimer's
      disease.
AB  - HtrA2/Omi is a mitochondrial serine protease that promotes apoptotic processes,
      and this study investigated whether the abnormal immunoexpression of HtrA2/Omi
      occurs in patients with Alzheimer's disease. We prepared autopsied brains from
      seven control individuals and seven patients with Alzheimer's disease, and then
      carried out immunohistochemical studies on HtrA2/Omi using formalin-fixed,
      paraffin-embedded sections from all of these cases. In the cerebral cortex and
      hippocampus from the cases of Alzheimer's disease, densely accumulated HtrA2/Omi
      immunoreactivity was scattered, both intracellularly and extracellularly. Double
      immunofluorescence analyses showed the partial localization of HtrA2/Omi
      immunoreactivity in amyloid beta-peptide-immunopositive senile plaques and
      phosphorylated tau-immunopositive neurofibrillary tangles. These results suggest
      that HtrA2/Omi may be partially associated with the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's
      disease.

PMID- 20938364
TI  - Perspective taking associated with social relationships: a NIRS study.
AB  - Social neuroscience has made considerable progress in revealing the mechanisms
      underlying empathy. We focused on the mechanism of perspective taking, which is
      one aspect of the empathic process that includes the emotional inhibitory
      mechanism, a function of the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex using the near
      infrared spectroscopy. As a pretreatment, 19 participants played a game with
      confederates playing either fairly or unfairly. Accordingly, each participant
      evaluated valence of their partner's faces. The data showed that taking the other
      perspective of an unfair player activated the right ventrolateral prefrontal
      cortex in participants with high PT ability. In contrast, the behavioral data
      showed no differences between those participants with high and low-perspective
      taking abilities. These results suggest that different types of empathic features
      can produce different perspective taking strategies.

PMID- 20938365
TI  - Incidence, resource use, and outcome of acute pancreatitis with/without intensive
      care: a nationwide population-based study in Taiwan.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate the nationwide epidemiology of acute pancreatitis (AP)
      in a developing country, with emphasis on the contribution of intensive care
      patients. METHODS: We analyzed hospital patients with first-episode AP between
      2005 and 2007, based on the claims data of a nationally representative sample of
      1,000,000 people enrolled in the Taiwan National Health Insurance program. Severe
      AP was defined according to a modified Atlanta classification. RESULTS: A total
      of 1693 patients with AP were identified. Crude and adjusted incidence rates of
      AP in 2005 were 56.9 and 42.8 per 100,000 persons, respectively. The age-specific
      incidence rates increased continuously with age in women, but showed a bimodal
      distribution in men. Severe AP was present in 20.4% of the patients; 47.4% of
      them received intensive care. The hospital days and charges of those receiving
      intensive care accounted for 22.1% of the total hospital days and for 40.8% of
      the total hospital charges of all patients with AP, respectively. Hospital
      mortality was 2.7%, ranging from 0.3% in nonsevere cases to 18.9% in those
      requiring intensive care. CONCLUSIONS: In Taiwan, 20% of patients with AP were
      severe; although only half of them received intensive care, they used significant
      resources and accounted for most deaths.

PMID- 20938366
TI  - Edaravone, a free radical scavenger, promotes engraftment of intraportally
      transplanted islet cells.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Pancreatic islet transplantation requires multiple transplants to
      achieve insulin independence. Only one third of the islet mass is stably
      engrafted; one of the causes of which is ascribed to oxidative stress. We
      confirmed the hypothesis that administration of edaravone, a free radical
      scavenger, in the early posttransplantation period promotes islet cell
      engraftment. METHODS: Islet isograft from a single donor was intraportally
      transplanted into streptozotocin-diabetic F344 rats, and intravenous edaravone (3
      mg/kg) was administered immediately and 24 hours after the transplantation.
      Plasma glucose concentrations were monitored for 28 days. Serum insulin levels
      were obtained on the second week. Morphologic studies were performed on insulin
      immunostained and TUNEL-stained sections of the recipient liver. RESULTS: In the
      edaravone-treated group, hyperglycemia was ameliorated, and 50% of rats achieved
      normoglycemia (<200 mg/dL). All rats in the control group remained hyperglycemic
      (>400 mg/dL). Insulin secretion of the edaravone-treated group was superior to
      the controls. Morphologically, the number and size of the islet beta cells of the
      edaravone-treated group were larger than those of the controls. The number of
      TUNEL-positive cells in each islet of the edaravone-treated group were fewer than
      those of the controls. CONCLUSIONS: In streptozotocin-diabetic rats, edaravone
      administration in the early posttransplantation period promotes engraftment of
      intraportally transplanted islet cells.

PMID- 20938367
TI  - A simple and cost-effective method to transfect small interfering RNAs into
      pancreatic cancer cell lines using polyethylenimine.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: RNA interference, an indispensable tool in functional genomics, can
      be induced by small interfering RNAs (siRNAs). Because of the transient nature of
      siRNA-mediated RNA interference, the continuous use of transfection reagents is
      mandatory. Because transfection reagents are expensive, cost-effective
      alternatives must be considered. In this study, we describe a polyethylenimine
      based siRNA transfection protocol for pancreatic cancer cell lines. METHODS: For
      determination of polyethylenimine-based transfection efficiency, a FAM-labeled
      siRNA was transfected into several pancreatic cancer cell lines and subsequently
      analyzed by flow cytometry. The effective knockdown of 2 siRNAs was determined on
      the protein level by Western blot. Toxicity of the transfection reagent was
      analyzed by viability assays. RESULTS: Polyethylenimine can be used without overt
      cellular morphological changes, and toxicity is negligible in human and murine
      pancreatic cancer cell lines. Transfection efficiencies ranged between 83% and
      98% in the cell lines used. The knockdown at the protein level was comparable to
      commercially available transfection reagents. Polyethylenimine and siRNA
      concentrations, incubation time, and cell density are determinates of the
      transfection efficiency. CONCLUSIONS: Polyethylenimine is a suitable and cost
      effective alternative for transfecting siRNAs into pancreatic cancer cells.

PMID- 20938368
TI  - Establishment of a secondary infection model of severe acute pancreatitis in
      swine.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Develop a swine model of secondary infection in severe acute
      pancreatitis (SAP). METHODS: Twenty-seven female swine were divided into 3 groups
      (1-3). In the first experiment, a SAP model was developed by retrograde injection
      of sodium taurocholate and trypsin into the pancreatic duct. In the second
      experiment, the SAP model was used to develop a secondary infection model. In
      groups 1 to 3, 108/mL or 104/mL Escherichia coli or saline were respectively used
      to inoculate necrotic areas of the pancreas using computed tomographic guidance.
      Biochemical, histopathological, and imaging analyses were used to characterize
      disease presentation. RESULTS: The survival rate was 85.2% (23/27) during the
      course of the 9-day experiment. The secondary infection rates in groups 1 to 3
      were 100% (8/8), 37.5% (3/8), and 14.3% (1/7), respectively. In group 1, the
      infection rate was significantly higher in comparison to the other 2 groups
      (chi2=4.66 and 8.14, respectively, and both P<0.05). The biochemical and
      histopathological parameters and computed tomographic images indicated successful
      development of the SAP secondary infection model. CONCLUSIONS: The swine model of
      SAP secondary infection was successfully developed using a 2-step method, which
      could serve as a platform for SAP studies that need complex experimental
      manipulations for longer time spans, especially for imaging research.

PMID- 20938369
TI  - Sonic hedgehog expression correlates with distant metastasis in pancreatic
      adenocarcinoma.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate the expression and clinical significance of Sonic
      hedgehog (Shh) in pancreatic adenocarcinoma. METHODS: The expression of Shh
      protein was examined in 34 surgical specimens of primary pancreatic
      adenocarcinoma, 21 nonmalignant specimens of the pancreas by immunohistochemistry
      streptavidin-perosidase (SP) method. In addition, semiquantitative reverse
      transcriptase polymerase chain reaction was carried out to analyze Shh mRNA
      expression in 22 pairs of freshly resected pancreatic adenocarcinoma tissues and
      their adjacent nontumorous tissues. RESULTS: The positive expression rate of Shh
      protein was 64.7% (22/34) in 34 surgical specimens of primary pancreatic
      adenocarcinoma and 0% (0/21) in 21 nonmalignant specimens of the pancreas. The
      expression rate of Shh was higher in pancreatic adenocarcinoma tissues than that
      of nonmalignant pancreatic tissues (chi2 = 22.647, P = 0.000). Sonic hedgehog
      protein expression correlated with TNM stages and distant metastasis. Moreover,
      the expression levels of Shh mRNA were higher in pancreatic adenocarcinoma
      tissues than that of the matched adjacent nontumorous tissues. CONCLUSIONS: Sonic
      hedgehog might play a pivotal role during tumorigenesis of pancreatic
      adenocarcinoma, and high Shh expression might be associated with the malignant
      potential of pancreatic cancer.

PMID- 20938370
TI  - Skeletal muscle metabolism in cystic fibrosis and primary ciliary dyskinesia.
AB  - Previous studies have reported differences in muscle function and metabolism
      between patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) and healthy controls (HC), but it is
      currently unknown whether these abnormalities are specific to CF or also seen in
      other airway diseases. In this study, we used magnetic resonance spectroscopy
      (MRS) during exercise to assess muscle metabolism in CF patients. Twenty patients
      with CF and 20 age, gender, and habitual activity-matched HCs and a respiratory
      disease comparison group with primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD; n = 10) were
      studied. Phosphorus MRS (P-MRS) was used to characterize muscle bioenergetic
      metabolism at rest and after high-, moderate-, and low-intensity exercise. CF
      patients exhibited lower resting ATP/phosphocreatine (PCr) ratio and
      significantly higher end-exercise pH values compared with both HC and PCD
      patients. Both CF and PCD patients demonstrated significantly slower PCr recovery
      time constants after high-intensity exercise. Our results suggest that not only
      there are specific abnormalities of muscle metabolism in CF patients but also
      there is a nonspecific impact of respiratory disease on muscle function.

PMID- 20938372
TI  - Functional limb salvage in the diabetic patient: the use of a collagen bilayer
      matrix and risk factors for amputation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The diabetic foot ulcer presents a therapeutic challenge with a high
      rate of limb infection and extremity amputation. Adequate debridement and stable
      coverage of exposed structures are paramount to preserving limb length. The
      authors reviewed their use of a collagen bilayer matrix in the diabetic
      population for the preservation of functional limb length. Salvage rates were
      stratified with patient comorbidities of severe peripheral arterial disease
      and/or persistent infection. METHODS: A retrospective review was performed of all
      consecutive patients who underwent application of Integra by the senior authors
      (J.S.S., C.E.A.) for lower extremity salvage between January of 2004 and December
      of 2008. RESULTS: A total of 105 patients with 121 separate wounds were analyzed.
      Patient age ranged from 22 to 80 years (mean, 58 years). The average wound size
      was 25.9 cm2 in the diabetic population. Average follow-up was 325 days, and
      average number of operations before closure was 1.28. In the diabetic population,
      of the 59 patients identified as low risk for amputation, 10 (17 percent)
      progressed to amputation. Of the 28 patients identified as high risk for
      amputation, 15 (54 percent) progressed to amputation. In the nondiabetics, 31
      patients were classified as low risk for amputation, and one (3 percent) went on
      to an amputation. CONCLUSIONS: Use of a collagen bilayer matrix appears to be a
      viable option for reconstruction and stable closure in the diabetic patient at
      low risk for amputation, with risk based on available blood supply and evidence
      of infection. In the diabetic patient at high risk for amputation, however, the
      rate of salvage may not be improved with the use of Integra.

PMID- 20938373
TI  - Hepatitis C prevalence among HIV-positive MSM in San Francisco: 2004 and 2008.
AB  - Recent reports suggest the potential for an epidemic of Hepatitis C among
      nonintravenous drug-using HIV-positive men who have sex with men. HIV-positive
      specimens from surveillance surveys in 2004 and 2008 were tested for HCV
      antibodies. Among noninjection drug using men who have sex with men, HCV
      prevalence was 8.7% and 4.5% in 2004 and 2008, respectively. There was no
      evidence of a change in HCV prevalence between 2004 and 2008.

PMID- 20938371
TI  - Platelet aggregation pathway.

PMID- 20938374
TI  - Efficacy and safety of imiquimod versus podophyllotoxin in the treatment of
      anogenital warts.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Anogenital warts are a common sexually transmitted disease caused by
      human papillomaviruses. Despite the fact, that imiquimod and podophyllotoxin
      represent common topical agents, direct comparative studies lack. This work
      compares the effectiveness and safety of self-applied imiquimod 5% cream and
      podophyllotoxin 0.5% solution. METHODS: Within 2 years, consecutive patients
      presenting with untreated anogenital warts were included in a randomized, open
      label trial. The primary endpoint was complete clearance at the end of treatment
      (4 weeks after the start with podophyllotoxin, 16 weeks after the start of
      imiquimod therapy). Side effects were evaluated as a secondary endpoint. RESULTS:
      A total of 45 patients, 7 women and 35 men, of whom 5 were circumcised, concluded
      the treatment and were eligible for evaluation. The rates of clearance of
      baseline warts among treatment groups were 72% (95% confidence interval [CI], 52%
      86%) in the podophyllotoxin group and 75% (95% CI, 53%-98%) in the imiquimod
      group. Statistically, clearance rates were identical (P=1). The differences in
      side effects between treatment groups were statistically not significant
      (P=0.24). CONCLUSIONS: The current study, a direct comparison of both, confirms
      the previously obtained mathematical data, that imiquimod 5% cream and
      podophyllotoxin 0.5% solution have an identical beneficial effect on anogenital
      warts and are associated with identical and acceptable side effects. Both
      substances constitute effective and safe treatments of untreated anogenital warts
      in immunocompetent individuals.

PMID- 20938375
TI  - Prevalence of Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae and repeat
      infection among pregnant urban adolescents.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Negative maternal and fetal consequences associated with Chlamydia
      trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae during pregnancy make diagnosis essential.
      The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend routine screening for
      sexually transmitted infections at the first prenatal visit, and third trimester
      repeat screening, specifically for C. trachomatis, is recommended for women under
      age 25 or at increased infection risk. The effect of repeat screening on
      diagnosis during pregnancy is not well documented among adolescents. METHODS: A
      prospective cohort of 125 pregnant adolescents with at least one prenatal
      screening for C. trachomatis and N. gonorrhoeae was analyzed. All participants
      received prenatal care and delivered at one urban teaching hospital in
      Washington, DC. Screening results were documented for both sexually transmitted
      infections. Descriptive and univariate analyses were performed to describe
      disease prevalence. RESULTS: Of pregnant adolescents, 31% were diagnosed with
      either C. trachomatis or N. gonorrhoeae infection during pregnancy. Of the 75%
      (95/125) of patients who had more than one screening test, 11% (10/95) had a
      reinfection, and 7% (7/95) had a new infection on repeat testing. Nine percent
      (9/95) had recurrent C. trachomatis, whereas 4% (4/95) had a new diagnosis. Three
      percent (3/95) had recurrent N. gonorrhoeae, whereas 4% (4/95) had a new
      diagnosis. Some experienced coinfection at either initial or repeat testing.
      CONCLUSIONS: Screening for C. trachomatis and N. gonorrhoeae is recommended
      during pregnancy. In this sample of pregnant adolescents, the overall high
      incidence and recurrence of C. trachomatis and N. gonorrhoeae support Centers for
      Disease Control and Prevention screening and rescreening recommendations,
      regardless of initial test results.

PMID- 20938377
TI  - Improved renal recovery with postresuscitation N-acetylcysteine treatment in
      asphyxiated newborn pigs.
AB  - Renal injury is one of the severe and common complications that occurs early in
      neonates with asphyxia, and reactive oxygen species have been implicated to play
      an important role on its pathogenesis. Improved renal recovery has been shown
      previously with N-acetyl-l-cysteine (NAC) in various acute kidney injuries. Using
      a subacute swine model of neonatal hypoxia-reoxygenation (H/R), we examined
      whether NAC can sustain its beneficial effect on renal recovery for 48 h. Newborn
      piglets were randomly assigned into a sham-operated group (without H/R, n = 6)
      and two H/R experimental groups (n = 8 each) with 2 h normocapnic alveolar
      hypoxia and 1 h 100% oxygen of reoxygenation followed by 21% oxygen for 47 h.
      Five minutes after reoxygenation, piglets received either normal saline (H/R
      control) or NAC (150-mg/kg bolus and 20 mg/kg per hour i.v. for 24 h) in a
      blinded, randomized fashion. All piglets were acidotic and in cardiogenic shock
      after hypoxia. Treating the piglets with NAC significantly increased both renal
      blood flow and oxygen delivery throughout the reoxygenation period. N-acetyl-l
      cysteine treatment also improved the renal function with the attenuation of
      elevated urinary N-acetyl-beta-d-glucosaminidase activity and plasma creatinine
      concentration observed in H/R controls (both P < 0.05). The tissue levels of
      lipid hydroperoxides and caspase 3 in the kidney of NAC-treated animals were
      significantly lower than those of H/R controls. Conclusively, postresuscitation
      administration of NAC elicits a prolonged beneficial effect in improving renal
      functional recovery and reducing oxidative stress in newborn piglets with H/R
      insults for 48 h.

PMID- 20938376
TI  - Inflammatory effects of hypothermia and inhaled H2S during resuscitated,
      hyperdynamic murine septic shock.
AB  - Inhaling hydrogen sulfide (H2S) reduced energy expenditure resulting in
      hypothermia. Because the inflammatory effects of either hypothermia alone or H2S
      per se still are a matter of debate, we tested the hypothesis whether inhaled H2S
      amplifies the hypothermia-related modulation of the inflammatory response.
      Fifteen hours after cecal ligation and puncture or sham laparotomy, anesthetized
      and mechanically ventilated normothermic and hypothermic mice (core temperature
      kept at 38 degrees C and 27 degrees C, respectively) received either 100 ppm H2S
      or vehicle. In the sham-operated animals, inhaled H2S and hypothermia alone
      comparably reduced the plasma chemokine and IL-6 levels, but combining
      hypothermia and inhaled H2S had no additional effect. The lung tissue cytokine
      and chemokine patterns revealed a similar response. During sepsis, inhaled H2S
      reduced the blood cytokine concentrations only, without effects on the plasma
      chemokine or the lung tissue levels. Again, inhaled H2S had no major additional
      effect during hypothermia. With or without sepsis, inhaled H2S and hypothermia
      alone comparably reduced the lung tissue heme oxygenase 1 expression, whereas
      inhaled H2S had no additional effect during hypothermia. Lung tissue nuclear
      transcription factor kappaB activation was reduced by combining H2S with
      hypothermia in the sham-operated animals, whereas it was increased by inhaled H2S
      during sepsis. Hypothermia amplified this response. Hence, during anesthesia and
      mechanical ventilation, inhaled H2S exerted anti-inflammatory effects, which
      were, however, not amplified by adding deliberate hypothermia. Sepsis attenuated
      these anti-inflammatory effects of inhaled H2S, which were at least in part
      independent of the nuclear transcription factor kappaB pathway.

PMID- 20938378
TI  - The role of femoral venous pressure and femoral venous oxygen saturation in the
      setting of intra-abdominal hypertension: a pig model.
AB  - Femoral venous access is frequently used in critically ill patients. Because
      raised intra-abdominal pressure (IAP) is also frequently found in this group of
      patients, we examined the impact of IAP and positive end-expiratory pressure
      (PEEP) on femoral venous pressure (FVP) and femoral venous oxygen saturation
      (Sfvo2) in an animal model. Thirteen adult pigs received standardized anesthesia
      and ventilation. Randomized levels of IAP (3 [baseline], 18, and 26 mmHg) were
      applied, with levels of PEEP (5, 8, 12, and 15 cmH2O) applied randomly at each
      IAP level. We measured bladder pressure (IAP), superior vena cava pressure,
      pulmonary artery pressure, pulmonary artery occlusion pressure, FVP, mixed venous
      oxygen saturation (Svo2), and Sfvo2. We found that FVP correlated well with IAP
      (FVP = 4.1 + [0.12 * PEEP] + [1.00 * IAP]; R = 0.89, P < 0.001) with a moderate
      bias and precision of 5.0 and 3.8 mmHg, respectively. Because the level of
      agreement did not meet the recommendations of the World Society of Abdominal
      Compartment Syndrome, FVP cannot currently be recommended to measure IAP, and
      further clinical trials are warranted. However, a raised FVP should prompt the
      measurement of the bladder pressure. Femoral venous oxygen saturation did
      correlate neither with Svo2 nor with abdominal perfusion pressure. Therefore,
      Sfvo2 is of no clinical use in the setting of raised IAP.

PMID- 20938379
TI  - Acute lung injury-induced collagen deposition is associated with elevated
      asymmetric dimethylarginine and arginase activity.
AB  - Evidence suggests that lung structure and function are partly maintained by a
      balance between the competing arginine-metabolizing enzymes arginase and nitric
      oxide (NO) synthase. Asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) is an endogenous
      inhibitor of NO synthase. It is metabolized by dimethylarginine
      dimethylaminohydrolase 2 (DDAH-2), which is oxidant-sensitive. The mechanism that
      induces excess lung collagen deposition in burned patients has not yet been
      explored. Our objective was to investigate the role of ADMA and the arginase
      pathway in acute lung injury. An ovine model for burn and smoke inhalation injury
      was used to assess excess lung collagen deposition. Sheep were deeply
      anesthetized during the injury, mechanically ventilated, resuscitated with fluid,
      and killed after either 2 or 3 weeks. Lungs were assessed histologically and
      biochemically for collagen content, arginase activity, lipid peroxidation product
      and antioxidant concentration, and protein concentrations. Plasma was assessed
      for amino acid and nitrate/nitrite concentrations. Burn and inhalation injury
      resulted in significantly reduced pulmonary function and increased lung collagen
      deposition. These physiological changes were associated with significantly
      increased lung arginase activity, collagen synthesis precursor ornithine
      aminotransferase, and ornithine decarboxylase, which is associated with cell
      proliferation. Significant decreases in plasma nitrate/nitrite after injury were
      associated with increased lung ADMA concentrations and decreased DDAH-2
      expression. The decreased DDAH-2 expression was associated with significantly
      increased lipid peroxidation product and decreased antioxidant content in the
      lung. These data support that excess lung collagen deposition and reduced
      pulmonary function in acute lung injury after burn and inhalation injury are
      mediated through the arginase pathway.

PMID- 20938380
TI  - Validity and reproducibility of self-report measures of walking capacity in
      lumbar spinal stenosis.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: Measurement (validity) study. OBJECTIVE: Examine validity and
      reproducibility of self-report measures of walking capacity for use in patients
      with lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS). SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Treatment outcomes
      in patients with LSS are often determined using data from self-report
      questionnaires. Despite some validity evidence available to support the use of
      self-report instruments in the evaluation of walking capacity in LSS, it is not
      certain that the construct being tapped using any of the self-report measures is,
      in fact, walking capacity. METHODS: Validity of the Physical Function Scale of
      the Swiss Spinal Stenosis Questionnaire, the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI),
      self-predicted walking capacity (distance in meters) and a number of single item
      walking capacity questions was evaluated through comparison with a criterion
      measure of walking capacity, the Self-Paced Walking Test, in patients with LSS.
      Test-retest reproducibility was also examined for each of the self-report
      measures. RESULTS: Subjects included 49 patients (65.8 +/- 10.0 years of age)
      with LSS confirmed on imaging and by a spine specialist surgeon. The measures
      found to be most highly associated with the criterion Self-Paced Walking Test
      were the walking distance item from the ODI (r = 0.83) and self-reported walking
      capacity in meters (with the aid of a distance reference) (r = 0.80). Reported
      walking capacity in meters had the lowest test-retest reproducibility (intraclass
      correlation coefficient = 0.65) of the measures studied. CONCLUSION: This study
      provides new information to help guide health professionals and researchers in
      the selection of appropriate outcome tools when examining walking in an LSS
      population. Study results support the use of the Physical Function Scale, self
      reported walking distance, and the walking specific items from the ODI and the
      Physical Function Scale.

PMID- 20938381
TI  - Asymptomatic cervical cord compression in lumbar spinal stenosis patients: a
      whole spine magnetic resonance imaging study.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: A retrospective study. OBJECTIVE: To analyze incidence of
      asymptomatic cervical cord compression and related factors in lumbar stenosis
      patients. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Neural compression resulted from
      degenerative disc is not unusual in the asymptomatic cervical spine. However, its
      incidence and clinically related factors in lumbar stenosis patients have not
      been studied. METHODS: We analyzed lumbar stenosis index (LSI), cervical cord
      compression index (CCI), and Torg-Pavlov ratio of whole spine magnetic resonance
      images of 93 lumbar stenosis patients. We compared lumbar stenosis involving a
      single segment versus multiple segments in the cases with the LSI of double-level
      or more, patients in 60s versus in 70s, and male versus female for the above
      variables. RESULTS: Of total 93 cases, 71 cases did not demonstrate cervical cord
      compression, but moderate or severe cervical cord compression was observed in 22
      cases (23.7%). The multiple segment lumbar stenosis group, the 70s group, and
      male group had statistically significant higher CCI. The correlation coefficient
      between the CCI and the LSI indicated a strong positive linear relationship with
      0.54 (P = 0). CONCLUSION: Moderate or severe cervical cord compression was
      observed in 24% of lumbar stenosis patients. Asymptomatic cervical cord
      compression is more likely to be developed in lumbar stenosis patients who are
      aged, male, and involving multiple segments. These factors should be considered
      for management of lumbar stenosis patients.

PMID- 20938382
TI  - The case of vertebroplasty trials: promoting a culture of evidence-based
      procedural medicine.

PMID- 20938383
TI  - New needle biopsy technique for lumbar pyogenic spondylodiscitis.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: Case series. OBJECTIVE: To improve the isolation rate for pyogenic
      spondylodiscitis, we developed a new needle biopsy technique. SUMMARY OF
      BACKGROUND DATA: The biggest problem in treating lumbar pyogenic spondylodiscitis
      is a low success rate in isolating a causative microorganism. The rates have been
      reported 42% to 64%. METHODS: There are 3 steps: (A) Insert a 21-G needle as for
      discography, aspirate pus or fluid as specimen. (B) If step A fails, inject
      saline and collect fluid as reflux. (C) If step B fails, insert another needle
      into the disc, inject saline and collect reflux from the other needle. We applied
      this approach to 12 patients with a mean age of 64.3 years. RESULTS: We were able
      to collect fluid samples in all cases and the culture was positive in 11 cases
      (91.6%). Staphylococcus aureus was the most frequently identified organism
      (41.7%). CONCLUSION: This simple method improved the isolation rate and should
      improve the treatment of lumbar pyogenic spondylodiscitis.

PMID- 20938384
TI  - Salmonella spondylodiscitis in the immunocompetent: our experience with eleven
      patients.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective case series. OBJECTIVE: To report the clinical
      features, diagnostic dilemmas and management options of 11 immunologically normal
      patients with salmonella spondylodiscitis. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Majority
      of existing data on salmonella spondylodiscitis in the immunologically normal
      patient is from anecdotal case report. METHODS: From 1995 to 2008, 11 patients
      with salmonella spondylodiscitis proven by positive culture, biopsy, and Widal
      test were included. One patient died, and the average follow-up of the remaining
      10 patients was 36 months (12-122 months). Five (50%) patients had a documented
      history of typhoid fever. Intravenous antibiotics for 2 weeks and oral
      antibiotics for at least 10 weeks were given to all patients. Indications for
      surgical intervention were unrelenting pain and osseous instability. Clinical
      outcome was evaluated according to Macnab criteria. RESULTS: Salmonella typhi was
      cultured in 4 and S. Paratyphi in 5 patients. No organism was identified in 2
      patients, on whom the diagnosis was performed by a characteristic history, high
      Widal titers, and a positive biopsy. Widal titers were positive for all patients
      (Average + 1360). Five patients were managed with antibiotics only, 1 with
      surgical debridement and uninstrumented fusion and 4 with single-stage
      debridement, anterior fusion, and posterior instrumentation. Healing of disease
      with a good to excellent outcome was seen in all patients. CONCLUSION: Salmonella
      and tuberculous spondylitis must be differentiated as they both have similar
      epidemiological and clinicoradiologic presentations. Prodromal gastrointestinal
      symptoms are usually not present. The diagnosis rests largely on the recovery of
      the organism by appropriate culture techniques. However, when this is not
      apparent the Widal test, in the setting of a suggestive history and radiograph,
      may be used as a diagnosis tool. Though antibiotics are the mainstay of
      treatment, surgical debridement with the use of instrumentation may be indicated
      in selected patients.

PMID- 20938385
TI  - Cytokine-mediated inflammatory reaction following posterior cervical
      decompression and fusion associated with recombinant human bone morphogenetic
      protein-2: a case study.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: Case study with unique laboratory analysis. OBJECTIVE: To present a
      potentially serious adverse event that may occur in unique individuals when using
      recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-2 (rhBMP-2) to augment fusion in
      posterior cervical spine surgery. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: The use of rhBMP-2
      to augment posterior cervical decompression and fusion has not been approved by
      the Food and Drug Administration but has been advocated as safe to use by case
      series studies and multiple authors. METHODS: A 66-year-old patient with
      myelopathy underwent posterior cervical decompression and fusion, using rhBMP-2
      as a bone graft substitute. The patient had complete resolution of symptoms after
      surgery until day 6, when she experienced increasing pain and weakness. T2
      magnetic resonance images revealed a high intensity fluid collection compressing
      the cervical cord posteriorly. Emergent decompression was performed and the
      patient improved until postoperative day 12 when the same clinical scenario
      occurred. Symptoms again improved with surgical debridement. The clear,
      nonsanguineous fluid was sent for a quantitative cytokine panel each time. The
      case is reviewed with specific reference to the evolving literature regarding
      rhBMP-2 use in the spine, and the findings of seroma analysis. RESULTS: The fluid
      analysis of the seroma fluid at the time of both debridements showed impressive
      elevations in inflammatory cytokines, especially IL-6 and IL-8. CONCLUSION: Acute
      inflammatory reactions to rhBMP-2 can occur in the posterior cervical spine and
      can lead to significant morbidity. Host factors, BMP-2 dosage, and carrier
      factors all likely play a role in these complex reactions and must be considered
      every time an "off label" usage of rhBMP-2 is considered. More study is clearly
      indicated.

PMID- 20938386
TI  - Leg amputation accelerates senescence of rat lumbar intervertebral discs.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: Several senescence biomarkers were observed to investigate cell
      senescence in degenerative intervertebral lumbar discs of foreleg-amputated rats.
      OBJECTIVE: To determine if cell senescence is accelerated in degenerative
      intervertebral lumbar disc cells in an upright-rat model. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND
      DATA: Cellular senescence was accelerated in human and sand rat degenerative
      intervertebral disc (IVD) cells. Repeated use of upright posture by rats
      contributed to degenerative disc changes. No convincing evidence of cell
      senescence was observed in the lumbar disc of the foreleg amputated rat. METHODS:
      The forelimbs of 20 rats were amputated at 1 month of age such that they
      maintained an upright stance; rats were housed in custom-made cages. Nonamputated
      rats, also 1 month of age, were kept in regular cages and served as a control
      group. The lumbar IVDs were harvested from rats in 2 groups, at 5 or 9 months
      following amputation. Senescence-associated-beta-galactosidase-positive staining
      was used to detect cell senescence. p16INK4a and p27KIP were assessed by
      immunohistochemistry analysis. Total RNA isolated from these samples was used to
      measure the gene expression of p16INK4a, RB, cyclin D1, CDK4, PTEN, p27KIP,
      p19ARF, p21, TERT, and RAGE by real-time polymerase chain reaction assay.
      RESULTS: The highest levels of SA-beta-GAL activity were detected in 9-month
      amputated rats. Quantitative immunohistochemical analysis showed that there were
      highest rates of p16INK4a and p27KIP protein expression in the cartilage endplate
      and anulus fibrosus of 9-month amputated rats. The mRNA levels of p16INK4a, RB,
      PTEN, p27KIP, p19ARF, and RAGE were upregulated. The increased cyclin D1 mRNA
      level was statistically significant only at the ninth month following amputation;
      CDK4 and TERT mRNA levels were downregulated to a similar extent at both points
      compared with nonamputated controls. mRNA expression of p21 was significantly
      downregulated. CONCLUSION: Accelerated cell senescence was associated with
      forelimb amputation that causes abnormal loading in rat lumbar IVDs.

PMID- 20938387
TI  - Preoperative scoring systems and prognostic factors for patients with spinal
      metastases from hepatocellular carcinoma.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: A retrospective study had been conducted to compare the existing
      preoperative scoring systems and to find useful prognostic factors for patients
      with spinal metastases from hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). OBJECTIVE: To
      evaluate different preoperative scoring systems and prognostic factors for
      patients with spinal metastases from HCC. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Different
      scoring systems for metastatic spinal tumor have been designed for prognostic
      evaluation. However, these scoring systems were formulated from many different
      types of tumors, so that their efficacy for a certain type of cancer needs to be
      validated. Furthermore, some serologic test results may enhance the accuracy of
      the scoring system. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective study to evaluate 4
      prognostic scoring systems and factors in a series of 41 cases with spinal
      metastases from HCC in a single center. These scoring systems include Tokuhashi
      revised score, Tomita score, Bauer score, and a revised van der Linden score by
      the authors. Serologic test items including serum albumin, aspartate
      aminotransferase, alanine transaminase, and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) were also
      evaluated. RESULTS: The revised Tokuhashi scoring system provided statistically
      significant differences in survival time between different groups (P = 0.012),
      while the Tomita and Bauer systems did not show statistically significant
      differences (P = 0.918 and P = 0.754, respectively). Significantly improved
      survival was found in patients with good performance status and no visceral
      metastases (Group C, P = 0.008) in revised van der Linden scores. Univariate and
      multivariate analyses showed serum albumin and LDH were independent prognostic
      factors for survival time. CONCLUSION: Revised Tokuhashi scoring system is
      practicable and highly predictive, while serum albumin and LDH also have
      prognostic value in patients with spinal metastases from HCC, especially those
      without visceral metastases. More accurate prognosis may be obtained if the
      scoring systems include clinical and laboratory data in future.

PMID- 20938388
TI  - Multilevel myelopathy associated with pseudohypoparathyroidism simulating diffuse
      skeletal hyperostosis: a case report and literature review.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: A case report and review of previous literature are presented.
      OBJECTIVE: The objective of this manuscript was to report a case of
      pseudohypoparathyroidism (PHP) 1a simulating diffuse idiopathic skeletal
      hyperostosis and resulting in spinal cord compression, and discuss the
      pathogenesis of this disease. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Spinal cord compression
      due to PHP is not common, to the authors' knowledge, none of the previous
      reported cases simulated diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis. METHODS: The
      patient's history, clinical examination, imaging findings, and treatment were
      reported; and the pathogenesis was discussed. RESULTS: Characteristic findings
      were revealed from imaging studies, a multiplane reconstruction of the computed
      tomography images, and magnetic resonance imaging. The patient was treated by 2
      stage posterior decompression on the basis of the images. A mild improvement was
      observed after the surgeries and the patient's neurology was not completely
      restored after 6 months. CONCLUSION: We reported a rare case of skeletal and
      ligamentous abnormality resulting in spinal cord compression associated with PHP.
      A multiplane reconstruction of the computed tomography images was very necessary
      for diagnosis and treatment of this case. The unfavorable neurologic restoration
      might be due to the severe injury of the spinal cord caused by diffuse
      ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament and ligamentum flavum.

PMID- 20938389
TI  - The effects of different rehabilitation strategies on the functional recovery of
      spinal cord injured rats: an experimental study.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: An experimental study. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of
      different rehabilitation strategies on functional recovery of partial spinal cord
      of injured rats. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Activity-based rehabilitation is
      promising strategy for improving functional recovery following spinal cord injury
      (SCI). METHODS: Twenty-four female Sprague-Dawley rats weighing 180 to 220 g were
      anesthetized with chloral hydrate (450 mg kg-1) by intraperitoneal injection, and
      laminectomy was performed at T7-T8 level, leaving the dura intact. A compression
      plate (2.2 * 5.0 mm) loaded with weight of 35 g was placed on the exposed cord
      for 5 minutes to create partial SCI. Animals were divided into 3 groups of 8 rats
      each. Group 1 served as control (SCI + without treadmill and swimming training).
      Whereas rats in Groups 2 and 3 were subjected to SCI as mentioned previously and
      received swimming training 5 minutes for Group 2 and treadmill training 5 minutes
      for Group 3 each day, which occurred beginning 14 days postsurgery and continued
      for 14 days. The spontaneous coordinate activity (SCA), Basso, Beattie, and
      Bresnahan (BBB), and Tarlov locomotor scores were used to assess functional
      recovery of spinal cord injured rats. RESULTS: Day 1 (baseline, 14 days after the
      surgery), there was no significant difference among the means for SCA, BBB, and
      Tarlov scores of all groups. After day 1, Groups 1, 2, and 3 showed continuous
      improvement in their BBB, Tarlov, and SCA scores. This improvement was maintained
      throughout the duration of the study with different levels for each group. By the
      end of the study, trained Groups 2 and 3 showed statistically significant
      improvement in their SCA, BBB, and Tarlov scores compared with Group 1 (P <
      0.05). CONCLUSION: These results suggest that 2 weeks of treadmill locomotor
      training and swimming training may have positive effects on functional recovery
      after partial SCI.

PMID- 20938390
TI  - Transfusion-related acute lung injury after transfusion of maternal blood: a case
      control study.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: This is a single-center retrospective case-control study of 7
      transfusion-related acute lung injury (TRALI) cases and 28 controls in the
      pediatric spinal surgery population. OBJECTIVE: To determine the association
      between maternal transfusion and risk of TRALI in pediatric spinal surgery
      patients. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Previous studies support a "2-hit" model
      for the pathogenesis of TRALI-activation and sequestration of neutrophils in the
      pulmonary vasculature followed by transfusion of a biologic response modifier
      such as antileukocyte antibodies. Maternal donation of blood products is a
      potential risk factor for TRALI because of the development of antileukocyte
      antibodies during pregnancy. Until now there have been no studies specifically
      addressing the risk of TRALI following maternal transfusions. METHODS: This is a
      retrospective case-control study of 7 TRALI cases with 4 controls per case,
      matched by strata for volume of plasma transfused. All cases identified by the
      Transfusion Biology and Medicine Specialized Center of Clinically Oriented
      Research with a TRALI diagnosis were eligible for inclusion. Electronic medical
      records and operative notes were reviewed to obtain demographic data, diagnosis,
      surgical approach, and number of spine levels for each operation. RESULTS: An
      increased prevalence of maternal blood transfusion was found among the TRALI
      cases compared with the control cases: 43% (3 of 7) versus 7% (2 of 28), P =
      0.044. There were otherwise no statistical differences between the groups,
      including age, gender, surgical approach, number of spinal levels, or type of
      blood product transfused. CONCLUSION: Pediatric patients undergoing spinal
      surgery may be at increased risk for the development of TRALI following the
      transfusion of maternal blood products. Accordingly, we recommend that directed
      donation of maternal blood products should be avoided in this population. This
      study also found that TRALI may be underrecognized and underreported to the
      transfusion service.

PMID- 20938391
TI  - Neck pain is often a part of widespread pain and is associated with reduced
      functioning.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional, population-based postal survey. OBJECTIVE: To
      investigate the relationship between neck pain, pain in other sites and
      functioning. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Neck pain is one of the most commonly
      reported musculoskeletal pain sites, and people with neck pain often report pain
      in other pain sites. Reduced functioning is associated with widespread pain. The
      relationship between neck pain with and without pain from other pain sites and
      functioning has not been described. METHODS: In 2004, a questionnaire about
      musculoskeletal pain and functioning was sent to 7 birth cohorts in Ullensaker
      municipality in Norway, to which 3325 of 6108 persons (54.4%) responded.
      Musculoskeletal symptoms were registered using the Standard Nordic Questionnaire.
      Neck pain was categorized as localized neck pain (neck), regional neck pain
      (neck, shoulder, head, upper back), neck pain as part of scattered pain (1-3
      other pain sites and not regional), or widespread pain (neck and >=4 other pain
      sites). Functional status was assessed using the Norwegian Function Assessment
      Scale. RESULTS: The 1-week prevalence of any neck pain was 34.4% (95% CI, 32.8
      36.0). Localized neck pain was reported by only 1.4% of our population. Neck pain
      was most often regional (15.9%) or part of widespread pain (14.8%). People with
      neck pain as part of widespread pain had reduced function compared with any other
      group with neck pain. CONCLUSION: Localized neck pain was rare, and neck pain was
      almost always a part of either regional or widespread pain. Research on neck pain
      and functioning that do not assess other pain sites may miss a crucial dimension.

PMID- 20938392
TI  - Comparison of the immature sheep spine and the growing human spine: a
      spondylometric database for growth modulating research.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: A comparative study on growth of the sheep and human spine.
      OBJECTIVE: To validate the immature sheep spine as model for the growing human
      spine and to yield a database for planning and interpretation of future animal
      experiments. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: With the current change of paradigm to
      nonfusion strategies for pediatric spine deformities, experimental surgery on
      spines of growing goats, sheep, and pigs has gained importance as preclinical
      proof-of-concept test. However, despite the proceeding use of animals, there is a
      lack of knowledge regarding the growth of the sheep spine and the relation to the
      human spine. METHODS: Thoracic and lumbar cadaver spines were harvested from 50
      Swiss alpine sheep. Specimens were obtained from newborn, 1, 3, 6, 9 and 12, 15
      and 18 months old female sheep. Direct spondylometry yielded vertebral body
      heights, widths, and depths and spinal canal size, which were compared to pooled
      data on human spine growth retrieved from the literature. RESULTS: Sheep spine
      growth ceases at age 15 to 18 months, which corresponds to a time-lapse model of
      human growth. Main growth occurs within the first 3 to 6 months of life, as
      opposed to human spines with maximal growth during the first 4 years and puberty.
      The relation between sheep and human vertebral shape is continuously changing
      with growth: at birth, sheep vertebrae are twice as tall, but equally wide and
      deep. At skeletal maturity, height is 15% to 25% bigger in sheep, but width 15%
      to 30% and depth 30% to 50% are smaller. CONCLUSION: The immature sheep spine
      offers fast effects if growth-modulating interventions are performed within the
      first 3 to 6 months of age. The differences in vertebral shapes and further
      distinctions between human and sheep spines such as biomechanics, facet anatomy,
      and rib cage morphology have to be considered when interpreting results after
      experimental surgery.

PMID- 20938393
TI  - Effects of magnetic resonance imaging signal change in myelopathic patients: a
      meta-analysis.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: Meta-analysis. OBJECTIVE: Meta-analysis of the data to determine
      the effect of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) signal change on preoperative and
      postoperative Japanese Orthopedic Association (JOA) scores and on recovery rate
      after surgery. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: MRI signal changes are commonly found
      in myelopathy. There is often an increased T2 signal with or without a decreased
      T1 signal. The clinical significance of these signal changes remains debated.
      METHODS: A comprehensive review of the literature was performed to identify all
      published studies with data on the presence of MRI signal change and JOA scores
      in myelopathic patients. T tests were performed to determine if there were
      significant differences between preoperative and postoperative JOA scores in
      patients with or without MRI signal change. The recovery rate was calculated for
      all patients undergoing surgery. T tests were performed to determine whether
      significant differences occurred in recovery rate in patients with or without MRI
      signal change. RESULTS: A total of 16 studies were used for the meta-analysis.
      The total population included 886 patients: 659 with MRI signal change, and 227
      without MRI signal change. Preoperative and postoperative JOA scores and the
      recovery rates were significantly better in patients without MRI signal changes
      (P < 0.05). The mean preoperative JOA scores were 10.63 and 11.37 for patients
      with and without MRI signal changes, respectively. The mean postoperative JOA
      scores were 13.37 and 14.19 for patients with and without MRI signal changes,
      respectively. The mean recovery rates were 43.87% and 49.31% for patients with
      and without MRI signal changes, respectively. CONCLUSION: A meta-analysis of the
      literature revealed statistically better preoperative and postoperative JOA
      scores and recovery rates following surgery in myelopathic patients without MRI
      signal change. Although the data were statistically significant, the clinical
      significance of the differences might be less due to the relatively small
      differences in actual values.

PMID- 20938394
TI  - Magnesium in a polyethylene glycol formulation provides neuroprotection after
      unilateral cervical spinal cord injury.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: Experimental animal study. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the
      neuroprotective efficacy of this magnesium in polyethylene glycol (PEG)
      formulation in a contusive model of cervical spinal cord injury (SCI). SUMMARY OF
      BACKGROUND DATA: Intravenously administered magnesium has been extensively
      investigated as a neuroprotective agent in animal models of SCI, stroke, and
      traumatic brain injuries, and has been evaluated in large scale clinical trials
      for the latter 2 indications. We have developed a novel formulation of magnesium
      chloride (MgCl2) within PEG, and have previously demonstrated the neuroprotective
      benefit of this formulation in animal models of thoracic SCI. METHODS: Twenty-two
      Sprague Dawley rats underwent a unilateral cervical hemicontusion at C4-C5 and
      were randomized 2 hours later to either the MgCl2 in PEG formulation, or normal
      saline. Each treatment was administered in 5 intravenous infusions spaced 6 hours
      apart. Behavioral recovery was assessed over 6 weeks, after which the cord was
      analyzed to measure the extent of gray matter and white matter sparing through
      the injury site. RESULTS: In the horizontal ladder test, the percentage of
      forelimb errors made by the animals treated with MgCl2 in PEG formulation was
      significantly lower than the saline-treated controls. Histologic analysis also
      revealed a significantly higher cumulative white matter sparing through the
      injury site in the MgCl2 in PEG group. CONCLUSION: MgCl2 in a PEG formulation
      reduced secondary damage and improved behavioral recovery when administered 2
      hours after a unilateral cervical hemicontusion injury. These findings are
      consistent with the neurologic benefit observed when administering this magnesium
      formulation in contusive and compressive models of thoracic SCI. Demonstrating
      the robustness of this neuroprotective effect in multiple injury models (and in
      the cervical injury model in particular) is important when considering the
      applicability of such a therapy for human SCIs.

PMID- 20938395
TI  - Effect of active head restraint on residual neck instability due to rear impact.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: An in vitro study of simulated whiplash using a hybrid
      cadaveric/surrogate model. OBJECTIVE: The goal of the present study was to
      determine the effect of the active head restraint (AHR) on residual neck
      instability due to simulated rear impacts of a human model of the neck. SUMMARY
      OF BACKGROUND DATA: Previous studies have indicated potential benefits of active
      injury prevention systems in reducing neck injuries during rear impacts. METHODS:
      Six osteoligamentous whole cervical spine specimens (occiput-T1) were prepared
      with vertebral motion tracking flags. The model, consisting of the neck specimen
      mounted to the torso of BioRID II and carrying an anthropometric surrogate head,
      was rear impacted (7.1 and 11.1 g) with and without the AHR. Pre- and post-impact
      flexibility tests identified significant residual instability (P < 0.05) above
      physiologic values and among experimental conditions. Linear regression analyses
      were used to identify correlation between spinal rotation peaks measured during
      impact and the resulting flexibility parameter increases (R2 > 0.35 and P <
      0.001). RESULTS: Our results indicated significant increases in the average
      flexibility parameters, up to 3.1 degrees , at C2-C3, C3-C4, and C5-C6 due to 7.1
      g rear impacts even in the presence of the AHR. Subsequently, increases in the
      flexibility parameters progressed and spread to head/C1 and to the inferior
      spinal levels following the 11.1 g impacts. Correlation was observed between the
      C7-T1 extension peaks measured during impact and the flexibility parameter
      increases measured following impact. The flexibility parameter increases were
      generally larger due to the impacts with no head restraint, as compared with the
      AHR. CONCLUSION: Extrapolation of our results indicated that every 1 degrees  of
      extension beyond the physiologic limit during whiplash contributed approximately
      0.5 degrees  of residual neck rotation following whiplash. The present data
      underscore the protective effect of the AHR in reducing residual neck instability
      due to whiplash.

PMID- 20938396
TI  - Posterior rotating rod reduction strategy for irreducible atlantoaxial
      subluxations with congenital odontoid aplasia.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: Applying rotating rod techniques to reduce irreducible atlantoaxial
      dislocation. OBJECTIVE: To spare the occipital-C1 motion by the strategy in
      reduction of before surgery irreducible atlantoaxial dislocation with obvious
      neurologic symptoms and congenital odontoid aplasia. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA:
      The treatment of atlantoaxial dislocation (AAD) is a challenging problem for most
      surgeons. Posterior surgical stabilization of C1 and C2 include C1-C2
      transarticular screws, or C1 lateral with C2 pars screws. These constructs,
      however, are based on preoperative reductions. When preoperative skull reduction
      fails and myelopathic symptoms coexist, long-segment cervico-occipital fusion and
      decompression are usually the only practical choice. METHODS: The authors
      explored a different surgical technique to spare the axial occipital joints by
      rotating rods in polyaxial C1, C3 lateral mass, and C2 pars screws, functioning
      as a lever analogue. Three before surgery irreducible AAD cases with obvious
      neurologic symptoms and congenital odontoid aplasia were successfully reduced and
      fused with this procedure. The authors used intraoperative somatosensory-evoked
      potential monitoring and intraoperative fluoroscopy. Preoperative skull traction
      was employed to distract and help extend the atlantoaxial complexes. RESULTS:
      Three C1-C2 dislocations were reduced completely without any deterioration of
      neurologic signs. Cervical myelopathic symptoms recovered soon after the
      operation. No atlantoaxial subluxation recurred. They returned to their normal
      work and/or activities. CONCLUSION: The rotating rod strategy is a viable option
      to reduce and fuse C1-C3 for AAD with odontoid aplasia. It spares the occipital
      C1 motion.

PMID- 20938397
TI  - Vertebral artery anatomy: a review of two hundred fifty magnetic resonance
      imaging scans.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: The aim of this study is to characterize the anatomy of vertebral
      arteries using magnetic resonance imaging scans of 250 consecutive patients.
      OBJECTIVES: To document the prevalence of midline vertebral artery (VA) migration
      in a subgroup of patients presenting with neck pain, radiculopathy, or myelopathy
      and to identify the course of the VA through the TFs. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA:
      Knowledge of VA anomalies and their respective prevalence may help surgeons
      decrease the incidence of iatrogenic injury to this artery. METHODS: In this
      retrospective review of 281 consecutive patients, who had an magnetic resonance
      imaging for axial neck pain, radiculopathy, or myelopathy, anatomic measurements
      were obtained from C2 to C7. RESULTS: The observed VA anomalies can be classified
      into following 3 main groups: (1) intraforaminal anomalies-midline migration, (2)
      extraforaminal anomalies, and (3) arterial anomalies. Midline migration of the VA
      was identified in 7.6% (19/250) of patients. The etiology can be degenerative or
      traumatic. It is important to note that the pattern of medial migration was
      clockwise rotation from caudal to cephalad and was present in all of our patients
      with anomalous arteries. Additionally, at C6, only 92% (460/500) of VAs were
      located within their respective transverse foramens and hypoplastic VAs were
      identified in 10% (25/250) of patients. CONCLUSION: Anomalies that must be
      considered before surgery include interforamenal anomalies, extraforamenal
      anomalies, and arterial anomalies. The intraforaminal anomalies involve midline
      migration, which places the VA at direct risk during corpectomy. Extraforaminal
      anomalies are related to VAs entering the transverse foramen at a level other
      than C6, which can increase the risk of injury during the anterior approach to
      the cervical spine. Arterial anomalies can be fenestrated, hypoplastic, or
      absent. These raise concern with the ability to maintain cerebral perfusion in
      the setting of damage to one of the VAs with the presence of contralateral
      arterial abnormality.

PMID- 20938398
TI  - Domoic acid--a new toxin in the Croatian Adriatic shellfish toxin profile.
AB  - This is the first study that presents concentrations of domoic acid detected in
      the whole shellfish tissue from breeding and harvesting areas along the Croatian
      coast of the Adriatic Sea during the period 2006 to 2008. Shellfish sample
      analyses after SAX cleaning procedures, using a UV-DAD-HPLC system, showed the
      presence of domoic acid in four species. The most prevalent of those species were
      the blue mussel (Mytilus galloprovincialis), followed by European flat oyster
      (Ostrea edulis), Mediterranean scallop (Pecten jacobaeus) and proteus scallop
      (Flexopecten proteus). Domoic acid, a potentially lethal phycotoxin that causes
      amnesic shellfish poisoning (ASP), was detected for the first time in January
      2006 with the highest value of 6.5486 MUg g-1 in whole shellfish tissue. Pseudo
      nitzschia spp. bloom events preceded these high domoic acid concentrations.
      According to this study, retention of domoic acid in the blue mussel M.
      galloprovincialis is more than 42 days. This investigation indicates the first
      presence of domoic acid in Croatian shellfish, but in concentrations under the
      regulatory limit (20 MUg g-1), therefore shellfish consumption was not found to
      endanger human health.

PMID- 20938399
TI  - Synthesis and anti-bacterial activities of some novel Schiff bases derived from
      aminophenazone.
AB  - A series of 1,5-dimethyl-2-phenyl-1,2-dihydro-3H-pyrazol-3-one-containing Schiff
      bases were synthesized, characterized and screened for their antibacterial
      activities. The structures of the synthesized compounds were established by
      spectroscopic (FT-IR, 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR, MS) and elemental analyses. The anti
      bacterial activities (with MIC values) of compounds were evaluated. The anti
      bacterial screening results reveal that among the six compounds screened, four
      compounds showed moderate to good anti-bacterial activity. Among the tested
      compounds, the most effective compounds against four bacterial strains, viz.
      Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella typhimurium and Streptococcus
      pyogenes, are [(2-chlorobenzylidene)amino]-1,5-dimethyl-2-phenyl-1,2
      dihydropyrazol-3-one (4) and [(1,5-dimethyl-3-oxo-2-phenyl-2,3-dihydro-1H-pyrazol
      4-ylimino)methyl]benzonitrile (5) with MIC values of 6.25 MUg/mL.

PMID- 20938401
TI  - In vitro antioxidant properties, HIV-1 reverse transcriptase and
      acetylcholinesterase inhibitory effects of traditional herbal preparations sold
      in South Africa.
AB  - The antioxidant potentials for fourteen multipurpose traditional herbal
      preparations sold in South Africa were determined using the DPPH radical
      scavenging, ferric reducing power and beta-carotene-linoleic acid model system,
      the anti-HIV-1 reverse transcriptase (RT) enzyme inhibitory effects using an
      ELISA kit and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) enzyme inhibition using the microtitre
      plate assay. Nine of the herbal mixtures (Umzimba omubi, Umuthi wekukhwehlela ne
      zilonda, Mvusa ukunzi, Umpatisa inkosi, Imbiza ephuzwato, Vusa umzimba, Supreme
      one hundred, Sejeso herbal mixture Ingwe(r) and Ingwe(r) special muti) exhibited
      higher antioxidant potentials, while only four (Imbiza ephuzwato, Ingwe(r) muthi
      mixture, Sejeso herbal mixture Ingwe(r) and African potato extractTM showed
      potent activity against the RT enzyme. Nine mixtures (Imbiza ephuzwato, Umpatisa
      inkosi, African potato extractTM, Sejeso herbal mixture Ingwe(r), Vusa umzimba;
      Ingwe(r) muthi mixture, IbhubeziTM, Lion izifozonke Ingwe(r) and Ingwe(r) special
      muti) showed AChE enzyme inhibitory activity greater than 50%. The observed
      activity exhibited by some of the herbal mixtures gives some credence to the
      manufacturers' claims and goes part of the way towards validating their use
      against certain conditions such as oxidative stress, HIV/AIDS proliferation and
      some mental conditions. It is however, desirable to carry out further studies to
      determine the effects of mixing plant species/parts in one mixture on the
      antioxidant potency as well as isolating active constituents from the herbal
      mixtures.

PMID- 20938402
TI  - Natural antioxidants: fascinating or mythical biomolecules?
AB  - Research on the use, properties, characteristics and sources of antioxidants
      especially phenolic compounds, flavonoids, vitamins, synthetic chemicals and some
      micronutrients began in the late 18(th) century. Since then antioxidant research
      has received considerable attention and over a hundred thousand papers have been
      published on the subject. This has led to a rampant use of antioxidants in order
      to try to obtain and preserve optimal health. A number of nutraceuticals and food
      supplements are frequently fortified with synthetic or natural antioxidants.
      However, some research outcomes have led to the belief that antioxidants exist as
      mythical biomolecules. This review provides a critical evaluation of some common
      in vitro antioxidant capacity methods, and a discussion on the role and
      controversies surrounding non-enzymatic biomolecules, in particular phenolic
      compounds and non-phenolic compounds, in oxidative processes in an attempt of
      stemming the tidal wave that is threatening to swamp the concept of natural
      antioxidants.

PMID- 20938403
TI  - Prodigiosin production by Serratia marcescens UCP 1549 using renewable-resources
      as a low cost substrate.
AB  - A new strain of Serratia marcescens UCP1459 isolated from a semi-arid soil
      produced the natural red pigment prodigiosin, characterized by an uncommon
      pyrrolylpyrromethane skeleton. Prodigiosin is a promising drug due to its
      reported antifungal, immunosuppressive and anti-proliferative activities. The
      objective of this work was to indentify a suitable medium to simultaneously
      enhance S. marcescens growth and pigment production using renewable resources
      obtained from industrial wastes. S. marcescens produced the highest level of
      prodigiosin (49.5 g/L) at 48 h of cultivation using 6% "manipueira" (cassava
      wastewater) supplemented with mannitol (2%) at pH 7 and 28  degrees C.
      Carbohydrates in "manipueira" and mannitol play a role in the enhanced cell
      growth and prodigiosin production. The purified pigment extracted from the
      biomass was analyzed by mass spectrophotometry and showed the expected molecular
      weight of 324 Da corresponding to prodigiosin. In conclusion, we have
      successfully designed a new, economically feasible medium supporting enhanced S.
      marcescens growth and a high yield production of prodigiosin.

PMID- 20938400
TI  - Dealing with misfolded proteins: examining the neuroprotective role of molecular
      chaperones in neurodegeneration.
AB  - Human neurodegenerative diseases arise from a wide array of genetic and
      environmental factors. Despite the diversity in etiology, many of these diseases
      are considered "conformational" in nature, characterized by the accumulation of
      pathological, misfolded proteins. These misfolded proteins can induce cellular
      stress by overloading the proteolytic machinery, ultimately resulting in the
      accumulation and deposition of aggregated protein species that are cytotoxic.
      Misfolded proteins may also form aberrant, non-physiological protein-protein
      interactions leading to the sequestration of other normal proteins essential for
      cellular functions. The progression of such disease may therefore be viewed as a
      failure of normal protein homeostasis, a process that involves a network of
      molecules regulating the synthesis, folding, translocation and clearance of
      proteins. Molecular chaperones are highly conserved proteins involved in the
      folding of nascent proteins, and the repair of proteins that have lost their
      typical conformations. These functions have therefore made molecular chaperones
      an active area of investigation within the field of conformational diseases. This
      review will discuss the role of molecular chaperones in neurodegenerative
      diseases, highlighting their functional classification, regulation, and
      therapeutic potential for such diseases.

PMID- 20938404
TI  - Synthesis 1-acyl-3-(2'-aminophenyl) thioureas as anti-intestinal nematode
      prodrugs.
AB  - A series of 1-acyl-3-(2'-aminophenyl) thiourea derivatives were designed and
      synthesized. The structures of all the newly synthesized compounds were
      identified by IR, elemental analysis, 1H-NMR and 13C-NMR. Their anti-intestinal
      nematode activities against Nippostrongylus brazilliensis were evaluated in rats
      by an oral route. Among these compounds, at concentrations of 10 mg/kg of rat,
      compound (1-(2'-furanyl)acyl-3- (2'-aminophenyl) thiourea) produced the highest
      activity with 89.4% deparasitization. The present work suggests that 1-acyl-3-(2'
      aminophenyl) thiourea derivatives may become useful lead compounds for anti
      intestinal nematode treatment.

PMID- 20938405
TI  - Component analysis and free radicals scavenging activity of Cicer arietinum L.
      husk pectin.
AB  - A pectin (CAP) was extracted from the husk of Cicer arietinum L. Monosaccharide
      analysis of CAP revealed the dominance of galacturonic acid and smaller amounts
      of galactose, arabinose, rhamnose, glucose, xylose and mannose. Viscosimetric
      analysis showed that the intrinsic viscosity ([eta]) and the molecular weight
      (MW) of CAP were 296 mL/g and 105 kDa, respectively. The degree of esterification
      (DE = 10%) was determined by FTIR spectroscopy. CAP exhibited a dose-dependent
      free radical scavenging activity, as shown by its DPPH radical inhibition. At 1.0
      mg/mL CAP exhibited a scavenging rate of 29% on DPPH radicals. The evaluation of
      antioxidant activity suggested that CAP had good potential for DPPH radical
      scavenging activity and should be explored as a novel potential antioxidant.

PMID- 20938406
TI  - Evaluation of antioxidant capacity and synergistic associations of quinonemethide
      triterpenes and phenolic substances from Maytenus ilicifolia (Celastraceae).
AB  - This work describes the isolation of the secondary metabolites identified as the
      quinonemethides maytenin (1) and pristimerin (2) from Maytenus ilicifolia
      extracts obtained from root barks of adult plants and roots of seedlings and
      their quantification by high performance liquid chromatography coupled to a diode
      array detector. The electrochemical profiles obtained from cyclic voltammetry and
      a coulometric detector coupled to high-performance liquid chromatography
      contributed to the evaluation of their antioxidant capacity. The antioxidant
      properties of individual components and the crude extracts of the root barks of
      Maytenus ilicifolia were compared and the possible synergistic associations of
      quinonemethide triterpenes and phenolic substances were investigated by using
      rutin as a model phenolic compound.

PMID- 20938408
TI  - Targeted thiazole orange derivative with folate: synthesis, fluorescence and in
      vivo fluorescence imaging.
AB  - A Thiazole Orange conjugated with folate derivative was synthesized in two steps.
      Firstly, folate was coupled with 1-(3-aminopropyl)-4-methylquinolinium bromide to
      afford folate-methylquinolinium bromide, which then reacted with benzothiazolium
      to obtain the title folate-conjugated compound. The compound was evaluated by 1H
      NMR MS, TG/DTA and fluorescence spectroscopic methods. The title compound could
      selectively target folate receptor expressing tumors according to the in vivo
      fluorescence imaging preliminarily performed on nude mice with breast tumors.

PMID- 20938407
TI  - LYRM1, a gene that promotes proliferation and inhibits apoptosis during heart
      development.
AB  - Congenital heart disease (CHD) is the most common type of birth defect, but its
      underlying molecular mechanisms remain unidentified. Previous studies determined
      that Homo sapiens LYR motif containing 1 (LYRM1) is a novel nucleoprotein
      expressed at the highest level in adipose tissue and in high levels in heart
      tissue. The LYRM1 gene may play an important role in the development of the human
      heart. This study was designed to identify the biological characteristics of the
      LYRM1 gene in heart development. On the basis of expression-specific
      differentiation markers identified with quantitative real-time RT-PCR and the
      morphology of LYRM1-overexpressing cells during differentiation, ectopic
      expression was not found to significantly affect differentiation of P19 cells
      into cardiomyocytes. MTT assays and cell cycle analysis showed that LYRM1
      dramatically increases the proliferation of P19 cells. Furthermore, data from
      annexin V-FITC binding and caspase-3 activity revealed that LYRM1 can inhibit the
      apoptosis of P19 cells. Our data suggest that LYRM1 might have the potential to
      modulate cell growth, apoptosis, and heart development.

PMID- 20938409
TI  - Recurrence of cryptogenic stroke or TIA in patients with patent foramen ovale
      successfully treated by using different kind of percutaneous occluder devices:
      five-year follow-up.
AB  - AIM: Cryptogenic stroke remains the final diagnosis in 40% of ischemic acute
      cerebrovascular events. Until now there are no clinical evidences that the
      percutaneous closure of PFO is able to prevent the recurrence of stroke or
      transient ischemic attack (TIA). The aim of this study was to evaluate the
      incidence of recurrence in patients successfully treated by percutaneous closure
      of PFO with different occluder devices by using TCD, TTE and clinical evaluation.
      METHODS: From February 2004 to November 2009, 72 pts, (40 females and 32 males;
      average age 46 yrs, range 14-66), admitted with diagnosis of recurrent ischemic
      neurologic events (58 stroke and 14 TIA) underwent percutaneous closure of PFO.
      Thirty-one (43%) of the 72 patients had a concomitant history of migraine, 16
      (52%) of whom with aura. Five different occluder devices were used, with a total
      amount of 74 implants. All pts were studied during the follow-up by clinical
      evaluation (Rankin modified scale), TCD and TTE. RESULTS: Successful device
      deployment is achieved in 100% of pts without any periprocedural major
      complication. Only in two pts atrial arrhythmia have occurred. All pts was
      discharged within 3 days in good overall conditions. In all pts a double
      antiplatelet regimen was adopted. The follow-up was complete in 100% of the cases
      (median 30, range 3-58 months ). At five years, there was no recurrent stroke or
      TIA, and no new cerebral lesions developed by MRI in those patients with residual
      shunt. Moreover, in 65 (90%) of them the Rankin scale significantly (P<0.0001)
      reduced to 0 whereas only in 2 pts score 1 was reached. In 19 (61%) of the 31pts
      with concomitant migraine, the intensity and the frequency of the attacks
      significantly (P<0.0001) decreased over time. At the TCD, 5 pts (7%) resulted
      positive for microembolic signals but, only 1 of them, was successfully treated
      for an associate defect. The TTE evaluation showed however an optimal sealing of
      all the devices without signs of erosion, incomplete closure and thrombus
      formation around the device. CONCLUSION: Our experience suggests that
      percutaneous treatment of PFO is safe and beneficial at the medium term follow-up
      for secondary prevention since able to prevent the clinical recurrence of acute
      cerebrovascular events irrespective of the device used.

PMID- 20938410
TI  - Five year prognosis of an Italian cohort of juvenile acute myocardial infarction
      patients.
AB  - AIM: The aim of this study was to describe the five-year prognosis of an Italian
      cohort of patients following acute myocardial infarction (AMI) occurred at age <=
      45 years and to investigate the potential role of risk predictors for future
      cardiovascular events (CVE). METHODS: The study enrolled 112 consecutive patients
      aged <= 45 years admitted to our Coronary Care Unit between March 1995 and
      January 2007 because of AMI. Clinical characteristics, extent of coronary vessel
      disease by angiogram and cardiovascular risk factors (including diet, physical
      activity, alcohol and coffee consumption) were registered. RESULTS: Complete
      follow-up data was available for 104 (93%) patients with a duration of follow-up
      of 5.3 (2.9-7.6) years. Twenty-four (23%) patients presented with a new CVE: 16
      (15%) angina pectoris, 6 (6%) recurrent AMI, one heart failure and one cardiac
      death. One in every five patients presented left ventricle systolic function
      below 50%. Multivariate analysis (Cox proportional regression model) proved
      physical activity as an independent predictor of new CVE occurrence (P=0.014).
      Patients who practised moderate aerobic physical activity for at least two hours
      per week following AMI had significantly higher event-free survival compared with
      inactive controls (P=0.029). CONCLUSION: Five-year prognosis of juvenile AMI is
      poor, with one in every five patients presenting a new CVE. Based on the present
      cohort of patients physical activity following first event plays a relevant
      prognostic role, supporting the need of careful lifestyle counselling.

PMID- 20938411
TI  - NYHA Class II subgrouping: correlation with left ventricular dysfunction
      questionnaire (LVD-36) and ejection fraction.
AB  - AIM: NYHA classification divides into four classes. Although subjective and
      lacking of standardization, NYHA class II is in clinical practice often further
      subgrouped in IIA and IIB, where IIA class can be defined as dyspnea after
      running or climbing >= 2 ramps of stairs, and IIB class as dyspnea after fast
      walking or climbing 2 ramps of stairs. Validation of NYHA IIA and IIB sub
      grouping was performed with left ventricular dysfunction questionnaire (LVD-36)
      results and echocardiographic left ventricular ejection fraction. METHODS: The
      study includes a total of 127 patients with both systolic and diastolic heart
      failure (mean age 65 +/- 17, range 38-85 years). Sixteen patients were in NYHA
      class I, 81 patients in NYHA class II (45 in class IIA and 36 in class IIB) and
      30 in class III. RESULTS: In class IIA patients' mean age was 64 +/- 9 years, LVD
      36 score 31.79 +/- 14.06, EF 43 +/- 10% (P = ns, P<0.001 and P=ns, respectively,
      vs. class I patients). In class IIB patients' mean age was 67 +/- 10 years, LVD
      36 score 48.90 +/- 15.51, EF 39 +/- 12% (P = ns, P < 0.0001 and P = ns,
      respectively, vs. IIA patients). In class III patients' mean age was 65 +/- 11
      years, LVD-36 score 65.17 +/- 16.35, EF 32.77 +/- 12.91% (P = ns, P < 0.01 and P
      = ns, respectively, compared with class IIB). CONCLUSION: NYHA class II sub
      grouping appears an accurate method of classification and could represent a
      further useful tool in monitoring functional capacity of heart failure patients.
      NYHA class II sub-grouping correlates well with patients functional impairment
      and can therefore be implemented as an accurate method to better characterize
      heart failure patients.

PMID- 20938412
TI  - Primary electrical diseases diagnosis, genetic and management.
AB  - Primary electrical diseases or channelopathies are inherited genetic alterations
      of the cell ionic and electrical behavior leading to various cardiac arrhythmias
      carrying the risk of sudden death. A descriptive review of the successively
      described channelopathies is made in this article, with emphasis on the clinical
      manifestations, the genetic background and the currently accepted therapeutic
      options.

PMID- 20938413
TI  - Acute complications of electrophysiology and pacing procedures: identification
      and management.
AB  - Non-pharmacologic interventional techniques for treatment and management of
      almost all cardiac arrhythmias have greatly expanded over the past decade. These
      newer interventional electrophysiologic techniques continue to demonstrate
      increasing success at achieving their targeted goals, and enhancing the patient's
      quality of life. However, like all interventional procedures, complications may
      result. In this article we provide the reader with an overview of the more common
      and significant adverse events that may follow electrophysiologic and pacing
      procedures, and how best to recognize and manage these complications. After
      providing the reader with an overview of the complications inherent to all
      electrophysiologic procedures, we will detail the adverse events intrinsic to
      specific therapeutic electrophysiologic interventions (DC cardioversion,
      pharmacologic-based cardioversion, antitachycardia pacing, and ablation of
      specific arrhythmias). In the last part of the review, we will delineate
      complications associated with pacing procedures (pacemaker and defibrillator
      implantation, biventricular pacing and pacing lead extraction).

PMID- 20938414
TI  - Pharmacological testing in the diagnosis of arrhythmias.
AB  - Pharmacological testing has several indications in the diagnosis of arrhythmia.
      It is used for the diagnosis of bradycardia-related syncope either during non
      invasive tests as adenosine triphosphate (ATP) for the diagnosis of vasovagal
      syncope, but also for the diagnosis of sick sinus syndrome or isoproterenol
      infusion during the head up tilt test to induce a vasovagal syncope or during
      electrophysiological study to look for infrahisian AV block or organic sick sinus
      syndrome after injection of Ajmaline or to know if sick sinus syndrome or
      suprahisian AV block are reversible after atropine and are vagal-related. It is
      used for the diagnosis of supraventricular and ventricular tachycardia;
      isoproterenol is largely used generally during electrophysiological study. The
      infusion of isoproterenol is required in exercise-related arrhythmias, in
      arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy, in idiopathic ventricular
      tachycardia and in idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy. ATP can be used to induce a
      vagal-related atrial fibrillation and may help to differentiate a reentry through
      accessory pathway or AV nodal re-entrant tachycardia. It is used for the
      detection and the evaluation of prognosis of some diseases at risk of sudden
      death. Isoproterenol infusion is required in the preexcitation syndrome to look
      for the shortening of accessory refractory period. Ajmaline or flecainide
      injection is mandatory in the family of a patient with a Brugada syndrome to
      detect the disease.

PMID- 20938415
TI  - Levosimendan in the treatment of cardiogenic shock.
AB  - Patients with cardiogenic shock (CS) are currently treated with acute coronary
      revascularization, mechanical support (i.e., IABP), and in addition with
      vasopressor and inotropic support. Among medical treatment dobutamine and
      norepinephrine are drugs of first choice. Nowadays, intravenous levosimendan, a
      new calcium sensitizer and K-ATP channel opener, has emerged as an alternative
      option of pharmacologic inotropic support in patients with cardiogenic shock.
      Recent reports on levosimendan's use in cardiogenic shock demonstrated more
      favorable effects when compared with conventional inotropic agents. Clearly,
      levosimendan is able to archieve profound increase of cardiac index and cardiac
      power index in combination with reduced systemic and pulmonary resistance
      reduction compared to conventional therapy. Further, levosimendan is able to
      improve hemodynamic parameters more rapidly compared to intraaortic ballon
      counter pulsation. Similar, in patients with low cardiac output syndrome upon
      cardiovascular surgery, levosimendan is able to improve cardiac performance when
      administered prior or after cardiac surgery. In the light of cardiogenic shock,
      the myocardial protective effects of levosimendan might be important to reduce
      reperfusion injury and myocardial stunning following ischemia and reperfusion.
      This review summarizes the evidence from current scientific literature including
      our recent trials regarding the mechanism of action, efficiency and the use of
      levosimendan in CS patients.

PMID- 20938417
TI  - Effects of metformin and short-term lifestyle modification on the improvement of
      male hypogonadism associated with metabolic syndrome.
AB  - AIM: The metabolic syndrome is associated with male hypogonadism, but specific
      studies about the mechanisms and treatment of the testosterone deficit are
      scanty. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of metformin combined
      with diet and physical activity on the testicular function of men with metabolic
      syndrome. METHODS: Thirty-five men (40.4 +/- 13.3 years old) with metabolic
      syndrome were evaluated before and after a four-month period of therapy with
      metformin 850 mg twice daily, associated with a balanced normocaloric diet and
      subtle improvement in physical activity. The subjects were divided in two groups:
      21 males with normal plasma testosterone levels (>= 300 ng/dL) and 14 males with
      low plasma testosterone levels (< 300 ng/dL). RESULTS: There was a significant
      decrease in fasting insulin levels and HOMA-IR after treatment (P = 0.01 and P =
      0.06), which was more pronounced in the hypogonadic group (for the effect of
      absence or presence of hypogonadism, P = 0.04). The mean total and free
      testosterone levels increased significantly after treatment in both groups,
      similarly. The increase in FSH levels was more pronounced in the hypogonadic
      group than in the eugonadic group. CONCLUSION: In this series of males with
      metabolic syndrome, treatment with metformin associated with healthy dietary
      modifications and a mild physical activity increment resulted in significant
      improvement of insulin sensitivity and increase in total and free testosterone
      levels, regardless of the presence of hypogonadism.

PMID- 20938418
TI  - Diagnostic imaging work up in multi-nodular goiter.
AB  - Ultrasound, scintigraphy and sonographically guided fine-needle biopsy are the
      cornerstones in the diagnostic work-up multinodular goitre. Subsequent decisions
      for adequate treatments should be based on accurate tests to avoid unnecessary
      intervention. Especially in areas with endemic goitre a preselection of patients
      for the most effective procedure e.g. surgical or medical treatment is mandatory.
      Autoimmune hyperthyroidism (Graves' disease), solitary hyperfunctioning thyroid
      nodules and toxic multinodular goitre (Plummer's disease) constitute a clear
      indication for radioiodine treatment in many cases. Recently, there is an
      emerging role for I-131 in the treatment for so called subclinical
      hyperthyroidism caused by either of three first entities and for patients with
      non-toxic goitre, in whom surgery is not an option. These patients with large non
      toxic goitre encompass a group of patients who are euthyroid but may benefit from
      diminishment of thyroid volume. We review the spectrum of diagnostic tests and
      provide some recommendations regarding (nuclear medicine) therapy.

PMID- 20938419
TI  - Role of recombinant human TSH in the management of large euthyroid multinodular
      goitre: a new therapeutic option? Pros and cons.
AB  - Conventional 131I treatment has been used in the last 20 years for large nodular
      goitres when patients present high surgical risk or simply refuse surgery. 131I
      therapy causes a mean goitre volume reduction of about 40% after one year.
      However, the individual response is variable and for low radioiodine uptake and
      very large goitres, high 131I activities are needed in order to have a adequate
      131I accumulation in the thyroid. rhTSH is approved for thyroid cancer management
      and has been tested off label in large goitres, in whom increases 131I uptake,
      thus reducing the 131I amount to be administered. The use of lower 131I
      activities allows to reduce the radiation burden to body and the time of social
      life restriction. Moreover, depending on the radiation regulations of the
      different countries, the 131I therapy could be carried out either as outpatients
      or in a shorter hospitalization period, implying a decrease of costs. The effects
      of rhTSH on goitre may be due not only to the 131I uptake increase, but also to a
      more homogeneous distribution of 131I in the gland, and to the thyroid cell
      activation that makes them more radiosensitive. Acute adverse effects are due to
      the surge of thyroid hormone in blood and to the goitre volume increase, that
      cause cardiac symptoms and tracheal compression, respectively. These effects are
      probably dose dependent and are negligible for rhTSH lower doses.

PMID- 20938420
TI  - Surgical therapeutic planning options in nodular goiter.
AB  - Nodular goiter encompasses a spectrum of diseases from the incidental asyntomatic
      small solitary nodule to the large intrathoracic goiter causing pressure symptoms
      as well as functional complaints. The mainstay in the diagnostic evaluation is
      related to functional and morphological characterization with serum thyroid
      stimulating hormone (TSH), ultrasound (US) and other imaging procedures and
      cytology by fine needle aspiration (FNA) on the basis of the different diseases.
      A clinical classification considering solitary cyst, adenomatous functioning
      nodule, follicular lesion and multinodular goiter may be proposed to consider the
      alternative therapies other than surgery as TSH suppressive or thyrostatic
      treatment, 131I therapy, percutaneous ethanol injection therapy (PEIT) or the
      only clinical exam in benignant lesions. Surgery should be advocated for the
      treatment of thyroid nodules whenever a patient presents with either pressure
      symptoms, hyperthyroidism or follicular/indeterminate cytology. Surgical
      approach, intraoperatory strategy and the extension of surgical treatment are
      correlated to the different clinical categories. At surgery the frozen section
      analysis in case of hemithyroidectomy is of aid to rule out malignancy and to
      prevent the reoperation. The surgical treatment of choice in case of uninodular
      goiter is lobectomy, total thyroidectomy or near total thyroidectomy is the
      correct treatment of multinodular bilateral goiter. The choice of the treatment
      must be condivided with the patient.

PMID- 20938421
TI  - The association between multinodular goiter and thyroid cancer.
AB  - In many parts of the world, especially those of current or former iodine
      deficiency, multinodular goiter is still an endemic disease. In this brief review
      several clinically relevant issues in the complex association between nodular
      goiter and differentiated thyroid cancer will be highlighted. There are some
      intriguing links between the etiologies of multinodular goiter and that of
      thyroid cancer. This could also influence the incidence of thyroid cancer in
      multinodular goiter. However, multinodular goiter causes extra difficulties in
      the diagnosis of differentiated thyroid cancer; these same difficulties also
      cause additional issues in thyroid cancer treatment in multinodular goiter
      patients. Last but not least it will be discussed whether there is a possibility
      to impede the development of thyroid cancer in multinodular goiter.

PMID- 20938422
TI  - FDG-PET/CT visualises a case of primary hyperparathyroidism in patient with GIST.

PMID- 20938423
TI  - [Effects of Klamath Algae extract on psychological disorders and depression in
      menopausal women: a pilot study].
AB  - AIM: Menopause transition is able to induce a significant change in the quality
      of life of women and a growing demand for alternative treatments to hormonal
      therapy of the psychological and somatic/vasomotor symptoms related to menopausal
      transition has been observed in these last years. In this study we aimed to
      investigate the effect of a two-month supplementation period with the Klamath
      algae extract Klamin(r) on the general and psychological well-being of a group of
      30 menopausal women, free from any hormonal therapy. METHODS: Patients were
      randomly subdivided in 2 groups (15 patients each) and each of them was treated
      with Algae Klamath extract (Klamin(r), Nutrigea, Urbino, Italy) (1600 g/day) or
      with placebo (vanilla tablets) for 8 weeks. Patients were evaluated both for the
      hormonal and psychological profiles (Symptom Rating Scale - Italian version [SRT]
      and Zung Self-Rating Scale) before and after the treatment interval. RESULTS:
      Both groups of patients were similar in baseline conditions but significant
      changes were observed after the treatment interval in the group administered with
      Algae Klamath extracts. Though no hormonal changes occurred after the treatment
      interval in both groups, only patients under Klamin administration showed both
      SRT and Zung scales significantly improved, thus reporting a consistent change in
      their quality of life, for mood, anxiety and depressive attitude. CONCLUSION:
      Since the Klamath extract did not show steroid-like effects on the hormonal
      parameters, it could be proposed as valid integration for those women seeking for
      alternative treatment to hormonal therapy so that to overcome many of the
      menopausal symptoms.

PMID- 20938424
TI  - [Effectiveness of the treatment with beta-glucan in the HPV-CIN 1 lesions].
AB  - AIM: The aim of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the beta-glucan in
      women with abnormal cytology, including the women with a positive screening for
      ASCUS-LSIL furtherly divided in women with positive cytology (ASCUS or LSIL) and
      negative colposcopy and women with abnormal cytology, positive colposcopy and
      human papilloma virus (HPV)-CIN1 hystology who opted for follow-up. METHODS: From
      September 2007 to December 2008, 60 women with ASCUS-LSIL diagnosis were
      recruited at the ambulatory of Lasersurgery and Cervico-Vaginal Patology,
      Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics of Policlinico Umberto I of Rome. The
      women was subdivided in two groups: 1) women with cytological diagnosis of ASCUS
      or LSIL and negative colposcopy; 2) women with abnormal cytology, positive
      colposcopy and HPV-CIN1 histology, who opted for follow-up. All the women were
      treated with two cycles of a daily topical application of beta-glucan for 20
      consecutive days with a suspension of 10 days. The effects of beta-glucan were
      analyzed with colposcopy and cytology at 3.6 and 12 months from the beginning of
      the therapy. RESULTS: After 3 months of treatment, of the 30 women with positive
      cytology and negative colposcopy, 80% with ASCUS diagnosis resulted negative, 35%
      with LSIL diagnosis resulted negative; after 6 months 100% with ASCUS diagnosis
      resulted negative, 70% with LSIL diagnosis resulted negative; after 12 months 85%
      with LSIL diagnosis resulted negative. Of the 30 women with positive cytology,
      positive colposcopy and HPV-CIN1 histology after 3 months 20% resulted negative,
      after 6 months 60% resulted negative and after 12 months 80% resulted negative.
      The persistence of the HPV-CIN1 histology was verified in the 13% of the women.
      For these women the definitive treatment was the TFD. CONCLUSION: Our study
      demonstrate the effectiveness of the treatment with beta-glucan in the women with
      ASCUS-LSIL lesions and HPV-CIN1 lesions, increasing of the regressions rate after
      12 months of the treatment of the 15-20%.

PMID- 20938425
TI  - [Optical coherence tomography: preliminary results with a new noninvasive
      technique for evaluating uterine cervical tissue and vulvar epithelium].
AB  - AIM: Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a noninvasive diagnostic imaging
      technique that captures high-definition real-time images at near-microscopic
      resolution (1-2 mm below the surface) of biological tissue morphology. The aim of
      this study was to define the characteristics of uterine cervical and vulvar
      pathologies by means of OCT and to compare OCT findings versus histopathological
      features. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This prospective single-center study was
      approved by the regional ethical committee. The OCT scans were performed in women
      with suspected cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) or vulvar intraepithelial
      neoplasia (VIN). The suspicious lesions were identified using colposcopy,
      visualized by OCT, and then biopsied. The OCT scans were evaluated by two
      independent examiners. The results were then compared with the histopathological
      findings. The sensitivity and specificity of OCT were calculated. RESULTS:
      Overall, 50 of the 54 CIN and 2 carcinomas confirmed on histology were correctly
      diagnosed with OCT, yielding a sensitivity of 93%; specificity was 33%, with 8
      false positives and 4 true negatives. In 10 patients with suspected VIN, 19 OCT
      images were compared with the corresponding biopsies. Three states of tissue
      structure could be distinguished, with typical features of normal tissue and
      tissue altered by neoplastic transformation. CONCLUSION: OCT is a noninvasive,
      fast and simple technique to obtain real-time information on tissue
      microstructure. Further study is needed to assess its use in routine diagnostic
      imaging; however, these preliminary results indicate its high sensitivity.

PMID- 20938426
TI  - [Retrospective analysis of one year of cesarean sections: indications and risk
      factors associated with intrapartum cesarean section].
AB  - AIM: Cesarean section (CS) is currently the most commonly performed surgical
      intervention worldwide. Indications include previous CS, podalic presentation and
      fetal macrosomia in antepartum CS, fetal distress, and prolonged first or second
      phase of labor in intrapartum CS. Despite the marked reduction in fetal mortality
      and morbidity in selected circumstances, maternal complication rates associated
      with CS are far higher than with vaginal delivery. The aim of this study was to
      evaluate the indications and maternal and fetal outcomes in a population
      undergoing antepartum or intrapartum CS and to analyze the risk factors of
      intrapartum CS. METHODS: An analysis was conducted on data from 1748 deliveries
      performed at the Gynecology-Obstetrics Clinic of the University of Udine during
      2006. A total of 603 medical records of the mothers who had delivered by CS and
      their infants were analyzed. The Indications and maternal and fetal outcomes were
      evaluated in mothers who had undergone elective CS, emergency antepartum or
      intrapartum CS; multivariate analysis was then performed to define the risk
      factors associated with intrapartum CS. RESULTS: Cesarean sections accounted for
      34.5% of all deliveries performed during 2006, of which 42.1% were elective CS,
      21.1% emergency antepartum CS, and 36.8% intrapartum CS. The principal reason for
      CS delivery was previous CS in elective CS, gestational hypertension in emergency
      antepartum CS, and cardiotocographic alterations in emergency intrapartum CS.
      Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the independent risk
      factors for intrapartum CS were excessive weight gain during pregnancy and
      medically induced labor. CONCLUSION: A more accurate evaluation of the mother's
      and neonate's needs could help to improve the current rates of CS. This could be
      achieved by selection of cases in which there is a real need for CS and by acting
      on modifiable risk factors of intrapartum CS such as excessive weight gain during
      pregnancy.

PMID- 20938427
TI  - Medical treatments for endometriosis.
AB  - Despite the extensive research, endometriosis remains an enigmatic disease as up
      to now there is no consensus regarding the exact underlying mechanisms which
      could explain its development and progress. A local environment enriched in
      estrogens, progesterone resistance, local inflammatory response and multiple
      other molecular alterations appear to be pivotal events in the establishment and
      development of ectopic tissue. In the light of the evidence produced by molecular
      pathology research, in vivo and in vitro studies, modifications in current
      treatment options are anticipated. Current management of endometriosis is based
      on pharmacologic treatment and surgical intervention. In particular, combined
      oral contraceptives, danazol, gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) analogues and
      progestins have been extensively used in clinical practice. Novel agents that
      will hopefully improve the therapeutic potential include aromatase inhibitors,
      immunomodulators, anti-inflammatory agents, steroids receptor modulators and GnRH
      antagonists. It is still early for enthusiasm as there is limited knowledge about
      their short- and long-term side effects, their optimal administration route,
      their selectivity towards their target genes and the duration of treatment.
      Although there is a continual report of novel findings, the application of them
      in clinical practice is a long-lasting procedure requiring longitudinal clinical
      trials so as to achieve a balance between efficacy and safety.

PMID- 20938428
TI  - Management of endometrial hyperplasia.
AB  - Endometrial hyperplasia is a commonly seen clinical entity. A great majority of
      patients present with abnormal uterine bleeding. Unopposed estrogen either from
      an endogenous or exogenous source is the most important etiologic factor.
      Etiologic evaluation and cause specific treatment is a must for these patients
      instead of direct biopsies and treatments. Clinical importance of this
      pathological entity is the underlying risk of carrying a concomitant genital
      cancer and the potential risk of progression to endometrial carcinoma during the
      follow-up. Despite to a great effort on research and a long history of the
      disease in the medical literature; we still do not have a practical and accurate
      system available to use during daily practice in order to differentiate the real
      precancerous lesions. Treatment of endometrial hyperplasia depends on the
      patient's age, fertility desire and the type of present hyperplasia. Progestagens
      are still the most commonly used medical treatment modality in these patients.
      Response rates are higher in cases without atypia. In selected cases,
      hysterectomy may be performed as a definitive treatment modality. In this review
      article current management of the endometrial hyperplasia is summarized in the
      light of associated literature.

PMID- 20938429
TI  - Management of chronic pelvic pain.
AB  - Chronic pelvic pain (CPP) is a common complaint of women presenting for
      gynecologic and primary care. Evaluation of CPP requires obtaining a careful
      history including not only obstetrical and gynecologic information but also
      screening for gastrointestinal, urologic, musculoskeletal, and neurological
      disorders. A detailed physical examination is also necessary. Management of CPP
      depends largely on the cause. Gynecologic causes include endometriosis, pelvic
      inflammatory disease, adhesive disease, pelvic congestion syndrome, ovarian
      retention syndrome, ovarian remnant syndrome, adenomyosis, and leiomyomas. Some
      non-gynecologic causes are interstitial cystitis/painful bladder syndrome,
      irritable bowel syndrome, pelvic floor tension myalgia, and abdominal myofascial
      pain syndrome. Treatments may be directed toward specific causes or may be
      targeted to general pain management. The most effective therapy may involve using
      both approaches. The diagnosis and treatment of each of the above disorders, and
      the management of CPP itself, is discussed.

PMID- 20938430
TI  - Female sexual function and gynecological disorders.
AB  - Female sexual dysfunction is a common problem among the general population.
      Indifferent from males is not dependent solely on the physiological function of
      the genital organs. Partnership, body image perception and other physiological
      factors play a crucial role in the evaluation and treatment of female sexual
      dysfunction (FSD). The following article revise the most current literature
      regarding common gynecological disease and its association with sexual function.

PMID- 20938431
TI  - [Progestins].
AB  - Progestins are a group of different compounds sharing the ability to induce
      secretory changes on a endometrium pretreated with estrogen, while they are
      different in some abilities, for example the interaction with receptors other
      than progestin receptor, as androgenic or mineralocorticoid receptor. Some
      progestins have antiandrogenic properties and are used in treating
      hyperandrogenic manifestations (seborrhea, acne, hirsutism). The different
      clinical pharmacology of the various progestins is the basis for an
      individualized treatment in different clinical conditions. Key words.

PMID- 20938432
TI  - [Diagnostic accuracy of the transvaginal echography: description of a clinical
      case of fetal anterior torachoabdominal wall malformation].

PMID- 20938434
TI  - The role of neurotrophic factors in autism.
AB  - Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are pervasive developmental disorders that
      frequently involve a triad of deficits in social skills, communication and
      language. For the underlying neurobiology of these symptoms, disturbances in
      neuronal development and synaptic plasticity have been discussed. The
      physiological development, regulation and survival of specific neuronal
      populations shaping neuronal plasticity require the so-called 'neurotrophic
      factors' (NTFs). These regulate cellular proliferation, migration,
      differentiation and integrity, which are also affected in ASD. Therefore, NTFs
      have gained increasing attention in ASD research. This review provides an
      overview and explores the key role of NTFs in the aetiology of ASD. We have also
      included evidence derived from neurochemical investigations, gene association
      studies and animal models. By focussing on the role of NTFs in ASD, we intend to
      further elucidate the puzzling aetiology of these conditions.

PMID- 20938433
TI  - Days out of role due to common physical and mental conditions: results from the
      WHO World Mental Health surveys.
AB  - Days out of role because of health problems are a major source of lost human
      capital. We examined the relative importance of commonly occurring physical and
      mental disorders in accounting for days out of role in 24 countries that
      participated in the World Health Organization (WHO) World Mental Health (WMH)
      surveys. Face-to-face interviews were carried out with 62 971 respondents (72.0%
      pooled response rate). Presence of ten chronic physical disorders and nine mental
      disorders was assessed for each respondent along with information about the
      number of days in the past month each respondent reported being totally unable to
      work or carry out their other normal daily activities because of problems with
      either physical or mental health. Multiple regression analysis was used to
      estimate associations of specific conditions and comorbidities with days out of
      role, controlling by basic socio-demographics (age, gender, employment status and
      country). Overall, 12.8% of respondents had some day totally out of role, with a
      median of 51.1 a year. The strongest individual-level effects (days out of role
      per year) were associated with neurological disorders (17.4), bipolar disorder
      (17.3) and post-traumatic stress disorder (15.2). The strongest population-level
      effect was associated with pain conditions, which accounted for 21.5% of all days
      out of role (population attributable risk proportion). The 19 conditions
      accounted for 62.2% of all days out of role. Common health conditions, including
      mental disorders, make up a large proportion of the number of days out of role
      across a wide range of countries and should be addressed to substantially
      increase overall productivity.

PMID- 20938435
TI  - Progression of intramedullary metastasis during perioperative cessation of
      sunitinib.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A 57-year-old woman presented with metastatic renal cell carcinoma
      (RCC). She was enrolled in a clinical study, in which she received two cycles of
      neoadjuvant sunitinib therapy followed by cytoreductive nephrectomy. Her primary
      tumor and rib metastasis showed a good response to neoadjuvant therapy; however,
      after surgery, the patient developed neurologic symptoms, including flaccid
      paraparesis with paresthesia and hypoesthesia. MRI of the brain and spine
      revealed a leptomeningeal lesion at the T12-L1 space, which was presumed to have
      progressed during the 3-week treatment-free perioperative period. The patient
      underwent radiation therapy for the intramedullary lesion 1 month later, and
      sunitinib therapy was subsequently reinstated. After 6 months, her extracranial
      lesions remained stable and the intramedullary lesion was undetectable on MRI.
      INVESTIGATIONS: CT of the chest and abdomen, bone scan, kidney and liver function
      tests, measurement of serum levels of calcium, electrolytes and lactate
      dehydrogenase, CBC, MRI of the brain and spine. DIAGNOSIS: Progression of a
      central nervous system metastasis linked to the interruption of neoadjuvant
      sunitinib therapy. MANAGEMENT: Neoadjuvant sunitinib therapy followed by
      cytoreductive nephrectomy for the primary RCC; radiation therapy for the
      intramedullary lesion, followed by reinstatement of sunitinib therapy owing to a
      good clinical response observed in the extracranial lesions.

PMID- 20938436
TI  - Renal pseudoaneurysm: an overview.
AB  - Renal pseudoaneurysm is a rare vascular lesion that arises when an arterial
      injury within the kidney leads to contained hemorrhage. The associated hematoma
      forms outside the arterial wall and is typically surrounded by a layer of fibrous
      inflammatory tissue and blood clot. These lesions are unstable and their rupture
      can lead to life-threatening hemorrhage. Renal pseudoaneurysm has been reported
      to occur in various clinical scenarios, including after renal trauma, surgery and
      percutaneous procedures, as well as inflammatory and neoplastic processes within
      the kidney. Endovascular selective angioembolization is the mainstay of
      treatment, although surgery might be indicated when hemostasis and repair of the
      arterial wall defect are required. Percutaneous ultrasound-guided embolization is
      an additional option for patients with unfavorable vascular anatomy, or who
      cannot tolerate or have contraindications to the use of intravenous contrast
      agents. Some evidence suggests that these lesions can regress without
      intervention, although observation alone is not recommended as a management
      strategy in the vast majority of patients owing to the high risk of rupture.
      Evaluation and management of patients with renal pseudoaneurysm must take into
      account each individual's circumstances, due to the difficulty of accurately
      predicting the probability of spontaneous resolution or rupture.

PMID- 20938437
TI  - The ShangRing device for simplified adult circumcision.
AB  - Adult male circumcision reduces HIV transmission through vaginal intercourse and
      is being promoted in areas where HIV is widespread. Conventional surgical
      circumcision involves suturing and thus requires practitioners with surgical
      skills. It is also associated with complications, including bleeding and
      infection, especially in resource-poor settings. The ShangRing (Wuhu Snnda
      Medical Treatment Appliance Technology Co. Ltd, Wuhu City, China) has been used
      to perform thousands of circumcisions in adult men, principally in China. It
      consists of two concentric plastic rings that sandwich the foreskin of the penis,
      allowing circumcision without stitches or notable bleeding. As well as
      substantially reduced operative times, ShangRing adult male circumcision is
      associated with a low complication rate, and the technique can easily be taught
      to both physician and nonphysician personnel. The simple technique and successful
      outcomes associated with the ShangRing procedure mean that the device could
      enable standardization of adult male circumcision, helping HIV prevention efforts
      throughout the developing world.

PMID- 20938438
TI  - Effects of lupin-enriched foods on body composition and cardiovascular disease
      risk factors: a 12-month randomized controlled weight loss trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Regular consumption of diets with increased protein or fibre intakes
      may benefit body weight and composition and cardiovascular disease risk factors.
      Lupin flour is a novel food ingredient high in protein and fibre. OBJECTIVE: To
      investigate the effects of a lupin-enriched diet, during and following energy
      restriction, on body weight and composition and cardiovascular disease risk
      factors in overweight individuals. DESIGN: Participants (n = 131) were recruited
      to a 12-month parallel-design trial. They were randomly assigned to consume lupin
      enriched foods or matching high-carbohydrate control foods. All participants
      underwent 3 months of weight loss, 1 month of weight stabilization and 8 months
      of weight maintenance. Body weight and composition and cardiovascular disease
      risk factors were assessed at baseline, 4 and 12 months. RESULTS: Lupin, relative
      to control, did not significantly influence (mean difference (95% CI)) weight
      loss at 4 months (0.1 kg (-1.2, 1.4)) and 12 months (-0.6 kg (-2.0, 0.8)),
      maintenance of weight loss from 4 to 12 months (-0.7 kg (-1.83, 0.48)) or
      measures of body fat and fat-free mass. Relative to control, 24-h ambulatory
      systolic (-1.3 mm Hg (-2.4, -0.3), P = 0.016) and diastolic (-1.0 mm Hg (-1.9, 
      0.2), P = 0.021) blood pressures were lower at 12 months but not at 4 months;
      fasting insulin concentrations and homeostasis model assessment (HOMA) scores
      were significantly lower at 4 months (-1.2 mU l(-1) (-1.3, -1.1), P = 0.004 and 
      0.6 units (-1.0, -0.19), P = 0.004) and 12 months (-1.3 mU l(-1) (-1.4, -1.1), P
      < 0.001 and -0.7 units (-1.1, -0.24), P = 0.002). CONCLUSIONS: A diet higher in
      protein and fibre derived from lupin-enriched foods does not enhance weight loss
      or improve the maintenance of weight loss. However, such a diet may provide
      cardiovascular health benefits in terms of insulin sensitivity and blood
      pressure.

PMID- 20938439
TI  - Effects of dietary fat modification on insulin sensitivity and on other risk
      factors of the metabolic syndrome--LIPGENE: a European randomized dietary
      intervention study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Excessive energy intake and obesity lead to the metabolic syndrome
      (MetS). Dietary saturated fatty acids (SFAs) may be particularly detrimental on
      insulin sensitivity (SI) and on other components of the MetS. OBJECTIVE: This
      study determined the relative efficacy of reducing dietary SFA, by isoenergetic
      alteration of the quality and quantity of dietary fat, on risk factors associated
      with MetS. DESIGN: A free-living, single-blinded dietary intervention study.
      SUBJECTS AND METHODS: MetS subjects (n = 417) from eight European countries
      completed the randomized dietary intervention study with four isoenergetic diets
      distinct in fat quantity and quality: high-SFA; high-monounsaturated fatty acids
      and two low-fat, high-complex carbohydrate (LFHCC) diets, supplemented with long
      chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC n-3 PUFAs) (1.2 g per day) or placebo
      for 12 weeks. SI estimated from an intravenous glucose tolerance test (IVGTT) was
      the primary outcome measure. Lipid and inflammatory markers associated with MetS
      were also determined. RESULTS: In weight-stable subjects, reducing dietary SFA
      intake had no effect on SI, total and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol
      concentration, inflammation or blood pressure in the entire cohort. The LFHCC n-3
      PUFA diet reduced plasma triacylglycerol (TAG) and non-esterified fatty acid
      concentrations (P < 0.01), particularly in men. CONCLUSION: There was no effect
      of reducing SFA on SI in weight-stable obese MetS subjects. LC n-3 PUFA
      supplementation, in association with a low-fat diet, improved TAG-related MetS
      risk profiles.

PMID- 20938440
TI  - Pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF) is one of the most abundant proteins
      secreted by human adipocytes and induces insulin resistance and inflammatory
      signaling in muscle and fat cells.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF) is a multifunctional protein
      with neurotrophic and anti-angiogenic properties. More recently it became evident
      that PEDF is upregulated in patients with type 2 diabetes and also contributes to
      insulin resistance in mice. During characterization of the secretome of in vitro
      differentiated human adipocytes by two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel
      electrophoresis and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-MS, we found that
      PEDF is one of the most abundant proteins released by adipocytes. The aim of this
      study was to investigate the regulation and autocrine function of PEDF in human
      adipocytes and to determine its paracrine effects on human skeletal muscle cells
      (hSkMC) and human smooth muscle cells (hSMC). METHODS AND RESULTS: Human primary
      adipocytes secrete 130 ng ml(-1) PEDF over 24 h from 1 million cells, which is
      extremely high as compared with adiponectin, interleukin-6 (IL-6) or IL-8. This
      release of PEDF is significantly higher than from other primary cells, such as
      adipose-tissue located macrophages (50-times), hSkMC and hSMC (5-times). PEDF
      protein expression significantly increases during adipogenesis, which is
      paralleled by increased PEDF secretion. Furthermore, tumor necrosis factor-alpha
      and hypoxia significantly downregulate PEDF protein levels. PEDF secretion was
      significantly reduced by troglitazone and hypoxia and significantly increased by
      insulin. Treatment of adipocytes and hSkMC with PEDF induced insulin resistance
      in adipocytes, skeletal and smooth muscle cells at the level of insulin
      stimulated Akt phosphorylation, which was dose dependent and more prominent in
      adipocytes. Furthermore, inflammatory nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) signaling
      was induced by PEDF. In hSMC, PEDF induced proliferation (1.7-fold) and acutely
      activated proliferative and inflammatory signaling pathways (NF-kappaB, p38
      mitogen-activated protein kinase and mammalian target of rapamycin). CONCLUSION:
      PEDF is one of the most abundant adipokines and its secretion is inversely
      regulated by insulin and hypoxia. PEDF induces insulin resistance in adipocytes
      and hSkMC and leads to inflammatory signaling in hSMC. Because of these diverse
      actions, PEDF is a key adipokine, which could have an important role in diabetes
      and obesity-related disorders.

PMID- 20938441
TI  - Pancreatic acinar cell-specific overexpression of group 1B phospholipase A2
      exacerbates diet-induced obesity and insulin resistance in mice.
AB  - Genome-wide association studies have identified significant association between
      polymorphisms of the Group 1B phospholipase A(2) (PLA2G1B) gene and central
      obesity in humans. Previous studies have shown that Pla2g1b inactivation
      decreases post-prandial lysophospholipid absorption, and as a consequence
      increases hepatic fatty acid oxidation and protects against diet-induced obesity
      and glucose intolerance in mice. The present study showed that transgenic mice
      with pancreatic acinar cell-specific overexpression of the human PLA2G1B gene
      gained significantly more weight and displayed elevated insulin resistance
      characteristics, such as impaired glucose tolerance, compared with wild-type (WT)
      mice, when challenged with a high-fat/carbohydrate diet. Pre- and post-prandial
      plasma beta-hydroxybutyrate levels were also lower, indicative of decreased
      hepatic fatty acid oxidation, in the hypercaloric diet-fed PLA2G1B transgenic
      mice. These, along with earlier observations of Pla2g1b-null mice, document that
      Pla2g1b expression level is an important determinant of susceptibility to diet
      induced obesity and diabetes, suggesting that the relationship between PLA2G1B
      polymorphisms and obesity may be due to differences in PLA2G1B expression levels
      between these individuals. The ability of pancreas-specific overexpression of
      PLA2G1B to promote obesity and glucose intolerance suggests that target
      phospholipase activity in the digestive tract with non-absorbable inhibitors
      should be considered as a therapeutic option for metabolic disease therapy.

PMID- 20938442
TI  - Galanin-like peptide: a key player in the homeostatic regulation of feeding and
      energy metabolism?
AB  - The hypothalamus has a critical role in the regulation of feeding behavior,
      energy metabolism and reproduction. Galanin-like peptide (GALP), a novel 60 amino
      acid peptide with a nonamidated C-terminus, was first discovered in porcine
      hypothalamus. GALP is mainly produced in the hypothalamic arcuate nucleus and is
      involved in the regulation of feeding behavior and energy metabolism, with GALP
      containing neurons forming networks with several feeding-regulating peptide
      containing neurons. The effects of GALP on food intake and body weight are
      complex. In rats, the central effect of GALP is to first stimulate and then
      reduce food intake, whereas in mice, GALP has an anorectic function. Furthermore,
      GALP regulates plasma luteinizing hormone levels through activation of
      gonadotropin-releasing hormone-producing neurons, suggesting that it is also
      involved in the reproductive system. This review summarizes the research on these
      topics and discusses current evidence regarding the function of GALP,
      particularly in relation to feeding and energy metabolism. We also discuss the
      effects of GALP activity on food intake, body weight and locomotor activity after
      intranasal infusion, a clinically viable mode of delivery.

PMID- 20938443
TI  - A polymorphism in the gene encoding AdipoR1 affects olfactory recognition.
AB  - Polymorphisms in the gene encoding adiponectin receptor 1 (AdipoR1) are
      associated with insulin resistance, fatty liver, increased risk for type 2
      diabetes and cardiovascular disease. AdipoR1 is expressed in the central nervous
      system and in the olfactory mucosa of mice and humans. We therefore hypothesized
      that a common polymorphism in AdipoR1 might alter olfactory function. We
      investigated a group of 222 healthy subjects (male: n = 147, female: n = 75) for
      olfactory recognition, and genotyped them for the polymorphism rs6666089 in the
      human AdipoR1 gene. This polymorphism has been previously shown to be associated
      with insulin resistance. Olfactory recognition was tested using standardized
      sniffing sticks, and parameters of glucose metabolism and serum adiponectin
      levels were assessed. We found a significant olfactory impairment in carriers of
      the AdipoR1 polymorphism rs6666089 (olfactory recognition: GG: 89.4 +/- 1.2%, GA:
      86.9 +/- 1.4%, AA: 77.2 +/- 4.8%, additive model, P = 0.0004, adjusted for age).
      Adiponectin levels had no impact on olfactory recognition. Fasting plasma
      glucose, fasting plasma insulin, body mass index and HbA1c did not differ between
      the genotype groups. In conclusion, the presence of a genetic variation in
      AdipoR1 is associated with decreased olfactory recognition in healthy subjects.
      Adiponectin signalling may have an important role in olfactory function and
      regulation of appetite.

PMID- 20938444
TI  - Meal size can be decreased in obese subjects through pharmacological acceleration
      of gastric emptying (The OBERYTH trial).
AB  - BACKGROUND: Entry of nutrients into the small intestine activates neuro-hormonal
      signals that regulate food intake through induction of satiation. OBJECTIVE: To
      evaluate whether caloric intake can be decreased by pharmacologically
      accelerating gastric emptying (GE) of nutrients into the small intestine.
      METHODS: Subjects were tested in 2 days, at baseline (day1) and after randomly
      receiving, in a double-blind manner, a 1 h infusion of erythromycin (3 mg Kg(-1),
      to accelerate GE) or placebo (day 2). Ad libitum caloric intake and postprandial
      gastrointestinal symptoms were evaluated using a validated nutrient drink test,
      simultaneously measuring gastric emptying [corrected] by scintigraphy. Plasma
      levels of satiation factors were also measured to evaluate their role in the
      modification of caloric intake and postprandial symptoms. Acceleration of GE was
      assessed as the difference in percentage emptied between day 2 and day 1 (DGE).
      The effects of DGE on caloric intake and symptoms were evaluated using multiple
      (lineal) regression. RESULTS: Among 30 overweight/obese subjects (24F and 6 M),
      15 received erythromycin and 15 placebo. The overall median age was 36 years
      (IQR: 30-42) and body mass index was 30 Kg m(-2) (IQR: 27-36). Subjects receiving
      erythromycin on day 2 presented accelerated GE as compared with placebo (P =
      0.0002). DGE at 15 min after initiating eating had a significant effect on
      prospective caloric intake (P = 0.004). From the best-fitted regression model (R
      (2) = 81%, P < 0.0001), a 10% increase in GE at 15 min induced on an average a
      135 +/- 43.5 Kcal decrease in caloric intake. Postprandial increase in
      cholecystokinin (CCK) (P = 0.03) and insulin (P = 0.02) was associated with
      decreased caloric intake. Acceleration of GE at 60 min after initiating eating
      increased postprandial symptom scores measured 30 min after the completion of
      food consumption (P = 0.01). Postprandial increase in CCK (P = 0.002) and PP (P =
      0.02) was associated with postprandial symptoms. CONCLUSION: Meal size can be
      reduced in overweight/obese subjects by pharmacologically accelerating GE. This
      may be a reasonable target in obesity management.

PMID- 20938445
TI  - A systematic review of the therapeutic interventions for heterotopic ossification
      after spinal cord injury.

PMID- 20938446
TI  - Survival after short- or long-term ventilation after acute spinal cord injury: a
      single-centre 25-year retrospective study.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: A retrospective review of acute spinal cord injury patients having
      assisted ventilation on or after admission between 1981 and 2005. OBJECTIVE: To
      assess survival after acute ventilatory support. SETTING: Northwest Regional
      Spinal Injuries Centre, Southport, England. METHODS: Causes of death were
      ascertained from the Office of National Statistics. Kaplan-Meier analysis of
      survival was calculated according to ventilator-wean status at discharge. Risk
      factors were obtained by Cox regression analysis. RESULTS: Over 50% of deaths in
      weaned and ventilated patients were respiratory in origin. The mean survival of
      weaned patients in the age group 31-45 was 19.3 compared with 10.5 years for
      ventilated patients (P=0.047). Those under 30 survived a further 22.1 and 18.4
      years (P=0.31), while those over 45 lived for 11.0 and 8.3 years (P=0.50), values
      for weaned and ventilated patients, respectively. The survival advantage for
      weaned patients in the middle age group was less evident when the 1-year
      survivors were compared. The mean survival time of younger patients with
      diaphragm pacing was 1.8 years longer than those on mechanical ventilation
      (P=0.142). The variables with significant hazard ratios were any comorbidity
      (3.07); mechanical ventilation on discharge (2.26); and older age at injury,
      (3.1). CONCLUSIONS: The survival time for patients with high tetraplegia on long
      term ventilation compares with other datasets and older patients have a
      proportionately greater loss in life expectancy. Self-ventilating patients with
      tetraplegia remain at considerable risk from respiratory death and consideration
      needs to be given to more effective preventative measures.

PMID- 20938447
TI  - Physical therapy versus heparin for prevention of deep venous thrombosis.

PMID- 20938448
TI  - Neural plasticity and functional recovery of human central nervous system with
      special reference to spinal cord injury.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: Literature review. OBJECTIVE: To study the progress that has been
      made in neural plasticity for the past few decades. SETTING: United
      Kingdom/China. METHODS: An electronic search of relevant publications through
      PubMed was conducted using two key words: 'axonal regeneration' and 'neural
      plasticity'. The search included publications of the past three decades of all
      languages and of both animal and human studies. After confirmation of immense
      increase of publications on neural plasticity, reviewing of neural plasticity
      alone was conducted. The review covered only the most important and clinically
      relevant publications. For convenience of reading by busy clinicians, discussions
      focused on cellular and functional levels, and only the most investigated
      molecules were mentioned. The size of references is also planned to be concise
      rather than comprehensive into three digits. RESULTS: Neural plasticity is about
      memory and learning. The entire process of neural plasticity is presented in the
      sequence of (1) lesion-induced plasticity, (2) clearance of debris, (3)
      collateral sprouting (4) potentiation. The recent discovery and understanding of
      the important role of Chondroitinase in clearance of debris is discussed in
      detail. CONCLUSION: Neural plasticity has enormous potentials in facilitating
      functional recovery. It is a realistic target than structural axonal regeneration
      at current level of neuroscience.

PMID- 20938449
TI  - Device use, locomotor training and the presence of arm swing during treadmill
      walking after spinal cord injury.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: Observational, cross-sectional study from a convenience sample with
      pretest/posttest data from a sample subset. OBJECTIVES: Determine the presence of
      walking-related arm swing after spinal cord injury (SCI), its associated factors
      and whether arm swing may change after locomotor training (LT). SETTING: Malcom
      Randall VAMC and University of Florida, Gainesville, FL. METHODS: Arm movement
      was assessed during treadmill stepping, pre-LT, in 30 individuals with motor
      incomplete SCI (iSCI, American Spinal Injury Association Impairment Scale grade
      C/D, as defined by the International Standards for Neurological Classifications
      of SCI, with neurological level of impairment at or below C4). Partial body
      weight support and manual-trainer assistance were provided, as needed, to achieve
      stepping and allow arm swing. Arm swing presence was compared on the basis of
      cervical versus thoracic neurological levels of impairment and device type. Leg
      and arm strength and walking independence were compared between individuals with
      and without arm swing. Arm swing was reevaluated post-LT in the 21 out of 30
      individuals who underwent LT. RESULTS: Of 30 individuals with iSCI, 12
      demonstrated arm swing during treadmill stepping, pre-LT. Arm movement was
      associated with device type, lower extremity motor scores and walking
      independence. Among the 21 individuals who received LT, only 5 demonstrated arm
      swing pre-LT. Of the 16 individuals lacking arm swing pre-LT, 8 integrated arm
      swing post-LT. CONCLUSION: Devices routinely used for walking post-iSCI appeared
      associated with arm swing. Post-LT, arm swing presence increased. Therefore, arm
      swing may be experience dependent. Daily neuromuscular experiences provided to
      the arms may produce training effects, thereby altering arm swing expression.

PMID- 20938450
TI  - Warfarin and heterotopic ossification: good, bad or ugly?

PMID- 20938451
TI  - Characterization of neurological recovery following traumatic sensorimotor
      complete thoracic spinal cord injury.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective, longitudinal analysis of sensory, motor and
      functional outcomes from individuals with thoracic (T2-T12) sensorimotor complete
      spinal cord injury (SCI). OBJECTIVES: To characterize neurological changes over
      the first year after traumatic thoracic sensorimotor complete SCI. METHODS: A
      dataset of 399 thoracic complete SCI subjects from the European Multi-center
      study about SCI (EMSCI) was examined for neurological level, sensory levels and
      sensory scores (pin-prick and light touch), lower extremity motor score (LEMS),
      ASIA Impairment Scale (AIS) grade, and Spinal Cord Independence Measure (SCIM)
      over the first year after SCI. RESULTS: AIS grade conversions were limited.
      Sensory scores exhibited minimal mean change, but high variability in both
      rostral and caudal directions. Pin-prick and light touch sensory levels, as well
      as neurological level, exhibited minor changes (improvement or deterioration),
      but most subjects remained within one segment of their initial injury level after
      1 year. Recovery of LEMS occurred predominantly in subjects with low thoracic
      SCI. The sensory zone of partial preservation (ZPP) had no prognostic value for
      subsequent recovery of sensory levels or LEMS. However, after mid or low thoracic
      SCI, >=3 segments of sensory ZPP correlated with an increased likelihood for AIS
      grade conversion. CONCLUSION: The data suggest that a sustained deterioration of
      three or more thoracic sensory levels or loss of upper extremity motor function
      are rare events and may be useful for tracking the safety of a therapeutic
      intervention in early phase acute SCI clinical trials, if a significant
      proportion of study subjects exhibit such an ascent.

PMID- 20938452
TI  - The validity of predicting peak oxygen uptake from a perceptually guided graded
      exercise test during arm exercise in paraplegic individuals.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: Each participant completed two submaximal, perceptually guided arm
      crank exercise tests and a graded exercise test (GXT) to volitional exhaustion.
      OBJECTIVE: To assess the validity of a submaximal, perceptually guided exercise
      test to predict peak oxygen uptake (VO(2)peak) during arm cranking in paraplegic
      individuals. SETTING: University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan. PARTICIPANTS: Eleven
      men with paraplegia as a result of poliomyelitis infection or spinal cord injury
      completed two submaximal perceptually guided exercise tests and an arm crank GXT
      to volitional exhaustion. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The prediction of VO(2)peak was
      calculated by extrapolating the submaximal rating of perceived exertion (RPE) and
      VO(2) values by linear regression to RPE20. RESULTS: There were no significant
      differences between measured and predicted VO(2)peak from the three submaximal
      ranges of the RPE (that is, 9-13, 9-15 and 9-17) when extrapolated to RPE20
      during both perceptually guided exercise tests (all P>0.05). However, the second
      perceptually guided exercise tests provided a more accurate prediction of
      VO(2)peak as reflected by narrower 95% limits of agreement and higher intraclass
      correlation coefficients. CONCLUSION: This study has shown that VO(2)peak may be
      predicted with reasonable accuracy from a perceptually guided exercise test,
      especially after a full familiarization trial.

PMID- 20938454
TI  - Nanobead-based interventions for the treatment and prevention of tuberculosis.
AB  - Tuberculosis (TB), caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, is one of the most
      devastating bacterial diseases to affect humans. M. tuberculosis is a robust
      pathogen that has evolved the capacity to survive and grow inside macrophage
      phagosomes. A cocktail of antibiotics has long been successfully used against M.
      tuberculosis but is becoming less effective owing to the emergence of multidrug
      resistance. The only available preventive vaccine, using Mycobacterium bovis
      bacille Calmette-Guerin, is considered to be ineffective against adult pulmonary
      TB, the most prevalent form of the disease. Here, we review the potential use of
      biodegradable nanoparticle-based anti-TB drug delivery systems that have been
      shown to be more effective against M. tuberculosis in animal models than
      conventional antibiotic treatment regimens. This technology also has substantial
      potential for vaccination and other therapeutic strategies against TB and other
      infectious diseases.

PMID- 20938455
TI  - Inhibition of lectin-mediated innate host defences in vivo modulates disease
      severity during influenza virus infection.
AB  - Host-mediated recognition of mannose-rich glycans on the surface of pathogens
      represents an ancient mechanism of innate immune defence. In this study, we
      demonstrate that the virus strains that differ in the degree of N-linked
      glycosylation on the globular head of their hemagglutinin glycoprotein also
      differed in their (i) sensitivity to neutralization by a mannose-specific lectin
      in mouse lung fluids and (ii) ability to infect (and, therefore, to be destroyed)
      by airway macrophages. Virus strain BJx109 (H3N2), but not PR8 (H1N1), was
      sensitive to neutralization by mouse lung fluids and infected airway macrophages
      efficiently in vitro and these antiviral activities were blocked by mannan, a
      complex polymer of mannose residues. Although intranasal (i.n.) infection of mice
      with PR8 led to severe disease and mortality, mice infected with an equivalent
      dose of BJx109 displayed no signs of disease. However, i.n. treatment of BJx109
      infected mice with mannan led to viral pneumonia, severe disease and death
      characterized by excessive virus replication, pulmonary inflammation, vascular
      leak and lung edema. Thus, when mannose-specific innate defences were inhibited
      in vivo, virus strain BJx109 induced severe viral pneumonia similar to that of
      PR8. Together, these findings highlight the importance of N-linked glycans as a
      target for recognition and destruction of influenza viruses by the innate immune
      system. Moreover, soluble and cell-associated lectins coordinate to modulate
      disease severity following influenza virus infection of mice.

PMID- 20938453
TI  - Identifying genetic markers of adaptation for surveillance of viral host jumps.
AB  - Adaptation is often thought to affect the likelihood that a virus will be able to
      successfully emerge in a new host species. If so, surveillance for genetic
      markers of adaptation could help to predict the risk of disease emergence.
      However, adaptation is difficult to distinguish conclusively from the other
      processes that generate genetic change. In this Review we survey the research on
      the host jumps of influenza A, severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus,
      canine parvovirus and Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus to illustrate the
      insights that can arise from combining genetic surveillance with microbiological
      experimentation in the context of epidemiological data. We argue that using a
      multidisciplinary approach for surveillance will provide a better understanding
      of when adaptations are required for host jumps and thus when predictive genetic
      markers may be present.

PMID- 20938456
TI  - How nickel turns on innate immune cells.

PMID- 20938457
TI  - Comment on 'costs of managing adverse events in the treatment of first-line
      metastatic renal cell carcinoma: bevacizumab in combination with interferon
      alpha2a compared with sunitinib'.

PMID- 20938459
TI  - Primary sclerosing cholangitis: overview and update.
AB  - Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is a chronic cholestatic liver disorder that
      most commonly affects middle-aged men. PSC is strongly associated with IBD, and
      in this setting the risk of colorectal cancer is markedly increased.
      Cholangiocarcinoma, and its devastating consequences, is another well-recognized
      complication of PSC. This condition tends to progress to end-stage liver disease,
      and patients with PSC have reduced survival rates compared with the general
      population. Despite significant research efforts in this field, the pathogenetic
      mechanisms of PSC are still incompletely understood, although growing evidence
      supports the role of genetic and immunologic factors. Effective medical therapy
      is lacking; liver transplantation is the only curative treatment modality, with
      excellent outcomes in this patient population.

PMID- 20938460
TI  - Mechanisms of disease: Helicobacter pylori virulence factors.
AB  - Helicobacter pylori plays an essential role in the development of various
      gastroduodenal diseases; however, only a small proportion of people infected with
      H. pylori develop these diseases. Some populations that have a high prevalence of
      H. pylori infection also have a high incidence of gastric cancer (for example, in
      East Asia), whereas others do not (for example, in Africa and South Asia). Even
      within East Asia, the incidence of gastric cancer varies (decreasing in the
      south). H. pylori is a highly heterogeneous bacterium and its virulence varies
      geographically. Geographic differences in the incidence of gastric cancer can be
      explained, at least in part, by the presence of different types of H. pylori
      virulence factor, especially CagA, VacA and OipA. However, it is still unclear
      why the pathogenicity of H. pylori increased as it migrated from Africa to East
      Asia during the course of evolution. H. pylori infection is also thought to be
      involved in the development of duodenal ulcer, which is at the opposite end of
      the disease spectrum to gastric cancer. This discrepancy can be explained in part
      by the presence of H. pylori virulence factor DupA. Despite advances in our
      understanding of the development of H. pylori-related diseases, further work is
      required to clarify the roles of H. pylori virulence factors.

PMID- 20938462
TI  - Relationship of statins to clinical presentation and biochemical outcomes after
      radical prostatectomy in Korean patients.
AB  - The aim of this study was to determine whether or not statins influence
      biochemical recurrence (BCR) in Korean patients undergoing surgical treatment for
      prostate cancer. We reviewed data from 687 men who underwent radical retropubic
      prostatectomy and who did not receive neoadjuvant treatment. Of these patients,
      87 reported the use of preoperative statins at surgery. BCR-free survival was
      determined after exclusion of 78 patients with lymph node metastases and/or who
      received immediate adjuvant treatment. Patients on statin therapy were more
      likely to have a co-morbid disease (P < 0.05). Mean PSA (9.6 vs 13.6 ng ml(-1), P
      = 0.002) and PSA density (0.27 vs 0.38 ng ml(-1) ml(-1), P<0.001) were
      significantly lower in patients on statins. However, in the multivariable linear
      regression model, statin use was not associated with a decrease in PSA. Overall
      BCR for the entire cohort was not significantly different between the statin and
      nonstatin groups. On multivariate analysis, positive surgical margin and seminal
      vesicle invasion were independent risk factors for BCR-free survival, whereas
      other variables, including statin use, were not significant in predicting the
      risk of BCR. Patients with positive surgical margin and seminal vesicle invasion
      had a 2.1- (odds ratio, 2.15; 95% confidence interval, 1.29-3.57; P = 0.003) and
      2.2-fold risk (odds ratio, 2.21; 95% confidence interval, 1.25-3.89; P = 0.006)
      of BCR. Preoperative statin use is not associated with reduced BCR following
      radical prostatectomy.

PMID- 20938461
TI  - Esomeprazole-induced hyperchromograninemia in the absence of concomitant
      hypergastrinemia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A 37-year-old female, who had a neuroendocrine pancreatic neoplasm,
      underwent duodeno-cephalo-pancreatectomy. In the 2 years following surgery, she
      had normal levels of serum chromogranin A (CgA), gastrin and other tumor markers.
      About 3 years after surgery, owing to the onset of reflux-like dyspeptic
      symptoms, the patient started treatment with the PPI esomeprazole. During PPI
      treatment, the patient's serum CgA level rose to more than three times the upper
      limit of normal, although her gastrin levels remained in the normal range. These
      findings were interpreted as being suggestive of neuroendocrine tumor relapse.
      INVESTIGATIONS: Thoraco-abdominal CT, In111-octreotide total body scan, CT of
      sella turcica, Tc(99m)-sestamibi neck scan, mutational analysis of chromosome
      11q13 (site of multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 [MEN1] gene). Discontinuation
      of, and rechallenge with, esomeprazole. DIAGNOSIS: Esomeprazole-induced
      hyperchromograninemia in the absence of elevated levels of fasting serum gastrin.
      MANAGEMENT: Discontinuation of acid-suppressive treatment and continuation of
      oncologic follow-up.

PMID- 20938463
TI  - Relationship between initial PSA density with future PSA kinetics and repeat
      biopsies in men with prostate cancer on active surveillance.
AB  - The objective of our study is to examine the correlation between PSA density
      (PSAd) at the time of diagnosis with PSA velocity (PSAV), PSA doubling time and
      tumour progression, on repeat biopsy, in men with prostate cancer on active
      surveillance. Data from 102 patients with clinically localized prostate cancer on
      active surveillance in the period between 1992 and 2007, who had the necessary
      parameters available, were collected. PSAd was calculated and correlated with
      PSAV, PSA doubling time (PSADT), Gleason score at diagnosis and local progression
      on repeated biopsies. PSAV was 0.64 and 1.31 ng ml(-1) per year (P = 0.02), PSADT
      of 192 and 113 months (P = 0.4) for PSAd below and above 0.15, respectively. The
      rate of detecting high Gleason score (>= 7) at diagnosis was 6 and 23% for PSAd
      below and above 0.15, respectively. A total of 101 patients underwent at least a
      second biopsy and the incidence of upgrading was 10 and 31% for PSAd below and
      above 0.15, respectively (P = 0.001). Although low PSAd is an accepted measure
      for suggesting insignificant prostate cancer, our study expands its role to
      indicate that PSAd < 0.15 may be an additional clinical parameter that may
      suggest indolent disease, as measured by future PSAV and repeat biopsy over time.

PMID- 20938464
TI  - Pulse labeling and long-term tracing of newborn neurons in the adult subgranular
      zone.
AB  - Research over the past decades has demonstrated that adult brain produces neural
      progenitor cells which proliferate and differentiate to newborn neurons that
      integrate into the existing circuit. However, detailed differentiation processes
      and underlying mechanisms of newly generated neurons are largely unknown due to
      the limitation of available methods for labeling and manipulating neural
      progenitor cells and newborn neurons. In this study, we designed a tightly
      controlled, noninvasive system based on Cre/loxP recombination to achieve long
      term tracing and genetic manipulation of adult neurons in vivo. In this system,
      tamoxifen-inducible recombinase, CreER(T2), was driven by BAC-based promoter of
      doublecortin (DCX, a marker of newborn neurons). By crossing this Cre line with
      reporter mouse, we found that newborn neurons in the dentate gyrus (DG) could be
      selectively pulse-labeled by tamoxifen-induced expression of yellow fluorescent
      protein (YFP). YFP-positive neurons were identified by coimmunostaining with cell
      type-specific markers and characterized by electrophysiological recording.
      Furthermore, analysis of the migration of these neurons showed that the majority
      of these labeled neurons migrated to the inner part of granule cell layer.
      Moreover, spine growth of inner molecular layer of newborn granule neurons takes
      a dynamic pattern of invert U-shape, in contrast to the wedge-shaped change in
      the outer molecular layer. Our transgenic tool provides an efficient way to
      selectively label and manipulate newborn neuron in adult mouse DG.

PMID- 20938466
TI  - 'Nullius in verba'.

PMID- 20938465
TI  - Association of ABCB1 polymorphisms with survival and in vitro cytotoxicty in de
      novo acute myeloid leukemia with normal karyotype.
AB  - Overexpression of the multi-drug transporter P-glycoprotein, encoded by the ABCB1
      gene, is a clinically relevant problem in acute myeloid leukemia (AML).
      Polymorphisms in ABCB1 might contribute to cancer risk and therapeutic response.
      We therefore investigated the influence of polymorphisms G1199A, C1236T, G2677T/A
      and C3435T on cancer susceptibility, in vitro cytotoxicity and overall survival
      in 100 de novo AML patients with normal karyotype. Patients with 1236C/C or
      2677G/G genotypes showed poorer survival than patients with other genotypes
      (P=0.03 and P=0.02, respectively). Both these genotypes were significant factors
      for survival in multivariate analysis, along with age, NPM1 and FLT3 mutation
      status. In vitro cytotoxicity studies demonstrated that leukemic cells from
      1236T/T and 2677T/T patients were significantly more susceptible to mitoxantrone
      (P=0.02), and tended to be more susceptible to etoposide and daunorubicin (P=0.07
      0.09), but not to cytarabine. No significant difference in allele frequencies was
      found between patients and healthy volunteers (n=400).

PMID- 20938467
TI  - Are ceramic and metal implant abutments performance similar?
AB  - DATA SOURCES: Medline, The Cochrane Library, bibliographies of identified studies
      and hand searching of the journals, Schweizer Monatsschrift fur Zahnmedizin (Acta
      Medicinae Dentium Helvetica) and Deutsche Zahnarztliche Zeitschrift and
      Implantologie. STUDY SELECTION: Randomised-controlled clinical trials,
      prospective and retrospective studies providing information on ceramic and metal
      abutments with a mean follow-up time of at least 3 years were included. Patients
      had to have been examined clinically at the follow-up visit. DATA EXTRACTION AND
      SYNTHESIS: Assessment of the identified studies and data abstraction were
      performed independently by three reviewers. Failure rates were analysed using
      standard and random-effects Poisson regression models to obtain summary estimates
      of 5-year survival proportions. RESULTS: A total of 29 studies providing
      information on the clinical performance of the implant abutments were included in
      the analysis. The estimated 5-year survival rate of ceramic abutments was 99.1%
      [95% confidence interval (CI): 93.8-99.9%] and 97.4% (95% CI: 96-98.3%) for metal
      abutments. The estimated cumulative incidence of technical complications after 5
      years was 6.9% (95% CI: 3.5-13.4%) for ceramic abutments and 15.9% (95% CI: 11.6
      21.5%) for metal abutments. Abutment screw loosening was the most frequent
      technical problem, occurring at an estimated cumulative incidence after 5 years
      of 5.1% (95% CI: 3.3-7.7%). All-ceramic crowns supported by ceramic abutments
      exhibited similar annual fracture rates as metal-ceramic crowns supported by
      metal abutments. The cumulative incidence of biological complications after 5
      years was estimated at 5.2% (95% CI: 0.4-52%) for ceramic and 7.7% (95% CI: 4.7
      12.5%) for metal abutments. Aesthetic complications tended to be more frequent at
      metal abutments. CONCLUSIONS: The 5-year survival rates estimated from annual
      failure rates appeared to be similar for ceramic and metal abutments. The
      information included in this review did not provide evidence of differences for
      the technical and biological outcomes of ceramic and metal abutments. However,
      the information for ceramic abutments was limited in the number of studies and
      abutments analysed as well as the accrued follow-up time. Standardised methods
      for the analysis of abutment strength are needed.

PMID- 20938468
TI  - Ozone treatment had no effect on tooth hypersensitivity.
AB  - DESIGN: This was a randomised controlled trial. INTERVENTION: Ozone treatment was
      delivered by HealOzone machines, one delivering air (control) and the other ozone
      (test), prepared and coded by the manufacturer (HealOzone; KaVo, Biberach,
      Germany). OUTCOME MEASURE: Pain in response to a tactile stimulus or desiccation
      was assessed using a 100-mm visual analogue scale (VAS). Also, the global
      subject's perception of sensitivity was assessed at each visit by using a VAS.
      RESULTS: No subjects reported an increase in pain or any adverse effect. All
      subjects reported a clinically significant reduction in pain, relative to
      baseline, at each followup visit. The difference between the study groups was not
      statistically significant, however. CONCLUSIONS: Treatment of hypersensitive
      teeth with ozone reduces the pain sensation, but this effect cannot be
      distinguished from the placebo treatment. There was a large placebo effect that
      narrowed the range over which treatment differences might be detected.

PMID- 20938469
TI  - Surgical endodontic treatment under magnification has high success rates.
AB  - DATA SOURCES: Medline, Embase and reference lists of identified articles were
      used to find relevant publications; searches were limited to English language.
      STUDY SELECTION: Randomised control trials (RCT) or prospective case series of
      surgical endodontic treatments performed by a modern technique using
      magnification, root-end resection with minimal or no bevel, retrograde cavity
      preparation with ultrasonic tips, and retrograde root canal filling where the
      lesion was located at the periapical area, with a minimum of 1-year followup and
      outcomes assessed according to the Rud1 or Molven2 criteria, were included.
      Studies that did not use a modern surgical approach, involved teeth with apico
      marginal defects, periodontal disease, root fractures and root perforations or
      undergoing repeat surgery were excluded, as were those with less than 1-year
      followup and with outcomes not evaluated using the Rud1 or Molven2 criteria. DATA
      EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS: Studies were reviewed and data extracted independently
      by three observers, with disagreements resolved by discussion. Studies included
      were combined to estimate the pooled successes and 95% confidence intervals (CI),
      where success was considered to be complete healing or incomplete healing, by
      using generalised linear models, assuming a binomial (proportion) distribution.
      RESULTS: Eleven studies (six RCT and five prospective case series) met the
      criteria. The pooled proportion of treatments deemed to be a success (complete
      healing and incomplete healing) was found to be 91.6% (95% CI, 85.9-95.1%). The
      pooled proportion deemed to be failures was found to be 4.7% (95% CI, 2.24
      9.50%). The remainder were categorised as of uncertain healing (3.7%).
      CONCLUSIONS: Surgical endodontic treatment carried out using a modern technique
      carries predictable outcomes. Additional large-scale prospective clinical studies
      are needed to evaluate further predictors of success and failure.

PMID- 20938470
TI  - Treating periodontal disease may improve metabolic control in diabetics.
AB  - DATA SOURCES: The Cochrane Oral Health Group's Trials Register, The Cochrane
      Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), Medline, EMBASE, CINAHL, ZETOC,
      ISIWeb of Knowledge and LILACS databases were searched together with hand
      searches of the journals Annals of Periodontology (1996 to 2003) and
      Periodontology 2000 (1993 to 2003).There were no language restrictions. STUDY
      SELECTION: This review included randomised controlled trials of people with type
      1 or 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) with a diagnosis of periodontitis. Suitable
      interventions included mechanical periodontal therapy with or without adjunctives
      and oral hygiene education. DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS: The titles and
      abstracts of all identified papers were examined by two review authors'
      independently. All included trials were assessed for risk of bias. Data were
      collated in evidence tables, grouped according to research design and assessed
      for possible meta-analysis on the basis of homogeneity of main characteristics.
      RESULTS: Seven studies were included and three studies had results pooled into a
      meta-analysis. The effect for the mean percentage difference in HbA1c for
      scaling/root planing and oral hygiene (+/- antibiotic therapy) versus no
      treatment/usual treatment after 3/4 months was -0.40% (95% confidence interval
      (CI) fixed effect -0.78% to -0.01%), representing a statistically significant
      reduction in HbA1c (P = 0.04) for scaling/root planing. One study was assessed as
      being at low risk of bias with the other two at moderate to high risk of bias. A
      subgroup analysis examined studies without adjunctive antibiotics -0.80% (one
      study: 95% CI -1.73% to 0.13%; P = 0.09), with adjunctive antibiotics in the test
      group -0.36% (one study: 95% CI -0.83% to 0.11%; P = 0.14), and with antibiotics
      in both test and control groups after 3/4 months -0.15% (one study: 95% CI -1.04%
      to 0.74%; P = 0.74). CONCLUSIONS: There is some evidence of improvement in
      metabolic control in people with diabetes, after treating periodontal disease.
      There are few studies available and individually these lacked the power to detect
      a significant effect. Most of the participants in the study had poorly controlled
      type 2 DM and there was little data from randomised trials on the effects on
      people with type 1 DM. Improving periodontal health is an important objective in
      itself. However, in order to understand the potential of this treatment to
      improve glycaemic control among people with diabetes, larger, carefully conducted
      and reported studies are needed.

PMID- 20938471
TI  - Weak evidence to support benefit of periodontal maintenance therapy in prevention
      of tooth loss.
AB  - DATA SOURCES: Medline, Embase, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials
      (CENTRAL), OpenSIGLE (System for Information on Grey Literature in Europe) and
      reference lists of identified studies. Study Selection Cohort studies, case
      control studies and case series limited to patients with periodontitis who
      underwent active periodontal treatment (APT) and followed a maintenance care
      programme for at least 5 years that reported data on tooth loss were included.
      DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS: Two independent reviewers screened the studies and
      extracted the data, with disagreements being resolved by discussion and
      consensus. Methodological quality was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa scale.
      Data were pooled into evidence tables and grouped according to the type of study.
      A descriptive summary was performed. RESULTS: Thirteen retrospective case series
      were included in this review. The risk of bias assessment showed that eight
      studies were of medium methodological quality and five of low quality. Of 41404
      teeth present after active periodontal treatment, 3919 were lost during PM. The
      percentages of tooth loss due to periodontal reasons and of patients who did not
      experience tooth loss varied from 1.5 to 9.8% and 36.0 to 88.5%. Studies'
      individual outcomes showed that different patient-related factors (ie, age and
      smoking), and tooth-related factors (tooth type and location and the initial
      tooth prognosis) were associated with tooth loss during PM. CONCLUSIONS: The
      considerable heterogeneity found among studies did not allow definitive
      conclusions. Age, smoking and initial tooth prognosis were found to be associated
      with tooth loss during PM. Overall, patients must be instructed to follow
      periodic PM and quit smoking (smokers). Prospective cohort studies are required
      to confirm the possible predictors of tooth loss due to periodontal reasons. The
      allocation of patients into subgroups according to the type of periodontitis and
      smoking frequency will allow more accurate evaluations.

PMID- 20938472
TI  - Significant relationship between parental and child dental fear.
AB  - DATA SOURCES: The databases CINAHL, EMbase, Medline, PsycINFO, Cochrane/DARE EBM
      were searched using OVID together with the reference lists of retrieved papers.
      STUDY SELECTION: Studies in English and German which investigated the
      relationship between parental and child dental fear and included children and
      young people aged 0-19 years were included. Particular emphasis was placed on
      studies which used established behaviour and anxiety measures to assess parental
      and child dental anxiety or child behaviour. DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS: A
      qualitative synthesis of the included studies was conducted with those studies
      which provided sufficient quantitative estimates of association between parental
      and child measures to enable transformation into effect sizes being used in a
      meta-analysis. A random-effects model was used. RESULTS: Forty-three studies were
      included from across the six continents. The studies ranged widely with respect
      to research design, methods used, age of children included and the reported link
      between parental and child dental fear. The majority of studies confirmed a
      relationship between parental and child dental fear. This relationship is most
      evident in children aged 8 years and under. A meta-analysis confirmed an
      association between parental and child dental fear. CONCLUSIONS: The narrative
      synthesis as well as the meta-analysis demonstrate a significant relationship
      between parental and child dental fear, particularly in children aged 8 years and
      under.

PMID- 20938473
TI  - Childhood dental trauma and socioeconomic status.
AB  - DATA SOURCES: Brazilian Bibliography of Dentistry (BBO), Scientific Electronic
      Library online (SciELO), Latin American and Caribbean Health Sciences (LILACS),
      The Cochrane Library, ISI Web of Knowledge, International Database for Medical
      Literature (MEDLINE) and PubMed Central. The database of the Brazilian
      Coordination of Higher Education Personnel Improvement (CAPES) was searched as
      well as reference lists from included articles. STUDY SELECTION: Articles
      providing information on the correlation between traumatic injuries in permanent
      teeth and socioeconomic indicators were included. DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS:
      Data were extracted by two reviewers and disagreements resolved through
      discussion and a qualitative synthesis conducted. RESULTS: Nine studies were
      included (1 cohort, 8 cross-sectional). Seven of the surveys were carried out in
      Brazil and two in Thailand. The age of children was 9-14 years. Statistically
      significant associations between permanent tooth injuries and high economic
      status were found in four studies. CONCLUSIONS: There were few studies
      correlating traumatic injuries in permanent teeth and socioeconomic indicators
      and the majority found no such association. It is suggested that the association
      between traumatic dental injuries and socioeconomic factors may be related to the
      indicators used, considering differences in their individual components.
      Furthermore, the heterogeneity of the methodologies hinders the comparison of the
      studies.

PMID- 20938474
TI  - Brushing as good as handpiece prophylaxis before placing sealants.
AB  - DATA SOURCES: Medline and The Cochrane Library. STUDY SELECTION: Randomised
      controlled trials or systematic reviews that considered retention or the
      effectiveness of resin-based sealants after different surface-cleaning procedures
      were included. Only English language studies were considered. DATA EXTRACTION AND
      SYNTHESIS: Data were extracted by one author and a summary retention rate
      calculated separately for the studies that used the same type of surface-cleaning
      method or toothbrush prophylaxis. The studies were weighted by the reciprocal of
      their squared standard error. RESULTS: All of the sealant manufacturers'
      instructions for use (IFU) recommended cleaning the tooth before acid etching.
      None of the IFU directly stated that a handpiece was required to perform the
      cleaning, but five IFU implied the use of handpiece prophylaxis. None of the IFU
      recommended surface-altering procedures in caries-free teeth. Direct evidence
      from two clinical trials showed no difference in complete sealant retention
      between surfaces cleaned mechanically with pumice or prophylaxis paste and those
      cleaned with air-water syringe or dry toothbrushing. Indirect evidence from 10
      studies found that weighted summary retention by year after sealant placement in
      studies that used toothbrush prophylaxis was greater than or equivalent to values
      for studies that used handpiece prophylaxis. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate
      that retention of sealants after a supervised toothbrush cleaning by the patient
      was at least as high as those associated with a traditional handpiece
      prophylaxis. These findings may translate into lower costs for materials,
      equipment and personnel.

PMID- 20938475
TI  - Oral health of patients with intellectual disabilities.
AB  - DATA SOURCES: Medline, PubMed, Clinical Queries and PsychLIT. STUDY SELECTION:
      The studies were evaluated independently by two reviewers and only included
      studies that had been published in English since 1975. The studies included had
      to meet three criteria; adult humans with mental retardation or a similar ID, had
      at least one quantitative measure of oral health status and the study compared
      the subjects to a control or comparison group without ID. Studies were assessed
      on the strength of evidence in three domains: quality, quantity and consistency.
      DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS: Owing to the heterogeneity of the data, meta
      analyses were not attempted. The results were descriptive with no odds ratios or
      confidence intervals mentioned and gave an overview of oral health and ID.
      RESULTS: 27 studies were included in the review. Studies were of variable quality
      with many being of a small sample size. People with ID were found to have poor
      oral hygiene and higher prevalence and greater severity of periodontal disease.
      Caries rates in people with ID are the same as or lower than the general
      population. The rates of untreated caries are consistently higher in people with
      ID. CONCLUSIONS: This review supports the need to develop strategies to increase
      patient acceptance for routine care, for additional training for dentists to
      provide care and for the development of more effective preventive strategies to
      minimise the need for this care.

PMID- 20938476
TI  - Orthognathic treatment and temporomandibular disorders - part 1.
AB  - DATA SOURCES: MEDLINE, bibliographies, and reference lists of identified
      publications and reviews, were utilised, along with personal communications with
      experts and specialists. STUDY SELECTION: Randomised controlled trials (RCT),
      cohort studies and case-control studies were included if participants (of age 14
      years or over) received orthognathic treatment. Studies were excluded if
      participants had either craniofacial syndromes or cleft lip or palate; a history
      of facial fractures from trauma; were undergoing orthognathic surgery purely to
      correct TMD; or orthognathic treatment and concomitant joint disc surgery; or,
      finally, if they were animal studies. DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS: Data
      extraction was conducted independently by two reviewers, and any discrepancies
      discussed until agreement was reached. A quality-assessment scale was constructed
      specifically for this study with sections for selection, performance, measurement
      and outcome, and attrition. A narrative synthesis is presented as meta-analysis
      was not either feasible or appropriate. RESULTS: A total of 53 articles (41
      cohorts, 8 case-control and 3 RCT) were analysed for the review. Almost half (20)
      did not explicitly state whether the study was retrospective or prospective, it
      could be determined for the majority with 21 being retrospective, 28 prospective
      and, in the case, four articles not being sufficiently clear. There was great
      variability between studies in their assessment of any association between TMD
      and orthognathic treatment. This variability included how TMD was classified, the
      signs and symptoms recorded, and the time intervals reported. Perhaps most
      important was the great variation in the malocclusions in the studies. Although
      some studies included participants with a specific skeletal discrepancy, others
      included various skeletal deformities, so that comparisons were not always
      possible and, when carried out, could be a source of heterogeneity. Most studies
      that did report a reduction in TMD signs and symptoms after orthognathic
      treatment reported this association in skeletal Class II patients. A decrease was
      reported in some studies in the prevalence of signs and symptoms of more than 50%
      of people postsurgery, compared with the presurgery state, whereas fewer subjects
      with skeletal Class III or a high mandibular plane angle seemed to benefit from
      surgery. Thus, the participants' skeletal deformity could have had a direct
      impact on TMD, especially after surgery. CONCLUSIONS: The diversity of diagnostic
      criteria and classification methods used in the included studies makes interstudy
      comparisons difficult. Well-designed studies are needed that have standardised
      diagnostic criteria and classification methods for TMD.

PMID- 20938477
TI  - Orthognathic treatment and temporomandibular disorders - part 2.
AB  - DATA SOURCES: Medline, bibliographies and reference lists of identified
      publications and reviews, and personal communications with experts and
      specialists. STUDY SELECTION: Randomised controlled trials (RCT), cohort studies
      and case-control studies were included if participants (of age 14 years or over)
      received orthognathic treatment. Studies were excluded if participants had either
      craniofacial syndromes or cleft lip or palate; a history of facial fractures from
      trauma; were undergoing orthognathic surgery purely to correct TMD; or
      orthognathic treatment and concomitant joint disc surgery; or, finally, if they
      were animal studies. DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS: Data extraction was conducted
      independently by two reviewers, with discrepancies discussed until agreement was
      reached. A quality-assessment scale was constructed specifically for this study
      with sections for selection, performance, measurement and outcome, and attrition.
      A narrative synthesis is presented as meta-analysis was not either feasible or
      appropriate. Meta-analyses were carried out on the 12 studies that used the
      Helkimo index to classify TMD in patients at presurgery and post surgery.
      RESULTS: Pain decreased after surgery for both self-reported symptoms and
      clinically diagnosed pain on palpation. However, postsurgical results were more
      varied for joint sounds. The percentage of patients with clicking had a tendency
      to decrease post surgery, but improvements in crepitus were questionable. The
      results from all meta-analyses in this review were subject to considerable
      statistical heterogeneity, and it was not possible to draw strong inferences
      relating to the percentage of orthognathic surgery patients with TMD with any
      degree of certainty. CONCLUSIONS: Although orthognathic surgery should not be
      advocated solely for treating TMD, patients having orthognathic treatment for
      correction of their dentofacial deformities and who are also suffering from TMD
      appear more likely to see improvement in their signs and symptoms than
      deterioration.

PMID- 20938478
TI  - Maxillary expansion as an interceptive treatment for impacted canines.
AB  - DESIGN: This was a randomised controlled trial. INTERVENTION: Patients in the
      control group received no treatment, whereas the patient treatment group had a
      rapid maxillary expander soldered to bands placed on the second deciduous molars
      or the first permanent molars. Activation of the screw was continued until the
      palatal cusps of the maxillary posterior teeth were in contact with the buccal
      cusps of the mandibular posterior teeth. Once the required expansion was
      achieved, the expansion screw was locked in position. After expansion, all
      patients were retained with the expander in place for 6 months after which the
      patients wore a retention plate at night for 1 year. OUTCOME MEASURE: The main
      outcome was successful or unsuccessful eruption of the maxillary permanent
      canines. RESULTS: The sample comprised 54 patients (32 in the treatment group and
      22 in the control). No statistically significant differences were found for any
      variable at baseline. The prevalence rates of successful eruption of the
      maxillary canines were 65.7% (21 subjects) in the treatment group and 13.6%
      (three subjects) in the control. The comparison was statistically significant
      (chi-square, 12.382; P >0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The use of rapid maxillary expansion
      (RME) in the early mixed dentition appears to be an effective procedure to
      increase the rate of eruption of palatally displaced maxillary canines (PDC)
      compared with an untreated control group.

PMID- 20938479
TI  - Root resorption during orthodontic treatment.
AB  - DATA SOURCES: Medline, Embase, LILACS, The Cochrane Library (Cochrane Database of
      Systematic Reviews, CENTRAL, and Cochrane Oral Health Group Trials Register) Web
      of Science, EBM Reviews, Computer Retrieval of Information on Scientific Project
      (CRISP, www.crisp.cit.nih.gov), On-Line Computer Library Center (www.oclc.org),
      Google Index to Scientific and Technical Proceedings, PAHO (www.paho.org), WHOLis
      (www.who.int/library/databases/en), BBO (Brazilian Bibliography of Dentistry),
      CEPS (Chinese Electronic Periodical Services), Conference materials
      (www.bl.uk/services/bsds/dsc/conference.html), ProQuest Dissertation Abstracts
      and Thesis database, TrialCentral (www.trialscentral.org), National Research
      Register (www.controlled-trials.com), www.Clinicaltrials.gov and SIGLE (System
      for Information on Grey Literature in Europe). STUDY SELECTION: Randomised
      controlled trials including split mouth design, recording the presence or absence
      of external apical root resorption (EARR) by treatment group at the end of the
      treatment period. DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS: Data were extracted
      independently by two reviewers using specially designed and piloted forms.
      Quality was also assessed independently by the same reviewers. RESULTS: After
      evaluating titles and abstracts, 144 full articles were obtained of which 13
      articles, describing 11 trials, fulfilled the criteria for inclusion. Differences
      in the methodological approaches and reporting results made quantitative
      statistical comparisons impossible. Evidence suggests that comprehensive
      orthodontic treatment causes increased incidence and severity of root resorption,
      and heavy forces might be particularly harmful. Orthodontically induced
      inflammatory root resorption is unaffected by archwire sequencing, bracket
      prescription, and self-ligation. Previous trauma and tooth morphology are
      unlikely causative factors. There is some evidence that a two- to three-month
      pause in treatment decreases total root resorption. CONCLUSIONS: The results were
      inconclusive in the clinical management of root resorption, but there is evidence
      to support the use of light forces, especially with incisor intrusion.

PMID- 20938480
TI  - " Everything in moderation...? ".
AB  - DATA SOURCES: Data are from the International Head and Neck Cancer Epidemiology
      (INHANCE) Consortium of case-control studies of head and neck cancer. STUDY
      SELECTION: 15 case-control studies with detailed information on cigarette smoking
      and alcohol consumption were included. DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS: The authors
      pooled data from 15 case-control studies and modelled the excess odds ratio (EOR)
      to assess risk by total exposure (pack-years and drink-years) and its
      modification by exposure rate (cigarettes/day and drinks/day). RESULTS: The
      smoking analysis included 1761 laryngeal, 2453 pharyngeal and 1990 oral cavity
      cancers, and the alcohol analysis included 2551 laryngeal, 3693 pharyngeal and
      3116 oval cavity cancers, with over 8000 controls. Above 15 cigarettes/day, the
      EOR/pack-year decreased with increasing cigarettes/day, suggesting that more
      cigarettes/day for a shorter duration was less deleterious than fewer
      cigarettes/day for a longer duration. Estimates of EOR/pack-year were homogeneous
      across sites, while the effects of cigarettes/day varied, indicating that the
      greater laryngeal cancer risk derived from differential cigarettes/day effects
      and not pack-years. EOR/drink-year estimates increased through 10 drinks/day,
      suggesting that more drinks/day for a shorter duration was more deleterious than
      fewer drinks/day for a longer duration. Above 10 drinks/day, data were limited.
      EOR/drink-year estimates varied by site, while drinks/day effects were
      homogeneous, indicating that the greater pharyngeal/oral cavity cancer risk with
      alcohol consumption derived from the differential effects of drink-years and not
      drinks/day. CONCLUSIONS: We observed an inverse exposure rate effect for
      cigarette smoking above 15 cigarettes/day, whereby the strength of the
      association between head and neck cancer and pack-years decreased with
      cigarettes/day, and a direct exposure rate effect for drinks/day <=10 drinks/day,
      whereby the strength of the association between head and neck cancer and total
      drink-years increased with drinks/day. Smoking risks were greater for the larynx
      than for the pharynx and oral cavity, while alcohol risks were greater for the
      pharynx and oral cavity. We found suggestive evidence that greater smoking
      related risk of laryngeal cancer was derived primarily from the differential
      effects of cigarettes/day, while the effect of pack-years was similar by site,
      and that the greater alcohol-related risk for pharyngeal and oral cavity cancers
      was derived from a greater effect of total drink-years, while the modification of
      drink-years-related risk by drinks/day was similar for each site.

PMID- 20938481
TI  - Oral dysplasia and risk of progression to cancer.
AB  - DATA SOURCES: Medline, EMbase and Cochrane databases. STUDY SELECTION: Studies
      were included if they reported data on patients with a histologically-confirmed
      diagnosis of oral dysplasia. They also had to study at least one outcome measure
      and one intervention method or clinical risk factor. Outcome measures included
      malignant transformation rate (MTR) and time to malignant transformation (TMT).
      In studies on oral lesions, which contained a defined subset of patients with
      oral dysplasia, this subset but not all patients with oral lesions were included
      in the meta-analysis. Observational studies were included in the review due to
      the scarcity of randomised controlled trials with adequate follow-up period. DATA
      EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS: Quality assessment was undertaken independently by two
      reviewers. When there was disagreement, a third reviewer was consulted. Quality
      criteria were agreed upon a priori, and the authors used a combination of quality
      assessment methods. Eligibility of studies was determined independently from the
      abstracts by two reviewers blinded to each other's selections. Outcome data were
      abstracted independently by a researcher and a statistician and checked by a
      third reviewer. Heterogeneity was assessed graphically in a forest plot and a
      meta-analysis was conducted. Subgroup analysis was performed by histologic grade,
      clinical risk factors and treatment modality. RESULTS: Fourteen non-randomised
      studies, reporting on 992 patients, were included. There was considerable
      heterogeneity between studies. The mean overall MTR was 12.1% (95% CI: 8.1%,
      17.9%) and the mean TMT was 4.3 years. Histologic grade significantly affected
      mean MTR (p < 0.008). Furthermore, lesions that were not excised demonstrated
      considerably higher MTR than those that were excised (p = 0.003). CONCLUSIONS:
      Oral dysplasia showed a significant rate of transformation to cancer, which was
      related to grade, and was decreased significantly but not eliminated by excision.
      Findings suggest the need for surgical excision and continued surveillance,
      particularly in high-grade lesions.

PMID- 20938482
TI  - Understanding statistics 2.
AB  - The first article in this series addressed both qualitative and quantitative
      research. This article will discuss the different types and nature of data used
      in quantitative research.

PMID- 20938485
TI  - Molecular phylogeny of edge hill virus supports its position in the yellow Fever
      virus group and identifies a new genetic variant.
AB  - Edge Hill virus (EHV) is a mosquito-borne flavivirus isolated throughout
      Australia during mosquito surveillance programs. While not posing an immediate
      threat to the human population, EHV is a taxonomically interesting flavivirus
      since it remains the only member of the yellow fever virus (YFV) sub-group to be
      detected within Australia. Here we present both an antigenic and genetic
      investigation of collected isolates, and confirm taxonomic classification of the
      virus within the YFV-group. Isolates were not clustered based on geographical
      origin or time of isolation, suggesting that minimal genetic evolution of EHV has
      occurred over geographic distance or time within the EHV cluster. However, two
      isolates showed significant differences in antigenic reactivity patterns, and had
      a much larger divergence from the EHV prototype (19% nucleotide and 6% amino acid
      divergence), indicating a distinct subtype or variant within the EHV subgroup.

PMID- 20938484
TI  - Hydroxytyrosol protects retinal pigment epithelial cells from acrolein-induced
      oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction.
AB  - Hydroxytyrosol (HTS) is a natural polyphenol abundant in olive oil. Increasing
      evidence indicates HTS has beneficial effect on human health for preventing
      various diseases. In the present study, we investigated the protective effects of
      HTS on acrolein-induced toxicity in human retinal pigment epithelial cell line,
      ARPE-19, a cellular model of smoking- and age-related macular degeneration.
      Acrolein, a major component of the gas phase cigarette smoke and also a product
      of lipid peroxidation in vivo, at 75 MUmol/L for 24 h caused significant loss of
      cell viability, oxidative damage (increase in oxidant generation and oxidative
      damage to proteins and DNA, decrease in antioxidants and antioxidant enzymes, and
      also inactivation of the Keap1/Nrf2 pathway), and mitochondrial dysfunction
      (decrease in membrane potential, activities of mitochondrial complexes, viable
      mitochondria, oxygen consumption, and factors for mitochondrial biogenesis, and
      increase in calcium). Pre-treatment with HTS dose dependently and also time
      dependently protected the ARPE-19 cells from acrolein-induced oxidative damage
      and mitochondrial dysfunction. A short-term pre-treatment with HTS (48 h)
      required > 75 MUmol/L for showing protection while a long-term pre-treatment (7
      days) showed protective effect from 5 MUmol/L on. The protective effect of HTS in
      this model was as potent as that of established mitochondria-targeting
      antioxidant nutrients. These results suggest that HTS is also a mitochondrial
      targeting antioxidant nutrient and that dietary administration of HTS may be an
      effective measure in reducing and or preventing cigarette smoke-induced or age
      related retinal pigment epithelial degeneration, such as age-associated macular
      degeneration.

PMID- 20938486
TI  - Natural Mentoring Relationships among Adolescent Mothers: A Study of Resilience.
AB  - This study focused on natural mentoring relationships between nonparental adults
      and African American adolescent mothers. Data were collected from 93 adolescent
      mothers over five time points, starting in the adolescent mothers' senior year of
      high school and ending five years post-high school. We found that having a
      natural mentor was related to fewer depressive symptoms and fewer anxiety
      symptoms over time. Natural mentor presence also modified the relationship
      between stress and mental health problems over time. Facilitating these natural
      mentoring relationships between adolescent mothers and nonparental adults may be
      a useful strategy for promoting healthy development within this population.

PMID- 20938487
TI  - Effects of Heating Season on Residential Indoor and Outdoor Polycyclic Aromatic
      Hydrocarbons, Black Carbon, and Particulate Matter in an Urban Birth Cohort.
AB  - Exposure to air pollutants has been associated with adverse health effects.
      However, analyses of the effects of season and ambient parameters such as ozone
      have not been fully conducted. Residential indoor and outdoor air levels of
      polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), black carbon (measured as absorption
      coefficient [Abs]), and fine particulate matter <2.5 MUm (PM)(2.5) were measured
      over two-weeks in a cohort of 5-6 year old children (n=334) living in New York
      City's Northern Manhattan and the Bronx between October 2005 and April 2010. The
      objectives were to: 1) characterize seasonal changes in indoor and outdoor levels
      and indoor/outdoor (I/O) ratios of PAH (gas + particulate phase; dichotomized
      into Sigma(8)PAH(semivolatile) (MW 178-206), and Sigma(8)PAH(nonvolatile) (MW 228
      278)), Abs, and PM(2.5); and 2) assess the relationship between PAH and ozone.
      Results showed that heating compared to nonheating season was associated with
      greater Sigma(8)PAH(nonvolatile) (p<0.001) and Abs (p<0.05), and lower levels of
      Sigma(8)PAH(semivolatile) (p<0.001). In addition, the heating season was
      associated with lower I/O ratios of Sigma(8)PAH(nonvolatile) and higher I/O
      ratios of Sigma(8)PAH(semivolatile) (p<0.001) compared to the nonheating season.
      In outdoor air, Sigma(8)PAH(nonvolatile) was correlated negatively with community
      wide ozone concentration (p<0.001). Seasonal changes in emission sources, air
      exchanges, meteorological conditions and photochemical/chemical degradation
      reactions are discussed in relationship to the observed seasonal trends.

PMID- 20938488
TI  - Trajectories of Peer Victimization: The Role of Multiple Relationships.
AB  - This study examined early elementary school children's trajectories of peer
      victimization with a sample of 218 boys and girls. Peer victimization was
      assessed (via peer report) in kindergarten, 1(st), 2(nd), and 5(th) grades.
      Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) was used to examine multiple types of
      relationships (mother-child, student-teacher, friendship) as predictors of
      kindergarten levels of peer victimization and changes in peer victimization
      across time. Results indicated that the mother-child relationship predicted
      kindergarten levels of peer victimization, and that the student-teacher
      relationship did not provide additional information, once the mother-child
      relationship was accounted for in the analyses. Friendship predicted changes in
      peer victimization during the elementary school years. Results are discussed in a
      developmental psychopathology framework with special emphasis on the implication
      for understanding the etiology of peer victimization.

PMID- 20938490
TI  - A Venturi microregulator array module for distributed pressure control.
AB  - Pressure-driven flow control systems are a critical component in many
      microfluidic devices. Compartmentalization of this functionality into a stand
      alone module possessing a simple interface would allow reduction of the number of
      pneumatic interconnects required for fluidic control. Ideally, such a module
      would also be sufficiently compact for implementation in portable platforms. In
      our current work, we show the feasibility of using a modular array of Venturi
      pressure microregulators for coordinated droplet manipulation. The arrayed
      microregulators share a single pressure input and are capable of outputting
      electronically controlled pressures that can be independently set between +/-1.3
      kPa. Because the Venturi microregulator operates by thermal perturbation of a
      choked gas flow, this output range corresponds to a temperature variation between
      20 and 95 degrees C. Using the array, we demonstrate loading, splitting, merging,
      and independent movement of multiple droplets in a valveless microchannel
      network.

PMID- 20938489
TI  - Differential geometry based solvation model I: Eulerian formulation.
AB  - This paper presents a differential geometry based model for the analysis and
      computation of the equilibrium property of solvation. Differential geometry
      theory of surfaces is utilized to define and construct smooth interfaces with
      good stability and differentiability for use in characterizing the solvent-solute
      boundaries and in generating continuous dielectric functions across the
      computational domain. A total free energy functional is constructed to couple
      polar and nonpolar contributions to the salvation process. Geometric measure
      theory is employed to rigorously convert a Lagrangian formulation of the surface
      energy into an Eulerian formulation so as to bring all energy terms into an equal
      footing. By minimizing the total free energy functional, we derive coupled
      generalized Poisson-Boltzmann equation (GPBE) and generalized geometric flow
      equation (GGFE) for the electrostatic potential and the construction of realistic
      solvent-solute boundaries, respectively. By solving the coupled GPBE and GGFE, we
      obtain the electrostatic potential, the solvent-solute boundary profile, and the
      smooth dielectric function, and thereby improve the accuracy and stability of
      implicit solvation calculations. We also design efficient second order numerical
      schemes for the solution of the GPBE and GGFE. Matrix resulted from the
      discretization of the GPBE is accelerated with appropriate preconditioners. An
      alternative direct implicit (ADI) scheme is designed to improve the stability of
      solving the GGFE. Two iterative approaches are designed to solve the coupled
      system of nonlinear partial differential equations. Extensive numerical
      experiments are designed to validate the present theoretical model, test
      computational methods, and optimize numerical algorithms. Example solvation
      analysis of both small compounds and proteins are carried out to further
      demonstrate the accuracy, stability, efficiency and robustness of the present new
      model and numerical approaches. Comparison is given to both experimental and
      theoretical results in the literature.

PMID- 20938491
TI  - Geostatistical modeling of the spatial distribution of sediment oxygen demand
      within a Coastal Plain blackwater watershed.
AB  - Blackwater streams are found throughout the Coastal Plain of the southeastern
      United States and are characterized by a series of instream floodplain swamps
      that play a critical role in determining the water quality of these systems.
      Within the state of Georgia, many of these streams are listed in violation of the
      state's dissolved oxygen (DO) standard. Previous work has shown that sediment
      oxygen demand (SOD) is elevated in instream floodplain swamps and due to these
      areas of intense oxygen demand, these locations play a major role in determining
      the oxygen balance of the watershed as a whole. This work also showed SOD rates
      to be positively correlated with the concentration of total organic carbon. This
      study builds on previous work by using geostatistics and Sequential Gaussian
      Simulation to investigate the patchiness and distribution of total organic carbon
      (TOC) at the reach scale. This was achieved by interpolating TOC observations and
      simulated SOD rates based on a linear regression. Additionally, this study
      identifies areas within the stream system prone to high SOD at representative 3rd
      and 5th order locations. Results show that SOD was spatially correlated with the
      differences in distribution of TOC at both locations and that these differences
      in distribution are likely a result of the differing hydrologic regime and
      watershed position. Mapping of floodplain soils at the watershed scale shows that
      areas of organic sediment are widespread and become more prevalent in higher
      order streams. DO dynamics within blackwater systems are a complicated mix of
      natural and anthropogenic influences, but this paper illustrates the importance
      of instream swamps in enhancing SOD at the watershed scale. Moreover, our study
      illustrates the influence of instream swamps on oxygen demand while providing
      support that many of these systems are naturally low in DO.

PMID- 20938493
TI  - SIMULATION OF ION CONDUCTION IN alpha-HEMOLYSIN NANOPORES WITH COVALENTLY
      ATTACHED beta-CYCLODEXTRIN BASED ON BOLTZMANN TRANSPORT MONTE CARLO MODEL.
AB  - Ion channels, as natures' solution to regulating biological environments, are
      particularly interesting to device engineers seeking to understand how natural
      molecular systems realize device-like functions, such as stochastic sensing of
      organic analytes. What's more, attaching molecular adaptors in desired
      orientations inside genetically engineered ion channels, enhances the system
      functionality as a biosensor. In general, a hierarchy of simulation methodologies
      is needed to study different aspects of a biological system like ion channels.
      Biology Monte Carlo (BioMOCA), a three-dimensional coarse-grained particle ion
      channel simulator, offers a powerful and general approach to study ion channel
      permeation. BioMOCA is based on the Boltzmann Transport Monte Carlo (BTMC) and
      Particle-Particle-Particle-Mesh (P(3)M) methodologies developed at the University
      of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In this paper, we have employed BioMOCA to study
      two engineered mutations of alpha-HL, namely (M113F)(6)(M113C-D8RL2)(1)-beta-CD
      and (M113N)(6)(T117C-D8RL3)(1)-beta-CD. The channel conductance calculated by
      BioMOCA is slightly higher than experimental values. Permanent charge
      distributions and the geometrical shape of the channels gives rise to selectivity
      towards anions and also an asymmetry in I-V curves, promoting a rectification
      largely for cations.

PMID- 20938494
TI  - Imaging biological tissues with electrical conductivity contrast below 1 S m by
      means of magnetoacoustic tomography with magnetic induction.
AB  - Magnetoacoustic tomography with magnetic induction (MAT-MI) is a recently
      introduced imaging modality for noninvasive electrical impedance imaging, with
      ultrasound imaging resolution and a contrast reflecting the electrical
      conductivity properties of tissues. However, previous MAT-MI systems can only
      image samples that are much more conductive than real human or animal tissues. To
      image real biological tissue samples, a large-current-carrying coil that can give
      stronger magnetic stimulations and stronger MAT-MI acoustic signals is employed
      in this study. The conductivity values of all the tissue samples employed in this
      study are also directly measured using a well calibrated four-electrode system.
      The experimental results demonstrated the feasibility to image biological tissues
      with electrical conductivity contrast below 1.0 S/m using the MAT-MI technique
      with safe level of electromagnetic energy applied to tissue samples.

PMID- 20938495
TI  - Enhancement of magnetoresistance by hydrogen ion treatment for current
      perpendicular-to-plane giant magnetoresistive films with a current-confined-path
      nano-oxide layer.
AB  - We have enhanced magnetoresistance (MR) for current-perpendicular-to-plane giant
      magnetoresistive (CPP-GMR) films with a current-confined-path nano-oxide layer
      (CCP-NOL). In order to realize higher purity in Cu for CCPs, hydrogen ion
      treatment (HIT) was applied as the CuO(x) reduction process. By applying the HIT
      process, an MR ratio was increased to 27.4% even in the case of using
      conventional FeCo magnetic layer, from 13.0% for a reference without the HIT
      process. Atom probe tomography data confirmed oxygen reduction by the HIT process
      in the CCP-NOL. The relationship between oxygen counts and MR ratio indicates
      that further oxygen reduction would realize an MR ratio greater than 50%.

PMID- 20938496
TI  - Chirality transfer across length-scales in nematic liquid crystals: fundamentals
      and applications.
AB  - When a chiral dopant is dissolved in an achiral liquid crystal medium, the whole
      sample organizes into a helical structure with a characteristic length-scale of
      the order of microns. The relation between chirality at these quite different
      length-scales can be rationalized by a relatively simple model, which retains the
      relevant factors coming into play: the molecular shape of the chiral dopant,
      which controls the chirality of short range intermolecular interactions, and the
      elastic properties of the nematic environment, which control the restoring
      torques opposing distortion of the director. In this tutorial review the relation
      between molecular and phase chirality will be reviewed and several applications
      of the chiral doping of nematic LCs will be discussed. These range from the
      exploitation of the amplified molecular chirality for stereochemical purposes
      (e.g., the determination of the absolute configuration or the enantiomeric
      excess), to newer applications in physico-chemical fields. The latter take
      advantage of the periodicity of the chiral field, with length-scales ranging from
      hundreds to thousands of nanometres, which characterise the cholesteric phase.

PMID- 20938497
TI  - Three-dimensionally crossing manifold micro-mixer for fast mixing in a short
      channel length.
AB  - In this study, we report a neo-conceptive three-dimensionally (3D) crossing
      manifold micromixer (CMM) embedded in microchannel. Fabricated by sequential
      processes of photolithography and two photon absorption stereolithography, this
      leads to a microfluidic system with a built-in micromixer in a site controlled
      manner. The effectiveness of CMM is investigated numerically and experimentally.
      Through the numerical simulation, it is estimated that a high mixing ratio of 90%
      can be obtained even in a channel length shorter than five times the channel
      width. This compares well with the conventional passive type of micromixers that
      have a gradual increase in mixing efficiency with the length of the channel.
      Furthermore, the mixing performance of the realized CMM built-in microchannel is
      observed by confocal microscopy.

PMID- 20938498
TI  - Use of directly molded poly(methyl methacrylate) channels for microfluidic
      applications.
AB  - A direct molding method for creating a homogeneous, polymer microfluidic channel
      is presented. By utilizing capillary rise and subsequent absorption of
      poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) solution into a solvent-permeable poly(dimethyl
      siloxane) (PDMS) mold, various circular or elliptic polymer microchannels were
      fabricated without channel bonding and additional surface modification processes.
      In addition, the channel diameter was tunable from several micrometres to several
      hundreds of micrometres by controlling concentration and initial amount of
      polymer solution for a given PDMS mold geometry. The molded PMMA channels were
      used for two applications: blocking absorption of Rhodamine B dye and
      constructing artificial endothelial cell-cultured capillaries. It was observed
      that the molded PMMA channels effectively prevented absorption and diffusion of
      Rhodamine molecules over 5 h time span, demonstrating approximately 40 times
      higher blocking efficiency as compared to porous PDMS channels. Also, calf
      pulmonary artery endothelial cells (CPAEs) adhered, spread, and proliferated
      uniformly within the molded microchannels to form near confluency within 3 days
      and remained viable at day 6 without notable cell death, suggesting high
      biocompatibility and possibility for emulating in vivo-like three-dimensional
      architecture of blood vessels.

PMID- 20938499
TI  - High-density micro-arrays for mass spectrometry.
AB  - Functional high-density micro-arrays for mass spectrometry enable rapid picolitre
      volume aliquoting and ultrasensitive analysis of microscale samples, for example,
      single cells.

PMID- 20938500
TI  - Oxygen sensitive microwells.
AB  - Oxygen tension is critical in a number of cell pathways but is often overlooked
      in cell culture. One reason for this is the difficulty in modulating and
      assessing oxygen tensions without disturbing the culture conditions. Toward this
      end, a simple method to generate oxygen-sensitive microwells was developed
      through embossing polystyrene (PS) and platinum(ii) octaethylporphyrin ketone
      (PtOEPK) thin films. In addition to monitoring the oxygen tension, microwells
      were employed in order to isolate uniform clusters of cells in microwells. The
      depth and width of the microwells can be adapted to different experimental
      parameters easily by altering the thin film processing or embossing stamp
      geometries. The thin oxygen sensitive microwell substrate is also compatible with
      high magnification modalities such as confocal imaging. The incorporation of the
      oxygen sensor into the microwells produces measurements of the oxygen tension
      near the cell surface. The oxygen sensitive microwells were calibrated and used
      to monitor oxygen tensions of Madin-Darby Canine Kidney Cells (MDCKs) cultured at
      high and low densities as a proof of concept. Wells 500 um in diameter seeded
      with an average of 330 cells exhibited an oxygen level of 12.6% whereas wells
      seeded with an average of 20 cells per well exhibited an oxygen level of 19.5%, a
      35.7% difference. This platform represents a new tool for culturing cells in
      microwells in a format amenable to high magnification imaging while monitoring
      the oxygen state of the culture media.

PMID- 20938501
TI  - 3-Methoxalylchromone--a novel versatile reagent for the regioselective purine
      isostere synthesis.
AB  - The first synthesis of 3-methoxalylchromone was described. The reaction of the
      latter with electron-rich aminoheterocycles afforded a set of heteroannelated
      pyridines bearing a CO(2)Me substituent located at the alpha-position of the
      pyridine core.

PMID- 20938502
TI  - System-level strategies for studying the metabolism of Mycobacterium
      tuberculosis.
AB  - Despite decades of research many aspects of the biology of Mycobacterium
      tuberculosis remain unclear and this is reflected in the antiquated tools
      available to treat and prevent tuberculosis and consequently this disease remains
      a serious public health problem. Important discoveries linking M. tuberculosis's
      metabolism and pathogenesis have renewed interest in this area of research.
      Previous experimental studies were limited to the analysis of individual genes or
      enzymes whereas recent advances in computational systems biology and high
      throughput experimental technologies now allow metabolism to be studied on a
      genome scale. Here we discuss the progress being made in applying system level
      approaches to studying the metabolism of this important pathogen. The information
      from these studies will fundamentally change our approach to tuberculosis
      research and lead to new targets for therapeutic drugs and vaccines.

PMID- 20938503
TI  - ToF-SIMS imaging of the nanoscale phase separation in polymeric light emitting
      diodes: effect of nanostructure on device efficiency.
AB  - The nanostructure of the light emissive layer (EL) of polymer light emitting
      diodes (PLEDs) was investigated using force modulation microscopy (FMM) and
      scanning time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) excited with
      focused Bi(3)(2+) primary beam. Three-dimensional nanostructures were
      reconstructed from high resolution ToF-SIMS images acquired with different
      C(60)(+) sputtering times. The observed nanostructure is related to the
      efficiency of the PLED. In poly(9-vinyl-carbazole) (PVK) based EL, a high
      processing temperature (60  degrees C) yielded less nanoscale phase separation
      than a low processing temperature (30  degrees C). This nanostructure can be
      further suppressed by replacing the host polymer with poly[oxy(3-(9H-9-carbazol-9
      ilmethyl-2-methyltrimethylene)] (SL74) and poly[3-(carbazol-9-ylmethyl)-3
      methyloxetane] (RS12), which have similar chemical structures and energy levels
      as PVK. The device efficiency increases when the phase separation inside the EL
      is suppressed. While the spontaneous formation of a bicontinuous nanostructure
      inside the active layer is known to provide a path for charge carrier
      transportation and to be the key to highly efficient polymeric solar cells, these
      nanostructures are less efficient for trapping the carrier inside the EL and thus
      lower the power conversion efficiency of the PLED devices.

PMID- 20938504
TI  - Screening of dioxin-like compounds in bio-composts and their materials: chemical
      analysis and fractionation-directed evaluation of AhR ligand activities using an
      in vitro bioassay.
AB  - Application of the dioxin responsive-chemical activated luciferase gene
      expression (DR-CALUX) bioassay to three compost products (kitchen garbage
      compost, treated sludge compost, and poultry manure compost) and their organic
      waste materials was performed for the screening of dioxin-like compounds. Phased
      sample preparation was conducted for the bioassay to yield separate crude, acid
      stable, and carbon column fractions. Chemical analyses were also conducted for
      polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxin and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs), polychlorinated
      biphenyls (PCBs), and polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Their determined WHO
      PCDD/PCDF/dl-PCB-TEQ values were compared to the DR-CALUX results expressed as
      CALUX-TEQ to ascertain their contributions to overall activity. Overall all three
      compost products were polluted to a low level by persistent PCDD/PCDF/dl-PCBs in
      a few pg/g WHO-TEQ concentration range. The organic crude fraction showed non
      persistent CALUX-TEQ values 2-4 orders of magnitude higher than those of WHO-TEQ.
      For the acid-resistant fractions of all samples, persistent CALUX-TEQ values were
      1-8-fold higher than WHO-PCDD/PCDF/dl-PCB-TEQ values. Both TEQs correlated well
      for this fraction, which confirms the availability of CALUX for estimation of the
      actual WHO-TEQ level of the samples using reflux method with 44% sulfuric
      acid/silica gel, although the compost and material samples examined in this study
      contained much lower levels of WHO-TEQ: less than 1 pg/g in almost all cases.
      Additional carbon column treatment enhanced the potency and efficacy of CALUX
      activity in the three compost samples, which showed 1.6-4.4 times higher values
      of CALUX-TEQ than those obtained for the acid-resistant fraction. Although
      further DR-CALUX data collection for compost samples will be necessary, DR-CALUX
      is useful as a rapid screening method for monitoring dioxin-like compounds in
      compost.

PMID- 20938505
TI  - Rapid point-of-care concentration of bacteria in a disposable microfluidic device
      using meniscus dragging effect.
AB  - We report a low cost, disposable polymer microfluidic sample preparation device
      to perform rapid concentration of bacteria from liquid samples using enhanced
      evaporation targeted at downstream detection using surface enhanced Raman
      spectroscopy (SERS). The device is composed of a poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS)
      liquid sample flow layer, a reusable metal airflow layer, and a porous PTFE
      (TeflonTM) membrane sandwiched in between the liquid and air layers. The
      concentration capacity of the device was successfully demonstrated with
      fluorescently tagged Escherichia coli (E. coli). The recovery concentration was
      above 85% for all initial concentrations lower than 1 * 10(4) CFU mL(-1). In the
      lowest initial concentration cases, 100 uL initial volumes of bacteria solution
      at 100 CFU mL(-1) were concentrated into 500 nL droplets with greater than 90%
      efficiency in 15 min. Subsequent tests with SERS on clinically relevant
      Methicillin-Sensitive Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) after concentration in this
      device proved more than 100-fold enhancement in SERS signal intensity compared to
      the signal obtained from the unconcentrated sample. The concentration device is
      straightforward to design and use, and as such could be used in conjunction with
      a number of detection technologies.

PMID- 20938506
TI  - Simple replication methods for producing nanoslits in thermoplastics and the
      transport dynamics of double-stranded DNA through these slits.
AB  - Mixed-scale nano- and microfluidic networks were fabricated in thermoplastics
      using simple and robust methods that did not require the use of sophisticated
      equipment to produce the nanostructures. High-precision micromilling (HPMM) and
      photolithography were used to generate mixed-scale molding tools that were
      subsequently used for producing fluidic networks into thermoplastics such as
      poly(methyl methacrylate), PMMA, cyclic olefin copolymer, COC, and polycarbonate,
      PC. Nanoslit arrays were imprinted into the polymer using a nanoimprinting tool,
      which was composed of an optical mask with patterns that were 2-7 um in width and
      a depth defined by the Cr layer (100 nm), which was deposited onto glass. The
      device also contained a microchannel network that was hot embossed into the
      polymer substrate using a metal molding tool prepared via HPMM. The mixed-scale
      device could also be used as a master to produce a polymer stamp, which was made
      from polydimethylsiloxane, PDMS, and used to generate the mixed-scale fluidic
      network in a single step. Thermal fusion bonding of the cover plate to the
      substrate at a temperature below their respective T(g) was accomplished by oxygen
      plasma treatment of both the substrate and cover plate, which significantly
      reduced thermally induced structural deformation during assembly: ~6% for PMMA
      and ~9% for COC nanoslits. The electrokinetic transport properties of double
      stranded DNA (dsDNA) through the polymeric nanoslits (PMMA and COC) were carried
      out. In these polymer devices, the dsDNA demonstrated a field-dependent
      electrophoretic mobility with intermittent transport dynamics. DNA mobilities
      were found to be 8.2 +/- 0.7 * 10(-4) cm(2) V(-1) s(-1) and 7.6 +/- 0.6 * 10(-4)
      cm(2) V(-1) s(-1) for PMMA and COC, respectively, at a field strength of 25 V cm(
      1). The extension factors for lambda-DNA were 0.46 in PMMA and 0.53 in COC for
      the nanoslits (2-6% standard deviation).

PMID- 20938507
TI  - In situ monitoring of antibiotic susceptibility of bacterial biofilms in a
      microfluidic device.
AB  - Antibiotic resistance of biofilms is a growing public health concern due to
      overuse and improper use of antibiotics. Thus, determining an effective minimal
      concentration of antibiotics to eradicate bacterial biofilms is crucial. Here we
      present a simple, novel one-pot assay for the analysis of antibiotic
      susceptibility of bacterial biofilms using a microfluidics system where
      continuous concentration gradients of antibiotics are generated. The results of
      minimal biofilm eradication concentration (MBEC) clearly confirm that the
      concentration required to eradicate biofilm-grown Pseudomonas aeruginosa is
      higher than the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) that has been widely used
      to determine the lowest concentration of antibiotics against planktonically grown
      bacteria.

PMID- 20938508
TI  - The structure of a native l-amino acid oxidase, the major component of the Vipera
      ammodytes ammodytes venomic, reveals dynamic active site and quaternary structure
      stabilization by divalent ions.
AB  - The crystal structure of the major component of the Vipera ammodytes ammodytes
      venomic, a flavotoxin, member of the l-amino acid oxidase (LAAO) family, has been
      determined and refined at 2.6 A resolution. The asymmetric unit consists of four
      molecules, each bound to oxidized FAD, representing a dimer of dimers. The
      binding of four Zn(2+) ions stabilizes the enzymatically active quaternary
      structure and is considered important for the biological activity of LAAO and
      other flavoproteins. Each monomer consists of three domains with a cofactor bound
      between the FAD and substrate binding domains, and a solvent exposed
      glycosylation site which is considered crucial for the toxicity. Comparison of
      LAAO structures in the absence and presence of a substrate indicates
      conformational changes in the dynamic active site. The active site H-bond network
      involving the triad Lys326-Water-N5 of FAD is formed only upon substrate binding,
      and results in the increased mobility of the isoalloxazine system. Details of the
      catalytic transformation of amino acid substrates are discussed.

PMID- 20938511
TI  - Metal ion detection by luminescent 1,3-bis(dimethylaminomethyl) phenyl receptor
      modified chromophores and cruciforms.
AB  - Chromophores ranging from simple small molecule pi-conjugated systems comprised
      of phenylene ethynylene or fluorenylethynyl units to cross-conjugated Bunz-type
      cruciforms have been derivatized to include 1,3-bis(dimethylaminomethyl)phenyl
      moieties. The photophysical responsiveness of these diamino-substituted
      chromophores to metal ions has been examined. Both emission enhancement (turn-on)
      and ratiometric fluorescence detection of Cu(2+) and Zn(2+) ions have been
      achieved in THF.

PMID- 20938510
TI  - "Nanoarmoured" droplets of different shapes formed by interfacial self-assembly
      and crosslinking of metal nanoparticles.
AB  - Films comprising metal nanoparticles are assembled on the surfaces of liquid
      droplets of different shapes and macroscopic dimensions. These films are
      reinforced by dithiol crosslinks and are mechanically rugged yet permeable to the
      diffusion of small molecules.

PMID- 20938509
TI  - Erythrocyte-like hollow carbon capsules and their application in proton exchange
      membrane fuel cells.
AB  - Hierarchical nanostructured erythrocyte-like hollow carbon (EHC) with a hollow
      hemispherical macroporous core of ca. 230 nm in diameter and 30-40 nm thick
      mesoporous shell was synthesized and explored as a cathode catalyst support in a
      proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). The morphology control of EHC was
      successfully achieved using solid core/mesoporous shell (SCMS) silica template
      and different styrene/furfuryl alcohol mixture compositions by a nanocasting
      method. The EHC-supported Pt (20 wt%) cathodes prepared have demonstrated
      markedly enhanced catalytic activity towards oxygen reduction reactions (ORRs)
      and greatly improved PEMFC polarization performance compared to carbon black
      Vulcan XC-72 (VC)-supported ones, probably due to the superb structural
      characteristics of the EHC such as uniform size, well-developed porosity, large
      specific surface area and pore volume. In particular, Pt/EHC cathodes exhibited
      ca. 30-60% higher ORR activity than a commercial Johnson Matthey Pt catalyst at a
      low catalyst loading of 0.2 mg Pt cm(-2).

PMID- 20938512
TI  - A sensitive, non-damaging electrochemiluminescent aptasensor via a low potential
      approach at DNA-modified gold electrodes.
AB  - Electrochemiluminescence (ECL)-based biosensors are often used in the field of
      DNA- and protein-assay. Although ruthenium complex-based ECL is sensitive, its
      high exciting potential may lead to oxidation damage to biomolecules. For the
      first time, a non-damaging, low potential ECL aptasensor was constructed for
      bioassay with lysozyme as a model. After a single-stranded anti-lysozyme aptamer
      was attached to a gold electrode, a double stranded (ds)-DNA formed with its
      complementary strand. Ru(phen)(3)(2+), as an ECL probe, was intercalated into the
      ds-DNA. The hybridization of lysozyme with its aptamer led to the dissociation of
      ds-DNA because of the high stability of the aptamer-lysozyme and therefore the
      Ru(phen)(3)(2+) intercalated into ds-DNA was released. A low potential ECL was
      observed at the ds-DNA-modified electrode because ds-DNA was able to
      preconcentrate tripropylamine (TPA) and acted as the acceptor of the protons
      released from protonated TPAH(+). While the DNA sequence (anti-lysozyme aptamer)
      was used as the special recognition element for lysozyme, the formed ds-DNA also
      provided a micro-environment for low potential ECL. The low potential ECL
      aptasensor achieved the determination of lysozyme with a detection limit of 0.45
      pM. The day-to-day precision (RSDs, n = 5) for the determination of lysozyme was
      lower than 5%, showing the reliability of the aptasensor. The regeneration of the
      aptasensor confirmed that the low potential for ECL could decrease oxidation
      damage to biomolecules. Further, the proposed method was successfully used to
      analyze diluted egg white sample directly. The protocol exhibited a promising
      platform for sensitive bioassay and could be further applied for the development
      of other low potential ECL sensing systems.

PMID- 20938513
TI  - Control of morphology and nanostructure of copper and cobalt oxalates: effect of
      complexing ions, polymeric additives and molecular weight.
AB  - Precipitated oxalates are often nanostructured and can be used as precursors for
      nanostructured oxides for different applications. The modification of the
      particle shape and nanostructures of both copper and cobalt oxalates has been
      demonstrated using polymeric additives or complexing counter-ions. In the case of
      cobalt oxalate the characteristic elongated rod particle shape (axial ratio of
      10) can be modified by using polymethymethacrylate (PMMA) to produce particles
      with lower axial ratios of 2, through cubes all the way to platelets (axial ratio
      0.2). The PMMA inhibits the growth of the particles along the [101] direction
      more and more strongly as the concentration of the polymer increases. The
      crystallite size from XRD line broadening is not modified by the PMMA indicating
      that the PMMA does not influence the nucleation and growth but modifies the
      aggregation kinetics. Copper oxalates precipitated in the presence of different
      cellulose derived polymers with different molecular weights and functional groups
      (methyl and propyl) showed sensitivity to both molecular weight and functional
      group. Higher molecular weights did not influence the copper oxalate particle
      shape, whereas methyl cellulose gave elongated particles and propyl celluloses
      gave platelet like particles. Copper oxalate precipitated in the presence of
      acetate counter ions gave platelets with an axial ratio of 0.15 compared to the
      cushion-like morphology (axial ratio 0.5). The primary crystallites were more
      elongated along the [001] direction in the presence of acetate, modifying the
      proportion of the hydrophobic and hydrophilic surfaces and hence influencing the
      aggregation kinetics and particle shape. The copper and cobalt oxalate particle
      formation seems to be dominated by the primary particle aggregation with the
      different additives interacting specifically with different crystallographic
      faces of the primary particles. By tuning this interaction particles with
      different shapes and substructures can be formed.

PMID- 20938514
TI  - Aminocyclopropanes as precursors of endoperoxides with antimalarial activity.
AB  - This contribution describes the synthesis of several novel bicyclic alpha-amino
      endoperoxides, including CF(3)-substituted compounds, prepared by the aerobic
      electrochemical oxidation of a family of bicyclic aminocyclopropanes. These, in
      turn, are readily synthesised by a titanium-mediated intramolecular
      cyclopropanation process (Kulinkovich-de Meijere reaction), starting from N
      alkenyl amides that contain a vic-disubstituted double bond, with high
      diastereoselectivity. An evaluation of the biological activities of several of
      the molecules produced, against the parasite Plasmodium falciparum, is also
      presented.

PMID- 20938515
TI  - Nucleation sequence on the cation exchange process between Y0.95Eu0.05PO4 and
      CePO4 nanorods.
AB  - Nanorods of Y0.95Eu0.05PO4@CePO4 (Y0.95Eu0.05PO4 phase was nucleated first and
      then a CePO4 phase was nucleated) and CePO4@Y0.95Eu0.05PO4 (CePO4 phase was
      nucleated first and then Y0.95Eu0.05PO4 phase was nucleated) were prepared at a
      relatively low temperature of 140  degrees C in ethylene glycol medium. Based on
      XRD, TEM and Raman studies it has been inferred that Y0.95Eu0.05PO4@CePO4 sample
      consists of a mixture of bigger (length around 800-1000 nm and width around of 80
      100 nm) and smaller (length around 70-100 nm and width around 10-20 nm) nanorods,
      having monoclinic CePO4 and tetragonal YPO4 structure, whereas
      CePO4@Y0.95Eu0.05PO4 sample consists of mainly small nanorods having a single
      phase CePO4 structure. From the detailed luminescence studies it has been
      established that there exists significant incorporation of Y3+/Eu3+ ions in the
      CePO4 phase in CePO4@Y0.95Eu0.5PO4 sample. This has been attributed to the cation
      exchange taking place between Ce3+ ions in CePO4 host and Eu3+ and Y3+ ions in
      solution during the synthesis stage. Unlike this, such an exchange is not
      possible for Y0.95Eu0.05PO4@CePO4 sample synthesized under identical conditions
      due to the higher solubility product (Ksp) value of YPO4 compared to CePO4.
      Incorporation of Eu3+ in the CePO4 lattice of CePO4@Y0.95Eu0.5PO4 sample is
      confirmed by the significant reduction in the lifetime of 5D0 level of Eu3+ and
      the luminescence intensity from Eu3+, arising due to the electron transfer
      between the Ce3+/Ce4+ and Eu3+/Eu2+ species. These results are further supported
      by the non-radiative decay rates and quantum yields calculated from the emission
      spectrum.

PMID- 20938516
TI  - Analytical electron tomography mapping of the SiC pore oxidation at the
      nanoscale.
AB  - Silicon carbide is a ceramic material that has been widely studied because of its
      potential applications, ranging from electronics to heterogeneous catalysis.
      Recently, a new type of SiC materials with a medium specific surface area and
      thermal conductivity, called beta-SiC, has attracted overgrowing interest as a
      new class of catalyst support in several catalytic reactions. A primary electron
      tomography study, performed in usual mode, has revealed a dual surface structure
      defined by two types of porosities made of networks of connected channels with
      sizes larger than 50 nm and ink-bottled pores with sizes spanning from 4 to 50
      nm. Depending on the solvent nature, metal nanoparticles could be selectively
      deposited inside one of the two porosities, a fact that illustrates a selective
      wetting titration of the two types of surfaces by different liquids. The
      explaining hypothesis that has been put forward was that this selectivity against
      solvents is related to the pore surface oxidation degree of the two types of
      pores. A new technique of analytical electron tomography, where the series of
      projections used to reconstruct the volume of an object is recorded in energy
      filtered mode (EFTEM), has been implemented to map the pore oxidation state and
      to correlate it with the morphology and the accessibility of the porous network.
      Applied, for the first time, at a nanoscale resolution, this technique allowed us
      to obtain 3D elemental maps of different elements present in the analysed porous
      grains, in particular oxygen; we found thus that the interconnected channel pores
      are more rapidly oxidized than the ink-bottled ones. Alternatively, our study
      highlights the great interest of this method that opens the way for obtaining
      precise information on the chemical composition of a 3D surface at a nanometer
      scale.

PMID- 20938517
TI  - The aqueous phase behavior of polyion-surfactant ion complex salts mixed with
      nonionic surfactants.
AB  - The aim of this work was to study intermolecular interactions in systems
      containing charged polyion (polyacrylate, PA(-)), charged surfactant (C(16)TA(+))
      and nonionic surfactant (C(12)E(5) or C(12)E(8)). To achieve this we have created
      four different phase diagrams using two different so-called complex salts,
      C(16)TAPA(25) and C(16)TAPA(6000), both consisting of positively charged
      surfactant (C(16)TA(+)) with polyacrylate (PA(-)) as counterions (no simple
      salt). The difference between the salts is the length of the polyion (25 or 6000
      monomers). Both are insoluble in water. The results revealed that decreasing
      polyion length and increasing the PEO chain length of the nonionic surfactant
      were important factors for increasing the solubility of the complex salt. We also
      found that the curvature effects are quite small at low water content when
      gradually exchanging C(12)E(8) for either one of the complex salts while there is
      a gradual change in curvature for the systems containing C(12)E(5). Another
      interesting observation was the possibility for relatively large amounts of
      complex salt to be incorporated into a V(1) (Ia3d, bicontinuous) phase in the
      C(12)E(8)-containing systems. This gives rise to several questions regarding
      arrangements and dynamics of the polyion in this phase. In the dilute regime
      several different liquid crystalline phases can coexist with a dilute liquid
      phase containing the nonionic surfactant.

PMID- 20938518
TI  - Zeolite synthesis: an energetic perspective.
AB  - Taking |D(H(2)O)(x)|[AlSiO(4)] based materials (where D is Li, Na, K, Rb or Cs)
      as an archetypal aluminosilicate system, we use accurate density functional
      theory calculations to demonstrate how the substitution of silicon cations in
      silica, with pairs of aluminium and (alkali metal) cations, changes the energetic
      ordering of different competing structure-types. For large alkali metal cations
      we further show that the formation of porous aluminosilicate structures, the so
      called zeolites, is energetically favored. These findings unequivocally
      demonstrate that zeolites can be energetic preferred reaction products, rather
      than being kinetically determined, and that the size of the (hydrated) cations in
      the pore, be it inorganic or organic, is critical for directing zeolite
      synthesis.

PMID- 20938519
TI  - Computational studies on the interactions among redox couples, additives and
      TiO2: implications for dye-sensitized solar cells.
AB  - One of the major and unique components of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC) is
      the iodide/triiodide redox couple. Periodic density-functional calculations have
      been carried out to study the interactions among three different components of
      the DSSC, i.e. the redox shuttle, the TiO(2) semiconductor surface, and nitrogen
      containing additives, with a focus on the implications for the performance of the
      DSSC. Iodide and bromide with alkali metal cations as counter ions are strongly
      adsorbed on the TiO(2) surface. Small additive molecules also strongly interact
      with TiO(2). Both interactions induce a negative shift of the Fermi energy of
      TiO(2). The negative shift of the Fermi energy is related to the performance of
      the cell by increasing the open voltage of the cell and retarding the injection
      dynamics (decreasing the short circuit current). Additive molecules, however,
      have relatively weaker interaction with iodide and triiodide.

PMID- 20938520
TI  - Influence of pulling handles and device stiffness in single-molecule force
      spectroscopy.
AB  - In single-molecule force spectroscopy, individual molecules and complexes are
      often stretched by pulling devices via intervening molecular handles. Accurate
      interpretation of measurements from such experiments in terms of the underlying
      energy landscape, defined by activation barriers and intrinsic rates of
      transition, relies on our understanding, and proper theoretical treatment, of the
      effects of the pulling device and handle. Here, we present a framework based on
      Kramers' theory that elucidates the dependence of measured rupture forces and
      rates on the pulling device stiffness and attributes of the handle, contour
      length and persistence length. We also introduce a simple analytic model that
      improves prediction of activation barriers and intrinsic rates for all device
      stiffnesses and handle properties, thus allowing for a more reliable
      interpretation of experiments. Our analyses also suggests intuitive ways of
      displaying the measured force spectra for proper prognosis of device and handle
      effects and provides the range of device and handle attributes over which these
      effects can be neglected.

PMID- 20938521
TI  - Surprisingly strong effect of stabilizer on the properties of Au nanoparticles
      and Pt^Au nanostructures in electrocatalysis.
AB  - We show that the electrocatalytic properties of nearly monodispersed Au
      nanoparticles (NPs) and their derived Pt-on-Au (Pt^Au) nanostructures with
      similarly dispersed Pt entities are dependent on the nature of stabilizers
      involved in the colloidal syntheses of the Au particles. The effect of stabilizer
      on the activity for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) of Au NPs significantly
      outweighed the Au nano-size effect and thus would raise an alert to those
      reported size-dependent properties of metal NPs carrying various stabilizers in
      earlier studies. It is also demonstrated that the stabilizer effect on the
      property of Au NPs can further induce changes in the catalytic properties of
      their carried Pt. These findings clearly suggest that a proper screening of the
      stabilizer in the colloidal synthesis of metal NPs would be important for
      innovative nanomaterials and catalysts.

PMID- 20938522
TI  - Nanoparticles for cell labeling.
AB  - Cell based therapeutics are emerging as powerful regimens. To better understand
      the migration and proliferation mechanisms of implanted cells, a means to track
      cells in living subjects is essential, and to achieve that, a number of cell
      labeling techniques have been developed. Nanoparticles, with their superior
      physical properties, have become the materials of choice in many investigations
      along this line. Owing to inherent magnetic, optical or acoustic attributes,
      these nanoparticles can be detected by corresponding imaging modalities in living
      subjects at a high spatial and temporal resolution. These features allow
      implanted cells to be separated from host cells; and have advantages over
      traditional histological methods, as they permit non-invasive, real-time tracking
      in vivo. This review attempts to give a summary of progress in using
      nanotechnology to monitor cell trafficking. We will focus on direct cell labeling
      techniques, in which cells ingest nanoparticles that bear traceable signals, such
      as iron oxide or quantum dots. Ferritin and MagA reporter genes that can package
      endogenous iron or iron supplement into iron oxide nanoparticles will also be
      discussed.

PMID- 20938527
TI  - Refining current knowledge on the yeast FLR1 regulatory network by combined
      experimental and computational approaches.
AB  - Multidrug resistance is often the result of the activation of drug efflux pumps
      able to catalyze the extrusion of the toxic compound to the outer medium, this
      activation being frequently controlled at the transcriptional level.
      Transcriptional regulation in the model eukaryote S. cerevisiae is the result of
      the interaction and cross-talk between networks of transcription factors. This is
      the case of the transcriptional activation of the FLR1 gene occurring in response
      to stress induced by the agricultural fungicide mancozeb in yeast. FLR1 up
      regulation depends on the integrated action of Yap1, a key regulator of oxidative
      stress response, Pdr3 and Yrr1, two of the transcription factors controlling
      multidrug resistance, and Rpn4, a regulator of proteasome gene expression, which
      interplay to produce the observed transcriptional up-shift. Based on the
      expression profiles of FLR1, YAP1, PDR3, YRR1 and RPN4 registered during yeast
      adaptation to stress induced by mancozeb and using a qualitative modeling
      approach, a model of the FLR1 regulatory network was built, and the response of
      S. cerevisiae to mancozeb stress was simulated. The use of a qualitative approach
      is especially useful to overcome the lack of enough quantitative data on kinetic
      parameters and molecular concentrations, permitting the immediate focus on the
      qualitative behavior of the system. This Systems Biology approach allowed the
      identification of essential features of the early yeast response to fungicide
      stress. The resulting model allowed the formulation of new hypotheses, in a quick
      and cost effective manner, on the qualitative behavior of the system following
      mancozeb challenge, some of which were validated experimentally. In particular,
      Pdr3 and Yrr1 were shown to directly control FLR1 up-regulation in mancozeb
      challenged cells, based on the analysis of the effect of the inactivation of
      their putative binding sites in the FLR1 promoter. Furthermore, the inter
      dependent role of Yap1 and Yrr1 in the regulation of PDR3 and RPN4 was brought to
      light, this joint activity possibly being extensible to eight other genes
      involved in multidrug resistance. The FLR1 network structure was revised, based
      on the comparison between simulated and experimental gene expression data in the
      double deletion mutant strains Deltayrr1Deltapdr3 and Deltayrr1Deltarpn4, and an
      additional, still unidentified, transcription factor was found to be required to
      fully explain the behavior of the network.

PMID- 20938529
TI  - Double addition of H2 to transition metal-borane complexes: a 'hydride shuttle'
      process between boron and transition metal centres.
AB  - The addition of H(2) across a transition metal-borane bond is reported for the
      first time providing a mechanism for recharging borane functional groups to
      borohydride.

PMID- 20938528
TI  - Microarray proteomic analysis discriminates tumorigenic mouse ovarian surface
      epithelial cells of divergent aggressive potential.
AB  - Cancer is an intrinsically heterogeneous disease. Tumors classified under the
      same etiology and histological type may display divergent growth and invasion
      properties, resulting in different progression rates and clinical outcomes. Here,
      we approached this subject in a syngeneic mouse model of ovarian cancer. Antibody
      microarrays were applied to obtain the proteomic profiles of IF5 and IG10, two
      spontaneously transformed mouse ovarian surface epithelial (MOSE) cell lines of
      cognate clonal origin but different tumorigenic behavior in vivo. Repeated dye
      swap allowed filter out about 40% of inconsistent signals from a total of 224
      arrayed antibodies. Two-class comparison tests resulted in 31 differentially
      expressed proteins (adjusted p < 0.05). Proteins of the ErbB and focal adhesion
      signaling pathways showed higher levels in IG10, the most aggressive cell. In
      contrast, the less aggressive IF5 cell was enriched in proteins related to
      nuclear chromatin organization and cell-cycle. Additionally, comparison between
      protein levels and mRNA levels of MOSE cells resulted in a positive rank
      correlation for 50-60% of protein-mRNA pairs (p < 1.7 * 10(-5)). Importantly, the
      protein profile of IG10 is linked to invasion and chemotherapy response in human
      ovarian tumors while the IF5 profile is associated to growth control. The minimal
      IG10 network contained the proteins Jun, Smad4, Myc, Atf2, and Pak1 as major
      nodes while Chek2, Mdm2 and Ccna2 were the predominant nodes of the IF5 network.
      The molecular basis accounting for a high aggressive potential not necessarily
      related to an increased tumor growth capacity is discussed on a pathway-network
      basis.

PMID- 20938530
TI  - Decreasing the oxidative potential of TiO(2) nanoparticles through modification
      of the surface with carbon: a new strategy for the production of safe UV filters.
AB  - A safe UV filter may be obtained by inhibiting the photo-generation of free
      radicals through modification of the surface of TiO(2) nanoparticles with carbon.

PMID- 20938531
TI  - Benzopentalenonaphthalenones from the intramolecular capture of a merocyanine
      derived from a naphthopyran.
AB  - Novel, highly coloured benzopentalenonaphthalenones result from a cascade process
      initiated by the thermally-induced ring-opening of diarylmethanol substituted 2H
      naphtho[1,2-b]pyrans in the presence of acid.

PMID- 20938533
TI  - Single-crystal-to-single-crystal structural transformations of two sandwich-like
      Cu(ii) pyrazolate complexes and their excellent catalytic performances in MMA
      polymerization.
AB  - Reactions of Cu(OAc)(2).H(2)O with dmnpzH in EtOH produce a heptanuclear
      copper(ii) pyrazolate complex [Cu(7)(OH)(2)(OAc)(6)(dmnpz)(6)(EtOH)(6)], which is
      able to undergo a SCSC structural transformation from a lower symmetry structure
      to a higher symmetry structure via replacement of ligated-EtOH molecules with
      MeOH; both complexes along with the solvent-free species exhibit high catalytic
      activity in the polymerization of MMA.

PMID- 20938532
TI  - Development of inositol-based antagonists for the D-myo-inositol 1,4,5
      trisphosphate receptor.
AB  - The syntheses of four D-myo-inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (InsP(3)) derivatives,
      incorporating phosphate bioisosteres at the 5-position, are reported. The methyl
      phosphate ester and sulfate derivatives retain InsP(3) receptor (InsP(3)R)
      agonist activity; the compounds that possess a methylphosphonate or a
      carboxymethyl moiety are InsP(3)R antagonists.

PMID- 20938534
TI  - Unique Zn(II) coordination entanglement networks with a flexible fluorinated bis
      pyridinecarboxamide tecton and benzenedicarboxylates.
AB  - Entangled nets in coordination compounds with both self-penetrating and
      interpenetrating structural features have been first constructed by using a
      flexible bis-pyridinecarboxamide and isophthalate or 5-methylisophthalate.
      Distinct entangled systems showing both 3-fold interpenetration and polyrotaxane
      can also be obtained by altering the 5-substituents of isophthalate.

PMID- 20938535
TI  - Hydrogen oxidation catalysis by a nickel diphosphine complex with pendant tert
      butyl amines.
AB  - A bis-diphosphine nickel complex with tert-butyl functionalized pendant amines
      [Ni(P(Cy)(2)N(t-Bu)(2))(2)](2+) has been synthesized. It is a highly active
      electrocatalyst for the oxidation of hydrogen in the presence of base. The
      turnover rate of 50 s(-1) under 1.0 atm H(2) at a potential of -0.77 V vs. the
      ferrocene couple is 5 times faster than the rate reported heretofore for any
      other synthetic molecular H(2) oxidation catalyst.

PMID- 20938536
TI  - Effects of mutation on the amyloidogenic propensity of apolipoprotein C-II(60-70)
      peptide.
AB  - Using experimental and computational methods we identified the effects of
      mutation on the structure and dynamics of the amyloidogenic peptide apoC-II(60
      70), in monomeric and oligomeric states. Methionine (Met60) substitutions to
      hydrophilic Gln, hydrophobic Val, and methionine sulfoxide residues were
      investigated and the results compared with observations of fibril formation by
      the wild-type, Met60Gln, Met60Val, and oxidised Met60 (oxi-Met) apoC-II(60-70)
      peptides. ThT fluorescence measurements showed fibril formation by all peptides,
      however with different kinetics. The wild-type and Met60Val peptides formed
      fibrils fastest, while oxi-Met and Met60Gln peptides exhibited significantly
      longer lag phases. Molecular dynamics simulations showed that the mutated
      monomers exhibited structural features consistent with fibril-forming propensity,
      such as beta-hairpin conformation and a hydrophobic core. However, important
      differences to the wild-type were also noted, such as increased structural
      flexibility (oxi-Met and Met60Gln systems) and a broader distribution of the
      aromatic angle orientation, which could contribute to the different fibrillation
      kinetics observed in these peptides. Our results also showed that the critical
      nucleus size for fibril formation by apoC-II(60-70) may not be very large, since
      tetrameric oligomers in anti-parallel configuration were very stable within the
      100 ns of simulations. The single-point mutations Met60Val and Met60Gln had no
      significant effect on the structural stability of the tetramer. The rate of
      fibril formation by apoC-II(60-70) peptides was generally much faster compared to
      longer apoC-II(56-76) peptides. Also, the effects of amino acid modifications on
      the kinetics of peptide fibril formation differ from the effects observed for
      apoC-II(56-76) and full-length apoC-II, suggesting that additional mechanisms are
      involved in fibril formation by mature apoC-II.

PMID- 20938537
TI  - Highly ordered aluminium-planted mesoporous silica as active catalyst for
      Biginelli reaction and formyl C-H insertion reaction with diazoester.
AB  - Al-planted MCM-41s (Al-M41s) with regular mesoporous structure and Si/Al ratio of
      23-32 were successfully prepared by the template-ion exchange method in which the
      template/Si molar ratio and Si/Al ratio were adjusted at 1.44 and 5-15, and
      showed much higher catalytic activity for the titled reactions than the other
      types of Al-M41s prepared by post-synthesis or sol-gel methods.

PMID- 20938538
TI  - Fabrication and characterization of multi-metal co-doped titania films for a
      water-splitting reaction.
AB  - Anchored visible-light-absorbing TiO(2) films have been synthesized by the layer
      by-layer method on a quartz slide substrate as a new class of visible light
      sensitive photocatalyst. UV-vis, XRD and XPS spectra show that W and Mn enter the
      TiO(2) lattices and partially substitute for Ti, and that W appears to have a
      solubility limit into the anatase structure. The Mn and W dopants cause new
      electronic states above the valence-band edge of pure TiO(2), and the new
      electronic states may be directly related to the visible-light absorption of
      doped TiO(2) films. A constant H(2) generation rate is obtained for long periods
      of time for all the investigated TiO(2) films, and the H(2) production rates for
      titania films doped with 0.74 at% W (relative to Ti) are 4.1 and 3.3 times higher
      than that of non-doped TiO(2) under UV and visible light, respectively, as the
      dopant atoms not only restrict the band gap to the visible region, but also
      facilitate the detrapping of charge carriers to the surface of the catalyst.

PMID- 20938539
TI  - The investigation of structural and thermosensitive properties of new phosphazene
      derivatives bearing glycol and amino acid.
AB  - In this study, hexachlorocyclotriphosphazene, N(3)P(3)Cl(6) (cylotriphosphazene),
      was reacted with hydrophilic and hydrophobic groups to synthesize amphiphilic
      phosphazene derivatives (4-12). Cylotriphosphazene was reacted triethylene glycol
      monomethyl ether (TEGME), dipropylene glycol monomethyl ether (DPGME), diethylene
      glycol monobutyl ether (DEGBE), (1 : 3 mole proportion) in the presence of sodium
      hydride and using tetrahydrofuran (THF) as solvent at -60  degrees C. Three
      isomers (nongeminal cis-2,4,6 (1a-3a); nongeminal trans-2,4,6 (1b-3b); geminal
      2,2,4 (1c-3c)) were isolated from the reaction of
      hexachlorocyclotriphosphazatriene (trimer) (1) with TEGME, DPGME and DEGBE. The
      substitution reactions of cis-tris isomers (1a-3a) with 4-amino butyric acid, 5
      amino valeric acid and 6-amino hexanoic acid were separately done to provide
      amphiphilic phosphazenes (4-12). All compounds were characterized by using
      elemental analysis, (31)P NMR and mass spectroscopy. Thermosensitive properties
      of compounds were studied. The compounds (4-12) were soluble in both water and
      organic media that shows they are amphiphilic molecules. Concentration-dependent
      LCST (Lower Critical Solution Temperature) behaviours of new compounds (4-12)
      were measured in water. Compounds 7, 9, 11 and 12 exhibited a reversible and
      thermosensitive phase transition in aqueous medium, from soluble to insoluble
      states.

PMID- 20938540
TI  - Tuning metal@metal salt photocatalytic abilities by different charged anions.
AB  - A series of high performance Ag@Ag salts photocatalysts were designed and
      fabricated. The photocatalytic abilities of this kind of catalysts can be tuned
      by altering the negative charged ions (Cl(-), Br(-), I(-), CrO(4)(2-), PO(4)(3-),
      PW(12)O(40)(3-), and SiW(12)O(40)(4-)): higher stability and higher charged
      anions lead to the stronger photocatalytic ability.

PMID- 20938541
TI  - Pharmaceuticals and personal care products in effluent matrices: A survey of
      transformation and removal during wastewater treatment and implications for
      wastewater management.
AB  - Pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) represent pollutants of
      emerging concern, originating in surface and drinking waters largely from their
      persistence in wastewater effluent. Accordingly, a wealth of recent
      investigations has examined PPCP fate during wastewater treatment, focusing on
      their removal during conventional (e.g., activated sludge) and advanced (e.g.,
      ozonation and membrane filtration) treatment processes. Here, we compile nearly
      1500 data points from over 40 published sources pertaining to influent and
      effluent PPCP concentrations measured at pilot- and full-scale wastewater
      treatment facilities to identify the most effective series of technologies for
      minimizing effluent PPCP levels. Available data suggest that at best a 1-log(10)
      concentration unit (90%) of PPCP removal can be achieved at plants employing only
      primary and secondary treatment, a performance trend that is maintained over the
      range of reported PPCP influent concentrations (ca. 0.1-10(5) ng L(-1)).
      Relatively few compounds (15 of 140 PPCPs considered) are consistently removed
      beyond this threshold at facilities using solids removal and conventional
      activated sludge (CAS), and most PPCPs are removed to a far lesser extent.
      Further, increases in CAS hydraulic retention time or sludge retention time do
      not appreciably increase removal beyond this limit. In contrast, plants employing
      advanced treatment methodologies, particularly ozonation and/or membranes, remove
      the vast majority of PPCPs beyond 1-log(10) concentration unit and oftentimes to
      levels below analytical detection limits in effluent. Data also indicate that
      passive approaches for tertiary treatment (e.g., wetlands and lagoons) represent
      promising options for PPCP removal. We conclude by addressing future challenges
      and frontiers in wastewater management posed by PPCPs including analytical needs
      for their real-time measurement, energy demands associated with advanced
      treatment technologies, and byproducts arising from transformation of PPCPs
      during treatment.

PMID- 20938542
TI  - Chemical dynamics of the Sava riverine system.
AB  - Presented here is a study of the geochemical dynamics of the entire River Sava
      watershed, a major tributary of the River Danube which has not previously been
      investigated. The sampling was performed at 33 selected locations along the main
      channel of the stream and at its largest tributaries during three sampling
      seasons (fall 2005, spring 2006 and fall 2006), going from headwater locations to
      the mouth near the confluence with the Danube. Almost 80% of the solutes are
      derived from carbonate mineral weathering and represent over 50% of specific
      HCO(3)(-) flux normalized to unit basin area at the mouth of the Danube.
      Statistical analysis indicates that agricultural and industrial sources
      contribute significantly to increased Na(+), K(+), Cl(-), SO(4)(2-) and NO(3)(-)
      concentrations in tributary waters. Different processes control the water
      chemistry along the course of the Sava's drainage-the upper reaches are largely
      regulated by contributions from carbonate mineral weathering, the middle reaches
      are influenced by agricultural activity and biological processes related to
      eutrophication, while the lower reaches tend to have more pronounced parameters
      related to the industrial processing along with leakages from municipal sanitary
      systems of these higher population density areas.

PMID- 20938543
TI  - Silver and thallium historical trends in the Seine River basin.
AB  - Records on pollution by metals of minor economic importance (e.g. silver and
      thallium) but which prove to be toxic are rarely documented in river sediment.
      This study used two sediment cores collected downstream of the Seine River to
      describe the temporal evolution of Ag and Tl concentrations in an urban
      catchment. Radionuclide analysis (i.e. Cs-137 and Pb-210) allowed dating sediment
      deposition within the cores (1933-2003). Ag concentration reached maximum values
      of 14.3-24.6 mg kg(-1) in the 1960s and 1970s, before gradually decreasing up to
      values which approximated 4 mg kg(-1) in 2003. In contrast, Tl concentrations
      remained roughly constant throughout the core (median value of 0.86 mg kg(-1)).
      Suspended solids was collected at upstream locations in the catchment to derive
      the background concentrations in Ag and Tl. Very high Ag concentrations were
      measured in the upstream Seine River sites (0.33-0.59 mg kg(-1)), compared to the
      values reported in the literature (0.055 mg kg(-1)). This suggests the presence
      of a widespread and ancient Ag pollution in the Seine River basin, as
      demonstrated by the very high Ag enrichment ratios recorded in the cores. Annual
      flux of particulate Ag in the Seine River was estimated at 1.7 t yr(-1) in 2003.
      In contrast, Tl concentrations remained in the same order of magnitude as the
      natural background signal (0.3-0.5 mg kg(-1)). This study suggests that the Seine
      River basin is free of Tl contamination. Future concerns should hence mostly rely
      on Ag contamination, in a context of increasing Ag uses and possible releases to
      the environment.

PMID- 20938544
TI  - A new chemotaxis device for cell migration studies.
AB  - This study presents the design and optimization for in vitro use of a new
      versatile chemotaxis device called the NANIVID (NANo IntraVital Imaging Device),
      developed using advanced nano/micro fabrication techniques. The device is
      fabricated using microphotolithographic techniques and two substrates are bonded
      together using a thin polymer layer creating a sealed device with one outlet. The
      main structure of the device consists of two Pyrex substrates: an etched
      chemoattractant reservoir and a top cover, with a final size of 0.2 * 2 * 3 mm.
      This reservoir contains a hydrogel blend with EGF which diffuses out through a
      small (~9.10(3)MUm(2)) outlet. This reservoir sustains a steady release of growth
      factor into the surrounding environment for several hours establishing a
      consistent concentration gradient from the device. The focus of this study was to
      design and optimize the new device for cell chemotaxis studies in breast cancer
      cells in cell culture. Our results show that we have created a flexible, cheap,
      miniature and autonomous chemotaxis device and demonstrate its usefulness in 2D
      and 3D cell culture. We also provide preliminary data for use of the device in
      vivo.

PMID- 20938545
TI  - Continuous microfluidic DNA extraction using phase-transfer magnetophoresis.
AB  - This paper reports a novel microfluidic-chip based platform using "phase-transfer
      magnetophoresis" enabling continuous biomolecule processing. As an example we
      demonstrate for the first time continuous DNA extraction from cell lysate on a
      microfluidic chip. After mixing bacterial Escherichia coli culture with
      superparamagnetic bead suspension, lysis and binding buffers, DNA is released
      from cells and captured by the beads. These DNA carrying beads are continuously
      transported across the interfaces between co-flowing laminar streams of sample
      mixture, washing and elution buffer. Bead actuation is achieved by applying a
      time-varying magnetic field generated by a rotating permanent magnet. Flagella
      like chains of magnetic beads are formed and transported along the microfluidic
      channels by an interplay of fluid drag and periodic magnetic entrapment. The
      turnover time for DNA extraction was approximately 2 minutes with a sample flow
      rate of 0.75 ul s(-1) and an eluate flow rate of 0.35 ul s(-1). DNA recovery was
      147% (on average) compared to bead based batch-wise extraction in reference tubes
      within a dilution series experiment over 7 orders of magnitude. The novel
      platform is suggested for automation of various magnetic bead based applications
      that require continuous sample processing, e.g. continuous DNA extraction for
      flow-through PCR, capture and analysis of cells and continuous immunoassays.
      Potential applications are seen in the field of biological safety monitoring,
      bioprocess control, environmental monitoring, or epidemiological studies such as
      monitoring the load of antibiotic resistant bacteria in waste water from
      hospitals.

PMID- 20938546
TI  - Morphology, crystal structure and adsorption performance of hydrothermally
      synthesized titania and titanate nanostructures.
AB  - Titania (TiO2) and sodium titanate nanostructures with controllable phases and
      morphologies were synthesized by a hydrothermal method with titanium disulfide
      (TiS2) as the starting material. Sodium titanate nanobelts could be synthesized
      under a relatively low alkaline concentration (1 mol L(-1) NaOH) and short
      duration (6 h). At 3 mol L(-1) HCl, rutile TiO2 nanorods were synthesized.
      Anatase TiO2 nanoparticles were obtained at pH values ranging between 2 and 13.
      FTIR analysis confirmed the phase change as the pH of the reacting medium
      increased from highly acidic to highly alkaline. The adsorption of Methylene Blue
      (MB) on the as-synthesized sodium titanate nanobelts fitted well with the
      Langmuir monolayer model, with an adsorption capacity as high as 312.5 mg g(-1).
      The kinetics of MB adsorption was found to be a pseudo-second-order kinetic
      model. In brief, this study demonstrates a simple method to control the phase and
      morphology of titanium-based oxides. Excellent performance has been shown in the
      MB adsorption test by the sodium titanate nanostructures.

PMID- 20938547
TI  - Solution-phase counterion effects in supramolecular and mechanostereochemical
      systems.
AB  - The self-assembly of molecular components into complex superstructures involves
      the subtle interplay of various noncovalent forces. Charged species are often
      utilised in self-assembly processes as a result of the favorable pi-pi, cation
      pi, electrostatic, and hydrogen bonding interactions that form between these
      species. Although the counterions associated with these charged species can exert
      significant effects on the synthesis, stability, and operation of superstructures
      in solution, rarely are the counterions considered, leading to misinterpretations
      and misunderstandings of the studied systems. In this tutorial review, we discuss
      a variety of solution-phase counterion effects, from the fundamental origins to
      innovative ways in which these effects are exploited for useful functions.

PMID- 20938548
TI  - Nanoscale coupling of photons to vibrational excitation of Ag nanoparticle 2D
      array studied by scanning tunneling microscope light emission spectroscopy.
AB  - Scanning tunneling microscope light emission (STM-LE) spectroscopy has been
      utilized to elucidate the luminescence phenomena of Ag nanoparticles capped with
      myristate (myristate-capped AgNP) and 2-methyl-1-propanethiolate (C(4)S-capped
      AgNP) on the dodecanethiol-precovered Au substrate. The STM imaging revealed that
      myristate-capped AgNPs form an ordered hexagonal array whereas C(4)S-capped AgNPs
      show imperfect ordering, indicating that a shorter alkyl chain of C(4)S-capped
      AgNP is not sufficient to form rigid interdigitation. It should be noted that
      such a nanoparticle ordering affects the luminescence properties of the Ag
      nanoparticle. We found that the STM-LE is only detected from the Ag nanoparticles
      forming the two-dimensional superlattice. This indicates that the STM-LE of the
      Ag nanoparticle is radiated via the collective excitation of the local surface
      plasmon resonance (LSPR) spread over the Ag nanoparticles. Note that the STM-LE
      spectra of the Ag nanoparticles exhibit spike-like peaks superimposed on the
      broad light emission peak. Using Raman spectroscopy, we concluded that the spike
      like structure appearing in the STM-LE spectra is associated with the vibrational
      excitation of the molecule embedded between Ag nanoparticles.

PMID- 20938549
TI  - Insights into the intramolecular acetate-mediated formation of ruthenium
      vinylidene complexes: a ligand-assisted proton shuttle (LAPS) mechanism.
AB  - The ruthenium bis-acetate complex Ru(kappa(2)-OAc)(2)(PPh(3))(2) reacts with
      HC=CPh to afford the vinylidene-containing species Ru(kappa(1)-OAc)(kappa(2)
      OAc)(=C=CHPh)(PPh(3))(2). An experimental study has demonstrated that this
      reaction occurs under very mild conditions, with significant conversion being
      observed at 255 K. At lower temperatures, evidence for a transient metallo-enol
      ester species Ru(kappa(1)-OAc)(OC{Me}O-C=CHPh)(PPh(3))(2) was obtained. A
      comprehensive theoretical study to probe the nature of the alkyne/vinylidene
      tautomerisation has been undertaken using Density Functional Theory. Calculations
      based on a number of isomers of the model system Ru(kappa(1)-OAc)(kappa(2)
      OAc)(=C=CHMe)(PH(3))(2) demonstrate that both the eta(2)(CC) alkyne complex
      Ru(kappa(1)-OAc)(kappa(2)-OAc)(eta(2)-HC=CMe)(PH(3))(2) and the C-H agostic sigma
      complex Ru(kappa(1)-OAc)(kappa(2)-OAc)(eta(2){CH}-HC=CMe)(PH(3))(2) are minima on
      the potential energy surface. The lowest energy pathway for the formation of the
      vinylidene complex involves the intramolecular deprotonation of the sigma-complex
      by an acetate ligand followed by reprotonation of the subsequently formed alkynyl
      ligand. This process is thus termed a Ligand-Assisted Proton Shuttle (LAPS).
      Calculations performed on the full experimental system Ru(kappa(1)-OAc)(kappa(2)
      OAc)(=C=CHPh)(PPh(3))(2) reinforce the notion that lowest energy pathway involves
      the deprotonation/reprotonation of the alkyne by an acetate ligand. Inclusion of
      the full ligand substituents in the calculations are necessary to reproduce the
      experimental observation of Ru(kappa(1)-OAc)(kappa(2)-OAc)(=C=CHPh)(PPh(3))(2) as
      the thermodynamic product.

PMID- 20938550
TI  - Microstructure and performance of titanium oxide coatings sprayed by oxygen
      acetylene flame.
AB  - TiO(2) nano-powders were agglomerated by a spray drying process for application
      to thermal spraying. A conventional oxygen-acetylene flame torch was used to
      deposit porous partially nanostructured TiO(2) coatings. Steel substrates were
      used as a support for tested samples. Scanning electron microscopy, X-ray
      microanalysis and X-ray diffraction were performed to study the morphology and
      the crystalline phases of the titania coatings. Optical bandgap and kinetics of
      the acetone decomposition were also studied. The best results were obtained for
      the powder which is available as a commercial spray feedstock. This powder seems
      to be most resistant against the reducing atmosphere in the jet of combustive
      gases.

PMID- 20938551
TI  - Syrian hamster embryo (SHE) assay (pH 6.7) coupled with infrared spectroscopy and
      chemometrics towards toxicological assessment.
AB  - The Syrian hamster embryo (SHE) assay (pH 6.7) is an in vitro candidate to
      replace in vivo carcinogenicity tests. However, the conventional method of visual
      scoring of foci (non-transformed vs. transformed colonies) can be time-consuming
      and is open to subjectivity. Infrared (IR) spectroscopy has the potential to
      provide objective assessment of such SHE colonies with the added advantage of
      potentially providing mechanistic information. In this study, SHE cells were
      treated with one of eight different chemical regimens, allowed in culture to
      attach and form foci on IR-reflective glass slides; these were subsequently
      interrogated by attenuated total reflection (ATR) Fourier-transform IR (FTIR)
      spectroscopy. Derived mid-IR spectra (n = 13,406) were subjected to chemometric
      analysis focusing primarily on the extraction of biochemical information related
      to test agent treatment and/or morphological transformation. The use of ATR-FTIR
      spectroscopy with chemometrics to analyze the SHE assay is a novel approach to
      toxicological assessment.

PMID- 20938552
TI  - Solution and solid-state properties of highly fluorescent dithieno[3,2-b:2',3'
      d]pyrrole-based oligothiophenes.
AB  - Dithieno[3,2-b:2',3'-d]pyrrole-based terthiophene and quaterthiophene analogues
      have been prepared from N-functionalized dithieno[3,2-b:2',3'-d]pyrroles (DTPs)
      via Stille coupling. In order to thoroughly study the structure-function property
      relationships within these DTP-based oligothiophenes, an oligomer series was
      prepared that allows for the investigation of a number of structural effects
      including chain length, thiophene functionalization, and pyrrole N
      functionalization. As pyrrole N-functionalization allows the incorporation of
      solubilizing side chains without the unwanted steric interactions that typically
      reduce backbone planarity, the effect of the bulk of these side chains on the
      optical properties in both solution and the solid state has been carefully
      investigated. The DTP-based quaterthiophene, N-tert-butyl-2,6-bis(2'
      thienyl)dithieno[3,2-b:2',3'-d]pyrrole was characterized via X-ray
      crystallography and was found to crystallize in the monoclinic space group
      P2(1)/c with a = 17.489(4) A, b = 7.8855(16) A, c = 14.540(3) A, beta = 108.37(3)
      degrees , and Z = 4. The effect of side chains on the solid-state packing of the
      DTP-based quaterthiophenes was further investigated through X-ray diffraction of
      solution processed thin films. In comparison to the parent oligothiophenes, the
      resulting DTP-based systems exhibit enhanced fluorescence efficiencies in
      solution (up to 66%) and measurable solid-state emission from thin films.

PMID- 20938553
TI  - Hydrofluoroarylation of alkynes with fluoroarenes.
AB  - A combination of Ni(cod)(2) and PCyp(3) is found to be an effective catalyst for
      chemoselective activation of the C-H bond of fluoroarenes over C-F bonds followed
      by insertion of alkynes to allow direct alkenylation of the electron-deficient
      arenes. The characteristics of the reactions are: a C-H bond ortho to a fluorine
      substituent is selectively activated; the reactivity of fluorobenzenes is roughly
      proportional to the number of fluorine atoms. The reaction conditions tolerate a
      broad range of both alkynes and fluoroarenes containing both electron-withdrawing
      and -donating groups, thus allowing efficient synthesis of a variety of
      substituted ethenes containing a fluoroaryl motif in high regio- and
      stereoselective manners. Mechanistic studies including both labeling experiments
      and stoichiometric reactions reveal that oxidative addition of C-H bonds in
      fluoroarenes to nickel(0) is kinetically highly facile whereas that of C-F bonds
      is thermodynamically favoured.

PMID- 20938554
TI  - Centrifugal microfluidic system for primary amplification and secondary real-time
      PCR.
AB  - Pre-amplification is a basis for numerous polymerase chain reaction (PCR)
      protocols but bears severe contamination risks due to handling of high-copy DNA
      samples. Therefore we developed a self-contained centrifugal microfluidic system
      comprising pre-stored reagents; it enables pre-amplification of specific DNA
      sequences prior to automated aliquoting and real-time PCR in a modified
      commercial thermocycler.

PMID- 20938555
TI  - Cross coupling reactions of polyfluoroarenes via C-F activation.
AB  - This Perspective provides an overview of transition metal-catalyzed cross
      coupling reactions of polyfluoroarenes. When appropriate, stoichiometric C-F
      activation and subsequent reaction are briefly covered.

PMID- 20938556
TI  - Monitoring early stages of silver particle formation in a polymer solution by in
      situ and time resolved small angle X-ray scattering.
AB  - Silver particles have been prepared by reduction of silver nitrate with ascorbic
      acid in acidic aqueous solution containing a low concentration of a commercial
      polynaphthalene sulfonate polymer (Daxad 19) as dispersant agent. The reduction
      has been induced and controlled by the slow addition of ascorbic acid at a fixed
      rate; in this way, we were able to monitor the formation of a silver crystalline
      colloidal dispersion by in situ and time resolved Small Angle X-ray Scattering
      measurements. Modeling the scattering intensity with interacting spherical
      particles in a polymer-Ag like-fractal template allowed us to distinguish
      different stages involving liquid-like ordered cluster nucleation, cluster growth
      up to primary particle formation and particle coalescence. Between primary
      particle formation and particle coalescence, we observed the occurrence of a
      transient phase of core-shell type structures having primary particles as stable
      cores in expanding shells built by the organic polymer. We discuss these results
      in a twofold perspective pertaining both to technology, relative to controlled
      fabrication of metal nanoparticles and to basic chemical physics, dealing with
      non standard stepwise crystallization from solutions.

PMID- 20938557
TI  - Direct observation of layered structures at ionic liquid/solid interfaces by
      using frequency-modulation atomic force microscopy.
AB  - Presence of inhomogeneous layered structures of ionic liquid (IL) molecules at
      IL/HOPG and IL/mica interfaces was directly detected and imaged by using
      frequency-modulation atomic force microscopy. High stability of the layered
      structures may disturb their interface applications to catalysis and
      electrochemistry.

PMID- 20938558
TI  - A computational exploration of the oxygen reduction reaction over a carbon
      catalyst containing a phosphinate functional group.
AB  - Oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) over a carbonaceous catalyst (1) with a
      phosphinate (>P(=O)OH) moiety was explored computationally. Under the acidic
      environment of a fuel cell, 1 could be active for ORR and be converted to 2 with
      a >P(OH)(2) moiety. An edge phosphinate could be active for both 2- and 4
      electron ORR.

PMID- 20938559
TI  - Infrared and Raman imaging of heterogeneous catalysts.
AB  - The miniaturization of in situ spectroscopic tools has been recognized as a
      forefront instrumental development for the characterization of heterogeneous
      catalysts. With the multitude of micro-spectroscopic methods available
      fundamental insight into the structure-function relationships of catalytic
      processes can be obtained. Among these techniques vibrational spectroscopy is one
      of the most versatile methods and capable to shed insight into the molecular
      structure of reaction intermediates and products, the chemical state of catalyst
      materials during reaction as well as the nature of interactions between
      reactants/intermediates/products and the catalyst surface. In this tutorial
      review we discuss the recent developments in the field of infrared (IR) and Raman
      micro-spectroscopy and illustrate their potential. Showcase examples include (1)
      chemical imaging of spatial heterogeneities during catalyst preparation, (2) high
      throughput catalyst screening, (3) transport and adsorption phenomena within
      catalytic solids and (4) reactivity studies of porous oxides, such as zeolites.
      Finally, new in situ spectroscopy tools based on vibrational spectroscopy and
      their potential in the catalysis domain are discussed.

PMID- 20938560
TI  - On the influence of strain on ion transport: microstructure and ionic
      conductivity of nanoscale YSZ|Sc2O3 multilayers.
AB  - Multilayer samples of the type (YSZ|Sc2O3) * n with layer thicknesses between 8
      nm (n=100) and 250 nm (n=5) were prepared on (0001) sapphire substrates by pulsed
      laser deposition (PLD). The samples were characterised using X-ray diffraction
      (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (HRSEM) and transmission electron microscopy
      (TEM/HRTEM, SAED (selected-area electron diffraction) and quantitative EELS
      (electron energy-loss spectroscopy)). The polycrystalline layers show a columnar
      microstructure, which is typical for the used preparation technique. The layers
      are highly textured and only one axial orientation relation is found between
      yttria-stabilised zirconia (YSZ), scandium oxide and the substrate: (0001)
      Al2O3||(111) Sc2O3||(111) YSZ. A preferred orientation relationship also exists
      for the azimuthal rotation of the crystallites, which was demonstrated by SAED,
      XRD pole figure measurements and fast Fourier transformation (FFT) of HRTEM
      micrographs. The interfaces between YSZ, Sc2O3 and the substrate are sharp and do
      not contain diffuse transition regions. Dislocations appear not to be arranged in
      regular arrays. With increasing interface density (thinner individual layers in
      the multilayer), the conductivity of the multilayers decreases. We relate this to
      the negative nominal misfit present at the YSZ|Sc2O3 interfaces (compressive
      stress in YSZ at the phase boundaries). This observation agrees well with the
      previously investigated case of YSZ|Y2O3 (A. Peters et al., Phys. Chem. Chem.
      Phys., 2008, 10, 4623), where tensile misfit strain was present in YSZ at the
      phase boundaries, leading to a conductivity increase.

PMID- 20938561
TI  - IMIA: the global informatics perspective for good health.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To report on IMIA, the International Medical Informatics Association,
      and on what has been achieved in the period 2007-2010. METHOD: Summarizing IMIA's
      activities, discussions and decisions, in particular with respect to its Board
      and General Assembly meetings; looking at recent progress of biomedical and
      health informatics through IMIA's Yearbook. RESULTS: Over the last three years,
      decisions have been made and steps have been initiated which will lead to
      significant changes for IMIA. In addition to its continuing activities in being
      involved (1) in organizing conferences, with Medinfo 2010 as this year's
      highlight, (2) in publication, and (3) in working/special interest group
      activities, new steps were (4) extending IMIA's conference portfolio, leading to
      a biennial Medinfo cycle from 2015 on, (5) launching the journal Applied Clinical
      Informatics as a bridge from informatics theory to applications, (6) endorsing
      and publishing White Papers, such as the revised IMIA recommendations on
      education, (7) strengthening ties with WHO, and (8) establishing the Middle East
      Association of Health Informatics (MEAHI) as an IMIA region in order to start
      formalising regional organization and health and biomedical informatics
      activities in the Middle East. Last, but not least, IMIA's internal organization
      is being adapted in order to better meet future demands. CONCLUSIONS: Finding the
      right balance between continuity and transition, in order to appropriately
      support, stimulate, and, to some extent, enable high-quality translational
      communication, research, education, and practice in biomedical and health
      informatics continues to be a key challenge of IMIA.

PMID- 20938562
TI  - Health informatics: building capacity worldwide.

PMID- 20938563
TI  - Health and clinical management - maximising health care efficiency for better
      outcomes: supporting health care professionals in the ever-increasing complexity
      of patient care.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To present some of last year's best papers in the field of health and
      clinical management. METHOD: Synopsis of the best articles selected for the IMIA
      Yearbook 2010. RESULTS: All five selected articles present promising results,
      each in a different subtopic of health care management. From automated clinical
      syndrome detection to global population surveillance, through improving alerting
      systems' impact, the selected articles should give an idea of how IT, not only
      can, but how it does help in health care management. CONCLUSIONS: While some
      people fear that computers might, one day, replace humans in health care, this is
      very far from being the case. What literature shows is that IT merely provides
      health care professionals with valuable tools that let them spend more time with
      their patients, prevent them from missing critical information, support them in
      their decision making and thus help improve their efficiency.

PMID- 20938565
TI  - A bio-medical informatics perspective on human factors: how human factors
      influence adoption of healthcare information technology.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To select and summarize excellent research papers published in 2009
      in the field of human factors in bio-medical informatics. METHODS: We attempt to
      derive a synthetic overview of the activity and new trends in this field, from a
      selection of research papers published in 2009. RESULTS: It is possible to
      identify commonalities in this diverse domain: healthcare information
      technologies (HIT) adoption still occupies a central role in the field with
      research focused mainly on measuring impact and influence of this adoption.
      CONCLUSION: The HIT community is giving birth to interdisciplinary research and
      clear methods to optimize implementation and subsequent achievement of managerial
      objectives. It also tries to synthesize the major findings in workshops, meetings
      and networks. The best paper selection of articles on human factors shows
      examples of excellent research on methods concerning original options to assess
      the importance of healthcare personnel psycho-sociology when confronted to the
      adoption of new tools and process which still does not prevent failures but will
      help learning from them.

PMID- 20938564
TI  - Human factors for capacity building: lessons learned from the OpenMRS
      implementers network.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The overall objective of this project was to investigate ways to
      strengthen the OpenMRS community by (i) developing capacity and implementing a
      network focusing specifically on the needs of OpenMRS implementers, (ii)
      strengthening community-driven aspects of OpenMRS and providing a dedicated forum
      for implementation-specific issues, and; (iii) providing regional support for
      OpenMRS implementations as well as mentorship and training. METHODS: The methods
      used included (i) face-to-face networking using meetings and workshops; (ii)
      online collaboration tools, peer support and mentorship programmes; (iii)
      capacity and community development programmes, and; (iv) community outreach
      programmes. RESULTS: The community-driven approach, combined with a few simple
      interventions, has been a key factor in the growth and success of the OpenMRS
      Implementers Network. It has contributed to implementations in at least twenty
      three different countries using basic online tools; and provided mentorship and
      peer support through an annual meeting, workshops and an internship program. The
      OpenMRS Implementers Network has formed collaborations with several other open
      source networks and is evolving regional OpenMRS Centres of Excellence to provide
      localized support for OpenMRS development and implementation. These initiatives
      are increasing the range of functionality and sustainability of open source
      software in the health domain, resulting in improved adoption and enterprise
      readiness. CONCLUSIONS: Social organization and capacity development activities
      are important in growing a successful community-driven open source software
      model.

PMID- 20938566
TI  - Health information systems: a survey of frameworks for developing countries.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The objective of this paper is to perform a survey of excellent
      research on health information systems (HIS) analysis and design, and their
      underlying theoretical frameworks. It classifies these frameworks along major
      themes, and analyzes the different approaches to HIS development that are
      practical in resource-constrained environments. METHOD: Literature review based
      on PubMed citations and conference proceedings, as well as Internet searches on
      information systems in general, and health information systems in particular.
      RESULTS: The field of health information systems development has been studied
      extensively. Despite this, failed implementations are still common. Theoretical
      frameworks for HIS development are available that can guide implementers.
      CONCLUSION: As awareness, acceptance, and demand for health information systems
      increase globally, the variety of approaches and strategies will also follow. For
      developing countries with scarce resources, a trial-and-error approach can be
      very costly. Lessons from the successes and failures of initial HIS
      implementations have been abstracted into theoretical frameworks. These
      frameworks organize complex HIS concepts into methodologies that standardize
      techniques in implementation. As globalization continues to impact healthcare in
      the developing world, demand for more responsive health systems will become
      urgent. More comprehensive frameworks and practical tools to guide HIS
      implementers will be imperative.

PMID- 20938567
TI  - Health Information Systems. Understanding Health Care IT Alignment.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Summarize excellent current research in the field of Health
      Information Systems. METHOD: Synopsis of the articles selected for the IMIA
      Yearbook 2010. RESULTS: Five papers from international peer reviewed journals
      have been selected for the section on health information systems. CONCLUSIONS:
      The elected articles illustrate how health care IT alignment, assessment and
      benchmarking have become a challenge and a key aspect to the strengthening of
      health information systems in order to maintain and expand the objectives and
      strategies of organizations.

PMID- 20938568
TI  - Imaging informatics: toward capturing and processing semantic information in
      radiology images.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To identify challenges and opportunities in imaging informatics that
      can lead to the use of images for discovery, and that can potentially improve the
      diagnostic accuracy of imaging professionals. METHODS: Recent articles on imaging
      informatics and related articles from PubMed were reviewed and analyzed. Some new
      developments and challenges that recent research in imaging informatics will meet
      are identified and discussed. RESULTS: While much literature continues to be
      devoted to traditional imaging informatics topics of image processing,
      visualization, and computerized detection, three new trends are emerging: (1)
      development of ontologies to describe radiology reports and images, (2)
      structured reporting and image annotation methods to make image semantics
      explicit and machine-accessible, and (3) applications that use semantic image
      information for decision support to improve radiologist interpretation
      performance. The informatics methods being developed have similarities and
      synergies with recent work in the biomedical informatics community that leverage
      large high-throughput data sets, and future research in imaging informatics will
      build on these advances to enable discovery by mining large image databases.
      CONCLUSIONS: Imaging informatics is beginning to develop and apply knowledge
      representation and analysis methods to image datasets. This type of work, already
      commonplace in biomedical research with large scale molecular and clinical
      datasets, will lead to new ways for computers to work with image data. The new
      advances hold promise for integrating imaging with the rest of the patient record
      as well as molecular data, for new data-driven discoveries in imaging analogous
      to that in bioinformatics, and for improved quality of radiology practice.

PMID- 20938569
TI  - Sensors, medical images and signal processing: comprehensive multi-modal
      diagnosis aid frameworks.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To summarize current excellent research in the field of medical
      sensor, signal and imaging informatics. METHOD: Synopsis of the articles selected
      for the IMIA (International Medical Informatics Association) Yearbook 2010.
      RESULTS: Current research in the field of sensor, signal, and imaging informatics
      is characterized by theoretically sound techniques and evaluations with focus in
      imaging informatics. CONCLUSIONS: The best paper selection of articles on
      sensors, signal, and imaging informatics shows examples of excellent research on
      methods concerning theoretically sound original development in this field.
      Research published in 2009 was characterized by the emergence of mature
      computerized diagnosis aid frameworks with assessment of input and output
      quality. The purpose of these systems is clearly to bring new image and signal
      interpretation tools to clinicians.

PMID- 20938570
TI  - Medical decision support systems in Africa.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To present an overview of the current state of computer-based medical
      decision support systems in Africa in the areas of public health, patient care,
      and consumer support. METHODS: Scientific and gray literature reviews
      complemented by expert interviews. RESULTS: Various domains of decision support
      are developed and deployed in Sub-Saharan Africa: public health information
      systems, clinical decision-support systems, and patient-centred decision-support
      systems. CONCLUSIONS: Until recently, most of these systems have been deployed by
      international organizations without a real ownership policy entrusted to the
      African stakeholders. Many of these endeavours have remained or ceased at the
      experimentation stage. The multiplicity of organizations has led to the
      deployment of fragmented systems causing serious interoperability problems. In
      addition to basic infrastructures, these studies also highlight the importance of
      good organization, training and support, as key to the success and sustainability
      of these decision support systems.

PMID- 20938571
TI  - Findings from the yearbook 2010 section on decision support systems.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To summarize current excellent research in the field of computer-based
      decision support systems in health and healthcare. METHODS: We provide a synopsis
      of the articles selected for the IMIA Yearbook 2010, from which we attempt to
      derive a synthetic overview of the activity and new trends in the field. RESULTS:
      while the state of the research in the field of medical decision support systems
      is illustrated by a set of fairly heterogeneous studies, it is possible to
      identify trends. Thus, clearly, the importance of studies related to computerized
      prescription order entry (CPOE) systems and guidelines management systems for
      both medical decision making and care providers, occupies a central role in the
      field, with application affecting also EHR vendors. In parallel, we observe
      translational interests for developing bridges with results generated by
      molecular biology, where the mass of data generated by high/throughput
      experiments and large-scale genome analysis projects, raises specific processing
      challenges. CONCLUSIONS: The best paper selection of articles on decision support
      shows examples of excellent research on methods concerning original development
      as well as quality assurance of previously reported studies. This selected set of
      scientific investigations demonstrates the needs for computerized applications to
      transform the biomedical data overflow into more operational clinical knowledge.
      Altogether these papers support the idea that more elaborated computer tools,
      likely to combine heterogeneous contextual contents, are needed.

PMID- 20938572
TI  - Distributed biomedical terminology development: from experiments to open process.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Can social computing efforts materially alter the distributed creation
      and maintenance of complex biomedical terminologies and ontologies; a review of
      distributed authoring history and status. BACKGROUND: Social computing projects,
      such as Wikipedia, have dramatically altered the perception and reality of large
      scale content projects and the labor required to create and maintain them. Health
      terminologies have become large, complex, interdependent content artifacts of
      increasing importance to biomedical research and the communities understanding of
      biology, medicine, and optimal healthcare practices. The question naturally
      arises as to whether social computing models and distributed authoring platforms
      can be applied to the voluntary, distributed authoring of high-quality
      terminologies and ontologies. METHODS: An historical review of distributed
      authoring developments. RESULTS: The trajectory of description logic-driven
      authoring tools, group process, and web-based platforms suggests that public
      distributed authoring is likely feasible and practical; however, no compelling
      example on the order of Wikipedia is yet extant. Nevertheless, several projects,
      including the Gene Ontology and the new revision of the International
      Classification of Disease (ICD-11) hold promise.

PMID- 20938573
TI  - Knowledge representation and management: transforming textual information into
      useful knowledge.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To summarize current outstanding research in the field of knowledge
      representation and management. METHOD: Synopsis of the articles selected for the
      IMIA Yearbook 2010. RESULTS: Four interesting papers, dealing with structured
      knowledge, have been selected for the section knowledge representation and
      management. Combining the newest techniques in computational linguistics and
      natural language processing with the latest methods in statistical data analysis,
      machine learning and text mining has proved to be efficient for turning
      unstructured textual information into meaningful knowledge. Three of the four
      selected papers for the section knowledge representation and management
      corroborate this approach and depict various experiments conducted to .extract
      meaningful knowledge from unstructured free texts such as extracting cancer
      disease characteristics from pathology reports, or extracting protein-protein
      interactions from biomedical papers, as well as extracting knowledge for the
      support of hypothesis generation in molecular biology from the Medline
      literature. Finally, the last paper addresses the level of formally representing
      and structuring information within clinical terminologies in order to render such
      information easily available and shareable among the health informatics
      community. CONCLUSIONS: Delivering common powerful tools able to automatically
      extract meaningful information from the huge amount of electronically
      unstructured free texts is an essential step towards promoting sharing and
      reusability across applications, domains, and institutions thus contributing to
      building capacities worldwide.

PMID- 20938574
TI  - Nursing informatics education in the South: a Brazilian experience.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Teaching and learning are critical factors to our survival, design
      our future and the way we live and determine the quality of our lives. METHODS:
      This article summarizes aspects of nursing informatics education in the South,
      more specifically focusing in some of the undergraduate and graduate nursing
      informatics programs in Brazil. Considering the Recommendations of the
      International Medical Informatics Association on Education in Biomedical and
      Health Informatics by IMIA, the content provides an overview of the disciplines
      and share experience in the implementation of a certificate program in health
      informatics. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Since the initial activities in nursing
      informatics in Brazil, nurses have faced many challenges. Nursing informatics is
      not completely integrated into the nursing curriculum and the nursing informatics
      competencies are not established at national level.

PMID- 20938575
TI  - Education and consumer informatics.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the extent to which the Internet is accessed for health
      information and perceived as useful to varying groups classified primarily
      according to age. METHOD: Synopsis of the articles on education and consumer
      health informatics selected for the IMIA Yearbook of Medical Informatics 2010.
      RESULTS: A growing number of individuals are actively seeking health information
      through a varying selection of resources. The Internet is now seen as a major
      source of health information alongside with books and other means of paper-based
      literature. However, it is not clear how the Internet is perceived by varied
      groups such as those coming from differing age groups. CONCLUSION: The papers
      selected attempt to obtain a better understanding about how the public perceives
      and uses the Internet as an information gathering tool-especially for health
      information. The papers also explore into how the Internet is used by different
      groups of people. As all online health information is not of uniform quality, it
      is important to access and rely on quality medical information. This issue is
      also dealt with, where the popularity of Wikipedia is measured with the
      popularity of reliable web sources such as Medline Plus and NHS Direct.

PMID- 20938576
TI  - In cereo and in silico: tissue microarray (TMA) techniques and bioinformatics are
      thriving forces in medical science and personalized medicine.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Tissue microarray (TMA) techniques are among the most promising
      developments in biomedicine during the last decade. Bioinformatics techniques are
      indispensable for storing and processing the masses of data related with tissue
      archive administration and investigation of raw data. Interrelationship between
      experimental and computational work will be shown. METHODS: Tissue specimen
      arrays allow parallel analysis of huge amounts of samples. TMA techniques thus
      produce enormous masses of raw data, and optimal use of data can only be made
      using modern bioinformatics techniques based on huge storage systems, scalable
      multilayer software architecture and high-throughput algorithms for retrieval and
      statistical processing. Further crucial issues addressed by informatics
      techniques are specimen identification during the whole processing chain, and
      anonymization whenever scientific work is performed without regard to a certain
      patient. RESULTS: TMA supported by bioinformatics methods has helped in
      identification of biomarkers, mainly in cancer diagnosis. Moreover, it provides
      powerful means of quality assurance and training in histopathology. CONCLUSIONS:
      Further statistical analyses seem to be necessary to detect if certain biomarkers
      are present in nearly all kinds of specimen of the concerned patient, which would
      allow effective mass screening based on easily accessible specimen. Some
      investigations showed low dependence on the specimen localization, whereas others
      suggest to be extremely careful in material selection for the recipient block.

PMID- 20938577
TI  - Closing the genotype-phenotype gap. Findings from the section on bioinformatics.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To summarize current excellent research in the field of
      bioinformatics. METHOD: Synopsis of the articles selected for the IMIA Yearbook
      2010. RESULTS: The selection process for this yearbook's section on
      Bioinformatics results in five excellent articles highlighting the progress made
      in advancing the understanding of genotype-phenotype relationship, and their
      concrete application in clinical settings. First, next generation sequencing
      techniques have allowed the discovery of an ever larger number of genetic
      variations at a greater resolution, and methods were developed to ensure accurate
      data analysis. Second, innovative approaches were applied to gene expression data
      to allow its link to a wider phenotypic spectrum and to enhance its use for
      disease understanding. Third, there is a notable trend in visualizing diseases as
      network rather than individual entities, and this has provided new insights for
      disease interpretation. The progress mentioned above is further aided by
      continual development in bio-ontologies which provide means for semantic, and
      thus phenotype, comparison. CONCLUSIONS: The current literature showed a
      tightening link between genotype and phenotype, placing us one step closer to a
      better disease classification, patient stratification as well as the development
      of personalized medicine.

PMID- 20938578
TI  - Health capacity development through telemedicine in Africa.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this paper is to identify and report the issues facing
      human capacity development through the use of telemedicine in Sub-Saharan Africa.
      METHODS: Data were obtained through literature review and personal observation.
      RESULTS: Sub-Saharan Africa has a great burden of disease and an extreme shortage
      of health workers. Its countries are poor and the majority of its population
      rural. Telemedicine for clinical practice and education of health workers is seen
      as a possible means of addressing some of the health problems of Africa. A number
      of factors have been identified that impede the use of telemedicine in sub
      Saharan Africa. These include, poverty, shortage of human resources, very limited
      existing infrastructure, lack of connectivity, high connectivity costs, lack of
      capacity development and policy issues. Examples of successful use of
      telemedicine and tele-educational programmes in Africa to develop capacity in
      health are given. CONCLUSIONS: Initiatives to develop capacity through tele
      education appear to have been well received and are more successful than clinical
      telemedicine. There is need to raise awareness of telemedicine if it is to assist
      in developing ehealth capacity in Africa.

PMID- 20938579
TI  - mHealth - an Ultimate Platform to Serve the Unserved.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To summarize major current developments and research in the field of
      mobile health (mHealth) services. METHODS: Reports on the unique characteristics
      of mHealth platform and its role in delivering health services to the resource
      poor settings. Also, it evaluates different mHealth applications and identifies
      key success factors and challenges. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: mHealth, based on the
      most ubiquitous and widely accepted technology, offers an unprecedented
      opportunity to serve the unserved by right time medical information services.
      There is growing evidence that it has already transformed healthcare delivery in
      many resource poor settings through its low cost, high reach and versatile
      applications. However, challenges still remain with regard to the development of
      consumer centric solutions, and services quality in terms of knowledge and
      competence of the provider, integration of the information systems and
      interoperability of the information services. Additional problems arise from the
      collaboration, partnership and regulation perspectives. There are noticeable
      trends towards solutions for these problems.

PMID- 20938580
TI  - Capacity building in e-health and health informatics: a review of the global
      vision and informatics educational initiatives of the American Medical
      Informatics Association.
AB  - Substantial global and national commitment will be required for current
      healthcare systems and health professional practices to become learning care
      systems utilizing information and communications technology (ICT) empowered by
      informatics. To engage this multifaceted challenge, a vision is required that
      shifts the emphasis from silos of activities toward integrated systems.
      Successful systems will include a set of essential elements, e.g., a sufficient
      ICT infrastructure, evolving health care processes based on evidence and
      harmonized to local cultures, a fresh view toward educational preparation, sound
      and sustained policy support, and ongoing applied research and development.
      Increasingly, leaders are aware that ICT empowered by informatics must be an
      integral part of their national and regional visions. This paper sketches out the
      elements of what is needed in terms of objectives and some steps toward achieving
      them. It summarizes some of the progress that has been made to date by the
      American and International Medical Informatics Associations working separately as
      well as collaborating to conceptualize informatics capacity building in order to
      bring this vision to reality in low resource nations in particular.

PMID- 20938581
TI  - An overview of education and training of medical informatics in India.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Medical Informatics in India is still in its infancy. Although the
      Indian Association for Medical Informatics (IAMI) was founded in 1993, proposed
      by major healthcare delivery institutions, the absence of independent career
      options in medical informatics in India has resulted either in the exodus of the
      needed faculty members for supporting education in the field. However, this
      situation may have been changing in the past few years, but a large gap exists
      which needs to be filled up quickly. The purpose of this report is to provide an
      assessment of the present situation of research and training in medical
      informatics in India, and its implications for future development of the field.
      OBJECTIVES: To assess the current situation regarding the opportunities for
      research and education in Medical Informatics in India and related issues like
      availability of career options. METHODS: A survey questionnaire was sent by
      postal mail to well-known Indian institutions engaged in medical informatics
      training and research. In addition, key stakeholders working towards imparting
      education and awareness on the principles and practice of medical informatics
      were contacted to provide information about training and research in medical
      informatics in India. This was a purposive sampling based on prior knowledge. The
      responses were thematically analyzed. RESULTS: A total of six courses were
      identified in the survey. These were administered through face to face (F2F), e
      learning and other modes of distance learning. In general, most of the students
      are graduates in medicine (allopathic, homeopathic, ayurvedic), allied sciences
      (nursing, physiotherapy) and medical administrators or graduates in engineering
      or library and information sciences. Most of them are also working, thus, the
      majority of the courses are for part-timers and act as on-job value addition.
      Most of the courses however do not directly train for jobs. Therefore, as most of
      the participants are already working somewhere, the question of placement due to
      the course may not be measurable directly. Since most of the students from India
      are already employed, by attending this course they gain further insights into
      health informatics that they want to pursue as a career.

PMID- 20938582
TI  - Medical informatics in China: healthcare IT trends, academic and research
      developments.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Describing the challenges and advances in medical informatics in China
      from the perspectives of hospital information systems, workforce, and academic,
      and research advances. METHODS: The paper summarizes information from the CMIA
      (China Medical Informatics Association and findings reported by CHIMA (China
      Hospital Information Management Association), including a White Paper on China
      Hospital Information Systems. RESULTS: Biomedical and Health Informatics has
      grown considerably during the past decade in China, and is an important component
      of proposed government planning that includes development of healthcare cards,
      clinical workflow path rules, and rural medicine. CMIA has strengthened as an
      organization promoting education, research and academic activities, while CHIMA
      has sponsored many hospital-based activities, including workshops on technical
      and workforce IT priorities related to proposed reforms of China's healthcare
      system. CONCLUSIONS: China's challenges and opportunities in biomedical
      informatics and healthcare IT are considerable, with the former requiring greater
      promotion of academic research and educational opportunities through CMIA to
      support the burgeoning development of healthcare IT systems throughout the
      country. National and international collaboration and exchanges could lead to
      very useful comparative studies, Recommendations by CHIMA to the national
      government and academia focus on organizational and workforce standards, roles,
      and defining career paths for HIT professionals as well as CME education in
      healthcare informatics at the graduate university.

PMID- 20938583
TI  - Board certified physicians in health informatics a European precedent for
      professional recognition.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To document the official recognition of a new specialty in health
      informatics in one European country, because a similar legal process may lead to
      professional equivalence for physicians in all member countries of the European
      Union and elsewhere. METHOD: In Belgium, a Ministerial Decree in 2001 established
      criteria for the certification of Physician Specialist in Health Data Management.
      Such recognition of a new competence is a natural complement to a University
      Master's degree and can have a major influence on the salary scale and on
      professional recognition and development in public and private sectors. RESULTS:
      Teaching and training programmes in Belgium were adapted according to the Decree.
      Ninety-seven physicians were certified in the French community and 72 in the
      Flemish community between 2002 and 2009, with a prerequisite of this title for
      engagement in several official and private positions, and a salary increase.
      DISCUSSION: In other countries, recognition of a specific competence in health
      informatics remains, at best, a voluntary registration process and University
      programs vary widely. The implications of this Decree, with recognition of
      Physician Specialist in Health Data Management as a special competence, rather
      than a medical specialty, are discussed. The extension of such recognition to
      health professions other than physicians is not yet envisaged. CONCLUSION:
      Although the title "Physician Specialist in Health Data Management" may appear
      rather old fashioned, recognition of this competence in a European Union country
      is a first step to help its diffusion to other countries.

PMID- 20938584
TI  - A history of the INTERNIST-1 and Quick Medical Reference (QMR) computer-assisted
      diagnosis projects, with lessons learned.
AB  - The INTERNIST-1/Quick Medical Reference (QMR) diagnostic decision support project
      spans four decades, from 1971-onward. This paper describes the history of the
      project and details insights gained of relevance to the general clinical and
      informatics communities.

PMID- 20938585
TI  - Cognition in childhood-onset epilepsy.

PMID- 20938586
TI  - Asthma and swimming: weighing the benefits and the risks.

PMID- 20938587
TI  - Pediatric hereditary autoinflammatory syndromes.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To describe the most prevalent pediatric hereditary autoinflammatory
      syndromes. SOURCES: A review of the literature including relevant references from
      the PubMed and SciELO was carried out using the keywords autoinflammatory
      syndromes and child. SUMMARY OF THE FINDINGS: The hereditary autoinflammatory
      syndromes are caused by monogenic defects of innate immunity and are classified
      as primary immunodeficiencies. These syndromes are characterized by recurrent or
      persistent systemic inflammatory symptoms and must be distinguished from
      infectious diseases, autoimmune diseases, and other primary immunodeficiencies.
      This review describes the epidemiological, clinical and laboratory features,
      prognosis, and treatment of the main autoinflammatory syndromes, namely: familial
      Mediterranean fever; TNF receptor associated periodic syndrome; the
      cryopyrinopathies; mevalonate kinase deficiency; pediatric granulomatous
      arthritis; pyogenic arthritis, pyoderma gangrenosum and acne syndrome; Majeed
      syndrome; and deficiency of interleukin 1 receptor antagonist. The
      cryopyrinopathies discussed include neonatal-onset multisystem inflammatory
      disease (also known as chronic infantile neurologic, cutaneous and articular
      syndrome), Muckle-Wells syndrome, and familial cold autoinflammatory syndrome.
      CONCLUSIONS: Pediatricians must recognize the clinical features of the most
      prevalent autoinflammatory syndromes. Early referral to a pediatric
      rheumatologist may allow early diagnosis and institution of treatment, with
      improvement in the quality of life of these patients.

PMID- 20938588
TI  - Advances in inhalation therapy in pediatrics.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To review the most relevant articles regarding the technical aspects
      of inhalation therapy, inhalers currently available, and especially major
      advances in inhalation therapy in pediatrics. SOURCES: Articles of MEDLINE
      database from 1983 were reviewed, in addition to book chapters, and the most
      important studies were selected according to the criteria established for this
      article. SUMMARY OF THE FINDINGS: Conventional nebulizers have a number of
      inconveniences, and breath-enhanced and breath-actuated inhalers are more
      attractive options. Among dry powder inhalers, we highlight those using passive
      and active powder dispersion mechanisms, which provide higher rates of drug
      deposition in the lung. Among pressurized metered-dose inhalers, we highlight
      breath-actuated, breath-coordinated, and velocity-modifying inhalers. These
      inhalers should be used preferably together with spacers, since the use of
      spacers produces a twofold increase in pulmonary drug deposition. CONCLUSIONS:
      For children younger than 8 years, pressurized metered-dose inhalers with spacers
      are the most appropriate devices, since they provide a practical approach
      associated with greater lung deposition. In children older than 8 years who can
      generate high inspiratory flow rates, dry powder devices are best suited.

PMID- 20938589
TI  - Intellectual functioning in pediatric patients with epilepsy: a comparison of
      medically controlled, medically uncontrolled and surgically controlled children.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare the intellectual coefficient (IQ) of three groups of
      children with epilepsy: 1) medically controlled, 2) medically uncontrolled and 3)
      surgically controlled. METHODS: From December 2007 until July 2008, 98 pediatric
      patients were selected, with an age range between 6 and 12 years.
      Neuropsychological assessment included the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for
      Children-third edition (WISC-III). Results are related to epileptic syndrome,
      etiology of epilepsy, drug therapy, age at epilepsy onset and epilepsy duration.
      RESULTS: WISC scores were significantly better in the medically controlled group
      when compared to the medically uncontrolled group. The medically controlled group
      performed significantly better in the majority of the WISC subtests when compared
      to the medically uncontrolled group: vocabulary, arithmetic, comprehension, digit
      span, picture completion, picture arrangement, and block design. A significantly
      higher number of idiopathic epilepsy and monotherapy cases was observed in the
      medically controlled group when compared to the medically uncontrolled group.
      Surgically controlled children had no significant differences in IQ performance
      when compared to medically controlled children. CONCLUSIONS: Children with good
      seizure control have higher general, verbal and performed intelligence when
      compared to children with refractory epilepsy. These results may be influenced by
      clinical factors such as use of monotherapy, drug type and epileptic syndrome and
      etiology. Epilepsy surgery can have a positive impact on cognitive performance of
      children who were free of seizures after surgery.

PMID- 20938590
TI  - Nutritional errors in the first months of life and their association with asthma
      and atopy in preschool children.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the impact of exclusive breastfeeding and introduction of
      cow's milk in the first year of life on the diagnosis of asthma, wheezing, and
      atopy in children aged 3 to 4 years. METHODS: This is a cohort study nested in a
      randomized field trial investigating the effectiveness of dietary guidelines
      during the first year of life of children in the city of Sao Leopoldo, southern
      Brazil. Children who had their diet monitored during the first year of life, in a
      primary study, were revisited three years later, when their parents answered a
      questionnaire related to respiratory problems, applied during home visits by
      trained interviewers. Children were also skin-prick tested to assess responses to
      common environmental allergens. RESULTS: Of the 397 children followed during the
      first year of life, 354 were reassessed between 3 and 4 years of age. Prevalence
      of wheezing, evaluated for the 12 months prior to questionnaires, was 21.3%,
      while prevalence of asthma and atopy was 5.5 and 28.7%, respectively. Children
      fed cow's milk previous to being four months of life were significantly more
      likely to have asthma between three and four years of age (OR 3.22; 95%CI 1.05
      9.80). In the same line, exclusive breastfeeding for a period shorter than six
      months was marginally associated with atopy. CONCLUSIONS: The early introduction
      of cow's milk was an important risk factor for triggering asthma/wheeze symptoms
      at the age of 4 years. Exclusive breastfeeding for longer than six months was
      also potentially associated with protection against the development of atopy. The
      results of this study suggest that dietary interventions during the first year of
      life have the potential to reduce the impact of asthma, and possibly, atopy.

PMID- 20938591
TI  - Trends in childhood leukemia mortality over a 25-year period.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To analyze trends in childhood leukemia mortality in the state of Rio
      de Janeiro, Brazil, between 1980 and 2006. METHOD: Gender-stratified leukemia
      mortality data for children aged < 15 years from 1980 to 2006 were retrieved from
      the Brazilian Mortality Information System for the state of Rio de Janeiro. Data
      were stratified by place of death (city of Rio de Janeiro proper, the state
      capital; Rio de Janeiro Metropolitan Region, excluding the capital; and rest of
      the state). Leukemia deaths were defined according to death certificate ICD-9 and
      ICD-10 coding (for deaths occurring in 1980-1995 and 1996-2006, respectively).
      Leukemia mortality rates were calculated by age and calendar year and age
      adjusted to a standard world population. Polynomial linear regression with a 5%
      significance level was used to evaluate mortality trends in the study regions.
      RESULTS: The three studied regions revealed similar trends, with a continuous
      downward pattern; the most substantial decline was detected in the municipality
      of Rio de Janeiro (city proper). In all studied areas, leukemia mortality was
      highest among males. CONCLUSION: A downward trend in childhood leukemia mortality
      was detected throughout the state of Rio de Janeiro. The most pronounced
      reduction occurred in the state capital.

PMID- 20938592
TI  - Waist circumference as screening instrument for cardiovascular disease risk
      factors in schoolchildren.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To propose cutoff points for waist circumference of schoolchildren for
      the identification of cardiovascular disease risk factors. METHODS: This school
      based cross-sectional study surveyed 1,413 schoolchildren aged 7 to 12 years old,
      selected by random cluster sampling. Waist circumference, total cholesterol and
      systolic and diastolic pressures were measured. Reference values for
      cardiovascular disease risk factors were developed from measures of total
      cholesterol and systolic and diastolic blood pressures. The receiver operating
      characteristic (ROC) curve and bivariate analysis, followed by calculation of
      sensitivity, specificity and odds ratio, were used in data analysis. RESULTS: The
      cutoff points had area values under the ROC curve ranging between 0.603 and
      0.949, while sensitivity and specificity ranged between 0.500 and 1.00. Among all
      proposals analyzed, the one presented by this study best balanced sensitivity and
      specificity values. Bivariate analysis followed by odds ratios calculation
      indicated that subjects with waist circumference above the proposed cutoff points
      have increased chances of presenting cardiovascular disease risk factors.
      CONCLUSIONS: The cutoff points proposed in the present study seem to be a valid
      alternative and better balance sensibility and specificity than other proposals
      for screening students with increased chances of presenting cardiovascular
      disease risk factors.

PMID- 20938593
TI  - Distribution of severity of asthma in childhood.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To estimate the distribution of asthma severity in a population-based
      sample of children from Salvador, Brazil. METHODS: An epidemiologically oriented
      questionnaire (International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood, ISAAC)
      and a questionnaire based on criteria used in clinical practice (The Global
      Initiative for Asthma, GINA) were administered simultaneously to 417 children
      aged 5 to 12 years who reported symptoms of asthma in the past 12 months.
      According to the ISAAC instrument, children were classified into severe and non
      severe asthma, whereas GINA clinical criteria produced four categories of
      severity: intermittent, mild persistent, moderate persistent and severe asthma.
      RESULTS: Ninety children reported symptoms indicative of severity according to
      the ISAAC questionnaire. According to GINA criteria, 143 children had
      intermittent asthma, 160 mild persistent, 51 moderate and 43 severe asthma.
      Agreement between the two instruments was 81.3% (kappa = 0.5). CONCLUSIONS: Most
      asthmatic children in the Salvador urban area have persistent asthma. Agreement
      between epidemiological and clinical classifications of asthma severity was
      satisfactory.

PMID- 20938594
TI  - Use of helium-oxygen mixture (Heliox(r)) in the treatment of obstructive lower
      airway disease in a pediatric emergency department.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine whether the use of salbutamol, in a helium-oxygen mixture
      (80:20), can modify outcome and risk of hospitalization of pediatric patients.
      METHODS: A controlled cohort study including patients aged 2 months to 12 years
      with diagnoses of asthmatic crisis or viral bronchiolitis. Intensity was
      characterized from moderate to severe, as measured by clinical score (pulmonary
      index, PI) for obstructive disease. Scores > 8 were considered eligible. The
      Heliox(r) group was composed of 20 patients and the Oxygen group of 40 patients.
      Patients received sequentially, at 20-min intervals, until six nebulization
      cycles were completed (2-h period): salbutamol 0.15 mg/kg/dose (maximum 5 mg).
      The nebulized drug was driven either by Heliox(r) mixture (80:20) or 100% oxygen.
      Patients diagnosed with acute asthmatic crisis received, additionally,
      prednisolone (2 mg/kg) orally. RESULTS: Eleven patients in the Heliox(r) group
      still required treatment at 6 h, against 38 patients in the group receiving
      oxygen-driven nebulization (p = 0.034). At 12 h, 7 patients in the Heliox(r)
      group remained under observation, against 27 in the Oxygen group. Differences
      regarding the need for supplemental oxygen were observed only at 6 h of treatment
      (p = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: Heliox(r) (80:20), for salbutamol administration, is
      effective in the treatment of pediatric obstructive disease that responds to
      bronchodilator therapy. Compared to usual aerosol delivery technique, Heliox(r)
      driven salbutamol nebulization is associated with shorter stay in the observation
      room after 6 h of treatment.

PMID- 20938595
TI  - Longitudinal study of sphincter control in a cohort of Brazilian children.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To analyze sphincter control acquisition in a birth cohort. METHOD:
      4,231 children born in 2004 in Pelotas, Brazil, were included in a longitudinal
      study. During home visits at the ages of 12, 24 and 48 months, the mothers
      answered a questionnaire about sociodemographic questions and characteristics of
      their children's voiding and bowel habits, with special attention to toilet
      training. RESULTS: At 48 months, most children were off diapers during the day
      (98.5%) and by night (83%), with no difference between sexes. The average age for
      starting toilet training was 22 months, with earlier initiation in girls. The
      training was, on average, 3.2 months long, showing no difference between sexes.
      Children with developmental delay had late voiding and bowel control; the higher
      the deviation from normality, the later the child was off diapers. Medical advice
      was given to 15.9% of mothers. The training initiated before the age of 24 months
      was inversely correlated with an older age of sphincter control and longer
      training. Premature and low birth weight children showed no significant
      difference in training time and age of acquisition of sphincter control.
      CONCLUSIONS: At the age of 48 months, most children, including premature and low
      birth weight ones, acquired sphincter control regardless of external factors and
      sex. The beginning of training (before 24 months) did not anticipate sphincter
      control, but only prolonged the duration of training.

PMID- 20938596
TI  - Risk factors contributing to childhood poisoning.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether the lack of knowledge of toxic agents in
      households is a risk factor for individual unintentional childhood poisoning.
      METHODS: The case group (n = 25) was composed of caregivers of children under 60
      months of age who underwent accidental oral poisoning and were treated at two
      reference hospitals in Porto Alegre, southern Brazil, and recorded in the
      Toxicology Information Center database. The control group (n = 25) was composed
      of caregivers of children matched for sex, age, and presence in their homes of
      the same toxic agents found in the case group, who sought emergency medical care
      at the same hospitals, but for other reasons. A structured questionnaire was
      administered to verify the following questions: sociodemographic data, clinical
      history, behavioral antecedents of caregivers, storage of toxic agents, history
      of previous poisoning accidents. RESULTS: The children's mean age was 31.8 months
      (+/-0.97) and mean height was 93 cm (+/-11). Families, in both groups, were aware
      of the toxic action of agents available in their homes; however, caregivers in
      the control group were twice as likely to have such knowledge compared to the
      case group. Distraction was 15 times more likely to occur among caregivers of
      children who underwent poisoning compared to the control group. Storage of toxic
      agents below 150 cm was approximately 17 times more likely to occur in the group
      of children who underwent poisoning compared to children in the control group.
      CONCLUSIONS: Lack of knowledge of the toxic action of agents stored in households
      is not a risk factor for childhood poisoning. The attributable risks described in
      this study indicated that the elimination of other factors, such as distraction
      and storage below 150 cm, would lead to the prevention of 13 and 19% of
      poisonings in childhood, respectively.

PMID- 20938598
TI  - Spontaneous resolution of sinoatrial exit block and atrioventricular dissociation
      in a child with dengue fever.
AB  - Cardiac rhythm abnormalities, including ventricular arrhythmia, atrial
      fibrillation and atrioventricular block, have been observed during the acute
      stage of dengue haemorrhagic fever. Atrioventricular or complete heart block can
      be fatal and may require a temporary pacemaker. We report a ten-year-old girl who
      presented with dengue haemorrhagic fever with sinoatrial block and
      atrioventricular dissociation that had a spontaneous resolution.

PMID- 20938597
TI  - Prevalence and characteristics of school age bullying victims.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To describe the prevalence of bullying victims, the characteristics of
      those victims and their associated symptoms in the domains of emotion, behavior,
      hyperactivity and peer relationships. METHOD: This was a cross-sectional study
      nested in a cohort that assesses disorders of reading, writing and arithmetic in
      1,075 students enrolled in the first to eighth grades of two public schools in a
      lower-middle-class neighborhood of the city of Pelotas, RS, Brazil. The KIDSCAPE
      questionnaire was used to evaluate the prevalence of bullying and the Strengths
      and Difficulties Questionnaire was used to assess victims' behavioral
      characteristics. RESULTS: The prevalence of bullying was 17.6%. The most
      prevalent type of intimidation was verbal, followed by physical, emotional,
      racial and sexual. After adjustment for confounding factors, bullying was still
      associated with male sex (PR 1.49 95%CI 1.14-1.96), hyperactivity (PR 1.89 95%CI
      1.25-2.87) and peer relationship problems (PR 1.85 95%CI 1.24-2.76). Among the
      victims of bullying, 47.1% had also initiated bullying. CONCLUSION: This study
      has identified the behavioral characteristics of bullying victims which may prove
      useful for local policies designed to protect the targets of bullying.

PMID- 20938599
TI  - Management of knee osteoarthritis presenting with tibial stress fractures.
AB  - Stress fractures of the tibia secondary to tibial deformities from osteoarthritis
      are rare, and may be difficult to manage. We treated two patients with stress
      fractures of the proximal tibial diaphyses over a period of two years. Both
      patients had osteoarthritis of the knee; one with genu valgus deformity and the
      other, genu varus deformity. The former patient also had a distal tibial fracture
      and had previously undergone open reduction and internal fixation. The stress
      fractures of both the patients had been treated conservatively by nonoperative
      means, but their fractures failed to unite. They then underwent a modular total
      knee prosthesis with a long tibial stem extension, and subsequently, their
      fractures united. Both patients recovered uneventfully.

PMID- 20938600
TI  - Radiological features of Cronkhite-Canada syndrome.
AB  - This report describes the radiological features of a case of Cronkhite-Canada
      syndrome. Barium meal follow through with pneumocolon, used as a single
      radiological test, revealed diffuse polyposis involving the stomach and both the
      small and large intestines, as well as findings of gastric rugal thickening,
      whiskering, crypts and ulcerated polyps.

PMID- 20938601
TI  - Primary cutaneous nodular amyloidosis initially presenting with eczema.
AB  - We report an unusual case of a 76-year-old woman with primary cutaneous
      amyloidosis who initially presented with features of asteatotic eczema that was
      unresponsive to topical corticosteroid treatment. Histological examination
      revealed amyloid deposits involving the superficial and deep dermis. These
      lesions later gradually evolved into erythematous nodules, and a second biopsy
      performed 29 months after the initial presentation again revealed diffuse
      collections of amyloid throughout the dermis. Further investigations did not
      reveal evidence of systemic involvement, thus indicating a diagnosis of primary
      cutaneous nodular amyloidosis. The initial presentation as eczematous lesions
      illustrates the importance of clinicopathological correlation and subsequent
      follow-up.

PMID- 20938602
TI  - Ureteral diverticulosis.
AB  - Ureteric pseudo-diverticulosis is an uncommon urological finding, with fewer than
      150 cases reported in the literature. These are usually seen as incidental
      findings on retrograde pyelography. We report a case of ureteric pseudo
      diverticulosis that was incidentally detected on performing ureteroscopy for an
      upper ureteric stone.

PMID- 20938603
TI  - Bilateral hypoplasia of the internal carotid arteries.
AB  - Bilateral hypoplasia of the internal carotid arteries is a rare congenital
      anomaly. We present the case of a 62-year-old man with this rare condition. The
      findings from the plain computed tomography and computed tomography angiogram are
      described in this report. The common collateral pathways associated with
      bilateral hypoplasia of the internal carotid arteries, the clinical presentation
      and clinical significance of this condition are also discussed.

PMID- 20938604
TI  - The Cinderella of mental health translational research.

PMID- 20938605
TI  - Santiago Ramon y Cajal (1852-1934): pride of Petilla.

PMID- 20938606
TI  - Writing a book review.
AB  - A book review is a form of academic writing that provides a succinct yet critical
      analysis evaluating the content, style, merit and significance of a book. The
      reader should gain insight into the strengths and weaknesses of the book, aided
      by input from the reviewer. The four stages of writing a book review are:
      introducing the book, outlining its contents, highlighting parts of the book by
      selecting particular chapters or themes, and giving a detailed evaluation.

PMID- 20938607
TI  - Early psychosis intervention.
AB  - Early psychosis intervention programmes have been around for 20 years. The
      duration of psychosis has been hypothesised to be neurotoxic, and there is a
      critical period, postulated to be up to five years from the onset of psychosis
      for intervention before the psychosis becomes established. Early intervention is
      expected to change the course of psychosis and hence, the outcome. However,
      despite the proliferation of early intervention services, research has shown that
      improvement in outcome is at best modest, lasting only for the duration of the
      intervention, and these benefits are not sustained after five years. Evidence for
      the cost-effectiveness of these services is accumulating and indicates that the
      reduction in costs is due to reduced inpatient stays.

PMID- 20938608
TI  - A review on frozen shoulder.
AB  - Of all the joints in the human body, the shoulder has the greatest range of
      motion. This allows complex movements and functions to be carried out, and is of
      vital importance to the activities of daily living and work. Any restriction or
      pain that involves the joint puts a huge amount of strain on patients, especially
      those who are in their most productive years of life. Frozen shoulder, a
      frequently encountered disorder of the shoulder, has been well recognised since
      the early 1900s. Although benign, it has great impact on the quality of life of
      patients. This article aims to provide an overview of the nature and the widely
      accepted management of this condition based on other studies.

PMID- 20938609
TI  - Treatment outcome of women with a single ovary undergoing in vitro fertilisation
      cycles.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Women with a single ovary present a unique problem in assisted
      reproductive techniques. The aim of our study was to compare the ovarian response
      and pregnancy rates of women with one ovary and those with two ovaries in
      assisted reproduction. METHODS: A total of 18 consecutive women with a single
      ovary (n is 22 cycles) were identified. The control group included 44 women with
      two ovaries and mechanical infertility, who were selected as frequency-matched
      samples (2:1) to meet the distribution of age at treatment and race in the single
      ovary group. All patients underwent controlled ovarian hyperstimulation treatment
      via the long down-regulation protocol using a gonadotropin-releasing hormone
      agonist. Standard procedures were carried out for gamete-embryo handling, and
      embryo transfer was performed using a soft catheter on day two in all cases. The
      luteal phase was supported by progesterone or Pregnyl after oocyte pick-up.
      RESULTS: The duration of stimulation (11.3 +/- 1.7 versus 10.1 +/- 1.4 days) and
      the total follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) consumption (3906.8 +/- 1860.6
      mIU/ml versus 2900.0 +/- 1440.0 mIU/ml) were significantly higher, and the mean
      number of oocytes (10.8 +/- 4.5 versus 16.8 +/- 10.9) and metaphase II oocytes
      collected (9.5 +/- 4.5 versus 13.3 +/- 7.7) were significantly lower in the
      single ovary group (p is less than 0.05). The clinical pregnancy rates (31.8
      percent versus 43.2 percent) were comparable between the two groups. CONCLUSION:
      Although women with a single ovary required significantly higher doses of FSH and
      a longer duration of stimulation, as well as produced less oocytes, their
      clinical pregnancy rates were comparable to those of women with two ovaries in
      assisted reproduction.

PMID- 20938610
TI  - Comparison of fracture patterns between rural and urban populations in a
      developing country.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The pattern of fracture, including the anatomical location and age
      distribution, may differ among urban and rural populations due to various factors
      such as the inhabitants' occupation and living environment. METHODS: This was a
      retrospective multicentre study involving two urban and three rural hospitals in
      Malaysia. The demographic data and anatomical location of fracture of patients
      admitted in 2007 were collected for analysis. RESULTS: A total of 7,973 patients
      were admitted for fractures between January and December 2007. The femur was the
      commonest fracture site that required admission in the urban population (21.9
      percent), followed by the tibia-fibula (18.7 percent), while the radius-ulna was
      the commonest site among the rural population (22.0 percent), followed by the
      tibia-fibula (19.4 percent). The rates of head and pelvic fractures were
      comparatively higher in the urban population, while hand fractures were more
      common in the rural population. The higher rate of femur fracture in the urban
      group, especially among the elderly, may be due to the higher incidence of
      osteoporosis or a higher proportion of older people in the population.
      CONCLUSION: The anatomical locations of common fractures differed between the
      urban and rural populations. A higher rate of upper limb fractures was observed
      in the rural areas, while femur fractures in the elderly was the main cause of
      fracture admission in the urban areas. The relatively high rate of hand fractures
      in the rural areas, especially among children and young adults, may require
      further investigation.

PMID- 20938611
TI  - Evaluation of robotic-assisted locomotor training outcomes at a rehabilitation
      centre in Singapore.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The aim of this study was to determine whether robotic-assisted
      locomotor training, a new clinical service introduced at the Tan Tock Seng
      Hospital (TTSH) Rehabilitation Centre, Singapore is effective at improving the
      ability to transfer and the ambulatory status of patients with an acquired brain
      injury. METHODS: This was a retrospective review of data collected from patients
      with an acquired brain injury, before and after robotic-assisted locomotor
      training from September 2008 to May 2009. The primary outcome measures used were
      the functional independence measure (FIM) for transfer and ambulation, and the
      Rivermead Motor Assessment (RMA) gross function subscale. The secondary outcome
      measures used were the Motricity Index (MI) and Modified Ashworth Scale of the
      lower limb. Statistical analysis was performed on this data to evaluate whether
      robotic-assisted locomotor training was effective at improving the functional
      mobility of these patients. RESULTS: Significant improvement was observed in the
      scores of FIM transfer (p is less than 0.05), FIM ambulation (p is less than
      0.05) and RMA (p is less than 0.05) after robotic-assisted locomotor training.
      Significant improvements in the MI of hip flexion (p is less than 0.05), knee
      extension (p is less than 0.05) and ankle dorsiflexion (p is less than 0.05) post
      training have also been noted. CONCLUSION: Robotic-assisted locomotor training
      was found to be effective at improving the transfer, ambulation and functional
      mobility of patients with an acquired brain injury.

PMID- 20938612
TI  - The role of evoked potential and MR imaging in assessing multiple sclerosis: a
      comparative study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The role of evoked potential (EP) in evaluating multiple sclerosis
      (MS) has changed with the advent of magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. Given the
      possibly varied nature and distribution of pathologic lesions in Asian MS, this
      study compared the diagnostic usefulness of EPs to that of MR imaging among
      Chinese subjects. METHODS: This was a retrospective study of MS patients treated
      at the Kwong Wah Hospital, Hong Kong, between June 2004 and June 2009. The visual
      (VEPs), brainstem auditory (BAEPs), somatosensory (SEPs) and trigeminal (TSEPs)
      EPs were compared with MR imaging for correlation and usefulness using the chi
      square test. Sensitivities and specificities were calculated. RESULTS: The
      results showed that abnormalities were detected in the three modalities of EP
      among the 17 patients studied (VEP 82 percent, median and tibial SEP 65 percent,
      BAEP 47 percent). Compared with MR imaging, VEP was far more useful at detecting
      optic nerve lesions, while SEP was less sensitive at detecting cord lesions. BAEP
      was able to localise lesions along the auditory pathways at a rate that was
      almost similar to that of MR imaging (non-inferiority). Both TSEP and MR imaging
      for trigeminal nerves were negative in the two patients with trigeminal
      neuralgia. In some instances, EPs yielded abnormalities that were undetected by
      conventional MR imaging, and the sensitivity increased with the number of EP
      modalities. CONCLUSION: EP may be considered in clinical situations in which MR
      imaging is negative or cannot be performed. They may also be performed when
      evaluating treatment response, long-term prognosis and nonspecific changes on MR
      imaging.

PMID- 20938613
TI  - Sciatic nerve division: a cadaver study in the Indian population and review of
      the literature.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The sciatic nerve is the largest nerve, with a long course in the
      inferior extremity. Its division into the tibial and common peroneal nerves can
      occur at any level from the sacral plexus to the inferior part of the popliteal
      space. These anatomical variations may contribute to clinical conditions such as
      piriformis syndrome, sciatica and coccygodynia. METHODS: This study was performed
      on cadavers in order to study the level of sciatic nerve division. The inferior
      extremities of 43 cadavers were classified into six groups depending on the level
      of sciatic nerve division in the gluteal region, the upper, middle and lower
      parts of the back of the thigh, and the popliteal fossa. RESULTS: The highest
      incidence of sciatic nerve division (40.7 percent) was observed in the lower part
      of the posterior compartment of the thigh. In 34.9 percent of the specimens, the
      sciatic nerve was divided into tibial and common peroneal nerves in the popliteal
      fossa. 16.3 percent of extremities showed sciatic nerve division proximal to its
      entrance in the gluteal region. CONCLUSION: In sciatic nerve neuropathies, the
      extent of neurological deficits depends on the level of sciatic nerve division.
      Sciatic nerve division into tibial and common peroneal components at a higher
      level can result in the involvement of only one out of the two divisions from
      sciatic neuropathy. It can also result in a failure of the sciatic nerve block
      while performing popliteal block anaesthesia.

PMID- 20938614
TI  - Over-investigated and under-treated: children with febrile convulsion in a
      Malaysian district hospital.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: We conducted a retrospective audit on the inpatient assessment and
      care of children admitted with febrile convulsion to Hospital Batu Pahat, a
      district hospital in Malaysia, using the Malaysian national clinical practice
      guidelines and the American Academy of Paediatrics practice parameters on febrile
      convulsion as the reference standards. METHODS: The case notes of 100 consecutive
      children admitted in 2004 were analysed. The documentation of major clinical
      features, selection of investigations, the timeliness of antipyresis and
      frequency of parental education were evaluated. RESULTS: In general, the major
      clinical features that were relevant to the presenting problem were adequately
      documented, although fever was not mentioned as a presenting complaint in one
      quarter of the cases. On an average, about five investigations were ordered for
      every patient on admission. There was no major difference in the number of
      investigations conducted between children who were more severely ill and the rest
      of the patients. The majority of the investigations did not yield any useful
      diagnostic information. Only 38 percent of the children received antipyretics and
      53 percent were tepid-sponged during fever, with 23 percent having received tepid
      sponging without concurrently receiving antipyretics. No parental education on
      febrile convulsion was recorded in half of the cases. CONCLUSION: Excessive
      unjustified investigations, deficient antipyresis when required and inadequate
      communication with the family of children with febrile convulsion were observed.
      Awareness of such deficiencies from this audit should lead to regular staff
      education, monitoring and future audits in order to improve the quality of our
      clinical care.

PMID- 20938615
TI  - Anthropometric analysis of the infraorbital foramen in a South Indian population.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The aim of this study was to document the morphological and
      topographical anatomy of the infraorbital foramen (IOF) in relation to the
      infraorbital rim (IOR), which is necessary in clinical situations that require
      regional nerve blocks. METHODS: A total of 80 dry South Indian adult human skulls
      of unknown age and gender were studied. In each skull, the IOF on both sides was
      measured using a metal casing digital vernier caliper, with the IOR as the
      reference point. The IOF's location and its transverse and vertical diameters
      were measured. The shape, size, orientation and accessory foramens of the IOF
      were also documented. RESULTS: The majority of IOF among the skulls were oval
      shaped on both the right (55 percent) and left (51.25 percent) sides. The
      majority were directed inferomedially on both the right (55 percent) and left
      (52.50 percent) sides. The overall combined distance between the IOR and IOF was
      4.1 to 11.5 (6.57 +/- 1.28) mm. The overall combined vertical diameter was 1.2 to
      4.7 (2.82 +/- 0.79) mm. The overall combined transverse diameter was 1 to 5.1
      (2.87 +/- 0.78) mm. Accessory foramens of IOF were found in 13 (16.25 percent)
      skulls. CONCLUSION: Knowledge of the anatomical characteristics of IOF locations,
      diameters, shapes, directions and its accessory foramens may have important
      implications on blocking the infraorbital nerve for surgical and local
      anaesthetic planning. Information on the shape of the foramens obtained from this
      study may provide additional guidance to surgeons when introducing needles in
      anaesthetic procedures.

PMID- 20938616
TI  - Blood transfusion practices at a level one trauma centre: a one-year
      retrospective review.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Knowledge of blood usage patterns helps to address major issues
      such as the management of massive transfusion events, minimisation of transfusion
      risks, as well as in dealing with blood shortages. The aim of our study was to
      audit blood component usage at a Level I trauma centre blood bank. METHODS: A
      retrospective analysis of the transfusion data of 4,320 patients who were
      admitted to the General Surgery, Neurosurgery, Orthopaedics and Emergency
      Medicine departments during a one-year period was conducted. RESULTS: A total of
      4,054 patients underwent transfusion. 88 percent, 94 percent, 80 percent and 100
      percent of patients admitted to the General Surgery, Orthopaedics, Neurosurgery
      and Emergency Medicine departments, respectively, received transfusions. Packed
      cells were the most commonly utilised component, followed by fresh frozen plasma
      (FFP) and platelets in the ratio 3:2:1. The highest number of FFPs (2,052 units)
      and platelet concentrates (950 units) were used in the General Surgery and
      Neurosurgery departments, respectively. The calculated cross-match to transfusion
      (C:T) ratio did not exceed 2.5 in any of the departments. Among those transfused,
      the massive blood transfusion rate was low (1.77 percent). The rates of
      transfusion reactions and non-group-specific transfusions were also low (0.42
      percent and 0.07 percent, respectively). CONCLUSION: The rate of transfusion of
      trauma patients was high (94 percent). Using the C:T ratio as a marker, optimal
      blood utilisation was noted in all departments. The methods of reporting
      transfusion reactions need to be revised. Future studies on the appropriateness
      of blood use and blood ordering schedules are required.

PMID- 20938617
TI  - Hepatobiliary tuberculosis.
AB  - Tuberculosis (TB) infection is still common today and remains an important cause
      of morbidity and mortality. Abdominal TB is one of the most prevalent forms of
      extrapulmonary manifestations, and collectively refers to gastrointestinal,
      splenic, pancreatic, hepatobiliary and abdominal lymphadenopathy involvement. The
      manifestation can be nonspecific, and mimics many conditions, including
      malignancies. Biliary involvement is extremely rare. It can directly involve or
      be a result of external compressions or extension from adjacent organs.
      Strictures can be simple or multiple and isolated or complex. Radiologically, it
      is difficult to exclude cholangiocarcinoma. Hepatic involvement is more common
      and is categorised as the miliary or isolated local type. Both can be further sub
      divided into nodular or diffuse forms. The manifestations range from abscesses
      and tuberculomas to hepatic calcifications. Calcifications range from small
      isolated specks to gross calcification with or without hepatic atrophy. The
      diagnosis of hepatobiliary TB (HBTB) can be difficult. Ultrasonography and
      computed tomography are the main radiological investigations. Endoscopic
      retrograde cholangiography is important in the management of biliary TB. It is
      often important to look for the involvement of other organs and consider the
      coexistence of other pathologies such as malignancies. This pictorial essay
      reviews some of the HBTB infections that have been encountered in our tertiary
      referral centre.

PMID- 20938618
TI  - Severe falciparum malaria patients transferred "late" to a high level ICU in
      India represents a difficult research capture point to comment on predictors of
      mortality and related organ dysfunction.

PMID- 20938621
TI  - Ross syndrome with sweating anomaly associated with Sjogren syndrome: An infrared
      thermo-graphic case study.

PMID- 20938622
TI  - Leg ulcers associated with positive lupus anticoagulant in two cases of
      Klinefelter's syndrome.

PMID- 20938623
TI  - Criteria for validating comprehensive ICF Core Sets and developing brief ICF Core
      Set versions.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To describe the empirical processes used to (i) validate the
      comprehensive International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health
      (ICF) Core Sets, and (ii) develop brief ICF Core Sets from the ICF Categories of
      these more comprehensive ICF Core Sets. DESIGN: Prospective multi-centre cohort
      study. PATIENTS: PATIENTS receiving rehabilitation interventions for
      musculoskeletal, neurological or cardiopulmonary injury or disease in acute
      hospitals or early post-acute rehabilitation facilities. METHODS: Functioning was
      coded using the ICF. For validation, absolute and relative frequencies
      (prevalences) of impairment, limitation or restriction were reported at admission
      and end-point (discharge or 6 weeks after admission). Aspects not covered were
      extracted and translated into the best corresponding ICF category. The criterion
      for selecting candidate categories for the brief ICF Core Sets was based on their
      ability to discriminate between patients with high or low functioning status.
      Discrimination was assessed using multivariable regression models, the
      independent variables being all of the ICF categories of the respective
      comprehensive ICF Core Set. Analogue ratings of overall functioning as reported
      by patients and health professionals were used as dependent variables.
      CONCLUSION: We present an algorithm to identify candidate categories for brief
      ICF Core Sets extracted from the comprehensive acute and post-acute ICF Core
      Sets.

PMID- 20938624
TI  - [Use of the OUTBACK Re-entry Catheter for recanalization of a joint-transversing
      extensive occlusion of the femoral and popliteal arteries].
AB  - Application of modern techniques for recanalization can now serve to reopen
      extensive chronic occlusions of the femoral artery with good results. A guide
      catheter and stiff J Terumo wires are used to perform subintimal recanalization.
      Once the occlusion site has been traversed in the subintimal plane the challenge
      lies in the re-entry maneuver to restore the true vessel lumen. Use of the
      OUTBACK catheter has proven to be particularly well suited for this purpose
      during which a biopsy of the true vessel lumen is obtained by advancing a needle.

PMID- 20938626
TI  - [Multimodality treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma].
AB  - Hepatocellular carcinoma represents one of the most important tumor entities
      worldwide. The great majority of these cases in Germany can be attributed to
      chronic liver disease (alcohol, viral hepatitis among others), which lead to
      development of liver cirrhosis and ultimately to hepatocellular carcinoma. While
      our understanding of the pathophysiological principles underlying the origin of
      hepatocellular carcinoma has increased considerably in recent years, the
      prognosis of the majority of these patients remains poor. However, a combined
      interdisciplinary approach involving internists, surgeons, and radiologists can
      often achieve effective palliative treatment of the disease. This has recently
      been reinforced by applying systemic therapies which specifically influence the
      important biological processes of hepatocellular carcinoma. It can be assumed
      that by adhering to well-defined treatment algorithms and using improved drug
      therapy the prognosis of patients with this form of cancer will improve in the
      future.

PMID- 20938625
TI  - [A multi-disciplinary approach to the treatment of germ cell tumors].
AB  - The management of patients with germ cell tumors must be based upon complete
      staging and should be risk-adapted. Seminoma stage I can be managed by either
      active surveillance, adjuvant carboplatin therapy, or radiotherapy. Seminoma
      stage IIA should receive radiotherapy, stage IIB can be managed with either
      radiotherapy or chemotherapy. Seminoma stage IIC and III are treated with three
      (to four) cycles of PEB (cisplatin, etoposide, bleomycin). Nonseminoma stage I
      should be managed by either active surveillance or adjuvant chemotherapy with one
      (to two) cycles of PEB, based upon the risk factor vascular invasion. Treatment
      of advanced nonseminoma consists of either 3 or 4 cycles of PEB and must be
      guided by the IGCCCG prognostic subgroup. Prognosis is particularly poor in
      patients with either primary mediastinal nonseminoma, and/or metastases to liver,
      brain or bone, or inadequate tumor marker decline. In these cases,
      intensification of therapy with high dose chemotherapy can be justified. Complex
      cases with poor prognosis and all patients with relapsed disease should
      exclusively be treated by experts in a tertiary care setting to achieve highest
      possible cure rates in these young patients.

PMID- 20938628
TI  - [54-year-old male with hepatic cirrhosis and therapy-associated torsade de
      pointes tachycardia].
AB  - We present a case of a patient with newly diagnosed cirrhosis and kidney failure
      who underwent cardiopulmonary resuscitation twice after treatment with
      terlipressin. After the second application a QT interval prolongation and torsade
      de pointes were documented. Since other causes were excluded, we interpret both
      events as terlipressin-induced ventricular arrhythmia. Therefore, it seems
      important to consider this rare but potentially lethal side effect when
      administering this drug to patients.

PMID- 20938627
TI  - [Multimodality therapy concepts for soft tissue sarcomas].
AB  - Despite the fact that soft tissue sarcomas are representing a rare tumor entity
      with a low incidence rate of about 2-4 per 100,000 per year, they highly require
      a multimodality therapeutic approach. Based on a reference pathology a complete
      surgical resection is the first treatment goal. After accomplished R0 resection
      the local relapse rate can be further decreased by an adjuvant radiotherapy. For
      primarily irresectable or only partially respectable tumors a neoadjuvant
      chemotherapy combined with regional hyperthermia should be considered. Patients
      with metastasized soft tissue sarcomas should receive an anthracyclin-based
      chemotherapy in a palliative intention. Prognostically more favorable are
      gastrointestinal stroma tumor, also in advanced stages with metastases, since the
      tyrosine kinase inhibitors imatinib and sunitinib can induce durable remissions.

PMID- 20938629
TI  - [Therapy-refractory thrombocytopenia in a 28-year-old patient].
AB  - We report a case of a patient with thrombocytopenia. A sporadic MYH9-associated
      disease, May Hegglin anomaly, was identified by giant platelets, leucocyte
      inclusion bodies and the typical distribution of NMMHC-IIA in granulocytes in the
      absence of impaired renal function, cataract and hearing loss. MYH9-associated
      diseases are an underestimated differential diagnosis of idiopathic
      thrombocytopenia. The correct diagnosis is important to prevent unnecessary
      treatment of a patient with thrombocytopenia and to provide sufficient patient
      information and genetic counseling. Therefore, careful examination of the blood
      smear has to be the first diagnostic step in a case of unexplained
      thrombocytopenia.

PMID- 20938630
TI  - [Pregnancy and inflammatory bowel disease].
AB  - Medical advice regarding the desire to have children and pregnancy in patients
      with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is often requested. The influence of IBD on
      pregnancy and--vice versa--of pregnancy on the activity of IBD is discussed.
      Based on three clinical cases the chances and limitations of medical treatment of
      CED during pregnancy are reviewed. Generally it is important to balance the
      therapy between the patients desire to be treated most effectively and to deliver
      a healthy child after an uncomplicated pregnancy. An interdisciplinary treatment
      is always advisable in patients with IBD and a desire to have children.

PMID- 20938632
TI  - [Psycho-oncology - psychosocial oncology: integration in a concept of oncological
      treatment].
AB  - Psycho-oncology is defined by psychosocial aspects of prevention, etiology,
      diagnostics, treatment, and rehabilitation of cancer. It is characterized by
      interdisciplinary medicine, as well as cooperation between medical and nonmedical
      professionals. Psychosocial distress and/or psychiatric disorders are manifested
      in 30-60% of cancer patients. The primary target of psycho-oncological management
      is to retain and ideally optimize the subjective quality of life of cancer
      patients. It is important to understand that psycho-oncological care is part of
      an integrative oncological patient management. Basic psycho-oncological
      management is usually provided by the primary oncologist, whereas more specific
      psycho-oncological measures call for specially trained
      psychiatric/psychotherapeutic staff. Psycho-oncological interventions include
      psychological/psychotherapeutic, as well as psychopharmacologic interventions.

PMID- 20938633
TI  - Renal function and cardiovascular events: relevance of eGFR and albuminuria in
      patients with diabetes.
AB  - Impaired renal function has been recognised as an independent cardiovascular risk
      factor in the general population and in patients with established cardiovascular
      disease. In this issue of Diabetologia, Drury et al. examined the association of
      two markers of renal function with cardiovascular outcome in patients with type 2
      diabetes. They found that both estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and
      albuminuria were independent predictors, but that their incremental contribution
      to cardiovascular risk was modest compared with that of other risk factors. Both
      eGFR and albuminuria appear to integrate information from other risk factors and
      may be more suitable than population-based risk scores for risk prediction in
      individuals, but further research is required to examine whether reduced eGFR and
      albuminuria mainly represent generalised vascular damage or if impaired renal
      function directly affects vascular structure and function in patients with type 2
      diabetes.

PMID- 20938631
TI  - [Cognitive reserve and its relevance for the prevention and diagnosis of
      dementia].
AB  - Progressive brain damage is undoubtedly the main cause of clinical symptoms of
      dementia in neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease. However, the
      association between brain damage and cognitive symptoms is not linear. Certain
      interindividual differences such as a good school education or a greater brain
      volume are associated with a higher resilience against brain damage that is
      usually referred to as cognitive reserve (CR). Individuals with high CR have a
      diminished risk for dementia and both active and passive concepts for this
      phenomenon are discussed. In the concept of passive CR, peculiarities of brain
      structure such as higher synapse or neuron counts are regarded as buffers against
      brain damage. Symptoms of dementia do not occur until a certain threshold of
      damage is passed. In addition to the passive concepts, active mechanisms are also
      discussed that are associated with the ability to maintain a certain level of
      cognitive performance in the face of progressive neurodegeneration for a longer
      period. In subjects with healthy cognitive function, these active mechanisms
      contribute to the adaptation of brain activity when task difficulty level is
      increased. Confronted with progressive neurodegeneration, these active mechanisms
      help to compensate for brain damage. Individuals with higher CR show more
      efficient activation for solving the same task, which helps them to preserve
      normal levels of cognitive performance for a longer period.

PMID- 20938635
TI  - Coping and depression in diabetic foot ulcer healing: causal influence,
      mechanistic evidence or none of the above?

PMID- 20938634
TI  - AMP-activated protein kinase regulates glucagon secretion from mouse pancreatic
      alpha cells.
AB  - AIM/HYPOTHESIS: AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), encoded by Prkaa genes, is
      emerging as a key regulator of overall energy homeostasis and the control of
      insulin secretion and action. We sought here to investigate the role of AMPK in
      controlling glucagon secretion from pancreatic islet alpha cells. METHODS: AMPK
      activity was modulated in vitro in clonal alphaTC1-9 cells and isolated mouse
      pancreatic islets using pharmacological agents and adenoviruses encoding
      constitutively active or dominant negative forms of AMPK. Glucagon secretion was
      measured during static incubation by radioimmunoassay. AMPK activity was assessed
      by both direct phosphotransfer assay and by western (immuno-)blotting of the
      phosphorylated AMPK alpha subunits and the downstream target acetyl-CoA
      carboxylase 1. Intracellular free [Ca2(+)] was measured using Fura-Red. RESULTS:
      Increasing glucose concentrations strongly inhibited AMPK activity in clonal
      pancreatic alpha cells. Forced increases in AMPK activity in alphaTC1-9 cells,
      achieved through the use of pharmacological agents including metformin,
      phenformin and A-769662, or via adenoviral transduction, resulted in stimulation
      of glucagon secretion at both low and high glucose concentrations, whereas AMPK
      inactivation inhibited both [Ca2(+)](i) increases and glucagon secretion at low
      glucose. Transduction of isolated mouse islets with an adenovirus encoding AMPK
      CA under the control of the preproglucagon promoter increased glucagon secretion
      selectively at elevated glucose concentrations. CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: AMPK
      is strongly regulated by glucose in pancreatic alpha cells, and increases in AMPK
      activity are sufficient and necessary for the stimulation of glucagon release in
      vitro. Modulation of AMPK activity in alpha cells may therefore provide a novel
      approach to controlling blood glucose concentrations.

PMID- 20938636
TI  - Impaired insulin-induced site-specific phosphorylation of TBC1 domain family,
      member 4 (TBC1D4) in skeletal muscle of type 2 diabetes patients is restored by
      endurance exercise-training.
AB  - AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: Insulin-mediated glucose disposal rates (R(d)) are reduced in
      type 2 diabetic patients, a process in which intrinsic signalling defects are
      thought to be involved. Phosphorylation of TBC1 domain family, member 4 (TBC1D4)
      is at present the most distal insulin receptor signalling event linked to glucose
      transport. In this study, we examined insulin action on site-specific
      phosphorylation of TBC1D4 and the effect of exercise training on insulin action
      and signalling to TBC1D4 in skeletal muscle from type 2 diabetic patients.
      METHODS: During a 3 h euglycaemic-hyperinsulinaemic (80 mU min-1 m-2) clamp, we
      obtained M. vastus lateralis biopsies from 13 obese type 2 diabetic and 13 obese,
      non-diabetic control individuals before and after 10 weeks of endurance exercise
      training. RESULTS: Before training, reductions in insulin-stimulated R (d),
      together with impaired insulin-stimulated glycogen synthase fractional velocity,
      Akt Thr308 phosphorylation and phosphorylation of TBC1D4 at Ser318, Ser588 and
      Ser751 were observed in skeletal muscle from diabetic patients. Interestingly,
      exercise-training normalised insulin-induced TBC1D4 phosphorylation in diabetic
      patients. This happened independently of increased TBC1D4 protein content, but
      exercise-training did not normalise Akt phosphorylation in diabetic patients. In
      both groups, training-induced improvements in insulin-stimulated R(d) (~20%) were
      associated with increased muscle protein content of Akt, TBC1D4, alpha2-AMP
      activated kinase (AMPK), glycogen synthase, hexokinase II and GLUT4 (20-75%).
      CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: Impaired insulin-induced site-specific TBC1D4
      phosphorylation may contribute to skeletal muscle insulin resistance in type 2
      diabetes. The mechanisms by which exercise-training improves insulin sensitivity
      in type 2 diabetes may involve augmented signalling of TBC1D4 and increased
      skeletal muscle content of key insulin signalling and effector proteins, e.g.,
      Akt, TBC1D4, AMPK, glycogen synthase, GLUT4 and hexokinase II.

PMID- 20938637
TI  - Placental lactogens induce serotonin biosynthesis in a subset of mouse beta cells
      during pregnancy.
AB  - AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: Upregulation of the functional beta cell mass is required to
      match the physiological demands of mother and fetus during pregnancy. This
      increase is dependent on placental lactogens (PLs) and prolactin receptors, but
      the mechanisms underlying these events are only partially understood. We studied
      the mRNA expression profile of mouse islets during pregnancy to gain a better
      insight into these changes. METHODS: RNA expression was measured ex vivo via
      microarrays and quantitative RT-PCR. In vivo observations were extended by in
      vitro models in which ovine PL was added to cultured mouse islets and MIN6 cells.
      RESULTS: mRNA encoding both isoforms of the rate-limiting enzyme of serotonin
      biosynthesis, tryptophan hydroxylase (TPH), i.e. Tph1 and Tph2, were strongly
      induced (fold change 25- to 200-fold) during pregnancy. This induction was
      mimicked by exposing islets or MIN6 cells to ovine PLs for 24 h and was dependent
      on janus kinase 2 and signal transducer and activator of transcription 5.
      Parallel to Tph1 mRNA and protein induction, islet serotonin content increased to
      a peak level that was 200-fold higher than basal. Interestingly, only a
      subpopulation of the beta cells was serotonin-positive in vitro and in vivo. The
      stored serotonin pool in pregnant islets and PL-treated MIN6 cells was rapidly
      released (turnover once every 2 h). CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: A very strong
      lactogen-dependent upregulation of serotonin biosynthesis occurs in a
      subpopulation of mouse islet beta cells during pregnancy. Since the newly formed
      serotonin is rapidly released, this lactogen-induced beta cell function may serve
      local or endocrine tasks, the nature of which remains to be identified.

PMID- 20938638
TI  - The influence of stigma on young people's help-seeking intentions and beliefs
      about the helpfulness of various sources of help.
AB  - PURPOSE: In this study, we examined whether young people's help-seeking
      intentions and beliefs about the helpfulness of various sources of help are
      influenced by their own, and their parents' stigmatising attitudes towards young
      people with mental disorders. METHODS: A national telephone survey was conducted
      with 3,746 Australians aged 12-25 years and 2,005 of their parents. Stigmatising
      attitudes, help-seeking intentions, and perceived helpfulness of various sources
      of help were assessed in relation to four vignettes of a young person with a
      mental disorder (psychosis, depression, depression with alcohol misuse or social
      phobia). RESULTS: Unlike 'stigma perceived in others', the 'weak-not-sick',
      'social distance' and 'dangerous/unpredictable' dimensions of young people's
      stigma were associated with both help-seeking intentions and helpfulness beliefs
      about various sources of help. Attributing mental disorder to a personal weakness
      rather than an illness was associated with less intention to seek help from a
      doctor and less positive beliefs about professional sources (including doctors,
      counsellors, and psychologists). In contrast, young adults aged 18-25 years who
      perceived the vignette character as more dangerous or unpredictable had greater
      intention to seek help from a psychiatrist and a helpline, and more positive
      beliefs about psychiatrists. Greater social distance was associated with less
      intention to seek help from informal sources and less positive beliefs about
      these sources. No consistent pattern of associations was found for parent stigma.
      CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that different dimensions of youth stigma
      differentially influence help-seeking intentions and beliefs about the
      helpfulness of different sources of help.

PMID- 20938639
TI  - Patterns of mental health care utilisation: distribution of services and its
      predictability from routine data.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Explore if a multi-dimensional analytic approach to routinely
      registered data provides a comprehensive way to characterise utilisation
      patterns, and to test if the patients' functional status is a predictor for the
      use of services. METHOD: We linked register contact data during a two-year
      period, including all types of specialised mental health services, in the
      population of a Norwegian county. Cox regression was applied in the models for
      prediction of admission and readmission. RESULTS: Great variability and
      complexity in patterns of utilisation were found, including multiple transitions
      between in-patient and out-patient statuses. The distribution of services was
      characterised by a small group of patients receiving a disproportionally large
      amount of resources. A majority of 77% appeared as out-patients only. Severity of
      symptoms as well as of dysfunction, as assessed by the split GAF-score,
      differentiated amongst utilisation groups. Both dimensions were significant
      predictors for admission. In contrast, only the severity of dysfunction predicted
      readmission. CONCLUSION: Multi-dimensional data architecture and analytical
      perspectives can be applied to routine data, and should be used to analyse the
      diverse patterns of utilisation. Risk populations could be predicted by routinely
      registered information on functional status.

PMID- 20938641
TI  - Relationship between cyanobacterial biomass and total microcystin-LR levels in
      drinking and recreational water.
AB  - Cyanobacterial biomass, chlorophyll-a, and microcystin-LR levels were monitored
      in drinking and recreational water in Seoul, South Korea and three satellite
      cities from Oct 2006 to Aug 2007. Total microcystin-LR was the sum of particulate
      and dissolved microcystin. Except during cold periods, toxic cyanobacteria,
      including Anabaena flos-aquae, were found at all sites. The total microcystin-LR
      levels were below guideline danger levels (<1.0 MUg/L) except one time (1.27
      MUg/L in October), whereas chl-a (111.7 MUg/L) and cell levels (2.6 * 105
      cells/mL) were at 'vigilance' and 'alert' levels for drinking water and at
      'guidance' level for recreational water, respectively. Discrepancies in these
      parameters may thus lead to frequent unnecessary alerts, thereby increasing water
      management costs.

PMID- 20938640
TI  - Social and demographic factors that influence the diagnosis of autistic spectrum
      disorders.
AB  - PURPOSE: Recent studies in epidemiology have highlighted the existence of
      children with autistic difficulties who remain undiagnosed. Other studies have
      identified 'access barriers' to clinics which include factors mediated by parents
      as well as health and education services. The purpose of this study was to
      examine whether social and demographic factors play a role in receiving a
      diagnosis of autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) independently of symptom severity.
      METHODS: Retrospective secondary analysis of a longitudinal UK cohort study,
      namely, the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC). RESULTS:
      With the severity of autistic traits held constant, boys were more likely to
      receive an ASD diagnosis than girls. Younger mothers and mothers of first-born
      children were significantly less likely to have children diagnosed with ASD.
      Maternal depression before and around the time of their children's autistic
      difficulties was associated with lack of diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS: The study
      provides evidence that social as well as biological factors can influence whether
      children are brought to the clinic.

PMID- 20938642
TI  - Axial and torsional stability of supracondylar femur osteotomies: biomechanical
      comparison of the stability of five different plate and osteotomy configurations.
AB  - PURPOSE: Little is known regarding the biomechanical stability and stiffness of
      implants and techniques used in supracondylar femur osteotomies (SCO). Therefore,
      fixation stability and stiffness of implants to bone was investigated under
      simulated physiological loading conditions using a composite femur model and a 3D
      motion-analysis system. METHODS: Five osteotomy configurations were investigated:
      (1) oblique medial closing-wedge fixated with an angle-stable implant; (2)
      oblique and (3) perpendicular medial closing-wedge, both fixated with an angled
      blade plate; and lateral opening-wedge fixated with (4) a spacer plate and (5) an
      angle-stable lateral implant. The motion measured at the osteotomy was used to
      calculate the stiffness and stability of the constructs. RESULTS: The least
      amount of motion and highest stiffness was measured in the medial oblique closing
      wedge osteotomy fixated with the angled blade plate. The lateral opening-wedge
      techniques were less stable and had a lower stiffness compared with the medial;
      the oblique saw cuts were more stable and had a higher stiffness than the
      perpendicular. CONCLUSION: This experimental study presents baseline data on the
      differences in the primary stability of bone-implant constructs used in SCO. The
      data in this study can be used as reference for future testing of SCO techniques.
      Furthermore, it is recommended that based on the differences found, the early
      postoperative rehabilitation protocol is tailored to the stability and stiffness
      of the fixation method used.

PMID- 20938643
TI  - Effect of repeated freezing-thawing on the Achilles tendon of rabbits.
AB  - The increased use of allograft tissue in the reconstruction of anterior cruciate
      ligament has brought more focus to the effect of storage and treatment on
      allograft. The purpose of this study was to observe the effect of histology and
      biomechanics on Achilles tendon in rabbits through repeated freezing-thawing
      before allograft tendon transplantation. Rabbit Achilles tendons were harvested
      and processed according to the manufacture's protocol of tissue bank, and
      freezing-thawing was repeated three times (group 1) and ten times (group 2).
      Those received only one cycle were used as controls. Then, tendons in each group
      were selected randomly to make for histological observations and biomechanics
      test. Histological observation showed that the following changes happened as the
      number of freezing-thawing increased: the arrangement of tendon bundles and
      collagen fibrils became disordered until ruptured, cells disrupted and apparent
      gaps appeared between tendon bundle because the formation of ice crystals. There
      were significant differences between the experimental and control groups in the
      values of maximum load, energy of maximum load and maximum stress, whereas no
      significant differences existed in other values such as stiffness, maximum
      strain, elastic modulus, and energy density. Therefore, repeated freezing-thawing
      had histological and biomechanical effect on Achilles tendon in rabbits before
      allograft tendon transplantation. This indicates that cautions should be taken in
      the repeated freezing-thawing preparation of allograft tendons in clinical
      application.

PMID- 20938644
TI  - Long-term results of intravesical hyaluronan therapy in bladder pain
      syndrome/interstitial cystitis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION AND HYPOTHESIS: While the short-term efficacy of intravesical
      hyaluronan for bladder pain syndrome/interstitial cystitis (BPS/IC) has been
      demonstrated, no data exist on the long-term outcome of this therapy. METHODS:
      Seventy BPS/IC patients treated with intravesical hyaluronan therapy from 2001 to
      2003 were asked to rate their present status of bladder symptoms on a visual
      analog scale. RESULTS: Forty-eight of 70 patients responded after a mean follow
      up of 4.9 years. The average initial VAS score of 8.15 had been reduced to 2.71
      after therapy and further to 2.14 5 years later. Fifty percent of patients
      (24/48) reported complete bladder symptom remission at 5 years follow-up without
      any additional therapy; 41.7% (20/48) with symptom recurrence was improved with
      hyaluronan maintenance therapy. No improvement was reported by four patients.
      CONCLUSIONS: Besides a high rate of acute symptom remission, intravesical
      hyaluronan also shows long-term efficacy in a considerable number of BPS/IC
      patients.

PMID- 20938645
TI  - Evaluation of safety and efficacy of single-incision mid-urethral short tape
      procedure (MiniArcTM tape) for stress urinary incontinence under local
      anaesthesia.
AB  - INTRODUCTION AND HYPOTHESIS: The aim of this study was to assess complications
      and short-term results (3 months and 1 year) from a single-incision mid-urethral
      tape for stress urinary incontinence. METHODS: Seventy-four women underwent
      single-incision mid-urethral tape under local anaesthesia, 59 of whom completed a
      1-year follow-up. Thirty-seven (50%) suffered urodynamic stress urinary
      incontinence. The International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire--Short
      Form (ICIQ-SF) was completed in the context of the case history pre-operatively
      and post-operatively. The duration of follow-up ranged from 91 to 466 days.
      RESULTS: The use of MiniArcTM tape in our study resulted in the objective cure
      rate (negative cough stress test) of 74% and 66% at 3 months and 1 year,
      respectively. Scores with ICIQ-SF questionnaire improved significantly at 3
      months and 1 year (p < 0.0001). No major intra-operative complication was
      reported in our study. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the advantage of being done under
      local anaesthetic, the overall cure rate is 66% at 1 year.

PMID- 20938646
TI  - Characterization of Edwardsiella tarda waaL: roles in lipopolysaccharide
      biosynthesis, stress adaptation, and virulence toward fish.
AB  - Edwardsiella tarda is the causative agent of edwardsiellosis in fish. The genome
      sequence of a virulent strain EIB202 has been determined. According to the genome
      sequence, the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) synthesis cluster containing a putative O
      antigen ligase gene waaL was identified. Here, the in-frame deletion mutant
      DeltawaaL was constructed to analyze the function of WaaL in E. tarda EIB202. The
      DeltawaaL mutant displayed absence in O-antigen side chains in the LPS
      production. The DeltawaaL mutant exhibited an increased sensitivity to hydrogen
      peroxide indicating that the LPS was involved in the endurance to the oxidative
      stress in hosts during infection. In addition, the resistance of DeltawaaL to
      serum and polymyxin B decreased remarkably. The DeltawaaL mutant was also
      attenuated in virulence, showed an impaired ability in internalization of
      epithelioma papulosum cyprinid (EPC) cells and a comparatively poor ability of
      proliferation in vivo, which was in line with the increased LD(50) value. These
      results indicated that waaL gene was a functional member of the gene cluster
      involved in LPS synthesis and highlighted the importance of the O-antigen side
      chains to stress adaption and virulence in E. tarda, signifying the gene as a
      potential target for live attenuated vaccine against this bacterium.

PMID- 20938647
TI  - Cytotoxicity of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles is influenced by cell density and
      culture format.
AB  - A parameter that has often been overlooked in cytotoxicity assays is the density
      and confluency of mammalian cell monolayers utilized for toxicology screening.
      Hence, this study investigated how different cell seeding densities influenced
      their response to cytotoxic challenge with ZnO nanoparticles. Utilizing the same
      volume (1 ml per well) and concentration range (5-40 MUg/ml) of ZnO
      nanoparticles, contradictory results were observed with higher-density cell
      monolayers (BEAS-2B cells) obtained either by increasing the number of seeded
      cells per well (50,000 vs. 200,000 cells per well of 12-well plate) or by seeding
      the same numbers of cells (50,000) within a smaller surface area (12-well vs. 48
      well plate, 4.8 vs. 1.2 cm(2), respectively). Further experiments demonstrated
      that the data may be skewed by inconsistency in the mass/number of nanoparticles
      per unit area of culture surface, as well as by inconsistent nanoparticle to cell
      ratio. To keep these parameters constant, the same number of cells (50,000 per
      well) were seeded on 12-well plates, but with the cells being seeded at the edge
      of the well for the experimental group (by tilting the plate) to form a dense
      confluent monolayer, as opposed to a sparse monolayer for the control group
      seeded in the conventional manner. Utilizing such an experimental set-up for the
      comparative evaluation of four different cell lines (BEAS-2B, L-929, CRL-2922 and
      C2C12), it was observed that the high cell density monolayer was consistently
      more resistant to the cytotoxic effects of ZnO nanoparticles compared to the
      sparse monolayer for all four different cell types, with the greatest differences
      being observed above a ZnO concentration of 10 MUg/ml. Hence, the results of this
      study demonstrate the need for the standardization of cell culture protocols
      utilized for toxicology screening of nanoparticles, with respect to cell density
      and mass/number of nanoparticles per unit area of culture surface.

PMID- 20938648
TI  - In vitro aneugenic effects of the fungicide thiabendazole evaluated in human
      lymphocytes by the micronucleus assay.
AB  - Thiabendazole is a benzimidazole-derived compound widely employed in agriculture
      as anthelmintic and fungicide. It is also used as a post-harvest fungicide for
      imported citrus fruits during transport and storage, and thus, it was found at
      high concentration in fruits and vegetables. Several studies have analyzed the
      potential genotoxic effect of thiabendazole on different prokaryotic and
      eukaryotic systems, but in many cases, results were contradictory. In the present
      study, the genotoxic potential of thiabendazole have been evaluated, by
      micronucleus assay in freshly isolated human peripheral lymphocytes. The cells
      were incubated with 0.5, 5 and 50 MUg/ml concentrations of the tested substance
      for 48 h at 37 degrees C. Mitomycin C at final concentration of 0.01 MUg/ml
      culture was used as a positive control. The results indicated that the
      thiabendazole significantly (P < 0.05) increased the micronucleus frequency
      compared with the negative control in all treatment concentrations, indicating a
      potential aneugenic hazard of thiabendazole in cultured human peripheral
      lymphocytes. The cytokinesis-block proliferation index value, however, was not
      decreased significantly compared with the negative control. Significant (P <
      0.05) differences in the micronuclei frequency were also found between the lower
      dose (0.5 MUg/ml) and the other two analyzed doses of thiabendazole. In contrast,
      no differences were found between 5 and 50 MUg/ml of thiabendazole and between
      DMSO and negative control. Finally, control cultures treated with the known
      mutagen MMC showed a very consistent increase in MN with respect to the negative
      controls.

PMID- 20938649
TI  - Light can ameliorate low mood in healthy people.

PMID- 20938651
TI  - In vitro effects of cholesterol beta-D-glucoside, cholesterol and cycad
      phytosterol glucosides on respiration and reactive oxygen species generation in
      brain mitochondria.
AB  - The cluster of neurodegenerative disorders in the western Pacific termed
      amyotrophic lateral sclerosis-parkinsonism dementia complex (ALS-PDC) has been
      repeatedly linked to the use of seeds of various species of cycad. Identification
      and chemical synthesis of the most toxic compounds in the washed cycad seeds, a
      variant phytosteryl glucosides, and even more toxic cholesterol beta-D-glucoside
      (CG), which is produced by the human parasite Helicobacter pylori, provide a
      possibility to study in vitro the mechanisms of toxicity of these compounds. We
      studied in detail the effects of CG on the respiratory activities and generation
      of reactive oxygen species (ROS) by nonsynaptic brain and heart mitochondria
      oxidizing various substrates. The stimulatory effects of CG on respiration and
      ROS generation showed strong substrate dependence, suggesting involvement of
      succinate dehydrogenase (complex II). Maximal effects on ROS production were
      observed with 1 MUmol CG/1 mg mitochondria. At this concentration the cycad
      toxins beta-sitosterol-beta-D-glucoside and stigmasterol-beta-D-glucoside had
      effects on respiration and ROS production similar to CG. However, poor solubility
      precluded full concentration analysis of these toxins. Cholesterol, stigmasterol
      and beta-sitosterol had no effect on mitochondrial functions studied at
      concentrations up to 100 MUmol/mg protein. Our results suggest that CG may
      influence mitochondrial functions through changes in the packing of the bulk
      membrane lipids, as was shown earlier by Deliconstantinos et al. (Biochem Cell
      Biol 67:16-24, 1989). The neurotoxic effects of phytosteryl glucosides and CG may
      be associated with increased oxidative damage of neurons. Unlike heart
      mitochondria, in activated neurons mitochondria specifically increase ROS
      production associated with succinate oxidation (Panov et al., J Biol Chem
      284:14448-14456, 2009).

PMID- 20938652
TI  - Lack of evidence for sign epistasis between beneficial mutations in an RNA
      bacteriophage.
AB  - In previous work (Betancourt, Genetics 181:1535, 2009), I propagated three large
      laboratory populations of an RNA phage (MS2) as they adapted to a controlled
      laboratory environment. These populations were large enough so that evolution
      might be expected to be mostly repeatable, but they nevertheless fixed different
      suites of mutations over the course of the experiment. Here, I investigate one
      possible explanation for these results: epistasis, in which the effect of a
      mutation depends on its genetic background, may have prevented populations with
      different initial substitutions from fixing the same set of subsequent mutations.
      I show that two mutations that previously occurred in different genetic
      backgrounds are beneficial on either background. This result suggests that sign
      epistasis-in which a mutation is beneficial on one background, but deleterious on
      another-is not the cause of different evolutionary trajectories observed in the
      Betancourt (2009) experiment. However, they can be explained by either magnitude
      epistasis-in which mutations have stronger or weaker beneficial effects depending
      on the background-or by the simultaneous fixation of multiple beneficial
      mutations. Surprisingly, the large populations of the previous experiment showed
      less parallel evolution than the small populations of this experiment, which
      lends support to the fixation of multiple beneficial mutations contributing to
      the patterns seen in both experiments.

PMID- 20938653
TI  - Intronic AT skew is a defendable proxy for germline transcription but does not
      predict crossing-over or protein evolution rates in Drosophila melanogaster.
AB  - Recent evidence suggests that germline transcription may affect both protein
      evolutionary rates, possibly mediated by repair processes, and recombination
      rates, possibly mediated by chromatin and epigenetic modification. Here, we test
      these propositions in Drosophila melanogaster. The challenge for such analyses is
      to provide defendable measures of germline gene expression. Intronic AT skew is a
      good candidate measure as it is thought to be a consequence, at least in part, of
      transcription-coupled repair. Prior evidence suggests that intronic AT skew in D.
      melanogaster is not affected by proximity to intron extremities and differs
      between transcribed DNA and flanking sequence. We now also establish that
      intronic AT skew is a defendable proxy for germline expression as (a) it is more
      similar than expected by chance between introns of the same gene (which is not
      accounted for by physical proximity), (b) is correlated with male germline
      expression, and (c) is more pronounced in broadly expressed genes. Furthermore,
      (d) a trend for intronic skew to differ between 3' and 5' ends of genes is
      particular to broadly expressed genes. Finally, (e) controlling for physical
      distance, introns of proximate genes are most different in skew if they have
      different tissue specificity. We find that intronic AT skew, employed as a proxy
      for germline transcription, correlates neither with recombination rates nor with
      the rate of protein evolution. We conclude that there is no prima facie evidence
      that germline expression modulates recombination rates or monotonically affects
      protein evolution rates in D. melanogaster.

PMID- 20938654
TI  - Temporary transumbilical stenting of the ductus venosus in neonates with
      obstructed infradiaphragmatic total anomalous pulmonary venous return.
AB  - Newborns with obstructed infradiaphragmatic total anomalous pulmonary venous
      return (TAPVR) are often clinically unstable. Temporary relief of the pulmonary
      venous obstruction may improve their clinical status before surgical repair.
      Three neonates (two premature and one full-term) with obstructed
      infradiaphragmatic TAPVR at the ductus venosus (DV) underwent stenting of the DV
      by way of an umbilical venous approach. Their clinical condition stabilized, thus
      allowing subsequent elective surgical repair.

PMID- 20938650
TI  - Brain serotonin receptors and transporters: initiation vs. termination of
      escalated aggression.
AB  - RATIONALE: Recent findings have shown a complexly regulated 5-HT system as it is
      linked to different kinds of aggression. OBJECTIVE: We focus on (1) phasic and
      tonic changes of 5-HT and (2) state and trait of aggression, and emphasize the
      different receptor subtypes, their role in specific brain regions, feed-back
      regulation and modulation by other amines, acids and peptides. RESULTS: New
      pharmacological tools differentiate the first three 5-HT receptor families and
      their modulation by GABA, glutamate and CRF. Activation of 5-HT(1A), 5-HT(1B) and
      5-HT(2A/2C) receptors in mesocorticolimbic areas, reduce species-typical and
      other aggressive behaviors. In contrast, agonists at 5-HT(1A) and 5-HT(1B)
      receptors in the medial prefrontal cortex or septal area can increase aggressive
      behavior under specific conditions. Activation of serotonin transporters reduce
      mainly pathological aggression. Genetic analyses of aggressive individuals have
      identified several molecules that affect the 5-HT system directly (e.g., Tph2, 5
      HT(1B), 5-HT transporter, Pet1, MAOA) or indirectly (e.g., Neuropeptide Y,
      alphaCaMKII, NOS, BDNF). Dysfunction in genes for MAOA escalates pathological
      aggression in rodents and humans, particularly in interaction with specific
      experiences. CONCLUSIONS: Feedback to autoreceptors of the 5-HT(1) family and
      modulation via heteroreceptors are important in the expression of aggressive
      behavior. Tonic increase of the 5-HT(2) family expression may cause escalated
      aggression, whereas the phasic increase of 5-HT(2) receptors inhibits aggressive
      behaviors. Polymorphisms in the genes of 5-HT transporters or rate-limiting
      synthetic and metabolic enzymes of 5-HT modulate aggression, often requiring
      interaction with the rearing environment.

PMID- 20938655
TI  - The Fontan patient: inconsistencies in medication therapy across seven pediatric
      heart network centers.
AB  - Patients who have undergone the Fontan procedure are at risk for thrombosis,
      ventricular dysfunction, and valve regurgitation, but data to guide the medical
      treatment and prevention of these adverse outcomes in this population are
      lacking. This analysis examined medication usage among Fontan patients by
      putative indication and by study center. The medical history and current
      medications of 546 Fontan subjects, ages 6-18 years, were assessed in a Pediatric
      Heart Network multicenter cross-sectional study. Cardiac imaging was performed
      within 3 months of enrollment. The majority of the subjects (64%) were taking two
      or more medications. Antithrombotics were taken by 86% of those with a history of
      stroke, thrombosis, or both and 67% of those without such a history (P = 0.01).
      Conversely, 14% of those with a history of stroke, thrombosis, or both were
      taking no antithrombotic. Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor (ACEi) therapy
      was independently associated with moderate or severe atrioventricular valve
      regurgitation (P = 0.004), right ventricular morphology (P < 0.001), and shorter
      time since Fontan (P = 0.004) but not with ventricular systolic dysfunction.
      Glycoside therapy and diuretic therapy each was associated with older age at
      Fontan (P = 0.001 and P = 0.023, respectively) and a history of post-Fontan
      arrhythmia (P < 0.001 and P = 0.003, respectively) but not with ventricular
      systolic dysfunction. Medication use rates varied widely among the centers, even
      with controls for center differences in patient characteristics. Prospective
      therapeutic trials are needed to guide the medical treatment of Fontan patients.

PMID- 20938656
TI  - Fine-scale horizontal and vertical micro-distribution patterns of testate amoebae
      along a narrow Fen/Bog gradient.
AB  - The ecology of peatland testate amoebae is well studied along broad gradient from
      very wet (pool) to dry (hummock) micro-sites where testate amoebae are often
      found to respond primarily to the depth to water table (DWT). Much less is known
      on their responses to finer-scale gradients, and nothing is known of their
      possible response to phenolic compounds, which play a key role in carbon storage
      in peatlands. We studied the vertical (0-3, 3-6, and 6-9 cm sampling depths)
      micro-distribution patterns of testate amoebae in the same microhabitat (Sphagnum
      fallax lawn) along a narrow ecological gradient between a poor fen with an almost
      flat and homogeneous Sphagnum carpet (fen) and a "young bog" (bog) with more
      marked micro-topography and mosaic of poor fen and bog vegetation. We analyzed
      the relationships between the testate amoeba data and three sets of variables (1)
      "chemical" (pH, Eh potential, and conductivity), (2) "physical" (water
      temperature, altitude, i.e., Sphagnum mat micro-topography, and DWT), and (3)
      phenolic compounds in/from Sphagnum (water-soluble and primarily bound phenolics)
      as well as the habitat (fen/bog) and the sampling depth. Testate amoeba Shannon
      H' diversity, equitability J of communities, and total density peaked in lower
      parts of Sphagnum, but the patterns differed between the fen and bog micro-sites.
      Redundancy analyses revealed that testate amoeba communities differed
      significantly in relation to Eh, conductivity, water temperature, altitude, water
      soluble phenolics, habitat, and sampling depth, but not to DWT, pH, or primarily
      bound phenolics. The sensitivity of testate amoebae to weak environmental
      gradients makes them particularly good integrators of micro-environmental
      variations and has implications for their use in paleoecology and environmental
      monitoring. The correlation between testate amoeba communities and the
      concentration of water-soluble phenolic suggests direct (e.g., physiological)
      and/or indirect (e.g., through impact on prey organisms) effects on testate
      amoebae, which requires further research.

PMID- 20938657
TI  - Sequence analysis of the grey mouse lemur (Microcebus murinus) MHC class II DQ
      and DR region.
AB  - We here report the genomic organisation of the grey mouse lemur (Microcebus
      murinus) MHC class II DQ and DR region based on BAC clone analysis. The sequenced
      Mimu-MHC haplotype spans 343 kb and encompasses the genes TAP2, DOB, DQB, DQA,
      DRB, DRA, BTNL2 and a further BTNL gene. The DQ and DR genes of this haplotype
      are not duplicated. Mimu-DOB is not transcribed and represents a pseudogene due
      to deletions and premature stop codons. Analysis of BAC clone DNA, a cDNA sample
      and eight genomic DNA samples suggests that Mimu-DRB, Mimu-DQA and Mimu-DQB are
      highly polymorphic with the majority of peptide-binding residues being affected
      by polymorphisms. In contrast, Mimu-DRA is moderately polymorphic, and the
      variable amino acid positions are not part of the peptide-binding region.
      Phylogenetic analysis of Mimu-DQA and Mimu-DQB and other primate DQA and DQB
      genes indicates that duplication of DQA and DQB loci occurred in Anthropoidea
      after the split from Strepsirrhini.

PMID- 20938658
TI  - Association of toll-like receptor four single nucleotide polymorphisms with
      incidence of infectious bovine keratoconjunctivitis (IBK) in cattle.
AB  - Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) is a receptor protein that binds pathogen ligands,
      which are mainly associated with Gram-negative bacteria. The objective of this
      study was to investigate the association of nucleotide polymorphisms in TLR4 with
      infectious bovine keratoconjunctivitis (IBK), or pinkeye, incidence in American
      Angus cattle. Animals with previously calculated breeding values for IBK
      susceptibility were used to identify two SNPs in TLR4; Int1 (A/G) in intron1 (-26
      Ex2 position) and Ex3 (C/T) in exon3 (1,678 position). To investigate the
      possible role of these SNPs in IBK susceptibility, the disease incidence
      information was collected on 370 calves raised in Iowa at two time points-June or
      August (disease season) and October (at weaning) and genotyped using PCR-RFLP
      protocols. In statistical models including year, pasture management group, and
      SNP, the Int1 SNP had a significant effect on IBK infection rates both in-season
      (P < 0.05) and at weaning (P < 0.01), whereas the Ex3 SNP was not significant (P
      > 0.79) at either time point. Furthermore, the Int1 SNP alone could account for
      2.1% of phenotypic variation in IBK infection during the disease season and 3.0%
      of phenotypic variation in IBK infection at the time of weaning. These data
      indicate that there is a relationship between Int1 genotype and the rate of IBK
      infection in American Angus cattle.

PMID- 20938659
TI  - Altered spectrum of somatic hypermutation in common variable immunodeficiency
      disease characteristic of defective repair of mutations.
AB  - Pathogenic common variable immunodeficiency diseases (CVID) are genetic, usually
      inherited diseases for which a limited number of genetic defects have been
      implicated. As CVID presents with a wide range of clinical characteristics, there
      are likely diverse and for the most part unidentified genetic causes. In some
      individuals, defects in somatic hypermutation (SHM) have been suggested as the
      underlying cause of CVID. To address the mechanisms of SHM defects in CVID, we
      conducted a comprehensive mutational analysis of immunoglobulin heavy chain
      sequences from CVID patients. We identified several remarkably specific
      alterations in the spectra of SHM in comparison to healthy individuals. We
      provide evidence that some CVID cases are associated with defective repair of AID
      induced mutations by the DNA mismatch repair (MMR) machinery. Our findings
      together with reports of increased chromosomal radiosensitivity and associated
      lymphoproliferative disorders amongst CVID patients, suggest that altered DNA
      damage repair may be a cause of CVID.

PMID- 20938661
TI  - Citrobacter freundii-induced cold agglutinin hemolysis.

PMID- 20938660
TI  - Hematopoietic stem cell mobilization with the reversible CXCR4 receptor inhibitor
      plerixafor (AMD3100)-Polish compassionate use experience.
AB  - Recent developments in the field of targeted therapy have led to the discovery of
      a new drug, plerixafor, that is a specific inhibitor of the CXCR4 receptor.
      Plerixafor acts in concert with granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) to
      increase the number of stem cells circulating in the peripheral blood (PB).
      Therefore, it has been applied in the field of hematopoietic stem cell
      mobilization. We analyzed retrospectively data regarding stem cell mobilization
      with plerixafor in a cohort of 61 patients suffering from multiple myeloma (N =
      23), non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (N = 20), or Hodgkin's lymphoma (N = 18). At least
      one previous mobilization attempt had failed in 83.6% of these patients, whereas
      16.4% were predicted to be poor mobilizers. The median number of CD34+ cells in
      the PB after the first administration of plerixafor was 22/MUL (range of 0-121).
      In total, 85.2% of the patients proceeded to cell collection, and a median of two
      (range of 0-4) aphereses were performed. A minimum of 2.0 * 10(6) CD34+ cells per
      kilogram of the patient's body weight (cells/kg b.w.) was collected from 65.6% of
      patients, and the median number of cells collected was 2.67 * 10(6) CD34+
      cells/kg b.w. (0-8.0). Of the patients, 55.7% had already undergone autologous
      stem cell transplantation, and the median time to neutrophil and platelet
      reconstitution was 12 and 14 days, respectively. Cases of late graft failure were
      not observed. We identified the diagnosis of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and previous
      radiotherapy as independent factors that contributed to failure of mobilization.
      The current report demonstrates the satisfactory efficacy of plerixafor plus G
      CSF for stem cell mobilization in heavily pre-treated poor or predicted poor
      mobilizers.

PMID- 20938662
TI  - Indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase in tumor tissue indicates prognosis in patients with
      diffuse large B-cell lymphoma treated with R-CHOP.
AB  - Indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) exerts immunomodulatory effects due to
      enzymatic activities catalyzing the essential amino acid L-tryptophan. IDO
      activity might play an important role in regulating immune responses exerted by
      antigen-presenting cells as a potent tool to help escape from assault by the
      immune system. In this study, we performed immunohistochemical analysis for IDO
      expression using mouse anti-human IDO monoclonal antibody in 119 tissue samples
      of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) obtained before treatment with
      rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (R-CHOP).
      Not only the lymphoma cells themselves but also dendritic cells (DCs) expressed
      IDO. Positive IDO expression in lymphoma cells was found in 38 cases (32%).
      Complete remission rates in patients with IDO-positive DLBCL and IDO-negative
      DLBCL were 55.3% and 79.0% (p=0.008), while 3-year overall survival rates were
      49.8% and 78.8%, respectively (p=0.0003). IDO activity might thus play an
      important role in DLBCL and cells that express IDO appear important for
      determining outcomes after R-CHOP treatment. IDO might represent a candidate
      therapeutic target for DLBCL patients who show resistance to chemotherapy.

PMID- 20938663
TI  - Iron overload in MDS-pathophysiology, diagnosis, and complications.
AB  - Many patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) become dependent on blood
      transfusions and develop transfusional iron overload, which is exacerbated by
      increased absorption of dietary iron in response to ineffective erythropoiesis.
      However, it is uncertain whether there is an association among iron accumulation,
      clinical complications, and decreased likelihood of survival in MDS patients.
      Here, we discuss our current understanding of the effects of transfusion
      dependency and iron overload in MDS, indicate our knowledge gaps, and suggest
      that particular emphasis should be placed on further characterizing the role of
      redox-active forms of labile iron, which may be as important as the total iron
      burden.

PMID- 20938664
TI  - Fulvestrant 250 mg versus anastrozole for Chinese patients with advanced breast
      cancer: results of a multicentre, double-blind, randomised phase III trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Fulvestrant, an oestrogen receptor (ER) antagonist with
      no known agonist effects, has shown activity in postmenopausal patients with ER
      positive advanced breast cancer recurring or progressing following prior
      endocrine therapy. This double-blind, double-dummy, randomised phase III study
      (NCT00327769) was designed to compare the efficacy and safety of fulvestrant
      versus anastrozole in advanced breast cancer of Chinese postmenopausal women
      whose disease has progressed following prior endocrine treatment. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: A total of 234 patients were randomised to fulvestrant 250 mg/month (n =
      121) or 1 mg/day anastrozole (n = 113), together with matching placebo. The
      primary endpoint was time to progression (TTP). Secondary endpoints included
      objective response rate (ORR), duration of response (DoR), clinical benefit rate
      (CBR) and time to treatment failure (TTF). RESULTS: Baseline characteristics were
      similar, with the possible exception that a higher number of fulvestrant patients
      had received two prior chemotherapy regimens. Median TTP was 110 days in the
      fulvestrant group versus 159 days in the anastrozole group (hazard ratio [HR],
      1.314; 95% confidence intervals [CI], 0.948, 1.822; P = 0.101). ORR was 10% in
      the fulvestrant group and 14% in the anastrozole group. Median DoR from
      randomisation to progression was 436 days versus 432 days for the fulvestrant and
      anastrozole groups, respectively. CBR for fulvestrant (36.1%) versus anastrozole
      (48.2%) was not statistically different between the groups. TTF (110 days versus
      147 days for the fulvestrant and anastrozole groups, respectively) was not
      statistically different between the treatments (HR, 1.307; 95% CI, 0.961, 1.778;
      P = 0.088). Both treatments were well tolerated, with only two patients treated
      with fulvestrant and four patients treated with anastrozole withdrawn from study
      treatment due to adverse events. CONCLUSIONS: These data demonstrate that
      fulvestrant 250 mg and anastrozole were similarly effective and well tolerated in
      the treatment of postmenopausal Chinese women with advanced breast cancer whose
      disease had progressed or recurred on prior endocrine treatment.

PMID- 20938666
TI  - Does abdominal sonography provide additional information over abdominal plain
      radiography for diagnosis of necrotizing enterocolitis in neonates?
AB  - PURPOSE: To explore whether addition of abdominal sonography (AUS) to plain
      radiography is helpful in the management of premature newborns with necrotizing
      enterocolitis (NEC). METHODS: This study is a prospective analysis of 93
      premature neonates with NEC who were followed-up in our neonatal intensive care
      unit between October 2007 and April 2009. RESULTS: Patients were classified into
      two groups; group I with suspected NEC (stage I) (n = 54) and group II with
      definite NEC (stage >=II) (n = 39). Pneumatosis intestinalis (PI) (n = 29), free
      air (n = 9), and portal venous gas (PVG) (n = 1) were observed in group II on
      plain radiography. In the same group, echoic free fluid (EFF) (n = 9), PVG (n =
      6), PI (n = 5), and focal fluid collection (n = 3) were the most prominent
      sonographic findings. In patients with intestinal perforation, whereas EFF and
      bowel wall thinning were observed on AUS, free air was not detected on plain
      radiography as a sign of intestinal perforation. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest
      AUS to be superior to plain radiography on early detection of intestinal
      perforation by demonstrating PVG and EFF collection. Therefore, it may be life
      saving by directing the surgeon to perform surgical intervention in the case of
      clinical deterioration in the course of NEC.

PMID- 20938667
TI  - Enhanced recovery program in laparoscopic colectomy for cancer.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Both laparoscopic colectomy and application of enhanced recovery
      program (ERP) in open colectomy have been demonstrated to enable early recovery
      and to shorten hospital stay. This study evaluated the impact of ERP on results
      of laparoscopic colectomy and comparison was made with the outcomes of patients
      prior to the application of ERP. METHODS: An ERP was implemented in the authors'
      center in December 2006. Short-term outcomes of consecutive 84 patients who
      underwent laparoscopic colonic cancer resection 23 months before (control group)
      and 96 patients who were operated within 13 months; after application of ERP (ERP
      group) were compared. RESULTS: Between the ERP and control groups, there was no
      statistical difference in patient characteristics, pathology, operating time,
      blood loss, conversion rate or complications. Compared to the control group,
      patients in the ERP group had earlier passage of flatus [2 (range: 1-5) versus 2
      (range: 1-4) days after operation respectively; p = 0.03)] and a lower incidence
      of prolonged post-operative ileus (6% versus 0 respectively; p = 0.02). There was
      no difference in the hospital stay between the two groups [4 (range: 2-34) days
      in control group and 4 (range: 2-23) days in ERP group; p = 0.4)]. The re
      admission rate was also similar (7% in control group and 5% in ERP group; p =
      0.59). CONCLUSIONS: In laparoscopic colectomy for cancer, application of ERP was
      associated with no increase in complication rate but significant improvement of
      gastrointestinal function. ERP further hastened patient recovery but resulted in
      no difference in hospital stay.

PMID- 20938668
TI  - Ethanolamine is a novel STAT-3 dependent cardioprotective agent.
AB  - Ethanolamine is a biogenic amine found naturally in the body as part of membrane
      lipids and as a metabolite of the cardioprotective substances, sphingosine-1
      phosphate (S1P) and anandamide. In the brain, ethanolamine, formed from the
      breakdown of anandamide protects against ischaemic apoptosis. However, the
      effects of ethanolamine in the heart are unknown. Signal transducer and activator
      of transcription 3 (STAT-3) is a critical prosurvival factor in
      ischaemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury. Therefore, we investigated whether
      ethanolamine protects the heart via activation of STAT-3. Isolated hearts from
      wildtype or cardiomyocyte specific STAT-3 knockout (K/O) mice were pre-treated
      with ethanolamine (Etn) (0.3 mmol/L) before I/R insult. In vivo rat hearts were
      subjected to 30 min ischaemia/2 h reperfusion in the presence or absence of 5
      mg/kg S1P and/or the FAAH inhibitor, URB597. Infarct size was measured at the end
      of each protocol by triphenyltetrazolium chloride staining. Pre-treatment with
      ethanolamine decreased infarct size in isolated mouse or rat hearts subjected to
      I/R but this infarct sparing effect was lost in cardiomyocyte specific STAT-3
      deficient mice. Pre-treatment with ethanolamine increased nuclear phosphorylated
      STAT-3 [control 0.75 +/- 0.08 vs. Etn 1.50 +/- 0.09 arbitrary units; P < 0.05].
      Our findings suggest a novel cardioprotective role for ethanolamine against I/R
      injury via activation of STAT-3.

PMID- 20938669
TI  - Systemic exposure to tobramycin after local antibiotic treatment with calcium
      sulphate as carrier material.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Osteoset((r)) T is a calcium sulphate void filler containing 4%
      tobramycin sulphate, used to treat bone and soft tissue infections. Despite
      systemic exposure to the antibiotic, there are no pharmacokinetic studies in
      humans published so far. Based on the observations made in our patients, a model
      predicting tobramycin serum levels and evaluating their toxicity potential is
      presented. METHODS: Following implantation of Osteoset((r)) T, tobramycin serum
      concentrations were monitored systematically. A pharmacokinetic analysis was
      performed using a non-linear mixed effects model based on a one compartment model
      with first-degree absorption. RESULTS: Data from 12 patients treated between
      October 2006 and March 2008 were analysed. Concentration profiles were consistent
      with the first-order slow release and single-compartment kinetics, whilst showing
      important variability. Predicted tobramycin serum concentrations depended clearly
      on both implanted drug amount and renal function. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION:
      Despite the popularity of aminoglycosides for local antibiotic therapy,
      pharmacokinetic data for this indication are scarce, and not available for
      calcium sulphate as carrier material. Systemic exposure to tobramycin after
      implantation of Osteoset((r)) T appears reassuring regarding toxicity potential,
      except in case of markedly impaired renal function. We recommend in adapting the
      dosage to the estimated creatinine clearance rather than solely to the patient's
      weight.

PMID- 20938670
TI  - Impact of HPV infection on the clinical outcome of p-CAIR trial in head and neck
      cancer.
AB  - The purpose of the study was to analyse the influence of HPV infection on the
      outcome of a randomized clinical trial of conventional (CF) versus 7-days-a-week
      postoperative radiotherapy (p-CAIR) for squamous cell cancer of the head and neck
      (SCCHN). Between 2001 and 2004, 279 patients with high-risk SCC of the larynx or
      cancer of the oral cavity/oropharynx were randomized to receive 63 Gy in
      fractions of 1.8 Gy given 5 days a week or 7 days a week (Radiother Oncol 87:155
      163, 2008). The presence of HPV DNA in 131 archival paraffin blocks was assessed
      with multiplex quantitative real-time PCR using five consensus primers for the
      conservative L1 region and molecular beacon probes targeting 14 high-risk HPV
      subtypes. Following the RT-PCR procedure, we could determine the presence and
      type of HPV16, HPV18 and the other 12 less frequent oncogenic subtypes. Out of
      131 samples, 9 were positive for HPV infection (6.9%), all of them with HPV16
      subtype. None of the 65 laryngeal tumours was HPV positive. The 5-year LRC in HPV
      positive patients was 100%, compared to 58% in the HPV-negative group (p = 0.02,
      log-rank test). Amongst 122 patients with HPV-negative tumours, 5-year LRC was
      50.3% in p-CF versus 65.2 in p-CAIR (p = 0.37). HPV infection was associated with
      low expression of EGFR and cyclin D. This study demonstrates a favourable outcome
      for HPV-positive patients with SCCHN treated with postoperative radiotherapy.
      While considering the small number of HPV+ tumours, the data set can be
      considered as hypothesis generating only, the outcome raises new questions on the
      necessity of aggressive postoperative treatment in HPV+ patients.

PMID- 20938671
TI  - Fascination violence: on mind and brain of man hunters.
AB  - Why are savagery and violence so omnipresent among humans? We suggest that
      hunting behaviour is fascinating and attractive, a desire that makes temporary
      deprivation from physical needs, pain, sweat, blood and, ultimately, the
      willingness to kill tolerable and even appetitive. Evolutionary development into
      the "perversion" of the urge to hunt humans, that is to say the transfer of this
      hunt to members of one's own species, has been nurtured by the resultant
      advantage of personal and social power and dominance. While a breakdown of the
      inhibition towards intra-specific killing would endanger any animal species,
      controlled inhibition was enabled in humans in that higher regulatory systems,
      such as frontal lobe-based executive functions, prevent the involuntary
      derailment of hunting behaviour. If this control--such as in child soldiers for
      example--is not learnt, then brutality towards humans remains fascinating and
      appealing. Blood must flow in order to kill. It is hence an appetitive cue as is
      the struggling of the victim. Hunting for men, more rarely for women, is
      fascinating and emotionally arousing with the parallel release of testosterone,
      serotonin and endorphins, which can produce feelings of euphoria and alleviate
      pain. Bonding and social rites (e.g. initiation) set up the constraints for both
      hunting and violent disputes. Children learn which conditions legitimate
      aggressive behaviour and which not. Big game hunting as well as attack of other
      communities is more successful in groups--men also perceive it as more
      pleasurable. This may explain the fascination with gladiatorial combat, violent
      computer games but as well ritualized forms like football.

PMID- 20938672
TI  - Ethical guidelines in psychiatric research.
AB  - Capacity to consent is a basic prerequisite for participation of patients as
      probands in research. However, mental illness often impairs this competence.
      Therefore, in psychiatric research, the first obligation is to assess a mentally
      ill patient's competence to consent. This is not a simple task. Informed consent
      should be viewed not only as a legal must, but also as a chance to build up a
      trusting patient-psychiatrist relationship. This is called for by respect for the
      autonomy and dignity of the patient. Specifically, competence to consent is
      related to the specific intervention; the validity of a consent requires that the
      patient understands the intervention-related medical information, comprehends its
      significance and consequences, and can appreciate its meaning for himself.
      Research with patients who lack this competence to consent validly meets a major
      problem: an uncovered need for research in frequent major psychiatric disorders
      exists, but a substantial number of patients with these illnesses cannot consent
      validly. Several guidelines for dealing with this problem will be discussed.
      Mentally ill patients who are willing to participate in needed research are a
      rare resource. This must be protected by the virtue of the clinical researcher
      who has to take great pains over the strict adherence to ethical guidelines.

PMID- 20938673
TI  - Behavior and food consumption pattern of the population exposed in 1949-1962 to
      fallout from Semipalatinsk nuclear test site in Kazakhstan.
AB  - The relationship between radiation exposure from nuclear weapons testing fallout
      and thyroid disease in a group of 2,994 subjects has been the subject of study by
      the US National Cancer Institute. In that study, radiation doses to the thyroid
      were estimated for residents of villages in Kazakhstan possibly exposed to
      deposition of radioactive fallout from nuclear testing conducted by the Soviet
      Union at the Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site in Kazakhstan between 1949 and 1962.
      The study subjects included individuals of both Kazakh and Russian origin who
      were exposed during childhood and adolescence. An initial dose reconstruction
      used for the risk analysis of Land et al. (Radiat Res 169:373-383, 2008) was
      based on individual information collected from basic questionnaires administered
      to the study population in 1998. However, because data on several key questions
      for accurately estimating doses were not obtained from the 1998 questionnaires,
      it was decided to conduct a second data collection campaign in 2007. Due to the
      many years elapsed since exposure, a well-developed strategy was necessary to
      encourage accurate memory recall. In our recent study, a focus group interview
      data collection methodology was used to collect historical behavioral and food
      consumption data. The data collection in 2007 involved interviews conducted
      within four-eight-person focus groups (three groups of women and one group of
      men) in each of four exposed villages where thyroid disease screening was
      conducted in 1998. Population-based data on relevant childhood behaviors
      including time spent in- and outdoors and consumption rates of milk and other
      dairy products were collected from women's groups. The data were collected for
      five age groups of children and adolescents ranging from less than 1 year of age
      to 21 years of age. Dairy products considered included fresh milk and other
      products from cows, goats, mares, and sheep. Men's focus group interviews
      pertained to construction materials of houses and schools, and animal grazing
      patterns and feeding practices. The response data collected are useful for
      improving estimates of thyroid radiation dose estimates for the subjects of an
      ongoing epidemiological study.

PMID- 20938674
TI  - Proliferative and migratory aptitude in pterygium.
AB  - Pterygium is a chronic fibrovascular overgrowth on the corneal surface and is
      often associated with inflammation, astigmatism and obstructed vision. The common
      treatment is surgical removal but post-operative recurrences with more aggressive
      behavior are common. However, there is a controversy in the pathogenesis of
      primary pterygium between limbal stem cell failure versus proliferation. In this
      study, we explore the proliferative and migratory aptitude in pterygium by
      characterizing the growth and migration pattern of pterygial cells in the head
      (on the cornea), the neck (over the focal limbus), and the body (on the
      conjunctiva) epithelia of 12 full-length primary pterygia. Immunofluorescence and
      quantification analyses showed a spatial expression pattern of markers for stem
      cells, cell growth, and matrix metalloproteinases. Beside the basal epithelia in
      all three regions, p63alpha(strong) cells were located in suprabasal layers in
      head, weak in the body and absent in neck. Pertinent cell proliferation in head
      than body epithelia was revealed by its higher colony-forming efficiency. ATP
      binding cassette transporter glycoprotein family member-2 and cytokeratin-15 were
      found mainly in the body basal epithelia, similar to that in normal conjunctiva.
      Much fewer proliferating stem-like cells in the neck region supported the limbal
      failure as a cause of pterygium formation. Pax6, matrix metalloproteinase-2 and 
      9 were more expressed in the head than in the other two regions. Our results
      indicate the importance of pterygium head in tissue growth and invasion and its
      likely involvement in post-operation recurrence.

PMID- 20938675
TI  - Prospective relationships between career disruptions and subjective well-being:
      evidence from a three-wave follow-up study among Finnish managers.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to examine the prospective
      relationships between career disruptions and subjective well-being by using a
      three-way follow-up data with a 10-year time lag. Specifically, we investigated
      the causation and selection hypotheses by examining the directions of causal
      associations between career disruptions and subjective well-being. The causation
      hypothesis states that negative career changes will result in poorer well-being,
      whereas the selection hypothesis expects this linkage to be vice versa, that is,
      employees' well-being impacts their career line. METHODS: The sample consisted of
      Finnish managers (n = 528) who participated in this questionnaire study 3 times:
      in 1996 (T1), 1999 (T2), and 2006 (T3). Career disruptions covered the periods of
      unemployment, layoffs, and redundancies. Subjective well-being was assessed with
      sense of coherence (SOC) and psychosomatic symptoms (PSS). The causation versus
      selection hypotheses were tested with Structural Equation Modeling using a full
      panel design, that is, the variables of career disruptions, SOC, and PSS were
      measured in each wave. RESULTS: Support was found for both the causation and
      selection hypotheses. First, career disruptions experienced before T1 predicted
      increased PSS at T1, providing support for the causation hypothesis. Second, low
      SOC in T2 predicted subsequent career disruptions 7 years later at T3, supporting
      the selection hypothesis. Furthermore, SOC and PSS showed high stability over
      time, whereas career disruptions accumulated over time: those who reported career
      disruptions at T1 had a higher risk to experience disruptions also at T2 and T3.
      CONCLUSIONS: Negative career changes seem to associate with low subjective well
      being (PSS) on short term and, in turn, low subjective well-being (SOC) seems to
      associate with negative career changes on long term among managers. The different
      results depending on the well-being measure might relate to the conceptual
      differences between the well-being indicators used (PSS, SOC) and the different
      time frame needed for causation and selection. Thus, in examining the causation
      versus selection hypotheses, it is important to evaluate subjective well-being
      using different indicators and time lags. Managers may benefit from interventions
      targeting to enhance their mental resilience and employability in the cases of
      negative career changes.

PMID- 20938676
TI  - Extended causal modeling to assess Partial Directed Coherence in multiple time
      series with significant instantaneous interactions.
AB  - The Partial Directed Coherence (PDC) and its generalized formulation (gPDC) are
      popular tools for investigating, in the frequency domain, the concept of Granger
      causality among multivariate (MV) time series. PDC and gPDC are formalized in
      terms of the coefficients of an MV autoregressive (MVAR) model which describes
      only the lagged effects among the time series and forsakes instantaneous effects.
      However, instantaneous effects are known to affect linear parametric modeling,
      and are likely to occur in experimental time series. In this study, we
      investigate the impact on the assessment of frequency domain causality of
      excluding instantaneous effects from the model underlying PDC evaluation.
      Moreover, we propose the utilization of an extended MVAR model including both
      instantaneous and lagged effects. This model is used to assess PDC either in
      accordance with the definition of Granger causality when considering only lagged
      effects (iPDC), or with an extended form of causality, when we consider both
      instantaneous and lagged effects (ePDC). The approach is first evaluated on three
      theoretical examples of MVAR processes, which show that the presence of
      instantaneous correlations may produce misleading profiles of PDC and gPDC, while
      ePDC and iPDC derived from the extended model provide here a correct
      interpretation of extended and lagged causality. It is then applied to
      representative examples of cardiorespiratory and EEG MV time series. They suggest
      that ePDC and iPDC are better interpretable than PDC and gPDC in terms of the
      known cardiovascular and neural physiologies.

PMID- 20938677
TI  - Neuronal fast activating and meningeal silent modulatory BK channel splice
      variants cloned from rat.
AB  - The big conductance calcium-activated K(+) channel (BK) is involved in regulating
      neuron and smooth muscle cell excitability. Functional diversity of BK is
      generated by alpha-subunit splice variation and co-expression with beta subunits.
      Here, we present six different splice combinations cloned from rat brain or
      cerebral vascular/meningeal tissues, of which at least three variants were
      previously uncharacterized (X1, X2(92), and X2(188)). An additional variant was
      identified by polymerase chain reaction but not cloned. Expression in Xenopus
      oocytes showed that the brain-specific X1 variant displays reduced current,
      faster activation, and less voltage sensitivity than the insert-less Zero
      variant. Other cloned variants Strex and Slo27,3 showed slower activation than
      Zero. The X1 variant contains sequence inserts in the S1-S2 extracellular loop (8
      aa), between intracellular domains RCK1 and RCK2 (4 aa at SS1) and upstream of
      the calcium "bowl" (27 aa at SS4). Two other truncated variants, X2(92) and
      X2(188), lacking the intracellular C-terminal (stop downstream of S6), were
      cloned from cerebral vascular/meningeal tissue. They appear non-functional as no
      current expression was observed, but the X2(92) appeared to slow the activation
      of the Zero variant when co-expressed. Positive protein expression of X2(92) was
      observed in oocytes by immunoblotting and fluorescence using a yellow fluorescent
      protein-tagged construct. The functional characteristics of the X1 variant may be
      important for a subpopulation of BK channels in the brain, while the "silent"
      truncated variants X2(92) and X2(188) may play a role as modulators of other BK
      channel variants in a way similar to well known beta subunits.

PMID- 20938678
TI  - Differential roles of alkaline/neutral invertases in Nostoc sp. PCC 7120: Inv-B
      isoform is essential for diazotrophic growth.
AB  - The presence of two alkaline/neutral invertases (Inv-A and Inv-B) in the
      filaments of Nostoc (also named Anabaena) sp. strain PCC 7120 and the involvement
      of sucrose metabolism in nitrogen fixation led us to investigate the
      physiological function of those isoforms in cells growing under different
      nitrogen sources. The highest expression level of each encoding gene was obtained
      in the presence of ammonium. These results were paralleled by polypeptide and
      enzyme activity level. In cells of N(2)-fixing filaments, localization of gene
      expression and subcellular enzyme activity assays demonstrated that invA gene
      (alr1521) expresses only in vegetative cells, whereas for invB (alr0819),
      expression is detected in both vegetative cells and heterocysts. In contrast to
      invA, when invB was knocked out, the filaments were unable to grow on
      diazotrophic conditions and the accumulation of sucrose and glycogen was altered.
      Our results demonstrate an essential role for Inv-B for diazotrophic growth and
      that Inv-B plays a key role in the coordination of sucrose and glycogen
      metabolism. We can also suggest that invB is likely to integrate the repertoire
      of genes regulated by a cyanobacterial transcription factor (NtcA) that plays a
      central role in global nitrogen control.

PMID- 20938679
TI  - Plasmodesmata distribution and sugar partitioning in nitrogen-fixing root nodules
      of Datisca glomerata.
AB  - To understand carbon partitioning in roots and nodules of Datisca glomerata,
      activities of sucrose-degrading enzymes and sugar transporter expression patterns
      were analyzed in both organs, and plasmodesmal connections between nodule
      cortical cells were examined by transmission electron microscopy. The results
      indicate that in nodules, the contribution of symplastic transport processes is
      increased in comparison to roots, specifically in infected cells which develop
      many secondary plasmodesmata. Invertase activities are dramatically reduced in
      nodules as compared to roots, indicating that here the main enzyme responsible
      for the cleavage of sucrose is sucrose synthase. A high-affinity, low-specificity
      monosaccharide transporter whose expression is induced in infected cells prior to
      the onset of bacterial nitrogen fixation, and which has an unusually low pH
      optimum and may be involved in turgor control or hexose retrieval during
      infection thread growth.

PMID- 20938680
TI  - An intrastriatal brain-derived neurotrophic factor infusion restores striatal
      gene expression in Bdnf heterozygous mice.
AB  - Reduction in the amount of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in
      corticostriatal afferents is thought to contribute to the vulnerability of medium
      spiny striatal neurons in Huntington's disease. In young Bdnf heterozygous ((+/
      )) mice, striatal medium spiny neurons (MSNs) express less preprodynorphin (PPD),
      preproenkephalin (PPE), and D(3) receptor mRNA than wildtype mice. Further, in
      aged Bdnf (+/-) mice, opioid, trkB receptor, and glutamic acid decarboxylase gene
      expression, and the number of dendritic spines on MSNs are more affected than in
      wildtype or younger Bdnf (+/-) mice. In this study, the possibility that
      intrastriatal infusions of BDNF would elevate gene expression in the striatum of
      Bdnf (+/-) mice was investigated. Wildtype and Bdnf (+/-) mice received a single,
      bilateral microinjection of BDNF or PBS into the dorsal striatum. Mice were
      killed 24 h later and semi-quantitative in situ hybridization histochemical
      analysis confirmed that PPD, PPE, and D(3) receptor mRNA was less in the caudate
      putamen (CPu) and nucleus accumbens (NAc) core of Bdnf (+/-) mice than in
      wildtype mice. A BDNF infusion increased PPD mRNA in the CPu and NAc core of
      wildtype mice and restored PPD mRNA levels in the NAc core of Bdnf (+/-) mice.
      BDNF also restored the gene expression of PPE in the CPu of Bdnf (+/-) mice to
      wildtype levels; however, PPE mRNA in the NAc did not differ among groups.
      Furthermore, BDNF increased D(3) receptor mRNA in the NAc core of wildtype and
      Bdnf (+/-) mice. These results demonstrate that exogenous BDNF restores striatal
      opioid and D(3)R gene expression in mice with genetically reduced levels of
      endogenous BDNF.

PMID- 20938681
TI  - Cortico-basal ganglia circuitry: a review of key research and implications for
      functional connectivity studies of mood and anxiety disorders.
AB  - There is considerable evidence that dysfunction of the cortico-basal ganglia
      circuits may be associated with several mood and anxiety disorders. However, it
      is unclear whether circuit abnormalities contribute directly either to the
      neurobiology of these conditions or to the manifestation of symptoms.
      Understanding the role of these pathways in psychiatric illness has been limited
      by an incomplete characterization of normal function. In recent years, studies
      using animal models and human functional imaging have greatly expanded the
      literature describing normal cortico-basal ganglia circuit function. In this
      paper, recent key studies of circuit function using human and animal models are
      reviewed and integrated with findings from other studies conducted over the
      previous decades. The literature suggests several hypotheses of cortico-basal
      ganglia circuitry function in mood and anxiety disorders that warrant further
      exploration. Hypotheses are proposed herein based upon the cortico-basal ganglia
      mechanisms of: (1) feedforward and feedback control, (2) circuit integration and
      (3) emotional control. These are presented as models of circuit function, which
      may be particularly relevant to future investigations using neuroimaging and
      functional connectivity analyses.

PMID- 20938682
TI  - Performance characteristics of a rapid immunochromatographic assay for detection
      of pandemic influenza A (H1N1) virus in children.
AB  - Rapid tests for diagnosis of influenza are valuable assets in the management of
      influenza in pediatric patients. However, test performance fluctuates with virus
      subtypes. We assessed the test characteristics of Influenzatop(r), a rapid
      immunochromatographic influenza A and B test, in detecting pandemic 2009
      influenza A (H1N1) in children up to 18 years of age, using reverse transcriptase
      polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) as the gold standard. Three hundred and one
      pediatric outpatients with influenza-like illness were included into the study.
      Overall sensitivity of Influenzatop(r) was 64% (95% confidence interval (CI) 56
      71%) but increased to 92% (95% CI, 80-97%) when performed between 24 and 48 h
      after onset of symptoms. Positive Influenzatop(r) results among RT-PCR-positive
      patients were associated with higher viral load. No significant variation in test
      performance could be detected when analyzed by age and high versus low prevalence
      period. Overall test specificity was 99% (95% CI, 95-100%); positive and negative
      predictive values were 98% (95% CI, 93-99%) and 70% (95% CI, 63-76%),
      respectively. CONCLUSION: Influenzatop(r) rapid influenza test is a sound tool in
      the diagnosis of H1N1 in pediatric patients when employed 24-48 h after onset of
      symptoms.

PMID- 20938683
TI  - Growth references for height, weight, and head circumference for Argentine
      children with achondroplasia.
AB  - In order to prepare growth references for height, weight, and head circumference
      for Argentine children with Achondroplasia, 228 children (114 boys) aged 0-18
      years attending the Growth Clinic at Hospital Garrahan were measured between 1992
      and 2009. Centiles were calculated by LMS, a method for summarizing growth data
      which adjusts for skewness. Curves for centiles are obtained using the formula:
      [Formula: see text], where Z (alpha) is the normal equivalent deviate for tail
      area alpha; C100alpha is the weight or height centile corresponding to Z (alpha),
      t is age in years, and L(t) is (skewness)(t), M(t) is median, S (t) is
      coefficient variation and C(100alpha) (t) indicates the corresponding values of
      each curve at age t. Boys and girls centiles for height were similar to USA
      references in infancy and childhood but lower than that references at
      adolescence. Final height was 1.7 and 5.1 cm below USA achondroplasia references
      in girls and boys, respectively. Head circumference centiles were, at all ages,
      lower than USA references in both genders. Countries need national references for
      clinical growth assessment of their local population. Likewise, specific local
      growth references for children with some genetic conditions (such us
      achondroplasia) are valuable tools for detecting additional conditions affecting
      growth, for estimating final height and for evaluating the impact of growth
      promoting treatments. CONCLUSION: references presented here can also be used in
      other countries with similar ethnographics characteristics.

PMID- 20938684
TI  - Eimeria maxima phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate 5-kinase: locus sequencing,
      characterization, and cross-phylum comparison.
AB  - Phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate 5-kinase (PIP5K) may play an important role in
      host-cell invasion by the Eimeria species, protozoan parasites which can cause
      severe intestinal disease in livestock. Here, we report the structural
      organization of the PIP5K gene in Eimeria maxima (Weybridge strain). Two E.
      maxima BAC clones carrying the E. maxima PIP5K (EmPIP5K) coding sequences were
      selected for shotgun sequencing, yielding a 9.1-kb genomic segment. The EmPIP5K
      coding region was initially identified using in silico gene-prediction approaches
      and subsequently confirmed by mapping rapid amplification of cDNA ends and RT-PCR
      generated cDNA sequence to its genomic segment. The putative EmPIP5K gene was
      located at position 710-8036 nt on the complimentary strand and comprised of 23
      exons. Alignment of the 1147 amino acid sequence with previously annotated PIP5K
      proteins from other Apicomplexa species detected three conserved motifs
      encompassing the kinase core domain, which has been shown by previous protein
      deletion studies to be necessary for PIP5K protein function. Phylogenetic
      analysis provided further evidence that the putative EmPIP5K protein is
      orthologous to that of other Apicomplexa. Subsequent comparative gene structure
      characterization revealed events of intron loss/gain throughout the evolution of
      the apicomplexan PIP5K gene. Further scrutiny of the genomic structure revealed a
      possible trend towards "intron gain" between two of the motif regions. Our
      findings offer preliminary insights into the structural variations that have
      occurred during the evolution of the PIP5K locus and may aid in understanding the
      functional role of this gene in the cellular biology of apicomplexan parasites.

PMID- 20938686
TI  - Molecular evidence for the existence of cryptic species assemblages of several
      myxosporeans (Myxozoa).
AB  - Myxosporeans Chloromyxum cristatum, Chloromyxum fluviatile and Zschokkella nova
      (Myxozoa) are common gall bladder parasites of the cyprinid fishes frequently
      persisting as co-infections. Despite the fact that they are believed to be
      innocuous endocommensals, C. cristatum clearly displays the potential of a
      serious pathogen since it may pervade fish liver parenchyma and cause its
      necrosis. Employing the comparison of genetic distances among the myxosporean
      rDNA sequences and performing phylogenetic analyses, we demonstrate that cryptic
      species assemblages exist in C. fluviatile and Z. nova. Sequence comparison
      revealed that Chloromyxum legeri, previously assigned as a junior synonym of C.
      fluviatile, is a valid species. The same method is used to display the
      distinction of Z. nova isolates from China and the Czech Republic. We show that
      C. cristatum is not an assemblage of more species, and our results support the
      synonymy of Chloromyxum cyprini with C. cristatum. We have developed a multiplex
      PCR as an effective tool for the detection and discrimination of Z. nova, C.
      cristatum, and C. fluviatile. It is especially advantageous for the distinction
      of the non-mature plasmodia of both Chloromyxum species. This method also helped
      to assess the exact prevalence of these parasites in examined samples and enabled
      to select single-infected host samples for the intended population studies.

PMID- 20938685
TI  - Occurrence and identification of Anisakis spp. (Nematoda: Anisakidae) isolated
      from chum salmon (Oncorhynchus keta) in Korea.
AB  - The prevalence of infection and the identification of anisakid larvae in chum
      salmon (Oncorhynchus keta) from the Namdae River, the east coast of Korea, were
      investigated. In total, 8,358 larvae were collected from 120 fish samples (male =
      58 fish, female = 62 fish) in 2008. Fish samples were collected during October
      and November 2008. All the chum salmon samples (120/120, 100%) caught were
      infected with anisakid larvae with a high intensity (69.65 +/- 48.58
      larvae/host). They were mostly found in muscles (98.00%). Based on the
      morphological and the molecular analysis of PCR-RFLP and sequencing of
      mitochondrial DNA cox2 gene markers, these nematodes were identified as Anisakis
      simplex (sensu stricto) third-stage larvae. This is the first report on the
      molecular identification of anisakid worms from salmonid fishes in Korea. The
      high occurrence of anisakid worms in chum salmon may pose considerable food
      safety problems if they were consumed as raw or undercooked, although their
      commercial value is relatively lower than other salmonid species.

PMID- 20938687
TI  - Investigation of Cryptosporidium spp. antigen by ELISA method in stool specimens
      obtained from patients with diarrhea.
AB  - Cryptosporidium spp. is an important parasitic protozoan causing diarrhea in
      developing and developed countries. The agent causes severe life-threatening
      diarrhea especially in immunocompromised hosts. Diagnosis of the Cryptosporidium
      oocyst in stool samples by conventional microscopy is labor-intensive and time
      consuming. Thus, we aimed to evaluate the usefulness of a copro-antigen enzyme
      linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test in detecting Cryptosporidium spp. from
      fecal specimens. For this aim, microscopy and specific antigen detection methods
      were compared to determine Cryptosporidium spp. In addition, specific antigen by
      ELISA method in stool was investigated in order to find out whether or not it
      contributes to the diagnosis of Cryptosporidium spp. One hundred and fifty-four
      stool specimens taken from patients whose ages ranged from 0 to 86 with diarrhea
      applied to Department of Parasitology, Balcali Hospital of Cukurova University in
      Adana, Turkey were used. All samples were examined for Cryptosporidium spp.
      antigen by ELISA and oocysts via gold standard modified acid-fast staining,
      between October 2008 and July 2009. Eight (5.19%) specimens were found to be
      positive by modified acid-fast staining method and 37 (24.03%) specimens by copro
      antigen ELISA method were found to be positive. The sensitivity and specificity
      for copro-antigen ELISA were 100% and 80.1%, respectively. The results of copro
      antigen ELISA indicate that the simple, rapid, reliable, and standardized
      immunoassay test is sensitive and specific for routine diagnosis and may be
      useful for large-scale epidemiological studies of cryptosporidiosis.

PMID- 20938688
TI  - Trichomonas vaginalis 62 kDa proteinase as a possible virulence factor.
AB  - The aim of this study was to analyze the presence of 62 kDa proteinase and anti
      62 kDa proteinase antibody in clinical samples of symptomatic and asymptomatic
      infected women. Proteinase was detected in all the swabs vaginal of infected
      women. Significantly, amounts of antigen (mean optical density (OD) values) were
      detected in swabs vaginal of symptomatic as compared to asymptomatic women. This
      protein was not detected in the group of patients with Trichomonas vaginalis
      culture-negative results and in the groups of samples infected with other agents.
      Antibody to 62 kDa was detected in the swabs vaginal the only 66.6% of the
      symptomatic and 55.5% of the asymptomatic infected women. Antibody to 62 kDa was
      also detected in 7/30 of the swabs vaginal from uninfected women. No significant
      difference was observed in mean OD values of vaginal swabs of T. vaginalis
      infected symptomatic as compared to asymptomatic women. The presence of
      proteinase in 100% of T. vaginalis-infected women suggested that 62 kDa
      proteinase could be a virulence factor.

PMID- 20938689
TI  - Eudiplozoon nipponicum in focus: monogenean exhibiting a highly specialized
      adaptation for ectoparasitic lifestyle.
AB  - Developmental stages of the diplozoid monogenean Eudiplozoon nipponicum,
      comprising oncomiracidium, diporpa, juvenile, and adult, were investigated using
      light and scanning electron microscopy in conjunction with confocal scanning
      laser microscopy in order to examine body organization and identify explicit
      morphological adaptations to the ectoparasitic life in each stage. The parasite
      exhibits a complex digestive tract well equipped for hematophagous feeding. It
      consists of a mouth opening with prominent buccal suckers, eversible pharynx with
      adjacent glandular structures, and a blind-ending gut with cecal lining. Glandulo
      muscular organs, located apically and opened into the mouth corner, are
      considered to be a part of the digestive tract. Based on our observations of
      pharynx eversion and in light of the presence of several glandular or gland-like
      structures, we propose a new hypothesis on the possibility of extracorporeal
      digestion of this parasite. The hindbody bears an attachment apparatus,
      comprising haptor, lobular extensions, and tegumental folds, responsible for the
      parasite's firm attachment to the host gills. The possibility of buccal suckers
      assisting in the parasite's translocation while searching for an optimal niche or
      their temporary attachment function during feeding is discussed. The body of each
      compound adult (i.e., permanent copula) is almost completely filled by two
      complete reproductive tracts comprising the female as well as male organs. Such a
      reproductive strategy, in which two independent heterogenic individuals fuse into
      a single hermaphrodite organism without the need to search for mating partner,
      represents a high specialization of diplozoids to their parasitic life.

PMID- 20938690
TI  - Usefulness of skin immunofluorescence for distinguishing SLE from SLE-like renal
      lesions: a pilot study.
AB  - Lupus nephritis (LN) may represent a diagnostic problem, particularly in
      pediatric patients that present with typical histological lesions but do not
      fulfill the American Rheumatism Association (ARA) criteria for the diagnosis of
      systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Based on the well-described deposition of
      immunoglobulins (Ig) and complement at the dermoepithelial junction in SLE, we
      hypothesized that skin biopsies may help in the diagnosis of LN. To test this
      hypothesis, we carried out a pilot study, performing a skin biopsy in 22 patients
      with LN and 13 patients with lupus-like lesions, regardless of the time elapsed
      from onset of renal disease. The latter group of patients was further divided
      into a purely renal group, designated as isolated full-house nephropathy (FHN),
      and a dubious cases group, presenting with additional clinical and biological
      features consistent with SLE but insufficient for diagnosing SLE. None of the 6
      isolated FHN patients had positive skin immunofluorescence. Conversely, 5/7
      patients in the dubious cases group (p<0.02) and 13/22 in the LN group (p<0.002)
      had positive staining for C1q, and 5/7 patients in the dubious cases group
      (p<0.02) and 16/22 patients in the LN group (p<0.001) had positive staining for
      IgM. No correlation was observed with the time elapsed from the initial
      diagnosis. These data suggest that skin biopsies may help distinguishing LN from
      isolated FHN. In addition, they identify an intermediate group of patients with
      evidence of systemic involvement despite the absence of a sufficient number of
      ARA criteria to be labeled as SLE.

PMID- 20938691
TI  - Management of toxic ingestions with the use of renal replacement therapy.
AB  - Although rare, renal replacement therapy (RRT) for the treatment of the
      metabolic, respiratory and hemodynamic complications of intoxications may be
      required. Understanding the natural clearance of the medications along with their
      volume of distribution, protein binding and molecular weight will help in
      understanding the benefit of commencing RRT. This information will aid in
      choosing the optimal forms of RRT in an urgent setting. Overdose of common
      pediatric medications are discussed with suggestions on the type of RRT within
      this educational review.

PMID- 20938693
TI  - Ectomycorrhizal fungal communities on seedlings and conspecific trees of Pinus
      mugo grown on the coastal dunes of the Curonian Spit in Lithuania.
AB  - Ectomycorrhizal (ECM) communities of mature trees and regenerating seedlings of a
      non-native tree species Pinus mugo grown in a harsh environment of the coastal
      region of the Curonian Spit National Park in Lithuania were assessed. We
      established three study sites (S1, S2, and S3) that were separated from each
      other by 15 km. The ECM species richness was rather low in particular for mature,
      100-year-old trees: 12 ectomycorrhizal taxa were identified by molecular analysis
      from 11 distinguished morphotypes. All 12 taxa were present on seedlings and on
      mature trees, with between 8-11 and 9-11 taxa present on seedlings and mature
      trees, respectively. Cenococcum geophilum dominated all ECM communities, but the
      relative abundance of C. geophilum mycorrhizas was nearly two times higher on
      seedlings than on mature trees. Mycorrhizal associations formed by Wilcoxina sp.,
      Lactarius rufus, and Russula paludosa were also abundant. Several fungal taxa
      were only occasionally detected, including Cortinarius sp., Cortinarius obtusus,
      Cortinarius croceus, and Meliniomyces sp. Shannon's diversity indices for the ECM
      assemblages of P. mugo ranged from 0.98 to 1.09 for seedling and from 1.05 to
      1.31 for mature trees. According to analysis of similarity, the mycorrhizal
      communities were similar between the sites (R = 0.085; P = 0.06) and only
      slightly separated between seedlings and mature trees (R = 0.24; P < 0.0001). An
      incidental fruiting body survey that was conducted weakly reflected the below
      ground assessment of the ECM fungal community and once again showed that ECM and
      fruiting body studies commonly supply different partial accounts of the true ECM
      fungal diversity. Our results show that P. mugo has moved into quite distinct
      habitats and is able to adapt a suite of ECM symbionts that sufficiently support
      growth and development of this tree and allow for natural seedling regeneration.

PMID- 20938694
TI  - MRI classification of interspinous ligament degeneration of the lumbar spine:
      intraobserver and interobserver reliability and the frequency of disagreement.
AB  - Posterior spinal ligament pathology is becoming increasingly recognized as a
      significant cause of low back pain. Despite the growing clinical importance of
      interspinous ligament degeneration in low back pain patients, formal reliability
      studies for the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) evaluation of interspinous
      ligaments have not been performed. We proposed an MRI classification system for
      interspinous ligament degeneration and conducted a comprehensive reliability and
      reproducibility assessment. Fifty patients who had low back pain with or without
      leg discomfort (26 males and 24 females) with a mean age of 48.8 years (range 23
      85 years) were studied. The classification for lumbar interspinous ligament
      degeneration was developed on the basis of the literature using mid-sagittal T1-
      and T2-weighted images. Three spine surgeons independently graded a total of 200
      interspinous ligament levels. Intraobserver and interobserver reliability were
      assessed by kappa statistics. The frequency of disagreement was also identified.
      The intraobserver agreement was excellent in all readers (kappa range 0.840
      0.901). The interobserver agreement was lower as expected, and was substantial to
      excellent (kappa range 0.726-0.818). Overall complete agreement was obtained in
      87.8% of all interspinous ligament levels. A difference of 1, 2, and 3 grades
      occurred in 8.1, 3.0, and 1.1% of readings, respectively. This proposed MRI
      classification of interspinous ligament degeneration was simple, reliable, and
      reproducible. Its use as a standardized nomenclature in clinical and radiographic
      research may be recommended.

PMID- 20938695
TI  - A single amino acid change in HC-Pro of soybean mosaic virus alters symptom
      expression in a soybean cultivar carrying Rsv1 and Rsv3.
AB  - It is generally believed that infidelity of RNA virus replication combined with R
      gene-driven selection is one of the major evolutionary forces in overcoming host
      resistance. In this study, we utilized an avirulent soybean mosaic virus (SMV)
      mutant to examine the possibility of emergence of mutant viruses capable of
      overcoming R-gene-mediated resistance during serial passages. Interestingly, we
      found that the emerged progeny virus induced severe rugosity and local necrotic
      lesions in Jinpumkong-2 (Rsv1 + Rsv3) plants, while SMV-G7H provoked a lethal
      systemic hypersensitive response. Genome sequence analysis of the emerged progeny
      virus revealed that the mutation in CI that had caused SMV-G7H to lose its
      virulence was restored to the original sequence, and a single amino acid was
      newly introduced into HC-Pro, which means that the symptom alteration was due to
      this single amino acid mutation in HC-Pro. Our results suggest that SMV HC-Pro
      functions as a symptom determinant in the SMV-soybean pathosystem.

PMID- 20938692
TI  - Adverse consequences of accelerated neonatal growth: cardiovascular and renal
      issues.
AB  - Epidemiological and experimental studies show that the risk of cardiovascular and
      metabolic diseases at adulthood is inversely related to the weight at birth.
      Although with less evidence, low birth weight has been suggested to increase the
      risk of chronic kidney disease (CKD). It is well established that the
      developmental programming of arterial hypertension and of renal disease involves
      in particular renal factors, especially nephron endowment, which is reduced in
      low birth weight and maternal diabetes situations. Experimental studies,
      especially in rodents, have demonstrated the long-term influence of postnatal
      nutrition and/or postnatal growth on cardiovascular, metabolic and renal
      functions, while human data are scarce on this issue. Vascular and renal diseases
      appear to have a "multihits" origin, with reduced nephron number the initial hit
      and rapid postnatal growth the second hit. This review addresses the current
      understanding of the role of the kidney, both as a mechanism and as a target, in
      the developmental origins of adult disease theory, with a particular focus on the
      long-term effects of postnatal growth and nutrition.

PMID- 20938696
TI  - Complete nucleotide sequence of cherry virus A (CVA) infecting sweet cherry in
      India.
AB  - Cherry virus A (CVA) is a graft-transmissible member of the genus Capillovirus
      that infects different stone fruits. Sweet cherry (Prunus avium L; family
      Rosaceae) is an important deciduous temperate fruit crop in the Western Himalayan
      region of India. In order to determine the health status of cherry plantations
      and the incidence of the virus in India, cherry orchards in the states of Jammu
      and Kashmir (J&K) and Himachal Pradesh (H.P.) were surveyed during the months of
      May and September 2009. The incidence of CVA was found to be 28 and 13% from J&K
      and H.P., respectively, by RT-PCR. In order to characterize the virus at the
      molecular level, the complete genome was amplified by RT-PCR using specific
      primers. The amplicon of about 7.4 kb was sequenced and was found to be 7,379 bp
      long, with sequence specificity to CVA. The genome organization was similar to
      that of isolates characterized earlier, coding for two ORFs, in which ORF 2 is
      nested in ORF1. The complete sequence was 81 and 84% similar to that of the type
      isolate at the nucleotide and amino acid level, respectively, with 5' and 3' UTRs
      of 54 and 299 nucleotides, respectively. This is the first report of the complete
      nucleotide sequence of cherry virus A infecting sweet cherry in India.

PMID- 20938698
TI  - Constitutive expression of high-affinity sulfate transporter (HAST) gene in
      Indian mustard showed enhanced sulfur uptake and assimilation.
AB  - Lycopersicon esculantum sulfate transporter gene (LeST 1.1) encodes a high
      affinity sulfate transporter (HAST) located in root epidermis. In this study, the
      LeST 1.1 gene was constitutively expressed in Indian mustard (Brassica juncea cv.
      Pusa Jai Kisan). Transgenic as well as untransformed plants were grown in sulfur
      insufficient (25 and 50 MUM) and sulfur-sufficient (1,000 MUM) conditions for 30
      days. Two-fold increase was noticed in the sulfate uptake rate of transgenic
      plants grown in both sulfur-insufficient and -sufficient conditions as compared
      to untransformed plants. The transgenic B. juncea plants were able to accumulate
      higher biomass and showed improved sulfur status even in sulfur-insufficient
      conditions when compared with untransformed plants. Chlorophyll content, ATP
      sulfurylase activity and protein content were also higher in transgenic plants
      than untranformed plants under sulfur-insufficient conditions. Our results, thus,
      clearly indicate that constitutive expression of LeST 1.1 gene in B. juncea had
      led to enhanced capacity of sulfur uptake and assimilation even in sulfur
      insufficient conditions. This approach can also be used in other crops to enhance
      their sulfate uptake and assimilation potential under S-insufficient conditions.

PMID- 20938699
TI  - Letter to the editor: "Incidence of contralateral occult inguinal hernia found at
      the time of laparoscopic trans-abdominal pre-peritoneal (TAPP) repair" by Griffin
      et al. (Hernia 14:345-349, 2010).

PMID- 20938697
TI  - Plasmodesmata viewed as specialised membrane adhesion sites.
AB  - A significant amount of work has been expended to identify the elusive components
      of plasmodesmata (PD) to help understand their structure, as well as how proteins
      are targeted to them. This review focuses on the role that lipid membranes may
      play in defining PD both structurally and as subcellular targeting addresses.
      Parallels are drawn to findings in other areas of research which focus on the
      lateral segregation of membrane domains and the generation of three-dimensional
      organellar shapes from flat lipid bilayers. We conclude that consideration of the
      protein-lipid interactions in cell biological studies of PD components and PD
      targeted proteins may yield new insights into some of the many open questions
      regarding these unique structures.

PMID- 20938700
TI  - Prosthetic incisional hernioplasty.

PMID- 20938701
TI  - Cognitive impairment in pediatric multiple sclerosis.
AB  - Cognitive impairment has been recently recognized in patients with pediatric
      multiple sclerosis in more than 30% of cases. Altered functions with variable
      frequency are: attention, language (receptive, verbal fluency, naming), visual
      spatial and motor functions, spatial memory, executive functions and abstract
      reasoning. Fatigue and affective disorders are associated, but not correlated
      with cognitive impairment. The frequency and severity of cognitive impairment
      increase with time. Cognitive impairment has a negative impact on patient's life
      limiting social, academic and recreational activities.

PMID- 20938702
TI  - Diagnostic value of procalcitonin in pleural effusions.
AB  - This study was to determine the diagnostic value of procalcitonin (PCT) in the
      differentiation of infectious and non-infectious causes of pleural effusion. From
      January 2005 to April 2005, we measured the PCT levels of pleural effusion from
      76 patients using an immunoluminometric assay. The types of pleural infusions
      studied were para-pneumonic effusion (n = 26), empyema (n = 7), tuberculous
      pleurisy (n = 8), malignant pleural effusion (n = 25) and transudative pleural
      effusion (n = 8). The PCT levels were low in transudative pleural effusions
      (0.188 +/- 0.077 ng/mL) and tuberculous pleurisy (0.130 +/- 0.069 ng/mL), but
      high in empyema (5.147 +/- 3.056 ng/mL), para-pneumonic effusion (1.091 +/- 0.355
      ng/mL), and malignant pleural effusion (0.241 +/- 0.071 ng/mL). The receiver
      operating characteristic curve analysis for an optimal discrimination between
      empyema and para-pneumonic effusion from non-para-pneumonic effusion could be
      performed at a cut-off point of 0.18 ng/mL with area under the curve of 0.776
      (sensitivity: 69.7%, specificity: 72.1%). The correlation was found between
      pleural effusion PCT and serum PCT levels in 16 patients (r2 = 0.967, p < 0.001).
      In conclusion, a high pleural effusion PCT level suggests the presence of empyema
      and para-pneumonic effusion.

PMID- 20938703
TI  - Nasopharyngeal bacterial colonization during the first wheezing episode is
      associated with longer duration of hospitalization and higher risk of relapse in
      young children.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to examine the association between bacterial
      colonization/infection and respiratory outcomes in children younger than 3 years
      old who were hospitalized for their first wheezing episode. This was an
      observational study. The primary outcome was hospitalization time and the
      secondary outcomes included relapses within 2 months and time to recurrent
      wheezing (i.e. three physician confirmed wheezing episodes) within 12 months.
      Bacterial antibody assays for Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae,
      Moraxella catarrhalis, Mycoplasma pneumoniae and Chlamydia pneumoniae were
      studied as well as nasopharyngeal bacterial culture for the three former and
      urine pneumococcal antigen. Nasopharyngeal bacterial culture was positive in
      31/52 (60%) children, serologic evidence of bacterial infection was found in
      17/96 (18%) children, urine pneumococcal antigen was positive in 24/101 (24%),
      and any bacterial detection method was positive in 53/106 (50%) children. The
      children with positive nasopharyngeal bacterial culture had longer duration of
      hospitalization (hazard ratio 2.4) and more often relapsed within two months than
      those with negative culture (odds ratio 7.3). In this study, half of the first
      time wheezing children had bacterial colonization or symptomatic or asymptomatic
      bacterial infection. The bacterial colonization (i.e. positive nasopharyngeal
      bacterial culture) was associated with longer duration of hospitalization and
      higher risk of recurrent wheezing.

PMID- 20938704
TI  - Bacillus cereus bacteremia outbreak due to contaminated hospital linens.
AB  - We describe an outbreak of Bacillus cereus bacteremia that occurred at Jichi
      Medical University Hospital in 2006. This study aimed to identify the source of
      this outbreak and to implement appropriate control measures. We reviewed the
      charts of patients with blood cultures positive for B. cereus, and investigated
      B. cereus contamination within the hospital environment. Genetic relationships
      among B. cereus isolates were analyzed. Eleven patients developed B. cereus
      bacteremia between January and August 2006. The hospital linens and the washing
      machine were highly contaminated with B. cereus, which was also isolated from the
      intravenous fluid. All of the contaminated linens were autoclaved, the washing
      machine was cleaned with a detergent, and hand hygiene was promoted among the
      hospital staff. The number of patients per month that developed new B. cereus
      bacteremia rapidly decreased after implementing these measures. The source of
      this outbreak was B. cereus contamination of hospital linens, and B. cereus was
      transmitted from the linens to patients via catheter infection. Our findings
      demonstrated that bacterial contamination of hospital linens can cause nosocomial
      bacteremia. Thus, blood cultures that are positive for B. cereus should not be
      regarded as false positives in the clinical setting.

PMID- 20938706
TI  - Alkaline-stress response in Glycine soja leaf identifies specific transcription
      factors and ABA-mediated signaling factors.
AB  - Transcriptome of Glycine soja leaf tissue during a detailed time course formed a
      foundation for examining transcriptional processes during NaHCO(3) stress
      treatment. Of a total of 2,310 detected differentially expressed genes, 1,664
      genes were upregulated and 1,704 genes were downregulated at various time points.
      The number of stress-regulated genes increased dramatically after a 6-h stress
      treatment. GO category gene enrichment analysis revealed that most of the
      differentially expressed genes were involved in cell structure, protein
      synthesis, energy, and secondary metabolism. Another enrichment test revealed
      that the response of G. soja to NaHCO(3) highlights specific transcription
      factors, such as the C2C2-CO-like, MYB-related, WRKY, GARP-G2-like, and ZIM
      families. Co-expressed genes were clustered into ten classes (P < 0.001).
      Intriguingly, one cluster of 188 genes displayed a unique expression pattern that
      increases at an early stage (0.5 and 3 h), followed by a decrease from 6 to 12 h.
      This group was enriched in regulation of transcription components, including AP2
      EREBP, bHLH, MYB/MYB-related, C2C2-CO-like, C2C2-DOF, C2C2, C3H, and GARP-G2-like
      transcription factors. Analysis of the 1-kb upstream regions of transcripts
      displaying similar changes in abundance identified 19 conserved motifs, potential
      binding sites for transcription factors. The appearance of ABA-responsive
      elements in the upstream of co-expression genes reveals that ABA-mediated
      signaling participates in the signal transduction in alkaline response.

PMID- 20938707
TI  - Laparoscopic right hemicolectomy with intracorporeal anastomosis.
AB  - The author presents a technique for performing laparoscopic right hemicolectomy,
      accompanied by an online video. This method is suitable for a single surgeon
      working with a single assistant, who is also the cameraman. It starts with a
      hybrid medial-to-lateral or lateral-to-medial dissection of the right colon and
      mesentery, adapting to the actual anatomical findings and adhesions encountered
      in each individual patient. A step-by-step approach is described. Achieving the
      anatomical goals of each step facilitates the performance of the next step. An
      intracorporeal technique for anastomosis is demonstrated.

PMID- 20938708
TI  - Laparoscopic right hemicolectomy with intracorporeal anastomosis.

PMID- 20938710
TI  - Jet exhaust particles alter human dendritic cell maturation.
AB  - OBJECTIVE AND DESIGN: Among combustion-derived air pollutants, little is known
      about jet kerosene characteristics and effects. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Particles
      yielded by experimental kerosene combustion in a jet engine were characterized
      with electron microscopy and X-ray energy dispersive spectroscopy. Immature human
      monocyte-derived dendritic cells were exposed for 18 h to 10, 25 or 100 MUg/mL
      jet exhaust particles and/or Escherichia coli-derived endotoxin. Antigen
      presenting and costimulation molecules (HLA DR, CD40, CD80, CD86, CD11c), tumor
      necrosis factor-alpha and interleukin-10 production were measured. RESULTS: The
      primary particles of jet exhaust are spherical (9.9 nm), carbonaceous and exert
      an adjuvant effect on human monocyte-derived dendritic cell maturation in vitro.
      Concomitant particle and endotoxin stimulation induced a high cytokine production
      with low antigen-presenting molecules; particle contact prior to endotoxin
      contact led to an opposite phenotype. Finally, low cytokine production and high
      costimulation molecules were present when particle adjunction followed endotoxin
      contact. CONCLUSIONS: Jet exhaust particles act as adjuvants to endotoxin-induced
      dendritic cell maturation, suggesting possible implications for human health and
      a role for the time pattern of infectious and pollutant interplay.

PMID- 20938711
TI  - Anti-inflammatory defense mechanisms of Entamoeba histolytica.
AB  - The monocyte locomotion inhibitory factor (MLIF), a heat-stable oligopeptide
      found in the supernatant fluid of Entamoeba histolytica axenic cultures, may
      contribute to the delayed inflammation observed in amoebic hepatic abscess. This
      factor was isolated by ultra-filtration and high powered liquid chromatography,
      obtaining a primary Met-Gln-Cys-Asn-Ser structure, identified afterwards as the
      carboxyl-terminal (...Cys-Asn-Ser) active site. The selective anti-inflammatory
      effects of the pentapeptide have been observed in both in vitro and in vivo
      models, using a synthetic pentapeptide to maintain the same anti-inflammatory
      conditions during the experimental assays. Anti-inflammatory effects observed
      include inhibition of human monocyte locomotion and the respiratory burst in
      monocytes and neutrophils, increasing expression of anti-inflammatory cytokines
      and inhibiting expression of the adhesion molecules VLA-4 and VCAM, among others.
      In this review, we will describe the effects of MLIF detected so far and how it
      might be used as a therapeutical agent against inflammatory diseases.

PMID- 20938712
TI  - Comparison of lung accumulation of cationic liposomes in normal rats and LPS
      treated rats.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Cationic liposomes have been shown to target angiogenic endothelial
      cells in lungs and joints with evidence of chronic inflammation. We sought to
      determine whether cationic liposomes accumulate in acutely inflamed lung tissue.
      SUBJECTS, TREATMENT AND METHODS: Acute lung injury was induced by intratracheal
      instillation of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in Sprague Dawley rats. The controls
      received saline. Following instillation, the rats were ventilated for 5 h. Four
      hours after LPS-instillation each rat received rhodamine-labeled, cationic
      liposomes intravenously. The liposomes were allowed to circulate for 1 h.
      Thereafter, a bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) was done and the lungs were perfused
      with saline and formalin. Accumulation of liposomes was assessed by quantitative
      confocal microscopy and determination of rhodamine-content in lung tissue.
      RESULTS: LPS induced a significant increase in BAL white blood cell count (3,444
      +/- 1,420 vs. 1,314 +/- 906*10(3)/MUl) and cytokines (IL-1beta: 145.57 vs. 51.94
      pg/ml; TNF-alpha: 3,467.5 vs. 42.1 pg/ml) as compared to controls. Cationic
      liposomes exhibited an accumulation up to twofold in the inflamed lung tissue as
      compared to healthy lungs (fluorescent pixels 2.93 vs. 1.90(%)). CONCLUSIONS: Our
      findings indicate that cationic liposomes accumulate in the acutely inflamed lung
      tissue. This uptake raises the possibility of using cationic liposomes to direct
      diagnostic/therapeutic agents selectively to the sites of acute inflammation in
      the lung.

PMID- 20938709
TI  - When you can't trust the DNA: RNA editing changes transcript sequences.
AB  - RNA editing describes targeted sequence alterations in RNAs so that the
      transcript sequences differ from their DNA template. Since the original discovery
      of RNA editing in trypanosomes nearly 25 years ago more than a dozen such
      processes of nucleotide insertions, deletions, and exchanges have been identified
      in evolutionarily widely separated groups of the living world including plants,
      animals, fungi, protists, bacteria, and viruses. In many cases gene expression in
      mitochondria is affected, but RNA editing also takes place in chloroplasts and in
      nucleocytosolic genetic environments. While some RNA editing systems largely seem
      to repair defect genes (cryptogenes), others have obvious functions in modulating
      gene activities. The present review aims for an overview on the current states of
      research in the different systems of RNA editing by following a historic timeline
      along the respective original discoveries.

PMID- 20938713
TI  - A dose-finding, pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic study of a novel schedule of
      flavopiridol in patients with advanced solid tumors.
AB  - PURPOSE: Based on the promising activity and tolerability of flavopiridol
      administered with a pharmacokinetically-derived dosing schedule in chronic
      lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), we conducted a phase I study using this schedule in
      patients with advanced solid tumors. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: Flavopiridol was given
      IV as a 30-min loading dose followed by a 4-hr infusion weekly for 4 weeks
      repeated every 6 weeks. Dose-escalation was in cohorts of three patients using
      the standard 3+3 phase I study design. Blood samples were obtained for
      pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic studies. RESULTS: Thirty-four eligible
      patients with advanced solid tumors received a total of 208 doses (median 7,
      range 1-24). Total doses ranged from 40 to 105 mg/m(2). The primary dose limiting
      toxicity was cytokine release syndrome (CKRS). No antitumor responses were
      observed. The mean peak plasma concentration across all doses was 1.65 +/- 0.86
      MUM. Area under the concentration-versus-time curve ([Formula: see text]) ranged
      from 4.31 to 32.2 MUM[Symbol: see text]hr with an overall mean of 13.6 +/- 7.0
      MUM[Symbol: see text]hr. Plasma flavopiridol concentrations and AUC increased
      proportionally with dose. There was no correlation between cytokine levels and
      clinical outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: The maximum-tolerated dose of flavopiridol is 20
      mg/m(2) bolus followed by 20 mg/m(2) infusion over 4 h given weekly for 4 weeks
      on a 6-week cycle in patients with advanced solid tumors. Flavopiridol PK was
      notably different, and there was a higher frequency of CKRS, despite prophylactic
      steroids, seen in this patient group compared to previous studies with CLL using
      a similar dosing schedule.

PMID- 20938714
TI  - A thermally responsive biopolymer conjugated to an acid-sensitive derivative of
      paclitaxel stabilizes microtubules, arrests cell cycle, and induces apoptosis.
AB  - Poor aqueous solubility limits the therapeutic index of paclitaxel as an anti
      cancer drug. Synthesis of soluble prodrugs of paclitaxel, or conjugation of the
      drug to macromolecular carriers have been reported to increase its water
      solubility. Macromolecular drug carriers have an added advantage of targeting the
      drug to the tumor site due to the abnormal tumor blood and lymphatic vasculature.
      This study describes a thermally responsive macromolecular carrier, elastin-like
      polypeptide (ELP) for the delivery of paclitaxel. Paclitaxel was bound to ELP by
      conjugation with the 6-maleimidocaproyl hydrazone derivative of paclitaxel, an
      acid-sensitive paclitaxel prodrug, for the potential treatment of breast cancer.
      Focused hyperthermia above a specific transition temperature at the site of a
      tumor causes ELP to aggregate and accumulate, thereby increasing the local
      concentration of the drug cargo. The paclitaxel prodrug described here bears an
      acid-sensitive linker that is cleavable at the lysosomal/endosomal pH, which
      allows a controlled intracellular release of the drug. The ELP-delivered
      paclitaxel in the presence of hyperthermia inhibits MCF-7 cell proliferation by
      stabilizing the microtubule structures, arresting the cells at the G2/M stage,
      and inducing apoptosis in a manner similar to conventional paclitaxel. It also
      inhibits proliferation of a paclitaxel resistant MCF-7 cell line. These data
      provide an in vitro proof of concept for the use of ELP as a delivery vehicle of
      paclitaxel.

PMID- 20938715
TI  - A phase II open-label trial of bortezomib in patients with multiple myeloma who
      have undergone an autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplant and failed to
      achieve a complete response.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A majority of multiple myeloma (MM) patients fail to achieve complete
      response (CR) to peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (PBSCT); effective
      options following autologous transplantation are needed. Bortezomib (B) is active
      against MM. This study was conducted to determine the feasibility, safety,
      tolerability, and efficacy of B following high-dose melphalan therapy and PBSCT.
      Methods Fifty patients enrolled (48 evaluable) and 49 were treated (safety
      population). TREATMENT: 4 cycles B 1.3 mg/m(2) Days 1, 4, 8, and 11/21-days; 4
      additional cycles were permitted for stable or responding patients. Results
      Median age was 55 years (range, 38-73), 68% male, 64% ECOG PS = 0, 44% Durie
      Salmon Stage IIIA prior to induction, 42% had symptomatic IgG MM; 74% had prior
      single transplant (26% tandem). Responses post-transplant: 70% PRs, 18% MRs. A
      median of 4 cycles (range, 2-8) of B were administered. Responses: CR 8%, uCR 2%,
      PR 23%, uPR 19%, MR 10%, and no change 35%; median time-to-treatment failure
      (TTF) was 6.2 months (range, 1.0-19.4). Three deaths occurred (n = 1 sepsis, n =
      2 disease progression). Grade 3-4 treatment-related toxicities included:
      thrombocytopenia, neuropathy (14%, each); asthenia, neutropenia (10%, each); and
      nausea (4%). Twelve patients (24%) discontinued treatment due to toxicity and 30
      patients (60%) completed the study; 20 patients started new treatment (median 5.8
      months [range, 1.5-20.3]). CONCLUSIONS: The study closed early due to widespread
      availability of B, and the lack of B-naive patients. Bortezomib monotherapy after
      melphalan and autologous PBSCT was feasible, safe and well-tolerated (toxicities
      were manageable), but failed to produce the hypothesized response rates.

PMID- 20938716
TI  - Recurrent astroblastoma treated with gamma knife radiosurgery.
AB  - Astroblastomas are exceedingly rare central nervous system tumors. Surgical
      resection is the standard initial treatment for astroblastomas. Still, some
      astroblastomas that have been completely resected recur. The optimal treatment
      for these lesions is unclear. There are no previous reports of the use of Gamma
      Knife radiosurgery in the treatment of astroblastomas. The patient is a 58 year
      old woman who had undergone resection of a left parieto-occipital tumor at an
      outside hospital in 2002, with repeat resection for recurrences in 2005 and 2007.
      Pathologic analysis at the Mayo Clinic demonstrated the tumor to be a low-grade
      astroblastoma. Repeat imaging in 2008 again demonstrated recurrence, and the
      patient was referred to our center for Gamma Knife radiosurgery. Pre and post
      contrast T1 stereotactic MR images were obtained and imported into the treatment
      planning system for the Gamma Knife Perfexion. Two foci of tumor consistent with
      the patient's known left parietal astroblastoma were identified. A prescription
      dose of 18.00 Gy to the 50% isodose was delivered, and 16 isocenters were used.
      Follow-up imaging 17 months post-radiosurgery demonstrated a decrease in tumor
      size. Gamma Knife radiosurgery represents a useful treatment modality for
      recurrent astroblastomas. While surgical resection of low grade astroblastomas
      can be curative, Gamma Knife radiosurgery may be beneficial in cases where gross
      total resection is not feasible.

PMID- 20938718
TI  - Antibacterial effect of silver nanoparticles on Staphylococcus aureus.
AB  - The antibacterial activity and mechanism of silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) on
      Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 6538P were investigated in this study. The experiment
      results showed the minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) of Ag-NPs to S.
      aureus was 20 MUg/ml. Moreover, when bacteria cells were exposed to 50 MUg/ml Ag
      NPs for 6 h, the cell DNA was condensed to a tension state and could have lost
      their replicating abilities. When S. aureus cells were exposed to 50 MUg/ml Ag
      NPs for 12 h, the cell wall was breakdown, resulting in the release of the
      cellular contents into the surrounding environments, and finally became
      collapsed. And Ag-NPs could reduce the enzymatic activity of respiratory chain
      dehydrogenase. Furthermore, the proteomic analysis showed that the expression
      abundance of some proteins was changed in the treated bacterial cell with Ag-NPs,
      formate acetyltransferase increased 5.3-fold in expression abundance, aerobic
      glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase decreased 6.5-fold, ABC transporter ATP
      binding protein decreased 6.2-fold, and recombinase A protein decreased 4.9-fold.

PMID- 20938717
TI  - The role of sphingosine kinase-1 in EGFRvIII-regulated growth and survival of
      glioblastoma cells.
AB  - We have previously shown that high expression levels of the lipid kinase
      sphingosine kinase-1 (SphK1) correlate with poor survival of glioblastoma (GBM)
      patients. In this study we examined the regulation of SphK1 expression by
      epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) signaling in GBM cells. As the EGFR gene
      is often overexpressed and mutated in GBM, and EGFR has been shown to regulate
      SphK1 in some cell types, we examined the effect of EGF signaling and the
      constitutively active EGFRvIII mutant on SphK1 in GBM cells. Treatment of glioma
      cell lines with EGF led to increased expression and activity of SphK1. Expression
      of EGFRvIII in glioma cells also activated and induced SphK1. In addition, siRNA
      to SphK1 partially inhibited EGFRvIII-induced growth and survival of glioma cells
      as well as ERK MAP kinase activation. To further evaluate the connection between
      EGFR and SphK1 in GBM we examined primary neurosphere cells isolated from fresh
      human GBM tissue. The GBM-derived neurosphere cell line GBM9, which forms GBM
      like tumors intracranially in nude mice, maintained expression of EGFRvIII in
      culture and had high levels of SphK1 activity. EGFR inhibitors modestly decreased
      SphK1 activity and proliferation of GBM9 cells. More extensive blockage of SphK1
      activity by a SphK inhibitor, potently blocked cell proliferation and induced
      apoptotic cell death of GBM9 cells. Thus, SphK1 activity is necessary for
      survival of GBM-derived neurosphere cells, and EGFRvIII partially utilizes SphK1
      to further enhance cell proliferation.

PMID- 20938719
TI  - Metastasis-related miRNAs, active players in breast cancer invasion, and
      metastasis.
AB  - Breast cancer is the most common malignancy with the highest incidence among
      women in the world. Metastasis is the major reason for breast cancer-related
      deaths. The precise molecular circuitry that governs the metastasis process has
      not been completely understood. Discoveries of microRNAs (miRNAs) open a new
      avenue for cancer metastasis research. It has become clear that alterations of
      miRNA expression contribute to cancer pathogenesis. miRNAs control a wide array
      of physiological and pathological processes, including development,
      differentiation, cellular proliferation, programmed cell death, oncogenesis, and
      metastasis by modulating the expression of their cognate target genes through
      cleaving mRNA molecules or inhibiting their translation. Some miRNAs are
      associated with the invasive and metastatic phenotype of breast cancer cell lines
      or identified in metastatic tumor tissues and lymph nodes. Some miRNAs serve as
      metastasis suppressors and their expression is frequently downregulated or lost
      in both breast cancer cell lines and metastatic foci. Some miRNAs are considered
      to play key roles in the phenotype formation of breast cancer stem cells. This
      review will focus on recent discoveries related to the miRNAs involved in the
      metastasis of breast cancer and discuss the implications for the diagnosis,
      prognosis, and therapeutic strategies of breast cancer.

PMID- 20938721
TI  - Comparison between clinical significance of serum proinflammatory proteins (IL-6
      and CRP) and classic tumor markers (CEA and CA 19-9) in gastric cancer.
AB  - Gastric cancer (GC) is a second most common cause of cancer-related death and
      represents an inflammation-driven malignancy. It has been suggested that
      interleukin 6 (IL-6) and C-reactive protein (CRP) play a potential role in the
      growth and progression of GC. The aim of the present study was to compare
      clinical significance of IL-6 and CRP with classic tumor markers-carcinoembryonic
      antigen (CEA) and carbohydrate antigen (CA 19-9) in GC patients. The study
      included 92 patients with GC and 70 healthy subjects. The serum concentrations of
      IL-6, CEA and CA 19-9 were determined using immunoenzyme assays, whereas CRP
      using immunoturbidimetric method. We defined the diagnostic criteria and
      prognostic value for proteins tested. In GC patients, the serum concentrations of
      all the proteins tested were significantly higher than in healthy subjects. The
      IL-6, CEA and CA 19-9 levels correlated with nodal metastases, while CRP with
      tumor stage, gastric wall invasion, presence of nodal and distant metastases.
      Diagnostic sensitivity of IL-6 was higher (85%) than those of other markers (CRP
      66%, CA 19-9 34%, CEA 22%) and increased in combined use with CRP or CEA (88%).
      The area under ROC curve for IL-6 was larger than those of CRP and classic tumor
      markers (CEA and CA 19-9). None of the proteins tested was independent prognostic
      factor for the survival of GC patients. Our findings indicate better usefulness
      of serum proinflammatory proteins-IL-6 and CRP than classic tumor markers-CEA and
      CA 19-9 in the diagnosis of GC.

PMID- 20938722
TI  - Myocardial fibrosis and TGFB expression in hyperhomocysteinemic rats.
AB  - Hyperhomocysteinemia, characterized by an elevated plasma homocysteine
      concentration, leads to several clinical manifestations and particularly
      cardiovascular diseases. Experimental models of hyperhomocysteinemia revealed
      several tissue injuries including heart fibrosis and ventricular hypertrophy. In
      order to analyze the molecular mechanisms link to these morphological
      alterations, a mild hyperhomocysteinemia was induced in rats via a chronic
      methionine administration. Effects of methionine administration were examined by
      histological analysis with Sirius red staining, histomorphometric analysis,
      zymography, and immunoblotting. Hyperhomocysteinemia due to methionine
      administration produces an interstitial myocardial fibrosis and a ventricular
      cardiomyocyte hypertrophy, which were associated with increased expression of
      transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGFbeta1), tissue inhibitors of
      metalloproteinase (TIMP) 2, and JNK activation. However, the matrix
      metalloproteinase 2 activity was decreased in the hearts of hyperhomocysteinemic
      rats. Moreover, the TIMP1 protein expression was decreased, and the TIMP1-MMP1
      balance was shifted. Remodeling in cardiac tissue observed in rat model of mild
      hyperhomocysteinemia is associated with a dysregulation in extracellular matrix
      degradation which results, at least in part, from enhancement of TGFbeta1 level.

PMID- 20938723
TI  - Effect of dietary saturated fatty acids on HNF-4alpha DNA binding activity and
      ApoCIII mRNA in sedentary rat liver.
AB  - Hind limb-suspended rats represent a sedentary-hyperinsulinemic model with a
      liver dyslipidemia mainly related to changes in sterol regulatory element-binding
      protein 1 (SREBP-1) and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-alpha
      (PPARalpha) expression and activity. To assess the effects of dietary fatty acids
      on hepatic lipid homeostasis, the hepatic expression and activity of PPARalpha,
      SREBP-1, and hepatocyte nuclear factor-4alpha (HNF-4alpha) were investigated in
      this animal model. In control and sedentary rats, diets enriched with saturated,
      monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) enhanced the expression
      of the PPARalpha target genes carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1 and acyl-CoA
      oxidase, the highest effect being exerted by omega-3. The same diets reduced
      SREBP-1 mRNA and target lipogenic gene expression, as indicated by the reduction
      in fatty acid synthase and acetyl-CoA carboxylase mRNA content. Effects were
      greater in sedentary rat liver than in controls on the same diet. Only the omega
      3 enriched diet decreased liver triglyceride content as well as plasma
      cholesterol and triglyceride levels in sedentary rats. This effect may be mainly
      related to the enhanced mitochondrial and peroxisomal beta-oxidation genes
      expression. On the other hand, saturated fatty acid-enriched diet induced an
      increase in liver triglyceride content and enhanced plasma cholesterol and
      triglyceride levels, both in control and immobilized rats. This detrimental
      effect may be ascribed to the induced HNF-4alpha binding activity on ApoCIII
      promoter and to the enhanced ApoCIII mRNA levels both in control and in sedentary
      rat livers. In conclusion, we can speculate that dietary saturated fats, acting
      at apolipoprotein transcriptional level, may impact on the close relationship
      existing among high ApoCIII plasma level, dyslipidemia, and atherosclerosis.

PMID- 20938724
TI  - Galactosylation of serum IgA1 O-glycans in celiac disease.
AB  - In celiac disease, gluten ingestion provokes small-bowel mucosal injury and
      production of IgA autoantibodies against transglutaminase 2 (TG2). It has been
      suggested that in celiac patients IgA could mediate the transepithelial passage
      of gluten peptides in a mechanism involving the transferrin receptor. As IgA1
      with galactose-deficient O-linked glycans has elevated affinity for the
      transferrin receptor, we assessed whether total serum IgA1 and IgA1 anti-TG2
      autoantibodies in celiac patients are aberrantly glycosylated. We report that
      males with celiac disease have higher total serum levels of galactose-deficient
      IgA1 than non-celiac males. Furthermore, O-glycans of the disease-specific TG2
      IgA1 autoantibodies in celiac patients exhibited elevated galactose deficiency. A
      gluten-free diet had no effect on the total serum levels of galactose-deficient
      IgA1, whereas the amount of galactose-deficient anti-TG2 IgA1 decreased. Thus,
      the undergalactosylated IgA1 molecules are not pathognomonic for celiac disease,
      but galactose deficiency in IgA1 could be an aggravating factor.

PMID- 20938726
TI  - Relationships between family connectedness and body satisfaction: a longitudinal
      study of adolescent girls and boys.
AB  - The present study examined the longitudinal links between perceptions of family
      connectedness and body satisfaction in 1,774 (52% female) adolescents.
      Participants (10-15 years of age at Time 1) completed self-report measures at
      three measurement occasions separated by 1 year each. Mean group difference
      results showed that both body satisfaction levels and perceived levels of family
      connectedness decreased over 2 years for the whole sample. As expected, girls
      were generally less satisfied with their bodies than boys, particularly in the
      older cohort. Structural equation modelling was used to assess stability
      coefficients and cross-lagged effects, and longitudinal bidirectional effects
      between perceptions of family connectedness and body satisfaction were found for
      girls, but not for boys. This result suggests that adolescent girls' body
      satisfaction is both affected by and a predictor of perceived family
      connectedness.

PMID- 20938727
TI  - Financial socialization of first-year college students: the roles of parents,
      work, and education.
AB  - This cross-sectional study tests a conceptual financial socialization process
      model, specifying four-levels that connect anticipatory socialization during
      adolescence to young adults' current financial learning, to their financial
      attitudes, and to their financial behavior. A total of 2,098 first-year college
      students (61.9% females) participated in the survey, representing a diverse
      ethnic group (32.6% minority participation: Hispanic 14.9%, Asian/Asian American
      9%, Black 3.4%, Native American 1.8% and other 3.5%). Structural equation
      modeling indicated that parents, work, and high school financial education during
      adolescence predicted young adults' current financial learning, attitude and
      behavior, with the role played by parents substantially greater than the role
      played by work experience and high school financial education combined. Data also
      supported the proposed hierarchical financial socialization four-level model,
      indicating that early financial socialization is related to financial learning,
      which in turn is related to financial attitudes and subsequently to financial
      behavior. The study presents a discussion of how the theories of consumer
      socialization and planned behavior were combined effectively to depict the
      financial development of young adults. Several practical implications are also
      provided for parents, educators and students.

PMID- 20938728
TI  - Brain expression of the water channels aquaporin-1 and -4 in mice with acute
      liver injury, hyperammonemia and brain edema.
AB  - Cerebral edema is a feared complication to acute liver failure (ALF), but the
      pathogenesis is still poorly understood. The water channels Aquaporin-1 (Aqp1)
      and -4 (Aqp4) has been associated with brain edema formation in several
      neuropathological conditions, indicating a possible role of Aqp1 and/or Aqp4 in
      ALF mediated brain edema. We induced acute liver injury and hyperammonemia in
      mice, to evaluate brain edema formation and the parallel expression of Aqp1 and
      Aqp4 in ALF. Liver injury and hyperammonemia were induced by +D-galactosamine
      (GLN) plus lipopolysaccharide (LPS) intraperitoneally and intravenous ammonia
      acetate (NH(4)(+)), the GLN+LPS+NH(4)(+) group. The vehicle control group
      (CONTROL) was treated with NaCl and phosphate-buffered saline. The
      GLN+LPS+NH(4)(+) group showed significantly elevated p-alanine aminotransferase,
      p-INR and p-ammonium vs. CONTROL (p < 0.001). Cortical brain water content was
      significantly elevated in the GLN+LPS+NH(4)(+) group vs. CONTROL, mean (SEM)
      80.8(0.3) vs 80.0(0.1) % (p < 0.05). Western blot of membrane enriched cortical
      brain tissue showed significantly upregulation of Aqp4 in the GLN+LPS+NH(4)(+)
      group vs. CONTROL, mean AU (SEM) 100775(14820) vs. 58857(6266) (p < 0.05), and
      stationary levels for Aqp1. Aqp1 and Aqp4 mRNA were stationary. This study
      indicates that Aqp4, but not Aqp1, may be of importance in the pathogenesis of
      cortical brain edema in mice with ALF.

PMID- 20938729
TI  - Mapping the self-interacting domains of TuMV HC-Pro and the subcellular
      localization of the protein.
AB  - The helper component-proteinase (HC-Pro) of potyviruses is a multifunctional
      protein involved in aphid transmission, polyprotein processing, cell-to-cell and
      long-distance movement, genome amplification and symptom expression. The HC-Pros
      of several potyviruses interact with themselves but the key domains responsible
      for self-interaction are apparently not conserved. In our experiments, yeast two
      hybrid assays and bimolecular fluorescence complementation showed that Turnip
      mosaic virus (TuMV) HC-Pro interacted with itself in yeast cells, plant cells and
      insect cells. It was also shown that the central and C-terminal regions of the HC
      Pro participated in these self-interactions. Fluorescence microscopy showed that
      TuMV HC-Pro was present in the cytoplasm and formed aggregates along the ER.

PMID- 20938730
TI  - Comparing electrophysiological correlates of word production in immediate and
      delayed naming through the analysis of word age of acquisition effects.
AB  - Most EEG studies analysing speech production with event related brain potential
      (ERP) have adopted silent metalinguistic tasks or delayed or tacit picture naming
      in order to avoid possible artefacts during motor preparation. A central issue in
      the interpretation of these results is whether the processes involved in those
      tasks are comparable to those involved in overt speech production. In the present
      study we addressed a methodological issue about the integration of stimulus
      aligned and response-aligned ERPs in immediate overt picture naming in comparison
      to delayed production, coupled with a theoretical point on the effect of word Age
      of Acquisition (AoA). High density EEG recordings were used and waveform analyses
      and spatio-temporal segmentation were combined on stimulus-aligned and response
      aligned ERPs. The same sequence and duration of topographic maps appeared in the
      immediate and delayed production until around 350 ms after picture onset,
      revealing similar encoding processes until the beginning of phonological
      encoding, but modulations linked to word AoA were only observed in the immediate
      production. Considering stimulus-aligned and response-aligned ERPs together
      allowed to identify that a stable topography starting around 350 ms lasts 30 ms
      longer for late-acquired than for early-acquired words. This difference falls
      within the time-window of phonological encoding and its modulation can be linked
      to the longer production latencies for late-acquired words.

PMID- 20938732
TI  - From planning to implementation to outcomes: comprehensive cancer control
      implementation building blocks.
AB  - Since 2002, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Guidance for
      Comprehensive Cancer Control Planning has been an important driver of success in
      the development of comprehensive cancer control (CCC) plans among states, tribes,
      tribal organizations, territories and Pacific Island Jurisdictions. CDC's
      Guidance for Comprehensive Cancer Control Planning laid out a number of key
      action steps, or planning building blocks, that are essential to successful
      cancer plan development. Now, all 50 states and many tribes, tribal
      organizations, territories and Pacific Island Jurisdictions are actively
      implementing their comprehensive cancer control plans. This article describes a
      new set of key actions aimed at assisting CCC coalitions with systematic
      implementation of their cancer plan priorities--implementation building blocks
      for comprehensive cancer control.

PMID- 20938731
TI  - Models for local implementation of comprehensive cancer control: meeting local
      cancer control needs through community collaboration.
AB  - The comprehensive cancer control approach is used by state, tribes, tribal
      organizations, territorial and Pacific Island Jurisdiction cancer coalitions to
      spur local implementation of cancer plans to reduce the burden of cancer in
      jurisdictions across the country. There is a rich diversity of models and
      approaches to the development of relationships and scope of planning for cancer
      control activities between coalitions and advocates in local communities. The
      national comprehensive cancer control philosophy provides an operational
      framework while support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
      enables coalitions to act as catalysts to bring local partners together to combat
      cancer in communities. This manuscript describes multiple characteristics of
      cancer coalitions and how they are organized. Two models of how coalitions and
      local partners collaborate are described. A case study method was used to
      identify how five different state and tribal coalitions use the two models to
      organize their collaborations with local communities that result in local
      implementation of cancer plan priorities. Conclusions support the use of multiple
      organizing models to ensure involvement of diverse interests and sensitivity to
      local cancer issues that encourages implementation of cancer control activities.

PMID- 20938733
TI  - The prevalence of human papillomavirus infection in Mombasa, Kenya.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: A human papillomavirus (HPV) prevalence survey was done in Mombasa,
      Kenya, to improve the knowledge of HPV prevalence and genotype distribution in
      sub-Saharan African countries overall, and in women of different ages. METHODS:
      HPV prevalence was assessed using PCR in women older than 15 years attending
      family planning and mother-child care services. RESULTS: Among 496 women, HPV
      prevalence was high (42.3%; 95% CI: 37.9-46.8; world age-standardized). Moreover,
      46% of HPV-positive women harbored multiple-type infections. The most common
      types were HPV58 (10.5% of women), HPV16 (7.7%), HPV53 (6.7%), HPV18 (4.6%), and
      HPV6 (4.4%), and the prevalence of any high-risk HPV type was 28.8%. HPV
      prevalence was elevated among all age-groups (range 36.4-45.7%). Independent
      associations with HPV positivity were found for being in a polygamous marriage
      (OR = 1.7) and lifetime number of sexual partners (OR for >= 3 vs. 1 = 1.5),
      although they were of only borderline statistical significance. CONCLUSIONS:
      These findings differ from other world regions, showing a high HPV burden in all
      age-groups with a high proportion of multiple-type infections. Our data
      strengthen the urgency of HPV vaccination in Kenya but also highlight the
      elevated number of women who would have positive results in an HPV-based
      screening program in the country.

PMID- 20938734
TI  - Mothers and children as informants of bullying victimization: results from an
      epidemiological cohort of children.
AB  - Stressful events early in life can affect children's mental health problems.
      Collecting valid and reliable information about children's bad experiences is
      important for research and clinical purposes. This study aimed to (1) investigate
      whether mothers and children provide valid reports of bullying victimization, (2)
      examine the inter-rater reliability between the two informants, (3) test the
      predictive validity of their reports with children's emotional and behavioral
      problems and (4) compare the genetic and environmental etiology of bullying
      victimization as reported by mothers and children. We assessed bullying
      victimization in the Environmental-Risk (E-Risk) Longitudinal Twin Study, a
      nationally-representative sample of 1,116 families with twins. We collected
      reports from mothers and children during private interviews, including detailed
      narratives. Findings showed that we can rely on mothers and children as
      informants of bullying victimization: both informants provided information which
      adhered to the definition of bullying as involving repeated hurtful actions
      between peers in the presence of a power imbalance. Although mothers and children
      modestly agreed with each other about who was bullied during primary and
      secondary school, reports of bullying victimization from both informants were
      similarly associated with children's emotional and behavioral problems and
      provided similar estimates of genetic and environmental influences. Findings from
      this study suggest that collecting information from multiple informants is ideal
      to capture all instances of bullying victimization. However, in the absence of
      child self-reports, mothers can be considered as a viable alternative, and vice
      versa.

PMID- 20938735
TI  - The role of nuclear imaging in the failing heart: myocardial blood flow,
      sympathetic innervation, and future applications.
AB  - Heart failure represents a common disease affecting approximately 5 million
      patients in the United States. Several conditions play an important role in the
      development and progression of heart failure, including abnormalities in
      myocardial blood flow and sympathetic innervation. Nuclear imaging represents the
      only imaging modality with sufficient sensitivity to assess myocardial blood flow
      and sympathetic innervation of the failing heart. Although nuclear imaging with
      single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) is most commonly used for the
      evaluation of myocardial perfusion, positron emission tomography (PET) allows
      absolute quantification of myocardial blood flow beyond the assessment of
      relative myocardial perfusion. Both techniques can be used for evaluation of
      diagnosis, treatment options, and prognosis in heart failure patients. Besides
      myocardial blood flow, cardiac sympathetic innervation represents another
      important parameter in patients with heart failure. Currently, sympathetic nerve
      imaging with 123-iodine metaiodobenzylguanidine (123-I MIBG) is often used for
      the assessment of cardiac innervation. A large number of studies have shown that
      an abnormal myocardial sympathetic innervation, as assessed with 123-I MIBG
      imaging, is associated with increased mortality and morbidity rates in patients
      with heart failure. Also, cardiac 123-I MIBG imaging can be used to risk stratify
      patients for ventricular arrhythmias or sudden cardiac death. Furthermore, novel
      nuclear imaging techniques are being developed that may provide more detailed
      information for the detection of heart failure in an early phase as well as for
      monitoring the effects of new therapeutic interventions in patients with heart
      failure.

PMID- 20938736
TI  - Prevalence of extra-intestinal porcine helminth infections and assessment of
      sanitary conditions of pig slaughter slabs in Dar es Salaam city, Tanzania.
AB  - A study was carried out to establish the prevalence of extra-intestinal porcine
      helminth infections and to assess the pig slaughter slab sanitary conditions in
      Dar es Salaam city, Tanzania. A total of 24 privately owned pig slaughter slabs
      were assessed. All slaughter slabs were sub-standard; wrongly located, poorly
      designed and constructed and lacked most basic requirements for a slaughter
      house. Because of inadequate slaughtering, disposal and cleaning facilities, the
      slaughter slabs were under unhygienic condition with questionable safety,
      soundness and wholesomeness of the pork produced. Routine meat inspection
      procedures were used to detect extra-intestinal porcine helminth infections. Of
      the 731 examined pigs; 8.1%, 5.9% and 0.4% were infected with ascariosis, porcine
      cysticercosis and hydatidosis, respectively. It was noted that almost all
      slaughter pigs in Dar es Salaam originated from different regions. Based on the
      region of origin, the status of porcine cysticercosis was 8.2% for Dodoma (n =
      98), 8.2% for Manyara (n = 260) and 6.9% for Mbeya (n = 116). This study
      disclosed the unhygienic sanitary condition prevailing in Dar es Salaam pig
      slaughter slabs and recommends that strategies should be devised to improve the
      situation. Porcine ascariosis and cysticercosis were widely prevalent and caused
      economic losses due to condemnations. Because of their zoonotic nature, the
      observed extra-intestinal porcine helminth infections in pig pose a public health
      risk among consumers. Thus, there is a need to introduce appropriate control
      measures of parasitic infections in pigs.

PMID- 20938737
TI  - Fattening performance, slaughter, carcass and meat quality traits of Karayaka
      lambs.
AB  - In order to verify the fattening performance, slaughter and carcass
      characteristics and to investigate the changes in some meat quality traits of
      Karayaka lambs weaned at 3 months of age, 39 lambs (23 males and 16 females) were
      used as experimental animals. The lambs were fed a concentrate mixture and
      alfalfa hay (120 and 168 g crude protein and 2,700 and 1,951 ME/kg, respectively)
      for a period of 60 days of fattening period. Male lambs were superior (p < 0.05)
      to female lambs in terms of daily weight gain (270.4 vs. 205.4 g; SEM = 9.46),
      hot and cold carcass weights (16.7 and 16.0 vs. 14.1 and 13.4 kg, respectively;
      SEM = 0.35), intra-muscular fat ratios (1.9% vs. 2.5%; SEM = 0.12) and dripping
      loss of semitendinosus muscle 3 days postmortem (8.1% vs. 10.2%; SEM = 0.36). The
      relative weights of some organs, the meat quality traits (pH, cooking loss, shear
      force, CIELab colour characteristics) and proximate analyses (dry matter, protein
      and ash) of longissimus dorsi and semitendinosus muscle samples from lambs were
      not affected by sex (p > 0.05). Dripping loss, pH and colour characteristics were
      affected by storage time (p < 0.05). These results provide a basic understanding
      of performance and meat quality of Karayaka sheep which may have potentials in
      improving sheep production using an indigenous sheep breed in Turkey.

PMID- 20938738
TI  - Diversity analysis of sheep breeds from Southern peninsular and Eastern regions
      of India.
AB  - Information is presented on the genetic diversity and relationship among six
      Indian sheep breeds/populations belonging to the Southern peninsular and Eastern
      agroecological zones, based on microsatellite markers. Parameters of genetic
      variation, viz., allele diversity, observed heterozygosity, gene diversity and
      population inbreeding estimates, were calculated for the six breeds. The allele
      diversity ranged from 6.40 to 7.92, whereas the gene diversity varied from 0.617
      to 0.727. The highest allele and gene diversity was observed for Nellore sheep,
      while the lowest was exhibited by Garole breed. Within population inbreeding
      estimate (F(IS)) revealed a significant deficit of heterozygotes in Deccani,
      Madgyal, Nellore and Garole, whereas Ganjam and Chhotanagpuri sheep showed an
      excess of heterozygotes. The contribution of each breed to the total diversity of
      the breeds was quantified by the Weitzman approach. The marginal loss of
      diversity incurred with removal of Nellore and Garole breeds was higher (>27%),
      whereas removal of Deccani breed resulted in lowest loss of diversity (3.84%)
      from the set. Estimation of the genetic differentiation (F(ST)) and genetic
      distance (D(A)) between the pairs of breeds revealed a close relationship between
      Deccani and Madgyal sheep (F(ST) = 0.017; D(A) = 0.080) and greatest demarcation
      between Madgyal and Garole breeds (F(ST) = 0.110; D(A) = 0.622). The information
      generated would help in shaping genetic management and conservation programs for
      the sheep breeds under consideration.

PMID- 20938739
TI  - Management options to accelerate growth rate and reduce age at first calving in
      Friesian-Boran crossbred heifers.
AB  - Two experiments were conducted simultaneously to evaluate the effects of
      different concentrates to roughage ratios on growth performance and attainment of
      puberty in Friesian-Boran crossbred heifers. Weaned 50% Friesian-Boran crossbred
      female calves were used in both experiments with 25 and 20 calves in experiments
      I and II, respectively. In experiment I, the calves were offered diets with
      concentrate to roughage ratios of 50:50 (treatment 1) or 30:70 (treatment 2). In
      experiment II, the calves grazed for 8 h a day and supplemented with 2 kg hay and
      1 kg concentrate per head per day (treatment 1) or only 2 kg hay per head per day
      (treatment 2). The concentrate mixture was composed of 34% wheat bran, 31% wheat
      middling, 31% noug cake, 3% limestone, and 1% salt. In experiment I, heifers fed
      a ration with 50% concentrate and 50% roughage had higher (P < 0.05) daily body
      weight gain (0.532 kg) and attained puberty at 221 kg (65% of the mature body
      weight) in 15 months, while heifers fed a diet with 30% concentrate and 70%
      roughage gained 0.434 kg/day and reached puberty at 247 kg (70% of the mature
      body weight), about 3 months later. Heifers in treatments 1 and 2 of experiment
      II reached puberty 5 and 12 months later, respectively, than those in experiment
      I. In experiment II, heifers given 1 kg of concentrate supplement had higher (P <
      0.05) daily body weight gain (0.346 kg) than those given only 2 kg hay in
      addition to grazing (0.278 kg). Growth rate of crossbred heifers was enhanced and
      age at puberty was reduced by changing the rearing management from outdoor to
      indoor and with increasing level of concentrate in the ration. This helps to
      bring the dairy heifer into production earlier and enhance to the overall
      productivity of the dairy industry.

PMID- 20938740
TI  - Intake, digestibility and nitrogen balance in Mithun (Bos frontalis) offered urea
      treated paddy straw based feed blocks.
AB  - The aim of the study was to determine the effect of feeding feed blocks
      containing varying proportion of urea-treated paddy straw (UTPS) on dry matter
      (DM) intake (DMI), nutrient utilization and N balance in Mithun. For the purpose,
      four adult male Mithun (279.5 +/- 8.2 kg) were selected and offered four
      experimental rations viz. R(1) (Napier fodder + concentrate at 60:40), R(2) (UTPS
      + concentrate at 50:50), R(3) (UTPS + concentrate at 60:40) and R(4) (UTPS +
      concentrate at 70:30) in 4 * 4 Latin square design. The DMI % of body weight was
      2.59, 2.96, 2.85 and 2.77 and the DMI g kg(-1) W(0.75) was 107, 123, 118 and 115
      in Mithun fed R(1), R(2), R(3) and R(4), respectively. The mean DMI was (P <
      0.01) higher in animals fed R(2) and R(3) than R(1) and R(4), whereas the water
      intake was (P < 0.01) higher in Mithun fed R(2), R(3) and R(4) than R(1). The
      digestibility of DM, organic matter, crude protein, crude fibre, neutral
      detergent fibre and cellulose were (P < 0.05) higher in animals fed R(2), R(3)
      and R(4) than R(1). A positive N balance was observed in all the experimental
      animals, with higher (P < 0.05) values among the animals offered R(2), R(3) and
      R(4) than R(1). The digestible crude protein and total digestible nutrient
      intakes were higher (P < 0.05) in Mithun fed R(2) and R(3) than R(1) and R(4). It
      is concluded that the UTPS can be incorporated up to 70% to formulate the
      complete feed/feed block and can be used for feeding of Mithun under complete
      confinement system.

PMID- 20938741
TI  - Digestibility and metabolizable energy values of processed cassava chips for
      growing and finishing pigs.
AB  - Determinations of digestibility of dry matter (DM), digestible energy (DE), and
      metabolizable energy (ME) in cassava chips with different levels of crude fiber
      (CF) were measured in growing pigs (20 kg) and finishing pigs (60 kg). The
      treatments were (1) cassava starch (0% CF), (2) peeled cassava chips (2.5% CF),
      (3) non-peeled washed cassava chips (3.9% CF), and (4) non-peeled and non-washed
      cassava chips (5.2% CF). In the growing pigs, peeled cassava chips, non-peeled
      washed cassava chips, and non-peeled and non-washed cassava chips had DM
      digestibility of 87.51%, 78.63%, and 73.89%, respectively. Their DE was 3.69,
      3.49, and 3.32 Mcal/kg DM, respectively (DE of cassava starch is 3.90 Mcal/kg
      DM). ME was 3.54, 3.35, and 3.19 Mcal/kg DM, respectively (ME of cassava starch
      is 3.74 Mcal/kg DM). On the other hand, in the finishing pigs, the digestibility
      of DM was 89.13%, 80.63%, and 76.13%, respectively. Their DE was 3.72, 3.53, and
      3.43 Mcal/kg DM, respectively (DE of cassava starch is 3.91 Mcal/kg DM). ME was
      3.57, 3.38, and 3.29 Mcal/kg DM, respectively (ME of cassava starch is 3.75
      Mcal/kg DM). These values increased with decreasing CF content, and the peeled
      cassava chips had the highest values (P < 0.01). These suggest that the
      digestibility values of DM, DE, and ME of cassava chips is inversely related to
      the CF content in cassava chips. It is recommended that cassava chips be peeled
      for better nutrition for growing and finishing pigs.

PMID- 20938742
TI  - Health literacy, language, and ethnicity-related factors in newcomer asthma
      patients to Canada: a qualitative study.
AB  - The objectives of this study were to investigate how asthma patients from new
      immigrant groups are being informed and educated about asthma and its management,
      and to identify barriers to knowledge transfer. Four focus groups (n = 29) from
      Latino, Chinese, Iranian and Punjabi cultural communities were conducted with
      asthmatic patients in the Greater Vancouver Area. Our results from the focus
      group discussions can be summarized in four broad areas (a) perceptions of and
      ways of coping with asthma, (b) perceptions of whether the healthcare system is
      culturally competent, (c) perceptions of language barriers in regards to
      accessing the healthcare system, and (d) perceptions of how to access reliable
      asthma information. The results of this study highlight the importance of diverse
      cultural beliefs and practices as factors that should be taken into consideration
      when tailoring interventions to improve asthma outcomes in vulnerable
      populations, including patients from ethno-cultural communities.

PMID- 20938743
TI  - Place of origin and violent disagreement among Asian American families: analysis
      across five States.
AB  - We examined the prevalence of and factors associated with violent and heated
      disagreements in the Asian American families, with an emphasis on place of birth
      differences between parent and child. Data were obtained from the 2003 National
      Survey of Children's Health, limited to five states with the highest
      concentration of Asian-Americans (n = 793). Multivariable analysis used
      generalized logistic regression models with a three-level outcome, violent and
      heated disagreement versus calm discussion. Violent disagreements were reported
      in 13.7% of Asian-American homes and 9.9% of white homes. Differential parent
      child place of birth was associated with increased odds for heated disagreement
      in Asian-American families. Parenting stress increased the likelihood of violent
      disagreements in both Asian-American and white families. Asian-American families
      are not immune to potential family violence. Reducing parenting stress and
      intervening in culturally appropriate ways to reduce generation differences
      should be violence prevention priorities.

PMID- 20938744
TI  - XIAP antisense oligonucleotide (AEG35156) achieves target knockdown and induces
      apoptosis preferentially in CD34+38- cells in a phase 1/2 study of patients with
      relapsed/refractory AML.
AB  - XIAP, a potent caspase inhibitor, is highly expressed in acute myeloid leukemia
      (AML) cells and contributes to chemoresistance. A multi-center phase 1/2 trial of
      XIAP antisense oligonucleotide AEG35156 in combination with idarubicin/cytarabine
      was conducted in 56 patients with relapsed/refractory AML. Herein we report the
      pharmacodynamic studies of the patients enrolled at M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.
      A total of 13 patients were enrolled in our institution: five in phase 1 (12-350
      mg/m2 AEG35156) and eight in phase 2 (350 mg/m2 AEG35156) of the protocol.
      AEG35156 was administered on 3 consecutive days and then weekly up to a maximum
      of 35 days. Blood samples were collected from patients on days 1 through 5 and on
      day 28-35 post-chemotherapy for detection of XIAP levels and apoptosis. AEG35156
      treatment led to dose-dependent decreases of XIAP mRNA levels (42-100% reduction
      in phase 2 patients). XIAP protein levels were reduced in all five samples
      measured. Apoptosis induction was detected in 1/4 phase 1 and 4/5 phase 2
      patients. Importantly, apoptosis was most pronounced in CD34+38- AML stem cells
      and all phase 2 patients showing apoptosis induction in CD34+38- cells achieved
      response. We conclude that at 350 mg/m2, AEG35156 is effective in knocking down
      XIAP in circulating blasts accompanied by the preferential induction of apoptosis
      in CD34+38- AML stem cells.

PMID- 20938746
TI  - International forum on tissue coding: response from Italy.

PMID- 20938745
TI  - Clinical and molecular genetics of neonatal diabetes due to mutations in the
      insulin gene.
AB  - Over the last decade our insight into the causes of neonatal diabetes has greatly
      expanded. Neonatal diabetes was once considered a variant of type 1 diabetes that
      presented early in life. Recent advances in our understanding of this disorder
      have established that neonatal diabetes is not an autoimmune disease, but rather
      is a monogenic form of diabetes resulting from mutations in a number of different
      genes encoding proteins that play a key role in the normal function of the
      pancreatic beta-cell. Moreover, a correct genetic diagnosis can affect treatment
      and clinical outcome. This is especially true for patients with mutations in the
      genes KCNJ11 or ABCC8 that encode the two protein subunits (Kir6.2 and SUR1,
      respectively) of the ATP-sensitive potassium channel. These patients can be
      treated with oral sulfonylurea drugs with better glycemic control and quality of
      life. Recently, mutations in the insulin gene (INS) itself have been identified
      as another cause of neonatal diabetes. In this article, we review the role of INS
      mutations in the pathophysiology of neonatal diabetes.

PMID- 20938747
TI  - Mechanisms involved in the inhibition of osteoclast generation by the
      benzothiophene SERM LY117018.
AB  - Selective estrogen receptor modulators are compounds that act via estrogen
      receptors in different tissues to mediate either estrogenic or estrogen
      antagonistic effects in osteoporosis patients. The aim of this study was to
      assess the effect of the selective estrogen receptor modulator LY117018, a
      raloxifene analogue, on osteoclastogenesis in vitro. In primary murine bone
      marrow cultures osteoclasts, defined as TRAP-positive multinucleated cells, were
      induced by 10(-8) M 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D(3). LY117018 at concentrations
      between 10(-12) M and 10(-9) M significantly reduced the number of osteoclasts.
      At higher concentrations no effect of LY117018 on osteoclast generation was
      observed. LY117018 enhanced alkaline phosphatase activity of mouse calvaria
      osteoblasts at a concentration of 10(-14) to 10(-7) M, but had no influence on
      the proliferation and transcription of RANKL and osteoprotegerin. In order to
      study the effect of the compound on the production of cytokines that can
      stimulate bone resorption, spleen cells were incubated with LY117018. Data from
      four-color flow cytometric analysis indicate a significantly decreased frequency
      of tumor necrosis factor-alpha positive CD8(+) cells after treatment with
      LY117018. These findings suggest that LY117018 can significantly inhibit the
      generation of osteoclasts and stimulate osteogenic differentiation in vitro.
      Suppression of tumor necrosis factor-alpha production by LY117018 may contribute
      to its anti-osteoclastogenic effect.

PMID- 20938748
TI  - The national Austrian newborn screening program - eight years experience with
      mass spectrometry. past, present, and future goals.
AB  - BACKGROUND: the National Austrian Newborn Screening Program for inherited
      metabolic and endocrinologic disorders was introduced in 1966. The program
      continuously evolved by expanding the screening panel from phenylketonuria and
      galactosemia to congenital hypothyroidism, biotinidase deficiency, cystic
      fibrosis, and congenital adrenal hyperplasia. In 2002, the introduction of tandem
      mass spectrometry (MS/MS) substantially increased the number of detectable inborn
      errors of metabolism and now includes disorders of fatty acid oxidation, organic
      acidurias and various disorders of amino acid metabolism. OBJECTIVE: in this
      study we report our eight years experience with MS/MS in Austria and give an
      overview of the incidence of diseases, organization, updates on methods and
      current development and future aspects. METHODS: a total of 622,489 newborns were
      screened by MS/MS for more than 20 diseases in Austria between April 2002 and
      December 2009. Dried blood spot samples were collected and sent to the National
      Laboratory for Newborn Screening located at the Medical University of Vienna,
      Vienna, Austria. RESULTS: The resulting overall prevalence of inherited metabolic
      disorder identified by MS/MS was 1:2855, including 125 newborns with amino
      acidemias (1:4,980), 46 with organic acidurias (1:13,532), and 47 with fatty acid
      oxidation disorders (1:13,244). CONCLUSION: the introduction of MS/MS technology
      in Austria significantly increased the detection of inherited metabolic disorders
      that were previously not covered. A primary goal is the continuous effort by
      developing second-tier strategies with the inclusion of more specific markers in
      order to minimize the risk of false-negatives and to improve the positive
      predictive value of screening results. Early recognition of these disorders
      enables diagnosis and treatment before the onset of symptoms.

PMID- 20938749
TI  - Geospatial patterns of hospitalization rates for stroke with comorbid
      hypertension in relation to environmental sources of persistent organic
      pollutants: results from a 12-year population-based study.
AB  - PURPOSE: Recent evidence indicates that exposure to persistent organic pollutants
      (POPs) is emerging as an important risk factor for atherosclerosis-related
      diseases, including stroke. Hypertension (HTN) is a major risk factor for stroke,
      and some studies suggest that exposure to POPs is also a risk factor for HTN. We
      hypothesized that POPs increase the environmental burden of stroke with comorbid
      HTN. METHODS: A population-based study of hospitalization rates for stroke with
      comorbid HTN in populations presumably exposed to POPs, based on the zip code of
      residence, was conducted. Data on hospitalizations for stroke with comorbid HTN
      were obtained from the New York Statewide Planning and Research Cooperative
      System for 1993-2004. Relative risks, with 95% confidence intervals (RR, 95% CI),
      of hospitalization were estimated by multiple Poisson regression analysis.
      RESULTS: RR of hospitalization for stroke with comorbid HTN was 13.4% higher in
      populations residing in zip codes containing or abutting environmental sources of
      POPs (RR = 1.134; 95% CI, 1.036-1.241; p = 0.006). Also, hospitalization rates
      were significantly higher in males than in females (RR = 1.397; 95% CI, 1.357
      1.437; p < 0.001), in African Americans than in Caucasians (RR = 3.902; 95% CI,
      3.617-4.208; p < 0.001), and in older age groups (p for trend < 0.001). These
      statistically significant findings of the effect of demographic factors are
      highly consistent with the current knowledge of stroke and serve as indirect
      quality indicators for our model. CONCLUSIONS: Results of our study support the
      hypothesis that exposure to POPs increases the environmental burden of both
      stroke and HTN.

PMID- 20938750
TI  - Automatic interpretation of hyperventilation-induced electroencephalogram
      constructed in the way of qualified electroencephalographer's visual inspection.
AB  - Quantitative analysis and detection of electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings
      during evoked activities is essential for clinical diagnosis on neurological
      disorders. However, the process of interpreting EEG is time consuming for
      electroencephalographers (EEGers). In this study, an automatic EEG interpretation
      system constructed in the way of qualified EEGer's visual inspection was
      proposed. The system was applied to interpret hyperventilation-induced EEG
      automatically. The final results of automatic interpretation were compared with
      EEGer's visual inspection, and showed high consistence.

PMID- 20938751
TI  - The potential of pulsed low intensity ultrasound to stimulate chondrocytes matrix
      synthesis in agarose and monolayer cultures.
AB  - Pulsed low intensity ultrasound (PLIUS) has been used successfully for bone
      fracture repair and has therefore been suggested for cartilage regeneration.
      However, previous in vitro studies with chondrocytes show conflicting results as
      to the effect of PLIUS on the elaboration of extracellular matrix. This study
      tests the hypothesis that PLIUS, applied for 20 min/day, stimulates the synthesis
      of sulphated glycosaminoglycan (sGAG) by adult bovine articular chondrocytes
      cultured in either monolayer or agarose constructs. For both culture models,
      PLIUS at either 30 or 100 mW/cm(2) intensity had no net effect on the total sGAG
      content. Although PLIUS at 100 mW/cm(2) did induce a 20% increase in sGAG content
      at day 2 of culture in agarose, this response was lost by day 5. Intensities of
      200 and 300 mW/cm(2) resulted in cell death probably due to heating from the
      ultrasound transducers. The lack of a sustained up-regulation of sGAG synthesis
      may reflect the suggestion that PLIUS only induces a stimulatory effect in the
      presence of a tissue injury response. These results suggest that PLIUS has a
      limited potential to provide an effective method of stimulating matrix production
      as part of a tissue engineering strategy for cartilage repair.

PMID- 20938752
TI  - Dietary inclusion of tea catechins changes fatty acid composition of muscle in
      goats.
AB  - This study was conducted to examine dietary tea catechins (TC) supplementation on
      the fatty acid composition of muscle and ruminal bacteria in goats fed a maize
      stover-based diet. Forty goats, 8 months old (16.2 +/- 1.2 kg), were randomly
      divided into four equal groups (10 animals in each group) and assigned to four
      experiment diets with TC supplementation at four levels (0, 2,000, 3,000 and
      4,000 mg TC/kg feed, namely TC0, TC2000, TC3000 and TC4000, respectively). After
      a 60-day feeding period, all the goats were slaughtered and sampled. The results
      showed that dietary TC inclusion increased the average daily gain (ADG), protein
      content in the semimembranosus muscle and dry matter in the longissimus dorsi
      muscle (LD). Dietary TC supplementation increased the ratio of n-6 to n-3 fatty
      acid, the ratio of polyunsaturated fatty acids to saturated fatty acids was
      higher in TC3000 and TC4000 than in TC0 and TC2000 for LD. The current results
      implied that dietary inclusion of a suitable TC dose could improve the growth
      performance and increase the proportions of unsaturated fatty acids in muscle,
      and the biohydrogenation of ruminal microorganisms might change the profiles of
      fatty acids in the muscle of growing goats.

PMID- 20938753
TI  - Proline-specific extracellular aminopeptidase purified from Streptomyces
      lavendulae.
AB  - Aminopeptidases catalyze the cleavage of specific amino acids from the amino
      terminus of protein or peptide substrates. A proline-specific aminopeptidase was
      purified to homogeneity from the culture-free extract of Streptomyces lavendulae
      ATCC 14162 in sequential steps comprising ammonium sulfate precipitation, ultra
      filtration, and column chromatography on Q-sepharose and Sephadex G-100. The
      purified protein showed approximately 60 kDa in SDS-PAGE and was optimally active
      at pH 6.5 and 40  degrees C. Kinetic studies showed a K(m) and V(max) of 0.23 mM
      and 0.087 MUmol/min, respectively, using Pro-p-NA, the substrate with maximum
      specificity. Enzyme activity was inhibited by PMSF and ions like Zn2+, Co2+, and
      Ni2+. However, unlike other aminopeptidases, the activity was enhanced in the
      presence of DTT, 1,10-phenanthroline, EDTA, amastatin, and bestatin. Ions like
      Ca2+, Mg2+, and Mn2+ also enhanced the activity.

PMID- 20938754
TI  - An effective and simplified fed-batch strategy for improved 2,3-butanediol
      production by Klebsiella oxytoca.
AB  - Substrate concentration in 2,3-butanediol (2,3-BD) fermentation could not be
      controlled well in traditional feeding strategies, such as constant, impulse, and
      exponential feeding strategies. In the present study, fermentative 2,3-BD
      production by Klebsiella oxytoca was investigated under different batch and fed
      batch strategies. The glucose-feedback fed-batch strategy was proved to be not
      effective for economical 2,3-BD production for the inability of timely feeding,
      leading that the bacteria reused 2,3-BD as carbon source for cell growth. Based
      on the phenomena that the byproducing acids caused the pH declining and the
      requirement of maintaining the pH at a proper level for both cell growth and 2,3
      BD accumulation, an improved strategy of pH-stat fed-batch culture with glucose
      and sodium hydrate fed at the same time was established. Thus, the residual
      glucose concentration could be controlled through the adjustment of pH
      automatically. At last, efficient 2,3-BD production was fulfilled under this fed
      batch strategy, and the highest 2,3-BD concentration, productivity, and yield
      were 127.9 g/l, 1.78 g/(l*h), and 0.48 g/g (2,3-BD/glucose), respectively,
      compared to 98.5 g/l, 1.37 g/(l*h), and 0.43 g/g obtained in glucose-feedback fed
      batch strategy. This feeding strategy was simple and easy to operate and could be
      feasible for industrial 2,3-BD production in the future.

PMID- 20938755
TI  - Association study of tryptophan hydroxylase-2 gene in schizophrenia and its
      clinical features in Chinese Han population.
AB  - Schizophrenia is a chronic and severe mental illness which is characterized by
      the development of various detrimental clinical features, and its etiology still
      remains unknown. Based on the evidence from neurobiological and pharmacological
      research, dysfunctions in central serotonergic transmission may be involved in
      the development of schizophrenia. Tryptophan hydroxylase 2 (TPH2), a newly
      identified isoform of tryptophan hydroxylase (the rate limiting enzyme in the
      biosynthesis of serotonin), regulates the brain-specific serotonin synthesis. To
      further clarify the role of TPH2 in this disease, we performed a case-control
      study to examine the association of the TPH2 gene with schizophrenia and its
      clinical features. We genotyped three putative functional polymorphisms
      (rs4570625, rs7305115, and rs4290270) within the gene and carried out a case
      control study consisting of 304 schizophrenia patients and 362 healthy subjects.
      The severity of psychotic symptoms was assessed using the Positive and Negative
      Syndrome Scale (PANSS). The frequencies of genotypes and alleles of rs4570625,
      rs7305115, and rs4290270 did not differ significantly between schizophrenic
      patients and controls. However, the PANSS positive symptom subcore was
      significantly associated with rs4570625 (P=0.022). These results suggest that
      rs4570625 of TPH2 may play an important role in the development of positive
      symptoms in Han Chinese schizophrenic patients.

PMID- 20938756
TI  - Comparative analysis of chemokine receptor's expression in mesenchymal stem cells
      derived from human bone marrow and adipose tissue.
AB  - Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are considered as promising candidates for new
      clinical trials of cell therapies. Bone marrow (BM) was the first source reported
      to contain MSCs; however, using it may be detrimental due to the highly invasive
      aspiration procedures. More recently, adipose tissue, attainable by a less
      invasive method, has been introduced as an alternative source of MSCs. So far,
      MSCs derived from these two sources have been compared in different characters;
      however, one of the main properties, i.e., the expression of chemokine receptors,
      has been ignored in these comparisons. In the present study, human MSCs were
      derived from bone marrow and adipose tissues and characterized by their
      expression of some cell surface antigens and also differentiation capacity. The
      expression of five selected chemokine receptors, which seems to be important in
      cell homing, was also compared. Semiquantitative reverse transcription-polymerase
      chain reaction method was used to assess gene expression levels of these
      chemokine receptors. Our results indicate that expression of these receptors in
      human MSCs, derived from adipose tissue, was higher than MSCs from bone marrow.
      Chemokine receptors and their ligands and adhesion molecules play an important
      role in tissue-specific homing of leukocytes and have also been implicated in
      trafficking of hematopoietic precursors into and through tissues. Therefore, MSCs
      from adipose tissue may show a better migration and homing capacity and they
      might be a better candidate for therapeutic purposes.

PMID- 20938757
TI  - Comparative analysis of transduced primary human dendritic cells generated by the
      use of three different lentiviral vector systems.
AB  - Lentiviral gene transfer vectors are suitable for genetically modifying non
      cycling primary human cells. In this study, we analyzed transduced human
      dendritic cells (DC) generated by the use of three different GFP-encoding
      lentiviral vectors, HIV-2 ROD A Deltaenv-GFP (ROD A), SIVsmm PBj DeltaE EGFP
      (PBj), and SIVmac DeltaE EGFP (SIVmac). CD14+ monocytes were isolated from buffy
      coat, transduced, and differentiated to immature and mature DC. Cytofluometric
      analysis of DC revealed high transduction efficiencies at MOI 1 for simian
      immunodeficiency virus (SIV)-derived vectors PBj and SIVmac ranging between 80-90
      and 70-90%, respectively. In contrast, transduction with ROD A resulted only in
      approximately 30%-positive DC at the same MOI. Of note, none of the analyzed
      vectors affected expression of maturation and/or activation markers. Moreover,
      transduction with PBj or SIVmac did not induce significant cytokine responses
      whereas ROD A transduction stimulated weak interferon-alpha responses. SIVmac
      transduced DC showed normal phagocytosis of antigen and normal allo T cell
      stimulatory capacity when compared with untreated DC. Thus, the SIVmac lentiviral
      transduction vector is suitable for efficient genetic modification of human DC
      without affecting phenotype or function and thus qualifies this vector as a
      versatile tool for use in basic research.

PMID- 20938758
TI  - Genetic testing for pheochromocytoma.
AB  - Pheochromocytomas (PHEOs) and paragangliomas (PGLs) are rare, catecholamine
      producing tumors that are usually sporadic. However, about 30% of these tumors
      have been identified as being of inherited origin. To date, nine genes have been
      confirmed as participating in PHEO or PGL tumorigenesis. Germline mutations were
      found in 100% of syndromic cases and in about 90% of patients with positive
      familial history. In nonsyndromic patients with apparently sporadic tumors,
      genetic mutations have been found in up to 27%, and genetic testing is now
      recommended for all patients with PHEOs and PGLs. Patients with syndromic
      lesions, a positive family history, or both should be tested for the appertaining
      gene. Recent discoveries have shown that the order of tested genes in
      nonsyndromic, nonfamilial cases can be based on histologic evaluation, location,
      and the biochemical phenotype of PHEOs and PGLs--the "rule of three."
      Identification of a gene mutation may lead to early diagnosis and treatment,
      regular surveillance, and a better prognosis for patients and their relatives.

PMID- 20938759
TI  - Cardiac magnetic resonance in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
AB  - Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is a fascinating and complex disorder with
      substantial variability in phenotypic expression and natural progression.
      Recently, there has been substantial research demonstrating incremental utility
      of cardiac magnetic resonance in the diagnosis and treatment of this disease.
      With the increasing utilization of multimodality imaging, our understanding of
      the subtle morphologic differences and their prognostic implications is only
      going to improve.

PMID- 20938760
TI  - Mechanisms of intragastric pH sensing.
AB  - Luminal amino acids and lack of luminal acidity as a result of acid
      neutralization by intragastric foodstuffs are powerful signals for acid
      secretion. Although the hormonal and neural pathways underlying this regulatory
      mechanism are well understood, the nature of the gastric luminal pH sensor has
      been enigmatic. In clinical studies, high pH, tryptic peptides, and luminal
      divalent metals (Ca(2+) and Mg(2+)) increase gastrin release and acid production.
      The calcium-sensing receptor (CaSR), first described in the parathyroid gland but
      expressed on gastric G cells, is a logical candidate for the gastric acid sensor.
      Because CaSR ligands include amino acids and divalent metals, and because
      extracellular pH affects ligand binding in the pH range of the gastric content,
      its pH, metal, and nutrient-sensing functions are consistent with physiologic
      observations. The CaSR is thus an attractive candidate for the gastric luminal
      sensor that is part of the neuroendocrine negative regulatory loop for acid
      secretion.

PMID- 20938761
TI  - Detection of conspecific pheromones elicits fos expression in GABA and calcium
      binding cells of the rat vomeronasal system-medial extended amygdala.
AB  - The olfactory accessory system is specialized in the detection of pheromones,
      being an afferent to medial extended amygdala. In spite of the fact that numerous
      phenotypes are found in these structures, in the current literature, there are no
      detailed descriptions about the phenotype of neurons in the vomeronasal system
      medial extended amygdala after their activation by pheromonal stimuli. Using
      immunohistochemistry for fos and dual immunohistochemistry for fos and
      phenotypes, here we show that females have a greater number of activated neurons
      by the pheromonal stimulus. Likewise, a great colocalization of fos with GABA,
      calretinin, and calbindin was observed in the vomeronasal system-medial extended
      amygdala. These data suggest that in amygdaloid areas, neuronal excitability is
      controlled by GABAergic neurons that contain different calcium-binding proteins,
      indicating the important role of inhibitory control on the incoming sensory
      pheromonal and olfactory inputs controlled and processed by the vomeronasal
      system.

PMID- 20938762
TI  - Optimal beam quality selection based on contrast-to-noise ratio and mean
      glandular dose in digital mammography.
AB  - The performance of a digital mammography system (Siemens Mammomat Novation) using
      different target/filter combinations and tube voltage has been assessed. The
      objective of this study is to optimize beam quality selection based on contrast
      to-noise ratio (CNR) and mean glandular dose (MGD). Three composition of breast
      were studied with composition of glandular/adipose of 30/70, 50/50, and 70/30.
      CNR was measured using 2, 4 and 6 cm-thick simulated breast phantoms with an
      aluminium sheet of 0.1 mm thickness placed on top of the phantom. Three
      target/filter combinations, namely molybdenum/molybdenum (Mo/Mo),
      molybdenum/rhodium (Mo/Rh) and tungsten/rhodium (W/Rh) with various tube voltage
      and mAs were tested. MGD was measured for each exposure. For 50/50 breast
      composition, Mo/Rh combination with tube voltage 26 kVp is optimal for 2 cm-thick
      breast. W/Rh combination with tube voltage 27 and 28 kVp are optimal for 4 and 6
      cm-thick breast, respectively. For both 30/70 and 70/30 breast composition, W/Rh
      combination is optimal with tube voltage 25, 26 and 27 kVp, respectively. From
      our study it was shown that there are potential of dose reduction up to 11% for a
      set CNR of 3.0 by using beam quality other than that are determined by AEC
      selection. Under the constraint of lowest MGD, for a particular breast
      composition, calcification detection is optimized by using a softer X-ray beam
      for thin breast and harder X-ray beam for thick breast. These experimental
      results also indicate that for breast with high fibroglandular tissues (70/30),
      the use of higher beam quality does not always increase calcification detection
      due to additional structured noise caused by the fibroglandular tissues itself.

PMID- 20938763
TI  - Direct determination of the chromosomal location of bunching onion and bulb onion
      markers using bunching onion-shallot monosomic additions and allotriploid
      bunching onion single alien deletions.
AB  - To determine the chromosomal location of bunching onion (Allium fistulosum L.)
      simple sequence repeats (SSRs) and bulb onion (A. cepa L.) expressed sequence
      tags (ESTs), we used a complete set of bunching onion-shallot monosomic addition
      lines and allotriploid bunching onion single alien deletion lines as testers. Of
      a total of 2,159 markers (1,198 bunching onion SSRs, 324 bulb onion EST-SSRs and
      637 bulb onion EST-derived non-SSRs), chromosomal locations were identified for
      406 markers in A. fistulosum and/or A. cepa. Most of the bunching onion SSRs with
      identified chromosomal locations showed polymorphism in bunching onion (89.5%) as
      well as bulb onion lines (66.1%). Using these markers, we constructed a bunching
      onion linkage map (1,261 cM), which consisted of 16 linkage groups with 228
      markers, 106 of which were newly located. All linkage groups of this map were
      assigned to the eight basal Allium chromosomes. In this study, we assigned 513
      markers to the eight chromosomes of A. fistulosum and A. cepa. Together with 254
      markers previously located on a separate bunching onion map, we have identified
      chromosomal locations for 766 markers in total. These chromosome-specific markers
      will be useful for the intensive mapping of desirable genes or QTLs for
      agricultural traits, and to obtain DNA markers linked to these.

PMID- 20938764
TI  - Fine mapping and candidate gene analysis of ptgms2-1, the photoperiod-thermo
      sensitive genic male sterile gene in rice (Oryza sativa L.).
AB  - Photoperiod-thermo-sensitive genic male sterile (PTGMS) rice exhibits a number of
      desirable traits for hybrid rice production. The cloning genes responsible for
      PTGMS and those elucidating male sterility mechanisms and reversibility to
      fertility would be of great significance to provide a foundation to develop new
      male sterile lines. Guangzhan63S, a PTGMS line, is one of the most widely used
      indica two-line hybrid rice breeding systems in China. In this study, genetic
      analysis based on F(2) and BC(1)F(2) populations derived from a cross between
      Guangzhan63S and 1587, determined a single recessive gene controls male sterility
      in Guangzhan63S. Molecular marker techniques combined with bulked-segregant
      analysis (BSA) were used and located the target gene (named ptgms2-1) between two
      SSR markers RM12521 and RM12823. Fine mapping of the ptgms2-1 locus was conducted
      with 45 new Insertion-Deletion (InDel) markers developed between the RM12521 and
      RM12823 region, using 634 sterile individuals from F(2) and BC(1)F(2)
      populations. Ptgms2-1 was further mapped to a 50.4 kb DNA fragment between two
      InDel markers, S2-40 and S2-44, with genetic distances of 0.08 and 0.16 cM,
      respectively, which cosegregated with S2-43 located on the AP004039 BAC clone.
      Ten genes were identified in this region based on annotation results from the
      RiceGAAS system. A nuclear ribonuclease Z gene was identified as the candidate
      for the ptgms2-1 gene. This result will facilitate cloning the ptgms2-1 gene. The
      tightly linked markers for the ptgms2-1 gene locus will further provide a useful
      tool for marker-assisted selection of this gene in rice breeding programs.

PMID- 20938765
TI  - Circulating high sensitivity troponin T in severe sepsis and septic shock:
      distribution, associated factors, and relation to outcome.
AB  - PURPOSE: To assess the clinical utility of a recently developed highly sensitive
      cardiac troponin T (hs-cTnT) assay for providing prognostic information on
      patients with sepsis. METHODS: cTnT levels were measured by the novel hs-cTnT
      assay at two time points (inclusion and 72 h thereafter) in a subgroup of
      patients from the FINNSEPSIS study and associations with clinical outcomes were
      examined. Results for the hs-cTnT assay were compared to those of the established
      fourth-generation cTnT assay. RESULTS: cTnT measured by the fourth-generation and
      hs-cTnT assay was detectable in 124 (60%) and 207 (100%) patients, respectively,
      on inclusion in this study. hs-cTnT levels on inclusion correlated with several
      indices of risk in sepsis, including the simplified acute physiology score (SAPS)
      II and sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) scores. The level of hs-cTnT on
      inclusion was higher in hospital non-survivors (n = 47) than survivors (n = 160)
      (median 0.054 [Q1-3, 0.022-0.227] versus 0.035 [0.015-0.111] MUg/L, P = 0.047),
      but hs-cTnT level was not an independent predictor of in-hospital mortality. hs
      cTnT levels on inclusion were also higher in patients with septic shock during
      the hospitalization (0.044 [0.024-0.171] versus 0.033 [0.012-0.103] MUg/L, P =
      0.03), while this was not the case for the fourth-generation cTnT assay or NT
      proBNP levels. CONCLUSIONS: Circulating hs-cTnT is present in patients with
      severe sepsis and septic shock, associates with disease severity and survival,
      but does not add to SAPS II score for prediction of mortality. hs-cTnT
      measurement could still have a role in sepsis as an early marker of shock.

PMID- 20938766
TI  - The reliability and validity of three non-radiological measures of thoracic
      kyphosis and their relations to the standing radiological Cobb angle.
AB  - Hyperkyphosis is implicated in a mounting list of negative outcomes, including
      higher mortality. Hyperkyphosis research is hindered due to difficulties inherent
      in its measurement. By showing that three clinical measures of kyphosis are
      suitable for use in large scale, longitudinal, hyperkyphosis studies, we will
      facilitate much needed research in this field. INTRODUCTION: The objective of
      this study is to describe the reliability of three non-radiological kyphosis
      measures (Debrunner kyphosis angle, flexicurve kyphosis index, and flexicurve
      kyphosis angle) and their validity compared to the Cobb angle and to approximate
      a Cobb angle from non-radiological kyphosis measures. METHODS: We analyzed data
      from 113 participants aged >= 60 years with kyphosis angle >= 40 degrees . Cobb
      angle was measured on a standing lateral thoracolumbar radiograph using bounds at
      T4 and T12. Non-radiological measures of kyphosis were made three times by a
      single rater and a 4th time by a blinded second rater. RESULTS: Intra- and inter
      rater reliabilities for non-radiological assessments were high (intra-class
      correlations of 0.96 to 0.98) and did not differ from each other. Pearson
      correlations, estimating validity, ranged from 0.62 to 0.69 and did not differ.
      The Debrunner angle was close to the Cobb angle, with scaling factor of 1.067 and
      an offset of 5 degrees . The Flexicurve kyphosis angle had to be scaled by 1.53
      to obtain the equivalent Cobb angle. The scaling factor for the Flexicurve
      kyphosis index to Cobb angle was 315, with an offset of 5 degrees . Compared to
      the measured Cobb angle, Cobb angles predicted using the non-radiological
      measures had similar magnitude errors (standard deviations of the differences
      ranging between 10.24 and 11.26). CONCLUSIONS: Each non-radiological measurement
      had similar reliability and validity. Low cost, ease of use, and robustness to
      variations in spine contour argue for the Flexicurve in longitudinal kyphosis
      assessments. The approximate conversion factors provided will permit translation
      of non-radiological measures to Cobb angles.

PMID- 20938768
TI  - Determination of antioxidants in new and used lubricant oils by headspace
      programmed temperature vaporization-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.
AB  - A sensitive method is presented to determine antioxidants (2-, 3-, and 4-tert
      butylphenol, 2,6-di-tert-butylphenol, 3-tert-butyl-4-hydroxyanisol, 2,6-di-tert
      butyl-4-methylphenol, 1-naphthol, and diphenylamine) in new and used lubricant
      oil samples. Research was carried out on a GC device equipped with a headspace
      sampler, a programmed temperature vaporizer, and an MS detector unit. The
      proposed method does not require sample treatment prior to analyses, hence
      eliminating possible errors occurring in this step. Sample preparation is reduced
      when placing the oil sample (2.0 g) in the vial and adding propyl acetate (20
      MUL). Solvent vent injection mode permits a pre-concentration of the compounds of
      interest in the liner filled with Tenax-TA(r), while venting other species
      present in the headspace. Thereby, both the life of the liner and the capillary
      column is prolonged, and unnecessary contamination of the detector unit is
      avoided. Calibration was performed by adding different concentrations of analytes
      to a new oil which did not contain any of the studied compounds. Limits of
      detection as low as 0.57 MUg/L (2-tert-butylphenol) with a precision lower or
      equal to 5.3% were achieved. Prediction of the antioxidants in new oil samples of
      different viscosities (5W40, 10W40, and 15W40) was accomplished with the previous
      calibration, and the results were highly satisfactory. To determine antioxidants
      in used engine oils, standard addition method was used due to the matrix effect.

PMID- 20938769
TI  - Optical ring resonators for biochemical and chemical sensing.
AB  - In the past few years optical ring resonators have emerged as a new sensing
      technology for highly sensitive detection of analytes in liquid or gas. This
      article introduces the ring resonator sensing principle, describes various ring
      resonator sensor designs, reviews the current state of the field, and presents an
      outlook of possible applications and related research and development directions.

PMID- 20938767
TI  - Early changes in biochemical markers of bone turnover and their relationship with
      bone mineral density changes after 24 months of treatment with teriparatide.
AB  - We report the changes in biochemical markers of bone formation during the first 6
      months of teriparatide therapy in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis
      according to previous antiresorptive treatment. Prior therapy does not adversely
      affect the response to teriparatide treatment. Similar bone markers levels are
      reached after 6 months of treatment. INTRODUCTION: The response of biochemical
      markers of bone turnover with teriparatide therapy in subjects who have
      previously received osteoporosis drugs is not fully elucidated. We examined
      biochemical markers of bone formation in women with osteoporosis treated with
      teriparatide and determined: (1) whether the response is associated with prior
      osteoporosis therapy, (2) which marker shows the best performance for detecting a
      response to therapy, and (3) the correlations between early changes in bone
      markers and subsequent bone mineral density (BMD) changes after 24 months of
      teriparatide. METHODS: We conducted a prospective, open-label, 24-month study at
      95 centers in 10 countries in 758 postmenopausal women with established
      osteoporosis (n = 181 treatment-naive) who had at least one post-baseline bone
      marker determination. Teriparatide (20 MUg/day) was administered for up to 24
      months. We measured procollagen type I N-terminal propeptide (PINP), bone
      specific alkaline phosphatase (b-ALP), and total alkaline phosphatase (t-ALP) at
      baseline, 1 and 6 months, and change in BMD at the lumbar spine, total hip and
      femoral neck from baseline to 24 months. RESULTS: Significant increases in
      formation markers occurred after 1 month of teriparatide regardless of prior
      osteoporosis therapy. The absolute increase at 1 month was lower in previously
      treated versus treatment-naive patients, but after 6 months all groups reached
      similar levels. PINP showed the best signal-to-noise ratio. Baseline PINP
      correlated positively and significantly with BMD response at 24 months.
      CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that the long-term responsiveness of bone
      formation markers to teriparatide is not affected in subjects previously treated
      with antiresorptive drugs.

PMID- 20938770
TI  - Kidney displacement in complete supine PCNL is lower than prone PCNL.
AB  - To compare the amount of the kidney displacement in the complete supine
      percutaneous nephrolithotripsy (PCNL) to the prone PCNL during getting renal
      access. Thirty-three patients were randomly divided into two groups. The patients
      in group A were placed in the complete supine position and the patients in group
      B in the prone position. Amounts of the kidney displacement in three states and
      other data were analyzed. The mean amount of the kidney displacement in the
      complete supine PCNL was 10.1 +/- 7.9 mm in stage 1, 10.7 +/- 8.28 mm in stage 2
      and 12.2 +/- 10.4 mm in stage 3. The mean amount of the kidney displacement in
      prone PCNL was 16.6 +/- 5.8 mm in stage 1, 16.2 +/- 6.3 mm in stage 2 and 17.6 +/
      6.7 mm in stage 3. In stages 1 and 2, a significant difference between the two
      groups derived from the mean amount of the kidney displacement, but the
      difference was not statistically significant in stage 3. Adjusted for age,
      gender, BMI, stone burden and position of PCNL, prone position was a predictor
      caused significantly more displacement in all three stages. Among other
      predictors, only BMI had a significant effect on the amount of the kidney
      displacement (in stages 2 and 3). Performing PCNL in the complete supine position
      is safe and effective and leads to less kidney displacement during getting renal
      access and therefore, it may be considered in most patients requiring PCNL.

PMID- 20938771
TI  - The impact of MIG1 and/or MIG2 disruption on aerobic metabolism of succinate
      dehydrogenase negative Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
AB  - The zinc finger proteins Mig1 and Mig2 play important roles in glucose repression
      of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. To investigate whether the alleviation of glucose
      effect would result in an increase in aerobic succinate production, MIG1 and/or
      MIG2 were disrupted in a succinate dehydrogenase (SDH)-negative S. cerevisiae
      strain. Moreover, their impacts on physiology of the SDH-negative S. cerevisiae
      strain were studied under fully aerobic conditions when glucose was the sole
      carbon source. Our results showed that the succinate production for the SDH
      negative S. cerevisiae was very low even under fully aerobic conditions.
      Furthermore, deletion of MIG1 and/or MIG2 did not result in an increase in
      succinate production in the SDH-negative S. cerevisiae strain. However, the
      synthesis of acetate was significantly affected by MIG1 deletion or in
      combination with MIG2 deletion. The acetate production for the mig1/mig2 double
      mutant BS2M was reduced by 69.72% compared to the parent strain B2S. In addition,
      the amount of ethanol produced by BS2M was slightly decreased. With the mig2
      mutant BSM2, the concentrations of pyruvate and glycerol were increased by 26.23%
      and 15.28%, respectively, compared to the parent strain B2S.

PMID- 20938772
TI  - Heterologous expression of Anabaena sp. PCC7120 cyanophycin metabolism genes
      cphA1 and cphB1 in Sinorhizobium (Ensifer) meliloti 1021.
AB  - Sinorhizobium meliloti infects leguminous plants resulting in a nitrogen-fixing
      symbiosis. Free living cells accumulate poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) as carbon
      and energy source under imbalanced growth conditions. The cphA1 (7120) gene
      encoding a cyanophycin (CGP) synthetase of Anabaena sp. PCC7120 in plasmids
      pVLT31::cphA1 (7120) and pBBR1MCS-3::cphA1 (7120) was expressed in the wild-type
      S. meliloti 1021 and in a phbC-negative mutant generated in this study.
      Expression of cphA1 (7120) and accumulation of CGP in cells were studied in
      various media. Yeast mannitol broth (YMB) and pBBR1MCS-3::cphA1 (7120) yielded
      the highest CGP contents in both S. meliloti 1021 strains. Supplying the YMB
      medium with isopropyl-beta-D-thiogalactopyranoside, aspartic acid, and arginine
      enhanced CGP contents about 2.5- and 2.8-fold in S. meliloti 1021 (pBBR1MCS
      3::cphA1 (7120)) and S. meliloti 1021 phbCOmegaKm (pBBR1MCS-3::cphA1 (7120)),
      respectively. Varying the nitrogen-to-carbon ratio in the medium enhanced the CGP
      content further to 43.8% (w/w) of cell dry weight (CDW) in recombinant cells of
      S. meliloti 1021 phbCOmegaKm (pBBR1MCS-3::cphA1 (7120)). Cells of S. meliloti
      1021 (pBBR1MCS-3::cphA1 (7120)) accumulated CGP up to 39.6% in addition to 12.1%
      PHB (w/w, of CDW). CGP from the S. meliloti strains consisted of equimolar
      amounts of aspartic acid and arginine and contained no other amino acids even if
      the medium was supplemented with glutamic acid, citrulline, ornithine, or lysine.
      CGP isolated from cells of S. meliloti 1021 (pBBR1MCS-3::cphA1 (7120)) and S.
      meliloti 1021 phbCOmegaKm (pBBR1MCS-3::cphA1 (7120)) exhibited average molecular
      weights between 20 and 25 kDa, whereas CGP isolated from Escherichia coli S17-1
      (pBBR1MCS-3::cphA1 (7120)) exhibited average molecular weight between 22 and 30
      kDa. Co-expression of cyanophycinase from Anabaena sp. PCC7120 encoded by cphB1
      (7120) in cphA1 (7120)-positive E. coli S17-1, S. meliloti 1021, and its phbC
      negative mutant gave cyanophycinase activities in crude extracts, and no CGP
      granules occurred. A higher PHB content in S. meliloti 1021 (pBBR1MCS-3::cphB1
      (7120)::cphA1 (7120)) in comparison to the control indicated that the cells used
      CGP degradation product (beta-aspartate-arginine dipeptide) to fuel PHB
      biosynthesis.

PMID- 20938773
TI  - Appraising bacterial strains for rapid BOD sensing--an empirical test to identify
      bacterial strains capable of reliably predicting real effluent BODs.
AB  - The measured response of rapid biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) biosensors is
      often not identical to those measured using the conventional 5-day BOD assay.
      This paper highlights the efficacy of using both glucose-glutamic acid (GGA) and
      Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) BOD standards as a
      rapid screen for microorganisms most likely to reliably predict real effluent
      BODs when used in rapid BOD devices. Using these two synthetic BOD standards, a
      microorganism was identified that produced comparable BOD response profiles for
      two assays, the MICREDOX(r) assay and the conventional 5-day BOD(5) test. A
      factorial experimental design systematically evaluated the impact of four factors
      (microbial strain, growth media composition, media strength, and microbial growth
      phase) on the BOD response profiles using GGA and OECD synthetic standard
      substrates. An outlier was identified that showed an improved correlation between
      the MICREDOX(r) BOD (BOD(sens)) and BOD(5) assays for both the synthetic
      standards and for real wastewater samples. Microbial strain was the dominant
      factor influencing BOD(sens) values, with Arthrobacter globiformis single
      cultures clearly demonstrating superior rapid BOD(sens) response profiles for
      both synthetic and real waste samples. It was the only microorganism to approach
      the BOD(5) response for the OECD substrate (171 mg O(2)L(-1)), and also reported
      BOD values for real waste samples that were comparable to those produced by the
      BOD(5) test, including discriminating between filtered and unfiltered samples.

PMID- 20938774
TI  - Cloning and functional characterization of a novel endo-beta-1,4-glucanase gene
      from a soil-derived metagenomic library.
AB  - A metagenomic library consisting of 3,024 bacterial artificial chromosome clones
      was prepared in Escherichia coli DH10B with high-molecular-weight DNA extracted
      from red soil in South China. A novel cellulase gene with an open reading frame
      of 1,332 bp, cel5G, encoding an endo-beta-1,4-glucanase was cloned using an
      activity-based screen. The deduced enzyme, Cel5G, belongs to the glycosyl
      hydrolase family 5 and shares <39% identity with endoglucanases in the GenBank
      database. cel5G was expressed in E. coli BL21, and the recombinant enzyme Cel5G
      was purified to homogeneity for enzymatic analysis. Cel5G hydrolyzed a wide range
      of beta-1,4-, beta-1,3/beta-1,4-, or beta-1,3/beta-1,6-linked polysaccharides,
      amorphous cellulose, filter paper, and microcrystalline cellulose. Its highest
      activity was in 50 mM citrate buffer, pH 4.8, at 50 degrees C. Cel5G is stable
      over a wide range of pH values (from 2.0 to 10.6) and is thermally stable under
      60 degrees C. It is highly tolerant and active in high salt concentrations and is
      stable in the presence of pepsin and pancreatin. The K (m) and V (max) values of
      Cel5G for carboxymethyl cellulose are 19.92 mg/ml and 1,941 MUmol  min(-1) mg(
      1), respectively. These characteristics indicate that Cel5G has potential for
      industrial use.

PMID- 20938775
TI  - Arachnoid granulations of middle cranial fossa: a population study between
      cadaveric dissection and in vivo computed tomography examination.
AB  - PURPOSE: Although arachnoid granulations (AGs) were initially described by
      Pacchioni more than 300 years ago, they are still poorly described, especially
      those in middle cranial fossa. The aim of this study was to identify anatomical
      features of AGs in middle cranial fossa of cadaver and compare such features with
      that of 64-slice computed tomography. METHODS: The study involved anatomical
      dissection of 33 adult cadaveric heads and computed tomographic (CT) examinations
      of 40 patients with various intracranial diseases. The number, size,
      distribution, and morphology of the AGs in middle cranial fossa of the cadavers
      and patients were examined and compared. RESULTS: The number of AGs observed on
      the middle cranial fossa of the cadaveric specimens was greater than that of the
      patients (P < 0.05). While anatomic dissection revealed a total of 228 AGs in 24
      of 33 cadaveric heads, CT scans demonstrated only 80 AGs in 23 of 40 patients. In
      cadavers, the AGs occurred in the following sites in order of frequency: the
      middle meningeal sinus (144 AGs, 63.2%), sphenoparietal sinus (47 AGs, 20.6%),
      lateral foramen rotundum (19 AGs, 8.3%), and cavernous sinus (18 AGs, 7.9%). In
      CT images, the AGs occurred in the following sites in order of frequency: the
      middle meningeal sinus (50 AGs, 62.5%), sphenoparietal sinus (23 AGs, 28.8%), and
      lateral foramen rotundum (7 AGs, 8.8%). The AGs of cavernous sinus and venous
      lacunae adjacent to the middle meningeal sinus were hardly identified on CT
      images. Most of the AGs were spherical or finger-like in shape. Histologically,
      the AGs can be divided into two types: single type and lobulated type.
      CONCLUSIONS: The study provides a detailed description of AGs in or near the
      middle meningeal sinus, sphenoparietal sinus, lateral foramen rotundum, and
      cavernous sinus. It also reveals a difference in the ability of detecting cranial
      AGs between microanatomy and CT scans.

PMID- 20938776
TI  - Air-permeable hole-pattern and nose-droop control improve aerodynamic performance
      of primary feathers.
AB  - Primary feathers of soaring land birds have evolved into highly specialized
      flight feathers characterized by morphological improvements affecting aerodynamic
      performance. The foremost feathers in the cascade have to bear high lift-loading
      with a strong bending during soaring flight. A challenge to the study of feather
      aerodynamics is to understand how the observed low drag and high lift values in
      the Reynolds (Re) regime from 1.0 to 2.0E4 can be achieved. Computed micro
      tomography images show that the feather responds to high lift-loading with an
      increasing nose-droop and profile-camber. Wind-tunnel tests conducted with the
      foremost primary feather of a White Stork (Ciconia ciconia) at Re = 1.8E4
      indicated a surprisingly high maximum lift coefficient of 1.5 and a glide ratio
      of nearly 10. We present evidence that this is due to morphologic characteristics
      formed by the cristae dorsales as well as air-permeable arrays along the rhachis.
      Measurements of lift and drag forces with open and closed pores confirmed the
      efficiency of this mechanism. Porous structures facilitate a blow out, comparable
      to technical blow-hole turbulators for sailplanes and low speed turbine-blades.
      From our findings, we conclude that the mechanism has evolved in order to affect
      the boundary layer and to reduce aerodynamic drag of the feather.

PMID- 20938777
TI  - Between-species jamming avoidance in Pipistrelles?
AB  - Past studies have reported that bats modify the spectral-temporal features of
      their vocalizations to avoid interference from the vocalizations of conspecifics
      (jamming avoidance). We tested for within, and between-species jamming avoidance
      in two sympatrically occurring species of vespertilionid bats, Pipistrellus
      pipistrellus and Pipistrellus nathusii. In both species the peak frequencies of
      the narrowband frequency component from samples of bats flying with conspecifics
      varied more than those from samples of bats flying alone, indicating
      intraspecific jamming avoidance. If individuals of the two species were recorded
      together, we found no reaction of P. nathusii. P. pipistrellus, however, used
      significantly higher frequencies than when recorded alone. As the narrowband
      frequency of this species normally overlaps with the frequency modulated (FM)
      part of P. nathusii calls, this can be interpreted as an interspecific jamming
      avoidance response.

PMID- 20938778
TI  - Effects of a diet with inulin-enriched pasta on gut peptides and gastric emptying
      rates in healthy young volunteers.
AB  - AIM: Our group has previously shown that the administration of pasta enriched
      along with the prebiotic inulin induces a significant reduction in triglyceride
      and glucose levels with a significant delay in gastric emptying (GE) rates. This
      protective effect may occur by affecting the release of a number of gut peptides
      involved in the control of gastrointestinal motility. The aim of the present
      study was to evaluate the effects of inulin-enriched pasta on the circulating
      levels of neurotensin (NT), somatostatin (SS), and corticotropin-releasing factor
      (CRF) in relation to the GE time in young healthy subjects. METHODS: Twenty
      healthy young male volunteers completed a randomized double-blind crossover study
      consisting of a 2-week run-in period and two 5-week study periods (11% inulin
      enriched/control pasta), with an 8-week wash-out period in between. Gut peptide
      concentrations were evaluated by radioimmunoassay. GE time was evaluated by
      ultrasonography. RESULTS: The prebiotic treatment significantly increased the
      area under the curve (AUC) values of both NT and SS (p < 0.05 Dunn's post-test).
      With regard to gastric motility, along with a significant delay in both the final
      time and T (1/2) gastric emptying time, a positive correlation was found between
      T (1/2) and SS AUC values (r = 0.57, p = 0.009) in the inulin-enriched pasta
      group. CONCLUSION: These results support the hypothesis that inulin plays an
      active role in mechanisms affecting the release of these gut peptides, which may
      modulate the gastric emptying of digesta.

PMID- 20938779
TI  - Antenatal ultrasound and MRI findings of Pena-Shokeir syndrome.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Pena-Shokeir syndrome is an autosomal recessive disorder
      characterized by arthrogryposis, facial anomalies (micrognathia), camptodactyly,
      polyhydramnios and lung hypoplasia. CASE REPORT: We report prenatal
      ultrasonographic, antenatal MR and postnatal examination findings of a fetus with
      Pena-Shokeir syndrome. CONCLUSION: Pena-Shokeir syndrome is a potentially lethal
      condition and most cases are diagnosed prenatally by ultrasound. Fetal MR can be
      performed to look associated neurological malformation.

PMID- 20938780
TI  - Early signs of VCP-related frontotemporal dementia: a neuropsychological, FDG-PET
      and fMRI study.

PMID- 20938781
TI  - Is there a delayed gastric emptying of patients with early-stage, untreated
      Parkinson's disease? An analysis using the 13C-acetate breath test.
AB  - During the pre-symptomatic stage of Parkinson's disease (PD), the idiopathic PD
      related abnormal synuclein immunostaining is confined to the medulla oblongata
      and olfactory bulb, according to Braak. In the study of the enteric nervous
      system of PD, it has reported that Lewy bodies were found in the Auerbach's and
      Meissner's plexuses. These lesions may cause dysfunction of the gastrointestinal
      tract (GI) as pre-clinical symptoms of PD. However, because L: -dopa therapy
      itself may worsen the symptoms of the digestive tract function, it is needed to
      evaluate the gastrointestinal tract function in patients with early-stage,
      untreated (de novo) PD. In the present study, using the (13)C-acetate breath test
      ((13)C-ABT), we investigated gastric emptying in 20 untreated, early-stage PD
      patients and 40 treated, advanced-stage PD patients, and 20 healthy volunteers.
      Gastric emptying was examined by the (13)C-ABT [the half emptying time (HET), the
      peak time of the (13)C% dose-excess curve (T (max))]. The T (max) and HET of
      gastric emptying as assessed using the (13)C-ABT was significantly delayed in
      untreated, early-stage PD patients as compared to the controls (P < 0.001). The T
      (max) and HET of gastric emptying were not significantly delayed in untreated,
      early-stage PD patients as compared to treated, advanced-stage PD patients. The
      results demonstrated that delay in gastric emptying did not differ between
      untreated, early-stage and treated, advanced-stage PD patients. Gastric emptying
      of untreated, early-stage PD is already delayed. Delayed gastric emptying may be
      one of markers of the pre-clinical stage of PD.

PMID- 20938782
TI  - Influence of fear of falling on anticipatory postural control of medio-lateral
      stability during rapid leg flexion.
AB  - During leg flexion from erect posture, postural stability is organized in advance
      during "anticipatory postural adjustments" (APA). During these APA, inertial
      forces are generated that propel the centre of gravity (CoG) laterally towards
      stance leg side. This study examined how fear of falling (FoF) may influence this
      anticipatory postural control of medio-lateral (ML) stability. Ten young healthy
      participants performed a series of leg flexions at maximal velocity from low and
      high surface heights (6 and 66 cm above ground, respectively). In this latter
      condition with increased FoF, stance foot was placed at the lateral edge of the
      support surface to induce maximal postural threat. Results showed that the
      amplitude of ML inertial forces generated during APA decreased with FoF; this
      decrease was compensated by an increase in APA duration so that the CoG position
      at time of swing foot-off was located further towards stance leg side. With these
      changes in ML APA, the CoG was propelled in the same final (unipodal) position
      above stance foot as in condition with low FoF. These results contrast with those
      obtained in the literature during quiet standing which showed that FoF did not
      have any influence on the ML component of postural control. It is proposed that
      ML APA are modified with increased FoF, in such a way that the risk of a sideway
      fall induced by the large CoG motion is attenuated.

PMID- 20938783
TI  - Influence of indomethacin on the ventilatory and cerebrovascular responsiveness
      to hypoxia.
AB  - Indomethacin (INDO) has the potential to be a useful tool to explore the
      influence of cerebral blood flow and its responses to CO(2) on ventilatory
      control. However, the effect of INDO on the cerebrovascular and ventilatory
      response to hypoxia remains unclear; therefore, we examined the effect of INDO on
      ventilatory and cerebrovascular sensitivity to hypoxia and hypercapnia. We
      measured end-tidal gases, ventilation (V(e)), and middle cerebral artery velocity
      (MCAv) before and 90 min following INDO (100 mg) in 12 healthy participants at
      rest and during hyperoxic hypercapnia and isocapnic hypoxia. Following INDO,
      resting VE and end-tidal gases were unaltered (P > 0.05), whilst MCAv was lowered
      by 25 +/- 19% (P < 0.001). INDO ingestion reduced MCAv-CO(2) reactivity by 46 +/-
      29% (2.9 +/- 0.9 vs. 1.7 +/- 0.9 cm s(-1) mmHg(-1); P < 0.001) and enhanced the
      VE-CO(2) sensitivity by 0.5 +/- 0.5 L min(-1) mmHg(-1) (1.9 +/- 1.5 vs. 2.3 +/-
      1.6 L min(-1) mmHg(-1); P < 0.05). No changes were observed in either the MCAv or
      VE responsiveness to isocapnic hypoxia following INDO ingestion (P > 0.05). These
      findings indicate that INDO does not alter cerebrovascular and ventilatory
      responsiveness to hypoxia, indicating a preserved peripheral chemoreflex in
      response to this pharmacological agent.

PMID- 20938785
TI  - Extracts of the invasive shrub Lonicera maackii increase mortality and alter
      behavior of amphibian larvae.
AB  - Water-soluble phytochemicals produced by invasive plants may represent novel
      elements of invaded ecosystems that can precipitate a variety of direct and
      indirect effects on native organisms. Phenolic compounds in particular are a
      common plant defense, and these compounds may have disproportionate impacts on
      amphibians compared to other taxa. We coupled an exploration of invasive plant
      extract effects on larvae of four amphibian species (the salamander Ambystoma
      maculatum, the toad Anaxyrus americanus, and the frogs Hyla sp. and Lithobates
      blairi) with behavioral observations designed to determine whether behavior can
      ameliorate the negative effects of exposure to invasive plant extracts. Larvae
      were reared in extracts of the widespread invasive Amur honeysuckle (Lonicera
      maackii), mixed native leaf litter, and a water control. Anaxyrus americanus
      tadpoles reared in L. maackii extracts were more likely to die than tadpoles
      reared in native extracts, but differences in mortality following rearing in
      native and exotic extracts were not significant for the other three species.
      Anaxyrus americanus and L. blairi tadpoles made more trips to the surface in L.
      maackii extracts than in native extracts, consistent with the hypothesis that
      exotic extracts may interfere with respiratory physiology and suggesting that L.
      blairi can behaviorally ameliorate the negative effects of L. maackii extracts.
      Our study highlights both a direct and indirect pathway by which invasive plant
      extracts may alter the ecological dynamics of native fauna.

PMID- 20938784
TI  - The expression and distribution of group IIA phospholipase A2 in human colorectal
      tumours.
AB  - Secretory phospholipase A2 group IIA (IIA PLA2) is a protein shown to be
      increased in various human malignancies. The expression profile of this protein,
      however, is controversial in colorectal carcinoma. The aim of this study was to
      examine the distribution and expression of IIA PLA2 protein in benign,
      premalignant and malignant colorectal tumours as well as in peritumoural mucosa.
      Seven hyperplastic polyps, 24 adenomas and 83 colorectal carcinomas were stained
      with immunohistochemistry (IHC) for IIA PLA2. Four hyperplastic polyps, 12
      adenomas and nine carcinomas were also evaluated for the sites of IIA PLA2
      expression using mRNA in situ hybridisation (ISH). There was no immunoreactivity
      for IIA PLA2 in hyperplastic polyps. A total of 79% of adenomas and 31% of
      carcinomas showed IIA PLA2-immunopositive tumour cells in IHC, and the expression
      was localised to epithelial cells with ISH. In carcinomas, IIA PLA2
      immunopositive apoptotic cells and necrosis were also found. The epithelial cells
      in the peritumoural mucosa showed immunopositivity for IIA PLA2 in 96% of cases,
      with considerably stronger intensity adjacent to carcinoma than in the more
      distal mucosa. Moreover, IIA PLA2-immunopositive malignant epithelial cells were
      found in 44% of cases in the invasive front of carcinomas. Our results suggest
      that the IIA PLA2 protein content is dramatically decreased in malignant
      colorectal tumours as compared with adenomas. The protein is also found in the
      apoptotic cells, necrosis, peritumoural mucosa and in the invasive front of
      carcinomas.

PMID- 20938786
TI  - Cervical arthropathy caused by gout: stabilisation without decompression.
AB  - The cervical spine is a rare site where tophaceous gout has been identified.
      There are currently 15 described cases in the literature of gouty involvement of
      the cervical spine with only three cases involving only the atlanto-axial region.
      We add the fourth of such cases and only the second to be managed operatively.

PMID- 20938787
TI  - Anatomy of the psoas muscle and lumbar plexus with respect to the surgical
      approach for lateral transpsoas interbody fusion.
AB  - Lateral transpsoas interbody fusion (LTIF) is a minimally invasive technique that
      permits interbody fusion utilizing cages placed via a direct lateral
      retroperitoneal approach. We sought to describe the locations of relevant
      neurovascular structures based on MRI with respect to this novel surgical
      approach. We retrospectively reviewed consecutive lumbosacral spine MRI scans in
      43 skeletally mature adults. MRI scans were independently reviewed by two readers
      to identify the location of the psoas muscle, lumbar plexus, femoral nerve,
      inferior vena cava and right iliac vein. Structures potentially at risk for
      injury were identified by: a distance from the anterior aspect of the adjacent
      vertebral bodies of <20 mm, representing the minimum retraction necessary for
      cage placement, and extension of vascular structures posterior to the anterior
      vertebral body, requiring anterior retraction. The percentage of patients with
      neurovascular structures at risk for left-sided approaches was 2.3% at L1-2, 7.0%
      at L2-3, 4.7% at L3-4 and 20.9% at L4-5. For right-sided approaches, this rose to
      7.0% at L1-2, 7.0% at L2-3, 9.3% at L3-4 and 44.2% at L4-5, largely because of
      the relatively posterior right-sided vasculature. A relationship between the
      position of psoas muscle and lumbar plexus is described which allows use of the
      psoas position as a proxy for lumbar plexus position to identify patients who may
      be at risk, particularly at the L4-5 level. Further study will establish the
      clinical relevance of these measurements and the ability of neurovascular
      structures to be retracted without significant injury.

PMID- 20938788
TI  - Diffusion tensor imaging in the cervical spinal cord.
AB  - There are discrepancy between MR findings and clinical presentations. The
      compressed cervical cord in patients of the spondylotic myelopathy may be normal
      on conventional MRI when it is at the earlier stage or even if patients had
      severe symptoms. Therefore, it is necessary to take a developed MR technique-
      diffusion tensor imaging (DTI)--to detect the intramedullary lesions. Prospective
      MR and DTI were performed in 53 patients with cervical compressive myelopathy and
      twenty healthy volunteers. DTI was performed along six non-collinear directions
      with single-shot spin echo echo-planar imaging (EPI) sequence. Intramedullary
      apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and fractional anisotropy (FA) values were
      measured in four segments (C2/3, C3/4, C4/5, C5/6) for volunteers, in lesions (or
      the compressed cord) and normal cord for patients. DTI original images were
      processed to produce color DTI maps. In the volunteers' group, cervical cord
      exhibited blue on the color DTI map. FA values between four segments had a
      significant difference (P < 0.01), with the highest FA value (0.85 +/- 0.03) at
      C2/3 level. However, ADC value between them had no significant difference (P >
      0.05). For patients, only 24 cases showed hyperintense on T2-weighted image,
      while 39 cases shown patchy green signal on color DTI maps. ADC and FA values
      between lesions or the compressed cord and normal spinal cord of patients had a
      significant difference (both P < 0.01). FA value at C2/3 cord is the highest of
      other segments and it gradually decreases towards the caudal direction. Using
      single-shot spin echo EPI sequence and six non-collinear diffusion directions
      with b value of 400 s mm(-2), DTI can clearly show the intramedullary
      microstructure and more lesions than conventional MRI.

PMID- 20938789
TI  - Cervical cord compression presenting with sciatica-like leg pain.
AB  - Sciatica-like leg pain can be the main presenting symptom in patients with
      cervical cord compression. It is a false localizing presentation, which may lead
      to missed or delayed diagnosis, resulting in the wrong plan of management,
      especially in the presence of concurrent lumbar lesions. Medical history,
      physical findings and the results of imaging studies were reviewed in two cases
      of cervical cord compressions, which presented with sciatica-like leg pain. There
      was multi-level cervical spondylosis with cord compression in the first patient
      and the second patient had two levels of cervical disc herniation with cord
      compression. In both cases, there were co-existing lumbar lesions, which could be
      responsible for the presentation of the leg pain. Cervical blocks were diagnostic
      in identifying the level responsible for the leg pain and it was confirmed so
      after cervical decompressive surgery in both cases, which brought significant
      pain relief. Funicular leg pain is a rare presentation of cervical cord
      compression. It is a referred pain due to the irritation of the ascending
      spinothalamic tract. Cervical blocks were successful in identifying the cause of
      funicular pain in our cases and this may pave the way for further studies to
      establish the role of cervical blocks as a diagnostic tool for funicular pain
      caused by cord compression.

PMID- 20938790
TI  - Roald Dahl's contribution to neurosurgery: the Wade-Dahl-Till shunt.

PMID- 20938791
TI  - Von Hippel-Lindau disease manifesting disseminated leptomeningeal
      hemangioblastomatosis: surgery or medication?
AB  - We report the case of a 46-year-old man with von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) disease,
      manifesting disseminated leptomeningeal hemangioblastomatosis. The patient
      initially presented with a solitary hemangioblastoma in the right cerebellum.
      Later, he was diagnosed with VHL disease and underwent several surgical
      procedures in the following 14 years. But the prognosis was poor. Recently, the
      hemangioblastomatosis disseminated along leptomeninges involving both brain and
      spine. We aim to analyze the possible reason for the leptomeninges dissemination,
      discuss the imaging characteristics of this rare disease with ominous
      manifestation and propose the optimal strategy for treatment. We think the
      optimal treatment strategy should be surgical biopsy and surgical decompression.
      A long-term follow-up is inevitable. Antiangiogenic medication might be the hope
      for remission of this disease.

PMID- 20938792
TI  - Impaired somatosensation in tongue mucosa of smokers.
AB  - Smoking has been indicated as a risk factor for oral diseases and can lead to
      altered sense of taste. So far, the effects of sensory changes on the tongue are
      not investigated. In this study, quantitative sensory testing was used to
      evaluate somatosensory function in the lingual region. Eighty healthy volunteers
      were investigated (20 smokers, 20 non-smokers). Subjects were bilaterally tested
      in innervation areas of lingual nerves. Thresholds of cold and warm detection,
      cold and heat pain, and mechanical detection were determined. As control for
      systemic, extraoral effects of smoking, tests were additionally performed in 40
      volunteers (20 smokers, 20 non-smokers) on the skin of the chin innervated by the
      mental branch of the trigeminal nerve. Cold (p < 0.001), warm detection
      thresholds (p < 0.001), and thermal sensory limen (p < 0.001) showed higher
      sensitivity in non-smokers as compared to smokers. Heat pain and mechanical
      detection, as well as all tests in the skin of the chin, showed no significant
      differences. The impaired temperature perception in smokers indicates a reduction
      of somatosensory functions in the tongue, possibly caused by nerve degeneration
      associated with smoking. Possible systemic effects of smoking do not seem to
      affect extraoral trigeminal branches.

PMID- 20938793
TI  - Influence of bisphosphonates on the osteoblast RANKL and OPG gene expression in
      vitro.
AB  - Bisphosphonates are widely used in the clinical treatment of bone diseases with
      increased bone resorption. In terms of side effects, they are widely known to be
      associated with osteonecrosis of the jaw (BONJ). The objective of this study was
      to evaluate the effect of bisphosphonates on the gene expression of receptor
      activator of NF-kappaB ligand (RANKL) and osteoprotegerin (OPG) in vitro.
      Nitrogen-containing and non-nitrogen containing bisphosphonates have been
      compared. Human osteoblasts were stimulated with zoledronate and ibandronate at
      concentrations of 5 * 10(-5) M, 5 * 10(-6) M, and 5 * 10(-7) M over the
      experimental period of 14 days. Furthermore, the hOB cell lines were stimulated
      by clodronate at concentrations of 5 * 10(-3) M, 5 * 10(-5) M, and 5 * 10(-6) M.
      At each point in time, the gene expression levels of RANKL and OPG were
      quantified by real-time RT-PCR. The results showed a moderate enhancement of OPG
      gene expression whereas RANKL gene expression was strongly increased by nitrogen
      containing bisphosphonates reaching a maximum after 14 days at high
      concentrations of 5 * 10(-5) M. Lower concentrations did not enhance the RANKL
      and OPG expression considerably. The non-nitrogen-containing bisphosphonate
      clodronate, however, effected OPG and RANKL gene expression much less, even at
      higher concentrations of 5 * 10(-3) M. The above-mentioned data suggest an
      enhanced RANKL/OPG gene expression after stimulation by bisphosphonates.
      Interestingly, clodronate might have little influence on osteoblast/osteoclast
      interaction with respect to OPG and RANKL gene expression.

PMID- 20938794
TI  - Comparing the effects of chlorhexidine and persica on alveolar bone healing
      following tooth extraction in rats, a randomised controlled trial.
AB  - Chlorhexidine is broadly prescribed by clinicians for treating extraction socket
      wounds; however, studies have reported adverse effects for chlorhexidine.
      Persica, a herbal antibacterial agent, could be an alternative for chlorhexidine.
      The aim of this randomised controlled trial was to investigate the effects of
      persica and chlorhexidine on alveolar bone healing following tooth extraction in
      rats. Eighteen Wistar rats were randomly allocated to three study groups: 0.2%
      chlorhexidine, 10% persica and controls (tap water). The rats were mouth-rinsed
      for 14 days. On day 8, the mandibular right first molars of all the rats were
      extracted. On day 21, the rats were euthanized and histological slides of their
      extraction sockets were prepared. The amount of new bone formation and the number
      of inflammatory cells in the extraction socket for each rat were recorded. Data
      were analysed using linear regression and Mann-Whitney tests. There was no
      significant difference between the control group and the intervention groups in
      terms of new bone formation and inflammatory cell count. The mean new bone
      formation was significantly higher in the persica group than in the chlorhexidine
      group. There was a significant association between new bone formation and
      inflammatory cell count in the entire sample. In conclusion, there were no
      significant differences between rinsing with tap water and rinsing with 0.2%
      chlorhexidine and 10% persica in enhancing extraction socket wound healing in
      rats. Extraction socket wound healing in rats was better enhanced with 10%
      persica than 0.2% chlorhexidine.

PMID- 20938795
TI  - Oral health of Chinese people with systemic sclerosis.
AB  - The aim was to study oral health status, salivary function, and oral features of
      Chinese people with Systemic Sclerosis (SSc). Chinese people with SSc attending a
      university specialist clinic were invited for a questionnaire survey and a
      clinical examination. Ethics approval was sought (UW 08-305). Gender- and age
      matched individuals without SSc who attended a university dental hospital were
      recruited for comparison. Forty-two SSc patients with a mean age of 54.0 +/- 12.2
      were examined. This study found no Chinese people with systemic sclerosis were
      periodontally healthy and many (76%) had periodontal pockets despite most of them
      (93%) practiced daily tooth-brushing. They all had caries experience (DMFT =
      10.5) and many (65%) had untreated decay. Mucosal telangiectasia was a common
      oral feature (80%). They had lower resting salivary flow rates (0.18 +/- 0.17
      ml/min vs. 0.31 +/- 0.21 ml/min; p = 0.003) and pH values (6.90 +/- 0.40 vs. 7.28
      +/- 0.31; p < 0.001) and reduced maximal mouth opening (40.1 +/- 6.5 mm vs. 43.6
      +/- 7.0 mm) than people without SSc.

PMID- 20938796
TI  - Mitochondrial DNA Introgression in the European abalone Haliotis tuberculata
      tuberculata: evidence for experimental mtDNA paternal inheritance and a natural
      hybrid sequence.
AB  - Two subspecies of the European abalone have been morphologically recognized:
      Haliotis tuberculata tuberculata, present in the North Atlantic, and Haliotis
      tuberculata coccinea, present in the Canary Islands. Among the different nuclear
      markers used to differentiate these two subspecies, the sperm lysin gene was the
      most reliable, leading to a 2.2% divergence. Concerning the subunit I of the
      mitochondrial cytochrome oxydase gene (COI), we observed a difference of 3.3%
      between the two subspecies. In the North Atlantic, an introgression of
      mitochondrial DNA from H. tuberculata coccinea to H. tuberculata tuberculata was
      evident in around 30% of individuals. Due to this difference, we were able to
      experimentally detect the transfer of paternal mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) by
      specific quantitative polymerase chain reaction measurements. The presence of the
      two mtDNA signatures was also detected in 20% of individuals tested in the field.
      Moreover, one mt DNA hybrid sequence was identified. The sequencing of this
      mitochondrial DNA hybrid revealed a mosaic structure with many specific
      mutations. The origin of this hybrid sequence is discussed.

PMID- 20938797
TI  - Ca2+, Mg2+-dependent DNase involvement in apoptotic effects in spermatozoa of sea
      urchin Strongylocentrotus intermedius induced by two-headed sphingolipid
      rhizochalin.
AB  - Previously, we have purified three distinct DNases from spermatozoa of sea urchin
      Strongylocentrotus intermedius and we suppose the role of Ca(2+), Mg(2+)
      dependent DNase (Ca, Mg-DNase) in apoptosis of spermatozoa. Two-headed
      sphingolipid rhizochalin (Rhz) induced characteristic apoptotic nuclear chromatin
      changes, internucleosomal DNA cleavage, and activation of caspase-9, caspase-8,
      and caspase-3 in spermatozoa as was shown by fluorescence Hoechst 33342/PI/FDA
      analysis, DNA fragmentation assay, and fluorescence caspase inhibitors FAM-LEHD
      fmk, FAM-IETD-fmk, and FAM-DEVD-fmk, respectively. Inhibitor of caspase-3 z-DEVD
      fmk subdued Rhz-induced internucleosomal ladder formation, which confirmed the
      major role of caspase-3 in apoptotic DNA cleavage probably through Ca, Mg-DNase
      activation. Participation of sea urchin Ca, Mg-DNase in apoptosis of spermatozoa
      was demonstrated by ions Zn(2+) blocking of Rhz-induced DNA fragmentation due to
      direct inhibition of the Ca, Mg-DNase and internucleosomal cleavage of HeLa S and
      Vero E6 cell nuclei chromatin by highly purified Ca, Mg-DNase.

PMID- 20938798
TI  - Communication, social capital and workplace health management as determinants of
      the innovative climate in German banks.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The present study aims to measure the determinants of the innovative
      climate in German banks with a focus on workplace health management (WHM).
      METHODS: We analyze the determinants of innovative climate with multiple
      regressions using a dataset based on standardized telephone interviews conducted
      with health promotion experts from 198 randomly selected German banks. RESULTS:
      The regression analysis provided a good explanation of the variance in the
      dependent variable (R2 = 55%). Communication climate (beta = 0.55; p < 0.001),
      social capital (beta = 0.21; p < 0.01), the establishment of a WHM program (beta
      = 0.13; p < 0.05) as well as company size (beta = 0.15; p < 0.01) were found to
      have a significant impact on an organization's innovative climate. CONCLUSIONS:
      In order to foster an innovation-friendly climate, organizations should establish
      shared values. An active step in this direction involves strengthening the
      organizations' social capital and communication climate through trustworthy
      management decisions such as the implementation of a WHM program.

PMID- 20938799
TI  - The semantic organization of the animal category: evidence from semantic verbal
      fluency and network theory.
AB  - Semantic memory is the subsystem of human memory that stores knowledge of
      concepts or meanings, as opposed to life-specific experiences. How humans
      organize semantic information remains poorly understood. In an effort to better
      understand this issue, we conducted a verbal fluency experiment on 200
      participants with the aim of inferring and representing the conceptual storage
      structure of the natural category of animals as a network. This was done by
      formulating a statistical framework for co-occurring concepts that aims to infer
      significant concept-concept associations and represent them as a graph. The
      resulting network was analyzed and enriched by means of a missing links recovery
      criterion based on modularity. Both network models were compared to a thresholded
      co-occurrence approach. They were evaluated using a random subset of verbal
      fluency tests and comparing the network outcomes (linked pairs are clustering
      transitions and disconnected pairs are switching transitions) to the outcomes of
      two expert human raters. Results show that the network models proposed in this
      study overcome a thresholded co-occurrence approach, and their outcomes are in
      high agreement with human evaluations. Finally, the interplay between conceptual
      structure and retrieval mechanisms is discussed.

PMID- 20938800
TI  - The amplification and evolution of orthologous 22-kDa alpha-prolamin tandemly
      arrayed genes in coix, sorghum and maize genomes.
AB  - Tandemly arrayed genes (TAGs) account for about one-third of the duplicated genes
      in eukaryotic genomes. They provide raw genetic material for biological
      evolution, and play important roles in genome evolution. The 22-kDa prolamin
      genes in cereal genomes represent typical TAG organization, and provide the good
      material to investigate gene amplification of TAGs in closely related grass
      genomes. Here, we isolated and sequenced the Coix 22-kDa prolamin (coixin) gene
      cluster (283 kb), and carried out a comparative analysis with orthologous 22-kDa
      prolamin gene clusters from maize and sorghum. The 22-kDa prolamin gene clusters
      descended from orthologous ancestor genes, but underwent independent gene
      amplification paths after the separation of these species, therefore varied
      dramatically in sequence and organization. Our analysis indicated that the gene
      amplification model of 22-kDa prolamin gene clusters can be divided into three
      major stages. In the first stage, rare gene duplications occurred from the
      ancestor gene copy accidentally. In the second stage, rounds of gene
      amplification occurred by unequal crossing over to form tandem gene array(s). In
      the third stage, gene array was further diverged by other genomic activities,
      such as transposon insertions, segmental rearrangements, etc. Unlike their highly
      conserved sequences, the amplified 22-kDa prolamin genes diverged rapidly at
      their expression capacities and expression levels. Such processes had no apparent
      correlation to age or order of amplified genes within TAG cluster, suggesting a
      fast evolving nature of TAGs after gene amplification. These results provided
      insights into the amplification and evolution of TAG families in grasses.

PMID- 20938801
TI  - Molecular cloning and functional characterization of OsJAG gene based on a
      complete-deletion mutant in rice (Oryza sativa L.).
AB  - In this article, we report an independent work of positional cloning and
      functional characterization of OsJAG gene in rice. The merit of our work is that
      we used a genuine null mutant, in which the wild-type allele was completely
      deleted. This allowed us to identify the mutant phenotypes accurately without the
      interference of residual function of the target gene. OsJAG is an important gene
      with pleiotropy, expressing almost throughout the plant and acting in both
      vegetative phase and reproductive phase. But its main and crucial roles are in
      regulating the development of all floral organs, especially in specifying the
      identity of stamens. Interestingly, OsJAG does not affect the number of floral
      organ primordial and so of floral organs in each whorl, suggesting that OsJAG
      does not influence the initiation of floral organ primordia, but affect the
      developmental fate of all floral organs after their primordia have initiated.
      Loss of OsJAG function results in maldevelopment of all floral organs, such as
      degenerated lemma and palea, elongated lodicules and deformed and sterile pistil.
      The stamen appears to be more sensitive to the mutation. All the six stamens in a
      mutant floret were thoroughly transformed into six pistil-like organs developed
      at the presumptive positions of the stamens in whorl 3.

PMID- 20938802
TI  - Allometry in damselfly ornamental and genital traits: solving some pitfalls of
      allometry and sexual selection.
AB  - Static allometry of sexually selected traits has been the subject of intense
      research recently. However, some pitfalls for this kind of research are: (a) the
      functions of sexual traits are largely unknown; (b) more than one body size
      indicator must be measured; and, (c) allometry must be examined under different
      environmental circumstances to see whether allometric values change. Using
      Hetaerina americana damselflies, we investigated the type of allometry exhibited
      by a wing red spot and aedeagal width. These traits are positively selected
      during pre-copulatory male-male contests and post-copulatory female stimulation,
      respectively. As body size indicators, we used wing length and head width. It has
      been documented that expression of both sexual traits varies throughout the year.
      Thus, allometry was examined in different times of the year. We also investigated
      the allometry of aedeagal width and vaginal width at the zone where female
      stimulation takes place. We found no clear pattern of any allometric relationship
      for male and female traits and for both body size indicators at all times
      sampled. Our results contrast with patterns of negative allometry exhibited by
      genital traits in other animals.

PMID- 20938803
TI  - Previous breastfeeding practices and duration of exclusive breastfeeding in the
      United States.
AB  - We examined the influence of duration of exclusive breastfeeding (DEBF) for a
      mother's earlier children on the DEBF for her later children among multiparous
      women from the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth. DEBF was categorized as:
      never breastfed (NBF) (referent); not exclusively breastfed or exclusively
      breastfed for <4 months (EBF<4); and exclusively breastfed for >=4 months
      (EBF>=4). We examined DEBF using weighted percentages and odds ratios (OR) with
      95% confidence intervals (CI) from multinomial logistic regression models,
      adjusting for maternal factors. About 70% of multiparous women (n=2,149) repeated
      the duration of exclusive breastfeeding of their first child for their second
      child; 14% of women repeated EBF>=4. Among multiparous women, the adjusted odds
      ratio for EBF>=4 for second children was 7.2 (95% CI=4.0-12.9) when first
      children were EBF<4 and 90.7 (95% CI=45.4-181.4) when first children were EBF>=4,
      relative to NBF first children. In analyses where DEBF of third children was the
      outcome, odds of EBF>=4 were more strongly influenced by DEBF of second children
      while the impact of DEBF of first children was not as strong. Older maternal age
      and being married were related to an increased DEBF. Being married at second
      birth predicted a change from NBF for first children to EBF>=4 for second
      children (OR=6.2, 95% CI=2.7-14.2). In conclusion, mothers generally repeated the
      DEBF of their previous child. For third children, DEBF of the second child was
      more likely to be repeated than that of the first child.

PMID- 20938804
TI  - Resveratrol confers endothelial protection in insulin-dependent diabetes
      mellitus: editorial to: "Resveratrol shows vasoprotective effect reducing
      oxidative stress without affecting metabolic disturbances in insulin-dependent
      diabetes of rabbits" by F. Akar et al.

PMID- 20938805
TI  - Can anti-ovarian antibody testing be useful in an IVF-ET clinic?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To establish importance of anti-ovarian antibodies (AOA) testing in
      infertile women. DESIGN: A clinical reproductive outcome comparative study
      between two groups of women undergoing IVF-ET. Group 1 consists of women tested
      positive for AOA, put on corticosteroid therapy, reverted to AOA negative and
      then taken up for IVF-ET. Group 2 were seronegative for AOA. SETTING: Major urban
      infertility reference centre and National research institute. PATIENT(S): Five
      hundred seventy infertile women enrolled for IVF-ET. INTERVENTION(S): AOA
      testing, corticosteroid therapy and IVF-ET/ICSI. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S):
      Comparable clinical outcome and significance of AOA testing established. RESULTS:
      AOA positive serum samples were sent periodically to re-investigate presence of
      AOA after corticosteroid therapy and women turned AOA negative were taken up for
      IVF-ET. Of the 70/138 women in group 1 who were treated with corticosteroids and
      turned seronegative for AOA, 22/70 were poor responders and needed donor oocyte
      recipient cycles. Results demonstrated that fertilization and clinical pregnancy
      rates between both groups are comparable. Nevertheless, it is also observed that
      there is poor response to stimulation protocol, smaller number of oocytes
      retrieved and more spontaneous abortions in group 1 women. Hence not all outcomes
      following the treatment are comparable between the two groups. Usefulness of the
      test was established in two case studies. CONCLUSIONS: AOA testing could be
      included in the battery of tests investigating and treating infertility.

PMID- 20938807
TI  - Letter concerning "Enzyme replacement therapy in a patient with Fabry disease and
      the development of IgE antibodies against agalsidase beta but not agalsidase
      alpha", by Tanaka et al.

PMID- 20938806
TI  - Recommendations for the design of laboratory studies on non-target arthropods for
      risk assessment of genetically engineered plants.
AB  - This paper provides recommendations on experimental design for early-tier
      laboratory studies used in risk assessments to evaluate potential adverse impacts
      of arthropod-resistant genetically engineered (GE) plants on non-target
      arthropods (NTAs). While we rely heavily on the currently used proteins from
      Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) in this discussion, the concepts apply to other
      arthropod-active proteins. A risk may exist if the newly acquired trait of the GE
      plant has adverse effects on NTAs when they are exposed to the arthropod-active
      protein. Typically, the risk assessment follows a tiered approach that starts
      with laboratory studies under worst-case exposure conditions; such studies have a
      high ability to detect adverse effects on non-target species. Clear guidance on
      how such data are produced in laboratory studies assists the product developers
      and risk assessors. The studies should be reproducible and test clearly defined
      risk hypotheses. These properties contribute to the robustness of, and confidence
      in, environmental risk assessments for GE plants. Data from NTA studies,
      collected during the analysis phase of an environmental risk assessment, are
      critical to the outcome of the assessment and ultimately the decision taken by
      regulatory authorities on the release of a GE plant. Confidence in the results of
      early-tier laboratory studies is a precondition for the acceptance of data across
      regulatory jurisdictions and should encourage agencies to share useful
      information and thus avoid redundant testing.

PMID- 20938808
TI  - Neurometabolite abnormalities in simian immunodeficiency virus-infected macaques
      with chronic morphine administration.
AB  - Opiate abuse increases the risk for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection,
      while both opiates and HIV may impact the immune and nervous systems. To model
      potential interactions between opiate drugs and HIV on the brain, neurometabolite
      levels were evaluated in simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV)-infected macaques
      with or without chronic morphine administration. Over the course of the study,
      58% of these SIV-infected animals progressed to acquired immune deficiency
      syndrome (AIDS). Brain extracts from four brain regions were evaluated with
      proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Animals with AIDS had lower N-acetyl
      aspartate in all four brain regions (p <= 0.05) as well as lower frontal gray
      matter total creatine (p= 0.03), lower frontal white matter (p= 0.003) and
      caudate (p = 0.002) glutamate, and higher frontal white matter myo-inositol (p=
      0.05) than the healthier non-AIDS macaques. Morphine-dependent animals had higher
      levels of myo-inositol in the putamen (p = 0.003), especially those with AIDS. In
      the animals with AIDS, those with morphine dependence had higher total creatine
      in the frontal white matter (p= 0.04) than those treated with saline, which in
      turn had lower creatine than saline-injected animals without AIDS (p = 0.04),
      leading to an interaction between the effects of morphine and AIDS on total
      creatine in this brain region (ANOVA p = 0.02). The majority of these brain
      metabolites correlated with viral counts indicating more severe metabolite
      abnormalities in animals with higher viral loads or set points. Collectively,
      these findings suggest that chronic morphine may protect against the neurotoxic
      effect of AIDS and reinforce the importance of maintaining a low viral load in
      AIDS.

PMID- 20938809
TI  - M. tuberculosis H37Rv infection of Chinese rhesus macaques.
AB  - Mycobacterium tuberculosis is the most common communicable infectious disease
      worldwide and the top killer of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected
      people. Because of common dual HIV and M. tuberculosis infections, the emergence
      of multidrug-resistant M. tuberculosis strains, the lack of effective
      vaccination, the morbidity, and the mortality of M. tuberculosis infection are
      increasing sharply. Therefore, there is an urgent need for vaccine and drug
      development against M. tuberculosis infection. These require appropriate animal
      models that closely resemble human disease. To this end, we infected Chinese
      rhesus macaques with the M. tuberculosis H37Rv strain. Bronchoscopy was used to
      inoculate nine monkeys with different doses of M. tuberculosis H37Rv strain.
      Regardless of the M. tuberculosis dose, all monkeys were infected successfully.
      This was shown by clinical, laboratory, and histopathology assessments. Among
      nine infected monkeys, six developed acute rapid progressive tuberculosis and the
      remaining animals mirrored early-stage chronic disease. These data, taken
      together, demonstrate that Chinese rhesus macaques are highly susceptible to M.
      tuberculosis infection and develop similar manifestations of disease that are
      seen in humans. This model affords new opportunities for studies of M.
      tuberculosis disease pathology and therapeutics.

PMID- 20938810
TI  - Evaluation of molybdenum status of cows: the use of blood plasma and milk as
      indicators under semi-arid environmental conditions in Punjab, Pakistan.
AB  - The present investigation was carried out to determine the molybdenum (Mo) status
      of blood plasma and milk of lactating cows at the Livestock Experimental Station,
      Khizer abad, Sargodha, Pakistan. Blood and milk from the lactating cows were
      sampled periodically after every month during winter so as to examine the effect
      of sampling intervals on Mo as well as its transfer from various dietary sources
      to animals during the whole investigation period. The Mo contents of blood plasma
      and milk except some instances during the study coincided nearly with their
      respective critical levels. Thus, there is no need of supplementation of Mo in
      feeds for the cows being reared at the ranch.

PMID- 20938811
TI  - Trophic transfer and dietary mineral intake of essential elements in Thunnus
      albacares and Katsuwonus pelamis from the Eastern Pacific.
AB  - With the aim of knowing levels of Cu, Fe, and Zn in the edible portion of tunas
      Thunnus albacares and Katsuwonus pelamis, these elements were measured in 73 fish
      collected in the eastern Pacific. Additionally, trophic transfer (TF) and dietary
      mineral intake (DMI) of analyzed metals were determined. The most elevated
      average concentration of Zn (31.7 MUg g(-1) dry weight) was found in T. albacares
      from the Baja California region; in the case of Cu and Fe, highest values (3.86
      and 71.0 MUg g(-1) dry weight) were found in K. pelamis from the offshore waters
      in the Pacific Ocean. Concentrations of Cu in muscle tissue of both species were
      significantly (p < 0.05) correlated (negatively) with total length of specimens;
      levels of Fe in muscle of K. pelamis also showed a negative correlation with
      total length. None of TFs were above the unit, it implies that there is no
      biomagnification of Cu, Fe, and Zn. The DMI of Cu, Fe, and Zn from muscle tissue
      of analyzed tuna represented less than 13%, 21%, and 8%, respectively, of the
      daily requirements for humans.

PMID- 20938812
TI  - Hemoglobin regeneration efficiency in anemic rats: effects on bone mineral
      composition and biomechanical properties.
AB  - This study reports the effects of dietary iron (Fe) deficiency and recovery on
      bone mineral composition and strength in anemic rats submitted to a hemoglobin
      (Hb) repletion assay. Weanling male Wistar rats were fed a low-Fe diet (12 mg/kg)
      for 15 days followed by 2 weeks of Fe repletion with diets providing 35 mg Fe/kg
      as either ferrous sulfate (n = 8) or ferric pyrophosphate (FP; n = 12). At final
      day of each period (depletion and repletion), Fe-adequate animals were also
      euthanized. Iron status (blood Hb, Hb Fe pool, Hb regeneration efficiency), tibia
      mineral concentrations (Ca, Mg, Fe, Cu, and Zn) and biomechanical properties were
      evaluated. Iron-deficient rats had lower tibia Fe and Mg levels and bone strength
      when compared to controls. Yield load and resilience were positively related to
      tibia Mg levels (r = 0.47, P = 0.02 and r = 0.56, P = 0.004, respectively). Iron
      repletion did not recover tibia Mg concentrations impaired by Fe deficiency.
      Moreover, bone elastic properties were negatively affected by FP consumption. In
      conclusion, bone mineral composition and strength were affected by Fe deficiency,
      whereas dietary Fe source influenced tibia Mg and resistance in the period during
      which rats were recovering from anemia.

PMID- 20938813
TI  - Scorpion sting envenomation in children: factors affecting the outcome.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To identify and correlate various factors affecting the outcome of
      children with scorpion sting envenomation treated with prazosin in a tertiary
      care hospital. METHODS: The study included 90 children admitted with scorpion
      sting envenomation over a period of four and half year. Grading of severity was
      done on the basis of local or systemic involvement, and management protocol was
      followed as per hospital guidelines. All cases with envenomation were given
      prazosin at a dose of 30 MUg/kg/dose;first repeat dose at 3 h followed by every 6
      h till recovery. Patients with acute pulmonary edema (APE) were treated as per
      standard protocol. RESULTS: All patients had perspiration and cold extremities.
      Most of them had sting over extremities except two,having over the trunk. Shock
      was present in 48(53.3%), whereas myocarditis, encephalopathy, pulmonary edema
      and priapism were present in 38(42.2%), 32(35.5%), 34(37.8%), and 28(31.1%)
      children, respectively. Eight (8.9%) children had died. The mean value of blood
      pressure, sodium and potassium among survivors and non-survivors was
      insignificant. Mortality was significantly higher in children presented after 6 h
      of bite. Patients, who had metaboloic acidosis, tachpnea, myocarditis, APE,
      encephalopathy and priapism had significantly higher mortality (p < 0.05).
      CONCLUSIONS: Symptoms of acidosis, tachypnea, myocarditis, APE, encephalopathy
      after 6 h of sting are major contributing factors affecting outcome in children
      with scorpion sting envenomation.

PMID- 20938814
TI  - Asymptomatic colonization of upper respiratory tract by potential bacterial
      pathogens.

PMID- 20938815
TI  - Novel swine--origin influenza A: the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus.
AB  - During April-May 2009, a novel H1N1 influenza virus was determined to be the
      cause of influenza outbreaks in North America. By June 2009, widespread
      infections were recorded all over the world and an ongoing pandemic was declared.
      The clinical manifestations ranged from a self limited illness to fatal disease.
      Current clinical data suggest that the highest infection rates and complications
      occur in children and young adults. In contrast to seasonal influenza, the rates
      of hospitalization and death in adults 65 years or older were low. Risk factors
      for severe disease are similar to those of seasonal influenza and include diverse
      medical conditions. However, pregnant women and children with neurodevelopmental
      disorders or chronic pulmonary conditions are at highest risk of developing
      severe disease. Rapid antigen detection tests have variable and suboptimal
      sensitivity for diagnosis of novel H1N1 influenza. Diagnosis is confirmed by real
      time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction or by virus isolation in
      cell culture. Treatment is recommended with oral oseltamivir or inhaled zanamavir
      for patients who are at risk of complications as well as those who are worsening
      clinically or have evidence of lower respiratory tract infection. Treatment with
      intravenous peramivir can be used in special situations when oral or inhaled
      antiviral therapy is not tolerated or considered inadequate. Inactivated and live
      attenuated vaccines are available. Current vaccination recommendations and
      infection control measures are discussed.

PMID- 20938816
TI  - Symposium on infections old and new. Editorial.

PMID- 20938817
TI  - ECMO support in a child with acute fulminant myocarditis.
AB  - An 11-yr-old boy with acute fulminant myocarditis was treated with routine
      medical therapy (antibiotics, inotropic and vasosactive agents, etc.) for 5 days,
      but exacerbated. Venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO) was
      initiated 39 h after admission to the intensive care unit (ICU). Twenty-four hrs
      after ECMO, urine volume and blood pressure (BP) improved significantly. After
      treatment with ECMO for 140 h, the patient's ejection fraction (EF) increased to
      45%, BP because normal and urine volume maintained at about 100 ml/h. So, the
      patient was weaned from the ECMO. The patient was discharged from the hospital on
      23rd day post admission, when EF improved to 72% and with normal chest
      radiograph, echocardiography results and hemodynamics.

PMID- 20938818
TI  - Outcome measures in pediatric rheumatology.
AB  - Children with rheumatologic disorders need periodic systematic evaluation of
      their disease status so that all aspects of the child's life that are affected
      can be adequately assessed. The commonest rheumatologic disease that afflicts
      children is Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA). The child with JIA should have
      several domains assessed at regular intervals. These outcome measures include the
      physical, functional and the quality of life assessment measures. No single
      measure can capture the full impact of the disease on the child's life. This
      article highlights the key outcome measures in a child with JIA and introduces
      the readers to several disease measurement tools that have been developed for
      assessment of outcome for the child with JIA.

PMID- 20938819
TI  - Use of MRI in the assessment of patients with stroke.
AB  - Multimodal neuroimaging is assuming an increasingly important role in the initial
      evaluation and management of acute stroke patients in parallel with the expansion
      of therapeutic options. Multimodal MRI can identify the type of stroke (ischemia
      or hemorrhage), severity and location of the lesion, the patency of the
      intracranial vessels, the degree of cerebral perfusion, and the presence and size
      of the ischemic penumbra. This information can be used to guide both acute and
      long-term treatment decisions for stroke patients.

PMID- 20938821
TI  - [Treatment of vesicoureteral reflux in childhood].
AB  - The pathophysiology, evaluation and therapy of vesicoureteral reflux (VUR) were
      newly illuminated over the past years through different clinical studies and
      basic research. Our understanding of vesicoureteral reflux and the therapeutic
      spectrum of its treatment should therefore consistently undergo critical
      revision. The Swedish Reflux Study set up three different therapy options for
      small children with dilated VUR: antibiotic prophylaxis, endoscopic reflux
      correction and surveillance were prospectively analysed in a randomized fashion.
      The results are discussed in this work and completed with a statement about open
      operative reflux therapy.

PMID- 20938822
TI  - [Non-muscle-invasive transitional cell carcinoma. Is BCG still a necessary part
      of treatment?].
AB  - Patients with non-muscle-invasive transitional cell carcinoma are treated in a
      risk-adopted fashion. Genetically stable low-grade tumors are treated with
      transurethral resection followed by optional intravesical treatment to prevent
      tumor recurrence. In cases of high-grade tumors, transurethral resection is
      followed by a second resection after 4-6 weeks. For patients with carcinoma in
      situ or high-grade T1 carcinomas, guidelines recommend BCG treatment to prevent
      recurrence and progression. These recommendations are based on meta-analyses
      resulting in a 4% reduction of tumor progression. Results published in 2009 and
      2010 critically analyze BCG treatment of high-grade bladder tumors and are the
      focus of this article.

PMID- 20938828
TI  - Conformation-sensitive capillary electrophoresis.
AB  - Conformation-sensitive capillary electrophoresis (CSCE) is a rapid, high
      throughput screening method that can be applied to any region of a genome for
      detection of sequence variants. Slab gel-based conformation-sensitive gel
      electrophoresis was first described by Ganguly et al., and the transfer from slab
      gels to capillaries for higher throughput was reported by Rozycka et al. CSCE is
      based on the principle that DNA homoduplexes and heteroduplexes migrate at
      different rates during electrophoresis under mildly denaturing conditions.
      Fragments showing an altered peak morphology compared to the wild type are then
      sequenced to determine the precise nature of the sequence variant detected.

PMID- 20938829
TI  - Conformation sensitive gel electrophoresis.
AB  - Conformation sensitive gel electrophoresis (CSGE) is a rapid screening method for
      the detection of DNA sequence variation, specifically single-base changes or
      small insertions and deletions. It has been widely used for mutation screening in
      genetic disorders and for the detection of single nucleotide polymorphisms
      (SNPs).CSGE is a simple manual method, based on heteroduplex analysis, and
      compares well in terms of sensitivity with other screening technologies. CSGE
      also lends itself to automation and such modi-fications have been useful in
      increasing sample throughput and sensitivity. However, manual CSGE remains a low
      cost, accessible, and effective approach for mutation screening, which can be
      carried out with -minimal specialist equipment. This chapter describes manual
      CSGE, and outlines some of the uses, -modifications, and limitations of this
      method.

PMID- 20938830
TI  - Denaturing HPLC for mutation screening.
AB  - Denaturing High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (dHPLC) is probably the most
      versatile and one of the most widely used mutation screening technologies. It
      benefits from a combination of relative technical simplicity and a very high
      sensitivity (mutation detection rate), approaching 100%. DHPLC can reliably
      detect single-base mismatches in fragments between 150 and 500 bp, although
      detection in fragments up to 1,500 bp has been reported. The ability of dHPLC to
      detect both known and unknown mutations/SNPs, and its' high sensitivity and
      specificity (reproducibility) has put this technology at the forefront of genetic
      analysis for a wide variety of diseases.

PMID- 20938831
TI  - In situ detection of human papillomavirus DNA after PCR-amplification.
AB  - Human papillomavirus (HPV) is an essential cofactor for cancer at many sites,
      including the genital tract, oral cavity, conjunctiva, and periungual region. The
      in situ detection of HPV allows us to determine the cellular targets of the
      virus. In situ-based coexpression analyses of HPV with putative target proteins
      provide tremendous insight into the molecular evolution of these viral-associated
      cancers. HPV DNA is present in high copy number in the precancerous lesions and
      is, thus, readily detected by in situ hybridization. However, viral integration,
      typical during oncogenesis, is associated with reduced copy number of the virus,
      necessitating in situ polymerase chain reaction amplification for accurate in
      situ detection of HPV. This chapter provides the protocols that can be used to
      detect HPV DNA in situ as well as to correlate viral DNA with coexpression of
      relevant protein targets.

PMID- 20938833
TI  - Long-PCR amplification of human genomic DNA.
AB  - Standard polymerase chain reaction (PCR) protocols amplify relatively small
      fragments precluding the use of this approach when examining gross rearrangements
      of DNA. By using combinations of DNA polymerases, which feature either good
      polymerase activity or error-correction abilities, it is now possible to extend
      the length of DNA fragment that can be amplified. These "long-PCR" protocols have
      allowed the development of more rapid and convenient ways to analyse large-scale
      rearrangements of DNA and in many cases has superseded alternative approaches
      such as Southern blotting. The protocol described in this chapter illustrates
      some of the key points to be considered when developing a long PCR protocol.

PMID- 20938832
TI  - LATE-PCR and allied technologies: real-time detection strategies for rapid,
      reliable diagnosis from single cells.
AB  - Accurate detection of gene sequences in single cells is the ultimate challenge of
      PCR sensitivity. Unfortunately, commonly used conventional and real-time PCR
      techniques are often too unreliable at that level to provide the accuracy needed
      for clinical diagnosis. Here we provide details of Linear-After-The-Exponential
      PCR (LATE-PCR), a method similar to asymmetric PCR in the use of primers at 
      different concentrations, but with novel design criteria to insure high
      efficiency and specificity. LATE-PCR increases the signal strength and allele
      discrimination capability of oligonucleotide probes such as molecular beacons and
      reduces variability among replicate samples. The analysis of real-time kinetics
      of LATE-PCR signals provides a means for improving the accuracy of single-cell
      genetic diagnosis.

PMID- 20938834
TI  - Human papilloma virus strain detection utilising custom-designed oligonucleotide
      microarrays.
AB  - Within the past 15 years, the utilisation of microarray technology for the
      detection of specific pathogen strains has increased rapidly. Presently, it is
      possible to simply purchase a pre-manufactured "off the shelf " oligonucleotide
      microarray bearing a wide variety of known signature DNA sequences previously
      identified in the organism being studied. Consequently, a hybridisation analysis
      may be used to pinpoint which strain/s is present in any given clinical sample.
      However, there exists a problem if the study necessitates the identification of
      novel sequences which are not represented in commercially available microarray
      chips. Ideally, such investigations require an in situ oligonucleotide microarray
      platform with the capacity to synthesise microarrays bearing probe sequences
      designed solely by the researcher. This chapter will focus on the employment of
      the Combimatrix(r) B3 CustomArrayTM for the synthesis of reusable, bespoke
      microarrays for the purpose of discerning multiple Human Papilloma Virus strains.

PMID- 20938835
TI  - Multiplex Ligation-dependent Probe Amplification (MLPA(r)) for the detection of
      copy number variation in genomic sequences.
AB  - Multiplex Ligation-dependent Probe Amplification (MLPA(r)) is a high-throughput
      method developed to determine the copy number of up to 50 genomic DNA sequences
      in a single multiplex PCR-based reaction. MLPA is easy to perform, requires only
      20 ng of sample DNA and can distinguish sequences differing in only a single
      nucleotide. The MLPA reaction results in a mixture of amplification fragments
      ranging between 100 and 500 nt in length which can be separated and quantified by
      capillary electrophoresis. The equipment necessary for MLPA is identical to that
      for performing standard sequencing reactions: a thermocycler and a fluorescent
      capillary electrophoresis system. Comparison of the peak pattern obtained on a
      DNA sample to that of a reference sample indicates which sequences show aberrant
      copy numbers.Fundamental for the MLPA technique is that it is not the sample DNA
      that is amplified during the PCR reaction, but MLPA probes that hybridise to the
      sample DNA. Each MLPA probe consists of two probe oligonucleotides, which should
      hybridise adjacent to the target DNA for a successful ligation. Only ligated
      probes can be exponentially amplified by PCR. In contrast to standard multiplex
      PCR, only one pair of PCR primers is used for the MLPA PCR reaction, resulting in
      a more robust system. This way, the relative number of fragments present after
      the PCR reaction depends on the relative amount of the target sequence present in
      a DNA sample.

PMID- 20938836
TI  - Screening for genomic rearrangements by multiplex PCR/liquid chromatography.
AB  - Screening for large gene rearrangements has become established as an important
      part of molecular medicine; however, it is also challenging as these
      rearrangements range from an extra copy of a complete chromosome(s) to deletion
      or duplication of a single exon. In this chapter, we describe a versatile and
      robust method to assess exon copy number, called multiplex PCR/liquid
      chromatography (MP/LC) assay. Multiple genomic fragments are amplified under
      semiquantitative conditions using unlabeled primers, then separated by ion-pair
      reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography, and quantitated by
      fluorescent detection using a postcolumn intercalation dye. The relative peak
      intensities for each target directly reflect DNA copy number. This technique can
      be used not only to screen intronic, exonic, and intergenic parts of the genome
      but also for transcript quantitation. MP/LC appears to be an easy, versatile, and
      cost-effective method, which is particularly relevant to DHPLC users, as it
      broadens the spectrum of available applications on a DHPLC system. The authors
      describe a detailed protocol for large rearrangement screening in the RB1 gene.

PMID- 20938837
TI  - Mutation surveyor: software for DNA sequence analysis.
AB  - Advances in high-throughput sequencing techniques had presented a significant
      challenge to the processing capabilities of genetic laboratories. However, recent
      developments in the field of semi-automated mutation detection have
      revolutionised the task of mutation detection.This chapter provides user
      information for one commercially available program, Mutation Surveyor. The
      software is manufactured by SoftGenetics (Pennsylvania, USA) and provides an
      accurate and efficient program for detecting sequence variants. The chapter
      focuses on the methodology of setting up GenBank files as reference files and
      provides information on analysis parameters and data processing.

PMID- 20938838
TI  - Non-invasive prenatal diagnosis.
AB  - The discovery of cell-free fetal DNA in the maternal plasma of pregnant women has
      facilitated the development of non-invasive prenatal diagnosis (NIPD). This has
      been successfully implemented in diagnostic laboratories for Rhesus typing and
      fetal sex determination for X-linked disorders and congenital adrenal hyperplasia
      (CAH) from 7 weeks gestation. Using real-time PCR, fluorescently labelled target
      gene specific probes can identify and quantify low copy number fetal-specific
      sequences in a high background of maternal DNA in the cell-free DNA extracted
      from maternal plasma.NIPD to detect specific fetal mutations in single gene
      disorders, currently by standard PCR techniques, can only be undertaken for
      paternally derived or de novo mutations because of the background maternal DNA.
      For routine use, this testing is limited by the large amounts of cell-free
      maternal DNA in the sample, the lack of universal fetal markers, and appropriate
      reference materials.

PMID- 20938839
TI  - Automated DNA sequencing.
AB  - Fluorescent cycle sequencing of PCR products is a multistage process and several
      methodologies are available to perform each stage. This chapter will describe the
      more commonly utilised dye-terminator cycle sequencing approach using BigDye(r)
      terminator chemistry (Applied Biosystems) ready for analysis on a 3730 DNA
      genetic analyzer. Even though DNA sequencing is one of the most common and robust
      techniques performed in molecular laboratories it may not always produce
      desirable results. The causes of the most common problems will also be discussed
      in this chapter.

PMID- 20938840
TI  - Phylogenetic microarrays for cultivation-independent identification and metabolic
      characterization of microorganisms in complex samples.
AB  - High-throughput sequencing and hybridization technologies promise new insights
      into the natural diversity and dynamics of microorganisms. Among these new
      technologies are phylogenetic oligonucleotide microarrays (phylochips) that
      depend on the standard molecules for taxonomic and environmental studies of
      microorganisms: the ribosomal RNAs and their encoding genes. The beauty of
      phylochip hybridization is that a sample can be analyzed with hundreds to
      thousands of rRNA (gene)-targeted probes simultaneously, lending itself to the
      efficient diagnosis of many target organisms in many samples. An emerging
      application of phylochips is the highly parallel analysis of structure-function
      relationships of microbial community members by employing in vivo substrate
      mediated isotope labeling of rRNA (via the isotope array approach). This chapter
      provides an introduction to phylochip and isotope array analysis and detailed wet
      lab protocols for preparation, labeling, and hybridization of target nucleic
      acids.

PMID- 20938841
TI  - Prenatal detection of chromosome aneuploidy by quantitative-fluorescence PCR.
AB  - QF-PCR refers to the amplification of chromosome-specific polymorphic
      microsatellite markers using fluorescence-labelled primers, followed by semi
      quantitative analysis of the products on a genetic analyser to determine copy
      number and/or imbalances of specific chromosomal material. This approach is now
      widely used for rapid prenatal diagnosis of the common trisomies. In addition, it
      can successfully detect maternal cell contamination and mosaicism in prenatal
      material.

PMID- 20938842
TI  - Use of robotics in high-throughput DNA sequencing.
AB  - Until relatively recently, full sequencing of genes consisting of more than
      several exons was not considered practicable within a routine diagnostic context.
      As a result, many approaches to unknown mutation detection in a specific gene
      involved a mutation pre-screening step to limit the amount of DNA sequencing
      required. Protocols to pre-screen for mutations and limit the amount of DNA
      sequencing may not localise every base change present and/or require considerable
      levels of manual intervention. Advances in technology, allied with careful
      protocol design, now permit direct DNA sequencing to be applied to larger areas
      of gene sequence, allowing unequivocal mutation identification in the area of a
      gene being analysed. The protocol described below utilises robotic systems,
      allied to custom-designed PCR primers, to facilitate rapid DNA sequencing of
      multiple gene targets. The general approach is amenable to adaptation for use
      with multi-channel pipettes.

PMID- 20938843
TI  - Detection of Factor V Leiden and prothrombin c.20210G>A allele by Roche
      Diagnostics LightCycler(r).
AB  - Venous thrombosis affects one in one thousand people each year, and in many
      countries, it is a major cause of morbidity and death in hospitalised patients.
      Factor V Leiden and the prothrombin c.20210G>A transition are relatively common
      in the Western World, and both increase the risk of venous thrombosis. The author
      describes the detection of t+++hese two genetic variants on the carousel-based
      Roche LightCycler(r). This simple method has high sensitivity for DNA, making it
      possible to test blood samples without the need for traditional DNA extraction
      and purification.

PMID- 20938844
TI  - RT-PCR for the detection of translocations in bone and soft tissue tumours in
      formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissues.
AB  - This chapter outlines the methodology for the detection of mesenchymal-tumour
      specific translocations in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue (FFPET) using
      the reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).It includes the
      design of appropriate primer pairs and the necessary pretreatment of the FFPET
      sections to give the maximum yield of analyzable RNA, in terms of both quantity
      and quality.

PMID- 20938845
TI  - Detection of minimal residual disease in leukaemia by RT-PCR.
AB  - Reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) describes a technique whereby RNA is first
      reverse transcribed into complementary DNA (cDNA) using the enzyme reverse
      transcriptase, and the resulting cDNA amplified in either a single-step or a two
      step nested PCR reaction. It is particularly useful for detecting molecular
      markers associated with leukaemia, as it enables a single assay to be used for
      many patients, each with unique genomic translocation breakpoints, but who have
      common fusion points in mRNA. This molecular method can not only detect
      aberrations that are cytogenetically cryptic, such as t(12;21)(p13;q22) in
      paediatric acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL), but is also very sensitive, and
      as such can be used to monitor minimal residual disease (MRD). Detecting and
      measuring MRD is important because it can be a guide to determining prognosis and
      relapse risk, predict recurrence of leukaemia, and enable individualization of
      treatment.

PMID- 20938846
TI  - Mutation detection by Southern blotting.
AB  - Following the discovery of the structure of DNA in 1953, it became clear that
      scientists needed to be able to distinguish different DNA sequences. In 1975,
      Edward Southern published details of a new method for detecting DNA fragments
      based upon their specific sequence [corrected]. An indication of the importance
      of his work is that the technique was eponymously named after him and that
      subsequent methods based loosely on similar principles were named using a play on
      his surname (western and northern blot). The simplicity and effectiveness of the
      technique led to its universal acceptance as a standard method for identification
      of DNA sequences. In the modern laboratory where turn-around times assume ever
      greater importance, the process can seem relatively time-consuming. In some
      cases, this has led to its replacement by more rapid techniques such as long
      range PCR. Nevertheless, more than 30 years after its invention, the Southern
      blot remains a cornerstone of molecular biology.

PMID- 20938847
TI  - Religion, health beliefs and the use of mental health services by the elderly.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Few studies have investigated whether elderly people of particular
      religious affiliations were more or less likely to seek treatment for mental
      illness, and whether it was related to their health beliefs. METHOD: In the
      National Mental Survey of Elderly Singaporeans in 2004, data were collected on
      reported religious affiliations, and 1-year prevalence of mental disorders (DSM
      IV diagnoses of psychiatric disorders) from diagnostic interviews using the
      Geriatric Mental State schedule, self-report of treatment for mental health
      problems, and health beliefs about the curability of mental illness,
      embarrassment and stigma, ease in discussing mental problems, effectiveness and
      safety of treatment, and trust in professionals. RESULTS: Compared to those with
      no religious affiliation, elderly people of all religious affiliations showed
      higher prevalence of mental health problems, yet reported less frequent treatment
      by healthcare professionals. In multivariate analyses, the adjusted odds ratio
      (95% confidence interval) of association with seeking treatment were for
      Christianity, 0.12 (0.02-0.57); Islam, 0.12 (0.01-1.31); Buddhism/Taoism, 0.59
      (0.18-1.88); and Hinduism, 0.21 (0.02-2.56) versus no affiliation. Various
      religious affiliations differ from each other and from non-religious affiliation
      on some negative health beliefs, but they did not adequately explain why
      religious affiliates were less likely to seek treatment. CONCLUSION: Further
      studies should evaluate the lower tendency of elderly people with religious
      affiliations to seek treatment for mental health problems.

PMID- 20938848
TI  - Age-related differences in interlingual priming: a behavioural and
      electrophysiological investigation.
AB  - Reaction time (RT) and the N400 ERP component were measured to examine age
      related differences in bilingual language processing. Although young bilinguals
      appear to access both languages simultaneously (i.e., non-selective access),
      little is known about language selection in older adults. The effect of language
      context on language selectivity was investigated using interlingual homographs
      (IH; i.e., words with identical orthography but distinct semantic features in two
      languages, e.g., coin meaning 'corner' in French and 'money' in English). Younger
      and older French/English bilinguals were presented with triplets of letter
      strings comprised of a language context cue, an IH, and a target word, in a
      lexical decision semantic priming task. RT and ERP results support non-selective
      language access in young adults; however, the older bilinguals used the language
      context cue to bias their reading of the IH. Results are discussed in terms of
      age-related changes in language processing and context use in bilinguals.

PMID- 20938849
TI  - Antibacterial properties of nine pure metals: a laboratory study using
      Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli.
AB  - Bacterial attachment and growth on material surfaces are considered to be the
      primary steps leading to the formation of biofilm. Biofilms in hospital and food
      processing settings can result in bacterial infection and food contamination,
      respectively. Prevention of bacterial attachment, therefore, is considered to be
      the best strategy for abating these menaces and therefore the development of
      antibacterial metals becomes important. In this study, nine pure metals, viz.
      titanium, cobalt, nickel, copper, zinc, zirconium, molybdenum, tin, and lead have
      been tested for their antibacterial properties against two bacterial strains,
      Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus and Gram-negative Escherichia coli. This was
      accomplished using two assay methods, the film contact method and the shaking
      flask method. The results show that the antibacterial properties varied
      significantly with different metals and the effectiveness of metals to resist
      bacterial attachment varied with the bacterial strain. Among the metals tested,
      titanium and tin did not exhibit antibacterial properties. TEM images showed that
      metal accumulation resulted in the disruption of the bacterial cell wall and
      other cellular components.

PMID- 20938850
TI  - Comparative susceptibility of Salmonella Typhimurium biofilms of different ages
      to disinfectants.
AB  - There is a general consensus that with increasing age a biofilm shows increased
      resistance to antimicrobials. In this study the susceptibility of 3-, 5- and 7
      day-old Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium biofilms to disinfectants was
      evaluated. It was hypothesized that 7-day-old biofilms would be more resistant to
      disinfectants compared to 3- and 5-day-old biofilms. Biofilms were formed using
      the MBECTM system and treated with six chemical disinfectants for 1 and 5 min.
      Four disinfectants at the highest concentration available showed 100% reduction
      in viable cells from all ages of biofilms after exposure for 5 min, and ethanol
      at 70% v/v was the least effective against biofilms, followed by chlorhexidine
      gluconate (CG). At the recommended user concentrations, only sodium hypochlorite
      showed 100% reduction in viable cells from all ages of biofilms. Benzalkonium
      chloride and CG were the least effective against biofilms, followed by quaternary
      ammonium compound which only showed 100% reduction in viable cells from 5-day-old
      biofilms. Overall, the results from this study do not display enhanced resistance
      in 7-day-old biofilms compared to 3- and 5-day-old biofilms. It is concluded that
      under the conditions of this study, the age of biofilm did not contribute to
      resistance towards disinfectants. Rather, the concentration of disinfectant and
      an increased contact time were both shown to play a role in successful
      sanitization.

PMID- 20938851
TI  - Inhibition of Streptococcus mutans biofilm accumulation and development of dental
      caries in vivo by 7-epiclusianone and fluoride.
AB  - 7-Epiclusianone (7-epi), a novel naturally occurring compound isolated from
      Rheedia brasiliensis, effectively inhibits the synthesis of exopolymers and
      biofilm formation by Streptococcus mutans. In the present study, the ability of 7
      epi, alone or in combination with fluoride (F), to disrupt biofilm development
      and pathogenicity of S. mutans in vivo was examined using a rodent model of
      dental caries. Treatment (twice-daily, 60s exposure) with 7-epi, alone or in
      combination with 125 ppm F, resulted in biofilms with less biomass and fewer
      insoluble glucans than did those treated with vehicle-control, and they also
      displayed significant cariostatic effects in vivo (p < 0.05). The combination 7
      epi + 125 ppm F was as effective as 250 ppm F (positive-control) in reducing the
      development of both smooth- and sulcal-caries. No histopathological alterations
      were observed in the animals after the experimental period. The data show that 7
      epiclusianone is a novel and effective antibiofilm/anticaries agent, which may
      enhance the cariostatic properties of fluoride.

PMID- 20938852
TI  - Simultaneous determination of 10 mycotoxins in grain by ultra-high-performance
      liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry using 13C15-deoxynivalenol as
      internal standard.
AB  - An ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC
      MS/MS) method for simultaneous determination of 10 mycotoxins in grain was
      developed. The selected mycotoxins were: deoxynivalenol, 3-acetyldeoxynivalenol,
      15-acetyldeoxynivalenol, nivalenol, fusarenon X, moniliformin, zearalenone,
      zearalanone, ochratoxin A and ochratoxin B. The samples were extracted with
      aqueous acetonitrile (84 : 16, v/v) and purified by reliable laboratory-made
      mixed cartridges. The analytes were separated on an Acquity UPLC HSS T3 column
      (100 * 2.1 mm, 1.8 um) and eluted with a mobile phase of water containing 0.2%
      aqueous ammonia and acetonitrile/methanol (90 : 10, v/v). All mycotoxins were
      detected with a Waters Micromass Quattro Ultima Pt tandem quadrupole mass
      spectrometer operating in negative electrospray ionization using multiple
      reaction monitoring mode. Accurate determination was achieved by employing
      commercial 13C15-deoxynivalenol as internal standard, which compensated for
      target loss and eliminated matrix effects. The established method was further
      validated by determining the linearity (R2 > 0.9990), average recovery (75.8
      106.5%), sensitivity (limit of quantitation 0.09-8.48 ug kg-1) and precision
      (relative standard deviation <= 6.9%). It was shown to be a suitable method for
      simultaneous determination of 10 mycotoxins in grain. Finally, a total of 69 corn
      samples randomly collected from eastern and northern China were analyzed. The
      results showed that deoxynivalenol was the most frequently detected contaminant,
      whilst 3-acetyldeoxynivalenol, 15-acetyldeoxynivalenol, nivalenol, zearalenone,
      zearalanone, fusarenon X and moniliformin also occurred frequently. Ochratoxin A
      and ochratoxin B were present only in trace amounts in a small number of samples.

PMID- 20938853
TI  - Does money matter for mental health? Evidence from the Child Support Grants in
      Johannesburg, South Africa.
AB  - Globally, the poor are consistently at greater risk of suffering from depression
      and anxiety. Yet in resource-poor countries, mental health remains a neglected
      topic. This interdisciplinary study explored the potential for a poverty
      alleviation programme to contribute to breaking the vicious cycle between poverty
      and common mental disorders (CMD). Quantitatively, beneficiaries of a cash
      transfer programme were found to have a lower risk of CMD. Qualitative interviews
      indicated that Child Support Grants acted as a psychological safety net, but that
      negative stereotypes of grant recipients could detract from the positive mental
      health outcomes of the grants. It was concluded that poverty alleviation
      programmes such as cash transfers could have both positive and negative impacts
      on mental health. In order to achieve mental health benefits for programme
      beneficiaries, aspects of programme design and implementation that promote mental
      health should be enhanced and aspects detrimental to mental health modified.

PMID- 20938855
TI  - Phantom penis: historical dimensions.
AB  - Interest in sensations from removed body parts other than limbs has increased
      with modern surgical techniques. This applies particularly to operations (e.g.,
      gender-changing surgeries) that have resulted in phantom genitalia. The
      impression given in modern accounts, especially those dealing with phantoms
      associated with penis amputation, is that this is a recently discovered
      phenomenon. Yet the historical record reveals several cases of phantom penises
      dating from the late-eighteenth century and the early-nineteenth century. These
      cases, recorded by some of the leading medical and surgical figures of the era,
      are of considerable historical and theoretical significance. This is partly
      because these phantoms were associated with pleasurable sensations, in contrast
      to the loss of a limb, which for centuries had been associated with painful
      phantoms. We here present several early reports on phantom penile sensations,
      with the intent of showing what had been described and why more than 200 years
      ago.

PMID- 20938854
TI  - Collecting injury surveillance data in low- and middle-income countries: the Cape
      Town Trauma Registry pilot.
AB  - Injury is a major public health issue, responsible for 5 million deaths each
      year, equivalent to the total mortality caused by HIV, malaria and tuberculosis
      combined. The World Health Organisation estimates that of the total worldwide
      deaths due to injury, more than 90% occur in low- and middle-income countries
      (LMIC). Despite the burden of injury sustained by LMIC, there are few continuing
      injury surveillance systems for collection and analysis of injury data. We
      describe a hospital-based trauma surveillance instrument for collection of a
      minimum data-set for calculating common injury scoring metrics including the
      Abbreviated Injury Scale and the Injury Severity Score. The Cape Town Trauma
      Registry (CTTR) is designed for injury surveillance in low-resource settings. A
      pilot at Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town was conducted for one month to
      demonstrate the feasibility of systematic data collection and analysis, and to
      explore challenges of implementing a trauma registry in a LMIC. Key
      characteristics of the CTTR include: ability to calculate injury severity, key
      minimal data elements, expansion to include quality indicators and minimal drain
      on human resources based on few fields. The CTTR provides a strategy to describe
      the distribution and consequences of injury in a high trauma volume, low-resource
      environment.

PMID- 20938856
TI  - The Moscow Colloquium on Electroencephalography of Higher Nervous Activity and
      its impact on international brain research.
AB  - Late 1950s was a period of recognition of Russian neurophysiology by
      international neuroscience community and vice versa. This process of "opening
      windows in both directions" might be illustrated by the story of The Moscow
      Colloquium on Electroencephalography of Higher Nervous Activity. The Colloquium
      took place on October 6-11, 1958 at the House of Scientists in Moscow. It was
      organized by the Academy of Sciences of the USSR under the initiative of the
      Institute for Higher Nervous Activity and focused on (a) EEG correlates of
      cortical excitation and inhibition; (b) electrophysiological study of different
      brain structures and their role in conditioned reflexes; and (c) EEG of higher
      nervous activity in humans. At the final session it was suggested to launch an
      International Year for the Study of the Brain and to ask UNESCO for international
      coordination of brain research. This resulted into the International Brain
      Research Organization (IBRO) founded in 1960. This article is based on
      unpublished records of international contacts of Soviet neurophysiologists and
      organization of the Moscow Colloquium from the Archive of Russian Academy of
      Science (ARAN), reports in Soviet periodicals, publications in obscure
      Festschriften, etc.

PMID- 20938857
TI  - A history of von Recklinghausen's NF1.
AB  - While the study of genetic diseases is a rather recent development in science,
      von Recklinghausen's neurofibromatosis (NF1) has a rich pictorial history,
      seemingly dating back to the thirteenth century. In 1768, Akenside published a
      scientifically-based description of NF1, recognizing that the monsters of
      scholars, such as Pare and Aldrovandi, in fact suffered from a disorder of the
      nerves. The neuromas of NF1 were first detailed by Smith in 1849, but Frederick
      von Recklinghausen is credited with its discovery and coined the name of the
      disorder in 1882. NF1 research widely increased between 1909 and 1990, due to the
      erroneous diagnosis of the Elephant Man, Joseph Merrick.

PMID- 20938858
TI  - Acceptance of the neuron theory by clinical neurologists of the late-nineteenth
      century.
AB  - This article explores reactions of clinical neurologists of the late-nineteenth
      century to the concept of a unified nerve cell, the "neuron," which developed
      from the research on fine anatomy of the nervous system and from conclusions of
      Waldeyer based on that research. Assessment shows that Waldeyer's role in the
      acceptance of the neuron theory was not straightforward. A study of primarily
      American medical literature shows rapid acceptance, eager applications, and high
      expectations. Nonetheless, some clinicians were disappointed in its immediate
      relevance. An explanation for this disappointment is offered.

PMID- 20938859
TI  - Neurognostics question: a life in neuroscience, surgery, and faith. Henri Duret.

PMID- 20938860
TI  - Ramon y Cajal and the 1934 Liberation of Giuseppe Levi: two new documents.

PMID- 20938864
TI  - State of the journal.

PMID- 20938865
TI  - Posttraumatic oxytocin dysregulation: is it a link among posttraumatic self
      disorders, posttraumatic stress disorder, and pelvic visceral dysregulation
      conditions in women?
AB  - This article explicates a theory that oxytocin, a sexually dimorphic
      neurotransmitter and paracrine hormone, is a plausible mechanism linking early
      relational trauma with posttraumatic self disorders (e.g., dissociation,
      somatization, and interpersonal sensitivity), posttraumatic stress disorder, and
      pelvic visceral dysregulation disorders (e.g., irritable bowel syndrome, chronic
      pelvic pain, interstitial cystitis, and hyperemesis gravidarum). This
      posttraumatic oxytocin dysregulation disorders theory is consistent with the
      historical and contemporary literature. It integrates attention to psychological
      and physical comorbidities and could account for the increased incidence of these
      disorders among females. Specific propositions are explored in data from studies
      of traumatic stress and women's health.

PMID- 20938866
TI  - Assessment of lifetime history of exposure to traumatic stressors by incarcerated
      adults with the Turkish version of the Traumatic Events Screening Instrument for
      Adults (TESI-A): a pilot study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of Criterion A traumatic events and
      current posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depressive disorder (MDD)
      in prisoners in Kocaeli Closed Prison. METHOD: The study was conducted in Kocaeli
      Closed Prison in Turkey. The sample consisted of 30 female and 30 male prisoners
      who had been in prison for at least 1 month. The PTSD and MDD section of the
      Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV and the Traumatic Events Screening
      Instrument for Adults were used by experienced clinicians. RESULTS: Most (n = 52,
      86.7%) participants reported lifetime exposure to at least 1 Diagnostic and
      Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.) PTSD Criterion A event. Although
      the August 17, 1999, earthquake was the most prevalent traumatic event (n = 31,
      51.7%), it was not related to the risk of current PTSD in prisoners. Current PTSD
      was rare among men (n = 2, 6.7%) and women (n = 3, 10%) but more prevalent than
      in community surveys of adults. Traumatic events that were relatively unique to
      the incarcerated population (e.g., committing murder) were identified. Moreover,
      17% of women (n = 5) and men (n = 5) were diagnosed with MDD. Traumatic events
      that had the strongest conditional probabilities of association with a diagnosis
      of PTSD and MDD were identified. CONCLUSION: Exposure to traumatic stressors was
      highly prevalent among prisoners. Ongoing interpersonal traumatic events were
      particularly likely to be experienced as traumatic and related to PTSD and MDD,
      and violent criminal acts may be highly traumatic for the perpetrator.

PMID- 20938867
TI  - Affect dysregulation and dissociation in borderline personality disorder and
      somatoform disorder: differentiating inhibitory and excitatory experiencing
      states.
AB  - Affect dysregulation and dissociation may be associated with borderline
      personality disorder (BPD) and somatoform disorder (SoD). In this study, both
      under-regulation and over-regulation of affect and positive and negative
      somatoform and psychoform dissociative experiences were assessed. BPD and SoD
      diagnoses were confirmed or ruled out in 472 psychiatric inpatients using
      clinical interviews and clinical multidisciplinary consensus. Affect
      dysregulation and dissociation were measured using self-reports. Under-regulation
      (but not over-regulation) of affect was moderately related to positive and
      negative psychoform and somatoform dissociative experiences. Although both BPD
      and SoD can involve dissociation, there is a wide range of intensity of both
      somatoform and psychoform dissociative phenomena in patients with these
      diagnoses. Compared with other groups, SoD patients more often reported low
      levels of dissociative experiences and reported fewer psychoform (with or without
      somatoform) dissociative experiences. Compared with the other groups, patients
      with both BPD and SoD reported more psychoform (with or without somatoform)
      dissociative experiences. Evidence was found for the existence of 3 qualitatively
      different forms of experiencing states. Over-regulation of affect and negative
      psychoform dissociation, commonly occurring in SoD, can be understood as
      inhibitory experiencing states. Under-regulation of affect and positive
      psychoform dissociation, commonly occurring in BPD, can be understood as
      excitatory experiencing states. The combination of inhibitory and excitatory
      experiencing states commonly occurred in comorbid BPD + SoD. Distinguishing
      inhibitory versus excitatory states of experiencing may help to clarify
      differences in dissociation and affect dysregulation between and within BPD and
      SoD patients.

PMID- 20938868
TI  - To dissociate or suppress? Predicting automatic vs. conscious cognitive
      avoidance.
AB  - Cognitive avoidance is a common response to sexual assault and reminders of
      trauma, but there is a paucity of research regarding predictors of automatic and
      conscious cognitive avoidance in response to trauma-related stimuli. The present
      study examined whether posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression
      symptoms, physiological responses, and subjective emotional responses predicted
      peritraumatic dissociation and thought suppression in a sample of 86 female
      sexual assault victims. Participants provided information about their current
      symptoms of PTSD and depression as well as their emotional reactions and
      physiological responses to hearing a personalized sexual assault narrative. PTSD
      and self-reported anger predicted thought suppression; peritraumatic dissociation
      was predicted by PTSD symptoms, changes in skin conductance, and self-reported
      arousal. Heart rate failed to predict either cognitive avoidance response. The
      results suggest that peritraumatic dissociation and thought suppression are
      associated with different physiological and emotional responses to trauma cues,
      perhaps because they tap different memory systems. Limitations and suggestions
      for future research are discussed.

PMID- 20938869
TI  - Symptom patterns in dissociative identity disorder patients and the general
      population.
AB  - The authors used the Dissociative Disorders Interview Schedule to compare
      structured interview symptom patterns in a general population sample (N= 502) and
      a sample of patients with clinical diagnoses of dissociative identity disorder
      (N= 303). Based on the Trauma Model, the authors predicted that the patterns
      would be similar in the 2 samples and that symptom scores would be higher in
      participants reporting childhood sexual abuse in both samples. They predicted
      that symptom scores would be higher among women with dissociative identity
      disorder reporting sexual abuse than among women in the general population
      reporting sexual abuse, with the clinical sample reporting more severe abuse.
      These predictions were supported by the data. The authors conclude that symptom
      patterns in dissociative identity disorder are typical of the normal human
      response to severe, chronic childhood trauma and have ecological validity for the
      human race in general.

PMID- 20938870
TI  - The expected psychiatric impact of detention in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and related
      considerations.
AB  - What are the likely mental and related physical health consequences of prolonged
      exposure to common stressors to detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba? Significant
      distress leads to high rates of psychiatric disorders, medical problems, and
      functional impairments. The consequences are severe, physically and
      psychologically, affecting the individual, his or her family, and the culture at
      large. Damaging conditions endured by detainees are multiple and severe and are
      reviewed here in detail. The author identifies parallels between Guantanamo
      detainees and similarly mistreated populations (e.g., prisoners of war, asylum
      seekers, prisoners) to draw inferences from existing research regarding likely
      outcomes for Guantanamo detainees. Protective factors normally present are
      systematically disrupted at Guantanamo. Overall, it is likely that detainees and
      their families are experiencing significant mental and physical health problems
      as a result of overlapping severe and chronic stressors related to detention and
      that this will worsen over time, particularly in the absence of appropriate
      assessment and treatment. The author addresses political and ethical factors, as
      well as basic implications for assessment, treatment, and advocacy, although
      these are not the focus of the article. Researchers and clinicians will face
      challenges in providing care for this population and understanding the long-term
      effects of such mistreatment. Sources reviewed are current up to September 2009.

PMID- 20938874
TI  - Hospital social work practice in Zimbabwe.
AB  - This article examines hospital work practice in Zimbabwe based on a literature
      review. It argues that the country is emerging from a ten year economic and
      political crisis which has affected the lives of the majority of the population.
      The health and education sectors have been the hardest hit since teachers,
      doctors, nurses as well as social workers have left the country in large numbers.
      The article highlights the various roles played by social workers in hospitals in
      Zimbabwe and the challenges they face in their day to day work. Solutions to
      these challenges are also suggested.

PMID- 20938875
TI  - Predictors of death and survival duration among a sample of persons living With
      HIV/AIDS.
AB  - A follow-up study was conducted on a sample of 120 ethnically diverse HIV
      positive men and women first interviewed in 2000. Participant survival and death
      rates were ascertained from death records and analyses were performed to identify
      demographic and psychosocial predictors of survival from the original data.
      Consistent with past studies, factors associated with survival were age, CD4
      count, years HIV positive, and lower alcohol use. Two analyses identified use of
      professional counseling as a unique factor associated with reduced risk of death.
      Contrary to our hypotheses, the results from these analyses did not suggest that
      social groups with fewer economic and institutional resources or those with
      limited access to highly active retroviral therapy (HAART) therapies were at
      reduced risk of survival.

PMID- 20938876
TI  - Childhood sexual abuse, post-traumatic stress disorder, and use of heroin among
      female clients in Israeli methadone maintenance treatment programs (MMTPS).
AB  - This study investigated association between post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
      and a 1-year follow-up heroin use among female clients in methadone clinics in
      Israel. Participants were 104 Israeli female clients from four methadone clinics
      (Mean age = 39.09, SD = 8.61) who reported victimization to childhood sexual
      abuse. We tested traces in urine of these female clients for heroin a year
      preceding and a year following the assessment of their PTSD. Results show that
      54.2% reported symptoms that accedes the DSM-IV criteria for PTSD. We found that
      among childhood victimized women PTSD is associated with more frequent use of
      heroin at a 1-year follow-up even after controlling for duration of the stay at
      the clinic, background, other traumatic experiences and heroin use a year prior
      the assessment of their PTSD. This study shows the potential long-run negative
      consequences of childhood sexual abuse. Not only are these sexually abused women
      trapped into drug dependence and addiction, they cannot break the vicious cycle
      of continuing the use of illicit drugs even when treated for their addiction. One
      major practice implication is that treatment for PTSD proven efficacious will be
      provided in the methadone and other drug treatment services.

PMID- 20938877
TI  - Most nursing home social service directors lack training in working with lesbian,
      gay, and bisexual residents.
AB  - The purpose of this descriptive study is to report findings from a nationally
      representative mail-in survey of nursing home social service directors (n =
      1,071) who were asked if they had received at least one hour of training in six
      different areas of cultural competency in the past five years. Of the six areas,
      the lowest percentage of directors reported having training in homophobia. Three
      fourths of the sample had not received even one hour of homophobia training over
      the past five years. Directors who were more recently educated were more likely
      to report having received homophobia training, as were directors with a college
      degree, and those who worked in nursing homes located in the West and South
      regions of the United States. Directors with the most experience were less likely
      to report having received training. Findings call for immediate development and
      dissemination of heterosexism and homophobia training of social service staff,
      policy changes within the nursing home, and policy advocacy priorities for social
      workers.

PMID- 20938878
TI  - Optimizing the use of video-tapes of clinical sessions: the data-mining approach
      for scale construction and theory building for bereaved persons in Hong Kong.
AB  - Video-taping clinical sessions is a common practice among social workers so that
      the tapes may be used for clinical supervision and reviewed with the individuals
      or families involved. They are usually underused for research purposes. This
      article reports on an innovative research method using such tapes as a basis for
      clinical data mining to explore the bereavement experience of Chinese people in
      Hong Kong. Using this data, a rich item pool, containing both negative and
      positive reactions, was generated to allow the development of a culturally
      relevant measurement tool of grief reactions. The data also facilitated theory
      building in the area of grief and bereavement. This study extended the use of
      video-tapes in clinical sessions for research purposes and helped to collect
      reliable and timely data in a non-intrusive way. It has also advanced the use of
      quantitative data in the clinical data-mining approach. The study encouraged
      collaboration between clinicians and researchers to develop knowledge and skills
      about their special target group of clients.

PMID- 20938879
TI  - Hospital social work: contemporary roles and professional activities.
AB  - Since its inception in the 1900s, hospital social work has been impacted by the
      ever changing hospital environment. The institution of Diagnostic Related Groups
      (DRGs), the era of reengineering, and the constant struggle toward health care
      reform make it necessary to evaluate and substantiate the value and efficacy of
      social workers in hospital settings. This study identifies current roles and
      activities carried out by social workers in acute hospital settings from across
      the nation in the aftermath of reengineering. Findings suggest the primary role
      of respondents in this study to be discharge planning with little to no
      involvement in practice research or income-generating activities.

PMID- 20938880
TI  - Decreasing psychological distress in cancer inpatients using FLEX Care(r): a
      pilot study.
AB  - While the incidence of psychological distress among people receiving treatment
      for cancer in outpatient treatment settings has received attention by
      researchers, few studies have investigated the incidence of psychological
      distress in inpatient settings. Similarly, efficacy or effectiveness studies
      describing psychosocial interventions with cancer patients in inpatient settings
      are all but absent from the research literature. The purpose of this study was to
      screen for psychological distress among persons receiving inpatient treatment for
      cancer and to then test the efficacy of a communications model known as FLEX
      Care(r), used to enhance routine psychosocial care, in an effort to reduce
      measurable levels of psychological distress. Following the vetting of more than
      400 potential participants, 35 met rigorous screening criteria and also consented
      to participate in this randomized pre-post control group study. The intervention
      group received the FLEX Care(r)-enhanced routine psychosocial intervention, while
      the control group received the routine psychosocial intervention alone. Mean
      scores for psychological distress were found to be nearly twice as high in the
      study sample as those levels reported in outpatient studies. Additionally,
      participants who received the FLEX Care(r)-enhanced psychosocial intervention
      experienced a significant reduction in psychological distress in contrast to
      participants in the control setting. The findings from this study underscore the
      need to screen for symptoms of psychological distress in inpatient settings and
      lend preliminary support to the use of personalized psychosocial intervention
      strategies that can be used as adjuvant to routine psychosocial care in the
      inpatient setting to reduce psychological distress.

PMID- 20938882
TI  - Performance of an automatic dose control system for CT: specifications and basic
      phantom tests.
AB  - PURPOSE: To assess the performance and to provide more detailed insight into the
      characteristics and limitations of devices for automatic dose control (ADC) in
      CT. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A comprehensive study on DoseRight 2.0, the ADC system
      provided by Philips for its Brilliance CT scanners, was conducted. Phantom tests
      were carried out on a 64-slice scanner (Brilliance 64) using assorted quality
      control (QC) phantoms that allowed verification of the basic specifications. If
      feasible, the findings were verified by model calculations based on known
      specifications. RESULTS: For all tests, the dose reductions and modulation
      characteristics fully met the values expected from the specifications. Adverse
      effects due to increased image noise were only moderate as a result of the
      "adequate noise system" design that employs comparatively gentle modulation, and
      the additional use of adaptive filtration. CONCLUSION: Simple tests with QC
      phantoms allow evaluation of the most relevant characteristics of devices for ADC
      in CT.

PMID- 20938883
TI  - Performance of an automatic dose control system for CT: anthropomorphic phantom
      studies.
AB  - PURPOSE: To assess the performance and to provide more detailed insight into
      characteristics and limitations of devices for automatic dose control (ADC) in
      CT. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A comprehensive study on DoseRight 2.0, the ADC system
      provided by Philips for its Brilliance CT scanners, was conducted with assorted
      tests using an anthropomorphic phantom that allowed simulation of the operation
      of the system under almost realistic conditions. The scan protocol settings for
      the neck, chest and abdomen with pelvis were identical to those applied in the
      clinical routine. RESULTS: Using the appropriate ADC functionalities, dose
      reductions equal 40% for the neck, 20% for the chest and 10% for the abdomen with
      pelvis. Larger dose reductions can be expected for average patients, since their
      attenuating properties differ significantly from the anthropomorphic phantom.
      Adverse effects due to increased image noise were only moderate as a consequence
      of the "adequate noise system" design and the complementary use of adaptive
      filtration. The results of specific tests also provided deeper insight into the
      operation of the ADC system that helps to identify the causes of suspected
      malfunctions and to prevent potential pitfalls. CONCLUSION: Tests with
      anthropomorphic phantoms allow verification of the characteristics of devices for
      ADC in CT under almost realistic conditions. However, differences in phantom
      shape and material composition require supplementary patient studies on
      representative patient groups.

PMID- 20938884
TI  - Unusual functional compression of the deep branch of the radial nerve by a
      vascular branch (leash of Henry): ultrasonographic appearance.
AB  - PURPOSE: Radial nerve compression caused by crossing branches of the recurrent
      radial artery - so called hypertrophic "leash(es) of Henry" (LoH) - is rare.
      Nevertheless it is important to diagnose the type of compression neuropathy in
      the forearm. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We report 2 subjects with unclear neuropathy
      of the deep branch of the radial nerve (DBRN) who showed compression by an LoH on
      high resolution ultrasound (HRUS) assessment. The shape and echotexture of the
      radial nerve were assessed with respect to the typical outer and inner texture of
      peripheral nerves in HRUS. Using color and/or power Doppler, an exact analysis of
      the surrounding soft tissues follows to search for possible atypical vessels
      compressing the nerve. RESULTS: In both patients a hypertrophic leash of Henry
      was identified with color/power Doppler ultrasound and the direct vascular
      compression of the DBRN was readily demonstrated. The involved nerve segment was
      enlarged with a mean transverse diameter of 2.7 mm and 1.9 mm, with a hypoechoic
      change and partial masking of the inner fascicular texture of the nerve at the
      level of the LoH. CONCLUSION: In summary, both presented patients showed a unique
      topographic concordance of a textural change of the deep radial nerve (i. e.,
      swelling and inner hypoechoic fascicular change) and the causative hypertrophic
      crossing artery. The use of power Doppler ultrasound in addition to caliber and
      texture changes shown on grayscale ultrasound and the functional visualization of
      pulsating vessels should be included in every sonographic examination of patients
      with chronic forearm pain symptoms.

PMID- 20938886
TI  - [Time-resolved contrast-enhanced MR angiography of the lower limbs: solving the
      problem of venous overlap].
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate peripheral MRA using
      time-resolved measurements at the femoral as well as the calf level with regard
      to the presence of unwanted venous overlap. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 150 patients
      were examined using a 1.5 T MRI unit for a three-step CE MRA approach with three
      partial injections of contrast agent (0.1 mmol/kg body weight of 1 molar contrast
      agent). Dynamic time-resolved measurements were used at the femoral as well the
      calf level. The images were analyzed with respect to the presence and grade of
      unwanted venous overlap as well as inadequate bolus timing. RESULTS: In all
      cases, MRA was technically successful. The overall image quality was assessed as
      excellent in 127 / 150 cases (84.7%), as mildly limited in 21 cases (14%) and as
      moderately limited, but still diagnostic in 2 cases (1.3%). No obvious overlap
      was found in 139 of 150 cases (92.7%). Non-diagnostically relevant minor overlap
      was found in 7 cases (4.6%) and non-diagnostically relevant moderate overlap in 4
      cases (2.7%). Relevant venous overlap did not occur. Those 11 cases with minor or
      moderate overlap occurred at the calf level in 8 cases, at the calf and femoral
      level in 2 cases and at the femoral level only in one case. In 10 out of 11
      cases, peripheral artery occlusive disease was classified as category IV
      (Fontaine). CONCLUSION: Three-step time-resolved CE MRA with dynamic measurements
      at the calf as well the femoral level can be considered as a safe and accurate
      technique for MRA of the lower limbs without significant venous overlap and
      without risk of inadequate bolus timing. Furthermore, it solves the problem of
      run time differences.

PMID- 20938885
TI  - Computer-based automated left atrium segmentation and volumetry from ECG-gated
      coronary CT angiography data: comparison with manual slice segmentation and
      ultrasound planimetric methods.
AB  - PURPOSE: Enlargement of the left atrium is a risk factor for cardiovascular or
      cerebrovascular events. We evaluated the performance of prototype software for
      fully automated segmentation and volumetry of the left atrium. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: In 34 retrospectively ECG-gated coronary CT angiography scans, the end
      systolic (LAVsys) and end-diastolic (LAVdia) volume of the left atrium was
      calculated fully automatically by prototype software. Manual slice segmentation
      by two independent experienced radiologists served as the reference standard.
      Furthermore, two independent observers calculated the LAV utilizing two
      ultrasound planimetric methods ("area length" and "prolate ellipse") on CTA
      images. Measurement periods were compared for all methods. RESULTS: The left
      atrial volumes calculated with the prototype software were in excellent agreement
      with the results from manual slice segmentation (r = 0.97 - 0.99; p < 0.001;
      Bland-Altman) with excellent interobserver agreement between both radiologists (r
      = 0.99; p < 0.001). Ultrasound planimetric methods clearly showed a higher
      variation (r = 0.72 - 0.86) with moderate interobserver agreement (r = 0.51 -
      0.79). The measurement period was significantly lower with the software (267 +/-
      28 sec; p < 0.001) than with ultrasound methods (431 +/- 68 sec) or manual slice
      segmentation (567 +/- 91 sec). CONCLUSION: The prototype software showed
      excellent agreement with manual slice segmentation with the least time
      consumption. This will facilitate the routine assessment of the LA volume from
      coronary CTA data and therefore risk stratification.

PMID- 20938887
TI  - [Diagnostic splenectomy after erroneous interpretation of a focal splenic
      lesion].

PMID- 20938888
TI  - High-efficient nonviral transfection of the rat thyroid cell line FRTL-5.
AB  - FRTL-5 cells are used in many laboratories as an in vitro system of thyroid
      follicular cells since they share many properties of human thyrocytes. However,
      the use of FRTL-5 cells for experimental modifications is limited by low
      transfection efficiencies of lipid-based transfections and the need for
      cumbersome viral transduction protocols. A new technology - nucleofection - has
      become available for cell lines that are difficult to transfect. Here, we report
      the application and optimization of this method in FRTL-5 cells. Using the green
      fluorescent protein (GFP) as a reporter gene, FRTL-5 cells were easily
      transfectable with efficiencies over 60%. In addition, the simultaneous transfer
      of siRNA against GFP was feasible and allowed suppression of GFP over at least 4
      days. Furthermore nucleofection was successful for establishing stable FRTL-5
      cell clones. In conclusion, this optimized fast and efficient nucleofection
      protocol offers new properties for the experimental use of FRTL-5 cells.

PMID- 20938889
TI  - Review on the in vitro interaction of insulin glargine with the insulin/insulin
      like growth factor system: potential implications for metabolic and mitogenic
      activities.
AB  - Insulin analogues provide clinically important benefits for people with diabetes,
      including more predictable action profiles and lower risk of hypoglycemia
      compared with human insulin. However, it has been suggested that certain insulin
      analogues may lead to greater activation of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1)
      signaling, with risk for adverse mitogenic effects. This article aims to
      critically review studies on the mitogenic effects of the insulin analogue
      insulin glargine (glargine) and its metabolites. A review of in vitro studies
      suggests that glargine may stimulate mitogenic activity in some cell lines at
      supraphysiological concentrations (nanomolar/micromolar concentrations).
      Mitogenicity appeared to be related to the expression of the IGF-1 receptor,
      being present in cells expressing high levels of the receptor and absent in cells
      with limited or no IGF-1 receptor expression. In animal studies, glargine did not
      promote tumor growth, despite administration at supraphysiological concentrations
      (nanomolar/micromolar), which are unlikely to be observed in clinical practice
      because the doses needed to produce these concentrations are liable to lead to
      hypoglycemia. Furthermore, glargine in vivo is rapidly transformed into its
      metabolites, the metabolic and mitogenic characteristics of which have been shown
      to be broadly equal to those of human insulin. Thus, the suggestion of increased
      relative mitogenic potency of insulin glargine seen in some cell lines does not
      appear to carry over to the in vivo situation in animals and humans.

PMID- 20938890
TI  - Hepatic VLDL-TG production and MTP gene expression are decreased in
      ovariectomized rats: effects of exercise training.
AB  - The present study was designed to investigate the effects of estrogen withdrawal
      and exercise training on hepatic very low density lipoprotein-triglyceride (VLDL
      TG) production and on expression of genes involved in hepatic VLDL synthesis in
      response to lipid infusion. Female Sprague-Dawley rats underwent ovariectomy
      (Ovx), sham surgery (Sham), and Ovx with 17beta-estradiol supplementation (OvxE2)
      before being subdivided into sedentary (Sed) and trained (Tr) groups for 8 weeks.
      Exercise training consisted of continuous running on a rodent treadmill 5
      times/wk. At the end of the 8-week period, all rats in the fasted state were
      intravenously infused with a 20% solution of Intralipid for 3-h followed by an
      injection of Triton WR-1339 to block lipoprotein lipase activity. Plasma TG
      accumulation was subsequently measured during 90 min to estimate VLDL-TG
      production. An additional control group consisting of Sham-Sed rats was infused
      with saline (0.9% NaCl). Estrogen withdrawal resulted in higher (p<0.01) liver
      fat accumulation concomitantly with lower (p<0.01) VLDL-TG production and lower
      mRNA and protein content of hepatic microsomal triglyceride transfer protein
      (MTP). All of these effects in Ovx rats were corrected with estrogen
      supplementation. Training in Ovx rats reduced (p<0.01) liver fat accumulation and
      further reduced (p<0.01) hepatic VLDL-TG production along with gene expression of
      MTP and diacylglycerol acyltransferase-2 (DGAT-2). It is concluded that VLDL-TG
      synthesis and/or secretion is decreased in Ovx rats probably via MTP regulation
      and that this decrease may constitute one of the factors involved in hepatic fat
      accumulation. The training effect on reducing VLDL production was independent of
      the estrogenic status.

PMID- 20938891
TI  - Combined effects of short-term calorie restriction and exercise on insulin action
      in normal rats.
AB  - The present study examined the effect of combination of short-term calorie
      restriction (CR) and moderate exercise on insulin action in normal rats. Rats
      were divided randomly into 4 groups: ad libitum, sedentary (A-Sed); calorie
      restriction, sedentary (CR-Sed); ad libitum, exercise (A-Ex); and calorie
      restriction, exercise (CR-Ex). Rats in the exercise groups were run on a rodent
      treadmill. Rats in the CR groups were fed every alternate day. Oral glucose
      tolerance test (OGTT) showed improvements in both CR-Sed and A-Ex groups compared
      with the A-Sed group; no further improvement in glucose tolerance was observed in
      the CR-Ex group. In contrast, glucose infusion rates (GIRs) determined by the
      hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp method indicated that the GIR of the CR and
      exercise combination was significantly better than that of the sole intervention
      of CR or exercise. There was no difference in the levels of fasting glucose,
      insulin, or high-molecular weight forms of adiponectin among the 4 groups.
      Protein expression of GLUT-4 in the skeletal muscle increased by exercise, but
      not by CR. Our findings indicate that the combination of exercise and CR may be
      effective in enhancing insulin sensitivity at the skeletal muscle in normal
      subjects.

PMID- 20938893
TI  - Time interval between maternal electrocardiogram and venous Doppler waves in
      normal pregnancy and preeclampsia: a pilot study.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the time interval between maternal electrocardiogram (ECG)
      and venous Doppler waves at different stages of uncomplicated pregnancy (UP) and
      in preeclampsia (PE). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Cross-sectional pilot study in 40
      uncomplicated singleton pregnancies, categorized in four groups of ten according
      to gestational age: 10 - 14 weeks (UP1), 18 - 23 weeks (UP2), 28 - 33 weeks (UP3)
      and >= 37 weeks (UP4) of gestation. A fifth group of ten women with PE was also
      included. A Doppler flow examination at the level of renal interlobar veins (RIV)
      and hepatic veins (HV) was performed according to a standard protocol, in
      association with a maternal ECG. The time interval between the ECG P-wave and the
      corresponding A-deflection of the venous Doppler waves was measured (PA), and
      expressed relative to the duration of the cardiac cycle (RR), and labeled PA/RR.
      RESULTS: In hepatic veins, the PA/RR is longer in UP 4 than in UP 1 (0.48 +/-
      0.15 versus 0.29 +/- 0.09, p <= 0.001). When all UP groups were compared, the
      PA/RR increased gradually with gestational age. In PE, the HV PA/RR is shorter
      than in UP 3 (0.25 +/- 0.09 versus 0.42 +/- 0.14, p < 0.01) and this difference
      persisted under anti-hypertensive treatment (0.28 +/- 0.06 versus 0.42 +/- 0.14,
      p <= 0.01, n = 6). Similar results were found in both kidneys. In UP 1 but not in
      UP 3 or UP 4, the HV PA/RR is shorter in the liver than in the left and right
      kidney (0.29 +/- 0.09 versus 0.38 +/- 0.12, p < 0.01, and versus 0.36 +/- 0.09, p
      <= 0.01). CONCLUSION: The PA/RR is organ-specific and gestation-dependent, and is
      considered to relate to venous vascular tone and/or intravascular filling.
      Increased values at advanced gestational stages are consistent with known
      features of maternal cardiovascular adaptation. Shorter values in preeclampsia
      are consistent with maternal cardiovascular maladaptation mechanisms. Our pilot
      study invites more research of the relevance of the time interval between
      maternal ECG and venous Doppler waves as a new parameter for studying the
      gestational cardiovascular (patho)physiology of the maternal venous compartment
      by duplex sonography.

PMID- 20938892
TI  - Optimizing ultrasound-guided biopsy of musculoskeletal masses by application of
      an ultrasound contrast agent.
AB  - PURPOSE: We report on a novel approach to the work-up of musculoskeletal lesions
      with addition of an ultrasound contrast agent followed by focal ultrasound-guided
      biopsy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this pilot study 25 patients (age: 12-75) with
      unclear musculoskeletal tumors underwent grayscale ultrasound, color Doppler,
      contrast-enhanced ultrasound and subsequent ultrasound-guided biopsy. Grayscale
      and color Doppler ultrasound were performed with a 12-5 MHz broadband linear
      transducer and contrast-enhanced ultrasound with a 9-3 MHz broadband linear
      transducer (iU22(r), Philips, USA) using a second-generation contrast agent
      (SonoVue(r), Bracco, Italy). After the definition of the target area by contrast
      enhanced ultrasound, guided biopsies were performed with a spring-loaded tru
      cutTM biopsy needle using the coaxial technique. RESULTS: The definition of
      enhancing and viable tumor regions resulted in a diagnostic yield of the
      subsequent biopsy of 100%. Seventeen tumors were classified as malignant and
      eight as benign, which was finally confirmed by histological work-up or the
      further clinical follow-up. CONCLUSION: This pilot study with a limited series of
      patients improved the diagnostic yield of ultrasound-guided biopsy to 100%, which
      is at least rather promising. Our easy-to-use algorithm should reduce the rate of
      inconclusive histology results mainly caused by sampling errors to an unrivaled
      minimum.

PMID- 20938894
TI  - Breast ultrasound in office gynecology--ten years of experience.
AB  - PURPOSE: Mammography in screening or on indication is regarded as the gold
      standard for breast examination to detect breast cancer. The present study was
      performed to evaluate breast ultrasound examination (BU) as a supplement to
      physical breast examination in a gynecological office setting. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: BU was performed concomitantly with all physical breast examinations in
      a gynecological clinic. The results of all BUs during a 10-year period using the
      patients' personal numbers were crossed with the Danish Cancer Registry and the
      Danish Pathology Data Bank. All new breast malignancies registered from the date
      of BU and 12 months later were included. RESULTS: A total of 3030 BUs of both
      breasts was performed in 1428 women. Twenty-eight new breast malignancies were
      registered in 27 patients. Physical examination did not reveal any tumors not
      detected by ultrasound. Sixteen of the 28 malignancies were non-palpable (57 %).
      BU detected 25 of these malignancies, thus yielding a sensitivity of 89 %.
      Mammography performed within 12 months of the diagnosis was negative in 11
      patients resulting in a rate of 44 % of malignancies with a negative mammography
      result. The tumors measured an average of 11 mm (range 4 - 30 mm) using the
      largest diameter. CONCLUSION: BU offers substantial help for the detection of
      breast cancer. The sensitivity is high, and in a gynecological setting where
      ultrasound is used for almost every consultation, it is natural to use the
      scanner for the breast examination. Larger studies with evaluation of
      interobserver variability for tumor detection by ultrasound are needed.

PMID- 20938895
TI  - Sensitivity and specificity of preoperative ultrasonography for diagnosing nodal
      metastases in patients with breast cancer.
AB  - PURPOSE: Rational therapy planning should aim to minimize the rate of axillary
      lymph node dissection (ALND) in patients without metastatic disease. By the same
      token, the frequency of sentinel lymph node biopsies (SLNB) should not be
      unnecessarily high in patients with axillary node disease. Preoperative axillary
      ultrasonography is a generally available noninvasive technique for assessing
      nodal status. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Based on retrospective data, we analyzed the
      sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive value, and efficiency
      of preoperative ultrasonography US. A total of 429 axillary ultrasonographic
      examinations were included, and the management decisions were based on the
      ultrasonographic findings. Patients with suspicious US results were scheduled for
      ALND, while patients with unremarkable findings underwent SLNB. RESULTS: Axillary
      metastases were found in 146 of 429 (34 %) cases. In 75 of 429 (17 %) axillary
      examinations, ultrasonography revealed suspicious findings. In these cases, we
      proceeded with ALND, thereby reducing the number of SLNB by 17 %. 219 of 429
      cases were classified correctly as not having metastasis, thus lowering the rate
      of ALND, which is associated with higher postoperative morbidity, by 51 %.
      Preoperative ultrasonography had a sensitivity of 53.6 %, specificity of 75.5 %,
      and a positive predictive value of 77.3 %. The negative predictive value was 51.3
      % and the efficiency was 68.5 %. CONCLUSION: Ultrasonography is a moderately
      sensitive, but quite specific, preoperative method for assessing the axillary
      lymph nodes.

PMID- 20938897
TI  - IGFBP-4 gene overexpression in the nitrofen-induced hypoplastic lung.
AB  - PURPOSE: The precise mechanism of pulmonary hypoplasia (HP) associated with
      congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) remains unclear. Insulin-like growth
      factors (IGFs) play an essential role in fetal lung development through IGF
      receptors (IGFRs) by regulating cellular proliferation, differentiation and
      survival. It has been reported that the expression of genes involved in IGF-IGFR
      signaling is altered in the nitrofen-induced hypoplastic lung during the later
      stages of lung development. IGF-binding proteins (IGFBPs) control
      bioavailability, activity and disruption of IGFs through the high affinity
      IGFBP/IGF complexes. IGFBP-4 is a key inhibitor of IGF-IGFR signaling-mediated
      cell proliferation. It has been revealed that cell proliferation in fetal lung
      fibroblasts is inhibited by increased IGFBP-4 production. We hypothesized that
      IGFBP-4 gene expression is increased during the later stages of lung development
      in the nitrofen-induced CDH lung. METHODS: Pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats were
      exposed to either olive oil or nitrofen on day 9 (D9) of gestation. Fetuses were
      harvested by cesarean section on D18 and D21. Fetal lungs were divided into 3
      groups: control, nitrofen without CDH [CDH(-)] and nitrofen with CDH [CDH(+)]
      (n=24 at each time point). Relative mRNA levels of IGFBP-4 were determined using
      real-time RT-PCR. Immunohistochemistry was performed to evaluate the protein
      expression of IGFBP-4. RESULTS: The relative expression levels of IGFBP-4 mRNA
      were significantly increased in CDH(-) and CDH(+) groups on D18 and D21 compared
      to controls. Immunohistochemistry showed increased IGFBP-4 expression in
      mesenchymal compartments on D18 and D21 in hypoplastic lungs compared to
      controls. CONCLUSION: Overexpression of pulmonary IGFBP-4 during the later stages
      of lung development may contribute to pulmonary hypoplasia in the nitrofen
      induced CDH model by inhibiting IGF-mediated cell proliferation.

PMID- 20938896
TI  - The influence of technical factors on sonoelastographic assessment of solid
      breast nodules.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of the study was to assess the influence of technical factors
      and/or lesion characteristics on the final elastographic score in solid breast
      nodules. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients with solid breast masses examined
      between May 2007 and May 2008 in the Radiology Department of Cluj District
      University Hospital were included in the study. All lesions were examined with
      conventional ultrasound, Doppler ultrasound and sonoelastography, according to a
      preset protocol. The influence of the following factors on the elastographic
      score was evaluated: type of section (sagittal versus transverse); size of region
      of interest (small versus large); amplitude and frequency of movement; initial
      compression (light versus strong); angulation (perpendicular versus angulated
      transducer); characteristics of the lesion (size and location). The reference
      diagnosis was the histopathology diagnosis and, in twenty cases, short-term
      follow-up. RESULTS: Ninety-two patients with a mean age of 48.11 years and 101
      breast nodules were included in the study. The overall sensitivity and
      specificity for elastography were 79 % [68-88 %] and 79 % [65 - 89 %],
      respectively, with a negative predictive value of 74 % [60-85 %] and a positive
      predictive value of 84 % [72-91 %]. The following factors did not influence the
      elastographic score: type of section (scores on transverse and longitudinal
      section, Z = -0.641, p = 0.552); the amplitude and frequency of movements during
      the elastographic examination (Cochran's Q concordance = 0.706, p = 0.872);
      strong initial compression in the case of benign nodules (Z = 0.000, p = 1.000);
      size of the lesions. Of the elastographically benign nodules, 9 were false
      negative and of the 46 elastographically malignant nodules, 12 were false
      positive. The following factors influenced the elastographic scores: size of the
      region of interest (the scores were significantly different when small or large
      region of interest was used, Z = -0.671, p < 0.0001); transducer angulation (Z = 
      5.42, p < 0.0001); strong initial compression in the case of malignant nodules (Z
      = -6.044, p < 0.0001) and the location of the mass in the vicinity of the chest
      wall. CONCLUSION: The most important factors that influence the final
      elastographic score, leading to false negative results, are the size of the
      region of interest, the initial compression and angulation of the transducer,
      while the frequency and amplitude of movement during the examination proved to be
      of no importance as long as the images were obtained within a range of assessment
      usefulness. Changing the scanning parameters never led to false positive results
      in the case of malignant breast masses.

PMID- 20938898
TI  - Surgical repair of incarcerated inguinal hernia in children: laparoscopic or
      open?
AB  - PURPOSE: The management of Incarcerated Inguinal Hernia (IIH) in children is
      challenging and may be associated with complications. We aimed to compare the
      outcomes of laparoscopic vs. open repair of IIH. METHODS: With institutional
      ethical approval (09SG13), we reviewed the notes of 63 consecutive children who
      were admitted to a single hospital with the diagnosis of IIH between 2000 and
      2008. Data are reported as median (range). Groups were compared by chi-squared or
      t-tests as appropriate. RESULTS: . Open repair (n=35): There were 21 children
      with right and 14 with left IIH. 2 patients also had contralateral reducible
      inguinal hernia. Small bowel resection was required in 2 children. . Laparoscopic
      repair (n=28): All children had unilateral IIH (19 right sided, 9 left sided). 15
      children (54%) with no clinical evidence of contralateral hernia, had
      contralateral patent processus vaginalis at laparoscopy, which was also repaired.
      The groups were similar with regard to gender, age at surgery, history of
      prematurity, interval between admission and surgery, and proportion of patients
      with successful preoperative manual reduction. However, the duration of operation
      was longer in the laparoscopy group (p=0.01). Time to full feeds and length of
      hospital stay were similar in both groups. Postoperative follow-up was 3.5 months
      (1-36), which was similar in both groups. 5 patients in the group undergoing open
      repair had serious complications: 1 vas transaction, 1 acquired undescended
      testis, 2 testicular atrophy and 1 recurrence. The laparoscopic group had a
      single recurrence. CONCLUSION: Open repair of incarcerated inguinal hernia is
      associated with serious complications. The laparoscopic technique appears safe,
      avoids the difficult dissection of an oedematous sac in the groin, allows
      inspection of the reduced hernia content and permits the repair of a
      contralateral patent processus vaginalis if present.

PMID- 20938899
TI  - Unstable diametaphyseal forearm fractures: transepiphyseal intramedullary
      Kirschner-wire fixation as a treatment option in children.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In unstable metaphyseal and diaphyseal forearm fractures the
      treatment of choice is percutaneous Kirschner wire (K-wire) fixation or elastic
      stable intramedullary nailing (ESIN), respectively. The optimal treatment for the
      diametaphyseal transition zone is still a matter of debate. METHODS: The
      diametaphyseal transition zone was defined as the square over the "physis of
      distal radius and ulna" minus the square of "physis of distal radius alone".
      Transepiphyseal intramedullary K-wire fixation was performed in unstable
      fractures affecting this transitional area. The operative, postoperative and
      functional outcomes were assessed and compared to previously treated patients who
      were treated using other techniques (plate, external fixator or ESIN). RESULTS:
      10 patients received transepiphyseal intramedullary K-wire fixation. Additionally
      the ulna was stabilized by antegrade ESIN in 5 cases. Cast immobilization was
      performed for 39, sports restriction for 43 and metal removal was done after 50
      days. No complications, bone malalignment, or functional deficits occurred (mean
      follow-up: 17 months). 13 patients were treated using alternative options. 3
      patients had plates with cast immobilization for 26 days, sports restriction for
      63 and metal removal after 287 days. 5 patients were treated by external fixation
      for 54 days. Their sports restriction was 73 days. The remaining 5 patients had
      ESIN. In 1 of these cases additional cast immobilization was necessary. Their
      sports restriction was 51 days and metal removal was done after 88 days. In 4
      cases a malalignment >10 degrees  of the radius was documented, and 1 patient had
      a functional deficit of forearm pro-/supination. CONCLUSION: Transepiphyseal
      intramedullary K-wire fixation in unstable diametaphyseal forearm fractures is a
      minimally invasive, quick and technically easy treatment option but requires
      additional immobilization. Our data suggest that this technique offers advantages
      compared to alternative treatment options.

PMID- 20938900
TI  - Downregulation of FGFRL1 contributes to the development of the diaphragmatic
      defect in the nitrofen model of congenital diaphragmatic hernia.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The nitrofen model of Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia (CDH)
      displays a diaphragmatic defect of the Bochdalek-type and has been widely used to
      investigate the pathogenesis of CDH. However, the exact pathomechanism of the
      diaphragmatic defect is still poorly understood. Fibroblast growth factor (FGF)
      receptor-like 1 (FGFRL1), a member of the FGF receptor family, plays a key role
      in physiological diaphragmatic development. FGFRL1 is expressed in the fetal
      diaphragm at low levels in early gestation and its expression steadily increases,
      becoming most pronounced in later gestational stages. It has been reported that
      FGFRL1 homozygous null mice have thin, partially amuscular diaphragms and die at
      birth due to respiratory failure. The aim of this study was to investigate the
      hypothesis that FGFRL1 gene expression in the diaphragm is downregulated during
      the later gestational stages in the nitrofen CDH model. MATERIAL AND METHODS:
      Timed pregnant rats were exposed to either olive oil or 100 mg nitrofen on day 9
      of gestation (D9). Cesarean section was performed on D18 or D21. Fetal diaphragms
      (n=40) were micro-dissected and divided into CDH group and controls. Total RNA
      was extracted from the diaphragms and the mRNA levels of FGFRL1 were determined
      using real-time PCR. Immunohistochemistry was performed to evaluate diaphragmatic
      protein expression of FGFRL1. Student's t-test and Mann-Whitney test were used,
      where appropriate. Statistical significance was considered for p<0.05. RESULTS:
      Relative mRNA expression levels of FGFRL1 were significantly decreased in the CDH
      group compared to controls on D18 (3.63 +/- 1.65 vs. 6.04 +/- 3.12, p<0.05) and
      D21 (1.36 +/- 1.01 vs. 2.57 +/- 1.34, p<0.05). Immunoreactivity of FGFRL1 was
      markedly decreased in the diaphragms of the CDH group compared to controls on D18
      and D21. CONCLUSION: Our data provide strong evidence that downregulation of the
      FGFRL1 gene during the late stages of gestation may contribute to the development
      of the diaphragmatic defect in nitrofen-induced CDH.

PMID- 20938901
TI  - High-risk hepatoblastoma: results in a pediatric liver transplantation center.
AB  - AIM: Aim of the study was assess the results of the treatment of High-Risk
      Hepatoblastoma (HRH) in a tertiary center where all liver surgery facilities,
      including pediatric transplantation (LT), are available. METHODS: 91 primary
      liver tumors treated between 1991 and 2009 were retrospectively reviewed. HRHs as
      defined by the SIOP criteria (PRETEXT IV or any stage with venous involvement,
      extrahepatic disease, tumor rupture and <100 ng/ml serum AFP) were identified and
      imaging and biopsies were reviewed. The treatment consisted of total removal of
      the tumor, involving extended hepatectomies and LT if necessary, together with
      SIOPEL-guided chemotherapy. RESULTS: 23/57 hepatoblastomas were HRH (11F/12M). 17
      were considered unresectable by standard techniques, 3 had extrahepatic disease,
      and 3 fulfilled both criteria. Mean age at diagnosis was 2.3 +/- 2.4 years. 3
      children (referred after chemotherapy) died without surgery. 4 had resections (2
      left and 2 right trisegmentectomies). Primary LT was required in 15 children (7
      cadaveric donors and 8 living related donor transplantations (LRDT), 2 of them
      with retrohepatic vena cava replacement), and 1 patient had rescue LT after
      recurrence. Mean follow-up was 4.8 +/- 2.9 years. 2 children who had undergone
      liver resection developed pulmonary metastases at 1.7 and 1.6 years
      postoperatively and survived after surgical treatment. 2 children with LT
      developed EBV-related lymphoma and leukemia respectively but survived. Event-free
      survival (EFS) at 1, 5, and 10 years was 78.3 +/- 8.6%, 63.1 +/- 10.5%, and 63.1
      +/- 10.5%, respectively. 6 children died (3 without surgery, 1 after liver
      resection, 1 after primary LT and 1 after rescue LT). Overall survival at 1, 5
      and 10 years was 78.3 +/- 21.7%, 73.2 +/- 26.8% and 73.2 +/- 26.8%. Of those with
      primary LT, survival at 1, 5 and 10 years was 93.3 +/- 6.4%, 93.3 +/- 6.4% and
      93.3 +/- 6.4%. CONCLUSIONS: Outstanding results in the treatment of HRH are
      possible in tertiary centers when referral is early (preferably at diagnosis) and
      specialized liver surgery and transplantation facilities are available.

PMID- 20938902
TI  - Hypertonic upper esophageal sphincter in Down's syndrome: a case report.

PMID- 20938903
TI  - [Implant-related fractures of the femoral neck cone adapter of a modular short
      stem hip prosthesis - patient management and operative technique].
AB  - AIM: In cases of unexpected and implant-related mechanical failures, optimal
      surgical treatment and provident information for the patients are mandatory. We
      describe the surgical method to revise the hip stem after fracture of the modular
      cone adapter of a short-stem hip prosthesis and the management of and information
      for all patients who have received a fracture-prone implant. METHOD: We present
      two out of four cases in a series of fractures of the femoral neck cone adapter
      of a modular short-stem hip prosthesis. The patients in our hospital were male,
      aged 69 and 52 years with a body weight of 73 and 88 kg. Implant failures
      occurred 18 and 20 months after the index THA. RESULTS: Using special instruments
      available at short notice, the revision operation can be carried out with a
      primary implant (case 2) with reasonable technical expenditure, unless
      pathological-anatomic reasons do not allow it (case 1 with varus-flexion
      deformity and a rotational deviation that required a revision long-stem with
      combined correction osteotomy). Once the implants were fully integrated and
      tightly secured to the bone, they were loosened with flexible thin chisels.
      Drilling a hole and a thread into the fractured cone adapter allows the
      connection of a removal instrument for implant extraction. The clinical and
      radiological examination showed good results with an HSS of 100 points at 24
      months follow-up. Our institution decided to inform all 54 patients who had
      received the failure-prone implant device. The provision of advice to the
      patients at risk proved to be effective. CONCLUSIONS: When using new implants and
      procedures, the surgeons must inform the patients of hitherto unknown risks. The
      recipients of a failure-prone implant must be provided with comprehensive
      information. It is advisable for both the clinic and the manufacturer to contact
      the patients and advise them on how to cope with the situation. In most cases,
      the revision operation of the stem component can be performed with a primary
      implant without significant additional bone loss.

PMID- 20938904
TI  - [Typical and atypical HRCT findings of thoracic sarcoidosis].

PMID- 20938911
TI  - Organizing vocational rehabilitation through interorganizational integration--a
      case study in Sweden.
AB  - This study describes and analysis five years of experiences from organising an
      interorganisational project on vocational rehabilitation. A qualitative case
      study approach was used based on interviews, focus group discussions and
      documents. The aim was to analyse how and why the project was organised in the
      way it was in relation to theories of integration, organisational change and
      learning. The results show that the vocational rehabilitation project was
      initiated mainly for financial reasons. It was organised as a mechanistic system
      with the aim of producing different activities, where financial control and
      support from all the levels of the organisations involved was important. A new
      bureaucracy between the different authorities involved was built up, where the
      vertical (top-down) integration was more important than the horizontal. The
      result was scattered islands of interprofessional work in different teams, but
      without contacts between them. The project did not influence the processes or
      workflows of the organisations involved in the project, which would be important
      from a service-user perspective. It may therefore be questionnable to organise
      the development of interorganisational integration for vocational rehabilitation
      in a separate project organisation. Instead, interorganisational networks with
      focus on interconnections of processes and workflows may be more flexible and
      adaptable.

PMID- 20938912
TI  - Antiviral activity of narlaprevir combined with ritonavir and pegylated
      interferon in chronic hepatitis C patients.
AB  - Narlaprevir (SCH 900518) is a potent inhibitor of the hepatitis C virus (HCV)
      nonstructural protein 3 serine protease that is primarily metabolized by the
      cytochrome P450-3A4 system. In order to explore the use of ritonavir-based
      pharmacokinetic enhancement of an HCV protease inhibitor, this study investigated
      the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics, and antiviral activity of narlaprevir
      (with or without ritonavir) administered as monotherapy and as combination
      therapy with pegylated interferon-alpha-2b (PEG-IFN-alpha-2b) to HCV genotype 1
      infected patients. This was a randomized, placebo-controlled, two-period, blinded
      study in 40 HCV genotype 1-infected patients (naive and treatment-experienced).
      In period 1, narlaprevir was administered for 7 days as 800 mg three times daily
      without ritonavir or 400 mg twice daily with 200 mg ritonavir twice daily. In
      period 2, after a 4-week washout, the same dose and regimen of narlaprevir was
      administered in combination with PEG-IFN-alpha-2b for 14 days. Upon completion of
      period 2, all patients initiated PEG-IFN-alpha-2b and ribavirin treatment. A
      rapid and persistent decline in plasma HCV-RNA was observed in both treatment
      experienced and treatment-naive patients during period 1, with a mean viral load
      decline of at least 4 log10 in all treatment groups. A high percentage of both
      treatment-experienced (50%) and treatment-naive (>= 60%) patients had
      undetectable HCV-RNA (< 25 IU/mL) after period 2. Standard of care resulted in
      sustained virological response (SVR) rates of 38% and 81% in treatment
      experienced and treatment-naive patients, respectively. Narlaprevir (with or
      without ritonavir) alone or in combination with PEG-IFN-alpha-2b was safe and
      well tolerated. CONCLUSION: Narlaprevir administration resulted in a robust HCV
      RNA decline and high SVR rates when followed by standard of care in both
      treatment-experienced and treatment-naive HCV genotype 1-infected patients.

PMID- 20938914
TI  - Consumption of serum lipid-reducing drugs in Serbia compared with Scandinavian
      countries: a population-based study, 2004-2008.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to measure the consumption of serum lipid
      reducing drugs in Serbia from 2004 to 2008, to compare this data with that from
      Scandinavian countries, and to compare the consumption of lipid lowering drugs
      and the rate of mortality from cardiovascular diseases in these countries.
      METHODS: A population-based study was undertaken to analyse lipid lowering drug
      consumption using the Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical/Defined Daily Dose
      methodology. Cause-specific mortality rates were obtained from the WHOSIS annual
      report for the year 2009. RESULTS: In 2008, a total of 1207.44 DDD/1000 inh/day
      of all drugs, was used in Serbia, of which 38.89% belonged to drugs for
      cardiovascular diseases. While in Scandinavian countries 17.03-24.80% of drugs
      for cardiovascular diseases belonged to lipid-lowering drugs, in Serbia it was
      substantially lower (3%). In 2004 in Serbia, 1.50 DDD/1000 inh/day of statins
      were used. In 2008, this value was 14.24 DDD/1000 inh/day. In every investigated
      country, simvastatin made up more than 50% of the consumption of statins. After
      simvastatin, the next most frequently used statin was atorvastatin, with 5.52,
      11.00, 11.17 and 24.82 DDD/1000 inh/day, in Serbia, Denmark, Finland and Norway,
      respectively. In 2004 Serbia has the highest mortality rate for cardiovascular
      diseases among investigated countries with 762/100.000 inhabitants and Norway has
      the lowest rate with 158/100.000 inhabitants. CONCLUSION: The use of lipid
      lowering drugs is 6-8 times lower in Serbia than in Scandinavian countries but
      there is an evident rise in lipid lowering drugs consumption in Serbia during
      years.

PMID- 20938915
TI  - Kaede-centrin1 labeling of mother and daughter centrosomes in mammalian
      neocortical neural progenitors.
AB  - The importance of the centrosome in regulating basic cellular processes and cell
      fate decisions has become increasingly evident from recent studies tracing the
      etiology of developmental disorders to mutations in genes encoding centrosomal
      proteins. This unit details a protocol for a fluorescence-based pulse labeling of
      centrioles of neural progenitor cells in the developing neocortex of mice. In
      utero electroporation of Kaede-Centrin1 followed by in utero or ex vivo
      photoconversion allows a direct monitoring of the inheritance of centrosomes
      containing centrioles of different ages in dividing neocortical neural
      progenitors (i.e., radial glial cells). This is achieved by combining the
      irreversible photoconversion capacity of the Kaede protein from green to red
      fluorescence with the faithful duplication of the centrosome during each cell
      cycle. After two mitotic divisions following photoconversion, mother centrosomes
      containing the original labeled centriole appear in both red and green
      fluorescence, and can be distinguished from daughter centrosomes which appear in
      green fluorescence only. This facilitates the study of the inheritance and
      behavior of the mother and daughter centrosomes in asymmetric cell divisions in
      the developing mammalian neocortex.

PMID- 20938916
TI  - From image to data using common image-processing techniques.
AB  - A digital microscopy image is an array of number values, which with adequate
      contrast can be interpreted as spatial information. Through processing and
      analysis by mathematical means, using computer-assisted imaging software
      programs, raw image data contrast can be enhanced to improve the extraction of
      image features for measurement and analysis. This mathematical feature extraction
      (referred to as segmentation) provides the basis for general image processing.
      The methods discussed in this unit address common image analysis challenges such
      as object counting with touching objects, objects within other objects, and
      object identification in a field with uneven illumination or uneven brightness,
      along with step-by-step procedures for achieving these results.

PMID- 20938918
TI  - Evaluation and purchase of confocal microscopes: numerous factors to consider.
AB  - The purchase of a confocal microscope is a difficult decision. Many factors need
      to be considered, which include hardware, software, company, support, service,
      and price. These issues are discussed to help guide the purchasing process.

PMID- 20938917
TI  - Microsphere-based flow cytometry protease assays for use in protease activity
      detection and high-throughput screening.
AB  - This protocol describes microsphere-based protease assays for use in flow
      cytometry and high-throughput screening. This platform measures a loss of
      fluorescence from the surface of a microsphere due to the cleavage of an attached
      fluorescent protease substrate by a suitable protease enzyme. The assay format
      can be adapted to any site or protein-specific protease of interest and results
      can be measured in both real time and as endpoint fluorescence assays on a flow
      cytometer. Endpoint assays are easily adapted to microplate format for flow
      cytometry high-throughput analysis and inhibitor screening.

PMID- 20938919
TI  - Multi-photon imaging.
AB  - Multi-photon microscopy, now in its twentieth year, has developed into one of the
      most robust and powerful techniques for live cell and in vivo fluorescence
      imaging. Although its theoretical framework is nearly a century old, it has only
      become a practical tool for biological research with the development of ultrafast
      lasers and scanning microscopy techniques. In this unit, we outline the basic
      principles of multi-photon microscopy, paying special attention to technical
      considerations for biological applications. Furthermore, we discuss some common
      applications of the technique, mainly in the field of live cell and in vivo
      imaging. We illustrate how multi-photon microscopy can be utilized to address
      questions ranging from structural cell changes to trafficking of membrane
      proteins in living organisms, often with resolutions of hundreds of milliseconds.
      We conclude by outlining the necessary elements needed to establish a successful
      two-photon microscopy system.

PMID- 20938920
TI  - Titration of fluorochrome-conjugated antibodies for labeling cell surface markers
      on live cells.
AB  - Nonspecific antibody binding is best eliminated by optimizing the amount and
      concentration of the antibody. An antibody titration assay should be applied to
      determine the antibody amount and concentration resulting in the highest signal
      of the positive population and the lowest signal of the negative population.
      While conventional antibody titration protocols focus on the concentration of the
      antibody, this protocol for antibody titration considers the antibody
      concentration, as well as the antibody amount. Thus, it is designed to find the
      optimal antibody concentration for labeling antigens expressed on the surface
      membrane of live cells, while nonspecific antibody binding is kept to a minimum.

PMID- 20938921
TI  - Phenotypic analysis using very small volumes of blood.
AB  - Analysis of cell-surface phenotype of peripheral blood leukocytes is one of the
      most common applications of flow cytometry. In mouse research, the small size of
      the animal limits the amount of blood available. Standard staining methods using
      lysis of erythrocytes or gradient separation followed by repeated washing involve
      unavoidable losses of cells that generally limit analysis of blood to terminal
      methods. Time-course studies, therefore, require sacrifice of groups of mice at
      each time point. Thus, a method is needed that can be used with much smaller
      volumes of blood. This will allow serial sampling of the same animal over time,
      decreasing experimental variability and reducing animal use. The method described
      here is a no-lyse, no-wash method that uses triggering on a fluorescence
      parameter. The method allows routine analysis of the phenotype of peripheral
      blood leukocytes using whole-blood volumes of 20 ul per tube. The data are
      comparable with values from traditional methods requiring much higher volumes of
      blood. Due to interference by erythrocytes, light-scatter parameters are not
      usable with this method. This method has been used for time-course studies of
      peripheral blood populations in mice lasting as long as four weeks.

PMID- 20938922
TI  - A method for preparing primary retinal cell cultures for evaluating the
      neuroprotective and neuritogenic effect of factors on axotomized mature CNS
      neurons.
AB  - Retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) are central nervous system neurons with a very
      limited ability for axon regeneration. This unit details a cell culture
      technique, which can be used to functionally screen factors/compounds for their
      neuritogenic and neuroprotective effects on RGCs. In this protocol, the retina is
      isolated, digested in a papain solution, and after trituration, the RGCs are
      cultured. The neuritogenic effect of applied factors/compounds on RGCs in the
      medium is functionally determined by measuring the average neurite length of
      betaIII-tubulin-positive RGCs in culture after 3 days. This protocol takes 3 to 7
      days to perform depending on the application to complete, and is suitable to
      reliably test pharmacological and genetic approaches for their axon growth
      promoting and neuroprotective potential on mature RGCs.

PMID- 20938923
TI  - Production and titration of lentiviral vectors.
AB  - Lentiviral vectors have emerged over the last decade as powerful, reliable, and
      safe tools for stable gene transfer in a wide variety of mammalian cells. Unlike
      other vectors derived from oncoretroviruses, they allow for stable gene delivery
      into most nondividing primary cells, including neurons. This is why lentivectors
      (LVs) are becoming the most useful and promising tools in the field of
      neuroscience, not only for research, but also for future gene and cell therapy
      approaches. LVs derived from HIV-1 have gradually evolved to display many
      desirable features aimed at increasing both their safety and their versatility.
      These latest designs are reviewed in this unit. This unit also describes
      protocols for production and titration of LVs that can be implemented in a
      research laboratory setting, with an emphasis on standardization to improve
      transposability of results between laboratories.

PMID- 20938924
TI  - Modeling appetitive Pavlovian-instrumental interactions in mice.
AB  - In appetitive Pavlovian associative learning, a stimulus (conditioned stimulus,
      CS) that has been associated with the delivery of a reinforcing event
      (unconditioned stimulus, US; e.g., food) can subsequently elicit or modulate goal
      directed instrumental behaviors. For example, a Pavlovian CS can serve to
      reinforce (novel) instrumental behavior (conditioned reinforcement or CRf), or it
      can energize and potentiate ongoing instrumental responses when presented non
      contingently (Pavlovian-instrumental transfer or PIT). Notably, these different
      effects of a Pavlovian CS on instrumental behavior are mediated by dissociable
      psychological and neurobiological mechanisms. Given the critical role that
      Pavlovian-instrumental interactions play in regulating motivated behavior and
      maladaptive manifestations of motivation such as eating disorders and addictions,
      understanding the underlying psychological and neurobiological mechanisms will be
      important. This unit describes behavioral protocols that produce robust and
      reliable PIT and CRf in mice and that open the door for future studies using
      transgenic approaches into the molecular mechanisms underlying associative
      learning and motivation.

PMID- 20938925
TI  - Social recognition assay in the rat.
AB  - Neuropsychiatric disorders encompass a broad patient population in a variety of
      disease states across all age groups and are often accompanied by deficits in
      short-term/working memory. However, most preclinical models that allow for an
      assessment of cognitive enhancement do not provide robust behavioral readouts
      with a level of throughput sufficient to support modern drug discovery efforts.
      The rat social recognition assay presented in this unit is one exception that has
      been increasingly employed to test new chemical entities for enhancing cognitive
      activity. The test is simple in design and takes advantage of the spontaneous
      behavior of rats to investigate conspecifics. The protocol in this unit is
      designed to evaluate the effects of a test substance on the short-term/working
      memory of adult male rats employing 30-min or 2-hr pretreatment times.

PMID- 20938926
TI  - Drug-induced sexual dysfunction in rats.
AB  - This unit describes the testing of sexual behaviors of male Wistar rats. The
      described test enables the detection of stimulatory and inhibitory profiles of
      compounds. The test includes four training sessions to reach a stable sexual
      performance, followed by acute and/or chronic administration of drugs. The main
      quantifiable sexual behaviors are number of mounts (no vaginal penetration),
      intromissions (vaginal penetration), and ejaculations. By comparing the test
      compound to reference compound(s), sexual (side) effects can be determined.

PMID- 20938928
TI  - Space use selectivity by chimpanzees and gorillas in an indoor-outdoor enclosure.
AB  - Understanding the relationship between physical environments and nonhuman primate
      behavior is a key element for effective care and management in a range of
      settings. The physical features of the captive environment, including not only
      gross useable space but also environmental complexity, can have a significant
      influence on primate behavior and ultimately, animal welfare. But despite this
      connection, there remains relatively little conclusive data on how captive
      primates, especially great apes, use the spaces provided to them, especially in
      modern, indoor-outdoor enclosures that have become more prevalent in recent
      years. In this study, we used four years of detailed data on where 23 great apes
      (chimpanzees and gorillas) positioned themselves within a modern, indoor-outdoor
      zoo enclosure to determine not only how the apes utilized their space but also
      how access to outdoor areas affected their spatial selectivity. We found that
      both species used relatively little of their available space: chimpanzees and
      gorillas spent half their time in only 3.2 and 1.5% of their useable three
      dimensional space, respectively. Chimpanzees utilized the outdoor space more than
      gorillas, but access to the outdoors did not affect space selectivity in the
      indoor area for either species. Although both species of ape were highly
      selective in their space use, consideration should be given to the importance of
      providing the choice to locate in a variety of spaces, including outdoor areas.
      These data represent an extremely detailed account of space selectivity by great
      apes in an indoor-outdoor environment and have substantial implications for
      future facility design and captive primate management.

PMID- 20938927
TI  - Characterization of opsin gene alleles affecting color vision in a wild
      population of titi monkeys (Callicebus brunneus).
AB  - The color vision of most platyrrhine primates is determined by alleles at the
      polymorphic X-linked locus coding for the opsin responsible for the middle- to
      long-wavelength (M/L) cone photopigment. Females who are heterozygous at the
      locus have trichromatic vision, whereas homozygous females and all males are
      dichromatic. This study characterized the opsin alleles in a wild population of
      the socially monogamous platyrrhine monkey Callicebus brunneus (the brown titi
      monkey), a primate that an earlier study suggests may possess an unusual number
      of alleles at this locus and thus may be a subject of special interest in the
      study of primate color vision. Direct sequencing of regions of the M/L opsin gene
      using feces-, blood-, and saliva-derived DNA obtained from 14 individuals yielded
      evidence for the presence of three functionally distinct alleles, corresponding
      to the most common M/L photopigment variants inferred from a physiological study
      of cone spectral sensitivity in captive Callicebus.

PMID- 20938929
TI  - Tetraspanins in human epithelial malignancies.
AB  - Transmembrane proteins of the tetraspanin superfamily are implicated in a broad
      spectrum of cellular processes in many biological systems in both health and
      disease. Tetraspanins form specialized membrane microdomains on the cell surface
      which control cell proliferation and migration through various adhesion and
      growth factor receptors. Recent extensive research has shown that expression of
      various tetraspanins and their associated partners is deregulated in human
      malignancies. Although, for the most part, the degree of involvement of
      tetraspanins in carcinogenesis remains to be established, increasing evidence
      suggests that these proteins might be of clinical significance in at least some
      malignancies. Here we provide a comprehensive review of the existing data on
      expression of tetraspanins in breast cancer and other human epithelial tumours,
      with an emphasis on their value as potential prognostic markers.

PMID- 20938930
TI  - In the ring with polycystic kidney disease--avoiding the knockout punch.
AB  - Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (PKD) is an inherited disease that
      results from mutations in either polycystin (PKD1) or polycystin 2 (PKD2), both
      of which are large, complex, and multifunctional proteins whose loss results in
      the development of numerous fluid-filled cysts and fibrosis that compromise renal
      function. A number of spontaneous and engineered mouse models of PKD have
      provided some understanding of many aspects of cyst development, modifier genes,
      and mechanistic pathways, but fall short of reproducing the human disease
      accurately. Two recent papers in The Journal of Pathology set out new models
      using miRNA, or inducible and targeted recombination, that achieve partial or
      timed suppression of Pkd1. Instead of knocking out Pkd1 immediately, or
      completely, these more subtle approaches may help deliver more faithful models of
      this significant human renal disease.

PMID- 20938932
TI  - Synthesis and properties of terthiophene and bithiophene derivatives
      functionalized by BF2 chelation: a new type of electron acceptor based on
      quadrupolar structures.
AB  - Terthiophene and bithiophene derivatives functionalized by BF(2) chelation were
      synthesized as a new type of electron acceptor, and their properties were
      compared to those of bifuran and biphenyl derivatives. These new compounds are
      characterized by quadrupolar structures due to resonance contributors generated
      by BF(2) chelation. The bithiophene derivative has a strong quadrupolar character
      compared with the bifuran and biphenyl derivatives because their hydrolytic
      analyses indicated that the bithiophene moiety has a larger on-site Coulomb
      repulsion than the others. The terthiophene derivative has a smaller on-site
      Coulomb repulsion than the bithiophene derivative due to the addition of a
      thiophene spacer. These BF(2) complexes exhibit long-wavelength absorptions and
      according to measurements of ionization potentials and absorption edges they have
      energetically low-lying HOMOs and LUMOs. The crystal structure of the bithiophene
      derivative is of the herringbone type, with short F...S and F...C contacts
      affording dense crystal packing. n-Type semiconducting behaviour was observed in
      organic field-effect transistors based on these BF(2) complexes.

PMID- 20938931
TI  - A new class of fluorescent boronic acids that have extraordinarily high
      affinities for diols in aqueous solution at physiological pH.
AB  - The boronic acid group is an important recognition moiety for sensor design.
      Herein, we report a series of isoquinolinylboronic acids that have
      extraordinarily high affinities for diol-containing compounds at physiological
      pH. In addition, 5- and 8-isoquinolinylboronic acids also showed fairly high
      binding affinities towards D-glucose (K(a)=42 and 46 M(-1), respectively). For
      the first time, weak but encouraging binding of cis-cyclohexanediol was found for
      these boronic acids. Such binding was coupled with significant fluorescence
      changes. Furthermore, 4- and 6-isoquinolinylboronic acids also showed the ability
      to complex methyl alpha-D-glucopyranose (K(a)=3 and 2 M(-1), respectively).

PMID- 20938933
TI  - A time-resolved fluorescence probe for dipeptidyl peptidase 4 and its application
      in inhibitor screening.
AB  - The prevalence of type 2 diabetes is increasing dramatically throughout the
      world. Recently, dipeptidyl peptidase 4 (DPP4) was identified as a potential
      antidiabetes target. Many DPP4 inhibitors, such as sitagliptin and vildagliptin,
      have been developed and marketed, but superior therapeutic agents are still
      required. Therefore, we have developed new methodology for screening of DPP4
      inhibitors. Absorption-based measurements with para-nitroaniline or fluorescence
      based measurements with the coumarin derivative 7-amino-4-methylcoumarin are
      often used for the screening of protease inhibitors, including DPP4 inhibitors,
      but these strategies are not sufficiently sensitive because of interfering
      background absorption and fluorescence, thus giving rise to many false-positive
      and false-negative results. Therefore, we have designed and synthesised a novel
      DPP4 probe (Gly-Pro-BCD-Tb; Gly=glycine, Pro=proline, andBCD defines the backbone
      of the probe comprising an aniline derivative as on/off switch, a 7-amino-4
      methyl-2(1H)-quinolinone (cs-124) as antenna moiety, and a diethylenetriamine
      N,N,N',N'',N''-pentaacetic acid (DTPA) as chelator moiety, Tb=terbium) for time
      resolved fluorescence (TRF) measurements. TRF measurements with Gly-Pro-BCD-Tb
      showed high sensitivity and reliability in the inhibitory assay relative to Gly
      Pro-MCA (MCA=4-methylcoumarin-7-amide), a conventional fluorescence probe for
      DPP4. Further, we employed our probe for high-throughput DPP4 inhibitor screening
      with 3841 randomly selected compounds and found that epibestatin, an epimer of
      bestatin (a well-known anticancer drug and general aminopeptidase inhibitor),
      showed dose-dependent DPP4 inhibitory activity. Interestingly, bestatin did not
      exhibit DPP4 inhibitory activity. We believe that this screening system will be
      useful for the discovery of DPP4 inhibitors with novel structural scaffolds.

PMID- 20938934
TI  - Heterometallic modular metal-organic 3D frameworks assembled via new tris-beta
      diketonate metalloligands: nanoporous materials for anion exchange and
      scaffolding of selected anionic guests.
AB  - The modular engineering of heterometallic nanoporous metal-organic frameworks
      (MOFs) based on novel tris-chelate metalloligands, prepared using the
      functionalised beta-diketone 1,3-bis(4'-cyanophenyl)-1,3-propanedione (HL), is
      described. The complexes [M(III)L(3)] (M=Fe(3+), Co(3+)) and [M(II)L(3)](NEt(4))
      (M=Mn(2+), Co(2+), Zn(2+), Cd(2+)) have been synthesised and characterised, all
      of which exhibit a distorted octahedral chiral structure. The presence of six exo
      oriented cyano donor groups on each complex makes it a suitable building block
      for networking through interactions with external metal ions. We have prepared
      two families of MOFs by reacting the metalloligands [M(III)L(3)] and [M(II)L(3)](
      ) with many silver salts AgX (X=NO(3)(-), BF(4)(-), PF(6)(-), AsF(6)(-), SbF(6)(
      ), CF(3)SO(3)(-), tosylate), specifically the [M(III)L(3)Ag(3)]X(3).Solv and
      [M(II)L(3)Ag(3)]X(2).Solv network species. Very interestingly, all of these
      network species exhibit the same type of 3D structure and crystallise in the same
      trigonal space group with similar cell parameters, in spite of the different
      metal ions, ionic charges and X(-) counteranions of the silver salts. We have
      also succeeded in synthesising trimetallic species such as
      [Zn(x)Fe(y)L(3)Ag(3)](ClO(4))((2x+3y)).Solv and
      [Zn(x)Cd(y)L(3)Ag(3)](ClO(4))(2).Solv (with x+y=1). All of the frameworks can be
      described as sixfold interpenetrated pcu nets, considering the Ag(+) ions as
      simple digonal spacers. Each individual net is homochiral, containing only Delta
      or Lambda nodes; the whole array contains three nets of type Delta and three nets
      of type Lambda. Otherwise, taking into account the presence of weak Ag-C sigma
      bonds involving the central carbon atoms of the beta-diketonate ligands of
      adjacent nets, the six interpenetrating pcu networks are joined into a unique non
      interpenetrated six-connected frame with the rare acs topology. The networks
      contain large parallel channels of approximate hexagonal-shaped sections that
      represent 37-48% of the cell volume and include the anions and many guest solvent
      molecules. The guest solvent molecules can be reversibly removed by thermal
      activation with retention of the framework structure, which proved to be stable
      up to about 270 degrees C, as confirmed by TGA and powder XRD monitoring. The
      anions could be easily exchanged in single-crystal to single-crystal processes,
      thereby allowing the insertion of selected anions into the framework channels.

PMID- 20938935
TI  - Enhancing the blocking temperature in single-molecule magnets by incorporating 3d
      5d exchange interactions.
AB  - We report the first single-molecule magnet (SMM) to incorporate the [Os(CN)(6)](3
      ) moiety. The compound (1) has a trimeric, cyanide-bridged Mn(III)-Os(III)
      Mn(III) skeleton in which Mn(III) designates a [Mn(5-Brsalen)(MeOH)](+) unit (5
      Brsalen=N,N'-ethylenebis(5-bromosalicylideneiminato)). X-ray crystallographic
      experiments reveal that 1 is isostructural with the Mn(III)-Fe(III)-Mn(III)
      analogue (2). Both compounds exhibit a frequency-dependent out-of-phase chi''(T)
      alternating current (ac) susceptibility signal that is suggestive of SMM
      behaviour. From the Arrhenius expression, the effective barrier for 1 is found to
      be Delta(eff)/k(B)=19 K (tau(0)=5.0*10(-7) s; k(B)=Boltzmann constant), whereas
      only the onset (1.5 kHz, 1.8 K) of chi''(T) is observed for 2, thus indicating a
      higher blocking temperature for 1. The strong spin-orbit coupling present in
      Os(III) isolates the E'(1g(1/2))(O(h)*) Kramers doublet that exhibits orbital
      contributions to the single-ion anisotropy. Magnetic susceptibility and inelastic
      neutron-scattering measurements reveal that substitution of [Fe(CN)(6)](3-) by
      the [Os(CN)(6)](3-) anion results in larger ferromagnetic, anisotropic exchange
      interactions going from quasi-Ising exchange interactions in 2 to pure Ising
      exchange for 1 with J(parallel)(MnOs)=-30.6 cm(-1). The combination of diffuse
      magnetic orbitals and the Ising-type exchange interaction effectively contributes
      to a higher blocking temperature. This result is in accordance with theoretical
      predictions and paves the way for the design of a new generation of SMMs with
      enhanced SMM properties.

PMID- 20938936
TI  - Studies toward an ideal fluorescence method to measure palladium in
      functionalized organic molecules: effects of sodium borohydride, temperature,
      phosphine ligand, and phosphate ions on kinetics.
AB  - Residual metals in fine chemicals are currently detected by using inductively
      coupled plasma mass spectrometry, which requires expensive instrumentation and
      does not have high-throughput capabilities. Although fluorescent probes can be
      amenable to high-throughput analyses of metals, the utility of such analyses is
      limited due to the lack of generality. Herein, we report a significant
      improvement (~19-fold) to our previously reported catalysis-based fluorescent
      probe for palladium. Specifically, we found that slightly elevated temperature
      dramatically improved the generality of the method and that the deallylation
      reaction of the nonfluorescent compound 1 was accelerated by phosphate ions in
      aqueous media. This method was capable of detecting 0.2 ppb palladium. We
      demonstrated reasonably accurate palladium detection in various active
      pharmaceutical ingredients and highly functionalized organic compounds.

PMID- 20938937
TI  - Mechanistic investigation of organolanthanide-mediated hydroamination of
      conjugated aminodienes: a comprehensive computational assessment of various
      routes for diene activation.
AB  - The present computational mechanistic study comprehensively explores alternative
      scenarios for activation of the amine-linked diene C=C linkage toward C-N ring
      closure in intramolecular hydroamination of a prototypical aminodiene by a well
      characterised lanthanocene-amido catalyst. Firstly, the non-insertive mechanism
      by Scott featuring ring closure with concomitant amino proton delivery onto the
      diene unit has been explored and key features have been defined. This scenario
      has been compared with the classical stepwise insertion mechanism that involves
      rapid substrate association/dissociation equilibria for the 3t-S1 resting state
      and also for azacycle intermediates 4s, 4a, facile and reversible exocyclic
      migratory diene insertion into the La-N(amido) sigma-bond, linked to turnover
      limiting La-C azacycle aminolysis. The Ln-N sigma-bond insertive mechanism
      prevails for the examined intramolecular hydroamination of (4E,6)
      heptadienylamine 1t by [Cp*(2)La-CH(TMS)(2)] starting material 2.The following
      aspects are in support of this mechanism: 1) the derived rate law is consistent
      with the observed empirical rate law; 2) the assessed effective barrier for
      turnover-limiting aminolysis does agree remarkably well with empirically
      determined Eyring parameters; 3) the ring-ether double-bond selectivity is
      consistently elucidated. This study reveals that the non-insertive mechanism is
      not achievable for the particular lanthanocene-amido catalyst and furthermore
      cannot account for the observed product spectrum. Notwithstanding of these
      findings, the non-insertive mechanism cannot be discarded a priori for
      intramolecular aminodiene hydroamination. Spatial demands around the lanthanide
      centre influence the two mechanisms differently. The Ln-N sigma-bond insertive
      mechanism critically relies on a sufficiently accessible lanthanide and enhanced
      encumbrance renders cyclisation and aminolysis steps less accessible kinetically.
      It contrasts with the non-insertive mechanism, where greater lanthanide
      protection has a rather modest influence. The present study indicates that the
      non-insertive mechanism would prevail if the lanthanide centre were to be
      protected effectively against C=C bond approach. Notably, a different product
      spectrum would be expected for aminodiene hydroamination following the insertive
      or non-insertive route.

PMID- 20938938
TI  - Atomistic in situ investigation of the morphogenesis of grains during pressure
      induced phase transitions: molecular dynamics simulations of the B1-B2
      transformation of RbCl.
AB  - The mechanistic details of the pressure-induced B1-B2 phase transition of
      rubidium chloride are investigated in a series of transition path sampling
      molecular dynamics simulations. The B2->B1 transformation proceeds by nucleation
      and growth involving several, initially separated, nucleation centers. We show
      how independent and partially correlated nucleation events can function within a
      global mechanism and explore the evolution of phase domains during the
      transition. From this, the mechanisms of grain boundary formation are elaborated.
      The atomic structure of the domain-domain interfaces fully support the concept of
      Bernal polyhedra. Indeed, the manifold of different grain morphologies obtained
      from our simulations may be rationalized on the basis of essentially only two
      different kinds of Bernal polyhedra. The latter also play a crucial role for the
      B1->B2 transformation and specific grain boundary motifs are identified as
      preferred nucleation centers for this transition.

PMID- 20938939
TI  - Host-guest inclusion compound from nitramine crystals exposed to condensed carbon
      dioxide.
AB  - HNIW or CL20 (2,4,6,8,10,12-hexanitro-2,4,6,8,10,12-hexaazaisowurtzitane) is a
      nitramine, which is considered as the highest energetic molecular compound known
      to date, therefore, attracting increasing interest in propulsion applications.
      Additionally, CL20 is an interesting system for fundamental studies, exhibiting
      several polymorphs, which can behave as host lattices for trapping guest
      molecules. Herein, a new CL20 structure that contains inserted CO(2) molecules is
      reported. A combination of Fourier transform infra red (FTIR) spectroscopy,
      scanning electron microscopy (SEM), single-crystal X-ray diffraction, and thermal
      analyses (thermogravimetric analysis coupled with mass spectrometry and
      differential scanning calorimetry) was used to characterize this new material.

PMID- 20938940
TI  - Molecular alloys: experimental and theoretical investigations on the substitution
      of zinc by cadmium and mercury in the homologous series [Mo(M'R)12] and [M(M'R)8]
      (M=Pd, Pt; M'=Zn, Cd, Hg).
AB  - The synthesis and structural characterization of novel, metal-rich, highly
      coordinated compounds [Mo(M'R)(12)] and [M(M'R)(8)] (M: Pd, Pt, Mo; M': Zn, Cd;
      R: Me=CH(3), Cp*=pentamethylcyclopentadienyl) are reported. Additionally, a
      description of the bonding situation of the new compounds by means of quantum
      chemical calculations is presented including the Hg analogues. Reaction of
      [Pt(GaCp*)(4)] with CdMe(2) results in the formation of the unprecedented all-Cd
      coordinated [Pt(CdMe)(4)(CdCp*)(4)] (1). Similarly, the treatment of the all-Zn
      coordinated [Pd(ZnMe)(4)(ZnCp*)(4)] with CdMe(2) affords the novel Zn/Cd mixed
      compound [Pd(CdMe)(4)(ZnCp*)(4)] (2). The related Zn/Cd mixed compound
      [Mo(ZnCp*)(3)(CdMe)(9)] (3) is prepared by reaction of [Mo(ZnCp*)(4)(GaMe)(4)]
      with an excess amount of CdMe(2). All compounds were analyzed by (1)H and (13)C
      NMR spectroscopy, elemental analysis, and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The
      bonding situation of these highly coordinated, metal-rich molecules 1-3 were
      studied by quantum-chemical calculations using density functional theory (DFT) at
      the BP86/TZ2P+ level, atoms-in-molecules (AIM) analysis, and energy-decomposition
      analysis (EDA), as well as the its natural orbitals for chemical valence
      variation (EDA-NOCV) and including the hypothetically all-Hg-coordinated
      analogues. The results point out that the radial interactions M-M' in the
      icosahedral compounds that have twelve ligands are best described as classical
      electron-pair-sharing covalent bonds, whereas the dodecahedral species, which
      have eight ligands, exhibit metal-ligand donor-acceptor bonds. The attractive
      interactions between the metal-ligand fragments M'R by means of M'-M' bonds are
      weaker but not insignificant. All complexes fulfill the 18-electron rule. The
      analysis clarifies the electronic structures as being distinctly different from
      typical endohedral clusters M@(M''R)(n) that exhibit strong peripheral M''-M''
      interactions: The M'-M' bonds are not strong enough to yield stable (M'R)(n)
      cages.

PMID- 20938941
TI  - Growth of crystalline polyaminoborane through catalytic dehydrogenation of
      ammonia borane on FeB nanoalloy.

PMID- 20938942
TI  - Reactivity of polyoxoniobates in acidic solution: controllable assembly and
      disassembly based on niobium-substituted germanotungstates.
AB  - The reactivity of polyoxoniobates has been studied in acidic solution by grafting
      niobium onto trivacant Keggin-type germanotungstates. Four niobium-containing
      compounds were obtained in the course of this study.
      Cs(6.5)K(0.5)[GeW(9)(NbO(2))(3)O(37)].6H(2)O (Cs(6.5)K(0.5)-1) synthesized by the
      reaction of K(7)H[Nb(6)O(19)] and A-alpha-Na(10)[GeW(9)0(34)] in H(2)O(2)
      solution is a tris(peroxoniobium)-substituted A-alpha-GeW(9) derivative.
      Cs(6.5)K(0.5)[GeW(9)Nb(3)O(40)].10H(2)O (Cs(6.5)K(0.5)-2) is a peroxo-free
      compound obtained by eliminating the peroxo groups in 1. Monomers 1 and 2 as
      precursors can each afford two nanoscale POMs, dimer
      Cs(5)[H(15)Ge(2)W(18)Nb(8)O(88)].18H(2)O (Cs(5)-3) and tetramer
      Cs(8)K(3)H(9)[Ge(4)W(36)Nb(16)O(166)].27H(2)O (Cs(8)K(3)H(9)-4), through the
      formation of Nb-O-Nb bridges. Disassembly through the cleavage of Nb-O-Nb bonds
      from 4 to 2 and 1 was achieved by controlling the pH and by adding H(2)O(2),
      respectively. The transition from 1 to 2 can be achieved by simply adding
      H(2)O(2) to a solution of 1. All four compounds were characterized in the solid
      state by elemental analysis, infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetry, and single
      crystal X-ray diffraction. (183)W NMR analysis proved that the solid-state
      structures of polyanions 1-4 were retained after dissolution. Disassembly from 4
      to 1 and 2 in solution was observed by (183)W NMR spectroscopy. The UV/Vis
      spectra of 1 at different pH confirmed that it is stable in the pH range of 0.1
      14.0 at room temperature.

PMID- 20938943
TI  - Versatile one-pot reductive alkylation of lactams/amides via amide activation:
      application to the concise syntheses of bioactive alkaloids (+/-)-bgugaine, (+/-)
      coniine, (+)-preussin, and (-)-cassine.

PMID- 20938944
TI  - Enantioselective radical addition to ketimines: a synthetic route towards
      alpha,alpha-disubstituted alpha-amino acids.

PMID- 20938945
TI  - Asymmetric hydroformylation of an enantiomerically pure bicyclic lactam:
      efficient synthesis of functionalised cyclopentylamines.

PMID- 20938946
TI  - Inter-unit contests within a provisioned troop of Sichuan snub-nosed monkeys
      (Rhinopithecus roxellana) in the Qinling Mountains, China.
AB  - Numerical superiority does not always ensure victory in intergroup contests.
      Although group size is likely to determine the maximum resource holding potential
      (RHP) of a group, the realized RHP is the collective outcome of individual group
      members' choices about participation in any given contest. For any group member,
      the choice about participation should be based on the assessment of costs and
      benefits that are affected by both ecological and social factors. In this study,
      we studied inter-unit contests in a provisioned troop of Sichuan snub-nosed
      monkeys (Rhinopithecus roxellana). We spent 368 hr in contact with 9 one-male
      units sharing the same home range, during which we recorded 148 inter-unit
      contests at a provisioning site. Inter-unit contests always started as inter
      individual contests. Contests escalated only when the two individuals were of
      different age-sex classes and one was an adult male. When a contest escalated,
      additional individuals were likely to get involved, and the outcome of the
      contest depended on unit members' choices about participation. The superiority in
      the number of participants rather than the superiority in unit size led to
      victory in inter-unit contests, given that the difference in unit size did not
      predict a difference in the number of participants. Unit members were more likely
      to support others in inter-unit contests in winter when food was sparse than in
      spring when food was abundant. In addition, unit members were more likely to
      support others in escalated contests than in those resulting in displacement,
      indicating that they tended to alter the outcome of a contest to gain immediate
      benefit. Although males initiated most inter-unit contests, a clear win-loss was
      most likely when females joined the fight. This sex difference may reflect the
      benefits to males vs. females of living in a multi-level society.

PMID- 20938947
TI  - Rosiglitazone attenuates age- and diet-associated nonalcoholic steatohepatitis in
      male low-density lipoprotein receptor knockout mice.
AB  - Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a common complication of obesity that
      can progress to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), a serious liver pathology
      that can advance to cirrhosis. The mechanisms responsible for NAFLD progression
      to NASH remain unclear. Lack of a suitable animal model that faithfully
      recapitulates the pathophysiology of human NASH is a major obstacle in
      delineating mechanisms responsible for progression of NAFLD to NASH and, thus,
      development of better treatment strategies. We identified and characterized a
      novel mouse model, middle-aged male low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR)(-/-)
      mice fed a high-fat diet (HFD), which developed NASH associated with four of five
      metabolic syndrome (MS) components. In these mice, as observed in humans, liver
      steatosis and oxidative stress promoted NASH development. Aging exacerbated the
      HFD-induced NASH such that liver steatosis, inflammation, fibrosis, oxidative
      stress, and liver injury markers were greatly enhanced in middle-aged versus
      young LDLR(-/-) mice. Although expression of genes mediating fatty acid oxidation
      and antioxidant responses were up-regulated in young LDLR(-/-) mice fed HFD, they
      were drastically reduced in MS mice. However, similar to recent human trials,
      NASH was partially attenuated by an insulin-sensitizing peroxisome proliferator
      activated receptor-gamma (PPARgamma) ligand, rosiglitazone. In addition to
      expected improvements in MS, newly identified mechanisms of PPARgamma ligand
      effects included stimulation of antioxidant gene expression and mitochondrial
      beta-oxidation, and suppression of inflammation and fibrosis. LDLR-deficiency
      promoted NASH, because middle-aged C57BL/6 mice fed HFD did not develop severe
      inflammation and fibrosis, despite increased steatosis. CONCLUSION: MS mice
      represent an ideal model to investigate NASH in the context of MS, as commonly
      occurs in human disease, and NASH development can be substantially attenuated by
      PPARgamma activation, which enhances beta-oxidation.

PMID- 20938948
TI  - The effects on cardiac functions and arterial blood gases of totally occluding
      nasal packs and nasal packs with airway.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effects on cardiac functions and blood arterial gases
      of totally occluding nasal packs and nasal packs with airway. STUDY DESIGN:
      Prospective, randomized trial. METHODS: Thirty-nine adults without any
      comorbidities underwent septoplasty or septorhinoplasty and had nasal packs
      placed postoperatively; 19 nasal packs with airways and 20 totally occluding
      nasal packs. Twenty-four-hour Holter monitorization was done pre- and
      postoperatively. Arterial blood gas analysis was performed both before the
      operation and after application of nasal packs. RESULTS: Application of packs
      with airway did not cause any significant changes in blood gas parameters.
      Packing with totally occluding nasal packs caused a significant decrease in
      HCO(3) and pCO(2), and insignificant changes in pO(2), O(2) saturation, and pH.
      No serious arrhythmias were observed in any patient. In both groups, nasal
      packing resulted in a significant increase in minimum heart rates, a significant
      decrease in maximum heart rates, and insignificant changes in the mean heart
      rates. Heart rate variability obtained from 24-hour Holter electrocardiography
      was analyzed by power spectral analysis. An increase in the high-frequency (HF)
      domain, a decrease in the low-frequency (LF) domain, and a decrease in the LF/HF
      ratio were observed after packing in both groups. CONCLUSIONS: Nasal pack-induced
      cardiac complications may occur due to increased vagal stimuli secondary to nasal
      mucosa compression rather than obstruction-related hypoxia. The use of nasal
      packs in the elderly patients with cardiopulmonary disease warrants close
      observation. Nasals packs with airways should be preferred in patients
      susceptible to hypoxia.

PMID- 20938949
TI  - Investigation of the toxic functional group of cephalosporins by zebrafish embryo
      toxicity test.
AB  - 2-mercapto-5-methyl-1,3,4-thiadiazole (MMTD) is the 3'-side chain of
      cephalosporin including cefazolin sodium (CFZL) and cefazedone (CFZD). It is not
      only present in finished products as the residual precursor, but also produced
      through drug degradation. Performing the zebrafish embryo toxicity test, we
      evaluated the toxicity effects of cefazolin sodium, cefazedone, their synthetic
      precursors and intermediates. Our results suggest that the teratogenic effect of
      cefazedone and cefazolin sodium on zebrafish embryonic development is associated
      with the structure of MMTD. They mainly interfere with the development of tissues
      and organs derived from embryonic ectoderm and mesoderm. We further consider the
      rationality of the quality control limit of MMTD (1.0%) in the specification. As
      the acceptable daily intakes (ADIs) of cefazolin is 10 ug/kg per day 16 and the
      minimum teratogenic concentration of MMTD is tenfold lower than that of cefazolin
      sodium, we recommend that the acceptable daily intakes of MMTD should be 1 ug/(kg
      day). In general, the therapeutic dose of cefazolin sodium is 2-4 g/day. Based
      upon the calculation of MMTD quality control limits (1.0%), MMTD intake can be 20
      40 mg/day, which will be much more than the acceptable daily intake value of 1
      ug/(kg day). Thus, MMTD should be recommended as a specified impurity and
      qualified as serious again.

PMID- 20938950
TI  - Synthesis and pharmacological evaluation of some 4-oxo-quinoline-2-carboxylic
      acid derivatives as anti-inflammatory and analgesic agents.
AB  - The synthesis and the pharmacological activity of a series of 1-aroyl derivatives
      of kynurenic acid methyl ester (4-oxo-quinolin-2-carboxy methyl (KYNA) esters),
      structurally related to NSAID indomethacin are described. The derivatives were
      screened in vivo for anti-inflammatory and analgesic activities. Most of the
      compounds exhibited good anti-inflammatory and analgesic activities. An automatic
      docking of the synthesized compounds was performed using X-ray structures of COX
      1 and COX-2. Docking results are in good accordance with the experimental
      biological data.

PMID- 20938952
TI  - Endoscopic-assisted, closed rhinoplasty approach for excision of nasoglabellar
      dermoid cysts.
AB  - OBJECTIVE/HYPOTHESIS: To report the feasibility and early results of a new
      surgical technique for excision of nasoglabellar dermoid cysts. STUDY DESIGN:
      Retrospective case series. METHODS: Patients with nasoglabellar dermoid cysts
      without intracranial communication were treated with the endoscopic-assisted,
      closed rhinoplasty approach. Data pertaining to patient characteristics, surgical
      outcome, and cosmetic results were obtained by retrospectively reviewing medical
      records. RESULTS: Three patients were included in the study. The endoscopic
      assisted, closed rhinoplasty approach was utilized in all patients. In each case,
      complete excision was achieved without violation of the cyst wall. All patients
      had satisfactory cosmetic results as assessed by subjective evaluation by the
      parent(s) and surgeon. CONCLUSIONS: The endoscopic-assisted, closed rhinoplasty
      approach allows for safe and complete excision of uncomplicated nasoglabellar
      dermoid cysts. This new surgical technique should be considered in children with
      benign, midline nasal, and forehead masses due to its ease and excellent cosmetic
      results.

PMID- 20938951
TI  - Factors influencing aspiration during swallowing in healthy older adults.
AB  - OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: Although flexible endoscopic evaluation of swallowing
      (FEES) is an established diagnostic tool, little data exist on the effects of
      varying liquid types on the swallowing outcomes in healthy older adults. STUDY
      DESIGN: Prospective. METHODS: Seventy-six healthy older adult volunteers
      participated (i.e., 18, 28, and 30 volunteers in the 7th, 8th, and 9th decades of
      life, respectively). The effects of age, sex, liquid type (i.e., water, skim, 2%
      milk, or whole milk), delivery method (i.e., cup or straw), and volume (i.e., 5,
      10, 15, or 20 mL) on Penetration Aspiration Scale (PAS) scores were assessed
      during FEES. RESULTS: Penetration and silent aspiration were observed in 83% and
      28% of the participants, respectively. This represented 19% and 3% of
      participants' 2,432 swallows, respectively. Liquid type (P = .0001), bolus volume
      (P = .02), and delivery method (P = .04) significantly affected PAS scores. PAS
      scores were significantly (P < .05) greater for milk versus water swallows, whole
      versus skim-milk swallows, 10- and 20-mL versus 5-mL volumes, and straw versus
      cup delivery. The risk for aspiration increased by approximately two-, three-,
      and seven-fold with maximal increases in bolus volume, fat content of liquids,
      and age, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Occasional aspiration may be an
      underappreciated phenomenon during FEES in healthy older adults. In addition,
      milk yielded a higher likelihood of aspiration than water. Accordingly, different
      liquid types, bolus volumes, and delivery methods should be used to ensure an
      accurate assessment of aspiration status in healthy older adults.

PMID- 20938953
TI  - Advantages of intraoral removal over submandibular gland resection for proximal
      submandibular stones: a prospective randomized study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: To compare surgical outcomes after intraoral removal of
      proximal submandibular stones versus traditional submandibular gland (SMG)
      resection. STUDY DESIGN: : A prospective randomized study. METHODS: Forty-four
      consecutive patients were diagnosed with proximal submandibular stones in the
      hilum of the submandibular gland by ultrasonography or computed tomography. All
      of the patients were randomized to undergo removal of the stones either by an
      intraoral approach (IORS group, 22 patients) or through SMG resection (SMGR
      group, 22 patients). We then compared the surgical outcomes between these two
      groups. RESULTS: Stones in the IORS group were significantly smaller than those
      in the SMGR group. There was no significant difference in the distance of the
      stones from the hilum between groups. The mean operation time in the IORS group
      was significantly shorter than that of the SMGR group. The mean hospital stay of
      the IORS group was also significantly shorter than that of the SMGR group, and
      IORS patients felt significantly less pain than did SMGR patients. No patient
      experienced any complication after surgery with the exception of a single patient
      who experienced transient and mild neck swelling. CONCLUSIONS: Intraoral removal
      of proximal submandibular stones has several advantages over SMG resection. Based
      on our results, we suggest that our intraoral removal method be selected as the
      primary procedure for the removal of proximal submandibular stones rather than
      SMG resection.

PMID- 20938955
TI  - Epidemiologic factors affect surgical outcomes in allergic fungal sinusitis.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To evaluate discrepancies in presentation and postoperative outcomes
      in a population of allergic fungal sinusitis (AFS) patients. STUDY DESIGN:
      Prospective cohort study. METHODS: Clinical and demographic records of 48
      patients (26 males, 22 females) who underwent endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS) for
      treatment of AFS were collected from 2003 to 2008. All patients completed pre-
      and postoperative Sinonasal Outcome Test (SNOT)-20 questionnaires. Patients also
      underwent objective grading via the Lund-Kennedy nasal endoscopy and the Lund
      Mackay computed tomography (CT) scan scoring systems. This data was interrogated
      by means of both univariate and multivariate analysis through the use of Mann
      Whitney and chi-square tests to calculate statistical significance. RESULTS:
      Preoperatively African-Americans had significantly higher Lund-Mackay and mean
      endoscopy scores (P < .05) than Caucasians. However, there was no significant
      difference among SNOT-20 scores. Postoperative symptom and endoscopy scores
      improved in all patient groups with significantly greater improvement in women
      (both P < .05) versus men at 12 months. Improvement ratio of preoperative versus
      postoperative endoscopy scores trended toward significance at 6 months (P = .08),
      with African-Americans improving more than Caucasians. CONCLUSIONS: Epidemiologic
      factors may play an important role in the presentation and progression as well as
      in surgical outcomes of patients diagnosed with allergic fungal sinusitis.

PMID- 20938956
TI  - Population-based analysis of oral and oropharyngeal carcinoma: changing trends of
      histopathologic differentiation, survival and patient demographics.
AB  - OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: To examine demographic, histologic, and survival trends of
      oral cavity and oropharyngeal (OC/OP) squamous cell carcinoma (SCCA) patients
      over the past 3 decades. To test the hypothesis that decreased histologic
      differentiation and increased disease-specific survival is related to a decline
      in smoking rates and an increased percentage of human papillomavirus (HPV)
      related tumors. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective cohort analysis was done using the
      Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End-Results (SEER) database of the national
      cancer institute. METHODS: SEER data were used to design seven cohorts: 1975
      1979, 1980-1984, 1985-1989, 1990-1994, 1995-1999, 2000-2004, and 2005-2006.
      Incidence rates, histologic tumor grade. and 5-year survival rates were analyzed
      over time. Further subgroup analysis was performed according to subsite, age,
      gender, and stage. RESULTS: In both OC and OP, well-differentiated (grade I)
      tumors decreased significantly over time, from 33% to 16% between 1975 and 2006
      (P < .001). In contrast, poorly differentiated tumors (grade III) significantly
      increased from 23% to 34% (P < .001). Over time, 5-year survival rates of less
      differentiated tumors improved 57%, whereas survival of well-differentiated
      tumors improved only 15.5%. Tonsil, posterior oropharynx and tongue subsites
      showed the greatest improvement in survival over time. CONCLUSIONS: Comprehensive
      population-based analysis of oral cavity and oropharyngeal carcinoma from 1975 to
      2006 demonstrated significant trends toward decreased tumor differentiation and
      increased survival over time. These findings support the influence of HPV in
      OC/OP carcinoma and may have implications for treatment, prognosis, and possibly
      prevention.

PMID- 20938957
TI  - The vocal fold retractor: a useful tool for diagnosis and treatment of laryngeal
      and tracheal pathology.

PMID- 20938958
TI  - Cortical activation during swallowing rehabilitation maneuvers: a functional MRI
      study of healthy controls.
AB  - OBJECTIVE/HYPOTHESIS: We hypothesize that the central response during swallowing
      rehabilitation is critical and may be exploited to maximize the therapeutic
      benefit. We seek to provide preliminary data regarding the neural networks
      associated with commonly employed rehabilitation strategies to increase our
      understanding of the neural bases underlying these maneuvers. STUDY DESIGN: Case
      series. METHODS: Ten healthy adults (five males, five females), ranging in age
      from 20 to 30 years (mean age = 25 years, SD = 2.5 years) with no previous
      history of neurologic illness or swallowing complaint were subjected to a single
      trial functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) paradigm. The experimental
      tasks consisted of three swallow maneuvers, dry swallow, Effortful swallow, and
      the Mendelsohn maneuver. RESULTS: Multiple regions including the cingulate gyrus,
      inferior frontal gyrus, insula, pre- and postcentral gyrus, inferior parietal
      lobe, superior frontal gyrus, supramarginal gyrus thalamus, were detected. The
      Effortful swallow, when compared to the dry swallow, elicited significant
      differential activation in the left superior temporal gyrus, left insula, left
      inferior parietal lobe, bilateral medial frontal gyrus, and right anterior
      cingulate. The Mendelsohn maneuver, when compared to the dry swallow, elicited
      significant activation in the bilateral postcentral gyrus, bilateral precentral
      gyrus, bilateral cingulate gyrus, bilateral medial frontal gyrus, left inferior
      parietal lobe, left supramarginal gyrus, and right insula. CONCLUSIONS: Our
      findings suggest that a single-trial design is sensitive to delineate a
      widespread neural network of activation in both hemispheres associated with
      rehabilitation tasks. Both the Effortful swallow and Mendelsohn maneuvers
      elicited significantly higher responses in regions related to swallowing,
      suggestive of enhanced cortical activation during these tasks.

PMID- 20938959
TI  - Treatments of various otolaryngological cystic diseases by OK-4321: its
      indications and limitations.
AB  - OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: The aim of this study was to evaluate the indications for,
      and outcomes and limitations of, OK-432 therapy in various otolaryngological
      cystic diseases. STUDY DESIGN: A retrospective clinical study at Yamagata
      University School of Medicine and the Fukase Clinic in Japan. METHODS: Between
      April 1996 and November 2009 we tried OK-432 therapy in 148 patients with
      otolaryngological cystic diseases. In cases of plunging ranulas, lymphangiomas,
      branchial cleft cysts, thyroglossal duct cysts, thyroid cysts, and cervical
      lymphocele, we aspirated as much of the fluid content of each cystic lesion as
      possible, and we then replaced the volume of aspirated fluid with about half the
      volume of OK-432 solution. RESULTS: Disappearance of the lesion was observed in
      119 of 148 patients (80%). Marked reduction was observed in 20 of 148 patients
      (14%). Partial reduction was observed in four patients (3%), and no response was
      seen in five patients (3%). Plunging ranula, lymphangioma, thyroglossal duct
      cyst, thyroid cyst, auricular hematoma, and salivary mucocele showed better
      responses to OK-432 therapy than did branchial cleft cyst. Serious complications
      with OK-432 therapy were infrequent, and the therapy seemed to have no influence
      on future surgery. CONCLUSIONS: Our results confirmed that OK-432 therapy is
      simple, easy, safe, and effective and can be used as a substitute for surgery in
      the treatment of various otolaryngological cystic diseases.

PMID- 20938960
TI  - Increased amphiregulin expression as a biomarker of cholesteatoma activity.
AB  - OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: The purpose of this study was to evaluate human surgical
      specimens for cholesteatoma-associated changes in amphiregulin expression and
      determine potential relations to clinical disease variables. Amphiregulin, an
      epidermal growth factor receptor ligand, has functions in normal epithelial
      proliferation and aberrant neoplastic cell growth and is proinflammatory (e.g.,
      rheumatoid arthritis, fibrosis) and active in hyperproliferative cutaneous
      conditions including psoriasis and wound healing. These known amphiregulin
      activities and the characteristic epithelial expansion and bone erosion of
      cholesteatoma pathophysiology prompted testing of the hypothesis that
      amphiregulin expression levels are altered in cholesteatoma and correlate to the
      disease state. STUDY DESIGN: Prospective experimental study, cross-sectional
      analysis. METHODS: Relative changes in amphiregulin gene expression were
      quantitated by real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction analyses
      of cholesteatoma epithelium compared to uninvolved control tissues from patients'
      postauricular and external auditory canal regions. Western immunoblot assays were
      performed for qualitative evaluation of amphiregulin protein expression. The t
      test and Fisher exact test were used for analysis. RESULTS: A statistically
      significant increase in amphiregulin gene expression was associated with
      cholesteatoma specimens compared to uninvolved postauricular skin (PAS) and
      external auditory canal (EAC) skin, P = .004 and P = .002, respectively. From
      comparisons of 60 sets of skin pairs, the mean ratio of amphiregulin RNA
      expression for cholesteatoma/PAS is 4.94 (standard error of the mean [SEM] =
      1.53, n = 30) and for cholesteatoma/EAC is 7.70 (SEM = 1.57, n = 30).
      CONCLUSIONS: Amphiregulin is overexpressed in epithelial tissues of human
      cholesteatoma. Significant relationships were identified between increased
      amphiregulin expression levels and the extent of cholesteatoma migration and bone
      erosion. Our study results indicate amphiregulin is a potential biomarker of
      early cholesteatoma disease processes.

PMID- 20938961
TI  - The Effect of office-based flexible endoscopic surgery on hemodynamic stability.
AB  - OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: Because of technological advances in endoscopy equipment,
      office-based flexible endoscopic surgery (OBFES) is becoming more widespread and
      common in practice. In our experience, we have noticed that patients often have
      marked rises in heart rate (HR) and blood pressure (BP). However, to our
      knowledge, changes in hemodynamic stability during these procedures have never
      been studied. The primary aim of this study was to investigate changes in BP, HR,
      and oxygen (O(2)) saturation in patients undergoing unsedated laryngeal surgery.
      STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective chart review. METHODS: Medical records for 31
      consecutive subjects who underwent OBFES at the University of California, San
      Francisco Mt. Zion Endoscopy Suite from June 2008 to June 2009 were reviewed.
      Absolute values and changes in systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood
      pressure (DBP), HR, and O(2) saturation from baseline were evaluated. RESULTS:
      During the procedure, 9/31 patients had tachycardia (29%) and 7/31 had severe
      hypertension (23%). The mean change in HR was 14.6 beats/min (P < .0001), mean
      change in DBP was 18.5 mm of mercury (Hg) (P < .0001), mean change in SBP was
      33.1 (P < .0001), and mean change in O(2) was 0.8 (P = .01). Older age groups had
      significantly higher baseline DBP (P = .02) and SBP (P = .0006), as well as
      procedural SBP (P = .0007). One procedure was terminated early secondary to
      unsafe rises in SBP and DBP. Change in DBP and SBP was not correlated with age.
      CONCLUSIONS: Significant changes in hemodynamic status occur during OBFES.
      Clinicians should be aware of this and consider the risks these changes may pose
      to their patients. Monitoring during these procedures may be indicated.

PMID- 20938962
TI  - Cost and outcomes after cold and mixed adenotonsillectomy in children.
AB  - OBJECTIVE/HYPOTHESIS: To compare cold and mixed (electrocautery tonsillectomy
      with curettage adenoidectomy) adenotonsillectomies in children in terms of
      hospital medications' and materials' costs, surgical time, aspirated blood
      volume, and postoperative pain. STUDY DESIGN: Randomized clinical trial in
      community hospitals. METHODS: Seventy-two patients aged 3 to 12 years, undergoing
      adenotonsillectomy, were randomized in two groups through sealed envelopes that
      were opened just prior to the procedure. Surgical time and aspirated blood volume
      were measured by a staff nurse. Hospital medication and material costs were
      supplied by the hospital's accounting department. A validated facial pain scale
      was used from the day of surgery to the 10th postoperative day to quantify pain.
      RESULTS: Bicaudal t test showed that materials' cost was lower in the mixed
      technique. Surgical time and aspirated blood volume were also lower with the
      mixed technique. The postoperative pain was more intense in the cold technique on
      the day of surgery, but was more intense in the mixed technique from the 4th day
      to the 6th day. Linear regression showed a weak association between materials'
      cost and aspirated blood volume. CONCLUSIONS: Mixed technique reduces the costs
      of materials while offering the patient and the surgeon a safer and faster method
      to perform adenotonsillectomy, although it is slightly more painful than the cold
      technique in the latter part of the postoperative period.

PMID- 20938963
TI  - Anatomic limitations in implantation of middle ear transducer and carina middle
      ear implants.
AB  - OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: The objective of this study was to examine any anatomic
      limitations in implantation of the semi-implantable middle ear transducer (MET)
      and fully implantable Carina middle ear implants (Otologics, Boulder, CO). STUDY
      DESIGN: Retrospective case series. METHODS: This study involved high-resolution
      computed tomography (HRCT) of the temporal bone and surgical findings in 22
      middle ear implantations (17 MET, five Carina). The distance between the dura and
      the superior-posterior wall of the external auditory canal (dura-meatal distance)
      on the incus projection level was measured in coronal high-resolution computed
      tomography (HRCT) sections. Extensive bone removal from the tegmen for the
      fitting of the implant was intraoperatively documented, using as criteria the
      dura exposure. The correlation between HRCT measurements and dura exposure was
      examined. RESULTS: In 10 implantations (45.5%) the dura was exposed. In nine of
      10 cases (90%) the dura-meatal distance was less than 8 mm. In 11 out of 12
      implantations that were performed without exposing the dura (91.7%), the dura
      meatal distance was greater than 8 mm. In two cases with dura-meatal distance
      less than 5 mm, extensive dura exposure and surgical time were needed. In one of
      these cases, opening of the dura occurred during later explantation. CONCLUSIONS:
      When dura-meatal distance is greater than 8 mm, implantation of the MET or Carina
      is a safe procedure. By contrast, in cases with a dura-meatal distance of less
      than 8 mm, the surgery introduces a high risk of complications. When dura-meatal
      distance is less than 5 mm, MET or Carina implantation is not recommended.

PMID- 20938964
TI  - Intensity-modulated radiotherapy for oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma.
AB  - OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: To report the outcomes after intensity-modulated
      radiotherapy (IMRT) for patients with oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma.
      STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective review. METHODS: Between July 2001 and March 2007, a
      total of 130 patients were treated with definitive IMRT for squamous cell
      carcinoma of the oropharynx. Forty-seven patients (36%) had T3 (26 patients) or
      T4 (21 patients) cancers and 117 patients (90%) had overall stage III to IV
      disease. The fractionation schedules employed included the following: once daily,
      12 patients (9%); hyperfractionation, three patients (2%); and concomitant boost,
      115 patients (89%). Seventy-nine patients (61%) received adjuvant chemotherapy,
      and 54 patients (42%) underwent a planned neck dissection. Median follow-up was
      3.5 years, (range, 0.2-7.7 years). Median follow-up for surviving patients was
      3.8 years (range, 2.1-7.7 years). RESULTS: The 5-year local control rates were as
      follows: T1, 93%; T2, 91%; T3, 82%; T4, 67%; and overall, 87%. The 5-year local
      regional control rates were as follows: stage I to II, 92%; stage III, 72%; stage
      IVA, 94%; stage IVB, 71%; and overall, 84%. The 5-year distant metastasis-free
      survival rate was 93%. The 5-year cause-specific and overall survival rates were
      85% and 76%, respectively. Severe late complications occurred in 11 patients
      (8%). CONCLUSIONS: In our experience, IMRT resulted in local-regional control
      rates that are comparable to those achieved with more conventional techniques
      with a similar risk of severe complications.

PMID- 20938965
TI  - Globus pharyngeus and extraesophageal reflux: simultaneous pH <4.0 and pH <5.0
      analysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: Weakly acid refluxes seem to play an important role in the
      pathogenesis of extraesophageal reflux. The aim of this study was to evaluate how
      proportional representation of patients with extraesophageal reflux in a group of
      patients with globus pharyngeus changes when we use both pH <4.0 as well as pH
      <5.0 as a pathological threshold for an extraesophageal reflux episode. STUDY
      DESIGN: Prospective pH monitoring study of 46 patients. METHODS: Patients with
      pure globus pharyngeus lasting more than 3 months were included in the study. The
      pH monitoring was performed (Smit technique) with double probes (fixed distance
      of 15 cm). The recorded data using only pH <4.0 and using both pH <4.0 along with
      pH <5.0 as thresholds for extraesophageal reflux episode were analyzed
      simultaneously. The reflux area index 4 >6.3 and reflux area index 5 >72.6 were
      considered as clear pathological extraesophageal reflux. RESULTS: Extraesophageal
      reflux was proven in 23.9% patients with pure globus pharyngeus when standard
      analysis using only pH <4.0 was used as pathological threshold. If both pH <4.0
      and pH <5.0 were used as the pathological threshold, clear extraesophageal reflux
      was found in four more (8.7%) patients. CONCLUSIONS: This study indicates the
      possible role of weakly acid extraesophageal reflux episodes in some patients
      with globus pharyngeus. Other studies on this issue, including the use of
      biological markers such as signs of inflammation, are warranted.

PMID- 20938966
TI  - Density and microhabitat use of Bengal slow loris in primary forest and non
      native plantation forest.
AB  - The extent of planted forests has greatly increased in the tropics, but their
      conservation value while assumed to be low, is largely unknown. We compared the
      density and microhabitat selection of a nocturnal arboreal primate, the Bengal
      slow loris (Nycticebus bengalensis), in mostly undisturbed, evergreen tropical
      forest to those in 15-18 year old Acacia/Leucaena plantations with significant
      secondary regrowth, and <15 year old plantations with little regrowth. Based on
      estimates derived from distance sampling, loris densities in older plantations
      were nearly identical to primary forest (4.26 vs. 4.00 lorises per square
      kilometer), although encounter rates were three times higher in the older
      plantations probably owing to the lower detection probability in the more complex
      vegetation of the primary forest. The mean density estimate for the younger
      plantation was one-third of the above habitats (1.27 lorises per square
      kilometer), although not statistically different. Lorises tended to use larger
      diameter and taller trees, with a greater crown depth than randomly sampled
      trees, and tended to avoid habitats with sparsely crowned trees. The older
      plantations had trees with lower basal area and shorter stems than the primary
      forest; however, the older plantations contained higher densities of Bauhinia
      lianas, a commonly eaten food source and did not contain the red giant flying
      squirrel (Petaurista petaurista), a potential competitor. Although it is unknown
      whether the Bengal slow loris would persist without the presence of primary
      forest in the landscape, we suggest that older plantations have conservation
      value for at least selected species and as such, could be better managed to
      increase this value.

PMID- 20938967
TI  - Diet and ranging behavior of the endangered Javan gibbon (Hylobates moloch) in a
      submontane tropical rainforest.
AB  - Altitude influences forest structure and food abundance and distribution, which
      in turn affect primate feeding and ranging patterns. Javan gibbons (Hylobates
      moloch) are endemic to forests spanning a broad range of altitudes on Java,
      Indonesia. Most information about Javan gibbon behavior comes from studies in
      lowland forests, while the vast majority of wild gibbons remaining inhabit hill
      and lower montane forests. We studied the diets, activity patterns, and ranging
      behavior of three gibbon groups in hill/lower montane (950-1,100 m asl) forest in
      the Gunung Halimun-Salak National Park (GHSNP) from April 2008 to March 2009. The
      mean home range size was 37 ha and the mean daily path length was 1,180 m. The
      study groups spent 36% of time feeding, 41% resting, 15% traveling, 6% engaging
      in social behavior, and 2% in aggressive interactions. Fruit was the most
      important food (63% of feeding time) followed by leaves (24%), and flowers (12%).
      Our results suggest that Javan gibbons in higher elevation habitats have
      substantially larger home ranges than lowland populations, despite broad
      similarity in their activity budgets and diets. Conservation managers should
      consider the effects of altitude and habitat quality on gibbon ranging behavior
      when developing habitat corridors, selecting sites for translocation or
      reintroduction projects, and designating and managing protected areas.

PMID- 20938968
TI  - Changes in intracellular calcium concentration in crustacean (Callinectes
      sapidus) Y-organs: relation to the hemolymphatic ecdysteroid titer.
AB  - Secretion of ecdysteroid molting hormones by crustacean Y-organs is negatively
      regulated (inhibited) by molt-inhibiting hormone (MIH), a neuropeptide produced
      by neurosecretory cells in eyestalk ganglia. The inhibitory effect of MIH is
      mediated by one or more cyclic nucleotide second messengers. In addition,
      available data indicate that ecdysteroidogenesis is positively regulated
      (stimulated) by intracellular calcium. However, despite the apparent critical
      role of calcium in regulating ecdysteroidogenesis, the level of Ca(2+) in Y
      organs cells has not been previously determined. In studies reported here,
      eyestalks were ablated from blue crabs (Callinectes sapidus) to remove the
      endogenous source of MIH and activate Y-organs. At 0, 3, 6, and 9 days after
      eyestalk ablation (D0, D3, D6, and D9, respectively), the level of Ca(2+) in Y
      organ cells was determined using a fluorescent calcium indicator (Fluo-4), and
      the hemolymphatic ecdysteroid titer was determined by radioimmunoassay. Calcium
      fluorescence in D6 Y-organs was 3.5-fold higher than that in D0 controls; calcium
      fluorescence in D9 Y-organs was 3.9-fold higher than in D0 controls (P<0.05).
      Measurement of fluorescence along a transect drawn through representative cells
      indicated that the calcium fluorescence was localized to cytoplasm and not to
      nuclei. Associated with the increase in intracellular Ca(2+) was a significant
      increase in the hemolymphatic ecdysteroid titer: The level of ecdysteroids in
      hemolymph rose from 5.5 ng/mL on D0 to 49.6 ng/mL on D6 and 87.2 ng/mL on D9
      (P<0.05). The results are consistent with the hypothesis that ecdysteroidogenesis
      is stimulated by an increase in intracellular Ca(2+).

PMID- 20938969
TI  - The use of long acting subcutaneous levonorgestrel (LNG) gel depot as an
      effective contraceptive option for cotton-top tamarins (Saguinus oedipus).
AB  - Cotton-top tamarins (Saguinus oedipus) are a critically endangered species that
      have been bred successfully in captivity for many years. For two decades, the
      Cotton-top Tamarin SSP((c)) has been challenged with a high rate of reproduction
      combined with a history of contraceptive failures and nonrecommended births using
      the current Depo Provera((r)) (medroxyprogesterone acetate) injection followed by
      MGA (melengestrol acetate) implant contraception combination. To address these
      issues we have developed and tested the use of levonorgestrel (LNG) as an
      effective contraception option for cotton-top tamarins. LNG was delivered in an
      injectable, gel matrix consisting of polylactic-co-glycolic acid, triethyl
      citrate and N-methylpyrrolidone. This gel matrix forms a biodegradable depot at
      the subcutaneous injection site providing slow release of the active ingredient.
      Gel matrix composition and LNG concentration were adjusted in four gel
      formulations to maximize the duration of contraceptive efficacy while minimizing
      immediate post-injection increases in fecal LNG concentration. LNG treatment
      (68.44 +/- 8.61 mg/kg) successfully eliminated ovarian cycles (fecal pregnanediol
      3-glucuronide (PdG) and estrone conjugates (E(1) C)) for 198.8 +/- 70.3 days
      (formulation four; range 19-50 weeks). It was demonstrated that subcutaneous LNG
      depot injection was an effective, reversible contraceptive option for the
      management of cotton-top tamarins in captivity.

PMID- 20938970
TI  - Buying time for wild animals with zoos.
AB  - Zoos and aquariums exhibit many rare species, but sustain few for long periods.
      Demanding genetic, demographic, and behavioral requirements are a part of the
      sustainability challenge, and historical zoo goals and limiting animal management
      objectives are another, but they have been overtaken by worldwide wildlife
      population contraction and endangerment. New policies are essential for zoo
      continuance and, if vanishing species are to be helped by zoo propagation, they
      must be given priority. However, zoos have little animal carrying capacity and
      propagation must be much more sharply focused. In addition, it is becoming urgent
      that zoos help to support parks and reserves and, where possible, manage some
      especially endangered species mutually with parks.

PMID- 20938971
TI  - Characterization of the aminated agarose nanoparticles labeled with fluorescein
      isothiocyanate.
AB  - Incorporating an organic fluorescence agent into nanoparticles can significantly
      promote its fluorescent efficiency. In this article, a novel fluorescein
      isothiocyanate labeling aminated agarose (FITC-AA) was synthesized and tested as
      an effective fluorescent labeling agent. FITC-AA could spontaneously form
      nanoparticles with a diameter less than 200 nm below 37 degrees C due to gelling
      effect of the agarose. Cell culture experiments confirmed that 3T3 fibroblast
      cells could be marked by fluorescent FITC-AA nanoparticles and the labeling time
      sustained longer than by FITC alone. This finding demonstrates that the
      fluorescent labeling of cells can be enhanced when fluorescent nanoparticles are
      used as markers.

PMID- 20938972
TI  - Effect of sample area and sieve size on benthic macrofaunal community condition
      assessments in California enclosed bays and estuaries.
AB  - Benthic macrofauna are used extensively for environmental assessment, but the
      area sampled and sieve sizes used to capture animals often differ among studies.
      Here, we sampled 80 sites using 3 different sized sampling areas (0.1, 0.05,
      0.0071 m(2)) and sieved those sediments through each of 2 screen sizes (0.5, 1
      mm) to evaluate their effect on number of individuals, number of species,
      dominance, nonmetric multidimensional scaling (MDS) ordination, and benthic
      community condition indices that are used to assess sediment quality in
      California. Sample area had little effect on abundance but substantially affected
      numbers of species, which are not easily scaled to a standard area. Sieve size
      had a substantial effect on both measures, with the 1-mm screen capturing only
      74% of the species and 68% of the individuals collected in the 0.5-mm screen.
      These differences, though, had little effect on the ability to differentiate
      samples along gradients in ordination space. Benthic indices generally ranked
      sample condition in the same order regardless of gear, although the absolute
      scoring of condition was affected by gear type. The largest differences in
      condition assessment were observed for the 0.0071-m(2) gear. Benthic indices
      based on numbers of species were more affected than those based on relative
      abundance, primarily because we were unable to scale species number to a common
      area as we did for abundance.

PMID- 20938973
TI  - A plasmid display platform for the selection of peptides exhibiting a functional
      cell-penetrating phenotype.
AB  - Cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs) represent a promising nonviral platform for the
      delivery of therapeutic cargos to cells and tissues. However, these peptides are
      often nonspecific, and their mechanism of action is still a subject of debate,
      which hinders the design of new CPPs. The alternative to rational protein design
      is the combinatorial approach to protein engineering, whereby large libraries of
      peptides are created and a screening or selection procedure is used to identify
      members with the desired phenotype(s). Here we describe a novel procedure for
      selecting peptides with a CPP phenotype using a plasmid display (PD) platform to
      link the peptides to their encoding DNA sequences. The PD system is based on
      genetic fusions to a DNA binding domain. The plasmid was designed to
      concomitantly express a fluorescent reporter protein to serve as a mock
      therapeutic cargo indicating its functional delivery into a cell. We have
      demonstrated this selection strategy using a control CPP (the TAT peptide) in the
      PC12 neuronal-like cell line. In the absence of transfection reagents, TAT was
      unable to deliver the protein/DNA complexes. The inclusion of the HA2 peptide
      from the hemagglutinin protein and the addition of polyethylenimine (PEI) were
      similarly ineffective. The addition of Lipofectamine, however, enabled the TAT
      mediated delivery of the protein/DNA complexes, which was significantly better
      than control experiments without a CPP. This new PD selection platform will be a
      valuable new approach for use in identifying unique CPPs from randomized
      libraries with novel abilities and specificities.

PMID- 20938974
TI  - Optimization of on-resonant magnetization transfer contrast in coronary vein MRI.
AB  - Magnetization transfer contrast has been used commonly for endogenous tissue
      contrast improvements in angiography, brain, body, and cardiac imaging. Both off
      resonant and on-resonant RF pulses can be used to generate magnetization transfer
      based contrast. In this study, on-resonant magnetization transfer preparation
      using binomial pulses were optimized and compared with off-resonant magnetization
      transfer for imaging of coronary veins. Three parameters were studied with
      simulations and in vivo measurements: flip angle, pulse repetitions, and binomial
      pulse order. Subsequently, first or second order binomial on-resonant
      magnetization transfer pulses with eight repetitions of 720 degrees  and 240
      degrees  flip angle were used for coronary vein MRI. Flip angles of 720 degrees 
      yielded contrast enhancement of 115% (P < 0.0006) for first order on-resonant and
      95% (P < 0.0006) for off-resonant magnetization transfer. There was no
      statistically significance difference between off-resonant and on-resonant first
      order binomial Magnetization transfer at 720 degrees . However, for off-resonance
      pulses, much more preparation time is needed when compared with the binomials but
      with considerably reduced specific absorption rate.

PMID- 20938975
TI  - A computational tool for identifying minimotifs in protein-protein interactions
      and improving the accuracy of minimotif predictions.
AB  - Protein-protein interactions are important to understanding cell functions;
      however, our theoretical understanding is limited. There is a general
      discontinuity between the well-accepted physical and chemical forces that drive
      protein-protein interactions and the large collections of identified protein
      protein interactions in various databases. Minimotifs are short functional
      peptide sequences that provide a basis to bridge this gap in knowledge. However,
      there is no systematic way to study minimotifs in the context of protein-protein
      interactions or vice versa. Here we have engineered a set of algorithms that can
      be used to identify minimotifs in known protein-protein interactions and
      implemented this for use by scientists in Minimotif Miner. By globally testing
      these algorithms on verified data and on 100 individual proteins as test cases,
      we demonstrate the utility of these new computation tools. This tool also can be
      used to reduce false-positive predictions in the discovery of novel minimotifs.
      The statistical significance of these algorithms is demonstrated by an ROC
      analysis (P = 0.001).

PMID- 20938976
TI  - Efficacy of the "bow and lean test" for the management of horizontal canal benign
      paroxysmal positional vertigo.
AB  - OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: Horizontal semicircular canal (HSC) benign paroxysmal
      positional vertigo (BPPV) has been reported to have a poorer prognosis than
      posterior semicircular canal BPPV. Incorrect determination of the affected ear
      appears to be one of the causes of poorer outcome. The aim of this study was to
      assess the efficacy of the "bow and lean test" (BLT) for proper determination of
      the affected ear followed by preferable treatment outcomes of HSC-BPPV. STUDY
      DESIGN: A prospective study. METHODS: The 211 patients (225 cases) with HSC-BPPV
      were sequentially classified into two groups by hospital visiting time and
      diagnostic methods. The head roll test (HRT) group (61 cases) was treated with
      canalith repositioning procedure (CRP) on the basis of the results of HRT alone
      between 2001 and 2004. The BLT group (164 cases) was treated based on the results
      of both BLT and HRT from 2005 to 2008. RESULTS: The remission rates after two
      sessions of CRPs in the BLT group and the HRT group were 83.1% and 67.4% (P =
      .041), respectively, for the canalolithiasis type and 74.7% and 61.1% (P = .250),
      respectively, for the cupulolithiasis type. In the BLT group, 76.8% had bowing
      and/or leaning nystagmus; 35.7% of them (45 of 126 cases) benefited from BLT with
      regard to determining the affected ears because HRT was unable to provide the
      definitive affected ears (17 cases) or showed different localization between two
      methods (28 cases). CONCLUSIONS: BLT is a useful method to improve the remission
      rates of HSC-BPPV, giving more corrective information regarding affected ears
      than the HRT alone.

PMID- 20938977
TI  - The activity of recombinant human neuroglobin as an antioxidant and free radical
      scavenger.
AB  - Free radicals are by-products of metabolism and exist in a homeostasis between
      generation and scavenging in vivo. Excessive free radicals cause various
      diseases, including nervous system diseases. Neuroglobin (Ngb), a nervous system
      specific oxygen-binding protein, has been suggested to be a potential free
      radical scavenger in the nervous system in vivo; however, its underlying
      mechanism remains unclear. In this study, we investigated the antioxidant
      potential and free radical scavenging properties of recombinant human Ngb (rhNgb)
      in vitro. Interestingly, we found that the rhNgb protein itself has a direct and
      distinct antioxidant capacity and can efficiently scavenge a variety of free
      radicals, including the [2,2'-azino-di-(3-ethyl-benzthiazoline-6-sulfonic acid)]
      (ABTS) cation, superoxide anion, hydrogen peroxide, and hydroxyl radical. The
      capacity of rhNgb to scavenge the superoxide anion and hydrogen peroxide was even
      comparable to that of vitamin C. In addition, rhNgb had Fe(2+) chelating activity
      but hemoglobin did not. In conclusion, our results indicated that the rhNgb
      protein itself has antioxidant and free radical scavenging activities, providing
      fundamental evidence for the neuroprotective function of Ngb. These data provide
      key information for the origin of the neuroprotective and physiological role of
      Ngb and will promote the treatment of reactive oxygen species (ROS)-related
      diseases using this novel oxygen-binding globin.

PMID- 20938978
TI  - Conformational regulation of the EGFR kinase core by the juxtamembrane and C
      terminal tail: a molecular dynamics study.
AB  - The catalytic domain of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is activated by
      dimerization, which requires allosteric coupling between distal dimerization and
      catalytic sites. Although crystal structures of EGFR kinases, solved in various
      conformational states, have provided important insights into EGFR activation by
      dimerization, the atomic details of how dimerization signals are dynamically
      coupled to catalytic regions of the kinase core are not fully understood. In this
      study, we have performed unrestrained and targeted molecular dynamics simulations
      on the active and inactive states of EGFR, followed by principal component
      analysis on the simulated trajectories, to identify correlated motions in the
      EGFR kinase domain upon dimerization. Our analysis reveals that the
      conformational changes associated with the catalytic functions of the kinase core
      are highly correlated with motions in the juxtamembrane (JM) and C-terminal tail,
      two flexible structural elements that play an active role in EGFR kinase
      activation and dimerization. In particular, the opening and closing of the ATP
      binding lobe relative to the substrate binding lobe is highly correlated with
      motions in the JM and C-terminal tail, suggesting that ATP and substrate binding
      can be coordinated with dimerization through conformational changes in the JM and
      C-terminal tail. Our study pinpoints key residues involved in this conformational
      coupling, and provides new insights into the role of the JM and C-terminal tail
      segments in EGFR kinase functions.

PMID- 20938979
TI  - Crystal structure of 3-hexulose-6-phosphate synthase, a member of the orotidine
      5'-monophosphate decarboxylase suprafamily.

PMID- 20938980
TI  - Why are polar residues within the membrane core evolutionary conserved?
AB  - Here, we present a study of polar residues within the membrane core of alpha
      helical membrane proteins. As expected, polar residues are less frequent in the
      membrane than expected. Further, most of these residues are buried within the
      interior of the protein and are only rarely exposed to lipids. However, the polar
      groups often border internal water filled cavities, even if the rest of the
      sidechain is buried. A survey of their functional roles in known structures
      showed that the polar residues are often directly involved in binding of small
      compounds, especially in channels and transporters, but other functions including
      proton transfer, catalysis, and selectivity have also been attributed to these
      proteins. Among the polar residues histidines often interact with prosthetic
      groups in photosynthetic- and oxidoreductase-related proteins, whereas prolines
      often are required for conformational changes of the proteins. Indeed, the polar
      residues in the membrane core are more conserved than other residues in the core,
      as well as more conserved than polar residues outside the membrane. The reason is
      twofold; they are often (i) buried in the interior of the protein and (ii)
      directly involved in the function of the proteins. Finally, a method to identify
      which polar residues are present within the membrane core directly from protein
      sequences was developed. Applying the method to the set of all human membrane
      proteins the prediction indicates that polar residues were most frequent among
      active transporter proteins and GPCRs, whereas infrequent in families with few
      transmembrane regions, such as non-GPCR receptors.

PMID- 20938981
TI  - Structural studies on the enzyme complex isopropylmalate isomerase (LeuCD) from
      Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
AB  - The absence of the leucine biosynthesis pathway in humans makes the enzymes of
      this pathway in pathogenic bacteria such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis potential
      candidates for developing novel antibacterial drugs. One of these enzymes is
      isopropylmalate isomerase (IPMI). IPMI exists as a complex of two subunits: the
      large (LeuC) and the small (LeuD) subunit. The functional LeuCD complex catalyzes
      the stereospecific conversion reaction of alpha-isopropylmalate to beta
      isopropylmalate. Three C-terminally truncated variants of LeuD have been analyzed
      by X-ray crystallography to resolutions of 2.0 A (LeuD_1-156), 1.2 A (LeuD_1
      168), and 2.5 A (LeuD_1-186), respectively. The two most flexible parts of the
      structure are the regions of residues 30-37, the substrate discriminating loop,
      and of residues 70-74, the substrate binding loop. The three determined
      structures were also compared with the structures of other bacterial LeuDs. This
      comparison suggests the presence of two LeuD subfamilies. A model for the
      structure of the inactive enzyme complex has been obtained from solution X-ray
      scattering experiments. The crystal structure of LeuD was shown to be compatible
      with the solution X-ray scattering data from the small subunit. In contrast, the
      solution scattering results suggest that the large subunit LeuC and the LeuCD
      complex have overall shapes, which are radically different from the ones observed
      in the crystals of the functional homolog mitochondrial aconitase.

PMID- 20938982
TI  - Molecular mechanism of beta-sheet self-organization at water-hydrophobic
      interfaces.
AB  - The capacity to form beta-sheet structure and to self-organize into amyloid
      aggregates is a property shared by many proteins. Severe neurodegenerative
      pathologies such as Alzheimer's disease are thought to involve the interaction of
      amyloidogenic protein oligomers with neuronal membranes. To understand the
      experimentally observed catalysis of amyloid formation by lipid membranes and
      other water-hydrophobic interfaces, we examine the physico-chemical basis of
      peptide adsorption and aggregation in a model membrane using atomistic molecular
      simulations. Blocked octapeptides with simple, repetitive sequences, (Gly-Ala)4,
      and (Gly-Val)4, are used as models of beta-sheet-forming polypeptide chains found
      in the core of amyloid fibrils. In the presence of an n-octane phase mimicking
      the core of lipid membranes, the peptides spontaneously partition at the octane
      water interface. The adsorption of nonpolar sidechains displaces the peptides'
      conformational equilibrium from a heterogeneous ensemble characterized by a high
      degree of structural disorder toward a more ordered ensemble favoring beta
      hairpins and elongated beta-strands. At the interface, peptides spontaneously
      aggregate and rapidly evolve beta-sheet structure on a 10 to 100 ns time scale,
      while aqueous aggregates remain amorphous. Catalysis of beta-sheet formation
      results from the combination of the hydrophobic effect and of reduced
      conformational entropy of the polypeptide chain. While the former drives
      interfacial partition and displaces the conformational equilibrium of monomeric
      peptides, the planar interface further facilitates beta-sheet organization by
      increasing peptide concentration and reducing the dimensionality of self-assembly
      from three to two. These findings suggest a general mechanism for the formation
      of beta-sheets on the surface of globular proteins and for amyloid self
      organization at hydrophobic interfaces.

PMID- 20938983
TI  - Surgery without scar: is it always evident and safe?

PMID- 20938984
TI  - Layer-by-layer technique for producing porous nanostructured 3D constructs using
      moldable freeform assembly of spherical templates.

PMID- 20938985
TI  - The formation of the nervous system during larval development in Triops
      cancriformis (Bosc) (crustacea, Branchiopoda): An immunohistochemical survey.
AB  - We provide data of the development of thenervous system during the first five
      larval stages of Triops cancriformis. We use immunohistochemical labeling
      (against acetylated alpha-tubulin, serotonin, histamine, and FMRFamide), confocal
      laser scanning microscopy analysis, and 3D-reconstruction. The development of the
      nervous system corresponds with the general anamorphic development in T.
      cancriformis. In larval stage I (L I), all brain parts (proto-, deuto-, and
      tritocerebrum), the circumoral connectives, and the mandibular neuromere are
      already present. Also, the frontal filaments and the developing nauplius eye are
      already present. However, until stage L III, the nauplius eye only consists of
      three cups. Throughout larval development, the protocerebral network
      differentiates into distinct subdivisions. In the postnaupliar region, additional
      neuromeres and their commissures emerge in an anteroposterior gradient. The
      larval nervous system in L V consists of a differentiated protocerebrum including
      a central body, a nauplius eye comprising four cups, a circumoral nerve ring,
      mandibular- and postnaupliar neuromeres up to the seventh thoracic segment, each
      featuring an anterior and a posterior commissure, and two parallel connectives.
      The presence of a protocerebral bridge is questionable. The distribution of
      neurotransmitters in L I is restricted to the naupliar nervous system. Over the
      course of the five stages of development, neurotransmitter distribution also
      follows an anteroposterior gradient. Each neuromere is equipped with two ganglia
      innervating the locomotional appendages and possesses a specific neurotransmitter
      distribution pattern. We suggest a correlation between neurotransmitter
      expression and locomotion.

PMID- 20938986
TI  - Direct induction of CCK and GLP-1 release from murine endocrine cells by intact
      dietary proteins.
AB  - SCOPE: Consumption of high-protein diets cause elevated levels of CCK and GLP-1.
      Although unknown, this might be due to protein breakdown by various proteases
      that originate from the gastrointestinal tract. This study investigated which
      dietary proteins, hydrolysates, or synthetic-peptides are most potent to affect
      secretion of CCK and GLP-1 in STC-1 cells known for satiety hormone release.
      METHODS AND RESULTS: Addition of intact proteins to STC-1 cells exerted strong
      effects on secretion of satiety hormones. Casein, whey, and pea showed strongest
      effects on CCK release, whereas casein, codfish, egg, and wheat showed most
      pronounced effects on GLP-1 release. Egg-hydrolysate stimulated release of CCK
      and GLP-1, whereas all other tested hydrolysates and synthetic-peptides showed no
      significant effects on hormone release. Addition of a combination of trypsin and
      casein-hydrolysate, codfish, egg, egg-hydrolysate, sodium-casein, wheat
      hydrolysate, or wheat resulted in additional stimulation of CCK release, compared
      to only the protein. Addition of a combination of DPP-IV and egg-hydrolysate,
      ovomucoid, or sodium-casein decreased GLP-1 levels. CONCLUSION: This study showed
      that specific intact, or partially digested proteins, in contrast to protein
      hydrolysates and synthetic-peptides, stimulated hormone release. We conclude that
      intact proteins exert strong effects on satiety hormone release, and may
      therefore provide potent dietary supplements for prevention or treatment of
      obesity.

PMID- 20938987
TI  - Curcumin induces heme oxygenase-1 in normal human skin fibroblasts through redox
      signaling: relevance for anti-aging intervention.
AB  - SCOPE: Curcumin, a component of the spice turmeric, was tested for its potential
      hormetic anti-aging effects as an inducer of mild stress. METHODS AND RESULTS:
      Early passage young human skin fibroblasts treated with low doses of curcumin
      (below 20 MUM) showed a time- and concentration-dependent induction of heme
      oxygenase-1 (HO-1), followed by compensatory increase in glutathione-S
      transferase activity, GSH levels and GSH/GSSG ratio. These effects were preceded
      by induction of oxidative stress (increased levels of reactive oxygen species and
      DNA damage) and impairment of cells' GSH redox state. Curcumin also induced
      nuclear factor-erythroid-2-related factor 2 accumulation in the nuclei. The use
      of the antioxidant N-acetyl cysteine prevented the induction of HO-1 by curcumin.
      Pharmacological inhibition of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase, but not other
      kinases, significantly prevented curcumin-induced HO-1 levels, which was
      corroborated by the induction of phospho-Akt levels by curcumin. Late passage
      senescent cells already had higher HO-1 levels, and further induction of HO-1 by
      curcumin was considerably impaired. The induction of stress responses by curcumin
      in human cells led to protective hormetic effects to further oxidant challenge.
      CONCLUSION: Curcumin induces cellular stress responses in normal human skin
      fibroblasts through phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/Akt pathway and redox
      signaling, supporting the view that curcumin-induced hormetic stimulation of
      cellular antioxidant defenses can be a useful approach toward anti-aging
      intervention.

PMID- 20938988
TI  - Comparative analysis of a large panel of non-starch polysaccharides reveals
      structures with selective regulatory properties in dendritic cells.
AB  - SCOPE: Structural-based recognition of foreign molecules is essential for
      activation of dendritic cells (DCs) that play a key role in regulation of gut
      mucosal immunity. Orally ingested non-starch polysaccharides (NSP) are ascribed
      many health-promoting properties, but currently we lack insight into the impact
      of structure and size for their capacity to affect immune responses. METHODS AND
      RESULTS: This study addresses the importance of chemical structure, size, origin
      and presence of contaminants for the capacity of both dietary and non-food NSP to
      modulate DC. Of 28 NSP products, beta-glucans of microbial and plant origin and
      the galactomannan guar gum were found to modulate the DC cytokine pattern induced
      by the Toll-like receptor 4-ligand LPS giving rise to reduced IL-12p70 and
      increased IL-10 levels, whereas IL-6 production was unaffected. A large
      proportion of the tested NSP were able to down-regulate LPS-induced IL-12p70
      production. The most potent NSP induced up-regulation of CD86 on DC independently
      of LPS stimulation. Cereal-based beta-glucans showed less potency than beta
      glucans of microbial origin, but proper molecular weight composition and
      preparation may improve effectiveness. CONCLUSIONS: Collectively, this
      comparative study revealed that some plant-derived NSP besides those of microbial
      origin exert modulation of the DC phenotype, with the exact structure being
      important for the activity.

PMID- 20938989
TI  - Biological effects of acrylamide after daily ingestion of various foods in
      comparison to water: a study in rats.
AB  - SCOPE: Acrylamide (AA), classified as a genotoxic carcinogen, is generated by
      heating foods. We studied whether the food matrix modulates bioavailability
      and/or biotransformation and investigated kinetics and biological effectiveness
      of AA in rats. METHODS AND RESULTS: AA was given to the animals at a daily intake
      level of AA containing foods for up to 9 days, resulting in an exposure of 50 or
      100 MUg AA/kg body weight (b.w.)/day. Positive controls received the same dosages
      of AA in water, negative controls just water. As biomarkers urinary mercapturic
      acids, hemoglobin adducts, plasma levels of AA and glycidamide (GA) and DNA
      integrity in white blood cells and hepatocytes were measured. Altogether, no
      significant differences in bioavailability of AA from water and the different
      food matrices were observed. Only with bread crust, biomarkers indicated a
      slightly reduced bioavailability. Monitoring glycidamide valine adduct adducts
      did not provide evidence for treatment-related significantly enhanced GA
      haemoglobin adduct formation in blood although glycidamide mercapturic acid
      excretion in urine indicated significant GA formation. CONCLUSIONS: The results
      suggest AA at dietary intake levels, exceeding estimated human mean intake by a
      factor of at least 100 to become detoxified in Sprague-Dawley rats to a major
      extent through glutathione coupling.

PMID- 20938990
TI  - Prenylated chalcones 4-hydroxyderricin and xanthoangelol stimulate glucose uptake
      in skeletal muscle cells by inducing GLUT4 translocation.
AB  - SCOPE: Glucose uptake in skeletal muscle is crucial for glucose homeostasis.
      METHODS AND RESULTS: Insulin and muscle contraction increase glucose uptake
      accompanied by the translocation of glucose transporter (GLUT) 4. In a search for
      promising foods, which can increase glucose uptake in skeletal muscle, we
      screened for active polyphenols by assaying for uptake of 2-deoxyglucose (2DG) in
      rat L6 muscle cells. Among 37 compounds, 4-hydroxyderricin and xanthoangelol,
      prenylated chalcones abundant in Ashitaba (Angelica keiskei Koidzumi, family
      Apiaceae), significantly increased 2DG uptake in L6 cells by 1.9-fold at 10 MUM,
      compared with the level in DMSO-treated control cells. Next, we investigated the
      effect of these chalcones on the translocation of GLUT4 and its underlying
      mechanisms. The chalcones increased the GLUT4 level in the plasma membrane of L6
      cells, but activated neither protein kinase C zeta/lambda, Akt, nor adenosine
      monophosphate-activated protein kinase, all of which regulate the GLUT4
      translocation. Interestingly, the oral administration of a titrated chalcone
      enriched Ashitaba extract containing 150.6 mg/g (dry base) of 4-hydroxyderricin
      and 146.0 mg/g (dry base) of xanthoangelol suppressed acute hyperglycemia in oral
      glucose tolerance tests of mice. CONCLUSIONS: Ashitaba is a promising functional
      food for the maintenance of the blood glucose level by inducing skeletal muscle
      associated glucose uptake.

PMID- 20938991
TI  - Dietary L-carnitine alters gene expression in skeletal muscle of piglets.
AB  - SCOPE: Carnitine improves protein accretion, muscle mass, and protein:fat
      accretion in piglets. The underlying mechanisms, however, are largely unknown.
      METHODS AND RESULTS: To gain insight into mechanisms through which carnitine
      exerts these effects, we fed piglets either a control or a carnitine-supplemented
      diet, and analyzed the transcriptome in skeletal muscle. Carnitine concentrations
      in plasma and muscle were about four-fold higher in the carnitine group when
      compared to the control group. Transcript profiling revealed 211 genes to be
      differentially expressed in muscle by carnitine supplementation. The identified
      genes were mainly involved in molecular processes such as cytoskeletal protein
      binding, insulin-like growth factor (IGF) binding, transcription factor activity,
      and insulin receptor binding. Identified genes with the molecular function
      transcription factor activity encoded primarily transcription factors, most of
      which were down-regulated by carnitine, including pro-apoptotic transcription
      factors such as proto-oncogene c-fos, proto-oncogene c-jun and activating
      transcription factor 3. Furthermore, atrophy-related genes such as atrogin-1,
      MuRF1, and DRE1 were significantly down-regulated by carnitine. IGF signalling
      and insulin signalling were identified as significantly up-regulated regulatory
      pathways in the carnitine group. CONCLUSION: Carnitine may have beneficial
      effects on skeletal muscle mass through stimulating the anabolic IGF-1 pathway
      and suppressing pro-apoptotic and atrophy-related genes, which are involved in
      apoptosis of muscle fibers and proteolysis of muscle proteins, respectively.

PMID- 20938992
TI  - Coupling global methylation and gene expression profiles reveal key
      pathophysiological events in liver injury induced by a methyl-deficient diet.
AB  - SCOPE: A methyl-deficient diet induces liver injury similar to human nonalcoholic
      steatohepatitis, one of the main risk factors for the development of
      hepatocellular carcinoma. Previous studies have demonstrated that this diet
      perturbs DNA methylation by causing a profound loss of global cytosine
      methylation, predominantly at heavily methylated repetitive sequences. However,
      whether methyl deficiency affects the methylation status of gene promoters has
      not been explored. METHODS AND RESULTS: Mouse gene expression and CpG island
      microarrays were used to characterize the gene expression and CpG island
      methylation profiles in the livers of C57BL/6J mice fed a methyl-deficient diet.
      We detected 164 genes that were differentially expressed and exhibited an inverse
      relationship between the gene expression and the extent of CpG island
      methylation. Furthermore, these genes were associated with altered lipid and
      glucose metabolism, DNA damage and repair, apoptosis, the development of
      fibrosis, and liver tissue remodeling. Although there were both increased and
      decreased levels of CpG island methylation, the number of hypomethylated genes
      was substantially greater than the number of hypermethylated genes. CONCLUSION:
      The results this study demonstrate that pairing methylation profiles with gene
      expression profiles is a powerful approach to identify dysregulated high-priority
      fundamental pathophysiological pathways associated with disease development.

PMID- 20938993
TI  - Exploring solid lipid nanoparticles to enhance the oral bioavailability of
      curcumin.
AB  - SCOPE: Curcumin, a molecule with pluripharmacological properties, was loaded into
      solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs) with a view to improve its oral bioavailability
      (BA). METHODS AND RESULTS: Curcumin-loaded solid lipid nanoparticles (C-SLNs)
      with an average particle size of 134.6 nm and a total drug content of 92.33+/
      1.63% was produced using a microemulsification technique. The particles were
      spherical in shape, with high drug entrapment of 81.92+/-2.91% at 10% drug
      loading. The in vitro release was predominantly by diffusion phenomenon and was
      prolonged up to 7 days. No significant variation in particle size and curcumin
      content of C-SLNs was observed, upon storage, over a period of 12 months at 5+/-3
      degrees C. In vivo pharmacokinetics performed after oral administration of C-SLNs
      (50, 25, 12.5 and 1 mg/kg dose) and (free) solubilized curcumin (C-S; 50 mg/kg),
      using a validated LC-MS/MS method in rat plasma revealed significant improvement
      (at p<0.05) in BA (39 times at 50 mg/kg; 155 times at 1 mg/kg; and, 59 and 32
      times at 12.5 and 25 mg/kg, respectively) after administration of C-SLNs at all
      the doses with respect to C-S. CONCLUSIONS: Enhanced and reliable BA will help in
      establishing its therapeutic usefulness especially for neurodegenerative and
      cancerous disorders in humans.

PMID- 20938994
TI  - Urinary isoflavone phytoestrogens in German children and adolescents--a
      longitudinal examination in the DONALD cohort.
AB  - SCOPE: In light of concerns about hormonally active agents, it is important to
      assess human exposure to such compounds, especially in children as a susceptible
      subgroup. Estrogenic plant constituents are present in the human diet in varying
      levels, in particular the isoflavones daidzein (DAI) and genistein (GEN). We
      aimed to examine age-dependent and secular trends in phytoestrogen exposures and
      to investigate equol (EQ) excretion of German children using biomarker analysis
      in 24-h urine samples from a longitudinally designed study. METHODS AND RESULTS:
      The concentrations of DAI, its metabolite EQ and GEN were determined by GC-MS
      analysis in 24-h urines (510 samples) collected between 1985 and 2000 in 90 (47
      boys) German children (6-18 years old), who are participants in the Dortmund
      Nutritional and Anthropometric Longitudinally Designed study. The results from
      the urinary biomarker analysis indicate isoflavone exposures at quite variable
      levels in German children: Analyte concentrations in over 500 urine samples cover
      the range reported previously in adults on typical German diet and with soy
      intake. EQ, the DAI metabolite produced by the gastrointestinal microflora, was
      detected in a high fraction of all samples, with 28/90 children (31%) excreting
      EQ in all their urines, and 62/90 children (68%) in at least one sample.
      Interestingly, when multiple urines obtained from individuals at different ages
      (6-18 years) were analyzed, EQ formation did not appear to be a constant trait
      over time. When stratified by sex, DAI, EQ and GEN concentrations (ng/mL) in
      urines and excretion rates (MUg/day) were similar in boys and girls. Total
      isoflavone excretion rates (MUg/day) increased during childhood (6-12 years)
      (p=0.02) and were constant during adolescence (13-18 years) (p=0.6). No clear
      trend for changes in dietary isoflavone exposure over the total study period was
      seen (p=0.7). CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, biomarkers in urine of German children
      and adolescents indicate a frequent, but widely variable dietary isoflavone
      intake and suggest no secular increase (1985-2000) in the exposure to isoflavone
      phytoestrogens among German children and adolescents.

PMID- 20938996
TI  - Electrochemical modulation of photonic metamaterials.

PMID- 20938997
TI  - Transverse relaxation of scalar-coupled protons.
AB  - In a preliminary communication (B. Baishya, T. F. Segawa, G. Bodenhausen, J. Am.
      Chem. Soc. 2009, 131, 17538-17539), we recently demonstrated that it is possible
      to obtain clean echo decays of protons in biomolecules despite the presence of
      homonuclear scalar couplings. These unmodulated decays allow one to determine
      apparent transverse relaxation rates R(2) (app) of individual protons. Herein, we
      report the observation of R(2) (app) for three methyl protons, four amide H(N)
      protons, and all 11 backbone H(alpha) protons in cyclosporin A. If the proton
      resonances overlap, their R(2) (app) rates can be measured by transferring their
      magnetization to neighboring (13)C nuclei, which are less prone to overlap. The
      R(2) (app) rates of protons attached to (13)C are faster than those attached to
      (12)C because of (13)C-(1)H dipolar interactions. The differences of these rates
      allow the determination of local correlation functions. Backbone H(N) and
      H(alpha) protons that have fast decay rates R(2) (app) also feature fast
      longitudinal relaxation rates R(1) and intense NOESY cross peaks that are typical
      of crowded environments. Variations of R(2) (app) rates of backbone H(alpha)
      protons in similar amino acids reflect differences in local environments.

PMID- 20938995
TI  - Novel insights into the relationship between diabetes and osteoporosis.
AB  - Only three decades ago adipose tissue was considered inert, with little
      relationship to insulin resistance. Similarly, bone has long been thought of
      purely in its structural context. In the last decade, emerging evidence has
      revealed important endocrine roles for both bone and adipose tissue. The
      interaction between these two tissues is remarkable. Bone marrow mesenchymal stem
      cells give rise to both osteoblasts and adipocytes. Leptin and adiponectin, two
      adipokines secreted by fat tissue, control energy homeostasis, but also have
      complex actions on the skeleton. In turn, the activities of bone cells are not
      limited to their bone remodelling activities but also to modulation of adipose
      cell sensitivity and insulin secretion. This review will discuss these new
      insights linking bone remodelling to the control of fat metabolism and the
      association between diabetes mellitus and osteoporosis.

PMID- 20938998
TI  - Anion-dependent tendency of di-long-chain quaternary ammonium salts to form ion
      quadruples and higher aggregates in benzene.
AB  - The self-aggregation tendency of [N(CH(3))(2)(C(18)H(37))(2)]X [1X; X(-)=BF(4) (
      ), PF(6) (-), OTf(-), NTf(2) (-), BPh(4) (-), BTol(4) (-), BAr(F-), and
      B(C(6)F(5))(4) (-)] salts to form ion quadruples (IQs) and higher aggregates
      (HAggs) in [D(6)]benzene is investigated by means of diffusion NMR spectroscopy.
      The experimental results indicate that salts containing small anions (1BF(4),
      1PF(6), and 1OTf) are present in solution as IQs even at the lowest investigated
      concentration of C=5*10(-5) M and show a limited tendency to further self
      aggregate, reaching a maximum average aggregation number (N=V(H)/V(H)(0IP), where
      V(H)=measured hydrodynamic volume and V{H}{0IP}=hydrodynamic volume of the ion
      pair) of about 6-8 (C=0.050-0.100 M). Salts with larger counterions [1BPh(4),
      1BTol(4), 1BAr(F), and 1B(C(6)F(5))(4)] form instead ion pairs at low
      concentration but steadily self-aggregate (especially the non-fluorinated ones)
      on increasing their concentration up to N values exceeding 50 (C=0.030-0.050 M).
      1NTf(2) behaves in an intermediate fashion. The self-aggregation tendency of
      salts is quantified by formulating the dependence of V(H) on C by means of the
      equations of indefinitive aggregation models. The following rankings for the
      formation of IQs and HAggs are obtained: IQs: 1BF(4)~1PF(6)~1OTf>
      1NTf(2)>1B(C(6)F(5))(4)>=1BPh(4)>=1BTol(4)>=1BAr(F); HAggs: 1BTol(4)>1BPh(4)>
      1NTf(2)>1B(C(6)F(5))(4)> 1BAr(F)>1BF(4)~1PF(6)~1OTf. Interionic NOE NMR studies
      and DFT calculations were conducted in order to determine the relative anion
      cation orientation in the self-aggregating units.

PMID- 20938999
TI  - Health-care reform in Australia: advancing or side-stepping?

PMID- 20939000
TI  - Diabetes and fasting during Ramadan.
AB  - Abstinence from food and liquid during daylight hours is observed by Muslim
      individuals during the month of Ramadan. Even though the Koran exempts the sick
      from fasting, many people with diabetes still fast during this religious period.
      It is essential for patients, family and healthcare professionals to be aware of
      the religious attitude to and health implications of fasting. Major changes in
      dietary habits, daily physical activities and sleeping patterns during Ramadan
      have significant impact on the glycaemic control, lipid profile, weight and
      dietary intake. Hence, the patient is encouraged to have appropriate pre-Ramadan
      assessment and education in order to stratify and modify his or her risk with
      fasting. Dose and timing adjustments to insulin and to some oral hypoglycaemic
      agents, especially sulphonylureas, may well be necessary during Ramadan.

PMID- 20939001
TI  - One-sided soft palatal reconstruction with an anterolateral thigh fasciocutaneous
      flap: report of two cases.
AB  - Soft palate reconstruction is one of the greatest challenges for reconstructive
      surgeons. In the last 2 decades, anterolateral thigh (ALT) flaps have emerged as
      a popular reconstructive option because of the low donor morbidity, replacing
      radial forearm (RF) flaps. For soft palatal reconstructions, however, the RF flap
      remains the option of first choice, and only a few reports have described soft
      palatal reconstruction using an ALT flap. At our hospital, ALT flaps were
      utilized in two cases with soft palatal tumors. During the operation, the nasal
      side was left unepithelized. To prevent infection of the perforators and
      pedicles, we dissected a muscle cuff for the perforators and positioned the
      perforators near the edge of the flap. The postoperative courses were uneventful,
      and the patients gained almost normal function. ALT fasciocutaneous flaps are a
      feasible option for soft palatal reconstruction.

PMID- 20939002
TI  - Sensory disturbances and pain complaints after brachial plexus root injury: a
      prospective study involving 150 adult patients.
AB  - After injury of the brachial plexus, sensory disturbance in the affected limb
      varies according to the extent of root involvement. The goal of this study was to
      match sensory assessments and pain complaints with findings on CT myelo scans and
      surgical observations. One hundred fifty patients with supraclavicular stretch
      injury of the brachial plexus were operated upon within an average of 5.4 months
      of trauma. Preoperatively, upper limb sensation was evaluated using Semmes
      Weinstein monofilaments. Pain complaints were recorded for each patient. With
      lesions affecting the upper roots of the brachial plexus, hand sensation was
      largerly preserved. Sensory disturbances were identified over a longitudinal
      bundle on the lateral arm and forearm. In C8-T1 root injuries, diminished
      protective sensation was observed on the ulnar aspect of the hand. If the C7 root
      also was injured, sensation in the long finger was impaired. Eighty-four percent
      of our 64 patients with total palsy reported pain, versus just 47% of our 72
      patients with upper type palsies. This rate dropped to 29% in the 14 patients
      with a lower-type palsy. C8 and T1, when injured, always were avulsed from the
      cord; when avulsion of these roots was the only nerve injury, pain was absent.
      Hand sensation was largely preserved in patients with partial injuries of the
      brachial plexus, particularly on the radial side. Even when T1 was the only
      preserved root, hand sensation was mostly spared. This indicates that overlapping
      of the dermatomal zones seems much more widespread than previously reported.

PMID- 20939003
TI  - Reconstruction of the radial forearm free flap donor site using integra
      artificial dermis.
AB  - Autologous skin grafting to the donor site in patients who undergo radial forearm
      free flap reconstruction (RFFF) is associated with cosmetic and functional
      morbidity. Integra artificial dermis (Integra Lifesciences, Plainsboro, NJ) is a
      bovine collagen based dermal substitute that can be used as an alternative to
      primary autologous skin transplantation of the donor site. We describe a staged
      reconstruction using Integra followed by ultrathin skin grafting that results in
      highly aesthetic and functional outcomes for these defects. A retrospective
      review of 29 patients undergoing extirpative head and neck oncologic resection
      were examined. Integra graft placement was performed at the time of RFFF harvest
      followed by autologous split thickness skin grafting at 1 to 5 weeks
      postoperatively. Healing fully occurred within 4-6 weeks with negligible donor
      site complications, excellent cosmesis, and minimal scar contracture. Composite
      reconstruction with Integra artificial dermis offers advantages over traditional
      methods of coverage for select cases of radial forearm free flap donor site
      closures.

PMID- 20939004
TI  - Pancreatic cell immobilization in alginate beads produced by emulsion and
      internal gelation.
AB  - Alginate has been used to protect transplanted pancreatic islets from immune
      rejection and as a matrix to increase the insulin content of islet progenitor
      cells. The throughput of alginate bead generation by the standard extrusion and
      external gelation method is limited by the rate of droplet formation from
      nozzles. Alginate bead generation by emulsion and internal gelation is a
      scaleable alternative that has been used with biological molecules and microbial
      cells, but not mammalian cells. We describe the novel adaptation of this process
      to mammalian cell immobilization. After optimization, the emulsion process
      yielded 90 +/- 2% mouse insulinoma 6 (MIN6) cell survival, similar to the
      extrusion process. The MIN6 cells expanded at the same rate in both bead types to
      form pseudo-islets with increased glucose stimulation index compared to cells in
      suspension. The emulsion process was suitable for primary pancreatic exocrine
      cell immobilization, leading to 67 +/- 32 fold increased insulin expression after
      10 days of immobilized culture. Due to the scaleability and broad availability of
      stirred mixers, the emulsion process represents an attractive option for
      laboratories that are not equipped with extrusion-based cell encapsulators, as
      well as for the production of immobilized or encapsulated cellular therapeutics
      on a clinical scale.

PMID- 20939006
TI  - Effects of water miscible organic solvents on the activity and conformation of
      the Baeyer-Villiger monooxygenases from Thermobifida fusca and Acinetobacter
      calcoaceticus: a comparative study.
AB  - A broader exploitation of enzymes in organic synthesis can be achieved by
      increasing their tolerance toward organic solvents. In this study, the stability
      and activity of Baeyer-Villiger monooxygenases from Thermobifida fusca (PAMO) and
      Acinetobacter sp. (CHMO) in the presence of water miscible organic solvents were
      compared. PAMO was more stable than CHMO. The concentration of solvent (v/v) at
      which it halved its activity (C(50) ) was 4- to 16-fold higher than that observed
      for CHMO. For PAMO, the C(50) varied from 16% to 55% of solvent and followed the
      destabilizing order methanol < ethanol < 1,4-dioxane < acetonitrile <
      trifluoroethanol. In the case of CHMO, the maximal C(50) was 7% with methanol and
      even lower with the other solvents. Therefore, methanol was the most tolerated
      solvent. In the case of PAMO, methanol induced a significant increase of enzyme
      activity (up to fivefold), which was optimal at 20% (v/v) solvent. Only minor
      spectral variations were observed with PAMO in 20% methanol, suggesting that the
      increase of activity observed in this condition is not due to marked
      conformational changes. Fluorescence and circular dichroism analyses showed that
      the lower stability of CHMO toward organic solvent correlates with a more
      pronounced destructive effect on its secondary and tertiary structure. A possible
      rationale for the higher stability of PAMO could be inferred from inspection of
      the PAMO and CHMO (two enzymes of similar size) structure, which revealed a
      higher (up to twofold) number of ionic bridges in PAMO with respect to CHMO.

PMID- 20939005
TI  - Chimeric avidin shows stability against harsh chemical conditions--biochemical
      analysis and 3D structure.
AB  - Avidin and its bacterial analog streptavidin have been widely used in
      applications in life sciences. Recently, we described a highly thermostable
      engineered avidin, called chimeric avidin, which is a hybrid of avidin and avidin
      related protein 4. Here, we report a protocol for pilot-scale production in E.
      coli and the X-ray structure of chimeric avidin. The ligand-binding properties of
      chimeric avidin were explored with isothermal titration calorimetry. We found
      chimeric avidin to be more stable against various harsh organic solvents at
      elevated temperatures compared to avidin and streptavidin. The properties of
      chimeric avidin make it a potential tool for new applications in biotechnology.

PMID- 20939007
TI  - Proteins conjugated to poly(butyl cyanoacrylate) nanoparticles as potential
      neuroprotective agents.
AB  - Poly(butyl cyanoacrylate) (PBCA) nanoparticles (NPs) can penetrate blood-brain
      barrier providing the means for drug delivery to the central nervous system.
      Here, we study attachment of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and anti-glutamate N
      methyl D-aspartate receptor 1 (NR1) antibody to PBCA NPs with the ultimate goal
      to design neuroprotective therapeutics for treatment of secondary spinal cord
      injury. Synthesis of monodispersed, ~200 nm-diameter PBCA NPs was performed using
      polymerization at pH 2.0 with Dextran 70,000 as the stabilizer. Sulfo-HSAB
      spacers were used to covalently attach SOD and NR1 antibodies to the dextran
      coated NPs. The prepared protein-NP conjugates possessed SOD activity and were
      capable of binding to rat cerebellar neurons. Thus, SOD and NR1 antibodies may be
      simultaneously attached to PBCA NPs while retaining at least a fraction of
      enzymatic activity and receptor-binding ability. The conjugates showed
      neuroprotective efficacy in vitro with rat cerebellar cell cultures challenged by
      superoxide.

PMID- 20939008
TI  - Countercurrent tangential chromatography for large-scale protein purification.
AB  - Recent advances in cell culture technology have created significant pressure on
      the downstream purification process, leading to a "downstream bottleneck" in the
      production of recombinant therapeutic proteins for the treatment of cancer,
      genetic disorders, and cardiovascular disease. Countercurrent tangential
      chromatography overcomes many of the limitations of conventional column
      chromatography by having the resin (in the form of a slurry) flow through a
      series of static mixers and hollow fiber membrane modules. The buffers used in
      the binding, washing, and elution steps flow countercurrent to the resin,
      enabling high-resolution separations while reducing the amount of buffer needed
      for protein purification. The results obtained in this study provide the first
      experimental demonstration of the feasibility of using countercurrent tangential
      chromatography for the separation of a model protein mixture containing bovine
      serum albumin and myoglobin using a commercially available anion exchange resin.
      Batch uptake/desorption experiments were used in combination with critical flux
      data for the hollow fiber filters to design the countercurrent tangential
      chromatography system. A two-stage batch separation yielded the purified target
      protein at >99% purity with 94% recovery. The results clearly demonstrate the
      potential of using countercurrent tangential chromatography for the large-scale
      purification of therapeutic proteins.

PMID- 20939009
TI  - Effects of vibration on differentiation of cultured PC12 cells.
AB  - Different types of physiological-mechanical stress, such as shear stress in
      vascular endothelial cells or hydrostatic pressure in chondrocytes are well known
      as regulators of cell function. In this study, the effects of vibration, a type
      of non-physiological mechanical stimulation, on differentiation of rat
      pheochromocytoma (PC12) cells are reported. A nano-vibration system was designed
      to produce nanometer-scale vibration. The frequency and amplitude of the nano
      vibrations were monitored by a capacitance displacement sensor connected to an
      oscilloscope. When PC12 cells exposed to nerve growth factor were subjected to
      vibration at 10 kHz, differentiation and elongation of their neurites were
      promoted earlier in the culture. Vibration promoted differentiation of PC12
      cells. This approach could therefore also be promising for determining of the
      effects of the physical environment on cell differentiation.

PMID- 20939011
TI  - The association of race/ethnicity, insurance status, and socioeconomic factors
      with breast cancer care.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Few data are available on how race/ethnicity, insurance, and
      socioeconomic status (SES) interrelate to influence breast cancer treatment. The
      authors examined care for a national cohort of breast cancer patients to assess
      whether insurance and SES were associated with racial/ethnic differences in care.
      METHODS: The authors used multivariate logistic regression to assess the
      probability of definitive locoregional therapy, hormone receptor testing, and
      adjuvant systemic therapy among 662,117 white, black, and Hispanic women
      diagnosed with invasive breast cancer during 1998-2005 at National Cancer Data
      Base hospitals. In additional models, the authors included insurance and area
      level SES to determine whether these variables were associated with observed
      racial/ethnic disparities. RESULTS: Most women were white (86%), 10% were black,
      and 4% were Hispanic. Most had private insurance (51%) or Medicare (41%). Among
      eligible patients, 80.0% (stage I/II) had definitive locoregional therapy, 98.5%
      (stage I-IV) had hormone receptor testing, and 53.1% and 50.2% (stage I-III)
      received adjuvant hormonal therapy and chemotherapy, respectively. After
      adjustment, black (vs white) women had less definitive locoregional therapy (odds
      ratio [OR], 0.91; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.88-0.94), hormonal therapy (OR,
      0.90; 95% CI, 0.87-0.93), and chemotherapy (OR, 0.87; 95% CI, 0.84-0.91).
      Hispanic (vs white) women were also less likely to receive hormonal therapy.
      Hormone receptor testing did not differ by race/ethnicity. Racial disparities
      persisted despite adjusting for insurance and SES. CONCLUSIONS: The modest
      association between black (vs white) race and guideline-recommended breast cancer
      care was insensitive to adjustment for insurance and area-level SES. Further
      study is required to better understand disparities and to ensure receipt of care.

PMID- 20939012
TI  - Stability of estrogen receptor status in breast carcinoma: a comparison between
      primary and metastatic tumors with regard to disease course and intervening
      systemic therapy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The purposes of this study were to address a persistent controversy
      as to whether the ER status of a primary tumor remains stable during progression
      to metastasis and to evaluate the influence of disease course and prior systemic
      therapy on ER status. METHODS: Breast carcinomas from 227 women with known ER
      status in both primary tumor and paired metastasis were retrospectively reviewed.
      ER status was compared between primary and metastatic tumors with respect to
      metastatic site, interval between two ER assays, and intervening chemotherapy and
      endocrine therapy. Semiquantitative comparison of ER values was performed for 92
      tumor pairs. RESULTS: ER status agreed in 210 (92.5%) patients, including 147
      positive and 63 negative. Of the 17 patients (7.5%) with discordant ER status,
      both negative to positive conversion (n = 7) and positive to negative conversion
      (n = 10) were observed. ER discordance was not significantly associated with
      metastatic site (locoregional vs distant), time interval between assays (< 5
      years vs. >= 5 years), or intervening chemotherapy and endocrine therapy.
      Semiquantitative levels of ER expression were similar between primary and
      metastatic tumors. In discordant cases, variations in testing methods and
      marginal scores were common. CONCLUSIONS: ER status in breast carcinoma is
      generally stable during progression to metastasis. Preanalytical and analytical
      variability may contribute to discordance in some cases. Given the importance of
      ER status for clinical management, ER testing in metastatic breast carcinoma
      should be repeated, especially for patients whose clinical courses are not
      compatible with stated ER status.

PMID- 20939013
TI  - Expression status and prognostic significance of mammalian target of rapamycin
      pathway members in urothelial carcinoma of urinary bladder after cystectomy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Bladder urothelial carcinoma has high rates of mortality and
      morbidity. Identifying novel molecular prognostic factors and targets of therapy
      is crucial. Mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway plays a pivotal role in
      establishing cell shape, migration, and proliferation. METHODS: Tissue
      microarrays were constructed from 132 cystectomies (1994-2002).
      Immunohistochemistry was performed for Pten, c-myc, p27, phosphorylated
      (phos)Akt, phosS6, and 4E-BP1. Markers were evaluated for pattern, percentage,
      and intensity of staining. RESULTS: Mean length of follow-up was 62.6 months
      (range, 1-182 months). Disease progression, overall survival (OS), and disease
      specific survival (DSS) rates were 42%, 60%, and 68%, respectively. Pten showed
      loss of expression in 35% of bladder urothelial carcinoma. All markers showed
      lower expression in invasive bladder urothelial carcinoma compared with benign
      urothelium with the exception of 4E-BP1. Pten, p27, phosAkt, phosS6, and 4E-BP1
      expression correlated with pathologic stage (pathological stage; P<.03). Pten, 4E
      BP1, and phosAkt expression correlated with divergent aggressive histology and
      invasion. phosS6 expression inversely predicted OS (P=.01), DSS (P=.001), and
      progression (P=.05). c-myc expression inversely predicted progression (P=.01). In
      a multivariate analysis model that included TNM stage grouping, divergent
      aggressive histology, concomitant carcinoma in situ, phosS6, and c-myc
      expression, phosS6 was an independent predictor of DSS (P=.03; hazard ratio [HR],
      -0.19), whereas c-myc was an independent predictor of progression (P=.02; HR, 
      0.38). In a second model substituting organ-confined disease and lymph node
      status for TNM stage grouping, phosS6 and c-myc remained independent predictors
      of DSS (P=.03; HR, -0.21) and progression (P=.03; HR, -0.34), respectively.
      CONCLUSIONS: We found an overall down-regulation of mTOR pathway in bladder
      urothelial carcinoma. phosS6 independently predicted DSS, and c-myc independently
      predicted progression.

PMID- 20939014
TI  - Low triglyceride and nonuse of statins is associated with cancer in type 2
      diabetes mellitus: the Hong Kong Diabetes Registry.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) have increased cancer
      risks. The authors reported nonlinear associations of cancer with triglyceride
      and other lipids in T2DM. Crosstalk between lipid metabolism and the renin
      angiotensin system may increase cancer risk via activation of insulin-like growth
      factor-1 pathway in T2DM. In this analysis, the authors explored associations of
      cancer risk with high/low triglyceride in T2DM and possible modifying effects of
      statins on this risk association, if any. METHODS: A consecutive cohort of 5166
      Chinese patients with T2DM, free of cancer at enrollment and not using statins at
      or before enrollment, was analyzed using Cox models. Biological interactions were
      estimated using relative excess risk because of interaction, attributable
      proportion because of interaction, and synergy index. Relative excess risk
      because of interaction > 0, attributable proportion because of interaction > 0,
      or synergy index > 1 indicates biological interaction. RESULTS: During 5.25 years
      of follow-up (median), 4.7% (n = 243) patients developed cancer. Triglyceride <
      1.70 mmol/L was associated with increased cancer risk in the entire cohort and in
      statin nonusers, but not in statin users. Patients with triglyceride < 1.70
      mmol/L plus nonuse of statins during follow-up had 2.74-fold increased cancer
      risk compared with their counterparts with either triglyceride >= 1.70 mmol/L or
      use of statins or both. There was significant interaction between triglyceride <
      1.70 mmol/L and nonuse of statins (relative excess risk because of interaction,
      0.99; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.07-1.90 and attributable proportion because
      of interaction, 0.36; 95% CI, 0.02-0.70). CONCLUSIONS: In Chinese T2DM patients,
      triglyceride < 1.70 mmol/L might be associated with increased cancer risk, which
      was attenuated in the presence of use of statins.

PMID- 20939015
TI  - A review and characterization of the various perceptions of quality cancer care.
AB  - BACKGROUND: It is important to maintain high-quality cancer care while reducing
      spending. This requires an understanding of how stakeholders define "quality."
      The objective of this literature review was to understand the perceptions
      patients, physicians, and managed care professionals have about quality cancer
      care, especially chemotherapy. METHODS: A computerized literature search was
      conducted for articles concerning quality cancer care in patients who received
      chemotherapy. Among >1100 identified sources, 25 presented interviews/survey
      results from stakeholders. RESULTS: Patients defined quality cancer care as being
      treated well by providers, having multiple treatment options, and being part of
      the decision-making process. Waiting to see providers, having problems with
      referrals, going to different locations for treatment, experiencing billing
      inaccuracies, and navigating managed care reimbursement negatively affected
      patients' quality-of-care perceptions. Providers perceived quality cancer care as
      making decisions based on the risks-benefits of specific chemotherapy regimens
      and patients' health status rather than costs. Providers objected to spending
      substantial time interacting with payers instead of delivering care to patients.
      Payers must control the costs of cancer care but do not want an adversarial
      relationship with providers and patients. Payers' methods of managing cancer more
      efficiently involved working with providers to develop assessment and decision
      assist tools. CONCLUSIONS: Delivering quality cancer care is increasingly
      difficult because of the shortage of oncologists and rising costs of chemotherapy
      agents, radiation therapy, and imaging tests. The definition of quality cancer
      care differed among stakeholders, and healthcare reform must reflect these
      various needs to maintain and improve quality while controlling costs.

PMID- 20939016
TI  - Glycogen synthase kinase-3alpha/beta inhibition promotes in vivo amplification of
      endogenous mesenchymal progenitors with osteogenic and adipogenic potential and
      their differentiation to the osteogenic lineage.
AB  - Small molecules are attractive therapeutics to amplify and direct differentiation
      of stem cells. They also can be used to understand the regulation of their fate
      by interfering with specific signaling pathways. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs)
      have the potential to proliferate and differentiate into several cell types,
      including osteoblasts. Activation of canonical Wnt signaling by inhibition of
      glycogen synthase kinase 3 (GSK-3) has been shown to enhance bone mass, possibly
      by involving a number of mechanisms ranging from amplification of the mesenchymal
      stem cell pool to the commitment and differentiation of osteoblasts. Here we have
      used a highly specific novel inhibitor of GSK-3, AR28, capable of inducing beta
      catenin nuclear translocation and enhanced bone mass after 14 days of treatment
      in BALB/c mice. We have shown a temporally regulated increase in the number of
      colony-forming units-osteoblast (CFU-O) and -adipocyte (CFU-A) but not colony
      forming units-fibroblast (CFU-F) in mice treated for 3 days. However, the number
      of CFU-O and CFU-A returned to normal levels after 14 days of treatment, and the
      number of CFU-F was decreased significantly. In contrast, the number of
      osteoblasts increased significantly only after 14 days of treatment, and this was
      seen together with a significant decrease in bone marrow adiposity. These data
      suggest that the increased bone mass is the result of an early temporal wave of
      amplification of a subpopulation of MSCs with both osteogenic and adipogenic
      potential, which is driven to osteoblast differentiation at the expense of
      adipogenesis.

PMID- 20939017
TI  - Nell-1, a key functional mediator of Runx2, partially rescues calvarial defects
      in Runx2(+/-) mice.
AB  - Mesenchymal stem cell commitment to an osteoprogenitor lineage requires the
      activity of Runx2, a molecule implicated in the etiopathology of multiple
      congenital craniofacial anomalies. Through promoter analyses, we have recently
      identified a new direct transcriptional target of Runx2, Nell-1, a
      craniosynostosis (CS)-associated molecule with potent osteogenic properties. This
      study investigated the mechanistic and functional relationship between Nell-1 and
      Runx2 in regulating osteoblast differentiation. The results showed that
      spatiotemporal distribution and expression levels of Nell-1 correlated closely
      with those of endogenous Runx2 during craniofacial development. Phenotypically,
      cross-mating Nell-1 overexpression transgenic (CMV-Nell-1) mice with Runx2
      haploinsufficient (Runx2(+/-)) mice partially rescued the calvarial defects in
      the cleidocranial dysplasia (CCD)-like phenotype of Runx2(+/-) mice, whereas Nell
      1 protein induced mineralization and bone formation in Runx2(+/-) but not Runx2(
      /-) calvarial explants. Runx2-mediated osteoblastic gene expression and/or
      mineralization was severely reduced by Nell-1 siRNA oligos transfection into
      Runx2(+/+) newborn mouse calvarial cells (NMCCs) or in N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea
      (ENU)-induced Nell-1(-/-) NMCCs. Meanwhile, Nell-1 overexpression partially
      rescued osteoblastic gene expression but not mineralization in Runx2 null (Runx2(
      /-)) NMCCs. Mechanistically, irrespective of Runx2 genotype, Nell-1 signaling
      activates ERK1/2 and JNK1 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathways in
      NMCCs and enhances Runx2 phosphorylation and activity when Runx2 is present.
      Collectively, these data demonstrate that Nell-1 is a critical downstream Runx2
      functional mediator insofar as Runx2-regulated Nell-1 promotes osteoblastic
      differentiation through, in part, activation of MAPK and enhanced phosphorylation
      of Runx2, and Runx2 activity is significantly reduced when Nell-1 is blocked or
      absent.

PMID- 20939019
TI  - Development and evaluation of the Social Anxiety and Depression Life Interference
      24 (SADLI-24) inventory.
AB  - We describe the development of a new self-report instrument, the Social Anxiety
      and Depression Life Interference-24 (SADLI-24) inventory. We initially retained
      30 content specific items for the instrument (Study 1). In Study 2 (N = 438), we
      established a 2-factor solution, Social Anxiety Life Interference-12 (SALI-12)
      and Depression Life Interference-12 (DLI-12). We also examined estimates of known
      groups and concurrent validity. Confirmatory factor analysis in Study 3 (N = 430)
      provided support for the oblique two-factor structure. In Study 4 (N = 179), we
      provided additional support for estimates of known-groups validity. In Study 5 (N
      = 63), we evaluated estimates of test-retest reliability. Both SADLI-24 scale
      scores showed good estimates of internal consistency.

PMID- 20939018
TI  - Rab27a and Rab27b are involved in stimulation-dependent RANKL release from
      secretory lysosomes in osteoblastic cells.
AB  - The quantity of the receptor activator of NF-kappaB ligand (RANKL) expressed at
      the cell surface of osteoblastic cells is an important factor regulating
      osteoclast activation. Previously, RANKL was found to be localized to secretory
      lysosomes in osteoblastic cells and to translocate to the cell surface in
      response to stimulation with RANK-Fc-conjugated beads. However, the in vivo
      significance of stimulation-dependent RANKL release has not been elucidated. In
      this study we show that small GTPases Rab27a and Rab27b are involved in the
      stimulation-dependent RANKL release pathway in osteoblastic cells. Suppression of
      either Rab27a or Rab27b resulted in a marked reduction in RANKL release after
      stimulation. Slp4-a, Slp5, and Munc13-4 acted as effector molecules that
      coordinated Rab27a/b activity in this pathway. Suppression of Rab27a/b or these
      effector molecules did not inhibit accumulation of RANKL in lysosomal vesicles
      around the stimulated sites but did inhibit the fusion of these vesicles to the
      plasma membrane. In osteoblastic cells, suppression of the effector molecules
      resulted in reduced osteoclastogenic ability. Furthermore, Jinx mice, which lack
      a functional Munc13-4 gene, exhibited a phenotype characterized by increased bone
      volume near the tibial metaphysis caused by low bone resorptive activity. In
      conclusion, stimulation-dependent RANKL release is mediated by Rab27a/b and their
      effector molecules, and this mechanism may be important for osteoclast activation
      in vivo.

PMID- 20939020
TI  - Imaginative, dissociative, and schizotypal processes in obsessive-compulsive
      symptoms.
AB  - This study investigates imaginative, dissociative, and schizotypal processes that
      are potentially relevant to obsessive-compulsive (OC) symptoms. Students (n =
      377) completed questionnaires that assessed inferential confusion, absorption,
      schizotypal personality, and other domains. Hierarchical regression revealed that
      inferential confusion and absorption were the most consistent predictors of OC
      symptoms; other content predicted variance for specific OC symptoms. For example,
      schizotypal personality predicted checking and hoarding symptoms, but not
      cleanliness or ordering rituals. Immersive tendencies predicted cleanliness and
      hoarding but not checking or ordering rituals. Results are consistent with an
      inference-based model of OC, in which an overreliance on imagination during
      reasoning gives rise to experiences that are inconsistent with reality. This
      study suggests additional domains that may help explain why intrusive thoughts
      become obsessions.

PMID- 20939021
TI  - Preferences for relational style with mental health clinicians: a qualitative
      comparison of African American, Latino and Non-Latino White patients.
AB  - The goal of this study is to analyze preferences for relational styles in
      encounters with mental health providers across racial and ethnic groups. Four
      primary themes describe what patients want from a mental health provider:
      listening, understanding, spending time, and managing differences. However, using
      contextual comparative analysis, the findings explicate how these themes are
      described differently across African Americans, Latinos, and non-Latino Whites,
      uncovering important qualitative differences in the meaning of these themes
      across the groups. The article suggests that closer attention to qualitative
      preferences for style of interaction with providers may help address disparities
      in mental health care for racial and ethnic minorities.

PMID- 20939022
TI  - Determining readiness for predoctoral internship training: the process of
      developing a screening measure.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to illustrate the development of a screening
      measure to assess readiness for psychology internship training. The screening
      measure was comprised 13 items rated on a 4-point scale. Two program faculty
      members reviewed the application of each candidate independently. Psychologists
      were arbitrarily assigned to belong to reviewer group 1 or 2. Data from group 1
      were subjected to exploratory factor analysis; data from group 2 were subjected
      to confirmatory factor analysis. Two factors were identified and confirmed:
      Factor I comprised 6 items referring to core competencies, and Factor II
      comprised 4 items referring to relevant background experiences. Correlations
      between raters at the factor and item level generally were in the moderate range.
      This study illustrates the process of developing a screening measure to help
      determine readiness for internship training.

PMID- 20939023
TI  - Saccharomyces cerevisiae: a potential stereospecific reduction tool for
      biotransformation of mono- and sesquiterpenoids.
AB  - Terpenes and terpenoids are among the key impact substances in the food and
      fragrance industries. Equipped with pharmacological properties and applications
      as ideal precursors for the biotechnological production of natural aroma
      chemicals, interests in these compounds have been escalating. Hence, the
      syntheses of new derivatives that can show improved properties are often called
      for. Stereoselective biotransformation offers several benefits to increase the
      rate of production, in terms of both the percentage yield and its enantiomeric
      excesses. Baker's yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) is broadly used as a whole
      cell stereospecific reduction biocatalyst, due to its capability in reducing
      carbonyls and carbon-carbon double bonds, which also extends its functionality as
      a versatile biocatalyst in terpenoid biotransformation. This review provides some
      insights on the development and prospects in the reductive biotransformation of
      monoterpenoids and sesquiterpenoids using S. cerevisiae, with an overview of
      strategies to overcome the common challenges in large-scale implementation.

PMID- 20939024
TI  - Interleukin-33 is expressed in differentiated osteoblasts and blocks osteoclast
      formation from bone marrow precursor cells.
AB  - Since the hematopoetic system is located within the bone marrow, it is not
      surprising that recent evidence has demonstrated the existence of molecular
      interactions between bone and immune cells. While interleukin 1 (IL-1) and IL-18,
      two cytokines of the IL-1 family, have been shown to regulate differentiation and
      activity of bone cells, the role of IL-33, another IL-1 family member, has not
      been addressed yet. Since we observed that the expression of IL-33 increases
      during osteoblast differentiation, we analyzed its possible influence on bone
      formation and observed that IL-33 did not affect matrix mineralization but
      enhanced the expression of Tnfsf11, the gene encoding RANKL. This finding led us
      to analyze the skeletal phenotype of Il1rl1-deficient mice, which lack the IL-33
      receptor ST2. Unexpectedly, these mice displayed normal bone formation but
      increased bone resorption, thereby resulting in low trabecular bone mass. Since
      this finding suggested a negative influence of IL-33 on osteoclastogenesis, we
      next analyzed osteoclast differentiation from bone marrow precursor cells and
      observed that IL-33 completely abolished the generation of TRACP(+)
      multinucleated osteoclasts, even in the presence of RANKL and macrophage colony
      stimulating factor (M-CSF). Although our molecular studies revealed that IL-33
      treatment of bone marrow cells caused a shift toward other hematopoetic lineages,
      we further observed a direct negative influence of IL-33 on the osteoclastogenic
      differentiation of RAW264.7 macrophages, where IL-33 repressed the expression of
      Nfatc1, which encodes one of the key transciption factors of osteoclast
      differentiation. Taken together, these findings have uncovered a previously
      unknown function of IL-33 as an inhibitor of bone resorption.

PMID- 20939025
TI  - In vivo discrimination of hip fracture with quantitative computed tomography:
      results from the prospective European Femur Fracture Study (EFFECT).
AB  - In assessing osteoporotic fractures of the proximal femur, the main objective of
      this in vivo case-control study was to evaluate the performance of quantitative
      computed tomography (QCT) and a dedicated 3D image analysis tool [Medical Image
      Analysis Framework--Femur option (MIAF-Femur)] in differentiating hip fracture
      and non-hip fracture subjects. One-hundred and seven women were recruited in the
      study, 47 women (mean age 81.6 years) with low-energy hip fractures and 60 female
      non-hip fracture control subjects (mean age 73.4 years). Bone mineral density
      (BMD) and geometric variables of cortical and trabecular bone in the femoral head
      and neck, trochanteric, and intertrochanteric regions and proximal shaft were
      assessed using QCT and MIAF-Femur. Areal BMD (aBMD) was assessed using dual
      energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) in 96 (37 hip fracture and 59 non-hip fracture
      subjects) of the 107 patients. Logistic regressions were computed to extract the
      best discriminates of hip fracture, and area under the receiver characteristic
      operating curve (AUC) was calculated. Three logistic models that discriminated
      the occurrence of hip fracture with QCT variables were obtained (AUC = 0.84). All
      three models combined one densitometric variable--a trabecular BMD (measured in
      the femoral head or in the trochanteric region)--and one geometric variable--a
      cortical thickness value (measured in the femoral neck or proximal shaft). The
      best discriminant using DXA variables was obtained with total femur aBMD (AUC =
      0.80, p = .003). Results highlight a synergistic contribution of trabecular and
      cortical components in hip fracture risk and the utility of assessing QCT BMD of
      the femoral head for improved understanding and possible insights into prevention
      of hip fractures.

PMID- 20939026
TI  - A direct ylide transfer to carbonyl derivatives and heteroaromatic compounds.

PMID- 20939027
TI  - Projecting health-care expenditure for Switzerland: further evidence against the
      'red-herring' hypothesis.
AB  - This paper contributes to the debate about the impact of population ageing on
      health-care (HC) expenditure. Some health economists claim that the commonly
      presumed impact of population ageing is a 'red herring'. Based on empirical
      studies, these authors conclude that proximity to death and not age per se
      matters. In projecting HC expenditure for Switzerland, the present study provides
      evidence that proximity to death is of marginal importance. These projections
      suggest that population ageing is still the most important age-related cost
      driver. Moreover, morbidity outweighs mortality as a factor of HC expenditure.
      But most vital are non-demographic drivers such as medical progress. Thus, from
      the point of view of cost-benefit analysis one should even ignore costs of dying
      when projecting HC expenditure. Moreover, regressions might overestimate
      proximity to death due to systematic biases. Finally, ever-increasing HC
      expenditure can be slowed down by appropriate policy measures.

PMID- 20939028
TI  - Mechanistic insights into a gas-solid reaction in molecular crystals: the role of
      hydrogen bonding.

PMID- 20939029
TI  - Extroverted confusion--Linus Pauling, Melvin Calvin, and porphyrin isomers.

PMID- 20939030
TI  - Detection and identification of protein-phosphorylation sites in histidines
      through HNP correlation patterns.

PMID- 20939031
TI  - Asymmetric intermolecular hydroamination of unactivated alkenes with simple
      amines.

PMID- 20939032
TI  - Insomnia treatments: moving from efficacy to effectiveness.
AB  - This issue of the Journal of Clinical Psychology: In Session focuses on the
      treatment of insomnia and sleep disturbances in a variety of populations. Over
      the past decade, there has been an increased recognition of the importance of
      sleep to health and well-being. Despite this recognition, there continues to be a
      shortage of practitioners with experience in insomnia therapies. In this article,
      the authors identify and refute commonly held myths that might hinder the
      treatment of sleep problems. They conclude by introducing the seven articles that
      constitute this special issue.

PMID- 20939033
TI  - A novel three-dimensional tool for teaching human neuroanatomy.
AB  - Three-dimensional (3D) visualization of neuroanatomy can be challenging for
      medical students. This knowledge is essential in order for students to correlate
      cross-sectional neuroanatomy and whole brain specimens within neuroscience
      curricula and to interpret clinical and radiological information as clinicians or
      researchers. This study implemented and evaluated a new tool for teaching 3D
      neuroanatomy to first-year medical students at Boston University School of
      Medicine. Students were randomized into experimental and control classrooms. All
      students were taught neuroanatomy according to traditional 2D methods. Then,
      during laboratory review, the experimental group constructed 3D color-coded
      physical models of the periventricular structures, while the control group re
      examined 2D brain cross-sections. At the end of the course, 2D and 3D spatial
      relationships of the brain and preferred learning styles were assessed in both
      groups. The overall quiz scores for the experimental group were significantly
      higher than the control group (t(85) = 2.02, P < 0.05). However, when the
      questions were divided into those requiring either 2D or 3D visualization, only
      the scores for the 3D questions were significantly higher in the experimental
      group (F1(,)85 = 5.48, P = 0.02). When surveyed, 84% of students recommended
      repeating the 3D activity for future laboratories, and this preference was
      equally distributed across preferred learning styles (chi2 = 0.14, n.s.). Our
      results suggest that our 3D physical modeling activity is an effective method for
      teaching spatial relationships of brain anatomy and will better prepare students
      for visualization of 3D neuroanatomy, a skill essential for higher education in
      neuroscience, neurology, and neurosurgery.

PMID- 20939034
TI  - Collagen-like polypeptide poly(Pro-Hyp-Gly) conjugated with Gly-Arg-Gly-Asp-Ser
      and Pro-His-Ser-Arg-Asn peptides enchances cell adhesion, migration, and
      stratification.
AB  - Collagens are widely used in medical applications, including as a scaffold for
      tissue regeneration. However, animal-derived collagens have several drawbacks,
      such as low thermal stability, nonspecific cell adhesion, antigenicity, and
      contamination with pathogenic substances. To overcome these problems, we
      chemically synthesized the collagen-like polypeptide, poly(prolyl-hydroxyprolyl
      glycyl) (poly(Pro-Hyp-Gly)), which forms a collagen-like triple-helical structure
      and shows biodegradability and biocompatibility. Here, we designed a novel
      scaffold where fibronectin-derived Gly Arg-Gly-Asp-Ser (GRGDS) and Pro-His-Ser
      Arg-Asn (PHSRN) peptides were simultaneously conjugated with poly(Pro-Hyp-Gly).
      We assessed cell adhesion and migration activities using NIH3T3 cells in the
      scaffold and stratification ofimmortalized rabbit corneal epithelial cells. Cell
      adhesion was enhanced in scaffolds with GRGDS, increased with increasing amounts
      of conjugated GRGDS, and was significantly higher than bovine type I
      atelocollagen but lower than bovine fibronectin. Interestingly, simultaneous
      conjugation of GRGDS and PHSRN synergistically enhanced cell migration. Scaffolds
      containing almost equal amounts of GRGDS and PHSRN showed significantly higher
      cell migration than bovine type I atelocollagen. Addition of free GRGDS
      completely inhibited cell migration on the scaffold, whereas addition of free
      PHSRN partially inhibited cell migration. These results suggest that GRGDS plays
      a definitive role, and PHSRN plays an additional role, in cell migration.
      Conjugation of GRGDS resulted in the same level of stratification of rabbit
      corneal epithelial cells compared with bovine type I atelocollagen and bovine
      fibronectin. Because the simultaneous conjugation of GRGDS and PHSRN on poly(Pro
      Hyp-Gly) enhances cell adhesion, migration, and stratification, it may be a
      useful scaffold for tissue regeneration.

PMID- 20939036
TI  - Cumulative effects of hypercholesterolemia on tendon biomechanics in a mouse
      model.
AB  - High cholesterol represents a significant healthcare problem. Clinical studies
      have linked hypercholesterolemia to Achilles tendon xanthomas and rotator cuff
      tears, and research in other systems indicates detrimental effects of high
      cholesterol; however, understanding of its impact on tendon properties and
      healing is limited. We hypothesized that tendons from aging hypercholesterolemic
      (APOE) mice would exhibit inferior baseline and healing mechanical properties
      compared to controls, while younger, but mature mice would be no different.
      Surprisingly, tensile testing of patellar tendons from 14-week-old APOE mice
      receiving a unilateral full-thickness central defect resulted in normalized
      (injured:sham) cross-sectional areas closer to baseline (p = 0.02) compared to
      controls. Uninjured data from 10-month-old APOE mice showed a decrease in elastic
      modulus (p = 0.02), indicating a detrimental effect of hypercholesterolemia on
      tendon properties in this model. These results could benefit patients through
      knowledge that high cholesterol could increase the likelihood of tendon tears.
      Furthermore, knowledge that tendon tears are indicative of high cholesterol could
      provide orthopedic clinicians with an additional preventive treatment opportunity
      for patients with undiagnosed hypercholesterolemia.

PMID- 20939037
TI  - All comers 5 French transfemoral percutaneous coronary intervention without
      sheath.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is an interest to keep the arterial access site for
      percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) small. Using sheaths for introduction
      of arterial catheters is standard. The effective outer diameter of the usual
      introducer sheaths is about 1.5 French (F) larger than the labeled size. Omitting
      the sheath affords a smaller access without loss of working lumen. METHODS: PCI
      was performed with sheathless 5 F guiding catheters in 503 consecutive all comers
      via femoral access. Diagnostic assessment of the coronary arteries was performed
      at the beginning using 4 F diagnostic catheters with 4 F sheaths in 293 patients
      (58%). In the remaining patients, a sheathless 5 F Amplatz left 2 (AL2) guiding
      catheter was used for both diagnostic study and PCI. Data analysis was performed
      retrospectively using catheterization reports and hospital summaries. RESULTS:
      PCI without sheath was successful in 500 of 503 patients (99%).Balloon coronary
      angioplasty only was performed in 155 (31%) patients, and stenting in 346 (69%).
      In six patients, a 6 F sheath and catheter were used additionally for various
      reasons. Femoral closure devices were used in 23 patients (5%). The femoral
      access complication rate was 5% with a major hematoma in 2%. In-hospital
      mortality and Q-wave myocardial infarction rate were both 0.2% (one patient
      each). A single AL2 guiding catheter with 17 exceptions and an average of 1.1
      coronary guidewires per case were used. No direct complications regarding the 5 F
      access without a sheath were noted. Mean hospitalization time was 2.2 +/- 1.5
      (range 1-25) days. CONCLUSION: The 5 F PCI without sheath can be performed safely
      in all comers. Vascular access bleeding complication rates were comparable, if
      not lower than with the conventional 6 F interventions with or without closure
      devices. The savings in material are substantial.

PMID- 20939035
TI  - New biomarkers probing depth of cell senescence assessed by laser scanning
      cytometry.
AB  - The imaging analytical capabilities of laser scanning cytometer (LSC) have been
      used to assess morphological features considered to be typical of the senescent
      phenotype. The characteristic "flattening" of senescent cells was reflected by
      the decline in the density of staining (intensity of maximal pixel) of DNA
      associated fluorescence [4,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI)] paralleled by an
      increase in nuclear size (area). The decrease in ratio of maximal pixel to
      nuclear area was even more sensitive senescence biomarker than the change in
      maximal pixel or nuclear area, each alone. The saturation cell density at plateau
      phase of growth recorded by LSC was found to be dramatically decreased in
      cultures of senescent cells, thereby also serving as an additional marker. The
      induction of cyclin dependent kinase inhibitors p21(WAF1) and p27(KIP1) and
      gammaH2AX and activation of ATM markers of DNA damage response were measured in
      parallel with DNA/DAPI maximal pixel and nuclear area. These biomarker indices
      were expressed in quantitative terms by reporting them as a fraction of the
      respective controls. The effect of treatment of A549 and WI-38 cells with
      different concentrations of mitoxantrone (Mxt) and trichostatin A for various
      time periods was studied to assess the degree (depth) of cell senescence. Also
      assessed was the effect of 2-deoxy-D-glucose, the agent attenuating metabolic
      cell activity, on the depth of senescence induced by Mxt. A relationship between
      the ability of cells to synthesize RNA (incorporate 5-ethynyluridine) that leads
      to growth imbalance and induction of cell senescence was also studied. The data
      show that morphometric analysis of cellular attributes by LSC offers an
      attractive tool to detect cell senescence and measure its degree particularly in
      assessing effects of the factors that enhance or attenuate this process. This
      methodology is of importance in light of the evidence that cellular senescence is
      not only a biological process that is fundamental for organismal aging but also
      impedes formation of induced-pluripotent stem cells providing the barrier for
      neoplastic transformation and is the major mechanism of induction of reproductive
      cell death during treatment of solid tumors.

PMID- 20939038
TI  - Recanalization and reuse of early occluded radial artery within 6 days after
      previous transradial diagnostic procedure.
AB  - Late radial artery (RA) thrombosis occurs in 3-9% after transradial
      interventions. RA occlusion has made this approach unsuitable for repeat
      interventions and obviated the need for alternative vascular access for
      catheterization, e.g., left RA (with certain risk of bilateral RA occlusion) or
      femoral artery with its shortcomings and, sometimes, life-threatening
      complications requiring surgical treatment (large groin hematoma, arterio-venous
      fistula or false aneurysm, retroperitoneal hemorrhage). We demonstrate the
      possibility of retrograde RA recanalization, dilatation, and restoration of the
      RA patency within 6 days after first transradial coronary diagnostic
      catheterization complicated with acute RA occlusion. Thus we were able to
      recanalize previously occluded RA and reuse it for repeat transradial coronary
      interventions.

PMID- 20939039
TI  - Coil closure of residual shunt after Amplatzer PFO occlusion.
AB  - A 59-year-old man suffered a transient ischemic attack (TIA) and was found to
      have a patent foramen ovale (PFO). Six months after closure with a 25 mm
      Amplatzer PFO occluder there was a significant residual shunt at transesophageal
      echocardiography (TEE). A coil was implanted and TEE 4 months later showed
      complete closure.

PMID- 20939040
TI  - Two-dimensional quantitative coronary angiographic models for bifurcation
      segmental analysis: in vitro validation of CAAS against precision manufactured
      plexiglas phantoms.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Quantitative coronary angiography (QCA) analysis for bifurcation
      lesions needs to be standardized. OBJECTIVES: In vitro validation of two models
      for bifurcation QCA segmental analysis. METHODS: In the latest edition of the
      Cardiovascular angiography analysis system (CAAS 5v8, Pie Medical Imaging,
      Maastricht, The Netherlands) a 6-segment model for two-dimensional coronary
      bifurcation analysis was implemented next to the currently available 11-segment
      model. Both models were validated against 6 precision manufactured plexiglas
      phantoms, each of them mimicking a vessel with three successive bifurcation
      lesions with variable anatomy and Medina class. The phantoms were filled with
      100% contrast agent and imaged with a biplane gantry. Images acquired in antero
      posterior (AP) direction by either C-arm and at 30 degrees  right and left
      anterior oblique angulation were analyzed by two independent analysts, blinded to
      the actual dimensions. Manual correction of the contours was not allowed.
      Measurements for minimal lumen diameter (MLD), reference vessel diameter (RVD),
      percent diameter stenosis (DS) and bifurcation angle (BA) were compared with the
      true phantom dimensions. RESULTS: In AP views the accuracy and precision (mean
      difference +/- SD) of 11- and 6-segment model for MLD, RVD, and DS were 0.065 +/-
      0.128 mm vs. 0.058 +/- 0.142 mm, -0.021 +/- 0.032 mm vs. -0.022 +/- 0.030 mm, and
      -2.45% +/- 5.07% vs. -2.28% +/- 5.29%, respectively. Phantom MLD values <= 0.7 mm
      were systematically overestimated; if excluded, MLD accuracy and precision became
      0.015 +/- 0.106 mm and 0.004 +/- 0.125 mm for the 11- and 6-segment model,
      respectively. Accuracy and precision for BA were -2.2 degrees  +/- 3.3 degrees .
      Interobserver variability for MLD, RVD, DS, and BA for either model was <= 0.049
      mm, <= 0.056 mm, <= 2.77%, and 1.6 degrees , respectively. Agreement between
      models for MLD, RVD, and DS was +/- 0.079 mm, +/- 0.011 mm, and +/- 2.07%.
      Accuracy and precision for diameter-derived parameters were slightly decreased in
      angulated projections; precision for BA measurements dropped to 6.1 degrees .
      CONCLUSIONS: The results of both models are highly reproducible and for phantom
      MLD values >0.7 mm in excellent agreement with the true dimensions.

PMID- 20939041
TI  - Comparison of procedural times, success rates, and safety between left versus
      right radial arterial access in primary percutaneous coronary intervention for
      acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate if there are differences in procedural times, success
      rates, and safety between left and right radial approach (LRA and RRA,
      respectively) in primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for ST
      elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). BACKGROUND: Given conflicting reports of
      different procedural success with LRA vs. RRA, it is unclear if the side of
      radial access impacts in-room procedural times and success rates in primary PCI.
      At our institution the LRA has been commonly used in certain STEMI patients. Our
      clinical database was reviewed to see if routine use of the LRA could generate
      favorable technical success and reperfusion times as compared to the RRA.
      METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed 135 consecutive STEMI patients treated with
      primary PCI performed via the left and right radial approach at our institution.
      RESULTS: There were 50 cases in the LRA group and 85 in the RRA group. There was
      no difference in median procedural times including total procedure time (LRA 53.5
      mins vs. RRA 52 mins, P = 0.95), room-to-cannulation (LRA 12 min vs. RRA 13 min,
      P = 0.40) or room-to-balloon times (LRA 30 min vs. RRA 31 min, P = 0.74). There
      were no significant differences in procedural success rates (LRA 100% vs. RRA
      97.6%, P = 0.27), or procedure-related complications or death between the two
      groups. CONCLUSIONS: Left and right trans-radial approach for primary PCI have
      similar in room procedural times, success rates, and comparable safety. Trans
      radial PCI through either arm is a feasible and safe approach in patients with
      STEMI.

PMID- 20939042
TI  - A nonimaging catheter for measurement of coronary artery lumen area: a first in
      man pilot study.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The objective of this human pilot study was to determine the safety
      and the level of agreement between a novel nonimaging 2.7 Fr. catheter-based
      system (LumenRECON, LR) that uses electrical conductance for measurement of lumen
      cross-sectional area (CSA) with intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) and quantitative
      coronary angiography (QCA). Based on previous animal studies, we hypothesized the
      level of agreement between LR and IVUS to be 13%. BACKGROUND: Accurate and
      reproducible vessel sizing is essential for optimal percutaneous coronary
      intervention (PCI). METHODS: A total of 12 patients were studied to evaluate the
      safety, accuracy, and reproducibility of the system in comparison with IVUS and
      QCA. The CSA of coronary arteries was determined by IVUS, QCA, and LR in the
      distal, proximal, and center of a lesion during standard PCI. RESULTS: A Bland
      Altman plot of the LR versus IVUS and QCA show a nonsignificant mean difference
      between the two measurements of 0.04 and 0.07 mm in diameter, respectively. The
      root mean square error of LR versus IVUS and QCA was 14.3 and 25.8% of the mean
      IVUS or QCA diameter, respectively. The mean of the difference between two LR
      duplicate measurements was nearly zero (0.03 mm) and the repeatability
      coefficient was within 8.7% of the mean of the two measurements. There were no
      procedural complications nor were any device-related MACE reported within 30 days
      of the procedure. CONCLUSIONS: This proof of concept pilot study establishes the
      safety and accuracy of the conductance technology for a pivotal trial of coronary
      sizing.

PMID- 20939043
TI  - Outcomes following PCI in patients with previous CABG: a multi centre experience.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Limited data is available to guide operators as to the optimal
      revascularisation strategy in patients with previous CABG representing with
      angina. METHOD: Retrospective analysis of 161 patients with prior CABG undergoing
      PCI in two centres between September 2005 and April 2008. RESULTS: 161 patients
      (132 male, 68 +/- 8 years) underwent PCI at 126 +/- 65 months after index CABG.
      Clinical presentation of recurrent ischaemia was stable in 59.7% and as an acute
      coronary syndrome in 40.3% of patients. Mean follow-up after PCI was 13.5 +/- 4.8
      months. About 62.7% of patients underwent native vessel PCI, 32.9% had a graft
      only PCI, and 4.4% having a combination of both. Drug eluting stents were used in
      84.9% of cases. There was one cardiac death and one case of redo CABG during
      follow-up. Mean CCS angina class decreased from 2.87 to 0.67 (P < 0.0001) in the
      follow-up group. About 13.6 % of all patients had a MACE at follow up. This was
      higher in the graft PCI group (21.6% vs. 8.9%, P = 0.048). About 12.4% of the
      total cohort underwent repeat PCI although 30% of these required PCI for a de
      novo lesion. TVR rate was significantly higher in patients undergoing graft PCI
      than native vessel PCI (15% vs. 4.9%, P = 0.031). Graft PCI was an independent
      predictor (HR 3.73, 1.27-10.87 [95%CI], P = 0.016) of MACE in these patients.
      CONCLUSION: PCI significantly improved angina in these patients with low overall
      rates of TVR. However TVR rate was significantly higher in patients undergoing
      graft PCI than those undergoing native vessel PCI.

PMID- 20939044
TI  - Transradial access without preliminary Allen test--letter of comment on Rhyne et
      al.

PMID- 20939045
TI  - Identification of estrogen-responsive vitelline envelope protein fragments from
      rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) plasma using mass spectrometry.
AB  - Plasma peptides previously associated with exposure of juvenile male rainbow
      trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) to the hormone 17beta-estradiol (E2) were identified
      using matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time of flight mass
      spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS). Specifically, plasma peptides of interest were
      fractionated and subsequently identified via spectra obtained by MALDI QqTOF
      MS/MS and LC-MALDI TOFTOF MS/MS analysis, de novo sequencing and database
      matching. The two peptide masses were identified as significant matches for
      fragments of the C-terminal propeptides from rainbow trout vitelline envelope
      protein (VEP)alpha and VEPgamma isoforms. Our findings document the presence of
      the C-terminal propeptides from rainbow trout VEPalpha and VEPgamma proteins in
      the bloodstream of juvenile male rainbow trout exposed to E2 via MALDI-TOF-MS
      detection. We provide three possible explanations for the presence of C-terminal
      propeptides in the bloodstream, as well as compare previously obtained hepatic
      transcriptomic results with the plasma proteomic results obtained in the present
      study.

PMID- 20939046
TI  - The role of Dkk1 in bone mass regulation: correlating serum Dkk1 expression with
      bone mineral density.
AB  - The Wnt/beta-catenin pathway is a major signaling cascade in bone biology,
      playing a key role in regulating bone development and remodeling, with
      aberrations in signaling resulting in disturbances in bone mass. The objectives
      of our study were to correlate serum Dkk1 expression with bone mineral density
      (BMD) and assess the potential role of Dkk1 as a serological marker of bone mass.
      Serum was collected from a cohort of patients (n = 36), 18 patients with a
      reduced BMD and 18 control patients. Serum Dkk1 expression as quantified by ELISA
      was correlated with lumbar and femoral t- and z-scores. Serum Dkk1 concentration
      in the osteoporosis group was significantly higher than control group (941 +/-
      116 vs. 558 +/- 47 pg/ml, p < 0.01). Serum Dkk1 expression was highly correlated
      with bone mass variables with inverse associations found between serum Dkk1
      expression and lumbar t-score (r = -0.34, p = 0.00433), lumbar z-score (r = 
      0.22, p = 0.1907), femur t-score (r = -0.42, p = 0.0101), and femur z-score (r = 
      0.43, p = 0.0089). Our data further emphasizes the pivotal role played by
      Wnt/beta-catenin signaling in bone mass regulation. Dkk1, a powerful antagonist
      of canonical Wnt signaling, may have a role to play as a serological marker for
      disorders of bone mass, warranting further evaluation.

PMID- 20939047
TI  - Gender differences in 3D morphology and bony impingement of human hips.
AB  - For the proper diagnosis or treatment of hip joint disorders caused by anatomical
      abnormalities, the normal hip joint morphology must be studied to understand its
      influence on the maximum range of motion (ROM) until bony impingement by focusing
      on gender differences. Acetabular and femoral morphologies were analyzed from 3D
      CT images of 106 normal hip joints from elderly men (n = 36 joints) and women (n
      = 70 joints), and measurements of ROM until bony impingement were made in four
      directions (flexion, extension, and external and internal rotation at 90 degrees 
      flexion) using surface models of the pelvis and femur reconstructed from the CT
      data. Gender differences were found not only in joint orientation, including
      anteversion and inclination of the acetabulum and femoral neck anteversion, but
      also in the shape around the joint, including the acetabular rim and the femoral
      neck. This ROM study also showed gender differences in all four standard
      directions. In conclusion, significant gender differences were observed in the
      acetabular and femoral morphology, which led to significant gender differences in
      ROM until bony impingement.

PMID- 20939048
TI  - Protein-resistant polyurethane by sequential grafting of poly(2-hydroxyethyl
      methacrylate) and poly(oligo(ethylene glycol) methacrylate) via surface-initiated
      ATRP.
AB  - Protein-resistant polyurethane (PU) surfaces were prepared by sequentially
      grafting poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (poly(HEMA)) and poly(oligo(ethylene
      glycol) methacrylate) (poly(OEGMA)) via surface-initiated atom transfer radical
      polymerization (s-ATRP). The chain lengths of poly(HEMA) and poly(OEGMA) were
      regulated via the ratio of monomer to sacrificial initiator in solution. The
      surfaces were characterized by water contact angle and X-ray photoelectron
      spectroscopy (XPS). The protein resistant properties of the surfaces were
      assessed by single and binary adsorption experiments with fibrinogen (Fg),
      lysozyme (Lys), and lactalbumin (Lac). The adsorption of all three proteins on
      the sequentially grafted poly(HEMA)-poly(OEGMA) surfaces (PU/PH/PO) was greatly
      reduced compared with the unmodified PU. Adsorption decreased with increasing
      poly(OEGMA) chain length. On the PU/PH/PO surface with longest poly(OEGMA) chain
      length (~100), the decrease in Lys adsorption was in the range of 95-98% and the
      decrease in Fg and Lac adsorption was >99% compared with the unmodified PU.
      Adsorption from binary protein solutions showed that the PU/PH/PO surfaces
      resisted these proteins more or less equally, that is, independent of protein
      size.

PMID- 20939049
TI  - Biodegradable poly(alpha-hydroxy ester) blended microspheres as suitable carriers
      for retinal pigment epithelium cell transplantation.
AB  - Five blends of poly(L-lactic acid) (PLLA) with poly(D,L-lactic-co-glycolic acid)
      (PLGA) were used to prepare microcarriers by a solvent evaporation technique.
      Microcarriers were evaluated as suitable scaffolds to facilitate retinal pigment
      epithelium (RPE) cell transplantation. The blend ratios were 90:10, 75:25, 50:50,
      25:75, 10:90 (PLLA:PLGA). Samples of each microcarrier blend were coated with an
      extracellular matrix protein. Coated and uncoated microcarriers were seeded with
      a human RPE cell line. As the lactide unit content increased the size of
      microcarriers generally became larger and the surface more irregular. Cells
      remained proliferative and retained phenotype as confirmed by
      immunocytochemistry. Blends rich in PLLA were superior for maintenance of RPE
      cell viability. This study demonstrates for the first time the feasibility of
      using microcarriers as a vehicle for retinal cell transplantation for ocular
      disease.

PMID- 20939050
TI  - The role of complement C3 and fibrinogen in monocyte adhesion to PEO-like plasma
      deposited tetraglyme.
AB  - The role of complement C3 in mediating adhesion of monocytes to plasma deposited
      tetraglyme surfaces was studied. Although fibrinogen (Fg) is usually considered
      the main factor in mediating phagocyte attachment, plasma deposited PEO-like
      tetraethylene glycol dimethyl ether (tetraglyme) coatings that have ultra-low Fg
      adsorption (<10 ng cm(-2)) from low concentration solutions and low monocyte
      adhesion in vitro still show high phagocyte adhesion after short implantations
      and later become encapsulated when tested in vivo. To test whether higher Fg
      adsorption under in vivo conditions could explain the higher in vivo reactivity,
      we again measured the resistance of tetraglyme films to Fg adsorption. We found a
      surprising and previously unreported increased amount of adsorbed Fg on
      tetraglyme surfaces from higher concentration protein solutions. However,
      monocyte adhesion to tetraglyme did not markedly increase despite the increased
      Fg adsorption. We thus suspected proteins other than Fg must be responsible for
      the increased in vivo reactivity. We found that on tetraglyme preadsorbed with C3
      depleted serum, monocyte adhesion was greatly reduced as compared to samples
      adsorbed with normal serum. Addition of exogenous pure C3 to the serum used to
      preadsorb the surfaces restored monocyte adhesion to tetraglyme coatings. While
      Fg clearly plays an important role in mediating monocyte adhesion to tetraglyme
      surfaces, the results show an additional role for adsorbed C3 in monocyte
      adhesion.

PMID- 20939051
TI  - Growth and differentiation of bone marrow stromal cells on biodegradable polymer
      scaffolds: an in vitro study.
AB  - A fundamental component of bone tissue engineering is an appropriate scaffold as
      a carrier for osteogenic cells. The aim of the study was to evaluate the response
      of human bone marrow stromal cells (BMSC) to scaffolds made of three
      biodegradable polymers: poly(L-lactide-co-epsilon-caprolactone) (poly(LLA-co
      CL)), poly(L-lactide-co-1,5dioxepan-2-one) (poly(LLA-co-DXO)), and poly(L
      lactide) (poly(LLA)). Cellular response was evaluated in terms of attachment,
      proliferation, and differentiation. SEM disclosed earlier cell attachment and
      better spreading on poly(LLA-co-CL) and poly(LLA-co-DXO) scaffolds than on
      poly(LLA) after 1 h. At 24 h and 14 days postseeding, BMSCs had spread well,
      forming multiple cellular layers on the scaffolds. Cell proliferation was higher
      on poly(LLA-co-CL) and on poly(LLA-co-DXO) than on poly(LLA) after 1 and 7 days.
      Cell growth cycles of BMSC were longer on the scaffolds than on coverslips. After
      7 and 14 days cultivation on scaffolds, the expression of osteogenic markers such
      as ALP, Col I, OPN, and Runx2 were stimulated by BMSC, which indicating that
      poly(LLA-co-DXO), poly(LLA-co-CL), and poly(LLA) could support the osteogenic
      differentiation of BMSC in vitro. Poly(LLA-co-CL) and poly(LLA-co-DXO) promoted
      better attachment and growth of BMSC than poly(LLA). BMSC also retained their
      osteogenic differentiation potential, indicating biological activity of BMSC on
      the scaffolds. The promising results of this in vitro study indicate that these
      copolymers warrant further evaluation for potential application in bone tissue
      engineering.

PMID- 20939054
TI  - Schizophrenia and the nitric oxide controversy: do all things fall into place
      now?

PMID- 20939052
TI  - Differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells onto highly adherent radio frequency
      sputtered carbonated hydroxylapatite thin films.
AB  - In this work, an improved version of the radio frequency magnetron sputtering (RF
      MS) technique was used to prepare highly adherent B-type carbonated
      hydroxylapatite (B-CHA) thin films. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy
      (FTIR) and grazing incidence X-ray diffraction studies proved that the coatings
      maintained the composition and revealed the polycrystalline structure of HA.
      Scanning electron microscopy analysis showed that the CHA films are rough and
      exhibit a homogeneous microstructure. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX)
      mapping demonstrated a uniform distribution of the Ca and P cations while a Ca/P
      ratio of 1.8 was found. In addition, the FTIR experiments showed a remarkable
      reproducibility of the nanostructures. Human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs), in
      vitro differentiated osteoblasts, and explanted bone cells were grown over the
      surface of CHA coatings for periods between a few hours and 21 days.
      Osteoprogenitor cells maintained viability and characteristic morphology after
      adhesion on CHA coatings. Ki67-positive osteoblasts were the evidence of cell
      proliferation events. Cells showed positive staining for markers of osteoblast
      phenotype such as collagen type I, bone sialoprotein and osteonectin. Our data
      showed the formation of mineralized foci by differentiation of hMSCs to human
      primary osteoblasts after cultivation in osteogenic media on RF-sputtered films.
      The results demonstrate the capacity of B-type CHA coating to support MSCs
      adhesion and osteogenic differentiation ability.

PMID- 20939055
TI  - EP1(-/-) mice have enhanced osteoblast differentiation and accelerated fracture
      repair.
AB  - As a downstream product of cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2), prostaglandin E(2) (PGE(2))
      plays a crucial role in the regulation of bone formation. It has four different
      receptor subtypes (EP1 through EP4), each of which exerts different effects in
      bone. EP2 and EP4 induce bone formation through the protein kinase A (PKA)
      pathway, whereas EP3 inhibits bone formation in vitro. However, the effect of EP1
      receptor signaling during bone formation remains unclear. Closed, stabilized
      femoral fractures were created in mice with EP1 receptor loss of function at 10
      weeks of age. Healing was evaluated by radiographic imaging, histology, gene
      expression studies, micro-computed tomographic (uCT), and biomechanical measures.
      EP1(-/-) mouse fractures have increased formation of cartilage, increased
      fracture callus, and more rapid completion of endochondral ossification. The
      fractures heal faster and with earlier fracture callus mineralization with an
      altered expression of genes involved in bone repair and remodeling. Fractures in
      EP1(-/-) mice also had an earlier appearance of tartrate-resistant acid
      phosphatase (TRAcP)-positive osteoclasts, accelerated bone remodeling, and an
      earlier return to normal bone morphometry. EP1(-/-) mesenchymal progenitor cells
      isolated from bone marrow have higher osteoblast differentiation capacity and
      accelerated bone nodule formation and mineralization in vitro. Loss of the EP1
      receptor did not affect EP2 or EP4 signaling, suggesting that EP1 and its
      downstream signaling targets directly regulate fracture healing. We show that
      unlike the PGE(2) receptors EP2 and EP4, the EP1 receptor is a negative regulator
      that acts at multiple stages of the fracture healing process. Inhibition of EP1
      signaling is a potential means to enhance fracture healing.

PMID- 20939056
TI  - Synthetic elastin hydrogels that are coblended with heparin display substantial
      swelling, increased porosity, and improved cell penetration.
AB  - Synthetic elastin hydrogels are useful tissue engineering scaffolds because they
      present cell binding sequences and display physical performance similar to that
      of human elastic tissue. Small pores and a low porosity can limit cellular
      penetration into elastin scaffolds. To overcome this problem, glycosaminoglycans
      were coblended with tropoelastin during the formation of synthetic elastin
      hydrogels. Heparin and dermatan sulfate increased the pore size and porosity of
      the hydrogels. Heparin was particularly effective as it enlarged the pore size
      from 6.6 +/- 2.1 MUm to 23.8 +/- 8.5 MUm, and generated structures occasionally
      separated by finely fenestrated thin walls, which allowed human dermal fibroblast
      cells to migrate as deep as ~300 MUm into the hydrogel under diffusion-limiting
      static culture conditions. Most cells displayed spindle-like morphology, appeared
      histologically normal and presented intact nuclei, as expected for a viable
      population. Hydrogel swelling studies showed that each of the hydrogels
      contracted as the temperature was raised from 4 degrees C to 37 degrees C;
      synthetic elastin-heparin was least affected by temperature with a contraction of
      only 22.4 +/- 1.2%, which would facilitate its transition from cold storage to
      body temperature. All hydrogels displayed similar compression moduli of 5.5 +/-
      0.4 to 6.9 +/- 0.6 kPa. Compressive elastic energy losses for synthetic elastin
      heparin and synthetic elastin were 33.7 +/- 1.3% and 31.7 +/- 2.2% respectively.

PMID- 20939057
TI  - Myoclonus in Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease: polygraphic and video
      electroencephalography assessment of 109 patients.
AB  - We used electroencephalography (EEG)-polygraphic recordings to classify myoclonus
      in 109 patients with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) on the basis of its
      electromyography (EMG) pattern, time course, distribution, and EEG correlates. We
      recorded myoclonic jerks in 55 patients (50.4%), and we classified them as
      periodic myoclonus in 28, rhythmic in 13, and irregular in 20 (6 patients showed
      two types of myoclonus). Myoclonus occurred as a prominently negative event
      (interrupting the EMG discharge) in 10. Periodic sharp-wave complexes (PSWCs)
      were present in all but one patient with myoclonic jerks but were time-locked
      with EMG-bursts only in case of periodic myoclonus. Jerk-locked back averaging
      revealed a variable EEG-EMG transfer-time commonly exceeding that characterizing
      cortical myoclonus. Myoclonus was frequently associated with Met/Met polymorphism
      at codon 129 of the prion protein gene, but it was also observed in association
      with Met/Val or Val/Val polymorphisms provided that the EEG showed the presence
      of the PSWC pattern. The presence of enlarged somatosensory evoked potentials
      significantly correlated with the myoclonic presentation, as did MR signal
      hyperintensity involving the cortical mantle. Our observations on the basis of
      standard polygraphic criteria suggest that CJD associates with a remarkable
      variety of myoclonic jerks, and therefore different brain structures are probably
      involved as generators. The significant association between the presence of all
      myoclonus types with PSWCs suggests that hyperexcitable corticosubcortical loops
      are always required to generate (or allow) both myoclonus and the EEG complexes,
      either they are time locked or not.

PMID- 20939058
TI  - Stiffness of the substrate influences the phenotype of embryonic chicken cardiac
      myocytes.
AB  - We examined the effect of substrate stiffness on the beating rate, force of
      contraction, and cytoskeletal structure of embryonic chicken cardiac myocytes by
      culturing them on laminin-coated polyacrylamide (PA) substrates. Cells cultured
      on PA substrates with elasticity comparable to that of the native myocardium (18
      kPa) exhibited the highest beating rate during the first few days of culture. The
      initial beating rate of individual cells on all the substrates varied
      significantly but began to converge within 5 days. We also examined the focal
      adhesions (FAs) and cytoskeletal structure on different substrates via confocal
      microscopy and found a higher percentage of FAs on tissue culture (TC) plastic
      dishes compared with the softer PA gels. Furthermore, highly aligned sarcomeric
      striations were clearly visible on 18 kPa, 50 kPa, and TC dish, whereas cells on
      1 kPa only showed nonaligned diffused striations. The force of contraction on
      these substrates was measured using a micro-electromechanical system force
      sensor, which showed that the force of contraction for the cells on TC dishes (F
      = 71.30 +/- 6.38 nN) was significantly larger than those cultured on the 18-kPa
      PA gel (F = 30.16 +/- 3.83 nN). This is most likely due to the formation of
      higher percentage of FAs on the TC dishes compared with fewer FAs on the softer
      gels. Our cumulative findings can have a significant impact on the design of 3D
      cardiac tissue engineered scaffolds.

PMID- 20939060
TI  - Repeated treatment with the kappa-opioid agonist U-69593 increases K+-stimulated
      dopamine release in the rat medial prefrontal cortex.
AB  - Acute activation of kappa-opioid receptors (KOR) decreases dopamine (DA)
      extracellular levels in both the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and the nucleus
      accumbens (NAc). Also, the acute activation of KOR prevents alterations in
      behavior and neurochemistry occurring after repeated use of psychostimulants.
      Opposing to the acute effects, repeated administration of the KOR agonist, U
      6593, potentiates both high-potassium and amphetamine induced DA release in the
      NAc, suggesting that repeated activation of KOR sensitizes mesolimbic
      dopaminergic neurotransmission. This study investigated the effect of repeated
      treatment with U-69593 on basal and stimulated DA and serotonin (5HT)
      extracellular levels in the rat mPFC. Rats were injected once daily with U-69593
      (0.16-0.32 mg/kg) or vehicle for 4 days. One day after the last injection,
      microdialysis experiments assessing DA and 5HT extracellular levels in mPFC were
      conduced. The repeated treatment with U-69593 significantly augmented potassium
      stimulated DA extracellular levels, without affecting potassium-stimulated 5HT
      extracellular levels, suggesting an increase in DA releasability.

PMID- 20939061
TI  - Effect of electrical and chemical stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus on the
      release of striatal dopamine.
AB  - High-frequency stimulation (HFS) of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) alleviates the
      cardinal symptoms of Parkinson's disease, but the mechanisms underlying these
      clinical results remain to be clarified. The HFS of STN is associated with the
      release of dopamine (DA) in the striatum. This study examines possible mechanisms
      by which HFS-STN release DA. The experiments were performed in rats anesthetized
      with urethane. The STN was stimulated by electrical HF and chemical
      microinjections of an antagonist and an agonist of GABA(A) receptors, the
      bicuculline, and the muscimol, respectively. The extracellular striatal DA-DOPAC
      (3-4-dihydroxyphenilacetic acid) content was collected by means of intracerebral
      microdialysis cannula and analyzed with HPLC with an electrochemical detector.
      The HFS of STN and microinjection of bicuculline intrasubthalamic produced a
      significant increase of extracellular striatal DA, whereas DOPAC levels were
      unchanged. The microinjection of muscimol depresses spontaneous release of DA,
      without changes in DOPAC. The kainic acid lesion of the globus pallidus (GP) and
      the substantia nigra pars reticulata (SNr), ipsilateral to dialyzed striatum, did
      not modify the release of DA-DOPAC. These data provide evidence that the STN has
      a tonic action on the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc), and the release of
      striatal DA by HFS-STN may be due to activation of the STN acting directly on SNc
      neurons.

PMID- 20939059
TI  - Cannabinoid-1 receptor gene deletion has a compartment-specific affect on the
      dendritic and axonal availability of MU-opioid receptors and on dopamine axons in
      the mouse nucleus accumbens.
AB  - Cannabinoid-type 1 (CB1) receptors are implicated in MU-opioid receptor (MU-OR)
      dependent reward ascribed partially to mesolimbic dopamine release in the nucleus
      accumbens (Acb) shell. Thus, CB1 receptor gene deletion may preferentially alter
      the availability of MU-ORs and/or dopamine innervation in this brain region,
      which is functionally distinct from the motor-associated Acb core. To test this
      hypothesis, we examined the electron microscopic immunolabeling of the MU-OR and
      the dopamine-synthesizing enzyme, tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) in Acb shell, and
      core of adult C57BL/6J wild-type (WT) and CB1-knock-out (KO) mice. The MU-OR
      immunogold particles were observed in the cytoplasm and on the plasmalemma in
      dendrites, dendritic spines, and axon terminals throughout the Acb. Compared to
      WT, the Acb shell of CB1-KO mice showed a lower cytoplasmic density of MU-ORs in
      dendrites and fewer MU-OR labeled, but not unlabeled, dendritic spines. In this
      region, the CB1-KO's had a significantly enhanced plasmalemmal density of MU-OR
      immunogold in axon terminals, 70% of which formed excitatory-type synapses.
      However, the number of both MU-OR-labeled terminals and TH-labeled small
      varicosities was significantly reduced in the Acb shell of CB1-KO's. These
      adaptations were not seen in the Acb core, where CB1-KO's had a preferentially
      lower dendritic plasmalemmal and total spine density of MU-OR immunogold. Our
      results indicate that constitutive deletion of the CB1 receptor gene has a major
      impact on the pre and postsynaptic availability of MU-ORs at axospinous synapses
      and on the dopamine innervation of the Acb shell as well as the dendritic surface
      expression of MU-ORs in Acb core of mature rodents.

PMID- 20939062
TI  - Multiplanar reconstruction recovers morphological cartilage assessment
      reproducibility from maloriented coronal MRI scans.
AB  - The study's purpose was to assess the effect of multiplanar reconstruction on
      precision of weight-bearing medial and lateral femoral cartilage (cMF, cLF)
      morphometry in maloriented coronal MR images. Twenty knees were scanned four
      times with a 1.0 Tesla extremity imager using a fat-suppressed T1-weighted three
      dimensional spoiled gradient recalled echo sequence; twice with "best as" double
      bull's-eye orientation of the femoral condyles, and once each with 5 degrees 
      internal and external rotation. Multiplanar reconstruction was applied to
      maloriented scans to recover double bull's-eye orientation. Medial and lateral
      femoral cartilages were segmented and precision of bone area, cartilage volume
      and thickness (ThCtAB) evaluated for all scans. Test-retest precision (RMSCV%) of
      the double bull's-eye scans was 1.1% for total bone area and 4.1% for cartilage
      volume. Differences in precision between double bull's-eye and maloriented images
      were assessed. Higher precision errors were observed in malorientated images for
      all outcomes (1.7-4.8% for internally rotation scans; 1.7-4.8% for external
      rotation scans). Precision generally improved with multiplanar reconstruction
      correction (1.7-5.6% for internally rotated scans; 1.2-3.5% for external rotation
      scans). Precision of femoral cartilage morphometry is generally reduced when
      maloriented images are acquired. Multiplanar reconstruction can correct
      malorientated scans and recover precision losses. Measurements are affected in a
      rotationally and compartmentally dependent manner.

PMID- 20939063
TI  - Blockade of receptor-activated G(i) signaling in osteoblasts in vivo leads to
      site-specific increases in cortical and cancellous bone formation.
AB  - Osteoblasts play a critical role in the maintenance of bone mass through bone
      formation and regulation of bone resorption. Targeted expression of a
      constitutively active engineered G(i)-coupled G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR)
      to osteoblasts in vivo leads to severe osteopenia. However, little is known about
      the role of endogenous receptor-mediated G(i) signaling in regulating osteoblast
      function. In this study, we investigated the skeletal effects of blocking G(i)
      coupled signaling in osteoblasts in vivo. This was accomplished by transgenic
      expression of the catalytic subunit of pertussis toxin (PTX) under control of the
      collagen Ialpha 2.3-kb promoter. These mice, designated Col1(2.3)(+)/PTX(+),
      showed increased cortical thickness at the femoral midshaft at 12 weeks of age.
      This correlated with increased periosteal bone formation associated with expanded
      mineralizing surface observed in 8-week-old mice of both genders. The cancellous
      bone phenotype of the Col1(2.3)(+)/PTX(+) mice was sexually dimorphic, with
      increases in fractional bone volume at the distal femur seen only in females.
      Similarly, while cancellous bone-formation rates were unchanged in males, they
      could not be quantified for female Col1(2.3)(+)/PTX(+) mice owing to the
      disorganized nature of the labeling pattern, which was consistent with rapid
      formation of woven bone. Alterations in osteoclast activity did not appear to
      participate in the phenotype. These data demonstrate that G(i)-coupled signaling
      by GPCRs endogenous to osteoblasts plays a complex role in the regulation of bone
      formation in a manner that is dependent on both gender and the anatomic site
      within bone.

PMID- 20939065
TI  - Anti-FGF-23 neutralizing antibodies ameliorate muscle weakness and decreased
      spontaneous movement of Hyp mice.
AB  - Fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF-23) plays causative roles in the development of
      several hypophosphatemic rickets/osteomalacia such as X-linked hypophosphatemic
      rickets/osteomalacia (XLH) and tumor-induced rickets/osteomalacia. Patients with
      hypophosphatemic rickets/osteomalacia often complain of muscle weakness and bone
      pain that severely affect daily activities of these patients. The purpose of this
      study was to examine whether anti-FGF-23 antibodies, which have been shown to
      improve hypophosphatemia and rachitic changes of juvenile Hyp mice in a murine
      model of XLH, also ameliorate hypophosphatemic osteomalacia and affect muscle
      force and spontaneous motor activity in adult Hyp mice. Repeated injections of
      anti-FGF-23 antibodies increased serum phosphate and 1,25-dihydroxyvitmain D
      levels and enhanced mineralization of osteoid in adult Hyp mice, whereas bone
      length did not change. We found that grip strength was weaker and that
      spontaneous movement was less in adult Hyp mice than in wild-type mice. In
      addition, FGF-23 antibodies increased grip strength and spontaneous movement.
      These results suggest that the inhibition of excess FGF-23 action not only
      ameliorates hypophosphatemia and impaired mineralization of bone but also
      improves muscle weakness and daily activities of patients with FGF-23-related
      hypophosphatemic rickets/osteomalacia.

PMID- 20939064
TI  - The relationship between bisphosphonate adherence and fracture: is it the
      behavior or the medication? Results from the placebo arm of the fracture
      intervention trial.
AB  - Medication compliance may be a surrogate for factors that improve health outcomes
      such as fractures. Little is known about the size of this potential "healthy
      adherer" effect. We evaluated the hypothesis that compliance with placebo is
      associated inversely with bone loss and fractures among women participating in
      the Fracture Intervention Trial (FIT). Compliance with placebo and alendronate
      was evaluated using daily medication diaries. Women were defined as having high
      compliance if they took 80% or more of dispensed study medication. Change in bone
      mineral density (BMD) was assessed using mixed models comparing women with high
      versus lower compliance with placebo. Cox proportional-hazards models analyzed
      the association between placebo compliance and various types of fractures. Among
      3169 women randomized to placebo, 82% had high compliance. Compared with women
      with lower placebo compliance, bone loss at the total hip was lower in compliant
      placebo-treated women (-0.43%/year versus -0.58%/year, p = .04). Among placebo
      treated women, there were 46 hip, 110 wrist, 77 clinical vertebral, and 492 total
      clinical fractures. Compared with women with lower placebo compliance, women with
      high placebo compliance had a nonsignificant reduced risk for hip fracture
      [adjusted hazard ratio (HR) = 0.67, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.30-1.45]. This
      trend was not observed for other fractures. Medication compliance may be a proxy
      for factors that confers benefit on reducing hip fracture (but not other types of
      fractures) independent of the effect of the medication itself. Nonrandomized
      studies of interventions designed to maintain or improve bone density and/or hip
      fracture may need to consider medication compliance as a confounder to better
      estimate true intervention effects.

PMID- 20939066
TI  - Breast tumors induced by N-methyl-N-nitrosourea are damaging to bone strength,
      structure, and mineralization in the absence of metastasis in rats.
AB  - Current theory on the influence of breast cancer on bone describes metastasis of
      tumor cells to bone tissue, followed by induction of osteoclasts and bone
      degradation. Tumor influences on bone health in pre- or nonmetastatic models are
      unknown. Female rats (n = 48, 52 days old) were injected with N-methyl-N
      nitrosourea (MNU) to induce breast cancer. Animals were euthanized 10 weeks
      later, and tumors were weighed and classified histologically. Right femurs were
      extracted for testing of bone mineral density (BMD) by dual X-ray absorptiometry
      (DXA), bone mechanical strength by three-point bending and femoral neck bending
      tests, and structure by micro-computed tomography (uCT). Of 48 rats, 22 developed
      one or more tumors in response to MNU injection by 10 weeks. Presence of any
      tumor predicted significantly poorer bone health in 17 of 28 measures. In tumored
      versus nontumored animals, BMD was adversely affected by 3%, force at failure of
      the femoral midshaft by 4%, force at failure of the femoral neck by 12%, and
      various trabecular structural parameters by 6% to 27% (all p < .05). Similarly,
      greater tumor burden, represented by total tumor weight, adversely correlated
      with bone outcomes: r = -0.51 for BMD, -0.42 and -0.35 for femur midshaft force
      and work at failure, and between 0.36 and 0.59 (absolute values) for trabecular
      architecture (all p < .05). Presence of MNU-induced tumors and total tumor burden
      showed a negative association with bone health of the femur in rats in the
      absence of metastasis. Further study is required to elucidate mechanisms for this
      association.

PMID- 20939067
TI  - Matrix stiffness regulation of integrin-mediated mechanotransduction during
      osteogenic differentiation of human mesenchymal stem cells.
AB  - Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) cultured on extracellular matrices with different
      stiffness have been shown to possess diverse lineage commitment owing to the
      extracellular mechanical stimuli sensed by the cells. The aim of this study was
      to further delineate how matrix stiffness affects intracellular signaling through
      the mechanotransducers Rho kinase (ROCK) and focal adhesion kinase (FAK) and
      subsequently regulates the osteogenic phenotype of MSCs. MSCs were cultured in
      osteogenic medium on tunable polyacrylamide hydrogels coated with type I collagen
      with elasticities corresponding to Young's modulus of 7.0 +/- 1.2 and 42.1 +/-
      3.2 kPa. Osteogenic differentiation was increased on stiffer matrices, as evident
      by type I collagen, osteocalcin, and Runx2 gene expressions and alizarin red S
      staining for mineralization. Western blot analysis demonstrated an increase in
      kinase activities of ROCK, FAK, and ERK1/2 on stiffer matrices. Inhibition of
      FAK, an important mediator of osteogenic differentiation, and inhibition of ROCK,
      a known mechanotransducer of matrix stiffness during osteogenesis, resulted in
      decreased expression of osteogenic markers during osteogenic induction. In
      addition, FAK affects osteogenic differentiation through ERK1/2, whereas ROCK
      regulates both FAK and ERK1/2. Furthermore, alpha(2)-integrin was upregulated on
      stiffer matrices during osteogenic induction, and its knockdown by siRNA
      downregulated the osteogenic phenotype through ROCK, FAK, and ERK1/2. Taken
      together, our results provide evidence that the matrix rigidity affects the
      osteogenic outcome of MSCs through mechanotransduction events that are mediated
      by alpha(2)-integrin.

PMID- 20939068
TI  - Diffusion tensor echo planar imaging using surface coil transceiver with a
      semiadiabatic RF pulse sequence at 14.1T.
AB  - Diffusion magnetic resonance studies of the brain are typically performed using
      volume coils. Although in human brain this leads to a near optimal filling
      factor, studies of rodent brain must contend with the fact that only a fraction
      of the head volume can be ascribed to the brain. The use of surface coil as
      transceiver increases Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR), reduces radiofrequency power
      requirements and opens the possibility of parallel transmit schemes, likely to
      allow efficient acquisition schemes, of critical importance for reducing the long
      scan times implicated in diffusion tensor imaging. This study demonstrates the
      implementation of a semiadiabatic echo planar imaging sequence (echo time=40 ms,
      four interleaves) at 14.1T using a quadrature surface coil as transceiver. It
      resulted in artifact free images with excellent SNR throughout the brain.
      Diffusion tensor derived parameters obtained within the rat brain were in
      excellent agreement with reported values.

PMID- 20939069
TI  - Further studies on the anisotropic distribution of collagen in articular
      cartilage by MUMRI.
AB  - To further study the anisotropic distribution of the collagen matrix in articular
      cartilage, microscopic magnetic resonance imaging experiments were carried out on
      articular cartilages from the central load-bearing area of three canine humeral
      heads at 13 MUm resolution across the depth of tissue. Quantitative T2 images
      were acquired when the tissue blocks were rotated, relative to B0, along two
      orthogonal directions, both perpendicular to the normal axis of the articular
      surface. The T2 relaxation rate (R2) was modeled, by three fibril structural
      configurations (solid cone, funnel, and fan), to represent the anisotropy of the
      collagen fibrils in cartilage from the articular surface to the cartilage/bone
      interface. A set of complex and depth-dependent characteristics of collagen
      distribution was found in articular cartilage. In particular, there were two
      anisotropic components in the superficial zone and an asymmetrical component in
      the radial zone of cartilage. A complex model of the three-dimensional fibril
      architecture in articular cartilage is proposed, which has a leaf-like or layer
      like structure in the radial zone, arises in a radial manner from the subchondral
      bone, spreads and arches passing the isotropic transitional zone, and exhibits
      two distinct anisotropic components (vertical and transverse) in the surface
      portion of the tissue.

PMID- 20939070
TI  - A pilot open-label trial of zonisamide in Unverricht-Lundborg disease.
AB  - Action myoclonus frequently remains the primary cause of disability in Unverricht
      Lundborg disease (EPM1) patients. Pharmacological treatment of myoclonus in these
      patients continues to be challenging; indeed conventional AEDs may be poorly
      effective in monotherapy or even in combination. We carried out a pilot, open
      label trial of add-on zonisamide (ZNS) in patients with EPM1. Twelve EPM1
      patients with epilepsy and action myoclonus were included in the study. Oral ZNS
      was gradually titrated until the target dose of 6 mg/Kg/day. Unified Myoclonus
      Rating Scale was obtained in each subject before and after ZNS add-on. A
      significant reduction of myoclonus severity was reached after ZNS introduction.
      ZNS was generally well tolerated and only two patients withdrew due to mild
      adverse effects. Our trial suggests that ZNS may be a valuable therapeutic option
      in EPM1 patients.

PMID- 20939071
TI  - Racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in the prevalence and treatment of
      otitis media in children in the United States.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Although racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in child health
      are prevalent, little is known about them within common pediatric otolaryngic
      problems. Otitis media (OM) is a frequent diagnosis in children, and tympanostomy
      tube placement is the most common surgical treatment for OM. We sought to
      identify current knowledge regarding racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities
      in children with OM or tympanostomy tube placement. METHODS: Qualitative
      systematic review of MEDLINE database for U.S.-based articles reporting on
      racial/ethnic or socioeconomic disparities in diagnosis or surgical treatment of
      OM over the last 30 years. RESULTS: Of 428 abstracts identified, 15 met inclusion
      criteria. Articles addressed OM prevalence (12 of 15), risk factors (9 of 15),
      and tympanostomy tube insertion (4 of 15). Minority racial/ethnic groups studied
      were Black (11 of 15), Hispanic (6 of 15), American Indian/Alaska Native (2 of
      15), and Asian (1 of 15). Predominant findings showed: 1) the most common
      identified risk factor for OM is socioeconomic status; 2) considerable
      variability exists concerning racial/ethnic disparities in disease prevalence;
      and 3) White children are more likely to undergo tympanostomy tube insertion
      compared to Black or Hispanic children. CONCLUSIONS: Racial/ethnic and
      socioeconomic disparities exist for the prevalence and treatment of children with
      OM. Socioeconomic deprivation increases the risk of OM in children. Despite the
      frequency of tympanostomy tube insertion in children in the United States, few
      studies have addressed inequalities in access or utilization of surgical therapy.
      Given the changing healthcare climate and the social and economic impact of OM in
      children, further investigation of racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities
      targeting access to surgical treatment of OM should take precedence in health
      services research.

PMID- 20939072
TI  - Development and pilot testing of an operative competency assessment tool for
      pediatric direct laryngoscopy and rigid bronchoscopy.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To develop and pilot test an objective assessment of technical skills
      instrument for evaluation of residents' surgical performance of pediatric direct
      laryngoscopy and rigid bronchoscopy, with emphasis on feasibility, validity, and
      interrater agreement. STUDY DESIGN: Prospective, unblinded educational quality
      improvement project combining paired and unpaired observations. METHODS:
      Objective Structured Assessment of Technical Skills (OSATS) evaluation
      instruments were developed from detailed faculty input. Two instruments were
      created: a surgical checklist and a global assessment of surgical performance.
      The instruments were tested in a simulation bronchoscopy course and in the
      operative suite. Paired observations were used to determine interrater agreement,
      whereas multiple evaluations were used to calculate construct validity and
      internal consistency. RESULTS: Forty-four assessments were completed for 19
      residents. Seven faculty members evaluated residents as they performed
      laryngoscopy and bronchoscopy in an animal simulation laboratory and in the
      operating room. The evaluation tool was found to be feasible. The interrater
      agreement for both instruments was significant at 80.4% to 84.6% (P <=.0001).
      Construct validity was confirmed with increasing mean global and task specific
      scores by postgraduate year (P <.0001). Internal consistency, measured with
      Cronbach alpha, was high at 0.968. CONCLUSIONS: This pilot study suggests that a
      reliable and valid instrument for objective evaluation of surgical competency can
      be developed for pediatric direct laryngoscopy and rigid bronchoscopy. This
      instrument can be used for formative and summative feedback of operative
      performance. In addition, it was easy to use and valid in a limited evaluation;
      however, larger studies are required to validate its utility.

PMID- 20939073
TI  - Recombinant human tissue factor pathway inhibitor prevents thrombosis in a venous
      tuck model.
AB  - OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: Microvascular free tissue transfer has become a mainstay
      of reconstruction after resections for head and neck cancer. With current
      techniques, free flap failure is typically low; however, failure rates have been
      reported as high as 10%. Most thrombotic failures occur within the first few days
      postoperatively and tend to involve the venous anastomoses. We evaluated the
      efficacy of recombinant human tissue factor pathway inhibitor (rhTFPI), an
      anticoagulant that directly inhibits the extrinsic coagulation pathway, using a
      rat model of microvenous thrombosis. STUDY DESIGN: Prospective, randomized.
      METHODS: Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned to either rhTFPI or saline
      groups. We performed a venous tuck procedure in the common femoral vein. Prior to
      closure, the anastamosis was irrigated with either rhTPFI (20 MUg/mL) or normal
      saline. Survival of the anastomosis was measured via clinical assessment at
      regular postoperative intervals. After a postoperative period of 48 hours, sites
      were intraoperatively assessed and the vessels harvested. RESULTS: There was a
      significant increase in vessel patency in rats treated topically with rhTFPI
      compared to controls receiving saline. There was no increase in bleeding
      complications in the treated group versus controls. CONCLUSIONS: Our data
      suggests that the use of topical rhTPFI increases venous anastomotic patency
      rates in vivo. The topical means of administration is attractive, as there seems
      to be a low percentage of systemic complications as is often seen with
      anticoagulation therapies. Future studies will investigate the potential efficacy
      in patients undergoing microvascular free tissue transfer.

PMID- 20939074
TI  - Anatomic verification of a novel method for precise intrascalar localization of
      cochlear implant electrodes in adult temporal bones using clinically available
      computed tomography.
AB  - OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: We have previously described a novel, automated, nonrigid,
      model-based method for determining the intrascalar position of cochlear implant
      (CI) electrode arrays within human temporal bones using clinically available,
      flat-panel volume computed tomography (fpVCT). We sought to validate this method
      by correlating results with anatomic microdissection of CI arrays in cadaveric
      bones. STUDY DESIGN: Basic science. METHODS: Seven adult cadaveric temporal bones
      were imaged using fpVCT before and after electrode insertion. Using a statistical
      model of intracochlear anatomy, an active shape model optimization approach was
      employed to identify the scalae tympani and vestibuli on the preintervention
      fpVCT. The array position was estimated by identifying its midline on the
      postintervention scan and superimposing it onto the preintervention images using
      rigid registration. Specimens were then microdissected to demonstrate the actual
      array position. RESULTS: Using microdissection as the standard for ascertaining
      electrode position, automatic identification of the basilar membrane coupled with
      postintervention fpVCT for electrode position identification accurately depicted
      the array location in all seven bones. In four specimens, the array remained
      within the scala tympani; in three, the basilar membrane was breached.
      CONCLUSIONS: We have anatomically validated this automated method for predicting
      the intrascalar location of CI arrays using CT. Using this algorithm and pre- and
      postintervention CT, rapid feedback regarding implant location and expected
      audiologic outcomes could be obtained in clinical settings.

PMID- 20939075
TI  - Depression, sleepiness, and disease severity in patients with obstructive sleep
      apnea.
AB  - OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: To determine if a relationship exists between depression,
      disease severity, and sleepiness in patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).
      STUDY DESIGN: Case control study. METHODS: Fifty-three consecutive patients with
      suspected OSA were evaluated before treatment and compared with controls by using
      the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), and
      polysomnography. RESULTS: OSA was associated with an increased risk of depression
      in the study group compared to the control group (odds ratio = 6.3, 95%
      confidence interval: 1.9-20.6, P = .002); depression was seen in 35% of OSA
      patients and 8% of controls (P < .001). There was a significant correlation
      between BDI and ESS scores (r = 0.342, P = .012). In addition, ESS was
      significantly associated (P = .039) with depression in a linear regression model
      that controlled for race, sex, age, and respiratory disturbance index (RDI). RDI
      and depression were weakly associated (P = .056) in this model, and there was no
      correlation found between BDI scores and OSA disease severity (RDI)(r = 0.446).
      CONCLUSIONS: Patients with OSA and daytime sleepiness are more likely to have
      depressive symptoms as compared with controls. OSA disease severity, as measured
      with the RDI score, is a weak predictor of BDI score, and no correlation was seen
      between the severity of OSA and BDI scores after controlling for other factors.
      However, there was a strong correlation between sleepiness (ESS) and disease
      severity (BDI). These data suggest that OSA patients with symptoms of excessive
      sleepiness have the highest risk of associated depressive symptoms and may
      benefit most from depression screening.

PMID- 20939076
TI  - Temporomandibular joint herniation into the external auditory canal.
AB  - OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: Herniation of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) into the
      external auditory canal (EAC) is a very rare condition, and it mostly occurs in
      patients with bony wall defects in the anterior EAC. The purpose of this study
      was to evaluate the clinical and radiological findings and the treatment results
      of TMJ herniation into the EAC by reviewing a large sample of temporal bone
      computed tomography (CT) scans. STUDY DESIGN: A retrospective study. METHODS: We
      reviewed 985 adult temporal bone CT scans and evaluated the presence of defects,
      the size and location of defects, and TMJ herniation. We enrolled 23 cases with
      anterior EAC wall defects. RESULTS: Twenty-three (2.3%) patients from the 985
      temporal bone CT cases revealed an anterior wall defect involving the EAC. We
      identified the causes for the defects, such as canal cholesteatoma and trauma, in
      eight of the 23 cases. We observed 15 (1.5%) patients with patent foramen of
      Huschke. The mean defect size was 3.06 * 2.69 mm. Among the patients with these
      lesions, six had a TMJ herniation into the EAC. Four of the six cases were
      surgically reconstructed using a titanium mesh via a preauricular approach,
      whereas the remaining two cases were managed with endaural removal and skin
      graft. CONCLUSIONS: TMJ herniation into the EAC is very rare and may not occur
      even if an anterior wall defect of the EAC is present. Lesions can be
      successfully managed with surgical reconstruction of the TMJ via a preauricular
      approach, whereas small lesions can be managed using an endaural approach.

PMID- 20939077
TI  - Speed effects of deep brain stimulation for Parkinson's disease.
AB  - Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) accelerates
      reaction time (RT) in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD), particularly in
      tasks in which decisions on the response side have to be made. This might
      indicate that DBS speeds up both motor and nonmotor operations. Therefore, we
      studied the extent to which modifications of different processing streams could
      explain changes of RT under subthalamic DBS. Ten PD patients on-DBS and off-DBS
      and 10 healthy subjects performed a choice-response task (CRT), requiring either
      right or left finger button presses. At the same time, EEG recordings were
      performed, so that RTs could be assessed together with lateralized readiness
      potentials (LRP), indicative of movement preparation. Additionally, an oddball
      task (OT) was run, in which right finger responses to target stimuli were
      recorded along with cognitive P300 responses. Generally, PD patients off-DBS had
      longer RTs than controls. Subthalamic DBS accelerated RT only in CRT. This could
      largely be explained by analog shortenings of LRP. No DBS-dependent changes were
      identified in OT, neither on the level of RT nor on the level of P300 latencies.
      It follows that RT accelerations under DBS of the STN are predominantly due to
      effects on the timing of motor instead of nonmotor processes. This starting point
      explains why DBS gains of response speed are low in tasks in which reactions are
      initiated from an advanced level of movement preparation (as in OT), and high
      whenever motor responses have to be raised from scratch (as in CRT).

PMID- 20939078
TI  - Residual striatal dopaminergic nerve terminals in very long-standing Parkinson's
      disease: a single photon emission computed tomography imaging study.
AB  - Molecular imaging studies of Parkinson's disease (PD) progression mostly focus on
      the first 5 years after disease onset, demonstrating rapid initial nigrostriatal
      neuronal loss. The fate of residual functional dopaminergic nerve terminals in
      patients with long-standing PD has not yet been specifically explored. Therefore,
      we performed [(123)I]-FP-CIT single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT)
      in 15 patients with very long-standing PD (mean disease duration 20.6 +/- 6.3
      years). Measurable uptake of [(123)I]-FP-CIT was still detected in the striata of
      all patients. As seen in early stages, reduction of tracer uptake in the putamen
      was more prominent than in the caudate nucleus. Asymmetry in tracer uptake
      between the two putamen and caudate nuclei was preserved. These findings indicate
      that degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in PD is not total even after many
      years of illness. Data should be considered in exploring underlying causes of
      progressive loss of nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurons and development of future
      novel dopaminergic therapeutic strategies in PD.

PMID- 20939079
TI  - Everyday reasoning abilities in persons with Parkinson's disease.
AB  - Parkinson's disease (PD) patients develop progressive cognitive decline. The
      degree to which such decline impacts instrumental activities of daily living
      (IADL) among individuals in the early stages of PD without dementia is not well
      documented. The Everyday Cognitive Battery Reasoning subtest (ECB) was used to
      assess ability to solve everyday reasoning tasks for IADL among 19 non-demented
      older adults with PD in comparison to 20 older adults without PD. The two groups
      were similar in age, education, race and gender. Individuals with PD had
      significantly lower scores (M = 61.98, SD = 12.03) than the comparison group (M =
      69.80, SD = 9.48). Individuals with PD, who do not have dementia, may be more
      likely to experience difficulties in IADL requiring reasoning including
      medication use, finances, and nutrition. Even more serious implications lie in
      the capacity to make treatment choices.

PMID- 20939080
TI  - Evidence for association of the GLI2 gene with tardive dyskinesia in patients
      with chronic schizophrenia.
AB  - Tardive dyskinesia (TD) occurs in approximately 20% of patients exposed to long
      term antipsychotic treatment and may be influenced by genetic predisposition, in
      addition to clinical risk factors. In this study, we implemented a two-step
      approach to identify susceptibility genes for TD. First, we performed a secondary
      analysis of the Clinical Antipsychotic Trials of Intervention Effectiveness
      (CATIE) genome-wide association study (GWAS) dataset to identify candidate genes
      for TD severity. A total of 327 schizophrenia patients treated with
      antipsychotics who participated in the CATIE trial were included in a TD severity
      GWAS (approximately 495,000 SNPs). Cases were defined as demonstrating
      involuntary movements of a mild degree in two or more body regions or of a
      moderate to severe degree in at least one body region on at least two separate
      evaluations, whereas controls were completely free of abnormal involuntary
      movement on all evaluations. Using logistic regression and controlling for
      population stratification and relevant clinical risk factors, none of the
      associated SNPs reached GWAS significance; however, several promising SNPs were
      identified for follow-up investigation. In the second step, we performed an
      association study of the top 25 SNPs in an independent sample of 170 Jewish,
      Israeli, schizophrenia patients (retrospective, cross-sectional design).
      Association of the SNP rs3943552 T allele in the GLI2 gene with TD was observed
      in a subsample of Ashkenazi Jewish patients (N = 96, P = 0.018; P = 6.2 * 10-5 in
      the CATIE sample). The GLI2 gene encodes a transcription factor that participates
      in the development of the dopaminergic system during embryogenesis. Taken
      together, our findings support a possible contribution of GLI2 to TD
      susceptibility.

PMID- 20939081
TI  - Shortness of breath in a Parkinson's disease patient.

PMID- 20939082
TI  - Dopamine turnover increases in asymptomatic LRRK2 mutations carriers.
AB  - Increase in dopamine (DA) turnover was found to occur early in symptomatic
      Parkinson's disease (PD) and to be functionally related to the dopamine
      transporter (DAT). The objectives of this study were to examine changes in DA
      turnover in the asymptomatic PD phase; to compare them with changes in other
      dopaminergic markers, and to investigate a possible relationship between DAT and
      DA turnover. Eight subjects from families at increased risk of PD due to LRRK2
      mutation were investigated. Positron emission tomography imaging was performed
      with: 18F-fluorodopa to determine the effective DA distribution volume (EDV), the
      inverse of DA turnover, and the DA uptake rate K(occ), a marker of DA synthesis
      and storage; 11C-methylphenidate (MP, a DAT marker) and 11C-dihydrotetrabenazine
      (DTBZ, a VMAT2 marker) to estimate the binding potentials BP(ND_MP) and
      BP(ND_DTBZ). On average, EDV showed the largest reduction from age-matched
      control values (42%) followed by BP(ND_MP) (23%) and BP(ND_DTBZ) (17%), whereas
      K(occ) remained in the normal range for all subjects. No correlation was found
      between EDV and any other marker. DA turnover was found to be elevated in
      asymptomatic mutation carriers at increased risk of PD. Such change was
      determined to be larger than and statistically independent from changes observed
      with the other markers. These results support a compensatory role of increased DA
      turnover in presymptomatic disease and indicate that at this stage, in contrast
      to the symptomatic PD phase, increased turnover is not related to DAT.

PMID- 20939083
TI  - Long-term outcomes of injection laryngoplasty in patients with potentially
      recoverable vocal fold paralysis.
AB  - OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: Injection laryngoplasty (IL) is a temporary intervention
      for unilateral vocal fold paralysis (UVFP). IL is often performed in patients
      with a potentially recoverable recurrent laryngeal nerve insult while awaiting
      spontaneous recovery, compensation, or definitive intervention. This study
      investigates the long-term outcomes of subjects treated with an IL. STUDY DESIGN:
      Restrospective chart review. METHODS: A single-institution, retrospective review
      was performed from January 2004 to July 2008; subjects with potentially
      recoverable UVFP who underwent an IL were included. RESULTS: The following
      etiologies were noted for the 42 subjects included: idiopathic in 13 (31%),
      iatrogenic in 25 (60%), infectious in two (5%), traumatic in one (2%), and stroke
      in one (2%). Ten subjects (24%) had full recovery of their paralysis, four (10%)
      partially recovered movement with adequate recovery of voice, 16 (40%) had no
      recovery of motion but compensation with adequate recovery of voice, 12 (29%)
      required further definitive intervention in the form of laryngeal framework
      surgery. Voice-related quality of life scores improved for all patients surveyed
      after IL and improved more for those who ultimately recovered or compensated.
      CONCLUSIONS: The majority of subjects with potentially recoverable UVFP recover
      vocal fold motion and/or adequate voice after IL without permanent intervention.

PMID- 20939084
TI  - Anterolateral thigh flap fascia lata suspension in oral floor reconstruction.

PMID- 20939085
TI  - Superelliptical insert gradient coil with a field-modifying layer for breast
      imaging.
AB  - Many MRI applications such as dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI of the breast require
      high spatial and temporal resolution and can benefit from improved gradient
      performance, e.g., increased gradient strength and reduced gradient rise time.
      The improved gradient performance required to achieve high spatial and temporal
      resolution for this application may be achieved by using local insert gradients
      specifically designed for a target anatomy. Current flat gradient systems cannot
      create an imaging volume large enough to accommodate both breasts; further, their
      gradient fields are not homogeneous, dropping off rapidly with distance from the
      gradient coil surface. To attain an imaging volume adequate for bilateral breast
      MRI, a planar local gradient system design has been modified into a superellipse
      shape, creating homogeneous gradient volumes that are 182% (Gx), 57% (Gy), and
      75% (Gz) wider (left/right direction) than those of the corresponding standard
      planar gradient. Adding an additional field-modifying gradient winding results in
      an additional improvement of the homogeneous gradient field near the gradient
      coil surface over the already enlarged homogeneous gradient volumes of the
      superelliptical gradients (67%, 89%, and 214% for Gx, Gy, and Gz respectively). A
      prototype y-gradient insert has been built to demonstrate imaging and
      implementation characteristics of the superellipse gradient in a 3 T MRI system.

PMID- 20939086
TI  - Split-acquisition real-time CINE phase-contrast MR flow measurements.
AB  - The temporal and spatial resolution of real-time phase-contrast magnetic
      resonance (PCMR) is restricted by the need to acquire two interleaved phase
      images. In this article, we propose a split-acquisition real-time CINE PCMR
      technique, where the acquisition of flow-encoded and flow-compensated data is
      divided into separate blocks. By comparing magnitude images, automatic matching
      of data in cardio-respiratory space allows subtraction of background phase
      offsets. Thus, the data is acquired in real-time but with phase correction
      originating from a different heart beat. This effectively doubles the frame rate,
      allowing either higher temporal or spatial resolution. Two split-acquisition
      sequences were tested: one with high-temporal resolution and one with high
      spatial resolution. Both sequences showed excellent agreement in stroke volumes
      in 20 adults when validated against cardiac-gated PCMR and interleaved real-time
      PCMR (cardiac gated: 95.2 +/- 20.0 mL, interleaved real-time: 96.2 +/- 20.7 mL,
      high-temporal resolution: 95.6 +/- 20.1 mL, high-spatial resolution: 95.5 +/-
      20.4 mL). In six children, the high-spatial resolution sequence provided more
      accurate flow measurements than interleaved real-time PCMR, when compared with
      cardiac-gated PCMR (cardiac gated: 20.6 +/- 7.6 mL, interleaved real-time: 24.3
      +/- 9.2 mL, high-spatial resolution: 20.8 +/- 7.8 mL), due to the increased
      spatial resolution. The matching technique is shown to be accurate (truth: 94.6
      +/- 21.8, split-acquisition: 95.0 +/- 21.9 mL) and quantitative image quality
      (signal-to-noise ratio, velocity-to-noise ratio and edge sharpness) is
      acceptable.

PMID- 20939087
TI  - Quantitative (1) H MR spectroscopic imaging of the prostate gland using LCModel
      and a dedicated basis-set: correlation with histologic findings.
AB  - Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging ((1) H-MRSI) has been advocated
      as a valuable tool for prostate cancer diagnosis. However, a barrier to
      widespread clinical use of this technique is the lack of robust quantification
      methods that yield reproducible results in an institution-independent manner. The
      main goal of this study was to develop a standardized and fully automated
      approach (LCModel-based) for quantitative prostate (1) H-MRSI. To this end, a
      dedicated basis set was constructed by the combination of simulated (citrate,
      Cit; choline, Cho, and creatine, CR) and experimentally acquired (spermine, Spm)
      spectra. The overlapping Spm, Cho, and Cr could be resolved and quantified
      individually, thus allowing for the independent assessment of glandular (Cit and
      Spm) and proliferative (Cho) components. Several metabolite ratios were
      calculated and compared to the histologic findings of prostatectomy specimens
      from 10 prostate cancer patients with Gleason scores (3 + 3) and (3 + 4). The Cho
      mole fraction and the Cho/(Cit + Spm) ratio were found to best discriminate
      between prostate cancer and healthy tissue. The comparison between the
      quantitative MRSI results and the histologic findings suggests that no
      correlation exists between the detected metabolic alterations and the Gleason
      score of low-grade tumors.

PMID- 20939088
TI  - Sensory and motor stimulation thresholds of the ulnar nerve from electric and
      magnetic field stimuli: implications to gradient coil operation.
AB  - Rapidly changing magnetic fields from gradient coils induce electric fields in
      the individual being imaged, which can potentially result in peripheral nerve
      stimulation (PNS). This is a safety concern in MRI. Nerves exposed to either
      electric fields or time-varying magnetic fields are presumed to display
      equivalent stimulation threshold characteristics. This assumption has motivated
      the use of electric stimulation literature to be applied to gradient field safety
      standards. The consistency of peripheral nerve stimulation thresholds were
      compared by measuring chronaxie times for electric and magnetic stimulation for
      both motor and sensory fibers in the ulnar nerve for a group of healthy
      volunteers. Thresholds were determined with both electromyography and also by
      having the subjects report stimulation onset. Chronaxie times measured between
      motor and sensory fibers were statistically different. However, this difference
      does not account for the substantial discrepancy reported between measured
      electric and magnetic stimulation chronaxie times. We further establish that
      sensation threshold as defined perceptually by the subject volunteer is adequate
      as a simple and reliable measurement tool. Based on these observations,
      significant adjustments may need to be made to nerve parameters taken from the
      electric field stimulation literature prior to applying them directly to gradient
      induced stimulation in MRI.

PMID- 20939089
TI  - Fast dynamic 3D MR spectroscopic imaging with compressed sensing and multiband
      excitation pulses for hyperpolarized 13C studies.
AB  - Hyperpolarized 13C MR spectroscopic imaging can detect not only the uptake of the
      pre-polarized molecule but also its metabolic products in vivo, thus providing a
      powerful new method to study cellular metabolism. Imaging the dynamic perfusion
      and conversion of these metabolites provides additional tissue information but
      requires methods for efficient hyperpolarization usage and rapid acquisitions. In
      this work, we have developed a time-resolved 3D MR spectroscopic imaging method
      for acquiring hyperpolarized 13C data by combining compressed sensing methods for
      acceleration and multiband excitation pulses to efficiently use the
      magnetization. This method achieved a 2 sec temporal resolution with full
      volumetric coverage of a mouse, and metabolites were observed for up to 60 sec
      following injection of hyperpolarized [1-(13)C]-pyruvate. The compressed sensing
      acquisition used random phase encode gradient blips to create a novel random
      undersampling pattern tailored to dynamic MR spectroscopic imaging with sampling
      incoherency in four (time, frequency, and two spatial) dimensions. The
      reconstruction was also tailored to dynamic MR spectroscopic imaging by applying
      a temporal wavelet sparsifying transform to exploit the inherent temporal
      sparsity. Customized multiband excitation pulses were designed with a lower flip
      angle for the [1-(13)C]-pyruvate substrate given its higher concentration than
      its metabolic products ([1-(13)C]-lactate and [1-(13)C]-alanine), thus using less
      hyperpolarization per excitation. This approach has enabled the monitoring of
      perfusion and uptake of the pyruvate, and the conversion dynamics to lactate and
      alanine throughout a volume with high spatial and temporal resolution.

PMID- 20939090
TI  - Optimization of ultrasound-accelerated synthesis of enzymatic octyl
      hydroxyphenylpropionate by response surface methodology.
AB  - The ultrasound-accelerated enzymatic synthesis of octyl hydroxyphenylpropionate
      (OHPP) from p-hydroxyphenylpropionic acid (HPPA) and octanol was investigated in
      this study. A commercially available immobilized lipase from Candida antarctica,
      Novozym 435, was used as the biocatalyst. A three-level-three-factor Box-Behnken
      design experiment and response surface methodology were used to evaluate the
      effects of temperature, reaction time, and enzyme activity on percent yield of
      OHPP. The results indicated that temperature and enzyme activity significantly
      affected percent yield, whereas reaction time did not. A model for the synthesis
      of OHPP was established. Based on a ridge max analysis, the optimum conditions
      for OHPP synthesis were predicted to use a reaction temperature of 58.8 degrees
      C, a reaction time of 14.6 h, and an enzyme activity of 410.5 PLU with a yield of
      98.5%. A reaction was performed under these optimal conditions, and a yield of
      97.5% +/- 0.1% was obtained.

PMID- 20939091
TI  - Dipolar anisotropy fiber imaging in a goat knee meniscus.
AB  - This study describes a method of utilizing unaveraged dipolar effects to
      characterize and compute collagen fiber tracks using magnetic resonance imaging.
      The technique yields information about fiber structure with some similarities to
      what can be obtained in brain using diffusion tensor imaging, but relies on a
      completely different physical mechanism, namely, unaveraged homonuclear dipolar
      interactions. The method is probably only appropriate for highly ordered collagen
      rich tissues. A goat knee meniscus was embedded in a spherical epoxy ball and the
      magnetic resonance signal intensity was examined as a function of sample
      orientation to a 3T static field using a three-dimensional gradient echo
      sequence. Unaveraged dipolar interactions caused a sixfold signal variation with
      orientation. After correction for coil sensitivity and registration of the
      images, a principal dipolar direction was computed for each voxel. The data were
      analyzed and viewed as dipolar direction and standard deviation (anisotropy)
      maps. Circumferential fibers within the meniscus were visualized as fiber tracks
      grown using diffusion tensor imaging software. The acronym dipolar anisotropy
      fiber imaging is proposed for this technique. Magn Reson Med, 2011. (c) 2010
      Wiley-Liss, Inc.

PMID- 20939092
TI  - CEST-FISP: a novel technique for rapid chemical exchange saturation transfer MRI
      at 7 T.
AB  - Chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST) and magnetization transfer
      techniques provide unique and potentially quantitative contrast mechanisms in
      multiple MRI applications. However, the in vivo implementation of these
      techniques has been limited by the relatively slow MRI acquisition techniques,
      especially on high-field MRI scanners. A new, rapid CEST-fast imaging with steady
      state free precession technique was developed to provide sensitive CEST contrast
      in ~20 sec. In this study at 7 T with in vitro bovine glycogen samples and
      initial in vivo results in a rat liver, the CEST-fast imaging with steady-state
      free precession technique was shown to provide equivalent CEST sensitivity in
      comparison to a conventional CEST-spin echo acquisition with a 50-fold reduction
      in acquisition time. The sensitivity of the CEST-fast imaging with steady-state
      free precession technique was also shown to be dependent on k-space encoding with
      centric k-space encoding providing a 30-40% increase in CEST sensitivity relative
      to linear encoding for 256 or more k-space lines. Overall, the CEST-fast imaging
      with steady-state free precession acquisition technique provides a rapid and
      sensitive imaging platform with the potential to provide quantitative CEST and
      magnetization transfer imaging data.

PMID- 20939093
TI  - In vivo brown adipose tissue detection and characterization using water-lipid
      intermolecular zero-quantum coherences.
AB  - Brown adipose tissue and white adipose tissue depots are noninvasively
      characterized in vitro and in vivo in healthy and obese mice using intermolecular
      zero-quantum coherence transitions between lipid and water spins. Intermolecular
      zero-quantum coherences enable selective detection of spatial correlation between
      water and lipid spins and thereby the hydration of fatty deposits with subvoxel
      resolution. At about a 100 mm distance scale, the major observed peaks are
      between water, methylene protons at 1.3 ppm, and olefinic protons at 5.3 ppm. Our
      in vitro results show that the methylene-olefinic intermolecular zero-quantum
      coherence signal is strong both in brown and white adipose tissues, but that the
      water-methylene intermolecular zero-quantum coherence signal is characteristic
      only of brown adipose tissue. In vivo, the ratio of these peaks is substantially
      higher in lean or young mice than in old or obese mice.

PMID- 20939094
TI  - Hippocampal blood flow in normal aging measured with arterial spin labeling at
      3T.
AB  - Due to methodological difficulties related to the small size, variable
      distribution of hippocampal arteries, and the location of the hippocampus in the
      proximity of middle cranial fossa, little is known about hippocampal blood flow
      (HBF). We have tested the utility of a pulsed arterial spin labeling sequence
      based on multi-shot true fast imaging in steady precession to measure HBF in 34
      normal volunteers (17 women, 17 men, 26-92 years old). Flow sensitivity to a mild
      hypercapnic challenge was also examined. Coregistered 3D MPRAGE sequence was used
      to eliminate from hippocampal and cortical regions of interest all voxel with
      <75% of gray matter. Large blood vessels were also excluded. HBF in normal
      volunteers averaged 61.2 +/- 9.0 mL/(100 g min). There was no statistically
      significant age or gender effect. Under a mild hypercapnia challenge (end tidal
      CO(2) pressure increase of 6.8 +/- 1.9 mmHg over the baseline), HBF response was
      14.1 +/- 10.8 mL/(100 g min), whereas cortical gray matter flow increased by 18.0
      +/- 12.2 mL/(100 g min). Flow response among women was significantly larger than
      in the men. The average absolute difference between two successive HBF measures
      was 3.6 mL/(100 g min) or 5.4%. The 3T true fast imaging in steady precession
      arterial spin labeling method offers a HBF measurement strategy that combines
      good spatial resolution, sensitivity, and minimal image distortions.

PMID- 20939095
TI  - A fast Edge-preserving Bayesian reconstruction method for Parallel Imaging
      applications in cardiac MRI.
AB  - Among recent parallel MR imaging reconstruction advances, a Bayesian method
      called Edge-preserving Parallel Imaging reconstructions with GRAph cuts
      Minimization (EPIGRAM) has been demonstrated to significantly improve signal-to
      noise ratio when compared with conventional regularized sensitivity encoding
      method. However, EPIGRAM requires a large number of iterations in proportion to
      the number of intensity labels in the image, making it computationally expensive
      for high dynamic range images. The objective of this study is to develop a Fast
      EPIGRAM reconstruction based on the efficient binary jump move algorithm that
      provides a logarithmic reduction in reconstruction time while maintaining image
      quality. Preliminary in vivo validation of the proposed algorithm is presented
      for two-dimensional cardiac cine MR imaging and three-dimensional coronary MR
      angiography at acceleration factors of 2-4. Fast EPIGRAM was found to provide
      similar image quality to EPIGRAM and maintain the previously reported signal-to
      noise ratio improvement over regularized sensitivity encoding method, while
      reducing EPIGRAM reconstruction time by 25-50 times.

PMID- 20939096
TI  - Redox homeostasis phenotypes in RubisCO-deficient Rhodobacter sphaeroides via
      ensemble modeling.
AB  - Photosynthetic bacteria are capable of carrying out the fundamental biological
      processes of carbon dioxide assimilation and photosynthesis. In this work,
      ensemble modeling (EM) was used to examine the behavior of mutant strains of the
      nonsulfur purple photosynthetic bacterium Rhodobacter sphaeroides containing a
      blockage in the primary CO(2) assimilatory pathway, which is responsible for
      cellular redox balance. When the Calvin-Benson-Bassham (CBB) pathway is
      nonfunctional, spontaneous adaptive mutations have evolved allowing for the use
      of at least two separate alternative redox balancing routes enabling
      photoheterotrophic growth to occur. The first of these routes expresses the
      nitrogenase complex, even in the presence of normal repressing ammonia levels,
      dissipating excess reducing power via its inherent hydrogenase activity to
      produce large quantities of hydrogen gas. The second of these routes may
      dissipate excess reducing power through reduction of sulfate by the formation of
      hydrogen sulfide. EM was used here to investigate metabolism of R. sphaeroides
      and clearly shows that inactivation of the CBB pathway affects the organism's
      ability to achieve redox balance, which can be restored via the above-mentioned
      alternative redox routes. This work demonstrates that R. sphaeroides is capable
      of adapting alternative ways via mutation to dissipate excess reducing power when
      the CBB pathway is inactive, and that EM is successful in describing this
      behavior.

PMID- 20939097
TI  - Implementation of a program for surgical education in laryngology.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To describe the implementation of a program for surgical education in
      laryngology. METHODS: Items necessary to modify a temporal bone lab for laryngeal
      dissection purposes were identified, and costs to do so were calculated. The
      prices and availability of human and canine laryngeal specimens to be used for
      teaching purposes were then compared. Endoscopic and open laryngeal surgery were
      performed on canine larynges to determine suitability as a teaching model. A
      laryngeal dissection course with teaching objectives was created and instituted
      in an Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery residency training program. RESULTS:
      Modifications to convert an existing temporal bone lab into a laryngeal
      dissection lab cost $7,425. Canine larynges were found to strongly resemble human
      larynges and were easily used in a teaching model. They were more easily acquired
      and less expensive than human larynges. A novel dissection approach was created
      to maximize utility of a single cadaveric laryngeal specimen. Development of a
      laryngeal dissection manual facilitated a laryngeal dissection course.
      CONCLUSIONS: A laryngeal dissection educational course can be instituted with
      simple and relatively inexpensive modifications to an existing temporal bone
      laboratory. Canine larynges can be substituted for human larynges for a
      substantial cost savings without educational compromise. The educational methods
      demonstrated can be easily duplicated at other training sites.

PMID- 20939099
TI  - Cu(I)-catalyzed asymmetric chlorination of beta-keto esters in the presence of
      chiral phosphine-Schiff base type ligands.
AB  - Chiral phosphine-Schiff base type ligand L8 prepared from (R)-(-)-2
      (diphenylphosphino)-1,1'-binaphthyl-2'-amine was found to be a fairly effective
      ligand for Cu(I)-promoted enantioselective chlorination of beta-keto esters to
      give the corresponding products in high yields and with moderate
      enantioselectivities.

PMID- 20939098
TI  - Models of membrane-bound Alzheimer's Abeta peptide assemblies.
AB  - Although it is clear that amyloid beta (Abeta) peptides play a pivotal role in
      the development of Alzheimer's disease, the precise molecular model of action
      remains unclear. Abeta peptide forms assemble both in aqueous solution and in
      lipid membranes. It has been proposed that deleterious effects occur when the
      peptides interact with membranes, possibly by forming Ca(2+) permeant ion
      channels. In the accompanying manuscript, we propose models in which the C
      terminus third of six Abeta42 peptides forms a six-stranded beta-barrel in highly
      toxic soluble oligomers. Here we extend this hypothesis to membrane-bound
      assemblies. In these Abeta models, the hydrophobic beta-barrel of a hexamer may
      either reside on the surface of the bilayer, or span the bilayer. Transmembrane
      pores are proposed to form between several hexamers. Once the beta-barrels of six
      hexamers have spanned the bilayer, they may merge to form a more stable 36
      stranded beta-barrel. We favor models in which parallel beta-barrels formed by N
      terminus segments comprise the lining of the pores. These types of models explain
      why the channels are selective for cations and how metal ions, such as Zn(2+) ,
      synthetic peptides that contain histidines, and some small organic cations may
      block channels or inhibit formation of channels. Our models were developed to be
      consistent with microscopy studies of Abeta assemblies in membranes, one of which
      is presented here for the first time.

PMID- 20939100
TI  - Computational modeling of laminin N-terminal domains using sparse distance
      constraints from disulfide bonds and chemical cross-linking.
AB  - Basement membranes are thin extracellular protein layers, which separate
      endothelial and epithelial cells from the underlying connecting tissue. The main
      noncollagenous components of basement membranes are laminins, trimeric
      glycoproteins, which form polymeric networks by interactions of their N-terminal
      (LN) domains; however, no high-resolution structure of laminin LN domains exists
      so far. To construct models for laminin beta(1) and gamma(1) LN domains, 14
      potentially suited template structures were determined using fold recognition
      methods. For each target/template-combination comparative models were created
      with Rosetta. Final models were selected based on their agreement with
      experimentally obtained distance constraints from natural cross-links, that is,
      disulfide bonds as well as chemical cross-links obtained from reactions with two
      amine-reactive cross-linkers. We predict that laminin beta(1) and gamma(1) LN
      domains share the galactose-binding domain-like fold.

PMID- 20939101
TI  - The experiences of pregnancy in women with SSA/Ro52 autoantibodies.
AB  - OBJECTIVE:  Congenital heart block may develop in the foetus during pregnancy in
      SSA/Ro52 autoantibody-positive women. The aim of this study was to investigate
      how women with SSA/Ro52 autoantibodies experience their pregnancy in terms of the
      risk of developing foetal heart block, and in undergoing serial ultrasound
      Doppler echocardiography to detect early signs of congenital heart block.
      METHODS:  Data were collected through individual semi-structured interviews with
      SSA/Ro52-positive women post-pregnancy (n = 14). The interviews were audio-taped,
      transcribed verbatim and analysed according to qualitative content analysis.
      RESULTS:  Three categories emerged from the responses: information, emotional
      response and support. The information received prior to and during early
      pregnancy was focused on the need for attending a specialized antenatal clinic,
      and information on the risk for congenital heart block was scarce or missing.
      During gestational weeks 18-24, when the ultrasound/Doppler examinations were
      performed, all women described increased stress. However, the interaction with
      the caregivers made the women feel more safe and secure. Several women also said
      that they did not emotionally acknowledge the pregnancy until after gestational
      week 24. None had been offered psychological support. CONCLUSION:  There is a
      need for structured information and organized programmes for the surveillance of
      women who are SSA/Ro52 positive during their pregnancy. Further, offering
      psychological support to the women and their families to manage the stress and to
      facilitate the early attachment to the child should be considered.

PMID- 20939102
TI  - The role of the clinical nurse specialist in the assessment and management of
      biologic therapies.

PMID- 20939103
TI  - Role of endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography in pancreatic diseases.
AB  - Over the last 15 years, endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) has
      evolved from a diagnostic tool to one that is primarily used to provide therapy.
      This development occurred first for biliary disorders and subsequently to a
      lesser extent for pancreatic diseases. Computed tomography, magnetic resonance
      imaging, magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography and endoscopic
      ultrasonography suggest a diagnosis in the majority of patients with pancreatic
      diseases today and can help physicians and patients avoid unnecessary ERCP.
      However, a selected number of patients with pancreatic diseases may benefit from
      pancreatic endotherapy and avoid complex surgery and chronic use of medications.
      Pancreatic sphincterotomy, pancreatic stenting and pancreatic cyst drainage are
      some of the most effective and challenging endoscopic pancreatic interventions
      and should be performed with caution by expert therapeutic endoscopists. There
      has been a paucity of randomized studies investigating endoscopic techniques in
      comparison with surgery and medical therapy for the treatment of most benign and
      malignant pancreatic disorders due to the limited number of patients and the
      expertise required to attempt these procedures.

PMID- 20939104
TI  - Fat: a matter of disturbance for the immune system.
AB  - Obesity is increasingly being recognized as a risk factor for a number of benign
      and malignant gastrointestinal conditions. However, literature on the underlying
      pathophysiological mechanisms is sparse and ambiguous. There is compelling
      evidence that both overnutrition and undernutrition negatively interfere with the
      immune system. Overnutrition has been found to increase susceptibility to the
      development of inflammatory diseases, autoimmune diseases and cancer. In the
      regulation of immune and inflammatory processes, white adipose tissue plays a
      critical role, not only as an energy store but also as an important endocrine
      organ. The obese state is characterised by a low-grade systemic inflammation,
      mainly as a result of increased adipocytes as well as fat resident- and recruited
      macrophage activity. In the past few years, various products of adipose tissue
      including adipokines and cytokines have been characterised and a number of
      pathways linking adipose tissue metabolism with the immune system have been
      identified. Activation of the innate immune system plays a major role in hepatic
      steatosis. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease includes a wide spectrum of
      diseases, from pure steatosis to non-alcoholic steatohepatitis in the absence of
      significant alcohol consumption. Although steatosis is considered a non
      progressive disease, non-alcoholic steatohepatitis may deteriorate in advanced
      chronic liver diseases, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma. An important
      parallel between obesity-related pathology of adipose tissue and liver pertains
      to the emerging role of macrophages, and growing evidence suggests that Kupffer
      cells critically contribute to progression of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
      Moreover, a close link between specific immune activation and atherosclerosis has
      been well established, suggesting that fat can directly trigger immune responses.
      This review discusses the role of fat as "a matter of disturbance for the immune
      system" with a focus on hepatic steatosis.

PMID- 20939105
TI  - Hepatic steatosis, low-grade chronic inflammation and hormone/growth
      factor/adipokine imbalance.
AB  - Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), a further expression of metabolic
      syndrome, strictly linked to obesity and diabetes mellitus, is characterized by
      insulin resistance (IR), elevated serum levels of free fatty acids and fatty
      infiltration of the liver, which is known as hepatic steatosis. Hepatocyte
      apoptosis is a key feature of this disease and correlates with its severity. Free
      fatty-acid-induced toxicity represents one of mechanisms for the pathogenesis of
      NAFLD and hormones, growth factors and adipokines influence also play a key role.
      This review highlights the various pathways that contribute to the development of
      hepatic steatosis. Circulating concentrations of inflammatory cytokines are
      reckoned to be the most important factor in causing and maintaining IR. Low-grade
      chronic inflammation is fundamental in the progression of NAFLD toward higher
      risk cirrhotic states.

PMID- 20939106
TI  - Noninvasive investigations for non alcoholic fatty liver disease and liver
      fibrosis.
AB  - Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) includes a spectrum of diseases that
      have insulin resistance in common and are associated with metabolic conditions
      such as obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and dyslipidemia. NAFLD ranges from
      simple liver steatosis, which follows a benign course, to nonalcoholic
      steatohepatitis (NASH), a more severe entity, with necroinflammation and
      fibrosis, which can progress to cryptogenic cirrhosis and end-stage liver
      disease. Liver biopsy remains the gold standard for evaluating the degree of
      hepatic necroinflammation and fibrosis; however, several noninvasive
      investigations, such as serum biomarkers, have been developed to establish the
      diagnosis and also to evaluate treatment response. These markers are currently
      neither available in all centers nor validated in extensive studies. Examples
      include high-sensitivity C reactive protein and plasma pentraxin 3, which are
      associated with extensive liver fibrosis in NASH. Interleukin-6 correlates with
      inflammation, and cytokeratin-18 represents a marker of hepatocyte apoptosis
      (prominent in NASH and absent in simple steatosis). Tissue polypeptide specific
      antigen seems to have a clinical utility in the follow-up of obese patients with
      NASH.

PMID- 20939107
TI  - Current developments in natural orifices transluminal endoscopic surgery: an
      evidence-based review.
AB  - Tremendous advances have been made in recent years addressing the key obstacles
      to safe performance and introduction of human natural orifice transluminal
      endoscopic surgery (NOTES). Animal studies have focused on identifying optimal
      solutions to these obstacles, in particular methods of creating transluminal
      access, safe closure of the point of access, and development of a multitasking
      platform with dedicated instruments. Whether the performance data generated from
      these animal studies can be reproduced in humans has yet to be determined.
      Reports of human NOTES procedures are emerging, and the possibility of
      accomplishing human NOTES based on existing technology has been demonstrated.
      However, dedicated platforms and devices are still lacking to allow for pure
      NOTES procedures, and whether NOTES can deliver the postulated benefits of
      earlier recovery and improved cosmesis remains uncertain.

PMID- 20939108
TI  - Role of CYP2E1 gene polymorphisms association with hepatitis risk in Northeast
      India.
AB  - AIM: To investigate hepatitis virus, genetic and environmental factors, and their
      interactions in predisposing patients to liver diseases in Northeast India.
      METHODS: A total of 104 jaundice patients and 124 community controls were
      included. Serological analysis was performed by routine enzyme-linked
      immunosorbent assay, and nucleic acid testing for hepatitis viruses was done by
      polymerase chain reaction (PCR), followed by PCR direct sequencing for viral
      genotyping. Cytochrome P450 2E1 (CYP2E1) polymorphism was studied by PCR
      restriction fragment length polymorphism. Nitrite and volatile nitrosamines in
      indigenous foods consumed routinely by the Northeast Indian ethnic population
      were estimated by Griess's reagent and GC-MS, respectively. RESULTS: Hepatitis A
      virus (HAV) infection was predominantly prevalent (36.5%) in our cohort, followed
      by hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis E virus (HEV) and hepatitis C virus. HBV
      genotype D and HEV genotype 1 were the most dominant. CYP2E1 c1/c2 genotype
      frequency was comparatively higher in alcoholic (P < 0.0001, OR = 30.5) and
      cryptogenic (P = 0.014, OR = 8.714) patients, and was associated with
      significantly higher hepatitis risk (P = 0.0.007, OR = 6.489). Mutant C allele of
      Cyp2E1 DraI frequency was comparatively higher in HAV (P = 0.006), alcoholic (P =
      0.003) and cryptogenic (P = 0.014) cases, and was associated with overall
      hepatitis risk (P = 0.026, OR = 5.083). Indigenous foods, Gundruk, Kharoli, betel
      leaf and nuts were found to have the highest nitrite content. CONCLUSION: Apart
      from viral factors, CYP2E1 polymorphism might be associated with increased risk
      of liver diseases in Northeast India. Indigenous foods that contain nitrite and
      nitrosamine might be an associated risk factor.

PMID- 20939109
TI  - A new index for non-invasive assessment of liver fibrosis.
AB  - AIM: To construct and evaluate a new non-invasive fibrosis index for assessment
      of the stage of liver fibrosis. METHODS: A new fibrosis index (Fibro-Stiffness
      index) was developed in 165 of 285 patients with chronic hepatitis C, and was
      validated in the other 120 patients where liver biopsy was performed. Its
      usefulness was compared with liver stiffness (LS) measured by FibroScan, the
      aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index, the Forns index and the FibroIndex.
      RESULTS: The Fibro-Stiffness index consists of LS, platelet count and prothrombin
      time. The values of the Fibro-Stiffness index differed significantly between
      neighboring fibrosis stages except F0-F1. The area under the receiver operating
      characteristics curves of the Fibro-Stiffness index for prediction of F >= 2
      (0.90), F >= 3 (0.90) and F = 4 (0.92) in the estimation group and those for F >=
      3 (0.93) and F = 4 (0.97) in the validation group were the highest among the 5
      methods examined. The accuracy of the Fibro-Stiffness index had highest values
      for F >= 2, F >= 3 and F = 4 in both the estimation and validation groups. The
      diagnostic performance for F = 4 was improved by a combination of the Fibro
      Stiffness index with serum hyaluronic acid level. CONCLUSION: The Fibro-Stiffness
      index was constructed and validated. It showed superior diagnostic performance to
      other indices for F >= 2, 3 and 4.

PMID- 20939110
TI  - Helicobacter species and common gut bacterial DNA in gallbladder with
      cholecystitis.
AB  - AIM: To analyze the association between Helicobacter spp. and some common gut
      bacteria in patients with cholecystitis. METHODS: A nested-polymerase chain
      reaction (PCR), specific to 16S rRNA of Helicobacter spp. was performed on
      paraffin-embedded gallbladder samples of 100 cholecystitis and 102 control cases.
      The samples were also analyzed for some common gut bacteria by PCR. Positive
      samples were sequenced for species identification. RESULTS: Helicobacter DNA was
      found in seven out of 100 cases of acute and chronic cholecystitis. Sequence
      analysis displayed Helicobacter pullorum (H. pullorum) in six cases and
      Helicobacter pylori in one; H. pullorum was only found in cases with metaplasia.
      Control samples were negative for Helicobacter spp. and some common gut bacteria.
      There was a significant difference (P = 0.007) between cholecystitis and control
      samples for Helicobacter DNA. CONCLUSION: A possible relationship was detected
      between Helicobacter DNA and cholecystitis. Further serological and
      immunohistochemical studies are needed to support these data.

PMID- 20939111
TI  - Tumor budding predicts response to anti-EGFR therapies in metastatic colorectal
      cancer patients.
AB  - AIM: To investigate whether the evaluation of tumor budding can complement K-RAS
      analysis to improve the individualized prediction of response to anti-epidermal
      growth factor receptor based therapies in metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC)
      patients. METHODS: Forty-three patients with mCRC treated with cetuximab or
      panitumumab were entered into this study. According to the Response Evaluation
      Criteria in Solid Tumors criteria, 30 patients had stable or progressive disease
      (non-responsive), while 13 patients had a partial response. Tumor buds were
      evaluated from whole tissue sections stained for pan-cytokeratin, evaluated in
      the densest region using a 40 * objective and "high-grade" tumor budding was
      defined as 15 buds/high-power field. RESULTS: Tumor buds and K-RAS mutation both
      correctly classified 68% of patients. All patients with K-RAS mutation (n = 7) or
      high-grade tumor budding (n = 11) were non-responsive, of which 4 patients had
      both features. All 13 partial responders were K-RAS wild-type with low-grade
      tumor budding. Combined, the predictive value of K-RAS and tumor budding was 80%.
      Additionally, high-grade tumor budding was significantly related to worse
      progression-free survival [HR (95% CI): 2.8 (1.3-6.0, P = 0.008)]. CONCLUSION: If
      confirmed in larger cohorts, the addition of tumor budding to K-RAS analysis may
      represent an effective approach for individualized patient management in the
      metastatic setting.

PMID- 20939112
TI  - Liver stiffness measurements in patients with HBV vs HCV chronic hepatitis: a
      comparative study.
AB  - AIM: To assess the values of liver stiffness (LS) in patients with hepatitis B
      virus (HBV) chronic hepatitis and to compare them with those in patients with
      hepatitis C virus (HCV) chronic hepatitis. METHODS: The study included 140
      patients with HBV chronic hepatitis, and 317 patients with HCV chronic hepatitis,
      in which LS was measured (FibroScan(r)-Echosens(r)) and liver biopsy was
      performed in the same session (assessed according to the Metavir score). RESULTS:
      According to the Metavir score of the 140 HBV patients: one had F0, 32 had F1, 67
      had F2, 33 had F3 and 7 had F4. Of the 317 HCV patients: 5 had F0, 34 had F1, 146
      had F2, 93 had F3 and 39 had F4. For the same severity of fibrosis, the mean
      values of LS in HBV patients were similar to those in HCV patients: F1, 6.5 +/-
      1.9 kPa vs 5.8 +/- 2.1 kPa (P = 0.0889); F2, 7.1 +/- 2 kPa vs 6.9 +/- 2.5 kPa (P
      = 0.3369); F3, 9.1 +/- 3.6 kPa vs 9.9 +/- 5 kPa (P = 0.7038); F4, 19.8 +/- 8.6
      kPa vs 17.3 +/- 6.1 kPa (P = 0.6574). A significant direct correlation between LS
      measurements and fibrosis was found in HCV patients (Spearman's r = 0.578, P <
      0.0001), as well as in HBV patients (r = 0.408, P < 0.0001). The correlation was
      more significant in HCV than in HBV patients (Fisher's Z-test, Z = 2.210, P =
      0.0271). CONCLUSION: In our group, the mean values of LS in patients with chronic
      B hepatitis were similar to those in patients with chronic HCV hepatitis, for the
      same stage of fibrosis. Also, LS was correlated with the severity of fibrosis
      both in HBV and HCV chronic hepatitis patients.

PMID- 20939113
TI  - Erythropoietin ameliorates early ischemia-reperfusion injury following the
      Pringle maneuver.
AB  - AIM: To investigate the protective effect of erythropoietin (Epo) against
      ischemia-reperfusion injury (IR/I) following the Pringle maneuver (PM), in
      comparison with conventional steroid administration in a prospective randomized
      trial. METHODS: Patients were randomized by age, sex, diagnosis, and surgical
      method, and assigned to three groups: (1) A steroid group (STRD, n = 9) who
      received 100 mg of hydrocortisone before PM, and on postoperative days 1, 2 and
      3, followed by tapering until postoperative day 7; (2) An EPO1 group (n = 10) who
      received 30,000 U of Epo before the PM and at the end of surgery; and (3) An EPO2
      group (n = 8) who received 60,000 U of Epo before the PM. Hemoglobin (Hb),
      hematocrit (Ht), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine transaminase (ALT),
      lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), lactate, interleukin-6 (IL-6), and tumor necrosis
      factor (TNF)-alpha were measured before and just after (Day 0) surgery, and on
      postoperative days 1, 3, 7 and 14. RESULTS: There were no increases in Hb and Ht
      in the EPO1 and EPO2 groups. AST was significantly lower in EPO1 than in STRD on
      Day 0 (P = 0.041), and lower in EPO1 than in STRD and EPO2 on Day 1 (P = 0.018).
      ALT was significantly lower in EPO1 than in STRD and EPO2 on Day 0 (P = 0.020)
      and Day 1 (P = 0.004). There were no significant inter-group differences in the
      levels of LDH and lactate. IL-6 was significantly lower in EPO1 than in STRD and
      EPO2 on Day 0 (P = 0.0036) and Day 1 (P = 0.0451). TNF-alpha was significantly
      lower in EPO1 than in STRD and EPO2 on Day 0 (P = 0.0006) and Day 1 (P < 0.0001).
      Furthermore, hospitalization was significantly shorter in EPO1 and EPO2 than in
      STRD. CONCLUSION: Epo has greater potential than steroids to ameliorate IR/I
      after the PM. Epo at a dose of 30,000 U, administered before PM and just after
      surgery, yields better results.

PMID- 20939114
TI  - mPGES-1 expression in non-cancerous liver tissue impacts on postoperative
      recurrence of HCC.
AB  - AIM: To investigate whether microsomal prostaglandin E synthase-1 (mPGES-1)
      expression in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and in non-cancerous liver affects
      HCC prognosis after hepatectomy. METHODS: The relationship between patient
      clinical profiles, tumor factors, surgical determinants, and mPGES-1 expression
      and the recurrence-free survival rate were examined in 64 patients who underwent
      curative hepatectomy between March 2003 and December 2006. RESULTS: The scores
      for mPGES-1 expression were higher in well differentiated and moderately
      differentiated HCC tissues than in poorly differentiated HCC tissues (well
      differentiated, 5.1 +/- 2.7; moderately differentiated, 5.1 +/- 1.7; poorly
      differentiated, 3.0 +/- 1.8). In non-cancerous liver tissues, the mPGES-1 levels
      were higher in injured liver tissues than in normal tissues. Cirrhotic livers had
      higher mPGES-1 levels than livers with chronic hepatitis (normal livers, 3.3 +/-
      0.7; chronic hepatitic livers, 5.4 +/- 1.9; cirrhotic livers, 6.4 +/- 1.6). A
      univariate analysis revealed that the recurrence-free survival rate was
      significantly lower in patients with vascular invasion, a higher mPGES-1 level in
      non-cancerous liver tissue, a larger tumor diameter (>= 5 cm), and a lower serum
      albumin level (<= 3.7 g/dL). The mPGES-1 expression in HCC tissues did not
      correlate well with postoperative recurrence. A multivariate analysis
      demonstrated that the presence of vascular invasion and higher mPGES-1 levels
      were statistically significant independent predictors for early postoperative
      recurrence of HCC. CONCLUSION: Increased mPGES-1 expression in non-cancerous
      liver tissues is closely associated with the early recurrence of HCC after
      curative resection.

PMID- 20939115
TI  - Suspected uncomplicated cecal diverticulitis diagnosed by imaging: initial
      antibiotics vs laparoscopic treatment.
AB  - AIM: To compare the recurrence rate following initial antibiotic management to
      that following laparoscopic treatment for suspected uncomplicated cecal
      diverticulitis. METHODS: We examined the records of 132 patients who were
      diagnosed with uncomplicated cecal diverticulitis and a first attack during an 8
      year period. The diagnosis of uncomplicated diverticulitis was made based on
      imaging findings, such as inflamed diverticulum or a phlegmon with cecal wall
      thickening. Concurrent appendiceal dilatation from 8 to 12 mm was observed in 36
      patients (27%). One hundred and two patients were treated initially with
      antibiotics only, whereas 30 underwent laparoscopic treatment, including partial
      cecectomy (n = 8) or appendectomy with diverticulectomy (n = 9) or appendectomy
      alone (n = 13). We compared clinical outcomes in both groups over a median follow
      up period of 46 mo. RESULTS: All patients were successfully treated with initial
      therapy. Of the 102 patients who initially received only antibiotic treatment, 6
      (6%) had a recurrence (3 in the cecum and 3 in the ascending colon or transverse
      colon) during the follow-up period. Five of these patients were managed with
      repeated antibiotic treatment and 1 underwent ileocolic resection for
      perforation. Of the 30 patients treated by the laparoscopic approach, 2 (7%) had
      a recurrence (ascending colon) which was treated with antibiotics. CONCLUSION:
      Initial antibiotic management for suspected uncomplicated cecal diverticulitis
      showed comparable efficacy to laparoscopic treatment in the prevention of
      recurrence.

PMID- 20939116
TI  - Comparative analysis of dideoxy sequencing, the KRAS StripAssay and
      pyrosequencing for detection of KRAS mutation.
AB  - AIM: To compare the differences between dideoxy sequencing/KRAS
      StripAssay/pyrosequencing for detection of KRAS mutation in Chinese colorectal
      cancer (CRC) patients. METHODS: Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) samples
      with tumor cells >= 50% were collected from 100 Chinese CRC patients at Beijing
      Cancer Hospital. After the extraction of genome DNA from FFPE samples, fragments
      contained codons 12 and 13 of KRAS exon 2 were amplified by polymerase chain
      reaction and analyzed by dideoxy sequencing, the KRAS StripAssay and
      pyrosequencing. In addition, the sensitivities of the 3 methods were compared on
      serial dilutions (contents of mutant DNA: 100%, 50%, 20%, 15%, 10%, 5%, 1%, 0%)
      of A549 cell line DNA (carrying the codon 12 Gly>Ser mutation) into wild-type DNA
      (human normal intestinal mucosa). The results of dideoxy sequencing, the KRAS
      StripAssay and pyrosequencing were analyzed by Chromas Software, Collector for
      KRAS StripAssay and the pyrosequencing PyroMarkTM Q24 system, respectively.
      RESULTS: Among 100 patients, KRAS mutations were identified in 34%, 37% and 37%
      of patients by dideoxy sequencing, the KRAS StripAssay and pyrosequencing,
      respectively. The sensitivity was highest with the KRAS StripAssay (1%), followed
      by pyrosequencing (5%), and dideoxy sequencing was lowest (15%). Six different
      mutation types were found in this study with 3 main mutations Gly12Asp (GGT>GAT),
      Gly12Val (GGT>GTT) and Gly13Asp (GGC>GAC). Thirty-three patients were identified
      to have KRAS mutations by the 3 methods, and a total of 8 patients had
      conflicting results between 3 methods: 4 mutations not detected by dideoxy
      sequencing and the KRAS StripAssay were identified by pyrosequencing; 3 mutations
      not detected by dideoxy sequencing and pyrosequencing were identified by the KRAS
      StripAssay; and 1 mutation not detected by pyrosequencing was confirmed by
      dideoxy sequencing and the KRAS StripAssay. Among these discordant results, the
      results identified by dideoxy sequencing were consistent either with the KRAS
      StripAssay or with pyrosequencing, which indicated that the accuracy of dideoxy
      sequencing was high. CONCLUSION: Taking a worldwide view of reports and our
      results, dideoxy sequencing remains the most popular method because of its low
      cost and high accuracy.

PMID- 20939117
TI  - Possible key residues that determine left gastric artery blood flow response to
      PACAP in dogs.
AB  - AIM: To determine the effect of pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating
      polypeptide (PACAP) on left gastric artery (LGA) flow and to unveil the
      structural or functional important sites that may be critical for discrimination
      of different receptor subtypes. METHODS: Peptides, including PACAP-27, PACAP-38,
      amino acid substituted PACAP-27 and C-terminus truncated analogues PACAP (27-38),
      were synthesized by a simultaneous multiple solid-phase peptide synthesizer. Flow
      probes of an ultrasound transit-time blood flowmeter were placed around the LGA
      of beagle dogs. When peptides were infused intravenously, the blood flow was
      measured. RESULTS: [Ala4, Val5]-PACAP-27 caused a concentration-dependent
      vasodepressor action which was similar to that caused by PACAP-27. The LGA blood
      flow response to [Ala4, Val5]-PACAP-27 was significantly higher than that to
      PACAP-27, which was similar to that to vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) at
      the same dose. [Ala6]-PACAP-27 did not increase the peak LGA flow. [Gly8]-PACAP
      27 showed a similar activity to VIP. [Asn24, Ser25, Ile26]-PACAP-27 did not
      change the activity of peptides at all doses. CONCLUSION: NH2 terminus is more
      important to biological activity of peptides and specific receptor recognition
      than COOH-terminus.

PMID- 20939118
TI  - Clinical significance of C-reactive protein values in antibiotic treatment for
      pyogenic liver abscess.
AB  - AIM: To investigate the clinical significance of C-reactive protein (CRP) values
      in determining the endpoint of antibiotic treatment for liver abscess after
      drainage. METHODS: The endpoints of antibiotic treatment in 46 patients with
      pyogenic liver abscess after complete percutaneous drainage were assessed by
      performing a retrospective study. After complete percutaneous drainage, normal
      CRP values were considered as the endpoint in 18 patients (experimental group),
      and normal body temperature for at least 2 wk were considered as the endpoints in
      the other 28 patients (control group). RESULTS: The duration of antibiotic
      treatment after complete percutaneous drainage was 15.83 +/- 6.45 d and 24.25 +/-
      8.18 d for the experimental and the control groups, respectively (P = 0.001),
      being significantly shorter in the experimental group than in the control group.
      The recurrence rate was 0% for both groups. However, we could not obtain the
      follow-up data about 3 patients in the control group. CONCLUSION: CRP values can
      be considered as an independent factor to determine the duration of the
      antibiotic treatment for pyogenic liver abscess after complete percutaneous
      drainage.

PMID- 20939119
TI  - Treatment of portal vein tumor thrombus using 125Iodine seed implantation
      brachytherapy.
AB  - We reported two cases of liver metastasis with portal vein tumor thrombus that
      developed after liver transplantation for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Both
      the patients were women aged 43 and 55 years, who had liver metastasis and portal
      vein tumor thrombus formation after liver transplantations for HCC. For the
      treatment of portal vein tumor thrombus, (125)I seeds were implanted into the
      hepatic tissue under the guidance of preoperative computed tomography (CT) images
      with a total radiation dose of 130 Gy. Enhanced spiral CT scan was performed for
      evaluation of the liver at 12 and 16 wk after treatment. Thereafter, upper
      abdominal CT examination was performed every 2-3 mo. No severe complications
      associated with the (125)I seeds were seen in these two patients. The upper
      abdominal CT images (obtained after 3 and 4 mo of treatment) showed that the
      thrombosis reactions were complete reaction and restoration of the patency of the
      partially obstructed portal vein with partial obstruction. In the case with
      complete obstruction of the portal vein, the thrombosis was resolved completely,
      but blood flow could not be restored. After this treatment, one of the patients
      is still alive, while the other died within 6 mo after the treatment due to lung
      metastasis complicated with lung infection, leading to respiratory failure.

PMID- 20939120
TI  - Science of weight loss supplements: compromised by conflicts of interest?
AB  - Weight loss supplements often contain powerful pharmacoactive ingredients with
      the potential to cause harm. Trials used to determine product safety and
      effectiveness, meanwhile, tend to be small, of short duration, and frequently
      lack financial conflict of interest disclosures. These factors could conspire to
      place consumers at risk, especially when published research cited in advertising
      cloaks products with the suggestion that their safety and effectiveness have been
      proven by science. Examples of current and former weight loss products backed by
      potentially conflicted or low quality research include Metabolife-356,
      Hydroxycut, Xenadrine and LeptiCore. Published research, especially in the field
      of weight loss supplements, needs better conflict of interest disclosure, and
      regulators should consider how research findings are used in marketing claims.

PMID- 20939121
TI  - The smoldering epidemic.  The number of new cases of hepatitis C is down, but
      millions are chronically infected and may not know it.

PMID- 20939122
TI  - Tiny specs may add up to heaps of trouble. Household dust may contain toxic
      chemicals and all sorts of allergens. Regular housekeeping is still the best
      defense.

PMID- 20939123
TI  - The aging face.  Between acceptance and defiance there's a middle way of
      relatively small tweaks that will make an old face look younger.

PMID- 20939124
TI  - By the way, doctor.  My 82-year-old mother is having angina when she exerts
      herself.  She is scheduled for an angiogram and maybe angioplasty.  I've heard
      that women's heart disease is different from men's and that angioplasty may not
      be as effective in women.  Should she get an angiogram?

PMID- 20939125
TI  - [Family friendly working conditions in the hospital].

PMID- 20939126
TI  - The social transformation of American medical education: class, status, and party
      influences on occupational closure, 1902-1919.
AB  - Applying Weber's theorizing on action and stratification, this study examines
      whether the early 20th-century extinction of half of the medical schools in the
      United States resulted from actions intended to serve class, status, and party
      interests by achieving social closure. Analyses reveal closure intentions in the
      school ratings assigned by the American Medical Association, although not in the
      recommendations in the 1910 Carnegie-sponsored Flexner report. In contrast to
      claims that schools failed largely because of economic exigencies, analyses
      indicate that failures were influenced by the AMA's and Flexner's assessments, as
      well as by state regulatory regimes and school characteristics.

PMID- 20939127
TI  - The effects of racial/ethnic segregation on Latino and Black homicide.
AB  - Racial/ethnic residential segregation has been shown to contribute to violence
      and have harmful consequences for minority groups. However, research examining
      the segregation-crime relationship has focused almost exclusively on blacks and
      whites while largely ignoring Latinos and other race/ethnic groups and has rarely
      considered potential mediators (e.g., concentrated disadvantage) in segregation
      violence relationships. This study uses year 2000 arrest data for California and
      New York census places to extend segregation-crime research by comparing the
      effects of racial/ethnic residential segregation from whites on black and Latino
      homicide. Results indicate that (1) racial/ethnic segregation contributes to both
      Latino and black homicide, and (2) the effects for both groups are mediated by
      concentrated disadvantage. Implications for segregation-violence relationships,
      the racial-invariance position, and the Latino paradox are discussed.

PMID- 20939128
TI  - Limits to social capital: comparing network assistance in two New Orleans
      neighborhoods devastated by Hurricane Katrina.
AB  - Sociological research emphasizes that personal networks offer social resources in
      times of need and that this capacity varies by the social position of those
      involved. Yet rarely are sociologists able to make direct comparisons of such
      inequalities. This study overcomes this methodological challenge by examining
      network activation among residents of two unequal neighborhoods severely
      devastated by Hurricane Katrina. Results indicate that local network capacities
      of Lower Ninth Ward residents relative to those of the more affluent Lakeview
      neighborhood dissipated before, during, and after the disaster to erode the life
      chances of individual residents and the neighborhood they once constituted.

PMID- 20939129
TI  - The color of welfare sanctioning: exploring the individual and contextual roles
      of race on TANF case closures and benefit reductions.
AB  - This article investigates the individual and contextual roles of race on welfare
      sanctions: benefit cuts for failing to comply with work or other behavioral
      requirements under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program. Using six
      years of federal administrative data, I advance previous welfare research by
      providing a nationally representative analysis of participant-, county-, and
      state-level predictors of welfare sanctioning. Using theories of racial
      classification, racialized social systems, and racial threat as guiding
      frameworks, I find that black and Latina women are at a greater risk of being
      sanctioned than white women. Further, although odds of a sanction are slightly
      reduced for black women living in counties with greater percentages of blacks,
      the opposite holds for Latinas, who are at an increased risk of being sanctioned
      in counties with greater percentages of Latinos.

PMID- 20939130
TI  - "One man one job": the marriage ban and the employment of women teachers in Irish
      primary schools.
AB  - In 1932, the Irish government, facing an economic downturn, introduced a marriage
      ban which required that female primary school teachers were required to resign on
      marriage. This followed a series of restrictive legislative measures adopted by
      Irish governments throughout the 1920s which sought to limit women's
      participation in public life and the public sector. Such a requirement emerged in
      several countries in response to high unemployment and applied principally to
      women's white-collar occupations, leading some commentators to argue that it
      stemmed from a social consensus rather than an economic rationale. Despite
      opposition to the ban from the Irish National Teachers' Organisation (INTO) on
      the basis that it was unconstitutional, would lead to fewer marriages and that
      married women were in fact more suited to teaching children, it remained in place
      until 1958. Although the ban is much referred to as part of the gender ideology
      that informed legislation in the early years of independent Ireland, the
      particular history of married women teachers has been little researched in the
      academic context. Over 50 years since the rescinding of the ban, this article
      examines its impact through an analysis of primary sources, including government
      cabinet minutes and the public commentary of the INTO and positions this history
      within the international context.

PMID- 20939131
TI  - Sociology, economics, and gender: can knowledge of the past contribute to a
      better future?
AB  - This article explores the profoundly gendered nature of the split between the
      disciplines of economics and sociology that took place in the late 19th and early
      20th centuries, emphasizing implications for current efforts to bring the fields
      more closely together. Drawing on historical documents and feminist studies of
      science, it investigates the gendered processes underlying the divergence of the
      disciplines in definition, method, and degree of engagement with social problems.
      The recently developed field of economic sociology and other efforts to bridge
      the disciplinary gap have the potential to heal this disciplinary split, if they
      are broadened, deepened, and made wiser and more self-reflective through the use
      of feminist analysis.

PMID- 20939132
TI  - The economics and ethics of Hurricane Katrina.
AB  - How might free enterprise have dealt with Hurricane Katrina and her aftermath.
      This article probes this question at increasing levels of radicalization,
      starting with the privatization of several government "services" and ending with
      the privatization of all of them.

PMID- 20939133
TI  - Occupational classification in the South African census before ISCO-58.
AB  - The population census is one of the major statistics gathering exercises
      undertaken by the state, when information on a wide range of personal attributes
      is demanded. None is more problematic than occupation, which, for clarity,
      requires the subsequent simplification and classification of the myriad of self
      descriptions collected. Nowhere is this more evident than in South Africa before
      1958. Conflict between British imperial directives and local peculiarities,
      notably the issue of race, resulted in the adoption of widely fluctuating
      classification schemes. Consequently, direct comparisons between the published
      occupational statistics of successive enumerations are highly problematic, if not
      impossible.

PMID- 20939134
TI  - Parish apprenticeship and the old poor law in London.
AB  - This article offers an examination of the patterns and motivations behind parish
      apprenticeship in late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century London. It
      stresses continuity in outlook from parish officials binding children, which
      involved placements in both the traditional and industrializing sectors of the
      economy. Evidence on the ages, employment types, and locations of 3,285 pauper
      apprentices bound from different parts of London between 1767 and 1833 indicates
      a variety of local patterns. The analysis reveals a pattern of youthful age at
      binding, a range of employment experiences, and parish-specific links to
      particular trades and manufactures.

PMID- 20939135
TI  - Views from below on the pro-poor growth challenge: the case of rural Rwanda.
AB  - This article focuses on the Rwandan peasantry to confirm how "views from below"
      can contribute to a better understanding of the "pro-poor" growth challenge.
      Based on micro-level evidence gathered in 2007, it examines local peasants'
      perceptions of the characteristics and degree of poverty for different
      socioeconomic categories (i.e., peasant groups). It looks at the various
      opportunities and constraints that influence the potential of these categories or
      groups for social mobility and their capacity to participate in growth
      strategies. Further, it considers how local peasants perceive specific policy
      measures in the Rwandan government's "pro-poor" rural strategies. Their insights
      could inspire Rwandan policymakers and supporting donors to redirect their
      efforts toward distribution-oriented growth strategies.

PMID- 20939136
TI  - Faction fights, student protests, and rebellion: the politics of beer-drinks and
      bad food in the Transkei, South Africa, 1955-63.
AB  - This article examines two cases of conflict from the Transkei region of South
      Africa. In the first instance in 1955, young men caught up in a stick fight after
      drinking beer were arrested, tried, and convicted, and they received harsh
      sentences of six months of hard labor. In the second case in 1961, boys at an
      elite school in Umtata protested their poor food and lodging arrangements, set
      fire to the school library, and threatened to kill the headmaster. While they
      were convicted, their punishment of caning was considered a very light sentence.
      These two cases illuminate the emerging nature of youthful resistance to the
      inception of home rule that was later to give rise to the Bantustans, as well as
      the response by state officials seeking to cope with the enlarging rural
      opposition to the structures of apartheid. The paradox of the strikingly
      different sentences is examined and explained.

PMID- 20939137
TI  - The declining retirement prospects of immigrant men.
AB  - We compare the retirement prospects of immigrant men with their native-born
      counterparts. Using data from the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics, we
      estimate a significant gap of 43 percent in private pension income and 30 percent
      in private pension contributions between immigrants and the native born. The gap
      in public pension incomes is negligible and reduces the overall pension gap, but
      only partially. Furthermore, the pension income and contribution gap is
      significantly larger for more recently arrived immigrant cohorts, consistent with
      evidence of weaker earnings for this group. We provide age profiles of pension
      income and contributions and discuss problems in interpreting the results without
      adjusting for age. Controlling for age and earnings differences, immigrants are
      still about 11 percent less likely to make contributions to a private pension
      program, but there is no difference in the contribution rates out of earnings of
      those who contribute. Recently arrived immigrants are significantly less likely
      to make contributions to a private pension program and appear to be neglecting
      private pension contribution opportunities more than earlier immigrants and the
      native born, which may have adverse implications for Canada's public retirement
      programs.

PMID- 20939138
TI  - Physician resource planning in Canada: the need for a stronger behavioural
      foundation.
AB  - An effective solution to the problem of access to physician services in Canada
      must extend beyond an over-exclusive focus on the number of providers to consider
      the behaviour of physicians in greater depth. The amount of labour and associated
      services supplied by physicians depends importantly on their attitudes regarding
      work, on practice and non-practice income opportunities, and on the policy
      environment in which they practise. Hence, the amount of labour supplied by a
      given stock of physicians can change over time. Only by considering the full
      range of factors that affect the labour supply of physicians can we effectively
      plan for physician resources.

PMID- 20939139
TI  - Domestic violence and social responsibility in contemporary Spanish cinema: a
      portfolio view of behavioral dynamics.
AB  - Domestic abuse continues to claim many lives in Spain despite a series of new
      laws to protect women and to punish abusers. This essay explores the cultural
      influences of contemporary Spanish cinema on domestic violence. Four films are
      assessed against a Portfolio Model of social responsibility that uses two basic
      dimensions: realism and human rights. Realism in each film is determined by the
      behavioral components of the internationally recognized Duluth Model and the
      Wheel of Power and Control. The human rights dimension addresses equality, power
      and agency for women. This study focuses on Iciar Bollain's "Te doy mis ojos"
      (2003), Javier Balaguer's "Solo mia" (2001), Benito Zambrano's "Solas" (1999),
      and Pedro Almodovar's "Pepi, Luci, Bom y otras chicas del monton" (1980). The
      results demonstrate significant variations in the measure of social
      responsibility indicating that contemporary Spanish cinema may play a role in
      perpetuating gender-based violence.

PMID- 20939140
TI  - "We mentally ill smoke a lot": identity, smoking, and mental illness in America.
AB  - Most of the history of the tobacco industry over the last few decades has focused
      on the conflicts between tobacco industry leaders who promoted smoking and
      tobacco control advocates who warned of the health consequences. Yet a view of
      this conflict from the perspective of smokers who are also mentally ill raises
      questions about how to frame public health policy for these individuals. Mentally
      ill consumers wrote to the tobacco industry between the 1970s and 1990s and
      expressed their commitment to smoking and to cigarette companies, despite their
      awareness of the health risks. This paper explores the relationship between
      mentally ill consumers, the tobacco industry, and public health in the United
      States through letters written by mentally ill smokers.

PMID- 20939141
TI  - Diseased, maimed, mutilated: categorizations of disability and an ugly law in
      late nineteenth-century Chicago.
AB  - The article places Chicago's "ugly" law-an 1881 municipal ordinance that fined
      "any person who is diseased, maimed, mutilated or in any way deformed so as to be
      an unsightly or disgusting object" for appearing in public-within the context of
      late nineteenth-century imaginings of disability. Drawing on the framework of
      disability studies, this paper demonstrates that nineteenth-century
      understandings of disability had little to do with the impairments of individuals
      but instead were tied to the status of the person with the disability. Examining
      the role of disabled people as workers, as bodies and as charity recipients
      reveals the hierarchies of disability in late nineteenth-century Chicago and
      demonstrates who the ugly law intended to restrict and, just as importantly, who
      it did not. While the law appears to be a blanket indictment of all physically
      disabled people, multiple sources indicate that the public expected disabled
      veterans, workers, and freak show performers to occupy the public realm; they
      therefore cannot be the intended objects of the ordinance. Instead, Chicago's
      ugly law was one of many pieces of legislation enacted in the wake of the panic
      of 1873 that attempted to eradicate street begging in general by specifically
      targeting beggars with disabilities.

PMID- 20939142
TI  - Regime change: gender, class, and the invention of dieting in post-bellum
      America.
AB  - "Regime Change" argues against commonly held interpretations that see dieting as
      a practice established in the 1920s to control women at a time when they gained
      suffrage and greater economic independence. This article offers an alternative
      reading, arguing that diet advice literature arrived in the US in the 1860s and
      originally targeted a male, white, middle-class audience. While the hegemonic
      beauty ideal for the female body was at its heftiest, men started to build muscle
      and reduce weight. The ideal of the slender male body was associated with white
      superiority, social mobility and the national ambition for an American empire.
      When white middle-class women eventually started dieting in greater numbers in
      the 1890s, it was because they claimed the same mastery over their bodies as men
      and demanded the same privileges as their male peers over immigrants, African
      Americans and working-class people, who were increasingly imagined as overweight.
      Revising the history of dieting to show its origins as a masculine practice
      appropriated by women to stake a claim to class and race privilege invites a
      rethinking of power and resistance in the disciplining of the female body.

PMID- 20939143
TI  - "The Attila the Hun law": New York's Rockefeller drug laws and the making of a
      punitive state.
AB  - In 1973, New York's Governor Nelson Rockefeller responded to panic about soaring
      heroin use by renouncing his aggressive treatment programs and enacting the most
      punitive drug policy in the United States. His "Rockefeller Drug Laws" mandated
      sentences up to life in prison for selling any narcotics. These punishments,
      comparable to the penalties for murder, served as models for subsequent "War on
      Drugs" policies enacted across the nation.This article explores the ideological
      and political work accomplished by this high profile legislation-for policy
      makers, for members of the general public who clamored for "get tough"
      strategies, and for the drug users targeted by the statutes. The laws were a
      repudiation of liberal treatment programs and specialists' expertise, and
      provided a forum to remake the much-maligned welfare state into a stern, macho
      vehicle for establishing order in society. Increasingly punitive policies
      constricted the rights of drug users by rhetorically constructing "addicts" and
      "pushers" as outside of the polity and as the antithesis of full citizens.
      Therefore, the Rockefeller Drug Laws not only had devastating effects on drug
      offenders, but also were instrumental in the profound renegotiation of the
      state's role and responsibilities.

PMID- 20939144
TI  - "Bessie done cut her old man": race, common-law marriage, and homicide in New
      Orleans, 1925-1945.
AB  - This essay examines domestic homicide in early twentieth-century New Orleans.
      African-American residents killed their domestic partners at eight times the rate
      of white New Orleanians, and these homicides were most often committed by women,
      who killed their partners at fifteen times the rate of white women. Common-law
      marriages proved to be especially violent among African-American residents. Based
      on nearly two hundred cases identified in police records and other sources as
      partner killings between 1925 and 1945, this analysis compares lethal violence in
      legal marriages and in common-law unions. It also explores the social and
      institutional forces that buffeted common-law marriages, making this the most
      violent domestic arrangement and contributing to the remarkably high rate of
      spousal homicide by African-American women in early twentieth-century New
      Orleans.

PMID- 20939145
TI  - "Killed by its mother": infanticide in Providence County, Rhode Island, 1870 to
      1938.
AB  - This article analyzes infanticide based on the Coroners' Records for Providence
      County, Rhode Island, from the 1870s to 1938 to determine doctors' and coroners'
      attitudes toward mothers who killed. The nineteenth century witnessed a medical
      discourse on the possibility of postpartum insanity as a cause of infanticide.
      While some women claimed temporary insanity, and some doctors and coroners
      legitimated this defense, its application to mothers who killed was arbitrary.
      They determined who deserved this diagnosis based on the woman's character, her
      forthrightness, and extenuating circumstances. Infanticide divided the profession
      nationally and at the local level and prevented doctors or coroners from speaking
      in a united voice on the issue. This article does not attempt to follow cases of
      infanticide through to jury verdicts. Instead, it provides an opportunity to
      analyze the circumstances women faced that led them to kill their newborns, and
      to analyze the responses of doctors and coroners to these mothers who killed.
      Unlike the findings of other studies, neither physicians nor coroners in Rhode
      Island were united in a claim of ignorance to save these women from guilty
      verdicts.

PMID- 20939146
TI  - Communities and health: the case of inner-city violence and asthma.
AB  - The social forces that affect individual health are powerful and yet poorly
      understood. For example, the health burden of asthma is especially large for
      residents of low-income, inner-city neighborhoods. At the same time, many inner
      city residents face health challenges associated with high levels of violence in
      their communities. Recent work has linked exposure to community violence with
      worsening asthma symptoms in children, but the link has not been studied in
      adults. This Issue Brief summarizes a new study that tracks adults with moderate
      to severe asthma and explores the association between exposure to community
      violence and subsequent asthma-related emergency department (ED)visits and
      hospitalizations.

PMID- 20939147
TI  - Can bad science be good evidence? Neuroscience, lie detection, and beyond.

PMID- 20939148
TI  - Autism, insurance, and the idea: providing a comprehensive legal framework.

PMID- 20939149
TI  - UNICEF, syphilis and the state: negotiating female citizenship in the post-Second
      World War world.
AB  - Few charitable organizations have achieved the status of global recognition
      enjoyed by UNICEF, the United Nations Children's Fund, which embodies the
      international effort to provide for needy children the world over. Created
      because of its synchronicity with the United Nations' stated purpose-to maintain
      peace in the world-UNICEF launched its operations in 1946. Its founding, early
      operations and eventual restructuring reveal a great deal about concurrent
      political and economic events, but also provide keen insight into international
      ideas about who qualified for full citizenship in the post-war world. The
      consequences of UNICEF's policies, procedures and practices posed challenges to
      notions of citizenship for both women and children. It challenged citizenship not
      by questioning sex-specific gender roles, but by judiciously adhering to the
      United Nations' promise to create equality for men and women alike. UNICEF found
      itself in the unique position to be able to globalize definitions of what
      constituted full citizenship in any nation, due to its rapid expansion throughout
      the world. Through its programs, especially those related to health care, it not
      only challenged these roles in the West, but began over several decades to
      complicate the definition of citizenship as it became a forceful presence in Asia
      and Africa throughout the 1970s.

PMID- 20939150
TI  - Pertussis vaccines: WHO position paper.

PMID- 20939151
TI  - Yellow fever, Senegal.

PMID- 20939152
TI  - Recommended viruses of influenza vaccines for use in the 2011 influenza season
      (southern hemisphere).

PMID- 20939153
TI  - Multiple digital gangrene arising from traditional therapy: a case report.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Traditional medicine has being advocated as an alternative to
      Orthodox medicine in Nigeria despite, its reported adverse effects. OBJECTIVE: To
      report an unusual complication of traditional therapy. METHODS: A 20-year-old
      house-wife who was bitten by a crawling insect presented to a hospital with
      complaints of swollen body and pain in three digits. After clinical evaluation
      and investigations, she had both medical and surgical intervention. RESULTS: Two
      weeks following an insect bite, the patient noticed periorbital and bilateral leg
      swellings. She sought help from a traditional medicine practitioner who incised
      and tied the affected digits for three days. He repeated the cycle thrice. She
      had generalized oedema, massive proteinuria, hypoalbuminaemia,
      hypercholesterolaemia features consistent with a diagnosis of nephritic syndrome.
      There was gangrene of the left middle finger and both index toes. Oedema
      responded to diuretics, lisinopril and low salt diet. She had surgery for the
      gangrenous digits. CONCLUSION: Development of gangrene is an unusual finding in
      nephrotic syndrome. It occurred in this case as an aftermath of traditional
      medical intervention. This report reiterates the danger of this form of medical
      practice and the need for measures to protect the populace to be put in place.

PMID- 20939156
TI  - UK: the reality behind the "knife crime" debate.
AB  - This study of teenage violent crime in Britain in 2008, extracted from a longer
      briefing paper published by the Institute of Race Relations, aims to provide a
      description of who was killed, by whom and in what circumstances - a factual
      description which has been largely missing from much media and political
      evaluation.

PMID- 20939157
TI  - Persistent interferon-beta-1b-induced psychosis in a patient with multiple
      sclerosis.
AB  - Interferon-beta is used in patients with multiple sclerosis to reduce
      autoimmunity; although other psychiatric side-effects are common, in contrast to
      interferon-alpha, psychosis has been reported only once. A patient with multiple
      sclerosis developed auditory hallucinations, paranoid delusions, and increased
      aggressiveness after 16 months of treatment with interferon-beta-1b, 250 mg every
      other day. He responded after about one month to antipsychotic treatment, but
      tended to relapse upon dose reduction, and after 2 years still needs
      antipsychotics to control his symptoms. Because there was no change in his
      magnetic resonance imaging between pre- and post-treatment with interferon, we
      concluded that psychosis was more related to interferon treatment than to the
      underlying disease.

PMID- 20939158
TI  - Physicians slow to e-mail routinely with patients.
AB  - Some experts view e-mail between physicians and patients as a potential tool to
      improve physician-patient communication and, ultimately, patient care. Despite
      indications that many patients want to e-mail their physicians, physician
      adoption and use of e-mail with patients remains uncommon--only 6.7 percent of
      office-based physicians routinely e-mailed patients in 2008, according to a new
      national study from the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC). Overall,
      about one-third of office-based physicians reported that information technology
      (IT) was available in their practice for e-mailing patients about clinical
      issues. Of those, fewer than one in five reported using e-mail with patients
      routinely; the remaining physicians were roughly evenly split between occasional
      users and non-users. Physicians in practices with access to electronic medical
      records and those working in health maintenance organizations (HMOs) or medical
      school settings were more likely to adopt and use e-mail to communicate with
      patients compared with other physicians. However, even among the highest users-
      physicians in group/staff-model HMOs--only 50.6 percent reported routinely e
      mailing patients.

PMID- 20939159
TI  - Use of contraception in the United States: 1982-2008.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This report presents national estimates of contraceptive use and
      method choice based on the 1982, 1995, 2002, and 2006-2008 National Surveys of
      Family Growth (NSFG). METHODS: Data for 2006-2008 were collected through in
      person interviews with 13,495 men and women 15-44 years of age in the household
      population of the United States. This report is based on the sample of 7,356
      women interviewed in 2006-2008. The response rate for women in the 2006-2008
      survey was about 76%. RESULTS: More than 99% of women 15-44 years of age who have
      ever had sexual intercourse with a male (referred to as "sexually experienced
      women") have used at least one contraceptive method. The percentage of women who
      have ever used emergency contraception, the contraceptive patch, and the
      contraceptive ring increased between 2002 and 2006-2008. Looking at contraceptive
      use in the month of interview, or current use, the leading method of
      contraception in the United States during 2006-2008 was the oral contraceptive
      pill, used by 10.7 million women; the second leading method was female
      sterilization, used by 10.3 million women. While contraceptive use is virtually
      universal in the United States, women with different characteristics make
      different choices of methods--for example, college educated women are much more
      likely to use the pill and less likely to use female sterilization than less
      educated women. Age, parity, marital status, and income are also closely related
      to the choice of method. These method choices are related to the risk of
      unintended pregnancy in these groups.

PMID- 20939161
TI  - Equine periocular neoplasia: current concepts in aetiopathogenesis and emerging
      treatment modalities.
AB  - Neoplastic adnexal disease represents one of the most frequently encountered and
      therapeutically challenging ophthalmic problems of horses. This paper reviews
      current concepts in equine periocular neoplasia. Specifically, a literature-based
      review of the aetiopathogenesis of the most common tumours to affect the equine
      eyelid (squamous cell carcinoma, sarcoid, melanoma and lymphosarcoma) is
      provided. Current and emerging treatment modalities, including photodynamic
      therapy, are reviewed.

PMID- 20939162
TI  - Therapy of equine infectious keratitis: a review.
AB  - The following article briefly discusses the pathogenesis of infectious keratitis
      in the horse, followed by discussion of management and pharmacological aspects to
      be considered when devising a therapeutic protocol for affected patients.

PMID- 20939163
TI  - Targeted lamellar keratoplasty in the horse: a paradigm shift in equine corneal
      transplantation.
AB  - Many equine keratopathies primarily affect individual layers of the cornea.
      Targeted lamellar keratoplasty rather than full thickness penetrating
      keratoplasty (PK) seems most appropriate to the microsurgical management of many
      of these equine keratopathies. Despite the positive results with PK in the horse
      the author now suggests that this procedure should be rarely utilised in the
      treatment of equine keratitis. Selective lamellar surgical replacement of only
      the diseased corneal layers while retaining unaffected normal corneal layers
      represents a new paradigm shift in the field of corneal transplantation in the
      horse.

PMID- 20939164
TI  - Equine immune-mediated keratopathies.
AB  - Immune mediated keratopathies (IMMKs) are a relatively commonly occurring group
      of heterogeneous corneal disorders. This paper describes the currently recognised
      clinical presentations of the IMMKs in the USA and in the UK. Although a clinical
      diagnosis is relatively straightforward in most cases, the specific
      aetiopathogeneses of the IMMKs remains elusive and largely speculative, but are
      thought to be based upon upregulated immunoreactivity in the normally
      immunologically passive cornea. Treatment protocols, both medical and surgical,
      are based primarily on collective clinical experience and are variably
      successful, and in some cases recurrence or refractoriness to treatment is
      possible.

PMID- 20939165
TI  - Current developments in equine cataract surgery.
AB  - The purpose of this review is to discuss the evolution of equine cataract surgery
      over the past 50 years to its current stage. Equine cataract surgery is performed
      similarly compared with the techniques used in human ophthalmology and in other
      veterinary species. However, enough differences exist to make surgical lens
      removal and intraocular lens implantation in the horse an intrinsically unique
      endeavour. Due to the size of the adult equine globe, the introduction of species
      specific instrumentation has provided the cornerstone to many of the changes made
      regarding surgical technique over the last 15-20 years. The continuing
      development of an equine specific, foldable intraocular lens implant (IOL) has
      provided much needed data supporting the use of such lenses in the horse to
      improve upon the post operative visual outcome. Finally, the methods utilised to
      assess visual capacity and the effects of intraocular lens implantation on the
      globe (e.g. ocular ultrasonography, electroretinography and streak retinoscopy)
      are gradually becoming more important in preoperative patient assessment and IOL
      development in the horse. It is the hope of the authors that a broader group of
      equine veterinarians will become aware of the many changes that have taken place
      in equine cataract surgery over the last half-century. Although aspiration was
      implemented nearly 40 years ago in foals for the treatment of congenital
      cataracts, phacofragmentation (phacoemulsification) techniques have only recently
      become routine in mature horses undergoing lens extraction.

PMID- 20939166
TI  - Equine uveitis: a UK perspective.
AB  - Uveitis in the equine population of the UK does not appear to be as prevalent or
      disastrous as seen across regions of Europe and the USA. Some cases perceived to
      be recurrent uveitis may be poorly resolved single episodes of uveitis and care
      should be taken not to make the diagnosis of recurrence without ensuring
      effective control of the initial episode. Leptospira spp. appear to play only a
      minor role ERU in the UK which is probably the main reason for the prevalence of
      the disease being much lower compared to the USA and mainland Europe. Actual data
      are relatively few on the ground as far as disease surveillance in concerned.
      This has 2 implications. Firstly unless we are able to effectively monitor the
      levels of uveitic disease, it will be difficult to pick up early changes in the
      trend which may allow quicker intervention. Secondly, it is difficult to secure
      funding for further research if the prevalence of the problem is poorly defined.
      This may leave the UK equine population at risk should the disease profile
      suddenly alter for the worse.

PMID- 20939167
TI  - Equine recurrent uveitis: the European viewpoint.
AB  - Equine recurrent uveitis (ERU) has always been and still is an important disease
      with a significant impact on the horse industry in Europe, with a prevalence of 8
      10%. The need to understand and manage the disease has spurred the development of
      veterinary ophthalmology in general, although the aetiology of the disease
      remains the subject of intense discussion. It is most probably an autoimmune
      disease triggered, at least in Europe, in the majority of cases by Leptospira
      spp. The therapy of ERU has evolved over the centuries from various methods of
      bloodletting to rational medical therapy using mydriatics and steroidal and
      nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, to surgical therapies, such as vitrectomy
      or implantation of cyclosporin-releasing devices. In Europe, pars plana
      vitrectomy in horses testing positive for Leptospira spp. appears to be the most
      successful form of therapy at the present time.

PMID- 20939168
TI  - Equine recurrent uveitis: the viewpoint from the USA.
AB  - Equine recurrent uveitis (ERU) is a common disease in horses in the USA. There
      have been many advances in the treatment of ERU; however, frequent misdiagnosis
      of ERU occurs in cases of primary corneal or uveal disease. It is critical to
      remember that primary uveitis (i.e. one bout of inflammation) is a different
      disease to ERU, which is an immune mediated recurrent uveitis. Standard
      symptomatic anti-inflammatory therapy is effective to control most cases of ERU;
      however, some horses require advanced therapy, such as placement of drug delivery
      devices or removal of the vitreous, when they fail to respond to the standard
      therapy.

PMID- 20939169
TI  - Equine glaucoma: state of the art.
AB  - Understanding and awareness of equine glaucoma has significantly improved in
      recent years. The availability of portable tonometers and veterinarian/owner
      awareness has increased the frequency of glaucoma as a clinical diagnosis. A
      variety of medications for the medical management of equine glaucoma have been
      evaluated and the addition of lasers has improved the surgical treatment of
      equine glaucoma. Despite this, equine glaucoma is an insidious and painful
      disease that probably remains under diagnosed and often results in blindness in
      the affected eye.

PMID- 20939170
TI  - Posterior segment diseases.
AB  - Diseases of the vitreous, fundus and optic nerve are described and illustrated
      according to their ophthalmological appearance. Vitreal alterations are commonly
      of developmental, degenerative, age related, traumatic or inflammatory origin and
      of minor clinical relevance. In contrast, those affecting the fundus, may be
      accompanied by visual deficits or blindness. Fundic lesions of inflammatory
      (multifocal or peripapillary chorioretinitis, haemorrhage, retinal detachment)
      and traumatic origin have to be differentiated from congenital (congenital
      stationary night blindness, colobomatous defects, retinal dysplasia),
      degenerative (cystic retinal degeneration), metabolic (equine motor neuron
      disease), neoplastic and age related alterations (senile retinopathy).
      Inflammation (acute neurochorioretinitis) and ischaemia (ischaemic neuro
      chorioretinopathy) involving the optic nerve will lead to blindness. The optic
      disc can be aplastic/hypoplastic or excavated due to coloboma or glaucoma,
      affected by ligation of the carotid and palatine arteries. Optic disc masses may
      arise due to inflammation, severe systemic haemorrhage, neoplasia or trauma.
      Lesions of the retrobulbar optic nerve can be caused by Borna virus infection,
      fungal granuloma, toxic insult, halicephalobiasis, trauma, severe blood loss and
      infection of the sphenopalatine sinus.

PMID- 20939171
TI  - Neuro-ophthalmology: a review.
AB  - Evaluation of horses for eye problems and for suspected impairment of visual
      acuity often requires a thorough neuroophthalmic examination to be conducted.
      Along with a full ophthalmic evaluation, the results of such an examination
      should indicate the likely site of any lesion(s) accounting for blindness,
      miosis, mydriasis, anisocoria, Horner's syndrome, strabismus, facial paralysis
      and facial spasm, nystagmus and other signs of vestibular disease, and cerebellar
      disorders, that may be present. Such a thorough examination with guidance for
      correct interpretation of findings is given here.

PMID- 20939172
TI  - Ocular manifestations of systemic disease in horses.
AB  - Ocular manifestations may develop in many systemic diseases of horses; however,
      signs may not be observed unless ophthalmological examination is specifically
      undertaken. Recognition and assessment of ocular lesions in horses with systemic
      disease is desirable to facilitate diagnosis and determination of treatment
      options and diagnosis for both the underlying systemic disease and ocular
      manifestations. The purpose of this article is to review systemic diseases of
      horses that may have ocular signs as part of the disease process. Systemic
      diseases are discussed in categories of pathways for development of ocular signs,
      namely immunological disease, neurological disease or local/systemic spread of
      disease.

PMID- 20939173
TI  - [Recent advances in the study of accelerated blood clearance phenomenon of
      PEGylated liposomes].
AB  - It is generally believed that liposomes modified with polyethylene glycol (PEG)
      have no or lower immunogenicity. However, based on many recent literatures, when
      the PEGylated liposomes were repeatedly applied to the same animal, the immune
      responses occurred. The first injection of PEGylated liposomes resulted in a
      reduction in the circulation time and an increase in hepatic and splenic
      accumulation of the second dose of PEGylated liposomes in a time-interval, which
      was called "accelerated blood clearance (ABC)" phenomenon. Such immunogenicity of
      PEGylated liposomes presents a barrier in the research of liposomal formulations
      and their use in the clinics. This review focused on the definition, the method
      of verification, the development of the reason for ABC phenomenon, influencing
      factors of ABC phenomenon, and discussed if other PEGylated nanocarriers also
      induce ABC phenomenon.

PMID- 20939174
TI  - [Progress in the study of HIV-1 Vif and related inhibitors].
AB  - Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) viral infectivity factor (Vif), one
      of the accessory proteins, which is a small basic phosphoprotein, is essential
      for viral replication and pathogenesis. The best well-characterized function of
      Vif is its ability to neutralize the host cell antiviral factor, apolipoprotein B
      mRNA editing enzyme catalytic polypeptide like 3G (APOBEC3G), which makes the
      viral particles more infective. In addition, Vif can regulate the reverse
      transcription and the advanced stage of replication of the virus particle, as
      well as induce the termination of cell cycle at G2 stage and so on. The designed
      drug aimed directly at Vif can efficiently block the maturation and infectivity
      of HIV-1. In this review, the structure, function and especially the related
      inhibitors of Vif are reviewed.

PMID- 20939175
TI  - [Advances on enzymes and enzyme inhibitors research based on microfluidic
      devices].
AB  - With the continuous development in microfluidic fabrication technology,
      microfluidic analysis has evolved from a concept to one of research frontiers in
      last twenty years. The research of enzymes and enzyme inhibitors based on
      microfluidic devices has also made great progress. Microfluidic technology
      improved greatly the analytical performance of the research of enzymes and enzyme
      inhibitors by reducing the consumption of reagents, decreasing the analysis time,
      and developing automation. This review focuses on the development and
      classification of enzymes and enzyme inhibitors research based on microfluidic
      devices.

PMID- 20939176
TI  - [Advances of the mechanism study on berberine in the control of blood glucose and
      lipid as well as metabolism disorders].
AB  - Berberine, an isoquinoline alkaloid isolated from some Chinese medicinal herbs
      such as Coptidis rhizoma, has been used for the treatment of diarrhea and other
      gastrointestinal infections as an antibacterial drug in Chinese medicine. In
      recent years, it was reported to have beneficial effects on the metabolism
      disorders states of diabetes. The mechanisms involve many aspects of the
      diabetes, including regulating the blood cholesterol and triglyceride, lowering
      blood glucose, ameliorating the insulin resistant state and influencing the
      function of the pancreatic beta cell.

PMID- 20939177
TI  - [Stereological study on the synapse loss in visual cortex of mouse after prenatal
      alcohol exposure].
AB  - In order to understand the alcohol's toxicity to the quantitative alternations of
      synapses in mouse visual cortex, the expression of synaptophysin after prenatal
      alcohol exposure was investigated. In present study, the experimental mice at P0,
      P7, P14 and P30 were grouped, as control, 2 g x kg(-1) alcohol treatment and 4 g
      x kg(-1) alcohol treatment. The pre-synaptic elements which were used to
      represent synapses were marked with synaptophysin (a synaptic vesicle associated
      protein) by immunocytochemistry technique. The synaptophysin positive boutons in
      layer VI of visual cortex were imaged under laser confocal microscope. With
      stereological methods, the number cal density of synapse in visual cortex was
      calculated in different groups at various ages. Moreover, Western blotting was
      carried out to detect the expression of synaptophysin in visual cortex. The
      results showed that prenatal alcohol exposure could cause synaptic loss with long
      term effect and in a dose dependent manner. For instance, there were significant
      difference among the different treatment groups of P0, P14 and P30 as well (P <
      0.05). Western blotting supported the results of immunofluorescent labeling. In
      conclusion, prenatal alcohol exposure can induce the synaptic loss dose
      dependently and with long-term effect. Our findings implicate that the synaptic
      loss with long-term effect in CNS probably contributes to the lifelong mental
      retardation and memorial lowliness associated with childhood FAS.

PMID- 20939178
TI  - [Effect of Matteuccia struthiopteris polysaccharides on systemic lupus
      erythematosus-like syndrome induced by Campylobacter jejuni in BALB/c mice].
AB  - Matteuccia struthiopteris is a nature plant, which contains a lot of potential
      active components. In the present study, we investigated the effect of
      polysaccharides extracted from Matteuccia struthiopteris on lupus-like syndrome
      induced by Campylobacter jejuni CJ-S131 in BALB/c mice. Mice were randomly
      divided into normal, model control, SLE model (vehicle treated), Matteuccia
      struthiopteris polysaccharides treated (30 and 15 mg x kg(-1)) groups and
      prednisone 5 mg x kg(-1) treated groups. The effect of Matteuccia struthiopteris
      polysaccharides (Ms) on weight and organ index of BALB/c mice was detected.
      Autoantibodies and total IgG production were measured by enzyme linked
      immunosorbent assay. Proteinuria was measured and kidneys were examined by light
      microscopy. Compared with SLE model group, treatment with Matteuccia
      struthiopteris polysaccharides 30 and 15 mg x kg(-1) reduced weight loss and
      Matteuccia struthiopteris polysaccharides 15 mg x kg(-1) reduced spleen swelling
      (P < 0.05). The increased production of autoantibodies and total immunoglobulin G
      (IgG) were also significantly inhibited. Matteuccia struthiopteris
      polysaccharides protected kidney against glomerular injury in BALB/c mice with
      reduced immunoglobulin deposition and lowered proteinuria (P < 0.01). Matteuccia
      struthiopteris polysaccharides had a protective effect on lupus-like syndrome
      induced by CJ-S131 in BALB/c mice.

PMID- 20939179
TI  - [Establishment of a rat chronic asthma model and its evaluation].
AB  - This study is to establish a rat chronic asthma model. Sensitive SD rats were
      selected through histamine challenge. The asthmatic groups were sensitized by ih
      and ip with OVA, aluminium hydroxide gel and inactivated bacillus pertussis on
      day 1 and 14. From day 21, acute asthmatic group was aerosolized 1% OVA for 1
      week, chronic asthmatic group was aerosolized 0.1% OVA for 12 weeks. The control
      groups received saline as the substitution of OVA. Twenty four hours after the
      last provocation, physiological monitoring equipment was used to detect the
      pulmonary function, then the rats were sacrificed. Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid
      (BALF) was collected to calculate the ratio of different inflammatory cells.
      ELISA was used to detect total IgE and OVA-specific IgE in serum. Microscopy was
      conducted to observe the histopathology of lung stained with haematoxylin and
      eosin staining. Collagen fibers were detected using Picric acid-Sirius red
      staining technique. The optical density at 610 nm of extractive from locus
      caeruleus was detected by passive cutaneous anaphylaxis (PCA). The results showed
      that the asthmatic characteristics were significantly developed in model groups,
      but not in control groups. Chronic asthmatic group had significantly higher
      indexes than acute asthmatic group, including the thickness of airway smooth
      muscle and bronchial basement membrane, and goblet cell hyperplasia, the area of
      collagen in airways, A610 of extractive from locus caeruleus, the concentration
      of total IgE and OVA-specific IgE in serum. However, inflammatory cell infiltrate
      in lungs and the percentage of eosinophils of white blood cells in BALF were
      lower in chronic asthmatic group than those in acute asthmatic group. Respiratory
      rate and respiratory flow showed no significant difference in both model groups.
      In conclusion, the rat chronic asthma model is established by the way in this
      study, which is comparable to the physiopathologic characteristics of human
      asthma.

PMID- 20939180
TI  - [Overexpression of synuclein-gamma confers resistance to antimicrotubule drugs
      against human hepatoma cells].
AB  - Liver cancer is one of the most common neoplastic diseases with high mortality in
      China. Currently, antimicrotubule drugs such as paclitaxel (PTX) and vincristine
      (VCR), are used as the common agents in the clinical chemotherapy for liver
      cancer. However, the responses of patients to these drugs vary markedly.
      Successful identification of intracellular factors influencing liver cancer's
      sensitivity to antimicrotubule drugs would be of great clinical importance. In
      this study, by engineering human hepatoma cell HepG2 to overexpress synuclein
      gamma (SNCG), we investigated if SNCG is a molecular factor associated with the
      sensitivity to antimicrotubule drug treatment. Real-time RT-PCR and Western
      blotting assays showed SNCG was successfully overexpressed in HepG2/ SNCG cells
      compared with HepG2/Neo cells. The overexpressed SNCG altered the proliferation
      activity in HepG2 cells, which was 66% higher than that of HepG2/Neo cells
      through MTT method. The overexpressed SNCG also reduced sensitivity of HepG2
      cells to antimicrotubule drugs: after PTX or VCR treatment, the proportion of
      HepG2/SNCG cells in G2/M arrest was significantly lower than that in HepG2/Neo
      cells. Correspondingly, HepG2/SNCG cells showed significantly lower mitotic index
      than HepG2/Neo cells. Meanwhile, HepG2/SNCG cells showed higher resistance to PTX
      and VCR than HepG2/Neo cells, with resistance index 21 and 15 respectively. Our
      studies suggested that the overexpression of SNCG could confer resistance to
      antimicrotubule drugs in hepatoma cells; and it indicated that SNCG may be as a
      potential response marker for antimicrotubule drugs in liver cancer chemotherapy.

PMID- 20939181
TI  - Synthesis and anti-inflammatory activity of 2-substituted-((N, N-disubstituted)
      1, 3-benzoxazole)-5-carboxamides.
AB  - A series of 2-substituted-((N, N-disubstituted)-1, 3-benzoxazole)-5-carboxamides
      derivatives were synthesized by the reaction of 2-substituted-5-carbomethoxy
      benzoxazole with different secondary amines. The newly synthesized compounds were
      characterized on the basis of spectral (FT-IR, 1H NMR, MS) & elemental analysis.
      All these compounds were screened for anti-inflammatory activity using
      carrageenan induced rat paw edema method. All of these compounds exhibited
      significant activity. Among the tested compounds Ve, Vg, Vf and Va were
      considered to have potent anti-inflammatory activity and was comparable with
      standard.

PMID- 20939182
TI  - [Synthesis and activity of some new histone deacetylases inhibitors].
AB  - To explore novel histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors with anti-tumor activity,
      twelve target compounds were synthesized, and their structures were confirmed by
      1H NMR, MS and elemental analyses. Evaluation results in vitro showed that
      compound Ia exhibited potent inhibition against HDAC and is worth for further
      investigation. And compounds IIa, IIb, IIIa-IIIi possessed moderate HDAC
      inhibitory activity.

PMID- 20939183
TI  - Chemical constituents of Saxifraga stolonifera (L.) Meeb.
AB  - To study the chemical constituents of Saxifraga stolonifera (L.) Meeb.,
      chromatographic techniques were applied to separate and purify the compounds, and
      their structures were confirmed on the basis of physicochemical properties and
      spectral data. Ten compounds were isolated and identified as 5-O
      methylnorbergenin (1), 3, 4-dihydroxyallylbenzene-4-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside (2),
      (7R, 8S)-4, 9, 9'-trihydroxyl-3-methoxyl-7, 8-dihydrobenzofuran-1'
      propylneolignan-3'-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside (3), quercetin-3-O-beta-D
      xylopyranosyl-(1 --> 2)-beta-D-galactopyranoside (4), kaempferol-3-O-alpha-L
      rhamnopyranoside (5), (3S, 5R, 6R, 7E, 9R)-3, 5, 6, 9-tetrahydroxy-7-megastigmane
      (6), benzyl-O-alpha-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1 --> 6)-beta-D-glucopyranoside (7), p
      hydroxyacetophenone (8), pyrogallic acid (9) and p-hydroxyphenol (10). Compound 1
      is a new compound. Compounds 2-10 were isolated from this plant for the first
      time.

PMID- 20939184
TI  - [Alkaloids from the leaves of Nauclea officinalis].
AB  - To study chemical constituents of the leaves of Nauclea officinalis, eight
      alkaloids were isolated from 95% ethanol extract by various chromatographic
      methods. The structures were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic data (IR,
      UV, ESI-MS, 1D and 2D NMR) and identified as naucleactonin C (1), strictosamide
      (2), vincosamide (3), pumiloside (4), angustoline (5), angustine (6), 18, 19
      dihydroangustine (7) and naucleofficine D (8). Compound 1 is a new indole
      alkaloid. Compounds 6 and 7 were isolated from this plant for the first time.

PMID- 20939185
TI  - [Structure verification of a recombinant chimeric anti-CD20 IgG1 monoclonal
      antibody].
AB  - Structure of a recombinant chimeric anti-CD20 IgG1 monoclonal antibody was
      verified by the application of high-performance liquid chromatography-mass
      spectrometry (HPLC-MS)and N-terminal sequencer. Molecular masses, N-terminal
      sequences and peptide maps of the antibody treated with different reagents and
      enzymes were measured. Results indicate that the amino acid sequences of light
      and heavy chains and 10 disulfide bonds were consistent with theoretical
      structure. By comparison of molecular masses and peptide maps for the fully
      glycosylated and deglycosylated samples, the N-linked glycosylation site was
      identified. The method is simple, rapid, precise, and could be referred to the
      quality control and structure determination of other IgG1 products.

PMID- 20939186
TI  - [Change of the content of chemical constituents and anti-oxidative action of the
      decoction of radix ginseng combined with Flos Lonicerae, radix Polygoni
      Multiflori and Radix Astragali].
AB  - Ginsenosides in the decoction of Radix Ginseng, Radix Ginseng with Flos
      Lonicerae, Radix Polygoni Multiflori or Radix Astragali have been investigated by
      high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and electrospray ionization mass
      spectrometric method (ESI-MS). Change of the content of ginsenosides was
      nonlinear in diverse combinative proportion of Radix Ginseng with Flos Lonicerae,
      while the stripping of ginsenosides was promoted by a small amount of Radix
      Polygoni Multiflori. In the combinative decoction of Radix Ginseng with Radix
      Astragali, ginsenosides contents were increased compared to single decoction of
      Radix Ginseng. Besides, ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) method was
      developed for determination of the total antioxidative activity of n-butanol and
      water-soluble extracts from the decoction. The experimental results showed that
      antioxidative activity was better in the combinative decoction than that in
      single decoction, and the FRAP values of n-butanol extract were also greater
      compared with that of water extract.

PMID- 20939187
TI  - [UPLC-Q-TOF/MS analysis of naringin and naringenin and its metabolites in rat
      urine and feces after intragastric administration of alcohol extract of
      Exocarpium Citri grandis].
AB  - To analyze naringin, naringenin and its metabolites in rat urine and feces after
      intragastric administration of alcohol extract of Exocarpium Citri Grandis,
      healthy SD rats were fed with alcohol extract of Exocarpium Citri Grandis for 3
      days. On the last day, 0-24 h feces and 0-4 h, 4-8 h, 8-24 h urine were collected
      and analyzed by UPLC-Q-TOF/MS. The post-acquisition data were processed using
      Metabolynx The result is that naringin and its 6 metabolites, naringenin and its
      4 metabolites were detected in the urine of rat. Meanwhile, naringin and its 3
      metabolites, naringenin and its 2 metabolites were detected in the feces of rat.

PMID- 20939188
TI  - Development and validation of a liquid chromatography-isotope dilution tandem
      mass spectrometry for determination of olanzapine in human plasma and its
      application to bioavailability study.
AB  - A simple, reliable and sensitive liquid chromatography-isotope dilution mass
      spectrometry (LC-ID/MS) was developed and validated for quantification of
      olanzapine in human plasma. Plasma samples (50 microL) were extracted with tert
      butyl methyl ether and isotope-labeled internal standard (olanzapine-D3) was
      used. The chromatographic separation was performed on XBridge Shield RP 18 (100
      mm x 2.1 mm, 3.5 microm, Waters). An isocratic program was used at a flow rate of
      0.4 m x min(-1) with mobile phase consisting of acetonitrile and ammonium buffer
      (pH 8). The protonated ions of analytes were detected in positive ionization by
      multiple reactions monitoring (MRM) mode. The plasma method, with a lower limit
      of quantification (LLOQ) of 0.1 ng x mL(-1), demonstrated good linearity over a
      range of 0.1 - 30 ng x mL(-1) of olanzapine. Specificity, linearity, accuracy,
      precision, recovery, matrix effect and stability were evaluated during method
      validation. The validated method was successfully applied to analyzing human
      plasma samples in bioavailability study.

PMID- 20939189
TI  - In vitro-in vivo correlation study on nimesulide loaded
      hydroxypropylmethylcellulose microparticles.
AB  - This study involves mathematical simulation model such as in vitro-in vivo
      correlation (IVIVC) development for various extended release formulations of
      nimesulide loaded hydroxypropylmethylcellulose (HPMC) microparticles (M1, M2 and
      M3 containing 1, 2, and 3 g HPMC, respectively and 1 g drug in each) having
      variable release characteristics. In vitro dissolution data of these formulations
      were correlated to their relevant in vivo absorption profiles followed by
      predictability worth analysis of these Level A IVIVC. Nimaran was used as control
      formulation to validate developed formulations and their respective models. The
      regression coefficients of IVIVC plots for M1, M2, M3 and Nimaran were 0.834 9,
      0.831 2, 0.927 2 and 0.898 1, respectively. The internal prediction error for all
      formulations was within limits, i.e., < 10%. A good IVIVC was found for
      controlled release nimesulide loaded HPMC floating M3 microparticles. In other
      words, this mathematical simulation model is best fit for biowaiver studies which
      involves study parameters as those adopted for M3 because the value of its IVIVC
      regression coefficient is the closest to 1 as compared to M1 and M2.

PMID- 20939190
TI  - [Anti-infectious activity of intravitreal injectable voriconazole microspheres on
      experimental rabbit fungal endophthalmitis of Aspergillus fumigatus].
AB  - The therapeutic effect of sustained intravitreal injectable voriconazole
      microspheres (VCZ-MS) on an experimental endophthalmitis of Aspergillus fumigatus
      was investigated. VCZ-MS was prepared successfully and its physico-chemical
      property was also evaluated. Right eyes of albino rabbits were infected with an
      intravitreal injection of 1 000 CFU x mL(-1) of susceptible Aspergillus
      fumigatus. All fungal endophthalmitis models were randomly divided into five
      groups 48 hours later: Group A is control group with no treatment; in group B,
      vitrectomy was performed combined with intravitreal 3 times injections of 100
      microg x 0.1 mL(-1) voriconazole every other day. In group C, D and E, vitrectomy
      was performed combined with intravitreal injection of 0.5 mg, 1.0 mg and 1.5 mg
      VCZ-MS respectively. The treatment effect was assessed by slit lamp and indirect
      ophthalmoscope funduscopy examination, using clinical grading system of
      inflammation in the anterior chamber and the vitreous opacity. The optical
      microscopy revealed that microspheres obtained from the experiment design were
      opaque, discrete and spherical particles with smooth surfaces. The drug content
      and encapsulation efficiency of microspheres were 29.94% and 73.5%, respectively.
      Endophthalmitis occurred in all eyes of group A, and rapidly developed to
      panophthalmitis. The inflammation grade of group B, C, D or E was lower than that
      of group A (P < 0.05). The grade of vitreous opacity in group C, D, E is lower
      than group B (P < 0.05). Two eyes in group C developed to panophthalmitis. But in
      group D and E, all eyes whose inflammation was controlled had no recurrence with
      vitreous clear. Histopathological examination showed normal structures in the
      cured eyes, while most uncured eyes were atrophic and with eyeball destroyed. So,
      it can be safely concluded that the curative effect of intravitreal VCZ-MS is
      significantly better than that of routine intraocular injection of voriconazole.
      The optimal dose is the one containing 1.0 mg voriconazole.

PMID- 20939191
TI  - [Molecular cloning and SNP analysis of a acetyl-CoA C-acetyltransferase gene
      (SmAACT) from Salvia miltiorrhiza].
AB  - Acetyl-CoA C-acetyltransferase (AACT) is the first enzyme in the terpene
      synthesis pathway, catalyzed two units of acetyl-CoA to acetoacetyl-CoA. In order
      to study the tanshinone biosynthesis in Salvia miltiorrhiza, a novel AACT gene,
      SmAACT, was cloned using cDNA microarray and RACE strategy. The full length cDNA
      of SmAACT is 1 623 bp (accession No. EF635969), which contained a 1 200 bp open
      reading frame (ORF) encoding a 399 amino acid protein. Nine introns were found in
      the genomic sequence. SmAACT was upregulated by YE and Ag+ elicitors both with
      cDNA microarray and quantitative RT-PCR analyses along with the accumulation of
      tanshinones. Sequence homology comparison and phylogenetic analysis all suggested
      that SmAACT belonged to the class of acetyl-CoA C-acetyltransferase. The
      transcription level of SmAACT was relatively higher in root than that in stem and
      leaf tissues. SNP analysis revealed that SmAACT was highly variable in the region
      of 6 to 9 introns with 33 SNPs in the 600 bp region, there are 5 SNPs in the cDNA
      region while they are all synonymous cSNPs. Some special genotypes were found in
      Salvia miltiorrhiza from different areas. SmAACT will be an useful gene for
      further analyze the mechanism of gene regulation among the tanshinones
      biosynthesis.

PMID- 20939192
TI  - [COLD or HOT natural attribute of Zuojinwan and Fanzuojinwan based on temperature
      tropism of mice].
AB  - This study is to investigate the authenticity between COLD and HOT natural
      attribute in the famous Chinese medicine formulas--Zuojinwan (Coptis-Evodia 6 :
      1) and Fanzuojinwan (Coptis-Evodia 1 : 6) based on mice temperature tropism, and
      establish an objective method to estimate the difference of two natural attribute
      by using a cold/hot plate differentiating technology. The results indicated that
      the COLD nature Zuojinwan could decrease significantly the remaining rate of HOT
      symptom rat on warm pad (P < 0.05). That was not notable to COLD-symptom rat. The
      interference result of COLD-HOT temperature tropism to COLD/HOT symptom rat in
      Fanzuojinwan was the reverse with the COLD nature Zuojinwan. Meanwhile,
      biochemical indicators which are relative to energy metabolism such as ATPase
      enzyme activity and total anti-oxidant capability (T-AOC), had corresponding
      change in the organism. In the study, the COLD and HOT natural tendency in
      Zuojinwan and Fanzuojinwan which were composed by the same herbs with different
      proportion could be expressed qualitatively, quantitatively, objectively and
      directly with applying animal temperature tropism, and be verified to
      philosophical idea of treating disease theory with "expelling heat with cold
      herbs and cryopathy requiring warm prescription", not "expelling heat with heat
      herbs and cryopathy requiring cold prescription" in ancient traditional Chinese
      medicine, which brings a new approach in investigation of the nature theory of
      traditional Chinese medicine.

PMID- 20939193
TI  - [Effect of ZL-004 on raising leukocyte count].
AB  - This study is to investigate the effect of ZL-004 on normal mouse and mice with
      leukopenia induced by chemotherapeutic agents. 5-Fluorouracil were administered
      intraperitoneally to mice to develop leucopenia, and the mice were treated with
      ZL-004. The number of peripheral leukocytes and the percentage of granulocyte in
      total WBC were examined. The results are that ZL-004 markedly raise peripheral
      blood leukocytes in the normal mice and the mice model of leukopenia. So, ZL-004
      could protect mice against 5-fluorouracil damage and raise peripheral blood
      leukocyte. Features of bone marrow smears is myeloproliferative hyperactivity in
      the mice, particularly the matured granulocytic series were observed. The
      mechanism of ZL-004 is to act on the mouse bone marrow causing proliferation and
      differentiation.

PMID- 20939195
TI  - [The physician-patient relationship].

PMID- 20939194
TI  - [Effect of metformin on the formation of hepatic fibrosis in type 2 diabetic
      rats].
AB  - The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of the metformin on the
      formation of hepatic fibrosis in type 2 diabetic rats and discuss its mechanism
      of liver-protecting activity. After SD rats were fed with high-fat and high
      sucrose diet for four weeks, low-dose streptozotocin (STZ) was injected
      intraperitoneally to make the animal mode of type 2 diabetes. Then, all diabetic
      rats was fed with the high-fat diet and metformin (ig, 100 mg x kg(-1)) was given
      orally to metformin group for four months. After the last administration, fasting
      blood glucose was determined. The livers were removed to calculate the hepatic
      coefficient and to make HE and Picro acid-Sirius red staining,
      immunohistochemistry (alpha-SMA and TGFbeta1) and TUNEL staining in order to
      evaluate the effect of metformin on the hepatic fibrosis. The animal model of
      type 2 diabetes with hepatic fibrosis was successfully made. Metformin can
      significantly alleviate the lesions of hepatic steatosis and fibrosis, markedly
      reduce the expressions of alpha-SMA and TGFbeta1 in liver tissue of type 2
      diabetic rats. However, TUNEL staining result suggested that metformin could not
      reduce apoptosis of hepatocytes. The results suggest that metformin can inhibit
      the formation of hepatic fibrosis in type 2 diabetes.

PMID- 20939196
TI  - Arbona system reengineered in the Garcia-Ariz Model: a national health reform
      plan from an orthopedics program perspective.
AB  - During the 1950's the healthcare system of Puerto Rico was maintained exclusively
      by the local government. The Arbona system, as it came to be known, although it
      provided health care professionals on the island with multiple educational
      experiences, presented substantial costs for the government. In the early 1990's
      a program of privatization known as "La Reforma" was implemented with the
      ultimate goal of providing a universal coverage system for the poor and the
      needy. At present this program has brought other issues regarding the quality of
      medical services and loss of academic centers. This is a preliminary report that
      analyzes various aspects of both systems through the search and analysis of
      background resources and literature, interviews, and physician/patient
      satisfaction surveys (on working conditions and quality of services). The main
      purpose of this report is to create a model that proves to be efficient and
      coherent with the island's idiosyncrasies.

PMID- 20939197
TI  - Laparoscopic liver resection: initial experience in Puerto Rico.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Laparoscopy has been changing in general and particularly upper
      gastrointestinal surgery for the last three decades. Hepatic surgery is one of
      the most hallenging fields in surgery and requires a prolonged surgical education
      and knowledge. This series describes our initial experience in laparoscopic
      resection of liver lesions. ME THODS: This was a retrospective analysis of a
      single institution. Sixteen patients undergoing laparoscopic hepatectomy between
      January 2008 and August 2009 were included. The data gathered included: lesion
      length, site of lesion, surgical time, conversion to open, operation rates,
      length of hospital stay, complications, mortality, and histology of lesions.
      RESULTS: Mean patient age: 63, which were comprised by 5 males and 11 females.
      Thirteen patients had liver cysts; 2 patients had metastatic liver cancer. One
      patient had End Stage Liver disease and cirrhosis. The average size of the
      lesions was 10 cm. The mean surgical time was 143.3 min. Conversion to laparotomy
      was required in two patients. There were no perioperative or thirty day
      mortality, and no postoperative liver failure. Mean postoperative stay was 3.5
      days. CONCLUSION: Laparoscopic liver resection appears safe and viable procedure.
      Experienced hepatobiliary surgeons with adequate laparoscopic skills should
      perform this procedure. The technique has a low morbidity and a short hospital
      stay, and can be used for the treatment of patients with different liver
      conditions.

PMID- 20939198
TI  - [Validation of a scale of attitudes towards sexuality in a sample of Puerto Rican
      elderly].
AB  - The literature indicates that elderly population is at high risk that affects
      their sexual activity; however, this is not the end of sexuality expression in
      this population. Elderly (people 65 years and older) who are healthy and active
      has more opportunities of sexual expression and activity in all forms, (including
      masturbation, and oral sex), and these activities can continue until 74 years or
      older. This study tries to explore if the Scale of Attitudes towards Sexuality
      Behavior in the Elderly develop in Puerto Rico, is a valid and reliable
      instrument to measure attitudes towards the sexuality in an elderly sample. In
      addition, the research tries to contribute to the progress and development of
      instruments that measure, and screen, sexuality aspects and risk behaviors that
      focus in the elderly population. This may help to promote future studies and the
      development of preventive programs that help to fulfill specific necessities in
      elderly. The research subjects consist of a secondary database sample of 265
      adults of 65 years or older. The design of this study was an ex post facto type.
      The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and factorial
      analyses to establish an association between the study variables (i.e., attitudes
      towards the sexuality and sexuality) using SPSS-X program version 14; also was
      concluded that the instrument is a valid and reliable (Alpha Cronbach = 0.95),
      which is considered adequate. It's expected that the scale will be valuable for
      future research in this area.

PMID- 20939199
TI  - Inside look at laparoscopic colectomy.
AB  - Laparoscopic colectomy has developed into a viable alternative to colon surgery.
      This paper presents an overview of the development and current status of
      laparoscopic surgery of the colon with a brief review of the evidence of efficacy
      of laparoscopic surgery in cancer management. The experience with laparoscopic
      surgery of the colon at a tertiary hospital in Puerto Rico is discussed with
      review of 142 consecutive cases treated for diverticulosis, cancer or polyps
      performed from 2005-2010. Data on operative time, technical issues, need for
      transfusions, specimen size, number of lymph nodes is presented. Data on time to
      start diet and length of hospital stay are discussed. Surgical complications in
      the series are discussed in detail and recommendations made on avoidance of
      technical problems during laparoscopic colon surgery. Recommendations are made on
      the development and advancement of laparoscopic colonic surgery in Puerto Rico.

PMID- 20939200
TI  - Anesthetic management of a patient undergoing surgery for bilateral
      pheochromocytoma: a case report.
AB  - Pheochromocytomas are rare neuroendocrine tumors. Patients with pheochromocytoma
      may develop potentially lethal cardiovascular and other complications, especially
      in the setting of diagnostic or interventional procedures (e.g. upon induction of
      anesthesia or during surgery). Perioperative management of patients with
      pheochromocytoma requires detailed knowledge on the pathophysiology and potential
      complications. This is a case of a 38 year-old, male, with history of bilateral
      pheochromocyto-, ma, and hypertension secondary to pheochromocytoma, that was
      scheduled for open bilateral cortical-sparing adrenalectomy under general
      anesthesia combined with thoracic epidural anesthesia. Although resection of
      bilateral pheochromocytomas continues being a challenging situation for the
      anesthetic management, morbidity and mortality can be significantly decreased
      with preoperative alpha-antagonists treatment, as well as volume restoration,
      vasoactive drugs, and closely monitoring intra- and postoperatively.

PMID- 20939201
TI  - Adult Evans syndrome: complete hematologic recovery with steroids and rituximab:
      a case report.
AB  - Evans syndrome is an autoimmune disorder characterized by the simultaneous or
      sequential development of autoimmune hemolytic anemia and immune
      thrombocytopenia. It may be primary (idiopathic, or associated with other
      diseases. First line therapy is immunosupression. A second line therapy includes
      danazol and splenectomy. Rituximab was approved by the Federal Drug
      Administration since 1998 for the treatment of lymphomas. We report a 46-year-old
      male Hispanic with Evans syndrome. He presented with severe life threatening
      autoimmune hemolytic anemia and subsequently developed autoimmune
      thrombocytopenia. After treatment with steroids and rituximab he remains in
      remission. This case report supports the use of rituximab in an adult patient
      with Evans syndrome.

PMID- 20939202
TI  - Central nervous system involvement by follicular lymphoma: a case report.
AB  - In this report, we describe a patient with Follicular Lymphoma with central
      nervous system involvement, rarely reported in indolent lymphomas. Central
      nervous system involvement in indolent non-Hodgkin's lymphoma is a rare and
      unexpected complication and should be considered in the differential diagnosis of
      patients presenting with de-novo neurological signs.

PMID- 20939203
TI  - Guillain-Barre syndrome after influenza vaccine administration: two adult cases.
AB  - We describe two adult cases of neurologic complications occurring after the
      administration of the influenza vaccine. The first case described is a 68 year
      old man who experienced paresthesias of the upper and lower extremities two weeks
      after vaccination, and the second case was a 64 year-old female who exhibited
      paraplegia eighteen days after vaccination. Diagnosis of acute idiopathic
      demyelinating polyradiculopathy (Guillain-Barre syndrome) was made for both
      patients, and intravenous gammaglobulin therapy was given with marked improvement
      of the first case, but poor response on the second case. Although the efficacy of
      influenza vaccination has been widely accepted, such neurologic complications
      might occur in the elderly and adult population. Even if Guillain-Barre syndrome
      was a true side effect of vaccination, the risk is substantially lower than is
      the risk for complications following influenza. The rare occurrence of
      neurological complications after influenza vaccine should not discourage against
      the vaccination.

PMID- 20939204
TI  - Macklin effect as potential responsible complication after retrograde intubation:
      a case report.
AB  - Retrograde intubation is currently part of the Difficult Airway Algorithm of the
      American Society of Anesthesiologists, and as such, every anesthesiologist should
      be competent in this procedure. Nevertheless, when performing it, one must be
      aware that it is not exempt of complications. We review the case of a patient
      who, after being intubated using this technique, developed signs and symptoms
      compatible with the Macklin effect. Macklin effect involves a three-step
      pathophysiologic process: blunt traumatic alveolar rupture, air dissection along
      bronchovascular sheaths, and spreading of this blunt pulmonary interstitial
      emphysema into the mediastinum.

PMID- 20939205
TI  - Laparoscopic splenectomy for infarcted splenoptosis in a child: a case report.
AB  - Wandering spleen is a rare birth defect characterized by absence or weakness of
      one or more of the ligaments that hold the spleen in its normal position. In this
      report we present the case of a 6-year-old girl admitted with diffuse abdominal
      pain, fever and emesis. Ultrasound and CT scan revealed the spleen was not found
      in its normal anatomical position. An enlarged spleen was identified displaced
      anteriorly and inferiorly at the L3 to L5-S1 level. Doppler ultrasonography of
      the splenic vessels revealed no blood flow consistent with infarction. Patient
      was taken to the operation room for a laparoscopic splenectomy. Treatment of
      choice for splenoptosis is surgery, either splenopexy or splenectomy. Decision to
      perform splenopexy or splenectomy depends on the viability of the spleen after
      detorsion. If the spleen appears infarcted, a splenectomy should be performed.
      Splenopexy is a reasonable option when the spleen appears viable after detorsion.

PMID- 20939206
TI  - Rare benign breast tumor.
AB  - We report the case of a female patient with an incidental finding at routine
      mammography evaluation which consisted of a benign spindle cell tumor, namely
      Breast Myofibroblastoma. It is arranged in fascicles with interspersed broad
      bands of hyalinized collagen with variable immunohistochemical reactivity to
      desmin, vimentin, smooth muscle actin and CD 34. It is usually not reactive to
      cytokeratins and S-100 as seen in the myoepitheliomas. Recurrence of the lesion
      after excisional surgical procedure is not documented at medical literature. It
      is important to recognize the benign nature of this neoplasm to prevent extensive
      mutilating surgical procedures.

PMID- 20939207
TI  - Atypical presentation of basilar artery thrombosis due to hypercoagulable state
      and incidental patent foramen ovale: a case report.
AB  - This is a case presentation of a 31 year old woman without history of any
      systemic illness and on her second pregnancy. Three days after an elective
      cesarean delivery without complications presented with neurological deficits
      mainly difficulty talking that progressed to aphasia, dizziness, and loss of
      vision. Neuro-images showed several ischemic areas in the brain. A magnetic
      resonance angiogram revealed a thrombus in the basilar artery. A transesophageal
      echocardiogram demonstrated a patent foramen ovale (PFO). The early recognition
      and diagnosis of PFO is crucial in preventing long-term complications.

PMID- 20939208
TI  - Intestinal endometriosis as a cause of rectal bleeding: a case report.
AB  - Endometriosis is the presence of endometrial glands and stroma outside the
      uterine cavity and musculature. The estimated prevalence of endometriosis in
      Puerto Rico is 4.0%. The exact prevalence of extra-pelvic endometriosis is
      unknown. It has been reported that affects the intestinal tract in 3-37% of all
      patients with pelvic endometriosis, with the sigmoid colon and rectum being the
      most commonly involved areas. It can mimic colorectal cancer by producing an
      invasive abdominal mass. We present the case of a 40 y/o female patient with
      rectal bleeding that presented a mass on a colonoscopy highly suggestive of
      cancer. After all the studies and an exploratory laparotomy, the diagnosis was
      intestinal endometriosis. Because of lack of published data about intestinal
      endometriosis in Puerto Rico, it is very important to show this condition in
      order to properly assess young women with rectal bleeding in light of a clinical
      suspicion of endometriosis.

PMID- 20939209
TI  - [Breast cancer and subsequent pregnancy. Infertility, death risk and survival].
AB  - BACKGROUND: The chemotherapy commonly used for the treatment of breast cancer
      affect the fertility and could cause premature ovarian failure. The subsequent
      pregnancy to the breast cancer therefore it is not habitual. OBJECTIVE: The
      purpose of this study was to identify the effects of the chemotherapy in the
      women reproductive life; to evaluate the frequency of the women that experienced
      a later pregnancy after treatment of cancer, as well as the effects of the
      subsequent pregnancy on the breast cancer. We report our experience in the 14
      year period. MATERIAL AND METHOD: As retrospective design, of 14 cases with
      breast cancer and subsequent pregnancy, from March 1994 to June 2008; demographic
      variables, clinical presentation, histopathological data, diagnostic procedures,
      treatments and results of the pregnancy were identified. RESULTS: The mean (M +/-
      SD) age of gestational women was of 31.5 +/- 5.2 years; the 83.3% women received
      adyuvant chemotherapy with antraciclines; the patients with regional illness (> 4
      N+) and advanced illness had an adverse presage; the systemic relapse and
      progression showed in 42.8% of the cases. The pregnancy to term was presented in
      half of the cases in the first two years and in a third part, later to the 2
      years of having concluded the oncological treatment; of the fourteen patients
      with breast cancer presented a total of 16 pregnancies: 9 were of term, 3 of
      preterm and 4 abortions. CONCLUSIONS: The study founds are based on a series of
      cases, which do not suggest that the pregnancy after the diagnosis and treatment
      of breast cancer has some adverse effect in the patients survival, for what the
      patients can conceive later to the oncological treatment. However, in this study
      it was observed that the effect of the advanced stage and positive axillary
      ganglion (> 4) influence in the relapses.

PMID- 20939210
TI  - [Abnormal cervicovaginal cytology in women with rheumatoid arthritis].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are at increased risk of
      infections and cancer. A link between RA and abnormal cervicovaginal cytology has
      rarely been reported. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to review
      cervicovaginal cytology results in women with RA and compare them with a control
      population. Sexual behavior also was investigated. MATERIAL AND METHOD:
      Cervicovaginal cytology results of 95 women with RA were compared to those of a
      control population of 1,719 women attending at the same hospital and followed
      until June 2009. Records of RA patients were reviewed to obtain clinical data,
      particularly sexual behavior. RESULTS: Of 95 RA patients, 13/95 had an abnormal
      cervicovaginal cytology result, compared with 120/1,719 controls. Twelve/13 had
      squamous intraepithelial lesions (SIL), compared with 27/120 controls. There was
      no significant difference in sexual partners between women with RA and controls.
      Women with RA without abnormal cervicovaginal cytology had less sexual partners
      than those with RA and abnormal cytology. Two women with RA and abnormal
      cervicovaginal cytology had a history of condylomata and herpes genital. Three/13
      women with RA developed abnormal cervicovaginal cytology after 12 to 36 months
      initiating their illness. None from them had ever received immunosuppressants.
      CONCLUSIONS: Women with RA have an increased prevalence of abnormal cervical
      cytology, compared with a control population. It may be related to chronic
      inflammatory disease and sexual behavior.

PMID- 20939211
TI  - [Prevalence of condyloma acuminata in women who went to opportune detection of
      cervicouterine cancer].
AB  - BACKGROUND: It has been considered the incidence and the prevalence of the
      disease of sexual transmission with base in the different data banks.
      Unfortunately, each of these sources has limitations. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate
      annual prevalence of genital condiloma acuminate in the women who go to opportune
      detection of cervicouterine cancer. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Study realized in a
      first level of attention, the Zaragoza clinic of the System of Collective
      Transport Metro of Mexico City; of January of the year 2000 to June of year 2009.
      All the patients included themselves in the study that went to opportune
      detection of cervicouterine cancer. RESULTS: 3,232 cervicovaginal cytologist were
      realized of which 106 cases presented condylomata acuminata genital confirmed by
      clinic and biopsy, settling down an annual prevalence of 3.2%; the prevalence by
      ages the greater number of cases appear between the 30 and 34 years with rate of
      21.6%. DISCUSSION: The prevalence of the infection by human virus papailoma
      varies in the different regions from the world; usually they reach from 20 to 30%
      in the women of 20 to 24 years of age and falls later to 3 to 10% in the women
      majors of 30 years. CONCLUSION: It is important to establish measures of
      prevention directed to prevent the contagion, exhorting to the adolescent
      population men and women to have a responsible sexuality.

PMID- 20939212
TI  - [Sociodemographic and obstetric factors associated with preterm birth].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Preterm birth is the major cause of neonatal morbidity and mortality
      and is responsible for 75 to 90% of neonatal deaths unrelated to congenital
      malformations. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate preterm birth association with
      sociodemographic and obstetric risk factors. MATERIAL AND METHOD: A
      retrospective, comparative, longitudinal and observational study was carried out
      in which were analyzed all preterm births registries found in 2001-2006 period in
      the Civil Hospital of Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico. As controls were selected at
      random the clinical registries of patients who presented term birth (n = 755).
      Were analyzed the association between preterm birth with sociodemographic factors
      (maternal age, socioeconomic level, tobacco use, alcoholism, begin intercourse
      age, number of sexual partners) and obstetric factors (transvaginal bleeding in
      the first half of pregnancy, previous preterm birth, post abortion and pregnancy
      at term interval, premature rupture of membranes, anemia and urinary infection).
      RESULTS: Significant differences were found between cases and controls about
      socioeconomic level (OR: 0.71; IC 95%: 0.5-0.9; p = 0.0191), vaginal bleeding in
      first half of pregnancy (OR: 31.06; IC 95%: 7.5-127.6; p < 0.05), previous
      preterm birth antecedent, (OR: 9.33; IC 95%: 2-59.1; p = 0.0006), pregnancy at
      term interval < or = one year (OR: 1.79; IC 95%: 1.2-2.5; p = 0.0021), premature
      rupture of membranes (OR: 9.24; IC 95%: 6.1-13.9; p < 0.05) and urinary infection
      (OR: 3.72; IC 95%: 2.1-6.4; p < 0.05). There were not association with the other
      factors analyzed. CONCLUSION: Preterm birth was significantly associated to
      socioeconomic level, transvaginal bleeding in first half of pregnancy, preterm
      birth previous, interpregnancy interval equal or less than one year, premature
      rupture of membranes and urinary infection.

PMID- 20939213
TI  - [Comparison of dinoprostone (ovules and gel) to achieve cervical ripening in
      patients with term pregnancy that occurs with premature membranes rupture].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Premature rupture of membranes is a normal occurrence of labor and
      can occur before or after the onset of contractions. The clinical factors
      associated with premature rupture of membranes include: low socioeconomic status,
      low body mass index, prior preterm pregnancies, smoking, sexually transmitted
      infections and urinary tract, conization, cervical cerclage and amniocentesis.
      OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether prolonged release of the vaginal insert of PGE2 is
      superior to dinoprostone gel to achieve cervical ripening in patients with term
      pregnancy that occur with premature rupture of membranes. MATERIAL AND METHOD:
      Randomized clinical trial in the surgical unit of play in a period of 6 months,
      with an estimated sample of 50 patients was randomized by block table. After
      assessment confirming rupture of membranes, Bishop Score and meeting inclusion
      criteria, group A was applied PGE2 intracervical gel 0.5 mg with a maximum of 3
      doses, every 6 hours. Group B was administered at vaginal insert of PGE2 single
      dose for 24 hours, the patient was left to sleep 30 minutes cardio toco
      monitoring chart for at least 2 hours after application. RESULTS: The average
      time to maturity was 310.59 minutes with a standard deviation of 198.7 and
      concluded that there was no significant difference between the onset of uterine
      activity and the onset of labor among the prolonged release dinoprostone and
      alternatives such as the gel cervical for cervical ripening. CONCLUSIONS: Either
      this is a good choice to ripen the cervix in patients with term pregnancy and
      premature rupture of membranes.

PMID- 20939214
TI  - [Comparison of climacteric syndrome symptoms among perimenopausal women from
      Mexico City and one Zapotec community of Oaxaca, Mexico].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Climacteric syndrome accompanies the menopause and it has been
      studied in different cultures, with different results among them. OBJECTIVE: To
      compare the differences in the presentation of the climacteric syndrome among
      urban and rural women. MATERIAL AND METHOD: A transverse, study was carried out,
      in which climacteric symptoms were evaluated with the previously validated
      modified SUMEVA scale in two groups of perimenopausal women. Group 1, indigenous
      Zapotec spoken women from San Ildefonso Villa Alta, Oaxaca. Group 2, women from
      Mexico City that attended the gynecologic endocrinology consultation of the UMAE
      Hospital of Ginecobstetricia "Luis Castelazo Ayala". STATISTICAL ANALYSIS:
      Central tendency and dispersion measurements were done. The comparison among the
      groups for continuous variables was carried out by Student t-test and for those
      discontinuous chi2. RESULTS: The mean score of the SUMEVA scale was 42.3 +/- 31.2
      for the rural women and 63.7 +/- 48.6 for Mexico's city women (p < 0.04). When
      symptoms were separately analyzed, they were significantly more intense in those
      women from Mexico City. CONCLUSION: Perimenopausal women from Mexico City have
      more intense climacteric symptoms than those rural. This can be influenced due to
      way of life in western culture.

PMID- 20939215
TI  - [Pandemic influenza caused by A(H1N1) in pregnant women].
AB  - Pandemic influenza caused byA H1N1 virus, that started in Mexico in 2009 and that
      persist though with mortality and morbidity much lower rates, did not have the
      repercussions of the other pandemias in the 20th Century, this is because the
      members of the World Health Organization anticipated everything that was
      necessary to fight it since 1997, when that international organism suggested to
      be prepared because the bird flu H5N1 was suffering mutations and was creating a
      new type of virus that have already caused human deaths. This information allowed
      the creation of strategies to protect the world population and mainly the most
      vulnerable groups such as pregnant women. In this group the lung complications
      specially the pneumonia cases, leads to the patient hospitalization with a higher
      perinatal mortality rates. The signs and symptoms of seasonal influenza as well
      as A H1N1 influenza in pregnant women are always more serious, and this is why
      they need intensive treatments. However, not all patients need to be hospitalized
      nor to check with sophisticated exams the presence of the virus. Every unhealthy
      women need to be classified by their signs and symptoms according Triage scale,
      and their hospitalization has to be only if the situation gets worse or if a
      chronic disease complicate it such as diabetes, AIDS, heart condition, asthma,
      obesity, etc. According to the scale in which the patient has been classified,
      she needs to be isolated in her home and start a symptomatic treatment and add
      antiviral medications only in suspicious pandemic influenza cases. However if
      respiratory pathology gets worse the patient should be hospitalized immediately
      in a unit with the proper equipment. Every citizen must receive the A H1N1
      vaccine, but pregnant women and breastfeeding women particularly. Pregnant women
      should receive the vaccine in any trimester of pregnancy, but especially in the
      last to prevent maternal and fetal complications as well as elevation of
      perinatal mortality.

PMID- 20939216
TI  - [Spontaneous uterine venous rupture during pregnancy. Description of two cases
      and bibliographical review].
AB  - Spontaneous uterine venous rupture is a very rare condition (1/10,000
      pregnancies). The etiology is still unknown, and it is associated with an
      increased of venous pressure. The rupture especially occurs on third trimester.
      The most frequent site of the rupture is the broad ligament. Maternal mortality
      has decreased to 4% but the perinatal mortality rate is still as high as 31%. The
      presenting symptoms are commonly unspecific. Clinical presentations are usually
      hypovolemic shock signs with severe abdominal pain and reduction in hemoglobin
      levels. In view of these findings an exploratory laparotomy is usually necessary
      as well as the adequate blood and fluid replacement. Two cases of twin
      pregnancies on the third trimester with spontaneous uterine venous rupture are
      reported. Both cases have different evolution. In the first case the evolution
      was favorable. It wasn't necessary the vein suture because of the bleeding ended
      by compression. In the second case the diagnostic took place after the fetal
      death and it was required the vein suture. This rare condition has to be taken
      into account to de the differential diagnosis in a pregnant woman with severe
      abdominal pain.

PMID- 20939217
TI  - [Behavior of cervix during pregnancy, labor and puerperium].

PMID- 20939218
TI  - [Third revision of the National Consensus on Diagnosis and Treatment of Breast
      Cancer (second of three parts)].
AB  - In women, breast cancer causes over one million new cases each year, of which
      about half occur in industrialized countries, however, is in developing countries
      like ours, where most deaths due to this cause. Currently, the breast cancer is
      the leading cause of death from malignancy in women over 25 years. The
      conclusions of the Third Review of the National Consensus on Diagnosis and
      Treatment of Breast Cancer are a guide for oncologists, mastologists and the
      medical community in general. This review involved more than 50 physicians with
      national recognition of all institutions and specialties related to this disease,
      in order to contribute their knowledge.

PMID- 20939219
TI  - [Risk factors associated with preeclampsia: case-control study].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Preeclampsia is one of the most frequent and serious complication of
      pregnancy characterized by systemic perfusion reduction generated by vasospasm
      and activation of coagulation systems. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the association
      between preeclampsia sociodemographics and obstetrics antecedents. MATERIAL AND
      METHOD: An unmatched case-control study was carried out in which all the clinical
      registries of patients with preeclampsia (cases: n = 196) assisted in the period
      2003-2007 in the Hospital Civil of Culiacan, Sinaloa State of Mexico were
      analyzed. As controls the clinical registries of patients assisted during the
      same period were selected at random but that they didn't show up preeclampsia (n
      = 470). The association of preeclampsia with socioeconomic level, tobacco use,
      alcohol use, gynecologic and obstetric antecedents (sexual partners, pregnancies,
      deliveries and abortions number, prenatal control, contraceptive method) and
      previous pregnancy with preeclampsia were analyzed. RESULTS: There were not
      association between tobacco use (OR: 3.05; 95% CI: 0.81-11.48), beginning of
      sexual activity (p = 0.1509), number of sexual partners (OR: 1.23; 95% CI: 0.83
      1.83; p = 0.3009) and sexual cohabitation less than 12 months (OR: 0.90; 95% CI:
      0.63-1.27). The alcoholism (OR: 5.77; 95% CI: 1.48-22.53), socioeconomic level (p
      < 0.05), pregnancy previous with preeclampsia (RM:14.81; 95% CI: 1.77-123.85; p =
      0.0006) were associated with preeclampsia. There were differences in the use of
      the contraceptive method between groups (p < 0.005). CONCLUSIONS: Preeclampsia
      was significantly associated with the alcoholism, low socioeconomic level and
      pregnancy previous with preeclampsia.

PMID- 20939220
TI  - [Adnexal tumor and pregnancy: diagnosis and treatment].
AB  - BACKGROUND: The finding of adnexal masses during pregnancy is an exceptional
      event. Its reported incidence is less than 5% and most cases resolve
      spontaneously as the pregnancy progresses. OBJECTIVE: Describe a case series of
      patients with adnexal mass and pregnancy. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We
      retrospectively reviewed the medical records of patients who had diagnosis of
      pregnancy and adnexal over a period of five years. RESULTS: The incidence was
      0.22%. The mean age was 26 +/- 7.3 years, mean gestational age was 17 +/- 6.6
      weeks. The diagnosis was established by ultrasound (USG) in 95% of cases, 48% had
      cystic characteristics, the mean diameter of the tumor was 99 +/- 42 mm.
      Cistectomy was performed during pregnancy or trans-cesarean section in 30% and
      58% of patients respectably. The mean tumor size was 118 mm (range 2 a 40 mm),
      weight 1,370 g (range 10 a 5,800 g). The most frequent histological diagnosis
      were serous cyst (40%), mature teratoma (28%), mucinous (6%), malignancy (4%).
      There were not complications related to the surgical procedure. CONCLUSIONS: The
      USG constitute a safe method for the diagnosis, but the image method with the
      highest positive predictive value is the MRI. Tumor markers (CA-125, AFP, GCH
      B,DHL, ACE), are not useful during pregnancy. If the tumor doesn't achieve
      surgical criteria the recommended follow up is clinical observation and USG. If
      surgery is decided, it should be performed between 16 a 23 weeks of pregnancy,
      and it's recommended to send the tumor to histological diagnosis, in case of
      malignancy the surgery will continue according to the tumor stage. The time and
      delivery route will be decided by the obstetrician.

PMID- 20939221
TI  - [Scientific evidence on the legalization of abortion in Mexico City].
AB  - BACKGROUND: On April 24 2007, abortion before 12 weeks became legal in Mexico
      City. The arguments for this decision were: diminish the maternal morbidity and
      mortality, avoid a "severe health problem" and accomplish the women's physical,
      mental and social well being. OBJECTIVE: To analyze the scientific evidences that
      support or reject this arguments. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Retrospective study
      realized by bibliographic search of electronic data basis and Internet portals of
      interested groups. RESULTS: Mexico is considered by the World Health
      Organization, one of the countries in the world with low maternal mortality rates
      (<100/100,000 live births). The main causes are: preeclampsia-eclampsia,
      pregnancy related hemorrhage, complications of pregnancy, delivery and
      puerperium, and other causes (92.2 to 93.1%). In 2007, the Health Services of
      Mexico City reported 11 deaths (0.03% of the total maternal deaths) associated
      with "non-spontaneous abortion". In the hospitals of the Mexican Institute of
      Social Security, maternal deaths as consequence of induced abortions were,
      approximately, three every year. The evidences used as arguments in favor of
      abortion come from studies performed in Sub-Saharan African countries, which do
      not apply to Mexico. DISCUSSION: The scientific evidences show that induced
      abortion has important psychological sequels in women, a higher frequency of
      illegal drug abuse, alcoholism, child abuse, low birth weight in the following
      pregnancy, greater risk of subsequent miscarriage and greater mortality rate.
      CONCLUSIONS: There are no scientific evidences to support the arguments used for
      the legal approval of abortion in Mexico City.

PMID- 20939222
TI  - [Prevalence and complications of monochorionic diamniotic twin pregnancy].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Monochorionic biamniotic (MC/BA) twin pregnancies are at higher risk
      for twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS), selective intrauterine growth
      restriction (sIUGR) and structural defects. MATERIAL AND METHOD: During an 18
      months period all MC/BA twins referred to our unit for clinical surveillance were
      evaluated. Chorionicity was assessed based on the characteristics of the
      intertwin amniotic membrane. MC complicated cases were labeled either as, TTTS or
      sIUGR and classified according to severity. All cases were closely evaluated for
      structural defects. RESULTS: There were 34 MC/BA pregnancies, from them 20
      presented TTTS, 6 in a moderate stage of severity, and 14 severely affected. Four
      cases had sIUGR, all severely affected. Four pregnancies showed a structural
      defect, 2 cardiac, 1 urological, and 1 open neural tube defect. Six twin MC/BA
      pregnancies underwent gestation without complications. CONCLUSION: The presence
      of a MC/BA twin pregnancy warrants close monitoring, including a detailed
      anatomical review and hemodynamic assessment of the umbilical arteries and ductus
      venosus of both twins.

PMID- 20939223
TI  - [Contribution of bladder biopsy to the study of urogynaecological patient].
AB  - BACKGROUND: One of the characteristics of urinary symptoms in women is their lack
      of specificity. Patients with stress incontinence or urgency, local irritation,
      infection, distal stenosis or a neoplastic process have very similar symptoms.
      OBJECTIVE: Determine the frequency of bladder structural lesions detected by
      urethrocistoscopy in which we performed bladder biopsies. MATERIAL AND METHOD:
      Descriptive, retrospective, analytical study of files and videos of 331 patients
      treated in Urodifem de Occidente (private Urogynecology Center). Thirty-five
      biopsies were taken. The statistical analysis was expressed as means standard
      deviations, ranges, percentages and Fishers test. RESULTS: Patients ages range 30
      90 years average 60+13.76. Predominant symptoms were: irritative vesical syndrome
      62.8%; pelvic pain 45.71%; urge incontinence 31.4%; hematuria 31.4%; vesical
      voiding dysfunction 11.4%. Principal endoscopic findings: Urethrotrigonitis;
      glomerular lesions or Hunner ulcers; vesical trabeculations; tumor or suspect
      lesions. Histopathologic findings were: Interstitial Cystitis 42.9%; chronic
      Cystitis 11.4%; Cystitis glandularis 8.6%; Cystitis follicular 11.4%; bladder
      cancer 5.7%; Vesical Papilloma 5.7%. CONCLUSIONS: This study supports the
      practice of vesical biopsy when lesions other than those from chronic infection
      are observes in the presence of tumors or suspect lesions.

PMID- 20939224
TI  - [Estrogen therapy in menopause. Clinical study in evolution (KEEPS) to explain
      the risk-benefit dispute to administration].
AB  - The Kronos Early Estrogen Prevention Study (KEEPS) is a randomized clinical and
      controlled study, with the objective of clarifying the controversy that arisen
      previous studies about the risk-benefit factor with use of estrogens in
      postmenopausal women. Healthy women aged 42-58 years who are within 36 months of
      their last menstrual period have been recruited to receive either oral estrogens
      or patches of estradiol; in addition both groups are given oral micronized
      progesterone for 11 days of each month. Outcomes will be carotid intimae medial
      thickness and the accrual of coronary calcium; collaterally subrogate outcomes
      will be lipoproteins concentrations, coagulation markers, bone densitometry,
      mammography, skin characteristics and cognitive evaluation. The hypothesis
      consists in the presence of a window of therapeutic opportunity for the use of
      estrogens in low dose in healthy women with recent menopause.

PMID- 20939225
TI  - [Gonadotropins in male infertility. 1955].

PMID- 20939226
TI  - [Third revision of the National Consensus on Diagnosis and Treatment of Breast
      Cancer (third of three parts)].
AB  - In women, breast cancer causes over one million new cases each year, of which
      about half occur in industrialized countries, however, is in developing countries
      like ours, where most deaths due to this cause. Currently, the breast cancer is
      the leading cause of death from malignancy in women over 25 years. The
      conclusions of the Third Review of the National Consensus on Diagnosis and
      Treatment of Breast Cancer are a guide for oncologists, mastologists and the
      medical community in general. This review involved more than 50 physicians with
      national recognition of all institutions and specialties related to this disease,
      in order to contribute their knowledge.

PMID- 20939227
TI  - [Eclampsia, obstetric hemorrhage and heart disease as a cause of maternal
      mortality in 15 years of analysis].
AB  - BACKGROUND: It has been described that 70% of all maternal deaths are provoked by
      obstetrical hemorrhage, infections, abortions, hypertension and delivery
      dystocies. Poverty, social exclusion, low level education and violence are
      important causes of maternal mortality. OBJECTIVE: To establish the changes in
      the maternal mortality in a term of 15 years in a hospital of assistance
      obstetrical complicated. MATERIAL AND METHOD: A retrospective and descriptive
      study, in which the number and causes of obstetrical death was analyzed, occurred
      from 1991 to 2005. The comparison was done by five-year periods using descriptive
      statistics to analyze frequency of results. RESULTS: The number of maternal
      deaths was 105, 97 and 42 by each one of the three five-year periods, the
      mortality rate x 10,000 decreased from 28.7 to 16.4 in the last quinquennium and
      was found from 6.1 just including the last year. In the first and second
      quinquennia the eclampsia occupied the first place as cause of death, followed by
      the hemorrhage and the infections. In the third quinquennium the eclampsia also
      occupied the first place with a rate of 8.6, followed by the cardiopathy (2.3)
      and the infections (1.9), but the hemorrhage with a rate of 1.5 was displaced to
      the fourth place. CONCLUSIONS: The maternal mortality has diminished in a general
      way; the eclampsia has occupied the first place as cause of death from 1991 to
      2005. The death by obstetrical hemorrhage has diminished in important form,
      possibly due to the specific groups of medical attention by modules, which has
      also helps the decrease of mortality by other causes. The increment of the deaths
      by cardiopathy should be considered as a possibility of risk, associate
      undoubtedly to the present style of life from our society.

PMID- 20939228
TI  - [Maternal mortality in the Hospital General de Matamoros Dr. Alfredo Pumarejo
      Lafaurie for a period of 10 years].
AB  - BACKGROUND: In Mexico, maternal mortality has fallen substantially in recent
      decades. Although according to the Secretaria de Salud, in Tamaulipas the
      maternal mortality rate has increased in recent years. Despite these facts,
      Tamaulipas ranks among the ten institutions with the lowest level of maternal
      mortality. OBJECTIVE: To describe the basic elements of epidemiologic behavior of
      maternal mortality during a period of ten years at the Gynecology and Obstetrics
      department of the Hospital General de Matamoros Dr. Alfredo Pumarejo Lafaurie in
      Tamaulipas, Mexico. MATERIAL AND METHOD: A descriptive, transverse, retrospective
      and a cases series research was carried out at the Gynecology and Obstetrics
      department of the Hospital General de Matamoros Dr. Alfredo Pumarejo Lafaurie in
      Tamaulipas, Mexico. There was a revision of the expedients of direct and indirect
      obstetric maternal deaths occurred from January 1, 1998 to December 31, 2007. We
      used descriptive statistics with central trend measurements and standard
      deviation. RESULTS: 30 obstetric maternal deaths were registered. Maternal death
      ratio was 87.2 x 100,000 live births during the 10 years. The average age of
      patients was 25.1 +/- 7.8 years old. 54% were in their first pregnancy. Only 20%
      had adequate prenatal control. Direct obstetric causes were 60% and indirect
      obstetric causes 40%. The main causes of maternal deaths were
      preeclampsia/eclampsia (27%), obstetric hemorrhage (20%) and gravid-puerperal
      sepsis (13%). 83% was foreseeable. CONCLUSIONS: It was noted a clear trend
      towards the reduction in the maternal mortality ratio in the decade from 1998 to
      2007. Preeclampsia-eclampsia and obstetric hemorrhage remain the main causes of
      maternal death. The maternal mortality ratio tended to invest when comparing the
      first five years with the last five years of the study, which talks about
      improvements in management and direct obstetric causes prevention.

PMID- 20939229
TI  - [No-scalpel vasectomy. Profile of acceptance and results].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Men have few effective methods for birth control. The surgical method
      vasectomy is highly safe and effective, although in Mexico represents only 2.4%
      of all contraceptive methods used. OBJECTIVE: To determine the characteristics,
      complications and results of the men who requested and underwent no-scalpel
      vasectomy in the Instituto Nacional de Perinatologia Isidro Espinosa de los
      Reyes, in Mexico. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Retrospective cohort study with data of
      clinical records of men who underwent no-scalpel vasectomy from 2003 to 2007.
      Sociodemographic and clinical variables, and complications reported as well as
      espermatobioscopy data were included. Descriptive analysis was performed of
      different variables and chi squared test between proportions. RESULTS: A total of
      596 no-scalpel vasectomies were performed. The average age was 36.5 years and
      13.4 of schooling, 86.9% were married with 9.6 years of union. Socioeconomic
      status was as follows: medium (25%), middle high (20.1%), and high (24.7%). The
      94.3% of men requested the no-scalpel vasectomy because of satisfied fertility
      and 5.7% by morbidity in his couple. The complications were as follows:
      epididymitis (2.2%), mild haematoma (1.5%) and contact dermatitis (0.2%). The
      surgical complications were significantly more frequent for the group with
      varicocele compared with the normal men group (p < 0.05). Azoospermia was
      achieved in 99.1% of men at 18 weeks after the no-scalpel vasectomy. Early
      recanalization occurred in 0.5% of men. There were no pregnancies. CONCLUSIONS:
      The profile of men who requested no-scalpel vasectomy was in a great proportion
      healthy, in the fourth decade of life, with high school or greater, satisfied
      fertility and high socioeconomic status. No-scalpel vasectomy is a method of
      fertility planning very effective with low morbidity.

PMID- 20939231
TI  - [Accidents and incidents in gynecologic surgery].
AB  - Gynecologic surgery often entails meticulous dissection in areas close to the
      bladder, rectum, ureters and major vessels of the pelvis. The close anatomical
      relationship between these bodies that frequently makes are affected during
      pelvic surgery. When a complication occurs, it is vital to recognize and treat
      appropriately, emphasizing that gynecologists should handle its own complications
      and when they exceed the capacities of their own specialty, as in the case of
      unusual or complex lesions, should be sent assistance of a colleague in another
      specialty to solve the problem. To avoid intraoperative or injury is very
      important to timely diagnose an adequate knowledge of anatomy, surgical
      techniques using methodical and meticulous, with delicate sharp dissection and
      manipulation of tissues with a high index of suspicion constant in addition to
      routine cystoscopy after surgery to rule out injury. Once diagnosed the injury,
      repairing it at primary surgery is usually easier, successful and results in less
      morbidity.

PMID- 20939230
TI  - [Frequency of symptoms of the climacteric syndrome].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Menopause is the descent in circulating estrogens that manifests
      clinically for the climacteric symptoms. These symptoms motivate the patient to
      consult to the physician. OBJECTIVE: To know which are the symptoms that motivate
      women in the climacteric to begin hormonal therapy. MATERIAL AND METHOD:
      Atransverse study was settled, 692 patients from the menopause cohort of
      Endocrine Research Unit, Centro Medico Nacional, IMSS participated. All patients
      signed the letter of informed consent. Complete clinical evaluation and taking
      samples of veined blood for the hormonal determinations of LH, FSH and estradiol
      were carried out. The approach of evaluation of the clinical symptoms was made
      with the scale of Greene that values six components: psychological, anxiety,
      depression, somatic, vasomotor and sexual, which quantifies the presence and
      intensity of the climacteric symptoms. RESULTS: The four main symptoms that
      accompany the climacteric are: hot flushes, irritability, edginess and sickness.
      With the registered symptoms, the punctuation of the components in the scale of
      Greene showed a bigger frequency statistically with difference significant (p <
      0.05) for the vasomotor and the depressive component compared with the rest of
      the components that integrate all the symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Hot flushes and
      irritability are the symptoms found in the first time interview, also these are
      presented in more than half of the patients, therefore these symptoms can be
      considered as main cause to begin hormonal therapy. In accordance with the scale
      of Greene that allowed us to evaluate the symptoms in integrated form, the sexual
      component was a smaller frequency, maybe to that great number of patient does not
      dare to comment the sexual dysfunctions. However, at the moment has a wide
      therapeutic arsenal and forms of administration of estrogen therapy that have
      demonstrated to have a clinical-benefic effect for the control of the climacteric
      symptoms.

PMID- 20939232
TI  - [Prenatal diagnosis of retroperitoneal neuroblastoma. Case report].
AB  - Neuroblastoma is the foremost malignant neoplasm of the fetus and neonate. It is
      a tumor of the sympathetic nervous system that originates from the neural crest
      which etiology is largely unknown. Due to its general variability in outcome,
      neuroblastoma has long been considered one of the most enigmatic of cancers.
      Although technological advances in ultrasonography have possible intrauterine
      detection, prenatal diagnosis is still a rare event. This kind of tumor has a
      high morbidity and mortality rate due to the metastatic risk. Early detection of
      the tumor is critical to improve outcome. We report a case of retroperitoneal
      neuroblastoma diagnosed at 32 week of gestation.

PMID- 20939233
TI  - [Uterine rupture of placenta accreta].
AB  - The uterine rupture during pregnancy is one of the most serious complications,
      increase morbidity and maternal and fetal mortality. The uterine rupture by
      percrete placenta is rare. We present the case of a 39 years-old patient,
      pregnancy of 16.3 weeks by ultrasound, which enters by abdominal pain 48 hours of
      evolution, of predominance in the hypogastric region, that during its evolution
      presented hemodynamic compromise and increase of abdominal pain. By ultrasound:
      free liquid in abdominal cavity is observed. With laparothomy we found perforated
      uterus with placenta free and product in abdominal cavity, obstetrical
      hysterectomy was performed, we confirmed the diagnosis of uterine rupture by
      percrete placenta.

PMID- 20939234
TI  - [Uterine rupture. 1955].

PMID- 20939235
TI  - [Clinical practice guideline. Ovarian cancer: diagnosis and treatment. Colegio
      Mexicano de Especialistas en Ginecologia y Obstetricia].

PMID- 20939236
TI  - [Comparison of the diagnostic utility from visual inspection with acetic acid and
      cervical cytology].
AB  - BACKGROUND: In Mexico, cervical cancer is the second leading cause of death in
      women after breast cancer. The human papillomavirus is associated with
      intraepithelial lesions, detected up to 99.7% of cervical carcinomas. Despite
      being easy to detect is a condition that many women suffer. OBJECTIVE: To
      determine the diagnostic utility of the visual inspection with acetic acid of the
      uterine cervix compared with the cervical cytology. PATIENTS AND METHOD: Study of
      diagnostic tests. The study was realized in the Centro de Atencion Materno
      Infantil y Planificacion Familiar of the Instituto de Investigacion Cientifica,
      Durango, Mexico, research of the Juarez University of the State of Durango, from
      August 23, 2005 to November 13, 2006. 1,521 participants were examined who went
      consecutively to opportune detection of cervical cancer. One doctor practiced the
      test of acetic acid and cervical cytology to them, and one digital photograph,
      which was evaluated by three inter-observers triple blind. Those that was
      positive to anyone of these tests, were remitted to colposcopy and/or biopsy;
      also to 10% of selected negative population randomly was realized this procedure.
      Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values and exactitude
      were determined. For the agreement inter-observer index of Kappa was used.
      RESULTS: Sensitivity, specificity, values predictive positive, negative and
      exactitude for the visual inspection with acetic acid were 20, 97, 5 and 99%,
      respectively. For the cervical cytology were of 80, 99, 57 and 99%, respectively.
      The force of agreement between the interobservant was poor. CONCLUSIONS: In this
      study cervical cytology was more useful than visual inspection with acetic acid
      to detect dysplasias or cervical cancer opportunely, due to detect all the
      positive true cases confirmed by biopsy.

PMID- 20939237
TI  - [Alpha-fetoprotein as an early predictor of adverse perinatal outcome].
AB  - BACKGROUND: The alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) is a glycoprotein, which is produced by
      the human fetus. Previous studies have shown associations between elevated AFP
      levels and an increased risk of adverse perinatal outcomes. OBJECTIVE: To
      determine if abnormal AFP levels are associated with adverse perinatal outcomes.
      The AFP concentrations were calculated as Multiples of the medians (MoM).
      PATIENTS AND METHOD: A prospective cohort study, including 283 pregnant women,
      the maternal serum concentration of AFP was determined between 15 and 20 weeks of
      pregnancy, and the pregnancy was followed until term, when we search for the
      perinatal outcomes. The study was made in the Instituto Nacional de
      Perinatologia, in Mexico City, from August 2007 to January 2008. For the
      analyses, the AFP concentrations were calculated as Multiples of the medians
      (MoM). RESULTS: The threshold of 1.5 MoM increases the risk for preterm delivery
      (RR: 1.77, IC 95%: 1.04-3.03), abruption placentae (RR: 3.67, IC 95%: 1.59-8.49),
      placenta accreta (RR: 3.67, IC 95%: 1.59-8.49) and for intrauterine growth
      restriction (RR: 2.86, IC 95%: 1.74-4.68) There was a weak relation between AFP
      concentration and birth weight (r = -0.12, p = 0.047) and no correlation with
      pregnancy weeks at birth. CONCLUSIONS: There is a relation between adverse
      perinatal outcome and abnormal AFP levels. The evidence of an increase in the AFP
      concentration in fetuses without congenital defects should alert de clinician
      about the possibility of other adverse perinatal outcomes and those results must
      be included in the prenatal risk assessment.

PMID- 20939238
TI  - [Clinical and diagnostic evaluation in patients with interstitial cystitis].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Interstitial cystitis is a disease of unknown origin; in the last
      twenty years several epidemiological studies reported an increase in frequency.
      OBJECTIVE: To describe the symptoms, cystoscopic and histologic findings of 18
      cases of interstitial cystitis. PATIENTS AND METHOD: A descriptive, retrospective
      and analytical study of 331 women with lower urinary tract symptoms studied in
      Urodifem de Occidente, (private Urogynecology Clinic), between January 2001 and
      April 2008. The diagnostic criterion was in agreement with the NIDDK and the
      Interstitial Cystitis DataBase Study. The statistical analysis was in interval
      scale means, standard deviations and ranges. Indeed Spearman's rank correlation
      coefficient. RESULTS: The most common symptoms were: urinary frequency (100%)
      nocturia (94.4%), urgency (72%), pain (66.6%), urgency-incontinence (16.7%).
      Endoscopic lesions were glomerular in 55% and Hunner ulcers in 44.5%. The
      severity of quality of life resulted in average of 16.7 +/- 2.9 and 15 +/- 2, p <
      0.001. CONCLUSIONS: Urogynecologists must considerer interstitial cystitis when
      patients show symptoms of bladder irritability and associate pain with the
      bladder filling. The association of hematuria accompanied by long-term
      irritability and pain associated with the desire of urination suggests this
      disease. Cystoscopy is sufficient to confirm the diagnosis.

PMID- 20939239
TI  - [Complaints from medical care in obstetrics and gynecology].
AB  - BACKGROUND: The fulfillment and satisfaction regarding the expectations of the
      patients at services of obstetrics and gynecology, it is related to the quality
      of care. Failure to meet these expectations will rise to the dissatisfaction and
      enhances the culture of demand, with these considerations this presents study
      were developed, researching the patients complaints reported by the State
      Commission o Medical Arbitration of Oaxaca in 2007 with the aim of identifying
      the medical complaint emphasis on obstetrics care. OBJECTIVE: To identify the
      medical lawsuits to Gineco-obstetricians in Oaxaca. MATERIAL AND METHOD: We
      conducted a documentary research, descriptive, transversal, retrospective and
      without ethical implications, through analysis of databases of the State
      Commission of Medical Arbitration of Oaxaca, corresponding to 2007 activity
      report; 100% of selected records were medical complaints in the specialty of
      gynecology-obstetrics. RESULTS: The attention given to 10.5% are disagreements or
      complaints which medical complaints in gynecology-obstetrics specialty are second
      with 21% and the report file complaints state ranks first with 12.3% of cases,
      70% of medical care is provided by gynecologists and total complaints, 40% were
      confined to expert medical advice. CONCLUSIONS: Complaints in gynecological and
      obstetric care rank first places relative to other specialties, the attention
      given in the two-thirds is provided by medical specialists in obstetrics and
      gynecology, and less than the half were certified by the Board and expert medical
      opinions reported evidence of malpractice and corporate responsibility in the
      complaints.

PMID- 20939240
TI  - [Klippel-Trenaunay syndrome and pregnancy. Case report].
AB  - The Klippel-Trenaunay syndrome is a rare congenital disorder consisting of:
      cutaneous vascular nevi, varicose veins or venous malformations and hypertrophy
      of soft tissue and bone, affecting one or more limbs. The morbidity of the
      disease is associated with vascular anomalies. Pregnancy is discouraged because
      this rare disease puts a pregnant woman in an increased obstetric risk, due to
      pregnancy can exacerbate complications. The pregnancy has been reported rarely in
      patients with Klippel-Trenaunay syndrome, although the incidence is unknown.
      Until 2006 there have been only 17 reported cases of pregnancy in patients with
      Klippel-Trenaunay syndrome in the literature in English. We report the case of
      the second pregnancy of 22 years old woman with this disease.

PMID- 20939241
TI  - [Therapeutic use of hormonal associations in Gynecology. 1955].

PMID- 20939242
TI  - [Clinical practice guidelines. Recurrent infection of the urinary tract in women.
      Colegio Mexicano de Especialistas en Ginecologia y Obstetricia].

PMID- 20939243
TI  - [Pregnancy and tetralogy of Fallot with and without surgical correction].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Tetralogy of Fallot is the most common cyanotic congenital cardiac
      lesions. Although pregnancy in patients with corrected tetralogy of Fallot
      usually have a satisfactory outcome, there may have maternal cardiovascular
      complications. OBJECTIVE: To report our experience in monitoring and treatment of
      16 pregnancies in 14 women with tetralogy of Fallot. PATIENTS AND METHOD:
      Prospective study performed in 16 pregnancies of 14 patients with tetralogy of
      Fallot, who attended the services of Cardiology and High Risk Pregnancy in the
      Hospital de Gineco-Obstetricia of the Centro Medico de Occidente (Mexico), from
      January 1997 to January 2010. Nine women had total surgical correction and five
      hadn't. All patients obtained complete study protocol and tests of fetal
      wellbeing. RESULTS: Hemoglobin and hematocrit were significantly higher in the
      group without surgical correction; this group also had lower oxygen saturation
      and right ventricular enlargement. Of the 16 pregnancies, five were resolved
      vaginally, the other by cesarean section. The cyanotic mothers had premature
      termination of pregnancy, lower birth weight and Apgar slightly deteriorated.
      There were no maternal or neonatal deaths, neither cardiac malformation in
      newborns. CONCLUSIONS: There are more risks for the binomial in patients with
      uncorrected tetralogy of Fallot and in those operated with significant residual
      lesions. A greater anatomical impact was significantly correlated with major
      hemoglobin and minor oxygen saturation, which are the most important risk factors
      for adverse fetal outcomes.

PMID- 20939244
TI  - [Difference between perinatal mortality in multiple pregnancies obtained
      spontaneously versus assisted reproduction].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Recently assisted reproduction techniques are more common, which
      increases multiple pregnancies and adverse perinatal outcomes. Some authors
      report increased mortality in multiple pregnancies products obtained by
      techniques of assisted reproduction vs. conceived spontaneously, although other
      authors found no significant difference. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate mortality rate of
      multiple pregnancies comparing those obtained by assisted reproduction vs.
      spontaneous conception. PATIENTS AND METHOD: Retrospective, observational and
      comparative study. We included pregnant women with 3 or more products that went
      to the Unidad Medica de Alta Especialidad No. 23, IMSS, in Monterrey, NL
      (Mexico), between 2002-2008. We compared the number of complicated pregnancies
      and dead products obtained by a technique of assisted reproduction vs.
      spontaneous. RESULTS: 68 multiple pregnancies were included. On average,
      spontaneously conceived fetuses had more weeks of gestation and more birth weight
      than those achieved by assisted reproduction techniques (p = ns). 20.5% (14/68)
      of multiple pregnancies had one or more fatal events: 10/40 (25%) by assisted
      reproduction techniques vs. 4/28 (14%) of spontaneous multiple pregnancies (p =
      0.22). 21/134 (16%) of the products conceived by assisted reproduction techniques
      and 6/88 (7%) of spontaneous (p < 0.03) died. CONCLUSIONS: 60% of all multiple
      pregnancies were obtained by a technique of assisted reproduction and 21% of the
      cases had one or more fatal events (11% more in pregnancies achieved by assisted
      reproduction techniques). 12% of the products of multiple pregnancies died (9%
      more in those obtained by a technique of assisted reproduction).

PMID- 20939245
TI  - [Monthly ibandronate attachment to Mexican and Chilean women with osteoporosis,
      with or without a biofeedback strategy].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Osteoporosis affects 1 in 3 postmenopausal women and is associated
      with significant morbidity and mortality. The utility of bisphosphonates is often
      affected by lack of attachment and acceptance of treatment. OBJECTIVE: To analyze
      the impact of biofeedback in the adherence to once-monthly oral ibandronate
      treatment. PATIENTS AND METHOD: We designed an open-label, prospective,
      randomized, multicenter clinical study to investigate the impact of biofeedback
      with bone turnover markers on adherence to once-monthly oral ibandronate
      treatment in 781 Mexican and Chilean patients with postmenopausal osteoporosis
      (BOHEMIA study). They were enrolled at 25 centers in Mexico (700 patients) and 24
      centers in Chile (81 patients). All patients received once-monthly oral
      ibandronate 150 mg for 6 months. Patients without previous bisphosphonate
      treatment, previous bisphosphonate users, or current bisphosphonate users were
      included. Patients were randomly divided into two arms at baseline, either to
      receive biofeedback or not. RESULTS: A statistically significant improvement in
      adherence was found in patients who received biofeedback when compared with those
      who did not (98.8 to 99.8% [95% CI] and 95.5 to 97.5%, respectively [p < 0.001]).
      CONCLUSIONS: Even though biofeedback with bone turnover markers was associated
      with a significantly greater adherence, it was not great enough to recommend
      biofeedback as a strategy to achieve optimal adherence. Once-monthly ibandronate
      by itself can achieve an adequate therapeutic adherence.

PMID- 20939246
TI  - [Hydrogen peroxide treatment for vaginal trichomoniasis. 1955].

PMID- 20939247
TI  - [Clinical practice guidelines. Diagnosis and treatment of preeclampsia-eclampsia.
      Colegio Mexicano de Especialistas en Ginecologia y Obstetricia ].

PMID- 20939248
TI  - [Genetic thrombophilia and markers of endothelial activation in patients with
      preeclampsia].
AB  - BACKGROUND: The presence of thrombosis in preeclampsia suggests that endothelial
      function could play an important role in its pathogenesis. OBJECTIVE: Determine
      the association between markers of genetic thrombophilia, endothelial activation
      and preeclampsia. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Prospective study of cases and controls to
      determine the factor V Leiden existence, protrombin G20210A,
      methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase C677T, activated protein C resistance and
      levels of von Willebrand factor and the sFlt1 receptor were determined in 28
      women with preeclampsia and 41 pregnant controls. RESULTS:
      Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase C677T had a high allelic frequency (0.50).
      Even in the absence of factor V Leiden, there were significant differences in the
      prevalence of activated protein C resistance and abnormal levels of sFlt1 between
      patients with preeclampsia homozygous for methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase
      C677T and controls (72 vs. 10%, p <0.008 and 63.6 vs. 10%, p < 0.05,
      respectively). Patients with two or more abnormal tests, including homozygousity
      for the C677T allele had an increased risk of preeclampsia than those with one or
      no abnormal test (OR: 3.15; CI: 1.1-9.02). CONCLUSION: Methylenetetrahydrofolate
      reductase C677T has a high allelic prevalence and is associated with markers of
      thrombosis and endothelial activation in Mexican women with preeclampsia.

PMID- 20939249
TI  - [Role of middle cerebral artery Doppler in the management of Rhesus
      alloimmunization cases].
AB  - BACKGROUND: The most common cause of anemia remains fetal red cell
      alloimmunization. Although after the systematization of prophylactic anti-D gamma
      globulin decreased the number of cases, has not eliminated the problem.
      OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the role of the fetal middle cerebral artery peak
      systolic velocity in the management of fetus at risk for anemia due to Rh
      alloimmunization and analyze the effect in perinatal outcomes. MATERIAL AND
      METHOD: 68 pregnancies complicated by Rh alloimmunization, in La Paz Hospital
      (Madrid, Spain) since February 2006 until August 2009, with maternal antibody
      titers > or = 1:32, affected in previous pregnancies and/or anti-Kell
      isoimmunization. In every case it was measured the middle cerebral artery peak
      systolic velocity and the fetal hemoglobin concentration in blood obtained either
      by cordocentesis or at delivery. RESULTS: For the detection of moderate-severe
      fetal anemia, Doppler ultrasonography of the middle cerebral artery had a
      sensitivity of 80% (95% confidence interval: 59.8 to 100%), a specificity and
      positive predictive value of 100%, and a negative predictive value of 85.7% (95%
      confidence interval: 70.7 to 100%). The Pearson correlation coefficient between
      estimated hemoglobin and real hemoglobin was 0.71. The 22% (15/68) of the fetuses
      required at least one intrauterine transfusion making a total of 26. In 23%
      (6/26) of them appeared complications. The last middle cerebral artery peak
      systolic velocity measurement is associated with neonatal anemia and/or icterus
      (p < 0.01), anemia during the hospitalization (p < 0.05) and neonatal transfusion
      (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The measurement of the middle cerebral artery peak
      systolic velocity predicts moderate-severe fetal anemia cases, which are the most
      important in the clinical management because of the need of active treatment with
      intrauterine transfusion or induction labor.

PMID- 20939250
TI  - [Out-of-hospital delivery. Experience of ten years in Jalisco, Mexico].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Birth without medical assistance, or outs hospitals is defined as one
      that occurs without the optimal medical and health care conditions for mother and
      son pairing. Frequency of this phenomenon is not known in Mexico. OBJECTIVE: To
      observe clinical outcomes, morbidity, mortality, epidemiological and geographical
      patterns. MATERIAL AND METHOD: A retrospective study including newborns of
      mothers who have had deliveries without medical assistance in accidental
      conditions, admitted to Unidad de Cuidados Intensivos Neonatales Externos,
      Hospital Civil de Guadalajara Fray Antonio Alcalde (Mexico). From January 2000 to
      December 2009. RESULTS: In 4,762 (100%) neonatal records evaluated, 582 (12%)
      were newborns birth for deliveries out of hospital. 314 (54%) female and 268
      (46%) male, first mother's gravidity 195 (33%) and second o more gravidity 387
      (68%) were registered. The Hospital stay average was 3-day. Discharge diagnoses:
      healthy 463 (79%), neonatal sepsis 16 (4%), respiratory distress 35 (6%),
      jaundice 33 (6%), pneumonia 12 (2%), metabolic disorders 13 (3%), other diagnoses
      10 (2%). Place of births: 366 Guadalajara metropolitan area (63%), state of
      Jalisco, 180 (31%) other states of the Mexican Republic 36 (6%). Lambed at home
      117 (20%), 52 bath home (9%), toilet bowl 29 (5%), car 128 (22%), road 58 (10%),
      hospital admission 104 (18%), Ambulance 42 (7%) Other 52 (9%). CONCLUSION: In our
      study we observed that 79% of the newborns were healthy. They are the third
      leading cause of admission to Neonatal Intensive Care Unit External. The most
      common neonatal complications were solved without consequence. No neonatal
      mortality cases were founded.

PMID- 20939251
TI  - [Study and treatment of women in the climacteric and postmenopause. Point of view
      of the Mexican Association for the Study of Climacteric 2010].
AB  - The life expectancy of Mexican women has increased to 80 years and thus the
      possibility of disease. This requires health professionals to remain current in
      the skills needed to provide optimal service. He has spent more than a century
      since released the first report of effective treatment to reduce or eliminate the
      symptoms of restorative therapy hypoestrogenism since then, much progress has
      been made in the study of the physiology and pathophysiology, there have been
      many observational studies and randomized controlled have shown that treatment
      have prolonged the life expectancy of women. The prescription of hormone
      replacement therapy should be based on knowledge of the clinical history of each
      patient, the mechanism of action of each drug, the risk-benefit of this and the
      real need to indicate them. The purpose of publicizing this "point view", derived
      from the opinions of a group of scholars in this area of medical knowledge, is
      put at the disposal of the Mexican medical community an update on all aspects of
      care of women in the climacteric stage.

PMID- 20939252
TI  - [Valuation of the present procedures of gynecological exploration. 1955].

PMID- 20939253
TI  - Changes in terminology for childhood overweight and obesity.
AB  - A variety of different terms, metrics, and cut-off values have been used to
      describe and assess overweight and obesity in children. Body mass index (BMI)
      calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared can be used
      to express weight adjusted for height. In order to account for variability by sex
      and age, BMI in children is compared to sex- and age-specific reference values.
      In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 2000
      growth charts serve as reference values. The terminology used for high BMI-for
      age in children in the United States to date has been based on the recommendation
      of an expert committee convened by federal agencies. This committee recommended
      the use of BMI and defined overweight as a BMI-forage at or above the 95th
      percentile of a specified reference population and the designation of "at risk
      for overweight" for BMI values between the 85th and the 95th percentiles of BMI
      for age. More recently, although the cut-off values and the interpretation have
      not changed, changes in terminology were proposed. An American Medical
      Association expert committee report retained the two cut-off values of the 85th
      and 95th percentiles of BMI-for-age but used different terminology, referring to
      BMI-for-age from the 85th up to the 95th percentile as "overweight" and to BMI
      for-age at or above the 95th percentile as "obesity." The National Center for
      Health Statistics (NCHS) and other CDC publications will continue to include
      prevalence estimates at the 85th and 95th percentiles as before but will change
      the terminology to use the term "overweight" for a BMI-for-age between the 85th
      and 95th percentile (formerly called "at risk for overweight") and the term
      "obesity" for a BMI-for-age at or above the 95th percentile (formerly called
      "overweight").

PMID- 20939254
TI  - Health promotion for older people in the Czech Republic in a European
      perspective.
AB  - This article describes health promotion for older people in the Czech Republic
      from the European perspective. It is based on findings from the European project
      healthPROelderly. Implementation of health promotion in the Czech republic as a
      new public health concept is outlined from the historical point of view.
      Structures and processes of health promotion in the Czech Republic are described
      in the context of social policy, demography and health. The European project
      healthPROelderly is presented and the outcomes of an international literature
      search statistically analysed. Participating countries were divided into three
      macro-regions according to their geographical location and political and
      historical tradition - Mediterranean, West-European and formerly East-European
      macro-regions. The outcome of correspondence analysis partially confirms the
      hypothesis on the cultural background of the health promotion activities and
      strategies. Concerning themes addressed by health promotion projects most
      countries belonging to the Mediterranean or "Western European" macro-regions have
      concentrated on similar themes whereas this is not valid for the countries of the
      "Former Eastern European" macro-region. The hypothesis on macro-regional
      similarities in relation to settings of health promotion projects was not
      confirmed. In the conclusions the location of the Czech Republic in an
      international perspective is discussed and three Czech selected best practice
      projects are evaluated in relation to the statistical findings.

PMID- 20939255
TI  - Relation of employment status, behavioral and social conditions on individual
      perception of health in a region of Slovakia: pilot study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The question of the health status of the unemployed in the Slovak
      Republic is a relatively unexplored area of study, in spite of the fact that the
      country has experienced one of the most consistently high unemployment rates
      among the 27 states of the EU. The aim of the pilot study was to identify the
      health and the other impacts of unemployment on the population in the region of
      Zvolen. METHODS: two groups of respondents were studied: the long-term unemployed
      and a control group of the employed. The data was collected using the guided
      interview questionnaire procedure. A total of 214 respondents were observed out
      of which 107 were from the long-term unemployed group and 107 from the control
      group. There were 83 male (38.8%) and 131 female respondents (61.2%). The average
      age of the group was 36.0 (CI 95% = 33.8-38.3). RESULTS: Using logistic
      regression, it was established that the chances of finding a job were 1.08 times
      greater in cases of a higher level of education (OR = 1.08, CI 95% = 1.04-1.12, P
      < or = 0,001). It was also established that smoking decreases the chances of
      finding employment by OR = 0.91 (CI 95% = 0.83-0.98) times (P < or = 0.01).
      People who are employed consume more alcohol attaining OR = 1.28 (CI 95% = 1.21
      1.35) compared to the unemployed (P < or =0.0001). CONCLUSION: The study proved
      that even with restricted resources it is possible to obtain credible results
      comparable with those achieved by more complex studies.

PMID- 20939256
TI  - Oral health-related quality of life in Czech population.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to assess the oral health-related
      quality of life in Czech population. METHODS: Data were collected from 1,380
      subjects aged 30 to 69 years attending the Department of Dentistry, Medical
      Faculty of Charles University in Hradec Kralove or attending three private dental
      practitioners collaborating on the study. Oral health-related quality of life was
      measured with the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-14) questionnaire that was
      translated to Czech. The OHIP-14 scores were assessed in relation to chosen
      clinical and sociodemographic characteristics and oral health behaviour.
      Statistical analyses included descriptive analyses, the Mann-Whitney test, the
      Kolmogorov-Smirnov test and the Kruskal-Wallis test using the NCSS 2007 program.
      The chi2 test of independence in contingency tables or Fisher's exact test was
      used for qualitative data. RESULTS: Internal reliability for the 14 items overall
      was very high (Cronbach's ac = 0.924). The two most frequently scored items using
      the answer other than "never" during the last year were "painful aching" (62% of
      subjects) and "uncomfortable to eat" (44.4%), representing subdomain physical
      pain. The domain of social disability was reported least frequently. The OHIP-14
      was significantly associated with dental status, dental behaviour, income and
      age. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study do suggest that the culturally
      adapted OHIP-14 version may be a good research instrument to be considered for
      use in measuring the impact of oral problems on the quality of life in Czech
      population.

PMID- 20939257
TI  - Screening of chronic diseases and chronic disease risk factors in two rural
      communities in Kosovo.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A cross-sectional study was carried out in Velika Hoca and Orahovac,
      two rural communities in Kosovo and Metohia, with the aim of assessing the
      prevalence of chronic diseases and associated risk factors. METHODS: The study
      involved 423 (180 male) adult inhabitants aged 51 +/- 16 years and included an
      interview, medical documentation, physical, ultrasound, laboratory examinations
      and ECG. RESULTS: Hyperlipidemia was the most frequent (70%) risk factor followed
      by alcohol consumption (47%), hypertension (42%), smoking (36%) and obesity
      (32%). Ischemic heart disease was diagnosed in 25 patients, hypertensive
      cardiomyopathy in 17, other cardiomyopathies in 5 and arrhythmia in 20 patients.
      Nine persons had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Previously diagnosed
      liver cirrhosis occurred in 5 and chronic hepatitis in 8 subjects, while liver
      steatosis with elevated serum transaminases (22 persons), elevated transaminases
      with normal ultrasound (20 persons), tumor or suspected tumor (7 persons) were
      detected in the survey. Gastrointestinal symptoms were the most prevalent but
      peptic ulcer and gastritis had been previously diagnosed in 64 and 47 patients.
      Kidney and urinary tract diseases were known for 52 patients (12 with chronic
      renal failure and 4 on hemodialysis) and 46 more were detected in the study.
      Among them in 22 patients with markers of kidney disease and unclear diagnosis 12
      had a positive family history, 8 low-grade proteinuria, 14 tubular dysfunctions
      and 7 eGFR (estimated glomerular filtration rate) below 60 ml/min/1.73 m2.
      CONCLUSION: In the Serbian enclave of Velika HoEa and Orahovac the prevalence of
      cardiovascular diseases was similar to that of gastrointestinal, liver and kidney
      diseases. This differs from other parts of Serbia where cardiovascular disorders
      are the leading cause of disease burden.

PMID- 20939258
TI  - The exposure to environmental tobacco smoke and attitudes towards tobacco control
      measures--a comparison of 5 European countries.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: (a) to examine exposure to ETS in 5 European countries that differ in
      their tobacco control (TC) activity, (b) to examine attitudes towards TC measures
      and (c) to relate these results to sociodemographic and smoking related
      variables. METHODS: population-based, representative sample of n = 3,500
      participants age 16-59, in Germany, Greece, Poland, Sweden, UK. RESULTS: most
      never smokers are exposed to ETS in leisure time (55.74%); chances of being
      exposed to ETS at home or outside of the home are dependent on sex, smoking
      status, country, whether there are smokers in the households, what the status of
      the relationship is (single vs. not single); results differ significantly between
      countries. CONCLUSION: smoking restrictions are associated with lower levels of
      actual exposure to ETS. non-smokers want governmental regulation.

PMID- 20939259
TI  - Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in iron-steel and ferrochrome industry
      workers.
AB  - Metallurgical industry workers in developing countries are often exposed to high
      concentrations of dusts and fumes that affect pulmonary function. The aim of this
      cross-sectional study is to assess the prevalence and severity of chronic
      obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), the prevalence of symptoms, as well as, the
      link between work-place air pollution and COPD. A standardized questionnaire was
      used to collect data about smoking and socioeconomic status, past history of
      pulmonary diseases, current respiratory symptoms, education, and other variables.
      We have identified and assessed all risk factors and also have performed
      measurements of dynamic pulmonary function in 459 subjects - 90% of iron-steel
      and ferrochrome industry workers. The prevalence of COPD oscillated from 19.6% up
      to 25.7% while severity varied from mild to very severe. SYMPTOMS: prevalence
      varied from 12.0% to 46.3% while relative risk for developing COPD was 2.1-5.5
      that of non-industry controls. Exposure markers' concentrations: for total
      suspended particles (TSP) oscillated from 0.375-25.5 mg/m3, particulate matter
      (PM10) from 0.25 to 10.5 mg/m3, and sulfur dioxide from 0.19-18.69 mg/m3. In
      majority of cases its average exceeded threshold limit values. Our conclusion was
      that COPD prevalence and its symptoms are high in the population studied, and
      that there exists a well established occupational risk between work-place air
      pollution and COPD.

PMID- 20939260
TI  - Evaluation of mandatory case-based reporting system for varicella in the
      prevaccine era.
AB  - Varicella is a mandatory reportable disease in Slovenia but it is not notifiable
      in most European countries. The aim of the study was to explore the completeness
      of mandatory varicella reporting in Slovenia. Data were extracted from three
      electronic datasets, including: mandatory notifiable communicable diseases
      dataset (SURVIVAL), health statistics dataset - consultations in primary care
      (ZUBSTAT), and health statistics dataset --hospitalizations (BOLOB). Age- and sex
      specific reporting rates were compared during the period 1997-2006. During the
      ten-year period studied 168,089 cases were recorded via ZUBSTAT, and 128,222
      cases by SURVIVAL. On average 76.2% (range: 62.9%-94.9%) were notified. In both
      datasets, the notified incidence of varicella was highest for preschool children,
      with a downward shift in age at contracting varicella. The percentage of notified
      cases decreased with increasing age. The number of hospitalized cases was low for
      BOLOB and SURVIVAL. On average 74% of hospitalized cases were reported. The
      mandatory notification system in Slovenia provides enough information to survey
      age/sex-specific varicella trends in the prevaccine era.

PMID- 20939261
TI  - Seroprevalence of blood-borne infections and population sizes estimates in a
      population of injecting drug users in Croatia.
AB  - Similar to some other Central European countries, Croatia has low HIV prevalence
      among injecting drug users (IDUs) but high hepatitis C (HCV) prevalence. This may
      indicate different patterns of risk behaviour in this region than in other parts
      of Europe. The main objectives of this study were to assess the seroprevalence of
      HIV and hepatitis B and C and related risk factors among IDUs in the three
      largest Croatian cities (Zagreb, Split, Rijeka) and within the national prison
      system, as well as to apply a multiplier-method population size estimation of
      IDUs in Zagreb, Split and Rijeka. Recruitment sites were selected in
      collaboration with the local public health institutes, NGOs, Centers for
      treatment municipalities and the judiciary system. Participants were recruited
      during September and October 2007. Trained peer-recruiters were used to recruit
      IDU participants at treatment and harm reduction centres as well as pre
      identified social, commercial and street based venues. Participants completed the
      study questionnaire and provided venous blood samples for HIV, hepatitis B and
      hepatitis C testing. The study included 601 participants, of whom 121 were
      recruited in Split, 130 in Zagreb, 150 in Rijeka and 200 in the prison system.
      The prevalence of positive anti-HCV tests was 65% in Split, 51% in Zagreb, 29% in
      Rijeka and 44% in the prisons. The prevalence of anti-HBcAg was 31% in Split, 13%
      in Zagreb, 9% in Rijeka and 24% in prison. No case of HIV infection was found.
      The estimated IDUs population sizes were 2,805 for Zagreb area, 3,347 for Split
      and 1,370 for Rijeka area, however confidence intervals were very large,
      indicating the need for larger samples. A high frequency of positive markers on
      hepatitis B virus and C virus in the population of injecting drug users in
      Croatia has been confirmed with this research, as well as a low prevalence of HIV
      infection. This may be related to relatively low levels of injecting risk
      behaviour and injecting frequency although it is not possible to make strong
      conclusions on risk behaviour, as participants were mostly recruited in harm
      reduction programmes. This research should be followed by targeted activities for
      reducing risks of infectious diseases among injecting drug users in the Republic
      of Croatia and future research at the national level.

PMID- 20939262
TI  - HIV/AIDS in the countries of the former Soviet Union: societal and attitudinal
      challenges.
AB  - For several years, some of the countries of the former Soviet Union have
      experienced the fastest growing HIV epidemic in the world, with the vast majority
      of reported infections contracted through injecting drug use. However, most
      governments of the region have been slow to recognize the severity of the
      problem. The scope and coverage of governmental HIV/AIDS programmes have remained
      very limited. Harm reduction programmes are mainly financed by external donors,
      while substitution treatment remains illegal in Russia and unavailable in some
      other countries of the region. Being based on a review of published and grey
      literature, this paper explores attitudinal and societal barriers to scaling up
      HIV programmes in the countries of the former Soviet Union. A major challenge in
      many countries is negative public attitudes towards people living with HIV, as
      well as towards those most at risk of contracting the disease: injecting drug
      users, sex workers, and men who have sex with men. This extends to the actions of
      state authorities which often pursue a punitive approach to drug users, with high
      rates of incarceration for minor drug offences. While many of the findings
      reported here relate to the Russian Federation, there is reason to believe that
      similar challenges exist in many other countries of the former Soviet Union. More
      needs to be done to document challenges to HIV prevention and treatment
      programmes across the region, so that policy interventions can be more effective.

PMID- 20939263
TI  - New HIV recommendations to improve health, reduce infections and save lives.

PMID- 20939264
TI  - Characterization of a natural focus of Puumala hantavirus infection in the Czech
      Republic.
AB  - Hantaviruses are RNA viruses of the Bunyaviridae family, represented in the Czech
      Republic by three genospecies: Dobrava-Belgrade, Puumala and Tula. They persist
      in natural foci of infection. In 2004 to 2009, a local outbreak with 18 reported
      cases of nephropathia epidemica caused by Puumala hantavirus occurred in the
      Sumava mountains and foothills and was spacially associated with another outbreak
      in Lower Bavaria, Germany. In the Jeleni locality in the Sumava mountains at 880
      m above sea level, we identified a natural focus of infection suspected to be the
      source of hantavirus infection in forest workers. The focus was characterized
      geobotanically as a montane mixed forest with the predominance of beeches within
      the association Dentario enneaphylli-Fagetum, alliance Fagion, sub-alliance Eu
      Fagenion, in a cold climate region with a podzolic soil. The biocenoses where
      hantaviruses are circulating typically show higher microclimate humidity. Their
      characteristization can be helpful in predicting where hantaviruses are likely to
      circulate.

PMID- 20939265
TI  - Discrepancies between various methods in susceptibility testing and
      epidemiological analysis of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia clinical isolates.
AB  - The susceptibility of 25 Stenotrophomonas maltophilia (S. maltophilia) clinical
      isolates to four different antimicrobials (trimethoprim/sulfomethoxazole,
      piperacillin/tazobactam, ceftazidime, ciprofloxacin) were investigated by disk
      diffusion, E-test and commercial Sensititre and PASCO broth microdilution
      techniques. Discrepancies between the results of broth microdilution and the
      other methods studied were characterized as very major, major and minor errors.
      Using the broth microdilution as the reference method, 24% of the isolates were
      found susceptible to trimethoprim/ sulfamethoxazole, 24% to ceftazidime, 0% to
      piperacillin/tazobactam and 12% to ciprofloxacin. Good correlation was observed
      between the two broth microdilution Sensititre and PASCO for all antibiotics
      tested. Disc diffusion and E-test generated inconsistent results for all agents
      except trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole. A great genomic diversity was demonstrated
      within the S. maltophilia strains tested. Although our results confirm that
      trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole had some in vitro activity against S. maltophilia,
      further clinical studies are necessary to evaluate the clinical efficacy of these
      compounds for the treatment of S. maltophilia infections, since no randomized
      controlled trials have been carried out and no correlation between the clinical
      response and susceptibility testing results has been reported. Furthermore, the
      high genomic diversity observed in the S. maltophilia strains indicates the need
      for careful epidemiological evaluation especially in nosocomial outbreaks.

PMID- 20939266
TI  - [Acquiring homozygous tetraploid germplasm by PEG-mediated protoplast fusion of
      Rhodiola sachalinensis].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To acquire homozygous tetraploid germplasm of Rhodiola sachalinensis.
      METHOD: PEG-mediated protoplast fusions were conducted using callus of Rh.
      sachalinensis as materials. Protoplast fusion products were embedded and cultured
      in low-density, low-melting-point agar and marked according to the protoplast
      size, and single-celled sister lines were established to acquire genetically
      homozygous tetraploid germplasm. RESULT: R(D) and R(M) of newborn daughter cells
      or protoplasm, metaphase cells or protoplasm were approximately in line with the
      formula R(D) = 0.793 7R(M). The change range in diameter of the diploid cells
      without fusion, two protoplasts fusion product were: 16.7 microm < or = R < 21.3
      microm, 21.0 microm < or = R' < 26.8 microm respectively. There is an overlap
      between the two diameter ranges. The protoplast inoculation density of 1 x 10(4)
      cells x mL(-1) was appropriate when protoplasts were anchored by low-intensity,
      low-melting-point agar. Under the conditions of this density, plating efficiency
      was high and single cell origin of the sister lines microclones grew rapidly, and
      it was easy to mark the single cell microclones, and separate from each other to
      subculture. The chromosome counts results showed that chromosome numbers of
      diploid and tetraploid of single cell lines were 26 and 52, respectively. The
      result from flow cytometry assay showed that there is no presence of chimerism in
      single-cell regeneration plantlets. CONCLUSION: The results of this study provide
      a scientific basis for polyploid breeding of Rh. sachalinensis.

PMID- 20939267
TI  - [Breeding system, morphological and anatomical characteristics of Coptis
      deltoidea].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To study the morphological and anatomical characteristics of Coptis
      deltoidea based on the research of its breeding system. METHOD: The flowering
      process of C. deltoidea was observed dynamically and the out-crossing index was
      estimated, using Motic BA200 microscope to observe the morphologic
      characteristics of the mixed bud, stolon and pollen was observed microscopically,
      and compared with those of C. chinensis. RESULT: The results showed that the
      breeding system of C. deltoidea was facultative hybridization, it could bloom
      normally and fruit while cannot form seeds. And there were no statistical
      differences in the number of stamens, pistils, ovules, pollens in a stamen,
      pollens in a flower, pollen-ovule ratio, and the pollen grain size between C.
      deltoidea and C. chinensis. However the pollen of C. deltoidea developed anomaly,
      most of the pollen grains in it were surface depression, the texture was unsharp
      or broken, the pollen could not germinate. The lateral bud on the lower side of
      the mixed bud formed in the bud stage. Pericyclic fibers in the stolon (the
      vegetative propagation branch) shaped like a cap, and all the shaped-caps nearly
      formed a ring. CONCLUSION: The abnormal development of the pollen could be the
      mainly cause to the no formation of seeds in C. deltoidea. The lateral bud
      forming in the bud stage then developing the stolon is the characteristics of the
      asexual propagation. Pericycle fibers in the stolon nearly forming a ring is a
      secondary character to accommodate the vegetative propagation of C. deltoidea.

PMID- 20939268
TI  - [Effect of different water treatments on quality and yield of spadix in Prunella
      vulgaris].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Prunalla vulgaris was used as the experimental material to study the
      effects of water stress on the related quality charaters of spadix in P.
      vulgaris. METHOD: By weighting method to experiment the relative characteristics
      in vegetative period and reproductive period respectively were studied under
      timing and quantitative water stress conditions everyday with the method of
      statistics to compared, including biological characteristics and content of
      ursolic acid and oleanolic acid. RESULT AND CONCLUSION: It is true that the
      better water range of growth in vegetative period of P. vulgaris is 80% -85%; The
      65%-70% field leakage coefficient maximum was the best and the proper water range
      which would promote the growth, but the best range of active component is 80% 
      85%.

PMID- 20939269
TI  - [Molecular authentication of medicinal Epimedium species--a case of diagnostic
      PCR authentication of Epimedium koreanum].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To establish the allele-specific diagnostic PCR methods for Epimedium
      koreanum. METHOD: ITS of eight medicinal Epimedium species were sequenced and
      downloaded from GenBank, and aligned to find the specific sites in E. koreanum.
      The diagnostic primers were designed based on the sites, and used to amplify all
      the samples, then verified with the crude drugs and decoction pieces from market.
      RESULT AND CONCLUSION: Two pairs of allele-specific diagnostic primers were
      successfully used to indentify E. koreanum from other medicinal species, and also
      can be used to identify the crude drugs and decoction pieces.

PMID- 20939270
TI  - [Formulation optimization of gel matrix of Saussurea involucrate by orthogonal
      design].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To optimize the formulation of gel matrix of Saussurea involucrate.
      METHOD: The formulation of gel containing carbopol, azone, trimethylene glycol
      and alcohol was optimized by orthogonal design with evaluation indexes such as
      consistency in room temperature, consistency of average temperature of skin,
      yield value and rheopexy in room temperature. RESULT: The optimal proportion of
      matrix components was made from carbopol-azone-trimethylene glycol-absolute
      alcohol (2. 0: 2. 0:15.0 : 30.0). CONCLUSION: The optimal formulation of S.
      involucrate gel based the optimal formulation is well-distributed and
      transparent, it has proper consistency and well rheopexy.

PMID- 20939271
TI  - [Extracting flavonoids from Choerospondias axillaris by percolation].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To study the technology of extracting flavonoids from Choerospondias
      axillaris by percolation. METHOD: The optimum extraction process was selected by
      orthogonal design, and the factors of concentration amount of ethanol and soaking
      time were investigated. Total flavonoids was determined by spectrophotometer to
      compare the effect of extraction. RESULT: The optimum extraction process was that
      added 8 times 60% ethanol and then impregnated for 48 h. CONCLUSION: The
      technology is stable and feasible, it's suitable for industrial production.

PMID- 20939272
TI  - [Study on extracting process of ethanol extract with hypouricemic effect from
      rhizoma alismatis].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To optimize the extracting process of ethanol extract with
      hypouricemic effect from Rhizoma Alismatis. METHOD: Orthogonal design was
      utilized to optimize the preparing conditions including the concentration of
      ethanol, amount of ethanol, extraction times and extraction duration per time
      while alisol B 23-acetate was selected as the evaluation index. Both the alisol B
      23-acetate and the serum uric acid levels were measured by HPLC. RESULT: The
      ethanol extract had hypouricemic action. Only extraction times had significant
      effect on the content of alisol B 23-acetate in ethanol extract. CONCLUSION: The
      optimal extraction process is to extract two times using sevenfold 70% ethanol
      and 1 h per time.

PMID- 20939273
TI  - [Comparison of arbutin contents from Bergenia purpurascens in Yunnan].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine arbutin contents in different populations of Bergenia
      purpurascens in Yunnan province, for screening out the best resource and best
      part of B. purpurascens. METHOD: The SB-C18 column was used with methanol-water
      (15: 85) as the mobile phase, at the flow rate of 1 mL x min(-1) and column
      temperature of 30 degrees C, and 282 nm was selected as the detected wavelength.
      RESULT: There were much significant differences in arbutin contents among various
      parts of the same B. population. The sequence of parts from high to low was
      lamina > petiole > root > rhizome. Arbutin contents in laminae of different B.
      populations were different at the most significant level and varied between 6.36%
      and 1.51%. Arbutin contents in rhizomes of different B. populations were also
      dignificantly different at varied between 1.72% and 0.40%. CONCLUSION: Lamina is
      the best part for extracting arbutin. B. population distributed in Laojunshan
      mountain in Lanping county is the best resource for arbutin exploitation in B.
      purpurascens.

PMID- 20939274
TI  - [Recognition of spikes of Schizonepeta tenuifolia from different area based on
      backpropagation neural network coupled with dimension reduction of principal
      component analysis].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The spikes of Schizonepeta tenuifolia from different habits were
      predicted by UV-Vis spectrum. METHOD: The dimensions of spectrum data obtained
      from ten habits were reduced by principal component analysis, and the first six
      new variables with 99.82% of cumulative reliability were put into the
      backpropagation neural network for model building. RESULT: The recognition rate
      of backpropagation neural network coupled with principal component analysis (PCA
      BPNN) was 100%, and its mean square error was 0.001 0. CONCLUSION: PCA-BPNN can
      be used for the classifying of spikes of S. tenuifolia from different producing
      area, and this method is simple and fast.

PMID- 20939275
TI  - [Determination of matrine in Fufang Shen'an granules by HPLC].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determination the content of matrine in Fufang Shen'an particles by
      HPLC. METHOD: HPLC with Dikma Diamonsil C18 (4.6 mm x 150 mm, 5 microm) column
      was used. Acetonitrile-0.1% H3 PO4 (22:78) as the mobile phase, flow rate was 1.0
      mL x min(-1) and the UV detection wavelength was 220 nm. RESULT: The linear range
      of matrine was 2.08-10.40 microg, the correlation coefficient (r) was 0.999 6.
      The average recovery rate was 100. 51%, RSD was 2.04% (n = 6). CONCLUSION: The
      method is suitable for the formulate of the quality standard with sufficient
      accuracy, stability and reappearance. It can be used for quality control in
      Fufang Shen'an particles.

PMID- 20939276
TI  - [Phenol constituents of Pachysandra terminalis and their antioxidant activity].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To study the phenol constituents from Pachysandra terminalis and their
      antioxidant activities. METHOD: Constituent isolation and purification was
      carried by repeated column chromatography (silica gel, Toyopearl HW-40 and
      preparative HPLC), and their structures were elucidated on the basis of spectral
      data analysis. DPPH method was used to evaluate the free radical scavenging
      activity of the isolated compounds. RESULT: Nine phenol compounds (1-9) were
      isolated and their structures were identified as follow: p-hydroxybenzaldehyde
      (1), vanillin (2), 1-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl) -ethanone (3), syringaldehyde
      (4), salicylic acid (5), p-hydroxybenzoic acid (6), ferulic acid (7), 2,3,4
      trihydroxybenzoic acid (8), 3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid (9). The isolated compounds
      showed obviously antioxidant activity. At the concentration of 50 micromol x L(
      1), compounds 7-9 revealed DPPH free radical scavenging rates were 87.8%, 97.8%
      and 92%, respectively. CONCLUSION: Compounds 1-9 were isolated from this genus
      for the first time. They showed the significant antioxidant activity.

PMID- 20939277
TI  - [Flavonoids of Lysimachia paridiformis var. stenophylla].
AB  - Nine flavonoids were isolated and identified as luteolin (1), luteolin-4'-O-beta
      D-glucoside (2), acacetin-7-O-beta-D-glucoside (3), rutin (4), acacetin (5),
      quercetin (6), quercetin-3-O-beta-D-glucoside (7), kaempferol-3-O-beta-D
      glucoside (8), Isorhamnetin-3-O-beta-D-glucoside(9) from Lysimachia paridiformis
      var. stenophylla, and all these compounds were isolated from this plant for the
      first time.

PMID- 20939278
TI  - [Flavonoids from Artemisia anomala].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To study the constituents of Artemisia anomala. METHOD: The
      constituents were isolated by chromatographic methods, their structures were
      elucidated by spectroscopic evidences. RESULT: Eleven flavonoids and two
      flavanolignans were purified and their structures were identified. CONCLUSION:
      Compound 12 and 13 were isolated from the Compositae family for the first time.
      Compound 5 and 9 were firstly isolated from the genus Artemisia. Compounds 4, 7,
      11 were isolated from A. anomala for the first time.

PMID- 20939279
TI  - [Effects of primary processing on quality of cortex Magnolia officinalis].
AB  - In this paper, the changes of volatile oil and non-volatile ingredients in Cortex
      Magnolia Officinalis before and after primary processing were determined by an
      HPLC and a GC-MS method. The method is based on quantitative determination of
      three index ingredients, beta-eudesmol, honokiol and magnolol, and on qualitative
      fingerprinting analysis using HPLC and GC. Big differences were observed between
      processed and unprocessed samples according to their chromatographic
      fingerprinting data calculated by statistic software. Compared with unprocessed
      samples, the contents of honokiol and magnolol in processed samples increased,
      whereas the contents of beta-eudesmol and magnoloside A in processed samples
      decreased. Magnoloside A was isolated from this plant for the first time.

PMID- 20939280
TI  - [Evaluation of LC-MS chromatograms of pericarps from Illium species].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the chemical characteristics of pericarps from Illicium
      species for developing a taxonomic and identification method for Illicium
      species. METHOD: Twenty two samples from 17 Illicium species were detected with
      HPLC-MS. The chromatographic data were analyzed by cluster analysis using SAS
      software. RESULT: According to the similarity of chemical constituents of 22
      samples. Illicium can be divided into five chemical sections. At the same time,
      the distribution of pseudoanisatin, 6-deoxypseudoanisatin, pseudomajucin was
      evaluated in 22 samples. CONCLUSION: The chemical constituents of pericarp of
      Illicium species can be characterized well by LC-MS chromatograms. LC-MS
      chromatograms can be used to identify the Chinese star anise. The results
      provided a certain basis to classify the Illicium species.

PMID- 20939281
TI  - [Determination of five coumarins in radix glehniae by micellar electrokinetic
      capillary chromatography].
AB  - A micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography method with ultraviolet
      detection was developed for the simultaneous determination of psoralen,
      xanthotoxin, isoimpinellin, bergapten and scopoletin in Radix Glehniae. The
      separation was performed on an uncoated fused silica capillary column (50.2 cm x
      75 microm x 40 cm) with 20 mmol x L(-1) borax solution (pH 9.6) containing 16
      mmol x L(-1) sodium dodecylsulfate (SDS) and 15% acetonitrile as running buffer
      at applied voltage of 22 kV. The detection wavelength was 214 nm. The effects of
      concentrations of borax solution, sodium dodecylsulfate (SDS), and organic
      modifier, voltage, temperature on the separation and sensitivity were
      investigated. The five active constituents were completely separated within 7
      min. The linear ranges of psoralen, xanthotoxin, isoimpinellin, bergapten and
      scopoletin were 9.91-82.6, 37.2-162, 2.23-18.6, 2.73-22.3 and 2.89-20.1 mg x L(
      1), respectively. And the average recoveries were 98.9%, 98.4%, 101.3%, 99.1% and
      98.0%, respectively. This simple and rapid method provided a new basis for
      assessment on quality of Radix Glehniae.

PMID- 20939282
TI  - [Modulation of activities and mRNA expression of cytochrome P450 isoenzymes in
      rat liver by Sophora flaveacens and coadministration with Veratrum nigrum].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To study the modulatory effect of Sophora flaveacens and co
      administration with Veratrum nigrum on the activity and mRNA expression of
      cytochrome P450 isoenzymes in rat liver. METHOD: Rat liver microsomal cytochrome
      P450, b5, aminopyrine N-demethylase (APND), p-nitrophenol-hydroxylase (pNPH)
      activities were quantitated by UV chromatography. The mRNA expression level of
      five CYP isoenzymes CYP1A1, CYP2B1/2, CYP2C11, CYP2E1 and CYP3A1 were detected by
      semi-quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).
      RESULT: S. flaveacen and its combination with V. nigrum can dramatically reduce
      P450 and b5 protein content. Both single and combined use inhibited the
      activities of aminopyrine N-demethylase. At the mRNA level, the expression of
      CYP2C11 markedly induced exposure to V. nigrum, while decreased after combination
      with S. flaveacens. S. flaveacens can induce CYP2B1/2 gene expression, while the
      Sophora- Veratrum group showed weak inhibition. Both single and co-administrated
      group have some inhibitory effect on CYP3A1 gene expression, while CYP1A gene
      expression almost has no change in each group. CONCLUSION: These results
      indicated that compatibility of Sophora and Veratrum in a prescription also have
      herb-herb interactions based on P450. The possible mechanisms of its incompatible
      effects need to be further analysised via integrating with metabolic studies.

PMID- 20939283
TI  - [Intestinal absorption properties of flavones and extract of fructus aurantii
      immaturus in rats].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the intestinal absorption of naringin, hesperidin,
      neohesperidin and the extract of Fructus Aurantii Immaturus in rats. METHOD: The
      rat intestinal perfusion and enzymes incubation models were used, together with
      the determination of the n-octanol/water partition coefficient of the components
      (P). RESULT: In perfusion model, the P(eff) of all components were low, and the
      P(eff) of naringin, hesperidin and neohesperidin were 0.140-0.252, 0.156-0.268
      and 0.154-0.285, respectively. In four different regions of intestine of rat and
      with different concentration, the P(eff) of the components both had no
      significant difference, whereas the P(eff) of the extract were higher than the
      P(eff) of the single component. The metabolite of components was not detected in
      intestine. The P of naringin, hesperidin and neohesperidin were 0.36, 0.40 and
      0.48, respectively, and the pH of buffer solution had no influence to its
      distribution coefficient. CONCLUSION: Poor permeation contributed to the poor
      intestinal absorption of naringin, hesperidin and neohesperidin. The absorption
      of components in extract were increased, and the results suggest that the extract
      may enhance the intestinal absorption of the components.

PMID- 20939284
TI  - [Pharmacodyamic material basis of rhizoma coptidis on insulin resistance].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To observe the impact of Rhizoma Coptidis (drug-chemical extract parts
      components) on 3T3-L1 pre-adipocytes differentiation and adipocytes insulin
      resistance, and reveal the pharmacodyamic material basis of Rhizoma Coptidis on
      insulin resistance. METHOD: 3T3-L1 pre-adipocytes were well cultured, and then
      induced to differentiate into fat cells by using dexamethasone, 3-isobutyl-1
      methyl-xanthine and insulin together, and establish the insulin resistance model.
      Based on the experience of traditional medicine use, the adipocytes
      differentiation and the glucose consumption in the cell culture medium were
      observed independently. RESULT: Aqueous extract, different chemical extract
      fraction and different alkaloid extract from the herb showed inhibitory effects
      on 3T3-L1 pre-adipocytes differentiation, especially the compound coptisine
      significantly inhibited the differentiation in the concentration of 16.5 micromol
      x L(-1), but non-alkaloid extract from the herb promoted cell differentiation
      significantly in the concentration of 6.0 micromol x L(-1). Each treatment group,
      especially jatrorrhizine hydrochloride (in the concentration of 10.5 micromol x
      L(-1)) significantly decreased the concentration of glucose in 3T3-L1 adipocytes
      culture, at the same time improved insulin resistance. These effects are similar
      to the role of rosiglitazone maleate. CONCLUSION: Rhizoma Coptidis significantly
      improved insulin resistance, prevented pre-adipocytes differentiation. Its
      efficacy may be the synergistic effect of various components. Meanwhile, its role
      in inhibiting differentiation of pre-adipocytes indicates that coptis to
      increasing glucose uptake dose not cause fat accumulation and weight increasing.
      This has some clinical significance in the insulin resistance and metabolic
      syndrome.

PMID- 20939285
TI  - [Effect of ceftiofur hydrochloride on pharmacokinetics of matrine in rats].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of ceftiofur hydrochloride on the
      pharmacokinetics of matrine in rats. METHOD: The rats were divided into two
      groups: one group was administrated with matrine only (control group) and the
      other was administrated with matrine in combination with ceftiofur hydrochloride.
      HPLC-UV method was used for determining the plasma concentration of matrine in
      both groups. The pharmacokinetic parameters were calculated from the plasma
      concentration-time data using the DAS 2. 1. 1 software program. RESULT: The main
      pharmacokinetic parameters for the control group were C(max) = 21.113 9 mg x L(
      1), T(max) = 0.75 h, t1/2alpha = 1.34 h, t1/2beta = 3.509 h, AUC(0-t) = 90.984 mg
      x h(-1) x L(-1) and AUC(0-inifinity) = 100.346 mg x h(-1) x L(-1), and the data
      for the combination group were C(max) = 11.707 mg x L(-1), T(max) = 0.917 h,
      t1/2alpha = 1.598 h, t1/2beta = 3.247 h, AUC(0-t) = 53.28 mg x h(-1) x L(-1) and
      AUC(0-inifinity) = 60.035 mg x h(-1) x L(-1). CONCLUSION: The plasma
      concentration of matrine and bioavailability in combination group were
      significantly lower than those of the control group. In combination group,
      matrine had a higher clearance and volume of distribution in the central
      compartments, as well as a lower volume of distribution in the peripheral
      compartments.

PMID- 20939287
TI  - [Effects of GBE50 on physiological characteristics and intracellular free calcium
      of myocardium].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate effects of GBE50 on the physiological characteristics
      and intracellular free calcium of myocardium. METHOD: The preparations of
      isolated atria of guinea pigs were used for recording the myocardial
      physiological characteristics and the technique of Fluo-3/AM was used for
      measuring the concentration of free calcium in myocytes. RESULT: GBE50 (10, 20,
      40, 80, 160 mg x L(-1)) prominently inhibited the contractive force and decreased
      spontaneous beat of right atrium in concentration-dependent manner. GBE50 (10,
      20, 40, 80, 160 mg x L(-1)) inhibited the contractive force of left atrium, and
      markedly decreased the post rest potentiation of myocardial contractility in left
      atrium in concentration-dependent manner. GBE50 (10, 20, 40, 80, 160 mg x L(-1))
      prolonged the function refractory period of isolated guinea pig left atrium. 50
      mg x L(-1) GBE50 decreased [Ca2+]i of guinea pig ventricular myocytes in normal
      Tyrode's solution by (46.53 +/- 8.44)% in 12 minutes. CONCLUSION: GBE50 induces
      inhibitory effects of the spontaneous beat, contractility, post-rest potentiation
      and prolonged the function refractory period. GBE50 may decrease [Ca2+]i of
      guinea pig ventricular myocytes.

PMID- 20939286
TI  - [Effects of polysaccharide of radix ranunculi ternati on immunomodulation and
      anti-oxidation].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To study effects of polysaccharide of Radix Ranunculi Ternati (PRT) on
      immunological function and anti-oxidation activity of mouse. METHOD: Cell
      proliferations of splenocyte, thymocyte and peritoneal macrophage were measured
      by MTT colorimetry. The phagocytic function of peritoneal macrophage was measured
      by neutral red colorimetric method. The disoxidation power of PRT was measured by
      Prussian blue method. The clearing effect of PRT on hydroxyl radical was measured
      by salicylic acid capture method. The clearing effect of PRT on superoxide anion
      free radical was measured by pyrogallol auto oxidation method. RESULT: PRT among
      25-400 mg x L(-1) could enhance thymocytes and spleen lymphocyte proliferation
      and macrophage phagocytosis. PRT(200 mg x L(-1)) has the strongest macrophage
      proliferation. PRT in different concentration has shown some disoxidation
      effects. PRT in 8 g x L(-1) has nearly the same ability of clearing x OH by Vit C
      with the same concentration. The clearance rate of PRT on O2*- is 95.39%.
      CONCLUSION: PRT can enhance the cell proliferation capability of thymocytes,
      spleen lymphocytes and peritoneal macrophages. PRT can enhance macrophage
      phagocytosis in a dose-response relationship. PRT has saome disoxidation power
      and strong ability of clearing x OH and O2*-.

PMID- 20939288
TI  - [Study on pharmacokinetics of jasminoidin in rabbits administered xingnaojing
      naristillae by nasal medication].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To develop an HPLC method for the determination of plasma
      concentration of jasminoidin and study the pharmacokinetics of jasminoidin in
      rabbits administered Xingnaojing naristillae by nasal medication. METHOD: After
      sampling blood from the left arteria carotis of rabbits which were administered
      Xingnaojing naristillae medication by nasal by 12 mg x kg(-1) (counted by
      gardenia extract) at 1, 3, 5, 10, 20, 30, 45, 60, 90, 120, 240 min, the plasma
      samples were dealt with acetonitrile precipitation and HPLC was used to determine
      the plasma concentration of jasminoidin. The pharmacokinetic parameters were
      computed by Kinetica software. RESULT: The calibration curve was linear (r =
      0.999 6) within the range of 0.136 5-2.73 mg x L(-1) for jasminoidin in plasma.
      The average recovery was (97.14 +/- 3.78)%, (95.06 +/- 2.95)%, (91.50 +/- 1.82)%.
      The within-day and between-day precision met the requirements, because the RSD
      were both less than 4%. Jasminoidin was fitted to a two-compartment open
      pharmacokinetic model in rabbits. The mainly pharmacokinetic parameters were:
      C(max) = (2.013 +/- 0.563) mg x L(-1), T(max) = (6.405 +/- 1.764) min, K(e) =
      (0.032 5 +/- 0.013 3) min(-1), CL = (0.059 3 +/- 0.0246) L x min(-1) x kg(-1),
      AUC = (116.89 +/- 50.19) mg x min(-1) x L(-1), MRT = (84.447 +/- 19.420) min.
      CONCLUSION: The method can be used to determine the concentration and to
      investigate the pharmacokinetics of jasminoidin in rabbits. Jasminoidin was
      absorbed rapidly by nasal medication and has a good perspective.

PMID- 20939289
TI  - [Effects of shenbao recipe on expressions of CTGF and MMP-9 in diabetic
      nephropathy rats].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of Shenbao recipe on expressions of CTGF
      and MMP-9 in the kidney of diabetic rats. METHOD: Wistar rats were randomized
      divided into control group (group C), diabetic rat group (group D) and Bao'shen
      recipe treatment group (group DB). Streptozotocin(STZ) was injected through
      abdominal cavity to make models of diabetic rats. Administration for 8 weeks,
      renal function and pathological changes of rats' renal tissue were observed,
      protein expression of CTGF and MMP-9 in renal tissue was investigated by
      immunohistochemistry analysis. RESULT: Compared with group C, expressions of CTGF
      in renal tissue of group D were higher [(0.234 +/- 0.009) vs (0.146 +/- 0.007) ,
      P < 0.01], while the expressions of MMP-9 were lower [(0.146 +/- 0.006) vs (0.236
      +/- 0.007), P < 0.01]. Kidney hypertrophy index, 24-hour urinary protein, blood
      glucose, cholesterol and serum creatinine were increased significantly in the
      group D. The level of MMP-9 expression was increased [(0.175 +/- 0.007) vs (0.146
      +/- 0.006), P < 0.01], while the level of CTGF expression was reduced [(0.194 +/-
      0.008) vs (0.234 +/- 0.009), P < 0.01] by using Shenbao recipe. In group DB, all
      index including kidney hypertrophy index, 24-hour urinary protein, cholesterol
      and serum creatinine were obviously lower than diabetic rat group. CONCLUSION:
      Shenbao recipe can depress the expressions of CTGF and increase the expressions
      of MMP-9 in the kidney of diabetic rats, which can be served as a protective
      effect to prevent progress of diabetic nephropathy.

PMID- 20939290
TI  - [Effects of resveratrol on proliferation and apoptosis of TNF-alpha induced
      rheumatoid arthritis fibroblast-like synoviocytes].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To observe the effect of resveratrol (Res) on in vitro proliferation
      and apoptosis of TNF-alpha induced rheumatoid arthritis fibroblast-like
      synoviocytes (RA FLS), and further to investigate the PI3 K/Akt/BAD signal
      mechanism. METHOD: The inhibition rate of RA FLS was examined by MTT assay. Cell
      cycle and the amount of apoptotic cells was measured by flow cytometry.
      PI3K/Akt/BAD signal transduction proteins expression was measured by western
      blot. RESULT: The living cells measured by MTT dose and time-dependently reduced
      in Res groups. In Res groups, the fraction of living cells in the S-phase and
      G2/M-phase decreased respectively, while that in G1-phase increased, the
      difference was statistically significant compared with the TNF-alpha group (P <
      0.05). Flow cytometry demonstrated that the apoptosis rate increased with
      increased Res concentration. Res inhibited TNF-alpha induced phosphorylation of
      Akt and BAD in RA FLS. CONCLUSION: Res can inhibit RA FLS proliferation and
      induce apoptosis through inhibition of PI3K/Akt/BAD signalling pathway. Res may
      provide a new therapeutic approach in treatment of RA.

PMID- 20939291
TI  - [Neuroprotective effects of tanshinone II A on vascular dementia in rats].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the underlying neuroprotective mechanisms of Tanshinone
      II A (TSA) on rat cerebral ischemia in vivo. METHOD: Study of TSA on rat cerebral
      ischemia in vivo: Male SD rats were divided into four groups (sham-operated,
      ischemic and treated group (lower dose and higher dose). Chronic cerebral
      ischemmia after permanent bilateral carotid artery ligation was introduced as an
      in vivo ischemic model. After ischemia impairment, TSA (2, 4 mg x kg(-1) x d(-1))
      was administrated by ip for 30 days in treated group. We used Morris water maze
      to investigate the learning and memory. Levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), activity
      of superoxide dismetase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPX) in brain tissue
      were detected by spectrophotometer. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)
      with fluorescence detection was applied to measure the contents of glutamate and
      gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in cortex and hippocampus. RESULTS: TSA can
      improve learning and memory deficits in vascular dementia. An elevation of SOD
      and GPX activity and decrease of MDA level were shown in TSA treated group after
      brain ischemia. Decreased glutamate and gamma-aminobutyric acid induced by
      chronic brain ischemia were markedly inhibited by TSA pretreatment. CONCLUSION:
      The neuroprotective effect of TSA are partly due to its functions as follow: anti
      free radical injury; regulating the content of glutamate and gamma-aminobutyric
      acid.

PMID- 20939292
TI  - [Determination of plasma concentration of cinnamic acid by LC-MS-MS and study of
      pharmacokinetics in healthy volunteers after mailuoning injection].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To establish a LC-MS-MS method for quantification of cinnamic acid in
      human plasma and study its pharmacokinetics after administration of Mailuoning
      injection at a single and the multiple doses to healthy volunteers. METHOD:
      Plasma samples were acidified with hydrochloric acid and extracted with ethyl
      acetate-ether. Cinnamic acid was determined by LC-MS-MS using a ZOBAX SB C18
      column with a mobile phase of methanol-water (containing 2 mmol x L(-1) ammonium
      acetic) (45: 55) at a flow rate of 0.5 mL x min(-1) and detected using ESI with
      negative ionization mode. Ions monitored in the multiple reaction monitoring
      (MRM) mode were m/z 146.8 /103.1 [M - H]- for cinnamic acid and m/z 245.6 /126.0
      [M - H] - for tinidazole (IS). After administration of Mailuoning injection at a
      single and the multiple doses via intravenous guttae (ivgtt) to 10 healthy
      volunteers, the concentration of cinnamic acid in plasma was determined by LC-MS
      MS method. The concentration-time curves were simulated by DASver 1.0 and the
      pharmacokinetic parameters were calculated. RESULT: The calibration curve was
      linear within the range of 0.5400 microg x L(-1). The LLOQ was 0.5 microg x L(-1)
      and RSDs of intra and inter day were less than 10%. The concentration-time curves
      of cinnamic acid were consistent with the two-compartment model. The
      pharmacokinetic parameters after administration of Mailuoning Injection at a
      single and the multiple injections were as follows: C(max) (microg x L(-1)),
      115.73 +/- 44.31 and 113.79 +/- 25.61; T1/2beta (h), 0.41 +/- 0.087 and 0.52 +/-
      0.132; V(L x kg(-1)), 0.519 +/- 0.134 and 0.651 +/- 0.322; CL(L x kg(-1) x h(
      1)), 0.899 +/- 0.295 and 0.830 +/- 0.222; AUC(0-tn) (microg x L(-1) x h), 158.64
      +/- 56.019 and 166.49 +/- 46.788. CONCLUSION: The developed LC-MS/MS method was
      sensitive and selective, and there was no interference from endogenous
      substances. After administration of Mailuoning injection via ivgtt to healthy
      volunteers, the pharmacokinetic parameters of cinnamic acid between a single and
      the multiple doses, and between the male and female were no significant
      difference. There was no accumulation with multiple injections for cinnamic acid,
      but there were significant individual differences in the pharmacokinetics of
      cinnamic acid in volunteers.

PMID- 20939293
TI  - [Progressive studies on effects of traditional Chinese medicines on
      differentiation of human bone mesenchymal stem cells].
AB  - Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSC) are a group of cells with the
      capability of self-renewal and potential of multilineage differentiation. It was
      reported that some traditional Chinese medicines and their extract have the
      potential to induce BMSC differentiate into multiple cells. For example,
      notoginse nosides can induce BMSC differentiate into neurons and myocytes,
      naringin can induce BMSC differentiate into osteoblast, youguiyin-containing
      rabbit serum can induce BMSC differentiate into chondrocyte. This article reviews
      some progresses of this area in recent years.

PMID- 20939294
TI  - [Survey of current studies of effects of traditional Chinese medicine on nerve
      growth factor and diabetic peripheral neuropathy].
AB  - Nerve growth factor(NGF) is closely ralated to the occurrence and development of
      diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN). Traditional Chinese medicine has certain
      effects on the promotion of NGF expression. It analyzes the relationship of NGF
      and DPN and the effects of Traditional Chinese Medicine on them as well as the
      existing problems and looks into the future research in this domain.

PMID- 20939296
TI  - [Discussion on quality changes mechanism of Chinese medicinal materials during
      storage].
AB  - Storage of Chinese medicinal materials was an important part in the circulation
      process. During storage, medicinal herbs, the factors in the outside world and
      their own physical and chemical properties of the interaction, gradually
      occurring physical, chemical and biological changes. Phenomenon such as mold,
      moth-eaten, color change, taste change and "Fan You" would be seen. The intrinsic
      quality changes related to the mechanism: oxidation, polymerization or
      decomposition reaction, Maillard reaction, enzymatic reaction and transformation
      reactions. It resulted to increasing or decreasing of the active ingredient
      content in medicinal materials, losing of volatile components, forming of
      biological metabolites and transformation products of damage insects.

PMID- 20939295
TI  - [Review of prevention and treatment on influenza A (H1N1) with traditional
      Chinese medicine].
AB  - The influenza A (H1N1) broke out in Mexico and the USA in March 2009, which soon
      spread over the world in coming months. This paper comprehensively analyzed the
      work of prevention and treatment to Influenza A (H1N1) by using traditional
      Chinese medicine in recent years, and briefly introduced the research of
      Influenza A (H1N1), specially summarized the possibility of using theory of TCM
      for predicting epidemic disease and the relationship between traditional Chinese
      medicine and influenza A (H1N1). Meanwhile some suggestions are made on the
      future work of prevention and treatment to Influenza A (H1N1) by using
      traditional Chinese medicine.

PMID- 20939297
TI  - [Improvement of anti-stokes energy transfer between rare earth ions--2. Numerical
      calculation and analysis].
AB  - The dynamics of all levels were calculated numerically in the present article for
      Er(0.5)Yb(3):FOV oxyfluoride nanophase vitroceramics. The population dynamical
      processes were analyzed carefully. It was found for the first time that
      traditional phonon-assisted energy transfer theory of rare earth ion energy
      transfer can not well explain the observed experimental calibrated results, as it
      does not take into account the difference between Stokes and anti-Stokes process.
      A coefficient, the improved factor of the intensity ratio of Stokes to anti
      Stokes process in quantum Raman theory compared to classical Raman theory, was
      introduced for the first time to successfully describe the anti-Stokes energy
      transfer. The theoretical improvement results are coincident with experiments
      very well. This improvement is very significant and indispensable when the
      photonics of nanomaterials is probed.

PMID- 20939298
TI  - [A study of vibrational spectra of L-, D-, DL-alanine in terahertz Domain].
AB  - In the present paper the terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) was used to
      measure the absorption spectra of L-, D-, DL-alpha-alanine at room temperature. A
      number of well-resolved absorption peaks were observed in the range of
      frequencies from 0.3 to 3.1 THz, which showed large differences in the spectra
      between the enantiomers (L-, D-alanine) and the racemic compound (DL-alanine). In
      parallel with the experimental study, the computed vibrational spectra were also
      obtained by using first principles calculations based on the density functional
      theory(DFT), which were in good agreement with the experimental data. Results
      show that the absorption spectra in terahertz region originate from the
      collective vibration based on hydrogen bonds.

PMID- 20939299
TI  - [Investigation of transmission spectral of 1-D photonic crystal with LC].
AB  - One-dimensional (1-D) photonic crystals(PCs)with liquid crystals (LCs) are
      promising in various applications such as filters, low-threshold lasers, optical
      switch. In the present paper, the authors investigated the transmission spectrum
      of 1-D PCs with LCs for defect layer at different voltages ranging from 0 to 10
      V. The tunable spectral range was about 50 nm, FWHM of the transmission peak was
      18 nm and the band gap was nearly 400 nm. Furthermore, we presented a kind of
      polarization insensitive LC photonic crystal, and designed a 1-D LC photonic
      crystal device that has double LC layers with zero twisted angle. Double LC
      layers have a function of compensation for both polarization components of
      incident light, which makes the original two transmission peaks in the band gap
      to incorporate to one, and enhances the light intensity and filter performance.

PMID- 20939300
TI  - [Theoretical analysis and experimental measurement for secondary electron yield
      of microchannel plate in extreme ultraviolet region].
AB  - Photon counting detectors based on microchannel plate have widespread
      applications in astronomy. The present paper deeply studies secondary electron of
      microchannel plate in extreme ultraviolet. A theoretical model describing extreme
      ultraviolet-excited secondary electron yield is presented, and the factor
      affecting on the secondary electron yields of both electrode and lead glass which
      consist of microchannel plate is analyzed according to theoretical formula
      derived from the model. The result shows that the higher secondary electron yield
      is obtained under appropriate condition that the thickness of material is more
      than 20 nm and the grazing incidence angle is larger than the critical angle.
      Except for several wavelengths, the secondary electron yields of both electrode
      and lead glass decrease along with the increase in the wavelength And also the
      quantum efficiency of microchannel plate is measured using quantum efficiency
      test set-up with laser-produced plasmas source as an extreme ultraviolet
      radiation source, and the result of experiment agrees with theoretical analysis.

PMID- 20939301
TI  - [Spatial distributions of OH radicals and O atoms in argon hollow needle-plate
      discharge in ambient air].
AB  - In the present work, the spatial distributions of OH radicals and O atoms were
      studied in argon hollowneedle-plate discharge in ambient air. A 3 cm long plasma
      torch was generated in the discharge. The optical emission spectrum from 300 to
      800 nm was collected. Besides Ar I lines and N2 second positive band system, OH
      emission band around 309 nm, O line at 777.4 nm and weaker H line were found in
      the optical emission spectrum. Because OH radicals and O atoms play an important
      role in material surface modification, the relative intensities of the OH
      radicals band (around 309 nm) and O atom line (777.4 nm) were analyzed. The
      results show that the number of OH radicals decreases rapidly and the number of O
      atoms follows a rule of increasing firstly and then decreasing from are root to
      arc tip.

PMID- 20939302
TI  - [Research on high temperature Cs activated GaAs photocathode].
AB  - Mechanism about the change of GaAs phtotocathode's surface barrier during Cs
      activated process was studied. Ionized Cs and p type doping impurity(Be) form a
      dipole that decreases the vacuum level of GaAs. Generally, Cs activated GaAs
      photocathode could achieve zero electron affinity state. The quantum yield
      formula of reflection-mode photocathode has been solved from the 1-dimension
      continuity equations and the escape probability formula has been solved from the
      Schrodinger equation. It was found from the formula that the quantum efficiency
      of Cs activated GaAs photocathode is directly proportional to the electric field
      intensity of Be- -Cs+ dipole. A Cs activation experiment was carried out, the
      experiment process tallies with the theory mentioned above and the integral
      sensitivity of Cs activated GaAs photocathode is 453 microA x lm(-1), which could
      be inferred as a zero electron affinity state.

PMID- 20939303
TI  - [Development and application of quantum cascade laser based gas sensing system].
AB  - Quantum cascade laser (QCL) is an ideal mid-infrared source for gas sensing in
      the wavelength range from 2.5 to 25 microm, due to its fast response, high
      sensitivity and selectivity for gas detecting. Prototypes of gas sensing system
      based on QCL have been developed by worldwide research groups. They have great
      potential in many applications, such as environment monitoring, space
      exploration, anti-terrorism and so on. The present paper gives a broad review of
      QCL gas sensing system, including the basic working principle, existing systems,
      and its application and future development.

PMID- 20939304
TI  - [Electronic spectra and energy levels analysis of Ho3+ in Cs2NaYF6].
AB  - The electronic spectra and energy levels of Ho3+ in Cs2NaYF6 were studied on
      basis of rare earth (RE) spectrum, quantum mechanics and crystal field theory.
      Detailed analysis on electronic absorption spectra at temperatures down to 10 K
      in the range of 4600-24,000 cm(-1) was carried out. The transitions, with zero
      phonon lines (ZPL) and abundant vibronic sidebands, from ground states to
      different excited states such as 5I(J); (J = 7, 6, 5, 4), 5F(S) (S = 5, 4, 3),
      5G(P) (P = 6, 5) and (3)K8 were clearly observed. All the transitions have been
      assigned and 50 experimental crystal field levels have been obtained. The dataset
      has been investigated by standard f-shell program, which gave out the calculated
      energy levels and the corresponding empirical Hamiltonian parameters. The
      comparison of the energy levels and Hamiltonian parameters was made with that of
      Cs2NaYCl6 : Ho3+ as well.

PMID- 20939305
TI  - [Highly efficient and chromatic-stability yellow organic light emitting diodes
      using double ultra thin yellow emissive layers].
AB  - The authors investigated the efficiency and chromatic-stability characteristics
      of organic light emitting devices (OLEDs) with ultra-thin yellow emissive layers
      of 0.1 nm 5,6,11,12,-tetraphenylnaphthacene (rubrene) and hole block layer of
      BCP. The OLEDs with double thin rubrene layers and BCP layer were found to
      exhibit a high luminance and electroluminescence (EL) efficiency. The maximum EL
      efficiency and luminance reached 6. 35 cd x A(-1) at 6 V and 7 068 cd x m(-2) at
      10 V respectively. Moreover, Commission International De L'Eclairage (CIE)
      coordination maintained unchanged (0.49, 0.49) in the wide range of applied
      voltages. The enhanced efficiency and good chromatic stability were attributed to
      a balanced injection and transport of electrons and holes and the expected
      confinement and balanced recombination of the emission region in the ultra-thin
      rubrene layers.

PMID- 20939306
TI  - [Study on the ignition mechanism of aluminum nanoparticle by fast spectroscopy].
AB  - The ignition delay times and special spectral intensity of aluminum nanopowders
      reacting with propylene oxide were investigated by fast spectrum system triggered
      by synchronous shock light singles, and the ignition mechanism was presented from
      those data. X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectrum indicated that aluminum nanoparticle
      produced by plasma method has been oxidized for its high activity, X-ray
      photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) of sample revealed that there is 3 nm oxide
      layer on its surface. XPS of the products showed that the oxide layer thickness
      will increase with the increasing shock wave strength. AlO (464.8 nm) ignition
      times investigated by monochromator revealed that aluminum nanoparticle will be
      equably distributed in propylene oxide vapor for increasing shock wave strength
      to increase its heating surface and heating rate, and shock wave will easily
      crack the 3 nm oxide layer on aluminum nanoparticle present chance for core
      active aluminum to react with oxygen atom and containing-oxygen molecule in the
      reaction system to ignite.

PMID- 20939307
TI  - [Study on flame temperature measurement of pyrotechnics using multi-spectral
      thermometer].
AB  - The radiation spectrum of pyrotechnics' burning flame was analyzed using
      transient spectrum radiometer. The working principle of multi-spectral
      thermometry was described. Combined with the radiation spectrum of pyrotechnics'
      burning flame, the multi-spectral thermometer system was designed which had
      twelve working channels. The tester can choose the right working channels to
      calculate according to the radiation spectrum of the flame to be tested. The
      system is composed by optics part, electronic part, data acquisition part and
      data processing part. In this paper, the emissive power of black powder's flame
      has been tested using the multi-spectral thermometer system. The burning flame
      temperature-time curve was showed after iteration calculation Experiments
      indicate that the multi-spectral thermometer system can be well used to measure
      the flame temperature of pyrotechnics based on analyzing the emissive power when
      choosing the right working channels. This method lays a foundation for the
      research of combustion output characteristics of pyrotechnics.

PMID- 20939308
TI  - [An improved method for forest fire spot detection based on variance between
      class].
AB  - An improved method using variance between-class and smoke plume mask is
      described. The brightness temperature threshold of potential fire pixels was
      adjusted to be 305 K. Based on the variance between-class of TIR channel
      brightness temperature and a smoke plume detection algorithm, the improved
      algorithm can separate the hot fire spots from the background and seek out the
      cool fire spots, respectively, with suitable thresholds of variance between
      class. This algorithm has been used in the forest fires that happened in Fujian
      province and Heilongjiang province. Study shows that detection results with the
      algorithm are more satisfactory. It is adapted in different environments and can
      be more accurately detected the high-temperature fire spot and the smoder at low
      temperature. It increases the ability and accuracy to detect fire spots.

PMID- 20939309
TI  - [Spectral characteristics of Ba2B2P2O10 : Eu3+ phosphor].
AB  - Ba2B2P2O10 : Eu3+ phosphor was synthesized by high temperature solid-state
      method. BaCO3(A.R), NH4H2PO4 (A.R), H3BO3(A.R), Eu2O3 (99.99%), NH4Cl (A.R),
      Li2CO3 (A.R), Na2CO3 (A.R.) and K2CO3 (A.R.) were used for starting materials.
      After these individual materials were blended and grounded thoroughly in an agate
      mortar, the homogeneous mixture was heated at 1000 degrees C for 3 h, and the
      phosphors were obtained. The phase present of the samples were characterized by
      powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) (D/max-rA, Cu Kalpha, 40 kV, 40 mA, lamda =
      0.15406 nm). The spectral characteristics of these phosphors were measured by a
      SHIMADZU RF-540 fluorescence spectrophotometer. Under the condition of 400 nm
      excitation, the emission spectrum of Ba2B2P2O10 : Eu3+ phosphor shows several
      bands at 600, 618, 627 and 660 nm respectively, which correspond to the electric
      dipole (5)D0-->(7)F1, (7)F2, (7)F3 and (7)F4 transitions of Eu3+. The effect of
      Eu3+ concentration or charge compensator on the emission intensity of Ba2B2P2O10
      : Eu3+ phosphor was investigated, and the result shows that the emission
      intensity of the phosphor increases with increasing Eu3+ concentration, viz. the
      concentration quenching has not existed. And the emission intensity of the
      phosphor was enhanced by doping charge compensator. All the results illuminate
      that Ba2B2P2O10 : Eu3+ phosphor is a promising red phosphor for white LEDs.

PMID- 20939310
TI  - [Study on the effect of ultrasound on the secondary structure of BSA by FTIR].
AB  - Structure changes of bovine serum albumin (BSA) under ultrasound treatment were
      studied using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and fluorescence
      spectroscopy. The largest emission peak of BSA solution's fluorescence spectra
      shifted in blue orientation, indicating that the environment of the Trp residues
      in BSA had altered with ultrasound treatment. The fluorescence intensity of the
      solution has also decreased with ultrasound, which showed fluorescence quenching
      effect and the conformation changes of the BSA. The relative contents of a-helix,
      beta-fold, beta-turn and random coil under different ultrasound treatment power
      and time were quantitatively determined via analysis of the amide I changes of
      infrared spectra of BSA using curve fitting method, the secondary structure of
      BSA had variation trend from alpha-helix to beta-sheet, however, the relative
      contents random coil had not significant change.

PMID- 20939311
TI  - [Application of near infrared spectroscopy in screening Cordyceps militaris
      mutation strains and optimizing their fermentation process].
AB  - To fast screen high-yield Cordyceps militaris mutations strains and optimize
      their fermentation process, near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy technology combined
      with chemometrics has been applied to establishing models for simultaneous
      determination of adenosine, protein, polysaccharide and Cordyceps militaris acid
      contents in Cordyceps militaris powder samples. Fermentations were implemented in
      Erlenmeyer flask with 468 Cordyceps militaris mutations strains under various
      fermentation conditions and Cordyceps militaris powder samples were collected.
      Then their NIR spectra were obtained using UV-VIS-NIR spectrometer and their
      adenosine, protein, polysaccharide and Cordyceps militaris acid contents were
      determined using reference methods. Partial least squares (PLS) method was
      employed to model the relationships between NIR spectra and the above mentioned
      components' contents in Cordyceps militaris powder samples. Monte Carlo partial
      least square (MCPLS) was applied to identify the outliers and select suitable
      number of calibration samples. Moving window partial least square (MWPLS) was
      applied to select the characteristic wavelength of the components. The degree of
      the approaching (Da) was employed as criterion for selecting effective
      pretreatment methods investigated. The optimum models for determination of
      adenosine, protein, polysaccharide and Cordyceps militaris acid contents in
      Cordyceps militaris powder samples were obtained with the above mentioned
      optimization. Their correlation between actual and predictive values of
      calibration samples (Re) was 0.92943, 0.98479, 0.90785, and 0.85131,
      respectively. Their root mean square error of prediction set (RMSEP) was 0.66714,
      0.02065, 0.01131, and 0.01159, respectively. The obtained results demonstrated
      that the fitting and the predictive accuracy were satisfactory. It is feasible to
      apply this method to screen the high yield Cordyceps militaris mutation strains
      and optimize their fermentation process.

PMID- 20939312
TI  - [Spectral reconstruction using algebraic reconstruction technology for Fourier
      transform computed tomography imaging spectrometer].
AB  - In the present paper, the authors will introduce our research on spectral
      reconstruction of Fourier transform computed tomography imaging spectrometer by
      means of the algebraic reconstruction technology. A simulation experiment was
      carried out to demonstrate the algorithm. The spatial similarities and spectral
      similarities were evaluated using the normalized correlation coefficient. The
      performance of ART was evaluated when the quantity of projection is 45. In that
      case, filter back projection can't work well. Actual spectral slices were
      reconstructed by using ART in the last part of this paper.

PMID- 20939313
TI  - [A new wavelength selection algorithm based on the fusion of multiple models].
AB  - NIR spectroscopy makes a feature of a large number of wavelengths with a much
      smaller set of samples. However, some of the wavelengths contribute no
      information to the modeling. Even worse, they may contain the irrelevant
      information such as noise and background, which may result in a complex model
      and/or bad predictive ability of the model. So, it's important to do research in
      depth to eliminate these wavelengths and improve the quality of the final model.
      The present paper firstly summarizes the variable selection methods based on a
      single PLS regression model and concludes that (1) the cross-validation can be
      used to select optimal model with good predictive ability, but the resulting
      model may be not suitable for selecting variables; (2) selecting variables based
      on a single regression model is inaccurate and instable because a single vector
      of regression coefficients may not measure the importance of the variables
      correctly and may vary with models of different complexity. On basis of this
      analysis, this paper proposed a new method for variable selection based on the
      fusion of multiple PLS models. This method fuses the multiple PLS regression
      coefficients to form a vector, then a threshold is determined to eliminate the
      variables whose corresponding element in the vector is lower than this threshold.
      Finally, this method is verified by 3 well-known NIR datasets and compared with
      the UVE-PLS and GA-PLS algorithms. The experiments show that this method may
      result in a model with less complexity and/or better predictive ability.
      Moreover, the proposed method is elegant and efficient and therefore can be put
      in practical use.

PMID- 20939314
TI  - [Calculation of infrared temperature measurement on non-Lambertian objects].
AB  - According to the theory of infrared radiation and principles of temperature
      measurement using infrared imager, a universal mathematical model of infrared
      imager is established. Based on the normal emissivity characteristics of measured
      surface, the mathematical model is simplified, and the formula of temperature
      measurement using infrared imager is obtained. Through the relevant experiment,
      it is proved that the sum of emissivity and reflectivity of objects remained
      basically unchanged in a certain temperature range. The sum of emissivity and
      reflectivity of objects is relevant to the object types, surface conditions and
      the object temperature. The closer an object to Lambertian objects, the greater
      the sum is and the closer it is to 1. The farther the surface conditions deviate
      from the Lambertian surface, or the smoother the surface, the smaller the sum is.
      Experimental results show that if the object is close to Lambertian objects, it
      could be regarded as Lambertian, without the need for amendments to the actual
      objects. For non-Lambertian body (especially the smooth surfaces and low
      emissivity objects), the amendment is necessary, or the temperature measurement
      error will increase, or even the obtained temperature is very far away from its
      true temperature. The study shows that, through the amendment, infrared
      temperature measurement on non-Lambertian objects is available.

PMID- 20939315
TI  - [An investigation on fast thermolysis of ammonium perchlorate (AP) by FTIR
      spectroscopy].
AB  - The fast thermolysis processes of ammonium perchlorate (AP) and its chemical
      reaction mechanism under certain simulated conditions of combustion were
      systematically studied by means of T-Jump/FTIR technique. AP was flash-pyrolyzed
      under different pressure nitrogen atmosphere, with the heating rate of 1000 K x
      s(-1) and the set temperatures of 874 and 1 274 K. Thereafter, the real time
      species and concentration of its gaseous products were obtained and identified by
      using rapid scanning Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) in-situ spectroscopy. It
      was indicated that the main gaseous products of AP thermolysis is composed of
      NO2, N2O, NO, HCl and NClO. Interestingly, the values of N2O/NO2, NO/NO2 and
      NO/NClO are increased while the test temperature or pressure is elevated. It is
      suggested that the transformation of condensed phase and heterogeneous
      gas/condensed phase was probably arises and the "following reactions" among the
      main gaseous products may also take place in the fast thermolysis process of AP.

PMID- 20939316
TI  - [DRIFTS study of Cu1Zr1Ce9Odelta catalysts for selective CO oxidation].
AB  - The Cu1Zr1Ce9Odelta catalysts synthesized with coprecipitation method were used
      into the selective CO oxidation in hydrogen-rich gas. The adsorbed species and
      the intermediates on Cu1Zr1Ce9Odelta catalysts were examined by in-situ diffuse
      reflectance FTIR spectroscopy (in-situ DRIFTS) technique. It was found that
      hydrogen, oxygen and CO in the feed stream were adsorbed competitively at the
      same adsorption sites on the surface of Cu1Zr1Ce9Odelta catalysts. The
      pretreatment with hydrogen caused the deep reduction of Cu+ species to Cu0
      species and decreased the capacity of CO adsorption on the catalyst surface. The
      Cu1Zr1Ce9Odelta catalyst pretreated with oxygen offered more active oxygen
      species and inhibited the deep reduction of Cu+ species. The helium pretreatment
      only purified the surface of Cu1Zr1Ce9Odelta catalyst. Two IR bands at 2938.7 and
      2843.8 cm(-1) due to bridged formate and bidentate formate species appeared at
      180 degrees C. The active oxygen anion of Cu1Zr1Ce9Odelta catalyst could react
      with CO and produce carbonate species at room temperatures. The carbonate and
      formate species occupied the adsorption sites and deteriorated the catalytic
      performance of Cu1Zr1Ce9Odelta. Flushing the Cu1ZnrCe9Odelta catalyst with helium
      at 300 degrees C, the bidentate formate species on the catalyst surface
      decomposed to monodentate carbonate species and then further decomposed to CO2,
      which could release the adsorption sites and restore well the catalytic activity.

PMID- 20939317
TI  - [Progress in noninvasive biochemical examination by near infrared spectroscopy].
AB  - In the early nineties of last century, great importance had been gradually
      attached to the potential of near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) in the human body
      noninvasive biochemical examination. However, the human body is extremely
      complex. Although research teams have made some achievements in experimental
      simulations and in-vitro analysis, there is still no substantive breakthrough in
      clinical application now. The present paper discusses the key problems which
      prevent NIRS from achieving human noninvasive clinical biochemical examination,
      such as weak signal, the interference of human tissue background and the problem
      of blood volume change. The thoughts of noninvasive biomedical examination using
      NIRS are divided into two categories in terms of analytical method, that is
      classical near-infrared analysis and issue background interference elimination
      analysis. This paper also introduces in detail the current status of the two
      categories in the world, and believes that the second category is more promising
      to be successful in clinical application under the existing conditions.

PMID- 20939318
TI  - [Non-invasive measurement of water content in engine lubricant using visible and
      near infrared spectroscopy].
AB  - Visible and near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy (Vis-NIRS) was applied to non
      invasively measurement of water content in engine lubricant. Based on measured
      spectra, several spectral calibration algorithms were adopted to improve accuracy
      and simply calculation. Principal component analysis (PCA) and successive
      projections algorithm (SPA) were separately used to reduce variables of spectral
      model. Nine effective variables, 476, 483, 544, 925, 933, 938, 952, 970 and 974
      nm, were selected by SPA, and were inputted into partial least square regression
      (PLSR) and multivariable linear regression (MLR) models. Both the two models
      obtained better results than full-spectra-PLSR model and PCA-PLSR model. It shows
      that SPA does not select uninformative but effective variables from full
      spectrum. Least-square support vector machine (LS-SVM) was operated to improve
      Vis-NIRS's ability based on full-spectrum and SPA, separately. High coefficients
      of determination for prediction set (Rp(2)) up to 0.9 were obtained by both full
      spectrum-LS-SVM and SPA-LS-SVM models. SPA-LS-SVM is better than full-spectrum-LS
      SVM. The value of Rp(2) of SPA-LS-SVM is 0.983 and residual predictive deviation
      (RPD) is 6.963. It is concluded that Vis-NIRS can be used in the non-invasive
      measurement of water content in engine lubricant, and SPA is a feasible and
      efficient algorithm for the spectral variable selection.

PMID- 20939319
TI  - [Application of partial robust M-regression in noninvasive measurement of human
      blood glucose concentration with near-infrared spectroscopy].
AB  - In the study of non-invasive measurement of human blood glucose concentration
      with near-infrared spectroscopy, the partial robust M-regression (PRM) is
      proposed in the present paper to solve the robustness of calibration model
      affected by outliers existing in the spectra data set. While keeping the good
      properties of M-estimators if an appropriate weighting scheme is chosen, PRM
      inherits the speed of computation and easy realization of the iterative
      reweighted partial least squares (IRPLS) algorithm, but is robust to all types of
      outliers. With the pretreatment of spectra based on PRM, the root mean square
      error of prediction (RMSEP) of calibration model was presented and compared with
      partial least squares (PLS). Experimental results show that the robust
      calibration model PRM produces better prediction of glucose than the model of PLS
      when the components of the samples increase which is significant for non-invasive
      prediction of blood glucose levels.

PMID- 20939320
TI  - [FTIR study on the leaf spots, near-spot and normal tobacco leaves].
AB  - Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) was used to study three group
      tobacco leaves of brown spot, angular spot and weather speck, with each group
      being composed of three samples, namely, leaf spots, near-spot and normal tobacco
      leaves. The results indicate that the absorption ratio A1631/A1025 of the three
      group tobacco leaves showed the same change tendency, with the normal tobacco
      leaves < the near-spot leaves < the leaf spots. For a more objective and
      comprehensive analysis, the original and second-derivative spectra were selected
      for distance analysis in the whole region. The results show that the Pearson
      correlation coefficient of the near-spot leaves and normal leaves is greater than
      the corresponding coefficient of leaf spots and normal leaves, which suggest that
      the near-spot leaves and normal leaves have a closer relationship compared with
      the leaf spots and normal leaves. The ratios of the A1631/A1025 and Pearson
      correlation coefficients show that the chemical composition of the near-spot
      leaves changed gradually, that is, the near-spot leaves were in a transient state
      between normal and disease leaves. In conclusion, FTIR spectroscopy is a
      promising technique for diagnosing tobacco disease in the incubation period.

PMID- 20939321
TI  - [Analysis method of the fingerprint of LiuWei DiHuang pills by near infrared
      spectroscopy].
AB  - The purpose of the present paper is to establish a method of the fingerprint of
      LiuWei DiHuang pills by the near infrared spectroscopy. First, the authors
      established the fingerprint of LiuWei DiHuang pills by high performance capillary
      electrophoresis (HPCE), and calculated its similarity. At the same time, the
      authors scanned its near infrared spectrogram. Then the authors established the
      mathematical model between the similarity of fingerprint and the near infrared
      spectrogram. Through the optimization of the model, the correlation(r),
      calibration standard deviation and the average relative error of the modeling set
      were 0.9046, 0.058 and 6.12%, respectively. It proved that the linearity between
      calculated and forecast of fingerprint was clear. The results showed that the
      method of the fingerprint of LiuWei DiHuang pills by the near infrared
      spectroscopy was feasible.

PMID- 20939322
TI  - [Detection of oil spills on water by differential polarization FTIR
      spectrometry].
AB  - Detection of oil spills on water, by traditional thermal remote sensing, is based
      on the radiance contrast between the large area of clean water and the polluted
      area of water. And the categories of oil spills can not be identified by
      analysing the thermal infrared image. In order to find out the extent of
      pollution and identify the oil contaminants, an approach to the passive detection
      of oil spills on water by differential polarization FTIR spectrometry is
      proposed. This approach can detect the contaminants by obtaining and analysing
      the subtracted spectrum of horizontal and vertical polarization intensity
      spectrum. In the present article, the radiance model of differential polarization
      FTIR spectrometry is analysed, and an experiment about detection of No. O diesel
      and SF96 film on water by this method is presented. The results of this
      experiment indicate that this method can detect the oil contaminants on water
      without radiance contrast with clean water, and it also can identify oil spills
      by analysing the spectral characteristic of differential polarization FTIR
      spectrum. So it well makes up for the shortage of traditional thermal remote
      sensing on detecting oil spills on water.

PMID- 20939323
TI  - [FTIR studies of masson pine wood decayed by brown-rot fungi].
AB  - Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy was used to study the chemical
      changes of masson pine (pinus massoniana lamb.) decayed by the brown-rot fungus
      Wolfiporia cocos (Schwein.) Ryvarden & Gilbn. for different durations up to 23
      weeks. The ratios of height of the lignin/holocellulose and holocellulose/lignin
      IR peaks were measured, and the klason lignin content and holocellulose content
      of the sound wood and brown-rotted wood with different level of decay were
      analyzed by wet chemical methods. The relationship between the two chemical
      components and the ratios of IR peak height was also established. FTIR spectra
      showed that, during the first 15 weeks of decay, the intensity of absorption
      bands at 1 736 and 1 372 cm(-1) ascribed to holocellulose decreased gradually,
      accompanied by a successive increase in the intensity of band at 1 510 and 1 225
      cm(-1) ascribed to lignin. However, the intensities of holocellulose bands at
      1736 and 1372 cm(-1) had a little increase, and the intensities of lignin bands
      at 1 510 and 1 225 cm(-1) had a very slight decrease after 15 weeks of decay.
      There was a very good correlation between the ratios of height of the
      lignin/holocellulose (I1510/1736, I1510/I1372, I1225/I736 and I1225/I1372) and
      the klason lignin content or holocellulose content. The coefficients of
      determination for the klason lignin content and the holocellulose content were
      0.97-0.99 and 0.96-0.97, respectively. High coeffieients of determination were
      also obtained between the holocellulose/ lignin peak height ratios and the
      holocellulose content (R2 = 0.96). The above results suggest that, in the system
      studied, the klason lignin content and holocellulose content of wood decayed to
      differnent levels could be determined with reasonable accuracy by the FTIR
      technology.

PMID- 20939324
TI  - [Study for differential cross section of ring effect].
AB  - The Ring effect is a significant limitation to the accuracy of the retrieval of
      trace gas constituents in atmosphere, while using satellite data with
      differential optical absorption spectroscopy technique. The Ring effect refers to
      the filling in of Fraunhofer lines, known as solar absorption lines, caused
      almost entirely by rotational Raman scattering. The inelastic component of the
      molecular scattering results in a net increase in radiance in the line because
      more radiation is shifted to the wavelength of an absorption line than shifted
      from this wavelength to other wavelengths. The rotational Raman scattering by N2
      and Oz in the atmosphere is the main factor that leads to Ring effect. Basically,
      the Ring effect is considered as a pseudo-absorption process in retrieval of
      trace gas constituents in atmosphere. The solar spectrum measured by OMI/AURA is
      convolved with rotational Raman cross sections of N2 and O2, divided by the
      original solar spectrum, with a cubic polynomial subtracted off, to create
      differential Ring spectrum. This method has been suggested in order to obtain an
      effective differential Ring cross-section for the DOAS fitting process. The
      differential Ring spectrum could be used to improve the accuracy of the retrieval
      of the trace gases concentration. The results in this paper have been in basic
      agreement with the corresponding results calculated with RTM, and the R2
      Statistic is 0. 966 3.

PMID- 20939325
TI  - [The effect of pressure on binary solution phase transition and fermi resonance-
      comparing pressure effect for binary solution and pure liquid].
AB  - The Raman spectra of binary solution (CCl4 and C6 H6) and pure liquid were
      measured up to pressures of 11 GPa. The results show that pressure effect on
      binary solution is different from that on pure liquid: When mixing two liquids,
      owing to the changes in the density of the solution, intermolecular distance
      decreases and interaction energy increases, the frequency shift (blue shift) of
      spectral bands increases, and the frequency shift of binary liquid is faster than
      pure liquid frequency shift. Phase transitions (spectral bands splitting) change
      earlier and natural frequency difference delta0 increases with increasing
      pressure, while the Fermi resonance bands nu1 + nu6 and nu8 of benzene and nu1 +
      nu4 and nu3 of CCl4 disappear as the pressure decreases gradually, the spectral
      bands with different compressibility have different speed, whereas CCl4 has
      smaller density, longer bond, smaller force constant and larger compressibility
      and is easy to compress, C6H6 has larger density, smaller bond, larger force
      constant, smaller compressibility and is hard to compress. The frequency shift of
      CCl4 is faster than benzene. In this paper we provide good reference on Raman
      bands assignment and certification under high pressure, and also provide methods
      and ideas for study of the different environment of high pressure effect,
      intermolecular interaction and solvent effect.

PMID- 20939326
TI  - [A spectrum signals detection method for surface enhanced Raman scattering under
      high fluorescence and background noise].
AB  - A spectrum signals detection method has been designed for surface enhanced Raman
      scattering (SERS) under high fluorescence and background noise. The components of
      the fluorescence and background noise in SERS spectrum signal were analyzed
      first. Then they were evaluated by some models, such as polynomial model and AR
      model. By analysing the difference between evaluation result and original data,
      the Raman spectrum peaks can be detected. After being used in Rhodamine 6G,
      prostate-specific antigen and PH sensing experiment, the method was proved to be
      of high performance and practicability for SERS signal processing.

PMID- 20939327
TI  - [Probing the mechanism and Ca-DPA concentration of individual Bacillus spores
      using trapping and Raman spectroscopy].
AB  - Measuring the levels of 2,6-pyridine dicarboxylic acid (DPA) in bacteria spores
      could provide the information about the DPA function, resistance mechanism and
      the mechanism of spore germination. The authors have measured levels of Ca-DPA of
      individual spores of different 19 kinds of Bacillus which from different sources,
      species, and strains by using laser tweezers Raman spectroscopy (LTRS). Also we
      have verified the reproducibility of the system simultaneously. To investigate
      the biochemical components and structure in single spore, a Raman tweezers setup
      was used to record the Raman spectrum of single spore. A NIR laser beam (30 mW,
      785 nm) was introduced into an inverted microscope to form a tweezers for
      trapping the spore suspended in water, and the Raman scatter was excited by the
      same beam. Raman spectra of 30 spores of 19 bacillus strains which collected from
      different area in China were recorded, and 100 spores of B. subtilis ACCC10243
      were measured. A spore of the same strain was probed 100 times for verifying the
      reproducibility of the LTRS system. A Matlab 7.0 edited program and Origin 8.0
      were used to process the spectral data. Because Ca-DPA is the chelate of DPA and
      the calcium ion, and the strongest Raman bands at 1 017 cm(-1) was from Ca-DPA
      component of the spore, its intensity was linearly with the Ca-DPA concentration.
      Therefore, the 1017 cm(-1) bands of Ca-DPA could be used as the quantitative
      standard peak, and then calculated the concentration of Ca-DPA could be
      calculated according the intensity of 1017 cm(-1) peak. The results showed that
      Raman spectra of single spore can reflect the characteristics information of it.
      The diversity of Ca-DPA levels not only happened between different species and
      strains of bacillus, but also happened between different individual spores in the
      same strains of bacillus. Conclusion from these measurements is that there is
      heterogeneity in different individual spores. It is convenient to trapping and
      collecting its Raman spectrum in water directly, and then get the information of
      the level of DPA, without the complex preparation of separating, purifying spores
      and abstracting DPA, so we predict LTRS as a high sensitivity, high accuracy,
      rapid and effective method in the research of individual spores.

PMID- 20939328
TI  - [Raman spectroscopy fluorescence background correction and its application in
      clustering analysis of medicines].
AB  - During Raman spectroscopy analysis, the organic molecules and contaminations will
      obscure or swamp Raman signals. The present study starts from Raman spectra of
      prednisone acetate tablets and glibenclamide tables, which are acquired from the
      BWTek i-Raman spectrometer. The background is corrected by R package
      baselineWavelet. Then principle component analysis and random forests are used to
      perform clustering analysis. Through analyzing the Raman spectra of two
      medicines, the accurate and validity of this background-correction algorithm is
      checked and the influences of fluorescence background on Raman spectra clustering
      analysis is discussed. Thus, it is concluded that it is important to correct
      fluorescence background for further analysis, and an effective background
      correction solution is provided for clustering or other analysis.

PMID- 20939329
TI  - [Study on the accuracy of pressure determined by raman spectra of quartz].
AB  - Quartz as a pressure gauge and its accuracy were studied by Raman spectroscopy at
      25 degrees C and ambient pressure. The result shows that even at same temperature
      and pressure, the Si-O vibrational mode for different grains of quartz varies
      between 463.59 and 464.65 cm(-1), with (+/- 0.1- +/- 0.3) cm(-1) error. The
      maximum difference of various grains of quartz is up to 1.06 cm(-1), much higher
      than the measurement error. The authors believe that the variety is resulted from
      the stress in the internal grains of quartz, which formed during crushing quartz
      into small grain. Therefore, Raman spectrum for quartz has to be firstly measured
      as a reference of zero pressure at ambient pressure and temperature in the
      experimental study by using diamond anvil cell. In addition, wavenumber drift of
      the spectrometer and the unstable temperature will also cause remarkable error
      for measuring pressure.

PMID- 20939330
TI  - [The analysis of natural and synthetic ruby by Raman spectra].
AB  - The differentiation of natural and synthetic gems is still a difficult problem in
      gems identification. The full width at half maximum (FWHM) of Raman spectrum,
      that is the life-span of phonon, can provide valuable information about. natural
      or synthetic gem. Analysis of the natural and synthetic ruby was performed by
      BTR111--785 mini-Raman spectroscopy, and it was found that the FWHM of natural
      ruby is more than 10 cm(-1), withal the FWHM of synthetic ruby is less than 10
      cm(-1).

PMID- 20939331
TI  - [Raman imaging based on morphological model for human breast cancer tissues].
AB  - Raman Mapping spectra were collected on the samples of the normal human breast
      duct epithelia and the infiltrating duct carcinoma with the excitation wavelength
      of 633 nm and fitted with the morphological model which was presented before by
      the author. The normalized coefficients were calculated and used to make Raman
      images. Examining these images, the authors find that they show quite clearly the
      distribution of the chemicals which the basis spectrum was mainly derived from
      and that the DNA coefficient image also indicates the positions and scales of the
      cell nucleus, while the bright DNA area is bigger and brighter for the
      infiltrating duct carcinoma than for the normal breast dust epithelia, suggesting
      the cell nucleus in cancer tissue are larger than those in normal tissue. The
      correlation coefficient images were also made on these mapping spectra and
      examined in comparison with these model images, and it was showed that the model
      images have higher resolution and sensitivity although they are very similar.
      This work is helpful to understanding the morphological basis of the breast
      tissue Raman spectra and to developing the Raman diagnostic method for breast
      tumor.

PMID- 20939332
TI  - [Study on the effect of GDG on secondary structure of plasminogen and plasminogen
      activators by circular dichroism].
AB  - To investigate the effect of GDG on the secondary structure of plasminogen and
      plasminogen activators, circular dichroism and SDS-PAGD were applied. The results
      show that the secondary structures of prourokinase and streptokinase were changed
      by GDG. The amount of alpha-helix, beta-sheet, beta-turn and random coil of
      fibrinolytic factors relates with the different concentrations of GDG in the
      study. GDG has no effects on the secondary structure of plasmin and plasminogen.
      GDG enhancing the interactivation of plasminogen and prourokinase was indicated
      by SDS-PAGE. It was found that GDG significantly affected the activity of
      prourokinase and streptokinase, and increased intrinsic fluorescence of
      prourokinase.

PMID- 20939333
TI  - [Research on oil atomic spectrometric data semi-supervised fuzzy C-means
      clustering based on Parzen window].
AB  - A Parzen window based semi-supervised fuzzy c-means (PSFCM) clustering algorithm
      was presented. The initial clustering centers of fuzzy c-means (FCM) were
      determined with training samples. The membership iteration of FCM was redefined
      after the membership degrees of testing samples relatively to each state were
      calculated using Parzen window. Two typical faults of gear box were simulated
      through the gear box bed in order to acquire the lubricant samples. Concentration
      of Fe, Si and B, which were the representative elements, was selected as the
      three-dimensional feature vectors to be analyzed with FCM and PSFCM clustering
      methods. The clustering results were that the correct ratio of FCM was 48.9%,
      while that of PSFCM was 97.4% because of integrating with supervised information.
      Experimental results also indicated that it can reduce the dependence of the
      experience and lots of faults data to introduce PSFCM into oil atomic
      spectrometric analysis. It was of great help in improving the wear faults
      diagnosis ratio.

PMID- 20939334
TI  - [Study on spectral detection of green plant target].
AB  - Weeds grow scatteredly in fields, where many insentient objects exist, for
      example, withered grasses, dry twig and barriers. In order to improve the
      precision level of spraying, it is important to study green plant detecting
      technology. The present paper discussed detecting method of green plant by using
      spectral recognizing technology, because of the real-time feature of spectral
      recognition. By analyzing the reflectivity difference between each of the two
      sides of the "red edge" of the spectrum from plants and surrounding environment,
      green plant discriminat index (GPDI) is defined as the value which equals the
      reflectivity ratio at the wavelength of 850 nm divided by the reflectivity ratio
      at the wavelength of 650 nm. The original spectral data of green plants and the
      background were measured by using the handhold FieldSpec 3 Spectroradiometer
      manufactured by ASD Inc. in USA. The spectral data were processed to get the
      reflectivity of each measured objects and to work out the GPDI thereof as well.
      The classification model of green plant and its background was built up using
      decision tree method in order to obtain the threshold of GPDI to distinguish
      green plants and the background. The threshold of GPDI was chosen as 5.54. The
      detected object was recognized as green plant when it is GPDI>GPDITH, and vice
      versa. Through another test, the accuracy rate was verified which was 100% by
      using the threshold. The authors designed and developed the green plant detector
      based on single chip microcomputer (SCM) "AT89S51" and photodiode "OPT101" to
      realize detecting green plants from the background. After passing through two
      optical filters, the center wavelengths of which are 650 and 850 nm respectively,
      the reflected light from measured targets was detected by two photodiodes and
      converted into electrical signals. These analog signals were then converted to
      digital signals via an analog-to-digital converter (ADS7813) after being
      amplified by a signal amplifier (OP400). The converted digital signal of
      reflected light was eventually sent to the SCM (AT89S51) and was calculated and
      processed there. The processing results and the control signals were given out to
      actuate executive device to open or close the solenoid valve. The test results
      show that the level of detectivity of the designed detector was affected by the
      species, size, and density of weeds. The detectivity of broad-leaf species is
      higher than that of narrow-leaf species. Broad-leaf species are more easily
      detected than those narrow-leaf ones; the bigger the plants and the denser the
      leaves are, the higher the level of detectivity is.

PMID- 20939335
TI  - [Measurement technology for multi-parameter spectral responsivity of X-ray
      scintillation crystals].
AB  - Aimed at the measurement demand for development of better X-ray scintillation
      crystals, a photoelectrical detector for integrally test the multi-parameter
      spectral responsivity of scintillation crystals was developed. The conversion
      spectrum of the scintillation crystal excited by various X-ray energies under the
      critical focal length could be measured directly through the spectral output
      interface by one spectrometer, and the photovoltaic effect voltage of the PIN
      photodiode could be tested through the voltage output interface by one
      oscilloscope. Furthermore, the output power of fluorescence was calculated using
      an equivalent circuit. The measurement results show that the conversion
      efficiency of the scintillator declined along with the current increase of the X
      ray tube while it has weak relation with the change in tube voltage. The
      experimental results show that the method presented in this paper is helpful for
      testing the scintillator properties.

PMID- 20939336
TI  - [Preparation and spectroscopy properties of Eu2 (CA)3 (phen)2 doped Eu3+/TiO2
      nano-powders].
AB  - The 1% Eu3+ doped Eu3+ /TiO2 nano-powders were prepared via sol-gel method by
      using Eu(NO3)3 and Eu2 (CA)3 (phen)2 (CA: camphoric acid; phen: 1, 10
      phenanthroline) as precursors respectively, and the samples were characterized by
      thermal analyses (TG-DTA), X-ray powder diffraction(XRD), scanning electron
      microscope(SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), UV-Vis
      absorption spectra and fluorescence spectra for their microstructure, morphology
      and spectroscopy properties. The results of TG-DTA and XRD indicate that the
      increasing trend of particle size and the conversion temperature of crystalline
      phase of the as prepared samples was restrained when using organic complexes
      Eu2(CA)3 (phen)2 as the do pant. The particle size was decreased from 9 to 7 nm,
      and the name powders were still anatase TiO2 when the calcination temperature was
      increased up to 500 degrees C. The absorption peak at about 370 nm in UV-Vis
      spectra was red-shifted when doping with organic complexes Eu2 (CA)3 (phen)2,
      namely the doped TiO2 nano powders have the ability of visible light responding.
      The characteristic absorption peaks of organic complex did not appear in FTIR
      spectrum, indicating that the Eu3+ has little impact on the formation process of
      TiO2 crystal when using Eu2(CA)3 (phen)2 as precursor. The result of fluorescence
      spectrum indicates that the characteristic transition of Eu3+ at 578 nm
      (corresponding to (5)D0---(7)F0), 590 nm((5)D0-(7)F1) and 612 nm ((5)D0-(7)F2)
      appeared in both samples, in which the peak at 612 nm was the characteristic red
      transmutation peak. When doping Eu3+ with the same content, the nano-powders
      using Eu2 (CA)3 (phen)2 as precursor obtain higher luminescence intensity.
      Therefore, by using a simple approach, the authors prepared the light-emitting
      rare earth inorganic nano-powders with better luminescence property and high
      stability, and such inorganic nano-powders might have potential applications in
      many fields.

PMID- 20939337
TI  - [Research on vehicle-based remote sensing of natural gas pipeline leakage].
AB  - In the present paper the authors designed a vehicle-based remote sensing system
      using simulated platform and presented a new method of concentration calibration
      of natural gas pipeline leakage remote sensing. By investigating the performance
      of different distance, different material, different angle of topographic back
      scatter and different scan speed, a good coincidence was achieved between
      experimental results and theoretical results. The system can realize the remote
      detection of low-level methane concentration at a velocity of 53.3 km x h(-1),
      and the detecting distance is about 70 m with the minimum detectable sensitivity
      being 28.9 ppm x m. The research result shows the feasibility in the application.

PMID- 20939339
TI  - [Study on the arithmetic of absorbance inversion based on tunable diode-laser
      absorption spectroscopy].
AB  - Tunable diode-laser absorption spectroscopy techniques have been widely used in
      many regions, such as environmental monitoring and detection of industrial
      process, due to their high spectral resolution, high sensitivity, fast time
      response and nonintrusive character. It's important to obtain absorbance curve
      and integrated absorbance for gas concentration inversion and line strength
      calibration in direct-absorption spectroscopy techniques. An approach was taken
      to process the laser direct absorption spectrum. First a low-order polynomial
      baseline fitting was carried on sub-regions of the transmitted signal to
      eliminate the effect of diode-laser output fluctuation and obtain the absorbance
      curve. Then integrated absorbance can be inverted through line-shape fitting
      using Levenberg-Marquardt non-linear least-squares fitting method. This approach
      was verified by experimental processing of absorption lines of water vapor.

PMID- 20939338
TI  - [Study of microstructure of pectin and whey protein isolate mixtures under
      incompatible conditions using dynamic light scattering and transmission electron
      microscopy].
AB  - The microstructure of the pectin/whey protein isolate mixtures under incompatible
      conditions was investigated using dynamic light scattering spectroscopy,
      transmission electron microscopy and shear-viscosity model. Under the condition
      of 90 degrees C and pH 7.4, the presence of negatively charged pectin could
      induce depletion aggregation in a 5% protein solution, and promote phase
      separation; precisely, when the mass ratio of pectin/whey protein isolate was
      lower than 0.08, the hydrodynamic size of the aggregates was less than 300 nm,
      and the system showed Newtonian properties; when the mass ratio was higher than
      0.08, the viscosity of the solution increased rapidly, the shear thinning
      properties became obvious and the size of the aggregates was close to 700 nm.

PMID- 20939340
TI  - [Validation of HJ-1 HSI red edge parameters based on spectral reflectance of
      Hyperion].
AB  - To validate the HJ-1A HSI red edge indices, spectral reflectance data from EO-1
      Hyperion of close date were used to simulate the band reflectance of HJ-1A HSI.
      Four red edge indices (red vale position, red edge position, red edge slop and
      red edge swing) were extracted from both simulated and actual HJ-1A HSI band
      reflectance. Comparisons of the 4 red edge indices between simulated and actual
      HJ-1A HSI were made to validate the red edge indices product of HJ-1A HSI. The
      average correlation coefficient of red edge reflectance between actual and
      simulated HJ-1A HSI is 0.946 and its standard deviation is 0.011, thus a high
      consistency could be found. The correlation coefficients of red edge indices
      between simulated and actual HJ-1A HSI were 0.414, 0.543, 0.808 and 0.802 for red
      edge position, red vale position, the red edge swing and red edge slop
      respectively. An obvious regular varying trend was found for these 4 red edge
      indices along different vegetation cover fraction. The standard deviations of
      differential images between real and simulated HJ-1A HSI red edge indices are
      5.75, 1.86, 5.7 e(-4) and 0.024. The result showed that the red edge indices from
      HJ-1A HSI is consistent with that from simulated indices from Hyperion; the
      vegetation variation could be effectively reflected in HJ-1A HSI red edge
      indices.

PMID- 20939341
TI  - [The spectroscopy analysis of intermolecular interaction between the template
      molecule and functional monomer before polymerization].
AB  - To prepare the non-covalent molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) with good
      adsorption properties,the degree of interaction is important factor between the
      template molecule and functional monomer before polymerization. The correlative
      research has been reported less. In the present paper, UV combined with infrared
      spectra was applied to study intermolecular interaction of the template molecule
      and functional monomer. andrographolide was used as the template molecule,
      acrylamide (AM) as the functional monomer in the three kinds of solvents, namely
      acetonitrile, tetrahydrofuran and ethyl acetate. The experimental results showed
      that the UV absorption peaks at 224 nm exhibited blue-shift of 5 nm, and the
      absorption peak increased for andrographolide and AM in acetonitrile solvent. In
      IR spectra, the O--H stretching vibration was also blue-shifted by nearly 8 cm(
      1), while the N--H stretching vibration of blue shift was about 6 cm(-1). The
      data showed that the strong interaction of blue-shifted hydrogen bonds generated
      between the molecules of andrographolide and AM. And intermolecular interaction
      was very weak in other two solvents. It is obvious that the stronger the
      intermolecular interaction, the greater the spectroscopy changes, the better the
      selectivity of identification points, and thus the better the adsorption
      properties of MIPs are.

PMID- 20939342
TI  - [Syntheses and spectral study of novel metal zinc organic phosphonate].
AB  - Two novel Zn2+ organic phosphonate Zn(4,4'-bipy)(HBCP) 1 and [Zn2 (phen)2
      (BCP)(H2 BCP)].H2O2 were hydrothermally synthesized. The compound 1 is with two
      dimensional layer framework whereas the compound 2 is zero-dimensional structure.
      The Zn2+ ion is four-coordinated in compound 1 while five or six-coordinated in
      compound 2. The relationship between their properties and structures was studied
      by using FTIR, two-dimensional (2D) correlation infrared spectroscopy under
      thermal perturbation, fluorescence and UV-Vis DRS spectrum etc. Upon light
      excitation at 350 nm, the compound 1 exhibits luminescence with a strong wide
      emission at 412 nm and a weak emission at 520 nm, while the compound 2 exhibits
      luminescence with a wide emission only at 398 nm under light excitation at 336
      nm.

PMID- 20939343
TI  - [Photoionization spectrum measurement and analysis of deep level in GaN
      epilayers].
AB  - Photoionization spectrum measurement method was designed based on constant
      photocurrent control by PID technology. Combined with photocurrent and hall
      effect measurements, this method can provide exact photoionization cross section
      in GaN epilayers. The measurement results of GaN epilayers show that, the
      responsiveness of photoelectric detector is the dominating factor affecting test
      accuracy. The test error increases with the incident photon energy. An 8% test
      error can be produced under incident photon with 3.2 eV photon energy. Deep level
      trap in GaN epilayers can still absorb photons with incident energy less than the
      energy difference between deep level trap and conductor band (2.85 eV), which
      implies that the lattice relaxation associated with deep level trap takes places
      in GaN epilayers.

PMID- 20939344
TI  - [Analysis of phytoplankton absorption coefficients and their effect factors in
      Taihu Lake].
AB  - To estimate the spatial variation characteristics of Taihu Lake phytoplankton and
      its influencing factors, samples were taken at 52 sampling sites during Apr.
      2009. Then the total concentration of Chla and absorption coefficient of
      phytoplankton were measured the very day the samples were delivered to the lab.
      In the present research, results on pigment package effect by former researchers
      were taken to calculate its influence on specific absorption coefficients, the
      power of package effect of different areas in Taihu Lake were estimated, and the
      package effort revision was done to absorption coefficient of phytoplankton.
      Ratio of blue and red band of absorption coefficients (a(ph) (440)/a(ph) (675))
      and standardization specific absorption spectrum were used to measure the
      influence on specific absorption coefficients by accessory pigment in different
      areas of Taihu Laik and different bands. Results showed that (1) specific
      absorption coefficients of phytoplankton in Taihu Lake vary more in short wave
      bands than that at 675 nm, specific absorption coefficients in Meiliang Bay are
      lower than in other areas. (2) Spatial variation of specific absorption
      coefficients in Taihu Lake is seriously influenced by package effect, and this
      influence occurred more seriously in Meiliang Bay than in other areas and more
      seriously in alongshore water body than in offshore water body. (3) Influence on
      specific absorption coefficients by accessory pigment is relatively weak, and
      mostly concentrates in short wave band, while auxiliary pigment influence is less
      at 675 nm, and in Meiliang Bay accessory pigment influence is less than in other
      areas, and its influences are less in alongshore water body than in offshore
      water body.

PMID- 20939345
TI  - [Spectroscopic study of diazepam molecularly imprinted polymers and initiative
      application to conductimetric sensor based on molecularly imprinted films].
AB  - The molecularly imprinted polymers were synthesized using diazepam as the
      template and molecularly imprinted films (MIF) prepared on screen printed
      electrodes (SPE). The binding mechanism and recognition characteristics of the
      molecularly imprinted polymers were studied by ultraviolet (UV) spectra and
      infrared (IR) spectra. In addition, a conductimetric sensor for diazepam was
      established preliminarily based on diazepam MIF modified SPE. The results of UV
      spectra indicated that template molecules and functional monomers had formed 1:2
      hydrogen bonding complexes; the results of IR spectra showed that there were some
      functional groups in the molecularly imprinted polymers which could interact with
      the template molecules. The molecularly imprinted polymers manifested highly
      recognition to diazepam. The response of the conductimetric sensor to the
      concentration of diazepam displayed a linear correlation over a range of 0.04 to
      0.62 mg x L(-1) with a detection limit of 0.008 mg x L(-1). The sensor is
      suitable for on-the-spot detection of diazepam.

PMID- 20939346
TI  - [Comparative study on algorithms for wave-front aberration reconstruction of
      human eye].
AB  - Zernike mode reconstruction model of human eye wavefront aberrations based on
      Hartmann-Shack sensor is introduced. Three algorithms, including Gram-Schmidt
      orthogonal transformation, Householder transformation and singular value
      decomposition, are deduced and compared with each other. Through simulation by
      the experimental data, the results suggest that the accuracy of the three methods
      is equivalent and singular value decomposition is the relatively ideal algorithm
      of wavefront aberrations of human eyes.

PMID- 20939347
TI  - [Season features of mineral elements in the root of cultivated and wild Anisodus
      tanguticus].
AB  - The Anisodus tanguticus (Maxim.) Pascher is a Chinese traditional medicinal
      material and Tibet herb of local Qing-hai. The authors collected, tanguticus and
      wild Anisodus tanguticus (Maxim.) Pascher, and analyzed the contents of mineral
      elements such as K, Ca, Fe, Na and Mg by atomic absorption spetrometer, and P by
      721 spectrophotometer. The results show that: samples in different places are all
      rich in Mg and Na while poor in P. At the same time, Ca has a negative
      correlation with other elements. Compared to the others, the amount of 4 elements
      is higher in wild Anisodus tanguticus is higher.

PMID- 20939348
TI  - [Backscattering spectrum analysis of nonspheroid soot particle].
AB  - In the process of measuring soot concentration and grain diameter, the
      backscattering spectrum of soot particle model was calculated to ascertain and
      analyze main effective factor of backscattering intensity. In the present paper,
      ellipsoid, column and generalized Chebyshev, three nonspheroid models, were
      selected according to micrograph of practical soot particle, which aims to
      simulate practical soot particle with equivalent diameter of about 1 microm. T
      matrix method was used to calculate backscattering spectrum of the three
      nonspheriod models, and the main effective factor curves of intensity were
      obtained, too. Both numerical computer simulations and experimental results
      illustrate that nonspheroid particle backscattering intensity is stronger than
      that of spheroid particle in the visible/infrared spectrum band, especially for
      generalized Chebyshev model, whose backscattering intensity can be even 3.5 times
      higher than that of forward scattering. Meanwhile, the absorbency non-spheroid
      particle (complex refractive index m = 1.57 - 0.56i) backscattering intensity is
      stronger than that of non-absorbency nonspheriod particle (complex refractive
      index m = 1.57 - 0.001i). Furthermore, with the increase in particle equivalent
      radius, the light source wavelength also needs to be increase to obtain more
      light intensity information. The backscattering light spectrum information
      provides a reasonable basis for selecting light source and measure angle.

PMID- 20939349
TI  - [Using hyperspectral remote sensing to estimate canopy chlorophyll density of
      wheat under yellow rust stress].
AB  - The canopy reflectance of winter wheat infected with different severity yellow
      rust was collected in the fields and canopy chlorophyll density (CCD) of the
      whole wheat was measured in the laboratory. The correlation was analyzed between
      hyperspectral indices and CCDs, the indices with relationship coefficients more
      than 0. 7 were selected to build the inversion models, and comparing the
      predicted results and measured results to test the models, the results showed the
      first derivative index (D750-D550)/(D750+D550) has higher prediction precision
      than other indices, while the next is first derivative index (D725
      D702)/(D725+D702). Saturation analysis was performed for the above indices, the
      result indicated that when CCD was more than 12 microg x cm(-2), the first
      derivative index (D750-D550)/(D750+D550) was easiest to get to saturation level.
      Therefore, when CCD was less than 12 microg x cm(-2), the first derivative index
      (D750-D550)/(D750+D550) could be used to estimate wheat CCD and had higher
      prediction precision than other indices; and when CCD was more than 12 microg x
      cm(-2), the first derivative index (D725-D702)/(D725+D702) was not easiest to
      reach saturation level and could be used to estimate wheat CCD. There is a
      significant minus cor relation between CCD and disease index (DI), moreover,
      accurate estimation of CCD by using hyperspectral remote sensing not only can
      monitor wheat growth, but also can provide assistant information for
      identification of wheat disease. Therefore, this study has important meaning for
      prevention and reduction of disaster in agricultural field.

PMID- 20939350
TI  - [Progress in atomic spectrochemical analysis and its application].
AB  - The present review covers the latest progress in instruments and methodology of
      analytical atomic spectrometry in the areas, such as atomic absorption
      spectrometry (AAS), atomic emission spectrometry (AES), atomic fluorescence
      spectrometry (AFS), laser induced breakdown spectrometry (LIBS) and atomic mass
      spectrometry (AMS). The emphasis has focused in the fields of food, medicine and
      their relevant. The Lab-on-chips and microplasmas are emerged in recent years,
      which have facilitated the development of miniaturization of analytical atomic
      instruments. The applications of laser and hyphenaed techniques continue in
      popularity for speciation studies.

PMID- 20939351
TI  - [Research advance in slurry introduction for graphite furnace atomic absorption
      spectrometry].
AB  - Slurry introduction graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry combining the
      significant advantages of the solid and liquid sampling methods is already
      considered as a mature technique. It was widely utilized for metal determination
      in trace and even ultra trace analysis in organic and inorganic complicated
      matrix, even for routine analysis. Methodology of the analysis of various
      materials using slurry furnace atomic absorption spectrometry was reviewed in the
      present paper in late 10 years. Techniques of slurry preparation (liquid media,
      stabilizing agents, mass/volume ratio, particle size and slurry homogenization
      systems), the chemical modification, background correctors, calibration,
      precision and trueness of analysis were described in detail. The developing trend
      has also presented. Eighty one references were cited.

PMID- 20939352
TI  - [Analysis of 27 mineral elements in the rice samples collected from China and
      Japan by using ICP-OES and ICP-MS].
AB  - Based on microwave-assisted decomposition and dry ashing methods, the
      concentrations of Al, As, B, Ba, Ca, Cd, Co, Cr, Cs, Cu, Fe, Hg, K, Mg, Mn, Mo,
      Na, Ni, P, Pb, Rb, S, Se, Sr, T1, V and Zn in sixteen Chinese rice samples and
      eleven Japanese rice samples were analysed by using ICP-OES and ICP-MS, and a
      biological standard reference material rice (GBW10010) was used to verify the
      accuracy and the precision of analytical method. It was demonstrated that ICP-MS
      equipped with a collision cell technique can be successfully used for reducing
      polyatomic interferences in the detection of elements with low m/z ratios.
      Compared with those in Japanese rice samples, the concentrations of Al, S and Sr
      in Chinese rice samples are significantly high, and the concentrations of B, Cd,
      Cs, Mg, Mo, P, Pb and Zn in Chinese rice samples are much lower (P < 0.05). The
      Ward's method of cluster analysis applied to the concentrations of 26 elements
      except T1 whose concentration is below the detection limit exhibited the ability
      to effectively differentiate Chinese rice samples from Japanese rice samples.
      Moreover, it was found that the concentrations of magnesium correlate very well
      with the concentrations of phosphorus in all rice samples, with the correlation
      coefficient being as high as 0.9552.

PMID- 20939353
TI  - [Mineral elements analysis of Momordica charantiap seeds by ICP-AES and fatty
      acid profile identification of seed oil by GC-MS].
AB  - In the present study, a special kind of Momordica charantia seeds produced in Hai
      Nan was selected and analyzed. Firstly, inductively coupled plasma-atomic
      emission spectrophotometry (ICP-AES) was used to determine the mineral elements.
      It was clear that the contents of K, Mg and P are the highest in the seeds; Cr
      and Zn takes up to 5.65% and 45.45% high, especially, which are rare in plant
      foods. These minerals, especially Cr and Zn might have a complex effect on those
      proteins or polysaccharides and form a stronger anticipation of hyperlipidemia,
      hyperglycemia and cholesterol. Secondly, seed oil was extracted by supercritical
      CO2 extraction with a yield ratio of 36.89, and the fatty acids were treated by
      methylation in alkaline process and purified by thin-layer chromatography, then
      analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometer (GC-MS) identification. The
      saturated fatty acids (SFA) take up 36.712, and mainly are stearic acid;
      monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) is only 3.33% which is dominantly linoleic acid
      (LA); Polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) accounted for 59.96%, and the alpha
      eleostearic acid takes up 54.26% as the main fatty acids in all. The plentiful
      alpha-eleostearic acid leads to strong effects of inhibiting tumor cell
      proliferation, lowering blood fat, anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory and preventing
      cardiovascular diseases, and so on. Knowing clearly the mineral elements
      distribution and identifying the composition of fatty acid, especially the main
      fatty acids in the oil, are both of great guiding importance to further exploit
      the clinical and edible value in Momordica charantiap seeds.

PMID- 20939354
TI  - [Correlation analysis of mineral content and cooking quality from 20 broad bean
      varieties].
AB  - For exploration of the impact of mineral content on cooking quality of broad
      beans, this study collected 20 varieties of broad bean, and measured and analyzed
      the content of ash and 11 mineral elements. The relevance between mineral content
      and cooking quality was analyzed. The result indicated that there is a certain
      degree of relevance between mineral element content and the cooking quality of
      broad beans. These influential parameters in cotyledon were in the order of the
      value: Al, Mg, Zn and Mn mineral aggregate, ash P, Cu, K and Se, and Mg, Cu, Ca,
      Al and K mineral aggregate in seed coat.

PMID- 20939355
TI  - [Method study on calcium and phosphorus simultaneous determination by microwave
      digestion and ICP-MS].
AB  - As a pre-digestion method of breast milk microwave-digestion was adopted in this
      method, and the contents of calcium and phosphorus were determined by ICP-MS at
      the same time. By optimizing conditions of digestion and ICP-MS, appropriate
      internal elements and the isotope mass number and EPA200.8 interference
      calibration equation were chosen. The accuracy and reliability of method were
      verified through the recovery and milk powder analysis of national standard
      substances (GBW10017). Determination results are in the permissible range. The
      relative deviation (RSD) is less than 2.40%, while the recovery is between 102.8%
      and 104.0%. ICP-MS method has wide dynamic range, and doesn't need to dilute
      samples. It is suitable for lots of samples and multi-element analyzed at the
      same time, and making up default of different method and different element
      determined respectively in national standard. It is a determination method for
      calcium and phosphorus supply of breast milk.

PMID- 20939356
TI  - [Determination of Fe, Ti and V in vanadium and titanium magnetite by ICP-OES and
      microwave-assisted digestion].
AB  - The method of determination of iron, titanium and vanadium in indissolvable
      vanadium and titanium magnetite has been established by inductively coupled
      plasma atomic emission spectroscopy through adding the complexant A and using
      microwave-assisted digestion. The optimal conditions are confirmed by orthogonal
      experiment: 0.1 g vanadium and titanium magnetite, 0.04 g complexant A, 12 mL
      concentrated HC1, 10 min digestion time, and 385 W microwave power. The newly
      established method has been applied to digest vanadium and titanium magnetite of
      Panzhihua Iron and Steel Institute (GBW07226). The iron, titanium and vanadium
      were detected by ICP-OES, and both comparative error (Er%) and comparative
      standard deviation (RSD%) met the demand of analytical chemistry, and the
      complexant A can significantly accelerate the dissolution of vanadium and
      titanium magnetite through the complexation with the dissolved metal ions, and
      making the surface of sample and hydrochloric acid medium to update constantly.
      The determination of the main and trace elements of digestion solution at the
      same time was achieved by ICP-OES. The method has the advantages of less use of
      reagents, economy, rapidness, and being friendly to environment, and it meets the
      requirement for rapid and volume determination. So the method has the value of
      practical application for the entry-exit inspection and quarantine department of
      the state and other relevant inspection units.

PMID- 20939357
TI  - [Effects of different salinity stress on K, Na content and relevant genes
      expression in leaves of Chenopodium album in Xinjiang].
AB  - As soil salinity constitutes a major threat to agriculture in the world, to cope
      with this problem, much emphasis has been focused on the response mechanism of
      halophytes or salt-tolerant species to salinity stress. In the present study, C.
      album was treated with long-term NaCl and KCl stress, then several parameters
      were assayed in leaves as follows: inductively coupled plasma atomic emission
      spectrometry (ICP-AES) was employed to measure the K, Na content; semi
      quantitative RT-PCR was used to investigate the expression level of three genes
      which were related to ion transport on the vacuolar membrane-NHX, VP1 and VAP-C.
      In addition, the mechanism for the effect of different salinity on K, Na content
      was preliminarily discussed. The results were as follows: (1) Under lower
      concentration of NaCl stress, C. album had a preferential uptake of potassium and
      exclusion of sodium, and thus maintained a low concentration of sodium in cells
      of the leaf; (2) Under higher concentration of NaCl (300 mmolx L(-1)), C. album
      was able to tolerate excessive amounts of sodium in cells and kept the higher
      K/Na ratio in cytoplasm by compartmentalizing Na ions into the vacuole via ion
      transporter system located on vacuole membrane, (3) Much K ions and total ions
      (including sodium and potassium) may be responsible for, at least partial, the
      intolerance of C. album to high concentration of KCl. In conclusion, C. album
      could tolerate high concentration of NaCl stress, accompanied by high ability to
      accumulate Na+ in leaves. These results could contribute to the further
      investigation of this promising species, e.g., amending saline soil.

PMID- 20939358
TI  - [Analysis of effects of irradiation on the crystal size of daemonorops margaritae
      with X-ray diffractometry].
AB  - In order to find the relationships between the crystal size and the physical &
      mechanical properties, and to improve the levels of high value-added processing
      and utilizing for Chinese rattan resources, the daemonorops margaritae, Chinese
      unique rattan, was chosen as the research material, then the crystal size was
      measured and analyzed through the X-ray diffraction method before and after gamma
      ray irradiation. The results show that the crystal width is in the range between
      1.901 and 3.019 nm, and the average width is 2.403 nm. The crystal length is in
      the range between 4.118 and 28.824 nm with an average length of 10.907 nm. After
      irradiation, the width of daemonorops margaritae is in the range between 2.139
      and 3.540 nm, and the average width is 2.569 nm, and the crystal length
      dramatically changes in the range between 5.765 and 38.432 nm with a mean of
      15.530 nm. Both of the scope and the mean value of the crystal width and length
      increase after irradiation.

PMID- 20939359
TI  - [Determination of seven metal elements in Yunnan wild Schizophyllum commune Fr by
      atomic absorption spectrometry].
AB  - The seven metal elements in Yunnan wild schizophyllum commune Fr, including Zn,
      Co, Ni, Cu, Fe, Cr and Mg, were determined by atomic absorption spectrometry for
      providing a scientific basis of the development. The results show that Zn, Co,
      Ni, Fe, Cr and Mg are relatively rich in schizophyllum commune Fr and the content
      of Cu is lower. The ratio of the content of Zn to that of Cu is 7.4, which is
      consistent with the relative content level of Zn and Cu contained in many
      anticancer Chinese traditional plants, implying that the nutritive value of
      Yunnan wild schizophyllum commune Fr is high.

PMID- 20939360
TI  - [A study on retrieval of atmospheric aerosol parameters and trace gases based on
      differential optical absorption spectroscopy].
AB  - Due to heavy air pollutants and aerosols in our country, the model for
      simultaneous evaluation of aerosol parameters and trace gases based on
      differential optical absorption spectroscopy is developed in the present paper.
      The spectra were used to get the concentrations of many trace gases and mean
      geometrical diameter, total number concentration and total volume of aerosol
      simultaneously over the same air volume. Retrieval of aerosol parameters was
      performed by the "table look-up" method based on total extinction coefficient.
      Experimental results show that trace gases and aerosol parameters can be
      successfully retrieved using this model.

PMID- 20939361
TI  - [Chemical composition analysis of bluish-white porcelain unearthed from Fanchang
      kiln, Anhui province by wave disperse X-ray fluorescence].
AB  - Fanchang kiln was the earliest Chinese bluish-white porcelain kiln which first
      fired this special porcelain class as early as in Five Dynasties (AD 907-960).
      However, this important kiln declined rapidly in the middle North Song dynasty
      (AD 1023-1085). As to the decline reason, it is still not clearly identified till
      now. In order to find the truth, wavelength-dispersive X-ray fluorescence (WDXRF)
      was used to determine the elemental abundance patterns of its porcelain bodies in
      Five Dynasties, the early North Song dynasty and the middle North Song dynasty.
      The analytical results indicate that the chemical compositions of major, minor
      and trace elements in porcelain bodies changed greatly in the middle North Song
      dynasty. Combined with the results of INAA and glaze study, this change in
      elemental composition should be caused by the change in porcelain raw materials
      or body-making crafts. Meanwhile, it was just this change that led to the quality
      decline of raw material and rapid collapse of Fan-chang kiln in the middle North
      Song dynasty shortly after its establishment.

PMID- 20939362
TI  - [Comprehensive characterization of main components and microstructures in five
      different species of Salvia miltiorrhiza bge].
AB  - Studied with X-ray fluorescence spectrum analytic (XRF), powder X-ray diffraction
      (PXRD) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) for five different
      species of Salvia miltiorrhiza bge grew in Anguo, the intrinsic components and
      microstructures were determined and comprehensive characterization was carried
      out. The figure of comprehensive characterization can describe characteristics of
      intrinsic components from elements, crystal and amorphous active component, it
      can give an intuitive description for the same components and subtle differences
      in the intrinsic components of Salvia miltiorrhiza bge, which are different
      idioplasmatic and same species. It is the ideal method because of the simple
      preparation of sample, rapid and fine accurate measurement with reproducibility
      and objectivity, so that it can be used for breeding of fine varieties of Chinese
      medicinal materials, Chinese medicinal materials GAP guidance of growing
      conditions, medicinal origin characteristics, the intrinsic composition and
      microstructure characterization, quality control and authenticity of the
      identification.

PMID- 20939363
TI  - The Gulf Coast tick: a review of the life history, ecology, distribution, and
      emergence as an arthropod of medical and veterinary importance.
AB  - The Gulf Coast tick, Amblyomma maculatum Koch (Acari: Ixodidae), is a unique
      univoltine ectoparasite of seven vertebrate host classes in the Western
      Hemisphere that is increasingly recognized as a pest of livestock and wildlife, a
      vector of pathogens to humans and canines, and a putative vector of Ehrlichia
      ruminantium, the causal agent of heartwater, a fatal foreign animal disease of
      ruminants resident in the Caribbean. This review assembles current and historical
      literature encompassing the biology, ecology, and zoogeography of this tick and
      provides new assessments of changes in cyclical population distribution, habitat
      associations, host utilization, seasonal phenology, and life history. These
      assessments are pertinent to the emergence of A. maculatum as a vector of
      veterinary and medical importance, and its pest management on livestock and other
      animals.

PMID- 20939364
TI  - Instar determination of the neotropical beetle Oxelytrum discicolle (Coleoptera:
      Silphidae).
AB  - The carrion beetle Oxelytrum discicolle (Brulle, 1840) has forensic importance in
      the Neotropical region. The age of their larvae can provide important information
      to estimate the minimum postmortem interval of the corpse. This study was
      designed to determine the larval stages of this species, using three
      morphological measurements, as follows: distance between dorsal stemmata,
      pronotal width, and total body length. Three instars were identified. Distance
      between dorsal stemmata and pronotal width were good discriminating variables to
      determine instars, whereas total length was widely variable. For each instar,
      intervals of three morphological measures are given.

PMID- 20939365
TI  - New species of parasitic quill mites of the genus Picobia (Acari:
      Syringophilidae: Picobiinae) from North American birds.
AB  - Five new species of the genus Picobia are described and illustrated: (1) P.
      leucophaeus sp. nov. from the Laughing Gull Leucophaeus atricilla L.
      (Charadriiformes: Laridae) from Texas; (2) P. troglodytes sp. nov. from the House
      Wren Troglodytes aedon Vieillot (Passeriformes: Troglodytidae) from California;
      (3) P. cardinalis sp. nov. from the Northern Cardinal Cardinalis cardinalis (L.)
      (Passeriformes: Cardinalidae) from Texas; (4) P. carpodacus sp. nov. from the
      Purple Finch Carpodacus purpureus (Gmelin) (Passeriformes: Fringillidae) from
      California; and (5) P. psaltriparus sp. nov. from the Bushtit Psaltriparus
      minimus (Townsend) (Passeriformes: Aegithalidae) from Texas. Two avian species
      from the family Picidae (Piciformes) are recorded as new hosts for P. dryobatis
      (Fritsch, 1958): the Downy Woodpecker Picoides pubescens (L.) from Texas and the
      Ladder-backed Woodpecker Picoides scalaris (Wagler) from California.
      Additionally, all named species of the genus Picobia with their host associations
      and distributions are summarized in tabular form.

PMID- 20939366
TI  - Species-diagnostic polymerase chain reaction assays for Phlebotomus argentipes
      and Phlebotomus papatasi, vectors of Leishmania.
AB  - Species-specific differences encountered in the nucleotide sequences of a highly
      variable region of the 18S rRNA gene were used to design a multiplex polymerase
      chain reaction (PCR) assay for the identification of Phlebotomus papatasi Scopoli
      and Phlebotomus argentipes An-nandale & Brunetti, vectors of Leishmania. This
      multiplex PCR assay uses a common forward primer and two reverse primers, which
      are specific for the two species. Amplification of a PCR product of size 788 bp
      indicates the presence of P. papatasi, whereas a product of size 677 bp indicates
      the presence of P. argentipes. The assay was found to be highly specific and
      sensitive.

PMID- 20939367
TI  - Quantitative relationships between immature and emergent adult Aedes aegypti
      (Diptera: Culicidae) populations in water storage container habitats.
AB  - Although quantitative surveillance data for immature stages of Aedes aegypti are
      often used to prioritize containers or specific types of containers for control,
      the relationship between immature and emergent adult populations under field
      conditions is largely unknown. We examined the relationships between abundance of
      III/IV instars and pupae, and emerging adult population for a series of water
      storage containers in southern Vietnam. A large proportion of III/IV instars
      failed to progress to adulthood, and the relationships between III/IV instars and
      adults were poor. Collected IV instars appeared to be nutritionally deprived,
      although their size and nutrient levels were not reliable indicators of emergence
      success. Conversely, pupal abundance was a good indicator of emerging adult
      populations, especially over the ensuing 48-h period. Although there were clear
      advantages of pupal surveillance over surveillance of III/IV instars for the
      estimation of adult mosquito productivity, there were practical limitations
      associated with the enumeration of pupae, and their comparatively low densities
      may preclude the identification of potentially productive containers.

PMID- 20939368
TI  - Seasonal abundance of Culex tarsalis and Culex pipiens complex mosquitoes
      (Diptera: Culicidae) in California.
AB  - Large-scale patterns in the seasonal abundance profiles of the arboviral mosquito
      vectors Culex tarsalis Coquillett and the species of the Culex pipiens complex
      were described based on a decade of counts from 868 New Jersey light traps
      located throughout the urban and agricultural areas of California. Mean seasonal
      abundance profiles varied markedly among hydrologic regions. For all species,
      abundance increased earlier and declined later in drier, warmer southern regions,
      but variation could not be explained fully by latitude. The observed patterns may
      be driven by temperature, availability of larval habitats, and for the Cx.
      pipiens complex, the taxonomic composition of local populations.

PMID- 20939369
TI  - Reproduction-longevity trade-off in Anopheles gambiae (Diptera: Culicidae).
AB  - Reduced survival and future reproduction due to of current reproduction is a
      trade-off known as the cost of reproduction. Surprisingly, only a few studies
      have assessed the cost of reproduction in arthropod disease vectors, despite its
      effect on longevity, and thus on vectorial capacity. We evaluated the cost of
      reproduction on survival of Anopheles gambiae Giles by comparing mosquitoes that
      were denied exposure to the other sex, hereafter named virgins, and those that
      were allowed exposure to the other sex and mating, hereafter named mated. Merely
      6 d of exposure to females with mating activity reduced male survival from a
      median of 17 d in virgins to 15 d in mated, indicating that male mating cost is
      substantial. The increase in mortality of mated males began several days after
      the exposure to females ended, indicating that mating is not associated with
      immediate mortality risk. Notably, body size was negatively correlated with male
      mortality in mated males, but not in virgins. The rate of insemination declined
      after 4 d of exposure to females, indicating that male mating capacity is limited
      and further supporting the hypothesis that mating is costly for males. Consistent
      with previous studies, female survival on sugar alone (median=16 d) was shorter
      than on blood and sugar (median=19 d), regardless if she was mated or virgin.
      Overall, survival of mated females was lower than that of virgins on a diet of
      blood and sugar, but no difference was found on a diet of sugar only. However,
      the cost of reproduction in females remains ambiguous because the difference in
      survival between virgin and mated females was driven by the difference between
      virgin (median=19 d) and uninseminated females exposed to males (median=17 d),
      rather than between virgin and inseminated females (median=19 d). Accordingly,
      sperm and seminal fluid, egg development, and oviposition have negligible cost in
      terms of female survival. Only exposure to males without insemination decreased
      female survival. Nonetheless, if exposure to males under natural conditions is
      also associated with reduced survival, it might explain why females remain
      monogamous.

PMID- 20939370
TI  - Effects of body size and nutritional regimen on survival in adult Aedes
      albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae).
AB  - The effects of adult body size and nutritional regimen on the mean lethal time
      (LT) to death for the 50th (LT50) and 90th centiles (LT90) of large and small
      male and female Aedes albopictus (Skuse) were determined in the laboratory. The
      estimated LT50 and the LT90 for large/small females were significantly shorter
      for test populations receiving water (5.1/3.8 d) or water + blood (6.7/5.0 d)
      than for those receiving sucrose (44.4/31.7 d) or sucrose + blood (41.4/29.2 d).
      The estimated LT50 and LT90 for large/small males receiving water (respectively:
      3.2/2.5 d and 4.8/3.8 d) were significantly shorter than for those receiving
      sucrose (respectively: 18.8/15.9 d and 34.9/32.6 d). The availability of sucrose
      to adult mosquitoes extended the maximum life span of large and small male and
      female Ae. albopictus by 6-8x when compared with the availability of water or
      water + blood. Results indicate that sugar availability is more important than
      blood as a nutritional parameter for survival and longevity of Ae. albopictus in
      the laboratory.

PMID- 20939371
TI  - Predators of Anopheles gambiae sensu lato (Diptera: Culicidae) larvae in
      wetlands, western Kenya: confirmation by polymerase chain reaction method.
AB  - Polymerase chain reaction analysis was performed to determine whether mosquito
      predators in wetland habitats feed on Anopheles gambiae sensu lato (s.l.) larvae.
      Aquatic mosquito predators were collected from six wetlands near Lake Victoria in
      Mbita, Western Kenya. This study revealed that the whole positive rate of An.
      gambiae s.l. from 330 predators was 54.2%. The order of positive rate was the
      highest in Odonata (70.2%), followed by Hemiptera (62.8%), Amphibia (41.7%), and
      Coleoptera (18%). This study demonstrates that the polymerase chain reaction
      method can determine whether aquatic mosquito predators feed on An. gambiae s.l.
      larvae if the predators have undigested An. gambiae s.l. in their midgut or
      stomach.

PMID- 20939372
TI  - Experimental studies on comparison of the potential vector competence of four
      species of Culex mosquitoes in China to transmit West Nile virus.
AB  - To assess the risk that indigenous mosquitoes in China are capable of
      transmitting and sustaining West Nile virus (WNV), four important Culex mosquito
      species, Culex tritaeniorhynchus, Culex modestus, Culex pipiens pallens, and
      Culex pipiens quinquefasciatus, were allowed to feed on the artificial infectious
      blood meal with WNV dose of 10(6.8) plaque-forming unit/ml and tested
      approximately 2 wk later to determine infection and transmission rates. The
      results indicated that four Culex mosquitoes were competent laboratory vectors of
      WNV. The infection rates and transmission rates were statistical differences
      among different species of mosquito (chi2 = 20.620, P = 0.000; chi2 = 15.020, P =
      0.005, respectively). The highest infection rate and transmission rate were
      obtained with Cx. tritaeniorhynchus (87.5 and 74.2%, respectively).

PMID- 20939373
TI  - Geographic distribution of stomoxyine flies (Diptera: Muscidae) and diurnal
      activity of Stomoxys calcitrans in Thailand.
AB  - Stomoxyine flies (Stomoxys spp.) were collected in 10 localities of Thailand
      using the Vavoua traps. These localities represented four major ecological
      settings, as follows: small local dairy farms, large industrial dairy farms, a
      national park, and one elephant conservation area. Three species of stable flies
      were identified in the following proportions: Stomoxys calcitrans (91.5%),
      Stomoxys indicus (7.9%), and Stomoxys sitiens (0.6%). The number of flies
      collected differed significantly among collection sites (chi2 = 360.15, df=3, P <
      0.05). The greatest number of stomoxyine flies was captured in dairy farms.
      Seasonal and daily activity of S. calcitrans was observed during a 1-yr period at
      two selected locations (Dairy Farming Promotion Organization of Thailand and Khao
      Kheow Open Zoo). S. calcitrans was more abundant during the rainy season (March
      September), but was not associated with the total rainfall (r2 = 0.0002, P >
      0.05). Peak of daily flight activity of males S. calcitrans was at 1000 and 1600
      h, whereas females showed an increase of activity all along the day until 1600 h.
      A better understanding of stomoxyine fly behavior related to patterns of daily
      activity will facilitate and improve the efficiency of fly control measures in
      private and government sectors.

PMID- 20939375
TI  - A comparison of aboveground and belowground populations of Culex pipiens
      (Diptera: Culicidae) mosquitoes in Chicago, Illinois, and New York City, New
      York, using microsatellites.
AB  - Aboveground and belowground populations of the mosquito Culex pipiens L. are
      traditionally classified as form pipiens and form molestus, respectively, and
      gene flow between forms is thought to be limited. Relatively few f. molestus
      populations have been found in the United States, which has hindered their study
      in North America. In this study, we used microsatellites to characterize a newly
      discovered population of f. molestus in Chicago, IL, and compared levels of
      genetic diversity and differentiation in aboveground and belowground populations
      from Chicago and New York City, NY. Levels of genetic diversity, as measured by
      expected heterozygosity and allelic richness, were markedly lower in both f.
      molestus populations. Allele frequencies were distinctly different between the
      two f. molestus populations, and some alleles were present in one belowground
      population and not the other. Pairwise F(ST) values between populations indicated
      that f. molestus populations were highly divergent from each other, as well as
      from their associated aboveground populations. Cluster analysis suggested the
      most likely number of groups was three, with the four f. pipiens populations in
      one cluster, and each of the f. molestus populations in its own cluster.
      Admixture analysis detected a low number of hybrids, 8%, between forms. We also
      tested the efficacy of two assays purported to distinguish between the forms, the
      CQ11 assay and a restriction fragment-length polymorphism assay of the COI gene,
      and found neither assay reliable in this regard. Our findings support the
      hypothesis that f. molestus populations in Chicago and New York City arose from
      local aboveground populations.

PMID- 20939374
TI  - Identification of neryl formate as the airborne aggregation pheromone for the
      American house dust mite and the European house dust mite (Acari:
      Epidermoptidae).
AB  - The American house dust mite, Dermatophagoidesfarinae Hughes, and European house
      dust mite, Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus Trouessart, are major pests of medical
      importance throughout the developed world, causing atopic diseases such as
      asthma, rhinitis, and atopic dermatitis. Previous studies in our laboratory have
      shown that the behavioral responses of house dust mites toward volatiles from
      food sources could be assessed using a Y-tube olfactometer assay. The current
      study used this Y-tube assay to investigate house dust mite pheromones. A hexane
      extract of D.farinae, along with fractions of the extract prepared by microscale
      liquid chromatography over Florisil, were tested for behavioral activity. One of
      the chromatographic fractions was shown to be significantly attractive (P < 0.05)
      for D. farinae, compared with a solvent control. Coupled gas chromatography-mass
      spectrometry analysis of this behaviorally active fraction indicated that neryl
      or geranyl formate was the major component. Peak enhancement by gas
      chromatography, using authentic samples of the neryl and geranyl isomers prepared
      in high purity by chemical synthesis, confirmed the identity of the major peak as
      neryl formate. In Y-tube assays, male and female D. farinae and D. pteronyssinus
      both were significantly attracted to synthetic neryl formate at doses of 100 and
      10 ng, respectively (P < 0.05). No significant differences were found for D.
      farinae and D. pteronyssinus when synthetic neryl formate and house dust mite
      extracts containing natural neryl formate were tested at the same level. Dynamic
      headspace collection of D. farinae and D. pteronyssinus colonies showed that
      neryl formate was released as a volatile organic compound by both species. Our
      study shows that neryl formate is an aggregation pheromone for D. farinae and D.
      pteronyssinus, and has the potential to be used as part of a novel lure-and-kill
      system for house dust mite control.

PMID- 20939376
TI  - Inheritance patterns, dominance, stability, and allelism of insecticide
      resistance and cross-resistance in two colonies of Culex quinquefasciatus
      (Diptera: Culicidae) selected with cry toxins from Bacillus thuringiensis subsp,
      israelensis.
AB  - Mendelian crosses were used to analyze the patterns of inheritance of Cry-toxin
      resistance in two colonies of Culex quinquefasciatus Say larvae resistant to
      bacterial toxins produced by Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. israelensis de Barjac.
      Resistance levels exceeded 1000-fold at 95% lethal concentration of the CryllAa
      resistant colony (Cq11A). F1 offspring of reciprocal crosses to a susceptible
      colony revealed autosomal inheritance and offspring were intermediate in
      resistance to the susceptible and resistant parental lines. Dose-response tests
      on backcross offspring were consistent with polyfactorial inheritance of
      resistance toward CryllAa and Cry4Aa + Cry4Ba, whereas cross-resistance toward
      CryllBa best fit a monofactorial model. Resistance was 600-fold at 95% lethal
      concentration in the colony selected with Cry4A + Cry4B (Cq4AB). Inheritance of
      resistance in F1 offspring was autosomal and intermediate to the susceptible and
      resistant parents. Inheritance of Cry4Aa + Cry4Ba and CryllBa resistance best fit
      a polyfactorial model in offspring of the Cq4AB backcross, whereas CryllAa
      resistance inheritance fit a monofactorial model. Dominance values were
      calculated at different Cry-toxin concentrations for F, offspring of both
      resistant colonies; dominance generally decreased as treatment concentration
      increased. Resistance and cross-resistance remained stable in CqllA and Cq4AB in
      the absence of insecticide pressure. Allelic complementation tests were
      complementary and suggested that CqllA and Cq4AB evolved resistance to Cry toxins
      at common loci. The patterns of cross-resistance suggest cross-recognition of
      binding moieties by CryllAa, Cry4Aa + Cry4Ba, and CryllBa in these Culex, which
      may be partly responsible for the toxin synergy characteristic of B.
      thuringiensis subsp. israelensis de Barjac.

PMID- 20939377
TI  - Human-landing patterns of Anopheles dirus sensu lato (Diptera: Culicidae) in
      experimental huts treated with DDT or deltamethrin.
AB  - Anopheles dirus females landing on humans inside experimental huts treated with
      residual applications of DDT or deltamethrin were observed during the wet season
      in Pu Teuy Village, Kanchanaburi Province, western Thailand. Two identical
      experimental huts were constructed in the fashion of typical local rural Thai
      homes. Pretreatment (baseline) human-landing collections (HLC) in both huts
      showed an early evening peak of activity between 1900 and 2000 h with no
      significant difference in numbers of mosquitoes captured between huts over a
      period of 30 collection nights. During posttreatment HLC, female mosquitoes
      continued to show greater landing activity inside huts fitted with insecticide
      treated panels during the first half of the evening compared with the second
      half. A greater number (proportion) of An. dirus females landed on humans in the
      hut treated with deltamethrin compared with DDT. Comparing pre- and posttreatment
      HLC, the DDT-treated hut showed a 79.4% decline in attempted blood feeding,
      whereas exposure to deltamethrin resulted in a 56.3% human-landing reduction. An
      odds ratio was performed to demonstrate the relative probability (risk) of
      mosquitoes entering and attempting to blood feed in the two treated huts compared
      with untreated control huts. Mosquitoes were approximately 0.47 times less likely
      to land on humans inside a DDT-treated hut compared with the deltamethrin-treated
      hut. Although both chemicals exerted strong excitatory responses, DDT appears to
      have a more pronounced and significant (P = 0.002) effect on behavior than
      deltamethrin, resulting in greater movement away from the insecticide source and
      thus potential reduction of blood-feeding activity.

PMID- 20939378
TI  - A high throughput screening system for determining the three actions of
      insecticides against Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae) populations in Thailand.
AB  - Chemicals can protect humans from the bites of hemophagous arthropods through
      three different primary actions: irritancy (excitation), repellency, or toxicity,
      actions that can be evaluated using a laboratory-based assay system. In this
      study, the deterrent and toxic actions of three synthetic pyrethroids and DDT
      were characterized on six field strains of Aedes aegypti from Thailand under
      laboratory-controlled conditions using the high throughput screening system. All
      six strains showed significant contact irritant responses to the three synthetic
      pyrethroids, but significantly weaker irritant responses to DDT. Marked
      repellency responses were seen in all six Ae. aegypti test strains exposed to
      DDT, whereas the synthetic pyrethroids resulted in greater toxicity than DDT
      under similar test conditions. Although significantly different in actions,
      irritancy and repellency may reflect and be influenced by the background
      insecticide susceptibility status of a particular mosquito population. Results
      from this study can be used to guide decision making regarding more effective Ae.
      aegypti adult control in Thailand.

PMID- 20939380
TI  - Field evaluation of deet against Anopheles farauti at Ndendo (Santa Cruz) Island,
      Solomon Islands.
AB  - Field efficacy studies comparing two formulations of deet (N,N-diethyl-3
      methylbenzamide) against mosquitoes were conducted on Ndendo Island, Solomon
      Islands. The repellent study was conducted at Pala village in November 2008, and
      the only mosquito species collected was Anopheles farauti Laveran. A formulation
      containing 35% deet in a gel provided >95% protection for 2 h, whereas a
      formulation containing 40% deet in ethanol in a spray applicator provided >95%
      for only 1 h. This field study demonstrated again that repellents containing deet
      provide a relatively short period of complete protection against Anopheles spp.

PMID- 20939379
TI  - Evaluation of rodent bait containing imidacloprid for the control of fleas on
      commensal rodents in a plague-endemic region of northwest Uganda.
AB  - In recent decades, the majority of human plague cases (caused by Yersinia pestis)
      have been reported from Africa. In an effort to reduce the risk of the disease in
      this area, we evaluated the efficacy of a host-targeted rodent bait containing
      the insecticide imidacloprid for controlling fleas on house-dwelling commensal
      rodents in a plague-endemic region of northwestern Uganda. Results demonstrated
      that the use of a palatable, rodent-targeted, wax-based bait cube was effective
      at reducing the prevalence of fleas on commensal rodents and flea burdens on
      these animals at day 7 postbait exposure, but lacked significant residual
      activity, allowing flea populations to rebound in the absence of additional bait
      applications. Our results indicate the use of a palatable host-targeted bait
      block containing imidacloprid was an effective technique for quickly reducing
      flea numbers on rodents in northwest Uganda and, thus, could be useful for
      lowering the potential risk of human flea bite exposures during plague outbreaks
      if applied continuously during the period of risk.

PMID- 20939381
TI  - Detection of target site resistance to pyrethroids and organophosphates in the
      horn fly using multiplex polymerase chain reaction.
AB  - The horn fly, Haematobia irritans L., is an obligate blood-feeding fly and the
      primary insect pest parasitizing cattle in the United States. Pesticide
      resistance has become a substantial problem for cattle producers, and although
      several mechanisms of resistance are possible, target site resistance is the most
      important mechanism preventing control of this fly in the United States and
      possibly other countries. We developed a multiplex polymerase chain reaction
      assay to detect the known target site, pyrethroid resistance-associated mutation
      in the horn fly and a recently reported G262A mutation in the horn fly
      acetylcholinesterase, the target site for organophosphates. As expected, the
      pyrethroid resistance target site mutation was found in fly populations from
      Texas, Louisiana, Washington, Georgia, Mexico, and Brazil. This mutation was
      found to have a gender bias as it was more prevalent in females than males. The
      G262A acetylcholinesterase mutation was found in Texas, Louisiana, Washington,
      Georgia, and Mexico, but not Brazil. There was no gender bias in the occurrence
      of this mutation, and there was no correlation between the occurrence of the kdr
      and the G262A mutations. Unlike the case with the pyrethroid target site
      mutation, the presence of G262A did not appear to exclusively provide the level
      of resistance required to account for bioassay results. It is likely an
      additional mutation(s) occurs in the target site and/or a metabolic resistance
      mechanism exists in organophosphate-resistant horn fly populations.

PMID- 20939382
TI  - Evaluation of Metarhizium anisopliae strain F52 (Hypocreales: Clavicipitaceae)
      for control of Ixodes scapularis (Acari: Ixodidae).
AB  - Field efficacy of an emulsifiable concentrate formulation of the entomopathogenic
      fungus Metarhizium anisopliae strain F52 for the control of Ixodes scapularis
      nymphs was evaluated at residential sites in northwestern Connecticut in 2007.
      Two spray applications with two rates, 3.2 x 10(5) and 1.3 x 10(6) spores/cm2,
      were made: the first on 8-9 May, 2-3 wk before nymphal activity, and the second
      on 29 June or 2 July when ticks were active. There was no significant difference
      in nymphal abundance between the three treatment groups (P = 0.490) after the
      first application, indicating that preseason or early applications are not
      effective, despite a bioasaay with yellow mealworms that showed spores in the
      treated areas was infective for at least 1 mo postapplication. By contrast, there
      was a significant difference in the number of nymphs collected between the
      treatments and control 3 wk (F = 16.928, df = 2, P < 0.001) and 5 wk (F = 6.627,
      df = 2, P = 0.002) after the second application. During the 3 wk after the second
      application, 87.1 and 96.1% fewer ticks were collected from lower and higher rate
      treated sites, respectively, and after 5 wk, tick reductions were 53.2 and 73.8%,
      respectively. Over one- third (36.4% of 173) of the nymphs collected from the
      treated sites developed mycosis from M. anisopliae. The application of M.
      anisopliae strain F52 could provide another tool for the integrated approach to
      managing ticks in the residential landscape.

PMID- 20939383
TI  - Cloning, expression, and characterization of Der f 7, an allergen of
      Dermatophagoides farinae from China.
AB  - A full-length cDNA encoding house dust mite allergen Der f 7 from
      Dermatophagoides farina (Acari: Pyroglyphidae) from China was cloned, sequenced,
      and successfully expressed. A reference sequence (GenBank accession AY283292) was
      used to design polymerase chain reaction primers. Analysis revealed eight
      mismatched nucleotides in five Der f 7 cDNA clones, and the projected amino acid
      sequence contained six incompatible residues. These results suggest that the
      sequence of Der f 7 may be polymorphic. Further bioinformatic analysis revealed
      that the mature Der f 7 allergen had a molecular mass of approximately 21.88 kDa
      and a theoretical isoelectric point of 4.90. Der f 7 protein secondary structure
      was composed of a helix (56.63%), extended strand (5.10%), and random coil
      (38.27%). Group 7 allergens are present in Pyroglyphidae, Acaridae, and
      Glycyphagidae families, and homology analysis revealed a 86% similarity between
      Der f 7 and Der p 7. Furthermore, a phylogenetic tree constructed of group 7
      allergens from different mite species revealed that Der f 7 and Der p 7 clustered
      with 100% bootstrap support. Bioinformatics-driven characterization of Der f 7
      allergen as conducted in this study may contribute to diagnostic and therapeutic
      applications for dust mite allergies.

PMID- 20939384
TI  - Response of human skin equivalents to Sarcoptes scabiei.
AB  - Studies have shown that molecules in an extract made from bodies of the
      ectoparasitic mite, Sarcoptes scabiei De Geer, modulate cytokine secretion from
      cultured human keratinocytes and fibroblasts. In vivo, in the parasitized skin,
      these cells interact with each other by contact and cytokine mediators and with
      the matrix in which they reside. Therefore, these cell types may function
      differently together than they do separately. In this study, we used a human skin
      equivalent (HSE) model to investigate the influence of cellular interactions
      between keratinocytes and fibroblasts when the cells were exposed to
      active/burrowing scabies mites, mite products, and mite extracts. The HSE
      consisted of an epidermis of stratified stratum corneum, living keratinocytes,
      and basal cells above a dermis of fibroblasts in a collagen matrix. HSEs were
      inoculated on the surface or in the culture medium, and their cytokine secretions
      on the skin surface and into the culture medium were determined by enzyme-linked
      immunosorbent assay. Active mites on the surface of the HSE induced secretion of
      cutaneous T cell-attracting chemokine, thymic stromal lymphopoietin, interleukin
      (IL)-1alpha, IL-1beta, IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1ra), IL-6, IL-8, monocyte
      chemoattractant protein-1, granulocyte/macrophage colony-stimulating factor, and
      macrophage colony-stimulating factor. The main difference between HSEs and
      monocultured cells was that the HSEs produced the proinflammatory cytokines IL
      1alpha and IL-1beta and their competitive inhibitor IL-1ra, whereas very little
      of these mediators was previously found for cultured keratinocytes and
      fibroblasts. It is not clear how the balance between these cytokines influences
      the overall host response. However, IL-1ra may contribute to the depression of an
      early cutaneous inflammatory response to scabies in humans. These contrasting
      results illustrate that cell interactions are important in the host's response to
      burrowing scabies mites.

PMID- 20939385
TI  - Potential for North American mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) to transmit rift
      valley fever virus.
AB  - To determine which arthropods should be targeted for control should Rift Valley
      fever virus (RVFV) be detected in North America, we evaluated Culex erraticus
      (Dyar and Knab), Culex erythrothorax Dyar, Culex nigripalpus Theobald, Culex
      pipiens L., Culex quinquefasciatus Say, Culex tarsalis Coquillett, Aedes dorsalis
      (Wiedemann), Aedes vexans (Meigen), Anopheles quadrimaculatus Say, and Culicoides
      sonorensis Wirth and Jones from the western, midwestern, and southern United
      States for their ability to transmit RVFV. Female mosquitoes were allowed to feed
      on adult hamsters inoculated with RVFV, after which engorged mosquitoes were
      incubated for 7-21 d at 260C, then allowed to refeed on susceptible hamsters, and
      tested to determine infection, dissemination, and transmission rates. Other
      specimens were inoculated intrathoracically, held for 7 d, and then allowed to
      feed on a susceptible hamster to check for a salivary gland barrier. When exposed
      to hamsters with viremias > or =10(8.8) plaque-forming units/ml blood, Cx.
      tarsalis transmitted RVFV efficiently (infection rate = 93%, dissemination rate =
      56%, and estimated transmission rate = 52%). In contrast, when exposed to the
      same virus dose, none of the other species tested transmitted RVFV efficiently.
      Estimated transmission rates for Cx. erythrothorax, Cx. pipiens, Cx. erraticus,
      and Ae. dorsalis were 10, 8, 4, and 2%, respectively, and for the remaining
      species were < or = 1%. With the exception of Cx. tarsalis and Cx. pipiens, all
      species tested had moderate to major salivary gland barriers. None of the C.
      sonorensis became infected and none of the An. quadrimaculatus tested transmitted
      RVFV by bite, even after intrathoracic inoculation, indicating that these species
      would not be competent vectors of RVFV. Although Ae. vexans from Florida and
      Louisiana were relatively efficient vectors of RVFV, specimens of this species
      captured in Colorado or California were virtually incompetent, illustrating the
      need to evaluate local population for their ability to transmit a pathogen. In
      addition to laboratory vector competence, factors such as seasonal density, host
      feeding preference, longevity, and foraging behavior should be considered when
      determining the potential role that these species could play in RVFV
      transmission.

PMID- 20939386
TI  - Confirmation of Amblyomma americanum (Acari: Ixodidae) as a vector for Cytauxzoon
      felis (Piroplasmorida: Theileriidae) to domestic cats.
AB  - Amblyomma americanum was confirmed as a competent vector in the transmission of
      Cytauxzoon felis to domestic cats. Infection with C. felis was produced and
      replicated in four domestic felines by the bite of A. americanum adults that were
      acquisition fed as nymphs on a domestic cat that survived cytauxzoonosis.
      Numerous attempts to transmit C. felis with Dermacentor variabilis at the same
      time were not successful. All cats upon which infected A. americanum were
      transmission fed exhibited disease typical of cytauxzoonosis, and the eitiologic
      agent's presence was confirmed. Clinical signs including fever, inappetence,
      depression, and lethargy were observed beginning 13 d postinfestation. Pale mucus
      membranes, splenomegaly, icterus, and dyspnea were also observed during the
      course of the disease. Rectal temperatures of the C. felis-infected principal
      cats fluctuated from high to subnormal before returning to the normal range.
      Clinical signs of cytauxzoonsis improved by 24 d postinfestation in all but one
      cat, with survivors remaining parasitemic and subclinically infected with C.
      felis. Unengorged A. americanum and D. variabilis were collected from wild
      habitats to determine the minimum infection rate of C. felis in ticks from an
      enzootic area. Infection of C. felis was found only in wild-collected A.
      americanum. The minimum infection rate of C. felis in A. americanum was 0.5% (one
      of 178) in males, 0.8% (three of 393) in nymphs, and 1.5% (three of 197) in
      females. We found no wild-collected D. variabilis infected with C. felis. Our
      results confirm that A. americanum is a primary vector of C. felis.

PMID- 20939387
TI  - Experimental exposure of swallow bugs (Hemiptera: Cimicidae) to West Nile virus.
AB  - The cliff swallow (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota, Vieillot) could potentially play an
      important role in the transmission of West Nile virus (WNV) because of its
      breeding ecology, reservoir competence status, and potentially high natural
      exposure rates. These birds nest in colonies and their nests are occupied year
      round by swallow bugs (Oeciacus vicarius, Hovarth), hematophagus ectoparasites
      that feed primarily on cliff swallows. Swallow bugs are most likely exposed to
      WNV while feeding on infectious blood of cliff swallows and, thus, if competent
      vectors, could contribute to initiation and maintenance of seasonal WNV
      transmission. In addition, swallow bugs remain within nests year round and,
      therefore, if persistently infected and competent vectors, they could provide an
      overwintering mechanism for WNV. We tested the hypothesis that swallow bugs
      become infected with WNV through direct abdominal inoculation or ingestion of
      infectious blood meals. We observed that swallow bugs did not maintain or amplify
      WNV, and infectious virus titers within bugs declined over 15 d postexposure.
      These results suggest that swallow bugs may not be competent vectors of WNV, and
      therefore are unlikely to play a significant role in transmission.

PMID- 20939388
TI  - Development of an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to identify host-feeding
      preferences of Phlebotomus species (Diptera: Psychodidae) in endemic foci of
      visceral leishmaniasis in Nepal.
AB  - Anthroponotic visceral leishmaniasis, transmitted by Phlebotomus argentipes
      Annandale & Brunetti (Diptera: Psychodidae) sand flies, is regarded as a major
      problem of public health importance in the Indian subcontinent. Understanding the
      feeding behavior of the vector can be used to investigate changes in human-vector
      contact during intervention programs. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay
      (ELISA) was modified to make it suitable to identify the origin of P. argentipes
      and Phlebotomus papatasi Scopoli (Diptera: Psychodidae) blood meals. The
      sensitivity and specificity of the precipitin ring test and ELISA were compared,
      as well as the stability of the tests across different stages of blood meal
      digestion. The ELISA was more sensitive and specific than the precipitin test for
      identifying the sources of blood meals. When using the ELISA method with a plate
      reader, it was possible to obtain 100% sensitivity and specificity. When
      comparing the techniques across digestion stages, it was found that there was a
      drop in sensitivity, 48 and 72 h postblood meal for precipitin and visually read
      ELISA, respectively. However, the sensitivity of the ELISA using a plate reader
      was not altered by the digestion time. The feeding habits of P. argentipes and P.
      papatasi from the Terai region of Nepal, determined by the ELISA developed,
      showed P. papatasi to be highly anthropophilic, and P. argentipes appeared to
      feed both on humans and animals, in particular bovines.

PMID- 20939389
TI  - Analysis of Hymenoptera stings reported to the Illinois Poison Center.
AB  - Although there is some detailed research on anaphylactic reactions to Hymenoptera
      venom, there continues to be little epidemiological data about the distribution,
      trend, and factors associated with the occurrence of Hymenoptera envenomations in
      humans. We describe characteristics of persons suffering Hymenoptera stings from
      bees, wasps, and hornets as reported to the Illinois Poison Center, and assess
      seasonal, climatologic, and time trends of calls for envenomations between 2002
      and 2007. Mean daily temperature and mean daily atmospheric pressure were
      positively associated with envenomations, whereas wind speed was negatively
      associated with envenomations. We also observed a significant increase in calls
      for envenomations on summer holidays (P < 0.001). In addition, our findings
      showed that the number of calls for envenomations declined by nearly half after
      2005 (P < 0.001) compared with previous years. Our findings indicate that the
      decline in bees, wasps, and hornets may be widespread, affecting both wild and
      commercial populations, and that the decline appears to have been rapid and
      sustained in recent years. Poison center data are a valuable resource for the
      surveillance of poisoning in humans, but our findings show that the data can be
      used to monitor changes in nonhuman species.

PMID- 20939390
TI  - Survey of ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) and their rickettsia in an Atlantic rain forest
      reserve in the State of Sao Paulo, Brazil.
AB  - The current study investigated the occurrence of ticks and their rickettsiae in
      the Serra do Mar State Park, which encompasses one of the largest Atlantic rain
      forest reserves of Brazil. From July 2008 to June 2009, a total of 2439 ticks
      (2,196 free living and 243 collected on hosts) was collected, encompassing the
      following 13 species: Amblyomma aureolatum (Pallas), Amblyomma brasiliense
      AragAo, Amblyomma dubitatum Neumann, Amblyomma fuscum Neumann, Amblyomma incisum
      Neumann, Amblyomma longirostre (Koch), Amblyomma naponense (Packard), Amblyomma
      nodosum Neumann, Amblyomma ovale Koch, Haemaphysalis juxtakochi Cooley, Ixodes
      aragaoi Fonseca, Ixodes loricatus Neumann, and Rhipicephalus sanguineus
      (Latreille). Ticks were submitted to polymerase chain reaction assays targeting
      portions of the rickettsial genes gltA and ompA. Polymerase chain reaction
      products were DNA sequenced and compared with corresponding sequences available
      in GenBank. Rickettsia bellii, a rickettsia of unknown pathogenicity, was
      detected in one A. aureolatum, one A. ovale, and three A. incisum specimens. At
      least 8.8% (3/34) of the free-living A. ovale ticks, 13.6% (8/59) of the A. ovale
      ticks collected from dogs, and 1.9% (1/54) of the R. sanguineus (Latreille) ticks
      were found to be infected by Rickettsia sp strain Atlantic rain forest, a novel
      strain that has been shown to cause an eschar-associated spotted fever in the
      state of Sho Paulo. Our results suggest that A. ovale is the vector of Rickettsia
      sp strain Atlantic rain forest in the state of Sao Paulo.

PMID- 20939391
TI  - Effects of temperature and tissue type on the development of Cochliomyia
      macellaria (Diptera: Calliphoridae).
AB  - The secondary screwworm, Cochliomyia macellaria (Fabricius), was reared on either
      equine gluteus muscle or porcine loin muscle at 20.8 degrees C, 24.3 degrees C,
      and 28.2 degrees C. C. macellaria needed approximately 35% more time to complete
      development when reared at 20.8 than 28.2 degrees C. Furthermore, larval growth
      and weight over time did not differ between larvae reared on equine versus
      porcine muscle. This study is the second in the United States to examine the
      development of C. macellaria and is the first to examine development of this
      species on muscle tissue from different vertebrate species. These data could
      provide significant information regarding time of colonization, including myiasis
      and neglect cases involving humans and animals. Furthermore, these results in
      comparison with the only other data set available for this species in North
      America indicate a fair amount of phenotypic variability as it relates to
      geographic location, suggesting caution should be taken when applying these data
      to forensic cases outside the region where this study was conducted.

PMID- 20939392
TI  - Novel carboxamides as potential mosquito repellents.
AB  - A model was developed using 167 carboxamide derivatives, from the United States
      Department of Agriculture archival database, that were tested as arthropod
      repellents over the past 60 yr. An artificial neural network employing CODESSA
      PRO descriptors was used to construct a quantitative structure-activity
      relationship model for prediction of novel mosquito repellents. By correlating
      the structure of these carboxamides with complete protection time, a measure of
      repellency based on duration, 34 carboxamides were predicted as candidate
      mosquito repellents. There were four additional compounds selected on the basis
      of their structural similarity to those predicted. The compounds were synthesized
      either by reaction of 1-acylbenzotriazoles with secondary amines or by reaction
      of acid chlorides with secondary amines in the presence of sodium hydride. The
      biological efficacy was assessed by duration of repellency on cloth at two
      dosages (25 and 2.5 micromol/cm2) and by the minimum effective dosage to prevent
      Aedes aegypti (L.) (Diptera: Culicidae) bites. One compound, (E)-N-cyclohexyl-N
      ethyl-2-hexenamide, was superior to N,N-diethyl-3-methylbenzamide (deet) at both
      the high dosage (22 d versus 7 d for deet) and low dosage (5 d versus 2.5 d for
      deet). Only one of the carboxamides, hexahydro-1-(l-oxohexyl)-1H-azepine, had a
      minimum effective dosage that was equivalent or slightly better than that of deet
      (0.033 micromol/cm2 versus 0.047 micromol/cm2).

PMID- 20939393
TI  - Irrigated agriculture is an important risk factor for West Nile virus disease in
      the hyperendemic Larimer-Boulder-Weld area of north central Colorado.
AB  - This study focused on two West Nile virus (WNV) disease outbreak years, 2003 and
      2007, and included a three-county area (Larimer, Boulder, and Weld) in North
      Central Colorado that is hyperendemic for WNV disease. We used epidemiological
      data for reported WNV disease cases at the census tract scale to: (1) elucidate
      whether WNV disease incidence differs between census tracts classified as having
      high versus lower human population density (based on a threshold value of 580
      persons/km2) and (2) determine associations between WNV disease incidence and
      habitat types suitable as development sites for the larval stage of Culex
      mosquito vectors. WNV disease incidence was significantly elevated in census
      tracts with lower human population density, compared with those with high density
      of human population, in both 2003 (median per census tract of 223 and 143 cases
      per 100,000 population, respectively) and 2007 (median per census tract of 46 and
      19 cases per 100,000 population). This is most likely related, in large part, to
      greater percentages of coverage in less densely populated census tracts by
      habitats suitable as development sites for Culex larvae (open water, developed
      open space, pasture/hay, cultivated crops, woody wetlands, and emergent
      herbaceous wetlands) and, especially, for the subset of these habitats made up by
      irrigated agricultural land (pasture/hay and cultivated crops) that presumably
      serve as major producers of the locally most important vector of WNV to humans:
      Culex tarsalis. A series of analyses produced significant positive associations
      between greater coverage of or shorter distance to irrigated agricultural land
      and elevated WNV disease incidence. As an exercise to produce data with potential
      to inform spatial implementation schemes for prevention and control measures
      within the study area, we mapped the spatial patterns, by census tract, of WNV
      disease incidence in 2003 and 2007 as well as the locations of census tracts that
      had either low (<25th percentile) or high (>75th percentile) WNV disease
      incidence in both outbreak years (relative to the incidence for each year). This
      revealed substantial changes from 2003 to 2007 in the spatial pattern for census
      tracts within the study area with high WNV disease incidence and suggests a
      dynamic and evolving scenario of WNV transmission to humans that needs to be
      taken into account for prevention and control measures to stay current and
      represent the most effective use of available resources.

PMID- 20939394
TI  - Morphological anomalies in two Lutzomyia (Psathyromyia) shannoni (Diptera:
      Psychodidae: Phlebotominae) specimens collected from Fort Rucker, Alabama, and
      Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
AB  - This report describes two male specimens of the sand fly species Lutzomyia
      shannoni (Dyar) (Diptera: Psychodidae: Phlebotominae) collected at Fort Rucker,
      AL, and Fort Campbell, KY, in dry ice-baited light traps during September 2005.
      The specimens were observed to have anomalies to the number of spines on the
      gonostyli. The taxonomic keys of Young and Perkins (Mosq. News 44: 263-285; 1984)
      use the number of spines on the gonostylus in the first couplet to differentiate
      two major groupings of North American sand flies. The two anomalous specimens
      were identified as L. shannoni based on the following criteria: (1) both
      specimens possess antennal ascoids with long, distinct proximal spurs (a near
      diagnostic character of L. shannoni in North America), (2) the sequences of the
      partial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 gene from both specimens indicated L.
      shannoni, and (3) the sequences of the internal transcribed spacer 2 molecular
      marker from both specimens indicated L. shannoni. The anomalous features are
      fundamentally different from each other as the Fort Rucker specimen possesses a
      fifth spine (basally located) on just one gonostylus, whereas the Fort Campbell
      specimen possesses five spines (extra spines subterminally located) on both
      gonostyli. Because the gonostyli are part of the external male genitalia,
      anomalies in the number of spines on the gonostyli may have serious biological
      consequences, such as reduced reproductive success, for the possessors. These
      anomalies are of taxonomic interest as the specimens could easily have been
      misidentified using available morphological keys.

PMID- 20939395
TI  - [Colorectal neoplasm, screening and pluralism].

PMID- 20939396
TI  - [Administration of propofol by non-anesthesiologists for digestive endoscopy].
AB  - Propofol is progressively replacing benzodiazepines for sedation during
      endoscopy, even when the sedation is administered by non-anesthesiologists.
      Propofol ensures a more rapid induction of sedation and recovery and, in certain
      conditions, higher patient satisfaction and improved quality of endoscopic
      examination. Specific training is required to use this drug. Patients at risk of
      complications should be identified before the endoscopy to optimize patient
      management with an anesthesiologist. After sedation, psychomotor recovery is
      faster with propofol compared to traditional sedation agents but tasks requiring
      particular attention (eg, driving) should be avoided. It is important to advise
      patients of these restrictions in advance.

PMID- 20939397
TI  - [Endoscopic resection of digestive tumors: indications, quality criteria and
      results].
AB  - Endoscopic resection of digestive tumors: indications, quality criteria and
      results In the past decade, two developments have changed the approach to
      superficial digestive tumors: 1) new endoscopic techniques allow "en bloc"
      resection of superficial tumors with almost no limit in tumor diameter and 2) the
      risk of lymph node metastases is better stratified (e.g., in the colon, the risk
      of lymph node metastasis is negligible for superficial malignant invasion of the
      submucosa). Endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) allows "en bloc" resection of
      large laterally-spreading tumors, in contrast with prior resection techniques
      (endoscopic mucosal resection - EMR) that required piecemeal resection for large
      tumors. As a result, relapse rate is lower with ESD compared to EMR. Pathological
      examination is also more reliable with "en bloc" specimens; it must precisely
      assess resection margins and the depth of malignant invasion.

PMID- 20939398
TI  - [Drug-induced injury in the gastrointestinal tract: a clinico-pathological
      review].
AB  - Many drugs are known to have adverse effects on the gastrointestinal tract. The
      consequences can range from asymptomatic histological lesions in the
      gastrointestinal mucosa to fatal complications such as haemorrhage or
      perforation. On the biopsies (or on surgical specimens), there is a limited
      number of injury pattern that should suggest drug-induced pathology. They are
      mostly non specific (ex: ulcer). However, some drugs may induce pathognomonic
      histological lesions. For this reason, the diagnosis of a drug-induced
      gastrointestinal pathology depends on a clinicopathological correlation and
      implies a good communication between the pathologist and the clinician. In this
      review, we focus on the most common and well-described drug-related clinico
      pathological conditions of the gastrointestinal tract using an organ and lesion
      based approach.

PMID- 20939399
TI  - [Hepatitis D: forgotten but not gone].
AB  - Hepatitis D virus (HDV) is a subviral agent which depends on the envelope
      proteins (HBsAg) of hepatitis B virus (HBV). Therefore, hepatitis D is observed
      only in patients infected with HBV. Chronic hepatitis D is the least frequent
      albeit most severe form of chronic viral hepatitis. A resurgence of chronic
      hepatitis D has been observed in Northern and Central Europe, mainly due to
      immigration of patients from regions with high prevalence. Every HBsAg-positive
      patient should be screened for concurrent HDV infection. Standard treatment
      consists of pegylated interferon-alpha for at least one year. Sustained
      virological response rates are approximately 20%. Liver transplantation should be
      considered in patients with advanced cirrhosis or limited hepatocellular
      carcinoma. Preventive measures for hepatitis D are the same as for hepatitis B.

PMID- 20939400
TI  - [Autoimmune pancreatitis].
AB  - Autoimmune pancreatitis (ALP) represents a distinct form of chronic pancreatitis
      initially described in Japan but now reported worldwide. AIP often presents with
      obstructive jaundice/pancreatic mass as well as pancreatic exocrine and endocrine
      insufficiency. Histologically, it is characterised by a lymphoplasmacytic
      infiltrate with fibrosis. The disease responds readily to steroids in 70-80% of
      cases. Given the absence of unified diagnostic criteria, the diagnosis of AIP
      proves difficult. In particular, distinguishing ALP from pancreatic or biliary
      cancer remains a challenging task. In order to avoid unnecessary resections for
      an otherwise benign and easily treatable condition, it is urgent to refine
      diagnostic criteria and to reach an international consensus.

PMID- 20939401
TI  - [Hepatic encephalopathy in patients with cirrhosis: new aspects and practical
      recommendations].
AB  - Hepatic encephalopathy in patients with cirrhosis may present under various
      clinical aspects, although minimal and episodic forms are the most frequent in
      clinical practice. Except for the typical alteration of the level of
      consciousness, other clinical presentations may exist that require additional
      diagnostic tests and exclusion of other causes. Management of hepatic
      encephalopathy includes the eviction of the precipitating factor and prevention
      of recurrence. Medical therapy is mostly directed at the gut as the main source
      of neurotoxins, but drugs that aimed at correcting liver and brain alterations
      demonstrate some efficacy. Liver transplantation should be discussed in the
      presence of persistent symptoms despite optimal medical therapy.

PMID- 20939402
TI  - [What's up in patella dislocation? The medial femoro-patellaire ligament (MFPL)].
AB  - Patella dislocation is an injury affecting teenagers. This pathology is
      associated in the majority of the cases with a dysplasia of the femoro-patellar
      joint. MFPL is a passive restraint to patellar lateral displacement. Rupture of
      the MFPL would predispose the patients to redislocate their patella. Therefore, a
      reconstruction of this ligament seems to be a logical proposal for the treatment
      of recurrent patellar instability. This surgery, carried out with three incisions
      of small size, would decrease the recurrent dislocation. However, a long-term
      analysis of the results of this surgery is recommended.

PMID- 20939404
TI  - [Breast cancer: disparities in Europe].

PMID- 20939403
TI  - [Cocaine use and pneumothorax].
AB  - Cocaine use, often not recognized, is a frequent cause of consultation in the
      emergency room or by primary care physicians. The use of cocaine causes numerous
      cardiovascular and pulmonary side effects. In this context, the occurrence of a
      pneumothorax represents a specific complication, often misunderstood by primary
      care physicians. We describe here three cases of patients who suffered from
      subcutaneous emphysema and pneumothorax after taking cocaine and emphasize the
      importance of always keeping in mind the possibility of illicit substance use in
      such cases, especially among young and healthy patients.

PMID- 20939405
TI  - [Revival of the placenta].

PMID- 20939406
TI  - [STDs would be better cured than prevented?].

PMID- 20939407
TI  - [Many things in boxes. Health insurance].

PMID- 20939410
TI  - ["Inno-vet-ion"].

PMID- 20939411
TI  - Efficacy of a commercial hydrolysate diet in eight cats suffering from
      inflammatory bowel disease or adverse reaction to food.
AB  - Eight of 28 cats presenting with chronic vomiting and/or diarrhoea were diagnosed
      as suffering from chronic enteropathy. All cats had undergone a complete
      diagnostic work-up, including endoscopy. Histopathology findings varied from
      normal, eosinophilic, to lymphoplasmacytic gastroenteritis. On the basis of
      findings, the cats were diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) or an
      adverse reaction to food. A hydrolysed protein diet was used as sole therapy, and
      clinical signs resolved within 4-8 days in all eight cats. After 2 months the
      cats had gained weight. A challenge trial with their previous diet resulted in
      recurrence of the clinical signs, which resolved in seven cats when the test diet
      was reintroduced. We conclude that the hydrolysed protein diet used in the
      current study was effective in managing these cases.

PMID- 20939412
TI  - [Slipping through the legislative maze?].

PMID- 20939413
TI  - [Sterilizing on the kitchen table].

PMID- 20939414
TI  - [Someone else's kitchen].

PMID- 20939415
TI  - [Efficiency improvement in veterinary clinic Rijen].

PMID- 20939416
TI  - [New Veterinary Medicine Masters starting].

PMID- 20939417
TI  - [Management and social responsibility highlighted].

PMID- 20939418
TI  - [KNMVD-student day].

PMID- 20939419
TI  - [A year further...].

PMID- 20939420
TI  - [Chris Salentijn, veterinary student and consultant].

PMID- 20939421
TI  - [55th meeting of the American Association of Veterinary Parasitology: "Parasite
      Treatment'].

PMID- 20939422
TI  - Treatment theory, intervention specification, and treatment fidelity in assistive
      technology outcomes research.
AB  - Recent reports in the rehabilitation literature have suggested that treatment
      theory, intervention specification, and treatment fidelity have important
      implications for the design, results, and interpretation of outcomes research. At
      the same time, there has been relatively little discussion of how these concepts
      bear on the quality of assistive technology (AT) outcomes research. This article
      describes treatment theory, intervention specification, and treatment fidelity as
      interconnected facets of AT outcome studies that fundamentally affect the
      interpretation of their findings. The discussion of each is elucidated using case
      examples drawn from the AT outcomes research literature. Recommendations are
      offered for strengthening these components of AT outcomes research.

PMID- 20939423
TI  - Message transmission efficiency through five telecommunication technologies for
      signing deaf users.
AB  - This cross-sectional research design compares the efficiency of videoconferencing
      in distance communication for signing deaf persons with that of teletypewriter
      (TTY)-based telecommunication for the deaf. The efficiency of message
      transmission was evaluated among 30 signing deaf persons (18 to 65 years) under
      the six following experimental conditions: (a) Omnitor Allan eC software, (b)
      Polycom ViaVideo II software, (c) Microsoft Windows Live Messenger software, (d)
      the D-Link videophone, (e) TTY (written French), and (f) face to face (reference
      standard). Three timed intelligibility tests and a satisfaction assessment were
      carried out for each of the experimental conditions. Results showed that
      videoconferencing technologies offer a better efficacy/time ratio for
      communication than does TTY. Communication using videoconferencing technologies
      was very similar to face-to-face communication; this was also true for
      technologies that are not designed specifically for the deaf population.
      Equivalent satisfaction levels were observed between TTY and videoconferencing
      technologies. Microsoft Windows Live Messenger was less preferred due to image
      fluidity issues.

PMID- 20939424
TI  - Development and testing of an innovative user-adjustable support surface for
      wheelchair seating discomfort.
AB  - Beginning in 2000, a study of discomfort experienced by wheelchair users and
      development of technology solutions were undertaken. This research culminated
      with the present study of a new technology targeting sitting discomfort. Support
      for development of the "Butt Scooter" prototype and its testing was provided
      through an NIH research grant. Investigators tested a prototype device, called
      the "Butt Scooter," and conducted a focus group to obtain expert clinical
      opinions about the potential usefulness of the prototype. Subject testing of the
      prototype device followed a single subject design (ABABA). Subjects self
      administered the Tool for Assessing Wheelchair disComfort (TAWC) to evaluate
      their discomfort levels. Results from three subjects are reported. All three
      expert therapists participating in the focus group responded favorably to the
      prototype. In summary, results from subject testing were somewhat mixed with
      regard to discomfort management, however all subjects commented positively on the
      features of the device.

PMID- 20939425
TI  - Assistive technologies for visually impaired individuals in Turkey.
AB  - A phone survey was conducted with 80 visually impaired people in Turkey to
      understand what types of assistive products are used and to what extent. The
      perceived utility of selected products and reasons for nonuse were investigated.
      Descriptions of products that would be useful for the participants but may not be
      available on the market were also obtained. The three most used assistive
      products were found to be computer screen readers (46%), talking watches (26%),
      and screen readers for cellular phones (21%). Cellular phones with screen reading
      capability are the most desired assistive products among the visually impaired
      community, but their high cost is a major barrier. Most of the relevant
      technologies are available but some product development, such as adaptation to
      the Turkish language, is necessary. The three products most frequently requested
      are bus station/destination announcement systems, devices that warn the person
      about barriers, and devices that read printed documents and signs.

PMID- 20939426
TI  - Essential needs and requirements of mobile phones for the deaf.
AB  - Despite their necessity for deaf people in daily life, mobile phones still lack
      features and functions required by those individuals. While assessing the daily
      needs of deaf mobile phone users is an important issue for closing this gap, this
      issue has seldom been addressed. Therefore, we adopted a qualitative research
      method to extract and construct needs from deaf mobile phone users and translate
      them into user requirements for mobile phone development. Semistructured
      interviews and task observations were performed to obtain information from 12
      deaf mobile phone users. Context coding was used to code the collected data into
      needs. The coded needs were then sorted into six categories (social,
      communication, consumption, entertainment, transportation, and safety) and
      translated subjectively into three requirements (specific feature-function,
      general feature-function, and common). The requirements were compared with the
      functions of the mobile phones of the participants, and five feature-function
      gaps were identified.

PMID- 20939427
TI  - Effects of cidofovir on human papillomavirus-positive cervical cancer cells
      xenografts in nude mice.
AB  - Cidofovir (CDV) is an acyclic nucleoside phosphonate analog that shows broad
      spectrum anti-DNA virus activity. In this study, we have investigated the
      influence of cidofovir on the tumor xenografts derived from HeLa and SiHa cells
      on nude mice. The HeLa/SiHa xenografts in nude mice were established by
      inoculating cells subcutaneously. Administration of cidofovir by intratumoral
      injection led to significant tumor reduction. Enhanced protein levels of p53 and
      p-pRb within the tumor samples were observed. Immunohistology analysis of the
      tumor sections indicated decreased PCNA index and increased apoptosis index. Our
      study gives more evidence and explanation on in vivo inhibition effect of
      cidofovir on HPV genome-positive cervical carcinoma cell line xenografts.

PMID- 20939428
TI  - Efficient cellular uptake of the novel NF-kappaB inhibitor (-)-DHMEQ and
      irreversible inhibition of NF-kappaB in neoplastic cells.
AB  - NF-kappaB is a transcription factor that induces the expression of inflammatory
      cytokines and antiapoptotic proteins. Earlier we designed a new NF-kappaB
      inhibitor, (-)-DHMEQ, and showed that it had potent anticancer and anti
      inflammatory activities in various animal models without any toxicity. In the
      present research, we studied whether (-)-DHMEQ could be efficiently taken by
      cultured cells and irreversibly inhibit NF-kappaB by short time application to
      cultured cells. Even after mouse monocytic leukaemia RAW264.7 cells had been
      washed free of (-)-DHMEQ, lipopolysacharide (LPS)-induced activation of NF-kappaB
      in these cells was still inhibited. Moreover, topical application for 15 min was
      found to induce dormancy of the cells against LPS for 2-8 h. When it was
      topically added to RAW264.7 cells in which NF-kappaB was activated by LPS, the
      inhibition lasted at least for 2 h. NF-kappaB derectly upregulates expression of
      iNOS that produces NO. Short time application of (-)-DHMEQ also inhibited the
      function of cells in terms of NO production and iNOS induction in RAW264.7 cells.
      Thus, the fast incorporation of (-)-DHMEQ into the cells and irreversible
      inhibition of NF-kappaB by it were demonstrated, and this observation would
      explain its effective inhibition of certain functions in cellular and animal
      disease models.

PMID- 20939429
TI  - The estrogen receptors in the papillary carcinoma of the thyroid gland.
AB  - In this study, the objective was to evaluate the presence of estrogen receptors
      alpha and beta (ERalpha and ERbeta) in cases of papillary carcinoma of the
      thyroid gland and to assess the practicality of this test. Immunohistochemical
      stains were performed for both ERalpha and ERbeta, for evaluation of
      immunoreactivity in 90 papillary carcinomas. Three variables were evaluated in
      each sample: the intensity of the staining both nuclear and cytoplasmatic, and
      the spread of the stain over the sample. None of the histological samples showed
      immunoreactivity for ERalpha. Positive immunoreactivity results for ERbeta were
      found in tissue samples in 66.6% (60 cases). The study shows that ERbeta has no
      significant specification for differentiation between papillary carcinoma and
      other malignant lesions of the thyroid, while ERalpha is undetectable in this
      lesion. The ER testing in cases of papillary carcinoma of the thyroid gland is
      nonspecific and might be not necessary.

PMID- 20939430
TI  - Survivin-3B gene decreases the invasion-inhibitory effect of colon cancer cells
      with 5-fluorouracil.
AB  - The expression of survivin molecules has been confirmed in many types of cancer
      cells, including colon cancer cells, and they are considered important
      antiapoptotic molecules. Recent studies have revealed the existence of different
      splicing forms of survivin molecules; however, no studies have examined their
      expression in gastrointestinal cancers. In 2004, we reported the existence of the
      survivin-3B gene, a novel splice variant of survivin. In this study, we
      investigated the relationship between human colon cancer and our recently cloned
      survivin-3B gene with a coding region of 594 bp. In the first examination,
      survivin-3B expression was analyzed by RT-PCR in human colon cancer and adjacent
      normal mucosal tissues. The associations of its expression status with
      clinicopathological parameters and the prognosis were also examined. Survivin-3B
      mRNA expression was observed in 37 (46.3%) of 80 primary colon cancers, but not
      in the adjacent normal colonic mucosal tissue. The rate of survivin-3B gene
      expression was significantly higher in colon cancer with serosal invasion. The 5
      year survival rate of patients with survivin-3B gene-positive primary colon
      cancer was significantly poorer, at 48.7%, than that (75.4%) of survivin-3B gene
      negative patients. In the second examination, after the introduction of the
      survivin-3B gene into cells of the colon cancer cell line DLD-1, 5-fluorouracil
      induced changes in their invasive capacity was examined. The invasion-inhibitory
      effect of 5-fluorouracil on survivin-3B gene-transfected DLD-1 cells was
      significantly lower than their empty vector gene-transfected counterparts. We
      speculate that survivin-3B expression in colon cancer is an important factor
      involved in the invasive capacity of cancer cells in the presence of anticancer
      drug.

PMID- 20939431
TI  - Expression of the major fas family and Bcl-2 family of proteins in epithelial
      ovarian cancer (EOC) and their correlation to chemotherapeutic response and
      outcome.
AB  - Platinum-based chemotherapeutic drugs trigger apoptosis, and deregulation of
      apoptotic pathways may contribute to chemoresistance. We investigated the role of
      major Fas and Bcl-2 family members as predictors of response to platinum-based
      chemotherapy in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). The expression of Fas, FasL, FAP
      1, Bax, Bcl-2, and Bcl-X(L) was analyzed in 35 women with EOC at the transcript
      level by semiquantitative RT-PCR and at the protein level by
      immunohistochemistry. The apoptotic index was determined by TUNEL assay. The
      response to chemotherapy was documented and at the end of six cycles of
      chemotherapy. Based on their response, two groups were identified: primary
      chemosensitive (n = 20) and primary chemoresistant (n = 15). Further, after a
      follow-up of 12-46 months, two groups were identified: no evidence of disease (n
      = 10) and evidence of disease (n = 25). The primary chemoresistant tumors in
      comparison to the chemosensitive tumors had significantly lower levels of Fas
      transcript (p = 0.026), Bax transcript (p = 0.042) and Bcl-2 protein (p = 0.038)
      and higher levels of Bcl-X(L) (p = 0.040). The apoptotic index revealed a
      significant inverse correlation only with Bcl-X(L) protein levels (p = 0.003).
      Patients with evidence of disease at last follow-up in comparison to those with
      no evidence of disease showed lower Bax transcript (p = 0.012), Bcl-2 protein (p
      = 0.014) and lower apoptotic index (p = 0.005) and higher Bcl-X(L) protein levels
      (p = 0.023). In conclusion, Bcl-2 family members and apoptotic index are useful
      in prediction of response to chemotherapy in EOC. These initial observations need
      to be validated in large-scale studies.

PMID- 20939432
TI  - Ad.mda-7 (IL-24) selectively induces apoptosis in hepatocellular carcinoma cell
      lines, suppresses metastasis, and enhances the effect of doxorubicin on xenograft
      tumors.
AB  - Overexpression of the melanoma differentiation associated gene-7 (MDA-7)/IL-24 in
      vitro generally results in the growth suppression and induction of apoptosis of
      diverse human tumor cells. In this study, we investigated the effects of
      overexpression of the MDA-7/IL-24 gene in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)
      cells in vitro and in vivo. Adenovirus-mediated overexpression of MDA-7
      facilitated the MDA-7/IL-24-induced apoptosis and G2/M arrest in HCC cells, but
      not in the normal liver cell line L02, and the effect was independent of the p53
      status. Inhibition of metastasis and angiogenesis was correlated with decreasing
      expression of STAT3, P-STAT3, MMP-2, VEGF, and TGF-beta genes, regulated by STAT3
      in MHCCLM6 cells. We also showed that Ad.mda-7 combined with doxorubicin (ADM)
      had significantly enhanced antitumor and antimetastatic effects in vivo,
      accompanied by the downregulation of VEGF, MMP-2, and TGF-beta genes and the
      upregulation of E-cadherin genes. These data suggested that MDA-7/IL-24 induces
      its selective antitumor properties in HCC cells by promoting apoptosis
      independent of p53 status, inhibiting subcutaneous tumor growth and metastasis,
      and increasing the effect of chemotherapeutic agents. MDA-7/IL-24 represents a
      new class of cancer suppressor genes that may be useful in the targeted therapy
      of HCC.

PMID- 20939433
TI  - Relationship between lipophilicity and inhibitory activity against cancer cell
      growth of nine kinds of alk(en)yl trisulfides with different side chains.
AB  - Of the compounds contained in or derived from garlic (Allium sativum L.),
      alk(en)yl sulfides are known to be responsible for most of the physiological or
      neutraceutical functions of garlic. We previously found that diallyl trisulfide
      (DATS) is a potent inhibitor of tubulin polymerization and cancer cell growth,
      and an effective stimulator of the hepatic detoxification system. Here, we
      synthesized nine trisulfides having different aliphatic side chains, and
      determined their log P, a parameter for lipophilicity of nonionized solutes, and
      inhibitory activities, IC50 (microM), toward cancer cell growth. The log P values
      of these trisulfides ranged from the lowest, 2.72, for dimethyl trisulfide, to
      the highest, 7.62, for dipentyl trisulfide. The relationship between the IC50 and
      log P of the nine trisulfides was parabolic in nature, in which dibutenyl- and
      dipropyl-compounds, determined to have a log P of approximately 5, were located
      at the minimum point of the parabola, indicating the maximum potency. The reason
      why DATS, having a log P of about 4, was excessively stronger than diethyl
      trisulfide, with a similar log P, is not fully understood; but perhaps it can be
      explained by a higher reactivity of the diallyl compound in nucleophilic
      substitution. The compounds with 3-carbon chains were stronger in terms of growth
      inhibition than the others; but weaker compounds, those with 4- or 5-carbon
      chains, showed higher activity if a double bond was introduced into them to
      reduce their log P to the effective range. In this study, we confirmed the
      superiority of trisulfides with 3-carbon chains [i.e., DATS and dipropyl
      trisulfide (DPTS)]. In addition, we observed for the first time that dibutenyl
      trisulfide, a compound not found in garlic, is one of the potent structures among
      alk(en)yl trisulfides.

PMID- 20939434
TI  - Association between the Thr431Asn polymorphism of the ROCK2 gene and risk of
      developing metastases of breast cancer.
AB  - The objective of this study was to analyze the genotype distributions and allele
      frequencies for ROCK2 Thr431Asn and Arg83Lys polymorphisms among breast cancer
      patients. In this case-control study, 223 patients with breast cancer were
      recruited and divided into two groups according to metastases (n = 128) and
      without metastases (n = 95). Genomic DNA from the patients and the control cases
      (n = 150) was analyzed by real-time PCR using a Light-Cycler. Neither genotype
      distributions nor the allele frequencies for the Arg83Lys polymorphism showed a
      significant difference between the groups. Although no marked changes were
      observed with nonmetastatic group, a statistically significant association was
      found between the control and metastatic group for the Thr431Asn polymorphism.
      Although homozygous carriers of the Thr431Thr genotype were more frequent,
      heterozygous carriers of the Thr431Asn genotype were less frequent among the
      metastatic patients than among controls. There was also an increase in Thr431
      allele (60.5% in patients vs. 51.7% in controls) and decrease in Asn431 allele
      frequencies (48.3% in control vs. 39.5% in metastatic patients) in metastatic
      groups (p = 0.036). Our results demonstrate that Thr431Asn polymorphism of the
      ROCK2 gene could be a risk factor for the metastases of the breast cancer, and
      may help in predicting the prognosis.

PMID- 20939436
TI  - The immune response and the therapeutic effect of metronomic chemotherapy with
      cyclophosphamide.
AB  - Metronomic chemotherapy (MCT) is a novel therapeutic strategy for cancer
      treatment endowed with an antiangiogenic effect. It refers to regular
      administration of low doses of cytotoxic drugs, with minimal or no drug-free
      breaks. Previously, we demonstrated the immunomodulating activity of a single low
      dose of cyclophosphamide (Cy) and the antitumor effect of MCT with Cy on
      established rat lymphomas and sarcomas. Here, we examined whether the immune
      response is responsible for the antitumor effect of MCT with Cy on L-TACB
      lymphoma. Inbred e rats and nude mice were subcutaneously challenged with L-TACB.
      After 7 days, they were distributed into two experimental groups: 1) treated
      animals, which were injected IP with Cy (10 mg/kg body weight) three times per
      week, and 2) control animals, which received IP saline injections. Exponential
      growth and decay and tumor doubling time were calculated. Also, serum IL-10
      levels were measured. One hundred percent of treated rats showed tumor regression
      versus 0% of control rats. The increase of tumor-induced IL-10 levels was
      reverted by the treatment with Cy. On the other hand, there were no tumor
      regressions, in treated or control nude mice. However, the tumor doubling times
      of treated nude mice were significantly higher than those of control mice,
      implying that other antitumor mechanism(s), independent of the adaptive immune
      response, might be taking place. Our present results indicate that modulation of
      the immune response would be involved in the antitumor effect of MCT with Cy,
      because the absence of the specific immune response impairs, at least in part,
      its therapeutic effect in a lymphoma tumor model.

PMID- 20939435
TI  - hScrib, a human homolog of Drosophila neoplastic tumor suppressor, is involved in
      the progress of endometrial cancer.
AB  - Recent studies have revealed that hScrib, the human homolog of Drosophila
      Scribble, is an apical-basal polarity determinant and an essential component of
      the adherens junction. In addition, hScrib has a critical role in the inhibition
      of cell proliferation through cell cycle progression. hScrib has been reported to
      be involved in the processes of many cancers, such as breast cancer, cervical
      cancer, colon carcinoma, etc.; however, the correlation between hScrib and
      endometrial cancer has not been identified. To address a possible role of hScrib
      in the development of endometrial cancer, we examined the localization and
      expression of hScrib in endometrial cancer. The present study demonstrated that
      decreased expression and changed localization of hScrib were associated with
      clinical stage, histopathological differentiation, and lymph node metastasis in
      endometrial cancer. hScrib might share an adherens junction with basolateral
      membrane partially by acting on E-cadherin in endometrial cancer. This evidence
      suggests that hScrib is involved in the development of endometrial cancer.

PMID- 20939438
TI  - Dispassionate analysis of the evidence.

PMID- 20939437
TI  - Endocrine late effects after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.
AB  - The long-term quality of life of patients after hematopoietic stem cell
      transplantation (HSCT) represents a multidisciplinary problem. HSCT can induce
      damage of various organs and tissues-from minimal potentially progressive
      subclinical changes to life-threatening conditions. Endocrine complications are
      among the most common late effects observed in survivors after HSCT. The relative
      risk of these complications is likely to be influenced by the underlying disease,
      type of therapy, and age at HSCT. Understanding the pathogenetic mechanisms of
      late complications that can occur after HSCT provides a basis for optimal
      surveillance and early intervention. Further research is needed for improved risk
      stratification of patients who are at low and high risk of developing late
      toxicity. Through collaboration between pathophysiologists, clinicians, and
      patient associations we can enhance the implementation of prospective studies and
      set forth effective preventive programs for survivors after HSCT.

PMID- 20939439
TI  - Dronedarone. atrial fibrillation: too many questions about long-term adverse
      effects.
AB  - In patients with atrial fibrillation, a betablocker is generally used initially
      to prevent recurrence or to slow the heart rate. Amiodarone is a last resort,
      mainly because of its numerous adverse effects. Dronedarone, chemically similar
      to amiodarone,was recently authorised for this indication in the European Union.
      In a double-blind trial versus amiodarone in 504 patients, the failure rate was
      significantly higher with dronedarone (75.1% versus 58.8%). Two placebo
      controlled trials in heart failure patients yielded conflicting results.
      Dronedarone was associated with a statistically significant increase in mortality
      in a trial in 627 symptomatic patients free of arrhythmias. However, there was no
      statistically significant difference in a trial including 4630 patients with
      atrial fibrillation and a lower risk of cardiovascular events. There are no
      comparative trials versus other antiarrhythmic drugs or heart-rate-lowering
      agents, including betablockers and calcium channel blockers. Like other
      antiarrhythmic drugs, dronedarone also has arrhythmogenic effects, including
      bradycardia and QT prolongation. Other adverse effects include diarrhoea, nausea
      and vomiting, and cutaneous disorders. Transient elevation of creatinine levels
      is also frequent, and cases of renal failure have been reported. In the trial
      versus amiodarone, dronedarone had a different pattern of short-term adverse
      effects, including more gastrointestinal disorders but less frequent thyroid
      disorders, neurological disorders, hypersensitivity reactions, hypertension, and
      QT prolongation. Little is known of potential long-term adverse effects,
      especially pulmonary fibrosis. In practice, dronedarone is better tolerated but
      less effective than amiodarone in the short term.When antiarrhythmic drug therapy
      is needed, it is better to continue to use a betablocker or, as a last resort,
      amiodarone, a drug with better-documented adverse effects, especially during long
      term treatment.

PMID- 20939440
TI  - The dronedarone odyssey.

PMID- 20939441
TI  - Capsaicin. Neuropathic pain: playing with fire....
AB  - 5% lidocaine medicated plasters are available for local treatment of neuropathic
      pain. Treatment is generally poorly effective but has few adverse effects, other
      than local erythema. Capsaicin is a natural chilli pepper extract that depletes
      sensory nerve endings of substance P, a pain neurotransmitter. It is authorised
      in the European Union for the treatment of nondiabetic neuropathic pain, in the
      form of cutaneous patches containing 8% capsaicin. Clinical evaluation of
      capsaicin patches does not include any trials versus lidocaine plasters. Eight
      double-blind trials have compared 8% capsaicin patches versus 0.04% capsaicin
      patches, 5 in postherpetic neuralgia, and 3 in HIV-related neuropathic pain.
      These trials are only vaguely described in the European Medicines Agency report.
      Taken separately, they yielded divergent results. It was only when some of the
      trials were pooled for analysis that any differences emerged between the two
      doses of capsaicin. The clinical implications are unclear, but efficacy is at
      best modest. Capsaicin is an irritant that frequently provokes pain and erythema
      at the site of patch application, and 3% of patients using the patches
      experienced transient arterial hypertension that the investigators attributed to
      this pain. Some pharmacological data suggest that repeated application of 8%
      capsaicin patches might provoke painful nerve damage in the long-term. Patch
      application and removal by a third party is delicate, due to the strong irritant
      potential of capsaicin. In practice, when a patient with neuropathic pain
      requires local treatment, in the absence of a better alternative, it is better to
      use lidocaine plasters, which are better tolerated and with which we have more
      experience.

PMID- 20939442
TI  - Plerixafor. Only for certain patients when G-CSF stem cell mobilisation fails.
AB  - Filgrastim, a recombinant G-CSF, is the standard drug used to mobilise
      haematopoietic stem cells for collection prior to autologous transplantation in
      patients with lymphoma and myeloma. Plerixafor, a CXCR4 receptor antagonist, is
      now authorised in the European Union for use in combination with G-CSF when stem
      cell mobilisation with G-CSF alone is unsuccessful. Clinical evaluation is based
      on two comparative trials with similar designs. In a trial in 302 myeloma
      patients, the G-CSF-plerixafor combination was associated with a statistically
      significantly higher rate of successful mobilisation, defined as collection of at
      least 6 x 10(6) CD34+ cells after one or two apheresis sessions, than a
      combination of G-CSF and placebo (71.6% versus 34.4%). The same effect was
      observed in a trial involving 298 lymphoma patients, in which the CD34+ cell
      target number was at least 5 x 10(6) after a maximum of 4 apheresis sessions (59%
      versus 20%). In these trials, the addition of plerixafor to G-CSF increased the
      frequency of injection site reactions (55% versus 36%) and was associated with
      twice as many gastrointestinal disorders (diarrhoea and nausea or vomiting).
      There was no difference between the combined treatments in terms of disease
      related mortality at one year (about 8%). However, longer follow-up is needed to
      ensure that plerixafor does not lead to disease aggravation by mobilising
      malignant cells. Given the long-term uncertainties, plerixafor should be reserved
      for patients in whom G-CSF alone fails to yield a sufficient number of stem cells
      required for transplantation.

PMID- 20939443
TI  - Approval of etoricoxib is unacceptable! Authorised and reimbursed in France,
      despite an unfavourable risk-benefit balance.

PMID- 20939444
TI  - Golimumab. Inflammatory rheumatism: just another TNF alpha antagonist, no
      advantage.
AB  - In the absence of head-to-head comparisons with other TNF alpha antagonists,
      which are perfectly feasible, there is no firm evidence that golimumab has a
      better risk-benefit balance than other immunosuppressants.

PMID- 20939445
TI  - Losartan and hypertensive children. Another option for a small number of
      children.

PMID- 20939446
TI  - INN common stems: -pris, -pristin -tide.

PMID- 20939447
TI  - Cancer risk in diabetic patients treated with insulin glargine?
AB  - Insulin glargine was the first long-acting human insulin analogue to be
      authorised in the European Union, in the early 2000s, for the treatment of
      diabetes mellitus. It has about a 6-fold increase in affinity for the insulinlike
      growth factor 1 (EGF-1) receptor compared with natural human insulin, which may
      stimulate tumour development. Four European epidemiological studies published in
      2009 examined the risk of cancer in diabetic patients treated with insulin
      glargine. One of these studies, conducted in Germany, showed a statistically
      significant dose-dependent increase in the risk of cancer. Two other studies, one
      in Scotland and the other in Sweden, showed an increase in the risk of breast
      cancer. The fourth study, conducted in the UK, showed a lower risk of cancer in
      patients on metformin. This evidence is inconclusive, notably because these
      studies did not take confounding factors into account. Nevertheless, the results
      tend to be similar and consistent with certain pharmacological mechanisms. In
      practice, pending more solid evidence, these epidemiological results should be
      taken into account when weighing the risk-benefit balance of insulin therapy for
      diabetic patients, on a case by case basis, depending on the type of diabetes,
      patient history, life expectancy, and the possible practical advantages of
      insulin glargine.

PMID- 20939448
TI  - Drug-induced restless legs syndrome.
AB  - Restless legs syndrome can be very troublesome but it has no serious physical
      complications. The underlying causes are unknown, but it can be triggered or
      aggravated by a drug. In early 2010, about 60 cases of drug-induced restless legs
      syndrome had been published in detail. The drugs implicated were mainly
      psychotropics, especially antidepressants and neuroleptics. Some drugs used to
      treat restless legs syndrome, especially dopaminergic drugs, can in fact
      aggravate symptoms. Drug-induced restless legs syndrome generally resolves when
      the dose is reduced or the drug is withdrawn. Dysfunction of the dopaminergic
      system has been implicated in some cases. In practice, when a patient presents
      with restless legs syndrome, the role of a drug, especially a psychotropic,
      should be considered. Drug withdrawal or a dose reduction may be beneficial.

PMID- 20939449
TI  - Secondary leukaemia: after umbilical cord blood stem cell transplantation too.
AB  - Since the late 1990s, umbilical cord blood stem cells have been used to treat
      some severe haematological disorders. In theory, this type of transplant carries
      a lower risk of immunological incompatibility. Ten cases of secondary leukaemia
      following cord blood stem cell transplantation have been published in detail,
      including 7 cases of acute myeloid leukaemia. The malignancies were diagnosed
      between 5 and 40 months after transplantation. The patients were severely
      immunodepressed, and analysis showed that the leukaemias were of donor cell
      origin. Patients receiving cord blood stem cell grafts, like all transplant
      recipients, should therefore be monitored for secondary leukaemia.

PMID- 20939450
TI  - Risk of preterm delivery: a single course of antenatal corticosteroids.
AB  - For women at risk of delivery before 34 weeks of gestation, administration of
      betamethasone or dexamethasone for 24 or 36 hours reduces neonatal morbidity and
      mortality. In a double-blind randomised trial involving 1858 pregnant women, who
      received either a single course of corticosteroids or multiple courses every 14
      days, no statistically significant difference in the rates of mortality and
      respiratory morbidity were observed during the 28 first days of life. Newborns
      had decreased height, weight and head circumference in the group treated every 14
      days. No difference in outcome was noted at 2 years among 1047 infants whose
      mothers had received a single course of betamethasone or weekly treatment up to
      32 weeks of gestation. Similarly, no difference in outcome was observed among 556
      children whose mothers had received an initial course of betamethasone followed
      by regular injections of either betamethasone or placebo. However, 6 children
      (2.9%) exposed to repeated maternal treatment developed cerebral palsy, versus
      only one of the children (0.5%) exposed to a single course, indicating that
      repeat courses of antenatal corticosteroids might have a detrimental effect. In
      practice, it seems prudent to only use a single course of corticosteroids in this
      setting.

PMID- 20939451
TI  - Lyell syndrome and epileptic seizures after confusion between Lamictal and
      Lamisil.
AB  - These two brand names are too similar, while the international non-proprietary
      names (INNs) are clearly different: lamotrigine (an antiepileptic) and
      terbinafine (an antifungal drug).

PMID- 20939452
TI  - Propolis: hypersensitivity reactions.
AB  - Propolis is produced by bees. It is traditionally used to treat mild ENT and skin
      disorders but has no documented efficacy. A review of about 20 Italian reports of
      adverse events in people using propolis identified hypersensitivity reactions
      such as oedema, respiratory and cutaneous disorders. Patients with a history of
      allergies seem to be at particular risk. Propolis has also been implicated in
      cases of acute renal failure. In practice, despite the public perception that
      natural products are safe, propolis should not be recommended for therapeutic
      purposes.

PMID- 20939453
TI  - Neuropathies due to denture adhesive overdose.

PMID- 20939454
TI  - Cervical cancer screening. Organised screening to avoid unnecessary conisation.
AB  - The incidence of cervical cancer and related deaths has fallen gradually since
      1970 in several European countries. The following article examines the role of
      screening in this reduced mortality, and the potential harms of cervical
      screening, based on a review of the literature using the standard Prescrire
      methodology. Cervical cancer is mainly due to persistent infection with certain
      types of human papillomavirus. Progression to invasive cervical cancer is slow
      and infrequent. Cervical screening is based on taking a sample of superficial
      cervical cells for the detection of atypical cells associated with malignant
      transformation. Women with suspect findings initially undergo colposcopy,
      followed by more invasive procedures such as biopsy, conisation and surgery, if
      necessary. Detection of high-grade lesions is similarly efficient whether the
      sampled cervical epithelial cells are examined immediately on slides or first
      suspended in a preservative solution (liquid-based cytology). The sensitivity of
      cervical smear testing for detecting high-grade intraepithelial lesions depends
      on the sample quality and the experience and training of the person who collects
      the sample and the person who reads the slides. False-positive and false-negative
      results are frequent. There are no randomised trials comparing outcomes between
      women who have regular cervical screening and women who are never screened.
      Several case-control studies have shown a strong statistical correlation between
      screening and a reduced risk of cervical cancer. In particular, a British study
      showed that the risk of being diagnosed with invasive cancer between the ages of
      40 and 65 years was 4 times lower among women who had been screened in the
      previous 5 years than in women who had not been screened. Historical studies,
      which can only provide a low level of evidence, suggest that the decline in
      cervical cancer mortality observed in several parts of the world is proportional
      to participation in screening. In England, the decline in cervical cancer
      accelerated when screening was better organised and participation increased
      markedly. Conisation consists of partial surgical excision of the cervix,
      sometimes for diagnostic purposes after a suspect smear result. It can cause
      bleeding and has been linked to a risk of preterm delivery in subsequent
      pregnancies. Most comparative studies have focused on organised screening
      programmes. In one case-control study, organised screening was more effective
      than opportunistic screening in reducing the incidence of cervical cancer. The
      results of case-control studies and epidemiological studies suggest that
      screening is unnecessary before the age of 21, or in the 3 years after first
      intercourse. Some data suggest that screening should continue until age 70, at
      least for some women. Pregnancy is associated with an increased frequency of
      atypical cells. Immunodepression, due to HIV infection for example, increases the
      risk of cervical cancer, but the optimal screening frequency for these women is
      not known. All current guidelines recommend colposcopy for women with high-grade
      lesions, with a view to performing a biopsy or conisation. In summary, screening
      has not been shown to reduce the risk of cervical cancer in randomised controlled
      trials, but retrospective comparisons strongly suggest that regular well
      organised smear testing prevents a number of deaths due to cervical cancer. It
      should be remembered that many cellular atypia found on cervical smears never
      progress to cancer. The frequency of overdiagnosis has not been studied. Smear
      based screening appears to have very few serious adverse effects. In practice,
      despite the lack of solid evidence, it seems unreasonable not to recommend
      screening for cervical cancer. Organised screening is preferable to opportunistic
      screening performed without quality controls and without research to optimise
      screening strategy.

PMID- 20939455
TI  - Two techniques for cervical smear sampling.
AB  - Screening for cervical cancer is based on the cervical smear, but this method is
      unsuitable for the diagnosis of cancer. The standard technique involves taking
      two samples (one from the endocervix and one from the ectocervix) and spreading
      (smearing) the samples on microscope slides. With the more recent liquid-slides.
      With the most recent liquid-based method, sampling is easier, and this technique
      is more sensitive for detection of low-grade atypia.

PMID- 20939456
TI  - Screening based on papillomavirus detection: too many false alarms.
AB  - Screening for highly oncogenic human papillomavirus (HPV) variants can detect
      more cases of severe dysplasia than the cervical smear test, but this advantage
      is offset by a higher frequency of false alarms and colposcopy procedures. In
      practice, this test has no proven value in the prevention of invasive cervical
      cancer or related deaths.

PMID- 20939457
TI  - Acute pyelonephritis in children: antibiotic therapy depending on the clinical
      context.
AB  - Children over 2 years of age with complicated acute pyelonephritis or at risk of
      complications should first be treated with a parenteral antibiotic, for example
      ceftriaxone, for 2 to 4 days, then switched to oral antibiotic therapy for a
      total treatment period of 10 to 14 days, taking into account the results of
      antimicrobial susceptibility testing. First-choice antibiotic therapy, in the
      absence of known risk, is oral cefixime for 7 days to 10 days. Second-line
      treatments include amoxicillin plus clavulanic acid or co-trimoxazole, taking
      account of the results of antimicrobial susceptibility testing.

PMID- 20939458
TI  - Arterial hypertension in children: few clinical trials.
AB  - Arterial hypertension in children is based on a statistical definition taking
      into account gender, age and height. Arterial hypertension is rare in this age
      group, and its clinical consequences are poorly documented. An underlying cause
      is more likely to be associated with hypertension in children than in adults,
      including overweight and renal, cardiac and endocrine disorders. Management of
      hypertensive children is based first on lifestyle modifications. The value of
      antihypertensive drugs has not been demonstrated in terms of morbidity and
      mortality. When antihypertensive therapy is unavoidable, certain diuretics and
      betablockers should be chosen.

PMID- 20939459
TI  - Vitamins and minerals: not for cancer or cardiovascular prevention.
AB  - Despite dozens of trials, no protective effect of various minerals and vitamins
      on cardiovascular disease or cancer in well-nourished adults has been documented.

PMID- 20939460
TI  - ICH: an exclusive club of drug regulatory agencies and drug companies imposing
      its rules on the rest of the world.
AB  - Under the pretext of harmonising regulatory requirements for marketing
      authorisation of new drugs, the drug regulatory agencies of the world's
      wealthiest countries and three pharmaceutical industry trade associations, joined
      together since 1990 in the ICH, are promoting their own interests by imposing
      their criteria for evaluating drugs on the whole world. The toxicity standards
      advocated by ICH sometimes promote faster, cheaper drug development over patient
      protection. The drug quality standards advocated by ICH sometimes increase
      manufacturing costs without providing any public health benefit. It would be
      preferable if the World Health Organization were in charge of setting standards
      for drug development, focusing on patients' interests.

PMID- 20939461
TI  - Conflicts of interest within the French regulatory agency: more progress needed.
AB  - In November 2009, the French drug regulatory agency (Afssaps) published the
      second report on its mechanism for handling the conflicts of interest of outside
      experts performing tasks within Afssaps. Despite the statutory requirements for
      experts to disclose their conflicts of interest every year, some of these experts
      do not. There is no procedure in place to verify their disclosure statements. In
      contravention of Afssaps's rules, more than half of the experts whose conflicts
      of interest were rated as "major" did not leave the room while a case with which
      they had ties was examined. Above all, expert evaluation that is free from the
      influence of drug companies needs to be encouraged and its value recognised.

PMID- 20939462
TI  - Recognising expertise would help to attract independent experts.

PMID- 20939463
TI  - Measuring the quality of life of cancer patients: interpret the results with
      caution.
AB  - When evaluating the efficacy of cancer drugs, increase in overall survival is the
      gold standard outcome. The high burden of adverse effects associated with cancer
      treatments has led to an interest in measuring patients' quality of life. The
      most relevant quality of life rating scales are self-reported and assess at least
      three dimensions: physical, psychological and social. Some scales can be used in
      all patients and healthy subjects, while others are disease-specific. Some
      personalised scales exist, which take into account the factors that are most
      important to an individual patient. Some scales only evaluate adverse effects.
      Some scales that are frequently used in oncology only assess one dimension of
      quality of life. It is not easy for non-specialists to interpret quality of life
      scales. We suggest a few questions to help with interpreting the data.

PMID- 20939464
TI  - Pharmaceutical marketing: nurses are also targeted.

PMID- 20939465
TI  - [Surgical treatment of carotid stenosis].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To summarize clinical experience of carotid endarterectomy (CEA) in
      treating severe carotid stenosis. METHODS: Between October 1998 and January 2010,
      215 patients with carotid stenosis were treated with CEA. There were 140 males
      and 75 females with an average age of 66 years (range, 51-88 years). Transient
      ischemic attack (TIA) occurred in 127 cases, and 31 cases had history of cerebral
      infarction. All cases were diagnosed definitely by selective angiography and/or
      CT angiography, and stenosis degree was more than 80%; contralateral carotid
      artery was also involved in 45 cases. Ninety-six cases were found to have
      coronary artery stenosis by coronary angiography. CEA and coronary artery bypass
      grafting were performed simultaneously in 25 cases. Peripheral arterial disease
      was found in 43 cases and treated at the same time. RESULTS: A total of 155
      patients were followed up 6-72 months. The clinical symptom significantly
      alleviated in 148 cases postoperatively. Two cases had complication of cerebral
      hemorrhage within 1 week postoperatively; one died and the other was resumed
      after the conservative treatment. One case had hypoglossal nerve injury. Four
      cases had injuring marginal mandibular branch of the facial nerve, and no special
      treatment was given. Restenosis was found in 25 patients, and the stenosis degree
      was less than 25%; moreover, the patients had no TIA. One case died of heart
      attack at 3 years of follow-up period. CONCLUSION: CEA is an effective and safe
      method for treating severe carotid stenosis.

PMID- 20939466
TI  - [Surgical treatment of subclavian artery occlusion].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To explore the effective surgical approaches in treating subclavian
      artery occlusion. METHODS: Between December 2005 and February 2010, 53 patients
      with subclavian artery occlusion were treated, including left subclavian artery
      occlusion (35 cases) and stenosis (5 cases), right subclavian artery occlusion (5
      cases) and stenosis (4 cases), and bilateral subclavian artery occlusion (4
      cases). There were 40 males and 13 females with an average age of 64 years
      (range, 22-77 years), including 49 cases of arteriosclerosis obliterans and 4
      cases of aortic arteritis. The disease duration was 15 days to 20 months (6.5
      months on average). In 49 patients with unilateral subclavian artery occlusion,
      39 cases complicated by carotid or/ and cerebral artery lesion underwent axillo
      axillary bypass grafting, and 10 cases without carotid or/and cerebral artery
      lesion underwent carotid-subclavian bypass grafting. Ascending aorta to bi
      subclavian bypass grafting were performed on 4 cases with bilateral subclavian
      artery occlusion. After operation, patients received routine treatment with
      anticoagulant and antiplatelet agents. RESULTS: The operations were successfully
      performed in 52 cases with a successful rate of 98.11%. Thrombogenesis at
      anastomotic site occurred in 1 case of aortic arteritis after 48 hours. Two cases
      had brachial plexus crush injury and 4 had hematoma around the bilateral
      anastomosis after axillo-axillary bypass grafting, and all recovered with
      nonoperative therapy. A total of 52 patients were followed up 1-52 months (24.5
      months on average). All patients survived and the symptoms of basilar and upper
      limb artery ischemia disappeared. Doppler ultrasonography showed that the blood
      flow was patent through anastomosis and polytetrafluoroethylene graft, and the
      vertebral artery flow was normal. Pseudoaneurysm at anastomosis was found in 1
      case after 18 months and treated by interventional embolization. The
      postoperative graft patency rate was 100% at 1 year and at 2 years. CONCLUSION:
      Both thoracic and extrathoracic surgical approaches are effective for treating
      subclavian artery occlusion. The reasonable surgical approach should be selected
      according to the arteriopathy and the patient's condition. Perioperative
      treatment and strict intraoperative manipulation are important to guarantee the
      success of surgery.

PMID- 20939467
TI  - [Endovascular treatment of multilevel arteriosclerosis obliterans of lower
      extremities].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the clinical effect of percutaneous transluminal
      angioplasty (PTA) and PTA and stenting (PTAS) in treating multilevel
      arteriosclerosis obliterans (ASO) of lower extremities. METHODS: Between January
      2007 and October 2009, 29 cases of multilevel ASO of lower extremities were
      treated with PTA or PTAS. There were 17 males and 12 females with an average age
      of 71 years (range, 56-83 years). The clinical manifestations were limbs numb
      with cold sensation, intermittent claudication (< 100 m), and 19 patients had
      rest pain. According to Fontaine stages classification, there were 7 cases of
      stage II, 14 cases of stage III, and 8 cases of stage IV. Concomitant diseases
      included hyperlipidemia in 13 cases, diabetes in 6 cases, hypertension in 12
      cases, chronic heart failure in 5 cases, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in
      3 cases, cerebral infarction in 5 cases, and toe ulcer in 15 cases. The
      preoperative ankle/brachial index (ABI) was 0.28 +/- 0.13. RESULTS: In 3 cases of
      below knee lesions for the guide wire puncturing through the artery wall, 1 case
      gave up, and 2 cases continued recanalized other arteries without serious
      bleeding complications. After operation, cerebral infarction occurred in 1 case,
      pulmonary infection in 2 cases, and groin puncture site hematoma in 2 cases. All
      patients were followed up 3 to 36 months. Limb skin temperature was significantly
      improved, and intermittent claudication disappeared or claudication distance
      lengthened, rest pain disappeared or significantly reduced in 27 patients (30
      limbs). The wound of amputee achieved good healing in 2 cases (2 limbs). In 27
      patients undergoing endovascular treatment, the postoperative ABI was 0.72 +/-
      0.19, showing significant difference when compared with the preoperative one (P <
      0.05). CONCLUSION: The PTA and PTAS treatment for multilevel ASO of lower
      extremities is a safe and effective option, and the short-term effect is good.
      Different treatments should be chosen according to the location and length of
      vascular occlusion.

PMID- 20939468
TI  - [Effectiveness of percutaneous transluminal renal artery stenting in treating
      atherosclerotic renal artery stenosis].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effectiveness of percutaneous transluminal renal
      artery stenting (PTRAS) in treating atherosclerotic renal artery stenosis (ARAS).
      METHODS: A total of 69 patients with severe ARAS were treated with PTRAS between
      January 2002 and December 2008. There were 47 males and 22 females with an
      average age of 66.2 years (range, 42-88 years), including 66 cases of unilateral
      ARAS (single functional kidney, 1 case) and 3 cases of bilateral ARAS. Renal
      angiography revealed that the degree of renal artery stenosis was 70%-99%.
      Concomitant diseases included hypertension (67 cases), atherosclerosis obliterans
      (69 cases), coronary heart disease (34 cases), diabetes (44 cases), and
      hyperlipidemia (36 cases). Blood pressure, serum creatinine (sCr), and patency of
      the renal artery were measured to assess the effectiveness of PTRAS after 12
      months. RESULTS: The renal artery stent was successfully implanted in 68 patients
      and the technical success rate was 98.6%. One patient was converted to ilio-renal
      bypass because of intra-operative acute renal artery occlusion. One patient died
      of heart failure at 6 months after PTRAS, and 1 patient was lost at 3 months
      after PTRAS. The other 66 patients were followed up 32 months on average (range,
      13-60 months). The blood pressure decreased significantly at 1 month and gained a
      further decrease at 12 months after PTRAS when compared with the preoperative
      ones [systolic blood pressure: (132 +/- 24) mm Hg vs (163 +/- 34) mm Hg, P <
      0.05; diastolic blood pressure: (78 +/- 11) mm Hg vs. (89 +/- 17) mm Hg, P <
      0.05; 1 mm Hg = 0.133 kPa]. Hypertension was cured in 4 cases (6.3%), improved in
      52 cases (81.2%), failure in 8 cases (12.5%), and the overall benefit rate was
      87.5%. The sCr level was stable after 12 months of PTRAS, showing no significant
      difference when compared with preoperative baseline [(107.8 +/- 35.4) micromol/L
      vs (104.1 +/- 33.8) micromol/L, P > 0.05]. Renal function was improved in 9 cases
      (13.6%), stable in 48 cases (72.8%), deterioration in 9 cases (13.6%), and the
      overall benefit rate was 86.4%. Instant restenosis found in 2 patients (3.0%) at
      12 months after operation. CONCLUSION: PTRAS is a safe and effective method to
      treat ARAS. It can control the blood pressure and stabilize the renal function in
      most ARAS patients. Long-term efficacy needs further investigation.

PMID- 20939469
TI  - [Treatment of ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To explore the diagnosis and treatment of ruptured abdominal aortic
      aneurysm (RAAA). METHODS: Between January 1996 and December 2009, 14 patients
      with RAAA were treated. There were 13 males and 1 female with an average age of
      65 years (range, 50-82 years). The main clinical manifestations were abdominal
      pain and/or back pain. Ten cases had low blood pressure or shock. All cases were
      accurately diagnosed with CT, Doppler ultrasonography, or operation. The aneurysm
      diameter was from 4.5 cm to 8.0 cm. Eleven cases were treated by conventional
      operation, 1 by endovascular aortic repair, 1 by conservative treatment, and 1
      case died after admission treatment. RESULTS: Perioperative death occurred in 6
      cases (mortality rate was 50%) in 12 surgical patients. One case died after
      conservative treatment. The overall mortality rate was 57.14% (8/14). The causes
      of death included circulatory failure in 2 cases and multiple organ failure in 4
      cases. The other 6 cases were cured. The postoperative hospitalization days were
      12 to 34 days (14 days on average). A total of 4 cases were followed up 11 to 40
      months without related complication. CONCLUSION: Surgical treatment is still a
      main method to treat RAAA. Early diagnosis, appropriate resuscitation, and urgent
      surgical repair are crucial to reduce the mortality rate of RAAA.

PMID- 20939470
TI  - [Endovascular repair of stanford type B aortic dissections with severe
      complications].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the security and efficiency of endovascular repair for
      Stanford type B aortic dissection (AD) with severe complications. METHODS:
      Between January 2003 and December 2009, 60 patients having Stanford type B AD
      with severe complications were treated, including 39 males and 21 females with an
      average age of 43.7 years (range, 34-71 years). Severe complications included 27
      cases of huge hemothorax, 1 case of paraplegia, 7 cases of acute renal failure,
      10 cases of celiac trunk ischemia, 10 cases of superior mesenteric artery
      ischemia, and 5 cases of severe limb ischemia. Emergency stent-graft deployment
      were applied in all patients, and 64 stent-grafts were successfully implanted.
      RESULTS: All patients survived and were followed up 3-86 months. Hemothorax
      disappeared after 28 days to 3 months of operation in all hemothorax patients;
      renal function returned normal after 1 to 9 days; limb and visceral ischemia
      disappeared gradually after 1 to 14 days; and muscular strength of lower limb in
      the paraplegia patient began to recover after 4 hours of operation. The
      postoperative CT angiography showed enlarged true lumen and thrombosis in the
      false lumen. CONCLUSION: Emergency endovascular repair is a safe and effective
      method to treat Stanford type B AD with severe complications.

PMID- 20939471
TI  - [Preliminary research of endothelial growth stimulation of 125I-vascular
      endothelial growth factor-coated artificial vascular patch].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To explore whether 125I-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)
      coated artificial vascular patch accelerate the vessel endothelialization and
      inhibit thrombosis. METHODS: Ten adult male New Zealand rabbits (weighing 2.5-3.0
      kg) were allocated into experimental group (n=5) and control group (n=5). In
      experimental group, the right common jugular vein was exposed for vascular
      clamping between proximal location and distal location, and then a 10 mm x 5 mm
      125I-VEGF-coated artificial vascular patch was implanted into the right common
      jugular vein and sutured with 8-0 thread. In control group, the artificial
      vascular patch was implanted. After 2 weeks, the vein specimens were collected to
      measure the residues of 125I-VEGF by gamma-ray counter. HE staining and
      immunohistochemical staining for smooth muscle actin (SMA) and CD34 were
      performed. The vascular endothelial cells were counted and the intimal thickness
      was measured. RESULTS: The gamma-ray counter showed the residues of 125I-VEGF in
      experimental group was (427.5 +/- 194.9) CPM after 2 weeks, equivalent to 2.0% +/
      0.8% of the preoperative value. Thrombosis formed in 2 rabbits of control group;
      no thrombosis formed in experimental group. There was significant difference in
      the intimal thickness [(41.1 +/- 6.6) microm vs. (49.0 +/- 6.9) microm, P <
      0.05]; but no significant difference in the vascular endothelial cells count
      between experimental group and control group (60.0 +/- 6.8 vs. 58.0 +/- 5.7, P >
      0.05). CONCLUSION: 125I-VEGF-coated artificial vascular patch can reduce
      thrombosis and inhibit intimal proliferation at the acute phase. A consecutive
      line of endothelial cells can form after implantation of patch in the rabbit
      jugular vein, however, the function of endothelial cells may be premature.

PMID- 20939472
TI  - [Preliminary study on porous scaffold prepared with decellularized artery].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the feasibility of preparing the porous extracellular
      matrix (ECM) by use of some chemicals and enzymes to decellularize the porcine
      carotid artery. METHODS: The porcine carotid artery was procured, and warm
      ischemia time was less than 30 minutes. The porcine carotid artery was
      decellularized with 1% sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) for 60 hours to prepare
      common ECM; then common ECM was treated with 0.25% trypsin (for 6 hours) and 0.3
      U/mL collagenase (for 24 hours) to prepare porous ECM. The common ECM and porous
      ECM were stained with HE, Masson's trichrome, and Orcein to evaluate the
      histological features. Then the mechanical property, cytotoxicity, and pore size
      of ECMs were determined. After 4 weeks of subcutaneous implantation in dogs, the
      histological examination was used for the study. RESULTS: Histological
      observation confirmed that 2 kinds of ECMs were decellularized completely and
      more porous structure was observed in porous ECM. Scanning electron microscope
      showed the pores in porous ECM were greater and the length of shorter axis in
      porous ECM ranged from 5 to 30 microm, the length of longer axis from 40 to 100
      microm. The porosity of porous ECM (99.25%) was greater than that of common ECM
      (91.50%). The burst pressure of porous ECM decreased when compared with common
      ECM, showing significant difference [(0.154 3 +/- 0.0127) MPa vs. [0.305 2 +/-
      0.015 7) MPa, P < 0.05]. There was no significant difference in suture retention
      strength between 2 kinds of ECMs (P > 0.05). The cytotoxicity test showed no
      obvious cytotoxicity in 2 kinds of ECMs. In vivo implantation test showed that
      the deeper host cells infiltration and more neo-microvessels in porous ECM were
      observed than in common ECM. CONCLUSION: SDS and some enzymes can be used to
      prepare porous ECM as the scaffold for tissue engineered blood vessels.

PMID- 20939473
TI  - [Effectiveness of low molecular weight heparin for prevention of deep vein
      thrombosis after total hip arthroplasty].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the pathogenesis of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) after
      total hip arthroplasty (THA) and the preventive effectiveness of low molecular
      weight heparin (LMWH). METHODS: The occurrence condition of DVT in 90 cases
      undergoing THA treated with LMWH between February 2003 and March 2004 was
      retrospectively analyzed. Among 90 cases, 39 were treated with LMWH at a dose of
      5000 U/day (high dose group) and 51 at a dose of 2500 U/day (low dose group).
      Another 90 cases undergoing THA without LMWH treating between February 2002 and
      February 2003 were used as control group. There was no significant difference in
      gender, age, illness cause, course of disease, or the type of prosthesis among 3
      groups (P > 0.05). RESULTS: DVT occurred in 19 cases (21.1%) of control group, in
      2 cases (5.1%) of high dose group, and in 5 cases (9.8%) of low dose group,
      showing significant differences between two treated groups and control group (P <
      0.05), but no significant difference between two treated groups (P > 0.05). There
      was no significant difference in gender, age (> 65 years and < or = 65 years),
      pathogen (trauma and bone disease) of each group, as well as of the same type
      patients within 3 groups (P > 0.05). The DVT incidence rate in the patients with
      bone cement artificial joint was significantly higher than that in the patients
      with non-bone cement artificial joint (P < 0.05), but there was no significant
      difference in the same type patients within 3 groups (P > 0.05). The
      postoperative blood loss in high dose group, low dose group, and control group
      was (463.5 +/- 234.2), (342.4 +/- 231.6), and (288.2 +/- 141.6) mL; showing no
      significant difference between the high and low dose groups, between low dose and
      control groups (P > 0.05), while showing significant difference between high dose
      and control groups (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The DVT incidence rate in THA patients
      with bone cement artificial joint is high; LMWH can reduce the DVT incidence rate
      and has good safety.

PMID- 20939474
TI  - [Comparison of clinical results between high-flexion and standard cruciate
      stabling prostheses in total knee arthroplasty].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare the clinical results between high-flexion and standard
      cruciate-stabling prostheses in total knee arthroplasty (TKA) by using the 36
      item short form health survey (SF-36). METHODS: Between August 2007 and January
      2009, 98 patients (106 knees) underwent TKA with standard cruciate-stabling
      prostheses (standard group), and 46 patients (50 knees) underwent TKA with high
      flexion prostheses (high-flexion group). In standard group, there were 30 males
      (32 knees) and 68 females (74 knees) with an age of (70.0 +/- 3.5) years,
      including 78 cases (82 knees) of osteoarthritis (OA) and 20 cases (24 knees) of
      rheumatoid arthritis (RA) with a disease duration of (14.5 +/- 3.3) years; the
      Hospital for Special Surgery Scoring System (HSS) and the range of motion (ROM)
      were 56.1 +/- 21.6 and (89.0 +/- 16.1) degrees, respectively. In high-flexion
      group, there were 8 males (10 knees) and 38 females (40 knees) with an age of
      (68.6 +/- 8.9) years, including 44 cases (47 knees) of OA and 2 cases (3 knees)
      of RA with a disease duration of (13.9 +/- 4.1) years; the HSS and ROM were 58.9
      +/- 25.3 and (91.0 + 19.3) degrees, respectively. There was no significant
      difference in the general data (P > 0.05) between 2 groups, so the clinical data
      of 2 groups had comparability. RESULTS: In standard group, poor wound healing and
      persistent headache caused by cerebrospinal fluid leakage occurred in 1 case,
      respectively. In high-flexion group, transient common peroneal nerve palsy
      occurred in 1 case. There was significant difference (P < 0.05) in the
      hospitalization expense between standard group [yen(39,000 +/- 6000)] and high
      flexion group [yen (52,000 +/- 8 000)]. The follow-up time was 12-26 months (18
      months on average) in standard group (91 cases, 98 knees) and 11-19 months (13
      months on average) in high-flexion group (44 cases, 47 knees). The SF-36 showed
      significant difference in role-physical score (P < 0.05), but no significant
      difference in other 7 indices scores (P > 0.05). At the final follow- up, the ROM
      was (129.1 +/- 19.2) degrees in high-flexion group and (123.6 +/- 16.7) degrees
      in standard group; showing significant difference (P < 0.05). The HSS was 91.2 +/
      17.6 in high-flexion group and 92.5 +/- 14.5 in standard group; showing no
      significant difference (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: After TKA, the ROM in high-flexion
      group is superior to that in standard group, but there is no obvious advantages
      in terms of the HSS and SF-36 outcomes.

PMID- 20939475
TI  - [Treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome by endoscope through transparent combined
      with dilation conductor].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To study the effect of surgical treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome
      (CTS) by endoscope through a transparent combined with dilation conductor to cut
      the transverse carpal ligament. METHODS: Between April 2003 and April 2008, 56
      patients with CTS were treated with endoscopic carpal tunnel release through a
      transparent combined with dilation conductor. There were 8 males and 48 females
      with an average age of 50 years (range, 38-65 years). CTS was caused by wrist
      injury in 5 cases, by forearm fracture in 12 cases, and by wrist strain in 39
      cases. The locations were left hand in 14 cases and right hand in 42 cases with a
      disease duration range of 2-7 years (4 years on average). According to Hamada
      classification of CTS, 38 cases were classified as stage I, 12 cases as stage II,
      and 6 cases as stage III. RESULTS: cases achieved the primary healing of
      incision. All patients were followed up 14-68 months (40 months on average).
      According to Kelly's evaluation, the results were excellent in 25 cases, good in
      22 cases, fair in 4 cases, and poor in 5 cases with an excellent and good rate of
      83.93%. The distal motor latency of median nerve was (4.48 +/- 0.50) ms at 1
      months, (4.06 +/- 0.35) ms at 3 months, (3.79 +/- 0.25) ms at 6 months, and (3.42
      +/- 0.24) ms at 12 months after operation, showing significant differences when
      compared with the preoperative one [(5.09 +/- 0.61) ms, P < 0.05]. There were
      significant differences among different time points after operation (P < 0.05).
      CONCLUSION: The method of endoscope through a transparent combined with dilation
      conductor to cut the transverse carpal ligament is a simple and effective
      surgical procedure for treatment of CTS, which can precisely cut the transverse
      carpal ligament and completely release the pressure of carpal tunnel.

PMID- 20939476
TI  - [Effectiveness of endoscopic ulnar neurolysis and minimal medial epicondylectomy
      in treating cubital tunnel syndrome with ulnar nerve subluxation].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the methods and outcome of endoscopic ulnar neurolysis
      and minimal medial epicondylectomy in treatment of cubital tunnel syndrome with
      ulnar nerve subluxation. METHODS: Between June 2004 and June 2009, 11 cases of
      cubital tunnel syndrome with ulnar nerve subluxation were treated with endoscopic
      ulnar neurolysis and minimal medial epicondylectomy. There were 7 males and 4
      females with an average age of 36 years (range, 18-47 years). All cases had
      numbness in little finger and ring finger. The disease duration varied from 3 to
      18 months (7 months on average). Nine cases had atrophy in the first dorsal
      interosseous muscle and hypothenar muscles. The preoperative electromyography
      showed that the ulnar nerve conduction velocity (NCV) were slowed down at elbow,
      which was (27.0 +/- 1.5) m/s. RESULTS: All incisions healed by first intention,
      and no complication occurred. Eleven cases were followed up 6-37 months (19
      months on average). All cases had normal sensation after 1 month of operation.
      The muscle strength was obviously improved in 11 cases after 3 months
      postoperatively (grade 4 in 7 cases and grade 3-4 in 4 cases). The postoperative
      electromyography showed that the NCV was obviously improved, which was (43.5 +/-
      9.5) m/s, showing significant difference when compared with preoperative one (P <
      0.05). According to Amadio' efficacy appraisal standard, the results were
      excellent in 7 cases and good in 4 cases. CONCLUSION: The method of endoscopic
      ulnar neurolysis and minimal medial epicondylectomy has the advantages of safety,
      convenient manipulation, small incision, and early recovery for cubital tunnel
      syndrome with ulnar nerve subluxation.

PMID- 20939477
TI  - [Study on relationship between osteoporosis and mRNA expressions of vascular
      endothelial growth factor and bone morphogenetic protein 2 in nontraumatic
      avascular necrosis of femoral head].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To explore the significance and the relationship between osteoporosis
      and the mRNA expressions of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and bone
      morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP-2) in nontraumatic avascular necrosis of the femoral
      head (NONFH), so as to provide a theoretical basis for the pathogenesis and the
      clinical treatment of NONFH. METHODS: Sixty-nine specimens of femoral head were
      collected from voluntary donators undergoing total hip arthroplasty, including 37
      cases of NONFH (NONFH group) and 32 cases of fresh femoral neck fracture (control
      group). In NONFH group, there were 26 males and 11 females with an average age of
      57.3 years (range, 43-75 years), including 19 cases of steroid-induced avascular
      necrosis of the femoral head (ANFH), 16 cases of alcoholic ANFH, and 2 cases of
      idiopathic ANFH; according to Ficat staging system, there were 23 cases at stage
      III and 14 cases at stage IV. In control group, there were 23 males and 9 females
      with an average age of 58.6 years (range, 46-79 years). The NO level of serum,
      the Q value of femur, and the bone mineral density (BMD) of weight-bearing area
      were measured firstly. The bone tissues were harvested from weightbearing
      necrosis area and healthy area. The pathological change was observed by HE
      staining, the percentage of empty bone lacuna and the percentage of trabecular
      bone area were calculated. The mRNA expressions of VEGF and BMP-2 in femoral head
      were detected through in situ hybridization technique. RESULTS: There were
      significant differences (P < 0.05) in the NO level of serum, the Q value of
      femur, and the BMD between NONFH group and control group. In NONFH group, the
      femoral head showed irregular shape, the articular cartilage exfoliated and
      collapsed. In weight-bearing necrosis area, the bone trabeculae were sparse and
      non-intact with a great number of empty lacuna; necrotic bone trabeculae were
      decomposed and absorbed; no obvious bone regeneration and repair were observed.
      In weight-bearing healthy area, the fat cells in bone marrow showed proliferation
      and hypertrophy. In control group, the femoral head had normal appearance, intact
      articular cartilage, and intact bone trabeculae with a regular arrange, and
      osteocytes were clearly seen. There were significant differences in the
      percentage of empty bone lacuna and the percentage of trabecular bone area
      between NONFH group and control group (P < 0.05). The mRNA expressions of VEGF
      and BMP-2 were positive in 2 groups. The positive area ratio, the absorbance
      value, and integral absorbance value of VEGF mRNA and BMP-2 mRNA in NONFH group
      were significantly lower than those in control group (P < 0.05); the grey scales
      of VEGF mRNA and BMP-2 mRNA in NONFH group were significantly higher than that in
      control group (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The pathological stage of osteoporosis may
      play an important role in the mechanism of the NONFH. The decrease of mRNA
      expressions of VEGF and BMP-2 in femoral head of NONFH is important reason that
      affect its bone mass, osteoporosis, rehabilitation, and reconstruction. It may be
      benefit to the reparative process of the necrosis femoral head to increase the
      mRNA expressions of VEGF and BMP-2 in the femoral head.

PMID- 20939478
TI  - [Study on effect of sensory neuropeptide in steroid-induced avascular necrosis of
      femoral head].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the significance of sensory neuropeptides [calcitonin
      gene related peptide (CGRP) and substance P (SP)] in steroid-induced avascular
      necrosis of the femoral head (ANFH) by using a rabbit model. METHODS: Fifty-five
      adult female Japanese White rabbits (weighing 3 kg and aging 24 months) were
      randomly divided into experimental group (n=45) and control group (n=10). The
      rabbits in experimental group received a single intramuscular injection of
      methylprednisolone at a dose of 4 mg/kg and then were sacrificed after 3 days
      (n=15), 1 week (n=15), and 2 weeks (n=15) of injection. The rabbits in control
      group were fed without any treatment. The necrosis of the femoral head was
      observed. And the expressions of the monoclonal antibodies CGRP and SP were
      observed with immunohistochemical staining. Also, the integrated absorbance (IA)
      value of the positive area was calculated. RESULTS: All rabbits survived to the
      end of the experiment. There was no necrosis of the bone or bone marrow in
      experimental group at 3 days; whereas ANFH was observed in 5 rabbits at 1 week
      (33%) and in 8 rabbits at 2 weeks (53%). There were significant differences in
      the rate of ANFH between 1 week, 2 weeks and 3 days (P < 0.05); but there was no
      significant difference between 1 week and 2 weeks (P > 0.05). The intensity of
      CGRP immunoreactivity increased and reached the peak at 1 week, and then
      decreased at 2 weeks in experimental group. The IA value of CGRP in experimental
      group at 1 week was significantly higher than that of control group and that of
      experimental group at 3 days (P < 0.05). The IA value of CGRP in experimental
      group at 2 weeks was significantly lower than those at 3 days and 1 week (P <
      0.05). The intensity of SP immunoreactivity decreased and reached the lowest at 1
      week, and then increased. The IA value of SP in experimental group at 1 week was
      significantly lower than that of control group and that of experimental group at
      2 weeks (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The sensory neuropeptides may be affected by the
      steroid, which may play a key role in the process of steroid-induced ANFH by
      imbalance of bone metabolism, disturbance of the microcirculation of bone, and
      disorder of the protective pain-transmission.

PMID- 20939479
TI  - [Effects of melatonin on expression of bone morphogenetic protein 2 and
      interleukin 1beta in articular cartilage of rat with osteoarthritis].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Melatonin (MLT) can increase the expression of cartilage-derived
      growth factor and stimulate the synthesis of cartilage matrix. To investigate the
      prevention and treatment effects of MLT on damaged cartilage through observing
      the expressions of bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP-2) and interleukin 1beta (IL
      1beta) in articular cartilage of the rats with osteoarthritis (OA). METHODS:
      Forty SPF 4-week-old male SD rats (weighing 120-150 g) were randomly divided into
      4 groups (n=10): normal control group (group A), OA group (group B),
      OA/pinealectomy group (group C), and OA/pinealectomy/MLT group (group D). The
      rats of group A served as a control without treatment. The rats of groups B, C,
      and D underwent left knee joint injection of 0.2 mL 4% papain solution 1 time
      every other day for 2 weeks for establishing OA model. Two weeks after papain
      injection, the rats of groups C and D were exposed to continuous light for 24
      hours (intensity of illumination: 500 lx) for creating pinealectomy models. And
      at the next day after pinealectomy model establishing, the rats of group D were
      treated with intra-articular injections of 0.2 mL 20 mg/mL MLT solution 4 times a
      week for 4 weeks. At 1 week after last MLT injection, the venous blood samples
      were taken in groups A, B, and C to test the level of serum MLT by ELISA,
      respectively, and then the specimens of left cartilage of femoral condyle were
      harvested for macroscopic, histological, and immunohistochemical examinations in
      4 groups. RESULTS: The OA and pinealectomy models of rats were successfully
      established, and all rats survived. There were significant differences in the
      serum MLT level among groups A, B, and C, and among different time points at the
      same group (P < 0.05). In group A, articular cartilage surface was smooth and
      elastic, and chondrocytes arranged regularly. In groups B and C, articular
      cartilage surface was rough, cartilage defects and subchondral bone exposure were
      observed in some areas, and chondrocytes arranged irregularly. In group D,
      cartilage surface was more smooth than that in groups B and C, and the degrees of
      cartilage defect and subchondral bone exposure decreased with regular arrangement
      of chondrocytes. There were significant differences in Mankin scores and integral
      absorbance values among 4 groups (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Exposure to continuous
      light can accelerate degeneration process of articular cartilage of OA rats.
      Injections of 0.2 mL MLT solution (20 mg/mL) by intra-articular for 4 weeks can
      inhibit the progress of cartilage defects. Upregulation of anabolic factor of BMP
      2 as well as down-regulation of catabolic factors of IL-1beta is associated with
      cartilage repair in the pathological features of OA.

PMID- 20939480
TI  - [One stage debridement and closed-suction drainage for treatment of infection
      after lumbar instrumentation].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinical outcomes of one stage debridement and
      closed-suction drainage for treatment of infection after lumbar instrumentation.
      METHODS: Between June 2002 and March 2008, 12 patients with infection after
      lumbar instrumentation were treated with one stage debridement and closed-suction
      drainage, including 9 males and 3 females and aging 35-68 years (48.5 years on
      average). The disease duration varied from 7 days to 183 days (56 days on
      average). The segments of internal fixation included 7 cases single segment at
      levels of L4,5, 4 cases of double segments at levels of L4,5, L5, S1 (2 cases),
      and L3,4, L4,5 (2 cases), and 1 case of three segments at levels of L(3,4),
      L(4,5), L5, S1. Two patients were treated with internal fixator removal. RESULTS:
      The bacterial culture results of intervertebral discs were positive in 8 cases
      for Staphylococcus aureus and in 3 cases for Enterobacter cloacae, negative in 1
      case. Primary healing of incisions were achieved in all cases. Twelve patients
      were followed up 18-53 months (34.7 months on average). The white blood cell
      count, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and C reactive protein significantly
      decreased after operation, showing significant differences at 15 days after
      operation when compared with those before operation (P < 0.05). No obvious low
      back pain was observed. Pathological-changed vertebra-space fused. No
      displacement and breakage of internal fixator occurred; in 2 patients who were
      given internal fixator removal, no removal of the instrumentation was performed
      again. The X-ray films showed that the average kyphosis decreased 0.8 degrees at
      18 months after operation. At last follow-up, the visual analogue scale score was
      2 +/- 1, showing significant difference (P < 0.05) when compared with that (10 +/
      2) before operation. CONCLUSION: One stage debridement and closed-suction
      drainage therapy is an effective method for treating infection after lumbar
      instrumentation. The operation is easy and can reduce hospitalization days.

PMID- 20939481
TI  - [Early clinical outcome of manual reduction combined with uni-lateral
      percutaneous kyphoplasty to treat osteoporotic vertebral compression fracture].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the efficiency of manual reduction combined with uni
      lateral percutaneous kyphoplasty (PKP) in treating osteoporotic vertebral
      compression fracture (OVCF). METHODS: Between May 2005 and May 2009, the manual
      reduction combined with uni-lateral PKP was applied to treat 42 patients with
      OVCF (group A), and the simple uni-lateral PKP was applied to treat 43 patients
      with OVCF (group B) at the same period. The visual analogue scale (VAS), the
      vertebral height, and the Cobb angle were determined before operation, and at 3
      days and 6 months after operation. In group A, there were 6 males and 36 females
      aged 59-93 years (76.5 years on average) with an average disease duration of 7
      days (range, 3 hours to 21 days); 27 segments of thoracic vertebrae and 31
      segments of lumbar vertebrae were involved, including 15 segments at mild degree,
      38 segments at moderate degree, and 5 segments at severe degree according to
      degree classification system of compression fractures of Zoarski and Peh. In
      group B, there were 9 males and 34 females aged 54-82 years (75.3 years on
      average) with an average disease duration of 7 days (range, 1 hour to 20 days);
      26 segments of thoracic vertebrae and 35 segments of lumbar vertebrae were
      involved, including 21 segments at mild degree, 36 segments at moderate degree,
      and 4 segments at severe degree according to degree classification system of
      compression fractures of Zoarski and Peh. There were no significant difference (P
      > 0.05) in sex, age, affected site, degree, and disease duration between 2
      groups. RESULTS: There was no significant difference (P > 0.05) in operative
      time, blood loss, or injected cement volume between 2 groups. No serious
      complication or death occurred in 2 groups. Cement leakage was observed in 4
      cases (9.5%) of group A and in 5 cases (11.6%) of group B. The VAS scores after
      operation significantly decreased in 2 groups (P < 0.01). At 3 days and 6 months
      after operation, the VAS scores in group A were significantly lower than those in
      group B (P < 0.05). The postoperative compression rates of affected vertebral
      body in 2 groups significantly decreased (P < 0.01). The compression rates of
      affected vertebral body at 3 days and 6 months after operation, and the height
      recovery rate at 3 days after operation in group A were superior to those in
      group B (P < 0.05). The postoperative Cobb angles in 2 groups were significantly
      diminished (P < 0.01). The Cobb angles at 3 days and 6 months after operation,
      and the recovery rate at 3 days after operation in group A were superior to those
      in group B (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The clinical efficiency of the manual
      reduction combined with unilateral PKP is superior to that of simple uni-lateral
      PKP in treatment of severe OVCF.

PMID- 20939482
TI  - [Treatment of ulnar coronoid process fracture with mini-plate].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the treatment of ulnar coronoid process fracture with
      mini-plate and to evaluate the clinical results. METHODS: Between September 2006
      and March 2009, 14 patients with ulnar coronoid process fracture were treated
      with open reduction and internal fixation of mini-plate. There were 10 males and
      4 females with an average age of 29 years (range, 14-51 years). Fracture was
      caused by falling from height in 4 cases and traffic accident in 10 cases. The
      locations were left side in 6 cases and right side in 8 cases. According to Regan
      Morrey classification, there were 2 cases of type I, 6 of type II, and 6 of type
      III. The flexion-extension are of the elbow was (60 +/- 10)0 and the forearm
      rotation was (70 +/- 10) degrees. The disease duration was 30 minutes to 11 days,
      and CT scan was used for definite diagnosis. Patients received early functional
      exercise 1 week postoperatively. RESULTS: All incisions healed by first
      intention. Fourteen cases were followed up 12-25 months (17 months on average).
      All fractures healed well, and the average union time was 10 weeks with a range
      of 7-12 weeks. No loosening or breakage of the internal fixation occurred except
      for 2 patients who had heterotopic ossification. The flexion-extension arc of the
      elbow was (110 +/- 10) degrees and the forearm rotation was (130 +/- 15) degrees,
      showing significant difference when compared with that before operation (P <
      0.05). The clinical results were evaluated according to Morrey's scale, 8 cases
      were rated as excellent, 4 as good, and 2 as fair; the excellent and good rate
      was 85.7%. CONCLUSION: Fixation of ulnar coronoid process fracture with mini
      plate provides sufficient stability to do early functional exercise and it can
      enhance functional outcome.

PMID- 20939483
TI  - [Preliminary clinical application of cancellous granule-type calcium phosphate
      cement].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinical efficacy of the cancellous granule-type
      calcium phosphate cement in repair bone defect. METHODS: Between July 2008 and
      July 2009, 35 patients (42 limbs) with fractures, nonunion, and benign bone tumor
      were treated with cancellous granule-type calcium phosphate cement. There were 32
      males and 3 females, with an age range from 9 to 73 years (median, 41 years),
      including 24 limb fractures (19 cases), 4 osteotomy for deformity of ulna and
      radius (2 cases), 2 femur intertrochanteric bony cysts (2 cases), 3 enchondroma
      (3 cases), 5 bone defect at donor ilium (5 cases), 3 nonunion (3 cases), and 1
      lumbar spinal stenosis (1 case). The size of bone defect was 1-5 cm. Bone defect
      was repaired with cancellous granule-type calcium phosphate cement (1-5 g).
      RESULTS: All cases were followed up 8-23 months (13.7 months on average). Thirty
      nine incisions (32 cases) healed by first intention and the suture was removed
      after 10-14 days. Incision dehiscence occurred in 2 cases, and wounds healed
      after second debridement and removal of artificial bone. Exudation of incision
      occurred in 1 case, and wound healed after symptomatic treatment. No local red
      swelling, higher temperature, maculopapular, and ulceration of skin occurred at
      implantation site. X-ray films showed that bone graft fusion was achieved and
      bone defect was radically repaired at 6 months after operation and artificial
      bone was absorbed completely at 12 months. CONCLUSION: Cancellous granule-type
      calcium phosphate cement can be used as a new graft bone material, which is
      suitable for defect filling after traumatic fracture, benign bone tumors, and
      iliac bone donor.

PMID- 20939484
TI  - [Effect of simvastatin on inducing endothelial progenitor cells homing and
      promoting bone defect repair].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of simvastatin on inducing endothelial
      progenitor cells (EPCs) homing and promoting bone defect repair, and to explore
      the mechanism of local implanting simvastatin in promoting bone formation.
      METHODS: Simvastatin (50 mg) compounded with polylactic acid (PLA, 200 mg) or
      only PLA (200 mg) was dissolved in acetone (1 mL) to prepare implanted materials
      (Simvastatin-PLA material, PLA material). EPCs were harvested from bone marrow of
      2 male rabbits and cultured with M199; after identified by immunohistochemistry,
      the cell suspension of EPCs at the 3rd generation (2 x 10(6) cells/mL) was
      prepared and transplanted into 12 female rabbits through auricular veins (2 mL).
      After 3 days, the models of cranial defect with 15 cm diameter were made in the
      12 female rabbits. And the defects were repaired with Simvastatin-PLA materials
      (experimental group, n=6) and PLA materials (control group, n=6), respectively.
      The bone repair was observed after 8 weeks of operation by gross appearance, X
      ray film, and histology; gelatin-ink perfusion and HE staining were used to show
      the new vessels formation in the defect. Fluorescence in situ hybridization
      (FISH) was performed to show the EPCs homing at the defect site. RESULTS: All
      experimental animals of 2 groups survived to the end of the experiment. After 8
      weeks in experimental group, new bone formation was observed in the bone defect
      by gross and histology, and an irregular, hyperdense shadow by X-ray film; no
      similar changes were observed in control group. FISH showed that the male EPC
      containing Y chromosome was found in the wall of new vessels in the defect of
      experimental group, while no male EPC containing Y chromosome was found in
      control group. The percentage of new bone formation in defect area was 91.63% +/-
      4.07% in experimental group and 59.45% +/- 5.43% in control group, showing
      significant difference (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Simvastatin can promote bone
      defect repair, and its mechanism is probably associated with inducing EPCs homing
      and enhancing vasculogenesis.

PMID- 20939485
TI  - [Anti-apoptotic effect of ginsenoside Rg1 on neuron after neonatal hypoxia
      ischemia brain damage].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Ginsenoside Rgl could increase the tolerance of neural hypoxia and
      ischemia under stress, and play an anti-apoptotic effect in hypoxia ischemia
      brain damage (HIBD). To investigate the effects of ginsenoside Rgl on neural
      apoptosis and recovery of neurological function in neonatal rats with HIBD, and
      to explore the possible mechanism. METHODS: Fifty-four 10-day-old SD rats
      (weighing 16-22 g) were randomly allocated into sham-operation group (Sham group,
      n=6), HIBD model group (HIBD group, n=24), and ginsenoside Rg1 treatment group
      (Rg1 group, n=24). SD rats in HIBD group and Rg1 group were made the models of
      HIBD by ligation of the right common carotid artery (CCA) and subsequently
      hypoxic ventilation (8% O2 plus 92% N2) for 2.5 hours; and in Sham group, the
      right CCA was only exposed without ligation of CCA and hypoxic ventilation.
      Intraperitoneal injection of 0.1 mL normal saline (NS) containing 40 mg/kg Rgl
      was given immediately after operation in Rg1 group, intraperitoneal injection of
      0.1 mL pure NS was given in both HIBD group and Sham group and was repeated every
      24 hours. The general state of SD rats was monitored after operation, and Longa
      scores were recorded to evaluate the neurological function at 4, 8, 24, and 72
      hours after HIBD. Western blot and immunohistochemistry staining were used to
      detect protein expressions of both hypoxia inducible factor 1alpha (HIF-1alpha)
      and cleaved caspase 3 (CC3). TUNEL staining was used to evaluate neural apoptosis
      in situ. RESULTS: All rats survived to the end of the experiment. Neurological
      dysfunction was observed in both HIBD group and Rg1 group, showing significant
      difference in Longa score when compared with that in Sham group (P < 0.05). There
      was significant difference in Longa score between Rg1 group and HIBD group at 72
      hours after HIBD (P < 0.05). Western blot showed that the protein expressions of
      both HIF-1alpha and CC3 were observed at every time point in every group. The
      expressions of HIF-1alpha protein in HIBD group and Rg1 group were significantly
      higher than those in Sham group at 4, 8, 24, and 72 hours (P < 0.05), and the
      expressions in Rg1 group were significantly higher than those in HIBD group (P <
      0.05). The expressions of CC3 protein in HIBD group were significantly higher
      than those in Sham group at 4, 8, 24, and 72 hours (P < 0.05), and significant
      difference was found between Rg1 group and Sham group only at 4 hours (P < 0.05).
      Immunohistochemistry staining demonstrated that HIF-1alpha and CC3 protein mainly
      distributed in nucleus and cytoplasma, the results of HIF-1alpha and CC3 protein
      expression were similar to the results by Western blot. TUNEL staining showed
      that the positive cells were characterized by yellow or brown particle confined
      within nucleus. The number of apoptotic cells at every time point in HIBD group
      was significantly higher when compared with that in Sham group (P < 0.05), and
      the number of apoptotic cells in Rg1 group was significantly lower when compared
      with that in HIBD group at 8, 24, and 72 hours (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Rg1 could
      inhibit Caspase 3 activation by strengthening and stabilizing HIF-1alpha signal
      pathway, and plays a role of anti-apoptosis in neonatal rats with HIBD.

PMID- 20939486
TI  - [Animal model of goat cleft palate made by uterine cavitary operations].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of cleft palate on the development of the
      mid-part of the face so as to provide an optimum animal model for the fetal cleft
      repair. METHODS: Twenty female Boer hybrid goats were selected, aging from 8 to
      12 months and weighing from 35 to 55 kg. The mating day was identified as 0 day
      of pregnancy. The goats were diagnosed with pregnancy by the B-ultrasound
      examination at 30 days, and were allocated into experimental group (n=14) and
      control group (n=6). In experimental group, uterine cavitary operation was
      performed at 65 days of pregnancy to form cleft palate which was a fissure
      between oral and nasal cavity; no treatment was given as the control group. At
      120 days of pregnancy, and after 1 month and 3 months of birth, the gross
      observation and 3-dimensional skull CT reconstruction were performed; and the
      maxillary bone width named as PPMM and the maxillary bone length named as APMM
      were measured. RESULTS: After operation, 2 goats died of infection, miscarriage
      occurred in 3 goats; 9 goats were included into the experiment. The operation
      success rate was 64.3%. In experimental group, maxillary dysplasia occurred in
      all the fetal goats at 120 days of pregnancy, and more obvious maxillary
      dysplasia was observed at 1 month and 3 months after birth; no maxillary
      dysplasia occurred in control group. There were significant differences in PPMM
      and APMM between 2 groups at different time points (P < 0.05). In experimental
      group, the lambs had poor chewing function, and died of pulmonary infection after
      aspiration at 1-4 months after birth. CONCLUSION: The surgical procedure for
      partial ablation of secondary primitive palate in the midline could make the
      model of cleft palate.

PMID- 20939487
TI  - [Influences of zinc on concentrations of cyclin D2 and cyclin-dependent kinase 4
      of human umbilical cord blood-derived mesenchymal stem cells].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To explore effects of zinc on the contents of cyclin D2, cyclin
      dependent kinase 4 (CDK4), and their DNA and total cellular protein in human
      umbilical cord blood-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hUCBMSCs). METHODS: hUCBMSCs
      were isolated and cultured by density gradient centrifugation adherence method in
      vitro. At the serial subcultivation, the hUCBMSCs were randomly divided into 7
      groups. In control group, hUCBMSCs were cultured with DMEM medium (containing
      15%FBS). In treatment groups, hUCBMSCs were cultured with DMEM medium (containing
      15%FBS plus ZnSO4.7H2O). The final concentrations of zinc were 0.5, 1.5, 2.5,
      3.5, 4.5, and 5.5 mg/L, respectively. The cellular surface antigens of CD29,
      CD34, CD44, and CD45 at the 3rd generation of hUCBMSCs were detected by flow
      cytometry. MTT assay was used to detect cell activity of the 3rd generation of
      hUCBMSCs. The optimum concentration of zinc was selected by the results of MTT as
      experimental group. The cell growth curves of experimental group and control
      group were drown by counting cell. The cell surface antigen, reproductive cycle,
      and DNA content were detected by flow cytometry mothers. The contents of cyclin
      D2 and CDK4 were detected by Western blot method. RESULTS: The positive
      expression rates of CD29 and CD44 were more than 70% in hUCBMSCs. The cell
      activity of 2.5 mg/L treatment group was superior to other treatment groups, as
      experimental group. At 7, 14, and 28 days, the contents of DNA, total cellular
      protein, cyclin D2, and CDK4 of hUCBMSCs were significantly higher in
      experimental group than those in control group (P < 0.01). The percentage of
      hUCBMSCs at S stage and proliferation index in experimental group were also
      significantly higher than those in control group (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Zinc
      (0.5-4.5 mg/L) has the promoting effect on the hUCBMSCs activity, and 2.5 mg/L is
      the optimal concentration. Zinc (2.5 mg/L) can accelerate the proliferation and
      DNA reproduction of hUCBMSCs and increase the contents of cyclin D2, CDK4, and
      cellular total protein.

PMID- 20939488
TI  - [Study on time effect of gene expression of recombinant adeno-associated virus
      vector co-expressing human vascular endothelial growth factor 165 and human bone
      morphogenetic protein 7 genes].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To study the time effect of the gene expression of recombinant adeno
      associated virus (rAAV) vector co-expressing human vascular endothelial growth
      factor 165 (hVEGF165) and human bone morphogenetic protein 7 (hBMP-7) genes so as
      to lay a theoretical foundation for gene therapy of osteonecrosis. METHODS: The
      best multiplicity of infection (MOI) of BMSCs transfected with rAAV was detected
      by fluorescent cell counting. The 3rd generation rabbit bone mesenchymal stem
      cells (BMSCs) were transfected with rAAV-hVEGF165-internal ribosome entry site
      (IRES)-hBMP-7 (experimental group) and green fluorescent protein (GFP) labeled
      rAAV-IRES-GFP (control group), respectively. The expression of GFP was observed
      by inverted fluorescent microscope. The expressions of hVEGF165 and hBMP-7 were
      assessed by RT-PCR assay and Western blot assay in vitro. The transfected cells
      in 2 groups were prepared into suspension with 5 x 10(6) cells/mL, and injected
      into the rabbit thigh muscles of experimental group 1 (n=9) and control group 1
      (n=9), respectively. The muscle injected with rAAV-IRES-GFP was sliced by frozen
      section method and the expression of GFP protein was observed by inverted
      fluorescent microscope. The expressions of hVEGF165 and hBMP-7 were assessed by
      Western blot assay and ELISA assay in vivo. RESULTS: The best MOI of BMSCs
      transfected with rAAV was 5 x 10(4) v.g/cell. In vitro, the expressions of GFP,
      hVEGF165, and hBMP-7 genes started at 1 day after transfection, the expressions
      obviously increased at 14 days after transfection, and the expression maintained
      the strong level at 28 days after transfection. In vivo, the expressions of GFP,
      hVEGF165, and hBMP-7 genes could be detected at 2 weeks after injection, and
      strong expressions were shown at 6 to 8 weeks after injection. The values of
      hVEGF165 and hBMP-7 were (248.67 +/- 75.58) pg/mL and (4.80 +/- 0.61) ng/mL
      respectively in experimental group 1, and were (32.28 +/- 8.42) pg/mL and (0.64
      +/- 0.42) ng/mL respectively in control group 1; showing significant differences
      between 2 groups (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The rAAV-hVEGF165-IRES-hBMP-7 has
      efficient gene expression ability.

PMID- 20939489
TI  - [Extraction techniques and biocompatibility evaluations of naturally derived
      nerve extracellular matrix].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Native extracellular matrix (ECM) is comprised of a complex network of
      structural and regulatory proteins that are arrayed into a tissue-specific,
      biomechanically optimal, fibrous matrix. The multifunctional nature of the native
      ECM will need to be considered in the design and fabrication of tissue
      engineering scaffolds. To investigate the extraction techniques of naturally
      derived nerve ECM and the feasibility of nerve tissue engineering scaffold.
      METHODS: Ten fresh canine sciatic nerves were harvested; nerve ECM material was
      prepared by hypotonic freeze-thawing, mechanical grinding, and differential
      centrifugation. The ECM was observed by scanning electron microscope.
      Immunofluorescence staining was performed to detect specific ECM proteins
      including collagen type I, laminin, and fibronectin. Total collagen and
      glycosaminoglycan (GAG) contents were assessed using biochemical assays. The
      degree of decellularization was evaluated with staining for nuclei using
      Hoechst33258. The dorsal root ganglion and Schwann cells of rats were
      respectively seeded onto nerve tissue-specific ECM films. The biocompatibility
      was observed by specific antibodies for cell markers. RESULTS: Scanning electron
      microscope analysis revealed that nerve-derived ECM consisted of a nanofibrous
      structure, which diameter was 30-130 nm. Immunofluorescence staining confirmed
      that the nerve-derived ECM was made up of collagen type I, laminin, and
      fibronectin. The histological staining showed that the staining results of sirius
      red, Safranin O, and toluidine blue were positive. Hoechst33258 staining showed
      no DNA within the decellularized ECM. Those ECM films had good biocompatibility
      for dorsal root ganglion and Schwann cells. The contents of total collagen and
      GAG in the nerve-derived ECM were (114.88 +/- 13.33) microg/mg and (17.52 +/-
      2.34) microg/mg, showing significant difference in the content of total collagen
      (P < 0.01) and no significant difference in the content of GAG (P > 0.05) when
      compared with the contents of normal nerve tissue [(54.07 +/- 5.06) microg/mg and
      (25.25 +/- 1.56) microg/mg)]. The results of immunofluorescence staining were
      positive for neurofilament 200 after 7 days and for S100 after 2 days.
      CONCLUSION: Nerve-derived ECM is rich in collagen type I, laminin, and
      fibronectin and has good biocompatibility, so it can be used as a nerve tissue
      engineering scaffold.

PMID- 20939490
TI  - [Research progress of electrospun nanofibers scaffold in nerve tissue
      engineering].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To review the research progress of electrospun nanofibers scaffold in
      nerve tissue engineering. METHODS: The related literature on electrospun
      nanofibers scaffold in nerve tissue engineering was extensively reviewed and
      analyzed. RESULTS: A variety of material nanofibers scaffolds can be fabricated
      through electrospinning. The chemical and physical properties of the scaffold can
      be modified and it was suitable for neuron. The scaffold can bridge the defect of
      peripheral nerve and partial function an partin be restored. CONCLUSION:
      Electrospun nanofibers scaffold has broad application prospects in nerve tissue
      engineering.

PMID- 20939491
TI  - [Research progress of telomerase reverse transcriptase in restoration of
      neurological diseases].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To review the research process of telomerase reverse transcriptase
      (TERT) in the restoration of neurological diseases. METHODS: The related
      literature on TERT in the restoration of neurological diseases was extensively
      reviewed and comprehensively analyzed. RESULTS: TERT was the significant
      component of telomerase and the critical regulator of telomerase activity. It
      played an important role in the pathomechanism of neurological diseases including
      tumors, neurodevelopmental deficits, and nerve injury. TERT was becoming a
      research focus in the reparative therapy of neurological diseases. CONCLUSION:
      TERT has manifested its great academic significance and application prospects in
      the reparative therapy of neurological diseases, which deserves a further
      investigation.

PMID- 20939492
TI  - Controlling deposition and release of polyol-stabilized latex on boronic acid
      derivatized cellulose.
AB  - Poly(glycerol monomethacrylate)-stabilized polystyrene (PGMA-PS) latex particles
      undergo specific, pH-dependent adsorption onto regenerated cellulose film bearing
      surface phenylboronic acid groups (cellulose-PBA). Deposition occurs at pH 10 and
      is driven by the boronate ester formation with the polyol latex surface coating.
      In contrast, no deposition occurs at pH 4, and previously deposited particles can
      be readily desorbed at this lower pH. In control experiments, conventional
      anionic sulfate-stabilized polystyrene latex did not deposit onto the hydrophilic
      cellulose surface. The distribution of boronate groups in the cellulose was
      determined by exposure to Alizarin Red S dye, which forms a fluorescent complex
      with phenylboronic acid; confocal microscopy was used to determine a surface
      density of 3 nm(2) per boronic acid group on the cellulose surface. Although the
      boronic acid binding constant with PGMA is relatively low (5.4 L/mol), the
      cooperative interactions between multiple PBA surface sites and the many PGMA
      chains per latex particle are sufficient to induce specific latex adsorption,
      providing a convenient new tool for controlling nanoparticle deposition on
      surfaces.

PMID- 20939493
TI  - Electrically polarized biphasic calcium phosphates: adsorption and release of
      bovine serum albumin.
AB  - In this study, we applied electrical polarization technique to increase
      adsorption and control protein release from biphasic calcium phosphate (BCP).
      Three different biphasic calcium phosphate (BCP) composites, with hydroxyapatite
      (HAp) and beta-tricalcium phosphate (beta-TCP), were processed and electrically
      polarized. Our study showed that stored charge was increased in the composites
      with the increase in HAp percentage. Adsorption of bovine serum albumin (BSA), as
      a model protein, on the poled as well as unpoled surfaces of the composites was
      studied. The highest amount of BSA adsorption was obtained on positively poled
      surfaces of each composite. Adsorption isotherm study suggested a multilayer
      adsorption of BSA on the BCP composites. The effect of electrical polarization on
      BSA release kinetics from positively charged BCP surfaces was studied. A gradual
      increase in percent BSA release from positively charged BCP surfaces with
      decreasing stored charge was observed. Our study showed that the BCP based
      composites have the potential to be used as a drug or growth factor delivery
      vehicle.

PMID- 20939494
TI  - Effect of oligonucleotide length on the assembly of DNA materials: molecular
      dynamics simulations of layer-by-layer DNA films.
AB  - DNA strand length has been found to be an important factor in many DNA-based
      nanoscale systems. Here, we apply molecular dynamics simulations in a synergistic
      effort with layer-by-layer experimental data to understand the effect of DNA
      strand length on the assembly of DNA films. The results indicate that short (less
      than 10 bases) and long (more than 30 bases) single-stranded DNAs do not exhibit
      optimal film growth, and this can be associated with the limited accessibility of
      the bases on the surface due to formation of self-protected interactions that
      prevent efficient hybridization. Interestingly, the presence of a duplex attached
      to a single strand significantly alters the persistence length of the polyT
      strands. Our study suggests that restrained polyT, compared to labile suspensions
      of free polyT, are more capable of hybridization and hence DNA-based assembly.

PMID- 20939495
TI  - Enantioselective recognition between polydiacetylene nucleolipid monolayers and
      complementary oligonucleotides.
AB  - A two-dimensional bio/synthetic hybrid system at the air-solution interface made
      of a polymerized diacetylene Langmuir film with nucleobase modified headgroups is
      presented. The polymerized film presents a crystalline array of nucleobases,
      capable of specific binding of complementary mononucleoside or oligonucleotide
      sequences. Mixed monolayers of the linear polyconjugated polydiacetylene (PDA)
      films derivatized with cytosine (10,12-pentacosadiyne-cytidyl, PDC) monomers and
      alcohol-terminated diacetylene lipid (10,12-pentacosadiynol, PDOH) at a 3:1 ratio
      (PDC 75%) were compressed and polymerized at the air-water interface with
      circular polarized light (CPL) or nonpolarized UV light. Here we report a grazing
      incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXD) investigation of PDC films polymerized to
      different chirality and hybridized with complementary ssDNA strands. We have
      demonstrated enantioselective interactions on synthetic structured interfaces
      produced by Langmuir surface compression followed by polymerization with circular
      polarized UV light (CPL). The left- and right-CPL polymerized light exhibit the
      same well-defined crystalline structure. The observed difference between left-
      and right-CPL polymerized PDC 75% Langmuir films compressed over the
      complementary mononucleotide guanosine or hybridized with fully complementary
      ssG(12)T(5) oligonucleotide in the subphase suggests that they are indeed
      enantiomeric structures, capable of enantioselective binding of their natural
      ligand, guanosine, solely as a result of surface induced asymmetry in "left" but
      not in "right" form. This observation may also be related to the intriguing
      question of chiral selection during the early period of "Origin of Life". We show
      that achiral compounds, as a result of irradiation with circular polarized light,
      can organize in chiral surface structures capable of amplification of biopolymer
      binding of particular handedness.

PMID- 20939496
TI  - Encapsulation of anilinonaphthalenesulfonates in carboxylate-terminated PAMAM
      dendrimer at the polarized water|1,2-dichloroethane interface.
AB  - Molecular encapsulation of water-soluble anionic fluorescent dye molecules, 8
      anilino-1-naphthalenesulfonic acid (ANS), and its bimolecular derivative (bis
      ANS), in the generation 3.5 polyamidoamine (G3.5 PAMAM) dendrimer was
      investigated in the bulk aqueous phase and at the polarized water|1,2
      dichloroethane interface. ANS(-) was electrostatically incorporated in the
      dendrimer, and the fluorescence enhancement with a blue shift of the emission
      maximum was observed at pH values <6, where the interior of the dendrimer was
      positively charged. The fluorescence enhancement of ANS was maximized around pH 3
      and then decreased under more acidic conditions. The potential dependences of the
      molecular encapsulation and the interfacial mechanism were studied in detail by
      means of potential modulated fluorescence (PMF) spectroscopy. Under acidic
      conditions, the dendrimer incorporated ANS(-) at the positively polarized
      interface as well as in the aqueous phase. ANS(-) was released from the dendrimer
      at the intrinsic transfer potential and independently transferred across the
      interface. Bis-ANS exhibited relatively strong interaction with the dendrimer
      over a wide pH range (1 < pH < 8), and a negative shift of the transfer potential
      was observed under the corresponding pH condition. The PMF analysis clearly
      demonstrated that the interfacial mechanism of the dendrimer involves transfer
      and adsorption processes depending on the pH condition and the Galvani potential
      difference.

PMID- 20939497
TI  - Conformational changes in the g protein-coupled receptor rhodopsin revealed by
      histidine hydrogen-deuterium exchange.
AB  - G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are activated by ligand binding, allowing
      extracellular signals to be efficiently transmitted through the membrane to the G
      protein recognition site, 40 A away. Utilizing His residues found spaced
      throughout the GPCR, rhodopsin, we used His hydrogen-deuterium exchange (His-HDX)
      to monitor long-time scale structural rearrangements previously inaccessible by
      other means. The half-lives of His-HDX indicate clear differences in the solvent
      accessibility of three His residues in rhodopsin/opsin and Zn2+-dependent changes
      in the pKa for His195. These results indicate the utility of His-HDX in examining
      structural rearrangements in native source and membrane proteins without
      requiring structural modification.

PMID- 20939498
TI  - Computational study of ion distributions at the air/liquid methanol interface.
AB  - Molecular dynamic simulations with polarizable potentials were performed to
      systematically investigate the distribution of NaCl, NaBr, NaI, and SrCl(2) at
      the air/liquid methanol interface. The density profiles indicated that there is
      no substantial enhancement of anions at the interface for the NaX systems, in
      contrast to what was observed at the air/aqueous interface. The surfactant-like
      shape of the larger more polarizable halide anions, which is part of the reason
      they are driven to air/aqueous interfaces, was compensated by the surfactant
      nature of methanol itself. These halide anions had on average an induced dipole
      of moderate magnitude in bulk methanol. As a consequence, methanol hydroxy groups
      donated hydrogen bonds to anions where the negatively charged side of the anion
      induced dipole pointed, and methyl groups interacted with anions where the
      positively charged side of the anion-induced dipole pointed. Furthermore, salts
      were found to disrupt the surface structure of methanol. For the neat air/liquid
      methanol interface, there is relative enhancement of methyl groups at the outer
      edge of the air/liquid methanol interface in comparison with hydroxy groups, but
      with the addition of NaX this enhancement was reduced somewhat. Finally, with the
      additional of salts to methanol, the computed surface potentials decreased, which
      is in contrast to what is observed in corresponding aqueous systems, where the
      surface potential increases with the addition of salts. Both of these trends have
      been indirectly observed with experiments. The surface potential trends were
      found to be due to the greater propensity of anions for the air/water interface
      that is not present at the air/liquid methanol interface.

PMID- 20939499
TI  - Soluble fiber dextrins and pullulans vary in extent of hydrolytic digestion in
      vitro and in energy value and attenuate glycemic and insulinemic responses in
      dogs.
AB  - The objective of this research was to measure in vitro hydrolytic digestion
      characteristics, glycemic and insulinemic responses, and true metabolizable
      energy (TMEn) content of select soluble fiber dextrins (SFDs) and pullulans. The
      SFDs were derived either from tapioca starch or from corn starch. The pullulans
      were of low, intermediate, and high molecular weight. Soluble fiber dextrins
      varied in digestibility, with all substrates resulting in low to intermediate in
      vitro monosaccharide digestion. Pullulans were nearly completely hydrolyzed after
      simulated hydrolytic digestion. The glycemic response with dogs varied widely
      among SFDs, with all but one SFD substrate having lower glycemic response than
      maltodextrin (Malt). The pullulans all resulted in low glycemic values. Lower
      relative insulinemic responses (RIR) compared to the Malt control were noted for
      all SFDs and pullulans. True metabolizable energy (TMEn) values for SFDs obtained
      using roosters were lower than for Malt, with tapioca-based SFDs having
      numerically higher values than corn-based SFDs. Pullulans resulted in higher TMEn
      values than did SFDs. Soluble fiber dextrins and pullulans may be suitable
      candidates for reduced calorie and glycemic foodstuffs. 

PMID- 20939500
TI  - Differential proteomic shotgun analysis elucidates involvement of water channel
      aquaporin 8 in presence of alpha-amylase in the colon.
AB  - Aquaporin (AQP) family plays a pivotal role in fluid secretion and absorption,
      especially in the digestive system and secretory glands. Within this family, AQP8
      was reported to be widely expressed in the epithelia of the digestive tract,
      liver, and pancreas. In two parallel experimental platforms with different
      analytical and comparative approaches, in-gel tryptic digestion with macro
      embedded spreadsheet analysis and in-solution tryptic digestion with LC-MS
      alignment based approach, we compared wild-type and AQP8 knockout mice colon
      proteomes. Shared result between both experiments revealed down-regulation of
      alpha-amylase 2 in AQP8-deleted mice model. Verification on both transcriptional
      and translational levels confirmed the involvement of AQP8 in alpha-amylase 2
      regulation. Given the profound role of AQP8 as a water and solutes transporter,
      it might be important in modulating alpha-amylase 2 synthesis by colonic
      epithelial cells as well. Here, we also proved the capability of our coupled
      approaches for selecting the most reliable and significant candidates, an
      applicable process for initial screening of biological biomarkers in complex
      specimens and tissue extracts.

PMID- 20939501
TI  - New fluoro derivatives of the pyrazolo[5,1-c][1,2,4]benzotriazine 5-oxide system:
      evaluation of fluorine binding properties in the benzodiazepine site on gamma
      aminobutyrric acid type A (GABA(A)) receptor. Design, synthesis, biological, and
      molecular modeling investigation.
AB  - In the search for potent ligands at the benzodiazepine site on the GABA(A)
      receptor, new fluoro derivatives of the pyrazolo[5,1-c][1,2,4]benzotriazine
      system were synthesized to evaluate the importance of the introduction of a
      fluorine atom in this system. Biological and pharmacological studies indicate
      that the substitution at position 8 with a trifluoromethyl group confers
      pharmacological activity due to potential metabolic stability in comparison to
      inactive 8-methyl substituted analogues. In particular, the compound 3-(2
      methoxybenzyloxycarbonyl)-8-trifluoromethylpyrazolo[5,1-c][1,2,4]benzotriazine 5
      oxide (21) emerges because of its selective anxiolytic profile without side
      effects. An analysis of all the newly synthesized compounds in our pharmacophoric
      map confirms the essential interaction points for binding recognition and the
      important areas for affinity modulation. The fluorine atom was able to form a
      hydrogen bond interaction only when it is not in position 3.

PMID- 20939505
TI  - Zinc(II) silsesquioxane complexes and their application for the ring-opening
      polymerization of rac-lactide.
AB  - In this Communication, we report the unprecedented solid-state structures for a
      series of zinc(II) silsesquioxane complexes. Initial catalytic data for the ring
      opening polymerization of rac-lactide are also presented together with analogous
      heterogeneous species.

PMID- 20939504
TI  - Structural determinants for transport across the intestinal bile acid transporter
      using C-24 bile acid conjugates.
AB  - The human apical sodium dependent bile acid transporter (hASBT) reabsorbs gram
      quantities of bile acid daily and is a potential prodrug target to increase oral
      drug absorption. In the absence of a high resolution hASBT crystal structure, 3D
      QSAR modeling may prove beneficial in designing prodrug targets to hASBT. The
      objective was to derive a conformationally sampled pharmacophore 3D-QSAR (CSP
      SAR) model for the uptake of bile acid conjugates by hASBT. A series of bile acid
      conjugates of glutamyl chenodeoxycholate were evaluated in terms of K(m) and
      normalized V(max) (normV(max)) using hASBT-MDCK cells. All monoanionic conjugates
      were potent substrates. Dianions, cations and zwitterions, which bound with a
      high affinity, were not substrates. CSP-SAR models were derived using structural
      and physicochemical descriptors, and evaluated via cross validation. The best CSP
      SAR model for K(m) included two structural and two physiochemical descriptors,
      where substrate hydrophobicity enhanced affinity. A best CSP-SAR model for
      K(m)/normV(max) employed one structural and three physicochemical descriptors,
      also indicating hydrophobicity enhanced efficiency. Overall, the bile acid C-24
      region accommodated a range of substituted anilines, provided a single negative
      charge was present near C-24. In comparing uptake findings to prior inhibition
      results, increased hydrophobicity enhanced activity, with dianions and
      zwitterions hindering activity.

PMID- 20939506
TI  - Collision cross-section determination and tandem mass spectrometric analysis of
      isomeric carotenoids using electrospray ion mobility time-of-flight mass
      spectrometry.
AB  - Carotenoids are natural pigments with provitamin A and antioxidant activities.
      Biosynthesized in plants as their all-trans isomers, carotenoids isomerize in
      solution and in humans to multiple cis isomers which can have different
      bioavailabilities and functions. Since separation and characterization of
      isomeric carotenoids using high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) or liquid
      chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) is time-consuming, the
      potential for ion mobility mass spectrometry (IM-MS) to resolve and characterize
      carotenoid isomers rapidly without chromatography was investigated using
      traveling-wave ion mobility spectrometry on a quadrupole time-of-flight mass
      spectrometer. The all-trans isomers of lycopene and beta-carotene were separated
      by several milliseconds from the cis-isomers which were detected as partially
      overlapping peaks. The collision cross-section values of these carotenoid isomers
      were determined using IM-MS to be 180 and 236 A(2) for cis-lycopene and all-trans
      lycopene, and 181 and 225 A(2) for cis-beta-carotene and all-trans-beta-carotene,
      respectively. Collision-induced dissociation MS/MS of ion mobility-resolved
      isomers indicated that cis and all-trans carotenoid isomers can be distinguished
      by their fragmentation patterns. Previous MS/MS studies of cis- and all trans
      carotenoids had suggested that they produced identical tandem mass spectra, but
      this appears to have been the result of isomerization during ionization.
      Introduction of specific cis or trans isomers by infusion or HPLC resulted in
      cis/trans isomerization in the ion source during electrospray, and the relative
      levels of cis carotenoids forming in the ion source compared to the all-trans
      isomers were temperature dependent. 

PMID- 20939507
TI  - Growth mechanism of self-catalyzed group III-V nanowires.
AB  - Group III-V nanowires offer the exciting possibility of epitaxial growth on a
      wide variety of substrates, most importantly silicon. To ensure compatibility
      with Si technology, catalyst-free growth schemes are of particular relevance, to
      avoid impurities from the catalysts. While this type of growth is well-documented
      and some aspects are described, no detailed understanding of the nucleation and
      the growth mechanism has been developed. By combining a series of growth
      experiments using metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy, as well as detailed in situ
      surface imaging and spectroscopy, we gain deeper insight into nucleation and
      growth of self-seeded III-V nanowires. By this mechanism most work available in
      literature concerning this field can be described.

PMID- 20939508
TI  - Synthesis and antitumor activity of stearate-g-dextran micelles for intracellular
      doxorubicin delivery.
AB  - Stearate-g-dextran (Dex-SA) was synthesized via an esterification reaction
      between the carboxyl group of stearic acid (SA) and hydroxyl group of dextran
      (Dex). Dex-SA could self-assemble to form nanoscaled micelles in aqueous medium.
      The critical micelle concentration (CMC) depended on the molecular weight of Dex
      and the graft ratio of SA, which ranged from 0.01 to 0.08 mg mL(-1). Using
      doxorubicin (DOX) as a model drug, the drug encapsulation efficiency (EE%) using
      Dex-SA with 10 kDa molecular weight of Dex and 6.33% graft ratio of SA could
      reach up to 84%. In vitro DOX release from DOX-loaded Dex-SA micelles (Dex
      SA/DOX) could be prolonged to 48 h, and adjusted by a different molecular weight
      of Dex, the graft ratio of SA, or the drug-loading content. Tumor cellular uptake
      test indicated that Dex-SA micelles had excellent internalization ability, which
      could deliver DOX into tumor cells. In vitro cytotoxicity tests demonstrated the
      Dex-SA/DOX micelles could maintain the cytotoxicity of commercial doxorubicin
      injection against drug-sensitive tumor cells. Moreover, Dex-SA/DOX micelles
      presented reversal activity against DOX-resistant cells. In vivo antitumor
      activity results showed that Dex-SA/DOX micelles treatments effectively
      suppressed the tumor growth and reduced the toxicity against animal body compared
      with commercial doxorubicin injection.

PMID- 20939509
TI  - Femtosecond four-wave-mixing spectroscopy of suspended individual semiconducting
      single-walled carbon nanotubes.
AB  - Femtosecond four-wave-mixing (FWM) experiments of individual suspended
      semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) are presented. The chiral
      indices of the tubes were determined by electron diffraction as (28,14) and
      (24,14) having diameters of 2.90 and 2.61 nm, respectively. The diameter and
      semiconducting character of the tubes were additionally confirmed by resonance
      Raman measurements. The FWM signal showed electronic response from the SWCNTs.
      The results demonstrate that ultrafast dynamics of individual SWCNTs can be
      studied by FWM spectroscopies.

PMID- 20939510
TI  - Plasmon-modulated light scattering from gold nanocrystal-decorated hollow
      mesoporous silica microspheres.
AB  - Localized surface plasmon resonances of noble metal nanocrystals are powerful in
      enhancing a variety of linear and nonlinear optical signals and photorelated
      processes. Here we demonstrate the plasmonic enhancement of the light scattering
      from hollow mesoporous silica microspheres by attaching a dense layer of gold
      nanocrystals onto the outer surface of the microspheres. The attachment of gold
      nanocrystals induces both the shift and intensity increase in the resonant
      scattering peaks of the microspheres. The spectral region of the resonant
      scattering enhancement can be controlled by using gold nanocrystals with
      different plasmon resonance wavelengths. The spectral region of the enhancement
      is independent of the microsphere diameter. The scattering enhancement factor
      ranges from 20 to 130, depending on the plasmonic properties and surface coverage
      of the attached gold nanocrystals. The systematic evolution of the scattering
      spectra of the individual microspheres is also revealed by chemically etching
      away the attached gold nanocrystals gradually.

PMID- 20939511
TI  - Catalyzed growth of carbon nanotube with definable chirality by hybrid molecular
      dynamics-force biased Monte Carlo simulations.
AB  - Metal-catalyzed growth mechanisms of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were studied by
      hybrid molecular dynamics-Monte Carlo simulations using a recently developed
      ReaxFF reactive force field. Using this novel approach, including relaxation
      effects, a CNT with definable chirality is obtained, and a step-by-step atomistic
      description of the nucleation process is presented. Both root and tip growth
      mechanisms are observed. The importance of the relaxation of the network is
      highlighted by the observed healing of defects.

PMID- 20939512
TI  - Spectroscopic signatures of photocharging due to hot-carrier transfer in
      solutions of semiconductor nanocrystals under low-intensity ultraviolet
      excitation.
AB  - We show that excitation of solutions of well-passivated PbSe semiconductor
      nanocrystals (NCs) with ultraviolet (3.1 eV) photons can produce long-lived
      charge-separated states in which the NC core is left with a nonzero net charge.
      Since this process is not observed for lower-energy (1.5 eV) excitation, we
      ascribe it to hot-carrier transfer to some trap site outside the NC.
      Photocharging leads to bleaching of steady-state absorption, partial quenching of
      emission, and additional fast time scales in carrier dynamics due to Auger decay
      of charged single- and multiexciton states. The degree of photocharging, f,
      saturates at a level that varies from 5 to 15% depending on the sample. The
      buildup of the population of charged NCs is extremely slow indicating very long,
      tens of seconds, lifetimes of these charge-separated states. Based on these time
      scales and the measured onset of saturation of f at excitation rates around 0.05
      1 photon per NC per ms, we determine that the probability of charging following a
      photon absorption event is of the order of 10(-4) to 10(-3). The results of these
      studies have important implications for the understanding of photophysical
      properties of NCs, especially in the case of time-resolved measurements of
      carrier multiplication.

PMID- 20939513
TI  - The effect of Asp-His-Ser/Thr-Trp tetrad on the thermostability of WD40-repeat
      proteins.
AB  - We recently found that Asp-His-Ser/Thr-Trp hydrogen-bonded tetrads are widely and
      uniquely present in the WD40-repeat proteins. WDR5 protein is a seven WD40-repeat
      propeller with five such tetrads. To explore the effect of the tetrad on the
      structure and stability of WD40-repeat proteins, the wild-type WDR5 and its seven
      mutants involving the substitutions of tetrad residues have been isolated. The
      crystal structures of the wild-type WDR5 and its three WDR5 mutants have been
      determined by X-ray diffraction method. The mutations of the tetrad residues are
      found not to change the basic structural features. The denaturing profiles of the
      wild type and the seven mutants with the use of denaturant guanidine
      hydrochloride have been studied by circular dichroism spectroscopy to determine
      the folding free energies of these proteins. The folding free energies of the
      wild type and the S62A, S146A, S188A, D192E, W330F, W330Y, and D324E mutants are
      measured to be about -11.6, -2.7, -3.1, -2.9, -3.6, -7.1, -7.0, and -7.5
      kcal/mol, respectively. These suggest that (1) the hydrogen bonds in these
      hydrogen bond networks are unusually strong; (2) each hydrogen-bonded tetrad
      provides over 12 kcal/mol stability to the protein; thus, the removal of any
      single tetrad would cause unfolding of the protein; (3) since there are five
      tetrads, the protein must be in a highly unstable state without the tetrads,
      which might be related to its biological functions.

PMID- 20939514
TI  - Nano-jewels in biology. Gold and platinum on diamond nanoparticles as antioxidant
      systems against cellular oxidative stress.
AB  - Diamond nanoparticles (DNPs) obtained by explosive detonation have become
      commercially available. These commercial DNPs can be treated under Fenton
      conditions (FeSO(4) and H(2)O(2) at acidic pH) to obtain purer DNP samples with a
      small average particle size (4 nm) and a large population of surface OH groups
      (HO-DNPs). These Fenton-treated HO-DNPs have been used as a support of gold and
      platinum nanoparticles (<=2 nm average size). The resulting materials (Au/HO-DNP
      and Pt/HO-DNP) exhibit a high antioxidant activity against reactive oxygen
      species induced in a hepatoma cell line. In addition to presenting good
      biocompatibility, Au/HO- and Pt/HO-DNP exhibit about a two-fold higher
      antioxidant activity than glutathione, one of the reference antioxidant systems.
      The most active material against cellular oxidative stress was Au/HO-DNP.

PMID- 20939515
TI  - Triple-mode single-transistor graphene amplifier and its applications.
AB  - We propose and experimentally demonstrate a triple-mode single-transistor
      graphene amplifier utilizing a three-terminal back-gated single-layer graphene
      transistor. The ambipolar nature of electronic transport in graphene transistors
      leads to increased amplifier functionality as compared to amplifiers built with
      unipolar semiconductor devices. The ambipolar graphene transistors can be
      configured as n-type, p-type, or hybrid-type by changing the gate bias. As a
      result, the single-transistor graphene amplifier can operate in the common
      source, common-drain, or frequency multiplication mode, respectively. This in
      field controllability of the single-transistor graphene amplifier can be used to
      realize the modulation necessary for phase shift keying and frequency shift
      keying, which are widely used in wireless applications. It also offers new
      opportunities for designing analog circuits with simpler structure and higher
      integration densities for communications applications.

PMID- 20939516
TI  - Antiproliferative effects of saponins from the roots of Platycodon grandiflorum
      on cultured human tumor cells.
AB  - Three new triterpenoid saponins, platyconic acid B lactone (1), deapio-platyconic
      acid B lactone (2), and deapio-platycodin D(2) (3), together with 17 known
      triterpenoid saponins, were isolated from a root extract of Platycodon
      grandiflorum. The structures of 1-3 were determined on the basis of spectroscopic
      data interpretation and chemical transformation. Saponins with a platycodigenin
      or polygalacic acid unit as a sapogenin demonstrated significant inhibitory
      effects on the proliferation of a small panel of cultured human tumor cells.

PMID- 20939517
TI  - Functionalized graphene as a catalytic counter electrode in dye-sensitized solar
      cells.
AB  - When applied on the counter electrode of a dye-sensitized solar cell,
      functionalized graphene sheets with oxygen-containing sites perform comparably to
      platinum (conversion efficiencies of 5.0 and 5.5%, respectively, at 100 mW cm(-2)
      AM1.5G simulated light). To interpret the catalytic activity of functionalized
      graphene sheets toward the reduction of triiodide, we propose a new
      electrochemical impedance spectroscopy equivalent circuit that matches the
      observed spectra features to the appropriate phenomena. Using cyclic voltammetry,
      we also show that tuning our material by increasing the amount of oxygen
      containing functional groups can improve its apparent catalytic activity.
      Furthermore, we demonstrate that a functionalized graphene sheet based ink can
      serve as a catalytic, flexible, electrically conductive counter electrode
      material.

PMID- 20939518
TI  - Ionic matrix for enhanced MALDI imaging mass spectrometry for identification of
      phospholipids in mouse liver and cerebellum tissue sections.
AB  - The ionic matrix (IM) is considered to be versatile for matrix-assisted laser
      desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS) for the identification of a
      wide range of biomolecules due to its good solubility for a variety of analytes,
      formation of homogeneous crystals with analytes, and high vacuum stability. When
      these advantages are exploited, the performance of IM of alpha-cyano-4
      hydroxycinnamic acid butylamine (CHCAB) and 2,5-dihydroxybenzoic acid butylamine
      (DHBB) was compared with other matrixes for the identification of phospholipids
      in standard mixtures and mouse liver tissue sections. The results showed that the
      IM of CHCAB caused higher signal intensity and allowed the detection of a number
      phospholipids such as phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) and phosphatidylserine (PS)
      in addition to detection of phosphatidylcholine (PC) on the surface of the liver
      tissue sample. The IM of CHCAB was also used to identify the species of lipids
      present in different layers of cerebellum where the greater numbers of
      biomolecules were detected as compared to DHB matrix. Further, the feasibility of
      the proposed method was extended for the analysis of tryptic digested cytochrome
      c for increased signal intensity and number of peptide sequences in MALDI-MS.
      Thus, the application of IM to MALDI-MS could be a promising tool for imaging
      biomolecules in tissue sections in high throughput analyses with high
      sensitivity. 

PMID- 20939519
TI  - Microwave-assisted 18O-labeling of proteins catalyzed by formic acid.
AB  - Oxygen exchange may occur at carboxyl groups catalyzed by acid. The reaction,
      however, takes at least several days at room temperature. The long-time
      exchanging reaction often prevents its application from protein analysis. In this
      study, an (18)O-labeling method utilizing microwave-assisted acid hydrolysis was
      developed. After being dissolved in (16)O/(18)O (1:1) water containing 2.5%
      formic acid, protein samples were exposed to microwave irradiation. LC-MS/MS
      analysis of the resulted peptide mixtures indicated that oxygen in the carboxyl
      groups from glutamic acid, aspartic acid, and the C-terminal residues could be
      efficiently exchanged with (18)O within less than 15 min. The rate of back
      exchange was so slow that no detectable back exchange could be found during the
      HPLC run. 

PMID- 20939520
TI  - Conjugation of peptides to the passivation shell of gold nanoparticles for
      targeting of cell-surface receptors.
AB  - We report the preparation of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) functionalized with the
      peptide-toxin conantokin-G and their selective binding to N-methyl-d-aspartate
      (NMDA) receptors recombinantly expressed by transfected HEK 293 cells. The AuNPs
      are passivated with a mixed self-assembled monolayer of omega-carboxy- and omega
      amino-polyethylene glycol (PEG) thiols. We compare two different passivation
      systems: the alkyl-PEG600 system is characterized by a C(11)-alkyl chain between
      the thiol group and the PEG segment, whereas the PEG3000 system lacks this alkyl
      chain. We show that only the alkyl-PEG600 passivation system allows selective
      conjugation of cysteine-terminated peptides to the periphery of the passivation
      layer via a heterobifunctional linker strategy. In contrast, using the PEG3000
      passivation system, peptides are immobilized both on the passivation layer and
      directly on the gold surface via concurrent place-exchange reaction. We therefore
      recommend the use of the alkyl-PEG600 system to precisely control the number of
      immobilized peptides on AuNPs. In fact, we show that the number of conjugated
      peptides per particle can be varied with good control simply by varying the
      composition of the self-assembled monolayer. Finally, we demonstrate that
      conjugation of the conantokin-G peptide to the solvent-exposed interface of the
      passivation layer results in maximal binding interaction between the peptide
      functionalized AuNPs and the targeted NMDA receptors on the cell surface.
      Conantokin G-coupled AuNP may be used to spatially restrict NMDA-receptor
      blockade on neuronal surfaces.

PMID- 20939521
TI  - Rapid synthesis of carbohydrate derivatives, including mimetics of C-linked
      disaccharides and C-linked aza disaccharides, using the hetero-Diels-Alder
      reaction.
AB  - In this work we demonstrate the value of performing a hetero-Diels-Alder reaction
      (HDAR) between Danishefsky's diene and a range of aldehydes or imines, under
      microwave irradiation. By using a range of aldehydes and imines, including those
      derived from carbohydrates, access to functionalized 2,3-dihydro-4H-pyran-4-ones
      or 2,3-dihydro-4-pyridinones in good to excellent synthetic yields is possible. A
      particular strength of the methodology is its ability to access mimetics of C
      linked disaccharides and C-linked aza disaccharides, targets of current
      therapeutic interest, in a rapid, convenient, and diastereoselective manner. The
      effect of high pressure on the HDARs involving carbohydrate-derived aldehydes and
      imines is also explored, with enhancement in yields occurring for the aldehyde
      substrates. Finally, HDARs using carbohydrate derived ketones, enones, and enals
      are described under a range of conditions. Optimum results were obtained under
      high-pressure conditions, with highly functionalized carbohydrate derivatives
      being afforded, in good yields, in this way.

PMID- 20939522
TI  - Concise synthesis of bicyclic pyridinol antioxidants.
AB  - The recently reported bicyclic pyridinols 1 and 2 are highly effective
      antioxidants exhibiting 88- and 28-fold greater potency, respectively, than alpha
      tocopherol when assayed for their ability to suppress the autoxidation of methyl
      linoleate. Described herein is a short, economical, and scalable strategy for the
      synthesis of this novel group of antioxidants, as well as analogues 3-6. Key
      reactions involved the cyclocondensation reaction of lactam acetals with
      enaminone 7 and selective functionalizaton of the heterocyclic systems.

PMID- 20939523
TI  - New family of peptidomimetics based on the imidazole motif.
AB  - Starting from amino acid esters, new peptidomimetics based on the imidazole
      scaffold were prepared. An efficient and rapid sequence consisting of two
      subsequent one-pot procedures was developed and applied to various aminoacids. As
      they provide more substitution patterns, these heterocyclic mimics are promising
      tools for structural and biological studies.

PMID- 20939524
TI  - Synthesis, characterization, and in vitro pH-controllable drug release from
      mesoporous silica spheres with switchable gates.
AB  - To accomplish pH-controllable drug release on mesoporous carrier, one of the best
      ways is to graft stimuli-responsive organic molecules around mesopore outlets. In
      this work, the pH-responsive propyldiethylenetriamine groups (abbreviative
      phrase: multiamine chains) were grafted around mesopore outlets of mesoporous
      silica spheres (MSS) and expected to act as pH-responsive gates. To this end,
      three multiamine-grafted MSS (i.e., NM1, NM2, and NM3) were synthesized under
      different reaction temperatures and reaction times. The reaction temperature and
      time for multiamine grafting were 25  degrees C and 12 h for NM1, 100  degrees C
      and 1 h for NM2, and 100  degrees C and 12 h for NM3, respectively. Through
      systematic investigations of TEM, SEM, N(2) adsorption/desorption, TG, and (29)Si
      MAS NMR, it was found that NM3 had the highest grafting amount of multiamine
      chains. It was further confirmed that the multiamine chains around the pore
      outlets of NM3 played the role of "molecular switch" that could well control the
      transport of guest drug molecules. In contrast, the multiamine chains around the
      pore outlets of NM2 and NM3 did not show gate effect. The difference should be
      decided by the fact whether the grafting amount of multiamine chains around
      mesopore outlets were sufficient under determined reaction temperature and time.
      In the tests of in vitro drug release, multiamine-gated MSS (i.e., NM3) showed
      highly sensitive response to the solution pH. At high pH (pH 7.5), ibuprofen
      (IBU) in this carrier released rapidly and completely within 2 h; at low pH (pH
      4.0 or 5.0), only a small part of the IBU (13 wt %) was slowly released from this
      carrier and the most of IBU was effectively confined in mesopores.

PMID- 20939525
TI  - Access to resorcylic acid lactones via phosphonate based intramolecular
      olefination.
AB  - An approach to resorcylic acid lactones is described, exploiting an
      intramolecular olefination reaction for the generation of the 14-membered
      macrolactone. The synthetic route gave zearalenone precursors, and the
      preparations of other RAL analogues, trans- and cis-resorcylides are included,
      the latter being prepared by photoisomerization of the trans-isomer. beta
      Haloketone derivatives were also prepared in a highly stereoselective manner by
      conjugate addition of chloride or bromide to the E-enone using boron trichloride
      and boron tribromide, respectively.

PMID- 20939526
TI  - Surface-bound cytomimetic assembly based on chemoselective and biocompatible
      immobilization and further modification of intact liposome.
AB  - A surface-bound cytomimetic assembly based on chemically selective and
      biocompatible immobilization and further modification of intact liposome is
      described. Liposomes carrying PEG-triphenylphosphine were chemoselectively
      immobilized onto azide-modified glass slides through Staudinger ligation,
      followed by modification with azide-modified lactose as a model biomolecule
      through Staudinger ligation to afford the surface-bound cytomimetic assembly. The
      intact liposome immobilized and modified and its protein binding activity were
      confirmed by fluorescence imaging, fluorescent dye releasing kinetics, and AFM
      techniques. The resultant surface-bound cytomimetic assembly showed sustained
      stability and fluorescent dye releasing kinetics and specific protein binding
      activity. The reported method provides a robust platform for preparation of a
      complex immobilized liposome system with multifunctional components, which mimics
      the cell surface in both geographical and content features and thus will find
      important biomedical applications.

PMID- 20939527
TI  - Dynamic structural changes at LiMn2O4/electrolyte interface during lithium
      battery reaction.
AB  - Gaining a thorough understanding of the reactions on the electrode surfaces of
      lithium batteries is critical for designing new electrode materials suitable for
      high-power, long-life operation. A technique for directly observing surface
      structural changes has been developed that employs an epitaxial LiMn(2)O(4) thin
      film model electrode and surface X-ray diffraction (SXRD). Epitaxial LiMn(2)O(4)
      thin films with restricted lattice planes (111) and (110) are grown on SrTiO(3)
      substrates by pulsed laser deposition. In situ SXRD studies have revealed dynamic
      structural changes that reduce the atomic symmetry at the electrode surface
      during the initial electrochemical reaction. The surface structural changes
      commence with the formation of an electric double layer, which is followed by
      surface reconstruction when a voltage is applied in the first charge process.
      Transmission electron microscopy images after 10 cycles confirm the formation of
      a solid electrolyte interface (SEI) layer on both the (111) and (110) surfaces
      and Mn dissolution from the (110) surface. The (111) surface is more stable than
      the (110) surface. The electrode stability of LiMn(2)O(4) depends on the reaction
      rate of SEI formation and the stability of the reconstructed surface structure.

PMID- 20939528
TI  - Are short, low-barrier hydrogen bonds unusually strong?
AB  - In a symmetric hydrogen bond (H-bond), the hydrogen atom is perfectly centered
      between the two donor atoms. The energy diagram for hydrogen motion is thus a
      single-well potential, rather than the double-well potential of a more typical H
      bond, in which the hydrogen is covalently bonded to one atom and H-bonded to the
      other. Examples of symmetric H-bonds are often found in crystal structures, and
      they exhibit the distinctive feature of unusually short length: for example, the
      O-O distance in symmetric OHO H-bonds is found to be less than 2.5 A. In
      comparison, the O-O distance in a typical asymmetric H-bond, such as ROH...OR(2),
      ranges from about 2.7 to 3.0 A. In this Account, we briefly review and update our
      use of the method of isotopic perturbation to search for a symmetric, centered,
      or single-well-potential H-bond in solution. Such low-barrier H-bonds are thought
      to be unusually strong, owing perhaps to the resonance stabilization of two
      identical resonance forms [A-H...B <-> A...H-B]. This presumptive bond strength
      has been invoked to explain some enzyme-catalyzed reactions. Yet in solution, a
      wide variety of OHO, OHN, and NHN H-bonds have all been found to be asymmetric,
      in double-well potentials. Examples include the monoanion of (+/-)-2,3-di-tert
      butylsuccinic acid and a protonated tetramethylnaphthalenediamine, even though
      these two ions are often considered prototypes of species with strong H-bonds. In
      fact, all of the purported examples of strong, symmetric H-bonds have been found
      to exist in solution as pairs of asymmetric tautomers, in contrast to their
      symmetry in some crystals. The asymmetry can be attributed to the disorder of the
      local solvation environment, which leads to an equilibrium among solvatomers
      (that is, isomers that differ in solvation). If the disorder of the local
      environment is sufficient to break symmetry, then symmetry itself is not
      sufficient to stabilize the H-bond, and symmetric H-bonds do not have an enhanced
      stability or an unusual strength. Nor are short H-bonds unusually strong. We
      discuss previous evidence for "short, strong, low-barrier" H-bonds and show it to
      be based on ambiguous comparisons. The role of such H-bonds in enzyme-catalyzed
      reactions is then ascribed not to any unusual strength of the H-bond itself but
      to relief of "strain."

PMID- 20939529
TI  - Plant oils as platform chemicals for polyurethane synthesis: current state-of-the
      art.
AB  - Plant oils are already one of the most important platform chemicals for the
      chemical industry due to its universal availability, inherent biodegradability,
      and low price. Nowadays, plant oils are already a commercial source of
      multifunctional monomers and oligomers for polyurethane synthesis, and the design
      of novel biobased polyols derived from them is an active area of research. By
      taking advantage of the wide variety of possibilities for chemical modification
      of plant oils, there is a broad palette of strategies to functionalize its
      structure with hydroxyl groups. The purpose of this review is to comprehensively
      overview recent developments on the preparation of biobased polyols from plant
      oils, covering from the general epoxidation and ring-opening approach to novel
      routes based on thiol-ene click chemistry as well as to highlight the properties
      of polyurethanes obtained from them. 

PMID- 20939530
TI  - Photochemistry of aqueous C60 clusters: wavelength dependency and product
      characterization.
AB  - To construct accurate risk assessment models for engineered nanomaterials, there
      is urgent need for information on the reactivity (or conversely, persistence) and
      transformation pathways of these materials in the natural environment. As an
      important step toward addressing this issue, we have characterized the products
      formed when aqueous C(60) clusters (nC(60)) are exposed to natural sunlight and
      also have assessed the wavelengths primarily responsible for phototransformation.
      Long-wavelength light (lambda >= 400 nm) isolated from sunlight, was shown to be
      important in both the phototransformation of nC(60) and in the production of
      (1)O(2). The significance of visible light in mediating the phototransformation
      of nC(60) was supported by additional experiments with monochromatic light in
      which the apparent quantum yield at 436 nm (Phi(436 nm) = (2.08 +/- 0.08) * 10(
      5)) was comparable to that at 366 nm (Phi(366 nm) = (2.02 +/- 0.07) * 10(-5)).
      LDI-TOF mass spectrometry indicated that most of the photoproducts formed after
      947 h of irradiation in natural sunlight retain a 60 atom carbon structure. A
      combination of (13)C NMR analysis of (13)C-enriched nC(60), X-ray photoelectron
      spectroscopy and FTIR indicated that photoproducts have olefinic carbon atoms as
      well as a variety of oxygen-containing functional groups, including vinyl ether
      and carbonyl or carboxyl groups, whose presence destroys the native pi-electron
      system of C(60). Thus, the photoreactivity of nC(60) in sunlight leads to the
      formation of water-soluble C(60) derivatives.

PMID- 20939531
TI  - Determinants of plasma PFOA and PFOS levels among 652 Danish men.
AB  - Perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) are used in a
      variety of industrial and consumer products and have been detected worldwide in
      human blood. The sources for human exposure are not well described, but dietary
      intake is suggested as an important source. In this study of 652 Danish men from
      the Diet, Cancer and Health cohort, we examined intake of 10 major dietary
      groups, tap water drinks, alcohol consumption, cooking method, geographical area,
      age, smoking status, and BMI as potential determinants of PFOA and PFOS plasma
      levels. Living in the Aarhus area was associated with higher PFOA and PFOS plasma
      levels compared with living in the Copenhagen area, and never smokers had higher
      levels than current smokers. Frying as compared with other cooking methods was a
      determinant of PFOA and PFOS levels. BMI and alcohol consumption were inversely
      associated with both compounds. Among the dietary groups, only intake of eggs was
      significantly positively associated with PFOS plasma levels. In future studies,
      PFOA and PFOS levels in air, dust and water samples should be measured to
      elucidate further the sources of exposure; exposure through diet needs to be
      studied in greater detail. Our finding of a higher body burden of PFOA and PFOS
      among never smokers also warrants further evaluation.

PMID- 20939532
TI  - Synthesis of a functional metal-chelating polymer and steps toward quantitative
      mass cytometry bioassays.
AB  - We describe the synthesis and characterization of metal-chelating polymers with a
      degree of polymerization of 67 and 79, high diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid
      (DTPA) functionality, M(w)/M(n) <= 1.17, and a maleimide as an orthogonal
      functional group for conjugation to antibodies. The polymeric disulfide form of
      the DP(n) = 79 DTPA polymer was analyzed by thermogravimetric analysis to
      determine moisture and sodium-ion content and by isothermal titration calorimetry
      (ITC) to determine the Gd(3+) binding capacity. These results showed each chain
      binds 68 +/- 7 Gd(3+) per chain. Secondary goat antimouse IgG was covalently
      labeled with the maleimide form of the DTPA polymer (DP(n) = 79) carrying
      (159)Tb. Conventional ICPMS analysis of this conjugate showed each antibody
      carried an average of 161 +/- 4 (159)Tb atoms. This result was combined with the
      ITC result to show there are an average of 2.4 +/- 0.3 polymer chains attached to
      each antibody. Eleven monoclonal primary antibodies were labeled with different
      lanthanide isotopes using the same labeling methodology. Single cell analysis of
      whole umbilical cord blood stained with a mixture of 11 metal-tagged antibodies
      was performed by mass cytometry.

PMID- 20939533
TI  - Quantitative determination of sarcosine and related compounds in urinary samples
      by liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry.
AB  - The current prostate cancer (PCa) diagnosis, based on the blood prostate-specific
      antigen (PSA) level measurement, is not a precise science. The widely used PSA
      biomarker for PCa has poor sensitivity and specificity and often leads to false
      negative and false-positive test results. Recently, sarcosine, proline,
      kynurenine, uracil, and glycerol 3-phosphate were found in higher concentrations
      in metastatic prostate cancer urine samples. By measuring all five of these
      metabolites, doctors may be better able to diagnose prostate cancer with high
      accuracy. However, there is no method reported for simultaneous detection of
      these compounds in urine samples. In this study, a novel method was developed to
      separate and quantify six urinary metabolites including creatinine in urine
      samples by using liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry. Chromatographic
      separations of the analytes were carried out using a phenyl-hexyl column with
      0.1% formic acid in water and acetonitrile, respectively, under a gradient
      program. The six metabolites were detected in the multiple reaction monitoring
      modes with the ESI-positive mode. The linear range of the analytes was from 0.003
      to 40 MUmol/L. The limit of detection was from 0.05 to 4 nmol/L, and the limit of
      quantification ranged from 3 to 20 nmol/L. The factors affecting the separation
      and quantification of the six metabolites, such as mobile-phase and MS
      conditions, were also investigated. The technique developed in this study is
      simple, fast, sensitive, and selective. It can be used for quantifying these six
      metabolites in urine samples for potential early cancer screening. 

PMID- 20939534
TI  - Analytical nanosphere sensors using quantum dot-enzyme conjugates for urea and
      creatinine.
AB  - An enzyme-linked analytical nanosphere sensor (ANSor) is described, responding to
      enzyme-substrate turnover in the vicinity of a quantum dot (QD) due to
      coimmobilized enzyme and pH sensitive ligand. QD capping by mercapto-alkanoic
      acids were rejected as a pH sensitive ligand, but with the use of a layer-by
      layer assembly on mercaptopropionic capped QDs and an intermediate
      poly(allylamine hydrochloride) layer, anthraquinone sulfonate (calcium red, CaR)
      was introduced to modify the pKa in the immobilized system > 8. QD-CaR absorption
      shows spectral overlap with QD530 emission at all pHs and gives a complex pH
      dependent fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) efficiency, due to
      excited state proton transfer (lambda(ex) = 540 nm; lambda(em) = 585 nm). In
      contrast QD615-CaR with spectral overlap between the QD and CaR gave a strong and
      reproducible pH response. QD-urease and QD-creatinine deiminase conjugates could
      be linked with pH changes produced by enzyme degradation of urea and creatinine,
      respectively. Close coupling between the pH sensitive QD and enzyme conjugate
      maximized signal compared with solution based assays: QD-urease and QD-CD
      bioconjugates were tested in model biological media (Dulbecco's modified Eagle's
      Medium and fetal calf serum) and in urine, showing a response in 3-4 min.

PMID- 20939536
TI  - Mechanistic studies of agmatine deiminase from multiple bacterial species.
AB  - One subfamily of guanidino group-modifying enzymes (GMEs) consists of the
      agmatine deiminases (AgDs). These enzymes catalyze the conversion of agmatine
      (decarboxylated arginine) to N-carbamoyl putrescine and ammonia. In plants,
      viruses, and bacteria, these enzymes are thought to be involved in energy
      production, biosynthesis of polyamines, and biofilm formation. In particular, we
      are interested in the role that this enzyme plays in pathogenic bacteria.
      Previously, we reported the initial kinetic characterization of the agmatine
      deiminase from Helicobacter pylori and described the synthesis and
      characterization the two most potent AgD inactivators. Herein, we have expanded
      our initial efforts to characterize the catalytic mechanisms of AgD from H.
      pylori as well as Streptococcus mutans and Porphyromonas gingivalis. Through the
      use of pH rate profiles, pK(a) measurements of the active site cysteine, solvent
      isotope effects, and solvent viscosity effects, we have determined that the AgDs,
      like PADs 1 and 4, utilize a reverse protonation mechanism.

PMID- 20939538
TI  - Facile and highly enantioselective synthesis of (+)- and (-)-fluvastatin and
      their analogues.
AB  - A highly enantioselective synthesis of (+)- and (-)-fluvastatin and their
      analogues has been facilitated by the reaction of an aldehyde with diketene in
      the presence of Ti(O-i-Pr)4 and a chiral Schiff base ligand. Either enantiomer of
      the Schiff base could be employed to obtain (+)- or (-)-fluvastatin.
      Diastereoselective reductions of the resultant keto moiety of beta-hydroxy
      ketoesters provided the syn-1,3-diol esters (91% ee), which were subsequently
      recrystallized and saponified to afford (+)- and (-)-fluvastatin in >99.9% ee. 

PMID- 20939537
TI  - Functionalized nanoporous silica for the removal of heavy metals from biological
      systems: adsorption and application.
AB  - Surface-functionalized nanoporous silica, often referred to as self-assembled
      monolayers on mesoporous supports (SAMMS), has previously demonstrated the
      ability to serve as very effective heavy metal sorbents in a range of aquatic and
      environmental systems, suggesting that they may be advantageously utilized for
      biomedical applications such as chelation therapy. Herein we evaluate surface
      chemistries for heavy metal capture from biological fluids, various facets of the
      materials' biocompatibility, and the suitability of these materials as potential
      therapeutics. Of the materials tested, thiol-functionalized SAMMS proved most
      capable of removing selected heavy metals from biological solutions (i.e., blood,
      urine, etc.) Consequentially, thiol-functionalized SAMMS was further analyzed to
      assess the material's performance under a number of different biologically
      relevant conditions (i.e., variable pH and ionic strength) to gauge any
      potentially negative effects resulting from interaction with the sorbent, such as
      cellular toxicity or the removal of essential minerals. Additionally, cellular
      uptake studies demonstrated no cell membrane permeation by the silica-based
      materials generally highlighting their ability to remain cellularly inert and
      thus nontoxic. The results show that organic ligand functionalized nanoporous
      silica could be a valuable material for a range of detoxification therapies and
      potentially other biomedical applications.

PMID- 20939539
TI  - Probing binding preferences of DNA and RNA: backbone chirality of thioacetamido
      linked nucleic acids and iso-thioacetamido-linked nucleic acids to differentiate
      DNA versus RNA selective binding.
AB  - Subtle differences in RNA and DNA duplex geometry could be sensed by the changed
      stereochemistry at 3'-amino function in the 5-atom thioacetamido linker of
      thioacetamido-linked nucleic acids and iso-thioacetamido-linked nucleic acids
      modified oligomers. In contrast to the preferred N-type sugar conformations for
      either 3'- ribo- or xylo amino nucleosides, predominant S-type sugar
      conformations were found in the dimers. Although the CD spectral differences for
      the dimer blocks were found to be identical for those found in phosphodiester
      linked ribo/xylo dimers, the 5-atom thioactamido linker could reverse the RNA
      binding selectivity to DNA binding selectivity by the change in configuration at
      the 3'-amino-substituted sugar.

PMID- 20939541
TI  - Patchy polymer colloids with tunable anisotropy dimensions.
AB  - We present the synthesis of polymer colloids with continuously tunable anisotropy
      dimensions: patchiness, roughness, and branching. Our method makes use of
      controlled fusion of multiple protrusions on highly cross-linked polymer
      particles produced by seeded emulsion polymerization. Carefully changing the
      synthesis conditions, we can tune the number of protrusions, or branching, of the
      obtained particles from spheres with one to three patches to raspberry-like
      particles with multiple protrusions. In addition to that, roughness is generated
      on the seed particles by adsorption of secondary nucleated particles during
      synthesis. The size of the roughness relative to the smooth patches can be
      continuously tuned by the initiator, surfactant, and styrene concentrations. Seed
      colloids chemically different from the protrusions induce patches of different
      chemical nature. The underlying generality of the synthesis procedure allows for
      application to a variety of seed particle sizes and materials. We demonstrate the
      use of differently sized polyNIPAM (poly-N-isopropylacrylamide), as well as
      polystyrene and magnetite filled polyNIPAM seed particles, the latter giving rise
      to magnetically anisotropic colloids. The high yield together with the uniform,
      anisotropic shape make them interesting candidates for use as smart building
      blocks in self-assembling systems.

PMID- 20939540
TI  - Isolation and characterization of minor analogues of silvestrol and other
      constituents from a large-scale re-collection of Aglaia foveolata.
AB  - Two new minor silvestrol analogues [2'''-episilvestrol (1) and 2''',5'''
      diepisilvestrol (2)], together with a new 21-norbaccharane-type triterpene (3),
      two new 3,4-secodammarane triterpenes (4 and 5), and a new eudesmane
      sesquiterpene (6), as well as nine known compounds, were isolated from a large
      scale re-collection of the CHCl(3)-soluble extract of the stem bark of Aglaia
      foveolata obtained in Kalimantan, Indonesia. The structures of the new compounds
      were established by interpretation of their spectroscopic data. All of the
      isolates were tested for cytotoxicity against HT-29 cells. The new silvestrol
      analogues, 1 and 2, were considerably less active as cytotoxic agents than
      silvestrol (7) and episilvestrol (5'''-episilvestrol) (8) against this cell line,
      showing the importance of the configuration at C-2''' in mediating such activity
      within this compound class. Several of the compounds isolated were also evaluated
      in a NF-kappaB (p65) inhibition assay.

PMID- 20939543
TI  - Energetics of protein nucleation on rough polymeric surfaces.
AB  - Metropolis Monte Carlo (MC) algorithm of the two-dimensional Ising model is used
      to study the heterogeneous nucleation of protein crystals on rough polymeric
      surfaces. The theoretical findings are compared to those obtained from classical
      nucleation theory (CNT), and to experimental data from protein model hen egg
      white lysozyme (HEWL) crystallized on poly(vinylidene fluoride) or PVDF,
      poly(dimethylsiloxane) or PDMS and Hyflon homemade membranes. The reduction of
      the activation energy for the nucleation process on polymeric membranes,
      predicted to occur at increasing surface roughness, results in a nucleation
      kinetics that is many orders of magnitude faster than in homogeneous phase. In
      general, MC stochastic dynamics offers the unique opportunity to investigate the
      effects of collective molecular aggregation at site level on the nucleation rate
      and, consequently, allows to identify optimal morphological and structural
      properties of polymeric membranes for a fine control of the crystallization
      kinetics.

PMID- 20939542
TI  - Acylated glycosides of hydroxy fatty acid methyl esters generated from the crude
      resin glycoside (pharbitin) of seeds of Pharbitis nil by treatment with
      indium(III) chloride in methanol.
AB  - Treatment of the crude ether-insoluble resin glycoside (convolvulin) from seeds
      of Pharbitis nil (Pharbitis Semen), called pharbitin, with indium(III) chloride
      in methanol provided seven oligoglycosides of hydroxy fatty acid methyl esters
      partially acylated by 2-methyl-3-hydroxybutyric (nilic) and 2S-methylbutyric
      acids. Their structures were elucidated on the basis of NMR and MS data and
      chemical conversions.

PMID- 20939544
TI  - Versatile configuration-encoded strategy for rapid synthesis of 1,5-polyol
      stereoisomers.
AB  - The isolated stereogenic centers of 1,5-polyol-containing natural products
      present challenges to synthesis and structure determination. To address this
      problem, a configuration-encoded strategy defines each configuration within a
      simple 4-(arylsulfonyl)butyronitrile building block, a repeat unit that is
      reliably and efficiently coupled in iterative fashion to afford 1,5-polyols of
      defined stereochemistry. For example, the C27-C40 subunit of tetrafibricin is
      prepared in five steps and 42% yield. This strategy is amenable to rapid and
      unambiguous preparation of all configurational permutations of 1,5-polyols with
      equal facility.

PMID- 20939545
TI  - Ab initio molecular dynamics with dual basis set methods.
AB  - On-the-fly, ab initio classical molecular dynamics are demonstrated with an
      underlying dual basis set potential energy surface. Dual-basis self-consistent
      field (Hartree-Fock and density functional theory) and resolution-of-the-identity
      second-order Moller-Plesset perturbation theory (RI-MP2) dynamics are tested for
      small systems, including the water dimer. The resulting dynamics are shown to be
      faithful representations of their single-basis analogues for individual
      trajectories, as well as vibrational spectra. Computational cost savings of 58%
      are demonstrated for SCF methods, even relative to Fock-extrapolated dynamics,
      and savings are further increased to 71% with RI-MP2. Notably, these timings
      outperform an idealized estimate of extended-Lagrangian molecular dynamics. The
      method is subsequently demonstrated on the vibrational absorption spectrum of two
      NO(+)(H2O)3 isomers and is shown to recover the significant width of the shared
      proton bands observed experimentally.

PMID- 20939546
TI  - Biophysical properties of membrane-active peptides based on micelle modeling: a
      case study of cell-penetrating and antimicrobial peptides.
AB  - We investigated the molecular mechanisms of short peptides interacting with
      membrane-mimetic systems. Three short peptides were selected for this study:
      penetratin as a cell-penetrating peptide (CPP), and temporin A and KSL as
      antimicrobial peptides (AMP). We investigated the detailed interactions of the
      peptides with dodecylphosphocholine (DPC) and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)
      micelles, and the subsequent peptide insertion based on free energy calculations
      by using all-atomistic molecular dynamics simulations with the united atom force
      field and explicit solvent models. First, we found that the free energy barrier
      to insertion for the three peptides is dependent on the chemical composition of
      the micelles. Because of the favorable electrostatic interactions between the
      peptides and the headgroups of lipids, the insertion barrier into an SDS micelle
      is less than a DPC micelle. Second, the peptides' secondary structures may play a
      key role in their binding and insertion ability, particularly for amphiphilic
      peptides such as penetratin and KSL. The secondary structures with a stronger
      ability to bind with and insert into micelles are the ones that account for a
      smaller surface area of hydrophobic core, thus offering a possible criterion for
      peptide design with specific functionalities.

PMID- 20939547
TI  - Reactive molecular dynamics with material-specific coarse-grained potentials:
      growth of polystyrene chains from styrene monomers.
AB  - We have developed a reactive molecular dynamics (RMD) scheme to simulate
      irreversible polymerization of realistic polymer systems in a coarse-grained
      resolution. We have studied the chain propagation of styrene to polystyrene. For
      monodisperse polystyrene samples, we reproduce the results of equilibrium MD
      simulations: density, end-to-end distance, radius of gyration, and different
      geometrical distribution functions. The RMD simulations on polydisperse systems
      should be considered as case studies intended to understand the influence of
      different tuning parameters of the RMD approach on calculated polymer quantities.
      The parameters for the irreversible polymerization include the number and
      position of the initiator units (I*) as well as capture radii r(I) (r(P))
      defining the geometrical conditions for chain initiation (propagation) and a
      characteristic delay time tau(r) separating two reactive MD time steps. As a
      function of the r(I) (r(P)) and tau(r), it is possible to model polymerization
      processes both in the limit of almost unrelaxed and fully relaxed samples. The
      strong influence of the spatial localization of the I* on the polymer size
      distribution is discussed in detail. The RMD results are used to formulate
      optimized computational conditions for the simulation of irreversible
      polymerizations, to explain observed trends in the polydispersity index, and to
      suggest experiments that might lead to an unexpected polymer size distribution.

PMID- 20939548
TI  - First hyperpolarizability of the natural aromatic amino acids tryptophan,
      tyrosine, and phenylalanine and the tripeptide lysine-tryptophan-lysine
      determined by hyper-Rayleigh scattering.
AB  - We report the first hyperpolarizability of tryptophan (Trp) and tyrosine (Tyr)
      and an upper limit for that of phenylalanine (Phe), three natural aromatic amino
      acids. The measurements were performed with hyper-Rayleigh scattering in an
      aqueous Tris buffer solution at a pH of 8.5 and 150 mM salt concentration with a
      fundamental wavelength of 780 nm. A value of (4.7 +/- 0.7) * 10(-30) esu is found
      for Trp and (4.1 +/- 0.7) * 10(-30) esu for Tyr whereas the upper limit of 1.4 *
      10(-30) esu is found for that of Phe due to its limited solubility. The influence
      of the presence of lysine (Lys) in close vicinity of Trp is investigated with a
      measurement of the first hyperpolarizabilty of Trp in an excess of Lys and
      compared to the first hyperpolarizability obtained for the tripeptide Lys-Trp
      Lys. The clear decrease of the values measured in these two cases indicates that
      the first hyperpolarizabilty of Trp is very sensitive to its local environment.

PMID- 20939549
TI  - Beyond Forster resonance energy transfer in linear nanoscale systems.
AB  - The line dipole approximation is used to investigate analytical corrections to
      the Forster energy transfer rate, k, derived via the point dipole approximation.
      It is shown that that for molecules whose conjugation length, L, is much larger
      than the separation, R, between molecules the line dipole approximation predicts
      k ~ (RL)-2 ~ (RN)-2 (where N is the number of conjugated monomer units). This is
      in contrast to the point dipole approximation, which predicts k ~ L2R-6 ~ N2R-6.

PMID- 20939550
TI  - Development of an icosahedral quasicrystal and two approximants in the Ca-Au-Sn
      system: syntheses and structural analyses.
AB  - The realm of Tsai-type (YCd(6)-type) quasicrystals (QCs) and their approximants
      (ACs) continues to expand to the east in the periodic table. The heavy tetrel Sn
      is now one of the major components in the new Ca(15.0(5))Au(60.0(4))Sn(25.0(2))
      (atom %) icosahedral QC and in the corresponding 1/1 and 2/1 ACs. (The 2/1 AC
      with Yb is also established.) Single-crystal X-ray diffraction on a 1/1 AC gives
      the refined formula of Ca(3)Au(14.36(3))Sn(4.38(5)) in space group Im3, a =
      15.131(1) A, whereas a representative 2/1 AC gives Ca(13)Au(47.2(1))Sn(28.1(1)),
      Pa3 and a = 24.444(1) A. Both ACs contain five-shell multiply endohedral
      triacontahedral clusters as the common building blocks, as in the parent
      structure of YCd(6). The 2/1 AC also contains four Ca(2)-dimer-centered prolate
      rhombohedra (PRs) in the unit cell. The long-range order between triacontahedra
      and PRs in the 2/1 AC is the same as those in Bergman-type 2/1 ACs. A TB-LMTO-ASA
      calculation on an ideal 1/1 AC model reveals a shallow pseudogap in the total
      densities-of-states data around the Fermi energy, as expected. The depth of the
      pseudogap is considerably enhanced through interactions between the Ca 3d states
      and s and p states of Au and Sn.

PMID- 20939552
TI  - Molecular dynamics simulation study of water surfaces: comparison of flexible
      water models.
AB  - Molecular dynamics (MD) simulation has been used extensively to study water
      surfaces. Nevertheless, the quantitative prediction of water surface tension has
      been controversial, since results from different simulation studies using the
      same water model may differ considerably. Recent research has suggested that bond
      flexibility, long-range electrostatic interactions, and certain simulation
      parameters, such as Lennard-Jones (LJ) cutoff distance and simulation time, may
      play an important role in determining the simulated surface tension. To gain
      better insight on the MD simulation of water surfaces, particularly on the
      prediction of surface tension, we examined seven flexible water models using a
      consistent set of simulation parameters. The surface tensions of the flexible,
      extended simple point charge (SPCE-F) model and the flexible three-center (F3C)
      model at 300 K were found to be 70.2 and 65.3 mN/m, respectively, in reasonable
      agreement with the experimental value of 71.7 mN/m. More importantly, however,
      detailed analysis of the interfacial structure and contributions from various
      interactions have revealed that the surface tension of water is determined by the
      delicate balance between intramolecular (bond stretching) and intermolecular (LJ)
      interactions, which reflects both the molecular orientation in the interfacial
      region and the density variation across the Gibbs dividing surface (GDS). In
      addition, the water molecules on the liquid side of the GDS were found to lie
      almost parallel to the surface, which helps to clarify the dual-layer structure
      suggested by sum-frequency generation spectroscopy. By correlating the simulated
      surface tensions of the seven water models with selected molecular parameters, it
      was found that the partial charge distribution in the water molecule is likely a
      key factor in determining the near-parallel alignment of water molecules with the
      surface.

PMID- 20939551
TI  - Formation and structure of Co2O4: a combined IR matrix isolation and theoretical
      study.
AB  - The formation and structure of dicobalt tetroxide (Co2O4) has been investigated
      using matrix isolation in solid neon and argon coupled to infrared spectroscopy
      and quantum chemical methods. It is found that Co2O4 can be formed by
      dimerization of cobalt dioxide without activation energy by diffusion of ground
      state CoO2 molecules at 9 K in the dark. The IR data on eight fundamentals,
      isotopic effects and quantum chemical calculations are both consistent with a
      centro-symmetrical structure with two pairs of equivalent oxygen atoms, engaged
      in a stronger terminal Co-O bond and in a weaker bridging Co-O-Co position.
      Evidence for other, metastable states is also presented, but the data are not
      conclusive. The electronic structure and formation pathway has been investigated
      using the Tao-Perdew-Staroverov-Scuseria/triple-zeta valence polarived basis set
      (TPSS/TZVP) and broken symmetry unrestricted density functional theory (BS-UDFT)
      approach and the ground electronic state is predicted to be an open shell 1Ag
      singlet with the quintet, triplet, septet, and nonet states above by 3.3, 4.9,
      9.3, and 27.7 kcal/mol, respectively, but certainly has a complex multireference
      character that hinders the use of more precise multireference approaches.
      Different formation pathways have been considered, and the 2(O?Co?O) -> Co2O4
      dimerization reaction is found to be the only barrierless channel and to be
      strongly exothermic. Comparisons with another transition metal (TM) oxide system
      (V2O4) suggests that the difference in predicted ground state geometries in TM2O4
      systems might be due in HOMO-LUMO shapes of the isolated dioxide subunits and
      optimal overlap configurations.

PMID- 20939553
TI  - Neutrophil- and myeloperoxidase-mediated metabolism of reduced nimesulide:
      evidence for bioactivation.
AB  - Nimesulide, a widely used nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), has been
      associated with rare idiosyncratic hepatotoxicity. The chemical mechanisms
      underlying the liver injury remain unknown. We have undertaken the detailed study
      of the metabolic pathways of nimesulide in an effort to identify potential
      reactive metabolites. A previous report from this laboratory has demonstrated
      that one of the known nimesulide metabolites, termed reduced nimesulide (M1), is
      further bioactivated by human liver microsomes (HLMs) to form a reactive
      diiminoquinone species M2. The formation of M2 was confirmed indirectly by
      trapping with N-acetylcysteine (NAC). The aim of this study was to explore the
      fate of M1 in an inflammatory environment created by the recruitment of
      leukocytes. Leukocytes upon activation produce hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)) and
      other myeloperoxidase (MPO) products, such as hypochlorous acid (HOCl), that are
      capable of metabolite oxidation. We demonstrate here that the reduced nimesulide,
      M1, undergoes a facile oxidation with activated neutrophils or with MPO in the
      presence of H(2)O(2) or HOCl to produce a variety of reactive as well as stable
      metabolites. One major metabolite, M3, was also produced by HLM as determined by
      trapping with NAC. Other metabolites, for example, M6, M8, and M9, were unique to
      the myeloperoxidase, because of their mode of formation from activation of the
      amino group of reduced nimesulide. The structures of some of these reactive
      metabolites were proposed on the basis of liquid chromatography-tandem mass
      spectrometry analyses and established by their comparison with synthetic
      standards. Metabolite M6 is interesting because it provides clear evidence of
      amine activation and indicates the potential of the reactive intermediate of M1
      to conjugate with protein nucleophiles. In summary, our results demonstrate that
      a known nimesulide metabolite could be bioactivated by MPO through a pathway
      distinct from HLM-mediated pathways and that the generation of reactive species
      by the MPO-mediated bioactivation pathway at the site of inflammation may
      contribute to the toxicity associated with nimesulide.

PMID- 20939554
TI  - Harnessing low-valent metal centers through non-bonding orbital interactions.
AB  - The synthesis, characterization, and computational analysis of a series of low
      valent, In(I) complexes bearing the bis(imino)pyridine scaffold,
      {Ar'N=CPh}(2)(NC(5)H(3)), is reported. A stepwise steric reduction of the aryl
      groups on the imine substituents around the coordination site, (Ar' = 2,5
      (t)Bu(2)C(6)H(3), 2,6-(i)Pr(2)C(6)H(3), 2,6-(CH(3)CH(2))(2)C(6)H(3)) is explored
      through the spectroscopic and crystallographic examination of complexes
      [{Ar'N=CPh}(2)(NC(5)H(3))]In(+)(OTf)(-) (1-3). Compounds 1-3 displayed long In-N
      and In-OTf distances indicating only weak or no coordination. Application of the
      ligand with Ar' = 2,6-(CH(3))(2)C(6)H(3) led to an In(III) bis(imino)pyridine
      complex, [{2,6-Me(2)C(6)H(3)N=CPh}(2)(NC(5)H(3))]In(OTf)(2)Cl 4 with coordinated
      ligand, chloride, and triflate groups. Computational analysis of the interactions
      between the In cation and the ligands (orbital populations, bond order, and
      energy decomposition analysis) point to only minimal covalent interactions of the
      In(I) cation with the ligands. Although it features three N donor centers, the
      bis(imino)pyridine ligand provides little ligand-to-metal donation. A thorough
      electronic structure analysis revealed a correlation of compound stability with
      the reduced contribution of the In(I) 5s lone electron pair to the highest
      occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) of the cation. This effect, originating from
      non-bonding orbital interactions between the metal and the ligand, is more
      prominent in sterically crowded environments. The discovery of this correlation
      may help in designing new low-valent complexes.

PMID- 20939555
TI  - Molecularly engineered charge-conversion of proteins for sensitive biosensing.
AB  - To gain better signals in potentiometric biosensing of protein, site-selective
      chemical modification of amino acid residues was employed by exogenous acylation
      and glycation reactions of primary amines and the guanidinium group, converting
      them from cationic into anionic or neutral. The mass shift corresponding to the
      lysine and arginine adducts was confirmed only at the surface-exposed solvent
      accessible residues. The site-selectivity of the charge-conversions resulted in
      maintained structural integrity and bioactivity of the proteins. The estimated
      negative charge density of bovine serum albumin (BSA) under physiological pH
      increased by 5-fold as a result of the formation of stable succinic lysine. Real
      time measurement of protein adsorption onto the 1-undecanethiol self-assembled
      monolayer (SAM) on gold was detected using an extended gate-field effect
      transistor (FET). The potential shifts by the adsorption was 3-fold higher in
      succinylated BSA than origianl BSA, whereas more significant amplification of the
      signal (11-fold) was observed by the modifications of lysozyme. Furthermore, in
      situ modification of amino acids during the potentiometry was achieved for the
      tightly adsorbed lysozyme onto the SAM. In summary, site-selective charge
      conversion provides a new type for the molecular "label" for biosensing with
      preserved conformational integrity of the protein. 

PMID- 20939556
TI  - Negative electrorheological behavior in suspensions of inorganic particles.
AB  - An investigation is described on the electric-field-induced structures in
      colloidal dispersions. Both rheological determinations and direct microscopic
      observations are used with that aim. The starting point of this study is the so
      called electrorheological (ER) effect, consisting of the mechanical reinforcing
      of a fluid or suspension due to formation of chains of molecules or particles
      after being polarized by the action of the field. One macroscopic manifestation
      of this phenomenon is the transformation of the fluid from a typically Newtonian
      behavior to a viscoelastic material, with finite yield stress and high elastic
      modulus. The systems investigated were suspensions of elongated goethite (beta
      FeOOH) particles in silicone oils with varying amounts of silica nanoparticles.
      The results showed the rather unusual behavior known as "negative ER effect",
      which can be best described by saying that the application of an electric field
      reduces the yield stress and the elastic modulus, that is, produces destruction
      of structures rather than their build up. The negative behavior is also found for
      suspensions of other inorganic powders, including hematite and quartz. On the
      contrary, the usual positive ER response is found for suspensions of cellulose
      and montmorillonite clay. The same happens if goethite suspensions are prepared
      in high volume fractions, high-viscosity fluids, or both. All of the results
      found are compatible with the so-called interfacial model of electrorheology: the
      reduction of the yield stress of goethite suspensions when the applied field is
      high enough is the consequence of particle migration toward the electrodes
      because of charge injection and subsequent electrophoresis. The migration leaves
      the gap between the electrodes devoid of particles and explains the decrease in
      yield stress. The addition of silica nanoparticles contributes to reduce the
      strength of this effect by hindering the charging and making it necessary to
      increase the field strength to observe the negative effect. The model appears to
      also be applicable to cellulose, although the positive response found for such
      particles is explained by their large size: larger diameters bring about larger
      attraction forces between particles, leading to a tendency to produce strong
      aggregates. This is likely to occur in suspensions of colloids which, because of
      their relatively high electrical conductivity, tend to acquire charge even in
      such nonpolar liquids as silicone oils.

PMID- 20939557
TI  - Specific interactions of ammonium functionalities in amino acids with aqueous
      fluoride and iodide.
AB  - Molecular dynamics simulations were performed to examine the relative strength of
      interactions of fluoride versus iodide with the ammonium (NH(4)(+)) ion, the
      alkyl ammonium side chain of lysine (R(Lys)NH(3)(+)), and the zwitterionic
      ammonium group of glycine (R((-))(Gly)NH(3)(+)) in aqueous solution. Clear trends
      were observed in the ammonium-anion association, with iodide showing essentially
      constant affinity for all three groups, whereas fluoride interacted most
      favorably with the ammonium ion, less with R(Lys)NH(3)(+), and comparably with
      iodide with R((-))(Gly)NH(3)(+). Neutron scattering experiments show little
      difference in the interaction of fluoride and iodide with glycine, confirming
      this last observation. The experimental neutron scattering data also suggests
      that the calculated coordination number of fluoride (about 6 in the constant
      pressure simulations) is about 20% too high, indicating certain inaccuracies in
      the classical force field description of this small anion.

PMID- 20939558
TI  - Efforts toward distorted spiropentanes.
AB  - Tetravinylbenzene 4 was prepared in nearly quantitative yield from commercially
      available tetrabromobenzene; the improved, one-step procedure now employs Suzuki
      Miyaura cross-coupling conditions. Intermolecular cyclopropanation of 4 with
      dibromocarbene gave a series of gem-dibromide adducts. Intramolecular
      cyclopropanation of monoadduct 5, putatively by its methyllithium-generated
      cyclopropylidene(oid), produced compound 11, which features a highly distorted
      spiropentane having a C-C-C bond angle of 163.5 degrees . The stability of the
      reported spiropentanes was investigated using DFT calculations.

PMID- 20939559
TI  - Self-assembly of amphiphilic perylene-cyclodextrin conjugate and vapor sensing
      for organic amines.
AB  - An asymmetric, amphiphilic perylene bisimide derivative 1 was synthesized by
      grafting permethyl-beta-cyclodextrin at one side and an octadecyl chain at the
      other side. Its aggregation capability and morphology, which attract intense
      interest, were carefully examined by combination of UV-vis, NMR, and fluorescence
      spectroscopy, DLS, XRD, TEM, and SEM. By adjusting the volume ratio of water and
      methanol, we are able to control the morphology, benefiting from the
      amphiphilicity of 1. Furthermore, the particular resulting aggregates were
      employed as solid-state fluorescence sensing for organic amines. An improvement
      of both selectivity and sensitivity is achieved compared to previous
      publications.

PMID- 20939560
TI  - Horner-Wadsworth-Emmons reagents as azomethine ylide analogues: pyrrole synthesis
      via (3 + 2) cycloaddition.
AB  - Amido-substituted Horner-Wadsworth-Emmons reagents can serve as precursors to 1,3
      dipoles for use in cycloaddition. These compounds are assembled in one pot via
      the TMSOTf-catalyzed Arbuzov reaction of imines, acid chlorides, and phosphites.
      The coupling of this synthesis with alkyne cycloaddition provides a three
      component synthesis of pyrroles. The dipoles can be prepared with a diverse range
      of imines and acid chlorides, and (3 + 2) cycloaddition with unsymmetrical
      alkynes is highly regiospecific, providing a modular approach to form substituted
      pyrroles.

PMID- 20939561
TI  - Graphical representation of proteins.

PMID- 20939562
TI  - Structural comparison of copper(I) and copper(II) complexes with tris(2
      pyridylmethyl)amine ligand.
AB  - Copper(I) complexes with the tris(2-pyridylmethyl)amine (TPMA) ligand were
      synthesized and characterized to examine the effect of counteranions (Br(-),
      ClO(4)(-), and BPh(4)(-)), as well as auxiliary ligands (CH(3)CN, 4,4'-dipyridyl,
      and PPh(3)) on the molecular structures in both solid state and solution. Partial
      dissociation of one of the pyridyl arms in TPMA was not observed when small
      auxiliary ligands such as CH(3)CN or Br(-) were coordinated to copper(I), but was
      found to occur with larger ones such as PPh(3) or 4,4'-dipyridyl. All complexes
      were found to adopt a distorted tetrahedral geometry, with the exception of
      [Cu(I)(TPMA)][BPh(4)], which was found to be trigonal pyramidal because of
      stabilization via a long cuprophilic interaction with a bond length of 2.8323(12)
      A. Copper(II) complexes with the general formula [Cu(II)(TPMA)X][Y] (X = Cl(-),
      Br(-) and Y = ClO(4)(-), BPh(4)(-)) were also synthesized to examine the effect
      of different counterions on the geometry of [Cu(II)(TPMA)X](+) cation, and were
      found to be isostructural with previously reported [Cu(II)(TPMA)X][X] (X = Cl(-)
      or Br(-)) complexes.

PMID- 20939563
TI  - Catalytic activity and regeneration property of a Pd nanoparticle encapsulated in
      a hollow porous carbon sphere for aerobic alcohol oxidation.
AB  - A core-shell composite consisting of a palladium (Pd) nanoparticle and a hollow
      carbon shell (Pd@hmC) was employed as a catalyst for aerobic oxidation of various
      alcohols. The core-shell structure was synthesized by consecutive coatings of Pd
      nanoparticles with siliceous and carbon layers followed by removal of the
      intermediate siliceous layer. Structural characterizations using TEM and N(2)
      adsorption-desorption measurements revealed that Pd@hmC thus-obtained was
      composed of a Pd nanoparticle core of 3-6 nm in diameter and a hollow carbon
      shell with well-developed mesopore (ca. 2.5 nm in diameter) and micropore (ca.
      0.4-0.8 nm in diameter) systems. When compared to some Pd-supported carbons,
      Pd@hmC showed a high level of catalytic activity for oxidation of benzyl alcohol
      into benzaldehyde using atmospheric pressure of O(2) as an oxidant. The Pd@hmC
      composite also exhibited a high level of catalytic activity for aerobic
      oxidations of other primary benzylic and allylic alcohols into corresponding
      aldehydes. The presence of a well-developed pore system in the lateral carbon
      shell enabled efficient diffusion of both substrates and products to reach the
      central Pd nanoparticles, leading to such high catalytic activities. This core
      shell structure also provided high thermal stability of Pd nanoparticles toward
      coalescence and/or aggregation due to the physical isolation of each Pd
      nanoparticle from neighboring particles by the carbon shell: this specific
      property of Pd@hmC resulted in possible regeneration of catalytic activity for
      these aerobic oxidations by a high-temperature heat treatment of the sample
      recovered after catalytic reactions.

PMID- 20939564
TI  - High-efficiency ordered silicon nano-conical-frustum array solar cells by self
      powered parallel electron lithography.
AB  - Nanostructured silicon thin film solar cells are promising, due to the strongly
      enhanced light trapping, high carrier collection efficiency, and potential low
      cost. Ordered nanostructure arrays, with large-area controllable spacing,
      orientation, and size, are critical for reliable light-trapping and high
      efficiency solar cells. Available top-down lithography approaches to fabricate
      large-area ordered nanostructure arrays are challenging due to the requirement of
      both high lithography resolution and high throughput. Here, a novel ordered
      silicon nano-conical-frustum array structure, exhibiting an impressive absorbance
      of 99% (upper bound) over wavelengths 400-1100 nm by a thickness of only 5 MUm,
      is realized by our recently reported technique self-powered parallel electron
      lithography that has high-throughput and sub-35-nm high resolution. Moreover,
      high-efficiency (up to 10.8%) solar cells are demonstrated, using these ordered
      ultrathin silicon nano-conical-frustum arrays. These related fabrication
      techniques can also be transferred to low-cost substrate solar energy harvesting
      device applications.

PMID- 20939565
TI  - Spatial mapping of elemental distributions in polypyrrole-cellulose nanofibers
      using energy-filtered transmission electron microscopy.
AB  - The energy-filtered transmission electron microscopy (EFTEM) technique has been
      used to study ion-exchange processes in conductive polymer composite nanofibers.
      The elemental distributions of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, chlorine, boron,
      phosphorus, molybdenum, and sulfur within polypyrrole-cellulose nanofibers, used
      as potential controlled electrochemical solid phase extraction media, have been
      studied by EFTEM. The distribution of ions within the polypyrrole-cellulose
      nanofibers and the penetration depth of ions into the material as a function of
      the size and charge of the latter were investigated. Further, the spatial
      distribution of single stranded DNA hexamers inside polypyrrole-cellulose
      nanofibers was mapped subsequent to the electrochemically controlled extraction
      of DNA from a borate buffer solution. The results show that the EFTEM mapping
      technique provides unpreceded possibilities for studies of the distribution of
      ions inside conductive polymer composites.

PMID- 20939566
TI  - Influence of lysine N(epsilon)-trimethylation and lipid composition on the
      membrane activity of the cecropin A-melittin hybrid peptide CA(1-7)M(2-9).
AB  - Although many studies have pointed out the promising role of antimicrobial
      peptides (AMPs) as therapeutical agents, their translation into clinical research
      is being slow due to the limitations intrinsic to their peptide nature. A number
      of structural modifications to overcome this problem have been proposed, leading
      to enhanced AMP biological lifetimes and therapeutic index. In this work, the
      interaction between liposomes of different lipidic composition and a set of
      lysine N(epsilon)-trimethylated analogs of the cecropin A and melittin hybrid
      peptide, CA(1-7)M(2-9) [H-KWKLFKKIGAVLKVL-amide], was studied by differential
      scanning calorimetry (DSC) and fluorescence spectroscopy. The study was carried
      out using membrane models for mammalian erythrocytes (zwitterionic lipids) and
      for bacteria (mixture of zwitterionic and negatively charged lipids). The results
      show that trimethylated peptides interact strongly with negatively charged
      (bacterial cell model) but not with zwitterionic (erythrocyte model) liposomes.
      These results are in agreement with the reduction of cytotoxicity and ensuing
      improvement in therapeutic index vs parental CA(1-7)M(2-9) found in a related
      study. Moreover, the modified peptides act differently depending on the model
      membrane used, providing further evidence that the lipid membrane composition has
      important implications on AMP membrane activity.

PMID- 20939567
TI  - Energetics of double-ion occupancy in the gramicidin A channel.
AB  - To understand the energetics of double-ion occupancy in gramicidin A (gA)
      channels, the 2D potential of mean force (PMF) is calculated for two ions at
      different positions along the channel axis. The cross sections of this 2D PMF are
      compared with available one-ion PMFs to highlight the effect of one ion on the
      permeation dynamics of the other. It is found that, if the first ion stays on one
      side in the channel, the second ion has to pass over an additional barrier to
      move into the outer binding site. At the same time, both outer and inner binding
      sites for the second ion become shallower than those in the one-ion PMF. The
      calculated ion-ion repulsion for a doubly occupied channel is about 2 kcal/mol,
      in good agreement with previous experimental estimates. The number of water
      molecules inside the channel and their dipole moment are calculated to interpret
      the energetics of double-ion occupancy. As the first ion moves into the outer
      binding site and then further into the channel, the oxygen atoms of the single
      file water column in the channel are oriented to point toward the ion. The
      observed dipole moment distribution of a singly occupied channel has only one
      sharp peak, and the water alignment is essentially perfect once the ion is in the
      inner binding site. For this reason, there is an energy penalty to accommodate a
      second ion at the opposite end of the channel.

PMID- 20939568
TI  - A unique approach to the concise synthesis of highly optically active
      spirooxazolines and the discovery of a more potent oxindole-type phytoalexin
      analogue.
AB  - Drug-lead synthesis through rapid construction of chiral molecular complexity
      around the biologically relevant framework using a highly efficient strategy is a
      key goal of organic synthesis. Molecules bearing a spirooxindole-type framework
      exhibit important bioactivities. Herein, we present a highly efficient and
      convenient strategy that allows rapid construction of unique optically active
      spiro[oxazoline-3,3'-oxindole]s through the organocatalyzed asymmetric synthesis
      of spirocyclic thiocarbamates via an aldol reaction. Preliminary biological
      evaluation of several of the spirooxazolines using a model of acute
      neuroinflammation revealed promising antipyretic activity and provided an
      opportunity to discover new antipyretic agents.

PMID- 20939569
TI  - Highly selective suppression of melanoma cells by inducible DNA cross-linking
      agents: bis(catechol) derivatives.
AB  - A series of bis(catechol) quaternary ammonium derivatives were designed and
      synthesized. We investigated their ability to cross-link DNA induced by
      tyrosinase and found that the o-quinone is key intermediate in the process by
      using the nucleophile 3-methyl-2-benzothiazolinone hydrazone (MBTH) in the
      tyrosinase assay. Their cytotoxicities to B16F1, Hela, and CHO cells were tested
      by MTT assays. The specific and potent abilities to kill the tyrosinase-efficient
      melanoma cells kindled our interest in exploring the relationship between their
      abilities of cross-linking DNA and their selective cytotoxicities to cells.
      Through an integrated approach including intracellular imaging for detection of
      the dihydroxyphenyl groups, alkaline comet assays, and gamma-H2AX
      immunofluorescence assays, the speculation was confirmed. The bis(catechol)
      quaternary ammonium derivatives showed notable cell selectivity because they
      displayed cytotoxicities after being oxidized by tyrosinase, and they were able
      to target the DNA efficiently in the tyrosinase-efficient melanoma cells, forming
      both alkylated and cross-linked species.

PMID- 20939570
TI  - Synthesis, crystal structures, and photophysical properties of triphenylamine
      based multicyano derivatives.
AB  - A new series of intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) molecules were synthesized
      by attaching various strong electron-withdrawing groups to a triphenylamine
      backbone. Relationships between chemical structures and optoelectronic properties
      of these compounds were investigated with X-ray diffraction, cyclic voltammetry,
      absorption spectroscopy, and density functional theory calculations. It is shown
      that the compounds exhibit intensive ICT interactions leading to substantial
      extension of their absorption spectral response, which may be potentially used
      for efficient solar cells.

PMID- 20939571
TI  - Solar-driven microbial photoelectrochemical cells with a nanowire photocathode.
AB  - We report a self-biased, solar-driven microbial photoelectrochemical cell (solar
      MPC) that can produce sustainable energy through coupling the microbial catalysis
      of biodegradable organic matter with solar energy conversion. The solar MPC
      consists of a p-type cuprous oxide nanowire-arrayed photocathode and an
      electricigen (Shewanella oneidensis MR-1)-colonizing anode, which can harvest
      solar energy and bioenergy, respectively. The photocathode and bioanode are
      interfaced by matching the redox potentials of bacterial cells and the electronic
      bands of semiconductor nanowires. We successfully demonstrated substantial
      current generation of 200 MUA from the MPC device based on the synergistic effect
      of the bioanode (projected area of 20 cm2) and photocathode (projected area of 4
      cm2) at zero bias under white light illumination of 20 mW/cm2. We identified the
      transition of rate-limiting step from the photocathode to the bioanode with
      increasing light intensities. The solar MPC showed self-sustained operation for
      more than 50 h in batch-fed mode under continuous light illumination. The ability
      to tune the synergistic effect between microbial cells and semiconductor nanowire
      systems could open up new opportunities for microbial/nanoelectronic hybrid
      devices with unique applications in energy conversion, environmental protection,
      and biomedical research.

PMID- 20939572
TI  - A new unnatural base pair system between fluorophore and quencher base analogues
      for nucleic acid-based imaging technology.
AB  - In the development of orthogonal extra base pairs for expanding the genetic
      alphabet, we created novel, unnatural base pairs between fluorophore and quencher
      nucleobase analogues. We found that the nucleobase analogue, 2-nitropyrrole
      (denoted by Pn), and its 4-substitutions, such as 2-nitro-4-propynylpyrrole (Px)
      and 4-[3-(6-aminohexanamido)-1-propynyl]-2-nitropyrrole (NH(2)-hx-Px), act as
      fluorescence quenchers. The Pn and Px bases specifically pair with their pairing
      partner, 7-(2,2'-bithien-5-yl)imidazo[4,5-b]pyridine (Dss), which is strongly
      fluorescent. Thus, these unnatural Dss-Pn and Dss-Px base pairs function as
      reporter-quencher base pairs, and are complementarily incorporated into DNA by
      polymerase reactions as a third base pair in combination with the natural A-T and
      G-C pairs. Due to the static contact quenching, the Pn and Px quencher bases
      significantly decreased the fluorescence intensity of Dss by the unnatural base
      pairings in DNA duplexes. In addition, the Dss-Px pair exhibited high efficiency
      and selectivity in PCR amplification. Thus, this new unnatural base pair system
      would be suitable for detection methods of target nucleic acid sequences, and
      here we demonstrated the applications of the Dss-Pn and Dss-Px pairs as molecular
      beacons and in real-time PCR. The genetic alphabet expansion system with the
      replicable, unnatural fluorophore-quencher base pair will be a useful tool for
      sensing and diagnostic applications, as well as an imaging tool for basic
      research.

PMID- 20939573
TI  - Evaluation of 1,3-dichloropropene as a methyl bromide alternative in tomato crops
      in China.
AB  - 1,3-Dichloropropene (1,3-D, C3H4Cl2) is a potential candidate as a soil
      disinfectant because of the restriction of methyl bromide (MeBr) in soil
      fumigation due to its ecological risk. Field trials were conducted to ascertain
      the efficiency of 1,3-D as a MeBr alternative in tomato ( Solanum lycopersicum
      L.) and evaluate its application prospects in China. Five treatments were
      replicated five times in a randomized complete block design: fumigation with MeBr
      (400 kg ha(-1)), three 1,3-D doses (180, 120, and 90 L ha(-1)), an avermectin
      dose (7.5 L ha(-1)), and a nontreated control. Results consistently indicated
      that MeBr was generally superior to the treatments involving all 1,3-D levels and
      avermectin, which in turn were superior to the control, for improving tomato
      yield and inhibiting nematode, weed, and mortality caused by plant disease. In
      both seasons, 1,3-D at the dose of 180 L ha(-1) was as effective as MeBr in
      increasing plant height, vigor, and tomato yield and in reducing the incidence of
      soilborne disease, especially in maintaining excellent nematode control
      efficiency, but it provided relatively poor control over weeds. On the basis of
      these results, 1,3-D, in combination with other alternatives to MeBr, is
      recommended to achieve integrated pest management. 

PMID- 20939574
TI  - Synthesis of metal-hydrazone complexes and vapochromic behavior of their hydrogen
      bonded proton-transfer assemblies.
AB  - We synthesized and investigated a new series of metal-hydrazone complexes,
      including deprotonated [MX(mtbhp)] and protonated forms [MX(Hmtbhp)](ClO(4)) (M =
      Pd(2+), Pt(2+); X = Cl(-), Br(-); Hmtbhp = 2-(2-(2
      (methylthio)benzylidene)hydrazinyl)pyridine) and hydrogen-bonded proton-transfer
      (HBPT) assemblies containing [PdBr(mtbhp)] and bromanilic acid (H(2)BA). The
      mtbhp hydrazone ligand acts as a tridentate SNN ligand and provides a high proton
      affinity. UV-vis spectroscopy revealed that these metal-hydrazone complexes
      follow a reversible protonation-deprotonation reaction ([MX(mtbhp)] + H(+) ?
      [MX(Hmtbhp)](+)), resulting in a remarkable color change from red to yellow.
      Reactions between proton acceptor [PdBr(mtbhp)] (A) and proton donor H(2)BA (D)
      afforded four types of HBPT assemblies with different D/A ratios: for D/A = 1:1,
      {[PdBr(Hmtbhp)](HBA).Acetone} and {[PdBr(Hmtbhp)](HBA).2(1,4-dioxane)}; for D/A =
      1:2, [PdBr(Hmtbhp)](2)(BA); and for D/A = 3:2,
      {[PdBr(Hmtbhp)](2)(HBA)(2)(H(2)BA).2Acetonitrile}. The proton donor gave at least
      one proton to the acceptor to form the hydrogen bonded A...D pair of
      [PdBr(Hmtbhp)](+)...HBA(-). The strength of the hydrogen bond in the pair depends
      on the kind of molecule bound to the free monoanionic bromanilate OH group. Low
      temperature IR spectra (T < 150 K) showed that the hydrogen bond distance between
      [PdBr(Hmtbhp)](+) and bromanilate was short enough (ca. 2.58 A) to induce proton
      migration in the [PdBr(Hmtbhp)](2)(BA) assembly in the solid state. The hydrogen
      bonds formed not only between [PdBr(Hmtbhp)](+) and HBA(-) but also between HBA(
      ) and neutral H(2)BA molecules in the
      {[PdBr(Hmtbhp)](2)(HBA)(2)(H(2)BA).2Acetonitrile} assembly. The H(2)BA-based
      flexible hydrogen bond network and strong acidic host structure result in an
      interesting vapor adsorption ability and vapochromic behavior in this assembly
      because the vapor-induced rearrangement of the hydrogen bond network, accompanied
      by changes in pi-pi stacking interactions, provides a recognition ability of
      proton donating and accepting properties of the vapor molecule.

PMID- 20939575
TI  - Sky-scattered solar radiation based plume transmissivity measurement to quantify
      soot emissions from flares.
AB  - For gas flares typical of the upstream energy industry and similar point sources,
      most current methods for characterizing soot emissions are based on plume opacity
      rather than a quantitative measure of mass flux. The absence of more quantitative
      approaches is indicative of the inherent complexity of soot and the difficulties
      in characterizing emissions in an unbounded plume. A new experimental approach
      has been developed for the investigation of soot emissions in industrial plumes.
      Referred to as sky-LOSA, the diagnostic permits evaluation of 2D spatially
      resolved monochromatic sky-light transmissivity data over the width of a plume,
      where sky-light intensities behind the plume are obtained via an interpolation
      algorithm. By using Rayleigh-Debye-Gans Fractal Aggregate theory to relate
      transmissivity data to soot concentrations, and with knowledge of the velocity of
      the plume, it is possible to quantify mass flow rates of soot in a plume.
      Experiments on an unconfined lab-scale soot plume were used to support a detailed
      uncertainty analysis under a wide range of conditions and to estimate sensitivity
      limits of the technique. Results suggest field measurements of soot emission from
      flare plumes should be possible with overall uncertainties of less than 32%. This
      represents a significant advancement over existing techniques based on opacity
      measurements.

PMID- 20939576
TI  - Synthesis of core-shell structured dual-mesoporous silica spheres with tunable
      pore size and controllable shell thickness.
AB  - Core-shell structured dual-mesoporous silica spheres (DMSS) that possess smaller
      pores (2.0 nm) in the shell and larger tunable pores (12.8-18.5 nm) in the core
      have been successfully synthesized by utilizing an amphiphilic block copolymer
      (polystyrene-b-poly (acrylic acid), PS-b-PAA) and cetyl trimethyl ammonium
      bromide (CTAB) as cotemplates. The thickness of the shells and the larger pore
      size in the core could be easily tuned by changing the amounts of TEOS and the
      hydrophobic block (PS) length during synthesis, respectively. By encapsulating
      hydrophobic magnetite nanoparticles into the cores, superparamagnetic dual
      mesoporous silica spheres were obtained. Drug storage and release testing results
      showed that the diffusing rate of the stored drug could be efficiently controlled
      by changing the shell thickness of DMSS.

PMID- 20939578
TI  - Organocatalytic asymmetric synthesis of substituted 3-hydroxy-2-oxindoles via
      Morita-Baylis-Hillman reaction.
AB  - We report a highly enantioselective Morita-Baylis-Hillman (MBH) reaction of
      isatins and acrolein to provide enantiomerically enriched 3-substituted 3
      hydroxyoxindoles, which could serve as valuable synthetic building blocks. This
      is also the first time that a ketone has been used as the electrophile and
      acrolein as the nucleophile in a highly enantioselective catalytic asymmetric MBH
      reaction. Hatakeyama's catalyst, beta-isocupreidine (1), turned out to be a
      powerful catalyst for this transformation.

PMID- 20939577
TI  - Fate of pesticides in the arid subtropics, Botswana, Southern Africa.
AB  - Despite a history of pesticide usage, few data exist on their concentrations in
      air and soil of Southern Africa. To add to the understanding of the processes
      controlling the fate of organic contaminants in arid regions, the levels, spatial
      trends, and seasonal variability of pesticides were studied in air and soil from
      Botswana. XAD resin-based passive air samplers (PAS) were deployed at 15 sites
      across the country from May 2006 to May 2007. Soil samples were collected from
      the vicinity of nine of the PAS sampling sites. In addition, 27 24-h high-volume
      air samples were collected in Maun, at the southeastern edge of the Okavango
      Delta, every two weeks for one year. Levels of pesticides in PAS were low, with
      alpha-endosulfan and lindane being most abundant. Concentrations in soils were
      extremely low and only soils with high organic carbon contained notable amounts
      of dieldrin and traces of other pesticides. In particular, air and soil from the
      Okavango Delta had very low levels even though the area had repeatedly been
      sprayed with DDT and endosulfan in the past. Air samples from Eastern Botswana,
      where the majority of the population lives, contained higher levels. Higher air
      concentrations of alpha-endosulfan occurred during summer and higher HCB levels
      occurred in winter. This seasonality was related with neither minor seasonal
      changes in temperature nor hydrological seasonal events such as the rainy season
      or the flooding of the Okavango Delta. Thus, the observed spatial and seasonal
      patterns are more likely related to pesticide usage pattern than to environmental
      factors or historical use. High temperature and low organic matter content limit
      the uptake capacity of most subtropical soils for pesticides. No evidence was
      found that sorption to dry mineral matter plays a major role. Arid soils in
      subtropical regions are therefore neither a major reservoir of organic
      contaminants nor do they constitute a significant long-term source of pesticides
      to the atmosphere.

PMID- 20939579
TI  - Mechanism of catalytic cyclohydroamination by zirconium salicyloxazoline
      complexes.
AB  - The mechanism of hydroamination/cyclization of primary aminoalkenes by catalysts
      based on Cp*LZr(NMe(2))(2) (L = kappa(2)-salicyloxazoline) is investigated in a
      range of kinetic, stoichiometric, and structural studies. The rate law is found
      to be d[substrate]/dt = k[catalyst](1)[substrate](0) for all catalysts and
      aminoalkenes studied. The overall rate is similar for formation of five- and six
      membered rings, and a substantial KIE (k(H)/k(D)) is observed, indicating the
      involvement of N-H bond-breaking in a rate-determining step (RDS) which is not
      ring-closure. Remarkably, the reaction proceeds at the same rate in THF as it
      does in toluene, but added non-cyclizable amine slows the reaction, indicating
      that while the metal is not acting as a Lewis acid in the RDS, the activated
      substrate is involved. Also in contrast to other catalysts, increasing steric
      bulk improves the rate, and the origins of this are investigated by X-ray
      crystallography. Thermodynamic parameters extracted from eight independent
      kinetic studies indicate moderate ordering (DeltaS(double dagger) = -13 to -23
      cal/K.mol) and substantial overall bond disruption (DeltaH(double dagger) = 17 to
      21 kcal/mol) in the rate-determining transition state. Secondary amines are
      unreactive, as is a catalyst with a single aminolyzable site, thus excluding an
      amido mechanism. A catalytic cycle involving rate-determining formation of a
      reactive imido species is proposed. Stoichiometric steps in the process are shown
      to be feasible and have appropriate rates by synthetic and in situ NMR
      spectroscopic studies. The fate of the catalyst in the absence of excess amine
      (at the end of the catalytic reaction) is conversion to a metallacyclic species
      arising from CH activation of a peripheral substituent.

PMID- 20939580
TI  - Classic force field for predicting surface tension and interfacial properties of
      sodium dodecyl sulfate.
AB  - A classical force field capable for accurately predicting surface tensions,
      surface concentration, and other interfacial properties is reported for sodium
      dodecyl sulfate (SDS). This force field is proposed by combining parameters from
      well established force fields for components of the air/SDS/water interface and
      optimized by adjusting the van der Waals diameter of sulfate oxygen to fit
      experimental data of surface tension. The force field parameters are
      transferable; as good agreement with experimental data is achieved from
      independent calculations on activity derivatives of aqueous solution of sodium
      methyl sulfate using the Kirkwood-Buff theory. The adjusted parameter effectively
      modulates the electrostatic interactions of solvated ions in solutions. This
      modification has a strong impact to surface tension and location and mobility of
      sodium cations but minimal impact to properties such as density profiles of bulk
      phase and conformations and orientations of surfactant chain, for which
      consistent results compared with previous studies are obtained.

PMID- 20939581
TI  - Cooperative adhesion and friction of compliant nanohairs.
AB  - The adhesion and friction behavior of soft materials, including compliant brushes
      and hairs, depends on the temporal and spatial evolution of the interfaces in
      contact. For compliant nanofibrous materials, the actual contact area individual
      fibers make with surfaces depends on the preload applied upon contact. Using in
      situ microscopy observations of preloaded nanotube hairs, we show how nanotubes
      make cooperative contact with a surface by buckling and conforming to the surface
      topography. The overall adhesion of compliant nanohairs increases with increasing
      preload as nanotubes deform and continuously add new side-wall contacts with the
      surface. Electrical resistance measurements indicate significant hysteresis in
      the relative contact area. Contact area increases with preload (or stress) and
      decreases suddenly during unloading, consistent with strong adhesion observed for
      these complaint nanohairs.

PMID- 20939582
TI  - Near UV LEDs made with in situ doped p-n homojunction ZnO nanowire arrays.
AB  - Catalyst-free p-n homojunction ZnO nanowire (NW) arrays in which the phosphorus
      (P) and zinc (Zn) served as p- and n-type dopants, respectively, have been
      synthesized for the first time by a controlled in situ doping process for
      fabricating efficient ultraviolet light-emitting devices. The doping transition
      region defined as the width for P atoms gradually occupying Zn sites along the
      growth direction can be narrowed down to sub-50 nm. The cathodoluminescence
      emission peak at 340 nm emitted from n-type ZnO:Zn NW arrays is likely due to the
      Burstein-Moss effect in the high electron carrier concentration regime. Further,
      the electroluminescence spectra from the p-n ZnO NW arrays distinctively exhibit
      the short-wavelength emission at 342 nm and the blue shift from 342 to 325 nm is
      observed as the operating voltage further increasing. The ZnO NW p-n
      homojunctions comprising p-type segment with high electron concentration are
      promising building blocks for short-wavelength lighting device and
      photoelectronics.

PMID- 20939583
TI  - Effects of gold diffusion on n-type doping of GaAs nanowires.
AB  - The deposition of n-GaAs shells is explored as a method of n-type doping in GaAs
      nanowires grown by the Au-mediated metal-organic chemical vapor deposition. Core
      shell GaAs/n-GaAs nanowires exhibit an unintended rectifying behavior that is
      attributed to the Au diffusion during the shell deposition based on studies using
      energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, current-voltage, capacitance-voltage, and
      Kelvin probe force measurements. Removing the gold prior to n-type shell
      deposition results in the realization of n-type GaAs nanowires without
      rectification. We directly correlate the presence of gold impurities to nanowire
      electrical properties and provide an insight into the role of seed particles on
      the properties of nanowires and nanowire heterostructures.

PMID- 20939584
TI  - Wafer-scale nanopatterning and translation into high-performance piezoelectric
      nanowires.
AB  - The development of a facile method for fabricating one-dimensional, precisely
      positioned nanostructures over large areas offers exciting opportunities in
      fundamental research and innovative applications. Large-scale nanofabrication
      methods have been restricted in accessibility due to their complexity and cost.
      Likewise, bottom-up synthesis of nanowires has been limited in methods to
      assemble these structures at precisely defined locations. Nanomaterials such as
      PbZr(x)Ti(1-x)O(3) (PZT) nanowires (NWs)--which may be useful for nonvolatile
      memory storage (FeRAM), nanoactuation, and nanoscale power generation--are
      difficult to synthesize without suffering from polycrystallinity or poor
      stoichiometric control. Here, we report a novel fabrication method which requires
      only low-resolution photolithography and electrochemical etching to generate
      ultrasmooth NWs over wafer scales. These nanostructures are subsequently used as
      patterning templates to generate PZT nanowires with the highest reported
      piezoelectric performance (d(eff) ~ 145 pm/V). The combined large-scale
      nanopatterning with hierarchical assembly of functional nanomaterials could yield
      breakthroughs in areas ranging from nanodevice arrays to nanodevice powering.

PMID- 20939585
TI  - Fabrication of microdevices with integrated nanowires for investigating low
      dimensional phonon transport.
AB  - Phonons in low-dimensional structures with feature sizes on the order of the
      phonon wavelength may be coherently scattered by the boundary. This may give rise
      to a new regime of heat conduction, which can impact thermal energy transport and
      conversion. Traditional methods used to investigate phonon transport in one
      dimensional structures suffer from uncertainty due to contact resistance,
      defects, and limited control over sample dimensions. We have developed a new
      batch-fabrication technique for suspended microdevices with integrated silicon
      nanowires from silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafers. The nanowires are defect-free
      and have extremely high aspect ratios (length/critical dimension >2000). The
      nanowire dimensions (length and critical dimension) can be precisely controlled
      during fabrication. With these novel devices, phonon transport in silicon
      nanowires is systematically investigated. The room temperature thermal
      conductivity of nanowires with critical width around 80 nm is about 20 W/(m K)
      and much lower than that in smooth VLS wires. This suggests that the surface
      morphology of the structures has a significant effect on the thermal
      conductivity, but this phenomenon is not currently understood. This fabrication
      technique can also be used for thermal transport investigation in a wide-range of
      low-dimensional structures.

PMID- 20939586
TI  - Prolonging charge separation in P3HT-SWNT composites using highly enriched
      semiconducting nanotubes.
AB  - Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) have potential as electron acceptors in
      organic photovoltaics (OPVs), but the currently low-power conversion efficiencies
      of devices remain largely unexplained. We demonstrate effective redispersion of
      isolated, highly enriched semiconducting and metallic SWNTs into poly(3
      hexylthiophene) (P3HT). We use these enriched blends to provide the first
      experimental evidence of the negative impact of metallic nanotubes. Time-resolved
      microwave conductivity reveals that the long-lived carrier population can be
      significantly increased by incorporating highly enriched semiconducting SWNTs
      into semiconducting polymer composites.

PMID- 20939587
TI  - High resolution 1H-detected solid-state NMR spectroscopy of protein aliphatic
      resonances: access to tertiary structure information.
AB  - Biological magic angle spinning (MAS) solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance
      spectroscopy has developed rapidly over the past two decades. For the structure
      determination of a protein by solid-state NMR, routinely (13)C,(13)C distance
      restraints as well as dihedral restraints are employed. In protonated samples,
      this is achieved by growing the bacterium on a medium which contains [1,3]-(13)C
      glycerol or [2]-(13)C glycerol to dilute the (13)C spin system. Labeling schemes,
      which rely on heteronuclei, are insensitive both for detection and in terms of
      quantification of distances, since they are relying on low-gamma nuclei. Proton
      detection can in principle provide a gain in sensitivity by a factor of 8 and 31,
      compared to the (13)C or (15)N detected version of the experiment. We report here
      a new labeling scheme, which enables (1)H-detection of aliphatic resonances with
      high resolution in MAS solid-state NMR spectroscopy. We prepared microcrystals of
      the SH3 domain of chicken alpha-spectrin with 5% protonation at nonexchangeable
      sites and obtained line widths on the order of 25 Hz for aliphatic (1)H
      resonances. We show further that (13)C resolved 3D-(1)H,(1)H correlation
      experiments yield access to long-range proton-proton distances in the protein.

PMID- 20939588
TI  - Highly monodisperse bismuth nanoparticles and their three-dimensional
      superlattices.
AB  - A simple and reproducible synthesis of highly monodisperse and ligand-protected
      bismuth nanoparticles (Bi NPs) is reported. The size of the single-crystalline
      and spherically shaped NPs is controlled between 11 and 22 nm mainly by the
      reaction temperature. The high uniformity of the NPs allows their self-assembly
      into long-range-ordered two- and three-dimensional superstructures.

PMID- 20939589
TI  - Work-function modification beyond pinning: when do molecular dipoles count?
AB  - Deposition of monolayers of strong electron donors or acceptors on metal surfaces
      in many cases results in a metal-independent work function as a consequence of
      Fermi-level pinning. This raises the question whether in such a situation
      molecular dipoles, which are also frequently used to tune the interface
      energetics, still can have any impact. We use density functional theory to show
      that the spatial position of the dipoles is the determining factor and that only
      dipoles outside the immediate metal-molecule interface allow work-function
      changes beyond the pinning limit.

PMID- 20939590
TI  - Palladium-catalyzed tandem Heck-lactonization from o-iodophenols and enoates:
      synthesis of coumarins and the study of the mechanism by electrospray ionization
      mass spectrometry.
AB  - The tandem Heck-lactonization reaction between enoates Z-1a,b, E-1a, E-2a-d, Z
      2e, 2f, and o-iodophenols (4a-f) was studied in the presence of substoichiometric
      amounts of Pd(OAc)(2) or PdCl(2), under experimental conditions favoring the
      cationic mechanism (conditions A, B, and C), leading to coumarins 5a-f and 6a-e.
      Moderate to excellent yields were obtained under aqueous conditions (conditions A
      and B). Using electrospray ionization for transferring ions directly from
      solution to the gas phase, and mass spectrometry for structural assignments, key
      cationic palladium intermediates have been successfully intercepted and
      structurally characterized for the first time for this type of reaction.

PMID- 20939591
TI  - A novel human-based receptor antagonist of sustained action reveals body weight
      control by endogenous GLP-1.
AB  - Ex-4 (9-39)a is a well characterized GLP-1 receptor antagonist that suffers from
      two notable limitations, its nonhuman amino acid sequence and its relatively
      short in vivo duration of action. Comparable N-terminal shortening of human GLP-1
      lessens agonism but does not provide a high potency antagonist. Through a series
      of GLP-1/Ex-4 hybrid peptides, the minimal structural changes required to
      generate a pure GLP-1-based antagonist were identified as Glu16, Val19, and
      Arg20, yielding an antagonist of approximately 3-fold greater in vitro potency
      compared with Ex-4 (9-39)a. The structural basis of antagonism appears to result
      from stabilization of the alpha helix combined with enhanced electrostatic and
      hydrophobic interactions with the extracellular domain of the receptor. Site
      specific acylation of the human-based antagonist yielded a peptide of increased
      potency as a GLP-1 receptor antagonist and 10-fold greater selectivity relative
      to the GIP receptor. The acylated antagonist demonstrated sufficient duration of
      action to maintain inhibitory activity when administered as a daily subcutaneous
      injection. The sustained pharmacokinetics and enhanced human sequence combine to
      form an antagonist optimized for clinical study. Daily administration of this
      antagonist by subcutaneous injection to diet-induced obese mice for 1 week caused
      a significant increase in food intake, body weight, and glucose intolerance,
      demonstrating endogenous GLP-1 as a relevant hormone in mammalian energy balance
      in the obese state.

PMID- 20939592
TI  - Protonated nitrosamide and its potential role in the release of HONO from snow
      and ice in the dark.
AB  - A joint Fourier transform reflection absorption infrared spectroscopy/thermal
      programmed desorption (RAIRS/TPD) study has provided good evidence for the
      existence of protonated nitrosamide (NH3NO(+)) on surfaces at cold temperatures.
      This species has long been proposed to exist in studies of the DeNO(x) process
      and the decomposition of ammonium nitrite. In the context of the current
      experiments, performed at low-temperatures in the absence and presence of water
      ice, the results provided a firm mechanistic basis for understanding the release
      of HONO from snowpack in a "dark" mechanism and also under alkaline surface
      conditions.

PMID- 20939593
TI  - Different features of the DNA binding mode of antitumor cis
      amminedichlorido(cyclohexylamine)platinum(II) (JM118) and cisplatin in vitro.
AB  - cis-Amminedichlorido(cyclohexylamine)platinum(II) (JM118) is an antitumor Pt(II)
      analogue of cisplatin exhibiting considerably higher activity than cisplatin in
      human tumor cells. JM118 is also the major metabolite of the first orally
      administered Pt(IV) drug satraplatin. In an effort to design improved platinum
      antitumor agents, it is important to elucidate the biochemical factors that
      affect the cytotoxic properties of existing platinum drugs. Since DNA is
      considered the major pharmacological target of platinum drugs, the objective in
      the present work was to understand more fully the DNA binding mode of antitumor
      JM118. We examined the rate of aquation of the first chloride of bifunctional
      JM118 and found that it was considerably lower than that of cisplatin;
      consequently, the rate of the reaction of JM118 with DNA was lower compared to
      cisplatin. The influence of global modification by JM118 and its major site
      specific adducts on DNA conformation by biochemical methods was investigated as
      well. While examination of the global modification revealed in several cases no
      substantial differences in the lesions induced by JM118 and cisplatin, DNA
      bending due to the 1,2-GG intrastrand adduct of JM118 was lower than that of
      cisplatin. The bending angles afforded by the adducts of JM118 were only slightly
      affected by the orientation of the cyclohexylamine ligand toward the 3' or 5'
      direction of the duplex. We also used in vitro assays that make it possible to
      monitor DNA repair synthesis by cell-free extracts and DNA-protein cross-linking
      to probe properties of DNA adducts of JM118. These results showed a higher DNA
      protein cross-linking efficiency of JM118 and a less efficient removal from DNA
      of the adducts of JM118 in comparison with cisplatin. Thus, the results of the
      present work provide additional evidence that DNA binding of JM118 is in several
      aspects different from that of conventional cisplatin.

PMID- 20939594
TI  - A strategy to synthesize taxol side chain and (-)-epi cytoxazone via chiral
      Bronsted acid-Rh(2)(OAc)(4) co-catalyzed enantioselective three-component
      reactions.
AB  - A new approach to synthesize optically active beta-amino-alpha-hydroxyl acid
      derivatives via chiral Bronsted acid-Rh(2)(OAc)(4) cocatalyzed three-component
      reactions of diazo acetates with alcohols and imines is reported. A matched
      reaction system was identified to give the products in moderate
      diastereoselectivity and good enantioselectivity. Application of this methodology
      is demonstrated in the efficient synthesis of a taxol side chain and (-)-epi
      cytoxazone.

PMID- 20939595
TI  - Two-photon excited fluorescence of a conjugated polyelectrolyte and its
      application in cell imaging.
AB  - The two-photon excited fluorescence of a conjugated polyelectrolyte (CPE),
      PPESO3, was studied in methanol and in water. The photophysical and amplified
      quenching properties of the CPE observed under two-photon excitation were
      comparable to the results obtained under one-photon excited conditions. Two
      photon fluorescence microscopy performed with PPESO3-coated silica nanoparticles
      in HeLa cells provided images with significantly improved resolution compared to
      one-photon microscopy, demonstrating the utility of the CPE as a fluorescent
      probe in two-photon fluorescence cell imaging.

PMID- 20939598
TI  - Science blogs and caveat emptor.

PMID- 20939596
TI  - Mapping the disease protein interactome: toward a molecular medicine GPS to
      accelerate drug and biomarker discovery.
AB  - Genomic approaches such as genome-wide association studies (GWAS), disease genome
      sequencing projects, and genome-wide expression profiling analyses, in
      conjunction with classical genetic approaches, can identify human genes that are
      altered in disease, thereby suggesting a role for the encoded protein (or RNA) in
      the establishment and/or progression of the disease. However, many technical
      difficulties challenge our ability to validate the role of these disease
      associated genes and gene products. Moreover, many identified genes contain open
      reading frames (ORFs) that have yet to be annotated, that is, the function (or
      activity) of the encoded protein is unknown. As a result, translating the genomic
      information available in public databases into useful tools for understanding and
      curing disease is a very slow and inefficient process. To overcome these
      difficulties, we have developed a technology platform, termed the "molecular
      medicine GPS" (mm-GPS), which is aimed at defining high-quality maps of
      interaction networks involving disease proteins. These maps are used to identify
      network dysfunctions in disease cells or models and to develop molecular tools
      such as RNA interference (RNAi) and small-molecule inhibitors to further
      characterize the molecular basis of disease. In this article, I review our
      progress in producing high-quality maps of human protein interaction networks,
      and I describe how we used this information to identify new factors and pathways
      that regulate the RNA polymerase II transcription machinery. I also describe how
      we utilize the mm-GPS platform to guide more efficient efforts leading from
      disease-associated genes to protein interaction networks to small-molecule
      inhibitors, and consequently, to accelerate drug and biomarker discovery.

PMID- 20939599
TI  - Symmetry relationship and strain-induced transitions between insulating M1 and M2
      and metallic R phases of vanadium dioxide.
AB  - The ability to synthesize VO2 in the form of single-crystalline nanobeams and
      nano- and microcrystals uncovered a number of previously unknown aspects of the
      metal-insulator transition (MIT) in this oxide. In particular, several reports
      demonstrated that the MIT can proceed through competition between two monoclinic
      (insulating) phases M1 and M2 and the tetragonal (metallic) R phase under
      influence of strain. The nature of such phase behavior has been not identified.
      Here we show that the competition between M1 and M2 phases is purely lattice
      symmetry-driven. Within the framework of the Ginzburg-Landau formalism, both M
      phases correspond to different directions of the same four-component structural
      order parameter, and as a consequence, the M2 phase can appear under a small
      perturbation of the M1 structure such as doping or stress. We analyze the strain
      controlled phase diagram of VO2 in the vicinity of the R-M2-M1 triple point using
      the Ginzburg-Landau formalism and identify and experimentally verify the pathways
      for strain-control of the transition. These insights open the door toward more
      systematic approaches to synthesis of VO2 nanostructures in desired phase states
      and to use of external fields in the control of the VO2 phase states.
      Additionally, we report observation of the triclinic T phase at the heterophase
      domain boundaries in strained quasi-two-dimensional VO2 nanoplatelets, and
      theoretically predict phases that have not been previously observed.

PMID- 20939600
TI  - In situ TEM observation of heterogeneous phase transition of a constrained single
      crystalline Ag2Te nanowire.
AB  - Laterally epitaxial single crystalline Ag2Te nanowires (NWs) are synthesized on
      sapphire substrates by the vapor transport method. We observed the phase
      transitions of these Ag2Te NWs via in situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM)
      after covering them with Pt layers. The constrained NW shows phase transition
      from monoclinic to a body-centered cubic (bcc) structure near the interfaces,
      which is ascribed to the thermal stress caused by differences in the thermal
      expansion coefficients. Furthermore, we observed the nucleation and growth of bcc
      phase penetrating into the face-centered cubic matrix at 200  degrees C by high
      resolution TEM in real time. Our results would provide valuable insight into how
      compressive stresses imposed by overlayers affect behaviors of nanodevices.

PMID- 20939601
TI  - Three-dimensional tracking of single fluorescent particles with submillisecond
      temporal resolution.
AB  - Observing dynamics at the nanoscale requires submillisecond time resolution.
      Notably, in studying biological systems, three-dimensional (3D) trajectories of
      fluorescently labeled objects such as viruses or transport vesicles often need to
      be acquired with high temporal resolution. Here, we present a novel instrument
      that combines scanning-free multiplane detection at 3.2 kHz frame rate and single
      photon sensitivity with optimized beam-steering capabilities. This setup enables
      ultrafast 3D localization with submillisecond time resolution and nanometer
      localization precision. We demonstrate 3D tracking of single fluorescent
      particles at speeds of up to 150 nm/ms over several seconds and large volumes. By
      focused excitation of only the particle of interest, while avoiding confocal
      pinholes, the system realizes maximum detection efficiency at minimal laser
      irradiation. These features, combined with the avoidance of stage movement,
      provide high live-sample compatibility for future biomedical applications.

PMID- 20939602
TI  - Coating optimization of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles for high T2
      relaxivity.
AB  - We describe a new method for coating superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles
      (SPIOs) and demonstrate that, by fine-tuning the core size and PEG coating of
      SPIOs, the T2 relaxivity per particle can be increased by >200-fold. With 14 nm
      core and PEG1000 coating, SPIOs can have T2 relaxivity of 385 s-1 mM-1, which is
      among the highest per-Fe atom relaxivities. In vivo tumor imaging results
      demonstrated the potential of the SPIOs for clinical applications.

PMID- 20939603
TI  - Synthesis of new bridgehead substituted azabicyclo-[2.2.1]heptane and 
      [3.3.1]nonane derivatives as potent and selective alpha7 nicotinic ligands.
AB  - New azabicyclo[2.2.1]heptane and -[3.3.1]nonane derivatives containing a
      pyridinyl substituent at the bridgehead position have been synthesized via an
      efficient ten chemical steps pathway. Both chemical series were then evaluated in
      vitro for their affinity at alpha7 nicotinic receptors revealing nanomolar
      potency with notably excellent selectivity over the alpha4beta2 nicotinic
      subtype.

PMID- 20939604
TI  - Total synthesis of incednam, the aglycon of incednine.
AB  - The first total synthesis of incednam (1), the aglycon of antibiotic incednine
      (2), is described. Incednine has been reported to exhibit significant inhibitory
      activity against the antiapoptotic oncoproteins Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL. The synthesis
      of 1 commenced with the preparation of the C1-C13 subunit 3 and the C14-C23
      subunit 4. The construction of the novel 24-membered macrocycle was achieved by
      the application of a Stille coupling between 3 and 4, followed by
      macrolactamization.

PMID- 20939605
TI  - Chemical composition of five commercial Gynostemma pentaphyllum samples and their
      radical scavenging, antiproliferative, and anti-inflammatory properties.
AB  - Five Gynostemma pentaphyllum (GP) samples were investigated and compared for
      their chemical compositions and their antioxidant, antiproliferative, and anti
      inflammatory effects. Extracts (50% acetone, 75% ethanol, and 100% ethanol) of
      the five GP samples (GP1-5) differed in their total phenolic, saponin, and
      flavonoid contents and in their rutin and quercetin concentrations. The highest
      level of total flavonoids was 63.5 mg of rutin equiv/g in GP4, and the greatest
      total phenolic content was 44.3 mg of gallic acid equiv/g in GP1 with 50% acetone
      as the extraction solvent. GP2 had the highest total saponin content of 132.6
      mg/g with 100% ethanol as the extraction solvent. These extracts also differed in
      their scavenging capacity against DPPH and hydroxyl radicals, although they all
      showed significant radical scavenging capacity. The 100% ethanol extracts also
      showed dose-dependently strong inhibition on IL-6 and Ptgs2 mRNA expression and
      weak inhibition on TNF-alpha mRNA expression. In addition, GP1 had the highest
      antiproliferative activity at 3.2 mg equiv/mL concentration in HT-29 human colon
      cancer cells. The results from this study will be used to promote the application
      of G. pentaphyllum for improving human health. 

PMID- 20939606
TI  - Atroposelective total synthesis of axially chiral biaryl natural products.

PMID- 20939607
TI  - Defects in individual semiconducting single wall carbon nanotubes: Raman
      spectroscopic and in situ Raman spectroelectrochemical study.
AB  - Raman spectroscopy and in situ Raman spectroelectrochemistry have been used to
      study the influence of defects on the Raman spectra of semiconducting individual
      single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs). The defects were created intentionally
      on part of an originally defect-free individual semiconducting nanotube, which
      allowed us to analyze how defects influence this particular nanotube. The
      formation of defects was followed by Raman spectroscopy that showed D band
      intensity coming from the defective part and no D band intensity coming from the
      original part of the same nanotube. It is shown that the presence of defects also
      reduces the intensity of the symmetry-allowed Raman features. Furthermore, the
      changes to the Raman resonance window upon the introduction of defects are
      analyzed. It is demonstrated that defects lead to both a broadening of the Raman
      resonance profile and a decrease in the maximum intensity of the resonance
      profile. The in situ Raman spectroelectrochemical data show a doping dependence
      of the Raman features taken from the defective part of the tested SWCNT.

PMID- 20939608
TI  - Measurement system for particulate nitrate based on the scrubber difference NO-O3
      chemiluminescence method in remote areas.
AB  - A particulate nitrate analyzer based on a scrubber difference/NO-O3
      chemiluminescence method (SD-CL method) has been developed for measuring nitrate
      concentrations in remote areas. Particulate nitrate concentrations (NO3(-)(p))
      were analyzed by the difference between the concentrations of NOy - gaseous
      nitric acid (HNO3) and NOy - HNO3 - NO3(-)(p). Annular denuders coated with NaCl
      and PTFE filter were used as the scrubbers for HNO3 and NO3(-)(p), respectively.
      The transmission efficiency of coarse particles in the denuder was found to be
      93.4 +/- 5.8%, so the loss of NO3(-)(p) to the denuder was within the uncertainty
      of the particulate nitrate analyzer (+/-20%). The measurements of NOy, HNO3, and
      NO3(-)(p) were conducted from March 15 to April 31, 2008, at Cape Hedo, Okinawa,
      Japan. Over 99.5% of the observed concentrations of NO3(-)(p) for 10 min
      integration times were higher than the detection limit of the SD-CL method (0.18
      MUg m(-3)). The least-squares fit of the R&P nitrate monitor against the SD-CL
      method yielded a slope of 0.67 +/- 0.02 and a correlation coefficient of R =
      0.73. This result indicates that this method could also measure NO3(-)(p) when
      the diameter of aerosols was larger than 10 MUm. The SD-CL method was found to be
      useful as a measurement system for NO3(-)(p) in remote areas where coarse NO3(
      )(p) dominates. 

PMID- 20939609
TI  - Enhanced conductance fluctuation by quantum confinement effect in graphene
      nanoribbons.
AB  - Conductance fluctuation is usually unavoidable in graphene nanoribbons (GNR) due
      to the presence of disorder along its edges. By measuring the low-frequency noise
      in GNR devices, we find that the conductance fluctuation is strongly correlated
      with the density-of-states of GNR. In single-layer GNR, the gate-dependence of
      noise shows peaks whose positions quantitatively match the subband positions in
      the band structures of GNR. This correlation provides a robust mechanism to
      electrically probe the band structure of GNR, especially when the subband
      structures are smeared out in conductance measurement.

PMID- 20939610
TI  - Predicting properties of amino acid ionic liquid homologue of 1-alkyl-3
      methylimidazolium glycine.
AB  - Amino acid ionic liquids (AAILs) [C(5)mim][Gly] (1-pentyl-3-methylimidazolium
      glycine) and [C(6)mim][Gly] (1-hexyl-3-methylimidazolium glycine) were prepared
      by the neutralization method and characterized by (1)H NMR spectroscopy and
      differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The values of their density, surface
      tension, and refractive index were measured in the temperature range of 293.15
      343.15 (+/-0.05) K. Since the AAILs can strongly form hydrogen bonds with water,
      the small amounts of water are difficult to remove from the AAILs by common
      methods. In order to eliminate the effect of the impurity water, the standard
      addition method (SAM) was applied to these measurements. In terms of
      semiempirical method, physicochemical properties molecular volume V(m), standard
      molar entropy S(0), parachor P, surface tension gamma, thermal expansion
      coefficients alpha, molar refraction R(m), and refractive index n(D) of the
      homologue of [C(n)mim][Gly] (n = 2-6) were predicted. In comparison with the
      values of [C(2)mim][Gly] in literature, the predicted results were in good
      agreement within an order of magnitude.

PMID- 20939611
TI  - Proteomic analysis of human nail plate.
AB  - Shotgun proteomic analysis of the human nail plate identified 144 proteins in
      samples from Causcasian volunteers. The 30 identified proteins solubilized by
      detergent and reducing agent, 90% of the total nail plate mass, were primarily
      keratins and keratin associated proteins. Keratins comprised a majority of the
      detergent-insoluble fraction as well, but numerous cytoplasmic, membrane, and
      junctional proteins and histones were also identified, indicating broad use by
      transglutaminases of available proteins as substrates for cross-linking. Two
      novel membrane proteins were identified, also found in the hair shaft, for which
      mRNAs were detected only at very low levels by real-time polymerase chain
      reaction in other tissues. Parallel analyses of nail samples from volunteers from
      Inner Mongolia, China gave essentially the same protein profiles. Comparison of
      the profiles of nail plate and hair shaft from the latter volunteers revealed
      extensive overlap of protein constituents. Analyses of samples from an arsenic
      exposed population revealed few proteins whose levels were altered substantially
      but raised the possibility of detecting sensitive individuals in this way.

PMID- 20939613
TI  - Lighting up the shadowy fringes.

PMID- 20939612
TI  - Synergy of nitric oxide and silver sulfadiazine against gram-negative, gram
      positive, and antibiotic-resistant pathogens.
AB  - The synergistic activity between nitric oxide (NO) released from diazeniumdiolate
      modified proline (PROLI/NO) and silver(I) sulfadiazine (AgSD) was evaluated
      against Escherichia coli, Enterococcus faecalis, Proteus mirabilis, Pseudomonas
      aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis using a modified
      broth microdilution technique and a checkerboard-type assay. The combination of
      NO and AgSD was defined as synergistic when the fractional bactericidal
      concentration (FBC) was calculated to be <0.5. Gram-negative species were
      generally more susceptible to the individual antimicrobial agents than the Gram
      positive bacteria, while Gram-positive bacteria were more susceptible to
      combination therapy. The in vitro synergistic activity of AgSD and NO observed
      against a range of pathogens strongly supports future investigation of this
      therapeutic combination, particularly for its potential use in the treatment of
      burns and chronic wounds.

PMID- 20939614
TI  - Copper-catalyzed enantioselective synthesis of trans-1-alkyl-2-substituted
      cyclopropanes via tandem conjugate addition-intramolecular enolate trapping.
AB  - Cu-TolBINAP-catalyzed conjugate addition of Grignard reagents to 4-chloro
      alpha,beta-unsaturated esters, thioesters, and ketones leads to 4-chloro-3-alkyl
      substituted thioesters and ketones in up to 84% yield and up to 96% ee upon
      protonation of the corresponding enolates at low temperature. Tandem conjugate
      addition-enolate trapping, however, yields trans-1-alkyl-2-substituted
      cyclopropanes in up to 92% yield and up to 98% ee. The versatility of this
      reaction is illustrated by the formation of key intermediates for the formal
      syntheses of cascarillic acid and grenadamide.

PMID- 20939615
TI  - Chemical methods to evaluate antioxidant ability.

PMID- 20939616
TI  - Carbon nanotube thin films: fabrication, properties, and applications.

PMID- 20939617
TI  - Computation of deuterium isotope perturbation of 13C NMR chemical shifts of
      alkanes: a local mode zero-point level approach.
AB  - Replacement of H by D perturbs the (13)C NMR chemical shifts of an alkane
      molecule. This effect is largest for the carbon to which the D is attached,
      diminishing rapidly with intervening bonds. The effect is sensitive to
      stereochemistry and is large enough to be measured reliably. A simple model based
      on the ground (zero point) vibrational level and treating only the C-H(D) degrees
      of freedom (local mode approach) is presented. The change in CH bond length with
      H/D substitution as well as the reduction in the range of the zero-point level
      probability distribution for the stretch and both bend degrees of freedom are
      computed. The (13)C NMR chemical shifts are computed with variation in these
      three degrees of freedom, and the results are averaged with respect to the H and
      D distribution functions. The resulting differences in the zero-point averaged
      chemical shifts are compared with experimental values of the H/D shifts for a
      series of cycloalkanes, norbornane, adamantane, and protoadamantane. Agreement is
      generally very good. The remaining differences are discussed. The proton spectrum
      of cyclohexane- is revisited and updated with improved agreement with experiment.

PMID- 20939618
TI  - Reaction mechanism of monoethanolamine with CO2 in aqueous solution from
      molecular modeling.
AB  - We present a theoretical study of the reaction mechanism of monoethanolamine
      (MEA) with CO2 in an aqueous solution. We have used molecular orbital reaction
      pathway calculations to compute reaction free energy landscapes for the reaction
      steps involved in the formation of carbamic acids and carbamates. We have used
      the conductor-like polarizable continuum model to calculate reactant, product,
      and transition state geometries and vibrational frequencies within density
      functional theory (DFT). We have also computed single point energies for all
      stationary structures using a coupled cluster approach with singles, doubles, and
      perturbational triple excitations using the DFT geometries. Our calculations
      indicate that a two-step reaction mechanism that proceeds via a zwitterion
      intermediate to form carbamate is the most favorable reaction channel. The first
      step, leading to formation of the zwitterion, is found to be rate-determining,
      and the activation free energies are 12.0 (10.2) and 11.3 (9.6) kcal/mol using
      Pauling (Bondi) radii within the CPCM model at the CCSD(T)/6-311++G(d,p) and
      CCSD(T)/6-311++G(2df,2p) levels of theory, respectively, using geometries and
      vibrational frequencies obtained at the B3LYP/6-311++G(d,p) level of theory.
      These results are in reasonable agreement with the experimental value of about 12
      kcal/mol. The second step is an acid-base reaction between a zwitterion and MEA.
      We have developed a microkinetic model to estimate the effective reaction order
      at intermediate concentrations. Our model predicts an equilibrium concentration
      for the zwitterion on the order of 10-11 mol/L, which explains why the existence
      of the zwitterion intermediate has never been detected experimentally. The
      effective reaction order from our model is close to unity, also in agreement with
      experiments. Complementary ab initio QM/MM molecular dynamics simulations with
      umbrella sampling have been carried out to determine the free energy profiles of
      zwitterion formation and proton transfer in solution; the results confirm that
      the formation of the zwitterion is rate-determining.

PMID- 20939619
TI  - Time-resolved femtosecond photoelectron spectroscopy by field-induced surface
      hopping.
AB  - We present the extension of our field-induced surface hopping method for the
      description of the photoionization process and the simulation of time-resolved
      photoelectron spectra (TRPES). This is based on the combination of nonadiabatic
      molecular dynamics "on the fly" in the framework of TDDFT generalized for open
      shell systems under the influence of laser fields with the approximate quantum
      mechanical description of the photoionization process. Since arbitrary pulse
      shapes can be employed, this method can be also combined with the optimal control
      theory in order to steer the photoionization or to shape the outgoing electronic
      wavepackets. We illustrate our method for the simulation of TRPES on the
      prototype system of Ag(3), which involves excitation from the equilibrium
      triangular geometry, as well as excitation from the linear transition state,
      where in both cases nonadiabatic relaxation takes place in a complex manifold of
      electronic states. Our approach represents a generally applicable method for the
      prediction of time-resolved photoelectron spectra and their analysis in systems
      with complex electronic structure as well as many nuclear degrees freedom. This
      theoretical development should serve to stimulate new ultrafast experiments.

PMID- 20939620
TI  - Excited-state double proton transfer dynamics of model DNA base pairs: 7
      hydroxyquinoline dimers.
AB  - The excited-state double proton transfer of model DNA base pairs, 7
      hydroxyquinoline dimers, in benzene has been investigated using picosecond time
      resolved fluorescence spectroscopy. Upon excitation, whereas singly hydrogen
      bonded noncyclic dimers do not go through tautomerization within the relaxation
      time of 1400 ps, doubly hydrogen-bonded cyclic dimers undergo excited-state
      double proton transfer on the time scale of 25 ps to form tautomeric dimers,
      which subsequently undergo a conformational change in 180 ps to produce singly
      hydrogen-bonded tautomers. The rate constant of the double proton transfer
      reaction is temperature-independent, showing a large kinetic isotope effect of
      5.2, suggesting that the rate is governed mostly by tunneling.

PMID- 20939621
TI  - Excited state dynamics and activation parameters of remarkably slow photoinduced
      CO loss from (eta6-benzene)Cr(CO)3 in n-heptane solution: a DFT and picosecond
      time-resolved infrared study.
AB  - The electronic structure of (eta6-benzene)Cr(CO)3 has been calculated using
      density functional theory and a molecular orbital interaction diagram constructed
      based on the Cr(CO)3 and benzene fragments. The highest occupied molecular
      orbitals are mainly metal based. The nature of the lowest energy excited states
      were determined by time-dependent density functional theory, and the lowest
      energy excited state was found to have significant metal to carbonyl charge
      transfer character. The photochemistry of (eta6-benzene)Cr(CO)3 was investigated
      by time-resolved infrared spectroscopy with picosecond time resolution. The low
      energy excited state was detected following irradiation at 400 nm, and this
      exhibited nu(CO) bands at lower energy than the equivalent nu(CO) bands of (eta6
      benzene)Cr(CO)3, consistent with metal to carbonyl charge transfer character, and
      is formed with excess vibrational energy, relaxing to the v = 0 vibrational state
      within 3 ps. The resulting "cold" excited state decays to form the CO-loss
      species (eta6-benzene)Cr(CO)2 in approximately 70% yield and to reform (eta6
      benzene)Cr(CO)3 within 150 ps. The rates of relaxation from the vibrationally hot
      state to the cold excited state and its subsequent reaction to yield (eta6
      benzene)Cr(CO)2 were measured over a range of temperatures from 274 to 320 K, and
      the activation parameters for both processes were obtained from Eyring plots. The
      vibrational relaxation exhibits a negative activation enthalpy DeltaH(?) (-10 (+/
      4) kJ mol-1) and a negative activation entropy DeltaS(?) (-50 (+/-16) J mol-1 K
      1). A significant barrier (DeltaH(?) = +12 (+/-4) kJ mol-1) was obtained for the
      formation of (eta6-benzene)Cr(CO)2 with a DeltaS(?) value close to zero. These
      data are used to propose a model for the CO-loss process to yield (eta6
      benzene)Cr(CO)2 and to explain why low temperature irradiation of (eta6
      benzene)Cr(CO)3 with light of wavelengths greater than 400 nm produced relatively
      minor amounts of (eta6-benzene)Cr(CO)2.

PMID- 20939622
TI  - Photoswitchable fluorescent dyads incorporating BODIPY and [1,3]oxazine
      components.
AB  - We designed and synthesized three compounds incorporating a BODIPY fluorophore
      and an oxazine photochrome within the same molecular skeleton and differing in
      the nature of the linker bridging the two functional components. The [1,3]oxazine
      ring of the photochrome opens in less than 6 ns upon laser excitation in two of
      the three fluorophore-photochrome dyads. This process generates a 3H-indolium
      cation with a quantum yield of 0.02-0.05. The photogenerated isomer has a
      lifetime of 1-3 MUs and reverts to the original species with first-order
      kinetics. Both photochromic systems tolerate hundreds of switching cycles with no
      sign of degradation. The visible excitation of the dyads is accompanied by the
      characteristic fluorescence of the BODIPY component. However, the cationic
      fragment of their photogenerated isomers can accept an electron or energy from
      the excited fluorophore. As a result, the photoinduced transformation of the
      photochromic component within each dyad results in the effective quenching of the
      BODIPY emission. Indeed, the fluorescence of these photoswitchable compounds can
      be modulated on a microsecond time scale with excellent fatigue resistance under
      optical control. Thus, our operating principles and choice of functional
      components can ultimately lead to the development of valuable photoswitchable
      fluorescent probes for the super-resolution imaging of biological samples.

PMID- 20939624
TI  - Hurricane-related exposure experiences and stressors, other life events, and
      social support: concurrent and prospective impact on children's persistent
      posttraumatic stress symptoms.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We investigated the influence of hurricane exposure, stressors
      occurring during the hurricane and recovery period, and social support on
      children's persistent posttraumatic stress (PTS). METHOD: Using a 2-wave,
      prospective design, we assessed 384 children (54% girls; mean age = 8.74 years) 9
      months posthurricane, and we reassessed 245 children 21 months posthurricane.
      Children completed measures of exposure experiences, social support, hurricane
      related stressors, life events, and PTS symptoms. RESULTS: At Time 1, 35% of the
      children reported moderate to very severe levels of PTS symptoms; at Time 2, this
      reduced to 29%. Hurricane-related stressors influenced children's persistent PTS
      symptoms and the occurrence of other life events, which in turn also influenced
      persistent PTS symptoms. The cascading effects of hurricane stressors and other
      life events disrupted children's social support over time, which further
      influenced persistent PTS symptoms. Social support from peers buffered the impact
      of disaster exposure on children's PTS symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: The effects of a
      destructive hurricane on children's PTS symptoms persisted almost 2 years after
      the storm. The factors contributing to PTS symptoms are interrelated in complex
      ways. The findings suggest a need to close the gap between interventions
      delivered in the immediate and short-term aftermath and those delivered 2 years
      or more postdisaster. Such interventions might focus on helping children manage
      disaster-related stressors and other life events as well as bolstering children's
      support systems.

PMID- 20939625
TI  - Spouses use of social control to improve diabetic patients' dietary adherence.
AB  - We investigated two types of negative and positive social control strategies,
      warning and encouragement, used by spouses to urge patients with type II diabetes
      to improve adherence to the diabetic diet. Warning refers to things a spouse may
      say or do to caution the patient about the consequences of eating a poor diet,
      and encouragement refers to things a spouse may say or do to promote healthier
      food choices by the patient. Our dyadic design (n=109 couples) assessed spouses'
      use of warning and encouragement (reported by spouses and by patients), as well
      as patients' reports of dietary adherence. Spouses being actively involved in
      patients' dietary choices was the largest category of open-ended descriptors of
      both warning and encouragement. Both spousal warning and encouragement were
      associated with patients' adherence to the recommended diabetic diet, with
      warning associated with poorer adherence and encouragement associated with better
      adherence. Moreover, it was the spouses' perceptions of their own influence
      attempts, and not patients' reports, that were consequential for patients'
      adherence. Patients' dietary behavior, and ultimately disease management, appears
      to be best served when the spouse uses more positively toned and less coercive
      influence attempts.

PMID- 20939626
TI  - Social support mediates the relations between role strains and marital
      satisfaction in husbands of patients with fibromyalgia syndrome.
AB  - Husbands of patients with fibromyalgia syndrome (HFMS) report poorer physical and
      mental health than husbands of women without illness, as well as role strains
      because of their wives' condition. There are no published reports regarding the
      impact of fibromyalgia on their marital relationship. In the present study, we
      used Lazarus and Folkman's (1984) model of stress and coping as a framework to
      examine marital satisfaction among HFMS. We hypothesized that role strains would
      be related to marital satisfaction, mediated or moderated by social support and
      problem and emotion focused coping. HFMS (n=135) and husbands of healthy women
      (n=153) completed the Locke Wallace Marital Adjustment Test, the Interpersonal
      Support Evaluation List, and the Ways of Coping Questionnaire. Only HFMS
      completed the Psychological Adjustment to Illness Scale-Spouse Version. HFMS
      reported lower marital satisfaction than comparison husbands. Among HFMS, sexual
      and domestic roles strains and social support were related to marital
      satisfaction. Social support alone mediated the relationship between role strain
      and marital satisfaction, and no variable moderated the relationship. These
      findings support prior research that shows that these husbands are significantly
      impacted by their wives' condition, and suggest the need to focus more attention
      on this population, possibly targeting social support for interventions.

PMID- 20939627
TI  - Effectiveness of a psychoeducational parenting group on child, parent, and family
      behavior: a pilot study in a family practice clinic with an underserved
      population.
AB  - Although integrated care for adults in primary care has steadily increased over
      the last several decades, there remains a paucity of research regarding
      integrated care for children in primary care. To report results of a pilot study
      testing initial feasibility of a parenting psychoeducational group targeting
      child behavioral problems within a primary care clinic. The participants (n = 35)
      were parents representing an underserved population from an inner-city primary
      care clinic. Participants attended a 12-week psychoeducational parenting group
      and reported pre- and post-measures of family functioning, child misbehavior and
      dyadic functioning. Paired t-tests and effects sizes are reported. Participants
      reported statistically significant improvement in family functioning, child
      misbehavior, and couple functioning after participating in the parenting
      psychoeducational group. Results suggest initial feasibility of a parenting
      psychoeducational group within a primary care clinic with an underserved
      population. This intervention may be useful for other primary care clinics
      seeking to offer more integrative care options for children and their families.

PMID- 20939628
TI  - Motivational interviewing in a family-based pediatric obesity program: a case
      study.
AB  - Motivational Interviewing (MI) is an effective method for clinicians to guide and
      support individuals who wish to make complex health behavior changes; however,
      little research is available to support its use in the treatment of obesity,
      particularly in family based therapy and multidisciplinary team settings. The
      objective of this case report is to demonstrate the application of MI within a
      family based, multidisciplinary treatment program, and provide examples of MI in
      obesity treatment. We report a case study on the use of MI with behavioral
      therapy in a pediatric, family based, multidisciplinary weight management program
      (Brenner FIT Program). Tina, a 14-year-old White female, and her mother
      participated in the Brenner FIT Program where we successfully integrated MI into
      her obesity treatment. Further work is needed in the application of MI to diverse
      care teams to determine frequency of training required for effective use of MI in
      obesity treatment, its limitations, and its feasibility in community-based
      programs.

PMID- 20939629
TI  - Effects of team care of frequent attenders on patients and physicians.
AB  - Frequent clinic attenders consume a large portion of health care resources while
      feeling underserved. At the same time, physicians are frustrated trying to
      adequately care for these patients. Previous trials of team care in primary care
      have rarely included control groups. Adults with eight or more clinic visits in
      the past year were nonrandomly assigned to usual care or team care. For the
      latter group, a Care Team met to review each case and create a care plan. Changes
      in patient health care use, well-being, and satisfaction from baseline to 6
      months were compared between team care and usual care patients. In addition, Care
      Team members' perceptions of team care were assessed by quantitative and
      qualitative methods. Study patients were medically complex. Self-reported overall
      well-being and overall care satisfaction improved in the 12-patient team care
      group, but remained unchanged in the 8 patient usual care group. Median 6-month
      visits fell by 3 visits among team care patients and increased by 1.5 among usual
      care patients. Most Care Team members rated team care as positive and as
      improving quality of care. Members were divided on its effect on care efficiency
      and workload. Team care is feasible within a family medicine residency practice
      and may improve care.

PMID- 20939630
TI  - Relinquishing frozen embryos for conception by infertile couples.
AB  - This qualitative study sought to provide an in-depth understanding of the
      experiences of couples who have relinquished their stored frozen embryos to one
      or more infertile couples. All couples were recruited through a U.S. based not
      for-profit, prolife, Christian "embryo adoption" agency. In-depth semistructured
      interviews were undertaken via e-mail. Implications for practice strategies,
      including effective ways for educating couples with surplus frozen embryos are
      offered.

PMID- 20939631
TI  - "It has been a good growing experience for me": growth experiences among African
      American youth coping with parental cancer.
AB  - This qualitative focus group study describes posttraumatic growth experiences of
      African American adolescents currently coping with parental breast cancer. Twelve
      adolescents participated in three focus groups assessing their experiences with
      parental cancer. Spontaneous accounts of posttraumatic growth were reported by
      all participants. A content analysis revealed reports in four of the five domains
      of posttraumatic growth identified by Tedeschi and Calhoun (1996) which included:
      greater appreciation for life, enhanced interpersonal relationships, increased
      sense of personal strengths, and changed priorities. An additional domain, change
      in health behaviors and attitudes, also emerged. These findings add important
      knowledge to the developing field of research in posttraumatic growth in
      populations where available research is scarce, especially among adolescents and
      racial minorities.

PMID- 20939638
TI  - Preventing skin cancer in college females: heterogeneous effects over time.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the effects of an appearance-focused intervention to
      reduce the risk of skin cancer by decreasing indoor tanning, examine potential
      heterogeneity in tanning across this time, and correlate the subtypes with
      predictors collected at baseline. DESIGN: Randomized controlled trial with 379
      female college students measured at 6 monthly time points. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE:
      Self-reported indoor tanning frequency. RESULTS: The intervention was effective
      at decreasing tanning over the period between the fall and spring. Longitudinal
      latent class analysis found 3 patterns of tanners among the treatment
      individuals: abstainers, moderate tanners, and heavy tanners. These classes
      appeared in both the treatment and control conditions, and the intervention had a
      harm reduction effect by reducing levels of exposure within the moderate and
      heavy tanner classes. Participant age and self-reported tanning patterns were
      found to be predictive of class membership. CONCLUSIONS: This research suggests
      that brief intervention approaches can be effective at reducing risk for skin
      cancer and illustrates several ways in which these protective effects can be
      enhanced.

PMID- 20939639
TI  - Which survey questions change behavior? Randomized controlled trial of mere
      measurement interventions.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Evidence indicates that receiving a questionnaire about a behavior
      increases the likelihood that the person will perform that behavior--a phenomenon
      termed the mere measurement effect. This research tested the role of (a) the type
      of questions, and (b) questionnaire completion in optimizing the impact of mere
      measurement interventions designed to retain novice blood donors. DESIGN: Novice
      blood donors (N = 4391) were randomly allocated to four conditions that varied
      the content of a questionnaire about blood donation (behavioral intention-only,
      behavioral intention plus regret, implementation intention-only, implementation
      intention plus regret) or to a no-questionnaire control condition. MAIN OUTCOME
      MEASURES: Objective measures of registration at blood drives were obtained at 6
      and 12 months postbaseline. RESULTS: Participants in the implementation intention
      only condition donated more frequently at 6 months compared to participants in
      each of the other conditions. At 12 months both implementation intention
      conditions outperformed the other conditions. Implementation intentions increased
      the frequency of donations over 1 year by 12%. Measuring anticipated regret did
      not augment the impact of interventions whereas questionnaire completion had an
      important impact on donation behavior. CONCLUSION: Questions about implementation
      intentions but not behavioral intentions promote retention of novice blood
      donors.

PMID- 20939640
TI  - Predicting adolescent perceptions of the risks and benefits of cigarette smoking:
      a longitudinal investigation.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate developmental changes, personal smoking experiences, and
      vicarious smoking experiences as predictors of adolescents' perceptions of the
      risks and benefits of cigarette smoking over time, and to identify new and
      effective targets for youth smoking prevention programs. DESIGN: There were 395
      adolescents surveyed every 6 months for two school years, from the beginning of
      9th grade to the end of 10th grade. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Time, participant
      smoking, friend smoking, parental smoking, and sex were evaluated as predictors
      of smoking-related short-term risk perceptions, long-term risk perceptions, and
      benefits perceptions using multilevel modeling techniques. RESULTS: Perceptions
      of benefits did not change over time. Perceptions of risk decreased with time,
      but not after sex and parental smoking were included in the model. Adolescents
      with personal smoking experience reported decreasing perceptions of risk and
      increasing perceptions of benefits over time. Adolescents with more than 6
      friends who smoked also reported increasing perceptions of benefits over time.
      CONCLUSIONS: Changes in risk perceptions may not purely be the result of
      developmental processes, but may also be influenced by personal and vicarious
      experience with smoking. Findings highlight the importance of identifying and
      targeting modifiable factors that may influence perceptions.

PMID- 20939642
TI  - Pulmonary delivery of nicotine pyruvate: sensory and pharmacokinetic
      characteristics.
AB  - The aim of this study was to evaluate pharmacokinetic and subjective responses to
      a prototype nicotine pyruvate (NP) aerosol generation system. In nine healthy
      adult daily cigarette smokers, plasma nicotine levels and subjective responses
      were assessed after double-blind administration of 10 inhalations of: NP (10
      MUg/puff, 20 MUg/puff, and 30 MUg/puff); Nicotrol/Nicorette nicotine vapor
      inhaler (NV) cartridge; and placebo (room air). Plasma nicotine concentrations
      increased to a significantly greater extent after inhalations of 20 MUg/puff or
      30 MUg/puff NP (by 5.0 +/- 3.4 ng/ml and 8.3 +/- 3.1 ng/ml) than after placebo
      and NV conditions. Satisfaction ratings were higher for all NP conditions than
      for placebo, and harshness/irritation was lower for the NP 20 condition than for
      the NV control condition. Pulmonary function showed no adverse changes. These
      results demonstrate that NP inhalations produce rapid increases in plasma
      nicotine concentrations, provide satisfaction and are well tolerated. At the 20
      MUg/puff dose, peak nicotine concentrations were higher than with the
      Nicotrol/Nicorette nicotine vapor inhaler cartridge. Further trials of this
      promising nicotine inhalation technology are warranted to assess its safety and
      efficacy in smoking cessation treatment or harm reduction approaches.

PMID- 20939641
TI  - Association between depressive symptoms and mortality risk in chronic kidney
      disease.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Previous examinations of depression as a predictor of mortality in end
      stage renal disease have yielded inconsistent findings. We sought to clarify the
      possible link with mortality by assessing depression at an earlier stage of renal
      impairment before the uremic disease state and depressive symptoms become highly
      confounded, and then following patients during the period of disease progression.
      DESIGN: Prospective design using an assessment of depression before initiation of
      renal replacement therapy to predict mortality status an average of 81 months
      later in patients in the early stages of chronic kidney disease. MAIN OUTCOME
      MEASURES: Mortality status. RESULTS: After controlling for relevant mortality
      risk factors (i.e., age, gender, presence of diabetes and cardiovascular disease,
      and potassium level), results of Cox regression analyses indicated that higher
      levels of nonsomatic depression symptoms were predictive of an increased
      mortality risk, chi2(1, N = 359) = 8.02, p = .005. Patients with nonsomatic
      depression scores 1 SD above the mean had an estimated mortality rate 21.4%
      higher than average scorers in this sample. CONCLUSION: Clinical implications of
      these findings point to the importance of assessment and treatment of depressive
      symptoms in patients with chronic kidney disease.

PMID- 20939643
TI  - Behavioral evaluation of modafinil and the abuse-related effects of cocaine in
      rhesus monkeys.
AB  - Modafinil is a central nervous system stimulant used to promote wakefulness, and
      it is being evaluated clinically as an agonist medication for treating stimulant
      abuse. This is the first report of the effects of modafinil on the abuse-related
      effects of cocaine in nonhuman primates. The behavioral effects of modafinil were
      examined in three studies. First, the discriminative stimulus effects of
      modafinil (3.2-32 mg/kg) were evaluated in rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta)
      trained to discriminate either low (0.18 mg/kg, IM) or high (0.4 mg/kg, IM) doses
      of cocaine from saline. Modafinil dose-dependently substituted for cocaine in 6
      of 7 monkeys. In the second study, the effects of chronically administered
      modafinil (32-56 mg/kg/day, IV) on food- and cocaine-maintained (0.001-0.1
      mg/kg/inj) operant responding were examined. Modafinil was administered 3
      times/hr for 23 hr/day to ensure stable drug levels. Chronic treatment with 32
      mg/kg/day modafinil selectively reduced responding maintained by intermediate and
      peak reinforcing doses of cocaine, but responding maintained by higher doses of
      cocaine was unaffected. Food-maintained behavior did not change during chronic
      modafinil treatment. In a third study, modafinil (32 and 56 mg/kg/day, IV) was
      examined in a reinstatement model. Modafinil transiently increased responding
      during extinction. These findings indicate that modafinil shares discriminative
      stimulus effects with cocaine and selectively reduces responding maintained by
      reinforcing doses of cocaine. In addition, modafinil reinstated cocaine-seeking
      behavior, which may reflect its cocaine-like discriminative stimulus effects.
      These data support clinical findings and indicate that these preclinical models
      may be useful for predicting the effectiveness of agonist medications for drug
      abuse treatment.

PMID- 20939644
TI  - Effects of alcohol on tests of executive functioning in men and women: a dose
      response examination.
AB  - Alcohol has been shown to affect performance on tasks associated with executive
      functioning. However, studies in this area have generally been limited to a
      single dose or gender or have used small sample sizes. The purpose of this study
      was to provide a more nuanced and systematic examination of alcohol's effects on
      commonly used tests of executive functioning at multiple dosages in both men and
      women. Research volunteers (91 women and 94 men) were randomly assigned to one of
      four drink conditions (alcohol doses associated with target blood alcohol
      concentrations of .000%, .050%, .075%, and .100%). Participants then completed
      three tasks comprising two domains of executive functioning: two set shifting
      tasks, the Trail Making Test and a computerized version of the Wisconsin Card
      Sorting Task, and a response inhibition task, the GoStop Impulsivity Paradigm.
      Impaired performance on set shifting tasks was found at the .100% and .075%
      dosages, but alcohol intoxication did not impair performance on the GoStop. No
      gender effects emerged. Thus, alcohol negatively affects set shifting at
      moderately high levels of intoxication in both men and women, likely attributable
      to alcohol's interference with prefrontal cortex function. Although it is well
      established that alcohol negatively affects response inhibition as measured by
      auditory stop-signal tasks, alcohol does not appear to exert a negative effect on
      response inhibition as measured by the GoStop, a visual stop-signal task.

PMID- 20939645
TI  - The influence of alcohol expectancies and intoxication on men's aggressive
      unprotected sexual intentions.
AB  - An experiment tested the pathways through which alcohol expectancies and
      intoxication influenced men's self-reported sexual aggression intentions during
      an unprotected sexual encounter. After a questionnaire session, male social
      drinkers (N = 124) were randomly assigned to either an alcohol condition (target
      peak BAC = .08%) or a control condition. Upon completion of beverage consumption,
      participants read a description of a sexual encounter in which the female partner
      refused to have unprotected sexual intercourse. Participants then rated their
      emotional state, their intentions to have unprotected sex with the unwilling
      partner, and their postincident perceptions of the encounter. Structural equation
      modeling indicated that intoxicated men reported feeling stronger sexual
      aggression congruent emotions/motivations such as arousal and anger; however,
      this effect was moderated by alcohol expectancies. Intoxicated participants with
      stronger alcohol-aggression expectancies reported greater sexual aggression
      congruent emotions/motivations than did intoxicated participants with weaker
      alcohol-aggression expectancies. For sober participants, alcohol-aggression
      expectancies did not influence emotions/motivations. In turn, stronger sexual
      assault congruent emotions/motivations predicted greater sexual aggression
      intentions. Men with greater sexual aggression intentions were less likely to
      label the situation as a sexual assault and reported less concern about their
      intended actions. These findings underscore the relevance of both alcohol
      expectancies and alcohol intoxication to sexual aggression perpetration and
      highlight the importance of including information about alcohol's influence on
      both emotional and cognitive responses in sexual aggression prevention work.

PMID- 20939646
TI  - Processing bimodal stimulus information under alcohol: is there a risk to being
      redundant?
AB  - The impairing effects of alcohol are especially pronounced in environments that
      involve dividing attention across two or more stimuli. However, studies in
      cognitive psychology have identified circumstances in which the presentation of
      multiple stimuli can actually facilitate performance. The "redundant signal
      effect" (RSE) refers to the observation that individuals respond more quickly
      when information is presented as redundant, bimodal stimuli (e.g., aurally and
      visually), rather than as a single stimulus presented to either modality alone.
      The present study tested the hypothesis that the response facilitation attributed
      to RSE could reduce the degree to which alcohol slows information processing. Two
      experiments are reported. Experiment 1 demonstrated the validity of a reaction
      time model of RSE by showing that adults (N = 15) responded more quickly to
      redundant, bimodal stimuli (visual + aural) versus either stimuli presented
      individually. Experiment 2 used the RSE model to test the reaction time
      performance of 20 adults following three alcohol doses (0.0 g/kg, 0.45 g/kg, and
      0.65 g/kg). Results showed that alcohol slowed reaction time in a general dose
      dependent manner in all three stimulus conditions with the reaction time (RT)
      speed-advantage of the redundant signal being maintained, even under the highest
      dose of alcohol. Evidence for an RT advantage to bimodal stimuli under alcohol
      challenges the general assumption that alcohol impairment is intensified in
      multistimulus environments. The current study provides a useful model to
      investigate how drug effects on behavior might be altered in contexts that
      involve redundant response signals.

PMID- 20939647
TI  - Same wording, distinct concepts? Testing differences between expectancies and
      motives in a mediation model of alcohol outcomes.
AB  - Per definition, alcohol expectancies (after alcohol I expect X), and drinking
      motives (I drink to achieve X) are conceptually distinct constructs. Theorists
      have argued that motives mediate the association between expectancies and
      drinking outcomes. Yet, given the use of different instruments, do these
      constructs remain distinct when assessment items are matched? The present study
      tested to what extent motives mediated the link between expectancies and alcohol
      outcomes when identical items were used, first as expectancies and then as
      motives. A linear structural equation model was estimated based on a national
      representative sample of 5,779 alcohol-using students in Switzerland (mean age =
      15.2 years). The results showed that expectancies explained up to 38% of the
      variance in motives. Together with motives, they explained up to 48% of the
      variance in alcohol outcomes (volume, 5+ drinking, and problems). In 10 of 12
      outcomes, there was a significant mediated effect that was often higher than the
      direct expectancy effect. For coping, the expectancy effect was close to zero,
      indicating the strongest form of mediation. In only one case (conformity and 5+
      drinking), there was a direct expectancy effect but no mediation. To conclude,
      the study demonstrates that motives are distinct from expectancies even when
      identical items are used. Motives are more proximally related to different
      alcohol outcomes, often mediating the effects of expectancies. Consequently, the
      effectiveness of interventions, particularly those aimed at coping drinkers,
      should be improved through a shift in focus from expectancies to drinking
      motives.

PMID- 20939648
TI  - A crossover study on the glucose metabolism between treatment with olanzapine and
      risperidone in schizophrenic patients.
AB  - Several studies have suggested that risperidone is superior to olanzapine in
      glucose tolerance; however, there is little information available about the risk
      of impaired glucose metabolism induced by atypical antipsychotics in the same
      patients. A 75-g oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) was performed in 22 mildly
      obese, diabetes-free, Japanese patients with schizophrenia who received
      risperidone or olanzapine for at least 2 months. After the OGTT, the medication
      was switched to another by decreasing the previous dosage gradually over 2 to 8
      months after the initiation of the second medicine. After at least 8 weeks of
      complete switching, the same OGTT procedure was conducted. Fasting insulin
      concentration and the homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA
      IR) during olanzapine treatment were significantly higher compared with
      risperidone treatment. The area under the concentration-time curves of serum
      insulin concentrations from 0 to 120 min was different in patients receiving
      risperidone compared with patients receiving olanzapine; however, there were no
      differences in the insulinogenic index between the two groups. The present study
      suggests that olanzapine might impair glucose tolerance to some extent because of
      an increase in insulin resistance compared with risperidone.

PMID- 20939649
TI  - Whatever does not kill us: cumulative lifetime adversity, vulnerability, and
      resilience.
AB  - Exposure to adverse life events typically predicts subsequent negative effects on
      mental health and well-being, such that more adversity predicts worse outcomes.
      However, adverse experiences may also foster subsequent resilience, with
      resulting advantages for mental health and well-being. In a multiyear
      longitudinal study of a national sample, people with a history of some lifetime
      adversity reported better mental health and well-being outcomes than not only
      people with a high history of adversity but also than people with no history of
      adversity. Specifically, U-shaped quadratic relationships indicated that a
      history of some but nonzero lifetime adversity predicted relatively lower global
      distress, lower self-rated functional impairment, fewer posttraumatic stress
      symptoms, and higher life satisfaction over time. Furthermore, people with some
      prior lifetime adversity were the least affected by recent adverse events. These
      results suggest that, in moderation, whatever does not kill us may indeed make us
      stronger.

PMID- 20939650
TI  - Social perception as induction and inference: an integrative model of intergroup
      differentiation, ingroup favoritism, and differential accuracy.
AB  - Three general properties of social stereotypes are the perception of differences
      between ingroups and outgroups (intergroup differentiation), the perception of
      ingroups as having more desirable attributes than outgroups (ingroup favoritism),
      and the greater accuracy of ingroup perceptions (differential accuracy). We
      present and test an inductive-reasoning model that accounts for all 3 phenomena,
      and we explicate the relations among them. Based on empirical evidence, the model
      assumes that most people have a positive self-image, that they project these self
      images more strongly to ingroups than to outgroups, and that their self-images
      are valid cues for judgments about social groups. Two minimal-group experiments
      using a crossed-categorization paradigm support the model and provide new
      evidence for underlying psychological processes.

PMID- 20939651
TI  - Predictive validity of callous-unemotional traits measured in early adolescence
      with respect to multiple antisocial outcomes.
AB  - This study investigated the predictive validity of youth callous-unemotional (CU)
      traits, as measured in early adolescence (Grade 7) by the Antisocial Process
      Screening Device (APSD; Frick & Hare, 2001), in a longitudinal sample (N = 754).
      Antisocial outcomes, assessed in adolescence and early adulthood, included self
      reported general delinquency from 7th grade through 2 years post-high school,
      self-reported serious crimes through 2 years post-high school, juvenile and adult
      arrest records through 1 year post-high school, and antisocial personality
      disorder symptoms and diagnosis at 2 years post-high school. CU traits measured
      in 7th grade were highly predictive of 5 of the 6 antisocial outcomes-general
      delinquency, juvenile and adult arrests, and early adult antisocial personality
      disorder criterion count and diagnosis-over and above prior and concurrent
      conduct problem behavior (i.e., criterion counts of oppositional defiant disorder
      and conduct disorder) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (criterion
      count). Incorporating a CU traits specifier for those with a diagnosis of conduct
      disorder improved the positive prediction of antisocial outcomes, with a very low
      false-positive rate. There was minimal evidence of moderation by sex, race, or
      urban/rural status. Urban/rural status moderated one finding, with being from an
      urban area associated with stronger relations between CU traits and adult
      arrests. Findings clearly support the inclusion of CU traits as a specifier for
      the diagnosis of conduct disorder, at least with respect to predictive validity.

PMID- 20939652
TI  - The functions of nonsuicidal self-injury: support for cognitive-affective
      regulation and opponent processes from a novel psychophysiological paradigm.
AB  - Although research on the reasons for engaging in nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI)
      has increased dramatically in the last few years, there are still many aspects of
      this pernicious behavior that are not well understood. The purpose of this study
      was to address these gaps in the literature, with a particular focus on
      investigating whether NSSI (a) regulates affective valence in addition to
      affective arousal and (b) serves a cognitive regulation function in addition to
      an affect regulation function. To elucidate these issues, the present study
      utilized a sample of 112 participants (33 controls, 39 no pain controls, 16 NSSI
      individuals, and 24 controls matching the affect dysregulation levels of the NSSI
      group), employed psychophysiological measures of affective valence (startle-alone
      reactivity) and quality of information processing (prepulse inhibition), and used
      experimental methods involving an NSSI-proxy to model the NSSI process. Results
      largely were consistent with predictions, supporting the hypotheses that NSSI
      serves to regulate cognitive processing and affective valence. On this latter
      point, however, the control groups also showed a decrease in negative affective
      valence after the NSSI-proxy. This unexpected finding is consistent with the
      hypothesis that opponent processes may contribute to the development of self
      injurious behaviors (Joiner, 2005). Overall, the present study represents an
      important extension of previous laboratory NSSI studies and provides a fertile
      foundation for future studies aimed at understanding why people engage in NSSI.

PMID- 20939653
TI  - Developing constructs for psychopathology research: research domain criteria.
AB  - There exists a divide between findings from integrative neuroscience and clinical
      research focused on mechanisms of psychopathology. Specifically, a clear
      correspondence does not emerge between clusters of complex clinical symptoms and
      dysregulated neurobiological systems, with many apparent redundancies. For
      instance, many mental disorders involve multiple disruptions in putative
      mechanistic factors (e.g., excessive fear, deficient impulse control), and
      different disrupted mechanisms appear to play major roles in many disorders. The
      Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) framework is a heuristic to facilitate the
      incorporation of behavioral neuroscience in the study of psychopathology. Such
      integration might be achieved by shifting the central research focus of the field
      away from clinical description to more squarely examine aberrant mechanisms. RDoC
      first aims to identify reliable and valid psychological and biological mechanisms
      and their disruptions, with an eventual goal of understanding how anomalies in
      these mechanisms drive psychiatric symptoms. This approach will require new
      methods to ascertain samples, relying on hypothesized psychopathological
      mechanisms to define experimental groups instead of traditional diagnostic
      categories. RDoC, by design, uncouples research efforts from clinically familiar
      categories to focus directly on fundamental mechanisms of psychopathology. RDoC
      proposes a matrix of domains and levels of analyses and invites the field to test
      and refine the framework. If RDoC is successful, the domains will ultimately
      relate to familiar psychopathologies in ways that promote new knowledge regarding
      etiology and more efficient development of new preventive and treatment
      interventions.

PMID- 20939655
TI  - A contingency model of conflict and team effectiveness.
AB  - The authors develop and test theoretical extensions of the relationships of task
      conflict, relationship conflict, and 2 dimensions of team effectiveness
      (performance and team-member satisfaction) among 2 samples of work teams in
      Taiwan and Indonesia. Findings show that relationship conflict moderates the task
      conflict-team performance relationship. Specifically, the relationship is
      curvilinear in the shape of an inverted U when relationship conflict is low, but
      the relationship is linear and negative when relationship conflict is high. The
      results for team-member satisfaction are more equivocal, but the findings provide
      some evidence that relationship conflict exacerbates the negative relationship
      between task conflict and team-member satisfaction.

PMID- 20939654
TI  - How do depressed and healthy adults interpret nuanced facial expressions?
AB  - This study investigates the discrimination accuracy of emotional stimuli in
      subjects with major depression compared with healthy controls using photographs
      of facial expressions of varying emotional intensities. The sample included 88
      unmedicated male and female subjects, aged 18-56 years, with major depressive
      disorder (n = 44) or no psychiatric illness (n = 44), who judged the emotion of
      200 facial pictures displaying an expression between 10% (90% neutral) and 80%
      (nuanced) emotion. Stimuli were presented in 10% increments to generate a range
      of intensities, each presented for a 500-ms duration. Compared with healthy
      volunteers, depressed subjects showed very good recognition accuracy for sad
      faces but impaired recognition accuracy for other emotions (e.g., harsh,
      surprise, and sad expressions) of subtle emotional intensity. Recognition
      accuracy improved for both groups as a function of increased intensity on all
      emotions. Finally, as depressive symptoms increased, recognition accuracy
      increased for sad faces, but decreased for surprised faces. Moreover, depressed
      subjects showed an impaired ability to accurately identify subtle facial
      expressions, indicating that depressive symptoms influence accuracy of emotional
      recognition.

PMID- 20939656
TI  - Too much of a good thing: curvilinear relationships between personality traits
      and job performance.
AB  - The relationships between personality traits and performance are often assumed to
      be linear. This assumption has been challenged conceptually and empirically, but
      results to date have been inconclusive. In the current study, we took a theory
      driven approach in systematically addressing this issue. Results based on two
      different samples generally supported our expectations of the curvilinear
      relationships between personality traits, including Conscientiousness and
      Emotional Stability, and job performance dimensions, including task performance,
      organizational citizenship behavior, and counterproductive work behaviors. We
      also hypothesized and found that job complexity moderated the curvilinear
      personality-performance relationships such that the inflection points after which
      the relationships disappear were lower for low-complexity jobs than they were for
      high-complexity jobs. This finding suggests that high levels of the two
      personality traits examined are more beneficial for performance in high- than low
      complexity jobs. We conclude by discussing the implications of these findings for
      the use of personality in personnel selection.

PMID- 20939658
TI  - The role of prefrontal cortex in predictive fear learning.
AB  - Pavlovian fear conditioning depends on prediction error, or the discrepancy
      between actual and expected outcomes. We used immunohistochemistry, neuronal
      tract tracing, and reversible inactivation to study the role of prefrontal cortex
      and thalamocortical pathways in predictive fear learning. Unexpected, but not
      expected, conditioned stimulus (CS)-unconditioned stimulus (US) presentations
      caused increased c-Fos expression in the prefrontal cortex (PFC), midline
      thalamus, lateral amygdala, as well as retrograde labeled midline thalamic
      afferents to PFC. Reversible inactivation of dorsomedial PFC, but not infralimbic
      PFC, prevented the associative blocking of fear learning. These results suggest a
      role for dorsomedial PFC (dmPFC), and a thalamic -> dmPFC pathway, in signaling
      whether or not aversive events are expected or unexpected and so whether they are
      to be learned about.

PMID- 20939657
TI  - Pattern separation deficits may contribute to age-associated recognition
      impairments.
AB  - Normal aging is associated with impairments in stimulus recognition. In the
      current investigation, object recognition was tested in adult and aged rats with
      the standard spontaneous object recognition (SOR) task or two variants of this
      task. On the standard SOR task, adult rats showed an exploratory preference for
      the novel object over delays up to 24 h, whereas the aged rats only showed
      significant novelty discrimination at the 2-min delay. This age difference
      appeared to be because of the old rats behaving as if the novel object was
      familiar. To test this hypothesis directly, rats participated in a variant of the
      SOR task that allowed the exploration times between the object familiarization
      and the test phases to be compared, and this experiment confirmed that aged rats
      falsely "recognize" the novel object. A final control examined whether or not
      aged rats exhibited reduced motivation to explore objects. In this experiment,
      when the environmental context changed between familiarization and test, young
      and old rats failed to show an exploratory preference because both age groups
      spent more time exploring the familiar object. Together these findings support
      the view that age-related impairments in object recognition arise from old
      animals behaving as if novel objects are familiar, which is reminiscent of
      behavioral impairments in young rats with perirhinal cortical lesions. The
      current experiments thus suggest that alterations in the perirhinal cortex may be
      responsible for reducing aged animals' ability to distinguish new stimuli from
      ones that have been encountered previously.

PMID- 20939659
TI  - Familiarity-based stimulus generalization of conditioned suppression in rats is
      dependent on the perirhinal cortex.
AB  - We report that bilateral, excitoxic lesions of the perirhinal cortex attenuate
      rats' familiarity-based stimulus generalization. After surgery, rats were
      preexposed either to 2 auditory stimuli (A and B) or to only 1 auditory stimulus
      (B). Following preexposure, all rats received pairings of A and a footshock
      before assessment of generalized responding (conditioned suppression) to B. Sham
      rats' generalization was greater when preexposure was to both A and B than when
      preexposure was to B only. That pattern was abolished in lesioned rats, though no
      general deficiency was found in other measures of auditory processing. Our
      findings suggest that the perirhinal cortex is required for rats to encode
      familiarity as part of stimulus representations.

PMID- 20939660
TI  - An abrupt developmental shift in callosal modulation of sleep-related spindle
      bursts coincides with the emergence of excitatory-inhibitory balance and a
      reduction of somatosensory cortical plasticity.
AB  - Transecting the corpus callosum of postnatal day (P)1-6 rats disinhibits the
      production of spindle bursts (SBs) within primary somatosensory cortex (S1), most
      notably during periods of sleep-related myoclonic twitching. Here we investigated
      developmental changes in this callosally mediated disinhibition and its
      association with cortical plasticity. Recordings in P2-15 subjects revealed that
      callosotomy-induced disinhibition is a transient feature of early development
      that disappears abruptly after P6. This abrupt switch was accompanied by sharp
      decreases in myoclonic twitching and equally sharp increases in spontaneous SBs
      and in the number of GABAergic and glutamatergic presynaptic terminals in S1.
      Expression of the K+Cl- cotransporter 2 (KCC2) also increased across these ages.
      To determine whether these developmental changes are associated with alterations
      in cortical plasticity, pups were callosotomized at P1, P6, or P8, and tested
      over the subsequent week. Regardless of age, callosotomy immediately disrupted
      SBs evoked by forepaw stimulation. Over the next week, the P1 and P6 callosotomy
      groups exhibited full recovery of function; in contrast, the P8 group did not
      exhibit recovery of function, thus indicating an abrupt decrease in cortical
      plasticity between P6 and P8. Together, our data demonstrate that callosotomy
      induced disinhibition is a transient phenomenon whose disappearance coincides
      with the onset of increased intrinsic connectivity, establishment of excitatory
      inhibitory balance, and diminished plasticity in S1. Accordingly, our findings
      indicate that callosotomy-induced disinhibition of twitch-related SBs is a
      bioassay of somatosensory cortical plasticity and, in addition, support the
      hypothesis that myoclonic twitches, like retinal waves, actively contribute to
      cortical development and plasticity.

PMID- 20939661
TI  - Motor cortex injury has different behavioral and anatomical effects in early and
      late adolescence.
AB  - Although there are many studies investigating the effects of early cortical
      injury on brain and behavioral development in laboratory animals, there are
      virtually no studies examining the effects of cortical injury in adolescence. The
      purpose of present study was to investigate the effects of unilateral motor
      cortex lesion received in early and late adolescence periods (Postnatal days 35
      and 55 [P35, P55]) on spontaneous neural reorganization and behavioral recovery
      in adulthood. Rats were given unilateral motor cortex lesions at P35 or P55 and
      their motor behaviors were compared to sham controls in adulthood. The results of
      behavioral tests (skilled reaching, postural asymmetry, sunflower seed
      manipulation, forepaw inhibition in swimming) revealed that rats with P35 lesions
      had significant functional deficits whereas the rats with P55 lesions showed
      nearly complete recovery. Golgi-Cox analysis of pyramidal neurons showed
      bilateral hypertrophy of dendritic fields in the remaining sensorimotor cortex in
      P55 but not P35 rat brains. Thus, there appears to be an age-related pattern of
      morphological and behavioral changes in response to cortical injury in the early
      and late adolescent periods leading to better functional recovery from later
      injuries, much as is seen in human children.

PMID- 20939662
TI  - Spatial learning based on boundaries in rats is hippocampus-dependent and prone
      to overshadowing.
AB  - In three experiments, rats were required to find a submerged platform by
      referring to the boundaries of a circular swimming pool. In the first experiment,
      rats with lesions of the hippocampus were impaired at finding the hidden
      platform, lending support for the proposal that learning to find a goal that is a
      certain direction and distance from a boundary is dependent upon the hippocampus.
      Experiments 2 and 3 offered preliminary tests to see if such boundary learning
      occurred incidentally, irrespective of the presence of a reliable landmark. In
      contrast to this proposal, a landmark hanging above the platform successfully
      restricted learning about the location of the platform with respect to the
      boundary of the arena. The discussion explores the capacity of the hippocampus to
      encode boundary information, as well as interprets the behavioral results on the
      basis of an associative learning framework.

PMID- 20939663
TI  - Valence dependent asymmetric release of norepinephrine in the basolateral
      amygdala.
AB  - Emerging evidence from literature on humans suggests the valence of emotionally
      laden environmental stimuli may dictate whether amygdala activation is greater in
      one hemisphere relative to the contralateral side. However, only a paucity of
      animal studies attempt to unravel the mechanisms underlying the selective,
      valence-dependent initiation of activity in the amygdala of opposing hemispheres.
      The present studies assessed whether exposure to positive or negative appetitive
      conditions in an operant learning task differentially impacts norepinephrine
      activation of the left versus right amygdala, respectively. Dialysate samples of
      norepinephrine were collected from the basolateral nucleus of male Sprague-Dawley
      rats. Fluctuations in norepinephrine activity were sampled during training
      conditions involving an abrupt shift (i.e., increase or decrease) in the
      magnitude of food rewards normally provided for bar press responses. In a
      subsequent study, dialysate samples of norepinephrine were collected before,
      during, and after presentation of a negatively valenced stimulus involving
      footshock delivery during Pavlovian fear conditioning. Norepinephrine
      concentrations in the left but not right basolateral amygdala were elevated in
      groups presented with a positive experience of an unexpected increase in food
      reward after bar pressing (p < .01), relative to respective controls. In
      contrast, exposure to negatively valenced events involving a reduction in
      expected food rewards after bar pressing or presentation of a footshock during
      fear conditioning produced significant increases in norepinephrine output sampled
      from only the right but not left basolateral amygdala. These findings demonstrate
      that the valence of a learning event is selective in initiating asymmetric
      activation of the basolateral amygdala.

PMID- 20939664
TI  - Dopamine activity in the lateral anterior hypothalamus modulates AAS-induced
      aggression through D2 but not D5 receptors.
AB  - Treatment with anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS) throughout adolescence
      facilitates offensive aggression in Syrian hamsters. In the anterior hypothalamus
      (AH), the dopaminergic neural system undergoes alterations after repeated
      exposure to AAS, producing elevated aggression. Previously, systemic
      administration of selective dopamine receptor antagonists has been shown to
      reduce aggression in various species and animal models. However, these reductions
      in aggression occur with concomitant alterations in general arousal and mobility.
      Therefore, to control for these systemic effects, the current studies utilized
      microinjection techniques to determine the effects of local antagonism of D2 and
      D5 receptors in the AH on adolescent AAS-induced aggression. Male Syrian hamsters
      were treated with AAS throughout adolescence and tested for aggression after
      local infusion of the D2 antagonist eticlopride, or the D5 antagonist SCH-23390,
      into the AH. Treatment with eticlopride showed dose-dependent suppression of
      aggressive behavior in the absence of changes in mobility. Conversely, while
      injection of SCH-23390 suppressed aggressive behavior, these reductions were met
      with alterations in social interest and locomotor behavior. To elucidate a
      plausible mechanism for the observed D5 receptor mediation of AAS-induced
      aggression, brains of AAS and sesame oil-treated animals were processed for
      double-label immunofluorescence of GAD67 (a marker for GABA production) and D5
      receptors in the lateral subdivision of the AH (LAH). Results indicate a sparse
      distribution of GAD67 neurons colocalized with D5 receptors in the LAH. Together,
      these results indicate that D5 receptors in the LAH modulate non-GABAergic
      pathways that indirectly influence aggression control, while D2 receptors have a
      direct influence on AAS-induced aggression.

PMID- 20939665
TI  - Differential effects of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor stimulation on negative
      occasion setting.
AB  - We have previously shown that nicotine enhances learning in a negative occasion
      setting task in which rats are trained to distinguish between two different trial
      types. During reinforced trials, a target stimulus (a tone) is presented and
      immediately followed by food reward. On nonreinforced trials, a feature stimulus
      (a light) is presented prior to the tone and indicates the absence of reward
      following presentation of the tone. The goal of the present study was to identify
      the behavioral mechanism through which nicotine affects this form of learning,
      and to determine which subtype(s) of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors mediate
      the effects of nicotine. Consistent with our prior findings, nicotine
      administration enhanced the ability of rats to discriminate between the two trial
      types. Nicotine enhanced the magnitude of the discrimination by decreasing
      responding to the tone on nonreinforced trials. Nicotine-treated rats also
      learned the discrimination in fewer sessions than control rats. A significant new
      finding was that nicotine also increased the orienting response to the light,
      suggesting that nicotine may enhance learning the serial feature negative
      discrimination by increasing attention to the visual feature. In addition, we
      found that RJR-2403, a selective alpha4beta2 nicotinic receptor agonist, also
      enhanced discrimination. However, RJR-2403 did not affect responding on
      nonreinforced trials, nor did RJR-2403 affect orienting to the light. Together
      these data indicate that nicotine may enhance discrimination by enhancing tone
      reward associability through alpha4beta2 nicotinic receptors and by enhancing
      attention to the light through non-alpha4beta2 receptor subtypes.

PMID- 20939666
TI  - Behavioral profiles in rats distinguish among "ecstasy," methamphetamine and 2,5
      dimethoxy-4-iodoamphetamine: Mixed effects for "ecstasy" analogues.
AB  - 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA; "ecstasy") is a psychoactive drug
      structurally related to other phenylisopropylamines acting as stimulants or
      hallucinogens in humans. Although MDMA has a pharmacological identity of its own,
      the distinction of its acute effects from those of stimulants or even
      hallucinogens is controversial. In this work, dose-response curves (0.25, 0.5, 1,
      3, 5, and 10 mg/kg) representing the acute in vivo effects of MDMA were compared
      with those of a structurally related stimulant (methamphetamine, MA) and a
      hallucinogenic analogue (2,5-dimethoxy-4-iodoamphetamine, DOI) in a set of
      behavioral protocols in rats, including spontaneous psychomotor activity,
      anxiolytic/anxiogenic-like effects and active avoidance conditioning responses.
      The behavioral profiles obtained allowed us to differentiate among racemic MDMA,
      MA, and DOI at different dose ranges. In addition, the evaluation of four MDMA
      analogues (1, 5, and 10 mg/kg) comprising two well-known MDMA analogues (MDA [3,4
      methylenedioxyamphetamine] and MDE (N-ethyl-MDA, believed to substitute for MDMA)
      and two other structural analogues (MDOH [N-hydroxy-MDA] and MMDA-2 [2-methoxy
      4,5-methylenedioxyamphetamine]) showed that none of these exactly resembles MDMA
      in their pharmacological profiles, highlighting the unique character of this
      prototypical entactogen. In fact, their effects exhibited similarities with the
      behavioral profiles of either MA or DOI, as well as novel profiles in specific
      behavioral paradigms.

PMID- 20939668
TI  - Electrical stimulation of dorsal and ventral striatum differentially alters the
      copulatory behavior of male rats.
AB  - Sexual behavior is a natural reward that activates striatal dopaminergic (DA)
      circuits, and dopamine exerts a facilitative influence on copulation. Electrical
      stimulation of the striatum has been shown to be rewarding, but its effect on
      male sexual behavior display has not been established. The objective of the
      present work was to assess the effects of low- and high-frequency electrical
      stimulation of the dorsal and ventral striatum on male rat sexual behavior
      expression. To this aim, copulatory activity of sexually experienced male rats
      was recorded during electrical stimulation of the nucleus accumbens (NAcc) or
      caudate-putamen (CP), at each stimulation frequency, before and after sexual
      exhaustion. Results showed that electrical stimulation of the NAcc at both
      frequencies increased the number of ejaculations that male rats were able to show
      in a 30-min period. By contrast, stimulation delivered to the CP inhibited sexual
      behavior by slowing its display. Each effect was more pronounced at low than at
      high stimulation frequencies. In the same rats, once sexually exhausted,
      electrical stimulation of these brain areas did not reverse the sexual behavior
      inhibition that characterizes the sexual exhaustion state. It is concluded that
      dorsal and ventral striatal DA brain regions exert opposite influences on
      copulatory behavior expression of sexually experienced male rats. Also, that the
      facilitative effect of NAcc electrical stimulation on sexual activity, with the
      stimulation parameters used, cannot surmount the sexual behavior inhibition
      resulting from copulation to satiation.

PMID- 20939667
TI  - Normal maternal behavior, but increased pup mortality, in conditional oxytocin
      receptor knockout females.
AB  - Oxytocin (Oxt) and the Oxt receptor (Oxtr) are implicated in the onset of
      maternal behavior in a variety of species. Recently, we developed two Oxtr
      knockout lines: a total body knockout (Oxtr-/-) and a conditional Oxtr knockout
      (OxtrFB/FB) in which the Oxtr is lacking only in regions of the forebrain,
      allowing knockout females to potentially nurse and care for their biological
      offspring. In the current study, we assessed maternal behavior of postpartum
      OxtrFB/FB females toward their own pups and maternal behavior of virgin Oxtr-/-
      females toward foster pups and compared knockouts of both lines to wildtype
      (Oxtr+/+) littermates. We found that both Oxtr-/- and OxtrFB/FB females appear to
      have largely normal maternal behaviors. However, with first litters,
      approximately 40% of the OxtrFB/FB knockout dams experienced high pup mortality,
      compared to fewer than 10% of the Oxtr+/+ dams. We then went on to test whether
      or not this phenotype occurred in subsequent litters or when the dams were
      exposed to an environmental disturbance. We found that regardless of the degree
      of external disturbance, OxtrFB/FB females lost more pups on their first and
      second litters compared to wildtype females. Possible reasons for higher pup
      mortality in OxtrFB/FB females are discussed.

PMID- 20939669
TI  - The plasticity of human maternal brain: longitudinal changes in brain anatomy
      during the early postpartum period.
AB  - Animal studies suggest that structural changes occur in the maternal brain during
      the early postpartum period in regions such as the hypothalamus, amygdala,
      parietal lobe, and prefrontal cortex and such changes are related to the
      expression of maternal behaviors. In an attempt to explore this in humans, we
      conducted a prospective longitudinal study to examine gray matter changes using
      voxel-based morphometry on high resolution magnetic resonance images of mothers'
      brains at two time points: 2-4 weeks postpartum and 3-4 months postpartum.
      Comparing gray matter volumes across these two time points, we found increases in
      gray matter volume of the prefrontal cortex, parietal lobes, and midbrain areas.
      Increased gray matter volume in the midbrain including the hypothalamus,
      substantia nigra, and amygdala was associated with maternal positive perception
      of her baby. These results suggest that the first months of motherhood in humans
      are accompanied by structural changes in brain regions implicated in maternal
      motivation and behaviors.

PMID- 20939670
TI  - Dishabituating long-term memory for gustatory habituation in the cabbage looper,
      Trichoplusia ni.
AB  - The gustatory rejection response of the cabbage looper, Trichoplusia ni
      (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), habituates to antifeedant compounds, allowing for the
      consumption of deterrent yet nontoxic plant materials. In the present study, we
      demonstrate that habituation to an antifeedant compound (quinine) persists
      through the moult between larval instars. As an indirect test of whether the
      memory was protein synthesis-dependent, we tested whether disrupting protein
      synthesis would block memory reconsolidation after a reminder. The results
      indicated that disrupting protein synthesis in habituated larvae following a
      reminder treatment (reexposure to quinine) eliminated the memory for habituation
      and restored the antifeedant properties of the quinine. We then examined whether
      the learned memory could be dishabituated and whether this would disrupt or
      eliminate long-term memory. We show that 6 hr after exposure to a novel/noxious
      stimulus (a second antifeedant, xanthotoxin) habituated larvae showed a transient
      dishabituation-like effect in which the quinine deterred feeding again. However,
      this effect did not permanently eliminate the habituation produced by the
      extended exposure as larvae tested 72 hr after xanthotoxin exposure again showed
      a willingness to consume the quinine treated leaves, indicating that the earlier
      habituation was still present.

PMID- 20939671
TI  - "I've seen it all before": explaining age-related impairments in object
      recognition. Theoretical comment on Burke et al. (2010).
AB  - Animal models are useful in elucidating the neural basis of age-related
      impairments in cognition. Burke, Wallace, Nematollahi, Uprety, and Barnes (2010)
      tested young and aged rats in several different protocols to measure object
      recognition memory and found that object recognition deficits in aged rats were
      consistent with these rats behaving as if novel objects were familiar, rather
      than familiar objects being treated as novel (that is, forgotten). A similar
      pattern of behavior has been observed in young rats with perirhinal cortex
      lesions. Moreover, age-related impairments in object recognition were
      uncorrelated with deficits in spatial learning in the water maze, a task that
      requires the integrity of the hippocampus and is also reliably impaired in aged
      rats. Taken together, these findings support functional specialization of
      structures within the medial temporal lobe "memory system," as well as the
      independence of age-related deficits in different cognitive domains. They also
      potentially form a foundation for neurobiological study of age-related
      impairments in perirhinal cortex function.

PMID- 20939672
TI  - The construction of the maternal brain: theoretical comment on Kim et al. (2010).
AB  - Recently, there has been a spate of articles detailing the many and multifaceted
      alterations that define the Maternal Brain. The article by Kim et al. (2010) has
      provided a new "window" into the brain of the mother by the use of MRI showing
      structural changes in major regions over the period of the first few months,
      during which the intimate relationship between mother and infant forms. In this
      accompanying Commentary, we explore some connections between the animal work and
      the human data, and suggest some common pathways. In the end, it appears that
      maternal motivation, far from the intrinsic or instinctual state that many
      believe it to be, may, in fact, be attributable to many active processes
      "building" a responsive neural substrate. Like early brain development, itself a
      marvel of interacting genetic and environmental forces, the Maternal Brain may
      represent another developmental epoch in the life of the female. In this case,
      the alterations occur to promote the survival of subsequent generations and the
      care and protection of a most expensive mammalian metabolic and genetic
      investment. If so, is it possible that just as there are edifices that are poorly
      constructed and crumble at the first challenge by earthquake or hurricane, there
      may be defectively assembled maternal brains that fail in their task of caring
      adequately for young?

PMID- 20939673
TI  - An outbreak of gastroenteritis linked to seafood consumption in a remote Northern
      Aegean island, February-March 2010.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Raw seafood consumption has frequently been linked to
      gastroenteritis and Norovirus is a common cause. In February and March 2010,
      there was an increase cases of gastroenteritis on the remote island of Agios
      Efstratios in the Northern Aegean Sea, Greece. A massive increase in seafood
      consumption associated with a religious festival a few days prior to the outbreak
      suggested seafood as the vehicle of transmission. METHODS: An outbreak
      investigation team visited the island in order to document the outbreak and find
      epidemiological evidence for its source. The whole island was used as a cohort in
      the retrospective cohort study that was conducted. RESULTS: Sixty-four of the 181
      participants reported having had symptoms of gastroenteritis, of which 34 were
      considered primary cases. People who consumed any raw seafood imported to the
      island were 21.5 times (95% CI: 8.95-51.8) more likely to develop symptoms of
      gastroenteritis in the 72 hours following exposure. Consumption of local seafood
      was not found to be a risk factor. CONCLUSION: Despite the lack of laboratory
      evidence, all four Kaplan's criteria were met and the outbreak was thought to
      have been caused by Norovirus. The outbreak investigation demonstrates
      epidemiological methods for use in a remote setting, where the means for
      laboratory and environmental investigation may be absent or limited.

PMID- 20939674
TI  - Development of drug-in-adhesive transdermal patch for alpha-asarone and in vivo
      pharmacokinetics and efficacy evaluation.
AB  - A transdermal drug delivery system has been reported that can increase the
      bioavailability, reduce the administration duration, and maintain the
      concentration of drug in blood. In the present study, drug-in-adhesive
      transdermal patches of alpha-asarone using Eudragit E100 as pressure-sensitive
      adhesives and oleic acid plus isopropyl myristate as penetration co-enhancers
      were developed. In vitro permeation, in vivo pharmacokinetics in rabbits, and
      efficacy in asthmatic rats were evaluated. The results showed that co-enhancers
      could induce a synergistic effect on alpha-asarone permeability. In vivo study
      suggested that the patch can keep a relatively certain blood level of drug within
      10-30 h in rabbits. Furthermore, the patch with the size of 4 cm2 containing drug
      3 mg/cm2 showed a noticeable treating effect on asthmatic rats which is
      equivalent to the effect of dexamethasone, while avoiding the side-effect induced
      by the corticorsteroid. This suggests that the drug-in-adhesive transdermal patch
      is a promising delivery system containing alpha-asarone to be used for asthma
      treatment.

PMID- 20939675
TI  - N-acetyl cysteine plus clomiphene citrate versus metformin and clomiphene citrate
      in treatment of clomiphene-resistant polycystic ovary syndrome: a randomized
      controlled trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare the effects of combined N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) and
      clomiphene citrate (CC) and of combined metformin and CC on ovulation induction
      in anovulatory CC-resistant women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). METHODS:
      One hundred ninety-two women were randomized to receive either the NAC-CC drug
      combination (group A, n = 95) or the combined metformin-CC therapy (group B, n =
      97) for three treatment cycles. The primary outcome measure was ovulation;
      secondary outcomes were number of follicles, serum estrogen and progesterone
      levels, posttreatment endometrial thickness, pregnancy, and miscarriage. RESULTS:
      Over a 3-month follow-up period, women in group B had significantly higher
      ovulation and pregnancy rates compared with women in group A (69.1% vs. 20.0%, p
      = 0.002, and 22.7% vs. 5.3%, p = 0.020, respectively). The level of serum
      estrogen, the endometrial thickness on the day of human chorionic gonadotropin
      (hCG) administration, and the serum progesterone level on cycle days 21-23 were
      all significantly higher for women in group B than for those in group A.
      Additionally, a lower miscarriage rate was observed among women in group B than
      among those in group A. CONCLUSIONS: The efficacy of metformin-CC combination
      therapy is higher than that of NAC-CC for inducing ovulation and achieving
      pregnancy among CC-resistant PCOS patients.

PMID- 20939676
TI  - Introduction to the special section on global women's reproductive health.

PMID- 20939677
TI  - Electronic aids to daily living: be able to do what you want.
AB  - PURPOSE: This study explores the experiences of Irish people with high cervical
      spinal cord injuries living with electronic aids to daily living (EADL) and the
      meaning attributed to such systems in the context of participation in everyday
      life. METHOD: Qualitative methodology using a phenomenological approach was used
      to explore the phenomenon of living with EADL. Data were collected using four
      focus groups of users and nonusers of EADL (n = 15). All participants had high
      cervical spinal cord injuries (C3-5). Groups were video recorded, transcribed
      verbatim and analysed using descriptive phenomenological analysis. FINDINGS:
      Findings revealed key elements of the meaning of living with EADL. Two key
      themes, time alone and changed relationships are described. These contribute to
      the super ordinate theme of autonomy. Findings suggest that participants
      perceived improvements in both anticipated and actual lived experiences with
      EADL. Themes are interrelated and together represent a summary of the experience
      of living with environmental controls. The themes described are similar to those
      found in other spinal injury studies relating to quality of life. CONCLUSIONS:
      Findings highlight differences in life experiences for those with and without
      EADL and provides motivation to address this difference. Such insights are
      valuable for both users and providers of EADL.

PMID- 20939678
TI  - Comparison of the effects of electrical field stimulation and low-level laser
      therapy on bone loss in spinal cord-injured rats.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the effects of low-level laser therapy (LLLT)
      and electrical stimulation (ES) on bone loss in spinal cord-injured rats.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty-seven male Wistar rats were divided into four
      groups: standard control group (CG); spinal cord-injured control (SC); spinal
      cord-injured treated with laser (SCL; GaAlAs, 830 nm, CW, 30 mW/cm, 250 J/cm(2));
      and spinal cord-injured treated with electrical field stimulation (SCE; 1.5 MHz,
      1:4 duty cycles, 30 mW, 20 min). Biomechanical, densitometric, and morphometric
      analyses were performed. RESULTS: SC rats showed a significant decrease in bone
      mass, biomechanical properties, and morphometric parameters (versus CG). SCE rats
      showed significantly higher values of inner diameter and internal and external
      areas of tibia diaphyses; and the SCL group showed a trend toward the same result
      (versus SC). No increase was found in either mechanical or densitometric
      parameters. CONCLUSION: We conclude that the mentioned treatments were able to
      initiate a positive bone-tissue response, maybe through stimulation of
      osteoblasts, which was able to determine the observed morphometric modifications.
      However, the evoked tissue response could not determine either biomechanical or
      densitometric modifications.

PMID- 20939679
TI  - Preparation and characterization of intravenously injectable curcumin
      nanosuspension.
AB  - The interest in nanosuspensions by the pharmaceutical industry is increasing
      given several nanosuspension products currently on the market for poorly soluble
      drugs. In this study, a novel dosage form for curcumin (CUR), CUR nanosuspension
      (CUR-NS), was successfully prepared by high pressure homogenization to improve
      CUR's cytotoxicity, as well as improve its application via intravenous injection.
      Characterization of the CUR-NS was evaluated by morphology, size, zeta potential,
      solubility, dissolution rate, and crystal state of drug. The nanoparticles for
      CUR-NS presented a sphere-like shape under transmission electron microscopy with
      an average diameter of 250.6 nm and the zeta potential of CUR-NS was -27.92 mV.
      Solubility and dissolution rate of CUR in the form of CUR-NS were significantly
      increased due to the small particle size and the crystalline state of CUR was
      preserved to increase its stability against degradation. Superior cytotoxicity in
      Hela and MCF-7 cells was obtained for CUR-NS compared with CUR solution. The
      safety evaluation showed that, compared with the CUR solution, CUR-NS provided
      less local irritation and phlebitis risks, lower rate of erythrocyte hemolysis.
      These findings suggest that CUR-NS may represent a promising new drug formulation
      for intravenous administration in the treatment of certain cancers.

PMID- 20939680
TI  - Interferons and microRNAs.
AB  - Plants rely heavily on an adaptive RNA degradation system mediated by an RNA
      interference mechanism to combat viral infection, whereas mammals fight infection
      with specific antibodies and lymphocytes that are adapted to specific viral
      antigens, and also employ nonadaptive defenses, such as production of interferons
      (IFNs) that block viral replication and stimulate the host immune response.
      Therefore, the IFN system represents an integral part of the mammalian antiviral
      innate immunity, and it is not surprising to find that cellular, IFN-regulated
      microRNAs contribute to this antiviral defense. In contrast, virus-encoded
      microRNAs target host cell factors that are either required for the induction of
      IFNs after pathogen recognition, or are involved in the cellular responses to
      these pleiotropic cytokines.

PMID- 20939681
TI  - Emerging roles of FAM14 family members (G1P3/ISG 6-16 and ISG12/IFI27) in innate
      immunity and cancer.
AB  - Interferons (IFNs) manifest their cellular functions by regulating expression of
      target genes known collectively as IFN-stimulated genes (ISGs). The repertoires
      of ISGs vary slightly between cell types, but routinely include a core of common
      ISGs robustly upregulated in most IFN-treated cells. Here, we review the
      regulation and cellular functions of 2 related ISGs, ISG12 (IFI27) and G1P3 (ISG
      6-16), that are commonly induced by IFNs in most, if not all, IFN-responsive
      cells. On the basis of sequence similarity, they are grouped together within the
      newly defined FAM14 family. Emerging data on ISG12 and G1P3 suggest that both are
      mitochondrial proteins with opposing activities on apoptosis that may influence
      the innate immune responses of IFNs. The G1P3 gene encodes a low molecular weight
      mitochondrial protein that may stabilize mitochondrial function and oppose
      apoptosis. In contrast, ISG12 expression may sensitize cells to apoptotic stimuli
      via mitochondrial membrane destabilization. On the basis of these results and
      differences in induction kinetics between ISG12 and G1P3, we have proposed a
      model for the role of these genes in mediating cellular activity of IFNs.

PMID- 20939682
TI  - An uncommon case of HIV-1 transmission due to a knife fight.
AB  - This article describes a case of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1)
      infection transmission caused by a bloody knife fight in a robbery. The victim
      was a 69-year-old man who was not infected with HIV-1, and his wife was HIV
      antibody negative. A robber, a 42-year-old man, was HIV antibody-positive since
      December 2005 and had not taken antiretroviral therapy. The BED IgG Capture
      incidence EIA (BED-CEIA assay) data showed that the specimens from the victim
      were compatible with a recent seroconversion. Phylogenetic analysis of fragments
      of pol, encompassing protease and a portion of reverse transcriptase, and of env
      genes isolated from the victim, the robber, and a local population samples of HIV
      1 positive individuals showed that the victim's HIV-1 sequences were most closely
      related to and nested within a lineage comprised of the robber's HIV-1 sequences.
      We provide HIV-1 seroconversion data and phylogenetic analysis as evidence that
      the HIV-1 transmission likely occurred from contact during the robbery.

PMID- 20939683
TI  - Recent developments in the inhibitors of neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration:
      inflammatory oxidative enzymes as a drug target.
AB  - IMPORTANCE OF THE FIELD: Increasing evidence indicates that glial cells play a
      pivotal role in a wide range of brain diseases. As glial cells orchestrate
      inflammatory responses in the CNS, recent studies have focused on glial cells and
      neuroinflammation as drug targets for the treatment of neuroinflammatory and
      neurodegenerative diseases. AREAS COVERED IN THIS REVIEW: In this review, we aim
      to give an overview of the current literature and patents for inhibitors of
      inflammatory oxidative enzymes in glia such as NADPH oxidase, myeloperoxidase,
      COX-2 and 5-lipooxygenase. WHAT THE READER WILL GAIN: Recent literature and
      patents on natural products or small molecule-based inhibitors of glial oxidative
      enzymes are reviewed. TAKE HOME MESSAGE: Extensive studies and patents recently
      reported in this field suggest that glial inhibitors may soon proceed to clinical
      trials. However, before glial inhibitors can serve as novel drugs for the
      treatment of neuroinflammatory disorders, the neurotoxic and neuroprotective
      effects of glial neuroinflammatory responses need to be better dissected.

PMID- 20939684
TI  - Methods for synthesis and uses of inhibitors of ghrelin O-acyltransferase
      inhibitors as potential therapeutic agents for obesity and diabetes.
AB  - The patent claims inhibitors of ghrelin-O-acyltransferase enzyme. These
      inhibitors were designed as bisubstrate analogs of the enzymatic reaction and
      were coupled with one of the peptides able to cross cell membranes, the 11-mer
      Tat peptide. The compound GO-CoA-Tat was studied in vitro and in vivo; after
      intraperitoneal administration, it enhances insulin response to a glucose load
      and leads to a statistically significant weight loss in mouse fed with a high fat
      diet.

PMID- 20939685
TI  - New developments in aerosol dosimetry.
AB  - Dosimetry provides information linking environmental exposures to sites of
      deposition, removal from these sites, and translocation of deposited materials.
      Dosimetry also aids in extrapolating laboratory animal and in vitro data to
      humans. Recent progress has shed light on: properties of particles in relation to
      their fates in the body; influence of age, gender, body size, and lung diseases
      on inhaled particle doses; particle movement to the brain via the olfactory
      nerves; and particle deposition hot spots in the respiratory tract. Ultrafine
      size has emerged as an important dosimetric characteristic. Particle count,
      composition, and surface properties are recognized as potentially important
      toxicology-related considerations. Differences in body size influence airway
      sizes, inhaled particle deposition, specific ventilation, and specific doses
      (e.g. per unit body mass). Related to body size, age, gender, species, and strain
      are also dosimetric considerations. Diseases, such as chronic obstructive
      pulmonary disease (COPD) and bronchitis, produce uneven doses within the
      respiratory tract. Traditional concepts of the translocation and clearance of
      deposited particles have been challenged. Ultrafine particles can translocate to
      the brain via olfactory nerves, and from the lung to other organs. The clearance
      rates of particles from tracheobronchial airways are slowed by respiratory tract
      infections, but newer evidence implies that slow particle clearance from this
      region also exists in healthy lungs. Finally, hot spots of particle deposition
      are seen in hollow models, lung tissue, and dosimetric simulations. Local doses
      to groups of epithelial cells can be much greater than those to surrounding
      cells. The new insights challenge dosimetry scientists.

PMID- 20939686
TI  - Challenges and opportunities in respiratory drug delivery devices.
AB  - Recent reviews conclude that there is a need to improve the management of
      respiratory diseases treated with inhaled drugs, mainly asthma and chronic
      obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Healthcare professionals - mainly in
      primary care - seem to lack to some degree the evidence-based information
      required for the selection of the most appropriate respiratory drug delivery
      devices (inhalers) for the patients, whereas some of the patients often tend to
      have poor inhaler technique. This could have an impact on the ability to control
      the respiratory diseases in question. There are probably several reasons for
      these apparent challenges in the primary care arena. Owing to the abundance of
      inhalers available at present, especially for the treatment of asthma and COPD,
      it is quite a challenge to pick the 'right' inhaler for each patient. For an
      inhaler to be optimal, the patient has to be able to master the inhaler technique
      required for the specific inhaler. The patient-inhaler interfaces - mouthpieces
      or facemasks - can add important challenges that further diminish the efficacy of
      the treatment.

PMID- 20939687
TI  - Long terminal repeat sequence analysis of HTLV-2 molecular variants identified in
      Southern Brazil.
AB  - In Brazil, human T-lymphotropic virus type 2 (HTLV-2) is endemic in Amerindians
      and epidemic in intravenous drug users (IDUs). The long terminal repeat (LTR) is
      the most divergent genomic region of HTLV-2, therefore useful to characterize
      subtypes. Nucleotide sequence and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP)
      analysis of LTR genomic segments of fourteen HTLV-2 strains isolated from HIV
      infected patients of Londrina, Southern Brazil, were carried out. Molecular
      analysis disclosed that all HTLV-2 strains belonged to 2a subtype, and RFLP
      detected the presence of the a4, a5, and a6 subgroups according to Switzer's
      nomenclature. RFLP correlated with nucleotide sequence, and phylogenetic analysis
      clustered HTLV-2 sequences of IDUs into subgroups a5 and a6. HTLV-2 sequences
      from individuals of sexual risk factor clustered into the a4 subgroup. These
      results extend the knowledge of the genetic diversity of HTLV-2 circulating in
      Brazil and provide insights into HTLV-2 transmission and virus movement in this
      geographic area.

PMID- 20939688
TI  - First data on HIV-1 resistance mutations to antiretroviral drugs in Central
      African Republic.
AB  - In a background of high genomic HIV-1 variability with a predominance of
      CRF11_cpx and CRF22_01A1, we have studied the emergence of resistance mutations
      in isolates from Central African patients at failure of d4T-AZT/3TC/NVP-EFV plus
      two at failure of a PI-including regimen; the resistance mutations observed are
      those which are expected on HIV-1 subtype B.

PMID- 20939689
TI  - Nanoparticles-containing spray can aerosol: characterization, exposure
      assessment, and generator design.
AB  - This is the first report demonstrating that a commercially available household
      consumer product produces nanoparticles in a respirable range. This report
      describes a method developed to characterize nanoparticles that were produced
      under typical exposure conditions when using a consumer spray product. A well
      controlled indoor environment was simulated for conducting spray applications
      approximating a human exposure scenario. Results indicated that, while aerosol
      droplets were large with a count median diameter of 22 um during spraying, the
      final aerosol contained primarily solid TiO(2) particles with a diameter of 75
      nm. This size reduction was due to the surface deposition of the droplets and the
      rapid evaporation of the aerosol propellant. In the breathing zone, the aerosol,
      containing primarily individual particles (>90%), had a mass concentration of 3.4
      mg/m(3), or 1.6 * 10(5) particles/cm(3), with a nanoparticle fraction limited to
      170 ug/m(3), or 1.2 * 10(5) particles/cm(3). The results were used to estimate
      the pulmonary dose in an average human (0.075 ug TiO(2) per m(2) alveolar
      epithelium per minute) and rat (0.03 ug TiO(2)) and, consequently, this
      information was used to design an inhalation exposure system. The system
      consisted of a computer-controlled solenoid ''finger'' for generating constant
      concentrations of spray can aerosols inside a chamber. Test results demonstrated
      great similarity between the solenoid ''finger''-dispersed aerosol compared to
      human-generated aerosol. Future investigations will include an inhalation study
      to obtain information on dose-response relationships in rats and to use it to
      establish a No Effect Exposure Level for setting guidelines for this consumer
      product.

PMID- 20939690
TI  - Use of orthoses and orthopaedic technical devices in proximal spinal muscular
      atrophy. Results of survey in 194 SMA patients.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to determine the use of orthopaedic and
      assistive devices for Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) patients, following a survey
      of 194 patients. METHOD: The use of wheelchairs, corsets and orthoses was
      evaluated in 194 SMA patients whose mean age was 12.6 (SD 7.2, 0.7-41.1). There
      were 14 patients with SMA type Ib (age range 1.7-36.9), 133 with type II (age
      range 0.7-37.7), 42 with type IIIa (age range 3.2-41.1) and 5 with type IIIb (age
      range 8.0-20.0). RESULTS: One hundred and sixteen patients (60%) had powered and
      29 patients (15%) manual wheelchairs. Nineteen patients (10%) used long leg
      orthoses. Ten patients (5%) used swivel walkers and 26 (13%) had standing frames.
      Twenty-six patients (13%) received lower leg orthoses because of foot
      deformities. Eight patients (4%) used night splints for the lower limbs. One
      hundred and fifteen patients (59%) were fitted with corsets because of
      progressive scoliosis. CONCLUSION: This is the first study about the provision of
      orthopaedic and assistive devices in a large group of SMA patients. Following the
      results of this survey we can optimise the strategy of providing orthoses and
      assistive devices for SMA patients and better adapt them to the patient's
      individual needs.

PMID- 20939691
TI  - Comparative analysis of the retinal potential of embryonic stem cells and
      amniotic fluid-derived stem cells.
AB  - Photoreceptors have recently been generated from mouse and human embryonic stem
      cells (ESCs), although ethics concerns impede their utilization for cell
      replacement therapy for retinal disease. Extra-embryonic tissues have received
      attention as alternative therapeutic sources of stem cells. Human and mouse
      amniotic fluid-derived stem cells (AFCs) have been reported to be multipotent and
      express embryonic and adult stem cell markers. Here, in vitro conditions that
      generate retinal cells from ESCs were used to analyze and compare the retinal
      potential of murine AFCs and ESCs. We show that AFCs express pluripotency markers
      (Nanog, Sox2, and Oct3/4) as well as retinal transcription factor genes (Et,
      Lhx2, Tll1, Six6, Otx2, Pax6, and Fgf15). AFCs from amniotic fluid of Fgf15.gfp,
      Nrl.gfp, and Crx.gfp embryos cultured in retinal proliferation and
      differentiation conditions failed to switch on these retinal transgenes. AFCs
      cultured in retinal-promoting conditions, effective on ESCs, showed reduced
      expression of retinal markers. Retinal co-cultures activated retinal genes in
      ESCs but not in AFCs, and migration assays in retinal explants showed limited
      migration of AFCs compared with ESCs. Unlike ESCs, AFCs do not express the early
      embryonic ectodermal gene Utf1 and Western analysis of AFCs identified only the B
      isoform of Oct3/4, rather than the isoform A present in ESCs. We conclude that
      AFCs have restricted potential and differ considerably from ESCs and retinal
      progenitor cells. Reprogramming to induce pluripotency or new differentiation
      protocols will be required to confer retinal potential to AFCs as expression of a
      subset of pluripotency and retinal markers is not sufficient.

PMID- 20939692
TI  - Selectivity and efficiency of late transgene expression by transcriptionally
      targeted oncolytic adenoviruses are dependent on the transgene insertion
      strategy.
AB  - Key challenges facing cancer therapy are the development of tumor-specific drugs
      and potent multimodal regimens. Oncolytic adenoviruses possess the potential to
      realize both aims by restricting virus replication to tumors and inserting
      therapeutic genes into the virus genome, respectively. A major effort in this
      regard is to express transgenes in a tumor-specific manner without affecting
      virus replication. Using both luciferase as a sensitive reporter and genetic
      prodrug activation, we show that promoter control of E1A facilitates highly
      selective expression of transgenes inserted into the late transcription unit.
      This, however, required multistep optimization of late transgene expression.
      Transgene insertion via internal ribosome entry site (IRES), splice acceptor
      (SA), or viral 2A sequences resulted in replication-dependent expression.
      Unexpectedly, analyses in appropriate substrates and with matching control
      viruses revealed that IRES and SA, but not 2A, facilitated indirect transgene
      targeting via tyrosinase promoter control of E1A. Transgene expression via SA was
      more selective (up to 1,500-fold) but less effective than via IRES. Notably, we
      also revealed transgene-dependent interference with splicing. Hence, the prodrug
      convertase FCU1 (a cytosine deaminase-uracil phosphoribosyltransferase fusion
      protein) was expressed only after optimizing the sequence surrounding the SA site
      and mutating a cryptic splice site within the transgene. The resulting tyrosinase
      promoter-regulated and FCU1-encoding adenovirus combined effective oncolysis with
      targeted prodrug activation therapy of melanoma. Thus, prodrug activation showed
      potent bystander killing and increased cytotoxicity of the virus up to 10-fold.
      We conclude that armed oncolytic viruses can be improved substantially by
      comparing and optimizing strategies for targeted transgene expression, thereby
      implementing selective and multimodal cancer therapies.

PMID- 20939693
TI  - Influence of formalin fixation on the biomechanical properties of human
      diaphyseal bone.
AB  - Owing to the lack of fresh human bones, formalin-fixed specimens are frequently
      used in biomechanical testing. However, formalin fixation is assumed to affect
      the biomechanical properties of bone. The aim of this study was to compare axial
      and torsional stiffness and bone mineral density in fresh and embalmed human
      bones. The subtrochanteric regions of 12 pairs of fresh human femora were
      randomised into two groups for paired comparison. After bone mineral density
      measurement, one group was preserved in 4% formalin. After 6 weeks, bone mineral
      density was remeasured and each specimen underwent axial and torsional loading.
      The formalin group showed significant higher stiffness values for torsional and
      axial loads than the fresh group. Axial stiffness increased by 14.1%, whereas
      torsional stiffness increased by 14.3%. These differences were not reflected in
      bone mineral density values. Formalin fixation significantly influences the
      stiffness of human cadaveric bones. Fresh bones represent the in vivo conditions
      better than formalin fixed bones.

PMID- 20939694
TI  - Pharyngeal selective brain cooling is associated with reduced CNS cortical lesion
      after experimental traumatic brain injury in rats.
AB  - Therapeutic hypothermia (TH) is still being explored as a therapeutic option
      after traumatic brain injury (TBI) but clinical data has not supported its
      efficacy. Experimental approaches were promising, but clinical data did not
      support its efficacy in the treatment of TBI. A novel approach of pharyngeal
      selective brain cooling (pSBC), recently introduced by our group, has been
      accompanied by superior neurofunctional, sensorimotor, and cognitive outcomes.
      This work is now extended by data on histomorphological and physical outcomes
      after pSBC in a model of experimental TBI. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were
      subjected to lateral fluid-percussion (LFP) brain injury, and randomized to the
      following experimental groups: (1) TBI with pSBC, (2) TBI without pSBC, and (3)
      sham animals. On day post-injury (DPI) 14, the animals were sacrificed and their
      brains were harvested for immunohistochemistry using the following antibodies:
      (1) glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), (2) neurofilament (NF), and (3)
      synaptophysin (SY). In pSBC animals brain temperature was selectively lowered to
      33 +/- 0.5 degrees C within 15 min post-injury, and maintained for 180 min after
      induction, while keeping rectal temperatures at physiological levels. Animals
      that had undergone pSBC showed a significantly faster recovery of body weight
      starting on DPI 3, and had gained substantially more weight than TBI-only animals
      on DPI 14 (p < 0.001), indicating superior physical recovery. Areas of cortical
      damage were significantly smaller in pSBC animals compared to TBI-only animals (p
      < 0.01). pSBC was associated with preservation of cortical tissue ipsilateral to
      the lesion, and superior physical recovery after experimental TBI. These results
      complement earlier reports in which pSBC was associated with superior
      neurofunctional and cognitive outcomes using the same experimental model.

PMID- 20939695
TI  - Increased survival and reinnervation of cervical motoneurons by riluzole after
      avulsion of the C7 ventral root.
AB  - Although adult motoneurons do not die if their axons are injured at some distance
      from the cell body, they are unable to survive injury caused by ventral root
      avulsion. Some of the injured motoneurons can be rescued if the ventral root is
      re-inserted into the spinal cord. Brachial plexus injuries that involve the
      complete or partial avulsion of one or more cervical ventral roots can be treated
      successfully only if satisfactory numbers of motoneurons remain alive following
      such an injury at the time of reconstructive surgery. Here we investigated the
      various strategies that could be used to rescue injured rat cervical motoneurons.
      The seventh cervical ventral root (C7) was avulsed and various therapeutic
      approaches were applied to induce motoneuronal survival and regeneration.
      Avulsion of the root without reimplantation resulted in very low numbers of
      surviving motoneurons (65 +/- 8 SEM), while treatment of the injured motoneurons
      with riluzole resulted in high numbers of surviving motoneurons (637 +/- 26 SEM).
      When the C7 ventral root was reimplanted or a peripheral nerve implant was used
      to guide the regenerating axons to a muscle, considerable numbers of motoneurons
      regenerated their axons (211 +/- 15 SEM and 274 +/- 28 SEM, respectively). Much
      greater numbers of axons regenerated when reimplantation was followed by riluzole
      treatment (573 +/- 9 SEM). These results show that injured adult motoneurons can
      be rescued by riluzole treatment, even if they cannot regenerate their axons.
      Reinnervation of the peripheral targets can also be further improved with
      riluzole treatment.

PMID- 20939696
TI  - Fludarabine based combinations are highly effective as first-line or salvage
      treatment in patients with Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia.
AB  - Treatment with single-agent chemotherapy or rituximab (R) is safe and moderately
      effective for patients with Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia (WM). We analyzed the
      efficacy and toxicity of fludarabine (F)-combinations. Twenty-nine treatment
      episodes were administered to 27 patients, including FC (F 25 mg/m(2) days 1-3,
      cyclophosphamide [C] 250 mg/m(2) days 1-3; n = 7), FCR (FC + R 375 mg/m(2) day 1;
      n = 18), FM (F + mitoxantrone [M] 10 mg/m(2) day 1; n = 3), and FR (n = 1).
      Patient characteristics were median age 57 years (36-89), 83% male, 10 previously
      untreated (34%). In total, 123 cycles were administered, a median of four (2-6)
      per patient. Grade >= 3 neutropenia and infections complicated 28% and 3% of
      cycles, respectively. Responses were achieved in 26 cases (90%), one complete, 23
      partial, and two minor. The median progression-free survival was 43.1 months, and
      at a median follow-up of 66.5 months the actuarial 5- and 10-year overall
      survival-rates were 88% and 75%, respectively. All 10 previously untreated
      patients responded (one CR, nine PR), and were alive at a median follow-up of 50
      (6-106) months. Three heavily pretreated patients subsequently developed AML/MDS
      (one fatal) at 56, 61, and 91 months post F-based treatment. F-combination
      therapy is highly active in WM, both untreated and alkylator-refractory. However,
      a possible contribution to the cumulative risk of treatment-related MDS/AML
      requires ongoing monitoring.

PMID- 20939697
TI  - Fludarabine, cyclophosphamide, and antithymocyte globulin for matched related and
      unrelated allogeneic stem cell transplant in severe aplastic anemia.

PMID- 20939698
TI  - Early venous thromboembolic event prophylaxis in traumatic brain injury with low
      molecular-weight heparin: risks and benefits.
AB  - Traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients are known to be at high risk for venous
      thromboembolic events (VTEs). The Brain Trauma Foundation Guidelines (2007) state
      that low-molecular-weight heparin or unfractionated heparin should be used to
      prevent VTE complications, but suggest that there is an increased risk of
      expansion of intracranial hemorrhages (ICH) with VTE prophylaxis. In addition, it
      is unclear which treatment regimen (i.e., medication, dose, and timing) provides
      the best risk:benefit ratio in TBI patients. We reviewed all moderate-to-severe
      TBI patients admitted over a 5-year period to: (1) examine the occurrence of VTEs
      and their timing; (2) examine the symptomatic expansion of ICH while on VTE
      prophylaxis; and (3) compare the efficacy of two prophylactic agents: enoxaparin
      and dalteparin. Two-hundred eighty-seven patients were included. VTE prophylaxis
      was started 48-72 h post-trauma in all individuals who had no confounding
      coagulopathy, when two consecutive computed tomography (CT) scans revealed
      hemorrhage stability. VTEs occurred in 7.3% of treated patients, mostly within 2
      weeks after trauma. Proximal VTEs occurred in 3.1% of treated patients. No
      significant difference in VTE rates was seen between enoxaparin (7.0%) and
      dalteparin (7.5%; p = 0.868). Moreover, the group treated with dalteparin was
      more severely injured (higher Injury Severity Score [p = 0.002]), had lower
      Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) scores (p = 0.003), and had more inferior vena cava
      (IVC) filters placed (p = 0.007). The two groups did not show significant
      differences in the development of VTE when controlled for ISS and IVC filters (p
      = 0.819). Importantly, only one patient suffered a symptomatic expansion of ICH
      while on VTE prophylaxis, at 15 days post-trauma. These results suggest that
      current regimens of VTE prophylaxis used in our TBI population provide a
      relatively high level of protection against VTEs, and an extremely low risk of
      expanding ICH. They also suggest that there was no difference in VTE between
      dalteparin- and enoxaparin-treated patients.

PMID- 20939700
TI  - Acute cerebral perfusion CT abnormalities associated with posttraumatic amnesia
      in mild head injury.
AB  - Posttraumatic amnesia (PTA) is a common symptom following traumatic brain injury.
      Although this transient memory deficit implies specific impairment of higher
      brain function, the actual pathophysiology of PTA is not well understood. The aim
      of this study was to assess regional cerebral hemodynamics with perfusion
      computed tomography (CT) in patients during PTA following mild head injury
      compared to patients with resolved PTA. A total of 74 patients with mild head
      injury without structural abnormalities on a non-contrast CT scan were included
      and compared to 25 healthy controls. Two patient groups were defined: (1) a PTA
      group that was scanned during the episode of PTA (n = 34), and (2) a post-PTA
      group scanned after resolution of PTA (n = 40). The PTA group had significantly
      reduced cerebral blood flow (CBF) in the frontal grey matter (41.78 [SD 7.4]
      versus 44.44 [SD 6.2] mL * 100 g-1 * min-1, p = 0.023), and caudate nucleus
      (44.59 [SD 6.2] versus 47.85 [SD 7.7] mL * 100 g-1 * min-1, p = 0.021), compared
      to the post-PTA group. Thus in patients with mild head injury, PTA is associated
      with cerebral perfusion abnormalities in specific cortical and subcortical
      regions.

PMID- 20939699
TI  - Astrocyte oxidative metabolism and metabolite trafficking after fluid percussion
      brain injury in adult rats.
AB  - Despite various lines of evidence pointing to the compartmentation of metabolism
      within the brain, few studies have reported the effect of a traumatic brain
      injury (TBI) on neuronal and astrocyte compartments and/or metabolic trafficking
      between these cells. In this study we used ex vivo 13C NMR spectroscopy following
      an infusion of [1-13C] glucose and [1,2-13C2] acetate to study oxidative
      metabolism in neurons and astrocytes of sham-operated and fluid percussion brain
      injured (FPI) rats at 1, 5, and 14 days post-surgery. FPI resulted in a decrease
      in the 13C glucose enrichment of glutamate in neurons in the injured hemisphere
      at day 1. In contrast, enrichment of glutamine in astrocytes from acetate was not
      significantly decreased at day 1. At day 5 the 13C enrichment of glutamate and
      glutamine from glucose in the injured hemisphere of FPI rats did not differ from
      sham levels, but glutamine derived from acetate metabolism in astrocytes was
      significantly increased. The 13C glucose enrichment of the C3 position of
      glutamate (C3) in neurons was significantly decreased ipsilateral to FPI at day
      14, whereas the enrichment of glutamine in astrocytes had returned to sham levels
      at this time point. These findings indicate that the oxidative metabolism of
      glucose is reduced to a greater extent in neurons compared to astrocytes
      following a FPI. The increased utilization of acetate to synthesize glutamine,
      and the acetate enrichment of glutamate via the glutamate-glutamine cycle,
      suggests an integral protective role for astrocytes in maintaining metabolic
      function following TBI-induced impairments in glucose metabolism.

PMID- 20939701
TI  - Assessing quality of life after traumatic brain injury: examination of the short
      form 36 health survey.
AB  - Measuring health-related quality of life (HRQoL) has an important role in the
      comprehensive assessment of patient recovery following traumatic brain injury
      (TBI). We examined the validity of domain and summary scores derived from the
      Medical Outcomes Survey 36-Item Short Form Health Questionnaire (SF-36) as
      outcome measures for TBI in a prospective study of 514 patients with a range of
      functional impairment (Glasgow Outcome Scale-Extended [GOSE] scores 3-8). Item
      scaling criteria for the eight domain scores were tested and principal component
      analysis was used to examine if physical and mental component summary scores were
      valid. External validity was assessed by comparison with GOSE. Mean response,
      variance, and distribution of the items were largely equivalent, and item-own
      scale correlations corrected for overlap all exceeded the threshold for
      equivalent contribution to domain scores and convergent validity. All corrected
      item-own scale correlations were greater than the respective item-other
      correlations indicating no scaling failures, and reliability coefficients for the
      domain scores were high and substantially more than the inter-domain
      correlations. Overall, criteria for summing items into domain scores were
      satisfied, and there was a significant relationship of increasing score with more
      favorable GOSE class across all domains. However, there were floor and/or ceiling
      effects in four of the eight domains, and principal component analysis of the
      domain scores demonstrated only a unidimensional structure to the data. We
      conclude that individual SF-36 domain scores are valid measures of HRQoL in TBI
      patients, but that the physical and mental component summaries should be
      interpreted with caution.

PMID- 20939702
TI  - Development and characterization of nanoparticulate formulation of a water
      soluble prodrug of dexamethasone by HIP complexation.
AB  - The objective of this study was to develop and characterize a nanoparticulate
      based sustained release formulation of a water soluble dipeptide prodrug of
      dexamethasone, valine-valine-dexamethasone (VVD). Being hydrophilic in nature, it
      readily leaches out in the external aqueous medium and hence partitions poorly
      into the polymeric matrix resulting in minimal entrapment in nanoparticles.
      Hence, hydrophobic ion pairing (HIP) complexation of the prodrug was employed
      with dextran sulphate as a complexing polymer. A novel, solid in oil in water
      emulsion method was employed to encapsulate the prodrug in HIP complex form in
      poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) matrix. Nanoparticles were characterized with
      respect to size, zeta potential, crystallinity of entrapped drug and surface
      morphology. A significant enhancement in the entrapment of the prodrug in
      nanoparticles was achieved. Finally, a simple yet novel method was developed
      which can also be applicable to encapsulate other charged hydrophilic molecules,
      such as peptides and proteins.

PMID- 20939703
TI  - The interleukin 6 -572 G>C (rs1800796) polymorphism is associated with the risk
      of developing acute coronary syndrome.
AB  - BACKGROUND: inflammation plays an essential role in the development and
      progression of atherosclerotic lesions and plaque disruption. Cytokines are
      central regulators in immunoinflammatory mechanisms. The aim of the present study
      was to evaluate the role of INF-gamma and IL-6 gene polymorphisms as
      susceptibility markers for acute coronary syndromes (ACS) in a group of Mexican
      patients. METHODS: four polymorphisms (INF-gamma -155 G>A, INF-gamma -179 T>G, IL
      6 -572 G>C, and IL-6 -1426 T>G) of the INF-gamma and IL-6 genes were analyzed by
      5' exonuclease TaqMan genotyping assays in a group of 284 patients with ACS (mean
      age = 58.88 +/- 11.7 years) and 247 healthy unrelated controls (mean age = 56.03
      +/- 4.13 years). RESULTS: distribution of INF-gamma -179 G>T (rs2069709) and INF
      gamma -155 G>A (rs2069710) polymorphisms was similar in patients and healthy
      controls. A significant difference was observed in the distribution of IL-6 -572
      G>C (rs1800796) genotypes between patients with ACS and healthy controls (p =
      0.019). Estimated odds ratio and 95% confidence interval (CI) showed a protective
      role of the IL-6 -572 (rs1800796) CC when compared with the GG genotype (wild
      type) (odds ratio = 0.6, 95% CI = 0.33-1.08). In this case, heterozygous
      individuals with GC genotype had 2.19-fold increased risk of developing ACS than
      CC homozygous (p = 0.007, 95% CI = 1.24-3.96). CONCLUSIONS: the results suggest
      that IL-6 -572 G>C (rs1800796) polymorphism could be involved in the risk of
      developing ACS in Mexican individuals.

PMID- 20939705
TI  - Prevalence of hyperapolipoprotein B and associations with other cardiovascular
      risk factors among human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients in Pernambuco,
      Brazil.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hypertriglyceridemia associated with low high-density lipoprotein
      (HDL) levels and hypercholesterolemia is the most common metabolic disorder among
      human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients using antiretroviral
      therapy. This atherogenic profile is associated with increased cardiovascular
      risk among these patients. Apolipoprotein B (apoB) is a better parameter than low
      density lipoprotein (LDL) for evaluating lipids and cardiovascular risk among
      patients with diabetes and metabolic syndrome, but studies of apoB among HIV
      infected patients are scarce. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted to
      estimate hyperapolipoprotein B (hyperapoB) prevalence and its association with
      other factors among HIV-infected patients attended in Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil.
      RESULTS: The prevalence of hyperapoB was 32.4% among 256 patients (62.1% male),
      with 90 mg/dL as the cutoff point. It was associated with prolonged use (>3
      years) of antiretroviral therapy [odds ratio (OR), 3.63; 95% confidence interval
      (CI), 1.24-10.6], hypertriglyceridemia (OR, 2.45; 95% CI, 1.22-4.91), insulin
      resistance according to homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA
      IR) (OR, 2.12; 95% CI, 1.03-4.35), past history of diabetes (OR, 3.58; 95% CI,
      1.0-12.7), and hypertension (OR, 1.98; 95% CI, 0.92-4.28). It was not associated
      with low HDL levels or self-report lipodystrophy. ApoB was higher in patients
      with metabolic syndrome according to the National Cholesterol Education Program
      (NCEP) criteria and in those with higher Framingham scores. CONCLUSIONS: ApoB is
      a good parameter for evaluating lipid levels in HIV-infected patients with
      hypertriglyceridemia, among whom LDL measurements may not be appropriate. ApoB
      might be useful for diagnosing and treating hypertriglyceridemia in this
      population. The association between hyperapoB and hypertriglyceridemia and
      diseases relating to insulin resistance among HIV-infected patients suggests that
      this group of patients presents higher cardiovascular risk.

PMID- 20939706
TI  - Prevalence of metabolic syndrome in South Asians residing in the United States.
AB  - AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: The aim of this study was to define the prevalence of the
      metabolic syndrome and its component risk factors among individuals of South
      Asian origin living in the United States. METHODS: We analyzed baseline data from
      1,445 participants enrolled in a cohort study investigating risk factors for
      cardiovascular disease in South Asians. We defined the metabolic syndrome using
      the International Diabetes Federation criteria for waist circumference (>90 cm
      for men; >80 cm, women), triglycerides (>150 mg/dL), high-density lipoprotein
      cholesterol (HDL-C) (<40 mg/dL (men), < mg/dL (women)), blood pressure (>135/80
      mmHg), and fasting glucose (>100 mg/dL). RESULTS: The mean age was 43 +/-10
      years, and 30% of participants were women. The prevalence of metabolic syndrome
      was 27% (31% men vs. 17% women, P < 0.05). Fifty-nine percent of the cohort had
      high waist circumference (58% men vs. 62% women, P = not significant [N.S.]), 47%
      had low HDL-C [46% men vs. 48% women (NS)], 19% had elevated triglycerides (23%
      men vs. 8% women, P < 0.05), 14% had hypertension (16% men vs. 9% women, P <
      0.05), and 13% had elevated fasting glucose (18% men vs. 11% women, P < 0.05).
      The most common metabolic syndrome phenotype is low HDL-C with elevated
      triglycerides. CONCLUSIONS: Although the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome is
      lower than previous reports of South Asians, the prevalence is still unacceptably
      high despite the presence of protective demographic factors.

PMID- 20939707
TI  - Hyperglycemia impairs skeletogenesis from embryonic stem cells by affecting
      osteoblast and osteoclast differentiation.
AB  - High maternal blood glucose levels caused by diabetes mellitus can irreversibly
      lead to maldevelopment of the growing fetus with specific effects on the
      skeleton. To date, it remains controversial at which stage embryonic development
      is affected. Specifically during embryonic bone development, it is unclear
      whether diminished bone mineral density is caused by reduced osteoblast or rather
      enhanced osteoclast function. Therefore, the aim of this study was to
      characterize the growth as well as the skeletal differentiation capability of
      pluripotent embryonic stem cells (ESCs), which may serve as an in vitro model for
      all stages of embryonic development, when cultured in diabetic levels of D
      glucose (4.5 g/L) versus physiological levels (1.0 g/L). Results showed that
      cells cultivated in physiological glucose gave rise to a higher number of
      colonies with an undifferentiated character as compared to cells grown in
      diabetic glucose concentrations. In contrast, these cultures were characterized
      by slightly decreased expression of proteins associated with the stem cell state.
      Furthermore, differentiation of ESCs into osteoblasts and osteoclasts was favored
      in physiological glucose concentrations, demonstrated by an increased matrix
      calcification, enhanced expression of cell-type-specific mRNAs, as well as
      activity of the cell-type-specific enzymes, alkaline, and tartrate resistant
      acidic phosphatase. In fact, this pattern was noted in murine as well as in
      primate ESCs. Our study suggests that an interplay between both the osteoblast
      and the osteoclast lineage is needed for proper skeletal development to occur,
      which seems impaired in hyperglycemic conditions.

PMID- 20939708
TI  - Perhaps programs are a better way to go.

PMID- 20939704
TI  - Polycystic ovary syndrome in the pediatric population.
AB  - Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common disorder characterized by
      hyperandrogenism and disordered gonadotropin secretion, often associated with
      insulin resistance. The syndrome, which modulates both hormonal and metabolic
      processes, is the most common endocrinopathy in reproductive-age women and
      increases a woman's risk of infertility, endometrial pathology, and
      cardiometabolic disease. As it is currently defined, PCOS most likely encompasses
      several distinct diseases with similar clinical phenotypes but different
      underlying pathophysiological processes. However, hyperandrogenism remains the
      syndrome's clinical hallmark. The clinical manifestations of PCOS often emerge
      during childhood or in the peripubertal years, suggesting that the syndrome is
      influenced by fetal programming and/or early postnatal events. However, given
      that the full clinical spectrum of PCOS does not typically appear until puberty,
      a "two-hit" hypothesis has been proposed: (1) a girl develops hyperandrogenism
      via one or more of many different potential mechanisms; (2) the preexisting
      hyperandrogenism subsequently disturbs the hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian axis,
      resulting in ovulatory dysfunction and sustained hyperandrogenism. No consensus
      guidelines exist regarding the diagnosis and management of PCOS in the pediatric
      population; however, because the syndrome is a diagnosis of exclusion, the
      clinical evaluation of girls suspected of having PCOS is aimed at excluding other
      causes of androgen excess and menstrual dysfunction. For the syndrome's
      management, emphasis is placed on lifestyle and symptom-directed treatment.

PMID- 20939709
TI  - The HIF pathway and erythrocytosis.
AB  - Because of the central role that red blood cells play in the delivery of oxygen
      to tissues of the body, red blood cell mass must be controlled at precise levels.
      The glycoprotein hormone erythropoietin (EPO) regulates red blood cell mass. EPO
      transcription, in turn, is regulated by a distinctive oxygen-sensing mechanism.
      In this pathway, prolyl hydroxylase domain protein (PHD) site-specifically
      hydroxylates the alpha-subunit of the transcription factor hypoxia-inducible
      factor alpha (HIF-alpha), thereby targeting the latter for degradation by the von
      Hippel-Lindau tumor-suppressor protein (VHL). Under hypoxic conditions, this
      posttranslational modification of HIF-alpha is inhibited, which stabilizes it and
      promotes the transcriptional activation of genes, including that for EPO. Rare
      patients with erythrocytosis have mutations in the genes encoding for PHD2, HIF
      2alpha, and VHL, which implicates these proteins as critical to the proper
      control of red blood cell mass in humans.

PMID- 20939711
TI  - A 5-year comparison of EVAR for large and small aortic necks.
AB  - PURPOSE: To compare the long-term outcomes of endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR)
      using the Talent endograft for abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) with large and
      small aortic necks. METHODS: Data on 156 patients (142 men; mean age 74.1 years,
      range 41-89) with adequate preoperative imaging were obtained from the
      prospective, nonrandomized, multicenter Talent eLPS trial, which enrolled
      patients from February 2002 to April 2003. Subgroup analyses were performed for
      AAAs with a large aortic neck diameter (>=28 mm; n=53, group 1) and those with
      smaller necks (<28 mm; n=103, group 2). Safety and effectiveness endpoints were
      evaluated at 30 days, 1 year, and 5 years post procedure. RESULTS: Patients in
      both groups had similar gender and risk factor profiles. However, group 1 was
      significantly older (mean age 76.5 versus 72.9 years; p<0.01). Aside from neck
      diameter, the 2 groups had similar mean neck length and angulation. Group 1 also
      had a larger maximum aneurysm diameter (mean 58.2 versus 53.4 mm; p<0.01). At 1
      year, the 2 groups had similar effectiveness endpoint results. There was a
      significantly lower freedom from major adverse events (MAEs) for group 1 at 30
      days (79.2% versus 95.1%; p<0.01). While this trend continued to 1 year, the
      difference lost statistical significance (72.0% versus 85.1%; p=0.08). Freedom
      from all-cause mortality at 30 days (94.4% versus 100%; p<0.04) and aneurysm
      related death at 1 year (93.3 versus 100%; p<0.04) also was significantly lower
      for group 1. At 5 years, there were no significant differences in the rates of
      endoleaks or aneurysm changes. The 5-year rates for freedom from aneurysm-related
      mortality for groups 1 and 2 were 91.2% and 98.7% (p=NS), respectively. There
      were 5 instances of migration in this study, all occurring in group 1 patients.
      CONCLUSION: AAAs with aortic necks >=28 mm can be treated with endovascular
      devices with acceptable results at 5 years. However, these patients have a higher
      rate of MAEs within the first year and higher migration rates at 5 years. In
      addition, they have a lower freedom from all-cause mortality at 30 days and
      aneurysm-related death at 1 year. Careful patient selection, accurate device
      deployment, and continued follow-up are necessary to optimize long-term results
      in this patient population.

PMID- 20939712
TI  - Commentary: Endovascular treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysms with large
      diameter proximal necks: a European experience.

PMID- 20939713
TI  - Use of abdominal chimney grafts is feasible and safe: short-term results.
AB  - PURPOSE: To present our initial experience with the use of chimney grafts in
      endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) with
      challenging anatomy. METHODS: Among 390 EVAR cases performed at our institution
      between November 2008 and February 2010, 15 patients (all men; mean age 81.8
      years) underwent EVAR with synchronous placement of chimney grafts. The chimney
      technique involved placing covered stents parallel to the main aortic stent-graft
      to preserve or rescue flow to aortic branch vessels while extending the proximal
      fixation zone. All patients presented with pararenal aortic aneurysms with short
      necks (between 0 and 10 mm long) that required either suprarenal clamping to
      tailor a proximal anastomosis in open repair or suprarenal fixation to anchor an
      endoprosthesis. Chimney grafts were implanted into 10 left renal and 5 right
      renal arteries. RESULTS: The immediate technical success was 100%. One early type
      II endoleak due to retrograde flow from the inferior mesenteric artery was
      detected and is under surveillance. Mean follow-up was 6.8 months (range 1-13).
      One chimney graft occluded 45 days postoperatively; the patient underwent open
      thrombectomy of the left renal artery and iliorenal bypass. The creatinine value
      at discharge was 1.6 mg/dL, and resting renal scintigraphy showed 36% perfusion
      for the left kidney and 64% for the right kidney. During follow-up, no patient
      required hemodialysis; no aneurysm-related deaths were noted. CONCLUSION: This
      limited experience demonstrates that the use of abdominal chimney grafts is
      feasible and safe. Long-term results in larger patient cohorts are needed
      evaluate the utility of this alternative endovascular technique.

PMID- 20939714
TI  - Aortic neck angulations decrease during and after endovascular aneurysm repair.
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate whether suprarenal and infrarenal aortic neck angles
      change immediately after endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) or during follow-up.
      A change in aortic angulation influences the proximal stent-graft sealing and
      fixation zone, thereby possibly influencing the long-term results of EVAR.
      METHODS: Forty-three EVAR patients (39 men; mean age 73 years, range 62-85) with
      preoperative, postoperative, and 1, 2, and 3-year follow-up computed tomographic
      angiography (CTA) data were selected from our center's vascular database. The
      suprarenal and infrarenal angulations on all CTAs were measured using a
      standardized 3-dimensional centerline method, which has a repeatability
      coefficient of 6.4 degrees  (20.2%) for the suprarenal angle and 6.2 degrees 
      (13.4%) for the infrarenal angle. Repeated measures analysis was used to test the
      effect of angulation over time, followed by a post-hoc analysis. RESULTS: The
      mean suprarenal angulation was 28 degrees +/-16 degrees  preoperatively, 22
      degrees +/-16 degrees  postoperatively, 19 degrees +/-15 degrees  after 1 year,
      17 degrees +/-14 degrees  after 2 years, and 16+/-13 degrees  after 3 years (mean
      difference 5 degrees , 9 degrees , 11 degrees , and 12 degrees , respectively).
      The aortic suprarenal angle decrease was significant (all p<0.01) compared with
      the preoperative measurements at all time points. The mean infrarenal angulation
      was 50 degrees +/-18 degrees  preoperatively and changed to 41 degrees +/-15
      degrees  postoperatively, to 39 degrees +/-14 degrees  after 1 year, to 38
      degrees +/-14 degrees  after 2 years, and to 36 degrees +/-14 degrees  after 3
      years (mean difference 8 degrees , 11 degrees , 11 degrees  and 13 degrees ,
      respectively). The infrarenal aortic angle decrease was significant (all p<0.01)
      compared with the preoperative measurements at all time points. CONCLUSION: The
      aortic suprarenal and infrarenal angles decrease during EVAR and in the years
      after this procedure.

PMID- 20939715
TI  - Endovascular versus open repair of abdominal aortic aneurysms: interpreting the
      landmark United Kingdom EVAR 1 results.

PMID- 20939716
TI  - Current status of hybrid procedures for thoracoabdominal and pararenal aortic
      aneurysm repair: techniques and considerations.
AB  - Hybrid techniques play a role in the treatment of patients who suffer from
      thoracoabdominal (TAAA) and pararenal aortic aneurysms (PAAA) but are unfit for
      open repair. The increasing number of TAAA patients treated by hybrid approaches
      has brought to light the severe procedure-related morbidity that can accompany
      these complex repairs. To overcome these issues, several techniques have been
      proposed to simplify them. This article reviews the most important technical
      advances of hybrid TAAA/PAAA repair, focusing on (1) the surgical approach, (2)
      the anastomotic technique for the renovisceral bypass, (3) antegrade versus
      retrograde renovisceral revascularization, and (4) simultaneous versus staged
      visceral hybrid repair. We discuss critical issues that may influence outcomes
      with these advanced procedures.

PMID- 20939717
TI  - Commentary: Higher paraplegia/paraparesis and technical success rates of
      concurrent hybrid procedures in the treatment of thoracoabdominal aortic
      aneurysms.

PMID- 20939718
TI  - Robot-assisted stenting of a high-grade anastomotic pulmonary artery stenosis
      following single lung transplantation.
AB  - PURPOSE: To report robot-assisted stenting of a stenosis at the pulmonary artery
      anastomosis following lung transplantation, a rare complication that conveys poor
      prognosis even after surgical correction. TECHNIQUE: The technique is illustrated
      in a 72-year-old man with end-stage lung disease who received a left single lung
      transplant. On postoperative day 54, he was evaluated for recurrent dyspnea on
      exertion that was due to a severe stenosis at the site of the pulmonary artery
      anastomosis. Balloon angioplasty was performed, and a 10-mm stent was deployed,
      with marked clinical improvement. Fourteen months later, he presented with
      recurrent symptoms due to in-stent restenosis. Multiple attempts at
      catheterization and balloon angioplasty of the stent failed. Due to the technical
      difficulty involved in maneuvering the balloon while maintaining stability, it
      was decided to repeat the angioplasty with the assistance of a Hansen Sensei
      remote robotic navigation system. The robotic arm markedly enhanced stability and
      facilitated successful navigation of the stented site. A 16-mm-diameter Wallstent
      was placed through the previously placed balloon-expandable stent and
      postdilated. CONCLUSION: A remote robotic catheter navigation system was able to
      assist stenting of an anastomotic pulmonary artery stenosis following failure of
      conventional interventional techniques.

PMID- 20939719
TI  - Acute type B aortic intramural hematoma: treatment strategy and the role of
      endovascular repair.
AB  - PURPOSE: To report a prospective study that explored the therapeutic strategies
      in the treatment of type B aortic intramural hematoma (IMH) and evaluated the
      role of endovascular repair. METHODS: Between January 2001 and December 2009, 56
      consecutive patients were enrolled in a prospective study to evaluate stent-graft
      repair versus medical therapy for acute type B IMH (patients with type A IMH
      excluded). Patients who had penetrating atherosclerotic ulcers, maximum aortic
      diameter >45 mm, hematoma thickness >10 mm, or sustained chest or back pain
      despite maximal medical therapy received endovascular stent-grafts (n=33; mean
      age 60 years, range 33-86), while other patients (n=23; mean age 56 years, range
      29-83) received conservative therapy. RESULTS: Stent-grafts were implanted
      successfully as scheduled in 33 patients as elective procedures; there were no
      complications related to the procedure. The mean follow-up up was 28+/-15 months
      (range 3-108). In the medically treated patients, there were 6 (26%) cases of IMH
      progression (4 treated with stent-grafts) and 2 (9%) deaths versus no IMH
      progression or death in the stent-graft patients. The thickness of the hematoma
      was reduced in all 37 patients receiving stent-grafts, and the maximum aortic
      diameter decreased in 19 of these patients. The 17 surviving patients in the
      medical group also showed regression of the hematoma in follow-up. CONCLUSION:
      Type B IMH is a potentially lethal disease, and the application of endovascular
      stent-grafts achieved an encouraging result in this study. Therefore, a more
      optimistic strategy, including endovascular repair, should be considered and
      evaluated in the future.

PMID- 20939720
TI  - Commentary: Staging of aortic intramural hematoma: an enemy behind a smooth
      surface?

PMID- 20939721
TI  - Inverted limbs in fenestrated and branched endografts.
AB  - PURPOSE: To describe our experience with the use of custom-designed branched or
      fenestrated endoprostheses incorporating an inverted contralateral limb in the
      bifurcated component. METHODS: Retrospective analysis was performed of a
      prospectively maintained database of all patients undergoing endovascular
      aneurysm repair using modular branched or fenestrated devices at a university
      teaching hospital between January 2004 and February 2010. Of 102 cases, 7 male
      patients (mean age 69 years) were treated with modular devices that incorporated
      an inverted contralateral limb in the bifurcated component. Five patients had
      thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm (4 type IV and 1 type II), 1 patient had a
      pararenal abdominal aortic aneurysm, and another had type I endoleak from a
      migrated AneuRx stent-graft. The technique was used primarily because of an
      existing bifurcated prosthesis (n=5), but in 2 patients without prior open
      surgery, this technique was needed because of anatomical constraints. RESULTS:
      All devices were implanted as planned. There was no mortality. One patient
      required temporary hemodialysis prior to discharge; another patient developed
      permanent paraplegia, likely related to extensive aortic coverage. No device
      migration, component separation, or type I or III endoleaks were detected during
      a mean follow-up of 25 months, and no reinterventions have been necessary.
      CONCLUSION: The use of an inverted limb in the bifurcated component of modular
      endografts may allow endovascular treatment in scenarios where there is
      insufficient space to deploy a standard bifurcated component. This design
      modification allows an adequate sealing zone between the iliac extension limbs
      and the bifurcated component.

PMID- 20939722
TI  - Commentary: Dealing with challenges created during prior open or endovascular
      aneurysm repair.

PMID- 20939723
TI  - Express LD vascular stent in the treatment of iliac artery lesions: 24-month
      results from the MELODIE trial.
AB  - PURPOSE: To report the 2-year results of the MELODIE trial, which evaluated the
      safety and effectiveness of the balloon-expandable Express LD Vascular stent for
      the treatment of atherosclerotic iliac artery disease. METHODS: This prospective,
      multicenter, single-arm trial enrolled 151 patients (113 men; mean age 60.1+/-8.4
      years) with 163 de novo or restenotic iliac lesions. The primary endpoint, 6
      month angiographic mean percent loss of luminal diameter, was compared to an
      objective performance criterion (OPC) based on published results with the Palmaz
      stent. Follow-up included ankle-brachial index (ABI) measurement and symptom
      assessment (Fontaine classification) at discharge, 30 days, and 6, 12, and 24
      months. Arteriography was performed at 6 months and computed tomographic
      angiography (CTA) at 1 and 2 years. RESULTS: The primary endpoint of 6-month mean
      percent luminal diameter loss was 16.2% (upper 95% confidence boundary of 19.1%)
      and non-inferior to the 20% OPC (p = 0.006). Primary patency was 92.1% at 6
      months and 87.8% at 2 years. The rate of major adverse events (MAE) was 6.3% at 6
      months and 10.2% at 2 years. Of the 3 event types included in the definition of
      MAE, only target lesion revascularization occurred; no distal embolization or
      device- or procedure-related deaths were recorded. The percent of patients with
      Fontaine stage IIb symptoms or worse improved from 84.1% before the procedure to
      16.8% at 2 years (p<0.0001). The 2-year ABI remained significantly improved
      compared to baseline (0.85 versus 0.63, p<0.0001). CONCLUSION: The Express LD
      Vascular stent is safe, effective, and non-inferior to the Palmaz stent for
      treatment of iliac artery stenosis.

PMID- 20939724
TI  - T-stenting with small protrusion technique (TAP-stenting) for stenosed aortoiliac
      bifurcations with small abdominal aortas: an alternative to the classic kissing
      stents technique.
AB  - PURPOSE: To report the feasibility and midterm results of aortic bifurcation
      reconstruction in patients with small abdominal aortas using commercially
      available stents applied in a modified T-stenting technique adapted from coronary
      angioplasty. METHODS: Twenty-three patients (16 men; mean age 52.4 years) with
      lower limb ischemia (Fontaine stage IIb or III) and distal abdominal aortas <14
      mm in diameter were treated for 39 common iliac artery and 16 aortic stenotic
      lesions involving the aortic bifurcation. A large, self-expanding stent was
      implanted from the lower aorta to one iliac branch, followed by deployment of a
      balloon-expandable stent in the contralateral iliac artery such that its proximal
      edge protruded a few millimeters through the struts of the self-expanding stent
      into the aorta [TAP (T And Protrude)-stenting technique]. Follow-up clinical,
      Doppler ultrasound, and computed tomography examinations were scheduled for each
      patient. RESULTS: Angiographic success was obtained in all 23 patients, who
      received 23 self-expanding aortomonoiliac stents (mean diameter 13.5 mm) and 22
      balloon-expandable stents (mean diameter 8.14 mm) in the contralateral iliac
      branch. No complications were reported. At a mean 16.3-month follow-up (range 2
      60), clinical and ankle-brachial index (0.6+/-0.2 at baseline versus 1.04+/-0.1,
      p<0.01) improvement was observed in all patients. All stents were patent (patency
      rate 100%). Two late technical failures of the contralateral stent were observed
      (incomplete dilation requiring angioplasty and incomplete protrusion without any
      hemodynamic impact). CONCLUSION: The TAP-stenting technique adapted to the
      aortoiliac bifurcation appears to be feasible, with satisfactory early and
      midterm patency rates in patients with small abdominal aortas. Larger series with
      longer follow-up times are necessary.

PMID- 20939725
TI  - Two-wire (0.014 & 0.018-inch) technique to facilitate innominate artery stenting
      under embolic protection.
AB  - PURPOSE: To describe a 2-wire technique for innominate artery stent placement
      under embolic protection. TECHNIQUE: Confronted with a high-grade innominate
      artery stenosis that blocked passage of a 0.035-inch stent delivery system from
      the femoral approach, a 0.018-inch guidewire was advanced in retrograde fashion
      via the right radial artery and captured via the femoral approach, establishing
      right radial-femoral through-and-through access. The 0.018-inch guidewire
      provided excellent support for positioning an 8-F hydrophilic sheath at the
      origin of the innominate artery. A 0.035-inch catheter was used to cross the
      lesion from the femoral approach, and a 0.014-inch buddy wire was introduced into
      the right common carotid artery. A 7-mm SpideRX filter was then deployed over the
      0.014-inch guidewire. The 2-wire combination was used to load a 0.035-inch
      compatible balloon-expandable stent system, which was deployed in the innominate
      artery and flared proximally, with excellent angiographic result. CONCLUSION:
      This technique provided excellent support in difficult anatomy while enabling use
      of a 0.035-inch-compatible stent and embolic protection. It has also been applied
      in the subclavian artery with protection of the vertebral or internal mammary
      artery and for lower extremity interventions.

PMID- 20939726
TI  - Commentary: Can we provide complete cerebral protection during innominate artery
      stenting?

PMID- 20939727
TI  - Commentary: Taming the innominate.

PMID- 20939728
TI  - Obstruction of pores in distal protection filters and angiographically-documented
      flow impairment during carotid artery stenting.
AB  - PURPOSE: To determine any relationship between angiographically documented flow
      impairment associated with the Angioguard XP cerebral protection filter during
      carotid artery stenting (CAS) and the condition of the pores in the retrieved
      filter. METHODS: To obtain baseline characteristics of the Angioguard XP, an
      unused filter was fully expanded and examined photographically from the cephalad
      end of the device to determine the structure of the pores in the filter basket.
      Ten pores assembled in a hexagonal pattern made up a pore group, several of which
      were arranged in 4 concentric rings surround a central hub that did not have any
      pores. For each ring of pore groups, the ring diameter, number of pore groups,
      and the mean minimum pore diameter were measured on a plane perpendicular to the
      long axis of the device. From these, the area of the ring membrane, the area of
      the pores, and the ratio of pore area to membrane area were calculated for each
      ring. Filters retrieved from 56 CAS procedures were retrospectively analyzed
      along with the operative records and intraprocedural angiograms performed after
      filter placement, predilation, stent placement, postdilation, aspiration of
      blood, and filter retrieval. The operators classified blood flow immediately
      before filter retrieval as normal, slow, or stopped. After retrieval, the filter
      was cut, rinsed with saline, fixed in 10% neutral buffer formalin, and
      macroscopically and microscopically inspected. The number of the open pores
      without any obstruction was counted for each ring. RESULTS: Retrieved filters
      from flow-impaired cases showed a significantly lower percentage of open pores in
      comparison to normal-flow cases (p<0.05). In some normal-flow cases, however, the
      obstruction rates were higher than mean obstruction rates of the slow-flow cases.
      In normal-flow cases, <5% of pores from the center to the second ring of the
      filter were open; this constituted more than two thirds of the entire filter
      diameter. CONCLUSION: The flow state on DSA was related to, but did not
      completely depend on, filter patency. The low patency rate of the filter in
      normal-flow cases suggested that flow impairment was occurring but could not be
      detected by the qualitative evaluation of flow on angiography.

PMID- 20939729
TI  - Additional evidence suggesting that the size threshold for elective abdominal
      aortic aneurysm repair may need to be lowered in the endovascular era.

PMID- 20939730
TI  - Re: "Fenestrated and branched endografts for the treatment of thoracoabdominal
      aortic aneurysms: a systematic review" by Bakoyiannis et al.

PMID- 20939733
TI  - Eggshell permeability: a standard technique for determining interspecific rates
      of water vapor conductance.
AB  - Typically, eggshell water vapor conductance is measured on whole eggs, freshly
      collected at the commencement of a study. At times, however, it may not be
      possible to obtain whole fresh eggs but rather egg fragments or previously blown
      eggs. Here we evaluate and describe in detail a technique for modern laboratory
      analysis of eggshell conductance that uses fragments from fresh and museum eggs
      to determine eggshell water vapor conductance. We used fresh unincubated eggs of
      domesticated chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus), ducks (Anas platyrhynchos
      domesticus), and guinea fowl (Numida meleagris) to investigate the reliability,
      validity, and repeatability of the technique. To assess the suitability of museum
      samples, museum and freshly collected black-headed gull eggs (Larus ridibundus)
      were used. Fragments were cut out of the eggshell from the blunt end (B), equator
      (E), and pointy end (P). Eggshell fragments were glued to the top of a 0.25-mL
      micro test tube (Eppendorf) filled with 200 MUL of distilled water and placed in
      a desiccator at 25 degrees C. Eppendorfs were weighed three times at 24-h
      intervals, and mass loss was assumed to be a result of water evaporation. We
      report the following results: (1) mass loss between weighing sessions was highly
      repeatable and consistent in all species; (2) the majority of intraspecific
      variability in eggshell water vapor conductance between different eggs of the
      same species was explained through the differences in water vapor conductance
      between the three eggshell parts of the same egg (B, E, and P); (3) the technique
      was sensitive enough to detect significant differences between the three domestic
      species; (4) there was no overall significant difference between water vapor
      conductance of museum and fresh black-headed gull eggs; (5) there was no
      significant difference in water vapor conductance for egg fragments taken from
      the same egg both between different trials and within the same trial. We
      conclude, therefore, that this technique is an effective way of measuring
      interspecific water vapor conductance from eggshell fragments and that museum
      eggs are a suitable resource for such work.

PMID- 20939732
TI  - Differences in HIV burden and immune activation within the gut of HIV-positive
      patients receiving suppressive antiretroviral therapy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The gut is a major reservoir for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)
      in patients receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART). We hypothesized that distinct
      immune environments within the gut may support varying levels of HIV. METHODS: In
      8 HIV-1-positive adults who were receiving ART and had CD4(+) T cell counts of
      >200 cells/MUL and plasma viral loads of <40 copies/mL, levels of HIV and T cell
      activation were measured in blood samples and endoscopic biopsy specimens from
      the duodenum, ileum, ascending colon, and rectum. RESULTS: HIV DNA and RNA levels
      per CD4(+) T cell were higher in all 4 gut sites compared with those in the
      blood. HIV DNA levels increased from the duodenum to the rectum, whereas the
      median HIV RNA level peaked in the ileum. HIV DNA levels correlated positively
      with T cell activation markers in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) but
      negatively with T cell activation markers in the gut. Multiply spliced RNA was
      infrequently detected in gut, and ratios of unspliced RNA to DNA were lower in
      the colon and rectum than in PBMCs, which reflects paradoxically low HIV
      transcription, given the higher level of T cell activation in the gut.
      CONCLUSIONS: HIV DNA and RNA are both concentrated in the gut, but the inverse
      relationship between HIV DNA levels and T cell activation in the gut and the
      paradoxically low levels of HIV expression in the large bowel suggest that
      different processes drive HIV persistence in the blood and gut. TRIAL
      REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00884793 (PLUS1).

PMID- 20939734
TI  - Association of methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase C677T and cystathionine beta
      synthase polymorphisms in cardiovascular disease in the algerian population.
AB  - AIM: Polymorphisms in the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) and
      cystathionine beta-synthase (CBS) genes, involved in the intracellular metabolism
      of homcysteine, can result in hyperhomocysteinemia. The objective of this study
      was to evaluate prevalence estimates of MTHFR C677T and the CBS insertion of 68
      bp (844ins68) polymorphisms among individuals with cardiovascular disease (CVD).
      METHODS: In total, 131 patients (61 men and 70 women) were hospitalized in the
      Cardiology Department in CHU of Setif, Algeria. The control group included 147
      apparently healthy adults (82 women and 65 men). The genetic analysis of the
      MTHFR C677T polymorphism was performed by real-time polymerase chain reaction on
      a Light Cycler; the CBS genotype was analyzed by polymerase chain reaction in a
      thermal cycler. RESULTS: The frequency of the TT genotype was 16.1% in the
      patient group and 14.3% in the control group. The CT genotype constituted 43.5%
      and 40.1% in the patient group and the control group, respectively. There was no
      significant difference in the occurrence of the TT genotype between the studied
      groups. The frequency of C677T/MTHFR in male and female patients was 16.4% and
      15.7% for the TT genotype, respectively. There was no significant difference in T
      allele frequencies between sexes. However, the frequency of C677T homozygotes in
      the patients was higher in men with CVD than that in corresponding control
      subjects (40.2% vs. 29.2%), but the difference was not statistically significant.
      The coexistence of the MTHFR 677TT genotype and the common CBS 844ins68 variant
      was lower among patients. CONCLUSIONS: The MTHFR C677T and CBS 844ins68 variants
      tested in this study, individually or combined, are not associated with CVD in
      the Algerian population.

PMID- 20939735
TI  - Living without a diagnosis: the parental experience.
AB  - AIM: the aim of this study was to explore the parental experiences of raising a
      child without a diagnosis. METHOD: qualitative semistructured interviews were
      conducted with 14 parents recruited through a large Regional Genetics Centre in
      the United Kingdom. The interview guide was designed to examine issues such as
      when and why parents started searching for a diagnosis, whether they were still
      searching, and what psychosocial issues had arisen as a result of not having a
      diagnosis. Data were analyzed using the Grounded Theory method. RESULTS: the
      parental experience can be viewed as a journey, which comprises of two distinct
      components: the inner, emotional experience, and the outer, sociological
      experience. Issues that comprise the emotional journey include the realization
      that there is a problem, the experience of testing, reasons for wanting a
      diagnosis, the emotional impact, and active coping mechanisms. Social issues
      include the experience with professionals, the various support networks accessed
      by parents, and issues such as education and housing. The issue of frustration
      was one that occurred throughout the journey. CONCLUSION: although some of the
      experiences cited by parents are common to families raising a child with a
      diagnosed condition, lack of diagnosis adds a layer of complexity.

PMID- 20939736
TI  - Researcher practices on returning genetic research results.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: as genetic and genomic research proliferates, debate has ensued
      about returning results to participants. In addition to consideration of the
      benefits and harms to participants, researchers must also consider the logistical
      and financial feasibility of returning research results. However, little data
      exist of actual researcher practices. METHODS: we conducted an online survey of
      446 corresponding authors of genetic/genomic studies conducted in the United
      States and published in 2006-2007 to assess the frequency with which they
      considered, offered to, or actually returned research results, what factors
      influenced these decisions, and the method of communicating results. RESULTS: the
      response rate was 24% (105/446). Fifty-four percent of respondents considered the
      issue of returning research results to participants, 28% offered to return
      individual research results, and 24% actually returned individual research
      results. Of those who considered the issue of returning research results during
      the study planning phase, the most common factors considered were whether
      research results were deemed clinically useful (18%) and respect for participants
      (13%). Researchers who had a medical degree and conducted studies on children
      were significantly more likely to offer to return or actually return individual
      results compared to those with a Ph.D. only. CONCLUSIONS: we speculate that
      issues associated with clinical validity and respect for participants dominated
      concerns of time and expense given the prominent and continuing ethical debates
      surrounding genetics and genomics research. The substantial number of researchers
      who did not consider returning research results suggests that researchers and
      institutional review boards need to devote more attention to a topic about which
      research participants are interested.

PMID- 20939737
TI  - The expanding world of myotonic dystrophies: how can they be detected?
AB  - Myotonic dystrophy (DM) comprises at least two genetically distinct forms, both
      of which are caused by expansions of microsatellite repeats. The expansion of a
      CTG repeat in the DMPK gene leads to the first genetic form (DM type 1), and the
      expansion of a CCTG repeat in the ZNF9 gene causes the second genetic form of the
      disease (DM type 2). In both cases, the repeat units may expand to several
      thousand repeats, and the number of repeats in the expanded alleles shows a high
      degree of meiotic and somatic instability. The unprecedented size of expansions
      and their dynamic nature still represents a diagnostic challenge, which has been
      facilitated using different methods and modifications since the identification of
      the underlying mutations of these disorders. Here, we present an overview of the
      basic methods described for the purpose of identification of the DM type 1 and DM
      type 2 expansions and discuss particular modifications and improvements
      implemented to extend the detection ranges of these methods. Our review focuses
      on the advantages and disadvantages of the methods based on Southern blot
      analysis, polymerase chain reaction amplification, and in situ hybridization
      techniques and also on the possibilities of preimplantation and prenatal genetic
      testing.

PMID- 20939738
TI  - Sequence variations in mitochondrial ferritin: distribution in healthy controls
      and different types of patients.
AB  - The storage of iron in the cells is mainly accomplished by cytosolic ferritins.
      The perturbation of ferritin function may result in accumulation of excess iron
      in cells and tissues and increased oxidative stress, common features of different
      genetic and acquired disorders. Mutations in L-ferritin have been associated with
      neuroferritinopathy, a rare and severe movement disorder with abnormal brain iron
      storage. Recently, a novel form of ferritin has been discovered, which localizes
      in the mitochondrial matrix and plays an important role in iron homeostasis in
      these organelles. The possible association of sequence variations in the
      mitochondrial ferritin (FtMt) gene with disorders with aberrant iron distribution
      has not been investigated yet. We set up a denaturing high-performance liquid
      chromatography (DHPLC)-based screening for FtMt and analyzed the genomic DNA of
      patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (# 63) or with Parkinson's disease (#
      332) and other movement disorders such as pantothenate kinase-associated
      neurodegeneration (# 7), restless legs syndrome (# 23), and suspected
      neuroferritinopathy (# 7) and of control subjects (# 342). We detected eight
      different types of substitution, all at the heterozygous state. Six of them
      caused amino acid changes, but none of them was predicted to drastically perturb
      FtMt structure and/or function. The c + 134C > A (P45H) variation, which was the
      most common (# 28), was less represented in the Parkinson's population, although
      not significantly (p = 0.07). The analysis suggests that sequence variations in
      the coding region of FtMt are not involved in the development of myelodysplastic
      syndromes and Parkinson's disease.

PMID- 20939739
TI  - p53 Codon 72 polymorphism and gastric cancer risk in a Chinese Han population.
AB  - BACKGROUND: studies investigating the association between p53 codon 72
      polymorphism and gastric cancer risk report conflicting results. Our recent meta
      analysis suggests that the p53 codon 72 polymorphism may be associated with
      gastric cancer among Asians. AIM: the objective of this study was to investigate
      the association between p53 codon 72 polymorphism and gastric cancer risk in
      Chinese Han patients. METHODS: we extracted the peripheral blood samples from 150
      patients with gastric cancer and 150 control subjects. Polymerase chain reaction
      restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis was performed to detect p53
      codon 72 polymorphism in these patients. RESULTS: patients with gastric cancer
      had a significantly lower frequency of Arg/Arg (odds ratio [OR] = 0.48, 95%
      confidence interval [95% CI] = 0.28, 0.80; p = 0.005) than control subjects.
      Patients with cardia gastric cancer had a significantly higher frequency of
      Pro/Pro (OR = 2.26, 95% CI = 1.12, 4.55; p = 0.02) than those with noncardia
      gastric cancer. Patients with advanced gastric cancer had a significantly higher
      frequency of Arg/Arg (OR = 2.66, 95% CI = 1.06, 6.65; p = 0.03) than those with
      early gastric cancer. When stratified by the Lauren's classification,
      histological differentiation of gastric cancer, no statistically significant
      result was observed. CONCLUSION: this study suggests that the p53 codon 72
      polymorphism may be associated with gastric cancer in Chinese Han patients, and
      that difference in genotype distribution may be associated with the location and
      stage of gastric cancer.

PMID- 20939740
TI  - Association between angiotensin-converting enzyme insertion/deletion genetic
      polymorphism and hypertension in a sample of Lebanese patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIM: several studies have looked at the potential link between
      angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) insertion/deletion (I/D) polymorphism and the
      risk of hypertension and have shown that the DD polymorphism may be associated
      with a higher prevalence of hypertension. Our objective was to assess for
      possible association between ACE variants and hypertension in a sample of
      Lebanese patients. METHODS: one hundred ninety-two Lebanese subjects were
      included. DNA was isolated and amplified by polymerase chain reaction. The
      products were identified by gel electrophoresis according to their size. RESULTS:
      one hundred fifteen (59.9%) patients were hypertensive and 77 (40.1%) were
      nonhypertensive with the following genotype frequencies: 43.4% DD, 45.2% ID, and
      11.4% II compared with 35.2% DD, 51.9% ID, and 12.9% II, respectively. Age was
      found to be the most significant risk factor for hypertension. This was more
      prominent when accounting for ACE genotype; for instance, the DD genotype with
      age had a significantly higher odds ratio (OR = 11.852; p = 0.001) than the ID
      genotype with age (OR = 4.599; p = 0.006), II genotype with age (OR = 1.866; p =
      0.519), and age alone (OR = 5.558; p = 0.006). CONCLUSION: our results show that
      the ACE I/D polymorphism is common in Lebanon, and the combinations of ACE D
      allele and age is associated with an increased risk of hypertension.

PMID- 20939741
TI  - An outbreak of multidrug-resistant Salmonella enterica serotype Oranienburg in
      Michigan dairy calves.
AB  - The objectives of this study were to report an outbreak of highly drug-resistant
      Salmonella enterica serotype Oranienburg in dairy calves, and conduct an
      epidemiological investigation of Oranienburg identified on a dairy herd during a
      study to determine whether discontinuing feeding medicated milk replacer to
      preweaned dairy calves resulted in increased antimicrobial susceptibility in
      enteric bacteria. Calf fecal samples and swabs of calf and maternity pens were
      collected monthly over 18 months. Samples were streaked onto XLT-4 agar and
      characteristic colonies were subjected to biochemical tests to confirm
      Salmonella. Strain relatedness was examined by Xbal and BlnI pulsed-field gel
      electrophoresis analysis on 62 randomly selected isolates. Antimicrobial
      susceptibility testing, using automated microbroth dilution, was conducted using
      a panel containing tetracycline, amikacin, amoxicillin-clavulanic acid,
      ampicillin, ceftiofur, ceftriaxone, cephalothin, chloramphenicol, ciprofloxacin,
      cefoxitin, gentamicin, kanamycin, nalidixic acid, streptomycin, sulfamethoxazole,
      and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. A total of 190 Salmonella spp. were isolated
      from 604 calf and 36 pen samples, of which 86% were Oranienburg and 97% were
      resistant to at least 9 agents. Environmental isolates had lower levels of
      resistance than fecal isolates. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis analysis
      identified three strains: the most common strain was consistently present before
      the outbreak and at its peak. One strain was exclusively an environmental
      isolate, with little antimicrobial resistance. Multiresistant isolates with
      resistance to ciprofloxacin appeared early in the outbreak, and were replaced by
      multiresistant isolates with resistance to cephalothin. The differences in
      strains and resistance patterns suggest that the strains of Oranienburg found in
      fecal isolates may have different origins from environmental isolates.

PMID- 20939742
TI  - Prevalence and characterization of Campylobacter spp. isolated from domestic and
      imported poultry meat in Korea, 2004-2008.
AB  - Campylobacteriosis in humans is primarily caused by handling or consuming
      contaminated poultry or their products. The aims of this study were to estimate
      the prevalence of Campylobacter spp. in domestic and imported poultry meat in
      Korea and to further characterize the obtained isolates. From 2004 to 2008, a
      total of 475 domestic and 867 imported raw poultry meat samples were examined for
      the presence of Campylobacter spp. Among 475 domestic poultry meat samples,
      Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli were isolated from 219 (46.1%) and
      156 (32.8%), respectively. Relative prevalence of C. jejuni and C. coli was
      higher in meat from Brazil (39/78, 50.0% and 7/78, 8.9%) and France (32/96, 33.3%
      and 8/96, 8.3%), whereas lower in meat from Denmark (72/516, 14.0% and 12/516,
      2.3%) and Thailand (5/39, 12.8% and 3/39, 7.6%). The resistance to ampicillin and
      tetracycline was highly prevalent in Campylobacter spp. from most countries
      investigated, whereas lower in meat from Denmark. On the other hand, the
      prevalence of erythromycin and gentamicin resistance was less than 10% in most
      countries. The resistance rate to nalidixic acid, ciprofloxacin, and enrofloxacin
      ranged from 11.9% to 87.5%. The use of fla-polymerase chain reaction-restriction
      fragment length polymorphism for epidemiological analysis found that some pattern
      types were considerably more frequent and distinct in meat from each country. In
      conclusion, we report the presence of high contamination in domestic and imported
      poultry meat in Korea and the antimicrobial and genetic diversity of
      Campylobacter spp. between each country.

PMID- 20939743
TI  - Avanafil, a new rapid-onset phosphodiesterase 5 inhibitor for the treatment of
      erectile dysfunction.
AB  - IMPORTANCE OF THE FIELD: Erectile dysfunction (ED) is a common sexual problem,
      affecting up to half of men over 50 years of age. Phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE5)
      inhibitors (sildenafil, tadalafil and vardenafil) are currently the first-line
      treatment option presented to patients with ED. There exists a significant number
      of men who remain dissatisfied with the available therapies and are either unable
      to achieve their therapeutic goals or unwilling to tolerate adverse side effects.
      Therefore, development of novel PDE5 inhibitors with enhanced selectivity, faster
      onset of action, increased potency and improved tolerability is desirable. AREAS
      COVERED IN THIS REVIEW: Preclinical and clinical studies of avanafil, a new oral
      PDE5 inhibitor being investigated for the treatment of ED. Data were obtained by
      searching for all English peer-reviewed articles on Medline and any related
      abstracts presented on avanafil at major international congresses. WHAT THE
      READER WILL GAIN: An understanding of the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic
      characteristics of avanafil and insight into the drug's clinical efficacy and
      safety profile. TAKE HOME MESSAGE: We propose that avanafil, which displays
      enhanced selectivity, faster onset of action, and a favorable side-effect profile
      relative to currently available PDE5 inhibitors, may offer an alternative first
      line treatment option for men with ED.

PMID- 20939745
TI  - Information sharing during diagnostic assessments: what is relevant for parents?
AB  - ABSTRACT This descriptive qualitative study facilitates the application of family
      centered care within a tertiary care interdisciplinary neurodevelopmental
      diagnostic assessment clinic by furthering an understanding of parent perceptions
      of the relevance of diagnostic information provision. An interdisciplinary
      assessment team completed an open-ended questionnaire to describe parent
      information provision. Parents from 9 families completed in-depth parent
      interviews following clinic attendance to discuss perceptions of information
      received. Interviews were audiotaped, transcribed, and coded by related themes.
      Parents did not perceive the information in the way professionals expected.
      Parents acknowledged receipt of comprehensive information relevant to the
      diagnosis but indicated that not all their needs were met. During the interviews,
      parents described the assessment process, preassessment information, and "steps
      in their journey." They noted that a strength-based approach and a focus on
      parental competency would support their coping efforts. Results underscore the
      need for professionals to be attentive to parents' individualized needs.

PMID- 20939746
TI  - Conference report on particles 2010 focusing on particle-based advances in
      medical/biochemical diagnostic, pharmaceutical and drug delivery application in
      particle technology.

PMID- 20939747
TI  - Poverty transitions among families supporting a child with intellectual
      disability *
AB  - Background Little is known about child disability and dynamic aspects of poverty.
      Method Analysis of data collected over a 12-month period for families (a)
      supporting a child with intellectual disability (n = 370), (b) supporting a child
      with other disability (n = 1,418), and (c) supporting a child with no disability
      (n = 7,215). Results When compared to families not supporting a child with
      disability, families supporting a child with intellectual disability were (a)
      more likely to be poor, (b) more likely to become poor, (c) less likely to escape
      from being poor. Half of poverty transitions were associated with identifiable
      potential trigger events. Conclusions There were few differences between families
      supporting or not supporting a child with disability with regard to either levels
      of exposure to potential trigger events or to the strength of the association
      between exposure and poverty transitions.

PMID- 20939749
TI  - German height references for children aged 0 to under 18 years compared to WHO
      and CDC growth charts.
AB  - AIM: The objective is to present height-for-age percentiles representative for
      infants, children, and adolescents in Germany and to compare them with older
      German height references by Kromeyer-Hauschild which are based on heterogeneous
      pooled data (KH) and with international growth charts from the Centers for
      Disease Control (CDC) as well as the growth standard and the growth reference of
      the World Health Organization (WHO). SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The reference
      population consists of a nationally representative sample of 17 079 children and
      adolescents aged 0-17 years (KiGGS study 2003-2006) with standardized height
      measurements. Height reference curves were created using Cole's LMS method. To
      compare KiGGS with other reference systems, KiGGS height values were transformed
      to SD-scores using the KH, WHO and CDC references. RESULTS: Height-for-age
      percentiles in KiGGS increase until age 16 years in girls and until the end of
      the observed age range (17.98 years) for boys. In general, boys are taller than
      girls, except for the age range 10.5-13.0 years. The difference in height between
      boys and girls is negligible before puberty and reaches 13 cm at age 17.98 years.
      KiGGS and KH percentiles differ only slightly. However, there are substantial
      differences in SD-score levels between KiGGS on the one hand and WHO and CDC on
      the other hand, KiGGS generally being higher, especially in the extreme
      percentiles. CONCLUSION: The KiGGS height-for-age references can be recommended
      as a national height reference for screening and monitoring growth in infants
      (starting from 4 months of age), children and adolescents in Germany. In German
      samples, the WHO and CDC references can be used for international comparisons.

PMID- 20939750
TI  - Prevalence of MYH-associated polyposis related to three recurrent mutations in
      Morocco.
AB  - BACKGROUND: MYH-associated polyposis (MAP) is an autosomal recessive inherited
      disease. People with MAP tend to develop multiple adenomatous colon polyps during
      their lifetime and have an increased risk of colorectal cancer. MAP has only
      recently been described and there is much to be learned about the condition.
      Recessively inherited mutations in the base excision repair gene MYH have
      recently been associated with predisposition to colorectal adenomas and cancer.
      The epidemiology of MYH-associated polyposis (MAP) is poorly known in populations
      with high levels of consanguinity like North African populations, in particular
      in Morocco, and the MAP carrier frequency in the general Moroccan population has
      never been evaluated. The present study was carried out among the Moroccan
      population, using molecular epidemiology methods, to estimate the prevalence of
      homozygote or compound heterozygote genotype conferring MAP due to three
      mutations reported as recurrent in MAP: c.494A>G (Y165C), c.1145G>A (G382D) and
      c.1186_1187insGG (p.Glu396fsX42). METHODS: To estimate the prevalence of MYH
      mutations in Morocco, DNA extracted from blood samples of 400 healthy Moroccans
      was tested for recurrent MYH mutations using real-time PCR or DNA fragment
      analysis. Heterozygotes profiles were confirmed by direct sequencing. We searched
      for the mutations c.494A>G and c.1145G>A in 400 subjects, and the mutation
      c.1186_1187insGG in 250 subjects. RESULTS: One subject was heterozygous for
      c.494A>G (1/400 or 0.25%), three others for c.1145G>A (3/400 or 0.75%) and one
      was heterozygous for p.Glu396fsX42 (1/250 or 0.4%). The carrier frequency of one
      of these three mutations in the Moroccan population was calculated to be 1.4% and
      the frequency of homozygous or compound heterozygote for these three recurrent
      mutations is 1/10 000.These figures allowed one to estimate at 3500 the number of
      Moroccans with high risk of developing colon cancer due only to these three
      recurrent mutations. CONCLUSION: This preliminary study shows that the Moroccan
      population is at risk for MAP. This could help to define diagnosis strategies and
      patient care and may also have implications for genetic counselling.

PMID- 20939751
TI  - Benzene and human health: A historical review and appraisal of associations with
      various diseases.
AB  - Over the last century, benzene has been a well-studied chemical, with some acute
      and chronic exposures being directly associated with observed hematologic effects
      in humans and animals. Chronic heavy exposures to benzene have also been
      associated with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) and myelodysplastic syndrome
      (MDS) in humans. Other disease processes have also been studied, but have
      generally not been supported by epidemiologic studies of workers using benzene in
      the workplace. Within occupational cohorts with large populations and very low
      airborne benzene exposures (less than 0.1-1.0 ppm), it can be difficult to
      separate background disease incidence from those occurring due to occupational
      exposures. In the last few decades, some scientists and physicians have suggested
      that chronic exposures to various airborne concentrations of benzene may increase
      the risk of developing non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) (Savitz and Andrews, 1997, Am
      J Ind Med 31:287-295; Smith et al., 2007, Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 16:385
      391), multiple myeloma (MM) (Goldstein, 1990, Ann NY Acad Sci 609:225-230;
      Infante, 2006, Ann NY Acad Sci 1076:90-109), and various other hematopoietic
      disorders. We present a state-of-the-science review of the medical and regulatory
      aspects regarding the hazards of occupational exposure to benzene. We also review
      the available scientific and medical evidence relating to benzene and the risk of
      developing various disorders following specific levels of exposure. Our
      evaluation indicates that the only malignant hematopoietic disease that has been
      clearly linked to benzene exposure is AML. Information from the recent "Benzene
      2009," a symposium of international experts focusing on the health effects and
      mechanisms of toxicity of benzene, hosted by the Technical University of Munich,
      has been incorporated and referenced.

PMID- 20939752
TI  - Impaired endothelial progenitor cell activity is associated with reduced arterial
      elasticity in patients with essential hypertension.
AB  - Endothelial dysfunction is related to reduced arterial elasticity in patients
      with essential hypertension. Circulating endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs), an
      important endogenous repair approach for endothelial injury, is altered in
      hypertensive patients. However, the association between alteration in circulating
      EPCs and hypertension-related reduced arterial elasticity has not been reported.
      The purpose of this study is to investigate the association between alteration in
      circulating EPCs and hypertension-related reduced arterial elasticity. We
      measured the artery elasticity profiles including brachial-ankle PWV (baPWV) and
      C1 large and C2 small artery elasticity indices in patients with essential
      hypertension (n = 20) and age-matched normotensive subjects (n = 21). The number
      and activity of circulating EPCs isolated from peripheral blood were determined.
      Compared to normotensive subjects, the patients with hypertension exhibited
      decreased C1 large and C2 small artery elasticity indices, as well as increased
      baPWV. The number of circulating EPCs did not differ between the two groups. The
      migratory and proliferative activities of circulating EPCs in hypertensive
      patients were lower than those in normotensive subjects. Both proliferatory and
      migratory activities of circulating EPCs closely correlated with arterial
      elasticity profiles, including baPWV and C1 large and C2 small artery elasticity
      indices. Multivariate analysis identified both proliferative and migratory
      activities of circulating EPCs as independent predictors of the artery elasticity
      profiles. The present study demonstrates for the first time that impaired
      activity of circulating EPCs is associated with reduced arterial elasticity in
      patients with hypertension. The fall in endogenous repair capacity of vascular
      endothelium may be involved in the pathogenesis of hypertension-related vascular
      injury.

PMID- 20939753
TI  - Semi-fluorinated alkanes as carriers for drug targeting in acute respiratory
      failure.
AB  - Partial liquid ventilation (PLV) with perfluorocarbons may cause pulmonary
      recruitment in acute lung injury (ALI). Semi-fluorinated alkanes (SFAs) provide
      biochemical properties similar to perfluorocarbons. Additionally, SFAs are
      characterized by increased lipophilicity. Therefore, SFA-PLV may be considered
      for deposition of certain therapeutic drugs into atelectatic lung areas. In this
      experimental study SFA-PLV was evaluated to demonstrate feasibility, pulmonary
      recruitment, and efficacy of drug deposition. Feasibility of SFA-PLV was
      determined in pigs with and without experimental ALI. Animals were randomized to
      PLV with SFAs up to a cumulative amount of 30 mL x kg-1 or to conventional
      mechanical ventilation. Pulmonary recruitment effects were determined by
      analyzing ventilation-perfusion distributions. Efficacy of intrapulmonary drug
      deposition was evaluated in further experiments by measuring drug serum
      concentrations in the course of PLV with SFA-dissolved alpha-tocopherol and
      ibuprofen. Increasing SFA doses caused progressive reduction of intrapulmonary
      shunt in animals with ALI, indicating pulmonary recruitment. PLV with SFA
      dissolved alpha-tocopherol had no effect on serum levels of alpha-tocopherol,
      whereas PLV with SFA-dissolved ibuprofen caused a rapid increase of serum levels
      of ibuprofen. The authors conclude that SFA-PLV is feasible and causes pulmonary
      recruitment in ALI. Effectiveness of drug deposition in the lung obviously
      depends on the partitioning drugs out of the SFA phase into blood.

PMID- 20939754
TI  - Transient in utero nicotine exposure stimulates mechanosensory-dependent lung
      development.
AB  - Nicotine receptors are present in the developing lung yet their function is
      unknown. The transient role of nicotine receptors in lung development has not
      been addressed. In this study, nicotine's direct effect on smooth muscle
      contraction, necessary for mechanosensory-dependent fetal lung development, is
      examined after transient nicotine stimulation to determine the relationship
      between nicotine exposure, smooth muscle contraction, and fetal lung development.
      Rat fetuses at 16 days' gestation were exposed in utero to 5 different
      concentrations of nicotine or control injected directly into the amniotic fluid.
      Specific concentrations of in utero nicotine increased the phosphorylated Western
      blot analysis and immunohistochemistry of muscle contraction proteins.
      Respiratory function tests on nicotine-exposed rat pups showed a statistically
      significant decrease in airway resistance earlier in life compared to control and
      an upward shift of the pressure-volume curve pointing towards a structural
      maturation of the in utero nicotine-exposed lung. These results are consistent
      with transient nicotine exposure during intrauterine life stimulating stretch
      induced lung organogenesis by altering phosphorylation of muscle contraction
      proteins. The increase in smooth muscle phosphorylation may stimulate stretch
      induced lung organogenesis, which affects lung development and accelerates lung
      maturation in rats.

PMID- 20939755
TI  - In vivo efficacy of sivelestat in combination with pazufloxacin against
      Legionella pneumonia.
AB  - It is important to regulate excessive inflammation when patients with severe
      infectious disease are treated. Sivelestat sodium hydrate (sivelestat), a
      neutrophil elastase inhibitor, is used in the treatment of lung injury but its
      effect on bacterial pneumonia is unknown. The authors examined the efficacy of
      sivelestat in combination with a fluoroquinolone in a Legionella pneumophila
      pneumonia mouse model. The combination therapy did not show a significant
      survival improvement compared to the treatment with fluoroquinolone alone, but
      reduced bacteria number and inflammatory cells in the early phase. The
      combination therapy can contribute to treatment of L. pneumophila pneumonia with
      protecting lungs.

PMID- 20939756
TI  - The role of interleukin-6 in pulmonary and systemic manifestations in a murine
      model of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
AB  - Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is characterized by pulmonary and
      extrapulmonary manifestations including systemic inflammation and weight loss.
      Increased levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6) have been demonstrated in sputum and
      serum of COPD patients. Therefore, the authors investigated the in vivo role of
      IL-6 in a murine model of COPD. Wild-type (WT) and IL-6 knockout (KO) mice were
      exposed subacutely (4 weeks) and chronically (24 weeks) to air or cigarette smoke
      (CS). Subacute and chronic CS exposure significantly increased pulmonary IL-6
      mRNA expression in lung tissue and IL-6 protein levels in bronchoalveolar lavage
      fluid of WT mice. However, CS-induced accumulation of inflammatory cells at both
      time points and lymphoid aggregate formation upon chronic CS exposure were
      independent of IL-6. Chonic CS exposure was associated with a significant failure
      to gain weight in both WT mice and IL-6 KO mice. Remarkably, air-exposed IL-6 KO
      mice have lower body weight, serum leptin levels, and adipose tissue mass
      compared to air-exposed WT mice. In conclusion, IL-6 is of minor importance in CS
      induced pulmonary and systemic manifestations in mice, but this study confirms
      the role for IL-6 as regulator of body weight and body composition.

PMID- 20939757
TI  - Development of an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for measurement of rat
      pulmonary surfactant protein D using monoclonal antibodies.
AB  - Surfactant protein D (SP-D) has been used as a biomarker of lung inflammation. In
      rat, several types of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using polyclonal
      antibodies have been reported. The purpose of this study was the development of a
      sensitive ELISA for rat SP-D using monoclonal antibodies. The authors developed a
      sandwich ELISA using monoclonal antibodies that were obtained by immunizing with
      purified rat SP-D. The ELISA was evaluated by performance tests. Furthermore,
      concentrations of serum SP-D were measured in normal control and bleomycin
      treated rats. The working range of ELISA was between 0.47 and 30 ng/mL. Different
      concentrations of added SP-D were recovered, between 94.1% and 102.8%. Serum SP-D
      levels of bleomycin-treated rats were significantly higher than those of normal
      rats. In conclusion, this newly developed ELISA for rat SP-D using monoclonal
      antibodies is applicable for research on the mechanism and therapy of lung
      injury.

PMID- 20939758
TI  - Peroxiredoxin 6 differentially regulates acute and chronic cigarette
      smoke&#x2013;mediated lung inflammatory response and injury.
AB  - Peroxiredoxin 6 (Prdx6) exerts its protective role through peroxidase activity
      against H2O2 and phospholipid hydroperoxides. We hypothesized that targeted
      disruption of Prdx6 would lead to enhanced susceptibility to cigarette smoke (CS)
      mediated lung inflammation and/or emphysema in mouse lung. Prdx6 null (Prdx6-/
      mice exposed to acute CS showed no significant increase of inflammatory cell
      influx or any alterations in lung levels of proinflammatory cytokines compared to
      wild-type (WT) mice. Lung levels of antioxidant enzymes were significantly
      increased in acute CS-exposed Prdx6-/- compared to WT mice. Overexpressing (Prdx6
      /-) mice exposed to acute CS showed significant decrease in lung antioxidant
      enzymes associated with increased inflammatory response compared to CS-exposed WT
      mice or air-exposed Prdx6-/- mice. However, chronic 6 months of CS exposure
      resulted in increased lung inflammatory response, mean linear intercept (Lm), and
      alteration in lung mechanical properties in Prdx6-/- when compared to WT mice
      exposed to CS. These data show that targeted disruption of Prdx6 does not lead to
      increased lung inflammatory response but is associated with increased
      antioxidants, suggesting a critical role of lung Prdx6 and several compensatory
      mechanisms during acute CS-induced adaptive response, whereas this protection is
      lost in chronic CS exposure leading to emphysema.

PMID- 20939759
TI  - Connective tissue growth factor expression pattern in lung development.
AB  - The aim of this study was to investigate the expression and distribution pattern
      of connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) in lung development during different
      stages, and to compare with a model of stimulated lung growth after tracheal
      ligation (TL) and with the teratogen model of induced congenital diaphragmatic
      hernia (CDH) and lung hypoplasia after nitrofen. Sprague-Dawley rat fetuses were
      obtained on gestational days 14, 17, and 21 (E14, E17, E21). For the experimental
      CDH group, pregnant rats were given 100 mg nitrofen on gestational day 9.5
      (E9.5), and delivered E21. In another group, Sprague-Dawley rat fetuses were
      subjected to intrauterine tracheal ligation (TL) on gestational day 19 (E19), and
      delivered on day 21 (E21). All fetuses were delivered by cesarean section and
      lungs harvested. Lungs from 1-day-old newborn healthy, nonoperated rats were also
      obtained. Immunohistochemical (IHC) analysis for CTGF was performed on the
      different lung sections. CTGF mRNA expression levels in hyperplastic lungs after
      TL, hypoplastic lungs and CDH after nitrofen administration, and fetal controls
      at E21 were analyzed with real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR).
      Immunohistochemical staining for CTGF at E14 showed that it was merely localized
      to the epithelium of terminal bronchiole, increasing during gestation, being more
      abundant at E17 and at E21. In the CDH group, lungs had an immature appearance
      and CTGF protein expression was decreased in the epithelium of the distal airways
      compared to the control group at E21, and was mainly observed in the lung
      mesenchyme. In the TL group, CTGF expression was more abundant compared to the
      control group at E21, especially in the epithelium of the terminal bronchioles,
      with a decreasing expression pattern distally. In the newborn lungs, CTGF had a
      pattern of expression in the epithelium of terminal bronchiole similar to TL
      lungs. At the mRNA level, CTGF expression was increased after TL, and decreased
      in the teratogen model of CDH and lung hypoplasia after nitrofen administration.
      This is, to the authors' knowledge, the first report of CTGF expression pattern
      during lung development, and of an impaired expression in CDH lungs after
      nitrofen. CTGF is suggested to enhance alveologenesis and microvascular
      development at late stages of lung development, and a decreased expression could
      lead to the impaired alveologenesis and abnormal microvascular pulmonary bed
      observed in CDH lungs. Increased understanding of the molecular mechanisms that
      control lung growth could provide a key to develop novel therapeutic techniques
      to stimulate pre- and/or postnatal lung growth in infants with impaired lung
      growth and development, such in congenital diaphragmatic hernia.

PMID- 20939760
TI  - Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation and p-EGFR expression in
      resected non-small cell lung cancer.
AB  - Lung cancer, specifically non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), is a leading cause
      of mortality worldwide. In China, a dramatic increase in the incidence of NSCLC
      is expected in the next 20 years (Molina et al. Mayo Clin Proc. 2008;83:584-594).
      Mutated epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) status is a known predictor of
      response to tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), and immunohistochemistry may be a
      less costly way of predicting presence of mutation. In this study, mutation
      analysis of EGFR in 218 cases of NSCLC was performed. One hundred thirty tissue
      samples were examined via immunohistochemistry of p-EGFR (Y1045 and Y1068) and
      correlated with mutation status. Mutations were seen in 29% of patients, and were
      correlated with female sex, nonsmoking history, and adenocarcinoma histology.
      Phosphorylation at Y1045 was noted in 52% of cases, but in 71% of cases with EGFR
      mutation (P = .003). Phosphorylation of Y1068 was seen in 55% of cases but in 73%
      of cases with EGFR mutation (P = .006). This study correlating EGFR mutation with
      p-EGFR expression in resected NSCLC is one of the largest to date, although TKI
      response could not be assessed. The data show that, among Chinese patients,
      detection of p-1045 and p-1068 expression with immunohistochemistry predicts EGFR
      mutations. Immunohistochemical analysis of p-EGFR may be useful to predict
      responses to TKI therapy, although future studies are necessary.

PMID- 20939761
TI  - Bronchoconstrictor effect of the tachykinin NK3-receptor agonists [MePhe7]
      neurokinin B and senktide in the isolated guinea pig lung.
AB  - To determine whether bronchoconstriction can be mediated via the tachykinin NK3
      receptors, isolated guinea pig lungs were challenged with the exogenous
      tachykinin NK3-receptor agonists [MePhe7]-neurokinin B ([MePhe7]-NKB) and
      senktide. [MePhe7]-NKB induced bronchoconstriction (EC50 = 11.8 +/- 1.7 uM) that
      was significantly inhibited by the tachykinin NK3-receptor antagonist SB 223412
      at 10 uM (EC50 = 24.4 +/- 4.5 uM). Senktide also induced bronchoconstriction
      (EC50 = 96.2 +/- 20.3 uM) and the bronchoconstriction was significantly reduced
      by SB 223412 at 1 and 10 uM (EC50 = 270.8 +/- 78.9 uM and 388.3 +/- 105.5 uM,
      respectively). Although the authors demonstrated that SB 223412, [MePhe7]-NKB,
      and senktide are potent and selective for the tachykinin NK3 receptors in binding
      and functional (Ca(2+) mobilization) assays, the tachykinin NK1-receptor
      antagonist CP 99,994 at 1 uM (EC50 = 32.7 +/- 8.5 uM) produced inhibition of
      [MePhe7]-NKB-induced bronchoconstriction, whereas the tachykinin NK2-receptor
      antagonist SR 48968 at 0.1 uM (EC50 = 213.2 +/- 42.9 uM) blocked senktide-induced
      bronchoconstriction. These data suggest that [MePhe7]-NKB and senktide caused
      bronchoconstriction in guinea pig through activation of the tachykinin NK3
      receptors but the tachykinin NK1- and/or NK2-receptors are also involved in the
      response.

PMID- 20939762
TI  - Fluorescence, circular dichroism, NMR, and docking studies of the interaction of
      the alkaloid malbrancheamide with calmodulin.
AB  - A new malbrancheamide analogue, isomalbrancheamide B (3), along with three known
      compounds, malbrancheamide (1), isomalbrancheamide (2), and premalbrancheamide
      (4), were isolated in higher yields from the alkaloid fraction of the fungus
      Malbranchea aurantiaca. The interaction of the alkaloids 1-4 with calmodulin
      (CaM) was analyzed using different enzymatic, fluorescence, spectroscopic,
      nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and molecular modelling techniques. On the
      basis of the enzymatic and fluorescence experiments, malbrancheamides 1-3 are
      classical CaM inhibitors. Compound 4, however, did not quench the extrinsic
      fluorescence of the CaM biosensor indicating that it could be a functional
      inhibitor. Circular dichroism, NMR, and molecular modelling studies revealed that
      1 binds to CaM in the same hydrophobic pocket than the chlorpromazine and
      trifluoperazine, two classical CaM inhibitors. Thus, malbrancheamide and related
      monochlorinated analogues are compounds with a high potential for the development
      of new therapeutic agents, involving CaM as their molecular target.

PMID- 20939763
TI  - Synthesis and biological evaluation of polyhydroxy benzophenone as mushroom
      tyrosinase inhibitors.
AB  - A series of polyhydroxy benzophenone were synthesized and evaluated as mushroom
      tyrosinase inhibitors. The results demonstrated that most of the target compounds
      had remarkable inhibitory activities on mushroom tyrosinase. Among all these
      compounds, 2,3,4,3',4',5'-hexahydroxy-diphenylketone 10 was found to be the most
      potent tyrosinase inhibitor with IC(50) value of 1.4 MUM. In addition, the
      inhibition kinetics analyzed by Lineweaver-Burk plots revealed that such
      compounds were competitive inhibitors. These results suggested that such
      compounds might be utilized for the development of new candidate for treatment of
      dermatological disorders.

PMID- 20939764
TI  - Transition metal complexes with N, S donor ligands as synthetic antioxidants:
      synthesis, characterization and antioxidant activity.
AB  - Transition metal complexes containing bidentate N, S donor ligands i.e., carvone
      thiosemicarbazone [(RS)-5-isopropenyl-2-methylcyclohex-2-en-1-one
      thiosemicarbazone (IPMCHTSC)] and carvone N(1)-phenylthiosemicarbazone [(RS)-5
      isopropenyl-2-methylcyclohex-2-en-1-one phenylthiosemicarbazone (IPMCHPhTSC)]
      have been synthesized. All the metal complexes (1-8) have been characterized by
      elemental analysis, molar conductance measurement and various spectral studies
      [infrared (IR), electronic, fast-atom bombardment (FAB) mass and NMR (for
      ligands)] and thermogravimetric analysis. FAB mass spectroscopic studies of (1),
      (3), (4), (5), (6) (7), and (8) suggest their monomeric nature. Metal complexes
      are [M(LH)Cl(2)] and [M(LH)(2)Cl(2)] type, where M = Fe(III), Co(II), and Cu(II)
      and LH = IPMCHTSC and IPMCHPhTSC. The proposed geometries of the complexes were
      octahedral for 1:2 complexes, square planar for 1:1 complexes and distorted
      octahedral for Cu(II) complexes (1:2). The free radical scavenging activity of
      ligands (IPMCHTSC and IPMCHPhTSC) and their metal complexes have been determined
      at the concentration range of 10-400 MUg/mL by means of their interaction with
      the stable free radical 2,2'-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl and 5-200 MUg/mL by 2,2'
      Azinobis-3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid. All the compounds have shown
      encouraging antioxidant activities.

PMID- 20939765
TI  - The inhibition study of human UDP-glucuronosyltransferases with cytochrome P450
      selective substrates and inhibitors.
AB  - Human uridine-5'-diphosphoglucuronosyltransferases (UGTs) are the major phase II
      metabolizing enzymes. In the present study, five human UGTs (UGT1A1, 1A4, 1A6,
      2B7, and 2B10) were individually expressed and used to examine the inhibition
      IC(50) values of 20 selective substrates and inhibitors of major cytochromes P450
      (CYPs). The inhibition kinetics of UGT1A1 was also analyzed. The results showed
      that some compounds like alpha-naphthoflavone, paclitaxel, midazolam,
      cyclosporine A, and ketoconazole displayed strong inhibitions on UGT activities
      with their IC(50) values in a range of 4.1-26 uM. Especially, the IC(50) values
      were 4.1 +/- 0.8 uM for ketoconazole in inhibiting UGT1A1-mediated beta-estradiol
      3-glucuronidation, and 4.9 +/- 0.3 uM for paclitaxel towards UGT1A4-mediated
      midazolam-N-glucuronidation. Additionally, the IC(50) values of bupropion,
      tolbutamide, and testosterone in inhibiting UGT-mediated metabolisms were similar
      with the K(m) values of respective CYPs. Some kinetic behaviours of UGTs were
      following Michaelis-Menten kinetics, while some were not.

PMID- 20939766
TI  - A QSAR study on 2-(4-methylpiperazin-1-yl)quinoxalines as human histamine H4
      receptor ligands.
AB  - The histamine H(4) receptor binding affinity of 2-(4-methylpiperazin-1
      yl)quinoxaline derivatives has been quantitatively analyzed in terms of Dragon
      descriptors. The derived QSAR models have provided rationales to explain the
      activity of titled derivatives. The descriptors identified in CP-MLR analysis
      have highlighted the role of path/walk 4-Randic shape index (PW4), mean square
      distance (MSD) index, topological charges (GGI9, JGI2, and JGI7), atomic
      properties in respective lags of 2D-autocorrelations (MATS7e, GATS7e, and
      MATS8p), and Burden matrix (BELm1) to explain the binding affinity. Certain
      structural fragments (C-002 and C-027) have also shown prevalence to optimize the
      H(4)R binding affinity of titled compounds. The PLS analysis has also confirmed
      the dominance of information content of CP-MLR-identified descriptors for
      modelling the activity.

PMID- 20939767
TI  - Synthesis and SAR comparative studies of 2-allyl-4-methoxy-1-alkoxybenzenes as 15
      lipoxygenase inhibitors.
AB  - A group of 2-alkoxy-5-methoxyallylbenzene were designed, synthesised and
      evaluated as potential inhibitors of the soybean 15-lipoxygenase (SLO) on the
      basis of the eugenol and esteragol structures. Compound 4d showed the best half
      maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) for SLO inhibition (IC50 = 5.9 +/- 0.6
      uM). All the compounds were docked in the SLO active site retrieved from the
      Research Collaboratory for Structural Bioinformatics (RCSB) Protein Data Bank
      (PDB entry: 1IK3) and showed that the allyl group of the synthetic compounds
      similar to the linoleic acid double bond, were oriented toward the Fe3+-OH moiety
      in the active site of the enzyme and this conformation was especially fixed by
      the hydrophobic interaction of the 2-alkoxy group with Leu515, Trp519, Val566 and
      Ile572. It was concluded that the molecular volume and shape of the alkoxy moiety
      was a major factor in the inhibitory potency variation of the synthetic
      compounds.

PMID- 20939769
TI  - Liposomes targeting tumour stromal cells.
AB  - Liposomes have found clinical application in cancer therapy in the delivery of
      cytostatic agents. As a result of the targeted delivery of these toxic molecules
      to the tumour cells coupled to avoidance of toxicity-sensitive tissues, the
      therapeutic window is widened. Over the past years the focus of cancer therapy
      has shifted towards the stromal cells that are present in the tumour. It appears
      that clinically relevant tumours have acquired the ability to modulate the
      microenvironment in such a way that a chronic pro-inflammatory and pro-angiogenic
      state is achieved that contributes to invasion and metastasis and continued
      proliferation. Over the past years, liposomal formulations have been designed
      that target key stromal cell types that contribute to tumour growth. At the same
      time, many promising cell types have not been targeted yet and most of the
      studies employ drugs that aim at depleting stromal cells rather than modulating
      their activity towards an anti-tumour phenotype. In this review these target cell
      types will be addressed. Complementing these targeted formulations with the
      appropriate drugs to optimally suppress tumour-promoting signals while preserving
      anti-tumour action will be the challenge for the future.

PMID- 20939768
TI  - pH-sensitive membrane peptides (pHLIPs) as a novel class of delivery agents.
AB  - Abstract Here we review a novel class of delivery vehicles based on pH-sensitive,
      moderately polar membrane peptides, which we call pH (Low) Insertion Peptides
      (pHLIPs), that target cells located in the acidic environment found in many
      diseased tissues, including tumours. Acidity targeting by pHLIPs is achieved as a
      result of helix formation and transmembrane insertion. In contrast to the earlier
      technologies based on cell-penetrating peptides, pHLIPs act as monomeric membrane
      inserting peptides that translocate one terminus across a membrane into the
      cytoplasm, while the other terminus remains in the extracellular space, locating
      the peptide in the membrane lipid bilayer. Therefore pHLIP has a dual delivery
      capability: it can tether cargo molecules or nanoparticles to the surfaces of
      cells in diseased tissues and/or it can move a cell-impermeable cargo molecule
      across the membrane into the cytoplasm. The source of energy for moving polar
      molecules attached to pHLIP through the hydrophobic layer of a membrane bilayer
      is the membrane-associated folding of the polypeptide. A drop in pH leads to the
      protonation of negatively charged residues (Asp or Glu), which enhances peptide
      hydrophobicity, increasing the affinity of the peptide for the lipid bilayer and
      triggering peptide folding and subsequent membrane insertion. The process is
      accompanied by the release of energy that can be utilized to move cell
      impermeable cargo across a membrane. That the mechanism is now understood, and
      that targeting of tumours in mice has been shown, suggest a number of future
      applications of the pHLIP technology in the diagnosis and treatment of disease.

PMID- 20939771
TI  - Enzyme-triggered nanomedicine: drug release strategies in cancer therapy.
AB  - Nanomedicine as a field has emerged from the early success of nanoparticle-based
      drug delivery systems, in particular for treatment of cancer, and the advances
      made in nano- and biotechnology over the past decade. A prerequisite for
      nanoparticle-based drug delivery systems to be effective is that the drug payload
      is released at the target site. A large number of drug release strategies have
      been proposed that can be classified into certain areas. The simplest and most
      successful strategy so far, probably due to relative simplicity, is based on
      utilizing certain physico-chemical characteristics of drugs to obtain a slow drug
      leakage from the formulations after accumulation in the cancerous site. However,
      this strategy is only applicable to a relatively small range of drugs and cannot
      be applied to biologicals. Many advanced drug release strategies have therefore
      been investigated. Such strategies include utilization of heat, light and
      ultrasound sensitive systems and in particular pH sensitive systems where the
      lower pH in endosomes induces drug release. Highly interesting are enzyme
      sensitive systems where over-expressed disease-associated enzymes are utilized to
      trigger drug release. The enzyme-based strategies are particularly interesting as
      they require no prior knowledge of the tumour localization. The basis of this
      review is an evaluation of the current status of drug delivery strategies focused
      on triggered drug release by disease-associated enzymes. We limit ourselves to
      reviewing the liposome field, but the concepts and conclusions are equally
      important for polymer-based systems.

PMID- 20939772
TI  - Nanoparticulate drug delivery systems for cancer chemotherapy.
AB  - Nanoparticles (NPs) are, in general, colloidal particles, less than 1000 nm, that
      can be used for better drug delivery and prepared either by encapsulating the
      drug within a vesicle and or by dispersing the drug molecules within a matrix.
      Nanoparticulate drug delivery systems have been extensively studied in recent
      years for spatial and temporal delivery, especially in tumour and brain
      targeting. NPs have great promise for better drug delivery as found in both
      pharmaceutical and clinical research. As a drug carrier, NPs have significant
      advantages like better bioavailability, systemic stability, high drug loading,
      long blood circulation time and selective distribution in the organs/tissues with
      longer half life. The selective targeting of NPs can be achieved by the enhanced
      permeability and retention effect (EPR-effect), attaching specific ligands, or by
      making selective distribution due to change of the physiological conditions of
      specific systems like nature, pH, temperature, etc. It has been observed that
      drug-loaded NPs can have selective distribution to organs/tissues using different
      types of and proportions of polymers. The current aim of researchers is to
      prepare NPs that are long-lived with and that demonstrate the appropriate
      selective distribution for better therapy and thus improved clinical outcomes.
      Nanoparticulate drug delivery systems have the potential to deliver a drug to the
      target site with specificity and to maintain the desired concentration at the
      site for the intended time without untoward effects. In this review article, the
      methods for the preparation of NPs, their characterization, biodistribution, and
      pharmacokinetic characteristics are discussed.

PMID- 20939770
TI  - Light-sensitive lipid-based nanoparticles for drug delivery: design principles
      and future considerations for biological applications.
AB  - Radiation-based therapies aided by nanoparticles have been developed for decades,
      and can be primarily categorized into two main platforms. First, delivery of
      payload of photo-reactive drugs (photosensitizers) using the conventional
      nanoparticles, and second, design and development of photo-triggerable
      nanoparticles (primarily liposomes) to attain light-assisted on-demand drug
      delivery. The main focus of this review is to provide an update of the history,
      current status and future applications of photo-triggerable lipid-based
      nanoparticles (light-sensitive liposomes). We will begin with a brief overview on
      the applications of liposomes for delivery of photosensitizers, including the
      choice of photosensitizers for photodynamic therapy, as well as the currently
      available light sources (lasers) used for these applications. The main segment of
      this review will encompass the details of strategies used to develop photo
      triggerable liposomes for their drug delivery function. The principles underlying
      the assembly of photoreactive lipids into nanoparticles (liposomes) and photo
      triggering mechanisms will be presented. We will also discuss factors that limit
      the applications of these liposomes for in vivo triggered drug delivery and
      emerging concepts that may lead to the biologically viable photo-activation
      strategies. We will conclude with our view point on the future perspectives of
      light-sensitive liposomes in the clinic.

PMID- 20939776
TI  - Designing implant trials in 2010: a recipe for success.
AB  - In a recent evaluation of 1017 device trials listed on a clinical trials register
      (www.clinicaltrials.gov) between 2005 and 2009, only 84 (8.2%) represented
      orthopedic device evaluations. These device trials notably had few numbers of
      patients and few centers and represented approximately 7% of drug trials on the
      same registry. The relatively small proportion of device trials in orthopedics
      may represent a lack of interest; however, given the device focus of the field,
      the answer is more likely to be a lack of necessity?historically, regulatory
      pathways to implant approvals have not required clinical trials and have largely
      focused on preclinical and early case-series evaluations. The changing landscape
      of the regulatory environment necessitates a renewed interest in high-quality
      clinical research. Specifically, randomized trials of implants in orthopedics are
      poised to become major designs in the future. Given the general uncertainty in
      knowledge of regulatory pathways among researchers and health care providers, the
      current symposium was developed to clarify the design and execution of device
      trials in a changing regulatory environment. We focus our papers on the Food and
      Drug Administration (FDA) device classes and regulatory pathways (510K), design
      challenges in regulatory trials, site audits, and standard operating procedures.
      In over a decade of conducting trials, we have also realized the critical
      importance of data-management systems and contract research organizations. Not
      every clinician, device manufacturer, or researcher planning a randomized trial
      will have the infrastructure or experience to meet the strict regulatory
      compliance guidelines for the proper conduct of the trial. Understanding what to
      look for in a contract research organization is extremely helpful, especially in
      an environment of limited funding and high expectations. We hope that the current
      symposium will provide a broad context to clinical trials of orthopedic devices.
      Despite the challenges of the current regulatory arena, there has never been a
      more exciting time to conduct research in our field.

PMID- 20939777
TI  - New orthopedic devices and the FDA.
AB  - Each year the field of orthopedics is introduced to an influx of new medical
      devices. Each of these medical devices has faced certain hurdles prior to being
      approved for marketing by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Among the
      regulatory pathways available, the 510(k) premarket notification is by far the
      one most commonly used. The 510(k) premarket notification allows the manufacturer
      to receive prompt approval of their device by demonstrating that it is
      "substantially equivalent" to an existing legally marketed device. In most
      instances, this proof of substantial equivalence allows manufacturers of medical
      devices to bypass the use of clinical trials, which are a hallmark of the
      approval process for new drugs. As a result, most medical devices are approved
      without demonstrating safety or effectiveness. This article reviews the
      regulatory processes used by the FDA to evaluate new orthopedic devices.

PMID- 20939778
TI  - The classification of implants: class I, II, III.
AB  - Medical implants fall under the larger category of medical devices, which are
      defined as products used for medical purposes in patients, in diagnosis and/or
      treatment. There are three classes of devices that are controlled by the Food and
      Drug Administration (FDA). Class I devices present the lowest safety risk and are
      only subject to general controls; Class II devices require general and special
      controls involving labeling requirements, mandatory performance standards and
      adequate surveillance; Class III devices must have the same general and special
      controls as Class I and II devices, and undergo scientific review. Class III is
      the most scientifically rigorous classification of medical devices and
      encompasses most of the orthopedic implants on the market today. In this paper,
      different categories of orthopedic implants will be discussed, including the
      development of artificial anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) grafts and FDA
      approval of alumina ceramic-on-ceramic (COC) total hip prostheses.

PMID- 20939779
TI  - Standard operating procedures: the devil is in the details.
AB  - Standard operating procedures (SOPs) play an important role in clinical research
      due to their role in promoting good clinical practice. Due to their importance,
      it will be explored in this article how and why this is the case, in addition to
      examining the value of SOPs in conducting an effective clinical trial. This will
      be done by first introducing the concept of SOPs, which is followed by a
      discussion of their advantages and how to best develop and use them.

PMID- 20939780
TI  - Management issues unique to regulatory trials.
AB  - Regulatory trials provide scientific evidence regarding the effectiveness of
      medical devices and play a crucial role in the approval to use new devices safely
      in patient care. Compared to non-regulatory trials, regulatory trials are time
      intensive and involve strict documentation and protocol regulations. In this
      article, we outline the unique data management considerations and extensive
      documentation requirements and provide examples from our own experiences
      participating in regulatory trials. We provide an overview of the processes
      involved prior to, during, and after the trial, including what to expect when a
      monitor visits your site and what to expect if the regulatory body audits your
      site.

PMID- 20939781
TI  - Endpoint assessment in orthopedic implant trials: current systems and approaches.
AB  - Quality orthopedic trauma research is imperative as it provides clinical guidance
      in practicing evidence-based medicine. However, meaningful orthopedic trauma
      research, including orthopedic implant trials, is often difficult as there are
      very few accepted standard definitions in outcomes assessment. The unique
      challenges faced by investigators, especially in conducting large multi-site,
      multi-national randomized implant trials, can be addressed by having the adequate
      infrastructure in place, which includes having a central Adjudication Committee
      to conduct an objective outcomes assessment. While the nature of the adjudication
      process is complex and labor-intensive, a web-based system, such as the Global
      AdjudicatorTM, can greatly facilitate the adjudication process. The purpose of
      this manuscript is to provide an overview on the nature of orthopedic implant
      trials, with an emphasis on conducting reliable outcomes assessment.

PMID- 20939782
TI  - Surviving a site audit: tips for good clinical practice in an implant trial.
AB  - The number of clinical trials involving implants for trauma and orthopedic
      surgery is increasing. The International Conference on Harmonization-Good
      Clinical Practice (ICH-GCP) guideline has been developed in order to assure that
      the rights, safety, and well-being of trial subjects (i.e., patients) are
      protected. Not performing a trial according to legal requirements including this
      guideline is no longer acceptable, and trial audits are increasingly being
      performed as an independent quality check for data validity and credibility. This
      manuscript provides an overview of the guideline for Good Clinical Practice (GCP)
      in the context of conducting an implant trial in trauma and orthopedic surgery.
      As long as all guidelines are adequately adhered to and all paperwork is in
      order, there is no reason to fear a trial audit.

PMID- 20939783
TI  - Design issues in a non-regulatory trial.
AB  - Randomized, controlled trials (RCTs) represent the highest level of evidence
      attainable. Although up to 60% of clinical questions cannot be answered by an
      RCT, it is still the ideal method of comparing orthopedic implants. The strength
      of the findings of RCTs is a result of the investigator?s ability to limit bias
      through careful attention to study design. Bias may be limited through
      randomization, allocation concealment, and blinding. Unfortunately, RCTs
      involving different surgical techniques or implants present many challenges that
      may introduce bias and threaten the validity of study results. The purpose of
      this review is to outline these issues and present possible solutions to these
      challenges, with the ultimate goal of improving surgeons? understanding of how to
      design and critically appraise RCTs involving orthopedic implants.

PMID- 20939784
TI  - Getting educated: e-learning resources in the design and execution of surgical
      trials.
AB  - An evidence-based approach to research, which includes important aspects such as
      critical appraisal, is essential for the effective conduct of clinical trials.
      Researchers who are interested in educating themselves about its principles in
      order to incorporate them into their trials face challenges when attempting to
      acquire this information from traditional learning sources. E-learning resources
      offer an intriguing possibility of overcoming the challenges posed by traditional
      learning, and show promise as a way to expand accessibility to quality education
      about evidence-based principles. An assessment of existing e-learning resources
      reveals positive educational avenues for researchers, although significant flaws
      exist. The Global EducatorTM by Global Research Solutions addresses many of these
      flaws and is an e-learning resource that combines convenience with
      comprehensiveness.

PMID- 20939785
TI  - Finding a contract research organization for your research trial.
AB  - Clinical research organizations (CROs) can provide consulting services and
      support to assist with the conduct of clinical trials from site initiation to
      study close-out. As the number of CROs continues to increase, it can be difficult
      to determine the optimal organization to help manage a large or even a small
      scale project. We present uses for and attributes to consider when choosing a
      CRO, and provide examples of four CROs specializing in various therapeutic areas.

PMID- 20939787
TI  - Thermal motions of the E. coli glucose-galactose binding protein studied using
      well-sampled, semi-atomistic simulations.
AB  - The E. coli glucose-galactose chemosensory receptor is a 309 residue, 32 kDa
      protein consisting of two distinct structural domains. We used two computational
      methods to examine the protein's thermal fluctuations, including both the large
      scale interdomain movements that contribute to the receptor's mechanism of
      action, as well as smaller-scale motions. We primarily employ extremely fast,
      "semi-atomistic" Library-Based Monte Carlo (LBMC) simulations, which include all
      backbone atoms but "implicit" side chains. Our results were compared with
      previous experiments and all-atom molecular dynamics (MD) simulation. Both LBMC
      and MD simulations were performed using both the apo and glucose-bound form of
      the protein, with LBMC exhibiting significantly larger fluctuations. The LBMC
      simulations are in general agreement with the disulfide trapping experiments of
      Careaga & Falke (J. Mol. Biol., 1992, Vol. 226, 1219-35), which indicate that
      distant residues in the crystal structure (i.e. beta carbons separated by 10 to
      20 angstroms) form spontaneous transient contacts in solution. Our simulations
      illustrate several possible "mechanisms" (configurational pathways) for these
      fluctuations. We also observe several discrepancies between our calculations and
      experimental rate constants. Nevertheless, we believe that our semi-atomistic
      approach could be used to study fluctuations in other proteins, perhaps for
      ensemble docking or other analyses of protein flexibility in virtual screening
      studies.

PMID- 20939788
TI  - Protein flexibility and ligand recognition: challenges for molecular modeling.
AB  - The intrinsic dynamics of macromolecules is an essential property to relate the
      structure of biomolecular systems with their function in the cell. In the field
      of ligand-receptor recognition, numerous evidences have revealed the limitations
      of the lock-and-key theory, and the need to elaborate models that take into
      account the inherent plasticity of biomolecules, such as the induced-fit model or
      the existence of an ensemble of pre-equilibrated conformations. Depending on the
      nature of the target system, ligand binding can be associated with small local
      adjustments in side chains or even the backbone to large-scale motions of
      structural fragments, domains or even subunits. Reproducing the inherent
      flexibility of biomolecules has thus become one of the most challenging issues in
      molecular modeling and simulation studies, as it has direct implications in our
      understanding of the structure-function relationships, but even in areas such as
      virtual screening and structure-based drug discovery. Given the intrinsic
      limitation of conventional simulation tools, only events occurring in short time
      scales can be reproduced at a high accuracy level through all-atom techniques
      such as Molecular Dynamics simulations. However, larger structural rearrangements
      demand the use of enhanced sampling methods relying on modified descriptions of
      the biomolecular system or the potential surface. This review illustrates the
      crucial role that structural plasticity plays in mediating ligand recognition
      through representative examples. In addition, it discusses some of the most
      powerful computational tools developed to characterize the conformational
      flexibility in ligand-receptor complexes.

PMID- 20939789
TI  - Accounting for induced-fit effects in docking: what is possible and what is not?
AB  - Proteins can undergo a variety of conformational changes upon ligand binding.
      Although different mechanisms may play a role, the phenomenon is commonly
      referred to as induced fit to indicate that the tight structural complementarity
      of the interaction partners is a consequence of the binding event. Docking
      methods need to take into account this ability of the ligand and the protein to
      mutually adapt to each other when forming a complex. Handling the ligand as
      flexible is already common practice in docking applications. This is not yet the
      case for the protein. In fact, the accurate prediction of protein conformational
      changes upon ligand binding is still a major challenge, even more if
      computational speed is an issue, as for example in virtual screening
      applications. However, significant progress has been made over the past years and
      many valuable approaches have become available to address the protein flexibility
      problem and to provide more reliable docking predictions for complexes governed
      by significant induced-fit effects. This review provides a brief overview of the
      current situation, the most recent advances, and the remaining limitations of
      flexible protein docking, with particular focus on approaches handling protein
      flexibility simultaneously with ligand placement in the docking process.

PMID- 20939790
TI  - Biochemical and structural investigations on kynurenine aminotransferase II: an
      example of conformation-driven species-specific inhibition?
AB  - Kynurenic acid (KYNA), one of the metabolites belonging to the kynurenine
      pathway, has been described as an important neuroprotective compound, its
      unbalancing being associated with several pathological conditions. In human
      brain, the majority of KYNA production is sustained by kynurenine
      aminotransferase II (KAT II). A selective KAT II inhibitor would be an important
      pharmacological tool, since it would reduce KYNA formation without causing
      complete depletion of this neuroprotector. (S)-(4)-(ethylsulfonyl)benzoylalanine
      (S-ESBA), described as a potent and selective inhibitor of rat KAT II, is
      unfortunately ineffective towards the human enzyme although the two orthologs
      share a remarkably high degree of sequence identity. We investigated the
      molecular basis for this intriguing species-specificity by adopting a site
      directed mutagenesis and structural approach. We propose that the source of the
      inhibitor specificity toward the rat enzyme could reside on S-ESBA
      interaction/interference with a flexible loop that controls ligand admission to
      the active site by a classical induced-fit mechanism. Our data further highlights
      that even in case of highly conserved molecular targets, the flexibility of
      catalytically important structural elements can have a significant impact on the
      selectivity of inhibitor action.

PMID- 20939791
TI  - Ligands turning around in the midst of protein conformers: the origin of ligand
      protein mating. A NMR view.
AB  - Protein-ligand binding is a puzzling process. Many theories have been devised
      since the pioneering key-and-lock hypothesis based on the idea that both the
      protein and the ligand have a rigid single conformation. Indeed, molecular motion
      is the essence of the universe. Consequently, not only proteins are characterized
      by an extraordinary conformational freedom, but ligands too can fluctuate in a
      rather vast conformational space. In this scenario, the quest to understand how
      do they match is fascinating. Recognizing that the inherent dynamics of molecules
      is the key factor controlling the success of the binding and, subsequently, their
      chemical/biological function, here we present a view of this process from the NMR
      stand point. A description of the most relevant NMR parameters that can provide
      insights, at atomic level, on the mechanisms of protein-ligand binding is
      provided in the final section.

PMID- 20939792
TI  - Accommodating protein flexibility for structure-based drug design.
AB  - Proper incorporation of protein flexibility for prediction of binding poses and
      affinities of small compounds has attracted increasing attention recently in
      computational drug design. Various approaches have been proposed to accommodate
      protein flexibility in the prediction of binding modes and the binding free
      energy of ligands in an efficient manner. In this review, the significance of
      incorporating protein flexibility is discussed from the structural biophysical
      point of view, and then various approaches of generating protein conformation
      ensembles, as well as their successes and limitations, are introduced and
      compared. Special emphasis is on how to generate a proper ensemble of
      conformation for a specific purpose, as well as the computational efficiency of
      various approaches. Different searching algorithms for the prediction of optimal
      binding poses of ligands, which are the core engines of docking programs, are
      accounted for. Scoring functions for evaluation of protein-ligand complexes are
      compared. Two end-point methods of free energy calculation, Molecular
      Mechanics/Poisson-Boltzmann Surface Area (MM/PBSA) and the Linear Interaction
      Energy (LIE) method, are briefly reviewed. Finally, we also provide an example
      for the extension of the conventional protein-ligand docking algorithm for
      prediction of multiple binding sites and ligand translocation pathways.

PMID- 20939793
TI  - Induced fit simulations on nuclear receptors.
AB  - The large superfamily of nuclear receptors is a family of ligand-activated
      transcription factors involved in numerous fundamental processes and shows many
      common characteristics and behaviors. The comprehension of these roles is of
      fundamental importance to select the right target for receptor structure-based
      screening. Recently, during the last ten years, several crystallographic
      structures of nuclear receptors complexed with ligands have been registered in
      the Protein Data Bank, supplying a structural basis for computational
      simulations. The macroscopic flexibility of helix12 and local flexibility of some
      amino acids sidechains within cavities of the Ligand Binding Domain suggest a
      reason for the behavior of these receptors toward different ligands. Several
      approaches have been applied in trying to explain this flexibility and to predict
      how ligand binding can influence complex conformations. In this short review, we
      present an introduction to the structure and function of nuclear receptors,
      specifically the estrogen, androgen, glucorticoid, peroxisome proliferator,
      steroid, thyroid and vitamin D receptors, and a discussion of the state-of-the
      art of induced fit approaches for the nuclear receptor family.

PMID- 20939794
TI  - Novel vitreous modulators for pharmacologic vitreolysis in the treatment of
      diabetic retinopathy.
AB  - Vitreous constitutes about 80% of the volume of the human eye. It is an extended
      extracellular matrix that is composed of collagen, hyaluronan, and other
      extracellular matrix molecules, but mostly water. In both health as well as
      disease, especially diabetic retinopathy (DR), special attention should be drawn
      to the posterior vitreous cortex and its relation to the retinal surface. The
      important role of vitreous in the pathogenesis of proliferative DR has already
      been demonstrated by several experimental and clinical studies. Thus, vitreo
      retinal separation by pharmacologic vitreolysis and/or removal by surgical means
      are appropriate approaches to interrupt the pathogenic contribution of vitreous
      and prevent progression of diabetic retinopathy to more advanced stages. This
      review describes various aspects of the molecular morphology and structural
      anatomy of vitreous and the vitreo-retinal interface, as well as the role of
      vitreous in the pathophysiology of DR. Lastly, this treatise provides a critical
      analysis of novel vitreous modulators for pharmacologic vitreolysis in the
      treatment of DR. Microplasmin is currently the most promising approach to treat
      vitreoretinal traction by pharmacologic vitreolysis.

PMID- 20939795
TI  - The therapeutic implications of renin-angiotensin system blockade in diabetic
      retinopathy.
AB  - Research has proven that blood pressure is an important modifiable risk factor
      for diabetic retinopathy and that lowering high blood pressure significantly
      reduces the development and progression of retinopathy in both type 1 and type 2
      diabetic patients. The renin-angiotensin-system (RAS) has been shown to become
      activated in diabetes. Hyperglycaemia stimulates the angiotensin AT1-receptor and
      downstream chains of events resulting in diabetic end organ damage.
      Pharmacological RAS inhibition may thus be a beneficial therapeutic strategy in
      the management of diabetic retinopathy. The present review article details
      therapeutic RAS inhibition in diabetic retinopathy with an emphasis on recently
      published evidence. Future research on the potential effects of RAS blockade will
      be important while using these drugs as adjuncts in the treatment of diabetic
      retinopathy.

PMID- 20939796
TI  - Protein kinase C inhibitors in the treatment of diabetic retinopathy. Review.
AB  - PURPOSE: To review current data regarding protein Kinase C beta (PKCbeta)
      inhibitors and its efficacy in reducing the burden of diabetic retinopathy (DR)
      and diabetic macular edema (DME). DATA SOURCES: MEDLINE search (1980-2009) and
      presentations to major meetings. DATA SYNTHESIS: DR and DME have emerged as the
      main cause of visual impairment in working age population. Treatments for DR and
      DME include good metabolic control, laser photocoagulation and vitrectomy.
      However, current therapeutic regimes have not yet provided satisfactory visual
      results. PKC is an intracellular signalling molecule and its activation plays an
      important role in the development of ocular complications and has become a field
      of great interest. Several PKC inhibitors have been investigated. Ruboxistaurin,
      an orally PKCbeta inhibitor has demonstrated in vitro and in vivo benefits in
      dimisnish cell and blood flow alterations related to hyperglycemia and has a
      potential use as a therapy for DR and DME. The beneficial effect of Ruboxistaurin
      in them has been demonstrated in preclinical and clinical studies and controlled
      trials have been conducted during the last decade. The ability of Ruboxistaurin
      in reducing visual loss in patients with DR has been demonstrated in the PKC DRS2
      trial and DME seems to respond to Ruboxistaurin with both anatomic and functional
      benefits. The manufacturer, Eli Lilly, has received an approvable letter from the
      FDA for the prevention of vision loss in patients with DR with Ruboxistaurin, but
      at this time the medication is not available for clinical use pending results of
      additional trials for this indication.

PMID- 20939797
TI  - Anti-angiogenesis drugs in diabetic retinopathy.
AB  - The vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) plays a key role in the development
      of proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) and diabetic macular edema (DME),
      resulting in a significant visual loss among patients with diabetes mellitus.
      Systemic VEGF-A and the interplay between membrane-bound VEGF receptors and VEGF
      R1 (soluble form) are key to angiogenesis and vasculogenesis. Furthermore,
      patients with diabetes have a higher risk of hypertension and proteinuria, two
      surrogate markers of systemic VEGF inhibition. Pegaptanib, ranibizumab,
      bevacizumab and roboxistaurin are the currently available anti-VEGF agents.
      Agents with activity occurring later down the angiogenic pathway and those drugs
      with potential to synergize with anti-VEGF-A technologies are being developed. In
      recent years, inhibition of ocular VEGF has emerged as a promising treatment
      modality for diabetes and is currently undergoing evaluation in clinical trials.
      A potential role for these anti-VEGF agents in the prevention of PDR and DME are
      also emerging.

PMID- 20939798
TI  - Advanced glycation end products (AGEs), oxidative stress and diabetic
      retinopathy.
AB  - Diabetic retinopathy is a common and devastating microvascular complication in
      diabetes and is a leading cause of acquired blindness among the people of
      occupational age. Recent large landmark clinical studies have shown that
      intensive control of blood glucose or blood pressure (BP) reduces the risk for
      diabetic retinopathy. However, the strict control of blood glucose or BP is often
      difficult to maintain. Further, current therapeutic options for the treatment of
      sight-threatening proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) such as
      photocoagulation and vitrectomy are limited by considerable side effects and far
      from satisfactory. Therefore, to develop novel therapeutic strategies that
      specifically target PDR is actually desired for most patients with diabetes.
      Although various biochemical and hemodynamic pathways are implicated in the
      diabetic retinopathy, recent clinical study has substantiated the concept of
      'metabolic memory', and suggested the active involvement of advanced glycation
      end products (AGEs) and oxidative stress in this sight-threatening disorder. We,
      along with others, have recently found that pigment epithelium-derived factor
      (PEDF), a glycoprotein with complex neuroprotective, anti-angiogenic, anti
      oxidative, and anti-inflammatory properties, could potentially be exploited as a
      therapeutic option for the treatment of diabetic retinopathy. Therefore, this
      article summarizes the role of AGEs and oxidative stress in diabetic retinopathy
      and discusses a potential utility of the blockade of this system by PEDF in this
      devastating disorder.

PMID- 20939799
TI  - Fluocinolone acetonide implantable device for diabetic retinopathy.
AB  - Diabetic retinopathy remains a major worldwide cause of preventable visual loss.
      Although photocoagulation and improved metabolic control are effective for
      patients with diabetic macular edema and proliferative diabetic retinopathy, some
      patients continue to lose vision despite treatment. Various classes of
      pharmacotherapy have shown promise in the treatment of diabetic retinopathy,
      including corticosteroids, anti-vascular endothelial growth factor agents, and
      others. Off-label intravitreal corticosteroids are associated with short-term
      anatomic and visual improvement in some patients, but these patients may require
      repeated intravitreal injections with cumulative risks of cataract formation,
      intraocular pressure elevation, and endophthalmitis. Various sustained-release
      corticosteroid delivery systems have been investigated for this purpose. The
      first to become widely available is the fluocinolone acetonide intravitreal
      implant (Retisert, Bausch & Lomb, Rochester, NY), which received U.S. Food and
      Drug Administration approval to treat chronic, noninfectious posterior segment
      uveitis in 2005. This device also has been investigated as a treatment for
      diabetic macular edema. Multiple randomized clinical trials have demonstrated
      medium-term anatomic and visual improvement, but the device is associated with
      high risks of cataract formation and intraocular pressure elevation. At this
      time, the device is not widely used in the treatment of diabetic retinopathy. A
      smaller device, designed to be injected in a clinic setting (Iluvien, Alimera
      Sciences, Alpharetta, GA) is currently being investigated for the treatment of
      diabetic macular edema. Results from a phase 3 randomized controlled trial have
      recently reported medium-term efficacy and safety in the treatment of diabetic
      macular edema. Combination photocoagulation and pharmacotherapy with these
      devices has not yet been reported.

PMID- 20939800
TI  - Triamcinolone and intraocular sustained-release delivery systems in diabetic
      retinopathy.
AB  - Diabetic retinopathy (DR) still represents one of the leading causes of vision
      loss worldwide. Since this condition affects the posterior segment of the eye,
      topical application of ophthalmic medicines is of limited benefit, considering
      that they seldom reach therapeutic levels in the affected tissues. Systemic
      medications can be insufficient due to the eye's immunoprivileged condition and
      existence of both inner and outer blood-retinal barriers, which place limitations
      on the potential role of this route of administration for retinal diseases. In
      this setting, intraocular therapies have emerged as novel and vital tools in the
      ophthalmologist's armamentarium against DR, allowing for maximization of drug
      efficacy and limited risk of systemic side effects. Intravitreal injections of
      triamcinolone acetonide have been widely used for treating DR particularly in the
      21(st) century. Other agents targeting molecules, such as anti-vascular
      endothelial growth factor, have also demonstrated a potential therapeutic role
      for treatment. Recent advances in ocular drug delivery methods have led to the
      development of intraocular implants, which help to provide prolonged treatment
      with controlled drug release. Moreover, they may add some potential advantages
      over traditional intraocular injections by delivering certain rates of drug
      directly to the site of action, amplifying the drug's half-life, contributing in
      the minimization of peak plasma levels of the drug, and avoiding the side effects
      associated with repeated intravitreal injections.

PMID- 20939801
TI  - Aldose reductase / polyol inhibitors for diabetic retinopathy.
AB  - Diabetic retinopathy is the most common microvascular complication of diabetes
      and the most severe of diabetic ocular complications. This review describes
      retinal changes at different stages of diabetic retinopathy and risk factors
      associated with this devastating disease. Special attention is focused on aldose
      reductase, the first enzyme of the sorbitol pathway of glucose metabolism. The
      current knowledge on the enzyme localization in the retina, and the role for
      increased aldose reductase activity in retinal capillary cell loss and formation
      of acellular capillaries, capillary basement membrane thickening, increased
      vascular permeability and disruption of blood-retinal barrier, and increased
      leukocyte adhesion to endothelial cells associated with early diabetic
      retinopathy, as well as neovascularization associated with advanced
      (proliferative) diabetic retinopathy, gained through the experimental studies in
      animal models of diabetes and galactose feeding, is described in detail. The
      review also analyzes the potential mechanisms underlying aldose reductase
      involvement in pathogenesis of diabetic retinopathy, and discusses interactions
      between aldose reductase and other pathogenetic factors such as formation of
      advanced glycation end-products, oxidative-nitrosative stress, protein kinase C,
      mitogen-activated protein kinase, and poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase activations,
      inflammation, and growth factor imbalances. A detailed analysis of clinical
      diabetic retinopathy trials of aldose reductase inhibitors is also provided.

PMID- 20939802
TI  - Fibrates and statins in the treatment of diabetic retinopathy.
AB  - Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is one of the leading risk factors and causes of
      blindness worldwide. Tight glucose and blood pressure control has been shown to
      significantly decrease the risk of development as well as the progression of
      retinopathy and represents the cornerstone of medical management of DR. The two
      most threatening complications of DR are diabetic macular edema (DME) and
      proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR). Photocoagulation is standard treatment
      for both DME and PDR. However, some patients suffer permanent visual loss despite
      therapy. Treatment with fibrates first showed reduction in hard exudates, an
      effect subsequently shown with statins in short term studies, in particular two
      randomized studies in patients with macular edema. In the FIELD study which pre
      specified microvascular outcomes, fenofibrate reduced laser treatment for DME or
      PDR by 31%:164 (3.4%) patients on fenofibrate vs. 238 (4.9%) on placebo
      (p<0.001). In the ophthalmology sub-study of FIELD, the composite exploratory
      endpoint of 2-step progression of ETDRS retinopathy grade, macular edema or laser
      treatment was significantly reduced by 34%: 53 (11.1%) patients on fenofibrate
      vs. 75 (16.1%) on placebo (p=0.022). Conversely, there was no reduction in laser
      treatment or reduced progression of retinopathy in two large scale studies of
      statins where cardiovascular events were significantly reduced. Neither class of
      lipid-lowering drugs consistently improved visual acuity. In the ACCORD-EYE
      study, the combination of fenofibrate and simvastatin reduced by 40% the rate of
      progression of diabetic retinopathy compared with simvastatin alone. Other
      studies are needed to establish the place of lipid lowering drugs in the
      treatment of macular edema and the prevention of vision loss.

PMID- 20939804
TI  - Pharmacologic vitreolysis in diabetic retinopathy.
AB  - Diabetic retinopathy remains a major cause of worldwide preventable blindness.
      The vitreo-retinal interface plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of
      diabetic retinopathy. The term pharmacologic vitreolysis refers to the use of
      enzymes to liquefy the vitreous gel, and to induce posterior vitreous detachment
      (PVD). Intravitreal ovine hyaluronidase injection was effective in clearing
      vitreous hemorrhage. Several human case series demonstrated that intravitreal
      injection of autologous plasmin enzyme was a safe and effective adjunct to
      vitreous surgery for the treatment of diabetic macular edema and proliferative
      diabetic retinopathy. Recently, it was shown that intravitreal injection of
      plasmin enzyme without the performance of vitrectomy induced complete PVD and
      reduced macular thickening due to refractory diabetic macular edema.

PMID- 20939805
TI  - Micro-determination of iron in pharmaceutical preparations by image scanning and
      computational quantification.
AB  - Iron has been quantified in pharmaceutical preparations by developing red spots
      pursuant to interaction of Fe(II) ions in the sample with 1, 10-phenanthroline on
      TLC plate. Soon after, TLC was scanned on a flatbed scanner and the image was
      transferred to the computer. Color intensity of the spot was computationally
      quantified with the help of native software developed for this purpose. The
      conditions were optimized and the results were compared with a reference method.

PMID- 20939806
TI  - Pharmacology and chemistry of diabetes mellitus and antidiabetic drugs: a
      critical review.
AB  - Diabetes mellitus, an epidemic metabolic disorders characterized by high blood
      glucose level associated with various macrovascular and microvascular
      complications, is one of the main causes of human suffering across the globe.
      Researchers around the world mainly focused on insulin, insulin analogues, oral
      hypoglycemic agents and various other complementary and alternate medicines to
      control the blood glucose levels in diabetes. The present review summarizes the
      disorders associated with elevation of blood glucose level, biochemical &
      endocrinological aspects and the current strategies to control. The emphasis has
      been laid in particular on the new potential biological targets and the possible
      treatment as well as the current ongoing research status on new generation
      hypoglycemic agents.

PMID- 20939803
TI  - Diabetic retinopathy, superoxide damage and antioxidants.
AB  - Retinopathy, the leading cause of acquired blindness in young adults, is one of
      the most feared complications of diabetes, and hyperglycemia is considered as the
      major trigger for its development. The microvasculature of the retina is
      constantly bombarded by high glucose, and this insult results in many metabolic,
      structural and functional changes. Retinal mitochondria become dysfunctional, its
      DNA is damaged and proteins encoded by its DNA are decreased. The electron
      transport chain system becomes compromised, further producing superoxide and
      providing no relief to the retina from a continuous cycle of damage. Although the
      retina attempts to initiate repair mechanisms by inducing gene expressions of the
      repair enzymes, their mitochondrial accumulation remains deficient. Understanding
      the molecular mechanism of mitochondrial damage should help identify therapies to
      treat/retard this sight threatening complication of diabetes. Our hope is that if
      the retinal mitochondria are maintained healthy with adjunct therapies, the
      development and progression of diabetic retinopathy can be inhibited.

PMID- 20939807
TI  - Targeting transcription factor activity as a strategy to inhibit pro-inflammatory
      genes involved in cystic fibrosis: decoy oligonucleotides and low-molecular
      weight compounds.
AB  - The development of drugs able to inhibit the expression of pro-inflammatory genes
      is of great interest in the treatment of cystic fibrosis (CF). Chronic pulmonary
      inflammation in the lungs of patients affected by CF is characterized by massive
      intra-bronchial infiltrates of neutrophils. This process is initiated upon
      interaction of pathogens (including Pseudomonas aeruginosa) with surface
      bronchial cells. Consequently, they release cytokines, the most represented being
      the potent neutrophilic chemokine Interleukin (IL)-8 and the pro-inflammatory
      cytokine IL-6. The chronic inflammatory process is crucial, since it leads to
      progressive tissue damage and severe respiratory insufficiency. In order to
      reduce the adverse effects of the excessive inflammatory response, one of the
      approaches leading to inhibition of IL-8 and IL-6 gene expression is the
      transcription factor (TF) decoy approach, based on intracellular delivery of
      double stranded oligodeoxynucleotides (ODNs) mimicking the binding sites of TFs
      and causing inhibition of binding of TF-related proteins to regulatory sequences
      identified in the promoters of specific genes. Since the promoters of IL-8 and IL
      6 contain consensus sequences for NF-kappa B and Sp1, double stranded TF "decoy"
      ODNs targeting NF-kappaB and Sp1 can be used. Alternatively, screening of drugs
      targeting relevant TFs can be performed using drug cocktails constituted by
      extracts from medicinal plants inhibiting TF/DNA interactions. Finally, virtual
      screening might lead to identification of putative bioactive molecules to be
      validated using molecular and cellular approaches. By these means, low-molecular
      drugs targeting NF-kappaB and inhibiting IL-8 gene expression are available for
      pre-clinical testing using experimental systems recapitulating chronic pulmonary
      inflammation of patients affected by CF.

PMID- 20939808
TI  - Neurochemistry changes associated with mutations in familial Parkinson's disease.
AB  - Parkinson's disease (PD), a common neurodegenerative disease, is characterized by
      the progressive loss of dopamine neurons and the accumulation of Lewy bodies and
      neurites. The exact role of genetic and environmental factors in the pathogenesis
      of PD has frequently been debated. The association of MPTP (methyl-4-phenyl-1, 2,
      3, 6- tetrahydropyridine) and toxins (such as rotenone) with parkinsonism
      highlights the potential etiologic role of environmental toxins in disease
      causation. The recent discoveries of monogenic (such as alpha-synuclein, Parkin,
      UCHL1, PINK1, DJ-1, LRRK2) forms of PD have provided considerable insights into
      its pathophysiology. Parkin, an ubiquitin protein ligase assists in the
      degradation of toxic substrates via the ubiquitin proteasome system. It can also
      mediate a nondegradative form of ubiquitination. PINK1 and LRRK2 are possibly
      involved in the phosphorylation of substrates important for various cellular
      functions. Some toxins could interact with alpha-synuclein, an endogenous protein
      that is implicated in pathology of PD. Increasing in vitro and in vivo studies
      suggest that deficits in mitochondrial function, oxidative and nitrosative
      stress, the accumulation of aberrant or misfolded proteins, and ubiquitin
      proteasome system dysfunction underpin the pathogenesis of sporadic and familial
      forms of PD. Elucidation of the functions of the proteins encoded by the
      diseasecausing genes will provide an opportunity for identification of specific
      pathways that could be targeted in neurotherapeutics.

PMID- 20939809
TI  - UPA and PAI-1 analysis from fixed tissues - new perspectives for a known set of
      predictive markers.
AB  - The urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) and its main inhibitor PAI-1 play
      key roles in tumor-associated processes such as the degradation of the
      extracellular matrix (ECM), tissue remodeling, cell adhesion and migration.
      Elevated expression of both molecules is known to correlate with negative
      outcomes in node negative breast cancer. To date, these molecules are the only
      prognostic markers to have reached the highest level of evidence (LOE I) in multi
      centered clinical trials for prognosis of node negative breast cancer.
      Unfortunately, the clinical utility of these molecules as markers is limited by
      the use of enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA) tests for their detection. The ELISA
      relies on the use of fresh or frozen tissue, which are rarely available in
      routine clinical settings. In this review article, we provide an overview of the
      clinical relevance of uPA and PAI-1 and present alternative methods for their
      detection. Common uPA and PAI-1 detection methods discussed in literature include
      RT-PCR-based assays and classical immunohistochemistry approaches. In recent
      years, attempts have been made to isolate and analyze proteins of formalin fixed,
      paraffin embedded (FFPE) tissues. These new methods are of special interest
      because up to now neither RT-PCR nor immunohistochemistry are recommended for the
      detection of uPA and PAI-1. Here, we present an approach for the analysis of uPA
      and PAI-1 directly from FFPE tissues that may eventually overcome the limitations
      of current assays and make the use of both markers widely available for routine
      prognosis and therapy decisions for breast cancer patients.

PMID- 20939810
TI  - Intramolecular cyclisation of beta-aryl-beta-amino acids in the design of novel
      heterocyclic systems with therapeutic interest: an unfailing source of diversity.
AB  - beta-Aryl-beta-amino acids constitute very useful scaffolds able to lead, via
      various intra-molecular cyclisation reactions, to a great diversity of cyclic
      derivatives with numerous biological and therapeutic properties. The present
      article aims at reporting an exhaustive overview of these ring-closure sequences
      and their application in the medicinal chemistry field.

PMID- 20939811
TI  - PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway inhibitors in cancer: a perspective on clinical progress.
AB  - The phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/serine-theronine protein kinase Akt (also
      known as protein kinase B (PKB))/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway is
      a vital transduction cascade that is connected with many essential cellular
      activities, such as growth and survival. Along with extensive pharmacological
      studies validating the therapeutic potential of targeting the PI3K/Akt/mTOR
      pathway for the treatment of cancer, kinase inhibitors targeting significant
      knots of this pathway including PI3K, Akt, mTOR, and 3-phosphoinositide-dependent
      protein kinase-1 (PDK-1) keep arising and entering clinical studies. Herein, we
      review the most up-to-date landscape on developing small-molecule kinase
      inhibitors targeting the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway, with emphasis on small-molecule
      inhibitors which have been progressed into clinical studies.

PMID- 20939812
TI  - Novel agents in the management of lung cancer.
AB  - Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death worldwide. Survival remains poor
      as approximately 80% of cases present with advanced stage disease. However, new
      treatments are emerging which offer hope to patients with advanced disease.
      Insights into cell biology have identified numerous intracellular and
      extracellular peptides that are pivotal in cancer cell signalling. Disrupting the
      function of these peptides inhibits intracellular signal transduction and
      diminishes uncontrolled proliferation, resistance to apoptosis and tumour
      angiogenesis. The most widely studied signalling pathway is the Epidermal Growth
      Factor (EGF) pathway. EGF signalling can be disrupted at numerous points.
      Blockade of the cell surface receptor is achieved by the monoclonal antibody
      cetuximab; intracellular tyrosine kinase activity is inhibited by erlotinib.
      Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) regulates another pathway important for
      tumour growth. Inhibition of VEGF impairs angiogenesis and disrupts metastatic
      spread. Bevacizumab is a monoclonal antibody that binds to VEGF and blocks
      interaction with its cell surface receptor. Clinical trials have demonstrated
      that disruption of these signalling pathways can improve survival in advanced
      lung cancer. New compounds including folate antimetabolites such as pemetrexed,
      proteasome inhibitors such as bortezomib, modified glutathione analogues such as
      TLK286, and other agents such as epothilones and other small molecules are
      currently being evaluated in patients with lung cancer. As more and more
      signalling peptides are targeted for manipulation, it is hoped that a new era is
      dawning in the treatment of advanced stage lung cancer. This review will focus on
      emerging new therapies in the management of lung cancer.

PMID- 20939813
TI  - Recent advances in the development of dual topoisomerase I and II inhibitors as
      anticancer drugs.
AB  - DNA topoisomerases (topos) are essential enzymes that regulate the topological
      state of DNA during cellular processes such as replication, transcription,
      recombination, and chromatin remodeling. Topoisomerase I (Topo I) is a ubiquitous
      nuclear enzyme which catalyzes the relaxation of superhelical DNA generating a
      transient single strand nick in the duplex, through cycles of cleavage and
      religation. Topoisomerase II (Topo II) mediates the ATP-dependent induction of
      coordinated nicks in both strands of the DNA duplex, followed by crossing of
      another double strand DNA through the transiently broken duplex. Although the
      biological functions of Topoisomerases are important for ensuing genomic
      integrity, the ability to interfere with enzymes or generate enzyme-mediated
      damage is an effective strategy for cancer therapy and, in this connection, DNA
      topos (I and II) proved to be the excellent targets of clinically significant
      classes of anticancer drugs. Actually, specific Topo I and Topo II inhibitors
      reversibly trap the enzyme-DNA complexes, thus converting Topos into
      physiological poisons, able to produce permanent DNA damage, which triggers cell
      death. Given that both enzymes are good targets, it would be desirable to jointly
      inhibit them, but use-limiting toxicity of sequential or simultaneous
      combinations of topo I and II poisons include severe to life-threatening
      neutropenia and anemia. Furthermore, the emergence of resistance phenomena to
      topo I inhibitors is often accompanied by a concomitant rise in the level of topo
      II expression and viceversa, leading to the failure of clinical therapies. In
      this regard, a single compound able to inhibit both Topo I and II may present the
      advantage of improving antitopoisomerase activity, with reduced toxic side
      effects, with respect to the combination of two inhibitors. Due to the high
      interest in such compounds, this review represents an update of previous works
      dealing with the development of dual Topo I and II inhibitors as novel anti
      cancer agents. The newly collected derivatives have been described focusing
      attention on their chemical structures and their biological profiles.

PMID- 20939815
TI  - False positives in the early stages of drug discovery.
AB  - High-throughput screening (HTS) is one of the most powerful approaches available
      for identifying new lead compounds for the growing catalogue of validated drug
      targets. However, just as virtual and experimental HTS have accelerated lead
      identification and changed drug discovery, they have also introduced a large
      number of peculiar molecules. Some of these have turned out to be interesting for
      further optimization, others to be dead ends when attempts are made to optimize
      their activity, typically after a great deal of time and resources have been
      devoted. Such false positive hits are still one of the key problems in the field
      of HTS and in the early stages of drug discovery in general. Many studies have
      been devoted to understanding the origins of false-positives, and the findings
      have been incorporated in filters and methods that can predict and eliminate
      problematic molecules from further consideration. This paper will focus on the
      structural classes and known mechanisms of nonleadlike false positives, together
      with experimental and computational methods for identifying such compounds.

PMID- 20939816
TI  - Connexin modulators and their potential targets under the magnifying glass.
AB  - Gap junction channels, assembled from connexins, mediate communication and
      signaling between adjacent cells by allowing the passage of ions, metabolites and
      signaling molecules. Their physiological significance and importance in cellular
      homeostasis is reflected by the fact that their dysfunction leads to a multitude
      of pathologies. However, the complex physiological and pathophysiological roles
      of connexins are not well understood. Therefore, pharmacological tools to further
      elucidate their functions and to validate them as drug targets for the
      development of novel therapies for connexin-based diseases are urgently needed.
      In this article we will review diseases caused by mutations, abnormal expression
      and function of connexins (e.g. deafness, atrial fibrillation and other cardiac
      arrhythmias, peripheral and central nervous system neuropathies, epilepsy, and
      cancer) and we will discuss the role of connexins as potential therapeutic
      targets. This will be followed by a detailed overview of the different classes of
      modulators including proposed mechanisms of action, selectivity and structure
      activity relationships. Classical connexin channel uncoupling agent like long
      chain alcohols (e.g. heptanol), glycyrrhetinic acid and its derivatives, later
      discovered connexin blocking chemotypes like 2-aminophenoxyborates, fenamates,
      quinines and triphenylmethanes, as well as gap junctional coupling enhancing
      compounds like antiarrhythmic peptides will be discussed.

PMID- 20939817
TI  - Insights into structure-activity relationships and CNS therapeutic applications
      of NR2B selective antagonists.
AB  - Excessive stimulation of NMDA receptors is involved in various CNS pathologies
      such as Parkinson's disease, acute and chronic pain and cerebral ischaemia. The
      use of NMDA antagonists as therapeutic agents has been restricted as a result of
      unwanted side effects including hallucinations and loss of co-ordination. NR2B
      subtype selective antagonists have previously shown a therapeutic effect without
      causing the side effects of broad spectrum NMDA antagonists. Considerable
      research has since been devoted to the development of orally bioavailable,
      selective NR2B antagonists and their applications in various neurological
      diseases. The improved therapeutic index of these compounds is expected to be the
      result of the subtype selectivity and cellular location of the NR2B receptors
      within the CNS. This review describes recent advances in the development of NR2B
      antagonists as well as their therapeutic applications.

PMID- 20939814
TI  - Oxidative stress in diabetic nephropathy.
AB  - Diabetic nephropathy is a leading cause of end-stage renal failure worldwide. Its
      morphologic characteristics include glomerular hypertrophy, basement membrane
      thickening, mesangial expansion, tubular atrophy, interstitial fibrosis and
      arteriolar thickening. All of these are part and parcel of microvascular
      complications of diabetes. A large body of evidence indicates that oxidative
      stress is the common denominator link for the major pathways involved in the
      development and progression of diabetic micro- as well as macro-vascular
      complications of diabetes. There are a number of macromolecules that have been
      implicated for increased generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), such as,
      NAD(P)H oxidase, advanced glycation end products (AGE), defects in polyol
      pathway, uncoupled nitric oxide synthase (NOS) and mitochondrial respiratory
      chain via oxidative phosphorylation. Excess amounts of ROS modulate activation of
      protein kinase C, mitogen-activated protein kinases, and various cytokines and
      transcription factors which eventually cause increased expression of
      extracellular matrix (ECM) genes with progression to fibrosis and end stage renal
      disease. Activation of renin-angiotensin system (RAS) further worsens the renal
      injury induced by ROS in diabetic nephropathy. Buffering the generation of ROS
      may sound a promising therapeutic to ameliorate renal damage from diabetic
      nephropathy, however, various studies have demonstrated minimal reno-protection
      by these agents. Interruption in the RAS has yielded much better results in terms
      of reno-protection and progression of diabetic nephropathy. In this review
      various aspects of oxidative stress coupled with the damage induced by RAS are
      discussed with the anticipation to yield an impetus for designing new generation
      of specific antioxidants that are potentially more effective to reduce reno
      vascular complications of diabetes.

PMID- 20939818
TI  - Melatonin, a potential therapeutic agent for smooth muscle-related pathological
      conditions and aging.
AB  - Increases or decreases in the contractile response of smooth muscle underlie
      important pathological conditions such as hypertension, incontinence and altered
      gastrointestinal transit. These disorders are also frequently encountered in the
      aged population. Oxidative stress and inflammation are key features in the
      initiation, progression, and clinical manifestations of smooth muscle disorders.
      Melatonin, the major secretory product of the pineal gland, has free radical
      scavenging and antioxidative properties and protects against oxidative insult.
      Recently, widespread interest has grown regarding the apparent protective effects
      of melatonin on smooth muscle dysfunction. "In vitro" studies have shown that
      melatonin decreased vascular tone of vascular beds from control, hypertensive or
      aged animals, through the reduction of adrenergic contraction and the increase in
      acetylcholine-induced relaxation. "In vivo", melatonin also attenuates
      sympathetic tone by direct activation of melatonin receptors, scavenging free
      radicals or increasing NO availability in the central nervous system. In the
      gastrointestinal tract, melatonin treatment improves age-related impairments in
      gallbladder contractility and prevents deleterious effects of cholecystitis on
      smooth muscle and the enteric nervous system through suppression of oxidative
      stress. In addition, melatonin improves colonic transit time in constipation
      predominant IBS patients. Melatonin is also able to restore impaired
      contractility of the detrusor muscle from old animals through normalization of
      Ca(2+) dependent and independent contraction, mitochondrial polarity,
      neuromuscular function and oxidative stress, which would explain the effects of
      melatonin counteracting cystometric changes in senescent animals. It also
      reverses bladder damage following ischemia/reperfusion. In conclusion, melatonin
      may be a promising candidate for future research of agents that modulate smooth
      muscle motility.

PMID- 20939819
TI  - Novel strategies of regenerative medicine using chemical compounds.
AB  - Many diseases and/or physical defects due to injury result in the loss of
      specialized cells within organ systems and lead to organ system dysfunction. The
      ultimate goal of cell-based therapies is to regenerate and restore normal
      function. Populations of embryonic, fetal, adult stem cells and inducible
      pluripotent stem cells generated by reprogramming of adult cells show promise for
      the treatment of a variety of diseases. In addition, the recent advancements in
      adult stem cell biology in both normal and pathological conditions have led to
      the identification of some intrinsic and extrinsic factors that govern the
      decision between self renewal versus differentiation of tissue-resident adult
      stem cells. This is of primary importance for the design of an approach of stem
      cell-based therapy focused on their in vivo modulation by conventional chemical
      and biological therapeutics capable to stimulate endogenous cell regeneration.
      Such therapeutics can act in vivo to promote cell survival, proliferation,
      differentiation, reprogramming and homing of stem cells or can modulate their
      niches. In this review, we will highlight the burst of recent literature on novel
      perspectives of regenerative medicine and their possible clinical applications.

PMID- 20939820
TI  - Fighting tumor cell survival: advances in the design and evaluation of Pim
      inhibitors.
AB  - The Pim (provirus insertion site of Moloney murine leukemia virus) family of
      serine/threonine protein kinases possesses the fundamental characteristics
      critical for the biology of eukaryotes, in particular, survival and malignant
      transformation of cells. The members of this protein family (Pim-1 to Pim-3) are
      aberrantly expressed in human tumors, most frequently in prostate cancer and
      hematological malignancies. Therefore, Pim proteins are widely considered as
      attractive targets in cancer chemotherapy. Growing knowledge of mechanisms of Pim
      mediated anti-apoptosis and transformation, as well as rapid progress in the
      design of Pim-modulating compounds dictate the need for an in-depth analysis of
      the chemistry of inhibitors and the modes of their interaction with these protein
      kinases. This review summarizes recent advances in understanding the molecular
      events regulated by Pim proteins. In addition, we focus on the non-patent
      literature (mostly since 2005) that demonstrates a diversity of chemical classes
      of small molecular weight Pim inhibitors. The X-ray co-crystal structures of
      complexes Pim:inhibitor provide evidence for SAR data important for the choice of
      synthetic routes, optimization of lead compounds and testing chemical libraries.
      We also discuss a cell-based test system useful for rapid and inexpensive pre
      screening of compounds capable of preventing Pim-mediated phosphorylation.

PMID- 20939821
TI  - Disposition pathways and pharmacokinetics of herbal medicines in humans.
AB  - Pharmacokinetic studies have become an integral part of modern drug development,
      but these studies are not regulatory needs for herbal remedies. This paper
      updates our current knowledge on the disposition pathways and pharmacokinetic
      properties of commonly used herbal medicines in humans. To retrieve relevant
      data, the authors have searched through computer-based literatures by full text
      search in Medline (via Pubmed), ScienceDirect, Current Contents Connect (ISI),
      Cochrance Library, CINAHL (EBSCO), CrossRef Search and Embase (all from inception
      to May 2010). Many herbal compounds undergo Phase I and/or Phase II metabolism in
      vivo, with cytochrome P450s (CYPs) and uridine diphosphate
      glucuronosyltransferases (UGTs) playing a major role. Some herbal ingredients are
      substrates of P-glycoprotein (P-gp) which is highly expressed in the intestine,
      liver, brain and kidney. As such, the activities of these drug metabolizing
      enzymes and drug transporters are determining factors for the in vivo
      bioavailability, disposition and distribution of herbal remedies. There are
      increasing pharmacokinetic studies of herbal remedies, but these studies are
      mainly focused on a small number of herbal remedies including St John's wort,
      milk thistle, sculcap, curcumin, echinacea, ginseng, ginkgo, and ginger. The
      pharmacokinetic data of a small number of purified herbal ingredients, including
      anthocyanins, berberine, catechins, curcumin, lutein and quercetin, are
      available. For the majority of herbal remedies used in folk medicines, data on
      their disposition and biological fate in humans are lacking or in paucity. For a
      herbal medicine, the pharmacological effect is achieved when the bioactive agents
      or the metabolites reach and sustain proper levels at their sites of action. Both
      the dose levels and fates of active components in the body govern their target
      site concentrations after administration of an herbal remedy. In this regard, a
      safe and optimal use of herbal medicines requires a full understanding of their
      pharmacokinetic profiles. To optimize the use of herbal remedies, further
      clinical studies to explore their biological fate including the disposition
      pathways and kinetics in the human body are certainly needed.

PMID- 20939823
TI  - The kinetoplastid chemotherapy revisited: current drugs, recent advances and
      future perspectives.
AB  - Leishmaniasis, African sleeping sickness and Chagas disease, caused by the
      kinetoplastid parasites Leishmania spp, Trypanosoma brucei and Trypanosoma cruzi,
      respectively, are among the most important parasitic diseases, affecting millions
      of people and considered to be within the most relevant group of neglected
      tropical diseases. The main alternative to control such parasitosis is
      chemotherapy. Nevertheless, the current chemotherapeutic treatments are far from
      being satisfactory. This review outlines the current understanding of different
      drugs against leishmaniasis, African sleeping sickness and Chagas disease, their
      mechanism of action and resistance. Recent approaches in the area of anti
      leishmanial and trypanocidal therapies are also enumerated, new modulators from
      the mode of action, development of new formulations of old drugs, therapeutic
      switching and "in silico" drug design.

PMID- 20939824
TI  - Glycosaminoglycans as key molecules in atherosclerosis: the role of versican and
      hyaluronan.
AB  - Cardiovascular disease is the largest cause of death in Western societies and it
      primarily results from atherosclerosis of large and medium-sized vessels.
      Atherosclerosis leads to myocardial infarction, when it occurs in the coronary
      arteries, or stroke, when it occurs in the cerebral arteries. Pathological
      processes involved in macrovascular disease include the accumulation of lipids
      which are retained by extracellular matrix (ECM) molecules, especially by the
      chondroitin sulfate/dermatan sulfate (CS/DS) proteoglycans (CS/DSPGs), such as
      versican, biglycan and decorin. The sulfation pattern of CS is a key player in
      protein interactions causing atherosclerosis. Several studies have shown that
      lipoproteins bind CSPGs via their glycosaminoglycan chains. Galactosaminoglycans,
      such as CS and DS, bind low density lipoproteins (LDL), affecting the role of
      these molecules in the arterial wall. In this article, the role of CS and
      versican in atherosclerosis and hyaluronan in atherogenesis as well as the up to
      date known mechanisms that provoke this pathological condition are presented and
      discussed.

PMID- 20939822
TI  - Molecular and enzymatic profiles of mammalian DNA methyltransferases: structures
      and targets for drugs.
AB  - DNA methylation is an epigenetic event involved in a variety array of processes
      that may be the foundation of genetic phenomena and diseases. DNA
      methyltransferase is a key enzyme for cytosine methylation in DNA, and can be
      divided into two functional families (Dnmt1 and Dnmt3) in mammals. All mammalian
      DNA methyltransferases are encoded by their own single gene, and consisted of
      catalytic and regulatory regions (except Dnmt2). Via interactions between
      functional domains in the regulatory or catalytic regions and other adaptors or
      cofactors, DNA methyltransferases can be localized at selective areas (specific
      DNA/nucleotide sequence) and linked to specific chromosome status
      (euchromatin/heterochromatin, various histone modification status). With
      assistance from UHRF1 and Dnmt3L or other factors in Dnmt1 and Dnmt3a/Dnmt3b,
      mammalian DNA methyltransferases can be recruited, and then specifically bind to
      hemimethylated and unmethylated double-stranded DNA sequence to maintain and de
      novo setup patterns for DNA methylation. Complicated enzymatic steps catalyzed by
      DNA methyltransferases include methyl group transferred from cofactor Ado-Met to
      C5 position of the flipped-out cytosine in targeted DNA duplex. In the light of
      the fact that different DNA methyltransferases are divergent in both structures
      and functions, and use unique reprogrammed or distorted routines in development
      of diseases, design of new drugs targeting specific mammalian DNA
      methyltransferases or their adaptors in the control of key steps in either
      maintenance or de novo DNA methylation processes will contribute to individually
      treating diseases related to DNA methyltransferases.

PMID- 20939825
TI  - The physiological relevance of protein phosphatase 1 and its interacting proteins
      to health and disease.
AB  - Protein phosphorylation is a major regulatory mechanism of signal transduction
      cascades in eukaryotic cells, catalysed by kinases and reversed by protein
      phosphatases (PPs). Sequencing of entire genomes has revealed that ~3% of all
      eukaryotic genes encode kinases or PPs. Surprisingly, there appear to be 2-5
      times fewer PPs than kinases. Over the past two decades it has become apparent
      that the diversity of Ser/Thr-specific PPs (STPP) was achieved not only by the
      evolution of new catalytic subunits, but also by the ability of a single
      catalytic subunit to interact with multiple interacting proteins. PP1, a STPP, is
      involved in the control of important cellular mechanisms. Several isoforms of PP1
      are known in mammals: PP1alpha, PP1beta and PP1gamma. The various isoforms are
      highly similar, except for the N- and C-termini. The current view is that since
      PPs possess exquisite specificities in vivo, the key control mechanism must
      reside in the nature of the PP1 Interacting Protein (PIP) to which they bind. An
      increasing number of PIPs have been identified that are responsible for
      regulating the catalytic activity of PPs. Indeed, the diversity of such PIPs
      explains the need for relatively few catalytic subunit types, and makes them
      attractive targets for pharmacological intervention. This review will summarize
      the PIPs identified using the Yeast Two Hybrid methodology and alternative
      techniques, for instance bioinformatic and proteomic approaches. Further, it
      compiles 129 PP1-PIP relevant physiological interactions that are well documented
      in the literature. Finally, the use of PIPs as therapeutic targets will be
      addressed.

PMID- 20939826
TI  - Current strategies for probing substrate specificity of proteases.
AB  - In this review we describe in detail the available technologies used for
      investigating the substrate specificity of proteases. Critical comparison of the
      available detection methods and their choice for certain type of screening is
      discussed. We present successful strategies along with appropriate examples for
      the design and synthesis of combinatorial libraries of substrates using both
      chemical and biological approaches. Proteomic tools for the identification of
      natural substrates of proteases are also discussed.

PMID- 20939827
TI  - Scaffold vascularization: a challenge for three-dimensional tissue engineering.
AB  - The prevalent challenge facing tissue engineering today is the lack of adequate
      vascularization to support the growth, function, and viability of tissue
      substitutes that require blood vessel supply. Researchers rely on the increasing
      knowledge of angiogenic and vasculogenic processes to stimulate vascular network
      formation within three-dimensional tissue constructs. These processes are mainly
      endothelial cell-regulated, although in the context of tissue engineering,
      specific interactions with scaffold materials, growth factors and other cell
      types may require in vitro vascularization schemes to be altered accordingly. To
      better mimic the complete in vivo environment, increasing attention is given to
      the integration of co-cultures and mechanical conditioning in bioreactors. Such
      approaches show great promise for the enhancement of the functionality and
      clinical applicability of tissue engineering constructs. This paper reviews some
      scaffold materials used in tissue engineering and the effect of their properties
      on the vascularization process. Also, it specifically addresses the pivotal role
      of biomaterials vascularization in tissue engineering applications, along with
      the effect of angiogenic factors and adhesive molecules on angiogenesis. Assays
      and markers of angiogenesis are also outlined. One section highlights the need
      for bioreactor cultures and mechanical conditioning in controlling endothelial
      cell responses. Finally, we conclude with a brief section on the effects of
      oxygen concentration and hypoxia over microvessel formation.

PMID- 20939828
TI  - CD36 as a multiple-ligand signaling receptor in atherothrombosis.
AB  - The glycoprotein CD36, also known as glycoprotein IIIb/IV or FAT, is expressed on
      the surface of platelets, monocytes, microvascular endothelial cell, smooth
      muscle cells, cardiomyocytes and other cells of the cardiovascular system. In
      spite of its abundant presence, CD36 has remained for long a mysterious protein
      with a poorly understood role. In this paper, we review how CD36 can affect
      cellular responses by interaction with a variety of ligands, in particular
      thrombospondin-1, oxidized lipoproteins and fatty acids. Furthermore, given the
      structure of CD36 with two transmembrane domains and short cytoplasmic tails, we
      consider how this receptor can induce intracellular signaling, likely in junction
      with other cellular receptors or associated proteins in the membrane. Current
      literature points to activation of Src-family and mitogen-activated protein
      kinases, as well as to activation of the NFkappaB and Rho pathways. The new
      insights make CD36 attractive as a therapeutic target to suppress platelet and
      monocyte/macrophage function and thereby atherothrombosis.

PMID- 20939829
TI  - Switching from bone marrow-derived neurons to epithelial cells through
      dedifferentiation and translineage redifferentiation.
AB  - While the ability of stem cells to switch lineages has been suggested, the
      route(s) through which this may happen is unclear. To date, the best
      characterized adult stem cell population considered to possess
      transdifferentiation capacity is BM-MSCs (bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells). We
      investigated whether BM-MSCs that had terminally differentiated into the neural
      or epithelial lineage could be induced to transdifferentiate into the other
      phenotype in vitro. Our results reveal that neuronal phenotypic cells derived
      from adult rat bone marrow cells can be switched to epithelial phenotypic cells,
      or vice versa, by culture manipulation allowing the differentiated cells to go
      through, first, dedifferentiation and then redifferentiation to another
      phenotype. Direct transdifferentiation from differentiated neuronal or epithelial
      phenotype to the other differentiated phenotype cannot be observed even when
      appropriate culture conditions are provided. Thus, dedifferentiation appears to
      be a prerequisite for changing fate and differentiating into a different lineage
      from a differentiated cell population.

PMID- 20939830
TI  - Discrepant effects of mammalian factors on molluscan cell motility, chemotaxis
      and phagocytosis: divergent evolution or finely tuned contingency?
AB  - Cell motility, cell migration and phagocytosis are distinct, though frequently
      sequential, processes. They are fundamental for the maintenance of homoeostasis
      in single cells as well as in pluricellular organisms. Like vertebrates,
      invertebrate immune functions are strictly dependent on cell motility, chemotaxis
      and phagocytosis. Several comparative immunobiology experiments have tested the
      effects of mammalian factors on cell migration and phagocytic activity in
      invertebrate immune-competent cells. The discrepancies that were found suggest
      various hypotheses, e.g. species-specific reactions to heterologous factors.
      Here, we reconsider data concerning the effects of POMC (proopiomelanocortin)
      derived peptides, cytokines and growth factors on molluscan immunocytes in the
      light of recent findings that also encompass the effects of experimental
      conditions.

PMID- 20939831
TI  - Comparison of the effect of hormones on the hormone synthesis of Tetrahymena in
      medium or salt solution.
AB  - Tetrahymena pyriformis was maintained in TYM (tryptone-yeast medium) as well as
      in Losina salt solution. One hour treatment of 10-15 M histamine, serotonin or
      insulin was given before the histamine, serotonin, triiodothyronine and
      adrenocorticotropin contents of the cells were measured by flow cytometry after
      immunocytochemical staining. Maintenance in salt solution increased the hormone
      level in the cells, and use of the treatment hormone treatments further increased
      the endogenous hormone content relative to that in medium. The cells in salt
      mimic better the natural conditions, which means that the effects of hormones
      under more natural conditions are expressed to a greater extent than the
      exogenously given hormones in TYM typically used under laboratory conditions.
      Intercellular hormonal communication between the cells of a Tetrahymena
      population might assist in the survival of the individual cells.

PMID- 20939832
TI  - Revisiting the microtrabecular lattice.
AB  - The 'microtrabecular lattice' (MTL) that Keith Porter described in the 1970s and
      1980s is reconsidered as a proposed fundamental cytoplasmic structure of
      eukaryotic cells. Although considered to be an artefact by most cell biologists
      of his time (and probably ours), the case is made that something like the MTL may
      well exist, but in a much more dynamic form than images from electron microscopy
      imply and convey.

PMID- 20939833
TI  - Conformation states of the neuronal porosome complex.
AB  - Porosomes are the universal secretory machinery of the cell plasma membrane,
      where membrane-bound secretory vesicles transiently dock and fuse to expel
      intravesicular contents to the environment during cell secretion. In neurons, 12-
      to 17-nm cup-shaped lipoprotein structures possessing a central plug are present
      at the presynaptic membrane, where 40-50 nm in diameter synaptic vesicles
      transiently dock and fuse to release neurotransmitters. The neuronal porosome
      complex has been isolated, its composition determined and it has been both
      structurally and functionally reconstituted in artificial lipid membranes.
      Earlier studies using AFM (atomic force microscopy), EM (electron microscopy),
      electron density and 3D contour mapping provide the structure and assembly of
      proteins within the neuronal porosome complex at the nanoscale level. A set of
      eight protein units lining the neuronal porosome cup is present, each connected
      via spoke-like elements to a central plug, hypothesized for the rapid opening and
      closing of the structure to the outside. In the present study, ultrahigh
      resolution imaging of the presynaptic membrane of isolated synaptosome
      preparations demonstrate, for the first time, the presence of neuronal porosomes
      in both their open and close conformations. The results suggests that the central
      plug is retracted into the porosome cup in its open conformation and pushed
      outward to seal the porosome opening, supporting the hypothesis that it operates
      as the opening-closing device of the complex.

PMID- 20939834
TI  - Are Paterson's critics too biased to recognize rickets?

PMID- 20939835
TI  - Parallel divergence in mate guarding behaviour following colonization of a novel
      habitat.
AB  - Ecological factors can have profound effects on mating system and mating
      behaviour. We investigated the effect of altered ecological conditions, following
      colonization of a novel habitat, on precopulatory mate guarding in a freshwater
      isopod (Asellus aquaticus). This isopod occurs in two different ecotypes, which
      coexist within several different lakes in Sweden but which utilize different
      habitats. These ecotypes have rapidly (ca. 40 generations) diverged in parallel
      among lakes in several phenotypic characters, presumably as a response to
      different predatory pressures. Here, we demonstrate that also mate guarding
      characteristics have diverged in parallel between the ecotypes in different
      lakes. This is one of the few studies reporting parallel evolution of mating
      behaviour. Furthermore, our results also indicate a potential sexual conflict, as
      the length of mate guarding appears to lower components of female fitness. We
      discuss how novel environments might have strong and rapid effects on mate
      guarding dynamics and mating behaviour.

PMID- 20939836
TI  - Genotype-by-environment interactions for female preference.
AB  - Sexual selection is responsible for many of the most spectacular displays in
      nature, and female preference for certain males is central to much of this.
      However, female preference is relatively poorly understood, particularly the
      relative importance of a female's genes, the environment and their interaction on
      her preference. We investigated preference in a no-choice design using Drosophila
      melanogaster iso-female lines and find that there are genotype-by-environment
      interactions for female preference. Whereas the choosiness of some female
      genotypes differed little across environments, that of others differed greatly,
      so that the choosiness rank of females in one environment did not necessarily
      predict their rank in another. Furthermore, the genetic variance underlying
      preference also varied across environments. These findings have important
      consequences for the evolution of female preference and the male sexual traits
      preference targets.

PMID- 20939837
TI  - Cytoplasmic feminizing elements in a two-population model: infection dynamics,
      gene flow modification, and the spread of autosomal suppressors.
AB  - We investigate the dynamics of a cytoplasmic parasitic element with feminizing
      effect in a two-population model. We assume that the host species has a ZZ/ZW sex
      determination system. Our analysis reveals that the feminizer and the W
      chromosome can stably coexist by dominating different populations if the
      transmission rate differs significantly between the populations and migration is
      sufficiently weak. In the equilibrium of coexistence, genetic influx at any host
      autosomal locus is strongly enhanced in the population where infection is
      prevalent but not modified in the other population. We further explore conditions
      for the spread of autosomal suppressor genes that reduce transmission of
      feminizing elements to the cost of host viability, and compute their equilibrium
      frequencies. Our results confirm the hypothesis that selfish genetic elements
      convert infected host populations into genetic sinks, thereby restricting the
      spread of transmission suppressors.

PMID- 20939838
TI  - Evolutionarily accelerated invasions: the rate of dispersal evolves upwards
      during the range advance of cane toads.
AB  - Human activities are changing habitats and climates and causing species' ranges
      to shift. Range expansion brings into play a set of powerful evolutionary forces
      at the expanding range edge that act to increase dispersal rates. One likely
      consequence of these forces is accelerating rates of range advance because of
      evolved increases in dispersal on the range edge. In northern Australia, cane
      toads have increased their rate of spread fivefold in the last 70 years. Our
      breeding trials with toads from populations spanning the species' invasion
      history in Australia suggest a genetic basis to dispersal rates and
      interpopulation genetic variation in such rates. Toads whose parents were from
      the expanding range front dispersed faster than toads whose parents were from the
      core of the range. This difference reflects patterns found in their field
      collected mothers and fathers and points to heritable variance in the traits that
      have accelerated the toads' rate of invasion across tropical Australia over
      recent decades. Taken together with demonstrated spatial assortment by dispersal
      ability occurring on the expanding front, these results point firmly to ongoing
      evolution as a driving force in the accelerated expansion of toads across
      northern Australia.

PMID- 20939839
TI  - Registries and randomised controlled trials in pulmonary arterial hypertension:
      are they revealing?

PMID- 20939840
TI  - Effective treatments for PAH will require detailed knowledge of molecular
      aetiology.
AB  - Therapies for idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension will need to address the
      underlying molecular defects, or they will be incapable of halting progression.
      Identification of the familial PAH gene, BMPR2, and determinants of penetrance in
      families with BMPR2 mutation, has provided a mechanism for discovering this
      underlying aetiology not just in those with BMPR2 mutation, but in all patients.
      These studies suggest that the fundamental defects are in cytoskeletal
      organization, energy metabolism, and inflammation, with mode of estrogen
      metabolism acting as the most significant modifier. A detailed understanding of
      these defects, and a determination of the correct points for intervention, will
      be required to produce effective treatments for idiopathic PAH.

PMID- 20939841
TI  - Metabolic and hormonal derangements in pulmonary hypertension: from mouse to man.
AB  - Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a complex disease with significant
      morbidity and mortality. Recent animal and human studies have highlighted
      abnormalities in regulation and metabolism of insulin, sex hormones, adipokines
      and lipids that may play a role in disease development. Mouse studies suggest
      features of the metabolic syndrome (MS) including insulin resistance,
      deficiencies in peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma and
      apolipoprotein E, and low adiponectin are linked to development of PAH. In
      humans, insulin resistance, the MS and low levels of high-density lipoprotein
      have been associated with PAH. In addition, abnormal metabolism of oestrogens has
      been demonstrated in human and animal models of PAH, suggesting an important
      relationship of sex hormones and pulmonary vascular disease. Improved
      understanding of how metabolic and hormonal derangements relate to development
      and progression of pulmonary hypertension may lead to better disease therapies
      and understanding of potential risk factors. This review will focus on the animal
      and human data regarding metabolic and sex hormone derangements in PAH.

PMID- 20939843
TI  - How has epoprostenol changed the outcome for patients with pulmonary arterial
      hypertension?
AB  - AIMS: Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), characterized by increased pulmonary
      vascular resistance and pulmonary artery pressure, is a significant cause of
      morbidity and mortality in children and adults. Prior to 1995, there were no
      approved therapies for PAH. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Review of the clinical drug
      development of epoprostenol (synthetic prostacyclin) for the treatment of PAH.
      RESULTS: Based on the results of a phase 2 and one phase 3 trial carried out
      between 1987 and 1992 in adult patients with PAH, epoprostenol was approved for
      the treatment of severe idiopathic PAH in 1995. Continuous intravenous infusion
      24/7 of epoprotenol improved exercise capacity, hemodynamic parameters,
      functional capacity and survival. Epoprostenol was subsequently shown to be safe
      and efficacious in PAH associated with the scleroderma spectrum of disease and
      has now been utilized in PAH associated with congenital heart disease, HIV,
      portal hypertension, drugs and toxin and connective tissue diseases. Epoprostenol
      has also been used in children of all ages with similar safety and efficacy as
      shown in adult patients. DISCUSSION: Due to the mode of delivery of epoprostenol,
      i.e. continuous intravenous infusion 24/7 via an indwelling central venous line,
      there are significant side effects than can occur with its use, e.g. bacteremia,
      sepsis, thromboembolic events, that can be fatal. Furthermore, there is
      significant variability in the optimal dose in both children and adult patients.
      It remains unclear why there is such dose variability between patients to achieve
      optimal efficacy. Furthermore, its mechanism(s) of action remain unclear.

PMID- 20939842
TI  - Modulating the nitric oxide - cyclic GMP pathway in the pressure-overloaded left
      ventricle and group II pulmonary hypertension.
AB  - Group II pulmonary hypertension (PH) commonly occurs in the setting of a pressure
      overloaded left ventricle (LV) which is also conducive to the development of
      heart failure with preserved ejection fraction. Population trends and a high
      prevalence of underlying causative conditions, such as essential hypertension or
      aortic stenosis, have increased the awareness of the pressure-overloaded LV and
      associated group II pulmonary hypertension. Patients often exhibit poor exercise
      tolerance and signs of heart failure indistinguishable from systolic heart
      failure; but effective medical treatments in this area have been lacking. Recent
      preclinical work has shed light on how the down-regulated nitric oxide - cyclic
      GMP pathway (within the myocardium and pulmonary vasculature) contributes to the
      pathophysiology of these associated conditions. This article will discuss the
      impact of the nitric oxide - cyclic GMP pathway on the pathogenesis of the
      pressure-overloaded LV and group II pulmonary hypertension, and will also
      introduce the potential therapeutic value of modulating this pathway.

PMID- 20939844
TI  - Predictive factors of hyaluronic acid injections short-term effectiveness for TMJ
      degenerative joint disease.
AB  - This study attempted to identify baseline predictors of positive outcome of
      arthrocenteses plus hyaluronic acid injections in degenerative temporomandibular
      joint disease (TMJ DJD). Ninety (n=90) consecutive patients with Research
      Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular Disorders TMJ osteoarthritis (RDC/TMD
      1.0 Axis I Group IIIb) underwent a cycle of five arthrocenteses with injections
      of 1mL hyaluronic acid and were followed up for 3months. Eight potential
      predictors of positive treatment outcome (sex, age, pain duration, baseline pain
      at chewing, presence of uni- or bilateral arthritis, presence of other concurrent
      RDC/TMD diagnoses, type of intervention and tolerability of treatment) were
      included in a logistic regression model to identify baseline predictors of
      treatment effectiveness. At follow-up, 85.6% of patients improved with respect to
      baseline VAS values, and 64.4% had a 50% or more decrease (positive outcomes).
      Correlation with positive outcomes existed only for unilateral osteoarthritis,
      and the logistic regression identified the side of arthritis
      (unilateral/bilateral) as the only predictor of positive treatment outcome
      (P=0.032). The achievement of any treatment improvement was predicted by high
      baseline pain levels (P=0.016). The regression models explained only 7.7-15% of
      the variance in the outcome variable. The attempts to find predictors of positive
      treatment outcome with HA injections for TMJ degenerative joint disease have been
      successful only in part. The search for other outcome predictors is likely to
      benefit from the assessment of psychosocial features associated with TMJ
      disorders.

PMID- 20939845
TI  - Hunter-Schreger Band patterns and their implications for clinical dentistry.
AB  - Hunter-Schreger Bands (HSBs) are an optical phenomenon visualised when a cut or
      fractured enamel surface is viewed under reflected light. These bands demonstrate
      the synchronous decussation of individual or groups of enamel prisms. While the
      role of HSB patterns has been investigated in comparative anatomical studies,
      until recently there has been little consideration of HSB patterns in human
      teeth. The aim of this paper is to consider the significance of HSB patterns in
      the human dentition and in relation to clinical dentistry. It is concluded that
      within the human dentition, HSB patterns have evolved to optimise resistance to
      attrition, abrasion and tooth fracture. It appears that certain aspects of HSB
      packing densities and distributions have beneficial roles in enamel bonding.
      Hunter-Schreger Band patterns seem to passively facilitate conditions such as
      abfraction and cracked tooth syndrome.

PMID- 20939846
TI  - Serotonin-induced contraction in isolated intestine from a teleost fish
      (Carassius auratus): characterization and interactions with melatonin.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Serotonin (5-HT) plays a critical role in several gastrointestinal
      functions in vertebrates. In teleosts lacking enterochromaffin cells, intestinal
      5-HT originates from serotonergic enteric neurons. In the present study, the
      foregut of a stomachless teleost, the goldfish (Carassius auratus), was used to
      evaluate the in vitro effect of 5-HT on fish intestinal motility. We also studied
      the role of melatonin (MEL), an indoleamine sharing the biosynthetic pathway with
      5-HT, as regulator of serotonergic activity. METHODS: An organ bath system, with
      longitudinal strips from the goldfish intestinal bulb attached to an isometric
      transducer was used to record foregut smooth muscle contractions. KEY RESULTS:
      Concentration-dependent curves of the contractile response exerted by 5-HT and
      its agonists, 5-methoxytryptamine (5-MT) and 5-carboxamidotryptamine (5-CT),
      suggest a receptor-mediated action, supported by the blockade by a general 5-HT
      antagonist, methysergide. The 5-HT-induced contraction was abolished in the
      presence of atropine, revealing the involvement of cholinergic transmission in
      gut actions of 5-HT. Furthermore, MEL inhibited the contractile effect of 5-HT
      and its agonists by up to 50%, which was counteracted by MEL antagonists.
      CONCLUSIONS & INFERENCES: We can provisionally propose that at least two
      different 5-HT receptor subtypes are involved in fish intestinal motility, a 5
      HT4-like (5-MT-preferring) and a 5-HT7-like (5-CT- and fluphenazine-sensitive)
      receptor. In summary, our results indicate that 5-HT regulates the contractile
      activity of goldfish foregut through specific receptors located in cholinergic
      neurons, and that MEL can modulate these serotonergic actions through high
      affinity membrane receptors.

PMID- 20939848
TI  - Cardiovascular compression of the esophagus and spread of gastro-esophageal
      reflux.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Factors that determine the spread of gastro-esophageal reflux (GER)
      along the length of the esophagus are not known. We investigated if
      cardiovascular (CV) compressions on the esophagus may determine the spread of
      refluxate into the proximal esophagus. METHODS: High-resolution manometry (HRM)
      and multi-channel intra-luminal impedance recording (MIIR) were performed
      simultaneously in 10 normal subjects in the recumbent and upright positions.
      Pulsatile pressure increases on the esophagus (marker of CV compression) were
      identified on the HRM. Spread of refluxate into the esophagus was determined by
      the MIIR. KEY RESULTS: Cardiovascular compression zones were observed in the
      esophagus in 9 out of 10 subjects in recumbent position. Forty percent of GER
      episodes were limited to the distal esophagus in the recumbent position and CV
      compression pressure was greater than distal esophageal pressure at the time of
      GER in all such cases. On the other hand, distal esophageal pressure was greater
      than CV compression pressure when the refluxate extended into the proximal
      esophagus. In the upright position, CV compression was less frequent than
      recumbent position and only 12% of GER episodes were limited to the distal
      esophagus. CONCLUSIONS & INFERENCES: Cardiovascular compression of the esophagus
      is frequently observed in normal healthy subject and restricts the spread of
      refluxate into the proximal esophagus.

PMID- 20939847
TI  - Colonic motor dysfunction in human diabetes is associated with enteric neuronal
      loss and increased oxidative stress.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Gastrointestinal dysfunction is very common in diabetic patients. We
      assessed the changes in the colonic enteric nervous system using colectomy
      specimens and intestinal biopsies from diabetic subjects and age-matched
      controls. METHODS: In control and diabetic colons, we determined the total
      ganglion area (hematoxylin-eosin staining), changes in neuronal markers-protein
      gene product 9.5, peripherin, neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS), neuropeptide
      Y (NPY), choline acetyl transferase (ChAT) and vasoactive intestinal peptide (by
      immunostaining), apoptosis (cleaved caspase-3 staining) and reduced glutathione
      levels. Superoxide dismutase mRNA was determined in enteric ganglia isolated by
      laser capture micro dissection. Isometric muscle recording was used to assess
      contraction and relaxation responses of colonic circular muscle strips. Apoptosis
      in enteric neurons under hyperglycemia in vitro was determined by cleaved caspase
      3 Western blotting and protective effects of lipoic acid were evaluated. KEY
      RESULTS: Diabetic subjects had higher incidence of lower gastrointestinal
      symptoms like constipation and diarrhea at baseline prior to surgery. Diabetic
      ganglia displayed significant decrease in ganglion size due to enhanced apoptosis
      and loss of peripherin, nNOS, NPY, and ChAT neurons. Reduced glutathione levels
      in the diabetic colon (HbA1C > 7%) were significantly less than the control,
      indicating increased oxidative stress. Colonic circular muscle strips from
      diabetic subjects showed impaired contraction and relaxation responses compared
      with the healthy controls. Hyperglycemia-induced cleaved caspase-3 in enteric
      neurons was reversed by lipoic acid. CONCLUSIONS & INFERENCES: Our data
      demonstrate loss of enteric neurons in the colon due to increased oxidative
      stress and apoptosis which may cause the motility disturbances seen in human
      diabetes. Antioxidants may be of therapeutic value for preventing motility
      disorders in diabetes.

PMID- 20939849
TI  - New selective endoscopic sacral nerve root stimulation--an advance in the
      treatment of fecal incontinence.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Fecal incontinence (FI) is a major part of illness and physical
      discomfort in the general population. Since the 1990s, sacral nerve stimulation
      has been well established in the treatment of neurogenic FI. The precise
      placement of the electrode is crucial for the success of the procedure. Eighty
      percent of the patients benefit from permanent treatment, but in 10-20% of the
      patients tested electrode placement proves impossible due to anatomical
      variations of the sacral foramina. In this study, we describe the technical
      requirements and a new method of electrode placement with reference to the
      anatomical (bone) landmarks in an animal model. METHODS: With a small endoscope
      (Verres needle), we accessed the perirectal space to identify the nervous
      structures. A stimulated sphincter EMG was obtained for the experimental animals
      and muscle action potential (MAP/M-wave), latency time [ms], and the amplitude of
      the motor response [MUV] were recorded. Electrodes were placed, the animals
      killed and dissected leaving the pelvic cavity untouched. The specimens were
      examined in a magnetic resonance scanner and in a multi-slice computed tomography
      scanner to detect the electrode material and possible surgical complications.
      After that the specimens were dissected. KEY RESULTS: In all eight cases in the
      four animals tested, we were able to stimulate the sacral nerve as demonstrated
      by the EMG findings. No major surgical complications were observed for the
      procedure. CONCLUSIONS & INFERENCES: Endoscopic sacral nerve root stimulation is
      a safe and effective method for delivering stimulation material in the pelvis of
      the sheep. It is a promising procedure to be tested in humans.

PMID- 20939850
TI  - Chronic regulation of colonic epithelial secretory function by activation of G
      protein-coupled receptors.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Enteric neurotransmitters that act at G protein-coupled receptors
      (GPCRs) are well known to acutely promote epithelial Cl(-) and fluid secretion.
      Here we examined if acute GPCR activation might have more long-term consequences
      for epithelial secretory function. METHODS: Cl(-) secretion was measured as
      changes in short-circuit current across voltage-clamped T(84) colonic epithelial
      cells. Protein expression was measured by western blotting and intracellular
      Ca(2+) levels by Fura-2 fluorescence. KEY RESULTS: While acute (15 min) treatment
      of T(84) cells with a cholinergic G(q) PCR agonist, carbachol (CCh), rapidly
      stimulated Cl(-) secretion, subsequent CCh-induced responses were attenuated in a
      biphasic manner. The first phase was transient and resolved within 6 h but this
      was followed by a chronic phase of attenuated responsiveness that was sustained
      up to 48 h. CCh-pretreatment did not chronically alter responses to another
      G(q)PCR agonist, histamine, or to thapsigargin or forskolin which elevate
      intracellular Ca(2+) and cAMP, respectively. This chronically acting
      antisecretory mechanism is not shared by neurotransmitters that activate
      G(s)PCRs. Conditioned medium from CCh-pretreated cells mimicked its chronic
      antisecretory actions, suggesting involvement of an epithelial-derived soluble
      factor but further experimentation ruled out the involvement of epidermal growth
      factor receptor ligands. Acute CCh exposure did not chronically alter surface
      expression of muscarinic M(3) receptors but inhibited intracellular Ca(2+)
      mobilization upon subsequent agonist challenge. CONCLUSIONS & INFERENCES: These
      data reveal a novel, chronically acting, antisecretory mechanism that
      downregulates epithelial secretory capacity upon repeated G(q)PCR agonist
      exposure. This mechanism involves release of a soluble factor that uncouples
      receptor activation from downstream prosecretory signals.

PMID- 20939851
TI  - Gastrointestinal hormonal dysfunction in gastroparesis and functional dyspepsia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Numerous hormones secreted by the gut, during both the fasted state
      and in response to a meal, influence gastrointestinal motor and/or sensory
      function, and appear to contribute to the pathogenesis of delayed gastric
      emptying associated with gastroparesis, functional dyspepsia (FD) and feed
      intolerance in critical illness. Gut hormones are, accordingly, potential targets
      for the management of these patients. PURPOSE: This article will discuss the
      hypersensitivity to enteral fat and endogenous (nutrient-stimulated) and
      exogenous cholecystokinin (CCK) in patients with FD, and the elevation in both
      fasting and postprandial CCK levels evident in this group. It will review the use
      of pharmacological agonists of motilin and ghrelin, which accelerate gastric
      emptying, in the management of gastroparesis and FD. The frequent finding of
      markedly delayed gastric emptying in the critically ill will be examined; this is
      associated with elevated plasma CCK and peptide YY in both the fasted and
      postprandial states, which may account for the increase in small intestinal
      nutrient inhibitory feedback on gastric motility in this group. The concepts that
      the rate of gastric emptying is a major determinant of postprandial glycemic
      excursions in diabetes, and that modulation of gastric emptying may improve
      glycemic control, will be addressed; in type 1 and insulin-treated type 2
      diabetic patients, co-ordination of insulin administration with nutrient delivery
      and absorption should be optimized, while type 2 patients who are not on insulin
      are likely to respond to dietary and/or pharmacological interventions which slow
      gastric emptying.

PMID- 20939852
TI  - Specific and complementary roles for nitric oxide and ATP in the inhibitory motor
      pathways to rat internal anal sphincter.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The neurotransmitters mediating inhibitory pathways to internal anal
      sphincter (IAS) have not been fully characterized. Our aim was to assess the
      putative release of nitric oxide, purines and vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP)
      from inhibitory motor neurons (MNs) and their role in the myogenic tone, resting
      membrane potential (RMP) of smooth muscle cells (SMC), spontaneous inhibitory
      junction potentials (sIJP), mechanical relaxation, and IJP induced by electrical
      field stimulation (EFS) or nicotine. METHODS: Rat IAS strips were studied using
      organ baths, microelectrodes, and immunohistochemistry. KEY RESULTS: Internal
      anal sphincter strips developed active myogenic tone (0.31 g), enhanced and
      stabilized by prostaglandin F(2alpha) (PGF2alpha). L-NNA (1 mmol L(-1))
      depolarized SMC and increased tone but did not modify sIJP. In contrast, the
      specific P2Y(1) receptor antagonist MRS2500 (1 MUmol L(-1)) did not modify the
      RMP or the basal tone but abolished sIJP. Electrical field stimulation and
      nicotine (10 MUmol L(-1)) caused IAS relaxation (-45.9%VS-52.2%), partially
      antagonized by L-NNA (35%-45%, P <= 0.05) and fully abolished by MRS2500 (P <=
      0.001). Electrical field stimulation induced a biphasic inhibitory junction
      potential (IJP), the initial fast component was selectively blocked by MRS2500
      and the sustained slow component was blocked by L-NNA. Vasoactive intestinal
      peptide 6-28 (0.1 MUmol L(-1)) or alpha-chymotrypsin (10 U mL(-1)) did not modify
      the RMP, sIJP, EFS-induced IJP, or relaxation. P2Y(1) receptors were
      immunolocalized in the circular SMC of IAS. CONCLUSIONS & INFERENCES: The effects
      of inhibitory MNs on rat IAS are mediated by a functional co-transmission process
      involving nitrergic and purinergic pathways through P2Y(1) receptors with
      specific and complementary roles on the control of tone, sIJP, and
      hyperpolarization and relaxation of IAS following stimulation of inhibitory MNs.

PMID- 20939854
TI  - Effect of low-proof alcoholic beverages on duodenogastro-esophageal reflux in
      health and GERD.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Alcoholic beverages are known to increase acidic gastro-esophageal
      reflux (GER) and the risk of esophagitis. Moreover, duodenogastro-esophageal
      reflux (DGER), containing bile acids, was shown to harmfully alter the esophageal
      mucosa, alone and synergistically with HCl and pepsin. However, studies directly
      addressing potential effects of different low proof alcoholic beverages on DGER
      in health and disease are missing. METHODS: Bilitec readings for beer and white,
      rose, and red wine were obtained in vitro from pure and from mixtures with bile.
      One-hour DGER monitoring and pH-metry were performed in 12 healthy subjects and
      nine reflux patients with DGER after ingestion of a standardized liquid meal
      together with 300 mL of water, white wine, and in the volunteers, beer and rose
      wine. KEY RESULTS: Bilitec measurement was found to be feasible in the presence
      of beer, white wine, and using a threshold of 0.25, rose wine. However, the
      presence of red wine resulted in extinction values above this threshold. The
      consumption of all investigated alcoholic beverages, especially of white wine,
      triggered increased acidic GER, both in healthy participants and patients with
      reflux disease. In contrast, no relevant DGER was found after intake of alcoholic
      beverages. CONCLUSIONS & INFERENCES: Fiber-optic bilirubin monitoring can be used
      for DGER monitoring in combination with alcoholic beverages, except with red
      wine. Low-proof alcoholic beverages are a strong trigger of GER, but not of DGER,
      both in healthy subjects and patients with reflux disease.

PMID- 20939853
TI  - Anti-inflammatory role of glycine in reducing rodent postoperative inflammatory
      ileus.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Inflammatory events within the intestinal muscularis, including
      macrophage activation and leukocyte recruitment, have been demonstrated to
      participate in causing postoperative ileus. Recently, glycine has gained
      attention due to its beneficial immunomodulatory effects in transplantation,
      shock and sepsis. METHODS: Muscularis glycine receptors were investigated by
      immunohistochemistry. Gastrointestinal motility was assessed by in vivo transit
      distribution histograms with calculated geometric center analysis and jejunal
      circular smooth muscle contractility in a standard organ bath. The impact of
      glycine on the muscularis inflammatory responses to surgical manipulation of the
      intestine were measured by real-time PCR, nitric oxide Griess reaction,
      prostaglandin ELISA, Luminex and histochemistry. KEY RESULTS: Glycine-gated
      chloride channels were immunohistochemically localized to muscularis macrophages
      and postoperative infiltrating leukocytes. Preoperative glycine treatment
      significantly improved postoperative gastrointestinal transit and jejunal
      circular muscle contractility. Preoperative glycine injection significantly
      reduced the induction of interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-alpha,
      inducible nitric oxide synthase and intercellular adhesion molecule-1 mRNAs,
      which was associated with the attenuation in postoperative leukocyte recruitment.
      Nitric oxide and prostanoid release from the postsurgical inflamed muscularis was
      diminished by glycine. The secretion of the inflammatory proteins IL-6, monocyte
      chemotactic protein-1/chemokine ligand 2 and macrophage inflammatory protein
      1alpha/chemokine ligand 3 were also significantly decreased by glycine
      pretreatment. CONCLUSIONS & INFERENCES: The data indicate that preoperative
      glycine reduces postoperative ileus via the early attenuation of primal
      inflammatory events within the surgically manipulated gut wall. Therapeutic
      modulation of resident macrophages by glycine is a potential novel
      pharmacological target for the prevention of postoperative ileus.

PMID- 20939855
TI  - Botulinum toxin injection in dysphagia syndromes with preserved esophageal
      peristalsis and incomplete lower esophageal sphincter relaxation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Botulinum toxin injection into the lower esophageal sphincter (LES)
      treats dysphagia syndromes with preserved peristalsis and incomplete LES
      relaxation (LESR). We evaluated clinical and esophageal motor characteristics
      predicting response, and compared duration of efficacy to similarly treated
      achalasia patients. METHODS: Thirty-six subjects (59 +/- 2.2 years, 19F/17M) with
      incomplete LESR on high resolution manometry (HRM) treated with botulinum toxin
      injection were identified. Individual and composite symptom indices were
      calculated, and HRM characteristics extracted. Symptom resolution for 6 months
      was a primary outcome measure, and repeat botulinum toxin injection, dysphagia
      recurrence or employment of alternate therapeutic approaches were secondary
      outcome measures. Duration of response was compared using Kaplan-Meier survival
      curves to a historical cohort of similarly treated achalasia subjects. KEY
      RESULTS: Response lasted a mean of 12.8 +/- 2.3 months. Symptom relief for >6
      months was seen in 58.3%; short (<6 months) response was associated with younger
      age, higher chest pain index, and esophageal body spastic features (P <= 0.04).
      On multivariate logistic regression, chest pain, younger age and contraction
      amplitudes >180 mmHg independently predicted <6 months relief (P < 0.05 for
      each). On survival analysis, relief with a single injection extended to 1 year in
      54.8% and 1.5 years in 49.8%, statistically equivalent to that reported by 42
      similarly treated achalasia subjects (59 +/- 3.2 years, 24F/18M). Symptom relief
      was more prolonged compared to achalasia when repeat injections were performed on
      demand (P = 0.003). CONCLUSIONS & INFERENCES: Botulinum toxin injections can
      provide lasting symptom relief in dysphagia syndromes with incomplete LESR.
      Prominent perceptive symptoms and non-specific spastic features may predict
      shorter relief.

PMID- 20939856
TI  - Non-compliance does not impair qualitative evaluation of colonic transit time.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Measurement of colonic transit time (CTT) by using radiopaque markers
      with the "Multiple ingestion-Single film" technique is a simple, reproducible
      technique to measure total and segmental CTT. However, it requires good
      compliance of the patients, who must ingest the capsules containing radio-opaque
      markers for 6 consecutive days. The purpose of this study was to estimate the
      error in CTT measurement if they fail to do this. METHODS: The protocol tested
      was to ingest 12 markers per day during 6 days and take a plain film of the
      abdomen on day 7. The study was done by simulation using a 3-compartiment model
      (right colon, left colon, rectosigmoid area). There was a set of 67,525
      possibilities with possible single or double failure of markers ingestion for 6
      days either 238,266 combinations for one omission, or 312,375 combinations for
      two omissions; the absence of omission was the reference. The analysis focused on
      two complementary aspects of the evaluation of omission: quantitatively, the
      absolute and relative error on the CTT measured and qualitatively, the diagnostic
      error (a delayed transit is defined by a total CTT > 65 hours). KEY RESULTS:
      Total and segmental CTT measured when omission occurred were greater than the
      reference time. The difference is particularly important, when omission occurs
      early during the study for all segments. Qualitative analysis showed that, for
      one omission of markers ingestion, a correct diagnosis of delayed colonic transit
      time and of the main site of delay could be obtained by the 3-compartment model
      in 100% of cases. For two failures of markers ingestion, "delayed" colonic
      transit could be regarded as normal in only 9.59% of cases; furthermore, the site
      of delay was correctly recognized in 83% of the cases. CONCLUSIONS & INFERENCES:
      Despite omission of markers ingestion for one or two days, measured CTT
      overestimates the absolute value of colonic transit time, the formulated
      diagnosis (delayed transit and site of delay) is perfectly acceptable clinically.

PMID- 20939857
TI  - Novel applications of external anal sphincter muscle sarcomere length to enhance
      the anal canal function.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Our recent studies show that the external anal sphincter muscle (EAS)
      operates at a sarcomere length range which is below optimal. In this study, we
      tested the hypothesis that by surgically increasing sarcomere length and bringing
      it close to the optimal length, EAS muscle function and anal canal pressure can
      be enhanced. METHODS: Rabbits (n = 25) were anesthetized and subjected to either
      a sham or an EAS plication of different length by placing sutures at two
      locations, at a distance of 13%, 20%, 28%, or 35% of the circumferential length
      of the anal canal. Anal canal pressures were recorded before and after the
      plication. Anal canal was harvested and the EAS muscle sarcomere length was
      measured using laser diffraction. KEY RESULTS: Electrical stimulation of the EAS
      muscle resulted in a stimulus-dependent increase in the anal canal pressure
      (mmHg) and EAS muscle stress (mN mm(-2)). A significant increase in maximal
      pressure (212 +/- 13 after compared with 139 +/- 22 before plication) as well as
      stress (166 +/- 10 after as compared with 88 +/- 14 before plication) was
      recorded at 20% plication length. Passive anal canal stress at 20% plication was
      not significantly different compared with the sham group. The mean sarcomere
      lengths with sham and 20% plication were 2.11 and 2.60 MUm, respectively.
      CONCLUSIONS & INFERENCES: EAS plication resulted in a length-dependent increase
      in EAS muscle sarcomere length with an optimal sarcomere length at 20% plication.
      These considerations may help guide repair of anal sphincter muscle defects in
      the humans.

PMID- 20939858
TI  - Absence of the vagus nerve in the stomach of Tbx1-/- mutant mice.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Tbx1 is a member of the Tbox family of binding domain transcription
      factors. TBX1 maps within the region of chromosome 22q11 deleted in humans with
      DiGeorge syndrome (DGS), a common genetic disorder characterized by numerous
      physical manifestations including craniofacial and cardiac anomalies. Mice with
      homozygous null mutations in Tbx1 phenocopy this disorder and have defects
      including abnormal cranial ganglia formation and cardiac neural crest cell
      migration. These defects prompted us to investigate whether extrinsic vagus nerve
      or intrinsic enteric nervous system abnormalities are prevalent in the
      gastrointestinal tract of Tbx1 mutant mice. METHODS: We used in situ
      hybridization for Ret, and immunohistochemical staining for neurofilament, HuC/D
      and betaIII-tubulin to study cranial ganglia, vagus nerve, and enteric nervous
      system development in Tbx1 mutant and control mice. KEY RESULTS: In Tbx1(-/-)
      embryos, cranial ganglia of the glossopharyngeal (IXth) and vagus (Xth) nerves
      were malformed and abnormally fused. In the gastrointestinal tract, the vagus
      nerves adjacent to the esophagus were severely hypoplastic and they did not
      extend beyond the gastro-esophageal junction nor project branches within the
      stomach wall, as was observed in Tbx1(+/+) mice. CONCLUSIONS & INFERENCES:
      Although cranial ganglia morphology appeared normal in Tbx1(+/-) mice, these
      animals had a spectrum of stomach vagus innervation defects ranging from mild to
      severe. In all Tbx1 genotypes, the intrinsic enteric nervous system developed
      normally. The deficit in vagal innervation of the stomach in mice mutant for a
      gene implicated in DGS raises the possibility that similar defects may underlie a
      number of as yet unidentified/unreported congenital disorders affecting
      gastrointestinal function.

PMID- 20939859
TI  - Testing for mating isolation between ecotypes: laboratory experiments with lake,
      stream and hybrid stickleback.
AB  - Mating isolation is a frequent contributor to ecological speciation - but how
      consistently does it evolve as a result of divergent selection? We tested for
      genetically based mating isolation between lake and stream threespine stickleback
      (Gasterosteus aculeatus L.) from the Misty watershed, Vancouver Island, British
      Columbia. We combined several design elements that are uncommon in the studies of
      stickleback mate choice: (i) we used second-generation laboratory-reared fish (to
      reduce environmental and maternal effects), (ii) we allowed for male-male
      competitive interactions (instead of the typical no-choice trials) and (iii) we
      included hybrids along with pure types. Males of different types (Lake, Inlet,
      hybrid) were paired in aquaria, allowed to build nests and then exposed
      sequentially to females of all three types. We found that Lake and Inlet males
      differed in behaviours thought to influence stickleback mate choice (inter- and
      intra-sexual aggression, display and nest activities), whereas hybrids were
      either intermediate or apparently 'inferior' in these behaviours. Despite these
      differences, Lake and Inlet fish did not mate assortatively and hybrid males did
      not have a mating disadvantage. Our study reinforces the noninevitability of
      mating isolation evolving in response to ecological differences and highlights
      the need to further investigate the factors promoting and constraining progress
      towards ecological speciation.

PMID- 20939862
TI  - A randomised controlled trial comparing TVT, Pelvicol and autologous fascial
      slings for the treatment of stress urinary incontinence in women.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare TVT(TM) , Pelvicol(TM) and autologous fascial slings
      (AFSs). DESIGN: A multicentre randomised control trial. SETTING: Four units in
      the UK. POPULATION: Women requiring primary surgery for stress urinary
      incontinence (SUI). METHODS: A total of 201 women with urodynamically proven
      stress incontinence were randomised into three groups and assessed at baseline, 6
      weeks, 6 months and 1 year. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: The primary outcome was patient
      reported improvement rates. Secondary outcomes included operative
      complications/time, intermittent self-catheterisation (ISC) and re-operation
      rates. The quality-of-life tools used were the Bristol Female Lower Urinary Tract
      Symptoms (BFLUTS) and EuroQoL. RESULTS: Fifty women had a Pelvicol(TM) sling, 79
      had AFSs and 72 had TVT(TM). At 6 months the Pelvicol(TM) arm had poorer
      improvement rates (73%) than TVT(TM) (92%)/AFS (95%); P=0.003. At 1 year only 61%
      of the Pelvicol(TM) slings remained as improved, versus 93% of TVTs and 90% of
      AFSs (P<0.001). Pelvicol(TM) has poorer dry rates (22%) than TVT(TM) (55%)/AFS
      (48%) (P=0.001) at 1 year; hence, the Pelvicol(TM) arm was suspended following
      interim analysis. There is no difference in the success rates between TVT(TM) and
      AFS. One in five women in the Pelvicol(TM) arm had further surgery for SUI by 1
      year, but none required further surgery in the other arms. AFS took longer to do
      (54 minutes versus 35 minutes for TVT(TM) /36 minutes for Pelvicol(TM) ) and had
      higher ISC rates (9.9 versus 0% Pelvicol(TM) /TVT(TM) 1.5%). Hospital stay was
      shortest for TVT(TM) (2 days). Most BFLUTS domains showed improvement in all
      three arms. The improvement for women in the Pelvicol(TM) arm, however, was less
      than for women in the other arms in several key domains. CONCLUSIONS:
      Pelvicol(TM) cannot be recommended for the management of SUI. TVT(TM) does not
      have greater efficacy than AFS, but does utilise fewer resources.

PMID- 20939860
TI  - Isolation and preservation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells for analysis of
      islet antigen-reactive T cell responses: position statement of the T-Cell
      Workshop Committee of the Immunology of Diabetes Society.
AB  - Autoimmune T cell responses directed against insulin-producing beta cells are
      central to the pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes (T1D). Detection of such responses
      is therefore critical to provide novel biomarkers for T1D 'immune staging' and to
      understand the mechanisms underlying the disease. While different T cell assays
      are being developed for these purposes, it is important to optimize and
      standardize methods for processing human blood samples for these assays. To this
      end, we review data relevant to critical parameters in peripheral blood
      mononuclear cell (PBMC) isolation, (cryo)preservation, distribution and usage for
      detecting antigen-specific T cell responses. Based on these data, we propose
      recommendations on processing blood samples for T cell assays and identify gaps
      in knowledge that need to be addressed. These recommendations may be relevant not
      only for the analysis of T cell responses in autoimmune disease, but also in
      cancer and infectious disease, particularly in the context of clinical trials.

PMID- 20939863
TI  - Extramedullary hematopoiesis presenting as a compressive cord and cerebral lesion
      in a patient without a significant hematologic disorder: a case report.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Intracranial or spinal compressive lesions due to extramedullary
      hematopoiesis have been reported in the medical literature. Most of the reported
      cases are extradural lesions or, on rare occasions, foci within another neoplasm
      such as hemangioblastoma, meningioma or pilocytic astrocytoma. Often these cases
      occur in patients with an underlying hematological disorder such as acute
      myelogenic leukemia, myelofibrosis, or other myelodysplastic syndromes. Such
      lesions have also been reported in thalassemia major. CASE PRESENTATION: We
      report the case of a 43-year-old Iranian woman in whom extramedullary
      hematopoiesis presented as a compressive cord lesion and then later as an
      intracranial lesion. CONCLUSIONS: To the best of our knowledge, we document the
      first reported case of sacral, lumbar, thoracic and cranial involvement in the
      same patient with extramedullary hematopoiesis, which seems both rare and
      remarkable.

PMID- 20939864
TI  - Standards of lithium monitoring in mental health Ttrusts in the UK.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Lithium is a commonly prescribed drug with a narrow therapeutic
      index, and recognised adverse effects on the kidneys and thyroid. Clinical
      guidelines for the management of bipolar affective disorder published by The
      National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) recommend checks of
      renal and thyroid function before lithium is prescribed. They further recommend
      that all patients who are prescribed lithium should have their renal and thyroid
      function checked every six months, and their serum lithium checked every three
      months. Adherence to these recommendations has not been subject to national UK
      audit. METHODS: The Prescribing Observatory for Mental Health (POMH-UK) invited
      all National Health Service Mental Health Trusts in the UK to participate in a
      benchmarking audit of lithium monitoring against recommended standards. Data were
      collected retrospectively from clinical records and submitted electronically.
      RESULTS: 436 clinical teams from 38 Trusts submitted data for 3,373 patients. In
      patients recently starting lithium, there was a documented baseline measure of
      renal or thyroid function in 84% and 82% respectively. For patients prescribed
      lithium for a year or more, the NICE standards for monitoring lithium serum
      levels, and renal and thyroid function were met in 30%, 55% and 50% of cases
      respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The quality of lithium monitoring in patients who are
      in contact with mental health services falls short of recognised standards and
      targets. Findings from this audit, along with reports of harm received by the
      National Patient Safety Agency, prompted a Patient Safety Alert mandating primary
      care, mental health and acute Trusts, and laboratory staff to work together to
      ensure systems are in place to support recommended lithium monitoring by December
      2010.

PMID- 20939866
TI  - Walking ability during daily life in patients with osteoarthritis of the knee or
      the hip and lumbar spinal stenosis: a cross sectional study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Degenerative musculoskeletal disorders are among the most frequent
      diseases occurring in adulthood, often impairing patients' functional mobility
      and physical activity. The aim of the present study was to investigate and
      compare the impact of three frequent degenerative musculoskeletal disorders--knee
      osteoarthritis (knee OA), hip osteoarthritis (hip OA) and lumbar spinal stenosis
      (LSS)--on patients' walking ability. METHODS: The study included 120
      participants, with 30 in each patient group and 30 healthy control individuals. A
      uniaxial accelerometer, the StepWatchTM Activity Monitor (Orthocare Innovations,
      Seattle, Washington, USA), was used to determine the volume (number of gait
      cycles per day) and intensity (gait cycles per minute) of walking ability. Non
      parametric testing was used for all statistical analyses. RESULTS: Both the
      volume and the intensity of walking ability were significantly lower among the
      patients in comparison with the healthy control individuals (p < 0.001). Patients
      with LSS spent 0.4 (IQR 2.8) min/day doing moderately intense walking (>50 gait
      cycles/min), which was significantly lower in comparison with patients with knee
      and hip OA at 2.5 (IQR 4.4) and 3.4 (IQR 16.1) min/day, respectively (p < 0.001).
      No correlations between demographic or anthropometric data and walking ability
      were found. No technical problems or measuring errors occurred with any of the
      measurements. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with degenerative musculoskeletal disorders
      suffer limitations in their walking ability. Objective assessment of walking
      ability appeared to be an easy and feasible tool for measuring such limitations
      as it provides baseline data and objective information that are more precise than
      the patients' own subjective estimates. In everyday practice, objective activity
      assessment can provide feedback for clinicians regarding patients' performance
      during everyday life and the extent to which this confirms the results of
      clinical investigations. The method can also be used as a way of encouraging
      patients to develop a more active lifestyle.

PMID- 20939865
TI  - Protective efficacy of natansnin, a dibenzoyl glycoside from Salvinia natans
      against CCl4 induced oxidative stress and cellular degeneration in rat liver.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Carbon tetra chloride (CCl4), an industrial solvent, is a hepatotoxic
      agent and it is the well established animal model for free radical-induced liver
      injury. The present investigation was carried out to establish the protective
      effect of natansnin, a novel dibenzoyl glycoside from Salvinia natans against
      CCl4 induced oxidative stress and cellular degeneration in rat liver. RESULTS:
      CCl4 significantly increased the levels of lipid peroxides, oxidized glutathione
      and decreased the levels of reduced glutathione, SOD and CAT. CCl4 induce marked
      histopathological changes and increase in the levels of apoptotic proteins. CCl4
      treatment significantly increased the levels of apoptotic proteins such as
      caspases-3, PARP, Bax, Bid and cytochrome C and also increased the levels of
      inflammatory mediators iNos and Cox-2. Natansnin treatment significantly
      decreased the levels of CCl4 induced apoptotic proteins and inflammatory
      mediators. Further natansinin treatment significantly inhibited the CCl4 induced
      apoptosis which was evident form the reduced TUNEL positive cells. CONCLUSIONS:
      In conclusion, our study demonstrated the protective effect of natansnin against
      CCl4 induced oxidative stress and cellular degeneration in rat liver tissue. This
      protective effect of natansnin can be correlated to its direct antioxidant
      effect.

PMID- 20939867
TI  - Influence of Moraxella sp. colonization on the kidney proteome of farmed gilthead
      sea breams (Sparus aurata, L.).
AB  - BACKGROUND: Currently, presence of Moraxella sp. in internal organs of fish is
      not considered detrimental for fish farming. However, bacterial colonization of
      internal organs can affect fish wellness and decrease growth rate, stress
      resistance, and immune response. Recently, there have been reports by farmers
      concerning slow growth, poor feed conversion, and low average weight increase of
      fish farmed in offshore floating sea cages, often associated with internal organ
      colonization by Moraxella sp. Therefore, presence of these opportunistic bacteria
      deserves further investigations for elucidating incidence and impact on fish
      metabolism. RESULTS: A total of 960 gilthead sea breams (Sparus aurata, L.),
      collected along 17 months from four offshore sea cage plants and two natural
      lagoons in Sardinia, were subjected to routine microbiological examination of
      internal organs throughout the production cycle. Thirteen subjects (1.35%) were
      found positive for Moraxella sp. in the kidney (7), brain (3), eye (1), spleen
      (1), and perivisceral fat (1). In order to investigate the influence of Moraxella
      sp. colonization, positive and negative kidney samples were subjected to a
      differential proteomics study by means of 2-D PAGE and mass spectrometry.
      Interestingly, Moraxella sp. infected kidneys displayed a concerted upregulation
      of several mitochondrial enzymes compared to negative tissues, reinforcing
      previous observations following lipopolysaccharide (LPS) challenge in fish.
      CONCLUSIONS: Presence of Moraxella sp. in farmed sea bream kidney is able to
      induce proteome alterations similar to those described following LPS challenge in
      other fish species. This study revealed that Moraxella sp. might be causing
      metabolic alterations in fish, and provided indications on proteins that could be
      investigated as markers of infection by Gram-negative bacteria within farming
      plants.

PMID- 20939868
TI  - MCL-CAw: a refinement of MCL for detecting yeast complexes from weighted PPI
      networks by incorporating core-attachment structure.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The reconstruction of protein complexes from the physical interactome
      of organisms serves as a building block towards understanding the higher level
      organization of the cell. Over the past few years, several independent high
      throughput experiments have helped to catalogue enormous amount of physical
      protein interaction data from organisms such as yeast. However, these individual
      datasets show lack of correlation with each other and also contain substantial
      number of false positives (noise). Over these years, several affinity scoring
      schemes have also been devised to improve the qualities of these datasets.
      Therefore, the challenge now is to detect meaningful as well as novel complexes
      from protein interaction (PPI) networks derived by combining datasets from
      multiple sources and by making use of these affinity scoring schemes. In the
      attempt towards tackling this challenge, the Markov Clustering algorithm (MCL)
      has proved to be a popular and reasonably successful method, mainly due to its
      scalability, robustness, and ability to work on scored (weighted) networks.
      However, MCL produces many noisy clusters, which either do not match known
      complexes or have additional proteins that reduce the accuracies of correctly
      predicted complexes. RESULTS: Inspired by recent experimental observations by
      Gavin and colleagues on the modularity structure in yeast complexes and the
      distinctive properties of "core" and "attachment" proteins, we develop a core
      attachment based refinement method coupled to MCL for reconstruction of yeast
      complexes from scored (weighted) PPI networks. We combine physical interactions
      from two recent "pull-down" experiments to generate an unscored PPI network. We
      then score this network using available affinity scoring schemes to generate
      multiple scored PPI networks. The evaluation of our method (called MCL-CAw) on
      these networks shows that: (i) MCL-CAw derives larger number of yeast complexes
      and with better accuracies than MCL, particularly in the presence of natural
      noise; (ii) Affinity scoring can effectively reduce the impact of noise on MCL
      CAw and thereby improve the quality (precision and recall) of its predicted
      complexes; (iii) MCL-CAw responds well to most available scoring schemes. We
      discuss several instances where MCL-CAw was successful in deriving meaningful
      complexes, and where it missed a few proteins or whole complexes due to affinity
      scoring of the networks. We compare MCL-CAw with several recent complex detection
      algorithms on unscored and scored networks, and assess the relative performance
      of the algorithms on these networks. Further, we study the impact of augmenting
      physical datasets with computationally inferred interactions for complex
      detection. Finally, we analyse the essentiality of proteins within predicted
      complexes to understand a possible correlation between protein essentiality and
      their ability to form complexes. CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrate that core-attachment
      based refinement in MCL-CAw improves the predictions of MCL on yeast PPI
      networks. We show that affinity scoring improves the performance of MCL-CAw.

PMID- 20939869
TI  - Suggestive evidence of associations between liver X receptor beta polymorphisms
      with type 2 diabetes mellitus and obesity in three cohort studies: HUNT2
      (Norway), MONICA (France) and HELENA (Europe).
AB  - BACKGROUND: The liver X receptors (LXR) alpha and beta regulate lipid and
      carbohydrate homeostasis and inflammation. Lxrbeta-/- mice are glucose intolerant
      and at the same time lean. We aimed to assess the associations between single
      nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in LXRbeta and risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus
      (T2DM), obesity and related traits in 3 separate cohort studies. METHODS: Twenty
      LXRbeta SNPs were identified by sequencing and genotyped in the HUNT2 adult
      nested case-control study for T2DM (n = 835 cases/1986 controls). Five tag-SNPs
      (rs17373080, rs2695121, rs56151148, rs2303044 and rs3219281), covering 99.3% of
      the entire common genetic variability of the LXRbeta gene were identified and
      genotyped in the French MONICA adult study (n = 2318) and the European adolescent
      HELENA cross-sectional study (n = 1144). In silico and in vitro functionality
      studies were performed. RESULTS: We identified suggestive or significant
      associations between rs17373080 and the risk of (i) T2DM in HUNT2 (OR = 0.82, p =
      0.03), (ii) obesity in MONICA (OR = 1.26, p = 0.05) and (iii) overweight/obesity
      in HELENA (OR = 1.59, p = 0.002). An intron 4 SNP (rs28514894, a perfect proxy
      for rs17373080) could potentially create binding sites for hepatic nuclear factor
      4 alpha (HNF4alpha) and nuclear factor 1 (NF1). The C allele of rs28514894 was
      associated with ~1.25-fold higher human LXRbeta basal promoter activity in vitro.
      However, no differences between alleles in terms of DNA binding and reporter gene
      transactivation by HNF4alpha or NF1 were observed. CONCLUSIONS: Our results
      suggest that rs17373080 in LXRbeta is associated with T2DM and obesity, maybe via
      altered LXRbeta expression.

PMID- 20939870
TI  - Family history of later-onset breast cancer, breast healthy behavior and invasive
      breast cancer among postmenopausal women: a cohort study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: A family history of later-onset breast cancer (FHLBC) may suggest
      multi-factorial inheritance of breast cancer risk, including unhealthy lifestyle
      behaviors that may be shared within families. We assessed whether adherence to
      lifestyle behaviors recommended for breast cancer prevention--including
      maintaining a healthful body weight, being physically active and limiting alcohol
      intake--modifies breast cancer risk attributed to FHLBC in postmenopausal women.
      METHODS: Breast cancer outcomes through August 2003 were analyzed in relationship
      to lifestyle and risk factors collected by questionnaire during enrollment
      (between 1993 and 1998) of 85,644 postmenopausal women into the Women's Health
      Initiative Observational Study. RESULTS: During a mean follow-up of 5.4 years,
      1997 women were diagnosed with invasive breast cancer. The rate of invasive
      breast cancer among women with an FHLBC who participated in all three behaviors
      was 5.94 per 1,000 woman-years, compared with 6.97 per 1,000 woman-years among
      women who participated in none of the behaviors. The rate among women with no
      FHLBC who participated in all three behavioral conditions was 3.51 per 1,000
      woman-years compared to 4.67 per 1,000 woman-years for those who participated in
      none. We did not observe a clinically important departure from additive effects
      (Interaction Contrast: 0.00014; 95% CI: -0.00359, 0.00388). CONCLUSIONS:
      Participating in breast healthy behaviours was beneficial to postmenopausal women
      and the degree of this benefit was the same for women with and without an FHLBC.

PMID- 20939871
TI  - Prevalence and novelty of PRPF31 mutations in French autosomal dominant rod-cone
      dystrophy patients and a review of published reports.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Rod-cone dystrophies are heterogeneous group of inherited retinal
      disorders both clinically and genetically characterized by photoreceptor
      degeneration. The mode of inheritance can be autosomal dominant, autosomal
      recessive or X-linked. The purpose of this study was to identify mutations in one
      of the genes, PRPF31, in French patients with autosomal dominant RP, to perform
      genotype-phenotype correlations of those patients, to determine the prevalence of
      PRPF31 mutations in this cohort and to review previously identified PRPF31
      mutations from other cohorts. METHODS: Detailed phenotypic characterization was
      performed including precise family history, best corrected visual acuity using
      the ETDRS chart, slit lamp examination, kinetic and static perimetry, full field
      and multifocal ERG, fundus autofluorescence imaging and optic coherence
      tomography. For genetic diagnosis, genomic DNA of ninety families was isolated by
      standard methods. The coding exons and flanking intronic regions of PRPF31 were
      PCR amplified, purified and sequenced in the index patient. RESULTS: We showed
      for the first time that 6.7% cases of a French adRP cohort have a PRPF31
      mutation. We identified in total six mutations, which were all novel and not
      detected in ethnically matched controls. The mutation spectrum from our cohort
      comprises frameshift and splice site mutations. Co-segregation analysis in
      available family members revealed that each index patient and all affected family
      members showed a heterozygous mutation. In five families incomplete penetrance
      was observed. Most patients showed classical signs of RP with relatively
      preserved central vision and visual field. CONCLUSION: Our studies extended the
      mutation spectrum of PRPF31 and as previously reported in other populations, it
      is a major cause of adRP in France.

PMID- 20939872
TI  - What happens to ART-eligible patients who do not start ART? Dropout between
      screening and ART initiation: a cohort study in Karonga, Malawi.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Routine ART programme statistics generally only provide information
      about individuals who start treatment. We aimed to investigate the outcome of
      those who are eligible but do not start ART in the Malawi programme, factors
      associated with this dropout, and reasons for not starting treatment, in a
      prospective cohort study. METHODS: Individuals having a first screening visit at
      the ART clinic at Karonga District Hospital, northern Malawi, between September
      2005 and July 2006 were interviewed. Study follow-up to identify treatment
      outcomes was conducted at the clinic and in the community. Logistic regression
      models were used to identify factors associated with dropout before ART
      initiation among participants identified as clinically eligible for ART. RESULTS:
      88 participants eligible for ART at their first screening visit (out of 633,
      13.9%) defaulted before starting ART. Participants with less education,
      difficulties in dressing, a more delayed ART initiation appointment, and mid
      upper arm circumference (MUAC) < 22 cm were significantly less likely to have
      visited the clinic subsequently. Thirty-five (58%) of the 60 participants who
      defaulted and were tracked at home had died, 21 before their ART initiation
      appointment. CONCLUSIONS: MUAC and reported difficulties in dressing may provide
      useful screening indicators to identify sicker ART-eligible individuals at high
      risk of dropping out of the programme who might benefit from being brought back
      quickly or admitted to hospital for observation. Individuals with less education
      may need adapted health information at screening. Deaths of ART-eligible
      individuals occurring prior to ART initiation are not included in routine
      programme statistics. Considering all those who are eligible for ART as a
      denominator for programme indicators would help to highlight this vulnerable
      group, in order to identify new opportunities for further improving ART
      programmes.

PMID- 20939874
TI  - Neuroendocrine carcinoma of the seminal vesicles presenting with Lambert Eaton
      syndrome: a case report.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Primary tumors of seminal vesicles are rare and only a few cases
      have been reported. Diagnosis is difficult due to the absence of early clinical
      signs. Prognosis is generally poor. CASE PRESENTATION: We present the case of a
      70-year-old Caucasian man with a seminal vesicle mass and concomitant lymph node
      metastasis detected by computed tomography and body positron emission
      tomography/low-dose computed tomography scan carried out for evaluation of
      Lambert Eaton syndrome. Transrectal ultrasound-guided biopsy showed a poorly
      differented neuroendocrine carcinoma with an immunhistochemical profile similar
      to small cell lung cancer. Following chemotherapy the disease was stable and
      active surveillance was initiated. CONCLUSIONS: Lambert Eaton syndrome may be the
      initial symptom of a seminal vesicle mass. Diagnosis needs to be obtained by
      transrectal biopsy and chemotherapy may delay progression of the tumor.

PMID- 20939873
TI  - Examination of the relationship between essential genes in PPI network and hub
      proteins in reverse nearest neighbor topology.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In many protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks, densely connected
      hub proteins are more likely to be essential proteins. This is referred to as the
      "centrality-lethality rule", which indicates that the topological placement of a
      protein in PPI network is connected with its biological essentiality. Though such
      connections are observed in many PPI networks, the underlying topological
      properties for these connections are not yet clearly understood. Some suggested
      putative connections are the involvement of essential proteins in the maintenance
      of overall network connections, or that they play a role in essential protein
      clusters. In this work, we have attempted to examine the placement of essential
      proteins and the network topology from a different perspective by determining the
      correlation of protein essentiality and reverse nearest neighbor topology (RNN).
      RESULTS: The RNN topology is a weighted directed graph derived from PPI network,
      and it is a natural representation of the topological dependences between
      proteins within the PPI network. Similar to the original PPI network, we have
      observed that essential proteins tend to be hub proteins in RNN topology.
      Additionally, essential genes are enriched in clusters containing many hub
      proteins in RNN topology (RNN protein clusters). Based on these two properties of
      essential genes in RNN topology, we have proposed a new measure; the RNN cluster
      centrality. Results from a variety of PPI networks demonstrate that RNN cluster
      centrality outperforms other centrality measures with regard to the proportion of
      selected proteins that are essential proteins. We also investigated the
      biological importance of RNN clusters. CONCLUSIONS: This study reveals that RNN
      cluster centrality provides the best correlation of protein essentiality and
      placement of proteins in PPI network. Additionally, merged RNN clusters were
      found to be topologically important in that essential proteins are significantly
      enriched in RNN clusters, and biologically important because they play an
      important role in many Gene Ontology (GO) processes.

PMID- 20939875
TI  - Assessment of the quality and variability of health information on chronic pain
      websites using the DISCERN instrument.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Internet is used increasingly by providers as a tool for
      disseminating pain-related health information and by patients as a resource about
      health conditions and treatment options. However, health information on the
      Internet remains unregulated and varies in quality, accuracy and readability. The
      objective of this study was to determine the quality of pain websites, and
      explain variability in quality and readability between pain websites. METHODS:
      Five key terms (pain, chronic pain, back pain, arthritis, and fibromyalgia) were
      entered into the Google, Yahoo and MSN search engines. Websites were assessed
      using the DISCERN instrument as a quality index. Grade level readability ratings
      were assessed using the Flesch-Kincaid Readability Algorithm. Univariate (using
      alpha = 0.20) and multivariable regression (using alpha = 0.05) analyses were
      used to explain the variability in DISCERN scores and grade level readability
      using potential for commercial gain, health related seals of approval,
      language(s) and multimedia features as independent variables. RESULTS: A total of
      300 websites were assessed, 21 excluded in accordance with the exclusion criteria
      and 110 duplicate websites, leaving 161 unique sites. About 6.8% (11/161
      websites) of the websites offered patients' commercial products for their pain
      condition, 36.0% (58/161 websites) had a health related seal of approval, 75.8%
      (122/161 websites) presented information in English only and 40.4% (65/161
      websites) offered an interactive multimedia experience. In assessing the quality
      of the unique websites, of a maximum score of 80, the overall average DISCERN
      Score was 55.9 (13.6) and readability (grade level) of 10.9 (3.9). The
      multivariable regressions demonstrated that website seals of approval (P = 0.015)
      and potential for commercial gain (P = 0.189) were contributing factors to higher
      DISCERN scores, while seals of approval (P = 0.168) and interactive multimedia (P
      = 0.244) contributed to lower grade level readability, as indicated by estimates
      of the beta coefficients. CONCLUSION: The overall quality of pain websites is
      moderate, with some shortcomings. Websites that scored high using the DISCERN
      questionnaire contained health related seals of approval and provided commercial
      solutions for pain related conditions while those with low readability levels
      offered interactive multimedia options and have been endorsed by health seals.

PMID- 20939876
TI  - The ABO blood group and Plasmodium falciparum malaria in Awash, Metehara and
      Ziway areas, Ethiopia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The virulence of Plasmodium falciparum is associated with the
      capacity of the infected red blood cell (iRBC) to adhere to uninfected RBCs, a
      process known as rosetting, which has been linked to the occurrence of severe
      malaria. The present study was carried out in three Ethiopian malaria endemic
      localities to investigate the relationship between blood group type and severe
      disease in falciparum malaria. METHODS: A total of 210 cases of malaria (70
      severe and 140 uncomplicated) and 190 healthy controls participated in the study.
      Patients with at least one of the severe malaria syndromes (cerebral malaria,
      severe anaemia and circulatory collapse) were considered as severe malaria cases.
      RESULTS: In the severe malaria category, there were 25 (35.7%), 15 (21.4%), 14
      (20%) and 16 (22.9%) blood group A, B, AB and O patients, respectively. Blood
      group O was the dominant blood type in both uncomplicated malaria (45.7%) and
      healthy controls (41.6%). A case of severe malaria was almost twice as likely to
      be of type A as to be of type O (odds ratio (OR) 0.42, 95% confidence interval
      (CI) 0.20-0.88, P = 0.019), and more than twice as likely to be of type B as to
      be of type O (OR 0.38, 95% CI 0.16-0.89, P = 0.02). Furthermore, individuals with
      severe malaria were about six fold less likely to be of O as to be of type AB (OR
      0.19, 95% CI 0.07-0.51, P = 0.0005). CONCLUSION: The study revealed that on the
      basis of the three criteria (cerebral malaria, severe anaemia and circulatory
      collapse) used to determine severity in P. falciparum malaria, patients with
      blood group O, which is less prone to rosetting have a reduced chance of
      developing severe falciparum malaria as compared to patients with other blood
      groups.

PMID- 20939877
TI  - Automated cleaning of fan coil units with a natural detergent-disinfectant
      product.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Air conditioning systems represent one important source of microbial
      pollutants for indoor air. In the past few years, numerous strategies have been
      conceived to reduce the contamination of air conditioners, mainly in hospital
      settings. The biocidal detergent BATT2 represents a natural product obtained
      through extraction from brown seaweeds, that has been tested previously on
      multidrug-resistant microorganisms. METHODS: BATT2 has been utilized for the
      disinfection of fan coil units from four air conditioning systems located in
      hospital environments with a mean degree of risk. Samples were collected from the
      air supplied by the conditioning systems and from the surfaces of fan coil units,
      before and after sanitization procedures. Total microbial counts at 37 degrees C
      and 22 degrees C and mycotic count at 32 degrees C were evaluated. Staphylococci
      and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were also detected on surfaces samples. RESULTS: The
      biodetergent was able to reduce up 50% of the microbial pollution of fan coil
      units surfaces and air supplied by the air conditioners. CONCLUSIONS: BATT2 could
      be considered for cleaning/disinfection of air conditioning systems, that should
      be performed on the basis of accurate and verifiable sanitization protocols.

PMID- 20939878
TI  - Prediction model for knee osteoarthritis based on genetic and clinical
      information.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common bone and joint disease
      influenced by genetic and environmental factors. Recent association studies have
      uncovered the genetic factors behind OA, its susceptibility genes, which would
      enable us to predict disease occurrence based on genotype information. However,
      most previous studies have evaluated the effects of only a single susceptibility
      gene, and hence prediction based on such information is not as reliable. Here, we
      constructed OA-prediction models based on genotype information from a case
      control association study and tested their predictability. METHODS: We genotyped
      risk alleles of the three susceptibility genes, asporin (ASPN), growth
      differentiation factor 5 (GDF5), and double von Willebrand factor A domains
      (DVWA) for a total of 2,158 Japanese subjects (933 OA and 1,225 controls) and
      statistically analyzed their effects. After that, we constructed prediction
      models by using the logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: When the effects of
      each allele were assumed to be the same and multiplicative, each additional risk
      allele increased the odds ratio (OR) by a factor of 1.23 (95% confidence interval
      (CI), 1.12 to 1.34). Individuals with five or six risk alleles showed
      significantly higher susceptibility when compared with those with zero or one,
      with an OR of 2.67 (95% CI, 1.46 to 4.87; P = 0.0020). Statistical evaluation of
      the prediction power of models showed that a model using only genotyping data had
      poor predictability. We obtained a model with good predictability by
      incorporating clinical data, which was further improved by rigorous age
      adjustment. CONCLUSIONS: Our results showed that consideration of adjusted
      clinical information, as well as increases in the number of risk alleles to be
      integrated, is critical for OA prediction by using data from case-control
      studies. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first report of the OA-prediction
      model combining both genetic and clinical information.

PMID- 20939879
TI  - SERPINB5 and AKAP12 - expression and promoter methylation of metastasis
      suppressor genes in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Early metastasis and infiltration are survival limiting
      characteristics of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Thus, PDAC is likely
      to harbor alterations in metastasis suppressor genes that may provide novel
      diagnostic and therapeutic opportunities. This study investigates a panel of
      metastasis suppressor genes in correlation to PDAC phenotype and examines
      promoter methylation for regulatory influence on metastasis suppressor gene
      expression and for its potential as a diagnostic tool. METHODS: Metastatic and
      invasive potential of 16 PDAC cell lines were quantified in an orthotopic mouse
      model and mRNA expression of 11 metastasis suppressor genes determined by
      quantitative RT-PCR. Analysis for promoter methylation was performed using
      methylation specific PCR and bisulfite sequencing PCR. Protein expression was
      determined by Western blot. RESULTS: In general, higher metastasis suppressor
      gene mRNA expression was not consistent with less aggressive phenotypes of PDAC.
      Instead, mRNA overexpression of several metastasis suppressor genes was found in
      PDAC cell lines vs. normal pancreatic RNA. Of the investigated metastasis
      suppressor genes, only higher AKAP12 mRNA expression was correlated with
      decreased metastasis (P < 0.05) and invasion scores (P < 0.01) while higher
      SERPINB5 mRNA expression was correlated with increased metastasis scores (P <
      0.05). Both genes' promoters showed methylation, but only increased SERPINB5
      methylation was associated with loss of mRNA and protein expression (P < 0.05).
      SERPINB5 methylation was also directly correlated to decreased metastasis scores
      (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: AKAP12 mRNA expression was correlated to attenuated
      invasive and metastatic potential and may be associated with less aggressive
      phenotypes of PDAC while no such evidence was obtained for the remaining
      metastasis suppressor genes. Increased SERPINB5 mRNA expression was correlated to
      increased metastasis and mRNA expression was regulated by methylation. Thus,
      SERPINB5 methylation was directly correlated to metastasis scores and may provide
      a diagnostic tool for PDAC.

PMID- 20939880
TI  - Atomic force microscopy in vitro study of surface roughness and fractal character
      of a dental restoration composite after air-polishing.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Surface roughness is the main factor determining bacterial adhesion,
      biofilm growth and plaque formation on the dental surfaces in vivo. Air-polishing
      of dental surfaces removes biofilm but can also damage the surface by increasing
      its roughness. The purpose of this study was to investigate the surface damage of
      different conditions of air-polishing performed in vitro on a recently introduced
      dental restorative composite. METHODS: Abrasive powders of sodium bicarbonate and
      glycine, combined at different treatment times (5, 10 and 30 s) and distances (2
      and 7 mm), have been tested. The resulting root mean square roughness of the
      surfaces has been measured by means of atomic force microscopy, and the data have
      been analyzed statistically to assess the significance. Additionally, a fractal
      analysis of the samples surfaces has been carried out. RESULTS: The minimum
      surface roughening was obtained by air-polishing with glycine powder for 5 s, at
      either of the considered distances, which resulted in a mean roughness of ~300 nm
      on a 30 * 30 MUm2 surface area, whereas in the other cases it was in the range of
      400-750 nm. Both untreated surfaces and surfaces treated with the maximum
      roughening conditions exhibited a fractal character, with comparable dimension in
      the 2.4-2.7 range, whereas this was not the case for the surfaces treated with
      the minimum roughening conditions. CONCLUSIONS: For the dental practitioner it is
      of interest to learn that use of glycine in air polishing generates the least
      surface roughening on the considered restorative material, and thus is expected
      to provide the lowest rate of bacterial biofilm growth and dental plaque
      formation. Furthermore, the least roughening behaviour identified has been
      correlated with the disappearance of the surface fractal character, which could
      represent an integrative method for screening the air polishing treatment
      efficacy.

PMID- 20939881
TI  - Longitudinal monitoring of CA125 levels provides additional information about
      survival in ovarian cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We investigated the prognostic impact of changes in serum CA125
      levels during the first 3 months of therapy in ovarian cancer. METHODS: A case
      series of 170 ovarian cancer patients treated at Cancer Treatment Centers of
      America. Based on CA125 levels at baseline and 3 months, patients were classified
      into 4 groups: 1) Normal (0-35 U/ml) at baseline and three months; 2) High (>35
      U/ml) at baseline, normal at three months; 3) Normal at baseline, high at 3
      months; 4) High at baseline and three months. Kaplan Meier method was used to
      calculate survival across the 4 categories. RESULTS: Of 170 patients, 36 were
      newly diagnosed while 134 had received prior treatment. 25 had stage I disease at
      diagnosis, 15 stage II, 106 stage III and 14 stage IV. The median age at
      presentation was 54.2 years (range 23.1 - 82.5 years). At baseline, 31 patients
      had normal (0-35 U/ml) serum CA125 levels while 139 had high (>35 U/ml) levels.
      At 3 months, 59 had normal while 111 had high levels. Patients with a reduced
      CA125 at 3 months had a significantly better survival than those with increased
      CA125 at 3 months. Patients with normal values of CA125 at both baseline and 3
      months had the best overall survival. CONCLUSIONS: These data show that reduction
      in CA125 after 3 months of therapy is associated with better overall survival in
      ovarian cancer. Patients without a significant decline in CA125 after 3 months of
      therapy have a particularly poor prognosis.

PMID- 20939882
TI  - Geoseq: a tool for dissecting deep-sequencing datasets.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Datasets generated on deep-sequencing platforms have been deposited
      in various public repositories such as the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO),
      Sequence Read Archive (SRA) hosted by the NCBI, or the DNA Data Bank of Japan
      (ddbj). Despite being rich data sources, they have not been used much due to the
      difficulty in locating and analyzing datasets of interest. RESULTS: Geoseq
      http://geoseq.mssm.edu provides a new method of analyzing short reads from deep
      sequencing experiments. Instead of mapping the reads to reference genomes or
      sequences, Geoseq maps a reference sequence against the sequencing data. It is
      web-based, and holds pre-computed data from public libraries. The analysis
      reduces the input sequence to tiles and measures the coverage of each tile in a
      sequence library through the use of suffix arrays. The user can upload custom
      target sequences or use gene/miRNA names for the search and get back results as
      plots and spreadsheet files. Geoseq organizes the public sequencing data using a
      controlled vocabulary, allowing identification of relevant libraries by organism,
      tissue and type of experiment. CONCLUSIONS: Analysis of small sets of sequences
      against deep-sequencing datasets, as well as identification of public datasets of
      interest, is simplified by Geoseq. We applied Geoseq to, a) identify differential
      isoform expression in mRNA-seq datasets, b) identify miRNAs (microRNAs) in
      libraries, and identify mature and star sequences in miRNAS and c) to identify
      potentially mis-annotated miRNAs. The ease of using Geoseq for these analyses
      suggests its utility and uniqueness as an analysis tool.

PMID- 20939883
TI  - Arthroscopic treatment of a medial meniscal cyst using a posterior trans-septal
      approach: a case report.
AB  - Arthroscopic partial menisectomy followed by cyst decompression is currently
      recommended for treatment of a meniscal cyst. However, it is doubtful whether
      partial menisectomy should be performed on cysts communicating with the joint in
      cases without a meniscal tear on its surface since meniscal function will be
      sacrificed. In this report, a meniscal cyst arising from the posterior horn of
      the medial meniscus without meniscal tear on its surface was resected using an
      arthroscopic posterior trans-septal approach. A 59 year-old male presented to our
      hospital with popliteal pain when standing up after squatting down. Magnetic
      resonance imaging revealed a multilobulated meniscal cyst arising from the
      posterior horn of the medial meniscus extending to the posterior septum with a
      grade 2 meniscal tear by Mink's classification. The medial meniscus was intact on
      the surface on arthroscopic examination. The meniscal cyst and posterior septum
      were successfully resected using a posterior trans-septal approach without
      harming the meniscus. This is the first report on a meniscal cyst being resected
      using an arthroscopic posterior trans-septal approach with a 9-month follow-up
      period.

PMID- 20939884
TI  - Evidence of co-infection of chikungunya and densonucleosis viruses in C6/36 cell
      lines and laboratory infected Aedes aegypti (L.) mosquitoes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Densonucleosis viruses are the etiological agents of insect's
      disease. We have reported the isolation of densovirus from India and its
      distribution among the natural populations of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes across the
      country. Since densonucleosis virus persistently infects mosquito populations,
      and is demonstrated to negatively affect multiplication of dengue virus in Aedes
      albopictus, it would be interesting to study if this virus has a role in
      determining the susceptibility of the vector mosquito Ae. aegypti to chikugunya
      virus. METHODS: Mosquito cell lines and adult Ae. aegypti mosquitoes infected
      with densovirus were superinfected with Chikungunya virus and both the viruses
      were quantitated by determining their genomic copy number by real time
      amplification. Comparison was made between the log of genomic copy numbers of the
      viruses in the presence and absence of each other. RESULTS: The log of copy
      number of the viruses did not vary due to co-infection. Even though the RNA copy
      number of chikungunya virus increased over the period of time, no change was
      observed in the RNA copy number between the control and the co-infected group on
      any given day. Similarly, DNA copy number of densovirus also remained unchanged
      between the control and the co-infected groups. CONCLUSION: Chikungunya virus
      neither stimulates the replication of densovirus nor is its own replication
      suppressed due to co-infection. Ae. aegypti mosquitoes with densovirus infection
      were as susceptible to infection by chikungunya virus as the uninfected
      mosquitoes.

PMID- 20939885
TI  - Representativeness of microsatellite distributions in genomes, as revealed by 454
      GS-FLX titanium pyrosequencing.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Microsatellites are markers of choice in population genetics and
      genomics, as they provide useful insight into patterns and processes as diverse
      as genome evolutionary dynamics and demographic processes. The acquisition of
      microsatellites through multiplex-enriched libraries and 454 GS-FLX Titanium
      pyrosequencing is a promising new tool for the isolation of new markers in
      unknown genomes. This approach can also be used to evaluate the extent to which
      microsatellite-enriched libraries are representative of the genome from which
      they were isolated. In this study, we deciphered potential discrepancies in
      microsatellite content recovery for two reference genomes (Apis mellifera and
      Danio rerio), selected on the basis of their extreme heterogeneity in terms of
      the proportions and distributions of microsatellites on chromosomes. RESULTS: The
      A. mellifera genome, in particular, was found to be highly heterogeneous, due to
      extremely high rates of recombination, with hotspots, but the only bias
      consistently introduced into pyrosequenced multiplex-enriched libraries concerned
      sequence length, with the overrepresentation of sequences 160 to 320 bp in
      length. Other deviations from expected proportions or distributions of motifs on
      chromosomes were observed, but the significance and intensity of these deviations
      was mostly limited. Furthermore, no consistent adverse competition between
      multiplexed probes was observed during the motif enrichment phase. CONCLUSIONS:
      This approach therefore appears to be a promising strategy for improving the
      development of microsatellites, as it introduces no major bias in terms of the
      proportions and distribution of microsatellites.

PMID- 20939886
TI  - Shortcomings of short hairpin RNA-based transgenic RNA interference in mouse
      oocytes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: RNA interference (RNAi) is a powerful approach to study a gene
      function. Transgenic RNAi is an adaptation of this approach where suppression of
      a specific gene is achieved by expression of an RNA hairpin from a transgene. In
      somatic cells, where a long double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) longer than 30 base-pairs
      can induce a sequence-independent interferon response, short hairpin RNA (shRNA)
      expression is used to induce RNAi. In contrast, transgenic RNAi in the oocyte
      routinely employs a long RNA hairpin. Transgenic RNAi based on long hairpin RNA,
      although robust and successful, is restricted to a few cell types, where long
      double-stranded RNA does not induce sequence-independent responses. Transgenic
      RNAi in mouse oocytes based on a shRNA offers several potential advantages,
      including simple cloning of the transgenic vector and an ability to use the same
      targeting construct in any cell type. RESULTS: Here we report our experience with
      shRNA-based transgenic RNAi in mouse oocytes. Despite optimal starting conditions
      for this experiment, we experienced several setbacks, which outweigh potential
      benefits of the shRNA system. First, obtaining an efficient shRNA is potentially
      a time-consuming and expensive task. Second, we observed that our transgene,
      which was based on a common commercial vector, was readily silenced in transgenic
      animals. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that, the long RNA hairpin-based RNAi is more
      reliable and cost-effective and we recommend it as a method-of-choice when a gene
      is studied selectively in the oocyte.

PMID- 20939887
TI  - Primary transcriptomes of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis reveal
      proprietary pathways in tissue and macrophages.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP) persistently
      infects intestines and mesenteric lymph nodes leading to a prolonged subclinical
      disease. The MAP genome sequence was published in 2005, yet its transcriptional
      organization in natural infection is unknown. While prior research analyzed
      regulated gene sets utilizing defined, in vitro stress related or advanced
      surgical methods with various animal species, we investigated the intracellular
      lifestyle of MAP in the intestines and lymph nodes to understand the MAP pathways
      that function to govern this persistence. RESULTS: Our transcriptional analysis
      shows that 21%, 8% and 3% of the entire MAP genome was represented either inside
      tissues, macrophages or both, respectively. Transcripts belonging to latency and
      cell envelope biogenesis were upregulated in the intestinal tissues whereas those
      belonging to intracellular trafficking and secretion were upregulated inside the
      macrophages. Transcriptomes of natural infection and in vitro macrophage
      infection shared genes involved in transcription and inorganic ion transport and
      metabolism. MAP specific genes within large sequence polymorphisms of ancestral
      M. avium complex were downregulated exclusively in natural infection.
      CONCLUSIONS: We have unveiled common and unique MAP pathways associated with
      persistence, cell wall biogenesis and virulence in naturally infected cow
      intestines, lymph nodes and in vitro infected macrophages. This dichotomy also
      suggests that in vitro macrophage models may be insufficient in providing
      accurate information on the events that transpire during natural infection. This
      is the first report to examine the primary transcriptome of MAP at the local
      infection site (i.e. intestinal tissue). Regulatory pathways that govern the
      lifecycle of MAP appear to be specified by tissue and cell type. While tissues
      show a "shut-down" of major MAP metabolic genes, infected macrophages upregulate
      several MAP specific genes along with a putative pathogenicity island responsible
      for iron acquisition. Many of these regulatory pathways rely on the advanced
      interplay of host and pathogen and in order to decipher their message, an
      interactome must be established using a systems biology approach. Identified MAP
      pathways place current research into direct alignment in meeting the future
      challenge of creating a MAP-host interactome.

PMID- 20939888
TI  - Genetic investigations on 8 patients affected by ring 20 chromosome syndrome.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mosaic Chromosome 20 ring [r(20)] is a chromosomal disorder
      associated with a rare syndrome characterized by a typical seizure phenotype, a
      particular electroclinical pattern, cognitive impairment, behavioural problems
      and absence of a consistent pattern of dysmorphology. The pathogenic mechanism
      underlying seizures disorders in r(20) syndrome is still unknown. We performed a
      detailed clinical and genetic study on 8 patients with r(20) chromosome, aimed at
      detecting the genetic mechanism underlying r(20) syndrome. METHODS: We submitted
      8 subjects with a previous diagnosis of ring 20 chromosome mosaicism to a
      clinical re-evaluation, followed by cytogenetic, FISH, array-CGH and molecular
      analyses. The genetic study was also extended to their available parents.
      RESULTS: FISH and array-CGH experiments indicate that cryptic deletions on
      chromosome 20 are not the cause of the r(20) chromosome associated disease.
      Moreover, no evidence of chromosome 20 uniparental disomy was found. Analysis of
      FISH signals given by variant in size alphoid tandem repeats probes on the normal
      chromosome 20 and the r(20) chromosome in the mosaic carriers suggests that the
      r(20) chromosome is the same chromosome not circularized in the "normal" cell
      line. CONCLUSIONS: Higher percentages of r(20) chromosome cells were observed to
      be related with precocious age at seizure onset and with resistance to
      antiepileptic drug treatment. Behavioural problems also seem to be associated
      with higher percentages of r(20) chromosome cells. Our results suggest that an
      epigenetic mechanism perturbing the expression of genes close to the telomeric
      regions, rather than deletion of genes located at the distal 20p and/or 20q
      regions, may underlie the manifestation of r(20) syndrome.

PMID- 20939889
TI  - Rapid optimization of enzyme mixtures for deconstruction of diverse
      pretreatment/biomass feedstock combinations.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Enzymes for plant cell wall deconstruction are a major cost in the
      production of ethanol from lignocellulosic biomass. The goal of this research was
      to develop optimized synthetic mixtures of enzymes for multiple
      pretreatment/substrate combinations using our high-throughput biomass digestion
      platform, GENPLAT, which combines robotic liquid handling, statistical
      experimental design and automated Glc and Xyl assays. Proportions of six core
      fungal enzymes (CBH1, CBH2, EG1, beta-glucosidase, a GH10 endo-beta1,4-xylanase,
      and beta-xylosidase) were optimized at a fixed enzyme loading of 15 mg/g glucan
      for release of Glc and Xyl from all combinations of five biomass feedstocks (corn
      stover, switchgrass, Miscanthus, dried distillers' grains plus solubles [DDGS]
      and poplar) subjected to three alkaline pretreatments (AFEX, dilute base [0.25%
      NaOH] and alkaline peroxide [AP]). A 16-component mixture comprising the core set
      plus 10 accessory enzymes was optimized for three pretreatment/substrate
      combinations. Results were compared to the performance of two commercial enzymes
      (Accellerase 1000 and Spezyme CP) at the same protein loadings. RESULTS: When
      analyzed with GENPLAT, corn stover gave the highest yields of Glc with commercial
      enzymes and with the core set with all pretreatments, whereas corn stover,
      switchgrass and Miscanthus gave comparable Xyl yields. With commercial enzymes
      and with the core set, yields of Glc and Xyl were highest for grass stovers
      pretreated by AP compared to AFEX or dilute base. Corn stover, switchgrass and
      DDGS pretreated with AFEX and digested with the core set required a higher
      proportion of endo-beta1,4-xylanase (EX3) and a lower proportion of endo-beta1,4
      glucanase (EG1) compared to the same materials pretreated with dilute base or AP.
      An optimized enzyme mixture containing 16 components (by addition of alpha
      glucuronidase, a GH11 endoxylanase [EX2], Cel5A, Cel61A, Cip1, Cip2, beta
      mannanase, amyloglucosidase, alpha-arabinosidase, and Cel12A to the core set) was
      determined for AFEX-pretreated corn stover, DDGS, and AP-pretreated corn stover.
      The optimized mixture for AP-corn stover contained more exo-beta1,4-glucanase
      (i.e., the sum of CBH1 + CBH2) and less endo-beta1,4-glucanase (EG1 + Cel5A) than
      the optimal mixture for AFEX-corn stover. Amyloglucosidase and beta-mannanase
      were the two most important enzymes for release of Glc from DDGS but were not
      required (i.e., 0% optimum) for corn stover subjected to AP or AFEX. As a
      function of enzyme loading over the range 0 to 30 mg/g glucan, Glc release from
      AP-corn stover reached a plateau of 60-70% Glc yield at a lower enzyme loading (5
      10 mg/g glucan) than AFEX-corn stover. Accellerase 1000 was superior to Spezyme
      CP, the core set or the 16-component mixture for Glc yield at 12 h, but the 16
      component set was as effective as the commercial enzyme mixtures at 48 h.
      CONCLUSION: The results in this paper demonstrate that GENPLAT can be used to
      rapidly produce enzyme cocktails for specific pretreatment/biomass combinations.
      Pretreatment conditions and feedstock source both influence the Glc and Xyl
      yields as well as optimal enzyme proportions. It is predicted that it will be
      possible to improve synthetic enzyme mixtures further by the addition of
      additional accessory enzymes.

PMID- 20939890
TI  - Pressure pain sensitivity maps of the neck-shoulder and the low back regions in
      men and women.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Musculoskeletal pain in the low back and neck-shoulder regions is a
      major problem among the working population all over the world. The prevalence of
      musculoskeletal pain is found to be higher among women. Women also have lower
      pressure pain thresholds (PPTs) than men. Pressure pain topography aims at
      mapping the spatial distribution of PPT within a muscle in an attempt to track
      changes in mechanical sensitivity. In order to assess gender differences in the
      pain topography, it is necessary to map the distribution in both healthy men and
      women. The aim of this study was to assess PPT maps from the cervico-thoracic and
      lumbar regions in men and women. METHODS: Eleven men and eleven women without any
      known musculoskeletal disorders participated in the study. PPT was measured twice
      at 36 points over the trapezius muscle of the dominant arm, at 36 points over the
      trapezius muscle on the contralateral side and at 12 points over the spine
      between the left and right trapezius. Further, 11 points were measured over the
      erector spinae muscle on the left side of the spine between the first and the
      fifth lumbar vertebrae, 11 on the right side and 5 points on the spine itself.
      The measurements on each trapezius muscle were divided according to anatomical
      subdivisions. Three-way and two-way ANOVAs were used to analyse the differences
      in PPTs with the following factors: gender, locations and sub-divisions (only for
      cervico-thoracic region). RESULTS: There were no differences between left and
      right side in neither the cervico-thoracic nor the lumbar region, but there were
      (large effect) differences between the subdivisions in the trapezius with the
      lowest values in the upper part (P < 0.001; partial eta2 = 0.19). Women had
      (small effect) lower PPT in both cervico-thoracic and lumbar regions (P <= 0.001;
      partial eta2 = 0.02 for both regions), but gender had no effect on neither
      location nor subdivisions. CONCLUSIONS: The pain topography was not found to be
      different between genders in the cervico-thoracic and lumbar regions. This study
      can be used as basis for further clinical studies on musculoskeletal disorders.

PMID- 20939891
TI  - Primary leiomyosarcoma of the right atrium: a case report and literature update.
AB  - Leiomyosarcoma of the right atrium is a very rare cardiac tumor. Various
      combinations of treatments including resection or transplant surgery and
      Chemotherapy have been advocated. We report a case of a man who presented with
      pulmonary embolism secondary to right atrial leiomyosarcoma. He was managed by
      excision of the tumor and reconstruction of the right atrium with autologous
      pericardium. Postoperatively tumor dissemination was controlled with adjuvant
      chemotherapy.A vigorous attempt aiming at tumor clearance followed by adjuvant
      multimodality therapy along with a tumor surveillance program may improve
      survival.

PMID- 20939892
TI  - CXC chemokine receptor 4 expressed in T cells plays an important role in the
      development of collagen-induced arthritis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Chemokines and their receptors are potential therapeutic targets in
      rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Among these, several studies suggested the involvement
      of CXC chemokine 4 (CXCR4) and its ligand CXC ligand 12 (SDF-1) in RA
      pathogenesis. However, the role of these molecules in T-cell function is not
      known completely because of embryonic lethality of Cxcr4- and Cxcl12-deficient
      mice. In this report, we generated T cell-specific Cxcr4-deficient mice and
      showed that the CXCR4 in T cells is important for the development of collagen
      induced arthritis (CIA). METHODS: T cell-specific Cxcr4-deficient mice were
      generated by using the Cre-loxP system. Mice harboring loxP sites flanking exon 2
      of the Cxcr4gene (Cxcr4flox/flox) were generated by homologous recombination and
      crossed with Cre transgenic mice expressing Cre recombinase under the control of
      Lck promoter (Cxcr4+/+/Lck-Cremice) to generate T cell-specific Cxcr4-deficient
      mice (Cxcr4flox/flox/Lck-Cre mice). CIA was induced by immunization with chicken
      type II collagen and Complete Freund's Adjuvant (CFA). RESULTS: The incidence,
      but not the severity, of CIA was significantly reduced in Cxcr4flox/flox/Lck-Cre
      mice compared with Cxcr4+/+/Lck-Cre mice. We found that the expression of CXCR4
      was enhanced in activated T cells, and the migration of Cxcr4-deficient T cells
      toward SDF-1 was severely impaired. However, antibody production, cellular
      proliferative response, and cytokine production on treatment with type II
      collagen (IIC) were normal in these knockout mice, suggesting that CXCR4 is not
      involved in T-helper functions. Interestingly, the proportion of CXCR4-expressing
      T cells was much increased in affected joints compared with that in draining
      lymph nodes in CIA-induced mice, and distribution of Cxcr4flox/flox/Lck-Cre mouse
      derived T cells into affected joints was suppressed compared with that in
      Cxcr4+/+/Lck-Cre T cells. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that CXCR4
      expression in T cells is important for the development of CIA, by recruiting
      activated T cells toward inflammatory sites, and suggest that CXCR4 is a good
      target for the treatment of RA in humans.

PMID- 20939893
TI  - Catecholamine up-regulates MMP-7 expression by activating AP-1 and STAT3 in
      gastric cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Stress, anxiety and depression can cause complex physiological and
      neuroendocrine changes, resulting in increased level of stress related hormone
      catecholamine, which may constitute a primary mechanism by which physiological
      factors impact gene expression in tumors. In the present study, we investigated
      the effects of catecholamine stimulation on MMP-7 expression in gastric cancer
      cells and elucidated the molecular mechanisms of the up-regulation of MMP-7 level
      by catecholamine through an adrenergic signaling pathway. RESULTS: Increased MMP
      7 expression was identified at both mRNA and protein levels in the gastric cancer
      cells in response to isoproterenol stimulation. beta2-AR antigonist effectively
      abrogated isoproterenol-induced MMP-7 expression. The activation of STAT3 and AP
      1 was prominently induced by isoproterenol stimulation and AP-1 displayed a
      greater efficacy than STAT3 in isoproterenol-induced MMP-7 expression.
      Mutagenesis of three STAT3 binding sites in MMP-7 promoter failed to repress the
      transactivation of MMP-7 promoter and silencing STAT3 expression was not
      effective in preventing isoproterenol-induced MMP-7 expression. However,
      isoproterenol-induced MMP-7 promoter activities were completely disappeared when
      the AP-1 site was mutated. STAT3 and c-Jun could physically interact and bind to
      the AP-1 site, implicating that the interplay of both transcriptional factors on
      the AP-1 site is responsible for isoproterenol-stimulated MMP-7 expression in
      gastric cancer cells. The expression of MMP-7 in gastric cancer tissues was found
      to be at the site where beta2-AR was overexpressed and the levels of MMP-7 and
      beta2-AR were the highest in the metastatic locus of gastric cancer. CONCLUSIONS:
      Up-regulation of MMP-7 expression through beta2-AR-mediated signaling pathway is
      involved in invasion and metastasis of gastric cancer.

PMID- 20939894
TI  - Natural killer cells are crucial for the efficacy of Icon (factor VII/human IgG1
      Fc) immunotherapy in human tongue cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Icon is a novel, dual neovascular- and cancer cell-targeting
      immunotherapeutic agent and has shown efficacy in the treatment of cancer, wet
      form macular degeneration and endometriosis. However, its underlying mechanism
      remains to be investigated. The objective of this study is to elucidate the
      mechanism of Icon immunotherapy in cancer using a squamous carcinoma human tongue
      cancer line TCA8113 in vitro and in vivo in severe combined immunodeficiency
      (SCID) mice. RESULTS: We showed that Icon, as a chimeric factor VII and human
      IgG1 Fc immunoconjugate, could separately induce murine natural killer (NK) cells
      and activate complement to kill TCA8113 cancer cells in vitro via antibody
      dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC) and complement-dependent cytotoxicity
      (CDC). However, Icon-NK ADCC had a significantly stronger effect than that of
      Icon-CDC. Moreover, Icon could completely eradicate established human tongue
      tumour xenografts in vivo in the CB-17 strain of SCID mice that have functional
      NK cells at a normal level, whereas it was less effective in SCID/Beige mice that
      do not have functional NK cells. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that NK cells are
      crucial for the efficacy of Icon immunotherapy in the treatment of cancer. The
      results also suggest that impaired NK level/activity could contribute to the
      resistance to therapeutic antibodies that are currently under investigation in
      preclinical and clinical studies.

PMID- 20939895
TI  - LKB1 tumor suppressor protein regulates actin filament assembly through Rho and
      its exchange factor Dbl independently of kinase activity.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Germline mutations in LKB1 result in Peutz-Jeghers Syndrome
      characterized by intestinal hamartomas and increased incidence of epithelial
      cancers. LKB1 encodes a serine/threonine kinase that plays an important role in
      regulating energy metabolism through the AMPK/mTOR signaling pathway. In
      addition, LKB1 is homologous to PAR-4, a polarity protein first described in C.
      elegans, while activation of LKB1 in mammalian epithelial cells induces the
      polarized assembly of actin filaments. RESULTS: To explore the mechanism by which
      LKB1 interacts with the actin cytoskeleton, we introduced LKB1 into HeLa cells
      that lack endogenous LKB1. This results in activation of the small GTPase Rho and
      the assembly of linear actin filaments associated with focal adhesions. These
      effects on the actin cytoskeleton are attenuated by siRNA-mediated depletion of
      the guanine nucleotide exchange factor Dbl. Co-expression of the LKB1 with the
      adaptor protein STRAD induces actin filament puncta associated with phospho
      ezrin. CONCLUSIONS: This study reveals that LKB1 regulates the actin cytoskeleton
      through a Dbl/Rho pathway.

PMID- 20939896
TI  - Detection of multiple human papillomavirus genotypes in anal carcinoma.
AB  - Infection with human papillomavirus (HPV) is a major risk factor for development
      of anal squamous cell carcinoma. Despite over 100 genotypes of the virus, HPV 16
      and 18 are considered pathogenic as they are seen in the majority of cervical and
      anal cancers. We have employed a custom microarray to examine DNA for several HPV
      genotypes. We aimed to determine the accuracy of our microarray in anal cancer
      DNA for HPV genotypes compared to the DNA sequencing gold standard. METHODS: We
      utilized a sensitive microarray platform to classify 37 types of mucosal HPVs
      including 14 known high-risk and 23 low-risk types based on cervical cancer data.
      We utilized DNA from pathologically confirmed cases of anal squamous cell
      carcinoma. All samples underwent microarray HPV genotyping and PCR analysis.
      RESULTS: HPV was detected in 18/20 (90%) anal cancers. HPV genotypes 16 and 18
      were present in the majority of specimens, with HPV 16 being the most common.
      Eighty percent of anal cancers had at least two HPV types. Ten percent of cases
      (2/20) tested negative using our microarray; DNA sequencing confirmed the lack of
      presence of HPV DNA in these samples. CONCLUSIONS: Microarray technology is an
      accurate way to screen for various genotypes of HPV in anal cancer, with 100%
      correlation with genomic DNA detection of HPV. The majority of anal cancers in
      our study associated with pathogenic HPV 16 and/or 18. Other HPV genotypes are
      present simultaneously with HPV 16 and 18, and might contribute to its
      pathogenesis.

PMID- 20939897
TI  - Effects of the alpha1-adrenoceptor agonist phenylephrine on SART stress-induced
      orthostatic hypotension in rats.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Specific alternation of rhythm in temperature (SART)-stressed rats,
      an animal model of autonomic imbalance, exhibit low blood pressure and
      tachycardia during consciousness and under anesthesia. In addition, these rats
      easily develop orthostatic hypotension (OH) as a response to postural
      manipulation. Hence, we studied the influence of the adrenalin alpha1-receptor
      agonist phenylephrine on stress-induced OH in SART-stressed rats and unstressed
      rats. METHODS: Male Wistar rats weighing 250-300 g were used. Rats were fixed in
      the supine position under urethane anesthesia. Blood pressure was directly
      measured from the left common carotid artery and ECG was recorded simultaneously.
      RESULTS: The maximum decrease in blood pressure and the area under the blood
      pressure-time curve were both large, while the %reflex was small in the SART
      stressed rats compared with unstressed rats. In the SART-stressed rats, prolonged
      intravenous administration of phenylephrine reduced OH at a dose that barely
      affected unstressed rats. CONCLUSION: The results suggested that sympathetic
      dysfunction is a factor underlying SART stress-induced OH.

PMID- 20939898
TI  - Macrophage migration inhibitory factor regulates interleukin-6 production by
      facilitating nuclear factor-kappa B activation during Vibrio vulnificus
      infection.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Patients infected with Vibrio vulnificus (V. vulnificus) show severe
      inflammatory responses characterised by the upregulation of proinflammatory
      cytokines. Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF), an upstream
      proinflammatory regulator, increases the inflammation caused by sepsis. Whether
      MIF regulates responses to V. vulnificus infection and the actual mechanism by
      which V. vulnificus initiates these MIF-modulated proinflammatory cytokines
      remain unclear. RESULTS: MIF increased inflammation during V. vulnificus
      infection in vivo. In V. vulnificus-infected mice, MIF was produced earlier than
      tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha and interleukin (IL)-6 and was expressed in a
      time-dependent manner. ISO-1 ((S, R)-3-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-4,5-dihydro-5-isoxazole
      acetic acid methyl ester), a small-molecule inhibitor of MIF, significantly
      decreased IL-6, IL-8, and TNF-alpha production in a time- and dose-dependent
      manner in human peripheral blood cells infected with V. vulnificus. The induction
      of IL-6, IL-8, and TNF-alpha production by V. vulnificus infection was mediated
      via the NF-kappaB- and p38 MAPK-regulated pathways but not via the Akt pathway.
      ISO-1-treated human peripheral blood cells showed lower V. vulnificus-induced NF
      kappaB activation, IL-6 mRNA expression, and IkappaB phosphorylation, but they
      did not show lower p38 MAPK activation. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that MIF
      regulates V. vulnificus-induced IL-6 production via NF-kappaB activation and that
      p38 MAPK activation in V. vulnificus infection is not MIF dependent.

PMID- 20939899
TI  - Mitochondrial haplogroup N1a phylogeography, with implication to the origin of
      European farmers.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Tracing the genetic origin of central European farmer N1a lineages
      can provide a unique opportunity to assess the patterns of the farming technology
      spread into central Europe in the human prehistory. Here, we have chosen twelve
      N1a samples from modern populations which are most similar with the farmer N1a
      types and performed the complete mitochondrial DNA genome sequencing analysis. To
      assess the genetic and phylogeographic relationship, we performed a detailed
      survey of modern published N1a types from Eurasian and African populations.
      RESULTS: The geographic origin and expansion of farmer lineages related N1a
      subclades have been deduced from combined analysis of 19 complete sequences with
      166 N1a haplotypes. The phylogeographic analysis revealed that the central
      European farmer lineages have originated from different sources: from eastern
      Europe, local central Europe, and from the Near East via southern Europe.
      CONCLUSIONS: The results obtained emphasize that the arrival of central European
      farmer lineages did not occur via a single demic diffusion event from the Near
      East at the onset of the Neolithic spread of agriculture into Europe. Indeed
      these results indicate that the Neolithic transition process was more complex in
      central Europe and possibly the farmer N1a lineages were a result of a 'leapfrog'
      colonization process.

PMID- 20939900
TI  - Using quantitative breath sound measurements to predict lung function following
      resection.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Predicting postoperative lung function is important for estimating
      the risk of complications and long-term disability after pulmonary resection. We
      investigated the capability of vibration response imaging (VRI) as an alternative
      to lung scintigraphy for prediction of postoperative lung function in patients
      with intrathoracic malignancies. METHODS: Eighty-five patients with intrathoracic
      malignancies, considered candidates for lung resection, were prospectively
      studied. The projected postoperative (ppo) lung function was calculated using:
      perfusion scintigraphy, ventilation scintigraphy, and VRI. Two sets of
      assessments made: one for lobectomy and one for pneumonectomy. Clinical
      concordance was defined as both methods agreeing that either a patient was or was
      not a surgical candidate based on a ppoFEV1% and ppoDLCO% > 40%. RESULTS: Limits
      of agreement between scintigraphy and VRI for ppo following lobectomy were 
      16.47% to 15.08% (mean difference = -0.70%;95%CI = -2.51% to 1.12%) and for
      pneumonectomy were -23.79% to 19.04% (mean difference = -2.38%;95%CI = -4.69% to 
      0.07%). Clinical concordance between VRI and scintigraphy was 73% for
      pneumonectomy and 98% for lobectomy. For patients who had surgery and
      postoperative lung function testing (n = 31), ppoFEV1% using scintigraphic
      methods correlated with measured postoperative values better than projections
      using VRI, (adjusted R2 = 0.32 scintigraphy; 0.20 VRI), however the difference
      between methods failed to reach statistical significance. Limits of agreement
      between measured FEV1% postoperatively and ppoFEV1% based on perfusion
      scintigraphy were -16.86% to 23.73% (mean difference = 3.44%;95%CI = -0.29% to
      7.16%); based on VRI were -19.56% to 28.99% (mean difference = 4.72%;95%CI =
      0.27% to 9.17%). CONCLUSIONS: Further investigation of VRI as an alternative to
      lung scintigraphy for prediction of postoperative lung function is warranted.

PMID- 20939901
TI  - Typical carcinoid tumor of the larynx in a woman: a case report.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Neuroendocrine tumors are the second most common neoplasms of the
      larynx. Histopathologically, neuroendocrine tumors can be classified into four
      types: typical carcinoid tumors, atypical carcinoid tumors, small cell
      neuroendocrine tumors and paragangliomas. Typical carcinoid tumor of the larynx
      is a particularly rare occurrence. We present a case of this rare disease, and
      review and discuss its diagnosis and treatment. CASE PRESENTATION: A 55-year-old
      Turkish woman presented with a two-year history of persistent hoarseness.
      Endoscopic laryngeal examination and computed tomography revealed a supraglottic
      mass. Direct laryngoscopy was performed and a biopsy taken. Results of the
      histopathologic examination and immunohistochemical analysis were consistent with
      typical carcinoid tumor of the larynx. A supraglottic laryngectomy was performed.
      There was no recurrence during a follow-up period of three years. CONCLUSION:
      Carcinoid tumors require an accurate diagnosis because of their varied clinical
      behavior and prognosis. A correct pathologic diagnosis is essential,
      differentiating the tumors from other neuroendocrine neoplasms and medullary
      cancer of the thyroid gland. Immunohistochemical analysis is supplementary to a
      standard histopathologic evaluation. Currently, conservative surgical resection
      without elective neck dissection is the recommended treatment for typical
      carcinoid tumor of the larynx. Additional cases and case series with long-term
      follow-up will be useful for understanding the nature of this tumor and should
      clarify the prognosis.

PMID- 20939902
TI  - Proteome scanning to predict PDZ domain interactions using support vector
      machines.
AB  - BACKGROUND: PDZ domains mediate protein-protein interactions involved in
      important biological processes through the recognition of short linear motifs in
      their target proteins. Two recent independent studies have used protein
      microarray or phage display technology to detect PDZ domain interactions with
      peptide ligands on a large scale. Several computational predictors of PDZ domain
      interactions have been developed, however they are trained using only protein
      microarray data and focus on limited subsets of PDZ domains. An accurate
      predictor of genomic PDZ domain interactions would allow the proteomes of
      organisms to be scanned for potential binders. Such an application would require
      an accurate and precise predictor to avoid generating too many false positive
      hits given the large amount of possible interactors in a given proteome. Once
      validated these predictions will help to increase the coverage of current PDZ
      domain interaction networks and further our understanding of the roles that PDZ
      domains play in a variety of biological processes. RESULTS: We developed a PDZ
      domain interaction predictor using a support vector machine (SVM) trained with
      both protein microarray and phage display data. In order to use the phage display
      data for training, which only contains positive interactions, we developed a
      method to generate artificial negative interactions. Using cross-validation and a
      series of independent tests, we showed that our SVM successfully predicts
      interactions in different organisms. We then used the SVM to scan the proteomes
      of human, worm and fly to predict binders for several PDZ domains. Predictions
      were validated using known genomic interactions and published protein microarray
      experiments. Based on our results, new protein interactions potentially
      associated with Usher and Bardet-Biedl syndromes were predicted. A comparison of
      performance measures (F1 measure and FPR) for the SVM and published predictors
      demonstrated our SVM's improved accuracy and precision at proteome scanning.
      CONCLUSIONS: We built an SVM using mouse and human experimental training data to
      predict PDZ domain interactions. We showed that it correctly predicts known
      interactions from proteomes of different organisms and is more accurate and
      precise at proteome scanning compared with published state-of-the-art predictors.

PMID- 20939903
TI  - Response rates and selection problems, with emphasis on mental health variables
      and DNA sampling, in large population-based, cross-sectional and longitudinal
      studies of adolescents in Norway.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Selection bias is a threat to the internal validity of
      epidemiological studies. In light of a growing number of studies which aim to
      provide DNA, as well as a considerable number of invitees who declined to
      participate, we discuss response rates, predictors of lost to follow-up and
      failure to provide DNA, and the presence of possible selection bias, based on
      five samples of adolescents. METHODS: We included nearly 7,000 adolescents from
      two longitudinal studies of 18/19 year olds with two corresponding cross
      sectional baseline studies at age 15/16 (10th graders), and one cross-sectional
      study of 13th graders (18/19 years old). DNA was sampled from the cheek mucosa of
      18/19 year olds. Predictors of lost to follow-up and failure to provide DNA were
      studied by Poisson regression. Selection bias in the follow-up at age 18/19 was
      estimated through investigation of prevalence ratios (PRs) between selected
      exposures (physical activity, smoking) and outcome variables (general health,
      mental distress, externalizing problems) measured at baseline. RESULTS: Out of
      5,750 who participated at age 15/16, we lost 42% at follow-up at age 18/19. The
      percentage of participants who gave their consent to DNA provision was as high as
      the percentage that consented to a linkage of data with other health registers
      and surveys, approximately 90%. Significant predictors of lost to follow-up and
      failure to provide DNA samples in the present genetic epidemiological study were:
      male gender; non-western ethnicity; postal survey compared with school-based; low
      educational plans; low education and income of father; low perceived family
      economy; unmarried parents; poor self-reported health; externalized symptoms and
      smoking, with some differences in subgroups of ethnicity and gender. The
      association measures (PRs) were quite similar among participants and all
      invitees, with some minor discrepancies in subgroups of non-western boys and
      girls. CONCLUSIONS: Lost to follow-up had marginal impact on the estimated
      prevalence ratios. It is not likely that the invitation to provide DNA influenced
      the response rates of 18/19 year olds. Non-western ethnicity, male gender and
      characteristics related to a low social class and general and mental health
      problems measured at baseline are associated with lost to follow-up and failure
      to provide DNA.

PMID- 20939904
TI  - Access to and utilisation of GP services among Burmese migrants in London: a
      cross-sectional descriptive study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: An estimated 10,000 Burmese migrants are currently living in London.
      No studies have been conducted on their access to health services. Furthermore,
      most studies on migrants in the United Kingdom (UK) have been conducted at the
      point of service provision, carrying the risk of selection bias. Our cross
      sectional study explored access to and utilisation of General Practice (GP)
      services by Burmese migrants residing in London. METHODS: We used a mixed-method
      approach: a quantitative survey using self-administered questionnaires was
      complemented by qualitative in-depth interviews for developing the questionnaire
      and triangulating the findings of the survey. Overall, 137 questionnaires were
      received (a response rate of 57%) and 11 in-depth interviews conducted. The main
      outcome variables of the study included GP registration, barriers towards
      registration, GP consultations, barriers towards consultations, and knowledge on
      entitlements to health care. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive
      statistics, association tests, and a multivariate analysis using logistic
      regression. The qualitative information was analysed using content analysis.
      RESULTS: The respondents were young, of roughly equal gender (51.5% female), well
      educated, and had a fair level of knowledge on health services in the UK.
      Although the GP registration rate was relatively high (80%, 109 out of 136), GP
      service utilisation during the last episode of illness, at 56.8% (54 out of 95),
      was low. The statistical analysis showed that age being younger than 35 years,
      lacking prior overseas experience, having an unstable immigration status, having
      a shorter duration of stay, and resorting to self-medication were the main
      barriers hindering Burmese migrants from accessing primary health care services.
      These findings were corroborated by the in-depth interviews. CONCLUSIONS: Our
      study found that having formal access to primary health care was not sufficient
      to ensure GP registration and health care utilisation. Some respondents faced
      difficulties in registering with GP practices. Many of those who have registered
      prefer to forego GP services in favour of self-medication, partly due to long
      waiting times and language barriers. To ensure that migrants enjoy the health
      services they need and to which they are entitled, more proactive steps are
      required, including those that make health services culturally responsive.

PMID- 20939905
TI  - Subtype-associated differences in HIV-1 reverse transcription affect the viral
      replication.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The impact of the products of the pol gene, specifically, reverse
      transcriptase (RT) on HIV-1 replication, evolution, and acquisition of drug
      resistance has been thoroughly characterized for subtype B. For subtype C, which
      accounts of almost 60% of HIV cases worldwide, much less is known. It has been
      reported that subtype C HIV-1 isolates have a lower replication capacity than B;
      however, the basis of these differences remains unclear. RESULTS: We analyzed the
      impact of the pol gene products from HIV-1 B and C subtypes on the maturation of
      HIV virions, accumulation of reverse transcription products, integration of viral
      DNA, frequency of point mutations in provirus and overall viral replication.
      Recombinant HIV-1 viruses of B and C subtypes comprising the pol fragments
      encoding protease, integrase and either the whole RT or a chimeric RT from
      different isolates of the C and B subtypes, were used for infection of cells
      expressing CXCR4 or CCR5 co-receptors. The viruses carrying different fragments
      of pol from the isolates of B and C subtypes did not reveal differences in Gag
      and GagPol processing and viral RNA incorporation into the virions. However, the
      presence of the whole RT from subtype C, or the chimeric RT containing either the
      polymerase or the connection and RNase H domains from C isolates, caused
      significantly slower viral replication regardless of B or C viral backbone.
      Subtype C RT carrying viruses displayed lower levels of accumulation of strong
      stop cDNA in permeabilized virions during endogenous reverse transcription, and
      decreased accumulation of both strong-stop and positive strand reverse
      transcription products in infected cells and in isolated reverse transcription
      complexes. This decreased accumulation correlated with lower levels of viral DNA
      integration in cells infected with viruses carrying the whole RT or RT domains
      from subtype C isolates. The single viral genome assay analysis did not reveal
      significant differences in the frequency of point mutations between the RT from B
      or C subtypes. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that the whole RT as well as
      distinct polymerase and connection-RNase H domains from subtype C HIV-1 confer a
      lower level of accumulation of reverse transcripts in the virions and reverse
      transcription complexes as compared to subtype B, resulting in a lower overall
      level of virus replication.

PMID- 20939906
TI  - Intracellular expression of IRF9 Stat fusion protein overcomes the defective Jak
      Stat signaling and inhibits HCV RNA replication.
AB  - Interferon alpha (IFN-alpha) binds to a cell surface receptor that activates the
      Jak-Stat signaling pathway. A critical component of this pathway is the
      translocation of interferon stimulated gene factor 3 (a complex of three proteins
      Stat1, Stat2 and IRF9) to the nucleus to activate antiviral genes. A stable sub
      genomic replicon cell line resistant to IFN-alpha was developed in which the
      nuclear translocation of Stat1 and Stat2 proteins was prevented due to the lack
      of phosphorylation; whereas the nuclear translocation of IRF9 protein was not
      affected. In this study, we sought to overcome defective Jak-Stat signaling and
      to induce an antiviral state in the IFN-alpha resistant replicon cell line by
      developing a chimera IRF9 protein fused with the trans activating domain (TAD) of
      either a Stat1 (IRF9-S1C) or Stat2 (IRF9-S2C) protein. We show here that
      intracellular expression of fusion proteins using the plasmid constructs of
      either IRF9-S1C or IRF9-S2C, in the IFN-alpha resistant cells, resulted in an
      increase in Interferon Stimulated Response Element (ISRE) luciferase promoter
      activity and significantly induced HLA-1 surface expression. Moreover, we show
      that transient transfection of IRF9-S1C or IRF9-S2C plasmid constructs into IFN
      alpha resistant replicon cells containing sub-genomic HCV1b and HCV2a viruses
      resulted in an inhibition of viral replication and viral protein expression
      independent of IFN-alpha treatment. The results of this study indicate that the
      recombinant fusion proteins of IRF9-S1C, IRF9-S2C alone, or in combination, have
      potent antiviral properties against the HCV in an IFN-alpha resistant cell line
      with a defective Jak-Stat signaling.

PMID- 20939907
TI  - Antifungal activity of schinol and a new biphenyl compound isolated from Schinus
      terebinthifolius against the pathogenic fungus Paracoccidioides brasiliensis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to isolate and identify the antifungal
      compounds from the extracts of Schinus terebinthifolius (Anacardiaceae) against
      clinical isolates of the pathogenic fungus Paracoccidioides brasiliensis.
      METHODS: The hexane and dichlomethane fractions from leaves and stems of S.
      terebinthifolius were fractionated using several chromatography techniques to
      afford four compounds. RESULTS: The compounds isolated from S. terebinthifolius
      were identified as schinol (1), a new biphenyl compound, namely, 4'-ethyl-4
      methyl-2,2',6,6'-tetrahydroxy[1,1'-biphenyl]-4,4'-dicarboxylate (2), quercetin
      (3), and kaempferol (4). Compounds 1 and 2 were active against different strains
      of P. brasiliensis, showing a minimal inhibitory concentration value against the
      isolate Pb B339 of 15.6 MUg/ml. The isolate Pb 1578 was more sensitive to
      compound 1 with a MIC value of 7.5 MUg/ml. Schinol presented synergistic effect
      only when combined with itraconazole. The compounds isolated from S.
      terebinthifolius were not able to inhibit cell wall synthesis or assembly using
      the sorbitol assay. CONCLUSION: This work reveals for the first time the
      occurrence of compound 2 and discloses activity of compounds 1 and 2 against
      several clinical isolates of P. brasiliensis. These results justify further
      studies to clarify the mechanisms of action of these compounds.

PMID- 20939908
TI  - Expansion and subfunctionalisation of flavonoid 3',5'-hydroxylases in the
      grapevine lineage.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Flavonoid 3',5'-hydroxylases (F3'5'Hs) and flavonoid 3'-hydroxylases
      (F3'Hs) competitively control the synthesis of delphinidin and cyanidin, the
      precursors of blue and red anthocyanins. In most plants, F3'5'H genes are present
      in low-copy number, but in grapevine they are highly redundant. RESULTS: The
      first increase in F3'5'H copy number occurred in the progenitor of the eudicot
      clade at the time of the gamma triplication. Further proliferation of F3'5'Hs has
      occurred in one of the paleologous loci after the separation of Vitaceae from
      other eurosids, giving rise to 15 paralogues within 650 kb. Twelve reside in 9
      tandem blocks of ~35-55 kb that share 91-99% identity. The second paleologous
      F3'5'H has been maintained as an orphan gene in grapevines, and lacks orthologues
      in other plants. Duplicate F3'5'Hs have spatially and temporally partitioned
      expression profiles in grapevine. The orphan F3'5'H copy is highly expressed in
      vegetative organs. More recent duplicate F3'5'Hs are predominately expressed in
      berry skins. They differ only slightly in the coding region, but are
      distinguished in the structure of the promoter. Differences in cis-regulatory
      sequences of promoter regions are paralleled by temporal specialisation of gene
      transcription during fruit ripening. Variation in anthocyanin profiles
      consistently reflects changes in the F3'5'H mRNA pool across different cultivars.
      More F3'5'H copies are expressed at high levels in grapevine varieties with 93
      94% of 3'5'-OH anthocyanins. In grapevines depleted in 3'5'-OH anthocyanins (15
      45%), fewer F3'5'H copies are transcribed, and at lower levels. Conversely, only
      two copies of the gene encoding the competing F3'H enzyme are present in the
      grape genome; one copy is expressed in both vegetative and reproductive organs at
      comparable levels among cultivars, while the other is transcriptionally silent.
      CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that expansion and subfunctionalisation of
      F3'5'Hs have increased the complexity and diversification of the fruit colour
      phenotype among red grape varieties.

PMID- 20939909
TI  - Task shifting in Mozambique: cross-sectional evaluation of non-physician
      clinicians' performance in HIV/AIDS care.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Many resource-constrained countries now train non-physician
      clinicians in HIV/AIDS care, a strategy known as 'task-shifting.' There is as yet
      no evidence-based international standard for training these cadres. In 2007, the
      Mozambican Ministry of Health (MOH) conducted a nationwide evaluation of the
      quality of care delivered by non-physician clinicians (tecnicos de medicina, or
      TMs), after a two-week in-service training course emphasizing antiretroviral
      therapy (ART). METHODS: Forty-four randomly selected TMs were directly observed
      by expert clinicians as they cared for HIV-infected patients in their usual
      worksites. Observed clinical performance was compared to national norms as taught
      in the course. RESULTS: In 127 directly observed patient encounters, TMs assigned
      the correct WHO clinical stage in 37.6%, and correctly managed co-trimoxazole
      prophylaxis in 71.6% and ART in 75.5% (adjusted estimates). Correct management of
      all 5 main aspects of patient care (staging, co-trimoxazole, ART, opportunistic
      infections, and adverse drug reactions) was observed in 10.6% of encounters.The
      observed clinical errors were heterogeneous. Common errors included assignment of
      clinical stage before completing the relevant patient evaluation, and initiation
      or continuation of co-trimoxazole or ART without indications or when
      contraindicated. CONCLUSIONS: In Mozambique, the in-service ART training was
      suspended. MOH subsequently revised the TMs' scope of work in HIV/AIDS care,
      defined new clinical guidelines, and initiated a nationwide re-training and
      clinical mentoring program for these health professionals. Further research is
      required to define clinically effective methods of health-worker training to
      support HIV/AIDS care in Mozambique and similarly resource-constrained
      environments.

PMID- 20939910
TI  - GenHtr: a tool for comparative assessment of genetic heterogeneity in microbial
      genomes generated by massive short-read sequencing.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Microevolution is the study of short-term changes of alleles within a
      population and their effects on the phenotype of organisms. The result of the
      below-species-level evolution is heterogeneity, where populations consist of
      subpopulations with a large number of structural variations. Heterogeneity
      analysis is thus essential to our understanding of how selective and neutral
      forces shape bacterial populations over a short period of time. The Solexa Genome
      Analyzer, a next-generation sequencing platform, allows millions of short
      sequencing reads to be obtained with great accuracy, allowing for the ability to
      study the dynamics of the bacterial population at the whole genome level. The
      tool referred to as GenHtr was developed for genome-wide heterogeneity analysis.
      RESULTS: For particular bacterial strains, GenHtr relies on a set of Solexa short
      reads on given bacteria pathogens and their isogenic reference genome to identify
      heterogeneity sites, the chromosomal positions with multiple variants of genes in
      the bacterial population, and variations that occur in large gene families.
      GenHtr accomplishes this by building and comparatively analyzing genome-wide
      heterogeneity genotypes for both the newly sequenced genomes (using massive short
      read sequencing) and their isogenic reference (using simulated data). As proof of
      the concept, this approach was applied to SRX007711, the Solexa sequencing data
      for a newly sequenced Staphylococcus aureus subsp. USA300 cell line, and
      demonstrated that it could predict such multiple variants. They include multiple
      variants of genes critical in pathogenesis, e.g. genes encoding a LysR family
      transcriptional regulator, 23 S ribosomal RNA, and DNA mismatch repair protein
      MutS. The heterogeneity results in non-synonymous and nonsense mutations, leading
      to truncated proteins for both LysR and MutS. CONCLUSION: GenHtr was developed
      for genome-wide heterogeneity analysis. Although it is much more time-consuming
      when compared to Maq, a popular tool for SNP analysis, GenHtr is able to predict
      potential multiple variants that pre-exist in the bacterial population as well as
      SNPs that occur in the highly duplicated gene families. It is expected that, with
      the proper experimental design, this analysis can improve our understanding of
      the molecular mechanism underlying the dynamics and the evolution of drug
      resistant bacterial pathogens.

PMID- 20939911
TI  - Walking behaviour of healthy elderly: attention should be paid.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Previous studies have reported an association between executive
      function (EF) and measures of gait, particularly among older adults. This study
      examined the relationship between specific components of executive functions and
      the relative dual task costs of gait (DTC) in community-dwelling non-demented
      older adults, aged 65 years and older. METHODS: Temporal (stride time, stride
      velocity) and spatial (stride length) gait characteristics were measured using a
      GAITRite-System among 62 healthy community dwelling older adults while walking
      with and without backward counting (BC) at preferred and fast walking speeds.
      Specific executive functions divided attention, memory and inhibition were
      assessed using the Test for Attentional Performance (TAP). Other measures
      included Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), amount of daily medications taken,
      educational level and sociodemographic characteristics. Adjusted and unadjusted
      multivariable linear regression models were developed to assess the relations
      between variables. RESULTS: High relative DTC for stride time, stride velocity
      and stride length were associated with divided attention at fast walking speed.
      High relative DTC for stride time was associated with divided attention at
      preferred walking speed. The association between high DTC of stride length and
      memory was less robust and only observable at preferred walking speed. None of
      the gait measures was associated with inhibition. CONCLUSIONS: Spatial and
      temporal dual task cost characteristics of gait are especially associated with
      divided attention in older adults. The results showed that the associated DTC
      differ by executive function and the nature of the task (preferred versus fast
      walking). Further research is warranted to determine whether improvement in
      divided attention translates to better performance on selected complex walking
      tasks.

PMID- 20939912
TI  - PDGF-B-driven gliomagenesis can occur in the absence of the proteoglycan NG2.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In the last years, the transmembrane proteoglycan NG2 has gained
      interest as a therapeutic target for the treatment of diverse tumor types,
      including gliomas, because increases of its expression correlate with dismal
      prognosis. NG2 has been shown to function as a co-receptor for PDGF ligands whose
      aberrant expression is common in gliomas. We have recently generated a glioma
      model based on the overexpression of PDGF-B in neural progenitors and here we
      investigated the possible relevance of NG2 during PDGF-driven gliomagenesis.
      METHODS: The survival curves of NG2-KO mice overexpressing PDGF-B were compared
      to controls by using a Log-rank test. The characteristics of tumors induced in
      NG2-KO were compared to those of tumors induced in wild type mice by
      immunostaining for different cell lineage markers and by transplantation assays
      in adult mice. RESULTS: We showed that the lack of NG2 does not appreciably
      affect any of the characterized steps of PDGF-driven brain tumorigenesis, such as
      oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPC) induction, the recruitment of bystander
      OPCs and the progression to full malignancy, which take place as in wild type
      animals. CONCLUSIONS: Our analysis, using both NG2-KO mice and a miRNA based
      silencing approach, clearly demonstrates that NG2 is not required for PDGF-B to
      efficiently induce and maintain gliomas from neural progenitors. On the basis of
      the data obtained, we therefore suggest that the role of NG2 as a target molecule
      for glioma treatment should be carefully reconsidered.

PMID- 20939913
TI  - Study protocol: the Adherence and Intensification of Medications (AIM) study--a
      cluster randomized controlled effectiveness study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Many patients with diabetes have poor blood pressure (BP) control.
      Pharmacological therapy is the cornerstone of effective BP treatment, yet there
      are high rates both of poor medication adherence and failure to intensify
      medications. Successful medication management requires an effective partnership
      between providers who initiate and increase doses of effective medications and
      patients who adhere to the regimen. METHODS: In this cluster-randomized
      controlled effectiveness study, primary care teams within sites were randomized
      to a program led by a clinical pharmacist trained in motivational interviewing
      based behavioral counseling approaches and authorized to make BP medication
      changes or to usual care. This study involved the collection of data during a 14
      month intervention period in three Department of Veterans Affairs facilities and
      two Kaiser Permanente Northern California facilities. The clinical pharmacist was
      supported by clinical information systems that enabled proactive identification
      of, and outreach to, eligible patients identified on the basis of poor BP control
      and either medication refill gaps or lack of recent medication intensification.
      The primary outcome is the relative change in systolic blood pressure (SBP)
      measurements over time. Secondary outcomes are changes in Hemoglobin A1c, low
      density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL), medication adherence determined from
      pharmacy refill data, and medication intensification rates. DISCUSSION:
      Integration of the three intervention elements--proactive identification,
      adherence counseling and medication intensification--is essential to achieve
      optimal levels of control for high-risk patients. Testing the effectiveness of
      this intervention at the team level allows us to study the program as it would
      typically be implemented within a clinic setting, including how it integrates
      with other elements of care. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The ClinicalTrials.gov
      registration number is NCT00495794.

PMID- 20939915
TI  - Societal output and use of research performed by health research groups.
AB  - The last decade has seen the evaluation of health research pay more and more
      attention to societal use and benefits of research in addition to scientific
      quality, both in qualitative and quantitative ways. This paper elaborates
      primarily on a quantitative approach to assess societal output and use of
      research performed by health research groups (societal quality of research). For
      this reason, one of the Dutch university medical centres (i.e. the Leiden
      University Medical Center (LUMC)) was chosen as the subject of a pilot study,
      because of its mission to integrate top patient care with medical, biomedical and
      healthcare research and education. All research departments were used as units of
      evaluation within this university medical centre.The method consisted of a four
      step process to reach a societal quality score per department, based on its
      (research) outreach to relevant societal stakeholders (the general public,
      healthcare professionals and the private sector). For each of these three types
      of stakeholders, indicators within four modes of communication were defined
      (knowledge production, knowledge exchange, knowledge use and earning capacity).
      These indicators were measured by a bottom-up approach in a qualitative way (i.e.
      all departments of the LUMC were asked to list all activities they would consider
      to be of societal relevance), after which they were converted into quantitative
      scores. These quantitative scores could then be compared to standardised
      scientific quality scores that are based on scientific publications and citations
      of peer-reviewed articles.Based on the LUMC pilot study, only a weak correlation
      was found between societal and scientific quality. This suggests that societal
      quality needs additional activities to be performed by health research groups and
      is not simply the consequence of high scientific quality. Therefore we conclude
      that scientific and societal evaluation should be considered to be synergistic in
      terms of learning for the future, accountability and advocacy.This quantitative
      approach to assess societal quality in a quantitative sense is based on
      indicators that function as proxies for society quality on different levels,
      based on the communication of researchers with their societal stakeholders (i.e.
      knowledge production, knowledge exchange and knowledge use). The methodology
      presented is just a first attempt to compare scientific quality scores
      (publication and citation scores) with societal quality scores in a quantitative
      way. This comparison can be used by organisations (e.g. university medical
      centres) in their planning and control cycle.

PMID- 20939914
TI  - Protective effect of rifampicin and clindamycin impregnated devices against
      Staphylococcus spp. infection after cerebrospinal fluid diversion procedures.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Infection is a major complication of cerebrospinal fluid shunting
      procedures. The present report assesses the efficacy of such catheters in both
      shunts and external ventricular drains (EVDs) against infection and particularly
      against Staphylococcus spp. infection. METHODS: All shunt and EVD procedures
      performed by means of antibiotic-impregnated catheters (AICs) and non-AICs during
      the period of study were registered. In cases of shunt procedures, a minimal
      follow-up of 90 days was considered, as well as de novo insertion and catheter
      revisions. Single valve revisions were not included. In cases of EVD procedures,
      those catheters removed before the fifth post-insertion day were not included. A
      total of 119 cerebrospinal fluid shunting procedures performed with AICs were
      studied in comparison with 112 procedures performed by means of non-AICs.
      RESULTS: Antibiotic-impregnated catheters were associated with a significant
      decrease in both overall and staphylococcal infection (p = 0.030 and p = 0.045,
      respectively). The number needed to treat for AICs was 8 to prevent one infection
      and 14 to prevent one staphylococcal infection. When comparing with shunts, the
      use of EVDs was associated with a 37-fold increased likelihood of infection.
      CONCLUSIONS: Antibiotic-impregnated catheters are a safe and helpful tool to
      reduce CSF shunting device-related infections.

PMID- 20939916
TI  - The plasticity of Plasmodium falciparum gametocytaemia in relation to age in
      Burkina Faso.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Malaria transmission depends on the presence of gametocytes in the
      peripheral blood. In this study, the age-dependency of gametocytaemia was
      examined by microscopy and molecular tools. METHODS: A total of 5,383 blood
      samples from individuals of all ages were collected over six cross sectional
      surveys in Burkina Faso. One cross-sectional study used quantitative nucleic acid
      sequence based amplification (QT-NASBA) for parasite quantification (n = 412).
      The proportion of infections with concurrent gametocytaemia and median proportion
      of gametocytes among all parasites were calculated. RESULTS: Asexual parasite
      prevalence and gametocyte prevalence decreased with age. Gametocytes made up 1.8%
      of the total parasite population detected by microscopy in the youngest age
      group. This proportion gradually increased to 18.2% in adults (p < 0.001).
      Similarly, gametocytes made up 0.2% of the total parasite population detected by
      QT-NASBA in the youngest age group, increasing to 5.7% in adults (p < 0.001).
      This age pattern in gametocytaemia was also evident in the proportion of
      gametocyte positive slides without concomitant asexual parasites which increased
      from 13.4% (17/127) in children to 45.6% (52/114) in adults (OR 1.55, 95% CI 1.38
      1.74, p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study suggest that although
      gametocytes are most commonly detected in children, the proportion of asexual
      parasites that is committed to develop into gametocytes may increase with age.
      These findings underscore the importance of adults for the human infectious
      reservoir for malaria.

PMID- 20939917
TI  - Brief cognitive behavioral therapy compared to general practitioners care for
      depression in primary care: a randomized trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Depressive disorders are highly prevalent in primary care (PC) and
      are associated with considerable functional impairment and increased health care
      use. Research has shown that many patients prefer psychological treatments to
      pharmacotherapy, however, it remains unclear which treatment is most optimal for
      depressive patients in primary care. METHODS/DESIGN: A randomized, multi-centre
      trial involving two intervention groups: one receiving brief cognitive behavioral
      therapy and the other receiving general practitioner care. General practitioners
      from 109 General Practices in Nijmegen and Amsterdam (The Netherlands) will be
      asked to include patients aged between 18-70 years presenting with depressive
      symptomatology, who do not receive an active treatment for their depressive
      complaints. Patients will be telephonically assessed with the Structured Clinical
      Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders (SCID-I) to ascertain study eligibility.
      Eligible patients will be randomized to one of two treatment conditions: either 8
      sessions of cognitive behavioral therapy by a first line psychologist or general
      practitioner's care according to The Dutch College of General Practitioners
      Practice Guideline (NHG- standard). Baseline and follow-up assessments are
      scheduled at 0, 6, 12 and 52 weeks following the start of the intervention.
      Primary outcome will be measured with the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale-17
      (HDRS-17) and the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). Outcomes will be
      analyzed on an intention to treat basis. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN65811640.

PMID- 20939918
TI  - Light intensity affects RNA silencing of a transgene in Nicotiana benthamiana
      plants.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Expression of exogenous sequences in plants is often suppressed
      through one of the earliest described RNA silencing pathways, sense post
      transcriptional gene silencing (S-PTGS). This type of suppression has made
      significant contributions to our knowledge of the biology of RNA silencing
      pathways and has important consequences in plant transgenesis applications.
      Although significant progress has been made in recent years, factors affecting
      the stability of transgene expression are still not well understood. It has been
      shown before that the efficiency of RNA silencing in plants is influenced by
      various environmental factors. RESULTS: Here we report that a major environmental
      factor, light intensity, significantly affects the induction and systemic spread
      of S-PTGS. Moreover, we show that photoadaptation to high or low light intensity
      conditions differentially affects mRNA levels of major components of the RNA
      silencing machinery. CONCLUSIONS: Light intensity is one of the previously
      unknown factors that affect transgene stability at the post-transcriptional
      level. Our findings demonstrate an example of how environmental conditions could
      affect RNA silencing.

PMID- 20939919
TI  - An in vitro study comparing a peripherally inserted central catheter to a
      conventional central venous catheter: no difference in static and dynamic
      pressure transmission.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Early goal directed therapy improves survival in patients with septic
      shock. Central venous pressure (CVP) monitoring is essential to guide adequate
      resuscitation. Use of peripherally inserted central catheters (PICC) is
      increasing, but little data exists comparing a PICC to a conventional CVP
      catheter. We studied the accuracy of a novel PICC to transmit static and dynamic
      pressures in vitro. METHODS: We designed a device to generate controlled
      pressures via a column of water allowing simultaneous measurements from a PICC
      and a standard triple lumen catheter. Digital transducers were used to obtain all
      pressure readings. Measurements of static pressures over a physiologic range were
      recorded using 5Fr and 6Fr dual lumen PICCs. Additionally, random repetitive
      pressure pulses were applied to the column of water to simulate physiologic
      intravascular pressure variations. The resultant PICC and control waveforms were
      recorded simultaneously. RESULTS: Six-hundred thirty measurements were made using
      the 5 Fr and 6 Fr PICCs. The average bias determined by Bland-Altman plot was
      0.043 mmHg for 5 Fr PICC and 0.023 mmHg for 6 Fr PICC with a difference range of
      1.0 to -1.0. The correlation coefficient for both catheters was 1.0 (p-value <
      0.001). Dynamic pressure waveforms plotted simultaneously between PICC and
      control revealed equal peaks and troughs. CONCLUSION: In vitro, no static or
      dynamic pressure differences were found between the PICC and a conventional CVP
      catheter. Clinical studies are required to assess whether the novel PICC has
      bedside equivalence to conventional catheters when measuring central venous
      pressures.

PMID- 20939920
TI  - Risk of classical Kaposi sarcoma by plasma levels of Epstein-Barr virus
      antibodies, sCD26, sCD23 and sCD30.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To clarify the immunological alterations leading to classical Kaposi
      sarcoma (cKS) among people infected with KS-associated herpesvirus (KSHV).
      METHODS: In a population-based study of 119 cKS cases, 105 KSHV-seropositive
      controls, and 155 KSHV-seronegative controls, we quantified plasma soluble
      cluster of differentiation (sCD) levels and antibodies against Epstein-Barr virus
      nuclear antigen-1 (anti-EBNA-1) and viral capsid antigen (anti-VCA). Differences
      between groups in prevalence of low-tertile anti-EBNA-1 and high-tertile anti-VCA
      were compared by logistic regression. Continuous levels between groups and by
      presence of cKS co-factors among controls were compared by linear regression and
      Mann-Whitney-Wilcoxon methods. RESULTS: Comparisons of cKS cases to seropositive
      controls and of seropositive to seronegative controls revealed no significant
      differences. However, controls with known cKS cofactors (male sex, nonsmoking,
      diabetes and cortisone use) had significantly lower levels of anti-EBNA (P =
      0.0001 - 0.07) and anti-VCA (P = 0.0001 - 0.03). Levels of sCD26 were
      significantly lower for male and non-smoking controls (Padj <= 0.03), and they
      were marginally lower with older age and cortisone use (Padj <= 0.09).
      CONCLUSIONS: Anti-EBV and sCD26 levels were associated with cofactors for cKS,
      but they did not differ between cKS cases and matched controls. Novel approaches
      and broader panels of assays are needed to investigate immunological
      contributions to cKS.

PMID- 20939921
TI  - High-intensity mechanical therapy for loss of knee extension for worker's
      compensation and non-compensation patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Knee flexion contractures have been associated with increased pain
      and a reduced ability to perform activities of daily living. Contractures can be
      treated either surgically or conservatively, but these treatment options may not
      be as successful with worker's compensation patients. The purposes of
      retrospective review were to 1) determine the efficacy of using adjunctive high
      intensity stretch (HIS) mechanical therapy to treat flexion contractures, and 2)
      compare the results between groups of worker's compensation and non-compensation
      patients. METHODS: Fifty-six patients (19 women, 37 men, age = 51.5 +/- 17.0
      years) with flexion contractures were treated with HIS mechanical therapy as an
      adjunct to outpatient physical therapy. Mechanical therapy was only prescribed
      for those patients whose motion had reached a plateau when treated with physical
      therapy alone. Patients were asked to perform six, 10-minute bouts of end-range
      stretching per day with the ERMI Knee Extensionater(r) (ERMI, Inc., Atlanta, GA).
      Passive knee extension was recorded during the postoperative visit that
      mechanical therapy was prescribed, 3 months after beginning mechanical therapy,
      and at the most recent follow-up. We used a mixed-model 2 * 3 ANOVA (group *
      time) to evaluate the change in passive knee extension between groups over time.
      RESULTS: Regardless of group, the use of adjunctive HIS mechanical therapy
      resulted in passive knee extension deficits that significantly improved from 10.5
      degrees  +/- 5.2 degrees  at the initial visit to 2.6 degrees  +/- 3.5 degrees 
      at the 3 month visit (p < 0.001). The degree of extension was maintained at the
      most recent follow-up (2.0 degrees  +/- 2.9 degrees ), which was significantly
      greater than the initial visit (p < 0.001), but did not differ from the 3 month
      visit (p = 0.23). The gains in knee extension did not differ between worker's
      compensation and non-compensation patients (p = 0.56). CONCLUSIONS: We conclude
      that the adjunctive use of HIS mechanical therapy is an effective treatment
      option for patients with knee flexion contractures, regardless of whether the
      patient is being treated as part of a worker's compensation claim or not.

PMID- 20939922
TI  - Unusual duplication of the insulin-like receptor in the crustacean Daphnia pulex.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The insulin signaling pathway (ISP) has a key role in major
      physiological events like carbohydrate metabolism and growth regulation. The ISP
      has been well described in vertebrates and in a few invertebrate model organisms
      but remains largely unexplored in non-model invertebrates. This study is the
      first detailed genomic study of this pathway in a crustacean species, Daphnia
      pulex. RESULTS: The Daphnia pulex draft genome sequence assembly was scanned for
      major components of the ISP with a special attention to the insulin-like
      receptor. Twenty three putative genes are reported. The pathway appears to be
      generally well conserved as genes found in other invertebrates are present. Major
      findings include a lower number of insulin-like peptides in Daphnia as compared
      to other invertebrates and the presence of multiple insulin-like receptors (InR),
      with four genes as opposed to a single one in other invertebrates. Genes encoding
      for the Dappu_InR are likely the result of three duplication events and bear some
      unusual features. Dappu_InR-4 has undergone extensive evolutionary divergence and
      lacks the conserved site of the catalytic domain of the receptor tyrosine kinase.
      Dappu_InR-1 has a large insert and lacks the transmembranal domain in the beta
      subunit. This domain is also absent in Dappu_InR-3. Dappu_InR-2 is characterized
      by the absence of the cystein-rich region. Real-time q-PCR confirmed the
      expression of all four receptors. EST analyses of cDNA libraries revealed that
      the four receptors were differently expressed under various conditions.
      CONCLUSIONS: Duplications of the insulin receptor genes might represent an
      important evolutionary innovation in Daphnia as they are known to exhibit
      extensive phenotypic plasticity in body size and in the size of defensive
      structures in response to predation.

PMID- 20939923
TI  - Gut inflammation in chronic fatigue syndrome.
AB  - Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a debilitating disease characterized by
      unexplained disabling fatigue and a combination of accompanying symptoms the
      pathology of which is incompletely understood. Many CFS patients complain of gut
      dysfunction. In fact, patients with CFS are more likely to report a previous
      diagnosis of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), a common functional disorder of the
      gut, and experience IBS-related symptoms. Recently, evidence for interactions
      between the intestinal microbiota, mucosal barrier function, and the immune
      system have been shown to play a role in the disorder's pathogenesis.Studies
      examining the microecology of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract have identified
      specific microorganisms whose presence appears related to disease; in CFS, a role
      for altered intestinal microbiota in the pathogenesis of the disease has recently
      been suggested. Mucosal barrier dysfunction promoting bacterial translocation has
      also been observed. Finally, an altered mucosal immune system has been associated
      with the disease. In this article, we discuss the interplay between these factors
      in CFS and how they could play a significant role in GI dysfunction by modulating
      the activity of the enteric nervous system, the intrinsic innervation of the
      gut.If an altered intestinal microbiota, mucosal barrier dysfunction, and
      aberrant intestinal immunity contribute to the pathogenesis of CFS, therapeutic
      efforts to modify gut microbiota could be a means to modulate the development
      and/or progression of this disorder. For example, the administration of
      probiotics could alter the gut microbiota, improve mucosal barrier function,
      decrease pro-inflammatory cytokines, and have the potential to positively
      influence mood in patients where both emotional symptoms and inflammatory immune
      signals are elevated. Probiotics also have the potential to improve gut motility,
      which is dysfunctional in many CFS patients.

PMID- 20939924
TI  - P2X7 receptor regulates leukocyte infiltrations in rat frontoparietal cortex
      following status epilepticus.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In the present study, we investigated the roles of P2X7 receptor in
      recruitment and infiltration of neutrophil during epileptogenesis in rat epilepsy
      models. METHODS: Status epilepticus (SE) was induced by pilocarpine in rats that
      were intracerebroventricularly infused with either saline, 2',3'-O-(4
      benzoylbenzoyl)-adenosine 5'-triphosphate (BzATP), adenosine 5'-triphosphate
      2',3'-dialdehyde (OxATP), or IL-1Ra (interleukin 1 receptor antagonist) prior to
      SE induction. Thereafter, we performed immunohistochemical studies for
      myeloperoxidase (MPO), CD68, interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta), monocyte chemotactic
      protein-1 (MCP-1) and macrophage inflammatory protein-2 (MIP-2). RESULTS: In
      saline-infused animals, neutrophils and monocytes were observed in frontoparietal
      cortex (FPC) at 1 day and 2 days after SE, respectively. In BzATP-infused
      animals, infiltrations of neutrophils and monocytes into the FPC were detected at
      12 hr and 1 day after SE, respectively. In OxATP-infused animals, neutrophils and
      monocytes infiltrated into the FPC at 1 day and 2 days after SE, respectively.
      However, the numbers of both classes of leukocytes were significantly lower than
      those observed in the saline-infused group. In piriform cortex (PC), massive
      leukocyte infiltration was detected in layers III/IV of saline-infused animals at
      1-4 days after induction of SE. BzATP or OxATP infusion did not affect neutrophil
      infiltration in the PC. In addition, P2X7 receptor-mediated MCP-1 (released from
      microglia)/MIP-2 (released from astrocytes) regulation was related to SE-induced
      leukocyte infiltration in an IL-1beta-independent manner. CONCLUSIONS: Our
      findings suggest that selective regulation of P2X7 receptor-mediated neutrophil
      infiltration may provide new therapeutic approaches to SE or epilepsy.

PMID- 20939925
TI  - Peroxiredoxin 2: a potential biomarker for early diagnosis of hepatitis B virus
      related liver fibrosis identified by proteomic analysis of the plasma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Liver fibrosis is a middle stage in the course of chronic Hepatitis B
      virus (HBV) infection, which will develop into cirrhosis and eventually
      hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) if not treated at the early stage. Considering the
      limitations and patients' reluctance to undergo liver biopsy, a reliable,
      noninvasive diagnostic system to predict and assess treatment and prognosis of
      liver fibrosis is needed. The aim of this study was to identify biomarkers for
      early diagnosis of HBV related liver fibrosis. METHOD: Plasma samples from 7
      healthy volunteers and 27 HBV infected patients with different stages of fibrosis
      were selected for 2-DIGE proteomic screening. One-way ANOVA analysis was used to
      assess differences in protein expression among all groups. The alteration was
      further confirmed by western blotting. Plasma levels of 25 serological variables
      in 42 healthy volunteers and 68 patients were measured to establish a decision
      tree for the detection of various stages fibrosis. RESULT: The up-regulated
      proteins along with fibrosis progress included fibrinogen, collagen,
      macroglobulin, hemopexin, antitrypsin, prealbumin and thioredoxin peroxidase. The
      down-regulated proteins included haptoglobin, serotransferrin, CD5 antigen like
      protein, clusterin, apolipoprotein and leucine-rich alpha-2-glycoprotein. For the
      discrimination of milder stage fibrosis, the area under curve for Prx II was the
      highest. Four variables (PT, Pre, HA and Prx II) were selected from the 25
      variables to construct the decision tree. In a training group, the correct
      prediction percentage for normal control, milder fibrosis, significant fibrosis
      and early cirrhosis was 100%, 88.9%, 95.2% and 100%, respectively, with an
      overall correct percent of 95.9%. CONCLUSION: This study showed that 2-D DIGE
      based proteomic analysis of the plasma was helpful in screening for new plasma
      biomarkers for liver disease. The significant up-expression of Prx II could be
      used in the early diagnosis of HBV related liver fibrosis.

PMID- 20939926
TI  - Data for improvement and clinical excellence: protocol for an audit with feedback
      intervention in long-term care.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is considerable evidence about the effectiveness of audit
      coupled with feedback, although few audit with feedback interventions have been
      conducted in long-term care (LTC) settings to date. In general, the effects have
      been found to be modest at best, although in settings where there has been little
      history of audit and feedback, the effects may be greater, at least initially.
      The primary purpose of the Data for Improvement and Clinical Excellence (DICE)
      Long-Term Care project is to assess the effects of an audit with feedback
      intervention delivered monthly over 13 months in four LTC facilities. The
      research questions we addressed are:1. What effects do feedback reports have on
      processes and outcomes over time?2. How do different provider groups in LTC and
      home care respond to feedback reports based on data targeted at improving quality
      of care? METHODS/DESIGN: The research team conducting this study comprises
      researchers and decision makers in continuing care in the province of Alberta,
      Canada. The intervention consists of monthly feedback reports in nine LTC units
      in four facilities in Edmonton, Alberta. Data for the feedback reports comes from
      the Resident Assessment Instrument Minimum Data Set (RAI) version 2.0, a
      standardized instrument mandated for use in LTC facilities throughout Alberta.
      Feedback reports consist of one page, front and back, presenting both graphic and
      textual information. Reports are delivered to all staff working in the four LTC
      facilities. The primary evaluation uses a controlled interrupted time series
      design both adjusted and unadjusted for covariates. The concurrent process
      evaluation uses observation and self-report to assess uptake of the feedback
      reports. Following the project phase described in this protocol, a similar
      intervention will be conducted in home care settings in Alberta. Depending on
      project findings, if they are judged useful by decision makers participating in
      this research team, we plan dissemination and spread of the feedback report
      approach throughout Alberta.

PMID- 20939927
TI  - The evolution of vertebrate tetraspanins: gene loss, retention, and massive
      positive selection after whole genome duplications.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The vertebrate tetraspanin family has many features which make it
      suitable for preserving the imprint of ancient sequence evolution and amenable
      for phylogenomic analysis. So we believe that an in-depth analysis of the
      tetraspanin evolution not only provides more complete understanding of
      tetraspanin biology, but offers new insights into the influence of the two rounds
      of whole genome duplication (2R-WGD) at the origin of vertebrates. RESULTS: A
      detailed phylogeny of vertebrate tetraspanins was constructed by using multiple
      lines of information, including sequence-based phylogenetics, key structural
      features, intron configuration and genomic synteny. In particular, a total of 38
      modern tetraspanin ortholog lineages in bony vertebrates have been identified and
      subsequently classified into 17 ancestral lineages existing before 2R-WGD. Based
      on this phylogeny, we found that the ohnolog retention rate of tetraspanins after
      2R-WGD was three times as the average (a rate similar to those of transcription
      factors and protein kinases). This high rate didn't increase the tetrapanin
      family size, but changed the family composition, possibly by displacing
      vertebrate-specific gene lineages with the lineages conserved across
      deuterostomes. We also found that the period from 2R-WGD to recent time is
      controlled by gene losses. Meanwhile, positive selection has been detected on 80%
      of the branches right after 2R-WGDs, which declines significantly on both
      magnitude and extensity on the following speciation branches. Notably, the loss
      of mammalian RDS2 is accompanied by strong positive selection on mammalian ROM1,
      possibly due to gene loss-induced compensatory evolution. CONCLUSIONS: First,
      different from transcription factors and kinases, high duplicate retention rate
      after 2R-WGD didn't increase the tetraspanin family size but just reshaped the
      family composition. Second, the evolution of tetraspanins right after 2R-WGD had
      been impacted by a massive wave of gene loss and positive selection on coding
      sequences. Third, the lingering effect of 2R-WGD on tetraspanin gene loss and
      positive selection might last for 300-400 million years.

PMID- 20939928
TI  - Study protocol: a randomized controlled trial of patient navigation-activation to
      reduce cancer health disparities.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cancer health disparities affecting low-income and minority patients
      are well documented. Root-causes are multifactorial, including diagnostic and
      treatment delays, social and financial barriers, and poor communication. Patient
      navigation and communication coaching (activation) are potential interventions to
      address disparities in cancer treatment. The purpose of this clinical trial is to
      test the effectiveness of an intervention combining patient navigation and
      activation to improve cancer treatment. METHODS/DESIGN: The Rochester Patient
      Navigation Research Program (PNRP) is a National Cancer Institute-sponsored,
      patient-level randomized trial (RCT) of patient navigation and activation,
      targeting newly-diagnosed breast and colorectal cancer patients in Rochester, NY.
      The goal of the program is to decrease cancer health disparities by addressing
      barriers to receipt of cancer care and promoting patient self-efficacy. The
      intervention uses trained, paraprofessional patient navigators recruited from the
      target community, and a detailed training and supervisory program. Recruited
      patients are randomly assigned to receive either usual care (except for baseline
      and follow-up questionnaires and interviews) or intervention. The intervention
      patients receive tailored assistance from their patient navigators, including
      phone calls, in-person meetings, and behind-the-scenes coordination of care. A
      total of 344 patients have been recruited. Outcomes measured at three month
      intervals include timeliness of care, patient adherence, patient satisfaction,
      quality of life, self-efficacy, health literacy, and cancer knowledge.
      DISCUSSION: This unique intervention combining patient navigation and patient
      activation is designed to address the multifactorial problem of cancer health
      disparities. If successful, this study will affect the design and implementation
      of patient navigation programs. TRIALS REGISTRATION: clinicaltrials.gov
      identifier NCT00496678.

PMID- 20939930
TI  - Comparability of localization data in transnasal and transoral
      esophagogastroduodenoscopy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Esophagogastroduodenoscopy is an often-used and safe diagnostic
      method in gastroenterology. Transnasal esophagogastroduodenoscopy is now an
      established addition to the endoscopic instrumentarium. Although the two
      examination methods can be used alongside each other, there is a lack of studies
      on the comparability of the localization data obtained with the transoral and
      transnasal methods. METHODS: In 135 adult patients presenting for routine
      outpatient esophagogastroduodenoscopy, transoral esophagogastroduodenoscopy (TOG)
      was carried out after transnasal esophagogastroduodenoscopy (TNG), and the
      distance from the naris or incisors, respectively, to the esophagogastric
      junction was measured. RESULTS: The data for 135 patients were analyzed. With the
      transoral access route, the distance from the upper incisors to the cardia was a
      mean of 40.5 cm (SD +/- 3.4 cm). In the transnasal examinations, the mean
      distance between the naris and the cardia was 45.6 cm (SD +/- 3.5 cm). The
      correlation analysis showed a very close correlation between the peroral and
      transnasal data, with a correlation coefficient of r = 0.925. On the basis of the
      regression line calculated using these data, the formula TNG (cm) = 1.1 * TOG
      (cm) was developed. Using this formula, localization details obtained with one
      method can be converted into those for the other method. CONCLUSIONS: There is a
      strong correlation between the localization details obtained with the transnasal
      and transoral examination methods. The formula for converting localization
      details from one method to the other, presented here for the first time, is
      practicable for everyday use and allows rapid conversion.

PMID- 20939929
TI  - Role of ionotropic GABA, glutamate and glycine receptors in the tonic and reflex
      control of cardiac vagal outflow in the rat.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cardiac vagal preganglionic neurons (CVPN) are responsible for the
      tonic, reflex and respiratory modulation of heart rate (HR). Although CVPN
      receive GABAergic and glutamatergic inputs, likely involved in respiratory and
      reflex modulation of HR respectively, little else is known regarding the
      functions controlled by ionotropic inputs. Activation of g-protein coupled
      receptors (GPCR) alters these inputs, but the functional consequence is largely
      unknown. The present study aimed to delineate how ionotropic GABAergic,
      glycinergic and glutamatergic inputs contribute to the tonic and reflex control
      of HR and in particular determine which receptor subtypes were involved.
      Furthermore, we wished to establish how activation of the 5-HT1A GPCR affects
      tonic and reflex control of HR and what ionotropic interactions this might
      involve. RESULTS: Microinjection of the GABAA antagonist picrotoxin into CVPN
      decreased HR but did not affect baroreflex bradycardia. The glycine antagonist
      strychnine did not alter HR or baroreflex bradycardia. Combined microinjection of
      the NMDA antagonist, MK801, and AMPA antagonist, CNQX, into CVPN evoked a small
      bradycardia and abolished baroreflex bradycardia. MK801 attenuated whereas CNQX
      abolished baroreceptor bradycardia. Control intravenous injections of the 5-HT1A
      agonist 8-OH-DPAT evoked a small bradycardia and potentiated baroreflex
      bradycardia. These effects were still observed following microinjection of
      picrotoxin but not strychnine into CVPN. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that activation
      of GABAA receptors set the level of HR whereas AMPA to a greater extent than NMDA
      receptors elicit baroreflex changes in HR. Furthermore, activation of 5-HT1A
      receptors evokes bradycardia and enhances baroreflex changes in HR due to
      interactions with glycinergic neurons involving strychnine receptors. This study
      provides reference for future studies investigating how diseases alter
      neurochemical inputs to CVPN.

PMID- 20939931
TI  - The age patterns of severe malaria syndromes in sub-Saharan Africa across a range
      of transmission intensities and seasonality settings.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A greater understanding of the relationship between transmission
      intensity, seasonality and the age-pattern of malaria is needed to guide
      appropriate targeting of malaria interventions in different epidemiological
      settings. METHODS: A systematic literature review identified studies which
      reported the age of paediatric hospital admissions with cerebral malaria (CM),
      severe malarial anaemia (SMA), or respiratory distress (RD). Study sites were
      categorized into a 3 * 2 matrix of Plasmodium falciparum transmission intensity
      and seasonality. Probability distributions were fitted by maximum likelihood
      methods, and best fitting models were used to estimate median ages and to
      represent graphically the age-pattern of each outcome for each transmission
      category in the matrix. RESULTS: A shift in the burden of CM towards younger age
      groups was seen with increasing intensity of transmission, but this was not the
      case for SMA or RD. Sites with 'no marked seasonality' showed more evidence of
      skewed age-patterns compared to areas of 'marked seasonality' for all three
      severe malaria syndromes. CONCLUSIONS: Although the peak age of CM will increase
      as transmission intensity decreases in Africa, more than 75% of all paediatric
      hospital admissions of severe malaria are likely to remain in under five year
      olds in most epidemiological settings.

PMID- 20939932
TI  - Evaluation of antiarthritic activity of Strychnos potatorum Linn seeds in
      Freund's adjuvant induced arthritic rat model.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Strychnos potatorum Linn (Loganiaceae) is a moderate sized tree found
      in southern and central parts of India, Sri Lanka and Burma. In traditional
      system of medicine, Strychnos potatorum Linn seeds were used for various ailments
      including inflammation, diabetes etc. To investigate the folkloric use of the
      seeds the present study was carried out on Freund's adjuvant induced arthritic
      rats. METHODS: The present study states the effect of the aqueous extract (SPE)
      and the whole seed powder (SPP) of Strychnos potatorum Linn seeds on the Freund's
      complete adjuvant (FCA) induced arthritic rat paw edema, body weight changes and
      alterations in haematological and biochemical parameters in both developing and
      developed phases of arthritis. Histopathology of proximal interphalangeal joints
      and radiology of hind legs were studied. RESULTS: In FCA induced arthritic rats,
      there was significant increase in rat paw volume and decrease in body weight
      increment, whereas SPP and SPE treated groups, showed significant reduction in
      paw volume and normal gain in body weight. The altered haematological parameters
      (Hb, RBC, WBC and ESR) and biochemical parameters (blood urea, serum creatinine,
      total proteins and acute phase proteins) in the arthritic rats were significantly
      brought back to near normal by the SPP and SPE treatment at the dose of 200
      mg/kg/p.o in both developing and developed phases of arthritis. Further the
      histopathological and radiological studies revealed the antiarthritic activity of
      SPP and SPE by indicating fewer abnormalities in these groups when compared to
      the arthritic control group. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, both SPP and SPE at the
      specified dose level of 200 mg/kg, p.o. showed reduction in rat paw edema volume
      and it could significantly normalize the haematological and biochemical
      abnormalities in adjuvant induced arthritic rats in both developing and developed
      phases of FCA induced arthritis. Further the histopathological and radiological
      studies confirmed the antiarthritic activity of SPP and SPE.

PMID- 20939933
TI  - N-terminal and C-terminal heparin-binding domain polypeptides derived from
      fibronectin reduce adhesion and invasion of liver cancer cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Fibronectin (FN) is known to be a large multifunction glycoprotein
      with binding sites for many substances, including N-terminal and C-terminal
      heparin-binding domains. We investigated the effects of highly purified rhFNHN29
      and rhFNHC36 polypeptides originally cloned from the two heparin-binding domains
      on the adhesion and invasion of highly metastatic human hepatocellular carcinoma
      cells (MHCC97H) and analyzed the underlying mechanism involved. METHODS: The
      MHCC97H cells that adhered to FN in the presence of various concentrations of
      rhFNHN29 and rhFNHC36 polypeptides were stained with crystal violet and measured,
      and the effects of rhFNHN29 and rhFNHC36 on the invasion of the MHCC97H cells
      were then detected using the Matrigel invasion assay as well as a lung-metastasis
      mouse model. The expression level of integrins and focal adhesion kinase (FAK)
      phosphotyrosyl protein was examined by Western blot, and the activity of matrix
      metalloproteinases (MMPs) and activator protein 1 (AP-1) was analyzed by gelatin
      zymography and the electrophoretic mobility band-shift assay (EMSA),
      respectively. RESULTS: Both of the polypeptides rhFNHN29 and rhFNHC36 inhibited
      adhesion and invasion of MHCC97H cells; however, rhFNHC36 exhibited inhibition at
      a lower dose than rhFNHN29. These inhibitory effects were mediated by integrin
      alphavbeta3 and reversed by a protein tyrosine phosphatase inhibitor.
      Polypeptides rhFNHN29 and rhFNHC36 abrogated the tyrosine phosphorylation of
      focal adhesion kinase (p-FAK) and activation of activator protein 1 (AP-1),
      resulting in the decrease of integrin alphav, beta3 and beta1 expression as well
      as the reduction of MMP-9 activity. CONCLUSIONS: Polypeptides rhFNHN29 and
      rhFNHC36 could potentially be applicable to human liver cancer as anti-adhesive
      and anti-invasive agents.

PMID- 20939934
TI  - Paroxysmal complete atrioventricular block in a patient with pulmonary atresia
      and intact ventricular septum.
AB  - Sudden death in pulmonary atresia and intact ventricular septum with right
      ventricular dependent coronary circulation is a well-established complication,
      and is thought to be caused by myocardial ischaemia. We report a case of
      paroxysmal complete atrioventricular block that raises the possibility of an
      additional mechanism of sudden death.

PMID- 20939935
TI  - A critical review of Richard Lynn's reports on reaction time and race.
AB  - In the early 1990s, psychologist Richard Lynn published papers documenting
      average reaction times and decision times in samples of nine-year-olds taken from
      across the world. After summarizing these data, Lynn interpreted his results as
      evidence of national and racial differences in decision time and general
      intelligence. Others have also interpreted Lynn's data as evidence of racial
      differences in decision time and intelligence. However, comparing Lynn's
      summaries with his original reports shows that Lynn misreported and omitted some
      of his own data. Once these errors are fixed the rankings of nations in Lynn's
      datasets are unstable across different decision time measures. This instability,
      as well as within-race heterogeneity and between-race overlap in decision times,
      implies that Lynn's reaction time data do not permit generalizations about the
      decision times and intelligence of people of different races.

PMID- 20939936
TI  - How small can small be: the compound eye of the parasitoid wasp Trichogramma
      evanescens (Westwood, 1833) (Hymenoptera, Hexapoda), an insect of 0.3- to 0.4-mm
      total body size.
AB  - With a body length of only 0.3-0.4 mm, the parasitoid wasp Trichogramma
      evanescens (Westwood) is one of the smallest insects known. Yet, despite its
      diminutive size, it possesses compound eyes that are of oval shapes, measuring
      across their long axes in dorsoventral direction 63.39 and 71.11 MUm in males and
      females, respectively. The corresponding facet diameters are 5.90 MUm for males
      and 6.39 MUm for females. Owing to the small radii of curvature of the eyes in
      males (34.59 MUm) and females (42.82 MUm), individual ommatidia are short with
      respective lengths of 24.29 and 34.97 MUm. The eyes are of the apposition kind,
      and each ommatidium possesses four cone cells of the eucone type and a centrally
      fused rhabdom, which throughout its length is formed by no more than eight
      retinula cells. A ninth cell occupies the place of the eighth retinula cell in
      the distal third of the rhabdom. The cone is shielded by two primary and six
      secondary pigment cells, all with no apparent extensions to the basement
      membrane, unlike the case in larger hymenopterans. The regular and dense packing
      of the rhabdoms reflects an effective use of space. Calculations on the optics of
      the eyes of Trichogramma suggest that the eyes need not be diffraction limited,
      provided they use mostly shorter wavelengths, that is, UV light. Publications on
      the visual behavior of these wasps confirm Trichogramma's sensitivity to UV
      radiation. On the basis of our findings, some general functional conclusions for
      very small compound eyes are formulated.

PMID- 20939937
TI  - Eye fixation-related potentials (EFRPs) during object identification.
AB  - Eye fixation-related potential (EFRP) measures electrical brain activity in
      response to eye fixations. The aim of the current study was to investigate
      whether the EFRPs vary during consecutive eye fixations while subjects were
      performing an object identification task. Eye fixations evoked P1 and N1
      components at the occipital and parietal recording sites. The latency of P1
      component increased during consecutive fixations. The amplitude of P1 increased
      and the amplitude of N1 decreased during consecutive fixations. The results
      indicate that EFRPs are modulated during consecutive fixations, suggesting that
      the current technique may provide a useful tool to study temporal dynamics of
      visual perception and processes underlying object identification.

PMID- 20939938
TI  - Synaptic plasticity and Ca2+ signalling in astrocytes.
AB  - There is a growing body of evidence suggesting a functional relationship between
      Ca2+ signals generated in astroglia and the functioning of nearby excitatory
      synapses. Interference with endogenous Ca2+ homeostasis inside individual
      astrocytes has been shown to affect synaptic transmission and its use-dependent
      changes. However, establishing the causal link between source-specific,
      physiologically relevant intracellular Ca2+ signals, the astrocytic release
      machinery and the consequent effects on synaptic transmission has proved
      difficult. Improved methods of Ca2+ monitoring in situ will be essential for
      resolving the ambiguity in understanding the underlying Ca2+ signalling cascades.

PMID- 20939939
TI  - Examining the validity and reliability of the Chinese version of the
      International Physical Activity Questionnaire, long form (IPAQ-LC).
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the reliability and the validity of the long format,
      Chinese version of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ-LC).
      DESIGN: Cross-sectional study, examining the reliability and validity of the IPAQ
      LC compared with a physical activity log (PA-log) and objective accelerometry.
      SETTING: Self-reported physical activity (PA) in Hong Kong adults. SUBJECTS: A
      total of eighty-three Chinese adults (forty-seven males, thirty-six females) were
      asked to wear an ActiTrainer accelerometer (MTI-ActiGraph, Fort Walton Beach, FL,
      USA) for >10 h over 7 d, to complete a PA-log at the end of each day and to
      complete the IPAQ-LC on day 8. On a sub-sample of twenty-eight adults the IPAQ-LC
      was also administered on day 11 to assess its reliability. RESULTS: The IPAQ-LC
      had good test-retest reliability for grouped activities, with intra-class
      correlation coefficients ranging from 0.74 to 0.97 for vigorous, moderate,
      walking and total PA, with between-test effect sizes that were small (<0.49). The
      Spearman correlation coefficients were statistically significant for vigorous PA
      (r = 0.28), moderate + walking PA (r = 0.27), as well as overall PA (r = 0.35),
      when compared with the accelerometry-based criterion measures, but none of the
      IPAQ activity categories correlated significantly with the PA-log. In absolute
      units, only the IPAQ light and overall PA did not differ significantly from the
      accelerometry measures, yet overall PA was able to faithfully discriminate
      between quartiles of PA (P = 0.019) when compared to accelerometry. CONCLUSIONS:
      The IPAQ-LC demonstrated adequate reliability and showed sufficient evidence of
      validity in assessing overall levels of habitual PA to be used on Hong Kong
      adults.

PMID- 20939940
TI  - Adult consumers' understanding and use of information on food labels: a study
      among consumers living in the Potchefstroom and Klerksdorp regions, South Africa.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To identify the information that adult consumers use on food labels,
      the difficulties they experience when using food labels and their reasons for not
      always using food labels. The relationship between their understanding of the
      information on the food label and their ability to make informed food choices was
      also investigated by means of their being required to perform labelling tasks.
      DESIGN: A cross-sectional and descriptive research approach was followed. Data
      were collected by means of the administration of questionnaires. SETTING:
      Selected supermarkets in Potchefstroom and Klerksdorp in the North West Province,
      South Africa. SUBJECTS: Questionnaires were administered to 174 consumers of
      African descent and Caucasians, >=18 years of age, who were involved in
      purchasing household food products. RESULTS: The information that is mostly used
      on food labels includes the expiry date, the list of ingredients and nutritional
      information, such as fat and cholesterol content. The difficulties associated
      with food labels were indicated mainly as being the font size of the print,
      whereas the reasons for not reading food labels were related to product
      attributes ('taste and price are more important than is the nutritional content
      of the food product'), demographic characteristics ('lack of education and
      nutritional knowledge') and situational factors ('experiencing time
      constraints'). CONCLUSIONS: Results from the present study indicated that the
      expiry date was the most important information on a food label used by consumers.
      Scores from the labelling tasks showed that the respondents did not always
      understand how to use the information on food labels in order to make informed
      food choices. Barriers to consumer understanding and the use of food labels are
      highlighted. Improvements on current food labels in South Africa are suggested.
      Guidelines for consumer education regarding the use of food labels are also
      provided.

PMID- 20939941
TI  - Hydroelectric reservoir inundation (Rio Madeira Basin, Amazon) and changes in
      traditional lifestyle: impact on growth and neurodevelopment of pre-school
      children.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the dependence on fish consumption of families and its
      impact on nutritional status and neurodevelopment of pre-school children. DESIGN:
      Cross-sectional study that measured children's hair mercury (HHg) as an indicator
      of family fish consumption, growth (anthropometric Z-scores, WHO standards) and
      neurological (Gesell developmental scores (GDS)) development. SETTING:
      Traditional living conditions among families residing in the area adjacent to the
      Samuel Dam (Western Amazon) hydroelectric reservoir. SUBJECTS: Two hundred and
      forty-nine pre-school children (1-59 months of age) from families transitioning
      from the traditional Amazonian lifestyle. RESULTS: Family fish consumption was
      significantly correlated with children's HHg concentration (Spearman's r=0.246,
      P<0.0001); however, HHg had no significant association with growth (Z-scores).
      Overall, the prevalence of severe malnutrition, i.e. stunting (height-for-age Z
      score (HAZ)<=-3), underweight (weight-for-age Z-score (WAZ)<=-3) and wasting
      (weight-for-height Z-score (WHZ)<=-3) was 5.2% (n 13), 0% and 0.8% (n 2),
      respectively. The prevalence of moderate stunting (HAZ>=-3 to <=-2), underweight
      (WAZ>=-3 to <=-2) and wasting (WHZ>=-3 to <=-2) was 8.8% (n 22), 2.4% (n 6) and
      4.8% (n 12), respectively. Although 76% of the children showed adequate GDS
      (>85), multiple regression analysis showed that fish consumption (as HHg) had no
      impact on GDS, but that some variables did interact significantly with specific
      domains (motor and language development). CONCLUSIONS: The study showed that the
      families' shift in fish consumption had no negative impact on the growth of young
      children and that ensuing methylmercury exposure has not been a noticeable
      neurodevelopmental hindrance.

PMID- 20939942
TI  - Social dimensions related to anaemia among women of childbearing age from rural
      India.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To examine various sociodemographic aspects related to consumption of
      micronutrient-rich foods like green leafy vegetables (GLV), which will be helpful
      in modifying dietary habits, a strategy that merits consideration for prevention
      of anaemia. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study for collecting data on socio-economic
      and anthropometric (weight, height) variables, Hb, dietary pattern (FFQ) and
      peripheral smear examination for classifying nutritional and iron-deficiency
      anaemia (IDA). SETTING: Three villages near Pune city, Maharashtra, India.
      SUBJECTS: Rural women (n 418) of childbearing age (15-35 years). RESULTS: Mean Hb
      was 11.07 g/dl. Seventy-seven per cent of the women were anaemic (Hb < 12 g/dl)
      and 28 % had IDA, indicating that a large proportion of the women had nutritional
      anaemia. Higher prevalence of IDA was associated with several sociodemographic
      and maternal parameters, but multiple logistic regression analysis showed
      significant (P < 0.05) risk of IDA with lower body weight (<40 kg), short
      maternal height (<145 cm), younger age at marriage (<19 years) and higher parity
      (>= 2). Various socio-cultural reasons associated with low consumption of GLV
      included non-cultivation of GLV, priority for selling them rather than home
      consumption, dislike of GLV by husband and children, and lack of awareness about
      different recipes for GLV. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings highlight that low
      consumption of GLV, which are treasures of micronutrients including Fe, is
      associated with genuine social reasons. This indicates a need for developing
      action programmes to improve nutritional knowledge and awareness leading to
      enhanced consumption of Fe-rich foods for preventing anaemia in rural India.

PMID- 20939946
TI  - [Mono or mini? That is the question].

PMID- 20939945
TI  - Facilitating understanding of mental health problems in GP consultations: a
      qualitative study using taped-assisted recall.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mental health problems are common in primary care and most are
      managed solely by the GP. Patients strive to understand their mental health
      problems, and facilitating patients' understanding may be important in their
      care, yet little is known about this process in GP consultations. AIM: To explore
      how patients' understanding of common mental health problems is developed in GP
      consultations. DESIGN OF STUDY: Qualitative study. SETTING: Ten general practices
      in North Central London. METHOD: Fourteen patients and their GPs were interviewed
      using the taped-assisted recall (TAR) method, and asked how understanding of the
      patients' mental health problems had been discussed in a recent consultation. The
      resulting 42 transcripts of the GP-patient consultations and separate GP and
      patient TAR interviews were analysed using qualitative thematic and process
      analytic methods. RESULTS: Patients considered understanding their mental health
      problems to be important, and half reported their GP consultations as helpful in
      this respect. The process of coming to an understanding was predominantly patient
      led. Patients suggested their own explanations, and these were facilitated and
      focused by the doctors' questioning, listening, validating, and elaborating
      aspects they considered important. Both doctors and patients experienced
      constraints on the extent to which developing understanding of problems was
      possible in GP consultations. CONCLUSION: GPs can help patients understand their
      mental health problems by recognising patients' own attempts at explanation and
      helping to shape and develop these.

PMID- 20939947
TI  - [A new effective method to reduce pain after laparoscopic cholecystectomy].
AB  - BACKGROUND: The primary aim of this randomized controlled prospective study
      (www.clinicaltrials.gov NCT00599144) was assessing effectiveness on pain control
      after videolaparoscopic cholecystectomy (VLC) of 0.5% Bupivacaine-soaked sheet of
      regenerated oxidized cellulose positioned in the gallbladder bed. PATIENTS AND
      METHODS: We randomized in three equal groups 45 patients that underwent elective
      videolaparoscopic cholecystectomy: group A - Bupivacaine-soaked sheet of
      regenerated oxidized cellulose positioned in the gallbladder bed; group B -
      Bupivacaine infiltrated in the muscular fasciae of the trocars' seat; group C -
      control group, not using local anesthetic. Six and 24 hours after the
      intervention we recorded the type of the pain and its intensity, using a visual
      analog scale (VAS). RESULTS: We observed no statistically significant difference
      in pain intensity. Considering the type of pain, 55,56% of patients referred
      visceral pain, 62,22% parietal pain and 44,44% shoulder pain. Group A shows, at
      both endpoints, a statistically significant reduction (p < 0.05) of visceral and
      shoulder pain versus other groups. Moreover, the use of a local anesthetic
      significantly reduces the use of post-operative pain drugs, both for group A and
      B. CONCLUSION: A Bupivacaine-soaked sheet of regenerated oxidized cellulose
      positioned in the gallbladder bed post-VLC is safe and not economically
      demanding, and can give advantages in increasing post-operative comfort.

PMID- 20939948
TI  - Angiomegaly and arterial aneurysms.
AB  - Angiomegaly is characterized by an alteration in the elastic component of
      arterial and venous vessels determining their elongation and tortuousness. This
      involves an increased risk of thromboembolism and aneurysmal degeneration in
      affected subjects, even if they have been asymptomatic for a long time. The aim
      of this study is to demonstrate the correlation between angiomegaly and
      aneurysmal disease. A total of 163 patients suffering from a peripheral arterial
      aneurysm were included, 74 of these with an iliac aneurysm, 41 with a femoral
      aneurysm and 48 suffering from popliteal aneurysm. All patients were examined by
      color Doppler ultrasonography (CDU) and angio-CT with contrast medium. Eighteen
      cases of arteriomegaly were diagnosed, and the prevalence in the examined
      population was 11%. This study demonstrates the close association existing
      between aneurysms in peripheral arteries and arteriomegaly. Peripheral arterial
      aneurysms in association with arteriomegaly involve an increased risk of
      complications like thrombosis, embolism and rupture. The showed familiarity in
      the arteriomegaly incidence leads to predisposition of screening programs, using
      CDU, among relatives of patients affected by arteriomegaly and/or peripheral
      arterial aneurysms.

PMID- 20939949
TI  - Gastric Abrikosoff tumor (granular cell tumor): case report.
AB  - Granular Cells Tumor (GCT), also called Abrikosoff tumor, is very uncommon lesion
      of neural derivation. It is characterized by the presence of granular cell;
      benign and malignamt counterparts are known, even if the second ones are rare. It
      has a slight predominance in female sex and black race; the age range is wide,
      with peak between fourth and sixth decades of life. Any localisation is possible,
      although surface lesions (head, neck, trunk, extremities) are far more common
      than visceral ones (esophagus, stomach, small and large bowel, larynx, bronchi,
      gallbladder and biliary tract). Surgical en-block excision is curative for both
      benign an malignant forms. Radiotherapy and chemotherapy are not effective. We
      report the case of a 45 year old man who had a cytologic diagnosis of
      fusocellular stromal tumor of the gastric fundus during examination for
      gastritis. He underwent a wedge resection of the gastric wall: at the
      histological examination neoplastic cells had a granular cytoplasm and
      immunoassay was positive for S100 protein, PGP 9.5 and NSE. Complete excision
      guarantees from recurrence and metastases: however a long term endoscopic follow
      up is necessary.

PMID- 20939950
TI  - Analysis of variables predictive of severity in biliary peritonitis.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To analyze clinical and laboratory findings in order to find variables
      predictive of severity of Biliary Peritonitis (BP). Patients and methods.
      Physical findings, course of illness, imaging and laboratory data were evaluated
      in 22 patients with BP, and statistically analysed to assess their prognostic
      significance. RESULTS: Serious illness and worse outcome were associated with:
      age > 60 years (P=0.034), long time between onset of symptoms and treatment
      (P=0.025), fever > 38 degrees C (P=0.009), WBC count > 17.000 cell/mm3 (P=0.043),
      diffuse abdominal pain (P=0.034), and infected bile (P=0.048). CONCLUSIONS: Most
      patients become severely ill due to supervening infection, while early bile
      drainage avoids serious complications. In addition, abdominal pain, fever and WBC
      count are also predictive of severity of BP.

PMID- 20939951
TI  - [Gallbladder polypoid lesions. Three clinical cases with difficult diagnosis and
      literature review].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Gallbladder polypoid lesions occur in 1.3%-6.9% of cases. The
      preoperative diagnosis between benign, malignant and potentially malignant
      lesions is difficult. Therefore it is not possible any. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The
      Authors describe three cases. The case 1 was a gallbladder diffuse
      adenomyomatosis; the ultrasound and the CT were of little help in defining
      preoperatively the nature and the gravity of the thickening. Case 2 was an
      adenomyomatosis of the fundus: the ultrasound examinations were not able to
      establish preoperatively lesion's nature, site and dimensions. In the case 3,
      ultrasounds showed polypoid lesions and calculi concrections not found in
      colecistectomy. DISCUSSION: The ultrasound is the most widely used diagnostic
      tool in the evaluation of gallbladder polypoid lesions; its accuracy is only 66%.
      CT, which has an accuracy level of 75%, must be carried out there is any
      possibility of malignant degeneration of the polyp. If doubts persist, a MR, 93%
      accuracy, is indicated. In selected cases, PET can be of further help.
      CONCLUSIONS: The preoperative diagnosis of the nature of gallbladder polypoid
      lesions is "difficult" and this justifies the lack of consensus on treatment.
      However, the adenoma-carcinoma sequence, widely discussed in literature, can
      justifies to the use of CT, MR, PET and surgical treatment after an ultrasound
      examination.

PMID- 20939952
TI  - [Colorectal cancer in the elderly: which surgical approach?].
AB  - Single-operator case studies of 135 patients undergoing surgery for colon rectal
      carcinoma (CRC) between June 2004 and April 2008 in our Institute. Patients were
      divided into two groups (A: < 70 years old, n = 44, - = 27 U = 17, B: >= 70 years
      old, n = 91, - = 49 U = 42) and were compared clinical, pathological and surgical
      data. In particular, were analyzed age range and average age, ASA score, post
      operative complications (major and minor), mortality at 30 days. Surgical
      procedure with radical intent (R0) was achieved in 41 (93%) and 76 (83%) patients
      respectively in group A and B; Given the more than double the number in group B
      than in group A is easy to imagine that for equal numbers in both groups might
      have observed an almost equal R0 resections in both groups; Despite the uneven
      number of groups A and B, it was noted that age is not a factor in determining
      the surgical therapeutic strategy in the CRC, as well as the clinical conditions
      of patients.

PMID- 20939953
TI  - [Complications of thyroid surgery: cervical thoracic duct injuries].
AB  - Thoracic duct injury is uncommon in surgery of the neck: relatively more common
      after laryngeal and esophageal surgery, rare in thyroid surgery. From January
      1986 to June 2009 were treated 14 patients with lesions of the cervical thoracic
      duct undergo surgery for thyroid disease: 4 goitre cervico-mediastinal and 10
      total thyroidectomy for cancer, 9 of which have laterocervical left
      lymphadenectomy. In 2 cases, the intraoperative detection has allowed immediate
      ligature. In 12 patients a cervical chylous fistula without chilothorax was
      found: 5 low-flow fistulas and 7 high-flow fistulas. Of the 5 cases of low-flow
      fistula, 4 were recovered after 1 month of conservative treatment, only 1 patient
      required surgical correction. The 7 patients with high-flow fistula were
      undergoing surgery: 4 in the first week post-operative and 3 after a period of
      more than 30 days of medical therapy. In patients with high-flow fistula
      prolonged medical treatment does not provide benefit and increase the risk of
      complications during and after surgery.

PMID- 20939954
TI  - [Presacral myelolipoma: a case report].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Presacral tumors are more frequently benign, and only occasionally
      malignant, showing a slow growth and an incidence of 1:40.000. They are
      asymptomatic in the 26-50% of the cases. When symptoms occur, these are related
      to the dimensions of the tumor, to its location and to the presence of infection.
      CASE REPORT: We report the case of a 69-year old woman with a lower abdominal
      pain associated with paresthesia and ipostenia of the right inferior limb.
      Digital rectal examination showed a fixed, mild tender and hard tumor of the
      posterior rectal wall. CT, MR and CT-guided biopsy sequently performed revealed a
      solid, dishomogeneous mass, located in the presacral region, with a connective
      likely origin, without pelvic lymphoadenopathy. The operation allowed to esteem a
      mass which was tenaciously adherent to the sacrum. We performed a total excision.
      Final histological diagnosis was myelolipoma. CONCLUSIONS: The Authors' opinion
      is that the en-bloc resection of these tumors with an anterior surgical approach
      allows a histological diagnosis of the nature, representing the best treatment
      for potentially malignant lesions, which are frequently radio and chemo
      resistant.

PMID- 20939955
TI  - Retinal detachment and convexity intracranial meningioma: an uncommon
      association.
AB  - CASE REPORT: A 70-years-old woman presented with a one week history of
      progressive loss of vision in the right eye (RE) diagnosed as retinal detachment
      from 7 to 1 o' clock with retinal break at the 10.30 o' clock associated.
      Gadolinium enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan of the brain and orbits
      with fat suppression showed a convexity meningioma. Scleral buckling with a
      segmental sponge, subretinal fluid drainage and cryopexy were performed with
      detachment repair. CONCLUSION: In our patient with retinal detachment and
      convexity meningioma without significant neurological symptoms, performing ocular
      surgery and close follow up care seemed to be the optimal treatment option.

PMID- 20939956
TI  - Protective wrapping of the ulnar nerve in severe cubital tunnel syndrome:
      treatment and long-term results.
AB  - The authors report their surgical experience with 10 cases of anterior
      subcutaneous ulnar nerve transposition and coverage of the nerve with
      substitutive dural flap, performed between January and November 2008 at the
      Department of Neurosurgery ("Santa Maria alle Scotte" Hospital, Siena, Italy) in
      the treatment of severe cubital tunnel syndrome. Clinical long-term results are
      analyzed and the relevant literature is reviewed.

PMID- 20939957
TI  - [Ultrasound supplying early diagnosis of bowel occlusion. Comparison with
      conventional X-ray investigation for the detection of rising signs of this
      condition].
AB  - Ultrasound investigation is more and more useful instrumental investigation, for
      early detection of rising signs of bowel occlusion, if compared to conventional
      radiology. The most important advantage of echography, such as dynamic
      evaluation, that other static radiological procedures can't supply, permits
      infact the study of potential mechanical peristaltic disturbs, revealing the
      stratification of liquid and gas enteric contents, one of the most significative
      sign of intestinal occlusion that, supporting clinical suspect in the reported
      collection, made possible early surgical solution.

PMID- 20939958
TI  - [Values of telomerase in the diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer.].

PMID- 20939959
TI  - [Inhibition of lung cancer cell line growth in vitro by telomerase anti-sense
      oligonucleotides.].
AB  - BACKGROUND: To research the inhibition of lung cancer cell line by telomerase
      anti-sense DNA , and explore the possibility of its clinical application.
      METHODS: A phosphorothioate oligonucleotide (PS-ODN) with sequence identical to
      the repeat sequence of the mammaliam telomere [5'- d(TTAGGG)-3'] and a control
      scrambled sequence 5'- d(TGTGAG)-3' were incubated with a lung cancer cell line
      801-D , and the effects of PS-ODN on cell line growth , colony-forming and growth
      shape were detected. RESULTS: Telomerase anti-sense DNA inhibited telomerase
      activation cell line 801-D growth and colony-forming. The activity of the 6-mer
      telomere mimic demonstrated a dose dependency. No activity was observed with the
      scrambled controls. CONCLUSIONS: These results demonstrated the inhibitive
      effects of a short hexameric oligonucleotide telomere mimic on lung cancer cell
      line growth in vitro and the potential utility of telomerase anti-sense DNA as
      cancer cell inhibitors.

PMID- 20939960
TI  - [A study on the telomerase activity in lung cancer and its clinical
      significance.].
AB  - BACKGROUND: To investigate the telomerase activity in human lung cancer and its
      clinical significance. METHODS: Sixty human lung cancer specimens (NSCLC 45 ,
      SCLC 15) , seven tuberculosis specimens and seven inflammatory pesudotumor were
      examined for telomerase activity by means of TRAP (telomeric repeat amplification
      protocol) based on polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS: In NSCLC , telomerase
      positivity was 73. 3 %(33/ 45) with weak to moderate activity (172 TPG) , whereas
      14 of 15 SCLC (93. 3 %) were positive with strong activity (288 TPG) , and all
      tuberculosis and inflammatory pseudotumor were telomerase negativity. The
      telomerase activity was significantly higher in SCLC than that in NSCLC ( P < 0.
      05) , and was closely associated with the differentiation , size of the cancer ,
      lymph node metastasis , and TNM staging ( P < 0. 05) . CONCLUSIONS: The results
      suggest that telomerase may be regarded as one of the prognostic factor in lung
      cancer.

PMID- 20939961
TI  - [Expression of telomerase activity in human lung cancer.].
AB  - BACKGROUND: To investigate the expression of telomerase activity in lung cancer
      tissue and the correlation with the oncogenesis , progression and metastasis of
      lung cancer. METHODS: Telomerase activity in specimens obtained by
      fiberbrochoscopy from 29 patients with suspected lung cancer was detected by
      polymerase chain reaction-ELISA. RESULTS: The telomerase activity was positive in
      18 cases of primary lung cancer and the positive rate was 81. 81 %(18/ 22) . Two
      of other seven specimens were positive for telomerase activity. Twelve lung
      cancer cases with lymph node metastasis showed positive expression , whereas only
      6 of 10 cases without lymph node metastasis showed positive expression.
      CONCLUSIONS: Telomerase activity may be useful both as a diagnostic marker to
      detect the existence of lung cancer and as a potential of high risk for lymph
      node metastasis.

PMID- 20939962
TI  - [Comparison and observation on chromosome telomeric associations in human lung
      cancer.].
AB  - BACKGROUND: To explore the regularity of abnormal telomeric associations in
      cellular chromosome of human lung cancer. METHODS: The rate of telomeric
      associations was detected in human lung adenocarcinoma cell line A549 ,
      peripheral blood lymphocytes in 15 patients with lung cancer , and in patients
      with non-cancerous diseases and normal adults as control by chromosome
      preparation assay. RESULTS: A highly significant difference in the rate of
      telomeric associations was found between lung cancer group and control group ( P
      < 0. 005) . Human lung adenocarcinoma cell line A549 had the highest rate of
      telomeric associations in all groups ( P < 0. 005) . Moreover , there was
      significant difference in the rate of telomeric associations in idiogramB ,
      idiogram C and idiogram D between lung cancer group and control group (idiogram B
      , P < 0. 05 ; idiogram C , idiogram D , P < 0. 005) . CONCLUSIONS: Compared with
      control group , human lung adenocarcinoma cell line A549 and lung cancer
      chromosome has higher telomeric associations and most of themoccured in idiogramB
      , idiogram C and idiogram D. It will provide worthwhile data of cell genetics for
      further research work on early diagnosis and prognosis in human lung cancer.

PMID- 20939963
TI  - [Telomerase activity in human primary lung caner.].
AB  - BACKGROUND: To investigate the relationship between telomarase activity and
      primary lung cancer. METHODS: Telomerase activity was detected in 24 primary lung
      cancer tissues and 6 benign neoplasms of the lungs by telomeric repeat
      amplification protocol (TRAP)-PCR-ELISA and TRAP-silver staining. RESULTS: The
      levels of telomerase activity in primary lung cancer tissues were significantly
      higher than those in benign neoplasms. Positive rate of telomerase activity in
      lung cancer tissues was 75 %. The level of telomerase activity in squmaous cell
      carcinomas was significantly higher than that in adenocarcinomas ( t = 2. 235 , P
      < 0. 05) . The positive rate of telomerase was 50 % in stage II lung cancer and
      92. 3 % in stage III disease. CONCLUSIONS: Telomerase expression might be
      involved in the oncogenesis and progression of lung cancer and could be used as a
      tumor marker in the diagnosis of lung cancer.

PMID- 20939964
TI  - [A preliminary study on telomerase activity in lung cancer patients'
      bronchoscopically biopsied specimens.].
AB  - BACKGROUND: To detect the levels of telomerase activity in lung cancer tissues
      and explore the value of telomerase activity analysis in specimens obtained by
      bronchoscopic biopsy in the diagnosis of lung cancer. METHODS: Extracts of cells
      in surgically resected specimens and bronchoscopically biopsied specimens were
      analyzed for telomerase activity by the telomeric repeat amplification protocol
      (TRAP) assay. The results of TRAP assays were compared with those of pathological
      examination.. RESULTS: Telomerase activity was positive in surgically resected
      specimens from 10 of 10 lung cancer tissues and from 0 of 10 normal lung tissues.
      Telomerase activity was positive in bronchoscopically biopsied specimens from 8
      of 11 lung cancer tissues , from 1 of 3 benign lung disease tissues , and from 3
      of 12 normal bronchial mucosas. CONCLUSIONS: Lung cancer tissues have detectable
      telomerase activity. Detection of telomerase activity in bronchoscopic biopsied
      specimens may be helpful in the diagnosis of lung cancer.

PMID- 20939965
TI  - [Detection of telomerase activity in human lung cancer.].
AB  - BACKGROUND: To investigate the role of telomerase activity in the oncogenesis and
      progression of human lung cancer. METHODS: A total of 50 malignant neoplasm's
      specimens frompatient with lung cancer including 36 surgically resected tissues ,
      7 fiberobronchoscopically collected tissues or cells , 7 pleural effusion cells
      and 20 tumor-adjacent tissues and 5 tuberculous tissues or cells were examined
      for telomerase activity by PCR-based TRAP(telomeric repeat amplification
      protocol) assay. RESULTS: In the lung cancer group , the positive rate of
      telomerase activity in surgically resected lung cancer tissues was 91. 7 %(33 out
      of 36 samples) , and 85. 7 % (6 out of 7 samples) and 71. 4 % (5 out of 7
      samples) in fiberobronchoscopically collected tissues or cells and pleural
      effusion cells , respectively. However , that in the tumor-adjacent tissues was
      10 % (2 out of 20 specimens) and no telomerase activity was observed in 5
      tuberculous tissues or cells. Positive rate in telomerase activity (85. 7 %) was
      significantly higher than that in pathologic assay (42. 9 %) in the same 7
      samples collected through fiberobronchoscope. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest
      that detection of telomerase activity of fiberobronchoscopically collected
      tissues or cells and pleural effusion cells would be a helpful examination in the
      diagnosis of patients with lung cancer.

PMID- 20939966
TI  - [Expression of MMP-2 and MMP-9 in non-small-cell lung cancer and their prognostic
      value.].
AB  - BACKGROUND: To determine the expression of MMP-2 and MMP-9 in non-small cell lung
      cancer (NSCLC) tissues and their prognostic value. METHODS: The expression of MMP
      2 and MMP-9 were detected in 62 NSCLC tissues by immunohistochemical method , and
      28 normal lung tissues and 32 para-cancerous dysplastic lung tissues as control.
      RESULTS: The expression levels of MMP-2 (77. 4 % ,48/ 62) and MMP-9 (80. 6 % ,50/
      62) in the NSCLC tissues were significantly higher than those in the control
      groups ( P < 0. 005 , P < 0. 005) . The positive rates of MMP-2 and MMP-9 in
      adenocarcinoma and adenosquamous carcinoma were remarkably higher than those in
      squamous cell carcinoma ( P < 0. 005 , P < 0. 05) , were much higher in stage
      III+IV group than those in stage I+II group ( P < 0. 025 , P < 0. 05) , and were
      significantly higher in tumors with lymph node metastasis than those without
      lymphatic metastasis ( P < 0. 005 , P < 0. 05) . The patients surviving for 1 and
      3 year had much higher MMP-2 and MMP-9 expression rates than those surviving for
      over 5 year ( P < 0. 05 , P < 0. 005) . CONCLUSIONS: MMP-2 and MMP-9 expression
      in NSCLC tissues might be indicators of tumor behavior.

PMID- 20939967
TI  - [Expressions of p21 and CD44v in human lung cancer and their significance.].
AB  - BACKGROUND: To investigate the clinical role of p21 and CD44v in primary lung
      cancer and their relationship with each other. METHODS: p21 and CD44v expression
      in 29 frozen lung cancer and 10 corresponding non-cancer tissues were measured by
      flow cytometry (FCM) . RESULTS: In lung cancer , the expression rates of p21 and
      CD44v were 75. 9 % and 51. 7 % respectively. The two proteins showed much higher
      FI values and positive rates in lung cancer than those in non-cancer tissues ( P
      < 0. 01) . p21 alteration was independent from tumor size ,lymph node metastasis
      , TNM stage , differentiated grade and histological type. CD44v expression in
      stage II+III(83. 3 %) was much higher than that in stage I(29. 4 %) ( P < 0. 01)
      . As compared with lung cancer without lymph node metastasis (33. 3 %) , primary
      lung cancer with lymph node metastasis showed significantly higher expression
      rate of CD44v (81. 8 %) ( P < 0. 05) . Coexpression of p21 and CD44v had a
      distinct statistic significance ( P < 0. 01) . CONCLUSIONS: Abnormality of p21
      and CD44v may be involved in the carcinogenesis and development of lung neoplasms
      in coordination. Immunopositivity of CD44v may suggest a potential of high risk
      for lymph node metastasis in lung cancer.

PMID- 20939968
TI  - [Preliminary study on the correlation between expression of CD44 in human non
      small cell lung cancer and lymph node metastasis.].
AB  - BACKGROUND: To investigate the correlation between expression of CD44 in human
      non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and lymph node metastasis. METHODS: SP
      immunohistological staining and immunohistochemical quantitative analysis were
      performed to detect 54 paraffin-embedded specimens (44 lung cancer tissues , 10
      matched normal lung tissues) . RESULTS: Microscopic examination: Strong
      expression of CD44 in LN( + ) group was 75 % (18/ 24) , in LN( - ) group was 35 %
      (7/ 20) , and in matched normal lung tissue group was 0 (0/ 10) ( P < 0. 01) .
      Optical density quantitative analysis : LN( + ) group was 132. 4 +/-15. 6 , LN( -
      ) group was 112. 5 +/-14. 9 , and the matched normal lung tissue group was 90. 9
      +/-10. 7 ( P < 0. 01) . The expression of CD44 wasn't related to the histological
      classification , the cell differentiation and the size of the cancer in NSCLC.
      CONCLUSIONS: CD44 expression is closely correlated with lymph node metastasis in
      NSCLC. Therefore , it might be an independent prognostic indicator which reflects
      the tendency to lymph node metastasis.

PMID- 20939969
TI  - [Clinical application of implanting nitinol alloy endotracheal stent in the
      treatment of tracheobronchial.].
AB  - BACKGROUND: To explore the clinical results of implanting expanding nitinol alloy
      stent in the treatment of tracheobronchial stenosis. METHODS: The nitinol alloy
      endotracheal stent was put into the site of stricture of trachea or bronchus in
      42 patients through an optical fibrobronchoscopy under X-ray examination. The
      oxygen saturation of blood (SaO2 ) and pulse rate were detected before , during
      and after operation respectively. RESULTS: After implanting nitinol alloy stent ,
      32 patients got satisfactory response , and other 10 patients got partial
      response. In all patients , the diameters of the stenostic airway were increased
      significantly , and ventilation function improved remarkably. The postoperative
      SaO2 was greatly higher than the preoperative one ( P < 0. 001) . The quality of
      life was also improved. CONCLUSIONS: The nitinol alloy endotracheal stent was an
      effictive , safe and reliable method to release tracheobronchial stenosis.

PMID- 20939970
TI  - [Combination chemotherapy with navelbine and cisplatin in the treatment of 90
      patients with non-small cell lung cancer.].
AB  - BACKGROUND: To evaluate the efficacy and adverse reactions of navelbine (NVB) and
      cisplatin (DDP) in the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) . METHODS:
      From April 1994 to December 1998 , 90 patients with NSCLC were treated with NVB
      plus DDP. NVB was given at a dose of 25 to 30 mg/ m(2) on days 1 and 8 ; DDP 60
      to 80 mg/ m(2) on day 3. The schedule was repeated every 28 days , with at least
      two cycles. RESULTS: The overall response rate was 27. 8 %(25/ 90) and 41. 0
      %(16/ 39) for stage III and only 16. 5 %(8/ 48) for stage IV. The difference in
      the response rate of the two groups was statistically significant ( P < 0. 005) .
      The main adverse reactions were leukopenia and phlebitis. The prevalence of grade
      III and IV leukopenia was 20 % and 18. 9 % , respectively. Supporting by G-CSF ,
      no fatal complication was observed in this study. The prevalence of phlebitis was
      32. 2 %(29/ 90) and could be decreased significantly with the improvement of the
      way of NVB adminstration. CONCLUSIONS: The regimen of NVB plus DDP is an
      effective method to treat NSCLC and its dose limiting toxicity was leukopenia.

PMID- 20939971
TI  - [Preoperative chemotherapy combined with postoperative radiotherapy in the
      treatment of non-small-cell lung cancer.].
AB  - BACKGROUND: To evaluate the clinical therapeutic effect of preoperative
      chemotherapy combined with postoperative radiotherapy in the treatment of stage
      II to III non-small-cell lung cancer. METHODS: From June 1990 to December 1993 ,
      50 patients with stage II to III non-small-cell lung cancer received preoperative
      chemotherapy and postoperative radiotherapy as study group , and another 50
      patients only undergoing surgical treatment as control. RESULTS: The resective
      rate and 5-year survival rate were 92 % and 42 % in the study group , while in
      control group they were 84 % and 24 %. There was significant difference in 5-year
      survival rate between the two group ( P < 0. 05) . The lymphatic metastatic rate
      in the study group (45. 7 %) was significantly lower than that in the control
      group (78. 6 %) ( P < 0. 05) . CONCLUSIONS: Preoperative chemotherapy combined
      with postoperative radiotherapy might be helpful to improve the long-term
      survival rate of the patients with non-small-cell lung cancer.

PMID- 20939972
TI  - [Experimental circumferential tracheal replacement with rib and costal muscle
      ring in dog.].
AB  - BACKGROUND: To evaluate the feasibility of using vascularized rib and costal
      muscle ring to repair large circumferential defect of thoracic trachea in dog.
      METHODS: Eighteen adult mongrel dogs were used in this study. The third rib with
      adjacent intercostal muscles was engineered to a ring with vascular pedicle ,
      which replaced five or eight rings of trachea. RESULTS: Eleven of eighteen dogs
      were alive after operation , and the longest one had survived for 14 months.
      These dogs were active , although a slight stricture at the newly formed trachea
      was found. Microscopic examination showed the trachea had good blood supply , and
      the substitution of pleural epithelium by ciliated epithelium was observed.
      CONCLUSIONS: Circumferential tracheal replacement with vascularized rib and
      intercostal muscle ring is easily managed and has less complications. The results
      suggest that this technique might be clinically used in the future.

PMID- 20939973
TI  - Influence of purple sweet potato extracts on the UV absorption properties of a
      cosmetic cream.
AB  - Anthocyanins were added to a cosmetic cream to provide additional protection
      against UV radiation. The influence of anthocyanins on UV absorption ability was
      carefully evaluated. Anthocyanins were successfully extracted from TNG73 purple
      sweet potato using acidic ethanol and acidic water. Acidic ethanol-extracted
      anthocyanins had better radical scavenging ability, higher total phenolic
      content, and stronger reducing ability than acidic water-extracted anthocyanins.
      The cosmetic cream with 0.61 mg of total anthocyanins (per 100 g cream) absorbed
      approximately 46% of the incident UV radiation. Although the anthocyanins
      absorbed both UV-A and UV-B radiation, they were particularly effective against
      UV-B rays. This study demonstrates that the addition of anthocyanin extracts of
      purple sweet potato to a cosmetic cream improves the cream's UV absorption
      ability.

PMID- 20939974
TI  - Assessment of styling performance in hair gels and hair sprays by means of a new
      two-point stiffness test.
AB  - A new two-point bending stiffness method on flat hair strands was developed and
      validated after application of hair styling gels and hair styling sprays. A
      special mold was used to align single hair fibers after applying the formulations
      to the hair. The styling gels used contain different commercially available
      thickeners and styling polymers, e.g., carbomer, acrylates/beheneth-25
      methacrylate copolymer, Polyquaternium-86, PVP, VP/VA copolymers, and
      VP/methacrylamide/vinylimidazole copolymer. Evaluation of hair sprays was
      performed after spray application on flat hair strands. Commercially available
      hair styling resins were used, e.g. acrylates/t-butylacrylamide copolymer,
      octylacrylamide/acrylates/butylaminoethyl methacrylate copolymer, and VP/VA
      copolymer (30:70). The new stiffness test method provided the best correlation
      with practically relevant sensory assessments on hair strands and a panel test in
      which styling gels were evaluated. However, we did not observe a correlation
      between the new stiffness method on flat hair strands and practical assessments
      in hair spray application. We postulate that different polymer/hair composites
      are responsible for these discrepancies. Hairs on model heads for half-side
      testing are spot-welded after spray application, while hairs are seam-welded in
      the stiffness test after alignment of single hair fibers. This alignment is
      necessary to achieve reproducible results.

PMID- 20939975
TI  - Analysis of vitamin E in commercial cosmetic preparations by HPLC.
AB  - A specific HPLC method, with an RP-C-18 column and a UV detector, for
      simultaneous determination of vitamin E (tochopherol, T)/T acetate (TA) in four
      commercial and two experimental cosmetic products is described. Three solvent
      systems for extraction of T/TA were assessed: isopropyl alcohol; 10:90 v/v hexane
      methanol mixture (method 1); and methanol alone (method 2). The procedure was
      accurate, as indicated by high recovery (97.8-101.8% and 100.1-102.5% for T and
      TA, respectively) and precise (RSD was only 0.9-3.26% and 0.73-3.35% for T and
      TA, respectively). The limits of detection for T and TA were 200 and 300 ng/ml,
      respectively, while the limits of quantitation were 250 and 400 ng/ml,
      respectively. The range of reliable quantification was 5-50 MUg/ml. Isopropanol
      as solvent resulted in a turbid extract. Method 1 and method 2 of extraction
      showed high recovery (98.5-99.9% and 97.2-97.9% for T and TA, respectively).
      After a few weeks of analysis, method 1 resulted in retention time drift, peak
      broadening, non-reproducible results, and progressive loss of HPLC-column
      integrity. Methanol alone (method 2) was equally as efficient as that of the
      mixture of methanol with 10% hexane (method 1) for extraction. The described
      analytical procedure proved to be accurate, precise, and suitable for
      simultaneous determination of T and TA in real commercial cosmetic products.

PMID- 20939976
TI  - High-performance thin-layer chromatographic determination of ketoconazole in
      pharmaceutical formulations.
AB  - A high-performance thin-layer chromatographic method was developed for the
      determination of ketoconazole. The sample was separated on a silica gel 60 F254
      plate and developed in ethanol-acetone-1.0 mol l-1 H2SO4 by means of an automatic
      multiple-development system. The area of the spot was quantified by a TLC scanner
      at a wavelength of 298 nm. A linear calibration curve was established over the
      range of 3-20 MUg/ml of ketoconazole, with a correlation coefficient of 0.9992.
      The relative standard deviations for intraday and interday precisions, for three
      replicate determinations, were found to be 1.72% and 0.69% for 5 MUg/ml and 2.18%
      and 0.94% for 10 MUg/ml of ketoconazole, respectively. The average percentage
      recoveries of ketoconazole shampoos (Nora, Kenalyn, and Nizoral) and ketoconazole
      creams (Nizoral, Fungasin, and Ketazon) were found to be 96.10, 97.06, and 99.58,
      and 96.77, 97.26, and 95.74, respectively. This method has been applied to the
      determination of ketoconazole in various pharmaceutical dosage forms. Common
      excipients in formulations do not interfere. This method is simple, precise,
      accurate, and inexpensive. It should be used for routine analysis.

PMID- 20939980
TI  - [Placebo control and clinical trial of Chinese medicine].
AB  - World Health Organization aims to develop safe, effective and practical
      traditional medicine. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and other complementary
      and alternative medicine are being recognized in the whole world nowadays.
      However, the definite effect of Chinese medicine is still in need of scientific
      research proof. Placebo control is of equal importance to active control and
      blank control in clinical trial of TCM. This article briefly reviewed the
      importance of placebo control and commented on its present situation in clinical
      trial of TCM. This article also brought up the preliminary proposals of placebo
      application in TCM clinical trial. We should emphasize scientific placebo
      preparation and good design of placebo-controlled trial, which are directed by
      International Conference on Harmonization of Technical Requirements for
      Registration of Pharmaceuticals for Human Use. A good clinical trial project will
      avoid unnecessary wastes and provide safe and effective treatment for people.

PMID- 20939981
TI  - [Methodology study of classification algorithm in traditional Chinese medicine
      syndrome study].
AB  - Study of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) syndromes is a key to the research of
      TCM modernization, and the core is the classification and diagnostic criteria of
      syndromes. The purpose of this article is to review the usage of classification
      algorithms of data mining in TCM syndrome researches, and comprehensively analyze
      the main features of algorithms and their applications. The appropriate
      classification algorithm should be chosen according to different research
      purposes. Rough sets and cluster analysis are suitable for exploratory research
      without requiring a prior knowledge. Fuzzy sets theory, neural networks and
      decision tree are suitable for syndrome diagnostic criteria research when the
      classification goal is clear, because they require a prior knowledge. Among them,
      fuzzy sets theory could be used in combination with other classification
      algorithms. Thus, some new methods such as fuzzy clustering, fuzzy rough sets or
      fuzzy decision tree might be more suitable for TCM algorithm classification
      research. It is suggested that some novel classification algorithms need to be
      developed to fit the condition of TCM syndrome, based on the interdisciplinary
      theories and technologies.

PMID- 20939982
TI  - [Integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine versus Western medicine in
      treatment of arteriosclerosis obliterans: a systematic review of randomized
      controlled trials].
AB  - BACKGROUND: The conventional therapy for arteriosclerosis obliterans (ASO) is
      Western medicine. However, it has some adverse effects and does not respond to
      some patients, and it is also very expensive. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy
      of integrated traditional Chinese (TCM) and Western medicine (WM) in treatment of
      ASO. SEARCH STRATEGY: Electronic and manual searches were conducted and the
      searches ended on May 20, 2009. INCLUSION CRITERIA: We included randomized
      controlled trials (RCT) evaluating integrated TCM and WM (as treatment group)
      versus WM used alone (as control group), and no language limits were set. DATA
      EXTRACTION AND ANALYSIS: Selection of trials for inclusion, assessment for
      methodological quality, data extraction and data syntheses were conducted
      according to protocol of a Cochrane systematic review by the authors. RESULTS:
      Thirteen RCT were included, which encompassed a total of 968 patients. The
      results showed that all of the 13 included trials did not report mortality rate
      of ASO. The studies displayed that the amputation rate in the treatment group was
      lower than that in the control group, but there was no statistical significance.
      Ten studies adopted inefficiency analysis and 2 of them showed that the
      ineffective rate in the treatment group was lower than that in the control group,
      and the relative risk (RR) and 95% CI were 0.36 [0.13, 0.99]. We performed
      descriptive analysis on other 8 studies; analyses of secondary outcomes such as
      intermittent claudication, ankle brachial index, high-density lipoprotein (HDL),
      and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) showed that integrated TCM and WM therapy was
      more effective than WM treatment alone; one study showed that WM was better than
      integrated TCM and WM therapy in decreasing the content of fibrinogen. All of the
      included trials did not report any critical adverse reactions occurred in the
      treatment group. CONCLUSION: The current evidence shows that integrated TCM and
      WM therapy is safe and effective in treating ASO, and tends to reduce amputation
      rate, improve intermittent claudication, decrease the levels of fibrinogen, HDL
      and LDL, and increase ankle brachial index, without obvious adverse reactions.
      Due to the low methodological quality of trials included, more prospective,
      multicenter, large-scale, high-quality RCTs are needed.

PMID- 20939983
TI  - [A qualitative study of exploring the therapeutic components of traditional
      Chinese medicine as a complex intervention through grounded theory].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To explore and identify the therapeutic components of traditional
      Chinese medicine (TCM) as a complex intervention through grounded theory, and the
      correlation and interaction within this model and the possible effects that they
      may have on the therapeutic effects of TCM. METHODS: Data were collected through
      41 half-day participant observations and 7 in-depth interviews, and the study
      design and data analysis were based on the grounded theory. RESULTS: The
      components of TCM practice that emerged were: prescribed Chinese medicinal herbs,
      doctor's medical advice, psychological intervention, doctor-patient relationship,
      and patient adherence. There were some overlaps in the TCM diagnosis and
      treatment process, and there were underlying therapeutic effects associated with
      diagnosis. TCM herbal intervention was considered as a main therapeutic component
      which might dominate patients' outcome. We summarized this process as a process
      of problem finding and solving from macroscopic and microcosmic perspectives,
      which embodies the concept of a holistic approach and highly individualized
      pattern through syndrome differentiation and treatment. CONCLUSION: TCM is a
      complex whole system, and all therapeutic components of TCM may contribute to
      global treatment effect. In the future, we need more participants to test and
      improve the model of grounded theory through qualitative and quantitative methods
      such as randomized controlled trials so as to identify and explore the relevance
      of each therapeutic component of TCM with the treatment effect.

PMID- 20939984
TI  - Application of voice signal collection and analysis in traditional Chinese
      medicine syndrome differentiation of deficiency and excess.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To provide more objective basis for traditional Chinese medicine (TCM)
      syndrome differentiation of deficiency and excess by collecting and analyzing
      voice signals and extracting characteristic parameters. METHODS: All of 308
      samples including 150 samples of qi-deficiency, 52 yin-deficiency, 55 excess and
      51 normal were collected by "Voice Collecting System of TCM" and analyzed by
      wavelet packet transform (WPT) combined with approximate entropy (ApEn). The
      characteristic parameters with remarkable differences were chosen as input
      vectors for support vector machine (SVM) classifier to obtain classification
      results. RESULTS: Comparison between the normal and non-healthy showed that ApEn
      values of several nodes in 2 to 3 kHz, 3.5 to 4 kHz and 5 to 8 kHz frequencies
      were significantly different (P<=0.05); comparison between the deficiency and
      excess showed that ApEn values of several nodes in 0 to 2.5 kHz and 6 to 6.5 kHz
      frequencies were significantly different (P<=0.05); comparison between the qi
      deficiency and yin-deficiency showed that ApEn values of node in 2 to 4 kHz
      frequency were significantly different(P<=0.05). The outputs of SVM showed that
      accuracies of samples in each group had good classification results by analyzing
      the ApEn values in different frequencies through WPT. CONCLUSION: The methods of
      voice collection and analysis used in the auscultation of TCM can provide
      objective basis for syndrome differentiation of deficiency and excess.

PMID- 20939985
TI  - [Preventive effects of a sachet of Chinese herbs on influenza and its immune
      regulation].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To study the clinical efficacy of Pihui Fanggan Sachet (PHFGS), a
      sachet of traditional Chinese herbs, in preventing influenza and its immune
      regulation on mice. METHODS: In clinical study, 239 children from Shanghai
      Baoshan Xubeihong Art Kindergarten were randomly divided into two groups
      according to different class; 118 children were treated with PHFGS for 45 days as
      treatment group and 121 children were as blank control. During the observation
      period, the incidence rate of influenza, the course of disease and the severity
      of symptoms were recorded. In experimental study, 40 Kunming mice were randomly
      divided into normal control group (normal mice treated or not treated with
      PHFGS), and immunocompromised group (immunocompromised mice treated or not
      treated with PHFGS). Immunocompromise was induced by intraperitoneal injection of
      80 mg/kg cyclophosphamide for 3 days. Some mice in the normal control and
      immunocompromised groups were then treated with extracted solution of PHFGS
      through nasal cavity for one week. Spleen index, content of CD(3)(+) T cells and
      CD(4)(+) T cells, CD(4)(+)/CD(8)(+) ratio, activity of natural killer (NK) cells,
      serum level of interferon gamma (INF-gamma) and respiratory level of secretory
      immunoglobulin A (SIgA) were evaluated. RESULTS: The incidence rate of influenza
      in the treatment group was much lower than that in the blank control group
      (P<0.01), and the average course was shortened as compared with the control group
      (P<0.01). The fever, rhinocleisis, runny nose, and throat congestion in the
      treatment group were improved as compared with the blank control group (P<0.05,
      P<0.01). After injection of cyclophosphamide, the spleen index, content of
      CD(3)(+) T cells and CD(4)(+) T cells, CD(4)(+)/CD(8)(+) ratio, activity of NK
      cells, serum level of INF-gammaand respiratory level of SIgA in the
      immunocompromised group were significantly lower than those in the normal control
      group (P<0.05 or P<0.01), which indicated the immunosuppression. After treated
      with PHFGS for one week, the spleen index and the respiratory level of SIgA in
      the immunocompromised group were improved significantly. Although the content of
      CD(3)(+) T cells and CD(4)(+) T cells, CD(4)(+)/CD(8)(+) ratio and the serum
      level of INF-gamma were improved, the differences did not reach the significant
      level. No significant effects on immune function of normal mice were observed.
      CONCLUSION: PHFGS can prevent influenza effectively by improving the immunity,
      especially the respiratory mucosal immune function.

PMID- 20939986
TI  - [Effects of gensenoside Rg1 on tau protein phosphorylation induced by okadaic
      acid in rat brain slices].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of gensenoside Rg1 on expressions of
      phosphorylated tau protein (P-tau), protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) and tau protein
      in Alzheimer's disease-like tau phosphorylation rat brain slices, and to explore
      the mechanisms of gensenoside Rg1 in inhibiting tau phosphorylation. METHODS:
      Brains of 5-week-old Wistar rats were cut into slices which were 400 MUm thick.
      These brain slices were randomly divided into blank control group, untreated
      group, low-dose ginsenoside Rg1 group, medium-dose ginsenoside Rg1 group and high
      dose ginsenoside Rg1 group, with 10 slices in each group. All brain slices were
      cultured with artificial cerebrospinal fluid (ACSF). And brain slices in the
      ginsenoside R1 groups were administered with ginsenoside Rg1 (60, 120 and 240
      MUmol/L respectively) in ACSF for 2 h firstly. After 2-hour culture, okadaic acid
      (OA) was administered into ACSF of the untreated group and the ginsenoside Rg1
      groups separately for 3 h to induce tau phosphorylation to prepare AD models. The
      concentration of OA in each group was 1 MUmol/L. There was no any intervention
      for the brain slices in the blank control group. Expressions of P-tau, PP2A and
      tau proteins in the brain slices were determined by immunohistochemical method,
      and the results were analyzed by image acquisition and analysis system. RESULTS:
      Compared with the blank control group, the expression of P-tau protein was
      significantly increased (P<0.01) and the expressions of tau and PP2A proteins
      were decreased (P<0.01, P<0.05) in the untreated group. Compared with the
      untreated group, the expression of P-tau was significantly decreased (P<0.01) and
      the expressions of tau and PP2A proteins were increased (P<0.01, P<0.05) in the
      ginsenoside Rg1 groups, especially in the high-dose ginsenoside Rg1 group.
      CONCLUSION: Ginsenoside Rg1 can promote dephosphorylation of P-tau by increasing
      the expression of PP2A in Alzheimer's disease-like tau phosphorylation rat brain
      slices, so as to inhibit tau phosphorylation.

PMID- 20939987
TI  - Effects of Chinese herbal medicine Shenlong Decoction on mRNA expressions of
      matrix metalloproteinase-2 and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1 in lung
      tissue of rats with pulmonary fibrosis induced by bleomycin.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To observe the expressions of matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) and
      tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1 (TIMP-1) in rats with pulmonary fibrosis
      (PF) induced by bleomycin, and to explore the mechanisms of Shenlong Decoction in
      preventing and treating PF. METHODS: A total of 230 Wistar rats were divided into
      normal control group, untreated group, prednisone group, and low-, medium- and
      high-dose Shenlong Decoction groups. Wistar rats were intratracheally injected
      with bleomycin to induce PF. From the 2nd day, rats in the normal control and
      untreated groups were lavaged with normal saline (NS), and rats in the other
      groups were lavaged with prepared Shenlong Decoction by the same amount.
      Hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining and Masson staining were used to observe
      pathological changes in lung tissue at different time points, and to evaluate
      whether the model was successfully induced. Expressions of MMP-2 and TIMP-1 mRNAs
      in rats' lung tissue were measured by reverse transcription-polymerase chain
      reaction (RT-PCR). RESULTS: Expressions of MMP-2 and TIMP-1 mRNAs in lung tissue
      of rats were observed from all groups at each time point. In comparison with the
      normal control group, on the 7th day, the transcription levels of MMP-2 and TIMP
      1 mRNAs, especially the former, of the untreated group increased significantly
      (P<0.05 or P<0.01). On the 14th day, the transcription levels of MMP-2 and TIMP-1
      mRNAs kept rising, especially the latter (P<0.05 or P<0.01). On the 28th day, the
      transcription level of MMP-2 decreased a little, while the transcription level of
      TIMP-1 mRNA did not stop increasing (P<0.05 or P<0.01). Compared with the
      untreated group, decrease of the transcription levels of MMP-2 and TIMP-1 mRNAs
      were observed in the treatment groups, especially the former, and this effect
      continued to the 28th day with the medium-dose Shenlong Decoction group
      decreasing most obviously (P<0.05 or P<0.01). CONCLUSION: Shenlong Decoction may
      inhibit the expression of MMP-2 mRNA by up-regulating the expression of TIMP-1
      mRNA so as to slow the progression of PF.

PMID- 20939988
TI  - [Chinese herbal medicine Jianpi Jiedu Formula down-regulates the expression of
      vascular endothelial growth factor in human gastric cell line MKN45 induced by
      Helicobacter pylori by inhibiting cyclooxygenase-2].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of Jianpi Jiedu Formula (JPJDF), a compound
      Chinese herbal medicine, on vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression
      induced by Helicobacter pylori (Hp) in human gastric cancer cells, and to explore
      the possible mechanism. METHODS: Human gastric MKN45 cancer cells were infected
      with standard Hp NCTC11637 by coculture, and the cells were divided into 7
      groups: normal control group, Hp group, NS398 inhibitor group, blank serum group,
      and 5%, 10% and 20% JPJDF groups. The expressions of VEGF and cyclooxygenase-2
      (COX-2) mRNAs in human gastric cancer cells infected by Hp were evaluated by real
      time fluorogenic quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR). After inhibiting
      the expression of COX-2 with COX-2 specific inhibitor NS398 (50 MUmol/L), VEGF
      mRNA expression induced by Hp in human gastric cancer MKN45 cells was evaluated
      by real-time fluorogenic quantitative PCR. RESULTS: Real-time fluorogenic
      quantitative PCR results showed that COX-2 mRNA expression increased
      significantly after MKN45 cells were infected with Hp for 6 h (P<0.01), and VEGF
      mRNA expression also increased significantly after MKN45 cells were infected with
      Hp for 12 h as compared with the normal control group (P<0.01). After inhibiting
      COX-2 expression with COX-2 specific inhibitor NS398, Hp-induced VEGF mRNA
      expression significantly reduced (P<0.01). 5%, 10% and 20% JPJDF-containing sera
      all down-regulated VEGF and COX-2 mRNA expressions induced by Hp in a dose
      dependent manner as compared with the Hp infection group. CONCLUSION: Hp could
      induce the expressions of COX-2 and VEGF in human gastric cancer cells, and JPJDF
      down-regulates Hp-induced expression of VEGF by inhibiting COX-2, which might be
      one of the important mechanisms of its prevention and treatment of gastric
      cancer.

PMID- 20939989
TI  - [Effects of Chinese herbal medicine Bushen Shugan Recipe in regulating the
      hypothalamus-pituitary-ovarian axis in a rat model of stress-induced anorexia].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of Bushen Shugan Recipe (BSSGR), a compound
      traditional Chinese herbal medicine, in regulating the hypothalamus-pituitary
      ovarian axis (HPOA) in a rat model of stress-induced anorexia. METHODS: Anorexia
      was induced in rats by the methods of separation, diet restriction and
      constraint. Rats were divided into 4 groups randomly: control group, untreated
      group, sham-operated group and BSSGR group. After the experiments, body weights
      and oestrous cycles of the 4 groups were compared. The levels of serum estradiol
      (E(2)), hypophysis luteotrophic hormone (LH), hypophysis follicle stimulating
      hormone (FSH) and hypothalamus beta-endorphin (beta-EP) were detected by
      radioimmunoassay. The level of serum corticosterone (CORT) was detected by enzyme
      linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS: Body weight of BSSGR group was significantly
      increased in comparison with sham-operated group(P<0.01); the oestrous cycle
      disordering rate was higher than those of the untreated group and sham-operated
      group; hypophysis LH and serum E(2) were obviously increased in comparison with
      untreated group (P<0.05); hypothalamus beta-EP was obviously decreased in
      comparison with sham-operated group (P<0.05); serum CORT was obviously decreased
      in comparison with untreated group (P<0.05), and significantly decreased in
      comparison with sham-operated group (P<0.01). CONCLUSION: BSSGR increased
      hypophysis LH and serum E(2), and decreased serum CORT and hypothalamus beta-EP
      in rats with stress-induced anorexia.

PMID- 20939990
TI  - [Effects of electro-acupuncture at Shuigou (DU26) point on motor evoked potential
      in rats with cerebral infarction].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of electro-acupuncture at Shuigou (DU26) on
      latency and amplitude of motor evoked potential (MEP) in rats after cerebral
      infarction. METHODS: Fifty healthy male Wistar rats were randomly divided into
      five groups as normal group, untreated group, sham-operated group, non-acupoint
      group and Shuigou group, with 10 rats in each group. By using a modification of
      the technique of middle cerebral artery occlusion, focal cerebral ischemia injury
      was induced in rats except normal and sham-operated groups. Rats in the normal
      group received no treatment. Rats in the sham-operated group underwent identical
      experimental procedures as the other groups, except that the nylon suture was
      inserted into the internal carotid artery. After the behavioral deficit was
      evaluated by using Zausinger 6-point neurological function score, rats in the
      Shuigou group and non-acupoint group were separately acupunctured and stimulated
      by continuous-wave with 2 Hz frequency, 1 mA intensity, for 10 minutes, twice a
      day for 3 days. Non-acupoint was located at the left side 0.5 cm of the Shuigou
      point. No intervention was given to the other groups. Zausinger 6-point
      neurological function and MEP were measured after 72-hour treatment. RESULTS: The
      latency at the affected side in the untreated group was significantly longer than
      that in the normal group (P<0.05), and the amplitude at the affected side was
      significantly reduced (P<0.01). After 3-day electro-acupuncture, the latency at
      the affected side of rats in the Shuigou group was obviously shortened as
      compared with the untreated group (P<0.05), and the amplitude was significantly
      increased (P<0.05). The latency at the affected side in the Shuigou group was
      shorter than that in the non-acupoint group (P<0.05), and the amplitude tended to
      increase as compared with the non-acupoint group, but there were no significant
      differences (P>0.05). There were no significant differences on the latency and
      amplitude between the untreated group and non-acupoint group (P>0.05). The
      neurobehavioral score of the Shuigou group was significantly higher than those of
      the untreated group and non-acupoint group (P<0.05), and there were no
      significant differences between the untreated group and non-acupoint group
      (P>0.05). CONCLUSION: Electro-acupuncture at Shuigou can increase the latency and
      amplitude of MEP in rats after cerebral infarction.

PMID- 20939991
TI  - Statistical inference and experimental design of univariate quantitative data of
      single-group design (part two).

PMID- 20939992
TI  - [Issues on international standardization of traditional Chinese medical
      terminologies: from WHO/ICD-11 to ISO/TC249].

PMID- 20939993
TI  - [Analysis of English translation for figures of speech with variable forms in
      Neijing].

PMID- 20939994
TI  - [Mode of action of functional appliances - Clinical evidence - Scientific
      proof.].

PMID- 20939995
TI  - CD8+ gamma-delta TCR+ and CD4+ T cells produce IFN-gamma at 5-7 days after yellow
      fever vaccination in Indian rhesus macaques, before the induction of classical
      antigen-specific T cell responses.
AB  - The yellow fever 17D (YF-17D) vaccine is one of the most efficacious vaccines
      developed to date. Interestingly, vaccination with YF-17D induces IFN-gamma
      production early after vaccination (days 5-7) before the development of classical
      antigen-specific CD8(+) and CD4(+) T cell responses. Here we investigated the
      cellular source of this early IFN-gamma production. At days 5 and 7 post
      vaccination activated CD8(+) gamma-delta TCR T cells produced IFN-gamma and TNF
      alpha. Activated CD4(+) T cells produced IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha at day 7 post
      vaccination. This early IFN-gamma production was also induced after vaccination
      with recombinant YF-17D (rYF-17D), but was not observed after recombinant
      Adenovirus type 5 (rAd5) vaccination. Early IFN-gamma production, therefore,
      might be an important aspect of yellow fever vaccination.

PMID- 20939996
TI  - Inhibition of homodimerization of toll-like receptor 4 by 4-oxo-4-(2-oxo
      oxazolidin-3-yl)-but-2-enoic acid ethyl ester.
AB  - Toll-like receptors (TLRs) recognize molecular structures derived from microbes
      and initiate innate immunity. The stimulation of TLR4 by lipopolysaccharide (LPS)
      triggers the activation of the myeloid differential factor 88 (MyD88)-dependent
      and toll-interleukin-1 receptor domain-containing adapter inducing interferon
      beta (TRIF)-dependent major downstream signaling pathways. Previously, we
      synthesized a fumaryl oxazolidinone derivative, 4-oxo-4-(2-oxo-oxazolidin-3-yl)
      but-2-enoic acid ethyl ester (OSL07) and demonstrated that it inhibits activation
      of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kappaB) by inhibiting the MyD88-dependent pathway
      of TLRs. TLR4 and the downstream signaling components are good therapeutic
      targets for many chronic inflammatory diseases. Here, it is investigated whether
      OSL07 modulates TLR4 downstream signaling pathways and what anti-inflammatory
      target in TLR4 signaling is regulated by OSL07. OSL07 inhibited LPS-induced NF
      kappaB and interferon regulatory factor 3 activation by targeting TLR4
      dimerization. These results suggest that OSL07 can modulate TLR4 signaling
      pathway leading to decreased inflammatory gene expression.

PMID- 20939997
TI  - Ephedrannin A and B from roots of Ephedra sinica inhibit lipopolysaccharide
      induced inflammatory mediators by suppressing nuclear factor-kappaB activation in
      RAW 264.7 macrophages.
AB  - Ephedra sinica is a traditional Chinese medicinal herb and has pharmacological
      functions including anti-inflammatory effects. However, the active ingredients
      from Ephedra roots have not been characterized. Here, two active constituents
      were isolated and their structures and mechanisms of action were defined. Active
      constituents from Ephedra roots were isolated by continuous solvent-extractions
      and column chromatography. Their structures were determined by use of multiple
      types of spectrometry. The mechanisms of action were examined using
      lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells through PCR, ELISA,
      electrophoretic mobility shift assays, and immunocytochemistry. Two active
      constituents, ephedrannin A and B, belonging to the A-type proanthocyanidin
      family were identified. Both ephedrannin A and B effectively suppressed the
      transcription of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and interleukin-1beta
      (IL-1beta). These compounds exerted their anti-inflammatory actions on LPS
      stimulated macrophages by suppressing the translocation of nuclear factor-kappa B
      (NF-kappaB) and the phosphorylation of p38 mitogen-activated protein (MAP)
      kinase. Ephedrannin A and B both exhibited strong anti-inflammatory effects,
      however, the optimal dose of ephedrannin B was 10 times lower than that of
      ephedrannin A. This is the first report describing effective anti-inflammatory
      activity for ephedrannin A and B isolated from Ephedra roots. Ephedrannin B may
      be a good candidate for delaying the progression of human inflammatory diseases
      and warrants further studies.

PMID- 20939999
TI  - Glycosaminoglycans enhance the fibrillation propensity of the beta2-microglobulin
      cleavage variant--DeltaK58-beta2m.
AB  - Dialysis related amyloidosis (DRA) is a serious complication to long-term
      hemodialysis treatment which causes clinical symptoms such as carpal tunnel
      syndrome and destructive arthropathies. The disease is characterized by the
      assembly and deposition of beta2-microglobulin (beta2m) predominantly in the
      musculoskeletal system, but the initiating events leading to beta2m
      amyloidogenesis and the molecular mechanisms underlying amyloid fibril formation
      are still unclear. Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) and metal ions have been shown to be
      related to the onset of protein aggregation and to promote de novo fiber
      formation. In this study, we show that fibrillogenesis of a cleavage variant of
      beta2m, DeltaK58-beta2m, which can be found in the circulation of hemodialysis
      patients and is able to fibrillate at near-physiological pH in vitro, is affected
      by the presence of copper ions and heparan sulfate. It is found that the fibrils
      generated when heparan sulfate is present have increased length and diameter, and
      possess enhanced stability and seeding properties. However, when copper ions are
      present the fibrils are short, thin and less stable, and form at a slower rate.
      We suggest that heparan sulfate stabilizes the cleaved monomers in the early
      aggregates, hereby promoting the assembly of these into fibrils, whereas the
      copper ions appear to have a destabilizing effect on the monomers. This keeps
      them in a structure forming amorphous aggregates for a longer period of time,
      leading to the formation of spherical bodies followed by the assembly of fibrils.
      Hence, the in vivo formation of amyloid fibrils in DRA could be initiated by the
      generation of DeltaK58-beta2m which spontaneously aggregate and form fibrils. The
      fibrillogenesis is enhanced by the involvement of GAGs and/or metal ions, and
      results in amyloid-like fibrils able to promote the de novo formation of beta2m
      amyloid by a scaffold mechanism.

PMID- 20939998
TI  - Interactions of cytochrome P450s with their ligands.
AB  - Cytochrome P450s (CYPs) are heme-containing monooxygenases that contribute to an
      enormous range of enzymatic function including biosynthetic and detoxification
      roles. This review summarizes recent studies concerning interactions of CYPs with
      ligands including substrates, inhibitors, and diatomic heme-ligating molecules.
      These studies highlight the complexity in the relationship between the heme spin
      state and active site occupancy, the roles of water in directing protein-ligand
      and ligand-heme interactions, and the details of interactions between heme and
      gaseous diatomic CYP ligands. Both kinetic and thermodynamic aspects of ligand
      binding are considered.

PMID- 20940000
TI  - Angiotensin II-induced smooth muscle cell migration is mediated by LDL receptor
      related protein 1 via regulation of matrix metalloproteinase 2 expression.
AB  - Angiotensin II (Ang II), one of the main vasoactive hormones of the renin
      angiotensin system, contributes to the development and progression of
      atherosclerosis by inducing vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) migration.
      Although previous studies have shown that Ang II upregulates low density
      lipoprotein receptor-related protein 1 (LRP1) expression in VSMCs and increases
      VSMCs migration, the role of LRP1 in Ang II-induced VSMCs migration remains
      unclear. Here, we reveal a novel mechanism by which LRP1 induces the expression
      of matrix metalloproteinase 2 (MMP2) and thereby promotes the migration of rat
      aortic SMCs (RAoSMCs). Knockdown of LRP1 expression greatly decreased RAoSMCs
      migration, which was rescued by forced expression of a functional LRP1
      minireceptor, suggesting that LRP1 is a key regulator of Ang II-induced RAoSMCs
      migration. Inhibition of ligand binding to LRP1 by the specific antagonist
      receptor-associated protein (RAP) also led to reduced RAoSMCs migration. Because
      MMPs play critical roles in RAoSMCs migration, we examined the expression of
      several MMPs and found that the expression of functional MMP2 was selectively
      increased by Ang II treatment and decreased in LRP1-knockdown RAoSMCs. More
      interestingly, reduced MMP2 expression in LRP1-knockdown cells was completely
      rescued by exogenous expression of mLRP4, suggesting that MMP2 is a downstream
      regulator of LRP1 in Ang II-induced RAoSMCs migration. Together, our data
      strongly suggest that LRP1 promotes the migration of RAoSMCs by regulating the
      expression and function of MMP2.

PMID- 20940001
TI  - Ischemic postconditioning protects brain from ischemia/reperfusion injury by
      attenuating endoplasmic reticulum stress-induced apoptosis through PI3K-Akt
      pathway.
AB  - Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress has been implicated in the pathology of
      cerebral ischemia. During prolonged period of stress or when the adaptive
      response fails, apoptotic cell death ensues. Cerebral ischemic postconditioning
      (Postcond) has been shown to reduce cerebral ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury in
      both focal and global cerebral ischemia model. However, the mechanism remains to
      be understood. This study aimed to elucidate whether Postcond attenuates brain
      I/R damage by suppressing ER stress-induced apoptosis and if the
      phosphatidylinositol-3kinase/Akt (PI3K/Akt) pathway is involved. A focal cerebral
      ischemia rat model was used in the study. Rat brain infarct size and terminal
      deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) positive
      cells in ischemic penumbra were assessed after reperfusion of the brain. The
      expressions of C/EBP-homologous protein (CHOP), caspase-12, glucose-regulated
      protein 78 (GRP78) and the phosphorylation of Akt (Ser473) in ischemic penumbra
      were measured after reperfusion. Our results showed that Postcond significantly
      attenuated brain I/R injury, as shown by reduction in infarct size, cell
      apoptosis, CHOP expression, caspase-12 activation and increase in GRP78
      expression. LY294002, a phosphoinositide 3-kinase inhibitor, increased the number
      of TUNEL-positive cells suppressed by Postcond in penumbra. In addition, LY294002
      diminished the effect of Postcond on the activation of CHOP, caspase-12 and
      GRP78. These results suggest that Postcond protects brain from I/R injury by
      suppressing ER stress-induced apoptosis and PI3K/Akt pathway is involved.

PMID- 20940002
TI  - The systemic inhibition of nitric oxide production rapidly regulates TRH mRNA
      concentration in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus and serum TSH
      concentration. Studies in control and cold-stressed rats.
AB  - Neurons of the paraventricular nuclei of the hypothalamus (PVN) that synthesize
      the peptide thyrotropin releasing hormone (TRH) control energy homeostasis.
      Identifying the circuits which regulate these neurons is critical to fully
      understand integration of metabolic information and the mechanisms that set
      thyroid hormone levels. We tested the hypothesis that nitric oxide (NO) acutely
      controls PVN TRH expression and thyrotropin (TSH) secretion by the anterior
      pituitary. The subcutaneous treatment of rats with N(G)-nitro-L-arginine methyl
      ester (L-NAME), an inhibitor of NO synthases, enhanced PVN TRH mRNA and medio
      basal hypothalamic TRH levels, and reduced serum TSH concentration. Analysis of
      the effect of a NO donor in primary cultures of hypothalamic or anterior
      pituitary cells suggested that the effect of NO includes a direct action on
      hypothalamic neurons. The cold stress-induced increase in TSH release was
      inhibited by sc L-NAME. Therefore, production of NO may control the activity of
      the hypothalamus-pituitary-thyroid axis.

PMID- 20940003
TI  - Audiovisual contrast enhancement is articulated primarily via the M-pathway.
AB  - Although it has been previously reported that audiovisual integration can
      modulate performance on some visual tasks, multisensory interactions have not
      been explicitly assessed in the context of different visual processing pathways.
      In the present study, we test auditory influences on visual processing employing
      a psychophysical paradigm that reveals distinct spatial contrast signatures of
      magnocellular and parvocellular visual pathways. We found that contrast
      thresholds are reduced when noninformative sounds are presented with transient,
      low-frequency Gabor patch stimuli and thus favor the M-system. In contrast,
      visual thresholds are unaffected by concurrent sounds when detection is primarily
      attributed to P-pathway processing. These results demonstrate that the visual
      detection enhancement resulting from multisensory integration is mainly
      articulated by the magnocellular system, which is most sensitive at low spatial
      frequencies. Such enhancement may subserve stimulus-driven processes including
      the orientation of spatial attention and fast, automatic ocular and motor
      responses. This dissociation helps explain discrepancies between the results of
      previous studies investigating visual enhancement by sounds.

PMID- 20940004
TI  - Possible participation of extracellular calcium-sensing receptor in blood
      pressure regulation in rats.
AB  - The concentration of calcium in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) affects systemic
      blood pressure; an increase in calcium concentration lowers blood pressure,
      whereas a decrease raises it. Although this phenomenon has been known for more
      than 50 years, the precise mechanism is not completely understood. We examined
      whether the extracellular calcium-sensing receptor (CaSR), which was originally
      cloned from the parathyroid cells and later found in the brain, contributes to
      blood pressure regulation by calcium in the CSF. In urethane-anesthetized and
      artificially ventilated Wistar-Kyoto rats, an intracisternal injection of NPS R
      467, an allosteric CaSR activator, decreased blood pressure associated with
      sympatho-inhibition in a dose-dependent manner. Treatment with an inactivator of
      the CaSR elicited an increase in blood pressure. Similar results were observed in
      awake and freely moving animals. In contrast, when the CaSR activator/inactivator
      was administered into the lateral ventricle, the cardiovascular changes were
      minimal. These results indicate that the CaSR in the brain contributes, at least
      in part, to the hypotensive effect of centrally administered calcium and suggests
      that the CaSR in the lower brainstem participates in tonic regulation of blood
      pressure by sensing a change in the CSF Ca2+ concentration.

PMID- 20940005
TI  - Propofol in bronchoalveolar lavage during anaesthesia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The lung protecting effect of propofol requires methods to measure
      the propofol concentration of the epithelial line fluid covering the alveolar
      surface. We hypothesized that (1) propofol can be determined in bronchoalveolar
      lavage (BAL) by reversed phase high performance liquid chromatography with
      fluorescence detection. (2) Positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) ventilation
      may have an effect on propofol concentration in BAL (cpB). METHODS: 76 surgical
      patients were investigated after institutional review board approval. After
      criteria-based exclusion 45 samples were included. For group I (n=15) BAL was
      performed directly after induction, for group Z (n=15, PEEP=0 cm H2O) and P
      (n=15, PEEP=10 cm H2O) at the end of anaesthesia. BAL and plasma samples were
      analysed for propofol by reversed phase high performance liquid chromatography
      with fluorescence detection. Data from all groups were compared by non-parametric
      Mann-Whitney U-test. RESULTS: Propofol can be detected in BAL. CpB varied between
      23 and 167 MUg l-1 in all groups. Patients ventilated with PEEP (group P) showed
      significantly higher cpB (median 74.5 MUg l-1) compared to those immediately
      after induction of anaesthesia (median 42.0 MUg l-1) (group I), but not to those
      ventilated without PEEP in group Z (median 52.5 MUg l-1). CONCLUSION: Epithelial
      line fluid, sampled by BAL, can be used to determine cpB by reversed phase high
      performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection. Continuous
      propofol infusion and PEEP ventilation may have an effect on cpB.

PMID- 20940006
TI  - Identification of mutations in the lipoprotein lipase (LPL) and apolipoprotein C
      II (APOC2) genes using denaturing high performance liquid chromatography (DHPLC).
AB  - BACKGROUND: Endothelial lipoprotein lipase (LPL) hydrolyzes triglycerides of
      chylomicrons and very low density lipoproteins, releasing free fatty acids for
      local and systemic use. Mutations in the LPL gene or its cofactor APOC2 may
      result in a decrease or complete loss of enzyme function and subsequently to type
      I hyperlipoproteinemia. METHODS: We used PCR to amplify all exons and the
      promoter region of LPL and APOC2. Nine blinded DNA samples with known LPL
      mutations were used as positive controls. In addition, nine patients from our
      lipid clinic and twelve healthy subjects were analyzed. DNA was screened for
      sequence variants by denaturing HPLC (DHPLC) followed by direct sequencing of PCR
      fragments showing distinct elution profiles. RESULTS: All LPL sequence variants
      in the positive controls (D9N, V69L, delAACTG386, I225T, N291S, and S447X) were
      correctly identified. In the remaining patients, additional variants were
      detected in LPL and APOC2. These variants were also present in healthy subjects,
      indicating that they constituted silent variation with no relevant effect on
      plasma triglycerides, at least in the heterozygous state. CONCLUSIONS: A semi
      automated DHPLC screening method was developed for the detection of sequence
      variants in the LPL and APOC2 genes. Our results demonstrate that the method was
      robust and sensitive.

PMID- 20940007
TI  - Pre-conditioning cryosurgery: cellular and molecular mechanisms and dynamics of
      TNF-alpha enhanced cryotherapy in an in vivo prostate cancer model system.
AB  - Cryosurgery is increasingly being used to treat prostate cancer; however, a major
      limitation is local recurrence of disease within the previously frozen tissue. We
      have recently demonstrated that tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha), given 4h
      prior to cryosurgery can yield complete destruction of prostate cancer within a
      cryosurgical iceball. The present work continues the investigation of the
      cellular and molecular mechanisms and dynamics of TNF-alpha enhancement on
      cryosurgery. In vivo prostate tumor (LNCaP Pro 5) was grown in a dorsal skin fold
      chamber (DSFC) on a male nude mouse. Intravital imaging, thermography, and post
      sacrifice histology and immunohistochemistry were used to assess iceball location
      and the ensuing biological effects after cryosurgery with and without TNF-alpha
      pre-treatment. Destruction was specifically measured by vascular stasis and by
      the size of histologic zones of injury (i.e., inflammatory infiltrate and
      necrosis). TNF-alpha induced vascular pre-conditioning events that peaked at 4h
      and diminished over several days. Early events (4-24 h) include upregulation of
      inflammatory markers (nuclear factor-kappaB (NFkappaB) and vascular cell adhesion
      molecule-1 (VCAM)) and caspase activity in the tumor prior to cryosurgery. TNF
      alpha pre-conditioning resulted in recruitment of an augmented inflammatory
      infiltrate at day 3 post treatment vs. cryosurgery alone. Finally, pre
      conditioning yielded enhanced cryosurgical destruction up to the iceball edge at
      days 1 and 3 vs. cryosurgery alone. Thus, TNF-alpha pre-conditioning enhances
      cryosurgical lesions by vascular mechanisms that lead to tumor cell injury via
      promotion of inflammation and leukocyte (esp. neutrophil) recruitment.

PMID- 20940008
TI  - Cryoprotectant agent toxicity in porcine articular chondrocytes.
AB  - Large articular cartilage defects have proven difficult to treat and often result
      in osteoarthritis of the affected joint. Cryopreservation of articular cartilage
      can provide an increased supply of tissues for osteochondral allograft but
      cryoprotective agents are required; however, few studies have been performed on
      the toxicity of these agents. This study was designed to determine the order of
      toxicity of five commonly used cryoprotectant agents as well as interactions that
      occur between them. Isolated porcine articular chondrocytes were exposed to
      individual cryoprotectant agents and combinations of these agents at 1M and 3M
      concentrations for 5 min and 120 min. Cell viability was determined using
      membrane integrity dyes and a metabolic activity assay. Subsequently, a
      regression analysis based study was undertaken to extract the maximum amount of
      information from this data. Results of this study demonstrated that all 1M
      solutions were minimally toxic. The 3M solutions demonstrated varying toxicity
      after 120 min. Ethylene glycol and glycerol were less toxic than propylene
      glycol, dimethyl sulfoxide, and formamide. Combinations of cryoprotectant agents
      were less toxic than single cryoprotectant agents at the same concentration. This
      is the most comprehensive study investigating cryoprotectant agent toxicity in
      articular chondrocytes and has resulted in important information regarding the
      order of toxicity and interactions that occur between these agents.

PMID- 20940009
TI  - Insulin-resistance reduces botulinum neurotoxin-type A induced prostatic atrophy
      and apoptosis in rats.
AB  - Botulinum neurotoxin-type A (BoNTA) is an emerging therapeutic option for the
      treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia. Recent reports indicate increased
      incidence of benign prostatic hyperplasia in the insulin-resistant individuals.
      Insulin-resistance is associated with the compensatory rise in the plasma
      insulin, which is known to have growth-promoting effects. The present study
      investigated the effect of insulin-resistance on the effectiveness of BoNTA in
      inducing prostatic atrophy in rats. Sprague-Dawley rats (200-220g), maintained on
      normal-pellet or high-fat diet, were injected in the ventral prostate with 200MUl
      of saline or the same volume containing 5U BoNTA at the end of 9weeks and were
      sacrificed 3weeks later. Ventral prostate was carefully isolated, weighed, fixed
      and stained to examine the cellular morphology, cell death and proliferation.
      High-fat diet produced insulin-resistance, hyperinsulinemia and prostatic
      enlargement in rats. BoNTA caused prostatic atrophy and apoptosis in both insulin
      resistant and insulin-sensitive rats. However, the effect of BoNTA was more
      prominent in insulin-sensitive rats (apoptosis-2 fold, prostatic atrophy-3 fold)
      as compared to the insulin-resistant rats. Significant increase in the
      phosphorylation of ERK-1/2 and expression of the proliferating cell nuclear
      antigen was observed in the prostate of insulin-resistant rats. In the present
      investigation we report that diet-induced insulin-resistance activates mitogenic
      signaling of insulin, increases cellular proliferation and reduces BoNTA-induced
      prostatic atrophy and apoptosis in rats. Results of the present study indicate
      that the insulin-resistance can affect the therapeutic outcome of BoNTA.

PMID- 20940010
TI  - The dipeptidyl peptidase IV (CD26, EC 3.4.14.5) inhibitor vildagliptin is a
      potent antihyperalgesic in rats by promoting endomorphin-2 generation in the
      spinal cord.
AB  - We have reported previously that the dipeptidyl peptidase IV inhibitor Ile-Pro
      Ile had an antihyperalgesic action in rats when given intrathecally in the
      carrageenan-induced hyperalgesia, as detected by the Randall-Selitto test.
      Vildagliptin, a non-peptide inhibitor of the same enzyme, which is already on the
      market as an "euglycemic" agent in diabetics, has a slightly more potent and more
      sustained antihyperalgesic effect in the same test when given by the same route.
      The action of 3nmol/rat vildagliptin could be antagonized by subcutaneous
      naltrexone (0.5mg/kg) pretreatment, or by intrathecally co-administered specific
      antiserum to endomorphin-2. Thus, the antihyperalgesia by vildagliptin, similarly
      to Ile-Pro-Ile, was opioid receptor-mediated and could be attributed to the
      promotion of endomorphin-2 generation in rat spinal cord dorsal horn.
      Furthermore, vildagliptin (1mg/kg) is a potent antihyperalgesic also when given
      subcutaneously.

PMID- 20940011
TI  - Procaterol inhibits rhinovirus infection in primary cultures of human tracheal
      epithelial cells.
AB  - beta(2) agonists reduce the frequency of exacerbations in patients with bronchial
      asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease caused by respiratory virus
      infection. beta(2) agonists reduce the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines.
      However, the inhibitory effects of beta(2) agonists on the infection of
      rhinovirus, the major cause of exacerbations, have not been well studied. To
      examine the effects of a beta(2) agonist, procaterol, on rhinovirus infection and
      rhinovirus infection-induced airway inflammation, human tracheal epithelial cells
      were infected with a major group rhinovirus, type 14 rhinovirus. Rhinovirus
      infection increased viral titers and the content of pro-inflammatory cytokines,
      including interleukin-1beta and interlukin-6, in supernatant fluids and
      rhinovirus RNA in the cells. Procaterol reduced rhinovirus titers and RNA,
      cytokine concentrations, and susceptibility to rhinovirus infection. Procaterol
      reduced the expression of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), the
      receptor for type 14 rhinovirus, and the number of acidic endosomes in the cells
      from which rhinovirus RNA enters into the cytoplasm. Procaterol inhibited the
      activation of nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-kappaB) proteins including p50 and p65
      in the nuclear extracts, while it increased the cytosolic amount of the
      inhibitory kappa B-alpha and intracellular cyclic AMP (cAMP) levels. A selective
      beta(2)-adrenergic receptor antagonist ICI 118551 [erythro-dl-1-(7-methylindan-4
      yloxy)-3-isopropylaminobutan-2-ol] reversed the inhibitory effects of procaterol
      on rhinovirus titers and RNA, susceptibility to rhinovirus infection, pro
      inflammatory cytokines production, ICAM-1 expression, acidic endosomes, and NF
      kappaB. ICI 118551 also reversed the effects of procaterol on cAMP levels.
      Procaterol may inhibit rhinovirus infection by reducing ICAM-1 and acidic
      endosomes as well as modulate airway inflammation in rhinovirus infection.

PMID- 20940012
TI  - eNOS/Hsp70 interaction on rosuvastatin cytoprotective effect in neonatal
      obstructive nephropathy.
AB  - There is growing evidence that statins may exert renoprotective effects beyond
      cholesterol reduction. The cholesterol-independent or "pleiotropic" effects of
      statins include the upregulation of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS).
      Here we determined whether eNOS associated with Hsp70 expression is involved in
      rosuvastatin resistance to obstruction-induced oxidative stress and cell death.
      Neonatal rats subjected to unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO) within two days
      of birth and controls were treated daily with vehicle or rosuvastatin (10
      mg/kg/day) for 14 days. Decreased endogenous nitric oxide (NO) and lower mRNA and
      protein eNOS expression associated with downregulation of heat shock factor 1
      (Hsf1) mRNA and Hsp70 protein levels were observed in the obstructed kidney
      cortex. Increased nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADHP) oxidase
      activity and apoptosis induction, regulated by mitochondrial signal pathway
      through an increased pro-apoptotic Bax/BcL(2) ratio and caspase 3 activity, were
      demonstrated. Conversely, in cortex membrane fractions from rosuvastatin-treated
      UUO rats, marked upregulation of eNOS expression at transcriptional and
      posttranscriptional levels linked to increased Hsf1 mRNA expression and enhanced
      mRNA and protein Hsp70 expression, were observed. Consequently, there was an
      absence of apoptotic response and transiently decreased NADPH oxidase activity.
      In addition, interaction between eNOS and Hsp70 was determined by
      communoprecipitation in cortex membrane fractions, showing an increased ratio of
      both proteins, after rosuvastatin treatment in obstructed kidney. In summary, our
      data demonstrate that the effect of rosuvastatin on eNOS interacting with Hsp70,
      results in the capacity of both to prevent mitochondrial apoptotic pathway and
      oxidative stress in neonatal early kidney obstruction.

PMID- 20940014
TI  - Protective effects of novel single compound, Hirsutine on hypoxic neonatal rat
      cardiomyocytes.
AB  - Uncaria rhynchophylla is a traditional Chinese herb that has been applied in
      China for treatment of ailments of the cardiovascular system, but little is known
      about its active constituents and effect in cardiomyocytes. In present study, we
      investigated the cardioprotective effect of 0.1MUMU, 1MUMU and 10MUMU Hirsutine
      isolated from the methanolic extracts of Uncaria rhynchophylla by high
      performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) on neonatal rat cardiomyocytes treated
      with hypoxia to determine the mechanism underlying the protective effect with
      regard to cardiac anti-oxidant enzymes and apoptosis genes. Hirsutine
      significantly increased the viability of cardiomyocytes injured by hypoxia. Gene
      expression levels of proapoptotic genes (Bax, Fas and caspase-3) were
      significantly downregulated compared with the hypoxic control group (P<0.05),
      whereas the expression level of Bcl-2 was upregulated following Hirsutine
      treatment (P<0.05). Correspondingly, Hirsutine treatment increased Bcl-2 protein
      level and decreased Bax protein level. Assay investigating cardiac anti-oxidant
      enzymes provided further evidence for the protective effect of Hirsutine, as
      indicated by the induction of the anti-oxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase. The
      results of present study suggest that the mechanism of action of Hirsutine in
      hypoxic neonatal rat cardiomyocytes may be related to its anti-oxidant and anti
      apoptotic properties. This may open an avenue for developing novel candidate
      compounds with cardioprotectiveeffect from unique Chinese plant.

PMID- 20940013
TI  - Opioid receptors and the discriminative stimulus effects of ethanol in squirrel
      monkeys: Mu and delta opioid receptor mechanisms.
AB  - Mu and delta opioid receptors modulate the reinforcing effects of ethanol,
      however, their role in the subjective effects of ethanol is not well understood.
      This study evaluated the contribution of mu and delta opioid receptors to the
      subjective effects of ethanol using drug discrimination procedures. Monkeys were
      trained to discriminate ethanol from saline under a schedule of food delivery. In
      tests, ethanol engendered increases in drug-lever responding, reaching a maximum
      of >80%. The mu opioid receptor agonists fentanyl and buprenorphine and the delta
      opioid receptor agonists SNC 80 and SNC 162 did not substitute for the
      discriminative stimulus effects of ethanol. As pretreatments, the full agonists
      fentanyl and SNC 80 enhanced the effects of low doses of ethanol and fentanyl
      attenuated the effects of the ethanol training dose. Although the possibility of
      pharmacological antagonism of the effects of ethanol cannot be ruled out, a more
      likely alternative is that the diminished effects of ethanol were due to
      perceptual masking of the ethanol stimulus. In contrast, the partial agonists
      buprenorphine and SNC 162 did not alter ethanol's effects. Finally, the
      discriminative stimulus effects of ethanol were attenuated following
      administration of presumably mu-selective doses of the antagonist naltrexone, but
      not after administration of the delta opioid receptor antagonist naltrindole. The
      ability of naltrexone to block the discriminative stimulus effects of ethanol
      likely reflects its capacity to attenuate ethanol-induced increases in endogenous
      opioids, in particular beta-endorphin, because attenuation of the ethanol
      stimulus was not accompanied by significant suppression of response rate.

PMID- 20940015
TI  - Can guanine-based purines be considered modulators of intestinal motility in
      rodents?
AB  - Adenine-based purines play a pivotal role in the control of gastrointestinal
      motility in rodents. Recently, guanine-based purines have been also shown to
      exert extracellular effects in the central nervous system raising the possibility
      of the existence of distinct receptors for guanine-based purines. Thus, it seems
      likely to speculate that also guanine-based purines may play a role in the
      modulation of the intestinal contractility. Spontaneous and neurally-evoked
      mechanical activity was recorded in vitro as changes in isometric tension in
      circular muscle strips from mouse distal colon. Guanosine up to 3mM or guanine up
      to 1mM failed to affect the spontaneous mechanical activity, but reduced the
      amplitude of the electrical field stimulation (EFS)-induced cholinergic
      contractions, without affecting the early nitrergic relaxation. Both compounds
      failed to affect the direct contractile responses evoked by carbachol. No
      desensitization of the response was observed. Guanine-based purine effects were
      not altered by theophylline, P1 purinoceptor antagonist, by PPADS or suramin, P2
      purinoceptor antagonists, by ODQ, guanilyl cyclase inhibitor, or by DDA, adenylyl
      cyclase inhibitor. Nucleoside uptake inhibitors, dipyridamole or 6-[(4
      Nitrobenzyl)thio]-9-beta-D-ribofuranosylpurine (NBTI), antagonized the inhibitory
      effects induced by guanosine without interfering with guanine. On the contrary,
      adenine, a competitive inhibitor of nucleobase uptake, antagonized guanine
      induced effects. In conclusion, our data indicate that guanosine and guanine are
      able to modulate negatively the excitatory cholinergic neurotransmission in the
      circular muscle layer of mouse colon. Guanine-based purines appear to interfere
      with prejunctional acethylcoline release. Their effects are dependent by their
      cellular uptake, and independent by adenine-based purine receptors.

PMID- 20940016
TI  - Dipyridamole inhibits lipopolysaccharide-induced cyclooxygenase-2 and monocyte
      chemoattractant protein-1 via heme oxygenase-1-mediated reactive oxygen species
      reduction in rat mesangial cells.
AB  - Dipyridamole contributes to its beneficial effects on inflammatory responses in
      many cell types. The anti-inflammatory mechanisms of dipyridamole on glomerular
      mesangial cells are mostly uncharacterized. In this study, we monitored the
      influence of dipyridamole on the expression levels of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2)
      and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) in rat mesangial cells stimulated
      with lipopolysaccharide. Dipyridamole was found to inhibit lipopolysaccharide
      induced COX-2 and MCP-1 expression, and reduced lipopolysaccharide-induced
      reactive oxygen species generation in rat mesangial cells. This inhibitory effect
      of dipyridamole is independent on cyclic AMP and cyclic GMP increase. Tin
      protoporphyrin IX (SnPP), a heme oxygenase-1(HO-1) inhibitor, blocked the
      inhibitory effect of dipyridamole on lipopolysaccharide-induced COX-2 and MCP-1
      expression. By applying specific inhibitors in rat mesangial cells, ERK1/2 and
      p38 MAPK signaling pathways were demonstrated to be involved in the
      lipopolysaccharide-induced inflammatory responses, and were inhibited by SnPP and
      N-acetylcysteine treatment. Additionally, dipyridamole was also found to
      upregulate HO-1 in rat mesangial cells. Therefore, our data suggest that
      dipyridamole inhibits the expression of COX-2 and MCP-1 in lipopolysaccharide
      treated rat mesangial cells via HO-1-mediated reactive oxygen species reduction.

PMID- 20940017
TI  - L1CAM ubiquitination facilitates its lysosomal degradation.
AB  - The cell adhesion molecule L1 is implicated in several processes in the
      developing and adult nervous system. Intracellular trafficking of L1 is important
      for cell migration, neurite growth and adhesion. We demonstrate here that L1 is
      ubiquitinated at the plasma membrane and in early endosomes. Mono-ubiquitination
      regulates L1 intracellular trafficking by enhancing its lysosomal degradation. We
      propose that L1's ubiquitination might be an additional mechanism to control its
      re-appearance at the cell surface thereby influencing processes like neurite
      growth and cell adhesion.

PMID- 20940018
TI  - The space and time frames of T cell activation at the immunological synapse.
AB  - The selective recognition of antigenic peptides by T cells requires the
      spatio/temporal integration of a panoply of molecular triggers. The space frame
      of T cell antigen receptors (TCR) interaction with peptide/MHC complexes (pMHC)
      displayed by antigen presenting cells is delineated by the micrometer-scale area
      of the immunological synapse. The time frame of T cell stimulation is governed by
      a series of short TCR-pMHC interactions that are integrated into sustained
      signaling leading to productive activation. We discuss here how approaching
      antigen recognition from the time and space angles is key to the comprehension of
      the puzzling process of T cell activation.

PMID- 20940019
TI  - Organosulfur compounds and cardiovascular disease.
AB  - Epidemiological studies have shown an inverse relationship between consumption of
      fruits and vegetables and the risk of cardiovascular disease. Phytochemicals are
      non-nutritional chemical compounds found in small quantities in fruits and
      vegetables with known health benefits. Among them, organosulfides are present
      mainly in garlic and onion characterized by their antioxidant and anti
      inflammatory properties, and isothiocyanates in cruciferous vegetables have
      anticarcinogenic effects in experimental models. In this review, we are focusing
      on the main biological studies regarding the beneficial effect of organosulfur
      compounds on their protection against cardiovascular disease.

PMID- 20940020
TI  - The first images of nerve cells: Golgi on the olfactory bulb 1875.
AB  - The third paper by Camillo Golgi on his new method was on the olfactory bulb.
      This paper has never been translated into English, but is of special interest
      both for its pioneering description of olfactory bulb cells and for containing
      the first illustration by Golgi of cells stained with his new method. A
      translation into English is provided in this paper, together with commentaries on
      the significant points in his descriptions. These results are placed in the
      perspective of Cajal's subsequent first publication on the olfactory bulb and
      brief mention of the work of other early histologists. This perspective allows
      one to see more clearly Golgi's fundamental contributions to the olfactory bulb
      in particular and to the description of the neuronal architecture of the brain in
      general.

PMID- 20940021
TI  - Active community profiling via capillary electrophoresis single-strand
      conformation polymorphism analysis of amplified 16S rRNA and 16S rRNA genes.
AB  - Here, we report the validation and advancement of a high-throughput method for
      fingerprinting the active members of a microbial community. This method, termed
      active community profiling (ACP), provides information about both the composition
      and the activity of mixed microbial cultures via comparative measurements of
      amplified 16S rRNA (RNA) and 16S rRNA genes (DNA). Capillary electrophoresis is
      used to resolve single-strand conformation polymorphisms of polymerase chain
      reaction (PCR) and reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) products, producing
      electropherograms representative of the community structure. Active members of
      the community are distinguished by elevated RNA:DNA peak area ratios. Chemostat
      experiments with defined populations were conducted to validate the ACP approach.
      Using a pure culture of Escherichia coli, a direct correlation was found between
      the growth rate and the RNA:DNA peak ratio. In a second validation experiment, a
      binary culture of E. coli and Pseudomonas putida was subjected to a controlled
      environmental change consisting of a shift to anaerobic conditions. ACP revealed
      the expected cessation of growth of P. putida, an obligate aerobe, while the
      corresponding DNA-only analysis indicated no change in the culture. Finally, ACP
      was applied to a complex microbial community, and a novel binning approach was
      demonstrated for integrating the RNA and DNA electropherograms. ACP thus
      represents a significant advance from traditional DNA-based profiling techniques,
      which do not distinguish active from inactive or dead cells, and is well suited
      for high-throughput community analysis.

PMID- 20940022
TI  - Novel primers for 16S rRNA-based archaeal community analyses in environmental
      samples.
AB  - Next generation sequencing technologies for in depth analyses of complex
      microbial communities rely on rational primer design based on up-to-date
      reference databases. Most of the 16S rRNA-gene based analyses of environmental
      Archaea community composition use PCR primers developed from small data sets
      several years ago, making an update long overdue. Here we present a new set of
      archaeal primers targeting the 16S rRNA gene designed from 8500 aligned archaeal
      sequences in the SILVA database. The primers 340F-1000R showed a high archaeal
      specificity (<1% bacteria amplification) covering 93 and 97% of available
      sequences for Crenarchaeota and Euryarchaeota respectively. In silico tests of
      the primers revealed at least 38% higher coverage for Archaea compared to other
      commonly used primers. Empirical tests with clone libraries confirmed the high
      specificity of the primer pair to Archaea in three biomes: surface waters in the
      Arctic Ocean, the pelagic zone of a temperate lake and a methanogenic bioreactor.
      The clone libraries featured both Euryarchaeota and Crenarchaeota in variable
      proportions and revealed dramatic differences in the archaeal community
      composition and minimal phylogenetic overlap between samples.

PMID- 20940023
TI  - Temporal quantification of Ts43 gene expression of Trichinella spiralis using
      real-time RT-qPCR.
AB  - Determination of the transcription level of Trichinella spiralis (T. spiralis)
      Ts43 gene is essential for understanding its poorly explained role in different
      developmental stage. Herein we report on measurement of T. spiralis Ts43 mRNA by
      adapting a relative quantitative real-time reverse transcription and polymerase
      chain reaction (RT-PCR). Total RNA was isolated from the samples of adult worms,
      newborn larvae and muscle larvae of T. spiralis and Ts43 mRNA was quantified by
      real-time RT-PCR using an internally calibrated standard curve constructed with
      the recombinant Ts43 and 18S rRNA plasmid. The results indicated that the Ts43
      gene was expressed at any stage and the expression levels in adults and newborn
      larvae were lower than those in muscle larvae in general. The expression of the
      Ts43 gene increased from 18 days post-infection (p.i.), reached a peak at 22-30
      days p.i., and then decreased to a low level by 58 days p.i. but it was still
      higher than that in adults and newborn larvae. The study provided the first
      quantitative of Ts43 mRNA expression in T. spiralis for further studies of Ts43
      function.

PMID- 20940024
TI  - EEG gamma-band responses reflect human behavior: an overview.

PMID- 20940025
TI  - Post-transcriptional gene-expression regulation by micro RNA (miRNA) network in
      renal disease.
AB  - Micro RNAs (miRNAs) are a recently discovered class of small, non-coding RNAs
      with the function of post-transcriptional gene expression regulation. MiRNAs may
      function in networks, forming a complex relationship with diseases. Alterations
      of specific miRNA levels have significant correlation with diseases of divergent
      origin, such as diabetic or ischemic organ injury including nephropathy, and
      malignant diseases including renal tumors. After identification of disease
      associated miRNAs, there are two options of influencing their tissue expression.
      The function of miRNAs can be inhibited by antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs),
      which have been shown to silence specific miRNAs in vivo. Moreover, miRNA
      activity can be also mimicked or enhanced by delivering chemically synthesized
      miRNAs. Thus, modifying the expression of miRNAs is a potential future gene
      therapeutic tool to influence posttranscriptional regulation of multiple genes in
      a single therapy. In this review we focus on key renal miRNAs with the aim of
      revealing the pathomechanisms of renal diseases. Nucleic acid therapy with
      oligonucleotides and short interfering RNA (siRNA) are under clinical evaluation
      presently. Similar therapeutic strategies, to influence miRNA function is also
      already under clinical investigation in RNA interference trials. We summarize
      here studies specifically aimed at the modification of miRNA expression. Research
      on the post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression by miRNA may reshape
      our understanding of renal pathophysiology and consequently may bring new
      diagnostic markers and therapeutic agents.

PMID- 20940026
TI  - The potential of biotechnology in Ethiopia: present situation and expected
      development.
AB  - Conventional research approaches have tried to address the major research and
      development problems in Ethiopia. However, these approaches could not achieve the
      desired level of improvement unless they are supported by modern biotechnological
      tools. Biotechnological facilities exist scattered in different institutions in
      Ethiopia, a country with immense genetic biodiversity, but no precise information
      is available as to their capacities, capabilities and the associated technical
      and administrative gaps. A study based on structured questionnaires, interviews
      with key informants and reviewing secondary sources was initiated in 2006 by the
      Horn Biotechnology Forum to generate such information and design strategies for
      bridging the gaps. The study showed that seven institutions with a total of 24
      branches are engaged in biotechnology research/teaching and development at
      different stages, mainly tissue culture, but including bio-fertilizers, molecular
      marker, embryo transfer, immunology, vaccine and diagnostic kit development and
      epidemiology. Ten centers have modest to well equipped laboratories and a few
      other laboratories are also under expansion. By and large, the future success of
      biotechnological research and development in Ethiopia depends on the level of
      attention to be given by the government on capacity building and on the level of
      collaboration among the institutions.

PMID- 20940027
TI  - Codonopsis lanceolata extract induces G0/G1 arrest and apoptosis in human colon
      tumor HT-29 cells--involvement of ROS generation and polyamine depletion.
AB  - Codonopsis lanceolata (Campanulasea) is widely distributed and grown in Asia and
      has been in use as traditional medicine for long time. The n-butanol fraction
      (BF) of C. lanceolata significantly inhibited human colon cancer HT-29 cell
      growth in a dose- and time-dependent manner by inducing G0/G1 phase arrest and
      apoptosis. The inhibition was associated with intracellular ROS generation and
      polyamine depletion as evidenced by HPLC quantitatively. Additionally, semi
      quantitative RT-PCR revealed enhanced expression of caspase-3, p53, and the
      Bax/Bcl-2 ratio and reduced expression of survivin in HT-29 cells treated with
      BF. Furthermore, western blot analysis of p53, JNK, and caspase-3 showed that ROS
      generation was accompanied by JNK activation. Increase of the Bax/Bcl-2 ratio and
      activation of caspase-3 might be due to intracellular polyamine depletion.
      Conclusively, the findings of this study imply a critical role of ROS and
      polyamine depletion in the anticancer effects of C. lanceolata root extract.

PMID- 20940028
TI  - A preliminary report on the toxicity of arecoline on early pregnancy in mice.
AB  - Areca nut (Areca catechu) is chewed by roughly 10% of the world population,
      including India, Taiwan and parts of China. Lower mean birth-weight and higher
      neonatal jaundice were reported in the babies of betel chewing pregnant women in
      1982. Although areca nut chewing during pregnancy has been associated with lower
      birth weight and premature delivery, the mechanism of such complications is not
      entirely understood. A possible contributor, arecoline, a major alkaloid in the
      areca nut, has been reported to be cytotoxic and genotoxic. To determine the
      influence of arecoline on reproduction, we study the effects of arecoline on
      embryos during peri-implantation stages in mice. Mice consuming varying dosages
      of arecoline were checked for their ability to successfully produce viable
      embryos. In addition, trophoblast outgrowth from mice blastocysts was evaluated
      the survival status of the embryos. Our investigation revealed that arecoline
      decreased the number of implanted embryos in early pregnant mice. In addition,
      trophoblast outgrowth expansion of blastocysts was also inhibited by arecoline.
      These observations suggest that arecoline is toxic to mouse embryos as early as
      peri-implantation. Improved understanding of the effects of arecoline during
      embryogenesis may help to establish public health policies and to develop
      potential treatments for such patients.

PMID- 20940029
TI  - Functional p53 is required for effective execution of telomerase inhibition in
      BCR-ABL-positive CML cells.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: In chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), increased cellular turnover of
      hematopoietic cells driven by the oncogene BCR-ABL leads to accelerated telomere
      shortening despite increased telomerase activity. It has been postulated that
      shortened telomeres, particularly in the context of increased telomerase
      activity, might facilitate accumulation of genetic aberrations and, consequently,
      disease progression from chronic phase to accelerated phase and blast crisis.
      Therefore, inhibition of telomerase might be a promising approach in CML therapy.
      MATERIAL AND METHODS: To investigate the therapeutic potential of telomerase
      inhibition in this model disorder, we used a small molecule telomerase inhibitor,
      BIBR1532 as well as expression of a dominant-negative mutant of hTERT (DNhTERT
      IRES-GFP) in the p53-negative CML blast crisis cell line K562 and characterized
      the effects in long-term culture. Furthermore, we expressed an inducible p53
      construct (vector pBabe-p53ER(tam)) via retroviral transduction in cells with
      critically short telomeres and in cells with a normal telomere length to explain
      the role of the tumor suppressor in response to critical telomere shortening in
      BCR-ABL-positive cells. RESULTS: BIBR1532-treated bulk cultures did not show
      altered growth kinetics despite significant telomere shortening to a critical
      length of approximately 5 kb. In comparison, DNhTERT-expressing clones either
      lost telomere length, leading to a significant but transient slow down in
      proliferation but eventually all escaped senescence/crisis (group I) or,
      alternatively, remained virtually unaffected despite measurable telomerase
      inhibition (group II). Further analyses of group I clones revealed impaired DNA
      damage response and an accumulation of dicentric chromosomes. However, upon
      restoration of p53 in telomerase-negative K562 clones with critically short
      telomeres, immediate reinduction of apoptosis and complete eradication of cells
      was observed, whereas vector control cells continued to escape from crisis.
      CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that the success of strategies aimed at
      telomerase inhibition in CML is highly dependent on the presence of functional
      p53 and should be explored preferentially in chronic phase CML.

PMID- 20940030
TI  - NUMB-ing down cancer by more than just a NOTCH.
AB  - The protein Numb does not live up to its name. This passive-sounding protein is
      anything but spent. Originally identified as a cell-fate determinant in
      Drosophila development, Numb received a good deal of attention as an inhibitor of
      the Notch receptor signaling pathway. It turns out, however, that Numb does a lot
      more than simply regulate Notch. It has been implicated in a variety of
      biochemical pathways connected with signaling (it regulates Notch-, Hedgehog- and
      TP53-activated pathways), endocytosis (it is involved in cargo internalization
      and recycling), determination of polarity (it interacts with the PAR complex, and
      regulates adherens and tight junctions), and ubiquitination (it exploits this
      mechanism to regulate protein function and stability). This complex biochemical
      network lies at the heart of Numb's involvement in diverse cellular phenotypes,
      including cell fate developmental decisions, maintenance of stem cell
      compartments, regulation of cell polarity and adhesion, and migration.
      Considering its multifaceted role in cellular homeostasis, it is not surprising
      that Numb has been implicated in cancer as a tumor suppressor. Our major goal
      here is to explain the cancer-related role of Numb based on our understanding of
      its role in cell physiology. We will attempt to do this by reviewing the present
      knowledge of Numb at the biochemical and functional level, and by integrating its
      apparently heterogeneous functions into a unifying scenario, based on our
      recently proposed concept of the "endocytic matrix". Finally, we will discuss the
      role of Numb in the maintenance of the normal stem cell compartment, as a
      starting point to interpret the tumor suppressor function of Numb in the context
      of the cancer stem cell hypothesis.

PMID- 20940031
TI  - Three new water-soluble alkaloids from the leaves of Suregada glomerulata (Blume)
      Baill.
AB  - Three new water-soluble alkaloids (1-3) together with twelve known compounds (4
      15) have been isolated from the water extract of leaves of Suregada glomerulata.
      Their structures were determined by spectroscopic analysis and chemical method.
      Compounds 1-3 were evaluated for their in vitro inhibitory activity against alpha
      glucosidase and HIV-1 replication. However, no significant activities were found.

PMID- 20940032
TI  - Evaluation of central nervous system effects of iso-6-cassine isolated from Senna
      spectabilis var. excelsa (Schrad) in mice.
AB  - The depressant and anticonvulsant activities of iso-6-cassine (ISO) from Senna
      spectabilis (0.5, 1.0 and 1.5mg/kg) injected by oral route in mice caused a
      significant decrease in the motor activity of animals when compared with the
      control group, up to 30 days after the administration and at dose of 1.5mg/kg, it
      reduced the remaining time of animals on Rota-rod apparatus. Additionally, ISO at
      doses tested was also capable to promote an increase of latency for development
      of convulsions induced by pentylenetetrazole and picrotoxin. These results
      suggest possible depressant and anticonvulsant activities in mice that need
      further investigation.

PMID- 20940033
TI  - Determination of chemical profile, antioxidant, DNA damage protection and
      antiamoebic activities of Teucrium polium and Stachys iberica.
AB  - This work deals with the evaluation of in vitro antioxidant, DNA preventing and
      antiamoebic activities of the water extracts of Teucrium polium and Stachys
      iberica. In all systems, T. polium extract exhibited excellent activity potential
      than that of S. iberica. The amount of total phenolics and flavonoids were high
      in this extract. In the presence of 40 mg/ml T. polium extract, a significant
      protection was observed for native super coiled DNA of pBR322 plasmid DNA. In the
      presence of 32 mg/ml of T. polium extract, no trophozoite was after the 24th
      hour.

PMID- 20940034
TI  - New anti-HBV caryophyllane-type sesquiterpenoids from Euphorbia humifusa Willd.
AB  - Activity-guided fractionation of Euphorbia humifusa for anti-HBV activity led to
      the isolation of two novel sesquiterpenoids, named humifusane A (1) and
      humifusane B (2). Their structures were elucidated by spectral data to show that
      they have a caryophyllane-type precursor structure. The two new sesquiterpenoids
      showed anti-HBV activities through specifically inhibiting the secretion of HBsAg
      in HepG2.2.15.

PMID- 20940035
TI  - Bioremediation of wastewaters with recalcitrant organic compounds and metals by
      aerobic granules.
AB  - Compared to activated sludge flocs, aerobic granules have a regular shape, and a
      compact and dense structure which enhances settleability, higher biomass
      retention, multi-microbial functions, higher tolerance to toxicity, greater
      tolerance to shock loading, and relatively low excess sludge production. The
      potential for improved process efficiency and cost-effectiveness can be
      attractive when it is applied to both municipal and industrial wastewaters. This
      review discusses potential applications of aerobic granulation technology in
      wastewater treatment while drawing attention to relevant findings such as
      diffusion gradients existing in aerobic granules which help the biomass cope with
      inhibitory compounds and the ability of granules to continue degradation of
      inhibitory compounds at extreme acid and alkaline pHs.

PMID- 20940036
TI  - Renewable and sustainable bioenergies production from palm oil mill effluent
      (POME): win-win strategies toward better environmental protection.
AB  - Palm oil industry is one of the leading agricultural industries in Malaysia with
      average crude palm oil production of more than 13 million tonne per year.
      However, production of such huge amount of crude palm oil has consequently
      resulted to even larger amount of palm oil mill effluent (POME). POME is a highly
      polluting wastewater with high chemical oxygen demand (COD) and biochemical
      oxygen demand (BOD) in which can caused severe pollution to the environment,
      typically pollution to water resources. On the other hand, POME was identified as
      a potential source to generate renewable bioenergies such as biomethane and
      biohydrogen through anaerobic digestion. In other words, a combination of
      wastewater treatment and renewable bioenergies production would be an added
      advantage to the palm oil industry. In line with the world's focus on
      sustainability concept, such strategy should be implemented immediately to ensure
      palm oil is produced in an environmental friendly and sustainable manner. This
      review aims to discuss various technologies to convert POME to biomethane and
      biohydrogen in a commercial scale. Furthermore, discussion on using POME to
      culture microalgae for biodiesel and bioethanol production was included in the
      present paper as a new remedy to utilize POME with a greater beneficial return.

PMID- 20940037
TI  - The effect of lipid peroxidation products on reactive oxygen species formation
      and nitric oxide production in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated RAW 264.7
      macrophages.
AB  - Lipid peroxidation induced by oxidants leads to the formation of highly reactive
      metabolites. These can affect various immune functions, including reactive oxygen
      species (ROS) and nitric oxide (NO) production. The aim of the present study was
      to investigate the effects of lipid peroxidation products (LPPs) - acrolein, 4
      hydroxynonenal, and malondialdehyde - on ROS and NO production in RAW 264.7
      macrophages and to compare these effects with the cytotoxic properties of LPPs.
      Macrophages were stimulated with lipopolysaccharide (0.1 MUg/ml) and treated with
      selected LPPs (concentration range: 0.1-100 MUM). ATP test, luminol-enhanced
      chemiluminescence, Griess reaction, Western blotting analysis, amperometric and
      total peroxyl radical-trapping antioxidant parameter assay were used for
      determining the LPPs cytotoxicity, ROS and NO production, inducible nitric oxide
      synthase expression, NO scavenging, and antioxidant properties of LPPs,
      respectively. Our study shows that the cytotoxic action of acrolein and 4
      hydroxynonenal works in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Further, our results
      imply that acrolein, 4-hydroxynonenal, and malondialdehyde can inhibit, to a
      different degree, ROS and NO production in stimulated macrophages, partially
      independently of their toxic effect. Also, changes in enzymatic pathways
      (especially NADPH-oxidase and nitric oxide synthase inhibition) and NO scavenging
      properties are included in the downregulation of reactive species formation.

PMID- 20940038
TI  - A potential in vitro epidermal equivalent assay to determine sensitizer potency.
AB  - Most in vitro assays aim to distinguish sensitizers from non-sensitizers. Few aim
      to classify sensitizers according to potency. Here, we describe a potential
      method for classifying sensitizers according to their irritant potency with the
      aid of in house epidermal equivalents (EE). Sixteen sensitizers were applied
      topically in a dose response to EE for 24h. The EE-EC(50) value (effective
      chemical concentration required to reduce cell viability by 50%) and the EE-IL
      1alpha(10)(*) value (chemical concentration which increases IL-1alpha secretion
      by 10-fold) were calculated. From 16 sensitizers, EE-EC(50) and/or EE-IL
      1alpha(10*) values were obtained from 12 skin sensitizers. EE-EC(50) and IL
      1alpha(10*) values decreased in proportion to increasing sensitizer potency. The
      in vitro assay correlated with existing in vivo mouse and human sensitization
      data (LLNA, HRIPT), and showed low intra- and inter-experimental variability.
      Additionally DNCB and resorcinol were correctly assessed as extreme and moderate
      sensitizers using commercial EE (EST1000TM and RHETM). In conclusion, our data
      supports the view that irritancy may in part be a factor determining sensitizer
      potency. Since this assay does not distinguish sensitizers from non-sensitizers,
      its potential application is in a tiered strategy, where Tier 1 identifies
      sensitizers which may then tested in Tier 2, this assay, which determines
      sensitizer potency.

PMID- 20940039
TI  - Comparison of cytochrome P450 concentrations and metabolic activities in porcine
      hepatic microsomes prepared with two different methods.
AB  - In the present study, porcine liver microsomes prepared by a conventional
      ultracentrifugation method were compared with microsomes prepared by a calcium
      aggregation method. Protein concentrations and activities of several cytochrome
      P450 enzymes were measured. It was concluded that using a calcium aggregation
      method for microsome preparation resulted in lower activities of porcine 7
      ethoxyresorufin O-deethylase (EROD), 7-methoxyresorufin O-demethylase (MROD), 7
      pentoxyresorufin O-depentylase (PROD) and p-nitrophenol hydroxylase (PNPH),
      compared to ultracentrifugation. Protein concentrations of CYP1A2 and CYP2E1,
      measured by Western blot, were similar in the microsomes prepared by the two
      methods, whereas CYP2A protein concentrations were significantly lower in the
      microsomes prepared by the calcium aggregation method. The choice of
      homogenization buffer (TRIS with addition of either 250 mM sucrose or 2mM EDTA)
      did not affect either individual CYP450 protein concentration or the rates of
      CYP450-mediated reactions. Freeze/thawing of microsomes did not affect the
      activities of EROD, MROD, COH and PNPH in the microsomes, indicating the
      stability of the measured isoforms following three cycles of freezing/thawing. A
      reduction in the activity of PROD was observed after the third freeze/thawing
      cycles of the microsomes prepared by both methods.

PMID- 20940040
TI  - Impaired striatal GABA transmission in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis.
AB  - Synaptic dysfunction triggers neuronal damage in experimental autoimmune
      encephalomyelitis (EAE), a model of multiple sclerosis (MS). While excessive
      glutamate signaling has been reported in the striatum of EAE, it is still
      uncertain whether GABA synapses are altered. Electrophysiological recordings
      showed a reduction of spontaneous GABAergic synaptic currents (sIPSCs) recorded
      from striatal projection neurons of mice with MOG((35-55))-induced EAE. GABAergic
      sIPSC deficits started in the acute phase of the disease (20-25days post
      immunization, dpi), and were exacerbated at later time-points (35, 50, 70 and
      90dpi). Of note, in slices they were independent of microglial activation and of
      release of TNF-alpha. Indeed, sIPSC inhibition likely involved synaptic inputs
      arising from GABAergic interneurons, because EAE preferentially reduced sIPSCs of
      high amplitude, and was associated with a selective loss of striatal parvalbumin
      (PV)-positive GABAergic interneurons, which contact striatal projection neurons
      in their somatic region, giving rise to more efficient synaptic inhibition.
      Furthermore, we found also that the chronic persistence of pro-inflammatory
      cytokines were able, per se, to produce profound alterations of
      electrophysiological network properties, that were reverted by GABA
      administration. The results of the present investigation indicate defective GABA
      transmission in MS models depending from alteration of PV cells number and, in
      part, deriving from the effects of a chronic inflammation, and suggest that
      pharmacological agents potentiating GABA signaling might be considered to limit
      neuronal damage in MS patients.

PMID- 20940041
TI  - Control of p53 and NF-kappaB signaling by WIP1 and MIF: role in cellular
      senescence and organismal aging.
AB  - The stress-activated signaling pathways, p53 and NF-kappaB, have a major role in
      the regulation of cellular senescence and organismal aging. These ancient
      signaling networks display functional antagonism via negative autoregulatory
      circuits. WIP1 (wildtype p53-induced phosphatase 1) and MIF (macrophage migration
      inhibitory factor) are signaling molecules which link together the p53 and NF
      kappaB pathways via positive and negative feedback loops. It seems that the
      efficiency of the p53 signaling pathway declines during aging whereas that of NF
      kappaB is clearly enhanced. Moreover, p53 is an important trigger of cellular
      senescence while NF-kappaB signaling seems to be involved in the induction of the
      senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP). MIF is a pro-inflammatory
      cytokine which inhibits the function of p53 signaling whereas it is linked to NF
      kappaB signaling via a positive feedback loop. MIF knockout mice are healthier
      and live longer than their wild-type counterparts. An increased level of MIF can
      support inflammatory responses via enhancing NF-kappaB signaling and repressing
      the function of p53. p53 is an inducer of the expression of WIP1 which can
      subsequently inhibit NF-kappaB signaling. Several observations indicate that the
      activity of WIP1 decreases during the aging process, this being probably
      attributable to the decline in p53 function. Decreased WIP1 activity potentiates
      the activity of p38MAPK and NF-kappaB signaling leading to premature cellular
      senescence as well as low-level chronic inflammation. We will review the findings
      linking WIP1 and MIF to specific signaling responses of p53 and NF-kappaB and
      discuss their role in the regulation of cellular senescence and organismal aging.

PMID- 20940042
TI  - Antagonist minigenes identify genes regulated by parathyroid hormone through G
      protein-selective and G protein co-regulated mechanisms in osteoblastic cells.
AB  - Parathyroid hormone (PTH) is the major hormone regulating bone remodeling.
      Binding of PTH to the PTH1 receptor (PTH1R), a heterotrimeric G protein coupled
      receptor (GPCR), can potentially trigger multiple signal transduction pathways
      mediated through several different G proteins. In this study, we employed G
      protein antagonist minigenes inhibiting Galpha(s), Galpha(q) or Galpha12 to
      selectively dissect out which of these G proteins were responsible for effects of
      PTH(1-34) in targeted signaling and osteogenesis arrays consisting of 159 genes.
      Among the 32 genes significantly regulated by 24h PTH treatment in UMR-106
      osteoblastic cells, 9 genes were exclusively regulated through G(s), 6 genes were
      solely mediated through G(q), and 3 genes were only controlled through G12. Such
      findings support the concept that there is some absolute specificity in
      downstream responses initiated at the G protein level following binding of PTH to
      the PTH1R. On the other hand, 6 PTH-regulated genes were regulated by both G(s)
      and G(q), 3 genes were regulated by both G(s) and G12, and 3 genes were
      controlled by G(s), G(q) and G12. These findings indicate potential overlapping
      or sequential interactions among different G protein-mediated pathways. In
      addition, two PTH-regulated genes were not regulated through any of the G
      proteins examined, suggesting that additional signaling mechanisms may be
      involved. Selectivity was largely maintained over a 2-48-hour time period. The
      minigene effects were mimicked by downstream inhibitors. The dissection of the
      differential effects of multiple G protein pathways on gene regulation provides a
      more complete understanding of PTH signaling in osteoblastic cells.

PMID- 20940043
TI  - The ins and outs of tubulin acetylation: more than just a post-translational
      modification?
AB  - Microtubules are highly dynamic polymers of alpha/beta tubulin heterodimers that
      play key roles in cell division and in organizing cell cytoplasm. Although they
      have been discovered more than two decades ago, tubulin post-translational
      modifications recently gained a new interest as their role was increasingly
      highlighted in neuron differentiation and neurodegenerative disorders. Here, we
      specifically focus on tubulin acetylation from its discovery to recent studies
      that provide new insights into how it is regulated in health and disease and how
      it impacts microtubule functions. Even though new mechanisms involving tubulin
      acetylation are regularly being uncovered, the molecular links between its
      location inside the microtubule lumen and its regulators and effectors is still
      poorly understood. This review highlights the emerging roles of tubulin
      acetylation in multiple cellular functions, ranging from cell motility, cell
      cycle progression or cell differentiation to intracellular trafficking and
      signalling. It also points out that tubulin acetylation should no longer be seen
      as a passive marker of microtubule stability, but as a broad regulator of
      microtubule functions.

PMID- 20940044
TI  - Lithium induces c-Ret expression in mouse inner medullary collecting duct cells.
AB  - We found in our present study that lithium (Li(+)) induced the expression of
      endogenous c-Ret, a tyrosine kinase receptor, in murine inner medullary
      collecting duct (mIMCD-3) cells. Delineation of the promoter region required for
      the effect of Li(+) identified a positive regulatory element within 180bp
      upstream of the transcription initiation site. This region contained three
      putative GC-rich Sp1 binding sites found to be essential for c-Ret induction by
      Li(+). The effect of Li(+) was mediated through glycogen synthase kinase 3beta
      (GSK-3beta) inhibition, although there was no biding site for T cell
      factor/lymphoid enhancer factor (TCF/LEF) in the 180bp. We found that Li(+)
      activated the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway via GSK-3beta in these
      cells, and the effect of Li(+) to induce c-Ret was amenable to the inhibitory
      effect of the mTOR inhibitor, rapamycin. We also found that alterations in both
      cellular beta-catenin levels and mTOR activities affected the effect of Li(+) on
      c-Ret transcription in a cooperative manner. In summary, our results show that
      Li(+) can induce c-Ret expression in mIMCD-3 cells through both beta-catenin- and
      mTOR-dependent pathways downstream of GSK-3beta inhibition, which act
      synergistically on the GC-rich Sp1 binding elements in the promoter region.

PMID- 20940045
TI  - JAK2 is an important signal transducer in IL-33-induced NF-kappaB activation.
AB  - IL-33, a member of the IL-1 family of cytokines, has been shown to activate NF
      kappaB and MAP kinase family through the IL-1 receptor-related protein, ST2L. In
      this study, we found that IL-33 rapidly activated a tyrosine kinase, JAK2.
      Interestingly, we demonstrated the functional involvement of JAK2 in IL-33
      induced IkappaBalpha degradation and NF-kappaB activation, since a JAK2
      inhibitor, AG490, effectively inhibited this signaling pathway. Furthermore, IL
      33 failed to induce IkappaBalpha degradation and NF-kappaB activation in JAK2
      deficient MEFs expressing ST2L, compared with wild-type MEFs expressing ST2L. In
      addition, the introduction of wild-type JAK2 but not kinase dead JAK2 mutant
      (K882R) restored the IL-33-induced efficient activation of NF-kappaB in JAK2
      deficient MEFs expressing ST2L, resulting in the induction of IL-6, CCL2/MCP-1
      and CXCL1/KC expression. On the other hand, the activation of ERK, JNK and p38
      was unaffected by JAK2 inhibition and JAK2 deficiency. Thus, these data
      demonstrate that JAK2 plays an important role in regulating IL-33-induced NF
      kappaB activation.

PMID- 20940047
TI  - Regulation of the CREB coactivator TORC by the dual leucine zipper kinase at
      different levels.
AB  - CREB is a ubiquitously expressed transcription factor regulating gene expression
      via binding to a CRE DNA element. Previous work showed that the dual leucine
      zipper kinase (DLK) reduced CREB-dependent gene transcription at least in part
      via inhibition of the coactivator CBP. Here we demonstrate that DLK also inhibits
      CREB activity by affecting the interaction of CREB with its second coactivator
      TORC. DLK acted on TORC-dependent transcription by distinct mechanisms. An
      interaction between DLK and all three TORC isoforms was demonstrated by in vitro
      protein-protein interaction assays and in cells by coimmunoprecipitation that
      required the N-terminus of TORC and the leucine zipper of dimerized DLK.
      Overexpressed DLK induced the phosphorylation of TORC2 and TORC1 on Ser-171 and
      167, respectively and on additional residues. Since a kinase-dead DLK mutant did
      not prevent the nuclear localization of TORC and did not reduce TORC
      transcriptional activity to the same extent as wild-type DLK, we suggest that DLK
      induced phosphorylation of TORC contributes to DLK's inhibitory action. Both the
      interaction with and the phosphorylation of TORC by DLK might account for the
      reduced recruitment of TORC to a CRE containing promoter as revealed by chromatin
      immunoprecipitation assay. These results show for the first time the inhibition
      of TORC function by a mitogen-activated kinase. Given the dependence on TORC in
      CREB-directed gene transcription, DLK and its downstream kinases thus contribute
      to the finely tuned regulation of CREB-dependent effects.

PMID- 20940048
TI  - Phosphoinositide 3-kinase delta (PI3Kdelta) in leukocyte signaling and function.
AB  - PI3Kdelta is a lipid kinase of the PI3K class IA family involved in early
      signaling events of leukocytes responding to a wide variety of stimuli. The
      leukocyte specificity of PI3Kdelta is defined by its expression, whereas its
      signaling function is via the production of phosphoinositide 3,4,5-triphosphates
      at the proximity of activated receptors for recruiting other signaling molecules.
      The importance of PI3Kdelta in B cell development and function is most apparent,
      and its role in other leukocyte cell types can be easily demonstrated as well.
      PI3Kdelta participates in the development, activation and migration of T cells
      and NK cells. The role of PI3Kdelta in myeloid cell activities, such as
      inflammation driven cell infiltration, neutrophil oxidative burst, immune complex
      mediated macrophage activation, as well as mast cell maturation and
      degranulation, has been well illustrated in various studies. As a result of the
      broad effects of PI3Kdelta in leukocyte functions, the disruption of PI3Kdelta
      expression or activity leads to decreased inflammatory and immune responses in
      vivo. The protective role of PI3Kdelta inactivation in animal models of
      arthritis, asthma or obstructive respiratory diseases has been demonstrated.
      These findings suggest the potential efficacy achievable with PI3Kdelta
      inhibitors in the treatment of autoimmune and respiratory diseases.

PMID- 20940049
TI  - Solid lipid extrusion with small die diameters--electrostatic charging, taste
      masking and continuous production.
AB  - The aim of this work was to develop a continuous solid lipid extrusion process
      that includes post-process milling of the extrudates. Die diameters smaller than
      0.5 mm should be used for taste masking of the bitter tasting anthelmintic
      praziquantel. During lipid extrusion with small die diameters, electrostatic
      charging of the extrudates occurred. This could be avoided by adding liquid
      polyethylene glycol (PEG) as antistatic agent. Further, extrusion with PEG as
      antistatic agent was possible with small diameter down to 0.2 mm and with up to
      80% praziquantel load. Dissolution of praziquantel extrudates was shown to be
      faster with smaller extrudate diameter due to surface enlargement. Anyhow,
      different praziquantel extrudates with small diameter, drug load up to 70% and
      PEG content up to 20%, were proven to be sufficiently taste masked in a
      randomised palatability study with 40 cats. Within a scale-up experiment, lipid
      extrusion and milling of the extrudates in a centrifugal mill afterwards were
      conducted continuously. Extrudates from continuous and batchwise production
      revealed small differences in terms of size distribution and surface habit, but
      were similar in drug dissolution rate.

PMID- 20940050
TI  - Incorporation of a synthetic mycobacterial monomycoloyl glycerol analogue
      stabilizes dimethyldioctadecylammonium liposomes and potentiates their adjuvant
      effect in vivo.
AB  - The combination of delivery systems such as cationic liposomes and
      immunopotentiating molecules is a promising approach for the rational design of
      vaccine adjuvants. In this study, a synthetic analogue of the mycobacterial lipid
      monomycoloyl glycerol (MMG), referred to as MMG-1, was synthesized and combined
      with the cationic surfactant dimethyldioctadecylammonium (DDA). The purpose of
      the study was to provide a thorough pharmaceutical characterization of the
      resulting DDA/MMG-1 binary system and to evaluate how incorporation of MMG-1
      affected the adjuvant activity of DDA liposomes. Thermal analyses demonstrated
      that MMG-1 was incorporated into the DDA lipid bilayers, and cryo-transmission
      electron microscopy (TEM) confirmed that liposomes were formed. The particles had
      a polydisperse size distribution and an average diameter of approximately 400 nm.
      Evaluation of the colloidal stability indicated that at least 18 mol% MMG-1 was
      required to stabilize the DDA liposomes as the average particle size remained
      constant during storage for 6 months. The improved colloidal stability is most
      likely caused by increased hydration of the lipid bilayer. This was demonstrated
      by studying Langmuir-Blodgett monolayers of DDA and MMG-1 which revealed an
      increased surface pressure in the presence of high concentrations of MMG-1 when
      the DDA/MMG-1 monolayers were fully compressed, indicating an increased
      interaction with water due to enhanced hydration of the lipid head groups.
      Finally, immunization of mice with the tuberculosis fusion antigen Ag85B-ESAT-6
      and DDA/MMG-1 liposomes induced a strong cell-mediated immune response
      characterized by a mixed Th1/Th17 profile and secretion of IgG1 and IgG2c
      antibodies. The Th1/Th17-biased immunostimulatory effect was increased in an MMG
      1 concentration-dependent manner with maximal observed effect at 31 mol% MMG-1.
      Thus, incorporation of 31 mol% MMG-1 into DDA liposomes results in an adjuvant
      system with favorable physical as well as immunological properties.

PMID- 20940051
TI  - Polymorphisms of the CTLA4 gene and kidney transplant rejection in Korean
      patients.
AB  - Cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein 4 (CTLA4) is a member of the
      immunoglobulin superfamily. CTLA4, which binds to B7 molecules on antigen-
      presenting cells, is expressed on activated T cells, thereby delivering negative
      signals that down-regulate T-cell proliferation and cytokine production.
      Consequently, CTLA4 may be a good candidate gene to evaluate in kidney
      transplantation rejection. In this study, we investigated whether polymorphisms
      of the CTLA4 gene were associated with susceptibility to kidney transplantation
      rejection. We genotyped three selected SNPs in the CTLA4 gene using direct
      sequencing in 325 renal transplant recipients. Of the SNPs examined, one
      (rs231775) showed a statistical association with late acute rejection (p=0.026,
      odds ratio (OR)=0.48, 95% confidence interval (CI)=0.23-0.93 in the dominant
      model). Also, the frequency of the G allele (rs231775) was higher in late acute
      rejection patients (p=0.013, OR=2.02, 95% CI=1.15-3.52). One CTLA4 gene
      polymorphism was associated with susceptibility to late acute rejection in kidney
      transplantation in Korean patients.

PMID- 20940046
TI  - Transforming growth factor-beta and the hallmarks of cancer.
AB  - Tumorigenesis is in many respects a process of dysregulated cellular evolution
      that drives malignant cells to acquire six phenotypic hallmarks of cancer,
      including their ability to proliferate and replicate autonomously, to resist
      cytostatic and apoptotic signals, and to induce tissue invasion, metastasis, and
      angiogenesis. Transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) is a potent pleiotropic
      cytokine that functions as a formidable barrier to the development of cancer
      hallmarks in normal cells and tissues. Paradoxically, tumorigenesis counteracts
      the tumor suppressing activities of TGF-beta, thus enabling TGF-beta to stimulate
      cancer invasion and metastasis. Fundamental gaps exist in our knowledge of how
      malignant cells overcome the cytostatic actions of TGF-beta, and of how TGF-beta
      stimulates the acquisition of cancer hallmarks by developing and progressing
      human cancers. Here we review the molecular and cellular mechanisms that underlie
      the ability of TGF-beta to mediate tumor suppression in normal cells, and
      conversely, to facilitate cancer progression and disease dissemination in
      malignant cells.

PMID- 20940052
TI  - BMP antagonists enhance myogenic differentiation and ameliorate the dystrophic
      phenotype in a DMD mouse model.
AB  - Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) is an X-linked lethal muscle wasting disease
      characterized by muscle fiber degeneration and necrosis. The progressive
      pathology of DMD can be explained by an insufficient regenerative response
      resulting in fibrosis and adipose tissue formation. BMPs are known to inhibit
      myogenic differentiation and in a previous study we found an increased expression
      of a BMP family member BMP4 in DMD myoblasts. The aim of the current study was
      therefore to investigate whether inhibition of BMP signaling could be beneficial
      for myoblast differentiation and muscle regeneration processes in a DMD context.
      All tested BMP inhibitors, Noggin, dorsomorphin and LDN-193189, were able to
      accelerate and enhance myogenic differentiation. However, dorsomorphin repressed
      both BMP and TGFbeta signaling and was found to be toxic to primary myoblast cell
      cultures. In contrast, Noggin was found to be a potent and selective BMP
      inhibitor and was therefore tested in vivo in a DMD mouse model. Local adenoviral
      mediated overexpression of Noggin in muscle resulted in an increased expression
      of the myogenic regulatory genes Myog and Myod1 and improved muscle histology. In
      conclusion, our results suggest that repression of BMP signaling may constitute
      an attractive adjunctive therapy for DMD patients.

PMID- 20940053
TI  - Effects of PEG-interferon alpha plus ribavirin on tryptophan metabolism in
      patients with chronic hepatitis C.
AB  - The currently recommended therapy for chronic hepatitis C (HCV) is a combination
      of pegylated interferon-alpha (PEG-IFN alpha) and ribavirin. Psychiatric
      disorders, including depression, are frequent in HCV patients under therapy. We
      investigated the effect of the antiviral treatment on tryptophan (Trp) metabolism
      along both serotonin pathway (via 5-hydroxytryptophan, 5-HTP) and kynurenine
      (Kyn) pathway and on the onset of depressive symptoms in patients with HCV. The
      key enzyme of the Kyn pathway is indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO), an
      intracellular haem protein enzyme expressed in several tissues. It was also
      investigated the influence of the therapy with PEG-IFN-alpha-2a or PEG-IFN-alpha
      2b plus oral ribavirin and possible differences between genders. Free and total
      Trp, 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP) and Kyn serum concentrations and the presence of
      depressive symptoms [Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) scores] were evaluated in 45
      patients with HCV infection treated with PEG-IFN alpha-2a or -2b at four
      different times: baseline (before treatment), 1 and 6 months during therapy, and
      3 months after the end of therapy. The concentration of serum total TRP
      (free+protein bound) as well as that of 5-HTP significantly decreased after 1 and
      6 months of therapy, and then returned to baseline values 3 months after the end
      of therapy, while the levels of free TRP did not vary significantly during and
      after the therapy. On the contrary, the time course of Kyn markedly arose during
      treatment, paralleled by a significant increase of [Kyn/Trp]*10(3) ratio, an
      index used to measure IDO activity. No significant difference was detected
      between males and females neither between PEG-IFN-alpha-2a or -2b treatment. The
      BDI scores significantly increased during therapy, and returned to baseline
      values 3 months after the end of therapy. Our results support the hypothesis that
      the increased IDO-mediated tryptophan metabolism along the Kyn pathway, leading
      to plasma Trp depletion and a decline of serotonin pathway, concurs to the
      development of depressive symptoms observed in HCV patients undergoing IFN-alpha
      therapy.

PMID- 20940054
TI  - Immunoaffinity purification of polyepitope proteins against Plasmodium falciparum
      with chicken IgY specific to their C-terminal epitope tag.
AB  - Developing a polyepitope vaccine, a chimeric protein which contains diverse types
      of antigenic epitopes, is a promising strategy to prevent malaria. Previously, we
      had constructed a library of polyeptitope chimeric genes against Plasmodium
      falciparum without any protein tags. In an attempt to develop an efficient and
      universal procedure for purification of polyepitope chimeric proteins, we
      assembled an immunoaffinity chromatography (IAC) column with affinity-purified
      specific polyclonal IgY (mpIgY) antibodies that recognized the same C-terminal
      epitope tag of chimeric proteins in the library. A single-step and universal
      protocol was established and successfully applied for the purification of
      chimeric proteins. Using this protocol, chimeric proteins were specifically
      purified from an Escherichia coli expression system, and the purity and
      authenticity were verified by gel electrophoresis and Western blot analysis.
      Moreover, the comparison between this IAC method and the conventional
      chromatography, using two anion exchange columns followed by a step of gel
      filtration, showed that the new method was more efficient with an 8-fold greater
      yield. The results suggest that this IAC method will be an efficient approach for
      the purifications of polyepitope vaccine candidates against P. falciparum in our
      future study, and also be valuable for other similar applications.

PMID- 20940055
TI  - High-level production and purification of clostripain expressed in a virulence
      attenuated strain of Clostridium perfringens.
AB  - Clostripain (CLO) produced by Clostridium histolyticum is an arginine-specific
      endopeptidase with the potential for applicability to diverse medical and
      industrial uses. In this study, we developed an expression system allowing high
      level production and efficient purification of recombinant CLO (rCLO). Our
      expression system comprises pCLO, an rCLO expressing vector, and Clostridium
      perfringens 13Delta6, an in-frame deletion strain as to six genes encoding major
      virulence factors and secretory proteins. rCLO was purified from the culture
      supernatant of C. perfringens 13Delta6/pCLO by ammonium sulfate precipitation,
      hydroxyapatite chromatography, and affinity chromatography on benzamidine
      Sepharose. From 200 ml of culture supernatant 4.5 mg of purified rCLO was
      obtained. N-Terminal amino acid sequencing and molecular mass determination of
      the purified rCLO and commercially available CLO revealed that the two enzymes
      have identical subunits, a 38.1-kDa heavy chain and a 15.0-kDa light chain,
      indicating that rCLO is processed in the same manner as CLO. Analysis of the
      enzymatic activities toward N-benzoyl-L-arginine p-nitroanilide and acyl-L-lysine
      p-nitroanilide showed that rCLO and CLO exhibit strict specificity for arginine
      at the P1 position, and that the specific activity of the former is approximately
      2-fold higher than that of the latter. These results indicate that the new method
      involving a virulence-attenuated C. perfringens strain is useful for preparing
      large amounts of high-grade rCLO.

PMID- 20940056
TI  - Structural basis of binding of fluorescent, site-specific dansylated amino acids
      to human serum albumin.
AB  - Human serum albumin (HSA) has two primary binding sites for drug molecules. These
      sites selectively bind different dansylated amino acid compounds, which-due to
      their intrinsic fluorescence-have long been used as specific markers for the drug
      pockets on HSA. We present here the co-crystal structures of HSA in complex with
      six dansylated amino acids that are specific for either drug site 1 (dansyl-l
      asparagine, dansyl-l-arginine, dansyl-l-glutamate) or drug site 2 (dansyl-l
      norvaline, dansyl-l-phenylalanine, dansyl-l-sarcosine). Our results explain the
      structural basis of the site-specificity of different dansylated amino acids.
      They also show that fatty acid binding has only a modest effect on binding of
      dansylated amino acids to drug site 1 and identify the location of secondary
      binding sites.

PMID- 20940057
TI  - Microchimerism in salivary glands after blood- and marrow-derived stem cell
      transplantation.
AB  - Blood- and marrow-derived stem cells (BMDSCs) provide disease-ameliorating
      effects for cardiovascular and autoimmune diseases. Microchimerism from donor
      BMDSCs has been reported in several recipient tissues. We hypothesized that this
      finding suggests a potential use of BMDSCs in the treatment of salivary
      dysfunctions. We investigated the presence of Y chromosome-positive cells in
      salivary gland biopsies of 5 females who had received a marrow or blood stem cell
      transplant from male donors. One to 16 years after transplantation, all
      recipients exhibited scattered Y chromosome-positive cells in the acini, ducts,
      and stroma of their salivary glands (mean of 1.01%). Potentially, these cells can
      be markers of transplantation tolerance, contribute to neoplastic epithelial
      tissues, or engraft at sites of injury. In addition, transplantation of BMDSCs
      could be used for treatment of Sjogren's syndrome and salivary glands damaged by
      therapeutic irradiation for cancers of the head and neck.

PMID- 20940058
TI  - The role of cytotoxic therapy with hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in the
      treatment of follicular lymphoma.

PMID- 20940060
TI  - Structural features of prostanoid analogues involved in hepatocytes protection
      against CCl4-induced injury.
AB  - The ability of natural prostaglandins (PGs) and synthetic prostanoids of B, H and
      E(1)-types to prevent CCl(4)-induced liver injury in vitro was examined. Seven
      analogs of PGB, 3 derivatives of PGH and two 11-deoxy-analogs of PGE(1) decreased
      cytotoxic index of CCl(4) by 2-fold and were more effective then such well-known
      hepatoprotectors as silymarin, curcumin and PGI(2). These prostanoids reduced
      trien conjugates formation by 25-95% and strongly prevented LDH leakage through
      plasma membrane. The results from the structure-activity relationship (SAR)
      analysis can be summarized as follows: (1) the presence of 2-pyridyl at the 15
      position of omega-chain plays the main role in cytoprotection for synthetic
      analogs of PGH; (2) among 11-deoxy-analogs of PGE(1) the most active substances
      possess the phenyl residue at C-15 connected with C-13 isoxazolin or C-13
      isoxazol; (3) C-13 cyclohexylamine or C-15 phenyl groups in omega-chain and
      metoxy-group in alpha-chain are important for protective activity of PGB analogs;
      (4) synthetic analogs of PGB demonstrate more pronounced cytoprotective
      properties than prostanoids of H and E-types. This information suggests paths for
      further exploration in the area of hepatoprotection and the design of novel
      therapeutic agents.

PMID- 20940061
TI  - In honor of Klaus Ruckpaul. Preface.

PMID- 20940059
TI  - Made for "anchorin": Kv7.2/7.3 (KCNQ2/KCNQ3) channels and the modulation of
      neuronal excitability in vertebrate axons.
AB  - Kv7.2 and Kv7.3 (encoded by KCNQ2 and KCNQ3) are homologous subunits forming a
      widely expressed neuronal voltage-gated K(+) (Kv) channel. Hypomorphic mutations
      in either KCNQ2 or KCNQ3 cause a highly penetrant, though transient, human
      phenotype-epilepsy during the first months of life. Some KCNQ2 mutations also
      cause involuntary muscle rippling, or myokymia, which is indicative of motoneuron
      axon hyperexcitability. Kv7.2 and Kv7.3 are concentrated at axonal initial
      segments (AISs), and at nodes of Ranvier in the central and peripheral nervous
      system. Kv7.2 and Kv7.3 share a novel ~80 residue C-terminal domain bearing an
      "anchor" motif, which interacts with ankyrin-G and is required for channel AIS
      (and likely, nodal) localization. This domain includes the sequence IAEGES/TDTD,
      which is analogous (not homologous) to the ankyrin-G interaction motif of voltage
      gated Na(+) (Na(V)) channels. The KCNQ subfamily is evolutionarily ancient, with
      two genes (KCNQ1 and KCNQ5) persisting as orthologues in extant bilaterian
      animals from worm to man. However, KCNQ2 and KCNQ3 arose much more recently, in
      the interval between the divergence of extant jawless and jawed vertebrates. This
      is precisely the interval during which myelin and saltatory conduction evolved.
      The natural selection for KCNQ2 and KCNQ3 appears to hinge on these subunits'
      unique ability to be coordinately localized with Na(V) channels by ankyrin-G, and
      the resulting enhancement in the reliability of neuronal excitability.

PMID- 20940062
TI  - Ligand migration and hexacoordination in type 1 non-symbiotic rice hemoglobin.
AB  - Type 1 non-symbiotic rice hemoglobin (rHb1) shows bis-histidyl heme
      hexacoordination and is capable of binding diatomic ligands reversibly. The
      biological function is as yet unclear, but the high oxygen affinity makes it
      unlikely to be involved in oxygen transport. In order to gain insight into
      possible physiological roles, we have studied CO rebinding kinetics after laser
      flash photolysis of rHb1 in solution and encapsulated in silica gel. CO rebinding
      to wt rHb1 in solution occurs through a fast geminate phase with no sign of
      rebinding from internal docking sites. Encapsulation in silica gel enhances
      migration to internal cavities. Site-directed mutagenesis of FB10, a residue
      known to have a key role in the regulation of hexacoordination and ligand
      affinity, resulted in substantial effects on the rebinding kinetics, partly
      inhibiting ligand exit to the solvent, enhancing geminate rebinding and enabling
      ligand migration within the internal cavities. The mutation of HE7, one of the
      histidyl residues involved in the hexacoordination, prevents hexacoordination, as
      expected, but also exposes ligand migration through a complex system of cavities.
      This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Protein Dynamics: Experimental
      and Computational Approaches.

PMID- 20940063
TI  - Structure and single crystal spectroscopy of Green Fluorescent Proteins.
AB  - Usually, spectroscopic data on proteins in solution are interpreted at molecular
      level on the basis of the three-dimensional structures determined in the
      crystalline state. While it is widely recognized that the protein crystal
      structures are reliable models for the solution 3D structures, nevertheless it is
      also clear that sometimes the crystallization process can introduce some
      "artifacts" that can make difficult or even flaw the attempt to correlate the
      properties in solution with those in the crystalline state. In general,
      therefore, it would be desirable to identify some sort of control. In the case of
      the spectroscopic properties of proteins, the most straightforward check is to
      acquire data not only in solution but also on the crystals. In this regard, the
      Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) is an interesting case in that a massive quantity
      of data correlating the spectroscopic properties in solution with the structural
      information in the crystalline state is available in literature. Despite that, a
      relatively limited amount of spectroscopic studies on single crystals of GFP or
      related FPs have been described. Here we review and discuss the main
      spectroscopic (in solution) and structural (in crystals) studies performed on the
      GFP and related fluorescent proteins, together with the spectroscopic analyses on
      various FPs members in the crystalline state. One main conclusion is that "in
      cristallo" spectroscopic studies are useful in providing new opportunities for
      gathering information not available in solution and are highly recommended to
      reliably correlate solution properties with structural features. This article is
      part of a Special Issue entitled: Protein Structure and Function in the
      Crystalline State.

PMID- 20940064
TI  - Proteomics of the bacterial cross-talk by quorum sensing.
AB  - Words such as language and behavior are frequently used to depict "quorum
      sensing" (QS) in the literature. Simplifying the concept, language and cross-talk
      between bacteria, and between bacteria and animal or plants hosts determine the
      behavior (e.g., beneficial or pathogenic effects). Genomics and transcriptomics
      were the principal approaches used to study the multiple mechanisms of QS.
      Nevertheless, sequencing of genomes paved the way for another approach which
      consists on comparative and functional proteomics. This review aims at describing
      how the proteomic dictionary translates: (i) the languages (N-acyl-L-homoserine
      lactones, AHL; autoinducing peptide, AIP; autoinducer-2, AI-2) used by bacteria
      to communicate; (ii) signals of QS which induce various phenotypes (e.g.,
      virulence, biofilm maturation); (iii) cross-talk between lactic acid bacteria
      within various food ecosystems (e.g. sourdough and fermented milk); (iv)
      probiotic messages at intra- and inter-species and interkingdom levels; and (v)
      words for quorum quenching (QQ). Proteomics is an indispensible discipline to
      elucidate the mechanisms of regulation of the multitude of language signals which
      diffuse through different microbial communities.

PMID- 20940065
TI  - Proteomic analysis of human cataract aqueous humour: Comparison of one
      dimensional gel LCMS with two-dimensional LCMS of unlabelled and iTRAQ(r)
      labelled specimens.
AB  - In this study, we report a comparative and quantitative analysis by mass
      spectrometry of the protein content of aqueous humour from cataract (control)
      patients. In addition to protein profiling, the approach is layered with
      quantitative proteomics using the iTRAQ(r) methodology. Aqueous humour from ten
      clinically-matched patients was collected and depleted of albumin and
      immunoglobulin G. Pairs of patient material were pooled and divided into three
      aliquots for subsequent analysis by alternative proteomic approaches. Excluding
      keratin, trypsin, residual albumin and immunoglobulins, a total of 198 protein
      groups were identified across the entire study. Relative protein quantitation
      with iTRAQ(r) revealed that 88% of the proteins had a maximal +/-2-fold
      differential regulation between 3 of the 4 labelled samples, indicating minimal
      variation. The identified proteins were categorised by gene ontology and one
      third of the proteins were annotated as extracellular. The major molecular
      functions of the proteins in aqueous humour are binding (protein, metal ion,
      heparin, and DNA) and inhibition of proteolytic activity. Complementary to
      molecular function, the predominant biological processes for the proteins in
      aqueous humour are assigned to inflammatory and immune responses, and transport.

PMID- 20940066
TI  - Short sleep duration is an independent predictor of stroke events in elderly
      hypertensive patients.
AB  - Data relating habitual sleep duration to the risk of silent or overt stroke are
      sparse. We tested the hypothesis that short duration of sleep is associated with
      increased risk of silent cerebral infarct (SCI) and stroke events in hypertensive
      patients. We performed ambulatory BP monitoring in 1268 hypertensives (mean age:
      70.4 years) and followed them for 50 months. Brain MRI was performed in 932 of
      these subjects for the assessment of SCI, and these subjects were analyzed in
      this study. Cox proportional hazard models were used to calculate the hazard
      ratios (HR) of sleep-duration-associated risk for cardiovascular events while
      controlling for significant covariates. In multivariable Cox regression analysis,
      a sleep duration <7.5 h was independently associated with the risk of stroke (HR
      = 2.21; P = 0.003). The presence of SCI was also associated with stroke events
      (HR = 2.60; P = 0.005). When the subjects were divided into an SCI(+) group and
      SCI(-) group, the short sleep duration was a significant predictor for incident
      stroke only in the SCI(+) group (HR = 2.52; P = 0.001). Shorter sleep duration
      was an independent risk for future incidence of stroke events in hypertensive
      patients, especially those with SCIs.

PMID- 20940067
TI  - The premotor theory of attention and the Simon effect.
AB  - In the paper by Hommel (2011-this issue), the roles of the theory of event coding
      (TEC) and the premotor theory of attention (PMTA) for the Simon effect were
      considered. PMTA was treated by Hommel in terms of the proposal that attentional
      orienting can be viewed as the preparation of a saccade towards a certain
      location, and was dismissed as providing no useful contribution for an
      attentional explanation of the Simon effect. Here we considered a more recent and
      broader conception of the PMTA, compared this approach with TEC, and confronted
      both approaches with a few studies focusing on the role of spatial attention for
      the Simon effect. It was argued that PMTA may account more easily for various
      studies examining the influence of spatial attention on the Simon effect. We
      concluded our paper by listing some elements that an overall encompassing theory
      on the Simon effect should contain.

PMID- 20940068
TI  - When homologous cusps display non-homologous wear facets: An occlusal
      reorganization ensures functional continuity during dental evolution of Murinae
      (Rodentia, Mammalia).
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study was designed to interpret the differences between the
      occlusal relationships in the murine rodents and those in their Miocene
      "cricetodont" ancestors. It aimed at understanding the functional transformations
      that led to the emergence of the peculiar chewing motion of the Murinae,
      associating forwardly directed masticatory movements to cusp interlocking, a
      trait unique amongst mammals. METHODS: Microwear analyses and simulations of
      occlusion achieved with size-increased 3D printings of teeth crafted from 3D data
      obtained by X-ray synchrotron microtomography at the European synchrotron
      radiation facility allow us to carefully interpret the occlusal relationships in
      Muroidea. RESULTS: A rotation of the direction of the chewing movements occurred
      from "Cricetodontinae" to Murinae. This rotation emerged without any cusp removal
      contrary to previous interpretations, by the way of an occlusal reorganization
      involving a loss of contacts between some cusps, offset by a contact with other
      cusps. This new organization was already present in the early and middle Miocene
      genus Potwarmus. CONCLUSION: Molar tooth evolution in Murinae was characterized
      by the preservation and the reshaping of the primitive muroid cusps, the
      acquisition of supplementary cusps, and changes in the contacts between the
      opposite cusps. During evolution, changes of cusp patterns in upper and lower
      molar teeth are coordinated in order to retain a functional occlusion. Because of
      this functional constraint, one cusp was supposed to more likely occlude with the
      same opposite cusps during evolution, and therefore homologous cusps would always
      carry homologous attrition facets. Evolution of Murinae proves that functional
      continuity can also be preserved through changes in occlusal relationships
      independently from cusp removal.

PMID- 20940070
TI  - Risks for cardiovascular disease, stroke, ischaemic heart disease, and diabetes
      mellitus associated with the metabolic syndrome using the new harmonised
      definition: findings from nationally representative longitudinal data from an
      Asian population.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We examined the risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke, ischaemic
      heart disease, and diabetes with the metabolic syndrome according to the new
      harmonised definition and its components using a national longitudinal data set
      from an Asian population. METHODS: Data of 9791 men and women aged 20+ from 1998
      and 2001 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys were
      individually linked to national hospitalisation and mortality data using unique
      personal identification numbers. During a 5.8-year follow-up through 2005, 288
      incident cardiovascular events (184 strokes and 122 cases of ischaemic heart
      disease) and 85 new diabetes cases have been detected. RESULTS: Men and women
      with the metabolic syndrome had 48%, 39%, 64%, and 127% greater risks of
      cardiovascular disease, stroke, ischaemic heart disease, and diabetes,
      respectively, than those without the metabolic syndrome. The increased risks of
      cardiovascular disease, ischaemic heart disease, and diabetes remained
      significant after adjusting for health behaviours, bio-clinical factors, family
      history, and socio-demographic factors. Analysis results on population
      attributable risks showed that about a quarter of total diabetes occurrence and
      more than 10% of cardiovascular disease was attributable to the metabolic
      syndrome. The number of metabolic syndrome components was linearly associated
      with risks of outcomes. High blood pressure was significantly associated with all
      four outcomes while hypertriglyceridemia and hyperglycemia were also important
      for ischaemic heart disease and diabetes, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Reduction of
      metabolic risk factors is necessary in South Korea to lower the burden of
      associated diseases, especially ever-increasing ischaemic heart disease and
      diabetes.

PMID- 20940069
TI  - Mean platelet volume and prevalence of peripheral artery disease, the National
      Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1999-2004.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: We sought to determine whether mean platelet volume (MPV) is
      associated with the prevalence of peripheral artery disease (PAD). BACKGROUND:
      Platelets play a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and PAD.
      MPV, a measure of platelet size available in every blood count, is increasingly
      recognized as an important marker of platelet activity. METHODS: We analyzed data
      from 6354 participants aged 40 years and older from the 1999 to 2004 National
      Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), a nationally representative
      sample of the US population. PAD was defined as an ankle brachial index <= 0.90
      in either leg. Odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were estimated by
      logistic regression. RESULTS: The prevalence of PAD in the cohort was 5.7%. MPV
      was significantly associated with PAD prevalence (tertile 1 - 4.4%, tertile 2 -
      6.1%, tertile 3 - 7.0%, P for trend=0.003). After adjustment for age, sex, and
      race, the odds ratio of PAD comparing the highest tertile to the lowest tertile
      was 1.57 (95% confidence interval 1.15-2.13). After further adjustment for
      smoking status, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, diabetes, glomerular
      filtration rate, body mass index, and platelet count the corresponding odds ratio
      was 1.58 (95% confidence interval 1.14-2.19). The addition of triglycerides,
      hemoglobin A1c, and C-reactive protein did not affect the results. The
      significant association between MPV and PAD was unchanged when MPV was used as a
      continuous variable. CONCLUSIONS: Mean platelet volume is independently
      associated with PAD. These findings support the hypothesis that platelet size is
      an independent predictor of increased risk for PAD.

PMID- 20940071
TI  - Continuous low-dose fructose infusion does not reverse glucagon-mediated decrease
      in hepatic glucose utilization.
AB  - An adaptation to continuous total parenteral nutrition (TPN; 75% of nonprotein
      calories as glucose) is the liver becomes a major consumer of glucose with
      lactate release as a by-product. The liver is able to further increase liver
      glucose uptake when a small dose of fructose is acutely infused via the portal
      system. Glucagon, commonly elevated during inflammatory stress, is a potent
      inhibitor of glucose uptake by the liver during TPN. The aim was to determine if
      continuous fructose infusion could overcome the glucagon-mediated decrease in
      hepatic glucose uptake. Studies were performed in conscious, insulin-treated,
      chronically catheterized, pancreatectomized dogs that adapted to TPN for 33
      hours. They were then assigned to 1 of 4 groups: TPN (C), TPN + fructose (4.4
      MUmol kg(-1) min(-1); F), TPN + glucagon (0.2 pmol kg(-1) min(-1); GGN), or TPN +
      fructose and glucagon (F + GGN) for an additional 63 hours (33-96 hours).
      Insulin, fructose, and glucagon were infused into the portal vein. During that
      period, all animals received a fixed insulin infusion of 0.4 mU.kg(-1).min(-1)
      (33-96 hours); and the glucose infusion rates were adjusted to maintain
      euglycemia (6.6 mmol/L). Continuous fructose infusion was unable to further
      enhance net hepatic glucose uptake (in micromoles per kilogram per minute) (31.1
      +/- 2.8 vs 36.1 +/- 5.0; C vs F), nor was it able to overcome glucagon-mediated
      decrease in net hepatic glucose uptake (10.0 +/- 4.4 vs 12.2 +/- 3.9; GGN vs F +
      GGN). In summary, continuous fructose infusion cannot augment liver glucose
      uptake during TPN; nor can it overcome the inhibitory effects of glucagon.

PMID- 20940072
TI  - Human papillomavirus E2 protein with single activation domain initiates HPV18
      genome replication, but is not sufficient for long-term maintenance of virus
      genome.
AB  - The papillomavirus life cycle is regulated by a family of proteins encoded by the
      E2 open reading frame; E2 proteins regulate viral gene expression, DNA
      replication and genome maintenance. We have previously shown that the bovine
      papillomavirus (BPV1) full-length E2 protein forms heterodimers with repressor
      forms of E2, and these E2 heterodimers serve as activators of transcription and
      replication during the viral life cycle. In the present study, using the single
      chain E2 heterodimer as a model, we show that human papillomavirus (HPV) 11 and
      18 E2 heterodimers with single activation domain are able to initiate replication
      of URR-containing plasmid in transient assay. Single-chain E2 heterodimer in the
      context of HPV18 genome initiates genome replication, but is not sufficient for
      long-term replication of HPV18 genome. We also show that HPV18 genome has a
      capacity to encode truncated E2 repressor E8/E2 which acts as a negative
      regulator of HPV18 genome replication.

PMID- 20940073
TI  - Physician and patient factors associated with follow up of high grade dysplasias
      of the cervix: a population-based study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This population-based study characterizes available physician and
      patient factors involved in the follow up of abnormal Pap smear results. METHODS:
      Women with a first time high grade diagnosis on Pap smear between 2000 and 2005
      were identified utilizing a centralized cervical screening database. Databases
      containing information on healthcare delivery and physician practice
      characteristics in a setting of universal health care were linked. Follow up is
      defined as referral to colposcopy or any excisional procedure associated with
      management of severe dysplasia. Multivariate analysis followed by logistic
      regression was performed addressing follow up as the dependant factor. RESULTS:
      The study population contained 43,792 women with a first time high grade cervical
      abnormality. The loss to follow up rate was 26%. Physician factors significantly
      associated with follow up included practice duration of less than 5 years OR 1.28
      CI (1.09-1.5); a non-gynecologic practice was associated with lower follow up, OR
      0.69 CI (0.65-0.73). Patient factors associated with lower follow up included
      older age OR 0.97 CI (0.97-0.98) and a lower comorbidity score OR 0.58 CI (0.48
      0.7); a lower socioeconomic status was associated with a higher rate of follow up
      OR 1.17 CI (1.1-1.2). CONCLUSIONS: While patient and physician factors impact
      appropriate follow up for women with abnormal Pap smears, none of those captured
      have a high level of influence other than a gynecologic practice. In order to
      improve upon the high loss to follow up rate, more information is needed on the
      practice settings of physicians and the screening program components and
      policies.

PMID- 20940074
TI  - Universal access to malaria medicines: innovation in financing and delivery.

PMID- 20940075
TI  - Simple bone cyst: report of cases and proposal for a minimal surgical
      intervention.
AB  - Simple bone cyst (SBC) is an intraosseous pseudocyst that appears as a
      radiolucent lesion, frequently observed among young patients. In this article we
      report six cases of SBC and propose a protocol for minimal surgical intervention
      in the management of this condition. No history of trauma was reported. All
      patients underwent a minimal bone intervention procedure to perforate the
      cortical bone and stimulate blood clot formation. Complete healing and no
      recurrence were observed after 1-year follow-up. This treatment shows advantages
      such as the establishment of a definitive diagnosis and low invasiveness,
      particularly in pediatric patients.

PMID- 20940077
TI  - Fatal necrotizing pancreatitis during combined treatment with erlotinib and
      sunitinib.
AB  - With the increased use of tyrosine kinase inhibitors as successful therapy in
      selected malignancies, their adverse effects will grow, especially when
      combination therapy is used. We present a relatively young patient who was
      successfully treated with erlotinib and sunitinib for her metastatic non-small
      cell lung cancer (NSCLC), but died because of the serious event of a necrotizing
      pancreatitis with severe hypocalcaemia, which we suppose to be an adverse event
      of the therapy used.

PMID- 20940076
TI  - Limited joint mobility (LJM) in elderly subjects with type II diabetes mellitus.
AB  - LJM is frequently observed in young subjects with insulin-dependent diabetes
      mellitus (IDDM). Aim of this study was to evaluate whether non-insulin-dependent
      diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) increases the risk of LJM in elderly subjects. Thirty
      patients (15 males, 15 females, mean age 73.93 +/- 12.72 years) with NIDDM in
      good glycemic control were compared with thirty non-diabetic elderly, well
      matched for sex and age (15 males, 15 females, mean age 74.3 +/- 4.24 years), and
      with ten young normal subjects (5 males, 5 females, mean age 26.3 +/- 1.56
      years). In these subjects, the range of motion (ROM) of ankle, knee, hip, elbow
      and shoulder were measured with a double-armed goniometer. Moreover,
      abnormalities of supraspinatus, patellar and Achilles tendons were evaluated with
      a standardized ultrasound (US) procedure. A significant reduction in the mobility
      of all joints was found in elderly subjects, compared to younger ones, with
      exception for the knee and elbow flexion. Elderly patients with diabetes,
      compared with their age-matched counterpart, showed LJM for ankle dorso- and
      plantar flexion, hip flexion and adduction, shoulder abduction and flexion.
      Moreover, tendons sonographic abnormalities were more frequently observed in
      diabetics. Our data confirm that diabetes worsens the LJM in the elderly,
      increasing the cross-linking of collagen by the non-enzymatic advanced glycation
      end products formation.

PMID- 20940078
TI  - Synthesis of isotopically modified ZnO nanoparticles and their potential as
      nanotoxicity tracers.
AB  - Understanding the behavior of engineered nanoparticles in the environment and
      within organisms is perhaps the biggest obstacle to the safe development of
      nanotechnologies. Reliable tracing is a particular issue for nanoparticles such
      as ZnO, because Zn is an essential element and a common pollutant thus present at
      elevated background concentrations. We synthesized isotopically enriched (89.6%)
      with a rare isotope of Zn (67Zn) ZnO nanoparticles and measured the uptake of
      67Zn by L. stagnalis exposed to diatoms amended with the particles. Stable
      isotope technique is sufficiently sensitive to determine the uptake of Zn at an
      exposure equivalent to lower concentration range (<15 MUg g(-1)). Without a
      tracer, detection of newly accumulated Zn is significant at Zn exposure
      concentration only above 5000 MUg g(-1) which represents some of the most
      contaminated Zn conditions. Only by using a tracer we can study Zn uptake at a
      range of environmentally realistic exposure conditions.

PMID- 20940079
TI  - Conversion of microwave pyrolysed ASR's char using high temperature agents.
AB  - Pyrolysis enables to recover metals and organic feedstock from waste
      conglomerates such as: automotive shredder residue (ASR). ASR as well as its
      pyrolysis solid products, is a morphologically and chemically varied mixture,
      containing mineral materials, including hazardous heavy metals. The aim of the
      work is to generate fundamental knowledge on the conversion of the organic
      residues of the solid products after ASR's microwave pyrolysis, treated at
      various temperatures and with two different types of gasifying agent: pure steam
      or 3% (v/v) of oxygen. The research is conducted using a lab-scale, plug-flow
      gasifier, with an integrated scale for analysing mass loss changes over time of
      experiment, serving as macro TG at 950, 850 and 760  degrees C. The reaction rate
      of char decomposition was investigated, based on carbon conversion during
      gasification and pyrolysis stage. It was found in both fractions that char
      conversion rate decreases with the rise of external gas temperature, regardless
      of the gasifying agent. No significant differences between the reaction rates
      undergoing with steam and oxygen for char decomposition has been observed. This
      abnormal char behaviour might have been caused by the inhibiting effects of ash,
      especially alkali metals on char activity or due to deformation of char structure
      during microwave heating.

PMID- 20940080
TI  - High efficiency degradation of 4-nitrophenol by microwave-enhanced catalytic
      method.
AB  - Application of the microwave-enhanced catalytic degradation (MECD) method on the
      abatement of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) using nickel oxide was studied. A mix-valenced
      nickel oxide was prepared from nickel nitrate aqueous solution through a
      precipitation with sodium hydroxide and an oxidation by sodium hypochlorite
      with/without microwave-assisted heating. They were characterized by X-ray (XRD),
      infrared spectroscopy (IR), temperature programmed reduction (TPR), and
      transmission electron micrographs (TEM). Their catalytic activities towards the
      degradation of 4-NP were investigated through continuous bubbling of air during
      the liquid phase and evaluated quantitatively with high pressure liquid
      chromatography (HPLC). Also, the effect of the kinds of catalyst, temperature,
      pH, initial concentration, and dosage of catalyst on the efficiency of 4-NP
      degradation was investigated. The results showed that the 4-NP was completely
      degraded using the high efficiency MECD method within 15 min under [H(+)] = 1.0M,
      T = 40  degrees C, and C = 200 ppm over nickel oxide.

PMID- 20940081
TI  - Sorption of HDTMA cations on Croatian natural mordenite tuff.
AB  - Sorption of the cationic surfactant, hexadecyltrimethylammonium cations (HDTMA),
      on the solid/liquid interface of the natural mordenite tuff (MT) was studied. The
      examined tuff originated from Croatia consisting of 30% of mordenite. SEM
      observations confirmed the crystalline nature of mordenite which can be described
      in terms of aggregates of many small platelets with diameters in the range of 1
      MUm. Studying the porosity properties of MT, it was found that the average pore
      diameter (4.42 nm) between mordenite's platelets allows penetration of HDTMA
      cations. The measurements of zeta potential indicated that in MT samples with
      surfactant concentration in the range between 0.013 and 0.25 mmol/g, HDTMA
      cations fill the mesopores of MT. By further increase in HDTMA concentration, the
      surfactant sorbs on the external zeolite surface, as revealed by the SEM
      micrographs. Vibrational (FTIR and FT Raman) spectra showed that in the MT
      samples with initial HDTMA concentration from 0.013 to 0.25 mmol/g, alkyl chains
      adopt mainly gauche conformation, whereas in the MT samples with higher initial
      HDTMA concentrations trans conformers are predominant and form a highly ordered
      structure on the mordenite surface.

PMID- 20940082
TI  - Characterization of lead, barium and strontium leachability from foam glasses
      elaborated using waste cathode ray-tube glasses.
AB  - Foam glass manufacture is a promising mode for re-using cathode ray tube (CRT)
      glasses. Nevertheless, because CRTs employ glasses containing heavy metals such
      as lead, barium and strontium, the leaching behaviour of foam glasses fabricated
      from CRTs must be understood. Using the AFNOR X 31-210 leaching assessment
      procedure, the degree of element inertization in foam glasses synthesized from
      waste CRT glasses (funnel and panel glasses, containing lead and barium/strontium
      respectively) were determined. The amount of leached lead from foam glasses
      prepared from funnel glass depends on the nature and concentration of the
      reducing agent. The effects of the reducing agents on the generation of cellular
      structure in the fabrication of foam glass were studied. The fraction of lead
      released from foam glass was less than those extracted from funnel glass and was
      lower than the statutory limit. Leached concentrations of barium and strontium
      were found to be approximately constant in various tests and were also below
      regulatory limits.

PMID- 20940083
TI  - PCB congeners induced mitochondrial dysfunction in Vero cells.
AB  - Two PCB congeners were assessed for their cytotoxicity on Vero cells, in the
      attempt to compare their structure-activity relationship and to investigate the
      role of mitochondria involved in toxicity. Flow cytometry was used to monitor the
      changes of mitochondrial membrane potential (Deltapsi(m)), cell size and
      apoptosis rate. Treatments of Vero cell cultures with both PCB 126 and PCB 153
      resulted in loss of cell viability in our experimental conditions. In ortho
      substituted PCB 153 treated cells, loss of cell viability was accompanied by
      decreased Deltapsi(m) and cell shrinkage. The coplanar congener, PCB 126, had no
      significant effects on Deltapsi(m) or cell size in this time period of exposure.
      These studies showed that PCB 153 is more toxic than coplanar PCB 126 to Vero
      cells within 24h exposure. The cytotoxicity mechanism caused by coplanar or non
      coplanar PCB congener was different, and apoptosis might be the main cell death
      pathway in PCB 153 treated cells.

PMID- 20940084
TI  - Chromium recovery from tannery sludge with saponin and oxidative remediation.
AB  - Two new methods for treatment of tannery sludge were studied to achieve cost
      effective and environmentally acceptable remediation solutions for high chromium
      containing tannery sludge. Quillaja bark saponin, a plant derived biosurfactant,
      was applied to dewatered tannery sludge for chromium recovery and a comparative
      assessment with H(2)O(2) oxidative treatment method is presented. Tannery sludge
      samples were treated on a laboratory scale with saponin in the pH range 2-3. The
      effects of various factors like time, concentration of saponin, pH, and
      temperature on the extraction of chromium were studied. The treatment with
      saponin extracted 24% of Cr from tannery sludge at a pH around2, performing
      multiple wash of 6h, at 33  degrees C. On the other hand, the H(2)O(2) treatment,
      which include Cr(III) oxidation to Cr(VI) and extraction with sulfuric acid
      solution at pH 2, enabled to extract 70% of chromium within less than 4h at room
      temperature (21  degrees C). The results indicate that the extraction efficiency
      of saponin was strongly dependent on the organic matter content of the sample,
      which affects chromium mobility by its high adsorption capacity. On the other
      hand hydrogen peroxide treatment is effective and the duration of the process is
      short and requires cheap chemicals and moderate conditions.

PMID- 20940085
TI  - On the zinc sorption by the Serbian natural clinoptilolite and the disinfecting
      ability and phosphate affinity of the exhausted sorbent.
AB  - The Serbian natural zeolite is moderately effective in removing the zinc(II) ions
      from aqueous solutions. At 298 K the sorption capacity varies from 13 to 26% for
      the initial Zn(II) solution concentration of 100 and 600 mg Zndm(-3),
      respectively. The sorption isotherm at 298-338 K is best represented by the
      Langmuir model and the sorption kinetics by the pseudo-second-order model. The
      sorption involves a combination of film diffusion, intra-particle diffusion, and
      a chemical cation-exchange between the Na(+) ions of clinoptilolite and Zn(2+)
      ions. The sorption was found to be endothermic and spontaneous in the 298-338 K
      range. The exhausted sorbent can remove phosphate ions and it exhibits an
      excellent antibacterial activity towards Acinetobacter junii. By dehydration at
      about 500  degrees C it transforms to a ZnO-containing product featuring nano
      sized wurtzite ZnO particles widespread over the clinoptilolite surface.

PMID- 20940086
TI  - Degradation of C.I. Reactive Red 2 through photocatalysis coupled with water jet
      cavitation.
AB  - The decolorization of an azo dye, C.I. Reactive Red 2 was investigated using
      TiO(2) photocatalysis coupled with water jet cavitation. Experiments were
      performed in a 4.0 L solution under ultraviolet power of 9 W. The effects of
      TiO(2) loading, initial dye concentration, solution pH, geometry of cavitation
      tube, and the addition of anions on the degradation of the dye were evaluated.
      Degradation of the dye followed a pseudo-first order reaction. The photocatalysis
      coupled with water jet cavitation elevated degradation of the dye by about 136%,
      showing a synergistic effect compared to the individual photocatalysis and water
      jet cavitation. The enhancement of photocatalysis by water jet cavitation could
      be due to the deagglomeration of catalyst particles as well as the better contact
      between the catalyst surfaces and the reactants. Venturi tube with smaller
      diameter and shorter length of throat tube favored the dye decolorization. The
      degradation efficiency was found to increase with decreasing initial
      concentration and pH. The presence of NO(3)(-) and SO(4)(2-) enhanced the
      degradation of RR2, while Cl(-), and especially HCO(3)(-) significantly reduced
      dye decolorization. The results of this study indicated that the coupled
      photocatalysis and water jet cavitation is effective in degrading dye in
      wastewater and provides a promising alternative for treatment of dye wastewater
      at a large scale.

PMID- 20940087
TI  - RDX-based nanocomposite microparticles for significantly reduced shock
      sensitivity.
AB  - Cyclotrimethylenetrinitramine (RDX)-based nanocomposite microparticles were
      produced by a simple, yet novel spray drying method. The microparticles were
      characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron
      microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and high performance liquid
      chromatography (HPLC), which shows that they consist of small RDX crystals (~0.1
      1 MUm) uniformly and discretely dispersed in a binder. The microparticles were
      subsequently pressed to produce dense energetic materials which exhibited a
      markedly lower shock sensitivity. The low sensitivity was attributed to small
      crystal size as well as small void size (~250 nm). The method developed in this
      work may be suitable for the preparation of a wide range of insensitive explosive
      compositions.

PMID- 20940088
TI  - Low-temperature thermal desorption of diesel polluted soil: influence of
      temperature and soil texture on contaminant removal kinetics.
AB  - Five soil size aggregate fractions, corresponding to coarse (500-840 MUm), medium
      (200-350 MUm), fine (75-200 MUm) sand, silt (10-75 MUm) and clay (<4 MUm), were
      artificially contaminated with diesel, and thermally treated using a laboratory
      scale apparatus to investigate the effect of soil texture on contaminant
      adsorption and removal. Ex situ thermal process was simulated using helium as the
      carrier gas at a flow rate of 1.5 L min(-1), different temperatures (100-300 
      degrees C) and different treatment times (5-30 min). The amount of contaminant
      adsorbed on the soil and the residual amount after thermal treatment was
      determined by gas chromatography. Results showed that adsorption phenomena and
      desorption efficiency were affected by the soil texture and that temperature and
      time of treatment were key factors in remedial process. A temperature of 175 
      degrees C is sufficient to remedy diesel polluted sandy and silty soils, whereas
      a higher temperature (250  degrees C) is needed for clays. Thermal desorption of
      diesel polluted soil was shown to be governed by first-order kinetics. Results
      are of practical interest and may be used in scaling-up and designing desorption
      systems for preliminary cost and optimal condition assessment.

PMID- 20940089
TI  - Maternal salivary cortisol differs by fetal sex during the second half of
      pregnancy.
AB  - Maternal salivary cortisol was measured at weekly intervals from 24 to 38 weeks
      gestation. The total sample consisted of 120 women enrolled in staggered
      intervals in such a way as to generate weekly measures of salivary cortisol
      during the latter half of pregnancy. Hierarchical linear modeling revealed the
      expected increase in unbound maternal cortisol during this period, with a slight
      deceleration in rate of increase at 33 weeks gestation. Women carrying male
      fetuses had higher levels of salivary cortisol initially as compared to women
      carrying female fetuses; at 30 weeks gestation there was cross-over such that
      higher maternal cortisol was observed in women carrying female fetuses beyond
      this time and through term. Results highlight the importance of considering fetal
      sex as a moderator of contemporaneous and predictive associations between
      maternal cortisol and prenatal or postnatal development.

PMID- 20940090
TI  - Pituitary glucocorticoid receptor deletion reduces vulnerability to chronic
      stress.
AB  - The incidence of chronic stress is frequently related to the development of
      psychiatric disorders like depression. The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA)
      axis is a major physiological system that mediates the stress response. Tight HPA
      axis regulation through negative feedback mechanisms is essential for health and
      environmental adaptation. This feedback regulation acts in part through the
      glucocorticoid receptor (GR) on several organizational levels, including the
      pituitary, the hypothalamus and the hippocampus. However, the precise role of the
      different anatomical structures, specifically the pituitary, in HPA axis
      regulation is yet largely unknown. Here, we show that a conditional pituitary GR
      knockout is not necessarily detrimental for the animal's ability to cope with
      chronic stress situations. Mice with a deletion of the GR at the pituitary
      (GR(POMCCre)) were subjected to 3 weeks of chronic social defeat stress. We
      analyzed both the behavioral and neuroendocrine phenotype as well as the central
      nervous system expression of genes involved in HPA axis function in these
      animals. Our results show a more resilient phenotype of GR(POMCCre) mice with
      respect to anxiety-related behavior and neuroendocrine parameters compared to
      stressed wild type animals. In light of the previously reported high
      corticosterone levels during postnatal development in GR(POMCCre) mice, our
      findings suggest that adverse early life events may have beneficial developmental
      effects on the organism to improve stress coping later in life.

PMID- 20940091
TI  - Using a portable ion mobility spectrometer to screen dietary supplements for
      sibutramine.
AB  - In response to recent incidents of undeclared sibutramine, an appetite
      suppressant found in dietary supplements, we developed a method to detect
      sibutramine using hand-held ion mobility spectrometers with an analysis time of
      15 s. Ion mobility spectrometry is a high-throughput and sensitive technique that
      has been used for illicit drug, explosive, volatile organic compound and chemical
      warfare detection. We evaluated a hand-held ion mobility spectrometer as a tool
      for the analysis of supplement extracts containing sibutramine. The overall
      instrumental limit of detection of five portable ion mobility spectrometers was 2
      ng of sibutramine HCl. When sample extractions containing 30 ng/MUl or greater of
      sibutramine were analyzed, saturation of the ionization chamber of the
      spectrometer occurred and the instrument required more than three cleaning cycles
      to remove the drug. Hence, supplement samples suspected of containing sibutramine
      should be prepared at concentrations of 2-20 ng/MUl. To obtain this target
      concentration range for products containing unknown amounts of sibutramine, we
      provided a simple sample preparation procedure, allowing the U.S. Food and Drug
      Administration or other agencies to screen products using the portable ion
      mobility spectrometer.

PMID- 20940092
TI  - Efficiency of the new sub-2 MUm core-shell (KinetexTM) column in practice,
      applied for small and large molecule separation.
AB  - At present sub-2 MUm packed columns are very popular to accomplish rapid and
      efficient separations. Applying particles with shortened diffusion path to
      improve the efficiency of separation performs higher efficiency than it is
      possible with the totally porous particles having the same size. The advantages
      of sub-2 MUm particles and shell particles are combined in the new Kinetex 1.7
      MUm particles. In this study a systematical evaluation of the efficiency and
      achievable analysis time obtained with 5 cm long narrow bore column packed with
      sub-2 MUm core-shell particles (1.25 MUm core diameter and 0.23 MUm porous silica
      layer), and other type very efficient columns is presented. The efficiency of
      separation was investigated also for small pharmaceutical and large molecules
      (proteins). Van Deemter, Knox and kinetic plots are calculated. The results
      obtained with low molecular weight polar neutral analytes (272 g/mol, 875 g/mol),
      with a polypeptide (4.1 kDa) and with different sized proteins (18.8 kDa, 38.9
      kDa and 66.3 kDa) are presented in this study. Moreover, particle size
      distribution, and average pore size (low-temperature nitrogen adsorption, LTNA)
      of the new very fine core-shell particles were investigated. According to this
      study, increased flow rates can be applied on sub-2 MUm core-shell columns to
      accomplish very fast separations without significant loss in efficiency. The new
      sub-2 MUm shell particles offer very high efficiency both for small and large
      molecule separation.

PMID- 20940093
TI  - Development and validation of a highly sensitive GC/MS method for the
      determination of buprenorphine and nor-buprenorphine in blood.
AB  - A sensitive and specific GC/MS method for the determination of buprenorphine
      (BPN) and its main metabolite nor-buprenorphine (nor-BPN) in blood has been
      developed, optimized and validated. Sample preparation includes solid-phase
      extraction of both analytes and their derivatization with acetic anhydride in
      pyridine. BPN-d4 was used as internal standard for the determination of both
      analytes. Limits of detection and quantification for BPN and nor-BPN were 0.02
      and 0.05 MUg/L, respectively. The calibration curves were linear within the
      dynamic range of each analyte (0.05-30.0 MUg/L) with a correlation coefficient
      higher than 0.996. Absolute recovery ranged from 90.2 to 97.6% for both analytes
      and their internal standard. Intra- and inter-day accuracy was found to be
      between -5.40 to 1.73% and -2.45 to 2.80%, respectively, while intra- and inter
      day precision were less than 5.8 and 4.7%, for both analytes. The method was
      applied to real blood samples obtained from patients that follow BPN maintenance
      program. The developed method can be used in routine every day analysis by
      clinical and forensic laboratories, for pharmacokinetic studies, for therapeutic
      drug level monitoring in order to adjust BPN dosage of BPN maintained patients or
      for the investigation of forensic cases.

PMID- 20940094
TI  - Characterisation of sleep problems in children with Williams syndrome.
AB  - Sleep is critical to optimal daytime functioning, learning and general health. In
      children with established developmental disorders sleep difficulties may compound
      existing learning difficulties. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate
      the prevalence and syndrome specificity of sleep problems in Williams syndrome
      (WS), a neurodevelopmental disorder affecting around 1 in 20,000 live births.
      Parents of 64 children with WS, aged 6-12 years, and 92 age matched healthy
      controls were surveyed about their child's sleep habits. The Child Sleep Habits
      Questionnaire, general health and background information were collected from the
      parents. Ninety seven percent of parents reported that their children had sleep
      problems and reported a high prevalence of sleep difficulties: greater bedtime
      resistance, sleep anxiety, night waking and daytime sleepiness. This is the first
      study to our knowledge to survey sleep problems in a large cohort of school age
      children with WS. Sleep problems in children with learning difficulties are often
      amendable to treatment if diagnosed early. Furthermore the negative impact of
      sleep disturbances on daytime behaviour and learning should be measured before
      diagnoses of behaviourally defined disorders are considered.

PMID- 20940095
TI  - Assessment of toileting difficulties in adults with intellectual disabilities: an
      examination using the profile of toileting issues (POTI).
AB  - A lack of toileting skills is one of many impairments that individuals with
      intellectual and developmental disabilities experience. Unfortunately, little
      research has focused on problems in this area including assessment, function, and
      treatment. A newly developed checklist, the Profile of Toileting Issues (POTI),
      is being considered for use to screen for toileting issues in this population,
      and to identify potential functions to target in treatment. The purpose of the
      current study was to examine the reliability of the POTI. Internal consistency
      was sound (alpha = .83) and interrater reliability was significant. The
      implications of these findings are included.

PMID- 20940096
TI  - Can the movement assessment battery for children-test be the "gold standard" for
      the motor assessment of children with Developmental Coordination Disorder?
AB  - Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) is an important risk factor in the
      development of children that can have a significant academic and social impact.
      This reinforces the need for its timely identification using appropriate
      assessment methods and accurate screening tests. The commonly used standardized
      motor test for the DCD identification is the Movement Assessment Battery for
      Children-Test (M-ABC Test) (Henderson & Sugden, 1992). The aim of the present
      study was to examine if the M-ABC Test can be considered to be the "gold
      standard" for the motor assessment of children with the aforementioned disorder.
      For that purpose, a critical review of the extant literature regarding M-ABC
      Test's psychometric properties was conducted. Neither the test manual nor the
      studies reviewed provide support for the reliability and validity of the M-ABC
      Test results in children with DCD. Until sufficient evidence for its technical
      adequacy is accumulated, the M-ABC Test should not be used in isolation for
      children with DCD.

PMID- 20940097
TI  - Microscopic and spectroscopic evaluation of novel PLGA-chitosan Nanoplexes as an
      ocular delivery system.
AB  - The interaction of PLGA-chitosan Nanoplexes with ocular mucosa was investigated
      ex vivo and in vivo to assess their potential as ocular delivery system.
      Fluorescent Rhodamine Nanoplexes (Rd-Nanoplexes) were prepared by ionotropic
      gelation method. The size and morphology of Nanoplexes was investigated by TEM,
      SEM and PCS. The corneal retention, uptake and penetration of Nanoplexes were
      analyzed by spectrofluorimetry and confocal microscopy. Corneas from Rd
      Nanoplexes-treated rabbits were evaluated for the in vivo uptake and ocular
      tolerance. The Nanoplexes prepared were round with a mean diameter of 115.6+/
      17nm and the encapsulation efficiency of Rd was 59.4+/-2.5%. Data from ex vivo
      and in vivo studies showed that the amounts of Rd in the cornea were
      significantly higher for Nanoplexes than for a control Rd solution, these amounts
      being fairly constant for up to 24h. Confocal microscopy of the corneas revealed
      paracellular and transcellular uptake of the Nanoplexes. The uptake mechanism
      postulated was adsorptive-mediated endocytosis and opening of the tight junctions
      between epithelial cells. No alteration was microscopically observed after ocular
      surface exposure to Nanoplexes. Taken together, these data demonstrate that
      Nanoplexes are potentially useful as ocular drug carriers.

PMID- 20940098
TI  - Jerk analysis of active body-weight-transfer.
AB  - Recent studies have shown that whole-body vibration improves posture and gait
      control in stroke patients. Patients with degenerative cerebellar disease suffer
      from ataxic gait also which is characterised by the variation of gait pattern.
      Our interest is to test whole-body vibration as a method for rehabilitation
      treatment in cerebellar patients and to assess the success of the treatment using
      dynamic tests. The aim of this study was to introduce a method for quantifying
      movement dynamics during an active voluntary sidestep that results in a body
      weight-transfer. Subjects had to perform a step from a feet-apart-position to a
      feet-together-position and back again. The algorithms presented in this study
      allow automatic identification of the timing of the dynamic phases by analysing
      the centre of pressure trajectory. For this study the time flow of averaged
      speed, acceleration, and jerk was calculated for the active movement only. This
      study demonstrates that jerk provides a sensitive measure for the improvement in
      gait in rehabilitation and during training.

PMID- 20940100
TI  - Specified risk prediction is what we need in cardiac surgical patients.

PMID- 20940101
TI  - Aortic root rupture during trans-catheter aortic valve implantation.

PMID- 20940102
TI  - GH responses to two consecutive bouts of whole body vibration, maximal voluntary
      contractions or vibration alternated with maximal voluntary contractions
      administered at 2-h intervals in healthy adults.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pharmacological or exercise stimuli repeated at a short interval (but
      not electrical muscle stimulation) are associated with a blunting of GH
      responsiveness. AIM: To compare GH responses to repeated bout of three different
      GH-releasing stimuli. METHODS: The effects of two consecutive bouts (with a 2-h
      interval) of whole body vibrations (WBV), maximal voluntary contractions alone
      (MVC), or alternated with WBV (MVC-WBV) on blood GH and lactate (LA) were
      assessed in nine young males. RESULTS: Baseline levels of both GH and LA
      increased significantly after the first bout of all the tested stimuli, and were
      significantly lower after WBV than after MVC or MVC alternated with WBV, no
      difference being detected between these last. The administration of a second bout
      resulted in significantly lower GH increases than those elicited in the first
      bout in the three different tests; significantly lower LA responses were recorded
      after the second bout of MVC and MVC-WBV when compared with those obtained after
      the first bout, while no significant differences were observed after the two WBV
      bouts for LA. All responses after the second bout of MVC and MVC-WBV were
      significantly higher than those observed after WBV alone. GH concentrations were
      significantly correlated with LA after all stimuli, although LA concentrations
      after the second bout were associated with markedly lower GH levels. CONCLUSIONS:
      A significant blunting of GH responsiveness ensues after a second bout of
      different GH-releasing stimuli, independent from the amount of GH released after
      the first bout. This is a pattern also observed for other pharmacological stimuli
      and exercise modalities, and suggests a common mechanism underlying different GH
      releasing stimuli.

PMID- 20940103
TI  - Landscape genetics of plants.
AB  - Landscape genetics is the amalgamation of landscape ecology and population
      genetics to help with understanding microevolutionary processes such as gene flow
      and adaptation. In this review, we examine why landscape genetics of plants lags
      behind that of animals, both in number of studies and consideration of landscape
      elements. The classical landscape distance/resistance approach to study gene flow
      is challenging in plants, whereas boundary detection and the assessment of
      contemporary gene flow are more feasible. By contrast, the new field of landscape
      genetics of adaptive genetic variation, establishing the relationship between
      adaptive genomic regions and environmental factors in natural populations, is
      prominent in plant studies. Landscape genetics is ideally suited to study
      processes such as migration and adaptation under global change.

PMID- 20940104
TI  - Spectroscopic investigations and quantum chemical computational study of (E)-4
      methoxy-2-[(p-tolylimino)methyl]phenol.
AB  - In this work the electronic structure of (E)-4-methoxy-2-[(p
      tolylimino)methyl]phenol has been characterized by the B3LYP/6-31G(d) level by
      using density functional theory. The experimental infrared and electronic
      absorption spectra have been obtained and compared with the theoretically
      obtained ones. Molecular electrostatic potential map has been evaluated; natural
      bond orbital and frontier molecular orbitals analysis have been performed from
      the optimized geometry. The energetic behavior of the title compound has been
      examined in solvent media using polarizable continuum model. The non-linear
      optical properties have been computed with the same level of theory. In addition,
      the changes of thermodynamic properties have been obtained in the range of 100
      500 K.

PMID- 20940105
TI  - Viral hemagglutinin is involved in promoting the internalisation of
      Staphylococcus aureus into human pneumocytes during influenza A H1N1 virus
      infection.
AB  - Secondary pneumonia caused by Staphylococcus aureus is reemerging as a primary
      cause of excess mortality associated with infection by the influenza A virus. We
      have investigated in vitro the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying this
      synergism. Experimental data show a significant increase in the efficiency of
      internalisation of S. aureus into cultured pneumocytes during the early phases of
      viral infection, while a relevant increase in the efficiency of adhesion is
      evident only later during viral infection, suggesting that the 2 effects are
      based on different molecular mechanisms. Data reported in this paper show that S.
      aureus cells can bind the viral hemagglutinin (HA) and that this binding promotes
      enhanced bacterial internalisation by 2 mechanisms: binding to HA exposed at the
      surface of infected cells and binding to free extracellular virions, enabling
      internalisation at high efficiency also in cells that are not infected by the
      virus. The affinity of binding that involves S. aureus and HA was shown to be
      enhanced by the reducing extracellular environment that the virus can generate.

PMID- 20940106
TI  - New diagnostic PCR for Haemophilus influenzae serotype e based on the cap locus
      of strain ATCC 8142.
AB  - A new PCR protocol for molecular typing of Haemophilus influenzae serotype e
      (Hie) was developed. To this end, the sequence of the cap region II of Hie strain
      ATCC8142 was identified, which was >99% identical to the recently published
      sequence of Hie isolate 274. The PCR using primer pair TTL63/TTL64 amplifies an
      internal 592-bp fragment of ecs4, an e-specific capsule synthesis gene, in 40 of
      40 Hie strains. Of all non-Hie strains, there were no false positives. False
      negative results of the PCR proposed by Falla et al. (1994) are explained by
      single nucleotide insertions in the primer sequences.

PMID- 20940107
TI  - Cystic fibrosis: A hereditary disease challenges microbiologists to a duel.

PMID- 20940108
TI  - Prevention of Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection in cystic fibrosis patients.
AB  - In patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) prevention of lung infections with
      Pseudomonas aeruginosa is of major importance. Principles to achieve this goal
      include vaccination, immediate use of antibiotics in patients newly colonized
      with the pathogen, and hygienic measures. The purpose of this review is to
      discuss recent developments in this context.

PMID- 20940109
TI  - Status of bacterial colonization, Toll-like receptor expression and nuclear
      factor-kappa B activation in normal and diseased human livers.
AB  - Epidemiological data on bacterial translocation (BT), colonization and
      inflammation in normal human livers is lacking. In this study we investigated the
      status of bacterial colonization and inflammation in the normal, cirrhotic
      primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC), and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) human
      liver tissues. Comparatively normal livers showed increased bacterial
      colonization than PBC and NASH. We analyzed mRNA levels of Toll-like receptors
      (TLR) 2 and TLR4, and protein levels of TLR4. Phosphorylated IKKalpha (pIKKalpha)
      protein estimation served as a marker for nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-kappaB)
      activation. In spite of the increased bacterial colonization in normal liver
      tissues, lower levels of TLR2/4 mRNA and TLR4 and pIKKalpha proteins were found
      compared to PBC and NASH indicating the maintenance of suppressed inflammation
      and immune tolerance in normal livers. To our knowledge, this is the first
      clinical evidence showing suppressed inflammation despite bacterial colonization
      in normal human livers thus maintaining liver immune homeostasis.

PMID- 20940110
TI  - Genetic analysis of the presumptive blood from Louis XVI, King of France.
AB  - A text on a pyrographically decorated gourd dated to 1793 explains that it
      contains a handkerchief dipped with the blood of Louis XVI, king of France, after
      his execution. Biochemical analyses confirmed that the material contained within
      the gourd was blood. The mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) hypervariable region 1 (HVR1)
      and 2 (HVR2), the Y-chromosome STR profile, some autosomal STR markers and a SNP
      in HERC2 gene associated to blue eyes, were retrieved, and some results
      independently replicated in two different laboratories. The uncommon mtDNA
      sequence retrieved can be attributed to a N1b haplotype, while the novel Y
      chromosome haplotype belongs to haplogroup G2a. The HERC2 gene showed that the
      subject analyzed was a heterozygote, which is compatible with a blue-eyed person,
      as king Louis XVI was. To confirm the identity of the subject, an analysis of the
      dried heart of his son, Louis XVII, could be undertaken.

PMID- 20940111
TI  - Arsenic-associated oxidative stress, inflammation, and immune disruption in human
      placenta and cord blood.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Arsenic (As) exposure during pregnancy induces oxidative stress and
      increases the risk of fetal loss and low birth weight. OBJECTIVES: In this study
      we aimed to elucidate the effects of As exposure on immune markers in the
      placenta and cord blood, and the involvement of oxidative stress. METHODS:
      Pregnant women were enrolled around gestational week (GW) 8 in our longitudinal,
      population-based, mother-child cohort in Matlab, an area in rural Bangladesh with
      large variations in As concentrations in well water. Women (n = 130) delivering
      at local clinics were included in the present study. We collected maternal urine
      twice during pregnancy (GW8 and GW30) for measurements of As, and placenta and
      cord blood at delivery for assessment of immune and inflammatory markers.
      Placental markers were measured by immunohistochemistry, and cord blood cytokines
      by multiplex cytokine assay. RESULTS: In multivariable adjusted models, maternal
      urinary As (U-As) exposure both at GW8 and at GW30 was significantly positively
      associated with placental markers of 8-oxoguanine (8-oxoG) and interleukin-1beta
      (IL-1beta); U-As at GW8, with tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFalpha) and
      interferon-gamma (IFNgamma); and U-As at GW30, with leptin; U-As at GW8 was
      inversely associated with CD3+ T cells in the placenta. Cord blood cytokines (IL
      1beta, IL-8, IFNgamma, TNFalpha) showed a U-shaped association with U-As at GW30.
      Placental 8-oxoG was significantly positively associated with placental
      proinflammatory cytokines. Multivariable adjusted analyses suggested that
      enhanced placental cytokine expression (TNFalpha and IFNgamma) was primarily
      influenced by oxidative stress, whereas leptin expression appeared to be mostly
      mediated by As, and IL-1beta appeared to be influenced by both oxidative stress
      and As. CONCLUSION: As exposure during pregnancy appeared to enhance placental
      inflammatory responses (in part by increasing oxidative stress), reduce placental
      T cells, and alter cord blood cytokines. These findings suggest that effects of
      As on immune function may contribute to impaired fetal and infant health.

PMID- 20940112
TI  - Crescent excision of the nail fold with partial nail avulsion does work with
      ingrown toenails.

PMID- 20940113
TI  - Incidence and clinical decision making for the Wada test over one decade: 1997
      2007.
AB  - PURPOSE: The objective of this study was to review the percentage of Wada tests
      performed on patients with intractable temporal lobe epilepsy undergoing surgery
      at a single epilepsy centre over the last decade, and to identify clinical
      features which are more likely associated with decision making in favour of Wada
      testing. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed all temporal lobe resections
      performed between 1997 and 2007 at the Cleveland Clinic Epilepsy Center. RESULTS:
      A total of 410 Wada tests were conducted on 777 patients undergoing temporal
      lobectomy (TL). Left temporal resection was performed in 55% of cases. The most
      frequent pathological diagnoses were hippocampal sclerosis (42%) and non-specific
      gliosis (26%). Overall, Wada test frequency in patients undergoing presurgical
      evaluation decreased over time. In 1997, 47 of 58 (81%) TL patients underwent
      Wada testing compared to 11 of 76 (14.4%) in 2007. Patients with left temporal
      lobe epilepsy, and/or those referred for subdural electrode placement, were
      significantly more likely to undergo Wada testing. The most common types of
      surgery were antero-medial temporal resection with removal of mesial structures
      (59%) and temporal resection without mesial structure removal (32%). Patients
      with left temporal epilepsy and Wada testing were significantly more likely to
      undergo resection of mesial cortex. DISCUSSION: Wada testing has declined over
      the last decade in this single centre study. Patients with left, likely dominant,
      temporal lobe epilepsy and those with subdural evaluations were more likely to
      undergo Wada testing. We speculate that the emergence of alternative noninvasive
      language lateralization techniques, along with concerns about the reliability of
      results and awareness of complication risks, are major reasons for the decline.

PMID- 20940114
TI  - Pellagroid dermatitis during a ketogenic diet and anti-epileptic therapy.

PMID- 20940115
TI  - [New possibilities of targeted therapy in the treatment of hepatocellular
      carcinoma with the help of molecular biology].
AB  - Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has a poor prognosis. Approximately 85% of
      patients are not candidates for curative treatments at the time of diagnosis;
      hence palliative modalities (transcatheter arterial chemoembolisation,
      radiofrequency ablation, systemic chemotherapy) are used. Systemic chemotherapies
      have disappointing results. The increasing knowledge in the molecular biology of
      HCC will increase the possibilities of targeted therapy. The multi-tyrosine
      kinase inhibitor sorafenib is the only drug which has approved. The VEGF
      inhibitors (bevacizumab, sunitinib), EGFR-blocker agents (erlotinib), as well as
      the inhibition of mTOR (rapamycin) are promising. Combination of sorafenib or
      other anti-angiogenic agents with local ablative procedure (transcatheter
      arterial chemoembolisation, radiofrequency ablation), or with curative
      hepatectomy also can be favorable. Alteration of Wnt pathway, retinoid compounds,
      inhibition of the cell cycle as well as the proteosome, and epigenetic therapy
      can be other potential promising targets in HCC.

PMID- 20940116
TI  - [Euthanasia and other decisions at the end of life (Proposal for a more
      transparent terminology and some thoughts on the legal framework of medical
      treatment)].
AB  - Indication of euthanasia is only one of several medical decisions at the end of
      life. Precise definition of this topic related to the clinical events happening
      around the sick-bed is not complete in the legal and medical literature. The
      present review attempts to classify the different end of life events with the aim
      of clarifying which of these do not belong to the concept of passive euthanasia.
      Euthanasia is not a legal category. The everyday expressions of active and
      passive euthanasia are simplifications, which cover actions of different
      purposes. Use of these in medical and legal literature can be confusing and
      misleading. We differentiate decisions at the end of life on basis of their
      purpose. Based on the definition and category of the Hungarian Doctors' Chamber,
      euthanasia is the act or the lack of action in order to mercifully shorten or end
      the life of a suffering fellow-man to help him. Concepts of active, passive and
      forced euthanasia are defined. The terms of indirect and intermediate euthanasia
      are not used in order to avoid misunderstanding. Help and participation of non
      professionals in the implementation cannot be completely excluded from the
      concept of euthanasia, and we believe euthanasia is not merely related to
      doctors. We outline those medical decisions at the end of life which do not
      belong to the category of passive euthanasia, namely: withdrawal of ineffective
      and life sustaining treatments, letting go of the patient, contra-indication of
      therapy escalation, use of palliative therapy, pain-relieving treatment,
      compromise medicine, consideration of reanimation and choosing cost-effective
      therapy. We touch upon the subject of the living will, why it cannot be applied,
      and its relation to active and passive euthanasia. With reference to the legal
      regulation of life saving and life sustaining treatment, we deal with the
      expected spirit of medical legislation.

PMID- 20940117
TI  - [Data on secondary prevention of coronary artery disease in Hungary and some
      changes in the last ten years (EUROASPIRE 1995-2005)].
AB  - In year 1995 the European Society of Cardiology started an epidemiological study
      EUROASPIRE to evaluate the results of secondary prevention in some European
      countries. The first study period was in 1995, the second in 1999-2000 and the
      third in 2007. From Hungary the same study centers participated in EUROASPIRE I
      II-III investigation. Authors present the Hungarian data and changes occurring
      the last ten years. During the three studies, 1627 coronary patients- younger
      than 70 years - were evaluated, using standardized methods. In the two Hungarian
      study centers, the proportion of women and patients older than 60 years
      increased. The hospital documentation of risk factors improved, at the time of
      EUROASPIRE III necessary data were found in 89%-99% of patient's records. Mean
      systolic and diastolic blood pressure continuously decreased between the first
      and second study period, but at the time of the third study 44% of the patients
      had elevated blood pressure (>140/90 mmHg). Prevalence of smoking decreased by 8%
      between second and third study period, however, at the time of the last study,
      18% of coronary patients were smokers. The mean of total cholesterol was lower in
      the last study period comparing to the first investigation (5.6 vs. 5.2 mmol/l).
      HDL cholesterol level was unchanged and increasing triglyceride values were
      observed. During the study period the prevalence of obesity continuously
      increased from 23% to 49%. Prevalence of patients with total cholesterol level
      5.5 mmol/l or higher has decreased from 60% to 24%, however 57% of patients did
      not reach the target level (4.5 mmol/l) although 80% of patients were treated
      with lipid lowering drugs: 76% of them received statins. Authors say that some
      part of secondary prevention improved during the last ten years, but many
      patients did not reach the target blood pressure and cholesterol level and it is
      embarrassing the prevalence of obesity and diabetes. The published data are not
      representative for whole Hungary; most probably the general situation is worse.
      Authors emphasize the importance of secondary prevention in the graduate and
      postgraduate education. For improving the secondary prevention, better
      cooperation is needed between hospital staff and patients and general
      practitioners as well.

PMID- 20940118
TI  - [Dietary supplements on the domestic market adulterated with sildenafil and
      tadalafil].
AB  - Mandatory requirements regulating the manufacture and sale of dietary supplements
      are much less stringent than those related to pharmaceuticals. Hence, the sheer
      number and diversity of marketed products in this category has shown an
      unprecedented increase Europe-wide. Not surprising, that cases for incorrect
      marketing/promotion, incorrect recommendations for product use, as well as
      reported incidents of questionable product quality and/or deliberate
      adulterations have also become frequent in recent years. Typical adulterations
      consist of admixtures of synthetic pharmaceuticals to the matrix fraudulently
      declared to consist exclusively of extracts of various (medicinal) plants. In the
      present paper, the results of qualitative investigations of ten plant-based
      preparations, marketed in Hungary, and recommended as (or alleged to be) natural
      aphrodisiacs, are reported. Sildenafil and/or tadalafil or related analogs were
      detected in six of the ten products. These results highlight, once more, the
      unacceptable risks for the consumers of such adulterated dietary supplements.

PMID- 20940119
TI  - [Increased hepcidin levels three days after gynecological interventions].
AB  - Hepcidin is an endogenous substance that inhibits iron absorption and plasma iron
      levels. Due to technical reasons its levels are not routinely assessed and data
      regarding its clinical relevance are limited. We analyzed the alteration of
      hepcidin levels following gynecological interventions. Hepcidin levels were
      determined by mass spectrometry, along with the levels of interleukin-6, the main
      inductor of hepcidin with ELISA in 17 women undergoing gynecological intervention
      just prior to and three days after the surgery. The results were related to iron
      homeostasis parameters. A decrease in serum iron (median, interquartile range)
      (17.85 [15.25-24.9] versus 10.1 [7.6-15.0] MUmol/l, p<0.01) and transferrin
      levels (60.3 [55.93-67.18] versus 53.1 [49.7-60.0], p< 0.01) MUmol/l,
      simultaneously with an increase in hepcidin (2.75 [2.24-3.51] versus 8.01 [6.8
      9.67] MUg/l, p<0.01) and interleukin-6 levels (ND = not detected) (ND [ND - 2.2]
      versus 8.15 [2.31-12.86], p<0.01). CONCLUSION: As with other acute phase proteins
      postoperative hepcidin levels dramatically increase, simultaneously with other
      changes in iron homeostasis. These results indicate a possible causative
      relationship between increased hepcidin and decreased iron levels. In clinical
      practice, determination of hepcidin levels may be indicated for characterization
      and, possibly, prediction of postoperative iron homeostasis. However, measurement
      of hepcidin level in clinical practice is unlikely in the near future due to the
      lack of available kits for routine clinical laboratories.

PMID- 20940121
TI  - Bagged gene shaving for the robust clustering of high-throughput data.
AB  - The analysis of high-throughput data sets, such as microarray data, often
      requires that individual variables (genes, for example) be grouped into clusters
      of variables with highly correlated values across all samples. Gene shaving is an
      established method for generating such clusters, but is overly sensitive to the
      input data: changing just one sample can determine whether or not an entire
      cluster is found. This paper describes a clustering method based on the bootstrap
      aggregation of gene shaving clusters, which overcomes this and other problems,
      and applies the new method to a large gene expression microarray dataset from
      brain tumour samples.

PMID- 20940122
TI  - Application of committee kNN classifiers for gene expression profile
      classification.
AB  - In this study, we develop a two-class classification system based on a committee
      of k-Nearest Neighbour (kNN) classifiers. The system includes a sequence of
      simple data preprocessing steps. Each committee consists of 5 kNN classifiers of
      different architectures. Each classifier on the committee takes in a different
      set of features. The classification system is then applied to a set of microarray
      gene expression profiles from leukaemia patients. We show that the system can be
      effectively used for classifying microarray gene expression data. The results
      demonstrate the committee approach consistently outperforms individual kNN
      classifiers in terms of both classification accuracy and stability.

PMID- 20940123
TI  - Differential expression analysis of Digital Gene Expression data: RNA-tag
      filtering, comparison of t-type tests and their genome-wide co-expression based
      adjustments.
AB  - Deep sequencing techniques have shown a promising impact on biomedical studies.
      Based on a recently published two-sample Digital Gene Expression (DGE) data set,
      we compared three widely used t-type tests for the differential expression
      analysis. Both the 'soft' and 'hard' filtering strategies were considered. For
      the 'hard' filtering strategy, we also considered a genome-wide co-expression
      based adjustment for each t-type test. Our results suggest that excluding RNA
      tags at an appropriate level of data variability can improve the control of false
      positives. Furthermore, the genome-wide co-expression based adjustments
      consistently provide comparably low levels of false positive control for
      different exclusion criteria.

PMID- 20940124
TI  - Multiple genome alignment based on longest path in directed acyclic graphs.
AB  - In this paper, we present a simple and efficient algorithm for multiple genome
      sequence alignment. Sequences of Maximal Unique Matches (MUMs) are first
      transformed into a multi-bipartite diagram. The diagram is then converted into a
      Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG). Therefore, finding the alignment is reduced to
      finding the longest path in the DAG, which is solvable in linear time. The
      experiments show that the algorithm can correctly find the alignment, and runs
      faster than MGA and EMAGEN. In addition, our algorithm can handle the alignments
      with overlapping MUMs and has both weighted and unweighted options. It provides
      the flexibility for the alignments depending on different needs.

PMID- 20940125
TI  - Scaling alignment of large ontologies.
AB  - In recent years, the number of shared biomedical ontologies has increased
      dramatically, resulting in a need for integration of these knowledge sources.
      Automated solutions to aligning ontologies address this growing need. However,
      only very recently, solutions for scalability of ontology alignment have begun to
      emerge. This research investigates scalability in alignment of large-scale
      ontologies. We present an alignment algorithm that bounds processing by selecting
      optimal subtrees to align and show that this improves efficiency without
      significant reduction in precision. We apply the algorithm in conjunction with
      our approach that includes modelling ontology alignment in a Support Vector
      Machine.

PMID- 20940126
TI  - Discovery of gene network variability across samples representing multiple
      classes.
AB  - Gene networks have been predicted using the expression profiles from microarray
      experiments that include multiple samples representing each of several classes or
      states (e.g., treatments, developmental stages, health status). A framework that
      integrates Bayesian networks, mixture of gene co-expression models and clustering
      is proposed to further mine information from the variation of samples within and
      across classes and enhance the understanding of gene networks. The approach was
      evaluated on two independent pathways using data from two microarray experiments.
      Our algorithm succeeded on reconstructing the topology of the gene pathways when
      benchmarked against empirical reports and randomised data sets. The majority or
      all the samples within a class shared the same co-expression model and were
      classified within the corresponding class. Our approach uncovered both gene
      relationships and profiles that are unique to a particular class or shared across
      classes.

PMID- 20940127
TI  - Identification of tiny and large calcification in breast: a study on mammographic
      image analysis.
AB  - Breast cancer throughout the world is a significant health problem for women.
      Small clusters of microcalcifications appearing as collection of white spots on
      mammograms indicate an early warning of breast cancer. In present work we have
      initiated computer-aided analysis of mammograms to automate the diagnostic
      procedures for breast cancer screening using multiresolution and FCM based
      clustering algorithms. Further region growing approach has been applied to
      segment considerably larger calcifications and the masses. The advantage of the
      proposed method is its ability to detect both tiny and comparatively larger
      calcifications in a single image and to reduce the false-positive appearance of
      microcalcifications in breast.

PMID- 20940128
TI  - p53 at a glance.

PMID- 20940130
TI  - A p120-catenin-CK1epsilon complex regulates Wnt signaling.
AB  - p120-catenin is an E-cadherin-associated protein that modulates E-cadherin
      function and stability. We describe here that p120-catenin is required for Wnt
      pathway signaling. p120-catenin binds and is phosphorylated by CK1epsilon in
      response to Wnt3a. p120-catenin also associates to the Wnt co-receptor LRP5/6, an
      interaction mediated by E-cadherin, showing an unexpected physical link between
      adherens junctions and a Wnt receptor. Depletion of p120-catenin abolishes
      CK1epsilon binding to LRP5/6 and prevents CK1epsilon activation upon Wnt3a
      stimulation. Elimination of p120-catenin also inhibits early responses to Wnt,
      such as LRP5/6 and Dvl-2 phosphorylation and axin recruitment to the signalosome,
      as well as later effects, such as beta-catenin stabilization. Moreover, since
      CK1epsilon is also required for E-cadherin phosphorylation, a modification that
      decreases the affinity for beta-catenin, p120-catenin depletion prevents the
      increase in beta-catenin transcriptional activity even in the absence of beta
      catenin degradation. Therefore, these results demonstrate a novel and crucial
      function of p120-catenin in Wnt signaling and unveil additional points of
      regulation by this factor of beta-catenin transcriptional activity different of
      beta-catenin stability.

PMID- 20940133
TI  - An unusual case of Erb's palsy in a neonate: a case report.
AB  - Erb's palsy occurs in neonates following traumatic delivery, where excessive
      traction on the neck stretches these nerve roots. Nonobstetric causes of Erb's
      palsy are rare in neonates. The authors report the presentation of a female
      neonate with Erb's palsy following a postero-lateral thoracotomy. The infant
      underwent surgery on day 3 of life for esophageal atresia and presented with
      right upper limb weakness on day 21 of life. She demonstrated features of Erb's
      palsy with normal higher mental functions. An electromyography and nerve
      conduction study confirmed Erb's palsy. The surgical procedure in the index case
      did not involve the brachial plexus. However, her right upper limb was positioned
      hyperabducted during the intraoperative period, which possibly had led to the
      palsy. The key message of this report is that prolonged stretching of the
      brachial plexus roots during surgery of the neck and thorax can be an important
      nonobstetric cause of Erb's palsy in neonates.

PMID- 20940129
TI  - New insights into the role of mitochondria in aging: mitochondrial dynamics and
      more.
AB  - A decline in mitochondrial function plays a key role in the aging process and
      increases the incidence of age-related disorders. A deeper understanding of the
      intricate nature of mitochondrial dynamics, which is described as the balance
      between mitochondrial fusion and fission, has revealed that functional and
      structural alterations in mitochondrial morphology are important factors in
      several key pathologies associated with aging. Indeed, a recent wave of studies
      has demonstrated the pleiotropic role of fusion and fission proteins in numerous
      cellular processes, including mitochondrial metabolism, redox signaling, the
      maintenance of mitochondrial DNA and cell death. Additionally, mitochondrial
      fusion and fission, together with autophagy, have been proposed to form a quality
      maintenance mechanism that facilitates the removal of damaged mitochondria from
      the cell, a process that is particularly important to forestall aging. Thus,
      dysfunctional regulation of mitochondrial dynamics might be one of the intrinsic
      causes of mitochondrial dysfunction, which contributes to oxidative stress and
      cell death during the aging process. In this Commentary, we discuss recent
      studies that have converged at a consensus regarding the involvement of
      mitochondrial dynamics in key cellular processes, and introduce a possible link
      between abnormal mitochondrial dynamics and aging.

PMID- 20940134
TI  - William M. Landau and peer review from readers.

PMID- 20940135
TI  - The fabulous neuroprotection of selegiline: memoir and prospectus.

PMID- 20940137
TI  - Genetic variants in Piwi-interacting RNA pathway genes confer susceptibility to
      spermatogenic failure in a Chinese population.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Piwi subfamily of genes is involved in spermatogenesis for the
      maintenance and meiosis of germline stem cells. Mice bearing targeted mutations
      in Piwi genes (Miwi, Mili and Miwi2) are sterile with distinct defects in
      spermatogenesis. We hypothesized that Piwi gene polymorphisms could be a risk
      factor for spermatogenic failure. METHODS: For this study, 490 patients with
      idiopathic azoospermia or oligozoospermia and 468 fertile controls were recruited
      from an infertility clinic. Nine single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of four
      Piwi genes (PIWIL1/HIWI, PIWIL2/HILI, PIWIL3/HIWI3 and PIWIL4/HIWI2) were
      genotyped using the SNPstream(r) 12-plex platform and the Taqman method. RESULTS:
      An SNP in the 3'untranslated region of HIWI2 and a non-synonymous SNP in HIWI3
      were significantly associated with an altered risk of oligozoospermia. The
      variant-containing genotypes of HIWI2 rs508485 exhibited a significantly
      increased risk, with an odds ratios (OR) of 1.49 [95% confidence interval (CI),
      1.02-2.18], and individuals with HIWI3 non-synonymous rs11703684 variant
      genotypes exhibited a significantly reduced oligozoospermia risk (OR = 0.70; 95%
      CI, 0.49-1.00). The haplotype analysis showed that a common haplotype of HIWI2
      was associated with a significant reduction in the risk of oligozoospermia (OR =
      0.73, 95% CI, 0.56-0.97). In addition, to assess the cumulative effects, we
      performed a combined unfavourable genotype analysis. A significant trend towards
      increased risk of oligozoospermia with an increasing number of unfavourable
      genotypes was observed (P for trend < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: We present the first
      epidemiologic evidence supporting the involvement of genetic polymorphisms in
      Piwi genes in spermatogenic failure.

PMID- 20940138
TI  - Mouse spermatogonial stem cells obtain morphologic and functional characteristics
      of hematopoietic cells in vivo.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to explore the plasticity and
      transdifferentiation potential of murine spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) into
      hematopoietic cells. METHODS: GFP(+)CD49f(+)H-2K(b-) SSCs of male donor mice were
      isolated and injected into the bone marrow (BM) of Busulfan-treated GFP(-) female
      mice. Twelve weeks post-transplantation, the recipients were sacrificed and their
      BM, peripheral blood (PB) and spleen (SL) cells were collected and evaluated by
      phenotypical methods, i.e. fluorescence-activated cell sorting,
      immunohistochemistry and fluorescence in situ hybridization, and functional
      assays, i.e. colony-forming units assay and intra-BM transplantation. RESULTS:
      Green fluorescent protein (GFP)- and Y chromosome-positive cells were observed in
      the BM, PB and SL of transplanted female mice. These cells presented phenotypical
      and functional characteristics of hematopoietic cells in vitro and in vivo.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that SSCs have the potential to
      transdifferentiate into hematopoietic cells in vivo.

PMID- 20940139
TI  - A very large proportion of young Danish women have polycystic ovaries: is a
      revision of the Rotterdam criteria needed?
AB  - BACKGROUND: According to the Rotterdam 2003 criteria, an ovary is defined as
      polycystic if 12 or more follicles of 2-9 mm are present, when evaluating the
      ovary by ultrasonography on Days 3-5 of the menstrual cycle in women not using
      hormonal contraceptives. The aim of this population-based study was to estimate
      the prevalence of polycystic ovaries (PCO) in a representative sample of young
      Danish women according to the Rotterdam criteria. METHODS: From a Danish
      pregnancy cohort established in 1988-1989, 267 (61%) young adult daughters agreed
      to participate in a clinical examination and 174 (40%) consented to vaginal
      ultrasound. Sufficient image quality in at least one ovary was obtained from 154
      women. Both users and non-users of hormonal contraceptives were included and the
      examination was not restricted to a particular time of the menstrual cycle.
      RESULTS: The median (range) age was 20.1 (19.5-21.0) years. The median follicle
      number per ovary was 14 (6-30) and 12 or more follicles were counted in 104 of
      the 154 women. Thus, the prevalence was estimated to 68% [95% confidence interval
      (CI): 60-74%]. PCO were present in 80% (95% CI: 65-89%) of non-users (n = 44) of
      hormonal contraceptives. Of the 104 women with PCO, 41% (95% CI: 32-51%) could be
      defined as having polycystic ovary syndrome. CONCLUSIONS: A very large proportion
      of the young women had PCO according to the Rotterdam 2003 criteria. As the
      number of follicles is higher at a younger age, we believe the Rotterdam criteria
      should be revised, particularly to avoid misdiagnosis in this age group.

PMID- 20940140
TI  - Retinoic acid metabolizing enzyme CYP26A1 is implicated in rat embryo
      implantation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The retinoic acid metabolizing enzyme Cyp26a1 plays a pivotal role in
      vertebrate embryo development. Cyp26a1 was characterized previously as a
      differentially expressed gene in peri-implantation rat uteri via suppressive
      subtracted hybridization analysis. However, the role of Cyp26a1 in rat embryo
      implantation remained elusive. METHODS: The expression of Cyp26a1 in the uteri of
      early pregnancy, pseudopregnancy and artificial decidualization was detected by
      northern blotting, real time-PCR, in situ hybridization, western blotting and
      immunofluorescent staining. The effect of Cyp26a1 on apoptosis of endometrial
      stromal cells (ESCs) isolated from rat uteri was determined by terminal
      deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling (TUNEL) and Hoechst
      staining. Apoptosis-related proteins in ESCs were detected by western blotting.
      RESULTS: Cyp26a1 showed distinctive expression patterns in embryos and uteri
      during the peri-implantation period, with a remarkable increase (P < 0.01 versus
      Days 4-5) in mRNA and protein in the implantation phase (Days 5.5-6.5 of
      pregnancy). CYP26A1 was specifically localized in glandular epithelium, luminal
      epithelium and decidua basalis. The level of CYP26A1 protein was significantly
      increased in uteri of artificial decidualization (P < 0.01 versus control).
      Forced Cyp26a1 overexpression significantly reduced the sensitivity of ESCs to
      etoposide-induced apoptosis, with reductions in p53 (P < 0.01) and Fas (P < 0.05)
      proteins versus control, while in contrast, FasL (P < 0.01) and proliferating
      cell nuclear antigen (P < 0.05) proteins increased. CONCLUSIONS: Cyp26a1 is
      spatiotemporally expressed in the uterus during embryo implantation and
      decidualization. Overexpression of Cyp26a1 attenuates the process of uterine
      stromal cell apoptosis, probably via down-regulating the expression of p53 and
      FasL.

PMID- 20940141
TI  - The pluralism problem in cross-border reproductive care.
AB  - Outlawing well established forms of assisted reproduction places obstacles in the
      path of couples who wish to attain their reproductive goals with medical
      assistance. One effect of restrictive reproductive laws that has received
      widespread attention is cross-border reproductive travel. In Europe, such travel
      is permitted by the policy of free movement of persons that is a cornerstone of
      the democratic and economic stability of the European Union. Cross-border
      reproductive travel fails to promote moral and political pluralism in democratic
      states for three primary reasons. First, the opportunity for patients to go
      abroad for treatment tempers organized resistance to the law and allows
      government to pass stricter regulations than it otherwise might. Second, cross
      border reproductive care has been shown to have deleterious extraterritorial
      effects that undermine the articulated rationales behind restrictive reproductive
      laws. Third, laws that generate demand for cross-border reproductive care often
      fail to satisfy the standard of proportionality that restrictions on human
      reproduction must meet.

PMID- 20940142
TI  - DNA integrity, growth pattern, spindle formation, chromosomal constitution and
      imprinting patterns of mouse oocytes from vitrified pre-antral follicles.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cryopreservation of follicles for culture and oocyte growth and
      maturation in vitro provides an option to increase the number of fertilizable
      oocytes and restore fertility in cases where transplantation of ovarian tissue
      poses a risk for malignant cell contamination. Vitrification for cryopreservation
      is fast and avoids ice crystal formation. However, the influences of exposure to
      high concentrations of cryoprotectants on follicle development, oocyte growth and
      maturation, and particularly, on the DNA integrity and methylation imprinting has
      not been studied systematically. METHODS: Follicle survival and development, DNA
      damage, oocyte growth patterns, maturation, spindle formation and chromosomal
      constitution were studied after Cryo-Top vitrification of mouse pre-antral
      follicles cultured to the antral stage and induced to ovulate in vitro.
      Methylation of differentially methylated regions (DMRs) of two maternally (Snrpn
      and Igf2r) and one paternally (H19) imprinted genes was studied by bisulfite
      pyrosequencing. RESULTS: Vitrification results in partial or total loss of oocyte
      granulosa cell apposition and actin-rich transzonal projections, a transient
      increase in DNA breaks and a delay in follicle development. However, the oocyte
      growth pattern, maturation, spindle and chromosomal constitution are not
      significantly different between the vitrified and the control groups.
      Vitrification is not associated with elevated levels of imprinting mutations
      (aberrant methylation of the entire DMR), although the distribution of sporadic
      CpG methylation errors in the Snrpn DMR appears to differ slightly between
      control and vitrified oocytes. CONCLUSIONS: DNA breaks appear to be rapidly
      repaired and vitrification of oocytes inside pre-antral follicles by the Cryo-Top
      method does not appear to increase risks of abnormal imprinting or disturbances
      in spindle formation and chromosome segregation.

PMID- 20940143
TI  - Selective knockdown of ceramide synthases reveals complex interregulation of
      sphingolipid metabolism.
AB  - Mammalian ceramide synthases 1 to 6 (CerS1-6) generate Cer in an acyl-CoA
      dependent manner, and expression of individual CerS has been shown to enhance the
      synthesis of ceramides with particular acyl chain lengths. However, the
      contribution of each CerS to steady-state levels of specific Cer species has not
      been evaluated. We investigated the knockdown of individual CerS in the MCF-7
      human breast adenocarcinoma cell line by using small-interfering RNA (siRNA). We
      found that siRNA-induced downregulation of each CerS resulted in counter
      regulation of nontargeted CerS. Additionally, each CerS knockdown produced unique
      effects on the levels of multiple sphingolipid species. For example,
      downregulation of CerS2 decreased very long-chain Cer but increased levels of
      CerS4, CerS5, and CerS6 expression and upregulated long-chain and medium-long
      chain sphingolipids. Conversely, CerS6 knockdown decreased C16:0-Cer but
      increased CerS5 expression and caused non-C16:0 sphingolipids to be upregulated.
      Knockdown of individual CerS failed to decrease total sphingolipids or upregulate
      sphingoid bases. Treatment with siRNAs targeting combined CerS, CerS2, CerS5, and
      CerS6, did not change overall Cer or sphingomyelin mass but caused upregulation
      of dihydroceramide and hexosyl-ceramide and promoted endoplasmic reticulum
      stress. These data suggest that sphingolipid metabolism is robustly regulated by
      both redundancy in CerS-mediated Cer synthesis and counter-regulation of CerS
      expression.

PMID- 20940145
TI  - Identification of genes specific to mouse primordial germ cells through dynamic
      global gene expression.
AB  - Molecular mechanisms underlying the commitment of cells to the germ cell lineage
      during mammalian embryogenesis remain poorly understood due to the limited
      availability of cellular materials to conduct in vitro analyses. Although
      primordial germ cells (PGCs)--precursors to germ cells--have been generated from
      embryonic stem cells (ESCs)--pluripotent stem cells derived from the inner cell
      mass of the blastocyst of the early embryo in vitro-the simultaneous expression
      of cell surface receptors and transcription factors complicates the detection of
      PGCs. To date, only a few genes that mark the onset of germ cell commitment in
      the epiblast--the outer layer of cells of the embryo--including tissue non
      specific alkaline phosphatase (TNAP), Blimp1, Stella and Fragilis--have been used
      with some success to detect PGC formation in in vitro model systems. Here, we
      identified 11 genes (three of which are novel) that are specifically expressed in
      male and female fetal germ cells, both in vivo and in vitro, but are not
      expressed in ESCs. Expression of these genes allows us to distinguish committed
      germ cells from undifferentiated pluripotent cell populations, a prerequisite for
      the successful derivation of germ cells and gametes in vitro.

PMID- 20940144
TI  - Rapid and transient recruitment of DNMT1 to DNA double-strand breaks is mediated
      by its interaction with multiple components of the DNA damage response machinery.
AB  - DNA methylation is an epigenetic mark critical for regulating transcription,
      chromatin structure and genome stability. Although many studies have shed light
      on how methylation impacts transcription and interfaces with the histone code,
      far less is known about how it regulates genome stability. We and others have
      shown that DNA methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1), the maintenance methyltransferase,
      contributes to the cellular response to DNA damage, yet DNMT1's exact role in
      this process remains unclear. DNA damage, particularly in the form of double
      strand breaks (DSBs), poses a major threat to genome integrity. Cells therefore
      possess a potent system to respond to and repair DSBs, or to initiate cell death.
      In the current study, we used a near-infrared laser microirradiation system to
      directly study the link between DNMT1 and DSBs. Our results demonstrate that
      DNMT1 is rapidly but transiently recruited to DSBs. DNMT1 recruitment is
      dependent on its ability to interact with both PCNA and the ATR effector kinase
      CHK1, but is independent of its catalytic activity. In addition, we show for the
      first time that DNMT1 interacts with the 9-1-1 PCNA-like sliding clamp and that
      this interaction also contributes to DNMT1 localization to DNA DSBs. Finally, we
      demonstrate that DNMT1 modulates the rate of DSB repair and is essential for
      suppressing abnormal activation of the DNA damage response in the absence of
      exogenous damage. Taken together, our studies provide compelling additional
      evidence for DNMT1 acting as a regulator of genome integrity and as an early
      responder to DNA DSBs.

PMID- 20940146
TI  - Protein kinase A regulates caspase-1 via Ets-1 in bone stromal cell-derived
      lesions: a link between cyclic AMP and pro-inflammatory pathways in osteoblast
      progenitors.
AB  - Patients with genetic defects of the cyclic (c) adenosine-monophosphate (AMP)
      signaling pathway and those with neonatal-onset multisystem inflammatory disease
      (NOMID) develop tumor-like lesions of the long bones. The molecular basis of this
      similarity is unknown. NOMID is caused by inappropriate caspase-1 activity, which
      in turn activates the inflammasome. The present study demonstrates that NOMID
      bone lesions are derived from the same osteoblast progenitor cells that form
      fibroblastoid tumors in mice and humans with defects that lead to increased cAMP
      dependent protein kinase A (PKA) signaling. NOMID tumor cells showed high PKA
      activity, and an increase in their cAMP signaling led to PKA-specific activation
      of caspase-1. Increased PKA led to inflammation-independent activation of caspase
      1 via over-expression of the proto-oncogene (and early osteoblast factor) Ets-1.
      In NOMID tumor cells, as in cells with defective PKA regulation, increased
      prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) led to increased cAMP levels and activation of Wnt
      signaling, like in other states of inappropriate PKA activity. Caspase-1 and PGE2
      inhibition led to a decrease in cell proliferation of both NOMID and cells with
      abnormal PKA. These data reveal a previously unsuspected link between abnormal
      cAMP signaling and defective regulation of the inflammasome and suggest that
      caspase-1 and PGE2 inhibition may be therapeutic targets in bone lesions
      associated with defects of these two pathways.

PMID- 20940147
TI  - A novel mouse model of cerebral cavernous malformations based on the two-hit
      mutation hypothesis recapitulates the human disease.
AB  - Cerebral cavernous malformations (CCMs) are vascular lesions of the central
      nervous system appearing as multicavernous, blood-filled capillaries, leading to
      headache, seizure and hemorrhagic stroke. CCM occurs either sporadically or as an
      autosomal dominant disorder caused by germline mutation of one of the three
      genes: CCM1/KRIT1, CCM2/MGC4607 and CCM3/PDCD10. Surgically resected human CCM
      lesions have provided molecular and immunohistochemical evidence for a two-hit
      (germline plus somatic) mutation mechanism. In contrast to the equivalent human
      genotype, mice heterozygous for a Ccm1- or Ccm2-null allele do not develop CCM
      lesions. Based on the two-hit hypothesis, we attempted to improve the penetrance
      of the model by crossing Ccm1 and Ccm2 heterozygotes into a mismatch repair
      deficient Msh2(-/-) background. Ccm1(+/-)Msh2(-/-) mice exhibit CCM lesions with
      high penetrance as shown by magnetic resonance imaging and histology.
      Significantly, the CCM lesions range in size from early-stage, isolated caverns
      to large, multicavernous lesions. A subset of endothelial cells within the CCM
      lesions revealed somatic loss of CCM protein staining, supporting the two-hit
      mutation mechanism. The late-stage CCM lesions displayed many of the
      characteristics of human CCM lesions, including hemosiderin deposits, immune cell
      infiltration, increased endothelial cell proliferation and increased Rho-kinase
      activity. Some of these characteristics were also seen, but to a lesser extent,
      in early-stage lesions. Tight junctions were maintained between CCM lesion
      endothelial cells, but gaps were evident between endothelial cells and basement
      membrane was defective. In contrast, the Ccm2(+/-)Msh2(-/-) mice lacked
      cerebrovascular lesions. The CCM1 mouse model provides an in vivo tool to
      investigate CCM pathogenesis and new therapies.

PMID- 20940148
TI  - The Machado-Joseph disease-associated mutant form of ataxin-3 regulates parkin
      ubiquitination and stability.
AB  - Machado-Joseph disease (MJD), the most common dominantly inherited ataxia
      worldwide, is caused by a polyglutamine (polyQ) expansion in the deubiquitinating
      (DUB) enzyme ataxin-3. Interestingly, MJD can present clinically with features of
      Parkinsonism. In this study, we identify parkin, an E3 ubiquitin-ligase
      responsible for a common familial form of Parkinson's disease, as a novel ataxin
      3 binding partner. The interaction between ataxin-3 and parkin is direct,
      involves multiple domains and is greatly enhanced by parkin self-ubiquitination.
      Moreover, ataxin-3 deubiquitinates parkin directly in vitro and in cells.
      Compared with wild-type ataxin-3, MJD-linked polyQ-expanded mutant ataxin-3 is
      more active, possibly owing to its greater efficiency at DUB K27- and K29-linked
      Ub conjugates on parkin. Remarkably, mutant but not wild-type ataxin-3 promotes
      the clearance of parkin via the autophagy pathway. The finding is consistent with
      the reduction in parkin levels observed in the brains of transgenic mice over
      expressing polyQ-expanded but not wild-type ataxin-3, raising the intriguing
      possibility that increased turnover of parkin may contribute to the pathogenesis
      of MJD and help explain some of its parkinsonian features.

PMID- 20940151
TI  - Gonorrhoea themed issue.

PMID- 20940149
TI  - DJ-1 acts in parallel to the PINK1/parkin pathway to control mitochondrial
      function and autophagy.
AB  - Mutations in DJ-1, PINK1 (PTEN-induced putative kinase 1) and parkin all cause
      recessive parkinsonism in humans, but the relationships between these genes are
      not clearly defined. One event associated with loss of any of these genes is
      altered mitochondrial function. Recent evidence suggests that turnover of damaged
      mitochondria by autophagy might be central to the process of recessive
      parkinsonism. Here, we show that loss of DJ-1 leads to loss of mitochondrial
      polarization, fragmentation of mitochondria and accumulation of markers of
      autophagy (LC3 punctae and lipidation) around mitochondria in human dopaminergic
      cells. These effects are due to endogenous oxidative stress, as antioxidants will
      reverse all of them. Similar to PINK1 and parkin, DJ-1 also limits mitochondrial
      fragmentation in response to the mitochondrial toxin rotenone. Furthermore,
      overexpressed parkin will protect against loss of DJ-1 and, although DJ-1 does
      not alter PINK1 mitochondrial phenotypes, DJ-1 is still active against rotenone
      induced damage in the absence of PINK1. None of the three proteins complex
      together using size exclusion chromatography. These data suggest that DJ-1 works
      in parallel to the PINK1/parkin pathway to maintain mitochondrial function in the
      presence of an oxidative environment.

PMID- 20940152
TI  - Gonorrhoea: to screen or not to screen?

PMID- 20940150
TI  - Onset and organ specificity of Tk2 deficiency depends on Tk1 down-regulation and
      transcriptional compensation.
AB  - Deficiency of thymidine kinase 2 (TK2) is a frequent cause of isolated myopathy
      or encephalomyopathy in children with mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) depletion. To
      determine the bases of disease onset, organ specificity and severity of TK2
      deficiency, we have carefully characterized Tk2 H126N knockin mice (Tk2-/-).
      Although normal until postnatal day 8, Tk2-/- mice rapidly develop fatal
      encephalomyopathy between postnatal days 10 and 13. We have observed that wild
      type Tk2 activity is constant in the second week of life, while Tk1 activity
      decreases significantly between postnatal days 8 and 13. The down-regulation of
      Tk1 activity unmasks Tk2 deficiency in Tk2-/- mice and correlates with the onset
      of mtDNA depletion in the brain and the heart. Resistance to pathology in Tk2
      mutant organs depends on compensatory mechanisms to the reduced mtDNA level. Our
      analyses at postnatal day 13 have revealed that Tk2-/- heart significantly
      increases mitochondrial transcript levels relative to the mtDNA content. This
      transcriptional compensation allows the heart to maintain normal levels of mtDNA
      encoded proteins. The up-regulation in mitochondrial transcripts is not due to
      increased expression of the master mitochondrial biogenesis regulators peroxisome
      proliferator-activated receptor-gamma coactivator 1 alpha and nuclear respiratory
      factors 1 and 2, or to enhanced expression of the mitochondrial transcription
      factors A, B1 or B2. Instead, Tk2-/- heart compensates for mtDNA depletion by
      down-regulating the expression of the mitochondrial transcriptional terminator
      transcription factor 3 (MTERF3). Understanding the molecular mechanisms that
      allow Tk2 mutant organs to be spared may help design therapies for Tk2
      deficiency.

PMID- 20940153
TI  - Azithromycin in the treatment of infection with Neisseria gonorrhoeae.
AB  - The efficacy of azithromycin as sole antimicrobial treatment for infection with
      Neisseria gonorrhoeae is reviewed. Aggregate cure rates for urethral and
      endocervical infection were 520/539 (96.5%; 95% CI 94.3% to 97.6%) for a 1 g dose
      from nine studies and 392/396 (99%; 95% CI 97.5% to 99.6%) for a 2 g dose from
      two studies. Azithromycin cured 46/47 (97.9%) cases of oropharyngeal infection
      and 34/35 (97.1%) cases of rectal infection evaluated within the clinical trials.
      Reports of in vitro resistance to azithromycin reveal a wide geographical spread
      of clinical isolates, with raised minimal inhibitory concentration to
      azithromycin and the emergence of high-level resistance in 2001. Concerns about
      resistance preclude azithromycin from general recommendation as sole
      antimicrobial therapy for gonorrhoea. However, azithromycin may have a valuable
      role in specific clinical situations and in combination with extended spectrum
      cephalosporins in the treatment of gonorrhoea.

PMID- 20940154
TI  - European surveillance of antimicrobial resistance in Neisseria gonorrhoeae.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To perform a European sentinel surveillance study for antimicrobial
      resistance (AMR) in Neisseria gonorrhoeae as part of the European Surveillance of
      Sexually Transmitted Infections Programme. METHODS: From 2006 to 2008 17
      countries participated in the AMR surveillance programme. The susceptibility of a
      total of 3528 consecutive isolates was tested using the agar dilution breakpoint
      technique or Etests for ciprofloxacin, penicillin, tetracycline, azithromycin,
      spectinomycin and ceftriaxone. Nitrocefin was used to detect beta-lactamase
      activity. RESULTS: Rates of resistance to ciprofloxacin, the previously
      recommended treatment, were high across Europe (42-52%), indicating that usage is
      no longer appropriate. Although resistance to the currently recommended
      treatment, ceftriaxone, was not demonstrated, a concerning upward drift in the
      minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) distribution was identified since an
      earlier European study in 2004. No resistance to spectinomycin was seen, whereas
      azithromycin resistance varied from 2% to 7% and isolates from Scotland (n=4) and
      Ireland (n=1) showed high-level resistance (MIC >256 mg/l). High-level resistance
      to tetracycline and penicillin remained relatively constant at 16% and 12%,
      respectively. CONCLUSIONS: AMR is an ongoing problem in Europe, with high rates
      of resistance to many previously recommended therapeutic agents observed in many
      European countries. Continual European and global surveillance of AMR in N
      gonorrhoeae is essential to monitor for increasing, emerging and high-level
      resistance to therapeutically relevant agents and to inform treatment guidelines
      so optimum treatments are administered.

PMID- 20940155
TI  - Populations and partnerships: insights from metapopulation and pair models into
      the epidemiology of gonorrhoea and other sexually transmitted infections.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Models of sexually transmitted infection (STI) transmission can offer
      insights as to why gonorrhoea and other STIs are disproportionately concentrated
      in epidemiologically distinct subpopulations. METHODS: We highlight two different
      constructs for modelling STIs by drawing on previously published work on pair and
      metapopulation models, and reanalyzed partnership data from the National Survey
      of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles II (NATSAL II) in the UK. RESULTS: Pair models
      account for intrapair reinfections and are necessary to illustrate the importance
      of partnership dynamics. The pair modelling framework suggests that a key
      determinant of transmission is the length of time or 'gap' between partnerships,
      and that partnerships of medium length can potentially be more efficient for
      gonococcal transmission than the shortest partnerships. As for the metapopulation
      framework, one key insight is that the epidemiology of gonorrhoea is possibly
      being driven by subpopulations with higher than average concentrations of
      individuals with high sexual risk activity. The reanalysis of data on sexual
      behaviour in the UK shows that well recognised population subgroups at higher
      risk of gonorrhoea do also have higher levels of risk behaviour, such as a higher
      average number of new partners per year, as well as a higher prevalence of
      concurrent partnerships and short gaps before partnerships. RESULTS: The
      concentration of risk behaviour in key population subgroups may be leading to
      self-sustaining pockets of transmission for STIs. Combinations of partnership
      behaviours at the level of population subgroups should be a subject of future
      empirical research as well as modelling efforts.

PMID- 20940156
TI  - Point-of-care antibiotic susceptibility testing for gonorrhoea: improving
      therapeutic options and sparing the use of cephalosporins.

PMID- 20940157
TI  - Corneal perforation requiring corneal grafting: a rare complication of gonococcal
      eye infection.
AB  - The authors present a case of severe gonococcal conjunctivitis associated with
      corneal perforation of the right eye in a 25-year-old homosexual man. Inpatient
      management and corneal grafting were required. The authors demonstrate that
      Neisseria gonorrhoea should be considered in the presence of purulent
      conjunctival discharge with a white patch on the cornea or reduced vision.
      Regardless of whether a patient has genital symptoms, they should be referred
      urgently to an ophthalmologist to ensure adequate treatment of this rare but
      sight-threatening complication.

PMID- 20940158
TI  - Genotypes and antimicrobial-resistant phenotypes of Neisseria gonorrhoeae in
      Portugal (2004-2009).
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To determine the antibiotic phenotype and MAST-genotype distribution
      of Neisseria gonorrhoeae isolates in Portugal between 2004 and 2009, and to
      evaluate specific associations between MAST-genotypes and sexual orientation, age
      and antibiotic resistance. METHODS: A total of 236 N gonorrhoeae isolates were
      typed through N gonorrhoeae multiantigen sequence typing (NG-MAST). The degree of
      polymorphism and the phylogenetic relatedness among NG-MAST sequence types (STs)
      were evaluated with MEGA4 software on concatenated sequences of por and tbpb
      alleles. Etest was used to determine the susceptibility to ceftriaxone,
      ciprofloxacin, penicillin and spectinomycin. RESULTS: No isolates displayed
      resistance to spectinomycin and ceftriaxone, whereas 79.1% and 37.4% were
      resistant to penicillin and ciprofloxacin, respectively. A total of 104 different
      STs (one per 2.3 isolates) were found; the most common were ST210 (8.1%) and
      ST225 (7.6%). STs formed two major groups separated by 159.8 (SE 8.9) nucleotide
      differences, yielding several subgroups, one of them including the worldwide
      prevalent ST225. The probability of ciprofloxacin resistance among isolates
      within this subgroup was 73.5-fold higher than for the remaining isolates.
      Indeed, for the genetically closest subgroup, which includes the most prevalent
      ST (ST210), only 8.0% of isolates were resistant to ciprofloxacin. There was a
      non-homogeneous distribution per year for ST225 (p<0.001), ST210 (p=0.011) and
      ST2 (p=0.007). CONCLUSIONS: The heterogeneous ST scenario may represent the 'tip
      of the iceberg', reflecting a high number of undiagnosed and unreported
      gonorrhoea cases. A laboratory-based national surveillance of N gonorrhoeae
      infections is necessary to provide a broader spectrum of isolates that will allow
      the sexual network situation in Portugal to be established.

PMID- 20940159
TI  - Emergence, spread and characteristics of Neisseria gonorrhoeae isolates with in
      vitro decreased susceptibility and resistance to extended-spectrum cephalosporins
      in Sweden.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Neisseria gonorrhoeae has developed resistance to most antimicrobials
      used for treatment. Worryingly, treatment failures with oral extended-spectrum
      cephalosporins (ESCs) have been reported, especially in the WHO Western Pacific
      Region, and susceptibility to all ESCs (oral and injectable), the last remaining
      treatment options in many settings, is decreasing globally. OBJECTIVES: To
      examine the emergence, spread and characteristics of Neisseria gonorrhoeae
      isolates with decreased susceptibility and resistance to ESCs in Sweden. METHODS:
      All available Swedish isolates from 1998-2009, collected from many countries
      worldwide, displaying decreased susceptibility to cefixime and/or ceftriaxone
      (minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) >= 0.032 mg/l; n=331) were examined using
      antibiograms, full-length porB gene sequencing, N gonorrhoeae multi-antigen
      sequence typing (NG-MAST), and sequencing of ESC resistance determinants (penA,
      mtrR and porB1b (penB alteration)). RESULTS: Based on EUCAST breakpoints, 30
      (9.1%) and one (0.3%) of the isolates displayed in vitro resistance to cefixime
      and ceftriaxone, respectively. penA mosaic alleles and penA A501 alteration were
      detected in 24% and 11%, respectively, of the isolates, and in increasing
      prevalence over the years. Moreover, among these isolates 38 NG-MAST sequence
      type (STs) were detected, with ST1407 (n=29), ST1103 (n=9) and ST3378 (n=8) being
      most common. CONCLUSIONS: The proportions of N gonorrhoeae isolates with
      decreased susceptibility and resistance to ESCs have substantially increased over
      the years in Sweden. Both penA mosaic alleles and the penA A501 alteration,
      together with mtrR and penB, are important for the decreased susceptibility and
      resistance to ESCs. At least one gonococcal penA mosaic strain (ST1407),
      including its evolving subtypes, with decreased susceptibility/resistance to ESCs
      circulates worldwide.

PMID- 20940160
TI  - Positive predictive value of the Becton Dickinson VIPER system and the ProbeTec
      GC Q x assay, in extracted mode, for detection of Neisseria gonorrhoeae.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Performance of the new Becton Dickinson ProbeTec GC Q(x) assay on the
      BD VIPER platform was evaluated to ascertain whether confirmatory testing is
      required in our clinical setting. METHODS: Positive predictive value (PPV) was
      determined by comparison with culture and a confirmatory nucleic acid
      amplification test (NAAT)-based Neisseria gonorrhoeae assay from genital and
      extragenital samples (rectal and pharyngeal) collected from a genitourinary
      medicine (GUM) clinic. RESULTS: Among 14,223 clinical genital samples, 149 (1.0%)
      specimens were positive using the ProbeTec GC Q(x) assay, automated on the VIPER
      platform; 141 of these were confirmed by either culture or a real-time PCR
      targeting two gonococcal-specific targets (PPV 94.6%; 95% CI 90% to 98%). Among
      840 pharyngeal samples, 26 (3.1%) were positive by the ProbeTec GC Q(x) assay; 13
      were confirmed (PPV 50%; 95% CI 30% to 70%). Among 593 rectal samples, 17 tested
      positive by the ProbeTec GC Q(x) assay; all were confirmed (PPV 100%; 95% CI 80%
      to 100%). CONCLUSIONS: The lower 95% CI of the PPV for the ProbeTec GC Q(x) assay
      for genital specimens was >90% in this GUM clinic population, and therefore
      confirmatory testing for genital specimens is not required. Confirmatory testing
      of pharyngeal and rectal samples should continue in line with national
      guidelines.

PMID- 20940161
TI  - Management of cases testing positive for gonococcal infection in a community
      based chlamydia screening programme.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The National Chlamydia Screening Programme in Greater Manchester
      (NCSP-GM) commissioned an evaluation of the management of gonorrhoea cases
      identified using the Gen-Probe APTIMA Combo 2 assay (AC2). METHODS: NCSP-GM
      provided data on gonorrhoea cases from a 6-month period (September 2007-February
      2008). Data were collected from patient referral pathways to genitourinary
      medicine (GUM) clinics, including confirmatory testing, antibiotic resistance
      patterns and contact tracing. The AC2 positive predictive value (PPV) was
      calculated. RESULTS: 111 individuals tested positive for gonococcal infection
      using AC2 (0.7% of 16,028 individuals tested). Of these, 96 (0.6% of all tested)
      known index cases were seen at Greater Manchester GUM clinics. 78/96 (14 men, 64
      women) underwent confirmatory microscopy and gonococcal culture. Confirmatory
      tests were positive in 14 men (100%) but only 40 women (63%). Thus the PPV of AC2
      was 69% (54/78). Sensitivity in women may have been reduced by limited partner
      information and sample-taking (only 28% had a full gonorrhoea screen).
      CONCLUSION: Gonorrhoea screening in an NCSP-targeted population identified
      gonorrhoea in a low-risk population. Subsequent management in GUM clinics was
      variable and limited sample-taking may have decreased the sensitivity of
      confirmatory testing in women. Appropriate antibiotic sensitivity tests or, in
      their absence, a test of cure may be needed to ensure effective treatment.

PMID- 20940162
TI  - Culture confirmation of gonococcal infection by recall of subjects found to be
      positive by nucleic acid amplification tests in general practice.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To evaluate a routine notification of general practitioners to recall
      nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT)-positive subjects for culture of Neisseria
      gonorrhoeae to confirm gonococcal infection in the community. METHODS: A
      retrospective observational study of the routine testing for N gonorrhoeae by
      analysis of test results compiled from the laboratory information system in two
      departments of clinical microbiology. RESULTS: Altogether, 158 male and female
      subjects with NAAT-positive results for N gonorrhoeae were included in the study.
      Samples for culture of N gonorrhoeae were collected from 102/158 (64.6%) subjects
      recalled after a NAAT assay was found positive. Growth of N gonorrhoeae was seen
      in the samples from 54/102 (52.9%) of the re-examined NAAT-positive subjects.
      Among subjects with samples collected within the first week after the positive
      NAAT test, 34/44 (77.3%) were confirmed positive by culture. CONCLUSION: This
      study shows that it is possible for the general practitioner to recall a
      substantial number of NAAT-positive subjects to collect swabs for culture of N
      gonorrhoeae to confirm gonococcal infection in the community. Most recall samples
      are culture positive if collected within a week of the NAAT-positive test, and
      may provide a sufficient monitoring of the drug susceptibility of N gonorrhoeae
      strains in the community.

PMID- 20940163
TI  - Endovascular treatment of pulmonary sequestration in adults using Amplatzer(r)
      vascular plugs.
AB  - Two adult patients were diagnosed with extralobar and intralobar pulmonary
      sequestration. One patient presented with haemoptysis. Both patients suffered
      from recurrent episodes of severe pulmonary infections. Both patients were
      treated by means of endovascular embolization using Amplatzer((r)) vascular plugs
      (AVPs). They were discharged from hospital after 48 and 24 h and then followed up
      for 24 and six months, respectively. No recurrence of symptoms was observed.
      Computed tomography scans were obtained every six months. Persistent occlusion of
      vascular supply and moderate regression of the sequestered lung tissue are
      evident after 24 and six months in both patients. Just one case of an adult
      patient affected by pulmonary sequestration and treated by endovascular
      embolization has been reported to date. The present report is the first on the
      use of the AVPs in adults for this condition. The potential advantages and
      drawbacks of this treatment modality in adults are discussed, as well the
      specific benefit represented by the AVPs.

PMID- 20940164
TI  - Mediastinal germ cell tumor with acute myeloid leukemia and growing teratoma
      syndrome.
AB  - A 39-year-old man was referred to hospital with a giant mediastinal mass,
      thrombocytopenia and high levels of serum tumor markers. Flow cytometry of bone
      marrow and peripheral blood samples led to the diagnosis of a mediastinal germ
      cell tumor associated with hematologic neoplasia. He was treated with combination
      chemotherapy for a germ cell tumor and acute myeloid leukemia. After
      chemotherapy, the tumor was enlarged, although serum tumor marker levels had
      decreased. After induction therapy, the tumor was surgically resected. This
      syndrome is rare, and more cases need to be studied to enable effective
      treatment.

PMID- 20940165
TI  - Reliability of a computer-aided detection system in detecting lung metastases
      compared to manual palpation during surgery.
AB  - For resection of lung metastases computed tomography (CT) is needed to determine
      the operative strategy. A computer-aided detection (CAD) system, a software tool
      for automated detection of lung nodules, analyses the CT scans in addition to the
      radiologists and clearly marks lesions. The aim of this feasibility study was to
      evaluate the reliability of CAD in detecting lung metastases. Preoperative CT
      scans of 18 patients, who underwent surgery for suspected lung metastases, were
      analysed with CAD (September-December 2009). During surgery all suspected lesions
      were traced and resected. Histological examination was performed and results
      compared to radiologically suspicious nodes. Radiological analysis assisted by
      CAD detected 64 nodules (mean 3.6, range 1-7). During surgery 91 nodules (mean
      5.0, range 1-11) were resected, resulting in 27 additionally palpated nodules.
      Histologically all these additional nodules were benign. In contrast, all 30
      nodules shown to be metastases by histological studies were correctly described
      by CAD. The CAD system is a sensible and useful tool for finding pulmonary
      lesions. It detects more and smaller lesions than conventional radiological
      analysis. In this feasibility study we were able to show a greater reliability of
      the CAD analysis. A further and prospective study to confirm these data is
      ongoing.

PMID- 20940166
TI  - Acute postoperative cardiac herniation.
AB  - Acute herniation of the heart is an uncommon complication in patients undergoing
      pneumonectomy with associated pericardial resection. We report the case of a
      postoperative cardiac herniation after a right extrapleural pneumonectomy
      following neoadjuvant chemotherapy for malignant pleural mesothelioma. After
      surgery the patient was completely asymptomatic, but a postoperative chest X-ray
      revealed unexpected massive dextrocardia. The patient was immediately brought
      back to the operating room: a cardiac herniation was found to be caused by a
      partial dehiscence of the pericardial prosthesis suture. The defect was repaired
      without consequences.

PMID- 20940167
TI  - The role of pannexin hemichannels in the anoxic depolarization of hippocampal
      pyramidal cells.
AB  - Neuronal gap junctional hemichannels, composed of pannexin-1 subunits, have been
      suggested to play a crucial role in epilepsy and brain ischaemia. After a few
      minutes of anoxia or ischaemia, neurons in brain slices show a rapid
      depolarization to ~-20 mV, called the anoxic depolarization. Glutamate receptor
      blockers can prevent the anoxic depolarization, suggesting that it is produced by
      a cation influx through glutamate-gated channels. However, in isolated
      hippocampal pyramidal cells, simulated ischaemia evokes a large inward current
      and an increase in permeability to large molecules, mediated by the opening of
      pannexin-1 hemichannels. N-methyl-d-aspartate is also reported to open these
      hemichannels, suggesting that the activation of N-methyl-d-aspartate receptors,
      which occurs when glutamate is released in ischaemia, might cause the anoxic
      depolarization by evoking a secondary ion flux through pannexin-1 hemichannels.
      We tested the contribution of pannexin hemichannels to the anoxic depolarization
      in CA1 pyramidal cells in the more physiological environment of hippocampal
      slices. Three independent inhibitors of hemichannels-carbenoxolone, lanthanum and
      mefloquine-had no significant effect on the current generating the anoxic
      depolarization, while a cocktail of glutamate and gamma-aminobutyric acid class A
      receptor blockers abolished it. We conclude that pannexin hemichannels do not
      generate the large inward current that underlies the anoxic depolarization.
      Glutamate receptor channels remain the main candidate for generating the large
      inward current that produces the anoxic depolarization.

PMID- 20940168
TI  - PICMI: mapping point mutations on genomes.
AB  - MOTIVATION: Several international collaborations and local projects are producing
      extensive catalogues of genomic variations that are supplementing existing
      collections such as the OMIM catalogue. The flood of this type of data will keep
      increasing and, especially, it will be relevant to a wider user base, including
      not only molecular biologists, geneticists and bioinformaticians, but also
      clinical researchers. Mapping the observed variations, sometimes only described
      at the amino acid level, on a genome, identifying whether they affect a gene and
      if so-whether they also affect different isoforms of the same gene, is a time
      consuming and often frustrating task. RESULTS: The PICMI server is an easy to use
      tool for quickly mapping one or more amino acid or nucleotide variations on a
      genome and its products, including alternatively spliced isoforms. AVAILABILITY:
      The server is available at www.biocomputing.it/picmi.

PMID- 20940170
TI  - Takotsubo (apical ballooning) syndrome in the recovery period following
      dobutamine stress echocardiography: a first report.
AB  - We report a case of Takotsubo syndrome occurring in the recovery phase after a
      dobutamine stress echocardiogram. Takotsubo syndrome is a widely acknowledged
      cause of reversible left ventricular systolic dysfunction. It has garnered much
      attention from the cardiological community since its presentation frequently
      mimics that of ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction. The exact aetiology
      remains incompletely defined, although stress is recognized frequently as a
      precipitating factor. In recent years it has emerged that stress testing, as part
      of a patient's investigative assessment, can also induce Takotsubo's syndrome.
      All prior reports of dobutamine-induced Takotsubo's syndrome have described
      apical ballooning at peak stress. We describe the case of an 85-year-old lady who
      developed apical ballooning in the recovery period after a dobutamine stress
      echocardiogram, despite having normal left ventricular wall motion at rest and at
      peak stress. We believe this to be the first such case reported in the
      literature. Dobutamine stress testing can precipitate Takotsubo's syndrome not
      just at peak stress but also during the recovery period. All those performing
      dobutamine stress tests should be aware of this rare but potentially important
      complication.

PMID- 20940169
TI  - Fibroblast growth factors: from molecular evolution to roles in development,
      metabolism and disease.
AB  - Fibroblast growth factors (FGFs) are a family of structurally related
      polypeptides that are essential for embryonic development and that function
      postnatally as homoeostatic factors, in the response to injury, in the regulation
      of electrical excitability of cells and as hormones that regulate metabolism. In
      humans, FGF signalling is involved in developmental, neoplastic, metabolic and
      neurological diseases. Fgfs have been identified in metazoans but not in
      unicellular organisms. In vertebrates, FGFs can be classified as having
      intracrine, paracrine and endocrine functions. Paracrine and endocrine FGFs act
      via cell-surface FGF receptors (FGFRs); while, intracrine FGFs act independent of
      FGFRs. The evolutionary history of the Fgf family indicates that an intracrine
      Fgf is the likely ancestor of the Fgf family. During metazoan evolution, the Fgf
      family expanded in two phases, after the separation of protostomes and
      deuterostomes and in the evolution of early vertebrates. These expansions enabled
      FGFs to acquire diverse actions and functions.

PMID- 20940171
TI  - Is gender inequality in the domestic sphere associated with psychological
      distress among women and men? Results from the Northern Swedish Cohort.
AB  - AIM: The aim of this study was to analyse whether gender inequality in the
      domestic sphere was associated with psychological distress among women and men.
      METHODS: In a cohort study, all pupils in the last year of compulsory school in a
      middle-sized industrial town in northern Sweden were followed until the age of
      42. For this study a sample of cohabiting participants (n=372 women, 352 men) was
      selected. Gender inequality was measured as perceptions of gender inequality in
      the couple relationship, time spent on household work, responsibility for
      domestic work and childcare, and was analysed in relation to psychological
      distress, after taking possible background variables as well as earlier health
      status into account. RESULTS: In the multivariate analyses, perception of gender
      inequality in the couple relationship was associated with psychological distress
      for both women (OR 2.23, CI 1.20 to 4.18) and men (OR 3.51, CI 1.69 to 7.31). For
      women only, taking whole responsibility for domestic work was associated with the
      outcome (OR 2.17, CI 1.05 to 4.48). For men, taking less than half of the
      responsibility for domestic work was associated with psychological distress (OR
      2.25, CI 1.24 to 3.91). CONCLUSIONS: Gender inequality in the domestic sphere
      seems to be an important determinant of psychological distress for both women and
      men.

PMID- 20940172
TI  - Does retirement influence cognitive performance? The Whitehall II Study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Occupational work involves many factors capable of protecting
      cognition. The 'disuse' hypothesis suggests that removal of such factors at
      retirement may increase the risk of cognitive decline. OBJECTIVE: To examine
      whether retirement is significantly associated with cognitive change after
      adjusting for preretirement cognitive function, personal, social, health and
      lifestyle factors, work characteristics and leisure activity. METHODS:
      participants were from the Whitehall II study, a prospective study of London
      based Civil Servants. Short-term memory, the AH4 Part 1 (a test of inductive
      reasoning), verbal fluency and the Mill Hill Vocabulary Scale were collected at
      ages 38-60 years, and again, on average 5 years later, at 42-67 years, providing
      pre- and postretirement cognitive functioning assessments for 2031 participants
      (470 retired and 1561 working). Linear regression was used to test the
      association between retirement and cognitive performance adjusted for
      preretirement cognition. RESULTS: Mean cognitive test scores increased between
      the two assessments. However, after adjusting for age, sex, education,
      occupational social class, Mill Hill score, work characteristics, leisure
      activities, and indicators of physical and mental health, those retired showed a
      trend towards smaller test score increases over 5 years than those still working,
      although this only reached 5% significance in one test (AH4; beta=-0.7, 95% CI 
      1.2 to -0.09) and did not show a dose-response effect with respect to length of
      time in retirement. CONCLUSIONS: This trend is consistent with the disuse
      hypothesis but requires independent replication before it can be accepted as
      supportive in this respect.

PMID- 20940173
TI  - High-energy phosphotransfer in the failing mouse heart: role of adenylate kinase
      and glycolytic enzymes.
AB  - AIMS: To measure the activity of the key phosphotransfer enzymes creatine kinase
      (CK), adenylate kinase (AK), and glycolytic enzymes in two common mouse models of
      chronic heart failure. METHODS AND RESULTS: C57BL/6 mice were subjected to
      transverse aortic constriction (TAC), myocardial infarction induced by coronary
      artery ligation (CAL), or sham operation. Activities of phosphotransfer enzymes
      CK, AK, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH), 3-phosphoglycerate
      kinase (PGK), and pyruvate kinase were assessed spectrophotometrically. Mice were
      characterized by echocardiography or magnetic resonance imaging 5- to 8-week post
      surgery and selected for the presence of congestive heart failure. All mice had
      severe left ventricular hypertrophy, impaired systolic function and pulmonary
      congestion compared with sham controls. A significant decrease in myocardial CK
      and maximal CK reaction velocity was observed in both experimental models of
      heart failure. However, the activity of AK and its isoforms remained unchanged,
      despite a reduction in its protein expression. In contrast, the activities of
      glycolytic phosphotransfer mediators GAPDH and PGK were 19 and 12% higher in TAC,
      and 31 and 23% higher in CAL models, respectively. CONCLUSION: Chronic heart
      failure in the mouse is characterized by impaired CK function, unaltered AK, and
      increased activity of glycolytic phosphotransfer enzymes. This pattern of altered
      phosphotransfer activity was observed independent of the heart failure aetiology.

PMID- 20940174
TI  - Surgeons' opinions and practice of informed consent in Nigeria.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Informed consent is perhaps more relevant to surgical specialties
      than to other clinical disciplines. Fundamental to this concept is the provision
      of relevant information for the patient to make an informed choice about a
      surgical intervention. The opinions of surgeons in Nigeria about informed consent
      in their practice were surveyed. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey of surgeons in
      Nigeria was undertaken in 2004/5 using self-administered semistructured
      questionnaires. RESULTS: There were 102 respondents, 85.3% of whom were men and
      58.8% were aged 31-40&emsp14;years. 43.1% were consultants and 54.0% were
      surgical trainees. 27.4% were in surgical subspecialties, 26.5% in general
      surgery and 21.6% were obstetricians and gynaecologists. 54.9% agreed that
      sufficient information is not provided to patients while obtaining their consent
      for surgical procedures. They listed medicolegal reasons (70.6%), informing
      patients about benefits, risks and alternatives (64.7%) and hospital policy
      (50.0%) as some reasons for obtaining consent for surgical procedures. When
      patients decline to give consent for surgery, 84.3% of them thought that poor
      communication between surgeons and patients may be contributory. They identified
      taking a course in bioethics during surgical training and compulsory
      communication skills course as some ways to improve communication between
      surgeons and patients. CONCLUSION: Most Nigerian surgeons seemed to have a good
      knowledge of the informed consent requirements and process but fall short in
      practice. There is a need to improve the surgeon-patient relationship in line
      with modern exigencies to provide interactive environments for fruitful patient
      communication and involvement.

PMID- 20940175
TI  - Enhancing the fairness of pandemic critical care triage.
AB  - Historically, the triage of temporarily scarce health resources has served narrow
      utilitarian ends. The recent H1N1 pandemic experience provided an opportunity for
      expanding the theoretical foundations/understandings of critical care triage in
      the context of declared infectious pandemics. This paper briefly explores the
      ethics-related challenges associated with the development of modern critical care
      triage protocols and provides descriptions of some 'enhanced fairness' features
      which were developed through the use of an inclusive deliberative engagement
      process by a Canadian provincial Department of Health.

PMID- 20940176
TI  - Prenatal exposures to perfluorinated chemicals and anthropometric measures in
      infancy.
AB  - Perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) are persistent
      chemicals that may affect growth early in life. The authors estimated the
      associations between maternal plasma levels of PFOS and PFOA and infants' weight,
      length, and body mass index development during the first year of life. Fourteen
      hundred women were randomly selected from the Danish National Birth Cohort among
      those who provided blood samples early in pregnancy and gave birth to liveborn
      singletons between 1996 and 2002. Weight and length information at 5 and 12
      months of age was available for 1,010 children. Multiple linear regression models
      were used for analyses, and maternal PFOS and PFOA concentrations (ng/mL) were
      inversely related to children's weight in the first year of life: adjusted
      regression coefficients: 0.8 g (95% confidence interval(CI): 4.2, 2.6) at 5
      months and 5.8 g (95% CI:10.4, 1.2) at 12 months for
      perfluorooctanesulfonate(PFOS); 9.4 g (95% CI: 28.6, 9.9) at 5 months and 19.0 g
      (95% CI: 44.9, 6.8) at 12 months for perfluorooctanoate(PFOA) [corrected]. A
      similar pattern was observed for body mass index measurements, and no
      associations with length were found. After sex stratification, the inverse
      associations with weight and body mass index were more pronounced in boys, and no
      clear association was seen for girls.

PMID- 20940177
TI  - iRefWeb: interactive analysis of consolidated protein interaction data and their
      supporting evidence.
AB  - We present iRefWeb, a web interface to protein interaction data consolidated from
      10 public databases: BIND, BioGRID, CORUM, DIP, IntAct, HPRD, MINT, MPact, MPPI
      and OPHID. iRefWeb enables users to examine aggregated interactions for a protein
      of interest, and presents various statistical summaries of the data across
      databases, such as the number of organism-specific interactions, proteins and
      cited publications. Through links to source databases and supporting evidence,
      researchers may gauge the reliability of an interaction using simple criteria,
      such as the detection methods, the scale of the study (high- or low-throughput)
      or the number of cited publications. Furthermore, iRefWeb compares the
      information extracted from the same publication by different databases, and
      offers means to follow-up possible inconsistencies. We provide an overview of the
      consolidated protein-protein interaction landscape and show how it can be
      automatically cropped to aid the generation of meaningful organism-specific
      interactomes. iRefWeb can be accessed at: http://wodaklab.org/iRefWeb. Database
      URL: http://wodaklab.org/iRefWeb/

PMID- 20940178
TI  - EuroDia: a beta-cell gene expression resource.
AB  - Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a major disease affecting nearly 280 million
      people worldwide. Whilst the pathophysiological mechanisms leading to disease are
      poorly understood, dysfunction of the insulin-producing pancreatic beta-cells is
      key event for disease development. Monitoring the gene expression profiles of
      pancreatic beta-cells under several genetic or chemical perturbations has shed
      light on genes and pathways involved in T2DM. The EuroDia database has been
      established to build a unique collection of gene expression measurements
      performed on beta-cells of three organisms, namely human, mouse and rat. The Gene
      Expression Data Analysis Interface (GEDAI) has been developed to support this
      database. The quality of each dataset is assessed by a series of quality control
      procedures to detect putative hybridization outliers. The system integrates a web
      interface to several standard analysis functions from R/Bioconductor to identify
      differentially expressed genes and pathways. It also allows the combination of
      multiple experiments performed on different array platforms of the same
      technology. The design of this system enables each user to rapidly design a
      custom analysis pipeline and thus produce their own list of genes and pathways.
      Raw and normalized data can be downloaded for each experiment. The flexible
      engine of this database (GEDAI) is currently used to handle gene expression data
      from several laboratory-run projects dealing with different organisms and
      platforms. Database URL: http://eurodia.vital-it.ch.

PMID- 20940179
TI  - Primary resistance to maraviroc in a large set of R5-V3 viral sequences from HIV
      1-infected patients.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Evaluation of the prevalence of V3 mutational patterns associated
      with maraviroc resistance in R5-using variants. METHODS: V3 sequences were
      obtained from 809 plasma specimens collected from maraviroc-naive HIV-1-infected
      individuals on regular follow-up at Hospital Carlos III. Sequences considered to
      harbour R5-tropic viruses were examined for the presence of primary maraviroc
      resistance mutational patterns, as found in both in vitro and in vivo studies.
      RESULTS: A total of 498 R5-V3 sequences were identified. They belonged to recent
      HIV-1 seroconverters (55.6%), chronically antiretroviral-naive subjects (20.1%)
      and antiretroviral-experienced patients (24.3%). Most individuals (93.8%) were
      infected with HIV-1 subtype B. The overall prevalence of maraviroc resistance
      mutational patterns was low (<=5%). Likewise, specific polymorphisms 4L, 11R or
      19S, recently found to be associated with lower clinical response to maraviroc,
      were found in <2% of tested samples. The rate of maraviroc resistance patterns
      did not differ significantly according to length of HIV-1 infection,
      antiretroviral exposure or HIV-1 subtype. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of
      maraviroc resistance mutations is low in maraviroc-naive HIV-1-infected
      individuals.

PMID- 20940180
TI  - Alterations of the pilQ gene in Neisseria gonorrhoeae are unlikely contributors
      to decreased susceptibility to ceftriaxone and cefixime in clinical gonococcal
      strains.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Gonorrhoea remains a global public health problem and the treatment
      options are diminishing through the emergence of gonococci resistant to most
      antimicrobials. Previous in vitro studies have indicated a role for Neisseria
      gonorrhoeae pilQ alterations in conferring resistance to antimicrobials,
      including penicillin. In this study, we investigated whether pilQ polymorphisms
      were associated with decreased susceptibility to extended-spectrum cephalosporins
      (ESCs) in clinical gonococcal strains. METHODS: Full-length pilQ nucleotide and
      PilQ amino acid sequences from geographically and temporally diverse gonococcal
      clinical isolates (n = 63), including the 2008 WHO reference strains,
      representing a range of ceftriaxone and cefixime MICs (<=0.008-0.25 and <0.016
      0.5 mg/L, respectively) and 38 N. gonorrhoeae multiantigen sequence types, were
      examined. Previously described alterations associated with decreased ESC
      susceptibility (mosaic penA, mtrR and penB alterations) were also examined.
      RESULTS: Fifteen different pilQ nucleotide sequence types and nine different PilQ
      amino acid sequence types were observed, with two PilQ types accounting for 53
      (84%) of the isolates. Independent of other genetic resistance determinants (penA
      mosaic, mtrR promoter deletion and penB), only one pilQ alteration, a D526N
      substitution, provided a statistically significant association with ceftriaxone
      (P < 0.01) and cefixime (P < 0.05) MICs. However, the two isolates exhibiting
      D526N lacked all three previously described alterations associated with decreased
      ESC susceptibility, thereby providing an alternative basis for the low MICs
      (<=0.008 mg/L) observed for these strains. The previously described E666K (pilQ2)
      and F595L (pilQ1) mutations were absent in all 63 isolates. CONCLUSIONS: pilQ
      polymorphisms are unlikely contributors to decreased susceptibility to ESCs in
      clinical gonococcal strains.

PMID- 20940181
TI  - Antibacterial activity of finafloxacin under different pH conditions against
      isogenic strains of Escherichia coli expressing combinations of defined
      mechanisms of fluoroquinolone resistance.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Finafloxacin is an investigational fluoroquinolone exhibiting broad
      spectrum activity that is enhanced under slightly acidic conditions (pH 5.0-6.5).
      The impact of individual and combinations of chromosomal mutations (gyrA, parC
      and marR) and the plasmid-mediated fluoroquinolone resistance mechanisms QepA1,
      QnrA1, QnrB1, QnrS1 and AAC(6')-Ib-cr were investigated. METHODS: The MICs of
      finafloxacin, compared with those of ciprofloxacin, levofloxacin and
      moxifloxacin, were determined at pH 5.8 and 7.2. RESULTS: MICs of finafloxacin
      compared with other fluoroquinolones at pH 5.8 were lower by a factor of 2-256.
      MICs of finafloxacin were unaffected by QepA1. Moreover, finafloxacin appeared
      not to be a substrate for AAC(6')-Ib-cr. CONCLUSIONS: Compared with
      ciprofloxacin, levofloxacin and moxifloxacin, finafloxacin shows higher activity
      especially at pH 5.8 against Escherichia coli mutants expressing known
      fluoroquinolone resistance determinants alone and in combinations.

PMID- 20940182
TI  - Abdominal massage for the alleviation of constipation symptoms in people with
      multiple sclerosis: a randomized controlled feasibility study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Constipation affects many people with multiple sclerosis (MS),
      negatively impacting on their quality of life. The use of abdominal massage has
      been reported in several populations and has been shown to increase the frequency
      of defaecation. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to determine the
      feasibility of undertaking abdominal massage in people with MS. METHODS:
      Following ethical approval, 30 patients with MS and constipation were recruited.
      After providing informed written consent and completion of baseline outcome
      measures, participants were randomly allocated to a massage group or a control
      group. The massage group participants were provided with advice on bowel
      management, and they or their carers were taught how to deliver abdominal massage
      and were recommended to perform it daily during the 4-week intervention period.
      The control group received bowel management advice only. Outcomes were measured
      pre (Week 0) and post treatment (Week 4), and at Week 8 and included: the
      Constipation Scoring System (CSS) (primary outcome), the Neurogenic Bowel
      Dysfunction Score, and a bowel diary. RESULTS: Both groups demonstrated a
      decrease in CSS score from Week 0 to Week 4, indicating an improvement in
      constipation symptoms; however, the massage group improved significantly more
      than the control groups (mean difference between groups in score change -5.0 (SD
      1.5), 95% CI -8.1, -1.8; t = -3.28, df = 28, p = 0.003). CONCLUSION: The results
      of this small study suggest a positive effect of the intervention on the symptoms
      of constipation, and support the feasibility of a substantive trial of abdominal
      massage for the alleviation of the symptoms of constipation in people with MS.

PMID- 20940183
TI  - A carcinoma of the breast mimicking a pacemaker pocket infection.

PMID- 20940185
TI  - Young woman with thymoma metastatic to the brain controlled with gross total
      resection and stereotactic radiosurgery, with a subsequent uncomplicated
      pregnancy.

PMID- 20940184
TI  - Phase III trial assessing bevacizumab in stages II and III carcinoma of the
      colon: results of NSABP protocol C-08.
AB  - PURPOSE: The National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project C-08 trial was
      designed to investigate the safety and efficacy of adding bevacizumab to modified
      FOLFOX6 (mFOLFOX6; ie, infusional/bolus fluorouracil, leucovorin, and
      oxaliplatin) for the adjuvant treatment of patients with stages II to III colon
      cancer. METHODS: Patients received mFOLFOX6 every 2 weeks for 26 weeks alone or
      modified as FOLFOX6 + bevacizumab (5 mg/kg every 2 weeks for 52 weeks [ie,
      experimental group]). The primary end point was disease-free survival (DFS).
      RESULTS: Among 2,672 analyzed patients, demographic factors were well balanced by
      treatment. With a median follow-up of 35.6 months, the addition of bevacizumab to
      mFOLFOX6 did not result in an overall significant increase in DFS (hazard ratio
      [HR], 0.89; 95% CI, 0.76 to 1.04; P = .15). The point estimates for 3-year DFS
      for the overall population were 77.4% and 75.5% for the experimental and control
      arms, respectively. For patients with stages II and III diseases, these same
      estimates were 87.4% and 84.7%, respectively, for stage II and 74.2% and 72.4%,
      respectively, for stage III. Exploratory analyses found that the effect of
      bevacizumab on DFS was different before and after a 15-month landmark (time-by
      treatment interaction P value < .0001). Bevacizumab had a strong effect before
      the landmark (HR, 0.61; 95% CI, 0.48 to 0.78; P < .001) but no significant effect
      after (HR, 1.22; 95% CI, 0.98 to 1.52; P = .076). CONCLUSION: Bevacizumab for 1
      year with mFOLFOX6 does not significantly prolong DFS in stages II and III colon
      cancer. However, a significant but transient effect during bevacizumab exposure
      was observed in the experimental arm. We postulate that this observation reflects
      a biologic effect during bevacizumab exposure. Given the lack of improvement in
      DFS, the use of bevacizumab cannot be recommended for use in the adjuvant
      treatment of patients with colon cancer.

PMID- 20940186
TI  - Blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm.

PMID- 20940187
TI  - Bone marrow relapse of medulloblastoma mimicking acute leukemia with
      translocation (1;18)(p33;q22).

PMID- 20940189
TI  - Bisphosphonate risks and benefits: finding a balance.

PMID- 20940188
TI  - Activity of IPI-504, a novel heat-shock protein 90 inhibitor, in patients with
      molecularly defined non-small-cell lung cancer.
AB  - PURPOSE: IPI-504 is a novel, water-soluble, potent inhibitor of heat-shock
      protein 90 (Hsp90). Its potential anticancer activity has been validated in
      preclinical in vitro and in vivo models. We studied the activity of IPI-504 after
      epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) therapy
      in patients with advanced, molecularly defined non-small-cell lung cancer
      (NSCLC). PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients with advanced NSCLC, prior treatment with
      EGFR TKIs, and tumor tissue available for molecular genotyping were enrolled in
      this prospective, nonrandomized, multicenter, phase II study of IPI-504
      monotherapy. The primary outcome was objective response rate (ORR). Secondary
      aims included safety, progression-free survival (PFS), and analysis of activity
      by molecular subtypes. RESULTS: Seventy-six patients were enrolled between
      December 2007 and May 2009 from 10 United States cancer centers. An ORR of 7%
      (five of 76) was observed in the overall study population, 10% (four of 40) in
      patients who were EGFR wild-type, and 4% (one of 28) in those with EGFR
      mutations. Although both EGFR groups were below the target ORR of 20%, among the
      three patients with an ALK gene rearrangement, two had partial responses and the
      third had prolonged stable disease (7.2 months, 24% reduction in tumor size). The
      most common adverse events included grades 1 and 2 fatigue, nausea, and diarrhea.
      Grade 3 or higher liver function abnormalities were observed in nine patients
      (11.8%). CONCLUSION: IPI-504 has clinical activity in patients with NSCLC,
      particularly among patients with ALK rearrangements.

PMID- 20940190
TI  - Atrial fibrillation and stroke associated with intravenous bisphosphonate therapy
      in older patients with cancer.
AB  - PURPOSE: Recent studies have linked the use of intravenous and orally
      administered bisphosphonates with subsequent development of atrial fibrillation.
      Patients with cancer who receive intravenous bisphosphonate therapy may be at
      particular risk for this adverse event because they receive higher doses of these
      drugs than do patients treated for other indications. We examined the association
      of intravenous bisphosphonates with atrial fibrillation, all classifications of
      supraventricular tachycardia (SVT), and stroke among older patients with cancer.
      PATIENTS AND METHODS: Using Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER)
      Medicare-linked data, we identified older (>= age 65 years) patients with cancer
      who were treated with intravenous infusions of bisphosphonates between January 1,
      1995 and December 31, 2003. We then matched 13,714 bisphosphonate nonusers to
      6,857 bisphosphonate users, at a 2:1 ratio, on cancer type, age, sex, presence of
      bone metastases, and SEER geographic region. Patients were observed until
      December 31, 2003 or until they lost coverage from Medicare Parts A and B;
      enrolled in a health maintenance organization; received a diagnosis of atrial
      fibrillation, any SVT, or stroke; or died. RESULTS: Receipt of intravenous
      bisphosphonates was modestly associated with an increased risk for atrial
      fibrillation (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.30; 95% CI, 1.18 to 1.43), all SVT (HR =
      1.28; 95% CI, 1.19 to 1.38), and stroke (HR = 1.30; 95% CI, 1.09 to 1.54). The
      risk for all SVT increased 7% for each increase of five bisphosphonate dose
      equivalents (HR = 1.07; 95% CI, 1.02 to 1.12). CONCLUSION: Clinicians who treat
      patients with cancer who have received intravenous bisphosphonates should be
      aware of the possible cardiovascular adverse events associated with this
      treatment.

PMID- 20940191
TI  - Survival patterns in patients with Hodgkin's lymphoma with a pre-existing
      hospital discharge diagnosis of autoimmune disease.
AB  - PURPOSE: Autoimmune diseases (AIs) are associated with elevated risk for
      Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL); however, information on the interplay of AIs and HL on
      survival is sparse. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We evaluated survival patterns for
      7,414 patients with HL in relation to a pre-existing hospital discharge diagnosis
      of an AI. We also assessed survival patterns in relation to a prior AI diagnosis
      among 29,240 population-based matched controls. RESULTS: Among female patients
      with HL with (v those without) a pre-existing AI, the 5-year and 10-year overall
      survival was 46.0% (63.3%) and 41.0% (51.9%); for males, the corresponding
      numbers were 48.5% (59.2%) and 43.6% (51.5%), respectively (P < .001). Among
      female controls with (v those without) a pre-existing AI, the 5-year and 10-year
      overall survival was 79.1% (90.2%) and 67.2% (83.3%); for males, the
      corresponding numbers were 82.5% (90.3%) and 68.6% (81.6%), respectively (P <
      .001). Female patients with HL with (v those without) a pre-existing AI had a 1.8
      fold (range, 1.3- to 2.4-fold) increased relative risk of dying at 5 years of
      follow-up; for males, the corresponding excess relative risk of dying was 1.7
      fold (range, 1.3- to 2.2-fold). CONCLUSION: Patients with HL have an overall
      excellent outcome from treatment but also pose some of the most complex
      challenges of cancer survivorship due to many late effects (eg, second
      malignancies, thyroid disease, cardiovascular disease, and altered reproductive
      and sexual function). Our finding that patients with HL with a hospital discharge
      diagnosis of an AI have a substantially higher risk of dying, emphasizes that
      underlying chronic diseases, such as AIs, should be high of the list of
      survivorship concerns for clinicians that treat HL.

PMID- 20940192
TI  - Association of DNA repair gene polymorphisms with response to platinum-based
      doublet chemotherapy in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer.
AB  - PURPOSE: To identify polymorphisms in DNA repair genes that affect responses to
      platinum-based doublet chemotherapy in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer
      (NSCLC). PATIENTS AND METHODS: In total, 640 patients with NSCLC who received
      platinum-based doublet chemotherapy in the National Cancer Center Hospital in
      Japan from 2000 to 2008 and whose responses were evaluated by Response Evaluation
      Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) participated in a study of the association
      between response and genotypes for 30 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in
      27 DNA repair genes. Candidate SNPs were selected in a discovery set of 201
      patients, and their associations were validated in an independent set of 439
      patients by prespecified P value criteria. RESULTS: Homozygotes for the minor
      allele TP53-72Pro of the Arg72Pro SNP in the TP53 gene showed a better response
      rate (54.3%) than those for the major allele TP53-72Arg (29.1%; P = 4.4 * 10(-5))
      irrespective of therapeutic regimens, and minor allele homozygotes had
      significantly longer progression-free and overall survivals than major allele
      homozygotes (hazard ratio [HR], 0.85; 95% CI, 0.74 to 0.98; P = .020; and HR,
      0.86; 95% CI, 0.74 to 0.99; P = .039). Minor allele carriers for SNP Lys940Arg in
      the poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase 1 (PARP1) gene showed a better response rate to
      the paclitaxel regimen (45.8%) than to the gemcitabine regimen (10.5%; P for
      interaction = .019). CONCLUSION: Polymorphisms in the TP53 and PARP1 genes are
      involved in inter-individual differences in the response to platinum-based
      doublet chemotherapy in patients with NSCLC.

PMID- 20940193
TI  - Screening for distress in lung and breast cancer outpatients: a randomized
      controlled trial.
AB  - PURPOSE: Distress has been recognized as the sixth vital sign in cancer care and
      several guidelines recommend routine screening. Despite this, screening for
      distress is rarely conducted and infrequently evaluated. METHODS: A program of
      routine online screening for distress was implemented for new patients with
      breast and lung cancer. Patients were randomly assigned to one of three
      conditions: (1) minimal screening: the distress thermometer (DT) only plus usual
      care; (2) full screening: DT, problem checklist, Psychological Screen for Cancer
      part C measuring anxiety and depression, a personalized report summarizing
      concerns and the report on the medical file; or (3) triage: full screening plus
      optional personalized phone triage with referral to resources. Patients in all
      conditions received an information packet and were reassessed 3 months later with
      the full screening battery. RESULTS: Five hundred eighty-five patients with
      breast cancer and 549 patients with lung cancer were assessed at baseline (89% of
      all patients), and 75.5% retained for follow-up. High prevalence of baseline
      distress was found across patients. Twenty percent fewer patients with lung
      cancer in triage continued to have high distress at follow-up compared to those
      in the other two groups, and patients with breast cancer in the full screening
      and triage conditions showed lower distress at follow-up than those in minimal
      screening. The best predictor of decreased anxiety and depression in full
      screening and triage conditions was receiving a referral to psychosocial
      services. CONCLUSION: Routine online screening is feasible in a large cancer
      center and may help to reduce future distress levels, particularly when coupled
      with uptake of appropriate resources.

PMID- 20940194
TI  - Bevacizumab and everolimus in renal cancer: a rational way forward.

PMID- 20940195
TI  - Patient benefits from psychosocial care: screening for distress and models of
      care.

PMID- 20940196
TI  - Paraneoplastic hepatic dysfunction in metastatic prostate cancer: the role of
      cytokine dysregulation.

PMID- 20940197
TI  - Survival and prognostic factors of early childhood medulloblastoma: an
      international meta-analysis.
AB  - PURPOSE: To assess the prognostic role of clinical parameters and histology in
      early childhood medulloblastoma. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Clinical and histologic
      data from 270 children younger than age 5 years diagnosed with medulloblastoma
      between March 1987 and July 2004 and treated within prospective trials of five
      national study groups were centrally analyzed. RESULTS: Two hundred sixty
      children with medulloblastoma and specified histologic subtype were eligible for
      analysis (median age, 1.89 years; median follow-up, 8.0 years). Rates for 8-year
      event-free survival (EFS) and overall survival (OS) were 55% and 76%,
      respectively, in 108 children with desmoplastic/nodular medulloblastoma (DNMB) or
      medulloblastoma with extensive nodularity (MBEN); 27% and 42%, respectively, in
      145 children with classic medulloblastoma (CMB); and 14% and 14%, respectively,
      in seven children with large-cell/anaplastic (LC/A) medulloblastoma (P < .001).
      Histology (DNMB/MBEN: hazard ratio [HR], 0.44; 95% CI, 0.31 to 0.64; LC/A
      medulloblastoma: HR, 2.27; 95% CI, 0.95 to 5.54; P < .001 compared with CMB),
      incomplete resection and metastases (M0R1: HR, 1.86; 95% CI, 1.29 to 2.80; M+:
      HR, 2.28; 95% CI, 1.50 to 3.46; P < .001 compared with M0R0), and national group
      were independent prognostic factors for EFS, and OS. The HRs for OS ranged from
      0.14 for localized M0 and DNMB/MBEN to 13.67 for metastatic LC/A medulloblastoma
      in different national groups. CONCLUSION: Our results confirm the high frequency
      of desmoplastic variants of medulloblastomas in early childhood and
      histopathology as a strong independent prognostic factor. A controlled de
      escalation of treatment may be appropriate for young children with DNMB and MBEN
      in future clinical trials.

PMID- 20940198
TI  - Synchronous presentation of B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small-cell
      lymphoma and colon adenocarcinoma within the same mesenteric lymph nodes and a
      single liver metastasis.

PMID- 20940199
TI  - Second malignancy risks after non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and chronic lymphocytic
      leukemia: differences by lymphoma subtype.
AB  - PURPOSE: Previous studies have shown increased risks of second malignancies after
      non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL); however, no
      earlier investigation has quantified differences in risk of new malignancy by
      lymphoma subtype. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We evaluated second cancer and leukemia
      risks among 43,145 1-year survivors of CLL/small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL),
      diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), or follicular lymphoma (FL) from 11
      Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) population-based registries
      during 1992 to 2006. RESULTS: Among patients without HIV/AIDS-related lymphoma,
      lung cancer risks were significantly elevated after CLL/SLL and FL but not after
      DLBCL (standardized incidence ratio [SIR], CLL/SLL = 1.42, FL = 1.28, DLBCL =
      1.00; Poisson regression P for difference among subtypes, P(Diff) = .001). A
      similar pattern was observed for risk of cutaneous melanoma (SIR: CLL/SLL = 1.92,
      FL = 1.60, DLBCL = 1.06; P(Diff) = .004). Acute nonlymphocytic leukemia risks
      were significantly elevated after FL and DLBCL, particularly among patients
      receiving initial chemotherapy, but not after CLL/SLL (SIR: CLL/SLL = 1.13, FL =
      5.96, DLBCL = 4.96; P(Diff) < .001). Patients with HIV/AIDS-related lymphoma (n =
      932) were predominantly diagnosed with DLBCL and had significantly and
      substantially elevated risks for second anal cancer (SIR = 120.50) and Kaposi's
      sarcoma (SIR = 138.90). CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that differing
      immunologic alterations, treatments (eg, alkylating agent chemotherapy), genetic
      susceptibilities, and other risk factors (eg, viral infections, tobacco use)
      among lymphoma subtypes contribute to the patterns of second malignancy risk.
      Elucidating these patterns may provide etiologic clues to lymphoma as well as to
      the second malignancies.

PMID- 20940204
TI  - Boehringer Ingelheim withdraws libido drug for women.

PMID- 20940200
TI  - Bortezomib-melphalan-prednisone-thalidomide followed by maintenance with
      bortezomib-thalidomide compared with bortezomib-melphalan-prednisone for initial
      treatment of multiple myeloma: a randomized controlled trial.
AB  - PURPOSE: The combination of bortezomib-melphalan-prednisone (VMP) is a new
      standard of care for newly diagnosed multiple myeloma. This phase III study
      examined the efficacy of the four-drug combination of bortezomib-melphalan
      prednisone-thalidomide (VMPT) followed by maintenance with bortezomib-thalidomide
      (VMPT-VT) compared with VMP treatment alone in untreated multiple myeloma
      patients who are ineligible for autologous stem-cell transplantation. PATIENTS
      AND METHODS: A total of 511 patients were randomly assigned to receive nine
      cycles of VMPT followed by continuous VT as maintenance, or nine cycles of VMP at
      the same doses with no additional therapy. The primary end point was progression
      free survival. RESULTS: The 3-year estimates of progression-free survival were
      56% in patients receiving VMPT-VT and 41% in those receiving VMP (hazard ratio
      [HR], 0.67; 95% CI, 0.50 to 0.90; P = .008). At 3 years, the cumulative
      proportions of patients who did not go on to the next therapy were 72% with VMPT
      VT and 60% with VMP (HR, 0.58; 95% CI, 0.50 to 0.90; P = .007). Complete response
      rates were 38% in the VMPT-VT group and 24% in the VMP group (P < .001). The 3
      year overall survival was 89% with VMPT-VT and 87% with VMP (HR, 0.92; 95% CI,
      0.53 to 1.60; P = .77). Grade 3 to 4 neutropenia (38% v 28%; P = .02),
      cardiologic events (10% v 5%; P = .04), and thromboembolic events (5% v 2%; P =
      .08) were more frequent among patients assigned to the VMPT-VT group than among
      those assigned to the VMP group; treatment-related deaths were 4% with VMPT-VT
      and 3% with VMP. CONCLUSION: VMPT followed by VT as maintenance was superior to
      VMP alone in patients with multiple myeloma who are ineligible for autologous
      stem-cell transplantation.

PMID- 20940208
TI  - First patient enters trial to test safety of stem cells in spinal injury.

PMID- 20940210
TI  - Are measures of patient satisfaction hopelessly flawed?

PMID- 20940209
TI  - Reboxetine for acute treatment of major depression: systematic review and meta
      analysis of published and unpublished placebo and selective serotonin reuptake
      inhibitor controlled trials.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To assess the benefits and harms of reboxetine versus placebo or
      selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) in the acute treatment of
      depression, and to measure the impact of potential publication bias in trials of
      reboxetine. DESIGN: Systematic review and meta-analysis including unpublished
      data. DATA SOURCES: Bibliographic databases (Medline, Embase, PsycINFO, BIOSIS,
      and Cochrane Library), clinical trial registries, trial results databases, and
      regulatory authority websites up until February 2009, as well as unpublished data
      from the manufacturer of reboxetine (Pfizer, Berlin). ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA:
      Double blind, randomised, controlled trials of acute treatment (six weeks or
      more) with reboxetine versus placebo or SSRIs in adults with major depression.
      OUTCOME MEASURES: Remission and response rates (benefit outcomes), as well as
      rates of patients with at least one adverse event and withdrawals owing to
      adverse events (harm outcomes). DATA EXTRACTION AND DATA SYNTHESIS: The
      procedures for data extraction and assessment of risk of bias were always
      conducted by one person and checked by another. If feasible, data were pooled by
      meta-analyses (random effects model). Publication bias was measured by comparing
      results of published and unpublished trials. RESULTS: We analysed 13 acute
      treatment trials that were placebo controlled, SSRI controlled, or both, which
      included 4098 patients. Data on 74% (3033/4098) of these patients were
      unpublished. In the reboxetine versus placebo comparison, no significant
      differences in remission rates were shown (odds ratio 1.17, 95% confidence
      interval 0.91 to 1.51; P=0.216). Substantial heterogeneity (I(2)=67.3%) was shown
      in the meta-analysis of the eight trials that investigated response rates for
      reboxetine versus placebo. A sensitivity analysis that excluded a small inpatient
      trial showed no significant difference in response rates between patients
      receiving reboxetine and those receiving placebo (OR 1.24, 95% CI 0.98 to 1.56;
      P=0.071; I(2)=42.1%). Reboxetine was inferior to SSRIs (fluoxetine, paroxetine,
      and citalopram) for remission rates (OR 0.80, 95% CI 0.67 to 0.96; P=0.015) and
      response rates (OR 0.80, 95% CI 0.67 to 0.95; P=0.01). Reboxetine was inferior to
      placebo for both harm outcomes (P<0.001 for both), and to fluoxetine for
      withdrawals owing to adverse events (OR 1.79, 95% CI 1.06 to 3.05; P=0.031).
      Published data overestimated the benefit of reboxetine versus placebo by up to
      115% and reboxetine versus SSRIs by up to 23%, and also underestimated harm.
      CONCLUSIONS: Reboxetine is, overall, an ineffective and potentially harmful
      antidepressant. Published evidence is affected by publication bias, underlining
      the urgent need for mandatory publication of trial data.

PMID- 20940211
TI  - Finding studies on reboxetine: a tale of hide and seek.

PMID- 20940212
TI  - Patients' experience and satisfaction in primary care: secondary analysis using
      multilevel modelling.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To explore whether responses to questions in surveys of patients that
      purport to assess the performance of general practices or doctors reflect
      differences between practices, doctors, or the patients themselves. DESIGN:
      Secondary analysis of data from a study of access to general practice, combining
      data from a survey of patients with information about practice organisation and
      doctors consulted, and using multilevel modelling at practice, doctor, and
      patient level. SETTING: Nine primary care trusts in England. PARTICIPANTS: 4573
      patients who consulted 150 different doctors in 27 practices. MAIN OUTCOME
      MEASURES: Overall satisfaction; experience of wait for an appointment; reported
      access to care; satisfaction with communication skills. RESULTS: The experience
      based measure of wait for an appointment was more discriminating between
      practices (practice level accounted for 20.2% (95% confidence interval 9.1% to
      31.3%) of variance) than was the overall satisfaction measure (practice level
      accounted for 4.6% (1.6% to 7.6%) of variance). Only 6.3% (3.8% to 8.9%) of the
      variance in the doctors' communication skills measure was due to differences
      between doctors; 92.4% (88.5% to 96.4%) of the variance occurred at the level of
      the patient (including differences between patients' perceptions and random
      variation). At least 79% of the variance on all measures occurred at the level of
      the patient, and patients' age, sex, ethnicity, and housing and employment status
      explained some of this variation. However, adjustment for patients'
      characteristics made very little difference to practices' scores or the ranking
      of individual practices. CONCLUSIONS: Analyses of surveys of patients should take
      account of the hierarchical nature of the data by using multilevel models.
      Measures related to patients' experience discriminate more effectively between
      practices than do measures of general satisfaction. Surveys of patients'
      satisfaction fail to distinguish effectively between individual doctors because
      most of the variation in doctors' reported performance is due to differences
      between patients and random error rather than differences between doctors.
      Although patients' reports of satisfaction and experience are systematically
      related to patients' characteristics such as age and sex, the effect of adjusting
      practices' scores for the characteristics of their patients is small.

PMID- 20940213
TI  - Data availability for industry sponsored trials: what should medical journals
      require?

PMID- 20940214
TI  - Commentary: Journals must facilitate the dissemination and scrutiny of clinical
      research.

PMID- 20940215
TI  - Commentary: But what should journals actually do to keep industry sponsored
      research unbiased?

PMID- 20940216
TI  - Commentary: RECORD response.

PMID- 20940217
TI  - Missing clinical trial data: setting the record straight.

PMID- 20940219
TI  - Misleading communication of risk.

PMID- 20940218
TI  - What do we mean by Alzheimer's disease?

PMID- 20940221
TI  - GMC imposes conditions on surgeon's registration after two babies die.

PMID- 20940223
TI  - Evolutionary crossroads in developmental biology: Physcomitrella patens.
AB  - The moss Physcomitrella patens has recently emerged as a powerful genetically
      tractable model plant system. As a member of the bryophytes, P. patens provides a
      unique opportunity to study the evolution of a myriad of plant traits, such as
      polarized cell growth, gametophyte-to-sporophyte transitions, and sperm-to-pollen
      transition. The availability of a complete genome sequence, together with the
      ability to perform gene targeting efficiently in P. patens has spurred a flurry
      of elegant reverse genetic studies in this plant model that address a variety of
      key questions in plant developmental biology.

PMID- 20940222
TI  - From language comprehension to action understanding and back again.
AB  - A controversial question in cognitive neuroscience is whether comprehension of
      words and sentences engages brain mechanisms specific for decoding linguistic
      meaning or whether language comprehension occurs through more domain-general
      sensorimotor processes. Accumulating behavioral and neuroimaging evidence
      suggests a role for cortical motor and premotor areas in passive action-related
      language tasks, regions that are known to be involved in action execution and
      observation. To examine the involvement of these brain regions in language and
      nonlanguage tasks, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) on a
      group of 21 healthy adults. During the fMRI session, all participants 1) watched
      short object-related action movies, 2) looked at pictures of man-made objects,
      and 3) listened to and produced short sentences describing object-related actions
      and man-made objects. Our results are among the first to reveal, in the human
      brain, a functional specialization within the ventral premotor cortex (PMv) for
      observing actions and for observing objects, and a different organization for
      processing sentences describing actions and objects. These findings argue against
      the strongest version of the simulation theory for the processing of action
      related language.

PMID- 20940224
TI  - Adult epidermal Notch activity induces dermal accumulation of T cells and neural
      crest derivatives through upregulation of jagged 1.
AB  - Notch signalling regulates epidermal differentiation and tumour formation via non
      cell autonomous mechanisms that are incompletely understood. This study shows
      that epidermal Notch activation via a 4-hydroxy-tamoxifen-inducible transgene
      caused epidermal thickening, focal detachment from the underlying dermis and hair
      clumping. In addition, there was dermal accumulation of T lymphocytes and stromal
      cells, some of which localised to the blisters at the epidermal-dermal boundary.
      The T cell infiltrate was responsible for hair clumping but not for other Notch
      phenotypes. Notch-induced stromal cells were heterogeneous, expressing markers of
      neural crest, melanocytes, smooth muscle and peripheral nerve. Although Slug1
      expression was expanded in the epidermis, the stromal cells did not arise through
      epithelial-mesenchymal transition. Epidermal Notch activation resulted in
      upregulation of jagged 1 in both epidermis and dermis. When Notch was activated
      in the absence of epidermal jagged 1, jagged 1 was not upregulated in the dermis,
      and epidermal thickening, blister formation, accumulation of T cells and stromal
      cells were inhibited. Gene expression profiling revealed that epidermal Notch
      activation resulted in upregulation of several growth factors and cytokines,
      including TNFalpha, the expression of which was dependent on epidermal jagged 1.
      We conclude that jagged 1 is a key mediator of non-cell autonomous Notch
      signalling in skin.

PMID- 20940225
TI  - Embryonic multipotent progenitors remodel the Drosophila airways during
      metamorphosis.
AB  - Adult structures in holometabolous insects such as Drosophila are generated by
      groups of imaginal cells dedicated to the formation of different organs. Imaginal
      cells are specified in the embryo and remain quiescent until the larval stages,
      when they proliferate and differentiate to form organs. The Drosophila tracheal
      system is extensively remodeled during metamorphosis by a small number of airway
      progenitors. Among these, the spiracular branch tracheoblasts are responsible for
      the generation of the pupal and adult abdominal airways. To understand the
      coordination of proliferation and differentiation during organogenesis of tubular
      organs, we analyzed the remodeling of Drosophila airways during metamorphosis. We
      show that the embryonic spiracular branch tracheoblasts are multipotent cells
      that express the homeobox transcription factor Cut, which is necessary for their
      survival and normal development. They give rise to three distinct cell
      populations at the end of larval development, which generate the adult tracheal
      tubes, the spiracle and the epidermis surrounding the spiracle. Our study
      establishes the series of events that lead to the formation of an adult tubular
      structure in Drosophila.

PMID- 20940227
TI  - Expression and function of the empty spiracles gene in olfactory sense organ
      development of Drosophila melanogaster.
AB  - In Drosophila, the cephalic gap gene empty spiracles plays key roles in embryonic
      patterning of the peripheral and central nervous system. During postembryonic
      development, it is involved in the development of central olfactory circuitry in
      the antennal lobe of the adult. However, its possible role in the postembryonic
      development of peripheral olfactory sense organs has not been investigated. Here,
      we show that empty spiracles acts in a subset of precursors that generate the
      olfactory sense organs of the adult antenna. All empty spiracles-expressing
      precursor cells co-express the proneural gene amos and the early patterning gene
      lozenge. Moreover, the expression of empty spiracles in these precursor cells is
      dependent on both amos and lozenge. Functional analysis reveals two distinct
      roles of empty spiracles in the development of olfactory sense organs. Genetic
      interaction studies in a lozenge-sensitized background uncover a requirement of
      empty spiracles in the formation of trichoid and basiconic olfactory sensilla.
      MARCM-based clonal mutant analysis reveals an additional role during axonal
      targeting of olfactory sensory neurons to glomeruli within the antennal lobe. Our
      findings on empty spiracles action in olfactory sense organ development
      complement previous studies that demonstrate its requirement in olfactory
      interneurons and, taken together with studies on the murine homologs of empty
      spiracles, suggest that conserved molecular genetic programs might be responsible
      for the formation of both peripheral and central olfactory circuitry in insects
      and mammals.

PMID- 20940226
TI  - Survival strategies of a sterol auxotroph.
AB  - The high sterol concentration in eukaryotic cell membranes is thought to
      influence membrane properties such as permeability, fluidity and microdomain
      formation. Drosophila cannot synthesize sterols, but do require them for
      development. Does this simply reflect a requirement for sterols in steroid
      hormone biosynthesis, or is bulk membrane sterol also essential in Drosophila? If
      the latter is true, how do they survive fluctuations in sterol availability and
      maintain membrane homeostasis? Here, we show that Drosophila require both bulk
      membrane sterol and steroid hormones in order to complete adult development. When
      sterol availability is restricted, Drosophila larvae modulate their growth to
      maintain membrane sterol levels within tight limits. When dietary sterol drops
      below a minimal threshold, larvae arrest growth and development in a reversible
      manner. Strikingly, membrane sterol levels in arrested larvae are dramatically
      reduced (dropping sixfold on average) in most tissues except the nervous system.
      Thus, sterols are dispensable for maintaining the basic membrane biophysical
      properties required for cell viability; these functions can be performed by non
      sterol lipids when sterols are unavailable. However, bulk membrane sterol is
      likely to have essential functions in specific tissues during development. In
      tissues in which sterol levels drop, the overall level of sphingolipids increases
      and the proportion of different sphingolipid variants is altered. These changes
      allow survival, but not growth, when membrane sterol levels are low. This
      relationship between sterols and sphingolipids could be an ancient and conserved
      principle of membrane homeostasis.

PMID- 20940228
TI  - An anteroposterior wave of vascular inhibitor downregulation signals aortae
      fusion along the embryonic midline axis.
AB  - Paracrine signals, both positive and negative, regulate the positioning and
      remodeling of embryonic blood vessels. In the embryos of mammals and birds, the
      first major remodeling event is the fusion of bilateral dorsal aortae at the
      midline to form the dorsal aorta. Although the original bilaterality of the
      dorsal aortae occurs as the result of inhibitory factors (antagonists of BMP
      signaling) secreted from the midline by the notochord, it is unknown how fusion
      is later signaled. Here, we report that dorsal aortae fusion is tightly regulated
      by a change in signaling by the notochord along the anteroposterior axis. During
      aortae fusion, the notochord ceases to exert its negative influence on vessel
      formation. This is achieved by a transcriptional downregulation of negative
      regulators while positive regulators are maintained at pre-fusion levels. In
      particular, Chordin, the most abundant BMP antagonist expressed in the notochord
      prior to fusion, undergoes a dramatic downregulation in an anterior to posterior
      wave. With inhibitory signals diminished and sustained expression of the positive
      factors SHH and VEGF at the midline, fusion of the dorsal aortae is signaled.
      These results demonstrate a novel mechanism by which major modifications of the
      vascular pattern can occur through modulation of vascular inhibitors without
      changes in the levels of positive vascular regulators.

PMID- 20940229
TI  - Frizzled 1 and frizzled 2 genes function in palate, ventricular septum and neural
      tube closure: general implications for tissue fusion processes.
AB  - The closure of an open anatomical structure by the directed growth and fusion of
      two tissue masses is a recurrent theme in mammalian embryology, and this process
      plays an integral role in the development of the palate, ventricular septum,
      neural tube, urethra, diaphragm and eye. In mice, targeted mutations of the genes
      encoding frizzled 1 (Fz1) and frizzled 2 (Fz2) show that these highly homologous
      integral membrane receptors play an essential and partially redundant role in
      closure of the palate and ventricular septum, and in the correct positioning of
      the cardiac outflow tract. When combined with a mutant allele of the planar cell
      polarity gene Vangl2 (Vangl2(Lp)), Fz1 and/or Fz2 mutations also cause defects in
      neural tube closure and misorientation of inner ear sensory hair cells. These
      observations indicate that frizzled signaling is involved in diverse tissue
      closure processes, defects in which account for some of the most common
      congenital anomalies in humans.

PMID- 20940230
TI  - Disabled is a bona fide component of the Abl signaling network.
AB  - Abl is an essential regulator of cell migration and morphogenesis in both
      vertebrates and invertebrates. It has long been speculated that the adaptor
      protein Disabled (Dab), which is a key regulator of neuronal migration in the
      vertebrate brain, might be a component of this signaling pathway, but this idea
      has been controversial. We now demonstrate that null mutations of Drosophila Dab
      result in phenotypes that mimic Abl mutant phenotypes, both in axon guidance and
      epithelial morphogenesis. The Dab mutant interacts genetically with mutations in
      Abl, and with mutations in the Abl accessory factors trio and enabled (ena).
      Genetic epistasis tests show that Dab functions upstream of Abl and ena, and,
      consistent with this, we show that Dab is required for the subcellular
      localization of these two proteins. We therefore infer that Dab is a bona fide
      component of the core Abl signaling pathway in Drosophila.

PMID- 20940231
TI  - Nutritional assessment and length of hospital stay.

PMID- 20940232
TI  - 2010 clinical practice guidelines for the diagnosis and management of
      osteoporosis in Canada: summary.

PMID- 20940233
TI  - Nutritional parameters associated with prolonged hospital stay among ambulatory
      adult patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Comprehensive evaluations of the nutritional parameters associated
      with length of hospital stay are lacking. We investigated the association between
      malnutrition and length of hospital stay in a cohort of ambulatory adult
      patients. METHODS: From September 2006 to June 2009, we systematically evaluated
      1274 ambulatory adult patients admitted to hospital for medical or surgical
      treatment. We evaluated the associations between malnutrition and prolonged
      hospital stay (> 17 days [> 75th percentile of distribution]) using multivariable
      log-linear models adjusted for several potential nutritional and clinical
      confounders recorded at admission and collected during and at the end of the
      hospital stay. RESULTS: Nutritional factors associated with a prolonged hospital
      stay were a Nutritional Risk Index score of less than 97.5 (relative risk [RR]
      1.64, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.31-2.06) and an in-hospital weight loss of
      5% or greater (RR 1.60, 95% CI 1.30-1.97). Sensitivity analysis of data for
      patients discharged alive and who had a length of stay of at least three days (n
      = 1073) produced similar findings (adjusted RR 1.51, 95% CI 1.20-1.89, for
      Nutritional Risk Index score < 97.5). A significant association was also found
      with in-hospital starvation of three or more days (RR 1.14, 95% CI 1.01-1.28).
      INTERPRETATION: Nutritional risk at admission was strongly associated with a
      prolonged hospital stay among ambulatory adult patients. Another factor
      associated with length of stay was worsening nutritional status during the
      hospital stay, whose cause-effect relationship with length of stay should be
      clarified in intervention trials. Clinicians need to be aware of the impact of
      malnutrition and of the potential role of worsening nutritional status in
      prolonging hospital stay.

PMID- 20940234
TI  - Effect of antenatal peer support on breastfeeding initiation: a systematic
      review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Our objective was to examine the effect of antenatal peer support on
      rates of breastfeeding initiation. METHODS: We performed a systematic review of
      randomized controlled trials, quasi-randomized trials and cohort studies with
      concurrent controls. We searched the Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, the Cumulative
      Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), the National Research
      Register and the British Nursing Index from inception or from 1980 to 2009. We
      carried out study selection, data abstraction and quality assessment
      independently and in duplicate. We defined high-quality studies as those that
      minimized the risk of at least three of the following types of bias: selection,
      performance, measurement and attrition bias. We calculated risk ratios (RRs) and
      95% confidence intervals (CIs) for individual studies and undertook separate meta
      analyses for high-quality trials of universal peer support and targeted peer
      support. We did not include low-quality studies. RESULTS: We selected 11 studies,
      which involved 5445 women in total. Seven of these studies (involving 4416 women
      in total) evaluated universal peer support, and four studies (involving 1029
      women in total) targeted antenatal peer support. In the three high-quality
      studies of universal peer support, all involving low-income women, the relative
      risk for not initiating breastfeeding was 0.96 (95% CI 0.76-1.22). In the three
      high-quality studies of antenatal peer support that targeted women considering
      breastfeeding, the relative risk for not initiating breastfeeding was 0.64 (95%
      CI 0.41-0.99). INTERPRETATION: Universal antenatal peer support does not appear
      to improve rates of breastfeeding initiation, but targeted antenatal peer support
      may be beneficial. This effect may be related to context, however, so any new
      peer-support program should undergo concurrent high-quality evaluation.

PMID- 20940235
TI  - New osteoporosis guidelines for Canada.

PMID- 20940238
TI  - Shortness of breath while sitting up: hepatopulmonary syndrome.

PMID- 20940239
TI  - Shortness of breath while lying down: a woman with orthopneic asthma.

PMID- 20940240
TI  - New mechanisms to fund global health programs receive rough reception.

PMID- 20940241
TI  - Wait still on for antimicrobial surveillance.

PMID- 20940242
TI  - Carabapenem-resistant bacteria a looming threat in Canada.

PMID- 20940243
TI  - Dirty cookstoves pose enormous health risk.

PMID- 20940244
TI  - Medical credit cards come under scrutiny.

PMID- 20940245
TI  - A better understanding of BRCA2 function.

PMID- 20940246
TI  - Generation of an osteogenic graft from human placenta and placenta-derived
      mesenchymal stem cells.
AB  - The objective of the study was to determine the feasibility of generating a
      biodegradable, stem cell-loaded osteogenic composite graft from human placenta.
      Initially, a scaffold from human chorion membrane was produced. Human placenta
      mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) derived from either first-trimester chorionic villi
      or term chorion membrane were differentiated osteogenically on this scaffold.
      Outgrowth, adherence, and osteogenic differentiation of cells were assessed by
      immunohistochemistry (IHC), scanning electron microscopy, protein expression, and
      real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Our results showed that a cell-free
      extracellular matrix scaffold can be generated from human chorion. Seeded MSCs
      densely adhered to that scaffold and were osteogenically differentiated. Calcium
      and alkaline phosphatase were detected in the cell-scaffold constructs as a proof
      of mineralization and findings were confirmed by IHC and RT-PCR results. This
      study shows for the first time that generation of an osteogenic composite graft
      using placental tissue is feasible. It might allow therapeutic application of
      autologous or allogeneic grafts in congenital skeletal defects by means of a
      composite graft.

PMID- 20940247
TI  - Deregulation of LOXL1 and HTRA1 gene expression in endometriosis.
AB  - Endometriosis is a gynecologic disease characterized by the presence of
      endometrial tissue outside the uterine cavity. Although 15% of the female
      population in reproductive age is affected by endometriosis, its pathogenesis
      remains unclear. According to the most accepted pathogenesis hypothesis,
      endometrial fragments from the menstrual phase are transported through the
      uterine tubes to the peritoneal cavity, where they undergo implantation and
      growth, invading adjacent tissues. However, the establishment of the disease
      requires that endometrial cells present molecular characteristics favoring the
      onset and progression of ectopic implantation. In this investigation, we analyzed
      the differential gene expression profiles of peritoneal and ovarian endometriotic
      lesions compared to the endometrial tissue of nonaffected women using rapid
      subtraction hybridization (RaSH). In our study, this method was applied to
      samples of endometriotic lesions from affected women and to biopsies of
      endometrium of healthy women without endometriosis, where we could identify 126
      deregulated genes. To evaluate the expression of genes found by RaSH method, we
      measured LOXL1, HTRA1, and SPARC genes by real-time polymerase chain reaction.
      Significant different expression was obtained for HTRA1 and LOXL1, upregulated in
      the ectopic endometrium, suggesting that these genes are involved in the
      physiopathology of endometriosis and may favor the viability of endometrial cells
      at ectopic sites.

PMID- 20940248
TI  - Geographic variation and trends in carotid imaging among medicare beneficiaries,
      2001 to 2006.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Diagnostic imaging among Medicare beneficiaries is an important
      contributor to rising health care costs. We examined temporal trends and
      geographic variation in the use of carotid ultrasound, carotid magnetic resonance
      angiography (MRA), and carotid x-ray angiography. METHODS AND RESULTS: Analysis
      of a 5% national sample of claims from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid
      Services for 1999 through 2006. Patients were 65 years or older and underwent
      carotid ultrasound, carotid MRA, carotid x-ray angiography, or a carotid
      intervention. The main outcome measures were annual age-adjusted rates of carotid
      imaging and interventions and factors associated with the use of carotid imaging.
      Rates of imaging increased by 27%, from 98.2 per 1000 person-years in 2001 to
      124.3 per 1000 in 2006. Rates of carotid ultrasound increased by 23%, and rates
      of MRA increased by 66%. Carotid intervention rates decreased from 3.6 per 1000
      person-years in 2001 to 3.1 per 1000 person-years in 2006. In 2006, rates of
      carotid ultrasound were lowest in the New England, Mountain, and West North
      Central regions and highest in the Middle Atlantic and South Atlantic regions.
      Regional differences persisted after adjustment for patient demographic
      characteristics, history of vascular disease and other comorbid conditions, and
      study year. CONCLUSIONS: From 2001 through 2006, there was substantial growth and
      variation in the use of carotid imaging, including a marked increase in the use
      of MRA, and a decrease in the overall rate of carotid intervention.

PMID- 20940249
TI  - Vascular hospitalization rates and costs in patients with peripheral artery
      disease in the United States.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Peripheral artery disease (PAD) is common and imposes a high risk of
      major systemic and limb ischemic events. The REduction of Atherothrombosis for
      Continued Health (REACH) Registry is an international prospective registry of
      patients at risk of atherothrombosis caused by established arterial disease or
      the presence of >=3 atherothrombotic risk factors. METHODS AND RESULTS: We
      compared the 2-year rates of vascular-related hospitalizations and associated
      costs in US patients with established PAD across patient subgroups. Symptomatic
      PAD at enrollment was identified on the basis of current intermittent
      claudication with an ankle-brachial index (ABI) <0.90 or a history of lower-limb
      revascularization or amputation. Asymptomatic PAD was diagnosed on the basis of
      an enrollment ABI <0.90 in the absence of symptoms. Overall, 25 763 of the total
      68 236-patient REACH cohort were enrolled from US sites; 2396 (9.3%) had
      symptomatic and 213 (0.8%) had asymptomatic PAD at baseline. One- and cumulative
      2-year follow-up data were available for 2137 (82%) and 1677 (64%) of US REACH
      patients with either symptomatic or asymptomatic PAD, respectively. At 2 years,
      mean cumulative hospitalization costs, per patient, were $7445, $7000, $10 430,
      and $11 693 for patients with asymptomatic PAD, a history of claudication, lower
      limb amputation, and revascularization, respectively (P=0.007). A history of
      peripheral intervention (lower-limb revascularization or amputation) was
      associated with higher rates of subsequent procedures at both 1 and 2 years.
      CONCLUSIONS: The economic burden of PAD is high. Recurring hospitalizations and
      repeat revascularization procedures suggest that neither patients, physicians,
      nor healthcare systems should assume that a first admission for a lower-extremity
      PAD procedure serves as a permanent resolution of this costly and debilitating
      condition.

PMID- 20940250
TI  - Improvements in symptoms and quality of life in patients with paroxysmal atrial
      fibrillation treated with radiofrequency catheter ablation versus antiarrhythmic
      drugs.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (AF), catheter
      ablation maintains sinus rhythm more effectively than antiarrhythmic drugs
      (AADs), but its effect on symptoms and quality of life (QOL) has not been fully
      characterized. METHODS AND RESULTS: We evaluated symptoms and QOL in a
      multicenter, randomized trial comparing catheter ablation with AADs as second
      line treatment for patients with paroxysmal AF. The Short Form (SF)-36 health
      survey and the AF Symptom Checklist were administered at baseline and 3, 6, and 9
      months after a blanking or dose-titration period. The primary between-group
      comparisons were conducted at 3 months because of permitted crossover from AAD to
      ablation beyond this time. Additional analyses based on subsequent follow-up were
      performed, including the construction of mixed linear regression models to assess
      the impact of multiple factors on follow-up QOL scores. At baseline in both the
      ablation (n=103) and the AAD (n=56) groups, 7 of 8 SF-36 scales were well below
      population norms, as were the physical (PCS) and mental (MCS) summary scores. At
      3 months, the same 7 SF-36 scales were significantly (P<0.01) higher in the
      ablation than in the AAD group, as were the PCS (52.0+/-7.8 versus 47.1+/-10.6;
      P<0.01) and MCS (52.4+/-8.1 versus 46.6+/-9.8; P<0.01) scores, whereas symptom
      frequency (9.3+/-9.2 versus 19.0+/-12.6; P<0.001) and symptom severity (7.7+/-7.2
      versus 16.2+/-10.0; P<0.001) were significantly reduced. In multivariable
      analysis, ablation and recurrent arrhythmias most strongly correlated with QOL
      changes over time. CONCLUSIONS: For second-line therapy of paroxysmal AF,
      ablation is superior to AAD treatment at improving symptoms and QOL. CLINICAL
      TRIAL REGISTRATION: URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier:
      NCT00116428.

PMID- 20940251
TI  - The impact of information disclosure on quality of care in HMO markets.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To examine the impact of voluntary information disclosure on quality
      of care in Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) markets in the USA. SETTING:
      Commercial HMOs that collected a set of standardized quality meausures, Health
      Plan Employer Data and Information Set (HEDIS), between 1997 and 2000 in the USA
      (1062 HMO-years). After collecting the HEDIS data, some HMOs disclosed their
      HEDIS-quality scores to the public (disclosing HMOs), whereas some HMOs declined
      to disclose the information (non-disclosing HMOs). DESIGN: A secondary data
      analysis based on 4 years of quality scores of HMOs. The study uses non
      disclosing plans as a control group. A treatment-effects model is used to address
      a potential bias associated with voluntary disclosure decisions by HMOs. MAIN
      OUTCOME MEASURE(S): The study focuses on 13 HEDIS clinical indicators. On the
      basis of these indicators, a plan-level composite score and four domain scores
      were constructed. The four domains are childhood immunizations, treatments/exams
      for chronic conditions, screening tests and maternity services. RESULTS: Public
      disclosure leads to an increase of 0.72 composite score units, which corresponds
      to ~7% points in original quality scale (0-100%). The degree of quality
      improvement differed by the type of services. CONCLUSIONS: Public release of
      quality information had a significant and positive effect on quality in HMO
      markets during the earlier years of the voluntary disclosure program; however,
      the improvement was not universal across all quality measures.

PMID- 20940253
TI  - Ca2+ chemotaxis in Dictyostelium discoideum.
AB  - Using a newly developed microfluidic chamber, we have demonstrated in vitro that
      Ca(2+) functions as a chemoattractant of aggregation-competent Dictyostelium
      discoideum amoebae, that parallel spatial gradients of cAMP and Ca(2+) are more
      effective than either alone, and that cAMP functions as a stronger
      chemoattractant than Ca(2+). Effective Ca(2+) gradients are extremely steep
      compared with effective cAMP gradients. This presents a paradox because there is
      no indication to date that steep Ca(2+) gradients are generated in aggregation
      territories. However, given that Ca(2+) chemotaxis is co-acquired with cAMP
      chemotaxis during development, we speculate on the role that Ca(2+) chemotaxis
      might have and the possibility that steep, transient Ca(2+) gradients are
      generated during natural aggregation in the interstitial regions between cells.

PMID- 20940252
TI  - Polypurine-repeat-containing RNAs: a novel class of long non-coding RNA in
      mammalian cells.
AB  - In higher eukaryotic cells, long non-protein-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been
      implicated in a wide array of cellular functions. Cell- or tissue-specific
      expression of lncRNA genes encoded in the mammalian genome is thought to
      contribute to the complex gene networks needed to regulate cellular function.
      Here, we have identified a novel species of polypurine triplet repeat-rich
      lncRNAs, designated as GAA repeat-containing RNAs (GRC-RNAs), that localize to
      numerous punctate foci in the mammalian interphase nuclei. GRC-RNAs consist of a
      heterogeneous population of RNAs, ranging in size from ~1.5 kb to ~4 kb and
      localize to subnuclear domains, several of which associate with GAA.TTC-repeat
      containing genomic regions. GRC-RNAs are components of the nuclear matrix and
      interact with various nuclear matrix-associated proteins. In mitotic cells, GRC
      RNAs form distinct cytoplasmic foci and, in telophase and G1 cells, localize to
      the midbody, a structure involved in accurate cell division. Differentiation of
      tissue culture cells leads to a decrease in the number of GRC-RNA nuclear foci,
      albeit with an increase in size as compared with proliferating cells. Conversely,
      the number of GRC-RNA foci increases during cellular transformation. We propose
      that nuclear GRC-RNAs represent a novel family of mammalian lncRNAs that might
      play crucial roles in the cell nucleus.

PMID- 20940254
TI  - Reversible transdifferentiation of blood vascular endothelial cells to a
      lymphatic-like phenotype in vitro.
AB  - Blood vascular cells and lymphatic endothelial cells (BECs and LECs,
      respectively) form two separate vascular systems and are functionally distinct
      cell types or lineages with characteristic gene expression profiles.
      Interconversion between these cell types has not been reported. Here, we show
      that in conventional in vitro angiogenesis assays, human BECs of fetal or adult
      origin show altered gene expression that is indicative of transition to a
      lymphatic-like phenotype. This change occurs in BECs undergoing tubulogenesis in
      fibrin, collagen or Matrigel assays, but is independent of tube formation per se,
      because it is not inhibited by a metalloproteinase inhibitor that blocks
      tubulogenesis. It is also reversible, since cells removed from 3D tubules revert
      to a BEC expression profile upon monolayer culture. Induction of the lymphatic
      like phenotype is partially inhibited by co-culture of HUVECs with perivascular
      cells. These data reveal an unexpected plasticity in endothelial phenotype, which
      is regulated by contact with the ECM environment and/or cues from supporting
      cells.

PMID- 20940255
TI  - Acetylation of Rb by PCAF is required for nuclear localization and keratinocyte
      differentiation.
AB  - Although the retinoblastoma protein (Rb) functions as a checkpoint in the cell
      cycle, it also regulates differentiation. It has recently been shown that Rb is
      acetylated during differentiation; however, the role of this modification has not
      been identified. Depletion of Rb levels with short hairpin RNA resulted in
      inhibition of human keratinocyte differentiation, delayed cell cycle exit and
      allowed cell cycle re-entry. Restoration of Rb levels rescued defects in
      differentiation and cell cycle exit and re-entry; however, re-expression of Rb
      with the major acetylation sites mutated did not. During keratinocyte
      differentiation, acetylation of Rb is mediated by PCAF and it is further shown
      that PCAF acetyltransferase activity is also required for normal differentiation.
      The major acetylation sites in Rb are located within the nuclear localization
      sequence and, although mutation did not alter Rb localization in cycling cells,
      the mutant is mislocalized to the cytoplasm during differentiation. Studies
      indicate that acetylation is a mechanism for controlling Rb localization in human
      keratinocytes, with either reduction of the PCAF or exogenous expression of the
      deacetylase SIRT1, resulting in mislocalization of Rb. These findings identify
      PCAF-mediated acetylation of Rb as an event required to retain Rb within the
      nucleus during keratinocyte differentiation.

PMID- 20940256
TI  - Expression of integrin beta1 by fibroblasts is required for tissue repair in
      vivo.
AB  - In tissue repair, fibroblasts migrate into the wound to produce and remodel
      extracellular matrix (ECM). Integrins are believed to be crucial for tissue
      repair, but their tissue-specific role in this process is poorly understood.
      Here, we show that mice containing a fibroblast-specific deletion of integrin
      beta1 exhibit delayed cutaneous wound closure and less granulation tissue
      formation, including reduced production of new ECM and reduced expression of
      alpha-smooth muscle actin (alpha-SMA). Integrin-beta1-deficient fibroblasts
      showed reduced expression of type I collagen and connective tissue growth factor,
      and failed to differentiate into myofibroblasts as a result of reduced alpha-SMA
      stress fiber formation. Loss of integrin beta1 in adult fibroblasts reduced their
      ability to adhere to, to spread on and to contract ECM. Within stressed collagen
      matrices, integrin-beta1-deficient fibroblasts showed reduced activation of
      latent TGFbeta. Addition of active TGFbeta alleviated the phenotype of integrin
      beta1-deficient mice. Thus integrin beta1 is essential for normal wound healing,
      where it acts, at least in part, through a TGFbeta-dependent mechanism in vivo.

PMID- 20940257
TI  - The transcription factor Znf219 regulates chondrocyte differentiation by
      assembling a transcription factory with Sox9.
AB  - Sox9 is an essential transcription factor for chondrogenesis by regulating the
      expression of chondrogenic genes. However, its regulatory mechanism is not fully
      understood. To address this, we attempted to identify the transcriptional
      partners of Sox9 by screening the cDNA library of the chondrogenic cell line
      ATDC5 using the collagen 2alpha1 (Col2alpha1) gene promoter fused to a luciferase
      reporter gene. One of the positive clones encoded the Znf219 gene. Whole mount in
      situ hybridization experiments indicated that Znf219 mRNA was specifically
      expressed in the developing limb buds where Col2alpha1 and Sox9 were strongly
      expressed. Znf219 markedly enhanced the transcriptional activity of Sox9 on the
      Col2a1 gene promoter. In addition, Znf219 is physically associated with Sox9 and
      is colocalized with Sox9 in the nucleus. We also found that overexpression of
      Znf219 profoundly increased Sox9-induced mRNA expression of Col2a1, aggrecan and
      Col11a2. Consistently, knockdown of Znf219 decreased the Sox9-induced mRNA
      expression of these genes. Furthermore, a dominant-negative mutant Znf219
      inhibited Bmp2-induced chondrocyte differentiation. Our results suggest that
      Znf219 plays an important role in the regulation of chondrocyte differentiation
      as a transcriptional partner of Sox9.

PMID- 20940258
TI  - CLP-1 associates with MyoD and HDAC to restore skeletal muscle cell regeneration.
AB  - Emerging evidence suggests that eukaryotic gene transcription is regulated
      primarily at the elongation stage by association and dissociation of the
      inhibitory protein cardiac lineage protein 1 (CLP-1/HEXIM1) from the positive
      transcription elongation factor b (P-TEFb) complex. It was reported recently that
      P-TEFb interacts with skeletal muscle-specific regulatory factor, MyoD,
      suggesting a linkage between CLP-1-mediated control of transcription and skeletal
      myogenesis. To examine this, we produced CLP-1 knockdown skeletal muscle C2C12
      cells by homologous recombination, and demonstrated that the C2C12 CLP-1 +/-
      cells failed to differentiate when challenged by low serum in the medium. We also
      showed that CLP-1 interacts with both MyoD and histone deacetylases (HDACs)
      maximally at the early stage of differentiation of C2C12 cells. This led us to
      hypothesize that the association might be crucial to inhibition of MyoD-target
      proliferative genes. Chromatin immunoprecipitation analysis revealed that the CLP
      1/MyoD/HDAC complex binds to the promoter of the cyclin D1 gene, which is
      downregulated in differentiated muscle cells. These findings suggest a novel
      transcriptional paradigm whereby CLP-1, in conjunction with MyoD and HDAC, acts
      to inhibit growth-related gene expression, a requirement for myoblasts to exit
      the cell cycle and transit to myotubes.

PMID- 20940259
TI  - Dystroglycan controls signaling of multiple hormones through modulation of STAT5
      activity.
AB  - Receptors for basement membrane (BM) proteins, including dystroglycan (DG),
      coordinate tissue development and function by mechanisms that are only partially
      defined. To further elucidate these mechanisms, we generated a conditional
      knockout of DG in the epithelial compartment of the mouse mammary gland. Deletion
      of DG caused an inhibition of mammary epithelial outgrowth and a failure of
      lactation. Surprisingly, loss of DG in vivo did not disrupt normal tissue
      architecture or BM formation, even though cultured Dag1-null epithelial cells
      failed to assemble laminin-111 at the cell surface. The absence of DG was,
      however, associated with a marked loss in activity of signal transducer and
      activator of transcription 5 (STAT5). Loss of DG perturbed STAT5 signaling
      induced by either prolactin or growth hormone. We found that DG regulates
      signaling by both hormones in a manner that is dependent on laminin-111 binding,
      but independent of the DG cytoplasmic domain, suggesting that it acts via a co
      receptor mechanism reliant on DG-mediated laminin assembly. These results
      demonstrate a requirement for DG in the growth and function of a mammalian
      epithelial tissue in vivo. Moreover, we reveal a selective role for DG in the
      control of multiple STAT5-dependent hormone signaling pathways, with implications
      for numerous diseases in which DG function is compromised.

PMID- 20940260
TI  - Wnt-dependent assembly of supermolecular Dishevelled-3-based complexes.
AB  - Dishevelled-3 (Dvl3) is a multivalent scaffold protein that is essential to Wnt
      signaling during development. Although Dvl-based punctae have been visualized by
      fluorescence microscopy; the physical nature and dynamic character of the such
      complexes are enigmatic. We use steric-exclusion chromatography, affinity pull
      downs, proteomics and fluorescence correlation microscopy to characterize
      supermolecular Dvl3-based complexes of totipotent mouse F9 cells. The molecular
      mass of the complexes ranges from that of homodimeric Dvl3 to well-defined peaks
      harboring supermolecular complexes of 0.4 to 2.0 MDa. Addition of Wnt3a
      stimulates the formation of Dvl3-based complexes of greater molecular mass within
      30 minutes. The presence of DKK1 and knockdown of Dishevelled proteins block
      formation of the 2 MDa Dvl3-based complexes and also block Wnt3a stimulation of
      the canonical pathway. Fluorescent correlation microscopy identified
      supermolecular Dvl3-based complexes with a molecular mass >30 MDa in live cells;
      these complexes were provoked to form structures with even greater molecular mass
      by Wnt3a. We establish for the first time the physical and functional nature of
      very large, supermolecular Dvl3-based complexes.

PMID- 20940261
TI  - Costars, a Dictyostelium protein similar to the C-terminal domain of STARS,
      regulates the actin cytoskeleton and motility.
AB  - Through analysis of a chemotaxis mutant obtained from a genetic screen in
      Dictyostelium discoideum, we have identified a new gene involved in regulating
      cell migration and have named it costars (cosA). The 82 amino acid Costars
      protein sequence appears highly conserved among diverse species, and
      significantly resembles the C-terminal region of the striated muscle activator of
      Rho signaling (STARS), a mammalian protein that regulates the serum response
      factor transcriptional activity through actin binding and Rho GTPase activation.
      The cosA-null (cosA(-)) cells formed smooth plaques on bacterial lawns, produced
      abnormally small fruiting bodies when developed on the non-nutrient agar and
      displayed reduced migration towards the cAMP source in chemotactic assays.
      Analysis of cell motion in cAMP gradients revealed decreased speed but wild-type
      like directional persistence of cosA(-) cells, suggesting a defect in the
      cellular machinery for motility rather than for chemotactic orientation.
      Consistent with this notion, cosA(-) cells exhibited changes in the actin
      cytoskeleton, showing aberrant distribution of F-actin in fluorescence cell
      staining and an increased amount of cytoskeleton-associated actin. Excessive
      pseudopod formation was also noted in cosA(-) cells facing chemoattractant
      gradients. Expressing cosA or its human counterpart mCostars eliminated
      abnormalities of cosA(-) cells. Together, our results highlight a role for
      Costars in modulating actin dynamics and cell motility.

PMID- 20940262
TI  - Detrimental incorporation of excess Cenp-A/Cid and Cenp-C into Drosophila
      centromeres is prevented by limiting amounts of the bridging factor Cal1.
AB  - Propagation of centromere identity during cell cycle progression in higher
      eukaryotes depends critically on the faithful incorporation of a centromere
      specific histone H3 variant encoded by CENPA in humans and cid in Drosophila.
      Cenp-A/Cid is required for the recruitment of Cenp-C, another conserved
      centromere protein. With yeast three-hybrid experiments, we demonstrate that the
      essential Drosophila centromere protein Cal1 can link Cenp-A/Cid and Cenp-C. Cenp
      A/Cid and Cenp-C interact with the N- and C-terminal domains of Cal1,
      respectively. These Cal1 domains are sufficient for centromere localization and
      function, but only when linked together. Using quantitative in vivo imaging to
      determine protein copy numbers at centromeres and kinetochores, we demonstrate
      that centromeric Cal1 levels are far lower than those of Cenp-A/Cid, Cenp-C and
      other conserved kinetochore components, which scale well with the number of
      kinetochore microtubules when comparing Drosophila with budding yeast. Rather
      than providing a stoichiometric link within the mitotic kinetochore, Cal1 limits
      centromeric deposition of Cenp-A/Cid and Cenp-C during exit from mitosis. We
      demonstrate that the low amount of endogenous Cal1 prevents centromere expansion
      and mitotic kinetochore failure when Cenp-A/Cid and Cenp-C are present in excess.

PMID- 20940263
TI  - Guidelines on the radical management of patients with lung cancer.
AB  - A joint initiative by the British Thoracic Society and the Society for
      Cardiothoracic Surgery in Great Britain and Ireland was undertaken to update the
      2001 guidelines for the selection and assessment of patients with lung cancer who
      can potentially be managed by radical treatment.

PMID- 20940264
TI  - Role of CCR5 and its ligands in the control of vascular inflammation and
      leukocyte recruitment required for acute excitotoxic seizure induction and neural
      damage.
AB  - Chemokines may play a role in leukocyte migration across the blood-brain barrier
      (BBB) during neuroinflammation and other neuropathological processes, such as
      epilepsy. We investigated the role of the chemokine receptor CCR5 in seizures. We
      used a rat model based on intraperitoneal kainic acid (KA) administration. Four
      months before KA injection, adult rats were given femoral intramarrow
      inoculations of SV (RNAiR5-RevM10.AU1), which carries an interfering RNA (RNAi)
      against CCR5, plus a marker epitope (AU1), or its monofunctional RNAi-carrying
      homologue, SV(RNAiR5). This treatment lowered expression of CCR5 in circulating
      cells. In control rats, seizures induced elevated expression of CCR5 ligands MIP
      1alpha and RANTES in the microvasculature, increased BBB leakage and CCR5(+)
      cells, as well as neuronal loss, inflammation, and gliosis in the hippocampi.
      Animals given either the bifunctional or the monofunctional vector were largely
      protected from KA-induced seizures, neuroinflammation, BBB damage, and neuron
      loss. Brain CCR5 mRNA was reduced. Rats receiving RNAiR5-bearing vectors showed
      far greater repair responses: increased neuronal proliferation, and decreased
      production of MIP-1alpha and RANTES. Controls received unrelated SV(BUGT)
      vectors. Decrease in CCR5 in circulating cells strongly protected from
      excitotoxin-induced seizures, BBB leakage, CNS injury, and inflammation, and
      facilitated neurogenic repair.

PMID- 20940265
TI  - Single-domain llama antibodies as specific intracellular inhibitors of SpvB, the
      actin ADP-ribosylating toxin of Salmonella typhimurium.
AB  - ADP-ribosylation of host cell proteins is a common mode of cell intoxication by
      pathogenic bacterial toxins. Antibodies induced by immunization with inactivated
      ADP-ribosylating toxins provide efficient protection in case of some secreted
      toxins, e.g., diphtheria and pertussis toxins. However, other ADP-ribosylating
      toxins, such as Salmonella SpvB toxin, are secreted directly from the Salmonella
      containing vacuole into the cytosol of target cells via the SPI-2 encoded
      bacterial type III secretion system, and thus are inaccessible to conventional
      antibodies. Small-molecule ADP-ribosylation inhibitors are fraught with potential
      side effects caused by inhibition of endogenous ADP-ribosyltransferases. Here, we
      report the development of a single-domain antibody from an immunized llama that
      blocks the capacity of SpvB to ADP-ribosylate actin at a molar ratio of 1:1. The
      single-domain antibody, when expressed as an intrabody, effectively protected
      cells from the cytotoxic activity of a translocation-competent chimeric C2IN
      C/SpvB toxin. Transfected cells were also protected against cytoskeletal
      alterations induced by wild-type SpvB-expressing strains of Salmonella. This
      proof of principle paves the way for developing new antidotes against
      intracellular toxins.

PMID- 20940266
TI  - Asthenopia (eyestrain) in working children of gem-polishing industries.
AB  - Working children of gem-polishing units are exposed to poor illumination and
      improper workstations. Also processes require lot of visual and mental
      concentration for precision. This may result in eyestrain. The study included 432
      exposed and 569 comparison group subjects. Self-reported eyestrain was recorded
      through personal interview. Eyestrain included symptoms like itching, burning, or
      irritated eyes; tired or heavy eyes; difficulty seeing clearly (including blurred
      or double vision); and headache. The study variables included age, gender, daily
      working hours, and duration of exposure. The prevalence of eyestrain in child
      labourers was 32.2%, which was significantly more than the comparison group
      subjects. Also, the working children of gem-polishing units were at 1.4 times
      higher risk of developing eyestrain. Age (3)14 years and female gender were
      significantly associated with the eyestrain. The prevalence of eyestrain in child
      labourers was 32.2% and was associated with age (3)14 years and female gender.

PMID- 20940267
TI  - Judeo-Christian religious experience and psychopathology: the legacy of William
      James.
AB  - This article examines the relationship between Judeo-Christian religious
      experience and psychopathology. It builds on William James's Varieties of
      Religious Experience and more specifically his discussions of self, agency and
      the subliminal. Contemporary research on Christian conversion, mysticism, and its
      relationship to psychosis and mental health and healing are discussed. Future
      themes for research are proposed.

PMID- 20940268
TI  - The Dark Night of the Soul: causes and resolution of emotional distress among
      contemplative nuns.
AB  - An ethnographic study was conducted in the Spanish Monastery of Santa Monica
      whose community consists of ten contemplative Augustinian nuns. Through
      participant observation and interviews the stresses encountered by the nuns and
      the coping strategies they deployed are explored in depth. It was found that
      symptoms that otherwise might have been described as evidence of a depressive
      episode were understood by the nuns within the framework of the so-called Dark
      Night of the Soul narrative: an active process of transforming emotional distress
      into a process of self-reflection, attribution of religious meaning and spiritual
      growth. We conclude by discussing the clinical implications of this religious
      narrative, highlighting the importance of incorporating existential issues into
      clinical practice.

PMID- 20940269
TI  - The appreciation of the spiritual in mental illness: a qualitative study of
      beliefs among clergy in the UK.
AB  - Clergy in the UK continue to provide health and social care services. However,
      collaboration between mental health services and clergy may be problematic,
      particularly in the resolution of conflicting beliefs and therapeutic modalities.
      For example, belief in demonic possession and other supernatural causes of mental
      illness, which are contentious among secular medical practitioners, remain
      prevalent in many ethnoreligious communities. Thus, interpretations of illness by
      clergy within health systems may be crucial to appropriate intervention for
      people with mental illness. However, clergy conceptualizations of suffering also
      reveal something about the secularization within religious institutions through
      the despiritualization of particular phenomena. This paper on Christian clergy
      beliefs and attitudes to supernatural explanations, describes how the negotiation
      of such beliefs are complex and often equivocal among mainstream clergy but
      integral to the Pentecostal churches and evangelical clergy in the mainstream,
      institutional churches. These beliefs and their implications for collaboration
      with psychiatry are discussed in the context of a rapidly changing religious and
      cultural landscape.

PMID- 20940270
TI  - Traditional healer attitudes and beliefs regarding referral of the mentally ill
      to Western doctors in South Africa.
AB  - Drawing on data collected from 3 focus groups with 24 traditional healers, the
      aim of this qualitative study was to use the constructs of the Theory of Planned
      Behaviour (TPB) to gain an understanding of traditional healer referral practices
      of their patients with a mental illness. Results indicated that traditional
      healers possess a concept of mental illness, mainly referring to a patient
      behaving abnormally. They often report regularly treating patients with these
      behaviours. Traditional healer referral to Western care is considered a temporary
      measure or a last resort. A majority of healers feel that allopathic physicians
      do not treat them with the respect that they feel their contribution to the
      health of the community warrants. Recommendations include the need for
      traditional healers to be trained to identify potential cases of mental illness
      in their communities and for dialogue between traditional and allopathic
      physicians in regard to mental health care.

PMID- 20940271
TI  - Collaboration between traditional practitioners and primary health care staff in
      South Africa: developing a workable partnership for community mental health
      services.
AB  - The majority of the black African population in South Africa utilize both
      traditional and public sector Western systems of healing for mental health care.
      There is a need to develop models of collaboration that promote a workable
      relationship between the two healing systems. The aim of this study was to
      explore perceptions of service users and providers of current interactions
      between the two systems of care and ways in which collaboration could be improved
      in the provision of community mental health services. Qualitative individual and
      focus group interviews were conducted with key health care providers and service
      users in one typical rural South African health sub-district. The majority of
      service users held traditional explanatory models of illness and used dual
      systems of care, with shifting between treatment modalities reportedly causing
      problems with treatment adherence. Traditional healers expressed a lack of
      appreciation from Western health care practitioners but were open to training in
      Western biomedical approaches and establishing a collaborative relationship in
      the interests of improving patient care. Western biomedically trained
      practitioners were less interested in such an arrangement. Interventions to
      acquaint traditional practitioners with Western approaches to the treatment of
      mental illness, orientation of Western practitioners towards a culture-centred
      approach to mental health care, as well as the establishment of fora to
      facilitate the negotiation of respectful collaborative relationships between the
      two systems of healing are required at district level to promote an equitable
      collaboration in the interests of improved patient care.

PMID- 20940272
TI  - Value-sensitive psychiatric rehabilitation.
AB  - Psychiatric rehabilitation contains value-laden concepts that may be unacceptable
      to certain cultures and many individuals. The concepts of independence and work
      are examined in a clash between mental health professionals in charge of national
      policies in psychiatric rehabilitation in Israel and a rehabilitation center for
      the severely mentally ill within the ultra-orthodox Jewish community. The
      government professionals considered that having the living quarters and work site
      in the same building deemed it unsuitable for rehabilitation, and too few
      progressed to independent living and working. As such, they ordered the center to
      be closed. Clients' families turned to the Supreme Court and the claims and
      counter claims reveal value-laden positions. The bases for misunderstanding and
      lack of cooperation between the government professionals and the rehabilitation
      center are explained in the context of everyday life and values in the ultra
      orthodox Jewish community and attitudes in the general population. Fruitful
      cooperation is based on appreciating core values, identifying and working with
      the community's figures of authority, and accepting that the role of the mental
      health professional is to advise the community, within which the professional has
      no status.

PMID- 20940273
TI  - Special issues in the care of ultra-orthodox Jewish psychiatric in-patients.
AB  - This article reviews the literature regarding psychiatric care of ultra-orthodox
      Jewish patients. The discussion describes common areas of difficulty working with
      members of this population in an in-patient setting, including ritual observance,
      gender dynamics, and countertransference. It provides guidelines for mental
      health professionals to distinguish between culturally-appropriate and
      pathological behavior in an effort to avoid misdiagnosis, and offers strategies
      for overcoming these challenges. It suggests possible adjustments to standard
      treatment plans which may prove effective in this population and recommends
      further resources, including the involvement of trained chaplains, for especially
      complicated situations.

PMID- 20940274
TI  - Blood pressure monitoring and control by cardiovascular disease status in UK
      primary care: 10 year retrospective cohort study 1998-2007.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Strategies to reduce the burden of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in
      the UK have emphasized improved management of high-risk individuals rather than
      population-based approaches. METHODS: This 10-year retrospective cohort study
      examined blood pressure (BP) monitoring and control among patients with and
      without CVD in general practices in Wandsworth, London between 1998 and 2007.
      Logistic regression was used to assess associations among age, gender, ethnicity,
      deprivation and BP control. RESULTS: The percentage of patients with elevated BP
      (>140/90 mm Hg) decreased at a slower rate in patients without CVD (31.0-25.3%)
      compared with those with CVD (56.8-36.0%) (P < 0.001). Mean systolic BP decreased
      from 146.1 to 136.4 mm Hg in patients with CVD and from 133.7 to 130.1 in
      patients without CVD. Mean diastolic BP decreased from 84.2 to 78.4 mm Hg in
      patients with CVD and from 80.5 to 79.0 in patients without CVD. Inequalities in
      BP control decreased among age, ethnic and deprivation groups but increased
      between men and women without CVD. CONCLUSIONS: Measurement and control of BP
      among those with CVD has improved much more rapidly compared with those without
      CVD. Inequalities in BP control appeared to increase between men and women
      without CVD, but decreased among age, ethnicity and deprivation groups.

PMID- 20940275
TI  - Nutritional status of school-aged children of Buenos Aires, Argentina: data using
      three references.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Childhood overweight has been reported in developing countries. The
      World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended a standardized classification
      system in order to facilitate comparison across countries and studies. This study
      aims to assess the prevalence of overweight, obesity and thinness in a group of
      10-11-year-old children using three references [the Center for Disease Control
      (CDC) 2000, the the International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) 2000 and the WHO,
      2007]. METHODS: A representative sample of 1588 children (771 boys and 817 girls)
      resulted from the randomization of 80 public schools from Buenos Aires. RESULTS:
      The prevalence of overweight, including obesity, for the whole sample was 35.5,
      27.9 and 27.9%, respectively, depending on the reference used. For overweight, no
      gender differences were observed regardless of the reference used. Obesity was
      significantly more frequent among boys, and this remained consistent for the
      three references. Thinness frequency was 1.6 and 2.5% for the boys and 2.7 and
      4.5% for the girls when considering the WHO and CDC cut-off points, respectively,
      and frequency increased in both boys and girls for each age group. CONCLUSION:
      There is a high prevalence of overweight and obese cases among school-aged
      children of Buenos Aires regardless of the reference used. Epidemiological data
      provided by this study suggests the urgent need to design preventive
      interventions.

PMID- 20940276
TI  - Disparities in liver cancer incidence by nativity, acculturation, and
      socioeconomic status in California Hispanics and Asians.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Asians and Hispanics have the highest incidence rates of liver cancer
      in the United States, but little is known about how incidence patterns in these
      largely immigrant populations vary by nativity, acculturation, and socioeconomic
      status (SES). Such variations can identify high-priority subgroups for prevention
      and monitoring. METHODS: Incidence rates and rate ratios (IRR) by nativity among
      5,400 Hispanics and 5,809 Asians diagnosed with liver cancer in 1988-2004 were
      calculated in the California Cancer Registry. Neighborhood ethnic enclave status
      and SES were classified using 2000 U.S. Census data for cases diagnosed in 1998
      2002. RESULTS: Foreign-born Hispanic males had significantly lower liver cancer
      incidence rates than U.S.-born Hispanic males in 1988-2004 (e.g., IRR = 0.54, 95%
      confidence interval [CI] = 0.50-0.59 in 1997-2004), whereas foreign-born Hispanic
      females had significantly higher rates in 1988-1996 (IRR = 1.42, 95% CI = 1.18
      1.71), but not 1997-2004. Foreign-born Asian males and females had up to 5-fold
      higher rates than the U.S.-born. Among Hispanic females, incidence rates were
      elevated by 21% in higher-enclave versus lower-enclave neighborhoods, and by 24%
      in lower- versus higher-SES neighborhoods. Among Asian males, incidence rates
      were elevated by 23% in higher-enclave neighborhoods and by 21% in lower-SES
      neighborhoods. In both racial/ethnic populations, males and females in higher
      enclave, lower-SES neighborhoods had higher incidence rates. CONCLUSIONS:
      Nativity, residential enclave status, and neighborhood SES characterize Hispanics
      and Asians with significantly unequal incidence rates of liver cancer,
      implicating behavioral or environmental risk factors and revealing opportunities
      for prevention. IMPACT: Liver cancer control efforts should especially target
      foreign-born Asians, U.S.-born Hispanic men, and residents of lower-SES ethnic
      enclaves.

PMID- 20940277
TI  - Validity of self-reported solar UVR exposure compared with objectively measured
      UVR exposure.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Reliance on verbal self-report of solar exposure in skin cancer
      prevention and epidemiologic studies may be problematic if self-report data are
      not valid due to systematic errors in recall, social desirability bias, or other
      reasons. METHODS: This study examines the validity of self-reports of exposure to
      ultraviolet radiation (UVR) compared to objectively measured exposure among
      children and adults in outdoor recreation settings in 4 regions of the United
      States. Objective UVR exposures of 515 participants were measured using
      polysulfone film badge UVR dosimeters on 2 days. The same subjects provided self
      reported UVR exposure data on surveys and 4-day sun exposure diaries, for
      comparison to their objectively measured exposure. RESULTS: Dosimeter data showed
      that lifeguards had the greatest UVR exposure (24.5% of weekday ambient UVR),
      children the next highest exposures (10.3% ambient weekday UVR), and parents had
      the lowest (6.6% ambient weekday UVR). Similar patterns were observed in self
      report data. Correlations between diary reports and dosimeter findings were fair
      to good and were highest for lifeguards (r = 0.38-0.57), followed by parents (r =
      0.28-0.29) and children (r = 0.18-0.34). Correlations between survey and diary
      measures were moderate to good for lifeguards (r = 0.20-0.54) and children (r =
      0.35-0.53). CONCLUSIONS: This is the largest study of its kind to date, and
      supports the utility of self-report measures of solar UVR exposure. IMPACT:
      Overall, self-reports of sun exposure produce valid measures of UVR exposure
      among parents, children, and lifeguards who work outdoors.

PMID- 20940278
TI  - TRAIL-induced apoptosis is preferentially mediated via TRAIL receptor 1 in
      pancreatic carcinoma cells and profoundly enhanced by XIAP inhibitors.
AB  - PURPOSE: We previously reported that small molecule X-linked inhibitor of
      apoptosis (XIAP) inhibitors synergize with soluble TRAIL to trigger apoptosis in
      pancreatic carcinoma cells. Because cancers may preferentially signal via 1 of
      the 2 agonistic TRAIL receptors, we investigated these receptors as a therapeutic
      target in pancreatic cancer in the present study. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: We
      examined TRAIL receptor expression and cytotoxicity of specific monoclonal
      antibodies to TRAIL-R1 (HGS-ETR1, mapatumumab) or TRAIL-R2 (HGS-ETR2,
      lexatumumab) and of TRAIL receptor selective mutants alone and in combination
      with small molecule XIAP inhibitors in pancreatic cancer cell lines, in primary
      specimens, and in a xenotransplant model in vivo. RESULTS: The majority of
      primary pancreatic carcinoma samples and all cell lines express one or both
      agonistic TRAIL receptors. Nine of 13 cell lines are more sensitive to
      mapatumumab-induced apoptosis, whereas lexatumumab requires cross-linking for
      maximal activity. Similarly, TRAIL-R1 selective mutants display higher
      cytotoxicity than TRAIL-R2 selective mutants. Small molecule XIAP inhibitors
      preferentially act in concert with mapatumumab to trigger caspase activation,
      caspase-dependent apoptosis, and suppress clonogenic survival. Also, primary
      cultured pancreatic carcinoma cells are more susceptible to mapatumumab than
      lexatumumab, which is significantly enhanced by a XIAP inhibitor. Importantly,
      combined treatment with mapatumumab and a XIAP inhibitor cooperates to suppress
      tumor growth in vivo. CONCLUSIONS: Mapatumumab exerts antitumor activity,
      especially in combination with XIAP inhibitors against most pancreatic carcinoma
      cell lines, whereas lexatumumab requires cross-linking for optimal cytotoxicity.
      These findings have important implications for the design of TRAIL-based
      protocols for pancreatic cancer.

PMID- 20940279
TI  - PIK3CA mutations may be discordant between primary and corresponding metastatic
      disease in breast cancer.
AB  - PURPOSE: PIK3CA mutations are frequent in breast cancer and activate the PI3K/Akt
      pathway. Unexpectedly, PIK3CA mutation appears in general to be associated with
      better outcome. In a cohort of patients where both primary and metastatic lesions
      were available, the objective was to assess changes in PIK3CA mutations. We
      wished to discern whether selective pressures occur and the influence of PIK3CA
      mutation on time to recurrence. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: Formalin-fixed paraffin
      embedded tumor blocks were obtained from 104 patients with paired samples from
      primary tumors and corresponding asynchronous metastatic breast tumors. Samples
      were analyzed for PIK3CA mutations (exons 9 and 20) as well as
      immunohistochemical evaluation for PTEN, pAKT, Ki67, ER, and HER2. RESULTS:
      PIK3CA mutation was detected in 45% of the primary tumors. Overall, there was a
      net gain in mutation in metastatic disease, to 53%; nonetheless, there were
      instances where metastases were wild type in patients with PIK3CA mutant primary
      tumors. Laser capture microdissection on a subset of cases revealed
      microheterogeneity for PIK3CA mutational status in the primary tumor. PIK3CA
      mutants overall showed a significantly longer time to first recurrence than wild
      type cases (P = 0.03). CONCLUSION: PIK3CA mutations occur at high frequency in
      primary and metastatic breast cancer; these may not necessarily confer increased
      aggressiveness as mutants had a longer time to recurrence. Because PIK3CA status
      quite frequently changes between primary and metastatic disease, it emphasizes
      the necessity of assessing the PIK3CA status in the metastatic lesion for
      selection of PIK3CA inhibitor therapy.

PMID- 20940280
TI  - Pathophysiological relevance of apical large-conductance Ca2+-activated potassium
      channels in pancreatic duct epithelial cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Acute pancreatitis is among the few inflammatory diseases for which
      no specific pharmacological treatment is available. It has previously been shown
      that bile acids alter pancreatic ductal secretion and these effects are probably
      involved in the pathogenesis of bile-induced pancreatitis. OBJECTIVE: To
      understand the mechanism responsible for bile-induced hypersecretion and, in
      particular, to identify the molecular target for bile acids in native pancreatic
      duct epithelial cells (PDECs). METHODS: Patch clamp recordings and
      spectrofluorimetry were used to measure whole cell currents and rates of HCO3-
      secretion, respectively, from isolated guinea pig pancreatic ducts. Expression of
      ion channels and receptors was investigated by
      immunohistochemistry/immunofluorescence of intact pancreatic tissue. RESULTS:
      Exposing PDECs to chenodeoxycholate (CDC, 100 MUM) reversibly increased whole
      cell K(+) currents and hyperpolarised cell membrane potential. Bile acid
      stimulated K(+) currents were inhibited by Ba2(+) (2 mM), iberiotoxin (100 nM),
      and suppressed by strong intracellular Ca2(+) buffering. Luminally applied
      iberiotoxin also blocked CDC-stimulated HCO3-secretion from microperfused ducts;
      however, the inhibitor did not influence the stimulatory effect of secretin,
      carbachol or luminally applied ATP. The specific large-conductance Ca2(+)
      activated potassium (BK) channel activator, NS11021, induced a similar increase
      in HCO3-secretion to CDC. Immunohistochemical analysis showed strong BK channel
      protein expression on the apical membrane of PDECs, while the G-protein-coupled
      bile acid receptor-1 was not detected in PDECs, but was present in acinar cells.
      CONCLUSION: It was shown for the first time that BK channels (i) are expressed at
      the apical membrane of guinea pig PDECs; (ii) have a crucial role in regulating
      HCO3- secretion and (iii) are also essential for the bile acid-induced
      hypersecretion and, therefore, underlie the response of the pancreas to this
      noxious agent.

PMID- 20940281
TI  - A role for the gut microbiota in energy harvesting?

PMID- 20940282
TI  - Association of Crohn's disease-associated NOD2 variants with intestinal failure
      requiring small bowel transplantation and clinical outcomes.

PMID- 20940283
TI  - Concurrent drug use and the risk of perforated colonic diverticular disease: a
      population-based case-control study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the risk of diverticular perforation associated with
      current and ever use of corticosteroids, opiate analgesics, non-steroidal anti
      inflammatory drugs, aspirin, cyclo-oxygenase-2 inhibitors, statins and calcium
      antagonists. DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Case-control analysis using
      conditional logistic regression analysis of data from the UK General Practice
      Research Database. The study involved 899 cases of incident diverticular
      perforation and 8980 population controls from 1990 to 2005. MAIN OUTCOME
      MEASURES: Odds ratios (ORs) are presented for perforation associated with use of
      corticosteroids, opiate analgesics, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs,
      aspirin, cyclo-oxygenase-2 inhibitors, statins and calcium antagonists. Data were
      adjusted for smoking, comorbidity, prior abdominal pain and body mass index.
      RESULTS: A total of 899 patients with an incident diagnosis of perforated
      diverticular disease were identified. Current use of opiate analgesics (OR=2.16;
      95% CI 1.55 to 3.01) and oral corticosteroids (OR=2.74; 95% CI 1.63 to 4.61) was
      associated with a two- and threefold increase in the risk of diverticular
      perforation, respectively. Current use of a calcium antagonist and aspirin were
      not associated with an increased risk of diverticular perforation. Current statin
      use was associated with a reduction in the risk of perforation (OR=0.44; 95% CI
      0.20 to 0.95). CONCLUSION: Perforated diverticular disease is a serious surgical
      emergency with current opiate analgesics and oral corticosteroids being strongly
      associated with an increased risk of diverticular perforation.

PMID- 20940284
TI  - Prognostic value of interleukin 2 and interleukin 15 in peritumoral hepatic
      tissues for patients with hepatitis B-related hepatocellular carcinoma after
      curative resection.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Th1/Th2-like cytokine mRNA levels in non-cancerous hepatic
      tissues from patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are associated with
      metastases and recurrence. This study evaluated the prognostic values of
      intratumoral and peritumoral Th1/Th2 cytokine protein levels in patients with HCC
      after curative resection. METHODS: Two independent cohorts (A and B) of 453
      patients with HCC were enrolled. Twelve Th1/Th2 cytokines in tumour and
      peritumoral hepatic tissues from cohort A (n=192) were quantified with enzyme
      linked immunosorbent assays. This cohort was split into training and test sets
      which were used to identify and verify the prognostic cytokines. The prognostic
      values of identified cytokines were further validated in cohort B (n=261) using
      tissue microarray and immunohistochemical staining. RESULTS: In the training set,
      higher interleukin (IL)-2 and IL-15 levels in peritumoral liver tissues, but not
      in tumour tissues, were significantly associated with a decreased incidence of
      recurrence of intrahepatic tumour and a prolonged overall survival. This
      association was verified in the testing set and further validated in patients in
      cohort B. Importantly, this correlation remained significant in patients with
      early HCC. Univariate and multivariate analyses indicated that the prognostic
      performance of peritumoral IL-2 (HR for recurrence=0.4, 95% CI 0.3 to 0.6,
      p<0.0001; HR for death=0.6, 95% CI 0.4 to 0.8, p=0.005) and IL-15 (HR for
      recurrence=0.7, 95% CI 0.5 to 0.95, p=0.025) was independent of other
      clinicopathological factors. CONCLUSION: Peritumoral IL-2 and IL-15 levels are
      useful for stratifying patients, even those with early-stage HCC, into subgroups
      with different prognoses after curative resection.

PMID- 20940285
TI  - Hepatitis C virus production requires apolipoprotein A-I and affects its
      association with nascent low-density lipoproteins.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: The life cycle of hepatitis C virus (HCV) is intimately linked
      to the lipid metabolism of the host. In particular, HCV exploits the metabolic
      machinery of the lipoproteins in several steps of its life cycle such as
      circulation in the bloodstream, cell attachment and entry, assembly and release
      of viral particles. However, the details of how HCV interacts with and influences
      the metabolism of the host lipoproteins are not well understood. A study was
      undertaken to investigate whether HCV directly affects the protein composition of
      host circulating lipoproteins. METHODS: A proteomic analysis of circulating very
      low-, low- and high-density lipoproteins (VLDL, LDL and HDL), isolated from
      either in-treatment naive HCV-infected patients or healthy donors (HD), was
      performed using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and tandem mass spectrometry
      (MALDI-TOF/TOF). The results obtained were further investigated using in vitro
      models of HCV infection and replication. RESULTS: A decreased level of
      apolipoprotein A-I (apoA-I) was found in the LDL fractions of HCV-infected
      patients. This result was confirmed by western blot and ELISA analysis. HCV
      cellular models (JFH1 HCV cell culture system (HCVcc) and HCV subgenomic
      replicons) showed that the decreased apoA-I/LDL association originates from
      hepatic biogenesis rather than lipoprotein catabolism occurring in the
      circulation, and is not due to a downregulation of the apoA-I protein
      concentration. The sole non-structural viral proteins were sufficient to impair
      the apoA-I/LDL association. Functional evidence was obtained for involvement of
      apoA-I in the viral life cycle such as RNA replication and virion production. The
      specific siRNA-mediated downregulation of apoA-I led to a reduction in both HCV
      RNA and viral particle levels in culture. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that HCV
      induces lipoprotein structural modification and that its replication and
      production are linked to the host lipoprotein metabolism, suggesting apoA-I as a
      new possible target for antiviral therapy.

PMID- 20940286
TI  - Insulin resistance and low-density apolipoprotein B-associated lipoviral
      particles in hepatitis C virus genotype 1 infection.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The density of hepatitis C virus (HCV) in plasma is heterogeneous but
      the factors which influence this are poorly understood. Evidence from animal
      models and cell culture suggest that low-density apolipoprotein B (apoB)
      associated HCV lipoviral particles (LVP) are more infectious than high-density
      HCV. Objective To measure LVP in patients with chronic hepatitis C genotype 1
      (CHC-G1) and examine metabolic determinants of LVP load. Patients 51 patients
      with CHC-G1 infection. METHODS: Fasting lipid profiles and homeostasis model
      assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) were determined in 51 patients with
      CHC-G1. LVP and non-LVP viral load were measured by real-time PCR of plasma at
      density <1.07 g/ml and >1.07 g/ml, respectively, following iodixanol density
      gradient ultracentrifugation. The LVP ratio was calculated using the formula:
      LVP/(LVP + non-LVP). RESULTS: The mean LVP ratio was 0.241 but varied 25-fold
      (from 0.029 to 0.74). Univariate analysis showed that the LVP ratio correlated
      with HOMA-IR (p=0.004) and the triglyceride/high-density lipoprotein cholesterol
      (TG/HDL-C) ratio (p = 0.004), but not with apoB. In multivariate analysis, HOMA
      IR was the main determinant of LVP load (log10IU/ml) (R2=16.6%; p = 0.037) but
      the TG/HDL-C ratio was the strongest predictor of the LVP ratio (R2 = 24.4%; p =
      0.019). Higher LVP ratios were associated with non-response to antiviral therapy
      (p = 0.037) and with greater liver stiffness (p = 0.001). CONCLUSION: IR and
      associated dyslipidaemia are the major determinants of low-density apoB
      associated LVP in fasting plasma. This provides a possible mechanism to explain
      why IR is associated with more rapidly progressive liver disease and poorer
      treatment outcomes.

PMID- 20940287
TI  - SHIP deficiency causes Crohn's disease-like ileitis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) can arise from genetic mutations
      that compromise intestinal epithelial cell integrity or immune regulation. SHIP
      has previously been shown to play a pivotal role in limiting the number of
      immunoregulatory cells and their function. AIM: To determine whether SHIP plays a
      pivotal role in control of immune tolerance in the gut mucosa. METHODS:
      Gastrointestinal pathology was assessed in three separate strains of SHIP
      deficient mice and their respective wild-type (WT) littermates. Gastrointestinal
      pathology was analysed in SHIP-deficient hosts reconstituted with WT
      haematopoietic cell grafts, and WT hosts reconstituted with SHIP-deficient
      haematopoietic cell grafts including whole splenocytes, purified T cells or
      natural killer (NK) cells. Major immune cell populations were also analysed in
      the small intestine of SHIP-deficient mice and WT controls. RESULTS: SHIP
      deficient mice developed segmental, transmural pyo-granulomatous ilietis that
      recapitulated classical features of Crohn's disease enteric pathology. Analysis
      of haematopoietic chimeras showed that WT bone marrow reconstitution of SHIP-/-
      hosts corrects ileitis. Reconstitution with SHIP-/- splenocytes transferred
      ileitis to WT hosts. Adoptive transfer of purified SHIP-/- T cells or NK cells to
      WT hosts did not transfer ileitis. There was a paucity of both CD4 and CD8 T
      cells in the small intestines of SHIP-deficient mice; however, neutrophil numbers
      were significantly increased. CONCLUSIONS: SHIP plays a pivotal role in immune
      function in the intestine; further scrutiny of this pathway in IBD patients is
      warranted. It is proposed that SHIP-deficient ileitis results from a local
      deficit in mucosal T cell immunity that promotes a damaging granulocyte-monocyte
      inflammation of the distal ileum.

PMID- 20940288
TI  - Corticosteroids improve short-term survival in patients with severe alcoholic
      hepatitis: meta-analysis of individual patient data.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: A meta-analysis was performed using individual patient data from
      the five most recent randomised controlled trials (RCTs) which evaluated
      corticosteroids in severe alcoholic hepatitis (Maddrey discriminant function (DF)
      >= 32 or encephalopathy). This approach overcomes limitations associated with the
      use of literature data and improves the relevance of the study and estimates of
      effect size. AIMS: To compare 28-day survival between corticosteroid- and non
      corticosteroid-treated patients and to analyse the response to treatment using
      the Lille model. METHODS: Individual patient data were obtained from five RCTs
      comparing corticosteroid treatment with placebo (n=3), enteral nutrition (n=1) or
      an antioxidant cocktail (n=1). RESULTS: 221 patients allocated to corticosteroid
      treatment and 197 allocated to non-corticosteroid treatment were analysed. The
      two groups were similar at baseline. 28-day survival was higher in corticosteroid
      treated patients than in non-corticosteroid-treated patients (79.97+/-2.8% vs
      65.7+/-3.4%, p=0.0005). In multivariate analysis, corticosteroids (p=0.005), DF
      (p=0.006), leucocytes (p=0.004), Lille score (p<0.00001) and encephalopathy
      (p=0.003) were independently predictive of 28-day survival. A subgroup analysis
      was performed according to the percentile distribution of the Lille score.
      Patients were classified as complete responders (Lille score <= 0.16; <= 35th
      percentile), partial responders (Lille score 0.16-0.56; 35th-70th percentile) and
      null responders (Lille >= 0.56; >= 70th percentile). 28-day survival was strongly
      associated with these groupings (91.1+/-2.7% vs 79.4+/-3.8% vs 53.3+/-5.1%,
      p<0.0001). Corticosteroids had a significant effect on 28-day survival in
      complete responders (HR 0.18, p=0.006) and in partial responders (HR 0.38,
      p=0.04) but not in null responders. CONCLUSION: Analysis of individual data from
      five RCTs showed that corticosteroids significantly improve 28-day survival in
      patients with severe alcoholic hepatitis. The survival benefit is mainly observed
      in patients classified as responders by the Lille model.

PMID- 20940289
TI  - Indications and maternofetal outcome of instrumental deliveries at the University
      Teaching Hospital of Yaounde, Cameroon.
AB  - Instrumental deliveries are believed to be associated with increased maternal
      and, especially, fetal morbidity and mortality. Hence, it is less practiced in
      many developing countries. The aim of this retrospective study, conducted between
      1 January 2007 and 31 December 2008, was to assess the prevalence, indications,
      neonatal wellbeing and maternal complications of instrumental deliveries. Of 3623
      vaginal deliveries, 84 (2.3%) instrumental deliveries were conducted. The most
      common indication was a prolonged second stage of labour. Fetal wellbeing,
      measured by the Apgar score, was good and was similar in the group who had
      forceps delivery and that of the vacuum extraction delivery group. Maternal
      complications, usually minor, were vaginal and perineal tears. Instrumental
      delivery should be encouraged and taught in order to reverse the rising caesarean
      section rate.

PMID- 20940290
TI  - Assessment of the seroprevalence of viral hepatitis B, viral hepatitis C and HIV
      in multitransfused thalassaemia major patients in Karachi, Pakistan.
AB  - This cross-sectional study reveals the seroprevalence of hepatitis B, hepatitis C
      and HIV in multi-transfused thalassemia major patients. Thirty-four out of 79
      (43.0%) patients enrolled in the study serologically tested positive for
      hepatitis C (mean +/- standard deviation age = 12 +/- 4.1 years), four (5.1%) for
      hepatitis B and none for HIV. Some of the measures that should be adapted are:
      safe blood transfusions; awareness programmes through print and electronic media;
      and the early screening of such hazardous infections.

PMID- 20940291
TI  - Biopsy of peripheral lymph nodes: a useful tool to diagnose opportunistic
      diseases in HIV-infected patients.
AB  - Peripheral lymphadenopathy is commonly present in HIV-infected patients and has a
      wide spectrum of differential diagnoses. We carried out a cross-sectional study
      of peripheral lymph node biopsies performed from January 2004 to December 2008 in
      HIV-infected patients who attended a tertiary-care hospital in southern Brazil.
      Only 60 of 210 peripheral lymph node biopsies performed (28%) were non
      diagnostic. The most common diagnoses included: mycobacteriosis (105 cases;
      50.2%); lymphoma (19 cases; 9.0%); systemic mycosis (12 cases; 5.7%) including
      histoplasmosis, cryptococcosis and histoplasmosis; and metastatic cancer (2.9%).
      Peripheral lymph node biopsy is a simple and useful tool to diagnose
      opportunistic diseases in HIV-infected patients.

PMID- 20940292
TI  - Kallikrein-related peptidase-8 (KLK8) is an active serine protease in human
      epidermis and sweat and is involved in a skin barrier proteolytic cascade.
AB  - Kallikrein-related peptidase-8 (KLK8) is a relatively uncharacterized epidermal
      protease. Although proposed to regulate skin-barrier desquamation and recovery,
      the catalytic activity of KLK8 was never demonstrated in human epidermis, and its
      regulators and targets remain unknown. Herein, we elucidated for the first time
      KLK8 activity in human non-palmoplantar stratum corneum and sweat ex vivo. The
      majority of stratum corneum and sweat KLK8 was catalytically active, displaying
      optimal activity at pH 8.5 and considerable activity at pH 5. We also showed that
      KLK8 is a keratinocyte-specific protease, not secreted by human melanocytes or
      dermal fibroblasts. KLK8 secretion increased significantly upon calcium induction
      of terminal keratinocyte differentiation, suggesting an active role for this
      protease in upper epidermis. Potential activators, regulators, and targets of
      KLK8 activity were identified by in vitro kinetic assays using pro-KLK8 and
      mature KLK8 recombinant proteins produced in Pichia pastoris. Mature KLK8
      activity was enhanced by calcium and magnesium ions and attenuated by zinc ions
      and by autocleavage after Arg(164). Upon screening KLK8 cleavage of a library of
      FRET-quenched peptides, trypsin-like specificity was observed with the highest
      preference for (R/K)(S/T)(A/V) at P1-P1'-P2'. We also demonstrated that KLK5 and
      lysyl endopeptidase activate latent pro-KLK8, whereas active KLK8 targets pro
      KLK11, pro-KLK1, and LL-37 antimicrobial peptide activation in vitro. Together,
      our data identify KLK8 as a new active serine protease in human stratum corneum
      and sweat, and we propose regulators and targets that augment its involvement in
      a skin barrier proteolytic cascade. The implications of KLK8 elevation and
      hyperactivity in desquamatory and inflammatory skin disease conditions remain to
      be studied.

PMID- 20940293
TI  - Hsp90 (heat shock protein 90) inhibitor occupancy is a direct determinant of
      client protein degradation and tumor growth arrest in vivo.
AB  - Several Hsp90 (heat shock protein 90) inhibitors are currently under clinical
      evaluation as anticancer agents. However, the correlation between the duration
      and magnitude of Hsp90 inhibition and the downstream effects on client protein
      degradation and cancer cell growth inhibition has not been thoroughly
      investigated. To investigate the relationship between Hsp90 inhibition and
      cellular effects, we developed a method that measures drug occupancy on Hsp90
      after treatment with the Hsp90 inhibitor IPI-504 in living cells and in tumor
      xenografts. In cells, we find the level of Hsp90 occupancy to be directly
      correlated with cell growth inhibition. At the molecular level, the relationship
      between Hsp90 occupancy and Hsp90 client protein degradation was examined for
      different client proteins. For sensitive Hsp90 clients (e.g. HER2 (human
      epidermal growth factor receptor 2), client protein levels directly mirror Hsp90
      occupancy at all time points after IPI-504 administration. For insensitive client
      proteins, we find that protein abundance matches Hsp90 occupancy only after
      prolonged incubation with drug. Additionally, we investigate the correlation
      between plasma pharmacokinetics (PK), tumor PK, pharmacodynamics (PD) (client
      protein degradation), tumor growth inhibition, and Hsp90 occupancy in a xenograft
      model of human cancer. Our results indicate Hsp90 occupancy to be a better
      predictor of PD than either plasma PK or tumor PK. In the nonsmall cell lung
      cancer xenograft model studied, a linear correlation between Hsp90 occupancy and
      tumor growth inhibition was found. This novel binding assay was evaluated both in
      vitro and in vivo and could be used as a pharmacodynamic readout in the clinic.

PMID- 20940294
TI  - Muscle wasting in aged, sarcopenic rats is associated with enhanced activity of
      the ubiquitin proteasome pathway.
AB  - Among the hallmarks of aged organisms are an accumulation of misfolded proteins
      and a reduction in skeletal muscle mass ("sarcopenia"). We have examined the
      effects of aging and dietary restriction (which retards many age-related changes)
      on components of the ubiquitin proteasome system (UPS) in muscle. The hindlimb
      muscles of aged (30 months old) rats showed a marked loss of muscle mass and
      contained 2-3-fold higher levels of 26S proteasomes than those of adult (4 months
      old) controls. 26S proteasomes purified from muscles of aged and adult rats
      showed a similar capacity to degrade peptides, proteins, and an ubiquitylated
      substrate, but differed in levels of proteasome-associated proteins (e.g. the
      ubiquitin ligase E6AP and deubiquitylating enzyme USP14). Also, the activities of
      many other deubiquitylating enzymes were greatly enhanced in the aged muscles.
      Nevertheless, their content of polyubiquitylated proteins was higher than in
      adult animals. The aged muscles contained higher levels of the ubiquitin ligase
      CHIP, involved in eliminating misfolded proteins, and MuRF1, which ubiquitylates
      myofibrillar proteins. These muscles differed from ones rapidly atrophying due to
      disease, fasting, or disuse in that Atrogin-1/MAFbx expression was low and not
      inducible by glucocorticoids. Thus, the muscles of aged rats showed many
      adaptations indicating enhanced proteolysis by the UPS, which may enhance their
      capacity to eliminate misfolded proteins and seems to contribute to the
      sarcopenia. Accordingly, dietary restriction decreased or prevented the aging
      associated increases in proteasomes and other UPS components and reduced muscle
      wasting.

PMID- 20940295
TI  - Dynamic control of glutamatergic synaptic input in the spinal cord by muscarinic
      receptor subtypes defined using knockout mice.
AB  - Activation of muscarinic acetylcholine receptors (mAChRs) in the spinal cord
      inhibits pain transmission. At least three mAChR subtypes (M(2), M(3), and M(4))
      are present in the spinal dorsal horn. However, it is not clear how each mAChR
      subtype contributes to the regulation of glutamatergic input to dorsal horn
      neurons. We recorded spontaneous excitatory postsynaptic currents (sEPSCs) from
      lamina II neurons in spinal cord slices from wild-type (WT) and mAChR subtype
      knock-out (KO) mice. The mAChR agonist oxotremorine-M increased the frequency of
      glutamatergic sEPSCs in 68.2% neurons from WT mice and decreased the sEPSC
      frequency in 21.2% neurons. Oxotremorine-M also increased the sEPSC frequency in
      ~50% neurons from M(3)-single KO and M(1)/M(3) double-KO mice. In addition, the
      M(3) antagonist J104129 did not block the stimulatory effect of oxotremorine-M in
      the majority of neurons from WT mice. Strikingly, in M(5)-single KO mice,
      oxotremorine-M increased sEPSCs in only 26.3% neurons, and J104129 abolished this
      effect. In M(2)/M(4) double-KO mice, but not M(2)- or M(4)-single KO mice,
      oxotremorine-M inhibited sEPSCs in significantly fewer neurons compared with WT
      mice, and blocking group II/III metabotropic glutamate receptors abolished this
      effect. The M(2)/M(4) antagonist himbacine either attenuated the inhibitory
      effect of oxotremorine-M or potentiated the stimulatory effect of oxotremorine-M
      in WT mice. Our study demonstrates that activation of the M(2) and M(4) receptor
      subtypes inhibits synaptic glutamate release to dorsal horn neurons. M(5) is the
      predominant receptor subtype that potentiates glutamatergic synaptic transmission
      in the spinal cord.

PMID- 20940297
TI  - Ligand-induced EGF receptor oligomerization is kinase-dependent and enhances
      internalization.
AB  - The current activation model of the EGF receptor (EGFR) predicts that binding of
      EGF results in dimerization and oligomerization of the EGFR, leading to the
      allosteric activation of the intracellular tyrosine kinase. Little is known about
      the regulatory mechanism of receptor oligomerization. In this study, we have
      employed FRET between identical fluorophores (homo-FRET) to monitor the
      dimerization and oligomerization state of the EGFR before and after receptor
      activation. Our data show that, in the absence of ligand, ~40% of the EGFR
      molecules were present as inactive dimers or predimers. The monomer/predimer
      ratio was not affected by deletion of the intracellular domain. Ligand binding
      induced the formation of receptor oligomers, which were found in both the plasma
      membrane and intracellular structures. Ligand-induced oligomerization required
      tyrosine kinase activity and nine different tyrosine kinase substrate residues.
      This indicates that the binding of signaling molecules to activated EGFRs results
      in EGFR oligomerization. Induction of EGFR predimers or pre-oligomers using the
      EGFR fused to the FK506-binding protein did not affect signaling but was found to
      enhance EGF-induced receptor internalization. Our data show that EGFR
      oligomerization is the result of EGFR signaling and enhances EGFR
      internalization.

PMID- 20940296
TI  - Negative regulation of EGFR-Vav2 signaling axis by Cbl ubiquitin ligase controls
      EGF receptor-mediated epithelial cell adherens junction dynamics and cell
      migration.
AB  - The E3 ubiquitin ligase Casitas B lymphoma protein (Cbl) controls the ubiquitin
      dependent degradation of EGF receptor (EGFR), but its role in regulating
      downstream signaling elements with which it associates and its impact on
      biological outcomes of EGFR signaling are less clear. Here, we demonstrate that
      stimulation of EGFR on human mammary epithelial cells disrupts adherens junctions
      (AJs) through Vav2 and Rac1/Cdc42 activation. In EGF-stimulated cells, Cbl
      regulates the levels of phosphorylated Vav2 thereby attenuating Rac1/Cdc42
      activity. Knockdown of Cbl and Cbl-b enhanced the EGF-induced disruption of AJs
      and cell motility. Overexpression of constitutively active Vav2 activated
      Rac1/Cdc42 and reorganized junctional actin cytoskeleton; these effects were
      suppressed by WT Cbl and enhanced by a ubiquitin ligase-deficient Cbl mutant. Cbl
      forms a complex with phospho-EGFR and phospho-Vav2 and facilitates phospho-Vav2
      ubiquitinylation. Cbl can also interact with Vav2 directly in a Cbl Tyr-700
      dependent manner. A ubiquitin ligase-deficient Cbl mutant enhanced the
      morphological transformation of mammary epithelial cells induced by
      constitutively active Vav2; this effect requires an intact Cbl Tyr-700. These
      results indicate that Cbl ubiquitin ligase plays a critical role in the
      maintenance of AJs and suppression of cell migration through down-regulation of
      EGFR-Vav2 signaling.

PMID- 20940298
TI  - Intrinsic linear heterogeneity of amyloid beta protein fibrils revealed by higher
      resolution mass-per-length determinations.
AB  - Amyloid beta proteins spontaneously form fibrils in vitro that vary in their
      thermodynamic stability and in morphological characteristics such as length,
      width, shape, longitudinal twist, and the number of component filaments. It is
      vitally important to determine which variant best represents the type of fibril
      that accumulates in Alzheimer disease. In the present study, the nature of
      morphological variation was examined by dark-field and transmission electron
      microscopy in a preparation of seeded amyloid beta protein fibrils that formed at
      relatively low protein concentrations and exhibited remarkably high thermodynamic
      stability. The number of filaments comprising these fibrils changed frequently
      from two to six along their length, and these changes only became apparent when
      mass-per-length (MPL) determinations are made with sufficient resolution. The MPL
      results could be reproduced by a simple stochastic model with a single adjustable
      parameter. The presence of more than two primary filaments could not be discerned
      by transmission electron microscopy, and they had no apparent relationship to the
      longitudinal twist of the fibrils. However, the pitch of the twist was strongly
      affected by the pH of the negative stain. We conclude that highly stable amyloid
      fibrils may form in which a surprising amount of intrinsic linear heterogeneity
      may be obscured by MPL measurements of insufficient resolution, and by the
      negative stains used for imaging fibrils by electron microscopy.

PMID- 20940299
TI  - Characterization of the properties of a novel mutation in VAPB in familial
      amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
AB  - Following the mutation screening of genes known to cause amyotrophic lateral
      sclerosis (ALS) in index cases from 107 familial ALS (FALS) kindred, a point
      mutation was identified in vesicle-associated membrane protein-associated protein
      B (VAPB), or VAMP-associated protein B, causing an amino acid change from
      threonine to isoleucine at codon 46 (T46I) in one FALS case but not in 257
      controls. This is an important finding because it is only the second mutation
      identified in this gene that causes ALS. In order to investigate the pathogenic
      effects of this mutation, we have used a motor neuron cell line and tissue
      specific expression of the mutant protein in Drosophila. We provide substantial
      evidence for the pathogenic effects of this mutation in abolishing the effect of
      wild type VAPB in the unfolded protein response, promoting ubiquitin aggregate
      formation, and activating neuronal cell death. We also report that expression of
      the mutant protein in the Drosophila motor system induces aggregate deposition,
      endoplasmic reticulum disorganization, and chaperone up-regulation both in
      neurons and in muscles. Our integrated analysis of the pathogenic effect of the
      T46I mutation and the previously identified P56S mutation indicate extensive
      commonalities in the disease mechanism for these two mutations. In summary, we
      show that this newly identified mutation in human FALS has a pathogenic effect,
      supporting and reinforcing the role of VAPB as a causative gene of ALS.

PMID- 20940300
TI  - Integrin {alpha}1{beta}1 promotes caveolin-1 dephosphorylation by activating T
      cell protein-tyrosine phosphatase.
AB  - Integrin alpha1beta1 is a collagen receptor that down-regulates collagen and
      reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, and mice lacking this receptor show
      increased ROS levels and exacerbated glomerular sclerosis following injury.
      Caveolin-1 (Cav-1) is a multifunctional protein that is tyrosine-phosphorylated
      in response to injury and has been implicated in ROS-mediated injury. Cav-1
      interacts with integrins, and integrin alpha1beta1 binds/activates T cell protein
      tyrosine phosphatase (TCPTP), which is homologous to the tyrosine phosphatase
      PTP1B known to dephosphorylate Cav-1. In this study, we analyzed whether
      phosphorylated Cav-1 (pCav-1) is a substrate of TCPTP and if integrin alpha1beta1
      is essential for promoting TCPTP-mediated Cav-1 dephosphorylation. We found that
      Cav-1 phosphorylation is significantly higher in cells lacking integrin
      alpha1beta1 at base line and following oxidative stress. Overexpression of TCPTP
      leads to reduced pCav-1 levels only in cells expressing integrin alpha1beta1.
      Using solid phase binding assays, we demonstrated that 1) purified Cav-1 directly
      interacts with TCPTP and the integrin alpha1 subunit, 2) pCav-1 is a substrate of
      TCPTP, and 3) TCPTP-mediated Cav-1 dephosphorylation is highly increased by the
      addition of purified integrin alpha1beta1 or an integrin alpha1 cytoplasmic
      peptide to which TCPTP has been shown to bind. Thus, our results demonstrate that
      pCav-1 is a new substrate of TCPTP and that integrin alpha1beta1 acts as a
      negative regulator of Cav-1 phosphorylation by activating TCPTP. This could
      explain the protective function of integrin alpha1beta1 in oxidative stress
      mediated damage and why integrin alpha1-null mice are more susceptible to
      fibrosis following injury.

PMID- 20940301
TI  - Rod phosphodiesterase-6 PDE6A and PDE6B subunits are enzymatically equivalent.
AB  - Phosphodiesterase-6 (PDE6) is the key effector enzyme of the phototransduction
      cascade in rods and cones. The catalytic core of rod PDE6 is a unique heterodimer
      of PDE6A and PDE6B catalytic subunits. The functional significance of rod PDE6
      heterodimerization and conserved differences between PDE6AB and cone PDE6C and
      the individual properties of PDE6A and PDE6B are unknown. To address these
      outstanding questions, we expressed chimeric homodimeric enzymes, enhanced GFP
      (EGFP)-PDE6C-A and EGFP-PDE6C-B, containing the PDE6A and PDE6B catalytic
      domains, respectively, in transgenic Xenopus laevis. Similar to EGFP-PDE6C, EGFP
      PDE6C-A and EGFP-PDE6C-B were targeted to the rod outer segments and concentrated
      at the disc rims. PDE6C, PDE6C-A, and PDE6C-B were isolated following selective
      immunoprecipitation of the EGFP fusion proteins. All three enzymes, PDE6C, PDE6C
      A, and PDE6C-B, hydrolyzed cGMP with similar K(m) (20-23 MUM) and k(cat) (4200
      5100 s(-1)) values. Likewise, the K(i) values for PDE6C, PDE6C-A, and PDE6C-B
      inhibition by the cone- and rod-specific PDE6 gamma-subunits (Pgamma) were
      comparable. Recombinant cone transducin-alpha (Galpha(t2)) and native rod
      Galpha(t1) fully and potently activated PDE6C, PDE6C-A, and PDE6C-B. In contrast,
      the half-maximal activation of bovine rod PDE6 required markedly higher
      concentrations of Galpha(t2) or Galpha(t1). Our results suggest that PDE6A and
      PDE6B are enzymatically equivalent. Furthermore, PDE6A and PDE6B are similar to
      PDE6C with respect to catalytic properties and the interaction with Pgamma but
      differ in the interaction with transducin. This study significantly limits the
      range of mechanisms by which conserved differences between PDE6A, PDE6B, and
      PDE6C may contribute to remarkable differences in rod and cone physiology.

PMID- 20940302
TI  - Inactivation of adenosine A2A receptor attenuates basal and angiotensin II
      induced ROS production by Nox2 in endothelial cells.
AB  - Endothelial cells (ECs) express a Nox2 enzyme, which, by generating reactive
      oxygen species (ROS), contributes to EC redox signaling and angiotensin II
      (AngII)-induced endothelial dysfunction. ECs also express abundantly an adenosine
      A(2A) receptor (A(2A)R), but its role in EC ROS production remains unknown. In
      this study, we investigated the role of A(2A)R in the regulation of Nox2 activity
      and signaling in ECs with or without acute AngII stimulation. In cultured ECs
      (SVEC4-10), AngII (100 nm, 30 min) significantly increased Nox2 membrane
      translocation and association with A(2A)R. These were accompanied by p47(phox),
      ERK1/2, p38 MAPK, and Akt phosphorylation and an increased ROS production (169 +/
      0.04%). These AngII effects were inhibited back to the control levels by a
      specific A(2A)R antagonist (SCH58261), or adenosine deaminase, or by knockdown of
      A(2A)R or Nox2 using specific siRNAs. Knockdown of A(2A)R, as determined by
      Western blotting, decreased Nox2 and p47(phox) expression. In wild-type mouse
      aorta, SCH58261 significantly reduced acute AngII-induced ROS production and
      preserved endothelium-dependent vessel relaxation to acetylcholine. These results
      were further confirmed by using aortas from A(2A)R knock-out mice. In conclusion,
      A(2A)R is involved in the regulation of EC ROS production by Nox2. Inhibition or
      blockade of A(2A)R protects ECs from acute AngII-induced oxidative stress, MAPK
      activation, and endothelium dysfunction.

PMID- 20940303
TI  - Protein kinase C phosphorylation regulates membrane insertion of GABAA receptor
      subtypes that mediate tonic inhibition.
AB  - Tonic inhibition in the brain is mediated largely by specialized populations of
      extrasynaptic receptors, gamma-aminobutyric acid receptors (GABA(A)Rs). In the
      dentate gyrus region of the hippocampus, tonic inhibition is mediated primarily
      by GABA(A)R subtypes assembled from alpha4beta2/3 with or without the delta
      subunit. Although the gating of these receptors is subject to dynamic modulation
      by agents such as anesthetics, barbiturates, and neurosteroids, the cellular
      mechanisms neurons use to regulate their accumulation on the neuronal plasma
      membrane remain to be determined. Using immunoprecipitation coupled with
      metabolic labeling, we demonstrate that the alpha4 subunit is phosphorylated at
      Ser(443) by protein kinase C (PKC) in expression systems and hippocampal slices.
      In addition, the beta3 subunit is phosphorylated on serine residues 408/409 by
      PKC activity, whereas the delta subunit did not appear to be a PKC substrate. We
      further demonstrate that the PKC-dependent increase of the cell surface
      expression of alpha4 subunit-containing GABA(A)Rs is dependent on Ser(443).
      Mechanistically, phosphorylation of Ser(443) acts to increase the stability of
      the alpha4 subunit within the endoplasmic reticulum, thereby increasing the rate
      of receptor insertion into the plasma membrane. Finally, we show that
      phosphorylation of Ser(443) increases the activity of alpha4 subunit-containing
      GABA(A)Rs by preventing current run-down. These results suggest that PKC
      dependent phosphorylation of the alpha4 subunit plays a significant role in
      enhancing the cell surface stability and activity of GABA(A)R subtypes that
      mediate tonic inhibition.

PMID- 20940304
TI  - Ubiquitin-independent proteasomal degradation of endoplasmic reticulum-localized
      connexin43 mediated by CIP75.
AB  - Connexin43 (Cx43) is a transmembrane protein that forms gap junction channels.
      Regulation of Cx43 turnover is one mechanism to control the level of
      intercellular communication that occurs through gap junction channels.
      Proteasomal degradation of Cx43 is regulated in part through CIP75, a ubiquitin
      like and ubiquitin-associated domain containing protein. CIP75 interacts with
      endoplasmic reticulum-localized Cx43, as demonstrated through co
      immunoprecipitation and immunofluorescence microscopy experiments. CIP75 also
      binds to free monoubiquitin and lysine 48-linked tetraubiquitin chains in vitro
      and binds to ubiquitinated proteins in cellular lysates. However, analysis of
      Cx43 that immunoprecipitated with CIP75 demonstrated that the Cx43 associated
      with CIP75 was not ubiquitinated, and a mutant form of Cx43 that lacked lysines
      capable of ubiquitination retained the capacity to interact with CIP75. These
      results suggest that although CIP75 can interact with ubiquitinated cellular
      proteins, its interaction with Cx43 and stimulation of Cx43 proteasomal
      degradation does not require the ubiquitination of Cx43.

PMID- 20940305
TI  - The anti-angiogenic peptide, loop 6, binds insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor.
AB  - Tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMPs), the endogenous inhibitors of
      matrix metalloproteinases, have been shown to possess biological functions that
      are independent of their ability to inhibit matrix metalloproteinases. We have
      previously shown that the C-terminal domain of TIMP-2 and, in particular, Loop 6
      inhibit capillary endothelial cell proliferation and angiogenesis both in vitro
      and in vivo. To elucidate the mechanism by which Loop 6 inhibits angiogenesis, we
      sought to determine whether its biological effects were the result of a known
      TIMP-2 protein-protein interaction or of a receptor-mediated event. In this
      study, we identify insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor as a binding partner of
      Loop 6/TIMP-2 and characterize this interaction on the endothelial cell surface
      and the consequences of this interaction on downstream receptor signaling.

PMID- 20940306
TI  - Down-regulation of Myc is essential for terminal erythroid maturation.
AB  - Terminal differentiation of mammalian erythroid progenitors involves 4-5 cell
      divisions and induction of many erythroid important genes followed by chromatin
      and nuclear condensation and enucleation. The protein levels of c-Myc (Myc) are
      reduced dramatically during late stage erythroid maturation, coinciding with cell
      cycle arrest in G(1) phase and enucleation, suggesting possible roles for c-Myc
      in either or both of these processes. Here we demonstrate that ectopic Myc
      expression affects terminal erythroid maturation in a dose-dependent manner.
      Expression of Myc at physiological levels did not affect erythroid
      differentiation or cell cycle shutdown but specifically blocked erythroid nuclear
      condensation and enucleation. Continued Myc expression prevented deacetylation of
      several lysine residues in histones H3 and H4 that are normally deacetylated
      during erythroid maturation. The histone acetyltransferase Gcn5 was up-regulated
      by Myc, and ectopic Gcn5 expression partially blocked enucleation and inhibited
      the late stage erythroid nuclear condensation and histone deacetylation. When
      overexpressed at levels higher than the physiological range, Myc blocked
      erythroid differentiation, and the cells continued to proliferate in cytokine
      free, serum-containing culture medium with an early erythroblast morphology. Gene
      expression analysis demonstrated the dysregulation of erythropoietin signaling
      pathway and the up-regulation of several positive regulators of G(1)-S cell cycle
      checkpoint by supraphysiological levels of Myc. These results reveal an important
      dose-dependent function of Myc in regulating terminal maturation in mammalian
      erythroid cells.

PMID- 20940307
TI  - Regulation of PTEN stability and activity by Plk3.
AB  - By studying primary isogenic murine embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs), we have shown
      that PLK3 null MEFs contain a reduced level of phosphatase and tensin homolog
      (PTEN) and increased Akt1 activation coupled with decreased GSK3beta activation
      under normoxia and hypoxia. Purified recombinant Plk3, but not a kinase-defective
      mutant, efficiently phosphorylates PTEN in vitro. Mass spectrometry identifies
      threonine 366 and serine 370 as two putative residues that are phosphorylated by
      Plk3. Immunoblotting using a phosphospecific antibody confirms these sites as
      Plk3 phosphorylation sites. Moreover, treatment of MEFs with LiCl, an inhibitor
      of GSK3beta and CK2, only partially suppresses the phosphorylation, suggesting
      Plk3 as an additional kinase that phosphorylates these sites in vivo. Plk3
      targeting mutants of PTEN are expressed at a reduced level in comparison with the
      wild-type counterpart, which is associated with an enhanced activity of PDK1, an
      upstream activator of Akt1. Furthermore, the reduced level of PTEN in PLK3 null
      MEFs is stabilized by treatment with MG132, a proteosome inhibitor. Combined, our
      study identifies Plk3 as a new player in the regulation of the PI3K/PDK1/Akt
      signaling axis by phosphorylation and stabilization of PTEN.

PMID- 20940308
TI  - Histidine triad nucleotide-binding protein 1 (HINT-1) phosphoramidase transforms
      nucleoside 5'-O-phosphorothioates to nucleoside 5'-O-phosphates.
AB  - Nucleoside 5'-O-phosphorothioates are formed in vivo as primary products of
      hydrolysis of oligo(nucleoside phosphorothioate)s (PS-oligos) that are applied as
      antisense therapeutic molecules. The biodistribution of PS-oligos and their
      pharmacokinetics have been widely reported, but little is known about their
      subsequent decay inside the organism. We suggest that the enzyme responsible for
      nucleoside 5'-O-monophosphorothioate ((d)NMPS) metabolism could be histidine
      triad nucleotide-binding protein 1 (Hint-1), a phosphoramidase belonging to the
      histidine triad (HIT) superfamily that is present in all forms of life. An
      additional, but usually ignored, activity of Hint-1 is its ability to catalyze
      the conversion of adenosine 5'-O-monophosphorothioate (AMPS) to 5'-O
      monophosphate (AMP). By mutagenetic and biochemical studies, we defined the
      active site of Hint-1 and the kinetic parameters of the desulfuration reaction (P
      S bond cleavage). Additionally, crystallographic analysis (resolution from 1.08
      to 1.37 A) of three engineered cysteine mutants showed the high similarity of
      their structures, which were not very different from the structure of WT Hint-1.
      Moreover, we found that not only AMPS but also other ribonucleoside and 2'
      deoxyribonucleoside phosphorothioates are desulfurated by Hint-1 at the following
      relative rates: GMPS > AMPS > dGMPS >= CMPS > UMPS > dAMPS ? dCMPS > TMPS, and
      during the reaction, hydrogen sulfide, which is thought to be the third gaseous
      mediator, was released.

PMID- 20940309
TI  - Characterization of a hemophore-like protein from Porphyromonas gingivalis.
AB  - The porphyrin auxotrophic pathogen Porphyromonas gingivalis obtains the majority
      of essential iron and porphyrin from host hemoproteins. To achieve this, the
      organism expresses outer membrane gingipains containing cysteine proteinase
      domains linked to hemagglutinin domains. Heme mobilized in this way is taken up
      by P. gingivalis through a variety of potential portals where HmuY/HmuR of the
      hmu locus are best described. These receptors have relatively low binding
      affinities for heme. In this report, we describe a novel P. gingivalis protein,
      HusA, the product of PG2227, which rapidly bound heme with a high binding
      constant at equilibrium of 7 * 10(-10) M. HusA is both expressed on the outer
      membrane and released from the organism. Spectral analysis indicated an unusual
      pattern of binding where heme was ligated preferentially as a dimer. Further, the
      presence of dimeric heme induced protein dimer formation. Deletional inactivation
      of husA showed that expression of this moiety was essential for growth of P.
      gingivalis under conditions of heme limitation. This finding was in accord with
      the pronounced increase in gene expression levels for husA with progressive
      reduction of heme supplementation. Antibodies reactive against HusA were detected
      in patients with chronic periodontitis, suggesting that the protein is expressed
      during the course of infection by P. gingivalis. It is predicted that HusA
      efficiently sequesters heme from gingipains and fulfills the function of a high
      affinity hemophore-like protein to meet the heme requirement for growth of P.
      gingivalis during establishment of infection.

PMID- 20940311
TI  - Ultrasound velocity in heavy ocular tamponade agents and implications for
      biometry.
AB  - AIM: Heavy ocular tamponade agents have been shown to be an effective tamponade
      in complicated retinal detachments. Combined oil removal and cataract surgery may
      be performed and ultrasound (US) provides a reliable means to measure the axial
      length of eyes. The aim of this study was to evaluate the velocity of US in
      various tamponade agents. METHODS: Five tamponade agents (SO 1000, SO 5000, Oxane
      HD, Densiron 68 and F-Decalin) were studied in vitro. Time of flight (T(1)) was
      measured between a US transducer and the bottom of a container of the agent, and
      remeasured (T(2)) after reducing the separation by 1 cm. The speed of sound in
      the particular material was calculated from the difference between T(2) and T(1).
      Measurements were repeated over a range of temperatures from 18 degrees C to 42
      degrees C. RESULTS: The speed of sound at 37 degrees C ranged from 645 +/- 8 m/s
      to 976 +/- 10 m/s depending on the tamponade agent. In Densiron 68 and F-Decalin,
      the speed of sound was markedly reduced to 914 +/- 10 m/s and 645 +/- 8 m/s,
      respectively. The temperature dependence of speed of sound varied between -2.2
      and -3.6 m/s per  degrees C depending on the particular oil. With 95% confidence,
      the true speed is believed to lie within +/- 5 m/s of these values. The deviation
      from intended refraction was between 0.38 to 30.15 D depending on the tamponade
      agent by using correction factor (CF) for SO 1000 cs. CONCLUSIONS: Variability in
      the velocity of US should be taken into account when performing biometry.
      Biometry machines should be adjusted for various tamponade media when calculating
      intraocular lens power.

PMID- 20940310
TI  - KCNQ1 channels voltage dependence through a voltage-dependent binding of the S4
      S5 linker to the pore domain.
AB  - Voltage-dependent potassium (Kv) channels are tetramers of six transmembrane
      domain (S1-S6) proteins. Crystallographic data demonstrate that the tetrameric
      pore (S5-S6) is surrounded by four voltage sensor domains (S1-S4). One key
      question remains: how do voltage sensors (S4) regulate pore gating? Previous
      mutagenesis data obtained on the Kv channel KCNQ1 highlighted the critical role
      of specific residues in both the S4-S5 linker (S4S5(L)) and S6 C terminus
      (S6(T)). From these data, we hypothesized that S4S5(L) behaves like a ligand
      specifically interacting with S6(T) and stabilizing the closed state. To test
      this hypothesis, we designed plasmid-encoded peptides corresponding to portions
      of S4S5(L) and S6(T) of the voltage-gated potassium channel KCNQ1 and evaluated
      their effects on the channel activity in the presence and absence of the
      ancillary subunit KCNE1. We showed that S4S5(L) peptides inhibit KCNQ1, in a
      reversible and state-dependent manner. S4S5(L) peptides also inhibited a voltage
      independent KCNQ1 mutant. This inhibition was competitively prevented by a
      peptide mimicking S6(T), consistent with S4S5(L) binding to S6(T). Val(254) in
      S4S5(L) is known to contact Leu(353) in S6(T) when the channel is closed, and
      mutations of these residues alter the coupling between the two regions. The same
      mutations introduced in peptides altered their effects, further confirming
      S4S5(L) binding to S6(T). Our results suggest a mechanistic model in which
      S4S5(L) acts as a voltage-dependent ligand bound to its receptor on S6 at rest.
      This interaction locks the channel in a closed state. Upon plasma membrane
      depolarization, S4 pulls S4S5(L) away from S6(T), allowing channel opening.

PMID- 20940312
TI  - Evaluation of risk factors for retinal damage due to chloroquine and
      hydroxychloroquine.
AB  - BACKGROUND/AIMS: To evaluate risk factors for retinal damage due to the intake of
      chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine. METHODS: In a retrospective chart review,
      patients receiving or having received one of the drugs were classified as
      affected by maculopathy or retinopathy, or as not affected on the basis of the
      documented findings. Uncertain cases were excluded. The risk factors as
      postulated by the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) and additional factors
      like diagnosis of underlying disease, total dose, nicotine abuse and the sum of
      the AAO risk factors were compared between both groups. RESULTS: 51 patients with
      a history of or ongoing treatment with chloroquine (23 individuals) or
      hydroxychloroquine (28 individuals) were included. Most of the postulated risk
      factors were expectedly elevated in the affected group. Significant differences
      applied to age, duration of intake and the sum of AAO risk factors. Surprisingly,
      positive smoking history was more frequent in the not affected. The toxic
      threshold of the daily chloroquine dose was exceeded by most of the patients.
      CONCLUSIONS: Age and the duration of intake are major risk factors. Smoking seems
      to be negligible. The sum of AAO risk factors can give an estimation of the
      individual risk profile. Individual and weight-adapted dosing is especially
      essential for chloroquine.

PMID- 20940313
TI  - The impact of diabetic retinopathy: understanding the patient's perspective.
AB  - Understanding the impact of a condition from the patient's perspective is
      important, and different types of patient-reported outcomes or instruments are
      available to help with this. This review article summarises the current evidence
      on the impact of diabetic retinopathy (DR) and its associated vision impairment
      on patient-reported outcomes. We have included research that has used a range of
      outcome measures to assess the impact of DR on generic health-related quality of
      life, utility, vision-functioning and vision-specific quality of life. This
      review also offers clarification on frequently misused psychometric terminologies
      to help clinicians and researchers better understand the literature associated
      with patient-reported outcome research. Overall, the evidence suggests that DR,
      particularly in its vision-threatening stages, has a substantial, negative impact
      on the patient. However, our understanding of the impact of DR is currently
      restricted due to limitations inherent in currently available patient-reported
      outcome measures. We conclude by discussing potential directions for future
      research in this area, such as item banking and computer adaptive testing.

PMID- 20940314
TI  - Keratitis caused by Burkholderia cepacia.

PMID- 20940315
TI  - Targeting cancer: an interview with Tyler Jacks. Interview by Kathy Weston.

PMID- 20940316
TI  - From man to mouse and back again: advances in defining tumor AKTivities in vivo.
AB  - AKT hyperactivation is a common event in human cancers, and inhibition of
      oncogenic AKT activation is a major goal of drug discovery programs. Mouse tumor
      models that replicate AKT activation typical of human cancers provide a powerful
      means by which to investigate mechanisms of oncogenic signaling, identify
      potential therapeutic targets and determine treatment regimes with maximal
      therapeutic efficacy. This Perspective highlights recent advances using in vivo
      studies that reveal how AKT signaling supports tumor formation, cooperates with
      other mutations to promote tumor progression and facilitates tumor-cell
      dissemination, focusing on well-characterized prostate carcinoma mouse models
      that are highly sensitive to AKT activation. The implications of these findings
      on the therapeutic targeting of AKT and potential new drug targets are also
      explored.

PMID- 20940317
TI  - Increased extracellular adenosine in Drosophila that are deficient in adenosine
      deaminase activates a release of energy stores leading to wasting and death.
AB  - Extracellular adenosine is an important signaling molecule in neuromodulation,
      immunomodulation and hypoxia. Adenosine dysregulation can cause various
      pathologies, exemplified by a deficiency in adenosine deaminase in severe
      combined immunodeficiency. We have established a Drosophila model to study the
      effects of increased adenosine in vivo by mutating the main Drosophila adenosine
      deaminase-related growth factor (ADGF-A). Using a genetic screen, we show here
      that the increased extracellular adenosine in the adgf-a mutant is associated
      with hyperglycemia and impairment in energy storage. The adenosine works in this
      regard through the adenosine receptor as an anti-insulin hormone in parallel to
      adipokinetic hormone, a glucagon counterpart in flies. If not regulated properly,
      this action can lead to a loss of energy reserves (wasting) and death of the
      organism. Because adenosine signaling is associated with the immune response and
      the response to stress in general, our results mark extracellular adenosine as a
      good candidate signal involved in the wasting syndrome that accompanies various
      human pathologies.

PMID- 20940318
TI  - Syk is a dual-specificity kinase that self-regulates the signal output from the B
      cell antigen receptor.
AB  - Upon B-cell activation, the signaling subunits Ig-alpha and Ig-beta of the B-cell
      antigen receptor become phosphorylated not only on tyrosines but also on serine
      residues. Using a specific antibody, we show that serine 197 (S197) in the
      cytoplasmic tail of Ig-alpha is phosphorylated upon B-cell antigen receptor
      activation, and that this modification inhibits the signal output of the B-cell
      antigen receptor. Surprisingly, we found that the well-known protein tyrosine
      kinase Syk (spleen tyrosine kinase) phosphorylates S197 on Ig-alpha, thus not
      only activating but also inhibiting signaling from the B-cell antigen receptor.
      This finding identifies Syk as a dual-specificity kinase and establishes a
      previously unexplored paradigm for the self-regulation of biological signaling
      processes.

PMID- 20940319
TI  - Kinetics of G-protein-coupled receptor endosomal trafficking pathways revealed by
      single quantum dots.
AB  - G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are the largest protein superfamily in the
      human genome; they comprise 30% of current drug targets and regulate diverse
      cellular signaling responses. The role of endosomal trafficking in GPCR signaling
      regulation is gaining substantial consideration. However, this process remains
      difficult to study due to the inability to distinguish among many individual
      receptors, simultaneously trafficking within multiple endosomal pathways. Here we
      show accurate measurement of the internalization and endosomal trafficking of
      single groups of serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) receptors using single
      quantum dot (QD) probes and quantitative colocalization. We demonstrate that the
      presence of a QD tag does not interfere with 5-HT receptor internalization or
      endosomal recycling. Direct measurements show simultaneous trafficking of the 5
      HT1A receptor in two distinct endosomal recycling pathways. Single-molecule
      imaging of endosomal trafficking will significantly impact the understanding of
      cellular signaling and provide powerful tools to elucidate the actions of GPCR
      targeted therapeutics.

PMID- 20940321
TI  - Resistance may not be futile: microRNA biomarkers for chemoresistance and
      potential therapeutics.
AB  - Chemoresistance to many commercially available cancer therapeutic drugs is a
      common occurrence and contributes to cancer mortality as it often leads to
      disease progression. There have been a number of studies evaluating the
      mechanisms of resistance and the biological factors involved. microRNAs have
      recently been identified as playing a role in the regulation of key genes
      implicated as cancer therapeutic targets or in mechanisms of chemoresistance
      including EGFR, MDR1, PTEN, Bak1, and PDCD4 among others. This article briefly
      reviews chemoresistance mechanisms, discusses how microRNAs can play a role in
      those mechanisms, and summarizes current research involving microRNAs as both
      regulators of key target genes for chemoresistance and biomarkers for treatment
      response. It is clear from the accumulating literature that microRNAs can play an
      important role in chemoresistance and hold much promise for the development of
      targeted therapies and personalized medicine. This review brings together much of
      this new research as a starting point for identifying key areas of interest and
      potentials for future study.

PMID- 20940320
TI  - Structural insight into the mechanisms of enveloped virus tethering by tetherin.
AB  - Tetherin/BST2 is a type-II membrane protein that inhibits the release of a range
      of enveloped viruses, including HIV-1. Here we report three crystal structures of
      human tetherin, including the full-length ectodomain, a triple cysteine mutant
      and an ectodomain truncation. These structures show that tetherin forms a
      continuous alpha helix encompassing almost the entire ectodomain. Tetherin
      helices dimerize into parallel coiled coils via interactions throughout the C
      terminal portion of the ectodomain. A comparison of the multiple structures of
      the tetherin dimer reveals inherent constrained flexibility at two hinges
      positioned at residues A88 and G109. In the crystals, two tetherin ectodomain
      dimers associate into a tetramer by forming an antiparallel four-helix bundle at
      their N termini. However, mutagenesis studies suggest that the tetrametric form
      of tetherin, although potentially contributing to, is not essential for its
      antiviral activity. Nonetheless, the structural and chemical properties of the N
      terminus of the ectodomain are important for optimal tethering function. This
      study provides detailed insight into the mechanisms by which this broad-spectrum
      antiviral restriction factor can function.

PMID- 20940322
TI  - Antiangiogenic activity of a neutralizing human single-chain antibody fragment
      against fibroblast growth factor receptor 1.
AB  - Fibroblast growth factor receptor-1 (FGFR-1) transduces proangiogenic and
      proliferative signals in human cancers. Thus, FGFR-1 may represent a target for
      the development of antiangiogenic/antineoplastic therapies. We screened a human
      single-chain fragment variable (scFv) antibody phage display library against the
      extracellular domain of the FGFR-1-IIIc isoform that harbors the FGF binding
      site. Several phages were isolated and tested for specificity and sensitivity,
      and the most promising antibody fragment RR-C2 was characterized for its
      biochemical and biological properties. ScFv RR-C2 specifically recognizes FGFR
      1alpha and FGFR-1beta isoforms in ELISA, Western blotting, and surface plasmon
      resonance analysis with a K(d) value of 300 and 144 nmol/L for the 2 receptor
      isoforms, respectively. The antibody fragment also recognizes FGFR-1 when the
      receptor is exposed on the cell surface, thus preventing the formation of the
      ternary complex among FGFR-1, its ligand FGF2, and cell surface heparan sulfate
      proteoglycans. Accordingly, scFv RR-C2 specifically inhibits FGF2-mediated
      mitogenic activity in endothelial cells of human, bovine, and murine origin in a
      nanomolar range of concentrations. Also, the antibody fragment prevents FGF2
      triggered sprouting of both human umbilical vein endothelial cell spheroids and
      of murine endothelium from aortic rings. Finally, the antibody fragment hampers
      the angiogenic activity exerted both by FGF2 in the chick embryo chorioallantoic
      membrane assay and by S115 mouse mammary tumor cells in the Matrigel plug assay.
      Taken together, the data show that scFv RR-C2 recognizes and neutralizes FGFR-1
      activity in different animal species, including humans, thus representing a novel
      tool for the development of antiangiogenic/antineoplastic therapies.

PMID- 20940323
TI  - Pivotal advance: The promotion of soluble DC-SIGN release by inflammatory signals
      and its enhancement of cytomegalovirus-mediated cis-infection of myeloid
      dendritic cells.
AB  - DC-SIGN is a member of the C-type lectin family. Mainly expressed by myeloid DCs,
      it is involved in the capture and internalization of pathogens, including human
      CMV. Several transcripts have been identified, some of which code for putative
      soluble proteins. However, little is known about the regulation and the
      functional properties of such putative sDC-SIGN variants. To better understand
      how sDC-SIGN could be involved in CMV infection, we set out to characterize
      biochemical and functional properties of rDC-SIGN as well as naturally occurring
      sDC-SIGN. We first developed a specific, quantitative ELISA and then used it to
      detect the presence sDC-SIGN in in vitro-generated DC culture supernatants as
      cell-free secreted tetramers. Next, in correlation with their inflammatory
      status, we demonstrated the presence of sDC-SIGN in several human body fluids,
      including serum, joint fluids, and BALs. CMV infection of human tissues was also
      shown to promote sDC-SIGN release. Based on the analysis of the
      cytokine/chemokine content of sDC-SIGN culture supernatants, we identified IFN
      gamma and CXCL8/IL-8 as inducers of sDC-SIGN production by MoDC. Finally, we
      demonstrated that sDC-SIGN was able to interact with CMV gB under native
      conditions, leading to a significant increase in MoDC CMV infection. Overall, our
      results confirm that sDC-SIGN, like its well-known, counterpart mDC-SIGN, may
      play a pivotal role in CMV-mediated pathogenesis.

PMID- 20940324
TI  - Substance P inhibits natural killer cell cytotoxicity through the neurokinin-1
      receptor.
AB  - SP is a potent neuroimmunomodulator that functions through ligating members of
      the neurokinin receptor family, one of which, NK1R, is widely expressed in immune
      cells. As in humans, circulating SP levels are increased in pathologic states
      associated with impairment of NK cell functions, such as depression and HIV
      infection, we hypothesized that SP has a direct, inhibitory effect upon NK cells.
      We have studied a clonal human NK cell line (YTS) as well as ex vivo human NK
      cells and have determined that truncated and full-length NK1R isoforms are
      expressed in and SP bound by ex vivo NK cells and the YTS NK cell line.
      Incubation of YTS cells with 10-6 M SP and ex vivo NK cells with 10-5 M SP
      inhibited cytotoxic ability by ~20% and reduced degranulation. This inhibitory
      effect upon cytotoxicity was partially prevented by the NK1R antagonist CP96,345.
      The treatment of YTS or ex vivo NK cells with SP neither down-modulated NCR
      expression nor affected triggering receptor-induced NF-kappaB activation.
      Preincubation of YTS cells with SP, however, did abbreviate the typically
      prolonged intracellular calcium increase induced by target cell engagement and
      reduced triggering receptor-induced pERK. Thus, SP has the potential to regulate
      NK cell functions and acts downstream from neurokinin receptors to modulate NK
      cell activation signaling. This mechanism may contribute to impairment of NK cell
      function in certain disease states associated with increased circulating SP.
      Antagonism of this system may present an opportunity to augment NK cell function
      therapeutically in selected human diseases.

PMID- 20940326
TI  - Serine residues in the LAT adaptor are essential for TCR-dependent signal
      transduction.
AB  - The adaptor protein LAT has a prominent role in the transduction of intracellular
      signals elicited by the TCR/CD3 complex. Upon TCR engagement, LAT becomes
      tyrosine-phosphorylated and thereby, recruits to the membrane several proteins
      implicated in the activation of downstream signaling pathways. However, little is
      known about the role of other conserved motifs present in the LAT sequence. Here,
      we report that the adaptor LAT contains several conserved serine-based motifs,
      which are essential for proper signal transduction through the TCR. Mutation of
      these serine motifs in the human T cell line Jurkat prevents proper calcium
      influx, MAPK activation, and IL-2 production in response to TCR/CD3 stimulation.
      Moreover, this mutant form of LAT has a reduced ability to bind to PLC-gamma1 and
      SLP-76, although phosphorylation of tyrosine residues 132, 171, and 191 is not
      decreased, raising a possible role for the serine-based motifs of LAT for the
      binding of important partners. The functional role of LAT serine-based motifs in
      signal transduction could be mediated by an effect on tyrosine phosphorylation,
      as their mutation significantly diminishes the phosphorylation of tyrosine
      residue 226. In addition, these serine motifs seem to have a regulatory role,
      given that upon their mutation, ZAP-70 shows enhanced phosphorylation. Therefore,
      the LAT serine-based motifs likely regulate signaling pathways that are essential
      for T cell physiology.

PMID- 20940327
TI  - Improving the biomarker pipeline.

PMID- 20940325
TI  - CCL22 regulates experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis by controlling
      inflammatory macrophage accumulation and effector function.
AB  - EAE is a demyelinating disease of the CNS and serves as a mouse model of MS.
      Expression of CCL22 in the draining LNs and spinal cord correlated with the onset
      of clinical EAE development and remained elevated. Administration of anti-CCL22
      at the time of autoantigen immunization delayed the initiation of clinical
      disease and dampened the severity of peak initial disease and relapses. Reduced
      EAE severity correlated with the reduction of pathology and leukocytes in the
      CNS, particularly, activated CD11b+Ly6C(hi) macrophages. There were no
      differences in effector T cell-proliferative responses or effector T cell IFN
      gamma or IL-17 responses. However, treatment at the onset of disease did not
      reduce disease progression. Treatment of adoptive T cell transfer recipient mice
      with anti-CCL22 resulted in decreased clinical disease development accompanied by
      a decrease in CNS accumulation of CD11b+Ly6C(hi) macrophages. Neutralization of
      CCL22 resulted in a macrophage population whose effector cytokine expression
      consisted of decreased TNF and increased IL-10, a phenotype more consistent with
      M2 macrophages. This was corroborated by in vitro cultures of macrophages with
      CCL22. These results suggest that CCL22 functions to regulate development of EAE
      through macrophage chemoattraction and effector function.

PMID- 20940328
TI  - Increasing cardiac troponin changes measured by a research high-sensitivity
      troponin I assay: absolute vs percentage changes and long-term outcomes in a
      chest pain cohort.

PMID- 20940329
TI  - Interference of monoclonal antibody therapies with serum protein electrophoresis
      tests.

PMID- 20940330
TI  - A tandem mass spectrometry triplex assay for the detection of Fabry, Pompe, and
      mucopolysaccharidosis-I (Hurler).
AB  - BACKGROUND: We sought to develop a tandem mass spectrometry assay in which the
      enzymatic activities of 3 lysosomal enzymes (alpha-glucosidase, alpha
      galactosidase A, and alpha-l-iduronidase) could be quantified in dried blood
      spots by using a single assay buffer. METHODS: A 3-mm dried blood spot punch was
      incubated in a single assay buffer with 3 different substrates and internal
      standards. The sample was processed by a simple liquid-liquid extraction by using
      ethyl acetate. The extract was dried down and resuspended in solvent for
      injection into the tandem mass spectrometer. Products and internal standards were
      monitored by multiple reaction monitoring. RESULTS: Assay for the 3 lysosomal
      enzymes was successfully achieved with acceptable statistics. The assay can be
      performed by using a minimal quantity of disposable supplies and equipment. The
      entire procedure fits into a 48-h cycle including data analysis. Data from 5990
      anonymous newborn dried blood spots showed an approximate bell-shaped
      distribution of enzymatic activities (mean values of 19.0, 11.5, and 3.5 MUmol .
      h(-1) . (L blood)(-1) for alpha-glucosidase, alpha-galactosidase A, and alpha-l
      iduronidase, respectively. Blank values obtained in the absence of blood were
      0.13, 0.24, and 0.45 MUmol . h(-1) . (L blood)(-1), respectively). By assaying 3
      enzymes at once, problematic samples are spotted for reanalysis if enzyme
      activity values are low for all enzymes (for example, if insufficient blood is
      present in the assay). CONCLUSIONS: This method demonstrates that a triplex assay
      in a single buffer and with minimal supplies and labor can be adapted to a high
      throughput newborn screening laboratory for the analysis of Pompe, Fabry, and
      mucopolysaccharidosis-I (Hurler) diseases.

PMID- 20940331
TI  - Detection of complexes between prostate-specific antigen and protease inhibitors
      in plasma.

PMID- 20940332
TI  - Quantitative protein and mRNA profiling shows selective post-transcriptional
      control of protein expression by vasopressin in kidney cells.
AB  - Previous studies in yeast have supported the view that post-transcriptional
      regulation of protein abundances may be more important than previously believed.
      Here we ask the question: "In a physiological regulatory process (the response of
      mammalian kidney cells to the hormone vasopressin), what fraction of the
      expressed proteome undergoes a change in abundance and what fraction of the
      regulated proteins have corresponding changes in mRNA levels?" In humans and
      other mammals, vasopressin fulfills a vital homeostatic role (viz. regulation of
      renal water excretion) by regulating the water channel aquaporin-2 in collecting
      duct cells. To address the question posed, we utilized large-scale quantitative
      protein mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) employing stable isotopic labeling in
      cultured mpkCCD cells ('SILAC') coupled with transcriptomic profiling using
      oligonucleotide expression arrays (Affymetrix). Preliminary studies analyzing two
      nominally identical control samples by SILAC LC-MS/MS yielded a relative S.D. of
      13% (for ratios), establishing the precision of the SILAC approach in our hands.
      We quantified nearly 3000 proteins with nontargeted SILAC LC-MS/MS, comparing
      vasopressin- versus vehicle-treated samples. Of these proteins 786 of them were
      quantified in each of 3 experiments, allowing statistical analysis and 188 of
      these showed significant vasopressin-induced changes in abundance, including
      aquaporin-2 (20-fold increase). Among the proteins with statistically significant
      abundance changes, a large fraction (at least one-third) was found to lack
      changes in the corresponding mRNA species (despite sufficient statistical power),
      indicating that post-transcriptional regulation of protein abundance plays an
      important role in the vasopressin response. Bioinformatic analysis of the
      regulated proteins (versus all transcripts) shows enrichment of glutathione S
      transferase isoforms as well as proteins involved in organization of the actin
      cytoskeleton. The latter suggests that long-term regulatory processes may
      contribute to actomyosin-dependent trafficking of the water channel aquaporin-2.
      The results provide impetus for increased focus on translational regulation and
      regulation of protein degradation in physiological control in mammalian
      epithelial cells.

PMID- 20940334
TI  - The yeast mating-type switching mechanism: a memoir.
AB  - It has been 33 years since I first presented results of genetic experiments that
      established the gene transposition model as the mechanism of mating-type
      switching in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae at the Cold Spring Harbor
      Laboratory (CSHL) Yeast Genetics meeting in August 1977. Over two decades ago the
      Genetics Perspectives editors solicited a perspective on my participation in the
      studies that deciphered the mechanism of mating-type switching and revealed the
      phenomenon of gene silencing in yeast. Although flattered at the time, I thought
      that preparation of such an article called for a more seasoned researcher who had
      benefitted from seeing his contributions stand the test of time. Now realizing
      that our discovery of the transposition of a mutation from the HMalpha locus into
      the MAT (mating type) locus has provided the genetic evidence that established
      the gene transposition model, and having witnessed our conclusions confirmed by
      subsequent molecular studies, I decided that perhaps this is a good time to
      recount the chronology of events as they unfolded for me decades ago.

PMID- 20940335
TI  - Betahistine treatment improves the recovery of static symptoms in patients with
      unilateral vestibular loss.
AB  - Vestibular loss induces a combination of postural, oculomotor, and perceptive
      symptoms that are compensated over time. The aim of this study was to analyze the
      influence of betahistine dihydrochloride on vestibular compensation. A
      randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study was performed in Meniere's
      disease patients who underwent a curative unilateral vestibular neurotomy (UVN).
      The effects of betahistine treatment were investigated on a broad spectrum of
      vestibular-induced changes resulting from vestibular loss: body sway, head
      orientation, ocular cyclotorsion, spontaneous nystagmus, verticality perception,
      and self-evaluation of the postural stability. The time course of the recovery
      was compared in 16 patients who received either a placebo or betahistine (24 mg
      b.i.d.) from 3 days up to 3 months after UVN. Patients were examined before (day 
      1) and after UVN (days 7, 30, and 90). Results indicate that betahistine reduces
      the time to recovery by 1 month or more depending on the tested functions.
      Betahistine was effective as soon as 4 days after treatment administration, and
      the effect remained during the whole compensation period (up to 3 months). The
      observed clinical effects may be attributed to an action of betahistine in
      rebalancing the neuronal activity between contralateral vestibular nuclei.

PMID- 20940336
TI  - Safety, pharmacokinetic, and pharmacodynamic evaluations of PI-2301, a potent
      immunomodulator, in a first-in-human, single-ascending-dose study in healthy
      volunteers.
AB  - PI-2301 is an amino acid copolymer acting as an immunomodulator for the treatment
      of autoimmune diseases. The present study evaluated the safety, pharmacokinetics
      (PK), and pharmacodynamics of PI-2301 in a single ascending dose, first-in-human
      study involving healthy, male adult volunteers. A total of 56 subjects were given
      a subcutaneous injection of PI-2301 ranging from 0.035 to 60 mg. The only
      consistent side effect was transient injection site reactions. We describe, for
      the first time, a pharmacokinetic assay to monitor amino acid copolymer
      concentration in human serum. PI-2301 was detected in the serum of subjects in
      the 10-, 30-, and 60-mg cohorts. Maximum serum concentration was achieved between
      10 and 30 minutes postdosing with some compound detected 4 hours after dosing. PI
      2301's lasting immunological properties were evident by an ex vivo recall assay
      showing T-cell proliferation and IL-13 production in subjects dosed with 1, 3, or
      10 mg of PI-2301, up to 6 months after dosing. A transient increase in chemokine
      CXCL9 and CXCL10 plasma levels was seen in subjects dosed with 30 or 60 mg of PI
      2301. These results are highly consistent with our preclinical findings and
      suggest that PI-2301 could facilitate the expansion of a favorable immune posture
      in patients with autoimmune disorders.

PMID- 20940337
TI  - Population pharmacokinetic model of human insulin following different routes of
      administration.
AB  - Multiple-compartment disposition of insulin has been demonstrated following
      intravenous administration; however, because of slow absorption and flip-flop
      kinetics, meal-time insulin pharmacokinetics have been described by a 1
      compartment model. Technosphere insulin (TI) is an inhaled human insulin with
      rapid absorption and a distinct second compartment in its pharmacokinetics. The
      aim of this analysis was to develop a pharmacokinetic model for insulin
      administered via the intravenous, subcutaneous, and inhalation routes. A 2
      compartment pharmacokinetic model with 1 (inhaled) or 2 sequential (subcutaneous)
      first-order absorption processes and first-order elimination was developed using
      data from 2 studies with a total of 651 concentrations from 16 healthy
      volunteers. Insulin was administered intravenously (5 U), subcutaneously (10 U),
      and via inhalation (25, 50, and 100 U). The data were modeled simultaneously with
      NONMEM VI, using ADVAN6 subroutine with FO. Typical values were clearance, 43.4
      L/h; volume of distribution in the central compartment, 5.0 L; intercompartmental
      clearance, 23.9 L/h; volume of distribution in the peripheral compartment 30.7 L;
      TI first-order absorption rate constant, 2.35 h-1; and first-order absorption
      rate constants associated with subcutaneously administered insulin, 0.63 and 1.04
      h-1, respectively. Absorption rate after subcutaneous dosing was found to
      decrease with increasing body mass index. Insulin pharmacokinetics were found to
      be consistent with 2-compartment disposition, regardless of route of
      administration, with insulin curve differences attributable to absorption
      differences.

PMID- 20940338
TI  - Computational approaches for RNA energy parameter estimation.
AB  - Methods for efficient and accurate prediction of RNA structure are increasingly
      valuable, given the current rapid advances in understanding the diverse functions
      of RNA molecules in the cell. To enhance the accuracy of secondary structure
      predictions, we developed and refined optimization techniques for the estimation
      of energy parameters. We build on two previous approaches to RNA free-energy
      parameter estimation: (1) the Constraint Generation (CG) method, which
      iteratively generates constraints that enforce known structures to have energies
      lower than other structures for the same molecule; and (2) the Boltzmann
      Likelihood (BL) method, which infers a set of RNA free-energy parameters that
      maximize the conditional likelihood of a set of reference RNA structures. Here,
      we extend these approaches in two main ways: We propose (1) a max-margin
      extension of CG, and (2) a novel linear Gaussian Bayesian network that models
      feature relationships, which effectively makes use of sparse data by sharing
      statistical strength between parameters. We obtain significant improvements in
      the accuracy of RNA minimum free-energy pseudoknot-free secondary structure
      prediction when measured on a comprehensive set of 2518 RNA molecules with
      reference structures. Our parameters can be used in conjunction with software
      that predicts RNA secondary structures, RNA hybridization, or ensembles of
      structures. Our data, software, results, and parameter sets in various formats
      are freely available at http://www.cs.ubc.ca/labs/beta/Projects/RNA-Params.

PMID- 20940340
TI  - Identification of specific inhibitors for a trypanosomatid RNA editing reaction.
AB  - Several mitochondrial mRNAs of the trypanosomatid protozoa are edited through the
      post-transcriptional insertion and deletion of uridylates. The reaction has
      provided insights into basic cellular biology and is also important as a
      potential therapeutic target for the diseases caused by trypanosomatid pathogens.
      Despite this importance, the field has been hindered by the lack of specific
      inhibitors that could be used as probes of the reaction mechanism or developed
      into novel therapeutics. In this study, an electrochemiluminescent aptamer-switch
      was utilized in a high-throughput screen for inhibitors of a trypanosomatid RNA
      editing reaction. The screen identified GW5074, mitoxantrone, NF 023,
      protoporphyrin IX, and D-sphingosine as inhibitors of insertion editing, with
      IC(50) values ranging from 1 to 3 MUM. GW5074 and protoporphyrin IX are
      demonstrated to inhibit at or before the endonuclease cleavage that initiates
      editing and will be valuable biochemical probes for the early events of the in
      vitro reaction. Since protoporphyrin IX and sphingosine are both naturally
      present within the trypanosomatids, their effectiveness as in vitro inhibitors is
      also suggestive of the potential for in vivo modulatory roles.

PMID- 20940339
TI  - Quantitative evaluation of siRNA delivery in vivo.
AB  - Effective small interfering RNA (siRNA)-mediated therapeutics require the siRNA
      to be delivered into the cellular RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC).
      Quantitative information of this essential delivery step is currently inferred
      from the efficacy of gene silencing and siRNA uptake in the tissue. Here we
      report an approach to directly quantify siRNA in the RISC in rodents and monkey.
      This is achieved by specific immunoprecipitation of the RISC from tissue lysates
      and quantification of small RNAs in the immunoprecipitates by stem-loop PCR. The
      method, expected to be independent of delivery vehicle and target, is label-free,
      and the throughput is acceptable for preclinical animal studies. We characterized
      a lipid-formulated siRNA by integrating these approaches and obtained a
      quantitative perspective on siRNA tissue accumulation, RISC loading, and gene
      silencing. The described methodologies have utility for the study of silencing
      mechanism, the development of siRNA therapeutics, and clinical trial design.

PMID- 20940341
TI  - Chiral histidine selection by D-ribose RNA.
AB  - The invariant choice of L-amino acids and D-ribose RNA for biological translation
      requires explanation. Here we study this chiral choice using mixed, equimolar D
      ribose RNAs having 15, 18, 21, 27, 35, and 45 contiguous randomized nucleotides.
      These are used for simultaneous affinity selection of the smallest bound and
      eluted RNAs using equal amounts of L- and D-His immobilized on an achiral glass
      support, with racemic histidine elution. The experiment as a whole therefore
      determines whether RNA containing D-ribose binds L-histidine or D-histidine more
      easily (that is, by using a site that is more abundant/requires fewer
      nucleotides). The most prevalent/smallest RNA sites are reproducibly and
      repeatedly selected and there is a four- to sixfold greater abundance of L
      histidine sites. RNA's chiral D-ribose therefore yields a more frequent fit to L
      histidine. Accordingly, a D-ribose RNA site for L-His is smaller by the
      equivalent of just over one conserved nucleotide. The most prevalent L-His site
      also performs better than the most frequent D-His site-but rarer D-ribose RNAs
      can bind D-His with excellent affinity and discrimination. The prevalent L-His
      site is one we have selected before under very different conditions. Thus,
      selection is again reproducible, as is the recurrence of cognate coding triplets
      in these most probable L-His sites. If our selected RNA population were
      equilibrated with racemic His, we calculate that L-His would participate in seven
      of eight His:RNA complexes, or more. Thus, if D-ribose RNA were first chosen
      biologically, translational L-His usage could have followed.

PMID- 20940343
TI  - The association between patient-reported drug taking and gaps and overlaps in
      antidepressant drug dispensing.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In daily practice, treatment adherence and persistence (duration)
      have mainly been investigated using large administrative databases. However,
      patients rarely collect a subsequent prescription on the day that the last dose
      has been consumed from the prior prescription. Therefore, the drug treatment
      patterns constructed from prescribing or dispensing moments in administrative
      databases can seem irregular, while patients in the real-world setting continue
      drug taking without gaps or overlaps in their drug use. OBJECTIVE: To investigate
      whether patient-reported drug taking concurs with length of gaps and overlaps
      seen in an antidepressant dispensing database. METHODS: Questionnaires on drug
      taking were sent from Dutch pharmacies to patients using second-generation
      antidepressants during September-December 2008. Gaps and overlaps between
      subsequently dispensed prescriptions were investigated. Patients with a
      gap/overlap were divided into 3 subgroups based on gap/overlap magnitude (<5% of
      total observed treatment time; gap/overlap >=5% but <20% of total observed time;
      >=20% of total observed treatment time) and compared for patient-reported drug
      taking. RESULTS: The study population (N = 205) was predominantly female (62.9%),
      with a mean +/- SD age of 48.0 +/- 13.6 years. About 71% of the subjects had a
      gap, 27% had an overlap, and 2% had no gap/overlap between dispensing moments.
      Patients with a gap >=20% reported nonadherent behavior more often (p < 0.01)
      than patients with shorter gaps. No significant differences in reported adherence
      were found between patients with different overlap magnitudes. Patients with a
      gap of >=20% were the least likely to inform their physician or pharmacist about
      using their medication differently from label instructions. CONCLUSIONS: Patients
      with larger dispensing gaps more frequently report that they have skipped a dose,
      changed their dose, or used less medication than instructed. Dispensing gaps do
      not necessarily indicate that the medicine is not used on gap days. More research
      is needed to investigate the validity of dispensing patterns and their
      correlation with drug taking in the real-world setting.

PMID- 20940342
TI  - Offender experiences and opinions of mixed-gender group work in the community: a
      qualitative study.
AB  - The National Probation Service in England and Wales currently delivers community
      based accredited offending behavior programs in mixed-gender groups. There is at
      present a lack of research on the potential impact of mixed-gender group work on
      female offenders, who are often the minority within the group. This study aimed
      to improve our understanding of the area using qualitative methods. Sixteen
      offenders who had participated in a mixed-gender offending behavior program were
      interviewed as part of this study. Themes from the interviews were analyzed using
      Grounded Theory techniques. The findings illustrated an overall preference among
      all participants for mixed-gender rather than single-gender group work. The
      specific advantages of mixed-gender group work included increased learning about
      the opposite sex and a more relaxed atmosphere within the group. Although this
      study reflects positive attitudes to mixed-gender group work, the findings need
      to be tested further using empirical methodology.

PMID- 20940344
TI  - Go alpha is involved in sugar perception in Drosophila.
AB  - Detection of chemical compounds in food sources is based on the activation of 7
      transmembrane gustatory receptors (GRs) in mammals and in insects such as
      Drosophila, although the receptors are not conserved between the classes.
      Different combinations of Drosophila GRs are involved in the detection of sugars,
      but the activated signaling cascades are largely unknown. Because 7 transmembrane
      receptors usually couple to G-proteins, we tried to unravel the intracellular
      signaling cascade in taste neurons by screening heterotrimeric G-protein mutant
      flies for gustatory deficits. We found the subunit Goalpha to be involved in
      feeding behavior and cell excitability by different transgenic and
      pharmacological approaches. Goalpha is involved in the detection of sucrose,
      glucose, and fructose, but not with trehalose and maltose. Our studies reveal
      that Goalpha plays an important role in the perception of some sweet tastants.
      Because the perception of other sweet stimuli was not affected by mutations in
      Goalpha, we also found strong indication for the existence of multiple signaling
      pathways in the insect gustatory system.

PMID- 20940345
TI  - Nonrecombining genes in a recombination environment: the Drosophila "dot"
      chromosome.
AB  - Rate of recombination is a powerful variable affecting several aspects of
      molecular variation and evolution. A nonrecombining portion of the genome of most
      Drosophila species, the "dot" chromosome or F element, exhibits very low levels
      of variation and unusual codon usage. One lineage of Drosophila, the
      willistoni/saltans groups, has the F element fused to a normally recombining E
      element. Here, we present polymorphism data for genes on the F element in two
      Drosophila willistoni and one D. insularis populations, genes previously studied
      in D. melanogaster. The D. willistoni populations were known to be very low in
      inversion polymorphism, thus minimizing the recombination suppression effect of
      inversions. We first confirmed, by in situ hybridization, that D. insularis has
      the same E + F fusion as D. willistoni, implying this was a monophyletic event. A
      clear gradient in codon usage exists along the willistoni F element, from the
      centromere distally to the fusion with E; estimates of recombination rates
      parallel this gradient and also indicate D. insularis has greater recombination
      than D. willistoni. In contrast to D. melanogaster, genes on the F element
      exhibit moderate levels of nucleotide polymorphism not distinguishable from two
      genes elsewhere in the genome. Although some linkage disequilibrium (LD) was
      detected between polymorphic sites within genes (generally <500 bp apart), no
      long-range LD between F element loci exists in the two willistoni group species.
      In general, the distribution of allele frequencies of F element genes display the
      typical pattern of expectations of neutral variation at equilibrium. These
      results are consistent with the hypothesis that recombination allows the
      accumulation of nucleotide variation as well as allows selection to act on
      synonymous codon usage. It is estimated that the fusion occurred ~20 Mya and
      while the F element in the willistoni lineage has evolved "normal" levels and
      patterns of nucleotide variation, equilibrium may not have been reached for codon
      usage.

PMID- 20940346
TI  - Nucleocytoplasmic distribution of the Arabidopsis chromatin-associated HMGB2/3
      and HMGB4 proteins.
AB  - High mobility group (HMG) proteins of the HMGB family are chromatin-associated
      proteins that as architectural factors are involved in the regulation of
      transcription and other DNA-dependent processes. HMGB proteins are generally
      considered nuclear proteins, although mammalian HMGB1 can also be detected in the
      cytoplasm and outside of cells. Plant HMGB proteins studied so far were found
      exclusively in the cell nucleus. Using immunofluorescence and fluorescence
      microscopy of HMGB proteins fused to the green fluorescent protein, we have
      examined the subcellular localization of the Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana)
      HMGB2/3 and HMGB4 proteins, revealing that, in addition to a prominent nuclear
      localization, they can be detected also in the cytoplasm. The nucleocytoplasmic
      distribution appears to depend on the cell type. By time-lapse fluorescence
      microscopy, it was observed that the HMGB2 and HMGB4 proteins tagged with
      photoactivatable green fluorescent protein can shuttle between the nucleus and
      the cytoplasm, while HMGB1 remains nuclear. The balance between the basic amino
      terminal and the acidic carboxyl-terminal domains flanking the central HMG box
      DNA-binding domain critically influences the nucleocytoplasmic distribution of
      the HMGB proteins. Moreover, protein kinase CK2-mediated phosphorylation of the
      acidic tail modulates the intranuclear distribution of HMGB2. Collectively, our
      results show that, in contrast to other Arabidopsis HMGB proteins such as HMGB1
      and HMGB5, the HMGB2/3 and HMGB4 proteins occur preferentially in the cell
      nucleus, but to various extents also in the cytoplasm.

PMID- 20940347
TI  - Photorespiration redesigned.

PMID- 20940348
TI  - The path from C3 to C4 photosynthesis.

PMID- 20940349
TI  - Reducing rice seed storage protein accumulation leads to changes in nutrient
      quality and storage organelle formation.
AB  - Rice (Oryza sativa) seed storage proteins (SSPs) are synthesized and deposited in
      storage organelles in the endosperm during seed maturation as a nitrogen source
      for germinating seedlings. We have generated glutelin, globulin, and prolamin
      knockdown lines and have examined their effects on seed quality. A reduction of
      one or a few SSP(s) was compensated for by increases in other SSPs at both the
      mRNA and protein levels. Especially, reduction of glutelins or sulfur-rich 10-kD
      prolamin levels was preferentially compensated by sulfur-poor or other sulfur
      rich prolamins, respectively, indicating that sulfur-containing amino acids are
      involved in regulating SSP composition. Furthermore, a reduction in the levels of
      13-kD prolamin resulted in enhancement of the total lysine content by 56% when
      compared with the wild type. This observation can be mainly accounted for by the
      increase in lysine-rich proteins. Although reducing the level of glutelins
      slightly decreased protein storage vacuoles (PSVs), the simultaneous reduction of
      glutelin and globulin levels altered the inner structure of PSVs, implicating
      globulin in framing PSV formation. Knock down of 13-kD prolamins not only reduced
      the size of endoplasmic reticulum-derived protein bodies (PBs) but also altered
      the rugged peripheral structure. In contrast, PBs became slightly smaller or
      unchanged by severe suppression of 10- or 16-kD prolamins, respectively,
      indicating that individual prolamins have distinct functions in the formation of
      PBs. Extreme increases or decreases in sulfur-poor prolamins resulted in the
      production of small PBs, suggesting that the ratio of individual prolamins is
      crucial for proper aggregation and folding of prolamins.

PMID- 20940350
TI  - mEosFP-based green-to-red photoconvertible subcellular probes for plants.
AB  - Photoconvertible fluorescent proteins (FPs) are recent additions to the
      biologists' toolbox for understanding the living cell. Like green fluorescent
      protein (GFP), monomeric EosFP is bright green in color but is efficiently
      photoconverted into a red fluorescent form using a mild violet-blue excitation.
      Here, we report mEosFP-based probes that localize to the cytosol, plasma membrane
      invaginations, endosomes, prevacuolar vesicles, vacuoles, the endoplasmic
      reticulum, Golgi bodies, mitochondria, peroxisomes, and the two major
      cytoskeletal elements, filamentous actin and cortical microtubules. The mEosFP
      fusion proteins are smaller than GFP/red fluorescent protein-based probes and, as
      demonstrated here, provide several significant advantages for imaging of living
      plant cells. These include an ability to differentially color label a single cell
      or a group of cells in a developing organ, selectively highlight a region of a
      cell or a subpopulation of organelles and vesicles within a cell for tracking
      them, and understanding spatiotemporal aspects of interactions between similar as
      well as different organelles. In addition, mEosFP probes introduce a milder
      alternative to fluorescence recovery after photobleaching, whereby instead of
      photobleaching, photoconversion followed by recovery of green fluorescence can be
      used for estimating subcellular dynamics. Most importantly, the two fluorescent
      forms of mEosFP furnish bright internal controls during imaging experiments and
      are fully compatible with cyan fluorescent protein, GFP, yellow fluorescent
      protein, and red fluorescent protein fluorochromes for use in simultaneous,
      multicolor labeling schemes. Photoconvertible mEosFP-based subcellular probes
      promise to usher in a much higher degree of precision to live imaging of plant
      cells than has been possible so far using single-colored FPs.

PMID- 20940351
TI  - An effector-targeted protease contributes to defense against Phytophthora
      infestans and is under diversifying selection in natural hosts.
AB  - Since the leaf apoplast is a primary habitat for many plant pathogens, apoplastic
      proteins are potent, ancient targets for apoplastic effectors secreted by plant
      pathogens. So far, however, only a few apoplastic effector targets have been
      identified and characterized. Here, we discovered that the papain-like cysteine
      protease C14 is a new common target of EPIC1 and EPIC2B, two apoplastic, cystatin
      like proteins secreted by the potato (Solanum tuberosum) late blight pathogen
      Phytophthora infestans. C14 is a secreted protease of tomato (Solanum
      lycopersicum) and potato typified by a carboxyl-terminal granulin domain. The
      EPIC-C14 interaction occurs at a wide pH range and is stronger than the
      previously described interactions of EPICs with tomato defense proteases PIP1 and
      RCR3. The selectivity of the EPICs is also different when compared with the AVR2
      effector of the fungal tomato pathogen Cladosporium fulvum, which targets PIP1
      and RCR3, and only at apoplastic pH. Importantly, silencing of C14 increased
      susceptibility to P. infestans, demonstrating that this protease plays a role in
      pathogen defense. Although C14 is under conservative selection in tomato, it is
      under diversifying selection in wild potato species (Solanum demissum, Solanum
      verrucosum, and Solanum stoliniferum) that are the natural hosts of P. infestans.
      These data reveal a novel effector target in the apoplast that contributes to
      immunity and is under diversifying selection, but only in the natural host of the
      pathogen.

PMID- 20940352
TI  - Transgenic rescue of enamel phenotype in Ambn null mice.
AB  - Ameloblastin null mice fail to make an enamel layer, but the defects could be due
      to an absence of functional ameloblastin or to the secretion of a potentially
      toxic mutant ameloblastin. We hypothesized that the enamel phenotype could be
      rescued by the transgenic expression of normal ameloblastin in Ambn mutant mice.
      We established and analyzed 5 transgenic lines that expressed ameloblastin from
      the amelogenin (AmelX) promoter and identified transgenic lines that express
      virtually no transgene, slightly less than normal (Tg+), somewhat higher than
      normal (Tg++), and much higher than normal (Tg+++) levels of ameloblastin. All
      lines expressing detectable levels of ameloblastin at least partially recovered
      the enamel phenotype. When ameloblastin expression was only somewhat higher than
      normal, the enamel covering the molars and incisors was of normal thickness, had
      clearly defined rod and interrod enamel, and held up well in function. We
      conclude that ameloblastin is essential for dental enamel formation.

PMID- 20940353
TI  - Ethanol wet-bonding challenges current anti-degradation strategy.
AB  - The long-term effectiveness of chlorhexidine as a matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)
      inhibitor may be compromised when water is incompletely removed during dentin
      bonding. This study challenged this anti-bond degradation strategy by testing the
      null hypothesis that wet-bonding with water or ethanol has no effect on the
      effectiveness of chlorhexidine in preventing hybrid layer degradation over an 18
      month period. Acid-etched dentin was bonded under pulpal pressure simulation with
      Scotchbond MP and Single Bond 2, with water wet-bonding or with a hydrophobic
      adhesive with ethanol wet-bonding, with or without pre-treatment with
      chlorhexidine diacetate (CHD). Resin-dentin beams were prepared for bond strength
      and TEM evaluation after 24 hrs and after aging in artificial saliva for 9 and 18
      mos. Bonds made to ethanol-saturated dentin did not change over time with
      preservation of hybrid layer integrity. Bonds made to CHD pre-treated acid-etched
      dentin with commercial adhesives with water wet-bonding were preserved after 9
      mos but not after 18 mos, with severe hybrid layer degradation. The results led
      to rejection of the null hypothesis and highlight the concept of biomimetic water
      replacement from the collagen intrafibrillar compartments as the ultimate goal in
      extending the longevity of resin-dentin bonds.

PMID- 20940354
TI  - Effect of biofilm on the repair bond strengths of composites.
AB  - Composite restorations degrade during wear, but it is unknown how wear affects
      the composite surface and influences composite-to-composite bonding in minimally
      invasive repair. Here, it is hypothesized that in vitro exposure of composites to
      oral biofilm yields clinically relevant degradation of composite surfaces, and
      its influence on composite-to-composite bonding is determined. Biofilms on
      composite surfaces in vitro increased their roughness and decreased filler
      particle exposure, except for a microhybrid composite, similar to effects of
      clinical wear in palatal appliances. Failure shear stresses after intermediate
      adhesive-resin application were significantly lower after aging by in vitro
      exposure to biofilms, while silica-coating maintained the same failure stress
      levels as in non-aged composites. Failure modes were predominantly cohesive after
      silica-coating, while intermediate-adhesive-resin application yielded more
      adhesive failure. It is concluded that in vitro exposure to oral biofilm is a
      clinically relevant aging condition, and that silica-coating is to be preferred
      for the repair of aged composites.

PMID- 20940355
TI  - Nanoleakage inhibition within hybrid layer using new protective chemicals and
      their effect on adhesion.
AB  - Hybrid-layer degradation occurs because of acidic properties of currently used
      adhesive systems. Titanium tetrafluoride couples with tooth surface, and titanium
      compounds are not substituted. Caffeic acid phenethyl esther inhibits endogenous
      matrix metalloproteinases that cause hybrid-layer degradation. It was
      hypothesized that titanium tetrafluoride and caffeic acid phenethyl esther
      application on exposed dentine surfaces before adhesive applications would
      inhibit nanoleakage and hybrid-layer degradation without compromising the bond
      strength of the adhesives. In ultracut thin sections, human dentine-chemical
      agent-adhesive composite interfaces were observed under transmission electron
      microscope with complementary scanning electron microscopy. Microtensile bond
      strength tests were also accomplished. Titanium tetrafluoride and titanium
      tetrafluoride + caffeic acid phenethyl esther applications decreased bond
      strength values. Caffeic acid phenethyl esther showed decreased silver nitrate
      penetration for cements based on Bisphenol glycydilmethacrylate and methyl
      methacrylate, whereas cement based on 4-methacryloyloxyethyl trimellitate
      anhydride methyl methacrylate showed almost no infiltration. Caffeic acid
      phenethyl esther application before cementation could inhibit nanoleakage and
      biodegradation of the hybrid layer.

PMID- 20940356
TI  - TGF-beta1 and FAK regulate periostin expression in PDL fibroblasts.
AB  - Recently identified as a key component of the murine periodontal ligament (PDL),
      periostin has been implicated in the regulation of collagen fibrillogenesis and
      fibroblast differentiation. We investigated whether periostin protein is
      expressed in the human PDL in situ and the mechanisms regulating periostin
      expression in PDL fibroblasts in vitro. With immunohistochemistry, periostin
      protein was identified in the PDL, with expression lower in teeth with reduced
      occlusal loading. In vitro application of uniaxial cyclic strain to PDL
      fibroblasts elevated periostin mRNA levels, depending on the age of the patient.
      Treatment with transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1) also significantly
      increased periostin mRNA levels, an effect attenuated by focal adhesion kinase
      (FAK) inhibition. FAK-null fibroblasts contained no detectable periostin mRNA,
      even after stimulation with cyclic strain. In conclusion, periostin protein is
      strongly expressed in the human PDL. In vitro, periostin mRNA levels are
      modulated by cyclic strain as well as TGF-beta1 via FAK-dependent pathways.

PMID- 20940358
TI  - A new hypo/oligodontia syndrome: Carvajal/Naxos syndrome secondary to desmoplakin
      dominant mutations.
AB  - Dental agenesis is either syndromic or non-syndromic. Here, we describe a
      familial case with Carvajal/Naxos syndrome associating woolly hair, palmoplantar
      keratoderma, and biventricular dilated cardiomyopathy. In addition to these
      signs, all three affected family members had hypo/oligodontia ranging from
      absence of the lower left second molar to 15 missing teeth, the typical pattern
      of oligodontia being absent 2nd premolars and absent 2nd and 3rd molars. Mutation
      screening in the desmoplakin gene (DSP) revealed a de novo missense mutation
      (c.1790 C>T, p.Ser597Leu) changing a serine residue conserved in all vertebrates.
      In addition, this variation was absent from 100 control DNA samples. There were
      no mutations in the plakoglobin gene. This familial case report and two other
      previous reports demonstrate that autosomal-dominant mutations in the DSP gene
      are associated with hypo/oligodontia in the setting of Carvajal/Naxos syndrome.
      This study suggests that dentists discovering oligo/hypodontia should screen for
      woolly hair and palmoplantar keratoderma because of the probable cardiac
      involvement with an inherent high risk of severe cardiomyopathy. In addition,
      this study reveals the role of desmosomes in the development of teeth and
      suggests that other genes encoding proteins of the desmosome could be involved in
      oligo/hypodontia.

PMID- 20940359
TI  - Expression of osteoclastogenesis inducers in a tissue model of periodontal
      ligament under compression.
AB  - There is increasing interest in the development of new in vitro tissue models. In
      this study, a tissue model of periodontal ligament (PDL) was established by 3-D
      culturing human PDL cells in a thin sheet of porous poly (lactic-co-glycolic
      acid) scaffold. Growth of the model was evidenced by MTT assay and various
      microscopies. After being subjected to static compression of 5 ~ 35 g/cm(2) for 6
      hrs, the RANKL mRNA expression was significantly up-regulated by force >= 25
      g/cm(2) in the model. After being subjected to static compression of 25 g/cm(2)
      for 6 ~ 72 hrs, the mRNA expression of PTHrP, IL-11, IL-8, and FGF-2, potential
      osteoclastogenesis inducers, was significantly up-regulated in the model, which
      was further verified by the compression of human PDL in vivo. However, when human
      gingival fibroblasts were substituted for PDL cells in the model, almost no
      osteoclastogenesis inducers were up-regulated by compression. This tissue model
      can serve as an effective tool for the study of PDL mechanoresponse.
      ABBREVIATIONS: periodontal ligament, PDL; periodontal ligament cells, PDLCs; poly
      (lactic-co-glycolic acid), PLGA; orthodontic tooth movement, OTM; extracellular
      matrix, ECM.

PMID- 20940357
TI  - Virulence factors of the oral spirochete Treponema denticola.
AB  - There is compelling evidence that treponemes are involved in the etiology of
      several chronic diseases, including chronic periodontitis as well as other forms
      of periodontal disease. There are interesting parallels with other chronic
      diseases caused by treponemes that may indicate similar virulence
      characteristics. Chronic periodontitis is a polymicrobial disease, and recent
      animal studies indicate that co-infection of Treponema denticola with other
      periodontal pathogens can enhance alveolar bone resorption. The bacterium has a
      suite of molecular determinants that could enable it to cause tissue damage and
      subvert the host immune response. In addition to this, it has several non-classic
      virulence determinants that enable it to interact with other pathogenic bacteria
      and the host in ways that are likely to promote disease progression. Recent
      advances, especially in molecular-based methodologies, have greatly improved our
      knowledge of this bacterium and its role in disease.

PMID- 20940360
TI  - Involvement of autoimmunity in the pathogenesis of aggressive periodontitis.
AB  - The aim of this study was to investigate the involvement of autoimmune reactions
      to native and post-translationally modified extracellular matrix components in
      the pathogenesis of periodontitis. Sera from individuals with aggressive
      periodontitis (AgP, n = 25), chronic periodontitis (CP, n = 14), and gingivitis
      (G, n = 18) were tested for the presence of autoantibodies against: (a) native
      collagen type I (CI) and collagen type III (CIII); (b) CI and CIII post
      translationally modified by reactive oxygen species (ROS) of the type present
      during inflammation; and (c) citrullinated filaggrin-derived peptides (CCP).
      Autoantibodies to native and ROS-modified CI and CIII as well as autoantibodies
      to CCP were observed exclusively in patients with AgP and not in those with CP or
      G. In conclusion, autoimmune reactions to native and post-translationally
      modified self-antigens may play a role specifically in the pathogenesis of AgP.

PMID- 20940361
TI  - Rechargeable infection-responsive antifungal denture materials.
AB  - Candida-associated denture stomatitis (CADS) is a significant clinical concern.
      We developed rechargeable infection-responsive antifungal denture materials for
      potentially managing the disease. Polymethacrylic acid (PMAA) was covalently
      bound onto diurethane dimethacrylate denture resins in the curing step. The PMAA
      resins bound cationic antifungal drugs such as miconazole and chlorhexidine
      digluconate (CG) through ionic interactions. The anticandidal activities of the
      drug-containing PMAA-resin discs were sustained for a prolonged period of time
      (weeks and months). Drug release was much faster at acidic conditions (pH 5) than
      at pH 7. Drugs bound to the denture materials could be "washed out" by treatment
      with EDTA, and the drug-depleted resins could be recharged with the same or a
      different class of anticandidal drugs. These results suggest clinical potential
      of the newly developed antifungal denture materials in the management of CADS and
      other infectious conditions.

PMID- 20940362
TI  - Biomimetic analogs for collagen biomineralization.
AB  - Inability of chemical phosphorylation of sodium trimetaphosphate to induce
      intrafibrillar mineralization of type I collagen may be due to the failure to
      incorporate a biomimetic analog to stabilize amorphous calcium phosphates (ACP)
      as nanoprecursors. This study investigated adsorption/desorption characteristics
      of hydrolyzed and pH-adjusted sodium trimetaphosphate (HPA-Na(3)P(3)O(9)) to
      collagen. Based on those results, a 5-minute treatment time with 2.8 wt% HPA
      Na(3)P(3)O(9) was used in a single-layer reconstituted collagen model to confirm
      that both the ACP-stabilization analog and matrix phosphoprotein analog must be
      present for intrafibrillar mineralization. The results of that model were further
      validated by complete remineralization of phosphoric-acid-etched dentin treated
      with the matrix phosphoprotein analog and lined with a remineralizing lining
      composite, and with the ACP-stabilization analog supplied in simulated body
      fluid. An understanding of the basic processes involved in intrafibrillar
      mineralization of reconstituted collagen fibrils facilitates the design of novel
      tissue engineering materials for hard tissue repair and regeneration.

PMID- 20940363
TI  - Irradiation modes' impact on radical entrapment in photoactive resins.
AB  - Different irradiation protocols are proposed to polymerize dental resins, and
      discordances remain concerning their impact on the material. To improve this
      knowledge, we studied entrapment of free radicals in unfilled Bis-GMA/TEGDMA
      (50:50 wt%) resin after light cure. The tested hypothesis was that various
      irradiation parameters (curing time, irradiance, and radiant exposure) and
      different irradiation modes (continuous and pulse-delay) led to different amounts
      of trapped free radicals. The analysis of cured samples (n = 3) by electron
      paramagnetic resonance (EPR) revealed that the concentrations of trapped free
      radicals significantly differed according to the curing protocol. When continuous
      modes with similar radiant exposure were compared, higher concentrations of
      trapped free radicals were measured for longer times with lower irradiance.
      Concerning pulse modes, the delay had no influence on trapped radical
      concentration. These results give new insights into the understanding of the
      photopolymerization process and highlight the relevance of using EPR when
      studying polymerization of dimethacrylate-based materials.

PMID- 20940364
TI  - The discovery of surgical anesthesia: discrepancies regarding its authorship.
AB  - The suppression of pain during surgical interventions has been a major
      achievement for humankind. Chronologically, in 1842, William E. Clarke, a chemist
      in Rochester (NY), provided Elijah Pope with ether for the purposes of tooth
      extraction. In 1844, in Boston, G.Q. Colton and the dentist Horace Wells used
      nitrous oxide as an anesthetic for tooth extraction. On the 16th of October,
      1846, the American dentist William T.G. Morton became a pioneer within the
      medical community with respect to anesthesia by inhalation when he used ether as
      an anesthetic at the Massachusetts General Hospital. In 1847, the Scot James
      Young Simpson began to use chloroform as an anesthetic for obstetrics in
      Edinburgh. These events gave rise to several disputes among their users (who are
      not very well-known today), who strove to claim that they had been the
      discoverers of surgical anesthesia, with a view to obtaining a series of patents
      and state sinecures. This article attempts to clarify certain discrepancies about
      the authorship of surgical anesthesia. The evidence suggests that surgical
      anesthesia first began to be applied in the field of dentistry.

PMID- 20940365
TI  - Interaction between the MTHFR C677T polymorphism and alcohol--impact on oral
      cancer risk and multiple DNA methylation of tumor-related genes.
AB  - Several studies have reported Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma (OSCC) association
      with etiological factors, such as smoking and alcohol. The aim of the present
      study was to establish whether the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR)
      C677T genotype and a high alcohol intake, solely or in interaction, have an
      impact on the oral cancer risk, DNA methylation, or multiple methylation of tumor
      related genes. MTHFR C677T genetic polymorphism was determined by the PCR/RFLP
      method, and DNA methylation was assessed by nested methylation-specific PCR. The
      risk for multiple methylation was significantly increased in heavy-drinking
      patients with the TT genotype, compared with CC and CT patients (OR = 10.873; 95%
      CI, 1.134-104.24). Multiple methylation was significantly associated with tumor
      stage (p = 0.018), and showed a trend of association with the presence of nodal
      metastases (p = 0.058). A significant association was found between TT genotype
      and methylation status of the RASSF1A gene in OSCC patients (p = 0.012). Heavy
      drinking individuals with the TT genotype showed increased oral cancer risk
      compared with the CC genotype (OR = 3.601; 95% CI, 1.036-12.513), and compared
      with the CC and CT genotypes (OR = 4.288; 95% CI, 1.325-13.877). Our study
      suggested gene-environment interactions between high alcohol intake and the MTHFR
      677TT genotype for elevated oral cancer risk, with a significant impact on
      multiple methylation of cancer-related genes.

PMID- 20940367
TI  - Scientific misconduct: tip of an iceberg or the elephant in the room?

PMID- 20940366
TI  - TLR-signaling networks: an integration of adaptor molecules, kinases, and cross
      talk.
AB  - Toll-like receptors play a critical role in innate immunity by detecting invading
      pathogens. The ability of TLRs to engage different intracellular signaling
      molecules and cross-talk with other regulatory pathways is an important factor in
      shaping the type, magnitude, and duration of the inflammatory response. The
      present review will cover the fundamental signaling pathways utilized by TLRs and
      how these pathways regulate the innate immune response to pathogens.
      ABBREVIATIONS: TLR, Toll-like receptor; PRR, pattern recognition receptor; PAMP,
      pathogen-associated molecular pattern; LPS, lipopolysaccharide; APC, antigen
      presenting cell; IL, interleukin; TIR, Toll/IL-1R homology; MyD88, myeloid
      differentiation factor 88; IFN, interferon; TRIF, TIR-domain-containing adapter
      inducing interferon-beta; IRAK, IL-1R-associated kinase; TAK1, TGF-beta-activated
      kinase; TAB1, TAK1-binding protein; NF-kappaB, nuclear factor kappa-light-chain
      enhancer of activated B-cells; MAPK, mitogen-activated protein kinase; NLR, NOD
      like receptors; LRR, leucine-rich repeats; DC, dendritic cell; PI3K,
      phosphoinositide 3-kinases; GSK3, glycogen synthase kinase-3; mTOR, mammalian
      target of rapamycin; DAF, decay-accelerating factor; IKK, IkappaB kinase; IRF,
      interferon regulatory factors; TBK1, TANK-binding kinase 1; CARD, caspase
      activation and recruitment domain; PYD, pyrin N-terminal homology domain; ATF,
      activating transcription factor; and PTEN, phosphatase and tensin homolog.

PMID- 20940368
TI  - Novel molecular events in oral carcinogenesis via integrative approaches.
AB  - Cancer is now viewed as a systems biology disease, and oral squamous cell
      carcinoma (OSCC) can be viewed in a similar fashion. In this paper, we highlight
      some of the novel molecular events in OSCC, revealed through an integrative
      strategy of systems biology based on high-throughput omics analysis such as
      genomics and/or proteomics, the most powerful hypothesis-generating means
      available today. These approaches have resulted not only in the identification of
      novel genes for OSCC, but also in more comprehensive networks that describe the
      mechanisms by which those identified events work, with the promise of developing
      this knowledge into biomarkers for diagnosis, prognosis, and prediction of
      therapeutic responses in OSCC patients. Long-term, population-based prospective
      studies of OSCC patients, and those at high risk of developing OSCC, will then be
      needed to validate these biomarkers.

PMID- 20940369
TI  - Effects of chronic kidney disease and post-angiographic acute kidney injury on
      long-term prognosis after coronary artery angiography.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Both chronic kidney disease (CKD) and post-angiographic acute kidney
      injury (AKI) are regarded as risks factors for long-term mortality after coronary
      angiography. On the other hand, acute haemodynamic disturbances requiring
      haemodynamic support have a strong impact on both the incidence of AKI and on
      prognosis after coronary angiography. The aim of this study was to determine the
      impact of CKD and AKI on long-term prognosis after coronary angiography among
      hospital survivors and to determine relationships with haemodynamic variables.
      METHODS: We studied 2439 patients who underwent coronary angiography or
      percutaneous coronary intervention. Relationships between both CKD and AKI and
      mortality or cardiovascular diseases were measured using unadjusted and adjusted
      Cox models for case-mix and laboratory variables. RESULTS: Multivariable Cox
      regression analysis identified CKD as an independent predictor of long-term
      mortality [adjusted hazard ratio (AHR) 1.51; 95% confidence interval (95% CI)
      1.07-2.13] and composite end points (AHR 1.72; 95% CI 1.40-2.11). Lower estimated
      glomerular filtration ratio levels below 50 mL/min/1.73 m(2) were significantly
      associated with mortality after adjustments. A similar association was found even
      in haemodynamically stable patients. AKI was also a predictor of long-term
      composite end points (AHR 1.64; 95% CI 1.09-2.46); however, its impact was
      attenuated in haemodynamically stable patients. CONCLUSIONS: Among hospital
      survivors, CKD is an independent predictor for both long-term mortality and
      composite end points, regardless of haemodynamic conditions. AKI is also a
      predictor of long-term prognosis; however, its impact may be attenuated in
      haemodynamically stable hospital survivors.

PMID- 20940370
TI  - Prevalence and risk factors of chronic kidney disease: a population study in the
      Tibetan population.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The prevalence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) at high altitude is
      not known. We conducted a population-based survey in Tibet to identify the
      prevalence and associated risk factors of CKD in subjects living at altitudes of
      > 3500 m. METHODS: One thousand two hundred and eighty-nine Tibetans (>= 18
      years) from four districts of Lhasa city (altitude 3658 m) and eight villages of
      Dangxiong County (altitude 4200 m) were interviewed and tested for haematuria,
      albuminuria and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR). RESULTS: The
      adjusted prevalence of hypertension, albuminuria, haematuria and reduced eGFR
      were 38.8% (95% CI: 36.2-41.5%), 16.2% (95% CI: 14.1-18.2%), 3.9% (95% CI: 2.8
      4.9%) and 2.1% (95% CI: 1.3-2.9%), respectively. Both the presence of
      hypertension and the presence of albuminuria were strongly and independently
      associated with hyperuricaemia and elevated haematocrit. CONCLUSIONS: This is the
      first population-based epidemiological study of CKD in the Tibetan population. We
      found a higher prevalence of CKD and associated high prevalence of albuminuria,
      hypertension, hyperuricaemia and high haematocrit in the Tibetan population. The
      present study indicates the urgent need to develop comprehensive strategies
      targeted at reducing the CKD burden in this area and may lead to a better
      understanding of CKD in high-altitude populations.

PMID- 20940371
TI  - Atypical presentation of atypical amyloid.
AB  - Amyloidosis is a group of diseases categorized by precipitation of a group of
      protein aggregates (amyloid) in tissues, including the kidney, and proteinuria is
      usually the commonest, though not exclusive, hallmark of clinical presentation.
      AL and AA are the most commonly recognized forms of amyloidosis involving the
      kidney, but other forms have been described. We present a case of renal
      amyloidosis due to a novel amyloidogenic protein, leucocyte cell-derived
      chemotaxin 2, without proteinuria at presentation or on subsequent follow-up.

PMID- 20940372
TI  - Attitudes towards medication non-adherence in elderly kidney transplant patients:
      a Q methodology study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Non-adherence to the post-transplant regime is a common problem in
      kidney transplant patients and may lead to rejection or even graft failure. This
      study investigated attitudes towards the post-transplant regime of
      immunosuppressive medication among the ever growing population of elderly kidney
      recipients. METHODS: Q methodology was used to explore attitude profiles.
      Participants (> 65 years) were asked to rank-order opinion statements on issues
      associated with (non-)adherence. The rankings were subject to by-person factor
      analysis, and the resulting factors were interpreted and described as attitudes.
      RESULTS: Twenty-six elderly renal transplant recipients participated in the
      study. All passed the Mini-Mental State Examination. Two attitude profiles were
      found: (i) satisfied and easy-going (attitude A), and (ii) reserved and concerned
      (attitude B). Elderly patients with attitude A want to enjoy the new life
      following their kidney transplant, are not very concerned about having to
      recommence dialysis, now and then even forget their regime, and do not really
      worry about it. Elderly patients with attitude B feel more insecure about their
      kidney transplant, are fairly concerned over issues like rejection or going back
      on dialysis, and try to adapt their way of life to the regime. One-third of these
      elderly patients forget their medication at least once a month, but there was no
      difference between attitude groups. CONCLUSIONS: Attitudes about the post
      transplant regime differ among elderly patients, implying different needs for
      assistance, monitoring and risk of non-adherence to the regime. The proportion of
      elderly patients who forget their medication is considerable, but may be much
      higher among those with mild and severe cognitive limitations.

PMID- 20940373
TI  - The cover. Incantation.

PMID- 20940374
TI  - A piece of my mind. Sounds of my father.

PMID- 20940375
TI  - Genetic research provides insights into age-related macular degeneration.

PMID- 20940376
TI  - Seeing is believing: gene therapy shows promise for ocular disorders.

PMID- 20940377
TI  - Mandatory influenza vaccination urged for clinicians, other health workers.

PMID- 20940378
TI  - Corticosteroid administration and treatment failure in acute exacerbation of
      chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

PMID- 20940379
TI  - Ambulatory surgical centers and infection control.

PMID- 20940380
TI  - Racial differences in rates of severe sepsis.

PMID- 20940381
TI  - Transfusion requirements after cardiac surgery: the TRACS randomized controlled
      trial.
AB  - CONTEXT: Perioperative red blood cell transfusion is commonly used to address
      anemia, an independent risk factor for morbidity and mortality after cardiac
      operations; however, evidence regarding optimal blood transfusion practice in
      patients undergoing cardiac surgery is lacking. OBJECTIVE: To define whether a
      restrictive perioperative red blood cell transfusion strategy is as safe as a
      liberal strategy in patients undergoing elective cardiac surgery. DESIGN,
      SETTING, AND PATIENTS: The Transfusion Requirements After Cardiac Surgery (TRACS)
      study, a prospective, randomized, controlled clinical noninferiority trial
      conducted between February 2009 and February 2010 in an intensive care unit at a
      university hospital cardiac surgery referral center in Brazil. Consecutive adult
      patients (n = 502) who underwent cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass were
      eligible; analysis was by intention-to-treat. INTERVENTION: Patients were
      randomly assigned to a liberal strategy of blood transfusion (to maintain a
      hematocrit >=30%) or to a restrictive strategy (hematocrit >=24%). MAIN OUTCOME
      MEASURE: Composite end point of 30-day all-cause mortality and severe morbidity
      (cardiogenic shock, acute respiratory distress syndrome, or acute renal injury
      requiring dialysis or hemofiltration) occurring during the hospital stay. The
      noninferiority margin was predefined at -8% (ie, 8% minimal clinically important
      increase in occurrence of the composite end point). RESULTS: Hemoglobin
      concentrations were maintained at a mean of 10.5 g/dL (95% confidence interval
      [CI], 10.4-10.6) in the liberal-strategy group and 9.1 g/dL (95% CI, 9.0-9.2) in
      the restrictive-strategy group (P < .001). A total of 198 of 253 patients (78%)
      in the liberal-strategy group and 118 of 249 (47%) in the restrictive-strategy
      group received a blood transfusion (P < .001). Occurrence of the primary end
      point was similar between groups (10% liberal vs 11% restrictive; between-group
      difference, 1% [95% CI, -6% to 4%]; P = .85). Independent of transfusion
      strategy, the number of transfused red blood cell units was an independent risk
      factor for clinical complications or death at 30 days (hazard ratio for each
      additional unit transfused, 1.2 [95% CI, 1.1-1.4]; P = .002). CONCLUSION: Among
      patients undergoing cardiac surgery, the use of a restrictive perioperative
      transfusion strategy compared with a more liberal strategy resulted in
      noninferior rates of the combined outcome of 30-day all-cause mortality and
      severe morbidity. TRIAL REGISTRATION: clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT01021631.

PMID- 20940382
TI  - Variation in use of blood transfusion in coronary artery bypass graft surgery.
AB  - CONTEXT: Perioperative blood transfusions are costly and have safety concerns. As
      a result, there have been multiple initiatives to reduce transfusion use.
      However, the degree to which perioperative transfusion rates vary among hospitals
      is unknown. OBJECTIVE: To assess hospital-level variation in use of allogeneic
      red blood cell (RBC), fresh-frozen plasma, and platelet transfusions in patients
      undergoing coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery. DESIGN, SETTING, AND
      PATIENTS: An observational cohort of 102,470 patients undergoing primary isolated
      CABG surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass during calendar year 2008 at 798 sites
      in the United States, contributing data to the Society of Thoracic Surgeons Adult
      Cardiac Surgery Database. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Perioperative (intraoperative
      and postoperative) transfusion of RBCs, fresh-frozen plasma, and platelets.
      RESULTS: At hospitals performing at least 100 on-pump CABG operations (82,446
      cases at 408 sites), the rates of blood transfusion ranged from 7.8% to 92.8% for
      RBCs, 0% to 97.5% for fresh-frozen plasma, and 0.4% to 90.4% for platelets.
      Multivariable analysis including data from all 798 sites (102,470 cases) revealed
      that after adjustment for patient-level risk factors, hospital transfusion rates
      varied by geographic location (P = .007), academic status (P = .03), and hospital
      volume (P < .001). However, these 3 hospital characteristics combined only
      explained 11.1% of the variation in hospital risk-adjusted RBC usage. Case mix
      explained 20.1% of the variation between hospitals in RBC usage. CONCLUSION: Wide
      variability occurred in the rates of transfusion of RBCs and other blood
      products, independent of case mix, among patients undergoing CABG surgery with
      cardiopulmonary bypass in US hospitals in an adult cardiac surgical database.

PMID- 20940383
TI  - Buprenorphine implants for treatment of opioid dependence: a randomized
      controlled trial.
AB  - CONTEXT: Limitations of existing pharmacological treatments for opioid dependence
      include low adherence, medication diversion, and emergence of withdrawal
      symptoms. OBJECTIVE: To determine the efficacy of buprenorphine implants that
      provide a low, steady level of buprenorphine over 6 months for the treatment of
      opioid dependence. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: A randomized, placebo
      controlled, 6-month trial conducted at 18 sites in the United States between
      April 2007 and June 2008. One hundred sixty-three adults, aged 18 to 65 years,
      diagnosed with opioid dependence. One hundred eight were randomized to receive
      buprenorphine implants and 55 to receive placebo implants. INTERVENTION: After
      induction with sublingual buprenorphine-naloxone tablets, patients received
      either 4 buprenorphine implants (80 mg per implant) or 4 placebo implants. A
      fifth implant was available if a threshold for rescue use of sublingual
      buprenorphine-naloxone treatment was exceeded. Standardized individual drug
      counseling was provided to all patients. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: The percentage of
      urine samples negative for illicit opioids for weeks 1 through 16 and for weeks
      17 through 24. RESULTS: The buprenorphine implant group had significantly more
      urine samples negative for illicit opioids during weeks 1 through 16 (P = .04).
      Patients with buprenorphine implants had a mean percentage of urine samples that
      tested negative for illicit opioids across weeks 1 through 16 of 40.4% (95%
      confidence interval [CI], 34.2%-46.7%) and a median of 40.7%; whereas those in
      the placebo group had a mean of 28.3% (95% CI, 20.3%-36.3%) and a median of
      20.8%. A total of 71 of 108 patients (65.7%) who received buprenorphine implants
      completed the study vs 17 of 55 (30.9%) who received placebo implants (P < .001).
      Those who received buprenorphine implants also had fewer clinician-rated (P
      <.001) and patient-rated (P = .004) withdrawal symptoms, had lower patient
      ratings of craving (P <.001), and experienced a greater change on clinician
      global ratings of severity of opioid dependence (P<.001) and on the clinician
      global ratings of improvement (P < .001) than those who received placebo
      implants. Minor implant site reactions were the most common adverse events: 61
      patients (56.5%) in the buprenorphine group and 29 (52.7%) in the placebo group.
      CONCLUSION: Among persons with opioid dependence, the use of buprenorphine
      implants compared with placebo resulted in less opioid use over 16 weeks as
      assessed by urine samples. TRIAL REGISTRATION: clinicaltrials.gov Identifier:
      NCT00447564.

PMID- 20940384
TI  - Cancer screening among patients with advanced cancer.
AB  - CONTEXT: Cancer screening has been integrated into routine primary care but does
      not benefit patients with limited life expectancy. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the
      extent to which patients with advanced cancer continue to be screened for new
      cancers. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Utilization of cancer screening
      procedures (mammography, Papanicolaou test, prostate-specific antigen [PSA], and
      lower gastrointestinal [GI] endoscopy) was assessed in 87,736 fee-for-service
      Medicare enrollees aged 65 years or older diagnosed with advanced lung,
      colorectal, pancreatic, gastroesophageal, or breast cancer between 1998 and 2005,
      and reported to one of the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER)
      tumor registries. Participants were followed up until death or December 31, 2007,
      whichever came first. A group of 87,307 Medicare enrollees without cancer were
      individually matched by age, sex, race, and SEER registry to patients with cancer
      and observed over the same period to evaluate screening rates in context.
      Demographic and clinical characteristics associated with screening were also
      investigated. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: For each cancer screening test, utilization
      rates were defined as the percentage of patients who were screened following the
      diagnosis of an incurable cancer. RESULTS: Among women following advanced cancer
      diagnosis compared with controls, at least 1 screening mammogram was received by
      8.9% (95% confidence interval [CI], 8.6%-9.1%) vs 22.0% (95% CI, 21.7%-22.5%);
      Papanicolaou test screening was received by 5.8% (95% CI, 5.6%-6.1%) vs 12.5%
      (95% CI, 12.2%-12.8%). Among men following advanced cancer diagnosis compared
      with controls, PSA test was received by 15.0% (95% CI, 14.7%-15.3%) vs 27.2% (95%
      CI, 26.8%-27.6%). For all patients following advanced diagnosis compared with
      controls, lower GI endoscopy was received by 1.7% (95% CI, 1.6%-1.8%) vs 4.7%
      (95% CI, 4.6%-4.9%). Screening was more frequent among patients with a recent
      history of screening (16.2% [95% CI, 15.4%-16.9%] of these patients had
      mammography, 14.7% [95% CI, 13.7%-15.6%] had a Papanicolaou test, 23.3% [95% CI,
      22.6%-24.0%] had a PSA test, and 6.1% [95% CI, 5.2%-7.0%] had lower GI
      endoscopy). CONCLUSION: A sizeable proportion of patients with advanced cancer
      continue to undergo cancer screening tests that do not have a meaningful
      likelihood of providing benefit.

PMID- 20940386
TI  - Wisdom--a neuroscience perspective.

PMID- 20940387
TI  - Empathy in medicine--a neurobiological perspective.

PMID- 20940385
TI  - Managing medications in clinically complex elders: "There's got to be a happy
      medium".
AB  - Multiple medication use is common in older adults and may ameliorate symptoms,
      improve and extend quality of life, and occasionally cure disease. Unfortunately,
      multiple medication use is also a major risk factor for prescribing and adherence
      problems, adverse drug events, and other adverse health outcomes. Using the case
      of an older patient taking multiple medications, this article summarizes the
      evidence-based literature about improving medication use and withdrawing specific
      drugs and drug classes. It also describes a systematic approach for how health
      professionals can assess and improve medication regimens to benefit patients and
      their caregivers and families.

PMID- 20940388
TI  - Medication use in older patients: better policy could encourage better practice.

PMID- 20940389
TI  - Disaster recovery also involves human recovery.

PMID- 20940390
TI  - Blood transfusion as a quality indicator in cardiac surgery.

PMID- 20940391
TI  - Advances in the treatment of opioid dependence: continued progress and ongoing
      challenges.

PMID- 20940392
TI  - JAMA patient page. Cancer: the basics.

PMID- 20940393
TI  - Phosphorylation of RalB is important for bladder cancer cell growth and
      metastasis.
AB  - RalA and RalB are monomeric G proteins that are 83% identical in amino acid
      sequence but have paralogue-specific effects on cell proliferation, metastasis,
      and apoptosis. Using in vitro kinase assays and phosphosite-specific antibodies,
      here we show phosphorylation of RalB by protein kinase C (PKC) and RalA by
      protein kinase A. We used mass spectrometry and site-directed mutagenesis to
      identify S198 as the primary PKC phosphorylation site in RalB. Phorbol ester
      [phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA)] treatment of human bladder carcinoma
      cells induced S198 phosphorylation of stably expressed FLAG-RalB as well as
      endogenous RalB. PMA treatment caused RalB translocation from the plasma membrane
      to perinuclear regions in a S198 phosphorylation-dependent manner. Using RNA
      interference depletion of RalB followed by rescue with wild-type RalB or
      RalB(S198A) as well as overexpression of wild-type RalB or RalB(S198A) with and
      without PMA stimulation, we show that phosphorylation of RalB at S198 is
      necessary for actin cytoskeletal organization, anchorage-independent growth, cell
      migration, and experimental lung metastasis of T24 or UMUC3 human bladder cancer
      cells. In addition, UMUC3 cells transfected with a constitutively active
      RalB(G23V) exhibited enhanced subcutaneous tumor growth, whereas those
      transfected with phospho-deficient RalB(G23V-S198A) were indistinguishable from
      control cells. Our data show that RalA and RalB are phosphorylated by different
      kinases, and RalB phosphorylation is necessary for in vitro cellular functions
      and in vivo tumor growth and metastasis.

PMID- 20940394
TI  - Cdc42-interacting protein 4 promotes breast cancer cell invasion and formation of
      invadopodia through activation of N-WASp.
AB  - In the earliest stages of metastasis, breast cancer cells must reorganize the
      cytoskeleton to affect cell shape change and promote cell invasion and motility.
      These events require the cytoskeletal regulators Cdc42 and Rho, their effectors
      such as N-WASp/WAVE, and direct inducers of actin polymerization such as Arp2/3.
      Little consideration has been given to molecules that shape the cell membrane.
      The F-BAR proteins CIP4, TOCA-1, and FBP17 generate membrane curvature and act as
      scaffolding proteins for activated Cdc42 and N-WASp. We found that expression of
      CIP4, but not TOCA-1 or FBP17, was increased in invasive breast cancer cell lines
      in comparison with weakly or noninvasive breast cancer cell lines. Endogenous
      CIP4 localized to the leading edge of migrating cells and to invadopodia in cells
      invading gelatin. Because CIP4 serves as a scaffolding protein for Cdc42, Src,
      and N-WASp, we tested whether loss of CIP4 could result in decreased N-WASp
      function. Interaction between CIP4 and N-WASp was epidermal growth factor
      responsive, and CIP4 silencing by small interfering RNA caused decreased tyrosine
      phosphorylation of N-WASp at a Src-dependent activation site (Y256). CIP4
      silencing also impaired the migration and invasion of MDA-MB-231 cells and was
      associated with decreased formation of invadopodia and gelatin degradation. This
      study presents a new role for CIP4 in the promotion of migration and invasion of
      MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells and establishes the contribution of F-BAR proteins
      to cancer cell motility and invasion.

PMID- 20940395
TI  - Alternative cyclin D1 splice forms differentially regulate the DNA damage
      response.
AB  - The DNA damage response (DDR) activates downstream pathways including cell cycle
      checkpoints. The cyclin D1 gene is overexpressed or amplified in many human
      cancers and is required for gastrointestinal, breast, and skin tumors in murine
      models. A common polymorphism in the human cyclin D1 gene is alternatively
      spliced, resulting in cyclin D1a and D1b proteins that differ in their carboxyl
      terminus. Cyclin D1 overexpression enhances DNA damage-induced apoptosis. The
      role of cyclin D1 and the alternative splice form in regulating the DDR is not
      well understood. Herein cyclin D1a overexpression enhanced the DDR as
      characterized by induction of gammaH2AX phosphorylation, the assembly of DNA
      repair foci, specific recruitment of DNA repair factors to chromatin, and G(2)-M
      arrest. Cyclin D1 deletion in fibroblasts or small interfering RNA-mediated
      reduction of endogenous cyclin D1 in colon cancer cells reduced the 5
      fluorouracil-mediated DDR. Mechanistic studies showed that cyclin D1a, like DNA
      repair factors, elicited the DDR when stably associated with chromatin.

PMID- 20940397
TI  - Peptide vaccination after T-cell transfer causes massive clonal expansion, tumor
      eradication, and manageable cytokine storm.
AB  - Adoptive T-cell transfer (ACT) is successfully applied as a cancer treatment that
      is based on the activation and effector functions of tumor-specific T cells.
      Here, we present results from a mouse model in which ACT is combined with a long
      peptide-based vaccine comprising gp100 T-cell epitopes. Transferred CD8(+) T
      cells expanded up to 1,000-fold after peptide vaccination, leading to a 3-fold
      increase in white blood cell count and a very high frequency in the generation of
      antigen-specific memory T cells, the generation of which tended to correlate with
      effective antitumor responses. An enormous pool of effector T cells spread widely
      to different tissues, including the skin and the immune-privileged eye, where
      they mediate tumor eradication. Importantly, these striking T-cell dynamics
      occurred in immunocompetent mice without prior hematologic conditioning.
      Continued activation of the specific T-cell pool by vaccination led to strong T
      cell-mediated cytokine storm and lethality due to multi-organ failure. However,
      this immunopathology could be prevented by controlling the rapid biodistribution
      of the peptide or by using a weakly agonistic peptide. Together, these results
      identify a peptide vaccination strategy that can potently accentuate effective
      ACT in non-lymphodepleted hosts.

PMID- 20940396
TI  - Tuberous sclerosis complex 1: an epithelial tumor suppressor essential to prevent
      spontaneous prostate cancer in aged mice.
AB  - The phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) pathway regulates mammalian cell growth,
      survival, and motility and plays a major pathogenetic role in human prostate
      cancer (PCa). However, the oncogenic contributions downstream of the PI3K pathway
      made by mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1)-mediated cell growth
      signal transduction in PCa have yet to be elucidated in detail. Here, we
      engineered constitutive mTORC1 activation in prostate epithelium by a conditional
      genetic deletion of tuberous sclerosis complex 1 (Tsc1), a potent negative
      regulator of mTORC1 signaling. Epithelial inactivation was not immediately
      tumorigenic, but Tsc1-deficient mice developed prostatic intraepithelial
      neoplasia (mPIN) in lateral and anterior prostates by 6 months of age, with
      increasing disease penetrance over time. Lateral prostate lesions in 16- to 22
      month-old mutant mice progressed to two types of more advanced lesions,
      adenomatous gland forming lesion (Type 1) and atypical glands embedded in
      massively expanded reactive stroma (Type 2). Both Type 1 and Type 2 lesions
      contained multiple foci of microinvasive carcinoma. Epithelial neoplastic and
      atypical stromal lesions persisted despite 4 weeks of RAD001 chemotherapy.
      Rapalogue resistance was not due to AKT or extracellular signal-regulated kinase
      1/2 activation. Expression of the homeobox gene Nkx3.1 was lost in Tsc1-deficient
      mPIN, and it cooperated with TSC1 loss in mPIN initiation in doubly mutant
      Tsc1:Nkx3.1 prostatic epithelial knockout mice. Thus, TSC1 inactivation distal to
      PI3K and AKT activation is sufficient to activate a molecular signaling cascade
      producing prostatic neoplasia and focal carcinogenesis.

PMID- 20940398
TI  - CD4+ T-cell help in the tumor milieu is required for recruitment and cytolytic
      function of CD8+ T lymphocytes.
AB  - CD4 help for CD8(+) T lymphocytes prevents tolerance and promotes the survival of
      effector and memory CD8(+) T cells. Here, we describe additional helper functions
      that require CD4(+) T cells within the tumor environment. CD8(+) T-cell
      recruitment, proliferation, and effector function within the tumor were greatly
      enhanced by tumor-specific CD4(+) T cells. Recruitment of CD8(+) T cells was
      accelerated by IFN-gamma-dependent production of chemokines. Production of
      interleukin-2 by tumor resident CD4(+) T cells enhanced CD8(+) T-cell
      proliferation and upregulated expression of granzyme B. These results highlight a
      novel role for tumor-specific CD4(+) T cells in promoting CD8(+) T-cell
      recruitment and cytolytic function, two previously unappreciated aspects of tumor
      specific CD4 help.

PMID- 20940399
TI  - Cell signaling by urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor induces stem cell
      like properties in breast cancer cells.
AB  - Signaling by urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR) can cause
      epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in cultured breast cancer cells. In this
      report, we show that uPAR signaling can also induce cancer stem cell (CSC)-like
      properties. Ectopic overexpression of uPAR in human MDA-MB-468 breast cancer
      cells promoted the emergence of a CD24(-)/CD44(+) phenotype, characteristic of
      CSCs, while increasing the cell surface abundance of integrin subunits beta1/CD29
      and alpha6/CD49f that represent putative mammary gland stem cell biomarkers. uPAR
      overexpression increased mammosphere formation in vitro and tumor formation in an
      immunocompromized severe combined immunodeficient (SCID) mouse model of
      orthotopic breast cancer. Hypoxic conditions that are known to induce EMT in MDA
      MB-468 cells also increased cell surface beta1/CD29, mimicking the effects of
      uPAR overexpression. Antagonizing uPAR effector signaling pathways reversed the
      increase in cell surface integrin expression. Whereas uPAR overexpression did not
      induce EMT in MCF-7 breast cancer cells, CSC-like properties were nevertheless
      still induced along with an increase in tumor initiation and growth in the
      orthotopic setting in SCID mice. Notably, in MCF-7 cell mammospheres, which
      display a well-defined acinus-like structure with polarized expression of E
      cadherin and beta1-integrin, cell collapse into the central cavity was decreased
      by uPAR overexpression, suggesting that uPAR signaling may stabilize epithelial
      morphology. In summary, our findings show that uPAR signaling can induce CSC-like
      properties in breast cancer cells, either concomitantly with or separately from
      EMT.

PMID- 20940400
TI  - Ionizing radiation activates the Nrf2 antioxidant response.
AB  - The transcription factor NF-E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) binds the antioxidant DNA
      response element (ARE) to activate important cellular cytoprotective defense
      systems. Recently several types of cancers have been shown to overexpress Nrf2,
      but its role in the cellular response to radiation therapy has yet to be fully
      determined. In this study, we report that single doses of ionizing radiation from
      2 to 8 Gy activate ARE-dependent transcription in breast cancer cells in a dose
      dependent manner, but only after a delay of five days. Clinically relevant daily
      dose fractions of radiation also increased ARE-dependent transcription, but again
      only after five days. Downstream activation of Nrf2-ARE-dependent gene and
      protein markers, such as heme oxygenase-1, occurred, whereas Nrf2-deficient
      fibroblasts were incapable of these responses. Compared with wild-type
      fibroblasts, Nrf2-deficient fibroblasts had relatively high basal levels of
      reactive oxygen species that increased greatly five days after radiation
      exposure. Further, in vitro clonogenic survival assays and in vivo sublethal
      whole body irradiation tests showed that Nrf2 deletion increased radiation
      sensitivity, whereas Nrf2-inducing drugs did not increase radioresistance. Our
      results indicate that the Nrf2-ARE pathway is important to maintain resistance to
      irradiation, but that it operates as a second-tier antioxidant adaptive response
      system activated by radiation only under specific circumstances, including those
      that may be highly relevant to tumor response during standard clinical dose
      fractionated radiation therapy.

PMID- 20940401
TI  - Tumor cell kill by c-MYC depletion: role of MYC-regulated genes that control DNA
      double-strand break repair.
AB  - MYC regulates a myriad of genes controlling cell proliferation, metabolism,
      differentiation, and apoptosis. MYC also controls the expression of DNA double
      strand break (DSB) repair genes and therefore may be a potential target for
      anticancer therapy to sensitize cancer cells to DNA damage or prevent genetic
      instability. In this report, we studied whether MYC binds to DSB repair gene
      promoters and modulates cell survival in response to DNA-damaging agents.
      Chromatin immunoprecipitation studies showed that MYC associates with several DSB
      repair gene promoters including Rad51, Rad51B, Rad51C, XRCC2, Rad50, BRCA1,
      BRCA2, DNA-PKcs, XRCC4, Ku70, and DNA ligase IV. Endogenous MYC protein
      expression was associated with increased RAD51 and KU70 protein expression of a
      panel of cancer cell lines of varying histopathology. Induction of MYC in G(0)
      G(1) and S-G(2)-M cells resulted in upregulation of Rad51 gene expression. MYC
      knockdown using small interfering RNA (siRNA) led to decreased RAD51 expression
      but minimal effects on homologous recombination based on a flow cytometry direct
      repeat green fluorescent protein assay. siRNA to MYC resulted in tumor cell kill
      in DU145 and H1299 cell lines in a manner independent of apoptosis. However, MYC
      dependent changes in DSB repair protein expression were not sufficient to
      sensitize cells to mitomycin C or ionizing radiation, two agents selectively
      toxic to DSB repair-deficient cells. Our results suggest that anti-MYC agents may
      target cells to prevent genetic instability but would not lead to differential
      radiosensitization or chemosensitization.

PMID- 20940402
TI  - Enhanced genetic instability and dasatinib sensitivity in mammary tumor cells
      lacking NEDD9.
AB  - Elevated expression of the NEDD9/HEF1/Cas-L scaffolding protein promotes tumor
      cell invasion and metastasis in multiple cancer cell types. Conversely,
      generation of mammary tumors in the mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV)-polyoma
      virus middle T (PyVT) genetic model is delayed by a Nedd9(-/-) genotype. These
      activities arise from the role of NEDD9 in assembling complexes and supporting
      activity of cancer signaling proteins, including FAK, Src, Shc, and AKT, and
      would support evaluation of NEDD9 expression as an unambiguous biomarker for
      tumor aggressiveness. However, we here show that despite the initial delay in
      tumor growth, cells derived from MMTV-PyVT;Nedd9(-/-) tumors are
      characteristically hyperaggressive versus MMTV-PyVT;Nedd9(+/+) cells in anchorage
      independent growth, in growth on three-dimensional matrix produced by tumor
      associated fibroblasts, and in formation of tumors after mammary orthotopic
      reinjection and of lung metastases after tail vein injection. This reversal
      suggests the specific selection of MMTV-PyVT;Nedd9(-/-) cells for growth in an in
      vivo microenvironment. Indeed, MMTV-PyVT;Nedd9(-/-) cells have increased cell
      cycle, centrosomal, and mitotic defects, phenotypes compatible with the increased
      selection of these cells for aggressive growth. Intriguingly, in spite of their
      aggressive phenotype, MMTV-PyVT;Nedd9(-/-) cells persistently have low levels of
      Src activation and are hypersensitive to the Src kinase inhibitor dasatinib.
      These studies identify NEDD9 as a complex modulator of different aspects of
      mammary tumor growth.

PMID- 20940403
TI  - BRCA1-IRIS overexpression promotes cisplatin resistance in ovarian cancer cells.
AB  - Evasion of apoptosis plays a key role in cancer development, drug resistance, and
      recurrence. The BRCA1 locus product protein BRCA1-IRIS is overexpressed in
      several cisplatin-resistant ovarian cancer cell lines, but its relationship to
      resistance is uncertain. Here, we show that in human ovarian surface epithelial
      (HOSE) cells, overexpression of BRCA1-IRIS triggers expression of the
      antiapoptotic protein survivin. Negative modulation of phosphatidylinositol 3
      kinase (PI3K) signaling or AKT silencing reduced survivin expression in this
      setting. Conversely, silencing BRCA1-IRIS in ovarian cancer cell lines
      derepressed PTEN expression along with the antiapoptotic AKT targets FOXO1 and
      FOXO3a, suppressing survivin expression. Cisplatin (<=50 MUmol/L) exposure was
      sufficient to activate expression of the BRCA1-IRIS-AKT-survivin cascade in HOSE
      cells, whereas under similar conditions cisplatin failed to induce apoptosis in
      ovarian cancer cell lines expressing this regulatory cascade. Mechanistic
      investigations indicated that BRCA1-IRIS triggers survivin expression through a
      PI3K/AKT-dependent pathway involving NF-kappaB, but also through a PI3K/AKT
      independent pathway involving PTEN, FOXO1, and FOXO3a. Our findings indicate how
      BRCA1-IRIS overexpression prevents chemotherapy-induced cell death by
      upregulating expression of survivin, and they highlight this regulatory cascade
      as a candidate focus to improve treatment of advanced drug-resistant ovarian
      cancers.

PMID- 20940404
TI  - Transforming properties of 8p11-12 amplified genes in human breast cancer.
AB  - Amplification of the 8p11-12 region has been found in about 15% of human breast
      cancers and is associated with poor prognosis. Earlier, we used genomic analysis
      of copy number and gene expression to perform a detailed analysis of the 8p11-12
      amplicon to identify candidate oncogenes in breast cancer. We identified 21
      candidate genes and provided evidence that three genes, namely, LSM-1, TC-1, and
      BAG4, have transforming properties when overexpressed. In the present study, we
      systematically investigated the transforming properties of 13 newly identified
      8p11-12 candidate oncogenes in vitro. WHSC1L1, DDHD2, and ERLIN2 were most
      potently transforming oncogenes based on the number of altered phenotypes
      expressed by the cells. WHSC1L1 contains a PWWP-domain that is a methyl-lysine
      recognition motif involved in histone code modification and epigenetic regulation
      of gene expression. Knockdown of WHSC1L1 in 8p11-12-amplified breast cancer cells
      resulted in profound loss of growth and survival of these cells. Further, we
      identified several WHSC1L1 target genes, one of which is iroquois homeobox 3 gene
      (IRX3), a member of the Iroquois homeobox transcription factor family.

PMID- 20940405
TI  - The myc-miR-17~92 axis blunts TGF{beta} signaling and production of multiple
      TGF{beta}-dependent antiangiogenic factors.
AB  - c-Myc stimulates angiogenesis in tumors through mechanisms that remain
      incompletely understood. Recent work indicates that c-Myc upregulates the miR
      17~92 microRNA cluster and downregulates the angiogenesis inhibitor
      thrombospondin-1, along with other members of the thrombospondin type 1 repeat
      superfamily. Here, we show that downregulation of the thrombospondin type 1
      repeat protein clusterin in cells overexpressing c-Myc and miR-17~92 promotes
      angiogenesis and tumor growth. However, clusterin downregulation by miR-17~92 is
      indirect. It occurs as a result of reduced transforming growth factor-beta
      (TGFbeta) signaling caused by targeting of several regulatory components in this
      signaling pathway. Specifically, miR-17-5p and miR-20 reduce the expression of
      the type II TGFbeta receptor and miR-18 limits the expression of Smad4.
      Supporting these results, in human cancer cell lines, levels of the miR-17~92
      primary transcript MIR17HG negatively correlate with those of many TGFbeta
      induced genes that are not direct targets of miR-17~92 (e.g., clusterin and
      angiopoietin-like 4). Furthermore, enforced expression of miR-17~92 in
      MIR17HG(low) cell lines (e.g., glioblastoma) results in impaired gene activation
      by TGFbeta. Together, our results define a pathway in which c-Myc activation of
      miR-17~92 attenuates the TGFbeta signaling pathway to shut down clusterin
      expression, thereby stimulating angiogenesis and tumor cell growth.

PMID- 20940406
TI  - Protein kinase D1 suppresses epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition through
      phosphorylation of snail.
AB  - Cancer cells undergo epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) as a program of
      increased invasion and metastasis during cancer progression. Here, we report that
      a novel regulator of EMT in cancer cells is protein kinase D1 (PKD1), which is
      downregulated in advanced prostate, breast, and gastric cancers. Ectopic
      reexpression of PKD1 in metastatic prostate cancer cells reversibly suppressed
      expression of mesenchyme-specific genes and increased epithelial markers such as
      E-cadherin, whereas small interfering RNA-mediated knockdown of PKD1 increased
      expression of mesenchyme markers. Further, PKD1 inhibited tumor growth and
      metastasis in a tumor xenograft model. PKD1 phosphorylates Ser(11) (S11) on
      transcription factor Snail, a master EMT regulator and repressor of E-cadherin
      expression, triggering nuclear export of Snail via 14-3-3sigma binding. Snail S11
      mutation causes acquisition of mesenchymal traits and expression of stem cell
      markers. Together, our results suggest that PKD1 functions as a tumor and
      metastasis suppressor, at least partly by regulating Snail-mediated EMT, and that
      loss of PKD1 may contribute to acquisition of an aggressive malignant phenotype.

PMID- 20940407
TI  - Cell surface tetraspanin CD9 mediates chemoresistance in small cell lung cancer.
AB  - Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is an aggressive malignancy with extremely high
      mortality due to the appearance of widespread metastases early in its clinical
      course and rapid acquisition of chemoresistance after initial therapy. A theory
      of cell adhesion-mediated drug resistance is thought to be a principal mechanism
      in which extracellular matrix proteins provide a survival advantage against
      cytotoxic drug-induced apoptosis. We found that the tetraspanin family member CD9
      was expressed preferentially in SCLC tumors and metastases from three of seven
      relapsed patients, whereas chemonaive primary tumors from 16 patients were CD9
      negative with only one exception. Additionally, CD9 was highly expressed on SCLC
      cell lines rendered resistant to cisplatin or etoposide, and was upregulated in
      parental chemosensitive cells within 48 hours after exposure to either of these
      compounds. CD9-expressing chemoresistant SCLC cells adhered more tightly to
      fibronectin via beta1 integrin, but they were less motile than the respective
      chemosensitive parental lines. Notably, treatment of the chemoresistant cells
      with chemokine CXCL12 downregulated CD9 and transiently restored motility.
      Moreover, selective targeting of CD9 by treatment with specific monoclonal
      antibody ALB6 or a small interfering RNA triggered apoptosis in the
      chemoresistant cells. Taken together, our findings implicate CD9 in the cell
      adhesion-mediated drug resistance mechanism, highlighting CD9 as an attractive
      therapeutic target to improve therapeutic outcomes in SCLC.

PMID- 20940408
TI  - H3K9 histone methyltransferase G9a promotes lung cancer invasion and metastasis
      by silencing the cell adhesion molecule Ep-CAM.
AB  - G9a is a mammalian histone methyltransferase that contributes to the epigenetic
      silencing of tumor suppressor genes. Emerging evidence suggests that G9a is
      required to maintain the malignant phenotype, but the role of G9a function in
      mediating tumor metastasis has not been explored. Here, we show that G9a is
      expressed in aggressive lung cancer cells, and its elevated expression correlates
      with poor prognosis. RNAi-mediated knockdown of G9a in highly invasive lung
      cancer cells inhibited cell migration and invasion in vitro and metastasis in
      vivo. Conversely, ectopic G9a expression in weakly invasive lung cancer cells
      increased motility and metastasis. Mechanistic investigations suggested that
      repression of the cell adhesion molecule Ep-CAM mediated the effects of G9a.
      First, RNAi-mediated knockdown of Ep-CAM partially relieved metastasis
      suppression imposed by G9a suppression. Second, an inverse correlation between
      G9a and Ep-CAM expression existed in primary lung cancer. Third, Ep-CAM
      repression was associated with promoter methylation and an enrichment for
      dimethylated histone H3K9. G9a knockdown reduced the levels of H3K9 dimethylation
      and decreased the recruitment of the transcriptional cofactors HP1, DNMT1, and
      HDAC1 to the Ep-CAM promoter. Our findings establish a functional contribution of
      G9a overexpression with concomitant dysregulation of epigenetic pathways in lung
      cancer progression.

PMID- 20940409
TI  - Intraprostatic steroidogenic enzymes - letter.

PMID- 20940412
TI  - Circulating tumor cells in metastatic breast cancer: the need for a standardized
      approach.

PMID- 20940411
TI  - Prostate cancer radiosensitization through poly(ADP-Ribose) polymerase-1
      hyperactivation.
AB  - The clinical experimental agent, beta-lapachone (beta-lap; Arq 501), can act as a
      potent radiosensitizer in vitro through an unknown mechanism. In this study, we
      analyzed the mechanism to determine whether beta-lap may warrant clinical
      evaluation as a radiosensitizer. beta-Lap killed prostate cancer cells by
      NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase 1 (NQO1) metabolic bioactivation, triggering a
      massive induction of reactive oxygen species, irreversible DNA single-strand
      breaks (SSB), poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 (PARP-1) hyperactivation, NAD(+)/ATP
      depletion, and MU-calpain-induced programmed necrosis. In combination with
      ionizing radiation (IR), beta-lap radiosensitized NQO1(+) prostate cancer cells
      under conditions where nontoxic doses of either agent alone achieved threshold
      levels of SSBs required for hyperactivation of PARP-1. Combination therapy
      significantly elevated SSB level, gamma-H2AX foci formation, and poly(ADP
      ribosylation) of PARP-1, which were associated with ATP loss and induction of MU
      calpain-induced programmed cell death. Radiosensitization by beta-lap was blocked
      by the NQO1 inhibitor dicoumarol or the PARP-1 inhibitor DPQ. In a mouse
      xenograft model of prostate cancer, beta-lap synergized with IR to promote
      antitumor efficacy. NQO1 levels were elevated in ~60% of human prostate tumors
      evaluated relative to adjacent normal tissue, where beta-lap might be efficacious
      alone or in combination with radiation. Our findings offer a rationale for the
      clinical utilization of beta-lap (Arq 501) as a radiosensitizer in prostate
      cancers that overexpress NQO1, offering a potentially synergistic targeting
      strategy to exploit PARP-1 hyperactivation.

PMID- 20940414
TI  - Prognostic factors for response and overall survival in 282 patients with higher
      risk myelodysplastic syndromes treated with azacitidine.
AB  - Prognostic factors for response and survival in higher-risk myelodysplastic
      syndrome patients treated with azacitidine (AZA) remain largely unknown. Two
      hundred eighty-two consecutive high or intermediate-2 risk myelodysplastic
      syndrome patients received AZA in a compassionate, patient-named program.
      Diagnosis was RA/RARS/RCMD in 4%, RAEB-1 in 20%, RAEB-2 in 54%, and RAEB-t (AML
      with 21%-30% marrow blasts) in 22%. Cytogenetic risk was good in 31%,
      intermediate in 17%, and poor in 47%. Patients received AZA for a median of 6
      cycles (1-52). Previous low-dose cytosine arabinoside treatment (P = .009), bone
      marrow blasts > 15% (P = .004), and abnormal karyotype (P = .03) independently
      predicted lower response rates. Complex karyotype predicted shorter responses (P
      = .0003). Performance status >= 2, intermediate- and poor-risk cytogenetics,
      presence of circulating blasts, and red blood cell transfusion dependency >= 4
      units/8 weeks (all P < 10(-4)) independently predicted poorer overall survival
      (OS). A prognostic score based on those factors discriminated 3 risk groups with
      median OS not reached, 15.0 and 6.1 months, respectively (P < 10(-4)). This
      prognostic score was validated in an independent set of patients receiving AZA in
      the AZA-001 trial (P = .003). Achievement of hematological improvement in
      patients who did not obtain complete or partial remission was associated with
      improved OS (P < 10(-4)). In conclusion, routine tests can identify subgroups of
      patients with distinct prognosis with AZA treatment.

PMID- 20940415
TI  - Mantle cell lymphoma: biology, pathogenesis, and the molecular basis of treatment
      in the genomic era.
AB  - Mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) is a B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma of which at least a
      subset arises from antigen-experienced B cells. However, what role antigen
      stimulation plays in its pathogenesis remains ill defined. The genetic hallmark
      is the chromosomal translocation t(11;14) resulting in aberrant expression of
      cyclin D1. Secondary genetic events increase the oncogenic potential of cyclin D1
      and frequently inactivate DNA damage response pathways. In combination these
      changes drive cell-cycle progression and give rise to pronounced genetic
      instability. Several signaling pathways contribute to MCL pathogenesis, including
      the often constitutively activated PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway, which promotes tumor
      proliferation and survival. WNT, Hedgehog, and NF-kappaB pathways also appear to
      be important. Although MCL typically responds to frontline chemotherapy, it
      remains incurable with standard approaches. Proteasome inhibitors (bortezomib),
      mTOR inhibitors (temsirolimus), and immunomodulatory drugs (lenalidomide) have
      recently been added to the treatment options in MCL. The molecular basis for the
      antitumor activity of these agents is an area of intense study that hopefully
      will lead to further improvements in the near future. Given its unique biology,
      relative rarity, and the difficulty in achieving long-lasting remissions with
      conventional approaches, patients with MCL should be encouraged to participate in
      clinical trials.

PMID- 20940416
TI  - The lymph node microenvironment promotes B-cell receptor signaling, NF-kappaB
      activation, and tumor proliferation in chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
AB  - Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), an incurable malignancy of mature B
      lymphocytes, involves blood, bone marrow, and secondary lymphoid organs such as
      the lymph nodes (LN). A role of the tissue microenvironment in the pathogenesis
      of CLL is hypothesized based on in vitro observations, but its contribution in
      vivo remains ill-defined. To elucidate the effects of tumor-host interactions in
      vivo, we purified tumor cells from 24 treatment-naive patients. Samples were
      obtained concurrently from blood, bone marrow, and/or LN and analyzed by gene
      expression profiling. We identified the LN as a key site in CLL pathogenesis. CLL
      cells in the LN showed up-regulation of gene signatures, indicating B-cell
      receptor (BCR) and nuclear factor-kappaB activation. Consistent with antigen
      dependent BCR signaling and canonical nuclear factor-kappaB activation, we
      detected phosphorylation of SYK and IkappaBalpha, respectively. Expression of BCR
      target genes was stronger in clinically more aggressive CLL, indicating more
      effective BCR signaling in this subtype in vivo. Tumor proliferation, quantified
      by the expression of the E2F and c-MYC target genes and verified with Ki67
      staining by flow cytometry, was highest in the LN and was correlated with
      clinical disease progression. These data identify the disruption of tumor
      microenvironment interactions and the inhibition of BCR signaling as promising
      therapeutic strategies in CLL. This study is registered at
      http://clinicaltrials.gov as NCT00019370.

PMID- 20940417
TI  - Silent cerebral infarcts occur despite regular blood transfusion therapy after
      first strokes in children with sickle cell disease.
AB  - Children with sickle cell disease (SCD) and strokes receive blood transfusion
      therapy for secondary stroke prevention; despite this, approximately 20%
      experience second overt strokes. Given this rate of second overt strokes and the
      clinical significance of silent cerebral infarcts, we tested the hypothesis that
      silent cerebral infarcts occur among children with SCD being transfused for
      secondary stroke prevention. A prospective cohort enrolled children with SCD and
      overt strokes at 7 academic centers. Magnetic resonance imaging and magnetic
      resonance angiography of the brain were scheduled approximately every 1 to 2
      years; studies were reviewed by a panel of neuroradiologists. Eligibility
      criteria included regularly scheduled blood transfusion therapy. Forty children
      were included; mean pretransfusion hemoglobin S concentration was 29%.
      Progressive cerebral infarcts occurred in 45% (18 of 40 children) while receiving
      chronic blood transfusion therapy; 7 had second overt strokes and 11 had new
      silent cerebral infarcts. Worsening cerebral vasculopathy was associated with new
      cerebral infarction (overt or silent; relative risk = 12.7; 95% confidence
      interval, 2.65-60.5, P = .001). Children with SCD and overt strokes receiving
      regular blood transfusion therapy experience silent cerebral infarcts at a higher
      rate than previously recognized. Additional therapies are needed for secondary
      stroke prevention in children with SCD.

PMID- 20940418
TI  - Variation in the von Willebrand factor gene is associated with von Willebrand
      factor levels and with the risk for cardiovascular disease.
AB  - High levels of von Willebrand factor (VWF) are associated with an increased risk
      for cardiovascular disease (CVD). Although VWF levels are strongly heritable and
      genetic susceptibility is an important risk factor for CVD, information on the
      contribution of common VWF gene variants to VWF levels and CVD risk is limited.
      In a case-control study of 421 young patients with a first event of acute
      coronary heart disease (CHD) or ischemic stroke (IS), and 409 healthy control
      participants (men aged <= 45 years, women aged <= 55 years), 27 haplotype-tagging
      single-nucleotide polymorphisms (ht-SNPs), covering the total common VWF gene
      variation, were selected and genotyped. The associations between these SNPs, VWF
      antigen (VWF:Ag) levels, VWF collagen-binding (VWF:CB) activity, and CVD risk was
      investigated. Two new associations were identified. For ht-SNP rs4764478 (intron
      45), the increase in VWF:Ag levels and VWF:CB activity per minor allele was 0.082
      (+/- 0.026) IU/mL (P = .001) and 0.096 (+/- 0.030) IU/mL (P = .002),
      respectively. ht-SNP rs216293 (intron 17) was associated with CVD risk (odds
      ratio, 1.44; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.12-1.86 per minor allele). We
      confirmed the association between rs1063857 and CVD risk. Our data show that
      common variants in the VWF gene are associated with VWF levels and with the risk
      for CVD.

PMID- 20940419
TI  - A potential role for alpha-actinin in inside-out alphaIIbbeta3 signaling.
AB  - Many different biochemical signaling pathways regulate integrin activation
      through the integrin cytoplasmic tail. Here, we describe a new role for alpha
      actinin in inside-out integrin activation. In resting human platelets, alpha
      actinin was associated with alphaIIbbeta3, whereas inside-out signaling
      (alphaIIbbeta3 activation signals) from protease-activated receptors (PARs)
      dephosphorylated and dissociated alpha-actinin from alphaIIbbeta3. We evaluated
      the time-dependent changes of the alphaIIbbeta3 activation state by measuring PAC
      1 binding velocity. The initial velocity analysis clearly showed that PAR1
      activating peptide stimulation induced only transient alphaIIbbeta3 activation,
      whereas PAR4-activating peptide induced long-lasting alphaIIbbeta3 activation.
      When alphaIIbbeta3 activation signaling dwindled, alpha-actinin became
      rephosphorylated and reassociated with alphaIIbbeta3. Compared with control
      platelets, the dissociation of alpha-actinin from alphaIIbbeta3 was only
      transient in PAR4-stimulated P2Y(12)-deficient platelets in which the sustained
      alphaIIbbeta3 activation was markedly impaired. Overexpression of wild-type alpha
      actinin, but not the mutant Y12F alpha-actinin, increased its binding to
      alphaIIbbeta3 and inhibited PAR1-induced initial alphaIIbbeta3 activation in the
      human megakaryoblastic cell line, CMK. In contrast, knockdown of alpha-actinin
      augmented PAR-induced alphaIIbbeta3 activation in CMK. These observations suggest
      that alpha-actinin might play a potential role in setting integrins to a default
      low-affinity ligand-binding state in resting platelets and regulating
      alphaIIbbeta3 activation by inside-out signaling.

PMID- 20940420
TI  - Iron-deficiency anemia from matriptase-2 inactivation is dependent on the
      presence of functional Bmp6.
AB  - Hepcidin is the master regulator of iron homeostasis. In the liver, iron
      dependent hepcidin activation is regulated through Bmp6 and its membrane receptor
      hemojuvelin (Hjv), whereas, in response to iron deficiency, hepcidin repression
      seems to be controlled by a pathway involving the serine protease matriptase-2
      (encoded by Tmprss6). To determine the relationship between Bmp6 and matriptase-2
      pathways, Tmprss6(-/-) mice (characterized by increased hepcidin levels and
      anemia) and Bmp6(-/-) mice (exhibiting severe iron overload because of hepcidin
      deficiency) were intercrossed. We showed that loss of Bmp6 decreased hepcidin
      levels; increased hepatic iron; and, importantly, corrected hematologic
      abnormalities in Tmprss6(-/-) mice. This finding suggests that elevated hepcidin
      levels in patients with familial iron-refractory, iron-deficiency anemia are the
      result of excess signaling through the Bmp6/Hjv pathway.

PMID- 20940422
TI  - Diesel exhaust and underground miners.

PMID- 20940423
TI  - Focus issue: endocrine signaling from clinic to cell.
AB  - Disrupted or aberrant endocrine signaling has profound effects on the health of
      both children and adults. This issue focuses attention on endocrine signaling
      mediated by G protein-coupled receptor and receptor tyrosine kinase pathways
      involved in endocrine signaling, especially those critical in child development
      and health. Research in this issue highlights gender-specific differences in
      glucocorticoid signaling, which have implications for gender-specific treatment
      of inflammatory diseases.

PMID- 20940421
TI  - A tick salivary protein targets cathepsin G and chymase and inhibits host
      inflammation and platelet aggregation.
AB  - Platelet aggregation and acute inflammation are key processes in vertebrate
      defense to a skin injury. Recent studies uncovered the mediation of 2 serine
      proteases, cathepsin G and chymase, in both mechanisms. Working with a mouse
      model of acute inflammation, we revealed that an exogenous salivary protein of
      Ixodes ricinus, the vector of Lyme disease pathogens in Europe, extensively
      inhibits edema formation and influx of neutrophils in the inflamed tissue. We
      named this tick salivary gland secreted effector as I ricinus serpin-2 (IRS-2),
      and we show that it primarily inhibits cathepsin G and chymase, while in higher
      molar excess, it affects thrombin activity as well. The inhibitory specificity
      was explained using the crystal structure, determined at a resolution of 1.8 A.
      Moreover, we disclosed the ability of IRS-2 to inhibit cathepsin G-induced and
      thrombin-induced platelet aggregation. For the first time, an ectoparasite
      protein is shown to exhibit such pharmacological effects and target specificity.
      The stringent specificity and biological activities of IRS-2 combined with the
      knowledge of its structure can be the basis for the development of future
      pharmaceutical applications.

PMID- 20940424
TI  - Signal transduction in child health: closing the gap between clinical and basic
      research.
AB  - Although some diseases are specific to children, many diseases of adults,
      including obesity and the metabolic syndrome, often originate in childhood. Thus,
      understanding the mechanisms of disease onset and progression in children is
      vital not only for child health, but for adult health as well. The NICHe (New
      Inroads to Child Health) Conference series focuses on future directions in child
      health, by bringing together clinical and basic scientists with the aim of
      sharing knowledge to facilitate the development of new therapeutic approaches.
      This year's conference, entitled "Child Health and Signal Transduction," focused
      on G protein-coupled receptor and receptor tyrosine kinase pathways involved in
      endocrine signaling, how disruption of these pathways can lead to disease, and
      how understanding these pathways may guide drug discovery.

PMID- 20940425
TI  - Stress and sex versus immunity and inflammation.
AB  - Glucocorticoids, the major effector hormones of the stress system, influence
      almost all aspects of mammalian physiology. These steroids exert their effects on
      a large network of primary, secondary, and tertiary target genes, encompassing up
      to 20% of the expressed genome in a tissue. New evidence shows quantitative and
      qualitative gender-specific differences in the actions of glucocorticoids on the
      rat liver transcriptome, suggesting that the pervasive actions of these hormones
      are modulated by gender, both as an inherent property of the target tissues and
      as a result of exposure of these tissues to estrogens and possibly also
      androgens. Generally, albeit not always, female mammals have more robust
      behavioral and somatic responses to stress and more potent immune and
      inflammatory reactions than males--differences that are inherent, sex steroid
      mediated, or both and possibly the evolutionary products of natural selection of
      female and male roles.

PMID- 20940426
TI  - Hormone resistance at the clinical level.
AB  - This presentation introduces clinical aspects of hormone resistance through a
      number of case studies that illustrate how molecular defects at various steps in
      hormone production, signaling, or responsiveness can produce disease in humans.
      The presentation also shows how careful phenotyping of such patients has
      triggered decades of translational research.

PMID- 20940428
TI  - G protein-coupled receptors in child development, growth, and maturation.
AB  - G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) constitute a large family of cell membrane
      receptors that affect embryogenesis, development, and child physiology, and they
      are targets for approved drugs and those still in development. The sensitivity of
      GPCRs to their respective extracellular hormones, neurotransmitters, and
      environmental stimulants, as well as their interaction with other receptors and
      intracellular signaling proteins (such as receptor activity-modifying proteins),
      contribute to variations in child development, growth, and maturation. Here, we
      summarize current knowledge about the mechanisms of activation (in either the
      presence or absence of ligands) that lead to the sensitivities of GPCRs and their
      respective effects as seen throughout human developmental and maturational
      phases.

PMID- 20940427
TI  - Sexually dimorphic actions of glucocorticoids provide a link to inflammatory
      diseases with gender differences in prevalence.
AB  - Males and females show differences in the prevalence of many major diseases that
      have important inflammatory components to their etiology. These gender-specific
      diseases, which include autoimmune diseases, hepatocellular carcinoma, diabetes,
      and osteoporosis, are largely considered to reflect the actions of sex hormones
      on the susceptibility to inflammatory stimuli. However, inflammation reflects a
      balance between pro- and anti-inflammatory signals, and investigation of gender
      specific responses to the latter has been neglected. Glucocorticoids are the
      primary physiological anti-inflammatory hormones in mammals, and synthetic
      derivatives of these hormones are prescribed as anti-inflammatory agents,
      irrespective of patient gender. We explored the possibility that sexually
      dimorphic actions of glucocorticoid regulation of gene expression may contribute
      to the dimorphic basis of inflammatory disease by evaluating the rat liver, a
      classic glucocorticoid-responsive organ. Surprisingly, glucocorticoid
      administration expanded the set of hepatic sexually dimorphic genes. Eight
      distinct patterns of glucocorticoid-regulated gene expression were identified,
      which included sex-specific genes. Our experiments also defined specific genes
      with altered expression in response to glucocorticoid treatment in both sexes,
      but in opposite directions. Pathway analysis identified sex-specific
      glucocorticoid-regulated gene expression in several canonical pathways involved
      in susceptibility to and progression of diseases with gender differences in
      prevalence. Moreover, a comparison of the number of genes involved in
      inflammatory disorders between sexes revealed 84 additional glucocorticoid
      responsive genes in the male, suggesting that the anti-inflammatory actions of
      glucocorticoids are more effective in males. These gender-specific actions of
      glucocorticoids in liver were substantiated in vivo with a sepsis model of
      systemic inflammation.

PMID- 20940429
TI  - Translation to the public.

PMID- 20940430
TI  - Cardiovascular "remodeling" in rat and human: time axis, extent, and in vivo
      relevance.

PMID- 20940432
TI  - Ancient atmospheres and the evolution of oxygen sensing via the hypoxia-inducible
      factor in metazoans.
AB  - Metazoan diversification occurred during a time when atmospheric oxygen levels
      fluctuated between 15 and 30%. The hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) is a primary
      regulator of the adaptive transcriptional response to hypoxia. Although the HIF
      pathway is highly conserved, its complexity increased during periods when
      atmospheric oxygen concentrations were increasing. Thus atmospheric oxygen levels
      may have provided a selection force on the development of cellular oxygen-sensing
      pathways.

PMID- 20940433
TI  - Sorting it out in endosomes: an emerging concept in renal epithelial cell
      transport regulation.
AB  - Ion and water transport by the kidney is continually adjusted in response to
      physiological cues. Selective endocytosis and endosomal trafficking of ion
      transporters are increasingly appreciated as mechanisms to acutely modulate renal
      function. Here, we discuss emerging paradigms in this new area of investigation.

PMID- 20940434
TI  - Energy landscapes as a tool to integrate GPCR structure, dynamics, and function.
AB  - G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are versatile signaling molecules that
      mediate the majority of physiological responses to hormones and
      neurotransmitters. Recent high-resolution structural insights into GPCR structure
      and dynamics are beginning to shed light on the molecular basis of this
      versatility. We use energy landscapes to conceptualize the link between structure
      and function.

PMID- 20940435
TI  - Lifting the nebula: novel insights into skeletal muscle contractility.
AB  - Nebulin is a giant protein and a constituent of the skeletal muscle sarcomere.
      The name of this protein refers to its unknown (i.e., nebulous) function.
      However, recent rapid advances reveal that nebulin plays important roles in the
      regulation of muscle contraction. When these functions of nebulin are
      compromised, muscle weakness ensues, as is the case in patients with nemaline
      myopathy.

PMID- 20940436
TI  - Identifiable cells in the crustacean stomatogastric ganglion.
AB  - Neural circuits rely on slight physiological differences between the component
      cells for proper function. When any circuit is analyzed, it is important to
      characterize the features that distinguish one cell type from another. This
      review describes the methods used to identify the neurons of the crustacean
      stomatogastric ganglion.

PMID- 20940437
TI  - Gamma oscillations in the hippocampus.
AB  - Gamma oscillations are thought to temporally link the activity of distributed
      cells. We discuss mechanisms of gamma oscillations in the hippocampus and review
      evidence supporting a functional role for such oscillations in several key
      hippocampal operations, including cell grouping, dynamic routing, and memory. We
      propose that memory encoding and retrieval are coordinated by different
      frequencies of hippocampal gamma oscillations and suggest how transitions between
      slow and fast gamma may occur.

PMID- 20940438
TI  - Counterpoint: Pulmonary edema does not occur in human athletes performing heavy
      sea-level exercise.

PMID- 20940439
TI  - Rebuttal from Hopkins.

PMID- 20940440
TI  - Rebuttal from Sheel and McKenzie.

PMID- 20940441
TI  - Mild interstitial pulmonary edema occurs during sea level strenuous exercise.

PMID- 20940444
TI  - Clarifying the equation for modeling of VO2 kinetics above the lactate threshold.

PMID- 20940445
TI  - Acculturation influences on AAPI adolescent-mother interactions and adolescents'
      sexual initiation.
AB  - The purpose of this secondary analysis of data is to examine relationships among
      Asian American Pacific Islanders (AAPI) adolescents' level of acculturation,
      maternal influences, and age of sexual initiation. Selected predictive variables
      are based on the theoretical frameworks and literature review. The results
      indicate that for these adolescents speaking English at home was positively
      associated with maternal sexual discussion, mothers' perceptions of connectedness
      with their adolescents, adolescents' perceived maternal sexual expectations, and
      later sexual initiation at Wave 1. Adolescents' years of U.S. residency are
      positively associated with adolescents' level of perceived connectedness with
      their mothers and later sexual initiation at Wave 2. Adolescents' level of
      acculturation influence how they interacted with their mothers, perceived their
      mothers' sexual expectations, and when they decided to initiate sexual
      intercourse. Interventions to delay AAPI adolescents' sexual debut should
      consider factors related to AAPI adolescents' and their mothers' levels of
      acculturation.

PMID- 20940446
TI  - The experience of stigma in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
AB  - People with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) can experience severe
      dyspnea, tenacious secretions, and a disruptive cough. They often struggle with
      daily activities and over time tend to decrease the amount of time they spend
      outside the home. The functional decline accompanying these changes is not
      adequately explained by physical changes alone. This descriptive, qualitative
      study describes social changes and experiences of stigma from the perspective of
      people with moderate to severe COPD. A total of 16 participants (11 men, 5 women)
      participated in individual interviews regarding effects of COPD on social
      relationships and experiences with COPD-related stigma. Participants were aware
      of the potential for stigma related to COPD. Emerging themes included the
      prevalence of blame related to smoking, both from others, including health care
      providers, and from themselves. Although many decreases in social activities
      appear to be pragmatic adaptations to functional limitations, these decisions may
      also be attempts to avoid potentially stigmatizing situations.

PMID- 20940447
TI  - Leukoencephalomalacia and laminar neuronal necrosis following smoke inhalation in
      a dog.
AB  - Acute respiratory and neurologic disease after smoke inhalation are well
      documented, but human patients may also develop delayed-onset neurologic symptoms
      associated with leukoencephalomalacia after exposure to smoke or carbon monoxide.
      In this case, a dog developed progressive neurologic signs 6 days after rescue
      from an apartment fire. At necropsy 9 days after smoke inhalation,
      leukoencephalomalacia of the central cerebral white matter was accompanied by
      laminar necrosis of cerebrocortical neurons. This is the first report of delayed
      posthypoxic leukoencephalopathy in a nonhuman animal.

PMID- 20940448
TI  - Bone-invasive oral squamous cell carcinoma in cats: pathology and expression of
      parathyroid hormone-related protein.
AB  - Feline oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the most common oral tumor in cats.
      There is no effective treatment, and the average duration of survival after
      diagnosis is only 2 months. Feline OSCC is frequently associated with osteolysis;
      however, the mechanisms responsible are unknown. The objective of this study was
      to characterize the epidemiology and pathology of bone-invasive OSCC in cats and
      to determine the expression of select bone resorption agonists. In sum, 451 cases
      of feline OSCC were evaluated. There was no sex or breed predisposition, although
      there were more intact cats in the OSCC group compared to the control group.
      Gingiva was the most common site, followed by the sublingual region and tongue.
      Cats with lingual OSCC were younger (mean, 11.9 years) compared to cats with
      gingival OSCC (mean, 13.6 years). In addition to osteolysis, there was periosteal
      new bone formation, osseous metaplasia of tumor stroma, and direct apposition of
      OSCC to fragments of bone, suggestive of bone-binding behavior. Eighty-two cases
      were selected for immunohistochemical detection of parathyroid hormone-related
      protein (PTHrP). Specimens with osteolysis had increased PTHrP expression and
      nuclear localization, compared to OSCC without osteolysis. Thirty-eight biopsies
      of OSCC with osteolysis were evaluated for tumor necrosis factor alpha
      expression, and only 4 biopsies had such expression in a small proportion of
      tumor cells. Increased tumor expression of PTHrP and increased localization of
      PTHrP to the nucleus were associated with osteolysis and may play an important
      role in bone resorption and tumor invasion in cats with OSCC.

PMID- 20940449
TI  - Angiostatic effects of aspirin in hypoxia-reoxygenation are linked to modulation
      of TGFbeta1 signaling.
AB  - Hypoxia-reoxygenation (HR) is a major driver for angiogenesis in atherosclerotic
      plaques and tumors. Angiogenesis is a multistep process requiring stimulation of
      proliferation and migration of endothelial cells in response to a number of
      growth factors, including transforming growth factor (TGFbeta1). Aspirin
      (acetylsalicylic acid) has been shown to reduce atherosclerosis-related events as
      well as development of certain tumors. We examined the role of aspirin in HR
      mediated angiogenesis from human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). We
      found that aspirin (0.5 and 1 mmol/L) markedly (by about 30%, P < .01) reduced HR
      mediated tube formation. Next, we studied changes in TGFbeta1 and its type 1
      receptor (TGFbeta-R1) as well as in the transcription of p53 and p21 during HR
      mediated angiogenesis. Hypoxia-reoxygenation modestly increased TGFbeta1 and
      decreased its type 1 receptor (TGFbeta-R1) transcription (both P-NS) and reduced
      the transcription of p53 and p21 (P < .05). Treatment of HUVECs with aspirin
      suppressed TGFbeta1 and enhanced TGFbeta-R1 mRNA expression during HR (both P <
      .05 vs HR alone) without a change in p53 and p21 (P-NS). In other experiments,
      treatment of cells with TGFbeta1 antibody modestly decreased HR-mediated
      angiogenesis; however, TGFbeta1 antibody treatment significantly enhanced the
      inhibitory effect of aspirin on tube formation. Based on these data, we suggest
      that the inhibitory effect of aspirin on HR-mediated angiogenesis involves
      TGFbeta1-TGFbeta-R1 pathway.

PMID- 20940450
TI  - Impact of ''off-label'' use of ivabradine on exercise capacity, gas exchange,
      functional class, quality of life, and neurohormonal modulation in patients with
      ischemic chronic heart failure.
AB  - BACKGROUND: epidemiologic studies indicate that elevated heart rate (HR) is an
      independent risk factor for mortality and morbidity in patients (pts) with
      chronic heart failure (CHF). Clinical trials with beta-blockers suggest that HR
      reduction is an important mechanism of their benefit in pts with stable CHF.
      Pharmacologic inhibition of the I(f) current now provides the opportunity of pure
      HR reduction. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of ''Off
      Label'' use of ivabradine on exercise capacity, gas exchange, functional class,
      quality of life, and neurohormonal modulation in pts with ischemic CHF. METHODS:
      between January 2008 and June 2008, a graded maximal exercise test with
      respiratory gas analysis and an endurance test with constant workload
      corresponding to 85% of the peak VO(2) at the baseline and after 3 months were
      performed, and at the same times, N-terminal probrain natriuretic peptide (NT
      proBNP) levels were also measured, in 60 pts (45 M, 15 F, mean age 52.7 +/- 5.3
      years), with stable ischemic CHF, New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional
      classes II (n = 35)-III (n = 25), with left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF)
      <= 40%, randomized to a ''off-label'' ivabradine use (n = 30) and a control group
      (n = 30). RESULTS: the exercise capacity increased from 14.8 +/- 2.5 to 28.2 +/-
      3.5 min (P < .0001) and the peak oxygen consumption tended to improve from 13.5
      +/- 1.3 to 17.9 +/- 2.4 mL/kg per minute (P < .0001) in ivabradine group. Oxygen
      consumption at the anaerobic threshold (AT) increased from 11.9 +/- 1.4 to 15.3
      +/- 1.4 mL/kg per minute (P < .0001). NTproBNP levels decreased from 2356 +/-
      2113 pg/mL to 1434 +/- 1273 pg/mL (P = .045). No significant differences were
      found in control group at 3 months. The positive ivabradine effects were also
      associated with an improvement in the NYHA functional class and quality of life.
      CONCLUSION: the ''Off-Label'' use of ivabradine significantly improves the
      exercise capacity, gas exchange, functional heart failure class, quality of life,
      and neurohormonal modulation in pts with ischemic CHF.

PMID- 20940451
TI  - Atrial fibrillation-the final frontier.
AB  - Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common sustained cardiac arrhythmia and
      represents a significant health care issue. The diagnosis and management of AF
      uses a significant proportion of the health care budget and is responsible for
      substantial morbidity and mortality. Restoration and maintenance of sinus rhythm
      is still an important treatment option for symptomatic AF. Anti-arrhythmic drugs
      (AADs) have had inconsistent results for the prevention of recurrent AF and have
      been hampered by significant adverse effects. Catheter ablation has rapidly
      evolved and is fast becoming an alternative for AF prevention. Although multiple
      treatment options exist, no single modality is effective for all patients. This
      review outlines best current practice for AF prevention and future perspectives,
      focusing on new and promising developments in antiarrhythmic drug therapy,
      strategies for ablation therapy, and forms of hybrid therapy that may offer
      improved outcomes in selected patients.

PMID- 20940452
TI  - Outcome of type II superior labral anterior posterior repairs in elite overhead
      athletes: Effect of concomitant partial-thickness rotator cuff tears.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There are conflicting reports in the literature regarding the outcome
      of superior labral anterior posterior (SLAP) repairs in overhead athletes and a
      paucity of data demonstrating ability to return to prior level of competition.
      HYPOTHESIS: Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic shoulder and elbow score provides more
      accurate assessment of shoulder function and ability to return to previous level
      of athletic competition after SLAP lesion repair than does the conventional
      American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons scoring system. STUDY DESIGN: Cohort study;
      Level of evidence, 3. METHODS: Twenty-three elite (collegiate or professional)
      overhead athletes who were more than 1-year status postarthroscopic repair of
      type II SLAP lesions were evaluated using both the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic
      shoulder and elbow score and American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons score. P values
      were computed using the analysis of variance model. Postoperative American
      Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons and Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic scores from
      subjects were compared with control values obtained from a healthy athletic
      cohort; the relationship between the scores was investigated using the linear
      regression model and assessed using Pearson correlations. RESULTS: At a mean 38
      month follow-up, 13 athletes were playing pain free at the time of the
      questionnaire administration, 6 were playing with pain, and 4 were not playing
      because of pain. Regarding American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons scores, 22
      athletes (96%) had good-excellent scores, whereas 1 (4%) had a fair score. The
      Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic scores revealed 9 excellent (39%), 3 good (13%), 4
      fair (17%), and 7 poor (30%) results for the same study group. Of the 23
      patients, 13 (57%) had returned to their pain-free preinjury levels of
      competition at final follow-up. The inability to return to this level of
      competition correlated with the presence of a partial-thickness rotator cuff tear
      (P = .0059). The Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic demonstrated better overall
      accuracy (85%) than did the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (70%) in
      evaluating return to pain-free preinjury levels. CONCLUSION: Return to preinjury
      level of competition for elite overhead athletes after type II SLAP lesion
      repairs was 57%, despite high American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons scores. Return
      to play status correlated with the presence of a partial-thickness rotator cuff
      tear. The Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic score, designed specifically for the
      evaluation of the overhead athlete, was a more accurate assessment tool than was
      the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons in this population of elite overhead
      athletes with SLAP tears.

PMID- 20940499
TI  - [The present and future of brain bank in Japan].
AB  - Brain Bank was established in 1960's in the United States and Europe as a basic
      infrastructure for human neuroscience research. In Japan,institutional
      collections are a substitute to brain banks and these function as the main
      repository of postmortem brains; Niigata University has one such center. The
      brain bank movement officially started in 2001 with the establishment of the
      Brain Bank for Aging Research (BBAR) in Tokyo Metropolitan Geriatric Hospital and
      Institute of Gerontology. The Research Resource Network as well as the Brain
      Donation System of patients with Parkinson disease started in the National Center
      for Neurology and Psychiatry. A brain bank specially for psychiatric disorders
      was also established in Fukushima University. The Japanese Society of
      Neuropathology recognized the establishment of brain bank system as one of its
      major goals and the Brain Bank Committee worked as a task force. In 2010,the
      Japanese Brain Bank Network for Neuroscience Research (JBBNNR) was funded by
      Comprehensive Brain Science Network from the Ministry of
      Education,Culture,Sports,Science and Technology of Japan. BBAR was also appointed
      as the pathology core of Japanese Alzheimer Disease Neuroimage Initiative (JADNI)
      this year. The key features of JBBNNR are as follows. (1) The brain bank was
      approved by the institutional review board with the consensus of clinical and
      pathological branches of the neuroscience departments in the institute. (2) The
      brain bank accepts brain donation and maintains a clinical longitudinal follow-up
      record of the donor. (3) The brain bank resource is quality controlled and its
      information is shared by researchers. (4) The brain bank provides useful
      resources to researchers. Currently,JBBNNR includes Mihara Memorial Hospital
      Brain Bank and Fukushimura Brain Bank in addition to BBAR and it aims to expand
      the network for the creation of a future Japan Brain Net.

PMID- 20940453
TI  - Comparison of fixation methods for preservation of morphology, RNAs, and proteins
      from paraffin-embedded human cancer cell-implanted mouse models.
AB  - Xenograft transplantation of human tumor cells into immunodeficient mice is an
      important method to clarify the roles of specific molecules or chemicals in vivo.
      Recently, this method has been reported as a definitive examination to identify
      tumor stem cells. In this study, the authors compared the morphology and the
      quality and quantity of ribonucleic acid (RNA) and protein in paraffin-embedded
      tissues of nude mice implanted with human uterine cervical cancer cells, followed
      by fixation with commonly used fixatives, including 4% paraformaldehyde (PFA),
      10% neutral buffered formalin (NBF), 20% NBF, and 99% ethanol (EtOH). The quality
      of the isolated RNA from PFA- and NBF-fixed paraffin-embedded tissues was high,
      while EtOH-fixed tissues showed degradation of RNA. NBF-fixed tissues showed
      excellent quality of morphology, but EtOH-fixed tissues showed contraction of
      cells. Immunohistochemical results showed differences depending on fixations. The
      99% EtOH-fixed samples showed decreases of Ki-67 and VEGF-A immunoreactivities,
      but improved cytokeratin immunoreactivity. This study indicated that formalin
      fixation is better than alcohol fixation for RNA preservation in paraffin
      embedded cancer cell implantation models. Immunohistochemical results differed
      markedly depending on fixation materials and antibodies; therefore, suitable
      fixations are needed to quantify and compare the results of immunohistochemical
      staining on cancer cell implanted nude mice tissues.

PMID- 20940500
TI  - [Human brain resource--experience at the Brain Research Institute,University of
      Niigata].
AB  - Through 40 years of neuropathological practice,the Brain Research Institute,
      University of Niigata (BRI-Niigata), Japan has accumulated extensive human brain
      resource,including fresh-frozen brain slices,for scientific research. Over 30,000
      slices obtained from consecutive autopsies have been systematically stored in 25
      deep freezers. Establishment of effective networks between brain banks and
      institutional collections in Japan is essential for promoting scientific
      activities that require human brain resource. We at the BRI-Niigata are eager to
      contribute to the establishment of such networks.

PMID- 20940501
TI  - [Research resource network and Parkinson disease brain bank donor registration
      program in Japan].
AB  - In spite of the increasing need for brain tissue in biomedical research, overall
      brain banking activities in Japan has been lagging behind. On the initiative of
      the National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, 2 projects have been carried
      out; the Research Resource Network (RRN) and the Parkinson's Disease Brain Bank
      (PDBB) donor registration program. RRN is a nation-wide network that links 15
      brain repositories, and 1,463 autopsy brains have been registered in this network
      as of December 2009. The brain donor registration program for PDBB was
      established in 2006. A donor without cognitive impairment can enroll in this PDBB
      donor registration program. When the donor dies, the next-of-kin will contact the
      PDBB coordinators for subsequent autopsy services and brain retention. On
      obtaining the next-of-kin's consent at the time of donor's death, autopsy will be
      performed at PDBB collaborating hospitals of National Center of Neurology and
      Psychiatry, Juntendo University Hospital, and Tokyo Metropolitan Geriatric
      Hospital. In order to arouse public interest, lecture meetings for citizens have
      been held on a regular basis. Fifty individuals have registered in the PDBB donor
      registration program including 27 patients with PD, 4 patient with Parkinson
      syndrome, 1 patient with progressive supranuclear palsy, and 18 individuals
      without PD or related disorders as of December 2009. Autopsies have been
      performed for 2 of these donors. To promote brain banking activities,it is
      necessary to establish legal and ethical guidelines for the use of autopsied
      materials in biomedical research.

PMID- 20940502
TI  - [The current state of the New York Brain Bank and a proposal for the
      establishment of the brain bank network in Japan].
AB  - Brain banks are becoming increasingly important due to a worldwide decline in
      autopsy rates, and the consequent shortage of tissue for research purposes. The
      New York Brain Bank (NYBB) at Columbia University is widely praised for its well
      organized system of tissue harvesting, indexing, and retrieval. I was fortunate
      enough to study at this prestigious institution. Constructing similar brain banks
      in Japan would enable us to (1) pool tissue from multiple centers, (2)
      standardize results and (3) extract maximum benefits from the limited number of
      brain specimens. As a prerequisite, the prosector must have excellent knowledge
      of neuroanatomy and neuropathology. One-half of each brain is dissected in the
      fresh state, and the cortical samples are recorded using the map of Brodmann area
      (BA); and all samples are barcode labeled. The quality of the brains is assessed
      by measuring the tissue pH of and 28S and 18S ribosomal RNA levels in the
      cerebral cortex (BA37). This report describes the NYBB's management and
      electronic tissue-tracking system,including the processing of the brains in the
      fresh state and the storage of standardized frozen samples. I will also disscus
      the feasibility and potential benefits of setting up similar brain banks in
      Japan.

PMID- 20940503
TI  - [Collaboration between Fukushimura Brain Bank,based in a private geriatric
      hospital and a national/international network].
AB  - Fukushimura Brain Bank (FBB) was established in 1994, and to date, has
      accumulated 477 fresh frozen brain tissue samples. Our brain bank is based in
      Choju Medical Institute, Fukushimura Hospital, Toyohashi in Japan. At the time of
      its foundation, the institute could not establish working relationships with
      clinicopathological investigators and others engaged in basic neuroscience
      research. At this stage, we received the assistance of Yokohama City University
      in setting up standards for neuropathological diagnosis as well as the aid of
      Chiba University in establishing a method for Vancouver style snap-frozen
      sampling of brain tissue. However, both systems require considerable manpower and
      time. We now plan to introduce several improvements in these systems. At its
      inception, the Brain Bank operated without financial support from grants or
      foundation funding and was managed only as a hospital expense. However, since
      1998, we have collaborated with researchers from several institutes, and the
      results of our labors have been presented at congresses, in journal publications
      and in foundation reports. In 2004, we obtained the status required to apply for
      a grant from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology
      of Japan. Fukushimura Hospital is a geriatric institution that specializes in
      dementia. There are no other hospitals or nursing homes in the Toyohashi area
      that specialize in this field. Half of our patients have Alzheimer's disease,and
      a number of them have enormous plaques and huge neurofibrillary tangles patient
      for over 10 years. In general,private geriatric hospitals that care for such
      patients with severe AD lack the systems required for performing autopsies.
      Research carried out with animal models are not comparable with neuropathological
      and biochemical investigations using human tissues,and in terms of the
      quality,the range and size of our collection at FBB is unique. In the future,we
      intend to expand our network in order to share samples of interest,and to
      optimize the network by establishing similar sampling protocols and diagnostic
      standards. It is with great pleasure that we at the FBB look forward to our
      collaboration with the Comprehensive Brain Science.

PMID- 20940504
TI  - [Available postmortem brain resources in Japan].
AB  - This study investigates the information of available postmortem brain resources
      in Japan. Data were obtained from personal references,home pages viewing and
      direct e-mail inquiries to relevant institutes. The most accessible online system
      was the Japanese Brain Bank Network for Neuroscience Research,which is supported
      by a Grant-in-Aid for Comprehensive Brain Science Network from Japan's Ministry
      of Education,Culture,Sports,Science and Technology (http://www.hokatsu
      nou.nips.ac.jp/?page_id=71). Among the brain banks,the Brain Bank for Aging
      Research and Fukushimura Brain Bank were reported in detail in different chapters
      of this issue. The Brain Bank Committee of the Japanese Society of Neuropathology
      also allowed an e-mail inquiry with regard to possible resource supply. The
      National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry provided resource-related information
      in comformance with the living will of individuals and the Research Resource
      Network. Niigata University has the largest resource on neurodegenerative
      disorders. The Postmortem Brain Bank of Fukushima for Psychiatric Research is the
      only brain bank aimed for schizophrenia research in Japan,but requires direct
      contact with the bank director. At present the stanley Brain Bank
      (http://www.stanleyresearch.org/dnn/BrainResearchLaboratorybrBrainCollection/tabi
      /83/Default.aspx) maybe the most preferable choice for psychiatric research in
      Japan.

PMID- 20940505
TI  - [Complete Brain-machine Interfaces and Plastic Changes in the Brain].
AB  - Brain-machine interfaces (BMIs) are artificial systems that control external
      devices or body muscles with signals generated by the neural activities of
      working brains. The BMIs currently under development can be divided into 2
      types,i.e.,conventional (noninvasive) BMIs and complete (invasive) BMIs. Only the
      latter type of BMI can ultimately be used in the future. This paper describes
      some recent studies on invasive BMI using monkeys as subjects and discusses the
      progress of and problems revealed in these studies. The focus then shifts to
      plastic changes in neuronal activities caused by the BMIs. When a BMI is in
      use,the brain inevitably changes its own functions and structures in order to
      operate external devices more efficiently. Therefore,basic research on BMIs
      inevitably involves study on neural plasticity; such research is essential for
      further development of neurorehabilitation and for high performance of BMIs. This
      paper describes 2 recent pioneering BMI studies-one involving the rat motor
      cortex and the other involving the monkey primary motor cortex. Both studies
      revealed rapid and plastic changes in neuronal function during the period the
      animals were learning to operate external devices with the BMIs. The fact that
      the neuronal changes were caused by the contingency of neuronal activity and
      rewards emphasizes the significance of the neural-operant paradigm for research
      on neuronal plasticity in BMIs. The present paper describes a neural-operant
      experiment involving a recently developed high-performance BMI system and reports
      rapid and plastic changes in firing frequency and synchrony of the hippocampal
      neurons in both adult and aged rats. Finally,the paper suggests that complete
      BMIs can be developed by neuroscience research and should be able to unmask the
      enigmas of the neural code,brain-body interaction,and ongoing activity in the
      working brain.

PMID- 20940506
TI  - [Self and other--a new framework for social brain science].
AB  - This paper provides an overview of recent neuroimaging studies performed to
      understand the brain mechanisms underlying our ability to socially interact with
      others and proposes a model of the self-other concept as a new framework for
      research. Theory of mind (ToM) and the mirror system are the 2 major concepts on
      which research on social-perception mechanisms is based. Our proposed model
      incorporates these 2 concepts as well as the mechanisms controlling social
      behavior. In this model,a dynamic internal schema of the self-other
      relationship,which represents prediction of inputs as a consequence of outputs,is
      assumed for 3 layers of the social cognitive process,which are organized in order
      of development. The first layer,i. e.,the physical layer,features a schema of
      sensory feedback consequential to one's own motor action and is accommodated by
      the network of the right supramarginal,inferior frontal gyri,and bilateral
      sensory and motor association cortices. This layer first deals with one's own
      body and later handles physical interactions between the self and
      other,eventually derives the mirror system. The interpersonal layer is involved
      with the schema of feedback from social reactions to one's own social behavior
      and is housed by the network of the temporoparietal junction,temporal pole,and
      dorsomedial prefrontal cortex. This layer provides the ToM ability and a
      reference for one's own socio behavioral control. Finally,in the social-value
      layer,the schema of one's own social values in specific social contexts is
      assumed. This layer is responsible for behavioral control based on social values
      and is probably supported by the network of the ventromedial prefrontal and
      posterior cingulate cortices. The hierarchical layer structure and dynamic
      characteristics of the schema seem to provide unique advantages to the model with
      respect to clinical and engineering applications.

PMID- 20940507
TI  - [Glioma treatment strategies using mesenchymal stem cells].
AB  - Because of the growth characteristics of malignant gliomas that are highly
      invasive and deeply infiltrate the surrounding brain area; the surgical resection
      of these gliomas with preservation of neural functions is almost always
      noncurative. The residual tumor cells are usually resistant to standard adjuvant
      radiochemotherapy, and therefore, the tumors inevitably recur after a certain
      period and finally cause the death of the patients. Neural and mesenchymal stem
      cells have been extensively studied for the development of new strategies for
      treating malignant gliomas because of these cells possess the intrinsic property
      of homing toward tumor cells. By using neural and mesenchymal stem cells as
      vehicles for drug carriers, it is possible to deliver anticancer drugs to the
      tumor cells that infiltrate functioning normal brain tissue and are difficult to
      remove. Several cytokines and suicide genes have been tested, and promising
      results have been reported in animal brain tumor models. However, further studies
      involving safety issues such as secondary cancer formation are required before
      human trials of stem cell therapies. In the present paper, the author has
      reviewed the recent concepts involved in the treatment of malignant gliomas with
      stem cells, especially mesenchymal stem cells that are much easier to obtain from
      the patients themselves.

PMID- 20940508
TI  - [Dissecting aneurysm of the anterior cerebral artery with Rubinstein-Taybi
      syndrome--a case report].
AB  - The Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome (RTS) is defined congenital anomalies and is
      characterized by postnatal growth deficiency, microcephaly, specific facial
      characteristics, broad thumbs and big toes, and mental retardation. RTS displays
      an autosomal dominant inheritance pattern and is typically caused by cAMP
      response element-binding (CREB)-binding protein deficiency. Various complications
      such as eye anomalies and a variety of congenital heart defects are reported in
      such cases. We treated an RTS patient who had a dissecting aneurysm of the
      anterior cerebral artery. The patient was a 44-year-old man who was brought to
      our hospital because of sudden left hemiplegia. Magnetic resonance images showed
      a cerebral infarction caused by anterior cerebral artery dissection. Coil
      embolization was performed on enlargement of the dissecting aneurysm, and the
      procedure was successful. CONCLUSION: RTS may be accompanied by cerebrovascular
      disease.

PMID- 20940509
TI  - [A case of theophylline-associated seizures with postictal fever and postictal
      pleocytosis].
AB  - We report a 70-year-old man who developed theophylline-associated seizure with
      postictal fever and postictal pleocytosis. He was admitted to our hospital for a
      left hemiconvulsion lasting for two hours. The concentration of theophylline was
      high (21.6ng/ml), and electroencephalogram demonstrated periodic lateralized
      epileptiform discharges. Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging showed
      high signal intensity lesions in the right cingulated gyrus, insula and thalamus.
      Temperature above 38.0 degrees  was detected 5.5 hours after seizure and lasted
      for 60 hours. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis on day 2 demonstrated
      pleocytosis (62/uL) with a predominance of polymorphonuclear leukocytes (90%).
      Temperature and CSF pleocytosis subsided after sedation. Intracranial
      inflammatory or infectious disease is the first consideration in epilepsy with
      fever and CSF pleocytosis, and then diagnosis of postictal fever and postictal
      pleocytosis should be made only by rigorous exclusion of that possibility.

PMID- 20940510
TI  - [Isolated oral syndrome resulting from thalamic lacunar infarction].

PMID- 20940512
TI  - Defective migration of neuroendocrine GnRH  cells in human arrhinencephalic
      conditions.
AB  - Patients with Kallmann syndrome (KS) have hypogonadotropic hypogonadism caused by
      a deficiency of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) and a defective sense of
      smell related to olfactory bulb aplasia. Based on the findings in a fetus
      affected by the X chromosome-linked form of the disease, it has been suggested
      that hypogonadism in KS results from the failed embryonic migration of
      neuroendocrine GnRH1 cells from the nasal epithelium to the forebrain. We asked
      whether this singular observation might extend to other developmental disorders
      that also include arrhinencephaly. We therefore studied the location of GnRH1
      cells in fetuses affected by different arrhinencephalic disorders, specifically X
      linked KS, CHARGE syndrome, trisomy 13, and trisomy 18, using
      immunohistochemistry. Few or no neuroendocrine GnRH1 cells were detected in the
      preoptic and hypothalamic regions of all arrhinencephalic fetuses, whereas large
      numbers of these cells were present in control fetuses. In all arrhinencephalic
      fetuses, many GnRH1 cells were present in the frontonasal region, the first part
      of their migratory path, as were interrupted olfactory nerve fibers that formed
      bilateral neuromas. Our findings define a pathological sequence whereby a lack of
      migration of neuroendocrine GnRH cells stems from the primary embryonic failure
      of peripheral olfactory structures. This can occur either alone, as in isolated
      KS, or as part of a pleiotropic disease, such as CHARGE syndrome, trisomy 13, and
      trisomy 18.

PMID- 20940513
TI  - Comparing serum basal and follicular fluid levels of anti-Mullerian hormone as a
      predictor of in vitro fertilization outcomes in patients with and without
      polycystic ovary syndrome.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The prediction of in vitro fertilization (IVF)
      outcomes by anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH) measurement is getting increasing
      attention from clinicians. This study compares the relationship between serum or
      intrafollicular AMH levels and IVF outcomes in women with and without polycystic
      ovary syndrome (PCOS). METHODS: This prospective study was carried out in two
      university-based fertility clinics. Serum samples were collected on cycle day 3
      and follicular fluid (FF) was collected on the day of oocyte retrieval from 26
      women with PCOS and 42 normo-ovulatory controls. AMH levels were measured in the
      samples using immunoenzymatic assay. The relationship between serum or FF AMH
      levels and IVF outcomes, including number of oocytes retrieved, oocyte maturation
      rate, fertilization rate, implantation rate, high quality grade embryo rate, and
      biochemical and clinical pregnancy rates were further assessed. RESULTS: Median
      serum basal AMH and FF AMH levels were significantly higher in the PCOS group as
      compared to controls, the values being 14.2 ng/mL vs. 3.2 ng/mL (P<.001) and 8.2
      ng/g protein vs. 4.7 ng/g protein (P<.01), respectively. In both groups, serum
      basal AMH levels showed a positive correlation with number of oocytes retrieved
      (r=0.323; P=.037 in control vs. r=0.529; P=.005 in PCOS). In the control group,
      there was a positive relationship between serum basal AMH levels and percentage
      of matured oocytes (r = 0.331; P=.032) and implantation rate (r=0.305; P=.05).
      CONCLUSION: Serum basal, and not intrafollicular, AMH levels may be a good
      predictive factor for quantitative and qualitative IVF outcomes in normo
      ovulatory, but not in PCOS patients.

PMID- 20940514
TI  - Association of interleukin-1 beta (-511C/T) polymorphisms with osteoporosis in
      postmenopausal women.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Osteoporosis is a common disease of the elderly, in
      which genetic and clinical factors contribute to the disease phenotype. Since the
      production of interleukin-1 (IL-1) has been implicated in the bone mass and
      skeletal disorders, we investigated whether IL-1 system gene polymorphisms are
      associated with the pathogenesis of osteoporosis in postmenopausal Taiwanese
      women. METHODS: Osteoporosis is diagnosed by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry,
      which measures bone mineral density (BMD) at multiple skeletal sites. We studied
      the IL-1alpha (-889C/T), IL-1beta (-511C/T) and the 86 base pair variable number
      tandem repeat (VNTR) in intron 2 of the IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1ra) gene in
      117 postmenopausal women with osteoporosis and 135 control subjects without a
      history of symptomatic osteoporosis. These gene polymorphisms were analyzed by
      polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymerase. Blood sugar
      and other risk factors were also determined. RESULTS: The frequencies of IL-1beta
      (-511C/T) genotypes (P=.022, odds ratio=1.972) and alleles (P=.02, odds
      ratio=2.909) showed a statistically significant difference between the two
      groups. However, we did not find any statistically significant difference in IL
      1beta and IL-1ra polymorphisms (P>.05). We also observed a positive relationship
      between osteoporosis and cholesterol and a weak inverse relationship between
      blood sugar and osteoporosis in postmenopausal women. CONCLUSIONS: These
      experimental results suggest that the pathogenesis of osteoporosis is associated
      with IL-1beta (-511C/T) polymorphism in postmenopausal women. This polymorphism
      is an independent risk factor for osteoporosis.

PMID- 20940515
TI  - K469E polymorphism of the intercellular adhesion molecule-1 gene in Egyptians
      with coronary heart disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The initial step in atherosclerosis is the adhesion of
      leukocytes to activated endothelial cells mediated by intercellular adhesion
      molecule-1 (ICAM-1). This study aimed to investigate the association of K469E
      polymorphism of the ICAM-1 gene and soluble ICAM-1 (sICAM-1) serum level with
      coronary heart disease (CHD) in Egyptian subjects. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Using a
      case-control design, we studied 100 patients with CHD, including 73 patients with
      acute myocardial infarction (MI) and 27 with unstable angina (UA). The control
      group consisted of 50 healthy subjects with normal left ventricular function. All
      participants were genotyped for the ICAM-1 polymorphism by the polymerase chain
      reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method. Serum sICAM
      1 was measured by enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA). RESULTS: In CHD patients,
      the frequencies of K genotype (KK and EK) were significantly higher when compared
      to controls (P<.001) and were associated with an increased risk of disease
      development (OR=3.8, 95% CI: 1.7 to 8.5; P=.001). K genotype frequencies in
      patients with MI showed no significant difference when compared to patients with
      UA (P= .121). Serum sICAM-1 levels were comparable between CHD patients and
      controls (P= .37) and between MI and UA patients (P=.23). There were no
      significant differences in sICAM-1 levels among patients with different genotypes
      (P=.532). Men presented with higher sICAM-1 levels than women (P=.004).
      CONCLUSION: ICAM-1 gene polymorphism in codon 469 is associated with a risk for
      CHD development in Egyptian subjects. Serum sICAM-1 is not influenced by this
      polymorphism and is not necessarily elevated in CHD.

PMID- 20940517
TI  - HSG/Mfn2 gene polymorphism and essential hypertension: a case-control association
      study in Chinese.
AB  - AIM: Hyperplasia suppressor gene/mitofusion-2 (HSG/Mfn2) is a hyperplasia
      suppressor gene and an essential component of mitochondrial fusion machinery;
      however, the association between the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of
      HSG/Mfn2 and hypertension is unclear. METHODS: In this study, 542 normotensive
      subjects (NT group) and 539 hypertensive patients (EH group) were screened for an
      association study between HSG/Mfn2 and hypertension. RESULTS: The results showed
      that the genotype distribution and allelic frequency of rs873457, rs2336384,
      rs1474868, rs4846085 and rs2236055 were significantly different (p lt; 0.05 for
      all) between EH and NT groups, although those of rs4240897 and rs873458 were not.
      When comparing the dominant model, significant differences still existed (p lt;
      0.05 for all). The allelic frequency of rs4240897 was also slightly different
      between EH and NT groups (P = 0.047). When subgrouped by sex, the genotype
      distribution and allelic frequency of all the SNPs (except rs873458) were
      significantly different in male (p lt; 0.05 for all) but not in female groups.
      For all the SNPs, only the allelic frequency of rs4240897 was obviously different
      in female NT and EH groups (p lt; 0.01). Logistic regression showed that body
      mass index and rs873457 were closely associated with BP after adjusting for age.
      The frequency of the C-G-A-A-A-C-C haplotype was significantly higher in
      essential hypertensive patients versus control individuals, both in the entire
      population, in male or female groups (p lt; 0.01 for all). As for other
      haplotypes, most were only significantly different in the entire population and
      male subjects. CONCLUSION: The genetic variations of HSG/Mfn2 may be associated
      with hypertension in male Chinese.

PMID- 20940516
TI  - Pitavastatin reduces elevated IL-18 levels in Japanese subjects with
      hypercholesterolemia: sub-analysis of Kansai investigation of statin for
      hyperlipidemic intervention in metabolism and endocrinology (KISHIMEN).
AB  - AIM: Pitavastatin significantly improved lipid profiles and reduced serum high
      sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) levels in a multi-center and prospective
      study. The aim of this study was to explore the effect of pitavastatin on serum
      levels of another inflammatory biomarker, interleukin-18 (IL-18), in a sub
      analysis of the previous multi-center prospective study. METHODS: The subjects
      were 83 patients derived from the KISHIMEN study. Pitavastatin (1-2 mg/day) was
      administered for 12 months. Serum total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein
      cholesterol (LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), remnant-like
      particle cholesterol (RLP-C), triglycerides (TG), IL-18, and high sensitivity C
      reactive protein (hs-CRP) levels were measured. RESULTS: TC, LDL-C, and RLP-C
      levels were significantly reduced by 18.3%, 30.1%, and 21.0% (mean values) at 12
      months after pitavastatin administration. TG levels were decreased by 9.8% in
      subjects whose basal TG levels were above 150 mg/dL. HDL-C levels were
      significantly increased at 6 months (11.9%). Pitavastatin did not significantly
      alter IL-18 levels in overall subjects, but reduced IL-18 levels in the highest
      quartile by 24.5% (median value) at 12 months. Pitavastatin significantly reduced
      hs-CRP levels by 28.6% in overall subjects and by 62.4% in the highest quartile
      at 12 months. There was a significant correlation between IL-18 and hs-CRP at
      baseline after both values were transformed into logarithms (Pearson's
      correlation coefficient, r = 0.259, p = 0.0181); however, percent changes in
      these levels were not significantly correlated. CONCLUSION: Pitavastatin
      significantly improves lipid profiles, and reduces enhanced inflammation
      monitored by IL-18, as well as by hs-CRP, in hypercholesterolemic subjects.

PMID- 20940518
TI  - Predictive factors for lung dose reduction by respiratory gating at radiotherapy
      for lung cancer.
AB  - This study aimed to identify factors predictive of the benefit of respiratory
      gated radiotherapy. Three plans were created for 25 patients with non-small cell
      lung cancer, simulating the following 3 treatment scenarios. Protocol 1 was non
      gated and the lung dose was calculated using 4-s slow CT (PnA), protocol 2 was
      also non-gated and the lung dose was calculated by CT at the end-expiration phase
      (PnE), and protocol 3 applied phase-based gating around end-expiration (PgE). We
      correlated possible predictive factors with the estimated lung dose reduction
      achieved by respiratory gating. The 3D clinical target volume (CTV) motion,
      craniocaudal CTV motion, and the craniocaudal CTV position were correlated with
      the reduction in V20 and the mean lung dose (p < 0.01). CTV was not significantly
      correlated with the estimated lung dose reduction. The area under the ROC curve
      (AUC) for 3D- and craniocaudal CTV motion, and craniocaudal CTV position was
      1.000, 0.997, and 0.943, respectively, when the threshold for selecting patients
      was set at a 1% reduction of V20 and at a 0.5 Gy reduction in the mean lung dose.
      The results of the present study suggest that 3D CTV motion, craniocaudal CTV
      motion, and the craniocaudal CTV position are useful for predicting the benefit
      of respiratory-gated radiotherapy in lung cancer patients.

PMID- 20940519
TI  - A nation-wide survey on indoor radon from 2007 to 2010 in Japan.
AB  - In two previous nation-wide surveys in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Japanese
      indoor radon concentrations increased in homes built after the mid 1970s. In
      order to ascertain whether this trend continued, a nation-wide survey was
      conducted from 2007 to 2010. In total 3,900 houses were allocated to 47
      prefectures by the Neyman allocation method and 3,461 radon measurements were
      performed (88.7% success). The fraction of reinforced concrete / concrete block
      buildings was 32.4%, similar to the value from national statistics. Arithmetic
      mean (standard deviation, SD) and geometric mean (geometric SD) of radon
      concentration after adjusting for seasonal fluctuation were 14.3 (14.7) and 10.8
      (2.1) Bq/m(3). The corresponding population-weighted values were 13.7 (12.3) and
      10.4 (2.0) Bq/m(3), respectively. It was estimated that only 0.1% of dwellings
      exceed 100 Bq/m(3), a new WHO reference level for indoor radon. Radon
      concentrations were highest in houses constructed in the mid 1980s and decreased
      thereafter. In conclusion, arithmetic mean indoor radon in the present survey was
      slightly lower than in previous surveys and significant reductions in indoor
      radon concentrations in both wooden and concrete houses can be attributed to
      alterations in Japanese housing styles in recent decades.

PMID- 20940520
TI  - Effectiveness of carbon-ion beams for apoptosis induction in rat primary immature
      hippocampal neurons.
AB  - The direct biological effects of radiation, particularly accelerated heavy
      particle ions, on neurons are not fully known. Hence, the direct effect of carbon
      ion beams on immature neurons was investigated by comparing to the effect of X
      rays in vitro using primary hippocampal neurons. Primary neurons were prepared
      from hippocampi of fetal rats at embryonic day 18 from timed pregnant Wistar rats
      and cultured with Banker's methods. At 7 Days In Vitro (DIV), the cells were
      irradiated with 140 kV X-ray and 18.3 MeV/amu carbon-ion beams (LET = 108
      keV/um). The cells were fixed with 4% paraformaldehyde at 12 hours after
      irradiation. Then, the cells were treated with terminal deoxynucleotidyl
      transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) and DAPI staining for
      measuring the percentage of apoptosis (apoptotic index: AI). AI in sham
      irradiated hippocampal neurons was 18%. The value of AI (AIs) of the cells
      irradiated with X-rays at 10 or 30 Gy were 15% or 23%, respectively. AI in cells
      irradiated with carbon-ion beams at 1 Gy, 3 Gy, 5 Gy and 10 Gy were 22%, 23%, 24%
      and 33%, respectively. AI was significantly increased by carbon-ion beams at 10
      Gy (p < 0.001). The apoptosis of hippocampal neurons increased in a dose
      dependent manner following both X-ray and carbon-ion beams irradiation. Carbon
      ion beams were about 10-fold more effective than X-rays for apoptosis induction
      in immature hippocampal neurons.

PMID- 20940521
TI  - Changes in qualities and quantities of consecutively ejaculated feline semen.
AB  - Cats show repeated copulation, but changes in semen qualities and quantities with
      repetition of ejaculation have not previously been clarified. We collected semen
      4 times consecutively from 5 cats using the artificial vagina method and observed
      the semen qualities and quantities. No significant changes were noted in the
      semen volume, frequency of abnormal sperm or incidence of immature sperm, but the
      number of sperm and sperm motility and viability decreased with repetition, and
      in particular, the number of sperm in the first semen accounted for 55.0% of the
      total number in the 4 consecutive ejaculations, showing a significant difference
      from those in the 2nd-4th semen (P<0.01).

PMID- 20940522
TI  - [A randomized controlled study comparing clinical effects of naftopidil and
      tamsulosin on benign prostatic hyperplasia].
AB  - A prospective randomized controlled study was performed to compare the clinical
      effects of naftopidil and tamsulosin. Men complaining of lower urinary tract
      symptoms due to benign prostatic hyperplasia were randomized into two groups :
      one receiving 50mg naftopidil once daily (Naf group, n=36 patients), and the
      other receiving 0.2 mg tamsulosin once daily (Tam group, n=32 patients). In the
      Naf group at 12 weeks, 7 items of the International Prostate Symptom Score
      (IPSS), storage and voiding symptoms, total IPSS, quality of life (QOL) index
      (QOLI) and Qmax were improved significantly. In the Tam group at 12 weeks, 6
      items of IPSS except urgency, storage and voiding symptoms, total IPSS, QOLI and
      Qmax were improved significantly. Improvement of residual urine volume (PVR) was
      insignificant in both groups. In intergroup comparison between the Naf and the
      Tam groups, variations of 7 items of IPSS, storage and voiding symptoms, total
      IPSS, QOLI, Qmax and PVR at 4 and 12 weeks after treatment were not statistically
      significant. There was almost no difference in clinical efficacy between Naf and
      Tam.

PMID- 20940523
TI  - [Use of 2-octylcyanoacrylate tissue glue for skin closure in radical retropubic
      prostatectomy].
AB  - 2-Octylcyanoacrylate tissue adhesive (2-OCA ; Dermabond(r) , Ethicon, Inc.,
      Sommerville, New Jersey) is a synthetic tissue adhesive recently used for skin
      closure in the treatment of minor lacerations and minor surgical incisions. We
      have been using this adhesive for wound closure in radical retropubic
      prostatectomy (RRP) since August 2006. Before that we used a skin stapler. We
      assessed the effectiveness of the adhesive as a sole dressing after open radical
      prostatectomy and compared the economic outcomes of 2-OCA and stapled repair. We
      retrospectively evaluated patients undergoing RRP for whom 2-OCA (101 patients)
      and a skin stapler (133 patients) were used at our institution. Superficial
      surgical site infection (SSI) was seen in 3 patients in the glue group and 3
      patients in the staple group (p=0.99). Wound dehiscence without SSI was seen in 1
      patient in the glue group. The cost of surgery with 2-OCA was much lower than
      that with the skin stapler. Wound closure using 2-OCA following RRP is acceptable
      and has benefits in terms of surgical costs.

PMID- 20940524
TI  - [A case of recurrent intracaval renal cell carcinoma effectively treated with
      sunitinib].
AB  - A 67-year-old man received left radical nephrectomy for left renal cell carcinoma
      (RCC) (clear cell carcinoma, G2, pT3bN0M0). After 9 months, he presented with an
      acute onset of left extremity edema. A computed tomographic (CT) scan and
      magnetic resonance imaging reveal recurrent renal cell carcinoma in the inferior
      vena cava (IVC) and the left renal fossa, thrombus in the left external vein and
      acute pulmonary embolism. We performed treatment with sunitinib for 5 months
      after anticoagulant therapy for 3 weeks. A new CT scan showed disappearance of
      RCC in the IVC and reduction in the size of RCC in the renal fossa. Only 11 cases
      are reported as recurrent RCC in the IVC. We report the first case of recurrent
      intracaval RCC in which sunitinib treatment was effective.

PMID- 20940525
TI  - [Granulocyte-colony stimulating factor producing squamous cell carcinoma of the
      renal pelvis: a case report].
AB  - We report a case of granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF)-producing
      squamous cell carcinoma of the renal pelvis. A 71-year-old woman presented with
      gross hematuria and leucocytosis of 21,300/mm3 (neutrophil : 86%) in the
      peripheral blood, but with no focus of infection. Right renal pelvic mass was
      found at a nearby hospital and she was referred to our hospital for examination
      and treatment. We performed right nephroureterectomy for a right renal pelvic
      tumor. Hematoxylin-eosin staining revealed squamous cell carcinoma of the renal
      pelvis and tumor cells stained strongly positive for G-CSF. According to these
      histopathological findings, we diagnosed this case as G-CSF-producing squamous
      cell carcinoma of the renal pelvis. She is presently alive without any new
      recurrent lesions for 12 months.

PMID- 20940526
TI  - [Fragmentation and transurethral removal in saline of an intravesical foreign
      body: a case report].
AB  - A 28-year-old male visited our hospital with complaint of lower abdominal pain,
      hematuria and urinary urgency. He had inserted a fishing line into the bladder
      transurethrally for sexual masturbation. The fishing line was made of nylon and
      was 1.66 mm in diameter. He could not remove it by himself due to pain.
      Retraction of the line with forceps was impossible ; the intricately entangled
      line was blocked at the bladder neck. We fragmented the line by a transurethral
      resection system operated in saline (TURis) and removed it transurethrally. The
      total length of the fishing line in the bladder reached 464 cm. TURis was useful
      for fragmentation of this foreign object, which consisted of electro-resistant
      material and could not be cut by conventional TUR.

PMID- 20940527
TI  - [Schwannoma arising from the urinary bladder wall: a case report].
AB  - A 50-year-old woman visited our department for further examination of incidental
      bladder tumor detected by ultrasound at her health check. Cystoscopy demonstrated
      a submucosal tumor in the anterior wall of the urinary bladder. Magnetic
      resonance imaging revealed that the tumor had high intensity in T2- weighted
      images. The slightly-elevated serum level of dopamine and uptake image in the
      meta iodobenzyl granidine-scintigraphy test suggested that she might have ectopic
      pheochromocytoma in the urinary bladder. Partial cystectomy with extirpation of
      the tumor was performed. The histological diagnosis was schwannoma, which is
      rarely found in the urinary bladder.

PMID- 20940528
TI  - [Vesicovaginal fistula caused by abdominal hysterectomy and sacrocolpopexy with
      polypropylene mesh (GYNEMESH): a case report].
AB  - A 45-year-old woman underwent abdominal simple hysterectomy and sacrocolpopexy
      with polypropylene mesh (GYNEMESH) for uterine prolapse at the department of
      Gynecology in October 2006. One month after the operation, she visited our
      department with a complaint of urinary incontinence. Cystography and magnetic
      resonance imaging revealed a vesicovaginal fistula. A foley catheter was indwelt
      for the purpose of conservative treatment, but failed. Considering possible
      infection and inflammation remaining, we decided to perform abdominal repair of
      the vesicovaginal fistula about three months after the operation. Transabdominal
      repair of the vesicovaginal fistula was performed in February 2007. During the
      operation, a fistula 3 mm in diameter was confirmed just adjacent to the distal
      edge of the polypropylene mesh which had been fixed between the bladder and the
      anterior wall of vagina. Eleven days after the operation, cystography revealed no
      evidence of the vesicovaginal fistula. There has been no sign of recurrence at
      three years after the operation.

PMID- 20940529
TI  - [Granulocytic sarcoma of the prostate].
AB  - A 71-year-old man with dysuria was referred to our hospital. The level of serum
      prostate specific antigen was slightly elevated (4.66 ng/ml), and digital rectal
      examination revealed a stony hard prostate mass. We performed a transrectal
      prostate biopsy because malignancy was suspected. Histological examination
      revealed leukemia-like cells, and bone-marrow examination (aspiration) was
      performed to determine the location of the original lesion. However, no leukemia
      like cells or any other form of malignant cells were identified. Clinical imaging
      confirmed the absence of any other lesions, and granulocytic sarcoma of the
      prostate was subsequently diagnosed. We treated the cancer with radiotherapy at a
      dose of 40 Gy and dysuria improved. Furthermore, significant reduction in
      prostate volume was confirmed. Four months after initial presentation, the
      patient developed acute myeloid leukemia [M2 by French-American-British
      classification]. Induction chemotherapy was initiated, and the patient was
      successfully induced to complete remission. Twenty months later, the patient
      showed relapse. Despite salvage chemotherapy, he died of brain hemorrhage twenty
      four months after complete remission.

PMID- 20940530
TI  - [A case of leiomyosarcoma of prostate: multimodality therapy suppressed disease
      progression for long term].
AB  - A 67-year-old man presented with macroscopic hematuria. Transrectal prostatic
      needle biopsy was performed because of elevated prostate specific antigen (PSA)
      (3.85 ng/ml) and palpation of hard nodules at the prostate. Pathological
      diagnosis was leiomysarcoma. Computed tomography revealed several pulmonary
      metastases. Radical cysto-prostatectomy and construction of ileal conduct were
      performed. Adjuvant radiotherapy (50 Gy) was also performed. During follow-up,
      the size of the pulmonary metastases increased, and we decided to start systemic
      chemotherapy 7 months after surgery. The chemotherapy consisted of gemcitabine
      (900 mg/m2 on day 1 and day 8), and docetaxel (100 mg/m2 on day 8). After eight
      courses, there was 20% reduction in the size of some pulmonary metastases. He
      remained alive 21 months after diagnosis.

PMID- 20940531
TI  - [A case of metastatic paratesticular rhabdomyosarcoma in an adult successfully
      treated with multidrug combination chemotherapy].
AB  - A 20-year-old man was referred to our hospital with the complaint of a mass in
      the left scrotum. Computed tomography showed retroperitoneal lymph node
      metastases and multiple lung metastases. He underwent left high orchiectomy and
      was diagnosed with paratesticular embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma. He received
      combination chemotherapy consisting of cyclophosphamide, vincristine,
      doxorubicin, and dacarbazine. After four cycles of chemotherapy, lung metastases
      disappeared and lymph nodes decreased dramatically. He was alive without
      recurrence 31 months after the operation.

PMID- 20940532
TI  - [Primary testicular leiomyosarcoma].
AB  - Leiomyosarcoma is a malignant soft-tissue cancer arising from tissues containing
      smooth muscle. It commonly occurs in the gastrointestinal system and
      retroperitoneum, but is rare in the genito-urinary system. We experienced a case
      of primary testicular leiomyosarcoma. A 71-year-old man presented with painless
      swelling of the right scrotal contents for 4 months. A high orchiectomy was
      performed. Histological examination revealed primary testicular leiomyosarcoma.
      The patient did not receive any adjuvant therapy. Seven months after the
      operation, there has been no recurrence. Cases of primary intratesticular
      leiomyosarcoma are rare. To the best of our knowledge, only sixteen cases have
      been reported in the literature.

PMID- 20940533
TI  - Frequency and significance of unrecognized chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
      in elderly patients with stable heart failure.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Due to prolonged life-spans and modern therapeutic
      approaches, there has been an increase in the number of patients aged >= 65 years
      with chronic heart failure (CHF). The duration and quality of life in elderly
      patients with CHF also depend on accompanying diseases. Although frequency of
      chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in patients with CHF is about 30%,
      it is hard to find similar data in the elderly population. COPD is defined as a
      spirometrically assessed ratio of a post-dilatory forced expiratory volume in the
      first second, divided by forced vital capacity (FEV1/FVC) <70%. The aims of our
      study were to assess the prevalence of previously undiagnosed COPD in outpatients
      (>= 65 yrs) with stable CHF and to determine the effect of the combination of
      COPD and CHF on patients' functional capacity as measured by a 6-minute walking
      test. METHODS AND RESULTS: Of the 174 study patients, 126 (72.4%) were men. In 48
      patients (27.6%) we found previously unrecognized COPD. They were significantly
      older (75.6 +/- 5.8 vs 73 +/- 4.5 years, p<0.01) and more frequently had
      abdominal obesity and a greater waist circumference (98.8 +/- 10.2 vs 94.9 +/-
      9.1 cm, p<0.05). Patients with COPD had significantly shorter 6-min walking
      distance (275.5 +/- 112.9 vs 291.3 +/- 96.7 m, p<0.05). Only patient's age had a
      positive prognostic association with unrecognized COPD (OR=1.16; 95% CI 1.01-
      1.34, p<0.01). Patients with COPD showed a significant correlation between
      actual/predicted FEV1 and the 6-min walking distance (r=0.39, p<0.01).
      CONCLUSIONS: We found a high prevalence of unrecognized COPD in elderly patients
      with CHF and central obesity. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease influenced
      functional capacity in CHF patients, as determined by the 6-minute walking test.
      Closer co-operation between pulmonologists and cardiologists is necessary to
      optimize management of this large proportion of CHF patients.

PMID- 20940534
TI  - Effects of genetic variants of human P450 oxidoreductase on catalysis by CYP2D6
      in vitro.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Cytochrome P450 (P450) oxidoreductase (POR) donates electrons to all
      microsomal cytochrome P450s, including drug-metabolizing and steroidogenic
      enzymes. Severe POR mutations cause skeletal malformations and disordered
      steroidogenesis. The POR polymorphism A503V is found on approximately 28% of
      human alleles and decreases activities of CYP3A4 and steroidogenic CYP17, but not
      the activities of steroidogenic CYP21 or drug-metabolizing CYP1A2 and CYP2C19.
      CYP2D6 metabolizes about 25% of clinically used drugs; we assessed the capacity
      of POR variants to support the activities of human CYP2D6. METHODS: N-27 forms of
      wildtype (WT), Q153R, A287P, R457H and A503V POR, and WT CYP2D6 were expressed in
      Escherichia coli. POR proteins in bacterial membranes were reconstituted with
      purified CYP2D6. Support of CYP2D6 was measured by metabolism of EOMCC (2H-1
      benzopyran-3-carbonitrile,7-(ethoxy-methoxy)-2-oxo-(9Cl)), dextromethorphan and
      bufuralol. Michaelis constant (K(m)) and maximum velocity (V(max)) were
      determined in three triplicate experiments for each reaction; catalytic
      efficiency is expressed as V(max)/K(m). RESULTS: Compared with WT POR, disease
      causing POR mutants A287P and R457H supported no detectable CYP2D6 activity with
      EOMCC, but A287P supported approximately 25% activity with dextromethorphan and
      bufuralol. Q153R had increased function with CYP2D6 (128% with EOMCC, 198% with
      dextromethorphan, 153% with bufuralol). A503V supported decreased CYP2D6
      activity: 85% with EOMCC, 62% with dextromethorphan and 53% with bufuralol.
      CONCLUSION: POR variants have different effects depending on the substrate
      metabolized. Disease-causing POR mutations R457H and A287P had poor activities,
      suggesting that diminished drug metabolism should be considered in affected
      patients. The common A503V polymorphism impaired CYP2D6 activities with two
      commonly used drugs by 40-50%, potentially explaining some genetic variation in
      drug metabolism.

PMID- 20940535
TI  - Validation of tumor size as staging variable in the revised International
      Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics stage I leiomyosarcoma: a population
      based study.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Tumor size has been introduced as a staging variable in the 2008
      International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) staging system for
      stage I leiomyosarcoma. In the prior 1988 FIGO staging system, leiomyosarcoma
      used the same staging criteria as endometrial cancer including cervical
      involvement. In this large population-based study, we validate the use of tumor
      size for purposes of risk stratification among stage I leiomyosarcoma patients.
      METHODS: Data were extracted from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results
      database between 1988 and 2005. Kaplan-Meier log rank and Cox proportional
      hazards models were used for survival analysis and to identify possible
      predictors for survival. RESULTS: The identified cohort included 819 women: 158
      (19.3%), 2008 FIGO stage IA and 661 (80.7%), 2008 FIGO stage IB leiomyosarcoma.
      The 5-year overall survival rate was better in stage IA than in stage IB
      leiomyosarcoma (76.6% vs 48.4%, P < 0.001). Similarly, the 5-year overall
      survival rates were significantly different (P < 0.001) among women with
      different tumor size categories: 5 cm or smaller, 5.1 to 10 cm, and larger than
      10 cm (76.6%, 52.9%, and 41.9%, respectively). The difference in 5-year overall
      survival rates between women with and without cervical involvement was
      significant (28.5% vs 55.3%, P = 0.014). Although age (P < 0.001), cervical
      involvement (P = 0.014), tumor grade (P < 0.001), tumor size (P < 0.001),
      performance of salpingo-oophorectomy (P = 0.001), and stage (P < 0.001) were all
      significant prognostic factors on univariate analysis, only age (P = 0.007),
      tumor size (P < 0.001), tumor grade (P < 0.001), and performance of salpingo
      oophorectomy (P = 0.02) were significant predictors on multivariate analysis.
      Variables not found significant on univariate analysis (hence excluded from the
      Cox model) included lymphadenectomy, radiation, and race. CONCLUSIONS: The new
      staging system using tumor size is better for risk stratification in stage I
      leiomyosarcoma compared with the 1988 FIGO staging system of endometrial cancer.

PMID- 20940536
TI  - The prevention of cervical cancer in HIV-infected women.

PMID- 20940537
TI  - No selection of nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor resistance associated
      mutations by acyclovir suppressive therapy in herpes simplex virus-2/HIV-1 dually
      infected persons.

PMID- 20940538
TI  - Interpretation of correlations in setpoint viral load in transmitting couples.

PMID- 20940539
TI  - Acute porphyria precipitated by nevirapine.

PMID- 20940540
TI  - Combination of preoperative ultrasonographic mapping and radioguided occult
      lesion localization in patients with locally recurrent/persistent papillary
      thyroid carcinoma: a practical method for central compartment reoperations.
AB  - PURPOSE: To improve the surgical success and reduce the complication rates, we
      combine our routine preoperative ultrasound (US) mapping technique with
      radioguided occult lesion localization (ROLL) in patients with papillary thyroid
      cancer recurrences in central compartment. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In the morning
      of surgery, biopsy proven recurrent/persistent tumoral lesions were plotted on a
      sketch and injected with Tc-99m labeled macroaggregated albumin under US
      guidance. Thyroid bed exploration was carried out based on the location of biopsy
      proven lesion with the guidance of intraoperative gamma probe and neck map. The
      lymphoadipose tissues showing high count rates were resected and labeled
      separately for histopathologic study. RESULTS: Despite extensive scarring in some
      patients probe safely guided to lesions. Noninjected tumor foci were searched and
      successfully resected in the light of neck map that showing topographic relation
      of injected and noninjected lesions. Among total of 41 excised lesions, 28
      metastatic foci ranging from 3 to 38 mm in largest diameter were recognized at
      final histologic examination. Combination of preoperative mapping with ROLL was
      found helpful by the operating surgeons in all patients, respectively. Except 2
      patients with known distant metastases, undetectable thyroglobulin levels were
      reached 6 weeks after surgery. CONCLUSIONS: The use of preoperative US-mapping
      with ROLL in patients with nonpalpable recurrent/persistent papillary thyroid
      cancer in central compartment is technically safe and effective method.
      Combination of techniques provides better information about topographical
      relations of recurrent/persistent lesions during surgery.

PMID- 20940541
TI  - F-18 FDG PET of foreign body granuloma: pathologic correlation with imaging
      features in 3 cases.
AB  - PURPOSE: Retained textiles with foreign body granulomatous reaction can form mass
      mimicking soft tissue tumors, which may cause diagnostic, clinical, and
      medicolegal problems. In this study, we present 3 cases of foreign body granuloma
      by retained textiles, and demonstrate FDG PET findings with detailed pathologic
      correlation. We also provide a review of previous literatures. MATERIALS AND
      METHODS: Three patients (all females; age range, 48-61 years) with
      histopathologic diagnosis of mass-forming foreign body granuloma caused by
      retained textiles were retrospectively studied. They underwent an FDG PET scan in
      our institute. The mass was located in the abdominopelvic cavity in all cases.
      The time interval between the prior surgery and the PET acquisition was 11
      months, 15 or 19 years, and 26 years, respectively. RESULTS: Intense FDG uptake
      with a ring-shaped pattern was observed in 2 cases, while no uptake in 1 case.
      Microscopically, 2 with ring-shaped FDG uptake showed a cellular foreign body
      reaction peripherally, and artificial textile fibers and acellular eosinophilic
      amorphous materials in the central portion. In the one without FDG uptake, the
      mass was composed of mainly necrotic debris surrounding by a thick layer of well
      formed collagen fibers. In previous case reports describing the accumulation of
      FDG in foreign body granulomas, 9 of 10 cases showed intense FDG uptake with a
      ring-shaped pattern. CONCLUSIONS: The ring-shaped pattern of FDG uptake seems to
      well characterize pseudotumor with foreign body granulomas. However, the pattern
      of FDG accumulation in retained textile with foreign body granulomas may vary due
      to histologic features.

PMID- 20940542
TI  - Preoperative Tc-99m-pertechnetate scan visualization of gross neck metastases
      from microcarcinoma papillare and another papillary carcinoma of tall cell
      variant scintigraphically presented like small warm nodule in Graves disease
      patient.
AB  - PURPOSE: Preoperative scintigraphic visualization of metastases from well
      differentiated thyroid microcarcinoma in patients with Graves disease is
      extremely rare, as is the scintigraphic visualization of poorly differentiated
      thyroid carcinoma as a warm nodule. We present a patient with Graves disease and
      both of these rare entities. CASE REPORT: A 47-year-old woman complained of a
      growing left-side neck mass and symptoms of thyrotoxicosis. On clinical
      examination, the thyroid was palpable without discernible nodularity, while the
      left side of the neck was occupied by 3 gross, painless nodules. She also had
      signs of thyrotoxicosis and biochemical parameters of Graves hyperthyroidism.
      Ultrasound examination showed moderately hypoechogenic thyroid with a small
      hypoechogenic nodule in the upper pole of the left lobe and 3 gross, almost
      normoechogenic nodules on the left side of the neck. On Tc-99m-pertechnetate
      pinhole scintigraphy there was a small, warm nodule in the upper pole of the left
      lobe and 3 gross metastatic nodules on the left side of the neck. Fine needle
      aspiration of the neck nodules was consistent with metastases from thyroid
      papillary carcinoma. After thyrostatic preparation a total thyroidectomy with
      left modified radical neck dissection was done. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:
      Histopathologic examination disclosed 2 carcinomas in the left thyroid lobe. One
      of them was a tall cell variant of papillary carcinoma in the upper pole of the
      left lobe that measured 5 mm and corresponded to the small warm nodule, and the
      second one was a classic form of papillary microcarcinoma that measured 2 mm.
      Metastases accrued from the classic form of papillary microcarcinoma. Although
      the patient had 2 thyroid carcinomas, one with metastases and the other of more
      aggressive form, which is consistent with advanced stage and aggressiveness, she
      is now disease-free, 4 years after the operation and radioiodine ablation.

PMID- 20940543
TI  - A comparison between two imaging techniques for the diagnosis of subacute
      thyroiditis (de Quervain thyroiditis): brief communication.
AB  - PURPOSE: Subacute thyroiditis (SAT) or de Quervain thyroiditis is a relatively
      frequent and self-limited condition with a triphasic clinical course. Its
      symptoms can mimic other thyroid, upper respiratory, and ear infections. Thyroid
      ultrasonography (TUS), radioactive iodine uptake (RAIU), and thyroid scintigraphy
      (TS) may be used for differential diagnosis. To assess and compare the diagnostic
      value of thyroid TUS and TS in patients on the first phase of a clinically
      diagnosed SAT. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Twenty-two patients (18 women and 4 men,
      age, 37.2 +/- 9.83 years) with clinical diagnosis of SAT were prospectively
      studied. Thyroid stimulating hormone, T3, free T4, antithyroperoxidase
      antibodies, thyroglobulin, polymerase chain reaction, complete blood count and
      differential, TUS, TS, and RAIU at 2 and 24 hours were performed. RESULTS: All
      patients were on thyrotoxic phase with a thyroid stimulating hormone mean of 0.03
      +/- 0.030 mU/L (range: 0.005-0.13); antithyroperoxidase antibodies were positive
      in 3 patients (>=75 UI/mL); thyroglobulin was elevated in 16 patients (>=55
      ng/mL). RAIU at 2 hours was 1.94% +/- 0.85% (range: 1%-4%), and at 24 hours,
      0.98% +/- 1.24% (range: 0.10%-5%). TS showed low uptake in all patients. On TUS,
      only 8 patients were compatible with SAT. In 13 patients, TUS was consistent with
      goiter, diffuse type in 8, multinodular in 5, and normal in 1 patient.
      CONCLUSION: Low thyroid scan uptake with I-131 at 2 hours (<4%) and 24 hours
      (<5%), and poor thyroid visualization on TS seem to be more prevalent than focal
      distortion and heterogeneity in TUS in thyrotoxic phase of SAT.

PMID- 20940544
TI  - Adrenal cortical imaging with I-131 NP-59 SPECT-CT.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this article is to present our initial experience with
      hypersecretory adrenal syndromes investigated with radioiodinated I-6-B
      iodomethyl-19-norcholesterol (NP-59) and SPECT-CT. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      Illustrative cases are presented of patients being investigated for adrenal
      hypersecretory syndromes, with or without adrenal nodules, using NP-59
      scintigraphy with SPECT-CT imaging, representing a spectrum of diagnoses.
      Clinical and imaging data are reviewed to evaluate whether additional information
      derived from near-simultaneous anatomic localization aids study interpretation.
      RESULTS: The final diagnoses reached are hyperfunctional and nonfunctioning
      adrenal nodules, physiological bowel activity, and bilateral adrenal hyperplasia.
      SPECT-CT assisted study interpretation by localizing focal uptake to the adrenal
      glands, allowing direct assessment of function within adrenal nodules, and
      distinguishing physiological bowel activity from adrenal uptake. SPECT-CT
      provided additional information to planar and SPECT imaging, which improved
      confidence of study interpretation. CONCLUSION: Utilization of SPECT-CT with NP
      59 scintigraphy allows precise localization of the functional activity to
      anatomic structures improving diagnostic interpretation.

PMID- 20940545
TI  - Implications of the CMS final meaningful use information technology rule.
AB  - The importance of Health Information Technology and the Electronic Medical Record
      were discussed in the October issue of Clinical Nuclear Medicine (Henkin and
      Harolds, Clin Nucl Med. 2010;35). Since that article was written the Final Rule
      has been issued on what constitutes the meaningful use of certain information
      technology, such that it would qualify for an incentive payment. Since billions
      of dollars will be used for such payments, the issuance of the Final Rule has
      been eagerly anticipated.

PMID- 20940546
TI  - Interesting image. Dermatopathic lymphadenitis: a pitfall for lymphoma evaluation
      by F-18 FDG PET/CT.

PMID- 20940547
TI  - Interesting image. Imaging postoperative bile leaks and assessing integrity of
      biliary-enteric anastomoses with fusion HIDA SPECT/CT scintigraphy.

PMID- 20940548
TI  - Interesting image. Unsuspected synchronous thyroid carcinoma revealed on a post
      therapy F-18 FDG PET/CT, in a patient with follicular lymphoma.

PMID- 20940549
TI  - Interesting image. Assessment of plasmablastic lymphoma by F-18 FDG PET/CT: case
      report.

PMID- 20940550
TI  - Interesting image. Serendipitous diagnosis of achalasia cardia on a radionuclide
      study.

PMID- 20940551
TI  - Interesting image. Aseptic loosening of elbow prostheses diagnosed on F-18 FDG
      PET/CT.

PMID- 20940552
TI  - Interesting image. Unusual parathyroid adenoma avid for both Tc-99m sestamibi and
      I-123 iodine.

PMID- 20940553
TI  - Interesting image. Genital lymphoma presenting as pyrexia of unknown origin.

PMID- 20940554
TI  - Chronic bacterial prostatitis detected by FDG PET/CT in a patient presented with
      fever of unknown origin.

PMID- 20940555
TI  - Interesting image. The search for primary tumor in a patient with oncogenic
      osteomalacia: F-18 FDG PET resolves the conundrum.

PMID- 20940556
TI  - Interesting image. Unilateral F-18 FDG uptake in the neck, in patients with
      sympathetic denervation.

PMID- 20940557
TI  - Interesting image. F-18 FDG PET images of uterine cervical cancer producing
      granulocyte colony stimulating factor.

PMID- 20940558
TI  - Interesting image. Rapid verification of unusual tracer uptake patterns by means
      of SPECT/CT: a case of unexpected 111indium pentetreotide accumulation in a
      splenic variant.

PMID- 20940559
TI  - Interesting image. Amino acid PET tracer accumulation in cortical ischemia: an
      interesting case.

PMID- 20940560
TI  - Current readings in nuclear medicine.

PMID- 20940562
TI  - Reinventing the role of the clinical nurse specialist as practitioner-teacher to
      transform nursing education.

PMID- 20940563
TI  - Simulated learning experiences in health care.

PMID- 20940564
TI  - Interruptions and medication errors: part I.

PMID- 20940565
TI  - Prescription and over-the-counter drug and substance abuse: something available
      for every age, anytime and anywhere: update for the clinical nurse specialist.

PMID- 20940566
TI  - Innovative use of electronic health record reports by clinical nurse specialists.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of the study was to demonstrate how clinical nurse
      specialists (CNSs) can use information pulled from the electronic health record
      (EHR) in innovative ways to improve nursing care of vulnerable older adults.
      BACKGROUND: As the number of older adults increases, the need will grow for
      easier access to evidence-based practice nursing interventions for the older
      population. Clinical nurse specialists are the experts in evaluating research and
      will also need to find innovative ways to bring the evidence-based practice
      pertinent to the care of older adults to the bedside nurse. DESCRIPTION OF THE
      PROJECT/INNOVATION: Clinical information from various parts of the EHR is pulled
      into computer-generated reports that focus on identifying older adult patients
      with specific high-risk indicators. The specific clinical information pulled into
      the reports and examples of how the reports are used will be presented. Four
      reports are described including new hospital admissions of patients older than 65
      years, current hospitalized patients with dementia/delirium, current hospitalized
      patients on cholinesterase inhibitors, and a comprehensive report of all current
      hospitalized patients older than 65 years focusing on specific geriatric
      indicators identified in the literature. OUTCOMES/IMPLICATIONS: Computerized
      reports can be used to facilitate the use of nursing practice guidelines and
      evidence-based clinical tools such as the confusion assessment method and to
      increase use of nursing plans of care. The reports can also provide real-time key
      indicators that can be used to facilitate identification of older adult patients
      in need of CNS and/or geriatric team consultation. More research still needs to
      be done regarding the impact of the EHR on nursing indicators such as number of
      falls, delirium, and use of restraints.

PMID- 20940567
TI  - Implementation of a clinical pathway in primary spontaneous pneumothorax patients
      treated by wedge resection surgery.
AB  - PURPOSE: This study was conducted to develop a clinical pathway for primary
      spontaneous pneumothorax (PSP) patients treated by wedge resection surgery. The
      authors also aimed to evaluate the effects of the implementation of the PSP
      clinical pathway on (1) complication occurrence rates, (2) self-efficacy with
      respect to PSP recurrence prevention, (3) patient-perceived quality of life, and
      (4) patient treatment satisfaction. DESIGN: This study was conducted using a
      quasi-experimental, nonequivalent study design. SAMPLE: The study subjects were
      60 PSP patients admitted to the thoracic surgery departments at 2 university
      hospitals located in Seoul, South Korea. METHODS: A retrospective medical record
      review was conducted to develop a PSP clinical pathway, and the developed
      clinical pathway was then applied to the treatment group (n = 30). Complication
      occurrence rates, self-efficacy with respect to PSP recurrence prevention,
      perceived quality of life, and patient treatment satisfaction were measured.
      FINDINGS: The developed PSP clinical pathway is comprehensive and includes self
      care and recurrence prevention education in addition to common protocols, such as
      medication and diagnostic tests. The pathway significantly improved self-efficacy
      with respect to preventing PSP recurrence, health-related quality of life, and
      patient treatment satisfaction, but did not reduce complication rates.
      IMPLICATIONS: The present study offers a new comprehensive clinical pathway for
      PSP patients who have undergone wedge resection surgery. This study may be useful
      in the clinical nursing field by providing guiding standards for PSP-related
      education with respect to diet, exercise, self-supervision, complication, stress
      control, and recurrence prevention.

PMID- 20940568
TI  - Hemodialysis arteriovenous fistula self-cannulation: moving theory to practice in
      developing patient-teaching resources.
AB  - PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES: This article discusses how Orem's theory was applied to the
      revision of supporting documents in the patient-teaching process and subsequently
      the nurse's role in the patient's learning experience. BACKGROUND/RATIONALE:
      Teaching based on didactic, provider-focused objectives is ineffective in meeting
      patient's learning needs. There is a lack of conclusive research on the
      development of appropriate patient-teaching endeavors for the acquisition of
      knowledge and skills related to the performance of hemodialysis arteriovenous
      fistula self-cannulation. DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT/INNOVATION: To prepare
      patients for home hemodialysis, Orem's self-care-deficit nursing theory was used
      to guide the revisions of a patient assessment and learning documentation
      template, the development of a self-cannulation teaching resource and to foster a
      renewed sense of the nurse's role in the teaching process.
      INTERPRETATION/CONCLUSION: The application of self-care-deficit nursing theory to
      the update and development of patient-teaching documentation and resources for
      self-cannulation provides the nurse with a theoretical approach to assess, plan,
      evaluate, and document teaching from a patient-focused perspective. Theory in
      practice provides a means to support and highlight the role of nurses in the
      patient-learning process. The utilization of practical activities to introduce
      theory into teaching provides a means to structure care processes and to enhance
      nurse's adoption of theory in practice. IMPLICATIONS: Orem's theory provides a
      relevant, useful framework to guide nurses in teaching patients self-care.
      Research on the exploration of nurse's attitudes related to the benefit of
      adopting theory when teaching patients to perform hemodialysis self-care is
      needed.

PMID- 20940569
TI  - Management challenges in children with both epilepsy and intellectual disability.
AB  - People who have both epilepsy and intellectual disability have significant
      problems requiring skilled health care management. Clinical nurse specialists
      have the unique opportunity to work with these people and their families to help
      them develop self-management and family management skills. In this article, we
      describe some factors associated with intellectual disability and epilepsy. In
      addition, we address the management challenges associated with this dual
      diagnoses in 3 areas: (1) problems associated with the management of seizure and
      prescription management, (2) problems associated with the seizure management
      other than prescriptions, and (3) life management issues. Finally, we suggest
      ways that clinical nurse specialists can foster development of management skills.

PMID- 20940570
TI  - Clinical nurse specialist profile.

PMID- 20940571
TI  - Art, body, and soul: A conversation with dancers David Leventhal and John
      Heginbotham.

PMID- 20940575
TI  - Current Opinion in Urology. Current world literature.

PMID- 20940576
TI  - Electrocardiogram lead selection using critical thinking: concerning women and
      heart disease and a case of wellens syndrome.
AB  - When a patient enters the acute or critical care environment, it is imperative
      that the nurse select the best lead for monitoring the patient based on initial
      interpretation of the 12-lead electrocardiogram. Understanding that significant
      electrocardiogram changes can occur in the absence of chest pain presents a
      challenge, supporting the need for ongoing vigilant monitoring throughout the
      critical care stay. The purposes of this article were to (1) discuss the leading
      cause of death in the United States, (2) highlight the significance related to
      the population of women, and (3) present the physiology of Wellens syndrome along
      with monitoring recommendations to prevent unexpected outcomes for this patient
      population. A case study of Wellens syndrome is included.

PMID- 20940577
TI  - Hypertrophies and intraventricular conduction defects: causes, presentation, and
      significance.
AB  - There is an increasing need for nurses to interpret a 12-lead electrocardiogram,
      both in critical care units and in other areas. This can be a challenging task,
      especially in the presence of hypertrophies, bundle-branch blocks, and fascicular
      blocks. This article reviews the pathophysiology of intraventricular blocks and
      hypertrophy, characteristics found in the 12-lead electrocardiogram, and
      discusses what the significance of these findings may be.

PMID- 20940578
TI  - Letter to the editor.

PMID- 20940579
TI  - Subglottic secretion aspiration in the prevention of ventilator-associated
      pneumonia: a review of the literature.
AB  - Ventilator-associated pneumonia is a common nosocomial infection that results in
      both negative patient outcomes and increased health care costs. Recently, many
      efforts have been targeted at ventilator-associated pneumonia prevention,
      including the practice of subglottic secretion aspiration. Six randomized control
      studies examining the effectiveness of subglottic secretion aspiration in the
      prevention of ventilator-associated pneumonia were reviewed for this article.
      Results consistently show that subglottic secretion aspiration significantly
      reduces the incidence of ventilator-associated pneumonia in a variety of patient
      populations. Despite these findings, this practice is limited in clinical
      settings. This clinical practice should be implemented in individuals requiring
      mechanical ventilation to reduce the incidence of ventilator-associated
      pneumonia.

PMID- 20940580
TI  - Candidly critical: real-life critical care nursing, part 4.

PMID- 20940582
TI  - A personal reflection: nursing in times of disaster.
AB  - Nurses have the responsibility to provide and promote health with our patients.
      This can be difficult during the best of times and even harder in times of
      disaster. This personal reflection discusses one nurse and her team's efforts to
      assist in the wake of Hurricane Ike.

PMID- 20940584
TI  - Trepidation: a family member's response to shift change in the intensive care
      unit.
AB  - Every shift change in the intensive care unit presents an opportunity for
      uncertainty among family members regarding rules and information exchange. High
      levels of uncertainty maintain a presence in the intensive care unit environment,
      and feelings of trepidation can increase with uncertainty. Critical care nurses
      in the intensive care unit play a pivotal role in mediating family members'
      feelings of trepidation by what they do or do not do. Further research into
      family members' responses to shift change and into inconsistencies in nursing
      decisions regarding rules and information exchange in the intensive care unit is
      needed to better understand the feelings that family members experience in the
      intensive care unit environment and to motivate meaningful changes that will
      contribute to a clearer sense of purpose for family and their loved ones.

PMID- 20940586
TI  - A personal reflection: nursing art of withdrawing life support.
AB  - Unique circumstances accompany each death, and there is a choreography that I
      observe and participate in when terminating life-saving measures. How well the
      process of withdrawal of care is performed impacts so many. I have created a
      blueprint to guide critical care nurses involved in the withdrawal of life
      support. This article describes one institution's guidelines for the withdrawal
      of life support.

PMID- 20940587
TI  - Critical care nurses' perceptions of obstacles, supports, and knowledge needed in
      providing quality end-of-life care.
AB  - In response to critical care nurses' perceptions of increasing stress and
      conflict in difficult end-of-life (EOL) situations, the researchers conducted a
      study to identify perceived obstacles, supports, and knowledge needed to provide
      quality EOL care. The conclusions were as follows: (1) families and patients need
      clear, direct, and consistent information to make EOL decisions; (2) physician
      related issues affect nurses' ability to provide quality EOL care; (3) critical
      care nurses need more knowledge, skill, and a sense of cultural competency to
      provide quality care; and (4) having properly completed advance directives can
      reduce confusion about the goals of care. Recommendations for improving EOL care
      were made as a result of the study.

PMID- 20940589
TI  - Comparison of two pain scales for the assessment of pain in the ventilated adult
      patient.
AB  - The assessment of pain experienced by the patient requiring mechanical
      ventilation can be a challenge for critical care nurses. This study was conducted
      to assess the reliability and validity of two pain behavior assessment tools.
      Patients who met the inclusion criteria were enrolled from 13 critical care units
      and one long-term acute care unit within eight hospitals. A total of 200 patients
      were assessed over an 8-week period. The findings suggest that both tools have
      adequate reliability and validity. Use of a pain behavior tool is one strategy to
      improve assessment of pain experienced by the mechanically ventilated adult
      patient who is unable to provide a self-report.

PMID- 20940590
TI  - Thanksgiving: a time to be professionally thankful.

PMID- 20940592
TI  - Complicated diverticulitis: are there indications for laparoscopic lavage and
      drainage?

PMID- 20940593
TI  - Single-port laparoscopic right hemicolectomy: a safe alternative to conventional
      laparoscopy.
AB  - PURPOSE: Single-port laparoscopic surgery has evolved from an effort to minimize
      tissue trauma, limit morbidity, and maximize cosmesis. Limited data exist
      comparing single-port with conventional laparoscopy for right colectomy. Our aim
      is to compare single-port with laparoscopic colectomy with regard to safety and
      feasibility. We assert that this approach can be adopted in a safe and
      efficacious manner while using standard laparoscopic instrumentation. METHODS:
      This is a retrospective analysis of prospectively gathered data regarding 16
      single-port and 27 conventional laparoscopic right hemicolectomies performed by a
      single surgeon between January 2008 and February 2009. Demographics, operative
      outcomes, and morbidity were included and analyzed using either Student t test or
      Fisher exact probability test. RESULTS: Single-port and conventional laparoscopic
      groups were similar with regard to age, gender, body mass index, prior abdominal
      surgery, and co-morbidity. Seventy-five percent and 70% of the operations were
      performed for malignancy in the single-port and the conventional laparoscopy
      group, respectively (P = .69). Operative duration was 106 minutes in the single
      port group vs 100 minutes in the conventional group (P = .64). Blood loss was 54
      mL and 90 mL, respectively (P = .07). No conversions or additions of ports
      occurred. Hospital stay was 5.3 days in the single-port group vs 6 days in the
      conventional group (P = .53). Margins were negative in both groups. Mean lymph
      node number was 18 and 16 nodes (P = .92). There was one death in the
      conventional group (P = .44). Morbidity including wound infection was 18.8% and
      14.9%, respectively (P = .73). CONCLUSIONS: These findings support single-port
      right colectomy as a safe and efficacious approach to right colon resections in
      patients eligible for laparoscopy with minimal additional equipment or learning
      curve for experienced laparoscopic colorectal surgeons. The single port was
      undertaken without an increase in morbidity or mortality. There was no increase
      in operative time with use of the single-port approach. Finally, adequate lymph
      node harvest and margin clearance was maintained.

PMID- 20940594
TI  - Clinical outcome of laparoscopic right hemicolectomy with transvaginal resection,
      anastomosis, and retrieval of specimen.
AB  - PURPOSE: The goal of this study is to evaluate the technical feasibility, safety,
      and clinical outcomes of totally laparoscopic colectomy with transvaginal
      anastomosis and extraction of specimen in female patients with right-sided colon
      cancer. METHODS: A review of prospectively collected database at the Kyungpook
      National University Hospital from April 2007 to December 2007 revealed a series
      of 14 consecutive patients affected by right colon cancer were operated by use of
      the totally laparoscopic colectomy with transvaginal anastomosis and extraction
      of specimen approach. For this approach, the bowel was fully mobilized and a D3
      lymphadenectomy was performed with established laparoscopic technique, followed
      by transvaginal anastomosis and removal of the resected specimen. Data regarding
      clinicopathological outcomes, surgical morbidity, and short-term oncologic
      results were analyzed. RESULTS: No case required an open conversion, but in 2
      patients the planned transvaginal retrieval of the specimen was aborted because
      of inadequate posterior colpotomy. The median operative time was 150.0 minutes
      (range, 110-330 min) and the median blood loss was 50.0 mL (range, 20.0-115 mL).
      The median tumor size was 4.0 cm and the number of harvested lymph nodes was 36.0
      (range, 13-65). There was no surgical mortality or major morbidity, except one
      case of postoperative ileus that was conservatively managed. No patient
      experienced complications directly associated the transvaginal approach; nor did
      any patient have infection or prolonged spotting from the extraction site
      postoperatively. Recovery after the procedure was rapid and the median hospital
      stay was 7.0 days (range, 6-12 d). With a median follow-up 34 months, one patient
      experienced distant metastasis (7.1%). CONCLUSIONS: In selected cases, totally
      laparoscopic colectomy with transvaginal anastomosis and extraction of specimen
      is feasible and reproducible and may be an alternative technique for treatment of
      women with right colon cancer. This approach may provide both an attractive way
      to increase patient comfort and a bridge to "pure" natural orifice colon surgery.

PMID- 20940595
TI  - A simple risk score for predicting surgical site infections in inflammatory bowel
      disease.
AB  - PURPOSE: Patients with inflammatory bowel disease are often at highest risk for
      surgical site infections. We sought to define the predictors of surgical site
      infections and to develop a risk score for predicting those at highest risk.
      METHODS: Patients undergoing a bowel resection for Crohn's disease or ulcerative
      colitis were identified from National Surgical Quality Improvement Program 2008.
      Univariate and multivariate analyses were conducted to identify predictors of
      surgical site infections. Clinically relevant prediction categories were
      developed and the predictive behavior of the model was validated by use of
      National Surgical Quality Improvement Program 2007. An integer-based scoring
      system risk score was created proportional to the logistic regression
      coefficients, grouping patients into categories of similar risk. RESULTS: We
      identified 271,368 patients; 3981 of these patients underwent an operation for
      Crohn's disease (n = 2895) or ulcerative colitis (n = 1086). Nine hundred (22.6%)
      patients developed surgical site infections. Predictors included weight loss,
      smoking, emergent surgery, wound class, operative time (minutes), and an ASA
      score >2. A risk score was developed by stratifying patients into low (0-5),
      15.6%; medium (6-8), 25.2%; and high (>8), 36.1% risk. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with
      inflammatory bowel disease are at high risk for surgical site infections.
      Preoperative factors including weight loss, smoking, emergent surgery and an ASA
      score >2 are strong predictors of surgical site infections. Operative time and
      wound class are important intraoperative predictors. A risk score, based on pre-
      and intraoperative variables, can be used to identify patients at highest risk of
      developing surgical site infections. This may allow for appropriate process
      measures to be implemented to prevent and lessen the impact of surgical site
      infections in this high-risk population.

PMID- 20940596
TI  - NOD2/CARD15 mutations correlate with severe pouchitis after ileal pouch-anal
      anastomosis.
AB  - PURPOSE: Pouchitis and Crohn's-like complications can plague patients after IPAA.
      NOD2 is an intracellular sensor for bacterial cell wall peptidoglycan. NOD2
      mutations compromise host response to enteric bacteria and are increased in
      Crohn's disease. We hypothesize that IPAA patients with complications (Crohn's
      disease-like/pouchitis) have a higher rate of NOD2 mutations compared with
      asymptomatic IPAA patients. METHODS: Patients were retrospectively subclassified
      into the following groups: 1) IPAA with Crohn's-like complications (n = 28,
      perianal fistula, pouch inlet stricture/upstream small-bowel disease, or biopsies
      showing granulomata) occurring at least 6 months after ileostomy closure; 2) IPAA
      with mild pouchitis (n = 33, <=3 episodes/y for 2 consecutive years); 3) IPAA
      with severe pouchitis (n = 9, >=4 episodes/y for 2 consecutive years or need for
      continuous antibiotics); 4) IPAA without complications or pouchitis (n = 37); 5)
      patients with Crohn's disease with colitis undergoing total
      proctocolectomy/ileostomy (n = 11); and 6) healthy controls (n = 269). The 3 NOD2
      single-nucleotide polymorphism mutations (rs2066844, rs2066845, and rs2066847)
      previously identified as associated with Crohn's disease were genotyped using
      polymerase chain reaction. Groups were compared by use of chi with Yates
      continuity correction. RESULTS: NOD2 mutations were found in 8.5% of healthy
      controls. NOD2 mutations were significantly higher in the severe pouchitis group
      (67%) compared with both asymptomatic IPAA (5.4%, P < .001) and IPAA with Crohn's
      disease-like complications (14.3%, P = .008) groups. CONCLUSIONS: 1) Asymptomatic
      IPAA patients have a low incidence of NOD2 mutations not significantly different
      from patients with mild pouchitis or healthy controls. 2) Patients with severe
      pouchitis had the highest incidence of NOD2 mutations, suggesting that this group
      may have a compromised host defense mechanism to enteric bacteria. 3) Patients
      with Crohn's-like complications after IPAA have a significantly lower incidence
      of NOD2 mutations than patients with severe pouchitis, suggesting a different
      genetic makeup in these 2 patient groups. Preoperative assessment of NOD2 in the
      equivocal IPAA candidate may predict severe pouchitis and might assist in
      preoperative surgical decision making.

PMID- 20940597
TI  - Oncologic outcome in patients with ulcerative colitis associated with dyplasia or
      cancer who underwent stapled or handsewn ileal pouch-anal anastomosis.
AB  - PURPOSE: Ulcerative colitis is a risk factor for colorectal cancer. Restorative
      proctocolectomy with ileal pouch-anal anastomosis is a standard surgical
      management of patients with ulcerative colitis who have cancer or dysplasia, but
      the oncologic risk of stapled anastomosis vs mucosectomy with handsewn
      anastomosis is debated. We compare the risk of new cancer or recurrence in the
      pouch or rectal cuff in patients with ulcerative colitis undergoing stapled
      anastomosis vs mucosectomy with handsewn anastomosis. METHODS: This study was
      performed as a retrospective analysis of the clinical database at a single
      center, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Canada. The patients with ulcerative
      colitis associated with colorectal dysplasia or cancer who underwent ileal pouch
      anal anastomosis between 1981 and 2009 were evaluated. The development of
      dysplasia or cancer at ileoanal anastomosis or in the pelvic pouch was assessed.
      RESULTS: Eighty-one patients underwent stapled (n = 59) or handsewn (n = 22)
      ileal pouch-anal anastomosis; 52 had evidence of dysplasia and 29 had colorectal
      cancer (24 colon; 5 rectum) at the time of surgery. Median follow-up was 76.1
      months. Two of 10 (20%) patients with handsewn anastomosis and 0% patients with
      stapled anastomosis developed metastatic cancer. One patient with a 33-year
      history of colitis, a previously resected right-sided colon cancer, and
      subsequent high-grade dysplasia in the rectum underwent a handsewn pelvic pouch
      and developed an unresectable adenocarcinoma at the cuff 4 years later. A second
      patient with a 10-year history of colitis underwent handsewn pelvic pouch and
      developed dysplasia in the pouch 8 years after surgery. Nine patients were dead
      at last follow-up (11%). Of those patients, both colorectal cancer-related deaths
      were in patients with handsewn anastomoses. Differences in overall 5-year
      survival between the groups did not reach statistical significance. This study
      was limited by the sample size in subgroups and the few outcome events.
      CONCLUSIONS: Performing a stapled ileal pelvic anal anastomosis does not appear
      to be inferior to mucosectomy and handsewn anastomosis in oncologic outcome, and
      it seems appropriate in patients with ulcerative colitis associated with
      coexisting dysplasia or cancer.

PMID- 20940598
TI  - Sacral nerve stimulation for fecal incontinence: causes of surgical revision from
      a series of 87 consecutive patients operated on in a single institution.
AB  - PURPOSE: Sacral nerve stimulation is offered to patients presenting with fecal
      incontinence of neurological or idiopathic etiology, when medical management has
      failed. The purpose of this study was to investigate the causes of surgical
      revision following sacral nerve stimulation in consecutive patients who had
      received implants. PATIENTS AND METHODS: From September 2001 to August 2009, 123
      patients (105 women) of mean age 56 years were operated on for neurological (n =
      104) or idiopathic (n = 19) fecal incontinence. The mean preoperative Cleveland
      Clinic score was 13/20 (range 6/20 to 19/20). Eighty-seven patients of 123 had a
      positive test and underwent stimulator implantation. Any stimulator dysfunction
      was prospectively studied. RESULTS: Among the 87 patients, 36 had surgical
      revision of the device for the following reasons: device-related failure due to
      infection in 4 (successful reimplant in 4), electrode displacement in 2,
      electrode breakage in 2 (reimplantation of electrode in 4), and dysfunction owing
      to impedance increase of the system in 4; adverse stimulation with pain in 7
      (stimulator repositioning in 4 and explantation in 3); battery depletion either
      spontaneously (n = 6) or owing to a MRI examination (n = 2); total or partial
      loss of clinical efficacy in 9 (removal of the generator and electrode).
      CONCLUSION: Sacral nerve stimulation is a recognized treatment for fecal
      incontinence. The stimulator reoperation rate is high and is caused by stimulator
      dysfunction in 24% of cases.

PMID- 20940599
TI  - Morbidity and mortality following colorectal surgery in patients with end-stage
      renal failure: a population-based study.
AB  - PURPOSE: The risk of abdominal surgery in patients with end-stage renal failure
      is poorly defined. Our objective was to describe outcomes of colorectal surgery
      in dialysis patients from a population-based perspective. METHODS: We analyzed
      the 1993 to 2007 Nationwide Inpatient Sample to identify patients hospitalized
      for colorectal surgery. The effect of renal failure on mortality, complications,
      length of stay, and charges was evaluated using logistic regression models.
      RESULTS: Between 1993 and 2007, there were 755,343 admissions for colorectal
      surgery in the Nationwide Inpatient Sample database; 5806 patients (0.77%) were
      receiving dialysis treatment (87.4% hemodialysis, 4.9% peritoneal dialysis, 7.7%
      method not specified). Patients undergoing dialysis had an increased risk of
      mortality (22.1% vs 2.8%; adjusted OR 4.83; 95% CI 4.58-5.31) and complications
      (52.1% vs 34.0%; adjusted OR 2.04; 95% CI 1.90-2.17). Dialysis patients
      undergoing nonelective procedures had a 2-fold higher mortality rate than
      patients having had elective surgery (25.5% vs 10.3%; adjusted OR 2.01; 95% CI
      1.65-2.43). In nonelective surgery, independent predictors of mortality included
      procedures with an end-stoma (adjusted OR 1.86; 95% CI 1.58-2.18), age over 60
      (adjusted OR 1.73; 95% CI 1.43-2.08), total colectomy (adjusted OR 1.68; 95% CI
      1.27-2.22), vascular insufficiency as surgical indication (adjusted OR 1.58; 95%
      CI 1.32-1.90), nonprivate insurance coverage (adjusted OR 1.38; 95% CI 1.07-1.77)
      and malnutrition (adjusted OR 1.26; 95% CI 1.01-1.59). CONCLUSIONS: Patients
      receiving dialysis treatment have an increased risk of morbidity and mortality
      following colorectal surgery. Elective procedures are associated with a 10% rate
      of mortality in this population. Dialysis patients are especially susceptible to
      infectious and pulmonary complications after colorectal resection. Additional
      studies are necessary to refine risk stratification in this high-risk patient
      population.

PMID- 20940600
TI  - Predictive factors affecting survival in stage II colorectal cancer: is lymph
      node harvesting relevant?
AB  - PURPOSE: Lymph node status is important in colorectal cancer. Multiple studies
      indicate a relationship between the number of nodes harvested and survival. This
      is important in patients with stage II disease where the role of adjuvant therapy
      is unclear. This study sought to analyze the impact of lymph node harvest on
      survival in patients with stage II colorectal cancer. METHODS: The data of our
      hospital's colorectal tumor registry from 1997 to 2008 was reviewed. The records
      of 3534 patients of all stages were analyzed; of these patients, 913 patients
      with stage II colorectal cancer underwent curative resection. A univariate
      analysis estimated 5-year survival by Kaplan-Meier analysis based on various
      lymph node groupings. Patients were further analyzed with respect to sex, age,
      tumor grade, and tumor location. Multivariate linear regression analysis by the
      Cox proportional hazards model was performed using these variables to analyze
      survival relative to lymph node harvesting. RESULTS: Of 913 stage II patients,
      the mean age was 71 years and 48% were male. Univariate analysis of the number of
      lymph nodes harvested found that >=24 nodes removed was a significant and
      independent factor for improved survival in stage II (P = .009) and >=36 nodes in
      stage III cancers (P = .008). Cox proportional hazards ratios found male sex (P <
      .03) and poorly differentiated tumors (P < .015) to be negative independent risk
      factors for survival. Tumor location in the sigmoid was associated with improved
      survival (P < .02). CONCLUSION: Patients with stage II disease had an improved
      survival when >=24 lymph nodes were harvested, and patients with stage III
      disease had improved survival with up to a 36 node harvest. Male sex and poorly
      differentiated tumors had a worse prognosis, and tumors located in the sigmoid
      were associated with improved survival in stage II cancers. An increased lymph
      node harvest is recommended to improve survival in these stages.

PMID- 20940601
TI  - Comparative study of one-stage colectomy of the descending colon in emergency and
      elective surgery without mechanical preparation.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to compare one-stage colectomy of the
      descending colon without mechanical preparation in emergency and elective
      surgery. METHODS: From January 2004 to September 2009, 327 consecutive patients
      underwent surgery in a coloproctology unit for several conditions of the
      descending colon, 122 on an emergency basis and 205 as elective surgery. In the
      emergency surgery group, patients with septic shock, multiorgan failure,
      immunodeficiency or corticoid treatment, ASA IV stage, generalized fecal
      peritonitis (Hinchey IV stage), nonviable cecum or unresectable tumors were
      excluded (n = 54). In the elective surgery group, patients who underwent
      intraoperative colonoscopy, total abdominal colectomy, or an ostomy were excluded
      (n = 59). In the remaining 214 patients, a colectomy of the descending colon with
      primary colorectal anastomosis was performed without mechanical bowel
      preparation, 68 in emergency surgery and 146 in elective surgery. The end points
      of the study were mortality, anastomotic dehiscence, and surgical site infection.
      RESULTS: No differences were found in mortality (0 in the emergency group vs 3
      (2%) in the elective group; P = .571), symptomatic anastomotic dehiscence (1 in
      the emergency group (1.4%) vs 4 in the elective group (2.7%); P = 1.000), or
      surgical site infection (7 (10.2%) in the emergency group vs 8 (5.4%) in the
      elective group; P = .250). CONCLUSIONS: In emergencies involving the descending
      colon one-stage surgery may be performed without colonic preparation as safely as
      elective surgery in selected patients considered suitable for segmental resection
      of the descending colon and primary anastomosis.

PMID- 20940602
TI  - Desulfovibrio bacterial species are increased in ulcerative colitis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Debate persists regarding the role of Desulfovibrio subspecies in
      ulcerative colitis. Combined microscopic and molecular techniques enable this
      issue to be investigated by allowing precise enumeration of specific bacterial
      species within the colonic mucous gel. The aim of this study was to combine laser
      capture microdissection and quantitative polymerase chain reaction to determine
      Desulfovibrio copy number in crypt-associated mucous gel in health and in acute
      and chronic ulcerative colitis. METHODS: Colonic mucosal biopsies were harvested
      from healthy controls (n = 19) and patients with acute (n = 10) or chronic (n =
      10) ulcerative colitis. Crypt-associated mucous gel was obtained by laser capture
      microdissection throughout the colon. Pan-bacterial 16S rRNA and Desulfovibrio
      copy number/mm were obtained by polymerase chain reaction at each locus.
      Bacterial copy numbers were interrogated for correlation with location and
      disease activity. Data were evaluated using a combination of ordinary linear
      methods and linear mixed-effects models to cater for multiple interactions.
      RESULTS: Desulfovibrio positivity was significantly increased in acute and
      chronic ulcerative colitis at multiple levels within the colon, and after
      normalization with total bacterial signal, the relative Desulfovibrio load was
      increased in acute colitis compared with controls. Desulfovibrio counts did not
      significantly correlate with age, disease duration, or disease activity but
      interlevel correlations were found in adjacent colonic segments in the healthy
      control and chronic ulcerative colitis groups. CONCLUSION: The presence of
      Desulfovibrio subspecies is increased in ulcerative colitis and the data
      presented suggest that these bacteria represent an increased percentage of the
      colonic microbiome in acute ulcerative colitis.

PMID- 20940603
TI  - A ten-year audit of perforated sigmoid diverticulitis: highlighting the outcomes
      of laparoscopic lavage.
AB  - PURPOSE: This study was designed to review the results of laparoscopic lavage for
      the management of perforated sigmoid diverticulitis. METHODS: A 10-year
      retrospective review was conducted of 78 consecutive cases of sigmoid
      diverticulitis warranting emergency surgical intervention (1999-2008). RESULTS:
      Hinchey grades were I (12 patients), II (31 patients), III (29 patients), and IV
      (6 patients). The patients' mean age was 72 years. Procedures performed were
      laparoscopic washout (35), Hartmann procedure (31), percutaneous drainage of
      abscess (4), and resection and primary anastomosis (8). Overall mortality was 5
      of 78 (7%); all of these patients were in the Hartmann group. Washout was
      successful in 27 of 35 cases, meaning recovery from the initial episode of
      peritonitis without resection. The short-term failures of washout in 8 patients
      were because of perforated cancer (1), fecal fistula formation (2), and
      inadequate washout and ongoing sepsis (5). In long-term follow-up, 8 patients in
      the washout group developed symptoms of recurrent complicated diverticulitis,
      including painful phlegmon (3), stricture (1), fistulas (3), and repeat
      perforation (1); all 8 patients underwent delayed resection. Eight patients
      underwent early planned resection without experiencing further symptoms. Eleven
      patients were observed without further symptoms with a mean follow-up of 20
      months (range, 6-60 mo). CONCLUSIONS: Laparoscopic washout is an emerging
      technique that is particularly applicable to the management of Hinchey III
      perforated peritonitis. Short- and long-term problems exist with the technique
      that may be overcome with further improvement in technique and case selection.
      Resection and radiological drainage remain widely used in managing perforated
      sigmoid diverticulitis.

PMID- 20940604
TI  - MRI anatomy of the anal region.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to identify the normal anatomy of the anal
      region on magnetic resonance images. METHODS: T1-weighted turbo spin-echo images
      of anal sagittal sections, anal coronal sections, and oblique anal transverse
      planes were obtained with a body coil in 60 normal volunteers (30 women and 30
      men, aged 19-25 years) at rest in the supine position. RESULTS: T1-weighted
      images showed fat spaces and muscles simultaneously, allowing visualization of 7
      image layers, including the mucosa, submucosa, anal smooth muscle, inner
      (intersphincteric) space, vertical levator, outer (intersphincteric) space, and
      external anal sphincter. The anal smooth muscle was derived from the rectal
      smooth muscle, and the inner space originated from the perirectal space. The
      outer space lay between the vertical levator and the external sphincters. The
      puborectalis did not have a longitudinal portion. The deep, superficial, and SC
      sphincters were 3 separate muscle bundles. The perianal spaces had a complex
      interconnection. CONCLUSIONS: Multiplanar body-coil MRI studies can show
      anorectal fat spaces and musculature simultaneously, allowing fat spaces and
      musculature to serve as mutual referents. The results of imaging of the anal
      region with this method are different from previous imaging descriptions and may
      provide a more accurate and systemic description of the anal region structures
      than was previously available.

PMID- 20940605
TI  - Single-incision laparoscopic right colectomy: experience with 17 consecutive
      cases and comparison with multiport laparoscopic right colectomy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Recently, single-incision laparoscopic surgery has begun to develop
      as an extension of standard laparoscopic minimally invasive procedures. However,
      there have been a limited number of reports of single-incision procedures in
      colorectal disease. PURPOSE: The aim of this study is to describe our initial
      experience with single-incision laparoscopic right colectomy and to make
      comparisons with the current standard of care, multiport laparoscopic right
      colectomy. METHODS: Data from consecutive patients undergoing single-incision
      laparoscopic right colectomy were analyzed and compared with case-matched
      multiport laparoscopic right colectomies. Indications for surgery, type of port
      used, operative time, number of nodes harvested, length of hospital stay, and
      complications were the outcomes measured. RESULTS: During the study period, 17
      patients underwent single-incision laparoscopic colectomy. Of the planned single
      incision laparoscopic cases, 15 (88%) were completed with a single incision,
      whereas 2 required an additional port placement. There were no conversions to
      open surgery during any of the cases. Indications for surgery were similar
      between the 2 groups. Operative time was not significantly different in single
      incision laparoscopic right colectomy compared with multiport laparoscopic right
      colectomy (139 min vs 134 min, respectively; P = .61). Length of stay and number
      of nodes harvested also had no significant differences between the 2 groups.
      There was one death after discharge to home secondary to pulmonary embolism and
      one delayed thermal injury in the single-incision laparoscopic group. CONCLUSION:
      Single-incision laparoscopic right colectomy is feasible, and appears to have
      results similar to standard multiport right colectomy in our initial comparisons.
      Ongoing development in instrumentation may help to further shorten operative time
      and minimize complications, and may make this an equivalent or preferred method
      for minimally invasive colorectal surgery. Large, prospective, randomized,
      controlled trials should be conducted to further compare the safety and efficacy
      of this approach.

PMID- 20940606
TI  - Real-time magnetic resonance-guided microwave coagulation therapy for pelvic
      recurrence of rectal cancer: initial clinical experience using a 0.5 T open
      magnetic resonance system.
AB  - PURPOSE: This study aims to evaluate consecutive cases of recurrent rectal cancer
      in the pelvic cavity treated with microwave coagulation therapy using real-time
      navigation by an open magnetic resonance system. METHODS: Nine recurrent pelvic
      lesions in 8 patients after curative resection of rectal cancer were treated with
      real-time magnetic resonance-guided microwave coagulation therapy as a palliative
      local therapy to reduce tumor volume and/or local pain. Clinical and pathological
      data were collected retrospectively by reviewing medical records and clinical
      imaging results. RESULTS: Seven patients received other treatments before real
      time magnetic resonance-guided microwave coagulation. Six patients had distant
      synchronous metastases. Three patients underwent surgery under lumbar anesthesia.
      Microwave coagulation was performed percutaneously in 5 lesions and under
      laparotomy in 4 lesions. Although adverse events related to microwave coagulation
      (skin necrosis and nerve injury) were observed, no fatal complications occurred.
      Local re-recurrence was observed in 2 of 9 ablated lesions. Except for 1 patient
      who died of chronic renal failure, the remaining 7 patients died of cancer.
      Median overall survival after microwave coagulation for all patients was 10
      months (range, 4-37 mo). Median overall survival after discovery of pelvic
      recurrence in all patients was 22 months (range, 9-42 mo). CONCLUSIONS: The
      benefits of using an open magnetic resonance system in the pelvic cavity include
      the abilities to treat tumors that cannot be visualized by other modalities, to
      demonstrate internal architectural changes during treatment, to differentiate
      treated vs untreated areas, and to allow adjustments to the treatment plan during
      the procedure. Additional studies are required to clarify the efficacy of tumor
      coagulation for local control.

PMID- 20940607
TI  - Dermal flap coverage for chronic anal fissure: lower incidence of anal
      incontinence compared to lateral internal sphincterotomy after long-term follow
      up.
AB  - PURPOSE: Internal sphincterotomy is considered the standard for treating anal
      fissure, but it is associated with a risk of impaired anal continence. This study
      aimed to conduct a long-term follow-up to compare postoperative anal continence
      using dermal flap coverage or lateral internal sphincterotomy for treatment of
      chronic anal fissure. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Sixty patients with chronic anal
      fissure (male/female, 30:30; age range, 22-79 y) were treated by open lateral
      internal sphincterotomy (n = 30) or dermal flap coverage (n = 30) from 1997 to
      2002. The postoperative course was evaluated using the clinical charts. A
      standardized questionnaire assessing complaints and anal continence was sent to
      the patients 70 to 94 months postoperatively and phone interviews were conducted.
      RESULTS: Operations were performed with general anesthesia as short-stay hospital
      procedures. The chronic fissure wounds healed in both groups regardless of
      surgical technique. Symptoms of mild anal incontinence (ie, soiling, flatus) were
      present 3 months after operation in 6 of 30 (20.0%) patients with lateral
      internal sphincterotomy and in no patient with dermal flap coverage (P < .05); 70
      to 94 months postoperatively, mild anal incontinence was present in 10 of 21
      (47.6%) patients with lateral internal sphincterotomy and in 1 of 17 (5.8%)
      patients with dermal flap coverage (P < .05). CONCLUSION: Long-term follow-up
      shows a very low incidence of mild anal incontinence after dermal flap coverage.
      We conclude from this study that the dermal flap procedure appears to be
      efficacious without an increased risk of incontinence and with results comparable
      to lateral internal sphincterotomy. The dermal flap procedure can be recommended
      for patients following failed conservative fissure treatment without the
      potential risk of anal incontinence.

PMID- 20940608
TI  - "Gunsight" skin incision and closure technique for stoma reversal.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Several techniques have been described in the literature for skin
      closure following stoma reversal. We describe the "gunsight skin closure"
      technique and highlight its potential advantages. METHOD: Four triangles of skin
      are excised to enlarge the skin incision. This increases exposure for
      mobilization of the bowel. The resulting skin wound is approximated with a
      pursestring suture to give a small, neat scar that allows some central drainage.
      The final wound resembles a gunsight. CONCLUSION: This method of skin closure
      allows increased surgical exposure, facilitates creation of a subsequent stoma at
      the same site, simplifies wound care, and gives a neat cosmetic result.

PMID- 20940610
TI  - Accurate and reproducible definition of tumor budding as prognostic marker of
      colon cancer.

PMID- 20940613
TI  - Uncertainty plagues US stem cell research.

PMID- 20940614
TI  - European Society of Pediatric Research at its 50th anniversary: past, present,
      and future.

PMID- 20940616
TI  - Immunohistochemical study of 40 cases of longitudinal melanonychia.
AB  - The etiology of longitudinal melanonychia (LM) is difficult to establish by
      clinical and dermoscopic examinations alone. Microscopic examination of the nail
      matrix remains crucial. Two groups of LM may be identified: melanocytic
      activation (melanic pigmentation of the matrix epithelium without any increase in
      the density of melanocytes) and melanocytic proliferation (lentigo, nevus, or
      melanoma). The histological examination is challenging, and immunohistochemical
      investigations can be helpful. The objective of this study was to analyze the
      immunohistochemical findings with routinely used markers in melanocytic tumors-S
      100 protein, HMB-45, and Melan-A-in LM. A series of 40 cases were analyzed: 10
      activations, 4 lentigines, 7 nevi, 12 in situ melanomas, and 7 invasive
      melanomas. The sensitivity of S-100 protein is weak in benign and malignant
      intraepithelial melanocytes of the nail matrix, and if this marker is performed
      alone, it may be wrongly reassuring. However, the use of S-100 protein is
      essential to differentiate invasive melanoma, lacking an intraepithelial
      component, and particularly desmoplastic melanoma, from epithelial and
      mesenchymal tumors. HMB-45 and Melan-A are more sensitive than S-100 protein for
      the evaluation of intraepithelial melanocytic proliferation of the nail
      apparatus, with HMB-45 being the most intense marker. In the dermal component,
      HMB-45 and Melan-A were less sensitive than S-100 protein. In conclusion, we
      recommend that the panel of antibodies used for histological evaluation of LM
      should include HMB-45 and/or Melan-A and S-100 protein only if an invasive
      melanoma is suspected.

PMID- 20940617
TI  - Nodules arising within port-wine stains: a clinicopathologic study of 31 cases.
AB  - Nodules are seen in approximately 10%-30% patients within port-wine stains (PWS)
      and usually regarded as vascular "tumor." However, nodules arising within PWS
      have not been systematically examined and the precise pathologic characteristics
      of them are unknown. The aim of this study is to evaluate the clinicopathologic
      and immunohistochemical features of blood vessels of nodules in 31 cases. A total
      of 31 biopsy specimens (excision) were obtained from the representative areas of
      lesion of each patient with nodules. Clinical features of all patients were
      recorded. Hematoxylin and eosin staining, immunohistochemical staining, and
      Weigert elastic stain were performed to investigate the histopathologic features
      of nodules. In a total of 31 subjects, there are 16 patients whose nodules
      occurred in the area innervated by the second branch of the trigeminal nerve
      (51.6%), 4 in the first branch (12.9%), 6 in the third branch (19.4%), 2 in both
      the first, and the second branch (6.5%). Based upon specular microscopic
      findings, 14 biopsy specimens were designated as pyogenic granuloma (PG) (45.1%),
      10 as arteriovenous malformation (AVM) (32.3%), 5 as both (16.1%), and 2 cases as
      cavernous-like vascular ectasia (6.5%). Moreover, both AVM and PG were prone to
      occurring in the area innervated by the second branch of the trigeminal nerve. In
      summary, we believed that both AVM and PG are not rare histologic changes in PWS.
      Moreover, histologic findings suggest that the major portion of nodules arising
      within PWS can be categorized into AVM, PG, and AVH associated with PG.

PMID- 20940618
TI  - S100-negative junctional melanocytic proliferations.

PMID- 20940619
TI  - Otto Schron--an early pioneer in dermatopathology.
AB  - Otto Schron was a German histologist of the mid-19th century who spent most of
      his life in Italy where he was full professor of pathologic anatomy at the
      University of Naples. Already as a medical student, he participated in studies by
      Carl Thiersch that proved the epithelial origin of cancer. Schron went on to
      study the histology and histopathology of the skin and was the first to discover
      desmosomes and the tonofilament system, although he did not recognize the true
      physiologic role of those structures.

PMID- 20940620
TI  - Giant melanotrichoblastoma.
AB  - Trichoblastomas are benign skin tumors composed mostly of follicular germinative
      cells recapitulating the differentiation of hair follicles. Several variants of
      trichoblastomas have been reported, including pigmented trichoblastomas,
      melanotrichoblastomas, subcutaneous trichoblastomas, or giant trichoblastomas. We
      report a rare case of a pigmented trichoblastoma with abundant dendritic
      melanocytes. A 51-year-old Korean man had a round soft tissue mass on his back.
      The tumor was 6 cm in size and located in the subcutaneous fatty layer. On
      immunohistochemical stain for Melan A, numerous dendritic melanocytes were
      demonstrated in both pigmented and nonpigmented epithelial cell components. These
      cells were also positive for HMB45, and some of the dendritic melanocytes were
      positive for S-100 protein. With the aid of immunohistochemical staining, we
      diagnosed the tumor as a giant melanotrichoblastoma.

PMID- 20940621
TI  - Benefits of low-frequency attenuation of baha(r) in single-sided sensorineural
      deafness.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of low-frequency attenuation of Bone
      Anchored Hearing Aids (Bahas) in users with single-sided sensorineural deafness
      (SSD). The underlying notion is that low-frequency sounds up to approximately
      1500 Hz reach the contralateral ear without significant attenuation and that
      Bahas tend to show more distortion at lower frequencies. Furthermore, to transmit
      low frequencies, higher moving masses are needed when compared with high
      frequencies. DESIGN: A prospective study with 10 adults, experienced Baha Divino
      users with SSD. Speech understanding in noise was measured without Baha and with
      Baha, with three different settings of low-frequency attenuation, namely up to
      270, 630, and 1500 Hz. Tests were performed in two different spatial
      arrangements. In one placement, speech was emitted from a loudspeaker on the side
      of the Baha ear and noise from a loudspeaker in front of the listener (S90N0). In
      the other placement, the sound sources were switched (S0N90). Participants rated
      the subjective sound quality of the two most extreme Baha settings using analog
      visual scales after a short acclimatization time of 15 mins. RESULTS: In setting
      S90N0, the use of a Baha improved speech understanding in noise significantly
      (average improvement 2.8 to 3.1 dB, p = 0.006). These improvements did not vary
      significantly with the chosen low-frequency attenuation. In setting S0N90, a
      smaller but detrimental effect of the Baha was found (-0.9 to -1.7 dB, p = 0.006
      to 0.03). This detrimental effect was significantly smaller at the highest cutoff
      frequency of 1500 Hz than at 270 Hz (p = 0.013). At the cutoff frequency of 270
      Hz, loudness and reverberation were judged higher than at 1500 Hz. There was no
      significant difference in brightness, softness, clarity, or fullness. CONCLUSION:
      High cutoff levels of up to 1500 Hz for low-frequency signals do not compromise
      the benefit of Baha in SSD for noise arriving from the front and speech presented
      on the side of the Baha. If noise is presented from the side of the Baha, the
      detrimental effect on speech understanding can be reduced by higher cutoff
      frequencies. If frequencies <1500 Hz do not need to be transmitted, lower moving
      masses of the Baha are required and smaller devices for patients with SSD may be
      possible.

PMID- 20940623
TI  - Method of LDL cholesterol measurement influences classification of LDL
      cholesterol treatment goals: clinical research study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) has been clearly
      associated with the risk of developing coronary heart disease. The best and most
      convenient method for determining LDL-C has come under increased scrutiny in
      recent years. We present comparisons of the Friedewald calculated LDL-C (C-LDL-C)
      and direct LDL-C (D-LDL-C) using 3 different homogenous assays. This highlights
      differences between the 2 methods of LDL-C measurement and how this affects the
      classification of samples into different LDL-C treatment goals as determined by
      the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III guidelines
      thus potentially affecting treatment strategies. METHODS: Lipid profiles of a
      total of 2208 clinic patients were retrieved from the Central Arkansas VA
      Healthcare System clinical laboratory database. Samples studied were of 1-week
      period during the 3 periods studied: 2000 (period 1), 2002 (period 2), and 2005
      (period 3). Different homogenous assays for D-LDL-C measurement were used for
      each of the 3 periods. RESULTS: There is a fundamental disagreement between D-LDL
      C and C-LDL-C, although Pearson correlation coefficients are 0.93, 0.97, and 0.98
      for periods 1, 2, and 3, respectively. Using the model for period 1, when C-LDL-C
      is 70 mg/dL, the predicted D-LDL-C is 95 mg/dL (36% higher). The differences
      between C-LDL-C and predicted D-LDL-C progressively decrease at higher LDL-C cut
      points. In the assay used in period 3, there are 290 samples with D-LDL-C values
      between 100 and 130 mg/dL. Of these, only 182 samples show agreement with C-LDL-C
      values, whereas 90 samples with a D-LDL-C in the 100- to 130-mg/dL range are in
      the 70- to 100-mg/dL range using the C-LDL-C assay. Although the kappa statistics
      suggests the LDL-C measures have relatively high levels of agreement, the
      significant generalized McNemar tests (P < 0.01) provide additional evidence of
      disagreement between C-LDL-C and D-LDL-C during all the 3 periods. CONCLUSIONS:
      Our results highlight D-LDL-C measurements using 3 different assays during 3
      different periods. In all assays, there is a substantial lack of agreement
      between D-LDL-C and C-LDL-C, which, in most cases, resulted in higher D-LDL-C
      values than C-LDL-C. This leads to clinically significant misclassification of
      patient's LDL-C to a different LDL-C treatment goal, which would potentially
      result in more drug usage, thus exposing patients to more potential adverse
      effects and at a much greater cost with little evidence of benefit.

PMID- 20940624
TI  - P-glycoprotein transporter expression on a549 respiratory epithelial cells is
      positively correlated with intracellular dexamethasone levels.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Several mechanisms of glucocorticoid resistance in asthma have been
      proposed. P-glycoprotein (P-gp), a ubiquitous efflux transport protein, is
      associated with variability in the disposition of many drugs and interindividual
      variability in drug treatment response. This study was undertaken to determine
      the effect of P-gp expression on glucocorticoid efflux from airway epithelial
      cells. HYPOTHESIS: Decreasing respiratory epithelial P-gp expression in
      dexamethasone-exposed airway epithelial cells in vitro will increase
      intracellular dexamethasone concentration. METHODS: A549 lung epithelial cells,
      transfected with small interfering RNA (siRNA) targeted at messenger RNA for the
      gene encoding P-gp, were exposed to 100-nM dexamethasone for 15 minutes.
      Transfection efficiency of siRNA, P-gp expression, and intracellular
      dexamethasone were measured with flow cytometry. RESULTS: Cells transfected with
      both negative siRNA and siRNA targeted at P-gp exhibited a positive correlation
      of P-gp expression with intracellular dexamethasone. The mean +/- SEM correlation
      coefficients were 0.78 +/- 0.07 for cells transfected with negative siRNA and
      0.79 +/- 0.08 for cells transfected with siRNA targeted at P-gp. DISCUSSION:
      Contrary to our hypothesis, the positive correlation between P-gp expression and
      intracellular dexamethasone suggests that P-gp is not a primary transporter of
      glucocorticoids from airway epithelial cells. Increased P-gp expression is
      unlikely to be an important mechanism of glucocorticoid resistance in asthma.

PMID- 20940625
TI  - Characteristics of dyshoric capillary cerebral amyloid angiopathy.
AB  - Cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) affects brain parenchymal and leptomeningeal
      arteries and arterioles but sometimes involves capillaries (capCAA) with spread
      of the amyloid into the surrounding neuropil, that is, dyshoric changes. We
      determined the relationship between capCAA and larger vessel CAA, beta amyloid
      (Abeta) plaques, neurofibrillary changes, inflammation, and apolipoprotein E
      (APOE) in 22 cases of dyshoric capCAA using immunohistochemistry. The dyshoric
      changes contained predominantly Abeta1-40, whereas dense bulblike deposits
      adjacent to the capillary wall contained mostly Abeta1-42. There was an inverse
      local correlation between Abeta plaque load and capCAA severity (p = 0.01),
      suggesting that Abeta transport between the neuropil and the circulation may be
      mechanistically involved. Deposits of hyperphosphorylated tau and ubiquitin and
      clusters of activated microglia, resembling the changes around Abeta plaques,
      were found around capCAA but were absent around larger vessel CAA. In 14 cases
      for which APOE genotype was available, there was a high APOE-epsilon4 allele
      frequency (54%; 43% homozygous). The severity of CapCAA increased with the number
      of epsilon4-alleles; and APOE4 seemed to colocalize with capCAA by
      immunohistochemistry. These results suggest that capCAA is pathologically and
      possibly pathogenetically distinct from larger vessel CAA, and that it is
      associated with a high APOE-epsilon4 allele frequency.

PMID- 20940626
TI  - Morphological progression of myelin abnormalities in IgM-monoclonal gammopathy of
      undetermined significance anti-myelin-associated glycoprotein neuropathy.
AB  - To characterize the morphological progression of neuropathy associated with
      immunoglobulin M-monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance with anti
      myelin-associated glycoprotein antibody, we assessed histopathologic features of
      sural nerve specimens from 15 patients, emphasizing widely spaced myelin (WSM),
      demyelination, and tomaculous changes. The frequency of WSM correlated with that
      of demyelination and tomaculous appearance in teased-fiber preparations. In
      longitudinal sections at nodes of Ranvier and paranodal regions, the spaces
      between terminal myelin loops, particularly those adjacent to the node of
      Ranvier, were widened, indicating an early change before demyelination, and there
      was concomitant swelling of terminal myelin loops. Some conspicuously swollen
      terminal myelin loops were detached from the paranodal axolemma, thereby widening
      the nodes of Ranvier. Tomacula coexisted frequently with redundant myelin loops
      and WSM, particularly in the outermost layer of myelin sheaths, suggesting that
      loosening of the outer layers contributes to their formation. By
      immunofluorescence microscopy, immunoglobulin M and myelin-associated
      glycoprotein were colocalized in paranodal regions and Schmidt-Lanterman
      incisures. Confocal analysis revealed colocalization of immunoglobulin M and
      complement product C3d corresponding to the area of WSM. Thus, morphological
      changes in terminal myelin loops, formation of WSM at paranodes, and subsequent
      dissociation from paranodal axolemma (which may be associated with activation of
      the complement pathway) likely contribute to demyelination in this condition.
      Loosening of compact myelin seems to contribute to tomacula formation.

PMID- 20940627
TI  - Location of prorenin receptors in primate substantia nigra: effects on
      dopaminergic cell death.
AB  - Angiotensin II acts via angiotensin type 1 receptors and is a major inducer of
      inflammation and oxidative stress. Local renin-angiotensin systems play a major
      role in the development of age-related disorders in several tissues. These
      processes are delayed, but not totally abolished, by blockade of angiotensin
      signaling. A specific receptor for renin and its precursor prorenin has recently
      been identified. We previously showed that neurotoxin-induced dopaminergic (DA)
      cell loss is decreased by inhibition of angiotensin receptors, but the location
      and functional effects of prorenin receptor (PRR) in the brain, including the DA
      system, are unknown. In the substantia nigra of Macaca fascicularis and in rat
      primary mesencephalic cultures, double immunofluorescence analysis revealed PRR
      immunoreactivity in neurons (including DA neurons) and microglia, but not in
      astrocytes. Administration of the PRR blocker, handle region peptide, led to a
      significant decrease in 6-hydroxydopamine-induced DA cell death in the
      cultures,whereas administration of renin with simultaneous blockade of
      angiotensin receptors led to an increase in 6-hydroxydopamine-induced cell death.
      These results suggest that active agent angiotensin II-independent PRR
      intracellular signaling may contribute to exacerbation of DA cell death in vivo.
      Therefore, potential neuroprotective strategies for DA neurons in Parkinson
      disease should address both angiotensin and PRR signaling.

PMID- 20940628
TI  - Human mesenchymal stem cells infiltrate the spinal cord, reduce demyelination,
      and localize to white matter lesions in experimental autoimmune
      encephalomyelitis.
AB  - Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) can abrogate the animal model of multiple
      sclerosis, experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), but whether this
      therapeutic effect occurs entirely through systemic immune modulation and whether
      CNS infiltration occurs after peripheral delivery are uncertain. We studied the
      clinical and neuropathologic effects of intravenously administered human MSCs
      (hMSCs) in C57BL/6 mice with EAE. Human MSCs significantly reduced the clinical
      disease severity, particularly in later disease. Large numbers of hMSCs migrated
      into gray and white matter at all levels of the spinal cord in both naive mice
      and mice with EAE. In the latter, hMSCs accumulated over time in demyelinated
      areas. There were 2 distinct morphological appearances of the hMSCs in the
      tissue, that is, rounded and less numerous process-bearing forms; very few
      expressed neural markers. The number of spinal cord white matter lesions and
      areas of white matter demyelination were reduced after hMSC treatment compared
      with control treatment. These findings show that central nervous system
      infiltration occurs after peripheral delivery of hMSCs, that they accumulate
      where there is myelin damage, and that they are associated with a reduced extent
      of demyelination. These data support a potential role for hMSCs in autologous
      cell therapy in multiple sclerosis.

PMID- 20940629
TI  - Proinflammatory orientation of the interleukin 1 system and downstream induction
      of matrix metalloproteinase 9 in the pathophysiology of human perinatal white
      matter damage.
AB  - A preclinical model showed a direct role of the interleukin 1 (IL-1) system in
      the pathogenesis of perinatal brain damage, but evidence linking these findings
      to human white matter damage (WMD) requires confirmation in human cases. We
      analyzed the IL-1beta system using immunohistochemistry to characterize the
      expression of IL-1 receptors (IL-1R1 and IL-1R2), IL-1R antagonist (IL-1Ra), and
      induction of downstream effectors in 9 human brains with WMD. Interleukin 1beta
      overexpression was associated with IL-1R1 and IL-1R2 immunoreactivity in areas
      with WMD; immunolabeling for both was detected on astrocytes and
      microglia/macrophages. There was no immunoreactivity for these receptors in
      nondamaged white matter in the same brains. Interleukin-1Ra expression was
      significantly less upregulated than that of IL-1beta. This IL-1beta/IL-1Ra
      imbalance was particularly pronounced in the brains of very preterm versus near
      term infants. We additionally found overexpression of matrix metalloproteinase 9
      (MMP-9) in WMD areas. The MMP-9 colocalized with IL-1beta in
      microglia/macrophages in affected cerebral areas. These data indicate that there
      is activation and proinflammatory orientation of the IL-1 system with downstream
      induction of MMP-9 in perinatal WMD. Because both of these mediators are known to
      be involved in neural cell injury, we infer that IL-1 pathway activation has a
      deleterious role in the pathophysiology of WMD in human neonates.

PMID- 20940630
TI  - The proteome of human brain after ischemic stroke.
AB  - Although stroke is among the most common causes of death and chronic disability
      worldwide, the proteome of the ischemic human brain remains unknown. Only a few
      studies have investigated the ischemic brain proteome in rodent stroke models. We
      performed a proteomic study of the human brain after ischemic stroke using a 2
      dimensional differential gel electrophoresis-based proteomic approach. In brain
      samples from 6 deceased stroke patients and 3 control subjects, there was an
      average of 1,442 +/- 231 protein spots in the gels. Changes of at least 1.5-fold
      in the relative expression of 132 protein spots between different cerebral areas
      (infarct core, peri-infarct, and contralateral tissue) were identified (p <
      0.05); 39 of these were successfully identified by matrix-assisted laser
      desorption/ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry. Among the identified
      protein spots, we validated the results of 10 proteins by Western blot and
      determined the cellular localization in brain parenchyma for 3 of the identified
      proteins: dihydropyrimidinase-related protein 2, vesicle-fusing ATPase, and Rho
      dissociation inhibitor 1. These results contribute to understanding the processes
      that follow cerebral ischemia; moreover, some of the identified proteins may be
      therapeutic targets or biologic markers for determining the diagnosis and
      prognosis of stroke.

PMID- 20940631
TI  - Inhibition of the kynurenine-NAD+ pathway leads to energy failure and exacerbates
      apoptosis in pneumococcal meningitis.
AB  - Pneumococcal meningitis causes neurological sequelae, including learning and
      memory deficits in up to half of the survivors. In both humans and in animal
      models of the disease, there is apoptotic cell death in the hippocampus, a brain
      region involved in learning and memory function. We previously demonstrated that
      in an infant rat model of pneumococcal meningitis, there is activation of the
      kynurenine (KYN) pathway in the hippocampus, and that there was a positive
      correlation between the concentration of 3-hydroxykynurenine and the extent of
      hippocampal apoptosis. To clarify the role of the KYN pathway in the pathogenesis
      of hippocampal apoptosis in pneumococcal meningitis, we specifically inhibited 2
      key enzymes of the KYN pathway and assessed hippocampal apoptosis, KYN pathway
      metabolites, and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) concentrations by high
      performance liquid chromatography. Pharmacological inhibition of kynurenine 3
      hydroxylase and kynureninase led to decreased cellular NAD levels and increased
      apoptosis in the hippocampus. The cerebrospinal fluid levels of tumor necrosis
      factor and interleukin-1alpha and -beta were not affected. Our data suggest that
      activation of the KYN pathway in pneumococcal meningitis is neuroprotective by
      compensating for an increased NAD demand caused by infection and
      inflammation;this mechanism may prevent energy failure and apoptosis in the
      hippocampus.

PMID- 20940632
TI  - Trends in epidemiology and management of type II odontoid fractures: 20-year
      experience at a model system spine injury tertiary referral center.
AB  - STUDY DESIGN: A retrospective cohort study of consecutive type II Odontoid
      fractures presenting to a Level 1 Regional Model Systems Spinal Cord Injury
      Center between June 1985 and July 2006. OBJECTIVE: To assess trends in management
      of type II Odontoid fractures presenting to a Level 1 Model Systems Regional
      Spinal Cord Injury Center over a 20-year period. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Type
      II Odontoid fracture management is controversial, and a majority of studies have
      had relatively small cohorts. There is no consensus regarding definitive
      treatment, particularly in older patients. METHODS: Medical records of 263
      consecutive type II Odontoid fractures from June 1985 to July 2006 were
      retrospectively reviewed. Patients were excluded if they had neurologic deficits,
      nonacute fracture, or ambiguous fracture classification. A cohort of 192
      neurologically intact, acute type II odontoid fractures were identified.
      Admission records were reviewed for age, date of injury, date of admission, date
      of discharge, mechanism of injury, associated injuries, medical comorbidities,
      and radiologic findings. RESULTS: There was a statistically significant increase
      in the rate of presentation of type II odontoid fractures with time. The average
      age and medical comorbidities of the patient did not change over time. The
      probability of operative management markedly increased over time, corresponding
      to a statistically significant increase in length of hospital stay for patients
      undergoing surgery. The discharge disposition correlated significantly to both
      age of the patient and associated injuries. CONCLUSIONS: The number and frequency
      of type II odontoid fractures compared with other spine injuries seems to be
      increasing over the last 2 decades, which may be correlated with the increasing
      number of elderly persons in the population, given that referral patterns have
      been unchanged at our institution. Prospective outcomes data are needed to better
      elucidate optimal treatment algorithms from both, an outcomes and cost-efficacy
      perspective.

PMID- 20940633
TI  - Physiological and anthropometric correlates of tackling ability in junior elite
      and subelite rugby league players.
AB  - This study investigated the tackling ability of junior elite and subelite rugby
      league players, and determined the relationship between selected physiological
      and anthropometric characteristics and tackling ability in these athletes. Twenty
      eight junior elite (mean +/- SD age, 16.0 +/- 0.2 years) and 13 junior subelite
      (mean +/- SD age, 15.9 +/- 0.6 years) rugby league players underwent a
      standardized 1-on-1 tackling drill in a 10-m grid. Video footage was taken from
      the rear, side, and front of the defending player. Tackling proficiency was
      assessed using standardized technical criteria. In addition, all players
      underwent measurements of standard anthropometry (stature, body mass, and sum of
      7 skinfolds), acceleration (10-m sprint), change of direction speed (505 test),
      and lower body muscular power (vertical jump). Junior elite players had
      significantly greater (p < 0.05) tackling proficiency than junior subelite
      players (65.7 +/- 12.5 vs. 54.3 +/- 16.8%). Junior elite players tended to be
      taller, heavier, leaner, and have greater acceleration, change of direction
      speed, and muscular power, than the junior subelite players. The strongest
      individual correlates of tackling ability were acceleration (r = 0.60, p < 0.001)
      and lower body muscular power (r = 0.38, p < 0.05). When multiple linear
      regression analysis was performed to determine which of the physiological and
      anthropometric characteristics predicted tackling ability, fast acceleration was
      the only variable that contributed significantly (r2 = 0.24, p < 0.01) to the
      predictive model. These findings demonstrate that fast acceleration, and to a
      lesser extent, lower body muscular power contribute to effective tackling ability
      in junior rugby league players. From a practical perspective, strength and
      conditioning coaches should emphasize the development of acceleration and lower
      body muscular power qualities to improve tackling ability in junior rugby league
      players.

PMID- 20940634
TI  - Specificity of training modalities on upper-body one repetition maximum
      performance: free weights vs. hammer strength equipment.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to determine whether a relationship exists between
      1-repetition maximum (1RM) performed on hammer strength (HS) machines compared to
      free weights (FWs) and also to develop regression equations that can accurately
      predict 1RM when switching from exercise modality to another. Thirty-one trained
      male subjects performed 1-RM lifts (1RM's) on 3 HS externally loaded machines and
      3 comparable FW exercises. Subjects performed 2 1RM tests during each laboratory
      session, with at least 48-72 hours of recovery between each. One repetition
      maximum data were used to (a) determine the relationship between 1RM performed on
      HS vs. FW and (b) to develop regression equations that can accurately predict
      1RM's when switching from 1 exercise modality to another. Statistics revealed
      significant differences (p < 0.05) between 1RM's performed on the HS equipment as
      compared to its corresponding (FW) exercise. For all exercises, 1RM's were
      significantly greater on the HS equipment. Regression equations were developed
      for all exercises, except when predicting the HS shoulder press and the HS
      preacher curls from their free weight counterparts, where no variables existed
      that could significantly predict their respective 1RM's. As 1 RMs were
      significantly greater when using the HS equipment compared to when using FWs,
      those transitioning from HS exercise to FW exercise should exercise caution.

PMID- 20940635
TI  - Isokinetic strength and joint mobility asymmetries in oarside experienced
      oarsmen.
AB  - The purpose of the present study was to investigate oarside and nonoarside lower
      extremity asymmetries in isokinetic strength and joint mobility of port and
      starboard oarsmen. Peak torques of right and left extensors and flexors were
      measured on isokinetic dynamometer at angular velocities of 60 and 180 degrees .s
      1 in 12 starboard (n = 12; training age 5.55 +/- 0.52 years) and 14 port (n = 14;
      training age 6.09 +/- 0.95 years) well-trained male rowers. Mobility of the hip,
      knee, and ankle joints was measured using the Myrin flexometer, a modification of
      the Leighton flexometer. The findings indicate that ports had a significantly
      higher peak torque in oarside right knee extensors at 60 degrees .s-1 (p < 0.001)
      and 180 degrees .s-1 (p < 0.01) compared to in the nonoarside left knee
      extensors. In a respective manner, starboards had a higher peak torque in left
      knee extensors at 60 degrees .s-1 (p < 0.05) and 180 degrees .s-1 (p < 0.05)
      compared to the right side. Right flexors peak torque was significantly higher in
      ports compared to that in starboards at 60 degrees .s-1 (p < 0.05) and 180
      degrees .s-1 (p < 0.01). No significant difference between port and starboards in
      left knee flexors at either angular velocity was found. Both port and starboards
      exhibited a significantly higher hip (p < 0.01) mobility in oarside compared to
      in nonoarside. We conclude that sweep rowers develop a significantly higher
      flexion knee peak torque and hip mobility depending on oarside. Strength and
      mobility abnormalities may provide information for training and rehabilitation.
      Strengthening and stretching training programs to compensate for potential
      strength and mobility imbalance and thereby reducing the occurrence of injuries
      may be designed.

PMID- 20940636
TI  - Complex training in ice hockey: the effects of a heavy resisted sprint on
      subsequent ice-hockey sprint performance.
AB  - The aim of the study was to investigate the acute effect of a heavy resisted
      sprint when used as a preload exercise to enhance subsequent 25-m on-ice sprint
      performance. Eleven competitive ice-hockey players (mean +/- SD: Age = 22.09 +/-
      3.05 years; Body Mass = 83.47 +/- 11.7 kg; Height = 1.794 +/- 0.060 m) from the
      English National League participated in a same-subject repeated-measures design,
      involving 2 experimental conditions. During condition 1, participants performed a
      10-second heavy resisted sprint on ice. Condition 2 was a control, where
      participants rested. An electronically timed 25-m sprint on ice was performed
      before and 4 minutes after each condition. The results indicated no significant
      difference (p = 0.176) between pre (3.940 + 0.258 seconds) and post (3.954 +
      0.261 seconds) sprint times in the control condition. The intervention condition,
      however, demonstrated a significant 2.6% decrease in times (p = 0.02) between pre
      (3.950 + 0.251 seconds) and post (3.859 + 0.288 seconds) test sprints. There was
      also a significant change (p = 0.002) when compared to the times of the control
      condition. These findings appear to suggest that the intensity and duration of a
      single resisted sprint in this study are sufficient to induce an acute (after 4
      minutes of rest) improvement in 25-m sprint performance on ice. For those
      athletes wishing to improve skating speed, heavy resisted sprints on ice may
      provide a biomechanically suitable exercise for inducing potentiation before
      speed training drills.

PMID- 20940637
TI  - The current state of personal training: managers' perspectives.
AB  - Fitness managers play an integral role in the day-to-day operation of the
      facilities in which they work. One of the most critical responsibilities is that
      of hiring, training, and supervising personal trainers. Research studies have
      identified a number of qualities and competencies that an effective exercise
      leader is required to have, but there is little scholarly work addressing
      managers' attitudes surrounding the performance of personal trainers. Using focus
      group methodology, managers of personal trainers were recruited to provide
      viewpoints related to desirable qualities of personal trainers and opinions
      regarding certification and academic preparation. Responses of the participants
      were transcribed, coded, and analyzed for themes. Two global themes, Selection
      Rationale and Negative Characteristics, emerged. Selection Rationale consisted of
      qualities that influence a manager's decision to hire a particular trainer (e.g.,
      physique, education, social skills). Negative characteristics referred to
      qualities considered unethical or unprofessional (e.g., sexual comments, misuse
      of power) and the consequences of those behaviors (e.g., loss of clients,
      potential for litigation). The results suggest that undergraduate exercise
      science programs devote additional time toward the development of the affective
      qualities of future fitness trainers. Managers also recommended licensure for
      employees.

PMID- 20940638
TI  - Electromyographic muscle activity in curl-up exercises with different positions
      of upper and lower extremities.
AB  - The purpose of the study was to evaluate the electromyographic (EMG) activity of
      muscles in curl-up exercises depending on the position of the upper and lower
      extremities. From the perspective of biomechanics, different positions of the
      extremities result in shifting the center of gravity and changing muscular loads
      in abdominal strength exercises. The subjects of the research were 3 healthy
      students (body mass 53-56 kg and height 163-165 cm) with no history of low back
      pain or abdominal surgery. Subjects completed 18 trials for each of the 9
      exercises (static curl-up with 3 positions of the upper and 3 position of the
      lower extremities). The same experiment with the same subjects was conducted on
      the next day. The EMG activity of rectus abdominis (RA), erector spinae (ES), and
      quadriceps femoris-long head (rectus femoris [RF]) was examined during the
      exercises. The surface electrical activity was recorded for the right and left
      sides of each muscle. The raw data for each muscle were rectified and integrated.
      The statistical analysis showed that changing the position of upper extremities
      in the examined exercises affects the EMG activity of RA and ES but does not
      significantly affect the EMG activity of RF. Additionally, it was found that curl
      up exercises with the upper extremities extended behind the head and the lower
      extremities flexed at 90 degrees  in the hip and knee joints involve RA with the
      greatest intensity, whereas curl-up exercises with the upper extremities extended
      along the trunk and the lower extremities flexed at 90 degrees  in the hip and
      knee joints involve RA with the lowest intensity.

PMID- 20940639
TI  - Influence of rest interval lengths on hypotensive response after strength
      training sessions performed by older men.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to compare the postexercise hypotensive response
      after different rest intervals between sets (1 and 2 minutes) in normotense older
      men. Seventeen older men (67.6 +/- 2.2 years) with at least 1 year of strength
      training experience participated. After determination of 10 repetition maximum
      (10RM) loads for exercises, subjects performed 2 different strength training
      sessions. On the first day, volunteers performed 3 sets of 10 repetitions per
      exercise at 70% 10RM, with 1 or 2 minutes' rest interval between sets depending
      on random assignment. On the second day, the procedures were similar but with the
      other rest interval. There was no difference in systolic and diastolic blood
      pressure between rest intervals at any time point measure. Before 1- and 2-minute
      sessions, the systolic blood pressure values were 122.7 +/- 6.0 and 123.2 +/- 3.7
      mm Hg, and diastolic blood pressure values were 80.5 +/- 5.6 and 82.0 +/- 3.7 mm
      Hg, respectively. Both 1 and 2 minute sessions still presented reduced values for
      systolic blood pressure after 60 minutes (102.9 +/- 6.9 and 106.7 +/- 5.4 mm Hg,
      respectively), while the diastolic blood pressure presented significant
      reductions for 50 minutes after a 1 minute session (12.1 to 5.6 mm Hg) and for 60
      minutes after the 2 minute session (13.3 to 6.5 mm Hg). Additionally, the
      systolic and diastolic blood pressure effect size data demonstrated higher
      magnitudes at all time point measures after the 2-minute rest sessions. These
      results suggest a poststrength training hypotensive response for both training
      sessions in normotense older men, with higher magnitudes for the 2-minute rest
      session. Our findings suggest a potentially positive health benefit of strength
      training.

PMID- 20940640
TI  - Acute effects of elastic bands during the free-weight barbell back squat exercise
      on velocity, power, and force production.
AB  - The use of elastic bands in resistance training has been reported to be effective
      in increasing performance-related parameters such as power, rate of force
      development (RFD), and velocity. The purpose of this study was to assess the
      following measures during the free-weight back squat exercise with and without
      elastic bands: peak and mean velocity in the eccentric and concentric phases (PV
      E, PV-C, MV-E, MV-C), peak force (PF), peak power in the concentric phase, and
      RFD immediately before and after the zero-velocity point and in the concentric
      phase (RFDC). Twenty trained male volunteers (age = 26.0 +/- 4.4 years) performed
      3 sets of 3 repetitions of squats (at 55% one repetition maximum [1RM]) on 2
      separate days: 1 day without bands and the other with bands in a randomized
      order. The added band force equaled 20% of the subjects' 55% 1RM. Two independent
      force platforms collected ground reaction force data, and a 9-camera motion
      capture system was used for displacement measurements. The results showed that PV
      E and RFDC were significantly (p < 0.05) greater with the use of bands, whereas
      PV-C and MV-C were greater without bands. There were no differences in any other
      variables. These results indicate that there may be benefits to performing squats
      with elastic bands in terms of RFD. Practitioners concerned with improving RFD
      may want to consider incorporating this easily implemented training variation.

PMID- 20940641
TI  - The effect that side dominance has on barbell power symmetry during the hang
      power clean.
AB  - The aim of this study was to examine whether ground reaction force (GRF) side
      differences were transmitted and related to bar end power output asymmetries
      during hang power clean (HPC) performance and whether progressive loading would
      intensify this effect. Differences between the dominant (D) and nondominant (ND)
      side average GRFs (AGRFs) of both feet and average bar end power outputs were
      recorded simultaneously from 15 recreationally trained male volunteers at 30, 60,
      and 90% 1RM using 2 force platforms and 3 high-speed digital cameras, quantifying
      side dominance from perceived handedness (left- or right-side dominance [LRSD]),
      GRF side dominance (force side dominance [FSD]), and bar end power output side
      dominance (barbell side dominance [BSD]). With the exception of the LRSD
      condition, differences between the D and ND side AGRFs were significant (FSD: 1.8
      4.3%; BSD: 5.1-6.4%, p < 0.05). Bar end power output side differences were
      significant for all conditions (LRSD: 1.5-5.4%; FSD: 0.5-3.4%; BSD: 3.9-5.6%, p <
      0.05). Progressive loading did not significantly affect GRF side differences or
      the FSD average bar power side differences. However, during the LRSD and BSD
      conditions, the 60 and 90% side average bar power side differences were >the 30%
      equivalents. Average GRF side differences were not related to bar end power
      output side differences. Because of the consistent side difference of 4-6%
      investigators and strength and conditioning practitioners should exercise caution
      when interpreting changes in bar end power output.

PMID- 20940642
TI  - Validity and reliability of the Myotest accelerometric system for the assessment
      of vertical jump height.
AB  - The aim of the present study was to verify the validity and reliability of the
      Myotest accelerometric system (Myotest SA, Sion, Switzerland) for the assessment
      of vertical jump height. Forty-four male basketball players (age range: 9-25
      years) performed series of squat, countermovement and repeated jumps during 2
      identical test sessions separated by 2-15 days. Flight height was simultaneously
      quantified with the Myotest system and validated photoelectric cells (Optojump).
      Two calculation methods were used to estimate the jump height from Myotest
      recordings: flight time (Myotest-T) and vertical takeoff velocity (Myotest-V).
      Concurrent validity was investigated comparing Myotest-T and Myotest-V to the
      criterion method (Optojump), and test-retest reliability was also examined. As
      regards validity, Myotest-T overestimated jumping height compared to Optojump (p
      < 0.001) with a systematic bias of approximately 7 cm, even though random errors
      were low (2.7 cm) and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) where high
      (>0.98), that is, excellent validity. Myotest-V overestimated jumping height
      compared to Optojump (p < 0.001), with high random errors (>12 cm), high limits
      of agreement ratios (>36%), and low ICCs (<0.75), that is, poor validity. As
      regards reliability, Myotest-T showed high ICCs (range: 0.92-0.96), whereas
      Myotest-V showed low ICCs (range: 0.56-0.89), and high random errors (>9 cm). In
      conclusion, Myotest-T is a valid and reliable method for the assessment of
      vertical jump height, and its use is legitimate for field-based evaluations,
      whereas Myotest-V is neither valid nor reliable.

PMID- 20940643
TI  - The drop-jump video screening test: retention of improvement in neuromuscular
      control in female volleyball players.
AB  - A valgus lower limb alignment is commonly documented during noncontact anterior
      cruciate ligament injuries. We previously developed a videographic drop-jump test
      to measure overall lower limb alignment in the coronal plane as a screening tool
      to detect such an abnormal (valgus) position on landing. A neuromuscular
      retraining program developed for female athletes was shown to be effective in
      improving lower limb alignment on this test immediately after completion of
      training. What remained unknown was whether these improvements would be retained
      for longer periods of time. Therefore, this study was undertaken to determine if
      these improvements in overall lower limb alignment would be retained up to 1 year
      after the training. Sixteen competitive, experienced female high-school
      volleyball players underwent the video drop-jump test and then completed the
      neuromuscular retraining program. The program consisted of a dynamic warm-up,
      jump training, speed and agility drills, strength training, and static stretching
      and was performed 3 times a week for 6 weeks. The athletes repeated the drop-jump
      test immediately upon completion of training and then 3- and 12-months later.
      Significant improvements were found in the mean normalized knee separation
      distance between the pre and posttrained values for all test sessions (p < 0.01).
      Immediately after training, 11 athletes (69%) displayed significant improvements
      in the mean normalized knee separation distance that were retained 12 months
      later. Five athletes failed to improve. The video drop-jump test, although not a
      risk indicator for a knee ligament injury, provides a cost-effective general
      assessment of lower limb position and depicts athletes who have poor control on
      landing and acceleration into a vertical jump.

PMID- 20940644
TI  - Effects of Swiss-ball core strength training on strength, endurance, flexibility,
      and balance in sedentary women.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of Swiss-ball core
      strength training on trunk extensor (abdominal)/flexor (lower back) and lower
      limb extensor (quadriceps)/flexor (hamstring) muscular strength, abdominal, lower
      back and leg endurance, flexibility and dynamic balance in sedentary women (n =
      21; age = 34 +/- 8.09; height = 1.63 +/- 6.91 cm; weight = 64 +/- 8.69 kg)
      trained for 45 minutes, 3 d.wk-1 for 12 weeks. Results of multivariate analysis
      revealed significant difference (p <= 0.05) between pre and postmeasures of 60
      and 90 degrees  s trunk flexion/extension, 60 and 240 degrees  s-1 lower limb
      flexion/extension (Biodex Isokinetic Dynamometer), abdominal endurance (curl-up
      test), lower back muscular endurance (modified Sorensen test), lower limb
      endurance (repetitive squat test), lower back flexibility (sit and reach test),
      and dynamic balance (functional reach test). The results support the fact that
      Swiss-ball core strength training exercises can be used to provide improvement in
      the aforementioned measures in sedentary women. In conclusion, this study
      provides practical implications for sedentary individuals, physiotherapists,
      strength and conditioning specialists who can benefit from core strength training
      with Swiss balls.

PMID- 20940645
TI  - The effect of warm-up with whole-body vibration vs. cycle ergometry on isokinetic
      dynamometry.
AB  - The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of warm-up protocols using
      either whole-body vibration (WBV) or cycle ergometry (CE) on peak torque at 3
      different isokinetic speeds and on fatigue in the knee extension exercise. Twenty
      seven recreationally trained (age = 23.59 +/- 3.87 years) men (n = 14) and women
      (n = 13) were tested at 3 different isokinetic speeds (60, 180, 300 degrees .s-1)
      after either WBV or CE warm-up. The WBV consisted of intermittent bouts of 30
      seconds of isometric squats at various degrees of hip and knee flexion for a
      total of 5 minutes. The CE consisted of 5 minutes of pedaling a cycle ergometer
      at 65-85% of age-predicted max heart rate. Comparisons between the warm-up
      conditions were analyzed using repeated measures analysis of variance. For the
      fatigue comparison, subjects completed 50 continuous concentric knee extensions
      at 240 degrees .s-1. Means from the first 3 repetitions were compared to means
      from the final 3 repetitions to establish a fatigue index. Conditions were
      compared through an independent T-test. No significant (p > 0.05) differences
      were discovered between warm-up conditions at any speed or on the fatigue index.
      Means were virtually identical at 60 degrees .s-1 (WBV = 142.14 +/- 43.61 ft lb
      1; CE = 140.64 +/- 42.72 ft lb-1), 180 degrees  s-1 (WBV = 93.88 +/- 35.18 ft lb
      1; CE = 96.36 +/- 31.53 ft lb-1), and 300 degrees .s-1 (WBV = 78.36 +/- 26.04 ft
      lb-1; CE = 80.13 +/- 26.08), and on fatigue percentage (WBV = 51.14 +/- 10.06%;
      CE = 52.96 +/- 9.19%). These data suggest that the more traditional 5-minute
      cycle ergometer warm-up elicits results comparable to a less common vibration
      warm-up. The findings of this study are that these modalities are comparable
      under the tested conditions.

PMID- 20940646
TI  - Efficacy of lower limb compression and combined treatment of manual massage and
      lower limb compression on symptoms of exercise-induced muscle damage in women.
AB  - Strategies to manage the symptoms of exercise-induced muscle damage (EIMD) are
      widespread, though are often based on anecdotal evidence. The aim of this study
      was to determine the efficacy of a combination of manual massage and compressive
      clothing and compressive clothing individually as recovery strategies after
      muscle damage. Thirty-two female volunteers completed 100 plyometric drop jumps
      and were randomly assigned to a passive recovery (n = 17), combined treatment (n
      = 7), or compression treatment group (n = 8). Indices of muscle damage (perceived
      soreness, creatine kinase activity, isokinetic muscle strength, squat jump, and
      countermovement jump performance) were assessed immediately before and after 1,
      24, 48, 72, and 96 hours of plyometric exercise. The compression treatment group
      wore compressive tights for 12 hours after damage and the combined treatment
      group received a 30-minute massage immediately after damaging exercise and wore
      compression stockings for the following 11.5 hours. Plyometric exercise had a
      significant effect on all indices of muscle damage (p < 0.05). The treatments
      significantly reduced decrements in isokinetic muscle strength, squat jump
      performance, and countermovement jump performance and reduced the level of
      perceived soreness in comparison with the passive recovery group (p < 0.05). The
      addition of sports massage to compression after muscle damage did not improve
      performance recovery, with recovery trends being similar in both treatment
      groups. The treatment combination of massage and compression significantly
      moderated perceived soreness at 48 and 72 hours after plyometric exercise (p <
      0.05) in comparison with the passive recovery or compression alone treatment. The
      results indicate that the use of lower limb compression and a combined treatment
      of manual massage with lower limb compression are effective recovery strategies
      following EIMD. Minimal performance differences between treatments were observed,
      although the combination treatment may be beneficial in controlling perceived
      soreness.

PMID- 20940647
TI  - Influence of moderately intense strength training on flexibility in sedentary
      young women.
AB  - The present study is the first to examine whether moderately intense resistance
      training improves flexibility in an exclusively young, sedentary women
      population. Twenty-four, young, sedentary women were divided into 3 groups as
      follows: agonist/antagonist (AA) training group, alternated strength training
      (AST) group, or a control group (CG). Training occurred every other day for 8
      weeks for a total of 24 sessions. Training groups performed 3 sets of 10 to 12
      repetitions per set except for abdominal training where 3 sets of 15 to 20 reps
      were performed. Strength (1 repetition maximum bench press) and flexibility were
      assessed before and after the training period. Flexibility was assessed on 6
      articular movements: shoulder flexion and extension, horizontal shoulder
      adduction and abduction, and trunk flexion and extension. Both groups increased
      strength and flexibility significantly from baseline and significantly when
      compared with the CG (p <= 0.05). The AST group increased strength and
      flexibility significantly more than the AA group (p <= 0.05) in all but one
      measurement. This study shows that resistance training can improve flexibility in
      young sedentary women in 8 weeks.

PMID- 20940648
TI  - The effects of resistance training performed in water on muscle strength in the
      elderly.
AB  - The purpose of the present study was to compare the effects of a program of
      resistance training in water-based exercises (RWE) with those of a program
      without resistance control in water-based exercises (WEs). Twenty-seven women
      (aged 60-74 years) were randomly assigned to the RWE group (n = 10), WE group (n
      = 10), or nontraining control (CON) group (n = 7). The RWE and WE groups trained
      classes with aerobic exercises and localized muscular resistance exercises for 50
      minutes, twice a week for 12 weeks. For the RWE group, the program included 4
      mesocycles of 3 weeks-respectively, 4 sets of 15 repetitions, 4 sets of 12
      repetitions, 5 sets of 10 repetitions, and 5 sets of 8 repetitions-of shoulder
      horizontal flexion exercise at maximum speed, with the use of resistive
      equipment. For the WE group, the training was not periodized, and the resistance
      in the localized muscular exercises was not controlled. One repetition maximum
      (1RM) was measured on a pectoral fly machine at baseline and after the training
      period. The level of significance adopted was p <= 0.05. The results showed that
      the only significant increase in 1RM (10.89%, p < 0.001) occurred in the RWE
      group after training. In conclusion, these findings suggest that WEs with
      emphasis on resistance training in a periodized program can efficiently increase
      maximum strength in elderly women. Thus, it is suggested that the strategies used
      in WE programs be modified to offer suitable stimuli for the development of
      strength.

PMID- 20940649
TI  - An automated model to identify heart failure patients at risk for 30-day
      readmission or death using electronic medical record data.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A real-time electronic predictive model that identifies hospitalized
      heart failure (HF) patients at high risk for readmission or death may be valuable
      to clinicians and hospitals who care for these patients. METHODS: An automated
      predictive model for 30-day readmission and death was derived and validated from
      clinical and nonclinical risk factors present on admission in 1372 HF
      hospitalizations to a major urban hospital between January 2007 and August 2008.
      Data were extracted from an electronic medical record. The performance of the
      electronic model was compared with mortality and readmission models developed by
      the Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS models) and a HF mortality
      model derived from the Acute Decompensated Heart Failure Registry (ADHERE model).
      RESULTS: The 30-day mortality and readmission rates were 3.1% and 24.1%
      respectively. The electronic model demonstrated good discrimination for 30 day
      mortality (C statistic 0.86) and readmission (C statistic 0.72) and performed as
      well, or better than, the ADHERE model and CMS models for both outcomes (C
      statistic ranges: 0.72-0.73 and 0.56-0.66 for mortality and readmissions
      respectively; P < 0.05 in all comparisons). Markers of social instability and
      lower socioeconomic status improved readmission prediction in the electronic
      model (C statistic 0.72 vs. 0.61, P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Clinical and social
      factors available within hours of hospital presentation and extractable from an
      EMR predicted mortality and readmission at 30 days. Incorporating complex social
      factors increased the model's accuracy, suggesting that such factors could
      enhance risk adjustment models designed to compare hospital readmission rates.

PMID- 20940650
TI  - Costs attributable to healthcare-acquired infection in hospitalized adults and a
      comparison of economic methods.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Hospitals will increasingly bear the costs for healthcare-acquired
      conditions such as infection. Our goals were to estimate the costs attributable
      to healthcare-acquired infection (HAI) and conduct a sensitivity analysis
      comparing analytic methods. METHODS: A random sample of high-risk adults
      hospitalized in the year 2000 was selected. Measurements included total and
      variable medical costs, length of stay (LOS), HAI site, APACHE III score,
      antimicrobial resistance, and mortality. Medical costs were measured from the
      hospital perspective. Analytic methods included ordinary least squares linear
      regression and median quantile regression, Winsorizing, propensity score case
      matching, attributable LOS multiplied by mean daily cost, semi-log
      transformation, and generalized linear modeling. Three-state proportional hazards
      modeling was also used for LOS estimation. Attributable mortality was estimated
      using logistic regression. RESULTS: Among 1253 patients, 159 (12.7%) developed
      HAI. Using different methods, attributable total costs ranged between $9310 to
      $21,013, variable costs were $1581 to $6824, LOS was 5.9 to 9.6 days, and
      attributable mortality was 6.1%. The semi-log transformation regression indicated
      that HAI doubles hospital cost. The totals for 159 patients were $1.48 to $3.34
      million in medical cost and $5.27 million for premature death. Excess LOS totaled
      844 to 1373 hospital days. CONCLUSIONS: Costs for HAI were considerable from
      hospital and societal perspectives. This suggests that HAI prevention
      expenditures would be balanced by savings in medical costs, lives saved and
      available hospital days that could be used by overcrowded hospitals to enhance
      available services. Our results obtained by applying different economic methods
      to a single detailed dataset may inform future cost analyses.

PMID- 20940651
TI  - Health care utilization and expenditure changes associated with bariatric
      surgery.
AB  - CONTEXT: Bariatric surgery provides significant reductions in weight and
      comorbidity, and has the potential to reduce health care utilization. It is
      unknown whether health care utilization and expenditures are reduced for veterans
      after bariatric surgery. OBJECTIVES: To examine health care utilization and
      expenditures of severely obese individuals before and after bariatric surgery
      within the Veterans Health Administration. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PATIENTS: We
      conducted a retrospective, longitudinal cohort study of health care use and
      expenditures among all veterans who underwent bariatric surgery in 1 of 12
      approved Department of Veterans Affairs bariatric centers from 2000 to 2006.
      Bariatric patients were identified via Current Procedural Terminology-4 codes
      from a database of major surgical procedures maintained by the National Surgical
      Quality Improvement Program. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: The main outcomes of interest
      for our analysis were multivariable adjusted inpatient and outpatient health care
      utilization and expenditures in the 3 years prior to surgery and in the 3 years
      after surgery. RESULTS: Between 2000 and 2006, 846 veterans had bariatric
      surgery, 25% of whom underwent a laparoscopic procedure. The mean initial body
      mass index was 48.5, the mean age was 51; and 73% were male. In multivariable
      models including all years of data, outpatient, inpatient, and overall
      expenditures significantly decreased in the years after surgery because of higher
      clinical resources required in the months before and during surgery. When
      excluding the 6 months leading up to surgery and the 6 months just after surgery,
      outpatient expenditures remained lower in the postsurgical period, but inpatient
      and overall expenditures were significantly higher. CONCLUSION: Our analyses
      indicate that this cohort of older, male bariatric surgery patients does not
      achieve a reduction in health care expenditures 3 years after their procedure.
      These results are at variance from other, similar published studies and may
      reflect differences in study populations or systems of care.

PMID- 20940652
TI  - The validity of self-reported nicotine product use in the 2001-2008 National
      Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Many researchers rely on high-quality face-to-face national surveys
      conducted by the federal government to estimate the prevalence of nicotine
      product use, but some scholars have suggested that adults' self-reports in such
      surveys are intentionally distorted by social desirability response bias, thus
      raising questions about the validity of those data. OBJECTIVES: To assess the
      validity of face-to-face survey self-reports by comparing them with physiological
      tests. RESEARCH DESIGN: Respondents in the National Health and Nutrition
      Examination Survey provided self-reports of nicotine product use and gave blood
      samples that were analyzed for levels of serum cotinine, an indicator of nicotine
      exposure. SUBJECTS: Nationally representative samples of thousands of American
      adults in National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey surveys conducted in
      2001-2002, 2003-2004, 2005-2006, and 2007-2008. MEASURES: Serum cotinine levels
      and self-reports of nicotine product use. RESULTS: On average, only 1.17% to
      1.25% of adult respondents said that they did not use a product containing
      nicotine, but had elevated cotinine levels. After eliminating the potential
      influence of passive smoking, these figures dropped to 0.89% to 0.94%. This small
      discrepancy between the 2 assessments could be due to measurement error in the
      cotinine test results or to recent use of cotinine-elevating medication.
      CONCLUSIONS: These data do not support the claim that a substantial number of
      adult respondents intentionally under-report nicotine consumption in face-to-face
      interviews. The remarkable accuracy of self-reports of nicotine consumption seen
      here justifies confidence in self-reports of this behavior in such surveys.

PMID- 20940653
TI  - Unemployment among adult survivors of childhood cancer: a report from the
      childhood cancer survivor study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Adult childhood cancer survivors report high levels of unemployment,
      although it is unknown whether this is because of health or employability
      limitations. OBJECTIVES: We examined 2 employment outcomes from 2003 in the
      Childhood Cancer Survivor Study (CCSS): (1) health-related unemployment and (2)
      unemployed but seeking work. We compared survivors with a nearest-age CCSS
      sibling cohort and examined demographic and treatment-related risk groups for
      each outcome. METHODS: We studied 6339 survivors and 1967 siblings >=25 years of
      age excluding those unemployed by choice. Multivariable generalized linear models
      evaluated whether survivors were more likely to be unemployed than siblings and
      whether certain survivors were at a higher risk for unemployment. RESULTS:
      Survivors (10.4%) reported health-related unemployment more often than siblings
      (1.8%; Relative Risk [RR], 6.07; 95% Confidence Interval [CI], 4.32-8.53).
      Survivors (5.7%) were more likely to report being unemployed but seeking work
      than siblings (2.7%; RR, 1.90; 95% CI, 1.43-2.54). Health-related unemployment
      was more common in female survivors than males (Odds Ratio [OR], 1.73; 95% CI,
      1.43-2.08). Cranial radiotherapy doses >=25 Gy were associated with higher odds
      of unemployment (health-related: OR, 3.47; 95% CI, 2.54-4.74; seeking work: OR,
      1.77; 95% CI, 1.15-2.71). Unemployed survivors reported higher levels of poor
      physical functioning than employed survivors, and had lower education and income
      and were more likely to be publicly insured than unemployed siblings.
      CONCLUSIONS: Childhood cancer survivors have higher levels of unemployment
      because of health or being between jobs. High-risk survivors may need vocational
      assistance.

PMID- 20940654
TI  - Quality measurement and system change of cancer care delivery.
AB  - Cancer care quality measurement and system change may serve as a case example for
      larger possibilities in the health care system related to other diseases. Cancer
      care quality gaps and variation exist across both technical and patient-centered
      cancer quality measures, especially among vulnerable populations. There is a need
      to develop measures that address the following dimensions of quality and its
      context: disparities, overuse, patient-centeredness, and uncertainty.
      Developments that may promote system change in cancer care delivery include
      changes in the information market, organizational accountability, and consumer
      empowerment. Information market changes include public cancer care quality
      reporting, enabled by health information exchange, and incentivized by pay-for
      performance. Moving organizational accountability, reimbursement, and quality
      measurement from individual episodes of care to multiple providers providing
      coordinated cancer care may address quality gaps associated with the
      fragmentation of care delivery. Consumer empowerment through new technologies,
      such as personal health records, may lead to the collection of patient-centered
      quality measures and promote patient self-management. Across all of these
      developments, leadership and ongoing research to guide informed system changes
      will be necessary to transform the cancer care delivery system.

PMID- 20940655
TI  - Blue nevus of the tarsus as the predominant component of a combined nevus of the
      eyelid.
AB  - A 40-year-old man presented with a pigmented lesion of the palpebral conjunctiva
      and margin of the right lower eyelid. Because of suspicion of melanoma, the
      lesion was resected. Microscopic examination revealed 2 distinct components: a
      dominant blue nevus in the tarsus consisting of bland pigmented spindle and
      epithelioid cells that dissected among the orbicularis muscle fibers and
      meibomian glands, and a small subepithelial nevomelanocytic component with no
      overlying junctional activity. The diagnosis of a combined nevus was supported by
      minimal Ki-67 nuclear immunoreactivity. While the current lesion was proved to be
      an atypical nevus, all palpebral pigmented lesions should be routinely excised
      because many are melanomas.

PMID- 20940656
TI  - Evaluation of lacrimal tear drainage mechanism using dynamic fluoroscopic
      dacryocystography.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the dynamic change of the canaliculus and the lacrimal sac
      during blinking using fluoroscopic dacryocystography. METHODS: Sixteen patients
      presenting with unilateral epiphora were enrolled in the study. Fluoroscopic
      dacryocystography was performed in both eyes, and sequential images of the
      lacrimal drainage system were acquired during blinking. On examination of the
      contralateral asymptomatic side, the length of the lower canaliculus and the
      width of the superior and inferior portions of the lacrimal sac were measured and
      compared between eyelid closure and opening. RESULTS: The length of the lower
      canaliculus decreased with eyelid closure in 13 of 16 patients, and the change
      was statistically significant (p = 0.006, Wilcoxon signed rank test). The width
      of the superior portion of the lacrimal sac increased with eyelid closure (p =
      0.033), but the width of the inferior part did not change significantly (p =
      0.679). CONCLUSIONS: With eyelid closure, the canalicular system contracts, and
      the superior portion of the lacrimal sac dilates; these may be important parts of
      the active lacrimal pump mechanism. These findings suggested that the canalicular
      system and the superior portion of the lacrimal sac play key roles in active tear
      drainage pump.

PMID- 20940657
TI  - Traumatic ptosis and mydriasis masking Horner syndrome from an internal carotid
      pseudoaneurysm.
AB  - A 46-year-old woman presented after blunt facial trauma for evaluation of
      bilateral orbital floor fractures, which were confirmed by clinical and
      radiographic examination. In addition, findings of right traumatic mydriasis and
      left traumatic ptosis were seen. On close investigation, miosis was noted on the
      side of the traumatic ptosis. Therefore, a workup for Horner syndrome was
      obtained, including neuro-ophthalmic consultation and magnetic resonance
      angiography of the neck. The magnetic resonance angiography showed an internal
      carotid pseudoaneurysm, an uncommon but potentially fatal complication of blunt
      carotid injury. The authors describe an interesting case where a life-threatening
      diagnosis was nearly masked by more common, benign pathology.

PMID- 20940658
TI  - Early experience using a new modified bone nibbler for superior osteotomy during
      endonasal dacryocystorhinostomy.
AB  - PURPOSE: The authors report their experience of using a modified bone nibbler as
      an adjunct to achieving an adequate superior osteotomy for full lacrimal sac
      exposure during endoscopic dacryocystorhinostomy. METHODS: Prospective
      interventional case series of 19 procedures performed from September 2008 to May
      2009. Nasal mucosal flaps were fashioned and osteotomy was started using a
      Kerrison punch. The modified bone nibbler was then used to complete superior
      osteotomy to allow full sac exposure beyond its fundus. Lacrimal sac
      marsupialization and flaps were completed. Primary success was defined as full
      sac exposure equivalent to that normally achieved using powered instrumentation
      (PI) in our unit. PI was used if adequate osteotomy had not been achieved.
      Secondary success was defined as anatomical patency and symptom relief based on
      fluorescein flow on nasoendoscopy and patency to lacrimal syringing. RESULTS:
      Nineteen endoscopic dacryocystorhinostomy procedures in 18 patients were carried
      out with the nibbler by, or under supervision of, the senior surgeon over an 8
      month period. The mean patient age was 52 years (range, 26-78 years). The median
      follow up was 6 months (4-36 weeks). Septoplasty was required in 4 (21%) cases.
      In 16/19 (84.2%) cases, full sac exposure was achieved with the nibbler. Three
      patients required PI to complete the osteotomy. Symptomatic and anatomical
      success with a patent nasolacrimal system was achieved in all cases (100%).
      CONCLUSIONS: We report the use of a new modified bone nibbler for removal of
      superior bone, even as high as the nasal roof, which previously in our practice
      could be removed only with PI. It allows a large osteotomy comparable to that
      achieved with powered endoscopic dacryocystorhinostomy yet avoids the disposable
      costs of PI.

PMID- 20940659
TI  - Modified frontalis suspension technique with review of large series.
AB  - PURPOSE: To describe and report results of a modified frontalis suspension
      technique utilizing direct fixation to tarsus, lash margin rotation, eyelid
      crease fixation, conservative blepharoplasty, and rhomboidal configuration.
      METHODS: A retrospective chart review of frontalis suspension patients over a 28
      year period was performed. RESULTS: Data from 171 eyelids in 93 patients were
      reviewed. Ages ranged from 1 to 84 years with a median age of 16. The indications
      for surgery included the following: congenital ptosis in 107 eyelids (62.6%),
      chronic progressive external ophthalmoplegia in 17 (9.9%), jaw winking ptosis in
      14 (8.2%), blepharophimosis in 12 (7.0%), cranial nerve III palsy in 10 (5.8%),
      traumatic ptosis in 9 (5.3%), and myasthenia in 2 (1.2%). Autogenous fascia lata
      was utilized in 156 lids (91.3%), while silicone rods or banked fascia was used
      in 11 (6.4%) and 4 (2.3%) lids, respectively.Average follow up was 11.7 months
      (range 2 to 108 months). An excellent result was defined as <=1 mm asymmetry in
      primary gaze and an eyelid position of 2.5 mm or less below the superior limbus.
      Eighty-nine of 93 patients (95.7%) achieved excellent results. Six lids in 4
      patients (3.5%) were undercorrected. No patients were overcorrected. Only 2
      patients with autogenous fascia lata (3.4%) required a secondary bilateral
      frontalis suspension at the 2- and 3-year time intervals. CONCLUSIONS: The
      authors believe that technique modifications including direct eyelid crease
      incision and tarsal fixation, conservative fat removal blepharoplasty even in
      children, lash margin rotation, and rhomboidal configuration with single midline
      brow incision give improved results of frontalis suspension when compared with
      conventional techniques.

PMID- 20940660
TI  - Chronic dacryocystitis with spontaneous resolution of sac mucocele: fact or
      fiction.
AB  - The purpose of this study is to highlight the rare possibility of spontaneous
      resolution of a lacrimal sac mucocele by means of a retrospective case note
      analysis. The authors identified 3 patients with nasolacrimal duct obstruction
      and clinical and radiological evidence of mucocele. In all 3 cases, resolution of
      symptoms was reported prior to dacryocystorhinostomy. In each case, the mucocele
      was no longer palpable, and the patency of the nasolacrimal duct was confirmed by
      sac washout. A lacrimal sac mucocele may rarely rupture in the nose and resolve
      spontaneously. Although this is a rare outcome, lacrimal surgeons should be aware
      of this prospect to avoid unnecessary surgery and investigations. The authors
      recommend that lacrimal surgeons present spontaneous resolution as one of the
      possible outcomes in their patient information literature.

PMID- 20940661
TI  - Positive sentinel node in sebaceous carcinoma of the eyelid.
AB  - Sebaceous carcinoma is a rare cutaneous malignancy that is most frequently found
      in the eyelids with an estimated risk of regional lymph node metastasis in the 8%
      to 14% range. The authors have previously reported the use of sentinel lymph node
      biopsy and microscopically positive sentinel lymph nodes in various eyelid and
      conjunctival cancers, including conjunctival and eyelid melanoma and Merkel cell
      carcinoma. The authors herein describe the first successful identification of a
      microscopically positive sentinel lymph node in a patient with sebaceous
      carcinoma of the eyelid, suggesting that sentinel lymph node biopsy for sebaceous
      carcinoma of the eyelid deserves further investigation.

PMID- 20940662
TI  - Orbital volume and eye position changes after balanced orbital decompression.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the changes in eye position and orbital content expansion
      following medial and lateral orbital wall decompression for thyroid-associated
      orbitopathy. METHODS: The authors used a computer software program (syngo
      InSpace4D, syngo 3D, syngo fusion, and syngo Volume Evaluation; Siemens AG,
      Forchheim, Germany) to measure the orbital expansion gained by medial and lateral
      orbital wall decompression and the change in eye position between the digitized
      preoperative and postoperative orbital CT scans. RESULTS: Twenty patients (16
      women and 4 men) with a mean age of 45 years (range, 18-64 years) were enrolled
      in this study. Of the 20 patients who underwent balanced decompression for
      thyroid-associated orbitopathy, 18 patients had bilateral medial and lateral
      orbital wall decompression, and 2 patients had unilateral medial and lateral
      decompression. The average orbital volume expansion was 3.21 mL (13.51%) of the
      preoperative orbital volume (2.1 mL [8.98%] gained by medial wall decompression
      and 1.03 mL [4.53%] by lateral wall decompression). Postoperatively, proptosis
      decreased by 2.53 mm on average (p < 0.0001). The eyes became closer to each
      other postoperatively in the horizontal plane by 2.6 mm on average (p < 0.0001).
      No change in the vertical eye position was detected postoperatively. CONCLUSIONS:
      A significant nasal shift in the eye position was noticed following balanced
      orbital decompression. Computerized assessment of preoperative and postoperative
      digitized orbital CT scans helps evaluate the orbital changes in response to
      different orbital decompression techniques and improve the surgical outcomes in
      thyroid-associated orbitopathy.

PMID- 20940663
TI  - Etiology of tearing: a retrospective analysis of referrals to a tertiary care
      oculoplastics practice.
AB  - PURPOSE: To determine the etiology of tearing among referrals to a tertiary care
      ophthalmology practice specializing in oculoplastics. METHODS: A retrospective
      chart review was conducted of 150 consecutive referrals to our practice for
      tearing. The main diagnosis was noted in all cases as well as treatment offered
      and response to therapy. An anatomical approach was used to classify the tearing
      etiology. The categories included the following: dry eye with reflex tearing,
      tear hypersecretion, ocular surface disease (e.g., pterygium, pinguecula), lid
      abnormalities (e.g., entropion, ectropion), upper lacrimal system (e.g., punctal
      stenosis, canalicular block), and lower lacrimal system (e.g., dacryocystitis,
      dacryostenosis, nasolacrimal duct obstruction). RESULTS: Review of the charts of
      150 consecutive pts referred for tearing revealed that although the most common
      etiology was obstruction of the nasolacrimal system, dry eye with reflex tearing
      was almost as common. Specifically, 48.7% (n = 73) had a blockage of the lacrimal
      system (8% [n = 12] upper system, 40.7 [n = 61] lower system), 40% (n = 60) were
      felt to have dry eye with reflex tearing, 6.7% (n = 10 patients) had a lid
      abnormality, 1.3% (n = 2 patients) had lacrimal hypersecretion, 0.7% (n = 1
      patient) had ocular surface disease, and 2.7% (n = 4 patients) had a normal
      lacrimal system on exam. CONCLUSIONS: Our retrospective review of a series of
      patients referred to our practice for tearing revealed a significant proportion
      of patients whose tearing etiology was other than a nasolacrimal duct
      obstruction. Of particular interest is the fact that 40% of patients had dry eye
      with reflex tearing, and the majority of these improved with lubrication. These
      patients were all identified by performing a Schirmer test to quantify the basal
      tear production. We believe that the Schirmer test is a useful diagnostic tool in
      assessing patients with tearing and ensuring that the appropriate management
      approach is undertaken.

PMID- 20940664
TI  - Digital image analysis to characterize the upper lid marginal peak after levator
      aponeurosis repair.
AB  - PURPOSE: Lid contour is important for eyelid symmetry, but clinical
      quantification can be difficult. The marginal peak is a major determinant of
      upper eyelid contour, and its horizontal position, relative to the mid-pupillary
      line, may be used as a measure of symmetry after surgery. This study used digital
      image analysis to assess the peak position in patients who had undergone levator
      aponeurosis repair. METHODS: An unselected group of patients underwent anterior
      approach levator aponeurosis repair, performed under local anesthesia by a single
      surgeon, using 3 6/0 Vicryl sutures to reattach the levator aponeurosis to the
      upper tarsus. Both before and 2-3 weeks after ptosis repair, digital photographs
      were taken in a fixed format and the images analyzed using NIH imaging software
      to assess the position of the upper eyelid peak. Comparisons were made between
      the pre- and postoperative measurements in the operated eye and between the
      operated eye and its fellow eye. RESULTS: Twenty people (8 male; 40%) underwent
      unilateral levator muscle resection (9 right eyes; 45%). In eyes before ptosis
      surgery, the peak was significantly more medially placed (median +0.17 mm) as
      compared with that of fellow eyes (median +0.80 mm) (p = 0.023). There was a
      significant temporal shift of the median peak after surgery, from +0.17 mm to
      +0.92 mm (p = 0.029). Although there was a minor nasal shift of peak in the
      unoperated eyes after contralateral surgery (median +0.80 mm to +0.64 mm), the
      peak positions for the 2 eyes were not significantly different at 2-3 weeks after
      aponeurosis repair (p = 0.22). CONCLUSIONS: Digital image analysis allows an
      objective assessment of the upper eyelid marginal contour after ptosis repair. A
      nasal shift in the upper eyelid marginal peak has been identified in ptotic eyes
      (as compared with the contralateral side) and, after successful ptosis repair,
      there is a significant temporal shift to match the unoperated fellow eye.

PMID- 20940665
TI  - Puberty is delayed in male mice with dextran sodium sulfate colitis out of
      proportion to changes in food intake, body weight, and serum levels of leptin.
AB  - In boys, inflammatory bowel disease often results in delayed puberty associated
      with decreased bone mineral density and decreased linear growth. Our goal was to
      investigate whether pubertal timing and levels of leptin differed between
      prepubertal male mice with colitis and food-restricted (FR) mice maintained at a
      similar weight. We induced colitis in 32-d-old male mice using dextran sodium
      sulfate (DSS), resulting in 10 d of worsening colitis. We followed up these mice
      for separation of the prepuce from the glans penis as a marker of pubertal
      progression. Compared with free-feeding control mice, DSS and FR mice had
      significantly lower weight on d 7-10 of treatment. DSS mice had later puberty
      than control and FR mice. DSS mice also had smaller testes, lower FSH levels,
      increased systemic cytokines, and increased colonic inflammation by histology.
      Leptin levels were similar between DSS and FR mice, whereas both had decreases in
      leptin compared with controls. We conclude that DSS colitis causes delayed
      puberty in sexually immature male mice beyond what is seen among FR mice of
      similar weight, food intake, and leptin levels. These experiments provide support
      for the hypothesis that pubertal delay in colitis is influenced by factors beyond
      poor weight gain alone.

PMID- 20940666
TI  - Autonomic imbalance in celiac children.
AB  - AIM: Involvement of many organs and apparatus such as heart, central and
      peripheral nervous systems have been reported in celiac disease. Autonomic
      neuropathy has frequently been reported both in untreated and in gluten free diet
      (GFD) adult patients and, to our knowledge, has never been investigated in celiac
      children. The aim of the study was to evaluate autonomic function in children
      with celiac disease. METHODS: Fifteen children with untreated celiac disease were
      enrolled. Fifteen healthy children served as controls. None of the patients was
      diabetic. Central or peripheral neurological diseases, were absent. In all
      participants, at recruitment and after 24 months of GFD, serum anti-tTG and AEA
      levels, inflammatory markers, IgG, IgM and IgA anti-ganglioside antibodies, were
      performed. Heart rate variability indexes were employed to evaluate autonomic
      system balance. RESULTS: Our results indicate that also children with celiac
      disease may exhibit an imbalance of the neurovegetative system with a prevailing
      sympathetic tone, persisting on a GFD. All presented symptoms such as abdominal
      pain, diarrhea or constipation, vomiting, meteorism, regurgitation in whom
      autonomic dysfunction could be involved, but these symptoms disappeared on gluten
      free diet. This tend to exclude the prevailing sympathetic tone as a main factor
      underlying symptoms of celiac disease. CONCLUSION: Children affected by celiac
      disease exhibit an enhanced sympathetic tone, persisting after 24 months of GFD
      whereas gastrointestinal and systemic symptoms disappear. The pathogenesis of
      this phenomenon still remains unclear.

PMID- 20940667
TI  - Safety and adequacy of an optimized formula for pediatric patients with cow's
      milk-sensitive enteropathy.
AB  - AIM: Infants and children with cow's milk-sensitive enteropathy are treated with
      extensively hydrolyzed formulas. A formula (New Alfare) was developed by a
      protein hydrolysis method that yields an amino acid profile that more closely
      resembles human milk compared to previous formulas, and contains nucleotides.
      METHODS: The current study was a prospective, open trial aimed at evaluating the
      safety and nutritional adequacy of this formula for pediatric patients with
      clinical indications for the enteral use of semi-elemental diet. Safety was
      measured as normal growth based on Euro-growth standards for body mass index
      (BMI)-for-age z-scores, and nutritional adequacy was evaluated based on
      measurements of blood parameters. Forty-seven patients <32 months old, having a
      gestational age of >= 26 weeks, and weighing >= 1,500 g were enrolled, and fed
      with New Alfare for four weeks. Weight, length and blood parameters were measured
      at the beginning and end of the study. Signs of tolerance to the formula (amount
      of formula intake, gastrointestinal symptoms and stool characteristics) were
      recorded daily by the parents. Twenty-five patients completed the study with all
      measurements. RESULTS: There was a significant increase in the mean BMI-for-age z
      score (P<0.05) and albumin concentration (P<0.01) after four weeks. Mean plasma
      threonine concentration decreased significantly (P=0.01) and the mean tryptophan
      concentration tended to increase by the end of the study (P=0.06). No adverse
      events related to the study formula were reported. CONCLUSION: These results show
      that New Alfare is safe and nutritionally adequate for pediatric patients with
      cow's milk-sensitive enteropathy.

PMID- 20940668
TI  - Diarrhea in children: etiology and clinical aspects.
AB  - AIM: The aim of this paper was to determine the etiology of diarrhea in children
      with an age <5 years hospitalised for acute enteritis and to evidence the
      prevalent clinical aspects in correlation of different etiology agents. METHODS:
      A total of 402 children with acute diarrhea were examined between February 2003
      and December 2006 in the Paediatric Department, Hospital of Sondrio. Fecal
      samples were collected and was processed by routine microbiological and
      biochemical tests. For all patients the clinical signs and symptoms at the
      admission were evidenced. RESULTS: The major part of patients (310/402, 77.1%)
      resulted infected by rotavirus, while among the remain 82 (22.9%) 40 resulted
      infected by salmonella species and in 42 any bacterial agent was evidenced by
      microbiological tests. Clinical signs of mild dehydration were observed in 13
      children during the hospital stay (all infected by rotavirus), while any case of
      metabolic acidosis, hypoglycaemia and hypovolemic shock was documented. Elevated
      serum levels of uric acid were evidenced in 13/302 (4.3%) of patients with
      rotavirus infection, while only 1/82 (1.2%) children rotavirus negative presented
      a minimal increase of serum uric acid level. CONCLUSION: Our retrospective study
      confirms the major epidemiological and clinical importance of rotavirus, as the
      principal etiologic agent in hospitalised children affected by acute diarrhea
      with an age <5 years. Also, we have evidenced a possible correlation between
      rotavirus infection and hyperuricemia, probably connected with dehydration.

PMID- 20940669
TI  - Intervening factors in forward flexibility of the trunk in adolescents in sitting
      and standing position.
AB  - AIM: Forward flexibility of the trunk (FFT) is used as an indicator of vertebral
      function and assessed using the sit-and-reach and fingertip-ground tests.
      METHODS: FFT was investigated in adolescents and comparisons were made among
      genders, sitting and standing positions, and low and high speed; 102 males and
      females (16 to 20 years of age) participated in the study. RESULTS: The position
      of the body and gender factor had no influence over the flexibility assessment.
      When executed slowly, the values obtained in the test were significantly lower;
      60% of the participants were unable to reach their feet in the slow form and 50%
      were unable to reach their feet in the fast form. Thus, the assessment of
      vertebral function in adolescents should not use the ability to reach their feet
      as a criterion of normality. The fingertip-ground and sit-and-reach tests proved
      to be equally adequate. Greater height and length of limbs are associated to
      lower FFT values. Greater height and lower trunk-head height explain the lesser
      FFT in women; greater length of the lower limbs and lesser arm span explain the
      results for men. CONCLUSIONS: Reaching the feet in either the standing or sitting
      position is a criterion that excludes approximately 50% of adolescents from the
      normality of vertebral function, whereas reaching 12 cm above the ground is
      achieved by 90% of the population. Therefore, the criteria for assessing FFT in
      adolescents need to be reviewed.

PMID- 20940670
TI  - Suicidal behavior in adolescents with post-traumatic stress disorder.
AB  - Recently, the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in adolescence
      is higher than the prevalence of PTSD in adult populations. PTSD and suicidality
      are often found in populations of adolescents presenting with other emotional
      disorders (particularly mood disorders), traumatic grief, childhood abuse, and/or
      a family or peer history of suicide. The reasons and developments of the
      association between PTSD and suicidality in adolescence, however, remain unclear.
      Core psychobiological changes contributing to PTSD affect emotion, arousal,
      perception of the self and the world, irritability, impulsivity, anger,
      aggression and depression. There is evidence that the aforementioned factors, as
      well as alcohol and other drug use may act to moderate the influence of stressful
      life events and lead to eventual suicidality. Both PTSD and suicidality in
      adolescents have also been hypothesized to be a result of exposure to violence
      and negative coping styles. There are many treatment challenges for these
      populations, yet the most promising prevention and treatments include suicide
      risk screenings, suicide education, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, addressing
      associated coping mechanisms and prescribing anti-depressant and anti-anxiety
      medications. However, when prescribing medications, physicians do need to be
      careful to consider the weaknesses and strengths of each of the pharmacological
      options as they apply to adolescents presenting with PTSD and suicidality.

PMID- 20940671
TI  - Pediatric aspects of HIV1-infection--an overview.
AB  - Mother-to-child transmission of HIV1 is the main cause for pediatric HIV1
      infection. Since 1995 in developed countries the rate of vertical HIV1
      transmission was reduced from 40% to 1-2% by the combination of antiretroviral
      therapy of pregnant women, antiretroviral prophylaxis in the newborn and
      refraining from breast-feeding. Nowadays the main causes for HIV1-infection in
      children are 1) not offered (voluntary) HIV1-testing in early pregnancy (in spite
      of recommendation for prenatal care) and 2) missing knowledge about prophylactic
      interventions in HIV1-positive pregnant women and their HIV1-exposed newborn.
      Diagnosis and/or exclusion of HIV1-infection in HIV1-exposed and HIV1-positive
      infants is difficult, because maternal HIV1-antibodies pass the placenta and can
      persist in the child up to two years after birth. Since in 1996 the era of
      "highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART)", the use of an antiretroviral
      three-drug-regimen, began, HIV1-infection in children changed from a fatal
      illness to a chronic disease with decreased mortality and improved qualitiy of
      life. The lack of drug approvement, absence of adequate drug formulation and of
      pharmacokinetic data for children make the treatment of HIV1-infection in
      children much more difficult than in adults. Treatment of children depends on
      clinical category, CD4 cell count, viral load and age of diagnosis. With the
      current state of knowledge (failure of treatment interruption studies in adults
      and pending ones in children) once HAART is started it must be carried on life
      long. This implies great challenges in adherence to avoid development of
      resistance and in confrontation with long-term adverse effects of HIV1-therapy.

PMID- 20940672
TI  - Visceral leishmaniasis in children: a review.
AB  - Leishmaniasis is distributed worldwide and 13 million people are estimated to be
      infected, with about 1.8 million new cases each year. Approximately 50% of these
      patients are children. It should be suspected in children who present with
      specific manifestations and the diagnosis should be established, mainly by the
      demonstration of leishmania in tissue specimens. Molecular techniques could soon
      change this situation considering the promise they have shown in the diagnosis of
      other infectious diseases. Several advances in the treatment of visceral
      leishmaniasis have been accomplished during the past few years. All
      antileishmanial drugs are toxic and most have to be used parenterally for
      prolonged period. The therapy has been further complicated by large number of
      infected children and declining effectiveness of pentavalent antimonial
      compounds. Although the lipid formulations of amphotericin B are an important
      advance in therapy, their high cost precludes their use. Miltefosine, a
      phosphocholine analogue originally developed as anti-malignant drug, has been
      found to be highly active against leishmania in vitro and in animal model. The
      aim of this review is to evidence the recent advances in diagnosis and treatment
      of visceral leishmaniasis.

PMID- 20940673
TI  - [Breastfeeding and infectious diseases: state of the art].
AB  - Despite the well-known nutritive, psychological, immunological and economical
      benefits of breast-feeding, some contraindications exist, such as some mother
      infectious diseases transmitted through the breastfeeding itself. The risk of
      transmitting an infectious agent through breast milk seems to be relatively low,
      except for some virus diseases (CMV HIV), for some invasive bacteria forms
      (Salmonella typhimurium and Brucella) and for the presence of abscesses and
      mastitis. In some mother infectious disease, a correct hygiene allows the
      continuation of breastfeeding without risks for the infant, whereas in other
      cases it is recommended to breastfeed for the role of defence carried out from
      specific antibodies contained in the breast milk. Therefore, the decision of
      interrupting the breastfeeding may be done only after comparing risks and
      benefits, considering current knowledge on transmission of infectious
      pathologies.

PMID- 20940674
TI  - [Influence of prolonged treatment with octreotide on GH, IGF I, insulin, ACTH,
      cortisol, T3, T4 and TSH secretion in a case of congenital chylothorax].
AB  - Congenital chylothorax is a rare condition characterized by the accumulation of
      lymph fluid in the pleural space that causes respiratory and circulatory
      dysfunctions, immune deficiencies, hypoalbuminemia, electrolyte imbalance and
      alterations of the coagulation. Mortality rates are elevated and can rise to 50%.
      Therapy consists in conservative treatment based on thoracic drainage combined
      with total parenteral nutrition or use of low-fat high-protein diet supplemented
      with medium chain triglycerides. In case of failure surgical intervention may be
      considered. During the last years some authors have experienced the use of
      octreotide with doubtful results. In no case the drug impact on insulin, GH and
      cortisol secretion in neonatal age has been investigated and only in one case the
      effect on thyroid hormones has been assessed. We report the case of a 36-week
      baby with congenital chylothorax treated with octreotide for 42 days. The drug
      was well tolerated but hormonal level measurements showed a deep depression of
      insulin secretion unaccompanied by alterations of glucose levels. Levels of GH
      and TSH showed only a transitory decrease. ACTH and cortisol remained normal. At
      5 months, the measurements of hormonal levels did not show significant
      alterations. It is not possible to determine if such a drug played an essential
      role in the solution of the pleural effusion, but it is important to emphasize
      that a prolonged treatment with octreotide has not caused, in our case,
      persistent hormonal alterations.

PMID- 20940676
TI  - Health inequities and health migration: the high burden paid by an Italian
      Children's Hospital.

PMID- 20940675
TI  - A mutation in thyroid hormone receptor beta causing "resistance to thyroid
      hormone" in a neonate.
AB  - Resistance to thyroid hormone (RTH) is an inherited syndrome characterized by
      reduced tissue responsiveness to thyroid hormones. The main defects are due to
      mutations in thyroid hormone receptor beta (TRbeta). A male, term neonate was
      admitted because of indirect hyperbilirubinemia and polycythemia. Physical
      examination revealed ophtalmopathy. High serum T4 with unsupressed thyroid
      stimulating hormone (TSH) levels suggested RTH. In this presented case, A317T
      mutation was detected on exon 9 of the TRb-1 gene and precise diagnosis had been
      confirmed with genetic testing. In neonates and infants exhibiting hypo or
      hyperthyroidism features with increased circulating levels of thyroid hormones
      with a normal or increased serum TSH concentration should raise the suspicion of
      RTH.

PMID- 20940677
TI  - [A pilot study on adolescents of both sexes. Correlation between phenotype,
      athletic performances and family history to type 2 diabetes].
AB  - The authors have studied the influence of family history of type 2 diabetes on
      the physical phenotype of 47 health adolescents. In both sexes groups with
      positive family history (FH+) had the highest values of stature and body weight
      (P<0.05 for males, not significant for females), waist circumference (P<0.05 for
      males, not significant for females), and wrist circumference (P=0.05 for males,
      not significant for females). Considering athletic performance, FH+ males showed
      a significant higher performance in power exercises than FH- males; no
      significant differences were found between FH+ and FH- female groups. The study
      confirms that family history of type 2 diabetes can induce in both sexes
      precocious phenotype and athletic performances linked-related variations; larger
      studies are necessary to confirm these data and to verify preventive
      interventions promoting significant life-style changes.

PMID- 20940678
TI  - Incidence of urinary tract infection in neonates with septicemia: a prospective
      study.
AB  - AIM: The aim of this study was to investigate the incidence and clinical course
      of urinary tract infection (UTI) in neonates with septicemia and also determine
      the most common UTI manifestations in hospitalized neonates. METHODS: A cross
      sectional study was conducted on consecutive febrile infants aged 1 to 56 days
      that were hospitalized in the neonatal intensive care unit. In all neonates with
      positive urine culture, scintigraphy with technetium-99m -labeled
      dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA) and ultrasonography (US) were done. Voiding
      cystourethrography was performed in the course of the illness, generally within 5
      7 days of hospitalization. RESULTS: Positive blood culture was detected only in
      9% of patients. However, 5% of them had positive urine culture. Positive Abnormal
      US findings were present in 2 of 5 (40%) and vesicoureteral reflux (VUR) was
      present in 1 of 5 (20%) of infants with positive urine culture. CONCLUSION: DMSA
      scan revealed renal parenchymal abnormalities in 3 of 5 (60%) neonates with
      urosepsis. The incidence of UTI in neonates with septicemia is low. All neonates
      with sepsis and positive urine culture should undergo a screening renal
      scintigraphy and cystogram for identifying renal parenchymal involvement and
      urinary tract abnormalities.

PMID- 20940679
TI  - Non-invasive ventilation in pediatric intensive care.
AB  - The aims of this paper are: to examine the physiological rationale for
      noninvasive respiratory support (NRS) in children with acute respiratory failure
      (ARF); to review clinical available data and to give some practical
      recommendations to its safe application. NRS is the delivery of ventilatory
      support without the need of an invasive airway. Two types of NRS are commonly
      used in the pediatric population: non-invasive continuous positive airway
      pressure (nCPAP) and non-invasive positive pressure ventilation (nPPV). In
      general, the evidence to promote the use of NRS in children with ARF is scarce.
      However, two randomized studies have been recently published suggesting that nPPV
      ameliorates clinical signs and gas exchange while reducing the need for
      endotracheal intubation. Moreover, nCPAP and heliox may improve clinical scores
      and CO2 washout in infants with severe bronchiolitis, without major
      complications. Data from non controlled studies show that NRS unloads the
      respiratory muscles and that the helmet can be a valid alternative to facial
      and/or nasal mask when nCPAP is administered to children in the early stage of
      ARF.

PMID- 20940680
TI  - A review of polycystic ovarian syndrome in adolescents.
AB  - Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a complex disorder, involving primarily
      ovarian hyperandrogenism in females and linked with insulin resistance in the
      majority of cases. Clinical features are widely variable and include a
      combination of menstrual irregularities, acne, hirsutism, and alopecia. Although
      it typically presents around puberty, several risk factors during childhood may
      help raise a high index of suspicion for the development of PCOS in adolescents.
      The pathophysiology of PCOS still remains unknown and likely includes a
      combination of genetic factors, insulin resistance, and environmental factors. A
      thorough diagnostic work up is required in suspected cases and several management
      modalities have been suggested. Since various long term complications and
      comorbidities are associated with PCOS, early diagnosis and therapeutic
      intervention is warranted in these cases.

PMID- 20940681
TI  - Current management of allergic asthma in children.
AB  - Asthma in children is characterized by recurring symptoms such as wheezing,
      breathlessness, and cough, by airflow obstruction and bronchial
      hyperresponsiveness, and by underlying inflammation. The presence of allergic
      sensitization, and allergic rhinitis in particular, is strongly associated with
      asthma. The goal of management of asthma is to achieve and maintain control of
      the clinical manifestations of the disease. This can be obtained by drug
      treatment, education of patients and care givers, and, in allergic asthma, by
      allergen avoidance and specific immunotherapy. The drugs used in asthma can be
      classified as controllers - such as inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) and leukotriene
      receptor antagonists - or relievers (bronchodilators to be used during acute
      exacerbations of asthma). ICS are the most effective anti-inflammatory
      controllers for the management of persistent asthma in children of all ages, but
      there is no consensus about the optimal starting dose. Dose-response studies
      reported marked and rapid improvement in clinical symptoms and lung function at
      low doses of ICS, and mild asthma is well controlled by such doses in most
      children, this ensuring good safety. If there is no improvement with the initial
      low dose of ICS, an increased ICS dose or additional therapy with leukotriene
      receptor antagonists or long-acting inhaled beta2-agonists should be considered.
      When asthma is caused by allergy to aeroallergens, specific immunotherapy must be
      taken into account, in its two forms of subcutaneous or sublingual immunotherapy.
      The former has complete evidence of efficacy, but the sublingual route is safer
      and more easily accepted by children.

PMID- 20940682
TI  - Optimizing neurodevelopmental outcomes after prematurity: lessons in
      neuroprotection and early intervention.
AB  - In recent decades, advances in maternal-fetal, obstetrics, and neonatal medicine
      have led to the increased survival of preterm infants. Very preterm infants (<32
      weeks gestation), who comprise a small fraction (1.4%) of all neonates, have had
      dramatic increases in their survival. In addition, late preterm infants (33-36
      weeks gestation) are a growing population of all preterm births and may include
      over 10% of all births. Both populations experience ongoing and significant
      challenges once they are discharged from the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU),
      including medical, nutritional, and developmental issues. Similarly, preterm
      infants may experience ongoing challenges once they enter school. As a result,
      clinicians should be aware of the unique neurodevelopmental issues that affect
      this population of children, including what they experience at different
      developmental stages. This review will describe how selected neonatal
      interventions impact on very preterm and late preterm infants. In addition, we
      will discuss the developmental and functional components of school readiness in
      very preterm and late preterm infants, using the International Classification of
      Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF) as a framework for health, enablement,
      disability, and participation. This framework allows us to describe children's
      strengths and challenges across body structure and body function, activities, and
      social roles in the context of child and family supports. We will explicitly
      describe the role of physicians and health professional teams in providing
      ongoing support and coordination of care throughout childhood for preterm infants
      who have experienced neonatal intensive care.

PMID- 20940683
TI  - Nasal obstruction in neonates and infants.
AB  - The main functions of the nasal airway are respiration and olfaction. The nose
      and sinuses condition air before reaching the lower respiratory tract by
      providing almost 100% humidification, warming, filtering and trapping of foreign
      particles. The airway epithelium contributes to the host defense system. Any
      alteration of this clearance system may produce significant problems,
      particularly in neonates, who are obligate nasal breathers until they are at
      least two months old. Nasal obstruction, and the inability to remove nasal
      secretion by nose blowing, may have serious consequences, such as respiratory
      distress or discomfort, altered sleep cycle, increased risk of obstructive apnoea
      and feeding difficulties. Most cases of nasal obstruction in neonates and infants
      are due to generalized nasal airway obstruction associated with neonatal
      rhinitis, viral upper respiratory tract infections, and possibly milk/soy
      allergies. Saline nasal lavage is recommended as an adjunct therapy for
      rhinosinusitis and allergic rhinitis, and in most cases of nasal congestion or
      obstruction in newborns, infants and children. In two recent experiences, was
      deemed to be the Narhinel method safe and effective for treatment of nasal
      congestion in babies with viral infections of the upper respiratory tract, or for
      the prevention of acute otitis media (AOM) and acute rhinosinusitis (AR) in
      children. Due to the efficacy, ease of use, tolerability and the lack of
      alternative medications in children younger than 12 years of age, nasal
      irrigation with physiological saline solution, followed by gentle aspiration,
      represent an effective method for the prevention and control of nasal congestion
      or obstruction in term or preterm neonates, infants and children.

PMID- 20940684
TI  - Suicide prevention among youths. Systematic review of available evidence-based
      interventions and implications for Italy.
AB  - Suicide completion is a leading cause of death for children, adolescents, and
      young adults. There is evidence that the suicide rate for those aged 15 to 24
      years has tripled since 1950, and suicide is now the second or third leading
      cause of death in this age group. Recent studies indicate that the incidence of
      suicide attempts among adolescents may exceed 10% annually. The role of
      caregivers and schools (as well as colleges and universities) is important in the
      assessment, management, and prevention of suicidal behaviour in children and
      youth. Recognition of risk factors for suicide is of paramount importance for
      prevention. Furthermore, a number of educational programs have demonstrated
      possible key roles in implementing suicide prevention strategies. As suicide is a
      problem of concern among Italian youths, this paper overviews current official
      statistical evidence of the phenomenon and suggests a national suicide prevention
      strategy based on a number of tools already involved in this field, especially in
      the USA.

PMID- 20940685
TI  - How do biomaterials affect the biological activities and responses of cells? An
      in vitro study.
AB  - AIM: As part of regenerative bone surgery, according to the principles of tissue
      engineering and GBR, the use of biomaterials aims to restore bone deficiencies by
      restoring both functionality and original morphology of the bone tissue. Besides
      being biocompatible, biofunctional and reabsorbable, the ideal scaffolding should
      possess an osteoinductive geometry, which depends on many physical-chemical
      characteristics and, in particular, on a three-dimensional morphology and the
      placement of molecules, which would determine pore size and interconnection
      between them. The purpose of this study was, therefore, to carry out an analysis
      with a scanning electron microscope, in order to evaluate the effect of the
      diameter size of the scaffold pores on the bio-molecular interaction between
      osteoblast-like MG63 cells and four biomaterials with different pore sizes:
      polylactic-co-glycolic acid, deproteinized bovine bone, equine bone,
      demineralized bone matrix (DBM). METHODS: Through the observations made with SEM
      and X-ray microanalysis, it is possible to infer how the morphology, the
      proliferative ability, the modality of adhesion and the differentiation of MG63
      cells are influenced in different ways by the porous structure of the various
      biomaterials used as a substrate for growth. RESULTS: From among all of the
      biomaterials examined, DBM represented the best substrate for growth; in fact,
      there would be a more intense and precocious adhesion of MG-63 cells. CONCLUSION:
      The strong osteoconductive effect observed in human DBM, seems to be related to
      the presence of the organic component, while the osteoinductive effect would be
      mainly attributed to the presence of BMPs.

PMID- 20940686
TI  - Morphological observations and Fractological considerations on orthodontics
      miniscrews.
AB  - AIM: The purpose of this study was to evaluate morphological and biomechanical
      characteristics of a commercial mini-implant. METHODS: Orthodontic low head mini
      implants, in the two available sizes of 1.5 and 2 mm, have been used. The
      electronic scanning microscope evaluation has been tested on 3 groups each one
      composed of 4 samples, observed in numerous enlargements and in the three
      dimensions of the space. The groups were composed of new mini implants, undamaged
      mini implants observed after their clinical use and mini-implants broken at the
      moment of their insertion or removal after their therapeutical use. RESULTS: The
      microscope analysis of unused mini implants has shown how the diameter reduction
      of the neck represents the area of greater weakness; such parameter is very
      important in determining screw resistance to fracture. In fact the fracture
      observed in vivo always happened to this degree. Some micro carvings and cracks
      were shown on the surface, these irregularities could facilitate or promote the
      enlargement of the cracking itself. CONCLUSION: From the results obtained it is
      clear that the steel is adequate for permanence in the oral cavity, and moreover
      the material itself is adapted to bear the pressure put on it during therapy.
      However, it remains advisable to make certain changes to better the surface and
      geometry of the miniscrews.

PMID- 20940687
TI  - A rapid sample method for HLA haplotype typization. A preliminary study on celiac
      patients.
AB  - AIM: The aim of the present work was to determine the human leukocyte (HLA)
      haplotype in 64 Sardinian patients affected with celiac disease, using a rapid
      and easy to apply sampling method that permits samples from blood drawing to be
      stored more easily. Numerous studies have demonstrated how the HLA system plays a
      very important role in immune system regulation, determining a link between this
      gene and a high number of pathologies including celiac disease. In fact a genetic
      susceptibility exists in celiac sprue, linked to HLA-DQB1*0201 and -DQB1*0302
      genes which represent sierologic groups -DQ2 and -DQ8 whose early identification
      could be fundamental in obtaining a diagnosis of celiac disease. METHODS: To
      realize this study a collecting method of samples was developed through the
      brushing of oral mucosa, which is extremely less traumatic than the classic
      sampling method using blood drawing, and which also allows a long conservation
      period before sample analysis. Samples were later analyzed with Van Embden's DNA
      extraction method to extract the patient's DNA, on which we executed the
      Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). To obtain the HLA haplotype from each patient we
      used 8 specific primers that amplified the HLA-DQB1 allele in low-resolution.
      RESULTS: Out of the 64 patients we found 26 HLA-DQB1*02 homozygotes, 28 HLA
      DQB1*02 heterozygotes and 10 negative samples for the HLA-DQB1*02 allele, thus
      confirming what had emerged from previous blood draws. CONCLUSION: These results
      show how the method we developed using oral brushing is a sure method to obtain
      samples for determining the HLA haplotype in extra-hospital areas. This could
      allow the use of this method to obtain early diagnosis for chronic pathologies
      linked to the HLA groups and for recognizing this genotype in extensive
      population studies.

PMID- 20940688
TI  - Patients appreciation for information on anesthesia and anxiolysis in dentistry.
AB  - AIM: The research regards information on anesthesia to patients undergoing oral
      surgery. Every patient evaluated the information received at the end of the
      preoperative visit and in the postoperative period. METHODS: One hundred-fifty
      dental patients were asked about the most appreciated information received in the
      preoperative visit on the anxiolytic technique, local anesthesia and treatment of
      the perioperative pain. Afterwards the patients had to report on their reaction
      to the content of the preoperative visit and information quality. On a phone
      interview they had to evaluate their appreciation of the anxiolytic technique,
      their perception during loco-regional anesthesia and incidence of pain and edema.
      RESULTS: The most appreciated details were those on the intervention,
      pharmacologic treatment, postoperative complicances, postoperative pain and
      operative competence; less appreciated were those on loco-regional anesthesia,
      duration of the intervention, anxiolytic techniques, hospital reception and
      permanence in the hospital. Ninety-eight percent of the patients considered to
      have been adequately informed on a context judged to be extraordinary (99.3%),
      96.6% indicated the information as necessary, 98.6% appreciated the treatment of
      the intraoperative and postoperative (99.3%) pain and 99.3% the anxiolytic
      treatment. On the telephone interview, 100% of patients expressed satisfaction
      for the experienced intraoperative tranquillity, 91.3% complained for not having
      received in the past a similar preoperative visit, 99.3% wished a diffused
      application of the information. The loco-regional anesthesia was associated to
      psychological detachment in 84% of the cases and the incidence of postoperative
      pain was of 36%. CONCLUSION: The information on the anxiolytic techniques, loco
      regional anesthesia, treatment of perioperative pain and postoperative distress
      was enthusiastically accepted and albeit initially induced feelings of
      astonishment resulted to be appreciated and preferred in the whole of the
      patients.

PMID- 20940689
TI  - Double pathological fracture of mandibula caused by actinomycotic osteomyelitis:
      a case report.
AB  - Actinomycosis is an uncommon chronic granulomatous infection that cause formation
      of abscesses and cutaneous fistula. In mandibular actinomycosis the alveolar bone
      and mandibular body are usually not involved and the pathogenetic mechanisms of
      the actinomycotic infiltration is unknown. The patients usually report pain at
      the alveolar arch with development of a purplish-red swelling firmly attached to
      the mandibula; the fibrous tissue produces the continued development of new
      cutaneous fistulas with oncoming pus-secretion. An uncommon case of actinomycotic
      osteomyelitis with a double pathological fracture of mandibula is reported.
      Ortopanoramic X-ray and computed tomography scan of the mandibula are effective
      and relevant diagnostic procedures to quantify the entity and site of the
      osteolitic areas and to define the precise position of fractures. In association
      with the intravenous infusion of benzilpenicillina, daily local irrigations of
      rifamicina have been performed. Moreover, the patient underwent surgical drainage
      of abscesses with accurate curettage of osteomyelitic lesions and several
      biopsies of the trabecolar bone and fistulas were taken. It has been also
      necessary to perform a mandibular blockage using a resinal plaque anchored on
      premolars. To reach a precise diagnosis, an histopathological examination
      togheter with batterioscopic-coltural examination is needed. Antibiotic therapy
      alone is not a sufficient therapeutic approach and surgical treatment must be
      quickly performed with clean up of the osteomyelitic lesions and contention of
      fractures by alveolar blockage for at least 40 days.

PMID- 20940690
TI  - [Treatment with carnitine, acetyl carnitine, L-arginine and ginseng improves
      sperm motility and sexual health in men with asthenopermia].
AB  - AIM: Among the factors contributing to male infertility, asthenospermia
      constitutes both a health and a social problem frequently associated with
      alterations in sexual function. Studies have shown that acetyl carnitine and L
      arginine improve sperm motility and that ginseng enhances libido and sexual
      performance. This study examined the effect of treatment with carnitine, acetyl
      carnitine, L-arginine and ginseng in men with idiopathic asthenospermia and
      altered sexual function. METHODS: The study population was 180 patients with
      asthenospermia randomly assigned to two groups: group A (90 men) received
      treatment and group B (90 men) did not. The sperm count was 16.6 +/- 3.2 x 106/mL
      and the total sperm motility was 26.5 +/- 3.4%. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Sexual
      satisfaction was measured using the sexual satisfaction index (SSI). At the end
      of therapy, a significant improvement was observed in progressive sperm motility
      on spermiogram evaluation and in SSI scores in the treatment group.

PMID- 20940691
TI  - Serenoa repens (Permixon(r)) reduces intra- and postoperative complications of
      surgical treatments of benign prostatic hyperplasia.
AB  - AIM: The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of pre-treatment with
      Serenoa repens (Permixon(r)) in reducing intra- and postoperative complications
      of surgical treatments of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). METHODS: A total of
      144 patients with BPH, who were candidates for transurethral resection of the
      prostate (TURP) and open prostatectomy (OP), were admitted to the study and
      randomized to receive either a daily pre-treatment with 320 mg of Serenoa repens,
      Permixon(r) for two months prior to surgery (G1) or to undergo surgery without
      any pre-treatment (G2). Preoperative and postoperative courses were carefully
      monitored for each patient. RESULTS: Of the 144 patients, 24 dropped out of the
      trial: 10 in G1 and 14 in G2. In G1, the duration of surgery was significantly
      shorter than in G2 (59.8 min vs. 77.6 min, respectively; P<0.001), no
      intraoperative complications were observed (0% vs. 15% in the control group;
      P=0.001) and transfusion needs were remarkably lower (0% in G1vs. 38.33% in G2;
      P<0.001). The postoperative course was significantly more favorable in G1 (with a
      shorter duration of catheterization, 64.95 h vs. 91.7 h in G2; P<0.001). There
      was also a significant change in hemodynamic parameters and the length of
      hospitalization was significantly shorter in the pretreated group (5.92 d in G1
      vs. 7.92 d in G2; P<0.001). CONCLUSION: These data suggest that pre-treatment
      with Serenoa repens before surgery (TURP or OP) for BPH is effective in reducing
      intra- and postoperative complications.

PMID- 20940692
TI  - Sodium sensitivity and its role in the maintenance of high blood pressure in two
      kidney, one-clip renovascular hypertension after removal of the clipped kidney in
      rats.
AB  - AIM: The aim of the present study was to define the role of sodium balance and
      sodium sensitivity in the maintenance of two-kidney, one-clip renovascular
      hypertension in rats. METHODS: Six months after induction of hypertension,
      systolic blood pressure, sodium balance, water intake and urine excretion were
      measured under normal conditions, after nephrectomy of the clipped kidney, and
      under conditions of sodium load. RESULTS: No difference between control rats and
      rats with or without post-Goldblatt hypertension emerged during the development
      of renovascular hypertension and after nephrectomy of the clipped kidney. Under
      conditions of high sodium intake, the contalateral kidney of the post-Goldblatt
      hypertensive rats was unable to excrete surplus sodium. Sodium retention was not
      correlated with water retention. In contrast to the controls, systolic blood
      pressure increased in the animals with post-Goldblatt hypertension and those with
      post-Goldblatt normotension during the sodium load period. No correlation was
      found between blood pressure increase and sodium retention. The animals were
      considered sodium sensitive in relation to blood pressure. CONCLUSION: In the
      chronic phase of two kidney-one clip renovascular hypertension, the post
      Goldblatt hypertensive and the post-Goldblatt normotensive animals showed sodium
      sensitivity of blood pressure. The contralateral kidney of the post-Goldblatt
      hypertensive animals was unable to excrete surplus sodium under conditions of
      high sodium intake. But this inability and the sodium sensitivity of blood
      pressure cannot be thought responsible for the maintenance of renovascular
      hypertension in this model.

PMID- 20940693
TI  - Personalized approach to prostate cancer prognosis.
AB  - Personalized medicine in the management of patients with prostate cancer is
      limited to the integration of patient attributes such as age, genetic risk and
      comorbidities with specific clinical-pathologic variables including serum
      prostate specific antigen (PSA), imaging and features from the diagnostic
      prostate needle biopsy or prostatectomy specimen including tumor differentiation
      (i.e. Gleason), volume and extent of disease (i.e. tumor length and / or
      percentage, number of positive cores at diagnosis or pathologic stage post
      surgery including margin status). Although the development of various clinical
      statistical instruments such as nomograms have provided a mechanism to
      interrogate such variables, most urologists rely on basic prognostic features of
      stage, grade and PSA along with clinical judgment to define and understand
      individual risk and predict health outcomes. Furthermore, unlike other tumor
      types such as breast cancer, there are no routine ancillary diagnostic studies
      performed on the prostate needle biopsy or prostatectomy specimen to support and
      refine the treatment decision process for the individual patient. In this review
      we will provide a summary of the current practice of predictive statistical
      modeling in prostate cancer and explore how technical advances in functional
      histology have played a role in the development and incorporation of a systems
      based platform for providing a patient-specific risk profile useful for clinical
      decision making.

PMID- 20940694
TI  - Tissue-based molecular markers for bladder cancer.
AB  - Bladder cancer is the second most common genitourinary malignancy in the United
      States, and is a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Despite aggressive
      treatment, survival for patients with muscle-invasive urothelial carcinoma of the
      bladder remains poor. Cancer stage, grade, and other clinical and pathological
      characteristics provide only limited prognostic information, and there is
      significant heterogeneity in patient outcomes using current risk stratification.
      Recent research into the profiling of bladder cancer at the molecular level has
      begun to shed light on important mechanisms of pathogenesis, as well as providing
      a number of potential tissue markers. These may provide useful prognostic
      information and guide patient selection for therapeutic strategies. This review
      explores recent advances in tissue-based molecular markers in bladder cancer and
      their potential utility. We also discuss design and statistical consideration for
      development and validation of molecular markers. A combination of complementary
      and yet independent molecular markers will likely better capture the biologic
      potential of each individual bladder tumor resulting in improved clinical
      decision-making.

PMID- 20940695
TI  - Effect of botulinum neurotoxin on the urinary bladder: novel insights on
      mechanism of action.
AB  - Botulinum neurotoxins (BoNTs) recently tarted to be used in common urologic
      practice for the treatment of neurogenic and non neurogenic detrusor overactivity
      (DO) refractory to all conventional treatments. The rationale was that botulinum
      toxin, particularly BoNT type A (BoNT/A), was able to block the presynaptic
      release of acetylcholine (ACh) from the parasympathetic efferent nerves thus
      paralyzing the detrusor smooth muscle, an action similar to that performed in
      skeletal muscles. With the present review we aimed at assessing the state of the
      art on the mechanisms of function of botulinum toxins in the management of
      urological dysfunctions. We searched PubMed using the medical subject heading
      (MeSH) term botulinum toxin in conjunction with any of the following terms:
      mechanism of action, bladder, afferent and efferent nervous transmission,
      urothelium and suburothelium, detrusor overactivity. Review articles and
      published abstracts were identified by limiting for review and abstract,
      respectively. The reference list of review and original papers were reviewed to
      identify any missed papers. A similar search strategy was applied in EMBASE using
      identical EMTREE terms. Recent evidences in in vivo and in in vitro studies
      suggest that in addition to a direct effect on detrusor motor innervation, BoNT/A
      also modulates intrinsic bladder reflexes through a multimodal effect on sensory
      pathways. Such mechanisms may contribute to the efficiency of this treatment and
      partly explain how it affects abnormal detrusor contractions more markedly than
      voluntary bladder emptying.

PMID- 20940696
TI  - Tips and tricks of laparoscopic partial nephrectomy.
AB  - The field of urology has embraced minimally invasive surgical procedures, from
      endoscopic to laparoscopic to robotic assisted surgery. As these surgical
      techniques are applied to renal cancer, the oncological outcomes need to be
      compared to more traditional open surgery. Laparoscopic partial nephrectomy
      emulates the open surgical technique and has become an alternative to open
      surgery at many academic centers. Still its wide spread adoption has been limited
      by the challenges of renal mass extirpation and renal reconstruction in a timely
      fashion to limit renal ischemia. The following review is designed to assist the
      urologic surgeon in performing a successful laparoscopic partial nephrectomy by
      detailing the "tips and tricks" of the procedure.

PMID- 20940697
TI  - Predictors of success in shock wave lithotripsy of renal and ureteral stones.
AB  - In many centers, shock wave lithotripsy (SWL) is a commonly used modality for the
      treatment of both renal and ureteral calculi. It is non-invasive, may be
      performed using minimal anesthesia, and has a high level of patient acceptance.
      The focus of the present review is to highlight patient and stone characteristics
      which affect the outcomes of SWL, in order to define which patients are proper
      candidates for this treatment.

PMID- 20940698
TI  - [Robot-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy: surgical technique].
AB  - Prostate tumours are among the most frequently diagnosed solid tumours in males
      (a total of 192,280 new cases in the USA in 2009); since the approval of the PSA
      test by the Food and Drug Administration in 1986, incidence has risen
      significantly, particularly in the '90s; furthermore the spread of the PSA test
      has led to an increased frequency of cancer diagnosis at the localised stage. The
      standard treatment for tumour of the prostate is retropubic radical prostatectomy
      (RRP) which however is not morbidity-free, e.g. intraoperative bleeding, urinary
      incontinence and erectile dysfunction. This is why the interest of the scientific
      community has turned increasingly to mini-invasive surgical procedures able to
      achieve the same oncological results as the open procedure, but which also reduce
      the impact of the treatment on these patients' quality of life. The first step in
      this direction was laparoscopic prostatectomy described by Schuessler in 1992 and
      standardised by Gaston in 1997. However, the technical difficulty inherent in
      this procedure has limited its more widespread use. In May 2000 Binder and Kramer
      published a report on the first robot-assisted prostatectomy (RARP) using the Da
      Vinci system (da Vinci TM, Intuitive Surgical, Sunnyvale, CA, USA). From the
      original experience, RARP, which exploits the advantages of an enlarged, three
      dimensional view and the ability of the instruments to move with 7 degrees of
      freedom, the technique has spread enormously all over the world. At the time of
      writing, in the USA, RARP is the most common therapeutic option for the treatment
      of prostate tumour at localised stage. In the present study we describe the RARP
      technique proposed by dr. Vipul Patel, head of the Global Robotic Institute
      (Orlando Fl).

PMID- 20940699
TI  - Laparoscopic and robotic assisted adrenal surgery.
AB  - The aim of this paper is to review the current state of laparoscopic and robotic
      surgery in the mannagement of benign and malignant disease of the adrenal gland.
      Adrenal lesions can be adenomas, pheochromocytomas, myelolipomas,
      ganglioneuromas, adrenal cysts, hematomas, adrenal cortical carcinomas,
      metastases from other cancers, or other rare causes. Laparoscopic adrenalectomy
      (LA) has become the new standard of care for benign adrenal neoplasms and is
      being increasingly utilized for malignant disease. Robotic assistance offers
      unique advantages in visualizing and dissecting the adrenal gland, especially
      considering its challenging vasculature. Series of robotic adrenalectomy (RA) and
      LA show that techniques are both safe and effective compared to open. There is
      also growing evidence in using minimally invasive approaches in adrenal sparing
      surgery. Success in these procedures depends on a firm understanding of adrenal
      anatomy and in careful patient selection. Both LA and RA are offer advantages to
      patients and are comparable in outcomes. RA offers the potential for increased
      visualization and faster learning curve which may allow for both faster, and more
      precise dissection, as well as increased utilization of minimally invasive
      techniques. While LA remains the standard of care, RA is an excellent option in
      high volume robotic centers from standpoints of outcomes, feasibility, and cost.

PMID- 20940700
TI  - The angiopoietin/Tie-2 axis: a novel player in chronic kidney disease.
AB  - The development of atherosclerosis in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD)
      is severely accelerated leading to life-threatening cardiovascular (CV) events
      and its pathogenesis is different from that in the general population. Mainly the
      so-called uremic toxins are thought to count responsible for this phenomenon.
      Recently, the angiopoietin/Tie2 system has been identified as a potential new
      player in the uremia-associated pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. This review
      provides an overview of molecular mechanisms of angiopoietin-1/-2 and Tie2
      signaling in regard to the endothelial activation status in health and disease.
      The first part reviews the role of angiopoietins in experimental models of
      inflammation. Then, we summarize the most important clinical trials showing a
      severely altered angiopoietin balance in favor of Ang-2. Those trials contain
      data on patients with CKD stage 1-4, on dialysis (CKD stage 5), arterial
      hypertension, and diabetes mellitus. Future experiments to prove a direct
      mechanism by which angiopoietins accelerate and/or aggravate atherosclerotic
      burden in CKD patients are highly desirable. Very recently, a clinical trial (in
      oncology) proved safety of a selective angiopoietin inhibitor. Those latest drugs
      might represent a future treatment option against CKD-associated micro
      inflammation.

PMID- 20940701
TI  - Iatrogenic diaphragmatic lesion: laparoscopic repair.
AB  - The increasing use of laparoscopy as first line surgical choice turned the
      iatrogenic diaphragmatic injury during transperitoneal nephrectomy from an
      unfrequent complication into a potential risk. We report the laparoscopic
      management of a iatrogenic diaphragmatic injury during a laparoscopic
      transperitoneal nephrectomy in a 66-year-old woman with a xantogranulomatous
      pyelonephritis due to an infected Staghorn stone.

PMID- 20940702
TI  - The role of the one stop hematuria clinic in reducing time to diagnosis and
      treatment of urological cancers.

PMID- 20940703
TI  - Bilateral double renal arteries and bilateral double renal veins. A color-Doppler
      sonographic finding in a patient with arterial hypertension.

PMID- 20940704
TI  - The WD40-repeat protein Han11 functions as a scaffold protein to control HIPK2
      and MEKK1 kinase functions.
AB  - Protein kinases are organized in hierarchical networks that are assembled and
      regulated by scaffold proteins. Here, we identify the evolutionary conserved WD40
      repeat protein Han11 as an interactor of the kinase homeodomain-interacting
      protein kinase 2 (HIPK2). In vitro experiments showed the direct binding of Han11
      to HIPK2, but also to the kinases DYRK1a, DYRK1b and mitogen-activated protein
      kinase kinase kinase 1 (MEKK1). Han11 was required to allow coupling of MEKK1 to
      DYRK1 and HIPK2. Knockdown experiments in Caenorhabditis elegans showed the
      relevance of the Han11 orthologs Swan-1 and Swan-2 for the osmotic stress
      response. Downregulation of Han11 in human cells lowered the threshold and
      amplitude of HIPK2- and MEKK1-triggered signalling events and changed the
      kinetics of kinase induction. Han11 knockdown changed the amplitude and time
      dependence of HIPK2-driven transcription in response to DNA damage and also
      interfered with MEKK1-triggered gene expression and stress signalling. Impaired
      signal transmission also occurred upon interference with stoichiometrically
      assembled signalling complexes by Han11 overexpression. Collectively, these
      experiments identify Han11 as a novel scaffold protein regulating kinase
      signalling by HIPK2 and MEKK1.

PMID- 20940705
TI  - Visualizing the transfer-messenger RNA as the ribosome resumes translation.
AB  - Bacterial ribosomes stalled by truncated mRNAs are rescued by transfer-messenger
      RNA (tmRNA), a dual-function molecule that contains a tRNA-like domain (TLD) and
      an internal open reading frame (ORF). Occupying the empty A site with its TLD,
      the tmRNA enters the ribosome with the help of elongation factor Tu and a protein
      factor called small protein B (SmpB), and switches the translation to its own
      ORF. In this study, using cryo-electron microscopy, we obtained the first
      structure of an in vivo-formed complex containing ribosome and the tmRNA at the
      point where the TLD is accommodated into the ribosomal P site. We show that tmRNA
      maintains a stable 'arc and fork' structure on the ribosome when its TLD moves to
      the ribosomal P site and translation resumes on its ORF. Based on the density
      map, we built an atomic model, which suggests that SmpB interacts with the five
      nucleotides immediately upstream of the resume codon, thereby determining the
      correct selection of the reading frame on the ORF of tmRNA.

PMID- 20940706
TI  - Chicken HS4 insulators have minimal barrier function among progeny of human
      hematopoietic cells transduced with an HIV1-based lentiviral vector.
AB  - Position effects limit the curative potential of gene transfer strategies for the
      hemoglobinopathies by inducing clonal variability of transgene expression. We
      evaluated the mitigating effects of the chicken hypersensitivity site 4 (HS4)
      insulator among lentiviral vector-transduced human hematopoietic cells. We
      constructed various lentiviral vectors using a green fluorescent protein (GFP)
      reporter under the control of a reverse-oriented murine stem cell virus (MSCV)
      long-term repeat (LTR) promoter or a reverse-oriented beta-globin expression
      cassette. A full-length HS4, a tandem HS4 core, and a single core insulator were
      inserted into the 3' LTR in both forward and reverse orientation. All but the
      reverse single core insulator significantly decreased titers. All reduced %GFP
      without increasing mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) among erythroid progeny of
      transduced human CD34(+) cells. A lower coefficient of variation (CV) was
      observed only among progeny of the full-length vector-transduced cells, yet a
      fivefold reduction in transduction efficiency was observed. In xenografted mice,
      the single core insulator decreased both the %GFP and the MFI at 4 and 8 weeks
      after transplantation with no difference in CVs. These data demonstrate that the
      inclusion of HS4 insulator elements lowers viral titers, reduces efficiency of
      transduction, and produces minimal effects on transgene expression among human
      hematopoietic cells in vitro and in vivo.

PMID- 20940708
TI  - Association between the use of antibiotics in the first year of life and
      pediatric inflammatory bowel disease.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The development of commensal flora in infants has been shown to be
      sensitive to antibiotic use. Altered intestinal flora is thought to contribute to
      the etiology of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), an idiopathic chronic
      condition. We aimed to determine if early use of antibiotics was associated with
      the development of IBD in childhood. METHODS: Nested case-control analysis of the
      population-based University of Manitoba Inflammatory Bowel Disease Epidemiologic
      Database was carried out. IBD status was determined from a validated
      administrative database definition. A total of 36 subjects diagnosed between 1996
      and 2008 were matched to 360 controls, on the basis of age, sex, and geographic
      region. Antibiotic data were drawn from the Manitoba Drug Program Information
      Network, a comprehensive population-based database of all prescription drugs for
      all Manitobans dating back to 1995. Antibiotic use in the first year of life was
      compared between IBD cases and controls. RESULTS: The mean age at IBD diagnosis
      was 8.4 years. Twenty-one cases (58%) had one or more antibiotic dispensations in
      their first year of life compared with 39% of controls. Crohn's disease was
      diagnosed in 75% of IBD cases. Those receiving one or more dispensations of
      antibiotics were at 2.9 times the odds (95% confidence interval: 1.2, 7.0) of
      being an IBD case. CONCLUSIONS: Subjects diagnosed with IBD in childhood are more
      likely to have used antibiotics in their first year of life.

PMID- 20940707
TI  - Sulforaphane increases drug-mediated cytotoxicity toward cancer stem-like cells
      of pancreas and prostate.
AB  - Despite intense efforts to develop treatments against pancreatic cancer, agents
      that cure this highly resistant and metastasizing disease are not available.
      Considerable attention has focused on broccoli compound sulforaphane (SF), which
      is suggested as combination therapy for targeting of pancreatic cancer stem cells
      (CSCs). However, there are concerns that antioxidative properties of SF may
      interfere with cytotoxic drugs-as suggested, e.g., for vitamins. Therefore we
      investigated a combination therapy using established pancreatic CSCs. Although
      cisplatin (CIS), gemcitabine (GEM), doxorubicin, 5-flurouracil, or SF effectively
      induced apoptosis and prevented viability, combination of a drug with SF
      increased toxicity. Similarly, SF potentiated the drug effect in established
      prostate CSCs revealing that SF enhances drug cytotoxicity also in other tumor
      entities. Most importantly, combined treatment intensified inhibition of
      clonogenicity and spheroid formation and aldehyde dehydrogenase 1 (ALDH1)
      activity along with Notch-1 and c-Rel expression indicating that CSC
      characteristics are targeted. In vivo, combination treatment was most effective
      and totally abolished growth of CSC xenografts and tumor-initiating potential. No
      pronounced side effects were observed in normal cells or mice. Our data suggest
      that SF increases the effectiveness of various cytotoxic drugs against CSCs
      without inducing additional toxicity in mice.

PMID- 20940709
TI  - Stent-in-stent technique for removal of embedded esophageal self-expanding metal
      stents.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Partially covered self-expanding metal stents (SEMSs) are regularly
      used for malignant and occasionally for benign esophageal disorders. Safe removal
      of these stents can be challenging due to embedding of the uncovered stent ends.
      Our aim is to report the results of removal of embedded, partially covered SEMSs
      by induction of pressure necrosis using the stent-in-stent technique. METHODS:
      Consecutive patients referred to three endoscopy units in 2007-2009, treated by
      the stent-in-stent technique, were reviewed. The partially covered SEMSs were
      inserted for malignant (n=3) or benign (n=16) conditions and were left in situ
      for a median of 42 days (14-189). When SEMSs were found to be embedded, a fully
      covered self-expanding plastic stent (SEPS) or fully covered SEMS was placed
      inside the partially uncovered SEMS. Subsequent removal of both stents was
      planned after a period of 10-14 days. RESULTS: In total, 23 stent-in-stent
      procedures were performed in 19 patients (10 males). Placement of a fully covered
      stent (SEPS: n=9 and SEMS: n=14) was technically successful in all patients. In
      21 of 23 (91%) procedures, both stents were successfully removed in one procedure
      after a median of 12 days (5-18). In two patients, a repeat stent-in-stent
      procedure was needed for persistent embedding of the partially uncovered SEMSs.
      One (5%) procedure was complicated by severe bleeding, which could be treated
      endoscopically. In seven (36%) patients, the initial disorder had resolved after
      stent removal and no further endoscopic interventions were needed. Two (10%)
      patients were treated with chemoradiation or surgery for esophageal cancer after
      stent removal. In 10 (53%) patients, a repeat endoscopic intervention was
      required during follow-up because of progressive dysphagia or a persisting leak
      or fistula. CONCLUSIONS: The stent-in-stent technique is safe and effective for
      the removal of partially covered SEMSs that are embedded in the esophageal wall.

PMID- 20940710
TI  - Arterial stiffness, its assessment, prognostic value, and implications for
      treatment.
AB  - Arterial stiffness has been known as a sign of cardiovascular risk since the 19th
      century. Despite this, accurate measurement and clinical utility have only
      emerged in recent times. Arterial stiffness and its hemodynamic consequences are
      now established as predictors of adverse cardiovascular outcome. They are easily
      and reliably measured using a range of noninvasive techniques, which can be used
      readily by risk assessment facilities or individual practitioners. The techniques
      described in this review are based on the pulsatility of the cardiovascular
      system, utilizing the timing of pulse travel along major arteries and the
      magnitude of wave reflection. These have enabled better understanding of the ill
      effects of arterial stiffening, not only on large arteries and the left
      ventricle, but also on tiny arteries in highly perfused organs such as brain and
      kidneys. Treatment options, which directly target the consequences of arterial
      stiffening, as opposed to arbitrary reduction of brachial blood pressure, have
      proved clinical superiority; optimal therapy entails use of angiotensin
      converting enzyme inhibitors, angiotensin-receptor blockers, and calcium-channel
      blockers, as well as vasodilating beta-blockers. Arterial stiffness will
      undoubtedly contribute to cardiovascular assessment and management in future
      clinical practice. Reviews such as this will hopefully increase awareness of the
      mounting evidence underlying this transition, and the relevant theory and
      methodology. As we begin the second decade of the 21st century, we are finally
      collectively coming to realize what pioneers such as Osler, Roy, Bramwell and
      Hill foresaw in the 19th and 20th centuries.

PMID- 20940711
TI  - Arterial stiffness and gait speed in older adults with and without peripheral
      arterial disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Central arterial stiffness is increasingly recognized as an important
      predictor of cardiovascular events and mortality in older adults; however, few
      studies have evaluated the association of arterial stiffness with mobility
      decline, a common consequence of vascular disease. METHODS: We analyzed the
      association of pulse wave velocity (PWV), a measure of aortic stiffness, with
      longitudinal gait speed over 7 years in 2,172 participants in the Health, Aging
      and Body Composition (ABC) Study (mean age +/- s.d. 73.6 +/- 2.9 years, 48% men,
      39% black). RESULTS: In mixed-effects models adjusted for demographics, each s.d.
      (396 cm/s) higher PWV was associated with 0.015 (s.e. 0.004) m/s slower gait at
      baseline and throughout the study period in the full cohort (P < 0.001); this
      relationship was largely explained by hypertension and other vascular risk
      factors. Among participants with peripheral arterial disease (PAD) (n = 261;
      12.7%), each s.d. higher PWV was independently associated with 0.028 (s.e. 0.010)
      m/s slower gait speed at baseline and throughout the study period (P < 0.01).
      CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that aortic stiffness may be especially
      detrimental to mobility in older adults with already compromised arterial
      function.

PMID- 20940712
TI  - Home blood pressure monitoring in the diagnosis and treatment of hypertension: a
      systematic review.
AB  - BACKGROUND: It is recognized that for the reliable assessment of blood pressure
      (BP) and the accurate diagnosis of hypertension, out-of-office BP measurement
      with ambulatory (ABPM) or home BP monitoring (HBPM) is often required. The
      clinical usefulness of ABPM is well established. However, despite the wide use of
      HBPM, only in the last decade convincing evidence on its usefulness has
      accumulated. METHODS: Systematic review of the evidence on applying HBPM in the
      diagnosis and treatment of hypertension (PubMed, Cochrane Library, 1970-2010).
      RESULTS: Sixteen studies in untreated and treated subjects assessed the
      diagnostic ability of HBPM by taking ABPM as reference. Seven randomized studies
      compared HBPM vs. office measurements or ABPM for treatment adjustment, whereas
      many studies compared HBPM with office measurements in assessing the
      antihypertensive drug effects. Several studies with different design investigated
      the role of HBPM vs. office measurements in improving patients' compliance with
      treatment and hypertension control rates. The evidence on the cost-effectiveness
      of HBPM is limited. The studies reviewed consistently showed moderate diagnostic
      agreement between HBPM and ABPM, and superiority of HBPM compared to office
      measurements in diagnosing uncontrolled hypertension, assessing antihypertensive
      drug effects and improving patients' compliance and hypertension control.
      Preliminary evidence suggests that HBPM has the potential for cost savings.
      CONCLUSIONS: There is conclusive evidence that HBPM is useful for the initial
      diagnosis and the long-term follow-up of treated hypertension. These data are
      useful for the optimal application of HBPM, which is widely used in clinical
      practice. More studies on the cost-effectiveness of HBPM are needed.

PMID- 20940713
TI  - Diagnostic value of transthoracic Doppler echocardiography in pulmonary
      hypertension: a meta-analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A commonly used noninvasive method, transthoracic Doppler
      echocardiography (TDE) has been widely recommended for the diagnosis of pulmonary
      hypertension (PH). We aimed to review comprehensively the evidence for the use of
      TDE to diagnose PH. METHODS: After a systematic review of English-language
      studies, we used random-effects models to pool sensitivity, specificity, and
      other measures of accuracy of TDE for the diagnosis of PH. Summary receiver
      operating characteristic (SROC) curves were used to summarize overall test
      performance. RESULTS: Six studies met our inclusion criteria. The summary
      estimates for TDE in the diagnosis of PH in the included studies were as follows:
      sensitivity, 0.82 (95% confidence interval (CI), 0.76-0.88); specificity, 0.68
      (95% CI, 0.64-0.72); positive likelihood ratio (PLR), 2.88 (95% CI, 1.77-4.70);
      negative likelihood ratio (NLR), 0.31 (95% CI, 0.18-0.53); and diagnostic odds
      ratio (DOR), 11.36 (95% CI, 4.62-27.94). CONCLUSIONS: Current evidence suggests
      that TDE is a test with acceptable mixed sensitivity, but in isolation, it has
      insufficient specificity for detecting PH. It may be useful as a first-line
      surveillance modality in patients in whom PH is suspected. The value of the
      combination of TDE with other noninvasive methods for PH detection warrants
      further investigation.

PMID- 20940714
TI  - The ouabain-binding site of the alpha2 isoform of Na,K-ATPase plays a role in
      blood pressure regulation during pregnancy.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The cardiotonic steroid/ouabain-binding site of the alpha subunit of
      Na,K-ATPase is thought to play an important role in cardiovascular homeostasis.
      Previously, we demonstrated the cardiotonic steroid-binding site of the alpha2
      Na,K-ATPase is involved in adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH)-induced
      hypertension by using gene-modified alpha2(R/R) mice in which the cardiotonic
      steroid-binding site is relatively resistant to ouabain compared to the ouabain
      sensitive wild-type alpha2(S/S) mice. To further explore the importance of this
      site in the cardiovascular system, we investigated blood pressure regulation
      during pregnancy in mice with the alpha2(R/R) isoform. METHODS: The systolic
      blood pressure (SBP) of the alpha2(S/S) and alpha2(R/R) mice was measured before
      and during pregnancy by tail-cuff. The expression of the alpha isoforms of Na, K
      ATPase in various tissues and plasma endogenous ouabain contents were assessed
      prior to pregnancy as well as days 7 and 17 of gestation. RESULTS: The
      alpha2(S/S) mice showed a gradual decrease in the SBP during the first two
      trimesters, followed by an increase above the preconceptional level in the third
      trimester. However, the alpha2(R/R) mice exhibited a lower blood pressure in the
      third trimester. The cardiac expression of the alpha2 Na,K-ATPase in the
      alpha2(S/S) mice was significantly less than that of the alpha2(R/R) mice
      throughout the pregnancy. The plasma endogenous ouabain concentration
      significantly increased by twofold at day 17 of pregnancy in the alpha2(R/R) mice
      but not in the alpha2(S/S) mice. CONCLUSIONS: The cardiotonic steroid-binding
      site of the alpha2 Na,K-ATPase plays a role in maintaining normal SBP during
      pregnancy.

PMID- 20940715
TI  - Mitochondrial injury underlies hyporeactivity of arterial smooth muscle in severe
      shock.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Our previous data showed membrane hyperpolarization of arteriolar
      smooth muscle cells (ASMCs) caused by adenosine triphosphate (ATP)-sensitive
      potassium channels (K(ATP)) activation contributed to vascular hyporeactivity in
      shock. Despite supply of oxygen and nutrients, vascular hyporeactivity to
      vasoconstrictor agents still remains, which may result from low ATP level. The
      study was designed to investigate shock-induced mitochondrial changes of rat
      ASMCs in the genesis and treatment of hypotension in severe shock. METHODS: The
      animals were divided into four groups: controls, hemorrhagic shock, CsA+shock
      (preadministration of cyclosporin A before bleeding), and ATR+CsA+shock
      (preadministration of atractyloside, followed by CsA and bleeding). ASMCs were
      isolated and the ultrastructure and function of ASMC mitochondria and the
      vasoresponsiveness to norepinephrine (NE) was measured on microcirculatory
      preparations. RESULTS: Ultrastructurally, the hemorrhagic shock group showed
      swollen mitochondria with poorly defined cristae. In this group, the number of
      ASMCs with low mitochondrial membrane potential (Deltapsi(m)) was increased by
      49.7%, and the intracellular ATP level was reduced by 82.1%, which led to
      activation of K(ATP) plasma membrane channels with resultant ASMC
      hyperpolarization and low vasoreactivity. These changes were reduced in the
      CsA+shock group. When mitochondrial damage was aggravated by ATR in the
      ATR+CsA+shock group, the CsA did not protect. Compared to the shock group,
      vasoresponsiveness to NE was much improved in the CsA+shock group. CONCLUSIONS:
      Mitochondrial ASMC dysfunction is involved in the genesis of reduced
      vasoreactivity in severe shock. Mitochondrial protection may therefore be a new
      approach in the treatment of shock-induced hypotension.

PMID- 20940716
TI  - Dose-finding study and pharmacogenomic analysis of fixed-rate infusion of
      gemcitabine, irinotecan and bevacizumab in pretreated metastatic colorectal
      cancer patients.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To determine the dose-limiting toxicity (DLT), maximum tolerated
      dose, recommended dose (RD) and preliminary evidence of activity of escalating
      doses of irinotecan (CPT-11) fixed-dose-rate infusional gemcitabine (FDR-GMB) and
      bevacizumab in pretreated metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) patients.
      Pharmacogenomic analysis was performed to investigate the association between
      VEGF single-nucleotide polymorphisms and clinical outcome. PATIENTS AND METHODS:
      A total of 89 mCRC patients were recruited in a two-step study design; 28 were
      included in the dose-finding study and 59 in the pharmacogenomic analysis. The
      FDR-GMB of 1000 mg m-2, bevacizumab 5 mg kg-1 and CPT-11 doses ranging from 100
      to 160 mg m-2 were explored. The VEGF protein serum levels were quantified by
      EIA. Allelic discrimination was performed to genotype polymorphisms in the VEGF
      gene. RESULTS: CPT-11 RD was 150 mg m-2. Diarrhoea and neutropenia were the DLT.
      After a median follow-up of 42 months, the median time to progression (TTP) and
      overall survival were 5.2 and 19.9 months, respectively. VEGF levels were
      significantly correlated with VEGF-2578AA and VEGF-460CC genotypes, and a trend
      was observed with VEGF+405GG genotype. The presence of any of these genotypes
      correlated with a longer median TTP (8.8 vs 4.5 months, P=0.04). CONCLUSION: The
      triplet combination tested in this study is effective and well tolerated. A
      possible predictive role for VEGF gene polymorphisms and baseline VEGF
      circulating levels is suggested.

PMID- 20940717
TI  - A case-control study of risk of leukaemia in relation to mobile phone use.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mobile phone use is now ubiquitous, and scientific reviews have
      recommended research into its relation to leukaemia risk, but no large studies
      have been conducted. METHODS: In a case-control study in South East England to
      investigate the relation of acute and non-lymphocytic leukaemia risk to mobile
      phone use, 806 cases with leukaemia incident 2003-2009 at ages 18-59 years (50%
      of those identified as eligible) and 585 non-blood relatives as controls
      (provided by 392 cases) were interviewed about mobile phone use and other
      potentially aetiological variables. RESULTS: No association was found between
      regular mobile phone use and risk of leukaemia (odds ratio (OR)=1.06, 95%
      confidence interval (CI)=0.76, 1.46). Analyses of risk in relation to years since
      first use, lifetime years of use, cumulative number of calls and cumulative hours
      of use produced no significantly raised risks, and there was no evidence of any
      trends. A non-significantly raised risk was found in people who first used a
      phone 15 or more years ago (OR=1.87, 95% CI=0.96, 3.63). Separate analyses of
      analogue and digital phone use and leukaemia subtype produced similar results to
      those overall. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that use of mobile phones does not
      increase leukaemia risk, although the possibility of an effect after long-term
      use, while biologically unlikely, remains open.

PMID- 20940718
TI  - Phase II randomised trial of chemoradiotherapy with FOLFOX4 or cisplatin plus
      fluorouracil in oesophageal cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Concurrent chemoradiotherapy is a valuable treatment option for
      localised oesophageal cancer (EC), but improvement is still needed. A randomised
      phase II trial was initiated to assess the feasibility and efficacy in terms of
      the endoscopic complete response rate (ECRR) of radiotherapy with oxaliplatin,
      leucovorin and fluorouracil (FOLFOX4) or cisplatin/fluorouracil. METHODS:
      Patients with unresectable EC (any T, any N, M0 or M1a), or medically unfit for
      surgery, were randomly assigned to receive either six cycles (three concomitant
      and three post-radiotherapy) of FOLFOX4 (arm A) or four cycles (two concomitant
      and two post-radiotherapy) of cisplatin/fluorouracil (arm B) along with
      radiotherapy 50 Gy in both arms. Responses were reviewed by independent experts.
      RESULTS: A total of 97 patients were randomised (arm A/B, 53/44) and 95 were
      assessable. The majority had squamous cell carcinoma (82%; arm A/B, 42/38).
      Chemoradiotherapy was completed in 74 and 66%. The ECRR was 45 and 29% in arms A
      and B, respectively. Median times to progression were 15.2 and 9.2 months and the
      median overall survival was 22.7 and 15.1 months in arms A and B, respectively.
      CONCLUSION: Chemoradiotherapy with FOLFOX4, a well-tolerated and convenient
      combination with promising efficacy, is now being tested in a phase III trial.

PMID- 20940722
TI  - Spotlight series on stem cell mobilization: many hands on the ball, but who is
      the quarterback?

PMID- 20940720
TI  - Phase II study of nedaplatin and irinotecan with concurrent thoracic radiotherapy
      in patients with locally advanced non-small-cell lung cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Current international guidelines recommend the use of platinum-based
      chemotherapy with thoracic radiotherapy (TRT) for patients with locally advanced
      non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). METHODS: Patients with unresectable stage
      IIIA or IIIB NSCLC were treated with nedaplatin (NP) at 50 mg m(-2) and
      irinotecan (CPT) at 60 mg m(-2) on days 1 and 8 every 4 weeks for two to four
      cycles with concurrent TRT (2 Gy per day, total 60 Gy). RESULTS: All 35 patients
      were able to receive a total of 60 Gy. Adverse effects and events in chemotherapy
      with TRT were grade 3 or 4 anaemia, neutropenia and thrombocytopenia, which
      occurred in 3.0%, 32.8% and 6.0% of patients, respectively. There was no grade 3
      pneumonitis or oesophagitis. Adverse effects and events in chemotherapy alone
      were mild. There was no treatment-related death. An overall response rate was
      94.3%. The median progression-free and overall survivals were 13.0 and 36.0
      months, respectively. The 5-year disease-free and overall survival rates were
      25.7% and 40.0%, respectively. CONCLUSION: NP and CPT treatment with concurrent
      TRT is effective and safe for patients with unresectable, locally advanced NSCLC.

PMID- 20940719
TI  - A retrospective observational study on the safety and efficacy of first-line
      treatment with bevacizumab combined with FOLFIRI in metastatic colorectal cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Combination of bevacizumab and FOLFIRI has currently become one of
      the standard therapeutic regimens. However, published information is still
      limited. The objective of the present retrospective observational study is to
      analyse the response and toxicity of first-line treatment with
      FOLFIRI+bevacizumab in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC).
      METHODS: Data were collected from patients from nine Spanish sites diagnosed with
      mCRC, ECOG<=2, whose first treatment for advanced disease was at least three
      cycles of FOLFIRI+bevacizumab. RESULTS: A total of 95 patients were enrolled into
      the study: 64.2% males, median age of 59 years (53.2-67.1 years), ECOG=0-1 in
      96.9% of patients. The main site of primary tumour was the colon (69.7%), and
      most metastases occurred in the liver (71.6%). Clinical benefit was detected in
      67.4% (57.0-76.6; 95% confidence interval (CI)), with 8.4% of CR and 42.1% of PR.
      Median TTP was 10.6 months (10.0-11.3; 95% CI), PFS was 10.6 months (9.8-11.3;
      95% CI), and OS was 20.7 months (17.1-24.2; 95% CI). Main grade I-II toxicities
      included haematological toxicity (35.8%), diarrhea (27.3%), mucositis (25.3%),
      asthenia (19.0%), haemorrhages (11.6%), and emesis (10.6%). Toxicities reaching
      grades III-IV were haematological toxicity (9.5%), diarrhea (8.5%), mucositis
      (5.3%), hepatic toxicity (2.1%), asthenia (2.1%), proteinuria (1.1%), emesis
      (1.1%), pain (1.1%), and colics (1.1%). CONCLUSION: Results of this study support
      the beneficial effect of adding bevacizumab to FOLFIRI regimen in terms of
      efficacy and show a favourable tolerability profile.

PMID- 20940723
TI  - Dependence of vacuole disruption and independence of potassium ion efflux in
      fungicidal activity induced by combination of amphotericin B and allicin against
      Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
AB  - Allicin selectively enhances the fungicidal activity of amphotericin B (AmB). It
      also accelerates AmB-induced vacuole disruption but does not affect AmB-induced
      potassium ion efflux in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Candida albicans. The
      fungicidal activity of AmB alone or combined with allicin was further evaluated
      based on the relationship among cell viability, vacuole disruption and potassium
      ion efflux in S. cerevisiae. Lethality and vacuole disruption caused by AmB alone
      were completely restricted when K(+) and Mg(2+) were added to the growth medium.
      On the other hand, in identical conditions, the combination of AmB and allicin
      induced both lethality and vacuole disruption. S. cerevisiae Deltaerg6 cells,
      which lack ergosterol in plasma membrane, were mostly resistant to AmB as well as
      the combination of AmB and allicin against both lethality and vacuole disruption.
      The incorporation of AmB into the cytoplasm of Deltaerg6 cells was significantly
      reduced in comparison with that in parent cells, regardless of the presence of
      allicin. Our results suggest that the fungicidal activity of AmB combined with
      allicin is involved in vacuole disruption but not in potassium ion efflux, and
      that the expression of allicin-mediated activity of AmB requires the presence of
      ergosterol in the plasma membrane.

PMID- 20940724
TI  - A new assay to determine oritavancin concentrations.

PMID- 20940726
TI  - Antibiotic R2, a new angucyclinone compound from Streptosporangium sp. Sg3.

PMID- 20940725
TI  - Decalpenic acid, a novel small molecule from Penicillium verruculosum CR37010,
      induces early osteoblastic markers in pluripotent mesenchymal cells.
AB  - Osteoblasts are the cells responsible for bone formation during embryonic
      development and adult life. Small compounds that could induce osteoblast
      differentiation might be promising sources of therapies for bone diseases such as
      osteoporosis. During screening for inducers of osteoblast differentiation of
      mouse pluripotent mesenchymal C3H10T1/2 cells, we isolated a small compound from
      the fermentation broth of Penicillium verruculosum CR37010. This compound, named
      decalpenic acid, bears a decalin moiety with a tetraenoic acid side chain.
      Treatment of C3H10T1/2 cells with decalpenic acid alone induced the expression of
      early osteoblast markers, such as alkaline phosphatase activity and osteopontin
      mRNA, but did not induce the late osteoblast marker osteocalcin mRNA or adipocyte
      markers under our experimental conditions.

PMID- 20940727
TI  - Tumor necrosis factor alpha and Fas receptor contribute to cognitive deficits
      independent of cell death after concussive traumatic brain injury in mice.
AB  - Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFalpha) and Fas receptor contribute to cell death
      and cognitive dysfunction after focal traumatic brain injury (TBI). We examined
      the role of TNFalpha/Fas in postinjury functional outcome independent of cell
      death in a novel closed head injury (CHI) model produced with weight drop and
      free rotational head movement in the anterior-posterior plane. The CHI produced
      no cerebral edema or blood-brain barrier damage at 24 to 48 hours, no detectable
      cell death, occasional axonal injury (24 hours), and no brain atrophy or
      hippocampal cell loss (day 60). Microglia and astrocytes were activated (48 to 72
      hours). Tumor necrosis factor-alpha mRNA, Fas mRNA, and TNFalpha protein were
      increased in the brain at 3 to 6 hours after injury (P<0.001 versus sham
      injured). In wild-type (WT) mice, CHI produced hidden platform (P=0.009) and
      probe deficits (P=0.001) in the Morris water maze versus sham. Surprisingly,
      injured TNFalpha/Fas knockout (KO) mice performed worse in hidden platform trials
      (P=0.036) but better in probe trials than did WT mice (P=0.0001). Administration
      of recombinant TNFalpha to injured TNFalpha/Fas KO mice reduced probe trial
      performance to that of WT. Thus, TNFalpha/Fas influence cognitive deficits
      independent of cell death after CHI. Therapies targeting TNFalpha/Fas together
      may be inappropriate for patients with concussive TBI.

PMID- 20940728
TI  - Dynamics of regional distribution of ischemic lesions in middle cerebral artery
      trunk occlusion relates to collateral circulation.
AB  - We describe the regional distribution of acute perfusion, diffusion, and final
      infarct lesions in middle cerebral artery (MCA) trunk occlusion. A total of 31
      patients with acute ischemic stroke and MCA trunk occlusion were studied by
      multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging. Probabilistic maps of lesion
      distribution were generated. The probability of initial and final infarcts was
      highest in the central MCA region with decreasing probability toward the
      periphery where the probability of the tissue at risk of infarction to be saved
      was highest. The probability of brain regions being involved in acute diffusion
      lesions and evolving into or escaping from the final infarct relates to the
      anatomy of arterial blood supply.

PMID- 20940729
TI  - Estrogen enhances neurogenesis and behavioral recovery after stroke.
AB  - Stroke is a leading cause of permanent disability and death. It is well accepted
      that the principal mammalian estrogen (E2), 17-beta estradiol, provides robust
      neuroprotection in a variety of brain injury models in animals of both sexes. E2
      enhances neurogenesis after stroke in the subventricular zone; however, it is
      unknown if these cells survive long-term or enhance functional recovery. In this
      study, we examined stroke-induced neurogenesis in male, gonadally intact female,
      and ovariectomized female mice 2 and 6 weeks after stroke. Treatment with 17-beta
      estradiol increased 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine-labeled cells at both time points in
      both the dentate gyrus and subventricular zone; the majority were colabeled with
      doublecortin at 2 weeks and with NeuN at 6 weeks. Stroke-induced neurogenesis was
      reduced in estrogen receptor knockout mice, as well as in mice lacking the gene
      for aromatase, which converts testosterone into E2. Improved behavioral deficits
      were seen in E2-treated mice, suggesting that E2-induced increases in poststroke
      neurogenesis contribute to poststroke recovery.

PMID- 20940730
TI  - Striatal and cortical BOLD, blood flow, blood volume, oxygen consumption, and
      glucose consumption changes in noxious forepaw electrical stimulation.
AB  - Recent reports showed noxious forepaw stimulation in rats evoked an unexpected
      sustained decrease in cerebral blood volume (CBV) in the bilateral striatum,
      whereas increases in spike activity and Fos-immunoreactive cells were observed.
      This study aimed to further evaluate the hemodynamic and metabolic needs in this
      model and the sources of negative functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)
      signals by measuring blood oxygenation-level-dependent (BOLD), cerebral-blood
      flow (CBF), CBV, and oxygen-consumption (i.e., cerebral metabolic rate of oxygen
      (CMRO(2))) changes using an 11.7-T MRI scanner, and glucose-consumption (i.e.,
      cerebral metabolic rate of glucose (CMRglc)) changes using micro-positron
      emission tomography. In the contralateral somatosensory cortex, BOLD, CBF, CBV,
      CMRO(2) (n=7, P<0.05), and CMRglc (n=5, P<0.05) increased. In contrast, in the
      bilateral striatum, BOLD, CBF, and CBV decreased (P<0.05), CMRO(2) decreased
      slightly, although not significantly from baseline, and CMRglc was not
      statistically significant from baseline (P>0.05). These multimodal functional
      imaging findings corroborate the unexpected negative hemodynamic changes in the
      striatum during noxious forepaw stimulation, and support the hypothesis that
      striatal hemodynamic response is dominated by neurotransmitter-mediated
      vasoconstriction, overriding the stimulus-evoked fMRI signal increases commonly
      accompany elevated neuronal activity. Multimodal functional imaging approach
      offers a means to probe the unique attributes of the striatum, providing novel
      insights into the neurovascular coupling in the striatum. These findings may have
      strong implications in fMRI studies of pain.

PMID- 20940731
TI  - Altered expression and function of ryanodine receptors and FKBP12.6 after
      subarachnoid hemorrhage: more than meets the eye.
AB  - Subarachnoid hemorrhage decreases the expression of ryanodine receptors and
      increases the expression of the immunophilin, FK506-binding protein (FKBP)12.6 in
      cerebrovascular smooth muscle cells, reducing the occurrence of Ca(2+) sparks,
      limiting negative feedback regulation of cerebrovascular tone and promoting
      vasospasm. However, given the large number of binding partners with which
      FKBP12.6 and related proteins interact, it appears likely that the altered
      expression of this immunophilin will have a broader impact on cerebrovascular
      smooth muscle function. In addition, the mechanisms responsible for the measured
      changes in expression of ryanodine receptors and FKBP12.6 yet remain unknown.
      These topics should prove to be fertile ground for future studies.

PMID- 20940732
TI  - Resveratrol attenuates oxidized LDL-evoked Lox-1 signaling and consequently
      protects against apoptotic insults to cerebrovascular endothelial cells.
AB  - Cerebrovascular endothelial cells (CECs) are crucial components of the blood
      brain barrier. Our previous study showed that oxidized low-density lipoprotein
      (oxLDL) induces apoptosis of CECs. This study was designed to further evaluate
      the effects of resveratrol on oxLDL-induced CEC insults and its possible
      molecular mechanisms. Resveratrol decreased the oxidation of LDL into oxLDL.
      Additionally, the oxLDL-caused oxidative stress and cell damage were attenuated
      by resveratrol. Exposure of CECs to oxLDL induced cell shrinkage, DNA
      fragmentation, and cell apoptosis, but resveratrol defended against such
      injuries. Application of Lox-1 small interference (si)RNA into CECs reduced the
      translation of this membrane receptor, and simultaneously increased resveratrol
      protection from oxLDL-induced cell apoptosis. By comparison, overexpression of
      Lox-1 attenuated resveratrol protection. Resveratrol inhibited oxLDL-induced Lox
      1 mRNA and protein expressions. Both resveratrol and Lox-1 siRNA decreased oxLDL
      enhanced translocation of proapoptotic Bcl-2-associated X protein (Bax) from the
      cytoplasm to mitochondria. Sequentially, oxLDL-induced alterations in the
      mitochondrial membrane potential, cytochrome c release, and activities of
      caspases-9, -3, and -6 were decreased by resveratrol. Pretreatment with Z-VEID
      FMK (benzyloxycarbonyl-Leu-Glu-His-Asp-fluoromethyl ketone) synergistically
      promoted resveratrol's protection against DNA fragmentation and cell apoptosis.
      Therefore, this study shows that resveratrol can protect CECs from oxLDL-induced
      apoptotic insults via downregulating Lox-1-mediated activation of the Bax
      mitochondria-cytochrome c-caspase protease pathway.

PMID- 20940733
TI  - Prediction of repeat-dose occupancy from single-dose data: characterisation of
      the relationship between plasma pharmacokinetics and brain target occupancy.
AB  - Positron emission tomography (PET) is used in drug development to assist dose
      selection and to establish the relationship between blood and tissue
      pharmacokinetics (PKs). We present a new biomathematical approach that allows
      prediction of repeat-dose (RD) brain target occupancy (TO) using occupancy data
      obtained after administration of a single dose (SD). A PET study incorporating a
      sequential adaptive design was conducted in 10 healthy male adults who underwent
      4 PET scans with [(11)C]DASB ([(11)C]N,N-dimethyl-2-(2-amino-4-cyanophenylthio)
      benzylamine): 1 at baseline, 2 after 20 mg SD of the 5-hydroxytryptamine
      transporter (5-HTT) inhibitor duloxetine, and 1 after 4 days daily administration
      of 20 mg duloxetine. An adaptive design was used to select optimal times after SD
      for measurement of occupancy. Both direct and indirect PK/TO models were fitted
      to the SD data to characterise the model parameters and then applied to a
      predicted RD duloxetine plasma time course to predict the 5-HTT occupancy after
      RD. Repeat-dose prediction from the indirect model (OC(50)=2.62+/-0.93 ng/mL) was
      significantly better (P<0.05) than that from the direct model (OC(50)=2.29+/-1.11
      ng/mL). This approach increases the value of SD occupancy studies that are
      performed as part of first time in human drug development programmes by providing
      an estimate of the dose required to achieve the desired TO at RD.

PMID- 20940735
TI  - Chromatin: Colour-coded classification.

PMID- 20940734
TI  - Haplogroup relationships between domestic and wild sheep resolved using a
      mitogenome panel.
AB  - Five haplogroups have been identified in domestic sheep through global surveys of
      mitochondrial (mt) sequence variation, however these group classifications are
      often based on small fragments of the complete mtDNA sequence; partial control
      region or the cytochrome B gene. This study presents the complete mitogenome from
      representatives of each haplogroup identified in domestic sheep, plus a sample of
      their wild relatives. Comparison of the sequence successfully resolved the
      relationships between each haplogroup and provided insight into the relationship
      with wild sheep. The five haplogroups were characterised as branching
      independently, a radiation that shared a common ancestor 920,000 +/- 190,000
      years ago based on protein coding sequence. The utility of various mtDNA
      components to inform the true relationship between sheep was also examined with
      Bayesian, maximum likelihood and partitioned Bremmer support analyses. The
      control region was found to be the mtDNA component, which contributed the highest
      amount of support to the tree generated using the complete data set. This study
      provides the nucleus of a mtDNA mitogenome panel, which can be used to assess
      additional mitogenomes and serve as a reference set to evaluate small fragments
      of the mtDNA.

PMID- 20940736
TI  - Statistical genetics: Pleiotropy revisited.

PMID- 20940737
TI  - The metazoan Mediator co-activator complex as an integrative hub for
      transcriptional regulation.
AB  - The Mediator is an evolutionarily conserved, multiprotein complex that is a key
      regulator of protein-coding genes. In metazoan cells, multiple pathways that are
      responsible for homeostasis, cell growth and differentiation converge on the
      Mediator through transcriptional activators and repressors that target one or
      more of the almost 30 subunits of this complex. Besides interacting directly with
      RNA polymerase II, Mediator has multiple functions and can interact with and
      coordinate the action of numerous other co-activators and co-repressors,
      including those acting at the level of chromatin. These interactions ultimately
      allow the Mediator to deliver outputs that range from maximal activation of genes
      to modulation of basal transcription to long-term epigenetic silencing.

PMID- 20940739
TI  - Missing heritability and stochastic genome alterations.

PMID- 20940740
TI  - Clinical utility gene card for: Axenfeld-Rieger syndrome.

PMID- 20940738
TI  - Statistical analysis strategies for association studies involving rare variants.
AB  - The limitations of genome-wide association (GWA) studies that focus on the
      phenotypic influence of common genetic variants have motivated human geneticists
      to consider the contribution of rare variants to phenotypic expression. The
      increasing availability of high-throughput sequencing technologies has enabled
      studies of rare variants but these methods will not be sufficient for their
      success as appropriate analytical methods are also needed. We consider data
      analysis approaches to testing associations between a phenotype and collections
      of rare variants in a defined genomic region or set of regions. Ultimately,
      although a wide variety of analytical approaches exist, more work is needed to
      refine them and determine their properties and power in different contexts.

PMID- 20940742
TI  - A new low-voltage-driven GRIN liquid crystal lens with multiple ring electrodes
      in unequal widths.
AB  - This work is dedicated to design a novel liquid crystal (LC) lens device with
      multiple ring electrodes in unequal widths, in order to offer tunability on
      focusing quality and to lower the level of applied voltage. The number and widths
      of the multiple ring electrodes are pre-designed and optimized to offer the on
      line tunability on individual electrode voltages to render a better refraction
      index distribution for focusing, as compared to the past hole-type LC lenses. The
      resulted refractive index distribution is expected to offer similar focusing
      effects based on the theory of the gradient refraction index (GRIN) lens. The
      transparent electrodes of this new LC lens are placed at the inner surface of the
      LC cell to minimize the driving voltages, in results, less than 10 V, for the
      same level of focusing power and an easy practical operation. A new fabrication
      process in the wafer level to bury bus lines is developed for generating smooth
      electrical fields over the lens aperture. In addition, a dielectric layer is
      coated between electrodes and the LC layer.

PMID- 20940743
TI  - Spectroscopic photoacoustic microscopy using a photonic crystal fiber
      supercontinuum source.
AB  - Photoacoustic microscopy (PAM) provides high resolution images with excellent
      image contrast based on optical absorption. The compact size and high repetition
      rate of pulsed microchip lasers make them attractive sources for PAM. However,
      their fixed wavelength output precludes their use in spectroscopic PAM. We are
      developing a tunable optical source based on a microchip laser that is suitable
      for spectroscopic PAM. Pulses from a 6.6 kHz repetition rate Q-switched Nd:YAG
      microchip laser are sent through a photonic crystal fiber with a zero dispersion
      wavelength at 1040 nm. The highly nonlinear optical propagation produces a
      supercontinuum spectrum spanning 500-1300 nm. A tunable band pass filter selects
      the desired wavelength band from the supercontinuum. Our PAM system employs
      optical focusing and a 25 MHz spherically focused detection transducer. En-face
      imaging experiments were performed at seven different wavelengths from 575 to 875
      nm. A simple discriminant analysis of the multiwavelength photoacoustic data
      produces images that clearly distinguish the different absorbing regions of ink
      phantoms. These results suggest the potential of this compact tunable source for
      spectroscopic photoacoustic microscopy.

PMID- 20940744
TI  - Validation of quantitative Ronchi test through numerical propagation.
AB  - We validate the quantitative analysis of Ronchigrams for wavefront sensing
      through detailed numerical simulations. Analysis of the experimental Ronchigrams
      provides the wavefront aberrations, the F/# of the beam and the distance of the
      Ronchi ruling from the paraxial focus. These retrieved parameters are used to
      numerically simulate the Ronchigrams with excellent agreement. This favorable
      comparison validates the accuracy of the wavefront recovery and provides a tool
      to examine the accuracy and robustness of this wavefront measurement technique.

PMID- 20940745
TI  - Four-leaf-clover-shaped antenna for a THz photomixer.
AB  - To improve the output power of a photomixer used as a THz source, we propose a
      four-leaf-clover-shaped antenna structure composed of a highly resonant radiation
      element and a stable DC feed element. The resonance characteristics of the
      proposed structure were first investigated on a half-infinite substrate as a
      simplified radiation environment to reduce the computation time. Based on the
      antenna characteristics on that half-infinite substrate, the antenna structure
      was designed to have a maximum total efficiency and a maximum directivity on an
      extended hemispherical lens. The input resistance of this structure was six times
      that of a full-wavelength dipole, significantly improving the mismatch efficiency
      between a photomixer and the antenna. The terahertz output power from this
      structure is expected to be 2.7 times that of a full-wavelength dipole.

PMID- 20940746
TI  - Actively Q-switched 1.6-mJ tapered double-clad ytterbium-doped fiber laser.
AB  - We have demonstrated an actively Q-switched tapered double-clad fiber laser
      capable of single-shot generation of 1.6-mJ, 64-ns pulses. The active medium
      based on tapered double-clad fiber is shown to exhibit a reduced level of
      amplified spontaneous emission which allows for high-energy pulse extraction at
      extremely low repetition rates.

PMID- 20940747
TI  - Theory for terahertz plasmons of metallic nanowires with sub-skin-depth
      diameters.
AB  - We investigate the propagation properties of terahertz plasmon of a metallic
      nanowire with sub-skin-depth diameter. By taking the small radius and the huge
      relative permittivity into account, we establish an approximate analytical
      description for this kind of surface plasmon. It is shown that the main
      propagation properties are closely related to the product of the radius of the
      metallic nanowire and the complex wave number of the metal. In addition, when the
      radius of the metal wire is smaller than the skin-depth, the size of the modal
      field is simply proportional to the radius of the metal wire. We also carefully
      verify these analytical predictions with rigorous numerical simulations.

PMID- 20940748
TI  - Resonant terahertz transmissions through metal hole array on silicon substrate.
AB  - We have observed resonant terahertz transmission peaks in samples comprising
      perforated periodic hole array in a metal film, covered with a high dielectric
      substrate. These resonant transmissions arise from the interplay between
      waveguide modes in dielectric substrate and the periodic hole array in the metal
      film. Finite difference time domain (FDTD) simulations show good agreement with
      the data, in support of the proposed mechanism. Inducing additional resonant
      transmissions using guided modes can lead to the ease in tuning the transmission
      peak frequencies that are potentially useful to terahertz (THz) bio-sensing.

PMID- 20940749
TI  - Demonstration of channelized tunable optical dispersion compensator based on
      arrayed-waveguide grating and liquid crystal on silicon.
AB  - We propose and demonstrate a multi-channel tunable optical dispersion compensator
      (TODC) that consists of an arrayed-waveguide grating (AWG) and liquid crystal on
      silicon (LCOS). By utilizing the AWG with a large angular dispersion and the LCOS
      with a flexible phase setting, we can construct a compact and flexible TODC that
      has a wide tuning range of chromatic dispersion. We confirmed experimentally that
      the TODC could realize channel-by-channel CD compensation for six WDM channels
      with a +/- 800 ps/nm range and a 3 dB bandwidth of 24 GHz. We believe that the
      multi-channel operation of this TODC will help to reduce the cost and power
      consumption of high-speed optical transmission systems.

PMID- 20940750
TI  - Distributed-feedback-laser-based NICE-OHMS in the pressure-broadened regime.
AB  - A compact noise-immune cavity-enhanced optical heterodyne molecular spectroscopy
      (NICE-OHMS) system based on a narrow linewidth distributed-feedback laser and
      fiber-coupled acousto-optic and electro-optic modulators has been developed.
      Measurements of absorption and dispersion signals have been performed at
      pressures up to 1/3 atmosphere on weak acetylene transitions at 1551 nm.
      Multiline fitting routines were implemented to obtain transition parameters,
      i.e., center frequencies, linestrengths, and pressure broadening coefficients.
      The signal strength was shown to be linear with pressure and concentration, and
      independent of detection phase. The minimum detectable on-resonance absorption
      with a cavity with a finesse of 460 was 2 * 10(-10) cm(-1) for 1 minute of
      integration time.

PMID- 20940751
TI  - Demonstration of submicron square-like silicon waveguide using optimized LOCOS
      process.
AB  - We demonstrate the design, fabrication and experimental characterization of a
      submicron-scale silicon waveguide that is fabricated by local oxidation of
      silicon. The use of local oxidation process allows defining the waveguide
      geometry and obtaining smooth sidewalls. The process can be tuned to precisely
      control the shape and the dimensions of the waveguide. The fabricated waveguides
      are measured using near field scanning optical microscope at 1550 nm wavelength.
      These measurements show mode width of 0.4 um and effective refractive index of
      2.54. Finally, we demonstrate the low loss characteristics of our waveguide by
      imaging the light scattering using an infrared camera.

PMID- 20940752
TI  - Data preparation and evaluation techniques for x-ray diffraction microscopy.
AB  - The post-experiment processing of X-ray Diffraction Microscopy data is often time
      consuming and difficult. This is mostly due to the fact that even if a
      preliminary result has been reconstructed, there is no definitive answer as to
      whether or not a better result with more consistently retrieved phases can still
      be obtained. We show here that the first step in data analysis, the assembly of
      two-dimensional diffraction patterns from a large set of raw diffraction data, is
      crucial to obtaining reconstructions of highest possible consistency. We have
      developed software that automates this process and results in consistently
      accurate diffraction patterns. We have furthermore derived some criteria of
      validity for a tool commonly used to assess the consistency of reconstructions,
      the phase retrieval transfer function, and suggest a modified version that has
      improved utility for judging reconstruction quality.

PMID- 20940753
TI  - Gires-Tournois interferometer type negative dispersion mirrors for deep
      ultraviolet pulse compression.
AB  - Typical femtosecond pulse compression of deep ultraviolet radiation consists of
      prism or diffraction grating pair chirp compensation but, both techniques
      introduce higher-order dispersion, spatial-spectral beam distortion and poor
      transmission. While negatively chirped dielectric mirrors have been used to
      compress near infrared and visible pulses to <10 fs, there has been no extension
      of this technique below 300 nm. We demonstrate the use of Gires-Tournois
      interferometer (GTI) negative dispersion multilayer dielectric mirrors designed
      for pulse compression in the deep ultraviolet region. GTI mirror designs are more
      robust than chirped mirrors and, can provide sufficient bandwidth for the
      compression of sub-30-fs pulses in the UV wavelength range. Compression of a 5 nm
      (FWHM) pulse centered between 266 and 271 nm to 30 fs has been achieved with less
      pulse broadening due to high-order dispersion and no noticeable spatial
      deformation, thereby improving the resolution of ultrafast techniques used to
      study problems such as fast photochemical reaction dynamics.

PMID- 20940754
TI  - Real-time, contrast enhanced photoacoustic imaging of cancer in a mouse window
      chamber.
AB  - A clinical ultrasound scanner and 14 MHz linear array collected real-time
      photoacoustic images (PAI) during an injection of gold nanorods (GNRs) near the
      region of a mature PC-3 prostate tumor in mice implanted with a skin flap window
      chamber. Three dimensional spectroscopic PAI (690-900 nm) was also performed to
      investigate absorption changes near the tumor and enhance specific detection of
      GNRs. Whereas GNRs improved PAI contrast (+18 dB), the photoacoustic spectrum was
      consistent with the elevated near infrared absorption of GNRs. The versatile
      imaging platform potentially accelerates development of photoacoustic contrast
      agents and drug delivery for cancer imaging and therapy.

PMID- 20940755
TI  - Stimulated emission of surface plasmon polaritons by lead-sulphide quantum dots
      at near infra-red wavelengths.
AB  - Amplification of surface plasmon polaritons in planar metal-dielectric structure
      through stimulated emission is investigated using leakage-radiation microscopy
      configuration. The gain medium is a thin polymethylmethacrylate layer doped with
      lead-sulphide nanocrystals emitting at near-infrared wavelengths. We demonstrate
      an optical gain of ~200 cm(-1) for the mode under consideration, which
      corresponds to ~32% compensation of SPP loss.

PMID- 20940756
TI  - Effect of Yb3+ concentration on the broadband emission intensity and peak
      wavelength shift in Yb/Bi ions co-doped silica-based glasses.
AB  - The effect of Yb(3+) concentration on the broadband emission intensity and peak
      wavelength shift in Yb/Bi ions co-doped silicate glasses is investigated. The
      optimal Bi(2)O(3) concentration range is about 2.0-2.5 mol% in 65SiO(2)
      10Al(2)O(3)-25CaO matrix (SAC glasses). For Yb/Bi codoped SAC glasses, the
      maximum emission intensity excited by 980 nm LD is ~30 times and 1.5 times higher
      than that of single Bi-doped SAC glasses excited by 980 nm and 808 nm LD,
      respectively, the peak emission shows obvious red-shift from 1185 nm to 1235 nm
      band with the Yb(2)O(3) concentration change from 0 to 3.0 mol%. For the same
      Yb(2)O(3) concentration in SAC glasses, the measured fluorescence lifetime near
      1020 nm of single Yb(3+)-doped glasses is longer than that of Yb/Bi codoping
      glasses, which implyes the efficient energy transfer from Yb(3+) to Bi(n+) in SAC
      glasses. The results indicate Yb(2)O(3) can be induced into the bismuth-doped
      silicate glasses to enhance the emission intensity and control the peak
      wavelength.

PMID- 20940757
TI  - Diode-pumped continuous wave and Q-switched operation of Nd:CaYAlO4 crystal.
AB  - The continuous wave (CW) and passively Q-switched performances of Nd:CaYAlO(4)
      crystal with both a- and c-cut were demonstrated. The CW output powers of 1.15 W
      and 1.26 W were obtained under the pump power of 8.96 W with slope efficiencies
      of 15.2% and 16.8% for a- and c-cut samples, respectively. As a result, new dual
      wavelength all-solid-state lasers at 1080 nm and 1081 nm were achieved with c-cut
      crystal. By using Cr(4+):YAG wafer as saturable absorber, we performed Q
      switching experiments. The highest average output powers and shortest pulse
      widths were measured to be 0.798 W, 10.6 ns and 0.537 W, 9.6 ns for a- and c-cut
      samples, respectively.

PMID- 20940758
TI  - Dynamic optical arbitrary waveform generation and measurement.
AB  - We introduce a dynamic optical arbitrary waveform generation (OAWG) technique
      that produces bandwidth scalable, continuous waveforms of near perfect fidelity.
      Additionally, OAWG's complement, real-time arbitrary optical waveform measurement
      (OAWM) is discussed. These approaches utilize gigahertz-bandwidth electronics to
      generate, or measure, truly arbitrary and dynamic optical waveforms scalable to
      terahertz bandwidths and infinite record lengths. We describe the theory,
      algorithms and enabling technologies necessary to calculate and produce a set of
      spectral modulations that create continuous, high-fidelity waveforms in the
      presence of spectral filtering from multiplexers.

PMID- 20940759
TI  - Broadband transmission in hollow-core Bragg fibers with geometrically distributed
      multilayered cladding.
AB  - For the first time, the quasiperiodic Bragg fibers with geometrically distributed
      multilayered cladding are proposed and analyzed. We demonstrate that hollow-core
      Bragg fibers with quasiperiodic dielectric multilayer cladding can achieve low
      loss transmission over a broadband wavelength range of more than an octave (from
      0.81 MUm to 1.7 MUm). The periods of the Bragg blocks follows a geometrical
      progression with a common ratio r<rc, where rc is defined as the critical ratio
      of the periods of two adjacent Bragg blocks. The arrangement of the quasiperiodic
      cladding can significantly modify the characteristics of the fiber, leading to a
      broadening of the guiding range compared to a hollow Bragg fiber with uniform
      periodic multilayer cladding structure. In general, a larger r value results in a
      broader guiding range. More Bragg blocks in the cladding and more unit cells in
      each Bragg block lead to a lower fiber modal loss.

PMID- 20940760
TI  - Partitioning pixel of organic light-emitting devices with center-hollowed
      microlens-array films for efficiency enhancement.
AB  - A pixel partition scheme assisted with patterned or center-hollowed microlens
      array films (MAFs) was proposed to improve the optical characteristics and
      electrical properties of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). In our optical
      simulation results, a pixel of 1 * 1 mm(2) with a center-hollowed MAF has a 42%
      luminance enhancement; however, after dividing the large pixel into ten by ten
      smaller pixels of 100 * 100 MUm(2), the partitioned units with a corresponding
      center-hollowed MAF can have a 104% luminance enhancement under the same total
      active area and the same optical power of organic emitters. Furthermore, a
      significant 127% luminance enhancement by the introduction of a high-refractive
      index substrate can be obtained.

PMID- 20940761
TI  - Reconfigurable two-channel demultiplexing using a single baseband control pulse
      train in a dispersion asymmetric NOLM.
AB  - We demonstrate a unique solution to use a one-pulse control to achieve
      simultaneous two-channel all-optical demultiplexing that usually requires a two
      pulse control or a two-step operation based on the conventional approaches. By
      applying a dispersion asymmetric nonlinear optical loop mirror (DA-NOLM) to
      introduce cross phase modulation (XPM) in both the clockwise (CW) and the counter
      clockwise (CCW) propagating branches, we have demonstrated reconfigurable, error
      free 40-to-10 Gb/s two-channel demultiplexing (DEMUX) for OTDM OOK signals.
      Switchable operation between two-channel and single-channel DEMUX is also
      realized based on the proposed all-optical DEMUX configuration.

PMID- 20940762
TI  - All-optical fiber-based ultrafast amplitude jitter magnifier.
AB  - In this work, we describe an all-fibered set-up that allows the optical
      magnification of the amplitude jitter of low-fluctuation pulse trains, enabling
      an easy measurement of the statistical properties by usual photodiodes and
      electronic equipments.

PMID- 20940763
TI  - Optofluidic compound microlenses made by emulsion techniques.
AB  - Here we present a new method to make liquid lenses. It is based on the
      microfluidics method and involves the preparation of emulsions one drop at a
      time. Tests of lenses by image formation are presented. Experimental results are
      compared with results of an optical design program. We also present a new type of
      lens that we call a Compound Lens which consists of two spherical lenses, one
      inside the other.

PMID- 20940764
TI  - The Hanbury Brown-Twiss effect in a pulsed atom laser.
AB  - We have used the Hanbury Brown-Twiss effect to directly compare the density
      correlations of a pulsed atom laser and a pulsed ultracold thermal source of
      metastable helium. It was found that the isotropic RF outcoupling of atoms from a
      Bose-Einstein condensate does not result in decoherence, while the 'bunching'
      typical of incoherent sources was observed for thermal atoms. This new method
      significantly increases data acquisition rates compared to previous measurements,
      and also permits future novel experiments which may allow us to probe processes
      such as the birth and death of a condensate by monitoring correlation effects.

PMID- 20940765
TI  - Simultaneous two-photon imaging and photo-stimulation with structured light
      illumination.
AB  - Holographic microscopy is increasingly recognized as a promising tool for the
      study of the central nervous system. Here we present a "holographic module", a
      simple optical path that can be combined with commercial scanheads for
      simultaneous imaging and uncaging with structured two-photon light. The present
      microscope is coupled to two independently tunable lasers and has two principal
      configurations: holographic imaging combined with galvo-steered uncaging and
      holographic uncaging combined with conventional scanning imaging. We applied this
      flexible system for simultaneous two-photon imaging and photostimulation of
      neuronal cells with complex light patterns, opening new perspectives for the
      study of brain function in situ and in vivo.

PMID- 20940766
TI  - Investigation of thermally-induced phase mismatching in continuous-wave second
      harmonic generation: a theoretical model.
AB  - A fraction of the fundamental beam energy deposited into nonlinear crystals to
      generate second harmonic waves (SHW) causes a temperature gradient within the
      crystal. This temperature inhomogeneity can alter the refractive index of the
      medium leading to a well-known effect called thermal dispersion. Therefore, the
      generated SHW suffers from thermal lensing and a longitudinal thermal phase
      mismatching. In this work by coupling the heat equation with second harmonic
      generation (SHG) formalism applied to type-II configuration along with walk-off
      effect, we investigate the continuous wave (CW) SHW beam profile and conversion
      efficiency when a non-linear KTP crystal is under induced thermal load. We have
      demonstrated for average and high powers, the thermal de-phasing lead to
      considerable reduction in SHG compared to an ideal case in which induced heat is
      neglected.

PMID- 20940767
TI  - Measurement and real-time cancellation of vibration-induced phase noise in a
      cavity-stabilized laser.
AB  - We demonstrate a method to measure and actively reduce the coupling of vibrations
      to the phase noise of a cavity-stabilized laser. This method uses the vibration
      noise of the laboratory environment rather than active drive to perturb the
      optical cavity. The laser phase noise is measured via a beat note with a second
      unperturbed ultra-stable laser while the vibrations are measured by
      accelerometers positioned around the cavity. A Wiener filter algorithm extracts
      the frequency and direction dependence of the cavity response function. Once the
      cavity response function is known, real-time noise cancellation can be
      implemented by use of the accelerometer measurements to predict and then cancel
      the laser phase fluctuations. We present real-time noise cancellation that
      results in a 25 dB reduction of the laser phase noise power spectral density.

PMID- 20940768
TI  - Approaching the full octave: noncollinear optical parametric chirped pulse
      amplification with two-color pumping.
AB  - We present a new method to broaden the amplification range in optical parametric
      amplification toward the bandwidth needed for single cycle femtosecond pulses.
      Two-color pumping of independent stages is used to sequentially amplify the long
      and short wavelength parts of the ultrabroadband seed pulses. The concept is
      tested in two related experiments. With multi-mJ pumping pulses with a nearly
      octave spanning spectrum and an uncompressed energy of 3 mJ are generated at low
      repetition rate. The spectral phase varies slowly and continuously in the overlap
      region as shown with 100 kHz repetition rate. This should allow the compression
      to the Fourier limit of below 5 fs in the high energy system.

PMID- 20940769
TI  - Implementation of 140 Gb/s true random bit generator based on a chaotic photonic
      integrated circuit.
AB  - In the present work a photonic integrated circuit (PIC) that emits broadband
      chaotic signals is employed for ultra-fast generation of true random bit
      sequences. Chaotic dynamics emerge from a DFB laser, accompanied by a monolithic
      integrated 1-cm long external cavity (EC) that provides controllable optical
      feedback. The short length minimizes the existence of external cavity modes, so
      flattened broadband spectra with minimized intrinsic periodicities can emerge.
      After sampling and quantization--without including optical de-correlation
      techniques and using most significant bits (MSB) elimination post-processing-
      truly random bit streams with bit-rates as high as 140 Gb/s can be generated.
      Finally, the extreme robustness of the random bit generator for adaptive bit-rate
      operation and for various operating conditions of the PIC is demonstrated.

PMID- 20940770
TI  - Brillouin optical time-domain analysis assisted by second-order Raman
      amplification.
AB  - We propose and experimentally demonstrate a new method to extend the range of
      Brillouin optical time domain analysis (BOTDA) systems. It exploits the virtual
      transparency created by second-order Raman pumping in optical fibers. The idea is
      theoretically analyzed and experimentally demonstrated in a 50 km fiber. By
      working close to transparency, we also show that the measurement length of the
      BOTDA can be increased up to 100 km with 2 meter resolution. We envisage
      extensions of this technique to measurement lengths well beyond this value, as
      long as the issue of relative intensity noise (RIN) of the primary Raman pump can
      be avoided.

PMID- 20940772
TI  - Second-harmonic generation in poled polymers: pre-poling history paradigm.
AB  - Experimental studies of second harmonic generation (SHG) from electric-field
      poled PMMA - DR1 system show occurrence of a maximum in diagonal and off diagonal
      tensor components chi(2)(-2omega;omega,omega) at 15 mol % concentration and a
      rapid decrease above, with a stabilization. The origin of the observed
      concentration dependence is studied using the Monte Carlo (MC) modeling. We find
      that presence of maximum is conditioned by the pre-poling history of the sample,
      when entanglement of linear dipolar structures takes place. Length of the pre
      poling interval is an important kinetic parameter which differentiates between
      various nonexponential kinetics of build-up of polar phase responsible for
      strong/weak SHG susceptibility.

PMID- 20940771
TI  - Rapid ratiometric determination of hemoglobin concentration using UV-VIS diffuse
      reflectance at isosbestic wavelengths.
AB  - We developed a ratiometric method capable of estimating total hemoglobin
      concentration from optically measured diffuse reflectance spectra. The three
      isosbestic wavelength ratio pairs that best correlated to total hemoglobin
      concentration independent of saturation and scattering were 545/390, 452/390, and
      529/390 nm. These wavelength pairs were selected using forward Monte Carlo
      simulations which were used to extract hemoglobin concentration from experimental
      phantom measurements. Linear regression coefficients from the simulated data were
      directly applied to the phantom data, by calibrating for instrument throughput
      using a single phantom. Phantoms with variable scattering and hemoglobin
      saturation were tested with two different instruments, and the average percent
      errors between the expected and ratiometrically-extracted hemoglobin
      concentration were as low as 6.3%. A correlation of r = 0.88 between hemoglobin
      concentration extracted using the 529/390 nm isosbestic ratio and a scalable
      inverse Monte Carlo model was achieved for in vivo dysplastic cervical
      measurements (hemoglobin concentrations have been shown to be diagnostic for the
      detection of cervical pre-cancer by our group). These results indicate that use
      of such a simple ratiometric method has the potential to be used in clinical
      applications where tissue hemoglobin concentrations need to be rapidly quantified
      in vivo.

PMID- 20940773
TI  - Tm3+-doped tellurite glasses for fiber amplifiers in broadband optical
      communication at 1.20 um wavelength region.
AB  - Broadband emissions at around 1.20 and 1.46 MUm wavelengths from thulium (Tm(3+))
      doped tellurite glasses were observed under 465 nm wavelength excitation. The
      1.20 MUm emission originates from the Tm(3+): (1)G(4)-->(3)H(4) transition, and
      the associated stimulated peak emission cross-section is calculated to be 0.47 *
      10(-20) cm(2). Population inversion occurs between the (1)G(4) and (3)H(4)
      levels, and a positive gain band from 1.20 to 1.28 MUm is achieved at relatively
      low Tm(3+) dopant concentration. Our results suggest that this glass system is
      promising for optical fiber amplifiers operating at the relatively unexplored low
      loss 1.20 MUm wavelength region.

PMID- 20940774
TI  - Wide spectral range confocal microscope based on endlessly single-mode fiber.
AB  - We report an endlessly single mode, fiber-optic confocal microscope, based on a
      large mode area photonic crystal fiber. The microscope confines a very broad
      spectral range of excitation and emission wavelengths to a single spatial mode in
      the fiber. Single-mode operation over an optical octave is feasible. At a
      magnification of 10 and lambda = 900 nm, its resolution was measured to be 1.0
      MUm (lateral) and 2.5 MUm (axial). The microscope's use is demonstrated by
      imaging single photons emitted by individual InAs quantum dots in a pillar
      microcavity.

PMID- 20940775
TI  - Coupled Fano resonators.
AB  - We theoretically investigate coupled Fano structures which combine the
      characteristics of both directly coupled Fabry-Perot cavities (DCFPC) and a side
      coupled integrated spaced sequence of resonators (SCISSOR). Asymmetric and
      symmetric Fano resonances in a single and doubly-coupled Fano unit are
      analytically derived based on Fabry-Perot approach. It is found that doubly
      coupled Fano units show a special asymmetric EIT-like lineshape. This structure
      shows an index changing sensitivity of 10(-6), about two orders higher than that
      of the single Fano resonator, which is promising for index sensor application. A
      unique frequency detuning method of EIT like lineshape is also found in the
      doubly-coupled Fano units. The multiple coupled Fano unit structure demonstrates
      potentials for applications of tunable optical filter and slow light, whereas for
      the latter it shows much higher group delay than that of SCISSORS and DCFPC with
      the same parameters.

PMID- 20940776
TI  - Repumping ground-state population in a coherently driven atomic resonance.
AB  - We experimentally demonstrate an optical pumping technique to pump a dilute
      rubidium vapor into the m(F) = 0 ground states. The technique utilizes selection
      rules that forbid the excitation of the m(F) = 0 states by linearly-polarized
      light. A substantial increase in the transparency contrast of the coherent
      population-trapping resonance used for frequency standards is demonstrated.

PMID- 20940777
TI  - Quantitative FRET measurement by high-speed fluorescence excitation and emission
      spectrometer.
AB  - Forster resonance energy transfer (FRET) is an important method in studying
      biochemistry reactions. But quantifying FRET rapidly is difficult to do because
      of crosstalk between free donor, free acceptor and FRET fluorescent signals when
      only excitation or emission property of a FRET sample is measured. If FRET is
      studied with excitation-emission matrix (EEM) measurements, because the
      fluorescence intensity maxima of donor, acceptor, and FRET emissions occupy
      different regions within the EEM, FRET fluorescence can be easily separated out
      by linear unmixing. In this paper, we report a novel high-speed Fourier
      Fluorescence Excitation Emission spectrometer, which simultaneously measures
      three projections of EEM from a FRET sample, which are excitation, emission and
      excitation-emission cross-correlation spectra. We demonstrate that these three
      EEM projections can be measured and unmixed in approximately 1 ms to provide
      rapid quantitative FRET in the presence of free donors and acceptors. The system
      can be utilized to enable real-time biochemistry reaction studies.

PMID- 20940778
TI  - Wavelength dependence of the Brillouin spectral width of boron doped
      germanosilicate optical fibers.
AB  - Boron co-doped germanosilicate fibers are investigated via the Brillouin light
      scattering technique using two wavelengths, 1534 nm and 1064 nm. Several fibers
      are investigated, including four drawn from the same preform but at different
      draw temperatures. The Stokes' shifts and the Brillouin spectral widths are found
      to increase with increasing fiber draw temperature. A frequency-squared law has
      adequately described the wavelength dependence of the Brillouin spectral width of
      conventional Ge-doped fibers. However, it is found that unlike conventional Ge
      doped fibers these fibers do not follow the frequency-squared law. This is
      explained through a frequency-dependent dynamic viscosity that modifies this law.

PMID- 20940779
TI  - Dispersion engineered Ge11.5As24Se64.5 nanowires with a nonlinear parameter of
      136 W-1m-1 at 1550 nm.
AB  - We have fabricated 630 * 500 nm nanowires from Ge(11.5)As(24)Se(64.5)
      chalcogenide glass by electron beam lithography (EBL) and inductively coupled
      plasma (ICP) etching. The loss of the nanowire was measured to be 2.6 dB/cm for
      the fundamental TM mode. The nonlinear coefficient (gamma) was determined to be
      ~136 +/- 7 W(-1)m(-1) at 1550 nm by both CW four-wave-mixing (FWM) and modeling.
      Supercontinuum (SC) was produced in an 18 mm long nanowire pumped by 1 ps pulses
      with peak power of 25 W.

PMID- 20940780
TI  - Achieving increased resolution and more pixels with Superresolution Optical
      Fluctuation Imaging (SOFI).
AB  - Superresolution Optical Fluctuation Imaging (SOFI) as initially demonstrated
      allows for a resolution enhancement in imaging by a factor of square-root of two.
      Here, we demonstrate how to increase the resolution of SOFI images by re
      weighting the Optical Transfer Function (OTF). Furthermore, we demonstrate how
      cross-cumulants can be exploited to obtain a fair approximation of the underlying
      Point-Spread Function. We show a two-fold increase of resolution (over the
      diffraction limit) of near-infrared quantum dot labeled tubulin-network of 3T3
      fibroblasts.

PMID- 20940781
TI  - 30 to 50 ns liquid-crystal optical switches.
AB  - The optical switching time of twisted-nematic liquid-crystal cells using the
      liquid crystals, 5CB (C(5)H(11)-Ph-Ph-CN), 5OCB(C(5)H(11)-O-Ph-Ph-CN) and PCH5
      (C(5)H(11)-Cy-Ph-CN) have been characterized as a function of temperature, bias
      voltage and switching voltage, V. The transition time from 90% to 10%
      transmission scales as V(-1.9) and is limited to 30 to 50 ns by the liquid
      crystal breakdown electric field, ~100 V MUm(-1). The time from the initial
      switching voltage step to 90% transmission, delay time, decreases with increasing
      bias and switching voltage. For 5CB and 5OCB the delay time approaches a constant
      value at higher electric fields, >10 V MUm(-1). Both the transition and delay
      times decrease with increasing temperature. The minimum transition time at
      temperatures a few degrees below the nematic-isotropic temperature are 32, 32,
      and 44 ns and delay times are 44, 25 and 8 ns for 5CB, 5OCB, and PCH5
      respectively.

PMID- 20940782
TI  - Coherent control of THz pulses polarization from femtosecond laser filaments in
      gases.
AB  - We demonstrate the possibility to rotate the polarization of linearly polarized
      THz pulses via the accurate control of the 2-color filament surrounding gas
      pressure. We also show ways to produce elliptically and circularly polarized THz
      pulses.

PMID- 20940783
TI  - Ultraviolet light induced white light emission in Ag and Eu3+ co-doped
      oxyfluoride glasses.
AB  - Transparent Ag and Eu(3+) co-doped oxyfluoride glasses with composition 50SiO(2)
      20Al(2)O(3)-30CaF(2) were prepared by melt-quenching technique. The structural
      and luminescent properties of glasses, energy transfer mechanism between
      luminescent centers were systematically investigated. The missing nanoparticles
      signals in absorption spectra, XRD patterns and TEM images, the additional broad
      excitation band at 325-375 nm indicate that the broad emission band at 400-700 nm
      is originated from very small molecule-like, non-plasmonic Ag particles (ML-Ag
      particles). A perfect white light emission was realized by combining intense red
      emission of Eu(3+) with broad band emission of ML-Ag-particles. These results
      suggest that Ag and Eu(3+) co-doped oxyfluoride glasses could be potentially
      applied as white light-emitting phosphors for ultra-violet LED chips.

PMID- 20940784
TI  - All-fiber passively mode-locked femtosecond laser using a 45o-tilted fiber
      grating polarization element.
AB  - We report on the demonstration of an all-fiber femtosecond erbium doped fiber
      laser passively mode-locked using a 45o tilted fiber grating as an in-fiber
      polarizer in the laser cavity. The laser generates 600 fs pulses with output
      pulse energies ~1 nJ. Since the 45 degrees  tilted grating has a broad
      polarization response, the laser output has shown a tunabilty in wavelength from
      1548 nm to 1562 nm by simply adjusting the polarization controllers in the
      cavity.

PMID- 20940785
TI  - Laser-gain scanning microscopy: a new characterization technique for dopant
      engineered gain media.
AB  - We demonstrate an optical technique, called laser-gain scanning microscopy
      (LGSM), to map dopant concentration profiles in engineered laser gain-media. The
      performance and application range of this technique are exampled on a Nd(3+)
      concentration profile embedded in a YAG transparent ceramic sample. Concentration
      profiles measured by both LGSM and SIMS techniques are compared and agree to
      within 5% over three-orders of magnitude in Nd(3+) doping level, from 0.001 at.%
      to 0.9 at.%. One of the unique advantages of LGSM over common physical methods
      such as SIMS, XPS and EMPA, is the ability to correlate optical defects with the
      final doping profile.

PMID- 20940786
TI  - Wavefield back-propagation in high-resolution X-ray holography with a movable
      field of view.
AB  - Mask-based Fourier transform holography is used to record images of biological
      objects with 2.2 nm X-ray wavelength. The holography mask and the object are
      decoupled from each other which allows us to move the field of view over a large
      area over the sample. Due to the separation of the mask and the sample on
      different X-ray windows, a gap between both windows in the micrometer range
      typically exists. Using standard Fourier transform holography, focussed images of
      the sample can directly be reconstructed only for gap distances within the
      setup's depth of field. Here, we image diatoms as function of the gap distance
      and demonstrate the possibility to recover focussed images via a wavefield back
      propagation technique. The limitations of our approach with respect to large
      separations are mainly associated with deviations from flat-field illumination of
      the object.

PMID- 20940787
TI  - Design and fabrication of a fingerprint imager with compact LED illumination and
      compact imaging optics.
AB  - In this study, we presented a light-emitting diode-based (LED) miniaturized
      optical pattern imager for slim mobile phone application. To meet volume
      constraints, we designed a miniaturized compact illuminating and imaging optical
      component. The objective was to minimize optical loss using several nano- and
      micro-fabrication methods. After integration into a single optical body, the
      prototype imager-with dimensions of 6.8 * 2.2 * 2.5 mm and a weight of 0.4 g
      demonstrated clear feasibility in measuring 2D micropatterns with widths of 50
      and 10 MUm.

PMID- 20940788
TI  - Numerical analysis of deep sub-wavelength integrated plasmonic devices based on
      Semiconductor-Insulator-Metal strip waveguides.
AB  - We report the first study of nanoscale integrated photonic devices constructed
      with semiconductor-insulator-metal strip (SIMS) waveguides for use at telecom
      wavelengths. These waveguides support hybrid plasmonic modes transmitting through
      a 5-nm thick insulating region with a normalized intensity of 200-300 MUm(-2).
      Their fundamental mode, unique transmission and dispersion properties are
      consistent with photonic devices for guiding and routing of signals in
      communication applications. It has been demonstrated using Finite Element Methods
      (FEM) that the high performance SIMS waveguide can be used to fabricate deep sub
      wavelength integrated plasmonic devices such as directional couplers with the
      ultra short coupling lengths, sharply bent waveguides, and ring resonators having
      a functional size of ~1 um and with low insertion losses and nearly zero
      radiation losses.

PMID- 20940789
TI  - Characterization of the Brillouin grating spectra in a polarization-maintaining
      fiber.
AB  - Brillouin grating in optical fibers is of considerable interest due to its
      applications in optical fiber communication and distributed sensing. However, the
      intrinsic Brillouin grating spectrum is still unknown and several kinds of
      spectra were reported. In this paper, we experimentally investigate the
      characteristics of the Brillouin grating spectra in a polarization-maintaining
      fiber, and the results show that it agrees with the theory of fiber Bragg grating
      but not determined by the natural Brillouin gain bandwidth as thought previously,
      and in the case of weak grating, the bandwidth is only length-limited, i.e.,
      inversely proportional to the length of the Brillouin grating. In addition, the
      apodization of the Brillouin grating induced by the acoustic wave decay, a unique
      feature that is different from the Bragg grating, is observed for the first time
      to the best of our knowledge.

PMID- 20940790
TI  - A composite microcavity of diamond nanopillar and deformed silica microsphere
      with enhanced evanescent decay length.
AB  - We report the experimental realization of a composite microcavity system, in
      which negatively-charged nitrogen vacancy (NV) centers in diamond nanopillars
      couple evanescently to whispering-gallery modes (WGMs) in a deformed, non
      axisymmetric silica microsphere. We show that the deformed microsphere can
      feature an evanescent decay length four times larger than that of a regular
      silica microsphere. With the enhanced evanescent coupling, WGMs can in principle
      couple to NV centers that are 100 to 200 nm beneath the diamond pillar surface,
      providing a promising avenue for exploring evanescently-coupled cavity QED
      systems of NV centers in ultrahigh purity diamond.

PMID- 20940791
TI  - Experimental demonstration of parallel two-step phase-shifting digital
      holography.
AB  - Parallel two-step phase-shifting digital holography is a technique for single
      shot implementation of phase-shifting interferometry and requires only the
      intensity distribution of the reference wave and spatial two phase-shifted
      holograms. We constructed a system of parallel two-step phase-shifting digital
      holography and experimentally demonstrated the technique, for the first time. The
      system uses an originally fabricated image sensor having an array of 2 * 1 micro
      polarizers. Each micro polarizer was attached on pixel by pixel. In the
      experiment, the unwanted images, the zero-order diffraction wave and the
      conjugate image, are removed from the reconstructed image of objects by the
      system, while the images superimpose on the image of objects reconstructed by
      Fresnel transform alone. Also the capability of single-shot and three-dimensional
      imaging is demonstrated by the system.

PMID- 20940792
TI  - Pulse characteristics of a passively mode-locked thulium fiber laser with
      positive and negative cavity dispersion.
AB  - We investigated of the output characteristics of a spectrally filtered stretched
      pulse thulium fiber laser in dependence of cavity dispersion and pump power. The
      experimental results together with corresponding theoretical modeling allow for a
      deeper insight into the pulse shaping mechanisms.

PMID- 20940793
TI  - Optical properties of planar waveguides on ZnWO4 formed by carbon and helium ion
      implantation and effects of annealing.
AB  - We report on the optical properties of ZnWO(4) planar waveguides created by ion
      implantation, and the effect annealing has on these structures. Planar optical
      waveguides in ZnWO(4) crystals are fabricated by 5.0 MeV carbon ion implantation
      with a fluence of 1 * 10(15) ions/cm(2) or 500 keV helium ion implantation with
      the a fluence of 1 * 10(16) ions/cm(2). The thermal stability was investigated by
      60 minute annealing cycles at different temperatures ranging from 260 degrees C
      to 550 degrees C in air. The guided modes were measured by a model 2010 prism
      coupler at wavelengths of 633 nm and 1539 nm. The reflectivity calculation method
      (RCM) was applied to simulate the refractive index profile in these waveguides.
      The near-field light intensity profiles were measured using the end-face coupling
      method. The absorption spectra show that the implantation processes have almost
      no influence on the visible band absorption.

PMID- 20940794
TI  - Rare-earth ions doped heavy metal germanium tellurite glasses for fiber lighting
      in minimally invasive surgery.
AB  - In Er(3+)/Yb(3+) codoped Na(2)O-ZnO-PbO-GeO(2)-TeO(2) (NZPGT) glass fiber, a
      clear and compact green upconversion amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) trace
      is observed, and the NZPGT glasses are proved to be a desirable candidate in
      fabricating low-phonon energy fiber. Intense green upconversion luminescence of
      Er(3+), balanced green and red upconversion emissions of Ho(3+), and dominant
      three-photon blue upconversion fluorescence of Tm(3+) have been represented. By
      varying the excitation power of 974 nm wavelength laser diode, a series of green
      and white fluorescences have been achieved in Tm(3+)/Er(3+)/Yb(3+) and
      Tm(3+)/Ho(3+)/Yb(3+) triply doped glass systems, respectively. These results
      reveal that high-intensity blue, green, and white upconversion ASE fluorescences,
      which can be adopted for lighting in minimally invasive photodynamic therapy and
      minimally invasive surgery, are reasonable to be expected in rare-earth doped
      NZPGT glass fibers.

PMID- 20940795
TI  - Long range surface plasmons on asymmetric suspended thin film structures for
      biosensing applications.
AB  - We show that long-range surface plasmons (LRSPs) are supported in a physically
      asymmetric thin film structure, consisting of a low refractive index medium on a
      metal slab, supported by a high refractive index dielectric layer (membrane) over
      air, as a suspended waveguide. For design purposes, an analytic formulation is
      derived in 1D yielding a transcendental equation that ensures symmetry of the
      transverse fields of the LRSP within the metal slab by constraining its
      thicknesses and that of the membrane. Results from the formulation are in
      quantitative agreement with transfer matrix calculations for a candidate slab
      waveguide consisting of an H(2)O-Au-SiO(2)-air structure. Biosensor-relevant
      figures of merit are compared for the asymmetric and symmetric structures, and it
      is found that the asymmetric structure actually improves performance, despite
      higher losses. The finite difference method is also used to analyse metal stripes
      providing 2D confinement on the structure, and additional constraints for non
      radiative LRSP guiding thereon are discussed. These results are promising for
      sensors that operate with an aqueous solution that would otherwise require a low
      refractive index-matched substrate for the LRSP.

PMID- 20940796
TI  - Extreme non-linear elasticity and transformation optics.
AB  - Transformation optics is a powerful concept for designing novel optical
      components such as high transmission waveguides and cloaking devices. The
      selection of specific transformations is a non-unique problem. Here we reveal
      that transformations which allow for all dielectric and broadband optical
      realizations correspond to minimizers of elastic energy potentials for extreme
      values of the mechanical Poisson's ratio nu. For TE (Hz) polarized light an
      incompressible transformation nu = 1/2 is ideal and for TM (Ez) polarized light
      one should use a compressible transformation with negative Poissons's ratio nu = 
      1. For the TM polarization the mechanical analogy corresponds to a modified Liao
      functional known from the transformation optics literature. Finally, the analogy
      between ideal transformations and solid mechanical material models automates and
      broadens the concept of transformation optics.

PMID- 20940798
TI  - Closed-form expressions for nonlinear transmission performance of densely spaced
      coherent optical OFDM systems.
AB  - There has been a trend of migration to high spectral efficiency transmission in
      optical fiber communications for which the frequency guard band between
      neighboring wavelength channels continues to shrink. In this paper, we derive
      closed-form analytical expressions for nonlinear system performance of densely
      spaced coherent optical OFDM (CO-OFDM) systems. The closed-form solutions include
      the results for the achievable Q factor, optimum launch power density, nonlinear
      threshold of launch power density, and information spectral efficiency limit.
      These analytical results clearly identify their dependence on system parameters
      including fiber dispersion, number of spans, dispersion compensation ratio, and
      overall bandwidth. The closed-form solution is further substantiated by numerical
      simulations using distributed nonlinear Schrodinger equation.

PMID- 20940797
TI  - Excitation of multiple dipole surface plasmon resonances in spherical silver
      nanoparticles.
AB  - We observe the appearance of multiple dipole surface plasmon resonances in
      spherical Ag nanoparticles when embedded in an organic semiconductor that
      exhibits a highly dispersive permittivity. Comparing the absorption spectra of
      thin-films with and without Ag nanoparticles reveals the presence of two plasmon
      peaks. Numerical simulations and calculations based on an electrostatic model
      allow us to attribute both peaks to dipole resonances, and show that the strong
      dispersion of the organic permittivity is responsible for this behavior. The
      presence of these two plasmon resonances was found to enhance the absorption of
      the organic semiconductor over a broad wavelength range.

PMID- 20940799
TI  - Highly-efficient thermally-tuned resonant optical filters.
AB  - We demonstrate spectral tunability for microphotonic add-drop filters
      manufactured as ring resonators in a commercial 130 nm SOI CMOS technology. The
      filters are provisioned with integrated heaters built in CMOS for thermal tuning.
      Their thermal impedance has been dramatically increased by the selective removal
      of the SOI handler substrate under the device footprint using a bulk silicon
      micromachining process. An overall ~20x increase in the tuning efficiency has
      been demonstrated with a 100 um radius ring as compared to a pre-micromachined
      device. A total of 3.9 mW of applied tuning power shifts the filter resonant peak
      across one free spectral node of the device. The Q-factor of the resonator
      remains unchanged after the co-integration process and hence this device geometry
      proves to be fully CMOS compatible. Additionally, after the cointegration process
      our result of 2pi shift with 3.9 mW power is among the best tuning performances
      for this class of devices. Finally, we examine scaling the tuning efficiency
      versus device footprint to develop a different performance criterion for an
      easier comparison to evaluate thermal tuning. Our criterion is defined as the
      unit of power to shift the device resonance by a full 2pi phase shift.

PMID- 20940800
TI  - High speed silicon optical modulator with self aligned fabrication process.
AB  - With the imminent commercialisation of silicon photonic devices comes the
      requirement for a fabrication process capable of high yield and device
      performance repeatability. The precise alignment of the different elements of a
      device can be a major fabrication challenge for minimising performance variation
      or even device failure. In this paper a new design of high speed carrier
      depletion silicon optical modulator is introduced which features the use of a
      self-aligned fabrication process to form the pn junction. Experimental results
      are presented from an initial fabrication run, which has demonstrated a 6 dB
      modulation depth at 10 Gbit/s from a 3.5 m long device.

PMID- 20940801
TI  - Non-phase-matched tunable band rejection in an all-solid photonic bandgap fiber
      with high-index rods on graded-index pedestals.
AB  - A new type of an all-solid photonic bandgap fiber for a non-phase-matched tunable
      band-rejection filter was proposed and fabricated by introducing a hexagonal
      array of high-index rods surrounded by graded-index pedestals in silica cladding.
      Due to the graded index and subsequent weak confinement of light, the proposed
      fiber showed two contrasting transmission spectra: flat transmission for a long
      fiber segment of ~1 m in contrast to typical bandgap transmission in a short
      fiber segment of ~10 cm. For the 120-cm-long fiber, we observed unique band
      rejection transmission without any requirement of phase-matching conditions,
      whose rejection strength was tunable by mechanical perturbations such as bending
      and twisting. Detailed device principles, fiber design, fabrication, and
      transmission characteristics are discussed in both theory and experiment.

PMID- 20940802
TI  - Deep phase modulation interferometry.
AB  - We have developed a method to equip homodyne interferometers with the capability
      to operate with constant high sensitivity over many fringes for continuous real
      time tracking. The method can be considered as an extension of the "J1 . . .J4"
      methods, and its enhancement to deliver very sensitive angular measurements
      through Differential Wavefront Sensing is straightforward. Beam generation
      requires a sinusoidal phase modulation of several radians in one interferometer
      arm. On a stable optical bench, we have demonstrated a long-term sensitivity over
      thousands of seconds of 0.1 mrad/?Hz that correspond to 20 pm/ ?Hz in length, and
      10 nrad/ ?Hz in angle at millihertz frequencies.

PMID- 20940803
TI  - CCD polarization imaging sensor with aluminum nanowire optical filters.
AB  - We report an imaging sensor capable of recording the optical properties of
      partially polarized light by monolithically integrating aluminum nanowire optical
      filters with a CCD imaging array. The imaging sensor, composed of 1000 by 1000
      imaging elements with 7.4 MUm pixel pitch, is covered with an array of pixel
      pitch matched nanowire optical filters with four different orientations offset by
      45 degrees . The polarization imaging sensor has a signal-to-noise ratio of 45 dB
      and captures intensity, angle and degree of linear polarization in the visible
      spectrum at 40 frames per second with 300 mW of power consumption.

PMID- 20940804
TI  - 12 MW peak power from a two-crystal Yb:KYW chirped-pulse oscillator with cavity
      dumping.
AB  - We report on substantial pulse energy increase in Yb:KYW femtosecond laser
      oscillators by utilizing multiple laser crystals for an enhanced net-gain at
      higher pump power. The two-crystal oscillator generates pulse energies of 7 uJ at
      1 MHz repetition rate which is, to our knowledge the highest energy ever reported
      from an Yb-doped tungstate fs-laser oscillator. The external pulse compression
      yields a pulse duration of 416 fs with a peak power of 12 MW being enough for
      stable white light generation in YAG.

PMID- 20940805
TI  - Nonlinear optical properties of induced transmission filters.
AB  - The nonlinear optical (NLO) properties of induced transmission filters (ITFs)
      based on Ag are experimentally determined using white light continuum pump-probe
      measurements. The experimental results are supported using simulations based on
      the matrix transfer method. The magnitude of the NLO response is shown to be 30
      times that of an isolated Ag film of comparable thickness. The impacts of design
      variations on the linear and NLO response are simulated. It is shown that the
      design can be modified to enhance the NLO response of an ITF by a factor of 2 or
      more over a perfectly matched ITF structure.

PMID- 20940806
TI  - Fabrication of aspherical SU-8 microlens array utilizing novel stamping process
      and electro-static pulling method.
AB  - A simple and novel method is proposed for the fabrication of aspherical SU-8
      microlens arrays with a wide range of tunable focal lengths utilizing a soft SU-8
      stamping process and an electro-static pulling method. In the proposed approach,
      an SU-8 stamp incorporating a micro-nozzle array and a reservoir containing
      unexposed SU-8 is fabricated on a glass substrate using a dose-controlled
      exposure process. Microlens arrays with diameters ranging from 20 to 500 MUm and
      various radii of curvature are successfully fabricated using the proposed method.
      The low surface roughness (Ra = 3.84 nm) and high dimensional uniformity of the
      SU-8 microlens arrays (variation < 5% designed diameter) confirm both the optical
      quality of the individual microlenses and the general feasibility of the
      fabrication method. The innovative fabrication method proposed in this study
      provides a simple and efficient means of producing high quality aspherical
      microlens arrays with tunable focal lengths.

PMID- 20940808
TI  - Ultra-low power modulators using MOS depletion in a high-Q SiO2-clad silicon 2-D
      photonic crystal resonator.
AB  - In modulators that rely on changing refractive index, switching energy is
      primarily dependent upon the volume of the active optical mode. Photonic crystal
      microcavities can exhibit extremely small mode volumes on the order of a single
      cubic wavelength with Q values above 10(6). In order to be useful for
      integration, however, they must be embedded in oxide, which in practice reduces Q
      well below 10(3), significantly increasing switching energy. In this work we show
      that it is possible to create a fully oxide-clad microcavity with theoretical Q
      on the order of 10(5). We further show that by using MOS charge depletion this
      microcavity can be the basis for a modulator with a switching energy as low as 1
      fJ/bit.

PMID- 20940807
TI  - Low-cost label-free biosensors using photonic crystals embedded between crossed
      polarizers.
AB  - There is a strong need for low-cost biosensors to enable rapid, on-site analysis
      of biological, biomedical, or chemical substances. We propose a platform for
      label-free optical biosensors based on applying the analyte onto a surface
      functionalized photonic crystal slab and performing a transmission measurement
      with two crossed polarization filters. This dark-field approach allows for
      efficient background suppression as only the photonic crystal guided-mode
      resonances interacting with the functionalized surface experience significant
      polarization rotation. We present a compact biosensor demonstrator using a low
      cost light emitting diode and a simple photodiode capable of detecting the
      binding kinetics of a 2.5 nM solution of the protein streptavidin on a biotin
      functionalized photonic crystal surface.

PMID- 20940809
TI  - A technique for calculating the amplitude distribution of propagated fields by
      Gaussian sampling.
AB  - We present a technique to solve numerically the Fresnel diffraction integral by
      representing a given complex function as a finite superposition of complex
      Gaussians. Once an accurate representation of these functions is attained, it is
      possible to find analytically its diffraction pattern. There are two useful
      consequences of this representation: first, the analytical results may be used
      for further theoretical studies and second, it may be used as a versatile and
      accurate numerical diffraction technique. The use of the technique is illustrated
      by calculating the intensity distribution in a vicinity of the focal region of an
      aberrated converging spherical wave emerging from a circular aperture.

PMID- 20940810
TI  - Tunable optical time delay of quantum signals using a prism pair.
AB  - We describe a compact, tunable, optical time-delay module that functions by means
      of total internal reflection within two glass prisms. The delay is controlled by
      small mechanical motions of the prisms. The device is inherently extremely broad
      band, unlike time delay modules based on "slow light" methods. In the prototype
      device that we fabricated, we obtain time delays as large as 1.45 ns in a device
      of linear dimensions of the order of 3.6 cm. We have delayed pulses with a full
      width at half-maximum pulse duration of 25 fs, implying a delay bandwidth product
      (measured in delay time divided by the FWHM pulse width) of 5.8 x 10(4). We also
      show that the dispersion properties of this device are sufficiently small that
      quantum features of a light pulse are preserved upon delay.

PMID- 20940811
TI  - Analog image contouring using a twisted-nematic liquid-crystal display.
AB  - We present a novel image contouring method based on the polarization features of
      the twisted-nematic liquid-crystal displays (TN-LCDs). TN-LCDs are manufactured
      to work between a crossed polarizer-analyzer pair. When the analyzer is at 45 deg
      (instead of 90 deg) with respect to the polarizer, one obtains an optically
      processed image with pronounced outlines (dark contours) at middle intensity,
      i.e., the borders between illuminated and dark areas are enhanced. The proposed
      method is quite robust and does not require precise alignment or coherent
      illumination. Since it does not involve numerical processing, it could be useful
      for contouring large images in real-time, which presents potential applications
      in medical and biological imaging. Validation experiments are presented.

PMID- 20940812
TI  - Rotation of the absorption frame as a function of the electronic transition in
      the Nd3+:YCa4O(BO3)3 monoclinic crystal.
AB  - We report the first measurements of the angular distribution of absorption under
      polarized light corresponding to seven electronic transitions of Nd(3+) ions in
      the monoclinic crystal Nd:YCOB, revealing a rotation of the symmetry axes of the
      different patterns.

PMID- 20940813
TI  - Visible wavelength astro-comb.
AB  - We demonstrate a tunable laser frequency comb operating near 420 nm with mode
      spacing of 20-50 GHz, usable bandwidth of 15 nm and output power per line of ~20
      nW. Using the TRES spectrograph at the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory, we
      characterize this system to an accuracy below 1m/s, suitable for calibrating high
      resolution astrophysical spectrographs used, e.g., in exoplanet studies.

PMID- 20940814
TI  - Tuning a distributed feedback laser with a coupled microcavity.
AB  - We show that a distributed-feedback terahertz quantum cascade laser can be tuned
      with a coupled microcavity by anti-crossing of the respective eigenfrequencies.
      In this proof-of-concept experiment, a tuning range of 20 GHz is obtained, in
      good agreement with a simple finite element model, which shows that the tuning is
      determined by the coupling strength between the resonators. The concept could be
      applied to any laser cavity, but becomes progressively more attractive the lower
      the emission frequency.

PMID- 20940815
TI  - Tellurium dioxide Erbium doped planar rib waveguide amplifiers with net gain and
      2.8 dB/cm internal gain.
AB  - We report for the first time Erbium doped Tellurium dioxide single-mode planar
      rib waveguide amplifiers with net fiber to fiber gain and wide bandwidth
      operation. Peak internal gains of up to 14 dB have been achieved in 5 cm long rib
      waveguides (2.8 dB/cm) fabricated by co-sputtering of Tellurium and Erbium in an
      oxygen ambient and reactive ion etching.

PMID- 20940816
TI  - Continuous-wave and modelocked Yb:YCOB thin disk laser: first demonstration and
      future prospects.
AB  - Yb:YCOB is a very attractive material for femtosecond pulse generation given its
      broad emission bandwidth. We demonstrate continuous-wave power scaling in the
      thin disk geometry to the 100-W level with a 40% optical-to-optical efficiency in
      multi-mode operation. Furthermore, we present initial modelocking results in the
      thin disk geometry, achieving pulse durations as short as 270 fs. The modelocked
      average power is, however, limited to less than 5 W because of transverse mode
      degradation. This is caused by anisotropic thermal aberrations in the 15% Yb
      doped thin disks which were 300 to 400 um thick. This result confirms the
      potential of Yb:YCOB to generate short femtosecond pulses in the thin disk
      geometry but also makes clear that significantly thinner disks are required to
      overcome the thermal limitations for high power operation.

PMID- 20940817
TI  - Separation-sensitive measurements of morphology dependent resonances in coupled
      fluorescent microspheres.
AB  - The inelastic emission spectrum of a single fluorescent microsphere (bead)
      exhibits resonances arising from whispering gallery modes. Two beads in close
      proximity form a coupled bisphere. Coherent coupling arises from each bead's
      evanescent field and leads to resonance splitting. Here we collect emission
      spectra of two coupled beads, with nearly identical diameters, as spacing between
      beads is varied. Using these size-matched beads allows us to probe resonance
      splitting under strong coupling conditions.

PMID- 20940818
TI  - In situ and real time monitoring of two-photon polymerization using broadband
      coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering microscopy.
AB  - We demonstrate in situ and real time characterization of two-photon
      polymerization (TPP) by means of broadband coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering
      (CARS) microscopy. The same experimental setup based on one femtosecond
      oscillator is used to perform both TPP and broadband CARS microscopy. We
      performed in situ imaging with chemical specificity of three-dimensional
      microstructures fabricated by TPP, and successfully followed the writing process
      in real time. Broadband CARS microscopy allowed discerning between polymerized
      and unpolymerized material. Imaging with good vibrational contrast is achieved
      without causing any damage to the microstructures or undesired polymerization
      within the sample.

PMID- 20940819
TI  - Structured light sheet fluorescence microscopy based on four beam interference.
AB  - A 3D structured light sheet microscope using a four-faceted symmetric pyramid is
      presented. The sample is illuminated by the resulting four beam interference
      field. This approach combines advantages of standing wave and structured
      illumination microscopy. Examples of micrographs of fluorescently labeled Chinese
      hamster ovary (CHO) cells as well as of the compound eyes of drosophila are shown
      and the optical sectioning ability of our system is demonstrated. The
      capabilities and the limitations of the scheme are discussed.

PMID- 20940820
TI  - Continuous-wave subwavelength microdisk lasers at lambda = 1.53 um.
AB  - Subwavelength InGaAs/AlInAs microdisk lasers are demonstrated under continuous
      wave optical pumping at a heat-sink temperature of 45 K. A 1.49 um diameter, 209
      nm thick microdisk lases in single-mode at a wavelength of 1.53 um, which is
      identified as the whispering-gallery mode with the first radial mode number, the
      fifth azimuthal mode number, and a modal volume of 2.12(lambda/n)(3) according to
      our mode simulation.

PMID- 20940821
TI  - Optimal collimation of misaligned optical systems by concentering primary field
      aberrations.
AB  - A collimation method of misaligned optical systems is proposed. The method is
      based on selectively nullifying main alignment-driven aberration components. This
      selective compensation is achieved by the optimal adjustment of chosen alignment
      parameters. It is shown that this optimal adjustment can be obtained by solving a
      linear matrix equation of the low-order alignment-driven terms of primary field
      aberrations. A significant result from the adjustment is to place the centers of
      the primary field aberrations, initially scattered over the field due to
      misalignment, to a desired common field location. This aberration concentering
      naturally results in recovery of image quality across the field of view. Error
      analyses and robustness tests show the method's feasibility in efficient removal
      of alignment-driven aberrations in the face of measurement and model
      uncertainties. The extension of the method to the collim ion of a misaligned
      system with higher-order alignment-driven aberrations is also shown.

PMID- 20940822
TI  - A method for achieving super-resolved widefield CARS microscopy.
AB  - We propose a scheme for achieving widefield coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering
      (CARS) microscopy images with sub-diffraction-limited resolution. This approach
      adds structured illumination to the widefield CARS configuration [Applied Physics
      Letters 84, 816 (2004)]. By capturing a number of images at different phases of
      the standing wave pattern, an image with up to three times the resolution of the
      original can be constructed. We develop a theoretical treatment of this system
      and perform numerical simulations for a typical CARS system, which indicate that
      resolutions around 120 nm are obtainable with the present scheme. As an imaging
      system, this method combines the advantages of sub-diffraction-limited
      resolution, endogenous contrast generation, and a wide field of view.

PMID- 20940823
TI  - Simulations and experiments of aperiodic and multiplexed gratings in volume
      holographic imaging systems.
AB  - A new methodology describing the effects of aperiodic and multiplexed gratings in
      volume holographic imaging systems (VHIS) is presented. The aperiodic gratings
      are treated as an ensemble of localized planar gratings using coupled wave
      methods in conjunction with sequential and non-sequential ray-tracing techniques
      to accurately predict volumetric diffraction effects in VHIS. Our approach can be
      applied to aperiodic, multiplexed gratings and used to theoretically predict the
      performance of multiplexed volume holographic gratings within a volume hologram
      for VHIS. We present simulation and experimental results for the aperiodic and
      multiplexed imaging gratings formed in PQ-PMMA at 488 nm and probed with a
      spherical wave at 633 nm. Simulation results based on our approach that can be
      easily implemented in ray-tracing packages such as Zemax(r) are confirmed with
      experiments and show proof of consistency and usefulness of the proposed models.

PMID- 20940824
TI  - Low loss Chalcogenide glass waveguides by thermal nano-imprint lithography.
AB  - We report the fabrication of low loss rib waveguides from chalcogenide glass
      films by thermal nano-imprint using a soft stamp. Waveguides 2-4 um wide and 1 um
      high were fabricated with extremely smooth sidewalls and optical losses limited
      by Rayleigh scattering to values of 0.26 dB/cm for the TM and 0.27 dB/cm for TE
      polarizations at 1550 nm.

PMID- 20940825
TI  - Dual-tier thin film polymer polarization imaging sensor.
AB  - Traditional imaging systems capture and replicate the imaged environment in terms
      of color and intensity. One important property of light, which the human eye is
      blind to and is ignored by traditional imaging systems, is polarization. In this
      paper we present a novel, low power imaging sensor capable of recording the
      optical properties of partially linearly polarized light in real-time. The
      imaging sensor combines polymer polarization filters with a CMOS image sensor in
      order to compute the first three Stokes parameters at the focal plane. The
      imaging array contains 100 x 100 pixels and consumes 48 mW at 30 fps.

PMID- 20940826
TI  - Single-plane multiple speckle pattern phase retrieval using a deformable mirror.
AB  - A design for a single-plane multiple speckle pattern phase retrieval technique
      using a deformable mirror (DM) is analyzed within the formalism of complex ABCD
      matrices, facilitating its use in conjunction with dynamic wavefronts. The
      variable focal length DM positioned at a Fourier plane of a lens comprises the
      adaptive optical (AO) system that replaces the time-consuming axial displacements
      in the conventional free-space multiple plane setup. Compared with a spatial
      light modulator, a DM has a smooth continuous surface which avoids pixelation,
      pixel cross-talk and non-planarity issues. The calculated distances for the
      proposed AO-system are evaluated experimentally using the conventional free-space
      phase retrieval setup. Two distance ranges are investigated depending on whether
      the measurement planes satisfy the Nyquist detector sampling condition or not. It
      is shown numerically and experimentally that speckle patterns measured at the non
      Nyquist range still yield good reconstructions. A DM with a surface height of 25
      microns and an aperture diameter of 5.2 mm may be used to reconstruct spherical
      phase patterns with 50-micron fringe spacing.

PMID- 20940827
TI  - Microring-based optical pulse-train generator.
AB  - This paper presents a new photonic integrated circuit, namely optical pulse-train
      generator, which is developed based on the transfer matrix analysis of microrings
      and utilizes a time-interleaved architecture. This circuit can generate multiple
      optical pulses sequentially from a single trigger pulse, with the timing and
      amplitude of each pulse determined by circuit design. Hence it can be applied in
      optical arbitrary waveform generation and ultrafast electro-optic modulation. A
      four-tap prototype pulse-train generator design is demonstrated, and the
      challenge of distributed optical power combining is discussed. The design
      techniques presented in this paper will find use in other large scale photonic
      integrated circuit applications.

PMID- 20940828
TI  - Forward ray tracing for image projection prediction and surface reconstruction in
      the evaluation of corneal topography systems.
AB  - A forward ray tracing (FRT) model is presented to determine the exact image
      projection in a general corneal topography system. Consequently, the skew ray
      error in Placido-based topography is demonstrated. A quantitative analysis
      comparing FRT-based algorithms and Placido-based algorithms in reconstructing the
      front surface of the cornea shows that arc step algorithms are more sensitive to
      noise (imprecise). Furthermore, they are less accurate in determining corneal
      aberrations particularly the quadrafoil aberration. On the other hand, FRT-based
      algorithms are more accurate and more precise showing that point to point corneal
      topography is superior compared to its Placido-based counterpart.

PMID- 20940829
TI  - Polarization-resolved Second Harmonic microscopy in anisotropic thick tissues.
AB  - We thoroughly analyze the linear propagation effects that affect polarization
      resolved Second Harmonic Generation imaging of thick anisotropic tissues such as
      collagenous tissues. We develop a theoretical model that fully accounts for
      birefringence and diattenuation along the excitation propagation, and
      polarization scrambling upon scattering of the harmonic signal. We obtain an
      excellent agreement with polarizationresolved SHG images at increasing depth
      within a rat-tail tendon for both polarizations of the forward SHG signal. Most
      notably, we observe interference fringes due to birefringence in the SHG depth
      profile when excited at pi/4 angle from the tendon axis. We also measure
      artifactual decrease of rho = Chixxx/Chixyy with depth due to diattenuation of
      the excitation. We therefore derive a method that proves reliable to determine
      both rho and the tendon birefringence and diattenuation.

PMID- 20940830
TI  - Subwavelength film sensing based on terahertz anti-resonant reflecting hollow
      waveguides.
AB  - A simple dielectric hollow-tube has been experimentally demonstrated at terahertz
      range for bio-molecular layer sensing based on the anti-resonant reflecting wave
      guidance mechanism. We experimentally study the dependence of thin-film detection
      sensitivity on the optical geometrical parameters of tubes, different thicknesses
      and tube wall refractive indices, and on different resonant frequencies. A
      polypropylene hollow-tube with optimized sensitivity of 0.003 mm/MUm is used to
      sense a subwavelength-thick (lambda/225) carboxypolymethylene molecular overlayer
      on the tube's inner surface, and the minimum detectable quantity of molecules
      could be down to 1.22 picomole/mm(2). A double-layered Fabry-Perot model is
      proposed for calculating the overlayer thicknesses, which agrees well with the
      experimental results.

PMID- 20940831
TI  - Glass-embedded two-dimensional silicon photonic crystal devices with a broad
      bandwidth waveguide and a high quality nanocavity.
AB  - To enhance the mechanical stability of a two-dimensional photonic crystal slab
      structure and maintain its excellent performance, we designed a glass-embedded
      silicon photonic crystal device consisting of a broad bandwidth waveguide and a
      nanocavity with a high quality (Q) factor, and then fabricated the structure
      using spin-on glass (SOG). Furthermore, we showed that the refractive index of
      the SOG could be tuned from 1.37 to 1.57 by varying the curing temperature of the
      SOG. Finally, we demonstrated a glass-embedded heterostructured cavity with an
      ultrahigh Q factor of 160,000 by adjusting the refractive index of the SOG.

PMID- 20940832
TI  - Generalized sampling using a compound-eye imaging system for multi-dimensional
      object acquisition.
AB  - In this paper, we propose generalized sampling approaches for measuring a multi
      dimensional object using a compact compound-eye imaging system called thin
      observation module by bound optics (TOMBO). This paper shows the proposed system
      model, physical examples, and simulations to verify TOMBO imaging using
      generalized sampling. In the system, an object is modulated and multiplied by a
      weight distribution with physical coding, and the coded optical signal is
      integrated on to a detector array. A numerical estimation algorithm employing a
      sparsity constraint is used for object reconstruction.

PMID- 20940833
TI  - Femtosecond laser induced surface nanostructuring and simultaneous
      crystallization of amorphous thin silicon film.
AB  - Ultrafast pulsed laser irradiation is demonstrated to be able to produce surface
      nano-structuring and simultaneous crystallization of amorphous silicon thin film
      in one step laser processing. After fs laser irradiation on 80 nm-thick a-Si
      deposited on Corning 1737 glass substrate, the color change from light yellow to
      dark brown was observed on the sample surface. AFM images show that the surface
      nano-spike pattern was produced on amorphous-Si:H film by fs laser irradiation.
      Furthermore, micro-Raman results indicate that the a-Si has been crystallized
      into nanocrystalline Si. Also, the absorptance of the fs laser treated Si thin
      film was found to increase in the spectrum range of below bandgap compared to
      original untreated a-Si. The developed process has a potential application in
      fabrication of high efficiency Si thin film solar cells.

PMID- 20940834
TI  - Optimal quantitation of the cerebral hemodynamic response in functional near
      infrared spectroscopy.
AB  - We have compared cerebral hemodynamic changes measured by near-infrared
      spectroscopy (NIRS) with simultaneously acquired BOLD fMRI signals during breath
      hold challenge in humans. The oxy- and deoxyhemoglobin concentration changes were
      obtained from the same broadband NIRS data using four different quantitation
      methods. One method used only two wavelengths (690 nm and 830 nm), and three
      other methods used broadband data with different spectral fitting algorithms. We
      found that the broadband techniques employing spectral derivatives were
      significantly superior to the multi-wavelength methods in terms of the
      correlation with the BOLD signals. In two cases out of six we found that the time
      courses of the deoxyhemoglobin changes produced by the two-wavelength method were
      qualitatively inconsistent with the BOLD fMRI signals.

PMID- 20940835
TI  - Design analysis of doped-silicon surface plasmon resonance immunosensors in mid
      infrared range.
AB  - This paper reports the design analysis of a microfabricatable mid-infrared (mid
      IR) surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor platform. The proposed platform has
      periodic heavily doped profiles implanted into intrinsic silicon and a thin gold
      layer deposited on top, making a physically flat grating SPR coupler. A rigorous
      coupled-wave analysis was conducted to prove the design feasibility, characterize
      the sensor's performance, and determine geometric parameters of the heavily doped
      profiles. Finite element analysis (FEA) was also employed to compute the
      electromagnetic field distributions at the plasmon resonance. Obtained results
      reveal that the proposed structure can excite the SPR on the normal incidence of
      mid-IR light, resulting in a large probing depth that will facilitate the study
      of larger analytes. Furthermore, the whole structure can be microfabricated with
      well-established batch protocols, providing tunability in the SPR excitation
      wavelength for specific biosensing needs with a low manufacturing cost. When the
      SPR sensor is to be used in a Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy
      platform, its detection sensitivity and limit of detection are estimated to be
      3022 nm/RIU and ~70 pg/mm(2), respectively, at a sample layer thickness of 100
      nm. The design analysis performed in the present study will allow the fabrication
      of a tunable, disposable mid-IR SPR sensor that combines advantages of
      conventional prism and metallic grating SPR sensors.

PMID- 20940836
TI  - Small-signal analysis of bidirectional operating characteristics in a Raman ring
      laser with external optical injections.
AB  - Employing the small-signal analysis, we study the bidirectional operating
      characteristics in a Raman ring laser. Bidirectional operation is found not
      stable in a silicon ring because of the existence of two-photon absorption. Using
      polar crystals which have different forward and backward Raman gain or
      introducing external optical injections helps to establish stable bidirectional
      operation in a Raman ring laser.

PMID- 20940837
TI  - Automatic segmentation of seven retinal layers in SDOCT images congruent with
      expert manual segmentation.
AB  - Segmentation of anatomical and pathological structures in ophthalmic images is
      crucial for the diagnosis and study of ocular diseases. However, manual
      segmentation is often a time-consuming and subjective process. This paper
      presents an automatic approach for segmenting retinal layers in Spectral Domain
      Optical Coherence Tomography images using graph theory and dynamic programming.
      Results show that this method accurately segments eight retinal layer boundaries
      in normal adult eyes more closely to an expert grader as compared to a second
      expert grader.

PMID- 20940838
TI  - Bidirectional 60-GHz radio-over-fiber systems with downstream OFDMA and
      wavelength reuse upstream SC-FDMA.
AB  - We have proposed and experimentally demonstrated a 60-GHz bidirectional radio
      over-fiber system with downstream orthogonal frequency division multiplexing
      address (OFDMA) and wavelength reuse upstream single-carrier frequency division
      multiple address (SC-FDMA). In the downstream, a 3-dB optical coupler is used for
      two-carrier injection-locking a distributed feedback (DFB) laser in order to
      realize the single-sideband modulation. In the upstream, the weakly modulated one
      of the two downstream carriers is filtered out for wavelength reuse. Transmission
      of 9.65-Gb/s 16-QAM downstream OFDMA on 60-GHz carrier and 5-Gb/s QPSK upstream
      SC-FDMA (2.5 Gb/s for each user) are both successfully demonstrated over 53-km
      standard single mode fiber without chromatic dispersion compensation. The
      crosstalk between the downstream OFDMA and the upstream SC-FDMA can be neglected.

PMID- 20940839
TI  - Broadly tunable high-power InAs/GaAs quantum-dot external cavity diode lasers.
AB  - A record broadly tunable high-power external cavity InAs/GaAs quantum-dot diode
      laser with a tuning range of 202 nm (1122 nm-1324 nm) is demonstrated. A maximum
      output power of 480 mW and a side-mode suppression ratio greater than 45 dB are
      achieved in the central part of the tuning range. We exploit a number of
      strategies for enhancing the tuning range of external cavity quantum-dot lasers.
      Different waveguide designs, laser configurations and operation conditions (pump
      current and temperature) are investigated for optimization of output power and
      tunability.

PMID- 20940840
TI  - Contrast and resolution analysis of iterative angular domain optical projection
      tomography.
AB  - In Angular Domain Imaging, image contrast and resolution are position dependent.
      The objective of this work was to characterize the contrast and resolution of an
      ADI system at a multitude of locations within the imaging plane, then compare the
      reconstructions of different targets using filtered back projection and iterative
      reconstruction algorithms. Contrast varied significantly with depth and minimally
      with lateral position, while resolution varied significantly with lateral
      position and minimally with depth. The iterative reconstruction algorithm was
      robust against ring and streak artifacts. The back projection reconstructions
      suffered from artifacts related to a lack of projection data.

PMID- 20940841
TI  - Ultralow bending loss fibers with higher-order mode strippers.
AB  - We propose and demonstrate bend-insensitive fibers equipped with higher-order
      mode strippers. The mode stripper is realized by filling a section of air holes
      with epoxy to attenuate any higher-order modes that are excited at fiber
      junctions and are confined by the air holes surrounding the core. We found that
      the higher-order modes are well suppressed with 5 cm-long epoxy columns. An
      ultralow bending loss of 0.025 dB/turn at a bend diameter of 10 mm, together with
      single-modeness, is experimentally demonstrated in a bend-insensitive fiber with
      six air holes 16 MUm in diameter.

PMID- 20940842
TI  - Microscopy image resolution improvement by deconvolution of complex fields.
AB  - Based on truncated inverse filtering, a theory for deconvolution of complex
      fields is studied. The validity of the theory is verified by comparing with
      experimental data from digital holographic microscopy (DHM) using a high-NA
      system (NA=0.95). Comparison with standard intensity deconvolution reveals that
      only complex deconvolution deals correctly with coherent cross-talk. With
      improved image resolution, complex deconvolution is demonstrated to exceed the
      Rayleigh limit. Gain in resolution arises by accessing the objects complex field 
      containing the information encoded in the phase - and deconvolving it with the
      reconstructed complex transfer function (CTF). Synthetic (based on Debye theory
      modeled with experimental parameters of MO) and experimental amplitude point
      spread functions (APSF) are used for the CTF reconstruction and compared. Thus,
      the optical system used for microscopy is characterized quantitatively by its
      APSF. The role of noise is discussed in the context of complex field
      deconvolution. As further results, we demonstrate that complex deconvolution does
      not require any additional optics in the DHM setup while extending the limit of
      resolution with coherent illumination by a factor of at least 1.64.

PMID- 20940843
TI  - Optical properties of Bismuth-doped silica core photonic crystal fiber.
AB  - Optical properties of a Bismuth-doped pure silica sol-gel core photonic crystal
      fiber (PCF) were investigated. We report on the absorption, CW luminescence and
      time resolved luminescence spectra at different excitation wavelengths at room
      temperature. Complex structure of the energy levels of Bismuth-connected centers
      in pure silica glass is put in evidence.

PMID- 20940844
TI  - Advanced mask aligner lithography: fabrication of periodic patterns using pinhole
      array mask and Talbot effect.
AB  - The Talbot effect is utilized for micro-fabrication of periodic microstructures
      via proximity lithography in a mask aligner. A novel illumination system,
      referred to as MO Exposure Optics, allows to control the effective source shape
      and accordingly the angular spectrum of the illumination light. Pinhole array
      photomasks are employed to generate periodic high-resolution diffraction patterns
      by means of self-imaging. They create a demagnified image of the effective source
      geometry in their diffraction pattern which is printed to photoresist. The
      proposed method comprises high flexibility and sub-micron resolution at large
      proximity gaps. Various periodic structures have been generated and are
      presented.

PMID- 20940845
TI  - Theory of enhanced optical transmission through a metallic nano-slit surrounded
      with asymmetric grooves under oblique incidence.
AB  - A metallic nano-slit surrounded with asymmetric grooves is proposed as the
      plasmonic concentrator for oblique incident light. A theoretical model based on
      the surface plasmon polariton (SPP) coupled-mode method is derived for the
      extraordinary optical transmission (EOT) through such a structure under oblique
      incidence. The model is quantitatively validated with the finite element method.
      With the model, the physical insight of the EOT is then interpreted, i.e., the
      major contributions to the transmission include the vertical Fabry-Perot
      resonance of the slit, and the interference among slit modes excited by the
      incident light, by SPPs generated from groove arrays and their first-order
      reflections. This is quite different from the EOT through a nano-slit surrounded
      with symmetric grooves under normal incidence.

PMID- 20940846
TI  - Rapid calculation algorithm of Fresnel computer-generated-hologram using look-up
      table and wavefront-recording plane methods for three-dimensional display.
AB  - A rapid calculation method of Fresnel computer-generated-hologram (CGH) using
      look-up table and wavefront-recording plane (WRP) methods toward three
      dimensional (3D) display is presented. The method consists of two steps: the
      first step is the calculation of a WRP that is placed between a 3D object and a
      CGH. In the second step, we obtain an amplitude-type or phase-type CGH to execute
      diffraction calculation from the WRP to the CGH. The first step of the previous
      WRP method was difficult to calculate in real-time due to the calculation cost.
      In this paper, in order to obtain greater acceleration, we apply a look-up table
      method to the first step. In addition, we use a graphics processing unit in the
      second step. The total computational complexity is dramatically reduced in
      comparison with conventional CGH calculations. We show optical reconstructions
      from a 2,048*2,048 phase-type CGH generated by about 3*10(4) object points over
      10 frames per second.

PMID- 20940847
TI  - Anomalous optical absorption in metallic gratings with subwavelength slits.
AB  - The absorption in metallic gratings with subwavelength slits is theoretically
      investigated. Anomalous optical absorption occurs over a wide range of incident
      angles for both polarizations. In particular, a nearly perfect absorbance up to
      99.5% with a significant bandwidth is attained for TM polarization with compound
      slits. Enhanced absorption is associated with extreme concentration of fields
      inside the structure. The respective field pattern depicts a special feature of
      surface plasmons excited on single interface only, which are identified as
      semibonding modes. The anomalous absorption is also achieved for TE polarization,
      when the compound grating is reduced to a simple grating. For this polarization,
      the nomalous absorption is attributed to the occurrence of trapped modes, with a
      slightly smaller absorbance (98.4%).

PMID- 20940848
TI  - Efficient calculation of higher-order optical waveguide dispersion.
AB  - An efficient numerical strategy to compute the higher-order dispersion parameters
      of optical waveguides is presented. For the first time to our knowledge, a
      systematic study of the errors involved in the higher-order dispersions'
      numerical calculation process is made, showing that the present strategy can
      accurately model those parameters. Such strategy combines a full-vectorial finite
      element modal solver and a proper finite difference differentiation algorithm.
      Its performance has been carefully assessed through the analysis of several key
      geometries. In addition, the optimization of those higher-order dispersion
      parameters can also be carried out by coupling to the present scheme a genetic
      algorithm, as shown here through the design of a photonic crystal fiber suitable
      for parametric amplification applications.

PMID- 20940849
TI  - Measurement of nonreciprocal spontaneous Raman scattering in silicon photonic
      wires.
AB  - We report on measurements that show the strength of the spontaneous Raman
      scattering in strongly confining silicon waveguides to depend significantly on
      the propagation direction of the amplified signal wave with respect to the pump
      wave. Furthermore, the strength of this nonreciprocity depends on the orientation
      of the waveguide with respect to the crystallographic axes. We find that when
      changing the orientation from ?011? to ?001?, the Raman-induced nonreciprocity
      increases by almost a factor of 3.

PMID- 20940850
TI  - Toward ultimate miniaturization of high Q silicon traveling-wave microresonators.
AB  - High Q traveling-wave resonators (TWR)s are one of the key building block
      components for VLSI Photonics and photonic integrated circuits (PIC). However,
      dense VLSI integration requires small footprint resonators. While photonic
      crystal resonators have shown the record in simultaneous high Q (~10(5)-10(6))
      and very small mode volumes; the structural simplicity of TWRs has motivated many
      ongoing researches on miniaturization of these resonators with maintaining Q in
      the same range. In this paper, we investigate the scaling issues of silicon
      traveling-wave microresonators down to ultimate miniaturization levels in SOI
      platforms. Two main constraints that are considered during this down scaling are:
      1) Preservation of the intrinsic Q of the resonator at high values, and 2)
      Compatibility of resonator with passive (active) integration by preserving the
      SiO(2) BOX layer (plus a thin Si slab layer for P-N junction fabrication).
      Microdisk and microdonut (an intermediate design between disk and ring shape) are
      considered for high Q, miniaturization, and single-mode operation over a wide
      wavelength range (as high as the free-spectral range). Theoretical and
      experimental results for miniaturized resonators are demonstrated and Q's as high
      as ~10(5) for resonators as small as 1.5 MUm radius are achieved.

PMID- 20940851
TI  - Absorption profile modulation by means of 1D digital plasmonic gratings.
AB  - Optical simulations of 1D digital plasmonic gratings on a Silicon substrate are
      performed by means of the Finite Elements Method and a modal analysis. The
      different mechanisms of transmission of the light are elucidated. The absorption
      profile in Silicon can be modulated and controlled changing the geometry.
      Configuration maps allow to determine the different optical regimes. Surface
      Plasmon Polaritons and cavity-mode resonances are shown to be effectively
      exploitable to enhance NIR-light absorption in different shallower regions of the
      underlying Silicon.

PMID- 20940852
TI  - Improving directivity of laser beams by employing the effect of conical
      refraction in biaxial crystals.
AB  - The far-field pattern of Gaussian beams transformed by conical refraction in
      biaxial crystal is analyzed. It is shown that one of the two outgoing beam
      components acquires, under certain conditions, a profile with a dominating
      central peak. The width of this peak can be made significantly smaller than the
      width of the parent diffraction-limited Gaussian beam at the same propagation
      distance. The formation of such structurally-stable sub-diffraction beam core
      improves the beam directivity. Another component is a charge-one optical vortex,
      that forms the annular shell of the beam and carries the rest of the beam power.

PMID- 20940853
TI  - Excitation wavelength dependence of phase matched terahertz emission from a GaAs
      slab.
AB  - We report on phase matched THz emission from GaAs using the anomalous dispersion
      introduced by optical phonon absorption at the reststrahlenband in GaAs. For this
      system tunability of the emitted THz frequencies by changing the near infrared
      excitation wavelength is predicted. We investigate this phenomenon for an
      oversized double metallized GaAs waveguide. A shift in the THz spectra is
      observed when the near-infrared wavelength is varied. Enhanced emission is found
      when phase matching is achieved at 1.4 um.

PMID- 20940854
TI  - Design of a surface-emitting, subwavelength metal-clad disk laser in the visible
      spectrum.
AB  - We analyze metal-clad disk cavities designed for nanolasers in the visible red
      spectrum with subwavelength device size and mode volume. Metal cladding
      suppresses radiation loss and supports low order modes with room temperature Q of
      200 to 300. Non-degenerate single-mode operation with enhanced spontaneous
      emission coupling factor beta is expected with the TE(011) mode that has a
      0.46(lambda(0)/n)(3) mode volume and Q = 210 in a device of size
      0.12lambda(0)(3). Threshold gain calculations show that room temperature lasing
      is possible using multiple GaInP/AlGaInP quantum wells as the gain medium.
      Placing a planar metal reflector under the cavity can enhance radiation and
      extraction efficiencies or increase the Q, without incurring additional metallic
      absorption loss. We show that the far-field radiation characteristics are
      strongly affected by the devices' immediate surroundings, such as changes in
      metal cladding thickness, even as the resonant mode profile, frequency, and Q
      remain the same. When the metal cladding is 1 mm thick, light radiates upward
      with a distinct intensity maximum at 45 degrees  when the cladding is 100 nm
      thick, the emitted light spreads in a near-horizontal direction.

PMID- 20940855
TI  - Real-time imaging of cardiovascular dynamics and circulating gold nanorods with
      multispectral optoacoustic tomography.
AB  - Macroscopic visualization of functional and molecular features of cardiovascular
      disease is emerging as an important tool in basic research and clinical
      translation of new diagnostic and therapeutic strategies. We showcase the
      application of Multispectral Optoacoustic Tomography (MSOT) techniques to
      noninvasively image different aspects of the mouse cardiovascular system
      macroscopically in real-time and in vivo, an unprecedented ability compared to
      optical or optoacoustic (photoacoustic) imaging approaches documented so far. In
      particular, we demonstrate imaging of the carotid arteries, the aorta and the
      cardiac wall. We further demonstrate the ability to dynamically visualize
      circulating gold nanorods that can be used to enhance contrast and be extended to
      molecular imaging applications. We discuss the potential of this imaging ability
      in cardiovascular disease (CVD) research and clinical applications.

PMID- 20940856
TI  - Efficient corner-pumped Nd:YAG/YAG composite slab 1.1 um laser.
AB  - Corner pumping is a new pumping scheme for diode-pumped solid-state lasers, which
      has the advantages of high pump efficiency and favorable pump uniformity. A
      continuous-wave corner-pumped Nd:YAG/ YAG composite slab multi-wavelength laser
      at around 1.1 um is demonstrated. The maximal output power is up to 12.06 W with
      an optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of 24%. At an output power of 10.3 W,
      the M(2) factors of beam quality at width and thickness directions are 7.71 and
      2.44, respectively. With a LBO crystal inserted in the cavity, continuous-wave
      yellow-green laser with an output power of 841 mW is obtained. The experimental
      results show that a corner-pumping is a feasible scheme in the design of diode
      pumped solid-state 1.1 um lasers and their frequency-doubling to the yellow-green
      with low or medium output powers.

PMID- 20940857
TI  - Compact modulated and tunable microdisk laser using vertical coupling and a
      feedback loop.
AB  - A study of vertical coupling conditions between microdisk based resonators and
      waveguides is presented using an analytical model. The coupling efficiency
      optimization is investigated and compared to 3D FDTD computations. We also
      demonstrate that coupling losses can be exploited to favor high quality factor
      modes in circular resonators. In addition, we propose to modify the shape of the
      coupled waveguide to enhance mode selectivity and obtain a very compact structure
      with mode hoping capacities. Lower thresholds and modulation are also expected.

PMID- 20940858
TI  - Scattering and cloaking of binary hyper-particles in metamaterials.
AB  - We derive the d-dimensional scattering cross section for homogeneous and
      composite hyper-particles inside a metamaterial. The polarizability of the hyper
      particles is expressed in multi-dimensional form and is used in order to examine
      various scattering characteristics. We introduce scattering bounds that display
      interesting results when d --> infinity and in particular consider the special
      limit of hyper-particle cloaking in some detail. We demonstrate cloaking via
      resonance for homogeneous particles and show that composite hyper-particles can
      be used in order to obtain electromagnetic cloaking with either negative or all
      positive constitutive parameters respectively. Our approach not only considers
      cloaking of particles of integer dimension but also particles with non-integer
      dimension such as fractals. Theoretical results are compared to full-wave
      numerical simulations for two interacting hyper-particles in a medium.

PMID- 20940859
TI  - Ultrafast widefield optical sectioning microscopy by multifocal temporal
      focusing.
AB  - The need for optical sectioning in bio-imaging has amongst others led to the
      development of the two-photon scanning microscopy. However, this comes with some
      intrinsic fundamental limitations in the temporal domain as the focused spot has
      to be scanned mechanically in the sample plane. Hence for a large number of
      biological applications where imaging speed is a limiting factor, it would be
      significantly advantageous to generate widefield excitations with an optical
      sectioning comparable to the two-photon scanning microscopy. Recently by using
      the technique of temporal focusing it was shown that high axial resolution
      widefield excitation can be generated in picosecond time scales without any
      mechanical moving parts. However the achievable axial resolution is still well
      above that of a two-photon scanning microscope. Here we demonstrate a new
      ultrafast widefield two-photon imaging technique termed Multifocal Temporal
      Focusing (MUTEF) which relies on the generation of a set of diffraction limited
      beams produced by an Echelle grating that scan across a second tilted diffraction
      grating in picosecond time scale, generating a widefield excitation area with an
      axial resolution comparable to a two-photon scanning microscope. Using this
      method we have shown widefield two-photon imaging on fixed biological samples
      with an axial sectioning with a FWHM of ~0.85 MUm.

PMID- 20940860
TI  - Phase detection properties of grating-coupled surface plasmon resonance sensors.
AB  - In this paper, the phase detection properties of a grating-coupled surface
      plasmon resonance (GCSPR) sensor with a thin metal film on the grating structure
      has been studied by performing finite-difference time-domain simulation first.
      Both the metal film thickness and modulation height of the grating considerably
      affect the phase detection properties of GCSPR sensors. The manner in which the
      metal film thickness affects the phase curve in the grating-coupled configuration
      is slightly different from that in the conventional prism-coupled surface plasmon
      resonance (PCSPR) configuration. For experiment, an electro-optic heterodyne
      interferometer is used to perform phase detection of the GCSPR sensor and a
      refractive index resolution of 1.5 * 0(-6) RIU are obtained. The results reveal
      that the phase detection sensitivity of the GCSPR sensor may be comparable to
      that of the PCSPR sensor.

PMID- 20940861
TI  - Electromagnetic energy vortex associated with sub-wavelength plasmonic Taiji
      marks.
AB  - The Taiji symbol is a very old schematic representation of two opposing but
      complementary patterns in oriental civilization. Using electron beam lithography,
      we fabricated an array of 70 * 70 gold Taiji marks with 30 nm thickness and a
      total area of 50 * 50 um(2) on a fused silica substrate. The diameter of each
      Taiji mark is 500 nm, while the period of the array is 700 nm. Here we present
      experimental as well as numerical simulation results pertaining to plasmonic
      resonances of several Taiji nano-structures under normal illumination. We have
      identified a Taiji structure with a particularly interesting vortex-like Poynting
      vector profile, which could be attributed to the special shape and dimensions of
      the Taiji symbol.

PMID- 20940862
TI  - POLRADS: polarization radiance distribution measurement system.
AB  - While the upwelling radiance distribution in the ocean can be highly polarized,
      there are few measurements of this parameter in the open ocean. To obtain the
      polarized in-water upwelling spectral radiance distribution data we have
      developed the POLRADS instrument. This instrument is based on the NuRADS radiance
      distribution camera systems in which linear polarizer's have been installed. By
      combining simultaneous images from three NuRADS instruments, three Stokes
      parameters (I, Q, U) for the water leaving radiance can be obtained for all
      upwelling angles simultaneously. This system measures the Stokes parameters Q/I
      and U/I with a 0.05-0.06 uncertainty and I with a 7-10% uncertainty.

PMID- 20940863
TI  - Source size and temporal coherence requirements of coded aperture type x-ray
      phase contrast imaging systems.
AB  - There is currently much interest in developing X-ray Phase Contrast Imaging
      (XPCI) systems which employ laboratory sources in order to deploy the technique
      in real world applications. The challenge faced by nearly all XPCI techniques is
      that of efficiently utilising the x-ray flux emitted by an x-ray tube which is
      polychromatic and possesses only partial spatial coherence. Techniques have,
      however, been developed which overcome these limitations. Such a technique, known
      as coded aperture XPCI, has been under development in our laboratories in recent
      years for application principally in medical imaging and security screening. In
      this paper we derive limitations imposed upon source polychromaticity and spatial
      extent by the coded aperture system. We also show that although other grating
      XPCI techniques employ a different physical principle, they satisfy design
      constraints similar to those of the coded aperture XPCI.

PMID- 20940864
TI  - Superluminal propagation of pulsed pseudo-thermal light in atomic vapor.
AB  - We report an experimental demonstration of slow and superluminal propagation of
      pseudo-thermal (chaotic) light in the Lambda-type system of the 5S(1/2)-5P(1/2)
      transition of (87)Rb atom. The slowed propagation of pulsed pseudo-thermal light
      was demonstrated in an electromagnetically-induced transparency medium while the
      superluminal propagation was demonstrated with the enhanced absorption scheme
      where the coupling field takes the form of a standing wave.We have also
      demonstrated that the photon number statistics of the pseudo-thermal light is
      preserved for both the subluminal and superluminal cases.

PMID- 20940865
TI  - Robust, efficient computational methods for axially symmetric optical aspheres.
AB  - Whether in design or the various stages of fabrication and testing, an effective
      representation of an asphere's shape is critical. Some algorithms are given for
      implementing tailored polynomials that are ideally suited to these needs. With
      minimal coding, these results allow a recently introduced orthogonal polynomial
      basis to be employed to arbitrary orders. Interestingly, these robust and
      efficient methods are enabled by the introduction of an auxiliary polynomial
      basis.

PMID- 20940866
TI  - Magnetic field effects on shear and normal stresses in magnetorheological
      finishing.
AB  - We use a recent experimental technique to measure in situ shear and normal
      stresses during magnetorheological finishing (MRF) of a borosilicate glass over a
      range of magnetic fields. At low fields shear stresses increase with magnetic
      field, but become field-independent at higher magnetic fields. Micromechanical
      models of formation of magnetic particle chains suggest a complex behavior of
      magnetorheological (MR) fluids that combines fluid- and solid-like responses. We
      discuss the hypothesis that, at higher fields, slip occurs between magnetic
      particle chains and the immersed glass part, while the normal stress is governed
      by the MRF ribbon elasticity.

PMID- 20940867
TI  - Stepped-heterodyne optical complex spectrum analyzer.
AB  - We present a heterodyne measurement of the spectral amplitude and phase of
      periodic optical signals. In contrast to previous techniques this measurement
      requires no optical modulation of either the signal or the local oscillator,
      places much relaxed tunability requirements on the optical local oscillator, and
      requires no electronic clock to be passed to the receiver. We present
      measurements of the spectral amplitude and phase of 20 GHz 33% return-to-zero,
      and 66% carrier-suppressed return-to-zero optical signals, as well as a passively
      modelocked optical source with in excess of 100 modes.

PMID- 20940868
TI  - All-oxide broadband antireflection coatings by plasma ion assisted deposition:
      design, simulation, manufacturing and re-optimization.
AB  - A new all-oxide design for broadband antireflection coatings with significantly
      reduced impact of deposition errors to the final reflectance is presented.
      Computational manufacturing including re-optimization during deposition has been
      used in the design work to account for maximum insensibility of the design with
      respect to deposition errors typical for plasma ion assisted deposition PIAD.
      Repeated deposition runs with the deducted monitoring and re-optimization
      strategy verify the validity of the simulations and the stability of the derived
      design solution.

PMID- 20940869
TI  - Ultrafast 3-D shape measurement with an off-the-shelf DLP projector.
AB  - This paper presents a technique that reaches 3-D shape measurement speed beyond
      the digital-light-processing (DLP) projector's projection speed. In particular, a
      "solid-state" binary structured pattern is generated with each micro-mirror pixel
      always being at one status (ON or OFF). By this means, any time segment of
      projection can represent the whole signal, thus the exposure time can be shorter
      than the projection time. A sinusoidal fringe pattern is generated by properly
      defocusing a binary one, and the Fourier fringe analysis means is used for 3-D
      shape recovery. We have successfully reached 4,000 Hz rate (80 MUs exposure time)
      3-D shape measurement speed with an off-the-shelf DLP projector.

PMID- 20940870
TI  - Femtosecond laser and arc discharge induced microstructuring on optical fiber tip
      for the multidirectional firing.
AB  - Most optical fibers are designed for forward firing i.e. the light is emitted at
      the distal end along the optical axis of the fiber. In some applications such as
      the laser surgery and laser scanners, side firing of the optical fiber is
      required. In this paper, we present the microstructuring of an optical fiber tip
      using the femtosecond laser and an arc discharging process for the
      multidirectional firing of the beam. The distal end of the optical fiber with
      diameter of 125 MUm was machined into a conical structure using a femtosecond
      laser. The surface of the machined tip was exposed to the arc discharge using a
      fiber splicer. The arc discharge leads to the melting and re-solidification of
      the fiber tip. This results in a smoothing of laser-induced conical
      microstructure at the tip of the fiber. We were able to demonstrate the
      multidirectional (circumferential) emission of the light from the developed fiber
      tip.

PMID- 20940871
TI  - Ultrafast silicon-based active plasmonics at telecom wavelengths.
AB  - Using a gold/silicon grating coupler and modulating the silicon dielectric
      constant with 775 nm, 800 fs pump pulses we demonstrate an ultrafast spectral
      shift to a surface plasmon polariton coupling resonance for 1300-1700 nm probe
      pulses. With a modest pump fluence of 2.2 mJ cm(-2) the pump-induced free
      carriers shift the resonance by more than its width, with recovery occurring in
      103 ps due to surface recombination.

PMID- 20940872
TI  - Poynting-Stokes tensor and radiative transfer in discrete random media: the
      microphysical paradigm.
AB  - This paper solves the long-standing problem of establishing the fundamental
      physical link between the radiative transfer theory and macroscopic
      electromagnetics in the case of elastic scattering by a sparse discrete random
      medium. The radiative transfer equation (RTE) is derived directly from the
      macroscopic Maxwell equations by computing theoretically the appropriately
      defined so-called Poynting-Stokes tensor carrying information on both the
      direction, magnitude, and polarization characteristics of local electromagnetic
      energy flow. Our derivation from first principles shows that to compute the local
      Poynting vector averaged over a sufficiently long period of time, one can solve
      the RTE for the direction-dependent specific intensity column vector and then
      integrate the direction-weighted specific intensity over all directions.
      Furthermore, we demonstrate that the specific intensity (or specific intensity
      column vector) can be measured with a well-collimated radiometer
      (photopolarimeter), which provides the ultimate physical justification for the
      use of such instruments in radiation-budget and particle-characterization
      applications. However, the specific intensity cannot be interpreted in
      phenomenological terms as signifying the amount of electromagnetic energy
      transported in a given direction per unit area normal to this direction per unit
      time per unit solid angle. Also, in the case of a densely packed scattering
      medium the relation of the measurement with a well-collimated radiometer to the
      time-averaged local Poynting vector remains uncertain, and the theoretical
      modeling of this measurement is likely to require a much more complicated
      approach than solving an RTE.

PMID- 20940873
TI  - Field-quadrature and photon-number correlations produced by parametric processes.
AB  - In a previous paper [Opt. Express 13, 4986 (2005)], formulas were derived for the
      field-quadrature and photon-number variances produced by multiple-mode parametric
      processes. In this paper, formulas are derived for the quadrature and number
      correlations. The number formulas are used to analyze the properties of basic
      devices, such as two-mode amplifiers, attenuators and frequency convertors, and
      composite systems made from these devices, such as cascaded parametric amplifiers
      and communication links. Amplifiers generate idlers that are correlated with the
      amplified signals, or correlate pre-existing pairs of modes, whereas attenuators
      decorrelate pre-existing modes. Both types of device modify the signal-to-noise
      ratios (SNRs) of the modes on which they act. Amplifiers decrease or increase the
      mode SNRs, depending on whether they are operated in phase-insensitive (PI) or
      phase-sensitive (PS) manners, respectively, whereas attenuators always decrease
      these SNRs. Two-mode PS links are sequences of transmission fibers (attenuators)
      followed by two-mode PS amplifiers. Not only do these PS links have noise figures
      that are 6-dB lower than those of the corresponding PI links, they also produce
      idlers that are (almost) completely correlated with the signals. By detecting the
      signals and idlers, one can eliminate the effects of electronic noise in the
      detectors.

PMID- 20940874
TI  - Polarized electroluminescence from organic light-emitting devices using photon
      recycling.
AB  - We present results that show highly polarized electroluminescence (EL) from an
      organic light-emitting device (OLED) by using a quarter-wave (lambda/4)
      retardation plate (QWP) film and a giant birefringent optical (GBO) photonic
      reflective polarizer. Polarized EL light of 13,400 cd/m(2) with high peak
      efficiencies (greater than 10 cd/A and 3.5 lm/W) was obtained from an OLED in
      this way. These values are almost double those of a polarized OLED that only uses
      a polarizer. The direction of polarization of the emitted EL light from the
      polarized OLED corresponded to the passing axis of the GBO reflective polarizer.
      Furthermore, the degree of linear polarization obtained, i.e. the ratio between
      the brightness of two linearly polarized EL emissions parallel and perpendicular
      to the passing axis, is greater than 40 over the whole range of emitted
      luminance.

PMID- 20940875
TI  - Analysis and applications of 3D rectangular metallic waveguides.
AB  - Plasmonic modes in rectangular metallic waveguides are analyzed in depth and are
      demonstrated to possess attractive properties for different applications. Their
      dispersion characteristics allow for wide range of applications including slow
      and fast light, metamaterial, low loss energy transmission, and opportunities for
      sensing devices. The sensitivity of this waveguide configuration is higher than
      its counterparts and can reach four times the sensitivity of the MIM structures.
      The characteristics of the TM(10) mode are demonstrated. Its applications for
      sensing, low propagation loss with relaxed practical dimension are also
      highlighted. A high effective index of more than 30 is also obtainable for the
      TE(01) mode for slow light operation. A non resonant negative index material with
      isotropic polarization in the visible region is also proposed using this
      waveguide structure.

PMID- 20940876
TI  - Point-by-point written fiber-Bragg gratings and their application in complex
      grating designs.
AB  - The point-by-point technique of fabricating fibre-Bragg gratings using an
      ultrafast laser enables complete control of the position of each index
      modification that comprises the grating. By tailoring the local phase, amplitude
      and spacing of the grating's refractive index modulations it is possible to
      create gratings with complex transmission and reflection spectra. We report a
      series of grating structures that were realized by exploiting these
      flexibilities. Such structures include gratings with controlled bandwidth, and
      amplitude- and phase-modulated sampled (or superstructured) gratings. A model
      based on coupled-mode theory provides important insights into the manufacture of
      such gratings. Our approach offers a quick and easy method of producing complex,
      non-uniform grating structures in both fibres and other mono-mode waveguiding
      structures.

PMID- 20940877
TI  - Direct light-coupling to thin-film waveguides using a grating-structured GRIN
      lens.
AB  - We present a novel coupling scheme using a collimating gradient-index (GRIN)
      element provided with a high frequency grating to couple light from a single mode
      optical fiber directly to planar thin-film waveguides. The waveguide devices are
      used, for example, for an efficient fluorescence excitation in biosensor
      applications. The external coupler can be multiply reused and supersedes the
      conventional internal gratings. FEM simulations and experimental results show
      that the new technique can provide similar coupling efficiencies as common
      internal grating couplers.

PMID- 20940878
TI  - Digital holographic interferometer using simultaneously three lasers and a single
      monochrome sensor for 3D displacement measurements.
AB  - The use of digital holographic interferometry for 3D measurements using
      simultaneously three illumination directions was demonstrated by Saucedo et al.
      (Optics Express 14(4) 2006). The technique records two consecutive images where
      each one contains three holograms in it, e.g., one before the deformation and one
      after the deformation. A short coherence length laser must be used to obtain the
      simultaneous 3D information from the same laser source. In this manuscript we
      present an extension of this technique now illuminating simultaneously with three
      different lasers at 458, 532 and 633 nm, and using only one high resolution
      monochrome CMOS sensor. This new configuration gives the opportunity to use long
      coherence length lasers allowing the measurement of large object areas. A series
      of digital holographic interferograms are recorded and the information
      corresponding to each laser is isolated in the Fourier spectral domain where the
      corresponding phase difference is calculated. Experimental results render the
      orthogonal displacement components u, v and w during a simple load deformation.

PMID- 20940879
TI  - 3D reconstruction of light flux distribution on arbitrary surfaces from 2D multi
      photographic images.
AB  - Optical tomography can demonstrate accurate three-dimensional (3D) imaging that
      recovers the 3D spatial distribution and concentration of the luminescent probes
      in biological tissues, compared with planar imaging. However, the tomographic
      approach is extremely difficult to implement due to the complexity in the
      reconstruction of 3D surface flux distribution from multi-view two dimensional
      (2D) measurements on the subject surface. To handle this problem, a novel and
      effective method is proposed in this paper to determine the surface flux
      distribution from multi-view 2D photographic images acquired by a set of non
      contact detectors. The method is validated with comparison experiments involving
      both regular and irregular surfaces. Reconstruction of the inside probes based on
      the reconstructed surface flux distribution further demonstrates the potential of
      the proposed method in its application in optical tomography.

PMID- 20940880
TI  - Hiding objects and creating illusions above a carpet filter using a Fourier
      optics approach.
AB  - Invisibility carpet cloaks are usually used to hide an object beneath carpet. In
      this paper we propose and demonstrate a carpet filter to hide objects and create
      illusions above the filter by using a Fourier optics method. Instead of using
      transformation optics, we get electromagnetic parameters of the filter by optical
      transfer functions, which play the role of modulating the propagation of the
      scattering angular spectrum directly from an object above the filter. By further
      adding a functional layer onto the filter, we can even camouflage the object so
      that it appears to be a different object. The analytical results are confirmed by
      numerical simulations. Our method is completely different from the current
      coordinate transfer method and may provide another point of view to more clearly
      understand the mechanism of invisibility cloaks.

PMID- 20940881
TI  - Ultrashort pulse generation from 1.56 um mode-locked VECSEL at room temperature.
AB  - We report on a picosecond pulse source delivering near transform-limited pulses
      in the 1.55 um wavelength region, based on an optically pumped InP-based mode
      locked Vertical External Cavity Surface Emitting Laser (VECSEL). The cavity
      combines two semiconductor elements, a gain structure which includes six strained
      InGaAlAs quantum wells and a hybrid metal-metamorphic Bragg bottom mirror bonded
      onto a CVD diamond substrate, and a single quantum well GaInNAs SEmiconductor
      Saturable Absorber Mirror (SESAM). The laser operates at a repetition frequency
      of 2 GHz and emits near-transform-limited 1.7 ps pulses with an average output
      power of 15 mW at room temperature, using 1.7 W pump power at 980 nm. The RF line
      width of the free running laser has been measured to be less than 1 kHz.

PMID- 20940882
TI  - Voltage-assisted photoaligning effect of an azo dye doped in a liquid crystal
      with negative dielectric anisotropy.
AB  - We demonstrate a method of controlling the pretilt angle by field-assisted
      photoalignment in a vertically-aligned liquid crystal doped with a dichroic azo
      dye. By dynamically measuring both the pretilt angle and anisotropy in
      absorbance, we present detailed alignment variations in both the polar and
      azimuthal directions with the time of laser exposure that induces
      photoisomerization of the dye molecules. Significant differences in the resulting
      pretilt as well as optically-absorptive anisotropy are manifested between a
      regular photoalignment procedure and that in conjunction with a bias voltage
      during irradiation. It is found that the field-assisted exposure not only speeds
      up the photoalignment along the polarization direction of the laser beam but also
      leads to a higher orientational order.

PMID- 20940883
TI  - Broadband one-dimensional photonic crystal wave plate containing single-negative
      materials.
AB  - The properties of the phase shift of wave reflected from one-dimensional photonic
      crystals consisting of periodic layers of single-negative (permittivity- or
      permeability-negative) materials are demonstrated. As the incident angle
      increases, the reflection phase shift of TE wave decreases, while that of TM wave
      increases. The phase shifts of both polarized waves vary smoothly as the
      frequency changes across the photonic crystal stop band. Consequently, the
      difference between the phase shift of TE and that of TM wave could remain
      constant in a rather wide frequency range inside the stop band. These properties
      are useful to design wave plate or retarder which can be used in wide spectral
      band. In addition, a broadband photonic crystal quarter-wave plate is proposed.

PMID- 20940884
TI  - Fast wideband source tuning by extra-cavity parametric process.
AB  - Fundamental and practical performance limits of continuously tunable optical
      sources using extra-cavity mixing process are examined. While the parametric
      process cannot overcome the fundamental tunable limit set by the uncertainty
      principle, it offers a new path in overcoming the practical performance limits
      associated with conventional tunable lasers. Specifically, cavity reconfiguration
      speed is recognized as a limiting process in all tunable lasers that cannot be
      circumvented by any conventional approach. Recognizing this barrier, we introduce
      and experimentally demonstrate a decoupling concept that relies on extra-cavity
      mixing to increase the tuning speed and range of any tunable laser source.

PMID- 20940885
TI  - Light fields with an axially expanded intensity distribution for stable three
      dimensional optical trapping.
AB  - We introduce a new kind of light field to improve and simplify the trapping
      process of axially displaced particles. To this end we employ a light field with
      an axially expanded intensity distribution, which at the same time enables stable
      axial trapping. We present simulations of the axial intensity distribution of the
      novel trapping field and first experimental results, which demonstrate the
      improvement of the reliability of the axial trapping process. The method can be
      used to automate trapping of particles that are located outside of the focal
      plane of the microscope.

PMID- 20940886
TI  - An interferometric current sensor based on optical fiber micro wires.
AB  - In this paper we demonstrate a compact current sensor using the optic fiber micro
      wire, based on the idea of interferometrically measuring the thermally induced
      optical phase shifts as a result of heat produced due to the flow of electric
      current over short transit lengths. A responsivity of 1.28 x 10(-4) rad/I(2) at
      50 Hz of current signal has been shown, with capability of measuring alternating
      current signals up to 500 Hz.

PMID- 20940887
TI  - Design of a Si-based lattice-matched room-temperature GeSn/GeSiSn multi-quantum
      well mid-infrared laser diode.
AB  - This paper presents modeling and simulation of a silicon-based group IV
      semiconductor injection laser diode in which the active region has a multiple
      quantum well structure formed with Ge(0.9)Sn(0.1) quantum wells separated by
      Ge(0.75)Si(0.1)Sn(0.15) barriers. These alloy compositions were chosen to satisfy
      three conditions simultaneously: a direct band gap for Ge(0.9)Sn(0.1), type-I
      band alignment between Ge(0.9)Sn(0.1) and Ge(0.75)Si(0.1)Sn(0.15,) and a lattice
      match between wells and barriers. This match ensures that the entire structure
      can be grown strain free upon a relaxed Ge(0.75)Si(0.1)Sn(0.15) buffer on a
      silicon substrate - a CMOS compatible process. Detailed analysis is performed for
      the type I band offsets, carrier lifetime, optical confinement, and modal gain.
      The carrier lifetime is found to be dominated by the spontaneous radiative
      process rather than the Auger process. The modal gain has a rather sensitive
      dependence on the number of quantum wells in the active region. The proposed
      laser is predicted to operate at 2.3 MUm in the mid infrared at room temperature.

PMID- 20940888
TI  - Growth behavior of laser-induced damage on fused silica optics under UV, ns laser
      irradiation.
AB  - The growth behavior of laser-induced damage sites is affected by a large number
      of laser parameters as well as site morphology. Here we investigate the effects
      of pulse duration on the growth rate of damage sites located on the exit surface
      of fused silica optics. Results demonstrate a significant dependence of the
      growth parameters on laser pulse duration at 351 nm from 1 ns to 15 ns, including
      the observation of a dominant exponential versus linear, multiple-shot growth
      behavior for long and short pulses, respectively. These salient behaviors are
      tied to the damage morphology and suggest a shift in the fundamental growth
      mechanisms for pulses in the 1-5 ns range.

PMID- 20940889
TI  - Chaos suppression in a Nd:YVO4 laser by biharmonical pump modulation.
AB  - This work demonstrates the suppression of chaos in a Nd:YVO(4) laser by
      biharmonical pump modulation (the first for chaos-inducing and the second for
      chaos-suppressing). The laser exhibits chaotic behavior when only the first
      signal is applied for pump modulation and its frequency is adjusted close to the
      relaxation-oscillation frequency. Adding the second signal with subhamonic and a
      specific phase difference to the first modulation signal will reshape the
      modulated waveform of the pump beam to suppress the aforementioned chaotic
      behavior. The initial phase of the second harmonic perturbation plays an
      important role in the suppression of chaos. This result is confirmed by numerical
      simulation.

PMID- 20940890
TI  - Broadband amplification of high power 40 Gb/s channels using multimode Er-Yb
      doped fiber.
AB  - Broadband amplification of several high power communication channels is
      demonstrated using a multimode Erbium-Ytterbium doped fiber (EYDF) amplifier. The
      multimode feature of this amplifier aims at simultaneously enabling wide gain
      bandwidth and high output power. The amplifier provides a gain bandwidth spanning
      over the 1535.0 nm-1565.8 nm band. The amplifier also provides a high output
      power of >30.2 dBm, with +/- 2.4 dB natural gain flatness over the bandwidth of
      interest. The performance of the amplifier is assessed in a 40 Gb/s WDM system,
      featuring no trace of modal dispersion in the eye diagram and a low power penalty
      (< 0.4 dB) on the bit error ratio (BER).

PMID- 20940891
TI  - X-ray phase, absorption and scatter retrieval using two or more phase contrast
      images.
AB  - We have developed two phase-retrieval techniques for analyser-based phase
      contrast imaging that provide information about an object's X-ray absorption,
      refraction and scattering properties. The first requires rocking curves to be
      measured with and without the sample and improves upon existing techniques by
      accurately fitting the curves with Pearson type VII functions. The second employs
      an iterative approach using two simultaneously recorded images by exploiting the
      Laue crystal geometry. This technique provides a substantial reduction in X-ray
      dose and enables quantitative phase retrieval to be performed on images of moving
      objects.

PMID- 20940892
TI  - A wavelength-versatile, continuous-wave, self-Raman solid-state laser operating
      in the visible.
AB  - We report a continuous-wave Nd:GdVO(4) self-Raman laser generating wavelength
      selectable output in the green-yellow spectral region. The laser combines
      stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) with intracavity second harmonic and sum
      frequency generation (SHG/SFG) to enable "on-demand" operation at any one of
      three wavelengths, 532 nm, 559 nm and 586 nm, each with output power greater than
      3.5 W. Using experimental and numerical modelling results, we show how the highly
      interactive, simultaneous non-linear processes of SRS and SHG/SFG may be balanced
      to achieve stable, selectable multi-wavelength visible operation.

PMID- 20940893
TI  - Structural properties of Al/Mo/SiC multilayers with high reflectivity for extreme
      ultraviolet light.
AB  - We present the results of an optical and chemical, depth and surface study of
      Al/Mo/SiC periodic multilayers, designed as high reflectivity coatings for the
      extreme ultra-violet (EUV) range. In comparison to the previously studied Al/SiC
      system, the introduction of Mo as a third material in the multilayer structure
      allows us to decrease In comparison to the previously studied Al/SiC system with
      a reflectance of 37% at near normal incidence around 17 nm, the introduction of
      Mo as a third material in the multilayer structure allows us to decrease the
      interfacial roughness and achieve an EUV reflectivity of 53.4%, measured with
      synchrotron radiation. This is the first report of a reflectivity higher than 50%
      around 17 nm. Time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) and x-ray
      photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements are performed on the Al/Mo/SiC
      system in order to analyze the individual layers within the stack. ToF-SIMS and
      XPS results give evidence that the first SiC layer is partially oxidized, but the
      O atoms do not reach the first Mo and Al layers. We use these results to properly
      describe the multilayer stack and discuss the possible reasons for the difference
      between the measured and simulated EUV reflectivity values.

PMID- 20940895
TI  - Development of a time-gated system for Raman spectroscopy of biological samples.
AB  - A time gating system has been constructed that is capable of recording high
      quality Raman spectra of highly fluorescing biological samples while operating
      below the photodamage threshold. Using a collinear gating geometry and careful
      attention to power conservation, we have achieved all-optical switching with a
      one picosecond gating time and 5% peak gating efficiency. The energy per pulse in
      this instrument is more than 3 orders of magnitude weaker than previous reports.
      Using this system we have performed proof-of-concept experiments on a sample
      composed of perylene dissolved in toluene, and the stem of a Jasminum multiflorum
      plant, the latter case being particularly important for the study of plants used
      in production of cellulosic biofuels. In both cases, a high SNR spectrum of the
      high-wavenumber region of the spectrum was recorded in the presence of an
      overwhelming fluorescence background.

PMID- 20940894
TI  - Ultrahigh speed 1050nm swept source/Fourier domain OCT retinal and anterior
      segment imaging at 100,000 to 400,000 axial scans per second.
AB  - We demonstrate ultrahigh speed swept source/Fourier domain ophthalmic OCT imaging
      using a short cavity swept laser at 100,000 - 400,000 axial scan rates. Several
      design configurations illustrate tradeoffs in imaging speed, sensitivity, axial
      resolution, and imaging depth. Variable rate A/D optical clocking is used to
      acquire linear-in-k OCT fringe data at 100 kHz axial scan rate with 5.3 um axial
      resolution in tissue. Fixed rate sampling at 1 GSPS achieves a 7.5mm imaging
      range in tissue with 6.0 um axial resolution at 100 kHz axial scan rate. A 200
      kHz axial scan rate with 5.3 um axial resolution over 4mm imaging range is
      achieved by buffering the laser sweep. Dual spot OCT using two parallel
      interferometers achieves 400 kHz axial scan rate, almost 2X faster than previous
      1050 nm ophthalmic results and 20X faster than current commercial instruments.
      Superior sensitivity roll-off performance is shown. Imaging is demonstrated in
      the human retina and anterior segment. Wide field 12x12 mm data sets include the
      macula and optic nerve head. Small area, high density imaging shows individual
      cone photoreceptors. The 7.5 mm imaging range configuration can show the cornea,
      iris, and anterior lens in a single image. These improvements in imaging speed
      and depth range provide important advantages for ophthalmic imaging. The ability
      to rapidly acquire 3D-OCT data over a wide field of view promises to simplify
      examination protocols. The ability to image fine structures can provide detailed
      information on focal pathologies. The large imaging range and improved image
      penetration at 1050 m wavelengths promises to improve performance for
      instrumentation which images both the retina and anterior eye. These advantages
      suggest that swept source OCT at 1050 nm wavelengths will play an important role
      in future ophthalmic instrumentation.

PMID- 20940896
TI  - Simultaneous multi-laser, multi-species trace-level sensing of gas mixtures by
      rapidly swept continuous-wave cavity-ringdown spectroscopy.
AB  - The greenhouse-gas molecules CO(2), CH(4), and H(2)O are detected in air within a
      few ms by a novel cavity-ringdown laser-absorption spectroscopy technique using a
      rapidly swept optical cavity and multi-wavelength coherent radiation from a set
      of pre-tuned near-infrared diode lasers. The performance of various types of
      tunable diode laser, on which this technique depends, is evaluated. Our
      instrument is both sensitive and compact, as needed for reliable environmental
      monitoring with high absolute accuracy to detect trace concentrations of
      greenhouse gases in outdoor air.

PMID- 20940897
TI  - Ultrawideband doublet pulse generation based on nonlinear polarization rotation
      of an elliptically polarized beam and its distribution over a fiber/wireless
      link.
AB  - Proposed herein is an alternative photonic scheme for the generation of a doublet
      UWB pulse, which is based on the nonlinear polarization rotation of an
      elliptically polarized probe beam. The proposed scheme is a modified optical
      fiber Kerr shutter that uses an elliptically polarized probe beam together with a
      linearly polarized control beam. Through theoretical analysis, it was shown that
      the optical-fiber-based Kerr shutter is capable of producing an ideal transfer
      function for the successful conversion of input Gaussian pulses into doublet
      pulses under special elliptical polarization states of the probe beam. An
      experimental verification was subsequently carried out to verify the working
      principle. Finally, the system performance of the generated UWB doublet pulses
      was assessed by propagating them over a 25-km-long standard single-mode fiber
      link, followed by wireless transmission. Error-free transmission was successfully
      achieved.

PMID- 20940898
TI  - Transfer of micro and nano-photonic silicon nanomembrane waveguide devices on
      flexible substrates.
AB  - This paper demonstrates transfer of optical devices without extra un-patterned
      silicon onto low-cost, flexible plastic substrates using single-crystal silicon
      nanomembranes. Employing this transfer technique, stacking two layers of silicon
      nanomembranes with photonic crystal waveguide in the first layer and multi mode
      interference couplers in the second layer is shown, respectively. This technique
      is promising to realize high density integration of multilayer hybrid structures
      on flexible substrates.

PMID- 20940899
TI  - Generalized formulations for aerial image based lens aberration metrology in
      lithographic tools with arbitrarily shaped illumination sources.
AB  - In the current optical lithography processes for semiconductor manufacturing,
      differently shaped illumination sources have been widely used for the need of
      stringent critical dimension control. This paper proposes a technique for in situ
      measurement of lens aberrations with generalized formulations of odd and even
      aberration sensitivities suitable for arbitrarily shaped illumination sources.
      With a set of Zernike orders, these aberration sensitivities can be treated as a
      set of analytical kernels which succeed in constructing a sensitivity function
      space. The analytical kernels reveal the physical essence of partially coherent
      imaging systems by taking into account the interaction between the wavefront
      aberration and the illumination source, and take the advantage of realizing a
      linear and analytical relationship between the Zernike coefficients to be
      measured and the measurable physical signals. A variety of mainstream
      illumination sources with spatially variable intensity distributions were input
      into the PROLITH for the simulation work, which demonstrates and confirms that
      the generalized formulations are suitable for measuring lens aberrations up to a
      high order Zernike coefficient under different types of source distributions. The
      technique is simple to implement and will have potential applications in the in
      line monitoring of imaging quality of current lithographic tools.

PMID- 20940900
TI  - Complex degree of mutual polarization in randomly scattered fields.
AB  - Random electromagnetic fields resulting from light-matter interaction have strong
      intensity fluctuations and are characterized by various statistical parameters.
      The local polarization of these fields can also vary randomly leading to
      different degrees of global depolarization. Here we demonstrate that the spatial
      variability of the vectorial properties contains information about the origins of
      randomly scattered fields. In particular, we show that the complex degree of
      mutual polarization provides the high-order polarization correlations necessary
      to identify the sources of different random fields. Scattered fields with similar
      global properties but different origins can be efficiently discriminated from one
      single realization of the light-matter interaction.

PMID- 20940902
TI  - Transmission of surface plasmon polaritons through a nanowire array: mechano
      optical modulation and motion sensing.
AB  - Using the coupled-mode theory, we study the transmission of surface plasmon
      polaritons (SPPs) guided by a thin metal film through an array of N identical
      nanowires, which are parallel to each other and to the surface of the metal film.
      By varying the parameters of the nanowire array, one can control the intensity of
      the transmitted SPP. Furthermore, we propose a novel mechano-optical modulation
      technique. The intensity of the transmitted SPP is modulated by changing the
      distance between the nanowire array and the metal film. The modulation frequency
      is in the kilohertz or megahertz range, owing to the unique mechanical properties
      of nanowires.

PMID- 20940903
TI  - Study of cell-biosubstrate contacts via surface plasmon polariton phase
      microscopy.
AB  - This study utilized a developed surface plasmon polariton (SPP) phase microscopy
      to observe cell-biosubstrate contacts. The developed SPP phase microscopy is
      highly sensitive to cell membrane contact with biosubstrates and also provides
      long-term phase stability to achieve time-lapse living cell observation. As such,
      an SPP intensity and phase sensitivity comparison demonstrates that the
      sensitivity of the phase measurement can be 100-fold greater than that of the
      intensity measurement. Also, a more than 2-hour cell apoptosis observation via
      the SPP phase microscopy is presented. To implement the incident angle from 70
      degrees  to 78 degrees , cell-biosubstrate contact images corresponding to the
      surface plasmon resonance (SPR) angles are obtained by utilizing the SPP phase
      measurement. According to the information of the corresponding SPR angle image
      and a multilayer simulation, the contact distances between a living melanoma cell
      and a bovine serum albumin substrate at four different locations have been
      estimated.

PMID- 20940904
TI  - Photonic crystal fiber mapping using Brillouin echoes distributed sensing.
AB  - In this paper we investigate the effect of microstructure irregularities and
      applied strain on backward Brillouin scattering by comparing two photonic crystal
      fibers drawn with different parameters in order to minimize diameter and
      microstructure fluctuations. We fully characterize their Brillouin properties
      including the gain spectrum and the critical power. Using Brillouin echoes
      distributed sensing with a high spatial resolution of 30 cm we are able to map
      the Brillouin frequency shift along the fiber and get an accurate estimation of
      the microstructure longitudinal fluctuations. Our results reveal a clear-cut
      difference of longitudinal homogeneity between the two fibers.

PMID- 20940905
TI  - Generation of squeezed light with a monolithic optical parametric oscillator:
      simultaneous achievement of phase matching and cavity resonance by temperature
      control.
AB  - We generate squeezed state of light at 860 nm with a monolithic optical
      parametric oscillator. The optical parametric oscillator consists of a
      periodically poled KTiOPO(4) crystal, both ends of which are spherically polished
      and mirror-coated. We achieve both phase matching and cavity resonance by
      controlling only the temperature of the crystal. We observe up to -8.0+/-0.2 dB
      of squeezing with the bandwidth of 142 MHz. Our technique makes it possible to
      drive many monolithic cavities simultaneously by a single laser. Hence our
      monolithic optical parametric oscillator is quite suitable to continuous-variable
      quantum information experiments where we need a large number of highly squeezed
      light beams.

PMID- 20940906
TI  - Tailoring the soliton and supercontinuum dynamics by engineering the profile of
      tapered fibers.
AB  - We demonstrate by means of numerical simulations of the generalized Nonlinear
      Schrodinger Equation that the variation of the diameter of a tapered fiber along
      the fiber axis can be used as a new degree of freedom to tailor the spectrum
      generated by ultrashort laser pulses.We show that, apart from the cross-section
      geometry of the fiber and the materials used for the core, cladding, and
      surrounding medium, the diameter profile along the fiber axis crucially
      influences the soliton dynamics, the temporal and spectral evolution as well as
      the generation of a supercontinuum. As an example, we have investigated a few
      centimeters long conical waists, which reveal large differences of the output
      spectra depending on the incoupling direction. For a decreasing fiber diameter,
      we find that, keeping the pulse energy constant, a lower input peak power may
      generate a broader supercontinuum. We attribute this result to the dynamics of
      higher-order solitons. A comparison of the simulated spectra to experimentally
      measured ones shows excellent agreement.

PMID- 20940907
TI  - Efficient holmium-doped fluoride fiber laser emitting 2.1 um and blue
      upconversion fluorescence upon excitation at 2 um.
AB  - We demonstrate a highly efficient and high power Ho(3+)-doped fluoride glass
      fiber laser that is resonantly pumped with a Tm(3+)-doped silicate glass fiber
      laser operating at 2.051 um. The laser operates at 2080 nm and generated 6.66 W
      at a slope efficiency of 72%. We observe strong visible upconversion fluorescence
      centered at a variety of wavelengths including 491 nm which results from three
      sequential energy transfer upconversion processes; the fluorescence to pump
      energy ratio for this emission is one the largest reported to date.

PMID- 20940908
TI  - Linear discrete diffraction and transverse localization of light in two
      dimensional backbone lattices.
AB  - We study the linear discrete diffraction characteristics of light in two
      dimensional backbone lattices. It is found that, as the refractive index
      modulation depth of the backbone lattice increases, high-order band gaps become
      open and broad in sequence, and the allowed band curves of the Floquet-Bloch
      modes become flat gradually. As a result, the diffraction pattern at the exit
      face converges gradually for both the on-site and off-site excitation cases.
      Particularly, when the refractive index modulation depth of the backbone lattice
      is high enough, for example, on the order of 0.01 for a square lattice, the light
      wave propagating in the backbone lattice will be localized in transverse
      dimension for both the on-site and off-site excitation cases. This is because
      only the first several allowed bands with nearly flat band curves are excited in
      the lattice, and the transverse expansion velocities of the Floquet-Bloch modes
      in these flat allowed bands approach to zero. Such a linear transverse
      localization of light may have potential applications in navigating light
      propagation dynamics and optical signal processing.

PMID- 20940909
TI  - Resonances in coated long period fiber gratings and cladding removed multimode
      optical fibers: a comparative study.
AB  - Two optical fiber devices have been coated in parallel: a long period fiber
      grating (LPFG) and a cladding-removed multimode optical fiber (CRMOF). The
      progressive coating of the LPFG by means of the layer-by-layer electrostatic-self
      assembly, permits to observe a resonance wavelength shift of the attenuation
      bands in the transmission spectrum. The cause of this wavelength shift is the
      reorganization of the cladding mode effective indices. The cause of this modal
      reorganization can be understood with the results observed in the CRMOF coated in
      parallel. A lossy-mode-resonance (LMR) is generated in the same wavelength range
      of the LPFG attenuation bands analyzed. Moreover, the thickness range where the
      wavelength shift of the LPFG attenuation bands occurs coincides exactly with the
      thickness range where the LMR can be visualized in the transmission spectrum.
      These phenomena are analyzed theoretically and corroborated experimentally. The
      advantages and disadvantages of both optical fiber devices are explained.

PMID- 20940910
TI  - Silicon nanowire based radio-frequency spectrum analyzer.
AB  - We demonstrate a terahertz bandwidth silicon nanowire based radio-frequency
      spectrum analyzer using cross-phase modulation. We show that the device provides
      accurate characterization of 640Gbaud on-off-keyed data stream and demonstrate
      its potential for optical time-division multiplexing optimization and optical
      performance monitoring of ultrahigh speed signals on a silicon chip. We analyze
      the impact of free carrier effects on our device, and find that the efficiency of
      the device is not reduced by two-photon or free-carrier absorption, nor its
      accuracy compromised by free-carrier cross-chirp.

PMID- 20940911
TI  - The CUBLAS and CULA based GPU acceleration of adaptive finite element framework
      for bioluminescence tomography.
AB  - In molecular imaging (MI), especially the optical molecular imaging,
      bioluminescence tomography (BLT) emerges as an effective imaging modality for
      small animal imaging. The finite element methods (FEMs), especially the adaptive
      finite element (AFE) framework, play an important role in BLT. The processing
      speed of the FEMs and the AFE framework still needs to be improved, although the
      multi-thread CPU technology and the multi CPU technology have already been
      applied. In this paper, we for the first time introduce a new kind of
      acceleration technology to accelerate the AFE framework for BLT, using the
      graphics processing unit (GPU). Besides the processing speed, the GPU technology
      can get a balance between the cost and performance. The CUBLAS and CULA are two
      main important and powerful libraries for programming on NVIDIA GPUs. With the
      help of CUBLAS and CULA, it is easy to code on NVIDIA GPU and there is no need to
      worry about the details about the hardware environment of a specific GPU. The
      numerical experiments are designed to show the necessity, effect and application
      of the proposed CUBLAS and CULA based GPU acceleration. From the results of the
      experiments, we can reach the conclusion that the proposed CUBLAS and CULA based
      GPU acceleration method can improve the processing speed of the AFE framework
      very much while getting a balance between cost and performance.

PMID- 20940912
TI  - Near infrared long-persistent phosphorescence in La3Ga5GeO14:Cr3+ phosphor.
AB  - Near infrared (NIR; 660-1300 nm) long-persistent phosphorescence from Cr(3+) ions
      with persistence time of more than 1 hour was realized in
      La(3)Ga(5)GeO(14):Cr(3+) phosphor (with or without co-dopants such as Li(+),
      Zn(2+), Ca(2+), Mg(2+) and Dy(3+)). The NIR phosphorescence can be effectively
      achieved under UV illumination (~240-360 nm) but is barely achieved by blue light
      (~480 nm) irradiation, even though the blue light excitation are effective to the
      NIR fluorescence. The NIR phosphorescence mechanisms were discussed by measuring
      the irradiation energy dependence of the phosphorescence intensity.

PMID- 20940913
TI  - Enhanced transmission of electromagnetic waves through 1D plasmonic crystals.
AB  - Transmission of electromagnetic waves through thick perfect conducting slabs
      perforated by one-dimensional arrays of rectangular holes was studied
      experimentally in the microwave frequency range. The observed thickness-dependent
      transmission clearly exhibits the evanescent and propagating nature of the
      involved electromagnetic excitations on the considered structures, which are
      effective surface plasmons and localized waveguide resonances, respectively. The
      1D crystals showing transmission based on localized resonances further manifests
      the frequency-dependent effective refractive index depending on the filling ratio
      of the holes and accompanies resonant guided wave propagation.

PMID- 20940914
TI  - Measuring the dynamics of second-order photon correlation functions inside a
      pulse with picosecond time resolution.
AB  - We present a detailed discussion of a recently demonstrated experimental
      technique capable of measuring the correlation function of a pulsed light source
      with picosecond time resolution. The measurement involves a streak camera in
      single photon counting mode, which is modified such that a signal at a fixed
      repetition rate, and well defined energy, can be monitored after each pulsed
      laser excitation. The technique provides further insight into the quantum optical
      properties of pulsed light emission from semiconductor nanostructures, and the
      dynamics inside a pulse, on the sub-nanosecond time scale.

PMID- 20940915
TI  - High harmonic generation by novel fiber amplifier based sources.
AB  - Significant progress in high repetition rate ultrashort pulse sources based on
      fiber technology is presented. These systems enable operation at a high
      repetition rate of up to 500 kHz and high average power in the extreme
      ultraviolet wavelength range via high harmonic generation in a gas jet. High
      average power few-cycle pulses of a fiber amplifier pumped optical parametric
      chirped pulse amplifier are used to produce uW level average power for the
      strongest harmonic at 42.9 nm at a repetition rate of 96 kHz.

PMID- 20940916
TI  - Subwavelength grating periodic structures in silicon-on-insulator: a new type of
      microphotonic waveguide.
AB  - We report on the experimental demonstration and analysis of a new waveguide
      principle using subwavelength gratings. Unlike other periodic waveguides such as
      line-defects in a 2D photonic crystal lattice, a subwavelength grating waveguide
      confines the light as a conventional index-guided structure and does not exhibit
      optically resonant behaviour. Subwavelength grating waveguides in silicon-on
      insulator are fabricated with a single etch step and allow for flexible control
      of the effective refractive index of the waveguide core simply by lithographic
      patterning. Experimental measurements indicate a propagation loss as low as 2.1
      dB/cm for subwavelength grating waveguides with negligible polarization and
      wavelength dependent loss, which compares favourably to conventional
      microphotonic silicon waveguides. The measured group index is nearly constant
      n(g) ~1.5 over a wavelength range exceeding the telecom C-band.

PMID- 20940917
TI  - Three-dimensional nano-localization of single fluorescent emitters.
AB  - We present a combination of self-interference microscopy with lateral super
      resolution microscopy and introduce a novel approach for localizing a single nano
      emitter to within a few nanometers in all three dimensions over a large axial
      range. We demonstrate nanometer displacements of quantum dots placed on top of
      polymer bilayers that undergo swelling when changing from an air to a water
      environment, achieving standard deviations below 10 nm for axial and lateral
      localization.

PMID- 20940918
TI  - Spectral efficiency limits of pre-filtered modulation formats.
AB  - We investigate the spectral efficiency (SE) limit of pre-filtered modulation in
      optical fiber communication systems. We show that pre-filtering induced symbol
      correlation generates a modulation with memory and, thus, a higher SE limit than
      that of the original memoryless modulation. The SE limits of a series of
      modulation formats with varying number L of correlated symbols producing 50% of
      the original bandwidth are evaluated, which approach the SE limit of a modulation
      format with 50% pre-filtering as L --> infinity. We show that the SE limit of a
      modulation format with L correlated symbols approximates a lower bound for the SE
      limit of the corresponding pre-filtered format.

PMID- 20940919
TI  - A nanostructured Fabry-Perot interferometer.
AB  - A polymer-based micromachined Fabry-Perot interferometer (uFPI) with embedded
      nanostructures in its cavity, called nanostructured-FPI, is reported. The
      nanostructures inside the cavity are a layer of Au-coated nanopores. As a
      refractive-index sensitive optical sensor, it offers the following advantages
      over a traditional uFPI for label-free biosensing applications, including
      increased sensing surface area, extended penetration depth of the excitation
      light and amplified optical transducing signals. For a nanostructured-FPI with
      nanopore size of 50 nm in diameter and the gap size of FPI cavity of 50 um,
      measurements find that it has ~20 times improvement in free spectral range (FSR),
      ~2 times improvement in finesse and ~4 times improvement in contrast of optical
      transducing signals over a traditional uFPI even without any device performance
      optimization. Several chemicals have also been evaluated using this device.
      Fourier transform has been performed on the measured optical signals to
      facilitate the analysis of the transducing signals.

PMID- 20940920
TI  - Femtosecond laser written optical waveguide amplifier in phospho-tellurite glass.
AB  - We report on the first demonstration of an optical waveguide amplifier in phospho
      tellurite glass providing net gain at 1.5 MUm. The device was fabricated using a
      high repetition rate femtosecond laser and exhibited internal gain across 100-nm
      bandwidth covering the entire C + L telecom bands.

PMID- 20940921
TI  - Thermally tunable silicon racetrack resonators with ultralow tuning power.
AB  - We present thermally tunable silicon racetrack resonators with an ultralow tuning
      power of 2.4 mW per free spectral range. The use of free-standing silicon
      racetrack resonators with undercut structures significantly enhances the tuning
      efficiency, with one order of magnitude improvement of that for previously
      demonstrated thermo-optic devices without undercuts. The 10%-90% switching time
      is demonstrated to be ~170 us. Such low-power tunable micro-resonators are
      particularly useful as multiplexing devices and wavelength-tunable silicon
      microcavity modulators.

PMID- 20940922
TI  - Efficient control of a 3D optical mode using a thin sheet of transformation
      optical medium.
AB  - We report on a mode adapter that transitions light between two SOI waveguides
      having different widths. The device has been designed using a two-dimensional
      embedded coordinate transformation and consists of a thin sheet of a controlled
      anisotropic material directly placed on top of the Si slab. We demonstrate that
      this layer effectively controls the flow of energy propagating in the Si slab by
      performing three-dimensional full-wave simulations. The proposed geometry can be
      implemented with planar optical metamaterials for various applications in guided
      optics.

PMID- 20940923
TI  - Metal particle manipulation by laser irradiation in borosilicate glass.
AB  - We propose a new technique of manipulating a metal particle in borosilicate
      glass. A metal particle that is heated by laser illumination heats the
      surrounding glass by radiation and conduction. A softened glass enabled metal
      particle migration. A 1-um-thick platinum film was deposited on the back surface
      of a glass plate and irradiated with a green CW laser beam through the glass. As
      a result, the platinum film was melted and implanted into the glass as a
      particle. Platinum particles with diameters of 3 to 50 MUm migrated at speeds up
      to 10 mm/s. In addition to platinum particles, nickel and austenitic stainless
      steel (SUS304) particles can be implanted.

PMID- 20940924
TI  - Controlling electromagnetic fields with graded photonic crystals in metamaterial
      regime.
AB  - Engineering of a refractive index profile is a powerful method for controlling
      electromagnetic fields. In this paper, we investigate possible realization of
      isotropic gradient refractive index media at optical frequencies using two
      dimensional graded photonic crystals. They consist of dielectric rods with
      spatially varying radii and can be homogenized in broad frequency range within
      the lowest band. Here they operate in metamaterial regime, that is, the graded
      photonic crystals are described with spatially varying effective refractive index
      so they can be regarded as low-loss and broadband graded dielectric
      metamaterials. Homogenization of graded photonic crystals is done with Maxwell
      Garnett effective medium theory. Based on this theory, the analytical formulas
      are given for calculations of the rods radii which makes the implementation
      straightforward. The frequency range where homogenization is valid and where
      graded photonic crystal based devices work properly is discussed in detail.
      Numerical simulations of the graded photonic crystal based Luneburg lens and
      electromagnetic beam bend show that the homogenization based on Maxwell-Garnett
      theory gives very good results for implementation of devices intended to steer
      and focus electromagnetic fields.

PMID- 20940925
TI  - Maskless fabrication of concave microlens arrays on silica glasses by a
      femtosecond-laser-enhanced local wet etching method.
AB  - A simple and efficient technique for large-area manufacturing of concave
      microlens arrays (MLAs) on silica glasses with femtosecond (fs)-laser-enhanced
      chemical wet etching is demonstrated. By means of fs laser in situ irradiations
      followed by the hydrofluoric acid etching process, large area close-packed
      rectangular and hexagonal concave MLAs with diameters less than a hundred of
      micrometers are fabricated within a few hours. The fabricated MLAs exhibit
      excellent surface quality and uniformity. In contrast to the classic thermal
      reflow process, the presented technique is a maskless process and allows the
      flexible control of the size, shape and the packing pattern of the MLAs by
      adjusting the parameters such as the pulse energy, the number of shots and
      etching time.

PMID- 20940926
TI  - Characterization of a novel dual-core elliptical hollow optical fiber with
      wavelength decreasing differential group delay.
AB  - The modal distribution of a novel elliptical hollow optical fiber is
      experimentally and numerically characterized. The fiber has a central elliptical
      air hole surrounded by a germanosilicate lanceolate ring core. Experiments reveal
      that the fiber behaves like a dual core waveguide and it is found that the
      differential group delay of each core decreases with wavelength with a PMD
      coefficient slope of ~10(-2) ps/m/THz. Experimental results are also compared
      with numerical modeling based on scanning electron microscopy images.

PMID- 20940927
TI  - Infrared lidar overlap function: an experimental determination.
AB  - The most recent works demonstrate that the lidar overlap function, which
      describes the overlap between the laser beam and the receiver field of view, can
      be determined experimentally for the 355 and 532 nm channels using Raman signals.
      Nevertheless, the Raman channels cannot be used to determine the lidar overlap
      for the infrared channel (1064 nm) because of their low intensity. In addition,
      many Raman lidar systems only provide inelastic signals with reasonable signal-to
      noise ratio at nighttime. In view of this fact, this work presents a modification
      of that method, based on the comparison of attenuated backscatter profiles
      derived from lidar and ceilometer, to retrieve the overlap function for the lidar
      infrared channel. Similarly to the Raman overlap method, the approach presented
      here allows to derive the overlap correction without an explicit knowledge of all
      system parameters. The application of the proposed methodology will improve the
      potential of Raman lidars to investigate the aerosol microphysical properties in
      the planetary boundary layer, extending the information of 1064 nm backscatter
      profiles to the ground and allowing the retrieval of microphysical properties
      practically close to the surface.

PMID- 20940928
TI  - All-optical fast random number generator.
AB  - We propose a scheme of all-optical random number generator (RNG), which consists
      of an ultra-wide bandwidth (UWB) chaotic laser, an all-optical sampler and an all
      optical comparator. Free from the electric-device bandwidth, it can generate
      10Gbit/s random numbers in our simulation. The high-speed bit sequences can pass
      standard statistical tests for randomness after all-optical exclusive-or (XOR)
      operation.

PMID- 20940929
TI  - Mid-infrared optical parametric oscillators based on uniform GaP waveguides.
AB  - Integrated chip-scale optical systems are an attractive platform for the
      implementation of non-linear optical interactions as they promise compact robust
      devices that operate reliably with lower power consumption compared to analogs
      based on bulk nonlinear crystals. The use of guided modes to facilitate nonlinear
      parametric interactions between optical fields, as opposed to bulk beams, has
      certain implications on optical parametric oscillations, the most important of
      which are additional methods for achieving phase synchronism and reduced
      threshold power due to the tight confinement associated with the guided modes.
      This work presents a theoretical investigation on the use of polarization
      dependent mode dispersion in guided wave structures as a means to achieve non
      linear parametric oscillations from continuous wave sources with outputs in the
      mid-infrared region of the spectrum. An Al(2)O(3)/GaP/Al(2)O(3) waveguide system
      is investigated and shown to produce parametric oscillations at 3 um to 5 um from
      1 um to 2 um input waves utilizing 0.14 um to 0.30 um GaP cores. The threshold
      power is shown to be 320 * less than that obtainable using more traditional quasi
      phase matched bulk crystals over the same wavelength range.

PMID- 20940930
TI  - Analysis of optical trapping and propulsion of Rayleigh particles using Airy
      beam.
AB  - The radiation forces and trajectories of Rayleigh dielectric particles induced by
      one-dimensional Airy beam were numerically analyzed. Results show that the Airy
      beam drags particles into the optical intensity peaks, and guides particles
      vertically along parabolic trajectories. Viscosity of surrounding medium
      significantly affects the trajectories. Random Brownian force affects the
      trajectories. Meanwhile, trapping potential depths and minimum trapping particle
      radii in different potential wells were also discussed. The trapping stability
      could be improved by increasing either the input peak intensity or the particle
      radius.

PMID- 20940931
TI  - In situ imaging of hole shape evolution in ultrashort pulse laser drilling.
AB  - For the first time, in situ the hole shape evolution during ultrashort pulse
      laser drilling in semiconductor material is imaged. The trans-illumination of the
      sample at a wavelength of 1.06 um is projected onto a standard CCD camera during
      the ablation, providing an image of the contour of the ablated structure
      perpendicular to the irradiation for drilling. This demonstrated technique
      enables a direct, high resolution investigation of the temporal evolution of the
      drilling process in the depth of the material without complex sample preparation
      or post processing.

PMID- 20940932
TI  - Second order coherence of broadband down-converted light on ultrashort time scale
      determined by two photon absorption in semiconductor.
AB  - We study the photon correlation properties of broadband parametric down-converted
      light. The measurement of the photon correlation is carried out thanks to a
      modified Hanbury Brown-Twiss interferometer based on two photon absorption in
      GaAs detector. Since this method is not affected by the phase matching conditions
      of the detecting apparatus (so called "final state post-selection"), the
      detection bandwidth can be extremely large. This is illustrated by studying, with
      the same apparatus, the degree of second order coherence of parametric light in
      both degenerate and non-degenerate cases. We show that our experiment is able to
      determine the coherent as well as the incoherent contributions to the degree of
      second order coherence of parametric light with a time resolution in the fs range
      scale.

PMID- 20940933
TI  - In situ monitoring of the formation of nanoscale polyelectrolyte coatings on
      optical fibers using Surface Plasmon Resonances.
AB  - Deposition of a conformal nanoscale polymer coating was characterized using a
      fiber SPR sensor. The sensor platform consisted of an unmodified gold-coated
      single mode fiber where SPR was excited through the coupling of the core mode
      into the cladding modes using a Tilted Fiber Bragg Grating. The results from this
      study show how the sensor can monitor in real time the formation of
      polyelectrolyte coatings during a process consisting of several stages of
      immersion. The experimental data was further calibrated by simulations and Atomic
      Force Microscope imaging allowing us to determine the thickness and refractive
      index of the adsorbed polyelectrolyte.

PMID- 20940934
TI  - Pulse compression in synchronously pumped mode locked Raman lasers.
AB  - We explain a pulse compression mechanism reported in picosecond Raman lasers
      pumped by continuous trains of mode-locked pulses. Our theoretical model is based
      on transient Raman scattering equations, and shows good agreement with the
      experimental results. The model reveals that the compression effect is produced
      by a combination of group velocity walk-off and strong pump pulse depletion. We
      predict the possibilities and the limitations of this technique for constructing
      highly efficient, low cost, ultrafast Raman lasers in the visible.

PMID- 20940935
TI  - Adiabatic and diabatic process of sum frequency conversion.
AB  - Based on the dressed state formalism, we obtain the adiabatic criterion of the
      sum frequency conversion. We show that this constraint restricts the energy
      conversion between the two dressed fields, which are superpositions of the signal
      field and the sum frequency field. We also show that the evolution of the
      populations of the dressed fields, which in turn describes the conversion of
      light photons from the seed frequency to the sum frequency during propagation
      through the nonlinear crystal. Take the quasiphased matched (QPM) scheme as an
      example, we calculate the expected bandwidth of the frequency conversion process,
      and its dependence on the length of the crystal. We demonstrate that the
      evolutionary patterns of the sum frequency field's energy are similar to the
      Fresnel diffraction of a light field. We finally show that the expected bandwidth
      can be also deduced from the evolution of the adiabaticity of the dressed fileds.

PMID- 20940936
TI  - Electrically tunable white-color electroluminescence from Si-implanted silicon
      nitride thin film.
AB  - Visible electroluminescence (EL) with two composite bands, i.e., a violet band
      and a green-yellow band has been observed from Si-implanted silicon nitride thin
      films. By varying the intensity ratio of the two composite EL bands in terms of
      the injection current, strong white-color EL can be achieved at certain injection
      currents (e.g., ~265 mA/cm(2)). The observed transition in EL color from violet
      to white under different injection conditions is studied based on the
      understanding that the violet band is originated from silicon nitride matrix
      while the green-yellow band is related to the implanted Si. The Si-implanted
      silicon nitride thin film offers the possibility of electrically tunable white
      light Si-based light emitters.

PMID- 20940937
TI  - Average capacity of FSO links with transmit laser selection using non-uniform OOK
      signaling over exponential atmospheric turbulence channels.
AB  - A new upper bound on the capacity of power- and bandwidth-constrained optical
      wireless links using selection transmit diversity over exponential atmospheric
      turbulence channels with intensity modulation and direct detection is derived
      when non-uniform on-off keying (OOK) formats are used. In this strong turbulence
      free-space optical (FSO) scenario, average capacity is investigated subject to an
      average optical power constraint and not only to an average electrical power
      constraint when the transmit diversity technique assumed is based on the
      selection of the optical path with a greater value of irradiance. Simulation
      results for the mutual information are further demonstrated to confirm the
      analytical results for different diversity orders.

PMID- 20940938
TI  - How do traces of thulium explain photodarkening in Yb doped fibers?
AB  - Ytterbium doped fiber lasers are known to be impacted by the creation of color
      centers during lasing so called photodarkening. This defect creation was
      investigated in a spectroscopic point of view, showing the presence of thulium
      traces (ppb) in the ytterbium doped fiber. Moreover, this contamination exhibit
      luminescence in the UV range under 976 nm excitation of the ytterbium-doped
      fiber. In adding more thulium to an ytterbium-doped fiber it was shown that
      thulium strongly impact the defects creation process, involved in photodarkening.

PMID- 20940939
TI  - Intrinsic reduction of the depolarization in Nd:YAG crystals.
AB  - The output power of linearly polarized Nd:YAG lasers is typically limited by
      thermally induced birefringence, which causes depolarization. However, this
      effect can be reduced either by use of some kind of depolarization compensation
      or by use of crystals which are cut in [110]- and [100]-direction, instead of the
      common [111]-direction. Investigations of the intrinsic reduction of the
      depolarization by use of these crystals are presented. To our knowledge, this is
      the first probe beam-experiment describing a comparison between [100]-, [110]-
      and [111]-cut Nd:YAG crystals in a pump power regime between 100 and 200 W. It is
      demonstrated that the depolarization can be reduced by a factor of 6 in [100]-cut
      crystals. The simulations reveal that a reduction of depolarization by use of a
      [110]-cut crystal in comparison with a [100]-cut crystal only becomes possible at
      pump powers in the kW region. Analysis also shows that the bifocusing for [100]
      cut is slightly smaller and more asymmetrical than for [111]-cut.

PMID- 20940940
TI  - Modal and polarization qubits in Ti:LiNbO3 photonic circuits for a universal
      quantum logic gate.
AB  - Lithium niobate photonic circuits have the salutary property of permitting the
      generation, transmission, and processing of photons to be accommodated on a
      single chip. Compact photonic circuits such as these, with multiple components
      integrated on a single chip, are crucial for efficiently implementing quantum
      information processing schemes.We present a set of basic transformations that are
      useful for manipulating modal qubits in Ti:LiNbO(3) photonic quantum circuits.
      These include the mode analyzer, a device that separates the even and odd
      components of a state into two separate spatial paths; the mode rotator, which
      rotates the state by an angle in mode space; and modal Pauli spin operators that
      effect related operations. We also describe the design of a deterministic, two
      qubit, single-photon, CNOT gate, a key element in certain sets of universal
      quantum logic gates. It is implemented as a Ti:LiNbO(3) photonic quantum circuit
      in which the polarization and mode number of a single photon serve as the control
      and target qubits, respectively. It is shown that the effects of dispersion in
      the CNOT circuit can be mitigated by augmenting it with an additional path. The
      performance of all of these components are confirmed by numerical simulations.
      The implementation of these transformations relies on selective and controllable
      power coupling among single- and two-mode waveguides, as well as the polarization
      sensitivity of the Pockels coefficients in LiNbO(3).

PMID- 20940941
TI  - Characterization of birefringent material using polarization-controlled terahertz
      spectroscopy.
AB  - We present a polarization-controlled terahertz (THz) spectroscopy method to
      characterize the birefringent materials. The polarization of THz wave was
      controlled by changing the relative phase of the fundamental and second-harmonic
      waves in the two-color laser-induced air plasma THz generation configuration. The
      optical axis orientation was investigated through detecting one component of the
      transmitted THz electric field by continuously changing the electric field
      direction of the linearly polarized incident THz wave. This work demonstrates
      that the polarization-controlled THz spectroscopy can be used to study the
      anisotropy of the inner structure for birefringent materials.

PMID- 20940942
TI  - Controlling phase change through ultrafast excitation of coherent phonons.
AB  - For semimetals such as bismuth, ultrafast femtosecond laser-excited coherent
      phonons at laser fluences below the damage threshold have been studied
      extensively. In this work, we investigate whether or not coherent phonon
      oscillations contribute to material's permanent damage, or can enhance or
      suppress such damage. We employed temporally-shaped femtosecond pulses to either
      enhance or cancel coherent phonon oscillations. Our results showed a clear
      difference in material's damages caused by femtosecond pulses that enhance and
      cancel phonon oscillations, demonstrating the possibility of controlling phase
      changes by coherent control of phonon oscillations.

PMID- 20940943
TI  - Supercontinuum source tuned by an on-axis monochromator for fluorescence lifetime
      imaging.
AB  - We report on the application of an optically tunable coherent white light source,
      based on the supercontinuum generation from microstructured optical fibres, to
      fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLIM) microscopy and Foerster resonance energy
      transfer (FRET). A prototype lens based on monotonic longitudinal chromatic
      aberration is used for tuning the supercontinuum wavelengths from 400 to 1000 nm
      and acts as an axial monochromator, suitable for fibre delivery in confocal
      microscopy.

PMID- 20940944
TI  - Holographically formed three-dimensional Penrose-type photonic quasicrystal
      through a lab-made single diffractive optical element.
AB  - Large-area three-dimensional Penrose-type photonic quasicrystals are fabricated
      through a holographic lithography method using a lab-made diffractive optical
      element and a single laser exposure. The diffractive optical element consists of
      five polymer gratings symmetrically orientated around a central opening. The
      fabricated Penrose-type photonic quasicrystal shows ten-fold rotational symmetry.
      The Laue diffraction pattern from the photonic quasi-crystal is observed to be
      similar to that of the traditional alloy quasi-crystal. A golden ratio of 1.618
      is also observed for the radii of diffraction rings, which has not been observed
      before in artificial photonic quasicrystals.

PMID- 20940945
TI  - Composite superprism photonic crystal demultiplexer: analysis and design.
AB  - We present the analysis and design of a superprism-based demultiplexer that
      employs both group and phase velocity dispersion of the photonic crystal (PhC).
      Simultaneous diffraction compensation and spatio-angular wavelength channel
      separation is realized in a slab region that divides the PhC. This avoids the
      excessive broadening of the beams inside the PhC and enhances the achievable
      angular dispersion of the conventional superprism topology. As a result, a
      compact demultiplexer with a relaxed requirement for low divergence input beams
      is attained. The dynamics of the beams envelops are considered based on the
      curvature of the band structure. Analysis shows at least 36-fold reduction of the
      PhC area and much smaller propagation length in slab compared to the
      preconditioned superprism, based on the same design model. PhC area scales as
      Deltaomega(-2.5) with Deltaomega being the channel spacing.

PMID- 20940946
TI  - Flattened dispersion in silicon slot waveguides.
AB  - We propose a silicon strip/slot hybrid waveguide that produces flattened
      dispersion of 0 +/- 16 ps/(nm?km), over a 553-nm wavelength range, which is 20
      times flatter than previous results. Different from previously reported slot
      waveguides, the strip/slot hybrid waveguide employs the mode transition from a
      strip mode to a slot mode to introduce unique waveguide dispersion. The flat
      dispersion profile is featured by three zero-dispersion wavelengths, which is
      obtained for the first time in on-chip silicon waveguides, to the best of our
      knowledge. The waveguide exhibits flattened dispersion from 1562-nm to 2115-nm
      wavelength, which is potentially useful for both telecom and mid-infrared
      applications.

PMID- 20940947
TI  - Optical microscopy of 3D carpet cloaks:ray-tracing calculations.
AB  - In a recent publication (T. Ergin et al., Science 328, 337 (2010)), three
      dimensional broadband dielectric carpet cloaks have been fabricated and
      experimentally characterized by optical bright-field and dark-field microscopy
      using unpolarized light from an incandescent lamp. A direct comparison with
      theory has not been provided so far. In the present work, we treat the carpet
      cloak as well as the entire optical microscope within the ray-optics
      approximation and the cloak within the effective-medium approximation. We find
      good qualitative agreement between experimental results and our calculations.

PMID- 20940948
TI  - Ultra high speed optical transmission using subcarrier-multiplexed four
      dimensional LDPC-coded modulation.
AB  - We propose a subcarrier-multiplexed four-dimensional LDPC bit-interleaved coded
      modulation scheme that is capable of achieving beyond 480 Gb/s single-channel
      transmission rate over optical channels. Subcarrier-multiplexed four-dimensional
      LDPC coded modulation scheme outperforms the corresponding dual polarization
      schemes by up to 4.6 dB in OSNR at BER 10(-8).

PMID- 20940949
TI  - Long distance single-mode fiber transmission of multimode VCSELs by injection
      locking.
AB  - We report greatly enhanced transmission distance of multimode vertical-cavity
      surface-emitting lasers (MM-VCSELs) over standard single-mode fiber using optical
      injection locking. Transmission distance as high as 90 km is achieved at 10 Gb/s
      by frequency chirp inversion and higher order transverse mode suppression.

PMID- 20940950
TI  - Characterization of 1D photonic crystal nanobeam cavities using curved
      microfiber.
AB  - We investigate high-Q, small mode volume photonic crystal nanobeam cavities using
      a curved, tapered optical microfiber loop. The strength of the coupling between
      the cavity and the microfiber loop is shown to depend on the contact position on
      the nanobeam, angle between the nanobeam and the microfiber, and polarization of
      the light in the fiber. The results are compared to a resonant scattering
      measurement.

PMID- 20940951
TI  - Hybrid optoelectronic buffer using CMOS memory and optical interfaces for 10
      Gbit/s asynchronous variable-length optical packets.
AB  - A hybrid optoelectronic buffer consisting of a complementary metal-oxide
      semiconductor (CMOS) memory and optical/optoelectronic interface devices is
      described. The interface devices: an all-optical serial-to-parallel converter
      (SPC), electrical-to-optical parallel-to-serial converter (PSC), and optical
      clock pulse-train generator (OCPTG) enable write-in/read-out of preamble-free
      asynchronous high-speed optical packets to/from CMOS memory, and consequently,
      flexible and highly functional processing of the packets with CMOS circuitry. A
      prototype hybrid optoelectronic buffer subsystem using a field programmable gate
      array (FPGA)-based memory and modules for the interface devices is developed and
      error-free write-in and read-out operation for 10-Gbit/s asynchronous variable
      length optical packets is demonstrated.

PMID- 20940952
TI  - Detection of multimode spatial correlation in PDC and application to the absolute
      calibration of a CCD camera.
AB  - We propose and demonstrate experimentally a new method based on the spatial
      entanglement for the absolute calibration of analog detectors. The idea consists
      on measuring the sub-shot-noise intensity correlation between two branches of
      parametric down conversion, containing many pairwise correlated spatial modes. We
      calibrate a scientific CCD camera and a preliminary evaluation of the uncertainty
      indicates the metrological interest of the method.

PMID- 20940953
TI  - Quantitative-phase-contrast imaging of a two-level surface described as a 2D
      linear filtering process.
AB  - The paper deals with quantitative phase imaging of two-height-level surface
      reliefs. The imaging is considered to be a linear system and, consequently, the
      Fourier transform of the image is the product of the Fourier transform of a 2D
      function characterizing the surface and a specific 2D coherent transfer function.
      The Fourier transform of functions specifying periodic surface reliefs is
      factorized into two functions similar to lattice and structure amplitudes in
      crystal structure analysis. The approach to the imaging process described in the
      paper enables us to examine the dependence of the phase image on the surface
      geometry. Theoretical results are verified experimentally by means of a digital
      holographic microscope.

PMID- 20940954
TI  - New insight into quasi leaky mode approximations for unified coupled-mode
      analysis.
AB  - To facilitate the analysis of radiation mode couplings, quasi leaky mode
      approximations were utilized in coupled-mode analysis. The key to effectively and
      accurately apply this approach is how to well approximate radiation modes by the
      quasi leaky modes in an equivalent closed waveguide model. In this paper, the
      principle, applicability and accuracy of the approximations are demonstrated, and
      the detailed implementation is also suggested by applying a unified coupled-mode
      analysis to fiber gratings. First of all, based on a thorough study on the
      characteristics of the complex modes, for the first time, quasi leaky modes are
      classified into guided-mode-like inner-cladding and radiation-mode-like outer
      cladding leaky modes so as to explicitly establish equivalence relationships
      between the discrete leaky modes and the continuous radiation modes. With this
      new insight, the whole analysis process especially for some of the practically
      tricky issues such as the criteria for developing the proper equivalent waveguide
      model and the subsequent mode expansion basis are better understood and easier to
      be dealt with for different problems where radiation modes come into play.
      Moreover, as essential preconditions to extend the conventional coupled mode
      analysis to the present unified one, the couplings between the guided core mode
      and a leaky mode are studied in a systematic and consistent manner. An intuitive
      and then a deep understanding on the roles of complex modes on mode coupling and
      power exchanging are thus gained for further simulations. Lastly, the
      transmission spectra of fiber gratings with different surrounding indices are
      simulated. The simulated results agree well with those obtained theoretically and
      experimentally in the literatures, which strongly validate the principle of quasi
      leaky mode approximations and its implementation on the unified coupled-mode
      analysis expounded in this paper.

PMID- 20940955
TI  - Refractive micro-optical elements for surface plasmons: from classical to
      gradient index optics.
AB  - Controlling the propagation of surface plasmons along a metal-dielectric
      interface is a key feature for the development of surface plasmon based circuits.
      We have designed various two-dimensional refractive dielectric optical elements
      for surface plasmons (SP) and characterized their capacity to route SP, using
      near- or far-field techniques. We first present basic devices analogous to usual
      optical components and the associated challenges for SP optics. We then use a
      metamaterial approach to locally vary the refractive index and fabricate gradient
      index structures for SP circuitry.

PMID- 20940956
TI  - Direct phase extraction from interferograms with random phase shifts.
AB  - A new method that extracts phase directly from randomly phase-shifted
      interferograms is proposed. In this method, the background intensity and the
      modulation amplitude are determined by a temporal method and used as the system
      parameters and then the phase is extracted from one single interferogram by arc
      cosine function with range of (0, pi). By partitioning the extracted phase
      distribution into watershed regions and determining the sign of phase in each
      region, the extracted phase is recovered to its principle phase with range of (
      pi, pi). Numerical simulation and experiment are implemented to verify the
      effectiveness of this method. The method has applications in both static and
      dynamic phase measurement.

PMID- 20940957
TI  - 3D/2D convertible projection-type integral imaging using concave half mirror
      array.
AB  - We propose a new method for implementing 3D/2D convertible feature in the
      projection-type integral imaging by using concave half mirror array. The concave
      half mirror array has the partially reflective characteristic to the incident
      light. And the reflected term is modulated by the concave mirror array structure,
      while the transmitted term is unaffected. With such unique characteristic, 3D/2D
      conversion or even the simultaneous display of 3D and 2D images is also possible.
      The prototype was fabricated by the aluminum coating and the polydimethylsiloxane
      molding process. We could experimentally verify the 3D/2D conversion and the
      display of 3D image on 2D background with the fabricated prototype.

PMID- 20940958
TI  - Label-free optical biosensing using a horizontal air-slot SiNx microdisk
      resonator.
AB  - We demonstrate label-free optical biosensing using a horizontal air-slotted
      silicon-rich silicon nitride (SiNx) microdisk resonator. Due to the strong
      confinement of light in the air-slot, a large resonance shift of 6.2 nm is
      observed upon reaction of the biotin-functionalized disk with a streptavidin
      solution with concentration of 2.5 MUg/ml. Assuming a linear relationship between
      resonance shift and streptavidin concentration, we estimate the sensitivity to be
      2.5 +/- 0.2 nm/(MUg/ml). Comparing this value with surface sensitivity of 5.7
      nm/nm calculated using FDTD simulations, a detection limit of 30 +/- 2 ng/ml, is
      extrapolated.

PMID- 20940960
TI  - Zero-overhead phase noise compensation via decision-directed phase equalizer for
      coherent optical OFDM.
AB  - We report and investigate the feasibility of zero-overhead laser phase noise
      compensation (PNC) for long-haul coherent optical orthogonal frequency division
      multiplexing (CO-OFDM) transmission systems, using the decision-directed phase
      equalizer (DDPE). DDPE updates the equalization parameters on a symbol-by-symbol
      basis after an initial decision making stage and retrieves an estimation of the
      phase noise value by extracting and averaging the phase drift of all OFDM sub
      channels. Subsequently, a second equalization is performed by using the estimated
      phase noise value which is followed by a final decision making stage. We
      numerically compare the performance of DDPE and the CO-OFDM conventional
      equalizer (CE) for different laser linewidth values after transmission over 2000
      km of uncompensated single-mode fiber (SMF) at 40 Gb/s and investigate the effect
      of fiber nonlinearity and amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) noise on the
      received signal quality. Furthermore, we analytically analyze the complexity of
      DDPE versus CE in terms of the number of required complex multiplications per
      bit.

PMID- 20940959
TI  - Clean sub-8-fs pulses at 400 nm generated by a hollow fiber compressor for
      ultraviolet ultrafast pump-probe spectroscopy.
AB  - Clean 7.5 fs pulses at 400 nm with less than 3% energy in tiny satellite pulses
      were obtained by spectral broadening in a hollow fiber and dispersive
      compensating using a prism pair together with a deformable mirror system. As an
      example, this stable and clean pulse was used to study the ultrafast pump-probe
      spectroscopy of photoactive yellow protein. Moreover, the self-diffraction signal
      shows a smoothed and broadened laser spectrum and is expected to have a further
      clean laser pulse, which makes it more useful in the ultrafast pump-probe
      spectroscopy in the future.

PMID- 20940961
TI  - Evidence of two erbium sites in standard aluminosilicate glass for EDFA.
AB  - Site distributions of Er(3+)-doped aluminosilicate preforms of standard EDFA were
      studied by the low temperature Resonant Fluorescence Line Narrowing (RFLN)
      spectroscopy. Two erbium concentration samples with the same glass base were
      investigated. At very low erbium concentration, two classes of sites were
      identified, related to the number of AlO(6) octahedral linked by two oxygen edge
      sharing to Er(3+) in the coordination sphere. As erbium concentration is
      increased, the high AlO(6) coordinated class of sites is smeared out by the
      optical response of the one AlO(6) coordinated class of sites.

PMID- 20940962
TI  - Adjustment of supercontinua via the optical feedback phase - numerical
      investigations.
AB  - The delay and phase dependent behavior of a system for supercontinuum generation
      by using a microstructured fiber within a synchronously pumped ring resonator is
      presented numerically. The feedback introduced by the resonator led to an
      interaction of the supercontinuum with the following femtosecond laser pulses and
      thus to the formation of a nonlinear oscillator. Via the feedback phase different
      regimes of nonlinear dynamics, such as steady state, period multiplication, limit
      cycle and chaos can be adjusted systematically. The spectrum within one regime of
      nonlinear dynamics can additionally be modified independently from the regime of
      nonlinear dynamics.

PMID- 20940963
TI  - Ultralow-repetition-rate, high-energy, polarization-maintaining, Er-doped,
      ultrashort-pulse fiber laser using single-wall-carbon-nanotube saturable
      absorber.
AB  - An ultralow-repetition-rate, all-polarization-maintaining (PM), Er-doped,
      ultrashort-pulse fiber laser was demonstrated using a single-wall-carbon-nanotube
      polyimide film. Using a ring cavity configuration, output pulses with pulse
      energy of 0.7-2.6 nJ were obtained at an ultralow repetition rate of 943-154 kHz
      for a fiber length of 0.1-1.3 km. A novel theta (theta) cavity configuration was
      proposed, which enabled us to reduce the required fiber length by half. A
      repetition rate of 132 kHz was achieved using this configuration with 909 m of PM
      fiber.

PMID- 20940964
TI  - Guiding effects in waveguides with anti-symmetric refractive index layouts.
AB  - This paper presents and analyzes configurations of waveguides composed by both,
      regular dielectrics and negative-index materials disposed in an anti-symmetric
      way with respect to the optical axis. In its basic form, the configuration
      includes two guiding layers and two cladding media, where both the cladding and
      the guiding pairs have opposite-signed refractive index. A geometrical analysis
      shows that paths are closed, hinting the possibility of localized modes or light
      trapping with zero ray velocity. The ray model shows also a quasi-perfect imaging
      effect for off-axis objects. A modal approach shows that trapping is broadband
      and the propagation constant spectrum is continuous. When cores are allowed
      different widths, control of the group velocity is possible. More general anti
      symmetrically mirrored layouts are also addressed.

PMID- 20940965
TI  - High performance nanophotonic circuits based on partially buried horizontal slot
      waveguides.
AB  - We present a novel platform to construct high-performance nanophotonic devices in
      low refractive index dielectric films at telecoms wavelengths. The formation of
      horizontal slots by PECVD deposition of high index amorphous silicon provides a
      convenient and low-cost way to tailor nanophotonic devices to application needs.
      Low propagation loss of less than 2 dB/cm is obtained allowing us to fabricate
      optical resonators with measured high optical quality factors exceeding 10(5). We
      design and experimentally demonstrate on-chip grating couplers to efficiently
      couple light into integrated circuitry with coupling loss of 4 dB and optical
      bandwidth exceeding 110 nm. The entire on-chip circuitry consisting of
      input/output couplers, Mach-Zehnder interferometers with high extinction ratio
      and ring, racetrack resonators are designed, fabricated and characterized.

PMID- 20940966
TI  - Singular-value decomposition of a tomosynthesis system.
AB  - Tomosynthesis is an emerging technique with potential to replace mammography,
      since it gives 3D information at a relatively small increase in dose and cost. We
      present an analytical singular-value decomposition of a tomosynthesis system,
      which provides the measurement component of any given object. The method is
      demonstrated on an example object. The measurement component can be used as a
      reconstruction of the object, and can also be utilized in future observer studies
      of tomosynthesis image quality.

PMID- 20940967
TI  - Thermal and laser properties of Yb:LuAG for kW thin disk lasers.
AB  - Thin disk laser experiments with Yb:LuAG (Yb:Lu(3)Al(5)O(12)) were performed
      leading to 5 kW of output power and an optical-to-optical efficiency exceeding
      60%. Comparative analyses of the laser relevant parameters of Yb:LuAG and Yb:YAG
      were carried out. While the spectroscopic properties were found to be nearly
      identical, investigations of the thermal conductivities revealed a 20% higher
      value for Yb:LuAG at Yb(3+)-doping concentrations of about 10%. Due to the
      superior thermal conductivity with respect to Yb:YAG, Yb:LuAG offers thus the
      potential of improved performance in high power thin disk laser applications.

PMID- 20940968
TI  - Imaging through turbid layers by scanning the phase conjugated second harmonic
      radiation from a nanoparticle.
AB  - We demonstrate imaging through a turbid layer by using digital phase conjugation
      of the second harmonic field radiated from a beacon nanoparticle. We show that
      the phase-conjugated focus can be displaced from its initial position by
      illuminating the same region of the turbid layer with an angular offset. An image
      is obtained by scanning the phase-conjugated focus through the turbid layer in a
      region around the nanoparticle. We obtain a clear image of the target by
      measuring the light transmitted through it when scanning the focused beam.

PMID- 20940969
TI  - Significant improvements in optical power budgets of real-time optical OFDM PON
      systems.
AB  - Based on a comprehensive theoretical optical orthogonal frequency division
      multiplexing (OOFDM) system model rigorously verified by comparing numerical
      results with end-to-end real-time experimental measurements at 11.25Gb/s,
      detailed explorations are undertaken, for the first time, of the impacts of
      various physical factors on the OOFDM system performance over directly modulated
      DFB laser (DML)-based, intensity modulation and direct detection (IMDD), single
      mode fibre (SMF) systems without in-line optical amplification and chromatic
      dispersion compensation. It is shown that the low extinction ratio (ER) of the
      DML modulated OOFDM signal is the predominant factor limiting the maximum
      achievable optical power budget, and the subcarrier intermixing effect associated
      with square-law photon detection in the receiver reduces the optical power budget
      by at least 1dB. Results also indicate that, immediately after the DML in the
      transmitter, the insertion of a 0.02nm bandwidth optical Gaussian bandpass filter
      with a 0.01nm wavelength offset with respect to the optical carrier wavelength
      can enhance the OOFDM signal ER by approximately 1.24dB, thus resulting in a 7dB
      optical power budget improvement at a total channel BER of 1 * 10(-3).

PMID- 20940970
TI  - Spatially partially coherent beam parameter optimization for free space optical
      communications.
AB  - The problem of coherence length optimization in a spatially partially coherent
      beam for free space optical communication is investigated. The weak turbulence
      regime is considered. An expression for the scintillation index in a series form
      is derived and conditions for obtaining improvement in outage probability through
      optimization in the coherence length of the beam are described. A numerical test
      for confirming performance improvement due to coherence length optimization is
      proposed. The effects of different parameters, including the phase front radius
      of curvature, transmission distance, wavelength and beamwidth are studied. The
      results show that, for smaller distances and larger beamwidths, improvements in
      outage probability of several orders of magnitude can be achieved by using
      partially coherent beams.

PMID- 20940971
TI  - Laser ranging and communications for LISA.
AB  - The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) will use Time Delay Interferometry
      (TDI) to suppress the otherwise dominant laser frequency noise. The technique
      uses sub-sample interpolation of the recorded optical phase measurements to form
      a family of interferometric combinations immune to frequency noise. This paper
      reports on the development of a Pseudo-Random Noise laser ranging system used to
      measure the sub-sample interpolation time shifts required for TDI operation. The
      system also includes an optical communication capability that meets the 20 kbps
      LISA requirement. An experimental demonstration of an integrated LISA phase
      measurement and ranging system achieved a ~ 0.19 m rms absolute range error with
      a 0.5Hz signal bandwidth, surpassing the 1 m rms LISA specification. The range
      measurement is limited by mutual interference between the ranging signals
      exchanged between spacecraft and the interaction of the ranging code with the
      phase measurement.

PMID- 20940972
TI  - Study on dispersion-induced phase noise in an optical OFDM radio-over-fiber
      system at 60-GHz band.
AB  - While coherency between an RF-tone and OFDM signals in RoF systems at 60 GHz is
      de-correlated by fiber dispersion, both phase rotation term (PRT) on each
      subcarrier and inter-carrier interference (ICI) between subcarriers are induced
      at a receiver. We analytically calculate the powers of PRT and ICI under
      different parameters, such as subcarrier number, modulation format, laser
      linewidth and transmission distance. Moreover, dispersion-induced ICI is shown to
      be non-Gaussian distributed by its kurtosis, and its distribution depends on
      system parameters. Therefore, using only the power of ICI cannot predict accurate
      bit error rate (BER) and corresponding power penalty. We propose to use t
      distribution to fit the distribution of ICI, and it can be used to compute BER
      precisely.

PMID- 20940973
TI  - Defect solitons in kagome optical lattices.
AB  - We report the existence and stability of solitons in kagome optical lattices with
      a defect in photorefractive crystal under focusing saturable nonlinearity. For
      different types of defects, solitons will exist in different gaps. For a positive
      defect, the solitons only exist in the semi-infinite gap and only stably exist in
      the low power region. For a negative defect, the solitons exist both in the semi
      infinite gap and the first gap. With an increasing of the negative defect depth,
      the stable region in the semi-infinite will be narrowed, while solitons will be
      firstly unstable in the high power region of the first gap, and finally solitons
      will be not stable in the whole first gap.

PMID- 20940974
TI  - CW lasing of Ho in KLu(WO4)2 in-band pumped by a diode-pumped Tm:KLu(WO4)2 laser.
AB  - We demonstrate continuous wave (CW) room temperature laser operation of the
      monoclinic Ho(3+)-doped KLu(WO(4))(2) crystal using a diode-pumped
      Tm(3+):KLu(WO(4))(2) laser for in-band pumping. The slope efficiency achieved
      amounts to ~55% with respect to the absorbed power and the maximum output power
      of 648 mW is generated at 2078 nm.

PMID- 20940975
TI  - Injection-locking of terahertz quantum cascade lasers up to 35GHz using RF
      amplitude modulation.
AB  - We demonstrate that the cavity resonance frequency - the round-trip frequency -
      of Terahertz quantum cascade lasers can be injection-locked by direct modulation
      of the bias current using an RF source. Metal-metal and single-plasmon waveguide
      devices with roundtrip frequencies up to 35GHz have been studied, and show
      locking ranges above 200MHz. Inside this locking range the laser round-trip
      frequency is phase-locked, with a phase noise determined by the RF-synthesizer.
      We find a square-root dependence of the locking range with RF-power in agreement
      with classical injection-locking theory. These results are discussed in the
      context of mode-locking operation.

PMID- 20940976
TI  - Beam width of highly-focused radially-polarized fields.
AB  - On the basis of a formal analogy with the irradiance moments, analytical
      definitions are proposed for the width of both the transverse and the
      longitudinal component of rotationally-symmetric radially-polarized fields at the
      focal plane of a high-focusing optical system. The beam width of the whole field
      is also introduced. The transverse beam size is thus associated with the overall
      spatial structure of the field. The beam-width definitions are applied to an
      illustrative example, which enables us to show that, at the focal plane, the
      power contained within a circle whose radius is given by the proposed beam widths
      represents the main part of the total power.

PMID- 20940977
TI  - Nanometrology optical ruler imaging system using diffraction from a quasiperiodic
      structure.
AB  - This work demonstrates wafer-scale, path-independent, atomically-based long term
      stable, position nanometrology. This nanometrology optical ruler imaging system
      uses the diffraction pattern of an atomically stabilized laser from a
      microfabricated quasiperiodic aperture array as a two-dimensional optical ruler.
      Nanometrology is accomplished by cross correlations of image samples of this
      optical ruler. The quasiperiodic structure generates spatially dense, sharp
      optical features. This work demonstrates new results showing positioning errors
      down to 17.2 nm over wafer scales and long term stability below 20 nm over six
      hours. This work also numerically demonstrates robustness of the optical ruler to
      variations in the microfabricated aperture array and discretization noise in
      imagers.

PMID- 20940978
TI  - Tailoring the dispersion behavior of silicon nanophotonic slot waveguides.
AB  - We investigate the chromatic dispersion properties of silicon channel slot
      waveguides in a broad spectral region centered at ~1.5 MUm. The variation of the
      dispersion profile as a function of the slot fill factor, i.e., the ratio between
      the slot and waveguide widths, is analyzed. Symmetric as well as asymmetric
      geometries are considered. In general, two different dispersion regimes are
      identified. Furthermore, our analysis shows that the zero and/or the peak
      dispersion wavelengths can be tailored by a careful control of the geometrical
      waveguide parameters including the cross-sectional area, the slot fill factor,
      and the slot asymmetry degree.

PMID- 20940979
TI  - Edge method for on-orbit defocus assessment.
AB  - In the earth observation domain, two classes of sensors may be distinguished: a
      class for which sensor performances are driven by radiometric accuracy of the
      images and a class for which sensor performances are driven by spatial
      resolution. In this latter case, as spatial resolution depends on the triplet
      constituted by the Ground Sampling Distance (GSD), Modulation Transfer Function
      (MTF), and Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR), refocusing, acting as an MTF improvement,
      is very important. Refocusing is not difficult by itself as far as the on-board
      mechanism is reliable. The difficulty is on the defocus assessment side. Some
      methods such as those used for the SPOT family rely on the ability of the
      satellite to image the same landscape with two focusing positions. This can be
      done with a bi-sensor configuration, with adequate focal plane, or with the
      satellite agility. A new generation of refocusing mechanism will be taken aboard
      Pleiades. As the speed of this mechanism will be much slower than the speed of
      the older generation, it won't be possible, despite the agility of the satellite,
      to image the same landscape with two focusing positions on the same orbit. That's
      why methods relying on MTF measurement with edge method have been studied. This
      paper describes the methods and the work done to assess the defocus measurement
      accuracy in the Pleiades context.

PMID- 20940980
TI  - Analysis of photorefractive optical damage in lithium niobate: application to
      planar waveguides.
AB  - Photorefractive optical damage of single beams in LiNbO(3) crystals is analyzed
      within a framework of two photoactive centres (Fe(2+)/Fe(3+) and Nb(Li)
      (4+)/Nb(Li) (5+)). It compares model simulations and significant experimental
      measurements in LiNbO(3) waveguides. A good agreement is found in the performed
      comparisons: photovoltaic currents, refractive index changes and, especially
      relevant, in degraded beam-profiles. The progress of the degraded wavefront has
      been simulated by implementing a finite-difference beam-propagating method which
      includes the model equations. These results, together with previous ones on
      grating recording, provide a comprehensive, satisfactory explanation of most
      important questions on photorefractive optical damage.

PMID- 20940981
TI  - Lidar equation for ocean surface and subsurface.
AB  - The lidar equation for ocean at optical wavelengths including subsurface signals
      is revisited using the recent work of the radiative transfer and ocean color
      community for passive measurements. The previous form of the specular and
      subsurface echo term are corrected from their heritage, which originated from
      passive remote sensing of whitecaps, and is improved for more accurate use in
      future lidar research. A corrected expression for specular and subsurface lidar
      return is presented. The previous formalism does not correctly address angular
      dependency of specular lidar return and overestimates the subsurface term by a
      factor ranging from 89% to 194% for a nadir pointing lidar. Suggestions for
      future improvements to the lidar equation are also presented.

PMID- 20940982
TI  - Mutation operators in lens system optimization to jump out of local minima.
AB  - In lens system design, Damped Least Squares method is a traditionally used local
      search method. In this paper we apply mutation operators to control damping
      factor in Damped Least Squares. We study the mutation behavior in this method
      when the algorithm confronts with local minima. The proposed method can go beyond
      local minima by taking mutation operators to control damping factor. The proposed
      method was successfully applied to design problems. The result indicates that the
      mutation operators provide an effective and rapid way to jump out of poor local
      minima.

PMID- 20940983
TI  - Reflection-mode optical injection locking.
AB  - A novel model including the interference effect of master laser reflection is
      established for reflection-mode optical injection locking. This model sheds
      insight on the physical origin of some rather distinct but unexplained modulation
      characteristics of optical injection-locked vertical-cavity surface-emitting
      lasers (VCSELs), including data pattern inversion in on-off keying modulation, a
      large RF gain at low frequency, and an anomalous DC-suppression under small
      signal modulation, in specific locking conditions. Excellent agreement is
      obtained between the simulation and experiment results.

PMID- 20940984
TI  - Tunable photonic crystal based on capillary attraction and repulsion.
AB  - A tunable photonic crystal (PhC) based on the capillary action of liquid is
      demonstrated in this work. The porous silicon-based photonic crystal (PSiPhC)
      features periodic porosity and is fabricated by electrochemical etching on 6"
      silicon wafer followed by hydrophobic modification on the silicon surface. The
      capillary action is achieved by varying the mixture ratio of liquids with high
      and low surface tension, yielding either capillary attraction or capillary
      repulsion in the nanoscale voids of the PSiPhC. By delivering the liquid mixture
      into and out of the voids of the PSiPhC, the reflective color of the PSiPhC can
      be dynamically tuned.

PMID- 20940985
TI  - Spatio-temporal characterization of ultrashort pulses diffracted by circularly
      symmetric hard-edge apertures: theory and experiment.
AB  - We carry out a complete spatio-temporal characterization of the electric field of
      an ultrashort laser pulse after passing through a diffractive optical element
      composed of several binary amplitude concentric rings. Analytical expressions for
      the total diffraction field in the time and spectral domain are provided, using
      the Rayleigh-Sommerfeld formulation of the diffraction. These expressions are
      experimentally validated. The spatio-temporal amplitude and phase structure of
      the pulse are measured at different planes beyond the diffractive optical element
      using spatially-resolved spectral interferometry assisted by an optical fiber
      coupler (STARFISH). Our results allow corroborating theoretical predictions on
      the presence of multiple pulses or complex spectral distributions due to the
      diffraction-induced effects by the hard-edge ring apertures.

PMID- 20940986
TI  - Active manipulation of plasmonic electromagnetically-induced transparency based
      on magnetic plasmon resonance.
AB  - Plasmonic electromagnetically-induced transparency (EIT) can be excited by a
      single optical field unlike EIT in atom system, since the coupling between the
      bright and the dark modes is inherently induced through the near-field
      interaction in metamaterials. As a result, the complexity of the experimental
      realization can be reduced significantly, while the tunability is lost
      inevitably.We suggest a scheme that the plasmonic EIT is possible to be actively
      manipulated even by the single optical field. The bright and the dark modes are
      selective to be either coupled or uncoupled, depending on the angle of incidence.
      Even though the mechanical control has the disadvantage for high-speed
      applications, it paves the way for active manipulation of plasmonic EIT and
      benefits the clarification of its origin.

PMID- 20940987
TI  - A micro-structured aperture made of a hollow triangular-core fiber for novel beam
      shaping.
AB  - We demonstrate a micro-structured aperture made of a unique hollow triangular
      core fiber (HTCF) that consists of a central air hole, a high-index hollow
      triangular core, and silica cladding for all-fiber novel beam shaping. Detailed
      fabrication processes to embed a hollow triangular structure into a cylindrical
      optical fiber are described and unique diffraction patterns out of the HTCF for
      monochromatic light are analyzed both experimentally and theoretically. Fourier
      optic analysis combined with guided mode calculation was pursued to interpret
      experimental patterns in terms of the beam propagation distance.

PMID- 20940988
TI  - Design method of high-efficient ?LED headlamp lens.
AB  - Low optical efficiency of light-emitting diode (LED) based headlamp is one of the
      most important issues to obstruct applications of LEDs in headlamp. An effective
      high-efficient LED headlamp freeform lens design method is introduced in this
      paper. A low-beam lens and a high-beam lens for LED headlamp are designed
      according to this method. Monte Carlo ray tracing simulation results demonstrate
      that the LED headlamp with these two lenses can fully comply with the ECE
      regulation without any other lens or reflector. Moreover, optical efficiencies of
      both these two lenses are more than 88% in theory.

PMID- 20940989
TI  - Theoretical investigation of fabrication-related disorders on the properties of
      subwavelength metal-dielectric-metal plasmonic waveguides.
AB  - We theoretically investigate the effect of fabrication-related disorders on
      subwavelength metal-dielectric-metal plasmonic waveguides. We use a Monte Carlo
      method to calculate the roughness-induced excess attenuation coefficient with
      respect to a smooth waveguide. For small roughness height, the excess optical
      power loss due to disorder is small compared to the material loss in a smooth
      waveguide. However, for large roughness height, the excess attenuation increases
      rapidly with height and the propagation length of the optical mode is severely
      affected. We find that the excess attenuation is mainly due to reflection from
      the rough surfaces. However, for small roughness correlation lengths, enhanced
      absorption is the dominant loss mechanism due to disorder. We also find that the
      disorder attenuation due to reflection is approximately maximized when the power
      spectral density of the disordered surfaces at the Bragg spatial frequency is
      maximized. Finally, we show that increasing the modal confinement or decreasing
      the guide wavelength, increase the attenuation due to disorder.

PMID- 20940990
TI  - Effect of inherent optical properties variability on the chlorophyll retrieval
      from ocean color remote sensing: an in situ approach.
AB  - The impact of the inherent optical properties (IOP) variability on the
      chlorophyll, Chl, retrieval from ocean color remote sensing algorithms is
      analyzed from an in situ data set covering a large dynamic range. The effect of
      the variability of the specific phytoplankton absorption coefficient, a(phy)/Chl,
      specific particulate backscattering coefficient, b(bp)/Chl, and colored detrital
      matter absorption to non-water absorption ratio, a(cdm)/a(nw), on the performance
      of standard operational algorithms is examined. This study confirms that
      empirical algorithms are highly dependent on the specifics IOP values (especially
      b(bp)/Chl and a(cdm)/a(nw)): Chl is over-estimated in waters with specific IOP
      values higher than averaged values, and vice versa. These results clearly
      indicate the necessity to account for the influence of the specific IOP
      variability in Chl retrieval algorithms.

PMID- 20940991
TI  - Directional control of infrared antenna-coupled tunnel diodes.
AB  - Directional control of received infrared radiation is demonstrated with a phased
      array antenna connected by a coplanar strip transmission line to a metal-oxide
      metal (MOM) tunnel diode. We implement a MOM diode to ensure that the measured
      response originates from the interference of infrared antenna currents at
      specific locations in the array. The reception angle of the antenna is altered by
      shifting the diode position along the transmission line connecting the antenna
      elements. By fabricating the devices on a quarter wave dielectric layer above a
      ground plane, narrow beam widths of 35 degrees  FWHM in power and reception
      angles of +/- 50 degrees  are achieved with minimal side lobe contributions.
      Measured radiation patterns at 10.6 MUm are substantiated by electromagnetic
      simulations as well as an analytic interference model.

PMID- 20940992
TI  - Advanced mask aligner lithography: new illumination system.
AB  - A new illumination system for mask aligner lithography is presented. The
      illumination system uses two subsequent microlens-based Kohler integrators. The
      second Kohler integrator is located in the Fourier plane of the first. The new
      illumination system uncouples the illumination light from the light source and
      provides excellent uniformity of the light irradiance and the angular spectrum.
      Spatial filtering allows to freely shape the angular spectrum to minimize
      diffraction effects in contact and proximity lithography. Telecentric
      illumination and ability to precisely control the illumination light allows to
      introduce resolution enhancement technologies (RET) like customized illumination,
      optical proximity correction (OPC) and source-mask optimization (SMO) in mask
      aligner lithography.

PMID- 20940993
TI  - Power calculation of wavelength tunable Yb3+:LSO laser.
AB  - A theoretical model is presented describing continuous-wave operation about
      wavelength tunable Yb(3+):LSO (Yb(3+):Lu(2)SiO(5)) laser. In LSO host, Yb(3+) ion
      occupies two different Lu(3+) sites and the spectrum exhibits the inhomogeneously
      broadened property. Working as a computable model, it takes into account the pump
      absorption saturation, the re-absorption of laser, and the full spectral
      information of the laser transition. The calculated results are compared with the
      experimental results, and it verifies the validity of the model. Then the laser
      performances for different Yb(3+) concentration, crystal length, and the
      transmission of the output mirror are predicted.

PMID- 20940994
TI  - Evaluation of the simplified spherical harmonics approximation in bioluminescence
      tomography through heterogeneous mouse models.
AB  - In vivo bioluminescence imaging (BLI) has played a more and more important role
      in biomedical research of small animals. Bioluminescence tomography (BLT) further
      translates the BLI optical information into three-dimensional bioluminescent
      source distribution, which could greatly facilitate applications in related
      studies. Although the diffusion approximation (DA) is one of the most widely-used
      forward models, higher-order approximations are still needed for in vivo small
      animal imaging. In this work, as a relatively accurate and higher-order
      approximation theory, the performance of the simplified spherical harmonics
      approximation (SPN) in BLT is evaluated detailedly in heterogeneous small
      animals. In the numerical validations, the SPN based results demonstrate better
      imaging quality compared with diffusion approximation heterogeneously under
      various source locations over wide optical domain. Although the evaluation for
      the effects of the optical property mismatch indicates the sensitivity of SPN is
      similar with DA model in the source localization, it may offer improved
      performance with much less artifacts. In what follows, heterogeneous experimental
      BLT reconstructions using in vivo mouse further evaluate the capability of the
      higher-order method for practical biomedical applications.

PMID- 20940995
TI  - Rapid volumetric OCT image acquisition using compressive sampling.
AB  - Acquiring three dimensional image volumes with techniques such as Optical
      Coherence Tomography (OCT) relies on reconstructing the tissue layers based on
      reflection of light from tissue interfaces. One B-mode scan in an image is
      acquired by scanning and concatenating several A-mode scans, and several
      contiguous slices are acquired to assemble a full 3D image volume. In this work,
      we demonstrate how Compressive Sampling (CS) can be used to accurately
      reconstruct 3D OCT images with minimal quality degradation from a subset of the
      original image. The full 3D image is reconstructed from sparsely sampled data by
      exploiting the sparsity of the image in a carefully chosen transform domain. We
      use several sub-sampling schemes, recover the full 3D image using CS, and show
      that there is negligible effect on clinically relevant morphometric measurements
      of the optic nerve head in the recovered image. The potential outcome of this
      work is a significant reduction in OCT image acquisition time, with possible
      extensions to speeding up acquisition in other imaging modalities such as
      ultrasound and MRI.

PMID- 20940996
TI  - Hybrid plasmon/dielectric waveguide for integrated silicon-on-insulator optical
      elements.
AB  - VLSI compatible optical waveguides on silicon are currently of particular
      interest in order to integrate optical elements onto silicon chips, and for
      possible replacements of electrical cross-chip/inter-core interconnects. Here we
      present simulation and experimental verification of a hybrid plasmon/dielectric,
      single-mode, single-polarization waveguide for silicon-on-insulator wafers. Its
      fabrication is compatible with VLSI processing techniques, and it possesses
      desirable properties such as the absence of birefringence and low sensitivity to
      surface roughness and metallic losses. The waveguide structure naturally forms an
      MOS capacitor, possibly useful for active device integration. Simulations predict
      very long propagation lengths of millimeter scale with micron scale confinement,
      or sub-micron scale confinement with propagation lengths still in excess of 100
      microns. The waveguide may be tuned continuously between these states using
      standard VLSI processing. Extremely long propagation lengths have been simulated:
      one configuration presented here has a simulated propagation length of 34 cm.

PMID- 20940997
TI  - Theory of slow light enhanced four-wave mixing in photonic crystal waveguides.
AB  - The equations for Four-Wave-Mixing in a Photonic Crystal waveguide are derived
      accurately. The dispersive nature of slow-light enhancement, the impact of Bloch
      mode reshaping in the nonlinear overlap integrals and the tensor nature of the
      third order polarization are therefore taken into account. Numerical calculations
      reveal substantial differences with simpler models, which increase with
      decreasing group velocity. We predict that the gain for a 1.3 mm long,
      unoptimized GaInP waveguide will exceed 10 dB if the pump power exceeds 1 W.

PMID- 20940998
TI  - Directional coupler and nonlinear Mach-Zehnder interferometer based on metal
      insulator-metal plasmonic waveguide.
AB  - Directional coupler (DC) and nonlinear Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) based on
      metal-insulator-metal (MIM) plasmonic waveguide are investigated numerically. We
      show that the coupling length increases almost linearly with the wavelength and
      this property is utilized in the design of wavelength division multiplexer (WDM).
      A nonlinear MZI, with one branch filled with Kerr nonlinear medium, is built to
      ensure controlling light with light. Employing nonlinear processes including self
      phase modulation (SPM) and cross-phase modulation (XPM), intensity-based router
      and all-optical switch are realized.

PMID- 20940999
TI  - Alignment-free fabrication of a hybrid electro-optic polymer/ion-exchange glass
      coplanar modulator.
AB  - A hybrid electro-optic (EO) polymer phase modulator with a 6 MUm coplanar
      electrode gap was realized on ion exchange glass substrates. The critical
      alignment steps which may be required for hybrid optoelectronic devices were
      eliminated with a simple alignment-free fabrication technique. The low loss
      adiabatic transition from glass to EO polymer waveguide was enabled by gray scale
      patterning of novel EO polymer, AJLY. Total insertion loss of 5 dB and electrode
      gap of 8 MUm was obtained for an optimized device design. EO polymer poling at
      135  degrees C and 75 V/MUm was demonstrated for the first time on a phosphate
      glass substrate and was enabled by the sol-gel buffer layer.

PMID- 20941000
TI  - Symmetric TEM00 output from Q-switched quasi-concentric laser resonator with line
      shaped end-pumping profile.
AB  - We report a 12.2 W pulsed TEM(00) output from Q-switched quasi-concentric laser
      resonator with line-shaped end-pumping profile, with the repetition rate of 30
      kHz and optical-optical efficiency of 27.1%. The laser output mode is symmetrized
      in two directions in terms of beam quality, waist radius, and waist position.

PMID- 20941001
TI  - Optical trapping and propulsion of red blood cells on waveguide surfaces.
AB  - We have studied optical trapping and propulsion of red blood cells in the
      evanescent field of optical waveguides. Cell propulsion is found to be highly
      dependent on the biological medium and serum proteins the cells are submerged in.
      Waveguides made of tantalum pentoxide are shown to be efficient for cell
      propulsion. An optical propulsion velocity of up to ?6 um/s on a waveguide with a
      width of ~6 um is reported. Stable optical trapping and propulsion of cells
      during transverse flow is also reported.

PMID- 20941002
TI  - Calculations of laser induced dipole-quadrupole collisional energy transfer in Sr
      Ca.
AB  - A three-state model for calculating the cross section of laser-induced dipole
      quadrupole collisional energy transfer in Sr-Ca system is presented. The motion
      equations for the probability amplitudes of the three intermediate states are
      obtained. The expression of the cross section is derived. Various factors
      including field intensity, relative speed, system temperature which influence the
      collisional cross section are discussed to illustrate the features of the dipole
      quadrupole laser-induced collisional energy transfer (LICET)process. Calculating
      results show that the peak of the LICET profiles moves to the red, the tuning
      range of the profiles obviously becomes narrower with the laser field intensity
      increasing and a cross section of 1.25 * 10(-13)cm(2) at a laser intensity of
      8.29 * 10(9)W/cm(2) is obtained. Our results indicate that dipole-quadrupole
      LICET process can be the effective way to transfer energy selectively from a
      storage state of arbitrary parity to a target state of arbitrary parity.

PMID- 20941003
TI  - Characterizing the origin of autofluorescence in human esophageal epithelium
      under ultraviolet excitation.
AB  - The autofluorescence under ultraviolet excitation arising from normal squamous
      and columnar esophageal mucosa is investigated using multispectral microscopy.
      The results suggest that the autofluorescence signal arises from the superficial
      tissue layer due to the short penetration depth of the ultraviolet excitation. As
      a result, visualization of esophageal epithelial cells and their organization can
      be attained using wide-field autofluorescence microscopy. Our results show
      tryptophan to be the dominant source of emission under 266 nm excitation, while
      emission from NADH and collagen are dominant under 355 nm excitation. The
      analysis of multispectral microscopy images reveals that tryptophan offers the
      highest image contrast due to its non-uniform distribution in the sub-cellular
      matrix. This technique can simultaneously provide functional and structural
      imaging of the microstructure using only the intrinsic tissue fluorophores.

PMID- 20941004
TI  - Coupling interaction of electromagnetic wave in a groove doublet configuration.
AB  - Based on the waveguide mode (WGM) method, coupling interaction of electromagnetic
      wave in a groove doublet configuration is studied. The formulation obtained by
      WGM method for a single groove [Prog. Electromagn. Res. 18, 1-17 (1998)] is
      extended to two grooves. By exploring the total scattered field of the
      configuration, coupling interaction ratios are defined to describe the
      interaction between grooves quantitatively. Since each groove in this groove
      doublet configuration is regarded as the basic unit, the effects of coupling
      interaction on the scattered fields of each groove can be investigated
      respectively. Numerical results show that an oscillatory behavior of coupling
      interaction is damped with increasing groove spacing. The incident and scattering
      angle dependence of coupling interaction is symmetrical when the two grooves are
      the same. For the case of two subwavelength grooves, the coupling interaction is
      not sensitive to the incident angle and scattering angle. Although the case of
      two grooves is discussed for simplicity, the formulation developed in this
      article can be generalized to arbitrary number of grooves. Moreover, our study
      offers a simple alternative to investigate and design metallic gratings, compact
      directional antennas, couplers, and other devices especially in low frequency
      regime such as THz and microwave domain.

PMID- 20941005
TI  - Parallel direct laser writing in three dimensions with spatially dependent
      aberration correction.
AB  - We propose a hologram design process which aims at reducing aberrations in
      parallel three-dimensional direct laser writing applications. One principle of
      the approach is to minimise the diffractive power of holograms while retaining
      the degree of parallelisation. This reduces focal distortion caused by chromatic
      aberration. We address associated problems such as the zero diffraction order and
      aberrations induced by a potential refractive index mismatch between the
      immersion medium of the microscope objective and the fabrication substrate.
      Results from fabrication in diamond, fused silica and lithium niobate are
      presented.

PMID- 20941006
TI  - Real-time experimental demonstration of optical OFDM symbol synchronization in
      directly modulated DFB laser-based 25km SMF IMDD systems.
AB  - A simple optical OFDM (OOFDM) synchronization technique utilizing subtraction and
      Gaussian windowing at the symbol rate is proposed and implemented in FPGA-based
      OOFDM receivers. End-to-end real-time symbol synchronization of 128-QAM-encoded
      OOFDM signals at raw bit rates of 6.56Gb/s is experimentally demonstrated, for
      the first time, over directly modulated DFB laser-based 25km SMF intensity
      modulation and direct detection (IMDD) systems. Experimental investigations show
      that the proposed synchronisation technique offers a number of salient advantages
      including low complexity, fast tracking speed, high accuracy and suitability for
      high-capacity optical transmission systems.

PMID- 20941007
TI  - A comprehensive approach to deal with instrumental optical aberrations effects in
      high-accuracy photon's orbital angular momentum spectrum measurements.
AB  - With the current and upcoming applications of beams carrying orbital angular
      momentum (OAM), there will be the need to generate beams and measure their OAM
      spectrum with high accuracy. The instrumental OAM spectrum distortion is
      connected to the effect of its optical aberrations on the OAM content of the
      beams that the instrument creates or measures. Until now, the effect of the well
      known Zernike aberrations has been studied partially, assuming vortex beams with
      trivial radial phase components. However, the traditional Zernike polynomials are
      not best suitable when dealing with vortex beams, as their OAM spectrum is highly
      sensitive to some Zernike terms, and completely insensitive to others. We propose
      the use of a new basis, the OAM-Zernike basis, which consists of the radial
      aberrations as described by radial Zernike polynomials and of the azimuthal
      aberrations described in the OAM basis. The traditional tools for the
      characterization of aberrations of optical instruments can be used, and the
      results translated to the new basis. This permits the straightforward calculation
      of the effect of any optical system, such as an OAM detection stage, on the OAM
      spectrum of an incoming beam. This knowledge permits to correct, a posteriori,
      the effect of instrumental OAM spectrum distortion on the measured spectra. We
      also found that the knowledge of the radial aberrations is important, as they
      affect the efficiency of the detection, and in some cases its accuracy. In this
      new framework, we study the effect of aberrations in common OAM detection
      methods, and encourage the characterization of those systems using this approach.

PMID- 20941008
TI  - Multi-channel WDM RZ-to-NRZ format conversion at 50 Gbit/s based on single
      silicon microring resonator.
AB  - We comprehensively analyze multiple WDM channels RZ-to-NRZ format conversion
      using a single microring resonator. The scheme relies on simultaneous suppression
      of the first order harmonic components in the spectra of all the RZ channels. An
      optimized silicon microring resonator with free spectral range of 100 GHz and Q
      value of 7900 is designed and fabricated for this purpose. Multi-channel RZ-to
      NRZ format conversion is demonstrated experimentally at 50 Gbit/s for WDM
      channels with 200 GHz channel spacing using the fabricated device. Bit error rate
      (BER) measurements show very good conversion performances for the scheme.

PMID- 20941009
TI  - Null Ronchi-Hartmann test for a lens.
AB  - A method to design Ronchi-Hartmann screens for improved alignment in the testing
      of fast plano-convex spherical lenses is presented. We design null screens that
      produce aligned straight fringes for observed patterns. The designs of these null
      screens are based on knowledge of the caustic by refraction. A qualitative test
      for a lens is presented.

PMID- 20941010
TI  - Enhanced green luminescence in Ce-Tb-Ca codoped sintered porous glass.
AB  - We report on a new kind of green-emitting high silica luminous glass, which is
      fabricated by sintering of Ce(3+)-Tb(3+) co-doped porous glass. The spectra show
      that there are energy transfer between Ce(3+) and Tb(3+), and cross-relaxation
      between (5)D(3) and (5)D(4) energy level of Tb(3+). The energy transfer process
      can be adjusted by addition of Ca(2+) into the Ce(3+)-Tb(3+) co-doped porous
      glass, and the transfer rate can be enhanced about four times than that of Ce(3+)
      Tb(3+) co-doped porous glass. The role of Ca(2+) has been discussed, and the
      fluorescence decay curve reveals that the Ca(2+) play an important role in energy
      transfer.

PMID- 20941011
TI  - Scattering noise estimation of range-gated imaging system in turbid condition.
AB  - The range-gated imaging systems are reliable underwater imaging system with the
      capability to minimize backscattering effect from turbid media. The tail-gating
      technique has been developed to fine tune the signal to backscattering ratio and
      hence improve the gated image quality. However, the tail-gating technique has
      limited image quality enhancement in high turbidity levels. In this paper, we
      developed a numerical model of range-gated underwater imaging system for near
      target in turbid medium. The simulation results matched the experimental work
      favorably. Further investigation using this numerical model shows that the
      multiple scattering components of the backscattering noise dominate for
      propagation length larger than 4.2 Attenuation Length (AL). This has limited the
      enhancement of tail-gating technique in high turbidity conditions.

PMID- 20941012
TI  - Ultra slow light achievement in photonic crystals by merging coupled cavities
      with waveguides.
AB  - We explore slow light behavior of a specially designed optical waveguide by
      carrying out structural dispersion using numerical techniques. The structure
      proposed is composed of square-lattice photonic crystal waveguide integrated with
      side-coupled cavities. We report three orders of magnitude reduction in group
      velocity at around upsilon(g) ? 0.0008c with strongly suppressed group velocity
      dispersion. The analysis is performed by using both plane-wave expansion and
      finite-difference time-domain methods. For the first time, we succeeded to show
      such a low group velocity in photonic structures. Slow light pulse propagation
      accompanied by light tunneling between each cavity is observed. These
      achievements show the feasibility of photonic devices to generate extremely large
      group index which in turn will eventually pave the way to new frontiers in
      nonlinear optics, optical buffers and low threshold lasers.

PMID- 20941013
TI  - 18 wavelengths 83.9Gs/s optical sampling clock for photonic A/D converters.
AB  - In this paper, a simple approach to generate the time-wavelength interleaved
      sampling clock for photonic A/D converters is proposed using commercially
      available mode-locked femtosecond fiber laser and optical wavelength/time
      division multiplexing (WDM/OTDM) techniques with low cost passive optical
      components. A time and wavelength mapping module is configured using specially
      designed wavelength division multiplexer and mechanical tunable fiber stretchers.
      OTDM modules with low optical insertion loss and flexibly configurable multiple
      factor are implemented with the fused-biconical optical fiber couplers.
      Experiment is carried out using 18 WDM channels and 128 times OTDM to demonstrate
      the generation of 83.9Gs/s time-wavelength interleaved sampling clock.

PMID- 20941014
TI  - Determination of azimuthal anchoring strength in twisted nematic liquid crystal
      cells using heterodyne polarimeter.
AB  - Two external-field-free methods are presented for measuring the azimuthal
      anchoring strength in twisted nematic liquid crystal (TNLC) cells. For
      asymmetrical TNLC samples, the twist angle is derived from the phase of the
      detected signal in a phase-sensitive heterodyne polarimeter and is then used to
      calculate the weak anchoring strength directly. The measurement resolution which
      is found to be about 0.01 MUJ/m(2) makes the present method sensitive enough for
      the LC-based bio-sensing application. Using the proposed method, the weak
      azimuthal anchoring strength of a composite liquid crystal mixture (40% LCT
      061153 + 60% MJO-42761) in contact with a plasma-alignment layer is found to be
      7.19 MUJ/m(2). For symmetrical TNLC samples, the liquid crystals are injected
      into a wedge cell, and the two-dimensional distributions of the twist angle and
      cell gap are extracted from the detected phase distribution using a genetic
      algorithm (GA). The azimuthal anchoring strength is then obtained by applying a
      fitting technique to the twist angle vs. cell gap curve. Utilizing the proposed
      approach, it is shown that the strong anchoring strength between a rubbed
      polyimide (PI) alignment layer and E7 liquid crystal is around 160 MUJ/m(2) while
      that between a rubbed PI alignment layer and MLC-7023 liquid crystal is
      approximately 32 MUJ/m(2).

PMID- 20941015
TI  - Semi-resonant operation of a fiber-cantilever piezotube scanner for stable
      optical coherence tomography endoscope imaging.
AB  - A forward-view optical coherence tomography (OCT) scanning catheter has been
      developed based on a fiber-cantilever piezotube scanner by using a semi-resonant
      scan strategy for a better scan performance. A compact endoscope catheter was
      fabricated by using a tubular piezoelectric actuator with quartered electrodes in
      combination with a resonant fiber cantilever. A cantilever weight was attached to
      the fiber cantilever to reduce the resonance frequency down to 63 Hz, well in the
      desirable range for Fourier-domain OCT. The resonant-cantilever scanner was
      driven at semi-resonance frequencies that were well out of the resonance peak but
      within a range of partial resonance. This driving strategy has been found to
      minimize the phase difference between the two scan axes for a better scan
      stability against environmental perturbations as well as for a driving
      simplicity. By driving the two axes at slightly different frequencies, a low
      order Lissajous pattern has been obtained for a 2D area scan. 3D OCT images have
      been successfully acquired in an acquisition time of 1.56 seconds for a tomogram
      volume of 2.2 * 2.2 * 2.1 mm(3). They were reconstructed without any scan
      calibration by extracting the scan timing from the image data. In addition, it
      has been found that the Lissajous scan strategy provides a means to compensate
      the relative axial motion of a sample for a correct imaged morphology.

PMID- 20941016
TI  - Laser fabrication of 2D and 3D metal nanoparticle structures and arrays.
AB  - A novel method for fabrication of 2D and 3D metal nanoparticle structures and
      arrays is proposed. This technique is based on laser-induced transfer of molten
      metal nanodroplets from thin metal films. Metal nanoparticles are produced by
      solidification of these nanodroplets. The size of the transferred nanoparticles
      can be controllably changed in the range from 180 nm to 1500 nm. Several examples
      of complex 2D and 3D microstructures generated form gold nanoparticles are
      demonstrated.

PMID- 20941017
TI  - Designs for high-efficiency electrically pumped photonic nanowire single-photon
      sources.
AB  - We propose and analyze three electrically-pumped nanowire single-photon source
      structures, which achieve output efficiencies of more than 80%. These structures
      are based on a quantum dot embedded in a photonic nanowire with carefully
      tailored ends and optimized contact electrodes. Contrary to conventional cavity
      based sources, this non-resonant approach provides broadband spontaneous emission
      control and features an improved fabrication tolerance towards surface roughness
      and imperfections. Using an element-splitting approach, we analyze the various
      building blocks of the designs with respect to realistic variations of the
      experimental fabrication parameters.

PMID- 20941018
TI  - Vectorial polariton solitons in semiconductor microcavities.
AB  - This paper presents numerical studies of vectorial polariton solitons in
      semiconductor microcavities. In the simulation, polarization degree of freedom of
      the polariton fields is taken into consideration. In the bistable regime, bright
      and/or dark solitons are found to bifurcate from the homogonous solutions of the
      two circular polarization modes. The combinations of solitons in the two
      polarization directions can be bright-dark, dark-bright, bright-bright, and dark
      dark.

PMID- 20941019
TI  - Measuring and imaging diffusion with multiple scan speed image correlation
      spectroscopy.
AB  - The intracellular mobility of biomolecules is determined by transport and
      diffusion as well as molecular interactions and is crucial for many processes in
      living cells. Methods of fluorescence microscopy like confocal laser scanning
      microscopy (CLSM) can be used to characterize the intracellular distribution of
      fluorescently labeled biomolecules. Fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS)
      is used to describe diffusion, transport and photo-physical processes
      quantitatively. As an alternative to FCS, spatially resolved measurements of
      mobilities can be implemented using a CLSM by utilizing the spatio-temporal
      information inscribed into the image by the scan process, referred to as raster
      image correlation spectroscopy (RICS). Here we present and discuss an extended
      approach, multiple scan speed image correlation spectroscopy (msICS), which
      benefits from the advantages of RICS, i.e. the use of widely available
      instrumentation and the extraction of spatially resolved mobility information,
      without the need of a priori knowledge of diffusion properties. In addition,
      msICS covers a broad dynamic range, generates correlation data comparable to FCS
      measurements, and allows to derive two-dimensional maps of diffusion
      coefficients. We show the applicability of msICS to fluorophores in solution and
      to free EGFP in living cells.

PMID- 20941020
TI  - Enhancing imaging systems using transformation optics.
AB  - We apply the transformation optical technique to modify or improve conventional
      refractive and gradient index optical imaging devices. In particular, when it is
      known that a detector will terminate the paths of rays over some surface, more
      freedom is available in the transformation approach, since the wave behavior over
      a large portion of the domain becomes unimportant. For the analyzed
      configurations, quasi-conformal and conformal coordinate transformations can be
      used, leading to simplified constitutive parameter distributions that, in some
      cases, can be realized with isotropic index; index-only media can be low-loss and
      have broad bandwidth. We apply a coordinate transformation to flatten a Maxwell
      fish-eye lens, forming a near-perfect relay lens; and also flatten the focal
      surface associated with a conventional refractive lens, such that the system
      exhibits an ultra-wide field-of-view with reduced aberration.

PMID- 20941021
TI  - Interaction dynamics of X-waves in waveguide arrays.
AB  - The interaction dynamics of X-waves in an AlGaAs waveguide array is theoretically
      considered. The nonlinear discrete diffraction dynamics of a waveguide
      arraymediates the generation of spatio-temporal X-waves from pulsed initial
      conditions. The interactions between co-propagating and counter-propagating X
      waves are studied. For the co-propagating case, the initial phase relation
      between the X-waves determine the attractive or repulsive behavior of the X-wave
      interaction. For the counter-propagating case, the collisions between X-waves
      generate a nonlinear phase-shift. These dynamics show that X-waves interact in a
      manner similar to solitons.

PMID- 20941022
TI  - Pulse propagation in a decoupled two-core fiber.
AB  - It is known that a decoupled two-core fiber can prevent monochromatic light at a
      specific wavelength (the decoupling wavelength) launched into one core from
      coupling to the other core. In this paper, we show that a pulse at the decoupling
      wavelength launched into one core of such a fiber inevitably splits into two
      pairs of pulses propagating in the two cores along the fiber. The minimum
      distance required for pulse splitting to be visible is inversely proportional to
      the coupling-coefficient dispersion in the fiber and linearly proportional to the
      pulse width. It would take only several centimeters of a recently demonstrated
      decoupled two-core photonic-bandgap fiber to observe the pulse-splitting effect
      with a 100-fs pulse. We also study the effects of self-phase modulation on the
      pulse propagation dynamics in a decoupled two-core fiber in both the normal and
      anomalous dispersion regimes.

PMID- 20941023
TI  - Generalized atmospheric turbulence MTF for wave propagating through non
      Kolmogorov turbulence.
AB  - A generalized exponential spectrum model is derived, which considers finite
      turbulence inner and outer scales and has a general spectral power law value
      between the range 3 to 5 instead of standard power law value 11/3. Based on this
      generalized spectrum model, a new generalized long exposure turbulence modulation
      transfer function (MTF) is obtained for optical plane and spherical wave
      propagating through horizontal path in weak fluctuation turbulence. When the
      inner scale and outer scale are set to zero and infinite, respectively, the new
      generalized MTF is reduced to the classical generalized MTF derived from the non
      Kolmogorov spectrum.

PMID- 20941024
TI  - Rapid, reversible response of iridescent feather color to ambient humidity.
AB  - Colorful traits can vary in response to neural control, hormone levels,
      reproductive state, or abiotic factors. In birds, colorful plumage traits are
      generally considered static ornaments that only vary irreversibly due to
      abrasion, bacterial degradation, or wear. However, in this work it is shown that
      iridescent feather color varies rapidly and reversibly in response to changes in
      ambient humidity. Based on optical models and sorption experiments, these changes
      appear to be caused by a swelling of the outer keratin cortex following water
      absorption. To our knowledge, this is the first study describing dynamic color
      changes in any keratinous biophotonic nanostructure.

PMID- 20941025
TI  - Automated layer segmentation of macular OCT images using dual-scale gradient
      information.
AB  - A novel automated boundary segmentation algorithm is proposed for fast and
      reliable quantification of nine intra-retinal boundaries in optical coherence
      tomography (OCT) images. The algorithm employs a two-step segmentation schema
      based on gradient information in dual scales, utilizing local and complementary
      global gradient information simultaneously. A shortest path search is applied to
      optimize the edge selection. The segmentation algorithm was validated with
      independent manual segmentation and a reproducibility study. It demonstrates high
      accuracy and reproducibility in segmenting normal 3D OCT volumes. The execution
      time is about 16 seconds per volume (480x512x128 voxels). The algorithm shows
      potential for quantifying images from diseased retinas as well.

PMID- 20941026
TI  - Transmitter IQ mismatch compensation in coherent optical OFDM systems using pilot
      signals.
AB  - Transmitter in-phase/quadrature (IQ) mismatch in coherent optical orthogonal
      frequency division multiplexing (CO-OFDM) systems is difficult to mitigate at the
      receiver using conventional time domain methods such as the Gram-Schmidt
      orthogonalization procedure, particularly in the presence of channel distortion.
      In this paper, we present a scheme that mitigates both transmitter IQ mismatch
      and channel distortion. We propose a pilot structure to estimate both channel and
      IQ mismatch, and develop a minimum mean square error compensation method.
      Numerical results show that the proposed method is effective in reducing
      transmitter IQ mismatch for a CO-OFDM system.

PMID- 20941027
TI  - Real time monitoring of a fiber fuse using an optical time-domain reflectometer.
AB  - We propose and experimentally demonstrate monitoring of a fiber fuse in real time
      using an optical time domain reflectometer (OTDR). When a fuse starts, a weak
      reflection of light occurs from the leading edge of the fuse where plasma and
      voids are being formed in the core. In this work, we examined the possibility of
      monitoring a fiber fuse from a remote location using an OTDR. We demonstrate a
      method that allows us detect a fuse progressing at remote locations (over
      kilometers away). It was found to be effective even in the presence of strong
      spurious backscattering, such as spontaneous Raman scattering due to a strong
      continuous wave pump. Moreover, from the progress of the reflection edge
      monitored by the OTDR, the fuse velocity could be readily determined.

PMID- 20941028
TI  - Enhanced near-green light emission from InGaN quantum wells by use of tunable
      plasmonic resonances in silver nanoparticle arrays.
AB  - Two-dimensional arrays of silver nanocylinders fabricated by electron-beam
      lithography are used to demonstrate plasmon-enhanced near-green light emission
      from nitride semiconductor quantum wells. Several arrays with different
      nanoparticle dimensions are employed, designed to yield collective plasmonic
      resonances in the spectral vicinity of the emission wavelength and at the same
      time to provide efficient far-field scattering of the emitted surface plasmons.
      Large enhancements in peak photoluminescence intensity (up to a factor of over 3)
      are measured, accompanied by a substantial reduction in recombination lifetime
      indicative of increased internal quantum efficiency. Furthermore, the enhancement
      factors are found to exhibit a strong dependence on the nanoparticle dimensions,
      underscoring the importance of geometrical tuning for this application.

PMID- 20941029
TI  - Gain bandwidth characterization of surface-emitting quantum well laser gain
      structures for femtosecond operation.
AB  - We present a method to experimentally characterize the gain filter and calculate
      a corresponding parabolic gain bandwidth of lasers that are described by "class
      A" dynamics by solving the master equation of spectral condensation for Gaussian
      spectra. We experimentally determine the gain filter, with an equivalent
      parabolic gain bandwidth of up to 51 nm, for broad-band InGaAs/GaAs quantum well
      gain surface-emitting semiconductor laser structures capable of producing pulses
      down to 60 fs width when mode-locked with an optical Stark saturable absorber
      mirror.

PMID- 20941030
TI  - 10 x 112Gb/s PDM-QPSK transmission over 5032 km in few-mode fibers.
AB  - Few-mode fibers (FMFs) are used for the first time to transmit over 5000 km. Ten
      WDM channels with 50GHz channel spacing at 112 Gb/s per channel using PDM-QPSK
      are launched into the fundamental mode of the FMFs by splicing single-mode fibers
      directly to the FMFs. Even though few-mode fibers can support an additional
      spatial mode LP(11) at 1550 nm, the signal remains in the fundamental mode and
      does not experience mode coupling throughout fiber transmission. After each span
      the signal is collected by a second single-mode fiber which is also spliced to
      the FMF. Span loss is compensated by single-mode EDFAs before it is launched to
      the next FMF span. The lack of mode coupling ensures that the signal does not
      suffer any impairments that may result from differential mode delay or excess
      loss. Therefore the FMFs used in this "single-mode operation" have the same
      bandwidth as single-mode fibers. Experimental results verified that FMFs have the
      significant advantage of large core size which reduces the nonlinear impairments
      suffered by the signal. It is shown that FMFs with an effective area of 130
      MUm(2), have an optimum launch power 2 dB higher compared to standard single-mode
      fibers and as a result a 1.1 dB improvement in the Q-factor is obtained after
      3000 km.

PMID- 20941031
TI  - High power femtosecond source near 1 micron based on an all-fiber Er-doped mode
      locked laser.
AB  - We report the design and performance of a high power femtosecond laser source
      near 1 micron wavelength which is generated from an octave-spanning
      supercontinuum (SC) pumped by an Er-doped mode-locked laser. The laser system
      delivers >5W average power at 35MHz repetition rate and 135 fs pulse duration.

PMID- 20941032
TI  - Modeling a MEMS deformable mirror using non-parametric estimation techniques.
AB  - Using non-parametric estimation techniques, we have modeled an area of 126
      actuators of a micro-electro-mechanical deformable mirror with 1024 actuators.
      These techniques produce models applicable to open-loop adaptive optics, where
      the turbulent wavefront is measured before it hits the deformable mirror. The
      model's input is the wavefront correction to apply to the mirror and its output
      is the set of voltages to shape the mirror. Our experiments have achieved
      positioning errors of 3.1% rms of the peak-to-peak wavefront excursion.

PMID- 20941033
TI  - Spectral characterization and laser performance of a mixed crystal Nd:(LuxY1
      x)3Al5O12.
AB  - An Nd-doped Lu(1.5)Y(1.5)Al(5)O(12) (Nd:LuYAG) crystal was obtained by
      Czochralski method. Absorption and emission spectra were recorded at low and room
      temperature. Continuous wave (CW) and passively Q-switched laser operations of
      Nd:LuYAG crystal were, to our knowledge, demonstrated for the first time. A CW
      output power of 1.67 W with slope efficiency of 39.8% was obtained. In the
      passively Q-switched operation, the shortest pulse width, largest pulse energy,
      and highest peak power were achieved to be 9.6 ns, 61.7uJ, and 6.4 kW,
      respectively, with Cr(4+):YAG crystals as the saturable absorbers.

PMID- 20941034
TI  - High-security 2.5 Gbps, polarization multiplexed 256-ary OCDM using a single
      multi-port encoder/decoder.
AB  - A block-ciphered (M-ary) optical code division multiplexing (OCDM) can provide
      larger security than a conventional OCDM system based on bit ciphering. We
      propose a polarization multiplexed (POL-MUX) M-ary OCDM system and demonstrated
      2.5 Gbps, POL-MUX 256 ( = 16X16)-ary OCDM transmission using a single multi-port
      optical encoder/decoder (E/D). We show that this architecture reduces the number
      of required optical codes and enhances the system confidentiality.

PMID- 20941035
TI  - A non-stationary model for simulating the dynamics of ocular aberrations.
AB  - The time-evolution of ocular aberrations has been the subject of many studies,
      but so far there has been little discussion involving the modelling of the
      underlying temporal statistics. This paper presents a non-stationary modelling
      approach based on a coloured-noise generator, which can be applied to ocular
      aberration dynamics. The model parameters are computed from measured ocular
      aberration data. A custom-built aberrometer based on a Shack-Hartmann sensor was
      used for measurement. We present simulations based on our modelling approach, and
      validate them through comparison to real data. This work could be useful in areas
      such as the testing of ophthalmic devices and the development of improved
      algorithms for laser refractive surgery.

PMID- 20941036
TI  - Design of ultrahigh-Q photoinduced cavities in defect-free photonic crystal
      slabs.
AB  - We demonstrate numerically that a cavity can be induced in a defect-free photonic
      crystal slab made of photosensitive material such as chalcogenide glass. A key
      advantage of the design is the possibility for complete post-processing in an
      otherwise defect-free structure, and the cavity can thus be formed anywhere in
      the photonic crystal. We demonstrate that high-Q cavities with Q~10(8) can be
      designed in this way. Since the high-Q mode can originate from an air-band, these
      cavities appear to be ideal candidates for sensing applications.

PMID- 20941037
TI  - Simultaneous NRZ-to-RZ format conversion and one-to-six error-free channel
      multicasting using a single pump in a highly nonlinear fiber.
AB  - We demonstrate simultaneous 10-Gb/s NRZ-to-RZ format conversion and multicasting
      from one to many data channels in a highly nonlinear fiber (HNLF) with only a
      single pump. Functionalities are achieved based on various nonlinear effects,
      such as four-wave-mixing (FWM), cross-gain-modulation (XGM) and cross-phase
      modulation (XPM) between the pump channel and the NRZ data channel. Up to five
      and six converted data channels are error-free (10(-9) BER) as the wavelength
      spacing between the pump and the NRZ signal is set to 0.4-nm and 0.8-nm,
      respectively.

PMID- 20941038
TI  - Fast ellipsometric measurements based on a single crystal photo-elastic
      modulator.
AB  - For quality control in high volume manufacturing of thin layers and for tracking
      of physical and chemical processes, ellipsometry is a common measurement
      technology. For such kinds of applications we present a novel approach of fast
      ellipsometric measurements. Instead of a conventional setup that uses a standard
      photo-elastic modulator, we use a 92 kHz Single Crystal Photo-Elastic Modulator
      (SCPEM), which is a LiTaO3 crystal with a size of 28 * 9 * 4 mm. This small,
      simple, and cost-effective solution also offers the advantage of direct control
      of the retardation via the current amplitude, which is important for
      repeatability of the measurements. Instead of a Lock-In Amplifier, an automated
      digital processing based on a fast analog to digital converter controlled by a
      highly flexible Field Programmable Gate Array is used. This and the extremely
      compact and efficient polarization modulation allow fast ellipsometric testing
      where the upper limit of measurement rates is mainly limited by the desired
      accuracy and repeatability of the measurements. The standard deviation that is
      related to the repeatability +/-0.002 degrees  for dielectric layers can be
      easily reached.

PMID- 20941039
TI  - A chirality switching device designed with transformation optics.
AB  - Based on transformation optics theory, we designed a chirality switching device,
      such that an object hidden inside would exhibit a reversed chirality (i.e., from
      left-handedness to right-handedness) for an observer at the far field. Distinct
      from a perfect mirror which also creates a chirality-reversed image, our device
      makes the original object completely invisible to the far field observer.
      Numerical simulations are employed to demonstrate the functionalities of the
      designed devices in both two- and three-dimensional spaces.

PMID- 20941040
TI  - FDTD modeling of anisotropic nonlinear optical phenomena in silicon waveguides.
AB  - A deep insight into the inherent anisotropic optical properties of silicon is
      required to improve the performance of silicon-waveguide-based photonic devices.
      It may also lead to novel device concepts and substantially extend the
      capabilities of silicon photonics in the future. In this paper, for the first
      time to the best of our knowledge, we present a three-dimensional finite
      difference time-domain (FDTD) method for modeling optical phenomena in silicon
      waveguides, which takes into account fully the anisotropy of the third-order
      electronic and Raman susceptibilities. We show that, under certain realistic
      conditions that prevent generation of the longitudinal optical field inside the
      waveguide, this model is considerably simplified and can be represented by a
      computationally efficient algorithm, suitable for numerical analysis of complex
      polarization effects. To demonstrate the versatility of our model, we study
      polarization dependence for several nonlinear effects, including self-phase
      modulation, cross-phase modulation, and stimulated Raman scattering. Our FDTD
      model provides a basis for a full-blown numerical simulator that is restricted
      neither by the single-mode assumption nor by the slowly varying envelope
      approximation.

PMID- 20941041
TI  - Phase noise in fiber-optic parametric amplifiers and converters and its impact on
      sensing and communication systems.
AB  - We present a theoretical analysis describing the spectral dependence of phase
      noise in one-pump fiber parametric amplifiers and converters. The analytical
      theory is experimentally validated and found to have high predictive accuracy.
      The implications related to phase-coded sensing and communications systems are
      discussed.

PMID- 20941042
TI  - Comprehensive computational model of single- and dual-loop optoelectronic
      oscillators with experimental verification.
AB  - We describe a comprehensive computational model for singleloop and dual-loop
      optoelectronic oscillators (OEOs). The model takes into account the dynamical
      effects and noise sources that are required to accurately model OEOs. By
      comparing the computational and experimental results in a single-loop OEO, we
      determined the amplitudes of the white noise and flicker noise sources. We found
      that the flicker noise source contains a strong component that linearly depends
      on the loop length. Therefore, the flicker noise limits the performance of long
      cavity OEOs (?5 km) at low frequencies (f<500 Hz). The model for a single-loop
      OEO was extended to model the dual-loop injection-locked OEO (DIL-OEO). The model
      gives the phase-noise, the spur level, and the locking range of each of the
      coupled loops in the OEO. An excellent agreement between theory and experiment is
      obtained for the DIL-OEO. Due to its generality and accuracy, the model is
      important for both designing OEOs and studying the physical effects that limit
      their performance. We demonstrate theoretically that it is possible to reduce the
      first spur in the DIL-OEO by more than 20 dB relative to its original performance
      by changing its parameters. This theoretical result has been experimentally
      verified.

PMID- 20941043
TI  - Long-distance remote comparison of ultrastable optical frequencies with 10(-15)
      instability in fractions of a second.
AB  - We demonstrate a fully optical, long-distance remote comparison of independent
      ultrastable optical frequencies reaching a short term stability that is superior
      to any reported remote comparison of optical frequencies. We use two ultrastable
      lasers, which are separated by a geographical distance of more than 50 km, and
      compare them via a 73 km long phase-stabilized fiber in a commercial
      telecommunication network. The remote characterization spans more than one
      optical octave and reaches a fractional frequency instability between the
      independent ultrastable laser systems of 3 x 10 (-15) in 0.1 s. The achieved
      performance at 100 ms represents an improvement by one order of magnitude to any
      previously reported remote comparison of optical frequencies and enables future
      remote dissemination of the stability of 100 mHz linewidth lasers within seconds.

PMID- 20941044
TI  - Effects of uncertain phase-matching wave vectors of rotating fan-out type poled
      LiNbO3 on THz generation.
AB  - We investigated terahertz pulses from a rotating fan-out type poled lithium
      niobate (LiNbO(3)) pumped by femtosecond laser pulses. In particular, the
      rotating fan-out type poled sample produces an uncertain phase-matching wave
      vector perpendicular to input laser pulses. Such a wave vector allowed us to
      observe terahertz pulses normally unobservable from bulk or periodically poled
      LiNbO(3) at large rotation angles because of the terahertz wave critical angle of
      LiNbO(3). Further, we explained center frequency dependence on rotation angles by
      difference frequency generation process with the uncertain wave vector. We also
      discussed bandwidth dependence and terahertz pulse power regarding rotation
      angles.

PMID- 20941045
TI  - Towards fast femtosecond laser micromachining of fused silica: The effect of
      deposited energy.
AB  - Femtosecond laser micromachining of glass material using low-energy, sub-ablation
      threshold pulses find numerous applications in the fields of integrated optics,
      lab-on-a-chips and microsystems in general. In this paper, we study the influence
      of the laser-deposited energy on the performance of the micromachining process.
      In particular, we show that the energy deposited in the substrate affects its
      etching rate. Furthermore, we demonstrate the existence of an optimal energy
      deposition value. These results are not only important from an industrial point
      of-view but also provide new evidences supporting the essential role of
      densification and consequently stress-generation as the main driving factor
      promoting enhanced etching rate following laser exposure.

PMID- 20941046
TI  - Deep subwavelength waveguiding and focusing based on designer surface plasmons.
AB  - We experimentally demonstrate focusing and guiding electromagnetic (EM) waves in
      a designer surface plasmonic waveguide with deep subwavelength mode cross
      section. Our experiments show that a metal grating with suitable parameters,
      functioning as a designer surface plasmonic waveguide, can support deep
      subwavelength surface modes and the width of the modes can be squeezed also into
      deep subwavelength by tapering the width of the waveguide. The results provide a
      new insight into deep subwavelength waveguiding and focusing.

PMID- 20941047
TI  - Filamentation without intensity clamping.
AB  - We present measurements of the supercontinuum emission (SCE) from ultrashort
      Ti:Saph laser pulse filamentation in air in a tightly focused geometry. The
      spectral broadening of SCE indicates that peak intensities exceed the clamping
      value of a few 10(13) W/cm(2) obtained for filamentation in a loose focusing
      geometry by at least one order of magnitude. We provide an interpretation for
      this regime of filamenation without intensity clamping.

PMID- 20941048
TI  - Phasor monitoring of DxPSK signals using software-based synchronization
      technique.
AB  - We develop a novel phasor monitor to obtain the constellation diagram from
      asynchronously sampled data measured by using the delay-detection technique. This
      phasor monitor consists of three parts; a phase-adjustment-free delay
      interferometer, an optical front-end made of three photodetectors, and analog-to
      digital (A/D) convertors, and a digital signal processor. We operate the A/D
      convertor at the sampling rate much slower than the symbol rate and acquire the
      data asynchronously. However, despite the use of such a slow and asynchronous
      sampling rate, we obtain the clear eye and constellation diagrams by utilizing
      the software-based synchronization technique based on a novel phased-reference
      detection algorithm. Thus, the proposed phasor monitor can be implemented without
      using high-speed A/D convertors and buffer memories, which have been the major
      obstacles for the cost-effective realization of the phasor monitor. For a
      demonstration, we realize the proposed phasor monitor by using an A/D converter
      operating at 9.77 MS/s and used it for the constellation monitoring and bit-error
      rate (BER) estimation of 10.7-Gsymbol/s differential quadrature phase-shift
      keying (DQPSK) and differential 8-ary phase-shift keying (D8PSK) signals.

PMID- 20941049
TI  - Ultra-compact multilayer Si/SiO(2) GRIN lens mode-size converter for coupling
      single-mode fiber to Si-wire waveguide.
AB  - We report on the fabrication and experimental demonstration of optical mode size
      transformation between standard single-mode fiber and 0.26 MUm-thick Si-waveguide
      by 12 MUm-thick Si/SiO(2) multilayer on-chip GRIN lens of lengths 16 MUm or 24
      MUm butt-joint to 10 MUm-wide terminated Si-waveguide. The overall coupling loss
      of the coupler was measured to be 3.45 dB in which the Fresnel reflection loss is
      estimated to be 2dB at the GRIN-lens/air interface. The on-chip integrated GRIN
      lens opens up the feasibility of a low cost passive aligned fiber-pigtailed
      electronic-photonics integrated circuits platform.

PMID- 20941050
TI  - Absolute measurement of surface and bulk absorption in DUV optics from
      temperature induced wavefront deformation.
AB  - A measurement system for quantitative determination of both surface and bulk
      contributions to the photo-thermal absorption in DUV optics was developed. It is
      based upon a Hartmann-Shack wavefront sensor with a sensitivity of ~lambda/10000
      rms, accomplishing precise on-line monitoring of wavefront deformations of a
      collimated test laser beam transmitted perpendicular through the excimer laser
      irradiated site of a cuboid sample. Caused by the temperature dependence of the
      refractive index as well as thermal expansion, the initially plane wavefront of
      the test laser is distorted into a cylindrical shape, with bending ends towards
      the surface. Sign and magnitude depend on index change and expansion. By
      comparison with thermal theory, this transient wavefront distortion yields a
      quantitative absolute measure of bulk and surface absorption losses in the
      sample. First rresults for fused silica are presented.

PMID- 20941051
TI  - Application of the extended Jones matrix formalism for higher-order transverse
      modes to laser resonators.
AB  - The extension of the Jones matrix formalism to higher-order transverse modes
      using N x N matrices presented in a previous paper [8] is applied to laser
      resonators. The resonator discussed in detail has a TEM(01)* Hermite-Gaussian
      mode, an axially symmetric polarizer combined with an axially symmetric phase
      shifter as a rear mirror and a folding mirror with conventional polarization
      dependent reflectivity and phase shift. The analysis reveals some useful regimes,
      where the output polarization is close to radial or azimuthal and the sensitivity
      to variations in the phase shift of the folding mirror is minimized.

PMID- 20941052
TI  - Enhancement of passively Q-switched performance at 1.34 MUm with a class of
      Nd:GdxY(1-)xVO(4) crystals.
AB  - Passively Q-switched operation at 1.34 MUm in which V:YAG was employed as
      saturable absorber has been demonstrated with a series of mixed Nd:GdxY(1-)xVO(4)
      crystals. The Q-switched laser pulse performance with these Nd-doped mixed
      vanadate crystals, especially Nd:Gd(0.63)Y(0.37)VO(4), was enhanced in respect to
      Nd:GdVO(4) under the identical conditions. The average output power of 171.3 mW
      with the shortest pulse width of 44.4 ns, largest single pulse energy of 21.7
      MUJ, and highest peak power of 489 W at the incident pump power of 5.04 W were
      obtained with Nd:Gd(0.63)Y(0.37)VO(4) crystal.

PMID- 20941053
TI  - Evidence of a green luminescence band related to surface flaws in high purity
      silica glass.
AB  - Using luminescence confocal microscopy under 325 nm laser excitation, we explore
      the populations of defects existing in or at the vicinity of macroscopic surface
      flaws in fused silica. We report our luminescence results on two types of surface
      flaws: laser damage and indentation on fused silica polished surfaces.
      Luminescence cartographies are made to show the spatial distribution of each kind
      of defect. Three bands, centered at 1.89 eV, 2.75 eV and 2.25 eV are evidenced on
      laser damage and indentations. The band centered at 2.25 eV was not previously
      reported in photo luminescence experiments on indentations and pristine silica,
      for excitation wavelengths of 325 nm or larger. The luminescent objects, expected
      to be trapped in sub-surface micro-cracks, are possibly involved in the first
      step of the laser damage mechanism when fused silica is enlightened at 351 nm
      laser in nanosecond regime.

PMID- 20941054
TI  - Pupil matching of Zernike aberrations.
AB  - The measurement of the wavefront at the exit pupil of an optical system is a
      reliable method to investigate its imaging performance. It is sometimes necessary
      to compare the measurement obtained with a wavefront sensor to some known
      aberration function, which is for example given by a simulation or a gold
      standard measurement technique such as interferometry. For accurate measurement
      systems, the residual after direct subtraction of the two wavefronts is often
      partly due to a mismatch between coordinate systems. We present in this paper a
      method that uses the Zernike expansion of wavefronts to numerically cancel such
      small alignment errors. We use this algorithm to quantify the accuracy of a
      custom-built Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor in the measurement of known
      aberration functions.

PMID- 20941055
TI  - Suppression of phase-induced intensity noise in fibre optic delay line signal
      processors using an optical phase modulation technique.
AB  - A technique that can suppress the dominant phase-induced intensity noise in fibre
      optic delay line signal processors is presented. It is based on phase modulation
      of the optical carrier to distribute the phase noise at the information band into
      a high frequency band which can be filtered out. This technique is suitable for
      suppressing the phase noise in various delay line structures and for integrating
      in the conventional fibre optic links. It can also suppress the coherent
      interference effect at the same time. A model for predicting the amount of phase
      noise reduction in various delay line structures using the optical phase
      modulation technique is presented for the first time and is experimentally
      verified. Experimental results demonstrate the technique can achieve a large
      phase noise reduction in various fibre optic delay line signal processors.

PMID- 20941056
TI  - Waveguide structures with antisymmetric gain/loss profile.
AB  - Waveguide structures with an antisymmetric gain/loss profile were studied more
      than a decade ago as benchmark tests for beam propagation methods. These
      structures attracted renewed interest, recently e.g. as photonic analogues of
      quantum mechanical structures with parity-time symmetry breaking. In this paper,
      properties of both weakly and strongly guiding two-mode waveguides and
      directional couplers with balanced loss and gain are described. Rather unusual
      power transmission in such structures is demonstrated by using numerical methods.
      We found that the interface between media with balanced loss and gain supports
      propagation of confined unattenuated TM polarized surface wave and we have shown
      that its properties are consistent with the prediction of a simple analytical
      model.

PMID- 20941057
TI  - Superior optical properties of homogeneous liquid crystal alignment on a tin (IV)
      oxide surface sequentially modulated via ion beam irradiation.
AB  - We first investigated the alignment characteristics of tin (IV) oxide (SnO(2))
      thin films deposited by radio-frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering. This study
      demonstrates that liquid crystal (LC) molecules could be aligned homogeneously by
      controlling the Ion Beam (IB) irradiation energy densities. We also show that the
      pretilt angle of the LC molecules has a close relation with the surface energy. X
      ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) indicates that a non-stoichiometric SnO(2-x)
      surface converted by ion beam irradiation can horizontally align the LC
      molecules. The measured electro-optical (EO) characteristics showed high
      performance, comparable with those of rubbed and ion-beam irradiated polyimide
      (PI) layers.

PMID- 20941058
TI  - Second harmonic scattering from small particles using Discrete Dipole
      Approximation.
AB  - We extend a simple dipole approximation model to predict nonlinear scattering
      from small particles. This numerical method is known as Discrete Dipole
      Approximation (DDA) and has been extensively used to model linear scattering by
      small particles of various shapes and sizes. We show here that DDA can be used to
      efficiently model second harmonic scattering by small particles. Our results are
      compared with experimental data and other computational methods.

PMID- 20941060
TI  - Solution-processed photodetectors from colloidal silicon nano/micro particle
      composite.
AB  - We demonstrate solution-processed photodetectors composed of heavy-metal-free Si
      nano/micro particle composite. The colloidal Si particles are synthesized by
      electrochemical etching of Si wafers, followed by ultra-sonication to pulverize
      the porous surface. With alkyl ligand surface passivation through hydrosilylation
      reaction, the particles can form a stable colloidal suspension which exhibits
      bright photoluminescence under ultraviolet excitation and a broadband extinction
      spectrum due to enhanced scattering from the micro-size particles. The efficiency
      of the thin film photodetectors has been substantially improved by preventing
      oxidation of the particles during the etching process.

PMID- 20941059
TI  - Photon-tissue interaction model enables quantitative optical analysis of human
      pancreatic tissues.
AB  - A photon-tissue interaction (PTI) model was developed and employed to analyze 96
      pairs of reflectance and fluorescence spectra from freshly excised human
      pancreatic tissues. For each pair of spectra, the PTI model extracted a cellular
      nuclear size parameter from the measured reflectance, and the relative
      contributions of extracellular and intracellular fluorophores to the intrinsic
      fluorescence. The results suggest that reflectance and fluorescence
      spectroscopies have the potential to quantitatively distinguish among pancreatic
      tissue types, including normal pancreatic tissue, pancreatitis, and pancreatic
      adenocarcinoma.

PMID- 20941061
TI  - High-speed and dense three-dimensional surface acquisition using defocused binary
      patterns for spatially isolated objects.
AB  - The three-dimensional (3-D) shape measurement using defocused Ronchi grating is
      advantageous for the high contrast of fringe. This paper presents a method for
      measuring spatially isolated objects using defocused binary patterns. Two Ronchi
      grating with horizontal position difference of one-third of a period and an
      encoded pattern are adopted. The phase distribution of fringe pattern is obtained
      by Fourier analysis method. The measurement depth and range is enlarged because
      the third harmonic component and background illumination is eliminated with
      proposed method. The fringe order is identified by the encoded pattern. Three
      gray levels are used and the pattern is converted to binary image with error
      diffusion algorithm. The tolerance of encoded pattern is large. It is suited for
      defocused optical system. We also present a measurement system with a modified
      DLP projector and a high-speed camera. The 3-D surface acquisition speed of 60
      frames per second (fps), with resolution of 640 * 480 points and that of 120 fps,
      with resolution of 320 * 240 points are archived. If the control logic of DMD was
      modified and a camera with higher speed was employed, the measurement speed would
      reach thousands fps. This makes it possible to analyze dynamic objects.

PMID- 20941062
TI  - High-order nonlinearity of silica-gold nanoshells in chloroform at 1560 nm.
AB  - The nonlinear response of silica--gold nanoshells (SGNs) in chloroform was
      studied using laser pulses of 65 fs at 1560 nm. The experiments were performed
      using the thermally managed Z--scan technique that allows measurements of the
      electronic contribution for the nonlinear response, free from thermal influence.
      The results were analyzed using an analytical approach based on the quasi--static
      approximation that allowed extraction of the nonlinear susceptibility of a SGN
      from the data. High third--order susceptibility, chish((3)) = - 1.5 x 10(-11)
      m(2)/V(2), approximately four orders of magnitude larger than for gold
      nanospheres in the visible, and large fifth--order susceptibility, chish((5)) = -
      1.4 x 10(-24) m(4)/V(4), were obtained. The present results offers new
      perspectives for nonlinear plasmonics in the near--infrared.

PMID- 20941063
TI  - 3 W of 650 nm red emission by frequency doubling of wafer-fused semiconductor
      disk laser.
AB  - 3 W at genuine red wavelength of 650 nm has been achieved from a semiconductor
      disk laser by frequency doubling. An InP based active medium was fused with a
      GaAs/AlGaAs distributed Bragg reflector resulting in an integrated monolithic
      gain mirror. 6.6 W of output power at the fundamental wavelength of 1.3 um
      represents the best achievement reported to date for this type of lasers.

PMID- 20941064
TI  - Pure angular momentum generator using a ring resonator.
AB  - This paper reports a pure angular momentum generator using a ring resonator
      surrounded by a group of nano-rods. The evanescent waves of the circulating light
      in the ring are scattered by the nano-rods and generate a rotating
      electromagnetic field, which has only angular momentum but no linear momentum
      along the axis of rotation. The angular order is determined by the difference
      between the order of Whispering Gallery mode and the number of the rods, the
      rotating frequency is equal to the light frequency divided by the angular order.
      The maximum amplitude of the rotating electromagnetic fields can be 10 times
      higher than the amplitude of the input field when there are 36 rods (R(rod) = 120
      nm, nr = 1.6). The pure angular momentum generator provides a new platform for
      trapping and rotation of small particles.

PMID- 20941066
TI  - High-throughput diffraction-assisted surface-plasmon-polariton coupling by a
      super-wavelength slit.
AB  - We propose a novel SPP coupling scheme capable of high SPP throughput and high
      SPP coupling efficiency based on a slit of width greater than the wavelength,
      immersed in a uniform dielectric. The dispersive properties of the slit are
      engineered such that the slit sustains a low-loss higher-order waveguide mode
      just above cutoff, which is shown to be amenable to wavevector matching to the
      SPP mode at the slit exit. The SPP throughput and SPP coupling efficiency are
      quantified by numerical simulations of visible light propagation through the slit
      for varying width and dielectric refractive index. An optimal SPP coupling
      configuration satisfying wavevector matching is shown to yield an order-of
      magnitude greater SPP throughput than a comparable slit of sub-wavelength width
      and a peak SPP coupling efficiency ? 68%. To our knowledge, this is the first
      investigation of coupling between higher-order waveguide modes in slits of super
      wavelength width and SPP modes.

PMID- 20941065
TI  - Intense infrared emission of Er(3+) in Ca(8)Mg(SiO(4))(4)Cl(2) phosphor from
      energy transfer of Eu(2+) by broadband down-conversion.
AB  - We report on conversion of near-ultraviolet and visible radiation ranging from
      250 to 500 nm into near-infrared emission by a Ca(8)Mg(SiO(4))(4)Cl(2): Eu(2+),
      Er(3+) phosphor. Efficient 1530-1560 nm Er(3+) emission ((4)I(13/2)-->(4)I(15/2))
      was detected under the excitation of Eu(2+) (4f?5d) absorption band as a result
      of energy transfer from Eu(2+) to Er(3+), which is confirmed by both steady state
      and time-resolved emission spectra. The laser power dependent emission intensity
      changes were investigated to analysis the energy transfer mechanism. Energy
      transfer from Eu(2+) to Er(3+) followed by a multi-photon quantum cutting of
      Er(3+) is proposed. The result indicates that the phosphor has potential
      application in enhancement of conversion efficient of germanium solar cells
      because the energy difference of Er(3+): (4)I(13/2)-->(4)I(15/2) transition
      matches well with the bandgap of Ge (Eg~0.785 eV).

PMID- 20941067
TI  - Near-field measurement of infrared coplanar strip transmission line attenuation
      and propagation constants.
AB  - Impedance matched and low loss transmission lines are essential for optimal
      energy delivery through an integrated optical or plasmonic nanocircuit. A novel
      method for the measurement of the attenuation and propagation constants of an
      antenna-coupled coplanar strip (CPS) transmission line is demonstrated at 28.3
      THz using scattering-type scanning near-field optical microscopy. Reflection of
      the propagating optical wave upon an open-circuit or short-circuit load at the
      terminal of the CPS provides a standing voltage wave, which is mapped through the
      associated surface-normal E(z) electric near-field component at the metal-air
      interface. By fitting the analytical standing wave expression to the near-field
      data, the transmission line properties are determined. Full-wave models and
      measured results are presented and are in excellent agreement.

PMID- 20941068
TI  - Novel spectral range expansion method for liquid crystal adaptive optics.
AB  - Energy loss is a main problem of liquid crystal adaptive optics systems (LC
      AOSs). It is caused by the polarization dependence and narrow spectral range. The
      polarization dependence has been avoided by Love and Mu et al. [Appl. Opt. 32,
      2222 (1993); Appl. Opt. 47, 4297 (2008)]. In this paper, a novel method was
      proposed to extend the spectral range of LC AOSs using multiple liquid crystal
      wavefront correctors (LCWFCs) to improve the energy utilization. Firstly, the
      chromatism of an LCWFC was measured and analyzed. The calculated results indicate
      that one LCWFC is only suitable to perform adaptive correction for a narrow
      waveband; therefore, multiple LCWFCs must be used to achieve a broadband
      correction. Secondly, based on open-loop control, a novel optical layout
      consisting of three LCWFCs was proposed to extend the spectral range of LC AOSs
      and thus achieve correction in the whole waveband of 520-810 nm. Thirdly, a
      broadband correction experiment was conducted and near diffraction-limited
      resolution was achieved in the waveband of 520-690 nm. Finally, a 500 m
      horizontal turbulence correction experiment was performed in the waveband of 520
      690 nm. With adaptive correction, the resolution of the optical system was
      improved significantly and the image of the single fiber was clearly resolved.
      Furthermore, compared with a sub-waveband system, the system energy was improved.
      The energy of the whole waveband is equal to the sum of all the sub-wavebands.
      The experiment results validated our method and indicate that the chromatism in a
      broad waveband of LC AOSs can be eliminated. And then, the system energy can be
      improved greatly using the novel method.

PMID- 20941069
TI  - A novel scheme for 1*N optical power splitter.
AB  - A novel 1 * N optical power splitter has been proposed, to realize the desired
      specific optical power splitting, in which the asymmetric Y-branch waveguides
      based on total internal reflection have been introduced. The simulated results
      show that the arbitrary expected splitting can be achieved in the device. The
      device has been fabricated by using polymer materials, and it experimentally
      exhibits good uniformity at optical power output ports, which is consistent with
      the simulation prediction. The novel 1 * N optical power splitter has wide
      potential application in the integrated optical system.

PMID- 20941070
TI  - Influence of substrate configuration on the angular response pattern of infrared
      antennas.
AB  - The far-field angular response pattern for dipole antenna-coupled infrared
      detectors is investigated. These devices utilize an asymmetric metal-oxide-metal
      diode that is capable of rectifying infrared-frequency antenna currents without
      applied bias. Devices are fabricated on both planar and hemispherical lens
      substrates. Measurements indicate that the angular response can be tailored by
      the thickness of the electrical isolation standoff layer on which the detector is
      fabricated and/or the inclusion of a ground plane. Electromagnetic simulations
      and analytical expressions show excellent agreement with the measured results.

PMID- 20941071
TI  - Simulation of optical coherence tomography images by Monte Carlo modeling based
      on polarization vector approach.
AB  - Monte Carlo method is applied for simulation of 2D optical coherence tomography
      (OCT) images of skin-like model. Layer boundaries in skin model feature curved
      shape which agrees with physiological structure of human skin. The effect of
      coherence properties of probing radiation on OCT image formation and speckles in
      the detected OCT signal is considered. The developed model is employed for image
      simulation both for conventional and polarization dependent time-domain OCT
      modalities. Simulation of polarized OCT signal is performed using vector approach
      developed previously for modeling of electromagnetic field transfer in turbid
      media.

PMID- 20941072
TI  - A novel broadband coaxial probe to parallel plate dielectric waveguide transition
      at THz frequency.
AB  - In this paper, transmission characteristics of the fundamental mode (TE(10(12)))
      of Parallel-Plate Dielectric Waveguide (PPDW) at 0.4-1.0 THz (1 THz = 10(12) Hz)
      are studied. The investigation results show PPDW with virtually low attenuation
      and remarkable simple structure is a promising candidate as THz transmission
      medium. Then, a novel broadband coaxial probe to PPDW transition is designed.
      Although coaxial probe excitation has been used in microstrip lines and
      rectangular waveguides in microwave, millimeter-wave frequency domain, the
      present study shows that it is also an effective method to excite the PPDW at THz
      frequency. As the investigation results show, the return loss of coax-PPDW
      transition is better than 20 dB from 0.45 THz to 0.75 THz, and the insertion loss
      is as low as 0.18 dB, which will have wide potential application in the terahertz
      regime.

PMID- 20941073
TI  - Design and fabrication of Poly(dimethylsiloxane) arrayed waveguide grating.
AB  - We have designed, fabricated and characterized poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS)
      arrayed waveguide grating (AWG) with four-channel output for operation in the
      visible light wavelength range. The PDMS AWG was realized based on the single
      mode PDMS rib waveguide. The device was designed for 1 nm channel spacing with
      the wavelength ranging from 639 to 644 nm. The measured insertion loss is 11.4 dB
      at the peak transmission spectrum and the adjacent crosstalk is less than -16 dB.
      The AWG device occupies an area of 7.5 * 15 mm(2). PDMS AWG has the potential for
      integration with microfluidics in a monolithic PDMS lab-on-a-chip device for
      visible light spectroscopy applications.

PMID- 20941074
TI  - Abnormal polarization switching phenomenon in a-plane AlxGa(1-)xN.
AB  - The optical polarization properties of a-plane AlxGa(1-)xN films have been
      investigated by polarization-dependent photoluminescence (PL). The degree of
      polarization decreased with increasing the Al composition, and the main optical
      polarization direction switched from epsilon ? cto epsilon // c at about x = 0.07
      due to the valence band switching, representing that the optical transition
      energy of epsilon // c is surpassing that of epsilon ? c. However, with the Al
      composition larger than x = 0.1, the higher energy optical transitions of epsilon
      // cexhibited the stronger PL intensity, opposite to the normal situations that
      higher energy states commonly have weaker PL intensity than the lower energy
      states. We utilized the 6 * 6 k.p model and the lambertian-like radiation pattern
      assumption to explain this abnormal optical polarization switching behavior in
      the a-plane AlxGa(1-)xN layers and obtained good agreement with the experimental
      results.

PMID- 20941075
TI  - Radio over fiber transceiver employing phase modulation of an optical broadband
      source.
AB  - This paper proposes a low-cost RoF transceiver for multichannel SCM/WDM signal
      distribution suitable for future broadband access networks. The transceiver is
      based on the phase modulation of an optical broadband source centered at third
      transmission window. Prior to phase modulation the optical broadband source
      output signal is launched into a Mach-Zehnder interferometer structure, as key
      device enabling radio signals propagation over the optical link. Furthermore, an
      optical CWDM is employed to create a multichannel scenario by performing the
      spectral slicing of the modulated optical signal into a number of channels each
      one conveying the information from the central office to different base stations.
      The operation range is up to 20 GHz with a modulation bandwidth around of 500
      MHz. Experimental results of the transmission of SCM QPSK and 64-QAM data through
      20 Km of SMF exhibit good EVM results in the operative range determined by the
      phase-to-intensity conversion process. The proposed approach shows a great
      suitability for WDM networks based on RoF signal transport and also represents a
      cost-effective solution for passive optical networks.

PMID- 20941076
TI  - Fusion of color microscopic images based on bidimensional empirical mode
      decomposition.
AB  - A novel image fusion algorithm based on bidimensional empirical mode
      decomposition (BEMD) applied to multi-focus color microscopic images is proposed
      in this paper. The fusion scheme is implemented in YIQ color model, aiming at
      achieving a balanced result between local feature enhancement and global tonality
      rendition. In the proposed algorithm, image decomposition is performed on
      luminance component by BEMD which can perform fully two-dimensional decomposition
      adaptively without using a priori basis. Upon fusion of each IMF component, the
      local significance principle fusion rule is used. When fusing the Residue
      component, the principal component analysis method is adopted. Thanks to the
      superior quality of BEMD in extracting salient features, the proposed algorithm
      can gain better fusion results not only in aspect of in-focus information
      extraction but also in performance of blur elimination. Experimental results
      demonstrate that the proposed algorithm outperforms the popular fusion algorithm
      based on wavelet transform. The usage of different color models for realization
      of the proposed algorithm is also discussed, and YIQ color model is proved to be
      more suitable.

PMID- 20941078
TI  - Tunable oscillating lateral photovoltaic effect in surface-patterned metal
      semiconductor structures.
AB  - The linear output of lateral photovoltage (LPV) with light position is the main
      feature of conventional lateral photovoltaic effect (LPE), which can be used to
      detect small displacement. In this study, we report a novel oscillating LPE in a
      surface-patterned metal-semiconductor structure, which can be well manipulated by
      the metal thickness and the comb properties. Compared with the conventional
      linear LPE, this oscillating LPE not only contributes a considerable higher
      sensitivity of LPV along the lateral direction, but also shows a distinguishable
      response to the vertical direction, indicating a new way of detecting two
      dimensional displacement with much higher precision.

PMID- 20941077
TI  - Adaptive optics photoacoustic microscopy.
AB  - We have developed an adaptive optics photoacoustic microscope (AO-PAM) for high
      resolution imaging of biological tissues, especially the retina. To demonstrate
      the feasibility of AO-PAM we first designed the AO system to correct the
      wavefront errors of the illuminating light of PAM. The aberrations of the optical
      system delivering the illuminating light to the sample in PAM was corrected with
      a close-loop AO system consisting of a 141-element MEMS-based deformable mirror
      (DM) and a Shack-Hartmann (SH) wavefront sensor operating at 15 Hz. The
      photoacoustic signal induced by the illuminating laser beam was detected by a
      custom-built needle ultrasonic transducer. When the wavefront errors were
      corrected by the AO system, the lateral resolution of PAM was measured to be
      better than 2.5 um using a low NA objective lens. We tested the system on imaging
      ex vivo ocular samples, e.g., the ciliary body and retinal pigment epithelium
      (RPE) of a pig eye. The AO-PAM images showed significant quality improvement. For
      the first time we were able to resolve single RPE cells with PAM.

PMID- 20941079
TI  - Modeling and design of nano-plasmonic structures using transmission line
      modeling.
AB  - For the first time, we demonstrate the application of the time domain
      transmission line method (TLM) to accurate modeling of surface plasmon polariton
      (SPP) structures. The constructed TLM node allows for modeling of dispersive
      materials through simple time-difference equations. Using such node, an ultra
      wide band excitation can be applied to obtain the response over the band of
      interest. Berenger's perfectly matched layer (PML) boundary condition can readily
      be implemented using the same node. We illustrate our TLM approach through the
      modeling of different challenging structures including SPPs filters and focusing
      structures.

PMID- 20941080
TI  - Fingerprint extraction from interference destruction terahertz spectrum.
AB  - In this paper, periodic peaks in a terahertz absorption spectrum are confirmed to
      be induced from interference effects. Theoretically, we explained the periodic
      peaks and calculated the locations of them. Accordingly, a technique was
      suggested, with which the interference peaks in a terahertz spectrum can be
      eliminated and therefore a real terahertz absorption spectrum can be obtained.
      Experimentally, a sample, Methamphetamine, was investigated and its terahertz
      fingerprint was successfully extracted from its interference destruction
      spectrum. This technique is useful in getting samples' terahertz fingerprint
      spectra, and furthermore provides a fast nondestructive testing method using a
      large size terahertz beam to identify materials.

PMID- 20941081
TI  - Optical methods for power measurement?of terahertz radiation.
AB  - Precision power measurements of terahertz (THz) radiation are required to
      establish metrological applications in the THz spectral range. However,
      traceability to the International System of Units (SI) has been missing in the
      THz region in the past. The Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), as the
      national metrology institute of Germany, determines the spectral responsivity of
      detectors for THz radiation by using two complementary optical methods: source-
      and detector-based radiometry. Both approaches have been successfully prototyped,
      and a pyroelectric THz detector with a well-defined aperture is used to verify
      the consistency of the two independent calibration methods. These primary
      investigations led to the design of a new measurement facility for the
      determination of THz radiant power and the responsivity calibration of THz
      detectors traceable to the SI.

PMID- 20941082
TI  - Film-free laser forward printing of transparent and weakly absorbing liquids.
AB  - A laser-based technique for printing transparent and weakly absorbing liquids is
      developed. Its principle of operation relies in the tight focusing of short laser
      pulses inside the liquid and close to its free surface, in such a way that the
      laser radiation is absorbed in a tiny volume around the beam waist, with
      practically no absorption in any other location along the beam path. If the
      absorbed energy overcomes the optical breakdown threshold, a cavitation bubble is
      generated, and its expansion results in the propulsion of a small fraction of
      liquid which can be collected on a substrate, leading to the printing of a
      microdroplet for each laser pulse. The technique does not require the preparation
      of the liquid in thin film form, and its forward mode of operation imposes no
      restriction concerning the optical properties of the substrate. These
      characteristics make it well suited for printing a wide variety of materials of
      interest in diverse applications. We demonstrate that the film-free laser forward
      printing technique is capable of printing microdroplets with good resolution,
      reproducibility and control, and analyze the influence of the main process
      parameter, laser pulse energy. The mechanisms of liquid printing are also
      investigated: time-resolved imaging provides a clear picture of the dynamics of
      liquid transfer which allows understanding the main features observed in the
      printed droplets.

PMID- 20941083
TI  - Femtosecond laser micromachining of fused silica molds.
AB  - The use of low-energy femtosecond laser beam combined with chemical etching has
      been proven to be an efficient method to fabricate three-dimensional structures
      in fused silica. For high-volume application, this technology--like other serial
      processes--suffers from a moderate production rate. Here, we show that
      femtosecond laser can also be employed to fabricate silica molds and other
      patterned surfaces, including surfaces with high aspect ratio features (> 10).
      Through appropriate tailoring of silica's surface property and subsequent
      creation of, for instance, simple elastomeric molding, new opportunities for the
      indirect 3D, multi-scale spatial characterization of deep laser-fabricated
      microstructures come along. We demonstrate that those moldings are characterized
      by a high fidelity (down to the nanometer scale) to the silica mold. These
      results further advance the applicability of femtosecond laser processing to
      glass.

PMID- 20941084
TI  - High sensitivity phase mapping with parallel Fourier domain optical coherence
      tomography at 512 000 A-scan/s.
AB  - In this paper we present an ultra high speed and highly phase sensitive line
      field FD-OCT system for quantitative phase mapping. The system works with a
      maximum speed of 512 000 A-scan/s (1000 fps) in real time mode. Along the
      parallel recorded direction excellent phase stability corresponding to a path
      length variation of only 510 pm was measured. We demonstrate how to exploit this
      phase accuracy for fast chemical analysis of glucose mixture processes. The
      system has particular potential for studying micro-fluidic processes.

PMID- 20941085
TI  - Offset-frequency locking of extended-cavity diode lasers for precision
      spectroscopy of water at 1.38 MUm.
AB  - We describe a continuous-wave diode laser spectrometer for water-vapour precision
      spectroscopy at 1.38 MUm. The spectrometer is based upon the use of a simple
      scheme for offset-frequency locking of a pair of extended-cavity diode lasers
      that allows to achieve unprecedented accuracy and reproducibility levels in
      measuring molecular absorption. When locked to the master laser with an offset
      frequency of 1.5 GHz, the slave laser exhibits residual frequency fluctuations of
      1 kHz over a time interval of 25 minutes, for a 1-s integration time. The slave
      laser could be continuously tuned up to 3 GHz, the scan showing relative
      deviations from linearity below the 10{-6} level. Simultaneously, a capture range
      of the order of 1 GHz was obtained. Quantitative spectroscopy was also
      demonstrated by accurately determining relevant spectroscopic parameters for the
      22,1->22,0line of the H2(18)O v1+v3 band at 1384.6008 nm.

PMID- 20941086
TI  - Mid-infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy with a broadband frequency comb.
AB  - We present a first implementation of optical-frequency-comb-based rapid trace gas
      detection in the molecular fingerprint region in the mid-infrared. Near-real-time
      acquisition of broadband absorption spectra with 0.0056 cm(-1) maximum resolution
      is demonstrated using a frequency comb Fourier transform spectrometer which
      operates in the 2100-to-3700-cm(-1) spectral region. We achieve part-per-billion
      detection limits in 30 seconds of integration time for several important
      molecules including methane, ethane, isoprene, and nitrous oxide. Our system
      enables precise concentration measurements even in gas mixtures that exhibit
      continuous absorption bands, and it allows detection of molecules at levels below
      the noise floor via simultaneous analysis of multiple spectral features.

PMID- 20941087
TI  - All-optical technique for modulation format conversion from on-off-keying to
      alternate-mark-inversion.
AB  - We propose and numerically investigate for the first time a novel all-optical on
      off-keying to alternate-mark-inversion modulation format converter operating at
      40 Gbps employing a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA)-based Mach-Zehnder
      interferometer (MZI). We demonstrate that this SOA-MZI operates as a pulse
      subtractor, and in the absence of patterning will produce perfectly phase
      inverted pulses regardless of the individual SOA phase excursions. We use a
      comprehensive computer model to illustrate the impact of patterning on the output
      phase modulation, which is quantified through the definition of the phase
      compression factor.

PMID- 20941088
TI  - Relation between the contrast in time integrated dynamic speckle patterns an the
      power spectral density of their temporal intensity fluctuations.
AB  - Scattering fluid flux can be quantified with coherent light, either from the
      contrast of speckle patterns, or from the moments of the power spectrum of
      intensity fluctuations. We present a theory connecting these approaches for the
      general case of mixed static-dynamic patterns of boiling speckles without prior
      assumptions regarding the particle dynamics. An expression is derived and tested
      relating the speckle contrast to the intensity power spectrum. Our theory
      demonstrates that in speckle contrast the concentration of moving particles
      dominates over the contribution of speed to the particle flux. Our theory
      provides a basis for comparison of both approaches when used for studying tissue
      perfusion.

PMID- 20941090
TI  - Three-dimensional reconstruction of the crystalline lens gradient index
      distribution from OCT imaging.
AB  - We present an optimization method to retrieve the gradient index (GRIN)
      distribution of the in-vitro crystalline lens from optical path difference data
      extracted from OCT images. Three-dimensional OCT images of the crystalline lens
      are obtained in two orientations (with the anterior surface up and posterior
      surface up), allowing to obtain the lens geometry. The GRIN reconstruction method
      is based on a genetic algorithm that searches for the parameters of a 4-variable
      GRIN model that best fits the distorted posterior surface of the lens. Computer
      simulations showed that, for noise of 5 MUm in the surface elevations, the GRIN
      is recovered with an accuracy of 0.003 and 0.010 in the refractive indices of the
      nucleus and surface of the lens, respectively. The method was applied to retrieve
      three-dimensionally the GRIN of a porcine crystalline lens in vitro. We found a
      refractive index ranging from 1.362 in the surface to 1.443 in the nucleus of the
      lens, an axial exponential decay of the GRIN profile of 2.62 and a meridional
      exponential decay ranging from 3.56 to 5.18. The effect of GRIN on the
      aberrations of the lens also studied. The estimated spherical aberration of the
      measured porcine lens was 2.87 MUm assuming a homogenous equivalent refractive
      index, and the presence of GRIN shifted the spherical aberration toward negative
      values (-0.97 MUm), for a 6-mm pupil.

PMID- 20941091
TI  - Saturable absorption in composites doped with metal nanoparticles.
AB  - We study saturable absorption and the nonlinear contribution to the refractive
      index of metal-nanoparticle composites by using a modifie self-consistent Maxwell
      Garnett formalism for spherical nanoparticles and a generalization of the
      discrete-dipole formalism for particles of arbitrary shape and size. The results
      for fused silica doped with silver nanoparticles show that the saturation of loss
      of the composites is strongest near the surface plasmon resonance and the
      saturation intensity is in the range of 10 MW/cm(2). The nonlinear refraction
      index decrease with increasing intensity and its sign depends on frequency and
      fillin factor. The predictions show that metal-nanoparticle composites can be
      used for mode locking of lasers in a broad spectral range down to 400 nm, where
      attractive saturable absorbers are still missing.

PMID- 20941089
TI  - Dual electro-optical modulator polarimeter based on adaptive optics scanning
      laser ophthalmoscope.
AB  - We constructed a high speed and high-resolution Stokes vector retinal imaging
      polarimeter with dual electro-optical modulators based on adaptive optics
      scanning laser ophthalmoscope. By varying the voltages on the EO crystals line by
      line, we were able to measure over 500,000 Stokes vectors per second. We used
      this system in three human subjects demonstrating the capability of the system to
      be employed in vivo. The high speed effectively decreases the adverse impact of
      eye motion induced errors in polarization calculations, improving the contrast of
      retinal structures based on their polarization properties.

PMID- 20941092
TI  - Split of surface plasmon resonance of gold nanoparticles on silicon substrate: a
      study of dielectric functions.
AB  - The split of surface plasmon resonance of self-assembled gold nanoparticles on Si
      substrate is observed from the dielectric functions of the nanoparticles. The
      split plasmon resonances are modeled with two Lorentz oscillators: one oscillator
      at ~1 eV models the polarization parallel to the substrate while the other at ~2
      eV represents the polarization perpendicular to the substrate. Both parallel and
      perpendicular resonances are red-shifted when the nanoparticle size increases.
      The red shifts in both resonances are explained by the image charge effect of the
      Si substrate.

PMID- 20941093
TI  - Characterization of timing jitter in a 5 GHz quantum dot passively mode-locked
      laser.
AB  - The timing jitter performance of a 5 GHz quantum dot passively mode-locked laser
      is investigated at different harmonics in the RF spectrum. The necessity of
      measuring the phase noise at relatively large harmonic numbers is motivated
      experimentally in the context of determining the corner frequency, its
      correlation to the RF linewidth, and the related white noise plateau level. The
      single-sideband phase noise with an integrated timing jitter of 211 fs (4-80 MHz)
      is reported. An all-microwave technique has been used to determine a pulse-to
      pulse rms timing jitter of 96 fs/cycle. This low timing jitter value makes the
      chip-scale quantum dot mode-locked laser an attractive source for low noise
      applications such as optical clocking and sampling.

PMID- 20941094
TI  - Propagation of Airy-related beams.
AB  - New types of finite energy Airy beams are proposed. We consider two different
      types of beams, namely, beams that are obtained as blocked and exponentially
      attenuated versions of Airy functions Ai and Bi, and beams of finite width but
      having the Airy functions typical phase. All of them show very interesting
      properties, such as parabolic trajectories for longer propagation distances,
      profile evolution exhibiting less diffraction, or better definiteness of the main
      peak, when compared with other finite energy Airy beams studied before.

PMID- 20941095
TI  - An insight into statistical refractive index properties of cell internal
      structure via low-coherence statistical amplitude microscopy.
AB  - Refractive index properties, especially at the nanoscale, have shown great
      potential in cancer diagnosis and screening. Due to the intrinsic complexity and
      weak refractive index fluctuation, the reconstruction of internal structures of a
      biological cell has been challenging. In this paper, we propose a simple and
      practical approach to derive the statistical properties of internal refractive
      index fluctuations within a biological cell with a new optical microscopy method-
      Low-coherence Statistical Amplitude Microscopy (SAM). We validated the capability
      of SAM to characterize the statistical properties of cell internal structures,
      which is described by numerical models of one-dimensional Gaussian random field.
      We demonstrated the potential of SAM in cancer detection with an animal model of
      intestinal carcinogenesis--multiple intestinal neoplasia mouse model. We showed
      that SAM-derived statistical properties of cell nuclear structures could detect
      the subtle changes that are otherwise undetectable by conventional cytopathology.

PMID- 20941096
TI  - Theoretical investigation on guiding IR light in hollow-core metallic fiber with
      corrugated inner surface.
AB  - Hollow metallic fibers (HMFs) are in general lossy primarily owing to the fact
      that the guided transverse-magnetic (TM) light sustains a relatively high
      propagation loss. In this paper, we propose a type of practical hollow-core
      metallic fiber (HMF) with longitudinally corrugated inner surface for
      transmitting infrared (IR) light. Simulation results show that the loss of the
      fundamental TM mode can be easily reduced by 50~100 times compared to a HMF
      without surface corrugation. In contrast to the traditional HMF with a dielectric
      coating, it is shown that the loss of the fundamental TM mode in the proposed HMF
      is relatively insensitive to the corrugation layer thickness or equivalently the
      operating frequency.

PMID- 20941097
TI  - Engineering of high purity ultra-long optical needle field through reversing the
      electric dipole array radiation.
AB  - We report a new method to create high purity longitudinally polarized field with
      extremely long depth of focus in the focal volume of a high numerical aperture
      (NA) objective lens. Through reversing the radiated field from an electric dipole
      array situated near the focus of the high-NA lens, the required incident field
      distribution in the pupil plane for the creation of an ultra-long optical needle
      field can be found. Numerical examples demonstrate that an optical needle field
      with a depth of focus up to 8lambda is obtainable. Throughout the depth of focus,
      this engineered focal field maintains a diffraction limited transverse spot size
      (<0.43lambda) with high longitudinal polarization purity. From the calculated
      pupil plane distribution, a simplified discrete complex pupil filter can be
      designed and significant improvements over the previously reported complex
      filters are clearly demonstrated.

PMID- 20941098
TI  - Ultrafast double-slab regenerative amplifier with combined gain spectra and
      intracavity dispersion compensation.
AB  - We report on a diode-pumped double-slab Yb:KYW regenerative amplifier with
      combined gain spectra and intracavity dispersion compensation. At repetition
      rates > 20 kHz an average power of up to 5 W after compression was generated,
      resulting in a maximum pulse energy of 250 uJ. Pulse durations of around 190 fs
      were achieved by using a GRISM compressor with a transmission efficiency of 90%.

PMID- 20941099
TI  - Discrete parametric band conversion in silicon for mid-infrared applications.
AB  - Silicon photonics has great potential for mid-wave-infrared applications. The
      dispersion of waveguide can be manipulated by waveguide dimension and cladding
      materials. Simulation shows that <3 MUm wide conversion can be achieved by tuning
      the pump wavelength.

PMID- 20941100
TI  - Coherence-controlled holographic microscope.
AB  - Transmitted-light coherence-controlled holographic microscope (CCHM) based on an
      off-axis achromatic interferometer allows us to use light sources of arbitrary
      degree of temporal and spatial coherence. Besides the conventional DHM modes such
      as quantitative phase contrast imaging and numerical 3D holographic
      reconstruction it provides high quality (speckle-free) imaging, improved lateral
      resolution and optical sectioning by coherence gating. Optical setup parameters
      and their limits for a technical realization are derived and described in detail.
      To demonstrate the optical sectioning property of the microscope a model sample
      uncovered and then covered with a diffuser was observed using a low-coherence
      light source.

PMID- 20941101
TI  - Quantitative evaluation of boron-induced disorder in multilayers containing
      silicon nanocrystals in an oxide matrix designed for photovoltaic applications.
AB  - The effect of doping by boron on optical properties of multilayers containing Si
      NCs were studied by means of photoluminescence (PL), time-resolved PL,
      photoluminescence excitation (PLE), transmission and reflection measurements. It
      was found that PL decay is strongly non-single exponential and can be described
      by means of Laplace transform of log-normal decay rates distribution. It was also
      proposed that changes observed in the distribution central moments reflect the
      disorder induced by boron-doping.

PMID- 20941102
TI  - Compressive SD-OCT: the application of compressed sensing in spectral domain
      optical coherence tomography.
AB  - We applied compressed sensing (CS) to spectral domain optical coherence
      tomography (SD OCT) and studied its effectiveness. We tested the CS
      reconstruction by randomly undersampling the k-space SD OCT signal. We achieved
      this by applying pseudo-random masks to sample 62.5%, 50%, and 37.5% of the CCD
      camera pixels. OCT images are reconstructed by solving an optimization problem
      that minimizes the l(1) norm of a transformed image to enforce sparsity, subject
      to data consistency constraints. CS could allow an array detector with fewer
      pixels to reconstruct high resolution OCT images while reducing the total amount
      of data required to process the images.

PMID- 20941103
TI  - Design of LED freeform optical system for road lighting with high
      luminance/illuminance ratio.
AB  - A systematic method is proposed for designing an optical system for road lighting
      using an LED and a freeform lens that is optimized to produce a certain luminance
      distribution on the road surface. The proposed design method takes account of the
      luminance characteristics of the road surface, the energy efficiency of the
      system, the glare problem of the luminaire and the effects of four adjacent
      luminaries illuminating a single road surface. Firstly, the road surface
      illuminance with a polynomial of cosine functions along the road is optimized to
      maximize Q (the ratio of the average luminance to the average illuminance) as
      well as satisfying the lighting requirements provided by CIE. Then, a smooth
      freeform lens with this optimized illuminance is designed based on the variable
      separation method and the feedback modification method. Results show that, from
      two typical observer positions on the 2-lane C2 class road, luminaires with these
      freeform lenses can provide Q values of 7.90 * 10(-2) and 8.69 * 10(-2), the
      overall road surface luminance uniformity of 0.55 and 0.56, the longitudinal road
      surface luminance uniformity of 0.72 and 0.79, and the glare factors of 10.06%
      and 6.73% .

PMID- 20941104
TI  - Preparation and luminescence of bulk oxyfluoride glasses doped with Ag
      nanoclusters.
AB  - Bulk oxyfluoride glasses doped with Ag nanoclusters have been prepared using the
      melt quenching technique. When pumped in the absorption band of Ag nanoclusters
      between 300 to 500 nm, these glasses emit a very broad luminescence band covering
      all the visible range with a weak tail extending into the near infrared. The
      maximum of the luminescence band and its color shifts to the blue with a
      shortening of the excitation wavelength and an increasing ratio of oxide to
      fluoride components, resulting in white color luminescence at a particular ratio
      of oxide to fluoride; with a quantum yield above 20%.

PMID- 20941105
TI  - Rapid fabrication of patterned high-performance conductor poly ?(vinylidene
      fluoride) surfaces using a 248nm excimer laser.
AB  - This work describes a method for rapidly and conveniently fabricating high
      performance conductive patterns on poly (vinylidene fluoride) substrates using a
      248 nm excimer laser. It shows that the artificial active centre, created by
      laser direct etching technique, could facilely control the formation of modified
      layer, avoiding the laser threshold in processing. Using the etching lines to
      structure the nonconductive paths, the controllable patterns can be formed in
      selective areas through the designed photo-mask when 248nm laser irradiation. The
      modified layer exhibits a high-grade electrical conductivity of 2.80 Omega(-1)cm(
      1) increased by 13 orders of magnitude, and the considerable improvement in
      conductivity could be attributed to the carbon enrichment, especially the
      structural formation of C-C.

PMID- 20941106
TI  - Artifact removal by intrinsic harmonics of tuning fork probe for scanning near
      field optical microscopy.
AB  - This paper presents a new method to reduce the topographical artifacts in
      scanning near-field optical microscopy (SNOM) images. The method uses the
      harmonics caused intrinsically by the nonlinearity in the oscillation of the SNOM
      probe even when the probe is working in a normal condition without extra
      excitation. Using these intrinsic harmonics, the gradient of the received SNOM
      signal with respect to the probe motion is obtained. Then, taking advantage of a
      SNOM capable of simultaneously obtaining both the topographical and optical
      signals, topographical artifacts are calculated from the product of the gradient
      and the topographical signal, and then removed from the received SNOM signal. The
      effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated experimentally.

PMID- 20941107
TI  - Highly efficient nonlinearity reduction in silicon-on-insulator waveguides using
      vertical slots.
AB  - Vertical slots are used to reduce the nonlinearity of silicon-on-insulator
      waveguides. In properly designed slot waveguides, approximately 50% of the
      optical power can be confined in the air-slot and air-cladding region. Compared
      with a strip waveguide, a factor greater than 15 times more reduction in the real
      part of nonlinear coefficient can be achieved in the 100-nm wavelength range. In
      addition, vertical-slot waveguides exhibit large negative chromatic dispersion,
      which will induce phase mismatch and further suppress nonlinear parametric
      effects.

PMID- 20941108
TI  - Far field intensity distributions due to spatial self phase modulation of a
      Gaussian beam by a thin nonlocal nonlinear media.
AB  - In this work we present a simple model that can be used to calculate the far
      field intensity distributions when a Gaussian beam cross a thin sample of
      nonlinear media but the response can be nonlocal.

PMID- 20941109
TI  - Highly photo-stable dye doped solid-state distributed-feedback (DFB) channeled
      waveguide lasers by a pen-drawing technique.
AB  - Pyrromethene dyes doped polymeric channeled waveguide lasers with permanent DFB
      structures were fabricated via a novel pen-drawing technique with the patterned
      polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) chips fabricated through a casting process as the
      substrates. With the high resolution dispensers, dye doped high viscosity pre
      polymers were written into the PDMS grooves and the cross-section of the
      channeled waveguides could be controlled by both the polymer composition and the
      pen-drawing parameters. Highly stable laser output with 4.8 * 10(6) pulses of
      laser lifetime at 500 Hz of pump repetition rate has been obtained, which is
      suggested to be among one of the best results of pyrromethene 567 (PM567) up to
      date.

PMID- 20941110
TI  - Femtosecond mode-locked Tm(3+) and Tm(3+)-Ho(3+) doped 2 MUm glass lasers.
AB  - We report on the spectroscopic characterization, continuous-wave and continuous
      wave mode-locked laser performance of bulk Tm(3+):GPNG fluorogermanate and Tm(3+)
      Ho(3+):TZN tellurite glass lasers around 2 MUm. A slope efficiency of up to 50%
      and 190 mW of output power were achieved from the Tm(3+):GPNG laser at 1944 nm
      during continuous wave operation. The Tm(3+)-Ho(3+):TZN laser produced a 26%
      slope efficiency with a maximum output power of 74 mW at 2012 nm. The Tm(3+):GPNG
      produced near-transform-limited pulses of 410 fs duration centered at 1997 nm
      with up to 84 mW of average output power and repetition frequency of 222 MHz when
      was passively modelocked using an ion-implanted InGaAsSb-based quantum well
      SESAM. Using the same SESAM, the Tm(3+)-Ho(3+):TZN laser generated 630-fs pulses
      with 38 mW of average output power at 2012 nm. Data analysis of pulses at
      different intracavity pulse energies provided an estimation of n(2) at 2012 nm of
      2.9 * 10(-15) cm(2)/W for the Tm(3+)-Ho(3+):TZN.

PMID- 20941111
TI  - Coherent frequency-down-conversion interface for quantum repeaters.
AB  - We report a coherence-preserving photon frequency down-conversion experiment
      based on difference-frequency generation in a periodically poled Lithium niobate
      waveguide, at the single-photon level. The coherence of the process has been
      demonstrated by measuring the phase coherence of pseudo single-photon time-bin
      qubits after frequency conversion with an interference visibility of >96 %. This
      interface could be of interest for quantum repeater based hybrid networks.

PMID- 20941112
TI  - Experimental demonstration of spectrum-sliced elastic optical path network
      (SLICE).
AB  - We describe experimental demonstration of spectrum-sliced elastic optical path
      network (SLICE) architecture. We employ optical orthogonal frequency-division
      multiplexing (OFDM) modulation format and bandwidth-variable optical cross
      connects (OXC) to generate, transmit and receive optical paths with bandwidths of
      up to 1 Tb/s. We experimentally demonstrate elastic optical path setup and
      spectrally-efficient transmission of multiple channels with bit rates ranging
      from 40 to 140 Gb/s between six nodes of a mesh network. We show dynamic
      bandwidth scalability for optical paths with bit rates of 40 to 440 Gb/s.
      Moreover, we demonstrate multihop transmission of a 1 Tb/s optical path over 400
      km of standard single-mode fiber (SMF). Finally, we investigate the filtering
      properties and the required guard band width for spectrally-efficient allocation
      of optical paths in SLICE.

PMID- 20941113
TI  - Efficient homogenization procedure for the calculation of optical properties of
      3D nanostructured composites.
AB  - We present a very efficient recursive method to calculate the effective optical
      response of metamaterials made up of arbitrarily shaped inclusions arranged in
      periodic 3D arrays. We apply it to dielectric particles embedded in a metal
      matrix with a lattice constant much smaller than the wavelength of the incident
      field, so that we may neglect retardation and factor the geometrical properties
      from the properties of the materials. If the conducting phase is continuous the
      low frequency behavior is metallic, and if the conducting paths are thin, the
      high frequency behavior is dielectric. Thus, extraordinary-transparency bands may
      develop at intermediate frequencies, whose properties may be tuned by geometrical
      manipulation.

PMID- 20941114
TI  - 4pi Focusing of TM(01) beams under nonparaxial conditions.
AB  - The Richards-Wolf theory and the complex point-source method are both used to
      express the phasor of the electric field of tightly focused beams, but the
      connection between these two approaches is not straightforward. In this paper,
      the Richards-Wolf vector field equations are used to find the electromagnetic
      field of a TM(01) beam in the neighborhood of the focus of a 4pi focusing system,
      such as a parabolic mirror with infinite transverse dimensions. Closed-form
      solutions are found for the distribution of the fields at any point in the
      vicinity of the focus; these solutions are identical to the electromagnetic field
      obtained with the complex source-point method in which sources are accompanied by
      sinks. This work thus establishes a connection between the Richards-Wolf theory
      and the complex sink/source model. The vector magnetic potential is introduced to
      simplify the computation of the six electromagnetic field components. The method
      is then used to find analytical expressions for the electromagnetic field of
      strongly focused TM(01) beams affected by primary aberrations such as curvature
      of field, coma, astigmatism and spherical aberration.

PMID- 20941115
TI  - All-fiber Er-doped dissipative soliton laser based on evanescent field
      interaction with carbon nanotube saturable absorber.
AB  - We report on an Er-doped fiber pulse laser at large net normal dispersion cavity
      by employing a dispersion compensating fiber in combination with a single-walled
      carbon nanotube (SWCNT) saturable absorber. A SWCNT/polymer composite film
      uniformly spin-coated on the side-polished fiber is prepared for robust and
      efficient nonlinear interaction with evanescent fields in the waveguide expecting
      increase of optical and thermal damage threshold compared to previously reported
      direct coating of SWCNTs on fiber ferrules. The fabricated dissipative soliton
      fiber laser exhibits high average output power of 55.6 mW, corresponding to pulse
      energy about 2.35 nJ. Highly chirped 5.8 ps pulses are generated with a spectral
      bandwidth of 13.9 nm and compressed down to 226 fs using additional length of
      conventional optical fiber at extra-cavity.

PMID- 20941116
TI  - Twin-photon confocal microscopy.
AB  - A recently introduced two-channel confocal microscope with correlated detection
      promises up to 50% improvement in transverse spatial resolution [Simon,
      Sergienko, Optics Express 18, 9765 (2010)] via the use of photon correlations.
      Here we achieve similar results in a different manner, introducing a triple
      confocal correlated microscope which exploits the correlations present in optical
      parametric amplifiers. It is based on tight focusing of pump radiation onto a
      thin sample positioned in front of a nonlinear crystal, followed by coincidence
      detection of signal and idler photons, each focused onto a pinhole. This approach
      offers further resolution enhancement in confocal microscopy.

PMID- 20941117
TI  - A new single-photon avalanche diode in 90nm standard CMOS technology.
AB  - We report on the first implementation of a single-photon avalanche diode (SPAD)
      in 90nm complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology. The detector
      features an octagonal multiplication region and a guard ring to prevent premature
      edge breakdown using a standard mask set exclusively. The proposed structure
      emerged from a systematic study aimed at miniaturization, while optimizing
      overall performance. The guard ring design is the result of an extensive modeling
      effort aimed at constraining the multiplication region within a well-defined area
      where the electric field exceeds the critical value for impact ionization. The
      device exhibits a dark count rate of 8.1 kHz, a maximum photon detection
      probability of 9% and the jitter of 398ps at a wavelength of 637nm, all of them
      measured at room temperature and 0.13V of excess bias voltage. An afterpulsing
      probability of 32% is achieved at the nominal dead time. Applications include
      time-of-flight 3D vision, fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy, fluorescence
      correlation spectroscopy, and time-resolved gamma/X-ray imaging. Standard
      characterization of the SPAD was performed in different bias voltages and
      temperatures.

PMID- 20941118
TI  - Continuous-wave tri-wavelength operation at 1064, 1319 and 1338 nm of LD end
      pumped Nd:YAG ceramic laser.
AB  - We demonstrated a laser-diode (LD) end-pumped continuous-wave (CW) tri-wavelength
      Nd:YAG ceramic laser operating at 1064, 1319 and 1338 nm. For the 1064 nm laser,
      one of the Nd:YAG polished end faces was used as the output coupler. As
      references, Nd:YVO(4) and Nd:YAG crystal lasers were also investigated under the
      same structure. We found that the maximum output power came from Nd:YAG ceramic
      which was 1.74 W, corresponding an optical conversion efficiency of 16.3%. Using
      a three mirror cavity, we realized efficient multi-wavelength operation at
      (4)F(3/2)-(4)F(11/2) and (4)F(3/2)-(4)F(13/2) transitions for Nd:YAG ceramic,
      simultaneously. The maximum output power was 3.2 W, which included 1064, 1319,
      and 1338 nm three wavelength, and the optical conversion efficiency was 30%.

PMID- 20941119
TI  - Ultra-sensitive chemical vapor detection using micro-cavity photothermal
      spectroscopy.
AB  - In this paper, I systematically investigated Micro-Cavity PhotoThermal
      Spectroscopy (MC-PTS), a novel technique for ultra-sensitive detection of
      chemical molecular species. I first derive the photothermal enhancement factor
      and noise characteristics of the technique using a generic theoretical model,
      followed by numerical analysis of a design example using chalcogenide glass micro
      disk cavities. Guidelines for sensor material selection and device design are
      formulated based on the theoretical insight. The numerical analysis shows that
      this technique features a record photothermal enhancement factor of 10(4) with
      respect to conventional cavity-enhanced (multi-pass) infrared absorption
      spectroscopy, and is capable of detecting non-preconcentrated chemical vapor
      molecules down to the ppt level with a moderate cavity quality factor of 10(5)
      and a pump laser power of 0.1 W. Such performance qualifies this technique as one
      of the most sensitive methods for chemical vapor spectroscopic analysis.

PMID- 20941120
TI  - Customised broadband metamaterial absorbers for arbitrary polarisation.
AB  - This paper shows that customised broadband absorption of electromagnetic waves
      having arbitrary polarisation is possible by use of lossy cut-wire (CW)
      metamaterials. These useful features are confirmed by numerical simulations in
      which different lengths of CW pairs are combined as one periodic metamaterial
      unit and placed near to a perfect electric conductor (PEC). So far metamaterial
      absorbers have exhibited some interesting features, which are not available from
      conventional absorbers, e.g. straightforward adjustment of electromagnetic
      properties and size reduction. The paper shows how with proper design a broad
      range of absorber characteristics may be obtained.

PMID- 20941121
TI  - Photon level crosstalk between parallel fibers installed in urban area.
AB  - We estimate the channel characteristics of field-installed dark fibers at single
      photon levels for quantum key distribution (QKD). Measured fibers are telecom
      single-mode dark fibers over 45 km connecting a center and suburbs of Tokyo.
      Their total losses are about 14dB, and 50% of the whole lengths are aerial lines.
      We find that stray light from other public internet fibers is dominant and
      crosstalk occurs at bending points in laying cables. These results mean the
      crosstalk from public networks can increase the bit error rate in the QKD system,
      and imply an underlying information leakage through an adjacent covered-fiber.

PMID- 20941122
TI  - Highly precise optical model for simulating light guide plate using LED light
      source.
AB  - In this paper, a method is proposed for highly precisely simulating the optical
      behavior of a light guide plate, which has microstructures of rough texture and
      rugged edges thereon. By adopting the 'equivalent medium-immersed measurement' to
      establish precise optical characteristic of the light guide plate, the simulated
      results of luminance distribution are much accordant with experimental
      measurement. This method will be useful in luminance uniformity evaluation and
      hot-spot check in advance, and it will greatly contribute to save time and cost
      of product development.

PMID- 20941123
TI  - Silicon photonic temperature sensor employing a ring resonator manufactured using
      a standard CMOS process.
AB  - An ultra-small integrated photonic temperature sensor has been proposed and
      demonstrated which incorporates a silicon ring resonator linked to a vertical
      grating coupler. It was manufactured using a 0.18 MUm standard CMOS process,
      rendering a homogeneous integration into other electrical/optical devices. The
      temperature variation was measured by monitoring the shift in the resonant
      wavelength of the silicon resonator, which was induced by the thermo-optic effect
      and the thermal expansion effect. The dependence of its sensing capability upon
      the waveguide width of the resonator was intensively probed both theoretically
      and experimentally. The best achieved sensitivity was about 83 pm/ degrees C for
      a waveguide width of 500 nm, while the sensitivity was boosted by ~10 pm/ degrees
      C by adjusting the waveguide width from 300 nm to 500 nm. Finally, the response
      speed of the sensor was as fast as ~6 MUs.

PMID- 20941124
TI  - Linear optics based nanoscopy.
AB  - Classically, optical systems are considered to have a fundamental resolution
      limit due to wave nature of light. This article presents a novel method for
      observing sub-wavelength features in a conventional optical microscope using
      linear optics. The operation principle is based on a random and time varying flow
      of nanoparticles moving in proximity to the inspected sample. Those particles
      excite the evanescent waves and couple them into harmonic waves. The sub
      wavelength features are encoded and later on digitally decoded by proper image
      processing of a sequence of images. The achievable final resolution limit
      corresponds to the size of the nanoparticles. Experimental proof of principle
      validation of the technique is reported.

PMID- 20941125
TI  - An in-plane nano-mechanics approach to achieve reversible resonance control of
      photonic crystal nanocavities.
AB  - Control of photonic crystal resonances in conjunction with large spectral
      shifting is critical in achieving reconfigurable photonic crystal devices. We
      propose a simple approach to achieve nano-mechanical control of photonic crystal
      resonances within a compact integrated on-chip approach. Three different tip
      designs utilizing an in-plane nano-mechanical tuning approach are shown to
      achieve reversible and low-loss resonance control on a one-dimensional photonic
      crystal nanocavity. The proposed nano-mechanical approach driven by a sub-micron
      micro-electromechanical system integrated on low loss suspended feeding nanowire
      waveguide, achieved relatively large resonance spectral shifts of up to 18 nm at
      a driving voltage of 25 V. Such designs may potentially be used as tunable
      optical filters or switches.

PMID- 20941126
TI  - Temporal contrast enhancement of femtosecond pulses by a self-diffraction process
      in a bulk Kerr medium.
AB  - We demonstrated for the first time the application of a self-diffraction (SD)
      process in a bulk Kerr medium to improve the temporal, spectral, and spatial
      qualities of femtosecond laser pulses. A proof-of-principle experiment succeeded
      in improving the temporal contrast of a femtosecond pulse by four orders of
      magnitude even in the picosecond region using a 0.5-mm-thick fused silica glass
      plate by this technique. The energy conversion efficiency from the incident
      pulses to the two first-order SD signals is about 12%. By the SD process, a laser
      pulse with smoother spectral shape, higher beam quality, and shorter pulse
      duration than those of the input pulse was generated. This technique is expected
      to be used to design background-free petawatt laser system in the future.

PMID- 20941127
TI  - Experimental and numerical analysis on the optical resonance transmission
      properties of nano-hole arrays.
AB  - In this paper, we present experimental and numerical analysis on Extraordinary
      Optical Transmission (EOT) or optical resonance transmission through various nano
      hole arrays constructed from an optically thick metal film within the visible and
      near infra-red spectrum. Nano-hole arrays with different geometrical parameters
      (hole size, hole shape, and hole periodicity) having their EOT properties in the
      visible and near-infrared regime were simulated based on Finite Difference Time
      Domain (FDTD). Large nano-hole arrays with geometric properties similar to the
      simulated arrays were fabricated using Electron Beam Lithography (EBL). The
      optical resonance transmission properties (resonance position, transmission
      efficiency, and spectral bandwidth of resonance peak) of the fabricated nano-hole
      arrays were characterized. Finally, the experimental and numerical results were
      analyzed to determine the dependencies and discrepancies between optical
      resonance transmission properties for various nano-hole arrays.

PMID- 20941128
TI  - Gold nanoring trimers: a versatile structure for infrared sensing.
AB  - In this work we report on the observation of surface plasmon properties of
      periodic arrays of gold nanoring trimers fabricated by electron beam lithography.
      It is shown that the localized surface plasmon resonances of such gold ring
      trimers occur in the infrared spectral region and are strongly influenced by the
      nanoring geometry and their relative positions. Based on numerical simulations of
      the optical extinction spectra and of the electric near-field intensity maps, the
      resonances are assigned to surface plasmon states arising from the strong intra
      trimer electromagnetic interaction. We show that the nanoring trimer
      configuration allows for generating infrared surface plasmon resonances
      associated with strongly localized electromagnetic energy, thus providing
      plasmonic nanoresonators well-suited for sensing and surface enhanced near
      infrared Raman spectroscopy.

PMID- 20941129
TI  - Unidirectional transmission in photonic-crystal gratings at beam-type
      illumination.
AB  - Unidirectional transmission is studied theoretically and experimentally for the
      gratings with one-side corrugations (non-symmetric gratings), which are based on
      two-dimensional photonic crystals composed of alumina rods. The unidirectional
      transmission appears at a fixed angle of incidence as a combined effect of the
      peculiar dispersion features of the photonic crystal and the properly designed
      corrugations. It is shown that the basic unidirectional transmission
      characteristics, which are observed at a plane-wave illumination, are preserved
      at Gaussian-beam and horn antenna illuminations. The main attention is paid to
      the single-beam unidirectional regime, which is associated with the strong
      directional selectivity arising due to the first negative diffraction order. An
      additional degree of freedom for controlling the transmission of the
      electromagnetic waves is obtained by making use of the asymmetric corrugations at
      the photonic crystal interface.

PMID- 20941130
TI  - Simultaneous multi-channel OSNR monitoring with a wavelength selective switch.
AB  - We show the first simultaneous OSNR monitoring of two 40 Gb/s OOK and DPSK
      channels, using only a wavelength selective switch and two slow photodetectors.
      Our approach is modulation format and bit-rate independent and can easily be
      included in existing reconfigurable networks.

PMID- 20941131
TI  - Microdrilling in steel using ultrashort pulsed laser beams with radial and
      azimuthal polarization.
AB  - A linear to radial and/or azimuthal polarization converter (LRAC) has been
      inserted into the beam delivery of a micromachining station equipped with a
      picosecond laser system. Percussion drilling and helical drilling in steel have
      been performed using radially as well as azimuthally polarized infrared radiation
      at 1030 nm. The presented machining results are discussed on the basis of
      numerical simulations of the polarization-dependent beam propagation inside the
      fabricated capillaries.

PMID- 20941132
TI  - Three-dimensional mapping of single gold nanoparticles embedded in a homogeneous
      transparent matrix using optical second-harmonic generation.
AB  - We report the three-dimensional mapping of 150 nm gold metallic nanoparticles
      dispersed in a homogeneous transparent polyacrylamide matrix using second
      harmonic generation. We demonstrate that the position of single nanoparticles can
      be well defined using only one incident fundamental beam and the harmonic photon
      detection performed at right angle. The fundamental laser beam properties are
      determined using its spatial autocorrelation function and used to prove that
      single nanoparticles are observed. Polarization resolved measurements are also
      performed allowing for a clear separation of the second-harmonic response of the
      single gold metallic nanoparticles from that of aggregates of such nanoparticles.

PMID- 20941134
TI  - Effects of pump recycling technique on stimulated Brillouin scattering threshold:
      a theoretical model.
AB  - We develop a theoretical model that can be used to predict stimulated Brillouin
      scattering (SBS) threshold in optical fibers that arises through the effect of
      Brillouin pump recycling technique. Obtained simulation results from our model
      are in close agreement with our experimental results. The developed model
      utilizes single mode optical fiber of different lengths as the Brillouin gain
      media. For 5-km long single mode fiber, the calculated threshold power for SBS is
      about 16 mW for conventional technique. This value is reduced to about 8 mW when
      the residual Brillouin pump is recycled at the end of the fiber. The decrement of
      SBS threshold is due to longer interaction lengths between Brillouin pump and
      Stokes wave.

PMID- 20941133
TI  - Removal of subsurface fluorescence in cryo-imaging using deconvolution.
AB  - We compared image restoration methods [Richardson-Lucy (RL), Wiener, and Next
      image] with measured "scatter" point-spread-functions, for removing subsurface
      fluorescence from section-and-image cryo-image volumes. All methods removed haze,
      delineated single cells from clusters, and improved visualization, but RL best
      represented structures. Contrast-to-noise and contrast-to-background improvement
      from RL and Wiener were comparable and 35% better than Next-image. Concerning
      detection of labeled cells, ROC analyses showed RL ~Wiener > Next-image >> no
      processing. Next-image was faster than other methods and less prone to image
      processing artifacts. RL is recommended for the best restoration of the shape and
      size of fluorescent structures.

PMID- 20941135
TI  - Dynamic multiple-beam counter-propagating optical traps using optical phase
      conjugation.
AB  - Counter-propagating optical traps are widely used where long working distances,
      axially symmetric trapping potentials, or standing light waves are required. We
      demonstrate that optical phase-conjugation can automatically provide a counter
      propagating replica of a wide range of incident light fields in an optical
      trapping configuration. The resulting counter-propagating traps are self
      adjusting and adapt dynamically to changes of the input light field. It is shown
      that not only single counter-propagating traps can be implemented by phase
      conjugation, but also structured light fields can be used. This step towards more
      complex traps enables advanced state-of-the-art applications where multiple traps
      or other elaborated trapping scenarios are required. The resulting traps cannot
      only be used statically, but they can be rearranged in real-time and allow for
      interactive dynamic manipulation.

PMID- 20941136
TI  - Compact optoelectronic microwave oscillators using ultra-high Q whispering
      gallery mode disk-resonators and phase modulation.
AB  - We demonstrate a compact optoelectronic oscillator based on phase modulation and
      ultra-high Q disk resonators. A 10.7 GHz microwave is generated, with a phase
      noise of -90 dBrad2/Hz at 10 kHz from the carrier, and -110 dBrad2/Hz at 100 kHz.

PMID- 20941138
TI  - The Aggregate behavior of branch points--measuring the number and velocity of
      atmospheric turbulence layers.
AB  - Optical waves propagating through atmospheric turbulence develop spatial and
      temporal variations in their phase. For sufficiently strong turbulence, these
      phase differences can lead to interference in the propagating wave and the
      formation of branch points; positions of zero amplitude. Under the assumption of
      a layered turbulence model, we show that these branch points can be used to
      estimate the number and velocities of atmospheric layers. We describe how to
      carry out this estimation process and demonstrate its robustness in the presence
      of sensor noise.

PMID- 20941137
TI  - The entrance pupil of the human eye: a three-dimensional model as a function of
      viewing angle.
AB  - Precise peripheral ocular measurements have become important in vision research.
      These measurements are influenced by the shape and position of the peripherally
      observed entrance pupil. A long-held assumption is that its apparent shape is
      elliptical and is optically centered in its position. Our three-dimensional model
      shows that as viewing angle increases, the entrance pupil moves forward, tilts
      and curves towards the observer's direction. Moreover, the tangential pupil size
      narrows and exhibits asymmetric distortions. Consequently, its shape is non
      elliptical and its geometric mid-point departs from the optical center. These
      findings may have implications on the accuracy of peripheral ocular measurements.

PMID- 20941139
TI  - The effect of dispersion on spectral broadening of incoherent continuous-wave
      light in optical fibers.
AB  - In addition to fiber nonlinearity, fiber dispersion plays a significant role in
      spectral broadening of incoherent continuous-wave light. In this paper we have
      performed a numerical analysis of spectral broadening of incoherent light based
      on a fully stochastic model. Under a wide range of operating conditions, these
      numerical simulations exhibit striking features such as damped oscillatory
      spectral broadening (during the initial stages of propagation), and eventual
      convergence to a stationary, steady state spectral distribution at sufficiently
      long propagation distances. In this study we analyze the important role of fiber
      dispersion in such phenomena. We also demonstrate an analytical rate equation
      expression for spectral broadening.

PMID- 20941140
TI  - Strong interference enhancement of terahertz emission from a photoexcited
      semiconductor surface.
AB  - To enhance terahertz emission from an optically excited semiconductor surface, we
      propose to sandwich a thin (as compared to the terahertz wavelength)
      semiconductor layer between a dielectric hyperhemispherical lens and metal
      substrate. The layer is excited through the lens. The substrate provides
      constructive interference of terahertz waves emitted to the lens directly from
      the layer and reflected by the substrate. The lens outcouples terahertz radiation
      into free space. For InAs layer sandwiched between MgO (or sapphire) lens and
      metal substrate, our theory predicts order of magnitude increase in the terahertz
      yield as compared to the previous schemes of terahertz emission from
      semiconductor surfaces.

PMID- 20941141
TI  - Role of asymmetric environment on the dark mode excitation in metamaterial
      analogue of electromagnetically-induced transparency.
AB  - An otherwise dark magnetic dipole resonance in a split-ring resonator can be
      excited electrically with a Fano-type profile once the symmetric environment for
      this resonator is broken with respect to the polarized electric-field direction
      of incident waves. When this asymmetrically induced narrow resonance coincides
      with a broad dipolar resonance at an identical frequency regime, the metamaterial
      analogue of electromagnetically-induced transparency (EIT) window can be formed.
      We demonstrate that this environmental-asymmetry condition can be introduced
      dielectrically as well as plasmonically, either resonantly or nonresonantly,
      which indicates the plasmon coupling between different resonant modes is not
      responsible for the dark mode excitation. Thus, this result should contribute to
      the physical understanding on dark-mode excitation pathway for EIT-like
      phenomenon in plasmonic metamaterials.

PMID- 20941142
TI  - Theoretical analysis of wavefront aberration from treatment decentration with
      oblique incidence after conventional laser refractive surgery.
AB  - Analysis of induced wavefront aberration after refractive surgery is important in
      the design of vision correction and the development of visual correction
      technology. Based on a mathematical model of the anterior corneal surface, the
      influence of treatment decentration on induced wavefront aberrations was studied
      by considering oblique incidence. The results revealed that significant coma was
      induced from the treatment translation, and it was nearly proportional to the
      translation or corrected refraction of vision correction. The induced aberrations
      from the lateral translation correlated with the angle formed by the position
      vector and the astigmatism axis of myopia astigmatism correction. The induced
      spherical aberration did not relate to a lateral translation of the center of the
      pupil, but was determined only by the corrected refraction. Additionally, no
      significant higher-order aberrations were induced from eye cyclotorsion for pure
      myopia or myopia astigmatism correction. Oblique incidence played an important
      role in the impact of treatment decentration on the induced aberrations in
      refractive surgery. The induced coma without considering the oblique incidence
      was obviously larger than that with it. In order to achieve the best
      postoperative visual performance, the effect of oblique incidence in refractive
      surgery should be taken into account, and treatment decentration should be
      minimized by all means, particularly for high myopia.

PMID- 20941143
TI  - Increased field of view through optical multiplexing.
AB  - Traditional approaches to wide field of view (FoV) imager design usually lead to
      overly complex optics with high optical mass and/or pan-tilt mechanisms that
      incur significant mechanical/weight penalties, which limit their applications,
      especially on mobile platforms such as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).We
      describe a compact wide FoV imager design based on superposition imaging that
      employs thin film shutters and multiple beamsplitters to reduce system weight and
      eliminate mechanical pointing. The performance of the superposition wide FoV
      imager is quantified using a simulation study and is experimentally demonstrated.
      Here, a threefold increase in the FoV relative to the narrow FoV imaging optics
      employed imager design is realized. The performance of a superposition wide FoV
      imager is analyzed relative to a traditional wide FoV imager and we find that it
      can offer comparable performance.

PMID- 20941144
TI  - Ray-tracing analysis of crosstalk in multi-core polymer optical fibers.
AB  - The aim of this paper is to present a new ray-tracing model which describes the
      propagation of light in multi-core polymer optical fibers (MCPOFs), taking into
      account the crosstalk among their cores. The new model overcomes many of the
      limitations of previous approaches allowing us to simulate MCPOFs of arbitrary
      designs. Additionally, it provides us with the output ray distribution at the end
      of the fiber, making it possible to calculate useful parameters related to the
      fiber performance such as the Near-Field Pattern, the Far-Field Pattern or the
      bandwidth. We also present experimental measurements in order to validate the
      computational model and we analyze the importance of crosstalk in different MCPOF
      configurations.

PMID- 20941145
TI  - The observation of super-long range surface plasmon polaritons modes and its
      application as sensory devices.
AB  - In this communication, we will describe one unique phenomenon and the potential
      application of it. In this work, the dispersion relation of an air-silver-silicon
      silver-fluid (air-Ag-Si-Ag-fluid) five-layer slab is analyzed theoretically, in
      which the super-long range surface plasmon polaritons (SPP) modes, whose energy
      penetrates deeply into the fluid, are found with their losses being extremely
      small and sensitive to the change of the fluid refractive index when operating
      near their interspace cut-off regions, where the dispersion curves are non
      continuous. By applying this phenomenon in detecting the fluid refractive index
      change, a SPP sensor based on intensity measurement is proposed. It is a
      waveguide structure with an Ag-Si-Ag slab together with a flow cell filled with
      the detecting fluid. It is found that a large scale of linear detection (e.g.,
      0.08, for 1550 nm ~1.33 to 1.41) with high resolution (e.g., 7.9 * 10(-6)
      Refractive Index Units) can be achieved for a very short device, which is 200
      MUm.

PMID- 20941146
TI  - High resolution line scan interferometer for solder ball inspection using a
      visible supercontinuum source.
AB  - A line scan interferometer, which comprises a visible supercontinuum source
      coupled to Fourier domain Michelson interferometer, is used to obtain 3D images
      of ~300 MUm high solder balls on a semiconductor die with 125 nm axial and 15 MUm
      lateral resolution. The ability to measure curved surfaces enables the
      determination of solder ball shape defects in addition to ball height. We show
      that the maximum measurable angular tilt from the sample surface normal for a
      given source power depends on the surface roughness of the sample. As an example,
      we demonstrate height measurement over +/-20 degrees from the normal on the
      solder balls and over +/-60 degrees on a rough steel ball bearing sample.

PMID- 20941147
TI  - Ultrafast all-optical modulator with femtojoule absorbed switching energy in
      silicon-on-insulator.
AB  - We demonstrate an all-optical switch based on a waveguide-embedded 1D photonic
      crystal cavity fabricated in silicon-on-insulator technology. Light at the
      telecom wavelength is modulated at high-speed by control pulses in the near
      infrared, harnessing the plasma dispersion effect. The actual absorbed switching
      power required for a 3 dB modulation depth is measured to be as low as 6 fJ.
      While the switch-on time is on the order of a few picoseconds, the relaxation
      time is almost 500 ps and limited by the lifetime of the charge carriers.

PMID- 20941148
TI  - Silica aerogel core waveguide.
AB  - We have selectively filled the core of hollow photonic crystal fibre with silica
      aerogel. Light is guided in the aerogel core, with a measured attenuation of 0.2
      dB/cm at 1540 nm comparable to that of bulk aerogel. The structure guides light
      by different mechanisms depending on the wavelength. At long wavelengths the
      effective index of the microstructured cladding is below the aerogel index of
      1.045 and guidance is by total internal reflection. At short wavelengths, where
      the effective cladding index exceeds 1.045, a photonic bandgap can guide the
      light instead. There is a small region of crossover, where both index- and
      bandgap-guided modes were simultaneously observed.

PMID- 20941149
TI  - Spatio-temporal coupling of random electromagnetic pulses interacting with
      reflecting gratings.
AB  - Matrix optics is applied to a class of random, in time and space, electromagnetic
      pulsed beam-like (REMPB) radiation interacting with linear optical elements. A
      6*6 order matrix describing transformation of a six-dimensional state vector
      including four spatial and two temporal positions within the field is used to
      derive conditions for spatio-temporal coupling. An example is included which
      deals with a spatio-temporal coupling in a typical REMPB on reflection from a
      reflecting grating. Electromagnetic nature of such interaction is explored via
      considering dependence of the degree of polarization of the reflected REMPB on
      its source and on the structure of the grating.

PMID- 20941150
TI  - Parametric smoothing model for visco-elastic polishing tools.
AB  - A parametric smoothing model is developed to quantitatively describe the
      smoothing action of polishing tools that use visco-elastic materials. These
      materials flow to conform to the aspheric shape of the workpieces, yet behave as
      a rigid solid for short duration caused by tool motion over surface
      irregularities. The smoothing effect naturally corrects the mid-to-high frequency
      errors on the workpiece while a large polishing lap still removes large scale
      errors effectively in a short time. Quantifying the smoothing effect allows
      improvements in efficiency for finishing large precision optics. We define
      normalized smoothing factor SF which can be described with two parameters. A
      series of experiments using a conventional pitch tool and the rigid conformal
      (RC) lap was performed and compared to verify the parametric smoothing model. The
      linear trend of the SF function was clearly verified. Also, the limiting minimum
      ripple magnitude PVmin from the smoothing actions and SF function slope change
      due to the total compressive stiffness of the whole tool were measured. These
      data were successfully fit using the parametric smoothing model.

PMID- 20941151
TI  - Depth-resolved holographic reconstructions by three-dimensional deconvolution.
AB  - Methods of three-dimensional deconvolution with a point-spread function as
      frequently employed in optical microscopy to reconstruct true three-dimensional
      distribution of objects are extended to holographic reconstructions. Two such
      schemes have been developed and are discussed: an instant deconvolution using the
      Wiener filter as well as an iterative deconvolution routine. The instant 3d
      deconvolution can be applied to restore the positions of volume-spread objects
      such as small particles. The iterative deconvolution can be applied to restore
      the distribution of complex and extended objects. Simulated and experimental
      examples are presented and demonstrate artifact and noise free three-dimensional
      reconstructions from a single two-dimensional holographic record.

PMID- 20941152
TI  - Iterative aperture mask design in phase space using a rank constraint.
AB  - We present an iterative camera aperture design procedure, which determines an
      optimal mask pattern based on a sparse set of desired intensity distributions at
      different focal depths. This iterative method uses the ambiguity function as a
      tool to shape the camera's response to defocus, and shares conceptual
      similarities with phase retrieval procedures. An analysis of algorithm
      convergence is presented, and experimental examples are shown to demonstrate the
      flexibility of the design process. This algorithm potentially ties together
      previous disjointed PSF design approaches under a common framework, and offers
      new insights for the creation of future application-specific imaging systems.

PMID- 20941153
TI  - Role of near-field enhancement in plasmonic laser nanoablation using gold
      nanorods on a silicon substrate.
AB  - We present experimental results for the plasmonic laser ablation of silicon with
      nanoscale features as small as 22 x 66 nm using single near-infrared, femtosecond
      laser pulses incident on gold nanorods. Near the ablation threshold, these
      features are photo-imprints of gold nanorod particles positioned on the surface
      of the silicon and have feature sizes similar to the nanorods. The single rod
      shaped ablation pattern matches the enhancement patterns of the Poynting vector
      magnitude on the surface of silicon, implying that the ablation is a result of
      the plasmonic enhancement of the incident electromagnetic waves in the near-field
      of the particles. Interestingly, the ablation pattern is different from the two
      separated holes at the ends of the nanorod, as would be expected from the
      electric field--|E|(2) enhancement pattern. We measured the plasmonic ablation
      threshold fluence to be almost two orders of magnitude less than the femtosecond
      laser ablation threshold of silica, present in the thin native oxide layer on the
      surface of silicon. This value also agrees with the enhancement of the Poynting
      vector of a nanorod on silicon as calculated with electromagnetic simulations. We
      thus conclude that plasmonic ablation with plasmonic nanoparticles depends
      directly on the polarization and the value of the near-field enhancement of the
      Poynting vector and not the square of the electric field as previously suggested.

PMID- 20941154
TI  - Cholesteric liquid crystal devices with nanoparticle aggregation.
AB  - A broadband cholesteric liquid crystal (CLC) device with a multi-domain structure
      is demonstrated by using an aggregation of polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane
      (POSS) nanoparticles in the CLC layer. The aggregation pattern of the self
      assembled POSS nanoparticles depends on the concentration of POSS doped in the
      mixture of POSS/CLC and the cooling rate of the mixture from a temperature higher
      than the clear point. POSS-induced changes in the bulk and surface properties of
      the cholesteric cells, such as a promotion of homeotropic alignment, help to form
      a cholesteric structure with a broadband reflection of light; the latter can be
      used for improvement of bistable CLC devices. A higher POSS concentration and a
      higher cooling rate both improve the appearance of the black-white CLC device.

PMID- 20941155
TI  - Splitting and lasing of whispering gallery modes in quantum dot micropillars.
AB  - We have studied the whispering gallery mode (WGM) resonances of GaAs/AlGaAs
      microcavity pillars containing InAs quantum dots. High quality factor WGMs are
      observed from a wide range of pillars with diameters from 1.2 to 50 MUm.
      Multimode lasing with sub-milliwatt thresholds and high beta-factors approaching
      unity is observed under optical pumping in a 4 MUm diameter pillar. Mode
      splitting is observed in WGMs from pillars with diameters of 5 MUm, 20 MUm and 50
      MUm.We develop a model in which the mode splitting in the larger pillars is
      caused by resonant scattering from the quantum dots themselves. The model
      explains why splittings are observed in all of the larger pillars and that the
      splitting decreases with increasing wavelength. Numerical simulations by COMSOL
      confirm that the model is plausible. This mechanism of splitting should be
      general for all circular resonant structures containing quantum dots such as
      microdisks, rings, toroids, and microspheres.

PMID- 20941156
TI  - Hydrofluoric acid flow etching of low-loss subwavelength-diameter biconical fiber
      tapers.
AB  - An etch method based on surface tension driven flows of hydrofluoric acid
      microdroplets for the fabrication of low-loss, subwavelength-diameter biconical
      fiber tapers is presented. Tapers with losses less than 0.1 dB/mm are
      demonstrated, corresponding to an order of magnitude increase in the optical
      transmission over previous acid-etch techniques. The etch method produces
      adiabatic taper transitions with minimal surface corrugations. A biconical fiber
      taper fabricated using this method is used to demonstrate an erbium doped silica
      microsphere laser.

PMID- 20941158
TI  - Patents.
AB  - 5,177,764; 5,214,487; 5,214,488; 5,237,387; 5,239,362; 5,253,086; 5,257,118;
      5,262,889; 5,278,853.

PMID- 20941157
TI  - Broadband true time delay for microwave signal processing, using slow light based
      on stimulated Brillouin scattering in optical fibers.
AB  - We experimentally demonstrate a novel technique to process broadband microwave
      signals, using all-optically tunable true time delay in optical fibers. The
      configuration to achieve true time delay basically consists of two main stages:
      photonic RF phase shifter and slow light, based on stimulated Brillouin
      scattering in fibers. Dispersion properties of fibers are controlled, separately
      at optical carrier frequency and in the vicinity of microwave signal bandwidth.
      This way time delay induced within the signal bandwidth can be manipulated to
      correctly act as true time delay with a proper phase compensation introduced to
      the optical carrier. We completely analyzed the generated true time delay as a
      promising solution to feed phased array antenna for radar systems and to develop
      dynamically reconfigurable microwave photonic filters.

PMID- 20941159
TI  - Kramers-Kronig analysis of infrared reflection spectra with perpendicular
      polarization.
AB  - The application of Kramers-Kronig analysis for reflection spectra from a single
      interface with perpendicular (s) polarization has been studied theoretically with
      regard to a phase correction term. The errors in phase shift and complex
      refractive index obtained by the use of Kramers-Kronig analysis have been
      examined for such techniques as external, internal, and total internal reflection
      spectroscopies by the use of spectral simulation and the complex refractive index
      based on dispersion theory. The advantages and disadvantages of the various
      measurement techniques used to obtain the complex refractive index of a sample
      material have been compared. It is concluded that the external reflection
      technique can be used until the sample thickness becomes too thin to provide the
      edge shape necessary to avoid the detection of reflection from the back surface.
      The total internal reflection technique should be used only for a thin-film
      sample because knowledge of the refractive index at some frequency is required
      and bcause this technique may yield larger errors than the other techniques in
      the complex refractive index obtained by the use of Kramers-Kronig analysis.

PMID- 20941160
TI  - Theoretical description of frequency modulation and wavelength modulation
      spectroscopy.
AB  - We present a comprehensive theory for heterodyne absorption spectroscopy with
      phase-modulated light. The general equations presented allow for an arbitrary
      modulation index and an arbitrary modulation frequency. We use this description
      for three purposes: First, we review the special cases of so-called frequency
      modulation and wavelength modulation spectroscopy. Second, we present the
      additional case of large-index, high-frequency modulation. Third, we present an
      overview of how the absorption signal depends on the experimental parameters of
      modulation frequency and modulation index. This overview may be helpful to
      experimentalists in choosing these parameters, for it provides a systematic
      understanding of how moving around in parameter space changes certain features of
      the signal, while leaving other features invariant.

PMID- 20941161
TI  - Fluorescence polarization of triple-chromophore complexes with energy transfer.
AB  - The formula for the determination of a fluorescence polarization degree is
      derived for triple-chromophore complexes with energy transfer: P = (3B - 1 +
      2A)/(3 + B + 4A). In this formula B = q(12) cos(2)(?(12)) + q(13) cos(2)(?(13)) +
      q(23) cos(2)(?(23)) and parameters A and q(ij) are dependent on the kinetic
      parameters of energy exchange and the chromophore spectroscopic parameters. The
      angle ?ij is the angle between the transition dipole moments of the i and j
      chromophores. The formula was tested for the particular case of the C-phycocyanin
      (C-PC) of the blue-green algae Agmenellum quadruplicatum, which contain three
      chromophores, alpha-84, beta-84, and beta155. Polarized spectra were calculated
      for both the emission and the excitation spectra of C-PC beta subunits and
      monomers.

PMID- 20941162
TI  - Practical example of the correction of Fourier-transform spectra for detector
      nonlinearity.
AB  - HgCdTe photoconductive detectors can display a nonlinear response when
      illuminated. In interferometric applications, this behavior must be accounted for
      in the data transformation process to avoid errors in the measurement of the
      spectral distribution of the incident radiation. A model for the distortion of
      the interferogram is proposed and applied to solar observations made by the
      Atmospheric Trace Molecule Spectroscopy (ATMOS) Fourier-transform spectrometer
      during orbital sunrise and sunset from the Space Shuttle. Empirical estimation of
      the dc current level is necessary for this instrument, and satisfactory
      nonlinearity correction is obtained for several of the primary ATMOS optical
      filters. For ATMOS broadband optical filters that cover more than one half the
      alias bandwidth, the model is inadequate because of the presence of antialiasing
      electronic filters within the instrument, and it is necessary to resort to
      estimation and subtraction of the residual baseline offset. In either case the
      remaining base line offsets are typically smaller than 1%, which is satisfactory,
      although offset remains a significant systematic source of error in the
      estimation of the abundance of telluric and solar constituents from the spectra.

PMID- 20941163
TI  - Infrared evanescent-absorption spectroscopy with chalcogenide glass fibers.
AB  - We have used telluride glass fibers fabricated in house to measure the evanescent
      absorption spectra of water, methanol, ethanol, isopropanol, acetone, ethanoic
      acid, hexane, and chloroform. Furthermore, detection limits of less than 2 vol. %
      solute were obtained for mixtures of water and methanol, ethanol, isopropanol,
      acetone, and ethanoic acid. Techniques to reduce the detection limits are
      discussed.

PMID- 20941164
TI  - Detection of low levels of trichloroethylene vapor with Raman spectrometry.
AB  - The response of a novel fiber-optic Raman probe to low levels of
      trichloroethylene (TCE) vapors is characterized. The detection limit of the
      current probe for TCE vapor is 34 mg/L, and the probe exhibits a fully reversible
      response. The probe uses an organic-polymer, low-density polyethylene to
      concentrate TCE vapors in the optical path of the fiber-optic Raman spectrometer.
      The relative standard deviation for measurement of 677 mg/L of TCE in the vapor
      is 0.3%.

PMID- 20941165
TI  - Simple autocorrelator for ultraviolet pulse-width measurements based on the
      nonlinear photoelectric effect.
AB  - An optical pulse-width measurement in the ultraviolet spectral region has been
      performed in a simple manner by introducing into the second-order autocorrelator
      a nonlinear response of the optical detector based on the two-photon
      photoelectric effect. The pulse widths of the third, fourth, and fifth harmonics
      of a mode-locked Nd:YAG laser were measured by the use of a photomultiplier with
      a cesium iodide photocathode with a minimum required pulse energy of 10 nJ and a
      power density of 10 kW/cm(2). The effect of transient interband optical
      excitation with different photon energies on the intensity correlation profile
      was also studied for the case of a copper iodide photocathode, and the result
      provides a background-free intensity correlation in a part of the ultraviolet
      spectral region.

PMID- 20941166
TI  - Use of the beat frequency between two modes for frequency stabilization of
      internal-mirror lasers.
AB  - We present a simple method of frequency stabilization of a laser with two
      orthogonal modes that uses the effects of anomalous dispersion at the active
      line. The result of this effect is that the frequency difference between
      oscillation modes varies during the frequency tuning along the Doppler line of
      the transition and has its minimum or maximum when the modes are symmetrically
      placed around the central part of the gain curve. We applied the semiclassical
      approach to describe the laser, and we established the rules for laser parameters
      to obtain the most convenient conditions for stabilization. We stabilized the
      thermally compensated experimental laser tube and reached frequency stabilities
      of 3 * 10(-9) and 3 * 10(-10) for integrating times of 1 and 134 s, respectively.

PMID- 20941167
TI  - Temporal pulse reshaping with surface waves.
AB  - The temporal reshaping of short optical pulses reflected from a metal film under
      the condition of surface-wave excitation of single- and multiple-boundary surface
      plasmon modes is theoretically investigated. Reflected pulse shapes are
      calculated through evaluation of Fourier transform integrals both by direct
      numerical integration and by approximate pole expansion. The latter is
      particularly useful for the interpretation of the simple exponential time decay
      of the trailing edge of the pulse. Emphasis is placed on determination of the
      range of parameters for which pulse reshaping may be experimentally observed.
      Diffraction of the incident beam is a limiting factor.

PMID- 20941168
TI  - Dy(2+):CaF(2) saturable-absorber Q switch for the ruby laser.
AB  - Passive Q switching of a flash-lamp-pumped ruby laser has been demonstrated with
      a Dy(2+):CaF(2) saturable absorber at room temperature. Typically a single Q
      switched pulse of 4.5 mJ and 94 ns was observed. At 694 nm, the ground-state
      absorption cross section and the excited-state absorption cross section of the
      Dy(2+):CaF(2) absorber were found to be 1.2 * 10(-18) cm(2) and 0.9 * 10(-18)
      cm(2) respectively, with a four-level slow-relaxing saturable-absorber model.

PMID- 20941169
TI  - Laser-threshold calculations for lasing of acidbase species in proton-transfer
      media.
AB  - An estimate of laser thresholds for both the acid and the base species of dyes
      undergoing proton-transfer reactions is given. It is seen how the excited-state
      kinetic constants and proton concentration affect the laser threshold of each
      species. Calculations of laser threshold for simultaneous lasing of both species
      are also carried out. The latter is applied to the simultaneous lasing of neutral
      and acid forms of the 4-Amino-1,7-dimethylpyrido[2,3-c]-1,2,6-thiadiazine 2,2
      dioxide in acetonitrile and corroborates the experimental results.

PMID- 20941170
TI  - New designs and simulations of a 10-kW average-power longitudinally pumped dye
      laser amplifier.
AB  - New designs of a 10-kW average-power longitudinally pumped dye laser amplifier
      pumped by a copper laser and its operating simulations are presented. The new
      designs, which use a center-hole mirror, make it possible to pump longitudinally
      without dichroic mirrors. The simulations take into consideration the time
      dependent excited-state absorption of both the laser and the pump beam. Dye laser
      amplifiers, with an input dye laser average power of 10 kW, are simulated. The
      simulation results suggest that a better than 50% extraction efficiency can be
      obtained with two pump beams of more than 1 kW. The results also suggest that an
      amplified gain of 10 with an extraction efficiency of approximately 50% can be
      obtained with the double-pass amplifier.

PMID- 20941171
TI  - High-sensitivity two-dimensional thermal- and mechanical-stress-induced
      birefringence measurements in a Nd:YAG rod.
AB  - A novel polarimeter for measuring the two-dimensional (2D) thermal- and
      mechanical-stress-induced birefringence in solid-state laser materials such as
      Nd:YAG is proposed. Using this device, we could sensitively measure the direction
      of the principal birefringence axis as well as the phase shift delta with sign
      when delta < pi/4. The 2D thermal- and mechanical-stress-induced birefringence in
      a laser-diode-pumped Nd:YAG rod was successfully measured with the proposed
      polarimeter. We also found an active quarter-wave Nd:YAG phase retarder.

PMID- 20941172
TI  - Frequency-modulation mode-locking performance for four Nd(3+)-doped laser
      crystals.
AB  - To determine an optimum host for simultaneous short-pulse-width and large-slope
      efficiency generation, the performance of Nd:YAG, Nd:YLF, Nd:YVO(4), and
      Nd(3+):Sr(5)(VO(4))(3)F [Nd:strontium fluorovanadate (S-VAP)] was characterized
      under a variety of end-pumped and frequency-modulation mode-locking conditions.
      The slope efficiency, threshold pump power, and pulse width were recorded for
      each laser and compared with theory. A figure of merit was defined, yielding
      Nd:YLF and Nd:YVO(4) as the experimentally determined crystals of choice.

PMID- 20941173
TI  - 24-W average power at 0.537 um from an externally frequency-doubled Q-switched
      diode-pumped Nd:YOS laser oscillator.
AB  - A diode-pumped single Nd:YOS rod laser is operated at 110 Hz with 830-mJ free
      lase pulses and 380-mJ, 13-ns (FWHM) Q-switched pulses. External doubling with an
      8-mm-long KTP crystal results in 24 W at 0.537 um after thermalization.

PMID- 20941174
TI  - Absolute frequency stability of a diode-laser-pumped Nd:YAG laser stabilized to a
      high-finesse optical cavity.
AB  - We report the frequency stabilization of a diode-laser-pumped monolithic ring
      Nd:YAG laser locked to a high-finesse optical cavity. With an independent cavity
      as a frequency discriminator, the absolute frequency noise was measured to be as
      low as 2 * 10(-2) Hz/Hz(1/2) at the Fourier frequency of approximately 3 kHz. We
      also measured the heterodyne beat note between two lasers locked to the
      independent cavities. The beat linewidth is narrower than 30 Hz and the minimum
      root Allan variance is approximately 6 * 10(-14).

PMID- 20941175
TI  - Experimental evaluation of a new expression for the far field of a diode laser
      beam.
AB  - The validity of a newly derived expression for the far field of a diode laser
      beam is examined by comparison of the measured intensity profiles with the
      calculated ones for typical double-heterostructure diodes. I also clarify which
      of the new and conventional expressions for the intensity profiles in the plane
      normal to the junction is more useful. The cause of the observed discrepancy
      between the measured and calculated profiles in the plane parallel to the
      junction is investigated by consideration of the higher-order Hermite-Gaussian
      modes. Further, I examine how the axial intensity varies with the propagation
      distance.

PMID- 20941176
TI  - Gaussian beam to spatial soliton formation in Kerr media.
AB  - We present a detailed analysis of the generation and propagation of bright
      spatial soliton beams in nonlinear Kerr media, in which an input beam is assumed
      to be of a Gaussian or hyperbolic secant form. The problem is solved by the use
      of the inverse-scattering transform (IST). The analysis of the discrete spectrum
      obtained from the direct-scattering problem gives exact information about the
      parameters of the generated soliton. A condition of soliton appearance in the
      spectrum as a function of the complex width of the initial Gaussian beam is given
      numerically. The similarities and differences between the hyperbolic secant and
      Gaussian beams entering the Kerr medium are analyzed in detail. A case is found
      in which almost all (approximately 99.5%) the total intensity of the Gaussian
      beam entering the Kerr medium is transformed into the soliton beam. However, this
      analogy to the self-trapping of soliton beams occurs for higher total-intensity
      values than in the case of the soliton input profile. The evolution from the
      Gaussian to the soliton envelope is studied and the condition of self-trapping in
      the near field is found. The numerical method based on the IST of the solution to
      the nonlinear Schrodinger equation is refined.

PMID- 20941177
TI  - Analysis of optical-fiber loop resonators with a collinear 3 * 3 fiber coupler.
AB  - A theoretical analysis is presented of an optical-fiber loop resonator with a
      collinear (planar) 3 * 3 fiber coupler in which the cores of the three fibers
      inside the coupler lie in the same plane. Six different types of the fiber loop
      resonator (types 1-6) can be constructed in conjunction with different inputs.
      Expressions for the circulating (resonant) and output intensities and resonance
      conditions of the six types are derived. Performance parameters such as finesse,
      cross talk, and maximum output intensity are evaluated when these fiber loop
      resonators are used as spectral filters and as closely spaced two-channel
      wavelength-division multiplexerdemultiplexers. Computed results indicate that
      full resonances cannot be reached simultaneously for both output intensities and
      that, in general, the output characteristics of the type 5 loop resonator are the
      best, followed by those of type 6.

PMID- 20941178
TI  - Optical vernier filter with two single 3 * 3 planar coupler fiber ring resonators
      in tandem.
AB  - A novel and simple optical vernier filter is proposed. It comprises two optical
      fiber ring resonators in tandem, each connected to a single-mode 3 * 3 planar
      fiber coupler. The vernier operation increases the effective free spectral range
      of the device significantly. This device can be used as a filter and wavelength
      division demultiplexer.

PMID- 20941179
TI  - Particular solution for geodesic lenses.
AB  - On the basis of the analytical method of designing aspherical optical waveguide
      geodesic lenses [J. Opt. Soc. Am. 69, 1248 (1979)], a particular solution for
      geodesic lenses without any curvature singularity was obtained.

PMID- 20941180
TI  - Analysis of nonreciprocal mode propagation in magneto-optic rib-waveguide
      structures with the spectral-index method.
AB  - Passive linear nonreciprocal devices, such as isolators or circulators, require
      gyrotropic media. If there is a contribution to the dielectric permittivity
      tensor of odd order in the magnetization, the modes propagate differently in the
      forward and the backward directions. We investigate dielectric waveguides that
      are formed by a rib of rectangular cross section on top of a planar structure.
      The rib or planar structure may consist of layers, each of which may be
      gyrotropic. We extend the spectral-index method for calculating differences
      between forward- and backward-propagation constants. A new design for an
      efficient nonreciprocal phase shifter is proposed.

PMID- 20941181
TI  - Airborne differential absorption lidar system for measurements of atmospheric
      water vapor and aerosols.
AB  - An airborne differential absorption lidar (DIAL) system has been developed at the
      NASA Langley Research Center for remote measurements of atmospheric water vapor
      (H(2)O) and aerosols. A solid-state alexandrite laser with a 1-pm linewidth and >
      99.85% spectral purity was used as the on-line transmitter. Solid-state avalanche
      photodiode detector technology has replaced photomultiplier tubes in the receiver
      system, providing an average increase by a factor of 1.5-2.5 in the signal-to
      noise ratio of the H(2)O measurement. By incorporating advanced diagnostic and
      data-acquisition instrumentation into other subsystems, we achieved additional
      improvements in system operational reliability and measurement accuracy.
      Laboratory spectroscopic measurements of H(2)O absorption-line parameters were
      perfo med to reduce the uncertainties in our knowledge of the absorption cross
      sections. Line-center H(2)O absorption cross sections were determined, with
      errors of 3-6%, for more than 120 lines in the 720-nm region. Flight tests of the
      system were conducted during 1989-1991 on the NASA Wallops Flight Facility
      Electra aircraft, and extensive intercomparison measurements were performed with
      dew-point hygrometers and H(2)O radiosondes. The H(2)O distributions measured
      with the DIAL system differed by <= 10% from the profiles determined with the in
      situ probes in a variety of atmospheric conditions.

PMID- 20941182
TI  - Spectral control of an alexandrite laser for an airborne water-vapor differential
      absorption lidar system.
AB  - A narrow-linewidth pulsed alexandrite laser has been greatly modified for
      improved spectral stability in an aircraft environment, and its operation has
      been evaluated in the laboratory for making water-vapor differential absorption
      lidar measurements. An alignment technique is described to achieve the optimum
      free spectral range ratio for the two etalons inserted in the alexandrite laser
      cavity, and the sensitivity of this ratio is analyzed. This technique drastically
      decreases the occurrence of mode hopping, which is commonly observed in a
      tunable, two-intracavity-etalon laser system. High spectral purity (> 99.85%) at
      730 nm is demonstrated by the use of a water-vapor absorption line as a notch
      filter. The effective cross sections of 760-nm oxygen and 730-nm water-vapor
      absorption lines are measured at different pressures by usingthis laser, which
      has a finite linewidth of 0.02 cm(-1) (FWHM). It is found that for water-vapor
      absorption linewidths greater than 0.04 cm(-1) (HWHM), or for altitudes below 10
      km, the laser line can be considered monochromatic because the measured effective
      absorption cross section is within 1% of the calculated monochromatic cross
      section. An analysis of the environmental sensitivity of the two intracavity
      etalons is presented, and a closed-loop computer control for active stabilization
      of the two intracavity etalons in the alexandrite laser is described. Using a
      water-vapor absorption line as a wavelength reference, we measure a long-term
      frequency drift (~ 1.5 h) of less than 0.7 pm in the laboratory.

PMID- 20941183
TI  - Effects of misestimated far-end boundary values on two common lidar inversion
      solutions.
AB  - Solutions of the lidar equation in both the Klett [Appl. Opt. 20, 211 (1981)] and
      the Fernald [Appl. Opt. 23, 652 (1984)] approaches include the effect of errors
      in the estimated boundary value at the far end. In the present study an attempt
      is made to formulate the effect of the error in the boundary value on the
      solution of the lidar equation. Using a modified extinction coefficient, we can
      simplify and unify the error expression of the lidar inversion solution. From the
      unified error expression and numerical experiments, we found that (a) in the case
      of overestimation of the boundary value, the discrepancy between the estimated
      value and the real value decreases near the lidar more rapidly than in the case
      of underestimation; and (b) the error for the Fernald solution converges to zero
      more rapidly than the error for the Klett solution, but the convergence of the
      Fernald solution sometimes shows oscillatory behavior, whereas the convergence of
      the Klett solution is always monotonic.

PMID- 20941184
TI  - Laser Doppler optical air-data system: feasibility demonstration and systems
      specifications.
AB  - A compact laser Doppler velocimeter with diode-pumped solid-state laser
      technology at 1.06 um and a novel solid-block beam-splitting interferometer was
      demonstrated. This system allows for accurate Doppler velocity measurements even
      in a vibration environment. A comparison of the backscatter measurements with a
      backscatter sonde from the University of Wyoming showed excellent agreement.
      Based on demonstrated performance and technology projection, the system
      specifications of an optical air-data system at 2.015 um are determined, and a
      detailed design concept is presented. In addition, the potential for a
      multifunctional sensor that can determine air data and detect wind shear and wake
      vortices is addressed.

PMID- 20941185
TI  - Coherent Doppler lidar signal covariance including wind shear and wind
      turbulence.
AB  - The performance of a coherent Doppler lidar is determined by the statistics of
      the coherent Doppler signal. The derivation and calculation of the covariance of
      the Doppler lidar signal for random atmospheric wind fields and wind shear are
      presented. The signal parameters are defined for a general coherent Doppler lidar
      system in terms of the atmospheric parameters. There are two distinct physical
      regimes: one in which the transmitted pulse determines the signal statistics and
      the other in which the wind field and the atmospheric parameters dominate the
      signal statistics. When the wind fields dominate the signal statistics, Doppler
      lidar data are nonstationary and the signal correlation time is proportional to
      the operating wavelength of the lidar. The signal covariance is derived for
      signal-shot and multiple-shot conditions. For a single shot, the parameters of
      the signal covariance depend on the random, instantaneous atmospheric parameters.
      For multiple shots, various levels of ensemble averaging over the t emporal
      scales of the atmospheric processes are required. The wind turbulence is
      described by a Kolmogorov spectrum with an outer scale of turbulence. The effects
      of the wind turbulence are demonstrated with calculations for a horizontal
      propagation path in the atmospheric surface layer.

PMID- 20941186
TI  - LADAR detection statistics in the presence of pointing errors.
AB  - The probability of detection of optically rough targets with pulsed LADAR systems
      that use direct detection is considered. It is assumed that the LADAR operates
      under conditions of both unintentional pointing offset bias (i.e., bore-sight
      error) andjitter. Under these conditions the probabilities of detection of
      targets in both the near field and the far field of the collecting aperture
      (i.e., for resolved, partially resolved, and unresolved targets) and for both
      large and small photoelectron counts are derived, and in many cases of practical
      interest accurate, elementary analytic approximations that are useful for
      parametric system studies are obtained. A number of technical references are
      appended, in which some of the key results are derived. In particular, an
      interesting new mathematical result involving the complementary incomplete gamma
      function and an analytic expression for the probability distribution function of
      a signal photoelectron count obeying BoseEinstein statistics (such as that
      arising from unresolved targets) immersed in Poisson noise is derived.

PMID- 20941187
TI  - Distortion of particulate extinction profiles measured with lidar in a two
      component atmosphere.
AB  - Distortions of particular extinction-coefficient profiles measured with lidar in
      a two-component (molecular and aerosol) scattering atmosphere are analyzed. The
      error of the extinction coefficient measured at range r depends on the location
      of the point r(b), where a boundary value is specified, and the particulate
      optical depth of the atmosphere between r and r(b); the particulate backscatter
      to-extinction ratio; and the ratio of particulate and molecular scattering
      extinction. If the near-end solution is used, small measurement errors can
      produce a significant divergence between the actual and the retrieved extinction
      coefficient profiles, even if the boundary value and the particulate backscatter
      to-extinction ratio are specified accurately. This effect is exacerbated at small
      values of the particulate scattering coefficient and the backscatter-to
      extinction ratio. When reasonable criteria are used, feasible minimum and maximum
      boundary values can be specified to restrict the range of lidar equation
      solutions from below and from above.

PMID- 20941188
TI  - Optical glass polishing by controlled laser surface-heat treatment.
AB  - It is shown that optical surfaces traditionally ground in conventional glasses
      with high coefficients of thermal expansion may be polished by irradiation with a
      space- and time-controlled uniform CO(2) laser beam. Comparisons of a theoretical
      simulation model of the laser-driven heating process with the experimental
      results allow us to determine the conditions for successful and reliable use of
      this technique. The technique can be applied indiscriminately to preheated
      samples made of different glasses, with any topography, and, of any size in a
      limited range that depends only on the available laser power.

PMID- 20941189
TI  - Application of two-photon laser-induced fluorescence for visualization of water
      vapor in combustion environments.
AB  - <p>Investigations concerning the potential for the visualization of water vapor
      in combustion processes have been made. The water molecules were excited through
      a two-photon excitation process at 248 nm with a tunable excimer laser; this was
      followed by fluorescence detection between ~ 400 and 500 nm. In the experimental
      work special care was taken to map the possible spectral interferences from hot
      O(2), which also absorbs in the same spectral region and which produces
      fluorescence emission that interferes with the water fluorescence. Experimental
      investigations of high-pressure applications are also presented.</p><p>Finally,
      two-dimensional (2-D) measurements made at room temperature, taken in an
      atmosphericpressure flame, and taken in an engine simulator at elevated pressure
      are presented. These results indicate that the detection limit for 2-D single
      shot registrations under optimized experimental conditions was estimated to 0.2%
      at atmospheric pressure and at room temperature. Extrapolations to flame
      conditions are also presented.</p>

PMID- 20941191
TI  - Phase-diversity wave-front sensor for imaging systems.
AB  - A phase-diversity wave-front sensor has been developed and tested at the Lockheed
      Palo Alto Research Labs (LPARL). The sensor consists of two CCD-array focal
      planes that record the best-focus image of an adaptive imaging system and an
      image that is defocused. This information is used to generate an object
      independent function that is the input to a LPARL-developed neural network
      algorithm known as the General Regression Neural Network (GRNN). The GRNN
      algorithm calculates the wave-front errors that are present in the adaptive
      optics system. A control algorithm uses the calculated values to correct the
      errors in the optical system. Simulation studies and closed-loop experimental
      results are presented.

PMID- 20941190
TI  - Characterization of pulsed coherent Doppler LIDAR with the speckle effect.
AB  - The relationships among heterodyne efficiency gamma, number of speckle cells M,
      and the ratio of receiver area to coherence area S(R)/S(C) for a pulsed coherent
      laser radar (CLR) are written through the use of mutual coherence functions. It
      is shown that numerical values for S(R)/S(C) that follow Goodman's definition [J.
      W. Goodman, in Laser Speckles and Related Phenomena, J. C. Dainty, ed. (Springer
      Verlag, Berlin, 1975), pp. 9-75] or that are obtained through the use of a
      transverse-field coherence length agree. In the frame of the Gaussian model
      proposed by Frehlich and Kavaya [Appl. Opt. 30, 5325 (1991)] a new equation is
      derived: M = (1 + S(R)/S(C)). This equation agrees with our experimental results.
      Our theoretical analysis shows that the number of speckle cells for an optimal
      monostatic CLR system is M ~ 4. An experiment has been conducted with a ground
      based pulsed CO(2) LIDAR and remote hard targets to study the probability density
      function of LIDAR returns as a function of M and to study the dependence of M on
      S(R)/S(C). An assessment of CLR performance through the use of M or the
      collecting aperture S(R) is discussed.

PMID- 20941192
TI  - Analytical solution to the optical transfer function of a scattering medium with
      large particles.
AB  - A new analytical expression for the optical transfer function of multiple
      scattering media such as clouds, mists, and dust aerosols is given in terms of
      their microphysical characteristics. The geometrical optics approximation is used
      to find local optical parameters of a scattering medium, including the simple
      approximation of the phase function, which is the key to the solution of the
      problem considered here. The optical transfer function is taken within a small
      angle approximation of the radiative transfer theory. A comparison with Monte
      Carlo data shows a fairly satisfactory accuracy of our analytic formulas.

PMID- 20941193
TI  - Patents.
AB  - 5,083,219; 5,153,670; 5,162,872; 5,260,814; 5,262,879; 5,267,063; 5,270,791;
      5,280,788; 5,288,996; 5,289,299; 5,291,316; 5,293,873; 5,294,806; 5,295,208;
      5,296,972; 5,297,436; 5,303,021; 5,305,083; 5,305,124; 5,305,138.

PMID- 20941194
TI  - Optical transfer function measurment facility for aerial survey cameras.
AB  - The optical transfer function measurement facility developed at the National
      Research Council of Canada primarily for testing aerial survey cameras has been
      upgraded to perform the task in an appreciably more convenient manner.
      Modifications made to the facility, which is based on the line spread function
      technique, include the replacement of the cumbersome physical scanning mechanism
      and detector unit with a detector assembly comprising a relay lens and a linear
      photodiode array. While eliminating the need for physically scanning the line
      spread function, it did require a change of light source, a daylight filter, and
      a new computer software package. The new setup is described in this paper.
      Several aerial survey cameras have been evaluated with the system, and results
      are given for a fairly standard Zeiss camera.

PMID- 20941195
TI  - Absorber design for a compound parabolic concentrator collector without
      transmission loss.
AB  - A new design method for a compound parabolic concentrator heat collector is
      described. The conventional design of the ideal compound parabolic concentrator
      collector has a touching point between a light absorber and the reflectors. This
      structure is not preferable from the standpoint of conductive heat leakage and
      thermal stress on reflector materials. On the other hand, if the absorber and the
      reflectors are separated from each other, the gap between them usually causes
      optical errors such as light transmission loss or an increase in the reflection
      number. We discuss the fact that ideal heat collection is possible, in spite of
      the gap, by introducing the idea of an effective heat concentration ratio.

PMID- 20941196
TI  - Quantitative phase imaging in confocal microscopy by optical differentiation.
AB  - The technique of optical differentiation is applied to confocal microscopy for
      the purpose of quantitative phase imaging. One-dimensional absorptive filters are
      placed in the pupil of the microscope objective to produce images related to the
      local phase slope in the object. With suitable signal processing and integration,
      a quantitative phase profile is obtained. This method is demonstrated in a
      reflection-based surface-profiling instrument.

PMID- 20941197
TI  - Optical properties of broadband reflection holograms.
AB  - The optical properties of highly chirped gratings of broadband reflection-type
      volume phase holograms are evaluated by a ray-tracing approach. The deformation
      of the fringes as well as the change of refractive index is attributed to
      swelling during processing. For high-efficiency holograms the problem can be
      reduced to geometric optics. The power density distribution in the focus of an on
      axis mirror is calculated by a Monte Carlo integration. The results are discussed
      for replay conditions that are relevant for photovoltaic applications.

PMID- 20941198
TI  - Spherical aberration correction using a liquid-crystal spatial-light modulator in
      off-axis electron holography.
AB  - One can correct spherical aberration in a transmission electron microscope by
      using a newly developed aberration-correction method involving off-axis electron
      holography. In this method, a liquid-crystal spatial-light modulator (LC SLM) is
      employed during the holographic reconstruction step to compensate for spherical
      aberration. Application of this method to high-resolution off-axis electron
      holograms of fine gold particles is presented. The phase distribution of the
      corrected object wave is visualized by the Zernike phase-contrast method carried
      out with the same LC SLM.

PMID- 20941199
TI  - Measuring the focal length of optical systems by grating shearing interferometry.
AB  - Using grating shearing interferometry, a new and simple technique to measure the
      effective focal length of optical systems is described. The diffraction pattern
      of a phase grating positioned at the focal point of the lens under test is
      evaluated for this purpose. The relative lateral shift between the undiffracted
      zero order and the diffracted first orders caused by the grating is measured. By
      utilizing knowledge of the wavelength of light, the grating period, and the
      diameter of an aperture stop placed in front of the test lens, we can determine
      the effective focal length of the test lens. Results of measurements are
      presented and compared with calculated values. The dependence of the focal length
      on the wavelength of the light is shown by using two laser sources of different
      wavelengths. An analysis of the measurement accuracy is given.

PMID- 20941200
TI  - Additive-subtractive phase-modulated electronic speckle interferometry: analysis
      of fringe visibility.
AB  - Fringe-visibility issues of additive-subtractive phase-modulated (ASPM)
      electronic speckle pattern interferometry (ESPI) are explored. ASPM ESPI is a
      three-step method in which additive-speckle images are acquired rapidly in an
      analog fashion in every frame of a video sequence, a speckle phase modulation is
      intentionally introduced between frames, and a digital subtraction of consecutive
      pairs of additive-speckle images is performed. We show that this scheme has the
      good high-frequency noise immunity associated with additive-ESPI techniques as
      well as the good fringe visibility associated with subtractive-ESPI techniques.
      The method has better fringe visibility than can be obtained with purely additive
      ESPI and also does not suffer from the fringe distortions that can occur with
      subtractive ESPI in the presence of high-frequency noise. We show that even if
      full speckle decorrelation were to occur between the two additive speckle images
      that are to be subtracted, the visibility of ASPM ESPI fringes can be made to
      approach unity by suitable adjustment of the reference-to-object beam-intensity
      ratio.

PMID- 20941201
TI  - Fiber Fabry-Perot interferometers with very low polarization sensitivity.
AB  - The sensitivity to input polarization in long-cavity (1 cm to 5 m) and high
      finesse (~ 100) fiber Fabry-Perot interferometers (FFPI's) is reduced from
      greater than 20 dB to between 0.2 and 0.6 dB in passband amplitude variation by
      the use of very-low-birefringence fibers. Furthermore the scanning FFPI's could
      allow very-high-resolution measurement of polarization-mode dispersion in short
      length low-birefringence fibers.

PMID- 20941202
TI  - Analytical phase-measuring technique for retardation measurements.
AB  - An analytical method for phase detection in retardation measurements is proposed.
      The experimental setup is based on a simple linear polariscope with a lambda
      plate. The intensity modulation at the output of the polariscope is measured when
      the wavelength is changed and a grid of phase-shifted intensity values is
      recorded. The phase difference between the components of the light propagating
      along the principal axes of the birefringent sample is determined with
      Greivenkamp's algorithm employed in phase-stepping interferometry. Error analysis
      for the new method is performed. Simplified algorithms for faster data analysis
      are proposed. The accuracy attained is comparable with the accuracy of known
      phase-detection methods used in retardation measurements.

PMID- 20941203
TI  - Microscopic transmission ellipsometry: measurement of the fibril angle and the
      relative phase retardation of single, intact wood pulp fibers.
AB  - A new technique based on transmission intensity-quotient ellipsometry has been
      developed for determining the fibril angle and the relative phase retardation of
      single, intact pulp fibers. The method uses a polarizing microscope in
      conjunction with a microscope video camera or CCD camera. Requiring no sample
      pretreatment, the new method is simple, fast, more accurate than existing
      methods, and nondestructive of the fiber material. To test the new method, we
      employed the multiwavelength measurement principle. It is based on the fact that
      the fibril angle is independent of wavelength, while the relative retardation is
      inversely proportional to the wavelength used. Measurements were carried out with
      single pulp fibers as samples under the illumination of different light
      wavelengths. The measurements and some results are described and presented.

PMID- 20941204
TI  - Compact dielectric reflective elements. II. Multichannel filter of closely spaced
      spectral bands.
AB  - The optical design of an interference wedge filter providing the simultaneous
      separation of a number of closely spaced spectral bands is studied. Multiple
      reflections of the incident collimated beam within the wedge are initiated, each
      of them characterized by a different angle of incidence and consequently by
      specific spectral parameters of the transmitted band. Model calculations based on
      the measured angular dependences of filter transmission parameters have been
      performed. The design is proposed for applications in optical communications
      (wavelength division demultiplexing), analytical spectroscopy
      (minipolychromators), color analysis, and similar areas.

PMID- 20941205
TI  - Insect thin films as solar collectors.
AB  - A numerical method for simulation of microscale radiation effects in insect thin
      film structures is described. Accounting for solar beam and diffuse radiation,
      the model calculates the reflectivity and emissivity of such structures. A case
      study examines microscale radiation effects in butterfuly wings, and results
      reveal a new function of these multilayer thin films: thermal regulation. For
      film thicknesses of the order of 0.10 um, solar absorption levels vary by as much
      as 25% with small changes in film thickness; for certain existing structures,
      absorption levels reach 96%., This is attributed to the spectral distribution of
      the reflected radiation, which consists of a singular reflectance peak within the
      solar spectrum.

PMID- 20941206
TI  - Design of a far-infrared and visible separation filter.
AB  - The selection and testing of coating materials that are suitable for both the far
      IR (in the 10-um range) and visible regions are described. Using these materials,
      I show here the design concept and fabrication of a beam-splitting coating for
      separating two widely separated spectral regions.

PMID- 20941207
TI  - Approximate phase conjugation with a retroreflecting array in microscopy.
AB  - Some experiments on image recovery in microscopy are described. The aperture stop
      of a microscope objective is partially obscured, and a retroreflecting array is
      used as an approximate phase conjugator to return the beam through the
      unobstructed part of the aperture. An application is made to the measurement of
      the absolute reflectance of small samples by use of a variant of Strong's method.

PMID- 20941208
TI  - Absolute testing of optical flats at points on a square grid: error propagation.
AB  - The absolute testing of optical flats through the use of the rotation-shift
      method is discussed. Absolute deviations of three flats are determined by the
      evaluation of at least four interference patterns of pairs of these flats. In the
      rotation-shift method the absolute deviations are calculated at the points of a
      square grid. The propagation of error in measurements of the interference
      patterns to the magnitude of the error of the overall result is calculated with
      respect to special combinations of pairs of the flats. Proposals are made to
      minimize the error propagation. The mean-square value of the error-propagation
      factors is in the range of 0.75. Square grids of up to 151 points * 151 points
      are used.

PMID- 20941209
TI  - Stellar speckle camera for spectroscopy.
AB  - A stellar speckle spectrometer with increased performance and flexibility has
      been newly developed. In this new spectrometer two synchronized detectors are
      used to observe a dispersed speckle pattern and a specklegram. A reflection
      grating is employed as a disperser. We obtained a stellar spectrum with the
      diffraction-limited spatial resolution of a telescope by referring to
      specklegrams that are simultaneously recorded with dispersed speckle patterns. A
      preliminary observational result is also shown.

PMID- 20941210
TI  - Electronic speckle photography: increased accuracy by nonintegral pixel shifting.
AB  - Electronic speckle photography offers a simple and fast technique for measuring
      in-plane displacement fields in solid and fluid mechanics. An improved algorithm
      is presented and analyzed by use of both computer-simulated speckle patterns and
      real experiments. The idea of the improved algorithm is to maximize the
      correlation between correlated subimages from different images by shifting one of
      them by nonintegral pixel values. The improved algorithm was found to determine
      displacement components with an uncertainty of less than 1% of a pixel and with
      negligible systematic errors in ideal experimental conditions.

PMID- 20941211
TI  - Three-dimensional characterization of the light distribution from diffusing
      cylindrical optical-fiber tips.
AB  - A rapid and sensitive technique for quantitatively examining the three
      dimensional light distribution from optical-fiber diffusers for photodynamic
      therapy applications was developed. We have used this system to evaluate the
      longitudinal and azimuthal uniformity of the light output from cylindrical
      diffusing tips and have determined a standard detector configuration for
      assessing the optical quality of these diffusers. As an example of the
      sensitivity and the accuracy of this method, the effect of microbending of the
      fiber on the output intensity distribution, as well as the effect of the choice
      of laser used, was investigated and was seen to have a significant impact on the
      uniformity of these diffusers.

PMID- 20941212
TI  - Calculation of the effective index for nonguiding regions: comment.
AB  - In computer simulations the effective-index method is often used to reduce three
      dimensional waveguide structures to two dimensions by definition of an effective
      index. For nonguiding regions, however, an effective index cannot be calculated.
      Jaeger and Lai [Appl. Opt. 31, 7183-7190 (1992)] present a method in which the
      choice of an effective index for nonguiding regions is based on a linear
      extrapolation formula. We show, however, that this linear relationship does not
      hold in the vicinity of cutoff and therefore yields an arbitrary effective index
      for the waveguide under cutoff. Furthermore it is shown that errors in
      simulations based on the effective-index method can actually be increased by the
      Jaeger and Lai method because of a further overestimation of the lateral
      contrast.

PMID- 20941213
TI  - Calculation of the effective index for nonguiding regions: reply to comment.
AB  - Here we point out that in their comment Bastiaansen et al. Appl. Opt. 33, this
      issue (1994)] overlooked both the context of and the assumptions in Jaeger and
      Lai's paper [Appl. Opt. 31, 7183-7190 (1992)]. This omission appears to have
      resulted in their applying the Jaeger and Lai method inappropriately to a
      particular rib waveguide structure, yielding strange results. Therefore we
      present the underlying theory and ad hoc a simple and theoretically consistent
      method for applying it to rib waveguides. We demonstrate that good results may be
      obtained for a weakly guiding rib waveguide structure when field separability may
      be assumed, i.e., one that better meets the assumptions; this structure was
      chosen because numerical results were available for comparison.

PMID- 20941214
TI  - Experimental study of the effect of absorbing and transmitting inclusions in
      highly scattering media.
AB  - Experimental results are presented for the cw reflected signal from a dense
      random medium containing inclusions of absorbing material or glass. It is shown
      that a glass inclusion is more difficult to detect than an absorbing one. A glass
      rod has two effects on the reflected signal: a waveguiding effect that reduces
      the signal and a transmission effect that increases it. The overall effect of the
      glass rod depends strongly on the distribution of light inside the sample around
      the inclusion and hence on the scattering liquid itself. This implies that for
      experiments modeling tissue interactions the parameters of scatterers used should
      be as close as possible to the tissue parameters.

PMID- 20941215
TI  - Time-gated transillumination of biological tissues and tissuelike phantoms.
AB  - The applicability and limits of time-resolved transillumination to determine the
      internal details of biological tissues are investigated by phantom experiments.
      By means of line scans across a sharp edge, the spatial resolution (Deltax) and
      its dependence on the time-gate width (Deltat) can be determined. Additionally,
      measurements of completely absorbing bead pairs embedded in a turbid medium
      demonstrate the physical resolution in a more realistic case. The benefit of time
      resolution is especially high for a turbid medium with a comparatively small
      reduced scattering coefficient of approximately u(s)' = 0.12 mm(-1).
      Investigations with partially absorbing beads and filled plastic tubes
      demonstrate the high sensitivity of time-resolving techniques with respect to
      spatial variations in scattering or absorption coefficients that are due to the
      embedded disturber. In particular, it is shown that time gating is sensitive to
      variations in scattering coefficients.

PMID- 20941216
TI  - Phase-unwrapping algorithm for noisy phase-map processing.
AB  - Automated fringe-pattern processing is important in a great number of industrial
      applications, such as optical data testing and quality control. One of the main
      problems that arises with these processes is the automated phase unwrapping of
      the phase map associated with the fringe pattern. Usually the phase map presents
      problems such as noise, and low-modulation areas. A new phase-unwrapping
      algorithm with high noise immunity is presented. The algorithm is easily
      implemented and can process arbitrary shapes. The main features of this algorithm
      are the use of a queue for the processing of arbitrary shapes and a selection
      criterion that determines which pixels are going to be processed.

PMID- 20941217
TI  - Diffractive interconnection between a high-power Nd:YAG laser and a fiber bundle.
AB  - Beam splitters are used to couple the light of high-power Nd:YAG lasers into a
      fiber bundle. By the fibers the light is delivered to the workstations in the
      factory. This technique is used to reduce the costs of the light and to simplify
      the logistics within the fabrication process. Typically, dielectric beam
      splitters are used. However, they suffer from a polarization-sensitive splitting
      ratio. Because the polarization content of a high-power Nd:YAG-laser is not
      constant in time, polarization-independent beam splitters are of concern. The
      feasibility of diffractive beam splitters is investigated.

PMID- 20941218
TI  - Diffraction efficiency of low-resolution Fresnel encoded lenses.
AB  - A mathematical model to describe the behavior of low-resolution Fresnel lenses
      encoded in any low-resolution device (e.g., a spatial light modulator) is
      developed. From this model the diffraction efficiency is calculated in terms of
      all the parameters that characterize these lenses.

PMID- 20941219
TI  - Transverse holographic optical interconnect design.
AB  - The design of A new type of planar optical interconnect, the transverse
      holographic waveguide, is described. With this type of interconnect a one
      dimensional input light distribution is converted into a one-dimensional output
      light distribution by holographic patterning along the direction of the optical
      wave propagation.

PMID- 20941220
TI  - Optoelectronic butterfly interconnection architecture of modified signed-digit
      arithmetic systems: fully parallel adder and subtracter.
AB  - The carry-free property of modified signed-digit addition is discussed, and a
      space-position-logic-encoding scheme is proposed, which not only makes best use
      of the convenience of binary (0, 1) logic operation but is also suitable for the
      trinary (1, 0, 1-) property of modified signed-digit digits. Based on the
      spaceposition-logic-encoding scheme, a fully parallel modified signed-digit adder
      and subtracter is built by use of optoelectronic switch modules and butterfly
      interconnections; thus an effective combination of a parallel algorithm and a
      parallel architecture is implemented. The effectiveness of this architecture is
      verified by both simulation and experimental results.

PMID- 20941221
TI  - Single-lens single-image incoherent passive-ranging systems.
AB  - We introduce a new system for single-lens single-image incoherent passive
      ranging. The only a priori object information this system requires is that the
      objects to be ranged must possess a low-pass spatial frequency spectrum.
      Physically, this system for passive ranging is a standard optical imaging system
      that is customized with a special-purpose optical mask or filter. Analytically,
      this optical mask customizes the transfer function of the optical system in such
      a way that objects form images that contain range-dependent information. This
      range-dependent information lies in the spatial spectrum nulls or zeros of the
      image.

PMID- 20941222
TI  - Acousto-optical wideband correlator system: design, implementation, and
      evaluation.
AB  - We describe the design and development of an acousto-optical wideband correlator
      that we integrated into a digital signal-processing system testbed. We report its
      measured performance and compare it with various theoretical performance
      measures, one of which compares the optical system with an equivalent efficient
      digital correlator. The measured performance of the optical system was 20 to 70
      times that of a VAX 6410 computer using a fast-Fourier-transform correlation
      algorithm and a vector processor, even though the electronic interface system
      limited the performance of the optical system to less than 0.5% of its potential.
      We also compare the system with commercially available digital signal-processing
      boards.

PMID- 20941223
TI  - Optical correlation: influence of the coding of the input image.
AB  - We analyze the influence of different optical coding methods of the input image
      in optical correlators. The noise robustness and the optical efficiency of the
      correlator are investigated. We show in particular that the signal-to-noise ratio
      is greatly dependent on the coding method. It decreases drastically for large
      phase modulation.

PMID- 20941224
TI  - Model for the effects of material shrinkage on volume holograms.
AB  - A model for analyzing the effects of material shrinkage on volume holograms is
      presented. This model is based on the fringe-plane rotation model used for
      describing the effects of plane-wave grating holograms that undergo shrinkage. A
      computer was used to exercise the model for a simple input object typical of
      those used in digital holographic memory applications and stored as a Fourier
      transform hologram. The theoretical formulation of the model is presented as well
      as the results of the numerical analysis.

PMID- 20941225
TI  - Mirror hologram recording with a phase-change medium.
AB  - We propose mirror hologram recording with a phase-change material, which has a
      large refractive-index difference between its amorphous and crystalline states.
      It offers excellent diffraction efficiency and is erasable and nonvolatile. We
      designed an optimum multilayer structure for high diffraction efficiency by
      simulating the effect of each film thickness on diffraction efficiency.
      Experiments with a germanium tellurium alloy as the phase-change material show a
      high diffraction efficiency close to the calculated value. This medium can also
      be used for directly drawing computer-generated holograms. Lee-type computer
      generated holograms were drawn on this medium with optical-disk technology.

PMID- 20941226
TI  - Wavelength selection for true-color holography.
AB  - We discuss wavelength selection for true-color holography by investigating the
      sampling nature of the holographic process. During holographic recording the
      chosen wavelengths point sample the surfacereflectance functions of the objects
      in a scene. To understand the effect of this sampling on color perception, we
      study the tristimulus values of points in the reconstructed hologram. The
      sampling results in the holographic process being mathematically equivalent to
      integral approximations for the tristimulus integrals. By selecting efficient
      approximations, we infer wavelengths to use in color holography. Our analysis not
      only suggests wavelengths for the usual three-color holography but also suggests
      the use of four or more wavelengths to improve color reproduction in holography.

PMID- 20941227
TI  - Image segmentation of a color-blindness plate.
AB  - One way of testing color vision is with a color-blindness plate (CBP) consisting
      of a set of brilliant colored dots to form a pattern (a figure) and a set of
      other colored dots to form a background. Classification of such a type of color
      image into a pattern and a background with a traditional technique is difficult.
      Based on a self-organizing feature map and a labeling process as well as spatial
      distance computation, an effective approach to the segmentation of a CBP image is
      presented. We describe the principle of a CBP segmentation and then introduce the
      CBP. The proposed approach is described, and its experimental results are
      presented. We conclude that the method can segment the CBP image into a pattern
      and a background successfully.

PMID- 20941228
TI  - Statistical inference for automatic target recognition systems.
AB  - Traditionally, correlation-based target-recognition systems are evaluated by
      observation of the number of images successfully recognized and the errors made
      in the classification process. However, the rigorous use of hypothesis tests and
      confidence intervals in these evaluations does not appear with any regularity in
      the optics literature. The optical target-recognition community should adopt
      these standard methods to evaluate objectively the statistical performance of
      automatic target recognition systems. We review the necessary steps for making
      statistically significant inferences about the performance of automatic target
      recognition systems and show their application by reevaluating some previous
      results as case studies.

PMID- 20941229
TI  - Dammann gratings as phase diffusers in Fourier holography.
AB  - Fourier-transform holograms of periodic data display intense diffraction orders.
      To provide accurate storage, the holographic recording medium must have a large
      dynamic range. Dammann gratings can be used as deterministic phase diffusers to
      redistribute spatially the irradiance pattern of the hologram and thereby
      decrease the required dynamic range.

PMID- 20941230
TI  - Asymmetric optical loop mirror: analysis of an all-optical switch.
AB  - We present an analysis of the optical loop mirror in which a nonlinear optical
      element is asymmetrically placed in the loop. This analysis provides a general
      framework for the operation of a recently invented ultrafast all-optical switch
      known as the terahertz optical asymmetric demultiplexer. We show that a loop with
      small asymmetry, such as that used in the terahertz optical asymmetric
      demultiplexer, permits low-power ultrafast all-optical sampling and
      demultiplexing to be performed with a relatively slow optical nonlinearity. The
      size of the loop is completely irrelevant to switch operation as long as the
      required degree of asymmetry is accommodated. This is therefore the first low
      power ultrafast all-optical switch that can be integrated on a single substrate.

PMID- 20941231
TI  - Quasi three-dimensional, n-bit optical memory based on the ellipsometric
      principle: model calculations.
AB  - Model calculations on the ellipsometric memory are presented. The ellipsometric
      memory is an n-bit optical memory whose information is extracted by use of the
      ellipsometric principle. The memory cells of the device consist of thin-film
      multilayer structures, and the information of each memory cell is contained in
      the optical properties of the thin films. Several thin-film multilayer structures
      were examined in order to find out how different choices of layer materials and
      other system parameters such as layer thicknesses and wavelength affect
      resolutions and limitations of the ellipsometric memory. Such calculations are
      also useful for optimizing the readout resolution. It was found that it is
      possible to use memory cells having up to at least eight layers, which would
      permit 8-bit words to be stored at each location. It was also found that, in
      principle, several types of materials can be used as layer materials, and various
      aspects of different choices of materials are discussed.

PMID- 20941232
TI  - Integrated optical-disk pickup that uses a focusing grating coupler with a high
      numerical aperture.
AB  - An integrated optical-disk pickup that uses a focusing grating coupler with a
      numerical aperture of 0.45 (a focal length of 1.0 mm and an aperture of 1.0 mm *
      0.8 mm) was developed, and the readout signal on an International Standards
      Organization (ISO) -formatted 90-mm optical disk was detected by the pickup. The
      signal-amplitude ratio of the minimum-limit data pattern to the maximum was 0.53
      on the innermost track. It meets the requirement on the signal resolution for
      optical-disk storage devices.

PMID- 20941233
TI  - Multitarget-tracking optical processing system.
AB  - We consider multitarget tracking, estimating the state vector (two-dimensional
      position and velocity) of each target from physical measurements. We consider a
      full system for this and the role for analog optical processing within its
      subsystems. We emphasize the neural network data-association subsystem (which
      associates measurements in the present input frame with estimates from previous
      frames of data). Our new optimization neural net results concern associations
      between measurements and estimates and show that use of a simple fixed
      coefficient estimation filter is sufficient. For completeness in our full system
      approach we briefly describe our optical detection subsystem and its use to
      reduce frame-to-frame jitter in the measurements. We also briefly note our Hough
      transform optical subsystem and discuss its use in detecting and correcting data
      dropout errors and errors in the data-association and estimator systems. We
      conclude that analog optical processing has significant use in a full multitarget
      tracking system.

PMID- 20941234
TI  - Fringe-orientation maps and fringe skeleton extraction by the two-dimensional
      derivative-sign binary-fringe method.
AB  - The fringe-orientation information of an interferometric fringe pattern is
      provided in the form of a fringe-orientation map by spin filtering. The fringe
      orientation information is an important feature of fringe patterns and is helpful
      in many fringe-pattern processing algorithms. With the help of a fringe
      orientation map the two-dimensional derivative-sign binary-fringe method is
      developed to extract fringe skeletons from a fringe pattern with an arbitrary
      fringe distribution. This fringe skeleton extraction method does not require
      thresholds and a thinning process. It is relatively robust and highly accurate.

PMID- 20941235
TI  - Kinoform design with an optimal-rotation-angle method.
AB  - Kinoforms (i.e., computer-generated phase holograms) are designed with a new
      algorithm, the optimalrotation- angle method, in the paraxial domain. This is a
      direct Fourier method (i.e., no inverse transform is performed) in which the
      height of the kinoform relief in each discrete point is chosen so that the
      diffraction efficiency is increased. The optimal-rotation-angle algorithm has a
      straightforward geometrical interpretation. It yields excellent results close to,
      or better than, those obtained with other state-of-the-art methods. The optimal
      rotation-angle algorithm can easily be modified to take different restraints into
      account; as an example, phase-swing-restricted kinoforms, which distribute the
      light into a number of equally bright spots (so called fan-outs), were designed.
      The phase-swing restriction lowers the efficiency, but the uniformity can still
      be made almost perfect.

PMID- 20941236
TI  - Photon counting with passively quenched germanium avalanche.
AB  - We demonstrate photon counting in germanium avalanche photodiodes biased beyond
      breakdown and quenched with a simple series resistance circuit. The devices show
      moderate (> 7%) quantum efficiency with limited afterpulsing and dark counts and
      subnanosecond jitter.

PMID- 20941237
TI  - Single-photon detection beyond 1 um: performance of commercially available
      germanium photodiodes.
AB  - Germanium avalanche photodiodes (APD's) working biased above the breakdown
      voltage detect single optical photons in the near-infrared wavelength range. We
      give guidelines for the selection of devices suitable for photon-counting
      applications among the commercial samples, and we discuss in detail how the
      devices should be operated to achieve the best performance, both in terms of
      noise-equivalent power (NEP) and the timing-equivalent bandwidth. We introduce
      the driving electronics and we show that, in the measurements of fast optical
      signals, the adoption of single-photon techniques is very favorable,
      notwithstanding that presently available photodiodes are not designed for this
      purpose. On the contrary, in the detection of cw signals, the lower NEP values
      achieved in photon counting may not be sufficient to justify the replacement of
      conventional analog p-i-n germanium detectors, which offer comparable performance
      with a definitely larger sensitive area. Finally, we show that, by properly
      choosing theoperating conditions, some selected APD's achieve an 85-ps time
      resolution in the detection of optical photons at a 1.3-um wavelength, which
      corresponds to a timing-equivalent bandwidth of 1.8 GHz. To the best of our
      knowledge, this time resolution is the lowest reported to date for single-photon
      detectors in the near infrared.

PMID- 20941238
TI  - Ring resonator for lasers with annular gain media.
AB  - A ring resonator for lasers with annular gain media is presented. The resonator
      consists of two annular mirrors. While the radiation is reflected back and forth
      between the two annular mirrors, diffraction effects induce an additional
      azimuthal radiation flux. Output coupling is obtained through a decentered
      coupling aperture on the circumference of one of the two mirrors. The azimuthal
      radiation flux permits the extraction of optical power from the whole gain volume
      through the coupling aperture. The azimuthal radiation flux can revolve in two
      directions. The associated modes are degenerate, and random jumping between
      unidirectional and bidirectional operation is observed. Unidirectional operation
      has been stabilized but remains very sensitive to mirror alignment. High
      extraction efficiencies have been demonstrated experimentally with this resonator
      with a diffusion-cooled CO(2) laser and 2 times diffraction-limited beams have
      been obtained. An empty resonator model that shows the effect of edge diffraction
      at the coupling aperture on the resonator modes is also given.

PMID- 20941239
TI  - Scattering mechanism and reduction of insertion losses in a laminated
      polarization splitter.
AB  - We experimentally found the unexpected phenomena of scattering in laminated
      polarization splitters (LPS's) composed of a-Si:H-SiO(2) multilayer and studied
      its mechanism. The scattering phenomena strongly depend on the incident angle and
      polarization of the incident light. To reduce the scattering loss in LPS's, a
      multilayer with flat layer boundaries is fabricated with rf bias sputtering. As a
      result, the insertion loss of the LPS is reduced to ~ 1 * 10(-3) dB/ um, which is
      acceptable for practical uses.

PMID- 20941240
TI  - Fabrication and characterization of a third-order nonlinear organic-polymer
      composite glass waveguide: a self-phase modulator.
AB  - Composite organic-polymer glass optical waveguides in which coupling to the
      nonlinear organic-polymer layers was achieved by excitement of the underlying ion
      exchanged glass waveguide and coupling of the light to the organic-polymer layer
      were fabricated and measured. A picosecond pulsed color center laser (lambda =
      1.5 um) was used to measure the third-order optical susceptibility chi((3))(-w;
      w, -w, w) in an organic-dye-polymer composite glass waveguide with a Mach-Zehnder
      interferometer. For a squaryliumdye-doped poly(methyl methacrylate)-styrene
      acrylonitrile matrix polymer layer, a composite chi((3)) of roughly 90, in units
      of (chiLiNbO)(3)((3)), was measured.

PMID- 20941241
TI  - 1053-nm-wavelength selection in a diode-laser-pumped Nd:YLF laser.
AB  - We report on a Nd:YLF laser that operates at 1053 nm without optical intracavity
      elements for the suppression of the stronger 1047-nm transition. The Nd:YLF
      crystal is end pumped by a fiber optically coupled 10-W diode-laser bar. The
      different thermal-lensing focal lengths of the two main lasing wavelengths in a
      plane-parallel resonator were used to achieve the selection by tilting the end
      mirror slightly from its optimum position for maximum output power. With 9.8-W cw
      diode-laser-pumping power the 1053-nm Nd:YLF laser produces a maximum output
      power of 1.9 W in cw operation and nearly 1 W of average power at a Q-switch
      repetition rate of 15 kHz. The highest slope efficiency of 47% achieved in cw
      operation.

PMID- 20941242
TI  - Electrical model for high-power-density laser diodes.
AB  - We present an electrical model for modulation and noise of laser diodes that
      takes spectral-hole burning into account and, unlike previous models, is accurate
      at the quantum level. The active part of the laser diode is represented by a
      capacitance-expressing carrier storage and a series resistance 1 + beta, where
      beta is proportional to the spectral-hole depth. These two elements are followed
      by a negative impedance converter. The modulation rate measured on this
      electrical model is in excellent agreement with the theoretical expression.
      Amplitude noise is simulated by two independent noise sources whose spectral
      densities are independent of the nonlinearity.

PMID- 20941243
TI  - Birefringent beam splitter for intracavity mode selection in high-power
      multimirror lasers.
AB  - The design and application of an uncoated sapphire plate that acts as both the
      beam splitter and the output coupler of an interferometric laser resonator are
      described. Output coupling is provided at one of the surfaces by p-polarized (TM)
      reflection near the Brewster angle, and axial-mode selection is enforced at the
      other surface by s-polarized (TE) reflection at the same angle of incidence. The
      design is discussed in the context of the phase-locked, rf linac free-electron
      laser, in which the coupling of adjacent optical pulses at the beam splitter
      induces temporal phase coherence among all the pulses in the output beam; this
      coherence is manifested in the frequency domain as a reduction in the number of
      axial modes per rf frequency interval. The Michelson and Fox-Smith resonator
      designs are compared, and applications to cavity dumping are discussed.

PMID- 20941244
TI  - Bottleneck optical limiters: the optimal use of excited-state absorbers.
AB  - Passive nonlinear absorptive limiters offer an effective means to protect human
      eyes and other focal-plane sensors from damage by pulsed laser radiation. New
      device designs are proposed in which dye molecules are driven into strong ground
      state depletion by the incoming threat pulse while the internal fluence values
      are kept below the material failure level. Pulse-energy suppression ratios
      greater than 10(4) for 10-ns pulses together with linear transmission greater
      than 70% should be possible with existing dyes.

PMID- 20941245
TI  - Fourth-harmonic generation in a single lithium niobate-crystal with cascaded
      second-harmonic generation.
AB  - Tunable second- and fourth-harmonic radiation was generated in a single 1-cm-long
      lithium niobate (LiNbO(3)) crystal with the Mark III infrared free electron laser
      at Duke University. The fundamental laser radiation was tuned from 2 to 2.5 um,
      yielding 1-1.25-um radiation (second harmonic) and 0.5-0.625-um radiation (fourth
      harmonic). A fundamental-second-harmonic energy conversion efficiency of 66% and
      a fundamental-fourth-harmonic energy conversion efficiency of 3.3 * 10(-6) were
      measured. The maximum energy in the fourth harmonic was 3.3 nJ.

PMID- 20941246
TI  - Single-grating laser pulse stretcher and compressor.
AB  - Stretching and compressing of laser pulses is demonstrated with a single-grating
      apparatus. A laser pulse of 110 fs is stretched to 250 ps and then recompressed
      to 115 fs. The apparatus exploits a two-level structure: one level for stretching
      and the other for compressing. This single-grating configuration shows
      significant simplification in structure and alignment over existing multiple
      grating systems. Such a stretcher-compressor is particularly suitable for use
      with chirped-pulse amplification in which laser wavelength tuning is desirable.
      Only one rotational adjustment is rquired to restore the alignment of the entire
      stretcher and compressor when the laser wavelength is changed.

PMID- 20941247
TI  - Visible optical parametric generator producing nearly bandwidth-limited
      femtosecond light pulses at 1-kHz repetition rate.
AB  - The second harmonic of a femtosecond Ti:sapphire regenerative amplifier system is
      used to pump parametric generator-amplifier producing visible light pulses of 160
      fs duration near 570 nm and infrared pulses of < 100-fs duration between 1.23 and
      1.45 um.

PMID- 20941248
TI  - State-space description of optimal erbium amplifier tapers.
AB  - A detailed investigation of a state-space description of the dynamics of erbium
      doped optical fiber amplifiers (EDFAs) is provided. The description is used to
      derive equations that describe amplifiers that yield the greatest signal-to-noise
      ratio possible for a given gain. A further set of equations is derived to
      describe tapers that attain the greatest possible gain for a given input pump
      power. Numerical solutions of these equations are then examined, and it is thus
      shown that, in many important cases, fiber tapering can produce only a small
      signal-to-noise ratio improvement and a modest increase in the gain attainable
      for a given input.

PMID- 20941249
TI  - Fabry-Perot resonator composed of a photoinduced birefringent fiber grating.
AB  - The periodic mode coupling between the x- and y-polarization modes that is
      induced by a photoinduced birefringent fiber grating is analyzed through the use
      of the coupled-mode theory. A novel Fabry-Perot resonator composed of a
      photoinduced birefringent fiber grating is proposed and theoretically
      investigated. In the ideal case, the x- and y-polarization resonances of the
      resonator coincide with each other because of the polarization power exchange by
      the photoinduced birefringent grating, which results in the total resonator
      output's being polarization independent. However, if there are some external
      perturbations (e.g., temperature change or strain), the phase matching is
      detuned, which could destroy the coincidence between the two polarization
      resonances, which can further result in the total output resonance's having two
      peaks. The separation between these two resonant peaks depends on perturbations
      of the environment (temperature changes or strain).

PMID- 20941250
TI  - Kerr bistability in an optical fiber ring resonator with a 3 * 3 planar fiber
      coupler.
AB  - A theoretical study of bistability caused by the optical Kerr effect in a type 1
      optical fiber ring resonator connected to a 3 * 3 planar coupler is presented.
      The dependence of the bistability on various parameters of the fiber and the
      coupler is investigated. A comparison between the bistable characteristics of
      this ring resonator and those of a fiber ring resonator with a 3 * 3 equilateral
      triangular (nonplanar) fiber coupler is made.

PMID- 20941251
TI  - Elimination of Kerr bistability in an optical fiber ring resonator with a 3 * 3
      planar fiber coupler.
AB  - A special property of a type 3 optical fiber ring resonator with a 3 * 3 planar
      coupler in which the circulating intensity is independent of the phase change of
      the ring resonator can be used to eliminate unwanted Kerr bistability. At the
      same time the device can be used as a two-channel frequency division multiplexer
      or demultiplexer or a switch. Another method for the elimination of Kerr
      bistability is the use of two fibers whose nonlinear refractive-index
      coefficients have opposite signs to build the ring resonator.

PMID- 20941252
TI  - 2 * 2 single-mode zero-gap directional-coupler thermo-optic waveguide switch on
      glass.
AB  - A 2 * 2 single-mode thermo-optic waveguide switch fabricated on a glass substrate
      is reported. The device uses a zero-gap directional-coupler configuration with a
      heater electrode to increase the waveguide index of refraction by the use of the
      thermo-optic effect. With an interaction length of 6 mm and using 0.63-um He-Ne
      laser light, the device experiences a complete switchover of light from a
      straight-through channel to a crossed channel at an electrical drive power of
      0.25 W under a quasi-steady-state condition and 0.67 W under a pulsed condition
      of 800 -s in pulse width. The device response is independent of light
      polarization and insensitive to ambient temperature. Transient thermal analysis
      is carried out with a two-dimensional transient temperature solution derived
      previously [IEEE Trans. Components Hybrids Manuf. Technol. 13, 980 (1990)]. A
      thermo-optic equation is established to relate the optical intensity to the
      temperature rise in the waveguide. The deduced optical responses based on the
      thermo-optic equation and the calculated thermal response agree extremely well
      with the measured responses, thus verifying the thermo-optic equation and the
      thermal-analysis method. We also confirm the fundamental principle of the zero
      gap directional coupler and find that the 2 * 2 single-mode switch will be a
      useful component in future fiber-optic and integrated-optic systems.

PMID- 20941253
TI  - Attenuation of energy in time-gated transillumination imaging: numerical results.
AB  - Numerical simulations based on a semianalytic Monte Carlo procedure have been
      developed to investigate the feasibility of a time-gated transillumination
      imaging system that could be useful for breast cancer screening. Numerical
      results showed that attenuation of earlier received photons strongly increases
      when the gating time decreases and strongly depends on single-scattering
      properties of the medium. For gating times shorter than ~ 5 ps, attenuation of
      scattered received energy approaches the exponential attenuation expected for
      unscattered photons. For typical optical properties of a healthy breast the use
      of gating times shorter than 100 ps seems to be questionable because of the low
      level of received energy. The image resolution expected with gating times longer
      than lOOps is of the order of 10mm. A comparison with predictions or the
      diffusion equation showed the inadequacy of this theory to describe the
      dependence of earlier photons on the single-scattering properties of the medium.
      However, thepredictions of the diffusion equation are within the range of values
      obtained from numerical simulations for the different scattering properties
      investigated.

PMID- 20941254
TI  - Effects of time response on the point spread function of a scanning radiometer.
AB  - Scanning radiometers on satellites have a finite response time, because of the
      detector and the associated electronics. The radiometer measurement as it scans
      over a point source of radiation of unit strength is the point spread function
      (PSF). The time response causes a widening and skewing of the PSF. The PSF of a
      scanning radiometer that has well-focused optics together with time responses for
      the detector and electronic filter is treated in the time domain. The PSF can be
      expressed in terms of the system time response to a step input. For a first-order
      system time response, the displacement of the centroid is the product of the
      system time constant and the scan rate of the radiometer. The electronic filter
      further displaces the centroid of the PSF by the product of the scan rate and the
      filter time constant. Also, the width of the PSF in the scan direction will be
      increased because of the system time response. The minimum resolvable feature is
      of the order of the width of the PSF, thus the system time response limits the
      resolution in the scan direction that can be obtained. The analysis is
      illustrated by applying it to the Clouds and Earth Radiant Energy System
      experiment scanning radiometer.

PMID- 20941255
TI  - Theoretical and numerical investigations of the intensity of the lidar signal
      specular reflected from a set of oriented ice plates.
AB  - The algebraic formula of the backscattering coefficient has been derived within
      the scope of the physical optics method. The formula relates the lidar return
      anomalous high amplitude of observed experimentally with the principal parameters
      of a polydisperse crystalline medium. It is shown that at the lidar small-angular
      scanning relative to the normal to the ice-plate preferred orientation, the
      average size of the plate can be defined and the flutter size can be evaluated
      from the behavior of the lidar return variation.

PMID- 20941256
TI  - Differential absorption lidar system for routine monitoring of tropospheric
      ozone.
AB  - A differential absorption lidar system for routine profiling of tropospheric
      ozone for daytime and nighttime operation is described. The system uses
      stimulated Raman scattering in hydrogen and deuterium of 266-nm radiation from a
      quadrupled Nd:YAG laser. Ozone profiles from altitudes of 600 m to approximately
      5 km have been obtained with analog detection. Implementing corrections for
      differential Rayleigh scattering, differential absorption from oxygen, sulphur
      dioxide, and nitrogen dioxide, and differential aerosol extinction and
      backscatter can reduce the total system inaccuracy to 5-15% for a clear day and
      20-30% for a hazy day, except at the top of the mixed layer. Photon counting must
      be installed to increase the measurement range from 5 to 15 km. An example of an
      application of routine measurements of tropospheric ozone profiles is given.

PMID- 20941257
TI  - Design of an open path near-infrared diode laser sensor: application to oxygen,
      water, and carbon dioxide vapor detection.
AB  - An open path diode laser sensor was constructed with near-infrared diode lasers
      and two-tone frequency-modulation spectroscopy. The sensor incorporates several
      novel features (such as digital signal-processing algorithms, a computerized line
      locking routine, and discontinuous wavelength scanning) that are important in a
      field instrument. The sensor was used to monitor oxygen, water, and carbon
      dioxide in the near-infrared spectral range. For oxygen, an absorbance detection
      sensitivity of 2 * 10(-6) in a 10-Hz bandwidth was demonstrated with a GaALAs
      laser at 760.56 nm. The stability of the sensor was 0.1% over a period of 10 h
      when an absorbance of 6 * 10(-3) was monitored.

PMID- 20941258
TI  - Ocean optics attenuation coefficients: local versus spatially averaged.
AB  - The local diffuse attenuation coefficients for monochromatic net irradiance and
      monochromatic scalar irradiance differ from the corresponding spatially averaged
      coefficients except when both equal an eigenvalue of the radiative transfer
      equation. Explicit equations to relate spatially averaged to local coefficients
      that may be useful when inferring self-consistency (i.e., closure) of optical
      properties are given.

PMID- 20941259
TI  - Effect of the particle-size distribution on the backscattering ratio in seawater.
AB  - Mie theory is used to model the backscattering ratio (the ratio of the
      backscattering coefficient to the total scattering coefficient) of marine
      particles with the assumption that they follow a Junge-type size distribution.
      Results show that the backscattering ratio is very sensitive to the presence of
      submicrometer particles and depends strongly on the shape of the size
      distribution. However, it is not affected significantly by absorption and does
      not vary with wavelength over the visible range. The implications for modeling of
      backscattering and ocean color in terms of phytoplankton pigment concentration
      are discussed.

PMID- 20941260
TI  - Statistically corrected ocean thermography.
AB  - A corrected thermal imaging method for a wind-roughened water surface is
      proposed. This method can be applied even if the imaging system is placed at low
      altitudes, say on a ship or on land, as well as on an airborne platform. Such a
      technique is desirable from the following points of view: the surveillance of
      bioresources (fish), environmental assessments of a seaside industrial zone (hot
      waste water), and temporal complement and spatial interpolation of satellite
      observations of thermal images. The method is based on the analysis of optical
      characteristics of a model of a wind-roughened water surface, namely, the
      Gaussian-Joint North Sea Wave Project (JONSWAP) model, where the surface
      displacement obeys Gaussian distribution while its spectrum is specified by the
      JONSWAP wave spectral model. We present the basic temperature-correction formula
      and the algorithm for correction. The correction takes into account thermal
      emission of the water's surface, radiation of the sky reflected on the water's
      surface, and both absorption and emission by the atmosphere along the light path.
      This formula can be used for temperature correction of an infrared image of sky
      and random water surface. The experimental results that we obtained are
      encouraging.

PMID- 20941261
TI  - Radiance reflected from the ocean-atmosphere system: synthesis from individual
      components of the aerosol size distribution.
AB  - We describe a method by which the aerosol component of the radiance at the top of
      the atmosphere (TOA) can be synthesized from the radiances generated by
      individual components of the aerosol size-refractive-index distribution. The
      method is exact in the single-scattering approximation. For regimes in which the
      single-scattering approximation is not valid, the method usually reproduces the
      aerosol contribution with an error ?2-3% (and only rarely >3-4%) for Sun and
      viewing angles as large as 80 degrees  and 70 degrees , respectively, and for
      aerosol optical thicknesses as large as 0.50. In the blue, where molecular
      scattering makes a dominant contribution to the TOA radiance, the percent error
      in the synthesized total radiance is significantly less than in the synthesized
      aerosol component and typically will be less than the radiometric calibration
      uncertainties of Earth-orbiting sensors. When the aerosol is strongly absorbing,
      the method can fail; however, the potential for failure is easy to anticipate a
      priori. An obvious application of our technique is to provide a basis for the
      estimation of aerosol properties with Earth-orbiting sensors, e.g., the
      Multiangle Imaging Spectroradiometer.

PMID- 20941262
TI  - Atmospheric correction of ocean-color sensors: effects of the Earth's curvature.
AB  - We investigate the influence of the curvature of the Earth on a proposed
      atmospheric-correction scheme for the Sea-Viewing Wide-Field-of-View Sensor
      (SeaWiFS) by simulating the radiance exiting the top of a spherical-shell
      atmosphere and inserting the result into the proposed correction algorithm. The
      error in the derived water-leaving reflectance suggests that the effects of the
      curvature are negligible for solar zenith angles (theta(0)) <= 70 degrees .
      Furthermore, for theta(0) > 70 degrees  the error in atmospheric correction can
      usually be reduced if the molecular-scattering component of the top of the
      atmosphere reflectance (rho(r)) is computed with a spherical-shell atmosphere
      radiative transfer code. Also, for theta(0) > 70 degrees  the error in
      atmospheric correction in a spherical-shell atmosphere, when rho(r) is computed
      with a spherical-shell model, can be predicted reasonably well from computations
      made with plane-parallel atmosphere radiative transfer codes. This implies that
      studies aimed at improving atmospheric correction can be made assuming plane
      parallel geometry and that the investigator can be confident when theta(0)> 70
      degrees  that any improvements will still be valid for a spherical-shell
      atmosphere as long as rho(r) is computed in spherical-shell geometry. Finally, a
      scheme for computing rho(r) in a spherical-shell atmosphere in a relatively
      simple manner is developed.

PMID- 20941263
TI  - Effects of absorption on image quality through a particulate medium.
AB  - A new approach to studying the effects of absorption by aerosols and molecular
      particulates of electromagnetic radiation is presented. In contradiction to the
      conventional concept that absorption gives rise to constant attenuation, it is
      shown here that the particulate-absorbed irradiance is spatial frequency
      dependent. An analytically corrected model of the aerosol modulation transfer
      function and the aerosol mutual coherence function is presented. An important
      application of this model is in thermal imaging, in which particulate-absorption
      effects are very significant.

PMID- 20941264
TI  - Determination of size, refractive index, and dispersion of single droplets from
      wavelength-dependent scattering spectra.
AB  - Intensities of light scattered in the planes parallel and perpendicular to the
      polarization plane of the incident light are used to determine the size,
      refractive index, and dispersion of a single droplet suspended in an
      electrodynamic balance. Wavelengths of TE- and TM-mode resonances are determined
      independently with high precision when a ring dye laser is scanned. Resonating
      wavelengths are matched with theoretical intensity peaks to determine the
      constants of a dispersion formula and the size that minimizes the difference
      between observed and calculated wavelengths. The procedure permits the
      determination of the size and refractive index with relative errors of 3 * 10(-5)
      and dispersion with an absolute error 2 * 10(-5) over the experimental spectral
      range.

PMID- 20941265
TI  - Using stars for remote sensing of the Earth's stratosphere.
AB  - A new UV-visible spectrometer system that measures the absorption of light from
      stars and planets by constituents in the Earth's atmosphere is described. Because
      it can be used to make measurements at night, the system has a significant
      advantage for measuring polar constituents in winter, when conditions that might
      give rise to ozone loss are initiated. Other advantages arise from the use of a
      cooled two-dimensional CCD array as the detector: an array detector avoids
      spectral noise resulting from scintillation of stars or from clouds passing
      overhead and allows for the possibility of measuring several constituents
      simultaneously; its second dimension permits auroral light from the atmosphere
      adjacent to the star to be measured simultaneously and subtracted from the
      stellar light, and a modern low-noise CCD allows us to use a telescope of modest
      diameter. The few previous measurements of constituents made by the use of
      stellar absorption did not have these advantages. The instrument was configured
      for simplicity and ease of use in field measurements and was deployed outside in
      winter in Northern Sweden in 1991. Examples of ozone measurements are shown.

PMID- 20941266
TI  - Tropospheric aerosol optical properties derived from lidar, sun photometer, and
      optical particle counter measurements.
AB  - Tropospheric aerosols have been observed for the period from November 1990 to
      April 1992 with a lidar, a sun photometer, and an optical particle counter.
      Variations of aerosol optical thickness derived from the lidar and the sun
      photometer data and measurements are presented. The simultaneous measurements of
      these instruments also allowed us to estimate the extinction-to-backscatter ratio
      (S(1)), which ranged from 20 to 70. Comparison of optical thicknesses derived
      from both instruments clearly shows the effect of Mt. Pinatubo's eruption and the
      temporal variation of optical thickness in the stratosphere over 12 km. The
      possible range of the complex refractive index for the columnar mean aerosols can
      be deduced from the probable range of S(1) derived by the use of an S(1) diagram
      as a function of complex refractive index (m). The imaginary part of m can be
      estimated provided that the real part of m is known.

PMID- 20941267
TI  - The all-sky camera revitalized.
AB  - An all-sky camera, a ground imager used since the 1950's in the aeronomy and
      space physics studies, was refurbished with a modern control, digitization, and
      archiving system. Monochromatic and broadband digital images of airglow and
      aurora are continuously integrated and recorded by the low-cost unmanned system,
      which is located in northern Canada. Radiometric corrections applied to the data
      include noise subtraction, normalization to a flat-field response, and absolute
      calibration. The images are geometrically corrected with star positions and
      projected onto a geographic or geomagnetic coordinate system. An illustration of
      the application of corrected all-sky camera images to the study of auroral
      spirals is given.

PMID- 20941268
TI  - Iron Boltzmann factor LIDAR: proposed new remote-sensing technique for
      mesospheric temperature.
AB  - We describe a new LIDAR technique for middle atmospheric temperature measurement.
      The proposed LIDAR exploits the Fe layer in the 80-100-km altitude region.
      Absolute temperatures are inferred by the use of the Maxwell-Boltzmann
      relationship from the ratio of LIDAR returns from mesospheric Fe atoms excited at
      372 and 374 nm, corresponding to the ground-state resonance line and a thermally
      populated resonance line, respectively. The wavelengths of the new LIDAR are
      favorable for capturing Rayleigh signals from the middle atmosphere. A simulation
      indicates that a complete temperature profile from 30 to 100 km can be acquired
      with the proposed LIDAR by monitoring simultaneously the Rayleigh signals and the
      Fe fluorescence returns excited by the same transmitter pulse.

PMID- 20941269
TI  - Geometric bowing effect of a laser beam.
AB  - We describe and analyze an effect that is observed when a laser beam is projected
      toward the sky at a shallow angle. An observer standing below the beam sees that
      the beam is bending and propagating toward the ground instead of propagating
      upward.

PMID- 20941270
TI  - Phase-conjugate holographic system for high-resolution particle-image
      velocimetry.
AB  - A novel holographic particle-image velocimeter system has been developed for the
      study of threedimensional (3-D) fluid velocity fields. The recording system
      produces 3-D particle images with a resolution, a signal-to-noise ratio, an
      accuracy, and derived velocity fields that are comparable to high-quality two
      dimensional photographic particle-image velocimetry (PIV). The high image
      resolution is accomplished through the use of low f-number optics, a fringe
      stabilized processing chemistry, and a phase conjugate play-back geometry that
      compensates for aberrations in the imaging system. In addition, the system
      employs a reference multiplexed, off-axis geometry for the determination of
      velocity directions with the cross-correlation technique, and a stereo camera
      geometry for the determination of the three velocity components. The combination
      of the imaging and reconstruction subsystems makes the analysis of volumetric PIV
      domains feasible.

PMID- 20941271
TI  - Determination of the optical and thermal properties of semiconductors with the
      photothermal method.
AB  - The photothermal method has been used for the determination of several thermal
      and optical material properties. We demonstrate the use of the photothermal
      method for the investigation of thermal and optical properties of the GaAlAsSb
      and GaInAsSb layers which are, respectively, the confinement layer and the active
      layer of the GaAlAsSb/GaInAsSb/GaAlAsSb/GaSb laser heterostructure. These layers
      were deposited on a GaSb substrate in its liquid phase by means of epitaxy.

PMID- 20941272
TI  - Hydrocarbon vapor measurements in fuel sprays: a simplification of the infrared
      extinction technique.
AB  - An equal optical thickness approximation that greatly simplifies the application
      and data reduction of the infrared extinction technique for measuring fuel vapor
      concentrations in sprays is investigated. A general approach is given, with
      specific results for a 3.39- and a 0.6328-MUm-wavelength system. It is shown that
      the infrared (3.39-MUm) drop optical thickness can be approximated by the use of
      the visible (0.6328-MUm) optical thickness for drop size distributions with area
      mean diameters greater than 20 MUm for hydrocarbon fuel sprays.

PMID- 20941273
TI  - Light scattering from nonspherical airborne particles: experimental and
      theoretical comparisons.
AB  - A laser light-scattering instrument has been designed to permit an investigation
      of the spatial intensity distribution of light scattered by individual airborne
      particles constrained within a laminar flow, with a view to providing a means of
      classifying the particles in terms of their shape and size. Ultimately, a means
      of detecting small concentrations of potentially hazardous particles, such as
      asbestos fiber, is sought. The instrument captures data relating to the spatial
      distribution of light scattered from individual particles in flow. As part of an
      investigation to optimize orientation control over particles within the sample
      airstream, the instrument has been challenged with nonspherical particles of
      defined shape and size, and a simple theoretical treatment based on the Rayleigh
      Gans formalism has been used to model the spatial intensity distribution of light
      scattered from these particle types and hence derive particle orientation data.
      Both experimental and theoretical scattering data arepresented, showing good
      agreement for all particle types examined.

PMID- 20941274
TI  - Optical properties of atmospheric particles: complete parameter sets obtained
      through polar photometry and an improved inversion technique.
AB  - Complete sets of optical parameters of dry particles sampled on a Nuclepore
      filter are derived through interpretation of photometric data with an improved
      inversion technique. The parameters are the volume-extinction and absorption
      coefficients, the single-scattering albedo, the asymmetry parameter of the volume
      scattering function, the apparent complex refractive index, and the apparent soot
      content. They may serve as input data for solar radiation-budget considerations.
      Results from preliminary measurements taken in Central Europe and Italy show an
      extreme variability of the optical parameters. Both large regional and temporal
      variabilities have been observed caused by the fluctuating midlatitude weather
      systems and human activities.

PMID- 20941275
TI  - Light scattering with single-mode fiber collimators.
AB  - The recent development and availability of fiber-optic components including
      graded-index (GRIN) microlenses and the unique optical properties of single-mode
      optical fibers make it possible to build ideal detector systems for light
      scattering measurements. We show that the simple coupling of a 0.25-pitch GRIN
      lens and a single-mode optical fiber to form a collimator makes a nonimaging
      detector system with properties that are superior to conventional setups based on
      pinholes and that approaches the theoretical limit of a perfectly coherent
      detector.

PMID- 20941276
TI  - Light scattering by polydispersions of randomly oriented spheroids with sizes
      comparable to wavelengths of observation.
AB  - We report the results of an extensive study of the scattering of light by size
      and size-shape distributions of randomly oriented prolate and oblate spheroids
      with the index of refraction 1.5 + 0.02i typical of some mineral terrestrial
      aerosols. The scattering calculations have been carried out with Waterman's T
      matrix approach, as developed recently by Mishchenko [J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 8, 871
      (1991); Appl. Opt. 32, 4562 (1993)]. Our main interest is in light scattering by
      polydisperse models of nonspherical particles because averaging over sizes
      provides more realistic modeling of natural ensembles of scattering particles and
      washes out the interference structure and ripple typical of monodisperse
      scattering patterns, thus enabling us to derive meaningful conclusions about the
      effects of particle nonsphericity on light scattering. Following Hansen and
      Travis [Space Sci. Rev. 16, 527 (1974)], we show that scattering properties of
      most physically plausible size distributions of randomly orientednonspherical
      part cles depend primarily on the effective equivalent-sphere radius and
      effective variance of the distribution, the actual shape of the distribution
      having a minor influence. To minimize the computational burden, we have adopted a
      computationally convenient power law distribution of particle equivalent-sphere
      radii n(r) alpha r(-3),r(1) <= r<=r(2). The effective variance of the size
      distribution is fixed at 0.1, and the effective size parameter continuously
      varies from 0 to 15. We present results of computer calculations for 24 prolate
      and oblate spheroidal shapes with aspect ratios from 1.1 to 2.2. The elements of
      the scattering matrix for the whole range of size parameters and scattering
      angles are displayed in the form of contour plots. Computational results are
      compared with analogous calculations for surface-equivalent spheres, and the
      effects of particle shape on light scattering are discussed in detail.

PMID- 20941278
TI  - Patents.
AB  - 5,258,871; 5,278,694; 5,296,961; 5,307,675; 5,308,985; 5,309,255; 5,309,283;
      5,313,202; 5,315,113; 5,315,122; 5,317,162; 5,319,968; 5,321,555; 5,323,259;
      5,323,270; 5,327,218; 5,327,291.

PMID- 20941277
TI  - Higher moments of scattered light fields by heterodyne analysis.
AB  - In heterodyne detection (such as in coherent lidar) the optical local oscillator
      defines a single mode of the incoming-signal light field; this single-mode
      selectivity has been previously predicted to preserve the full fluctuation
      character of scattered light. This is in contrast with direct-detection schemes,
      as in photon-correlation spectroscopy, where aperture averaging usually reduces
      the range of fluctuations. Examples of Gaussian and non-Gaussian statistics in
      laser light scattered from a moving ground-glass screen have been studied. This
      simple laboratory experiment has several advantages over equivalent direct
      detection schemes and has been shown to yield experimentally the theoretically
      predicted factorial intensity moments (up to the seventh order) that result from
      zero-mean, circulo-complex Gaussian statistics.

PMID- 20941279
TI  - Simulation of photothermally diffused images and a concept of holoscan in
      photoacoustic and optical-probe imaging.
AB  - Signals for gas-microphone photoacoustic (PA) and optical-probe methods are
      analyzed, and images for both cases are calculated and displayed. A one
      dimensional theory is extended to include both schemes with a two-dimensional
      arrangement. An image of the optical-probe method shows higher definition than
      the gas-microphone PA method. Furthermore, a concept of a holoscan, which is
      applicable to not only PA imaging but generally also to scanned-image microscopy,
      is introduced to imaging science. Amplitude, phase, and holoscan images for both
      schemes are calculated; as a result, holoscan images show clearer edges at
      corners of a sample in both cases. Finally, images processed by deconvolution
      show higher fidelity in both schemes.

PMID- 20941280
TI  - Collimation testing with linear dual-field, spiral, and evolute gratings: a
      comparative study.
AB  - A comparative study of the performance of linear dual-field, spiral, and evolute
      gratings for collimation testing with Talbot interferometry is reported.

PMID- 20941281
TI  - Geometric theory of the ellipsoidal grating.
AB  - A third-order geometric aberration theory of the ellipsoidal grating has been
      developed by analytically following an exact ray-tracing formalism with the aid
      of power series expansions. The theory takes into account all the possible
      aberrations up to third order and provides analytic formulas for the spot diagram
      of a spectral image formed by a modified or a nonmodified ellipsoidal grating
      with any of the groove patterns producible by means of mechanical ruling or
      conventional holographic recording. The present analytic formulas and other
      analytic ray-deviation formulas used in designing grating instruments have been
      evaluated in comparison with exact ray tracing. The results show the validity of
      the present theory and the limitation of the ray-deviation formulas based on the
      light path function and wave-frontaberration theory.

PMID- 20941282
TI  - Color effects of uniform colloidal particles of different morphologies packed
      into films.
AB  - The experimentally determined chromaticities and reflectance spectra of films
      consisting of uniform ellipsoidal or spherical colloidal hematite particles are
      compared with calculated values and are found to be in good agreement. The
      theoretical treatment of the light-scattering problem involves the Mie theory for
      the spheres and the T-matrix method for the ellipsoids. The reflectance spectra
      for the pigment films are calculated through the use of the Kubelka-Munk
      analysis.

PMID- 20941283
TI  - Design of a device for pumping a double-clad fiber laser with a laser-diode bar.
AB  - Pumping rare-earth-doped double-clad fiber lasers with GaAlAs laser-diode bars
      typically requires one to transform a 1-cm-long one-dimensional linear array of
      tens of multimode laser-diode sources into atwo-dimensional oblong cross section
      that approximately matches the fiber's first cladding shape. I describe the
      design of a device, henceforth called a high-brightness geometric transformer,
      that uses a cylindrical microlens to image the laser-diode bar near field onto a
      linear array of soft-glass, thin-clad, rectangular fibers. In turn, the fibers
      output ends are arranged to form a stack that matches the required first cladding
      shape. For a typical laser-diode bar with a brightness of 25 mW.um(-2).sr(-1),
      the geometric transformer output brightness is 0.6 mW.um(-2).sr(-1), i.e., there
      is a 40* intermediate loss of brightness. If the output of the geometric
      transformer is used to pump a Nd-doped double-clad fiber laser, anoverall
      brightness gain of 340* can be achieved.

PMID- 20941284
TI  - Anomalous diffraction by arbitrarily oriented ellipsoids: applications in
      ektacytometry.
AB  - Anomalous diffraction by an arbitrarily oriented ellipsoid with three different
      axes is derived. From the resulting expression the relationship between the shape
      of the ellipsoid and the intensity pattern is immediately evident: The axial
      ratio of the elliptical isointensity curve equals the axial ratio of the
      elliptical projected area of the ellipsoid. A comparison of anomalous diffraction
      with calculations performed with the T-matrix method reveals that the anomalous
      diffraction approximation is highly accurate for single ellipsoidal red blood
      cells. Application of the expression for anomalous diffraction by ellipsoids to a
      population of red blood cells shows that, even in a red-cell suspension as
      examined in an ektacytometer, the axial ratio of the isointensity curves is equal
      to the mean axial ratio of the red blood cells in the population. In
      ektacytometry this relationship between cell shape and intensity pattern is
      commonly assumed to hold true without reference to the light-scattering
      properties of the cells. The results presented here show that this assumption is
      valid, and we offer a profound theoretical basis for it by considering in detail
      the light scattering by the red blood cells.

PMID- 20941285
TI  - High-efficiency diffractionless beams of constant size and intensity.
AB  - Design considerations are presented for pairs of spherically aberrating elements
      that produce diffractionless beams of high efficiency and nearly constant size
      and intensity over specified ranges of axial position. An approximate design,
      assuming an aberration quadratic in radial ray positions, is followed by a final
      lens (mirror) specification that is verified through meridional ray tracing. This
      then provides an accurate determination of beam characteristics. Examples are
      presented that represent a variety of applications. As a design aid, a simple
      prescription is given for generating families of substantially different Bessel
      like beams from any given pair of elements under small changes in element
      separation. Pattern sizes and ranges are compared with those of Gaussian beams,
      shadow lengths are examined for Bessel-type beams, and beam efficiencies are
      fully analyzed.

PMID- 20941286
TI  - Oblique incidence and observation electronic speckle-pattern interferometry.
AB  - In this paper we discuss an oblique incidence and observation electronic speckle
      pattern interferometer, in which we use an anamorphic prism in front of the
      object. A collimated beam traveling through the prism is partly reflected at the
      base of the prism. The reflected light is the reference beam and the transmitted
      light illuminates the diffuse object, thereby generating the object beam. In this
      scheme the object and the reference beams are collinear. A new scheme that uses
      two prisms and permits phase stepping is also presented.

PMID- 20941287
TI  - Phase extraction from electronic speckle pattern interferometry addition fringes.
AB  - Addition fringes are obtained in real time from electronic speckle pattern
      interferometry (ESPI) by use of a twin-pulsed laser when two pulses are fired
      during a single field of a CCD camera. This enables object deformations to be
      studied in harsh environmental conditions. However, the fringe patterns have poor
      visibility because optical noise is additive. To our knowledge automatic phase
      extraction from addition fringes has not previously been achieved: Low-pass
      filtering to suppress random speckle noise also eliminates the fringes because of
      their low visibility. Two phase-stepping algorithms that calculate phase from
      ESPI fringes without the need for a preprocessing filter are presented. In the
      first ESPI subtraction fringes are considered, for which an improvement in
      accuracy is seen, and in the second ESPI addition fringes are considered, which,
      we believe, has enabled the phase to be extracted for the first time. The
      algorithms are demonstrated with theoretical data and with experimental ESPI
      fringepatterns recorded with a cw laser. As presented, they form the first step
      toward a procedure that can beused with twin-pulsed ESPI.

PMID- 20941288
TI  - Numerical correction of reference phases in phase-shifting interferometry by
      iterative least-squares fitting.
AB  - We present a new computational algorithm of phase-shifting interferometry that
      can effectively eliminate the uncertainty errors of reference phases encountered
      when we obtain multiple interferograms. The algorithm treats the reference phases
      as additional unknowns and we determine their exact values by analyzing
      interferograms using the numerical least-squares technique. A series of
      simulations prove that this algorithm can improve measuring accuracy because it
      is unaffected by the nonlinear and random errors of phase shifters.

PMID- 20941289
TI  - Optimized multiwavelength combination sources for interferometric use.
AB  - We present the use of multiwavelength combination sources in a direct method for
      improved central fringe identification in a white-light interferometric system.
      The optimum wavelength combinations of such sources can be obtained by the use of
      the results of a simple analysis. We find that this multiwavelength technique can
      greatly reduce the minimum signal-to-noise ratio required by the systemwhen used
      to identify the central fringe, and thus it offers an increased signal
      resolution. As a result, it is suitable for high-precision measurement purposes
      as well as for applications in coherence multiplexed interferometric sensor
      systems.

PMID- 20941290
TI  - High-speed noncontact profiler based on scanning white-light interferometry.
AB  - We describe a system for fast three-dimensional profilometry, of both optically
      smooth and optically rough surfaces, based on scanning white-light techniques.
      The system utilizes an efficient algorithm to extract and save only the region of
      interference, substantially reducing both the acquisition and the analysis times.
      Rough and discontinuous surfaces can be profiled without the phase-ambiguity
      problems associated with conventional phase-shifting techniques. The system
      measures steps to 100 um, scans a 10uLm range in 5 s, and has a smooth surface
      repeatability of 0.5 nm.

PMID- 20941291
TI  - Polynomial fitting of interferograms with Gaussian errors on fringe coordinates.
      1: Computer simulations.
AB  - A series of simulations were made for an ideal Twyman-Green interferogram of
      equally spaced straight fringes having tilt only about x. It was found that
      fitting polynomials to the interferometric data resulted in biased estimates of
      some of the fitting coefficients to the optical path difference. The acceptance
      of the Seidel aberrations grows with the noise level and diminishes when the
      number of fringes is increased.

PMID- 20941292
TI  - Polynomial fitting of interferograms with Gaussian errors on the fringe
      coordinates. II: Analytical study.
AB  - We consider an ideal Twyman-Green interferogram with equally spaced straight
      fringes parallel to the x axis and fringe coordinates that are affected by
      Gaussian errors. We adjust the data points by polynomial fitting to the
      interferograms. We use a statistical analysis to obtain analytical formulas for
      the expected values of the aberration coefficients. The result of the analysis
      shows that the expected coefficients are zero, except for tilt about x and for
      the comatic term, and that such deviation increases with the noise level and
      decreases with the number of fringes. Formulas are also obtained for the expected
      values of the sum of squares of the residuals. We show that the problem of
      choosing the wrong polynomial order is a consequence of erroneous adjustment of
      the data points.

PMID- 20941293
TI  - Planar-optic-disk pickup with diffractive micro-optics.
AB  - An integrated optical-disk pickup with a diffractive planar micro-optic system is
      proposed. In this device, the beam follows a zigzag optical path inside a glass
      substrate that is used as a light guide. To fabricate off-axis diffractive
      optical elements, we have recently developed an electron-beam writing system with
      a curve-pattern generator. It is demonstrated that a transmission off-axis
      objective microlens, a reflection twin-focusing beam splitter, and reflection
      layers were integrated on a glass substrate, and such a diffractive planar micro
      optic system exhibited an excellent focusing performance and operated forfocus
      error signal detection, as designed.

PMID- 20941294
TI  - Panoramic lens.
AB  - An infrared panoramic lens system that utilizes two lens groups to project a full
      3600 cylindrical field of view onto a two-dimensional annular format is
      described. Each lens group has its well-defined role. The first group is a lens
      block that converts a cylindrical field of view into a two-dimensional annular
      format located within the lens itself, and the second group relays this image to
      some accessible location downstream from the optical system.

PMID- 20941295
TI  - Wide-field prime focus corrector for the Anglo-Australian telescope.
AB  - A wide-field (2 degrees ) prime focus corrector has been designed and built for
      the Anglo-Australian Telescope. The corrector incorporates an atmospheric
      dispersion compensator for the spectral range 365-1014 nm. A four-element lens
      system is the basis of the corrector, and it provides a satisfactory state of
      correction over a full field of 2 degrees . The design of the lens system is
      described. The choice of layout is related directly to the intrinsic properties
      of each component.

PMID- 20941296
TI  - Design of a single-element laser-beam uniform cross projector.
AB  - A single optical element has been designed that takes a Gaussian laser beam and
      expands it into a uniform diverging cross. The design and fabrication of such an
      element are described.

PMID- 20941297
TI  - Tolerances in microlens fabrication by multilevel etching and mass-transport
      smoothing.
AB  - A method is developed for the quantitative assessment of microlens deficiencies
      caused by inaccuracies in the multistep mesa fabrication or by incomplete mass
      transport smoothing. Analytical expressions are obtained and tolerable
      imperfections are deduced for the practical effort-saving fabrication of
      highperformance micro-optical elements.

PMID- 20941298
TI  - Optical constants of hydrogenated and unhydrogenated amorphous carbon in the 0.5
      12-eV range.
AB  - The real and imaginary parts of the refractive index have been obtained in a wide
      energy range (0.5-12 eV) for films (0.2-0.3 um thick) of amorphous carbon with
      different hydrogen contents (0-40 at. %) to obtain more insight into the
      electronic structure of these materials. Reflectance and transmittance
      measurements have been processed with two different approaches in the low- and
      high-energy parts of the spectra. The results are compared with the known optical
      properties of bulk diamond and graphite to obtain the ratio between trigonal and
      tetrahedral carbon atoms. It was found that the number of trigonal carbon sites
      increases from 20% to 80%, decreasing the hydrogen concentration from 40 to 15
      at.%.

PMID- 20941299
TI  - Electro-optic coefficient spectrum of cadmium telluride.
AB  - A spectrum for the electro-optic coefficient of cadmium telluride measured from 3
      to 14 um is reported. The spectrum shows that the quantity n(3)r(41) has a nearly
      constant value of 1.09 * 10(-10) m/V over this spectral band, with a slight (5%)
      dip at the weak absorption band centered at 6 um. Measurements were performed
      with an infrared Mueller matrix spectropolarimeter. Transmission spectra of the
      Mueller matrix were acquired at a set of applied voltages. Retardance spectra
      were calculated from Mueller matrix spectra, and then the electro-optic
      coefficient was calculated at each wavelength by a least-squares fit to the
      resulting retardance as a function of voltage.

PMID- 20941300
TI  - Origins of fundamental limits for reflection losses at multilayer dielectric
      mirrors.
AB  - Fundamental limits on reflection losses are set by internal material losses
      associated with the Urbach tail near a band gap and by thermodynamic density
      fluctuations in fabrication. In materials such as SiO(2) and TiO(2), these limits
      are of the order of parts in 10(9). The current quality of supercavity mirrors,
      in contrast to that of optical fibers, is still far from these limits because of
      purely technological limitations in surface preparation and in the reduction of
      impurity levels. Overcoming these would greatly benefit, for example, Fabry-Perot
      interferometers, ring lasers, and gravitational wave detectors.

PMID- 20941301
TI  - Optical properties of normal and carcinomatous bronchial tissue.
AB  - To understand better the optical characteristics and autofluorescence properties
      of normal and carcinomatous bronchial tissue, we measured the absorption
      coefficient, scattering coefficient, and anisotropy factor from 400 to 700 nm. We
      made the measurements by using an integrating sphere with a collimated white
      light beam to measure total reflectance and transmittance of samples. The
      unscattered transmittance of the samples was measured through polarized on-axis
      light detection. The inverse adding-doubling solution was utilized to solve the
      equation of radiative transfer and to determine the absorption coefficient and
      reduced scattering coefficient. The scattering coefficient and anisotropy factor
      were derived from the unscattered transmittance of the sample and the reduced
      scattering coefficient. The measured parameters allow us to simulate photon
      propagation in normal bronchial and tumoral tissue by using Monte Carlo modeling.

PMID- 20941302
TI  - Measurement of the wavelength dependence of birefringence for optical disk
      substrates.
AB  - The in-plane and vertical birefringence of polycarbonate plastic substrates of
      optical disks are measured for wavelengths between 360 and 860 nm, which covers
      the full range of interest for blue as well as for the current red and infrared
      recording. It is found that the birefringence generally decreases as the
      measurement wavelength is increased. In a typical case, the in-plane
      birefringence, Deltan|| goes from 1.7 * 10(-5) to 1.2 * 10(-5), and the vertical
      birefringence, Deltan?, drops from 7.5 delta 10(4-) to 5.7 * 10(4-) in the
      wavelength range from 360 to 860 nm.

PMID- 20941303
TI  - Acousto-optic imaging spectropolarimetry for remote sensing.
AB  - We review the operating principles of noncollinear acousto-optic tunable filters
      (AOTF's), emphasizing the use of two orthogonally polarized beams for narrow-band
      imaging. Spectral characterization and spectral broadening measurements of
      commercially available AOTF's agree with theoretical predictions and reveal
      difficulties associated with imaging noncollimated light. An AOTF imaging
      spectropolarimeter for ground-based astronomy that uses CCD's has been
      constructed at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. It uses a TeO(2) noncollinear
      AOTF and a simple optical relay assembly to produce side-by-side orthogonally
      polarized spectral images. We summarize the instrument design and initial
      performance tests. We include sample spectral images acquired at the Goddard
      Geophysical and Astronomical Observatory.

PMID- 20941304
TI  - Analytical relations for thin-film total internal reflection phase retarders.
AB  - Single-layer coatings on total internal reflection boundaries that produce any
      specific phase retardation are analyzed. One- and two-reflection phase-retarding
      systems are considered. Simple quadratic equations are obtained for an unknown
      layer phase thickness at a given angle of incidence and phase retardation.
      Equations for specific multilayer coatings that are equivalent to single-layer
      designs are also deduced. Diagrams of solution zones for refractive indices are
      given comparatively for one- and two-reflection systems.

PMID- 20941305
TI  - Cylindrical-wave reflection and antireflection at media interfaces.
AB  - A transfer-matrix method is used to study cylindrical-wave reflection at
      cylindrical media interfaces. We find that the reflection can be total at an
      interface of small radius but is only partial if the radius is large. This
      feature is useful for designing optical sources and receivers of small radii.
      Cylindrical-wave multicylindrical-layer antireflection coatings are also studied.
      We find that conventional quarterwavelength layer designs cannot be used for
      these coatings, and new design principles are outlined.

PMID- 20941306
TI  - Optical-standard surfaces of single-crystal silicon for calibrating ellipsometers
      and reflectometers.
AB  - We show that hydrogen-terminated (111) Si wafers prepared with NH(4)F-based
      treatments can serve as a calibration standard for ellipsometers and
      reflectometers.

PMID- 20941307
TI  - Spectrophotometer for noninvasive measurement of intrinsic fluorescence and
      reflectance of the ocular fundus.
AB  - A spectrophotometer for noninvasively measuring the intrinsic fluorescence and
      the reflectance of the ocular fundus is described. The instrument uses
      multichannel spectral analysis for recording fluorescence emission spectra (500
      800 nm) with seven excitation wavelengths between 430 and 550 nm and for the
      determination of fundus reflectance spectra (400-800 nm). Measurements are
      performed from a discrete fundus area, with a spatial resolution of a 1-2 degrees
      visual angle. Calibration procedures are detailed. Representative fluorescence
      and reflectance spectra obtained from five normal subjects indicate that the
      fluorescence originates from within the fundus layers. Although the absolute
      fundus fluorescence measurement is affected by lens absorption and ocular
      refraction, it is minimally influenced by the strong fluorescence of the
      crystalline lens.

PMID- 20941308
TI  - Volumetric three-dimensional display.
AB  - A true three-dimensional monitor is being developed for the direct display of
      three- (or higher-) dimensional information. The device is constructed of a three
      dimensional array of pixels, actually voxels or volume elements, which in their
      quiescent state are transparent. When these elements are excited optically
      through a fiber-optic pigtail, they fluoresce. The sum of many fluorescing
      elements thus compose a three-dimensional image.

PMID- 20941309
TI  - Proposal for acousto-optic tunable filters with near-ideal bandpass
      characteristics.
AB  - A scheme for achieving near-ideal-filter characteristics in the acousto-optic
      tunable-filter design is proposed. When applied to bandpass filter applications,
      the proposed scheme should produce a filter thatis far superior to those from
      conventional designs in terms of such ideal-filter characteristics as a flat top
      and no sidelobes, which are of immense importance in the optical-frequency
      division-multiplexing scheme of optical-communication network systems.

PMID- 20941310
TI  - Systematic and random errors in electronic speckle photography.
AB  - Electronic speckle photography offers a simple and fast technique for measuring
      in-plane displacement fields in solid and fluid mechanics. Errors from
      undersampling, illumination divergence, and displacement magnitude have been
      analyzed and measured. The nature of the systematic error is such that a drift
      toward the closest integral pixel value is introduced. Because of the finite
      extent of the sensor area, considerable undersampling is tolerable before
      systematic errors occur. The random errors are mainly dependent on the effective
      f-number of the imaging system and speckle decorrelation introduced by object
      displacement. When sampling at a rate of ~ 70% of the Nyquist frequency, we
      avoided systematic errors and minimized random errors.

PMID- 20941311
TI  - Optical-fiber diameter determination by scattering at oblique incidence.
AB  - A new nondestructive method for determination of the outer diameter of optical
      fibers is described. The principle of this technique is based on observing
      interference maxima in the scattered light from a fiber that is side illuminated
      by a laser beam at oblique incidence. This technique is easy to implement and can
      be applied to a fiber with an inhomogeneous and large core.

PMID- 20941312
TI  - Microshape and rough-surface analysis by fringe projection.
AB  - A fringe-projection system for microscopic applications, fringe-projecting
      microscopy, is developed and analyzed. Projection of the grating and imaging of
      the fringe system, modulated by the surface, are accomplished by the same high
      aperture objective. The spectrum of the grating is spatially filtered and
      projected into the aperture with a lateral shift, which leads to a telecentric
      projection under oblique incidence and telecentric imaging. Topographies of
      specularly as well as diffusely reflecting surfaces can be obtained. The
      measurement of highly rough surfaces is described together with preprocessing
      steps. The resulting intensity distribution of the fringes is analyzed. Formulas
      for vertical and lateral resolution, measuring range, and dynamic range, based on
      noise considerations, are presented and verified by topographies of technical
      surfaces.

PMID- 20941313
TI  - Motion-sensitive position sensor using bacteriorhodopsin.
AB  - A concept of motion-sensitive position sensing that uses a film of
      bacteriorhodopsin (bR) treated with a high-pH buffer is proposed. The polarity of
      photo-emf, which depends on the excited intermediates of the bR molecule, can be
      used to determine movement direction. The M intermediate state with a long
      lifetime can be used to record the initial position. The bR-based position sensor
      can sense two positions of a moving object at two different times.

PMID- 20941314
TI  - Identification and quantitative characterization of antiparallel domains using an
      interferometric method.
AB  - We present a method to identify antiparallel domains through the use of an
      optical interferometric technique. In contrast to etching techniques, this method
      is nondestructive and provides a quantitative measure of the linear electro-optic
      coefficient. Comparisons with the etching technique show that the two methods are
      in good agreement. This interferometric technique can be generalized to identify
      other types of domain structures as well.

PMID- 20941315
TI  - Highly sensitive optical measurement techniques based on acousto-optic devices.
AB  - An optical measurement technique is presented that permits a direct measurement
      of the differential transmission or reflectivity of a sample. The technique is
      based on the use of an acousto-optic device to modulate rapidly the incident
      angle or wavelength of the probe beam. Detection of the resulting modulated
      signal by means of a lock-in amplifier gives a direct measure of the differential
      optical properties of the sample. It is demonstrated that this direct measurement
      of the differential can strongly enhance normally undetectable optical features,
      such as weakly coupled, Otto geometry surface plasmon polaritons. A development
      of the technique, which uses the optical analog of a phase-locked loop, is
      demonstrated to have an angular resolution of 6 * 10(-6) deg. This permits the
      detection of the shift in the critical angle caused by a change of 10(-6) in the
      refractive index of a gas mixture.

PMID- 20941316
TI  - Three-color optical range finding.
AB  - In the known three-wavelength distance-measuring systems two optical wavelengths
      are used and a microwave is added for air-humidity influence consideration. In
      our research, which proceeds from results obtained at the National Research
      Laboratory of Metrology (Japan), the possibility of constructing a three-optical
      wavelength ranging system is discussed. We investigate different versions by
      using a CO(2) laser as the source of the third wavelength. Analysis shows that
      the three-wavelength system with two lasers (YAG:Nd(3+) laser, which yields first
      and second-harmonic radiation, and a CO(2) laser) seems to be optimum. A
      possible schematic structure of the three-wavelength YAG-CO(2) laser system is
      given.

PMID- 20941317
TI  - Noncritical phase matching in the different frequency generation of noncollinear
      alignment: an exact analysis.
AB  - By analyzing the phase mismatch in the different frequency generation of
      noncollinear alignment, we obtain the condition in which noncritical phase
      matching can be realized. The relevant equation for determining the optimum
      angles between the incident beams is derived. The calculated result agrees
      exactly with the experimental one.

PMID- 20941318
TI  - Chemical imaging with a confocal scanning Fourier-transform-Raman microscope.
AB  - Traditional approaches in confocal microscopy have focused on techniques to
      generate volumetric intensity or phase images of an object. In these different
      imaging modes the scattered optical-field properties depend on local refractive
      index and absorption, properties not unique to a given material. We report here
      on a confocal microscope that uses Raman scattered light to generate volumetric
      chemical images of a material. We designed and built a prototype instrument,
      called a confocal scanning laser Raman microscope, that combines a confocal
      scanning laser microscope with a Fourier-transform-Raman spectrometer. The high
      depth and lateral spatial resolution of the confocal optics design define a
      volume element from which the Raman scattered light is collected, and the
      spectrometer analyzes its spectral content. The sample is scanned through the
      microscope probe volume, and a chemical image isgenerated based on the content of
      the Raman spectrum extracted from each scan position in the sample. The results
      inclu e instrument characterization measurements and examples of confocal
      chemical imaging.

PMID- 20941319
TI  - Measurement of up- and down-lead fiber sensitivity caused by the lead in a
      multimode fiber in an interferometric system.
AB  - The results of a comparative experimental study on the effect of the modal noise
      induced by lead-in fibers in an extrinsic interferometric system, illuminated by
      high- and low-coherence light sources, respectively, are reported. When the up
      lead fiber was subject to a perturbation, the sensitivity of the system was
      reduced by 20.9 dB through the use of a high-coherence source, and by 1.8 dB
      through the use of a low-coherence source. When the down-lead fiber was
      perturbed, the sensitivity dropped by 30.3 dB and 4.9 dB for high- and low
      coherence sources, respectively. The results from the experimental analysis
      supported qualitatively by simple theory show that the use of a low-coherence
      light source can greatly suppress the modal noise induced in both the up- and
      down-lead fibers, if the coherence length of the light source used is less than
      the optical path difference between two adjacent fiber modes. This shows the
      practicality of the use of niultimode fibers in an interferometric system with a
      suitable lig t source.

PMID- 20941320
TI  - Light scattering and absorption caused by bacterial activity in water.
AB  - There is a growing class of elementary particle detectors, large-water Cerenkov
      detectors, that have a body of water (thousands of tons) as a sensitive medium.
      Particles are detected when they interact with the water and produce Cerenkov
      light, so detection efficiency relies on the transparency of the water. These
      detectors are active typically for many years, so biological activity (primarily
      bacterial growth) is one of the means by which the transparency of the water may
      be reduced. We present the results of a measurement of light scattering and
      absorption from a population of Escherichia coli in water, which is used as a
      model for bacteria in general. One can separate the scattering and absorption by
      varying the refractive index of the medium by using a solute of high molecular
      weight. We show that the results can be understood simply in terms of light
      scattering from small spheres (radius ~ wavelength) with an effective refractive
      index, n(b), plus a small amount of absorption in the ultraviolet. We compare his
      scattering with Rayleigh scattering in pure water.

PMID- 20941321
TI  - Concentration measurements of a light absorber localized in a scattering medium.
AB  - Using a time-resolved technique, we have studied two methods of quantifying the
      concentration of a light absorber localized in a scattering medium. Because some
      of the transmitted photons pass through the absorber region many times because of
      complicated photon propagation in the scattering medium, we used the following
      methods. First, early-arriving photons passing through the absorber approximately
      once were selected. Using these photons, we quantified the concentration of the
      absorber by an ordinary spectroscopic method based on the Beer-Lambert law.
      Second, for later-arriving photons, after empirically determining the
      distribution of the number of passes through the absorber as a function of
      detection time, we obtained the concentration by applying this function to the
      Beer-Lambert law.

PMID- 20941322
TI  - Light scattering described in the mode picture.
AB  - A system of orthonormal functions representing the eigenmodes of an optical
      resonator with perfectly spherical mirror surfaces has been described in the
      literature. In real experiments, however, the wave front of the passing beam will
      be deformed by surface irregularities or index inhomogeneities inside components
      traversed by the beam. We describe quantitatively the relative power transferred
      out of the fundamental mode into higher-order modes by these irregularities.

PMID- 20941323
TI  - Aiding in the evolution of translational medicine: "bridging academia and
      industry" in the field of neuroscience.

PMID- 20941324
TI  - Interactions between the Midbrain Superior Colliculus and the Basal Ganglia.
AB  - An important component of the architecture of cortico-basal ganglia connections
      is the parallel, re-entrant looped projections that originate and return to
      specific regions of the cerebral cortex. However, such loops are unlikely to have
      been the first evolutionary example of a closed-loop architecture involving the
      basal ganglia. A phylogenetically older, series of subcortical loops can be shown
      to link the basal ganglia with many brainstem sensorimotor structures. While the
      characteristics of individual components of potential subcortical re-entrant
      loops have been documented, the full extent to which they represent functionally
      segregated parallel projecting channels remains to be determined. However, for
      one midbrain structure, the superior colliculus (SC), anatomical evidence for
      closed-loop connectivity with the basal ganglia is robust, and can serve as an
      example against which the loop hypothesis can be evaluated for other subcortical
      structures. Examination of ascending projections from the SC to the thalamus
      suggests there may be multiple functionally segregated systems. The SC also
      provides afferent signals to the other principal input nuclei of the basal
      ganglia, the dopaminergic neurones in substantia nigra and to the subthalamic
      nucleus. Recent electrophysiological investigations show that the afferent
      signals originating in the SC carry important information concerning the onset of
      biologically significant events to each of the basal ganglia input nuclei. Such
      signals are widely regarded as crucial for the proposed functions of selection
      and reinforcement learning with which the basal ganglia have so often been
      associated.

PMID- 20941326
TI  - Introduction to special topic - resting-state brain activity: implications for
      systems neuroscience.

PMID- 20941325
TI  - Involvement of BDNF in age-dependent alterations in the hippocampus.
AB  - It is known since a long time that the hippocampus is sensitive to aging. Thus,
      there is a reduction in the hippocampal volume during aging. This age-related
      volume reduction is paralleled by behavioral and functional deficits in
      hippocampus-dependent learning and memory tasks. This age-related volume
      reduction of the hippocampus is not a consequence of an age-related loss of
      hippocampal neurons. The morphological changes associated with aging include
      reductions in the branching pattern of dendrites, as well as reductions in spine
      densities, reductions in the densities of fibers projecting into the hippocampus
      as well as declines in the rate of neurogenesis. It is very unlikely that a
      single factor or a single class of molecules is responsible for all these age
      related morphological changes in the hippocampus. Nevertheless, it would be of
      advantage to identify possible neuromodulators or neuropeptides that may
      contribute to these age-related changes. In this context, growth factors may play
      an important role in the maintenance of the postnatal hippocampal architecture.
      In this review it is hypothesized that brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)
      is a factor critically involved in the regulation of age-related processes in the
      hippocampus. Moreover, evidences suggest that disturbances in the BDNF-system
      also affect hippocampal dysfunctions, as e.g. seen in major depression or in
      Alzheimer disease.

PMID- 20941327
TI  - Development of parallel auditory thalamocortical pathways for two different
      behaviors.
AB  - Auditory thalamocortical connections are organized as parallel pathways that
      originate in different divisions of the medial geniculate body (MGB). These
      pathways may be involved in different functions. Surprisingly little is known
      about the development of these connections. Here we review studies of the
      organization and development of auditory thalamocortical pathways in the pallid
      bat. The pallid bat depends primarily on passive hearing of prey-generated noise
      for localizing prey, while reserving echolocation for general orientation and
      obstacle avoidance. In the inferior colliculus (IC) and the auditory cortex,
      physiological studies show that noise and echolocation calls are processed in
      segregated regions. Injection of retrograde tracers in physiologically
      characterized cortical sites show that the ventral division of the MGB (MGBv)
      projects to the cortical region selective for noise. The cortical region
      selective for echolocation calls receives input from the suprageniculate (SG)
      nucleus in the dorsal MGB, but not from the MGBv. Taken together, these studies
      reveal parallel IC-MGB-cortex pathways involved in echolocation and passive
      listening. There is overlap of thalamocortical pathways during development. At 2
      weeks postnatal, when the bat begins to exhibit adult-like hearing thresholds,
      the SG projects to both noise- and echolocation call-selective regions. The MGBv,
      as in adults, projects only to the noise-selective region. The connections become
      adult-like only after 2-months postnatal. These data suggest that parallel
      auditory thalamocortical pathways may segregate in an experience-dependent
      fashion, a hypothesis that remains to be tested in any species.

PMID- 20941328
TI  - Economic valuation of the potential health benefits from foods enriched with
      plant sterols in Canada.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Increased consumption of foods containing plant sterols has the
      potential to reduce the incidence of coronary heart disease (CHD) and thus reduce
      costs associated with treating that disease in a significant way. This paper
      reports the results of an investigation of the potential monetary benefits of
      allowing foods enriched with plant sterols to be marketed in Canada. OBJECTIVE:
      The objective of this research was to estimate the annual savings that would
      accrue to Canada's single-payer publicly funded health care system if plant
      sterols were approved for use. If foods containing plant sterols are consumed at
      a sufficient rate, a reduction in CHD should follow. Given the significant costs
      associated with CHD, approval of plant sterols in Canada has important public
      policy implications. DESIGN: This research employs a variation of traditional
      cost-of-illness analysis entailing four steps: (1) estimation of a 'success rate'
      (proportion of persons who would consume plant sterols at the necessary rate);
      (2) presumption of blood cholesterol reduction due to plant sterol consumption;
      (3) assumption of reduction in CHD that follows from blood cholesterol reduction;
      and (4) calculation of cost savings associated with reduced incidence of CHD.
      RESULTS: CALCULATIONS WERE CARRIED OUT FOR FOUR SCENARIOS: ideal, optimistic,
      pessimistic, and very pessimistic. It was estimated that between $38 million
      (very pessimistic scenario) and $2.45 billion (ideal scenario) could be saved
      annually by Canada's health care system with plant sterol-enriched food products
      being made available for sale. CONCLUSION: Significant expenditure reductions
      within Canada's publicly funded health care system could be realized with plant
      sterols approved for sale. Reduced CHD resulting from lower blood cholesterol
      levels would lessen the financial burden of disease in Canada.

PMID- 20941329
TI  - Functional molecular ecological networks.
AB  - Biodiversity and its responses to environmental changes are central issues in
      ecology and for society. Almost all microbial biodiversity research focuses on
      "species" richness and abundance but not on their interactions. Although a
      network approach is powerful in describing ecological interactions among species,
      defining the network structure in a microbial community is a great challenge.
      Also, although the stimulating effects of elevated CO(2) (eCO(2)) on plant growth
      and primary productivity are well established, its influences on belowground
      microbial communities, especially microbial interactions, are poorly understood.
      Here, a random matrix theory (RMT)-based conceptual framework for identifying
      functional molecular ecological networks was developed with the high-throughput
      functional gene array hybridization data of soil microbial communities in a long
      term grassland FACE (free air, CO(2) enrichment) experiment. Our results indicate
      that RMT is powerful in identifying functional molecular ecological networks in
      microbial communities. Both functional molecular ecological networks under eCO(2)
      and ambient CO(2) (aCO(2)) possessed the general characteristics of complex
      systems such as scale free, small world, modular, and hierarchical. However, the
      topological structures of the functional molecular ecological networks are
      distinctly different between eCO(2) and aCO(2), at the levels of the entire
      communities, individual functional gene categories/groups, and functional
      genes/sequences, suggesting that eCO(2) dramatically altered the network
      interactions among different microbial functional genes/populations. Such a shift
      in network structure is also significantly correlated with soil geochemical
      variables. In short, elucidating network interactions in microbial communities
      and their responses to environmental changes is fundamentally important for
      research in microbial ecology, systems microbiology, and global change.

PMID- 20941331
TI  - Endodontic treatment: a significant risk factor for the development of maxillary
      fungal ball.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The risk factors for maxillary fungal ball are largely unknown. The
      aim of this study was to determine whether endodontic treatment of maxillary
      teeth is a risk factor for fungal ball development in the maxillary sinus, and to
      identify other possible risk factors. METHODS: One hundred and twelve case
      patients diagnosed with maxillary fungal ball (FB group) and age and gender
      matched control patients diagnosed with chronic paranasal rhinosinusitis (PNS
      group) were included to determine associations between previous endodontic
      treatment and maxillary fungal ball. In addition, we reviewed the dental
      extraction status of maxillary teeth and the underlying disease in both groups to
      analyze the other risk factors for maxillary fungal ball. RESULTS: There were
      36.3% of patients in the FB group and 16.1% in the PNS group showed evidence of
      endodontic treatment on the maxillary teeth (P<0.001). Even after correction for
      possible confounding factor - the frequency of dental extractions - the rate of
      endodontic treatment remained higher in the FB group. The mean number of
      endodontically treated maxillary teeth in the FB group and PNS group were 0.63
      and 0.27, respectively (P=0.001). In addition, 20.5% of the patients in the FB
      group and 13.4% in the PNS group has diabetes mellitus (P=0.154). CONCLUSION:
      Endodontic treatment on maxillary teeth was a significant risk factor for the
      development of fungal balls in the maxillary sinus.

PMID- 20941332
TI  - New possibilities and strategies in the combat against healthcare associated and
      community based infection - primary prevention and use of non-antibiotic based
      antimicrobial alternatives.

PMID- 20941330
TI  - Induction of Toll-like receptor 3-mediated immunity during gestation inhibits
      cortical neurogenesis and causes behavioral disturbances.
AB  - Maternal infection during pregnancy with a wide range of RNA and DNA viruses is
      associated with increased risk for schizophrenia and autism in their offspring. A
      common feature in these exposures is that virus replication induces innate
      immunity through interaction with Toll-like receptors (TLRs). We employed a mouse
      model wherein pregnant mice were exposed to polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid
      [poly(I ? C)], a synthetic, double-stranded RNA molecular mimic of replicating
      virus. Poly(I ? C) inhibited embryonic neuronal stem cell replication and
      population of the superficial layers of the neocortex by neurons. Poly(I ? C)
      also led to impaired neonatal locomotor development and abnormal sensorimotor
      gating responses in adult offspring. Using Toll-like receptor 3 (TLR3)-deficient
      mice, we established that these effects were dependent on TLR3. Inhibition of
      stem cell proliferation was also abrogated by pretreatment with the nonsteroidal
      anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) carprofen, a cyclooxygenase (COX) inhibitor. Our
      findings provide insights into mechanisms by which maternal infection can induce
      subtle neuropathology and behavioral dysfunction, and they may suggest strategies
      for reducing the risk of neuropsychiatric disorders subsequent to prenatal
      exposures to pathogens and other triggers of innate immunity.

PMID- 20941333
TI  - Infection prevention during anaesthesia ventilation by the use of breathing
      system filters (BSF): Joint recommendation by German Society of Hospital Hygiene
      (DGKH) and German Society for Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care (DGAI).
AB  - An interdisciplinary working group from the German Society of Hospital Hygiene
      (DGKH) and the German Society for Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care (DGAI)
      worked out the following recommendations for infection prevention during
      anaesthesia by using breathing system filters (BSF). The BSF shall be changed
      after each patient. The filter retention efficiency for airborne particles is
      recommended to be >99% (II). The retention performance of BSF for liquids is
      recommended to be at pressures of at least 60 hPa (=60 mbar) or 20 hPa above the
      selected maximum ventilation pressure in the anaesthetic system. The anaesthesia
      breathing system may be used for a period of up to 7 days provided that the
      functional requirements of the system remain unchanged and the manufacturer
      states this in the instructions for use.THE BREATHING SYSTEM AND THE MANUAL
      VENTILATION BAG ARE CHANGED IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE RESPECTIVE ANAESTHESIA IF THE
      FOLLOWING SITUATION HAS OCCURRED OR IT IS SUSPECTED TO HAVE OCCURRED: Notifiable
      infectious disease involving the risk of transmission via the breathing system
      and the manual bag, e.g. tuberculosis, acute viral hepatitis, measles, influenza
      virus, infection and/or colonisation with a multi-resistant pathogen or upper or
      lower respiratory tract infections. In case of visible contamination e.g. by
      blood or in case of defect, it is required that the BSF and also the anaesthesia
      breathing system is changed and the breathing gas conducting parts of the
      anaesthesia ventilator are hygienically reprocessed.Observing of the appropriate
      hand disinfection is very important. All surfaces of the anaesthesia equipment
      exposed to hand contact must be disinfected after each case.

PMID- 20941334
TI  - Prevention of post-operative infections after surgical treatment of bite wounds.
AB  - After reviewing the literature about the microbial spectrum, the risk factors of
      post-operative infections, and the results of surgical interventions, the
      following recommendation can be made for the management of bite wounds:FRESH,
      OPEN WOUNDS: surgical debridement, if appropriate, then an antiseptic lavage with
      a fluid consisting of povidone iodine and ethanol (e.g., Betaseptic((r))), no
      antibiotics, primary wound closurenearly closed fresh wounds (e.g., cat bites):
      surgical debridement, if appropriate, dressing with an antiseptic-soaked compress
      for ~60 minutes with repeated soaking (e.g., Betaseptic((r))), no
      antibioticsolder wounds after ~4 hours: surgical debridement, if appropriate,
      dressing with an antiseptic-soaked compress or bandage for ~60 minutes with
      repeated soaking (e.g., Betaseptic((r))), at the same time intravenous or dose
      adapted oral antibiotics (Amoxicillin and/or clavulanic acid)older wounds after
      ~24 hours: surgical debridement, then antiseptic lavage (Betaseptic((r))), in
      case of clinically apparent infection or inflammation surgical revision with
      opening of wound and treatment with antibiotics according to resistogram
      (empirical start with Amoxicillin and/or clavulanic acid).For each kind of bite
      wound, the patient's tetanus immunization status as well as the risk of exposure
      to rabies have to be assessed. Similarly, the possibility of other infections,
      such as lues (Syphilis), hepatitis B (HBV), hepatitis C (HBC), hepatitis D (HDV)
      and HIV, in the rare case of a human bite wound, has to be taken into account.

PMID- 20941335
TI  - MRSA in a large German University Hospital: Male gender is a significant risk
      factor for MRSA acquisition.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The continually rising number of hospital acquired infections and
      particularly MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) colonization
      poses a major challenge from both clinical and epidemiological perspectives. The
      assessment of risk factors is vital in determining the best prevention, diagnosis
      and treatment strategies. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We analyzed 798 cases of MRSA in
      a large German University Hospital over a 7-year period. Data was collected retro
      and prospectively including patient age, sex, type of ward and duration of
      inpatient stay. In addition we analyzed all cases on ICU with regards to cross
      infection and MRSA genotyping via DNA MicroArray Technology. The years 2004 to
      2007 were analyzed with a specific focus on gender. RESULTS: Male gender is
      significantly correlated with increased risk of MRSA acquisition (p<0.001), the
      predominant setting for MRSA is on ICU. 75% of the MRSA positive patients are
      over 50 years of age (average age 59.8 years). The inpatient time was 4.15 times
      higher in MRSA carriers compared with non-MRSA cases, however this was not
      significant. MRSA genotyping on ICU showed mainly the subtypes ST 5, ST 22, ST
      228, however cross contamination with identical genotypes was only detected in a
      minority of cases (5 out of 22). CONCLUSION: Unlike previous studies which show
      no or inconclusive evidence of gender as a risk factor, our data confirm that
      male gender is a significant risk factor for MRSA carrier status. Further
      research will be required to investigate the aetiology of these findings.

PMID- 20941336
TI  - Impact of surface disinfection and sterile draping of furniture on room air
      quality in a cardiac procedure room with a ventilation and air-conditioning
      system (extrusion airflow, cleanroom class 1b (DIN 1946-4)).
AB  - In a cardiac procedure room, ventilated by a ventilation and air-conditioning
      system with turbulent mixed airflow, a protection zone in the operating area
      could be defined through visualization of airflows. Within this protection zone,
      no turbulence was detectable in the room air.Under the given conditions,
      disinfection of all surfaces including all furniture and equipment after the last
      operation and subsequent draping of furniture and all equipment that could not be
      removed from the room with sterile surgical drapes improved the indoor room air
      quality from cleanroom class C to cleanroom class B. This also allows procedures
      with elevated requirements to be performed in room class 1b.

PMID- 20941337
TI  - Pilot study on the microbial contamination of conventional vs. silver-impregnated
      uniforms worn by ambulance personnel during one week of emergency medical
      service.
AB  - The antimicrobial impregnation of products used everyday, such as surfaces,
      textiles and clothing - including those used in hospitals - is increasing. In
      view of potential toxic and environmental risks for users and patients, a careful
      risk-benefit assessment must be conducted for each newly developed product
      impregnated or coated with antimicrobial agents, prior to marketing and
      manufacture.It has been proposed that incorporation of silver threads into the
      clothing of emergency service workers could reduce microbial contamination over
      time. As clothing in the emergency services is often not adequately changed, and
      it is plausible that microbial contamination increases with time in use, a study
      was conducted in the emergency medical setting in order to test this hypothesis.
      We compared the contamination rates of newly developed silver-hybrid clothing
      with that of standard textile clothing. Samples were taken from jackets and pants
      of 10 emergency workers at day 0 (pre-service), day 3 and day 7 after use over a
      divided 4-week period to examine this hypothesis. No significant difference in
      the extent of microbial contamination was detected between these two materials. A
      larger sample size is required to further verify this result.

PMID- 20941338
TI  - Prevention of postoperative wound infections by covering the surgical field with
      iodine-impregnated incision drape (Ioban 2).
AB  - The literature is used to analyse the significance of the use of iodine
      impregnated incision drape (Ioban((r)) 2) for the prevention of postoperative
      wound infections (SSI). The drape has a microbiocidal effect in vitro.
      Consequently an antiseptic effect also occurs under the incision drape when it is
      applied to the skin; at the same time, bacterial wound contamination is reduced.
      Overall, based on the efficacy strength of the antiseptic incision drape, a
      reduction of the SSI rate can, however, be confirmed only with a large sample
      size. A meta analysis which evaluated four prospective studies and one
      retrospective study was able to provide significant confirmation of a reduction
      in the SSI rate. There are no limitations in terms of the biocompatibility of the
      iodine-impregnated incision drape.

PMID- 20941339
TI  - Are laptop ventilation-blowers a potential source of nosocomial infections for
      patients?
AB  - Inadequately performed hand hygiene and non-disinfected surfaces are two reasons
      why the keys and mouse-buttons of laptops could be sources of microbial
      contamination resulting consequently in indirect transmission of potential
      pathogens and nosocomial infections. Until now the question has not been
      addressed whether the ventilation-blowers in laptops are actually responsible for
      the spreading of nosocomial pathogens. Therefore, an investigational experimental
      model was developed which was capable of differentiating between the
      microorganisms originating from the external surfaces of the laptop, and from
      those being blown out via the ventilation-blower duct. Culture samples were taken
      at the site of the external exhaust vent and temperature controls were collected
      through the use of a thermo-camera at the site of the blower exhaust vent as well
      as from surfaces which were directly exposed to the cooling ventilation air
      projected by the laptop. Control of 20 laptops yielded no evidence of microbial
      emission originating from the internal compartment following switching-on of the
      ventilation blower. Cultures obtained at the site of the blower exhaust vent also
      showed no evidence of nosocomial potential. High internal temperatures on the
      inner surfaces of the laptops (up to 73 degrees C) as well as those documented at
      the site of the blower exhaust vent (up to 56 degrees C) might be responsible for
      these findings.

PMID- 20941340
TI  - Aminoglycoside-free interventional antibiotic management in patients undergoing
      haemopoietic stem cell transplantation.
AB  - The position of aminoglycosides within interventional antibiosis in the early
      phase after stem cell transplantation has not been fully clarified so far
      although their use can induce serious renal impairment. To investigate this
      question early-infection data from 152 patients undergoing 195 allogeneic and
      autologous stem cell transplantations were investigated. Prophylaxis and
      treatment of infections followed international standards; however,
      aminoglycosides were omitted to avoid additional risks such as ototoxicity and
      nephrotoxicity and increased selection of resistant pathogens. Costs were another
      aspect.The overall-incidence of infections was 78% (152/195) and 67 patients
      showed more than one episode of infection. Fever of unknown origin and
      bacteriaemia/septicaemia dominated the spectrum of infections. The overall
      response to interventional regimen consisting of beta-lactam or carbapenem plus
      glycopeptides was 48%. Aminoglycosides were given in three patients in the late
      course of disease. Overall mortality was 15/195 (7.7%) and clearly related to
      infection in nine cases mostly due to mould infection. A comparison with previous
      published literature showed no hint for inferiority of 'aminoglycoside-free'
      antibiotic management in stem cell transplant patients. In conclusion, the
      present analysis supports the policy to omit aminoglycosides in the therapy of
      early infections in patients undergoing stem cell transplantation to avoid
      additional toxicity.

PMID- 20941341
TI  - Serial testing with an interferon-gamma release assay in German healthcare
      workers.
AB  - AIM: Data concerning conversion and reversion rates in the serial testing of
      healthcare workers (HCWs) is rare. So far, there is no consensus on how to define
      and interpret interferon-gamma release assays (IGRA) conversions and reversions,
      or how to deal with such results. We analysed conversion and reversion rates in
      the serial testing of HCWs using an IGRA. METHODS: The study population comprises
      287 HCWs, who participated in routine occupational safety and health screening
      for latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) with the QuantiFERON-TB((r)) Gold In
      Tube assay (QFT). Four different definitions for conversion and reversion were
      applied: 1) transgression or regression above/below the cut-off; 2) increase from
      <0.2 to >0.7 IU/ml or decrease from >0.7 to <0.2 IU/ml; 3) transgression or
      regression above/below the cut-off plus change of >=0.50 IU/ml; and 4)
      transgression or regression above/below the cut-off plus change of >=0.70 IU/ml.
      RESULTS: The highest conversion and reversion rates of 6.1% (95% CI 3.5 to 9.9)
      and 32.6% (95% CI 19.1 to 48.5) respectively were observed with the least
      stringent definition of negative to positive. The most stringent definition of an
      increase of >=0.7 IU/ml above the cut-point produced the lowest conversion rate
      of 2.5% (95% CI 0.9 to 5.3). Using an uncertainty zone from 0.2 to 0.7 IU/ml gave
      low conversion (2.6%) and reversion rates (15.4%). CONCLUSION: Our data confirmed
      the findings of previous studies that suggest that a simplistic dichotomous
      negative to positive definition of the IGRA might be deceptive because of the
      high number of spontaneous conversions and reversions. Therefore using an
      uncertainty zone around the cut-point (e.g. 0.2 to 0.7 IU/ml) could improve the
      discrimination between unspecific variation around the diagnostic cut-off and
      true conversion or reversion.

PMID- 20941342
TI  - Results of a field study on the influence of HygienicWood mattress toppers on the
      number of mites in bed dust and the state of health of people with house dust
      mite allergies.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: So far, there has been no practical or toxicologically non-hazardous
      way to decimate mites - without interrupting use of beds - in their main
      reservoir on bed mattresses to such an extent that the allergic condtion of
      people suffering from house dust mite allergies is reduced or even remedied. As
      so-called HygienicWood was effective against mites under simulated conditions,
      the influence of a mattress topper filled with HygienicWood chips on the content
      of mite antigen Der p1 was to be investigated and the influence on the state of
      health of the persons concerned analysed at the same time. PROCEDURE: 32 test
      persons suffering from dust mite allergy were randomly selected. During the
      course of 5 months, the influence of a HygienicWood mattress topper on the
      content of the mite antigen Der p1 as well as the number of bacteria,
      dermatophytes and yeasts in the bed dust were determined and compared with the
      values obtained during the 5 weeks prior to the application of HygienicWood
      mattress toppers. The samples were taken from between the HygienicWood mattress
      topper and the sheet below. At the same time, changes in well-being, state of
      health, typical allergy symptoms and frequency of taking antihistamines and
      glucocorticoids were recorded as self-assessments in the form of questionnaires.
      FINDINGS: The most striking finding was the significant decrease (p=0.000) of the
      house dust mite antigen Der p1 during usage of the HygienicWood mattress toppers.
      The effect started immediately after applying the toppers and continued with
      little fluctuation until the end of the observation period without lessening. At
      the end of the study, 43% of the test persons stated a slight improvement in
      their well-being. 13% of the test persons felt no change, and 6% of the test
      persons stated a slight deterioration. The situation was similar with regard to
      allergy symptoms: 43% reported a significant reduction, 38% a slight reduction,
      and 19% did not notice any change. The improvement in symptomatology could not be
      ascribed to an increased intake of antihistamines or glucocorticoids.The
      dermatophytes, too, showed a slight, albeit statistically not significant
      decrease after application of HygienicWood mattress toppers. In contrast, the
      pollution of bed dust with yeasts rose significantly (p=0.002), whereas there was
      only a tendency towards an increase in the number of bacteria, which, if one
      considers the slight increase, is without hygienic relevance. CONCLUSION:
      HygienicWood mattress toppers are able to reduce the house dust mite allergen
      load. This leads to a distinct reduction in the allergy symptomatology, and the
      well-being of the persons concerned increased significantly.

PMID- 20941343
TI  - Can physical stress be measured in urine using the parameter antioxidative
      potential?
AB  - Although regular exercise is known to promote health, it is also well known that
      competetive sports can lead to an increase of free radical production, and thus
      to a drop in antioxidative potential. Thus, the present study examined the effect
      of competetive sports on the antioxidative potential (AOP). Using
      chemoluminescence, the AOP was measured in the spontaneous urine of leisure and
      semi-professional athletes during a training camp. Further, the parameters
      creatinin and uric acid were measured. It was shown that physical stress led to a
      drop in the antioxidant potential of up to approximately 50%. To compensate for
      this decline, special antioxidant food is recommended.

PMID- 20941344
TI  - Screening test for quality control of surface barrier discharged plasma sources
      with the microorganism-agar test (MAT).
AB  - In the recent past, the antimicrobial applicability of tissue tolerable plasma
      (TTP) has been examined, and is increasing in importance. Many different plasma
      sources can be used medically. In order to obtain reliable test results by using
      plasma sources, it is essential not only to assess physical parameters but also
      to screen a use-oriented application of plasma sources. It is necessary to both
      determine the biological efficacy and establish uniform coverage of the treated
      surfaces. This article shows a simple screening method for this. We used newly
      inoculated agar plates with bacterial test organisms and treated the agar plates
      with two surface barrier discharged (SDB) plasmas. The carrier gas was argon and
      air.

PMID- 20941345
TI  - Mercury inhalation as a suicide attempt in a patient with depression and
      narcissistic personality disorder.

PMID- 20941346
TI  - An analysis of the psychiatric pipeline.
AB  - In this article, we explore the current state of the psychiatry drug development
      pipeline. Analysis suggests that overall, the psychiatry pipeline is heavily
      skewed toward a few major indications and tends to have more programs in early
      development (Phase I and II) than later stages (Phase III). A review of
      development sponsors shows a fairly even split of programs between Top 50
      Pharmaceutical companies and small to mid-sized biopharmaceutical companies.

PMID- 20941347
TI  - Emotional hyper-reactivity in borderline personality disorder.
AB  - According to clinical experience, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental
      Disorders, and authorities in the field, patients with borderline personality
      disorder tend to be hyper-reactive to environmental stimuli. In addition to the
      preceding clinical impressions and experiences, the majority of empirical studies
      in this area have concluded that patients with borderline personality disorder
      are indeed hyper-responsive to experimental environmental stimuli, whether the
      stimuli are negative, positive, or even neutral or ambiguous. While two empirical
      studies did not find hyper-responsiveness, both were undertaken in inpatients
      with borderline personality disorder, and the potential for emotional blunting
      from psychotropic medications may have been a potential confound. These findings
      have several clinical implications in both mental health and primary care
      settings.

PMID- 20941348
TI  - Quality of sleep in patients with posttraumatic stress disorder.
AB  - Objective. To assess the characteristics and correlates of sleep problems in
      patients with lifetime posttraumatic stress disorder and ongoing sleep
      disturbance not due to obstructive sleep apnea or other diagnosed sleep
      disorders.Sample. Twenty-six veterans receiving psychiatric care at the
      Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota.Data
      collection instruments. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, sleep logs, and
      actigraph along with three symptom ratings scales-posttraumatic checklist,
      clinician-administered posttraumatic stress disorder scale, and Beck Depression
      Inventory-were used.Results. Univariate analysis associated three symptom
      complexes with poorer sleep quality: posttraumatic avoidance, posttraumatic
      hypervigilance, and depressive symptoms. Borderline trends also existed between
      worse sleep quality and more severe clinician-rated posttraumatic stress, more
      self-reported awakenings from sleep, and greater actigraphy-determined sleep
      duration. Using linear regression, only posttraumatic hypervigilance symptoms
      were associated with sleep quality.Conclusion. Sleep quality among posttraumatic
      stress disorder patients in active treatment is worse in direct relation to more
      severe posttraumatic hypervigilance symptoms.

PMID- 20941350
TI  - Swallowing foreign bodies as an example of impulse control disorder in a patient
      with intellectual disabilities: a case report.
AB  - Objective. Foreign body ingestion can be a challenge to multiprofessional
      approaches involving medical, surgical, neurological, and psychiatric teams.Case
      presentation. A 41-year-old male patient with intellectual disabilities presented
      after having swallowed approximately 20 sharp objects. While admitted to a
      psychiatric ward, surgeons removed a glove from his stomach endoscopically and
      pharmacologically facilitated the objects' complication-free bowel passage. The
      patient explained the swallowing as a means to release himself from tension
      induced by stress. His aberrant behavior also seemed to serve as a means to exert
      pressure on psychosocial workers. Other deviations included the pushing of sharp
      objects under the skin and multiple paraphiliae. As a child, the patient suffered
      from early psychological and physical traumatization. Both parents were allegedly
      physically abusive alcoholics.Conclusion. Apart from possible alcohol embryopathy
      and traumatic brain damage, meningitis, which the patient had at the age of
      three, is discussed as the most likely reason for his oligophrenia, associated
      with left-sided, temporo-parietal atrophy and epilepsy.

PMID- 20941349
TI  - Neuroimaging in delirious intensive care unit patients: a preliminary case series
      report.
AB  - Objective. There exists uncertainty regarding the role of magnetic resonance
      imaging in the evaluation of intensive care unit delirious patients. This case
      series describes preliminary magnetic resonance imaging findings obtained because
      of delirium, subsequent in-hospital clinical decisions, and post-discharge
      neurocognitive outcomes in intensive care unit survivors.Design. Case
      series.Setting. Intensive care unit.Participants. Eight patients who underwent
      magnetic resonance imaging for delirium in the absence of focal neurological
      findings as part of their intensive care unit clinical care.Measurements.
      Magnetic resonance imaging findings, clinical decisions following magnetic
      resonance imaging, and three-month neuropsychological outcomes were
      obtained.Results. Of the eight patients, six (75%) demonstrated white matter
      hyperintensities, one (12%) had mild atrophy, and no patient had
      ischemic/hemorrhagic lesions. Magnetic resonance imaging did not lead to new
      diagnoses or immediate changes in therapy. All six patients who underwent
      neuropsychological testing had severe impairments in memory, executive function,
      and attention at three months, despite the absence of baseline cognitive
      impairment.Conclusion. Magnetic resonance imaging findings in these delirious
      intensive care unit patients did not alter the immediate treatment course and
      these patients had neuropsychological impairments at three months. Future
      research is warranted to define the role of current and newer magnetic resonance
      imaging techniques in assessing and managing delirious intensive care unit
      patients, and to examine relationships between in-hospital magnetic resonance
      imaging findings (i.e. white matter hyperintensities) and short- and long-term
      neurological outcomes.

PMID- 20941351
TI  - Psychiatry, neurology, and the role of the cerebellum.
AB  - The cerebellum has long been considered quite separate from the neocortex, and
      accordingly the understanding of its role has been limited. Recent work has
      revealed that the cerebellum interacts regularly with the forebrain and it is
      involved in mood and cognition. In this article, the authors discuss an extensive
      system of neural circuits connecting the prefrontal, temporal, posterior
      parietal, and limbic cortices with the cerebellum. Language functions of the
      cerebellum are described, as well as cerebellar syndromes affecting cognition.
      The roles of the cerebellum in pain perception, attention deficit disorder,
      autism, dementia, and schizophrenia are discussed. Practical observations and
      tests to assess cerebellar function in the psychiatrist's office are described.

PMID- 20941352
TI  - HapX-mediated adaption to iron starvation is crucial for virulence of Aspergillus
      fumigatus.
AB  - Iron is essential for a wide range of cellular processes. Here we show that the
      bZIP-type regulator HapX is indispensable for the transcriptional remodeling
      required for adaption to iron starvation in the opportunistic fungal pathogen
      Aspergillus fumigatus. HapX represses iron-dependent and mitochondrial-localized
      activities including respiration, TCA cycle, amino acid metabolism, iron-sulfur
      cluster and heme biosynthesis. In agreement with the impact on mitochondrial
      metabolism, HapX-deficiency decreases resistance to tetracycline and increases
      mitochondrial DNA content. Pathways positively affected by HapX include
      production of the ribotoxin AspF1 and siderophores, which are known virulence
      determinants. Iron starvation causes a massive remodeling of the amino acid pool
      and HapX is essential for the coordination of the production of siderophores and
      their precursor ornithine. Consistent with HapX-function being limited to iron
      depleted conditions and A. fumigatus facing iron starvation in the host, HapX
      deficiency causes significant attenuation of virulence in a murine model of
      aspergillosis. Taken together, this study demonstrates that HapX-dependent
      adaption to conditions of iron starvation is crucial for virulence of A.
      fumigatus.

PMID- 20941353
TI  - Molecular and evolutionary bases of within-patient genotypic and phenotypic
      diversity in Escherichia coli extraintestinal infections.
AB  - Although polymicrobial infections, caused by combinations of viruses, bacteria,
      fungi and parasites, are being recognised with increasing frequency, little is
      known about the occurrence of within-species diversity in bacterial infections
      and the molecular and evolutionary bases of this diversity. We used multiple
      approaches to study the genomic and phenotypic diversity among 226 Escherichia
      coli isolates from deep and closed visceral infections occurring in 19 patients.
      We observed genomic variability among isolates from the same site within 11
      patients. This diversity was of two types, as patients were infected either by
      several distinct E. coli clones (4 patients) or by members of a single clone that
      exhibit micro-heterogeneity (11 patients); both types of diversity were present
      in 4 patients. A surprisingly wide continuum of antibiotic resistance, outer
      membrane permeability, growth rate, stress resistance, red dry and rough
      morphotype characteristics and virulence properties were present within the
      isolates of single clones in 8 of the 11 patients showing genomic micro
      heterogeneity. Many of the observed phenotypic differences within clones affected
      the trade-off between self-preservation and nutritional competence (SPANC). We
      showed in 3 patients that this phenotypic variability was associated with
      distinct levels of RpoS in co-existing isolates. Genome mutational analysis and
      global proteomic comparisons in isolates from a patient revealed a star-like
      relationship of changes amongst clonally diverging isolates. A mathematical model
      demonstrated that multiple genotypes with distinct RpoS levels can co-exist as a
      result of the SPANC trade-off. In the cases involving infection by a single
      clone, we present several lines of evidence to suggest diversification during the
      infectious process rather than an infection by multiple isolates exhibiting a
      micro-heterogeneity. Our results suggest that bacteria are subject to trade-offs
      during an infectious process and that the observed diversity resembled results
      obtained in experimental evolution studies. Whatever the mechanisms leading to
      diversity, our results have strong medical implications in terms of the need for
      more extensive isolate testing before deciding on antibiotic therapies.

PMID- 20941354
TI  - Azole drugs are imported by facilitated diffusion in Candida albicans and other
      pathogenic fungi.
AB  - Despite the wealth of knowledge regarding the mechanisms of action and the
      mechanisms of resistance to azole antifungals, very little is known about how the
      azoles are imported into pathogenic fungal cells. Here the in-vitro accumulation
      and import of Fluconazole (FLC) was examined in the pathogenic fungus, Candida
      albicans. In energized cells, FLC accumulation correlates inversely with
      expression of ATP-dependent efflux pumps. In de-energized cells, all strains
      accumulate FLC, suggesting that FLC import is not ATP-dependent. The kinetics of
      import in de-energized cells displays saturation kinetics with a K(m) of 0.64 MUM
      and V(max) of 0.0056 pmol/min/108 cells, demonstrating that FLC import proceeds
      via facilitated diffusion through a transporter rather than passive diffusion.
      Other azoles inhibit FLC import on a mole/mole basis, suggesting that all azoles
      utilize the same facilitated diffusion mechanism. An analysis of related
      compounds indicates that competition for azole import depends on an aromatic ring
      and an imidazole or triazole ring together in one molecule. Import of FLC by
      facilitated diffusion is observed in other fungi, including Cryptococcus
      neoformans, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and Candida krusei, indicating that the
      mechanism of transport is conserved among fungal species. FLC import was shown to
      vary among Candida albicans resistant clinical isolates, suggesting that altered
      facilitated diffusion may be a previously uncharacterized mechanism of resistance
      to azole drugs.

PMID- 20941355
TI  - The length of vesicular stomatitis virus particles dictates a need for actin
      assembly during clathrin-dependent endocytosis.
AB  - Microbial pathogens exploit the clathrin endocytic machinery to enter host cells.
      Vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV), an enveloped virus with bullet-shaped virions
      that measure 70 x 200 nm, enters cells by clathrin-dependent endocytosis. We
      showed previously that VSV particles exceed the capacity of typical clathrin
      coated vesicles and instead enter through endocytic carriers that acquire a
      partial clathrin coat and require local actin filament assembly to complete
      vesicle budding and internalization. To understand why the actin system is
      required for VSV uptake, we compared the internalization mechanisms of VSV and
      its shorter (75 nm long) defective interfering particle, DI-T. By imaging the
      uptake of individual particles into live cells, we found that, as with parental
      virions, DI-T enters via the clathrin endocytic pathway. Unlike VSV, DI-T
      internalization occurs through complete clathrin-coated vesicles and does not
      require actin polymerization. Since VSV and DI-T particles display similar
      surface densities of the same attachment glycoprotein, we conclude that the
      physical properties of the particle dictate whether a virus-containing clathrin
      pit engages the actin system. We suggest that the elongated shape of a VSV
      particle prevents full enclosure by the clathrin coat and that stalling of coat
      assembly triggers recruitment of the actin machinery to finish the
      internalization process. Since some enveloped viruses have pleomorphic particle
      shapes and sizes, our work suggests that they may use altered modes of endocytic
      uptake. More generally, our findings show the importance of cargo geometry for
      specifying cellular entry modes, even when the receptor recognition properties of
      a ligand are maintained.

PMID- 20941356
TI  - Pathogenic bacteria target NEDD8-conjugated cullins to hijack host-cell signaling
      pathways.
AB  - The cycle inhibiting factors (Cif), produced by pathogenic bacteria isolated from
      vertebrates and invertebrates, belong to a family of molecules called
      cyclomodulins that interfere with the eukaryotic cell cycle. Cif blocks the cell
      cycle at both the G1/S and G2/M transitions by inducing the stabilization of
      cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors p21(waf1) and p27(kip1). Using yeast two
      hybrid screens, we identified the ubiquitin-like protein NEDD8 as a target of
      Cif. Cif co-compartmentalized with NEDD8 in the host cell nucleus and induced
      accumulation of NEDD8-conjugated cullins. This accumulation occurred early after
      cell infection and correlated with that of p21 and p27. Co-immunoprecipitation
      revealed that Cif interacted with cullin-RING ubiquitin ligase complexes (CRLs)
      through binding with the neddylated forms of cullins 1, 2, 3, 4A and 4B subunits
      of CRL. Using an in vitro ubiquitylation assay, we demonstrate that Cif directly
      inhibits the neddylated CUL1-associated ubiquitin ligase activity. Consistent
      with this inhibition and the interaction of Cif with several neddylated cullins,
      we further observed that Cif modulates the cellular half-lives of various CRL
      targets, which might contribute to the pathogenic potential of diverse bacteria.

PMID- 20941357
TI  - Cdc20 is critical for meiosis I and fertility of female mice.
AB  - Chromosome missegregation in germ cells is an important cause of unexplained
      infertility, miscarriages, and congenital birth defects in humans. However, the
      molecular defects that lead to production of aneuploid gametes are largely
      unknown. Cdc20, the activating subunit of the anaphase-promoting
      complex/cyclosome (APC/C), initiates sister-chromatid separation by ordering the
      destruction of two key anaphase inhibitors, cyclin B1 and securin, at the
      transition from metaphase to anaphase. The physiological significance and full
      repertoire of functions of mammalian Cdc20 are unclear at present, mainly because
      of the essential nature of this protein in cell cycle progression. To bypass this
      problem we generated hypomorphic mice that express low amounts of Cdc20. These
      mice are healthy and have a normal lifespan, but females produce either no or
      very few offspring, despite normal folliculogenesis and fertilization rates. When
      mated with wild-type males, hypomorphic females yield nearly normal numbers of
      fertilized eggs, but as these embryos develop, they become malformed and rarely
      reach the blastocyst stage. In exploring the underlying mechanism, we uncover
      that the vast majority of these embryos have abnormal chromosome numbers,
      primarily due to chromosome lagging and chromosome misalignment during meiosis I
      in the oocyte. Furthermore, cyclin B1, cyclin A2, and securin are inefficiently
      degraded in metaphase I; and anaphase I onset is markedly delayed. These results
      demonstrate that the physiologically effective threshold level of Cdc20 is high
      for female meiosis I and identify Cdc20 hypomorphism as a mechanism for
      chromosome missegregation and formation of aneuploid gametes.

PMID- 20941358
TI  - Stochastic models of lymphocyte proliferation and death.
AB  - Quantitative understanding of the kinetics of lymphocyte proliferation and death
      upon activation with an antigen is crucial for elucidating factors determining
      the magnitude, duration and efficiency of the immune response. Recent advances in
      quantitative experimental techniques, in particular intracellular labeling and
      multi-channel flow cytometry, allow one to measure the population structure of
      proliferating and dying lymphocytes for several generations with high precision.
      These new experimental techniques require novel quantitative methods of analysis.
      We review several recent mathematical approaches used to describe and analyze
      cell proliferation data. Using a rigorous mathematical framework, we show that
      two commonly used models that are based on the theories of age-structured cell
      populations and of branching processes, are mathematically identical. We provide
      several simple analytical solutions for a model in which the distribution of
      inter-division times follows a gamma distribution and show that this model can
      fit both simulated and experimental data. We also show that the estimates of some
      critical kinetic parameters, such as the average inter-division time, obtained by
      fitting models to data may depend on the assumed distribution of inter-division
      times, highlighting the challenges in quantitative understanding of cell
      kinetics.

PMID- 20941359
TI  - Gene expression changes associated with resistance to intravenous corticosteroid
      therapy in children with severe ulcerative colitis.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Microarray analysis of RNA expression allows gross
      examination of pathways operative in inflammation. We aimed to determine whether
      genes expressed in whole blood early following initiation of intravenous
      corticosteroid treatment can be associated with response. METHODS: From a
      prospectively accrued cohort of 128 pediatric patients hospitalized for
      intravenous corticosteroid treatment of severe UC, we selected for analysis 20
      corticosteroid responsive (hospital discharge or PUCAI <=45 by day 5) and 20
      corticosteroid resistant patients (need for second line medical therapy or
      colectomy, or PUCAI >45 by day 5). Total RNA was extracted from blood samples
      collected on day 3 of intravenous corticosteroid therapy. The eluted
      transcriptomes were quantified on Affymetrix Human Gene 1.0 ST arrays. The data
      was analysed by the local-pooled error method for discovery of differential gene
      expression and false discovery rate correction was applied to adjust for multiple
      comparisons. RESULTS: A total of 41 genes differentially expressed between
      responders and non-responders were detected with statistical significance. Two of
      these genes, CEACAM1 and MMP8, possibly inhibited by methylprednisolone through
      IL8, were both found to be over-expressed in non-responsive patients. ABCC4
      (MRP4) as a member of the multi-drug resistance superfamily was a novel candidate
      gene for corticosteroid resistance. The expression pattern of a cluster of 10
      genes selected from the 41 significant hits were able to classify the patients
      with 80% sensitivity and 80% specificity. CONCLUSIONS: Elevated expression of
      several genes involved in inflammatory pathways was associated with resistance to
      intravenous corticosteroid therapy early in the course of treatment. Gene
      expression profiles may be useful to classify resistance to intravenous
      corticosteroids in children with severe UC and assist with clinical management
      decisions.

PMID- 20941360
TI  - Human impacts flatten rainforest-savanna gradient and reduce adaptive diversity
      in a rainforest bird.
AB  - Ecological gradients have long been recognized as important regions for
      diversification and speciation. However, little attention has been paid to the
      evolutionary consequences or conservation implications of human activities that
      fundamentally change the environmental features of such gradients. Here we show
      that recent deforestation in West Africa has homogenized the rainforest-savanna
      gradient, causing a loss of adaptive phenotypic diversity in a common rainforest
      bird, the little greenbul (Andropadus virens). Previously, this species was shown
      to exhibit morphological and song divergence along this gradient in Central
      Africa. Using satellite-based estimates of forest cover, recent morphological
      data, and historical data from museum specimens collected prior to widespread
      deforestation, we show that the gradient has become shallower in West Africa and
      that A. virens populations there have lost morphological variation in traits
      important to fitness. In contrast, we find no loss of morphological variation in
      Central Africa where there has been less deforestation and gradients have
      remained more intact. While rainforest deforestation is a leading cause of
      species extinction, the potential of deforestation to flatten gradients and
      inhibit rainforest diversification has not been previously recognized. More
      deforestation will likely lead to further flattening of the gradient and loss of
      diversity, and may limit the ability of species to persist under future
      environmental conditions.

PMID- 20941361
TI  - Clostridium perfringens epsilon toxin targets granule cells in the mouse
      cerebellum and stimulates glutamate release.
AB  - Epsilon toxin (ET) produced by C. perfringens types B and D is a highly potent
      pore-forming toxin. ET-intoxicated animals express severe neurological disorders
      that are thought to result from the formation of vasogenic brain edemas and
      indirect neuronal excitotoxicity. The cerebellum is a predilection site for ET
      damage. ET has been proposed to bind to glial cells such as astrocytes and
      oligodendrocytes. However, the possibility that ET binds and attacks the neurons
      remains an open question. Using specific anti-ET mouse polyclonal antibodies and
      mouse brain slices preincubated with ET, we found that several brain structures
      were labeled, the cerebellum being a prominent one. In cerebellar slices, we
      analyzed the co-staining of ET with specific cell markers, and found that ET
      binds to the cell body of granule cells, oligodendrocytes, but not astrocytes or
      nerve endings. Identification of granule cells as neuronal ET targets was
      confirmed by the observation that ET induced intracellular Ca(2+) rises and
      glutamate release in primary cultures of granule cells. In cultured cerebellar
      slices, whole cell patch-clamp recordings of synaptic currents in Purkinje cells
      revealed that ET greatly stimulates both spontaneous excitatory and inhibitory
      activities. However, pharmacological dissection of these effects indicated that
      they were only a result of an increased granule cell firing activity and did not
      involve a direct action of the toxin on glutamatergic nerve terminals or
      inhibitory interneurons. Patch-clamp recordings of granule cell somata showed
      that ET causes a decrease in neuronal membrane resistance associated with pore
      opening and depolarization of the neuronal membrane, which subsequently lead to
      the firing of the neuronal network and stimulation of glutamate release. This
      work demonstrates that a subset of neurons can be directly targeted by ET,
      suggesting that part of ET-induced neuronal damage observed in neuronal tissue is
      due to a direct effect of ET on neurons.

PMID- 20941362
TI  - Competition on the rocks: community growth and tessellation.
AB  - Crustose lichen communities on rocks exhibit fascinating spatial mosaics
      resembling political maps of nations or municipalities. Although the
      establishment and development of biological populations are important themes in
      ecology, our understanding of the formation of such patterns on the rocks is
      still in its infancy. Here, we present a novel model of the concurrent growth,
      establishment and interaction of lichens. We introduce an inverse technique based
      on Monte Carlo simulations to test our model on field samples of lichen
      communities. We derive an expression for the time needed for a community to cover
      a surface and predict the historical spatial dynamics of field samples. Lichens
      are frequently used for dating the time of exposure of rocks in glacial deposits,
      lake retreats or rock falls. We suggest our method as a way to improve the
      dating.

PMID- 20941363
TI  - Tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-3 (TIMP-3) regulates hematopoiesis and bone
      formation in vivo.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-3 (TIMP-3) inhibits matrix
      metalloproteinases and membrane-bound sheddases. TIMP-3 is associated with the
      extracellular matrix and is expressed in highly remodeling tissues. TIMP-3
      function in the hematopoietic system is unknown. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:
      We now report that TIMP-3 is highly expressed in the endosteal region of the bone
      marrow (BM), particularly by osteoblasts, endothelial and multipotent mesenchymal
      stromal cells which are all important cellular components of hematopoietic stem
      cell (HSC) niches, whereas its expression is very low in mature leukocytes and
      hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells. A possible role of TIMP-3 as an
      important niche component was further suggested by its down-regulation during
      granulocyte colony-stimulating factor-induced mobilization. To further
      investigate TIMP-3 function, mouse HSC were retrovirally transduced with human
      TIMP-3 and transplanted into lethally irradiated recipients. TIMP-3
      overexpression resulted in decreased frequency of B and T lymphocytes and
      increased frequency of myeloid cells in blood and BM, increased Lineage-negative
      Sca-1(+)KIT(+) cell proliferation in vivo and in vitro and increased colony
      forming cell trafficking to blood and spleen. Finally, over-expression of human
      TIMP-3 caused a late onset fatal osteosclerosis. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our
      results suggest that TIMP-3 regulates HSC proliferation, differentiation and
      trafficking in vivo, as well as bone and bone turn-over, and that TIMP-3 is
      expressed by stromal cells forming HSC niches within the BM. Thus, TIMP-3 may be
      an important HSC niche component regulating both hematopoiesis and bone
      remodeling.

PMID- 20941364
TI  - Comparative structural analysis of human DEAD-box RNA helicases.
AB  - DEAD-box RNA helicases play various, often critical, roles in all processes where
      RNAs are involved. Members of this family of proteins are linked to human
      disease, including cancer and viral infections. DEAD-box proteins contain two
      conserved domains that both contribute to RNA and ATP binding. Despite recent
      advances the molecular details of how these enzymes convert chemical energy into
      RNA remodeling is unknown. We present crystal structures of the isolated DEAD
      domains of human DDX2A/eIF4A1, DDX2B/eIF4A2, DDX5, DDX10/DBP4, DDX18/myc
      regulated DEAD-box protein, DDX20, DDX47, DDX52/ROK1, and DDX53/CAGE, and of the
      helicase domains of DDX25 and DDX41. Together with prior knowledge this enables a
      family-wide comparative structural analysis. We propose a general mechanism for
      opening of the RNA binding site. This analysis also provides insights into the
      diversity of DExD/H- proteins, with implications for understanding the functions
      of individual family members.

PMID- 20941366
TI  - Palatable meal anticipation in mice.
AB  - The ability to sense time and anticipate events is a critical skill in nature.
      Most efforts to understand the neural and molecular mechanisms of anticipatory
      behavior in rodents rely on daily restricted food access, which induces a robust
      increase of locomotor activity in anticipation of daily meal time. Interestingly,
      rats also show increased activity in anticipation of a daily palatable meal even
      when they have an ample food supply, suggesting a role for brain reward systems
      in anticipatory behavior, and providing an alternate model by which to study the
      neurobiology of anticipation in species, such as mice, that are less well adapted
      to "stuff and starve" feeding schedules. To extend this model to mice, and
      exploit molecular genetic resources available for that species, we tested the
      ability of wild-type mice to anticipate a daily palatable meal. We observed that
      mice with free access to regular chow and limited access to highly palatable
      snacks of chocolate or "Fruit Crunchies" avidly consumed the snack but did not
      show anticipatory locomotor activity as measured by running wheels or video-based
      behavioral analysis. However, male mice receiving a snack of high fat chow did
      show increased food bin entry prior to access time and a modest increase in
      activity in the two hours preceding the scheduled meal. Interestingly, female
      mice did not show anticipation of a daily high fat meal but did show increased
      activity at scheduled mealtime when that meal was withdrawn. These results
      indicate that anticipation of a scheduled food reward in mice is behavior, diet,
      and gender specific.

PMID- 20941367
TI  - Transmission of Food Preference does Not Require Socially Relevant Cues in a
      Mouse Strain with Low Sociability.

PMID- 20941365
TI  - Molecular signatures of the primitive prostate stem cell niche reveal novel
      mesenchymal-epithelial signaling pathways.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Signals between stem cells and stroma are important in establishing
      the stem cell niche. However, very little is known about the regulation of any
      mammalian stem cell niche as pure isolates of stem cells and their adjacent
      mesenchyme are not readily available. The prostate offers a unique model to study
      signals between stem cells and their adjacent stroma as in the embryonic prostate
      stem cell niche, the urogenital sinus mesenchyme is easily separated from the
      epithelial stem cells. Here we investigate the distinctive molecular signals of
      these two stem cell compartments in a mammalian system. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL
      FINDINGS: We isolated fetal murine urogenital sinus epithelium and urogenital
      sinus mesenchyme and determined their differentially expressed genes. To
      distinguish transcripts that are shared by other developing
      epithelial/mesenchymal compartments from those that pertain to the prostate stem
      cell niche, we also determined the global gene expression of epidermis and dermis
      of the same embryos. Our analysis indicates that several of the key
      transcriptional components that are predicted to be active in the embryonic
      prostate stem cell niche regulate processes such as self-renewal (e.g., E2f and
      Ap2), lipid metabolism (e.g., Srebp1) and cell migration (e.g., Areb6 and Rreb1).
      Several of the enriched promoter binding motifs are shared between the prostate
      epithelial/mesenchymal compartments and their epidermis/dermis counterparts,
      indicating their likely relevance in epithelial/mesenchymal signaling in
      primitive cellular compartments. Based on differential gene expression we also
      defined ligand-receptor interactions that may be part of the molecular interplay
      of the embryonic prostate stem cell niche. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: We provide a
      comprehensive description of the transcriptional program of the major regulators
      that are likely to control the cellular interactions in the embryonic prostatic
      stem cell niche, many of which may be common to mammalian niches in general. This
      study provides a comprehensive source for further studies of
      mesenchymal/epithelial interactions in the prostate stem cell niche. The
      elucidation of pathways in the normal primitive niche may provide greater insight
      into mechanisms subverted during abnormal proliferative and oncogenic processes.
      Understanding these events may result in the development of specific targeted
      therapies for prostatic diseases such as benign prostatic hypertrophy and
      carcinomas.

PMID- 20941368
TI  - Imaging retinal blood flow with laser speckle flowmetry.
AB  - Laser speckle flowmetry (LSF) was initially developed to measure blood flow in
      the retina. More recently, its primary application has been to image baseline
      blood flow and activity-dependent changes in blood flow in the brain. We now
      describe experiments in the rat retina in which LSF was used in conjunction with
      confocal microscopy to monitor light-evoked changes in blood flow in retinal
      vessels. This dual imaging technique permitted us to stimulate retinal
      photoreceptors and measure vessel diameter with confocal microscopy while
      simultaneously monitoring blood flow with LSF. We found that a flickering light
      dilated retinal arterioles and evoked increases in retinal blood velocity with
      similar time courses. In addition, focal light stimulation evoked local increases
      in blood velocity. The spatial distribution of these increases depended on the
      location of the stimulus relative to retinal arterioles and venules. The results
      suggest that capillaries are largely unresponsive to local neuronal activity and
      that hemodynamic responses are mediated primarily by arterioles. The use of LSF
      to image retinal blood flow holds promise in elucidating the mechanisms mediating
      functional hyperemia in the retina and in characterizing changes in blood flow
      that occur during retinal pathology.

PMID- 20941369
TI  - Transcranial magnetic stimulation and connectivity mapping: tools for studying
      the neural bases of brain disorders.
AB  - There has been an increasing emphasis on characterizing pathophysiology
      underlying psychiatric and neurological disorders in terms of altered neural
      connectivity and network dynamics. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)
      provides a unique opportunity for investigating connectivity in the human brain.
      TMS allows researchers and clinicians to directly stimulate cortical regions
      accessible to electromagnetic coils positioned on the scalp. The induced
      activation can then propagate through long-range connections to other brain
      areas. Thus, by identifying distal regions activated during TMS, researchers can
      infer connectivity patterns in the healthy human brain and can examine how those
      patterns may be disrupted in patients with different brain disorders. Conversely,
      connectivity maps derived using neuroimaging methods can identify components of a
      dysfunctional network. Nodes in this dysfunctional network accessible as targets
      for TMS by virtue of their proximity to the scalp may then permit TMS-induced
      alterations of components of the network not directly accessible to TMS via
      propagated effects. Thus TMS can provide a portal for accessing and altering
      neural dynamics in networks that are widely distributed anatomically. Finally,
      when long-term modulation of network dynamics is induced by trains of repetitive
      TMS, changes in functional connectivity patterns can be studied in parallel with
      changes in patient symptoms. These correlational data can elucidate neural
      mechanisms underlying illness and recovery. In this review, we focus on the
      application of these approaches to the study of psychiatric and neurological
      illnesses.

PMID- 20941370
TI  - Whole brain resting-state analysis reveals decreased functional connectivity in
      major depression.
AB  - Recently, both increases and decreases in resting-state functional connectivity
      have been found in major depression. However, these studies only assessed
      functional connectivity within a specific network or between a few regions of
      interest, while comorbidity and use of medication was not always controlled for.
      Therefore, the aim of the current study was to investigate whole-brain functional
      connectivity, unbiased by a priori definition of regions or networks of interest,
      in medication-free depressive patients without comorbidity. We analyzed resting
      state fMRI data of 19 medication-free patients with a recent diagnosis of major
      depression (within 6 months before inclusion) and no comorbidity, and 19 age- and
      gender-matched controls. Independent component analysis was employed on the
      concatenated data sets of all participants. Thirteen functionally relevant
      networks were identified, describing the entire study sample. Next, individual
      representations of the networks were created using a dual regression method.
      Statistical inference was subsequently done on these spatial maps using voxel
      wise permutation tests. Abnormal functional connectivity was found within three
      resting-state networks in depression: (1) decreased bilateral amygdala and left
      anterior insula connectivity in an affective network, (2) reduced connectivity of
      the left frontal pole in a network associated with attention and working memory,
      and (3) decreased bilateral lingual gyrus connectivity within ventromedial visual
      regions. None of these effects were associated with symptom severity or gray
      matter density. We found abnormal resting-state functional connectivity not
      previously associated with major depression, which might relate to abnormal
      affect regulation and mild cognitive deficits, both associated with the
      symptomatology of the disorder.

PMID- 20941371
TI  - Lungfishes, like tetrapods, possess a vomeronasal system.
AB  - The vomeronasal system (VNS) is an accessory olfactory system that in tetrapod
      vertebrates is composed of specific receptor neurons in the nasal organ and a set
      of centers in the forebrain that receive and relay the information consecutively
      towards the hypothalamus. Thus, only in tetrapods the VNS comprises a discrete
      vomeronasal (Jacobson's) organ, which contains receptor cells that are
      morphologically distinct from those of the olfactory epithelium and use different
      transduction mechanisms. The axons of the vomeronasal receptors in tetrapods
      project to the accessory olfactory bulb (AOB) in the rostral telencephalon.
      Secondary vomeronasal connections exist through the medial amygdala to the
      hypothalamus. Currently, the lungfishes are considered the closest living
      relatives of tetrapods. Here we show that the African lungfish, Protopterus
      dolloi, has epithelial crypts at the base of the lamellae of the olfactory
      epithelium that express markers of the vomeronasal receptors in tetrapods. The
      projections of these crypts allow us to identify an AOB on the lateral margin of
      the main olfactory bulb. The projections of this AOB reach a region that is
      topologically, hodologically, and immunohistochemically identical to the medial
      amygdala and could represent its homolog. Neurons of this putative medial
      amygdala were demonstrated to project to the lateral hypothalamus, as they do in
      tetrapods. All these features that lungfishes share with tetrapods indicate that
      lungfishes have the complete set of brain centers and connections involved in
      processing vomeronasal information and that these features were already present
      in the last common ancestor of lungfishes and tetrapods.

PMID- 20941372
TI  - A population based economic analysis of cross-border payments for fertility
      services in Luxembourg.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: How fertility patients utilise assisted reproductive services can
      depend on how easy it is to access such services locally. Little data exist to
      document the extent of economic outflow that accompanies cross-border patient
      travel specifically for medical procedures that cannot be obtained in country.
      METHODS: In this investigation, data from Luxembourg's social security agency
      were used to audit medical reimbursement payments for IVF within and outside the
      Grand Duchy of Luxembourg between 1998 and 2007. This study interval offered an
      opportunity to track IVF expenditures before and after IVF was made freely
      available within the Grand Duchy. RESULTS: Reimbursement authorizations to IVF
      providers outside Luxembourg remained stable or slightly elevated until 2005, two
      years after Luxembourg opened its first IVF centre. Once established in
      Luxembourg, annual utilisation of the domestic IVF service generally trended
      upwards (217 cycles in 2003 vs. 569 in 2008). Meanwhile, payments to foreign IVF
      clinics declined steadily after 2005 reflecting a diminishing number of
      Luxembourg patients seeking cross-border IVF treatment. CONCLUSION: These data
      represent the most comprehensive register of cross-border reproductive visits in
      Europe. Since Luxembourg fully reimburses its citizens for health-related
      expenses irrespective of where the medical service is obtained, the current
      investigation renders the "out of pocket" effect of IVF fees irrelevant and
      characterise consumption of elective medical treatments as a function of service
      site. Further studies are needed to determine if these findings will generalise
      to other geographic regions.

PMID- 20941373
TI  - Comparison of selected cryoprotective agents to stabilize meiotic spindles of
      human oocytes during cooling.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This study examined the primary effect of selected cryoprotective
      agents (CPAs) on the meiotic spindles of human oocytes during cooling. METHODS:
      Fresh metaphase II oocytes (n=26) donated from patients undergoing IVF treatment
      were analyzed via Polscope. In experiment one, 16 oocytes with visible spindle at
      37 degrees C were cooled to 20 degrees C and rewarmed to 37 degrees C to test the
      spindle response to cooling. They were then cooled to 20 degrees C, 10 degrees C,
      0 degrees C and rewarmed to 37 degrees C after having been equilibrated with 1.5
      M 1,2-propanediol (PROH), 1.5 M dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), 1.5 M ethylene glycol
      (EG) or 10 MUM taxol at 37 degrees C. In experiment two, 10 oocytes without
      visible spindles at 37 degrees C were cooled to 20 degrees C and then
      equilibrated with PROH, EG and taxol at 20 degrees C. Spindle images were
      recorded at each temperature. RESULTS: Meiotic spindles remained visible or
      became more distinct during cooling to 20 degrees C, 10 degrees C and 0 degrees C
      when equilibrated with PROH, EG, DMSO and Taxol. Without these agents, meiotic
      spindles of the same oocytes disappeared after cooling to 20 degrees C.
      CONCLUSION: The primary effect of PROH, EG and DMSO on the meiotic spindle is to
      stabilize and protect it against low temperature disassembly. A higher
      equilibration temperature (>=33 degrees C) for oocyte freezing is recommended.

PMID- 20941374
TI  - Activity and interactions of antibiotic and phytochemical combinations against
      Pseudomonas aeruginosa in vitro.
AB  - In this study the in vitro activities of seven antibiotics (ciprofloxacin,
      ceftazidime, tetracycline, trimethoprim, sulfamethoxazole, polymyxin B and
      piperacillin) and six phytochemicals (protocatechuic acid, gallic acid, ellagic
      acid, rutin, berberine and myricetin) against five P. aeruginosa isolates, alone
      and in combination are evaluated. All the phytochemicals under investigation
      demonstrate potential inhibitory activity against P. aeruginosa. The combinations
      of sulfamethoxazole plus protocatechuic acid, sulfamethoxazole plus ellagic acid,
      sulfamethoxazole plus gallic acid and tetracycline plus gallic acid show
      synergistic mode of interaction. However, the combinations of sulfamethoxazole
      plus myricetin shows synergism for three strains (PA01, DB5218 and DR3062). The
      synergistic combinations are further evaluated for their bactericidal activity
      against P. aeruginosa ATCC strain using time-kill method. Sub-inhibitory dose
      responses of antibiotics and phytochemicals individually and in combination are
      presented along with their interaction network to suggest on the mechanism of
      action and potential targets for the phytochemicals under investigation. The
      identified synergistic combinations can be of potent therapeutic value against P.
      aeruginosa infections. These findings have potential implications in delaying the
      development of resistance as the antibacterial effect is achieved with lower
      concentrations of both drugs (antibiotics and phytochemicals).

PMID- 20941375
TI  - Anterior visceral endoderm SMAD4 signaling specifies anterior embryonic
      patterning and head induction in mice.
AB  - SMAD4 serves as a common mediator for signaling of TGF-beta superfamily. Previous
      studies illustrated that SMAD4-null mice die at embryonic day 6.5 (E6.5) due to
      failure of mesoderm induction and extraembryonic defects; however, functions of
      SMAD4 in each germ layer remain elusive. To investigate this, we disrupted SMAD4
      in the visceral endoderm and epiblast, respectively, using a Cre-loxP mediated
      approach. We showed that mutant embryos lack of SMAD4 in the visceral endoderm
      (Smad4(Co/Co);TTR-Cre) died at E7.5-E9.5 without head-fold and anterior embryonic
      structures. We demonstrated that TGF-beta regulates expression of several genes,
      such as Hex1, Cer1, and Lim1, in the anterior visceral endoderm (AVE), and the
      failure of anterior embryonic development in Smad4(Co/Co);TTR-Cre embryos is
      accompanied by diminished expression of these genes. Consistent with this
      finding, SMAD4-deficient embryoid bodies showed impaired responsiveness to TGF
      beta-induced gene expression and morphological changes. On the other hand,
      embryos carrying Cre-loxP mediated disruption of SMAD4 in the epiblasts exhibited
      relatively normal mesoderm and head-fold induction although they all displayed
      profound patterning defects in the later stages of gastrulation. Cumulatively,
      our data indicate that SMAD4 signaling in the epiblasts is dispensable for
      mesoderm induction although it remains critical for head patterning, which is
      significantly different from SMAD4 signaling in the AVE, where it specifies
      anterior embryonic patterning and head induction.

PMID- 20941376
TI  - Construction of cDNA library and preliminary analysis of expressed sequence tags
      from Siberian tiger.
AB  - In this study we successfully constructed a full-length cDNA library from
      Siberian tiger, Panthera tigris altaica, the most well-known wild Animal. Total
      RNA was extracted from cultured Siberian tiger fibroblasts in vitro. The titers
      of primary and amplified libraries were 1.30*10(6) pfu/ml and 1.62*10(9) pfu/ml
      respectively. The proportion of recombinants from unamplified library was 90.5%
      and average length of exogenous inserts was 1.13 kb. A total of 282 individual
      ESTs with sizes ranging from 328 to 1,142 bps were then analyzed the BLASTX score
      revealed that 53.9% of the sequences were classified as strong match, 38.6% as
      nominal and 7.4% as weak match. 28.0% of them were found to be related to
      enzyme/catalytic protein, 20.9% ESTs to metabolism, 13.1% ESTs to transport,
      12.1% ESTs to signal transducer/cell communication, 9.9% ESTs to structure
      protein, 3.9% ESTs to immunity protein/defense metabolism, 3.2% ESTs to cell
      cycle, and 8.9 ESTs classified as novel genes. These results demonstrated that
      the reliability and representativeness of the cDNA library attained to the
      requirements of a standard cDNA library. This library provided a useful platform
      for the functional genomic research of Siberian tigers.

PMID- 20941377
TI  - Debate on GMOs health risks after statistical findings in regulatory tests.
AB  - We summarize the major points of international debate on health risk studies for
      the main commercialized edible GMOs. These GMOs are soy, maize and oilseed rape
      designed to contain new pesticide residues since they have been modified to be
      herbicide-tolerant (mostly to Roundup) or to produce mutated Bt toxins. The
      debated alimentary chronic risks may come from unpredictable insertional
      mutagenesis effects, metabolic effects, or from the new pesticide residues. The
      most detailed regulatory tests on the GMOs are three-month long feeding trials of
      laboratory rats, which are biochemically assessed. The tests are not compulsory,
      and are not independently conducted. The test data and the corresponding results
      are kept in secret by the companies. Our previous analyses of regulatory raw data
      at these levels, taking the representative examples of three GM maize NK 603, MON
      810, and MON 863 led us to conclude that hepatorenal toxicities were possible,
      and that longer testing was necessary. Our study was criticized by the company
      developing the GMOs in question and the regulatory bodies, mainly on the
      divergent biological interpretations of statistically significant biochemical and
      physiological effects. We present the scientific reasons for the crucially
      different biological interpretations and also highlight the shortcomings in the
      experimental protocols designed by the company. The debate implies an enormous
      responsibility towards public health and is essential due to nonexistent
      traceability or epidemiological studies in the GMO-producing countries.

PMID- 20941378
TI  - Aberrant cytoplasm localization and protein stability of SIRT1 is regulated by
      PI3K/IGF-1R signaling in human cancer cells.
AB  - SIRT1, an NAD-dependent histone/protein deacetylase, has classically been thought
      of as a nuclear protein. In this study, we demonstrate that SIRT1 is mainly
      localized in the nucleus of normal cells, but is predominantly localized in the
      cytoplasm of the cancer / transformed cells we tested. We found this predominant
      cytoplasmic localization of SIRT1 is regulated by elevated mitotic activity and
      PI3K/IGF-1R signaling in cancer cells. We show that aberrant cytoplasmic
      localization of SIRT1 is due to increased protein stability and is regulated by
      PI3K/IGF-1R signaling. In addition, we determined that SIRT1 is required for PI3K
      mediated cancer cell growth. Our study represents the first identification that
      aberrant cytoplasm localization is one of the specific alternations to SIRT1 that
      occur in cancer cells, and PI3K/IGF-1R signaling plays an important role in the
      regulation of cytoplasmic SIRT1 stability. Our findings suggest that the over
      expressed cytoplasmic SIRT1 in cancer cells may greatly contribute to its cancer
      specific function by working downstream of the PI3K/IGF-1R signaling pathway.

PMID- 20941380
TI  - Differential axonal projection of mitral and tufted cells in the mouse main
      olfactory system.
AB  - In the past decade, much has been elucidated regarding the functional
      organization of the axonal connection of olfactory sensory neurons to olfactory
      bulb (OB) glomeruli. However, the manner in which projection neurons of the OB
      process odorant input and send this information to higher brain centers remains
      unclear. Here, we report long-range, large-scale tracing of the axonal projection
      patterns of OB neurons using two-photon microscopy. Tracer injection into a
      single glomerulus demonstrated widely distributed mitral/tufted cell axonal
      projections on the lateroventral surface of the mouse brain, including the
      anterior/posterior piriform cortex (PC) and olfactory tubercle (OT). We noted two
      distinct groups of labeled axons: PC-orienting axons and OT-orienting axons. Each
      group occupied distinct parts of the lateral olfactory tract. PC-orienting axons
      projected axon collaterals to a wide area of the PC but only a few collaterals to
      the OT. OT-orienting axons densely projected axon collaterals primarily to the
      anterolateral OT (alOT). Different colored dye injections into the superficial
      and deep portions of the OB external plexiform layer revealed that the PC
      orienting axon populations originated in presumed mitral cells and the OT
      orienting axons in presumed tufted cells. These data suggest that although mitral
      and tufted cells receive similar odor signals from a shared glomerulus, they
      process the odor information in different ways and send their output to different
      higher brain centers via the PC and alOT.

PMID- 20941381
TI  - Cellular imaging of visual cortex reveals the spatial and functional organization
      of spontaneous activity.
AB  - The cerebral cortex is never silent; even in primary sensory areas there is
      ongoing neural activity in the absence of sensory input. Correlations in
      spontaneous activity can provide clues about network structure, but it has been
      difficult to record from enough nearby neurons to sample these correlations well.
      We used in vivo two-photon calcium imaging to demonstrate sparse patterns of
      correlated spontaneous activity among groups of ~150 simultaneously imaged cells.
      In cat visual cortex, correlations fell off sharply with distance, by 50% within
      ~240 MUm, but in the rat there was little dependence on spatial separation up to
      400 MUm. In both species, cells that responded best to visual contours of a
      specific orientation were spontaneously co-active, suggesting that functionally
      related cells are organized into distinct subnetworks. Although these subnetworks
      are clustered in the cat, they are intermingled in the rodent, arguing for
      specific connections within the local cortical network.

PMID- 20941382
TI  - Endothelial membrane remodeling is obligate for anti-angiogenic
      radiosensitization during tumor radiosurgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: While there is significant interest in combining anti-angiogenesis
      therapy with conventional anti-cancer treatment, clinical trials have as of yet
      yielded limited therapeutic gain, mainly because mechanisms of anti-angiogenic
      therapy remain to a large extent unknown. Currently, anti-angiogenic tumor
      therapy is conceptualized to either "normalize" dysfunctional tumor vasculature,
      or to prevent recruitment of circulating endothelial precursors into the tumor.
      An alternative biology, restricted to delivery of anti-angiogenics immediately
      prior to single dose radiotherapy (radiosurgery), is provided in the present
      study. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Genetic data indicate an acute wave of
      ceramide-mediated endothelial apoptosis, initiated by acid sphingomyelinase
      (ASMase), regulates tumor stem cell response to single dose radiotherapy,
      obligatory for tumor cure. Here we show VEGF prevented radiation-induced ASMase
      activation in cultured endothelium, occurring within minutes after radiation
      exposure, consequently repressing apoptosis, an event reversible with exogenous
      C16-ceramide. Anti-VEGFR2 acts conversely, enhancing ceramide generation and
      apoptosis. In vivo, MCA/129 fibrosarcoma tumors were implanted in asmase+/+ mice
      or asmase-/- littermates and irradiated in the presence or absence of anti-VEGFR2
      DC101 or anti-VEGF G6-31 antibodies. These anti-angiogenic agents, only if
      delivered immediately prior to single dose radiotherapy, de-repressed radiation
      induced ASMase activation, synergistically increasing the endothelial apoptotic
      component of tumor response and tumor cure. Anti-angiogenic radiosensitization
      was abrogated in tumors implanted in asmase-/- mice that provide apoptosis
      resistant vasculature, or in wild-type littermates pre-treated with anti-ceramide
      antibody, indicating that ceramide is necessary for this effect.
      CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: These studies show that angiogenic factors fail to
      suppress apoptosis if ceramide remains elevated while anti-angiogenic therapies
      fail without ceramide elevation, defining a ceramide rheostat that determines
      outcome of single dose radiotherapy. Understanding the temporal sequencing of
      anti-angiogenic drugs and radiation enables optimized radiosensitization and
      design of innovative radiosurgery clinical trials.

PMID- 20941384
TI  - Insights into the evolution and emergence of a novel infectious disease.
AB  - Many zoonotic, novel infectious diseases in humans appear as sporadic infections
      with spatially and temporally restricted outbreaks, as seen with influenza
      A(H5N1). Adaptation is often a key factor for successfully establishing sustained
      human-to-human transmission. Here we use simple mathematical models to describe
      different adaptation scenarios with particular reference to spatial heterogeneity
      within the human population. We present analytical expressions for the
      probability of emergence per introduction, as well as the waiting time to a
      successful emergence event. Furthermore, we derive general analytical results for
      the statistical properties of emergence events, including the probability
      distribution of outbreak sizes. We compare our analytical results with a
      stochastic model, which has previously been studied computationally. Our results
      suggest that, for typical connection strengths between communities, spatial
      heterogeneity has only a weak effect on outbreak size distributions, and on the
      risk of emergence per introduction. For example, if R0 = 1.4 or larger, any
      village connected to a large city by just ten commuters a day is, effectively,
      just a part of the city when considering the chances of emergence and the
      outbreak size distribution. We present empirical data on commuting patterns and
      show that the vast majority of communities for which such data are available are
      at least this well interconnected. For plausible parameter ranges, the effects of
      spatial heterogeneity are likely to be dominated by the evolutionary biology of
      host adaptation. We conclude by discussing implications for surveillance and
      control of emerging infections.

PMID- 20941386
TI  - Ten simple rules for editing Wikipedia.

PMID- 20941385
TI  - Genome-wide double-stranded RNA sequencing reveals the functional significance of
      base-paired RNAs in Arabidopsis.
AB  - The functional structure of all biologically active molecules is dependent on
      intra- and inter-molecular interactions. This is especially evident for RNA
      molecules whose functionality, maturation, and regulation require formation of
      correct secondary structure through encoded base-pairing interactions.
      Unfortunately, intra- and inter-molecular base-pairing information is lacking for
      most RNAs. Here, we marry classical nuclease-based structure mapping techniques
      with high-throughput sequencing technology to interrogate all base-paired RNA in
      Arabidopsis thaliana and identify ~200 new small (sm)RNA-producing substrates of
      RNA-DEPENDENT RNA POLYMERASE6. Our comprehensive analysis of paired RNAs reveals
      conserved functionality within introns and both 5' and 3' untranslated regions
      (UTRs) of mRNAs, as well as a novel population of functional RNAs, many of which
      are the precursors of smRNAs. Finally, we identify intra-molecular base-pairing
      interactions to produce a genome-wide collection of RNA secondary structure
      models. Although our methodology reveals the pairing status of RNA molecules in
      the absence of cellular proteins, previous studies have demonstrated that
      structural information obtained for RNAs in solution accurately reflects their
      structure in ribonucleoprotein complexes. Furthermore, our identification of RNA
      DEPENDENT RNA POLYMERASE6 substrates and conserved functional RNA domains within
      introns and both 5' and 3' untranslated regions (UTRs) of mRNAs using this
      approach strongly suggests that RNA molecules are correctly folded into their
      secondary structure in solution. Overall, our findings highlight the importance
      of base-paired RNAs in eukaryotes and present an approach that should be widely
      applicable for the analysis of this key structural feature of RNA.

PMID- 20941388
TI  - Quantitative analysis of immune response and erythropoiesis during rodent
      malarial infection.
AB  - Malarial infection is associated with complex immune and erythropoietic responses
      in the host. A quantitative understanding of these processes is essential to help
      inform malaria therapy and for the design of effective vaccines. In this study,
      we use a statistical model-fitting approach to investigate the immune and
      erythropoietic responses in Plasmodium chabaudi infections of mice. Three mouse
      phenotypes (wildtype, T-cell-deficient nude mice, and nude mice reconstituted
      with T-cells taken from wildtype mice) were infected with one of two parasite
      clones (AS or AJ). Under a Bayesian framework, we use an adaptive population
      based Markov chain Monte Carlo method and fit a set of dynamical models to
      observed data on parasite and red blood cell (RBC) densities. Model fits are
      compared using Bayes' factors and parameter estimates obtained. We consider three
      independent immune mechanisms: clearance of parasitised RBCs (pRBC), clearance of
      unparasitised RBCs (uRBC), and clearance of parasites that burst from RBCs
      (merozoites). Our results suggest that the immune response of wildtype mice is
      associated with less destruction of uRBCs, compared to the immune response of
      nude mice. There is a greater degree of synchronisation between pRBC and uRBC
      clearance than between either mechanism and merozoite clearance. In all three
      mouse phenotypes, control of the peak of parasite density is associated with pRBC
      clearance. In wildtype mice and AS-infected nude mice, control of the peak is
      also associated with uRBC clearance. Our results suggest that uRBC clearance,
      rather than RBC infection, is the major determinant of RBC dynamics from
      approximately day 12 post-innoculation. During the first 2-3 weeks of blood-stage
      infection, immune-mediated clearance of pRBCs and uRBCs appears to have a much
      stronger effect than immune-mediated merozoite clearance. Upregulation of
      erythropoiesis is dependent on mouse phenotype and is greater in wildtype and
      reconstitited mice. Our study highlights the informative power of statistically
      rigorous model-fitting techniques in elucidating biological systems.

PMID- 20941387
TI  - Systems biology of coagulation initiation: kinetics of thrombin generation in
      resting and activated human blood.
AB  - Blood function defines bleeding and clotting risks and dictates approaches for
      clinical intervention. Independent of adding exogenous tissue factor (TF), human
      blood treated in vitro with corn trypsin inhibitor (CTI, to block Factor XIIa)
      will generate thrombin after an initiation time (T(i)) of 1 to 2 hours (depending
      on donor), while activation of platelets with the GPVI-activator convulxin
      reduces T(i) to ~20 minutes. Since current kinetic models fail to generate
      thrombin in the absence of added TF, we implemented a Platelet-Plasma ODE model
      accounting for: the Hockin-Mann protease reaction network, thrombin-dependent
      display of platelet phosphatidylserine, VIIa function on activated platelets,
      XIIa and XIa generation and function, competitive thrombin substrates
      (fluorogenic detector and fibrinogen), and thrombin consumption during fibrin
      polymerization. The kinetic model consisting of 76 ordinary differential
      equations (76 species, 57 reactions, 105 kinetic parameters) predicted the
      clotting of resting and convulxin-activated human blood as well as predicted T(i)
      of human blood under 50 different initial conditions that titrated increasing
      levels of TF, Xa, Va, XIa, IXa, and VIIa. Experiments with combined anti-XI and
      anti-XII antibodies prevented thrombin production, demonstrating that a leak of
      XIIa past saturating amounts of CTI (and not "blood-borne TF" alone) was
      responsible for in vitro initiation without added TF. Clotting was not blocked by
      antibodies used individually against TF, VII/VIIa, P-selectin, GPIb, protein
      disulfide isomerase, cathepsin G, nor blocked by the ribosome inhibitor
      puromycin, the Clk1 kinase inhibitor Tg003, or inhibited VIIa (VIIai). This is
      the first model to predict the observed behavior of CTI-treated human blood,
      either resting or stimulated with platelet activators. CTI-treated human blood
      will clot in vitro due to the combined activity of XIIa and XIa, a process
      enhanced by platelet activators and which proceeds in the absence of any evidence
      for kinetically significant blood borne tissue factor.

PMID- 20941389
TI  - FliO regulation of FliP in the formation of the Salmonella enterica flagellum.
AB  - The type III secretion system of the Salmonella flagellum consists of 6 integral
      membrane proteins: FlhA, FlhB, FliO, FliP, FliQ, and FliR. However, in some other
      type III secretion systems, a homologue of FliO is apparently absent, suggesting
      it has a specialized role. Deleting the fliO gene from the chromosome of a motile
      strain of Salmonella resulted in a drastic decrease of motility. Incubation of
      the DeltafliO mutant strain in motility agar, gave rise to pseudorevertants
      containing extragenic bypass mutations in FliP at positions R143H or F190L. Using
      membrane topology prediction programs, and alkaline phosphatase or GFPuv chimeric
      protein fusions into the FliO protein, we demonstrated that FliO is bitopic with
      its N-terminus in the periplasm and C-terminus in the cytoplasm. Truncation
      analysis of FliO demonstrated that overexpression of FliO43-125 or FliO1-95 was
      able to rescue motility of the DeltafliO mutant. Further, residue leucine 91 in
      the cytoplasmic domain was identified to be important for function. Based on
      secondary structure prediction, the cytoplasmic domain, FliO43-125, should
      contain beta-structure and alpha-helices. FliO43-125-Ala was purified and studied
      using circular dichroism spectroscopy; however, this domain was disordered, and
      its structure was a mixture of beta-sheet and random coil. Coexpression of full
      length FliO with FliP increased expression levels of FliP, but coexpression with
      the cytoplasmic domain of FliO did not enhance FliP expression levels.
      Overexpression of the cytoplasmic domain of FliO further rescued motility of
      strains deleted for the fliO gene expressing bypass mutations in FliP. These
      results suggest FliO maintains FliP stability through transmembrane domain
      interaction. The results also demonstrate that the cytoplasmic domain of FliO has
      functionality, and it presumably becomes structured while interacting with its
      binding partners.

PMID- 20941390
TI  - HIV promoter integration site primarily modulates transcriptional burst size
      rather than frequency.
AB  - Mammalian gene expression patterns, and their variability across populations of
      cells, are regulated by factors specific to each gene in concert with its
      surrounding cellular and genomic environment. Lentiviruses such as HIV integrate
      their genomes into semi-random genomic locations in the cells they infect, and
      the resulting viral gene expression provides a natural system to dissect the
      contributions of genomic environment to transcriptional regulation. Previously,
      we showed that expression heterogeneity and its modulation by specific host
      factors at HIV integration sites are key determinants of infected-cell fate and a
      possible source of latent infections. Here, we assess the integration context
      dependence of expression heterogeneity from diverse single integrations of a HIV
      promoter/GFP-reporter cassette in Jurkat T-cells. Systematically fitting a
      stochastic model of gene expression to our data reveals an underlying
      transcriptional dynamic, by which multiple transcripts are produced during short,
      infrequent bursts, that quantitatively accounts for the wide, highly skewed
      protein expression distributions observed in each of our clonal cell populations.
      Interestingly, we find that the size of transcriptional bursts is the primary
      systematic covariate over integration sites, varying from a few to tens of
      transcripts across integration sites, and correlating well with mean expression.
      In contrast, burst frequencies are scattered about a typical value of several per
      cell-division time and demonstrate little correlation with the clonal means. This
      pattern of modulation generates consistently noisy distributions over the sampled
      integration positions, with large expression variability relative to the mean
      maintained even for the most productive integrations, and could contribute to
      specifying heterogeneous, integration-site-dependent viral production patterns in
      HIV-infected cells. Genomic environment thus emerges as a significant control
      parameter for gene expression variation that may contribute to structuring
      mammalian genomes, as well as be exploited for survival by integrating viruses.

PMID- 20941391
TI  - Genetic variants and their interactions in the prediction of increased pre
      clinical carotid atherosclerosis: the cardiovascular risk in young Finns study.
AB  - The relative contribution of genetic risk factors to the progression of
      subclinical atherosclerosis is poorly understood. It is likely that multiple
      variants are implicated in the development of atherosclerosis, but the subtle
      genotypic and phenotypic differences are beyond the reach of the conventional
      case-control designs and the statistical significance testing procedures being
      used in most association studies. Our objective here was to investigate whether
      an alternative approach--in which common disorders are treated as quantitative
      phenotypes that are continuously distributed over a population--can reveal
      predictive insights into the early atherosclerosis, as assessed using ultrasound
      imaging-based quantitative measurement of carotid artery intima-media thickness
      (IMT). Using our population-based follow-up study of atherosclerosis precursors
      as a basis for sampling subjects with gradually increasing IMT levels, we
      searched for such subsets of genetic variants and their interactions that are the
      most predictive of the various risk classes, rather than using exclusively those
      variants meeting a stringent level of statistical significance. The area under
      the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) was used to evaluate the
      predictive value of the variants, and cross-validation was used to assess how
      well the predictive models will generalize to other subsets of subjects. By means
      of our predictive modeling framework with machine learning-based SNP selection,
      we could improve the prediction of the extreme classes of atherosclerosis risk
      and progression over a 6-year period (average AUC 0.844 and 0.761), compared to
      that of using conventional cardiovascular risk factors alone (average AUC 0.741
      and 0.629), or when combined with the statistically significant variants (average
      AUC 0.762 and 0.651). The predictive accuracy remained relatively high in an
      independent validation set of subjects (average decrease of 0.043). These results
      demonstrate that the modeling framework can utilize the "gray zone" of genetic
      variation in the classification of subjects with different degrees of risk of
      developing atherosclerosis.

PMID- 20941393
TI  - Synchronization of firing in cortical fast-spiking interneurons at gamma
      frequencies: a phase-resetting analysis.
AB  - Fast-spiking (FS) cells in the neocortex are interconnected both by inhibitory
      chemical synapses and by electrical synapses, or gap-junctions. Synchronized
      firing of FS neurons is important in the generation of gamma oscillations, at
      frequencies between 30 and 80 Hz. To understand how these synaptic interactions
      control synchronization, artificial synaptic conductances were injected in FS
      cells, and the synaptic phase-resetting function (SPRF), describing how the
      compound synaptic input perturbs the phase of gamma-frequency spiking as a
      function of the phase at which it is applied, was measured. GABAergic and gap
      junctional conductances made distinct contributions to the SPRF, which had a
      surprisingly simple piecewise linear form, with a sharp midcycle break between
      phase delay and advance. Analysis of the SPRF showed how the intrinsic
      biophysical properties of FS neurons and their interconnections allow entrainment
      of firing over a wide gamma frequency band, whose upper and lower frequency
      limits are controlled by electrical synapses and GABAergic inhibition
      respectively.

PMID- 20941392
TI  - The genome of a pathogenic rhodococcus: cooptive virulence underpinned by key
      gene acquisitions.
AB  - We report the genome of the facultative intracellular parasite Rhodococcus equi,
      the only animal pathogen within the biotechnologically important actinobacterial
      genus Rhodococcus. The 5.0-Mb R. equi 103S genome is significantly smaller than
      those of environmental rhodococci. This is due to genome expansion in
      nonpathogenic species, via a linear gain of paralogous genes and an accelerated
      genetic flux, rather than reductive evolution in R. equi. The 103S genome lacks
      the extensive catabolic and secondary metabolic complement of environmental
      rhodococci, and it displays unique adaptations for host colonization and
      competition in the short-chain fatty acid-rich intestine and manure of herbivores
      -two main R. equi reservoirs. Except for a few horizontally acquired (HGT)
      pathogenicity loci, including a cytoadhesive pilus determinant (rpl) and the
      virulence plasmid vap pathogenicity island (PAI) required for intramacrophage
      survival, most of the potential virulence-associated genes identified in R. equi
      are conserved in environmental rhodococci or have homologs in nonpathogenic
      Actinobacteria. This suggests a mechanism of virulence evolution based on the
      cooption of existing core actinobacterial traits, triggered by key host niche
      adaptive HGT events. We tested this hypothesis by investigating R. equi virulence
      plasmid-chromosome crosstalk, by global transcription profiling and expression
      network analysis. Two chromosomal genes conserved in environmental rhodococci,
      encoding putative chorismate mutase and anthranilate synthase enzymes involved in
      aromatic amino acid biosynthesis, were strongly coregulated with vap PAI
      virulence genes and required for optimal proliferation in macrophages. The
      regulatory integration of chromosomal metabolic genes under the control of the
      HGT-acquired plasmid PAI is thus an important element in the cooptive virulence
      of R. equi.

PMID- 20941394
TI  - Gene-environment interactions at nucleotide resolution.
AB  - Interactions among genes and the environment are a common source of phenotypic
      variation. To characterize the interplay between genetics and the environment at
      single nucleotide resolution, we quantified the genetic and environmental
      interactions of four quantitative trait nucleotides (QTN) that govern yeast
      sporulation efficiency. We first constructed a panel of strains that together
      carry all 32 possible combinations of the 4 QTN genotypes in 2 distinct genetic
      backgrounds. We then measured the sporulation efficiencies of these 32 strains
      across 8 controlled environments. This dataset shows that variation in
      sporulation efficiency is shaped largely by genetic and environmental
      interactions. We find clear examples of QTN:environment, QTN: background, and
      environment:background interactions. However, we find no QTN:QTN interactions
      that occur consistently across the entire dataset. Instead, interactions between
      QTN only occur under specific combinations of environment and genetic background.
      Thus, what might appear to be a QTN:QTN interaction in one background and
      environment becomes a more complex QTN:QTN:environment:background interaction
      when we consider the entire dataset as a whole. As a result, the phenotypic
      impact of a set of QTN alleles cannot be predicted from genotype alone. Our
      results instead demonstrate that the effects of QTN and their interactions are
      inextricably linked both to genetic background and to environmental variation.

PMID- 20941395
TI  - Widespread over-expression of the X chromosome in sterile F1hybrid mice.
AB  - The X chromosome often plays a central role in hybrid male sterility between
      species, but it is unclear if this reflects underlying regulatory
      incompatibilities. Here we combine phenotypic data with genome-wide expression
      data to directly associate aberrant expression patterns with hybrid male
      sterility between two species of mice. We used a reciprocal cross in which F1
      males are sterile in one direction and fertile in the other direction, allowing
      us to associate expression differences with sterility rather than with other
      hybrid phenotypes. We found evidence of extensive over-expression of the X
      chromosome during spermatogenesis in sterile but not in fertile F1 hybrid males.
      Over-expression was most pronounced in genes that are normally expressed after
      meiosis, consistent with an X chromosome-wide disruption of expression during the
      later stages of spermatogenesis. This pattern was not a simple consequence of
      faster evolutionary divergence on the X chromosome, because X-linked expression
      was highly conserved between the two species. Thus, transcriptional regulation of
      the X chromosome during spermatogenesis appears particularly sensitive to
      evolutionary divergence between species. Overall, these data provide evidence for
      an underlying regulatory basis to reproductive isolation in house mice and
      underscore the importance of transcriptional regulation of the X chromosome to
      the evolution of hybrid male sterility.

PMID- 20941396
TI  - Sequestration and tissue accumulation of human malaria parasites: can we learn
      anything from rodent models of malaria?
AB  - The sequestration of Plasmodium falciparum-infected red blood cells (irbcs) in
      the microvasculature of organs is associated with severe disease;
      correspondingly, the molecular basis of irbc adherence is an active area of
      study. In contrast to P. falciparum, much less is known about sequestration in
      other Plasmodium parasites, including those species that are used as models to
      study severe malaria. Here, we review the cytoadherence properties of irbcs of
      the rodent parasite Plasmodium berghei ANKA, where schizonts demonstrate a clear
      sequestration phenotype. Real-time in vivo imaging of transgenic P. berghei
      parasites in rodents has revealed a CD36-dependent sequestration in lungs and
      adipose tissue. In the absence of direct orthologs of the P. falciparum proteins
      that mediate binding to human CD36, the P. berghei proteins and/or mechanisms of
      rodent CD36 binding are as yet unknown. In addition to CD36-dependent schizont
      sequestration, irbcs accumulate during severe disease in different tissues,
      including the brain. The role of sequestration is discussed in the context of
      disease as are the general (dis)similarities of P. berghei and P. falciparum
      sequestration.

PMID- 20941397
TI  - Structure of the extracellular portion of CD46 provides insights into its
      interactions with complement proteins and pathogens.
AB  - The human membrane cofactor protein (MCP, CD46) is a central component of the
      innate immune system. CD46 protects autologous cells from complement attack by
      binding to complement proteins C3b and C4b and serving as a cofactor for their
      cleavage. Recent data show that CD46 also plays a role in mediating acquired
      immune responses, and in triggering autophagy. In addition to these physiologic
      functions, a significant number of pathogens, including select adenoviruses,
      measles virus, human herpes virus 6 (HHV-6), Streptococci, and Neisseria, use
      CD46 as a cell attachment receptor. We have determined the crystal structure of
      the extracellular region of CD46 in complex with the human adenovirus type 11
      fiber knob. Extracellular CD46 comprises four short consensus repeats (SCR1-SCR4)
      that form an elongated structure resembling a hockey stick, with a long shaft and
      a short blade. Domains SCR1, SCR2 and SCR3 are arranged in a nearly linear
      fashion. Unexpectedly, however, the structure reveals a profound bend between
      domains SCR3 and SCR4, which has implications for the interactions with ligands
      as well as the orientation of the protein at the cell surface. This bend can be
      attributed to an insertion of five hydrophobic residues in a SCR3 surface loop.
      Residues in this loop have been implicated in interactions with complement,
      indicating that the bend participates in binding to C3b and C4b. The structure
      provides an accurate framework for mapping all known ligand binding sites onto
      the surface of CD46, thereby advancing an understanding of how CD46 acts as a
      receptor for pathogens and physiologic ligands of the immune system.

PMID- 20941398
TI  - Phylogenetic approach reveals that virus genotype largely determines HIV set
      point viral load.
AB  - HIV virulence, i.e. the time of progression to AIDS, varies greatly among
      patients. As for other rapidly evolving pathogens of humans, it is difficult to
      know if this variance is controlled by the genotype of the host or that of the
      virus because the transmission chain is usually unknown. We apply the
      phylogenetic comparative approach (PCA) to estimate the heritability of a trait
      from one infection to the next, which indicates the control of the virus genotype
      over this trait. The idea is to use viral RNA sequences obtained from patients
      infected by HIV-1 subtype B to build a phylogeny, which approximately reflects
      the transmission chain. Heritability is measured statistically as the propensity
      for patients close in the phylogeny to exhibit similar infection trait values.
      The approach reveals that up to half of the variance in set-point viral load, a
      trait associated with virulence, can be heritable. Our estimate is significant
      and robust to noise in the phylogeny. We also check for the consistency of our
      approach by showing that a trait related to drug resistance is almost entirely
      heritable. Finally, we show the importance of taking into account the
      transmission chain when estimating correlations between infection traits. The
      fact that HIV virulence is, at least partially, heritable from one infection to
      the next has clinical and epidemiological implications. The difference between
      earlier studies and ours comes from the quality of our dataset and from the power
      of the PCA, which can be applied to large datasets and accounts for within-host
      evolution. The PCA opens new perspectives for approaches linking clinical data
      and evolutionary biology because it can be extended to study other traits or
      other infectious diseases.

PMID- 20941399
TI  - Towards a safe non-invasive method for evaluating the carbonate substitution
      levels of hydroxyapatite (HAP) in micro-calcifications found in breast tissue.
AB  - A new diagnostic concept based on deep Raman spectroscopy is proposed permitting
      the non-invasive determination of the level of carbonate substitution in type II
      calcifications (HAP). The carbonate substitution has shown to be directly
      associated with the pathology of the surrounding breast tissue and different
      pathology groups can therefore be separated using specific features in the Raman
      spectra of the calcifications. This study explores the principle of
      distinguishing between type II calcifications, found in proliferating lesions, by
      using the strongest Raman peak from calcium hydroxyapatites (the phosphate peak
      at 960 cm(-1)) to act as a surrogate marker for carbonate substitution levels. It
      is believed that carbonate ion substitution leads to a perturbation of the
      hydroxyapatite lattice which in turn affects the phosphate vibrational modes. By
      studying calcifications, with known carbonate content, buried in porcine tissue
      it has been possible to evaluate the feasibility of using the proposed approach
      to probe the composition of the calcifications in vivo and hence provide
      pathology specific information non-invasively, in real time. Using the proposed
      concept we were able to determine the level of carbonate substitutions through
      soft tissue phantom samples (total thickness of 5.6 mm). As the level of
      carbonate substitution has been previously correlated with mid-FTIR to the lesion
      type, i.e. whether benign or invasive or in situ carcinoma, the new findings
      provide a major step forward towards establishing a new capability for diagnosing
      benign and malignant lesions in breast tissue in a safe and non-invasive manner
      in vivo.

PMID- 20941400
TI  - Catalysts for CO2/epoxide copolymerisation.
AB  - The article reviews recent developments (mostly since 2004 until June 2010) in
      catalysts for CO(2)/epoxide copolymerisation and in the properties of the
      polycarbonates.

PMID- 20941401
TI  - Protein aggregate structure under high pressure.
AB  - We show that casein protein micelles--a complex protein/inorganic phosphate
      structure--can be subjected to high pressures (up to 350 MPa) while making in
      situ structural measurements using (ultra-)small angle neutron scattering, to
      give insight to the protein structure, aggregation and stability under pressure.

PMID- 20941402
TI  - The diammoniate of diborane: crystal structure and hydrogen release.
AB  - [(NH(3))(2)BH(2)](+)[BH(4)](-) is formed from the room temperature decomposition
      of NH(4)(+)BH(4)(-), via a NH(3)BH(3) intermediate. Its crystal structure has
      been determined and contains disordered BH(4)(-) ions in 2 distinct sites.
      Hydrogen release is similar to that from NH(3)BH(3) but with faster kinetics.

PMID- 20941403
TI  - Predictive elucidation of conformational characteristics and configurational
      properties of poly(1-methylphosphirane) and poly(1-phenylphosphirane) as a
      molecular design.
AB  - Conformational characteristics and configurational properties of poly(1
      methylphosphirane) (PMePP) and poly(1-phenylphosphirane) (PPhPP) have been
      predictively elucidated by the refined rotational isomeric state scheme coupled
      with ab initio molecular orbital and density functional calculations. The lone
      pair of the phosphorus atom adopts an sp hybrid orbital. Owing to the high s
      character (50%), the polyphosphiranes exhibit low proton (hydrogen) affinities,
      and hence the lone pair does not form any intramolecular attractive interactions
      with hydrogen. As the meso-diad probability varies from 0 (syndiotactic) to 1
      (isotactic), the characteristic ratio of PMePP slightly increases from 6.7 to
      7.4, whereas that of PPhPP considerably decreases from 38 to 7.3. The large
      dimension of syndiotactic PPhPP is chiefly due to pi-pi attractions formed
      between adjacent phenyl groups. The trivalent phosphorus atom may be bonded to
      heavy, noble, and transition metals but readily or gradually oxidized. The
      usefulness and necessity of the polyphosphiranes have been assessed.

PMID- 20941404
TI  - Interfacial layers of stimuli-responsive poly-(N-isopropylacrylamide-co
      methacrylicacid) (PNIPAM-co-MAA) microgels characterized by interfacial rheology
      and compression isotherms.
AB  - Stimuli-sensitive emulsions stabilized by microgel particles consisting of poly
      (N-isopropylacrylamide-co-methacrylicacid) (PNIPAM-co-MAA) and being responsive
      to both pH and temperature have been investigated with respect to the visco
      elastic properties of the interfacial layer. Properties of the interfacial layer
      were probed by means of shear and dilatational rheology as well as by compression
      isotherms and are related to the microgel packing at the interface as visualized
      by cryogenic scanning electron microscopy. The corresponding pH dependent
      emulsion stability is strongly correlated with the visco-elastic properties of
      the microgel covered oil-water interface. At high pH when the microgels are
      charged, a structure of partially interconnected microgels is found that provides
      elastic, soft gel-like interfaces. At low pH, however, the uncharged microgels
      are densely packed and the interface is rather brittle. Obviously, these pH
      dependent visco-elastic properties of the microgel layer at the oil-water
      interface play a determining role in the stability of emulsion droplets and allow
      us to prepare very stable emulsions when the microgels are charged and to break
      the emulsion by changing the pH.

PMID- 20941405
TI  - Nitric acid: modeling osmotic coefficients and acid-base dissociation using the
      BIMSA theory.
AB  - This work is aimed at a description of the thermodynamic properties of highly
      concentrated aqueous solutions of nitric acid salts at 25  degrees C within the
      binding mean spherical approximation (BIMSA) theory. The predictive capability of
      this model was examined. First, Raman spectroscopy was used to study the
      proportion of associated nitric acid as a function of concentration. The
      corresponding apparent association constant values were compared with literature
      values. Besides, the BIMSA model, taking into account complex formation, was used
      to represent literature experimental osmotic coefficient variation with
      concentration. This theoretical description led to an assessment of the degree of
      association. The so calculated amount of associated nitric acid coincides
      accurately with our Raman experimental results up to a high concentration of
      acid.

PMID- 20941406
TI  - Addressing the magnetic properties of sub-monolayers of single-molecule magnets
      by X-ray magnetic circular dichroism.
AB  - We report on a comparative study of electronic and magnetic properties of Mn6
      single-molecule magnets (SMMs) grafted on gold surface. Two derivatives with spin
      ground states S=4 and S=12 have been functionalized with 3-tp-CO2- (3-thiophene
      carboxylate, tpc) ligands and characterized as thick films (TFs) as well as sub
      monolayers (sMLs) by synchrotron based techniques. X-ray absorption spectroscopy
      at the Mn L2,3 edges shows the modification of the spectral lineshape in the sMLs
      with respect to the TFs suggesting that the local symmetry at the Mn sites
      changes once the molecules are deposited on gold surface. In spite of this, the
      expected MnIII oxidation state is preserved. X-ray magnetic circular dichroism
      (XMCD) spectra show that the total magnetic moment is only given by spin part
      because of the quenched orbital moment. Moreover, variable temperature and
      variable field XMCD spectra reveal an effective decrease of the Mn spin moment
      for both derivatives.

PMID- 20941407
TI  - Simultaneous counting of two subsets of leukocytes using fluorescent silica
      nanoparticles in a sheathless microchip flow cytometer.
AB  - A portable flow cytometer has been recognized as an important tool for many
      clinical applications such as HIV/AIDS screening in developing countries and
      regions with limited medical facilities and resources. Conventional flow
      cytometers typically require multiple detectors for simultaneous identification
      of multiple subsets of immune cell. To minimize the number of detectors toward
      portable flow cytometry or to analyze multi-parametric cellular information with
      minimum number of detectors in conventional flow cytometers, we propose a
      versatile multiplexed cell-counting method using functional silica nanoparticles
      (SiNPs). FITC-doped SiNPs, which are 100 times brighter than the FITC molecules
      itself, were used as new intensity-based fluorescent dye complexes to
      simultaneously measure two subsets of leukocytes using a single detector.
      CD45(+)CD4(+) cells tagged with these FITC-doped SiNPs were 50 times brighter
      than CD45(+)CD4(-) cells tagged only with FITC. To make the overall system
      compact, a disposable microchip flow cytometer that does not require sheath flow
      was developed. Combining these dye-doped SiNPs based detection schemes and the
      sheathless microchip flow cytometer scheme, we successfully identified and
      counted two subsets of leukocytes simultaneously (R(2) = 0.876). These approaches
      can be the building blocks for a truly portable and disposable flow cytometer for
      various clinical cytometry applications.

PMID- 20941408
TI  - Sorted cell microarrays as platforms for high-content informational bioassays.
AB  - We report on surface-engineered microarrays that provide in situ cell sorting,
      localization, and immobilization of various subsets of human primary lymphocytes,
      followed by an on-chip bioassay for ionizing-radiation-induced cytogenetic
      damage. The microarray format eliminates the necessity of separating cell sub
      populations by alternative means (such as fluorescence- or magnetic-activated
      cell sorting) prior to performing informational bioassays. To exemplify the
      potential of this on-chip cytometry approach, we have integrated the cytokinesis
      block micronucleus cytome (CBMNcyt) assay with the microarray platform for
      analysis of the chromosome damage profile of specific subsets of human peripheral
      lymphocytes. Microarray results were compared with data obtained from the
      traditional CBMNcyt assay on heterogeneous lymphocyte populations, and with flow
      cytometry data. Our results suggest that cytogenetic damage caused by ionizing
      radiation is not uniformly distributed across all lymphocytes subsets, but rather
      concentrated in specific subsets. The salient features of our approach are that
      it requires very small volumes of reagents, allows sorting of lymphocyte subsets
      in situ, increases parallelism of cell assays and is amenable to high content
      microscopy analysis. The on-chip cytometry format opens new vistas for advanced
      cell-based assays, potentially bringing to light important information which
      remains hidden with conventional assays and hence engendering new discoveries in
      cell biology.

PMID- 20941412
TI  - Synthesis of a novel magnetic drug delivery system composed of doxorubicin
      conjugated Fe3O4 nanoparticle cores and a PEG-functionalized porous silica shell.
AB  - Coating a layer of PEG functionalized porous silica shell onto doxorubicin
      conjugated Fe(3)O(4) nanoparticles, we demonstrated, provides a number of
      combined advantages in view of the magnetic carrier's therapeutic functionality
      to treat tumors.

PMID- 20941418
TI  - A novel class of protease targets of phosphatidylethanolamine-binding proteins
      (PEBP): a study of the acylpeptide hydrolase and the PEBP inhibitor from the
      archaeon Sulfolobus solfataricus.
AB  - This work describes the identification and characterization of a Sulfolobus
      solfataricus acylpeptide hydrolase, named APEH(Ss), recognised as a new protease
      target of the endogenous PEBP inhibitor, SsCEI. APEH is one of the four members
      of the prolyl oligopeptidase (POP) family, which removes acylated amino acid
      residues from the N terminus of oligopeptides. APEH(Ss) is a cytosolic
      homodimeric protein with a molecular mass of 125 kDa. It displays a similar
      exopeptidase and endopeptidase activity to the homologous enzymes from Aeropyrum
      pernix and Pyrococcus horikoshii. Herein we demonstrate that SsCEI is the first
      PEBP protein found to efficiently inhibit APEH from both S. solfataricus and
      mammalian sources with IC(50) values in the nanomolar range. The 3D model of
      APEH(Ss) shows the typical structural features of the POP family including an N
      terminal beta-propeller and a C-terminal alpha/beta hydrolase domain. Moreover,
      to gain insights into the binding mode of SsCEI toward APEH(Ss), a structural
      model of the inhibition complex is proposed, suggesting a mechanism of steric
      blockage on substrate access to the active site or on product release. Like other
      POP enzymes, APEH may constitute a new therapeutic target for the treatment of a
      number of pathologies and this study may represent a starting point for further
      medical research.

PMID- 20941419
TI  - Raman endoscopy for in vivo differentiation between benign and malignant ulcers
      in the stomach.
AB  - The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical utility of an image-guided
      Raman endoscopy technique for in vivo differential diagnosis of benign and
      malignant ulcerous lesions in the stomach. A rapid-acquisition image-guided Raman
      endoscopy system with 785 nm laser excitation has been developed to acquire in
      vivo gastric tissue Raman spectra within 0.5 s during clinical gastroscopic
      examinations. A total of 1102 in vivo Raman spectra were acquired from 71 gastric
      patients, in which 924 Raman spectra were from normal tissue, 111 Raman spectra
      were from benign ulcers whereas 67 Raman spectra were from ulcerated
      adenocarcinoma. There were distinctive spectral differences in Raman spectra
      among normal mucosa, benign ulcers and malignant ulcers, particularly in the
      spectral ranges of 800-900, 1000-1100, 1245-1335, 1440-1450 and 1500-1800 cm(-1),
      which primarily contain signals related to proteins, DNA, lipids and blood. The
      malignant ulcerous lesions showed Raman signals to be mainly associated with
      abnormal nuclear activity and decrease in lipids as compared to benign ulcers.
      Partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) was employed to generate
      multi-class diagnostic algorithms for classification of Raman spectra of
      different gastric tissue types. The PLS-DA algorithms together with leave-one
      tissue site-out, cross validation technique yielded diagnostic sensitivities of
      90.8%, 84.7%, 82.1%, and specificities of 93.8%, 94.5%, 95.3%, respectively, for
      classification of normal mucosa, benign and malignant ulcerous lesions in the
      stomach. This work demonstrates that image-guided Raman endoscopy technique
      associated with PLS-DA diagnostic algorithms has for the first time promising
      clinical potential for rapid, in vivo diagnosis and detection of malignant
      ulcerous gastric lesions at the molecular level.

PMID- 20941420
TI  - Deep cavitand receptors with pH-independent water solubility.
AB  - Pendant oligoethyleneglycol groups confer water solubility to a cavitand over a
      wide pH range. The kinetic stability of the host-guest complexes reveals an
      effective stabilization through hydrogen bonding even in the highly competitive
      aqueous environment.

PMID- 20941421
TI  - Rational electronic tuning of CBS catalyst for highly enantioselective borane
      reduction of trifluoroacetophenone.
AB  - alpha,alpha,alpha-Trifluoroacetophenone (2), which is susceptible to noncatalytic
      reduction by BH(3), could be reduced to chiral alcohol up to 90% ee by using
      electronically tuned-CBS catalyst (1) with BH(3). The enantioselectivities highly
      correlated with the differential orbital energies between 1-BH(3) adduct and 2,
      which were calculated by DFT method.

PMID- 20941422
TI  - Vinyldisiloxanes: their synthesis, cross coupling and applications.
AB  - During the studies towards the development of pentafluorophenyldimethylsilanes as
      a novel organosilicon cross coupling reagent it was revealed that the active
      silanolate and the corresponding disiloxane formed rapidly under basic
      conditions. The discovery that disiloxanes are in equilibrium with the silanolate
      led to the use of disiloxanes as cross coupling partners under fluoride free
      conditions. Our previous report focused on the synthesis and base induced cross
      coupling of aryl substituted vinyldisiloxanes with aryl halides; good yields and
      selectivities were achieved. As a continuation of our research, studies into the
      factors which influence the successful outcome of the cross coupling reaction
      with both alkyl and aryl substituted vinyldisiloxanes were examined and a
      proposed mechanism discussed. Further investigation into expanding the breadth
      and diversity of substituted vinyldisiloxanes in cross coupling was explored and
      applied to the synthesis of unsymmetrical trans-stilbenes and cyclic structures
      containing the trans-alkene architecture.

PMID- 20941423
TI  - Circular dichroism, optical rotation and absolute configuration of 2
      cyclohexenone-cis-diol type phenol metabolites: redefining the role of
      substituents and 2-cyclohexenone conformation in electronic circular dichroism
      spectra.
AB  - The absolute configurations of 2-cyclohexenone cis-diol metabolites resulting
      from the biotransformation of the corresponding phenols have been determined by
      comparison of their experimental and calculated circular dichroism spectra (TDDFT
      at the PCM/B2LYP/Aug-cc-pVTZ level), optical rotations (calculated at the
      PCM/B3LYP/Aug-cc-pVTZ level) and by stereochemical correlation. It is found that
      circular dichroism spectra and optical rotations of 2-cyclohexenone derivatives
      are strongly dependent on the ring conformation (M or P sofa S(5) or half-chair),
      enone non-planarity and the nature and positions of the hydroxy and alkyl
      substituents. The effect of non-planarity of the enone chromophore, including the
      distortion of the C=C bond, is determined for the model structures by TDDFT
      calculations at the PCM/B2LYP/6-311++G(2d,2p) level. Non-planarity of the C=C
      bond in the enone chromophore is commonly encountered in 2-cyclohexenone
      derivatives and it is a source of significant rotatory strength contribution to
      the electronic circular dichroism spectra. It is shown that the two lowest-energy
      transitions in acrolein and 2-cyclohexenone and its derivatives are n(C=O)
      pi(C=O)* and pi(C=C)-pi(C=O)*, as expected, while the shorter-wavelength (below
      200 nm) transitions are of more complex nature. In 2-cyclohexenone and its alkyl
      derivatives it is predominantly a mixture of pi(C=C)-pi(C=C)* and pi(C=C)-sigma*
      transitions, whereas the presence of hydroxy substituent results in a dominant
      contribution due to the n(OH)-pi(C=O)* transition. A generalized model for
      correlation of the CD spectra of 2-cyclohexenones with their structures is
      presented.

PMID- 20941424
TI  - UV and visible light controllable depletion zone of ZnO-polyaniline p-n junction
      and its application in a photoresponsive sensor.
AB  - In this communication, we report that the depletion zone thickness of the p-n
      junction between an n-type ZnO and a p-type polyaniline could be controlled by UV
      and visible light illumination. Based on this princile, photoresponsive sensors
      were constructed by combining polyaniline thin film and ZnO nanorods. Different
      from pure ZnO nanomaterials whose conductivity increases when they are exposed to
      UV illumination, the conductivity of the photoresponsive sensor studied in this
      communication decreased when the UV light was turned on. The surface modification
      of ZnO could switch the wavelength of the response light from UV to visible
      light.

PMID- 20941425
TI  - Wavelength-tunable excited-state absorption and optical limiting effects in the Q
      band region based on silicon phthalocyanine oligomers.
AB  - Optical limiting effects of silicon phthalocyanine (SiPc) oligomers have been
      examined in the Q band region in order to demonstrate a novel concept for
      controlling the wavelength of optical limiting effects.

PMID- 20941427
TI  - Syntheses, topological analyses, and NLO-active properties of new Cd(II)/M(II) (M
      = Ca, Sr) metal-organic frameworks based on R-isophthalic acids (R = H, OH, and t
      Bu).
AB  - Solvothermal syntheses of Cd(NO(3))(2).4H(2)O and R-isophthalic acids (R = H, OH
      and t-Bu) in the presence of Ca(II) or Sr(II) lead to four new three-dimensional
      Cd(II)/Ca(II) or Cd(II)/Sr(II) heterometallic frameworks: [CdCa(m
      BDC)(2)(DMF)(2)] (1), [CdSr(2)(m-BDC)(2)(NO(3))(2)(DMF)(4)] (2), [CdCa(OH-m
      BDC)(2)(H(2)O)(2)].2Me(2)NH (3), and (Me(2)NH(2))(2)[Cd(2)Ca(Bu(t)-m-BDC)(4)] (4)
      (m-H(2)BDC = isophthalate, OH-m-H(2)BDC = 5-hydroxyisophthalate and Bu(t)-m
      H(2)BDC = 5-butylisophthalate). All of these compounds except for 4 crystallize
      in acentric (or chiral) space groups and the bulk materials for 1 and 3 display
      strong powder SHG efficiencies, approximately 1.54 and 2.31 times than that of a
      potassium dihydrogen phosphate (KDP) powder. Topological analyses show that 1 and
      2 have structures with sxb and dia topologies, respectively, while both 3 and 4
      exhibit pcu topological nets when the metal carboxylate clusters are viewed as
      nodes. The fluorescence properties and thermal stabilities for these compounds
      are also investigated.

PMID- 20941426
TI  - Internal dynamics in complexes of water with organic molecules. Details of the
      internal motions in tert-butylalcohol-water.
AB  - The peculiar propensity of water to have a high internal dynamic activity in its
      molecular complexes with organic molecules is described in this paper. Often, the
      corresponding large amplitude motions are reflected in the tunnelling splittings
      of the rotational transitions which, in turn, provide information for the
      determination of the potential energy surfaces and of the noncovalent
      interactions of water with a variety of atoms and/or functional groups. A
      classification of this kind of molecular complexes is given, also in relation to
      the tunnelling features of the rotational spectra. As a specific example, the
      rotational spectrum of tert-butylalcohol-water, investigated by Fourier transform
      microwave spectroscopy, is reported. Details are given of the large amplitude
      motions which take place in the adduct, the internal rotation of the hydroxyl
      group and the oscillations of the water molecule, by interpreting the
      experimental data with a flexible model.

PMID- 20941428
TI  - Systematic exploration of a rutile-type zinc(II)-phosphonocarboxylate open
      framework: the factors that influence the structure.
AB  - To systematically explore the assembly mechanism of a rutile-type open framework
      of {[Zn(3)(pbdc)(2)].2H(3)O}(n) (3) (H(4)pbdc = 5-phosphonobenzene-1,3
      dicarboxylic acid) constructed by 3-connected pbdc ligands and 6-connected
      Zn(3)(CO(2))(4)(PO(3))(2) secondary building units (Zn(3)-SBUs), three major
      factors including solvothermal procedures, types of solvents and amines, are
      taken into consideration. Seven novel structures, namely
      {[Zn(5)(pbdc)(2)(OH)(2)(H(2)O)(4)].4H(2)O}(n) (1),
      {[Zn(3)(pbdc)(2).H(2)O].(Htea).H(3)O.2-5(H(2)O)}(n) (2),
      {[Zn(3)(pbdc)(2)](H(3)O)(2)(dma)}(n) (4), {[Zn(2)(pbdc)(taea)].3H(2)O}(n) (5),
      {[Zn(3)(pbdc)(2)(Hpda)(2)].2H(2)O}(n) (6),
      {[Zn(5)(pbdc)(2)(Hpbdc)(2)].2H(2)pz.9H(2)O}(n) (7),
      {[Zn(3)(pbdc)(2)].Hpd.H(3)O.4H(2)O}(n) (8) are obtained. The results indicate
      that the layered-solvothermal method and the isopropanol solvent play crucial
      roles in the construction of the special anionic open framework of
      [Zn(3)(pbdc)(2)](2-). Changing these two factors led molecular assembly away from
      the rutile-type open framework. However, amines play a variable role in the
      framework, which means that by using appropriate amines, molecular assembly could
      generate the open framework of [Zn(3)(pbdc)(2)](2-) with pores decorated by
      amines. These results suggest a different approach towards decorating pores in
      anionic frameworks with precise structural information.

PMID- 20941429
TI  - The maximum number of carbonyl groups around an Ru6C polyhedral cluster:
      hexanuclear ruthenium carbonyl carbides.
AB  - Octahedral, trigonal prismatic, and capped square pyramidal structures have been
      optimized for the Ru(6)C(CO)(n) clusters (15 <= n <= 20) using density functional
      theory. The experimentally known very stable Ru(6)C(CO)(17) is predicted to have
      an octahedral structure in accord with experiment as well as the Wade-Mingos
      rules. The stability of Ru(6)C(CO)(17) is indicated by its high carbonyl
      dissociation energy of ~37 kcal mol(-1) and the high energy of ~33 kcal mol(-1)
      required for disproportionation into Ru(6)C(CO)(18) + Ru(6)C(CO)(16). Theoretical
      calculations predict a doubly carbonyl bridged octahedral Ru(6)C(CO)(17)
      structure to be ~0.7 kcal mol(-1) more stable than the experimentally observed
      singly bridged structure. A trigonal prismatic Ru(6)C(CO)(19) cluster
      isoelectronic with the known Co(6)C(CO)(15)(2-) dianion does not appear to be
      viable as indicated by a low carbonyl dissociation energy of 8.8 kcal mol(-1) and
      a required energy of only 4.9 kcal mol(-1) for disproportionation into
      Ru(6)C(CO)(20) + Ru(6)C(CO)(18). The predicted instability of Ru(6)C(CO)(n) (n >=
      18) derivatives suggests a maximum of 17 external carbonyl groups around a stable
      polyhedral Ru(6)C structure.

PMID- 20941430
TI  - Porous silica spheres as indoor air pollutant scavengers.
AB  - Porous silica spheres were investigated for their effectiveness in removing
      typical indoor air pollutants, such as aromatic and carbonyl-containing volatile
      organic compounds (VOCs), and compared to the commercially available polymer
      styrene-divinylbenzene (XAD-4). The silica spheres and the XAD-4 resin were
      coated on denuder sampling devices and their adsorption efficiencies for VOCs
      evaluated using an indoor air simulation chamber. Real indoor sampling was also
      undertaken to evaluate the affinity of the silica adsorbents for a variety of
      indoor VOCs. The silica sphere adsorbents were found to have a high affinity for
      polar carbonyls and found to be more efficient than the XAD-4 resin at adsorbing
      carbonyls in an indoor environment.

PMID- 20941431
TI  - Microfluidic labeling of biomolecules with radiometals for use in nuclear
      medicine.
AB  - Radiometal-based radiopharmaceuticals, used as imaging and therapeutic agents in
      nuclear medicine, consist of a radiometal that is bound to a targeting
      biomolecule (BM) using a bifunctional chelator (BFC). Conventional, macroscale
      radiolabeling methods use an excess of the BFC-BM conjugate (ligand) to achieve
      high radiolabeling yields. Subsequently, to achieve maximal specific activity
      (minimal amount of unlabeled ligand), extensive chromatographic purification is
      required to remove unlabeled ligand, often resulting in longer synthesis times
      and loss of imaging sensitivity due to radioactive decay. Here we describe a
      microreactor that overcomes the above issues through integration of efficient
      mixing and heating strategies while working with small volumes of concentrated
      reagents. As a model reaction, we radiolabel 1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane
      1,4,7,10-tetraacetic acid (DOTA) conjugated to the peptide cyclo(Arg-Gly-Asp-DPhe
      Lys) with (64)Cu(2+). We show that the microreactor (made from
      polydimethylsiloxane and glass) can withstand 260 mCi of activity over 720 hours
      and retains only minimal amounts of (64)Cu(2+) (<5%) upon repeated use. A direct
      comparison between the radiolabeling yields obtained using the microreactor and
      conventional radiolabeling methods shows that improved mixing and heat transfer
      in the microreactor leads to higher yields for identical reaction conditions.
      Most importantly, by using small volumes (~10 uL) of concentrated solutions of
      reagents (>50 uM), yields of over 90% can be achieved in the microreactor when
      using a 1:1 stoichiometry of radiometal to BFC-BM. These high yields eliminate
      the need for use of excess amounts of often precious BM and obviate the need for
      a chromatographic purification process to remove unlabeled ligand. The results
      reported here demonstrate the potential of microreactor technology to improve the
      production of patient-tailored doses of radiometal-based radiopharmaceuticals in
      the clinic.

PMID- 20941432
TI  - Plasma-based mass spectrometry for simultaneous acquisition of elemental and
      molecular information.
AB  - Chemical speciation studies are commonly accomplished by resorting to hyphenated
      analytical techniques, consisting of a powerful chromatographic separation
      technique coupled to a highly sensitive elemental spectrometric detector.
      However, in addition to this element-selective information, complementary
      molecular spectrometric tools are often required for a complete identification of
      macromolecules. Therefore, there is an increased research effort focused towards
      the development of integrated instruments to carry out the complete chemical
      speciation within a sample using a single instrument. An outline of recent
      developments in plasma-based mass spectrometric instrumentation for such
      comprehensive chemical speciation studies is here presented and their pros and
      cons detailed. In this context, the use of complementary techniques operating in
      parallel after splitting to a single chromatographic separation (dual sources)
      providing simultaneously elemental and molecular information is critically
      reviewed. Also, instrumental developments involving the use of stationary plasma
      sources operated in non-traditional modes (e.g. low pressure and low power) are
      also discussed. Moreover, the capabilities of tunable plasma-based ionization
      sources (allowing different ionization processes and, so, quasi-simultaneously
      providing elemental and molecular information with a single instrument) as a
      relatively simple and cheap approach are revised.

PMID- 20941433
TI  - From synthetic montroseite VOOH to topochemical paramontroseite VO2 and their
      applications in aqueous lithium ion batteries.
AB  - Synthetic montroseite VOOH has been successfully prepared via a simple template
      free hydrothermal route on a large scale for the first time-after sixty years of
      delay. The as-obtained sample shows a hierarchical morphology of urchin-like
      nanoarchitecture with hollow interiors consisting of well-crystalline nanorods
      standing vertically on the shell surface. Time-dependent experiments illustrated
      that these hierarchical hollow nanourchins were formed through the hydrolysis
      driven Kirkendall effect coupled with a new-phased vanadium oxyhydroxide
      V(10)O(14)(OH)(2) precursor templated approach. Meanwhile, the as-obtained VOOH
      hollow nanourchins could convert topochemically to paramontroseite VO(2) without
      altering the size and original appearance during the annealing process due to the
      extreme structural similarity revealed by crystal structure analysis.
      Furthermore, the improved electrochemical performance of both montroseite VOOH
      and paramontroseite VO(2) hierarchical hollow structures toward Li uptake and
      release verifies their potential applications as anode materials in aqueous
      lithium ion batteries. These improved electrochemical properties could be
      ascribed to the synergetic effect of the microscopic tunneled crystal structure
      and macroscopic hollow morphological features, which provide the easy
      infiltration of electrolyte, short diffusion lengths for lithium ions and
      electron transport as well as sufficient void space to buffer the volume change.

PMID- 20941434
TI  - Two-photon luminescence from polar bis-terpyridyl-stilbene derivatives of Ir(III)
      and Ru(II).
AB  - Four structurally related iridium(III) and ruthenium(II) complexes bearing two
      polar terpyridyl-stilbene derived chromophores 4-(4-{2-[4
      (methoxy)phenyl]ethenyl}phenyl)-2,2'-6',2''-terpyridine (ttpyeneanisole) and 4-(4
      {2-[phenyl]ethenyl}phenyl)-2,2'-6',2''-terpyridine (tpystilbene) have been
      synthesised and characterised in the solid state and in solution. In the solid
      state, the dihedral angle subtending the pyridyl and tolyl groups of 27.1 degrees
      in the Ir(III) complex [Ir(ttpyeneanisole)(2)].3PF(6) is more acute than in the
      Ru(II) derivative [Ru(tpystilbene)(2)].2PF(6) (35.5 degrees ), indicating the
      presence of a greater degree of pi-delocalisation across the terpyridine unit in
      the former compound. Their luminescence properties in fluid solution have been
      investigated following both resonant and non-resonant excitation. We have shown
      that each of the complexes undergoes two-photon excitation when excited in the
      near infrared (740 to 820 nm), with two-photon absorption cross sections in the
      range 11-67 * 10(-50) cm(4) s photon(-1). The larger cross sections for the
      Ir(III) complexes reflect the differences observed in the solid state. This work
      therefore demonstrates that such complexes are promising as luminescent markers
      for 3D imaging and illustrates that simple functionalisation of the chromophores
      and the choice of metal can lead to marked enhancements in the two-photon cross
      sections (sigma(2)) compared to those of simpler heteroleptic polypyridyl based
      derivatives.

PMID- 20941435
TI  - Temporal trends of contaminants in Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus) from a small
      lake, southwest Greenland during a warming climate.
AB  - Hg and legacy POPs were analysed in muscle tissue of a landlocked Arctic char
      (Salvelinus alpinus) population from a small lake in southwest Greenland. Hg
      concentrations were available for six years and OC concentrations for five years
      during the period 1994 to 2008. For two years, stable isotope values of nitrogen
      (delta(15)N) were analysed in muscle tissue in order to infer trophic effects.
      Hg, Sigma10-PCB, SigmaDDT and trans-nonachlor concentrations (OC on wet weight
      basis) showed an increase with increasing fish length, which had to be accounted
      for when assessing temporal trends. delta(15)N values had a narrow range, and
      there was no indication of increasing delta(15)N values with char length
      confirming the sampled char did not vary in trophic morphs as often seen in
      Arctic lakes. Length-adjusted Hg concentrations showed a significantly increasing
      trend during the period 1994 to 2008, while Sigma10-PCB, SigmaDDT, SigmaHCH and
      trans-nonachlor showed a significantly decreasing trend when expressed on wet
      weight, and decreasing but not significantly when expressed on lipid weight. The
      reason for this was that the lipid content of muscle showed a significantly
      decreasing trend with time. The sum of mean monthly air temperature during May to
      August measured at a nearby meteorological station showed an increasing trend
      during the study period, and changing temperature conditions probably influenced
      the temporal trend of especially Hg concentrations and the lipid content.

PMID- 20941436
TI  - Enzyme-functionalized polymer brush films on the inner wall of silicon-glass
      microreactors with tunable biocatalytic activity.
AB  - The lipase from Candida Rugosa was immobilized to a poly(methacrylic acid)
      polymer brush layer, grown on the inner wall of silicon-glass microreactors. The
      hydrolysis of 4-nitrophenyl acetate was used as a model reaction to study the
      activity of this biocatalytic system. The amount of bound lipase could be tuned
      by changing the polymerization time of the brush formation. The Michaelis-Menten
      constants and V(max) values, determined for immobilized and free lipase, are
      similar, demonstrating that the lipase's substrate affinity and its activity
      remain unchanged upon immobilization to the microchannel wall.

PMID- 20941437
TI  - Synthesis of porous CuO-CeO2 nanospheres with an enhanced low-temperature CO
      oxidation activity.
AB  - CuO-CeO2 nanospheres with a porous structure were synthesized by an improved urea
      method involving first hydrothermal treatment to get Ce-Cu binary precursor and
      then the calcination of the precursor. The CuO-CeO2 nanospheres consist of
      spherical particles with diameters in the range of 300-400 nm. These nanospheres
      are actually composed of nanoparticles of ca. 10 nm, resulting in the formation
      of a mesoporous structure. Compared with conventional urea method, in which Ce-Cu
      binary precursor is commonly achieved in an oil bath at appropriate temperature,
      the Ce-Cu binary precursor obtained via the hydrothermal process could be more
      highly homogeneous and more highly interdispersed CuO-CeO2 thus was formed. In
      addition, the resulted porous CuO-CeO2 catalyst has a lower CO oxidation
      temperature of as low as 71  degrees C.

PMID- 20941438
TI  - Time-resolved spatially offset Raman spectroscopy for depth analysis of diffusely
      scattering layers.
AB  - The objective of this study is to use time-resolved (TR) Raman spectroscopy,
      spatially offset Raman spectroscopy (SORS), and a combination of these approaches
      to obtain high quality Raman spectra from materials hidden underneath an opaque
      layer. Both TR Raman and SORS are advanced techniques that allow for an increased
      relative selectivity of photons from deeper layers within a sample. Time-resolved
      detection reduces fluorescence background, and the selectivity for the second
      layer is improved. By combining this with spatially offset excitation we
      additionally increased selectivity for deeper layers. Test samples were opaque
      white polymer blocks of several mm thicknesses. Excitation was carried out with a
      frequency-doubled Ti:sapphire laser at 460 nm, 3 ps pulse width and 76 MHz
      repetition rate. Detection was either with a continuous-wave CCD camera or in
      time-resolved mode using an intensified CCD camera with a 250 ps gate width. The
      Raman photons were collected in backscatter mode, with or without lateral offset.
      By measuring the delay of the Raman signal from the second layer (polyethylene
      terephthalate/PET/Arnite), the net photon migration speeds through Teflon,
      polythene, Delrin and Nylon were determined. Raman spectra could be obtained from
      a second layer of PET through Teflon layers up to 7 mm of thickness. The ability
      to obtain chemical information through layers of diffusely scattering materials
      has powerful potential for biomedical applications.

PMID- 20941439
TI  - Copper(II) complex formation with a linear peptide encompassing the putative cell
      binding site of angiogenin.
AB  - Angiogenin is one of the more potent angiogenic factors known, whose activity may
      be affected by the presence of copper ions. Copper(II) complexes with the
      peptides encompassing the putative endothelial cell binding domain of angiogenin,
      Ac-KNGNPHREN-NH(2) and Ac-PHREN-NH(2), have been characterized by potentiometric,
      UV-vis, CD and EPR spectroscopic methods. The coordination features of all the
      copper complex species derived by both peptides are practically the same, as
      predictable because of the presence of a proline residue within their aminoacidic
      sequence. In particular, Ac-PHREN-NH(2) is really the aminoacidic sequence
      involved in the binding to copper(II). Thermodynamic and spectroscopic evidence
      are given that side chain oxygen donor atom of glutamyl residue is involved in
      the copper binding up to physiological pH. EPR parameters suggest that the
      carboxylate group is still involved also in the predominant species [Cu(L)H(-2)],
      the metal coordination environment being probably formed by N(Im), 2N(-), H(2)O
      in equatorial plane and an oxygen atom from COO(-) in apical position, or vice
      versa, with the carboxylate oxygen atom in the copper coordination plane and the
      water molecule confined to one of the apical positions. Moreover, the comparison
      with the thermodynamic and spectroscopic results in the case of the copper(ii)
      complex species formed by the single point mutated peptide, Ac-PHRQN-NH(2),
      provides further evidence of the presence of carboxylate oxygen atom in the
      copper coordination sphere.

PMID- 20941440
TI  - Stabilisation of iridium(III) fluoride complexes with NHCs.
AB  - The first neutral, [IrClF(2)(NHC)(COD)] and [IrClF(2)(CO)(2)(NHC)] (NHC = IMes,
      IPr), and cationic, [IrF(2)py(IMes)(COD)][BF(4)] and [IrF(2)L(CO)(2)(NHC)][BF(4)]
      (NHC = IMes, L = PPh(2)Et, PPh(2)CCPh, py; NHC = IPr, L = py), NHC iridium(III)
      fluoride complexes, have been synthesised by the xenon difluoride oxidation of
      iridium(I) substrates. The stereochemistries of these iridium(III) complexes have
      been confirmed by multinuclear NMR spectroscopy in solution and no examples of
      fluoride-trans-NHC arrangements were observed. Throughout, CO was found to be a
      better co-ligand for the stabilisation of the iridium(III) fluoride complexes
      than COD. Attempts to generate neutral trifluoroiridium(III) complexes,
      [IrF(3)(CO)(NHC)], via the ligand substitution reaction of [IrF(3)(CO)(3)] with
      the free NHCs were unsuccessful.

PMID- 20941441
TI  - A robust hydrophilic pyridine-bridged bis-benzimidazolylidene palladium pincer
      complex: synthesis and its catalytic application towards Suzuki-Miyaura couplings
      in aqueous solvents.
AB  - A novel hydrophilic pyridine-bridged bis-benzimidazolylidene palladium pincer
      complex (3) acted as a highly efficient robust recyclable molecular catalyst
      towards Suzuki-Miyaura coupling reactions in aqueous media and tolerated various
      functional groups (even heterocycles) with extremely low catalyst loading.

PMID- 20941443
TI  - Disassembly of conjugated polyelectrolyte aggregates and their application for
      colorimetric detection of surfactants in water.
AB  - A colorimetric strategy based on conjugated polyelectrolyte aggregates has been
      applied to determine and distinguish anionic, cationic and non-ionic surfactants.

PMID- 20941442
TI  - Imaging live cells grown on a three dimensional collagen matrix using Raman
      microspectroscopy.
AB  - Three dimensional collagen gels have been used as matrices for the imaging of
      live cells by Raman spectroscopy. The study is conducted on a human lung
      adenocarcinoma (A549) and a spontaneously immortalized human epithelial
      keratinocyte (HaCaT) cell line. The lateral resolution of the system has been
      estimated to be <1.5 MUm making it possible to access the subcellular
      organization. Using K-means clustering analysis, it is shown that the different
      subcellular compartments of individual cells can be identified and
      differentiated. The biochemical specificity of the information contained in the
      Raman spectra allows the visualization of differences in the molecular signature
      of the different sub-cellular structures. Furthermore, to enhance the chemical
      information obtained from the spectra, principal component analysis has been
      employed, allowing the identification of spectral windows with a high
      variability. The comparison between the loadings calculated and spectra from pure
      biochemical compounds enables the correlation of the variations observed with the
      molecular content of the different cellular compartments.

PMID- 20941444
TI  - Organic-inorganic hybrid photonic hydrogels as a colorful platform for visual
      detection of SCN-.
AB  - This communication demonstrates a facile method to detect SCN(-) by the naked eye
      through color change based on responsive organic-inorganic hybrid photonic
      hydrogels.

PMID- 20941445
TI  - Dielectric interlayers for increasing the transparency of metal films for mid
      infrared attenuated total reflection spectroscopy.
AB  - By depositing a continuous, thin metal film on a substrate coated with a mid
      infrared (IR) transparent dielectric film that fulfils the role of an index
      matching, anti-reflective coating for the metal, the transparency of the metal in
      the IR wavelength range can be significantly enhanced. This effect is used to
      yield enhanced absorption in attenuated total internal reflection infrared (ATR
      IR) spectroscopy in the presence of continuous thin metal films. The main
      limitation of the ATR technique when using continuous metal films is the low
      transparency of metals, especially for infrared light. Computations and
      experiments show an enhancement in the absorbance of a sample in contact with the
      metal at certain wavenumbers when the dielectric interlayer is present. The
      realisation of the setup is the stratified system consisting of zinc selenide
      germanium (~1 MUm)-gold (40 nm and 20 nm) using the organic solvent acetonitrile
      as sample. Enhancement is stronger in s- than in p-polarisation. In s
      polarisation, enhancement factors of up to 4 have been observed so far in
      experiments, but calculations show a route to higher enhancements. In addition to
      the increased absorption, the absorbance spectra show interference fringes which
      are due to a mismatch in the real part of the refractive index of the sample in
      contact with the metal film compared to a reference measurement.

PMID- 20941447
TI  - Anti-influenza agents from Traditional Chinese Medicine.

PMID- 20941446
TI  - Conversion of oxido-bridged dinuclear ruthenium complex to dicationic dinitrosyl
      ruthenium complex using proton and nitric oxide: completion of NO reduction
      cycle.
AB  - The hydroxido-bridged dinuclear ruthenium complex 4, which is supported by Tp
      ligands, has been prepared from protonation of the oxido-bridged dinuclear
      ruthenium complex 3. Additional protonation of 4, affording the aqua-bridged
      dinuclear ruthenium complex 5 in situ, and subsequent treatment with NO gave rise
      to the dicationic dinitrosyl complex 2. These indicate completion of the NO
      reduction cycle on the dinuclear ruthenium complex.

PMID- 20941448
TI  - Towards detection and identification of circulating tumour cells using Raman
      spectroscopy.
AB  - Body fluids are easily accessible and contain valuable indices for medical
      diagnosis. Fascinating tools are tumour cells circulating in the peripheral blood
      of cancer patients. As these cells are extremely rare, they constitute a
      challenge for clinical diagnostics. In this contribution we present the Raman
      spectroscopic-based identification of different single cells in suspension that
      are found in peripheral blood of cancer patients including healthy cells like
      leukocytes and erythrocytes, and tumour cells like leukaemic cells and cells
      originating from solid tumours. Leukocytes and erythrocytes were isolated from
      the peripheral blood of healthy donors while myeloid leukaemia cells (OCI-AML3)
      and breast carcinoma derived cells (MCF-7, BT-20) were obtained from cell
      cultures. A laser emitting 785 nm light was used for optical trapping the single
      cells in the laser focus and to excite the Raman spectrum. Support vector
      machines were applied to develop a supervised classification model with spectra
      of 1210 cells originating from three different donors and three independent
      cultivation batches. Distinguishing tumour cells from healthy cells was achieved
      with a sensitivity of >99.7% and a specificity of >99.5%. In addition, the
      correct cell types were predicted with an accuracy of approximately 92%.

PMID- 20941449
TI  - Push-pull nitrile ligands exhibit specific hydration patterns.
AB  - The reaction between K[PtCl(3)(Me(2)SO)] or prepared in this work cis- and trans
      [PtCl(2)(NCNR(2))(Me(2)SO)] (R(2) = Me(2), 1; C(4)H(8)O, 2; C(5)H(10) 3) with an
      excess of NCNR(2) in water gives the cationic bischelate [Pt{kappa(2)-N,N'''
      NH=C(NMe(2))OC(NMe(2))=NH}(2)](2+) (4(2+)) and the monochelates [PtCl{kappa(2)
      N,O-NH=C(NR(2))NC(NR(2))=O}(Me(2)SO)] (R(2) = C(4)H(8)O, 5; C(5)H(10), 6).
      Complex 4(2+) was released from the reaction mixture as
      4.[PtCl(3)(Me(2)SO)](2).(H(2)O)(2) or it was precipitated as 4.[A](2) (A = pic,
      4.[pic](2); PF(6), 4.[PF(6)](2); BPh(4), 4.[BPh(4)](2).(NH(2)CONMe(2))) by
      addition of picric acid, NaPF(6), or NaBPh(4), respectively, to the filtrate
      obtained after separation of 4.[PtCl(3)(Me(2)SO)](2).(H(2)O)(2). In 2, the
      dialkylcyanamide ligand undergoes bond cleavage giving the known trans
      [PtCl(2){N(H)C(4)H(8)O}(Me(2)SO)] (trans-7). All complexes were characterized by
      elemental analyses (C, H, N), high resolution ESI-MS, IR, (1)H and (13)C{(1)H}
      NMR spectroscopic techniques, including 2D NMR correlation experiments ((1)H,(1)H
      COSY, (1)H,(13)C-HMQC/(1)H,(13)C HSQC, (1)H,(13)C-HMBC, and (1)H,(1)H-NOESY). The
      structures of cis-1, cis-3, 4.[PtCl(3)(Me(2)SO)](2).(H(2)O)(2),
      4.[BPh(4)](2).(NH(2)CONMe(2)) and 5 were determined by a single-crystal X-ray
      diffraction.

PMID- 20941450
TI  - Stranski-Krastanov growth of para-sexiphenyl on Cu(110)-(2*1)O revealed by
      optical spectroscopy.
AB  - We have studied the growth of para-sexiphenyl (p-6P) on the Cu(110)-(2*1)O
      surface using reflectance difference spectroscopy (RDS) in combination with
      scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). The evolution of the optical anisotropy
      reveals that the growth of p-6P on the Cu(110)-(2*1)O surface at room temperature
      follows the Stranski-Krastanov growth mode with a two monolayer thick wetting
      layer. During all stages of growth, the p-6P molecules are well orientated with
      their long molecular axis aligned parallel to the Cu-O rows along the [001]
      direction of the Cu(110) substrate. The high packing density of the p-6P
      molecules in the first and second monolayer evidenced by RDS and STM is believed
      to be responsible for the switch from layer-by-layer to three-dimensional island
      growth.

PMID- 20941451
TI  - Challenges associated with the synthesis of unusual o-carboxamido stilbenes by
      the Heck protocol: Intriguing substituent effects, their toxicological and
      chemopreventive implications.
AB  - The syntheses of fourteen unusual o-carboxamido stilbenes by the Heck protocol
      revealed surprising complexity related to intriguing substituent effects with
      mechanistic implications. The unexpected cytotoxic and chemopreventive properties
      also seem to be substituent dependent. For example, although stilbene 15d (with a
      4-methoxy substituent) showed cytotoxicity on HT29 colon cancer cells with an
      IC(50) of 4.9 MUM, the 3,4-dimethoxy derivative (15c) is inactive. It is
      interesting to observe that the 3,5-dimethoxy derivative (15e) showed remarkable
      chemopreventive activity in WRL-68 fetal hepatocytes, surpassing the gold
      standard, resveratrol. The resveratrol concentration needed to be 5 times higher
      than that of 15e to produce comparable elevation of NQO1.

PMID- 20941452
TI  - Desymmetrization of 7-dimethylphenylsilylcycloheptatriene. Towards the synthesis
      of new aminocycloheptitols.
AB  - Desymmetrization of 7-silylcycloheptatriene through consecutive dihydroxylation
      and acyl-nitroso cycloaddition of the resulting diene moiety is described.
      Dihydroxylation occurred anti relative to the resident silicon group in line with
      previous observations made in the cyclohexadiene series. In contrast, the
      subsequent acyl-nitroso cycloaddition occurred with poor regiocontrol but good
      level of diastereocontrol syn to the bulky silyl substituent. The resulting
      cycloadducts were then elaborated further to provide a straightforward entry
      toward aminocycloheptitols in ten steps from commercially available tropylium
      salts.

PMID- 20941454
TI  - Oscar D. Ratnoff: a man for all seasons.

PMID- 20941455
TI  - Apixaban versus enoxaparin in patients with total knee arthroplasty. A meta
      analysis of randomised trials.
AB  - It was the objective of this study to systematically compare the effects of
      apixaban versus enoxaparin in patients following total knee arthroplasty (TKA). A
      systematic search of Medline, EMBASE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled
      Trials was conducted. Eligible studies were prospective, randomised control
      trials (RCT) of apixaban therapy, comparing with enoxaparin, in patients who have
      a high risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) after TKA. Three RCTs involving 7,337
      individuals were identified, of whom 4,057 were treated with apixaban 2.5 mg once
      daily, and 3280 were subcutaneous enoxaparin (40 mg once-daily or 30 mg twice
      daily). Meta-analysis demonstrated the odds ratio (OR) for the composite of major
      VTE (proximal deep-vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism) for apixaban versus
      enoxaparin was 0.47 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.27 to 0.82, 0.6% vs. 1.2%)
      and 2.09 (95%CI: 0.99 to 4.45, 0.6% vs. 0.3%), respectively. All-cause mortality
      occurred in 0.2% of the apixaban group versus 0.09% of the enoxaparin group
      (OR=1.74; 95%CI, 0.51 to 5.95). With respect to safety outcomes, apixaban was
      associated with a lower major bleeding rate than enoxaparin (OR=0.55, 95%CI: 0.32
      to 0.96). No significant differences were detected between two strategies in
      other endpoints of safety profile analysed: clinically relevant non-major
      bleeding, raised hepatic transaminase enzyme or bilirubin concentrations and
      arterial thromboembolic events. In conclusion, apixaban is non-inferior to
      subcutaneous enoxaparin when used for the same duration, with considerable
      advantage regarding safety profile of major bleeding after TKA.

PMID- 20941453
TI  - Unravelling the mechanism and significance of thrombin binding to platelet
      glycoprotein Ib.
AB  - The main question concerning the mechanism of a-thrombin binding to platelet
      membrane glycoprotein (GP)Ib is whether it involves both thrombin exosite I and
      exosite II. The solution of two independent crystal structures suggests
      alternative explanations that may actually reflect different modes of binding
      with distinct pathophysiological significance. With respect to function, it is
      still unclear whether thrombin binding to GPIb promotes procoagulant and
      prothrombotic pathways of response to vascular injury or limits such responses by
      sequestering, at least temporarily, the active enzyme. We review here published
      information on these topics and touch upon ongoing studies aimed at finding
      definitive answers to outstanding questions relevant for a better understanding
      of thrombosis and haemostasis.

PMID- 20941456
TI  - Population genetics of venous thromboembolism. A narrative review.
AB  - Results from epidemiological studies are consistent with the hypothesis that
      disparities in venous thromboembolism (VTE) burden are attributable to
      differences in genetic structure among populations from different genetic
      backgrounds. To that end, recent genetic studies have demonstrated not only
      potential associations between certain alleles and VTE but also clear differences
      in the distribution of these alleles in patients stratified by ancestry. There
      are a number of notable clinical and pathophysiological questions that arise from
      these findings. First at all is defining the precise variant(s) that alter
      disease susceptibility. The comparatively lower rates of VTE recorded among
      Asians would imply that risk profile is devoid of many risk factors on comparison
      to Caucasian or African counterparts or that a putative protective factor is
      advocated in the former population. Identification of these variants provided
      specific insight into VTE disease in selected populations and also shed lights on
      the biology of the disease. The association observed between ancestry and VTE is
      likely to be multifactorial, possibly reflecting, in addition to genetic
      variation, also socioeconomic differences. Acknowledgment of this may provide
      useful information in biomedical contexts and help to identify individual risk
      factors for VTE.

PMID- 20941457
TI  - Mode of action of P2Y(12 ) antagonists as inhibitors of platelet function.
AB  - P2Y(12) receptor antagonists are antithrombotic agents that inhibit platelet
      function by blocking the effects of adenosine diphosphate (ADP) at P2Y
      (12)receptors. However, some P2Y(12) receptor antagonists may affect platelet
      function through additional mechanisms. It was the objective of this study to
      investigate the possibility that P2Y(12) antagonists inhibit platelet function
      through interaction with G-protein-coupled receptors other than P2Y(12)
      receptors. We compared the effects of cangrelor, ticagrelor and the prasugrel
      active metabolite on platelet aggregation and on phosphorylation of vasodilator
      stimulated phosphoprotein (VASP). We compared their effects with those of
      selective IP, EP4 and A2A agonists, which act at Gs-coupled receptors. All three
      P2Y(12) antagonists were strong inhibitors of ADP-induced platelet aggregation
      but only partial inhibitors of aggregation induced by thrombin receptor
      activating peptide (TRAP) or the thromboxane A2 mimetic U46619. Further, after
      removing ADP and its metabolites using apyrase and adenosine deaminase, the
      P2Y(12) antagonists produced only minor additional inhibition of TRAP or U46619
      induced aggregation. Conversely, the Gs-coupled receptor agonists always produced
      strong inhibition of aggregation irrespective of whether ADP was removed. Other
      experiments using selective receptor agonists and antagonists provided no
      evidence of any of the P2Y(12) antagonists acting through PAR1, TP, IP, EP4, A2A
      or EP3 receptors. All three P2Y (12)antagonists enhanced VASP-phosphorylation to
      a small and equal extent but the effects were much smaller than those of the IP,
      EP4 and A2A agonists. The effects of cangrelor, ticagrelor and prasugrel on
      platelet function are mediated mainly through P2Y(12)receptors and not through
      another G-protein-coupled receptor.

PMID- 20941458
TI  - Efficacy of prothrombin complex concentrate to reverse the anticoagulant effect
      of the pentasaccharide fondaparinux in a rabbit model.
AB  - As a potent anticoagulant agent, fondaparinux exposes a risk of bleeding. An
      effective way to reverse its effects is needed. It was the objective to study
      efficacy and safety of prothrombin complex concentrate (PCC) to reverse the
      anticoagulant effect of fondaparinux in a rabbit model of bleeding and
      thrombosis. In anaesthetised and ventilated rabbits, the Folts model was applied:
      a stenosis (75%) and an injury were carried out on the carotid artery, inducing
      thrombosis. Blood flow decreased as thrombus size increased until the pressure
      gradient was such that the thrombus was released and local blood flow was
      suddenly restored. This is known as a cyclic flow reduction (CFR). After the
      first CFR, rabbits were randomised into three groups: control (saline and saline
      after 1 minute), fondaparinux (fondaparinux [3 mg.kg-1] and saline), PCC
      (fondaparinux and PCC [40 UI.kg-1]). Then CFRs were recorded over 20 minutes. The
      following were measured: ear immersion bleeding time (BT), haemoglobin blood
      level (Hb1) and thrombelastometric parameters (ROTEM(r)). Finally, a
      hepatosplenic section was performed; 15 minutes later, the amount of blood loss
      was recorded as primary endpoint and Hb2 was measured. Blood loss was increased
      with fondaparinux and normalised with PCC. Regarding ROTEM(r) INTEM, fondaparinux
      increased clotting time and clotting formation time. PCC normalised these
      parameters. EXTEM and FIBTEM tests were not modified. Regarding safety, PCC did
      not increase CFRs. PCC reduced bleeding without increasing thrombosis and was
      effective to reverse the haemorrhagic effect of fondaparinux in this rabbit
      model.

PMID- 20941460
TI  - Megakaryocyte gene targeting mediated by restricted expression of recombinase
      Cre.
AB  - The availability of mice with tissue-specific expression of recombinase Cre is
      the limiting step for a successful gene targeting by the Cre-LoxP methodology.
      This work aimed at generating transgenic mice with restricted expression of
      recombinase Cre in megakaryocytes and platelets, driven by the promoter of the
      alphaIIb gene (malphaIIb-cre). Mice oocytes were microinjected with a 4.1 Kb
      construct comprising a 2.7 Kb promoter fragment of the glycoprotein alphaIIb
      gene, linked to the Cre-cDNA and followed by the polyA tail of the SV40. We found
      four mice with positive DNA genotype and three probable sites of genomic
      integration of the transgene. Only two of the founders showed presence of Cre
      mRNA and production of Cre protein, restricted to megakaryocytes. The activity of
      Cre in mediating gene targeting was assessed by crossing malphaIIb-cre mice to
      Cre-reporter mice (ROSA26-lacZ). The activity of beta-galactosidase, detected
      only in megakaryocytes, was sufficient to generate intense staining of X-Gal in
      hepatic haematopoietic islands of 14.5 dpc fetuses, in bone marrow megakaryocytes
      and platelets from adult mice as well as in vitro cultured megakaryocytes
      differentiated from bone marrow hematopoietic stem cells. Moreover, the
      recombinase activity was sufficient to produce the specific gene targeting of a
      floxed CD40L allele in megakaryocytes. The malphaIIb-cre transgenic mice with
      restricted production of Cre in megakaryocytes, offers a selective, alternative,
      new tool for the genetic analysis of platelet pathophysiology.

PMID- 20941459
TI  - Apixaban decreases coagulation activity in patients with acute deep-vein
      thrombosis.
AB  - In patients with acute deep-vein thrombosis (DVT), apixaban, a direct oral factor
      Xa inhibitor, showed efficacy and safety similar to low-molecular-weight heparin
      followed by vitamin K antagonist (LMWH/VKA). We evaluated biomarkers of
      coagulation activity in relation to treatment dose, duration and clinical
      outcome. Patients (N = 520) with symptomatic DVT were randomised to receive
      apixaban (5 mg bid, 10 mg bid or 20 mg qd) or LMWH/VKA for 12 weeks. Plasma D
      dimer, prothrombin fragment 1+2 (F1+2) and thrombin-antithrombin complex (TAT)
      levels were measured at baseline, and weeks 3 and 12 after treatment. Median
      plasma levels of D-dimer, F1+2 and TAT were elevated at baseline. At weeks 3 and
      12, biomarker levels were normalised in most patients in all treatment groups,
      consistent with the low rate of venous thromboembolism (VTE) observed. Median
      reduction in D-dimer was similar in all treatment groups; percentage of patients
      with D-dimer above upper limit of normal decreased from 95% to 24-40% at week 12.
      F1+2 decline was greater with LMWH/VKA than apixaban. F1+2 in the apixaban groups
      changed to a similar extent (>84% of patients had F1+2 within reference range at
      week 12). Magnitude of TAT reduction was not quantifiable. In conclusion, levels
      of coagulation biomarkers decreased over 12 weeks of treatment with apixaban or
      LMWH/VKA in most patients with acute VTE. Baseline D-dimer and F1+2 were higher
      in patients with recurrent symptomatic VTE than in those without. Plasma levels
      of coagulation biomarkers did not appear to correlate with total bleeding events.

PMID- 20941461
TI  - Spontaneous regression of the inhibitor against the coagulation factor XIII A
      subunit in acquired factor XIII deficiency.

PMID- 20941462
TI  - Aspirin for the primary prevention of cardiovascular events in patients with
      peripheral artery disease or diabetes mellitus. Analyses from the JPAD, POPADAD
      and AAA trials.

PMID- 20941463
TI  - Prospective evaluation of three different diagnostic criteria for disseminated
      intravascular coagulation.
AB  - There are three different diagnostic score systems for disseminated intravascular
      coagulation (DIC) established by the Japanese Ministry Health and Welfare (JMHW),
      the International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis (ISTH) and the Japanese
      Association for Acute Medicine (JAAM). The JMHW criteria are still used in Japan.
      In the present study, all three diagnostic criteria were used to prospectively
      evaluate 413 patients with different underlying diseases of DIC who were treated
      at the Mie University Hospital (JMHW, n= 166; ISTH, n=143; JAAM, n=291). The odds
      ratio (95% confidence interval) for death was 1.88 (1.22 - 2.90) in JMHW, 2.55
      (1.65 - 3.95) in ISHT and 1.99 (1.19 - 3.32) in JAAM. The platelet count,
      prothrombin time, fibrin and fibrinogen degradation products and fibrinogen were
      significantly important for diagnosis of DIC by all three diagnostic criteria.
      Haemostatic molecular markers were significantly high in all patients and were
      useful for the diagnosis of DIC. The JAAM diagnostic criteria displayed a high
      sensitivity for DIC and the ISTH overt-DIC diagnostic criteria displayed a high
      specificity for DIC. All three diagnostic criteria for DIC were related to a poor
      patient outcome.

PMID- 20941464
TI  - Impact of concomitant treatment with proton pump inhibitors and clopidogrel on
      clinical outcome in patients after coronary stent implantation.
AB  - The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of the concomitant treatment with
      proton-pump inhibitors (PPIs) and clopidogrel on the incidence of stent
      thrombosis, acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and death in patients who underwent
      percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and stent implantation. In total, 1,210
      patients under dual antiplatelet therapy, who underwent PCI and stent
      implantation, were included in a prospective registry from January 2003 until
      December 2006. The patients were divided retrospectively into those with or
      without long-term PPI treatment (for the duration of dual antiplatelet therapy).
      All-cause mortality, cardiovascular death, re-hospitalisation for re-ACS, stent
      thrombosis, as well as the combined endpoint all-cause death, re-ACS or stent
      thrombosis were evaluated over a mean follow-up period of 7.8 (+/- 3.63) months
      (range 1-12 months). Propensity score analysis was performed to reduce potential
      selection bias and exhibited no significant difference between the two study
      groups with respect to all-cause mortality, cardiovascular death, re-ACS, stent
      thrombosis and the combined endpoint. In pre-specified subgroup analyses
      performed in patients presenting with ACS and referred for acute PCI or for
      stable patients referred for elective PCI, receiving drug-eluting stents or bare
      metal stents, in diabetics or non-diabetics, in males or females, and in patients
      older than 75 years or <=75 years of age use of PPIs had no significant impact on
      clinical outcome. Our data suggest that a combined use of clopidogrel as part of
      dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) after coronary stenting and PPIs does not
      significantly influence the clinical outcome.

PMID- 20941465
TI  - Prospective study of low-dose ristocetin-induced platelet aggregation to identify
      type 2B von Willebrand disease (VWD) and platelet-type VWD in children.
AB  - Type 2B von Willebrand disease (VWD2B) and platelet-type von Willebrand disease
      (PT-VWD) are rare bleeding disorders characterised by an increased ristocetin
      induced platelet aggregation (RIPA) at low dose of ristocetin. It was the
      objective of this study to detect children with VWD2B and PT-VWD using RIPA at
      low dose of ristocetin (0.5 mg/ml) in the screening evaluation of bleeding
      disorders, and to analyse the phenotypic data along with the molecular findings.
      Over a 14-year period, 641 children with personal and family bleeding symptoms or
      bleeding from birth with previously uncharacterised haemostatic disorders were
      prospectively studied. Six unrelated patients (0.93%) showed RIPA at low dose of
      ristocetin. RIPA-based mixing studies identified that the plasma of the six
      probands and at least one parent from five unrelated families induced aggregation
      of normal platelets with the addition of low-dose ristocetin. None of the
      probands' platelets showed aggregation with cryoprecipitate. Low ristocetin
      cofactor activity/VWF antigen ratio with absent collagen binding activity or
      thrombocytopenia were detected respectively in only two patients. Molecular
      analysis of exon 28 of the VWF gene identified mutations in only three patients.
      No mutation in the GP1BA gene was found. In this large prospective paediatric
      study, the screening approach including RIPA at low dose of ristocetin permitted
      the detection of patients with VWD2B that would otherwise have been missed. No
      patient with phenotype or genotype of PT-VWD was identified. Heterogeneity of
      bleeding symptoms and phenotypic parameters were found among members of the same
      family.

PMID- 20941466
TI  - Asia-Pacific Thrombosis Advisory Board consensus paper on prevention of venous
      thromboembolism after major orthopaedic surgery.
AB  - The incidence of postoperative venous thromboembolism (VTE) in Asian populations
      is generally thought to be lower than in Western populations, and the use of
      thromboprophylaxis after surgery is not routine. This paper is authored by the
      Asia-Pacific Thrombosis Advisory Board. To provide guidance on the most effective
      postoperative thromboprophylaxis management, this paper reviews the available
      data on the incidence of VTE in Asian populations, considers current clinical
      guidelines for the prevention of VTE to determine whether these guidelines are
      applicable to Asian populations, and evaluates the potential of new
      thromboprophylactic agents. Based on the available evidence, it was agreed that
      VTE represents a genuine problem in Asian patients, although the exact incidence
      in local populations requires confirmation in large, well-designed clinical
      trials. Furthermore, there was consensus that current guideline recommendations
      for the routine use of postoperative thromboprophylaxis should be implemented in
      Asia, and that new oral agents now available represent an effective and
      potentially more convenient therapeutic option. In conclusion, we call for
      recognition that VTE is an issue in Asian patients, and that effective
      thromboprophylaxis is the most important strategy.

PMID- 20941467
TI  - Airborne concentrations of benzene for dock workers at the ExxonMobil refinery
      and chemical plant, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA (1977-2005).
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Benzene is a natural constituent of crude oil and natural gas (0.1
      3.0% by volume). Materials that are refined from crude oil and natural gas
      contain some residual benzene. Few datasets have appeared in the peer-reviewed
      literature characterizing exposures to benzene at specific refineries or during
      specific tasks. In this study, historical samples of airborne benzene collected
      from 1977-2005 at the ExxonMobil Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA, docks were
      evaluated. METHODS: Workers were categorized into 11 job titles, and both non
      task (<=180 min sample duration) and task-related (<180 min) benzene
      concentrations were assessed. Approximately 800 personal air samples (406 non
      task and 397 task-related) were analyzed. RESULTS: Non-task samples showed that
      concentrations varied significantly across job titles and generally resulted from
      exposures during short-duration tasks such as tank sampling. The contractor -
      tankerman job title had the highest average concentration [N=38, mean 1.4 parts
      per million (ppm), standard deviation (SD) 2.6]. Task-related samples indicated
      that the highest exposures were associated with the disconnection of cargo
      loading hoses (N=134, mean 11 ppm, SD 32). Non-task samples for specific job
      categories showed that concentrations have decreased over the past 30 years.
      Recognizing the potential for benzene exposure, this facility has required
      workers to use respiratory protective equipment during selected tasks and
      activities; thus, the concentrations measured were likely greater than those that
      the employee actually experienced. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides a job title-
      and task-focused analysis of occupational exposure to benzene during dock
      facility operations that is insightful for understanding the Baton Rouge facility
      and others similar to it over the past 30 years.

PMID- 20941468
TI  - Intrapericardial procedures for cardiac regeneration by stem cells: need for
      minimal invasive access (AttachLifter) to the normal pericardial cavity.
AB  - In view of the only modest functional and anatomical improvements achieved by
      bone marrow-derived cell transplantation in patients with heart disease, the
      question was addressed whether the intracoronary, transcoronary-venous, and
      intramyocardial delivery routes are adequate. It is hypothesized that an
      intrapericardial delivery of stem cells or activators of resident cardiac stem
      cells increases therapeutic benefits. From such an intrapericardial depot, cells
      or modulating factors, such as thymosin beta4 or Ac-SDKP, are expected to reach
      the myocardium with sustained kinetics. Novel tools which provide access to the
      pericardial space even in the absence of pericardial effusion are, therefore,
      described. When the pericardium becomes attached to the suction head (monitored
      by an increase in negative pressure), the pericardium is lifted from the
      epicardium ("AttachLifter"). The opening of the suction head ("Attacher") is
      narrowed by flexible clamps which grab the tissue and improve the vacuum seal in
      the case of uneven tissue. A ridge, i.e.,"needle guidance", on the suction head
      excludes injury to the epicardium, whereby the pericardium is punctured by a
      needle which resides outside the suction head. A fiberscope can be used to
      inspect the pericardium prior to puncture. Based on these procedures, the role of
      the pericardial space and the presence of pericardial effusion in cardiac
      regeneration can be assessed.

PMID- 20941469
TI  - [High-dose statin therapy for high-risk patients].
AB  - Lowering LDL cholesterol (LDL-C) with statins decreases cardiovascular risk;
      therefore LDL-C is the primary target in lipid therapy. The amount of risk
      reduction is the greater, the lower the LDL-C values achieved by statin therapy
      are. Current guidelines therefore require an LDL-C as low as < 70 mg/dl in
      patients who are at a very high risk of cardiovascular events. This stringent
      treatment goal depending on the baseline LDL-C values typically can only be
      obtained with higher doses of potent statins. Randomised trials demonstrate the
      efficacy of high-dose therapy with atorvastatin 80 mg/day with regard to the
      prevention of cardiovascular events in patients after acute coronary syndromes
      (PROVE-IT TIMI 22 trial), in patients with stable coronary artery disease (TNT
      trial), and in patients after stroke or TIA (SPARCL trial). Moreover, potent
      statin treatment reduces the progression of coronary atherosclerosis (REVERSAL
      and ASTEROID trials). Furthermore, large meta-analyses of the efficacy of high
      dose statin therapy confirm its safety; in particular, muscle-related adverse
      events are not more frequent than with standard statin doses. It is recommended
      that evidence-based statin doses be used in clinical practice; the dosages used
      in clinical trials should be given rather than titrating patients to LDL-C
      targets by increasing statin doses in a stepwise manner. Whether the strong LDL-C
      lowering combination of simvastatin plus ezetimibe will reduce cardiovascular
      events over and above simvastatin monotherapy is currently being tested in the
      ongoing IMPROVE-IT trial. Importantly, despite the large body of evidence in
      favour of high-dose statin therapy for patients at high cardiovascular risk, high
      dose statin therapy is still underused and LDL-C goals are still not met in the
      majority of these patients.

PMID- 20941470
TI  - [Chronic actinic dermatitis. Therapy with systemic PUVA and mycophenolate
      mofetil].
AB  - A 66-year-old man was diagnosed with psoriasis in 2001 and treated accordingly;
      in 2007, the diagnosis was switched to atopic dermatitis and the therapy
      modified. Initially he improved with fumarates and methotrexate, but then
      experienced recurrent exacerbations with erythroderma and severe superinfection
      requiring hospitalization. Based on the modified clinical picture with striking
      accentuation on the head and back of the hands, we diagnosed chronic actinic
      dermatitis. In September 2008 immunosuppressive therapy with mycophenolate
      mophetil (2*500 mg/d) was started. Since the response was modest, photo-hardening
      with systemic photochemotherapy (PUVA) was added, producing close to complete
      recovery within 6 months.

PMID- 20941471
TI  - [Efficiency of antidepressant therapy for patients with less severe depression].

PMID- 20941472
TI  - [Multimodality treatment of selected tumor diseases].

PMID- 20941473
TI  - [Differential diagnosis and treatment of thrombocytopenia].
AB  - Thrombocytopenia is usually acquired. The laboratory artefact of
      pseudothrombocytopenia should always be excluded. Bone marrow insufficiency with
      impaired platelet production results from infiltrating tumor cells or from a
      myelodsplastic syndrome. In patients with splenomegaly, platelets are trapped by
      the spleen. An increased platelet turnover is caused by activation of the
      clotting cascade, e.g. due to sepsis or malignancy. Platelet binding antibodies
      cause thrombocytopenia by increased platelet clearance. Important differential
      diagnoses in patients with severe thrombocytopenia are: acute leukemia,
      thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura, autoimmune thrombocytopenia and drug
      dependent thrombocytopenia. Multifactorial causes are thrombocytopenia associated
      with pregnancy, chronic alcohol abuse, and liver cirrhosis. Treatment should
      focus on the underlying disease. In regard to low platelet counts only clinical
      bleeding and not platelet count numbers should be treated.

PMID- 20941474
TI  - [45-year-old woman with muscle weakness and hypopotassemia].
AB  - We report a 45-year-old female patient with muscle weakness. We diagnosed renal
      tubular acidosis type I by laboratory findings of hypopotassemia, hypopotassuria,
      metabolic acidosis and basic urine. The muscle weakness improved rapidly by
      substitution of potassium and an alcalescent substance. Searching for associated
      autoimmune diseases we diagnosed primary biliary cirrhosis and initiated a
      therapy with ursodeoxycholic acid.

PMID- 20941475
TI  - [74-year-old patient with cystic pancreatic lesions. An endoscopy-based
      algorithm].
AB  - Often, equivocal pancreatic cystic masses in a patient cannot be clearly
      identified. We report on a 74-year-old patient who consulted us with size-gaining
      multi-cystic lesions located at the pancreatic head and tail as well as with an
      increased CA 19-9 level. By using diagnostic methods as ultrasound, radiological
      images and innovative endoscopic techniques an intraductal papillary mucinous
      neoplasm (IPMN) was diagnosed. Evaluation of equivocal cystic lesions requires
      developing of further strategies as well as integration of new concepts: We
      present a diagnostic algorithm based on endoscopy that enables us to perform an
      adapted therapy by having a more accurate evaluation and the opportunity to gain
      samples where unclear lesions are given.

PMID- 20941476
TI  - [Bone marrow carcinosis as initial presentation of adenocarcinoma].
AB  - Bone marrow infiltration by a solid tumor is an uncommon event. We report about a
      female patient presenting with shortness of breath und abnormalities of blood
      counts. A bone marrow aspiration showed the infiltration due to adeno carcinoma.
      The detection of the primary was not successful. Our patient died within 6 days
      due to disseminated intravascular coagulation.

PMID- 20941477
TI  - [69 year-old patient with chronic abdominal pain and anemia in
      neurofibromatosis].
AB  - The case of a patient with neurofibromatosis type 1 with chronic abdominal pain
      and iron deficiency anemia is described. Diagnostic procedures including
      esophagogastroduodenoscopy and ileocolonoscopy did not disclose a definitive
      cause. CT scan and MRI revealed multiple intraluminal tumors in the small bowel,
      especially in the ileum. These findings were verified by double balloon
      enteroscopy. Endoscopic resection was not performed due to size and number of the
      polyps, and the patient was sent for diagnostic laparotomy. A conglomerate tumor
      of the ileum was resected. Histopathological analysis revealed 13 inflammatory
      polyps and 2 gastrointestinal stroma tumors.

PMID- 20941478
TI  - New data on Mustelidae (Carnivora) from Southeast Asia: Siamogale thailandica, a
      peculiar otter-like mustelid from the late middle Miocene Mae Moh Basin, northern
      Thailand.
AB  - We report new dental remains of Mustelidae from the late middle Miocene of Mae
      Moh Basin, northern Thailand, improving the poor fossil record of the family in
      Southeast Asia. Siamogale thailandica is a poorly known mustelid, previously
      recorded from just a single tooth. Here we present over a hundred new specimens
      attributable to this species. S. thailandica shows a combination of primitive and
      convergent features of the dentition that makes its original subfamilial
      assignment to Lutrinae doubtful. Evidence from the dental morphology suggests
      that it belongs to a bunodont otter-like mustelid that evolved in convergence
      with "true" otters (Lutrinae) toward a semi-aquatic way of life. Autapomorphic
      features such as the height and the position of the m1 metaconid and the shape of
      the P4 lingual shelf make S. thailandica unique among Mustelidae. The morphology
      of this species is mostly similar to Mionictis species and Lartetictis dubia,
      reported in the Miocene of North America and Europe, respectively. These
      similarities could imply immigration events to Thailand in the early or middle
      Miocene. Alternately, the lineage leading to Siamogale might have deeper origins
      from an endemic early Miocene Southeast Asian mustelid.

PMID- 20941480
TI  - Iron dysregulation: an important aspect in toxicology.

PMID- 20941479
TI  - Changes in cortical bone response to high-fat diet from adolescence to adulthood
      in mice.
AB  - Diabetic obesity is associated with increased fracture risk in adults and
      adolescents. We find in both adolescent and adult mice dramatically inferior
      mechanical properties and structural quality of cortical bone, in agreement with
      the human fracture data, although some aspects of the response to obesity appear
      to differ by age. INTRODUCTION: The association of obesity with bone is complex
      and varies with age. Diabetic obese adolescents and adult humans have increased
      fracture risk. Prior studies have shown reduced mechanical properties as a result
      of high-fat diet (HFD) but do not fully address size-independent mechanical
      properties or structural quality, which are important to understand material
      behavior. METHODS: Cortical bone from femurs and tibiae from two age groups of
      C57BL/6 mice fed either HFD or low-fat diet (LFD) were evaluated for structural
      and bone turnover changes (SEM and histomorphometry) and tested for bending
      strength, bending stiffness, and fracture toughness. Leptin, IGF-I, and non
      enzymatic glycation measurements were also collected. RESULTS: In both young and
      adult mice fed on HFD, femoral strength, stiffness, and toughness are all
      dramatically lower than controls. Inferior lamellar and osteocyte alignment also
      point to reduced structural quality in both age groups. Bone size was largely
      unaffected by HFD, although there was a shift from increasing bone size in obese
      adolescents to decreasing in adults. IGF-I levels were lower in young obese mice
      only. CONCLUSIONS: While the response to obesity of murine cortical bone mass,
      bone formation, and hormonal changes appear to differ by age, the bone mechanical
      properties for young and adult groups are similar. In agreement with human
      fracture trends, adult mice may be similarly susceptible to bone fracture to the
      young group, although cortical bone in the two age groups responds to diabetic
      obesity differently.

PMID- 20941481
TI  - The development of an FIA-CD strategy for screening sulfated polysaccharides
      using antimalarial drugs and related species as probes.
AB  - Heterogeneous sulfated polysaccharides have attracted significant attention in
      light of their various biological activities. However, recent events involving
      heparin have dramatically illustrated that several analytical challenges exist in
      accounting for such species. In this case, tainted heparin was associated with
      acute reactions that lead to numerous deaths. Researchers were forced to use time
      consuming, sophisticated techniques (e.g., enzymatic digestion, NMR, CE, HPLC,
      MS, etc.) to identify the cause of these adverse effects. Extensive
      investigations ultimately showed oversulfated chondroitin sulfate, a semi
      synthetic sulfated polysaccharide, to be present in the contaminated samples.
      These events highlighted the need for a new generation of screening techniques.
      In this work, we report the development of a screening strategy that exploits
      unique circular dichroism features observed as a function of association between
      investigated polymers and judiciously selected probe molecules (i.e.,
      chloroquine, N1-(7-chloro-4-quinolinyl)-N3-methyl-1,3-propanediamine, quinacrine,
      and N2-9-acridinyl-N1,N1-dimethyl-1,2-ethanediamine). Application of obtained
      spectropolarimetry results to a flow injection analysis circular dichroism
      platform allowed for the establishment of linear polysaccharide response curves
      for dextran sulfate, heparin, and oversulfated chondroitin sulfate in the low
      micromolar range. Lastly, through additional work with heparin, the proposed
      method was shown to be capable of rapidly screening sulfated polysaccharide
      samples for closely related impurities.

PMID- 20941482
TI  - Immunosensor based on fluorescence quenching matrix of the conducting polymer
      polypyrrole.
AB  - In this study, the combination of autofluorescent proteins and fluorescence
      quenching polymers was shown to be a design which can increase the selectivity
      and sensitivity of immunosensors. With this objective, the conducting polymer
      polypyrrole (Ppy) was used as a matrix for immobilization of proteins, which
      enables biological recognition of the analyte, and as a fluorescence quencher,
      which increases the selectivity of fluorescence-based detection. In this study,
      bovine leukemia virus proteins gp51 were immobilized within the Ppy matrix and
      formed a polymeric layer with affinity for antibodies against protein gp51 (anti
      gp51). The anti-gp51 antibodies are present at high levels in the blood serum of
      cattle infected by bovine leukemia virus. Secondary antibodies labeled with
      horseradish peroxidase (HRP) were used as specific fluorescent probes for
      detection of a particular target, because the fluorescence of HRP was readily
      detectable at the required sensitivity. The Ppy was used as fluorescent
      background, because its fluorescence was almost undetectable when excited by near
      UV light at 325 nm. Moreover the Ppy quenched the fluorescence of some
      fluorescent agents including fluorescein-5(6)-isothiocyanate (fluorescein),
      rhodamine B, and HRP by almost 100% when these fluorescent agents were adsorbed
      on the surface of Ppy. It is predicted that Ppy-induced fluorescence quenching
      could be used in the design of immunosensors to increase selectivity and
      sensitivity.

PMID- 20941483
TI  - Teaching in Hanoi--good mornings in Vietnam.

PMID- 20941484
TI  - Micropreconcentration units based on carbon nanotubes (CNT).
AB  - Carbon nanotubes (CNT) have some highly desirable sorbent characteristics which
      make them attractive for a variety of analytical applications. High adsorption
      capacity and rapid desorbability make CNT excellent candidates for micro-scale
      devices for gas and liquid-phase analysis. In gas-phase analysis one can
      implement a micro-concentrator or a micro-sorbent trap, which have been used in a
      variety of on-line chromatography and sensing applications. Interesting liquid
      phase microtrapping applications include micro-scale solid-phase extraction (MU
      SPE) and solid-phase micro extraction (SPME). In addition, the ease of surface
      functionalization, self assembly by chemical vapor deposition, and the formation
      of diverse polymer composites may well make CNT the high-performance sorbent of
      the future.

PMID- 20941485
TI  - Is exogenous administration of IL-1ra (anakinra) likely to induce severe
      depression?

PMID- 20941486
TI  - NAT2, CYP2C9, CYP2C19, and CYP2E1 genetic polymorphisms in anti-TB drug-induced
      maculopapular eruption.
AB  - PURPOSE: It has been suggested that drug-metabolizing enzymes might play
      important roles in the development of anti-tuberculosis drug (ATD)-induced
      maculopapular eruption (MPE), as in ATD-induced hepatitis. We investigated the
      associations between the genetic polymorphisms of drug-metabolizing enzymes and
      ATD-induced MPE. METHODS: We enrolled 62 patients with ATD-induced MPE (mean age
      47.2 +/- 19.0, male 59.7%) and 159 patients without any adverse reactions to ATD
      (mean age 42.8 +/- 17.6, male 65.4%), among patients with pulmonary tuberculosis
      (TB) and/or TB pleuritis and treated with first-line anti-TB medications,
      including isoniazid, rifampin, ethambutol, and pyrazinamide. We compared the
      genotype distributions of single nucleotide polymorphisms and haplotypes in four
      drug-metabolizing enzymes (N-acetyltransferase 2 (NAT2), cytochrome P450 (CYP) 2
      C9, CYP2C19, and CYP2E1) among patients with ATD-induced MPE and patients
      tolerant to ATD using a multivariate logistic regression analysis. These analyses
      were made without identification of the responsible ATD. RESULTS: -1565 C > T of
      CYP2C9 showed a significant association with ATD-induced MPE (P = 0.022, OR =
      0.23, 95% CI 0.07-0.78), with a lower frequency of genotypes carrying minor
      alleles (CT or TT) in the case group than in the controls. Additionally, W212X of
      CYP2C19 was significantly associated with the risk of ATD-induced MPE (P = 0.042,
      OR = 0.27, 95% CI 0.09-0.82). In an analysis of the CYP2C19-CYP2C9 haplotypes (
      1418 C > T_W212X_-1565 C > T_-1188 C > T), ht3[T-A-T-C] showed a significant
      association with the development of ATD-induced MPE (P = 0.012, OR = 0.13, 95% CI
      0.03-0.57). No significant associations between the other genetic polymorphisms
      and ATD-induced MPE were observed. CONCLUSIONS: CYP2C19 and CYP2C9 genetic
      polymorphisms are significantly associated with the risk of developing ATD
      induced MPE, and the genetic variants in NAT2 and CYP2E1 are not closely related
      to the development of this adverse reaction.

PMID- 20941487
TI  - Defining antimicrobial prescribing quality indicators: what is a new
      prescription?
AB  - : Since guidelines on antibiotic drug treatment often focus on appropriate first
      choice drugs, assessment of guideline adherence should only concentrate on the
      first drug prescribed, and not on subsequent antibiotics prescribed after failure
      of the first one. PURPOSE: To determine a valid cut-off point for a definition of
      "first" or "new" prescription in indicators for the assessment of the quality of
      antibiotic drug treatment on the basis of pharmaceutical data. METHODS: Three
      possible definitions for the term "new prescription" were compared, based on
      three different periods of time, viz. more than 35, 28, or 21 days after starting
      a previous antibiotic. In an observational study, 1,225 antimicrobial
      prescriptions from the medical files of five family practices were audited
      ("clinical classification") and compared with a classification based on the three
      definitions ("technical classification"). Agreement between these clinical and
      technical classifications was determined by calculating Cohen's kappa. The
      technical classification was analyzed as a diagnostic test, using the clinical
      classification as the gold standard, and sensitivity, specificity, likelihood
      ratios, and post-test probabilities were calculated. RESULTS: Defining "new
      prescription" as "more than 35 days after a previous prescription was issued"
      resulted in a Cohen's kappa of 0.93 (95% CI 0.92-0.98). The diagnostic value of
      this definition was extremely high, with a sensitivity of 0.976, specificity of
      0.987, positive likelihood ratio of 77.7, and negative likelihood ratio of 0.02.
      CONCLUSION: We recommend using a cut-off value of 35 days since the last
      antimicrobial prescription as the definition of a "new prescription" when no
      diagnostic information is available, i.e., when using pharmaceutical data to
      assess the quality of antibiotic prescribing behavior.

PMID- 20941488
TI  - 'Raccoon eyes' revisited.

PMID- 20941489
TI  - Cranial nerve hypertrophy in pediatric chronic inflammatory demyelinating
      polyradiculoneuropathy.

PMID- 20941490
TI  - Biodiversity, bioactive natural products and biotechnological potential of plant
      associated endophytic actinobacteria.
AB  - Endophytic actinobacteria, which exist in the inner tissues of living plants,
      have attracted increasing attention among taxonomists, ecologists, agronomists,
      chemists and evolutionary biologists. Numerous studies have indicated that these
      prolific actinobacteria appear to have a capacity to produce an impressive array
      of secondary metabolites exhibiting a wide variety of biological activity, such
      as antibiotics, antitumor and anti-infection agents, plant growth promoters and
      enzymes, and may contribute to their host plants by promoting growth and
      enhancing their ability of withstanding the environmental stresses. These
      microorganisms may represent an underexplored reservoir of novel species of
      potential interest in the discovery of novel lead compounds and for exploitation
      in pharmaceutical, agriculture and industry. This review focuses on new findings
      in the isolation methods, bio- and chemical diversity of endophytic
      actinobacteria and reveals the potential biotechnological application. The facing
      problems and strategies for biodiversity research and bioactive natural products
      producing are also discussed.

PMID- 20941491
TI  - Comparison of the secondary metabolites in Penicillium chrysogenum between pilot
      and industrial penicillin G fermentations.
AB  - The disparity of secondary metabolites in Penicillium chrysogenum between two
      scales of penicillin G fermentation (50 L as pilot process and 150,000 L as
      industrial one) was investigated by ion-pair reversed-phase liquid chromatography
      tandemed with hybrid quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry. In industrial
      process, the pools of intracellular L-alpha-aminoadipyl-L-cysteinyl-D-valine (LLD
      ACV) and isopenicillin N (IPN) were remarkably less than that in the pilot one,
      which indicated that the productivity of penicillin G might be higher in the
      large scale of fermentation. This conclusion was supported by the higher
      intracellular penicillin G concentration as well as its higher yield per unit
      biomass in industrial cultivation. The different changing tendencies of IPN, 6
      aminopenicillanic acid and 6-oxopiperide-2-carboxylic acid between two processes
      also suggested the same conclusion. The higher content of intracellular LLD-ACV
      in pilot process lead to a similarly higher concentration of bis-delta-(L-alpha
      aminoadipyl)-L-cysteinyl-D-valine, which had an inhibitory effect on ACV
      synthetase and also subdued the activity of IPN synthetase. The interconversion
      of secondary metabolites and the influence they put on enzymes would intensify
      the discrepancy between two fermentations more largely. These findings provided
      new insight into the changes and regulation of secondary metabolites in P.
      chrysogenum under different fermentation sizes.

PMID- 20941492
TI  - Towards an understanding of the adaptation of wine yeasts to must: relevance of
      the osmotic stress response.
AB  - During the transformation of grape must sugars in ethanol, yeasts belonging to
      Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains are particularly involved. One of the stress
      conditions that yeast cells have to cope with during vinification, especially at
      the time of inoculation into must, is osmotic stress caused by high sugar
      concentrations. In this work, we compare several laboratory and wine yeast
      strains in terms of their ability to start growth in must. By means of
      transcriptomic approaches and the determination of glycerol intracellular
      content, we propose several clues for yeast strains to adapt to the wine
      production conditions: the high expression of genes involved in both biosynthetic
      processes and glycerol biosynthesis, and the appropriate levels of intracellular
      glycerol. Besides, we demonstrate that the pre-adaptation of the wine yeast
      strains showing growth problems at the beginning of vinification in a rehydration
      medium containing 2% or 5% glucose (depending on the yeast strain considered) may
      increase their vitality when inoculated into high sugar media.

PMID- 20941494
TI  - Comparison of pre-operative dGEMRIC imaging with intra-operative findings in
      femoroacetabular impingement: preliminary findings.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: To study standard MRI and dGEMRIC in patients with symptomatic FAI
      undergoing surgical intervention and compare them with intra-operative findings
      to see if they were corroborative. METHODS: Sixteen patients with symptomatic FAI
      that warranted surgical intervention were prospectively studied. All patients
      underwent plain radiographic series for FAI assessment followed by standard MRI
      and dGEMRIC. Subsequently, patients were surgically treated with safe dislocation
      and the joint was evaluated for any macroscopic signs of damaged cartilage. Data
      were statistically analyzed. RESULTS: A total of 224 zones in 16 patients were
      evaluated. One hundred and sixteen zones were intra-operatively rated as normal
      with mean T1 values of 510.1 ms +/- 141.2 ms. Eighty zones had evidence of damage
      with mean T1 values of 453.1 ms +/- 113.6 ms. The difference in these T1 values
      was significant (p = 0.003). Correlation between standard MRI and intra-operative
      findings was moderate (r = 0.535, p < 0.001). Intra-operative findings revealed
      more damage than standard MRI. On standard MRI, 68.6% zones were graded normal
      while 31.4% had evidence of damage. On intra-operative visualization, 56.4% zones
      were graded normal and 43.6% had evidence of damage. Correlation between dGEMRIC
      and intra-operative findings turned out to be weak (r = 0.114, p < 0.126). On T1
      assessment 31.4% of zones were graded as normal and 68.6% as damaged.
      CONCLUSIONS: dGEMRIC was significantly different between normal and affected
      cartilage based on intra-operative assessment. The correlation for morphological
      findings was limited, underestimating defects. By combining morphological with
      biochemical assessment dGEMRIC may play some role in the future to prognosticate
      outcomes and facilitate surgical planning and intervention.

PMID- 20941496
TI  - Synthetic lethality of rpn11-1 rpn10Delta is linked to altered proteasome
      assembly and activity.
AB  - An rpn11-1 temperature-sensitive mutant shows defect in proteolysis,
      mitochondrial function and proteasome assembly. The Rpn11 protein is a proteasome
      subunit that deubiquitinates proteolytic substrates. Multiubiquitinated proteins
      interact with proteasome receptors, such as Rpn10, which intriguingly is also
      required for promoting proteasome stability. We report here that Rpn10 binds
      Rpn11, and genetic studies revealed synthetic lethality of an rpn11-1 rpn10Delta
      double mutant. The carboxy-terminus of Rpn11 is critical for function, as
      deletion of 7 C-terminal residues prevented suppression of rpn11-1 rpn10Delta.
      Native gel electrophoresis showed increased levels of the proteasome 20S
      catalytic particle in rpn11-1 rpn10Delta, and altered assembly. The inviability
      of rpn11-1 rpn10Delta was suppressed by rpn10(uim), a mutant that can bind the
      proteasome, but not multiubiquitin chains. rpn10(uim) reduced the levels of free
      20S, and increased formation of intact proteasomes. In contrast, rpn10(vwa),
      which binds multiubiquitin chains but not the proteasome, failed to suppress
      rpn11-1 rpn10Delta. Moreover, high levels of multiubiquitinated proteins were
      bound to rpn10(vwa), but were not delivered to the proteasome. Based on these
      findings, we propose that the lethality of rpn11-1 rpn10Delta results primarily
      from altered proteasome integrity. It is conceivable that Rpn10/Rpn11 interaction
      couples proteasome assembly to substrate binding.

PMID- 20941497
TI  - [Lest we forget: statement by the German rheumatology society (DGRh) on the
      national socialist crimes against Jewish colleagues].

PMID- 20941495
TI  - The immune functions of phosphatidylserine in membranes of dying cells and
      microvesicles.
AB  - Lipids in the cytoplasm membrane fulfill numerous functions. We focus on how
      lipid asymmetry is generated and its physiological and pathophysiological
      mission. The role of phosphatidylserine (PS), a prominent phospholipid that gets
      exposed during cell death, in health and disease as well as in the clearance
      process will be outlined in detail. Attraction signals, bridging molecules, and
      danger signals being involved in the PS-dependent clearance of apoptotic and
      necrotic cells and in subsequent immune modulation are presented. Furthermore,
      modulations of immune responses by PS-exposing cells, organisms, microparticles,
      and by the PS-binding protein annexin A5 are discussed. Interference with PS
      dependent clearance of apoptotic tumor cells by macrophages fosters uptake and
      presentation of cancer antigens by dendritic cells and thereby induces specific
      anti-tumor immunity. The lipid composition of microvesicles is also depicted.
      Tumor microvesicles are often rich in PS and thereby contribute to tumor escape
      mechanisms. Understanding the role of PS in membranes of dying cells and
      microvesicles will help to develop novel drugs and treatment options for
      controlling immune-mediated diseases like chronic autoimmunity and cancer.

PMID- 20941498
TI  - [Job satisfaction and future prospects among Austrian rheumatologists].
AB  - BACKGROUND: over the last century the medical profession has changed
      considerably. This study analyses both job satisfaction and future prospects
      among Austrian rheumatologists. METHODS: a questionnaire was sent to all members
      of the Austrian Society of Rheumatologists (OGR). The main topics were job
      satisfaction, career choice, rheumatological strategies for the future and
      central issues relating to their profession. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: of the
      respondents, 43% would"definitely" and 36%"likely" choose medical studies again.
      A total of 29% stated that they would definitely (55% probably) choose their
      current profession as rheumatologist either in a hospital or a practice. Austrian
      rheumatologists are generally satisfied with their profession. Although 78% are
      optimistic about their professional prospects, more than half expect a worsening
      of the economic situation in general. Austrian rheumatologists suffer from the
      additional workload caused by administration and bureaucracy. In all, 83% of
      rheumatologists questioned are satisfied with the work of the OGR. Suggestions
      for improvement included increasing advanced training and keeping guidelines and
      homepages up to date.

PMID- 20941500
TI  - Does local injection with lidocaine plus epinephrine prior to vaginal
      reconstructive surgery with synthetic mesh affect exposure rates? A retrospective
      comparison.
AB  - Does local injection with lidocaine plus epinephrine prior to vaginal
      reconstructive surgery with synthetic mesh affect exposure rates? A retrospective
      comparison. PURPOSE: To determine if local injection, prior to incision with
      lidocaine plus epinephrine (L + E) influences the rate of mesh exposure in the
      early postoperative period following synthetic mesh augmented vaginal
      reconstructive surgery (MAVR). METHODS: We performed a chart review over an 18
      month period of patients who underwent MAVR. The presence of mesh exposure at the
      3-month postoperative visit, demographic data and whether or not L + E was used
      to hydrodissect was recorded. Statistical analysis was performed to determine
      whether hydrodissection influenced erosion rates. RESULTS: A total of 143 meshes
      were placed, hydrodissection with L + E was used in 78 cases and was not in the
      remaining 65 cases. There were 10 (7.0% 10/143) total erosions at the 3-month
      postoperative visit, 6 (7.7%; 6/78) in the group that got L + E and 4 (6.2%;
      4/65) in the group that did not get local injection. This difference was not
      significant (p = 0.740, OR 1.54 95% CI 0.41-5.76). There was no difference
      between the two groups in terms of age, presence of diabetes, concurrent
      incontinence repair or estimated blood loss. CONCLUSION: Mesh exposure is a known
      complication of MAVR. Our study suggests that local injection with L + E prior to
      vaginal surgery does not influence exposure rates.

PMID- 20941501
TI  - Torsion of the previously normal uterine adnexa in the second trimester of
      pregnancy.

PMID- 20941502
TI  - Influence of the vascular endothelial growth factor on the development of severe
      pre-eclampsia or HELLP syndrome.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to compare the maternal serum concentrations
      of the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in patients whose pregnancies
      were complicated by pre-eclampsia or HELLP syndrome with those of healthy
      pregnant controls and to study its relationship with the hormonal and nutritive
      function of the placenta. METHODS: The study group consisted of 30 primaparae who
      suffered from either severe pre-eclampsia (n = 16) or from HELLP syndrome (n =
      14). 30 healthy pregnant woman of the same gestational age served as control
      group. Maternal serum VEGF concentrations were determined by using a commercially
      available Sandwich immunoassay (Quantikine((r)), R&D Systeme, Wiesbaden,
      Germany). Estradiol, estriol and progesterone serum levels were measured by
      performing a radioimmunoassay (Biermann, Bad Nauheim, Germany). RESULTS: The mean
      serum VEGF concentration of the study group (172.0 +/- 98.9 pg/ml) was
      significantly increased, compared with the mean serum VEGF concentration of the
      control group (41.4 +/- 30.5 pg/ml) (U test: P < 0.001). In the subgroup of the
      study patients with HELLP syndrome, significantly lower VEGF levels were measured
      than in patients suffering from severe pre-eclampsia (109.2 +/- 68.5 pg/ml vs.
      219.0 +/- 72.9. U test: P < 0.05). In all study and control patients, a
      significantly positive correlation between serum estradiol and VEGF concentration
      could be found (Spearman's rank correlation: P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: An increased
      placental expression due to local hypoxia and an increased extraplacental
      production, e.g., in endothelial cells of the fetal or maternal vascular system,
      in macrophages or in smooth muscle cells, could be discussed as causes for the
      raised serum VEGF concentration in patients suffering from severe pre-eclampsia
      or HELLP syndrome.

PMID- 20941503
TI  - Laparoscopic pectopexy: a new technique of prolapse surgery for obese patients.
AB  - PURPOSE: Obesity is a chronic disease which affects a substantial number of
      patients. It also increases a person's risk of genital prolapse. Conventional
      techniques of prolapse repair (sacropexy, transvaginal meshes and sacrospinal
      fixation) are used in very adipose women, but the effectiveness of this technique
      is sometimes restricted due to the difficultly of performing the surgery. METHOD:
      Here we will describe a new method of endoscopic prolapse surgery, which is
      especially developed for obese patients. The lateral parts of the iliopectineal
      ligament are used for a bilateral mesh fixation of the descended structures. We
      have already used this method successfully in 12 patients without any
      complications. RESULT AND CONCLUSION: This method provides a stable and durable
      repair. The laparoscopic access reduces morbidity. The operation time for this
      procedure is approximately 50 min.

PMID- 20941504
TI  - Prospective and retrospective effects in human motor control: planning grasps for
      object rotation and translation.
AB  - People pick up objects in ways that reflect prospective as well as retrospective
      control. Prospective control is indicated by planning for end-state comfort such
      that people grasp a cylinder to be rotated or translated with a hand orientation
      or at a height that affords a comfortable final posture. Retrospective control is
      indicated when people reuse a remembered grasp rather than using a new grasp that
      would ensure end-state comfort. Here, we asked whether these manifestations of
      prospective and retrospective control co-occur. We did so by having healthy young
      adult participants grasp a cylinder to rotate and translate it between a
      horizontal position and a vertical position at each of five heights. We found
      that participants planned for comfortable final hand orientations for first moves
      but relied on recall for subsequent hand orientations. The results suggest that
      motor planning is sensitive to computational as well as physical demands and that
      object rotation and translation are not dissociable features of motor control, at
      least as reflected in their contributions to grasp selection. The latter result
      is consistent with the hypothesis that movements constitute holistic body changes
      between successive goal postures.

PMID- 20941505
TI  - Can nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy reveal different metabolic
      signatures for lung tumours?
AB  - This study aims to evaluate the potential of (1)H NMR spectroscopy, combined with
      multivariate statistics, for discriminating between tumour and non-involved
      (control) pulmonary parenchyma and for providing biochemical information on
      different histological types. Paired tissue samples from 24 primary lung tumours
      were directly analysed by high-resolution magic angle spinning (HRMAS) (1)H NMR
      spectroscopy (500 MHz), and their spectral profiles subjected to principal
      component analysis (PCA) and partial least squares regression discriminant
      analysis (PLS-DA). Tumour and adjacent control parenchyma were clearly
      discriminated in the PLS-DA model with a high level of sensitivity (95% of tumour
      samples correctly classified) and 100% specificity (no false positives). The
      metabolites giving rise to this separation were mainly lactate,
      glycerophosphocholine, phosphocholine, taurine, reduced glutathione and uridine
      di-phosphate (elevated in tumours) and glucose, phosphoethanolamine, acetate,
      lysine, methionine, glycine, myo- and scyllo-inositol (reduced in tumours
      compared to control tissues). Furthermore, PLS-DA of a sub-set of tumour samples
      allowed adenocarcinomas to be discriminated from carcinoid tumours and epidermoid
      carcinomas, highlighting differences in metabolite levels between these
      histological types, and therefore revealing valuable knowledge on the
      biochemistry of different types of bronchial-pulmonary carcinomas.

PMID- 20941506
TI  - Loss of cell polarity protein Lgl2 in foveolar-type gastric dysplasia:
      correlation with expression of the apical marker aPKC-zeta.
AB  - Recognition of gastric epithelial dysplasia, although a key to cancer prevention,
      can be challenging. In this study, we evaluated whether Lgl2 can serve as a
      marker of gastric foveolar-type dysplasia. Since atypical protein kinase C (aPKC)
      is a partner of Lgl2 in the control of apical-basal polarity we also investigated
      whether aPKC-zeta can compliment Lgl2 as a marker of dysplasia. Routinely
      processed specimens included 64 normal mucosa, 35 reactive gastropathies, 31
      chronic gastritides, 65 gastric dysplasias (25 foveolar; 40 adenomatous), and 34
      gastric adenocarcinomas. Twenty (80%) foveolar-type dysplasias showed absence of
      Lgl2 immunoreactivity, while normal basolateral expression of Lgl2 was
      consistently seen in normal gastric epithelium (n=20) and chronic gastritis
      (n=22; p<0.00001). Loss of Lgl2 was similar in the groups with low-grade and high
      grade foveolar-type dysplasia, 79% and 83%, respectively. Linear apical anti-aPKC
      zeta immunoreactivity was consistently present in the normal epithelium and was
      preserved in 91% of reactive gastropathies and 87% of chronic gastritides. In
      contrast, loss of apical aPKC-zeta staining was observed in 47% and 65% of low
      grade dysplasias of foveolar and adenomatous types, respectively (p<0.005) and in
      nonsignificantly higher percentage of high-grade dysplasias. Apical aPKC-zeta
      staining was lost in 97% of gastric adenocarcinomas. Our data suggest a role of
      Lgl2 immunohistochemistry as an adjunct in the diagnosis of foveolar-type gastric
      dysplasia. aPKC-zeta had moderate sensitivity as a marker of gastric dysplasia
      and additional studies are needed to establish its role in the diagnosis of
      dysplasia.

PMID- 20941507
TI  - Immunophenotypic predictive profiling of BRCA1-associated breast cancer.
AB  - The immunophenotypic predictive profile of BRCA1-associated cancers including
      major predictive markers, i.e., PARP-1, EGFR, c-kit, HER-2, and steroid hormones
      (ER/PR) that may have therapeutic relevance has not yet been reported in a
      comprehensive study. Using immunohistochemistry, we examined the expression of
      these proteins in a large cohort of BRCA1-associated breast cancers. PARP-1
      immunoreactivity was found in 81.9%, EGFR in 43.6%, ER/PR in 17.9%, c-kit in
      14.7%, and overexpression of HER-2 in 3.6% of cancers. For all markers studied,
      8.2% of tumors were negative. Expression of only one predictive marker was found
      in 29.7% of cancers, and most frequently, it was PARP-1 (20.8%). In 62.1% of
      tumors, more than one predictive marker was expressed: PARP-1 and EGFR in 30.4%,
      PARP-1, and hormone receptors in 13.3% and PARP-1 with c-kit in 7.5% of all
      tumors. Coexpression of two or more other predictive markers was rare. There were
      significant differences in the median age at diagnosis of BRCA1-associated cancer
      between patients with ER+ vs. ER- and grades 1-2 vs. grade 3 tumors. These
      results demonstrate that BRCA1-associated cancers differ with respect to
      expression of proteins that are regarded as targets for specific therapies and
      that 92% of patients with BRCA1-associated cancers may benefit from one or
      several options for specific therapy (in addition to DNA damaging agents, e.g.,
      cisplatin). About 8% of cancers which do not express therapeutic target proteins
      may not respond to such therapies. Knowledge of the immunophenotypic predictive
      profile may help with the recruitment of patients for trials of targeted
      therapies.

PMID- 20941508
TI  - Global expression profiling of rice microRNAs by one-tube stem-loop reverse
      transcription quantitative PCR revealed important roles of microRNAs in abiotic
      stress responses.
AB  - MicroRNAs are a class of endogenous small RNA molecules (20-24 nucleotides) that
      have pivotal roles in regulating gene expression mostly at posttranscriptional
      levels in plants. Plant microRNAs have been implicated in the regulation of
      diverse biological processes including growth and stress responses. However, the
      information about microRNAs in regulating abiotic stress responses in rice is
      limited. We optimized a one-tube stem-loop reverse transcription quantitative PCR
      (ST-RT qPCR) for high-throughput expression profiling analysis of microRNAs in
      rice under normal and stress conditions. The optimized ST-RT qPCR method was as
      accurate as small RNA gel blotting and was more convenient and time-saving than
      other methods in quantifying microRNAs. With this method, 41 rice microRNAs were
      quantified for their relative expression levels after drought, salt, cold, and
      abscisic acid (ABA) treatments. Thirty-two microRNAs showed induced or suppressed
      expression after stress or ABA treatment. Further analysis suggested that stress
      responsive cis-elements were enriched in the promoters of stress-responsive
      microRNA genes. The expressions of five and seven microRNAs were significantly
      affected in the rice plant with defects in stress tolerance regulatory genes
      OsSKIPa and OsbZIP23, respectively. Some of the predicted target genes of these
      microRNAs were also related to abiotic stresses. We conclude that ST-RT qPCR is
      an efficient and reliable method for expression profiling of microRNAs and a
      significant portion of rice microRNAs participate in abiotic stress response and
      regulation.

PMID- 20941509
TI  - 17beta-estradiol reduces expression of MMP-1, -3, and -13 in human primary
      articular chondrocytes from female patients cultured in a three dimensional
      alginate system.
AB  - Clinical observations have suggested a relationship between osteoarthritis and a
      changed sex-hormone metabolism, especially in menopausal women. This study
      analyzes the effect of 17beta-estradiol on expression of matrix
      metalloproteinases-1, -3, -13 (MMP-1, -3, -13) and tissue inhibitors of
      metalloproteinases-1, -2 (TIMP-1, -2) in articular chondrocytes. An imbalance of
      matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) specialized on degradation of articular
      cartilage matrix over the respective inhibitors of these enzymes (TIMPs) that
      leads to matrix destruction was postulated in the pathogenesis of osteoarthritis.
      Primary human articular chondrocytes from patients of both genders were cultured
      in alginate beads at 5% O(2) to which 10(-11)M-10(-5)M 17beta-estradiol had been
      added and analyzed by means of immunohistochemistry, immunocytochemistry and real
      time RT-PCR. Since articular chondrocytes in vivo are adapted to a low oxygen
      tension, culture was performed at 5% O(2). Immunohistochemical staining in
      articular cartilage tissue from patients and immunocytochemical staining in
      articular chondrocytes cultured in alginate beads was positive for type II
      collagen, estrogen receptor alpha, MMP-1, and -13. It was negative for type I
      collagen, MMP-3, TIMP-1 and -2. Using real-time RT-PCR, it was demonstrated that
      physiological and supraphysiological doses of 17beta-estradiol suppress mRNA
      levels of MMP-3 and -13 significantly in articular chondrocytes of female
      patients. A significant suppressing effect was also seen in MMP-1 mRNA after a
      high dose of 10(-5)M 17beta-estradiol. Furthermore, high doses of this hormone
      led to tendentially lower TIMP-1 levels whereas the TIMP-2 mRNA level was not
      influenced. In male patients, only incubations with high doses (10(-5)M) of
      17beta-estradiol were followed by a tendency to suppressed MMP-1 and TIMP-1
      levels while TIMP-2 mRNA level was decreased significantly. There was no effect
      on MMP-13 expression of cells from male patients. Taken together, application of
      17beta-estradiol in physiological doses will improve the imbalance between the
      amounts of MMPs and TIMPs in articular chondrocytes from female patients.
      Downregulation of TIMP-2 by 17beta-estradiol in male patients would not be
      articular cartilage protective.

PMID- 20941510
TI  - Bone morphogenetic protein 2 enhances mouse osteoclast differentiation via
      increased levels of receptor activator of NF-kappaB ligand expression in
      osteoblasts.
AB  - 1alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D(3) [1,25(OH)(2)D(3)] induces osteoclast formation
      via induction of receptor activator of NF-kappaB ligand (RANKL, also called TNF
      related activation-induced cytokine: TRANCE) in osteoblasts. In cocultures of
      mouse bone marrow cells and osteoblasts, 1,25(OH)(2)D(3) induced osteoclast
      formation in a dose-dependent manner, with maximum osteoclast formation observed
      at concentrations greater than 10(-9) M of 1,25(OH)(2)D(3). In the presence of
      bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP-2), the maximum formation of osteoclasts was
      seen with lower concentrations of 1,25(OH)(2)D(3) (greater than 10(-11) M),
      suggesting that BMP-2 enhances osteoclast formation induced by 1,25(OH)(2)D(3).
      In addition, the expressions of RANKL mRNA and proteins were induced by
      1,25(OH)(2)D(3) in osteoblasts, and further upregulated by BMP-2. In mouse bone
      marrow cell cultures without 1,25(OH)(2)D(3), BMP-2 did not enhance osteoclast
      differentiation induced by recombinant RANKL and macrophage colony-stimulating
      factor (M-CSF), indicating that BMP-2 does not target osteoclast precursors.
      Furthermore, BMP-2 up-regulated the expression level of vitamin D receptor (VDR)
      in osteoblasts. These results suggest that BMP-2 regulates mouse osteoclast
      differentiation via upregulation of RANKL in osteoblasts induced by
      1,25(OH)(2)D(3).

PMID- 20941511
TI  - Stress at the intestinal surface: catecholamines and mucosa-bacteria
      interactions.
AB  - Psychological stress has profound effects on gastrointestinal function, and
      investigations over the past few decades have examined the mechanisms by which
      neural and hormonal stress mediators act to modulate gut motility, epithelial
      barrier function and inflammatory states. With its cellular diversity and large
      commensal bacterial population, the intestinal mucosa and its overlying mucous
      environment constitute a highly interactive environment for eukaryotic host cells
      and prokaryotic bacteria. The elaboration of stress mediators, particularly
      norepinephrine, at this interface influences host cells engaged in mucosal
      protection and the bacteria which populate the mucosal surface and gut lumen.
      This review will address growing evidence that norepinephrine and, in some cases,
      other mediators of the adaptation to stress modulate mucosal interactions with
      enteric bacteria. Stress-mediated changes in this delicate interplay may shift
      the microbial colonization patterns on the mucosal surface and alter the
      susceptibility of the host to infection. Moreover, changes in host-microbe
      interactions in the digestive tract may also influence ongoing neural activity in
      stress-responsive brain areas.

PMID- 20941512
TI  - Complex effects of parasitoids on pharmacophagy and diet choice of a polyphagous
      caterpillar.
AB  - This study investigates complex effects of parasitoid infection on herbivore diet
      choice. Specifically, we examine how immunological resistance, parasitoid
      infection stage, and parasitoid taxonomic identity affect the pharmacophagous
      behavior of the polyphagous caterpillar, Grammia incorrupta (Arctiidae). Using a
      combination of lab and field experiments, we test the caterpillar's
      pharmacophagous response to pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) over the course of
      parasitoid infection, as well as the effect of dietary PAs on the caterpillar's
      immunological response. Previous work from other systems gave the prediction that
      dietary PAs would be detrimental to the immune response and thus less acceptable
      to feeding early in the infection, when encapsulation of the parasitoid is most
      crucial. We found that the feeding acceptability of PAs was indeed low for
      caterpillars with early-stage parasitoid infections; however, this was not
      explained by PA interference with immune function. When allowed to choose among
      three host plant species, individuals harboring early-stage parasitoids increased
      their consumption of a nutritious plant containing antioxidants. This result was
      driven by wasp-parasitized caterpillars, whereas fly-parasitized caterpillars
      increased their consumption of plants containing iridoid glycosides. Individuals
      in the later time phase of infection exhibited an increase in PA intake that was
      consistent with previously reported self-medication behavior during late-stage
      parasitoid infection. This study reveals the depth of complexity and the dynamic
      nature of herbivore host plant choice, and underscores the importance of
      considering multitrophic interactions when studying insect diet choice.

PMID- 20941513
TI  - Effects of an invasive forest pathogen on abundance of ticks and their vertebrate
      hosts in a California Lyme disease focus.
AB  - Invasive species, including pathogens, can have important effects on local
      ecosystems, including indirect consequences on native species. This study focuses
      on the effects of an invasive plant pathogen on a vertebrate community and Ixodes
      pacificus, the vector of the Lyme disease pathogen (Borrelia burgdorferi) in
      California. Phytophthora ramorum, the causative agent of sudden oak death, is a
      non-native pathogen killing trees in California and Oregon. We conducted a multi
      year study using a gradient of SOD-caused disturbance to assess the impact on the
      dusky-footed woodrat (Neotoma fuscipes) and the deer mouse (Peromyscus
      maniculatus), two reservoir hosts of B. burgdorferi, as well as the impact on the
      Columbian black-tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus columbianus) and the western
      fence lizard (Sceloporus occidentalis), both of which are important hosts for I.
      pacificus but are not pathogen reservoirs. Abundances of P. maniculatus and S.
      occidentalis were positively correlated with greater SOD disturbance, whereas N.
      fuscipes abundance was negatively correlated. We did not find a change in space
      use by O. hemionus. Our data show that SOD has a positive impact on the density
      of nymphal ticks, which is expected to increase the risk of human exposure to
      Lyme disease all else being equal. A positive correlation between SOD disturbance
      and the density of nymphal ticks was expected given increased abundances of two
      important hosts: deer mice and western fence lizards. However, further research
      is needed to integrate the direct effects of SOD on ticks, for example via
      altered abiotic conditions with host-mediated indirect effects.

PMID- 20941514
TI  - Axial pain after posterior cervical spine surgery: a systematic review.
AB  - Posterior operative approach has been the standard treatment for cervical
      compressive myelopathy, and axial pain after laminoplasty or laminectomy as a
      postoperative complication is now gradually receiving more and more attention.
      The objective of this study was to provide a systematic review of the current
      understanding of axial pain after cervical laminoplasty and laminectomy, and
      summarize clinical features, influence factors and preventive measures of axial
      pain after posterior decompressive surgery based on a review of literature
      published in the English language. Axial pain distributes over nuchal,
      periscapular and shoulder regions. Posterior surgery is not the major cause of
      axial pain, but axial pain can be worsened by the procedure. There are many
      clinical factors that influence postoperative axial pain such as age,
      preoperative axial pain, different surgical technique and postoperative
      management, but most of them are still controversial. Several surgical
      modifications have been innovated to reduce axial pain. Less invasive surgery,
      reconstruction of the extensor musculature, avoiding detachment of the
      semispinalis cervicis muscle and early removal of external immobilization have
      proved to be effective. Axial pain is under the influence of multiple factors, so
      comprehensive methods are required to reduce and avoid the postoperative axial
      pain. Because of methodological shortcomings in publications included in this
      systematic review, different results from different studies may be produced due
      to differences in study design, evaluation criteria, sample size, and incidence
      or severity of axial pain. More high-quality studies are necessary for drawing
      more reliable and convincing conclusions.

PMID- 20941516
TI  - Determinants of bone mineral content and bone area in Indian preschool children.
AB  - The objective of this study was to examine the lifestyle factors that influence
      total body bone mineral content (TB BMC) and total body bone area (TB BA) in
      Indian preschool children. TB BMC and TB BA were measured by dual-energy X-ray
      absorptiometry (Lunar DPX PRO) in 71 apparently healthy children aged 2-3 years.
      A fasting blood sample was analyzed for serum concentrations of ionized calcium
      (iCa), intact parathyroid hormone (iPTH), phosphorus (iP) and 25-hydroxyvitamin
      D(3) (25 OHD). Dietary intake of energy, protein, calcium and phosphorus was
      estimated from a 3-day diet recall. The daily physical activity and sunlight
      exposure were recorded by a questionnaire. The study children were shorter than
      their age-gender matched WHO counterparts with a mean height for age Z score of 
      1.3 +/- 1.5. The mean dietary intake of calcium was 46% of the Indian recommended
      dietary intakes (RDI). Seventy-three percent of children had low iCa
      concentrations, and 57% were deficient in vitamin D. Generalized linear model
      analysis revealed that height, lean body mass, weight, activity, sunlight
      exposure in minutes and dietary intakes of calcium, zinc and iron were the
      significantly influencing factors (p < 0.05) of TB BMC and TB BA. In conclusion,
      attaining optimal height for age, achieving the goals of overall nutrition with
      adequate calcium, iron and zinc intakes as well as adequate physical activity and
      sunlight exposure play an important role in achieving better TB BMC and TB BA in
      preschool children.

PMID- 20941517
TI  - QSAR study on angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor oligopeptides based on a
      novel set of sequence information descriptors.
AB  - A novel set of descriptors G-scale was derived from 457 physicochemical
      properties of the natural amino acids. The descriptors were then applied to study
      on quantitative structure-activity relationships (QSARs) of nine peptide datasets
      of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor (ACE-inhibitor) oligopeptides (between
      dipeptides and decapeptides) by using partial least square (PLS) regression. The
      multiple correlation coefficients (R2) and leave one out cross validation values
      (Q2) of PLS models are better than or close to the results of references. The
      results show that the descriptors proposed here may be a useful structural
      expression method, and they may be hopefully used in biological activity study of
      ACE-inhibitor oligopeptides.

PMID- 20941518
TI  - Case report. Elbow monoarthritis revealing B cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
AB  - Skeletal involvement is described in 25% of patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma,
      typically as secondary, rarely as primary lymphoma of bone. Joint infiltration is
      very rare and monoarthritis can be a secondary synovial reaction to adjacent bone
      disease or direct synovial involvement. We describe an unusual case of
      monoarthritis of the elbow in a middle-aged man without signs and/or symptoms
      associated with malignancy and with no previous rheumatic disease. Synovial
      biopsy revealed a diffuse infiltrate of large atypical lymphocytic B cells
      diagnosed by morphological and immunohistochemical findings as a malignant
      lymphoma. Staging procedures including total body CT scan, bone marrow biopsy,
      technetium-99m methylene diphosphonate bone scintigraphy were normal. We discuss
      the case and the review of literature and suggest that in the evaluation of
      patients with an unclassified arthritis, synovial or bone biopsy should be
      strongly considered.

PMID- 20941519
TI  - Evaluation of a fourth-generation latex agglutination test for the identification
      of Staphylococcus aureus.
AB  - In this study, we evaluated a fourth-generation agglutination assay (Staph Plus;
      DiaMondiaL[DML]) for the rapid identification of Staphylococcus aureus. First,
      comparison with three third-generation assays (Slidex Staph Plus, bioMerieux;
      Staphaurex Plus, Murex Diagnostics; Pastorex Staph-Plus, Sanofi Diagnostics
      Pasteur) was performed on a predefined strain collection: 265 coagulase-negative
      staphylococci (CNS), 266 methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) and 262
      methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) strains ("strain study"). Second,
      patient material-derived strains (883 CNS, 847 MSSA and 135 MRSA) were tested
      concurrently with both the DML and Slidex assays ("daily practice study"). In the
      strain study, the overall sensitivity and specificity of the DML, Slidex,
      Staphaurex and Pastorex assays were 99.2% and 100%, 98.1% and 100%, 95.2% and
      100%, and 98.2% and 98.8%, respectively. Using the respective tests, the result
      was indeterminate in 0.0%, 0.6%, 0.4% and 1.5% of the strains. Overall, the
      sensitivity of the DML and Slidex assays were comparable in both sub-studies.
      However, in MRSA strains, the sensitivity of the DML assay was significantly
      lower than the Slidex assay. The specificity of the Slidex assay was
      significantly higher than the DML assay. However, the percentage of indeterminate
      results was much higher for the Slidex than the DML assay. In conclusion, the
      presumptive identification of S. aureus by the DML assay proved to be equal to
      third-generation latex agglutination assays.

PMID- 20941521
TI  - A case of asthma-complicated influenza myocarditis.
AB  - A 36-year-old man with a history of asthma visited an outpatient clinic
      complaining of high fever and general fatigue, and was diagnosed as having
      influenza type A by influenza antigen test. Laboratory findings revealed mild
      inflammation, mild acidemia, and hypercapnea with radiologic infiltrations in the
      right lung, and remarkable wheezes in both lungs were heard on auscultation. He
      was diagnosed with asthma exacerbation and having influenza pneumonia, and was
      referred to us. Therapy was begun with oseltamivir for influenza infection and
      intravenous infusions of betamethasone and aminophylline with non-invasive
      pulmonary ventilation for asthma exacerbation and acute respiratory failure.
      Although he was weaned from mechanical ventilation and his general condition
      became good, electrocardiogram showed sinus bradycardia and negative T waves in
      V1-4 without any symptoms. Blood test and echocardiography showed almost normal
      findings except for slight elevation of LDH and AST. Influenza A antigen was
      already confirmed and he was diagnosed as having influenza myocarditis
      clinically. Although it is well known that influenza can cause asthma
      exacerbation and encephalopathy, influenza myocarditis is regarded as rare by
      physicians. In fact, the number of case reports about influenza myocarditis is
      few. Myocarditis may not appear to be serious, but could cause fatal arrhythmia
      and heart failure. All clinicians should be aware of the overall clinical picture
      and the possibility of severe complications of myocarditis caused by flu
      infection.

PMID- 20941520
TI  - Molecular typing of Mycobacterium tuberculosis circulated in Moscow, Russian
      Federation.
AB  - The present study investigates epidemiological diversity and multidrug resistance
      spreading among Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains circulating in Moscow, Russian
      Federation. Among 115 M. tuberculosis strains selected randomly from the sputum
      of epidemiologically unrelated tuberculosis (TB) patients, multidrug-resistant
      (MDR) strains predominated. Mutations in the RRDR of the rpoB gene were detected
      in 64 (83.1%) of 77 rifampicin (RIF)-resistant strains. The Ser531->Leu
      substitution was prevalent among them (76.5%). Aberrations in the Ser315 codon of
      katG and/or in the inhA promoter region were found in 79 (84.0%) of 94 isoniazid
      (INH)-resistant strains. Strains belonging to the Beijing family prevailed.
      Seventy-one different patterns were identified using the 24-VNTR loci typing
      scheme. Three main 24-loci VNTR clusters included 34 strains which belonged to
      the Beijing family. The spoligotyping and 24-loci VNTR typing combination
      demonstrated maximal discriminatory power. Among the Beijing strains, the MDR
      phenotype was revealed more frequently than among the others. High genetic
      heterogeneity of the studied population was shown by the assessment of VNTR loci
      variability in the analyzed group and in the strains from other parts of Russia.
      Comparison of the 24-VNTR locus typing and spoligotyping data with revealed
      resistance-associated mutation allows us to make a suggestion that the active
      transmission of MDR strains and the independent appearance of drug resistance
      during chemotherapy occurred in the studied population simultaneously.

PMID- 20941522
TI  - Conductance properties of the acetylcholine receptor current of Guinea pig outer
      hair cells.
AB  - The nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (AChR) current of outer hair cells (OHCs)
      was investigated in isolated and voltage-clamped cells under conditions where co
      activating Ca(2+)-activated K(+) currents had been abolished using internal
      BAPTA, external calcium removal and/or depolarisation to positive voltages. The
      AChR current activated rapidly and thereafter declined in the continued presence
      of ACh. Reversal potential measurements indicated that it was a non-specific
      cation current with a substantial Ca(2+) permeability. It had a characteristic
      bidirectional rectification with an especially prominent outward component in
      solutions containing 1 mM Ca(2+). The I-V relation was fitted with a single
      energy barrier model. The fit suggests a blocking site within the channel,
      situated about one third of the way through the membrane from the outside and
      probably normally occupied by Ca(2+) or Mg(2+). The AChR current was sensitive to
      the external Ca(2+) since it was reduced, to differing extents, in nominally
      Ca(2+)-free saline or in high Ca(2+) saline (10 mM). In the presence of a
      nominally Mg(2+)-free solution containing 0.4 mM Ca(2+), the currents were
      larger, indicating a potentiated response. This type of behaviour is also shown
      by recombinant alpha9alpha10 AChRs, suggesting a close similarity. The AChR
      current at both positive and negative voltages was reduced in external solutions
      where most of the Na(+) had been replaced by NMG(+). The conductance properties
      of the OHC AChR are compared with alpha9alpha10 receptors and nicotinic receptors
      in other hair cells and discussed in terms of the accepted functional role of
      providing calcium influx leading to efferent synaptic inhibition of hair cells.

PMID- 20941523
TI  - Horse bacterium causes human pericardial and pleural effusion.

PMID- 20941524
TI  - Conceptual layers and strategies in tour planning.
AB  - We present an exploratory study of an everyday navigation planning situation,
      addressing spatial planning strategies as well as cognitive shifts between the
      visually available map and the conceptualized real-world environment.
      Participants were asked to plan a diversified holiday route on an island, with
      the help of a map representing spatial as well as activity information. Following
      the task proper, they reported in written form about the problem-solving process.
      Route trajectories were analyzed with respect to their properties, and reports
      were analyzed with respect to the represented concepts and linguistic patterns.
      Results reveal that route trajectories tended to be circular rather than random,
      with relatively few detours or crossing lines. The underlying spatial planning
      strategies as represented in the written reports resembled earlier findings on
      the Traveling Salesperson Problem, providing insights into the extent to which
      this abstract task transfers to a naturalistic scenario. Most crucially, our
      linguistic analysis provides new results about the representation of conceptual
      layers when considering the real-world navigation domain of traveling in relation
      to the actual table-top map planning domain.

PMID- 20941525
TI  - Herpes simplex encephalitis following spinal ependymoma resection: case report
      and literature review.
AB  - Herpes simplex encephalitis (HSE) is a rare complication of neurosurgical
      procedures but must be considered in early deterioration of the postoperative
      patient. This is the first report of HSE following spinal cord tumor resection. A
      65-year-old woman had C2-C5 laminectomy for subtotal resection of intramedullary
      ependymoma. Six days postoperatively she developed fever, vomiting and rapid
      decline in mental status. Brain MRI revealed enhancement of left insular cortex.
      Polymerase chain reaction on cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) identified herpes simplex
      virus type 1 (HSV-1) as the causal agent. Twenty-one days of acyclovir led to
      improvement. Three subsequent admissions to neurological intensive care unit were
      required for deterioration in mental status, including pneumonia, hydrocephalus
      and deep vein thromboses. Ventriculoperitoneal shunt (VPS), tracheotomy,
      percutaneous intravenous central catheter (PICC) line and percutaneous endoscopic
      gastrostomy (PEG) were placed. She was discharged to skilled nursing home care.
      Acyclovir is effective therapy against HSV, though outcomes may be poor even in
      optimally treated cases. Empiric treatment must be started even in the absence of
      serologic evidence of HSV infection if suspicion for HSE is high.

PMID- 20941526
TI  - Topotecan and ifosfamide systemic chemotherapy for CNS involvement of solid
      tumors.
AB  - The prognosis of patients with CNS involvement of solid tumors is poor. In these
      patients, systemic chemotherapy has a theoretical advantage of concurrent
      treatment of systemic disease and reduced risk of neurotoxicity. Here, we report
      on the efficacy and toxicity of topotecan/ifosfamide (TOPO/IFO) combination
      chemotherapy in patients treated for CNS involvement of different solid
      malignancies. Fourteen patients with CNS manifestations (seven with brain
      metastases, two meningeal carcinomatosis, and five both) of solid tumors (seven
      with breast cancer, six lung cancer, and one unknown primary cancer) received
      TOPO/IFO treatment. Eleven patients each were pretreated with 1-6 systemic
      therapy regimens and whole-brain irradiation. Patients received a total of 34
      (median 2) TOPO/IFO cycles. TOPO dosage was 3.6 mg/m(2) (1.2 mg/m(2), days 1-3)
      and IFO dosage 3,000 mg/m(2) (1,500 mg/m(2), days 1-2) per cycle. Of 12 patients
      with brain metastases, one patient had partial remission, three stable disease,
      two progressed, and six had no radiologic CNS response evaluation. Response of
      meningeal carcinomatosis was found in two and progressive disease in two (three
      patients not evaluated). Neurologic improvement or stabilization was observed in
      six of twelve evaluable patients. No systemic tumor response was seen in seven
      evaluated patients. Grade 3/4 toxicities in eleven evaluable patients were
      leukopenia (n = 9), infection (n = 6), and thrombopenia (n = 5). Median time to
      treatment failure was 43 days and median overall survival 107 days. Symptom
      control was frequently achieved with TOPO/IFO systemic chemotherapy despite a low
      objective response rate. The feasibility of this treatment is impaired by severe
      hematotoxicity.

PMID- 20941527
TI  - Prodrugs of aza nucleosides based on proton transfer reaction.
AB  - DFT calculation results for intramolecular proton transfer reactions in Kirby's
      enzyme models 1-7 reveal that the reaction rate is quite responsive to geometric
      disposition, especially to distance between the two reactive centers, r (GM), and
      the angle of attack, alpha (the hydrogen bonding angle). Hence, the study on the
      systems reported herein could provide a good basis for designing aza nucleoside
      prodrug systems that are less hydrophilic than their parental drugs and can be
      used, in different dosage forms, to release the parent drug in a controlled
      manner. For example, based on the calculated log EM, the cleavage process for
      prodrug 1ProD is predicted to be about 1010 times faster than that for prodrug
      7ProD and about 104 times faster than prodrug 3ProD: rate( 1ProD ) > rate( 3ProD
      ) > rate( 7ProD ). Hence, the rate by which the prodrug releases the aza
      nucleoside drug can be determined according to the structural features of the
      linker (Kirby's enzyme model).

PMID- 20941528
TI  - Cytochrome P450-derived eicosanoids: the neglected pathway in cancer.
AB  - Endogenously produced lipid autacoids are locally acting small molecule mediators
      that play a central role in the regulation of inflammation and tissue
      homeostasis. A well-studied group of autacoids are the products of arachidonic
      acid metabolism, among which the prostaglandins and leukotrienes are the best
      known. They are generated by two pathways controlled by the enzyme systems
      cyclooxygenase and lipoxygenase, respectively. However, arachidonic acid is also
      substrate for a third enzymatic pathway, the cytochrome P450 (CYP) system. This
      third eicosanoid pathway consists of two main branches: omega-hydroxylases
      convert arachidonic acid to hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acids (HETEs) and
      epoxygenases convert it to epoxyeicosatrienoic acids (EETs). This third CYP
      pathway was originally studied in conjunction with inflammatory and
      cardiovascular disease. Arachidonic acid and its metabolites have recently
      stimulated great interest in cancer biology; but, unlike prostaglandins and
      leukotrienes the link between cytochome P450 metabolites and cancer has received
      little attention. In this review, the emerging role in cancer of cytochrome P450
      metabolites, notably 20-HETE and EETs, are discussed.

PMID- 20941529
TI  - Mass spectrometry and biochemical analysis of RNA polymerase II: targeting by
      protein phosphatase-1.
AB  - Transcription of eukaryotic genes is regulated by phosphorylation of serine
      residues of heptapeptide repeats of the carboxy-terminal domain (CTD) of RNA
      polymerase II (RNAPII). We previously reported that protein phosphatase-1 (PP1)
      dephosphorylates RNAPII CTD in vitro and inhibition of nuclear PP1-blocked viral
      transcription. In this article, we analyzed the targeting of RNAPII by PP1 using
      biochemical and mass spectrometry analysis of RNAPII-associated regulatory
      subunits of PP1. Immunoblotting showed that PP1 co-elutes with RNAPII. Mass
      spectrometry approach showed the presence of U2 snRNP. Co-immunoprecipitation
      analysis points to NIPP1 and PNUTS as candidate regulatory subunits. Because
      NIPP1 was previously shown to target PP1 to U2 snRNP, we analyzed the effect of
      NIPP1 on RNAPII phosphorylation in cultured cells. Expression of mutant NIPP1
      promoted RNAPII phosphorylation suggesting that the deregulation of cellular
      NIPP1/PP1 holoenzyme affects RNAPII phosphorylation and pointing to NIPP1 as a
      potential regulatory factor in RNAPII-mediated transcription.

PMID- 20941530
TI  - The chronic effects of neonatal alloxan-induced diabetes mellitus on ventricular
      myocyte shortening and cytosolic Ca2+.
AB  - Diabetes mellitus is a serious global health problem, and cardiovascular
      complications are the major cause of morbidity and mortality in diabetic
      patients. The chronic effects of neonatal alloxan- (ALX) induced diabetes
      mellitus on ventricular myocyte contraction and intracellular Ca(2+) transport
      have been investigated. Ventricular myocyte shortening was measured with a video
      edge detection system and intracellular Ca(2+) was measured in fura-2 loaded
      cells by fluorescence photometry. Diabetes was induced in 5-day old male Wistar
      rats by a single intraperitoneal injection of ALX (200 mg/kg body weight).
      Experiments were performed 12 months after ALX treatment. Fasting blood glucose
      was elevated and blood glucose at 60, 120 and 180 min after a glucose challenge
      (2 g/kg body weight, intraperitoneal) was elevated in diabetic rats compared to
      age-matched controls. Amplitude of shortening was significantly (P < 0.05)
      reduced in electrically stimulated myocytes from diabetic hearts (5.70 +/- 0.24%)
      compared to controls (6.48 +/- 0.28%). Amplitude of electrically evoked Ca(2+)
      transients was also significantly (P < 0.05) reduced in myocytes from diabetic
      hearts (0.11 +/- 0.01 fura-2 ratio units) compared to controls (0.15 +/- 0.01
      fura-2 ratio units). Fractional sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca(2+) release was not
      significantly (P > 0.05) altered in myocytes from diabetic heart (0.70 +/- 0.03
      fura-2 ratio units) compared to controls (0.72 +/- 0.03 fura-2 ratio units).
      Amplitude of caffeine-stimulated Ca(2+) transients was significantly (P < 0.05)
      reduced in myocytes from diabetic hearts (0.43 +/- 0.02 fura-2 ratio units)
      compared to controls (0.51 +/- 0.03 fura-2 ratio units). Area under the caffeine
      evoked Ca(2+) transient was significantly (P < 0.05) reduced in myocytes from
      diabetic heart (0.77 +/- 0.06 Vsec) compared to controls (1.14 +/- 0.12 Vsec).
      Intracellular Ca(2+) refilling rate during electrical stimulation following
      application of caffeine was significantly (P < 0.05) slower in myocytes from
      diabetic heart (0.013 +/- 0.001 V/sec) compared to controls (0.031 +/- 0.007
      V/sec). Depressed shortening may be partly attributed to depressed sarcoplasmic
      reticulum Ca(2+) transport in myocytes from neonatal ALX-induced diabetic rat
      heart.

PMID- 20941531
TI  - Heat shock transcription factor-1 inhibits H2O2-induced apoptosis via down
      regulation of reactive oxygen species in cardiac myocytes.
AB  - Heat shock transcription factor-1 (HSF1) protects against cardiac diseases such
      as ischemia/reperfusion injury and myocardial infarction. However, the mechanisms
      have not yet been fully characterized. In this study, we investigated the effects
      of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and apoptosis signal-regulating kinase-1 (ASK1)
      in HSF1-regulated cardiomyocyte protection. Cultured cardiomyocytes of neonatal
      rats were transfected with HSF1, ASK1 or both of them before exposure to
      H(2)O(2), and the ROS generation, c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) activity and
      apoptosis were examined. H(2)O(2) significantly increased intracellular ROS
      generation and apoptotic cells as expected, and all these cellular events were
      greatly inhibited by overexpression of HSF1. However, H(2)O(2)-induced increases
      in JNK phosphorylation and cell apoptosis were largely enhanced by ASK1
      overexpression whereas the similar transfection did not affect the ROS generation
      in the cells. Moreover, inhibition of H(2)O(2)-increased ROS generation, JNK
      phosphorylation, and cellular apoptosis by overexpression of HSF1 tended to be
      disappeared, when the cells were co-transfected with ASK1. These results suggest
      that HSF1 protects cardiomyocytes from apoptosis under oxidative stress via down
      regulation of intracellular ROS generation and inhibition of JNK phosphorylation.
      Although ASK1 itself has no effect on intracellular ROS generation, it may affect
      the inhibitory effects of HSF1 on ROS generation, JNK activity, and cardiomyocyte
      injury.

PMID- 20941533
TI  - Chronic kidney disease is an independent predictor of pocket hematoma after
      pacemaker and defibrillator implantation.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The aim of this investigation was to determine additional
      predisposing factors of pocket hematoma formation in patients undergoing anti
      arrhythmic device surgery. METHODS: Initially, we performed a retrospective chart
      review of 459 patients on warfarin therapy who underwent anti-arrhythmic device
      surgery (pacemaker or defibrillator implantation, generator replacement, or lead
      revision) between April 2004 and September 2008 to determine whether continuation
      of anticoagulation or cessation of anticoagulation, with or without bridging
      therapy, was the preferred approach. In those patients who developed pocket
      hematoma, we then analyzed factors that might predispose to hematoma formation.
      RESULTS: The incidence of pocket hematoma in the entire group was 2.2% (n = 10).
      Forty-eight percent of the patient group was on continued warfarin (n = 220), 27%
      on bridging therapy with intravenous heparin or subcutaneous enoxaparin (n = 123)
      and 66% were on antiplatelet therapy (aspirin or clopidegrol or both; n = 303) at
      the time of device implantation. Twelve percent of the patients had chronic
      kidney disease (n = 55). In multivariate regression analysis, after adjusting for
      anticoagulation and antiplatelet agents, chronic kidney disease was found to be a
      significant risk factor for pocket hematoma formation after ICD and pacemaker
      placement. An increase of 1.0 mg/dl in creatinine levels was associated with a
      nearly twofold increase in hematoma formation (OR, 1.99; 95% CI, 1.22-3.21; p =
      0.03). CONCLUSION: Chronic kidney disease is a significant risk factor for pocket
      hematoma formation after pacemaker and ICD placement, independent of
      anticoagulation and antiplatelet agents.

PMID- 20941532
TI  - Curcumin counteracts the proliferative effect of estradiol and induces apoptosis
      in cervical cancer cells.
AB  - Cervical cancer is the most common cancer in Indian females and is associated
      with infection with high-risk Human papilloma viruses (HPVs) which encode viral
      oncoprotein E6 and E7. Estradiol has been established as a risk factor for
      cervical cancer and has been shown to play a synergistic role with viral
      oncoproteins. Curcumin (Diferuloyl methane), a chemopreventive agent, is a
      natural compound extracted from Curcuma longa that allows suppression and
      retardation of carcinogenesis in many types of cancer and is currently being
      tested in various human clinical trials as it has been found to be well tolerated
      at higher doses with a relatively well established safety profile. The objective
      of this study was to test the effect of curcumin on HPV-positive and negative
      cervical cancer cell lines HeLa, SiHa, CaSki, and C33A pretreated with estradiol.
      It was found that HPV-positive cells pretreated with estradiol show reduced
      apoptosis as compared to curcumin by itself. However, curcumin was able to
      counteract the proliferative response of estradiol, and induce apoptosis. There
      was no difference in percentage apoptosis as compared to estradiol pretreatment
      in HPV-negative cell line C33A. Molecular studies showed elevation of Telomerase,
      viral oncoproteins E6 and E7, PCNA, p16, Cyclin D1 in HPV-positive cell lines on
      treatment with estradiol but after treatment with curcumin the level of E7, PCNA,
      and Cyclin D1 was reduced but the level of E6, Telomerase, and p16 was unaltered.
      Furthermore, estradiol-pretreated HPV-negative cell line C33A showed reduction in
      level of Telomerase, PCNA, p16, and activation of both p53 and p73 tumor
      suppressor proteins, thus, demonstrating the importance of E6 in estradiol
      mediated protective effect.

PMID- 20941534
TI  - First report of phrenic nerve injury during pulmonary vein isolation using the
      Ablation Frontiers pulmonary vein ablation catheter.
AB  - In an attempt to improve procedural outcomes and reduce time and complications,
      there has been particular interest in alternative technologies specifically
      designed for atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation. One novel technique is isolation
      of the pulmonary veins using an over-the-wire multielectrode catheter delivering
      duty-cycled bipolar and unipolar radiofrequency energy. Phrenic nerve injury is a
      rare but significant complication of AF ablation. This is the first report of
      phrenic nerve injury following catheter ablation for AF using the Pulmonary Vein
      Ablation Catheter (Medtronic, Minneapolis, MN, USA).

PMID- 20941535
TI  - Morphological analysis of sinus and retrograde atrial waves detected through a
      permanent pacemaker atrial lead.
AB  - AIMS: The main objective of this study was to characterize morphological
      differences between sinus and retrograde atrial waves. METHODS: We collected
      intracardiac atrial signals through a DDDR pacemaker to characterize their
      morphologies and discriminate retrograde from sinus atrial waves off-line.
      Intracardiac unipolar and bipolar signals were collected at an 800-Hz sampling
      rate through a 0.4-Hz high-pass filter. Sinus and retrograde atrial waves during
      ventricular pacing were recorded in the supine and upright positions. RESULTS:
      Eleven different form parameters (FPs) were applied to describe atrial wave
      morphology. Data from 14 patients were collected and analyzed. Atrial signals
      differed markedly between the two body postures. However, it was possible to
      discriminate retrograde from sinus atrial waves on the basis of at least one FP
      in 12 of 14 (86%) patients when unipolar and bipolar atrial signals recorded in
      both body postures were analyzed separately. When body postures were pooled
      together to mimic natural conditions, discrimination was successful in nine of 14
      patients with either configuration of the atrial signal. CONCLUSIONS: The results
      indicate that retrograde atrial waves can be discriminated from sinus waves by
      using high sampling rate, digital signal processing, and specific FPs
      incorporated in these pacemakers.

PMID- 20941536
TI  - Asymmetric electrotonic coupling between the soma and dendrites alters the
      bistable firing behaviour of reduced models.
AB  - The goal of the study was to investigate the influence of asymmetric coupling,
      between the soma and dendrites, on the nonlinear dynamic behaviour of a two
      compartment model. We used a recently published method for generating reduced two
      compartment models that retain the asymmetric coupling of anatomically
      reconstructed motor neurons. The passive input-output relationship of the
      asymmetrically coupled model was analytically compared to the symmetrically
      coupled case. Predictions based on the analytic comparison were tested using
      numerical simulations. The simulations evaluated the nonlinear dynamics of the
      models as a function of coupling parameters. Analytical results showed that the
      input resistance at the dendrite of the asymmetric model was directly related to
      the degree of coupling asymmetry. In contrast, a comparable symmetric model had
      identical input resistances at both the soma and dendrite regardless of coupling
      strength. These findings lead to predictions that variations in dendritic
      excitability, subsequent to changes in input resistance, might change the current
      threshold and onset timing of the plateau potential generated in the dendrite.
      Since the plateau potential underlies bistable firing, these results further
      predicted that asymmetric coupling might alter nonlinear (i.e. bistable) firing
      patterns. The numerical simulations supported analytical predictions, showing
      that the fully bistable firing pattern of the asymmetric model depended on the
      degree of coupling asymmetry and its correlated dendritic excitability. The
      physiological property of asymmetric coupling plays an important role in
      generating and stabilizing the bistability of motor neurons by interacting with
      the excitability of dendritic branches.

PMID- 20941538
TI  - Gentrification and urban children's well-being: tipping the scales from problems
      to promise.
AB  - Gentrification changes the neighborhood and family contexts in which children are
      socialized-for better and worse-yet little is known about its consequences for
      youth. This review, drawn from research in urban planning, sociology, and
      psychology, maps out mechanisms by which gentrification may impact children. We
      discuss indicators of gentrification and link neighborhood factors, including
      institutional resources and collective socialization, to family processes more
      proximally related to child development. Finally, we discuss implications for
      intervention and public policy recommendations that are intended to tip the
      scales toward better outcomes for low-income youth in gentrifying areas.

PMID- 20941539
TI  - The mammalian target of rapamycin inhibitor everolimus (RAD001) in early breast
      cancer: results of a pre-operative study.
AB  - mTOR plays a key role in tumor cell cycle control, proliferation, and survival.
      RAD001 (everolimus) is a novel macrolide that inhibits mTOR and thus downstream
      signaling pathways. 31 post-menopausal women with early breast cancer were given
      5 mg RAD001 once daily for 14 days prior to surgery. Biopsies were taken at
      diagnosis and at surgery (post 14 days of treatment) and assessed for
      immunohistochemical changes in proliferation (Ki67), apoptosis (active caspase
      3), p-AKT (s473), p-S6 (s235/236 and s240/244), p-mTOR (s2448), ER, and PR. Five
      patients did not complete the 2-week treatment period due to adverse events. All
      adverse events were grade 1 or 2 (NCIC-CTC scale). RAD001 treatment significantly
      decreased proliferation (geometric mean reduction 74% from baseline (p = 0.019)),
      particularly in HER-2 positive tumors. High Ki67 pre-treatment correlated with
      reduction in Ki67, an increase in apoptosis, a reduction in p-AKT (cytoplasmic)
      and reduction in p-mTOR following treatment. Nuclear expression of p-AKT was
      significantly reduced with treatment. Tumors that had a reduction in Ki67 with
      treatment exhibited a significant reduction in cytoplasmic p-AKT. p-S6 staining
      was significantly reduced independently of Ki67 (p < 0.001 for two sites of
      phosphorylation). RAD001 5 mg/daily is safe and tolerable in postmenopausal early
      breast cancer patients and inhibits the mTOR pathway and its downstream
      effectors, significantly reducing tumor cell proliferation. Tumors with high
      Ki67, high p-AKT, and HER-2 positivity may be more responsive to mTOR inhibition
      with RAD001. This is the first study to report results of RAD001 5 mg as a single
      agent in early breast cancer.

PMID- 20941540
TI  - One size does not fit all: quality of life during adjuvant aromatase inhibitor
      therapy.

PMID- 20941541
TI  - The thyroid-disrupting effects of long-term perfluorononanoate exposure on
      zebrafish (Danio rerio).
AB  - Concentrations of perfluorononanoate (PFNA) suggest an obvious increase in the
      environment, wildlife, and humans. However, the potential toxicity of PFNA still
      remains to be fully elucidated. Our present work is directed toward evaluating
      specific thyroid endpoints, and studying the long-term and the trans-generational
      effects of PFNA on zebrafish. Zebrafish (Danio rerio) were exposed to different
      concentrations of PFNA (0, 0.05, 0.1, 0.5, and 1 mg/l) from their early life
      stages (F(0), 23 day post-fertilization dpf), and the exposure period lasted for
      180 days. At the end of the exposure period, thyroid follicle histology and
      plasma thyroid hormone levels in male zebrafish were evaluated as direct
      endpoints for the specific thyroid toxicities, while gene expression relative to
      the hypothalamus-pituitary-thyroid axis was also investigated to study the
      underlying mechanisms. In addition, offspring embryos (F(1)) from the PFNA
      exposure parental zebrafish was reared in water either without PFNA or under
      continual exposure to PFNA for an additional 180 days to investigate effects of
      multi-generational exposures on the circulating T(3) levels and thyroid
      associated gene expression. Our results demonstrate significantly elevated plasma
      T(3) levels were observed in both F(0) and F(1) adults, as well as PFNA-induced
      histological changes in the thyroid follicles of F(0) male zebrafish. In the
      liver, the abundance of gene transcript encoding the protein transthyretin (TTR)
      was significantly induced, while the expression of UDP-glucuronosyltransferases
      in F(0) adult males was inhibited. The induced thyroid-disrupting effects also
      demonstrated a trans-generational effect that was reflected by altered gene
      expression related to thyroid hormone (TH) synthesis and metabolism in F(1)
      larvae. Our results provide the first evidence for the thyroid-disrupting effects
      of long-term PFNA exposure in zebrafish.

PMID- 20941542
TI  - Similarity of rpoB gene sequences of sucrose-fermenting and non-fermenting
      Corynebacterium diphtheriae strains.
AB  - During the last decades, the majority of Brazilian Corynebacterium diphtheriae
      isolates were shown to be capable to metabolize sucrose, sometimes leading to
      erroneous identification as a non-diphtheric Corynebacterium species. The
      sequencing of the polymorphic region of the RNA polymerase beta subunit-encoding
      gene (rpoB) is an important taxonomic tool for identification of corynebacteria.
      The present study aimed to investigate the rpoB gene polymorphic features of
      sucrose-fermenting and non sucrose-fermenting strains. The results showed that
      sucrose-fermenting strains presented rpoB gene polymorphic regions with more than
      98% similarity with the sequences deposited in the gene bank corresponding to non
      sucrose-fermenting strains. Data indicate that sucrose-fermenting isolates may
      act as a variant of C. diphtheriae biotype mitis. In addition we alert that
      sucrose-fermenting strains should not be discarded as contaminants mainly in
      countries where the possibility of isolation of this variant is higher.

PMID- 20941543
TI  - The syllable effect in anagram solution: unrecognised evidence from past studies.
AB  - Six previous studies of the variables affecting anagram solution are re-examined
      for the evidence that number of syllables contributes to solution difficulty. It
      was shown that the number of syllables in a solution word was confounded with
      imagery for one study and with diagram frequency for another. More importantly it
      was shown that the number of syllables has a large effect on anagram solution
      difficulty in the re-analysis of the results from the other four studies. In
      these studies, the number of syllables was either more important than the
      principal variable examined in the experiment or the second most important
      variable. Overall the effect size for the number of syllables was large, d =
      1.14. The results are discussed in the light of other research and it is
      suggested that anagram solution may have more in common with other word
      identification and reading processes than has been previously thought.

PMID- 20941545
TI  - Evaluation of longitudinal and radial left ventricular function by two
      dimensional speckle-tracking echocardiography in a large cohort of normal
      probands.
AB  - Speckle tracking echocardiography (STE) is a novel tool to analyze left
      ventricular (LV) deformation in standard grey-scale images. The aim of our study
      was to characterize global and regional LV function by STE in a large cohort of
      healthy adult probands across a wide range of age. 144 healthy individuals (71
      men, 73 women; mean age 42 +/- 14 years, range: 17-80 years) who had undergone a
      standard echocardiographic examination were retrospectively investigated by STE.
      Longitudinal strain (LS) was measured in three apical views, and radial strain
      (RS) in a short-axis view at papillary muscle level. Averaged global LS was -20.6
      +/- 2.6%, and averaged RS 48.2 +/- 13.8%. On a regional basis, LS showed an
      increase from base to apex (basal vs. mid vs. apical segments: -18.5 +/- 2.7% vs.
      -19.9 +/- 2.6% vs. -22.9 +/- 4.5%; P < 0.001). RS increased with age (P < 0.05),
      while LS decreased in basal, and slightly increased in the apical segments. LS
      and RS decreased with body surface area and LV size (P < 0.05). In the
      longitudinal dimension about 38% of the segments showed some degree of systolic
      pre-stretching, with a higher likelihood in basal segments (P = 0.02 vs. mid and
      apical segments). In the radial dimension pre-stretching was even more frequent
      (60%). STE offers a simple and rapid method to measure regional myocardial
      deformation. Our results, based on a large cohort of normal probands covering a
      wide range of ages, may serve as reference for comparison with different disease
      entities.

PMID- 20941544
TI  - Temporal changes of coronary artery plaque located behind the struts of the
      everolimus eluting bioresorbable vascular scaffold.
AB  - Implantation of a coronary stent results in a mechanical enlargement of the
      coronary lumen with stretching of the surrounding atherosclerotic plaque. Using
      intravascular ultrasound virtual-histology (IVUS-VH) we examined the temporal
      changes in composition of the plaque behind the struts (PBS) following the
      implantation of the everolimus eluting bioresorbable vascular scaffold (BVS).
      Using IVUS-VH and dedicated software, the composition of plaque was analyzed in
      all patients from the ABSORB B trial who were imaged with a commercially
      available IVUS-VH console (s5i system, Volcano Corporation, Rancho Cordova, CA,
      USA) post-treatment and at 6-month follow-up. This dedicated software enabled
      analysis of the PBS after subtraction of the VH signal generated by the struts.
      The presence of necrotic core (NC) in contact with the lumen was also evaluated
      at baseline and follow-up. IVUS-VH data, recorded with s5i system, were available
      at baseline and 6-month follow-up in 15 patients and demonstrated an increase in
      both the area of PBS (2.45 +/- 1.93 mm(2) vs. 3.19 +/- 2.48 mm(2), P = 0.005) and
      the external elastic membrane area (13.76 +/- 4.07 mm(2) vs. 14.76 +/- 4.56
      mm(2), P = 0.006). Compared to baseline there was a significant progression in
      the NC (0.85 +/- 0.70 mm(2) vs. 1.21 +/- 0.92 mm(2), P = 0.010) and fibrous
      tissue area (0.88 +/- 0.79 mm(2) vs. 1.15 +/- 1.05 mm(2), P = 0.027) of the PBS.
      The NC in contact with the lumen in the treated segment did not increase with
      follow-up (7.33 vs. 6.36%, P = 0.2). Serial IVUS-VH analysis of BVS-treated
      lesions at 6-month demonstrated a progression in the NC and fibrous tissue
      content of PBS.

PMID- 20941546
TI  - Comparison of self-reported health-related quality of life between Taiwan
      hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis patients: a multi-center collaborative
      study.
AB  - PURPOSE: The maintenance of good health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is an
      important goal for end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients. Whether hemodialysis
      (HD) and peritoneal dialysis (PD) have different impacts on HRQoL is a concern
      shared by both physicians and patients. A comparison study of HRQoL between
      Taiwanese HD and PD patients was conducted. METHODS: ESRD patients at 14
      hospitals or dialysis centers in northern Taiwan were recruited in this cross
      sectional study. The Chinese-language version of the 36-item Short Form Health
      Survey Questionnaire (SF-36, Taiwan Standard Version 1.0) was used to evaluate
      HRQoL. Ordinal regression analyses were used to explore the independent
      association between HRQoL scores and dialysis modality. By Bonferroni correction
      test, a P value of <0.005 was regarded as significant. RESULTS: A total of 866 HD
      patients and 301 PD patients were included. After adjusting for confounding
      factors, no difference in HRQoL was found among the entire cohort and the
      diabetic subgroup. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated that Taiwanese HD and PD
      patients had similar HRQoL. The current survey improves our understanding of the
      association of HRQoL with dialysis modality in Taiwan ESRD population.

PMID- 20941547
TI  - Genetic epidemiological analysis reveals a multi-gene additive model for gastric
      cancer.
AB  - A genetic epidemiologic analysis of gastric cancer in the Chinese Han population
      was conducted for 64 pedigrees (902 individuals) with gastric cancer and controls
      obtained from the population after a census was carried out in August 2007. The
      heritability of gastric cancer was performed using the Falconer method and the
      complex segregation analysis was performed using the Statistical Analysis for
      Genetic Epidemiology (S.A.G.E.) SEGREG program. The heritability of gastric
      cancer in first- and second-degree relatives was 54.75% (95% CI, 48.01-61.49%)
      and 44.97% (95% CI, 33.12-56.82%), respectively. The estimated segregation ratio
      of gastric cancer was 0.039 (95% CI, 0.017-0.061). The complex segregation
      analysis showed that the Mendelian inheritance of additive model provided the
      best fit to the data (AIC = 170.58, P > 0.05). Therefore, polygenetic or multi
      factorial additive inheritance is involved in the genetic predisposition for the
      development of gastric cancer.

PMID- 20941548
TI  - Deeper problems in the marketing of drugs.

PMID- 20941549
TI  - Protection against adriamycin-induced cardiomyopathy by carnosine in rats: role
      of endogenous antioxidants.
AB  - The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of carnosine, a biological
      antioxidant, on the acute cardiac damage induced by a single dose of adriamycin
      in rats. The experimental design consisted of four groups: Control (saline,
      i.p.); carnosine (CAR; 10 mg/kg/day, i.p.); adriamycin (ADR; 16 mg/kg on the 14th
      day, i.p.); carnosine with adriamycin. Carnosine was given 2 weeks before and
      following adriamycin treatment. Blood samples were collected for analysis of
      plasma creatine kinase (CK) and plasma antioxidant enzymes, glutathione
      peroxidase (GSH-Px), Cu, Zn-superoxide dismutase (SOD), and catalase (CAT). The
      rats were then sacrificed, and the hearts were autopsied for hemodynamic study,
      ECG, and histopathological examination. Results showed that adriamycin produced
      evident cardiac damage revealed by hemodynamic change, histological alterations,
      decreased plasma antioxidant enzymes activities, and increased lipid peroxidation
      to the control value. Carnosine treatment led to significant attenuation of
      adriamycin-induced cardiomyopathy revealed by normalization of the LVDP, ST
      interval, CK, SOD, GSH-Px, CAT, and lipid peroxidation. An increase in oxidative
      stress and inactivation of SOD, GSH-Px, CAT by a single dose of adriamycin were
      prevented when carnosine was given 2 weeks before and on the same day adriamycin
      treatment was administered.

PMID- 20941550
TI  - Blood selenium status in normal Punjabi population of Pakistan.
AB  - Selenium concentrations in the blood of 112 (56 females and 56 males) normal
      subjects, from different regions of the Punjab (Pakistan), have been determined
      using the technique of inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. The whole
      blood selenium concentrations were found to be 452 +/- 12 ppb (parts per billion
      or nano-gram of Se per gram freeze-dried blood or 96 +/- 3 MUg/L ), with 470 +/-
      16 ppb (or 100 +/- 4 MUg/L) in female and 435 +/- 16 ppb (or 92 +/- 4 MUg/L) in
      male population. Compared with other populations of the world [corrected] these
      levels are similar with the exception of the low-selenium-region of China.
      [corrected].

PMID- 20941551
TI  - Functional genomics of serotonin receptor 2A (HTR2A): interaction of
      polymorphism, methylation, expression and disease association.
AB  - Serotonergic neurotransmission plays a key role in the pathophysiology of
      neuropsychiatric illnesses. The functional significance of a promoter
      polymorphism, -1438G/A (rs6311), in one of the major genes of this system
      (serotonin receptor 2A, HTR2A) remains poorly understood in the context of
      epigenetic factors, transcription factors and endocrine influences. We used
      functional and structural equation modeling (SEM) approaches to assess the
      contributions of the polymorphism (rs6311), DNA methylation and clinical
      variables to HTR2A expression in chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) subjects from a
      population-based study. HTR2A was up-regulated in CFS through allele-specific
      expression modulated by transcription factors at critical sites in its promoter:
      an E47 binding site at position -1,438, (created by the A-allele of rs6311
      polymorphism), a glucocorticoid receptor (GR) binding site encompassing a CpG at
      position -1,420, and Sp1 binding at CpG methylation site -1,224. Methylation at 
      1,420 was strongly correlated with methylation at -1,439, a CpG site that is
      dependent upon the G-allele of rs6311 at position -1,438. SEM revealed a strong
      negative interaction between E47 and GR binding (in conjunction with cortisol
      level) on HTR2A expression. This study suggests that the promoter polymorphism
      (rs6311) can affect both transcription factor binding and promoter methylation,
      and this along with an individual's stress response can impact the rate of HTR2A
      transcription in a genotype and methylation-dependent manner. This study can
      serve as an example for deciphering the molecular determinants of transcriptional
      regulation of major genes of medical importance by integrating functional
      genomics and SEM approaches. Confirmation in an independent study population is
      required.

PMID- 20941552
TI  - Protocol based treatment in pediatric intensive care units.

PMID- 20941553
TI  - Combination HIV prevention: significance, challenges, and opportunities.
AB  - No single HIV prevention strategy will be sufficient to control the HIV pandemic.
      However, a growing number of interventions have shown promise in partially
      protecting against HIV transmission and acquisition, including knowledge of HIV
      serostatus, behavioral risk reduction, condoms, male circumcision, needle
      exchange, treatment of curable sexually transmitted infections, and use of
      systemic and topical antiretroviral medications by both HIV-infected and
      uninfected persons. Designing the optimal package of interventions that matches
      the epidemiologic profile of a target population, delivering that package at the
      population level, and evaluating safety, acceptability, coverage, and
      effectiveness, all involve methodological challenges. Nonetheless, there is an
      unprecedented opportunity to develop "prevention packages" that combine various
      arrays of evidence-based strategies, tailored to the needs of diverse subgroups
      and targeted to achieve high coverage for a measurable reduction in population
      level HIV transmission. HIV prevention strategies that combine partially
      effective interventions should be scaled up and evaluated.

PMID- 20941554
TI  - VEGF-A and its isoform VEGF121 mRNA expression measured by quantitative real-time
      RT-PCR: correlation with F-18 FDG uptake and aggressiveness of lung
      adenocarcinoma: preliminary study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the correlation of vascular endothelial growth factor
      (VEGF) A and its isoform VEGF121 mRNA expression with F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose
      (FDG) uptake and aggressiveness in lung adenocarcinoma. METHODS: Twenty-three
      patients with lung adenocarcinoma underwent FDG PET before surgery. As semi
      quantitative analysis for FDG uptake, partial volume corrected standardized
      uptake value (PVC-SUV) of the tumor was calculated. Total RNA from lung
      adenocarcinoma tissue was prepared from the frozen specimens. Using the real-time
      reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction method, we analyzed the mRNA
      level of VEGF-A and VEGF-A isoform VEGF121 mRNA level. 18S ribosomal RNA was used
      as an endogenous control. RESULTS: VEGF-A and VEGF121 mRNA levels had
      significantly positive correlation with PVC-SUV in lung adenocarcinoma (r =
      0.477, p = 0.021, r = 0.539, p = 0.008, respectively), while they were not
      correlated with tumor size (<=3 or >3 cm). VEGF-A and VEGF121 mRNA levels of the
      low FDG uptake group were significantly lower than those of the high FDG uptake
      group (p = 0.005 and p = 0.004, respectively). FDG uptake (PCV-SUV) of aggressive
      lung adenocarcinoma was higher than that of non-aggressive lung adenocarcinoma (p
      = 0.01). VEGF-A and VEGF121 mRNA levels of aggressive lung adenocarcinoma were
      higher than those of non-aggressive lung adenocarcinoma (p = 0.0001 and p =
      0.0001, respectively). CONCLUSION: VEGF-A and VEGF121 mRNA levels may correlate
      with FDG uptake and aggressiveness in lung adenocarcinoma. These findings support
      the hypothesis that VEGF-A and VEGF121 may help in predicting the outcome in
      patients with lung adenocarcinoma.

PMID- 20941555
TI  - Severe vasospastic angina with ventricular fibrillation suggested by iodine-123
      beta-methyl-p-iodophenyl-pentadecanoic acid in a young woman.
AB  - Iodine-123 beta-methyl-p-iodophenyl-pentadecanoic acid (BMIPP) imaging is useful
      to diagnose recent myocardial ischemia. A 27-year-old woman was admitted to our
      hospital because of aborted cardiac arrest due to ventricular fibrillation. She
      underwent BMIPP imaging in order to rule out ischemic heart disease. Reduced
      BMIPP uptake was observed in the inferoseptal segments. Coronary angiography
      revealed insignificant lesions, and a severe coronary spasm was provoked in the
      right coronary artery by an intracoronary injection of acetylcholine. The
      etiology of ventricular fibrillation in this case was considered to be
      vasospastic angina. The application of BMIPP imaging helped diagnose fatal
      vasospastic angina in this case.

PMID- 20941556
TI  - Usefulness of the automatic quantitative estimation tool for cerebral blood flow:
      clinical assessment of the application software tool AQCEL.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: AQCEL enables automatic reconstruction of single-photon emission
      computed tomogram (SPECT) without image degradation and quantitative analysis of
      cerebral blood flow (CBF) after the input of simple parameters. We ascertained
      the usefulness and quality of images obtained by the application software AQCEL
      in clinical practice. METHODS: Twelve patients underwent brain perfusion SPECT
      using technetium-99m ethyl cysteinate dimer at rest and after acetazolamide (ACZ)
      loading. Images reconstructed using AQCEL were compared with those reconstructed
      using conventional filtered back projection (FBP) method for qualitative
      estimation. Two experienced nuclear medicine physicians interpreted the image
      quality using the following visual scores: 0, same; 1, slightly superior; 2,
      superior. For quantitative estimation, the mean CBF values of the normal
      hemisphere of the 12 patients using ACZ calculated by the AQCEL method were
      compared with those calculated by the conventional method. The CBF values of the
      24 regions of the 3-dimensional stereotaxic region of interest template (3DSRT)
      calculated by the AQCEL method at rest and after ACZ loading were compared to
      those calculated by the conventional method. RESULTS: No significant qualitative
      difference was observed between the AQCEL and conventional FBP methods in the
      rest study. The average score by the AQCEL method was 0.25 +/- 0.45 and that by
      the conventional method was 0.17 +/- 0.39 (P = 0.34). There was a significant
      qualitative difference between the AQCEL and conventional methods in the ACZ
      loading study. The average score for AQCEL was 0.83 +/- 0.58 and that for the
      conventional method was 0.08 +/- 0.29 (P = 0.003). During quantitative estimation
      using ACZ, the mean CBF values of 12 patients calculated by the AQCEL method were
      3-8% higher than those calculated by the conventional method. The square of the
      correlation coefficient between these methods was 0.995. While comparing the 24
      3DSRT regions of 12 patients, the squares of the correlation coefficient between
      AQCEL and conventional methods were 0.973 and 0.986 for the normal and affected
      sides at rest, respectively, and 0.977 and 0.984 for the normal and affected
      sides after ACZ loading, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The quality of images
      reconstructed using the application software AQCEL were superior to that obtained
      using conventional method after ACZ loading, and high correlations were shown in
      quantity at rest and after ACZ loading. This software can be applied to clinical
      practice and is a useful tool for improvement of reproducibility and throughput.

PMID- 20941557
TI  - Allergic reactions to clopidogrel and cross-reactivity to other agents.
AB  - Clopidogrel is a widely used antiplatelet agent, particularly after coronary
      stent implantation. About 1% of patients have allergic or hematologic adverse
      reactions to clopidogrel. This has important therapeutic implications, as
      premature discontinuation of clopidogrel is the strongest risk factor for stent
      thrombosis. Clopidogrel allergy most commonly manifests as a rash. It is
      important to distinguish this from other causes of rash occurring in patients who
      have had a recent coronary stent. Although antihistamines and short-term oral
      corticosteroids are effective in treating most clopidogrel hypersensitivity
      reactions, some persistent reactions may require discontinuation of clopidogrel.
      When discontinuation of clopidogrel is required, substitution with an alternative
      thienopyridine such as ticlopidine traditionally has been performed. However, a
      recent study suggests that there may be as high as a 27% risk of recurrence of
      non-life-threatening allergic reactions in such patients, which are usually
      similar to the allergic reactions that occurred with clopidogrel. No data are
      available regarding the frequency of cross-reactivity to prasugrel and
      ticagrelor; these may be potential therapeutic options in some patients.

PMID- 20941558
TI  - Christfried Jakob's 1921 Theory of the Gnoses and Praxes as fundamental factors
      in cerebral cortical dynamics.
AB  - This study aims at reviving an important contribution by the pioneer
      neurobiologist and neurophilosopher Christfried Jakob (1866-1956) to the
      understanding of higher cortical functions. Jakob studied cortical dynamics at
      multiple levels by comparing gnoses and praxes and their corresponding
      pathological states, i.e. the agnosias and the apraxias. We herein provide a
      complete English translation of Jakob's original Spanish article dating to 1921,
      and further consider some key points under the scope of the neuropsychological
      knowledge available then, and the research evidence available 90 years later.

PMID- 20941560
TI  - Exercise preconditioning initiates late cardioprotection against isoproterenol
      induced myocardial injury in rats independent of protein kinase C.
AB  - The objective of this study was to investigate the late cardioprotective effect
      of exercise preconditioning (EP) on isoproterenol (ISO)-induced myocardial injury
      in rats and the role of protein kinase C (PKC) in EP. Rats were injected with ISO
      24 h after running on a treadmill for four periods of 10 min each at 28-30 m/min
      with intervening periods of rest of 10 min. Nonselective PKC inhibitor
      chelerythrine (CHE) was injected before EP. The myocardial injury was evaluated
      quantitatively in terms of the serum cardiac troponin I (cTnI) levels, the
      myocardial ischemia/hypoxia area, and the integral optical density (IOD) of
      haematoxylin-basic fuchsin-picric acid (HBFP) staining, and qualitatively in
      terms of the myocardial ultrastructure. EP markedly attenuated the ISO-induced
      myocardial ischemia/hypoxia and ultrastructural damage with lower serum cTnI
      levels. CHE injection before EP did not block the protective effect of EP,
      displaying a mild myocardial ischemia/hypoxia and well-preserved ultrastructure
      with even lower serum cTnI levels. The results indicate that EP can exert a late
      cardioprotection against ISO-induced myocardial injury, and that an injection of
      the nonselective PKC inhibitor CHE before EP may have a different effect on ISO
      induced myocardial injury. Further investigation needs to be conducted to define
      the role of different PKC isozymes in EP by using isozyme-selective inhibitors.

PMID- 20941561
TI  - Endoscopic observations around the gastroesophageal junction in patients with
      symptomatic gastroesophageal reflux disease in South Asia.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: We studied the inter-relationships of endoscopic findings around
      the gastroesophageal junction in patients with symptomatic gastroesophageal
      reflux. METHODS: Data were collected with regard to hiatus hernia (HH), columnar
      lined esophagus (CLE), reflux esophagitis (RE) and gastroesophageal flap valve
      (GEFV), prospectively from 1,150 patients who underwent diagnostic upper
      gastrointestinal endoscopy for symptomatic gastroesophageal reflux. RESULTS: The
      frequency of HH, CLE and RE was 14.3% (n=165), 9.5% (n=109) and 13.3% (n=153),
      respectively. In the CLE group, 48 were histologically proven to have Barrett's
      esophagus. Of all RE patients, 94.8% had mild esophagitis (LA-A and B) and this
      was associated with younger age, male gender, presence of HH, and grade 3 or 4
      gastroesophageal flap valve (GEFV). Grades 3 and 4 GEFV were associated with HH,
      CLE, and RE. CONCLUSIONS: Substantial proportion of patients with symptoms of
      GERD has abnormal endoscopic findings around the gastroesophageal junction.

PMID- 20941559
TI  - Cell death as a regulator of cerebellar histogenesis and compartmentation.
AB  - Programmed cell death is essential for the homeostasis of tissues and organs.
      During the development of the central nervous system, programmed cell death is
      highly regulated and restricted to distinct developmental time points of
      histogenesis. In this review, we will summarize recent data on the temporal and
      spatial distribution of programmed Purkinje cell death within the cerebellar
      cortex. We point out that programmed cell death within distinct regions of the
      developing cerebellar cortex differs by type and its cellular consequences. We
      submit the concept that local Purkinje cell death is important for late
      compartmentation of the cerebellar cortex and its wiring. To support this
      hypothesis, we provide new data obtained from a cerebellar mutant with prolonged
      expression of Engrailed-2 specifically in cerebellar Purkinje cells which shows
      increased local physiological cell death and concomitant changes in the pattern
      of afferent innervation.

PMID- 20941562
TI  - Long-term results of second-stage thoracic endovascular aortic repair following
      total aortic arch replacement.
AB  - PURPOSE: We investigated the surgical results of secondary thoracic endovascular
      aneurysm repair (TEVAR) using the elephant trunk graft after total aortic arch
      replacement (TAR) for extensive thoracic aortic lesions. METHODS: The subjects
      comprised 16 patients who underwent TEVAR as a staged procedure following TAR at
      our institution between 1997 and 2007. Long-term results were retrospectively
      surveyed (mean observation period 68.4 months). We performed TEVAR with the
      elephant trunk graft as a proximal landing zone for the descending thoracic
      repair, the mean duration between TAR and TEVAR was 4.7 weeks for the staged
      operations and 18.3 months for the nonstaged operations. RESULTS: Early results
      were good in all cases, with no deaths and no noteworthy complications. For the
      seven patients without dissection, long-term results were also good. Among the
      nine patients with dissection, the false lumen in the thoracoabdominal area
      enlarged in three during follow-up. We performed thoracoabdominal repair in two,
      but one died of an aneurysm-esophageal fistula. There was only one long-term
      aneurysm-related death. CONCLUSION: Second-stage TEVAR using the elephant trunk
      graft after TAR allows less invasive surgery for extensive aortic lesions and
      achieves good long-term results. However, enlargement of the false lumen was a
      long-term concern in patients with aortic dissection, and careful follow-up is
      essential.

PMID- 20941563
TI  - Aortic valve replacement with 17-mm St. Jude Medical Regent prosthetic valves for
      a small calcified aortic annulus in elderly patients.
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to investigate the outcome of aortic valve
      replacement (AVR) performed with a 17-mm St. Jude Medical Regent prosthetic valve
      (17SJMR) for an aortic annulus <=19 mm in elderly patients aged >=65 years.
      METHODS: Six female patients (age 73.0 +/- 5.1 years, body surface area 1.43 +/-
      0.07 m2) underwent AVR between October 2005 and February 2008. RESULTS: Peak
      transaortic pressure gradient, which was 80.8 +/- 31.0 mmHg preoperatively,
      decreased to 31.0 +/- 4.2 mmHg postoperatively (P < 0.01) and to 21.7 +/- 1.5
      mmHg long term (P < 0.01). The left ventricular mass index, which was 112.1 +/-
      10.6 g/m2 preoperatively, also significantly decreased to 101.4 +/- 15.0 g/m2
      postoperatively and to 88.3 +/- 14.8 g/m2 long term (P < 0.01). Subjective
      symptoms diminished in all patients, and neither mortality nor hemorrhagic
      complications occurred. The postoperative mean effective orifice area index was
      0.91 +/- 0.04 cm2/m2. CONCLUSION: A favorable outcome was obtained by aortic
      valve replacement with the 17SJMR. Patients showed improved postoperative
      hemodynamic performance without valve-related complications.

PMID- 20941564
TI  - Advantage of absorbable suture material for pulmonary artery ligation.
AB  - PURPOSE: The applicability of absorbable materials as ligatures of pulmonary
      vessels has not been described. The present study compares tissue reactions
      around sites of pulmonary arteries ligated with absorbable material (Vicryl) and
      with nonabsorbable material (silk). METHODS: Beagle dogs underwent thoracotomy
      and the pulmonary artery branches were ligated with silk or Vicryl under general
      anesthesia. The ligated arterial tissues were obtained at 4 and 8 weeks after
      thoracotomy and processed for pathological analysis. RESULTS: The arteries
      ligated using Vicryl or silk were clinically completely sealed at 4 weeks after
      ligation. More inflammation and granuloma were evident at tissues surrounding
      ligations made with silk than with Vicryl at 8 weeks. Hyperplasia of the arterial
      intima continued at 8 weeks after ligation with both Vicryl and silk sutures,
      although some hyperplasia similar to that in nonligated arterial intima appeared
      at 4 weeks after ligation. CONCLUSION: Less inflammation and granuloma are caused
      at arterial tissues around ligations accomplished with absorbable Vicryl than
      those done with nonabsorbable silk sutures, although both are equally effective.
      Absorbable sutures might be suitable for ligating pulmonary arteries.

PMID- 20941565
TI  - Benefits of video-assisted thoracic surgery for repeated pulmonary
      metastasectomy.
AB  - PURPOSE: The use of repeated pulmonary resection for metachronous pulmonary
      metastasis has increased. We assessed whether video-assisted thoracic surgery
      (VATS) produced greater benefits than classic thoracotomy for repeated pulmonary
      metastasectomy procedures. METHODS: A total of 46 patients who had undergone two
      or more pulmonary metastasectomies from 1995 to 2008 were analyzed in this study.
      These patients were classified into four groups as follows: group A (previous
      VATS/present VATS); group B (previous VATS/present thoracotomy); group C
      (previous thoracotomy/present VATS); group D (previous thoracotomy/present
      thoracotomy). The clinical features of these four groups were then compared.
      RESULTS: The operating time and the duration of thoracic drainage were longer in
      group D than in group A or B. The operating time was also longer in group C than
      in group A. Intraoperative bleeding was greater in group D patients than in other
      three groups. There were no discernible morbidities resulting from VATS in groups
      A or C. No differences were found in the occurrence of relapse among the groups.
      The mean interval from the previous to the present pulmonary metastasectomy also
      did not differ significantly among groups. CONCLUSION: VATS can result in a
      shortened operating time, reduced intraoperative bleeding, and generally fewer
      complications compared with repeated classic thoracotomy. VATS is also
      potentially a curative procedure as it is not inferior to classic thoracotomy in
      terms of the relapse rate after repeated pulmonary metastasectomy.

PMID- 20941566
TI  - Scimitar syndrome in an infant with right lung hypoplasia, ventricular septal
      defect, and severe pulmonary hypertension.
AB  - A 5-month-old boy was presented for surgical repair of scimitar syndrome
      associated with right lung hyperplasia, severe pulmonary hypertension,
      ventricular septal defect (VSD), and atrial septal defect. The calculated shunt
      fraction (Qp/Qs) was 3.1:1.0, pulmonary vascular resistance was 4.6, and the
      perfusion lung scan showed a marked decrease (11%) in right pulmonary blood flow.
      Surgical repair was performed through the right fourth intercostal space with the
      patient supine. The anomalous vein was divided and interposed with a short azygos
      vein graft, followed by closure of the VSD. Finally, the interposed azygos vein
      was anastomosed to the left atrium. Although pulmonary artery pressure was
      normalized at the 2-year follow-up, cardiac catheterization 6 months after the
      operation demonstrated right pulmonary vein obstruction.

PMID- 20941567
TI  - Long-term outcome of large artificial patch aortic repair for diffuse stenosis in
      Williams syndrome.
AB  - There have been only a few reports concerning the long-term results of a surgical
      procedure using a large artificial patch for patients with Williams syndrome.
      Twelve years have passed since a patient with William's syndrome underwent a
      surgery with a patch angioplasty for the diffuse supravalvular aortic stenosis
      and deformities of the neck branch arteries. The patient had a well-balanced
      aortic growth without stenotic or aneurysmal changes, which was confirmed during
      the time of the second surgery when replacing the mitral valve. This technique of
      using a large patch has proven to be safe for Williams syndrome patients with
      diffuse supravalvular aortic stenosis in the long term.

PMID- 20941568
TI  - Minimally invasive cardiac surgery for a young woman with Marfan syndrome and
      mitral regurgitation.
AB  - The case involved a 26-year-old woman with Marfan syndrome (MFS) and severe
      mitral valve regurgitation who hoped to bear a child. Anticipating future surgery
      to treat cardiovascular disease via a median sternotomy, we performed mitral
      annuloplasty via a right anterior thoracotomy. Mitral valve repair for mitral
      valve regurgitation via a right anterior thoracotomy is one of the most
      beneficial procedures for patients with MFS.

PMID- 20941569
TI  - Atypical carcinoid of thymus associated with multiple endocrine neoplasia
      syndrome type 1.
AB  - Thymic carcinoid associated with multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 1
      (MEN-1) is a rare tumor. We report a case of MEN-1-related thymic carcinoid. The
      patient reported herein had already been diagnosed with MEN-1 and was found to
      have a mediastinal mass. She underwent thymectomy with partial resection of the
      left innominate vein and lung. Histological examination revealed atypical
      carcinoid with infiltration. MEN-1 gene mutation was detected by employing the
      direct nucleotide sequencing method. Postoperative 2-fluoro-2-deoxyglucose
      positron emission tomography showed probable multiple metastases in the vertebrae
      and myocardium. However, she has been alive and asymptomatic for 2 years
      postoperatively. MEN-1-related thymic carcinoid is often insidious with a poor
      prognosis. We suggest chest computed tomography scan or magnetic resonance
      imaging for MEN-1 patients and serological or genetic screening for patients with
      thymic carcinoid to screen for MEN-1.

PMID- 20941570
TI  - Lung metastases from various malignancies combined with primary lung cancer.
AB  - Various tumors metastasize to the lung, and they are often detected as multiple
      nodules. We report on two cases of such multiple lung metastases combined with
      primary lung cancer: a myxoid liposarcoma in the right thigh and a colon cancer.
      In each case, a pulmonary metastasectomy revealed that one of the tumors was
      primary lung cancer. Regardless of recent advances in computed tomography for
      detecting small pulmonary nodules and ground-glass opacity components, which
      indicate possible primary lung cancer, the preoperative differential diagnosis
      for either metastatic or primary lung cancers is usually difficult because they
      are too small to obtain enough tissue for diagnosis, except by surgery. When
      nodules are removed and diagnosed as lung metastasis combined with primary lung
      cancer, additional treatment should be considered depending on the prognosis of
      each disease.

PMID- 20941571
TI  - Pulmonary papillary adenoma.
AB  - We present a rare case of solitary pulmonary papillary adenoma. A man consulted
      our hospital because of abnormal chest radiography finding. Chest computed
      tomography demonstrated a well-defined, homogeneous nodular shadow 11 mm in size
      at the left lower lobe. The previous physician had considered it to be an old
      benign inflammatory granuloma and had kept it under observation. This mass was
      followed through chest radiographs at annual medical checkups for 4 years. In
      2006, enlargement and lobulation were noted. We performed thoracoscopic partial
      resection of the left lower lobe. On postoperative pathology examination, the
      nodule was found to be a circumscribed nodule consisting of a papillary growth of
      cuboidal to low-columnar epithelial cells lining the surface of a fibrovascular
      stroma. The histological features were consistent with pulmonary papillary
      adenoma. Only 20 cases of pulmonary papillary adenoma have been reported in the
      literature.

PMID- 20941572
TI  - A stand-up collar around the saphenous vein graft.
AB  - We present a technique of a stand-up collar around the saphenous vein graft using
      a pedicled fat pad flap. This procedure is simple and effective to avoid kinking
      in a graft that was proximally anastomosed with an automatic device and to
      maintain the graft in its natural position.

PMID- 20941573
TI  - Automatic formation of hypotheses on the relationships between structure of
      naphthalene analogs and bioluminescence response of bioreporter Pseudomonas
      fluorescens HK44.
AB  - Seven hypotheses on relationships between the structure of naphthalene analogs
      and bioluminescence response of bioreporter Pseudomonas fluorescens were
      formulated using GUHA (General Unary Hypotheses Automaton) on a training set of
      37 compounds. Prediction of bioluminescence response of 12 new naphthalene
      analogs was successful in 69 % cases and resulted in rejection of single
      hypothesis. The results demonstrate applicability of GUHA in structure-activity
      research, especially for qualitative data.

PMID- 20941574
TI  - Antibacterial activity of N-benzylsalicylthioamides.
AB  - The in-vitro biological activity of N-benzylsalicylthioamides against 8 bacterial
      strains was determined by broth microdilution method; results were compared with
      those obtained with neomycin, penicillin G, ciprofloxacin and penicillin V. The
      compounds showed moderate to high activity against G(+) bacteria; especially
      compounds 4, 6, 13, 16-21 and 24 exhibited comparable or higher activity than
      reference drugs. The antibacterial activity was analyzed by quantitative
      structure-activity relationship (QSAR). The antibacterial activity increased with
      lipophilicity, with the presence of halogens and with increasing value of Hammet
      substituent constant sigma.

PMID- 20941575
TI  - Characterization and antimicrobial activity of 4-(beta-D-glucopyranosyl-1->4
      alpha-L-rhamnopyranosyloxy)-benzyl thiocarboxamide; a novel bioactive compound
      from Moringa oleifera seed extract.
AB  - Antimicrobial activity of crude seed extract of Moringa oleifera was investigated
      by thin layer chromatography bioassay against Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas
      aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, Cladosporium cladosporioides, and Penicillium
      sclerotigenum; most of them were prominently inhibited by an isolate with R(F)
      0.92-0.96. Characterization and identification of the extract revealed the
      occurrence of three bioactive compounds: 4-(alpha-L-rhamnopyranosyloxy)benzyl
      isothiocyanate, methyl N-4-(alpha-L-rhamnopyranosyloxy) benzyl carbamate (both
      known compounds), and 4-(beta-D-glucopyranosyl-1->4-alpha-L-rhamnopyranosyloxy)
      benzyl thiocarboxamide, existence of which in any Moringa spp. or plant is
      reported for the first time. The UV spectrum of the novel compound showed maximum
      absorption at 273 and 225 nm in MeOH while the IR spectrum revealed several
      characteristic bands at 3100, 2900, 1700, 1500, 1300, 1100 and 1000 cm(-1). The
      (1)H-NMR showed signals at 1.2 and 3.77 ppm and the (13)C-NMR presented signals
      at 155, 122, 91.7 and 98.4 ppm. All the compounds at 5 mg/L had very high
      bactericidal activity against some of test pathogens even at contact period 1-2
      h. 4-(beta-D-Glucopyranosyl-1->4-alpha-L-rhamnopyranosyloxy)benzyl
      thiocarboxamide was the most potent, with 99.2 % inhibition toward Shigella
      dysenteriae and 100 % toward Bacillus cereus, E. coli and Salmonella typhi within
      4 h of contact.

PMID- 20941576
TI  - Stress proteins in the cytoplasmic membrane fraction of Bacillus subtilis.
AB  - Stress proteomes of the cytoplasmic membrane fraction of Bacillus subtilis trp
      (C2)-exposed to acid pH and ethanol were characterized. Although these stress
      factors impair the cell function in a specific manner, they share the ability to
      denature proteins. Therefore, specific and general stress proteins in the
      membranes were investigated. Both ethanol (3 %) and pH 5.0 increase the doubling
      time from 17 to 25 min. Isolated cytoplasmic membranes were subjected to an
      optimized 2D PAGE analysis which permitted the separation and analysis of ~450
      distinct protein spots. Two alternative methods of protein detection were
      compared, i.e. silver staining and (35)S-L-methionine pulse labeling; the stress
      induced proteins were identified by MALDI-TOF MS. After ethanol stress, five
      proteins were increased, viz. YdaP, Ctc, YfhM, YjcH and YwaC. Acid stress
      proteins were AcoB, YkwC, SodA, YjcH and YwaC. Proteins YjcH and YwaC were
      increased after ethanol as well as acid pH treatment.

PMID- 20941578
TI  - Bioconversion of acrylonitrile to acrylamide using polyacrylamide entrapped cells
      of Rhodococcus rhodochrous PA-34.
AB  - The nitrile hydratase (NHase) of Rhodococcus rhodochrous PA-34 catalyzed the
      conversion of acrylonitrile to acrylamide. The resting cells (having NHase
      activity) (8 %; 1 mL corresponds to 22 mg dry cell mass, DCM) were immobilized in
      polyacrylamide gel containing 12.5 % acrylamide, 0.6 % bisacrylamide, 0.2 %
      diammonium persulfate and 0.4 % TEMED. The polyacrylamide entrapped cells (1.12
      mg DCM/mL) completely converted acrylonitrile in 3 h at 10  degrees C, using 0.1
      mol/L potassium phosphate buffer. In a partitioned fed batch reactor, 432 g/L
      acrylamide was accumulated after 1 d. The polyacrylamide discs were recycled up
      to 3*; 405, 210 and 170 g/L acrylamide was produced in 1st, 2nd and 3rd recycling
      reactions. In four cycles, a total of 1217 g acrylamide was produced by recycling
      the same mass of entrapped cells.

PMID- 20941577
TI  - Chimeras between C. glabrata Cnh1 and S. cerevisiae Nha1 Na+/H+-antiporters are
      functional proteins increasing the salt tolerance of yeast cells.
AB  - The transport activity and substrate specificity of two chimeras consisting of S.
      cerevisiae Nha1p's N-terminal regions (either first 125 or 184 AA) and the rest
      of the C. glabrata Cnh1p (up to the total protein length of 946 AA) were compared
      with those of the two native antiporters. Both chimeric transporters were
      functional upon expression in S. cerevisiae cells, their presence improved the
      ability of cells to grow in the presence of high external concentration of K(+),
      Na(+) or Rb(+) (as chlorides), but not in the presence of the smallest cation
      (Li(+)). Cation efflux confirmed the ability of chimeras to export cations and
      showed their significantly reduced transport capacity compared to the wild-type
      proteins. Despite the very high level of primary sequence identity (87 %) between
      the S. cerevisiae and C. glabrata plasma-membrane Na(+)/H(+) antiporters, various
      parts of these proteins are not exchangeable without affecting the antiporter's
      transport capacity.

PMID- 20941579
TI  - Degrading ability of oligocyclic aromates by Phanerochaete sordida selected via
      screening of white rot fungi.
AB  - Seventy-nine white rot strains were screened to determine if they had the
      potential for use in the degradation of oligocyclic aromates (PAHs) by measuring
      their dye-decoloration rate. Fourteen strains that were selected based on their
      dye-decoloration rate were then evaluated for the ability to tolerate various
      levels of PAHs spiked in agar medium. The ability of white rot fungi to degrade 3
      or 4-ring PAHs (anthracene, phenanthrene, fluoranthene, pyrene) was determined.
      Two strains of Phanerochaete sordida (KUC8369, KUC8370) were possible PAHs
      degraders, degrading a significantly greater amount of phenanthrene and
      fluoranthene than the culture collection strain P. chrysosporium (a known PAHs
      degrader). The production of manganese peroxidase, the only extracellular
      ligninolytic enzyme detected during the cultivation, was evaluated.

PMID- 20941580
TI  - Local distribution of ectomycorrhizae-associated basidiomycetes in forest soil
      correlates with the degree of soil organic matter humification and available
      electrolytes.
AB  - Spatial distribution of ectomycorrhizae-associated basidiomycetes was determined
      in oakbirch forest using terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T
      RFLP) analysis. The data were correlated with actual soil humidity, pH, electric
      conductivity of the soil extract, absorbance A(465) and A(665) of water and
      alkali soil extracts and with the ratio A(465)/A(665) (parameter A4/A6). Natural
      non-homogeneity of the soil parameters was used as experimental gradient.
      Distance-based redundancy analysis of the T-RFLP data (with soil parameters being
      taken as environmental parameters) provided significant results when ITS1F
      terminanted restriction fragments were analyzed. Among other fungi, a Mycena
      galericulata related fungus was observed to correlate negatively with A4/A6,
      indicating its association with highly humified soil organic matter. Positive
      association of other, unidentified fungi with A4/A6 was also observed. Several
      other unidentified fungi negatively correlated with electric conductivity of the
      soil extract. The results may explain nonhomogeneity of the spatial distribution
      of the fungi associated with ectomycorrhizae as a result of their interaction
      with non-homogeneous soil environment.

PMID- 20941581
TI  - Diversity and activity of cultivable aerobic planktonic bacteria of a saline Lake
      located in Sovata, Romania.
AB  - Aerobic bacterial strains from the salt water of Lake Red (Sovata, Romania) were
      cultivated. More than half of the 80 strains were G(-) and formed motile straight
      rods. Only a few strains produced acid from D-glucose and reduced nitrate to
      nitrite. Optimum NaCl concentration for growth varied between 5 and 15 % in the
      majority of the strains, so the isolates were regarded moderately halophilic. On
      the basis of the 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity almost half of the strains
      were identified as members of genus Halomonas. Other strains belonged to genera
      Marinobacter, Psychrobacter, Serratia, Morganella (gamma-Proteobacteria),
      Bacillus, Exiguobacterium, Planococcus (Firmicutes), and Arthrobacter,
      Micrococcus, Microbacterium, and Nesterenkonia (Actinobacteria).

PMID- 20941582
TI  - Biological dinitrogen fixation by selected soil cyanobacteria as affected by
      strain origin, morphotype, and light conditions.
AB  - The potential for N(2) fixation by heterocystous cyanobacteria isolated from
      soils of different geographical areas was determined as nitrogenase activity (NA)
      using the acetylene reduction assay. Morphology of cyanobacteria had the largest
      influence on NA determined under light conditions. NA was generally higher in
      species lacking thick slime sheaths. The highest value (1446 nmol/h C(2)H(4) per
      g fresh biomass) was found in the strain of branched cyanobacterium Hassalia (A
      Has1) from the polar region. A quadratic relationship between NA and biomass was
      detected in the Tolypothrix group under light conditions. The decline of NA in
      dark relative to light conditions ranged from 37 to 100 % and differed among
      strains from distinct geographical areas. Unlike the NA of temperate and tropical
      strains, whose decline in dark relative to light was 24 and 17 %, respectively,
      the NA of polar strains declined to 1 % in the dark. This difference was
      explained by adaptation to different light conditions in temperate, tropical, and
      polar habitats. NA was not related to the frequency of heterocysts in strains of
      the colony-forming cyanobacterium Nostoc. Colony morphology and life cycle are
      therefore more important for NA then heterocyst frequency. NA values probably
      reflect the environmental conditions where the cyanobacterium was isolated and
      the physiological and morphological state of the strain.

PMID- 20941583
TI  - Developing biochemical and molecular markers for cyanobacterial inoculants.
AB  - Markers for evaluating the establishment of cyanobacteria based on their
      sensitivity or resistance to antibiotics, saccharide utilization patterns and PCR
      generated fingerprints were developed. Four selected strains (isolates from
      rhizosphere soils of diverse agro-ecosystems) have shown potential as diazotrophs
      and exhibited plant growth promoting abilities. Different responses were obtained
      on screening against 40 antibiotics, which aided in developing selectable
      antibiotic markers for each strain. Biochemical profiles generated using
      standardized chromogenic identification system (including saccharide utilization
      tests) revealed that 53 % of the saccharides tested were not utilized by any
      strain, while some strains exhibited unique ability for utilization of
      saccharides such as melibiose, cellobiose, maltose and glucosamine. PCR based
      amplification profiles developed using a number of primers based on repeat
      sequences revealed the utility of 3 primers in providing unique fingerprints for
      the strains.

PMID- 20941584
TI  - Rapid molecular identification and characteristics of Lactobacillus strains.
AB  - Eleven type strains and 24 Lactobacillus isolates, preliminarily classified to
      the species due to phenotypic features, were investigated. Standard methods of
      identification with species-specific PCRs and typing with PFGE (with ApaI, NotI
      and SmaI restriction enzymes) allowed us to distinguish 16 unique strains
      belonging to 5 species (L. acidophilus, L. delbrueckii ssp. bulgaricus, L.
      plantarum, L. rhamnosus, L. salivarius). Alternative approach with 16S-23S rDNA
      ARDRA identification (with merely two restrictases, BsuRI and TaqI) and PCR-based
      typing (RAPD with two random- and rep-PCR with (GTG)(5) primers) showed to be
      more discriminative, i.e. 21 unique strains were classified in the same species
      as above. As a result, 7 out of 24 phenotypically species-assigned isolates were
      reclassified. The alternative procedure of rapid identification and typing of
      Lactobacillus isolates appeared to be equally effective and shortened from 1 week
      to 2-3 d (in comparison to the standard methods).

PMID- 20941585
TI  - Bacterial community composition of the gut microbiota of Cylindroiulus fulviceps
      (diplopoda) as revealed by molecular fingerprinting and cloning.
AB  - Bacterial clone libraries of the gut microbiota of nurtured and starved
      Cylindroiulus fulviceps specimens displayed the predominance of the phyla
      Bacteroidetes (55 and 37 %, respectively) and Proteobacteria (40 and 35 %,
      respectively) and a high similarity to bacteria previously detected in the
      intestinal tract of termites and beetles, which are known to harbor symbiotic
      bacteria essential for digestive activity. Bacterial isolates were dominated by
      Proteobacteria (74 %), followed by members of the phyla Actinobacteria,
      Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes. PCR-DGGE fingerprints of the gut samples showed
      that intestinal bacteria were affected by starvation, although the change was not
      significant.

PMID- 20941586
TI  - Bacteria competing with the adhesion and biofilm formation by Staphylococcus
      aureus.
AB  - The activity of antagonistic substances produced by Pseudomonas aeruginosa and
      Lactobacillus acidophilus against the planktonic and sessile populations of
      Staphylococcus aureus strains was demonstrated. The strongest effects were caused
      by probiotic L. acidophilus strain - bacteriocin-like inhibitory substances
      (BLIS) positive. However, the S. aureus A3 growth, adhesion and biofilm formation
      was also limited by cell-free supernatant of L. acidophilus H-1 (BLIS negative).
      Moreover, competitive direct interactions were observed between staphylococci and
      the above bacteria, which influenced the formation of dualspecies aggregates on
      the surface.

PMID- 20941587
TI  - Detection of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus using double duplex real
      time PCR and dye Syto 9.
AB  - A screening method for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) using
      real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and dye Syto 9 was developed and
      evaluated. The assay was based on the two duplex reactions run simultaneously.
      The detection reaction amplified staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec)
      right extremity sequences and S. aureus-specific 442-bp DNA (Sa442). The control
      reaction amplified S. aureus-specific nuclease gene nuc and a marker of
      methicillin resistance, mecA. The method was evaluated by analyzing 214 clinical
      S. aureus isolates yielding 98.7 % sensitivity, 100 % specificity, 100 % positive
      predictive value and 96.6 % negative predictive value for detection of MRSA. The
      detection limit was determined to be 15-80 genome copies per real-time PCR. It
      was able to discriminate between MRSA, methicillin resistant coagulase negative
      staphylococci and methicillin susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) isolates containing
      only small fragments of the right extremity of the SCCmec (MSSA revertants).

PMID- 20941588
TI  - Innate immunity to Legionella and toll-like receptors - review.
AB  - Legionella is a parasite of eukaryotic cells, able to survive and replicate in a
      wide range of protozoan hosts. It can also infect humans as an opportunistic
      pathogen, primarily by interaction with alveolar macrophages. These bacteria can
      cause life-threatening pneumonia, especially in immunocompromised individuals.
      However, most infections triggered by Legionella are cleared by an efficient host
      immune system. The protective immune responses against Legionella are complex and
      multifaceted, involving many components of the immune system. Recognition of such
      components as LPS, flagellum, and peptidoglycan of L. pneumophila by the TLRs,
      which orchestrates the innate immune responses to Legionella, lays an important
      role in activation of monocytes and alveolar macrophages and, thus, in inhibition
      of intracellular proliferation of bacteria. MyD88-dependent signaling pathways
      are important for host protection against Legionella.

PMID- 20941589
TI  - Cytokine expression in cord blood cells of children of healthy and allergic
      mothers.
AB  - To determine some early signs connected with the increased risk of future allergy
      development, gene expression and production of selected cytokines were tested in
      children of allergic mothers and compared with newborns of healthy mothers.
      Expression of IL-1beta, IL-2, IL-4, IL-8, IL-10, IL-13, IFN-gamma, TNF-alpha, TGF
      beta and EGF was tested in cord blood cells using real-time PCR and production of
      these cytokines was evaluated in cord sera by ELISA. Gene expression of IL-2, IL
      4, IL-8, IFN-gamma, IL-1beta, TNF-alpha and TGF-beta was decreased and that of IL
      10, IL-13 and EGF increased in children of allergic mothers in comparison with
      those of healthy mothers. Significant differences in sera of healthy and allergic
      groups were only in IL-10 and EGF. Different relationship among serum cytokine
      levels reflects the fact that the cytokines are not produced only by blood cells.
      Significantly decreased production of EGF in newborns of allergic mothers could
      negatively influence maturation of mucosal membranes of these children and
      support thus their easier allergization. Allergic phenotype pointing to the bias
      to T(H)2 response and to possibly impaired intestine maturation was apparent
      already on the level of cord blood and could serve as a predictive sign of
      increased allergy risk.

PMID- 20941590
TI  - Peptides representing the specific variable regions but not the full porin
      proteins can be useful for antibody based diagnosis of typhoid fever.
AB  - Antibody response to major porin proteins of S. Typhi (OmpC and OmpF) was
      evaluated in sera of typhoid patients (culture positive, n = 28; Widal positive,
      n = 16). Sera from fever patients (n = 6) having etiology other than Salmonella,
      and normal healthy human controls (n = 18) were also included. No significant
      difference between the anti-OmpC and anti-OmpF antibodies (Ab) of typhoid
      patients and controls was observed. The amino acid sequences of OmpC (and OmpF)
      porin of enterobacteria was aligned and searched for the variable regions
      specific to S. Typhi. Two regions, each representing one specific variable region
      of OmpC and OmpF, were selected (peptides for these regions were custom
      synthesized). The peptides were evaluated for Ab response of sera. A
      significantly higher level of Ab to both the peptides was observed in the sera of
      typhoid patients. The findings suggest that porins of S. Typhi are cross reactive
      and are not good markers for Ab-based diagnosis of typhoid fever, however,
      peptides representing the variable regions specific to S. Typhi may have greater
      diagnostic potential.

PMID- 20941591
TI  - Antitumor activity of N-acetyl-D-glucosamine-substituted glycoconjugates and
      combined therapy with keyhole limpet hemocyanin in B16F10 mouse melanoma model.
AB  - N-Acetyl-D-glucosamine-substituted glycoconjugates (GCJs) with the polyamidoamine
      (GN8P) or calix[4]arene (GN4C) scaffold represent ligands for NKR-P1 molecule and
      induce NK cell-mediated cytotoxicity in vitro. The in vivo effect of these GCJs
      on mouse melanoma model was determined when administered either alone or in
      combination with non-specific immunostimulator keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH).
      All types of treatment significantly reduced the tumor growth on day 23, while
      GN4C as well as KLH were effective continuously (from day 14). The GN4C also
      induced the longest mean survival time (46.3 +/- 11.1 d), followed by KLH+GN4C
      (36.4 +/- 12.1), KLH (35.6 +/- 6.5), KLH+GN8P (35.6 +/- 6.7), and GN8P (32.4 +/-
      7.0), compared to controls (29.8 +/- 3.6). The B16F10 specific cytotoxicity of
      peripheral blood cells was significantly elevated by both KLH and GN8P, whereas
      not by GN4C. KLH increased the effect of the GN4C, but did not influence that of
      GN8P. GN4C was proved to exert anticancer activity in mouse melanoma model. The
      combination of KLH with GCJs did not generate synergism.

PMID- 20941592
TI  - Small-molecule inhibitors reveal a new function for Bcl-2 as a proangiogenic
      signaling molecule.
AB  - Cancer has a complex etiology and displays a wide range of cellular escape
      pathways that allow it to circumvent treatment. Signaling molecules functionally
      downstream of the circumvented pathways, and particularly at checkpoints where
      several of these pathways intersect, provide valuable targets for the development
      of novel anti-cancer drugs. Bcl-2, a pro-survival signaling molecule, is one such
      protein. This review examines the efficacy, potency, and function of several
      small molecule inhibitor drugs targeted to the Bcl-2 family of proteins. The
      review focuses on the compounds with most available data within the literature
      and discusses both the anti-cancer and the recently unveiled anti-angiogenic
      potential of this new class of drugs.

PMID- 20941593
TI  - ACE activity is modulated by the enzyme alpha-galactosidase A.
AB  - Fabry disease is a multisystem X-linked disorder resulting from alpha
      galactosidase A (alpha-GalA) gene mutations leading to the accumulation of
      globotriaosylceramide mainly in endothelium compromising heart, kidney, and
      brain. In Fabry patients, progressive renal failure is frequently treated with
      angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors. We were interested in the
      possible interactions between ACE inhibitors therapy and the only causative
      therapy for Fabry disease, the enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) using recombinant
      human alpha-GalA (rhalpha-GalA). Our results suggest that ACE activity was
      significantly inhibited in plasma of Fabry patients and the blood pressure level
      decreased just after ERT (at the end of the rhalpha-GalA infusion).
      Interestingly, 2 weeks later, ACE activity was significantly upregulated and the
      plasma levels of angiotensin II increased in the patients treated with rhalpha
      GalA following the elevations of ACE activity. The same inhibitory effect on ACE
      activity was also observed in rats after rhalpha-GalA infusion. Furthermore, ACE
      activity in CHO cells transfected with the human ACE was inhibited dose and time
      dependently by rhalpha-GalA. In vitro, the incubation of plasma from healthy
      volunteers with rhalpha-GalA significantly reduced ACE activity. Finally, rhalpha
      GalA also inhibited ACE activity and released galactose residues from purified
      rabbit lung ACE dose-dependently. In summary, our results suggest that rhalpha
      GalA interacts with ACE and inhibits its activity, possibly by removing the
      galactose residues from the enzyme. This modulation might have profound impact on
      the clinical outcome of Fabry patients treated with rhalpha-GalA.

PMID- 20941594
TI  - Desensitization of delta-opioid receptors in nucleus accumbens during nicotine
      withdrawal.
AB  - RATIONALE: The synthesis and release of met-enkephalin and beta-endorphin,
      endogenous ligands for delta-opioid peptide receptors (DOPrs), are altered
      following nicotine administration and may play a role in nicotine addiction.
      OBJECTIVES: To investigate the consequences of altered opioidergic activity on
      DOPr expression, coupling, and function in striatum during early nicotine
      withdrawal. METHODS: Mice received nicotine-free base, 2 mg/kg, or saline,
      subcutaneously (s.c.), four times daily for 14 days and experiments performed at
      24, 48, and 72 h after drug discontinuation. DOPr binding and mRNA were evaluated
      by [3H]naltrindole autoradiography and in situ hybridization. DOPr coupling and
      function were investigated by agonist pCl-DPDPE-stimulated [35S]GTPgammaS binding
      autoradiography and inhibition of adenylyl cyclase activity. RESULTS: During
      nicotine withdrawal DOPr binding was unaltered in caudate/putamen (CPu) and
      nucleus accumbens (NAc) shell and core. Receptor mRNA was slightly increased in
      the shell at 72 h, but significant elevations were observed in prefrontal cortex
      and hippocampus. pCl-DPDPE-stimulated [35S]GTPgammaS binding was attenuated in
      NAc, but not CPu. In the shell, binding was decreased by 48 h and remained
      decreased over 72 h; while in the core, significant reduction was seen at 72 h.
      Basal adenylyl cyclase activity was suppressed in striatum at 24 h, but recovered
      by 48 h. DOPr stimulation with pCl-DPDPE failed to inhibit adenylyl cyclase
      activity at 24 h and produced attenuated responses at 48 and 72 h. CONCLUSIONS:
      These observations suggest that DOPr coupling and function are impaired in the
      NAc during nicotine withdrawal. DOPr desensitization might be involved in the
      affective component of nicotine withdrawal.

PMID- 20941595
TI  - Electrophysiological evidence of enhanced performance monitoring in recently
      abstinent alcoholic men.
AB  - RATIONALE: Chronic alcoholism is associated with mild to moderate cognitive
      impairment. Under certain conditions, impairment can be ameliorated by invoking
      compensatory processes. OBJECTIVE: To identify electrophysiological mechanisms of
      such compensation that would be required to resolve response conflict. METHODS:
      14 abstinent alcoholic men and 14 similarly aged control men performed a
      variation of the Eriksen flanker task during an electroencephalography (EEG)
      recording to examine whether alcoholics could achieve and maintain control-level
      performance and whether EEG markers could identify evidence for the action of
      compensatory processes in the alcoholics. Monitoring processes engaged following
      a response were indexed by the correct related negativity (CRN) and error related
      negativity (ERN), two medial-frontal negative event-related potentials. RESULTS:
      The alcoholics were able to perform at control levels on accuracy and reaction
      time (RT). Alcoholics generated larger ERN amplitudes following incorrect
      responses and larger CRNs following correct responses than controls. Both groups
      showed evidence of post-error slowing. Larger CRN amplitudes in the alcoholics
      were related to longer RTs. Also observed in the alcoholics was an association
      between smaller CRN amplitudes and length of sobriety, suggesting a normalization
      of monitoring activity with extended abstinence. CONCLUSIONS: To the extent that
      greater amplitude of these electrophysiological markers of performance monitoring
      indexes greater resource allocation and performance compensation, the larger
      amplitudes observed in the alcoholic than control group support the view that
      elevated performance monitoring enables abstinent alcoholics to overcome response
      conflict, as was evident in their control-level performance.

PMID- 20941596
TI  - Noninvasive cardiac output determination for children by the inert gas
      rebreathing method.
AB  - Standard methods for determination of cardiac output (CO) are either invasive or
      technically demanding. Measurement of CO by the inert gas-rebreathing (IGR)
      method, applied successfully in adults, uses a low-concentration mixture of an
      inert and a blood-soluble gas, respectively. This study tested the feasibility of
      this method for determining CO during exercise for pediatric patients with
      complete congenital atrioventricular block (CCAVB) stimulated with a VVI
      pacemaker. In this study, 5 CCAVB patients (age 9.2-17.4 years) were compared
      with 10 healthy age-matched boys and girls. Testing was performed with the
      Innocor system. The patients were instructed to breathe the test gas from a
      closed system. Pulmonary blood flow was calculated according to the washout of
      the soluble gas component. During standardized treadmill testing, CO was
      determined at three defined levels. The CO measurements were successful for all
      the study participants. The patients reached a lower peak CO than the control
      subjects (5.9 l/min/m(2) vs 7.3 [boys] and 7.2 [girls]). The stroke volume
      increase under exercise also was reduced in the patients compared with the
      control subjects. The feasibility of the IGR method for exercise CO testing in
      children was documented. Application of the IGR method for children requires
      careful instruction of the patients and appears restricted to subjects older than
      8 years. The method offers new insights into mechanisms of cardiovascular
      adaptation in children with congenital heart disease.

PMID- 20941597
TI  - Phase I clinical trial of hepatic arterial infusion of paclitaxel in patients
      with advanced cancer and dominant liver involvement.
AB  - PURPOSE: The survival of patients with liver metastases from solid tumors is
      poor. We conducted a phase I study of hepatic arterial infusion (HAI) paclitaxel
      in patients with advanced cancer and predominant liver involvement. METHODS:
      Patients were treated with HAI paclitaxel 150-275 mg/m(2) (and 15,000 IU heparin
      intraarterially) every 28 days. A "3 + 3" study design was used. RESULTS: Twenty
      six patients were treated (median age, 59 years). Diagnoses were colorectal
      cancer (n = 10), breast cancer (n = 7), and other (n = 9). The median number of
      prior therapies was four (range, 0-10). The maximum tolerated dose (MTD) was HAI
      paclitaxel 225 mg/m(2). Dose-limiting toxicities (DLTs) included Grade 3
      neuropathy (1 of 5 patients) at HAI paclitaxel 275 mg/m(2) and Grade 4
      thrombocytopenia and neutropenia, and Grade 3 mucositis (1 of 4 patients) at 250
      mg/m(2). None of the eight patients treated with HAI paclitaxel 225 mg/m(2)
      experienced a DLT. The most common toxicities were nausea and peripheral
      neuropathy. Of 22 patients evaluable for response, 3 (13.6%) patients had SD for
      >=4 months (colorectal cancer, n = 1; thyroid cancer, n = 1; and hepatocellular
      carcinoma, n = 1; duration of response was 4 months, 7.1 months, and 22.2+
      months, respectively). CONCLUSION: The MTD of HAI paclitaxel was 225 mg/m(2).
      This regimen was well tolerated and had antitumor activity in selected patients.

PMID- 20941599
TI  - Natural and induced T CD4+CD25+FOXP3+ regulatory T cells.
AB  - Evidence has been accumulated to show that the forkhead/winged-helix
      transcription factor Foxp3 is a good marker for specialized CD4+ T cells that
      regulate immune responses to self as well as to a variety of foreign antigens
      including infectious or tumor antigens, alloantigens, allergens, and commensal
      antigens. It is now well established that CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ regulatory T cells
      encompass two categories of lymphocytes that are distinct in their origin,
      antigen specificity, as well as the stimuli driving their differentiation and
      homeostasis. Natural CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ regulatory T cells are an independent
      lineage generated in the thymus through major histocompatibility class II
      molecules-dependent MHC class high avidity interactions with their T cell
      receptor. They are specific for self-antigens. Adaptive or induced
      CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ regulatory T cells stem from mature CD4+CD25-Foxp3-precursors at
      the periphery following adequate stimulation. They have been shown to develop in
      vivo following suboptimal antigen stimulation, in situations characterized by
      chronic inflammation (autoimmunity, allergy, immune responses to tumors and
      transplants) and also as physiological actors of the mucosal immune system.
      Although major progress has been accomplished over the last years in our
      understanding of the central role of CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ regulatory T cells in the
      control of immune responses, major issues are still elusive. In particular, there
      are still no reliable phenotypic or functional markers that make it possible to
      distinguish between natural and induced CD25+Foxp3+ regulatory T cells.

PMID- 20941598
TI  - The advantages of cyanoacrylate wound closure in circumcision.
AB  - PURPOSE: To compare 2-octyl-cyanoacrylate (2-octyl-CA) glue with polyglytone 6211
      sutures in circumcision wound closure on the basis of operative time, safeness,
      postoperative pain and cosmesis. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The boys who would undergo
      circumcision in 18-month period (n = 137) were grouped into two. In Group 1 (n =
      64), 6/0 polyglytone 6211 sutures, and in Group 2 (n = 73), 2-octyl-CA glue were
      used for wound closure. Durations of anesthesia, surgical procedures and
      postoperative pain, and pain scores on the 2nd and 48th postoperative hours were
      determined. A classification system was constructed to evaluate cosmesis,
      intraoperative and postoperative bleeding. Quantitative differences were assessed
      by Mann-Whitney U and Student's t tests, and qualitative analyses were performed
      by chi (2) test. p was considered as significant at less than 0.05. RESULTS: The
      pain scores of the groups were comparable. Durations of anesthesia, surgical
      procedures and postoperative pain were significantly shorter (p < 0.05); and
      cosmesis, intraoperative and postoperative bleeding status were significantly
      better in Group 2 (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: 2-Octyl-CA seems to be a good
      alternative to the conventional suturing technique in circumcision wound closure
      with shorter operation time, ease of appliance, improved safeness, better
      cosmesis and shorter duration of postoperative pain.

PMID- 20941600
TI  - Polyclonal expansion of human CD4(+)CD25(+) regulatory T cells.
AB  - Based on results from experimental animal models, the adoptive transfer of
      CD4(+)CD25(+)FOXP3(+) regulatory T cells (Treg) is expected to be efficacious in
      treating autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, as well as in preventing
      alloresponses after solid organ or stem-cell transplantation. For potential
      clinical applications, large numbers of Treg cells in maximum purity will be
      required to avoid the risk of disease exacerbation by contaminating effector T
      cells. We have recently described methods for the efficient in vitro expansion of
      human Treg cells and identified CD4(+)CD25(high)CD45RA(+) T cells as the ideal
      starting population for the generation of homogeneous and stable Treg cell
      products. Here, we provide detailed instructions for their identification,
      isolation, expansion, and functional characterization.

PMID- 20941601
TI  - Methods for in vitro generation of human type 1 regulatory T cells.
AB  - Type 1 regulatory T (Tr1) cells are adaptive regulatory T cells that are induced
      in the periphery upon chronic exposure to antigen (Ag) in a tolerogenic
      environment containing interleukin (IL)-10. Tr1 cells are Ag-specific; they
      produce high levels of IL-10 and TGF-beta in the absence of IL-4 and suppress T
      cell responses via a cytokine-dependent mechanism. During the last decade,
      several protocols have been developed to generate Tr1 cell lines in vitro. In
      this chapter, we outline protocols to generate non-Ag- and Ag-specific Tr1 cell
      lines and assays used to characterize Tr1 cell phenotype and functions.

PMID- 20941602
TI  - Ex vivo generation of regulatory T cells: characterization and therapeutic
      evaluation in a model of chronic colitis.
AB  - Naturally occurring regulatory T cells (nTregs; CD4(+)CD25(+)Foxp3(+)) are
      capable of suppressing the chronic inflammation observed in a variety of
      different animal models of autoimmune and chronic inflammatory diseases such as
      inflammatory bowel diseases, diabetes, and arthritis. A major limitation in
      exploring how and where nTregs exert their suppression in vivo is the relative
      paucity of these regulatory cells. Although several laboratories have described
      different methods to expand flow-purified nTregs or convert conventional/naive T
      cells (CD4(+)Foxp3(-)) to Foxp3-expressing "induced" Tregs (iTregs;
      CD4(+)Foxp3(+)) ex vivo, we have found that many of these approaches are
      encumbered with their own limitations. Therefore, we sought to develop a
      relatively simple ex vivo method to generate large numbers of Foxp3-expressing
      iTregs that can be used to evaluate their trafficking properties, suppressive
      activity, and therapeutic efficacy in a mouse model of chronic gut inflammation
      in vivo. We present a detailed protocol demonstrating that polyclonal activation
      of conventional CD4(+) T cells in the presence of IL-2, TGFbeta, and all trans
      retinoic acid induces >90% conversion of these T cells to Foxp3-expressing iTregs
      as well as promotes a three- to fourfold increase in proliferation following a 4
      day incubation period in vitro. This protocol enhances modestly the surface
      expression of the gut-homing adhesion molecule CCR9 but not alpha(4)beta(7).
      Furthermore, we provide preliminary data demonstrating that these iTregs are
      significantly more potent at suppressing T-cell activation in vitro and are
      equally effective as freshly isolated nTregs at attenuating chronic colitis in
      vivo. Finally, we report that this protocol has the potential to generate 30-40
      million iTregs from one healthy mouse spleen.

PMID- 20941603
TI  - Phenotypic and functional characterization of CD8(+) T regulatory cells.
AB  - Increasing evidence shows the presence and significance of CD8+ T regulatory
      cells (CD8+ Tregs) in both human and rodent transplant recipients, as well as in
      autoimmune disease models. We, hereafter, review all available data on the
      phenotypic and functional characterization of CD8+ Tregs, and we also provide
      detailed protocols to purify them and analyze their suppressive function.
      Different subsets of dendritic cells (DCs) and CD4+ effector T cells may modulate
      the suppression mediated by CD8+ Tregs. By analyzing the proliferation of CFSE
      labeled naive CD4+CD25- T cells in coculture MLR and transwell experiments, we
      explored the mutual modulation of CD8+ Tregs, DC subsets, and CD4+ T effector
      cells. The suppressive function of CD8+ Tregs was mediated by both cell-contact
      dependent and -independent mechanisms.

PMID- 20941604
TI  - Regulatory CD4(-)CD8(-) double negative T cells.
AB  - Peripheral alphabetaTCR(+)CD3(+)CD4(-)CD8(-) NK1.1/CD56(-) double-negative (DN)
      Treg cells are a relatively rare subset of regulatory cells found in both humans
      and mice, typically comprising less than 5% of the total peripheral T-cell pool.
      Numerous studies have shown that DN Tregs can inhibit CD4(+) and CD8(+) T-cell
      responses in vitro and in vivo using a variety of model systems [Zhang et al.,
      Nature Medicine 6:782, 2000; Young et al., Blood 100:3408, 2002; Ford et al.,
      Experimental Medicine 196:261, 2002; Young et al., Journal of Immunology 171:134,
      2003; Ford et al., European Journal of Immunology 37:2234, 2007; Zhang et al.,
      Blood 109:4071, 2007; Fischer et al., Blood 105:2828, 2005]. This chapter
      describes published methods for the phenotypic identification of DN Tregs, their
      isolation from secondary lymphoid organs of mice or human peripheral blood,
      activation and expansion, and assays for their ability to suppress T-cell
      proliferation, induce apoptosis, and promote tolerance to allografts in vivo.

PMID- 20941605
TI  - Identifying regulatory B cells (B10 cells) that produce IL-10 in mice.
AB  - Regulatory B cells that produce IL-10 are now recognized as an important
      component of the immune system. We have identified a rare antigen-specific
      regulatory B-cell subset with a unique CD1d(hi)CD5(+)CD19(hi) phenotype in the
      spleens of wild-type mice. We call these cells B10 cells because they are
      responsible for most B cell IL-10 production, they appear to only produce IL-10
      after 5 h of in vitro stimulation, and to distinguish them from other potential
      regulatory B cell subsets. B10 progenitor (B10pro) cells have also been
      identified within the spleen CD1d(hi)CD5(+)CD19(hi) B-cell subset, and within
      other lymphoid tissues. Herein, four methods for identifying and isolating
      regulatory IL-10-producing B10 cells in mice are provided. The first two methods
      are used to identify and enumerate B10 and B10pro cells based on their cell
      surface phenotypes and cytoplasmic IL-10 staining. The last two methods are used
      to isolate viable B10 cells for adoptive transfer and functional studies. These
      methods should facilitate the study of B10 cells in inflammation, autoimmune
      disease, immune responses, and cancer therapy.

PMID- 20941606
TI  - DCs in immune tolerance in steady-state conditions.
AB  - Dendritic cells (DCs) are antigen-presenting cells (APCs) characterized by a
      unique capacity to stimulate naive T cells and initiate primary immune responses.
      Recent studies suggest that DCs are also involved in the induction of
      immunological tolerance in peripheral tissues under steady-state conditions by
      maintaining the homeostasis of self-reactive CD4(+)Foxp3(+)naturally occurring
      thymic-derived regulatory T cells (nT(regs)) and de novo generation of antigen
      specific CD4(+)Foxp3(+)inducible regulatory T cells (iT(regs)). We demonstrate
      here the impact of CD11(+)DCs on the antigen-specific differentiation of
      CD4(+)Foxp3(+)iT(regs) from CD4(+)Foxp3(-)T cells under steady-state and
      inflammatory conditions. CD11c(+)DCs promoted the transforming growth factor
      (TGF)-beta1-mediated conversion of CD4(+)Foxp3(-)T cells into
      CD4(+)Foxp3(+)iT(regs) in vitro, while stimulation of CD11c(+)DCs with CpG
      oligodeoxynucleotide (ODN) abrogated this conversion. Furthermore, antigen
      specific generation of CD4(+)Foxp3(+)iT(regs) required the function of CD11(+)DCs
      under steady-state conditions, whereas such conversion was severely abolished
      under inflammatory conditions. Thus, these results suggest the crucial role of
      DCs in the antigen-specific de novo conversion of CD4(+)Foxp3(-)T cells into
      CD4(+)Foxp3(+)iT(regs) under steady-state conditions, thereby leading to the
      establishment of peripheral immune tolerance.

PMID- 20941607
TI  - Plasmacytoid dendritic cells in tolerance.
AB  - Dendritic cells (DC) are professional antigen-presenting cells (APCs) that
      modulate the outcome of the immune response toward immunity or tolerance. There
      are a large variety of DC subsets according to surface phenotype, function, and
      tissue distribution. Murine plasmacytoid DC (pDC) represent a distinctive DC
      population and are characterized by the expression of CD11c, B220, Gr-1, CD45RA,
      Ly49Q, BST2, and siglec-H on the cell surface. PDC act as immunogenic cell
      sentinels by secreting large amounts of type I interferon (IFN) in the lymph
      nodes in response to viral stimulation. PDC also act as tolerogenic cells when
      expressing the inducible tolerogenic enzyme indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO),
      the inducible costimulator ligand (ICOS-L), and/or the programmed death 1 ligand
      (PD-L1), which mediate regulatory T-cell (Treg) development and suppression of
      self- and alloreactive cells. The PDC ability to induce Treg development is
      associated with capture and presentation of antigenic peptides associated with
      major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I and II. Here, we provide the tools
      to study PDC development from bone marrow cultures, their antigen presentation
      properties, and their interactions with Treg under a tolerogenic setting of
      sterile inflammation.

PMID- 20941608
TI  - In vitro-generated DC with tolerogenic functions: perspectives for in vivo
      cellular therapy.
AB  - Dendritic cells (DCs) have a central role in immune regulation and serve as an
      essential link between innate and adaptive immunity. Their broad range of
      powerful immune stimulatory as well as regulatory functions has made DCs a target
      for vaccine development strategies. One approach to promote the tolerogenicity of
      DCs is to suppress their maturation by pharmacological agents, including the
      glucocorticoid dexamethasone. In this chapter, we describe methods to generate
      tolerogenic Dex-DC derived from either human peripheral blood monocytes or rat
      bone marrow cells.

PMID- 20941609
TI  - Preparation of mouse bone marrow-derived dendritic cells with immunoregulatory
      properties.
AB  - Tolerogenic dendritic cells (Tol-DCs) are critical players in physiological
      tolerance. Moreover, they also play a role in immune regulation both in a
      pathophysiological context and when used as therapeutic tools in cell therapy
      strategies. Here, we describe a protocol to differentiate murine Tol-DCs from
      bone marrow precursors in vitro. Importantly, Tol-DCs actively suppress T cells
      stimulated with immunogenic allogeneic DCs. Indeed, Tol-DCs generated using this
      approach can be useful in studying and characterising the immunoregulatory
      pathways of Tol-DC and in developing Tol-DC-based cell therapy protocols using in
      vivo models.

PMID- 20941610
TI  - Myeloid-derived suppressor cells: characterization and expansion in models of
      endotoxemia and transplantation.
AB  - CD11b+GR1+ myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSC) accumulate in several
      inflammatory conditions including cancer, infections, or trauma. MDSCs are found
      in bone marrow and lymphoid organs and suppress both innate and adaptive immune
      responses. Although mechanisms of suppression are not fully understood, they have
      been reported to require cell-cell contact and very often implicate L-arginine
      metabolism. We and others recently observed that lipopolysaccharide (LPS)
      administration, as other TLR ligands, induces MDSC. In this case, MDSC regulate
      immune response independently of L-arginine metabolism through heme oxygenase-1
      activity. Manipulating MDSC as immunoregulators represents an attractive approach
      for cancer immunotherapy or transplantation. Herein, we describe methods for
      expanding and purifying MDSC, as well as in vitro and in vivo techniques to
      measure their suppressive functions.

PMID- 20941611
TI  - Human regulatory macrophages.
AB  - Regulatory macrophages (M regs) are a novel type of suppressor macrophage which
      may be a particularly suitable cell for inducing tolerance of solid organ
      transplants. In this article, we provide a detailed description of the generation
      of human M regs from peripheral blood monocytes and methods for the assessment of
      their phenotype. The uniqueness of the human M reg is best appreciated when the M
      reg is compared to macrophages in other states of activation; therefore,
      protocols are provided for generating five comparator macrophage types which have
      been used as cell type-specificity controls in our work.

PMID- 20941612
TI  - NKT and tolerance.
AB  - NKT cells are innate-like alphabeta T cells that are conserved between humans and
      mice. They are distinct from conventional T cells as they recognize lipid
      antigens presented by the CD1d molecule. Most NKT cells expressed a highly
      restricted TCR repertoire and can be activated by alpha-galactosylceramide (alpha
      GalCer) and detected by alpha-GalCer-loaded-CD1d tetramers. Upon activation, NKT
      cells respond in few hours by producing cytokines and stimulating many other
      cells of the innate and adaptive immune system. Over the last decade, many
      studies have analyzed the regulatory role of NKT cells that can either suppress
      or exacerbate immune functions. This chapter describes the tools and techniques
      required to study in vivo and in vitro the regulatory role of NKT cells in mouse
      as well as from human blood.

PMID- 20941613
TI  - Antiinflammatory and immunosuppressive functions of mast cells.
AB  - Through the release of biologically active products, mast cells function as
      important effector and immunoregulatory cells in diverse immunological reactions
      and other biological responses; for example, mast cells promote inflammation and
      other tissue changes in immunoglobulin E (IgE)-associated allergic disorders, as
      well as in certain innate and adaptive immune responses that are thought to be
      independent of IgE. Despite the mast cell's well-deserved reputation as a
      promoter of inflammation, others and we have used bone marrow-derived cultured
      mast cell (BMCMC) engrafted mast cell-deficient c-kit-mutant mice (so-called
      "mast cell knock-in" mice) to show that mast cells can also have important
      antiinflammatory and immunosuppressive functions in vivo. An early study showed
      that mast cells can contribute to susceptibility to ultraviolet B (UVB)-induced
      immunosuppression in one model of contact hypersensitivity (CHS), through effects
      mediated at least in part by histamine. Subsequently, it was reported that mast
      cells can mediate negative immunomodulatory effects following Anopheles mosquito
      bites, and in peripheral tolerance to skin allografts; however, the mechanism(s)
      by which mast cells mediate immunosuppressive functions in these two studies
      remains to be elucidated. Finally, we showed that mast cells and mast cell
      derived IL-10 can limit the magnitude of and promote the resolution of certain
      CHS responses, and suppress the inflammation and skin injury associated with
      innate cutaneous responses to chronic low-dose UVB irradiation. This chapter
      outlines the generation of BMCMCs, a powerful model system commonly used to: (1)
      identify potential mast cell mediators in vitro; (2) study the mechanisms of mast
      cell activation and mediator release in response to specific stimuli in vitro;
      and (3) engraft mast cell-deficient mice to study the effector and
      immunoregulatory roles of mast cells or specific mast cell mediators in diverse
      immunological responses in vivo.

PMID- 20941614
TI  - A mesenchymal stem cell potency assay.
AB  - Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are capable of modulating the immune system and
      have been used to successfully treat a variety of inflammatory diseases in
      preclinical studies. Recent evidence has implicated paracrine signaling as the
      predominant mechanism of MSC therapeutic activity. We have shown in models of
      inflammatory organ failure that the factors secreted by MSCs are capable of
      enhancing survival, downregulating inflammation, and promoting endogenous repair
      programs that lead to the reversal of these diseases. As a marker of disease
      resolution, we have observed an increase in serum IL-10 when MSC-conditioned
      medium (MSC-CM) or lysate (MSC-Ly) is administered in vivo. Here we present an in
      vitro model of IL-10 release from blood cells that recapitulates this in vivo
      phenomenon. This assay provides a powerful tool in analyzing the potency of MSC
      CM and MSC-Ly, as well as characterizing the interaction between MSC-CM and
      target cells in the blood.

PMID- 20941615
TI  - In vitro analyses of the immunosuppressive properties of neural stem/progenitor
      cells using anti-CD3/CD28-activated T cells.
AB  - Neural stem/progenitor cells (NSPCs) are multi-potent cells defined by their
      ability to self-renew and differentiate into cells of glial and neuronal lineage.
      Because of these properties, NSPCs have been proposed as therapeutic tools to
      replace lost neurons. Recent observations in animal models of immune-related
      diseases indicate that NSPCs display immunomodulatory properties that might be a
      great interest for cell therapy. In particular, transplantation of NSPCs might be
      very useful as local immunosuppressive agent to promote the long-term survival of
      neuronal xenotransplant in the brain. To study this possibility, we have analysed
      the impact of NSPCs on anti-CD3/CD28-activated T cells. In vitro analyses clearly
      show that porcine, rat, and mouse NSPCs inhibit the proliferation of activated T
      cells. This result raises new perspectives concerning the use of NSPCs in cell
      therapy.

PMID- 20941616
TI  - Immunoregulatory properties of heme oxygenase-1.
AB  - Heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) is one of the three isoforms of the heme oxygenase enzyme
      that catabolyzes the degradation of heme into biliverdin with the production of
      free iron and CO. HO-1 is induced by its substrate and by other stimuli,
      including agents involved in oxidative stress and proinflammatory cytokines as
      well as several anti-inflammatory stimuli. A growing body of evidence points
      toward the capacity of this molecule to inhibit immune reactions and the pivotal
      role of HO-1 in inflammatory diseases. We will first review the physiological
      role of HO-1 as determined by the analysis of HO-1-deficient individuals. This
      will be followed by an examination of the effect of HO-1 within
      immunopathological contexts such as immune disorders (autoimmunity and allergy)
      or infections. A section will be devoted to the use of an HO-1 inducer as an
      immunosuppressive molecule in transplantation. Finally, we will review the
      molecular basis of HO-1 actions on different immune cells.

PMID- 20941617
TI  - Indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase and regulatory function: tryptophan starvation and
      beyond.
AB  - Indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) is an ancestral enzyme that, initially confined
      to the regulation of tryptophan availability in local tissue microenvironments,
      is now considered to play a wider role that extends to homeostasis and plasticity
      of the immune system. Thus, IDO biology has many implications for many aspects of
      immunopathology, including viral infections, neoplasia, autoimmunity, and chronic
      inflammation. Its immunoregulatory effects are mainly mediated by dendritic cells
      (DCs) and involve not only tryptophan deprivation but also production of
      kynurenines that act on IDO(-) DCs--thus rendering an otherwise stimulatory DC
      capable of regulatory effects--as well as on T cells. As a result, IDO(+) DCs
      mediate multiple effects on T lymphocytes, including inhibition of proliferation,
      apoptosis, and differentiation toward a regulatory phenotype.

PMID- 20941618
TI  - Regulatory T cell enrichment by IFN-gamma conditioning.
AB  - IFN-gamma was originally characterized as a proinflammatory cytokine with T
      helper type 1 inducing activity, but it is now clear that it also has important
      immunoregulatory functions. Regulatory T cells play an important role in models
      of autoimmunity, GVHD, and transplantation, and offer potential as a cellular
      therapy. In rodent models, in vivo-generated CD25(+)CD4(+) T cells can prevent
      allograft rejection, but therapeutic exploitation of Treg will more likely depend
      on protocols that allow the generation or selection of Treg ex vivo. The
      experiments described in this chapter will show that alloantigen-reactive Treg
      can be generated/expanded ex vivo using IFN-gamma, a cytokine more usually
      associated with allograft rejection. Although IFN-gamma production has hitherto
      been generally regarded as nonpermissive for allograft survival, we believe this
      paradoxical "good-bad" role for IFN-gamma may reflect an important physiological
      negative feedback loop.

PMID- 20941619
TI  - Transforming growth factor-beta: recent advances on its role in immune tolerance.
AB  - Transforming growth factor (TGF-beta1) is a pleiotropic cytokine, secreted by
      immune and nonhematopoietic cells. TGF-beta is involved in many different
      critical processes, such as embryonal development, cellular maturation and
      differentiation, wound healing, and immune regulation. It maintains immune
      homeostasis by acting as a potent immune suppressor through inhibition of
      proliferation, differentiation, activation, and effector function of immune
      cells. Paradoxically, depending on the context, it displays proinflammatory
      properties by being a potent chemoattractant for neutrophils and promoting
      inflammation. In addition, it does not only induce differentiation into the anti
      inflammatory Treg cells, but also into the proinflammatory Th17 and Th9 cells and
      inhibits Th22 differentiation. TGF-beta has been demonstrated to be involved in
      multiple pathologies. In infections, it protects against collateral damages
      caused by the immune system, but it also promotes immune evasion and chronic
      infections. In autoimmune diseases, a TGF-beta dysfunction leads to the loss of
      tolerance to self-antigens. In cancer, TGF-beta is a potent inhibitor of cell
      proliferation and acts as a tumor suppressor at the beginning of tumorogenesis.
      However, once the cells become resistant to TGF-beta, it mainly supports tumor
      growth and metastasis by promoting immune evasion and angiogenesis. In asthma, it
      is assumed to promote allergen tolerance, but plays a detrimental role in
      irreversible remodeling of the airways. Despite the high numbers of TGF-beta
      targeted pathways, it is a promising drug target for treatment of autoimmunity,
      cancer, fibrosis, if cell specificity can be achieved.This review summarizes the
      progresses that have been accomplished on the understanding of TGF-beta's
      signaling in the immune homeostasis and its role in pathogenesis.

PMID- 20941620
TI  - Induction of tolerogenic dendritic cells by NF-kappaB blockade and Fcgamma
      receptor modulation.
AB  - Autoimmune diseases develop as a result of an unbalanced adaptive immunity that
      targets self-antigens and causes destruction of healthy host tissues. Maintenance
      of peripheral immune tolerance to self- antigens is mainly mediated by dendritic
      cells (DCs), professional antigen-presenting cells that modulate the activation
      of T cells. Due to their key role as regulators of adaptive immunity,
      identification of means of enhancing DC tolerogenic capacity and therapeutic
      potential is a priority goal to reduce autoimmune disease burden in an antigen
      specific manner. Our findings suggest novel approaches to enhance DC capacity to
      induce self-tolerance and reduce the severity of autoimmune disorders.
      Specifically, we have shown, both in vitro and in vivo, that NF-kappaB blockade
      on DCs by andrographolide or rosiglitazone can significantly enhance the
      tolerogenic capacity of DCs. Furthermore, we have observed that expression ratio
      of the activating FcgammaRIII or the inhibitory FcgammaRIIb is determinant for
      the tolerogenic potential of DCs. In this chapter, we describe the procedures to
      produce tolerogenic DCs and explain the potential therapeutic use of two NF
      kappaB inhibitors for the treatment of autoimmune disease models, such as
      experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) and systemic lupus erythematosus
      (SLE) in mice. Therefore, our studies support the notion that FcgammaRs and NF
      kappaB can be considered as pharmacological targets to increase the capacity of
      DCs to induce or restore self-tolerance and decrease inflammatory damage to self
      tissues.

PMID- 20941621
TI  - Fine-tuning antitumor responses through the control of galectin-glycan
      interactions: an overview.
AB  - In recent years, we have witnessed critical advances in genomics and proteomics
      which contributed to delineate the "tumor progression signature". This includes
      the altered expression of genes and proteins not only in tumor cells, but also in
      tumor-associated stromal, endothelial, and immune cells. Adding more complexity
      to this bewildering information, efforts are being made to define the
      "glycosylation signature" of the tumor microenvironment, which results from the
      abnormal expression and activity of glycosyltransferases, glycosidases, and
      enzyme chaperons. The multiple combinatorial possibilities of glycan structures
      expressed by neoplastic versus normal tissue provide enormous potential for
      information display and expand potential therapeutic opportunities. The
      responsibility of deciphering the biological information encoded by the tumor
      associated glycome is partially assigned, to distinct families of endogenous
      glycan-binding proteins or lectins, whose expression and function are regulated
      in cancerous tissues. Galectins, a family of evolutionarily conserved glycan
      binding proteins, can control tumor progression by directly influencing tumor
      growth or by modulating cell migration, angiogenesis, and tumor-immune escape. In
      this review, we will highlight recent findings on how galectin-glycan lattices
      control the dialogue between tumor and immune cells and how these interactions
      could be exploited for therapeutic purposes.

PMID- 20941622
TI  - Regulation of lymphocytes by nitric oxide.
AB  - Shortly after the identification of nitric oxide (NO) as a product of
      macrophages, it was discovered that NO generated by inducible NO synthase (iNOS)
      inhibits the proliferation of T lymphocytes. Since then, it has become clear that
      iNOS activity also regulates the development, differentiation, and/or function of
      various types of T cells and B cells and also affects NK cells. The three key
      mechanisms underlying the iNOS-dependent immunoregulation are (a) the modulation
      of signaling processes by NO, (b) the depletion of arginine, and (c) the
      alteration of accessory cell functions. This chapter highlights important
      principles of iNOS-dependent immunoregulation of lymphocytes and also reviews
      more recent evidence for an effect of endothelial or neuronal NO synthase in
      lymphocytes.

PMID- 20941623
TI  - Pregnancy: tolerance and suppression of immune responses.
AB  - Presence of foreign tissue in a host's body would immediately lead to a strong
      immune response directed to destroy the alloantigens present in fetus and
      placenta. However, during pregnancy, the semiallogeneic fetus is allowed to grow
      within the maternal uterus due to multiple mechanisms of immune tolerance, which
      are discussed in this chapter.

PMID- 20941624
TI  - Organ transplantation: modulation of T-cell activation pathways initiated by cell
      surface receptors to suppress graft rejection.
AB  - T-cell activation depends upon two types of signals: a T-cell-receptor-mediated
      antigen-specific signal and several non-antigen-specific ones provided by the
      engagement of costimulatory and/or inhibitory T-cell surface molecules. In
      clinical transplantation, T-cell costimulatory/inhibitory molecules are involved
      in determining cytokine production, vascular endothelial cell damage, and
      induction of transplant rejection. Several of the latest new immunotherapeutic
      strategies being currently developed to control graft rejection aim at inhibiting
      alloreactive T-cell function by regulating activating and
      costimulatory/inhibitory signals to T cells. This article describes the recent
      development and potential application of these therapies in experimental and pre
      clinical transplantation.

PMID- 20941625
TI  - Immunosuppressive mechanisms during viral infectious diseases.
AB  - For a virus to establish persistence in the host, it has to exploit the host
      immune system such that the active T-cell responses against the virus are curbed.
      On the other hand, the goal of the immune system is to clear the virus, following
      which the immune responses need to be downregulated, by a process known as
      immunoregulation. There are multiple known immunoregulatory mechanisms that
      appear to play a role in persistent viral infections. In the recent past, IL-10
      and PD-1 have been identified to be playing a significant role in the regulation
      of antiviral immune responses. The evidence that viruses can escape immunologic
      attack by taking advantage of the host's immune system is found in LCMV infection
      of mice and in humans persistently infected with HIV and HCV. The recent
      observation that the functionally inactive T-cells during chronic viral
      infections can be made to regain their cytokine secretion and cytolytic abilities
      is very encouraging. Thus, it would be likely that neutralization negative immune
      regulation during persistent viral infection would result in the preservation of
      effector T-cell responses against the virus, thereby resulting in the elimination
      of the persistent infection.

PMID- 20941626
TI  - Ocular immune privilege sites.
AB  - The eye is one of the immune privilege sites of the body that is consequently
      protected from the detrimental and potentially blinding influences of immunologic
      inflammation. Within the eye, the anterior chamber has been recognized for its
      immune privilege property for many years now; however, a similar property
      detectable in the subretinal space has only recently been appreciated. These
      ocular sites are not only equipped with specialized mechanisms that barricade
      local inflammatory responses, but also induce systemic regulatory immune
      response. Numerous studies have characterized molecular and cellular mechanisms
      involved in conferring both these sites with an immune privilege status.
      Pigmented epithelial cells lining the anterior chamber in the iris and ciliary
      body area as well as those in the retina are endowed with immunomodulatory
      properties that contribute to ocular immune privilege. These cells, via
      expression of either soluble factors or membrane molecules, inhibit inflammatory
      T cell activation and promote the generation of regulatory T cells. In the
      anterior chamber resident antigen-presenting cells, influenced by the various
      immunosuppressive factors present in the aqueous humor, capture ocular antigens
      and present them in the spleen to T cells in association with NKT cells and
      marginal zone B cells. Immunomodulatory microenvironment created by these cells
      helps generate regulatory T cells, capable of interrupting the induction as well
      as expression of inflammatory responses. Furthermore, neural regulation of both
      intraocular and systemic regulatory mechanisms also contributes to ocular immune
      privilege.

PMID- 20941627
TI  - Immunoprivileged sites: the testis.
AB  - The testis is an immunological privileged tissue as evidenced by its ability to
      support grafts with minimal rejection. Immune privilege is essential for the
      tolerance of neo-antigens from developing germ cells that appear after the
      constitution of self-tolerance, but imposes the paradoxical task of also
      providing efficient protection against pathogens and tumor cells. It is becoming
      increasingly clear that immune privilege cannot be attributed to a single factor
      such as the sequestration of neo-antigens from the immune system behind the blood
      testis barrier, but is based on a complex multifaceted interplay between cells
      and factors that are essential for the reproductive function of the testis and
      the testicular immune system. This review summarizes the evidence that has
      accumulated regarding the role of Sertoli cells, androgens, and selected
      population of leukocytes in the maintenance of immune privilege and its
      perturbation in testicular inflammatory sub- and infertility.

PMID- 20941628
TI  - Geometric facial comparisons in speed-check photographs.
AB  - In many cases, it is not possible to call the motorists to account for their
      considerable excess in speeding, because they deny being the driver on the speed
      check photograph. An anthropological comparison of facial features using a photo
      to-photo comparison can be very difficult depending on the quality of the
      photographs. One difficulty of that analysis method is that the comparison
      photographs of the presumed driver are taken with a different camera or camera
      lens and from a different angle than for the speed-check photo. To take a
      comparison photograph with exactly the same camera setup is almost impossible.
      Therefore, only an imprecise comparison of the individual facial features is
      possible. The geometry and position of each facial feature, for example the
      distances between the eyes or the positions of the ears, etc., cannot be taken
      into consideration. We applied a new method using 3D laser scanning, optical
      surface digitalization, and photogrammetric calculation of the speed-check photo,
      which enables a geometric comparison. Thus, the influence of the focal length and
      the distortion of the objective lens are eliminated and the precise position and
      the viewing direction of the speed-check camera are calculated. Even in cases of
      low-quality images or when the face of the driver is partly hidden, good results
      are delivered using this method. This new method, Geometric Comparison, is
      evaluated and validated in a prepared study which is described in this article.

PMID- 20941629
TI  - Linking genes with exercise: where is the cut-off?
AB  - Studies on gene-phenotype associations are a popular theme in exercise
      physiology. This editorial follows up on the current limitations in this quest
      with regard to the identification of mechanistically important relationships.

PMID- 20941630
TI  - Genetic characterization of the causative agent of besnoitiosis in goats in Iran
      on the basis of internal transcribed spacer rDNA and its comparison with
      Besnoitia species of other hosts.
AB  - This study was conducted to identify genetic characteristics of Besnoitia spp.
      isolated from goat in Iran. Molecular analysis of two portions of nuclear
      ribosomal DNA (ITS1 and ITS2) was used for the genetic characterization of the
      Besnoitia species. Comparison of the sequencing data of the Iranian Besnoitia
      samples obtained in the present study (GenBank accession number HM008988) with
      those previously reported for other Besnoitia spp. in the GenBank database
      revealed a particularly close relationship between the present goat Besnoitia
      samples and the Besnoitia samples from the cattle, caribou, and equids (Besnoitia
      besnoiti, Besnoitia tarandi, and Besnoitia bennetti). This is the first use of a
      genetic approach to interrogate the identity of the species of Besnoitia
      infecting Iranian goats. Also, the results of the present study showed the
      occurrence of a similar sequence polymorphism for ITS1 and ITS2 in all Iranian
      isolates, which exhibit 100% identity in these ribosomal sequences, to those of
      B. besnoiti previously reported from Israel. Although the ITS1 sequence of
      Iranian goat isolates is identical to European cow isolates, the ITS2 sequences
      derived from present Besnoitia genotype differed in one nucleotide position
      compared with other European B. besnoiti. Further studies should be employed
      based on this molecular data to identify the natural definitive host in order to
      complete the life cycle of this distinct genotype of parasite.

PMID- 20941631
TI  - Sequence analysis and verification of Eimeria tenella rhomboid bait plasmid
      suitability for CytoTrap yeast two-hybrid system.

PMID- 20941633
TI  - Measurement, analysis and interpretation of examiner reliability in caries
      experience surveys: some methodological thoughts.
AB  - Data obtained from calibration exercises are used to assess the level of
      agreement between examiners (and the benchmark examiner) and/or between repeated
      examinations by the same examiner in epidemiological surveys or large-scale
      clinical studies. Agreement can be measured using different techniques: kappa
      statistic, percentage agreement, dice coefficient, sensitivity and specificity.
      Each of these methods shows specific characteristics and has its own
      shortcomings. The aim of this contribution is to critically review techniques for
      the measurement and analysis of examiner agreement and to illustrate this using
      data from a recent survey in young children, the Smile for Life project. The
      above-mentioned agreement measures are influenced (in differing ways and extents)
      by the unit of analysis (subject, tooth, surface level) and the disease level in
      the validation sample. These effects are more pronounced for percentage agreement
      and kappa than for sensitivity and specificity. It is, therefore, important to
      include information on unit of analysis and disease level (in validation sample)
      when reporting agreement measures. Also, confidence intervals need to be included
      since they indicate the reliability of the estimate. When dependency among
      observations is present [as is the case in caries experience data sets with
      typical hierarchical structure (surface-tooth-subject)], this will influence the
      width of the confidence interval and should therefore not be ignored. In this
      situation, the use of multilevel modelling is necessary. This review clearly
      shows that there is a need for the development of guidelines for the measurement,
      interpretation and reporting of examiner reliability in caries experience
      surveys.

PMID- 20941635
TI  - Spiral head CT in the evaluation of acute intracranial pathology: a pictorial
      essay.
AB  - The purpose of this pictorial essay is to review the benefits of spiral head
      computed tomography (CT) with routine multiplanar reformations in the evaluation
      of acute intracranial pathology. This technique is particularly useful in trauma
      patients for detection of skull base or calvarial fractures, thin tentorial
      subdural hematomas, or for more specific characterization of intracranial
      hemorrhage. The benefits of multiplanar reformations have been described for a
      variety of other diagnoses in the chest, abdomen, extremities, and spine, and
      their routine use continues to grow with the widespread availability of multi
      slice CT scanners. In this article, we describe spiral head CT technique with
      multiplanar reformations as an alternative to the routinely used sequential
      technique. Subtle findings and lesions aligned predominantly in the axial plane
      can often be visualized to better advantage with multiplanar reformations. We
      also address technical factors for optimizing spiral technique.

PMID- 20941634
TI  - An in vitro evaluation of selective demineralised enamel removal using bio-active
      glass air abrasion.
AB  - Unnecessary over-preparation of carious enamel often occurs clinically during
      operative caries management. The working hypothesis to be investigated in this
      study is the potential for bio-active glass air abrasion to remove selectively
      only demineralised enamel in artificial enamel lesions when compared to
      equivalent alumina air abrasion, so potentially minimising cavity over
      preparation. Bisected artificial, paired smooth surface enamel lesions on ethics
      approved, extracted sound human molars were created and subsequently air abraded
      with 27 MUm alumina (n = 19) and bio-active glass (n = 19). The difference
      between pre-operative lesion boundary and post-operative cavity margin was
      calculated following optical confocal fluorescent assessment of the lesion
      boundary. Data indicated mean% over-preparation (sound enamel removal) of 176%
      with alumina and 15.2% for bio-active glass (p = 0.005). Bio-active glass
      abrasion removed completely the demineralised enamel from artificial lesions with
      clinically insignificant over-preparation of sound tissue, indicating technique
      selectivity towards grossly demineralised enamel. Alumina air abrasion resulted
      in substantial enamel removal in both sound and demineralised tissues indicating
      the operator selectivity required to use the techniques effectively in clinical
      practice.

PMID- 20941636
TI  - Effects of growth temperature and chilling duration on leaf phenology of Fauria
      crista-galli subsp. japonica, an alpine snowbed geophyte.
AB  - I examined the effects of growth temperature and winter duration on the leaf
      phenology of Fauria crista-galli plants, which have an indeterminate growth
      habit. After a 220-day chilling treatment, the leaf expansion and green periods
      of plants maintained at 25/20 degrees C were much longer than those of plants
      maintained at 15/10 degrees C and of plants at the natural habitat obtained in a
      previous study. The results indicate that early growth cessation and early leaf
      senescence in the natural habitat are not only due to endogenous rhythm but
      determined to some extent by cool summer temperatures. When grown at 15/10
      degrees C, the green period of individual leaves and plants was much shorter
      after a long chilling treatment (220 days) than after a short chilling treatment
      (110 days). The plants sprouted during or immediately after the termination of
      chilling treatment, suggesting that the decrease in the green period results
      partly from an advance of endogenous developmental stages during the chilling
      treatment and that the timing of snowmelt potentially affects the time of leaf
      senescence in the natural habitat.

PMID- 20941638
TI  - Sixth nerve palsy as the presenting symptom of metastatic colon carcinoma.
AB  - Isolated cranial mononeuropathies in patients over 50 years of age most commonly
      result from microvascular ischemic demyelination. A 51-year-old female without
      vasculopathic risk factors presented with isolated sixth nerve palsy. Magnetic
      resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain and orbits revealed a cavernous sinus lesion
      that was diagnosed as a meningioma. Laboratory tests showed abnormal liver
      function, and an abdominal computerized tomogram demonstrated an obstructive
      colonic mass with liver metastasis. The pathology tests of specimens taken during
      a laparotomy diagnosed colon adenocarcinoma. The MRI interpretation was changed
      to cavernous sinus metastasis from a primary adenocarcinoma of the colon. This
      case had common cranial nerve symptoms but with a very rare etiology, emphasizing
      the importance of a high index of suspicion of remote origins in patients with
      isolated sixth nerve palsy and no atherosclerotic risk factors.

PMID- 20941637
TI  - Sucrose transporter NtSUT4 from tobacco BY-2 involved in plant cell shape during
      miniprotoplast culture.
AB  - Sucrose plays an important role in several cellular processes since it is a
      general source of metabolic energy, serves as a precursor for starch and
      cellulose synthesis, and is a metabolic starting point for carboxylate- and amino
      acid synthesis. While plant vacuole is the main cellular storage pool, where
      sucrose accumulates to high concentrations, only a small number of vacuolar sugar
      transporters have been identified and characterized to date. We initially
      identified a vacuolar sucrose transporter (NtSUT4) from tobacco BY-2 cells and
      established transgenic tobacco BY-2 cell lines that overexpress NtSUT4-GFP (BY
      SUTG cells). Using a model system for synchronous cell elongation in
      miniprotoplasts (evacuolated cells) prepared from tobacco BY-2 cells, we found
      that NtSUT4-GFP overexpression inhibited cell growth towards the cell major axis.
      Moreover, under the same conditions, we found that the cell walls were well
      stained by calcofluor in BY-SUTG cells than in wild type BY-2 cells. These
      results suggest that NtSUT4 is involved in cell shape via sucrose homeostasis in
      plant cells.

PMID- 20941639
TI  - Determining patient preferences for remote monitoring.
AB  - This paper presents the patient preferences for an application in remote health
      monitoring. The data was collected through a mobile service prototype. Analytical
      Hierarchy Process and Conjoint Analysis were used to extract the patient
      preferences. The study was limited to diabetes and obesity patients in Istanbul,
      Turkey. Results indicated that sending users' data automatically, availability of
      technical support, and price are key factors impacting patient's decisions. This
      implies that e-health service providers and designers should focus on the
      services that enable users to send measurement results automatically instead of
      manually.

PMID- 20941640
TI  - Alcohol consumption and mortality from all-cause and cancers among 1.34 million
      Koreans: the results from the Korea national health insurance corporation's
      health examinee cohort in 2000.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The relationship between alcohol and cancer death has not been well
      established in Asian population, particularly among women. METHOD: We evaluated
      the association between alcohol consumption and all-cause and cancer mortality in
      a large-scale prospective study of 1,341,393 Korean men and women aged 40-69
      years who participated in health examination in 2000. After 5 years follow-up for
      mortality (2001-2005), 19,375 deaths were identified, and Cox regression was used
      for longitudinal analyses. RESULTS: The J-shaped relationship between alcohol
      consumption and all-cause and all-cancer mortality was found in men. However,
      heavy drinking was positively associated with the risk of all-cause and all
      cancer mortality in men and women. Alcohol consumption was positively associated
      with the risk of cancer mortality such as cancers of liver, stomach, colorectal,
      prostate, esophageal, brain, and larynx and cancer of lips, oral cavity, pharynx
      in men and increased the risk of all-cancer and colorectal cancer mortality in
      women. Kidney cancer mortality was inversely associated with alcohol consumption
      in men. CONCLUSION: Heavy drinking showed an increased mortality risk of all
      cause, all-cancer, and several cancers in men and women. There was no favorable
      effect of light drinking on all-cause and all-cancer mortality for women.

PMID- 20941641
TI  - Neural markers expression in rat bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell cultures
      treated with neurosteroids.
AB  - The aim of the present investigation is to study the effects of DEX or E(2)
      treatment during differentiation towards neural cell line of rat BM-MSCs in
      culture. In order to better characterize biochemically our in vitro model, we
      evaluate by western blotting and immunocytochemical analysis some neural lineage
      markers (nestin, neurofilament, beta-tubulin) and MAP-Kinases. An enhanced
      expression of the neural markers and MAP-Kinase in DEX-treated BM-MSCs cultures
      is found. In addition, E(2)-treatment increases MAP-Kinase and beta-tubulin
      expression, but it decreases nestin and neurofilament expression. In conclusion,
      our findings highlight a significant up and down modulation of nestin,
      neurofilament, beta-tubulin and MAP-Kinases expression in neurosteroids-treated
      BM-MSCs. In particular, our results clarify the molecular mechanism involved
      during eventual differentiation of these stem cells treated with DEX and E(2),
      addressed towards a neural cell line, that may express neurotrophic receptors and
      release neurotrophines particularly implicated during neurogenesis processes.

PMID- 20941642
TI  - BH(4) therapy impacts the nutrition status and intake in children with
      phenylketonuria: 2-year follow-up.
AB  - The impact of tetrahydrobiopterin (BH(4)) treatment on phenylalanine tolerance,
      medical-food consumption, and nutrition status in patients with phenylketonuria
      (PKU) was investigated. Six children (5-12 years) with well-controlled PKU,
      responding to a BH(4) dose of 20 mg/kg per day, were assessed for 24 months. Mean
      dietary phenylalanine tolerance increased from 421 +/- 128 to 1470 +/- 455
      mg/day. Height Z scores significantly improved from 0.25 +/- 0.99 at baseline to
      0.53 +/- 1.16 at 24 months (p for trend < 0.001). Patients tolerated more
      phenylalanine and more intact protein and required less medical food (protein
      supplement). Improved linear growth and nutrition status was seen over the course
      of the 24-month follow-up. Due to the variation in phenylalanine tolerance,
      dietary recommendations should be tailored to the patient's individual
      requirements.

PMID- 20941643
TI  - Biomarkers for mitochondrial respiratory chain disorders.
AB  - Mitochondrial respiratory chain deficiencies are a group of more than 100
      disorders of adults and children, with highly variable phenotypes. Their
      diagnosis is a great challenge, in spite of the fact that knowledge on their
      molecular genetic background has increased considerably during the last 20 years.
      Muscle biopsy is the key diagnostic procedure, including histological and
      biochemical analysis of mitochondria. Less invasive, specific and sensitive
      diagnostic tools based on serum biomarkers are still lacking. Recent
      technological developments, especially in mass spectrometry, enable novel tools
      for identification of local and global molecular consequences of mitochondrial
      respiratory chain dysfunction in patient samples. Furthermore, emerging disease
      models, especially genetically modified mice, offer unique materials to tackle
      pathophysiology with modern transcriptomic, proteomic, and metabolomic
      approaches. Identified molecular signals or metabolic fingerprints have the
      potential to be highly useful biomarkers for future diagnosis of mitochondrial
      respiratory chain disorders.

PMID- 20941644
TI  - Intranasal phosphoramidon increases beta-amyloid levels in wild-type and NEP/NEP2
      deficient mice.
AB  - Intranasal administration is emerging as a reliable and non-invasive method to
      bypass the blood-brain barrier and deliver drugs to the brain. This approach has
      been primarily used to explore therapeutic avenues for neurological diseases.
      However, intranasal administration could also be used to create animal models of
      brain disease. Beta-amyloid peptide (Abeta) accumulation is a key feature of
      Alzheimer's disease (AD), and the most common models of AD are transgenic mice
      expressing mutant human genes linked to familial AD. An alternative model of
      amyloidosis utilizes intracerebroventricular infusion of thiorphan or
      phosphoramidon to block the activity of key Abeta degrading enzymes (NEP, NEP2)
      resulting in accumulation of Abeta. Here, we demonstrate that intranasal
      administration of phosphoramidon produces significantly elevated cerebral Abeta
      levels in wild-type mice. Furthermore, intranasal phosphoramidon administration
      in double knockout mice lacking NEP and NEP2 also showed increased levels of
      Abeta(40). These data show that intranasal delivery of drugs can be used to model
      AD and suggest that other phosphoramidon-sensitive peptidases are degrading Abeta
      in NEP/NEP2-deficient mice.

PMID- 20941646
TI  - Is the vertebral expandable prosthetic titanium rib a surgical alternative in
      patients with spina bifida?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Nonambulatory children with myelodysplasia are most likely to develop
      spinal deformity. As the deformity progresses, the overall health of the patient
      deteriorates. Traditional management of the deformity with fusion results in a
      short trunk, crankshaft deformity, and spine and lung growth inhibition. One
      alternative that potentially minimizes these problems is the vertebral expandable
      prosthetic titanium rib (VEPTR). QUESTIONS/PURPOSES: We therefore asked whether
      the use of the VEPTR in immature nonambulating children with myelodysplasia with
      spinal deformity would (1) correct deformity; (2) allow growth; and (3) allow
      adequate respiratory function. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We identified 20
      nonambulatory patients with myelodysplasia who were part of a multicenter
      Investigational Device Exemption study of 214 patients treated with the VEPTR
      system. Demographics, standard radiographic measurements, pulmonary function
      parameters, and complications in 16 patients were analyzed. Average age at first
      surgery was 48.6 months. The minimum followup was 25 months (mean, 59 months;
      range, 25-164 months). RESULTS: The Cobb angle decreased postoperatively in nine
      patients, increased less than 10 degrees  in five patients, and increased less
      than 20 degrees  in two patients. The mean increase in thoracic spinal length
      (growth) by year after the initial procedure with lengthening was 0.48 cm.
      Ventilatory function improved in 11 patients and deteriorated in five patients.
      Intraoperative complications occurred in two patients. Complications directly
      related to the implant were seven infections and five implant migrations.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our observations suggest VEPTR is a reasonable treatment option for
      spinal deformity in the immature, nonambulatory myelodysplasia population
      correcting the spinal deformity, allowing spinal growth, and maintaining adequate
      respiratory function. The rate of complications is within the range reported for
      spinal fusion using standard approaches.

PMID- 20941645
TI  - Resistant hypertension in the high-risk metabolic patient.
AB  - The metabolic syndrome is a constellation of metabolic and vascular abnormalities
      that include insulin resistance with compensatory hyperinsulinemia, central or
      visceral obesity, hypertension, dyslipidemia, microalbuminuria, and oxidative
      stress as well as prothrombotic and inflammatory abnormalities that contribute to
      a hypercoagulable state and systemic endothelial dysfunction. Visceral adipose
      tissue is now known to secrete into the circulation a number of protein and
      nonprotein factors that regulate glucose metabolism in traditional insulin
      sensitive tissue as well as nontraditional insulin-sensitive tissue including
      cardiovascular tissue. Collectively, this constellation of factors that lead to
      metabolic dysregulation contributes to a substantial risk for adverse
      cardiovascular and renal outcomes. The development of a particularly resistant
      form of hypertension in these individuals can be attributed to a number of
      factors including vasoconstriction from increased sympathetic activation,
      proinflammatory cytokines, and inappropriate activation of the renin-angiotensin
      aldosterone system. The management of hypertension in such patients can be
      challenging and generally requires nonpharmacologic as well as pharmacologic
      interventions.

PMID- 20941647
TI  - What is the role of serological testing between stages of two-stage
      reconstruction of the infected prosthetic knee?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Two-stage exchange arthroplasty is the gold standard for treatment of
      infected TKA. The erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C-reactive protein (CRP),
      and synovial fluid white blood cell (WBC) count with differential are often used
      to determine treatment response; however, it is unclear whether these tests can
      answer the critical question of whether joint sepsis has been controlled between
      stages and if reimplantation is indicated. QUESTIONS/PURPOSES: We therefore asked
      if (1) these serologies respond between stage one explantation and stage two
      reimplantation during two-stage knee reconstruction for infection; and (2)
      changes in the values of these serologies are predictive of resolution of joint
      infection. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the serologies of 76 infected
      patients treated with a two-stage exchange protocol. The ESR, CRP, and aspiration
      were repeated a minimum of 2 weeks following antibiotic cessation and prior to
      second stage reoperation. Comparisons were made to identify trends in these
      serologies between the first and second stage procedures. RESULTS: Eight knees
      (12%) were persistently infected at the time of second stage reoperation. The ESR
      remained persistently elevated in 37 knees (54%), and the CRP remained elevated
      in 14 knees (21%) where infection had been controlled. We were unable to identify
      an optimum cutoff value for the ESR, CRP, or the two combined. The best test for
      confirmation of infection control was the synovial fluid WBC count. CONCLUSIONS:
      Although the ESR, CRP, and synovial fluid WBC counts decreased in cases of
      infection control, these values frequently remained elevated. We were unable to
      identify any patterns in these tests indicative of persistent infection. LEVEL OF
      EVIDENCE: Level II, diagnostic study. See Guidelines for Authors for a complete
      description of levels of evidence.

PMID- 20941648
TI  - Sagittal segmental alignment as predictor of adjacent-level degeneration after a
      cloward procedure.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Cloward anterior interbody fusion is commonly performed for
      cervical disc herniation or spondylosis. In followup studies, various authors
      have noted clinically relevant adjacent-level degeneration. However, factors
      associated with adjacent-level degeneration are not well known.
      QUESTIONS/PURPOSES: We asked whether the postoperative sagittal segmental
      alignment of the fused vertebrae could be used as a predictor of adjacent-level
      degeneration. METHODS: We retrospectively studied 107 patients, aged 35 to 55
      years, with one-level cervical disc disease between C4 and C7 operated on from
      1985 to 1995 by discectomy and one-level anterior cervical fusion according to
      the Cloward procedure. In standard radiographs of the cervical spine in lateral
      view, the alignment of the involved intervertebral space (sagittal segmental
      alignment) and the sagittal alignment of the cervical spine were measured and the
      adjacent-level degeneration was assessed using the Kellgren and Lawrence
      criteria. The minimum followup was 10 years (mean, 16 years; range, 10-23 years).
      RESULTS: Preoperatively, mean sagittal segmental alignment was 0.6 degrees +/-2.0
      degrees  and sagittal alignment of the cervical spine was 17.0 degrees +/-4.9
      degrees . At last followup, the mean sagittal segmental alignment was 1.8 degrees
      +/-4.1 degrees  and mean sagittal alignment of the cervical spine was 19.7
      degrees +/-6.6 degrees . Adjacent-level degeneration was present in 60% of cases
      with postoperative sagittal segmental alignment of 0 degrees  or less and in 27%
      of cases with postoperative sagittal segmental alignment of more than 0 degrees .
      CONCLUSIONS: To prevent adjacent-level degeneration, we recommend proper lordotic
      sagittal segmental alignment when anterior interbody fusion of the cervical spine
      is indicated. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level II, prognostic study. See Guidelines for
      Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.

PMID- 20941649
TI  - Child abuse: the role of the orthopaedic surgeon in nonaccidental trauma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Child abuse presents in many different forms: physical, sexual,
      psychological, and neglect. The orthopaedic surgeon is involved mostly with
      physical abuse but should be aware of the other forms. There is limited training
      regarding child abuse, and the documentation is poor when a patient is at risk
      for abuse. There is a considerable risk to children when abuse is not recognized.
      QUESTIONS/PURPOSES: In this review, we (1) define abuse, (2) describe the
      incidence and demographic characteristics of abuse, (3) describe the orthopaedic
      manifestations of abuse, and (4) define the orthopaedic surgeon's role in cases
      of abuse. METHODS: We performed a PubMed literature review and a search of the
      Department of Health and Human Services Web site. The Pediatric Orthopaedic
      Surgery of North America trauma symposium was referenced and expanded to create
      this review. RESULTS: Recognition and awareness of child abuse are the primary
      tasks of the orthopaedic surgeon. Skin trauma is more common than fractures, yet
      fractures are the most common radiographic finding. Patients with fractures who
      are younger than 3 years, particularly those younger than 1 year, should be
      evaluated for abuse. No fracture type or location is pathognomonic. Management in
      the majority of fracture cases resulting from abuse is nonoperative casting or
      splinting. CONCLUSIONS: The role of the orthopaedic surgeon in suspected cases of
      child abuse includes (1) obtaining a good history and making a thorough physical
      examination; (2) obtaining the appropriate radiographs and notifying the
      appropriate services; and (3) participating in and communicating with a
      multidisciplinary team to manage the patients.

PMID- 20941650
TI  - Case report: Quantitative MRI of tibial tubercle transfer during active
      quadriceps contraction.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The evaluation of distal transfer procedures relies primarily on
      qualitative clinical findings. Although quantitative MRI measurements provide an
      objective supplement to qualitative clinical findings, an association between
      qualitative clinical findings and quantitative patellofemoral indices has yet to
      be established. CASE DESCRIPTION: A 21-year-old man presented with frequent
      episodes of patellar dislocation. Clinical and radiographic findings identified
      the patient as a candidate for realignment. MR images were obtained with the
      quadriceps contracted at 30 degrees  flexion and in full extension preoperatively
      and postoperatively. The procedure eliminated the clinical J-sign, defined as
      lateral movement of the patella over the lateral femoral condyle during active
      leg extension, which was confirmed quantitatively using established
      patellofemoral indices in conjunction with MRI. LITERATURE REVIEW: Movement of
      the patellofemoral joint is complex and dependent on many factors, including
      skeletal geometry, dynamic muscle action, and soft tissue restraints. Therefore,
      proper clinical and radiographic evaluation of patellar tracking requires
      observation during active quadriceps contraction. However, it is unclear whether
      there is any association between quantitative radiographic indices and
      qualitative clinical assessment during active quadriceps contraction. PURPOSES
      AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: We believe objective measurements are valuable in
      determining the radiographic assessment of patellar realignment procedures.
      Lateral patellar edge appears to quantify the clinical J-sign. The association
      between radiographic medialization of the patella and clinical improvement
      postoperatively in this patient warrants additional investigation in a larger
      group of patients with longer followup.

PMID- 20941651
TI  - Coping mediates the association between Type D personality and perceived health
      in Chinese patients with coronary heart disease.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Increasing evidence show that Type D personality is a risk factor for
      morbidity, mortality, and quality of life of patients with coronary vascular
      disease. Few studies examined coping as a potential behavioral mechanism to
      explain the harmful effect of Type D personality. PURPOSE: This study examined
      the association between Type D personality, coping, and perceived health among
      Chinese patients with coronary heart disease (CHD). METHODS: One hundred
      seventeen CHD patients completed the assessments on Type D personality, coping,
      perceived severity of CHD, and morale. RESULTS: There was no difference on
      severity of coronary artery stenosis between Type D and non-Type D patients.
      Compared to the non-Type D patients, the Type D patients perceived higher
      severity of CHD (5.31 +/- 2.41 versus 4.45 +/- 2.17, p < 0.05) and lower morale
      (12.67 +/- 4.71 versus 15.00 +/- 4.43, p < 0.05), and used less confrontation
      (16.90 +/- 5.39 versus 20.88 +/- 4.95, p < 0.001) and more acceptance-resignation
      coping (10.16 +/- 3.50 versus 8.35 +/- 3.48, p < 0.05). Mediation analyses showed
      that confrontation coping mediated the association between Type D personality and
      perceived severity of disease, and acceptance-resignation coping mediated the
      association between Type D personality and morale after controlling for age,
      gender, and clinical variables. CONCLUSION: The Type D patients used maladaptive
      coping in response to disease. These coping strategies fully mediated the
      association between Type D personality and perceived health. Implications for
      integrating coping training into the intervention for patients with a Type D
      personality are discussed.

PMID- 20941652
TI  - Impact of aging on the lung.

PMID- 20941653
TI  - Structural and physiological age-associated changes in aging lungs.
AB  - The tissues of the lungs undergo changes with age that lead to an increase in
      alveolar size without any destruction of alveolar walls. This lowers the alveolar
      surface tension and so reduces the elastic recoil of the lungs, which in turn
      causes a reduction in maximum achievable flow in the airways during the breathing
      cycle. Muscle performance diminishes with age and the chest wall becomes stiffer,
      which together lead to an increased residual volume and also counter the possible
      increase in total lung capacity (TLC) from the reduced elastic recoil. Exercise
      performance falls with age, with a small decrease in arterial oxygenation that
      stabilizes over the age of 70 years. Predicting lung function for the elderly is
      not easy, and basing clinical decisions on percent of predicted may lead to age,
      sex, and height bias. Focusing on what function remains can allow survival
      predictions to guide decisions on treatment options.

PMID- 20941654
TI  - The pulmonary circulation and exercise responses in the elderly.
AB  - Aging is associated with a progressive deterioration in the structure and
      function of the pulmonary circulation. Remodeling of the pulmonary vasculature
      occurs from maturity to senescence that is characterized by an increase in
      pulmonary vascular stiffness, pulmonary vascular pressures, and pulmonary
      vascular resistance along with increased heterogeneity of alveolar ventilation
      and pulmonary perfusion and decreased pulmonary capillary blood volume and
      membrane diffusing capacity that is consistent with a reduction in alveolar
      capillary surface area. In theory, the aforementioned age-related changes in the
      pulmonary circulation may conspire to make elderly individuals more susceptible
      to gas exchange abnormalities during exercise. However, despite the erosion in
      ventilatory reserve with aging, the healthy older adult appears able to maintain
      alveolar ventilation at a level that allows maintenance of arterial blood gases
      within normal limits, even during heavy exercise. This ability to maintain
      adequate gas exchange likely occurs because age-related reductions in the maximal
      metabolic demand of exercise occur at a rate equal to or greater than the rate of
      deterioration in ventilatory reserve. A more prominent aspect of aging is the
      loss of lung elastic recoil that is associated with a modest reduction in the
      expiratory boundary of the maximal flow-volume envelope. This in turn increases
      the severity of expiratory airflow limitation and induces dynamic lung
      hyperinflation during exercise. The consequences of this age-associated decrease
      in elastic recoil on the pulmonary circulation are speculative, but an age
      associated decline in elastic recoil may influence pulmonary vascular resistance
      and cardiac output, in addition to its impact on the work and oxygen cost of
      breathing.

PMID- 20941656
TI  - Physiology and pathophysiology of glottic reflexes and pulmonary aspiration: from
      neonates to adults.
AB  - Pulmonary aspiration is the consequence of abnormal entry of fluid, particulate
      material, or endogenous secretions into the airway. The two main types of
      aspiration scenarios include anterograde aspiration, which occurs during
      swallowing, and retrograde aspiration, which can occur during gastroesophageal
      reflux (GER) events. The important structures that protect against aspiration
      include the aerodigestive apparatus: pharynx, upper esophageal sphincter,
      esophageal body, glottis and vocal cords, and airway. In this article we review
      the neuroanatomy, physiology, and pathophysiology pertinent to glottic reflexes
      and airway aspiration across the age spectrum from neonates to adults. We also
      discuss recent advances in our understanding of glottal reflexes and the
      relationship of these reflexes to developmental anatomy and physiology, the
      pathophysiology of aspiration, and aerodigestive interactions.

PMID- 20941657
TI  - The role of immunity and inflammation in lung senescence and susceptibility to
      infection in the elderly.
AB  - Advancing age is associated with a decline in the integrity of physical barriers
      and protection against invading pathogens, and age-related changes in the immune
      system are associated with increased susceptibility to the emergence of
      autoimmune phenomena, neoplasia, and infections. Respiratory tract infections can
      occur at any age, but the incidence of lower respiratory tract infections
      increases significantly with advanced age such that pneumonia is a leading cause
      of illness and death in the elderly. Changes in lung physiology and immune
      function coupled with inflammation induced by environmental exposures or
      endogenous factors such as predisposition to aspiration may, in part, account for
      the increase in susceptibility to respiratory infections. Additionally, age
      associated alterations in immune regulation ("immunosenescence") with
      dysregulation of lung homeostasis may allow low-grade inflammatory changes that
      lead to anatomical and physiological changes that characterize the senescent
      lung. The presence of disease states in elderly populations, such as chronic
      obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or nonpulmonary organ system diseases, may
      increase the likelihood of developing severe respiratory infections. This article
      examines age-related changes in immune function that predispose elderly
      individuals to lung remodeling but focuses especially on lower respiratory tract
      infections. It will discuss risk factors, identify pathogens that typically lead
      to respiratory infections in the elderly, and review current approaches to
      treatment and prevention of respiratory infections in the elderly population.

PMID- 20941655
TI  - Susceptibility of the aging lung to environmental injury.
AB  - With an ever-increasing number of elderly individuals in the world, a better
      understanding of the issues associated with aging and the environment is needed.
      The respiratory system is one of the primary interfaces between the body and the
      external environment. An expanding number of studies suggest that the aging
      pulmonary system (>65 years) is at increased risk for adverse health effects from
      environmental insult, such as by air pollutants, infection, and climate change.
      However, the mechanism(s) for increased susceptibility in this subpopulation are
      not well understood. In this review, we provide a limited but comprehensive
      overview of how the lung ages, examples of environmental exposures associated
      with injury to the aging lung, and potential mechanisms underlying the increased
      vulnerability of the aging lung to injury from environmental factors.

PMID- 20941658
TI  - Mycobacterial infections in the elderly.
AB  - In 2008, elderly subjects accounted for more than 262,000 cases of smear-positive
      tuberculosis worldwide, reaching the highest age-adjusted rates in some regions.
      Elders are at a greater risk for reactivation of latent tuberculosis or
      acquisition of new infection, especially if they live in long-term care
      facilities or are smokers. Once overt clinical tuberculosis appears, they are at
      increased risk of hospitalization and death. Pulmonary tuberculosis presentation
      may be atypical in elderly people, as they tend to have lower prevalence of
      fever, sweating, or hemoptysis, and their chest x-rays show less cavities and
      more lower lung field involvement. Compared with younger patients, tuberculous
      elders seem to have lower frequency of positive PPD, but differences in sputum
      smear positivity are not clear. Regimen recommended for treating new cases of
      pulmonary tuberculosis is not different from other age groups: a two-month
      bactericidal phase with daily oral administration of isoniazid, rifampin,
      pyrazinamide, and ethambutol, and a continuation phase with isoniazid and
      rifampin daily during four months, though some variations are allowed. Directly
      observed strategy is highly recommended in the initial phase. Elders with
      pulmonary tuberculosis may require longer time to become smear negative and seem
      to have worse outcomes than younger patients.

PMID- 20941660
TI  - COPD in the elderly patient.
AB  - The elderly are especially prone to the adverse health effects of chronic
      obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which is a common disorder in that
      population. While the prevalence and morbidity of COPD in the elderly are high,
      it is often undiagnosed and thus undertreated. The diagnosis of COPD is primarily
      based on the physiological documentation of airflow limitation using spirometry.
      However, several controversies exist as to the range of predicted normal values
      for these measurements in the elderly population, and the clinical presentation
      of COPD in the elderly may be complicated by the presence of several
      comorbidities. Many non-pharmacological and pharmacological interventions are
      available for managing COPD. However, management of COPD in the elderly
      population may be challenged by the "polypharmacy" of medications that these
      patients often take, which can interfere with compliance with therapy.
      Additionally, the elderly often suffer from physical or cognitive disabilities
      that can prevent compliance with prescribed medications. Lastly, adverse effects
      from medications prescribed for treatment of COPD may be more pervasive in
      elderly patients.

PMID- 20941659
TI  - Allergy and asthma in the elderly.
AB  - Allergies and asthma are diseases that affect individuals of all ages, and their
      prevalence is comparable in all age groups. As age demographics in the United
      States and other countries shift to greater proportions and numbers of patients
      in the "elderly" categories, it is becoming increasingly important for clinicians
      to become aware of the impact of aging on a variety of diseases. Allergy and
      asthma are recognized as inflammatory disorders, and there are data demonstrating
      that age-related changes in immune function can have a significant impact on
      these disorders.

PMID- 20941661
TI  - Aging and interstitial lung diseases: unraveling an old forgotten player in the
      pathogenesis of lung fibrosis.
AB  - Aging is a natural process characterized by a progressive functional impairment
      and reduced capacity to respond adaptively to environmental stimuli. Aging is
      associated with increased susceptibility to a variety of chronic diseases,
      including type 2 diabetes mellitus, cancer, and neurological diseases. Lung
      pathologies are not the exception, and the prevalence of several interstitial
      lung diseases (ILDs), primarily idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, has been found to
      increase considerably with age. Although our understanding of the biology of
      aging has advanced remarkably in the last 2 decades, the molecular mechanisms
      linking aging to ILD remain unclear. Immunosenescence, oxidative stress, abnormal
      shortening of telomeres, apoptosis, and epigenetic changes affecting gene
      expression have been proposed to contribute to the aging process, and aging
      associated diseases. Here, we review the emerging concepts highlighting the
      putative aging-associated abnormalities involved in some human ILDs.

PMID- 20941663
TI  - Respiratory failure in the elderly patient.
AB  - Respiratory failure frequently complicates the care of elderly patients with or
      without chronic lung disease. Recent advances in techniques and applications of
      noninvasive ventilation provide an exceedingly useful means of managing
      respiratory compromise, and the clinical utilization of noninvasive mechanical
      ventilation has transformed the prognosis of acute and chronic respiratory
      failure in this age group. The majority of elderly patients can recover from an
      acute respiratory failure episode if adequate support is provided, although some
      may require long-term ventilatory assistance. Such assistance may be provided in
      the home setting if an adequate support system is available. As the size of the
      elderly population grows, an increased number of elderly patients with
      multifactorial respiratory failure will undoubtedly require episodic or sustained
      ventilatory assistance, and noninvasive ventilation can be provided for various
      forms of acute and chronic respiratory failure, including advanced chronic
      obstructive pulmonary disease, other parenchymal lung disease, and chest wall
      deformities. Health care organizations must incorporate long-term care facilities
      with ventilatory support capabilities into their health management strategies.

PMID- 20941665
TI  - Peripheral neuropathies. Preface.

PMID- 20941666
TI  - Laboratory evaluation of peripheral neuropathy.
AB  - Laboratory testing to help determine the cause of a peripheral neuropathy can be
      challenging. A rational approach, as opposed to a shotgun approach, is advocated
      for efficiency and expense. The author reviews a spectrum of tests and provides a
      basis for when to order and not to order.

PMID- 20941667
TI  - An approach to the evaluation of peripheral neuropathies.
AB  - Requests for an evaluation for a peripheral neuropathy are common in the clinic
      and electrodiagnostic laboratory. Lists of types of neuropathies are long as are
      diagnostic tests. An approach to the evaluation of peripheral neuropathies is
      valuable as it permits full characterization of the neuropathy after which the
      lists of possible types and tests becomes much shorter and manageable. In this
      article, the author presents such an approach, focusing on the clinical aspects.

PMID- 20941662
TI  - Aging and sleep: physiology and pathophysiology.
AB  - Aging effects on sleep are important to consider for the practicing pulmonologist
      due to the increase in prevalence of major respiratory disorders as well as the
      normal changes that occur in sleep patterns with aging. Typically, aging is
      associated with decreases in the amount of slow wave sleep and increases in stage
      1 and 2 non-rapid eye movement sleep, often attributed to an increased number of
      spontaneous arousals that occur in the elderly. Elderly individuals tend to go to
      sleep earlier in the evening and wake earlier due to a phase advance in their
      normal circadian sleep cycle. Furthermore the development of sleep-related
      respiratory disorders such as obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and central sleep
      apnea or Cheyne-Stokes respiration (CSA-CSR) associated with congestive heart
      failure (CHF) occur with increasing prevalence in the elderly. The development of
      such disorders is often of major concern because they are associated with
      systemic hypertension and cardiovascular disease, metabolic disorders such as
      diabetes, and impaired neurocognition. The present review reflects the current
      understanding of the normal changes in sleep patterns and sleep needs with
      advancing age, in addition to the effect that aging has on the predisposition to
      and consequences of OSA and CSA-CSR associated with CHF.

PMID- 20941668
TI  - Inflammatory neuropathies.
AB  - Inflammatory neuropathies are acquired disorders of peripheral nerves and
      occasionally of the central nervous system that can affect individuals at any
      age. The course can be monophasic, relapsing, or progressive. Inflammatory
      neuropathies are classified as acute or chronic. The acute form reaches a nadir
      by 4 weeks and the chronic form over 8 weeks or greater. The most common example
      of an acute inflammatory neuropathy is acute inflammatory demyelinating
      polyradiculoneuropathy (AIDP), which is part of the Guillain-Barre syndrome
      (GBS). The most common chronic inflammatory neuropathy is chronic inflammatory
      demyelinating polyradiculopathy (CIDP). Other chronic inflammatory neuropathies
      are multifocal motor neuropathy (MMN) and the Lewis-Sumner syndrome. The Fisher
      syndrome and Bickerstaff brainstem encephalitis occur acutely and have clinical
      overlap with AIDP.

PMID- 20941669
TI  - Treatment of acute immune-mediated neuropathies: Guillain-Barre syndrome and
      clinical variants.
AB  - The author reviews current treatment approaches for the management of acute
      immune-mediated peripheral neuropathies, including the Guillain-Barre syndrome
      together with the clinical variants, which are acute inflammatory demyelinating
      polyradiculoneuropathy, acute motor axonal neuropathy, acute motor and sensory
      axonal neuropathy, and the Fisher syndrome. A summary of clinical evidence for
      drug therapies is provided, with additional recommendations for commonly used
      treatment modalities including a focus on the approach to using intravenous
      immune globulin and plasma exchange therapy.

PMID- 20941670
TI  - Alphabet soup: making sense of genetic testing in CMT.
AB  - The diagnosis of inherited neuropathies can be challenging in several ways.
      First, a hereditary neuropathy must be suspected. Although some family histories
      are clear with multiple members affected, other families require directed
      inquiry. Second, even when a hereditary neuropathy is clear, it can be difficult
      to make a genetic characterization. The field of genotyping is expanding so
      rapidly, it is difficult to know what tests to order. The authors share their
      guidelines for the diagnosis of inherited neuropathies.

PMID- 20941671
TI  - Unusual peripheral neuropathies. Part I: extrinsic causes.
AB  - Peripheral neuropathy is common with many different etiologies. This is the first
      of three articles reviewing the less common causes of peripheral neuropathy. The
      first article includes the extrinsic causes of neuropathy including
      toxic/medications, infectious, nutritional, and systemic metabolic derangements.
      The second and third articles review the intrinsic causes of peripheral
      neuropathy. These reviews describe common presentations and constellation of
      manifestations and clinical findings.

PMID- 20941672
TI  - Unusual peripheral neuropathies. Part II: intrinsic reactive causes.
AB  - Peripheral neuropathy is common with many different etiologies. This is the
      second of three articles to review the less-common causes of peripheral
      neuropathy. Part II reviews the intrinsic "reactive" causes of peripheral
      neuropathy, including those related to connective tissue, vasculitis, sarcoid,
      organ failure, and inflammatory bowel disease. The extrinsic causes of neuropathy
      and the induced or inherited causes of neuropathy are covered in separate
      articles in this issue of SEMINARS IN NEUROLOGY, Part I and Part III,
      respectively. The brief series of reviews of causes of neuropathy describe common
      presentations and constellation of clinical findings. The goal is to help the
      practicing clinician increase the diagnostic yield when sorting out the unusual
      causes of peripheral neuropathy.

PMID- 20941673
TI  - Unusual peripheral neuropathies. Part III: intrinsic inherited causes.
AB  - Peripheral neuropathy is common and has many different etiologies. This is the
      last of three articles that review the less-common causes of peripheral
      neuropathy. Part III reviews the genetically coded causes of peripheral
      neuropathy, including those related to amyloidosis, neoplasm, paraproteinemias,
      as well as autosomal dominant, autosomal recessive, and x-linked causes. The
      extrinsic causes of neuropathy and the reactive or induced causes of neuropathy
      are covered in separate articles, Part I and Part II, respectively. The brief
      series reviews unusual causes of neuropathy and describes common presentations
      and the constellation of clinical findings. The goal is to help the clinician
      increase the diagnostic yield when sorting out the unusual causes of peripheral
      neuropathy.

PMID- 20941674
TI  - Electrodiagnostic assessment of peripheral neuropathies.
AB  - The authors discuss the techniques and use of electrodiagnosis to help fully
      characterize peripheral neuropathies, including electrodiagnostic principles,
      normal findings, correlations between underlying nerve pathology that leads to
      abnormal electrodiagnostic findings, and how to detect and interpret
      electrodiagnostic findings.

PMID- 20941675
TI  - Treatment of neuropathic pain.
AB  - Neuropathic pain is a common symptom associated with peripheral neuropathy and
      can be as or more disabling than the effects of nerve damage from the neuropathy.
      Though treatment of the underlying pathophysiology causing neuropathies may not
      be possible, treatment of neuropathic pain is. The author reviews the major
      medications used, dosing schedules, and data from randomized controlled trials.

PMID- 20941676
TI  - Neuropathy following bariatric surgery.
AB  - Bariatric surgery is an increasingly common procedure for weight control and is
      associated with neurologic complications, including disorders of the peripheral
      nerve. The clinical features of these disorders, steps to take to prevent them,
      and their prognosis are discussed in this article.

PMID- 20941677
TI  - Nerve conduction pitfalls and pearls in the diagnosis of peripheral neuropathies.
AB  - Nerve conduction studies are an integral component of the evaluation of a
      peripheral neuropathy. While routine in nature, they require attention to detail.
      This article focuses on operator and machine errors that can affect the correct
      interpretation of nerve conduction data and the nature of a neuropathy.

PMID- 20941678
TI  - Treatment of chronic immune-mediated neuropathies: chronic inflammatory
      demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy, multifocal motor neuropathy, and the Lewis
      Sumner syndrome.
AB  - Current treatment approaches for the management of chronic immune-mediated
      peripheral neuropathies are reviewed, including chronic inflammatory
      demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP), multifocal motor neuropathy (MMN),
      and the Lewis-Sumner syndrome (LSS). A summary of existing evidence for commonly
      used treatment modalities, such as corticosteroids, intravenous immune globulin
      (IVIG), and plasma exchange is provided. Evidence for the use of additional
      immunosuppressant and immunomodulatory agents is also reviewed.

PMID- 20941679
TI  - [Process of organ donation at a maximum care hospital].
AB  - BACKGROUND: A chronic shortage of organs for transplantation has developed due to
      the disparity between the demand for solid organs and the current supply.
      Improved processes for identifying potential donors could expand the pool of
      available organs. PATIENTS AND METHODS: All patients who died between January 1,
      2006 and December 31, 2008 in the University hospital of Essen suffering from a
      primary or secondary cerebral injury were assessed retrospectively. Age, date of
      death, duration of stay in the intensive care unit, main and additional diagnoses
      and diagnostic test for assessing brain death as well as discussions with
      relatives were recorded anonymously. RESULTS: 424 deaths with primary or
      secondary cerebral injury (group A) were identified during the study period. 267
      deaths (62.9 %) (group B) were further evaluated for organ donation after
      excluding absolute medical contraindications, e. g. malignancies, multiple organ
      failure. In 68 cases (16.0 %), diagnostic test of brain death had been completed
      (group C). Despite a high refusal rate, 36 (8.5 %) organ procurements were
      realized (group D) resulting in 140 transplanted organs (3.9 per organ donor).
      CONCLUSION: The first crucial step to improve the rate of organ donation is to
      identify any potential donor. In 8.5 % of intensive care unit deaths with primary
      or secondary cerebral damage, organ procurement was realized. In addition,
      education regarding transplant medicine and a positive attitude to organ donation
      among the general public as well as medical personnel is necessary to minimize
      the high refusal rates.

PMID- 20941680
TI  - [Extracorporeal life support given to a 16-year-old girl with cystic fibrosis,
      candida pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome].
AB  - HISTORY: Small bowel resection had to be performed because of an acute ileus in a
      16-year old girl with mucoviscidosis. Severe respiratory insufficiency developed
      and she was transferred to the intensive care unit. INVESTIGATIONS: The clinical
      signs of a severe ARDS were demonstrated: Horowitz index < 200, pO (2) 57 mm Hg,
      FiO (2) 1,0, pCO (2) 82 mm Hg. Candida serology was positive (titer 1 : 5120),
      and there was a leukocytosis (20 000/ul), hypalbuminemia (14 g/l) and elevation
      of C-reactive protein (190 mg/l). TREATMENT AND COURSE: Because all non invasive
      treatment options had failed to improve the patient's condition, an extracorporal
      membrane oxygenation (ECMO) device was connected. Seven days later, after the
      pulmonary situation had improved, the device was successfully removed; the
      patient was discharged in a satisfactory condition after another month.
      CONCLUSION: ECMO is a another treatment option for serious ARDS in infection
      related worsening of pulmonary cystic fibrosis.

PMID- 20941681
TI  - [Successful treatment of secondary aortoesophageal fistula after thoracic
      endovascular aortic repair].
AB  - HISTORY AND CLINICAL SYMPTOMS: A 58-year-old man was admitted to our hospital
      with acute chest pain and subfebrile temperatures. Two years ago, endovascular
      aortic stent-graft placement had been performed for acute type B aortic
      dissection complicated by malperfusion syndrome. DIAGNOSTIC ASSESSMENT: CT
      angiography showed a discrete soft-tissue attenuation mass between the aorta and
      esophagus. The patient developed progressive swallow disorder and esophago-gastro
      duodenoscopy demonstrated deep esophageal ulcerations at the level of the
      implanted aortic stent-graft. Intravenous treatment with broad spectrum
      antibiotics was started. The FDG-PET/CT scan showed increased FDG uptake and air
      entrapment in the affected region establishing the diagnosis of aortoesophageal
      fistula formation. THERAPY AND OUTCOME: Given the generally poor condition of the
      patient and the high risk of any aggressive surgical intervention, a new limited
      surgical approach was chosen consisting of open transthoracic esophageal
      resection, blind closure of the stomach and cervical esophagostomy. A
      percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy tube was placed. After three months,
      esophageal continuity was restored by retrosternal colon interposition. The
      presented therapeutic management resulted in a full recovery of the patient.
      CONCLUSION: Aortoesophageal fistula is a rare complication of thoracic aortic
      stent-graft placement. Patient may present with unspecific symptoms such as fever
      and rised inflammatory markers, but may also present with massive upper
      gastrointestinal bleeding. The herein presented limited therapy with esophageal
      resection represents a promising to the otherwise difficult therapy of
      aortoesophageal fistula.

PMID- 20941682
TI  - [Malfunction of a hemodialysis split catheter].

PMID- 20941683
TI  - [Blood product substitution in palliative care].

PMID- 20941684
TI  - [Medical innovations in the area of conflict between certification and
      allowance].
AB  - The medical technology industry is one of the most innovative industries in
      Germany. Once a medical product is developed, it will be certificated according
      to European harmonized guidelines and norms. The respective national regulations
      in Germany are stipulated in the Medical Devices Act (MPG). Part of the
      certification process is a clinical assessment with the aim to prove that the
      medical device complies with the so-called essential requirements concerning
      safety, performance and suitability for the intended use as defined by the
      manufacturer. A clinical trial may be necessary to establish compliance with
      these requirements. During this clinical trial the devices are being assessed in
      patients according to strict requirements by law. The main criticism by the
      funding agencies is that these trials do not sufficiently apply methods of
      evidence-based medicine. Thereby they are not useful for assessing the medical
      benefit of the devices. The manufacturers' counter-argument is that the products
      are bearing the CE mark, that they comply with the uniform European standards and
      that their quality therefore has been appropriately assessed. This discussion
      relates to the question about payment for the products, as according to the Fifth
      Social Act the funding agencies are only permitted to finance products with a
      scientifically proven medical benefit. The present article discusses both
      positions in the context of national and international legislation for the
      certification of medical devices and presents possible solutions.

PMID- 20941685
TI  - [Phoneme analysis and phoneme discrimination of juvenile speech therapy school
      students].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Phoneme analysis and phoneme discrimination, important factors in
      acquiring spoken and written language, have been evaluated in juvenile speech
      therapy school students. The results have been correlated with the results of a
      school achievement test. The following questions were of interest: Do students in
      the lower verbal skill segment show pathological phoneme analysis and phoneme
      discrimination skills? Do the results of the school achievement test differ from
      the results by students visiting German "Hauptschule"? How does phoneme analysis
      and phoneme discrimination performance correlate to other tested parameters?
      PATIENTS AND METHODS: 74 students of a speech therapy school ranging from 7 (th)
      to 9 (th) grade were examined (ages 12;10-17;04) with the Heidelberg Phoneme
      Discrimination Test H-LAD and the school achievement test "Prufsystem fur Schul-
      und Bildungsberatung PSB-R 6-13". RESULTS: Compared to 4 (th) graders the
      juvenile speech therapy school students showed worse results in the H-LAD test
      with good differentiation in the lower measuring range. In the PSB-R 6-13 test
      the examined students did worse compared to students visiting German
      "Hauptschule" for all grades except 9 (th) grade. Comparing H-LAD and PSB-R 6-13
      shows a significant correlation for the sub-tests covering language competence
      and intelligence but not for the concentration tests. CONCLUSIONS: Pathological
      phoneme analysis and phoneme discrimination skills suggest elevated need for
      counseling, but this needs to corroborated through additional linguistic
      parameters and measuring non-verbal intelligence. Further trails are needed in
      order to clarify whether the results can lead to sophisticated therapy algorithms
      for educational purposes.

PMID- 20941686
TI  - [Tumor in the region of the tonsillar region].

PMID- 20941687
TI  - Preoperative imaging for perforator flaps: a quality-improving measure?

PMID- 20941688
TI  - [Tissue engineering of cartilage replacement material - mechanical stimulation in
      the in-vitro cultivation of human chondrocytes].
AB  - The treatment of cartilage defects remains a major problem in orthopaedics. With
      regard to cartilage tissue engineering, the reimplantation of pre-cultivated
      chondrocytes in the form of a chondrocyte graft is a promising alternative to
      conventional methods. Clinical practice requires this MACT procedure (matrix
      associated autologous chondrocyte transplantation) to produce a biocompatible
      replacement tissue with adequate mechanical properties. Mechanical stimulation
      has the capacity to improve the quality of these cell-seeded biomaterials. By
      altering chondrocytes' cellular activities, the biological and biomechanical
      properties of cartilage replacement tissue can be modulated. Different systems
      are used for this purpose, e.g. shear, perfusion, hydrostatic pressure or
      compression. The mechanisms, biological effects, chances and problems of the
      techniques are presented and assessed. Among the stimulating techniques
      considered are systems that apply indirect and direct shear forces such as
      spinner flasks, rotating-wall bioreactors, direct tissue shear and perfusion
      culture systems. The application of hydrostatic pressure or compression may be
      brought about by either static or dynamic loading systems. Compressive loading is
      considered in the light of both its short- and long-term effects; additionally
      two exemplified systems are discussed in detail. However, despite promising
      approaches and seemingly favourable tissue characteristics, the in vitro
      culturing of functional cartilage replacement tissue with cartilage-like
      mechanical and biological characteristics still remains elusive. Furthermore,
      controlling, monitoring and regulating culturing conditions are general
      biotechnological requirements of a standardised in vitro cultivation. Among
      these, different aspects such as aseptic operation, media supplementation,
      nutrient and gas exchange, temperature and humidity control are considered.

PMID- 20941689
TI  - [Sudeck syndrome (CRPS) caused by unique personality traits: myth and fiction].
AB  - BACKGROUND: In analogy to the thesis of "pain-proneness", conceptualised by G.
      Engel more than 50 years ago, the idea of a unique structure in personality
      emerged, which was given a causal meaning in the development of Sudeck's Disease
      (now known as complex regional pain syndrome - CRPS), of which the pathogenesis
      is particularly unknown until today. It was supposed that certain psychological
      traits predispose one to develop CRPS. Predisposition in this context was
      apprehended as a personal susceptibility to produce and maintain an excessive
      reaction to nociceptive stimulations. This model has been maintained for a long
      time and was the subject of scientific examination just in the last two decades.
      METHOD: Some publications reporting sporadic correlations between CRPS and
      certain personality traits, for example anxiety, neuroticism and depressive mood,
      are presented as are also 15 current empirical studies and five reviews, which
      deal in a more differentiated manner with the formulated question and lead to
      sobering results. The relevant state of research as well as the fundamental and
      methodical difficulties in regard to verifying a CRPS personality or pain-prone
      personality are discussed critically. RESULTS: In general, there is a lack of
      high-quality relevant studies. Some retrospective/cross-sectional studies yield
      contradictory results regarding psychological problems in patients with CRPS but
      the majority shows no association, and studies with higher methodological quality
      tend to the conclusion of no relationship between psychological factors like
      depression, anxiety, neuroticism, or anger and CRPS. Especially, the few
      prospective studies do not report such a relationship, psychological factors are
      not associated with CRPS onset. Compared to other patients with chronic pain
      there is no unique disturbed psychological profile and no higher degree of
      psychosocial disturbance in CRPS patients. In all, the results of research cannot
      confirm the hypothesis of correlations between psychological and psychosocial
      factors and the pathogenesis of CRPS. Furthermore, there is no evidence for the
      existence of a unique CRPS personality or psychosocial pattern. The findings are
      in conformity with the outcome of research referring to the general pain-prone
      personality, which was abandoned due to the lack of success. It has been shown
      that there is a non-specific and non-linear relationship between personality and
      pain, there is no aetiological link. The observed modifications in behaviour and
      personality of CRPS patients, in particular depression and anxiety, are a
      consequence of the persisting pain disease and its considerable resistance
      towards treatment and not the cause. CONCLUSION: Although many patients with CRPS
      have been stigmatised as being psychologically different, a relationship between
      this disease and several psychological factors cannot be derived. The idea of an
      existing "Sudeck personality" as well as the search for such a predisposing
      personality structure are obsolete and useless. Management of pain and pain
      related impairments, however, are based on the personality of the affected
      persons.

PMID- 20941690
TI  - [Undergraduate curricular training in musculoskeletal ultrasound: the impact of
      preexisting anatomic knowledge].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of students
      preexisting anatomic proficiency to address the fundamental problems related to
      musculoskeletal ultrasound (MSUS) training by assessing the peer-assisted
      learning (PAL) system. METHODS: Students without anatomic knowledge (first
      semester, n = 38) and students in their fourth semester of medical school (n =
      49) were randomly assigned to two groups: 1) The PAL group - teaching by a group
      of three minimally trained student-teachers and 2) the Staff group - students
      were taught by a group of three ultrasound-experienced operators. Sessions
      included both a theoretical and a praxis component (DEGUM/EULAR, Toshiba NemioTM
      XG, 10 MHz). A multiple choice questionnaire (MCQ) and an objective structured
      clinical examination (OSCE) were performed. Qualitative differences were
      evaluated by the Likert scale. RESULTS: Exposure included three separate lessons
      (each 120 minutes, 65 minutes of active scanning). The results of the MCQ were
      better among the fourth semester students than among those without anatomic
      knowledge (p < 0.001). Among first semester students, the MCQ results were better
      for those who had been taught by medical staff than for those who had been
      instructed by means of PAL (4.3 vs. 3.1; p = 0.045). At no point during the
      practical evaluation did significant differences arise between students of fourth
      and first semesters after medical staff tutoring (19.6 vs. 19.7 points; p =
      0.978). PAL did result in worse results with regard to practical MSUS competence
      levels in the students possessing no previous knowledge (OSCE score 16.1; p =
      0.042). CONCLUSIONS: Although deficits in theoretical knowledge cannot be
      compensated for, basic MSUS content appears to be adequately transferable to
      students with limited anatomic knowledge. Thus, an early implementation of MSUS
      during medical school education would be prudent, provided that the training is
      performed by an experienced MSUS operator.

PMID- 20941691
TI  - [Physiotherapeutic interventions on an outpatient basis for orthopaedic and
      trauma surgery: can success be recorded?].
AB  - AIM: This prospective study analyses the quality and number of physiotherapy
      reports, cooperation between physiotherapist and orthopaedic surgeons as well as
      correctness of the physiotherapy in relation to the prescription within the
      German medical health system. We pose the question to whether or not the reported
      information is sufficient to evaluate outpatient physiotherapy. METHOD: In 264
      physiotherapeutic prescriptions, given to the patients for conservative treatment
      or during postoperative rehabilitation by an orthopaedic outpatient clinic, we
      prospectively evaluated the report quality. The types of prescription and
      performed physiotherapy were compared. The ability of the patient to demonstrate
      or to verbalise exercises, as has to be learned during therapy, was analysed and
      the number of questioned follow-up forms documented. We also tried to evaluate
      the efficiency of different types of physiotherapy. RESULTS: We received 33
      reports in 264 prescriptions, i.e., the obligation to report was only followed in
      12.5 % of the cases. Depending on the type of physiotherapy, there was a range
      between 0 % in electric field treatment, 0 % in active muscle training with
      weights and resistant exercises as well as in thermo- and swimming therapy, 10.8
      % in passive mobilisation, 16.8 % in regular physical therapy and 33 % in classic
      massage treatment. In 261 cases, i.e., in 98.8 % of the prescriptions, the
      physiotherapist was asked via the patient for another prescription. Only in one
      patient did the physiotherapist call the doctor personally to ask for a variation
      of the treatment during the prescribed series. In 193 prescriptions the patients
      should have learned to do the exercises by themselves as a home therapy
      programme. Only 5 patients were able to demonstrate this at the reassessment
      appointment. The allover complication rate was 2.3 % including nausea, vertigo or
      increasing pain. In all these cases the type of prescription was not followed.
      CONCLUSION: In the outpatient treatment of orthopaedic or trauma patients there
      is not sufficient cooperation between physiotherapists and surgeons. This may
      lead to prolonged postoperative rehabilitation time or may question the success
      of conservative treatment completely. The efficiency of physiotherapy could not
      be evaluated due to lack of prescription reports. Therefore, a new control
      mechanism to support the patient and the responsible outpatient surgeons should
      be introduced.

PMID- 20941692
TI  - [Arthrodesis of the infected ankle joint: results with the Ilizarov external
      fixator].
AB  - BACKGROUND: The treatment of severe bacterial infections of the ankle joint is
      difficult and complex. In the case of a chronic infection with destruction of the
      ankle joint, a tibiotalar arthrodesis with external fixation is the treatment of
      choice. In this study the results of ankle arthrodesis due to bacterial infection
      using the Ilizarov external fixator are presented. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Between
      2001 and 2004 37 patients (10 female, 27 male, mean age 58 years) were treated
      with a tibiotalar arthrodesis using the Ilizarov fixator. All patients had a
      confirmed infection in the course of their disease. Active infection was present
      in 20 patients at the time of the operation. Most secondary ankle arthritides (81
      %) were caused post-traumatically after various internal fixation procedures.
      Previous ankle arthrodeses were tried in 14 cases (12 cases with internal
      fixation, two cases with external monolateral fixation). Patients were treated
      with a four-ring Ilizarov frame (in two cases with a five-ring frame) and
      stainless steel wires. All patients could be included at a mean follow-up of 46
      (12-49) months. A modified AOFAS score was used for the functional outcome.
      RESULTS: The operation took 141 minutes at an average ranging from 90 to 252
      minutes. The inpatient treatment lasted between 10 and 63 days (mean 26 days).
      The time spent in the fixator was 116.7 (69-245) days. All patients were
      mobilised under full weight bearing with the external fixator. Surgical revision
      was necessary in 13 patients: four patients needed wound revisions due to ongoing
      infection, six patients needed wire exchange due to deep infection in three cases
      and wire breakage in three cases, one patient needed additional wires because of
      an initially instable frame configuration and two patients needed secondary skin
      grafting. Bony consolidation was achieved in 32 patients (86.5 %). With a re
      arthrodesis performed in four patients using the Ilizarov fixator, the overall
      fusion rate was 94.6 %. Infection was persistent in two cases with one solid
      ankle fusion and one ankle pseudarthrosis. At the time of follow-up 35 patients
      were able to walk under full weight loading with orthopaedic shoe modifications,
      four patients needed support of a cane and three patients wore an ankle-foot
      orthesis. The two patients with persistent pseudarthrosis were mobilised in a
      lower-leg orthesis after declining another surgical revision. The positioning of
      the hindfoot showed in seven cases an equinus of 10 degrees , in one case a varus
      of 10 degrees  and in two cases a valgus positioning of 10 degrees . A
      plantigrade foot positioning or with minimal degrees of deviation could be
      achieved in all other cases. The modified AOFAS score at the time of the follow
      up examination ranged from 19 to 86 with an average score of 67.9 points. All
      patients except three were satisfied or rather satisfied with the treatment
      procedure and its results. CONCLUSION: The Ilizarov external fixator is a safe
      method for ankle fusion in cases of infection. The advances are a possible
      application at acute infection and immediate mobilisation at full weight bearing.
      However, it remains a time-consuming and stressful procedure for the patient.

PMID- 20941693
TI  - [Paraplegia after isolated rupture of the spinal cord - a rare injury].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Complex vertebral fractures can lead to injury of the spinal cord
      with resulting paraplegia. High-speed accidents are common causes, especially in
      younger patients. Malignant or inflammatory processes play an important role in
      the elderly. Less common reasons for a spinal cord injury are congenital
      malformations. We here report about a 17-year-old patient who suffered from
      paraplegia after an isolated rupture of the spinal cord without an injury of the
      vertebral bodies, intervertebral disc or ligamentous structures. This type of
      injury has not been reported in the literature before. PATIENT AND METHOD: We
      report about a 17-year-old patient, referred to our hospital, presenting with
      lumbal paraplegia after a high-speed accident 8 days prior to admission. After
      initial stabilisation of the polytraumatised patient, he was referred to our
      hospital for further treatment. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The radiological
      examination showed a bilateral acetabular fracture, a right anterior pelvic ring
      fracture and shaft fractures of the left humerus and right femur. Furthermore,
      the spinal cord at thoracic level 10/11 was ruptured. Interestingly, there was no
      injury of the vertebral bodies, intervertebral disc or ligamentous structures. A
      tethered cord as a possible anatomic variation could be excluded in this case by
      MRI. However, anatomic variations could be the reason for this injury and should
      be kept in mind.

PMID- 20941694
TI  - [Current treatment concepts for mid-shaft fractures of the clavicle - results of
      a prospective multicentre study].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Mid-shaft clavicular fractures are mainly treated conservatively with
      an average incidence of non-union in 4.5 %. Gender, age, grade of fragment
      dislocation and comminution are risk factors to develop a pseudarthrosis. In
      contrast to patients who where operated on, conservative treatment was also
      associated with a higher complication rate and pain level as well as a poor
      shoulder function and cosmetic result. Therefore more patients are treated
      operatively, especially modern minimally invasive techniques have been developed
      and remain as equals to the standard plate fixation. PATIENTS/MATERIAL: Within a
      period of 24 months patients with a mid-shaft clavicular fracture were included
      into a prospective, non-randomised multicentre study. A modified AO
      classification was used. Patients were treated either conservatively, by plating
      or intramedullary nailing. Pain level, cosmetic result, shoulder function and
      complication rate were documented as well as the influence of the profession on
      the therapeutic strategy and duration of unfitness for work. RESULTS: 120
      patients (95 male, 25 female) were included in the study. Fractures were caused
      in 35 (29 %) by a direct, in 85 (71 %) by an indirect trauma mechanism. Because
      of their lower grade fractures with overlapping fragments 47 (39 %) patients were
      treated conservatively with a figure-of-eight-bandage. Patients with higher
      graded fractures and fragment displacement were stabilised either by
      intramedullary nailing (n = 20, 27 %) or plate fixation (n = 53, 73 %). 96 (80 %)
      patients were examined at a follow-up of eight weeks and eight months after
      injury. Early freedom from pain (p = 0.014), a better cosmetic result (p = 0.1)
      and an improved subjective (p = 0.004) and objective (p = 0.01) shoulder function
      were statistically significant in operated patients. Clavicle shortening was
      often found to be significant in conservatively treated patients (p = 0.006).
      Duration of unfitness for work depended on the physical activity in the job. The
      complication rate was 15 % for each therapy, non-union was detected in one (0.8
      %) patient. CONCLUSION: Mid-shaft clavicular fractures have to be classified by
      the criteria contact and number of fragments. Advantages of operative procedures
      are early freedom from pain and shoulder function recovery. Non-displaced low
      grade shaft fractures without shortening should be treated conservatively,
      whereas displaced low-grade shaft fractures have a better result after
      intramedullary nailing. Plate fixation should be predominantly used in dislocated
      and comminuted fractures as well as in patients with a high level of physical
      activity in their jobs.

PMID- 20941695
TI  - Cross-species genetic toxicity assessment accomplished by flow cytometric
      analysis of blood.
AB  - The formation of micronuclei in blood cells has been an established indicator of
      genotoxicity for decades. Standard microscopy methods are time-consuming and lack
      the objectivity that fully automated methods can provide. The ability of flow
      cytometric technology to rapidly and objectively survey thousands of cells for
      micronuclei can significantly improve the value of this endpoint. In addition,
      since many more cells can be scored, and specific populations can be targeted,
      species that historically have been difficult to obtain micronucleus data from,
      such as humans, can now be readily evaluated using this methodology. This unit
      describes a procedure for fixation, staining, and analysis of blood samples using
      materials supplied in MicroFlow kits (Litron Laboratories) and a single-laser
      flow cytometer. This methodology provides a reliable, robust assessment of
      chromosome damage that is used in basic science research as well as drug-safety
      screening programs at large pharmaceutical and chemical companies.

PMID- 20941696
TI  - Current concepts in drug-induced mitochondrial toxicity.
AB  - Mitochondria generate most of the cell's ATP and play key roles in fatty acid
      oxidation, steroid synthesis, heme synthesis, thermogenesis, calcium homeostasis,
      and apoptosis. With the development of new methods to study mitochondrial
      function, it is becoming clear that drug-induced mitochondrial dysfunction is one
      of the causes of drug toxicity. Mitochondria can be impaired by drugs in a
      variety of ways. These include inhibition of oxidative phosphorylation,
      uncoupling of electron transport from ATP synthesis, irreversible opening of the
      mitochondrial permeability transition pore, inhibition of transporters within the
      mitochondrial inner membrane, increased oxidative stress, inhibition of the
      citric acid cycle, inhibition of fatty acid oxidation, and impairment of either
      mtDNA replication or mtDNA-encoded protein synthesis. This unit provides an
      overview on the physiological roles of mitochondria and the mechanisms by which
      they can be adversely affected by drugs.

PMID- 20941697
TI  - Fluorescent pH and oxygen probes of the assessment of mitochondrial toxicity in
      isolated mitochondria and whole cells.
AB  - Oxygen consumption measurements provide information on the activity of the
      mitochondrial electron transport chain and such measurements can be carried out
      on both isolated mitochondria and whole cells. Additional information is
      available on glycolytic metabolism by assessing extracellular acidification. The
      protocols in this unit describe how recently developed fluorescent pH- and O(2)
      sensitive probes can be used as tools for the assessment of mitochondrial
      toxicity and metabolic function in standard microtiter plates. In addition,
      protocols for the isolation of mitochondria from different tissue sources are
      provided.

PMID- 20941698
TI  - Assessment of gap junctional intercellular communication.
AB  - Gap junctions are important plasma membrane organelles through which most cells
      in normal tissues communicate with each other. They exist in two neighboring
      cells and each cell contributes half of the structure. One gap junction consists
      of two hexameric connexons that dock with each other to create a channel. Six of
      the basic subunits referred to as connexins form a connexon. Less than one
      hundred to several thousand gap junction channels cluster together in the plane
      of the membrane. The gap junction channels serve as a regulated conduit for the
      intercellular exchange of small molecules. Maintenance of the integrity of gap
      junctional intercellular communication (GJIC) is important and required for
      normal electrical coupling, homeostasis, and embryogenesis. Aberrations of gap
      junctions have been related to human diseases such as cancer, cardiac arrhythmia,
      Charcot-Marie-tooth disease, and visceroatrial heterotaxia syndrome. This unit
      describes methods for measuring gap junctional intercellular communication using
      primary mouse hepatocytes as a model. Focus is only on functional evaluation
      based on dye coupling. Other methods, such as intracellular calcium waves and
      dual patch clamp, have been used to measure gap junctional communication, but
      these are not described in this unit.

PMID- 20941699
TI  - The Salmonella (Ames) test for mutagenicity.
AB  - The Ames test is a widely accepted short-term assay for detecting chemicals that
      induce mutations in the DNA of organisms. The assay is a reverse mutation assay
      that detects the mutational reversion of his-dependent Salmonella to his
      independent colonies. Mutation-causing chemicals increase the frequency of
      occurrence of his-independent colonies, usually in a dose-dependent fashion. This
      unit includes protocols for the basic plate test with and without preincubation
      as well as procedures for highly volatile chemicals and gases, chemicals that
      require reductive metabolism, and chemicals that are available in small
      quantities. In addition there are protocols for dose selection, strain
      maintenance and preservation, freezing working and permanent cultures, and
      preparing the S-9 metabolic activation system.

PMID- 20941700
TI  - Measurement of a malondialdehyde-DNA adduct.
AB  - Determining the levels of various DNA adducts has become an essential tool in
      understanding the toxicology of carcinogens. Direct measurement of DNA adduct
      levels, the true biologically effective dose of a mutagen, can be correlated with
      biological outcomes or used to probe mechanisms of adduct formation. Each adduct
      to be measured requires a specific assay. Malondialdehyde is a carcinogenic and
      mutagenic electrophile that is endogenously produced during peroxidation of
      polyunsaturated fatty acids. Its reaction with deoxyguanosine produces a
      fluorescent exocyclic pyrimidopurinone that can be detected by gas
      chromatographic/negative chemical ionization-electron capture mass spectroscopy.
      Methods for preparing an immunoaffinity gel and for HPLC quantification of
      nucleosides are also included.

PMID- 20941701
TI  - Mutagenesis assays in mammalian cells.
AB  - Mutagenesis assays in mammalian cells are frequently used to complement bacterial
      mutagenesis assays. This unit describes a mutagenesis assay using either Chinese
      hamster V79 cells or V79-derivative gpt transgenic cell line to assess the
      effects of chemical agents on mammalian cells.

PMID- 20941702
TI  - Single-cell analysis of lipid rafts in lymphocytes and in T cell-containing
      immunoconjugates.
AB  - Within the plasma membranes of many different cell types, certain membrane
      lipids, including cholesterol and sphingolipids, form lateral assemblies
      surrounded by unsaturated glycerophospholipids. The concentration of such
      membrane lipids and associated proteins results in the formation of microdomains
      termed lipid rafts" (or glycolipid-enriched membranes or detergent-insoluble
      glycosphingolipid-enriched domains). Proteins that possess saturated acyl chains
      are generally associated with lipid rafts. Lipid rafts are believed to be
      involved in a number of cellular processes including cell activation. When
      material is limiting, raft-associated proteins may be identified on single cells
      using microscopy. This unit describes the application of this technique in an
      immunological example, examining the location and movement of signal transduction
      complexes in single T lymphocytes and in interactive conjugates between T cells
      and antigen-presenting cells (APCs).

PMID- 20941703
TI  - Detection of the mitochondrial apoptosis-induced channel (MAC) and its regulation
      by Bcl-2 family proteins.
AB  - Apoptosis is a phenomenon fundamental to higher eukaryotes that is integral to
      such diverse cellular processes as tissue homeostasis, organogenesis, and
      response to toxins. The release from mitochondria of apoptotic factors such as
      cytochrome c is a key step during apoptosis of most cells. Cytochrome c release
      occurs through the MAC (mitochondrial apoptosis-induced channel), a pore which
      forms in the mitochondrial outer membrane during early apoptosis and is
      exquisitely regulated by the Bcl-2 family of proteins. This unit presents basic
      and advanced tools for detecting MAC and defining its regulation by Bcl-2 family
      proteins and pharmacological agents. Protocols include the use of time-lapse
      video-microscopy to monitor the onset of apoptosis in living cells and patch
      clamp techniques for mitochondria or proteoliposomes containing mitochondrial
      proteins, which allow direct detection of MAC. These approaches enable an
      evaluation of the role of MAC and mitochondria in apoptosis of a variety of cell
      types by many inducers.

PMID- 20941704
TI  - Mouse models for human hemato-lymphopoiesis.
AB  - By transplanting human hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells in newborn
      immunodeficient mice, researchers have recently achieved development of a human
      adaptive immune system, consisting of B cells, T cells, dendritic cells, and some
      cells of the myeloid lineage, which together form respective structured lymphoid
      organs as thymus, spleen, and lymph nodes, and produce some functional immune
      responses. These will provide valuable models to analyze the impact of chemicals,
      pharmaceuticals, or species-specific infections on human hematolymphoid cells in
      vivo. This unit describes methods for isolation of the progenitor human cells and
      their injection into mouse to constitute an adaptive immune system.

PMID- 20941705
TI  - Human papillomavirus genotype detection from archival papanicolaou-stained
      cervical tests.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Archival Papanicolaou (Pap)-stained cervical cytology tests may be
      the only source of a clinical sample for the evaluation of previous human
      papillomavirus (HPV) infection. Pap tests are ideal because the majority of women
      in countries with comprehensive screening programs would have had several
      collected and stored. METHODS: In the current study, HPV detection and genotyping
      were compared in samples collected from a conventionally fixed Pap test with
      those collected using an endocervical brush and collected in PreservCyt (liquid
      based) in 87 women undergoing management for a high-grade Pap test abnormality.
      Cytology slides were scanned to create high-resolution digital images before the
      removal of cells because the DNA extraction process resulted in the destruction
      of the cells from the original sample. RESULTS: All previously identified high
      grade abnormalities on the Pap tests were detectable on the digital images. beta
      globin was detected in all extracted Pap tests, indicating the presence of
      recoverable, amplifiable DNA. A total of 62 (71.3%) and 59 (67.8%) tests were
      found to have high-risk (HR) HPV detected on PreservCyt and fixed Pap test
      slides, respectively, with >87% concordance for the detection of HR HPV
      genotypes. Complete HPV genotyping concordance was observed in 62% and was
      partial in 26% of sample pairs, with very good agreement for HPV types 16 and 18
      (kappa = 0.850 and 0.903, respectively). Only 1 Pap test slide was found to be
      positive whereas the PreservCyt had no detectable HPV DNA, demonstrating a low
      false-positive rate (1%). CONCLUSIONS: The results of the current study confirm
      that imaging and subsequent HPV detection and genotyping in archival cervical
      smears can offer accuracy in HPV detection that is comparable to endocervical
      brush-collected PreservCyt samples.

PMID- 20941707
TI  - Asymmetric amyloid fibril elongation: a new perspective on a symmetric world.
AB  - Amyloids are insoluble, fibrous proteins formed through the aggregation of
      misfolded proteins. They accumulate in the tissue of individuals with
      degenerative diseases, such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. The purpose of this
      study was to determine whether fibril growth from an initial model fibril seed is
      unidirectional or bidirectional. The prevailing theory on amyloid formation is
      that a symmetric fibril elongates equally from both ends. This study provides
      evidence to the contrary; the process occurs predominately unidirectionally,
      demonstrating that amyloid fibrils may be asymmetric and propagate mostly in one
      direction. Alexa Fluor 568 labeled insulin fibrils were seeded into a native
      insulin solution and allowed to elongate at 65 degrees C while the kinetics of
      fibril growth was monitored. The resulting elongated fibrils were labeled with
      thioflavin-T, and the fluorescent images of the fibrils show that a majority of
      the elongated fibrils propagated along only one end of the seed, with the
      remaining labeled fibrils having bidirectional elongation or no elongation. Using
      a crystallographic model, we offer a structural explanation for asymmetric growth
      of the insulin fibrils. Thus, instead of the current view that fibrils grow
      symmetrically from both ends of the fibril, this is the first evidence that
      insulin amyloid fibrils formed in solution are asymmetric and appear to grow from
      only one end.

PMID- 20941706
TI  - Computational studies of colicin insertion into membranes: the closed state.
AB  - Colicins are water-soluble toxins that, upon interaction with membranes, undergo
      a conformational change, insert, and form pores in them. Pore formation activity
      is localized in a bundle of 10 alpha-helices named the pore-forming domain (PFD).
      There is evidence that colicins attach to the membrane via a hydrophobic hairpin
      embedded in the core of the PFD. Two main models have been suggested for the
      membrane-bound state: penknife and umbrella, differing in regard to the
      orientation of the hydrophobic hairpin with respect to the membrane. The
      arrangement of the amphipathic helices has been described as either a compact
      three-dimensional structure or a two-dimensional array of loosely interacting
      helices on the membrane surface. Using molecular dynamics simulations with an
      implicit membrane model, we studied the structure and stability of the
      conformations proposed earlier for four colicins. We find that colicins are
      initially driven towards the membrane by electrostatic interactions between basic
      residues and the negatively charged membrane surface. They do not have a unique
      binding orientation, but in the predominant orientations the central hydrophobic
      hairpin is parallel to the membrane. In the inserted state, the estimated free
      energy tends to be lower for the compact arrangements of the amphipathic helix,
      but the more expanded ones are in better agreement with experimental distance
      distributions. The difference in energy between penknife and umbrella
      conformations is small enough for equilibrium to exist between them. Elongation
      of the hydrophobic hairpin helices and membrane thinning were found unable to
      produce stabilization of the transmembrane configuration of the hydrophobic
      hairpin.

PMID- 20941708
TI  - Peripheral facial nerve communications and their clinical implications.
AB  - The facial nerve (CN VII) nerve follows a torturous and complex path from its
      emergence at the pontomedullary junction to its various destinations. It exhibits
      a highly variable and complicated branching pattern and forms communications with
      several other cranial nerves. The facial nerve forms most of these neural
      intercommunications with branches of all three divisions of the trigeminal nerve
      (CN V), including branches of the auriculotemporal, buccal, mental, lingual,
      infraorbital, zygomatic, and ophthalmic nerves. Furthermore, CN VII also
      communicates with branches of the vestibulocochlear nerve (CN VIII),
      glossopharyngeal nerve (CN IX), and vagus nerve (CN X) as well as with branches
      of the cervical plexus such as the great auricular, greater, and lesser
      occipital, and transverse cervical nerves. This review intends to explore the
      many communications between the facial nerve and other nerves along its course
      from the brainstem to its peripheral branches on the human face. Such connections
      may have importance during clinical examination and surgical procedures of the
      facial nerve. Knowledge of the anatomy of these neural connections may be
      particularly important in facial reconstructive surgery, neck dissection, and
      various nerve transfer procedures as well as for understanding the
      pathophysiology of various cranial, skull base, and neck disorders.

PMID- 20941709
TI  - First year medical students' approaches to study and their outcomes in a gross
      anatomy course.
AB  - Three approaches to study have been described in phenomenographic educational
      research: deep, strategic, and surface. Deep approaches to learning have been
      correlated with meaningful learning and academic success, whereas surface
      approaches produce an externalization of learning and poor outcomes. Students
      adopting a strategic approach adopt either a deep or surface approach in response
      to perceived examination demands. Despite being well known in Europe and
      Australia, this research paradigm has been applied sporadically in the United
      States. In this study, the approaches to study of a group of first year American
      medical students were collected using the Approaches and Study Skills Inventory
      for Students instrument at the beginning and end of their first year to find how
      consistent these approaches remained over time. At both times, the majority of
      participants adopted deep approaches, followed by strategic and then surface
      approaches. The percentage of participants using a surface approach grew during
      the first year but never exceeded 10%. The mean anatomy grades of students
      adopting each approach were then compared to find how each approach correlated
      with success in the course. Mean grades of students using a strategic approach
      were significantly higher than average at both times. Students who maintained a
      strategic approach throughout the first year had significantly higher mean grades
      than average while students who changed to a surface approach had significantly
      worse mean anatomy grades. Problem-based students had significantly higher scores
      on several deep submeasures than lecture-based peers and female students
      demonstrated greater fear of failure than male peers at both times.

PMID- 20941710
TI  - An unusual anomaly of flexor carpi ulnaris diagnosed by ultrasound.

PMID- 20941711
TI  - Anatomy of the lateral antebrachial cutaneous nerve in relation to the lateral
      epicondyle and cephalic vein.
AB  - The lateral antebrachial cutaneous nerve (LACN) is the terminal sensory branch of
      the musculocutaneous nerve supplying the lateral aspect of forearm. Because of
      its close proximity to the biceps brachii tendon (BBT), the lateral epicondyle
      (LE), and the cephalic vein (CV), surgery and venipuncture in the cubital fossa
      can injure the LACN. Measurement data regarding the relative anatomy of LACN are
      scarce. We, therefore, dissected 96 upper extremities from 26 males and 22
      females to expose the LACN in the cubital fossa and forearm. The LACN
      consistently emerged from the lateral margin of BBT. It then pierced the deep
      fascia distal to the interepicondylar line (IEL) in 84.4% with mean distances of
      1.8 +/- 1.1 and 1.2 +/- 0.9 cm (male and female, respectively). At the level of
      IEL, the LACN in all cases was medial to the LE (5.9 +/- 1.1 cm male and 5.2 +/-
      0.9 cm female). Two types of branching were observed: single trunk (78.1%) and
      bifurcation (21.9%). Asymmetry in the branching pattern was observed in 6 males
      and 1 female. Concerning the relationship to the CV, the LACN ran medially within
      1 cm at the level of IEL in 78.7%. Moreover, in 10 specimens, the LACN was
      directly beneath the CV. In the forearm, the LACN tends to course medial to the
      CV. Significant differences in the measurement data between genders but not sides
      were found in some parameters. These data are important for avoiding LACN injury
      and locating the LACN during relevant medical procedures.

PMID- 20941712
TI  - Comment on: "Nucleation and growth of BaF(x)Cl(2-x) nanorods".

PMID- 20941714
TI  - Subcellular IR imaging of a metal-carbonyl moiety using photothermally induced
      resonance.

PMID- 20941715
TI  - Solid-state NMR spectroscopy on complex biomolecules.
AB  - Biomolecular applications of NMR spectroscopy are often merely associated with
      soluble molecules or magnetic resonance imaging. However, since the late 1970s,
      solid-state NMR (ssNMR) spectroscopy has demonstrated its ability to provide
      atomic-level insight into complex biomolecular systems ranging from lipid
      bilayers to complex biomaterials. In the last decade, progress in the areas of
      NMR spectroscopy, biophysics, and molecular biology have significantly expanded
      the repertoire of ssNMR spectroscopy for biomolecular studies. This Review
      discusses current approaches and methodological challenges, and highlights recent
      progress in using ssNMR spectroscopy at the interface of structural and cellular
      biology.

PMID- 20941717
TI  - Scalable synthesis of tavorite LiFeSO4F and NaFeSO4F cathode materials.

PMID- 20941718
TI  - The reduction chemistry of ferrocenylborole.

PMID- 20941719
TI  - Self-consistent structural solution of mesoporous crystals by combined electron
      crystallography and curvature assessment.

PMID- 20941720
TI  - Chemical and light-driven oxidation of water catalyzed by an efficient dinuclear
      ruthenium complex.

PMID- 20941721
TI  - Linear-selective rhodium(I)-catalyzed addition of arylboronic acids to allyl
      sulfones.

PMID- 20941722
TI  - Differential ion exchange in elliptical uranyl diphosphonate nanotubules.

PMID- 20941724
TI  - A chemical model for the inner-ring deiodination of thyroxine by iodothyronine
      deiodinase.

PMID- 20941725
TI  - Development of an activity-based probe for autotaxin.
AB  - Autotaxin (ATX), or ecto-nucleotide pyrophosphatase/phosphodiesterase 2 (ENPP2),
      is a secreted lysophospholipase D that hydrolyses lysophosphatidylcholine into
      the lipid mediator lysophosphatidic acid (LPA), a mitogen and chemoattractant for
      many cell types. ATX has been implicated in tumour progression and inflammation,
      and might serve as a biomarker. Here we describe the development of a fluorescent
      activity-based probe that covalently binds to the active site of ATX. The probe
      consists of a lysophospholipid-based backbone linked to a trapping moiety that
      becomes reactive after phosphate ester hydrolysis, and a Cy5 fluorescent dye to
      allow visualisation of active ATX. The probe reacts specifically with the three
      known isoforms of ATX, it competes with small-molecule inhibitors for binding to
      ATX and allows ATX activity in plasma to be determined. Our activity-based
      reporter will be useful for monitoring ATX activity in biological fluids and for
      inhibitor screening.

PMID- 20941726
TI  - Boronic acid-based lectin mimics (boronolectins) that can recognize cancer
      biomarker, the Thomsen-Friedenrich antigen.

PMID- 20941727
TI  - Control over enzymatic activity by DNA-directed split enzyme reassembly.

PMID- 20941728
TI  - Amplification of the inhibitory activity and reversal of the selectivity of
      miglitol by C(2')-monofluorination.
AB  - Selective monofluorination of the alpha-glycosidase inhibitor and antidiabetic
      agent miglitol at positions C(2') or C(6) creates competitive inhibitors of
      glycosidases. Introducing a fluorine substituent at position C(6) results in a
      reduced binding to the enzyme whereas fluorination at C(2') produces an inhibitor
      with an activity four times higher than the parent compound. This compound is
      selective for the alpha-galactosidase from green coffee beans. Its screening
      against a panel of human cell lines showed a low cytotoxicity, therefore, making
      this compound an interesting candidate for further clinical investigations.

PMID- 20941729
TI  - Synthesis, antimicrobial evaluation, and docking studies of novel 4-substituted
      quinazoline derivatives as DNA-gyrase inhibitors.
AB  - Quinazoline derivatives are reported to have anti-inflammatory, analgesic,
      antibacterial, and anticancer activities. The incorporation of "OCH2CONH2"
      (oxymethylcarbamide) at 4th position of the quinazoline ring was found to
      influence the biological activities of the molecules. With this rationale, some
      new oxadiazolyl methyloxy quinazolines, pyrazolyl acetoxy methyl quinazolines,
      triazolylmethyloxy quinazolines were synthesized from anthranilic acid through
      quinazolyl oxyacetylhydrazide intermediates. All the compounds were characterized
      by IR, 1H-NMR, EI-MS, and C, H, N analyses and evaluated for their antimicrobial
      activity. Docking studies on the DNA-gyrase enzyme (1KZN) show their role in the
      antimicrobial activity of the molecules and explain the higher potency of
      compounds 6a, 6b, 8a, 8b based on ReRanking scores and binding poses of the
      molecules.

PMID- 20941730
TI  - Looking for high energy density compounds applicable for propellant among the
      derivatives of DPO with -N3, -ONO2, and -NNO2 groups.
AB  - The derivatives of DPO (2,5-dipicryl-1,3,4-oxadiazole) are optimized to obtain
      their molecular geometries and electronic structures at the DFT-B3LYP/6-31G*
      level. The bond length is focused to primarily predict thermal stability and the
      pyrolysis mechanism of the title compounds. Detonation properties are evaluated
      using the modified Kamlet-Jacobs equations based on the calculated densities and
      heats of formation. It is found that there are good linear relationships between
      density, detonation velocity, detonation pressure, and the number of azido,
      nitrate, and nitramine groups. According to the largest exothermic principle, the
      relative specific impulse is investigated by calculating the enthalpy of
      combustion (DeltaH(comb)) and the total heat capacity (C(p,gases)). It is found
      that the introduction of -N(3), -ONO(2), and -NNO(2) groups could increase the
      specific impulses and II-4, II-5, and III-5 are potential candidates for High
      Energy Density Materials (HEDMs). The effect of the azido, nitrate, and nitramine
      groups on the structure and the properties is discussed.

PMID- 20941731
TI  - Theoretical study on phosphorescence efficiency and color tuning from orange to
      blue-green of Ir(III) complexes based on substituted 2-phenylimidazo[1,2
      a]pyridine ligand.
AB  - The geometrical structures, phosphorescence quantum yields, and
      electroluminescence (EL) efficiency of six iridium(III) complexes containing 2
      phenylimidazo[1,2-a]pyridine ligand are investigated by density functional theory
      (DFT), which show a wide color tuning of photoluminescence from orange
      (lambda(em) = 550 nm) to blue-green (lambda(em) = 490 nm). The calculated results
      shed some light on the reasons of the remarkably manipulated excited-state and EL
      properties through substitution effect. The Mulliken charge calculation reveals
      that attached -CF(3) groups on phenyl and imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine (impy) moieties
      (4) can make both of them as electron-deficient region, which will lead to the
      contraction of the whole coordination sphere and strengthen the metal-ligand
      interaction. While attaching two -CF(3) groups on phenyl ring can make it more
      electron-deficient, which will induce electron transferring from acac and impy
      fragment to phenyl ring, and also result in the contracted structure. The largest
      metal-to-ligand charge transfer ((3)MLCT) character and the smaller S(1)-T(1)
      energy gap (DeltaE(S(1)-T(1))) value increase the emission quantum yields of 4
      and 6 than other complexes. For EL efficiency, because of the similar highest
      occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) levels of 4 and 6 to that of holes injection
      material poly(N-vinylcarbazole) (PVK) and the larger dipole moments, majority
      hole will be accumulated on the HOMO of 4 and 6. Combination with the lower
      lowest unoccupied molecular orbital energy levels compared with PVK, the
      recombination zones of 4 and 6 can be well confined within emitting material
      layer (EML) and lead to the higher EL efficiency.

PMID- 20941733
TI  - Electrostatic solvation free energy of amino acid side chain analogs:
      implications for the validity of electrostatic linear response in water.
AB  - Electrostatic free energies of solvation for 15 neutral amino acid side chain
      analogs are computed. We compare three methods of varying computational
      complexity and accuracy for three force fields: free energy simulations, Poisson
      Boltzmann (PB), and linear response approximation (LRA) using AMBER, CHARMM, and
      OPLS-AA force fields. We find that deviations from simulation start at low
      charges for solutes. The approximate PB and LRA produce an overestimation of
      electrostatic solvation free energies for most of molecules studied here. These
      deviations are remarkably systematic. The variations among force fields are
      almost as large as the variations found among methods. Our study confirms that
      success of the approximate methods for electrostatic solvation free energies
      comes from their ability to evaluate free energy differences accurately.

PMID- 20941734
TI  - The first branching point in porphyrin biosynthesis: a systematic docking,
      molecular dynamics and quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical study of substrate
      binding and mechanism of uroporphyrinogen-III decarboxylase.
AB  - In humans, uroporphyrinogen decarboxylase is intimately involved in the synthesis
      of heme, where the decarboxylation of the uroporphyrinogen-III occurs in a single
      catalytic site. Several variants of the mechanistic proposal exist; however, the
      exact mechanism is still debated. Thus, using an ONIOM quantum
      mechanical/molecular mechanical approach, the mechanism by which uroporphyrinogen
      decarboxylase decarboxylates ring D of uroporphyrinogen-III has been
      investigated. From the study performed, it was found that both Arg37 and Arg50
      are essential in the decarboxylation of ring D, where experimentally both have
      been shown to be critical to the catalytic behavior of the enzyme. Overall, the
      reaction was found to have a barrier of 10.3 kcal mol(-1) at 298.15 K. The rate
      limiting step was found to be the initial proton transfer from Arg37 to the
      substrate before the decarboxylation. In addition, it has been found that several
      key interactions exist between the substrate carboxylate groups and backbone
      amides of various active site residues as well as several other functional
      groups.

PMID- 20941732
TI  - The opsin shift and mechanism of spectral tuning in rhodopsin.
AB  - Molecular dynamics simulations and combined quantum mechanical and molecular
      mechanical calculations have been performed to investigate the mechanism of the
      opsin shift and spectral tuning in rhodopsin. A red shift of -980 cm(-1) was
      estimated in the transfer of the chromophore from methanol solution environment
      to the protonated Schiff base (PSB)-binding site of the opsin. The conformational
      change from a 6-s-cis-all-trans configuration in solution to the 6-s-cis-11-cis
      conformer contributes additional -200 cm(-1), and the remaining effects were
      attributed to dispersion interactions with the aromatic residues in the binding
      site. An opsin shift of 2100 cm(-1) was obtained, in reasonable accord with
      experiment (2730 cm(-1)). Dynamics simulations revealed that the 6-s-cis bond can
      occupy two main conformations for the beta-ionone ring, resulting in a weighted
      average dihedral angle of about -50 degrees , which may be compared with the
      experimental estimate of -28 degrees  from solid-state NMR and Raman data. We
      investigated a series of four single mutations, including E113D, A292S, T118A,
      and A269T, which are located near the PSB, along the polyene chain of retinal and
      close to the ionone ring. The computational results on absorption energy shift
      provided insights into the mechanism of spectral tuning, which involves all means
      of electronic structural effects, including the stabilization or destabilization
      of either the ground or the electronically excited state of the retinal PSB.

PMID- 20941735
TI  - Improving the Wang-Landau algorithm for polymers and proteins.
AB  - The 1/t Wang-Landau algorithm is tested on simple models of polymers and
      proteins. It is found that this method resolves the problem of the saturation of
      the error present in the original algorithm for lattice polymers. However, for
      lattice proteins, which have a rough energy landscape with an unknown energy
      minimum, it is found that the density of states does not converge in all runs. A
      new variant of the Wang-Landau algorithm that appears to solve this problem is
      described and tested. In the new variant, the optimum modification factor is
      calculated in the same straightforward way throughout the simulation. There is
      only one free parameter for which a value of unity appears to give near optimal
      convergence for all run lengths for lattice homopolymers when pull moves are
      used. For lattice proteins, a much smaller value of the parameter is needed to
      ensure rapid convergence of the density of states for energies discovered late in
      the simulation, which unfortunately results in poor convergence early on in the
      run.

PMID- 20941736
TI  - Intermolecular potential energy surface for CS2 dimer.
AB  - A new four-dimensional intermolecular potential energy surface for CS(2) dimer is
      obtained by ab initio calculation of the interaction energies for a range of
      configurations and center-of-mass separation distances for the first time. The
      calculations were performed using the supermolecular approach at the Moller
      Plesset second-order perturbation (MP2) level of theory with the augmented
      correlation consistent basis sets (aug-cc-pVxZ, x = D, T) and corrected for the
      basis-set superposition error using the full counterpoise correction method. A
      two-point extrapolation method was used to extrapolate the calculated energy
      points to the complete basis set limit. The effect of using the higher levels of
      theory, quadratic configuration interaction containing single, double, and
      perturbative triple excitations QCISD(T) and coupled cluster singles, doubles and
      perturbative triples excitations CCSD(T), on the shape of potential energy
      surface was investigated. It is shown that the MP2 level of theory apparently
      performs extremely poorly for describing the intermolecular potential energy
      surface, overestimating the total energy by a factor of nearly 1.73 in comparison
      with the QCISD(T) and CCSD(T) values. The value of isotropic dipole-dipole
      dispersion coefficient (C(6) ) of CS(2) fluid was obtained from the extrapolated
      MP2 potential energy surface. The MP2 extrapolated energy points were fitted to
      well-known analytical potential functions using two different methods to
      represent the potential energy surface analytically. The most stable
      configuration of the dimer was determined at R = 6.23 au, alpha = 90 degrees ,
      beta = 90 degrees , and gamma = 90 degrees , with a well depth of 3.980 kcal mol(
      1) at the MP2 level of theory. Finally, the calculated second virial coefficients
      were compared with experimental values to test the quality of the presented
      potential energy surface.

PMID- 20941737
TI  - Using correlated parameters for improved ranking of protein-protein docking
      decoys.
AB  - A successful protein-protein docking study culminates in identification of decoys
      at top ranks with near-native quaternary structures. However, this task remains
      enigmatic because no generalized scoring functions exist that effectively infer
      decoys according to the similarity to near-native quaternary structures.
      Difficulties arise because of the highly irregular nature of the protein surface
      and the significant variation of the nonbonding and solvation energies based on
      the chemical composition of the protein-protein interface. In this work, we
      describe a novel method combining an interface-size filter, a regression model
      for geometric compatibility (based on two correlated surface and packing
      parameters), and normalized interaction energy (calculated from correlated
      nonbonded and solvation energies), to effectively rank decoys from a set of
      10,000 decoys. Tests on 30 unbound binary protein-protein complexes show that in
      16 cases we can identify at least one decoy in top three ranks having <=10 A
      backbone root mean square deviation from true binding geometry. Comparisons with
      other state-of-art methods confirm the improved ranking power of our method
      without the use of any experiment-guided restraints, evolutionary information,
      statistical propensities, or modified interaction energy equations. Tests on 118
      less-difficult bound binary protein-protein complexes with <=35% sequence
      redundancy at the interface showed that in 77% cases, at least 1 in 10,000 decoys
      were identified with <=5A backbone root mean square deviation from true geometry
      at first rank. The work will promote the use of new concepts where correlations
      among parameters provide more robust scoring models. It will facilitate studies
      involving molecular interactions, including modeling of large macromolecular
      assemblies and protein structure prediction.

PMID- 20941738
TI  - Extremely localized nonorthogonal orbitals by the pairing theorem.
AB  - Using the concepts of Lowdin pairing theorem, a method is developed to calculate
      extremely localized, but nonorthogonal, sets of molecular orbitals and their
      strictly localized counterparts. The method is very suitable to study to what
      extent a given model of bonding in a given molecule can be considered adequate
      from the point of view of the actual LCAO-MO (Hartree Fock or DFT) wave function
      and is expected to be useful for doing local approximations of electron
      correlation.

PMID- 20941739
TI  - Generation of Kekule valence structures and the corresponding valence bond wave
      function.
AB  - A new scheme, called "list of nonredundant bonds", is presented to record the
      number of bonds and their positions for the atoms involved in Kekule valence
      structures of (poly)cyclic conjugated systems. Based on this scheme, a recursive
      algorithm for generating Kekule valence structures has been developed and
      implemented. The method is general and applicable for all kinds of (poly)cyclic
      conjugated systems including fullerenes. The application of the algorithm in
      generating Valence Bond (VB) wave functions, in terms of Kekule valence
      structures, is discussed and illustrated in actual VB calculations. Two types of
      VBSCF calculations, one involving Kekule valence structures only and the second
      one involving all covalent VB structures, were performed for benzene, pentalene,
      benzocyclobutadiene, and naphthalene. Both strictly local and delocalised p
      orbitals were used in these calculations. Our results show that, when the
      orbitals are restricted to their own atoms, other VB structures (Dewar
      structures) also have a significant contribution in the VB wave function. When
      removing this restriction, the other VB structures (Dewar and also the ionic
      structures) are accommodated in the Kekule valence structures, automatically.
      Therefore, at VBSCF delocal level, the ground states of these systems can be
      described almost quantitatively by considering Kekule valence structures only at
      a considerable saving of time.

PMID- 20941740
TI  - Evaluation of oncogenic human papillomavirus RNA and DNA tests with liquid-based
      cytology in primary cervical cancer screening: the FASE study.
AB  - The APTIMA HPV Assay (AHPV) allows detection of 14 high-risk human papillomavirus
      (HPV) RNA types in cervical specimens. Until present, the assay has been compared
      to HPV DNA tests only in triage settings. Herein, we compare AHPV with a DNA
      assay (Hybrid Capture 2; HC2) and liquid-based cytology (LBC; using PreservCyt
      ThinPrep liquid Pap) in a screening setting (French APTIMA screening evaluation
      [FASE] study). Women (N = 5,006) aged 20-65 were screened by gynecologists in 17
      private practices in Paris, France. One cervical specimen was collected and
      tested with LBC, AHPV and HC2 assays. Women were referred to colposcopy if they
      were ASC-US+ in LBC or HPV positive in either HPV assay. To control for
      verification bias, a random group (14%) with normal LBC and dually HPV negative
      tests underwent colposcopy. Data from 4,429 women were analyzed. Sensitivity,
      specificity and predictive values were calculated for the three tests. AHPV and
      HC2 were highly sensitive for CIN2+ (92.0% and 96.7%) and CIN3+ (95.7% and 95.3%)
      detection and much more sensitive than LBC (69.1% for CIN2+ and 73.3% for CIN3+).
      Specificity of AHPV was higher than that of HC2, but similar to that of LBC (p <
      0.001). Combining LBC with either HPV test slightly increased sensitivity but
      compromised specificity. AHPV assay is both specific and sensitive for the
      detection of high-grade precancerous lesions and may be considered as an option
      for routine cervical cancer screening for women over 20 years of age.

PMID- 20941741
TI  - Detecting blood-brain barrier disruption within minimal hemorrhage following
      transcranial focused ultrasound: a correlation study with contrast-enhanced MRI.
AB  - Focused ultrasound combined with an intravascular ultrasound contrast agent can
      induce transient disruption of the blood-brain barrier, and the blood-brain
      barrier disruption can be detected by contrast-enhanced MRI. There is, however,
      no study investigating the ability of various MR methods to detect focused
      ultrasound-induced blood-brain barrier disruption within minimal hemorrhage.
      Sonication was applied to 15 rat brains with four different doses of ultrasound
      contrast agent (0, 10, 30, or 50 MUL/kg), and contrast-enhanced T1-weighted spin
      echo, gradient echo images, and longitudinal relaxation rate mapping along with
      effective transverse relaxation time-weighted and susceptibility-weighted images
      were acquired. Volume-of-interest-based and threshold-based analyses were
      performed to quantify the contrast enhancement, which was then correlated with
      the ultrasound contrast agent dose and with the amount of Evans blue
      extravasation. Both effective transverse relaxation time-weighted and
      susceptibility-weighted images did not detect histology-proved intracranial
      hemorrhage at 10 MUL/kg, but MRI failed to detect mild intracranial hemorrhage at
      30 MUL/kg. All tested sequences showed detectable contrast enhancement increasing
      with ultrasound contrast agent dose. In correlating with Evans blue
      extravasation, the gradient echo sequence was slightly better than the spin echo
      sequence and was comparable to longitudinal relaxation rate mapping. In
      conclusion, both gradient echo and spin echo sequences were all reliable in
      indicating the degree of focused ultrasound-induced blood-brain barrier
      disruption within minimal hemorrhage.

PMID- 20941742
TI  - Carotid plaque assessment using fast 3D isotropic resolution black-blood MRI.
AB  - Black-blood MRI is a promising tool for carotid atherosclerotic plaque burden
      assessment and compositional analysis. However, current sequences are limited by
      large slice thickness. Accuracy of measurement can be improved by moving to
      isotropic imaging but can be challenging for patient compliance due to long scan
      times. We present a fast isotropic high spatial resolution (0.7*0.7*0.7 mm3)
      three-dimensional black-blood sequence (3D-MERGE) covering the entire cervical
      carotid arteries within 2 min thus ensuring patient compliance and diagnostic
      image quality. The sequence is optimized for vessel wall imaging of the carotid
      bifurcation based on its signal properties. The optimized sequence is validated
      on patients with significant carotid plaque. Quantitative plaque morphology
      measurements and signal-to-noise ratio measures show that 3D-MERGE provides good
      blood suppression and comparable plaque burden measurements to existing MRI
      protocols. 3D-MERGE is a promising new tool for fast and accurate plaque burden
      assessment in patients with atherosclerotic plaque.

PMID- 20941743
TI  - The virtosome-a novel cytosolic informative entity and intercellular messenger.
AB  - Studies on a range of prokaryote and eukaryote cells and tissues have shown that
      a newly synthesized DNA/RNA-lipoprotein complex is released in a regulated
      manner. This complex, termed a virtosome, is a novel cytosolic component of
      eukaryote cells. The released virtosomes can readily enter other cells where they
      can modify the biology of the recipient cells. Such modifications include
      immunological changes and transformation from normal to cancer cells. The
      virtosomes form a normal component of the circulating nucleic acids in plasma and
      serum currently used for clinical diagnostic purposes. Given the transformative
      powers of virtosomes released from tumour cells, the presence of such a complex
      in human plasma could readily offer the basis of an alternative mechanism for the
      initiation of metastases.

PMID- 20941744
TI  - Microparticles in physiological and in pathological conditions.
AB  - Chronic diseases pose a severe burden to modern National Health Systems.
      Individuals nowadays have a far more extended lifespan than in the past, but
      healthy living was only scantily extended. As much as longer life is desirable,
      it is saddened by chronic diseases and organ malfunctions. One contributor to
      these problems was recognized to be represented by microparticles (MPs). Our
      purpose is to better understand MPs, to contrast their ominous threat and
      possible clinical importance. For this intent we correlated MPs with thrombotic
      pathologies, hemophilia, malaria, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, endothelial
      dysfunctions, pulmonary hypertension, ischemic stroke, pre-eclampsia,
      rheumatologic diseases-rheumatoid arthritis, polymyositis-dermatomyositis,
      angiogenesis and tumor progression-cancer; we listed the possibilities of using
      them to improve transfusion methods, as a marker for acute allograft rejection,
      in stem cell transplantation, as neuronal biomarkers, to understand gender
      specific susceptibility for diseases and to improve vaccination methods and we
      presented some methods for the detection of MPs.

PMID- 20941745
TI  - Transcriptional activity analysis of promoter region of human PAX9 gene under
      dexamethasone, retinoic acid, and ergocalciferol treatment in MCF-7 and MDPC23.
AB  - PAX9 gene is a member of the family homeobox of transcription factors and
      performs important function in development and organogenesis. Mutations in PAX9
      coding sequences have been implicated in autosomal dominant oligodontia affecting
      predominantly permanent molars and second premolars. Previous studies have shown
      that PAX9 is required for secondary palate development and teratogens have been
      identified as inducers of a tooth and craniofacial malformations. This work
      focused on the analysis on the 5'-flanking region of the PAX9 gene studying the
      influence of retinoic acid, dexamethasone, and vitamin D on the expression of
      PAX9 by expression constructs that carry the reporter gene luciferase. As
      results, retinoic acid and dexamethasone showed progressive decrease of PAX9
      expression. PAX9-pGL3B1 and PAX9-pGL3B2 promoter was inhibited under the
      treatment of dexamethasone and ergocalciferol. Retinoic acid and dexamethasone
      did not alter PAX9-pGL3B3 behavior indicating that sequences present between 
      1106 and +92 were important for the transcriptional activity of PAX9 promoter. In
      this study, we characterized the transcriptional activity of specific regions of
      the PAX9 promoter gene and we demonstrated that retinoic acid and ergocalciferol
      can modulate the transcriptional activity of PAX9 gene.

PMID- 20941746
TI  - sFas levels increase in response to cisplatin-based chemotherapy in lung cancer
      patients.
AB  - The Fas/Fas Ligand (FasL) system and survivin have counteracting roles in cell
      survival. Therefore, we explored the role of circulating soluble Fas (sFas) and
      the tissue levels of Fas and survivin with regard to response to chemotherapy in
      lung cancer patients. Serum samples from 52 lung cancer patients and 54 control
      subjects (19 benign lung disease and 35 healthy control subjects) were collected
      prior to and 24 and 48 h after chemotherapy. sFas was statistically significantly
      higher in the cancer group than that in the control groups (p < 0.001). Baseline
      (before chemotherapy) sFas values showed a statistically significant inverse
      correlation with overall survival (r = -0.599, p < 0.001). There was a
      significant increase in serum sFas levels 24 h after treatment (p < 0.05).
      Contrarily, tissue levels of Fas and survivin were not changed following the
      chemotherapy (p > 0,05). In conclusion, increased sFas may be an indicator of
      poor outcome in lung cancer patients. However, cisplatin-based chemotherapy may
      not be effective via neither the Fas/FasL system nor survivin pathway. Indeed,
      larger sample size is required for further evaluation.

PMID- 20941747
TI  - Alteration of nuclear protein profiling for NIH-3T3 cells exposed to H2O2.
AB  - Oxidative stress is a threat to mammalian cells. To better understand the
      molecular response and mechanism underlying oxidative stress, we applied two
      dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and matrix-assisted laser
      desorption ionization time-of-fight mass spectrometry analysis to identify
      differential nuclear protein profiling of mouse fibroblast NIH-3T3 cells exposed
      to mild-H2O2. Thirteen differentially expressed proteins were identified by MS
      and two of them were further validated by Western blot. The results revealed that
      exposure to mild-H2O2 for 12 h cause up-regulated expression of DJ-1, glutathione
      S-transferase P 1, DNA ligase I, dynamin 2, nucleophosmin, and down-regulated
      expression of nucleoside diphosphate kinase A, enolase-alpha, barrier-to
      autointegration factor 1, metastasis associated protein 1, glycosytransferase
      like domain containing protein 1, synaptonemal complex protein 1, alpha
      centractin, bromodomain, and PHD finger containing 1 (BRPF1). Most of the
      identified proteins are supported as nuclear proteins localized by previous
      research. The findings may provide some clues to elucidate cell responses to H2O2
      and the potential mechanism underlying protection against oxidative stress in
      fibroblast cells.

PMID- 20941748
TI  - Association study between methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase gene polymorphisms
      and Graves' disease.
AB  - 5,10-Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) catalyzes the metabolism of
      folate and nucleotides, which are essential for DNA synthesis and methylation. It
      is highly polymorphic, and its variant genotypes result in lower enzymatic
      activity and higher plasma homocysteine. Previous studies have provided evidence
      that a high prevalence of MTHFR gene polymorphisms is frequently detected in
      patients with autoimmune disease, suggesting a novel genetic association with
      autoimmune disorders. However, the genetic association between MTHFR and Graves'
      disease (GD), one of the most common autoimmune diseases, has not been studied.
      Here, we designed a clinic-based case-control study including 199 GD cases and
      235 healthy controls to examine the associations between three common MTHFR
      polymorphisms (i.e., C677T, A1298C, and G1793A) and GD. Surprisingly, logistic
      regression analysis shows MTHFR 677CT + TT genotypes are associated with an
      approximately 42% reduction in the risk of GD in women (adjusted OR = 0.58, 95%
      CI = 0.3-0.9), compared to the CC genotype, indicating a significant protective
      effect of 677CT + TT genotypes. Our result provides epidemiological evidence that
      MTHFR mutation (C677T) protects women from GD. The protective effect, possibly
      obtained by influencing DNA methylation, should be confirmed in a large number of
      cohorts.

PMID- 20941749
TI  - Association analysis of the E-selectin 98G > T polymorphism and the risk of
      childhood ischemic stroke.
AB  - Genes related to platelet and arterial endothelial function have been recently
      considered as independent risk factors for stroke. We aimed to analyze a
      relationship between the E-selectin 98G > T polymorphism and stroke in children
      and to observe the transmission of E-selectin alleles from heterozygous parents
      to their affected children. We studied 59 children after stroke, 112 parents, and
      87 healthy children. The E-selectin 98G > T polymorphism was analyzed with the
      polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP)
      method. The frequency of the 98T allele in patients was almost twofold lower than
      in controls (5.1% vs. 9.8%, p = 0.145, odds ratios (OR) = 0.49) as well as
      carriers of the 98T allele (19.5% in controls vs. 8.5% in cases, p = 0.067, OR =
      0.38). The G allele of the E-selectin 98G > T polymorphism was more frequently
      transmitted to the children after stroke compared to the T allele (68% vs. 32%).
      In conclusion, we did not confirm the relationship between the 98G > T
      polymorphism of the E-selectin gene and childhood ischemic stroke. There is still
      a need for further studies.

PMID- 20941750
TI  - House dust mite regulate the lung inflammation of asthmatic mice through TLR4
      pathway in airway epithelial cells.
AB  - Aberrant innate and adaptive immune responsed to allergens and environmental
      pollutants lead to respiratory allergic disease such as asthma. In this study, we
      focused on toll-like receptor-4 (TLR4) expressed on airway epithelium to identify
      house dust mite (HDM)-regulated allergic inflammation via TLR4 signaling pathway
      and the triggering to alveolar macrophages (AM)-driven adaptive immune response.
      The authors found that mouse exposed to HDM showed more eosinophils, neutrophils,
      monocytes, lymphocytes as well as total cells in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid
      (BALF) confirmed by flow cytometry. Besides, the expression of TLR4 in airway
      epithelial cells was significantly increased in both mRNA and protein levels in
      mice treated with HDM and the expression of CD40 and CD86 in AM was also
      increased in mice exposed to HDM. Tight correlation between TLR4 protein and
      CD40, CD86 in AM was identified. This study demonstrates that TLR4 expression on
      airway epithelium played an essential role in HDM-induced activation of AM in
      immune responses and allergic inflammation. The airway epithelial TLR4 signaling
      pathway revealed tight connection between endotoxin exposure and asthma
      prevalence in the clinic.

PMID- 20941751
TI  - An EF-hands protein, centrin-1, is an EGTA-sensitive SUMO-interacting protein in
      mouse testis.
AB  - A multifunctional calcium-binding protein, centrin-1, is specifically expressed
      in male germ cells, certain neurons and ciliated cells. We identified centrin-1
      as a protein interacting with SUMO-2/3 using yeast two-hybrid screening of a
      mouse testicular cDNA library. In bead halo assays, the interaction between
      centrin-1 and SUMO-2/3 was reduced in the presence of EGTA and facilitated by the
      addition of CaCl2. immunostaining of seminiferous tubules in 35-day-old mouse
      testes revealed that cells in the layer containing spermatogonia showed
      colocalization of SUMO-2/3 with centrin-1 in cytoplasmic spots. Identification of
      centrin-1 as the EGTA-sensitive SUMO-2/3-interacting protein indicates the
      possible role of calcium in modulating the centrin-1-SUMO-2/3 interaction and
      suggests the importance of this interaction in mouse testis.

PMID- 20941752
TI  - Silica induces cell cycle changes through PI-3K/AP-1 pathway in human embryo lung
      fibroblast cells.
AB  - Exposure to silica is associated with progressive pulmonary inflammation and
      fibrosis. Our previous study had demonstrated silica exposure could cause cell
      cycle alternation and activator protein-1 (AP-1) activation. This study showed
      that silica exposure induced phosphorylation of p70S6 kinase (p70S6K) and Akt in
      human embryo lung fibroblasts (HELFs). These changes were blocked by
      overexpression of dominant-negative mutants of phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase
      (Deltap85) or Akt (DN-Akt), respectively. Moreover, pretreatment of cells with
      rapamycin, a specific p70S6K inhibitor, could inhibit silica-induced cell cycle
      alteration, AP-1 activation, and phosphorylation of p70S6K, but had no effect on
      Akt phosphorylation. This suggested that phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase (PI-3K)/AP
      1 pathway was likely responsible for cell cycle changes. Furthermore, we observed
      the effect of the pathway on cell cycle regulatory proteins. Our results
      indicated that inactivation of PI-3K, Akt, or p70S6K could inhibit silica-induced
      overexpression of cyclin D1 and cyclin-dependent kinase 4 (CDK4) and decreased
      expression of E2F-4. Taken together, silica could induce cell cycle changes
      through PI-3K/ AP-1 pathway in HELFs.

PMID- 20941753
TI  - Evidence for existence of venom 5' nucleotidase in multiple forms through
      inhibition of concanavalin A.
AB  - Pharmacologically active 5' nucleotidase is a ubiquitously distributed enzyme in
      snake venoms. In this study the effect of concanavalin A (Con-A) on different
      snake venoms 5' nucleotidase activity is tested in order to know the protein
      nature which will ultimately help in purification of the enzyme with high yield.
      Con-A inhibited Naja naja, Naja kauthia, Naja melanoleuca, Naja naja sputatrix,
      Agistrodon halys blomhoffii, Bothrops asper and Oxyranus scutellas venom 5'
      nucleotidase activity at different concentrations. This indicates the presence of
      glycopart in the protein, thus glycoprotein in nature. Vipera russellii, Vipera
      plaestenae, Agistrodon contratrix, Bitis orientis, Echis carinatus and
      Trimeresures malabaricus was not inhibited by Con-A, indicating absence of
      glycopart in the protein. This study for the first time shows existence of 5'
      nucleotidase in multimeric forms.

PMID- 20941754
TI  - A model for solvated ion emission from electrospray droplets.
AB  - A model is presented which shows that the energy required to emit small singly
      charged and large multiply charged (protein) solvated ions from electrospray
      droplets can be considerably lower than those predicted by earlier models. By
      allowing the droplet surface to distort in reaction to the emerging ion, a more
      nuanced picture of the ion emission mechanism appears, one that covers the range
      from pure ion evaporation (PIE) for small ions to what may be termed activated
      pseudo-Rayleigh ion release (PRIR), a mechanism that yields charge states nearly
      indistinguishable from the charge residue model (CRM), for large ions.
      Predictions based on this model are qualitatively consistent with many
      experimentally observed trends.

PMID- 20941755
TI  - Identifying and overcoming bioanalytical challenges associated with chlorine
      containing dehydrogenation metabolites.
AB  - Liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) is a widely
      utilized analytical tool for quantifying small molecules in complex biological
      matrices. In certain situations the mass-selection capabilities of the tandem
      mass spectrometer may be insufficient to discriminate between the analyte of
      interest and its metabolites, particularly those metabolites that are isobaric
      with the analyte. One scenario by which isobaric interference may occur is the
      metabolism of a chlorine- or bromine-containing small molecule to a metabolite
      with the concomitant loss of 2 Da. This report describes the detection and
      characterization of two distinct dehydrogenation [M-2] metabolites during
      LC/MS/MS quantification of a chlorinated small molecule in rat plasma samples
      derived from a toxicokinetic study. The potential isotope-related impact of these
      metabolites on quantification of the parent compound was assessed. Several
      alternate precursor ion and product ion combinations were evaluated and shown to
      minimize the quantitative impact of the interfering metabolites without having to
      rely on their stringent chromatographic resolution from the parent compound.
      These results indicate that when quantifying chlorine- or bromine-containing
      small molecules from in vivo samples or in vitro metabolic incubations: (1)
      efforts to detect potential dehydrogenation metabolites should be undertaken and
      (2) if such metabolites are detected, the judicious choice of alternate multiple
      reaction monitoring (MRM) transitions can limit their impact on quantification of
      the parent molecule without the need for robust chromatographic resolution.

PMID- 20941756
TI  - Ion suppression and enhancement effects of co-eluting analytes in multi-analyte
      approaches: systematic investigation using ultra-high-performance liquid
      chromatography/mass spectrometry with atmospheric-pressure chemical ionization or
      electrospray ionization.
AB  - In multi-analyte procedures, sufficient separation is important to avoid
      interferences, particularly when using liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry
      (LC/MS) because of possible ion suppression or enhancement. However, even using
      ultra-high-performance LC, baseline separation is not always possible. For
      development and validation of an LC/MS/MS approach for quantification of 140
      antidepressants, benzodiazepines, neuroleptics, beta-blockers, oral
      antidiabetics, and analytes measured in the context of brain death diagnosis in
      plasma, the extent of ion suppression or enhancement of co-eluting analytes
      within and between the drug classes was investigated using atmospheric-pressure
      chemical ionization (APCI) or electrospray ionization (ESI). Within the drug
      classes, five analytes showed ion enhancement of over 25% and six analytes ion
      suppression of over 25% using APCI and 16 analytes ion suppression of over 25%
      using ESI. Between the drug classes, two analytes showed ion suppression of over
      25% using APCI. Using ESI, one analyte showed ion enhancement of over 25% and
      five analytes ion suppression of over 25%. These effects may influence the drug
      quantification using calibrators made in presence of overlapping and thus
      interfering analytes. Ion suppression/enhancement effects induced by co-eluting
      drugs of different classes present in the patient sample may also lead to false
      measurements using class-specific calibrators made in absence of overlapping and
      thus interfering analytes. In conclusion, ion suppression and enhancement tests
      are essential during method development and validation in LC/MS/MS multi-analyte
      procedures, with special regards to co-eluting analytes.

PMID- 20941757
TI  - Profiling and characterisation by liquid chromatography/multi-stage mass
      spectrometry of the chlorogenic acids in Gardeniae Fructus.
AB  - The chlorogenic acids of Gardeniae Fructus used traditionally as a Chinese herbal
      medicine (zhizi) have been investigated qualitatively by liquid
      chromatography/multi-stage mass spectrometry (LC/MS(4)). Twenty-nine chlorogenic
      acids were detected and twenty-five characterised to regioisomer level on the
      basis of their fragmentation, twenty-four for the first time from this source.
      Assignment to the level of individual regioisomers was possible for three
      caffeoylquinic acids, three dicaffeoylquinic acids, three sinapoylquinic acids,
      four caffeoyl-sinapoylquinic acids, two feruloyl-sinapoylquinic acids, one p
      coumaroyl-sinapoylquinic acid, three (3-hydroxy, 3-methyl)glutaroylquinic acids,
      two (3-hydroxy, 3-methyl)glutaroyl-feruloylquinic acids, one (3-hydroxy, 3
      methyl)glutaroyl-dicaffeoylquinic acid, and one (3-hydroxy, 3-methyl)glutaroyl
      caffeoyl-feruloylquinic acid. Six (3-hydroxy, 3-methyl)glutaroyl-caffeoylquinic
      acids were detected and two were tentatively assigned as 3-caffeoyl-4-(3-hydroxy,
      3-methyl)glutaroylquinic acid and 3-caffeoyl-5-(3-hydroxy, 3
      methyl)glutaroylquinic acid. The (3-hydroxy, 3-methyl)glutaroyl residue modifies
      the mass spectral fragmentation behavior and elution sequence compared with the
      chlorogenic acids that contain only a cinnamic acid residue(s). Fourteen of these
      twenty-nine chlorogenic acids have not previously been reported from any source.

PMID- 20941758
TI  - Characterization of oil sands naphthenic acids treated with ultraviolet and
      microwave radiation by negative ion electrospray Fourier transform ion cyclotron
      resonance mass spectrometry.
AB  - Naphthenic acids (NAs) are concentrated in oil sand process water (OSPW) as a
      result of caustic oil sands extraction processes. There is considerable interest
      in methods for treatment of NAs in OSPW. Earlier work has shown that the
      combination of ultraviolet (UV) and microwave treatments in the laboratory was
      effective in reducing the concentration of classical NAs. Here we apply Fourier
      transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR MS) to further
      characterize NAs treated with (a) UV (254 nm) in the presence of TiO(2) catalyst;
      and/or (b) microwave irradiation (2.45 GHz). FT-ICR MS was used to characterize
      the NA fraction before and after treatment. Acidic oxygen-containing classes were
      most abundant in all samples whereas other heteroatomic classes were least
      abundant or not present in some samples. For example, the SO(2)-containing
      species were absent in UV- or combined UV- and microwave-treated samples. The
      O(2) class was dominant in all samples, indicative of NAs. However, samples
      treated with UV and microwave radiation have a lower relative abundance of other
      heteroatomic classes. We observed O(2), S(1)O(2), O(3), S(1)O(3), O(4), O(5), and
      O(6) classes, whereas the species with relatively high O(n) content, namely, the
      O(3), O(5), and O(6) classes, were present only in UV- and microwave-treated
      samples. The relatively high O(n) content is consistent with oxidation of the
      parent acids in treated samples. There may thus be potential implications for
      environmental forensics. For example, the monitoring of the ratio of SO(2):O(2)
      or tracking the relative abundances of O(2), O(3), O(4), O(5), and O(6) classes
      may provide insights for distinguishing naturally derived oil sands components
      from those that are process-related in aquatic environments.

PMID- 20941759
TI  - Enhanced metabolite identification with MS(E) and a semi-automated software for
      structural elucidation.
AB  - The identification of metabolites is almost exclusively done with liquid
      chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MSMS) and despite the enormous
      progress in the development of these techniques and software for handling of data
      this is a time-consuming task. In this study the use of quadrupole time-of-flight
      (QTOF)-generated MS(E) and MS/MS data were compared with respect to
      rationalization of metabolites. In addition Mass-MetaSite, a semi-automated
      software for metabolite identification, was evaluated. The program combines the
      information from MS raw data, in the form of collision-induced dissociation
      spectra, with a prediction of the site of metabolism in order to assign the
      structure of a metabolite. The aim of the software is to mimic the
      rationalization of fragment ions performed by a biotransformation scientist in
      the process of structural elucidation. For this evaluation, metabolite
      identification in human liver microsomes was accomplished for 19 commercially
      available compounds and 15 in-house compounds. The results were very encouraging
      and for 96% of the metabolites the same structures were assigned using MS(E)
      compared with MSMS acquired data. The possibility of using MS(E) could
      considerably reduce the analysis time. Moreover, Mass-MetaSite performed well and
      the correct assigned structure, compared to manual inspection of the data, was
      picked in the first rank in ~80% of the cases. In conclusion MS(E) could be
      successfully used for metabolite identification in order to reduce time of
      analysis and Mass-MetaSite could alleviate the work of a biotransformation
      scientist and decrease the workload by assigning the structure for a majority of
      the metabolites.

PMID- 20941760
TI  - Simultaneous qualitative and quantitative method using liquid chromatography
      selected reaction monitoring-triggered quantitation-enhanced data-dependent
      tandem mass spectrometry for the identification and classification of amphetamine
      type stimulant abusers in human urine.
AB  - Amphetamine (AP) and amphetamine-type stimulants, methamphetamine (MA) and N,N
      dimethylamphetamine (DMA), are known as central nervous system stimulants, and
      their abuse throughout the world has recently increased. Since it is difficult to
      physically distinguish among AP, MA and DMA, analysts may not be aware of what
      abusers have administered. In this study, following the detection of specific
      metabolites of AP, MA and DMA as biomarkers in abuser urines, a rapid and
      sensitive method was developed for the identification and classification of AP
      type stimulants abusers. After the simple filtration of the urine samples, the
      samples were directly analyzed using a liquid chromatography/tandem mass
      spectrometry system with selected reaction monitoring (SRM)-triggered
      quantitation-enhanced data-dependent MS/MS (QED-MS/MS) for the simultaneous
      qualitative and quantitative analysis of p-hydroxy AP, p-hydroxy MA, p-hydroxy
      DMA, AP, MA, DMA and DMA N-oxide. The determination of p-hydroxy AP, p-hydroxy
      MA, AP, MA, DMA and DMA N-oxide was accurate and reproducible, with the limits of
      quantitation of 5 ng/mL in urine. When applied to the urine samples of suspected
      AP-type stimulants abusers, the abused drugs were precisely identified between MA
      and DMA abusers.

PMID- 20941761
TI  - Stable isotope ((13)C/(12)C and (15)N/(14)N) composition of the woolly rhinoceros
      Coelodonta antiquitatis horn suggests seasonal changes in the diet.
AB  - The extinct woolly rhinoceros Coelodonta antiquitatis is a prominent member of
      the Mammuthus-Coelodonta faunal complex, but its biology is poorly known, partly
      because very few specimens with well-preserved soft tissues have been discovered
      to date. However, the permafrost-preserved horns of the woolly rhinoceros are
      recording structures which contain isotopic records of the diet, environmental
      conditions and physiological status of the animal during most of its life. In
      this study we report the first data on the pattern of carbon ((13)C/(12)C) and
      nitrogen ((15)N/(14)N) isotopic composition along the nasal horn of woolly
      rhinoceros. We found systematic variations in delta(13)C and delta(15)N values
      associated with morphologically expressed transverse banding of the horn. The
      comparative analysis of isotopic variation in keratinous tissues of extant and
      extinct herbivores suggests that the oscillation in isotopic composition of the
      horn was induced by seasonal changes in the diet. Although the compiled evidence
      is in part contradictory, we suggest that more positive delta(13)C and delta(15)N
      values associated with dark-colored and less dense zones of the horn indicate a
      summer diet. More dense and light-colored zones of the horn have lower delta(13)C
      and delta(15)N values possibly indicating a larger proportion of woody and shrub
      vegetation in the winter diet. The validity of these conclusions has to be proven
      in further investigations, but our data underline the potential of isotopic
      analysis for studies on diet and habitat use by extinct members of Pleistocene
      fauna.

PMID- 20941762
TI  - First evidence of hexameric and heptameric ellagitannins in plants detected by
      liquid chromatography/electrospray ionisation mass spectrometry.
AB  - Ellagitannins are bioactive plant polyphenols of which more than 500 individual
      compounds have been identified from plants. An ellagitannin-rich fraction was
      isolated by Sephadex LH-20 from Oenothera biennis (common evening primrose)
      leaves and roots and analysed by high-performance liquid chromatography/diode
      array detection coupled to high-resolution mass spectrometry with an electrospray
      ionisation interface. The high-molecular mass ellagitannins were characterised by
      their UV spectra, molecular masses and mass spectral fragments. In addition to
      the previously reported dimers and trimers, an entire series of oligomeric
      ellagitannins from dimers to heptamers was characterised in both roots and leaves
      of O. biennis. This is the first report of natural ellagitannins larger than
      pentamers.

PMID- 20941763
TI  - Sites of metabolic substitution: investigating metabolite structures utilising
      ion mobility and molecular modelling.
AB  - Drug metabolism is an integral part of the drug development and drug discovery
      process. It is required to validate the toxicity of metabolites in support of
      safety testing and in particular provide information on the potential to form
      pharmacologically active or toxic metabolites. The current methodologies of
      choice for metabolite structural elucidation are liquid chromatography/tandem
      mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy.
      There are, in certain cases, examples of metabolites whose sites of metabolism
      cannot be unequivocally identified by MS/MS alone. Utilising commercially
      available molecular dynamics packages and known quantum chemistry basis sets, an
      ensemble of lowest energy structures were generated for a group of aromatic
      hydroxylated metabolites of the model compound ondansetron. Theoretical collision
      cross-sections were calculated for each structure. Travelling-wave ion mobility
      (IMS) measurements were also performed on the compounds, thus enabling
      experimentally derived collision cross-sections to be calculated. A comparison of
      the theoretical and experimentally derived collision cross-sections were utilised
      for the accurate assignment of isomeric drug metabolites. The UPLC/IMS-MS method,
      described herein, demonstrates the ability to measure reproducibly by ion
      mobility, metabolite structural isomers, which differ in collision cross-section,
      both theoretical and experimentally derived, by less than 1 A(2). This
      application has the potential to supplement and/or complement current methods of
      metabolite structural characterisation.

PMID- 20941764
TI  - Limitations of electrospray ionization in the analysis of a heterogeneous mixture
      of naturally occurring hydrophilic and hydrophobic compounds.
AB  - A model heterogeneous mixture of a hydrophilic tripeptide (phenylalanine-glycine
      glycine, PGG) and hydrophobic organic acids ((12)C- and (13)C-octanoic acid and
      pentadecanoic acid) was subjected to electrospray ionization mass spectrometry
      (ESI-MS). The objective was to verify the previously noted inconsistencies in ESI
      MS of complex environmental samples such as humic materials from either aquatic
      or terrestrial origins. The hydrophobic organic acids, either alone or together,
      reduced significantly the ESI-MS detection of the tripeptide molecular and self
      associated ions at a concentration that was an order of magnitude lower than that
      of PGG. The most intense peaks were invariably those of the octanoic acid as
      either deprotonated, self-associated, or acetate-clustered molecules. The
      presence of equimolar amounts of PGG and organic acids yielded similar results,
      but with a significant increased detection of PDA and a smaller depression of the
      PGG signals. This behaviour is attributed to a different electrospray ionization
      of the mixture compounds depending on their most probable positioning at the
      surface of the evaporating droplet. The most favoured positioning of hydrophobic
      molecules at the aqueous-gas interphase allows preferential evaporation of
      hydrophobic ions whereas the hydrophilic molecules are retained in the droplet
      interior, and, their ESI-MS detection depressed. These findings suggest that the
      electrospray ionization of different molecules present in complex heterogeneous
      mixtures of environmental significance such as humic substances is limited by
      their concentration and reciprocal attracting forces.

PMID- 20941765
TI  - Determination of (13)C/(12)C ratios of endogenous urinary steroids excreted as
      sulpho conjugates.
AB  - The application of a comprehensive gas chromatography/combustion/isotope ratio
      mass spectrometry-based method for the measurement of stable carbon isotopes of
      endogenous urinary steroids excreted as sulphates is presented. The key element
      in sample preparation is the consecutive cleanup with high-performance liquid
      chromatography of underivatized and acetylated steroids, which allows the
      isolation of seven analytes (pregn-5-ene-3beta,17alpha,20alpha-triol,
      etiocholanolone, androsterone, epiandrosterone, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA),
      androst-5-ene-3beta,17beta-diol and androst-5-ene-3beta,17alpha-diol) from a
      single urine specimen. These steroids are of particular importance to doping
      controls as they should enable the sensitive and retrospective detection of DHEA
      abuse by athletes.Depending on the biological background, the determination limit
      for all steroids ranges from 5 to 10 ng/mL for a 10 mL specimen. The method is
      validated by means of linear mixing models for each steroid, which covers the
      items, repeatability and reproducibility. The specificity was further
      demonstrated by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry for each analyte, and no
      influence of the sample preparation or the quantity of analyte on carbon isotope
      ratios was observed. In order to determine naturally occurring (13)C/(12)C ratios
      and urinary concentrations of all implemented steroids, a reference population of
      n = 67 subjects was measured to enable the calculation of reference limits for
      all relevant steroidal Delta values.The applicability of the developed method was
      tested by means of a DHEA excretion study. Despite the fact that orally ingested
      DHEA is preferentially converted into sulphated metabolites and that the renal
      clearance of sulphated steroids is slow, only the (13)C/(12)C ratio of EpiA
      demonstrated the potential to prolong the detection time for DHEA misuse.

PMID- 20941766
TI  - Offline oxygen isotope analysis of organic compounds with high N:O.
AB  - Although the advantages of online delta(18)O analysis of organic compounds make
      its broad application desirable, researchers have encountered NO(+) isobaric
      interference with CO(+) at m/z 30 (e.g. (14)N(16)O(+), (12)C(18)O(+)) when
      analyzing nitrogenous substrates. If the delta(18)O value of inter-laboratory
      standards for substrates with high N:O value could be confirmed offline, these
      materials could be analyzed periodically and used to evaluate delta(18)O data
      produced online for nitrogenous unknowns. To this end, we present an offline
      method based on modifications of the methods of Schimmelmann and Deniro (Anal.
      Chem. 1985; 57: 2644) and Sauer and Sternberg (Anal. Chem. 1994; 66: 2409),
      whereby all the N(2) from the gas products of a chlorinated pyrolysis was
      eliminated, resulting in purified CO(2) for analysis via a dual-inlet isotope
      ratio mass spectrometry system. We evaluated our method by comparing observed
      delta(18)O values with previously published or inter-laboratory calibrated
      delta(18)O values for five nitrogen-free working reference materials; finding
      isotopic agreement to within +/-0.20/00 for SIGMA(r) cellulose, IAEA-CH3
      cellulose (C(6)H(10)O(5)) and IAEA-CH6 sucrose (C(12)H(22)O(11)), and within +/
      1.80/00 for IAEA-601 and IAEA-602 benzoic acids (C(7)H(6)O(2)). We also compared
      the delta(18)O values of IAEA-CH3 cellulose and IAEA-CH6 sucrose that was
      nitrogen-'doped' with adenine (C(5)H(5)N(5)), imidazole (C(3)H(4)N(2)) and 2
      aminopyrimidine (C(4)H(5)N(3)) with the undoped delta(18)O values for the same
      substrates; yielding isotopic agreement to within +/-0.70/00. Finally, we provide
      an independent analysis of the delta(18)O value of IAEA-600 caffeine
      (C(8)H(10)N(4)O(2)), previously characterized using online systems exclusively,
      and discuss the reasons for an average 1.40/00 enrichment in delta(18)O observed
      offline relative to the consensus online delta(18)O value.

PMID- 20941767
TI  - Determination of eight selected organophosphorus insecticides in postmortem blood
      samples using solid-phase extraction and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry.
AB  - A simple, rapid and sensitive method is described for the determination of
      omethoate, dimethoate, diazinon, chlorpyrifos, parathion-ethyl, chlorfenvinphos,
      quinalphos and azinphos-ethyl in postmortem whole blood samples. The analytes and
      internal standard (ethion) were isolated from the matrix by solid-phase
      extraction, and were analysed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry in the
      selected ion monitoring mode. The method has shown to be selective after analysis
      of postmortem samples of 40 different origins. Calibration curves were
      established between 0.05 (0.1 for omethoate) and 25 ug/mL, and the values
      obtained for intra- and interday precision and accuracy were within the criteria
      usually accepted for bioanalytical method validation. Lower limits of
      quantitation were 50 ng/mL for all compounds, except for omethoate (100 ng/mL);
      the limits of identification of the method were 25 ng/mL for all analytes, except
      for omethoate, for which 50 ng/mL was obtained. Absolute recovery was determined
      at three concentration levels, and ranged from 31 to 108%. The proposed method is
      simple and fast, and can be routinely applied in the determination of these
      compounds in postmortem whole blood samples within the scope of forensic
      toxicology. In addition, mass spectrometry has demonstrated to be a powerful and
      indispensable tool for the unequivocal identification of the analytes, since the
      acceptance criteria were accomplished even at very low levels, thus allowing
      obtaining forensically valid and sound results.

PMID- 20941768
TI  - Mass spectrometry of polycyclic tetracarboxylic ('ARN') acids and tetramethyl
      esters.
AB  - Polycyclic C(80) tetracarboxylic (so-called 'ARN') acids are found as calcium
      salts in deposits which form in certain oilfield pipelines and equipment.
      Characterisation of these acids is important for improving the prediction and
      hence avoidance or minimisation of oilfield deposition problems. Although several
      of the acids have been isolated and characterised (as regioisomeric mixtures) by
      nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, mass spectrometric methods are likely to
      be much more useful for the routine analysis of oils and deposits containing the
      acids. A publication summarising the mass spectra of the purified acids and major
      derivatives might thus be a very useful source of reference for scientists and
      technologists studying these unusual compounds. We now report the
      characterisation of several of the purified acids and of the tetramethyl esters
      by electrospray ionisation mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) in both positive ion and
      negative ion modes, by multistage ESI-MS with a suggested rationalisation of the
      ions produced, by positive ion atmospheric solids analysis probe (ASAP)
      atmospheric pressure chemical ionisation (APCI), and by positive ion electron
      ionisation (EI)-MS. Tentative identifications of C(80) acyclic, mono-, bi- and
      tricylic tetraacids and the delta(13)C isotope values of a mixture of the semi
      pure acids determined by MS are also reported for the first time.

PMID- 20941769
TI  - Analysis of the hydrogen and oxygen stable isotope ratios of beverage waters
      without prior water extraction using isotope ratio infrared spectroscopy.
AB  - Hydrogen (delta(2)H) and oxygen (delta(18)O) stable isotope analysis is useful
      when tracing the origin of water in beverages, but traditional analytical
      techniques are limited to pure or extracted waters. We measured the isotopic
      composition of extracted beverage water using both isotope ratio infrared
      spectroscopy (IRIS; specifically, wavelength-scanned cavity ring-down
      spectroscopy) and isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS). We also analyzed beer,
      sodas, juices, and milk 'as is' using IRIS. For IRIS analysis, four sequential
      injections of each sample were measured and data were corrected for sample-to
      sample memory using injections (a) 1-4, (b) 2-4, and (c) 3-4. The variation
      between delta(2)H and delta(18)O values calculated using the three correction
      methods was larger for unextracted (i.e., complex) beverages than for waters. The
      memory correction was smallest when using injections 3-4. Beverage water
      delta(2)H and delta(18)O values generally fit the Global Meteoric Water Line,
      with the exception of water from fruit juices. The beverage water stable isotope
      ratios measured using IRIS agreed well with the IRMS data and fit 1:1 lines, with
      the exception of sodas and juices (delta(2)H values) and beers (delta(18)O
      values). The delta(2)H and delta(18)O values of waters extracted from beer, soda,
      juice, and milk were correlated with complex beverage delta(2)H and delta(18)O
      values (r = 0.998 and 0.997, respectively) and generally fit 1:1 lines. We
      conclude that it is possible to analyze complex beverages, without water
      extraction, using IRIS although caution is needed when analyzing beverages
      containing sugars, which can clog the syringe and increase memory, or alcohol, a
      known spectral interference.

PMID- 20941770
TI  - Discrimination between charge-catalyzed and charge-independent fragmentation
      processes of cationized poly(n-butyl acrylate).

PMID- 20941772
TI  - A versatile glass tube cracker for transfer of gases from sealed glass tubes for
      stable isotope ratio and chemical analyses.

PMID- 20941771
TI  - Intellinsity: a tool for visualization and analysis of liquid
      chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry sampling events.

PMID- 20941773
TI  - Device configurations for ambipolar transport in flexible, pentacene transistors.

PMID- 20941774
TI  - Ultrafast transfer of metal-enhanced carbon nanotubes at low temperature for
      large-scale electronics assembly.

PMID- 20941775
TI  - Double-peak mechanical properties of carbon-nanotube fibers.
AB  - The introduction of twist during the spinning of carbon nanotubes from their
      arrays (forests) has been widely applied in making ultrastrong, stiff, and
      lightweight nanotube fibers. Here, for the first time, an important observation
      of a double-peak behavior of the tensile properties, as a function of the twist
      angle, that is different from the single peak of traditional fibers is reported.
      Raman spectra show that the new peak arises from the collapse of nanotubes,
      showing a strong "nano" element in applying the ancient draw-and-twist technique,
      besides the downsizing. A qualitative continuum model is also presented to
      describe the collapse-induced enhancement as well as traditional fibers. Our
      combined experimental and theoretical studies indicate the direction of full
      utilization of the nano element in improving the mechanical properties of
      nanotube fibers.

PMID- 20941776
TI  - Structural units and their periodicity in carbon nanotubes.

PMID- 20941778
TI  - Characterization of a novel type I keratin gene and generation of transgenic
      lines with fluorescent reporter genes driven by its promoter/enhancer in Xenopus
      laevis.
AB  - We investigated the characteristics of a novel type I keratin gene in Xenopus
      laevis during ontogenesis. The transcript was first detected in the posterior
      region at the late neurula stage, and then restricted to the fin and external
      gill during embryogenesis. To examine the transcriptional regulation of the
      keratin gene in vivo, we generated transgenic lines with fluorescent reporter
      genes driven by its 4.2-kb upstream sequence. The promoter/enhancer activity
      recapitulated the endogenous gene expression during embryogenesis. Sequential
      deletion analyses revealed that the regions proximal to the promoter were
      essential for fin-specific expression. Reporter expression was detected in
      various organs, including the fin and gill. In particular, robust expression was
      observed in the developing limbs and gill. The reporter fluorescence rapidly
      decreased with internal gill resorption during metamorphosis. The transgenic
      lines carrying the promoter/enhancer should represent valuable tools for
      elucidating the formation, development and resorption of various organs,
      especially the gill.

PMID- 20941777
TI  - Adiponectin antagonizes the oncogenic actions of leptin in hepatocellular
      carcinogenesis.
AB  - Obesity is rapidly becoming a pandemic and is associated with increased
      carcinogenesis. Obese populations have higher circulating levels of leptin in
      contrast to low concentrations of adiponectin. Hence, it is important to evaluate
      the dynamic role between adiponectin and leptin in obesity-related
      carcinogenesis. Recently, we reported the oncogenic role of leptin including its
      potential to increase tumor invasiveness and migration of hepatocellular
      carcinoma (HCC) cells. In the present study we investigated whether adiponectin
      could antagonize the oncogenic actions of leptin in HCC. We employed HCC cell
      lines HepG2 and Huh7, the nude mice-xenograft model of HCC, and
      immunohistochemistry data from tissue-microarray to demonstrate the antagonistic
      role of adiponectin on the oncogenic actions of leptin. Adiponectin treatment
      inhibited leptin-induced cell proliferation of HCC cells. Using scratch-migration
      and electric cell-substrate impedance-sensing-based migration assays, we found
      that adiponectin inhibited leptin-induced migration of HCC cells. Adiponectin
      treatment effectively blocked leptin-induced invasion of HCC cells in Matrigel
      invasion assays. Although leptin inhibited apoptosis in HCC cells, we found that
      adiponectin treatment induced apoptosis even in the presence of leptin. Analysis
      of the underlying molecular mechanisms revealed that adiponectin treatment
      reduced leptin-induced Stat3 and Akt phosphorylation. Adiponectin also increased
      suppressor of cytokine signaling (SOCS3), a physiologic negative regulator of
      leptin signal transduction. Importantly, adiponectin significantly reduced leptin
      induced tumor burden in nude mice. In HCC samples, leptin expression
      significantly correlated with HCC proliferation as evaluated by Ki-67, whereas
      adiponectin expression correlated significantly with increased disease-free
      survival and inversely with tumor size and local recurrence. CONCLUSION:
      Collectively, these data demonstrate that adiponectin has the molecular potential
      to inhibit the oncogenic actions of leptin by blocking downstream effector
      molecules.

PMID- 20941779
TI  - A study of goat SRY protein expression suggests putative new roles for this gene
      in the developing testis of a species with long-lasting SRY expression.
AB  - The testis-determining gene SRY is not well-conserved among mammals, and
      particularly between mouse and other mammals. To evaluate SRY function in a
      nonrodent species, we produced an antibody against goat SRY and used it to
      investigate the expression pattern of SRY throughout goat testicular development.
      By contrast with the mouse, SRY is primarily expressed in most cells of XY
      genital-ridges and not solely in pre-Sertoli cells. Between cord formation and
      prepuberty, SRY remains expressed in both Sertoli and germinal cells. During
      adulthood, SRY expression declines and then disappears from meiotic germ cells,
      only remaining present at low levels in some spermatogonia. Unlike the germinal
      lineage, SRY continues to be highly expressed in adult Sertoli cells with a
      typical nuclear staining. Our data indicate that in goat, the role of SRY may not
      be limited to testis determination and could have other functions in testicular
      maintenance and hence male fertility.

PMID- 20941781
TI  - Origin of adult-type pigment cells forming the asymmetric pigment pattern, in
      Japanese flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus).
AB  - The flatfish-specific asymmetric pigment pattern depends on the asymmetric
      appearance of adult-type pigment cells after the late metamorphic stages. To
      understand the mechanism enabling the formation of this asymmetric pattern, we
      investigated the behavior of pigment cell latent precursors in postembryonic
      Japanese flounder, Paralichthys olivaceus, by analysis of the expression patterns
      of pigment lineage markers (colony stimulating factor 1 receptor, dopachrome
      tautomerase, kit) and the DiI (DiO) labeling test for latent precursors. We found
      that, throughout the larval stages, pigment cell latent precursors were
      predominantly localized along the dorsal and ventral margins of the flank
      symmetrically and migrated continuously from these regions to the lateral sides
      symmetrically, and after late metamorphic stages these precursors differentiated
      into adult-type pigment cells on the lateral side asymmetrically. We conclude
      that adult-type pigment cells that form the asymmetric pigment pattern are
      continuously derived from the dorsal and ventral margins of the flank during
      larval development.

PMID- 20941780
TI  - Expression of Slit and Robo genes in the developing mouse heart.
AB  - Development of the mammalian heart is mediated by complex interactions between
      myocardial, endocardial, and neural crest-derived cells. Studies in Drosophila
      have shown that the Slit-Robo signaling pathway controls cardiac cell shape
      changes and lumen formation of the heart tube. Here, we demonstrate by in situ
      hybridization that multiple Slit ligands and Robo receptors are expressed in the
      developing mouse heart. Slit3 is the predominant ligand transcribed in the early
      mouse heart and is expressed in the ventral wall of the linear heart tube and
      subsequently in chamber but not in atrioventricular canal myocardium.
      Furthermore, we identify that the homeobox gene Nkx2-5 is required for early
      ventral restriction of Slit3 and that the T-box transcription factor Tbx2
      mediates repression of Slit3 in nonchamber myocardium. Our results suggest that
      patterned Slit-Robo signaling may contribute to the control of oriented cell
      growth during chamber morphogenesis of the mammalian heart.

PMID- 20941782
TI  - MicroRNAs: emerging key regulators of hematopoiesis.
AB  - MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small noncoding RNAs that regulate gene expression by
      pairing with their target mRNAs, thereby inducing protein translation inhibition
      or/and mRNA degradation. There is now strong evidence that miRNAs play a crucial
      role in the regulation of hematopoiesis. Several groups have shown that miRNA
      expression change dynamically during hematopoietic differentiation and functional
      studies demonstrated that miRNAs control not only differentiation but also
      activity of hematopoietic cells by targeting transcription factors, growth factor
      receptors, and specific transcripts involved in the modulation of cellular
      responses to external stimuli. In this review, we will summarize the current
      knowledge of miRNA expression and function during hematopoiesis and discuss
      controversies and future directions.

PMID- 20941783
TI  - Eculizumab therapy in an adult with plasma exchange-refractory atypical hemolytic
      uremic syndrome.

PMID- 20941785
TI  - Synthesis and enhanced photocatalytic activity of a hierarchical porous
      flowerlike p-n junction NiO/TiO2 photocatalyst.
AB  - Hierarchical flowerlike beta-Ni(OH)(2) superstructures composed of intermeshed
      nanoflakes are synthesized by hydrothermal treatment with a mixed solution of
      C(2)H(4)(NH(2))(2), NaOH, and Ni(NO(3))(2). The as-prepared beta-Ni(OH)(2)
      superstructures could be easily changed into NiO superstructures without great
      morphology change by calcination at 400  degrees C for 5 h. Furthermore, the
      TiO(2) nanoparticles can be homogeneously deposited on the surface of NiO
      superstructures by dispersing beta-Ni(OH)(2) powders in Ti(OC(4)H(9))(4)
      C(2)H(5)OH mixed solution and then vaporizing to remove the ethanol at 100 
      degrees C, and finally calcination at 400  degrees C for 5 h. The prepared
      NiO/TiO(2) p-n junction superstructures show much higher photocatalytic activity
      for photocatalytic degradation of p-chlorophenol aqueous solution than
      conventional TiO(2) powders and NiO superstructures prepared under the same
      experimental conditions. An obvious enhancement in the photocatalytic activity
      can be related to several factors, including formation of hierarchical porous
      structures, dispersion of TiO(2) particles on the surface of NiO superstructures,
      and production of a p-n junction. Further results show that NiO/TiO(2) composite
      superstructures can be more readily separated from the slurry system by
      filtration or sedimentation after photocatalytic reaction and re-used, compared
      with conventional powder photocatalysts. After many recycling experiments for the
      photodegradation of p-chlorophenol, the NiO/TiO(2) composite sample does not
      exhibit any great activity loss, confirming that NiO/TiO(2) sample is stable and
      not photocorroded.

PMID- 20941784
TI  - A common variant in the Von Willebrand factor gene is associated with multiple
      functional consequences.

PMID- 20941786
TI  - Hybrid organic-inorganic microporous membranes with high hydrothermal stability
      for the separation of carbon dioxide.

PMID- 20941787
TI  - One-phase ionic liquid reaction medium for biocatalytic production of biodiesel.

PMID- 20941788
TI  - Mutational spectrum in congenital dyserythropoietic anemia type II:
      identification of 19 novel variants in SEC23B gene.
AB  - SEC23B gene encodes an essential component of the coat protein complex II (COPII)
      coated vesicles. Mutations in this gene cause the vast majority the congenital
      dyserythropoietic anemia Type II (CDA II), a rare disorder resulting from
      impaired erythropoiesis. Here, we investigated 28 CDA II patients from 21
      unrelated families enrolled in the CDA II International Registry. Overall, we
      found 19 novel variants [c.2270 A>C p.H757P; c.2149-2 A>G; c.1109+1 G>A;
      c.387(delG) p.L129LfsX26; c.1858 A>G p.M620V; c.1832 G>C p.R611P; c.1735 T>A
      p.Y579N; c.1254 T>G p.I418M; c.1015 C>T p.R339X; c.1603 C>T p.R535X; c.1654 C>T
      p.L552F; c.1307 C>T p.S436L; c.279+3 A>G; c. 2150(delC) p.A717VfsX7; c.1733 T>C
      p.L578P; c.1109+5 G>A; c.221+31 A>G; c.367 C>T p.R123X; c.1857_1859delCAT;
      p.I619del] in the homozygous or the compound heterozygous state. Homozygosity or
      compound heterozygosity for two nonsense mutations was never found. In four cases
      the sequencing analysis has failed to find two mutations. To discuss the putative
      functional consequences of missense mutations, computational analysis and
      sequence alignment were performed. Our data underscore the high allelic
      heterogeneity of CDA II, as the most of SEC23B variations are inherited as
      private mutations. In this mutation update, we also provided a tool to improve
      and facilitate the molecular diagnosis of CDA II by defining the frequency of
      mutations in each exon.

PMID- 20941789
TI  - Loss of WNT-TCF addiction and enhancement of HH-GLI1 signalling define the
      metastatic transition of human colon carcinomas.
AB  - Previous studies demonstrate the initiation of colon cancers through deregulation
      of WNT-TCF signalling. An accepted but untested extension of this finding is that
      incurable metastatic colon carcinomas (CCs) universally remain WNT-TCF-dependent,
      prompting the search for WNT-TCF inhibitors. CCs and their stem cells also
      require Hedgehog (HH)-GLI1 activity, but how these pathways interact is unclear.
      Here we define coincident high-to-low WNT-TCF and low-to-high HH-GLI transitions
      in patient CCs, most strikingly in their CD133(+) stem cells, that mark the
      development of metastases. We find that enhanced HH-GLI mimics this transition,
      driving also an embryonic stem (ES)-like stemness signature and that GLI1 can be
      regulated by multiple CC oncogenes. The data support a model in which the
      metastatic transition involves the acquisition or enhancement of a more primitive
      ES-like phenotype, and the downregulation of the early WNT-TCF programme, driven
      by oncogene-regulated high GLI1 activity. Consistently, TCF blockade does not
      generally inhibit tumour growth; instead, it, like enhanced HH-GLI, promotes
      metastatic growth in vivo. Treatments for metastatic disease should therefore
      block HH-GLI1 but not WNT-TCF activities.

PMID- 20941791
TI  - A novel electrode material for symmetrical SOFCs.

PMID- 20941790
TI  - V600EBraf induces gastrointestinal crypt senescence and promotes tumour
      progression through enhanced CpG methylation of p16INK4a.
AB  - The majority of human colorectal cancers (CRCs) are initiated by mutations
      arising in the adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) tumour suppressor gene. However,
      a new class of non-APC mutated CRCs has been defined that have a serrated
      histopathology and carry the (V600E)BRAF oncogene. Here we have investigated the
      pathogenesis of serrated CRCs by expressing (V600E)Braf in the proliferative
      cells of the mouse gastrointestinal tract. We show that the oncogene drives an
      initial burst of Mek-dependent proliferation, leading to the formation of
      hyperplastic crypts. This is associated with beta-catenin nuclear localization by
      a mechanism involving Mapk/Erk kinase (Mek)-dependent, Akt-independent
      phosphorylation of Gsk3beta. However, hyperplastic crypts remain dormant for
      prolonged periods due to the induction of crypt senescence accompanied by
      upregulation of senescence-associated beta-galactosidase and p16(Ink4a). We show
      that tumour progression is associated with down-regulation of p16(Ink4a) through
      enhanced CpG methylation of exon 1 and knockout of Cdkn2a confirms this gene is a
      barrier to tumour progression. Our studies identify (V600E)BRAF as an early
      genetic driver mutation in serrated CRCs and indicate that, unlike APC-mutated
      cancers, this subtype arises by the bypassing of a (V600E)Braf driven oncogene
      induced senescence programme.

PMID- 20941792
TI  - Nucleophilic substitution reaction based layer-by-layer growth of
      superparamagnetic nanocomposite films with high nonvolatile memory performance.

PMID- 20941793
TI  - Film lift-off from MgO: freestanding single crystalline Fe-Pd films suitable for
      magnetic shape memory actuation - and beyond.

PMID- 20941794
TI  - Micrometer-scale cubic unit cell 3D metamaterial layers.

PMID- 20941795
TI  - Novel core-shell Sn-Cu anodes for lithium rechargeable batteries prepared by a
      redox-transmetalation reaction.

PMID- 20941796
TI  - A Meta-Analysis of the relationship between the Rorschach Ego Impairment Index
      (EII) and psychiatric severity.
AB  - The present study examined the relationship between the Rorschach Ego Impairment
      Index (EII) and psychiatric severity. Search procedures yielded 13 independent
      samples (total N = 1402, average n = 108, standard deviation = 90) for inclusion
      in the meta-analysis. Inter-rater reliability analyses demonstrated that coding
      of effect sizes and moderator variables was completed with good to excellent
      reliability. Results indicated that higher EII scores were associated with
      greater psychiatric severity, with an overall weighted effect size of r = 0.29, p
      = 0.000002 (95% confidence interval = 0.17-0.40), supporting the EII's validity
      as a measure of psychological impairment. Publication bias analyses did not
      indicate any significant cause for concern regarding the results. The data were
      demonstrably heterogeneous (Q = 56.82, p = 0.0000001), and results of post-hoc
      tests indicated that effect sizes with dependent variables obtained via
      researcher ratings were significantly larger than any of the following: effect
      sizes with dependent variables obtained via clinician ratings, informant ratings,
      information about level of treatment or placement status or self-report ratings
      (p's = 0.0005, 0.003, <0.001, <0.001, respectively). In addition, there was a
      trend for effect sizes based on performance-based measures to be larger than
      those based on information about level of treatment or placement status (p =
      0.098) as well as those based on self-report measures (p = 0.076). Other
      moderator analyses were non-significant (p 's > 0.10). Copyright (c) 2010 John
      Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Key Practitioner Message: * The Rorschach Ego Impairment Index
      (EII) demonstrated validity in measuring psychiatric severity across a range of
      normative, outpatient, residential, and inpatient samples. * The degree of the
      EII's validity in assessing psychiatric severity compared favorably to the
      overall validity of the Rorschach and the MMPI. * The EII appears to be most
      valid in capturing psychiatric severity as measured by researcher ratings of
      social competency or estimated ego impairment.

PMID- 20941797
TI  - Evaluating surrogate variables for improving microarray multiple testing
      inference.
AB  - The use of surrogate variables has been proposed as a means to capture, for a
      given observed set of data, sources driving the dependency structure among high
      dimensional sets of features and remove the effects of those sources and their
      potential negative impact on simultaneous inference. In this article we
      illustrate the potential effects of latent variables on testing dependence and
      the resulting impact on multiple inference, we briefly review the method of
      surrogate variable analysis proposed by Leek and Storey (PNAS 2008; 105:18718
      18723), and assess that method via simulations intended to mimic the complexity
      of feature dependence observed in real-world microarray data. The method is also
      assessed via application to a recent Merck microarray data set. Both simulation
      and case study results indicate that surrogate variable analysis can offer a
      viable strategy for tackling the multiple testing dependence problem when the
      features follow a potentially complex correlation structure, yielding
      improvements in the variability of false positive rates and increases in power.

PMID- 20941798
TI  - Tungsten oxide nanowires grown on carbon cloth as a flexible cold cathode.

PMID- 20941799
TI  - Laundering durability of superhydrophobic cotton fabric.

PMID- 20941800
TI  - Enabling strategies in organic electronics using ordered block copolymer
      nanostructures.

PMID- 20941801
TI  - Patterned differentiation of individual embryoid bodies in spatially organized 3D
      hybrid microgels.

PMID- 20941802
TI  - A modular, hydroxyapatite-binding version of vascular endothelial growth factor.

PMID- 20941803
TI  - Heteronuclear chemical shift correlation and J-resolved MAS NMR spectroscopy of
      lipid membranes.
AB  - Direct observation of J-couplings remains a challenge in high-resolution solid
      state NMR. In some cases, it is possible to use Lee-Goldburg (LG) homonuclear
      decoupling during rare spin observation in MAS NMR correlation spectroscopy of
      lipid membranes to obtain J-resolved spectra in the direct dimension. In one
      simple implementation, a wide line separation-type (13)C-(1)H HETCOR can provide
      high-resolution (1)H/(13)C spectra, which are J-resolved in both dimensions.
      Coupling constants, (1)J(HC), obtained from (1)H doublets, can be compared with
      scaled (1)J(theta)(CH)-values obtained from the (13)C multiplets to assess the LG
      efficiency and scaling factor. The use of homonuclear decoupling during proton
      evolution, LG-HETCOR-LG, can provide J-values, at least in the rare spin
      dimension, and allows measurements in less mobile membrane environments. The LG
      decoupled spectroscopic approach is demonstrated on pure
      dioleoylphosphatidylcholine (DOPC) membranes and used to investigate lipid
      mixtures of DOPC/cholesterol and DOPC/cholesterol/sphingomyelin.

PMID- 20941804
TI  - The role of patient-provider communication for black women making decisions about
      breast cancer treatment.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Recent reports suggest that Black breast cancer patients receive
      adjuvant therapies less often than their White counterparts; however, few studies
      have examined the self-reported experiences of Black breast cancer patients
      making treatment decisions. This study examined cultural beliefs and healthcare
      factors that impacted Black women's treatment decisions. METHODS: In-depth
      interviews were conducted with 49 Black women with early stage breast cancer
      (stages 0-III). Participants resided in Washington, DC (n = 13), and
      Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (n = 36). Women's ages ranged from 26 to 85 (m =
      53.9). All interviews were transcribed verbatim and then entered into a
      qualitative software program. Three coders independently read and coded
      transcripts using this software. RESULTS: The data did not reveal common cultural
      themes that influenced women's treatment decisions. Spiritual beliefs were
      important to all participants and did seem to help them cope with and reframe
      their illness experiences. The patient-provider relationship was the most notable
      factor that influenced treatment decisions. While most women reported that they
      were satisfied with their provider relationships, their narratives revealed that
      many lacked knowledge about their diagnoses and treatment regimens. Those
      patients who demonstrated a better understanding of their disease and treatments
      also seemed to adhere to recommendations for adjuvant therapy. CONCLUSIONS: Poor
      communication may impact treatment decision-making and, ultimately, outcomes.
      Important next steps will include quantifying Black women's patient-provider
      interactions and examining how these factors influence adherence behaviors.
      Ensuring that patients understand their diagnosis and treatment options will also
      be important for clinical practice.

PMID- 20941805
TI  - Synthesis and structure elucidation of five new pyrimido[5,4-c]quinoline-4(3H)
      one derivatives using 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopy.
AB  - Five new 2-(amino/aroxy)-5-methylpyrimido[5,4-c]quinolin-4(3H)-one derivatives
      have been designed and synthesized via an aza-Wittig reaction, and the structure
      elucidation was accomplished using extensive 1D ((1)H, (13)C) and 2D NMR
      spectroscopic studies (COSY, HSQC and HMBC experiments).

PMID- 20941806
TI  - Can endogenous hyperinsulinaemia explain the increased risk of cancer development
      and mortality in type 2 diabetes: evidence from mouse models.
AB  - There is now convincing evidence of an increased risk of patients with obesity or
      type 2 diabetes developing cancer. To understand the possible causation, type 2
      diabetic muscle lysine to arginine (MKR) mice were studied. Introduction of
      mammary tumour cell lines resulted in aggressive growth of the mammary tumours in
      the hyperinsulinaemic MKR female mice. Blocking the insulin receptor activation
      or reducing the hyperinsulinaemia reduced the mammary tumour burden. Thus,
      hyperinsulinaemia may be one of the factors in the increased breast cancer risk
      seen with obesity and type 2 diabetes.

PMID- 20941807
TI  - Testicular germ cell tumors.
AB  - Testicular cancer is the most frequent solid tumor in young male adults and a
      disease with elusive pathogenesis. Germ cell tumors represent 95% of all
      testicular cancers. There was an increasing incidence of testicular germ cell
      tumors during the second half of the 20th century. Despite their increased
      incidence, mortality is lower than 10% and the cure rate has reached 95%.
      Epidemiology of the disease shows remarkable geographic and racial variation.
      Known risk factors and the increased incidence during the last 50 years have led
      to the development of the two prevalent theories for the pathogenesis of the
      disease, Henderson theory and Rajpertde Meyts and Skakkebaek theory. Appropriate
      diagnosis and staging of the disease are crucial for successful management.
      Testicular ultrasound, CT scans, histological examination and serum tumor markers
      should be utilized in order to stratify the patient correctly. Treatment strategy
      is chosen according to the patient stage and prognostic group stratification.
      "Fine tuning" is needed in order to find the balance between treatment, cure and
      toxicity. Despite progress in therapeutic management, cure rates for poor risk
      patients do not exceed 50%. These patients should be encouraged to participate in
      clinical trials. Long-term toxicity of testicular germ cell tumors' treatment is
      also another issue that should be kept in mind during follow-up of these
      patients. This disease became the model of "curable" cancer and gave hope for
      cure of metastatic malignant diseases in general, as only 400 patients die from
      this disease in USA annually. More progress will be made only through well
      designed clinical trials.

PMID- 20941808
TI  - Toxic peripheral neuropathy associated with commonly used chemotherapeutic
      agents.
AB  - Peripheral neuropathy ranks among the most common non-haematological adverse
      effects of a number of effective chemotherapeutic agents, including platinum
      compounds, taxanes and vinca alkaloids. Newer agents, such as bortezomib,
      thalidomide and lenalidomide, frequently exert similar neurotoxic effects on
      peripheral nerves. Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) may result
      from a variety of mechanisms and may be related to causal factors, such as single
      dose per course, cumulative dose and risk factors including treatment schedule,
      prior or concomitant administration of other neurotoxic agents, age and pre
      existing peripheral neuropathy of other causes. The symptoms usually begin during
      chemotherapy and they may even worsen after cessation of treatment. In most of
      the cases, patients experience positive (pain, paresthesias) or negative
      (numbness) sensory symptoms in distal extremities in a stocking-and-glove
      distribution with less prominent motor and autonomic involvement. To date,
      several neuroprotective agents including thiols, neurotrophic factors,
      anticonvulsants and antioxidants have been tested in preclinical models and
      clinical open label or randomized controlled trials for their ability to prevent
      or treat symptoms of CIPN. Although several of these agents hold promise as
      possible neuroprotective factors, clinical data are still controversial and none
      have as yet robustly been proven effective against CIPN. This review critically
      looks at the pathogenesis, incidence, risk factors, diagnosis, characteristics
      and management of peripheral neuropathy associated with commonly used
      chemotherapeutic agents. We also highlight areas of future research to pursue.

PMID- 20941809
TI  - Biological markers in breast cancer prognosis and treatment.
AB  - In this review we will provide a synopsis of the biological markers used in the
      care of breast cancer patients with emphasis on clinical application. The advent
      of molecular technology has incorporated new biomarkers along with the older
      immunohistochemical and serum ones. Serum tumor markers are proteins shed from
      breast cancer cells. Their levels have long been used as a measure of tumor
      burden and disease progression or recurrence. However, limitations exist that
      should be known to those involved in breast cancer management. Historically,
      immunohistochemical markers have been used to guide treatment decisions. These
      markers reveal characteristics of the cancer cells and have been used both as
      prognostic and predictive factors. Molecular markers give information on the
      expression of certain genes in tumor tissues related to proliferation, invasion,
      and metastasis and researchers try to correlate them with the use of mathematical
      modeling with clinical outcomes, hence those markers exhibit prognostic and
      predictive significance. All these tools can guide personalized treatment by
      estimating patient prognosis and risk of relapse and tailor accordingly
      therapeutic approaches.

PMID- 20941810
TI  - Dietary influence on breast cancer.
AB  - Certain lifestyle and environmental factors play an important role on breast
      cancer (BC) risk, but data on the influence of nutritional factors are still
      conflicting. Migrational data have pointed to nutrition as one of the more
      relevant external factors involved. So far, the only well established nutrition
      related risk factors for BC are obesity and alcohol consumption. The evidence
      that body fatness is a cause of postmenopausal breast cancer is convincing as is
      the evidence that alcoholic drinks are a cause of BC in all ages. On the other
      hand, body fatness probably protects against BC diagnosed premenopause. It is
      more likely that the BC risk is related to life-long dietary habits. The general
      preventive recommendation often includes a reduction of alcohol, red meat and
      total dietary fat, and increase in vegetable and fruit consumption. The purpose
      of this work was to summarize and present current opinions on the influence of
      diet and nutrition on BC etiology and to suggest possible preventive measures.

PMID- 20941811
TI  - Gemcitabine plus infusional 5-fluorouracil and high dose leucovorin in advanced
      stage pancreatic cancer.
AB  - PURPOSE: Advanced pancreatic cancer (APC) has a poor prognosis and chemotherapy
      remains the primary treatment modality. Gemcitabine (GEM) and 5-fluorouracil (5
      FU) are the most active drugs in the treatment of pancreatic cancer. This study
      evaluated the efficacy and tolerability of the combination of these agents in
      APC. METHODS: Forty-four patients with APC were treated with GEM and infusional 5
      FU with high dose leucovorin (LV5FU2) (GEMFUFOL regimen). RESULTS: A total of 240
      chemotherapy cycles were administered. The overall response rate was 27.2%, and
      all responses were partial. Furthermore, disease stabilization was observed in 12
      patients (27.2%). Median survival time and one-year survival rate were 9 months
      and 36.4%, respectively. The overall grade 3 or 4 adverse events were very low
      and mostly hematological. CONCLUSION: GEMFUFOL is still an active regimen for the
      treatment of APC and has an acceptable toxicity.

PMID- 20941812
TI  - Concurrent chemoimmunotherapy: is it still the best option for the treatment of
      metastatic melanoma in patients with good performance status?
AB  - PURPOSE: To determine the efficacy, toxicity and survival of metastatic melanoma
      patients with Eastern Cooperative Oncology group good performance status (ECOG PS
      0-1) receiving concurrent chemotherapy and immunotherapy. METHODS: From March
      2003 to August 2008, 25 patients with metastatic melanoma were enrolled in the
      study. No patient had previously received chemotherapy or immunotherapy. Patients
      with ECOG PS 0-1 were treated with cisplatin+vinblastine+DTIC (CVD) and
      interferon-A2a (IFN-a). RESULTS: Response rate was 11/25 (44%): complete response
      (CR) 2, partial response (PR) 9, stable disease (SD) 11, progressive disease (PD)
      3. Adverse effects were mild. The most common toxicities were nausea, vomiting
      and fever. Grade 3 and 4 toxicity was more common in hematologic parameters. No
      treatment-related deaths occurred. The median overall survival (OS) was 14 months
      and time to progression 8.0 months. CONCLUSION: Concomitant chemoimmunotherapy
      appeared to be a beneficial option for metastatic melanoma patients with good PS.
      Therapeutic approaches with less toxicity and regimens that could improve OS are
      still highly desired in the treatment of advanced malignant melanoma.

PMID- 20941813
TI  - Oral status in patients receiving 5-fluorouracil for colorectal cancer.
AB  - PURPOSE: Oral complications are frequent and troublesome symptoms for those
      undergoing chemotherapy for cancer. Several antineoplastic agents are proved to
      have stomatotoxic potential, among them 5-fluorouracil (5-FU). The aim of the
      present study was to evaluate the oral status and patient experiences during
      chemotherapy with 5-FU for colorectal cancer. METHODS: Twenty-eight patients
      treated with 5-day 5-FU plus leucovorin entered this study. Positive data about
      oral symptoms were taken by anamnesis. Mucositis severity index, gingival index,
      plaque index, probing pocket depth and bleeding on probing have been used to
      assess oral mucosa and periodontal status of the patients. Patients were examined
      prior to chemotherapy and 14 days after the start of the chemotherapy cycle.
      RESULTS: Mild to moderate subjective complaints concerning oral cavity were
      reported by 17.9% of patients before and 39.2% of patients after chemotherapy.
      Clinical examination revealed oral mucosa damage in 10.7% and 35.7% of patients,
      with mean mucositis score of 0.14 and 0.54 before and after chemotherapy,
      respectively. Although mean values of all periodontal indices were elevated after
      chemotherapy, only increase in gingival index was statistically significant
      (p=0.035). Mucositis was significantly correlated with oral pain (p=0.00),
      xerostomia (p=0.00), and plaque index (p=0.077), while the correlation between
      mucositis and the rest of the examined parameters was not significant.
      CONCLUSION: Oral complications were not highly expressed in this study. Although
      5-FU is considered to exert significant stomatotoxic effect, severe mucositis was
      far less common in this study compared to studies reported elsewhere.

PMID- 20941814
TI  - Postoperative radiotherapy in the treatment of uterine sarcomas: long-term
      results and analysis of prognostic factors.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the role of postoperative radiotherapy (RT) in local control
      and survival and to identify treatment-related prognostic factors in uterine
      sarcomas. METHODS: Sixty patients with uterine sarcomas treated with
      postoperative RT were retrospectively analyzed. Median age was 49.5 years (range
      24-78). The stage distribution was as follows: stage I: 60%, II: 11.7%, and III:
      28.3%. All patients were treated with pelvic irradiation (dose range 45.6-54.6
      Gy). Pelvic control (PC), distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS), disease-free
      survival (DFS), and overall survival (OS) were calculated. Age, stage, histology,
      tumor size, type of surgery, residual disease, time interval between surgery and
      RT were selected as possible prognostic factors for PC and OS. Age, total
      treatment time, pelvic dose, dose per fraction, and acute side effects were
      analyzed as probable prognostic factors for late complications. RESULTS: Median
      follow-up was 84 months. The 10-year PC, DMFS, DFS and OS rates were 84, 67.3, 64
      and 61.5%, respectively. Univariate analysis showed that age, residual disease,
      type of surgery and stage were significant factors for PC; residual disease, type
      of surgery and stage were significant factors for DMFS; stage was found as the
      only significant factor for DFS and OS. Total treatment time, pelvic dose, dose
      per fraction, and acute side effects were significant factors for late
      complications. CONCLUSION: Although our results suggest improved PC, the role of
      postoperative RT should be tested in prospective randomized trials.

PMID- 20941815
TI  - External beam radiotherapy of bladder carcinoma: considerations in determining
      the irradiation field margins.
AB  - PURPOSE: Motions of the bladder and rectum during pelvic irradiation are
      considered as major causes of geometrical uncertainties. As a result, the volume
      status of these organs is changed and the definition of the treatment margins is
      imperative. The aim of this study was, firstly, to determine these margins,
      comparing series of CT scans, performed at simulation time, with empty (EB) and
      full bladder (FB) and, secondly, to evaluate the dose volume histograms (DVHs) of
      tumor and rectum using standard treatment margins. METHODS: Fifteen patients with
      muscle-invading urinary bladder carcinoma underwent two scan series with EB and
      FB bladder during radiotherapy (RT) simulation. Gross tumor volume (GTV),
      clinical target volume (CTV), planning treatment volume (PTV) and organs at risk
      (OAR) were contoured. Displacements of the bladder wall were determined at all
      directions. Cumulative DVHs were generated for the volumes of interest. Using the
      same beam arrangements for both the EB and FB CT series, DVHs were also produced.
      RESULTS: The mean bladder volume was 119.3+/-55.9 cm3 and 264.3+/-145.7 cm3 for
      EB and FB CT series, respectively (p<0.001). The maximum bladder wall
      displacement was observed at cranial direction (2.2+/-0.6 cm for the EB vs. 3.4+/
      1.0 cm for the FB series; p<0.001) and at caudal direction (2.3+/-0.6 cm for the
      EB vs. 3.6+/-1.0 cm for the FB series; p<0.001). Standard anisotropic margins of
      2 cm in craniocaudal and posterior-anterior directions and 1.2 cm in lateral
      direction gave coverage to 75% of all bladder movements caused by FB. Analysis of
      DVHs and tumor control probability (TCP) calculations gave same results (74%),
      while normal tissue complication probability (NTCP) of the rectum showed no
      significant changes. CONCLUSION: CT scans series with empty and full bladder,
      performed at simulation time, could offer a potential advantage to evaluate the
      target expansion necessary to cover the bladder wall for each patient, giving
      more information about safe margining.

PMID- 20941816
TI  - A practical method to detect target failure of a helical tomotherapy unit.
AB  - PURPOSE: Helical tomotherapy has been in clinical use for several years. One of
      the issues with a helical tomotherapy unit is the failure of detection of the x
      ray target. In this study, we are proposing a method to detect potential failure
      of the x-ray target. METHODS: Currently, on-board detector data from a helical
      tomotherapy unit are collected and sent to TomoTherapy Inc. for comparison with
      the so-called gold standard for the unit. However, this is sometimes time
      consuming. Furthermore, the clinical medical physicists have no access to this
      comparison procedure. In this study, we developed a practical method to detect
      target failure based on one of the monthly quality assurance (QA) procedures. The
      commissioning cross-plane profiles were used as the comparison baseline. Larger
      EDR2 film (35*43 cm) were set at source-axis distance (SAD) (85 cm) and shot with
      1.5 cm solid water as build-up material and 10 cm solid water as backscattering
      material. Cross-plane profiles obtained from the EDR2 film were compared with the
      commissioning profiles. RESULTS: When the cross-plane profiles from monthly QA
      have 1 degrees  degree difference from the commissioning profiles, it is time
      that the target be changed. CONCLUSION: This method enables the clinical medical
      physicists to easily evaluate the target status and to help improving the quality
      assurance of a helical tomotherapy unit.

PMID- 20941817
TI  - Comparing ultrasound with computerized tomography images to choose electron
      energy for radiotherapy boost field in breast cancer patients with breast
      conserving surgery.
AB  - PURPOSE: To compare ultrasonographic (US) with computerized tomographic (CT)
      images in order to choose electron energy for radiotherapy (RT) boost field in
      patients with breast conserving surgery (BCS). METHODS: Thirty-seven consecutive
      patients with breast cancer treated by BCS and RT in our department were
      evaluated. Median age was 49 years (range 32-82). According to the Dokuz Eylul
      Breast Tumor Group Protocol (DEBTG), in patients with BCS, RT (5000 cGy to the
      whole breast +/- lymphatic area) and boost with electron energy to the primary
      tumor bed (1000 cGy if surgical margin negative, or 1600 cGy if surgical margin
      positive was delivered. Before January 2003, the distances between skin-the
      deepest point of tumor bed (STD), skin-clips (SCD), and skin-fascia (SFD) were
      measured with US to choose electron energy in boost field. Since then, CT
      simulation images were used to this purpose. These two imaging systems were
      compared in this study. Electron energy was selected after measurement of the
      deepest metallic clips in CT simulation images (90%) or measurement of the STD if
      no clips were present (10%). RESULTS: Median measurements with US and CT were as
      follows: STD: US 12 mm (range 4-35), CT 28 mm (range 2-54); SFD: US 25 mm (range
      6-57), CT 31 mm (range 2-93); SCD: US 14 mm (range 7-26), CT 29 mm (range 2-68).
      The median electron energy was 9 MeV e (range 6-12) for US and 12 MeV e (range 6
      21) for CT. Concordance in US and CT measurements was 27%. CONCLUSION: This
      preliminary study reveals that CT-based SCD measurements are deeper than US
      measurements, and selected electron energy with CT is 3 MeV higher than US. These
      two factors can affect local control and side effects. We noticed only one local
      recurrence in 37 patients. We did not evaluate side effects in this study. These
      could be a subject of a future study.

PMID- 20941818
TI  - Long-term results following potentially curative gastrectomy for gastric cancer.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to report the results of gastric cancer
      surgery in patients who had undergone potentially curative gastrectomy. METHODS:
      The hospital mortality, morbidity, survival, recurrences and the sites of failure
      were retrospectively analyzed in D1 group (conventional gastrectomy), and in D2
      group (extended lymph node resection). RESULTS: D1 and D2 groups were comparable
      for age, gender, American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) class, type of
      surgery, and histopathologic characteristics (p>0.05). D2 group patients were in
      better physical status (p=0.008). The recurrence rate was higher in D1 group
      (p=0.019). Independent prognostic indicators of morbidity were male gender
      (p=0.012), and poor ASA class (p<0.001). Poor ASA class was the single
      independent prognostic indicator of hospital mortality (p=0.001). Ten-year
      survival for D1 and D2 was 44.1 and 64.8%, respectively (p=0.0433). D2
      gastrectomy improved survival in stage IIIA. The independent prognostic
      indicators of survival were total gastrectomy (p=0.003), lymph node involvement
      (p<0.0001), and extended lymphadenectomy (p=0.003). The independent prognostic
      variables of recurrence were stage (p=0.001), and extended lymph node resection
      (p=0.006). CONCLUSION: D2 gastrectomy improves survival in gastric cancer,
      particularly in stage IIIA.

PMID- 20941819
TI  - Differences in colorectal cancer patterns between right and left sided colorectal
      cancer lesions.
AB  - PURPOSE: Colorectal carcinomas that arise proximal (right) or distal (left) to
      the splenic flexure exhibit different clinical and biological characteristics.
      Although various hypotheses have been proposed to explain these differences,
      their origin remains unclear. In this study we investigated the clinicopathologic
      differences between left and right colon tumors and comment on the possible
      explanatory theories behind them. METHODS: This study included a total of 388
      retrospectively collected cases of colorectal cancer, surgically treated from
      1999 to 2004. Differences of patients' demographic data and tumor micro- and
      macroscopic characteristics between left and right-sided tumors were investigated
      and analysed. RESULTS: Patients with right-sided colon cancer were significantly
      older (mean age 70 vs. 68 years; p<0.05) and had more lymph nodes examined than
      patients with left colon tumors (mean number of nodes 18.9 vs. 12.6; p<0.05).
      There was a lower proportion of T1 stage right-sided tumors (3.1 vs. 5%) and a
      higher proportion of stage T2-4 (96.9 vs. 95%) compared with left-sided tumors
      (p<0.001 for x2 test of all T stages). Furthermore, right-sided tumors had a
      higher mean width and depth (4.3 vs. 3.8 cm and 1.8 vs. 1.6 cm, respectively;
      p<0.05). Finally, there was a higher percentage of poorly differentiated right
      colon tumors (41.4 vs. 17.5%; p<0.001). CONCLUSION: Right-sided colon tumors
      affect older patients and are diagnosed at more advanced disease stages. The
      underlying mechanisms that provoke these differences remain unclear. Further
      studies are needed in order to better understand the true nature of these
      differences and their possible clinical implications.

PMID- 20941820
TI  - A prospective evaluation of second transurethral resection in non-muscle invasive
      bladder tumors.
AB  - PURPOSE: In this prospective study we evaluated the benefit of a second
      transurethral bladder resection (TURB) for Ta-T1 bladder carcinomas. METHODS: One
      hundred consecutive patients with superficial bladder tumor (Ta-T1) undergoing
      TURB and routine repeat TURB (Re-TURB) 4-6 weeks after the initial resection were
      included in the study. Re-TURB was applied to the scar of the first resection and
      other suspicious lesions in the bladder. RESULTS: From January 2003 to December
      2008 100 patients were enrolled onto the study (mean age 60 years). At the first
      TURB, 56 (56%) patients had multiple lesions and 44 (44%) had a solitary tumor.
      Re-TURB revealed histological residual tumors in 40 (40%) patients. Residual
      tumor was found in 40% of Ta and 40% of T1 disease and 29% of the tumors were
      found at initial site of resection. Re-TURB revealed residual tumor in 55% of
      patients with multiple tumors and only 20% of patients with a solitary bladder
      tumor. CONCLUSION: These data suggest that tumor stage is not a good indicator to
      determine the necessity of Re-TURB in superficial bladder carcinomas. Routine Re
      TURB is beneficial in Ta-T1 multiple bladder tumors.

PMID- 20941821
TI  - Factors associated with outcome in liposarcomas of the extremities and trunk.
AB  - PURPOSE: Liposarcomas are malignant tumors that arise from primitive mesenchymal
      cells rather than mature adipose tissue. We aimed to evaluate the outcomes of
      patients with extremities and superficial trunk liposarcomas in relation to some
      clinicopathological factors. METHODS: Sixty-three surgically treated patients
      with liposarcoma, with mean age 53 years, were included in this study. The 5-and
      10-year survival rates were analyzed with respect to local recurrences, distant
      metastases and death with the Kaplan-Meier method. Cox models estimated
      univariate and multivariate hazard ratios for each candidate predictor of
      interest. RESULTS: The 5-year overall survival was 77.8% (95% CI 65.5-87.3) and
      the 10-year overall survival was 63.5% (95% CI 50.4-75.3). The 5-and 10-year
      recurrence-free survival were 60% and 57%, respectively. The 5-and 10-year
      metastasis-free survival were 86% and 84%, respectively. In univariate analysis
      factors that were significantly associated with outcomes were grade III tumors,
      amputation procedures, use of chemotherapy and development of local recurrences.
      No significant association was observed in multivariate analysis. CONCLUSION:
      Patients with liposarcoma surviving for 5 years, have also a high probability to
      be alive at 10 years. The development of metastases is observed within the first
      5-years from diagnosis. Metastatic disease after that period is rare. The
      possibility of local recurrence is not negligible after the 5th year of follow
      up.

PMID- 20941822
TI  - Clinical prognostic factors and outcome of surgical treatment in patients with
      early-stage bronchial carcinoid tumors.
AB  - PURPOSE: Surgical resection is the treatment of choice for bronchial carcinoids
      (BC). The primary endpoint of this study was to look at the survival of patients
      with BC after the surgical treatment and to identify some clinicopathological
      prognostic factors influencing survival. METHODS: The analysis included 57
      patients with early- stage BC submitted to surgical treatment in the period 2000
      2008. Major inclusion criteria were: pathologically confirmed BC, ECOG
      performance status 0-2, and surgical resection of the tumor. RESULTS: No
      significant difference in survival in relation to gender was registered. N0, N1
      and N2 status was registered in 39, 9 and 2 patients, respectively. There were
      statistically significant differences in survival according to N status
      (p=0.032). Twenty-two patients had T1N0 stage, 21 T2N0, and 4 T1N1. There was a
      trend for significant differences in survival according to TN stage (p=0.063).
      Also, analysis revealed significant differences in survival depending on tumor
      size (p=0.000), as well as on the type of the tumor (typical vs. atypical)
      (p=0.010). CONCLUSION: Nodal status and TN stage affect patients' survival. Tumor
      size and typical/atypical tumor are also significant prognostic factors for
      survival of surgically treated patients.

PMID- 20941823
TI  - Is there a cut-off value for standardized uptake values in positron emission
      tomography for predicting response to treatment and survival in patients with
      advanced non-small cell lung cancer? Single center experience.
AB  - PURPOSE: Positron emission tomography (PET) is an important imaging technique for
      the diagnosis and staging of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). In
      this study, we evaluated the standardized uptake values (SUV) of PET in NSCLC
      patients to determine whether there was a cut-off value for predicting response
      to treatment and survival. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed 149 patients with
      locally advanced NSCLC. All the patients were staged by PET-computerized
      tomography (CT) after diagnosis. 18fluoro-2-deoxyribose (FDG) was used as the PET
      tracer. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to detect whether any
      prognostic factors were related to response to treatment. RESULTS: The median
      patient age was 60 years and the median follow-up time 10.3 months. One-year
      progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) rates were 31% and
      58.7%, respectively. The median OS was 15.4 months. Stage, sex and response to
      treatment were important factors for OS and PFS. We defined a cut-off value for
      SUVmax (the highest standardized uptake value for all cross sectional areas) as
      10.8 by using ROC analysis. Multivariate analysis identified response to
      treatment as the most significant (p<0.05) prognostic factor for OS. Logistic
      regression analysis showed that SUVmax and weight loss were important for
      response to treatment. CONCLUSION: Multivariate analysis indicated that whilst
      response to treatment was an important factor for predicting survival, the SUVmax
      was also significant for determining response to therapy and a cut-off value for
      SUVmax was defined as 10.8.

PMID- 20941824
TI  - Comparison of methods for prediction of prostate cancer in Turkish men with PSA
      levels of 0-10 ng/mL.
AB  - PURPOSE: Several concepts to improve the diagnostic accuracy of prostate specific
      antigen (PSA) for prediction of prostate cancer have been studied. The aim of
      this study was to examine and compare the methods used for improving the
      diagnostic accuracy of PSA in a country with low incidence of prostate cancer.
      METHODS: 997 patients with prostate biopsy were included into study. Predictive
      models using PSA, PSA density (PSAD), free PSA/total PSA (f/tPSA), binary
      logistic regression (LR) analysis, artificial neural networks (ANNs), and
      decision trees (DTs) have been developed. For LR, ANNs and DTs, a validation
      group consisting of 241 cases was reserved. RESULTS: 193 (19%) biopsies out of
      997 showed prostatic cancer. Median PSAD in patients with malignant and benign
      lesions were 0.21 and 0.16, respectively (p<0.001). According to 25% f/tPSA cut
      off level, 18.4% of the patients with PSA<25% and 16.0% of the patients with
      PSA>25% had prostate cancer (p=0.423). Receiver operating characteristics (ROC)
      area under the curve (AUC) values for PSA, PSA density, f/tPSA, LR, ANNs, and DTs
      were 0.587, 0.625, 0.560, 0.678, 0.644, and 0.698, respectively. ROC AUCs in the
      validation group for LR, ANNs and DTs were 0.717, 0.516 and 0.629 respectively.
      CONCLUSIONS: For cases with f/tPSA<25%, no increased probability for prostatic
      carcinoma was observed. Multivariate models have higher AUCs than PSA, PSAD or
      f/tPSA. LR, DTs and ANNs showed similar results, however application of ANNs to
      the validation group produced a significantly lower AUC, limiting the value of
      ANNs in this situation.

PMID- 20941825
TI  - Does the tumor localization in advanced pancreatic cancer have an influence on
      the management of symptoms and pain?
AB  - PURPOSE: The symptoms and survival of patients with advanced pancreatic cancer
      show great variability according to tumor localization. The main purpose of this
      study was to see for any differences between the intensity of symptoms, mainly
      pain, and the need for analgesic treatment in advanced pancreatic cancer patients
      with different (head vs. body-tail) tumor localizations. METHODS: Ninety-six
      patients with histologically confirmed pancreatic cancer were enrolled in the
      study. The patients were divided into 2 subgroups according to tumor
      localization: group 1 (n=50) with head tumors and group 2 (n=46) with body and
      tail tumors. The demographic features of the patients as well as disease stages,
      onset of symptoms and necessity and consumption of analgesics were recorded.
      Patients were followed-up until death, and survival data was also analysed.
      RESULTS: At the time of diagnosis, patients with body and tail tumors had more
      advanced disease stages compared to head tumors (p=0.006). While jaundice was the
      most common initial symptom in head tumors (p<0.0001), it was pain in body and
      tail tumors (p<0.001). Patients with body and tail tumors had more analgesics
      consumption as compared to those with head tumors (p=0.009). No statistically
      significant difference in survival was detected between the 2 groups (p>0.05).
      CONCLUSION: We believe that pancreatic cancer should be accepted as two diverse
      disease types according to tumor localization, and pain and symptom management
      should be organized based on this fact.

PMID- 20941826
TI  - Demo-geographical data of myelodysplastic syndrome based on a large sample of
      patients from a Romanian Hematological Center.
AB  - PURPOSE: To present some retrospective data on the epidemiology of
      myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) in Romania, in a large but well-defined territory
      and over a long period of time, as reflected by a large single-hospital based
      Registry. METHODS: The registration forms provided by the MDS Foundation were
      filled in with the data of the new adult primary MDS patients admitted in the
      Hematological Department of Fundeni Clinical Institute, Bucharest, during 1985
      2004 and classified according to French-American-British (FAB) criteria. RESULTS:
      The study comprised 306 patients accrued from a delimited geo-administrative
      zone, 137 (45%) from Bucharest and 169 (55%) from the rest of the region. The
      results revealed male predominance, obvious increase of the crude and >=60 years
      age group specific incidence temporal trend, nonnegligible proportion of the <50
      years age group, similar distribution and temporal trend of both rural/urban
      areas and gender in all included counties, and no geographical and familial
      clustering. CONCLUSIONS: The increase of the MDS incidence in Romania appears not
      to be related to the ageing of the population but rather to: 1) the increasing
      addressability to health care of the elderly; 2) the greater awareness of the
      physicians on MDS; 3) the expansion of the hematological laboratories network; 4)
      the increasing number of hematologists and oncologists. The methodology used in
      this work, using a comprehensive analysis of the standard population, can allow a
      better comparison of the different MDS Registries of an European or regional
      network and of the data of the same Registry from different time intervals.

PMID- 20941827
TI  - Is cervical cancer screening necessary or the "Paradox" example of Bulgaria.
AB  - PURPOSE: The present study aimed at analyzing the results of cervical screening
      carried out in Bulgaria, its effect on basic epidemiological indices, age-related
      incidence of cervical cancer and their dynamics. It also highlighted the way in
      which the suspension of organized screening has influenced the epidemiological
      data for cervical cancer. METHODS: Analyses were carried out, based on data from
      the National Cancer Register, the Central Institute of Statistics and the
      Oncological Dispensaries. Simple mathematical methods were used to analyze the
      attendance rate, the rate of inadequate smears and share of biopsies in women
      with abnormal cytology. Cohort analysis was utilized in determining age-specific
      incidence. RESULTS: Incidence and mortality were stable during the first 15 years
      of screening activities, followed by a constant increase which became most
      obvious after the final interruption of organized screening. The ratio between
      invasive cancer and carcinoma in situ ranged from 2:1 in 1982 to over 5:1 in 2002
      and was due to the faster increasing rates of invasive cancer. Age groups' and
      birth-cohort analysis for 3 time points (1975, 1990, and 2005) with different
      screening characteristics showed highest incidence in middle-aged women and a
      higher risk of cervical cancer for every subsequent generation. CONCLUSION:
      Bulgaria gives yet another, though "paradoxical", example in support of the
      importance of organized cervical screening. This conclusion has been reinforced
      by a distinct deterioration of epidemiological characteristics of cervical cancer
      in our country as a result of absence of an organized screening. This serious
      situation lends valid reasons to recommend that the relevant health authorities
      take a political decision to launch a programme in compliance with the European
      standards.

PMID- 20941828
TI  - Screening for metastasis in primary breast cancer patients having four or more
      axillary lymph node involvement: is it really necessary?
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the necessity and direct cost effectiveness of screening and
      staging procedures in breast cancer patients having >=4 positive axillary lymph
      nodes and to identify further possible biopathological risk factors associated
      with increased risk of metastasis. METHODS: We reviewed the demographic and
      clinicopathological data from the medical records of 1897 newly diagnosed breast
      cancer patients. Patients having >=4 positive axillary lymph nodes after primary
      surgery for breast cancer and who had staging examinations for metastasis were
      eligible. The impact of staging procedures (thoracoabdominal CT, bone scan etc.)
      for detecting metastasis, decision of adjuvant treatment and direct costs were
      analyzed in 329 patients with operable breast cancer. RESULTS: Thirty-five
      (10.6%) patients were found with metastasis at diagnosis. Seven (20.0%) among
      them had multiple metastases. Eighteen (51.4%) had lung, 17 (48.6%) bone, and 7
      (20.0%) liver metastasis. Twenty-one (60.0%) patients needed further radiological
      investigation for metastasis confirmation. Treatment decision was changed in 27
      (77.1%) patients. No statistically significant risk factor was identified among
      the metastatic patients by means of conventional demographic and biopathological
      parameters. The cost of screening was lower when compared to the cost of
      treatment without any screening procedure. CONCLUSION: Since the conventional
      clinicopathological data seems not sufficient to define the risk of developing
      metastasis in breast cancer patients with >=4 axillary lymph node involvement,
      all of them should undergo full staging examinations until new parameters based
      on genomic level are defined. Staging procedures need modification for high risk
      breast cancer patients.

PMID- 20941829
TI  - Preclinical evaluation of amiodarone for the treatment of murine leukemia P388.
      In vivo and in vitro investigation.
AB  - PURPOSE: The purpose of the present study was the investigation of antileukemic
      effect of amiodarone in leukemia P388 BDF1 bearing mice and its genotoxic and
      cytostatic effect in cultured normal human lymphocytes. METHODS: Leukemia P388
      was used in this study. BDF1 mice were used for chemotherapy evaluation in vivo.
      The antitumor activity was assessed by the oncostatic parameter T/C, representing
      the increase of life span of drug-treated animals vs. controls. Lymphocyte
      cultures were used to study the genotoxic and cytostatic effect in vitro,
      expressed by enhanced sister chromatid exchange (SCE) and reduced proliferation
      rate indices (PRIS). RESULTS: Amiodarone was found to exert antileukemic potency
      against leukemia P388 bearing mice at all three different treatment schedules
      used, yielding T/C values of 155%, 163% with one cure and 230%. In the in vitro
      cytogenic experiments, significant increase of SCE rates by amiodarone was
      observed at 0.2 MUM, while at the same concentration significant suppression of
      PRIS was achieved. CONCLUSION: According to the National Cancer Institute (NCI),
      a compound is characterized as potential chemotherapeutic deserving further
      evaluation if it produces T/C values>=125%. On the other hand the SCE assay has
      predictive value as a clinical assay for drugs exhibiting a strong correlation
      between cell killing and induction of SCEs. Further studies are warranted to
      clarify the structure-activity relationship of amiodarone.

PMID- 20941830
TI  - Taxane-based adjuvant chemotherapy reduces endothelin-1 and symmetric
      dimethylarginine levels in patients with breast cancer.
AB  - PURPOSE: To evaluate the levels of asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA), an
      endothelin and nitric oxide (NO) synthase inhibitor, in patients with node
      positive breast cancer who had undergone surgery and in a control group including
      healthy individuals. The effects of taxane-based chemotherapy on endothelin-1 (ET
      1) and ADMA levels in the patient group were also studied. METHODS: Body mass
      index (BMI), serum lipids (total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol
      and triglycerides), ADMA and ET-1 were studied in 19 healthy individuals and in
      19 patients with stage II and III, lymph node-positive breast cancer receiving
      taxane-based chemotherapy. RESULTS: ET-1 (34.3+/-12.8 vs. 13.8+/-4.5 pg/mL;
      p<0.001) and ADMA (0.87+/-0.18 vs. 0.68+/-0.24 MUmol/L; p=0.024) levels were
      significantly higher in the breast cancer group compared to the control group. A
      significant reduction was noted in ET-1 (34.3+/-12.8 vs. 27.3+/-4.3 pg/mL;
      p=0.021) and ADMA (0.87+/-0.18 vs. 0.73+/-0.15 MUmol/L; p=0.014) levels in
      patients following 6 cycles of adjuvant chemotherapy to baseline values.
      CONCLUSION: The present study demonstrated significantly higher levels of ET-1
      and ADMA in the breast cancer group compared to the control group, which were
      reduced significantly with adjuvant taxane-based chemotherapy. It is apparent
      that prospective studies are needed to understand the effect of reducing ET-1 and
      ADMA levels on patient survival. We believe that the present study will provide
      guidance to relevant future studies.

PMID- 20941831
TI  - The preventive effect of N-acetylcysteine on radiation-induced dermatitis in a
      rat model.
AB  - PURPOSE: We investigated the potential radioprotective effects of N
      acetylcysteine (NAC) comparing its effects with that of amifostine (WR-2721), as
      a representative of clinically used radioprotector, in ameliorating skin injury
      from irradiation in rats (single dose, 18 Gy to the left hind legs of the rats).
      METHODS: The rats (n=28) were divided randomly and equally into 4 groups: Control
      (C), Radiation (R), R+WR-2721 (received irradiation and 200 mg/kg of WR- 2721)
      and R+NAC (received irradiation and 1000 mg/kg of NAC). Acute skin reactions were
      assessed every 3 days by a radiation oncologist and a biophysicist. Light
      microscopic findings were assessed by an expert pathologist. RESULTS: Clinically
      and histopathologically, irradiation increased dermatitis when compared with the
      control group (p<0.05). The severity of radiodermatitis of the rats in the R+NAC
      and R+WR-2721 groups was significantly lower than in the R group (p<0.05). The
      protective effects of NAC and WR-2721 on irradiation-increased dermatitis were
      clinically and histopathologically similar (p>0.05). CONCLUSION: The study gives
      clues about the beneficial effects of NAC against radiation-induced dermatitis.

PMID- 20941832
TI  - Functional and molecular characterization of glioblastoma multiforme-derived
      cancer stem cells.
AB  - PURPOSE: Brain tumors are the leading cause of cancer mortality in children and
      remain incurable despite advances in surgery and adjuvant therapies. The failure
      of malignant gliomas to respond to conventional treatment reflects the unique
      biology of these tumors, linked to a small population of stem-like precursors.
      This study describes the characteristics of stem cells isolated from glioblastoma
      multiforme (GM) and gives insight into the mechanism of brain tumorigenesis.
      METHODS: Tumor stem-like precursors were identified from primary human GM-derived
      cell culture using immunocytochemistry and reverse transcription polymerase chain
      reaction (RT-PCR). Cells were cultured in vitro in stem cell medium supplemented
      with growth factors and then the capacity of the surviving stem-like precursors
      to form tumor spheres and to continue to proliferate after chemoradiotherapy were
      tested. RESULTS: The tumor cells expressed the cellular markers CD133, CD105,
      CD90, Nanog, Oct 3/4, CXCR4, nestin, glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP),
      neurofilament protein (NF) and human glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase
      (GAPDH). Cells also displayed a high proliferative potential despite chemotherapy
      and irradiation and also had the ability to form spheroids in suspension.
      CONCLUSION: High grade gliomas contain stem-like precursors, which exhibit neural
      stem cell properties with tumorigenicity, establishing a novel developmental
      paradigm in the study of brain carcinogenesis and providing a powerful tool to
      develop patient-tailored therapy for this devastating disease.

PMID- 20941833
TI  - A new concept in the treatment of extravasation injury: controlled drug delivery
      systems.
AB  - PURPOSE: To investigate the effectiveness of the intralesionally injected
      controlled granulocyte-monocyte colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) releasing
      system in widening refractory extravasation wounds. METHODS: The determination of
      in vitro GM-CSF release from chitosan gel was the first, and in vivo effect of
      the molecule was the second step of the study. Thirty-five Wistar-Albino rats
      were randomly divided into 5 groups: 1) control group (adriamycin group) (n=7);
      2) adriamycin+normal saline group (n=7); 3) adriamycin+chitosan group (n=7); 4)
      adriamycin+1 MUg/mL GM-CSF-loaded chitosan group (n=7); and 5) adriamycin+10
      MUg/mL GM-CSF loaded chitosan group (n=7). The wound area was measured
      macroscopically and histological examination was carried out for wound healing
      and tissue response to the polymer. RESULTS: The best healing process was
      observed with the controlled released GM-CSF groups (groups 4 and 5). The 1
      MUg/mL GM-CSF loaded group showed superior wound healing than that of 10 MUg/mL
      GM-CSF loaded gels. This result was correlated with the in vitro study which also
      showed increased drug release in the 1 MUg/mL GM-CSF loaded group than the 10
      MUg/mL GMC-SF loaded gels. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that GM-CSF, applied
      with controlled drug delivery system, can supply dynamic treatment options with
      long-lasting activity in single-dose administration.

PMID- 20941834
TI  - Informing cancer patient in relation to his type of personality: the controlling
      orderly (obsessive) patient.
AB  - The questions "Do you tell the diagnosis or not? How much information do you
      reveal? Who do you inform about the diagnosis and/or what do you tell" are very
      frequent during scientific discussions. Must the patients know or do they also
      have the right not to know? Is it possible to determine who should be told what,
      when and how? Is it possible individualizing the informing of a cancer patient
      according to his character or type of personality? The aim of this paper was to
      describe the Controlling- Orderly (C-O) character, so any therapist can build up
      an information strategy to cancer patients. This study took place within the
      framework of Consulting- Liaison (C-L) psychiatry and included: 1) Training
      groups in which doctors and nurses participated. 2) The section of C-L Psychiatry
      of the Psychiatry Department. 3) The training activity in the framework of C-L
      Psychiatry. 4) The annual seminars of psychooncology for health professionals.
      How a doctor could use the characteristics of a C-O patient for an empathetic
      approach and correctly inform him. And how to approach his denial and family in
      order to tailor the information strategy. Understanding the personality type of C
      O patient, his denial mechanisms and the dynamics within his family maximizes the
      therapist's empathetic approach towards the cancer patient. The therapist can
      respond at "what, when and how" about to break bad news. A therapist must take
      into account the main C-O patient characteristics (control and order), as well as
      the attributes or cognitions: the tendency to use reason, the mechanism of
      rationalization by which he exercises mental control that leads to doubt. The
      denial degree is small to minimal, while the degree of information is large to
      very large.

PMID- 20941835
TI  - Skull base paraganglioma with local spread to the first cervical vertebrae.

PMID- 20941836
TI  - Results of GM-CSF treatment in chemotherapeutic extravasation ulcers.

PMID- 20941837
TI  - The father of hematologic oncology Jean Bernard (1907-2006) and his contribution
      to the research and treatment of leukemia.
AB  - Through his medical research and scientific work Jean Bernard dominated for half
      century in medicine and literature and he was honored as no other scientist. He
      excelled in different medical fields and is rightly considered as the founder of
      hematology, oncology and bioethics.

PMID- 20941838
TI  - By the way, doctor.  I read in your June 2010 issue that soybeans are the only
      plant food that could serve as a person's sole source of protein because they
      contain all eight essential amino acids.  I thought quinoa does too.

PMID- 20941839
TI  - Romania's health system lurches into new crisis.

PMID- 20941841
TI  - Commentary on Grabbing the rice straw.

PMID- 20941840
TI  - A rainbow coalition of lipid transcriptional regulators.
AB  - Lipids are essential structural constituents of bacterial cell membranes and
      walls, and their biosynthetic pathways are stringently regulated at both
      biochemical and genetic levels. The recent surge of new information about
      transcriptional regulation of bacterial lipid metabolism is highlighted by two
      studies in this issue of Molecular Microbiology by Hugo Gramajo's research group,
      who add two transcription factors to the diverse repertoire of lipid biosynthesis
      regulators. FasR is a Streptomyces coelicolor transcriptional activator of genes
      in fatty acid synthesis, which supplies substrates for membrane phospholipid and
      triglyceride storage droplets. MabR is a regulator in Mycobacterium tuberculosis
      that functions as a repressor of essential genes in the cell wall mycolic acid
      biosynthetic pathway. MabR also affects the expression of fas, which encodes the
      multifunctional fatty acid synthase that supports phospholipid and triglyceride
      synthesis. Despite belonging to the same protein family, the distinct ligand
      binding domains of FasR and MabR suggest different ligands may regulate their DNA
      binding. The characterization of FasR/MabR exemplifies the structural and
      functional diversity of the rainbow coalition of lipid transcriptional regulators
      that reflects the diverse life styles of bacteria.

PMID- 20941842
TI  - Commentary on the 'Healthy Foods North' intervention programme.

PMID- 20941843
TI  - An elderly-centered, personalized, physiotherapy program early after cardiac
      surgery.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Early post-surgery in-hospital rehabilitation in elderly patients
      should be aimed at accelerating the recovery of the highest level of functional
      autonomy and reducing the hospital stay. DESIGN: We designed a personalized
      physiotherapy program tailored to the frailty level of over-70-year-old patients
      soon after cardiac surgery. The aims of this study were (a) to validate our
      frailty-based approach for functional stratification of the patients, and (b) to
      assess the effect of the individualized program on independence and mobility, and
      compare it with our usual program. METHODS: We followed 224 consecutive patients
      aged 70-87 years, who followed either the personalized (n= 150) or usual (n= 74)
      program. All patients underwent a comprehensive physical functioning evaluation
      at the baseline and at the end of hospitalization. RESULTS: The frailty-based
      stratification was successful in identifying those patients at higher risk of
      falls, with heavy nursing needs, greater dependency, and poorer heath status
      perception. On discharge, both groups had significantly improved on all measures
      of independence and mobility, but most of these changes (nursing needs, mobility,
      balance, and muscle strength) were significantly greater (P < 0.05) in the
      intervention group. These patients also had a significantly shorter length of
      stay (17.5 +/- 8 vs. 21 +/- 4 days, P = 0.0002), and 91% of them could be
      discharged in a state of substantial independence. CONCLUSION: An elderly
      centered stratification based on functional frailty is useful to identify
      patients with more dependency and greater needs. A consequent personalized
      physiotherapy program designed to enhance independent mobility soon after cardiac
      surgery is safe and well accepted, and is more effective then usual
      physiotherapy.

PMID- 20941844
TI  - Pollinator-mediated selection and floral evolution: from pollination ecology to
      macroevolution.

PMID- 20941845
TI  - The invasion of the land by plants: when and where?

PMID- 20941846
TI  - Tracing photosynthetic isotope discrimination from leaves to soil.

PMID- 20941847
TI  - Commentary on Skar R (2010). The meaning of autonomy in nursing practice. Journal
      of Clinical Nursing 19, 2226-2234.

PMID- 20941848
TI  - Commentary on Caress A, Luker K & Chalmers K (2010). Promoting the health of
      people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: patients' and carers' views.
      Journal of Clinical Nursing 19, 564-573.

PMID- 20941849
TI  - The self in autism.

PMID- 20941851
TI  - Governor Christie appoints Poonam Alaigh, MD, Commissioner HSS.

PMID- 20941850
TI  - Dual function of MyD88 in RAS signaling  and inflammation, leading to  mouse and
      human cell transformation.
AB  - Accumulating evidence points to inflammation as a promoter of carcinogenesis.
      MyD88 is an adaptor molecule in TLR and IL-1R signaling that was recently
      implicated in tumorigenesis through proinflammatory mechanisms. Here we have
      shown that MyD88 is also required in a cell-autonomous fashion for RAS-mediated
      carcinogenesis in mice in vivo and for MAPK activation and transformation in
      vitro. Mechanistically, MyD88 bound to the key MAPK, Erk, and prevented its
      inactivation by its phosphatase, MKP3, thereby amplifying the activation of the
      canonical RAS pathway. The relevance of this mechanism to human neoplasia was
      suggested by the finding that MyD88 was overexpressed and interacted with
      activated Erk in primary human cancer tissues. Collectively, these results show
      that in addition to its role in inflammation, MyD88 plays what we believe to be a
      crucial direct role in RAS signaling, cell-cycle control, and cell
      transformation.

PMID- 20941852
TI  - Glatiramer and suspected multiple sclerosis. No proven advantage.

PMID- 20941854
TI  - Negative-pressure wound therapy systems: bleeding and infection.

PMID- 20941855
TI  - Becaplermin: infections.

PMID- 20941856
TI  - Telbivudine: rhabdomyolysis and neuropathy.

PMID- 20941857
TI  - Serenoa repens and benign prostatic hyperplasia: no more effective than placebo.
AB  - Serenoa repens is no more effective than placebo in relieving urinary symptoms
      associated with benign prostatic hyperplasia, but it appears to be relatively
      safe.

PMID- 20941858
TI  - [Undergraduate training in orthopaedic and trauma surgery: analysis of contextual
      and structural implementation models for undergraduate training in the newly
      combined specialty].
AB  - AIM: The fusion of orthopaedic and trauma surgery into a combined specialty
      requires a new evaluation of postgraduate and undergraduate training. This study
      presents a structured analysis of the implementation possibilities for
      undergraduate training. METHOD: After defining 3 implementation alternatives for
      both clinical training and last year electives, SWOT analyses were performed.
      RESULTS. The SWOT analysis demonstrates for each of these 6 implementation models
      the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. CONCLUSION: In order to
      strengthen undergraduate training in the "new" specialty all medical faculties
      should discuss and define their implementation concepts.

PMID- 20941859
TI  - Pakistan moves to tackle acid violence.

PMID- 20941860
TI  - The doctor who would be king.

PMID- 20941862
TI  - Merits of psychodynamic therapy. The research suggests that benefits of this
      therapy increase with time.

PMID- 20941863
TI  - Autism spectrum disorders.  Diagnosis and management involve time and patience.

PMID- 20941864
TI  - Transcranial magnetic stimulation.  Research helps clarify who is likely to
      benefit from this treatment.

PMID- 20941861
TI  - Genetic and therapeutic targeting  of properdin in mice prevents  complement
      mediated tissue injury.
AB  - The alternative pathway (AP) of complement activation is constitutively active
      and must be regulated by host proteins to prevent autologous tissue injury.
      Dysfunction of AP regulatory proteins has been linked to several human
      inflammatory disorders. Properdin is a positive regulator of AP complement
      activation that has been shown to extend the half-life of cell surface-bound C3
      convertase C3bBb; it may also initiate AP complement activation. Here, we
      demonstrate a critical role for properdin in autologous tissue injury mediated by
      AP complement activation. We identified myeloid lineage cells as the principal
      source of plasma properdin by generating mice with global and tissue-specific
      knockout of Cfp (which encodes properdin) and by generating BM chimeric mice.
      Properdin deficiency rescued mice from AP complement-mediated embryonic lethality
      caused by deficiency of the membrane complement regulator Crry and markedly
      reduced disease severity in the K/BxN model of arthritis. Ab neutralization of
      properdin in WT mice similarly ameliorated arthritis development, whereas
      reconstitution of properdin-null mice with exogenous properdin restored arthritis
      sensitivity. These data implicate systemic properdin as a key contributor to AP
      complement-mediated injury and support its therapeutic targeting in complement
      dependent human diseases.

PMID- 20941865
TI  - Study suggests there is a silver lining to the "golden" years.

PMID- 20941866
TI  - What is catatonia? You hardly hear about it anymore.  Has it been cured?

PMID- 20941867
TI  - We are Originarios ..."we just aren't from here": coca leaf and identity politics
      in the Chapare, Bolivia.
AB  - This article first examines the ways in which coca leaf acquired an important
      symbolic value in forging a counter-hegemonic discourse that wove together
      various strands of class and cultural identity struggles in the Chapare province,
      Bolivia. The second line of enquiry that runs through this article deals with the
      conflicts that arose when the coca union mutated into a governing political
      party. Now that the coca growers' leader, Evo Morales, is President of the
      Republic he is obliged by the international community to reduce the amount of
      land under coca cultivation. To do this President Morales has had to rhetorically
      pull coca leaf apart from Andean tradition. This presents a challenge to the
      integrity of indigenous-peasant based movements in the Chapare because it brings
      attention to their constructed nature and thus questions the authenticity of the
      originario identity.

PMID- 20941868
TI  - Pampered sons, (wo)manly men, or do-nothing machos? Costa Rican men coming of age
      under neoliberalism.
AB  - This article explores how young men in Costa Rica negotiate ideas of manhood
      under neoliberalism. We draw on interview data involving 23 men, ages 15-35,
      residing in one Costa Rican city. Comparing men across three different class
      locations, we find diverse "markers of manhood." Our data suggest an emerging
      globally dominant masculine ideal among an elite class of men, a declining
      locally dominant masculine ideal among working-class men, and a cynical, possibly
      counter-cultural masculine ideal among poor men. We conclude that masculinities
      are not only fluid, but tied to changing economic circumstances and class
      structures.

PMID- 20941869
TI  - Immunotherapy: a new option for advanced prostate cancer.

PMID- 20941870
TI  - That nagging cough.

PMID- 20941871
TI  - [Laboratory evaluation of lupus anticoagulant in Israel].
AB  - Lupus anticoagulants (LAC) are antibodies which are detected by a prolongation of
      phospholipid-dependent coagulation assays, and are associated with thrombotic
      events and pregnancy complications in patients with the antiphospholipid
      syndrome. The antiphospholipid syndrome is defined by arterial or venous
      thrombosis and/or pregnancy morbidity and by laboratory diagnosis of
      antiphospholipid antibodies. The laboratory diagnosis is based on LAC and/or
      anticardiolipin and/or anti-beta2-glycoprotein I antibodies present in plasma, on
      two or more occasions at least 12 weeks apart. ALthough the presence of LAC
      correlates best with thrombosis, the Laboratory testing of LAC is not well
      standardized. In this article, the Laboratory evaluation of LAC will be
      explained, including the different tests that are recommended by the Israeli Sub
      committee of Thrombosis and Hemostasis Laboratories, the possibility to evaluate
      LAC in patients treated with antithrombotic therapy, and how to report and
      interpret the results.

PMID- 20941872
TI  - Secretion of p-aminohippurate by rat kidney proximal tubules.

PMID- 20941873
TI  - [Characteristics and surgical treatment of adenocarcinoma of esophagogastric
      junction].

PMID- 20941874
TI  - Defining themselves: English aristocratic women, 1450-1550.

PMID- 20941875
TI  - Charity and the government of the poor in the English charity-school movement,
      circa 1700-1730.

PMID- 20941876
TI  - Home and politics: women and conservative activism in early twentieth-century
      Britain.

PMID- 20941877
TI  - The rise and fall of British urban modernism: planning Bradford, circa 1945-1970.

PMID- 20941878
TI  - Neuroscience and the fallacies of functionalism.
AB  - Smail's "On Deep History and the Brain" is rightly critical of the functionalist
      fallacies that have plagued evolutionary theory, sociobiology, and evolutionary
      psychology. However, his attempt to improve on these efforts relies on functional
      explanations that themselves oversimplify the lessons of neuroscience. In
      addition, like explanations in evolutionary psychology, they are highly
      speculative and cannot be confirmed or disproved by evidence. Neuroscience
      research is too diverse to yield a single picture of brain functioning. Some
      recent developments in neuroscience research, however, do suggest that cognitive
      processing provides a kind of "operating system" that can support a great
      diversity of cultural material. These developments include evidence of "top-down"
      processing in motor control, in visual processing, in speech recognition, and in
      "emotion regulation." The constraints that such a system may place on cultural
      learning and transmission are worth investigating. At the same time, historians
      are well advised to remain wary of the pitfalls of functionalism.

PMID- 20941879
TI  - Understanding Ustasa violence.
AB  - The Independent State of Croatia (1941-1945) was a multi-ethnic entity in which a
      range of political and military powers cooperated with and fought against one
      another. No less complicated were the ruling Ustaa movement and its relationship
      with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. The persecution of the Serbs, the Jews, and
      the Roma in the Independent State of Croatia was marked by differences and
      similarities, which were reflected the decision-making process within the Ustaa
      leadership. Over time, this mass violence (and Ustaa decisions) moderated due to
      a variety of factors: the interethnic civil war, victim reactions, local factors,
      and the harvest. The Italians and Germans, however, also played a role in the
      persecution of the Serbs, Jews, and Roma in Croatia. Simplifying narratives of
      the Ustaa as marginal collaborationists and state-centered concepts of genocide
      are inadequate when it comes to explaining Ustaa violence.

PMID- 20941880
TI  - A total extinction confidently hoped for: the destruction of Cape San society
      under Dutch colonial rule, 1700-1795.
AB  - San (Bushman) society in the Cape Colony was almost completely annihilated during
      the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries as a result of land confiscation,
      massacre, forced labour and cultural suppression that accompanied colonial rule.
      Whereas similar obliterations of indigenous peoples in other parts of the world
      have resulted in major public controversies and heated debate amongst academics
      about the genocidal nature of these episodes, in South Africa the issue has
      effectively been ignored aside from passing, often polemical, references to it as
      genocide. Even recent studies that have approached the mass killing of the Cape
      San with sensitivity and insight do not address it as a case of genocide. This
      article sets out to redress this imbalance in part by analysing the dynamic of
      frontier conflict between San and settler under Dutch colonial rule as genocide.
      It demonstrates both the exterminatory intent underlying settler violence as well
      as the complicity of a weak colonial state in these depredations, including its
      sanctioning of the root-and-branch eradication of the San.

PMID- 20941881
TI  - Australia: a continuing genocide?
AB  - Debates about genocide in Australia have for the most part focussed on past
      frontier killings and child removal practices. This article, however, focuses on
      contemporary culturally destructive policies, and the colonial structures that
      produce them, through the analytical lens of the concept of genocide. The article
      begins with a discussion of the meaning of cultural genocide, locating the idea
      firmly in Lemkin's work before moving on to engage with the debates around
      Lemkin's distinction between genocide and cultural 'diffusion.' In contrast to
      those scholars who prefer the word 'ethnocide,' the underlying conceptual
      contention is that the term 'cultural genocide' simply describes a key method of
      genocide and should be viewed, without the need for qualification, as genocide.
      While direct physical killing and genocidal child removal practices may have
      ceased in Australia, some indigenous activists persuasively contend that genocide
      is a continuing process in an Australia that has failed to decolonise. Concurring
      with these views the article argues that the contemporary expression of
      continuing genocidal relations in Australia can be seen principally, and
      perversely, in the colonial state's official reconciliation process, native title
      land rights regime and the recent interventionist 'solutions' to indigenous
      'problems' in the Northern Territory.

PMID- 20941882
TI  - Intergenic suppression of spoO phenotypes by the Bacillus subtilis mutation rvtA.
AB  - A collection of intergenic suppressors of the Bacillus subtilis spoOF221 mutation
      has been isolated. One of these suppressors, rvtA, has been mapped between lys
      1and aroD. The rvtA suppressor restores spoOF sporulation to wild type levels and
      substantially improves the sporulation efficiencies of spoOB and spoOE strains.
      The rvtA gene does not affect the Spo phenotype of spoOH, spoOJ or spoOK mutants.
      The rvtA gene also prevents the induction by aliphatic alcohols of SpoO
      phenocopies in wild type B. subtilis cells.

PMID- 20941883
TI  - Migrant remittances and household wellbeing in urban Zimbabwe.
AB  - Evidence from household surveying in December 2005 in Harare and Bulawayo,
      Zimbabwe, indicates that a wide network of international migrant remitters are
      ameliorating the economic crisis in Zimbabwe by sending monetary and in-kind
      transfers to over 50 per cent of urban households. The research combines
      quantitative measurement of scale and scope, with demographic and qualitative
      narrative to build a holistic picture of the typography of receiving and non
      receiving households. A complex set of interrelated variables helps to explain
      why some households do and others do not receive income and goods from people who
      are away, and the economic and social extent of their subsequent benefit from
      them. Moreover, the mixed methods approach is designed to capture inter-household
      and likely macroeconomic effects of how households receive their goods and money;
      and of how they subsequently exchange (if applicable), store and spend it.
      Evidence emerges of a largely informal, international social welfare system, but
      one which is not without adverse inter-household effects for some. These include
      suffering exclusion from markets suffering from inflationary pressures, not least
      as a result of other people's remittances. This paper explores the role of
      remittances, within this internationalised informal welfare system which we can
      map from our household survey, in reframing vulnerability and marginalization
      differentially among and between our subject households.

PMID- 20941884
TI  - [To compare beta carotene and vitamin D is as comparing apples to pears!].

PMID- 20941885
TI  - Design and fabrication of bimorph transducer for optimal vibration energy
      harvesting.
AB  - High energy density piezoelectric composition corresponding to
      0.9Pb(Zr0.56Ti0.44)O3-0.1Pb[(Zn0.8/3Ni0.2/3) Nb2/3]O3 + 2 mol% MnO2 (PZTZNN) and
      0.8[Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48) O3]-0.2[Pb(Zn1/3Nb2/3)O3] (PZTPZN) were synthesized by
      conventional ceramic processing technique using three different sintering
      profiles. Plates of the sintered samples were used to fabricate the piezoelectric
      bimorphs with optimized dimensions to exhibit resonance in the loaded condition
      in the range of ~200 Hz. An analytical model for energy harvesting from bimorph
      transducer was developed which was confirmed by experimental measurements. The
      results of this study clearly show that power density of bimorph transducer can
      be enhanced by increasing the magnitude of product (d ? g), where d is the
      piezoelectric strain constant and g is the piezoelectric voltage constant.

PMID- 20941886
TI  - Disability determinations by state agency disability examiners. Final rules.
AB  - We are revising our rules on a temporary basis to permit State agency disability
      examiners to make fully favorable determinations in certain claims for disability
      benefits under titles II and XVI of the Social Security Act (Act) without the
      approval of a State agency medical or psychological consultant. These changes
      apply only to claims we consider under our rules for quick disability
      determinations (QDD) or under our compassionate allowance initiative.

PMID- 20941887
TI  - Health insurance reform; announcement of maintenance changes to electronic data
      transaction standards adopted under the Health Insurance Portability and
      Accountability Act of 1996. Notification.
AB  - This document announces maintenance changes to some of the Health Insurance
      Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 standards made by the Designated
      Standard Maintenance Organizations. The maintenance changes are non-substantive
      changes to correct minor errors, such as typographical errors, or to provide
      clarifications of the standards adopted in our regulations entitled "Health
      Insurance Reform; Modifications to the Health Insurance Portability and
      Accountability Act (HIPAA) Electronic Transaction Standards," published in the
      Federal Register on January 16, 2009. This document also instructs interested
      persons on how to obtain the corrections.

PMID- 20941888
TI  - Health information technology: revisions to initial set of standards,
      implementation specifications, and certification criteria for electronic health
      record technology. Interim final rule with request for comments.
AB  - The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is issuing this interim final
      rule with a request for comment to remove the implementation specifications
      related to public health surveillance.

PMID- 20941889
TI  - Understanding chronically reported families.
AB  - Although a strong literature on child maltreatment re-reporting exists, much of
      that literature stops at the first re-report. The literature on chronic re
      reporting, meaning reports beyond the second report, is scant. The authors follow
      Loman's lead in focusing on reports beyond the first two to determine what
      factors predict these ''downstream'' report stages. Cross-sector, longitudinal
      administrative data are used. The authors analyze predictors at each of the first
      four recurrences (first to second report, second to third report, third to fourth
      report, and fourth to fifth report). Findings demonstrate that some factors
      (e.g., tract poverty) which predict initial recurrence lose their predictive
      value at later stages, whereas others (e.g., aid to families with dependent
      children history) remain predictive across stages. In-home child welfare services
      and mental health treatment emerged as consistent predictors of reduced
      recurrence.

PMID- 20941890
TI  - Special issue call for papers: disseminating child maltreatment interventions:
      research on implementing evidence-based programs.

PMID- 20941891
TI  - Bylines: more than just medicine.

PMID- 20941892
TI  - Regional collaborations as a way forward for maternal, newborn and child health:
      the South Asian healthcare professional workshop.
AB  - This article reviews the importance of regional initiatives in the context of
      global efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goal 4 and 5 and describes
      the action-oriented multi-country healthcare professional association (HCPA)
      workshops organized by the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health.
      The South Asian HCPA workshop served as a catalyst for strengthening the ability
      of HCPAs in South Asian countries to organize and coordinate their activities
      effectively, play a larger role in national planning, and collaborate with other
      key stakeholders in maternal, newborn and child health.

PMID- 20941893
TI  - Suffering for water, suffering from water: access to drinking-water and
      associated health risks in Cameroon.
AB  - Although many African countries, along the equator, receive a great amount of
      rainfall and possess a dense hydrographic network, access to drinking-water
      remains a great challenge. In many households, water is used for various
      purposes, including domestic and crafts activities. According to the World Health
      Organization, an estimated four billion cases of diarrheoa occurs worldwide, of
      which 88% are ascribed to unsafe drinking-water. This study aimed at evaluating
      health risks in the usage of contaminated drinking-water and its relationship
      with the prevalence of diarrhoeal diseases in Yaound6, Cameroon. In this cross
      sectional epidemiological design, 3,034 households with children aged less than
      five years were investigated. Households were selected from among 20
      representative neighbourhoods out of 105 that made up the city. The study
      revealed a diarrheoa prevalence of 14.4% (437 diarrheoa cases out of 3,034
      children tested). Among various risk factors examined, water-supply modes and
      quality of drinking-water were statistically associated with diarrheoa cases.
      Moreover, levels of diarrheoa attacks varied considerably from one neighbourhood
      to the other. The spatial analysis helped determine neighbourhoods of higher and
      lower prevalence of diarrheoa in the city.

PMID- 20941894
TI  - Treatment costs of pneumonia, meningitis, sepsis, and other diseases among
      hospitalized children in Viet Nam.
AB  - The aim of this study was to estimate the costs of treatment of children who
      present with the signs and symptoms of invasive bacterial diseases in Khanh Hoa
      province, Viet Nam. The study was an incidence-based cost-of-illness analysis
      from the health system perspective. The hospital costs included labour, materials
      and capital costs, both direct and indirect. Costs were determined for 980
      children, with an average age of 12.67 months (standard deviation +/- 11.38), who
      were enrolled in a prospective surveillance at the Khanh Hoa General Hospital
      during 2005-2006. Of them, 57% were male. By disease-category, 80% were suspected
      of having pneumonia, 8% meningitis, 3% very severe disease consistent with
      pneumococcal sepsis, and 9% other diseases. Treatment costs for suspected
      pneumonia, meningitis, very severe disease, and other diseases were US$ 31, US$
      57, US$ 73, and US$ 24 respectively. Costs ranged from US$ 24 to US$ 164 across
      different case-categories. Both type of disease and age of patient had
      statistically significant effects on treatment costs. The results showed that
      treatment costs for bacterial diseases in children were considerable and might
      differ by as much as seven times among invasive pneumococcal diseases. Changes in
      costs were sensitive to both age of patient and case-category. These cost-of
      illness data will be an important component in the overall evidence base to guide
      the development of vaccine policy in Viet Nam.

PMID- 20941895
TI  - Monitoring antimicrobial susceptibility of Neisseria gonorrhoeae isolated from
      Bangladesh during 1997-2006: emergence and pattern of drug-resistant isolates.
AB  - Gonorrhoea is one of the most common sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in
      developing countries, and the emergence of resistance to antimicrobial agents in
      Neisseria gonorrhoeae is a major obstacle in the control of gonorrhoea.
      Periodical monitoring of antimicrobial susceptibility of N. gonorrhoeae is
      essential for the early detection of emergence of drug resistance. In total,
      1,767 gonococcal strains isolated from males and females (general population and
      those with high-risk behaviour) from different parts of Bangladesh were studied
      during 1997-2006. Minimum inhibitory concentrations of penicillin, tetracycline,
      ciprofloxacin, ceftriaxone, spectinomycin, and azithromycin for the isolates were
      determined by the agar dilution method. Isolates resistant to three or more
      antimicrobial agents are considered multidrug-resistant. The prevalence of
      plasmid-mediated penicillinase-producing N. gonorrhoeae (PPNG) and plasmid
      mediated tetracycline-resistant N. gonorrhoeae (TRNG) was determined. Nine
      percent of the isolates were resistant to ciprofloxacin in 1997 compared to 87%
      in 2006. Multidrug-resistant N. gonorrhoeae have emerged in 1997, and 44% of the
      strains (n = 66) isolated during 2006 were multidrug-resistant. Forty-two percent
      of the isolates in 2006 were both PPNG- and TRNG-positive compared to none in
      1997. The rapidly-changing pattern of gonococcal antimicrobial susceptibility
      warrants the need for an antimicrobial susceptibility-monitoring programme, and
      periodical analysis and dissemination of susceptibility data are essential to
      guide clinicians and for successful STI/HIV intervention programmes.

PMID- 20941896
TI  - Community participation in two vaccination trials in slums of Kolkata, India: a
      multi-level analysis.
AB  - This study aims at understanding the individual and community-level
      characteristics that influenced participation in two consecutive vaccine trials
      (typhoid and cholera) in urban slums of Kolkata, India. The study area was
      divided into 80 geographic clusters (communities), with 59,533 subjects aged > or
      = 2 years for analysis. A multi-level model was employed in which the individuals
      were seen nested within the cluster. Rates of participation in both the trials
      were nearly the same; those who participated in the initial trial were likely to
      participate in the subsequent cholera vaccine trial. Communities with
      predominantly Hindu population, lower percentage of households with an educated
      household head, or lower percentage of households owning a motorbike had higher
      participation than their counterparts. At individual scale, higher participation
      was observed among younger subjects, females, and individuals from households
      with a household head who had no or minimal education. Geographic patterns were
      also observed in participation in the trials. The results illustrated that
      participation in the trial was mostly influenced by various individual and
      community-level factors, which need to be addressed for a successful vaccination
      campaign.

PMID- 20941898
TI  - Comparison of renal function and other health outcomes in vegetarians versus
      omnivores in Taiwan.
AB  - Renal disease is one of the top 10 leading causes of death, and the incidence of
      end-stage renal disease in Taiwan is the highest in the world. Many dietitians
      consider the diet of plant origin consumed by vegans to be 'lighter' and 'more
      healthful' than the diet of both plant and animal origin consumed by omnivores.
      Dietary protein has significant effects on renal functions. The study explored
      the effects of both the diets on renal functions. The study subjects included 102
      Buddhist nun vegetarians and an equal number of matched control group
      (omnivores). A cross-sectional study was performed to investigate the effects of
      the diet of plant origin and the diet of both plant and animal origin on renal
      functions. There was no difference in the renal functions between the two groups.
      However, systolic blood pressure, blood urea nitrogen, serum sodium, glucose,
      cholesterol levels, and urinary specific gravity were lower in the vegetarian
      group. Although these results were compatible with general concepts regarding
      diet of plant origin, after adjusting for age, the duration of intake of this
      diet had no effect on the renal functions. Based on the findings, it is concluded
      that the renal functions, in terms of the estimated glomerular filtration rate,
      were not different between the vegetarians and the omnivores.

PMID- 20941897
TI  - Vitamin D status of infants in northeastern rural Bangladesh: preliminary
      observations and a review of potential determinants.
AB  - Vitamin D deficiency is a global public-health concern, even in tropical regions
      where the risk of deficiency was previously assumed to be low due to cutaneous
      vitamin D synthesis stimulated by exposure to sun. Poor vitamin D status,
      indicated by low serum concentrations of 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D], has been
      observed in South Asian populations. However, limited information is available on
      the vitamin D status of young infants in this region. Therefore, to gain
      preliminary insights into the vitamin D status of infants in rural Bangladesh,
      25(OH)D was assessed in a group of community-sampled control participants in a
      pneumonia case-control study in rural Sylhet, Bangladesh (25 degrees N) during
      the winter dry season (January-February). Among 29 infants aged 1-6 months, the
      mean 25(OH)D was 36.7 nmol/L [95% confidence interval (CI) 30.2-43.2]. The
      proportion of infants with vitamin D deficiency defined by 25(OH)D < 25 nmol/L
      was 28% (95% CI 10-45), 59% (95% CI 40-78) had 25(OH)D < 40 nmol/L, and all were
      below 80 nmol/L. From one to six months, there was a positive correlation between
      age and 25(OH)D (Spearman = 0.65; p = 0.0001). Within a larger group of 74
      infants and toddlers aged 1-17 months (cases and controls recruited for the
      pneumonia study), young age was the only significant risk factor for vitamin D
      deficiency [25(OH)D < 25 nmol/L]. Since conservative maternal clothing practices
      (i.e. veiling) and low frequency of intake of foods from animal source (other
      than fish) were common among the mothers of the participants, determinants of low
      maternal-infant 25(OH)D in Bangladesh deserve more detailed consideration in
      future studies. In conclusion, the vitamin D status in young infants in rural
      Sylhet, Bangladesh, was poorer than might be expected based on geographic
      considerations. The causes and consequences of low 25(OH)D in infancy and early
      childhood in this setting remain to be established.

PMID- 20941899
TI  - Risk factors associated with severe underweight among young children reporting to
      a diarrhoea treatment facility in Bangladesh.
AB  - Protein-energy malnutrition (PEM) is a serious health problem among young
      children in Bangladesh. PEM increases childhood morbidity and mortality.
      Information is needed on the major risk factors for PEM to assist with the design
      and targeting of appropriate prevention programmes. To compare the underlying
      characteristics of children, aged 6-24 months, with or without severe
      underweight, reporting to the Dhaka Hospital of ICDDR,B in Bangladesh, a case
      control study was conducted among 507 children with weight-for-age z-score (WAZ)
      < -3 and 500 comparison children from the same communities with WAZ > -2.5. There
      were no significant differences between the groups in age [overall mean+standard
      deviation (SD) 12.6 +/- 4.1 months] or sex ratio (44% girls), area of residence,
      or year of enrollment. Results of logistic regression analysis revealed that
      severely-underweight children were more likely to have: undernourished mothers
      [body mass index (BMI) < 18.5, adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 3.8, 95% confidence
      interval (CI) 2.6-5.4] who were aged < 19 years (AOR = 3.0, 95% CI 1.9-4.8) and
      completed < 5 years of education (AOR = 2.7, 95% CI 1.9-3.8), had a history of
      shorter duration of predominant breastfeeding (< 4 months, AOR = 2.3, 95% CI 1.6
      3.3), discontinued breastfeeding (AOR = 2.0, 95% CI 1.1-3.5), and had higher
      birth-order (> 3 AOR = 1.8, 95% CI 1.2-2.7); and fathers who were rickshaw
      pullers or unskilled day-labourers (AOR = 4.4; 95% CI 3.1-6.1) and completed < 5
      years of education (AOR = 1.5; 95% CI 1.1-2.2), came from poorer families
      (monthly income of Tk < 5,000, AOR = 2.7, 95% CI 1.9-3.8). Parental education,
      economic and nutritional characteristics, child-feeding practices, and birth
      order were important risk factors for severe underweight in this population, and
      these characteristics can be used for designing and targeting preventive
      intervention programmes.

PMID- 20941900
TI  - Assessment of vitamin A status of preschool children in a sub-Saharan African
      setting: comparative advantage of modified relative-dose response test.
AB  - A nationally-representative sample of 2,696 preschool children living in Congo
      was examined during Au gust-September 2003 to determine the rates of vitamin A
      deficiency. Ninety clusters of 30 children, aged six months to six years, were
      selected, using a randomized two-level cluster-sampling method. Vitamin A
      deficiency was determined by assessing the prevalence of active xerophthalmia
      (nightblindness and/or Bitot spots) in the cross-over sample of 2,696
      individuals. A semi-quantitative seven-day dietary questionnaire was concurrently
      applied to the mothers of children enrolled to estimate the latter's consumption
      of vitamin A-rich food. Vitamin A status was assessed by performing the modified
      relative dose-response test (MRDR) on dried blood spots (DBS) from a subsample of
      207 children aged less than six years and the impression cytology with transfer
      (ICT) test on a subsample of 1,162 children. Of the children enrolled, 5.2%
      suffered from nightblindness, 8.0% had Bitot spots, and 2.5% had other vitamin A
      deficiency sequellae. Fifty-three percent of the ICT tests showed the presence of
      vitamin A deficiency. The biochemical MRDR test showed that the vitamin A status
      of 30% of the study children was critical. Twenty-seven of them had retinol
      levels of < 10 microg/dL [mean +/- standard deviation (SD) 7.02 +/- 2.0
      microg/dL], and 50% had retinol levels of 10-20 microg/dL (mean +/- SD 14.2 +/-
      2.83 microg/dL). The poor health status and low rates of consumption of vitamin A
      rich food are the main factors determining critical status. Vitamin A deficiency,
      reflecting poor nutrition and health, is a serious public-health issue among
      children aged less than six years in Congo.

PMID- 20941901
TI  - Hospital-based perinatal outcomes and complications in teenage pregnancy in
      India.
AB  - Teenage pregnancy is a worldwide problem bearing serious social and medical
      implications relating to maternal and child health. A cross-sectional
      observational study was undertaken to compare the different sociodemographic
      characteristics and perinatal outcomes of teenage primigravida mothers with those
      of adult primigravida mothers in a tertiary-care hospital in eastern India. A
      sample of 350 each in cases and comparison group comprised the study subjects.
      Data were collected through interviews and by observations using a pretested and
      predesigned schedule. Results revealed that the teenage mothers had a higher
      proportion (27.7%) of preterm deliveries compared to 13.1% in the adult mothers
      and had low-birthweight babies (38.9% vs 30.4% respectively). Stillbirth rate was
      also significantly higher in teenage deliveries (5.1% vs 0.9% respectively). The
      teenage mothers developed more adverse perinatal complications, such as preterm
      births, stillbirths, neonatal deaths, and delivered low-birthweight babies, when
      compared with those of the adult primigravida mothers. Teenage pregnancy is still
      a rampant and important public-health problem in India with unfavourable
      perinatal outcomes and needs to be tackled on a priority basis.

PMID- 20941902
TI  - Reproductive tract disorders among Afghan refugee women attending health clinics
      in Haripur, Pakistan.
AB  - Afghans comprise one of the largest groups of refugees in the world, with the
      majority living in Pakistan. The objective of this study was to identify commonly
      occurring reproductive tract infections (RTIs), describe knowledge of women about
      RTIs, and assess physical and behavioural factors contributing to the development
      of RTIs. Afghan women presenting at Basic Health Units in refugee camps in
      Haripur, Pakistan, with reproductive health-related complaints, were included in
      the study (n=634). Data collection included implementation of an interviewer
      administered questionnaire, along with a physical examination and laboratory
      tests. A descriptive analysis was conducted first. Qualitative data were coded
      and analyzed using predetermined themes. Chi-square test was used for determining
      the possible relationships between a binary outcome and categorical risk factors.
      Over three-fourths (76.7%) of those who reported to the health clinics with
      reproductive complaints had an RTI. Nearly half (49.5%) of these women were
      diagnosed with some form of vaginitis, and 14.7% were diagnosed with clinical
      suspicion of pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). Women with cervical prolapse (p =
      0.033) or who cleansed after intercourse (p = 0.002) were more likely to have
      vaginitis. There was a significant difference (p = 0.017) in the prevalence of
      suspected PID among women who used mud only (11.1%), any water (18.8%), and an
      old cloth or toilet paper (9.8%) for cleansing after defaecation. Specific
      physical and behavioural contributors to the high prevalence of RTIs in this
      population were identified, and recommendations to ameliorate these factors are
      offered.

PMID- 20941903
TI  - Constructing indices of rural living standards in Northwestern Bangladesh.
AB  - This study aimed to construct indices of living standards in rural Bangladesh
      that could be useful to study health outcomes or identify target populations for
      poverty-alleviation programmes. The indices were constructed using principal
      component analysis of data on household assets and house construction materials.
      Their robustness and use was tested and found to be internally consistent and
      correlated with maternal and infant health, nutritional and demographic
      indicators, and infant mortality. Indices derived from 9 or 10 household asset
      variables performed well; little was gained by adding more variables but problems
      emerged if fewer variables were used. A ranking of the most informative assets
      from this rural, South Asian context is provided. Living standards consistently
      and significantly improved over the six-year study period. It is concluded that
      simple household socioeconomic data, collected under field conditions, can be
      used for constructing reliable and useful indices of living standards in rural
      South Asian communities that can assist in the assessment of health, quality of
      life, and capabilities of households and their members.

PMID- 20941904
TI  - Causes of death of adults and elderly and healthcare-seeking before death in
      rural Bangladesh.
AB  - The health system of a country needs to be adjusted to patterns of morbidity and
      mortality to mitigate the income-erosion consequences of prolonged ill-health and
      premature death of adults. Population-based data on mortality by cause are a key
      to modifying the health system. However, these data are scarce, particularly for
      rural populations in developing countries. The objectives of this study were to
      determine the burdens of health due to major causes of death obtained from verbal
      autopsy of adults and the elderly and their healthcare-seeking patterns before
      death in a well-defined rural population. There were 2,397 deaths--613 were among
      adults aged 15-59 years and 1,784 among the elderly aged 60+ years--during 2003
      2004 in the health and demographic surveillance area in Matlab, a rural area of
      Bangladesh. Trained interviewers interviewed close relatives of the deceased
      using a structured verbal-autopsy questionnaire to record signs and symptoms of
      diseases/conditions that led to death and medical consultations before death. Two
      physicians independently assigned the underlying causes of deaths with
      disagreements resolved by a third physician. The physicians were able to assign a
      specific cause in 91% of the cases. Rates and proportions were used for
      estimating the burden of diseases by cause. Of all deaths of adults and the
      elderly, communicable diseases accounted for 18% and non-communicable diseases
      for 66%, with the proportion of non-communicable diseases increasing with age.
      Leading non-communicable diseases were diseases of the circulatory system (35%),
      neoplasms (11%), diseases of the respiratory system (10%), diseases of the
      digestive system (6%), and endocrine and metabolic disorders (6%), all of which
      accounted for 68% of deaths. Injury and other external causes accounted for
      another 5% of the deaths. During terminal illness, 31% of the adults and 25% of
      the elderly sought treatment from medical doctors, and 14% of the adults and 4%
      of the elderly died in healthcare facilities. The findings suggest that the
      health managers and policy-makers of Bangladesh should recognize the importance
      of prevention and management of chronic diseases and place it on the health
      agenda for rural people.

PMID- 20941905
TI  - Salmonella Typhi and Plasmodium falciparum co-infection in a 12-year old girl
      with haemoglobin E trait from a non-malarious area in Bangladesh.
AB  - A 12-year old girl from Uttar Badda, Dhaka, Bangladesh, was admitted to the Dhaka
      Hospital of ICDDR,B, with a 23-day history of fever and diarrhoea. After
      admission, she was treated for culture-proven Salmonella Typhi-associated
      infection and was discovered to be heterozygous for haemoglobin E. Despite
      treatment with appropriate antibiotics, the patient's condition did not improve,
      prompting further investigation, which revealed malaria due to Plasmodium
      falciparum. Dhaka is considered a malaria-free zone, and the patient denied
      recent travel outside Dhaka. Subsequently, the patient recovered fully on
      antimalarial therapy.

PMID- 20941906
TI  - New data on aetiology of nodular gill disease in rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus
      mykiss.
AB  - We studied amoebae associated with nodular gill disease (NGD) outbreaks in
      rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss (Walbaum) in fish farms in South-Western
      Germany. Gills of 12 diseased rainbow trout were examined in fresh, by isolation
      attempts, histologically and using in situ hybridisation (ISH). A total of nine
      amoeba strains of the genera Acanthamoeba (1), Hartmannella (2), Naegleria (1),
      Protacanthamoeba (1) and Vannella (4) were isolated and determined using light
      microscopical, ultrastructural and molecular methods. Specific molecular probes
      designed from the SSU rDNA sequences of individual amoeba strains were used for
      non-radioactive ISH in histological sections. Association of Naegleria sp. with
      NGD and a direct ISH proof of Naegleria trophozoites attached to hyperplastic
      gill epithelium are novel findings, expanding the number of possible agents of
      NGD and supporting the hypothesis on multicausal aetiology of this disease.

PMID- 20941907
TI  - Neotropical Monogenoidea. 56. New species of Anacanthorus (Dactylogyridae) from
      the gills of matrincha, Brycon orthotaenia (Characiformes: Characidae), in the
      Rio Sao Francisco, Brazil.
AB  - Anacanthorus franciscanus sp. n. and Anacanthorus brevicirrus sp. n.
      (Dactylogyridae) are described from the gills of the matrincha, Brycon
      orthotaenia Gunther (Characidae), from the Rio Sao Francisco in Brazil.
      Anacanthorusfranciscanus most closely resembles Anacanthorus e[egans and A.
      kruidenieri from the matrincho, Brycon melanopterus, of the Amazon River Basin.
      It differs from these species in part by having the bulbous proximal end of the
      hook shank with two translucent regions. Anacanthorus brevicirrus resembles A.
      franciscanus, A. kruidenieri and A. elegans but is differentiated from these
      species by its short straight male copulatory organ and by having one translucent
      region in the bulbous base of the hook shank.

PMID- 20941908
TI  - Monogenea of Chinese marine fishes. XVIII. Two monocotylids, including a new
      species, from the blotched fantail ray Taeniurops meyeni (Elasmobranchii:
      Dasyatidae) in the South China Sea.
AB  - Two monogenean species are recorded from a blotched fantail ray, Taeniurops
      meyeni (Muller et Henle) (Dasyatidae), kept in a public aquarium at the Guangzhou
      Ocean World. Heterocotyle taeniuropi sp. n. was obtained from the gills. It is
      similar to Heterocotyle similis Neifar, Euzet et Ben Hassine, 1998 and H. scotti
      Neifar, Euzet et Ben Hassine, 1998, both of which have a similar male copulatory
      organ, but it can be distinguished from these two species by aspects of the
      morphology of the male copulatory organ, which is tubular, straight or slightly
      curved with a sclerotized accessory piece and an asymmetrical funnel-shaped
      opening at the proximal end, and recurved at the distal end. Dendromonocotyle
      pipinna Chisholm et Whittington, 2002, which is a new record for Chinese waters,
      was collected from the body surface of the same host. Its main features are
      almost the same as in the original description, except that it exhibits a
      variable number of marginal papillae.

PMID- 20941909
TI  - Ultrastructure of the ovarian follicles, oviducts and oocytes of Gyrocotyle urna
      (Neodermata: Gyrocotylidea).
AB  - An ultrastructural study of the ovarian follicles and their associated oviducts
      of the cestode Gyrocotyle urna Grube et Wagener, 1852, a parasite from the spiral
      valve of the rabbit fish, Chimaera monstrosa L., was undertaken. Each follicle
      gives rise to follicular oviduct, which opens into one of the five collecting
      ducts, through which pass mature oocytes. These collecting ducts open into an
      ovarian receptacle which, in turn, opens via a muscular sphincter (the oocapt) to
      the main oviduct. The maturation of oocytes surrounded by the syncytial
      interstitial cells within the ovarian follicles of G. urna follows a pattern
      similar to that in Eucestoda. The ooplasm of mature oocytes contain lipid
      droplets (2.0 x 1.8 microm) and cortical granules (0.26 x 0.19 microm). The
      cytoplasm of primary and secondary oocytes contains centrioles, indicating the
      presence of the so-called "centriole cycle" during oocyte divisions. A
      morphological variation between different oviducts was observed. The luminal
      surface of the follicular and the collecting oviducts is smooth. The zones of the
      septate junctions are present within the distal portion of the net-like
      epithelial wall of the collecting ducts close to the ovarian receptacle. The
      syncytial epithelial lining of the ovarian receptacle, oocapt and main oviduct is
      covered with lamellae and cilia. Cortical granules secreted from mature oocytes
      occur freely within the lumen of the main oviduct that functions as a
      fertilisation canal. A division of the ovary into separated parts with their own
      collecting ducts as that typical of Gyrocotyle has been observed in neodermates,
      basal monogenean family Chimaericolidae, and Neoophora (some Proseriata and
      Fecampiidae). Ultrastructural data thus reveal several unique morphological
      characteristics of gyrocotylideans, the most basal taxon of tapeworms (Cestoda).

PMID- 20941910
TI  - Three new species of Echinobothrium (Cestoda: Diphyllidea) from Indo-Pacific
      stingrays of the genus Pastinachus (Rajiformes: Dasyatidae).
AB  - Three new species of diphyllidean cestodes are described from stingrays of the
      genus Pastinachus from the Indian and Pacific Oceans. All three new species
      differ from all but 10 of the 36 valid species of Echinobothrium van Beneden,
      1849 in that they bear lateral hooklets arranged in a continuous band across each
      lateral surface of the rostellum joining the groups of dorsal and ventral apical
      hooks, rather than arranged in distinct dorsal and ventral groups, on each side
      of the apical hooks. Echinobothrium nataliae sp. n. ex Pastinachus solocirostris
      off Borneo differs from other relatives in the following combination of
      characters: number of spines in each column on the cephalic peduncle, number of
      lateral hooklets and number of apical hooks. Echinobothrium reginae sp. n. ex
      Pastinachus cf. sephen off Madagascar differs from all congeners in the following
      combination of characters: number of hooklets and number of spines on the
      cephalic peduncle. Echinobothrium vojtai sp. n. from an undescribed species of
      Pastinachus off Borneo differs from its congeners in the following combination of
      characters: number of hooklets, number of apical hooks and number of spines in
      each column on the cephalic peduncle. The hook formula was modified to
      accommodate species with lateral hooklets arranged in a continuous band as
      follows: {(LH) AH(A)/AH(B)}, where (LH) is the total number of lateral hooklets
      in a band. A table of all nominal species of Echinobothrium, showing their
      taxonomic status, type host and locality, number of peduncle spines in a column
      and hook formula, is presented. Macrobothridium djeddensis and Macrobothridium
      sinensis are transferred to Echinobothrium. In addition, Echinobothrium deeghai
      is considered as a species inquirenda.

PMID- 20941911
TI  - First species of Ophiotaenia (Cestoda: Proteocephalidea) from Madagascar: O.
      georgievi sp. n., a parasite of the endemic snake Leioheterodon geayi
      (Colubridae).
AB  - Ophiotaenia georgievi sp. n. (Proteocephalidea: Proteocephalinae) is described
      from the intestine of endemic colubrid snake Leioheterodon geayi Mocquard
      (Colubridae) from Antananarivo in Madagascar. The new species is the first
      species of Ophiotaenia La Rue, 1911 reported from Madagascar. It differs from all
      Ophiotaenia species parasitic in African snakes in the possession of a three
      layered embryophore of eggs (other African species have two-layered embryophore).
      Furthermore, O. georgievi can be distinguished by the number of testes (92-140),
      width of the scolex (225-235 jm), total body length (57 mm), cirrus-sac
      length/proglottis width ratio (19-32%), and number of lateral uterine diverticula
      (23-28 on each side). Ophiotaenia georgievi represents the second
      proteocephalidean cestode reported from Madagascar, the first one being
      Deblocktaenia ventosaloculata (Deblock, Rose et Broussart, 1962), a parasite from
      Ithycyphus miniatus. A list of Ophiotaenia species parasitic in venomous and non
      venomous snakes is provided and possible existence of other new congeneric
      species in snakes from Madagascar is discussed.

PMID- 20941912
TI  - Seasonal stability in parasite assemblages of the Brazilian flathead, Percophis
      brasiliensis (Perciformes: Percophidae): predictable tools for stock
      identification.
AB  - A comparison of the composition and structure of parasite communities of the
      Brazilian flathead, Percophis brasiliensis Quoy et Gaimard (Perciformes:
      Percophidae) among seasons during one year was carried out in the Argentine Sea.
      A total of 195 fish specimens were examined and 25 parasite species were found.
      Parasite communities in seasonal samples showed a high degree of homogeneity in
      taxonomic composition and infection levels. Similarity analysis showed that the
      seasonal stability within and between samples was constant in both the
      composition and community structure throughout the year. Parasites can,
      therefore, be considered predictable markers for fish stock identification,
      independently of the season of capture, at least on an annual scale.

PMID- 20941913
TI  - Philometrid nematodes infecting fishes from the Everglades National Park,
      Florida, U.S.A.
AB  - The following three species of the Philometridae (Nematoda: Dracunculoidea) are
      described from marine perciform fishes of the Everglades National Park (northern
      Gulf of Mexico), Florida, U.S.A.: Philometra brevispicula sp. n. (male and
      females) from the subcutaneous tissue of mouth of the gray snapper Lutjanus
      griseus (Linnaeus) (Lutjanidae), Philometroides grandipapillatus sp. n. (only
      females) from pectoral fin muscle of the crevalle jack Caranx hippos (Linnaeus)
      (Carangidae), and Caranginema americanum Moravec, Montoya-Mendoza et Salgado
      Maldonado, 2008 (females) from the subcutaneous fascia of trunk muscle in
      crevalle jack C. hippos. Philometra brevispicula is mainly characterized by small
      cephalic papillae of the external circle, the absence of oesophageal teeth and
      the presence of small caudal projections in gravid female, markedly short
      spicules (45 microm) in male, and by its location in the host. Philometroides
      grandipapillatus differs from congeners mainly in the shape of the cephalic
      region (narrow, conspicuously protruding), large cephalic papillae of the
      external circle and the absence of caudal projections in female, and by the site
      of infection in the host. Caranginema americanum is for the first time recorded
      from the northern Gulf of Mexico.

PMID- 20941914
TI  - New evidence on a cold case: trophic transmission, distribution and host
      specificity in Hedruris spinigera (Nematoda: Hedruridae).
AB  - The life cycle of Hedruris spinigera Baylis, 1931 (Nematoda: Hedruridae) is
      determined here with the first formal identification of the parasite's
      intermediate host: the crustacean amphipod Paracorophium excavatum Thomson. Adult
      H. spinigera are redescribed from specimens collected from the stomach of fishes,
      Retropinna retropinna (Richardson) and Aldrichettaforsteri (Valenciennes), from
      Lake Waihola, New Zealand. Immature adults of the parasite collected from
      intermediate hosts (P. excavatum) are also described for the first time. The
      prevalence, abundance and intensity of infection of H. spinigera in several fish
      species are quantified along with the occurrence of P. excavatum, the parasite's
      intermediate host, in fish stomach contents. Although H. spinigera's transmission
      mode (trophic transmission) and fish diet potentially expose all fish species to
      infection, some level of host specificity must exist as parasite prevalence,
      abundance and intensity of infection vary greatly between potential definitive
      host species. We suggest here that the anatomy of the fish digestive tract and
      especially that of the stomach plays an important role in host suitability for H.
      spinigera. While P. excavatum is the only intermediate host in Lake Waihola, H.
      spinigera was found in six different fish species: Aldrichetta forsteri, Galaxias
      maculatus (Jenyns), Retropinna retropinna, Rhombosolea retiaria Hutton, Perca
      fluviatilis Linnaeus and Salmo trutta Linnaeus; although typical hedrurid
      attachment and mating positions were observed only in R. retropinna and A.
      forsteri. The limited distribution of H. spinigera is most likely due to that of
      its different host species (intermediate and definitive), all inhabitants of
      coastal fresh and brackish waters.

PMID- 20941915
TI  - A microsporidian pathogen of the predatory beetle Rhizophagus grandis
      (Coleoptera: Rhizophagidae).
AB  - A new Microsporidium sp. infects Rhizophagus grandis Gyllenhall, a beetle which
      preys on the bark beetle Dendroctonus micans Kugellan in Turkey. Mature spores
      are single, uninucleate, oval in shape (3.75 +/- 0.27 microm in length by 2.47 +/
      0.13 microm in width), with a subapically fixed polar filament. The polar
      filament is anisofilar, coiled in 7-8 normal and 3-4 reduced coils. Other
      characteristic features of the microsporidium are the four/five nuclear divisions
      to form 16/32 (commonly 16) spores, subpersistent sporophorous vesicles
      (pansporoblasts) remaining till formation of the endospore, and the vesicles
      dissolved with free mature spores. The polaroplast is divided into three zones:
      an amorphous zone, dense layers, and a lamellartubular area extending to the
      central part of the spore.

PMID- 20941916
TI  - [Cryostimulation factor supporting rehabilitation patients with multiple
      sclerosis and fatigue syndrome].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Fatigue is considered to be one of the most prevalent and disabling
      symptoms among individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS). According to different
      studies, fatigue is reported by 75-95% of patients. Fatigue syndrome considerably
      affects quality of life. Characteristic feature of fatigue syndrome in multiple
      sclerosis is its relapse caused by warmth. There are only a few researches into
      fatigue in multiple sclerosis. The most commonly used scale to estimate fatigue
      is Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS). Cryostimulation has been applied to treat
      depression. AIM OF THE STUDY: Comparison of the influence of cryostimulation as a
      supporting factor of kinesytherapy on increasing strength of selected muscle
      groups of inferior extremities and degree of disability in case of patients with
      multiple sclerosis and fatigue syndrome and without the latter. MATERIAL AND
      METHODS: The examination included 60 randomized patients with diagnosed multiple
      sclerosis (ICD10-G35). To assess the results scales: EDSS, FSS and widespread
      Lovett scale (punctation with accuracy of measurement 0.5 point) were used.
      Interpretation of the FSS scale results was made according to Krupp and comp.
      Fatigue syndrome was diagnosed where results reached 6.5 and higher. Evaluaton of
      muscle strength concerning chosen muscles groups of inferior extremities:
      quadriceps femoris, illopsoas, biceps femoris. When the strength of leg muscles
      was asymmetric, lower values of Lovett scale were used. Patients were divided
      into 2 groups with regard to positive or negative fatigue syndrome. In the
      examined group (n = 24) fatigue syndrome was positive (FSS under 6.5) and control
      (n = 36) negative (FSS under 6.5). All patients were treated with cryostimulation
      and individual program of exercises adapted to their degree of disability.
      RESULTS: The use of cryostimulation and kinesytherapy to patients with MS and
      fatigue syndrome indicates statistically important (p = 0.05) decrease of
      disability degree in EDSS scale and improvement of muscle strength of quadriceps
      femoris and illiopsoas compared to MS patients without fatigue syndrome.
      CONCLUSIONS: Cryostimulation is a factor supporting rehabilitation patients with
      multiple sclerosis and fatigue syndrome.

PMID- 20941917
TI  - [Analysis of depression intensification in cancer patients before and during
      chemotherapy].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The aim of the study was a comparative analysis of depression in
      cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy and patients during diagnostic process.
      An attempt was made to solve a research problem whether chemotherapy causes
      depression intensification in patients with a diagnosis of cancer. MATERIAL AND
      METHODS: Cancer patients before the chemotherapy treatment (n = 77, group A) were
      examined first. Then a group of patients undergoing standard chemotherapy in
      hospital was examined (n=105, group B). The tool used was Zung Self-rating
      Depression Scale. RESULTS: Mean of self-rating depression scale was 35.20 in
      group B and 32.34 in group A. 93.3% of patients in group B and 92.2% of patients
      in group A did not have psychopathological symptoms. Mild depression was observed
      by 6.7% of group B patients and 6.5% of group A patients. Only one person in
      group A scored 80 points, which indicated severe depression. In group B education
      level and physical activity highly correlated with the depression scale score. In
      group A it was gender that significantly differentiated the self-rating
      depression scores. CONCLUSIONS: Patients undergoing chemotherapy got higher
      scores on the self-rating depression scale which proves that they are more liable
      to depression. Depression was more often observed in women, people with
      vocational education and patients unable to continue working.

PMID- 20941918
TI  - [Pericarditis and cardiac tamponade in patient with pulmonary embolism].
AB  - We present the case of co-existing pericarditis, cardiac tamponade and pulmonary
      embolism in a 60-year-old man treated with COPD. Cardiac tamponade as well as
      pulmonary embolism constitute a direct danger to life and the recovery depends on
      fast and proper treatment. Cardiac tamponade which co-exists with COPD is a
      pathology which is especially difficult to be diagnosed due to similar clinical
      symptoms. The necessity of pericardiocentesis in acute cardiac tamponade may
      limit the treatment of the coexisting pulmonary embolism.

PMID- 20941919
TI  - [Selected endocrine abnormalities in eating disorders].
AB  - Eating disorders belong to frequent health problems affecting people in developed
      countries. They are generally seen in young women and are particularly common in
      adolescence. Endocrine consequences of these disorders include: excessive
      activity of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, hypogonadotropic hypogonadism,
      growth hormone resistance, low T3 syndrome, osteopenia, and abnormal activities
      of the hypothamus and adipose tissue. The endocrine changes associated with
      eating disorders have been studied in depth and as suggest the results of so far
      carried out studies, their aetiology is usually multifactoral. Most of these
      abnormalities are reversed, or at least alleviated, by weight gain. This review
      discusses the most important changes in the endocrine system related to eating
      disorders in the light of recent developments in this field. This article also
      tries to give insights into diagnosis and putative therapeutic strategies.

PMID- 20941920
TI  - [The bacteriological profile of bacteriuria in residents of a long-term geriatric
      facility].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Little is known on the bacteriological profile of consecutive urine
      samples in elderly patients institutionalized in nursing homes. AIM: This
      retrospective study aims to characterize urinary pathogens, rates of isolation of
      the same pathogen in subsequent urine samples and predicting factors associated
      with such repeated isolations. Data were retrospectively retrieved from medical
      charts of nursing home patients during a four-year period. The authors looked for
      changes in rates of positive cultures, changes in urine flora, in rates of
      repeated isolation of the same pathogens and the possible interrelations with the
      use of antibiotics. METHODS: A total number of 3229 urine cultures were studied,
      1311 of which (43%) were positive and 493 out of these positive cultures (37.6%)
      were treated with antibiotics. The rates of positive cultures increased
      consistently during the study period (p=0.003). E. coli (68.1%), Klebsiella
      pneumoniae and Proteus mirabilis accounted for more than 90% of positive
      cultures. RESULTS: There was no difference with regard to pathogen types isolated
      from symptomatic or asymptomatic cases. The rates of recurrent bacteriuria, by
      the same pathogen isolated at baseline urine culture, were similar in treated and
      untreated cases. A regression analysis aiming to predict factors associated with
      subsequent positive cultures had negative results, except for cases of untreated
      bacteriuria with pseudomonas (CI 1.36-7.09, O.R. 3.11, p=0.006). CONCLUSION: Our
      data support earlier studies underscoring the need to carefully consider the role
      of antibiotics and for better clinical guidelines for the treatment of
      bacteriuria in this population.

PMID- 20941922
TI  - [Talking or doing? Gender differences in physical activity participation in
      Israel at the threshold of the 21st century].
AB  - The absence of physical activity is an important factor affecting illness,
      mortality and high costs of medical treatment in the western world. The advances
      in technology in the last couple of decades led to a more passive lifestyle,
      thereby affecting population health. Although the number of Israelis declaring
      regular participation in physical activity is rising, their numbers are lower in
      comparison to percentages in the western world. The aim of the present research
      is to assist in planning an incentive policy towards physical activity at leisure
      by mapping the popularity of this activity among an adult Jewish population both
      by participation and attitudes towards the subject. Data were collected in 2007
      as part of the International Social Survey Program (ISSP) involving face-to-face
      interviews. In the current sample of 18 year olds and older, 1032 interviewees
      were divided into groups by cluster analysis. Findings suggest that we can not
      relate to the population as a whole, but rather, to four different types: A.
      Sport in the soul--pro-sport as well as active in physical activity. B. Anti
      sport--holds a negative standpoint towards sport and not active physically. C.
      Armchair sportsman--Holds a positive attitude towards sport, however they are not
      active and D. Sports as fashion--an active person who holds a neutral or negative
      attitude towards sport. While attempting to characterize the types by gender, the
      study suggests that women tend to be part of the Anti-Sport and Sports as
      fashion, unlike men who tend to be part of the Sport in the soul and Armchair
      sportsman groups. Furthermore, differences were more highly related to
      standpoints rather than behavior. Men hold more positive attitudes towards sport
      than women who participate in physical activity for instrumental reasons. Such
      differences can be explained by gender differences in socialization in sport. If
      such instrumental needs will be fulfilled by alternative means, women might
      reduce or will even discontinue their physical activity and the health benefits
      from such activity will be lacking. In order to avoid such outcomes, it is
      important that the main socialization agents will encourage competitive and
      social aspects of physical activities between both genders.

PMID- 20941921
TI  - [Oral antibiotics for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma patients with low risk neutropenic
      fever--a comparative controlled study].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Chemotherapy induced neutropenic fever can be safely treated with
      oral antibiotics. However, guidelines are based on studies that focused on
      patients with solid tumors. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effectiveness and safety
      of oral antibiotics in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) patients with low risk
      neutropenic fever. METHODS: The files of all NHL patients who were hospitalized
      due to low risk neutropenic fever were reviewed. All patients who were
      hospitalized in our department were treated with oral amoxicillin - clavulanic
      acid and ciprofloxacin. Patients who were hospitalized in the other departments
      received parenteral antibiotics. The two modalities were compared for the course
      and outcome of the febrile disease. RESULTS: The files of 48 patients were
      reviewed. Most patients had intermediate grade NHL, stages III-IV. Thirty-three
      patients with 44 episodes of neutropenic fever were treated parenterally, while
      15 patients with 19 episodes received oral antibiotics. The two policies had
      equally successful outcomes (59% in the parenteral group and 74% in the oral
      group, p=0.270). There was no difference in the rate of mortality, serious
      complications, secondary infections, no response to initial antibiotic regimen,
      and antibiotic regimen intolerance. CONCLUSION: The study confirms that oral
      ciprofloxacin and amoxicillin - clavulanate is a valuable alternative to the
      parenteral treatment combination in the management of NHL patients with
      chemotherapy-induced low risk febrile neutropenia.

PMID- 20941923
TI  - [Minimally invasive parathyroidectomy for treatment of primary
      hyperparathyroidism caused by parathyroid adenoma].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Minimally invasive parathyroidectomy (MIP) is frequently used for the
      treatment of primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) caused by a single adenoma. This
      method depends on preoperative localization of the tumor by a sestamibi scan,
      cervical ultrasound, and intraoperative parathyroid hormone (PTH) measurements.
      When the sestamibi scan is negative, the classical 4-gland exploration is used
      instead of MIP. AIMS: a. To evaluate the effectiveness of MIP for treatment of
      PHPT caused by adenoma. b. To evaluate the use of PTH selective venous sampling
      (PTH-SVS) in patients with negative sestamibi scintigraphy. METHODS: MIP was
      performed in all patients in whom an adenoma was diagnosed by sestamibi scan and
      US. When the sestamibi scan was negative, PTH-SVS was performed preoperatively
      for localization of the adenoma. RESULTS: Parathyroidectomy was performed in 541
      patients, 458 with PHPT and 83 with secondary hyperparathyroidism. In 345 of 380
      patients (90.8%) with an adenoma, MIP was performed, and in 92 of these patients
      the operation was performed under local anesthesia. A total of 444 (97.0%) of the
      patients with PHPT were cured by the surgery. In 56 patients with a negative
      sestamibi scan, PTH-SVS was used preoperatively for localization of an adenoma.
      In 30 of these cases (53%) MIP was successfully performed in spite of a negative
      sestamibi scan. CONCLUSIONS: MIP is the treatment of choice for PHPT caused by a
      single adenoma. When the preoperative sestamibi scan is negative, the authors
      recommend the use of PTH-SVS for preoperative localization. This resulted in 53%
      successful MIP in patients with a negative sestamibi scan.

PMID- 20941924
TI  - [Bilateral sequential cochlear implantation in children].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Unilateral cochlear implantation (CI) has become the standard of
      care for patients with severe and profound hearing loss. Most unilateral CI users
      achieve excellent speech understanding abilities in quiet conditions, but face
      extreme difficulty in noisy environment, a difficulty which can be minimized with
      bilateral hearing. AIM OF STUDY: To assess the added benefit from a sequential
      bilateral cochlear implantation in children, several years after the first CI.
      MATERIAL AND METHODS: Seven children who underwent sequential CI between 2006 and
      2008 were included in the study. Mean age at first CI was 4.1 +/- 3.8 years. Mean
      age at second CI was 11.3 +/- 2.3 years. The mean interval between implantations
      was 7.3 +/- 2.8 years. Mean duration of experience with both implants was 11.91
      +/- 12.2 months. Performance with the first implant and with the two implants was
      compared using speech perception tests. RESULTS: All children had significant
      added benefit from the second implantation. Mean word recognition score with both
      implants was 71% as compared to 44% with the first CI (P=0.018). Mean sentences
      recognition score in quiet conditions with both implants was 78% as compared to
      60% with the first CI (P=0.028) and mean sentences recognition in noise with both
      implants was 58% as compared to 26% with the first CI (P=0.028). CONCLUSIONS:
      Benefit from contralateral implantation was demonstrated in the present study
      despite the long interval between the first and second implantation and the
      relatively late age at contralateral implantation. This finding raises the
      possibility that the window of opportunity for beneficial sequential
      contralateral implantation is longer than hypothesized so far.

PMID- 20941925
TI  - [Bilateral cochlear implantation].
AB  - Cochlear implant surgery became the standard of care in hearing rehabilitation of
      patients with severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss. This procedure may
      alter the lives of children and adults enabling them to integrate with the
      hearing population. In the past, implantation was performed only in one ear,
      despite the fact that binaural hearing is superior to unilateral, especially in
      noisy conditions. Cochlear implantation may be performed sequentially or
      simultaneously. The "sensitive period" of time between hearing loss and
      implantation and between the two implantations, when performed sequentially,
      significantly influences the results. Shorter time spans between implantations
      improve the hearing results after implantation. Hearing success after
      implantation is highly dependent on the rehabilitation process which includes
      mapping, implant adjustments and hearing training. Bilateral cochlear
      implantation in children is recommended as the proposed procedure in spite of the
      additional financial burden.

PMID- 20941926
TI  - [Placebo use in clinical studies].
AB  - Placebo use in clinical settings was first reported in the 1930's. Placebo
      controlled randomized trials are conducted in order to explore the efficacy of
      new treatments. Nevertheless, the ethical aspects of placebo use remain
      controversial. It is usually accepted that placebo should be used only in
      circumstances where it causes no significant discomfort. Yet, the term
      "significant discomfort" may be interpreted in different ways. There is evidence
      that the placebo may be effective in some settings, and in other circumstances
      may be associated with side effects. Herein, we discuss the ethical dilemmas of
      placebo use, the evidence for its benefit or lack of benefit, and the current
      guidelines for conducting placebo-controlled trials.

PMID- 20941927
TI  - [Employing a balloon catheter for occlusion and/or embolization of the pelvic
      vasculature as an adjuvant therapy in cases of abnormal placentation].
AB  - Placenta accreta is a relatively rare event, in which the placenta is abnormally
      implanted into the uterine myometrium. The most significant complication of
      abnormal placentation is bleeding, mainly during labor. The bleeding increases
      especially when manual lysis of the placenta is attempted. Cesarean hysterectomy
      is the recommended form of management of most cases where placenta accerta is
      encountered. During recent years, inserting intravascular balloon catheter for
      occlusion and/or arterial embolization, was introduced as an adjuvant therapy in
      order to minimize blood loss during cesarean hysterectomy. In selective cases the
      placement of a balloon catheter was performed with conservative management, with
      the intent of avoiding hysterectomy, thereby preserving fertility. Contradicting
      reports exist regarding the effectiveness and safety of employing balloon
      catheters in cases of placenta accreta. The objective of this review was to
      evaluate the role of balloon catheter for occlusion and/or embolization of the
      pelvic vasculature in women diagnosed with abnormal placentation, treated either
      conservatively or by cesarean hysterectomy.

PMID- 20941928
TI  - [Allergic rhinitis and its impact on asthma].
AB  - Allergic rhinitis causes major illness and disability worldwide, but it is still
      underdiagnosed and undertreated. Allergic rhinitis is a risk factor for both the
      development and for exacerbations of asthma. Up to 30% of patients with rhinitis
      suffer from asthma, and the majority of patients with asthma suffer from
      rhinitis. Measurements of allergic status can help to identify risk factors that
      cause asthma. Hence, the Allergic Rhinitis and its Impact on Asthma (ARIA)
      initiative recommends that the presence of asthma must be considered in all
      patients with rhinitis, and that in planning treatment, both should be considered
      together in terms of efficacy and safety. Treatment of rhinitis may improve
      asthma symptoms. Due to new studies and diagnostic techniques the ARIA
      guidelines, initially formed in 1999, were recently updated. They are intended
      for specialists, general physicians and health care providers in order to
      increase the knowledge on allergic rhinitis and its impact on asthma and to
      provide evidence-based revision on the diagnostic methods, treatments and a
      stepwise approach to management. There is a need for a collaborative effort of
      all specialists and primary physicians involved in the treatment of rhinitis and
      asthma for the proper implementation of the guidelines.

PMID- 20941929
TI  - [Neoadjuvant chemotherapy for advanced ovarian cancer].
AB  - Malignant ovarian carcinoma is the leading cause of death among gynecological
      cancers. Most of these cases are diagnosed at an advanced stage. Traditionally
      the treatment of advanced ovarian cancer is based on primary surgery, debulking
      the tumor to minimal volume, followed by chemotherapy. Numerous trials have
      proven that the residual tumor volume has the greatest impact on patient
      prognosis. The use of neoadjuvant chemotherapy was proposed in an effort to
      increase the number of patients who will benefit from optimal debulking, as well
      as minimize the mortality and morbidity associated with major surgery. This
      review will discuss whether, and in which cases, neoadjuvant chemotherapy is an
      appropriate equivalent to primary surgery.

PMID- 20941930
TI  - [Hand disorders in diabetic patients].
AB  - Some commonly encountered hand disorders such as trigger finger, carpal tunnel
      syndrome and Dupuytren's contracture occur up to 4 times more frequently in
      diabetic patients, affecting their activity and decreasing the quality of their
      life. The natural history of these disorders in diabetic patients and the outcome
      of treatment may not be the same as in the general population. Furthermore, some
      patients develop hand problems due to limited joint mobility. In this article,
      the authors review epidemiologic aspects as well as therapeutic considerations
      and outcomes of these hand disorders in diabetics.

PMID- 20941931
TI  - [Evidence-based clinical database--rational use saves time].
AB  - During the last decade, the production of medical information has doubled every
      14 months. It is predicted that information will double at an even faster rate.
      This dramatic rate of changing medical knowledge presents a challenge for
      physicians to keep up to date. Physicians are usually eager for the latest
      medical information. The late British epidemiologist, Archie Cochrane, developed
      a relatively new approach using up-to-date medical information. His approach
      integrates individual clinical expertise with the best available external
      clinical evidence from systematic research. Through this method new information
      is located, identified and its significance evaluated. If the new information has
      been proven to be reliable and relevant, it is integrated into existing
      information systems to be used by physicians all over the world. This approach is
      called evidence-based medicine. This review will summarize the four leading
      clinical databases which are evidence based medicine oriented: Dynamed, Cochrane
      Library, Trip database and Attract, and short presentation of the best evidence
      based medicine "secondary literature".

PMID- 20941932
TI  - [Medical training in Israel--can we realize the comments of Pazi's Committee and
      at what cost?].
AB  - In spite of the growth of Israel's population, the number of graduates from the
      four Israeli Schools of Medicine has changed very little in the last 30 years.
      Nevertheless, the annual number of new practitioners grew from about 300 to 900,
      due to Israeli graduates of European Schools and the large number of physicians
      among the new immigrants from the former USSR states in the early nineties. A
      committee, nominated by the National Board of Higher Education (MALAG), headed by
      the late Prof. Pazi, concluded that under steady state conditions we must train
      800 medical students per year. MALAG adopted this recommendation. As a first
      step, MALAG approved two new programs: a special program for Academic Reserve
      candidates (Atudaim) and a new (5th) medical school in the Galilee. These two new
      programs, together with the new 4-year MD program in Tel Aviv, will add about 200
      graduates to the list of medical students. Yet, the question of whether we can
      realize the recommendation of Pazi's Committee (to train 800 MDs annually) and at
      what cost, remains open. This preliminary review is devoted to the relevant
      factors that must be considered before the latter questions can be answered.
      First, we note that the limiting factor of the number of medical students is the
      ratio between the number of teaching departments in each of the medical
      disciplines and the number of weeks of Clerkships required in the given
      disciplines. Our main conclusion is that realization of the recommendation of
      Pazi's committee requires an increase in the number of teaching departments,
      preferably by upgrading the academic level of those departments that do not teach
      students, and increasing the teaching load of other departments. We may also have
      to reduce the number of weeks of 'bedside teaching' but should beware of reducing
      it to a minimum lower than about 70 weeks, as in North America. Regardless of the
      need to train more physicians, we must increase teaching in the community. Only a
      combination of all these measures will reduce our dependence on the education of
      Israeli physicians abroad.

PMID- 20941933
TI  - [Biomarkers in osteoarthritis].

PMID- 20941934
TI  - Laboratory examination of seronegative and seropositive rheumatoid arthritis.
AB  - In response to the continuing debate whether seronegative and seropositive
      rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are parts of the same disease spectrum or are distinct
      disorders, we performed a comparative analysis of some laboratory
      characteristics. The test group consisted of 125 seronegative RA(93 female, 32
      male), with titers lower than 1/64 as defined by Rose-Waaler test. The control
      group consisted of 125 seropositive RA patients (93 female, 32 male), with titers
      of 1/64 or higher. Patients all belonged to the 2nd and 3rd functional classes
      (ARA), and were between 25-60 years of age. The duration of the disease was 1-27
      years. Elevated average values of erythrosedimentation (ERS), C-reactive protein
      (PCR) and erythrocytes (Er) were found in seropositive patients, but they did not
      present statistically significant difference with regard to sero-status. Reduced
      values of hemoglobin (Hb) were found more frequently in seropositive patients (t
      = 2.26, p < 0.05), especially female seropositive patients (t = 4.38, p < 0.01),
      without correlation to disability and duration of the disease. Statistically
      significant difference was found in average values of fibrinogen in the
      seropositive subset (t = 2.10, p < 0.05), especially in female seropositive
      patients (t = 2.65, p < 0.01), and in average values of leukocytes (t = 1.37, p <
      0.05) among male seropositive patients. Elevated immunoglobulin (IgM) values were
      more prominent in the seropositive subset (chi2 = 47.6, p < 0.01), especially
      among seropositive females (chi2 = 35.68, p < 0.01). Values of IgA and IgG did
      not present statistically significant difference with regard to sero-status.
      Levels of C3 and C4 components of the complement were reduced in seropositive
      tested subjects, without significant difference between sero-subsets. Increased
      values of gamma-globulin were confirmed with statistical significance (chi2 =
      3.39, p < 0.05) in seropositive subjects, while alpha-2 globulin values were
      nearly equally distributed in both subsets.

PMID- 20941935
TI  - Dermatoglyphics in psoriatic symmetrical polyarthritis in fifty women-
      quantitative analysis.
AB  - Quantitative dermatoglyphic analysis ofdigitopalmar ridge count was used to
      research psoriatic symmetrical polyarthritis in fifty women. Analyzed were 25
      dermatoglyphics traits: number of epidermal ridges on all ten fingers, their sum
      for five and ten fingers, four traits on both palms, i.e., between a-b, b-c, c-d
      and a-d triradii, and atd angles and their bilateral sum. The data obtained were
      compared with those recorded in a control group of 200 pairs of imprints of
      phenotypically healthy females from Zagreb area. Statistically significant
      differences were found in 13 variables in decreased ridge count in all ten
      fingers, their sum in five and ten fingers separately. Accordingly, a polygenetic
      system identical in some loci to polygenic system predisposing to women psoriatic
      symmetrical polyarthritis susceptibility might be found responsible for the
      dermatoglyphic pattern development.

PMID- 20941936
TI  - [Functional status of patients after lumbar disc herniation surgery].
AB  - The aim of this study was to determine whether early rehabilitation from the
      first postoperative day after lumbar disc herniation surgery improved functional
      status of patients compared to the rehabilitation that started 3 weeks after
      surgery. Oswestry index was used for functional status assessment before surgery
      and after rehabilitation in 60 patients divided in 2 groups, i.e., early and
      control group of rehabilitation strated 3 weeks after surgery, 30 in each.
      Oswestry index values before surgery and after rehabilitation in the early
      rehabilitation group were 78.4 +/- 17 and 19.6 +/- 9.9, respectively (p < 0.0001)
      and in the control group the values were 79 +/- 13 and 37 +/- 14, respectively (p
      < 0.0001). The difference of Oswestry index before operation and after
      rehabilitation in the early rehabilitation group was 58.7 +/- 18.9, and in the
      control group 41.6 +/- 13.2 (p = 0.0001). Onset of rehabilitation from the first
      post operative day lead to better functional recovery compared to delayed
      rehabilitation 3 weeks after lumbar disc herniation surgery.

PMID- 20941937
TI  - [Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and the risk of cardiovascular diseases].
AB  - Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs act as nonselective inhibitors of the
      enzyme cyclooxygenase (catalyzes the formation ofprostaglandins), inhibiting both
      the cyclooxygenase-1 (COX-1) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) isoenzymes. Selective
      COX-2 inhibitors have reduced gastrointestinal related adverse events but
      increased the risk of cardiovascular diseases. Selective COX-2 inhibitors may tip
      the natural balance between prothrombotic thromboxane A2 and antithrombotic
      prostacyclin potentially increasing the possibility of a thrombotic
      cardiovascular event. Decreased prostacycline synthesis, a vasodilatator and
      modulator of platelet activation, contributing to platelet aggregation and
      vasoconstriction. Some studies have suggested that NSAID increase the risk of
      cardiovascular events and for patients at high cardiovascular risk we should use
      them with great caution.

PMID- 20941938
TI  - [Proposal for biologic drugs therapy in rheumatoid arthritis].
AB  - Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic, inflammatory disease with the prevalence about
      1%. Rheumatoid arthritis is characterized with synovitis, often evolve erosions
      of the joints, pain and functional deficit. Etiology is unknown, but the
      development of such autoimmune disease is due to genetic and environmental
      factors. Most of the patients with diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis use
      nonbiologic disease modifying antirheumatic drugs. Advances in the undersstanding
      of the disease process have led to the development of biological agents to treat
      rheumatoid arthritis. With the use of biologic agents we wish to evolve the goal
      of therapy from that of symptomatiic relief to clinical remission. Biologic drugs
      have documented, fast and continuous efficacy with generaly well accepted safety
      profile. On behalf of Croatian Society for Rheumatology we propose
      recommendations for the biologic therapy in rheumatoid arthritis.

PMID- 20941939
TI  - [Guidelines of the Croatian Society for Rheumatology for the treatment of knee
      and hip osteoarthritis].
AB  - Osteoarthritis of the hip and the knee belongs to one of the most disabiliting
      conditions. Treatment goals for these patients include a reduction in pain, an
      improvement in joint mobility and to limit functional impairment. To properly
      manage osteoarthritis, both nonpharmacologic (non-interventional) and
      pharmacologic modalities may be employed, while minority of patients will require
      surgery. According to the available evidence for available therapies and experts'
      opinion here we present guidelines for the treatment of hip and the knee
      osteoarthritis in Croatia.

PMID- 20941940
TI  - [Benign joint hypermobility syndrome--a case report: unrecognized or undiagnosed
      condition?].
AB  - Hypermobility denotes an increased range of joint movements and is the result of
      ligamentous and joint capsule laxity. Benign joint hypermobility syndrome is
      hypermobility associated with symptoms--arthralgia, myalgia, fatigue, anxiety and
      fibromyalgia. Clinical manifestations of benign joint hypermobility syndrome
      include almost all organic systems, and reflect the ubiquity of connective tissue
      in the body. Beighton score help us to diagnoses hypermobility. Hypermobility
      syndrome is diagnosed using the 1998 "Brighton criteria". The purpose of this
      case report was to emphasize the importance of recognition hypermobility syndrome
      because such individuals represent a significant percentage patients who seek
      help of different specialist and because of the diversity of the clinical
      presentation very long stay unrecognized (undiagnosed). Hypermobility can be
      easily detected if you are looking for, but is easily overlooked if you do not
      think about it.

PMID- 20941941
TI  - Efficacy of oral metronidazole in treatment of cutaneous and mucosal lichen
      planus.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Response to different antimicrobial agents supports the infection
      hypothesis for lichen planus (LP). There are individual case reports describing
      the improvement of LP with oral metronidazole treatment in patients with
      concomitant intestinal amebiasis or giardiasis. There are two small studies that
      reported metronidazole might be effective in some patients with idiopathic LP who
      did not have concomitant protozoal infections of the intestinal or genital
      tracts. The authors performed an open trial to evaluate the effectiveness of
      metronidazole, as a single treatment, on different forms of LP. PATIENTS AND
      METHODS: A total of 49 patients, 24 male and 25 female, were selected from the
      dermatology outpatient clinic with a diagnosis of LP in one of its forms.
      Metronidazole was administered at 250 mg every eight hours daily without any
      concomitant therapy. Patients were examined at baseline and at days 21, 42, 63,
      84 of treatment, and the follow-up period was three months. The authors used SPSS
      software (Version 15) for data analysis. RESULTS: A total of 20 (40.82%) skin
      lesions had complete response (CR) to treatment by metronidazole, 16 (32.65%) had
      relative healing (PR) and 13 (26.53%) did not improve (NR). The overall treatment
      response (CR + PR) of LP skin lesions was 73.47 percent in this study. In mucosal
      involvement, the overall treatment response was 66.6 percent, and finally the
      overall treatment response for itching was obtained in 75 percent of the cases.
      CONCLUSION: Based on the authors' findings, metronidazole can be an alternative
      therapy in treatment of LP, and is a safe agent to be considered.

PMID- 20941942
TI  - The detection of steroid sulfatase gene deletion (STS) in Egyptian males with X
      linked ichthyosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Ichthyosis is a disorder of keratinization characterized by diffuse
      uniform and persistent scales resulting from abnormal epidermal differentiation
      or metabolism. The identification of steroid sulfatase (STS) as the cause of X
      linked ichthyosis (XLI) points to the importance of this enzyme in skin
      desquamation. Fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) analysis is a good
      diagnostic technique with which to detect a common deletion of the STS gene.
      OBJECTIVE: In this study, the authors set out to detect the X-linked type of
      ichthyosis, diagnosed by detection of STS gene deletions among Egyptian males.
      METHODOLOGY: Egyptian males complaining of X-linked ichthyosis were clinically
      examined, evaluating pedigree analysis of the family, cytogenetic studies using G
      banding technique and FISH using locus specific probe for steroid sulfatase (STS)
      gene which is located at chromosome Xp22.3. RESULTS: Of patients, 11.11 percent
      had nocturnal enuresis and 33.33 percent showed STS gene deletion by FISH
      analysis. CONCLUSION: This study underlines a difficulty in diagnosing X-linked
      ichthyosis on the clinical features or familial pedigree analysis in Egypt and
      the importance of cytogenetic and molecular cytogenetic studies for diagnosis.
      FISH analysis is a good, reliable and rapid diagnostic tool with which to detect
      STS gene deletion. Since FISH will not detect partial deletion or point
      mutations, the authors recommend further molecular studies to reach the proper
      diagnosis of X-linked ichthyosis.

PMID- 20941943
TI  - Retapamulin: an antibacterial with a novel mode of action in an age of emerging
      resistance to Staphylococcus aureus.
AB  - Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is the leading cause of nosocomial infections
      and responsible for more than 11 million skin and soft tissue infections
      annually. Impetigo is a common skin infection and the most common bacterial skin
      infection in children aged two to five years. The emergence of S. aureus isolates
      resistant to commonly utilized antibacterials for skin infections (beta-lactams,
      erythromycin, fluoroquinolones and mupirocin) makes successful treatment an
      ongoing challenge. To treat skin infections such as impetigo, antibacterials with
      a short dosing schedule and low propensity to develop resistance should be used.
      In 2007, retapamulin was the first agent for human use approved in the
      pleuromutilin class of antibacterials in the United States (U.S.), and is the
      first topical antibacterial indicated to treat impetigo in over 20 years. In
      vitro, retapamulin is highly potent against S. aureus and has a lower propensity
      to develop resistance than mupirocin. In clinical studies, the convenient five
      day b.i.d. (twice-daily) dosing of retapamulin is highly effective against
      impetigo due to methicillin- susceptible S. aureus and Streptococcus pyogenes and
      may play an important role in limiting the development of resistance against
      systemic agents.

PMID- 20941944
TI  - Isotretinoin-induced effects of mast cells on wound healing.
AB  - Wound healing is a complex process, and the role of retinoids in wounds is
      confusing and controversial. In this study, the authors aimed to evaluate the
      role of oral isotretinoin on mast cells, collagen production and remodeling in
      the wound healing process. In the first group 2 mg/kg/day isotretinoin dissolved
      in sunflower oil were administrated for 28 days. In the second group, only
      sunflower oil was administered. At the end of first week, four incisions were
      made on rats' back. In the seventh (group 1a and 2a), fourteenth (group 1b and
      2b) and twenty-first (group 1c and 2c) days, the skin biopsies were taken from
      around of the incision areas from both groups. The authors revealed that
      isotretinoin administration permanently accelerates mast cell accumulation
      parallel to days in the wound area. The histological features of wound healing in
      isotretinoin administered rats were faster and better than the group 2.

PMID- 20941945
TI  - Treatment of morphea or localized scleroderma: review of the literature.
AB  - Scleroderma is a disease that affects the microvasculature and the connective
      tissue. These alterations produce fibrosis and blood vessel occlusion. Its cause
      is still unknown, although the exaggerated synthesis of collagens I and IV,
      detected in skin and vessels, may be related to genetic, immunologic and, less
      frequently, exogenous factors as inhalation of silica and polyvinyl chloride.
      There is a localized and a systemic form, which affects both adults and children.
      The treatment of the localized form, also called morphea, is still controversial,
      and, in this article, the authors will discuss the main agents that were found to
      improve the lesions and symptoms.

PMID- 20941946
TI  - Vehicle or placebo? Investigators use incorrect terminology in randomized
      controlled trials half of the time: a systematic review of randomized controlled
      trials published in three major dermatology journals.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A topical comparison in a randomized controlled trial (RCT) should
      correctly be termed a vehicle rather than a placebo as the vehicle in a
      dermatologic drug product enhances delivery and efficacy of the active compound.
      OBJECTIVES: To conduct a systematic review of RCTs involving topical drugs
      published in the Archives of Dermatology, Journal of the American Academy of
      Dermatology and British Journal of Dermatology for correct classification of
      studies as vehicle versus placebo-controlled. METHODS: RCTs involving topical
      drugs published in the Archives of Dermatology, Journal of the American Academy
      of Dermatology and British Journal of Dermatology from January 1999 to November
      2008 were identified through PubMed, supplemented by citation lists from the
      individual journals' web pages. Only original studies that involved using a
      topical control or used the term topical "vehicle" or "placebo" were selected.
      The studies were examined for correct classification as vehicle-controlled, the
      year of publication, country of origin, sample size, funding source and nature of
      study center. RESULTS: Out of 132, 64 (49%) correctly classified their studies as
      vehicle-controlled. Pharmaceutical-funded studies (55%, P=0.01) were
      significantly associated with the use of correct classification. LIMITATIONS: As
      only three peer-reviewed dermatology journals were studied, findings may not be
      generalized to other dermatology journals and other types of publications.
      CONCLUSION: This systematic review highlights a common pitfall in the reporting
      of studies of topical dermatology drugs.

PMID- 20941947
TI  - Cutaneous reactions to epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitors.
AB  - Cutaneous toxicities are the most common adverse effects of antineoplastic
      therapy with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitors. Skin reactions
      to this class of agents usually present as papular and/or pustular follicular
      eruptions developing within two weeks of treatment onset. Other manifestations
      include generalized xerosis and pruritus, as well as abnormalities of the hair
      and nails. For most EGFR inhibitors, the incidence and severity of cutaneous
      toxicity are associated with clinical benefit. At the same time, cutaneous toxic
      effects may detract substantially from health-related quality of life, leading to
      interruption, discontinuation or dose reduction of EGFR inhibitor therapy in
      significantly affected patients. Current recommendations for treatment of EGFR
      inhibitor-induced eruptions are based primarily on anecdotal evidence from
      published case series and physicians' own experiences, and include antibiotics,
      corticosteroids and retinoids. Randomized controlled trials are needed to enable
      the development of evidence-based paradigms for the treatment of EGFR inhibitor
      induced skin eruptions.

PMID- 20941948
TI  - Antibacterial effects of a chitosan-containing spray: results of a pilot study.
AB  - Chitosan is a deacetylated derivate (> or =50%) of chitin, to which antimicrobial
      properties have been assigned. As bacterial resistances to antibiotics are
      increasing, alternative treatments have been gaining in importance. In the
      present study, the authors investigated the antimicrobial effect of a chitosan
      containing spray in a randomized, double blind, placebo controlled clinical trial
      at the department of dermatology of the University of Osnabrueck. Twenty-nine
      healthy volunteers applied a chitosan-containing (1% concentration, low molecular
      chitosan, degree of deacetylation 87%) spray and a chitosan-free control (vehicle
      only) spray to the left and right foot respectively for five days. Before and
      after treatment swabs were taken for microbiological analysis. Bacterial count of
      the chitosan treated areas showed a significant decrease (P<0.001) compared to
      those areas treated with the chitosan-free spray. Thus, chitosan might serve as
      an alternative local antimicrobial agent in the future.

PMID- 20941949
TI  - Successful treatment of perniosis with hydroxychloroquine.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The current medical therapies for perniosis are diverse. The agents
      used have produced variable results and lack evidence-based data. OBJECTIVE: To
      determine outcomes of patients with perniosis treated with hydroxychloroquine.
      METHODS: In this retrospective study, patients with a diagnosis of perniosis
      treated with hydroxychloroquine were analyzed for dosage required, subjective
      improvement in signs and symptoms, and adverse drug reactions. RESULTS:
      Hydroxychloroquine resulted in improvement of symptoms in four of five patients.
      Review of the literature has revealed 12 out of 51 cases have responded to
      hydroxychloroquine alone or in combination with other therapies. CONCLUSION:
      Hydroxychloroquine is a relatively safe, well tolerated alternative therapy for
      the treatment of perniosis and should be considered as part of the initial
      management. Additional data are needed to further evaluate this drug in a
      prospective manner and in a larger population of patients.

PMID- 20941950
TI  - Medical and surgical management of keloids: a review.
AB  - Keloids and hypertrophic scars are abnormal responses to wound healing. In
      general, keloids may exhibit proliferative growth beyond the margins of the scar
      and will remain persistent; whereas hypertrophic scars will stay contained to the
      original wound and may regress over time. The authors will discuss the five
      different types of keloid: post-incisional, ear lobe, spontaneous, acne
      keloidalis nuchae (AKN) and sessile. Many medical and surgical modalities have
      been studied in the treatment of these two entities, ranging from silicone
      sheets, intralesional corticosteroid injections, cryosurgery, ligation, 5-
      fluorouracil, Allium cepa (onion) extract, lasers, imiquimod, interferon-a and
      intralesional verapamil and surgical excision. This review will discuss the
      pathogenesis, types and treatments for keloids and hypertrophic scars.

PMID- 20941951
TI  - An evidence-based review of the efficacy of coal tar preparations in the
      treatment of psoriasis and atopic dermatitis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is a long history of using topical coal tar for the treatment
      of psoriasis and atopic dermatitis (AD). OBJECTIVE: To review the literature on
      coal tar and its derivatives, without the use of ultraviolet light, for the
      treatment of psoriasis or AD. METHODS: MEDLINE/PubMed and Cochrane Database of
      Systematic Reviews literature searches were performed to identify randomized
      controlled trials and clinical trials of topical coal tar for the treatment of
      psoriasis or AD. Studies were graded according to a modified version of Sackett's
      criteria for clinical evidence and evaluated to determine if they support or do
      not support the use of coal tar therapy. RESULTS: Twenty-five studies meeting the
      authors' search criteria were identified, only two of which were placebo
      controlled. The majority (21, or 84%) supported the use of coal tar products in
      the treatment of psoriasis or AD, while four (16%) did not support the use of
      coal tar products. CONCLUSION: Most studies support the use of coal tar products,
      although their level of evidence is not strong. Topical coal tar was found to be
      efficacious in the treatment of psoriasis in two placebo-controlled trials. Coal
      tar products appear to be therapeutic in psoriasis and AD, are well tolerated
      with few side effects, and are cost-effective. Staining and odor are deterrents
      to coal tar therapy. Large, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled studies
      with precise point estimates of treatment effect are needed to establish the
      efficacy of coal tar preparations.

PMID- 20941952
TI  - A modified scalpel in hair restoration.
AB  - One limiting factor of hair transplantation is the amount of hair available in
      the patient donor scalp. Several techniques have been proposed as steel punches,
      multiblade knives, FUE (follicular unit extract) and single-strip harvesting. The
      authors introduce a modified surgical scalpel with a No. 10 blade to minimize
      side effects. This scalpel is folded at 120-degree angle and allows the incision
      to be parallel to the hair follicles and help the surgeon to avoid resection of
      the hair during dissection. The authors propose this modified scalpel as a new
      ideal instrument for removing the donor area in hair transplantation.

PMID- 20941953
TI  - The use of the flexible scalpel for minimally invasive and minimally scarring
      surgery: a case series of four patients with large scalp tumors.
AB  - Reconstruction of the scalp after Mohs surgery can pose dilemmas for the
      dermatologic surgeon, especially for extensive tumors. The authors present a
      unique technique for removing large in-situ epidermal tumors of the scalp during
      Mohs surgery in four patients. Although invasive tumor was removed with a
      standard No. 15 scalpel, the extensive epidermal component of the tumor was
      removed through the mid-dermis using the flexible scalpel. This technique allowed
      the superficial defect to heal by second intention. The results showed minimal
      scarring and hair regrowth in what could have been large defects requiring
      complex reconstruction.

PMID- 20941954
TI  - Fluconazole-associated Stevens-Johnson syndrome.
AB  - Fluconazole uncommonly causes Stevens-Johnson syndrome. A young Indian man who
      developed this adverse effect after his second dose of fluconazole is described.
      The characteristics of previously reported individuals with fluconazole
      associated Stevens-Johnson syndrome and toxic epidermal necrolysis are also
      summarized: three out of five of the patients were immunocompromised, five out of
      five were hospitalized, and all had complete resolution of this drug-induced
      condition.

PMID- 20941955
TI  - A rare case of non-Hodgkins B-cell lymphoma in a psoriatic patient: a case report
      and literature review.
AB  - Cyclosporine has been shown to increase the risk of lymphoma when used in organ
      transplant patients; however, studies have failed to demonstrate an increased
      risk of lymphoma when used at lower dermatologic doses for psoriasis. The authors
      present a case of solid B-cell lymphoma occurring in a psoriasis patient with a
      history of intermittent exposure to high-dose methotrexate, followed by low-dose
      cyclosporine for two years and subsequently transitioned to treatment with
      adalimumab. Methotrexate, cyclosporine and adalimumab are each effective
      treatments for psoriasis. However, when faced with an interplay of several
      factors, closer surveillance for malignancy is warranted than that which is
      currently considered for monotherapy.

PMID- 20941956
TI  - Cutaneous lupus erythematosus and anti-TNF-alpha therapy: a case report with
      review of the literature.
AB  - Anti-tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) immunotherapy is revolutionizing the
      treatment of immune disease, particularly Crohn's disease, rheumatoid arthritis,
      psoriatic arthritis and psoriasis. The role of anti-TNF-alpha agents in the
      management of cutaneous lupus erythematosus (LE), however, is not as clear. While
      experimental reports have suggested a potential benefit of anti-TNF-alpha therapy
      in severe cutaneous LE, newer reports have identified these medications as
      instigators or exacerbators of the disease. In this review, the authors present a
      case of a patient whose persistent discoid LE (DLE) was exacerbated by a trial of
      adalimumab, one of the currently available TNF-alpha-blocking agents. The authors
      review 128 cases in the literature in which anti-TNF-alpha therapy was implicated
      in cutaneous LE pathogenesis, with emphasis on DLE, and consider a number of
      mechanisms whereby this arguably paradoxical effect may occur. The authors then
      propose possible approaches to the management of anti-TNF-alpha therapy-induced
      cutaneous LE.

PMID- 20941957
TI  - Dermatology in pregnancy: a current approach to the pregnant patient.

PMID- 20941958
TI  - [Ovarian carcinoma: current diagnostic principles].
AB  - Ovarian cancer is the most common cause of death from a gynecologic cancer. The
      most common types of ovarian cancer are carcinomas of surface epithelial-stromal
      origin. Ovarian carcinomas are a heterogeneous group of neoplasms. Based on
      proposed different pathways of tumorigenesis, these tumors are divided into two
      broad subgroups (type I and II) with different biologic behaviour, prognosis and
      response to therapy. Type I tumors include low-grade serous adenocarcinoma, low
      grade endometrioid adenocarcinoma, mucinous adenocarcinoma, malignant Brenner
      tumor and some clear cell carcinomas. These tumors are low-grade neoplasms
      evolving from a defined precursor lesion. Type II tumors are high-grade neoplasms
      including undifferentiated carcinoma, high-grade serous adenocarcinoma, high
      grade endometrioid adenocarcinoma, malignant mixed Mullerian tumor and probably
      some clear cell carcinomas. At present, the histological type of ovarian
      carcinoma has only limited impact on the management of these tumors. However,
      with progress towards the type-specific treatment of ovarian carcinoma, accurate
      histopathological diagnosis of ovarian carcinoma becomes increasingly important.
      In this review we summarize recent advances in the histopathological diagnosis of
      ovarian carcinoma. Moreover, we mention genetic changes in different types of
      ovarian carcinoma.

PMID- 20941959
TI  - [False negative PAP test? Cytopathologist as a member of expert group in case of
      late diagnosis of cervical cancer].
AB  - The Pap test represents a potent tool in reducing the incidence of cervical
      cancer, though it is unable to eradicate it totally. Under standardized
      application it has a (very low) failure rate unexpected by the public. In
      relation to the National screening program of cervical carcinoma an increase in
      number of litigation cases is to be expected started by women who took part in
      the screening program and still developed cervical cancer. Together with the
      international guidelines of Pap test administration and evaluation (Bethesda
      2001), widely adopted guidelines for Expert review of histologic slides and
      Papanicolaou tests in the context of litigation or potential litigation have been
      formulated (College of American Pathologists 20001). Arguments for adoption of
      these guidelines by the Czech Society of Pathologists and their implementation
      into the National Program of Cervical Cancer Screening are presented.

PMID- 20941960
TI  - [Autoimmune pancreatitis with biliary tree and liver involvement as a part of
      IgG4-related autoimmune sclerosing disease. Case report].
AB  - We report a rare case of autoimmune pancreatitis associated with sclerosing
      cholangitis, kidney, and salivary glands involvement. Abdominal ultrasound and CT
      scan showed enlarged pancreas, multiple nodular mass in the liver and kidney.
      ERCP showed features compatible with primary sclerosing cholangitis. The working
      clinical diagnosis considered malignant tumor with liver metastases. Histological
      examination of the liver biopsy sample revealed inflammatory process with
      numerous IgG4 positive plasma cells. The diagnostic conclusion of IgG4-related
      autoimmune sclerosing disease was drawn. The serum IgG level was elevated.
      Treatment with steroids improved the clinical course, all masses in the liver and
      kidneys disappeared, and laboratory tests were normalized. Now, 4 years after
      diagnosis the patient is free of all symptoms.

PMID- 20941961
TI  - [Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease in the fetus with seemingly
      negative family history. A case report].
AB  - An unusual case of fetal polycystic kidney disease is reported. Oligohydramnios
      and enlarged hyperechogenic kidneys were found at 21 weeks. The pregnancy was
      terminated and fetal autopsy performed. The histopathological pattern of fetal
      kidneys was consistent with glomerulocystic disease and this raised suspicion of
      autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD). Initially, the family
      history seemed to be negative for ADPKD. The mother's diagnosis was established
      only after the abortion of the affected fetus. She had no symptoms of renal
      disease. Multigenerational involvement was revealed on the mother@s side.
      Mechanisms leading to prenatal ADPKD and prognosis of the pediatric patients are
      discussed.

PMID- 20941962
TI  - [What is your diagnosis? Gangliocytic paraganglioma of the duodenum].

PMID- 20941963
TI  - Nerve sheath myxoma with bidirectional schwannomatous and perineural
      differentiation.
AB  - A case of nerve sheath myxoma occurring in occipital region in 70-yr-old woman is
      presented. The tumor showed typical lobular and myxoid morphology.
      Immunohistochemically, it showed unusual coexpression of Schwann cell markers
      S100 protein and GFAP with perineural cell markers EMA and claudin-1. CD34+
      fibroblast-like cells were scarce, and nerve axons were not found in the tumor.
      Clinical pathology and histogenesis of the lesion are discussed.

PMID- 20941964
TI  - [Factors involved in the pathogenesis of acute pancreatitis].
AB  - Pathophysiological and molecular research have marked the understanding of the
      primary events taking place in triggering acute pancreatitis, although the early
      diagnosis of pancreas diseases in general, continues to be a source of
      frustration in modem medicine. This presents the news about pathogenesis (co
      localization theory, auto-activation theory of the tripsynogen), location of
      early events (acinar pancreatic cells which are the "key" involved: muscarinic
      receptors, acinar membrane, role of ionized calcium, the phenomenon of
      apoptosis), extracellular events in initiation of acute pancreatitis with the
      granting of a central place to enzyme activation and systemic inflammatory
      response. Aspects of early microvascular changes, disturbances of ischemia
      reperfusion and systemic microvascular abnormalities are so important that
      justifies therapeutic concept of microcirculatory protection. Participation of
      monocyte/macrophage system, excessive activation of leukocytes that involving
      activation and release of lysosomal enzymes and oxygen free radicals associated
      with ischemia-reperfusion mechanism are defining for pathogenesis of acute
      pancreatitis.

PMID- 20941965
TI  - Bariatric emergencies: what the general surgeon should know.
AB  - BACKGROUND: bariatric surgery presented a dramatic increase due to the obesity
      epidemics and the laparoscopic approach. General surgeons might face acute or
      chronic complications of bariatric surgery, considering the increasing figures of
      obesity procedures performed every year in USA, as well as in Europe. AIM: to
      present the possible surgical emergencies after bariatric surgery. METHODS:
      laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding is the most widely performed bariatric
      procedure in Europe. Acute anterior/posterior slippage of the gastric wall is the
      most frequent complication, and needs emergency treatment: band's deflation,
      laparoscopy for repositioning/removal. Intragastric band migration is diagnosed
      at the radiological or endoscopic controls and usually does not represent a
      surgical emergency. Anastomotic marginal ulcer may appear after gastric bypass
      GBP or biliopancreatic diversion BPD (with/without duodenal switch DS), and can
      be complicated by bleeding or rarely by perforation. Small bowel obstruction due
      to internal hernia after GBP or BPD represents major emergency that can be caused
      as well by trocar site hernia, intussusceptions, adhesions, strictures, kinking
      or blood clots. Correct diagnosis and immediate treatment are mandatory. Rapid
      weight loss after bariatric surgery can cause gallbladder diseases and
      choledocholitiasis that can be difficult to treat after gastric bypass
      procedures. CONCLUSIONS: General surgeon has to know the most diffuse bariatric
      procedures and their complications and to treat them as other gastrointestinal
      surgical procedures. Minimally-invasive approach should be considered in most of
      the cases, but the approach depends on the general surgeon's experience.

PMID- 20941966
TI  - [Acute acalculous cholecystitis--difficulties of diagnosis and treatment].
AB  - Acute acalculous cholecystitis is defined by ultrasonographic, intraoperative and
      pathologic findings of acute cholecystitis, without evidence of gallstones. It is
      associated to recent operations, trauma, burns, multisystem organ failure and
      parenteral nutrition. It can also occur as the first episode, in patients with
      pathological conditions which generate local ischemia: diabetes mellitus,
      malignant disease, abdominal vasculitis, congestive heart failure. The authors
      present a series of 20 patients, operated in the Surgical Department of the
      Clinical Hospital "Dr. I. Cantacuzino", between 2004 and 2010. There are analysed
      the significant risk factors, the diagnostic methods and the surgical procedures-
      laparoscopic or classical cholecystectomies. Among the 20 patients, 14 had a
      favorable postoperative evolution, 4 had wound infections and in 1 patient a
      cerebral vascular stroke occurred in the 2nd day after the operation. Another
      patient died 3 days after the operation, due to an extended myocardial
      infarction. The medical literature referring to this subject is also reviewed.

PMID- 20941967
TI  - [Conversion in laparoscopic cholecystectomy for acute cholecystitis].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: By definition, conversion means giving up laparoscopic surgery and
      continuing the operation with open, conventional surgery no matter the reason,
      nor the moment of the operation. PURPOSE: To evaluate the causes and the moment
      of conversion, the technique used to perform the cholecystectomy after
      conversion, analysing the experience of the surgical team in deciding the moment
      of conversion. METHOD: A retrospective study performed on patients which
      underwent a laparoscopic operation for acute cholecystitis between January 1st
      2004 - December 31st 2007. Clinical examination, biological parameters, surgical
      proceedings, histopathological examination of the pieces removed and the
      patient's postoperative evolution were analysed. FINDINGS: There were performed
      1522 laparoscopic cholecystectomies for acute cholecystitis, out of which 108
      (7.1% of all) were converted to open surgery. Analysing the experience of the
      surgical team, we can say that the converted laparoscopic cholecystectomies are
      found mainly in teams formed by senior surgeons assisted by junior surgeons--43%
      (46/108), in comparison with teams formed by residents assisted by senior
      surgeons--22% (25/108). The nondissecable fibrotic shirt front, woody
      inflammation of the pedicle, adhesions after past surgery and suspicion of a
      fistula are the most frequent causes of conversion--45.35% (49/108). The
      distribution according to the gender was analysed in patients which underwent
      conversion, showing a significant difference: 5.39% (60/1112) in women and 11.7%
      (48/410) in men. The percentage of conversion was significantly higher for
      operations performed at more than 96 hours away from the beginning of the
      symptoms--15.1% (29/192). The highest number of conversions occurred for
      gangrenous acute cholecystitis--72% (77/108). 82.40% of all the acute
      cholecystitis which were converted were complicated with shirt front (89/108).
      CONCLUSIONS: Conversion performed for laparoscopic cholecystectomies is a proof
      of ripening and professional responsibility, a fit solution for cases in which
      the advantages of laparoscopic surgery are overwhelmed by the risks found during
      surgery; gangrenous acute cholecystitis is one of the most important causes of
      conversion--72%; the shirt front around the gallbladder was converted in 82.4% of
      cases; conversion is more frequent in men--11.7%; acute cholecystitis with
      symptoms found for more than 96 hours are converted in 15.1% of cases.

PMID- 20941968
TI  - Palliative gastrectomy in patients with stage IV gastric cancer--our recent
      experience.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Patients with metastatic gastric cancer are usually not good
      operative candidates. Recent improvements in surgical techniques allowed
      palliative gastric resection and other surgical procedures. METHOD: We have
      examined the place of palliative gastrectomy and its impact on survival in stage
      IV gastric cancer patients admitted in 2003-2008 period. RESULTS: From a total of
      295 patients with gastric cancer, we found 140 patients with stage IV disease; 85
      of them had no resection (45 received only chemotherapy) and 55 underwent
      palliative gastric resection with or without postoperative chemotherapy. Mean
      survival in non-operated patients with chemotherapy alone was 6.4 months, not
      significantly different to that of the patients with palliative surgery alone
      (8.9 months). The group with palliative surgery and adjuvant therapy had a
      significantly better mean survival (17.8 months). Mortality and morbidity rates
      associated with palliative surgery were 9% and 34.5%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS:
      These data suggest that palliative surgery associated with adjuvant chemotherapy
      can improve survival in patients with stage IV gastric cancer.

PMID- 20941969
TI  - [Postoperative enteral feeding in digestive anastomosis with proximal oesophageal
      partner].
AB  - This paper aim is to discuss the advantages of enteral postoperative feeding on
      patients submitted to surgery finalized through an eso-digestive anastomosis; in
      these cases enteral feeding is often delayed 5-8 days after the surgery, and in
      case of an anastomotic dehiscence may be even impossible. Also, the paper
      promotes duodenostomy as an important enteral feeding way, and discusses the
      indications and contraindications of different enteral nutrition pathways in such
      cases. There were studied 230 cases, 149 cases submitted to cancer surgery and 81
      cases with benign condition surgery followed by an eso-digestive anastomosis, in
      which the following enteral nutrition pathways was practiced: nasogastric or naso
      esojejunal feeding tube (55 cases); Witzel jejunostomy (28 cases); gastrostomy
      (79 cases); duodenostomy (68 cases). Postoperative morbidity induced exclusively
      by the enteral nutrition pathway was encountered in 36% of patients. On patients
      with an eso-gastric cervical anastomosis or esogastric thoracic anastomosis we
      used jejunostomy as enteral feeding path and a gastric tube passed by pyloric
      canal for gastric decompression. In cases of esophageal reconstruction for benign
      esophageal strictures gastrostomy remains the best feeding method. Duodenostomy
      was practiced as a feeding pathway in cases of total gastrectomy with esojejunal
      anastomosis, with closure of the duodenal stump.

PMID- 20941970
TI  - [Accessory renal allotransplantation with internal or external urinary drainage.
      An experimental model in pig].
AB  - This study describes an experimental model of accessory renal allotransplantation
      in the big laboratory animal (pig). A total of 24 common-breed pigs were used.
      All allografts were transplanted in an accessory manner and revascularized at the
      level of the infrarenal abdominal aorta and inferior vena cava. The urinary
      drainage was performed either through a nexternal uretheroneostomy at the
      ipsilateral lumbar region (Group A--n=8) or by internal uretheroneocystostomy
      (Group B--n=8). All transplants were monitored for 8 days postoperatively using
      translumbar ultrasound-guided biopsies at 1, 4, 7 days. A total of 16 transplants
      were performed. 1 ectopic donor kidney was found and transplanted in the same
      fashion. Mean operative time was 125 minutes, immediate postoperative survival
      was 100% and at 72 hours, 87.5%. The onset of acute rejection was at day 4, by
      massive lymphocyte infiltration and was directly correlated with the abrupt
      decrease of the allograft diuresis in Group A, at day 3. At day 7, the rejection
      was complete. Both methods of urinary drainage are functional and can be
      employed. This experimental model is a useful tool for training of the transplant
      surgeons or for transplantation research. The surgical technique for accessory
      renal allotransplantation in pig is easy to learn and offers the possibility for
      allograft monitoring until complete rejection without influencing the receptor
      health condition.

PMID- 20941971
TI  - [The evaluation of enzymatic and biochemical changes in radiofrequency liver
      resections].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Liver resection represents the only curative treatment option in
      liver tumors. There are many bloodless techniques that can be used in liver
      surgery. The main advantage of these techniques is represented by low incidence
      of hemorrhagic accidents. Still, these techniques are controversial due to
      induction of important enzymatic changes in the postoperative period. This study
      analyses the dynamic of enzymatic and biochimic changes that occurs after liver
      resections by radiofrequency. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We designed a prospective
      study that includes all patients (57) with resected liver tumors by means of
      radiofrequency (Habib 4X) technique in Surgery Clinic no. 3 Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
      RESULTS: We report the increase levels of K, LDH, TGO, TGP, BT, BD, leukocites in
      24-48 hours post-resection. Age more than 60 years was corelated with lower peaks
      of LDH and white blood cells. (p = 0.021) and high levels of serum urea (p =
      0.023). DISSCUSIONS: We report lower transaminase values than other similar
      findings. Similar to other findings the enzymatic changes return to normal after
      6 days from the surgery. CONCLUSION: We agree the idea of using RF liver
      resection in selected cases only and not hazarduos.Despite these benign enzymatic
      changes RF has a major advantage of bloodless liver transeection and should be
      used whenever it's feasibile.

PMID- 20941972
TI  - Effects of the radiofrequency interference with modified titanium surgical clips
      on liver parenchyma--an in vivo experiment.
AB  - AIM: This study sets out to test the biocompatibility of titanium clips in liver,
      in the presence of radiofrequency. Biocompatibility is assessed at various
      distances from the RF electrode and different points in time. METHOD: It is an
      experimental study conducted on pigs and makes use of histological changes that
      occur at the liver-titanium interface in presence of RF to test hypotheses. The
      titanium clips were modified in high vacuum (10 -5 atm) by heating them at 1000
      degrees C and 1150 degrees C. Titanium clips were placed in liver at 0.5, 1.5 and
      2.5 cm from RF probe. At 7, 14 and 28 days the inflammation, necrosis and
      fibrosis were assessed. RESULTS: The histological alterations decrease with the
      distance of implantation of titanium clips. The inflammation and necrosis nearby
      the titanium clips decrease in time, but the fibrosis does not increased, as
      expected. The modified titanium at 1000 degrees C clips cause less necrosis than
      commercial titanium clips. The moderator role of clip type between distance and
      cell alteration is empirically supported only for fibrosis and necrosis. The
      moderator role between time and cell alteration is supported only for
      inflammation. CONCLUSIONS: Experimental data suggests there are no preferred
      surgical clips in all situations. The biocompatibility of the titanium clips
      depends on the distance from the RF probe. The commercial ones prove less
      damaging if they are placed close to the RF probe (less than 1 cm) and those that
      were treated at 1150 C have a better bio-compatibility if placed more than 1 cm
      from RF probe.

PMID- 20941973
TI  - [Correlation of risk factors and complications in the conventional surgery of
      varicose veins].
AB  - The primary varicose vein disease, a largely spread affection, constitutes a
      present challenge and a major health concern because of its increased prevalence
      and the high expenses of treatment and patient care. Due to the modern
      instruments, preoperative investigations and the increased understanding of the
      physiopathological mechanisms in the alteration of venous return, this objective
      can be achieved easier. Nevertheless, according to ananalytical retrospective
      observational study performed at the Surgery Clinic II, Cluj-Napoca, on 957
      patients with varices of lower extremities, postoperative complications occur in
      11 percent, due to additional costs and patients' negative social and
      professional consequences. Another study performed at the same clinic on 1066
      patients with primary varicose disease reveals the high incidence of the risk
      factors (62%) and progressive complications (44%). Furthermore, the study shows
      that patients tend to seek help at late stages of disease, which requires a
      longer hospitalization period and implicitly higher costs of postoperative care
      and treatment. A correct sanitary education of the affected population would
      reduce the treatment expenses. In addition, a more efficiently control of the
      disease, the prevention of progressive complications incidents, and the adequate
      surgical procedure that prevent the postoperative complications, would also
      reduce the costs. Considering the high number of surgical interventions involved
      in varicose disease treatment, the results presented in this study are of great
      significance for both surgeons and the institutions that provide the funds for
      treatment. surgical procedure that prevent the postoperative complications, would
      also reduce the costs. Considering the high number of surgical interventions
      involved in varicose disease treatment, the results presented in this study are
      of great significance for both surgeons and the institutions that provide the
      funds for treatment.

PMID- 20941974
TI  - The endoscopic management of uterine synechiae. A clinical study of 78 cases.
AB  - Intrauterine adhesions (1UA) are easily diagnosed by hysteroscopy, which also
      offers the main method for treatment. In this study, we analyze the value of the
      method. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We have selected 78 cases of IUA diagnosed during a
      3 year period. In cases when interventions were needed, we used mechanical
      techniques (pushing, scissors, forceps) or electrical resection, addressed to
      synechiae and other concomitant pathologies (fibroids, polyps). The follow-up
      ranged between 3-6 months (for amenorrheic patients) and 6-12 months for
      infertility patients. RESULTS: In our 78 cases the presenting diagnostic was
      synechiae (44%), irregular cycles (19%), amenorthea (16%), infertility (15%).
      Hysteroscopy allowed the IUA extension evaluation, and the majority of cases had
      early stage disease. From them 60% had therapeutic gestures, with success
      criteria being: visualization of both tubal ostium- in 70%, clinical normal
      cycles (91%) and pregnancy in 5 cases (41% from patients addressed mainly for
      infertility). There was one perforation in an Ashermann syndrome case, with no
      further surgical gestures needed. The main postoperative treatment was hormonal
      treatment, in all cases. In conclusion, although hysteroscopy allows easy
      diagnostic for IUA, therapeutic gestures should be done in severe cases by
      experimented specialists.

PMID- 20941975
TI  - [Laparoscopic Nissen fundoplication].

PMID- 20941976
TI  - [Torsion of the splenic pedicle.1935].

PMID- 20941977
TI  - [Laparoscopic approach in gallbladder agenesis--an intraoperative surprise].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The congenital absence of the gallbladder in the absence of biliary
      atresia is extremely rare, world literature recognizing only 413 cases. The aim
      of this study is to clarify the diagnostic and therapeutic approach of this rare
      condition. METHOD: There were retrospectively analyzed the first 2 cases of
      gallbladder agenesis admitted and surgically approached in the Emergency
      Hospital, Bucharest. RESULTS: The first case (woman, 23 years old) had typically
      biliary complaints at admission, shrinked gallbladder and lithiasis on
      ultrasound. There was a laparoscopic approach but we didn't find any gallbladder.
      After a non-therapeutic laparoscopy the biliary symptoms disappeared. In the
      second case (woman, 52 years old) the admission was for upper abdominal quadrant
      colicative pain and the transparietal abdominal ultrasound showed chronic
      cholecystitis. Common bile duct dilatation was revealed during laparoscopy. After
      conversion to laparotomy there was performed intraoperative colangiography, but
      no other biliary pathology was revealed. The initial complaints also disappeared
      after surgery. CONCLUSIONS: We find the laparoscopic approach an effective method
      for the diagnosis of gallbladder agenesis. Postoperative Magnetic Resonance
      Cholangiopancreatography represents a very useful imagistic tool to rule out an
      intrahepatic gallbladder.

PMID- 20941978
TI  - A case of a giant sacrococcygeal teratoma.
AB  - Sacrococygeal teratomas are congenital tumors of newborns, originate from one or
      more of the three germinal layers. Most sacrococygeal teratomas are found in
      newborns, infants and children youger than 4 years. The prenatal ultrasound exams
      have increased the number of sacrococygeal teratomas presenting in fetuses.
      Radical resection, including the coccyx must be performed even if the primary
      lesion is benign in up to 70% of cases. We report a 16 days old baby girl
      presented with a large, type 111 sacrococygeal teratoma. The tumor was diagnosed
      only at 36 weeks of pregnancy. The teratoma was disected from the surrounding
      structures and excised en bloc with the coccyx. The postoperative recovery was
      uneventful. There are good functional and cosmetic results at six months follow
      up.

PMID- 20941979
TI  - [Diseases mimicking advanced-stage epithelial ovarian cancer].
AB  - This paper draws attention towards 3 cases with different pathologies all of
      which suggesting however both clinically and by imaging means as the most likely
      diagnosis advanced-stage epithelial ovarian cancer since all these three
      postmenopausal women had been admitted to the hospital with ascites, pelvic
      masses and deterioration of the physical wellbeing (fatigue, decreased appetite,
      weight loss, pallor). Findings during exploratory laparotomy on all these three
      pacients included ascites (hemorragic in one case) diffuse tumorous implants
      throughout the abdominal and pelvic peritoneal surfaces (in two cases) and the
      ovarian tumour. Postoperatively, the final histopathologic diagnoses consisted of
      primary peritoneal carcinoma (one pacient), peritoneal tuberculosis (TB, one
      pacient) and hepatic cirrosis with an incidental benign adnexial mass (one
      pacient). Moreover, nonmalignant ovarian tumours were certified in all three
      cases under current presentation. The differential diagnosis of the ovarian
      cancer and a tailored approach to treatment for each of these three pathologic
      entities will also be described in detail.

PMID- 20941980
TI  - [Duodenal carcinoid].
AB  - Carcinoid tumors of the duodenum are extremely rare. We present two cases
      (observation) of duodenal carcinoid tumors. The main clinical manifestation in
      both cases was upper GI tract hemorrhage associated to severe anemia.The tumors
      were high dimension (2.5 cm and 6.5 cm respectively) and were discovered by upper
      GI endoscopy. First observation presented a lymph node metastasis and the second
      one a massive invasion of the pancreas. In both cases the diagnosis was precised
      only postoperatively, through histological and immunohistochemical analisys. In
      the first observation we performed local transduodenal resection and in the
      second one cephalic duodenopancreatectomy. After six months we had a
      reintervention at the first case for a retroduodenal carcinoid tumoral
      reoccurrence--extirpation completed with total gastrectomy for neuroendocrine
      carcinoma. Despite the locoregional aspect of advanced evolution of the disease,
      the long-term evolution of the patient was satisfactory. Both patients are alive
      42 months respectively 15 months after the operation. Carcinoid tumors of the
      duodenum are indolent and their impact on survival is uncertain.

PMID- 20941981
TI  - Primary inflammation of an epiploic appendix of the ascending colon. Is atypical
      presentation a reason for emergency laparotomy?
AB  - Right lower quadrant pain is a very common symptom in everyday clinical practice,
      and of variable etiology. In patients arriving in the emergency room with sudden
      onset right lower quadrant pain, the commonest cause is acute appendicitis.
      Primary epiploic appendagitis, a rare entity, with a clinical presentation
      similar to other causes of acute abdomen, and one that subsides spontaneously,
      can constitute a problem in differential diagnosis, because it is a condition
      best treated conservatively. The exact diagnosis is a prerequisite for
      conservative treatment. We present the case of a 62 year old woman with primary
      epiploic appendagitis of the ascending colon that presented as acute abdomen, who
      underwent an exploratory laparotomy with the preoperative diagnosis of acute
      appendicitis.

PMID- 20941982
TI  - A very late-onset deep infection after prosthetic inguinal hernia repair.
AB  - Prosthetic repair of inguinal hernias has low recurrence and infection rates in
      practice. However, surgical site infection is still a potential complication. A
      limited number of cases have been reported to date describing late-onset deep
      mesh infection following prosthetic repairs. We herein report a new case of
      postherniorrhaphy infection with a very late onset.

PMID- 20941983
TI  - [Coumarin-induced necrosis--a rare complication of oral anticoagulant therapy].
AB  - Coumarin-induced skin necrosis represents a clinical entity that occurs very
      rarely, with an approximate incidence of 0.01-0.1% at patients following oral
      anticoagulant therapy. Most of the cases become clinical manifest between the 3rd
      and 6th of anticoagulant treatment (there were reports of late onset of skin
      necrosis after 15 years of anticoagulant therapy) and the most involved areas
      include breast, buttocks and thighs microcirculation-rich areas. Early symptoms
      include paresthesia and sensation of tension associated with an erythematous
      flush in the affected area. Lesions are well demarcated, painful, initially
      erythematous or hemorrhagic, with the onset of skin necrosis in the end stage.
      Early lesions can be reversible with the discontinuation of anticoagulant
      therapy, but skin necrosis can reoccur even without any other coumarin based
      treatment. We report the case of a 55-year-old female who presented with coumarin
      induced skin necrosis affecting the right breast and the right deltoid area.

PMID- 20941984
TI  - [Multiple melanoma metastasis. Case report].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Malignant melanoma has a high incidence. Malignant melanoma metastasis
      can develop in all viscera, including brain. They are encephalophiles. Rarely,
      the primary tumor remains unknown. Treatment of this metastasis is complex.
      CLINICAL PRESENTATION: A 50-year-old man in an excellent clinical condition was
      diagnosed with multiple metastasis. Lesions were diagnosed using modem imaging
      methods: MRI, PET-scan. They were treated by chemotherapy, radiotherapy and
      immunotherapy. In the evolution of the disease, appeared brain metastases.
      RESULTS: The chemotherapy, radiotherapy and immunotherapy have not stopped the
      evolution of visceral lesions which increased in number and size. They had not
      toxic effects. The general condition of the patient was very good, with KPS=100.
      The brain metastases had no response to RCS. His surgical excision improved the
      neurological condition but, thereafter, general condition get worse and the
      patient died 3 months after surgical intervention. Biopsies from subcutaneous
      nodes and brain lesion sustained the malignant melanoma diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS:
      In rare instances there are malignant melanoma metastases without a primary
      tumor. The patient was in a very good condition, although the treatment methods
      have not produced a regression of stabilization of the disease. The results of
      melanoma metastasis treatment are not satisfactory.

PMID- 20941985
TI  - Bimaxillary distraction osteogenesis--an effective approach for the transverse
      jaw discrepancies in adults.
AB  - Severe dental crowding in adult patients is one of the features of disparity
      between the size of the teeth and the jaws. It is most frequently found in cases
      with a transverse hypoplasia of the maxilla and the mandible. The traditional
      orthodontic approach is extraction of teeth or arch expansion, both of them with
      major esthetic disadvantages for the patients. The surgically assisted maxillary
      expansion (SARME) and the mandibular midsymphyseal distraction osteogenesis
      procedures open new horizons for the orthodontists and maxillofacial surgeons in
      the effort to solve the esthetic demands of the patients with dental crowding and
      severe transversal discrepancy. The amount of surgical expansion is of higher
      magnitude and stability then the one achieved in orthodontic cases. The case
      presented here highlights the importance of the surgical procedure followed by
      the orthodontic therapy due to the enhancement in occlusion, dental alignment and
      facial morphology.

PMID- 20941987
TI  - [IgG and IgG subclass].

PMID- 20941986
TI  - [Gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST)--medical rarities?].
AB  - Although their overall incidence is low, GISTs are distinctive subgroup of
      gastrointestinal mesenchymal tumors which express CD117 or platelet derived
      growth factor receptor alpha (PDGFRA). Considered as rare digestive cancers,
      tumors like schwannomas, neurofibromas, gastrointestinal leiomiomas are now
      reclassified as GIST based on immunohistochemistry studies. GIST are more
      frequent in stomach (40-70%), small bowel (20-40%), colon (5-15%), meanwhile
      locations such as mesentery, omentum, retro peritoneum in less of 5%. 10 GIST
      patients were surgically managed during 2004-2009. 5 gastric and 5 small bowel
      GIST. Most with symptomatic disease: palpable tumor, abdominal pain, anemia,
      fatigue, superior digestive hemorrhage or occlusion. Imagistic diagnosis
      consisted of: barium swallow, abdominal sonography, CT and PET-CT. Confirmation
      was made by hystopathological exam and immunohistochemistry. All patients had
      more or less wide surgical resections. For some patients there was also a
      specific adjuvant treatment. All patients survived after surgery. The principle
      of surgery for GIST is RO resection of the tumor. Tumor rupture or R1 resection
      of the primary tumor has a negative impact on disease free survival. Some
      patients (great volume tumors, R1 or R2 resection) had adjuvant treatment.
      Imatinib mesylate and derivates showed a significant improvement of recurrence
      free survival with one condition: permanent treatment. Surgery remains the
      mainstay of treatment in patients with localized, resectable GIST. Recurrence
      rate of 17-21% and 5 years survival rate of 48-70%, even in resectable GIST,
      impose an adjuvant treatment.

PMID- 20941988
TI  - [IgA and IgA subclass].

PMID- 20941989
TI  - [Immunoglobulin M].

PMID- 20941990
TI  - [Immunoglobulin D].

PMID- 20941991
TI  - [Immunoglobulin kappa to lambda ratio].

PMID- 20941992
TI  - [Overview of allergy tests].

PMID- 20941993
TI  - [Immunoglobulin E (IgE)].

PMID- 20941994
TI  - [Allergen-specific IgE antibody].

PMID- 20941995
TI  - [Antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC)].

PMID- 20941996
TI  - [Histamine release test (HRT)].

PMID- 20941997
TI  - [TARC (thymus and activation regulated chemokine)].

PMID- 20941998
TI  - [Drug-induced lymphocyte stimulation test].

PMID- 20941999
TI  - [Recent knowledge of complement system and the protective roles].

PMID- 20942000
TI  - [Serum total complement activity].

PMID- 20942001
TI  - [C1 (q, r, s)].

PMID- 20942002
TI  - [C1-inhibitor].

PMID- 20942003
TI  - [C3(beta1C/1A globulin) and C5].

PMID- 20942004
TI  - [CR1(immune adherence receptor), CR2(EB virus receptor), CR3(Mac-1, CD11b/CD18),
      CR4(CD11c/CD18)].

PMID- 20942005
TI  - [Factor B, factor D].

PMID- 20942006
TI  - [Properdin, factor H, factor I].

PMID- 20942007
TI  - [Anaphylatoxins C3a, C4a, C5a].

PMID- 20942008
TI  - [C4(beta1E globulin) and C2].

PMID- 20942009
TI  - [C6, C7, C8 and C9].

PMID- 20942010
TI  - [C4b-binding protein].

PMID- 20942011
TI  - [Membrane cofactor protein (MCP, CD46)].

PMID- 20942012
TI  - [Decay-accelerating factor].

PMID- 20942013
TI  - [Physiological and pathological aspects of circulating immune complex].

PMID- 20942014
TI  - [C1q-bound immune complex].

PMID- 20942015
TI  - [Conglutinin binding test].

PMID- 20942016
TI  - [C3d-bound immune complex].

PMID- 20942017
TI  - [Measurement of immune complexes: monoclonal rheumatoid factor method].

PMID- 20942018
TI  - [Polyethylene glycol complement consumption test (PEG-CC)].

PMID- 20942019
TI  - [Anti-C1q antibody].

PMID- 20942020
TI  - [Utility and directions of POCT (point of care testing) in diagnosis of
      infectious disease].

PMID- 20942021
TI  - [Serological diagnosis of streptococcal infection (ASO, ASK, ADN-B, ASP)].

PMID- 20942022
TI  - [Cold agglutinin titration].

PMID- 20942023
TI  - [Serologic test for syphilis (STS, FTA-ABS, IgM-FTA-ABS, and TPHA)].

PMID- 20942024
TI  - [Widal test].

PMID- 20942025
TI  - [Weil-Felix test].

PMID- 20942026
TI  - [Urinary Haemophilus influenzae type-b antigen].

PMID- 20942027
TI  - [Mycobacterium tuberculosis (QFT inspection is included)].

PMID- 20942028
TI  - [Immunodiagnosis of mycobacterial infection].

PMID- 20942029
TI  - [Mycobacterium leprae].

PMID- 20942030
TI  - [Detection of Streptococcus pneumoniae antigen].

PMID- 20942031
TI  - [Neisseria gonorrhoeae].

PMID- 20942032
TI  - [Laboratory diagnosis of diphtheria].

PMID- 20942033
TI  - [Campylobacter].

PMID- 20942034
TI  - [Helicobacter pylori (IgG antibody test, urea breath test, stool antigen test)].

PMID- 20942035
TI  - [Bordetella pertussis].

PMID- 20942036
TI  - [Legionella spp].

PMID- 20942038
TI  - [Diarrheagenic Escherichia coli].

PMID- 20942037
TI  - [Salmonella Typhi and typhoid fever, S. Paratyphi A and paratyphoid fever].

PMID- 20942039
TI  - [Escherichia coli verotoxin].

PMID- 20942040
TI  - [Endotoxin (lipopolysaccharide: LPS)].

PMID- 20942041
TI  - [Bacterial protein toxins (exotoxins)].

PMID- 20942042
TI  - [Clostridium tetani].

PMID- 20942043
TI  - [Clostridium difficile].

PMID- 20942044
TI  - [Leptospira].

PMID- 20942045
TI  - [Borrelia burgdorferi].

PMID- 20942046
TI  - [Mycoplasma pneumoniae].

PMID- 20942047
TI  - [Tsutsugamushi disease rickettsia].

PMID- 20942048
TI  - [Japanese spotted fever].

PMID- 20942049
TI  - [Cat-scratch disease].

PMID- 20942050
TI  - [Candidiasis (candidosis)].

PMID- 20942051
TI  - [Beta-D-glucan, D-arabinitol].

PMID- 20942052
TI  - [Q fever].

PMID- 20942053
TI  - [Tularemia].

PMID- 20942054
TI  - [Cryptosporidium spp. and Giardia intestinalis].

PMID- 20942055
TI  - [Coccidioidomycosis and paracoccidioidomycosis].

PMID- 20942056
TI  - [Cryptococcosis].

PMID- 20942057
TI  - [Histoplasmosis].

PMID- 20942058
TI  - [Aspergillosis].

PMID- 20942059
TI  - [Toxoplasma].

PMID- 20942060
TI  - [Entamoeba histolytica].

PMID- 20942061
TI  - [Echinococcosis].

PMID- 20942062
TI  - [Filaria].

PMID- 20942063
TI  - [Immunodiagnosis of anisakiasis].

PMID- 20942064
TI  - [Paul-Bunnell test, Davidsohn differential test, mono-spot test].

PMID- 20942065
TI  - [Herpes simplex virus type 1 and 2].

PMID- 20942066
TI  - [Varicella-zoster virus].

PMID- 20942067
TI  - [Cytomegalovirus].

PMID- 20942068
TI  - [Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)].

PMID- 20942069
TI  - [Monkeypox].

PMID- 20942070
TI  - [Human herpesvirus-6 (HHV-6) and human herpesvirus-7(HHV-7)].

PMID- 20942071
TI  - [Adenovirus].

PMID- 20942072
TI  - [Dengue virus].

PMID- 20942073
TI  - [Hantavirus].

PMID- 20942074
TI  - [West Nile virus].

PMID- 20942075
TI  - [Nipah virus (NiV)].

PMID- 20942076
TI  - [Human papillomavirus].

PMID- 20942077
TI  - [Human parvovirus B19].

PMID- 20942078
TI  - [Norovirus].

PMID- 20942079
TI  - [Rotavirus].

PMID- 20942080
TI  - [Japanese encephalitis virus and other flaviviruses].

PMID- 20942081
TI  - [Corona virus].

PMID- 20942082
TI  - [SARS coronavirus].

PMID- 20942083
TI  - [Influenza A, B, C viruses].

PMID- 20942084
TI  - [Avian influenza virus].

PMID- 20942085
TI  - [Diagnosis of novel swine flu].

PMID- 20942086
TI  - [Mumps virus].

PMID- 20942087
TI  - [Rubella virus].

PMID- 20942088
TI  - [Measles virus].

PMID- 20942089
TI  - [Respiratory syncytial virus].

PMID- 20942090
TI  - [Rhinovirus].

PMID- 20942091
TI  - [Reovirus].

PMID- 20942092
TI  - [Echo viruses].

PMID- 20942093
TI  - [Coxsackie virus].

PMID- 20942094
TI  - [Laboratory diagnosis of poliovirus].

PMID- 20942095
TI  - [Iaboratory diagnosis of human enteroviruses].

PMID- 20942096
TI  - [Arenavirus infections].

PMID- 20942097
TI  - [Serum anti-hepatitis A virus antibody and hepatitis A virus RNA].

PMID- 20942098
TI  - [Viral marker related to antigen and antibody of hepatitis B virus].

PMID- 20942099
TI  - [Hepatitis B virus DNA and nucleic acid amplification technique].

PMID- 20942100
TI  - [HCV associated antibodies (anti-HCV, anti-HCV core, anti-C14, anti-NS)].

PMID- 20942101
TI  - [Hepatitis C virus RNA and nucleic acid testing].

PMID- 20942102
TI  - [Hepatitis delta virus (HDV) marker].

PMID- 20942103
TI  - [Hepatitis E viral markers].

PMID- 20942104
TI  - [HGV related viral marker].

PMID- 20942105
TI  - [Torque teno virus].

PMID- 20942106
TI  - [Human T lymphotropic virus type-1, HTLV-1 provirus DNA].

PMID- 20942107
TI  - [Human immunodeficiency virus type 1, type 2 (HIV-1, HIV-2)].

PMID- 20942109
TI  - [Rheumatoid factor].

PMID- 20942108
TI  - [Progress in detection of autoantibodies and analysis of autoantigens].

PMID- 20942110
TI  - [Rheumatoid arthritis-related autoantibodies (anti-calpastatin, anti-gp130-RAPS,
      anti-FRP antibodies)].

PMID- 20942111
TI  - [Anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (CCP) antibodies].

PMID- 20942112
TI  - [Anti-agalactosyl IgG antibody].

PMID- 20942113
TI  - [LE cell test].

PMID- 20942114
TI  - [Antinuclear antibodies].

PMID- 20942115
TI  - [Anticentromere antibody].

PMID- 20942116
TI  - [Anti-histone antibodies].

PMID- 20942117
TI  - [Anti-extractable nuclear antigen antibody].

PMID- 20942118
TI  - [Anti-DNA antibodies].

PMID- 20942119
TI  - [Anti-neuronal nuclear antibodies, type 1 and type 2].

PMID- 20942120
TI  - [Anti-Purkinje cell antibody (anti-Yo/type 1 antibody)].

PMID- 20942121
TI  - [Anti-Sm antibodies].

PMID- 20942122
TI  - [Anti ribosomal P antibody].

PMID- 20942123
TI  - [Anti-RNA polymerase antibody].

PMID- 20942124
TI  - [Anti-SS-A/Ro, anti-SS-B/La antibody].

PMID- 20942125
TI  - [Anti-topoisomerase I/Scl-70 antibody].

PMID- 20942126
TI  - [Anti-polymyositis-scleroderma(PM-Scl) antibody].

PMID- 20942127
TI  - [Anti-Jo-1(histidyl tRNA synthetase) antibodies].

PMID- 20942128
TI  - [Anti-PL-7, anti-PL-12, and other anti-aminoacyl tRNA synthetase antibodies].

PMID- 20942129
TI  - [Anti-U1 RNP and -U2 RNP antibodies].

PMID- 20942130
TI  - [Anti-U3RNP(fibrillarin) and anti-7-2RNP(Th/To) antibodies].

PMID- 20942131
TI  - [Anti-Ki/PA28gamma antibody].

PMID- 20942132
TI  - [Anti-Ku antibodies].

PMID- 20942133
TI  - [Anti-poly ADP-ribose antibody].

PMID- 20942134
TI  - [Anti-proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) antibody].

PMID- 20942135
TI  - [Anti-mitochondrial antibody].

PMID- 20942136
TI  - [Antipituitary antibodies].

PMID- 20942137
TI  - [Antiliver-kidney microsomal antibody].

PMID- 20942138
TI  - [Anti-cytochrome P 450 2D6 antibody(CYP2D6 antibody)].

PMID- 20942139
TI  - [Anti smooth muscle antibody].

PMID- 20942140
TI  - [Anti liver cell-membrane antibody].

PMID- 20942141
TI  - [Anti-parietal cell antibody].

PMID- 20942142
TI  - [Anti-intrinsic factor antibody].

PMID- 20942143
TI  - [Anticolon antibody].

PMID- 20942144
TI  - [Antimyocardial antibody].

PMID- 20942145
TI  - [Anti-desmoglein 1 and 3 antibody, anti-BP180(NC16a) antibody, anti-BP230
      antibody].

PMID- 20942146
TI  - [Antiadrenocortical antibody].

PMID- 20942147
TI  - [Anti-gonad antibodies, anti-sperm antibodies].

PMID- 20942148
TI  - [Anti-acetylcholine receptor antibody (binding type and blocking type
      antibodies)].

PMID- 20942149
TI  - [Voltage-gated potassium channel antibodies, voltage-gated calcium channel
      antibodies].

PMID- 20942150
TI  - [Anti-muscle-specific tyrosine kinase (MuSK) antibody].

PMID- 20942151
TI  - [Myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) antibody and demyelination].

PMID- 20942152
TI  - [Myelin basic protein, anti-sulfated glucuronyl paragloboside (SGPG) antibody and
      anti-P0 antibody].

PMID- 20942153
TI  - [Antibodies to GM1 and GQ1b gangliosides].

PMID- 20942154
TI  - [Anti-NH2-terminal of alpha-enolase (NAE) autoantibodies].

PMID- 20942156
TI  - [Anti-aquaporin-4 (AQP4) antibody].

PMID- 20942155
TI  - [Anti-NMDA receptor antibody].

PMID- 20942157
TI  - [Anti glomerular basement membrane antibody, anti tubular basement membrane
      antibody].

PMID- 20942158
TI  - [Anti-brush border antibody].

PMID- 20942159
TI  - [Anti-reticulin antibody].

PMID- 20942160
TI  - [Anti-mitotic spindle associated antibody].

PMID- 20942161
TI  - [Anti-neutrophil antibody].

PMID- 20942162
TI  - [Anti-granulocyte antibody].

PMID- 20942163
TI  - [Anti-GM-CSF autoantibodies (GM-CSF autoantibodies)].

PMID- 20942164
TI  - [Red cell autoantibodies].

PMID- 20942165
TI  - [Anti-platelet autoantibodies].

PMID- 20942166
TI  - [Anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody(ANCA), MPO-ANCA, PR3-ANCA].

PMID- 20942167
TI  - [Anti-calmodulin antibody].

PMID- 20942168
TI  - [Anti-carbonic anhydrase II antibody].

PMID- 20942169
TI  - [Anti-endothelial cell antibody (AECA)].

PMID- 20942170
TI  - [Anti-survivin and anti-livin antibodies].

PMID- 20942171
TI  - [Anti-Sp100 antibody].

PMID- 20942172
TI  - [Anti-type II collagen autoantibody].

PMID- 20942173
TI  - [Anti-sulfatide antibody].

PMID- 20942174
TI  - [On basic blood phenotype of Japanese].

PMID- 20942175
TI  - [Clinical significance of screening test for irregular antibodies].

PMID- 20942176
TI  - [ABO blood group and subtypes].

PMID- 20942177
TI  - [Rh blood group system and Rh antibodies].

PMID- 20942178
TI  - [MNSs blood group system and antibodies(anti-M, -N, -S and -S antibodies)].

PMID- 20942179
TI  - [P blood group system and P antibodies].

PMID- 20942180
TI  - [Lutheran blood group system].

PMID- 20942181
TI  - [Lewis blood group system and their antibodies].

PMID- 20942182
TI  - [Kell blood group system].

PMID- 20942183
TI  - [Duffy blood group system].

PMID- 20942184
TI  - [Kidd blood group system and antibodies].

PMID- 20942185
TI  - [Diego blood system and Diego antibodies].

PMID- 20942186
TI  - [Xg blood group antigen and anti-Xg antibody].

PMID- 20942187
TI  - [Ii blood group system].

PMID- 20942188
TI  - [Ok(a) antigen and anti-Ok(a) antibody].

PMID- 20942189
TI  - [Cross matching test (including lymphocyte cross matching test, platelet cross
      matching test)].

PMID- 20942190
TI  - [Galactosaminyltransferase activity test].

PMID- 20942191
TI  - [Direct and indirect anti-globulin (Coombs) test].

PMID- 20942192
TI  - [Anti-D human immunoglobulin test].

PMID- 20942193
TI  - [Adsorption-elution test of red blood cells].

PMID- 20942194
TI  - [Donath-Landsteiner test].

PMID- 20942195
TI  - [Test for blood group incompatibility in pregnancy].

PMID- 20942196
TI  - [Anti-immunoglobulin A antibody].

PMID- 20942197
TI  - [Introduction for HLA typing: variety of antigens, condition of sample
      collection, applications of testing, and clinical significance].

PMID- 20942198
TI  - [Serological typing of HLA].

PMID- 20942199
TI  - [Mixed lymphocyte culture].

PMID- 20942200
TI  - [DNA typing of HLA alleles].

PMID- 20942201
TI  - [Analysis of HLA chimerism].

PMID- 20942202
TI  - [Flow cytometric analysis of cell surface antigens].

PMID- 20942203
TI  - [Flow cytometric cell analysis by surface antigen according to CD grouping].

PMID- 20942204
TI  - [Blast gating method for flow cytometric analysis of leukemia].

PMID- 20942205
TI  - [Percentage of human T-, B-cells].

PMID- 20942206
TI  - [Percentage of T cells bearing receptors for IgG or IgM Fc portion].

PMID- 20942207
TI  - [B lymphocyte surface membrane immunoglobulin].

PMID- 20942208
TI  - [Natural killer cell activity, lymphokine activated killer cell activity (LAK
      activity), and killer-helper factors (KHF)].

PMID- 20942209
TI  - [Neutrophil functions].

PMID- 20942210
TI  - [The Bernardino Ramazzini lectures. Introduction].

PMID- 20942211
TI  - [1st lecture. Held at Modena on 5 November 1682 at the grand re-opening of the
      Academy of Modena by the most serene Francesco II, 10th duke of Modena, Reggio,
      and other regions].

PMID- 20942212
TI  - [2d lecture. "Secular." The 1st held by the author in the Atheneum of Padua, 12
      December 1700].

PMID- 20942213
TI  - [3d lecture. Held on 12 November 1701.] Medical care has more success with the
      common people than with the nobility or the aged].

PMID- 20942214
TI  - [4th lecture. Held on 6 November 1702. The true theory and praxis for fevers
      ought to be counted among the desirable things].

PMID- 20942215
TI  - [5th lecture. Held on 4 November 1703. The art of medicine is similar to
      navigation].

PMID- 20942216
TI  - [6th lecture. Held on 12 November 1704. It is very important for the practicing
      physician to know what men's general opinion of him is].

PMID- 20942217
TI  - [7th lecture. Held on 15 November 1705. The physician perfects himself by
      studying the old and the new].

PMID- 20942218
TI  - [8th lecture. Held on 5 November 1706. In the practice of medicine, simple
      remedies are to be preferred over complex preparations].

PMID- 20942219
TI  - [9th lecture. Held near the Atheneum of Padua on 5 November 1707. Theoretical
      Medicine has no right to aspire to lording it over Practical Medicine].

PMID- 20942220
TI  - [10th lecture. Held on 6 November 1708. Medicine gleaned from Sacred Scripture].

PMID- 20942221
TI  - [11th lecture. Held on 8 May 1709. The coldest winter condition of 1709].

PMID- 20942222
TI  - [12th lecture. Held in the month of November, 1710. Medicine begins to be
      neglected when it should be more esteemed].

PMID- 20942223
TI  - [13th lecture. Held on 9 November 1711].

PMID- 20942224
TI  - [14th lecture. Held on 6 November 1712. The physician in delicate health is more
      fit to practice Medicine than one who lives with unquestionable health].

PMID- 20942225
TI  - [15th lecture. Held on 20 November 1713].

PMID- 20942226
TI  - [16th lecture. Held in the month of November, 1714. Medical travel, while not
      indispensible, is at least very useful for gaining oneself skill in the art and
      fame].

PMID- 20942227
TI  - WHO Study Group on Tobacco Product Regulation. Report on the scientific basis of
      tobacco product regulation: third report of a WHO Study Group.
AB  - This report presents the conclusions reached and recommendations made by the
      members of the WHO Study Group on Tobacco Product Regulation at its fifth
      meeting, during which it reviewed two background papers specially commissioned
      for the meeting and which dealt, respectively, with the following two themes. 1.
      Devices designed for the purpose of nicotine delivery to the respiratory system
      in which tobacco is not necessary for their operation. 2. Setting regulatory
      limits for carcinogens in smokeless tobacco. The Study Group's recommendations in
      relation to each theme are set out at the end of the section dealing with that
      theme; its overall recommendations are summarized in section 4.

PMID- 20942228
TI  - Evaluation of certain food additives. Seventy-first report of the Joint FAO/WHO
      Expert Committee on Food Additives.
AB  - This report represents the conclusions of a Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee
      convened to evaluate the safety of various food additives, with a view to
      recommending acceptable daily intakes (ADIs) and to preparing specifications for
      identity and purity. The first part of the report contains a general discussion
      of the principles governing the toxicological evaluation and assessment of intake
      of food additives. A summary follows of the Committee's evaluations of technical,
      toxicological and intake data for certain food additives: branching
      glycosyltransferase from Rhodothermus obamensis expressed in Bacillus subtilis,
      cassia gum, cyclamic acid and its salts (dietary exposure assessment),
      cyclotetraglucose and cyclotetraglucose syrup, ferrous ammonium phosphate,
      glycerol ester of gum rosin, glycerol ester of tall oil rosin, lycopene from all
      sources, lycopene extract from tomato, mineral oil (low and medium viscosity)
      class II and class III, octenyl succinic acid modified gum arabic, sodium
      hydrogen sulfate and sucrose oligoesters type I and type II. Specifications for
      the following food additives were revised: diacetyltartaric acid and fatty acid
      esters of glycerol, ethyl lauroyl arginate, glycerol ester of wood rosin, nisin
      preparation, nitrous oxide, pectins, starch sodium octenyl succinate, tannic
      acid, titanium dioxide and triethyl citrate. Annexed to the report are tables
      summarizing the Committee's recommendations for intakes and toxicological
      evaluations of the food additives considered.

PMID- 20942229
TI  - Images of older people in UK magazine advertising: toward a typology.
AB  - The use of images of older people in the British advertising media has been under
      researched to date. Further, previous research in any country has tended to
      examine such images from an a priori framework of general impressions and
      stereotypes of older people. This study addresses these issues with British
      consumers' (n = 106) impressions, trait ascriptions, and similarity-between
      images ratings of a representative sample of U.K. magazine advertisements
      featuring older characters. After a series of sorting task laboratory sessions,
      multidimensional scaling and hierarchical cluster analyses revealed four clearly
      defined groups representing types of portrayals. These types emerged from the
      advertisements and from the views of the consumers themselves. These emergent
      groupings are: (1) Frail and Vulnerable, (2) Happy and Affluent, (3) Mentors, (4)
      Active and Leisure-oriented older adults. These groupings seem to be a logical
      context-appropriate derivation from previous findings on generally held
      stereotypes of older persons. It is argued that the groupings have the potential
      to contribute to a reliable typology of advertising portrayals of older people,
      with potential heuristic leverage in social scientific research of
      intergenerational communication, lifespan concerns, and the aging process.

PMID- 20942230
TI  - Social support and its correlation with loneliness: a cross-cultural study of
      Nepalese older adults.
AB  - The aim of this study was to analyze the situation of social support exchange
      among elderly men and women and to study the cross-cultural validity of
      predictors of loneliness in two Nepalese castes/ethnicities of older adults. Data
      for this study were taken from a cross-sectional study of the elderly at least 60
      years old living in one ward of Kathmandu City, conducted in 2005. Loneliness was
      measured using a three-item loneliness scale based on the University of
      California at Los Angeles (UCLA) Loneliness Scale. Sources of social support were
      classified as spouse, children living with their elders, children living apart,
      and friends/neighbors. Study findings indicate that the main social support
      exchange for the elderly was with adult children living together, spouse, and
      friends/neighbors. Results also show gender difference in social support.
      Significant variables of loneliness were social support received from spouse,
      social support provided to spouse, and children living together with both elderly
      parents. This finding shows there is a high degree of cross-cultural invariance
      in the predictor sources of social support on loneliness among two Nepalese
      castes/ethnicities older adults.

PMID- 20942231
TI  - Safety and security of older persons in Tehran, Iran: a sociological appraisal of
      elder abuse.
AB  - The article explores and evaluates the quality of life, safety, and security of
      elderly people in Tehran City in Iran. In that, different dimensions of material
      and social well-being, and abuse of people of the age 65 and above, are assessed.
      Besides the human rights, the dignity, and the gradual decline of the elderly's
      social security are reflected. The research also aims to study the elder age
      groups in order to find out how these people gradually lose their physical and
      mental reliance, and as a result, how their dependence on others and various
      services enhances. The method of research mainly being empirical, it is preceded
      by theoretical and literature review. Five hundred elderly people were randomly
      selected for the study. Findings suggest that the aging pyramid shrinks and
      narrows at the age of 65 or even before in the present study. Research reached
      the conclusion that the young elderly with new needs and expectations are highly
      different from those of their pervious generations.

PMID- 20942232
TI  - Psychometric properties of the Reminiscence Functions Scale for the Portuguese
      population: a preliminary report.
AB  - The aim of the present study was to assess the psychometric properties of a
      version in Portuguese of the Reminiscence Functions Scale. Total sample was
      composed of 628 participants aged between 18 and 92 years, divided into three
      groups according to their age (18-24 years, n = 249; 26-54 years, n = 174; 55 and
      older, n = 205). Results indicated a five-factor solution for the Portuguese
      version of the Reminiscence Functions Scale, which accounted for 54% of the
      variance with good internal consistency (mean alpha = 0.86). Age and gender
      differences emerged regarding reminiscence functions. These results demonstrate
      that, while significant cultural differences exist, the psychometric properties
      of the Reminiscence Functions Scale are adequate for the Portuguese population.

PMID- 20942233
TI  - [Study of mRNA expression level and hypermethylation of CHFR promoter in the
      laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma tissue].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To explore the relationship between the level of expression and
      hypermethylation of the CHFR gene and the occurrence and development of laryngeal
      squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC). METHOD: The mRNA expression and promoter
      hypermethylation were detected by Realtime fluro-genetic quantitative PCR and
      methylation specific PCR in 50 LSCCs (LSCC group) and 15 normal laryngeal tissue
      (control group). RESULT: 1) CHFR mRNA was shown in the control group, while the
      mRNA was loss expression in the 2 LSCC (4%), and the level of mRNA expression was
      significantly lower in the LSCC group. The relative ratio was 0.50 +/- 0.12,
      which is 0.30 +/- 0.04 at the early stage of the LSCC and 0.70 +/- 0.21 at the
      advanced stage, respectively. The discrepancy had statistical significance
      (P<0.01). 2) The methylation rate of CHFR was 22% (11/50) in the LSCC tissues,
      which was not found in the normal tissues. The aberrant methylation of CHFR was
      observed in 10 of the patients at the stage I and stage II of LSCC , in 1 of the
      patients at the stage III, and was absent at the stage IV. There was significant
      difference between the aberrant methylation of CHFR and the stage of carcinoma
      (P<0.01). 3) The mRNA expression level of the aberrant methylation patients was
      0.11 +/- 0.05, which was significantly lower than that of the unmethylation
      patients 0.75 +/- 0.13. Gene inactivation was observed in 2 of the 11 patients
      with the aberrant promoter methylation. The methylation was associated with the
      expression of mRNA, with the correlation coefficient 0.387 (P<0.05). CONCLUSION:
      Hypermethylation of CHFR gene promoter is associated with loss or lower
      expression of CHFR mRNA in the LSCCs, and it may contribute to the occurrence and
      development of LSCC. The promoter aberrant methylation of CHFR may be one of the
      early diagnostic and therapeutic marker genes.

PMID- 20942234
TI  - [Study of the expression of nuclear factor-kappa B, matrix metalloproteinase-3, 
      9 on nasopharyngeal carcinoma and their clinical significance].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To test the expression of NF-kappaB/p65, MMP-3 and MMP-9 in
      nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), and analyze their relationship and the clinical
      significance. METHOD: All samples were examined for the expression of NF
      kappaB/p65, MMP-3 and MMP-9 by streptavidin-peroxidase immunohistochemistry. Chi2
      test and Spearman-test were used to exam the correlation within them and the
      expression difference between nasopharyngeal carcinoma and normal nasopharyngeal
      mucosa. RESULT: Positive expression rate of NF-kappaB/p65 in nasopharyngeal
      carcinoma was 78.0%; positive expressions rate of MMP-3 and MMP-9 in
      nasopharyngeal carcinoma were 75.6%. There was positive relationship between NF
      kappaB/p65, MMP-3, MMP-9 and N stage. The expression of NF-kappaB/p65 showed a
      significant positive correlation with the expression of MMP-3 and MMP-9. MMP-3
      also had a significant positive correlation with MMP-9. CONCLUSION: The result
      suggests that NF-kappaB/p65, MMP-3 and MMP-9 are highly expressed in
      nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells. Their expression is correlated with lymph nodes
      metastasis, but do not have relationship with sex, age, pathological
      classification and clinical stage. Each of them has positive correlation with the
      others.

PMID- 20942235
TI  - [Significance of Oct-4's expression in thyroid neoplasm].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To discuss the meanings of Oct-4's expression in thyroid adenoma,
      thyroid papillary carcinoma, thyroid follicular carcinoma, and medullary thyroid
      carcinoma. METHOD: We examined the expression of Oct-4 in 15 thyroid adenoma, 30
      thyroid papillary carcinomas, 2 thyroid follicular carcinomas, and 3 medullary
      thyroid carcinomas using immunofluorescence. RESULT: Oct-4 expression was
      observed in all the thyroid-related diseases mentioned above. In thyroid
      papillary carcinomas, the expression of Oct-4 were higher than that in thyroid
      adenoma, and had no obvious relationship with the patients age, sex, the size and
      location of tumor and tumor metastasis. CONCLUSION: The formation of the thyroid
      carcinomas may be concerned with the stem cells in thyroid. There are more stem
      cells in medullary thyroid carcinomas and follicular carcinomas.

PMID- 20942236
TI  - [Expression and significance of integrins subunits in laryngeal squamous cell
      carcinoma].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study was to investigate the expression and significance of
      Integrins subunits in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC). METHOD: The
      expression of Integrins subunits was detected by cDNA microarray in 4 cases of
      primary LSCC tissues and corresponding adjacent normal tissues. Semi-quantitative
      reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) were used to identify
      the different expression of Integrins subunits in 24 cases of primary LSCC
      tissues and corresponding adjacent normal tissues. RESULT: A cDNA microarray
      analysis revealed significant changes in the expression of Integrins subunits,
      with IntegrinalphaV, Integrinbeta8 being up-regulated and Integrinalpha8 being
      down-regulated. The result of RT-PCR was consistent with that of cDNA microarray.
      The mRNA levels of IntegrinalphaV and Integrinbeta8 were significantly higher in
      LSCC tissues than that in corresponding adjacent normal tissues (1.0131 +/-
      0.4780 vs 0.7591 +/- 0.4678 for IntegrinalphaV, P<0.05, 1.7362 +/- 1.3849 vs
      1.2267 +/- 0.9363 for Integrinbeta8, P<0.05). The mRNA levels of Integrinalpha8
      were significantly lower in LSCC tissues than that in corresponding adjacent
      normal tissues (0.2646 +/- 0.2622 vs 0.5457 +/- 0.3827, P<0.05). CONCLUSION: The
      expression of IntegrinalphaV, Integrinbeta8, Integrinalpha8 were significantly up
      regulated or down-regulated in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma, which may
      relate to tumorigenesis and development of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma.

PMID- 20942237
TI  - [Expression of SSTR2 and P-STAT3 in human olfactory neuroblastoma].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To detect the expression and relationship between somatostatin
      receptor 2 (SSTR2) and phosphorylated STAT3 (P-STAT3) in human olfactory
      neuroblastoma (ONB) and adjacent normal olfactory nerve tissue. METHOD:
      Immunohistochemical (IHC) staining was used to detect the expression of SSTR2 and
      P-STAT3 in tumor and adjacent normal olfactory nerve tissue from 11 ONB patients.
      RESULT: SSTR2 was mainly expressed in cell cytoplasm and the expression intensity
      was significantly stronger in tumor tissues than in adjacent normal tissues
      (P<0.01). P-STAT3 was mainly expressed in cell nuclear in tumor tissues. No
      expression was found in adjacent normal tissues. There was a negative correlation
      between the expression intensity of SSTR2 and P-STAT3 (r(s) = -0.367, P<0.05).
      CONCLUSION: Lower expression of SSTR2 and activation of STAT3 in ONB cells might
      contribute to the development of ONB.

PMID- 20942238
TI  - [More exploration on endoscopic rhinoplasty and septoplasty].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Exploring a method of rhinoplasty and septoplasty to get better nasal
      function and aesthetic effect. METHOD: 1) Using endoscopic rhinoplasty and
      septoplasty, separating the joint of quadrangular cartilage and the bones around
      it, resecting vertical and horizontal strip of the deviated septal cartilage and
      fracturing the deviated septal bones and reconstructing them with three layers
      (mucosa-cartilage or bone-mucosa), positing the reconstructed septum in the
      middle between two lateral walls of nasal cavity, proper space between septum and
      turbinates was maintained. 2) The caudal part of quadrangular cartilage was
      resected and placed in the columella pocket between the two medial parts of the
      alar cartilage and the supporting function of the septal cartilage was
      maintained. RESULT: Compared with traditional nasal septal reconstruction
      surgery, our method got better functional and aesthetic outcome. CONCLUSION: The
      anatomic three layers were preserved in our method, thus it is better than the
      traditional methods. The caudal septal cartilage should be used as the perfect
      material in rhinoplasty.

PMID- 20942239
TI  - [Usefulness of intraoperative bronchial lavage in infant patients of bronchial
      foreign bodies with subsequent pneumonia].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To observe the effect of bronchial lavage (BL) on infant bronchial
      foreign bodies with pneumonia during the bronchoscopic surgery, and assess its
      clinical value. METHOD: One hundred and twenty-three cases aged between 1-3 years
      were randomly divided into two groups. The control group (n=58) underwent rigid
      bronchoscopic retrieval of foreign bodies under general anaesthesia, and the BL
      group (n=65) received an additional BL using 1% lidocaine (2 ml) with 1:100000
      epinephrine, and 0.125% metronidazole (5 ml) during the bronchoscopic procedure.
      We compared intraoperative complications and postoperative recovery time between
      the two groups. RESULT: The incidence rate of complications in the BL group was
      significantly lower than that in the control group (P<0.05). An earlier recovery
      after surgery was achieved in the BL group (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Intraoperative
      BL is a safe and effective therapy for reducing the incidence of complications
      and improving the recovery in infant patients of bronchial foreign bodies with
      subsequent pneumonia.

PMID- 20942240
TI  - [Application value of dual-source CT in the diagnosis of suspicious airway
      foreign bodies in children].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the clinical value of dual-source computer tomography in
      the diagnosis of suspicious airway foreign bodies in children. METHOD: Twenty-two
      children of suspicious airway foreign bodies were examined by DSCT. The original
      scanning data were reconstructed with MPR, MinP, CTVE and VR. The results were
      compared with surgical findings. RESULT: The position, size, shape and
      accompanying signs of foreign bodies were clearly demonstrated by DSCT. Twenty
      cases were diagnosed as foreign bodies in the airway by DSCT. Nineteen cases were
      confirmed as foreign bodies. Purulent discharge was found by bronchoscopy in 1
      case. The rate of conformed diagnosis was 95%. CONCLUSION: DSCT can demonstrate
      the foreign body clearly and play an important role in the diagnosis of
      suspicious airway foreign body in children.

PMID- 20942241
TI  - [Inhibition of the expression of VEGF gene in nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells by
      microRNA].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To explore the regulative effect of expression of VEGF gene in
      nasopharyngeal carcinoma, and to discuss the future application of microRNA in
      the gene therapy for nasopharyngeal carcinoma. METHOD: We constructed the
      recombination miRNA plasmid vectors which target VEGF gene and plasmids were
      transfected into CNE-2 cells by using Lipofectamine 2000 Reagent. The VEGF mRNA
      and VEGF protein were detected by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction
      (RT-PCR) and Western blotting respectively. WST-8 assay was used to determine the
      inhibitory effect of microRNA on cell growth. Stable cell lines and wild type CNE
      2 cell line were inoculated to subcutis of nude mice to establish animal models.
      The tumor growth and volume were observed. RESULT: After the transfection of CNE
      2 cells , the expressions of VEGF mRNA and VEGF protein were down-regulated at
      different degree. Whereas, CNE-2 cell growth showed no change by observation of
      fluorescence microscopy, and cell proliferation was not inhibited in WST-8 assay.
      However, in vivo, growth of xenograft was inhibited in preliminary experiments of
      nude mice. CONCLUSION: By miRNA plasmid constructed artificially, miRNA can
      effectively interfere nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells by down-regulating the
      expressions of VEGF gene, therefore can inhibit the growth of tumor xenografted
      in vivo. Future application of microRNA in the gene therapy of nasopharyngeal
      carcinoma might be expected.

PMID- 20942242
TI  - [Mass disasters with higher quantity of dead bodies and DVIT concept in the Czech
      Republic].
AB  - Authors deal with problems related to identification of higher number of dead
      bodies in cases of mass disaster, organization and DVI (disaster victim
      identification) teams assignment in the Czech Republic, interoperation with so
      called Integrated Rescue System and cooperation between experts by mass disaster
      solution. The paper comes out from investigation of the research project and the
      main principles for organization of operations in victims identification of mass
      disaster are mentioned.

PMID- 20942243
TI  - Some possibilities in the diagnosis of early acute ischaemic changes in the heart
      muscle in sudden death.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Ischaemic heart disease is the leading cause of death in
      industrialised countries. Sudden death accounts for approximately 2/3 of
      autopsies in forensic medicine, which is why the accurate diagnosis of IHD and
      first of all acute myocardial ischaemia is so important. On certain occasions in
      forensic medical practice it is difficult to diagnose AMI from morphological
      observation alone. In such cases, complementary diagnostic techniques, such as
      the determination of biochemical markers of the necrosis of the heart muscle
      (myoglobin, troponin I and creatine kinase) in cadaver fluids, take on special
      importance, so we decided to test the diagnostic evaluation of postmortem cTnl,
      myoglobin and creatine kinase determination in serum and pericardial fluid.
      Recently, cardiac troponins have gained attention as very specific markers of
      myocardial cell injury, and the European Society of Cardiology and the American
      College of Cardiology have suggested that these proteins should be preferred
      markers for the diagnosis of the necrosis of heart muscle. METHODS: We studied 71
      cadavers, which were divided into 2 groups. The first group (38 cases) consisted
      of people where the acute myocardial infarction was the only cause of death (the
      myocardial lesion could be easily detected by macroscopic examination or by
      formazan test, other causes of death were excluded and the constriction or
      obturation of the coronary arteries was detected). The second group (non-AMI
      deaths) was formed by 4 cases of cardiac failure, 6 cases of intracerebral
      haemorrhage, 5 cases of pulmonary embolism, 7 cases of asphyxia (4 hangings, 1
      traumatic asphyxia, 2 drownings), 3 cases of brain contusion, 2 cases of carbon
      monoxide poisoning, 1 case of cyanide poisoning, 1 case of alcohol poisoning, 1
      case of epilepsy, 1 case of bronchopneumonia, 1 case of hyperglycaemic coma and 1
      case of exsanguination. RESULTS: The values of creatine kinase and myoglobin were
      increased in all cases (100%) of AMI-deaths and non-AMI deaths in blood and
      pericardial fluid and there was no statistically significant difference between
      these groups. Troponin I was increased in all cases of both groups in pericardial
      fluid, and again there was no significant difference in concentration between
      both groups. In blood, troponin I was increased by 87% in the group of AMI deaths
      and in 91% of non-AMI deaths. There was no significant statistical difference
      between the groups and there was no difference in concentration either.
      CONCLUSION: We did not find a statistically significant difference in pericardial
      fluid or in serum for cTnl, CK-MB and myoglobin between the group of AMI deaths
      and the group of non-AMI deaths and we cannot confirm the diagnostic efficacy of
      these biochemical markers in the postmortem diagnosis of acute myocardial
      infarction.

PMID- 20942244
TI  - [3,5-dimethoxyfenol--marker intoxication with Taxus baccata].
AB  - Autopsy findings of fatal intoxication with yew (Taxus baccata) are nonspecific.
      A presence of plant residues in the digestive tract can signalize yew
      intoxication. If yew decoction is consumed, plant residues are not found. In such
      a case the intoxication can be signalized by the presence of 3,5-dimethoxyphenol
      in biological material. Authors of this article describe the proof and
      quantification of the 3,5-dimethoxyphenol in two cases of fatal intoxication with
      yew. In both cases the liquid/liquid extraction and solid phase extraction was
      used. Extracts obtained from the acidic and basic environment were analysed.
      Extracts from the acidic environment were methylated and the extracts from the
      basic environment were acetylated. The analyses were carried out by gas
      chromatography/mass spectrometry. In the blood of both intoxicated persons the
      presence of 3,5-dimethoxyphenol was proved and its concentration 82 ng/ml and 417
      ng/ml was quantificated. In both cases the presence of 3,5-dimethoxyphenol was
      also proved in the gastric contents and urine.

PMID- 20942245
TI  - [Sexual assault in the woman].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Retrospective analysis of the population of women examined for
      suspicion of sexual assault to compare the situation in the Czech Republic with
      the world's published works. DESIGN: Retrospective analysis. SETTING: Department
      of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 1st Medical Faculty of Charles University and the
      Faculty Hospital Na Bulovce Prague. METHODS: Retrospective analysis of medical
      reports for all women examined for suspicion of sexual violence during the period
      from January 2007 to December 2008. RESULTS: During observed period 37 women were
      examined, average age of examined women was 26.2 years, range 15-51 years, 76% of
      females younger than 29 years, 16% of examined women were from abroad. We have
      found no differences in occurrence throughout the year. In 3 cases there were
      more aggressors, in 30% of cases the alleged perpetrator was a known person or
      relative. In 54% of cases completed vaginal intercourse with ejaculation
      allegedly took place. We detected one case of forced oral sex and one case of
      forced anal sex. In 19% touching was involved. 22% of women did not know whether
      coitus really occurred--in 14% the alleged victim was under the influence of
      alcohol, in 3 cases under the influence of drugs, including one case of drinking
      an unknown substance in a beverage. Obvious signs of violence were found in 27%
      of cases, of which mostly in the face (14%), the extremities (8%) and only in two
      cases on the genitals (5%). No woman did require medical treatment of injuries.
      CONCLUSION: Our experience is similar to the published world data. In our group
      there were more strangers among the perpetrators. We did not record any use of a
      weapon in the enforcement of sexual contact. It is necessary to examine the
      alleged victims whole body thoroughly, signs of violence were more frequent in
      extragenital localization.

PMID- 20942246
TI  - Preface to the special issue on collaboration, Coordination, and adaptation in
      complex sociotechnical settings.

PMID- 20942247
TI  - Care coordination in intensive care units: communicating across information
      spaces.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study explores the interactions among phases of team
      coordination, patient-related information, decision-making levels, and role
      holders in intensive care units (ICUs). BACKGROUND: The effects of communication
      improvement initiatives on adverse patient events or improved outcomes have been
      difficult to establish. Conceptual inconsistencies and methodological
      shortcomings suggest insufficient understanding about clinical communication and
      care coordination. METHOD: Data were collected by shadowing a charge nurse,
      fellow, resident, and nurse in each of eight ICUs and recording each of their
      conversations during 12 hrs (32 role holders during 350 hrs). RESULTS:
      Hierarchical log linear analyses show statistically significant three-way
      interactions between the patient information, phases of team coordination, and
      decision levels, chi2(df = 75) = 212, p < .0001; between roles, phases of team
      coordination, and decision levels, chi2(df = 60) = 109, p < .0001; and between
      roles, patient information, and decision levels, chi2(df = 60) = 155, p < .0001.
      Differences among levels of the variables were evaluated with the use of
      standardized parameter estimates and 95% confidence intervals. CONCLUSION: ICU
      communication and care coordination involve complex decision structures and role
      interactions across two information spaces. Different role holders mediate
      vertical and lateral process flows with goals and directions representing an
      important conceptual transition. However, lateral isolation within decision
      levels (charge nurses) and information overload (residents) are potential
      communication and care coordination vulnerabilities. Results are consistent with
      and extend the findings of previous studies. APPLICATION: The profile of ICU
      communication and care coordination provides a systemic framework that may inform
      future interventions and research.

PMID- 20942248
TI  - Nonlinear dynamics of team performance and adaptability in emergency response.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The impact of team size and performance feedback on adaptation levels
      and performance of emergency response (ER) teams was examined to introduce a
      metric for quantifying adaptation levels based on nonlinear dynamical systems
      (NDS) theory. BACKGROUND: NDS principles appear in reports surrounding Hurricane
      Katrina, earthquakes, floods, a disease epidemic, and the Southeast Asian
      tsunami. They are also intrinsic to coordination within teams, adaptation levels,
      and performance in dynamic decision processes. METHOD: Performance was measured
      in a dynamic decision task in which ER teams of different sizes worked against an
      attacker who was trying to destroy a city (total N = 225 undergraduates). The
      complexity of teams' and attackers' adaptation strategies and the role of the
      opponents' performance were assessed by nonlinear regression analysis. RESULTS:
      An optimal group size for team performance was identified. Teams were more
      readily influenced by the attackers' performance than vice versa. The adaptive
      capabilities of attackers and teams were impaired by their opponents in some
      conditions. CONCLUSION: ER teams should be large enough to contribute a critical
      mass of ideas but not so large that coordination would be compromised. ER teams
      used self-organized strategies that could have been more adaptive, whereas
      attackers used chaotic strategies. APPLICATIONS: The model and results are
      applicable to ER processes or training maneuvers involving dynamic decisions but
      could be limited to nonhierarchical groups.

PMID- 20942249
TI  - The breakdown of coordinated decision making in distributed systems.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This article aims to explore the nature and resolution of breakdowns
      in coordinated decision making in distributed safety-critical systems.
      BACKGROUND: In safety-critical domains, people with different roles and
      responsibilities often must work together to make coordinated decisions while
      geographically distributed. Although there is likely to be a large degree of
      overlap in the shared mental models of these people on the basis of procedures
      and experience, subtle differences may exist. METHOD: Study 1 involves using
      Aviation Safety Reporting System reports to explore the ways in which coordinated
      decision making breaks down between pilots and air traffic controllers and the
      way in which the breakdowns are resolved. Study 2 replicates and extends those
      findings with the use of transcripts from the Apollo 13 National Aeronautics and
      Space Administration space mission. RESULTS: Across both studies, breakdowns were
      caused in part by different types of lower-level breakdowns (or disconnects),
      which are labeled as operational, informational, or evaluative. Evaluative
      disconnects were found to be significantly harder to resolve than other types of
      disconnects. CONCLUSION: Considering breakdowns according to the type of
      disconnect involved appears to capture useful information that should assist
      accident and incident investigators. The current trend in aviation of shifting
      responsibilities and providing increasingly more information to pilots may have a
      hidden cost of increasing evaluative disconnects. APPLICATION: The proposed
      taxonomy facilitates the investigation of breakdowns in coordinated decision
      making and draws attention to the importance of considering subtle differences
      between participants' mental models when considering complex distributed systems.

PMID- 20942250
TI  - Exploring asynchronous brainstorming in large groups: a field comparison of
      serial and parallel subgroups.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to compare the results of two different
      modes of using multiple groups (instead of one large group) to identify problems
      and develop solutions. BACKGROUND: Many of the complex problems facing
      organizations today require the use of very large groups or collaborations of
      groups from multiple organizations. There are many logistical problems associated
      with the use of such large groups, including the ability to bring everyone
      together at the same time and location. METHODS: A field study involved two
      different organizations and compared productivity and satisfaction of group. The
      approaches included (a) multiple small groups, each completing the entire process
      from start to end and combining the results at the end (parallel mode); and (b)
      multiple subgroups, each building on the work provided by previous subgroups
      (serial mode). RESULTS: Groups using the serial mode produced more elaborations
      compared with parallel groups, whereas parallel groups produced more unique ideas
      compared with serial groups. No significant differences were found related to
      satisfaction with process and outcomes between the two modes. CONCLUSION:
      Preferred mode depends on the type of task facing the group. Parallel groups are
      more suited for tasks for which a variety of new ideas are needed, whereas serial
      groups are best suited when elaboration and in-depth thinking on the solution are
      required. APPLICATION: Results of this research can guide the development of
      facilitated sessions of large groups or "teams of teams."

PMID- 20942251
TI  - Toward an understanding of macrocognition in teams: predicting processes in
      complex collaborative contexts.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This article presents a model for predicting complex collaborative
      processes as they arise in one-of-a-kind problem-solving situations to predict
      performance outcomes. The goal is to outline a set of key processes and their
      interrelationship and to describe how these can be used to predict collaboration
      processes embedded within problem-solving contexts. BACKGROUND: Teams are
      increasingly called upon to address complex problem-solving tasks in novel
      situations. This represents a domain of performance that to date has been
      underrepresented in the research literature. METHOD: Multidisciplinary
      theoretical and empirical literature relating to knowledge work in teams is
      synthesized. RESULTS: A set of propositions developed to guide research into how
      teams externalize cognition and build knowledge in service of problem solving is
      presented. First, a brief overview of macrocognition in teams is provided to
      distinguish the present work from other views of team cognition. Second, a
      description of the foundational theoretical concepts driving the theory of
      macrocognition in teams presented here is provided. Third, a set of propositions
      described within the context of a model of macrocognition in teams is forwarded.
      CONCLUSION: The theoretical framework described in this article provides a set of
      empirically testable propositions that can ultimately guide practitioners in
      efforts to support macrocognition in teams. APPLICATION: A theory of
      macrocognition in teams can provide guidance for the development of training
      interventions and the design of collaborative tools to facilitate knowledge-based
      performance in teams.

PMID- 20942252
TI  - Choosing autonomy modes for multirobot search.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The number of robots an operator can supervise increases with the
      robots' level of autonomy. The reported study investigates multirobot foraging to
      identify aspects of the task most suitable for automation. BACKGROUND: Many
      envisioned applications of robotics involve multirobot teams. One of the simplest
      of these applications is foraging, in which robots are operated independently to
      explore and discover targets. Depending on levels of autonomy and task, operators
      have been found able to manage 3 to 12 robots. METHOD: The foraging task can be
      functionally subdivided into visiting new regions and identifying targets. In the
      reported experiment, full-task foraging performance was compared with exploration
      and perceptual search performance for 4-, 8-, and 12-robot teams in a between
      groups repeated measures design. RESULTS: Operators in the full-task condition
      could not successfully manage 12 robots, finding only half as many victims as
      perceptual search operators. Exploration performance was roughly the same in the
      full-task and exploration conditions, suggesting that performance of this subtask
      was limiting the number of robots that could be controlled. CONCLUSION:
      Performance and workload measures indicate that exploration (navigation) tasks
      are the limiting factor in multirobot foraging. This finding suggests that robot
      navigation is the best candidate for automation. APPLICATION: Search tasks, such
      as foraging or perimeter control, account for many of the near-term applications
      envisioned for multirobot teams. The results support the choice of task-centered
      architectures in which the control and coordination of robotic platforms is
      automated, leaving search and identification of targets to human operators.

PMID- 20942253
TI  - An empirical analysis of team coordination behaviors and action planning with
      application to human-robot teaming.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We conducted an empirical analysis of human teamwork to investigate
      the ways teammates incorporate coordination behaviors, including verbal and
      nonverbal cues, into their action planning. BACKGROUND: In space, military,
      aviation, and medical industries, teams of people effectively coordinate to
      perform complex tasks under stress induced by uncertainty, ambiguity, and time
      pressure. As robots increasingly are introduced into these domains, we seek to
      understand effective human-team coordination to inform natural and effective
      human-robot coordination. METHOD: We conducted teamwork experiments in which
      teams of two people performed a complex task, involving ordering, timing, and
      resource constraints. Half the teams performed under time pressure, and half
      performed without time pressure. We cataloged the coordination behaviors used by
      each team and analyzed the speed of response and specificity of each coordination
      behavior. RESULTS: Analysis shows that teammates respond to explicit cues,
      including commands meant to control actions, more quickly than implicit cues,
      which include short verbal and gestural attention getters and status updates.
      Analysis also shows that nearly all explicit cues and implicit gestural cues were
      used to refer to one specific action, whereas approximately half of implicit cues
      did not often refer to one specific action. CONCLUSION: These results provide
      insight into how human teams use coordination behaviors in their action planning.
      For example, implicit cues seem to offer the teammate flexibility on when to
      perform the indicated action, whereas explicit cues seem to demand immediate
      response. APPLICATION: We discuss how these findings inform the design of more
      natural and fluid human-robot teaming.

PMID- 20942254
TI  - Can cultural differences lead to accidents? Team cultural differences and
      sociotechnical system operations.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: I discuss cultural factors and how they may influence sociotechnical
      system operations. BACKGROUND: Investigations of several major transportation
      accidents suggest that cultural factors may have played a role in the causes of
      the accidents. However, research has not fully addressed how cultural factors can
      influence sociotechnical systems. METHOD: I review literature on cultural
      differences in general and cultural factors in sociotechnical systems and discuss
      how these differences can affect team performance in sociotechnical systems.
      RESULTS: Cultural differences have been observed in social and interpersonal
      dimensions and in cognitive and perceptual styles; these differences can affect
      multioperator team performance. CONCLUSION: Cultural factors may account for team
      errors in sociotechnical systems, most likely during high-workload, high-stress
      operational phases. However, much of the research on cultural factors has
      methodological and interpretive shortcomings that limit their applicability to
      sociotechnical systems. APPLICATION: Although some research has been conducted on
      the role of cultural differences on team performance in sociotechnical system
      operations, considerable work remains to be done before the effects of these
      differences can be fully understood. I propose a model that illustrates how
      culture can interact with sociotechnical system operations and suggest avenues of
      future research. Given methodological challenges in measuring cultural
      differences and team performance in sociotechnical system operations, research in
      these systems should use a variety of methodologies to better understand how
      culture can affect multioperator team performance in these systems.

PMID- 20942255
TI  - Temporal patterns of mental model convergence: implications for distributed teams
      interacting in electronic collaboration spaces.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Our objective is to capture temporal patterns in mental model
      convergence processes and differences in these patterns between distributed teams
      using an electronic collaboration space and face-to-face teams with no interface.
      BACKGROUND: Distributed teams, as sociotechnical systems, collaborate via
      technology to work on their task. The way in which they process information to
      inform their mental models may be examined via team communication and may unfold
      differently than it does in face-to-face teams. METHOD: We conducted our analysis
      on 32 three-member teams working on a planning task. Half of the teams worked as
      distributed teams in an electronic collaboration space, and the other half worked
      face-to-face without an interface. RESULTS: Using event history analysis, we
      found temporal interdependencies among the initial convergence points of the
      multiple mental models we examined. Furthermore, the timing of mental model
      convergence and the onset of task work discussions were related to team
      performance. Differences existed in the temporal patterns of convergence and task
      work discussions across conditions. CONCLUSION: Distributed teams interacting via
      an electronic interface and face-to-face teams with no interface converged on
      multiple mental models, but their communication patterns differed. In particular,
      distributed teams with an electronic interface required less overall
      communication, converged on all mental models later in their life cycles, and
      exhibited more linear cognitive processes than did face-to-face teams interacting
      verbally. APPLICATION: Managers need unique strategies for facilitating
      communication and mental model convergence depending on teams' degrees of
      collocation and access to an interface, which in turn will enhance team
      performance.

PMID- 20942256
TI  - Managing nonroutine events in anesthesia: the role of adaptive coordination.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This field study aimed at examining the role of anesthesia teams'
      adaptive coordination in managing changing situational demands, such as in
      nonroutine events (NREs). BACKGROUND: Medical teams' ability to adapt their
      teamwork (e.g., their coordination activities) to changing situational demands is
      crucial to team performance and, thus, to patient safety. Whereas the majority of
      previous studies on the matter have focused on critical but rare events, it has
      recently been pointed out that the effective management of NREs is a key
      challenge to medical teams. Hence this study investigated the relationship
      between coordination activities, NRE occurrence, and team performance. METHOD: We
      videotaped 22 anesthesia teams during standard anesthesia induction and recorded
      data from the vital signs monitor and the ventilator. Coordination was coded by a
      trained observer using a structured observation system. NREs were recorded by an
      experienced staff anesthesiologist using all three video streams. Checklist-based
      team performance assessment was also performed by an experienced staff
      anesthesiologist. RESULTS: We found that anesthesia teams adapt their
      coordination activities to changing situational demands. In particular, the
      increased occurrence of NREs caused an increase in the time the teams spent on
      task management. A stronger increase in the teams' task management (i.e., more
      adaptive coordination) was related to their performance. CONCLUSION: Our results
      emphasize the importance of adaptive coordination in managing NREs effectively.
      APPLICATION: This study provides valuable information for developing novel team
      training programs in health care that focus on adaptation to changing task
      requirements, for example, when faced with NREs.

PMID- 20942257
TI  - Training adaptive teams.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We report an experiment in which three training approaches are
      compared with the goal of training adaptive teams. BACKGROUND: Cross-training is
      an established method in which team members are trained with the goal of building
      shared knowledge. Perturbation training is a new method in which team
      interactions are constrained to provide new coordination experiences during task
      acquisition. These two approaches, and a more traditional procedural approach,
      are compared. METHOD: Assigned to three training conditions were 26 teams. Teams
      flew nine simulated uninhabited air vehicle missions; three were critical tests
      of the team's ability to adapt to novel situations. Team performance, response
      time to novel events, and shared knowledge were measured. RESULTS: Perturbation
      trained teams significantly outperformed teams in the other conditions in two out
      of three critical test missions. Cross-training resulted in significant increases
      in shared teamwork knowledge and highest mean performance in one critical test.
      Procedural training led to the least adaptive teams. CONCLUSION: Perturbation
      training allows teams to match coordination variability during training to
      demands for coordination variability during posttraining performance. Although
      cross-training has adaptive benefits, it is suggested that process-oriented
      approaches, such as perturbation training, can lead to more adaptive teams.
      APPLICATION: Perturbation training is amenable to simulation-based training,
      where perturbations provide interaction experiences that teams can transfer to
      novel, real-world situations.

PMID- 20942258
TI  - Crew resource management training within the automotive industry: does it work?
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This article presents the development, implementation, and evaluation
      of a crew resource management (CRM) training program specifically designed for
      employees within the automotive industry. BACKGROUND: The central objective of
      this training program was to improve communication, teamwork, and stress
      management skills as well to increase the workers' situational awareness of
      potential errors that can occur during the production process. METHOD:
      Participants in the training program of this study were 80 employees, all of whom
      were working in a production unit for gearbox manufacturing. Effectiveness of the
      CRM training course was evaluated two times (1 month and 6 months after the
      training program). RESULTS: The results showed a significant improvement in a
      wide range of CRM-relevant categories, especially in teamwork-related attitudes,
      in addition to an increase in the workers' situational awareness after the
      training program. CONCLUSION: On the basis of the results, it can be stated that
      CRM training, which was originally developed for the aviation industry, can be
      transferred to the automotive industry. However, because of the lack of
      behavioral observations, these effects are limited to CRM attitudes and knowledge
      changes. APPLICATION: Several recommendations for future research and training
      development in the field of human factors training are made.

PMID- 20942259
TI  - Collective orientation and team performance: development of an individual
      differences measure.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We examine the construct of collective orientation, develop a measure
      to assess individual differences in collective orientation, and examine the
      extent to which the collective orientation of team members predicts performance
      on a variety of team tasks. BACKGROUND: Scholars increasingly emphasize the
      importance of teamwork in collaborative work environments, and evidence indicates
      that a lack of teamwork is a prominent factor in many real-world accidents.
      Although it is clear that some persons are more team oriented than others are,
      there are few instruments available to assess individual differences in
      collective orientation in a team context. METHOD: We develop a scale to measure
      collective orientation in teams, gather evidence on reliability and construct
      validity, and examine the extent to which collective orientation predicts team
      performance. RESULTS: Results indicate that the Collective Orientation Scale is
      reliable, correlates with cognate measures, and predicts performance on a variety
      of team tasks. CONCLUSION: We discuss the role of collective orientation in teams
      and the application of this scale to assess and diagnose teamwork deficiencies in
      work groups. APPLICATION: This research should contribute to a further
      understanding of factors that influence collaboration and coordination in teams.

PMID- 20942260
TI  - Perspective: teams won't solve this problem.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: We link the problem of complex sociotechnical systems to a new unit-of
      analysis and fruitful developing area of applied research, the multiteam system.
      BACKGROUND: Teams are the dominant entity and theoretical lens being applied to
      understanding the performance of complex sociotechnical systems. We submit that
      such problems cannot be solved through the teams lens because complex
      sociotechnical systems exhibit features such as mixed-motive goal structures and
      complex, layered social identities that do not meet the definitional requirements
      of a team. METHOD: We present key findings from multiteam systems research and
      review the studies contained in the special issue on the basis of the focal
      constructs and unit of analysis. RESULTS: Although progress is being made on
      understanding key constructs essential to understanding complex sociotechnical
      systems, the unit of analysis needs to be shifted upward from the team level to
      the system level. CONCLUSION: Progress on understanding the inner workings and
      leverage points for the success of complex sociotechnical systems requires a
      fundamental shift in the unit of analysis toward understanding the macrodynamics
      of larger systems of teams. APPLICATION: The multiteam system perspective offers
      a useful theoretical lens for future research on and tool development (e.g.,
      training, information technology) for improving the functioning of complex
      sociotechnical systems.

PMID- 20942261
TI  - Perspective: examining communication as macrocognition in STS.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: There are significant points of alignment between a macrocognitive
      frame of teamwork and a communication perspective. This commentary explores these
      touch points in regard to use of teams in sociotechnical systems (STS).
      BACKGROUND: The macrocognitive framework emphasizes a team's shared mental models
      whereas a communication frame emphasizes that shared meaning among team members
      is more frequently implicitly than explicitly recorded in their messages. Both
      acknowledge that communication (in macrocognition) or messages (in communication)
      serve as an index of team members' goal-directed behavior. The two approaches
      differ in the role of communication: as information exchange in macrocognition as
      compared with verbal and nonverbal symbols composing messages for which senders
      and receivers co-construct meaning. METHOD: This commentary uses relevant
      literature to explicate the communication position. RESULTS: From a communication
      perspective, individuals are simultaneously sending and receiving messages,
      communication is continual and processual, and meaning construction is dependent
      on relationship awareness and development among communication partners as well as
      the context. CONCLUSION: The authors posit that meaning cannot be constructed
      solely from messages, nor can meaning be constructed by one person. Furthermore,
      sharing information is not the same as communicating. APPLICATION: Architects and
      users of STS should be interested in designing systems that improve team
      communication-a goal that is interdependent with understanding how communication
      fails in the use of such systems. Drilling down to the fundamental properties of
      communication is essential to understanding how and why meaning is created among
      team members (and subsequent action).

PMID- 20942262
TI  - Perspective: group cognition factors in sociotechnical systems.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This commentary on the special issue suggests a focus on group
      cognition factors in investigations of teamwork involving sociotechnical systems.
      BACKGROUND: The author has conducted research in computer-supported collaborative
      learning and has found the need to rethink the theory and methodology of that
      field to take account of its defining characteristics of small-group interaction
      and sociotechnical mediation. METHOD: A brief literature review is undertaken of
      major findings in postcognitive theory and conversation analysis. This suggests a
      methodological priority to group phenomena as sources for the genesis of
      individual phenomena and for understanding of processes of coordination and
      communication in small groups. RESULTS: It is seen that many recent studies of
      teams take place within traditional disciplinary frameworks that analyze
      phenomena primarily at the individual unit of analysis, reducing group phenomena
      to additive sums of individual phenomena. For instance, processes of coordination
      and communication are treated as secondary to the expression of individuals'
      mental models or external expressions of internal representations. CONCLUSION:
      The commentary calls for development of a new science of groups, with the
      development of appropriate theory, conceptualizations of core phenomena,
      experimental methods, analytic analyses, and presentational formats. Examples are
      focus on discourse analysis, use of design-based research, conceptualization of
      mediation rather than causation, and publication of case studies. APPLICATION: A
      focus on the group unit of analysis can shed new light on the topics addressed in
      this special issue.

PMID- 20942263
TI  - The science of team performance: progress and the need for more...

PMID- 20942264
TI  - Toward a new era of the Nagoya journal of medical science: message from the new
      editor-in-chief.

PMID- 20942265
TI  - Tissue-engineering bone from omentum.
AB  - Tissue engineering of bone is an interesting field of research. Many approaches
      to bone tissue engineering such as from bone marrow stromal cells in vitro have
      been reported. Furthermore, a model of vascularized tissue-engineered bone flap
      has been reported. However, there has been no report of bone tissue engineering
      using omentum. We present a study of tissue engineering of bone from omentum in a
      rabbit model. The omentum, which was elevated based on the right gastroepiploic
      vessels, was wrapped by the periosteum from cranial bone in the abdomen of
      rabbits. We harvested the omentum thus wrapped 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 12, or 24 weeks
      after surgery. Within 1 week after surgery, woven bone was formed and clusters of
      osteoblasts were observed. At 8 weeks, medullization, including the presence of
      granulocytes, was confirmed. This technique might prove useful for creating
      tissue-engineered bone flaps for reconstructive surgery.

PMID- 20942266
TI  - Risk factors of recipient receiving living donor liver transplantation in the
      comprehensive era of indication and perioperative managements.
AB  - Living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) has become one of the chief methods of
      saving patients with end-stage liver disease due to liver cirrhosis. Accumulation
      of knowledge about indication and perioperative managements improve outcome of
      this treatment. In this study, we elucidate the risk factors of LDLT, which still
      exist today. Sixty-one patients received LDLT in our institute between 2003 and
      2009 were included in this study. Recipient age and sex, donor age and sex,
      etiology, preoperative model of end-stage liver disease (MELD) score,
      hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), graft versus recipient weight ratio (GRWR), cold
      and warm ischemic time, operation time, blood loss, ABO compatibility, rejection,
      cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection, biliary stricture, and calcineurin inhibitor
      (FK506 or cyclosporin A) were the factors investigated. p < 0.05 was considered
      as statistically significant in the proportional hazard model. In univariate
      analysis, the recipients' age (p = 0.024) and rejection episode (p = 0.046) were
      selected as significant risk factors. In multivariate analysis including the
      factors that showed p < 0.2 (recipient age, GRWR, ABO compatibility, rejection
      episode) in univariate analysis, recipient age (p = 0.008, HR: 1.40; 95% CI: 1.09
      1.80) and rejection episodes (p = 0.002, HR: 13.33; 95% CI: 2.53-71.43) were
      still selected as significant independent risk factors after LDLT. Recipient age
      was shown to be 1.40 times risk per 1 year older and the rejection episode was
      shown to be 13.33 times risk in the recent era with comprehensive indication and
      preoperative management for LDLT. Indication must be cautious for elderly
      patients, and prevention of rejection is crucial for the improvement of results
      for LDLT.

PMID- 20942267
TI  - Effects of daily mechanical horseback riding on insulin sensitivity and resting
      metabolism in middle-aged type 2 diabetes mellitus patients.
AB  - The present study was conducted to investigate the effect of daily passive
      exercise using a horseback riding machine (Joba) on insulin sensitivity and
      resting metabolism in middle-aged, diabetic patients. Participants were 24 type 2
      diabetes mellitus patients aged 59 +/- 8 years (mean +/- SD; range from 43 to 75
      years of age). Patients were randomly divided into control (normal lifestyle) and
      Joba exercise groups. The latter group was instructed to perform one 30-min
      session of Joba riding per day, 7 times per week, for 3 months. Compared with
      baseline values, serum immunoreactive insulin (IRI) concentrations decreased and
      HOMA-IR was improved by Joba training. In addition, exercise duration per day
      significantly correlated (r = -0.65) with changes in serum IRI, and 3-month
      mechanical horseback riding significantly increased the resting metabolic rate of
      the patients. These results suggest that daily Joba passive exercise is
      potentially useful as a means to improve insulin sensitivity and resting
      metabolism in diabetic patients. The Joba fitness equipment can prove especially
      useful as an alternative exercise therapy for aged individuals incapable of
      performing independent exercise or for those who suffer from knee-joint
      disorders.

PMID- 20942268
TI  - Disruption of cell spreading by the activation of MEK/ERK pathway is dependent on
      AP-1 activity.
AB  - We previously reported that the disruption of cell spreading by v-Crk was
      dependent on the activation of the MEK/ERK pathway. Here we demonstrate that the
      activation of that pathway is sufficient to suppress cell spreading. The MEK/ERK
      pathway regulates the activity of various proteins including AP-1, which is a
      transcriptional factor composed of heterodimeric proteins. To examine whether AP
      1 activity is required for the suppression of cell spreading by the activation of
      the MEK/ERK pathway, we expressed BATF, which is a negative regulator of AP-1.
      The expression of BATF clearly restored cell spreading that was suppressed by the
      activation of MEK/ERK pathway. In addition, a disrupted formation of stress
      fibers and focal adhesions by such activation was restored by the suppression of
      AP-1. Our results define an essential role of the MEK/ERK/AP-1 pathway in the
      disruption of actin cytoskeleton and cell spreading.

PMID- 20942269
TI  - A prospective randomized study for postoperative pain relief of lower extremity
      fractures: efficacy of intrathecal morphine administration.
AB  - Systemic opioids are known to be effective for controlling postoperative pain.
      Intrathecal morphine administration can be performed in a simple manner
      concurrently with spinal anesthesia. The purpose of this study was to investigate
      the efficacy of intrathecal morphine administration for the postoperative
      analgesia of lower extremity fractures. A prospective randomized study for
      postoperative pain relief was conducted. Fifty consecutive patients with a lower
      extremity fracture who underwent osteosynthesis under spinal anesthesia were
      enrolled. The patients were divided into two groups for comparative results. No
      baseline variable differences between the groups were observed. Twenty-two
      patients were assigned to a morphine group and were administered intrathecal
      bupivacaine combined with a single intrathecal injection of morphine. The other
      28 patients were assigned to a control group and administered intrathecal
      bupivacaine alone. Pain intensity was assessed using the Visual Analog Scale
      (VAS). The use of supplemental analgesics, time of first request for supplemental
      analgesics, and side effects were investigated. During the initial 12 h after
      surgery, the VAS score was significantly lower in the morphine group (p < 0.05).
      The use of supplemental analgesic drugs was significantly less in the morphine
      group (p < 0.05). The time of first request of the control group was shorter than
      that of the morphine group (p < 0.001). Side effects were seen more frequently in
      the morphine group though there was no significant difference. Although the use
      of morphine requires appropriate postoperative care, an intrathecal morphine
      injection can be an attractive analgesic for the postoperative pain of lower
      extremity fractures.

PMID- 20942270
TI  - Smoking rates and attitudes to smoking among medical students: a 2009 survey at
      the Nagoya University School of Medicine.
AB  - Since smoking is implicated in many diseases, medical professionals are expected
      to contribute to the reduction of smoking rates in their practice. Medical
      students are also expected to learn the importance of practical measures against
      smoking. This study surveyed the smoking rates and attitudes to smoking among
      medical students of the Nagoya University School of Medicine. Out of 612 students
      in their 1st to 6th year in 2009, 31 students answered "yes" to the question "Did
      you smoke one or more cigarettes this past month?" and eight students did not
      respond. The maximum smoking rate was 6.4% (39/612). The respective rates of
      students to accept smoking by doctors, co-medical personnel, patients in general,
      and terminally ill patients were 50.8% in males and 38.9% in females, 51.3% in
      males and 41.6% in females, 41.4% in males and 23.0% in females, 80.5% in males
      and 84.1% in females. This survey demonstrated that though smoking rates among
      medical students were relatively low, many accepted smoking, especially for
      terminally ill patients.

PMID- 20942271
TI  - Role of insulin resistance in non-obese adolescents.
AB  - Insulin resistance in the obese is closely related with cardiovascular diseases
      and their risk factors not only in adults but also in children and adolescents.
      We aimed to elucidate whether insulin resistance in non-obese adolescents is
      related with these conditions. A total of 74 non-obese high-school students (38
      boys and 36 girls) were recruited. Anthropometry, blood pressure, fasting serum
      chemistry and insulin activity were measured. Subjects with a homeostasis model
      assessment-insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) level greater than the 75th percentile (>
      2.25 for boys and > 2.89 for girls) were defined as insulin resistant. Non-obese
      boys with impaired insulin sensitivity had higher systolic blood pressure, lower
      HDL-cholesterol concentration, and fewer hours of vigorous exercise during
      weekdays, while non-obese girls with impaired insulin sensitivity had higher
      systolic blood pressure than their peers with normal insulin sensitivity. By
      multiple stepwise regression analysis, systolic blood pressure (p < 0.001) and
      the hours of vigorous exercise during weekdays (p < 0.03) were independently
      associated with HOMA-IR in boys, while systolic blood pressure (p < 0.0001) and
      serum concentrations of HDL-cholesterol (p < 0.01) were found in girls. In
      nonobese adolescents, insulin sensitivity is related with cardiovascular risk
      factors.

PMID- 20942272
TI  - Helicobacter pylori infection and cytokine gene polymorphisms in Uzbeks.
AB  - Recent studies have reported that Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) persistent
      infection and gastric atrophy development were associated with genetic
      polymorphisms of cytokines. This study aimed to determine possible associations
      of host genotypes with the seropositivity of anti-H. pylori IgG and anti-CagA
      IgG, as well as gastric atrophy measured with serum pepsinogens (PG) among an
      Uzbek population. Subjects were 84 patients with peptic ulcer disease, 35 with
      other miscellaneous diseases, and 48 healthy persons, for a total of 167
      participants. Using a polymerase chain reaction with confronting two-pair
      primers, their DNA was genotyped for polymorphisms of interleukins (IL) (IL-1B C
      31T, IL-2 T-330G, IL-4 C-33T, IL-8 T-251A, IL-10 T-819C, and IL-13 C-1111T) and
      tumor necrosis factor A (TNF-A) (C-857T and T-1031C). Among 167 participants, 124
      (74.9%) were anti-H. pylori IgG seropositive, 142 (85.6%) were anti-CagA IgG
      seropositive, and 44 (26.3%) exhibited gastric atrophy (PG1 < 70 ng/ml and
      PG1/PG2<3). The adjusted odds ratio (OR) of IL-4 -33CT for anti-H. pylori IgG
      seropositivity was significant; OR = 2.33 (95% confidence interval (CI), 1.04
      5.19), relative to -33CC. In addition, those with TNF-A-1031TC had a
      significantly increased risk for anti-H. pylori IgG seropositivity; OR = 2.82
      (95% CI, 1.05-7.57), relative to -1031TT. No alleles were associated with the
      risk of anti-CagA IgG seropositivity or gastric atrophy. The significant
      associations with cytokine polymorphisms indicated that genetic traits might play
      a role in the persistent infection of H. pylori among Uzbeks. In addition to
      confirming the above associations, lifestyle interactions with the genotypes also
      remain to be elucidated.

PMID- 20942273
TI  - Preliminary study of spontaneous hepatitis in Long-Evans Cinnamon rats: a blood
      exchange may improve fetal hepatitis.
AB  - Long-Evans Cinnamon rats are a Wilson disease model highly susceptible to
      fulminant hepatitis around the age of 20 weeks, and hepatoma over the age of one
      year. Although prophylaxis has been established for the otherwise fatal
      hepatitis, effective treatment remains unknown. A blood exchange was tested to
      determine whether the prognosis of spontaneous hepatitis could be modified in
      icteric female rats. When bilirubinuria appeared, the rats immediately underwent
      surgery. Rats under anesthesia were first cannulated into the right atrium via
      the carotid vein, followed by 2.5 mL of blood exchange with heparinized fresh
      blood from Long-Evans agouti rats. Treated rats and controls were then observed
      for 2 months. Compared to the 50% mortality of untreated rats, all icteric rats
      that received a blood exchange survived the acute episode. We confirmed that
      Wilson disease animals are highly susceptible to acute hepatitis and show a poor
      prognosis. However, a single blood exchange improved spontaneous hepatitis in
      this animal model. This would serve as a first step for establishing a treatment
      for fatal hepatitis in animals. A blood exchange may improve fulminant hepatitis
      of Wilson disease model rats.

PMID- 20942274
TI  - [Immediate analgesic effect of wrist-ankle acupuncture for acute lumbago: a
      randomized controlled trial].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the immediate analgesic effect of wrist-ankle acupuncture on
      acute lumbago and the relationship between the analgesic effect and the
      expectation of patients. METHODS: A randomized, single-blind, sham-controlled
      trial was designed. Sixty cases of acute lumbago were randomly divided into two
      groups, 30 cases in each one. In observation group, wrist-ankle acupuncture was
      adopted to the Lower 5 and Lower 6 bilaterally, no requirement of Deqi (arrival
      of qi). In control group, sham acupuncture was adopted. The treatment was applied
      once in either group, with the needles retained for 30 min. The Short-form McGill
      Pain Questionnaire (SF-MPQ) and the Modified-Modified Schober (MMS) test were
      used to assess the motion related pain and the situation of spinal flexion in 3
      min before treatment and 5 min, 10 min, 15 min, during treatment and 30 min
      (needle removed), respectively. The Expectation and Treatment Credibility Scale
      (ETCS) was applied to analyze the relationship between the expectation of
      patients and the analgesic effect. The adverse reaction was recorded. RESULTS:
      There were no statistically significant differences in SF-MPQ, MMS and ETCS
      before treatment between two groups (all P>0.05). In 5 min after needles
      insertion, the scores of the items in SF-MPQ in observation group were lower than
      those in control group (P<0.05, P<0.01). In 10 min after needles insertion, the
      scores of SF-MPQ in observation group were lower than those in control group and
      the scores of MMS were higher than those in control group (P<0.05). In 15 min
      after needles insertion, except the sensory pain rating index, the scores of the
      rest items in SF-MPQ in observation group were all lower than those in control
      group (P<0.05, P<0.01). In 30 min (needles removed), the scores of affective pain
      rating index of SF-MPQ and Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) in observation group were
      lower than those in control group (P<0.05, P<0.01). The expectation before
      treatment was negatively correlated with VAS scores in 5 min, 10 min, 15 min and
      30 min after needle insertion separately in observation group (P<0.05), while the
      correlation was not found in control group (P>0.05). No adverse reaction was
      reported. CONCLUSION: Wrist-ankle acupuncture can reduce acute lumbago
      immediately and significantly. The higher the expectation on the analgesic effect
      of wrist-ankle acupuncture the patients have, the better the analgesic effect
      will be. This therapy is highly safe in the treatment.

PMID- 20942275
TI  - [Effect on moxibustion at Sanyinjiao (SP 6) for uterine contraction pain in
      labor: a randomized controlled trial].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of moxibustion at Sanyinjiao (SP 6) for
      uterine contraction pain in labor, and evaluate the safety of the parturient and
      newborn. METHODS: One hundred and seventy-four cases of singleton pregnancy and
      cephalic presentation primipara were single blinded and randomly divided into
      three groups: observation group (59 cases), placebo treated group (57 cases) and
      blank group (58 cases). The observation group was treated with moxibustion at
      Sanyinjiao (SP 6) for 30 min when the uterus cervix openning at 3 cm, the placebo
      treated group was treated with moxibustion at no acupoint for 30 min and the
      blank group was treated with routine labor nursing, the uterine contraction pain
      and the safety of the mother and infant were compared among three groups.
      RESULTS: 1) The uterine contraction pain was tested by Visual Analogue Scale
      (VAS): the scores of VAS in the observation group were obviously decreased after
      15 min and 30 min of moxibustion (both P<0.05), there were no obvious changes of
      the VAS scores in placebo treated group and the blank group, the scores of VAS in
      observation group decreased much more obviously than those in the other two
      groups (all P<0.05); 2) Midwife rating of the uterine contraction pain: after 30
      min of moxibustion, the effective rate of labor analgesia was 69.5% (41/59) in
      observation group, which was higher than that of 45.6% (26/57) in placebo treated
      group and 43.1% (25/58) in blank group, with significant differences between them
      (both P<0.05); 3) The postpartum hemorrhage amount of the observation group was
      obviously lower than those of placebo treated group and blank group (both
      P<0.05); 4) The Apgar score of newborn was higher in observation group and
      placebo treated group than that of blank group (both P<0.05). CONCLUSION:
      Moxibustion at Sanyinjiao (SP 6) can relieve the uterine contraction pain, and
      has no side effect to mother and infant, it is one of the safe, effective and
      simple non-drug analgesia methods.

PMID- 20942276
TI  - [Study on catgut implantation therapy compared with Deanxit for treatment of
      depression].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare the therapeutic effect of catgut implantation and Deanxit
      for treatment of depression. METHODS: Ninety-four cases of depression were
      randomly divided into a catgut implantation group (50 cases) and a medication
      group (44 cases). Catgut implantation group was applied with catgut implantation
      at Hanyan (GB 4), Baihui (GV 20), Shenmen (HT 7), Fenglong (ST 40), Taichong (LR
      3), once two weeks, and 4 times in total. Medication group was treated with oral
      administration of Deanxit, for eight weeks in total. The the-rapeutic effects of
      both groups were compared with Hamilton Depression-17 Items Scale (HAMD-17)
      before and after treatment. RESULTS: The scores of HAMD-17 were decreased after
      treatment in both groups (both P<0.05), and there was no significant difference
      between two groups after treatment (P>0.05). The total effective rate was 87.8%
      (43/49) in catgut implantation group and 90.7% (39/43) in medication group, with
      no significant difference between two groups (P>0.05). CONCLUSION: Catgut
      implantation can effectively improve the symptoms of depression patients, with a
      similar therapeutic effect with Deanxit, and it has a better clinical compliance
      without any adverse effects.

PMID- 20942277
TI  - [Comparative observation on acupuncture-moxibustion and western medication for
      treatment of sudden deafness].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare the therapeutic effect on sudden deafness between
      acupuncture and moxibustion therapy of excitation-focus transfer and routine
      medication. METHODS: Eighty cases of sudden deafness were randomly divided into
      two groups, 40 cases in each one. Acupuncture and moxibustion therapy of
      excitation-focus transfer was adopted in observation group on Yongquan (KI 1)
      (with reducing and slightly heavy manipulation), Tinggong (SI 19), Tinghui (GB 2)
      and Ermen (TE 21), and associated with suspending moxibustion for thermal
      sensitization on Yongquan (KI 1). In control group, the routine medications were
      given. The therapeutic effects of two groups were compared with each other.
      RESULTS: After three sessions of treatment, dB value of hearing loss in two
      groups decreased (P<0.05, P<0.01), but the improvement of hearing in observation
      group was superior to that in control group (P<0.05). The total effective rate
      was 80.0% (32/40) in observation group, which was better than that 55.0% (22/40)
      in control group (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Acupuncture and moxibustion therapy of
      excitation-focus transfer presents superior therapeutic effect on sudden deafness
      as compared with the routine western therapy.

PMID- 20942278
TI  - [Clinical observation on acupuncture combined with nerve block for treatment of
      lumbar disc herniation].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the therapeutic effects of acupuncture combined with
      nerve block for treatment of lumbar disc herniation. METHODS: Ninety cases of
      lumbar disc herniation were randomly divided into three groups: acupuncture
      combined with nerve block group, acupuncture group and nerve block group, 30
      cases in each group. The acupuncture combined with nerve block group was treated
      with acupuncture combined with nerve block therapy, L2-L5 Jiaji (EX-B 2), Zhibian
      (BL 54), Huantiao (GB 30), Yanglingquan (GB 34) etc. were selected for
      acupuncture, affected nerve root, sciatic nerve or common peroneal nerve were
      selected for nerve block with anti-inflammation-analgesic injection; the
      acupuncture group was treated with acupuncture only; the nerve block group was
      treated with nerve block only. After 4 weeks of treatment, the visual analogue
      scale (VAS), Oswestry lumbar dysfunction index (ODI) and modified MacNab standard
      were compared to evaluate the therapeutic effects of three groups. RESULTS: The
      VAS and ODI in all groups were significantly decreased after one week, two weeks
      and four weeks of treatment (all P<0.01); after one week of treatment, the scores
      of VAS and ODI in nerve block group and acupuncture combined with nerve block
      group were significantly lower than those of acupuncture group (P<0.05); after
      two weeks and four weeks of treatment, the scores of VAS and ODI in acupuncture
      combined with nerve block group were significantly lower than those of
      acupuncture group and nerve block group (P<0.05). The effective rate and
      excellent and good rate of the acupuncture combined with nerve block group were
      significantly higher than those of acupuncture group and nerve block group (both
      P<0.01). CONCLUSION: The nerve block therapy and acupuncture are effective
      methods for treatment of lumbar disc herniation, while it has a better effect
      when these two treatments are combined used.

PMID- 20942279
TI  - [Clinical observation on acupoint catgut embedding for treatment of non-alcoholic
      steatohepatitis].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To compare the effect of acupoint catgut embedding and western
      medication for treatment of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). METHODS: Sixty
      cases were randomly divided into a catgut embedding group and a western medicine
      group, 30 cases in each group. The catgut embedding group was treated with
      acupoint catgut embedding at Geshu (BL 17), Ganshu (BL 18), Zhongwan (CV 12),
      Qihai (CV 6), Zusanli (ST 36), Yanglingquan (GB 34), Fenglong (ST 40); the
      western medicine group was treated with oral administration of Tiopronin till the
      patients recovered normal liver function, then changed to take Xuezhikang
      capsule. Four weeks for a course of treatment, two groups were treated with two
      courses continuously. Then clinical symptoms, and levels of body mass index
      (BMI), obesity degree, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase
      (AST), gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (gamma-GT), total cholesterol (TC),
      triglyceride (TG) and CT ratio of liver and spleen before and after treatment
      were compared between two groups. RESULTS: BMI, obesity degree and the levels of
      ALT, AST, gamma-GT, TC, TG in the serum decreased more significantly in two
      groups after treatment (all P<0.05), and there were significant differences
      between two groups (all P<0.05), the catgut embedding group decreased more
      significantly. CT ratio of liver and spleen was improved after treatment compared
      with that before treatment in two groups (both P<0.05), and the improvement of CT
      ratio of liver and spleen in the catgut embedding group was greater than that in
      the western medicine group (P<0.05). The total effective rate of 90.0% (27/30) in
      the catgut embedding group was superior to that of 76.7% (23/30) in the western
      medicine group, and the total efficiency of catgut embedding group was more
      effective than that in the western medicine group (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Acupoint
      catgut embedding is an effective method for the treatment of non-alcoholic
      steatohepatitis and this therapy is superior to oral administration of Tiopronin
      and Xuezhikang capsule.

PMID- 20942280
TI  - [Primary exploring of "dynamic character" of acupoint].
AB  - The dynamic character of acupoint has been observed extensively, but it is rarely
      analyzed systematically. The aim of this paper is to analyze the essence of this
      unique dynamic character of acupoint based on old and modern research
      literatures. Modern studies are summarized on qi and blood changes on the same
      acupoint at different times, in different physiological and pathological
      conditions and different syndrome types. On the basis of the literatures, the
      scientific base of dynamic character of acupoint is explored preliminarily. The
      authors propose that the dynamic character of acupoint should be focus on the
      modern theory of acupuncture and clinical treatment and modern preventive
      medicine, and the authors also put forward ideas and prospect on the essence,
      basis and application direction of dynamic character of acupoint.

PMID- 20942281
TI  - [Analysis on acupoint prescription for acupoint sticking therapy of treating
      winter diseases in summer for preventing and curing chronic cough and asthma].
AB  - Based on ZhangShi YiTong written by ZHANG Lu of Qing dynasty, and the record that
      external application of Baijiezi (seeds of Brassica Alba) for treating asthma of
      cold syndrome, retrospective study is conducted to modern literature of treating
      winter diseases in summer with acupoint sticking therapy for preventing and
      treating chronic cough and asthma. Learning from thoughts and methods of evidence
      based medicine, and according to subject characteristics of TCM and acupuncture,
      acupoints and point-selecting discipline of prescription for preventing and
      treating chronic cough and asthma in summer with acupoint sticking are analyzed.
      The results show that the top ten common acupoints used for acupoint sticking
      therapy of treating winter diseases in summer are Feishu (BL 13), Dingchuan (EX-B
      1), Xinshu (BL 15), Geshu (BL 17), Danzhong (CV 17), Shenshu (BL 23), Gaohuang
      (BL 43), Dazhui (GV 14), Pishu (BL 20), Tiantu (CV 22), most of which belong to
      the Bladder Meridian of Foot-Taiyang, Conception Vessel and Governor Vessel or
      extra-meridian points. It refers that the core acupoints of acupoint sticking
      therapy are Feishu (BL 13), Dingchuan (EX-B 1), Xinshu (BL 15), Geshu (BL 17),
      Danzhong (CV 17), and adjunct points can be selected by syndrome, disease
      different stage, disease or symptoms.

PMID- 20942282
TI  - [Professor Zhang Zhi-long's experience in the treatment for type 2 diabetes
      mellitus and its complications].
AB  - This paper summarizes professor ZHANG Zhi-long's academic thoughts and his
      specialized treatment experience for type 2 diabetes mellitus and its
      complications. There are three aspects: emphasizes the importance of scientific
      investigation and the classics in TCM, states that spleen deficiency and
      excessive dampness tend to cause type 2 diabetes mellitus; emphasizes regulating
      spleen and stomach with acupuncture and formulates acupoint prescription for
      regulating middle-jiao; emphasizes the evidence based medicine and clinical
      experiences, seeks the law of treatment for type 2 diabetes mellitus.

PMID- 20942283
TI  - [Analysis and discussion on professor GUAN Zun-hui's academic characteristics of
      acupuncture and moxibustion].
AB  - On the basis of family succession and former experience, professor GUAN Zun-hui
      has devoted himself to study on acupuncture and moxibustion, and exploited and
      innovated for them. He has developed the thermal-acupuncture therapy and other
      special techniques of needling and formed a distinctive GUAN's school of
      acupuncture and moxibustion. This article highlights GUAN Zun-hui's academic
      thought of acupuncture and moxibustion on aspects of differentiation experiences
      of syndromes of meridian, the principle of GUAN's acupuncture prescription and
      the essentiality of selecting points, GUAN's acupuncture manipulation, and
      academic innovation.

PMID- 20942284
TI  - [Effect of acupuncture on the expression of Bcl-xl and BDNF of retina in rabbits
      with chronic intraocular hypertension].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To explore the protection effects of acupuncture on glaucomatous optic
      nerve damage and its mechanism. METHODS: Experimental glaucoma model was induced
      by intracameral injection of compound Carbomer solution in rabbits. After 28
      days, ocular tension returned to normal by filtration surgery. Twenty rabbits (40
      eyes) were randomly divided into a model group, an acupuncture group, a
      neurotrophy group and a nomal control group, 5 cases in each group. The
      acupuncture group was treated with acupuncture at bilateral "Qiuhou" (EX-HN
      7),"Fengchi" (GB 20) and "Xingjian" (LR 2), twice a day. The neurotrophy group
      was treated with intramuscular injection of Vitamin B1 (100 mg) and Vitamin B12
      (500 microg), once a day, and the other groups with no treatment. The expressions
      of Bcl-xl and BDNF in rabbits retina were observed after 4 weeks. RESULTS: At the
      end of the experiment, the positive expression cells of Bcl-xl and BDNF were
      (31.20 +/- 5.97) per mm2 and (6.3 +/- 1.89) per mm2 in the acupuncture group,
      being significantly higer than (26.70 +/- 4.32) per mm2 and (4.0 +/- 1.89) per
      mm2 in the model group (both P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Acupuncture can raise the
      expression of Bcl-xl and BDNF of retina, so as to prevent optic nerve damage
      caused by intraocular hypertension.

PMID- 20942285
TI  - [Effect of acupuncture on SP-A expression in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid of
      asthmatic rats].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To explore the mechanism of acupuncture for treatment of asthma.
      METHODS: Forty SD rats were randomly divided into 5 groups: blank control group,
      normal saline control group (NS control group), asthma model group, asthma model
      with acupuncture group (asthma acupuncture group) and asthma model with binding
      group (asthma binding group). The asthma acupuncture group was treated with
      acupuncture at "Dazhui" (GV 14), "Feishu" (BL 13) and "Fengmen" (BL 12); the
      asthma binding group was only binding without acupuncture and no intervention was
      given in the other groups. Surfactant protein-A (SP-A) expression was examined by
      Western-Blot. RESULTS: Airway resistance in asthma model group was significantly
      higher than that in blank control group and NS control group from 3 to 6 min
      after asthma provocation (all P<0.01). Western-Blot detection showed that SP-A
      expression in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) of the rats in asthma model
      group was significantly lower than that in blank control group and NS control
      group (both P<0.05), and which in asthma acupuncture group was significantly
      higher than that in asthma model group (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: The mechanism of
      prevention and treatment of acupuncture for allergic asthma is related to
      regulating SP-A expression of airway in asthmatic rats.

PMID- 20942286
TI  - [Effect of electroacupuncture on Sevoflurane anesthesia in patients undergoing
      resection of supratentorial tumor].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To observe the supplementary analgesic effect of electroacupuncture
      and its influence on the maintenance of anesthesia and the speed of recovery of
      patients undergoing craniotomy. METHODS: Eighty cases of supratentorial tumor
      resection were randomly divided into group A and group S, 40 cases in each group.
      All the patients were anesthetized with 2% Sevoflurane. The patients in group A
      received electroacupuncture at Hegu (LI 4) and Waiguan (TE 5), Jinmen (BL 63) and
      Taichong (LR 3), Zusanli (ST 36) and Qiuxu (GB 40) from anesthesia beginning to
      the end of operation, and in group S without electroacupuncture. The end-tidal
      Sevoflurane concentration, minimum alveolar concentration (MAC), bispectral index
      (BIS) and the information during anesthesia recovery stage were recorded,
      respectively. RESULTS: The end-tidal concentration and MAC of Sevoflurane in
      group A at all times were significant lower than those in group S (P<0.05,
      P<0.01) with a Sevoflurane saving of 9.62% on average. The BIS in group A during
      a few phases were higher than that in group S (all P<0.05). During anesthesia
      recovery stage, the time of each phase in group A was significantly shorter than
      that in group S (all P<0.01). No dysphoria and one case with nausea and vomiting
      were shown in group A, but in group S, 2 patients had dysphoria and 3 patients
      had nausea and vomiting. CONCLUSION: Electroacupuncture combined with Sevoflurane
      anesthesia can decrease the dosage of Sevoflurane, shorten the recovery time of
      anesthesia and improve the quality of anesthesia recovery of the patients
      undergoing resection of supratentorial tumor.

PMID- 20942287
TI  - [Influence of acupuncture at acupoints and non-acupoints on the perioperative
      analgesic effect in patients with laparoscopic cholecystectomy].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To explore the effect of general anesthesia, acupuncture at acupoints
      compound general anesthesia and acupuncture at non-acupoints compound general
      anesthesia on the perioperative analgesic effect in patients with laparoscopic
      cholecystectomy. METHODS: Ninety patients scheduled to undergo laparoscopic
      cholecystectomy were randomly divided into a general anesthesia group (group A),
      an acupuncture at acupoints compound general anesthesia group (group B) and an
      acupuncture at non-acupoints compound general anesthesia group (group C), 30
      cases in each group. General anesthesias were all induced by Fentanyl, Propofol
      and Vecuronium Bromide. The bilateral Hegu (LI 4), Neiguan (PC 6), Zusanli (ST
      36) and Yanglingquan (GB 34) were selected in the group B, and the middle points
      of the line connecting the meridians where every acupoint mentioned above
      belonged and their lateral neighbor meridians selected in the group C. The dosage
      of anesthetics, the time of goggle and the time of evulsion cannulation and
      direction location in all the patients were compared, and the dosage of analgesia
      pump within 4, 6, 8, 24 and 44 hours and Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) of pain were
      recorded after surgery. RESULTS: The dosage of Fentanyl in the group B was
      obviously lower than that in both the group A and the group C (both P<0.05), and
      the dosages of Propofol and Vecuronium Bromide in the group B were obviously
      lower than those in the group A (P<0.05, P<0.01). The time of goggle, evulsion
      cannulation and direction location in the group B were significantly shorter than
      those in the other groups (all P<0.01). After surgery, the dosage of analgesia
      pump in the group B was significantly fewer than that in the group C within 4 and
      6 hours (both P<0.05), and it was significantly fewer than that in the group A
      within 4, 6, 8 hours (all P<0.05). The scores of VAS of pain at 44th hour after
      surgery in the group B were obviously lower than those in the other groups (both
      P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Acupuncture at acupoints can enhance the anesthetic effect
      of compound general anesthesia and prolong the analgesia period. Acupuncture at
      non-points has a certain effect, but their effectiveness is less than that of
      acupoints. Thus, the acupoint has the specificity and accurate acupoint selection
      is the key factor affecting analgesia effect.

PMID- 20942288
TI  - [Features of acupuncture randomised controlled trials published in the top four
      journals].
AB  - A PubMed search is carried out using the keyword "acupuncture" from in the top
      four journals: New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), The Journal of American
      Medical Association (JAMA), The Lancet, and British Medical Journal (BMJ). The
      papers with full texts on randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of acupuncture are
      included up till July 2009, and the corresponding trial design and trial quality
      in these papers are extracted and analyzed. The results reveal that papers
      published in these four journals are mostly on randomized controlled trials with
      good design, high quality and large sample size. Therefore, if Chinese
      researchers publish papers in these journals, appropriate trial design adhering
      to the characteristics of acupuncture should be used; the results should be
      reported according to CONSORT statement and STRICTA recommendations. Moreover,
      obtaining assistance from foreign research team is also important.

PMID- 20942289
TI  - [Discrimination of excess or deficient conditions of meridians and its clinical
      application in Huangdi Neijing].
AB  - Discrimination methods of excess or deficient conditions of meridians in Huangdi
      Neijing (The Yellow Emperor's Canon of Internal Medicine) is studied and
      summarized in this paper. It indicates that the techniques of distinguishing
      described in the classic are extremely explicit. From comprehensive study of
      pulse on cunkou and Renying, syndromes classified according to meridians,
      inspection and palpation on meridians, excess or deficient conditions of
      meridians and collaterals can be accurately diagnosed. And it also has been
      approved by clinical practice that the application of discrimination techniques
      in Huangdi Neijing (The Yellow Emperor's Canon of Internal Medicine) in
      acupuncture practice is conductive to enhance the therapeutic effect of
      acupuncture therapy.

PMID- 20942290
TI  - [Professor Shao Jing-ming: a famous expert of acupuncture and moxibustion].
AB  - Professor SHAO Jing-Ming devotes his life in clinical practices for more than 80
      years. He is an eminent specialist acupuncture with abundant clinical
      experiences. He establishes the unique method of needling of tri-points and penta
      needles which achieves significant effectiveness for the treatment of asthma. He
      has taught for more than 50 years with unique educational method. A great amount
      of experts appear in the circle of TCM after receiving his unique training. He
      devotes his life to composing books on acupuncture and moxibustion. He devotes
      his life and his heart to promoting the development of acupuncture and
      moxibustion, and makes remarkable contribution in this field.

PMID- 20942291
TI  - [Therapy of hook needle and manipulations].
AB  - With the unique structure and manipulation techniques of blood-letting and
      cutting, hook needle serves as a role in dredging meridians, removing blood
      stasis, purging heat for resuscitation and relaxing synechial tissues. There are
      three needling techniques of hook needle: swift pricking, bleeding and pricking.
      Six manipulations are commonly used as lifting-thrusting, plucking, pulling,
      pushing-scraping, vibration and massage. The mechanism and manipulations of hook
      needling are summarized systematically in the present paper. In this way, its
      manipulations, indications and contraindications are expounded in detail.

PMID- 20942292
TI  - [Systematic evaluation on treatment of sub-health with acupuncture-moxibustion
      and Tuina in clinical researches].
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the therapeutic effect of acupuncture-moxibustion and
      Tuina massage for treatment of sub-health. METHODS: A systematic evaluation on
      randomized controlled trial, quasi-randomized control trial or controlled
      clinical trial of treatment of sub-health with acupuncture-moxibustion and Tuina
      was carried out according to the assessment methods recommended by the Cochrane
      Collaboration. RESULTS: There are totally 9 articles and 937 subjects met the
      inclusion criteria and are included into the assessment system. The average
      quality of methodologies adopted is not so high, and with many limitations. Meta
      analysis or descriptive analysis on the data collected: (1) General effect: Tuina
      massage therapy is better than auricular-point-pressing therapy; acupuncture is
      better than self health care; acupoint injection is better than intramuscular
      injection, Tuina is similar to Chinese herb. (2) Quality of life and pain score:
      Tuina is better than blank control. (3) Individual effect: the effect of Tuina
      massage on lassitude is better than acupuncture. (4) Effect on sleep quality
      index: Tuina massage is better than acupuncture. CONCLUSION: There are not enough
      evidences to approve that the effect of acupuncture-moxibustion and Tuina massage
      on sub-health is better than that of other therapies. Therefore, more high
      quality randomized controlled trials with strict and scientific designation are
      necessary for obtaining more and better evidences.

PMID- 20942293
TI  - Society's 'Leadership 15' using WHIO data to find areas to reduce cost, improve
      quality.

PMID- 20942294
TI  - A cost-benefit analysis of Wisconsin's screening, brief intervention, and
      referral to treatment program: adding the employer's perspective.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: A previous cost-benefit analysis found Screening, Brief Intervention,
      and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) to be cost-beneficial from a societal
      perspective. This paper develops a cost-benefit model that includes the
      employer's perspective by considering the costs of absenteeism and impaired
      presenteeism due to problem drinking. METHODS: We developed a Monte Carlo
      simulation model to estimate the costs and benefits of SBIRT implementation to an
      employer. We first presented the likely costs of problem drinking to a
      theoretical Wisconsin firm that does not currently provide SBIRT services. We
      then constructed a cost-benefit model in which the firm funds SBIRT for its
      employees. The net present value of SBIRT adoption was computed by comparing
      costs due to problem drinking both with and without the program. RESULTS: When
      absenteeism and impaired presenteeism costs were considered from the employer's
      perspective, the net present value of SBIRT adoption was $771 per employee.
      CONCLUSIONS: We concluded that implementing SBIRT is cost-beneficial from the
      employer's perspective and recommend that Wisconsin employers consider covering
      SBIRT services for their employees.

PMID- 20942295
TI  - A study of clinician adherence to treatment guidelines for otitis media with
      effusion.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: This study evaluated clinician compliance with recommendations in the
      2004 American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) guidelines on otitis media with
      effusion (OME) related to documentation of presence, laterality, resolution,
      persistence, and surveillance for hearing loss or speech delay. METHODS:
      Retrospective chart review of 363 children aged 2 months to 12 years diagnosed
      with OME was performed. An electronic survey was used to measure physician
      awareness and knowledge of specific recommendations in the 2004 AAP clinical
      practice guidelines on OME. RESULTS: We found a high level of documentation
      practices at the initial diagnosis of OME (laterality 95%) but poor documentation
      of follow-up factors (duration 14.9%). Documentation was not found to improve
      after release of the 2004 AAP guidelines. The survey found physician knowledge
      lacking in terms of the decibel hearing level stratification of management and
      antibiotic use, although better for the use of pneumatic otoscopy as a primary
      diagnostic method and adenoidectomy and myringotomy as accepted treatments.
      CONCLUSION: Documentation practices of clinicians studied remained unchanged
      after release of the 2004 guidelines. More research is needed to delineate
      reasons for poor adherence of pediatric health care professionals to the 2004 OME
      guidelines, and ways to enhance communication of guideline changes to practicing
      health care professionals.

PMID- 20942296
TI  - Trends in bariatric surgery for morbid obesity in Wisconsin: a 6-year follow-up.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The prevalence of morbid obesity is increasing throughout Wisconsin
      and the United States. In 2004, we published a study, "Trends in Bariatric
      Surgery for Morbid Obesity in Wisconsin." We determined that surgery rates were
      increasing but felt the demand exceeded the capacity of the surgeons. This is a 6
      year follow-up. METHODS: Data was gathered from 3 sources: the Centers for
      Disease Control and Prevention's Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, the
      Wisconsin Hospital Association, and a survey administered to Wisconsin bariatric
      surgeons. RESULTS: From 2003-2008, an average of 2.8% of Wisconsin adults were
      morbidly obese. Although the number of bariatric surgeries performed in Wisconsin
      remained steady (1311 surgeries in 2003 and 1343 in 2008), the types of
      procedures shifted from open gastric bypass (73% in 2003) to laparoscopic gastric
      bypass (80% in 2008). The rate of surgery was 1 for every 100 morbidly obese
      adults. The majority of surgeons surveyed (70%) report that a lack of insurance
      benefits is the biggest barrier to performing bariatric surgery. CONCLUSION: The
      prevalence of morbid obesity continues to increase in Wisconsin compared to our
      previously published data. Bariatric surgery volumes have remained stable but the
      type of procedure has changed. Approximately 1% of bariatric surgery candidates
      have surgery each year.

PMID- 20942297
TI  - Pilot study of adolescent attitudes regarding ski or snowboard helmet use.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The number of head injuries from skiing and snowboarding accidents
      is increasing among adolescents. Ski helmets reduce the risk of head injury. This
      study explored adolescent attitudes regarding helmet use. METHODS: This pilot
      study included 11 high school students participating in a 1-hour focus group.
      RESULTS: There was agreement that head injury is unlikely compared to other
      injuries, and use of helmets is determined by level of difficulty of the
      activity. Peer use makes personal use more acceptable and likely. Helmet cost is
      a minor barrier. Personal experience with a head injury increases use. Mandatory
      helmet use was viewed positively by most of the subjects. CONCLUSIONS: This pilot
      study suggests that, similar to bicycle helmet promotion programs, ski and
      snowboard helmet campaigns should focus on delivering a positive image of helmet
      use and peer acceptance.

PMID- 20942298
TI  - All red is not always bacterial cellulitis: a case of Lofgren's syndrome.
AB  - Lofgren's syndrome is a rare variant of sarcoidosis characterized by the triad of
      hilar adenopathy, acute polyarthritis, and erythema nodosum. It can be the first
      presentation of underlying sarcoidosis. Also, the initial presentation of
      Lofgren's syndrome may be confused with cellulitis. This is a self-limiting
      disease with a very good prognosis. Non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs
      (NSAIDs), along with supportive care and close monitoring, are the mainstay for
      treatment.

PMID- 20942299
TI  - The CHILD project: connecting health insurance with lunch data.

PMID- 20942300
TI  - [The German Study on the Epidemiology of Parkinson's Disease with Dementia
      (GEPAD): more than Parkinson].
AB  - It is unknown, how frequently Parkinson's disease (PD) is complicated by
      dementia, depression and other neuropsychiatric conditions. An epidemiologic
      characterisation of the situation in specialised neurologic settings is lacking.
      The Geman Study on the Epidemiology of Parkinson's Disease with Dementia (GEPAD)
      isa national representative epidemiological study of n=1449 PD patients in n=315
      office-based neurological settings, designed to estimate the prevalence of
      dementia, depression and other neuropsychiatric conditions in patients with PD of
      all stages by using standardized clinical assessments. RESULTS: 28.6% met DSM-IV
      criteria for dementia. 33.6% met criteria for depression and 61% additionally had
      other clinically significant psychopathological syndromes. Only 29.4% had no
      neuropsychiatric conditions. GEPAD reveals for the first time comprehensively
      that the neuropsychiatric burden of PD patients in all stages and even early
      stages is considerable, posing challenging questions for research and clinical
      management.

PMID- 20942301
TI  - [Hepcidin--newly-discovered regulator of iron metabolism].

PMID- 20942302
TI  - [Optimized opioid therapy of chronic pain. Constant plasma level versus
      chronoadjusted analgesia].

PMID- 20942303
TI  - [Rhinitis acuta: therapeutic approach with oxymetazoline].

PMID- 20942304
TI  - [Efficacy and tolerability of pantoprazole in the treatment of gastroesophageal
      reflux disease].
AB  - BACKGROUND: Proton pump inhibitors (PPI) are considered first-line therapies in
      the treatment of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and are prescribed
      frequently. METHODS: In two non-interventional trials 3040 patients with GERD
      were treated with 20 mg/40 mg pantoprazole per day. Symptoms were assessed by the
      investigators as well as the patients by means of the symptom questionnaire
      ReQuest at study start and after 1 week of treatment with pantoprazole. Data were
      pooled and analysed. RESULTS: At study start, 80% of patients had moderate/severe
      heartburn, 65% acid regurgitation, 20% painful swallowing and 32% suffered from
      moderate/severe steep dysfunction. After 1 week of treatment only 3.6% reported
      moderate/severe heartburn, 2.8% acid regurgitation, and 1.0% painful swallowing.
      Only 3.6% still suffered from sleep dysfunction. Improvement of symptoms was
      already observed after 1 to 2 days. CONCLUSION: Treatment with pantoprazole not
      only reliefs typical daily core symptoms but also improves the hitherto hardly
      noted sleep dysfunction and can, hence, bring a recovery of quality of life.

PMID- 20942305
TI  - [Autogenous vaccine in the treatment of chronic recurrent infections. Evaluation
      of efficacy and tolerability in German doctor's office].

PMID- 20942306
TI  - [Congratulations!].

PMID- 20942307
TI  - [Preventive measures against ventilator induced pneumonia].

PMID- 20942308
TI  - [Better chances for healthy growing up].

PMID- 20942309
TI  - [Energy training and therapeutic touch].

PMID- 20942311
TI  - [From professional circle to occupational society].

PMID- 20942310
TI  - [Niemann Pick type C disease].

PMID- 20942312
TI  - [The changing life of caregiving mothers of children with chronic kidney disease-
      a single case study].
AB  - BACKGROUND: The scientific literature shows, that caring parents of children with
      chronic kidney disease experience profound changes of life-world in terms of
      their welfare and their health. The different experiences that by the child's
      illness influenced the life-world of the parents in the two stages of life
      "living with peritoneal dialysis" and "living after kidney transplantation" have
      not yet been described in the German literature. METHODOLOGY: To study the
      changing life-world in the two stages of life "living with peritoneal dialysis"
      and "living after kidney transplantation" of the child, a single case study was
      carried out. The mother was interviewed using a problem-centered-interview. The
      analysis of the interview was based on Mayring's technique of content analysis
      (2002). RESULTS: The category system shows that mother's life-world is influenced
      by different experiences in both stages of life. Subjectively, the mother saw her
      greatest challenge during the "life with peritoneal dialysis" in following the
      hygienic rules and the prevention of peritation" was her fear that the donor
      kidney would be rejected by her child. IMPLICATIONS: The results of this study
      correspond to the results of previous studies in the English literature.
      Healthcare professionals, including nurses can use the results of this study to
      build up a professional relationship, for empathic support and for improvement of
      parental well-being. Further qualitative research should focus on healthcare
      professionals' view regarding the experiences and needs of caring parents of
      children with chronic kidney disease in order to compare with parents' view.

PMID- 20942313
TI  - [What do early childhood movements tell us?].

PMID- 20942314
TI  - Focusing on what's best for patients.

PMID- 20942315
TI  - Here's looking to CMS--implementing physician payment under PPACA.

PMID- 20942317
TI  - Let IMS CPR help you recruit partners to your practice!

PMID- 20942316
TI  - Health care information technology is coming to your practice!

PMID- 20942318
TI  - Part II: Transforming your clinic from ordinary to extraordinary.

PMID- 20942319
TI  - The patient centered medical home--who will open the door?

PMID- 20942320
TI  - Mercy radically redefines "tackle box".

PMID- 20942321
TI  - Caring is the expectation.

PMID- 20942322
TI  - Oklahoma: rising at the speed of delight.

PMID- 20942323
TI  - Reflection and the shadow side of leadership.

PMID- 20942324
TI  - The elephant in the room: huge rates of nursing and healthcare worker injury-
      part 1.

PMID- 20942325
TI  - Catch a falling star: wonder drug EPO may be down, but not out.

PMID- 20942327
TI  - Following public opposition to health care reform.

PMID- 20942326
TI  - Dissecting the bundle: The final rules for the prospective payment system for
      dialysis.

PMID- 20942328
TI  - The new Medicare PPS and home dialysis.
AB  - Overall, we believe that bundling of payments to dialysis facilities is positive
      for home dialysis. The incentive for higher utilization of home therapies comes
      down to the fact that, with treatments for all modalities being paid at the same
      rate, providers will see that home modalities cost less than facility-based
      treatments. The adjustment for home training treatments is certainly helpful, but
      it is not incentive enough on its own. From our perspective, one of the biggest
      financial incentives for home dialysis and more frequent dialysis therapies is
      that these patients are statistically known to spend less time in the hospital,
      over time costing taxpayers and the ESRD Program less money. We will continue to
      encourage CMS to consider the overall cost implications of more frequent
      dialysis. We are hopeful that when hospitalization costs are accounted for, CMS
      will do even more to encourage the use of these modalities.

PMID- 20942329
TI  - Getting nurses involved in sodium control.

PMID- 20942330
TI  - Perceptions about renal replacement therapy among nephrology professionals.
AB  - Usage of renal replacement modalities available for the treatment of end stage
      renal disease varies widely between countries, indicating that non-medical
      factors contribute to the choice of therapy. In the United States, 93% of the
      patients are treated with in-center hemodialysis (HD), about 7% undergo
      peritoneal dialysis (PD) and less than 1% are on home HD. In comparison, a
      Northern California-based nonprofit dialysis provider with home dialysis centers
      throughout the United States has achieved a home therapy penetration of 22%, the
      highest proportion of home therapies among U.S. dialysis providers. To better
      understand the perceptions about the various modality choices among caretakers
      (nephrologists and nurses) in this organization a short questionnaire was used.
      We examined the hypothetical setting of the caretakers being in the patient role.
      More than 90% of the nephrology professionals chose a home therapy as initial
      treatment option with close to equal distribution between PD and home HD. This
      pattern persisted for maintenance therapy with home HD being the preferred
      modality. Nephrologists' and nurses' perception of who makes modality decisions
      varied profoundly.

PMID- 20942331
TI  - A delicate balance and test of vulnerability.

PMID- 20942333
TI  - Rheological characterization of biological treatment sludges in a municipal
      wastewater treatment plant.
AB  - This study examined the rheological characteristics of biological treatment
      sludges originating from secondary stage and sludge treatment unit of a municipal
      wastewater treatment plant (WWTP), using a rotational viscometer equipped with an
      ultralow adapter or small cylindrical-shaped spindle. A total of four
      mathematical approaches were used to investigate the fitting of the dependence of
      the shear stress to the shear rate. A generalized multi-statistical model was
      proposed to describe the rheological properties of the sludge. The overall
      results indicated that Ostwald equations have stronger prediction capabilities of
      the apparent viscosity of treatment sludges than other theological modeling
      approaches and the proposed model. Although the proposed model structure did not
      exhibit a desirable performance, it may have an application potential to
      calculate the apparent viscosity for a particular shear rate and solid content,
      which can be measured easily in WWTPs.

PMID- 20942332
TI  - Pilot-scale experience with biological nutrient removal and biomass yield
      reduction in a liquid-solid circulating fluidized bed bioreactor.
AB  - A pilot-scale liquid-solid circulating fluidized bed (LSCFB) bioreactor was
      developed at the Adelaide Pollution Control Plant, London, Ontario, Canada, to
      study its commercial viability for biological nutrient removal. Lava rock
      particles of 600 microm were used as a biomass carrier media. The LSCFB removed
      approximately 90% organic, 80% nitrogen, and 70% phosphorus at loading rates of
      4.12 kg COD/m3 x d, 0.26 kg N/m3 x d, and 0.052 kg P/m3 x d, and an empty bed
      contact time of 1.5 hours. Effluent characterized by < 1.0 mg NH4-N/L, < 5.0 mg
      NO3-N/ L, < 1.0 mg PO4-P/L, < 10 mg TN/L, < 10 mg SBOD/L, and 10 to 15 mg
      volatile suspended solids (VSS)/L can easily meet the criteria for nonpotable
      reuse of treated wastewater. The system removed nutrients without using any
      chemicals, and the secondary clarifier removed suspended solids removal without
      chemicals. A significant reduction (approximately 75%) in biomass yield to 0.12
      to 0.16 g VSS/g chemical oxygen demand (COD) was observed, primarily because of
      long biological solids retention time (SRT) of 20 to 39 days and a combination of
      anoxic and aerobic COD consumption.

PMID- 20942334
TI  - Study on the treatment of wastewater containing mercury by macromolecular heavy
      metal flocculant mercaptoacetyl polyethyleneimine.
AB  - A novel water-soluble macromolecule heavy metal flocculant mercaptoacetyl
      polyethyleneimine (MAPEI) was synthesized by reacting polyethyleneimine (PEI)
      with thioglycolic acid (TGA). The removal of mercury ions (Hg2+) and turbidity
      from aqueous solutions by MAPEI was investigated. The MAPEI is efficient for the
      simultaneous removal of Hg2+ and turbidity. The highest removal ratio of mercury
      ions was above 95%. Factors were studied that could affect the process, such as
      pH, molecular weight of PEI, co-existing ions, and so on, and the results show
      that, with the increase in pH or molecular weight of PEI, the removal rate
      increases; alkali metal and alkaline-earth metal ions and chloride ions (Cl-) and
      nitrate (NO3-) ions can promote the removal of Hg2+, while sulfate (SO4(2-))
      suppresses the process. In the process of treating wastewater containing both
      turbidity and mercury ions, both have a synergic removal effect with each other.
      Compared with TGA, MAPEI shows obvious advantages, including higher removal
      efficiency, larger flocs, and higher floc sedimentation velocity. In addition,
      compared with PEI, both PEI and MAPEI are almost equally not efficient for
      turbidity removal, but the presence of mercury ions can improve greatly the
      efficiency of MAPEI in the removal of turbidity.

PMID- 20942335
TI  - Identification of degradation products of erythromycin A arising from ozone and
      advanced oxidation process treatment.
AB  - The degradation products of the macrolide antibiotic erythromycin A (ERY) arising
      from direct ozone attack and hydroxyl radical attack are presented for the first
      time. Ozone treatment was carried out by spiking ozone stock solutions to
      solutions containing ERY-ERY:O3 = 1:5 and 1:10 (M:M), while, in parallel, t-BuOH
      was used as a hydroxyl radical (*OH) scavenger. The advanced oxidation processes
      (AOPs) O3/UV, O3/H2O2, and UV/H2O2 were carried out to recognize and verify
      possible differences between their primary degradation products; the initial
      concentrations were ERY:O3 = 1:5 (M:M), ERY:O3:H202 = 1:5:5 (M:M:M), or ERY:H202
      = 1:5 (M:M), respectively. Six degradation products were identified from
      ozonation-one originates from direct ozone attack on the tertiary amine group,
      while the others arise from radical ion attack, which might be formed during
      degradation of O3 in water. Fewer primary degradation products were observed
      arising from *OH-based treatments (AOP) than from ozonation, possibly because the
      reaction of *OH radicals is non-selective and typically is diffusion-controlled.
      Four degradation products were detected by *OH radical attacks; two of them
      already were observed during ozonation, with one as an oxidized ERY molecule and
      the other as a non-oxidized fragment of the ERY molecule.

PMID- 20942336
TI  - Full-scale assessment of the nutrient removal capabilities of membrane
      bioreactors.
AB  - Operating results from two full-scale membrane bioreactors (MBRs) practicing
      biological and chemical phosphorus and biological nitrogen removal to meet
      stringent effluent nutrient limits are analyzed. Full-scale results and special
      studies conducted at these facilities resulted in the development of guidelines
      for the design of MBRs to achieve stringent effluent nutrient concentrations--as
      low as 0.05 mg/L total phosphorus and 3 mg/L total nitrogen. These guidelines
      include the following: (1) direct the membrane recirculation flow to the aerobic
      zone, (2) provide intense mixing at the inlets of the anaerobic and anoxic zones,
      (3) maintain internal recirculation flowrates to maintain the desired mixed
      liquor suspended solids distribution, and (4) carefully control supplemental
      metal salt addition in proportion to the phosphorus remaining after biological
      removal is complete. Staging the various process zones and providing effective
      dissolved oxygen control also enhances nutrient removal performance. The results
      demonstrated that process performance can be characterized by the International
      Water Association (London, United Kingdom) (IWA) activated sludge model number 2d
      (ASM2d) and the Water Environment Federation (Alexandria, Virginia) chemical
      phosphorus removal model. These models subsequently were used to develop unique
      process configurations that are currently under design and/or construction for
      several full-scale nutrient removal MBRs.

PMID- 20942337
TI  - Control of partial nitritation of centrate in a sequencing batch reactor.
AB  - This research identified suitable conditions for long-term inhibition of nitrite
      oxidizer bacteria (NOB) in a sequencing batch reactor for the treatment of
      centrate by over-nitrite pathways. The NOB were inhibited by free ammonia
      concentrations greater than 20 mg NH3-N/L combined with a dissolved oxygen
      concentration less than 0.3 mg O2/L and a temperature of 30 degrees C. The
      experiments were performed in a laboratory-scale 2.5-L reactor fed with synthetic
      and actual centrate from a full-scale wastewater treatment plant (800 to 1500 mg
      NH4+ -N/L). The influence of influent-alkalinity-to-ammonium ratio (AAR) on the
      effluent-nitrite-to-ammonium ratio (NAR) also was investigated. The control of
      the effluent NAR was possible by adjusting the influent AAR when NOB inhibition
      was maintained and when total alkalinity depletion took place before the end of
      the cycle. The maximum nitritation rate of 860 mg NO2- -N oxidized/L x d was
      obtained when the influent NH4+ -N concentration was 800 mg NH4+ -N/L and the
      hydraulic retention time was 1.7 days.

PMID- 20942338
TI  - Performance of an experimental wastewater treatment high-rate algal pond in
      subarctic climate.
AB  - A pilot-scale experimental high-rate algal pond (HRAP) was investigated in the
      subarctic mid-Sweden region, at latitude 63 degrees N. During autumn 2002,
      conditions included temperatures below 10 degrees C and photosynthetic active
      radiation below 200 microE/m2 x s. Biochemical oxygen demand was reduced by
      approximately 90% (approximately 40 g/m3), chemical oxygen demand by 65%
      (approximately 80 g/m3), total phosphorus by 20% (approximately 1 g/m3), and
      total nitrogen by 46% (approximately 15 g/m3), at a retention time of
      approximately 2.5 days. During autumn 2003, the performance of the HRAP appeared
      better with a more dense microalgae culture; however, as a result of poor
      settling of the microalgae, the reduction was considerably lower. A major
      difference between the years was the microalgae composition. In 2002, the large
      green algae Coelastrum dominated with Chlamydomonas, Scenedesmus, Lagerheimia,
      and the Cryptophyte Rhodomonas. In 2003, there was a total dominance of the very
      small green algae Chlorella, known to be difficult to settle. In batch growth
      experiments during spring 2002, doubling times of 4 to 6 days were achieved. The
      period of temperatures above 10 degrees C and an insolation of more than
      approximately 270 uE/m2 x s (125 Langleys), which is well-documented as
      appropriate for HRAP function (Oswald, 1988a, 1988c), were measured to last for 4
      to 4.5 months from early May to late September. However, the growth and treatment
      performance experiments indicated that a longer season may be possible-6.5 to 7
      months, at best-from early April to late October.

PMID- 20942339
TI  - Urine--a valuable fertilizer with low risk after storage in the tropics.
AB  - Urine contains a considerable amount of nutrients and potentially could be used
      as supplement commercial mineral fertilizer; however, it carries risk of
      contamination. The effect of urine storage as a simple treatment method was
      examined under tropical conditions. Initial concentrations of total coliforms
      (2.3 x 10(5) CFU/100 mL), E. coli (<1.0 x 10(4) CFU/100 mL), and Salmonella sp.
      were less than detection limit after four weeks. Open storage led to nitrogen
      losses of 90%, whereas closed storage containers retained 93% of total nitrogen.
      Under storage, the N:P ratio of 8:1 in fresh urine changed to 14:1 in the
      supernatant and to 1:12 in the precipitate, and 100% of magnesium and 96% of
      calcium was precipitated. A model showed that, depending on plant requirements,
      using the mixture of supernatant and precipitate as fertilizer for crops such as
      cassava was reasonable. To fertilize crops such as rice, however, additional P
      and K was needed. The nutrient-based flux of heavy metals to soils was
      negligible.

PMID- 20942340
TI  - Studies on the movements of ionic selectivity, compatible solutes, and
      intracellular ions caused in the leaves of spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.) plants
      cultured in a nutrient solution with seawater.
AB  - Analyses of ionic selectivity, compatible solutes, and intracellular ions in the
      leaves of spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.) plants cultured in the Hoagland's
      nutrient solution with or.without seawater (40%) were carried out using two
      cultivars--the Helan No.3 (seawater tolerant) and the Yuanye (seawater
      sensitive). When both cultivars were subjected to seawater stress, the leaves of
      the Helan No. 3 spinach preferred potassium (K+), calcium (Ca2+), magnesium
      (Mg2+), and sulfate (SO4(2-)) over sodium (Na+) and chlorine (Cl-) to keep high
      ratios of K/Na, Mg/Na, Ca/Na, and SO4(2-)/Cl- compared with the Yanye spinach.
      Moreover, those of the Helan No. 3 spinach under the seawater stress showed high
      efficiency of accumulation of compatible solutes (sugars and proline), low
      degradation of proteins, and suppression of free amino acids. However, the
      activities of plasma membrane H+ -ATPase and tonoplast H+ -ATPase in the leaves
      of spinach with the stress were enhanced. Taken together, the Helan No. 3 spinach
      under the seawater stress seems to acquire a high tolerance to the seawater
      salinity by inducing a high ion uptake, low concentration of Na+ and Cl-,
      efficient accumulation of compatible solutes, low decomposition of proteins, and
      suppression of free amino acids in the leaves.

PMID- 20942341
TI  - Of: Dynamic modeling of sludge compaction and consolidation processes in
      wastewater secondary settling tanks, A. Abusam and K.J. Keesman, 81, 51-56
      (2009).

PMID- 20942344
TI  - Three short years.

PMID- 20942342
TI  - Of: Characteristics of highway stormwater runoff in los angeles: metals and
      polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. S. Lau, Y. Han, J. Kang, M. Kayhanian, M. K.
      Stenstrom, 81, 308-318 (2009).

PMID- 20942345
TI  - Budgeting for ICD-10.
AB  - Breaking down costs by category helps tackle a complex task. Different expenses
      will peak in different years, and not all costs will be obvious.

PMID- 20942346
TI  - Quality check.
AB  - Meaningful use and pay-for-performance are shining a spotlight on quality
      measures. There are hundreds of measures in use, but most fall within three broad
      categories.

PMID- 20942347
TI  - The next IT challenge.
AB  - Healthcare has made significant progress on capturing data electronically, but it
      still struggles to leverage it fully. The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
      is making inroads by harmonizing data from different settings and systems into a
      single view.

PMID- 20942348
TI  - Too much privacy?

PMID- 20942349
TI  - Deleting errors in the EHR.

PMID- 20942350
TI  - Small steps, big standards.

PMID- 20942351
TI  - Europe's E-health initiatives.

PMID- 20942352
TI  - Understanding the HIE landscape.

PMID- 20942353
TI  - New ICD-9-CM diagnosis codes for FY 2011.

PMID- 20942354
TI  - ICD-10-PCS root operation groups, part 3.

PMID- 20942355
TI  - Accumulating and remembering the details of neutral and emotional natural scenes.
AB  - In contrast to our rich sensory experience with complex scenes in everyday life,
      the capacity of visual working memory is thought to be quite limited. Here our
      memory has been examined for the details of naturalistic scenes as a function of
      display duration, emotional valence of the scene, and delay before test.
      Individual differences in working memory and long-term memory for pictorial
      scenes were examined in experiment 1. The accumulation of memory for emotional
      scenes and the retention of these details in long-term memory were investigated
      in experiment 2. Although there were large individual differences in performance,
      memory for scene details generally exceeded the traditional working memory limit
      within a few seconds. Information about positive scenes was learned most quickly,
      while negative scenes showed the worst memory for details. The overall pattern of
      results was consistent with the idea that both short-term and long-term
      representations are mixed together in a medium-term 'online' memory for scenes.

PMID- 20942356
TI  - The perceptual salience of symmetrical and asymmetrical sections of a line.
AB  - A vertical line segment intersecting a horizontal one at different crossing
      points generates line sections. Visual perception of such line sections was
      investigated here in two experiments. In both experiments participants were most
      accurate and precise when they had to reproduce symmetrical sections.
      Interestingly, the different asymmetrical sections of a line were not equivalent
      in terms of participants' performance: constant errors changed as a function of
      sections and the error curve was nicely interpolated by the composition of two
      harmonics of the line length. In consistence with the harmonic fitting of the
      data, we propose that the perceptual salience of specific asymmetrical sections
      is a byproduct of the automatic triggering of a line midpoint identification
      process. Being perceptually tuned to symmetry warps our visual representation of
      the line, which results in systematic misperceptions. The way of bringing present
      and past experimental findings into a unitary whole is proposed.

PMID- 20942357
TI  - Spatial vision meets spatial cognition: examining the effect of visual blur on
      human visually guided route learning.
AB  - Visual navigation is a task that involves processing two-dimensional light
      patterns on the retinas to obtain knowledge of how to move through a three
      dimensional environment. Therefore, modifying the basic characteristics of the
      two-dimensional information provided to navigators should have important and
      informative effects on how they navigate. Despite this, few basic research
      studies have examined the effects of systematically modifying the available
      levels of spatial visual detail on navigation performance. In this study, we
      tested the effects of a range of visual blur levels--approximately equivalent to
      various degrees of low-pass spatial frequency filtering--on participants'
      visually guided route-learning performance using desktop virtual renderings of
      the Hebb-Williams mazes. Our findings show that the function of blur and time to
      finish the mazes follows a sigmoidal pattern, with the inflection point around +2
      D of experienced defocus. This suggests that visually guided route learning is
      fairly robust to blur, with the threshold level being just above the limit for
      legal blindness. These findings have implications for models of route learning,
      as well as for practical situations in which humans must navigate under
      conditions of blur.

PMID- 20942358
TI  - Processes underlying the cross-race effect: an investigation of holistic,
      featural, and relational processing of own-race versus other-race faces.
AB  - Adults are often better at recognising own-race than other-race faces. Unlike
      previous studies that reported an own-race advantage after administering a single
      test of either holistic processing or of featural and relational processing, we
      used a cross-over design and multiple tasks to assess differential processing of
      faces from a familiar race versus a less familiar race. Caucasian and Chinese
      adults performed four tasks, each with Caucasian and Chinese faces. Two tasks
      measured holistic processing: the composite face task and the part/whole task.
      Both tasks indicated holistic processing of own-race and other-race faces that
      did not differ in degree. Two tasks measured featural and relational processing:
      the Jane/Ling task, in which same/ different judgments were made about face pairs
      that differed in features of their spacing, and the scrambled/blurred task, in
      which test faces were scrambled (isolates memory for components) or blurred
      (isolates memory for relations). Both tasks provided evidence of an own-race
      advantage in both featural and relational processing. We conclude that even when
      adults process other-race faces holistically, other manifestations of an own-race
      advantage remain.

PMID- 20942359
TI  - Perspective-based illusory movement in a flat billboard--an explanation.
AB  - We describe a compelling motion illusion elicited by a huge billboard placed
      along a street, depicting a building that contains strong perspective cues. When
      observers move fast along the opposite sidewalk, they perceive the depicted
      building as rotating in their direction of travel. This is a special case of the
      'following', or 'pointing out of the picture', illusion that elicits a strong
      illusory motion percept. Here we discuss the cause of the illusory motion and
      suggest that the brain relies on the depicted perspective cues to infer a 3-D
      shape and a concomitant motion that is incompatible with the physical pictorial
      surface.

PMID- 20942360
TI  - Local and global processing in savant artists with autism.
AB  - We explored the hypothesis that an enhanced local processing style is
      characteristic of both art and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) by examining local
      and global processing in savant artists with ASD. Specifically, savant artists
      were compared against non-talented individuals with ASD or mild/moderate learning
      difficulties (MLD), as well as artistically talented or nontalented students, on
      the block-design task and meaningful and abstract versions of the embedded
      figures test (EFT). Results demonstrated that there were no significant
      differences between the meaningful and abstract versions of the EFT, in any of
      the groups. This suggests that the primary process governing performance on this
      task was perceptual (local), rather than conceptual (global). More interestingly,
      the savant artists performed above the level of the ASD and MLD groups on the
      block-design test, but not the EFT. Despite both the block-design task and the
      EFT measuring local processing abilities, we suggest that this result is due to
      the block-design task being an active construction task (requiring the conversion
      of a visual input into a motor output), whereas the EFT is a passive recognition
      task. Therefore, although an enhanced local processing style is an important
      aspect of savant artistic talent, motor control also appears to be a necessary
      skill.

PMID- 20942361
TI  - Lip colour affects perceived sex typicality and attractiveness of human faces.
AB  - The luminance contrast between facial features and facial skin is greater in
      women than in men, and women's use of make-up enhances this contrast. In black
      and-white photographs, increased luminance contrast enhances femininity and
      attractiveness in women's faces, but reduces masculinity and attractiveness in
      men's faces. In Caucasians, much of the contrast between the lips and facial skin
      is in redness. Red lips have been considered attractive in women in
      geographically and temporally diverse cultures, possibly because they mimic
      vasodilation associated with sexual arousal. Here, we investigate the effects of
      lip luminance and colour contrast on the attractiveness and sex typicality
      (masculinity/femininity) of human faces. In a Caucasian sample, we allowed
      participants to manipulate the colour of the lips in colour-calibrated face
      photographs along CIELab L* (light--dark), a* (red--green), and b* (yellow--blue)
      axes to enhance apparent attractiveness and sex typicality. Participants
      increased redness contrast to enhance femininity and attractiveness of female
      faces, but reduced redness contrast to enhance masculinity of men's faces. Lip
      blueness was reduced more in female than male faces. Increased lightness contrast
      enhanced the attractiveness of both sexes, and had little effect on perceptions
      of sex typicality. The association between lip colour contrast and attractiveness
      in women's faces may be attributable to its association with oxygenated blood
      perfusion indicating oestrogen levels, sexual arousal, and cardiac and
      respiratory health.

PMID- 20942362
TI  - Availability of advance visual information constrains association-football
      goalkeeping performance during penalty kicks.
AB  - A pressing concern within the literature on anticipatory perceptual-motor
      behaviour is the lack of clarity on the applicability of data, observed under
      video-simulation task constraints, to actual performance in which actions are
      coupled to perception, as captured during in-situ experimental conditions. We
      developed an in-situ experimental paradigm which manipulated the duration of
      anticipatory visual information from a penalty taker's actions to examine
      experienced goalkeepers' vulnerability to deception for the penalty kick in
      association football. Irrespective of the penalty taker's kick strategy,
      goalkeepers initiated movement responses earlier across consecutively earlier
      presentation points. Overall goalkeeping performance was better in non-deception
      trials than in deception conditions. In deception trials, the kinematic
      information presented up until the penalty taker initiated his/her kicking action
      had a negative effect on goalkeepers' performance. It is concluded that
      goalkeepers are likely to benefit from not anticipating a penalty taker's
      performance outcome based on information from the run-up, in preference to later
      information that emerges just before the initiation of the penalty taker's
      kicking action.

PMID- 20942363
TI  - Does Thompson's Thatcher Effect reflect a face-specific mechanism?
AB  - The Thatcher Illusion or Thatcher Effect (TE--Thompson 1980, Perception 9 483
      484) reflects the difficulty in perceiving the local inversion of parts when the
      whole object, generally a face, is globally inverted. We tested the generality of
      the TE with a range of faces and nonface objects, and observed the TE with many
      non-face categories including cars, buildings, bikes, and letter strings. In
      terms of magnitude, the face TE is not exceptionally large compared to other
      object categories, and the magnitude of the TE can be predicted by performance on
      this task for upright stimuli, regardless of whether the object is a face or not.
      We did not observe evidence for a unique mechanism contributing to the TE for
      faces. We discuss factors that influence the magnitude of the TE, some common
      across domains and others more specific to a particular category.

PMID- 20942364
TI  - No role for lightness in the perception of black and white? Simultaneous contrast
      affects perceived skin tone, but not perceived race.
AB  - Faces of individuals with African and European heritage (henceforth referred to
      as Black and White respectively) feature two major differences: those of skin
      tone and morphological characteristics. Although considerations of perceived race
      are important to various psychological subdisciplines, to date the relative
      influence of morphological versus photometric characteristics has not been
      investigated. We attempted to influence the perceived racial typicality of a
      central target face by manipulating perceived skin tone using the well-known
      lightness contrast illusion. As expected, ratings of skin tone were influenced by
      surround faces, yet ratings of perceived racial typicality were not, suggesting a
      dissociation between the two judgments. Surprisingly, skin tone contributes
      little to perceived race, leaving facial morphology as the dominant cue. These
      results may shed light on failures to find effects of racial typicality in
      studies of prejudice where judgments were based on photographs with altered skin
      tone alone.

PMID- 20942365
TI  - [Understanding the role of the duration of untreated illness in psychiatric
      disorders: a narrative review].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The duration of untreated illness (DUI) is defined as the interval
      between the onset of a psychiatric disorder and the administration of the first
      pharmacological treatment. AIM: The aim of the present article is to analyze the
      relationship between the DUI or the duration of untreated psychosis (DUP) and
      some clinical parameters in different psychiatric disorders, like major
      psychoses, mood disorders and anxiety disorders. Another objective is to analyze 
      according to the available literature - the relationship between a long DUI and
      neurobiological modifications occurring with the progression of the disorder and
      related to the clinical outcome. Finally, given that the DUI is a modifiable
      prognostic factor, different intervention programs aimed to reduce this variable
      are presented and discussed. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An updated review of the
      current literature was conducted through PubMed in order to compare different
      studies focused on DUI in major psychoses, depressive and anxiety disorders.
      RESULTS: A significant body of evidence shows that a prolonged DUI represents a
      negative prognostic factor particularly in schizophrenia. Nevertheless, an
      increasing number of studies points toward a similar conclusion in mood and
      anxiety disorders as well, even though fewer studies have been published in this
      field. CONCLUSIONS: Given the relationship between a longer DUI and a worse
      outcome--not only in major psychoses but also in mood and anxiety disorders-
      specific intervention programs aimed to reduce the latency to treatment are
      definitely envisaged.

PMID- 20942366
TI  - [Depressive symptoms and personality characteristics: phenomenology of affective
      disorders].
AB  - AIM: Our study aimed to evaluate the relationship between different patterns of
      symptoms and personality characteristics in a group of 100 patients diagnosed
      with depression. MATERIALS AND METHOD: The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality
      Inventory was used as the personality descriptor by the adoption of a multiaxial
      interpretative technique (Diamond's Axes). These descriptive variables were
      correlated with the symptoms referred to by the patients and subsequently
      underwent factor analysis, the method used for the principal components. RESULTS:
      Four "types" of patients were identified as "different" for symptoms and
      personality descriptors. In particular, the most important correlations were:
      anxiety and development of somatic symptoms; low self confidence and autistic
      behaviour; anger and impulsive behaviour; aggressive behaviour. DISCUSSION: Our
      results show the relevance of underlying personality characteristics in the
      presence of depressive symptoms. This relationship seems relevant also for the
      prediction of likely complications.

PMID- 20942367
TI  - [Kennedy V Axis assessment in an Italian outpatient and inpatient population].
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Kennedy Axis V or K Axis acts is an alternative tool to the DSM
      IVTR Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) Scale, that many researchers describe
      as a scale with poor inter-rater reliability and clinical utility. Unlike the GAF
      scale, K Axis provides a multidimensional and multiaxial approach to measure
      personal, social and interpersonal functioning in psychiatric outpatients and
      inpatients. In this study, we examined K Axis's inter-raters reliability by using
      it with an Italian clinical population. METHODS: Clinicians used Kennedy Axis V
      to assess global functioning among 180 inpatients, in 9 psychiatric services in
      Lombardia and Piemonte. Patients were divided into 4 different diagnostic groups,
      according to the DSM-IV-TR criteria. RESULTS: Intraclass correlations between two
      independent raters's scores reveal high level of interrater reliability for all K
      Axis scales (0,633 < ICC < 0,813). Highly significant results in the Kruskal
      Wallis test demonstrate that the patient diagnosis influence all the scales
      scores. Significant differences in patients functioning profiles in all K Axis
      scales, apart from Violence one, were noted between different diagnosis groups.
      CONCLUSIONS: In this study high level of raters agreement was noted, even if K
      Axis scales were used in different mental health services from different
      clinicians. K Axis scales provide a useful profile of patient global functioning,
      in line with the specific pathology.

PMID- 20942368
TI  - [The burn patient: factors associated with post-traumatic stress disorder and
      directions for intervention].
AB  - AIM: Starting from the evidence that not all burn patients develop a post
      traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the aim of this overview was to describe
      variables, which favour the development of the disorder following to burn injury
      and to delineate directions for a treatment. METHODS: We searched articles in
      English related to PTSD in the population suffering from burns in the PubMed
      database, using the key word 'burn' in combination with: PTSD, traumatic event,
      trauma, ASD, and psychological factors. We concentrated our attention on articles
      published in the last decade (January 1998-March 2010). RESULTS: We found 32
      articles. The risk factors concurring in the onset of PTSD are the presence of
      post-traumatic symptoms in the first following weeks to the burn, the avoidant
      coping, neuroticism, the presence of psychiatric disorder before the trauma, and
      the degree of disfigurement. The principal protective factors emerged from the
      review are the search of social or emotional support and extraversion.
      Information related to the treatment of these patients is scarce. CONCLUSIONS:
      The literature underlines the importance of the individual vulnerability to the
      development of PTSD in burn patients, besides the experience itself of a
      traumatic event. These patients face particular and specific problems, therefore,
      with the purpose to develop a suitable intervention, it would be useful to
      appraise, besides the physical and psychosocial implications of the burn, the
      psychological characteristics of each patient, to articulate a treatment that may
      account for the complexity of the burn patient.

PMID- 20942369
TI  - [Dissociative symptoms in patients with mood and anxiety disorders].
AB  - AIM: The objective of this study was to evaluate the occurrence of dissociative
      symptoms in outpatients affected by mood or anxiety disorder and their potential
      implication in general psychopathology and treatment response. METHODS: The
      sample was recruited at Italian and Spanish psychiatric outpatient services. The
      sample consisted in 40 (13 Male, 27 Female) outpatients, 22 Italians (55%) and 18
      Spanish (45%). Inclusion criteria were the Axis I diagnosis of any DSM-IV-TR mood
      or anxiety disorder and Clinical Global Impression/Global Severity Index (CGI)
      baseline scores > or = 3 and Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D) and
      Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAM-A) baseline scores > or = 18. General
      psychopathology, dissociative symptoms and personality traits were respectively
      assessed by the self-report symptom inventory Symptom Check-List 90 (SCL-90), the
      Dissociative Experience Scale (DES) and the Cloninger's Temperament and Character
      Inventory (TCI). RESULTS: Dissociative symptoms emerged as relatively frequent in
      mood and anxiety disorders. Globally, depression symptoms seem to correlate
      positively with the dissociative experiences and the severity of global
      psychopathology. Dissociative symptoms seem to correlate positively with some
      personality traits and the severity of global psychopathology and should receive
      further investigation in clinical practice, as might be a predictor of poor
      response to conventional drug treatment.

PMID- 20942370
TI  - [Post-traumatic condition and psychological distress/well-being in a sample of
      inmates: a cluster analytic approach].
AB  - AIM: Researchers addressing the mental health needs of inmates reported that post
      traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was one of the most common disorders. This study
      examined the patterns of PTSD symptoms and their relation to the self-reported
      level of distress and psychological wellbeing in a sample of Italian inmates.
      METHODS: Fifty inmates, 90% male, 54% aged 31-50 years, 70% awaiting trial,
      completed a battery of tests including the Davidson Trauma Scale (DTS), the
      Symptom Questionnaire (SQ), and the Psychological Well-Being Scales (PWBS).
      RESULTS: Cluster analysis revealed three distinct clusters of respondents, which
      presents varying combination of PTSD symptoms, as measured with the three
      subscales of the DTS. Accordingly, these clusters were labeled Cluster 1-
      Traumatized (n = 18), Cluster 2--Non-traumatized (n = 18), and Cluster 3-
      Seriously traumatized (n = 14). Findings indicated that the three groups differed
      consistently across all the domains of the SQ and on the environmental mastery
      scale of the PWBS. Those in the Traumatized clusters, as compared to the
      Nontraumatized, demonstrated higher overall psychological distress and lower
      perceived environmental mastery. Moreover, independent of posttraumatic level,
      inmates showed poorer psychological wellbeing and higher distress than the
      normative population. DISCUSSION: The patterns manifested in clusters 1 and 3
      could become the focus of attention to deliver specific intervention aimed at
      reducing inmates' distress and encouraging their adjustment to prison life.

PMID- 20942371
TI  - [The limits and power of psychotherapy: a critical reading].
AB  - The psychotherapy has been founded as "scientific" discipline since the
      separation from philosophy and mainly religion. During the last two decades, the
      increasing frequency of groups that hide sectarian and religious aims behind the
      psychotherapy denomination, forces two tasks. On one hand we must propose the
      foundations of the psychotherapeutic process and the methods to evaluate its
      effects. On the other hand we must highlight that in these groups some procedures
      and behaviours are the opposit of the psychotherapy principles. In such cases we
      can talk of "denied psychotherapy".

PMID- 20942372
TI  - Blossoming into full-blown maturity?

PMID- 20942373
TI  - Pilates fitness continuum: post-rehabilitation and prevention Pilates fitness
      programs.

PMID- 20942374
TI  - Working outside the box: Cultivating an ongoing collaboration with companies by
      providing therapeutic services on-site.

PMID- 20942375
TI  - Treating chronic pain in older patients: Therapists with different methodologies
      reveal common ground on approach, indicating a trend toward holistic, exhaustive,
      and personalized treatment.

PMID- 20942376
TI  - The ABCs of standing: The importance of establishing and reinforcing a routine of
      standing in school for young and teens who have disabilities.

PMID- 20942377
TI  - Q-and-A with Lauren E Rosen, PT, MPT, MSMS, ATP: Tips for choosing the optimal
      wheelchair cushion for clients with mobility impairments. Interview by Judy
      O'Rourke.

PMID- 20942378
TI  - National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey: 2007 outpatient department
      summary.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: This report describes ambulatory care visits to hospital outpatient
      departments (OPDs) in the United States. Statistics are presented on selected
      hospital, patient, and visit characteristics. Selected trends in OPD utilization
      from 1997 through 2007, as well as items new to the 2007 survey, are presented.
      METHODS: The data presented in this report were collected in the 2007 National
      Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, a national probability sample survey of
      visits to emergency departments and OPDs of nonfederal short-stay and general
      hospitals in the United States. Sample data were weighted to produce annual
      national estimates. RESULTS: During 2007, an estimated 88.9 million visits were
      made to hospital OPDs in the United States: about 30.0 visits per 100 persons.
      Females (36.7 per 100 persons) had higher OPD visit rates than males (23.0 visits
      per 100 persons). Black or African-American persons (58.4 visits per 100 persons)
      had higher OPD visit rates than white persons (26.5 visits per 100 persons).
      Visit rates to OPD clinics for preventive care were highest for children under 1
      year of age (39.4 per 100 persons). About a third of all OPD visits (33.2%) were
      made by patients having Medicaid or the State Children's Health Insurance Program
      (SCHIP) as an expected source of payment. Medicaid or SCHIP was the source of
      payment for more than half (56.3%) of OPD visits made by children under age 18.
      The rate of preventive care visits for patients with Medicaid or SCHIP as an
      expected source of payment (23.1 per 100 persons) was at least four times higher
      than for patients having other payment sources (3.3-4.9 per 100 persons). About
      82.9% of visits were made by established patients and 17.1% were made by new
      patients. In 2007, visits to OPDs by new and established patients averaged 5.9
      visits during the past 12 months. Essential hypertension was the leading primary
      diagnosis at OPD visits. Moderate to severe blood pressure elevations were seen
      more frequently in visits by non-Hispanic or non-Latino patients than Hispanic
      patients and in visits by black patients compared with white patients.

PMID- 20942379
TI  - Allyl transfer to aldehydes and ketones by Bronsted acid activation of allyl and
      crotyl 1,3,2-dioxazaborolidines.
AB  - Alkyl dioxazaborolidines are air-stable and often crystalline organoboranes. A
      variety of Bronsted acids activate allyl dioxazaborolidines to generate reactive
      allyl-transfer reagents in situ. These reagents add to aldehydes and ketones to
      generate the corresponding alcohols in good yields under mild conditions. The E-
      and Z-crotyl reagents react diastereoselectively with aldehydes and ketones to
      produce anti and syn adducts, respectively, a result consistent with a cyclic
      transition state (type I mechanism).

PMID- 20942380
TI  - Development of electrically conductive oligo(polyethylene glycol) fumarate
      polypyrrole hydrogels for nerve regeneration.
AB  - Electrically conductive hydrogel composites consisting of oligo(polyethylene
      glycol) fumarate (OPF) and polypyrrole (PPy) were developed for applications in
      nerve regeneration. OPF-PPy scaffolds were synthesized using three different
      anions: naphthalene-2-sulfonic acid sodium salt (NSA), dodecylbenzenesulfonic
      acid sodium salt (DBSA), and dioctyl sulfosuccinate sodium salt (DOSS). Scaffolds
      were characterized by ATR-FTIR, XPS, AFM, dynamic mechanical analysis, electrical
      resistivity measurements, and swelling experiments. OPF-PPy scaffolds were shown
      to consist of up to 25 mol % polypyrrole with a compressive modulus ranging from
      265 to 323 kPa and a sheet resistance ranging from 6 to 30 * 10(3) Ohms/square.
      In vitro studies using PC12 cells showed OPF-PPy materials had no cytotoxicity
      and PC12 cells showed distinctly better cell attachment and an increase in the
      percent of neurite bearing cells on OPF-PPy materials compared to OPF. The
      neurite lengths of PC12 cells were significantly higher on OPF-PPyNSA and OPF
      PPyDBSA. These results show that electrically conductive OPF-PPy hydrogels are
      promising candidates for future applications in nerve regeneration. 

PMID- 20942381
TI  - A novel photosynthetic strategy for adaptation to low-iron aquatic environments.
AB  - Iron (Fe) availability is a major limiting factor for primary production in
      aquatic environments. Cyanobacteria respond to Fe deficiency by derepressing the
      isiAB operon, which encodes the antenna protein IsiA and flavodoxin. At nanomolar
      Fe concentrations, a PSI-IsiA supercomplex forms, comprising a PSI trimer
      encircled by two complete IsiA rings. This PSI-IsiA supercomplex is the largest
      photosynthetic membrane protein complex yet isolated. This study presents a
      detailed characterization of this complex using transmission electron microscopy
      and ultrafast fluorescence spectroscopy. Excitation trapping and electron
      transfer are highly efficient, allowing cyanobacteria to avoid oxidative stress.
      This mechanism may be a major factor used by cyanobacteria to successfully adapt
      to modern low-Fe environments.

PMID- 20942382
TI  - Illuminating metal-ion sensors: benzimidazolesulfonamide metal complexes.
AB  - The synthesis, structure, and solution spectroscopy of several (2
      sulfonamidophenyl)benzimidazole metal complexes are reported. These ligands,
      which have been reported as selective molecular sensors for Zn(2+), readily form
      complexes with Co(2+), Ni(2+), Cu(2+), and Zn(2+). Surprisingly, the ligand
      adopts different binding modes depending on the metal ion. The work here provides
      insight into the coordination chemistry of these ligands, which may allow for the
      development of improved metal-ion sensors and metalloprotein inhibitors.

PMID- 20942383
TI  - Observation of breathing-like modes in an individual multiwalled carbon nanotube.
AB  - We study collective vibrational breathing modes in the Raman spectrum of a
      multiwalled carbon nanotube. In correlation with high-resolution transmission
      electron microscopy, we find that these modes have energies differing by more
      than 23% from the radial breathing modes of the corresponding single-walled
      nanotubes. This shift in energy is explained with intershell interactions using a
      model of coupled harmonic oscillators. The strength of this interaction is
      related to the coupling strength expected for few-layer graphene.

PMID- 20942384
TI  - Antiferromagnetic domain reconfiguration in embedded LaFeO3 thin film
      nanostructures.
AB  - Using photoemission electron microscopy in combination with X-ray magnetic linear
      dichroism, we report reconfiguration upon nanostructuring of the
      antiferromagnetic domain structure in epitaxial LaFeO3 thin films.
      Antiferromagnetic (AFM) nanoislands were synthesized using a dedicated process,
      devised to define nanostructures with magnetic order embedded in a paramagnetic
      matrix. Significant impact on the AFM domain configuration was observed. Extended
      domains were found to form along edges parallel to the in-plane <100> crystalline
      axes of the cubic substrate, with their AFM spin axis parallel to the edge. No
      such edge-imposed domain configuration was found for nanoislands defined with the
      edges at 45 degrees  with the in-plane crystalline axes. Epitaxial constraints on
      the film crystalline structure appear to play an important role in the formation
      of the edge-bound extended AFM domains. The data indicate a magnetostatic origin
      of this domain reconfiguration.

PMID- 20942385
TI  - Growth of nickel silicides in Si and Si/SiOx core/shell nanowires.
AB  - We exploited the oxide shell structure to explore the structure confinement
      effect on the nickel silicide growth in one-dimensional nanowire template. The
      oxide confinement structure is similar to the contact structure (via hole) in the
      thin film system or nanodevices passivated by oxide or nitride film. Silicon
      nanowires in direct contact with nickel pads transform into two phases of nickel
      silicides, Ni31Si12 and NiSi2, after one-step annealing at 550  degrees C. In a
      bare Si nanowire during the annealing process, NiSi2 grows initially through the
      nanowire, followed by the transformation of NiSi2 into the nickel-rich phase,
      Ni31Si12 starting from near the nickel pad. Ni31Si12 is also observed under the
      nickel pads. Although the same phase transformations of Si to nickel silicides
      are observed in nanowires with oxide confinement structure, the growth rate of
      nickel silicides, Ni31Si12 and NiSi2, is retarded dramatically. With increasing
      oxide thickness from 5 to 50 nm, the retarding effect of the Ni31Si12 growth and
      the annihilation of Ni2Si into the oxide confined-Si is clearly observed.
      Ni31Si12 and Ni2Si phases are limited to grow into the Si/SiOx core-shell
      nanowire as the shell thickness reaches 50 nm. It is experimental evidence that
      phase transformation is influenced by the stressed structure at nanoscale.

PMID- 20942386
TI  - Quantitative rate determination by dynamic nuclear polarization enhanced NMR of a
      Diels-Alder reaction.
AB  - Emerging techniques for hyperpolarization of nuclear spins, foremost dynamic
      nuclear polarization (DNP), lend unprecedented sensitivity to nuclear magnetic
      resonance spectroscopy. Sufficient signal can be obtained from a single scan, and
      reactions even far from equilibrium can be studied in real-time. When following
      the progress of a reaction by nuclear magnetic resonance, however, spin
      relaxation occurs concomitantly with the reaction to alter resonance line
      intensities. Here, we present a model for accounting for spin-relaxation in such
      reactions studied by hyperpolarized NMR. The model takes into account auto- and
      cross-relaxation in dipole-dipole coupled spin systems and is therefore
      applicable to NMR of hyperpolarized protons, the most abundant NMR-active nuclei.
      Applied to the Diels-Alder reaction of 1,4-dipheneylbutadiene (DPBD) with 4
      phenyl-1,2,4-triazole-3,5-dione (PTD), reaction rates could be obtained
      accurately and reproducibly. Additional parameters available from the same
      experiment include relaxation rates of the reaction product, which may yield
      further information about the molecular properties of the product. The method
      presented is also compatible with an experiment where a single spin in the
      reactant is labeled in its spin-state by a selective radio frequency pulse for
      subsequent tracking through the reaction, allowing the unambiguous identification
      of its position in the product molecule. In this case, the chemical shift
      specificity of high-resolution NMR can allow for the simultaneous determination
      of reaction rates and mechanistic information in one experiment. 

PMID- 20942387
TI  - Chemical functionalization of graphene enabled by phage displayed peptides.
AB  - The development of a general approach for the nondestructive chemical and
      biological functionalization of graphene could expand opportunities for graphene
      in both fundamental studies and a variety of device platforms. Graphene is a
      delicate single-layer, two-dimensional network of carbon atoms whose properties
      can be affected by covalent modification. One method for functionalizing
      materials without fundamentally changing their inherent structure is using
      biorecognition moieties. In particular, oligopeptides are molecules containing a
      broad chemical diversity that can be achieved within a relatively compact size.
      Phage display is a dominant method for identifying peptides that possess enhanced
      selectivity toward a particular target. Here, we demonstrate a powerful yet
      benign approach for chemical functionalization of graphene via comprehensively
      screened phage displayed peptides. Our results show that graphene can be
      selectively recognized even in nanometer-defined strips. Further, modification of
      graphene with bifunctional peptides reveals both the ability to impart selective
      recognition of gold nanoparticles and the development of an ultrasensitive
      graphene-based TNT sensor. We anticipate that these results could open exciting
      opportunities in the use of graphene in fundamental biochemical recognition
      studies, as well as applications ranging from sensors to energy storage devices.

PMID- 20942388
TI  - Fractional isolation and chemical structure of hemicellulosic polymers obtained
      from Bambusa rigida species.
AB  - Water and aqueous alkali sequential treatments of delignified bamboo particles
      were performed to extract hemicelluloses with a high yield and weight-average
      molecular mass (Mw). The sequential treatment together dissolved 42% of
      hemicelluloses based on dry holocellulose. GPC results showed that the alkali
      extractable hemicelluloses have higher Mw (35000 and 44450 g mol(-1)) than water
      extractable ones (20100-28100 g mol(-1)). Structural determination based on FT-IR
      and (1)H, (13)C, and 2D-HSQC NMR analyses showed that both the water- and alkali
      extractable hemicelluloses shared the structure composed of the (1 -> 4)-linked
      beta-D-xylopyranosyl backbone with 4-O-methyl-alpha-d-glucuronic acid attached to
      O-2 of the xylose residues and l-arabinose attached to O-3 of the xylose
      residues. Moreover, it revealed that the water-extractable hemicelluloses
      retained original structure without cleaving chemical linkages. Furthermore, it
      was also found that the hemicelluloses with the highest yield and Mw were
      obtained by the aqueous alkali treatment from the delignified bamboo. A small
      amount of other minor hemicelluloses (beta-glucans) including xylans in the water
      extractable hemicelluloses could be identified by NMR and other approaches.

PMID- 20942389
TI  - Discrimination of green arabica and Robusta coffee beans by Raman spectroscopy.
AB  - This paper presents an approach that may be applied as an accurate and rapid tool
      for classifying coffee beans on the basis of the specific kahweol content. Using
      Fourier-transform Raman spectroscopy with 1064 nm excitation it is possible to
      monitor the characteristic Raman bands of kahweol in green coffee beans without
      chemical and physical processing of the beans. The procedure was optimized on the
      basis of 83 and 125 measurements of whole and ground beans, respectively, using
      coffee samples of two different species, Coffea arabica L. and Coffea canephora
      L. (var. Robusta), and different origins (Asia, Africa, and South America). The
      relative contribution of the kahweol in individual beans can be determined
      quantitatively by means of a component analysis of the spectra, yielding a
      spectral kahweol index (sigmaka) that is proportional to the relative content of
      kahweol in a coffee bean. The reproducibility of the spectroscopic measurement
      and analysis was found to be 3.5%. Individual beans of the same type and origin
      reveal a scattering of the sigmaka values. Nevertheless, an unambiguous
      distinction between Arabica and Robusta samples is possible on the basis of
      single-bean measurements as the sigmaka values are greater than and less than 10
      for Arabica and Robusta coffees, respectively. Measurements of whole and ground
      beans afforded very similar results, despite the heterogeneous distribution of
      kahweol within a bean. Unlike conventional analytical techniques, the single-bean
      sensitivity of the present approach may also allow for a rapid detection of
      unwanted admixtures of low-value Robusta coffee to high-quality and more
      expensive Arabica coffee. 

PMID- 20942391
TI  - Identification of multiple impurities in a pharmaceutical matrix using
      preparative gas chromatography and computer-assisted structure elucidation.
AB  - Gas chromatography (GC) with a preparative fraction collector (PFC) has been used
      to facilitate the identification of a number of volatile impurities at major and
      minor percentage levels in a pharmaceutical matrix by nuclear magnetic resonance
      spectroscopy (NMR) and mass spectrometry (MS). The trapping process was optimized
      using liquid sorbents, and the impurities were trapped directly into a deuterated
      solvent. Challenges related to the pharmaceutical matrix were overcome by
      derivatization with boron trifluoride in methanol and extraction with heptane,
      producing the methyl esters of the carboxylic acid impurities and main component.
      GC coupled to atmospheric pressure chemical ionization mass spectrometry (APCI
      MS) with a time-of-flight (TOF) detector was used to acquire accurate mass and
      isotopic data for the impurities, leading to the determination of their molecular
      formulas (MF). One dimensional (1D) and two-dimensional (2D) NMR experiments were
      also acquired to unambiguously determine the impurities' structure. The
      acquisition time of the latter experiments was minimized by using a high
      resolution instrument equipped with a small (1.7 mm) cryogenic probe. The quality
      of the data was such that the structure of the impurities could be determined
      semiautomatically by using a computer-assisted structure elucidation (CASE)
      approach, even though the total amount of one of the isolated impurities was less
      than 60 nmol. 

PMID- 20942390
TI  - One-pot three-step synthesis of 1,2,3-triazoles by copper-catalyzed cycloaddition
      of azides with alkynes formed by a Sonogashira cross-coupling and desilylation.
AB  - A microwave-assisted, one-pot, three-step Sonogashira cross-coupling-desilylation
      cycloaddition sequence was developed for the convenient preparation of 1,4
      disubstituted 1,2,3-triazoles starting from a range of halides, acyl chlorides,
      ethynyltrimethylsilane, and azides.

PMID- 20942392
TI  - Investigation of the relationship between topology and selectivity for druglike
      molecules.
AB  - There is a strong interest in drug discovery and development to advance the
      understanding of pharmacological promiscuity. Improved understanding of how a
      molecular structure is related to promiscuity could help to reduce the attrition
      of compounds in the drug discovery process. For this purpose, a descriptor is
      introduced that describes the structural complexity of a compound based on the
      size of its molecular framework (MF) in relation to its overall size. It is
      defined as the fraction of the size of the molecular framework versus the size of
      the whole molecule (f(MF)). It is demonstrated that promiscuity correlates with
      f(MF) for large f(MF) values. The observed correlation is not due to
      lipophilicity. To provide further explanation of this observation, it was found
      that the number of terminal ring systems in a compound is correlated with
      promiscuity. The analysis presented here might help medicinal chemists to improve
      the selectivity for compounds in drug discovery projects.

PMID- 20942394
TI  - Single-crystal colloidal nanosheets of GeS and GeSe.
AB  - Narrow-band-gap IV-VI semiconductors offer promising optoelectronic properties
      for integration as light-absorbing components in field-effect transistors,
      photodetectors, and photovoltaic devices. Importantly, colloidal nanostructures
      of these materials have the potential to substantially decrease the fabrication
      cost of solar cells because of their ability to be solution-processed. While
      colloidal nanomaterials formed from IV-VI lead chalcogenides such as PbS and PbSe
      have been extensively investigated, those of the layered semiconductors SnS,
      SnSe, GeS, and GeSe have only recently been considered. In particular, there have
      been very few studies of the germanium chalcogenides, which have band-gap
      energies that overlap well with the solar spectrum. Here we report the first
      synthesis of colloidal GeS and GeSe nanostructures obtained by heating GeI(4),
      hexamethyldisilazane, oleylamine, oleic acid, and dodecanethiol or
      trioctylphosphine selenide to 320  degrees C for 24 h. These materials, which
      were characterized by TEM, SAED, SEM, AFM, XRD, diffuse reflectance spectroscopy,
      and I-V conductivity measurements, preferentially adopt a two-dimensional single
      crystal nanosheet morphology that produces fully [100]-oriented films upon drop
      casting. Optical measurements indicated indirect band gaps of 1.58 and 1.14 eV
      for GeS and GeSe, respectively, and electrical measurements showed that drop-cast
      films of GeSe exhibit p-type conductivity.

PMID- 20942393
TI  - Cholesterol slows down the lateral mobility of an oxidized phospholipid in a
      supported lipid bilayer.
AB  - We investigated the mobility and phase-partitioning of the fluorescent oxidized
      phospholipid analogue 1-palmitoyl-2-glutaroyl-sn-glycero-3-phospho-N-Alexa647
      ethanolamine (PGPE-Alexa647) in supported lipid bilayers. Compared to the
      conventional phospholipid dihexadecanoylphosphoethanolamine (DHPE)-Bodipy we
      found consistently higher diffusion constants. The effect became dramatic when
      immobile obstacles were inserted into the bilayer, which essentially blocked the
      diffusion of DHPE-Bodipy but hardly influenced the movements of PGPE-Alexa647. In
      a supported lipid bilayer made of 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine
      (DOPC), the differences in probe mobility leveled off with increasing cholesterol
      content. Using coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations, we could ascribe
      this effect to increased interactions between the oxidized phospholipid and the
      membrane matrix, concomitant with a translation in the headgroup position of the
      oxidized phospholipid: at zero cholesterol content, its headgroup is shifted to
      the outside of the DOPC headgroup region, whereas increasing cholesterol
      concentrations pulls the headgroup into the bilayer plane.

PMID- 20942395
TI  - Neural progenitor cells grown on hydrogel surfaces respond to the product of the
      transgene of encapsulated genetically engineered fibroblasts.
AB  - Engineered tissue strategies for central nervous system (CNS) repair have the
      potential for localizing treatment using a wide variety of cells or growth
      factors. However, these strategies are often limited by their ability to address
      only one aspect of the injury. Here we report the development of a novel alginate
      construct that acts as a multifunctional tissue scaffold for CNS repair, and as a
      localized growth factor delivery vehicle. We show that the surface of this
      alginate construct acts as an optimal growth environment for neural progenitor
      cell (NPC) attachment, survival, migration, and differentiation. Importantly, we
      show that tailor-made alginate constructs containing brain-derived neurotrophic
      factor or neurotrophin-3 differentially direct lineage fates of NPCs and may
      therefore be useful in treating a wide variety of injuries. It is this potential
      for directed differentiation of a scaffold prior to implantation at the injury
      site that we explore here. 

PMID- 20942397
TI  - Biomaterials from ultrasonication-induced silk fibroin-hyaluronic acid hydrogels.
AB  - We report formation of biocompatible hydrogels using physically cross-linked
      biopolymers. Gelation of silk fibroin (from B. mori silkworm) aqueous solution
      was effected by ultrasonication and used to entrap blended, un-cross-linked,
      hyaluronic acid (HA) without chemical cross-linking. HA was formed into silk/HA
      blended hydrogels with different mixing ratios, forming homogeneous materials
      with stable swelling behavior when the HA content was less than 40 wt %. This is
      a novel approach to HA hydrogel systems, which otherwise require chemical cross
      linking. Further, these systems exploit the beneficial material and biological
      properties of both polymers. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), temperature
      modulated DSC, and thermal gravimetric analysis were used to show that well
      blended silk/HA hydrogel systems formed without macrophase separation. Fourier
      transform infrared spectroscopy was used to determine secondary structures from
      the amide I region of silk protein by spectral subtraction and Fourier-self
      deconvolution. The beta-sheet crystal fraction of the silk protein increased with
      increase of HA content (26-35 wt %), which resulted in stable, crystalline
      features in the blend hydrogel materials, favorable features to support human
      mesenchymal stem cell attachment and proliferation. Scanning electron microscopy
      was used to characterize morphology. beta-Sheet content controlled the stability
      of the silk/HA hydrogel systems, with a minimum crystalline content needed to
      maintain a stable hydrogel system of ~26 wt %. This value is close to the beta
      sheet content in pure silk fibroin hydrogels. These novel nonchemically cross
      linked blend hydrogels may be useful for biomedical applications due to
      biocompatibility and the widespread utility of hydrogel systems. The attributes
      of HA in combination with the features of silk, offer a useful suite of
      properties, combining the mechanical integrity and slow degradation of silk with
      the control of water interactions and biological signaling of HA. 

PMID- 20942396
TI  - Layer-by-layer assembly of DNA- and protein-containing films on microneedles for
      drug delivery to the skin.
AB  - Microneedle patches contain micrometer-scale needles coated with bioactive agents
      for minimally invasive drug delivery to the skin. In this study, we introduce
      layer-by-layer approaches to the fabrication of ultrathin DNA- and protein
      containing polyelectrolyte films (or "polyelectrolyte multilayers", PEMs) on the
      surfaces of stainless steel microneedles. DNA-containing PEMs were fabricated on
      microneedles by the alternating deposition of plasmid DNA and a hydrolytically
      degradable poly(beta-amino ester). Protein-containing PEMs were fabricated using
      sodium poly(styrene sulfonate) (SPS) and bovine pancreatic ribonuclease A (RNase
      A) conjugated to a synthetic protein transduction domain. Layer-by-layer assembly
      resulted in ultrathin, uniform, and defect-free coatings on the surfaces of the
      microneedles, as characterized by fluorescence microscopy. These films eroded and
      thereby released DNA or protein when incubated in saline or when inserted into
      porcine cadaver skin and deposited DNA or protein along the edges of microneedle
      tracks to depths of ~500 to 600 MUm. We conclude that PEM-coated microneedles
      offer a novel and useful approach to the transdermal delivery of DNA- and protein
      based therapeutics and could also prove useful in other applications. 

PMID- 20942398
TI  - Tailoring the structure of thin film nanocomposite membranes to achieve seawater
      RO membrane performance.
AB  - Herein we report on the formation and characterization of pure polyamide thin
      film composite (TFC) and zeolite-polyamide thin film nanocomposite (TFN) reverse
      osmosis (RO) membranes. Four different physical-chemical post-treatment
      combinations were applied after the interfacial polymerization reaction to change
      the molecular structure of polyamide and zeolite-polyamide thin films. Both TFC
      and TFN hand-cast membranes were more permeable, hydrophilic, and rough than a
      commercial seawater RO membrane. Salt rejection by TFN membranes was consistently
      below that of hand-cast TFC membranes; however, two TFN membranes exhibited 32
      g/L NaCl rejections above 99.4%, which was better than the commercial membrane
      under the test conditions employed. The nearly defect-free TFN films that
      produced such high rejections were achieved only with wet curing, regardless of
      other post-treatments. Polyamide films formed in the presence of zeolite
      nanoparticles were less cross-linked than similarly cast pure polyamide films. At
      the very low nanoparticle loadings evaluated, differences between pure polyamide
      and zeolite-polyamide membrane water and salt permeability correlated weakly with
      extent of cross-linking of the polyamide film, which suggests that defects and
      molecular-sieving largely govern transport through zeolite-polyamide thin film
      nanocomposite membranes.

PMID- 20942399
TI  - Upscaling sorption/desorption processes in reactive transport models to describe
      metal/radionuclide transport: a critical review.
AB  - Models are a mainstay of the environmental sciences; they allow for both deeper
      understanding of process knowledge and, to a limited extent, predictive
      capabilities of current day inputs on the future. Mathematical codes have become
      increasingly complex with explicit inclusion of many processes that could not be
      accounted for using simpler solving techniques. And yet, for metal/radionuclide
      transport in subsurface systems, the inclusion of smaller scale processes in a
      numerical solver do not always lead to better descriptions of larger scale
      behavior. The reasons for this are many, but included in this review are the
      following: unknowable conceptual model errors, discrepancy in the scale of model
      discretization relative to the scale of the chemical/physical process, and
      omnipresent chemical and physical heterogeneities. Although it is commonly
      thought that larger, more complex systems require more complex models to gain
      insight and predictive capability, there is little to no experimental evidence
      supporting this thought. Indeed, the evidence points to the fact that larger
      systems can be well described with simple models. To test this thought and to
      appreciate the incorporation of scaling behaviors into reactive transport
      modeling, new experiments are needed that are intermediate in scale between the
      more traditional bench and field scales.

PMID- 20942400
TI  - Unusual inverse temperature dependence on reaction rate in the asymmetric
      autocatalytic alkylation of pyrimidyl aldehydes.
AB  - Observations of an intriguing inverse temperature dependence on reaction rate and
      a profound induction period in the Soai autocatalytic reaction are reported along
      with detailed kinetic and NMR investigations of the product alkoxide at low
      temperatures, leading to the suggestion that the active catalyst is derived in
      situ from the tetrameric ground state.

PMID- 20942401
TI  - Identification of new derivatives of 2-S-glutathionylcaftaric acid in aged white
      wines by HPLC-DAD-ESI-MS(n).
AB  - Glutathione, a natural occurring antioxidant, is a thiol-containing peptide
      present in grape must and wine. It is able to regenerate the o-diphenol group of
      enzymatically oxidized trans-caftaric acid, giving rise to 2-S-glutathionyl-trans
      caftaric acid (also known as grape reaction product, GRP) and thus inhibiting the
      browning of wine. The amount of GRP present in a wine provides information on the
      oxidation history of the wine over its elaboration and aging. GRP has been proved
      to suffer hydrolysis in model solutions and wines. To know the actual content of
      glutathione involved in white wine browning inhibition as GRP, the GRP-derived
      products have been studied in 1-year-aged white wines by HPLC-DAD-ESI-MS(n).
      Online UV-vis spectra and pseudomolecular ions [(M + H)(+)] obtained by LC-MS
      supported the formation of some of the expected GRP hydrolysis products, mainly 2
      S-glutathionyl-trans-caffeic acid (trans-GSCf), together with minor 2-S
      (cysteinylglycyl)-trans-caftaric acid, 2-S-(gamma-glutamylcysteinyl)-trans
      caftaric acid, and 2-S-cysteinyl-trans-caftaric acid. On the basis of UV-vis and
      LC-MS(2) spectra, new GRP derivatives in aged white wines have been tentatively
      characterized for the first time as three monoethyl esters of GRP (GRP-Et) and
      also the cis isomers of GRP, GSCf, and some of the GRP-Et. 

PMID- 20942402
TI  - Quantitative analysis of multivalent ligand presentation on gold
      glyconanoparticles and the impact on lectin binding.
AB  - Glyconanomaterials, nanomaterials carrying multiple carbohydrate ligands, provide
      an excellent platform for sensitive protein recognition. Using nanomaterials as
      the scaffold, multivalent interactions between glycan ligands and proteins have
      been demonstrated. However, the quantitative analysis of the binding affinity of
      these glyconanomaterials has been lacking. In this Article, we report a new
      method to measure the binding affinity of glyconanoparticle (GNP)-protein
      interactions based on a fluorescent competition binding assay, which yielded the
      apparent dissociation constant (K(d)) of GNPs with the interacting protein. Au
      nanoparticles conjugated with underivatized mono-, oligo-, and polysaccharides
      were synthesized using our recently developed photocoupling chemistry. The
      affinities of these GNPs with lectins were measured and were several orders of
      magnitude higher than the corresponding free ligands with lectins. The effect of
      ligand display on the binding affinity of GNPs was, furthermore, studied where
      GNPs of varying linker type, spacer length, ligand density, and nanoparticle size
      were prepared and K(d) values determined. The long spacer linker containing
      hydrocarbon and ethylene oxide units gave the highest binding affinity as well as
      assay sensitivity. The binding affinity increased with ligand density in general,
      showing a drastic increase in affinity at low ligand density. In addition, the
      affinity enhancement was more pronounced on smaller NPs than the larger ones.
      These results not only demonstrate that the binding affinity of GNPs is highly
      influenced by how the ligands are presented on the nanoparticles but also pave
      the way for tailor-made glyconanomaterials with tunable affinity by way of ligand
      display.

PMID- 20942403
TI  - Enantioselective synthesis of syn- and anti-1,3-aminoalcohols via beta
      aminoketones and subsequent reduction/dynamic kinetic asymmetric transformation.
AB  - beta-Aminoketones obtained from imines in an organocatalytic Mannich reaction
      were transformed to enantio- and diastereomerically pure 1,3-aminoalcohols with
      two stereogenic centers via a combined reduction/dynamic kinetic asymmetric
      transformation. Both syn and anti diastereomers were obtained in high yield, dr,
      and ee.

PMID- 20942404
TI  - Hydroxyapatite microparticles as feedback-active reservoirs of corrosion
      inhibitors.
AB  - This work contributes to the development of new feedback-active anticorrosion
      systems. Inhibitor-doped hydroxyapatite microparticles (HAP) are used as
      reservoirs, storing corrosion inhibitor to be released on demand. Release of the
      entrapped inhibitor is triggered by redox reactions associated with the corrosion
      process. HAP were used as reservoirs for several inhibiting species: cerium(III),
      lanthanum(III), salicylaldoxime, and 8-hydroxyquinoline. These species are
      effective corrosion inhibitors for a 2024 aluminum alloy (AA2024), used here as a
      model metallic substrate. Dissolution of the microparticles and release of the
      inhibitor are triggered by local acidification resulting from the anodic half
      reaction during corrosion of AA2024. Calculated values and experimentally
      measured local acidification over the aluminum anode (down to pH = 3.65) are
      presented. The anticorrosion properties of inhibitor-doped HAP were assessed
      using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The microparticles impregnated with
      the corrosion inhibitors were introduced into a hybrid silica-zirconia sol-gel
      film, acting as a thin protective coating for AA2024, an alloy used for
      aeronautical applications. The protective properties of the sol-gel films were
      improved by the addition of HAP, proving their applicability as submicrometer
      sized reservoirs of corrosion inhibitors for active anticorrosion coatings.

PMID- 20942405
TI  - Air-stable, room-temperature emissive disilenes with pi-extended aromatic groups.
AB  - pi-Conjugated disilenes with 2-naphthyl or 2-fluorenyl groups on the silicon
      atoms have been synthesized as air-stable emissive red solids using the bulky
      1,1,3,3,5,5,7,7-octaethyl-s-hydrindacen-4-yl (Eind) groups. The strong pi-pi*
      absorptions and distinct emission at room temperature, both in solution and in
      the solid state, have been observed due to the substantial contribution of the
      3p(pi)*(Si-Si)-2p(pi)*(carbon pi-electron system) conjugation.

PMID- 20942407
TI  - Controlling electron transfer in donor-bridge-acceptor molecules using cross
      conjugated bridges.
AB  - Photoinitiated charge separation (CS) and recombination (CR) in a series of donor
      bridge-acceptor (D-B-A) molecules with cross-conjugated, linearly conjugated, and
      saturated bridges have been compared and contrasted using time-resolved
      spectroscopy. The photoexcited charge transfer state of 3,5-dimethyl-4-(9
      anthracenyl)julolidine (DMJ-An) is the donor, and naphthalene-1,8:4,5
      bis(dicarboximide) (NI) is the acceptor in all cases, along with 1,1
      diphenylethene, trans-stilbene, diphenylmethane, and xanthone bridges.
      Photoinitiated CS through the cross-conjugated 1,1-diphenylethene bridge is about
      30 times slower than through its linearly conjugated trans-stilbene counterpart
      and is comparable to that observed through the diphenylmethane bridge. This
      result implies that cross-conjugation strongly decreases the pi orbital
      contribution to the donor-acceptor electronic coupling so that electron transfer
      most likely uses the bridge sigma system as its primary CS pathway. In contrast,
      the CS rate through the cross-conjugated xanthone bridge is comparable to that
      observed through the linearly conjugated trans-stilbene bridge. Molecular
      conductance calculations on these bridges show that cross-conjugation results in
      quantum interference effects that greatly alter the through-bridge donor-acceptor
      electronic coupling as a function of charge injection energy. These calculations
      display trends that agree well with the observed trends in the electron transfer
      rates.

PMID- 20942406
TI  - Real-time hydrogen/deuterium exchange kinetics via supercharged electrospray
      ionization tandem mass spectrometry.
AB  - Amide hydrogen/deuterium exchange (HDX) rate constants of bovine ubiquitin in an
      ammonium acetate solution containing 1% of the electrospray ionization (ESI)
      "supercharging" reagent m-nitrobenzyl alcohol (m-NBA) were obtained using top
      down, electron transfer dissociation (ETD) tandem mass spectrometry (MS). The
      supercharging reagent replaces the acid and temperature "quench" step in the
      conventional MS approach to HDX experiments by causing rapid protein denaturation
      to occur in the ESI droplet. The higher charge state ions that are produced with
      m-NBA are more unfolded, as measured by ion mobility, and result in higher
      fragmentation efficiency and higher sequence coverage with ETD. Single amino acid
      resolution was obtained for 44 of 72 exchangeable amide sites, and summed kinetic
      data were obtained for regions of the protein where adjacent fragment ions were
      not observed, resulting in an overall spatial resolution of 1.3 residues.
      Comparison of these results with previous values from NMR indicates that the
      supercharging reagent does not cause significant structural changes to the
      protein in the initial ESI solution and that scrambling or back-exchange is
      minimal. This new method for top-down HDX-MS enables real-time kinetic data
      measurements under physiological conditions, similar to those obtained using NMR,
      with comparable spatial resolution and significantly better sensitivity. 

PMID- 20942409
TI  - Pathway from chain to dimer in Cu(I) camphor hydrazone complexes.
AB  - The chemical reactivity, molecular structure, and surface characteristics of
      Cu(I) camphor hydrazone compounds indicate that exist a structural pathway for
      conversion of coordination polymers into dimers and vice versa. By X-ray
      diffraction analysis two polymorphic forms of the chain compound
      [{CuCl}(2)(Me(2)NNC(10)H(14)O)](n) were identified that essentially differ in the
      structural arrangement and geometry of the non-linear copper atom. The
      characterization of the dimer complexes [{Cu(Me(2)NNC(10)H(14)O)}(2)(MU-X)(2)] (X
      = Cl or Br) was also achieved by X-ray diffraction analysis showing the unusual
      arrangement of the camphor hydrazone ligands that occupy the same side of the
      molecule. Bond lengths and torsion angles show that one of the polymorphic forms
      is structurally close to the related dimer. The surface composition of the
      coordination polymers [{CuX}(2)(YNC(10)H(14)O)](n) (X = Cl, Y = NMe(2), NH(2); X
      = Br, Y = NH(2)) and dimers [{Cu(Me(2)NNC(10)H(14)O)}(2)(MU-X)(2)] (X = Cl or Br)
      studied by X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy corroborate the molecular properties
      and the reactivity trend.

PMID- 20942410
TI  - Water catalysis and anticatalysis in photochemical reactions: observation of a
      delayed threshold effect in the reaction quantum yield.
AB  - The possible catalysis of photochemical reactions by water molecules is
      considered. Using theoretical simulations, we investigate the HF-elimination
      reaction of fluoromethanol in small water clusters initiated by the overtone
      excitation of the hydroxyl group. The reaction occurs in competition with the
      process of water evaporation that dissipates the excitation and quenches the
      reaction. Although the transition state barrier is stabilized by over 20 kcal/mol
      through hydrogen bonding with water, the quantum yield versus energy shows a
      pronounced delayed threshold that effectively eliminates the catalytic effect. It
      is concluded that the quantum chemistry calculations of barrier lowering are not
      sufficient to infer water catalysis in some photochemical reactions, which
      instead require dynamical modeling.

PMID- 20942408
TI  - Design, synthesis, and evaluation of duocarmycin O-amino phenol prodrugs subject
      to tunable reductive activation.
AB  - A series of N-acyl O-amino derivatives of seco-CBI-indole(2) are reported and
      examined as prototypical members of a unique class of reductively activated
      (cleaved) prodrugs of the duocarmycin and CC-1065 family of antitumor agents.
      These prodrugs were designed to be potentially preferentially activated in
      hypoxic tumor environments which carry an intrinsically higher concentration of
      "reducing" nucleophiles (e.g., thiols) capable of activating such derivatives by
      nucleophilic cleavage of a weak N-O bond. A remarkable range of stabilities and a
      resulting direct correlation with in vitro/in vivo biological potencies was
      observed for these prodrugs, even enlisting subtle variations in the electronic
      and steric environment around the weak N-O bond. An in vivo evaluation of several
      of the prodrugs demonstrates that some approach the potency and exceed the
      efficacy of the free drug itself (CBI-indole(2)), suggesting the prodrugs may
      offer an additional advantage related to a controlled or targeted release.

PMID- 20942411
TI  - Serum albumins as differential receptors for the discrimination of fatty acids
      and oils.
AB  - Using fluorescent indicators and several serum albumins, a sensing system for
      fatty acids was developed. Fatty acids were able to be differentiated based on
      their carbon chain length and degree of unsaturation. A sensing ensemble was then
      applied to study complex mixtures of triglycerides, namely, edible oils. The
      oils, with different fatty acid compositions, were successfully differentiated
      using principal component analysis.

PMID- 20942412
TI  - Sub-micrometer dropwise condensation under superheated and rarefied vapor
      condition.
AB  - Phase change accompanying conversion of a saturated or superheated vapor in the
      presence of subcooled surfaces is one of the most common occurring phenomena in
      nature. The mode of phase change that follows such a transformation is dependent
      upon surface properties such as contact angle and thermodynamic conditions of the
      system. In present studies, an experimental approach is used to study the physics
      behind droplet growth on a partially wet surface. Superheated vapor at low
      pressures of 4-5 Torr was condensed on subcooled silicon surface with a static
      contact angle of 60 degrees  in the absence of noncondensable gases, and the
      condensation process was monitored using environmental scanning electron
      microscopy (ESEM) with sub-microscopic spatial resolution. The condensation
      process was analyzed in the form of size growth of isolated droplets before a
      coalescence event ended the regime of single droplet growth. Droplet growth
      obtained as a function of time reveals that the rate of growth decreases as the
      droplet increases in size. This behavior is indicative of an overall droplet
      growth law existing over larger time scales for which the current observations in
      their brief time intervals could be fitted. A theoretical model based on kinetic
      theory further support the experimental observations indicating a mechanism where
      growth occurs by interfacial mass transport directly on condensing droplet
      surface. Evidence was also found that establishes the presence of sub-microscopic
      droplets nucleating and growing between microscopic droplets for the partially
      wetting case.

PMID- 20942413
TI  - Elution, partial separation, and identification of lipids directly from tissue
      slices on planar chromatography media by desorption electrospray ionization mass
      spectrometry.
AB  - A method for the examination of intact tissue sections for gangliosides and other
      lipids using desorption electrospray ionization (DESI) mass spectrometry (MS) is
      presented. In the present work, thin tissue slices (16 MUm) taken from the rat
      brain are thaw mounted onto planar chromatographic media and the lipids are
      eluted, partially separated, and analyzed directly from the plate by DESI-MS in
      the negative ion mode. With the lanes scanned parallel to the direction of the
      chromatographic separation in the full scan mode, the selected ion current
      associated with ions of separated lipid molecules is plotted in order of
      increasing Rf values. Distinctly different classes of lipids are detected using
      this method, including several ganglioside species (i.e., GQ1, GT1, GD1, and GM1)
      and sulfoglycosphingolipids. For the examination of gangliosides in the full scan
      negative ion mode from high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) plates,
      the limit of detection (LOD) was determined to be approximately 3 pmol. Tandem
      mass spectrometry (MS/MS) using the linear ion trap was used to confirm the
      presence of selected gangliosides and other lipids directly from the HPTLC plate.
      DESI-MS/MS revealed the presence of both the GD1a and GD1b isomers. The
      simplicity of this approach where planar separations are relied upon for sample
      preparation and presentation to the MS should allow for the examination of a
      variety of complex samples including the rapid examination of foodstuffs,
      bacteria, whole blood, and needle biopsies for cancer diagnostics. 

PMID- 20942414
TI  - Electronic structure of highly ruffled low-spin iron(III) porphyrinates with
      electron withdrawing heptafluoropropyl groups at the meso positions.
AB  - Bis(pyridine)[meso-tetrakis(heptafluoropropyl)porphyrinato]iron(III),
      [Fe(THFPrP)Py(2)](+), was reported to be the low-spin complex that adopts the
      purest (d(xz), d(yz))(4)(d(xy))(1) ground state where the energy gap between the
      iron d(xy) and d(pi)(d(xz), d(yz)) orbitals is larger than the corresponding
      energy gaps of any other complexes reported previously (Moore, K. T.; Fletcher,
      J. T.; Therien, M. J. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1999, 121, 5196-5209). Although the
      highly ruffled porphyrin core expected for this complex contributes to the
      stabilization of the (d(xz), d(yz))(4)(d(xy))(1) ground state, the strongly
      electron withdrawing C(3)F(7) groups at the meso positions should stabilize the
      (d(xy))(2)(d(xz), d(yz))(3) ground state. Thus, we have reexamined the electronic
      structure of [Fe(THFPrP)Py(2)](+) by means of (1)H NMR, (19)F NMR, and electron
      paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. The CD(2)Cl(2) solution of
      [Fe(THFPrP)Py(2)](+) shows the pyrrole-H signal at -10.25 ppm (298 K) in (1)H
      NMR, the CF(2)(alpha) signal at -74.6 ppm (298 K) in (19)F NMR, and the large
      g(max) type signal at g = 3.16 (4.2 K) in the EPR. Thus, contrary to the previous
      report, the complex is unambiguously shown to adopt the (d(xy))(2)(d(xz),
      d(yz))(3) ground state. Comparison of the spectroscopic data of a series of
      [Fe(THFPrP)L(2)](+) with those of the corresponding meso-tetrapropylporphyrin
      complexes [Fe(TPrP)L(2)](+) with various axial ligands (L) has shown that the
      meso-C(3)F(7) groups stabilize the (d(xy))(2)(d(xz), d(yz))(3) ground state.
      Therefore, it is clear that the less common (d(xz), d(yz))(4)(d(xy))(1) ground
      state can be stabilized by the three major factors: (i) axial ligand with low
      lying pi* orbitals, (ii) ruffled porphyrin ring, and (iii) electron donating
      substituent at the meso position.

PMID- 20942415
TI  - Convenient synthesis of a propargylated cyclic (3'-5') diguanylic acid and its
      "click" conjugation to a biotinylated azide.
AB  - The ribonucleoside building block, N2-isobutyryl-2'-O-propargyl-3'-O-levulinyl
      guanosine, was prepared from commercial N2-isobutyryl-5'-O-(4,4'-dimethoxytrityl)
      2'-O-propargyl guanosine in a yield of 91%. The propargylated guanylyl(3'
      5')guanosine phosphotriester was synthesized from the reaction of N2-isobutyryl
      2'-O-propargyl-3'-O-levulinyl guanosine with N2-isobutyryl-5'-O-(4,4'
      dimethoxytrityl)-2'-O-tert-butyldimethylsilyl-3'-O-[(2-cyanoethyl)-N,N
      diisopropylaminophosphinyl] guanosine and isolated in a yield of 88% after P(III)
      oxidation, 3'-/5'-deprotection, and purification. The propargylated guanylyl(3'
      5')guanosine phosphotriester was phosphitylated using 2-cyanoethyl
      tetraisopropylphosphordiamidite and 1H-tetrazole and was followed by an in situ
      intramolecular cyclization to give a propargylated c-di-GMP triester, which was
      isolated in a yield of 40% after P(III) oxidation and purification. Complete N
      deacylation of the guanine bases and removal of the 2-cyanoethyl phosphate
      protecting groups from the propargylated c-di-GMP triester were performed by
      treatment with aqueous ammonia at ambient temperature. The final 2'-desilylation
      reaction was effected by exposure to triethylammonium trihydrofluoride affording
      the desired propargylated c-di-GMP diester, the purity of which exceeded 95%.
      Biotinylation of the propargylated c-di-GMP diester was easily accomplished
      through its cycloaddition reaction with a biotinylated azide derivative under
      click conditions to produce the biotinylated c-di-GMP conjugate of interest in an
      isolated yield of 62%.

PMID- 20942416
TI  - Unraveling the structure and dynamics of excitons in semiconductor quantum dots.
AB  - The quantum dot, one of the central materials in nanoscience, is a semiconductor
      crystal with a physical size on the nanometer length scale. It is often called an
      "artificial atom" because researchers can create nanostructures which yield
      properties similar to those of real atoms. By virtue of having a size in between
      molecules and solids, the quantum dot offers a rich palette for exploring new
      science and developing novel technologies. Although the physical structure of
      quantum dots is well known, a clear understanding of the resultant electronic
      structure and dynamics has remained elusive. However, because the electronic
      structure and dynamics of the dot, the "excitonics", confer its function in
      devices such as solar cells, lasers, LEDs, and nonclassical photon sources, a
      more complete understanding of these properties is critical for device
      development. In this Account, we use colloidal CdSe dots as a test bed upon which
      to explore four select issues in excitonic processes in quantum dots. We have
      developed a state-resolved spectroscopic approach which has yielded precise
      measurements of the electronic structural dynamics of quantum dots and has made
      inroads toward creating a unified picture of many of the key dynamic processes in
      these materials. We focus on four main topics of longstanding interest and
      controversy: (i) hot exciton relaxation dynamics, (ii) multiexcitons, (iii)
      optical gain, and (iv) exciton-phonon coupling. Using this state-resolved
      approach, we reconcile long standing controversies related to phenomena such as
      exciton cooling and exciton-phonon coupling and make surprising new observations
      related to optical gain and multiexcitons.

PMID- 20942417
TI  - Aggregate nanostructures of organic molecular materials.
AB  - Conjugated organic molecules are interesting materials because of their
      structures and their electronic, electrical, magnetic, optical, biological, and
      chemical properties. However, researchers continue to face great challenges in
      the construction of well-defined organic compounds that aggregate into larger
      molecular materials such as nanowires, tubes, rods, particles, walls, films, and
      other structural arrays. Such nanoscale materials could serve as direct device
      components. In this Account, we describe our recent progress in the construction
      of nanostructures formed through the aggregation of organic conjugated molecules
      and in the investigation of the optical, electrical, and electronic properties
      that depend on the size or morphology of these nanostructures. We have designed
      and synthesized functional conjugated organic molecules with structural features
      that favor assembly into aggregate nanostructures via weak intermolecular
      interactions. These large-area ordered molecular aggregate nanostructures are
      based on a variety of simpler structures such as fullerenes, perylenes,
      anthracenes, porphyrins, polydiacetylenes, and their derivatives. We have
      developed new methods to construct these larger structures including organic
      vapor-solid phase reaction, natural growth, association via self-polymerization
      and self-organization, and a combination of self-assembly and electrochemical
      growth. These methods are both facile and reliable, allowing us to produce
      ordered and aligned aggregate nanostructures, such as large-area arrays of
      nanowires, nanorods, and nanotubes. In addition, we can synthesize nanoscale
      materials with controlled properties. Large-area ordered aggregate nanostructures
      exhibit interesting electrical, optical, and optoelectronic properties. We also
      describe the preparation of large-area aggregate nanostructures of charge
      transfer (CT) complexes using an organic solid-phase reaction technique. By this
      process, we can finely control the morphologies and sizes of the organic
      nanostructures on wires, tubes, and rods. Through field emission studies, we
      demonstrate that the films made from arrays of CT complexes are a new kind of
      cathode materials, and we systematically investigate the effects of size and
      morphology on electrical properties. Low-dimension organic/inorganic hybrid
      nanostructures can be used to produce new classes of organic/inorganic solid
      materials with properties that are not observed in either the individual nanosize
      components or the larger bulk materials. We developed the combined self-assembly
      and templating technique to construct various nanostructured arrays of organic
      and inorganic semiconductors. The combination of hybrid aggregate nanostructures
      displays distinct optical and electrical properties compared with their
      individual components. Such hybrid structures show promise for applications in
      electronics, optics, photovoltaic cells, and biology. In this Account, we aim to
      provide an intuition for understanding the structure-function relationships in
      organic molecular materials. Such principles could lead to new design concepts
      for the development of new nonhazardous, high-performance molecular materials on
      aggregate nanostructures.

PMID- 20942418
TI  - Separation of styrene and ethylbenzene on metal-organic frameworks: analogous
      structures with different adsorption mechanisms.
AB  - The metal-organic frameworks MIL-47 (V(IV)O{O(2)C-C(6)H(4)-CO(2)}) and MIL-53(Al)
      (Al(III)(OH).{O(2)C-C(6)H(4)-CO(2)}) are capable of separating ethylbenzene and
      styrene. Both materials adsorb up to 20-24 wt % of both compounds. Despite the
      fact that they have identical building schemes, the reason for preferential
      adsorption of styrene compared to ethylbenzene is very different for the two
      frameworks. For MIL-47, diffraction experiments reveal that styrene is packed
      inside the pores in a unique, pairwise fashion, resulting in separation factors
      as high as 4 in favor of styrene. These separation factors are independent of the
      total amount of adsorbate offered. This is due to co-adsorption of ethylbenzene
      in the space left available between the packed styrene pairs. The separation is
      of a non-enthalpic nature. On MIL-53, the origin of the preferential adsorption
      of styrene is related to differences in enthalpy of adsorption, which are based
      on different degrees of framework relaxation. The proposed adsorption mechanisms
      are in line with the influence of temperature on the separation factors derived
      from pulse chromatography: separation factors are independent of temperature for
      MIL-47 but vary with temperature for MIL-53. Finally, MIL-53 is also capable of
      removing typical impurities like o-xylene or toluene from styrene-ethylbenzene
      mixtures.

PMID- 20942419
TI  - Design and operation of microelectrochemical gates and integrated circuits.
AB  - Here we report a simple design philosophy, based on the principles of bipolar
      electrochemistry, for the operation of microelectrochemical integrated circuits.
      The inputs for these systems are simple voltage sources, but because they do not
      require much power they could be activated by chemical or biological reactions.
      Device output is an optical signal arising from electrogenerated
      chemiluminescence. Individual microelectrochemical logic gates are described
      first, and then multiple logic circuits are integrated into a single microfluidic
      channel to yield an integrated circuit that can perform parallel logic functions.
      AND, OR, NOR, and NAND gates are described. Eventually, systems such as those
      described here could provide on-chip data processing functions for lab-on-a-chip
      devices.

PMID- 20942421
TI  - Ambident reactivities of pyridone anions.
AB  - The kinetics of the reactions of the ambident 2- and 4-pyridone anions with
      benzhydrylium ions (diarylcarbenium ions) and structurally related Michael
      acceptors have been studied in DMSO, CH(3)CN, and water. No significant changes
      of the rate constants were found when the counterion was varied (Li(+), K(+),
      NBu(4)(+)) or the solvent was changed from DMSO to CH(3)CN, whereas a large
      decrease of nucleophilicity was observed in aqueous solution. The second-order
      rate constants (log k(2)) correlated linearly with the electrophilicity
      parameters E of the electrophiles according to the correlation log k(2) = s(N +
      E) (Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. Engl. 1994, 33, 938-957), allowing us to determine the
      nucleophilicity parameters N and s for the pyridone anions. The reactions of the
      2- and 4-pyridone anions with stabilized amino-substituted benzhydrylium ions and
      Michael acceptors are reversible and yield the thermodynamically more stable N
      substituted pyridones exclusively. In contrast, highly reactive benzhydrylium
      ions (4,4'-dimethylbenzhydrylium ion), which react with diffusion control, give
      mixtures arising from N- and O-attack with the 2-pyridone anion and only O
      substituted products with the 4-pyridone anion. For some reactions, rate and
      equilibrium constants were determined in DMSO, which showed that the 2-pyridone
      anion is a 2-4 times stronger nucleophile, but a 100 times stronger Lewis base
      than the 4-pyridone anion. Quantum chemical calculations at MP2/6-311+G(2d,p)
      level of theory showed that N-attack is thermodynamically favored over O-attack,
      but the attack at oxygen is intrinsically favored. Marcus theory was employed to
      develop a consistent scheme which rationalizes the manifold of regioselectivities
      previously reported for the reactions of these anions with electrophiles. In
      particular, Kornblum's rationalization of the silver ion effect, one of the main
      pillars of the hard and soft acid/base concept of ambident reactivity, has been
      revised. Ag(+) does not reverse the regioselectivity of the attack at the 2
      pyridone anion by increasing the positive charge of the electrophile but by
      blocking the nitrogen atom of the 2-pyridone anion.

PMID- 20942420
TI  - Catalytic asymmetric synthesis of chiral allylic esters.
AB  - A broadly useful catalytic enantioselective synthesis of branched allylic esters
      from prochiral (Z)-2-alkene-1-ols has been developed. The starting allylic
      alcohol is converted to its trichloroacetimidate intermediate by reaction with
      trichloroacetonitrile, either in situ or in a separate step, and this
      intermediate undergoes clean enantioselective S(N)2' substitution with a variety
      of carboxylic acids in the presence of the palladium(II) catalyst (R(p),S)-di-MU
      acetatobis[(eta(5)-2-(2'-(4'-methylethyl)oxazolinyl)cyclopentadienyl-1-C,3'
      N)(eta(4)-tetraphenylcyclobutadiene)cobalt]dipalladium, (R(p),S)-[COP-OAc](2), or
      its enantiomer. The scope and limitations of this useful catalytic asymmetric
      allylic esterification are defined.

PMID- 20942422
TI  - Polystyrene-block-polyglycidol micelles cross-linked with titanium
      tetraisopropoxide. laser light and small-angle X-ray scattering studies on their
      formation in solution.
AB  - Hybrid micelles from polystyrene-block-polyglycidol (PS-b-PG) copolymers with
      chemically cross-linked cores by titanium tetraisopropoxide (Ti(OC(3)H(7))(4))
      were prepared in toluene solution. Additionally, micellization of PS-b-PG
      copolymers with different mass fractions of polyglycidol (x(PG)), was studied by
      static and dynamic light scattering as well as small-angle X-ray scattering. It
      was observed that copolymers with x(PG) smaller than 0.5 self-assembled in
      toluene into spherical core-shell micelles with hydrodynamic radii R(h) between
      12 and 23 nm. On the other hand, copolymers with larger PG content formed
      particles with R(h) = 50-70 nm and aggregation numbers of several thousands. The
      presence of these aggregates in solution was attributed to the nonequilibrated
      form of block copolymers upon dissolving, most probably due to hydrogen bonding.
      In the following, spherical PS-b-PG micelles were loaded in toluene with
      hydrochloric acid and titanium tetraisopropoxide. Confined hydrolysis of
      Ti(OC(3)H(7))(4) induced by HCl in the micellar core was confirmed by small-angle
      X-ray scattering experiments. The subsequent condensation of the precursor with
      hydroxyl groups of polyglycidol chains led to covalently stabilized hybrid
      organic-inorganic particles. The presence of cross-linked PS-b-PG micelles was
      proven in two ways. First, micelles with "frozen" core showed stable hydrodynamic
      size in time upon dilution below critical micellization concentration while non
      cross-linked PS-b-PG micelles underwent disintegration under the same conditions
      within several hours. Second, light scattering experiments revealed the presence
      of stable, swollen particles in N,N-dimethylformamide, which is a good solvent
      for both blocks.

PMID- 20942423
TI  - Hollow nanoparticles of metal oxides and sulfides: fast preparation via laser
      ablation in liquid.
AB  - In this work, diverse hollow nanoparticles of metal oxides and sulfides were
      prepared by simply laser ablating metal targets in properly chosen liquids. The
      Kirkendall voiding and the selective heating with an infrared laser were shown to
      work as two independent mechanisms for the formation of such hollow nanoparticles
      in only one- or two-step synthesis approaches. One of the prepared materials, ZnS
      hollow nanoparticles, showed high performance in gas sensing. The simple, fast,
      inexpensive technique that is proposed demonstrates very promising perspectives.

PMID- 20942425
TI  - Preparation of high-quality organic semiconductor nanoparticle films by solvent
      evaporation-induced self-assembly.
AB  - Organic semiconductor nanoparticles are expected to be used in organic optical
      and electronic devices due to their unique optical and electrical properties.
      However, no method has been reported for the preparation of high-quality organic
      nanoparticle films without remaining additives and being capable of dealing with
      binary nanoparticle blends. We developed a simple approach to fabricate high
      quality organic semiconductor nanoparticle films from their aqueous solutions by
      solvent-evaporation-induced self-assembly. Only volatile solvents are employed in
      the nanoparticle solutions, so the self-assembled nanoparticle films are free of
      additives. Moreover, this method is also suitable for fabricating thin films
      containing binary nanoparticles. Therefore, it paves the way for potential
      applications of organic semiconductor nanoparticles in nanoscale optical and
      electronic devices.

PMID- 20942424
TI  - Mechanism of the cobalt oxazoline palladacycle (COP)-catalyzed asymmetric
      synthesis of allylic esters.
AB  - The catalytic enantioselective S(N)2' displacement of (Z)-allylic
      trichloroacetimidates catalyzed by the palladium(II) complex [COP-OAc](2) is a
      broadly useful method for the asymmetric synthesis of chiral branched allylic
      esters. A variety of experiments aimed at elucidating the nature of the catalytic
      mechanism and its rate- and enantiodetermining steps are reported. Key findings
      include the following: (a) the demonstration that a variety of bridged
      dipalladium complexes are present and constitute resting states of the COP
      catalyst (however, monomeric palladium(II) complexes are likely involved in the
      catalytic cycle); (b) labeling experiments establishing that the reaction
      proceeds in an overall antarafacial fashion; (c) secondary deuterium kinetic
      isotope effects that suggest substantial rehybridization at both C1 and C3 in the
      rate-limiting step; and (d) DFT computational studies (B3-LYP/def2-TZVP) that
      provide evidence for bidentate substrate-bound intermediates and an anti
      oxypalladation/syn-deoxypalladation pathway. These results are consistent with a
      novel mechanism in which chelation of the imidate nitrogen to form a cationic
      palladium(II) intermediate activates the alkene for attack by external
      carboxylate in the enantiodetermining step. Computational modeling of the
      transition-state structure for the acyloxy palladation step provides a model for
      enantioinduction.

PMID- 20942426
TI  - Coupling laser ablation and atomic fluorescence spectrophotometry: an example
      using mercury analysis of small sections of fish scales.
AB  - Mercury is a toxic element that exchanges among air, water, and sediments and
      biomagnifies into high trophic level organisms. Here, we present a novel
      combination of laser ablation with relatively low-cost cold vapor atomic
      fluorescence spectrophotometry to analyze Hg vaporized from targeted patches of
      fish scale 300-500 MUm square. This method permits the analysis of multiple
      samples from the same scale, which is useful, because fish scale growth rings may
      provide an archive from which spatial and temporal trends in environmental Hg can
      be inferred at fine resolution. The detection limit of the method is 1.5 pg Hg,
      with a precision of 0.1 pg/MUL. Developed using fish scales, the method could be
      adapted to other media, such as baleen, shells, nails, hair, teeth, wood and,
      possibly, varved sediments. 

PMID- 20942427
TI  - Achieving highly effective nonfouling performance for surface-grafted poly(HPMA)
      via atom-transfer radical polymerization.
AB  - Human blood plasma and serum pose significant challenges to implanted devices
      because of highly unfavorable nonspecific protein adsorption on the surface. In
      this work, we introduce an improved two-step method to immobilize initiator
      thiols on a gold substrate for the surface-initiated atom-transfer radical
      polymerization (SI-ATRP) of hydroxypropyl methacrylate (HPMA). We investigate
      protein adsorption from a single-protein solution, diluted (10%) and undiluted
      (100%) human blood plasma, and serum on the poly(HPMA) brushes with different
      film thicknesses using surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensors. SPR results show
      a correlation between antifouling properties and film thickness; that is, the
      poly(HPMA) brushes exhibit high protein resistance at medium film thicknesses of
      ~25-40 nm (e.g. <0.3 ng/cm(2) for single-protein adsorption and 10% human blood
      plasma and serum, ~24.5 ng/cm(2) for 100% human serum, and ~52.8 ng/cm(2) for
      100% human plasma at a thickness of ~29 nm). With an optimal film thickness and
      surface roughness, the poly(HPMA) brush also demonstrates its high resistance to
      fibroblast adhesion. This work provides an alternative surface polymerization
      approach to preparing effective antifouling poly(HPMA) materials for potential
      applications in blood-contacting medical devices.

PMID- 20942428
TI  - Study on transmembrane electrical potential of nanofiltration membranes in KCl
      and MgCl2 solutions.
AB  - The transmembrane electrical potential (TMEP) across two commercial
      nanofiltration membranes (ESNA1-K and Filmtec NF) was investigated in KCl and
      MgCl(2) solutions. TMEP was measured in a wide range of salt concentrations (1-60
      mol.m(-3)) and pH values (3-10) at the feed side, with pressure differences in
      the range of 0.1-0.6 MPa. A two-layer model based on the Nernst-Planck equation
      was proposed to describe the relation between TMEP and permeation flux. From the
      pattern of these curves, the information of membrane structure could be deduced.
      In the concentration range investigated, TMEP in KCl solutions was always
      positive and decreased as the salt concentration increased. The contribution of
      the membrane potential to the TMEP decreased. TMEP was greatly affected by the
      feed pH. When the feed pH increased, the mobility of cations increased, which
      indicated that the charges of NF membranes were more negative. The zero point of
      TMEP and the minimum of rejection in KCl solution were consistent and occurred at
      the isoelectric point of NF membranes, while in MgCl(2) solution the zero point
      of TMEP located at a higher pH value. The TMEP in MgCl(2) solutions changed its
      sign at a given concentration, and by calculating the transport number the
      location of the minimum rejection could be determined.

PMID- 20942429
TI  - Fast and selective removal of oils from water surface via highly hydrophobic core
      shell Fe2O3@C nanoparticles under magnetic field.
AB  - The removal of oil spills or organic contaminants from water surface is of great
      technological importance for environmental protection. A major challenge is the
      fast distribution and collection of absorbent materials with high separation
      selectivity, good thermal stability, and excellent recyclability. Here we
      reported fast and selective removal of oils from water surface through core-shell
      Fe(2)O(3)@C nanoparticles under magnetic field. These nanoparticles combined with
      unsinkable, highly hydrophobic and superoleophilic properties, could selectively
      absorb lubricating oil up to 3.8 times of the particles' weight while completely
      repelling water. The oil-absorbed nanoparticles were quickly collected in seconds
      by applying an external magnetic field. More importantly, the oil could be
      readily removed from the surfaces of nanoparticles by a simple ultrasonic
      treatment whereas the particles still kept highly hydrophobic and superolephilic
      characteristics. Experiment results showed that the highly hydrophobic
      Fe(2)O(3)@C nanoparticles could be reused in water-oil separation for many
      cycles. Our results suggest a facile and efficient method that might find
      practical applications in the cleanup of oil spills and the removal of organic
      pollutants on water surface.

PMID- 20942430
TI  - Tailoring the porous hierarchy and the tetrahedral aluminum content by using
      carboxylate ligands: hierarchically structured macro-mesoporous aluminosilicates
      from a single molecular source.
AB  - A novel yet facile synthesis pathway has been developed for the design of
      hierarchically structured macro-mesoporous aluminosilicates with high aluminum
      content at tetrahedral sites using a single molecular bifunctional alkoxide (sec
      BuO)(2)-Al-O-Si(OEt)(3) precursor. The use of carboxylate ligands and a highly
      alkaline media slow down the polymerization rate of the aluminum alkoxide
      functionality, thus permitting the preservation of the intrinsic Al-O-Si linkage.
      The hierarchically structured porous aluminosilicate materials present an
      unprecedented low Si/Al ratio close to 1. Heat treatment applied to the
      synthesized material seems to favor the incorporation of aluminum into
      tetrahedral position (intraframework aluminum species). The macro-mesoporosity
      was spontaneously generated, without the use of any external templating agent, by
      the hydrodynamic flow of the solvents released during the rapid hydrolysis and
      condensation processes of this double alkoxide. This method results in materials
      with an open array of interconnected macrochannels. The synthesized
      aluminosilicate materials with tailorable macro-mesoporous hierarchy and very
      high Al content at tetrahedral position hold huge promise in various applications
      as catalysts, catalysts supports, or adsorbents.

PMID- 20942431
TI  - An easy method to monitor lactide polymerization with a boron fluorescent probe.
AB  - Fluorescence spectroscopy has been widely used to monitor different polymer
      processes such as polymerization kinetics, chain entanglements, and thermal
      transitions. The solvent-free controlled ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of
      lactide is significant both commercially and for research; thus, monitoring this
      process with a simple fluorescence method can be very useful. Here, a fluorescent
      dye, difluoroboron 4-methoxydibenzoylmethane (BF(2)dbmOMe) is employed to probe
      lactide bulk ROP by measuring the emission from solidified reaction aliquots at
      room temperature. It was found that, through the course of polymerization, the
      fluorescence of BF(2)dbmOMe in the solid-state aliquots exhibited a systematic
      shift from yellow to green and then to blue, accompanied by a gradual reduction
      in the decay lifetime. The fluorescence color change is sensitive to the monomer
      percent conversion, not the polymer molecular weight. On the basis of these
      observations and experimental data, we propose that the long-wavelength emission
      with perceivably longer lifetimes arises from BF(2)dbmOMe dye aggregates (ground
      and/or excited states), while the dissolved individual dye molecules are
      responsible for the blue fluorescence with a shorter lifetime. This demonstration
      of the utility of BF(2)dbmOMe as a fluorescent probe for lactide polymerization
      could have important practical implications.

PMID- 20942432
TI  - Particle charging and charge screening in nonpolar dispersions with nonionic
      surfactants.
AB  - The electrostatic stabilization of colloidal dispersions is usually considered
      the domain of polar media only because of the high energetic cost associated with
      introducing electric charge in nonpolar environments. Nevertheless, some
      surfactants referred to as "charge control agents" are known to raise the
      conductivity of liquids with low electric permittivity and to mediate charge
      stabilization of nonpolar dispersions. Here we study an example of the
      particularly counterintuitive charging and electrostatic interaction of colloidal
      particles in a nonpolar solvent caused by nonionic surfactants. PMMA particles in
      hexane solutions of nonionic sorbitan oleate (Span) surfactants are found to
      exhibit a field-dependent electrophoretic mobility. Extrapolation to zero field
      strength yields evidence for large electrostatic surface potentials that decay
      with increasing surfactant concentration in a fashion reminiscent of
      electrostatic screening caused by salt in aqueous solutions. The amount of
      surface charge and screening ions in the nonpolar bulk is further characterized
      via measurements of the particles' pair interaction energy. The latter is
      obtained by liquid structure analysis of quasi-2-dimensional equilibrium particle
      configurations studied with digital video microscopy. In contrast to the behavior
      reported for systems with ionic surfactants, we observe particle charging and a
      screened Coulomb type interaction both above and below the surfactant's critical
      micelle concentration.

PMID- 20942433
TI  - Separation of bulk effects and bound mass during adsorption of surfactants probed
      by quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation: insight into data
      interpretation.
AB  - The assessment of adsorbed surfactant mass by quartz crystal microbalance with
      dissipation (QCM-D) monitoring is often complicated due to large bulk responses,
      particularly for surfactants with high critical micelle concentration (CMC). We
      present in this work means to interpret QCM-D data that enables the response from
      the bulk contribution to be separated from the response originating from adsorbed
      mass. Adsorption of two surfactants, Triton X100 and C12AspNa2 with low and high
      CMCs, respectively, at the gold-liquid interface surface has been evaluated. Two
      different approaches to quantify the bulk response are compared. The first
      approach involves the use of a nonadsorbing surface (silica), yielding a
      calibration curve for the concentration dependent bulk response. The second
      method is based on the fact that the overtone-dependent QCM-D response that
      originates from changes in the bulk differs from that induced by the adsorbed
      layer of the surfactants. Under the reasonable assumption that the bulk solution
      and the adsorbed surfactants can be treated as a Newtonian liquid and an
      acoustically rigid film, it is demonstrated that the bulk contribution can be
      quantified without control measurements involving inert surfaces. An excellent
      agreement between the two methods is reported. 

PMID- 20942434
TI  - Thermodynamic properties of Co3O4 and Sr6Co5O15 from first-principles.
AB  - The Gibbs energy function of Sr(6)Co(5)O(15) is calculated by first-principles
      for use in CALPHAD thermodynamic modeling. An efficient method is employed, using
      the Debye-Gruneisen model to predict the temperature dependence of the heat
      capacity and entropy. The equation of state from first-principles and the Debye
      temperature from harmonic phonon calculations by the supercell approach are taken
      as input. The effect of using the GGA+U approach on the results is also reported.
      The properties of Co(3)O(4) are predicted with this method to compare to
      experiments and quasi-harmonic phonon calculations and are shown to achieve the
      accuracy necessary for CALPHAD modeling.

PMID- 20942435
TI  - Local viscosity analysis of triblock copolymer micelle with cyanine dyes as a
      fluorescent probe.
AB  - The local viscosity of Pluronic F127 triblock copolymer micelles in water was
      determined with cyanine dyes as fluorescent probes. These dyes show very weak
      fluorescence at a low temperature, but show enhanced fluorescence at a
      temperature higher than the critical micellization temperature (T(cm)). This is
      because a viscous environment within the micelle suppresses the formation of a
      nonradiative twisted intramolecular charge transfer (TICT) excited state of the
      dyes. The good correlation between the fluorescence quantum yields of the dyes
      and the viscosity and the temperature of the media allows a determination of
      local viscosity of micelle based on the fluorescence quantum yields. The local
      viscosity of both core and corona regions of micelles increases at >T(cm) and
      shows a maximum at a temperature 7-9  degrees C higher than T(cm), and decreases
      at higher temperature due to the increased fluidity. The core viscosity is larger
      than that of the corona, and the corona viscosity increases toward the micelle
      center. The polymer concentration has different effects on the core and corona
      viscosity: the corona viscosity increases with a polymer concentration increase
      at the entire temperature range, whereas the core viscosity increases only at a
      low temperature. The corona viscosity increase is due to the condensation of a
      large number of polyethylene oxide (PEO) blocks. In contrast, the dehydration
      degree of polypropylene oxide (PPO) blocks in the core scarcely changes, and the
      core has a similar composition regardless of polymer concentration. The larger
      polymer concentration promotes a micelle formation at lower temperature where the
      fluidity increase is very weak, resulting in larger core viscosity.

PMID- 20942436
TI  - Graphene oxides for homogeneous dispersion of carbon nanotubes.
AB  - Graphene oxides (GOs) in terms of both structure and property are essentially
      polyelectrolytes in a two-dimensional sheet configuration. As is well-established
      in the literature, polyelectrolytes are, in general, good dispersion agents for
      single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs), which are otherwise in bundles because of
      strong van der Waals interactions. We report here a study in which GOs were used
      to disperse SWNTs, both as-purified and separated semiconducting SWNTs, for
      solution-like homogeneous suspensions. As a demonstration for their potentials,
      the optically transparent dispersions were used in a more accurate determination
      of the absorptivities for the band-gap transitions in semiconducting SWNTs.
      Results on exploration of the use of the GO-dispersed SWNTs in the development of
      unique carbon nanocomposite materials are also presented and discussed.

PMID- 20942437
TI  - Effects of energy dissipation on motional dynamics in unilamellar vesicles.
AB  - We have investigated the molecular reorientation dynamics of perylene
      incorporated into the nonpolar acyl chain region of 100 nm diameter
      phosphocholine unilamellar vesicles. When perylene is excited to the S(1)
      electronic manifold, it exhibits a different fluorescence anisotropy decay than
      when it is excited to its S(2) electronic manifold. In addition to differences in
      the polarization of the two transitions, there is a difference in the amount of
      excitation energy dissipated nonradiatively, because for both excitation
      conditions radiative emission is from the S(1) state. The data reveal a faster
      rotational diffusion constant for excitation to the S(2) manifold, and we
      interpret this finding in the context of local heating of the chromophore
      immediate environment by the nonradiative dissipation of energy associated with
      rapid relaxation from the S(2) to S(1) manifolds. Our results are consistent with
      transient heating on the order of 4 K, with the actual temperature increase
      depending subtly on whether the phospholipid acyl chains are in the gel phase or
      the fluid phase.

PMID- 20942438
TI  - Gold-nanoparticle-stabilized pluronic micelles exhibiting glutathione triggered
      morphology evolution properties.
AB  - Nanocomposites constructed from metallic nanoparticles and amphiphilic copolymers
      have attracted substantial interest for various potential applications. Here we
      report on the nanocomposites prepared through cross-linking pluronic micelles
      with gold nanoparticles. The covalent binding of gold nanoparticles onto the
      micelles and the thermoresponsibility of the system was followed via ultraviolet
      visible spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering, transmission electron microscopy,
      and fluorescence spectroscopy. The gold-nanoparticle-stabilized pluronic micelles
      can take thiol-exchange reaction with glutathione and their morphology
      spontaneously evolved and reassembled into large "vesicular"-like nanocapsules.
      Obvious temperature responsibility was followed in the gold-nanoparticle
      stabilized pluronic micelles system and also the glutathione triggered
      nanocapsules systems. It is believed that the high stability and glutathione
      responsibility of the Au-NPs shell-cross-linked micelles allowed for high
      potential in drug delivery and biosensors.

PMID- 20942440
TI  - Unique lithiation and delithiation processes of nanostructured metal silicides.
AB  - We report that TiSi(2) nanonet exhibits considerable activities in the reversible
      lithiation and delithiation processes, although bulk-sized titanium silicide is
      known to be inactive when used as an electrode material for lithium ion
      batteries. The detailed mechanism of this unique process was studied using
      electrochemical techniques including the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy
      (EIS) method. By systematic characterizations of the Nyquist plots and
      comparisons with the microstructure examinations, we identified the main reason
      for the activities as the layered crystal structure that is found stable only in
      TiSi(2) nanonets. The layer structure is characterized by the existence of a Si
      only layer, which exhibits reactivity when exposed to lithium ions. Control
      studies where TiSi(2) nanowires and TiSi(2)/Si heteronanostructures were
      involved, respectively, were performed. Similar to bulk TiSi(2), TiSi(2)
      nanowires show limited reactivity in lithium ion insertion and deinsertion; the
      EIS characteristics of TiSi(2)/Si heteronanostructures, on the other hand, are
      distinctly different from those of TiSi(2) nanonets. The result supports our
      proposed TiSi(2) nanonet lithiation mechanism. This discovery highlights the
      uniqueness of nanoscale materials and will likely broaden the spectrum of
      electrode material choices for electrochemical energy storage.

PMID- 20942439
TI  - Reconstitution of gloeobacter rhodopsin with echinenone: role of the 4-keto
      group.
AB  - In previous work, we reconstituted salinixanthin, the C(40)-carotenoid acyl
      glycoside that serves as a light-harvesting antenna to the light-driven proton
      pump xanthorhodopsin, into a different protein, gloeobacter rhodopsin expressed
      in Escherichia coli, and demonstrated that it transfers energy to the retinal
      chromophore [Imasheva, E. S., et al. (2009) Biochemistry 48, 10948]. The key to
      binding of salinixanthin was the accommodation of its ring near the retinal beta
      ionone ring. Here we examine two questions. Do any of the native Gloeobacter
      carotenoids bind to gloeobacter rhodopsin, and does the 4-keto group of the ring
      play a role in binding? There is no salinixanthin in Gloeobacter violaceous, but
      a simpler carotenoid, echinenone, also with a 4-keto group but lacking the acyl
      glycoside, is present in addition to beta-carotene and oscillol. We show that
      beta-carotene does not bind to gloeobacter rhodopsin, but its 4-keto derivative,
      echinenone, does and functions as a light-harvesting antenna. This indicates that
      the 4-keto group is critical for carotenoid binding. Further evidence of this is
      the fact that salinixanthol, an analogue of salinixanthin in which the 4-keto
      group is reduced to hydroxyl, does not bind and is not engaged in energy
      transfer. According to the crystal structure of xanthorhodopsin, the ring of
      salinixanthin in the binding site is turned out of the plane of the polyene
      conjugated chain. A similar conformation is expected for echinenone in the
      gloeobacter rhodopsin. We suggest that the 4-keto group in salinixanthin and
      echinenone allows for the twisted conformation of the ring around the C6-C7 bond
      and probably is engaged in an interaction that locks the carotenoid in the
      binding site.

PMID- 20942441
TI  - Four diphenylpropanes and a cycloheptadibenzofuran from Bussea sakalava from the
      Madagascar dry forest.
AB  - Investigation of the endemic Malagasy plant Bussea sakalava for antiproliferative
      activity against the A2780 ovarian cancer cell line led to the isolation of the
      four new diphenylpropanes 1-4 and the new cycloheptadibenzofuran 5; compound 5
      has a previously unreported natural product skeleton. The structure elucidation
      of these compounds was based on the analysis of their 1D and 2D NMR and mass
      spectroscopic data. Compounds 1-5 were tested for antiproliferative activity
      against the A2780 human ovarian cancer cell line.

PMID- 20942442
TI  - Lupane triterpenes with a delta-lactone at ring E, from Lippia mexicana.
AB  - Three new lupane-type triterpenes, lippiolide (1), lippiolidolic acid (2), and
      lippiolic acid (3), were isolated from aerial parts of Lippia mexicana. Compounds
      1 and 2 exhibited a delta-lactone at ring E. The known cycloartane triterpene 5
      was also isolated. The structures of these compounds were established on the
      basis of spectroscopic data and chemical reactions, and the structure of compound
      1 was confirmed by X-ray diffraction analysis. Anti-inflammatory activity of
      compounds 1, 3, and 5 was evaluated in the TPA-induced ear mouse edema model.
      Lupanes 1 and 3 were more active than cycloartane 5.

PMID- 20942443
TI  - Mechanical properties of monolayer graphene oxide.
AB  - Mechanical properties of ultrathin membranes consisting of one layer, two
      overlapped layers, and three overlapped layers of graphene oxide platelets were
      investigated by atomic force microscopy (AFM) imaging in contact mode. In order
      to evaluate both the elastic modulus and prestress of thin membranes, the AFM
      measurement was combined with the finite element method (FEM) in a new approach
      for evaluating the mechanics of ultrathin membranes. Monolayer graphene oxide was
      found to have a lower effective Young's modulus (207.6 +/- 23.4 GPa when a
      thickness of 0.7 nm is used) as compared to the value reported for "pristine"
      graphene. The prestress (39.7-76.8 MPa) of the graphene oxide membranes obtained
      by solution-based deposition was found to be 1 order of magnitude lower than that
      obtained by others for mechanically cleaved graphene. The novel AFM imaging and
      FEM-based mapping methods presented here are of general utility for obtaining the
      elastic modulus and prestress of thin membranes.

PMID- 20942444
TI  - Label-free biosensing based on single gold nanostars as plasmonic transducers.
AB  - Gold nanostars provide high sensitivity for single nanoparticle label-free
      biosensing. The nanostars present multiple plasmon resonances of which the lower
      energy ones, corresponding to the nanostar tips and core-tip interactions, are
      the most sensitive to environmental changes. Streptavidin molecules are detected
      upon binding to individual, biotin-modified gold nanostars by spectral shifts in
      the plasmon resonances. Concentrations as low as 0.1 nM produce a shift of the
      tip related plasmon resonances of about 2.3 nm (5.3 meV).

PMID- 20942445
TI  - The reactivity of phosphagermaallene Tip(t-Bu)Ge=C=PMes* with doubly and triply
      bonded nitrogen compounds.
AB  - Phosphagermaallene Tip(t-Bu)Ge=C=PMes* (1; Mes* = 2,4,6-tri-tert-butylphenyl, Tip
      = 2,4,6-triisopropylphenyl) gives, with N-benzylidenemethylamine and
      pivalonitrile, [2+2] cycloadditions between the Ge=C double bond and the C=N and
      C=N unsaturations, leading to the formation of the corresponding four-membered
      heterocycles 2 and 9. With N-tert-butyl-alpha-phenylnitrone and benzonitrile
      oxide, [2+3] cycloadditions occur to form the five-membered ring derivatives 6
      and 7. By treatment of 1 with derivatives which possess weak acidic hydrogens in
      alpha of the C=N or C=N multiple bond, two types of reactions were observed: an
      ene reaction with methyl(benzylideneamino)acetate and a 1,2 addition with
      acetonitrile to afford azadienyl(germyl)ether (4) and 3-germa-1-phosphapropene
      (8), respectively. In the case of benzonitrile, phosphagermaallene 1 behaves as a
      1,3-dipole, to give, via a cyclic phosphagermacarbene intermediate, the tricyclic
      derivative 10.

PMID- 20942446
TI  - Interfacial crystalline structures in injection over-molded polypropylene and
      bond strength.
AB  - This paper describes interfacial crystalline structures found in injection
      overmolded polypropylene components and the relationship of these structures to
      bond strength between the components. The combined effects of the development of
      hierarchical gradient structures and the particular thermomechanical environment
      near the interface on the interfacial crystalline structures were investigated in
      detail by PLM, SEM, DSC, WAXD, and infrared dichroism spectroscopy. The
      experimental results showed that during molding there was competitive formation
      of interfacial crystalline structures consisted of "shish-kebab" layer (SKL) and
      a transcrystalline layers (TCL). Variation in shear stress (controlled by
      injection pressure and injection speed) plays an important role in the formation
      of the SKL. The formation of TCL is influenced by the thermal environment, namely
      melt temperature and mold temperature. Increasing within certain limits,
      interfacial temperature and the thermal gradient near the interface promotes beta
      iPP growth. The relationship between interfacial crystalline structures and
      interfacial bond strength was established by lap shear measurement. The
      interfacial bond strength is improved by enhancing the formation of TCL, but
      reduced if SKL predominates.

PMID- 20942447
TI  - Nanoparticle formation and ultrathin film electrodeposition of carbazole
      dendronized polynorbornenes prepared by ring-opening metathesis polymerization.
AB  - We report on the synthesis, electropolymerization, and nanoparticle formation of
      a series of electroactive carbazole-terminated dendronized linear polynorbornenes
      prepared by living ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP). The molecular
      weight (MW) of the dendronized polymers was controlled by varying the feed ratio
      between the dendronized monomer and first-generation Grubbs' catalyst. Ultrathin
      films were prepared by electrodeposition. The electrochemical behavior and
      viscoelastic properties of such films were found to be highly dependent on the
      dendron generation and linear polymer MW as studied by electrochemical quartz
      crystal microbalance (E-QCM). Moreover, nanoparticle formation and size/shape
      control were observed by tuning the surface wetting properties of the substrate
      during adsorption and by intramolecular cross-linking via chemical oxidation in
      solution.

PMID- 20942448
TI  - Surface initiated polymerization from substrates of low initiator density and its
      applications in biosensors.
AB  - Surface initiated polymerization (SIP) has become an attractive method for
      tailoring physical and chemical properties of surfaces for a broad range of
      applications. Most of those applications relied on the merit of high density
      coating. In this study, we explored a long overlooked field of SIP: SIP from
      substrates of low initiator density. We combined ellipsometry with AFM to
      investigate the effect of initiator density and polymerization time on the
      morphology of polymer coatings. In addition, we carefully adjusted the nanoscale
      separation of polymer chains to achieve a balance between nonfouling and
      immobilization capacities. We further tested the performance of those coatings on
      various biosensors, such as quartz crystal microbalance, surface plasmon
      resonance, and protein microarrays. The optimized matrices enhanced the
      performance of those biosensors. This report shall encourage researchers to
      explore new frontiers in SIP that go beyond polymer brushes.

PMID- 20942449
TI  - Redox-active ionic-liquid-assisted one-step general method for preparing gold
      nanoparticle thin films: applications in refractive index sensing and catalysis.
AB  - We describe a general one-step facile method for depositing gold nanoparticle
      (GNP) thin films onto any type of substrates by the in situ reduction of AuCl(3)
      using a newly designed redox-active ionic liquid (IL), tetrabutylphosphonium
      citrate ([TBP][Ci]). Various substrates such as positively charged glass,
      negatively charged glass/quartz, neutral hydrophobic glass, polypropylene,
      polystyrene, plain paper, and cellophane paper are successfully coated with a
      thin film of GNPs. This IL ([TBP][Ci]) is prepared by the simple neutralization
      of tetrabutylphosphonium hydroxide with citric acid. We also demonstrate that the
      [TBP][Ci] ionic liquid can be successfully used to generate GNPs in an aqueous
      colloidal suspension in situ. The deposited GNP thin films on various surfaces
      are made up of mostly discrete spherical GNPs that are well distributed
      throughout the film, as confirmed by field-emission scanning electron microscopy.
      However, it seems that some GNPs are arranged to form arrays depending on the
      nature of surface. We also characterize these GNP thin films via UV-vis
      spectroscopy and X-ray diffractometry. The as-formed GNP thin films show
      excellent stability toward solvent washing. We demonstrate that the thin film of
      GNPs on a glass/quartz surface can be successfully used as a refractive index
      (RI) sensor for different polar and nonpolar organic solvents. The as-formed GNP
      thin films on different surfaces show excellent catalytic activity in the
      borohydride reduction of p-nitrophenol.

PMID- 20942450
TI  - Using two-dimensional correlations of 13C NMR and FTIR to investigate changes in
      the chemical composition of dissolved organic matter along an estuarine transect.
AB  - Applying two-dimensional correlation spectroscopy to (13)C NMR and FTIR spectra
      of the high molecular-weight dissolved organic matter (HMW-DOM) isolated along an
      Elizabeth River/Chesapeake Bay salinity transect shows that HMW-DOM consists of
      three major components that have different biogeochemical reactivities. The first
      appears to be a heteropolysaccharide (HPS) component and its contribution to
      carbon increases as we approach the marine offshore. The second appears to be
      composed of carboxyl-rich compounds (CRC); its carbon percentage decreases. The
      third component contains the major functional group of amide/amino sugar (AMS)
      and its carbon percentage stays almost constant along the salinity transect. It
      seems that the HPS and CRC are present in many aquatic environments at different
      relative ratios. The 2D-correlation maps reveal that each of these components is
      composed of dynamic mixtures of compounds that share similar backbone structures
      but have significant functional group differences. Two-dimensional (2D)
      correlation spectroscopy is a powerful new biogeochemical tool to track the
      changes in complex organic matter as a function of space, time, or environmental
      effects.

PMID- 20942451
TI  - 1H NMR spectroscopic investigations on the conformation of amphiphilic aromatic
      amino acid derivatives in solution: effect of chemical architecture of
      amphiphiles and polarity of solvent medium.
AB  - In this study, the conformation of the amphiphilic lauryl esters of L-tyrosine
      (LET) and L-phenylalanine (LEP) in water and dimethyl sulfoxide is established.
      The alkyl chain protons of LEP in D(2)O appear at delta 1.010-1.398 and show an
      upfield shift and large line width, suggesting the proximity of the phenyl ring
      to the alkyl chain in contrast to that of LET. Quite interestingly, in DMSO-d(6),
      the (1)H NMR spectra of LET and LEP show a strong similarity that is suggestive
      of an orientation that positions the aromatic ring and aliphatic chain away from
      each other. These results are substantiated with two-dimensional nuclear
      Overhauser enhancement spectroscopy (2D NOSEY). Theoretical molecular models of
      the conformation at the interface corroborate the experimental findings.
      Investigations of the solvent polarity and chemical structure-dependent
      conformation are discussed.

PMID- 20942452
TI  - Cooperative effect in the electronic properties of human telomere sequence.
AB  - The contribution of sequence elements of human telomere DNA to the interaction of
      DNA with electrons has been analyzed. By applying wavelength dependent low-energy
      photoelectron transmission and two-photon photoemission spectroscopy, we
      investigated the density of states of DNA oligomers with partial sequence
      elements of the human telomere assembled as monolayers on gold. The findings
      demonstrate the role of the resonance states in the DNA in accepting electrons
      and the effect of the sequence on these states. When guanine (G) bases are
      clustered together, the resonance negative ion state is stabilized, as compared
      to oligomers containing the same number of G bases but distributed within the
      sequence. The electron-capturing probability of the human telomere-like oligomer,
      a sequence with an additional single adenine (A) base adjacent to the G cluster,
      is dramatically enhanced compared to the other oligomers studied, most likely due
      to the enhancement of the density of states near the highest occupied molecular
      orbital.

PMID- 20942453
TI  - Zwitterion-stabilized silica nanoparticles: toward nonstick nano.
AB  - Using a short-chain zwitterionic organosiloxane, silica nanoparticles were
      stabilized against aggregation by high ionic strength and/or proteins.
      Turbidimetry and dynamic light scattering showed that "zwitterated" nanoparticles
      did not exhibit a significant increase in hydrodynamic radius. When challenged
      with 3 M NaCl or 50% fetal bovine serum, aggregation was inhibited for at least
      24 h, longer with mild heat treatment, which produced nanoparticles with zero net
      surface charge. These findings suggest "zwitteration" of silica-capped
      nanoparticles provides excellent stability for in vivo circulation diagnostics
      and therapies.

PMID- 20942454
TI  - Importance of ligand bioactive conformation in the discovery of potent indole
      diamide inhibitors of the hepatitis C virus NS5B.
AB  - Significant advances have led to receptor induced-fit and conformational
      selection models for describing bimolecular recognition, but a more comprehensive
      view must evolve to also include ligand shape and conformational changes. Here,
      we describe an example where a ligand's "structural hinge" influences potency by
      inducing an "L-shape" bioactive conformation, and due to its solvent exposure in
      the complex, reasonable conformation-activity-relationships can be qualitatively
      attributed. From a ligand design perspective, this feature was exploited by
      successful linker hopping to an alternate "structural hinge" that led to a new
      and promising chemical series which matched the ligand bioactive conformation and
      the pocket bioactive space. Using a combination of X-ray crystallography, NMR and
      modeling with support from binding-site resistance mutant studies and
      photoaffinity labeling experiments, we were able to derive inhibitor-polymerase
      complexes for various chemical series.

PMID- 20942455
TI  - Ion specificity in alpha-helical folding kinetics.
AB  - The influence of the salts KCl, NaCl, and NaI at molar concentrations on the
      alpha-helical folding kinetics of the alanine-based oligopeptide Ace-AEAAAKEAAAKA
      Nme is investigated by means of (explicit-water) molecular dynamics simulations
      and a diffusional analysis. The mean first passage times for folding and
      unfolding are found to be highly salt-specific. In particular, the folding times
      increase about 1 order of magnitude for the sodium salts. The drastic slowing can
      be traced to long-lived, compact configurations of the partially folded peptide,
      in which sodium ions are tightly bound by several carbonyl and carboxylate
      groups. This multiple trapping leads to a nonexponential residence time
      distribution of the cations in the first solvation shell of the peptide. The
      analysis of alpha-helical folding in the framework of diffusion in a reduced (one
      dimensional) free energy landscape further shows that the salt not only
      specifically modifies equilibrium properties but also induces kinetic barriers
      due to individual ion binding. In the sodium salts, for instance, the peptide's
      configurational mobility (or "diffusivity") can decrease about 1 order of
      magnitude. This study demonstrates the highly specific action of ions and
      highlights the intimate coupling of intramolecular friction and solvent effects
      in protein folding.

PMID- 20942456
TI  - A chelator-free multifunctional [64Cu]CuS nanoparticle platform for simultaneous
      micro-PET/CT imaging and photothermal ablation therapy.
AB  - We synthesized and evaluated a novel class of chelator-free [(64)Cu]CuS
      nanoparticles (NPs) suitable both for PET imaging and as photothermal coupling
      agents for photothermal ablation. These [(64)Cu]CuS NPs are simple to make,
      possess excellent stability, and allow robust noninvasive micro-PET imaging.
      Furthermore, the CuS NPs display strong absorption in the near-infrared (NIR)
      region (peak at 930 nm); passive targeting prefers the tumor site, and mediated
      ablation of U87 tumor cells occurs upon exposure to NIR light both in vitro and
      in vivo after either intratumoral or intravenous injection. The combination of
      small diameter (~11 nm), strong NIR absorption, and integration of (64)Cu as a
      structural component makes these [(64)Cu]CuS NPs ideally suited for
      multifunctional molecular imaging and therapy.

PMID- 20942458
TI  - Functional proteomic analysis of lipases and esterases in cultured human
      adipocytes.
AB  - This study reports on the analysis of the lipolytic proteome of cultured human
      fat cells. We used specific affinity tags to detect and identify the lipolytic
      and esterolytic enzymes in human subcutaneous (Sc) and visceral (Visc)
      adipocytes. For this purpose, differentiated fat cells were incubated with a
      fluorescent suicide inhibitor followed by protein separation using one- or two
      dimensional gel electrophoresis. After detection by fluorescence laser scanning,
      the labeled proteins were tryptically digested and peptides were identified by
      mass spectrometry. In addition, a biotinylated probe was used for specific enzyme
      labeling with subsequent avidin affinity isolation of the tagged proteins.
      Finally, we determined the quantitative differences in protein expression levels
      between subcutaneous and visceral adipocytes using differential activity-based
      gel electrophoresis (DABGE). We found that the lipase/esterase patterns of both
      cell types are very similar, except for some proteins that were only found in Sc
      cells. Two novel enzyme candidates identified in this study were overexpressed
      and characterized using biologically relevant glycerolipid substrates in vitro.
      Both of them showed pronounced hydrolytic activities on hydrophobic acylglycerols
      and therefore may be considered lipases. The physiological functions of the novel
      lipolytic proteins in vivo are currently subject to investigation.

PMID- 20942457
TI  - Development of EGFR-targeted polymer blend nanocarriers for combination
      paclitaxel/lonidamine delivery to treat multi-drug resistance in human breast and
      ovarian tumor cells.
AB  - Multi-drug resistant (MDR) cancer is a significant clinical obstacle and is often
      implicated in cases of recurrent, nonresponsive disease. Targeted nanoparticles
      were made by synthesizing a poly(D,L-lactide-co-glycolide)/poly(ethylene
      glycol)/epidermal growth factor receptor targeting peptide (PLGA/PEG/EGFR
      peptide) construct for incorporation in poly(epsilon-caprolactone) (PCL)
      nanoparticles. MDR was induced in a panel of nine human breast and ovarian cancer
      cell lines using hypoxia. EGFR-targeted polymer blend nanoparticles were shown to
      actively target EGFR overexpressing cell lines, especially upon induction of
      hypoxia. The nanoparticles were capable of sustained drug release. Combination
      therapy with lonidamine and paclitaxel significantly improved the therapeutic
      index of both drugs. Treatment with a nanoparticle dose of 1 MUM paclitaxel/10
      MUM lonidamine resulted in less than 10% cell viability for all hypoxic/MDR cell
      lines and less than 5% cell viability for all normoxic cell lines. Comparatively,
      treatment with 1 MUM paclitaxel alone was the approximate IC50 value of the MDR
      cells while treatment with lonidamine alone had very little effect. The
      PLGA/PEG/EGFR-peptide delivery system actively targets a MDR cell by exploiting
      the expression of EGFR. This system treats MDR by inhibiting the Warburg effect
      and promoting mitochondrial binding of pro-apoptotic Bcl-2 proteins (lonidamine),
      while hyperstabilizing microtubules (paclitaxel). This nanocarrier system
      actively targets a MDR associated phenotype (EGFR receptor overexpression),
      further enhancing the therapeutic index of both drugs and potentiating the use of
      lonidamine/paclitaxel combination therapy in the treatment of MDR cancer.

PMID- 20942459
TI  - Yield, content, and composition of peppermint and spearmints as a function of
      harvesting time and drying.
AB  - Peppermint ( Mentha * piperita L.) and spearmints ('Scotch' spearmint, M. *
      gracilis Sole, and 'Native' spearmint, Mentha spicata L.) are widely grown
      essential oil crops in more northern latitudes; however, there is limited
      information on how harvest time and drying influence peppermint and spearmint
      yield, oil composition, and bioactivity, when grown south of the 41st parallel.
      In this 2-year study, the effects of harvest time and drying on the yield, oil
      composition, and bioactivity of peppermint ('Black Mitcham' and 'B90-9'),
      'Scotch' spearmint, and 'Native' spearmint were evaluated. Peppermint oil from
      the dried material had higher menthol and eucalyptol concentrations. Menthone in
      both peppermint cultivars decreased from harvest 1 (late June) to harvest 5 (late
      August) or 6 (early September), whereas menthol increased. (-)-Carvone in
      spearmints accumulated early, before flowering, allowing for early harvest. Oil
      yields from the dried spearmint biomass reached the maximum at harvest 3 (mid
      July). The essential oil compositions of the four mint genotypes were similar to
      that of 11 commercially available oils, suggesting that these genotypes can be
      grown in the hot, humid environment of the southeastern United States. The
      antioxidant activities (ORAC(oil) values) of the essential oils were 4372, 1713,
      1107, and 471 MUmol of TE L(-1) for 'Scotch' spearmint, 'Native' spearmint,
      peppermint, and Japanese cornmint ( Mentha canadensis ), respectively. The oils
      of the four mint genotypes did not affect ruminal fermentation in vivo, and did
      not exhibit antimicrobial, antileishmanial, or antimalarial activity at levels
      that would warrant bioassay-directed fractionation in a drug-discovery screening
      program. Specifically, the oils did not show greater than 50% growth inhibition
      against Leishmania donovani , Plasmodium falciparum clones D6 and W2, Candida
      albicans , Escherichia coli , Pseudomonas aeruginosa , Cryptococcus neoformans ,
      Mycobacterium intracellulare , or Aspergillus fumigates at 50 MUg mL(-1).

PMID- 20942460
TI  - Chemical characterization and enological potential of Raboso varieties by study
      of secondary grape metabolites.
AB  - DNA studies supported by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of
      flight mass spectrometry analysis of seed proteins showed that the Vitis vinifera
      red grape variety Raboso Veronese is the progeny of a spontaneous cross between
      Raboso Piave (red) and Marzemina Bianca (white) varieties. In the present work,
      the main secondary grape metabolites of Raboso varieties were studied, and their
      enological potential was evaluated and compared with that of other red varieties
      reported in the literature. In general, Raboso grapes had high flavonoid contents
      and high percentages of polyphenols extractable in winemaking and substantial
      contents of norisoprenoid aroma precursors. Raboso Veronese stood out for its
      high content of cyanidin and had higher (+)-catechin and (-)-epicatechin contents
      than Raboso Piave and abundant quercetin glucoside, indicating substantial plant
      biosynthesis toward compounds dihydroxylated in the B-ring. Study of secondary
      grape metabolites is confirmed as an effective tool in differentiating similar
      varieties, in particular on the basis of polyphenol profiles. 

PMID- 20942461
TI  - Characterization of oligomeric xylan structures from corn fiber resistant to
      pretreatment and simultaneous saccharification and fermentation.
AB  - Corn fiber, a byproduct from the corn industry, would be a good source for
      bioethanol production if the hemicellulose, consisting of polymeric
      glucoronoarabinoxylans, can be degraded into fermentable sugars. Structural
      knowledge of the hemicellulose is needed to improve the enzymatic hydrolyses of
      corn fiber. Oligosaccharides that resisted a mild acid pretreatment and
      subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis, representing 50% of the starting material, were
      fractionated on reversed phase and size exclusion material and characterized. The
      oligosaccharides within each fraction were highly substituted by various
      compounds. Oligosaccharides containing uronic acid were accumulated in two polar
      fractions unless also a feruloyl group was present. Feruloylated
      oligosaccharides, containing mono- and/or diferulic acid, were accumulated within
      four more apolar fractions. All fractions contained high amounts of acetyl
      substituents. The data show that complex xylan oligomers are present in which
      ferulic acid, diferulates, acetic acid, galactose, arabinose, and uronic acids
      were combined within an oligomer. Hypothetical structures are discussed,
      demonstrating which enzyme activities are lacking to fully degrade corn
      glucuronoarabinoxylans. 

PMID- 20942462
TI  - Analysis of an essential carotenogenic enzyme: zeta-carotene desaturase from
      unicellular Alga Dunaliella salina.
AB  - The green alga Dunaliella has become a valuable model organism for understanding
      the interesting mechanism of massive carotenoid accumulation. Previously, DNA
      sequences of several carotenogenic enzymes were obtained from Dunaliella. In this
      study, the cDNA of zds was isolated from Dunaliella salina using a polymerase
      chain reaction approach. The full-length cDNA sequence was 2178 base pairs (bp)
      containing a 1731 bp putative open reading frame which coded a 576 amino acid
      deduced polypeptide whose molecular weight was 63.9 kDa computationally. A
      complete homologous search displayed that the nucleotide and putative protein
      sequence have sequence identities of 69% and 66% with those of green alga
      Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, respectively. It was predicted that this zeta-carotene
      desaturase (Zds) may be located in the chloroplast of D. salina. Phylogenetic
      analysis demonstrated that the D. salina Zds had a closer relationship with the
      Zds of algae and higher plants than with those of other species. 

PMID- 20942463
TI  - Optimizing time and temperature of enzymatic conversion of isoflavone glucosides
      to aglycones in soy germ flour.
AB  - Five factors (enzyme concentration, substrate concentration, pH, incubation
      temperature, and incubation time) were initially screened for the conversion of
      isoflavone glucosides to aglycones in soy germ flour. The incubation
      temperature/time most significantly affected aglycone yield; subsequently, a full
      5 (35, 40, 45, 50, and 55  degrees C) * 6 (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 h) factorial
      design and response surface methodology were employed to attain an optimal
      incubation time/temperature condition. The optimum condition producing soy germ
      flour with a high concentration of daidzein, glycitein, and genistein was as
      follows: soy germ flour:deionized water (1:5, w/v), beta-glucosidase at 1 unit/g
      of soy germ flour, pH 5, and incubation temperature/time of 45  degrees C/5 h.
      Under this optimal condition, most isoflavone glucosides were converted to
      aglycones with daidzein, glycitein, and genistein of >= 15.4, >= 6.16, and >=
      4.147 MUmol/g, respectively. In contrast, the control soy germ flour contained
      13.82 MUmol/g daidzin, 7.11 MUmol/g glycitin, 4.40 MUmol/g genistin, 1.56 MUmol/g
      daidzein, 0.52 MUmol/g glycitein, and 0.46 MUmol/g genistein.

PMID- 20942464
TI  - Detection of pH in microemulsions, without a probe molecule, using magnetic
      resonance.
AB  - Proton NMR relaxation times have been used to probe the pH of water inside
      reverse micelles of a cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB)-hexanol-aq
      microemulsion. T(2) relaxation times were found to change with pH; however, T(1)
      relaxation times remained unaffected. This behavior was attributed to acid
      catalyzed exchange between protons of water and hydroxyl protons of the
      cosurfactant hexanol. The rate of exchange and its influence on the T(2)
      relaxation time of water, inside the reverse micelle, were investigated as a
      function of water-to-surfactant ratio (omega(0)) and ionic strength. This
      exchange behavior and pH-dependent T(2) relaxation time were also observed for
      two other microemulsions--CTAB-hexane-pentanol-aq and Triton X-100-cyclohexane
      hexanol-aq. Using this pH-dependent T(2) relaxation time, it was possible to
      monitor pH changes in the bromate-sulfite reaction inside a CTAB-hexanol-aq
      microemulsion.

PMID- 20942465
TI  - Ultrafast multisequential photochemistry of 5-diazo Meldrum's acid.
AB  - We disclose the light-induced dynamics and ultrafast formation of several
      photoproducts from the manifold of reaction pathways in the photochemistry of 5
      diazo Meldrum's acid (DMA), a photoactive compound used in lithography, by
      femtosecond mid-infrared transient absorption spectroscopy covering several
      nanoseconds. After excitation of DMA dissolved in methanol to the second excited
      state S(2), 70% of excited molecules relax back to the S(0) ground state. In
      competing processes, they can undergo an intramolecular Wolff rearrangement to
      form ketene, which reacts with a solvent molecule to an enol intermediate and
      further to carboxylate ester, or they first relax to the DMA S(1) state, from
      where they can isomerize to a diazirine and via an intersystem crossing to a
      triplet carbene. For a reliable identification of the involved compounds, density
      functional theory calculations on the normal modes and Fourier transform infrared
      spectroscopy of the reactant and the photoproducts in the chemical equilibrium
      accompany the analysis of the transient spectra. Additional experiments in
      ethanol and 2-propanol lead to slight spectral shifts as well as elongated time
      constants due to steric hindrance in transient spectra connected with the ester
      formation channel, further substantiating the assignment of the occurring
      reaction pathways and photoproducts.

PMID- 20942466
TI  - Understanding cooperativity in hydrogen-bond-induced supramolecular
      polymerization: a density functional theory study.
AB  - Understanding the molecular mechanism of cooperative self-assembly is a key
      component in the design of self-assembled supramolecular architectures across
      multiple length scales with defined function and composition. In this work, we
      use density functional theory to rationalize the experimentally observed
      cooperative growth of C(3)-symmetrical trialkylbenzene-1,3,5-tricarboxamide- (BTA
      ) based supramolecular polymers that self-assemble into ordered one-dimensional
      supramolecular structures through hydrogen bonding. Our analysis shows that the
      cooperative growth of these structures is caused by electrostatic interactions
      and nonadditive effects brought about by redistribution of the electron density
      with aggregate length.

PMID- 20942467
TI  - Electron density based characterization of pi bonds in planar molecules.
AB  - A new method has been developed to detect and analyze molecular pi systems. The
      concept of bonding critical point is generalized to electronic pi systems, and it
      is shown how a pi bond can be characterized via the corresponding bond critical
      point (BCP) in planar molecules. In this context, charge density and its
      Laplacian at the BCP(pi) of a strongly delocalized pi system can be distinguished
      from that of a localized one. The presented formalism is applied to three types
      of nanoconductors as conjugated polyenes, which revealed the alternative pattern
      of the double bonds. Also, several cyclic conjugated molecules are considered to
      explore their pi electronic structure and aromaticity.

PMID- 20942468
TI  - Surface-enhanced Raman scattering on silver nanostructured films prepared by
      spray-deposition.
AB  - Silver nanostructured films were directly prepared by spray deposition of
      preformed polyol-based Ag-PVP nanoparticles. These homogeneous films of high
      optical quality were tested as SERS-active substrates. Laser excitation at 514.5
      nm within the red part of the plasmon band leads to intense and reproducible SERS
      spectra of acridine, used as the probe molecule. From SERS measurements at
      different pH values, it was possible to determine the apparent pK(a) of acridine
      and to obtain specific surface properties of the film. Finally, these SERS
      titrations along with enhancement factor estimates allowed us to further depict
      the nature of the films.

PMID- 20942469
TI  - Dissociation dynamics of isotopologs of CH5 studied by charge exchange of CH5+
      with Cs and quasiclassical trajectory calculations.
AB  - The product branching fractions and dissociation dynamics for the dissociation of
      CH5, CH2D3, CHD4, and CD5 have been experimentally measured following charge
      exchange of the parent cations with Cs. These results are compared with
      quasiclassical trajectory calculations run on an ab initio potential energy
      surface for CH5. In all cases it is found that dissociation channels involving
      the ejection of a single atom (H or D) are dominant. The statistically weighted
      branching fractions show that in the mixed isotopologs, ejection of a hydrogen
      atom is favored over a deuterium atom. The results are consistent with the
      fluxional nature of CH5(+) isotopologs--no evidence was found for quantum
      localization upon deuteration in the comparison of the experimental and
      theoretical branching fractions, possibly as a result of the vibrational
      temperature of the cations (estimated to be as high as 1660 K for high frequency
      modes). This comparison of experiment and theory provides a test of the CH5
      potential energy surface at high levels of excitation.

PMID- 20942471
TI  - First in class, potent, and orally bioavailable NADPH oxidase isoform 4 (Nox4)
      inhibitors for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.
AB  - We describe the design, synthesis, and optimization of first-in-class series of
      inhibitors of NADPH oxidase isoform 4 (Nox4), an enzyme implicated in several
      pathologies, in particular idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a life-threatening and
      orphan disease. Initially, several moderately potent pyrazolopyridine dione
      derivatives were found during a high-throughput screening campaign. SAR
      investigation around the pyrazolopyridine dione core led to the discovery of
      several double-digit nanomolar inhibitors in cell free assays of reactive oxygen
      species (ROS) production, showing high potency on Nox4 and Nox1. The compounds
      have little affinity for Nox2 isoform and are selective for Nox4/1 isoforms. The
      specificity of these compounds was confirmed in an extensive in vitro
      pharmacological profile, as well as in a counterscreening assay for potential ROS
      scavenging. Concomitant benefits are good oral bioavailability and high plasma
      concentrations in vivo, allowing further clinical trials for the potential
      treatment of fibrotic diseases, cancers, and cardiovascular and metabolic
      diseases.

PMID- 20942470
TI  - Nicotinic acid adenine dinucleotide phosphate analogues containing substituted
      nicotinic acid: effect of modification on Ca(2+) release.
AB  - Analogues of nicotinic acid adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NAADP) with
      substitution at either the 4- or the 5-position position of the nicotinic acid
      moiety have been synthesized from NADP enzymatically using Aplysia californica
      ADP-ribosyl cyclase or mammalian NAD glycohydrolase. Substitution at the 4
      position of the nicotinic acid resulted in the loss of agonist potency for
      release of Ca(2+)-ions from sea urchin egg homogenates and in potency for
      competition ligand binding assays using [(32)P]NAADP. In contrast, several 5
      substituted NAADP derivatives showed high potency for binding and full agonist
      activity for Ca(2+) release. 5-Azido-NAADP was shown to release calcium from sea
      urchin egg homogenates at low concentration and to compete with [(32)P]NAADP in a
      competition ligand binding assay with an IC(50) of 18 nM, indicating that this
      compound might be a potential photoprobe useful for specific labeling and
      identification of the NAADP receptor.

PMID- 20942472
TI  - Novel spirotetracyclic zwitterionic dual H(1)/5-HT(2A) receptor antagonists for
      the treatment of sleep disorders.
AB  - Histamine H(1) and serotonin 5-HT(2A) receptors mediate two different mechanisms
      involved in sleep regulation: H(1) antagonists are sleep inducers, while 5-HT(2A)
      antagonists are sleep maintainers. Starting from 9'a, a novel spirotetracyclic
      compound endowed with good H(1)/5-HT(2A) potency but poor selectivity, very high
      Cli, and a poor P450 profile, a specific optimization strategy was set up. In
      particular, we investigated the possibility of introducing appropriate amino acid
      moieties to optimize the developability profile of the series. Following this
      zwitterionic approach, we were able to identify several advanced leads (51, 65,
      and 73) with potent dual H(1)/5-HT(2A) activity and appropriate developability
      profiles. These compounds exhibited efficacy as hypnotic agents in a rat
      telemetric sleep model with minimal effective doses in the range 3-10 mg/kg po.

PMID- 20942474
TI  - Diverse roles of hydrogen in rhenium carbonyl chemistry: hydrides, dihydrogen
      complexes, and a formyl derivative.
AB  - Rhenium carbonyl hydride chemistry dates back to the 1959 synthesis of HRe(CO)5
      by Hieber and Braun. The binuclear H2Re2(CO)8 was subsequently synthesized as a
      stable compound with a central Re2(MU-H)2 unit analogous to the B2(MU-H)2 unit in
      diborane. The complete series of HRe(CO)(n) (n = 5, 4, 3) and H2Re2(CO)(n) (n =
      9, 8, 7, 6) derivatives have now been investigated by density functional theory.
      In contrast to the corresponding manganese derivatives, all of the triplet
      rhenium structures are found to lie at relatively high energies compared with the
      corresponding singlet structures consistent with the higher ligand field
      splitting of rhenium relative to manganese. The lowest energy HRe(CO)5 structure
      is the expected octahedral structure. Low-energy structures for HRe(CO)(n) (n =
      4, 3) are singlet structures derived from the octahedral HRe(CO)5 structure by
      removal of one or two carbonyl groups. For H2Re2(CO)9 a structure HRe2(CO)9(MU
      H), with one terminal and one bridging hydrogen atom, lies within 3 kcal/mol of
      the structure Re2(CO)9(eta2-H2), similar to that of Re2(CO)10. For H2Re2(CO)(n)
      (n = 8, 7, 6) the only low-energy structures are doubly bridged singlet Re2(MU
      H)2(CO)(n) structures. Higher energy dihydrogen complex structures are also
      found.

PMID- 20942475
TI  - Separated metallic and semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes:
      opportunities in transparent electrodes and beyond.
AB  - Ever since the discovery of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs), there have
      been many reports and predictions on their superior properties for use in a wide
      variety of potential applications. However, an SWNT is either metallic or
      semiconducting; these properties are distinctively different in electrical
      conductivity and many other aspects. The available bulk-production methods
      generally yield mixtures of metallic and semiconducting SWNTs, despite continuing
      efforts in metallicity-selective nanotube growth. Presented here are significant
      advances and major achievements in the development of postproduction separation
      methods, which are now capable of harvesting separated metallic and
      semiconducting SWNTs from different production sources with sufficiently high
      enrichment and quantities for satisfying at least the needs in research and
      technological explorations. Opportunities and some available examples for the use
      of metallic SWNTs in transparent electrodes and semiconducting SWNTs in various
      device nanotechnologies are highlighted and discussed.

PMID- 20942476
TI  - Reduction of pH buffer requirement in bioelectrochemical systems.
AB  - Low pH buffer capacity of waste streams limits further development of
      bioelectrochemical systems (BES) because accumulation of protons potentially
      leads to acidification of the anodic biofilm. Here we introduce a system that
      makes it possible to recover alkalinity in an extra recovery compartment. The
      system consisted of this extra compartment which was located between anode and
      cathode compartment. The compartment was separated from the anode by a cation
      exchange membrane and from the cathode by an anion exchange membrane, which made
      clean hydrogen production possible. To compensate for the charge movement as a
      result of the flow of electrons, both cations and hydroxyl ions moved into the
      new recovery compartment. When a synthetic waste stream was fed through this
      recovery compartment, both pH and conductivity increased. When this stream is
      then fed to the anode of the BES, no additional buffer was required to produce
      the same current (3.5 A/m(2)) at an applied voltage of 1 V.

PMID- 20942477
TI  - From short conjugated oligomers to conjugated polymers. Lessons from studies on
      long conjugated oligomers.
AB  - Given their utility in a variety of electronic devices, conjugated oligomers and
      polymers have attracted considerable research interest in recent years. Because
      polymeric materials consist of very large molecules with a range of molecular
      weights (that is, they are polydisperse), predicting their electronic properties
      is a complicated task. Accordingly, their properties are typically estimated by
      extrapolation of oligomeric properties to infinite chain lengths. In this
      Account, we discuss the convergence behavior of various electronic properties of
      conjugated oligomers, often using thiophene oligomers as a representative
      example. We have observed some general trends in our studies, which we briefly
      summarize below for five properties. Most of the calculated values are method
      dependent: the absolute values can be strongly dependent on the computational
      level used. Band Gap. The generally accepted approximation used to estimate
      polymer band gap, whereby a plot of HOMO-LUMO gap versus 1/n (where n is the
      number of monomer units) is extrapolated to infinite n, fails for long oligomers,
      because convergence behavior is observed for band gaps. At the B3LYP/6-31G(d)
      level, it is possible to extrapolate oligomer HOMO-LUMO gaps with a second-order
      polynomial equation. Alternatively, PBC/B3LYP/6-31G(d) is a very good method to
      reliably predict the band gap of conjugated polymers. Reorganization Energy.
      Values of the internal reorganization energy (lambda) do not scale linearly with
      1/n, instead exhibiting an inverse correlation with the square-root of the number
      of monomer units for n = 2-12. For larger n (10-50), a linear relationship is
      observed between reorganization energy and the reciprocal chain length, and the
      extrapolation approaches lambda ~ 0 for infinite numbers of oligomer rings.
      Ionization Potential. The relationship between the first adiabatic ionization
      potential IP(1a) of oligothiophenes and oligoselenophenes and chain length
      linearly correlates with an empirically obtained value of 1/(n(0.75)). The first
      vertical ionization potential (IP(1v)) linearly correlates with a similarly
      empirically obtained value of 1/(n(0.70)). Polaron-Bipolaron Balance. The
      contribution of a polaron pair to the electronic structure of the short
      oligothiophene dication is small; for medium-length oligothiophene chains, the
      contribution from the polaron pair state begins to become significant. For longer
      (above 20-mer) oligothiophenes, the polaron pair state dominates. A similar
      picture was observed for multications as well as doped oligomers and polymers.
      The qualitative polaron-bipolaron picture does not change when a dopant is
      introduced; however, quantitatively, the bipolaron-polaron pair equilibrium
      shifts toward the bipolaron state. Disproportionation Energy. The stability of a
      single oligothiophene dication versus two cation radical oligothiophene molecules
      increases with increasing chain length, and there is an excellent correlation
      between the relative disproportionation energy and the inverse of chain length. A
      similar trend is observed in the disproportionation energies of oligothiophene
      polycations as well as doped oligomer and polymers. We also examine doped
      oligothiophenes (with explicitly included counterions) and polymers with a
      repeating polar unit. From our experience, it is clear that different properties
      converge in different ways, and long oligomers (having about 50 double bonds in
      the backbone) must often be used to correctly extrapolate polymer properties.

PMID- 20942478
TI  - Diurnal fluctuations in polybrominated diphenyl ether concentrations during and
      after a severe dust storm episode in Kuwait City, Kuwait.
AB  - Concentrations of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) were quantified in four
      hour integrated air samples obtained serially over a five day period in May 2007
      in Kuwait City during and after a severe dust storm. The ?PBDE concentrations
      ranged from 51 to 1307 pg m(-3) for the first two days of sampling and 20 to 148
      pg m(-3) for the rest of the sampling period. The first two days of sampling
      occurred during a severe dust storm episode when the total suspended particulates
      (TSP) in air exceeded 1000 MUg/m(3) with concentrations peaking during the day
      and decreasing at night. During this dust episode, the peak nighttime PBDE
      concentration was 30 times higher than the minimum daytime concentration.
      Although ?PBDE concentrations peaked at night during the first two sampling days,
      the fluctuations in the BDE 47:99 ratio tracked changes in ambient temperature
      remarkably well, following a clear diurnal pattern. The fraction of congeners in
      the gas phase varied inversely with solar flux and was lower on days with a high
      number of hours of sunshine, suggesting that photolytic degradation of gas-phase
      PBDEs was occurring.

PMID- 20942479
TI  - Tracing sources and bioaccumulation of mercury in fish of Lake Baikal--Angara
      River using Hg isotopic composition.
AB  - This study presents the determination and comparison of isotopic compositions of
      Hg in sediments, plankton, roach, and perch of two freshwater systems in the Lake
      Baikal-Angara River aquatic ecosystem: the man-made Bratsk Water Reservoir
      contaminated by Hg from a chlor-alkali factory and the noncontaminated Lake
      Baikal. Isotopic ratios of biota exhibit both significant mass-independent
      fractionation (MIF) (Delta(199)Hg from 0.20 to 1.870/00) and mass-dependent
      fractionation (MDF) (delta(202)Hg from -0.97 to -0.160/00), whereas sediments
      exhibit high MDF (delta(202)Hg from -1.99 to -0.830/00) but no MIF. delta(15)N
      and delta(13)C are correlated with methylmercury in organisms from both sites,
      indicating bioaccumulation and biomagnification through food webs of both
      regions. Combining this with isotopic composition of samples shows that
      delta(202)Hg increases with the trophic level of organisms and also with
      methylmercury in fish from Lake Baikal. This study demonstrates that MIF in fish
      samples from Bratsk Water Reservoir allow to trace anthropogenic Hg, since fish
      with the highest levels of Hg in muscle have the same isotopic composition as the
      sediment in which anthropogenic Hg was deposited. Less contaminated fish do not
      exhibit this anthropogenic signature accumulating relatively lower Hg amount from
      the contaminated sediments. This work reveals that Hg isotopic composition can be
      used to track the contribution of anthropogenic sources in fish from a
      contaminated lake.

PMID- 20942480
TI  - Greenhouse gas emissions from biofuels' indirect land use change are uncertain
      but may be much greater than previously estimated.
AB  - The life cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions induced by increased biofuel
      consumption are highly uncertain: individual estimates vary from each other and
      each has a wide intrinsic error band. Using a reduced-form model, we estimated
      that the bounding range for emissions from indirect land-use change (ILUC) from
      US corn ethanol expansion was 10 to 340 g CO(2) MJ(-1). Considering various
      probability distributions to model parameters, the broadest 95% central interval,
      i.e., between the 2.5 and 97.5%ile values, ranged from 21 to 142 g CO(2)e MJ(-1).
      ILUC emissions from US corn ethanol expansion thus range from small, but not
      negligible, to several times greater than the life cycle emissions of gasoline.
      The ILUC emissions estimates of 30 g CO(2) MJ(-1) for the California Air
      Resources Board and 34 g CO(2)e MJ(-1) by USEPA (for 2022) are at the low end of
      the plausible range. The lack of data and understanding (epistemic uncertainty)
      prevents convergence of judgment on a central value for ILUC emissions. The
      complexity of the global system being modeled suggests that this range is
      unlikely to narrow substantially in the near future. Fuel policies that require
      narrow bounds around point estimates of life cycle GHG emissions are thus
      incompatible with current and anticipated modeling capabilities. Alternative
      policies that address the risks associated with uncertainty are more likely to
      achieve GHG reductions.

PMID- 20942482
TI  - Polylactic acid and polylactic acid-based nanocomposite photooxidation.
AB  - The importance of photooxidation in promoting formation of anhydride functional
      groups and thus promoting hydrolysis/biodegradation of polylactic acid and PLA
      nanocomposites were elucidated. PLA-based nanocomposites were prepared by adding
      5% wt filler content of sodium montmorillonite (ClNa), sodium montmorillonite
      partially exchanged with Fe(III) (ClFe), organically modified montmorillonite
      (Cl20A), unmodified sepiolite (SEP), and fumed silica (SiO2). The pure PLA and
      nanocomposites were UV-light irradiated in artificial accelerated conditions
      representative of solar irradiation (lambda > 300 nm) at 60  degrees C in air.
      The chemical modifications resulting from photooxidation were followed by IR and
      UV-visible spectroscopies. The infrared analyses of PLA photooxidation show the
      formation of a band at 1845 cm(-1) due to the formation of anhydrides. A
      photooxidation mechanism based on hydroperoxide decomposition is proposed. The
      mechanism proposed is confirmed by an increase in anhydride formation rate: the
      main responsible for this acceleration was identified as transition metals
      contained in the nanofillers as impurities and involved in the catalytic
      hydroperoxide decomposition. 

PMID- 20942483
TI  - Behavior and properties in aqueous solution of biopolymers isolated from urban
      refuse.
AB  - Acid soluble biopolymeric substances (SBP) were isolated from different urban
      biowastes comprised of a range of materials available from metropolitan areas.
      These biowastes provided products with a chemical nature and solubility
      properties changing over a wide range and, thus, allowed to assess the effect of
      the variability of the chemical nature on molecular conformation and surface
      activity in water solution. For this scope, the SBP were characterized for
      chemical composition and molecular weight (MW) by microanalysis, potentiometric
      titration, (13)C NMR spectroscopy, and size exclusion chromatography (SEC)
      coupled with an online multiangle light scattering (MALS) detector. These
      materials were found to have 67-463 kg mol(-1) MW and 6-53 polydispersity index
      and to contain carboxylic acid and phenol groups bonded to aromatic and aliphatic
      C chains. An empirical parameter (LH) was calculated for use as an index of the
      lipophilic/hydrophilic C atoms ratio. The products solubility properties in
      solvents of different polarity, surface activity, power to enhance the water
      solubility of hydrophobic compounds, and particle size in water solution were
      also investigated by measurements of the products partition coefficient between
      polyethylene glycol and water (KPEGW) and of air-water surface tension (gamma),
      water-hexane interfacial tension (IFT), disperse red orange dye solubility (DS),
      and dynamic light scattering (DLS) versus added SBP concentration (Cs). The
      results indicate that LH correlates well with KPEGW and with the products surface
      activity properties. Both gamma and DS are shown to depend on Cs, although in
      opposite ways, that is, higher Cs values yield lower gamma and higher DS values.
      Both DS-Cs and gamma-Cs plots showed a significant slope change at approximately
      the same 1.8-2.5 g L(-1) Cs value. This suggested a change of molecular
      conformation taking place at the above Cs values. Hydrodynamic diameter values
      for SBP in solution at Cs <= 10 g L(-1) were found to range from 130 to 300 nm,
      consistent with their macromolecular nature. The DLS coupled to the gamma data
      were consistent with molecules at the water-air interphase and in the bulk water
      phase having different conformations, but not significantly different molecular
      sizes. Molecular aggregates more likely form at 50-100 g L(-1) Cs. The results
      confirm that urban biowastes are a sustainable source of biobased products that
      may have real commercial perspectives. 

PMID- 20942484
TI  - Amine functionalization of collagen matrices with multifunctional polyethylene
      glycol systems.
AB  - A method to functionalize collagen-based biomaterials with free amine groups was
      established in an attempt to improve their potential for tethering of bioactive
      molecules. Collagen sponges were incorporated with amine-terminated
      multifunctional polyethylene glycol (PEG) derivatives after N-(3
      dimethylaminopropyl)-N'-ethylcarbodiimide and N-hydroxysuccinimide (EDC/NHS)
      cross-linking. The extent of the incorporation of different amounts and different
      numbers of active moieties of amine-terminated PEG systems into the collagen
      scaffolds was evaluated using ninhydrin assay, Fourier transform infrared
      spectrophotometry (FTIR), collagenase degradation assay, denaturation temperature
      measurements, and in vitro cell studies. A 3% 8-arm amine-terminated PEG was
      found to be the minimum required effective concentration to functionalize EDC/NHS
      stabilized collagen scaffolds. EDC/NHS stabilized scaffolds treated with 3% 8-arm
      amine-terminated PEG exhibited significantly improved denaturation temperature
      and resistance to collagenase degradation over non-cross-linked scaffolds (p <
      0.002). Biological evaluation using 3T3 cells demonstrated that the produced
      scaffolds facilitated maintenance of the cells' morphology, metabolic activity,
      and ability to proliferate in vitro. Overall, our results indicate that amine
      terminated PEG systems can be used as means to enhance the functionality of
      collagenous structures. 

PMID- 20942485
TI  - Silk-based gene carriers with cell membrane destabilizing peptides.
AB  - Complexes of recombinant silk-polylysine molecules with ppTG1 peptide, a lysine
      rich cell membrane destabilizing peptide to bind plasmid DNA (pDNA), are designed
      as less-cytotoxic and highly efficient gene carriers. The peptide destabilizes
      the cell membrane and promotes gene transfer. Our particular interest is in how
      ppTG1 enhances transfection efficiency of the silk-based delivery system into
      human cells. Genetically engineered silk proteins containing polylysine and the
      monomeric and dimeric ppTG1 sequences are synthesized in Escherichia coli ,
      followed by transfection experiments. The pDNA complexes of silk-polylysine-ppTG1
      dimer recombinant proteins prepared at an N/P 2 (the ratio of number of
      amines/phosphates from pDNA) shows the highest transfection efficiency into human
      embryonic kidney (HEK) cells, the level of which is comparable to the
      transfection reagent Lipofectamine 2000. The assemblies show a globular
      morphology with an average hydrodynamic diameter of 99 nm and almost no beta
      sheet structure. Additionally, the silk-based pDNA complexes demonstrate
      excellent DNase resistance as well as efficient release of the pDNA by enzymes
      that degrade silk proteins. Also, comparison with beta-sheet induced silk-based
      pDNA complexes indicates that the beta-sheet structure content of the silk
      sequence of the pDNA complexes controls the enzymatic degradation rate of the
      complexes and, hence, can regulate the release profile of genes from the
      complexes. The bioengineered silk-based gene delivery vehicles containing cell
      membrane destabilizing peptides are therefore concluded to have potential for a
      less-toxic and controlled-release gene delivery system. 

PMID- 20942486
TI  - Hypochlorous acid scavenging activities of thioallyl compounds from garlic.
AB  - The hypochlorous acid (HOCl) scavenging capacities of 10 garlic compounds
      containing modifications in the thioallyl group (-S-CH2CH ? CH2) were determined
      by a catalase protection assay, and the corresponding structure-activity
      relationships using molecular descriptors were calculated. This scavenging
      activity was enhanced by increasing the number of S atoms or by the alanyl group
      (-CH2CH-NH2-COOH) and decreased in the absence of the C ? C bond or in the
      presence of a sulfoxide group in the thioallyl group. Interestingly, S
      allylcysteine and its corresponding sulfoxide (alliin) showed the highest and
      lowest HOCl-scavenging capacities, respectively. Quantitative modeling by
      multiple regression analysis and partial least-squares projections showed that
      the topological descriptor polar surface area and two electronic properties,
      namely, highest occupied molecular orbital and total energy, contributed mainly
      to variations in the HOCl scavenging activity of thioallyl compounds. These
      observations provide new insights on the antioxidant mechanism of garlic
      derivatives in processes involving HOCl production.

PMID- 20942488
TI  - Impacts of Bt transgenic cotton on integrated pest management.
AB  - Transgenic cotton that produced one or more insecticidal proteins of Bacillus
      thuringiensis (Bt) was planted on over 15 million hectares in 11 countries in
      2009 and has contributed to a reduction of over 140 million kilograms of
      insecticide active ingredient between 1996 and 2008. As a highly selective form
      of host plant resistance, Bt cotton effectively controls a number of key
      lepidopteran pests and has become a cornerstone in overall integrated pest
      management (IPM). Bt cotton has led to large reductions in the abundance of
      targeted pests and benefited non-Bt cotton adopters and even producers of other
      crops affected by polyphagous target pests. Reductions in insecticide use have
      enhanced biological control, which has contributed to significant suppression of
      other key and sporadic pests in cotton. Although reductions in insecticide use in
      some regions have elevated the importance of several pest groups, most of these
      emerging problems can be effectively solved through an IPM approach.

PMID- 20942487
TI  - Assembly of modular asymmetric organic-inorganic polyoxometalate hybrids into
      anisotropic nanostructures.
AB  - Three organic-inorganic hybrid Mn-Anderson polyoxometalates (POMs), with both
      symmetrical and asymmetrical appended groups, have been synthesized, identified
      using electrospray mass spectrometry, and isolated using an approach that allows
      the three AA, BB, and AB compounds to be structurally characterized.
      Investigation of the self-assembly of the hybrids on hydrophilic surfaces reveals
      the formation of nanofibres with characteristics that reflect the nature of the
      substitution of the POM yielding a route to the programmed assembly of
      anisotropic hybrid nanostructures.

PMID- 20942489
TI  - Immunomodulating activity of Lactobacillus paracasei subsp. paracasei NTU 101 in
      enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157H7-infected mice.
AB  - The present study investigated the immunomodulating activity of Lactobacillus
      paracasei subsp. paracasei NTU 101 in enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157:H7
      infected BALB/c mice. Mice were given L. paracasei subsp. paracasei NTU 101
      (10(8) colony-forming units) for 7 days, before and after the challenge with E.
      coli O157:H7. Feeding Lactobacillus for 7 days resulted in an increased
      postchallenge weight gain and lower cumulative morbidity rates. We observed the
      upregulation of dendritic cells, helper T cell activation, and antibody
      production in post- and pretreated mice, compared with untreated mice in the E.
      coli O157:H7 infection group. Moreover, Lactobacillus can down-regulate the
      expression of toll-like receptors (TLRs) on macrophages and proinflammatory
      cytokines, and chemokines in the post- or prefeeding mice induce by E. coli
      O157:H7 infection. These results demonstrated the inhibition of inflammation
      among the mice in the pretreated group than in the post-treated group by
      modulating their immune response. These findings suggest that L. paracasei subsp.
      paracasei NTU 101 may be an effective candidate for use as a probiotic in the
      prevention of infection caused by E. coli O157:H7 in humans. 

PMID- 20942490
TI  - Selection of evodiamine as a novel topoisomerase I inhibitor by structure-based
      virtual screening and hit optimization of evodiamine derivatives as antitumor
      agents.
AB  - Human topoisomerase I (TopoI) is recognized as a valuable target for the
      development of effective antitumor agents. Structure-based virtual screening was
      applied to the discovery of structurally diverse TopoI inhibitors. From 23
      compounds selected by virtual screening, a total of 14 compounds were found to be
      TopoI inhibitors. Five hits (compounds 1, 14, 20, 21, and 23) also showed
      moderate to good in vitro antitumor activity. These novel structures can be
      considered as good starting points for the development of new antitumor lead
      compounds. Hit 20 (evodiamine) was chosen for preliminary structure-activity
      relationship studies. Various groups, including alkyl, benzoyl, benzyl and ester,
      were introduced to the indole nitrogen atom of evodiamine. The substituted
      benzoyl groups were found to be favorable for the antitumor activity and
      spectrum. The 4-Cl benzoyl derivative, compound 29u, was the most active one with
      IC(50) values in the range 0.049-2.6 MUM.

PMID- 20942491
TI  - Synthesis of 2-alkyl- and aryl-3-ethoxycarbonyl-2,5-dihydrofurans through gold
      catalyzed intramolecular hydroalkoxylation.
AB  - Treatment of a wide range of functionalized hydroxyallenic esters with 5 mol %
      Ph(3)PAuCl and 5 mol % AgOTf in CH(2)Cl(2) at 25  degrees C for 1 h produced
      selectively 2-alkyl- and aryl-3-ethoxycarbonyl-2,5-dihydrofurans in good to
      excellent yield through intramolecular hydroalkoxylation by a 5-endo mode.

PMID- 20942492
TI  - Cu(OTf)(2)-mediated Chan-Lam reaction of carboxylic acids to access phenolic
      esters.
AB  - A Cu(OTf)(2)-mediated Chan-Lam reaction of carboxylic acids with arylboronic
      acids is described. It represents a facile and practical methodology to access
      phenolic esters in moderate to good yields. The procedure tolerates a series of
      functional groups, such as methoxycarbonyl, acetoxy, free phenolic hydroxyl,
      vinyl, nitro, trifluoromethyl, methoxyl, bromo, chloro, iodo, and acetyl groups.

PMID- 20942493
TI  - Stereoselective synthesis of cyclohexanones via phase transfer catalyzed double
      addition of nucleophiles to divinyl ketones.
AB  - Functionalized cyclohexanones are formed in excellent yield and
      diastereoselectivity from a phase transfer catalyzed double addition of active
      methylene pronucleophiles to nonsymmetrical divinyl ketones.

PMID- 20942494
TI  - Iridium-catalyzed asymmetric ring opening of azabicyclic alkenes by amines.
AB  - The enantioselective ring-opening reactions of azabicyclic alkenes with primary
      and secondary aromatic amine nucleophiles are reported using an iridium catalyst
      generated in situ from 1.5 mol % of [Ir(COD)Cl](2) and 3 mol % of (S)-BINAP. The
      reaction affords the corresponding trans-1,2-diamine derivatives in moderate to
      good yields with moderate to high enantioselectivities (up to 97% ee). The trans
      configuration of the 1,2-diamino product 2g was confirmed by X-ray
      crystallography.

PMID- 20942495
TI  - Plasma polymer tailoring of the topography and chemistry of surfaces at the
      nanoscale.
AB  - We demonstrate in this paper that plasma polymer can be advantageously used to
      provide surfaces with topography and chemical control at the nanoscale. Moreover,
      this technique was also proved to be of high interest to functionalize atomic
      force microscopy tips that were used to probe the patterned surfaces in pulsed
      force mode. This approach allowed demonstration by a direct observation of the
      possibility of generating alternating hydrophilic/hydrophobic surfaces at the
      nanoscale prepared by DUV laser irradiation. Such a versatile and simple route
      opens new possibilities in the field of smart surfaces engineering.

PMID- 20942497
TI  - Theoretical study of the O2 interaction with a tetrahedral Al4 cluster.
AB  - Employing both multireference configuration interaction (MRCI) and density
      functional theory (DFT) methods, we have studied the interaction of O2 with a
      tetrahedral Al4 cluster in the total spin triplet state. For a parallel to the
      base approach of O2 facing an apex of the pyramid, the O2 adsorption is hindered
      by a barrier. Both the MRCI and the DFT calculations show that after a small
      barrier, there are two local energy minima: a shallow one just above the apex
      atom and another deeper one below the apex atom. The latter corresponds to
      dissociative O2 adsorption. We discuss the implications of these findings for the
      understanding of O2 adsorption on defect sites of Al surfaces.

PMID- 20942496
TI  - New insights in the electrocatalytic proton reduction and hydrogen oxidation by
      bioinspired catalysts: a DFT investigation.
AB  - In this paper, we present a DFT study of the proton reduction mechanism catalyzed
      by the complex [Ni(P2(H)N2(H))2](2+), bioinspired from the hydrogenases. A
      detailed analysis of the reactive isomers is discussed together with the
      localizations of the transitions states and energy minima. The reactive catalytic
      species is a biprotonated Ni(0) complex that can show different conformations and
      that can be protonated on different sites. The energies of the different
      conformations and biprotonated species have been calculated and discussed. Energy
      barriers for two different reaction mechanisms have been identified in solvent
      and in gas phase. Frequency calculations have been performed to check the nature
      of the energy minima and for the calculations of entropic energetic terms and
      zero point energies. We show that only one conformation is mostly reactive. All
      the others species are nonreactive in their original form, and they have to pass
      through conformational barriers in order to transform in the reactive species.

PMID- 20942498
TI  - Assessing the performance of density functional theory for the electronic
      structure of metal-salens: the M06 suite of functionals and the d4-metals.
AB  - We have systematically investigated the electronic structure of the d4 metal
      salen complexes including the Cr(II)-, Mn(III)-, Fe(IV)-, Mo(II)-, Tc(III)-, and
      Ru(IV)-salen complexes. Density functional theory (DFT) has been employed, using
      the BP86 and B3LYP functionals, and the entire M05 and M06 suites of meta
      generalized gradient functionals. These results are compared to robust complete
      active-space self-consistent field (CASSCF) optimized geometries and complete
      active-space third-order perturbation theory (CASPT3) energies for the lowest
      singlet, triplet, and quintet states. Although the M06 and M06-L DFT functionals
      have been generally recommended for computations on complexes that contain main
      group and transition metals, none of the M0-functionals appear statistically
      better than the B3LYP functional for the computation of spin-state energy gaps.
      DFT- and CASSCF-optimized geometries normally agree to within 0.3 A least root
      mean squared deviation (LRMSD) for the singlet and triplet structures and less
      than 0.1 A LRMSD for the quintet structures. It can be concluded that no DFT
      functional tested here can be considered reliable over all metal-salen complexes
      and it is highly recommended that the accuracy of any given DFT functional should
      be assessed on a case-by-case basis.

PMID- 20942499
TI  - Correlation between the rate order and the number of molecules in the reaction of
      trimethyl phosphite with water in acetonitrile solvent.
AB  - Density functional theory calculations of the title reaction, P(OCH3)3 + (H2O)(n)
      in CH3CN, were conducted, where n is the number of water molecules. Two routes,
      the routes suggested by (A) Aksnes and (B) Arbuzov, were traced with various n
      values. Both routes consist of two transition states (TSs) and one intermediate.
      Route B was found to be more likely than route A. In the former, the activation
      free energy (DeltaG(?)) of n = 3 is slightly smaller than that of n = 2. The n =
      3 TS geometry is composed of a nucleophile H2O, a proton donor H2O, and an
      auxiliary one. Indeed, the geometry appears to be plausible for ready proton
      relays along hydrogen bonds, but it is inconsistent with the observed third-order
      rate constant. Catalytic water molecules were added to the n = 2 and 3 bond
      interchange circuits. Then route B with n = 2 + 2 was found to be best. By n = 2
      + 10 and n = 3 + 12 models, the n = 2 based route B was confirmed to be likely.

PMID- 20942501
TI  - Computational investigation of reactive to nonreactive capture of carbon dioxide
      by oxygen-containing Lewis bases.
AB  - Recent work has shown that room temperature ionic liquid systems reactively
      absorb CO(2) and offer distinct advantages over current CO(2) capture
      technologies. Here we computationally evaluated CO(2) interaction energies with a
      series of oxygen-containing Lewis base anions (including cyclohexanolate and
      phenolate and their respective derivatives). Our results show that the
      interaction energy can be tuned across a range from reactive to nonreactive (or
      physical) interactions. We evaluated different levels of theory as well as
      possible corrections to the interaction energy, and we explained our calculated
      trends on the basis of properties of the individual anions. We found that the
      interaction energy between CO(2) and the Lewis bases examined here correlates
      most strongly with the atomic charge on the oxygen atom. This insight provides a
      useful handle to tune the anion-CO(2) interaction energy for future experimental
      and computational studies of novel CO(2) capture systems.

PMID- 20942500
TI  - Accurate proton affinity and gas-phase basicity values for molecules important in
      biocatalysis.
AB  - Benchmark quantum calculations of proton affinities and gas-phase basicities of
      molecules relevant to biochemical processes, particularly acid/base catalysis,
      are presented and compared for a variety of multilevel and density functional
      quantum models. Included are nucleic acid bases in both keto and enol tautomeric
      forms, ribose in B-form and A-form sugar pucker conformations, amino acid side
      chains and backbone molecules, and various phosphates and phosphoranes, including
      thio substitutions. This work presents a high-level thermodynamic
      characterization of biologically relevant protonation states and provides a
      benchmark database for development of next-generation semiempirical and
      approximate density functional quantum models and parametrization of methods to
      predict pK(a) values and relative solvation energies.

PMID- 20942502
TI  - Vibrational relaxation pathways of AI and AII modes in N-methylacetamide
      clusters.
AB  - We studied the pathways of vibrational energy relaxation of the amide I (~1660 cm
      1) and amide II (~1560 cm-1) vibrational modes of N-methylacetamide (NMA) in CCl4
      solution using two-color femtosecond vibrational spectroscopy. We measured the
      transient spectral dynamics upon excitation of each of these amide modes. The
      results show that there is no energy transfer between the amide I (AI) and amide
      II (AII) modes. Instead we find that the vibrational energy is transferred on a
      picosecond time scale to a common combination tone of lower-frequency modes. By
      use of polarization-resolved femtosecond pump-probe measurements we also study
      the reorientation dynamics of the NMA molecules and the relative angle between
      the transition dipole moments of the AI and AII vibrations. The spectral dynamics
      at later times after the excitation (>40 ps) reveal the presence of a
      dissociation process of the NMA aggregates, trimers, and higher order structures
      into dimers and monomers. By measuring the dissociation kinetics at different
      temperatures, we determined the activation energy of this dissociation E(a) = 35
      +/- 3 kJ mol-1.

PMID- 20942503
TI  - High glucose induces dysfunction in insulin secretory cells by different
      pathways: a proteomic approach.
AB  - Chronic hyperglycemia is a hallmark of type 2 diabetes and can contribute to
      progressive beta cell dysfunction and death. The aim of the present study was to
      identify pathways mediating high glucose-induced beta cell demise by a proteomic
      approach. INS-1E cells were exposed to 25 mM glucose for a sustained period of 24
      h. Protein profiling of INS-1E cells was done by two-dimensional difference gel
      electrophoresis, covering the pH ranges 4-7 and 6-9 (n = 4). Differentially
      expressed proteins (P < 0.05) were identified by MALDI-TOF/TOF and proteomic
      results were confirmed by functional assays. High glucose levels impaired glucose
      stimulated insulin secretion and decreased insulin content. 2D-DIGE analysis
      revealed 100 differentially expressed proteins that were involved in different
      pathways. Chaperone proteins were down-regulated, protein biosynthesis and
      ubiquitin-related proteasomal degradation were attenuated and perturbations in
      intracellular trafficking and vesicle transport and secretion could be observed.
      Moreover, several pathways were confirmed by functional assays and a direct role
      for eEF2 in insulin biosynthesis was demonstrated. The present findings provide
      new insights in glucotoxicity and identify key target proteins for the prevention
      and treatment of beta cell dysfunction in type 2 diabetes.

PMID- 20942505
TI  - Morphological and conformational changes of poly(trimethylene terephthalate)
      during isothermal melt crystallization.
AB  - The isothermal melt crystallization of poly(trimethylene terephthalate) (PTT) has
      been investigated using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), optical
      microscopy, and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Triple-melting
      endotherms were dominant at crystallization temperatures (T(c)) below 195 
      degrees C, while double-melting endotherms were dominant at T(c) above 195 
      degrees C. These multiple-melting behaviors were attributed to melting and
      recrystallization as well as thermal stability of the crystallites. The
      difference in crystallinity observed between melt-crystallized PTT films before
      and after cooling to room temperature was attributed to lamellar thickening. The
      kinetics of isothermal melt crystallization of PTT was analyzed using an Avrami
      equation, and the rate constant (k) and t(1/2) increased with increasing T(c). An
      Avrami exponent n = 2-3 was obtained for the PTT melt crystallized from 150 to
      205  degrees C, suggesting two-dimensional to three-dimensional growth with
      heterogeneous nucleation and was confirmed by polarized optical microscopy. The
      bands at 1358 and 976 cm(-1) associated with gauche and trans conformations of 
      OCH(2)CH(2)CH(2)O- were used to determine gauche and trans conformations assuming
      a two-phase conformational model. The crystalline and the amorphous gauche
      conformations were separated by combining them with DSC crystallinity. It was
      shown that the crystalline gauche conformation increased at the expense of the
      amorphous trans conformation. No significant change in the amorphous gauche
      conformation was found. On the other hand, the crystalline and amorphous gauche
      conformations were found to increase with the annealing temperature (T(a)) at the
      expense of the trans conformations during the annealing of PTT. The difference
      between melt crystallization and annealing was also discussed.

PMID- 20942504
TI  - Novel fatty acid acylation of lens integral membrane protein aquaporin-0.
AB  - Fatty acid acylation of proteins is a well-studied co- or posttranslational
      modification typically conferring membrane trafficking signals or membrane
      anchoring properties to proteins. Commonly observed examples of protein acylation
      include N-terminal myristoylation and palmitoylation of cysteine residues. In the
      present study, direct tissue profiling mass spectrometry of bovine and human lens
      sections revealed an abundant signal tentatively assigned as a lipid-modified
      form of aquaporin-0. LC/MS/MS proteomic analysis of hydrophobic tryptic peptides
      from lens membrane proteins revealed both N-terminal and C-terminal peptides
      modified by 238 and 264 Da which were subsequently assigned by accurate mass
      measurement as palmitoylation and oleoylation, respectively. Specific sites of
      modification were the N-terminal methionine residue and lysine 238 revealing, for
      the first time, an oleic acid modification via an amide linkage to a lysine
      residue. The specific fatty acids involved reflect their abundance in the lens
      fiber cell plasma membrane. Imaging mass spectrometry indicated abundant acylated
      AQP0 in the inner cortical region of both bovine and human lenses and acylated
      truncation products in the lens nucleus. Additional analyses revealed that the
      lipid-modified forms partitioned exclusively to a detergent-resistant membrane
      fraction, suggesting a role in membrane domain targeting.

PMID- 20942506
TI  - Investigation of tetramethylenesulfonated calix[4]resorcinarene interactions with
      azo dyes in aqueous solution.
AB  - The interaction of a macrocycle's aggregates with a guest molecule has special
      interest due to the double role, both of macrocycle cavity and self-associates,
      in the binding of the guests. Here, we report on the interactions of
      nonaggregated methyl-substituted (SCA1) and aggregated penthyl-substituted (SCA2)
      tetramethylenesulfonated calix[4]resorcinarenes with pH indicators methyl yellow
      (MY) and methyl orange (MO) in aqueous solutions. It was found that the pH of
      aqueous solutions of SCA1 and SCA2 depends on their concentration; besides,
      variation of the concentration of SCA1 and SCA2 results in a shift of the
      absorption maxima and of pH-sensitive azo dyes. Association of the marocycles
      with azo dyes was demonstrated to follow a proton-transfer mechanism accompanied
      by protonation of the dyes; it was found that excess of the macrocycle in
      solution with the universal buffer background shifts the pK(a) values and
      stabilizes the protonated form of the dyes. Consideration of interactions of
      small dye molecules with large molecular associates, containing both individual
      and multimolecule binding sites, gives a closer approximation of synthetic
      biomimetics to their natural prototypes.

PMID- 20942507
TI  - Behaviour, the key factor for sports injury prevention.
AB  - Safety in sports and physical activity is an important prerequisite for
      continuing participation in sports, as well as for maintenance of a healthy
      physically active lifestyle. For this reason, prevention, reduction and control
      of sports injuries are important goals for society as a whole. Recent advances in
      sports medicine discuss the need for research on real-life injury prevention.
      Such views call for a more behavioural approach when it comes to actual sports
      injury prevention. Nevertheless, the role of behaviour in sports injury
      prevention remains under-researched. In order to push the field of sports injury
      prevention forward, this article provides an overview of the relationship between
      behaviour and sports injury risk. Different types of behaviour relate to injury
      risk factors and injury mechanisms. Behaviour that influences risk factors and
      injury mechanisms is not confined only to the athlete. Various types of behaviour
      by, for example, the coach, referee, physical therapist or sports associations,
      also influence risk factors and injury mechanisms. In addition, multiple
      behaviours often act together. Some types of behaviour may directly affect injury
      risk and are by definition a risk factor. Other behaviours may only affect risk
      factors and injury mechanisms, and influence injury risk indirectly. Recent ideas
      on injury prevention that call for studies on real-life injury prevention still
      rely heavily on preventive measures that are established through efficacy
      research. A serious limitation in such an approach is that one expects that
      proven preventive measures will be adopted if the determinants and influences of
      sports safety behaviours are understood. Therefore, if one truly wants to prevent
      sports injuries in a real-life situation, a broader research focus is needed. In
      trying to do so, we need to look at lessons learned from other fields of injury
      prevention research.

PMID- 20942508
TI  - Physical fitness profiles of young men: associations between physical fitness,
      obesity and health.
AB  - Obesity in youth has increased during the last 10 years in Western countries.
      Several studies have investigated physical activity and its effects on obesity
      and health, showing that regular physical activity combined with improved
      physical fitness reduces the risk of obesity and several metabolic problems (e.g.
      diabetes mellitus, metabolic syndrome, heart disease) and also improves overall
      health. However, there is only limited scientific information available
      concerning the changes in the physical fitness profiles of youth. It is obvious
      that only slight changes observed in endurance-type physical activity can also be
      observed in aerobic capacity. Today and in the future, a major public health
      concern for teenage and young adults is the combination of increasing body
      fatness together with decreasing physical fitness. In order to evaluate overall
      fitness level, it is particularly essential to examine both aerobic and
      neuromuscular fitness. Therefore, in clinical practice work and health behaviour
      education, a person's physical fitness should be measured more frequently with
      various measures. Furthermore, population-based surveys should be combined with
      regular measurement of physical fitness to study sedentary lifestyles,
      particularly in young people. This article presents a review of current physical
      fitness profiles of male children, adolescents and young adults, which hopefully
      initiates further studies in this relevant scientific field. In addition, the
      importance of physical fitness level is evaluated in relation to obesity and
      health. Collectively, studies examining physical fitness profiles of young men
      suggest a disturbing worldwide trend of decreased aerobic fitness and increased
      obesity. Continued efforts to foster improved physical fitness and healthy
      lifestyles should be encouraged to combat these trends. Such efforts should
      include frequent and objective assessment of physical fitness rather than solely
      relying on subjective assessment of physical activity.

PMID- 20942509
TI  - The impact of training modalities on the clinical benefits of exercise
      intervention in patients with cardiovascular disease risk or type 2 diabetes
      mellitus.
AB  - Exercise training intervention represents an effective means to reduce adipose
      tissue mass, improve glycaemic control and increase whole-body oxygen uptake
      capacity (VO(2peak)) in obesity, metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes mellitus
      (T2DM) and heart disease patients. In this manuscript, we review the impact of
      different exercise training modalities on clinical benefits of prolonged exercise
      intervention in these patient (sub)populations. By changing training modalities,
      significantly greater clinical benefits can be obtained. Greater training
      frequency and longer programme duration is associated with greater reduction in
      adipose tissue mass in obesity patients. A greater training frequency (up to 2
      days/week) and a longer programme duration (up to 38 weeks) seems to be
      associated with greater improvements in VO(2peak) in heart disease patients.
      Longer programme duration and addition of resistance-type exercise further
      improve glycaemic control in T2DM patients. The first line of evidence seems to
      indicate that high-intensity interval exercise training has a greater impact on
      VO(2peak) in heart disease patients and insulin sensitivity in subjects with
      metabolic syndrome, but not on adipose tissue mass in obese subjects. However, it
      remains unclear whether addition of resistance-type exercise and continuous
      higher-intensity endurance-type exercise training are accompanied by greater
      improvements in VO(2peak) in heart disease patients. Furthermore, the impact of
      training session duration/volume on adipose tissue mass loss and glycaemic
      control in obesity and T2DM patients, respectively, is currently unknown. The
      impact of training frequency on glycaemic control remains to be investigated in
      T2DM patients.

PMID- 20942510
TI  - Short-term recovery from prolonged exercise: exploring the potential for protein
      ingestion to accentuate the benefits of carbohydrate supplements.
AB  - This review considers aspects of the optimal nutritional strategy for recovery
      from prolonged moderate to high intensity exercise. Dietary carbohydrate
      represents a central component of post-exercise nutrition. Therefore,
      carbohydrate should be ingested as early as possible in the post-exercise period
      and at frequent (i.e. 15- to 30-minute) intervals throughout recovery to maximize
      the rate of muscle glycogen resynthesis. Solid and liquid carbohydrate
      supplements or whole foods can achieve this aim with equal effect but should be
      of high glycaemic index and ingested following the feeding schedule described
      above at a rate of at least 1 g/kg/h in order to rapidly and sufficiently
      increase both blood glucose and insulin concentrations throughout recovery.
      Adding >=0.3 g/kg/h of protein to a carbohydrate supplement results in a
      synergistic increase in insulin secretion that can, in some circumstances,
      accelerate muscle glycogen resynthesis. Specifically, if carbohydrate has not
      been ingested in quantities sufficient to maximize the rate of muscle glycogen
      resynthesis, the inclusion of protein may at least partially compensate for the
      limited availability of ingested carbohydrate. Some studies have reported
      improved physical performance with ingestion of carbohydrate-protein mixtures,
      both during exercise and during recovery prior to a subsequent exercise test.
      While not all of the evidence supports these ergogenic benefits, there is clearly
      the potential for improved performance under certain conditions, e.g. if the
      additional protein increases the energy content of a supplement and/or the
      carbohydrate fraction is ingested at below the recommended rate. The underlying
      mechanism for such effects may be partly due to increased muscle glycogen
      resynthesis during recovery, although there is varied support for other factors
      such as an increased central drive to exercise, a blunting of exercise-induced
      muscle damage, altered metabolism during exercise subsequent to recovery, or a
      combination of these mechanisms.

PMID- 20942511
TI  - Sport psychiatry: a systematic review of diagnosis and medical treatment of
      mental illness in athletes.
AB  - Sport psychiatry focuses on diagnosis and treatment of psychiatric illness in
      athletes in addition to utilization of psychological approaches to enhance
      performance. As this field and its research base are relatively new, clinicians
      often deliver psychiatric care to athletes without a full understanding of the
      diagnostic and therapeutic issues unique to this population. In this systematic
      review, we discuss published findings relating to psychiatric diagnosis and
      medical treatment of mental illness in athletes. There have been several studies
      looking at the prevalence of some psychiatric disorders in various athlete
      populations. Eating disorders and substance abuse are the most studied of these
      disorders and appear to be common problems in athletes. However, to provide
      informed understanding and treatment, we especially need more research on
      overtraining syndrome, bipolar disorder, suicidality, anxiety disorders,
      attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and psychosis in athletes.
      Research is needed in the areas of prevalence, risk factors, prognosis and the
      unique experiences facing athletes with any of these disorders. Additionally,
      there have not been any large, systematic studies on the use of psychotropic
      medications in athletes. Small studies suggest that some medications may either
      be performance enhancing or detrimental to performance, but we need larger
      studies with rigorous methodology. Higher level athletes suffering from
      psychiatric symptoms often have reservations about taking medications with
      unknown performance and safety effects, and methodological issues with the
      current literature database preclude any definitive conclusions on performance
      effects of psychiatric medications. We need many more, higher quality studies on
      the use by athletes of antidepressants, mood stabilizers, anxiolytics, stimulants
      and other ADHD medications, sedative-hypnotics and antipsychotics. Such studies
      should utilize sensitive performance measures and involve longer term use of
      psychotropic medications. Furthermore, study subjects should include athletes who
      actually have the psychiatric disorder for which the medication is proposed, and
      should include more women.

PMID- 20942512
TI  - The effect of playing surface on injury rate: a review of the current literature.
AB  - Synthetic playing surfaces are widely used for field and court sports. Artificial
      turf surfaces are commonly used as an alternative to natural grass, while outdoor
      surfaces like clay and acrylic are also prevalent. The effect of these synthetic
      surfaces on injury rates has not been clearly established. The available
      literature is largely limited to football and soccer data and the majority of
      studies are short-term. Confounding variables such as climate, player position
      and footwear, as well as varying definitions of injury, also make it difficult to
      draw firm conclusions about the general effect of artificial playing surfaces on
      injury rates. Many peer-reviewed studies cite a higher overall rate of injury on
      first- and second-generation artificial turf surfaces compared with natural
      grass. Despite differences in injury type, the rate of injury on third-generation
      and natural grass surfaces appears to be comparable. It also appears that clay is
      significantly safer than either grass or hard court tennis surfaces, but this is
      a conclusion drawn with limited data. Further research investigating overall
      injury trends as well as sport-specific data is needed to draw more definitive
      conclusions regarding the effect of artificial playing surfaces on injury rates.

PMID- 20942514
TI  - Communication: Experimental and theoretical investigations of the effects of the
      reactant bending excitations in the F + CHD3 reaction.
AB  - The effects of the reactant bending excitations in the F+CHD(3) reaction are
      investigated by crossed molecular beam experiments and quasiclassical trajectory
      (QCT) calculations using a high-quality ab initio potential energy surface. The
      collision energy (E(c)) dependence of the cross sections of the
      F+CHD(3)(v(b)=0,1) reactions for the correlated product pairs
      HF(v('))+CD(3)(v(2)=0,1) and DF(v('))+CHD(2)(v(4)=0,1) is obtained. Both
      experiment and theory show that the bending excitation activates the reaction at
      low E(c) and begins to inactivate at higher E(c). The experimental
      F+CHD(3)(v(b)=1) excitation functions display surprising peak features,
      especially for the HF(v(')=3)+CD(3)(v(2)=0,1) channels, indicating reactive
      resonances (quantum effects), which cannot be captured by quasiclassical
      calculations. The reactant state-specific QCT calculations predict that the
      v(5)(e) bending mode excitation is the most efficient to drive the reaction and
      the v(6)(e) and v(5)(e) modes enhance the DF and HF channels, respectively.

PMID- 20942515
TI  - Communication: The application of the global isomorphism to the study of liquid
      vapor equilibrium in two and three-dimensional Lennard-Jones fluids.
AB  - We analyze the interrelation between the coexistence curve of the Lennard-Jones
      fluid and the Ising model in two and three dimensions within the global
      isomorphism approach proposed earlier [V. L. Kulinskii, J. Phys. Chem. B 114,
      2852 (2010)]. In case of two dimensions, we use the exact Onsager result to
      construct the binodal of the corresponding Lennard-Jones fluid and compare it
      with the results of the simulations. In the three-dimensional case, we use
      available numerical results for the Ising model for the corresponding mapping.
      The possibility to observe the singularity of the binodal diameter is discussed.

PMID- 20942516
TI  - Communication: Mapping water collisions for interstellar space conditions.
AB  - We report a joint experimental and theoretical study that directly tests the
      quality of the potential energy surfaces used to calculate energy changing cross
      sections of water in collision with helium and molecular hydrogen, at conditions
      relevant for astrophysics. Fully state-to-state differential cross sections are
      measured for H(2)O-He and H(2)O-H(2) collisions at 429 and 575 cm(-1) collision
      energy, respectively. We compare these differential cross sections with
      theoretical ones for H(2)O+H(2) derived from state-of-the-art potential energy
      surfaces [P. Valiron et al., J. Chem. Phys. 129, 134306 (2008)] and quantum
      scattering calculations. This detailed comparison forms a stringent test of the
      validity of astrophysics calculations for energy changing rates in water. The
      agreement between theory and experiment is striking for most of the state-to
      state differential cross sections measured.

PMID- 20942517
TI  - Generalized principle of corresponding states and the scale invariant mean-field
      approach.
AB  - In this paper we apply the relations between the critical points of the Lennard
      Jones fluids and lattice gas model found in [V. L. Kulinskii, J. Phys. Chem. B
      114, 2852 (2010)] to other short-ranged potentials like Buckingham and the Mie
      potentials. The estimates for the corresponding critical point loci correlate
      quite satisfactory with the available numerical data for these potentials. The
      explanation for the correlation between the value of the second virial
      coefficient at the critical temperature and the particle volume found in [G. A.
      Vliegenthart and H. N. W. Lekkerkerker, J. Chem. Phys. 112, 5364 (2000)] is
      proposed. The connection of the stability of the liquid phase with the short
      range character of the potentials is discussed on the basis of the global
      isomorphism approach.

PMID- 20942519
TI  - Magnetohydrodynamic effects on a charged colloidal sphere with arbitrary double
      layer thickness.
AB  - An analytical study is presented for the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) effects on a
      translating and rotating colloidal sphere in an arbitrary electrolyte solution
      prescribed with a general flow field and a uniform magnetic field at a steady
      state. The electric double layer surrounding the charged particle may have an
      arbitrary thickness relative to the particle radius. Through the use of a simple
      perturbation method, the Stokes equations modified with an electric force term,
      including the Lorentz force contribution, are dealt by using a generalized
      reciprocal theorem. Using the equilibrium double-layer potential distribution
      from solving the linearized Poisson-Boltzmann equation, we obtain closed-form
      formulas for the translational and angular velocities of the spherical particle
      induced by the MHD effects to the leading order. It is found that the MHD effects
      on the particle movement associated with the translation and rotation of the
      particle and the ambient fluid are monotonically increasing functions of kappaa,
      where kappa is the Debye screening parameter and a is the particle radius. Any
      pure rotational Stokes flow of the electrolyte solution in the presence of the
      magnetic field exerts no MHD effect on the particle directly in the case of a
      very thick double layer (kappaa->0). The MHD effect caused by the pure straining
      flow of the electrolyte solution can drive the particle to rotate, but it makes
      no contribution to the translation of the particle.

PMID- 20942518
TI  - Biased diffusion in tubes formed by spherical compartments.
AB  - We study the effect of the driving force on brownian motion of a point particle
      in a tube formed by identical spherical compartments, which create periodic
      entropy potential for the motion along the tube axis. The focus is on (i) the
      effective mobility and diffusion coefficient of the particle as functions of the
      driving force, (ii) localization of the particle in the central part of the tube
      induced by the driving force, and (iii) transit time of the particle between the
      openings connecting neighboring compartments. Some of the results at very small
      and large driving force are obtained analytically, while the majority of the
      results are obtained from brownian dynamics simulations.

PMID- 20942513
TI  - Drug-induced hypoglycaemia: an update.
AB  - Drugs are the most frequent cause of hypoglycaemia in adults. Although
      hypoglycaemia is a well known adverse effect of antidiabetic agents, it may
      occasionally develop in the course of treatment with drugs used in everyday
      clinical practice, including NSAIDs, analgesics, antibacterials, antimalarials,
      antiarrhythmics, antidepressants and other miscellaneous agents. They induce
      hypoglycaemia by stimulating insulin release, reducing insulin clearance or
      interfering with glucose metabolism. Several drugs may also potentiate the
      hypoglycaemic effect of antidiabetic agents. Administration of these agents to
      individuals with diabetes mellitus is of most concern. Many of these drugs, and
      depending on clinical setting, may also induce hyperglycaemia. Drug-induced
      hepatotoxicity and nephrotoxicity may lead in certain circumstances to
      hypoglycaemia. Some drugs may also induce hypoglycaemia by causing pancreatitis.
      Drug-induced hypoglycaemia is usually mild but may be severe. Effective clinical
      management can be handled through awareness of this drug-induced adverse effect
      on blood glucose levels. Herein, we review pertinent clinical information on the
      incidence of drug-induced hypoglycaemia and discuss the underlying
      pathophysiological mechanisms, and prevention and management.

PMID- 20942520
TI  - Efficient calculation of temperature dependence of solid-phase free energies by
      overlap sampling coupled with harmonically targeted perturbation.
AB  - We examine a method for computing the change in free energy with temperature of a
      crystalline solid. In the method, the free-energy difference between nearby
      temperatures is calculated via overlap-sampling free-energy perturbation with
      Bennett's optimization. Coupled to this is a harmonically targeted perturbation
      that displaces the atoms in a manner consistent with the temperature change, such
      that for a harmonic system, the free-energy difference would be recovered with no
      error. A series of such perturbations can be assembled to bridge larger gaps in
      temperature. We test this harmonically targeted temperature perturbation (HTTP)
      method through the application to the inverse-power soft potential,
      u(r)=epsilon(sigma/r)(n), over a range of temperatures up to the melting
      condition. Three exponent values (n=12, 9, and 6) for the potential are studied
      with different crystal structures, specifically face-centered cubic (fcc), body
      centered cubic (bcc), and hexagonal close packing. Absolute free energies
      (classical only) for each system are obtained by implementing the series to near
      zero temperature, where the harmonic model becomes very accurate. The HTTP method
      is shown to provide very precise results, with errors in the free energy smaller
      than two parts in 10(5). An analysis of the thermodynamic stability of the
      various structures in the infinite-system limit confirms previous findings. In
      particular, for n=12 and 9, the fcc structure is stable for all temperatures up
      to melting, and for n=6, the bcc crystal becomes stable relative to fcc for
      temperatures above kT/epsilon=0.802+/-0.001. The effects of vacancies and other
      defects are not considered in the analysis.

PMID- 20942521
TI  - Property-optimized gaussian basis sets for molecular response calculations.
AB  - With recent advances in electronic structure methods, first-principles
      calculations of electronic response properties, such as linear and nonlinear
      polarizabilities, have become possible for molecules with more than 100 atoms.
      Basis set incompleteness is typically the main source of error in such
      calculations since traditional diffuse augmented basis sets are too costly to use
      or suffer from near linear dependence. To address this problem, we construct the
      first comprehensive set of property-optimized augmented basis sets for elements H
      Rn except lanthanides. The new basis sets build on the Karlsruhe segmented
      contracted basis sets of split-valence to quadruple-zeta valence quality and add
      a small number of moderately diffuse basis functions. The exponents are
      determined variationally by maximization of atomic Hartree-Fock polarizabilities
      using analytical derivative methods. The performance of the resulting basis sets
      is assessed using a set of 313 molecular static Hartree-Fock polarizabilities.
      The mean absolute basis set errors are 3.6%, 1.1%, and 0.3% for property
      optimized basis sets of split-valence, triple-zeta, and quadruple-zeta valence
      quality, respectively. Density functional and second-order Moller-Plesset
      polarizabilities show similar basis set convergence. We demonstrate the
      efficiency of our basis sets by computing static polarizabilities of icosahedral
      fullerenes up to C(720) using hybrid density functional theory.

PMID- 20942522
TI  - Uncoupled multireference state-specific Mukherjee's coupled cluster method with
      triexcitations.
AB  - We have developed the uncoupled version of multireference Mukherjee's coupled
      cluster method with connected triexcitations. The method has been implemented in
      ACES II program package. The agreement between the uncoupled and the standard
      version of Mukherjee's multireference coupled cluster method has been reported
      previously at the singles and doubles level by Das et al. [J. Mol. Struct.:
      THEOCHEM 79, 771 (2006); Chem. Phys. 349, 115 (2008)]. The aim of this article is
      to investigate this method further, in order to establish how its performance
      changes with the size of the basis set, size of the model space, multireference
      character of different molecules, and inclusion of connected triple excitations.
      Assessment of the new method has been performed on the singlet methylene,
      potential energy curve of fluorine molecule, and third b (1)Sigma(g)(+)
      electronic state of oxygen molecule.

PMID- 20942523
TI  - A theoretical investigation on the honeycomb potential fluid.
AB  - A local self-consistent Ornstein-Zernike (OZ) integral equation theory (IET) is
      proposed to provide a rapid route for obtaining thermodynamic and structural
      information for any thermodynamically stable or metastable state points in the
      bulk phase diagram without recourse to traditional thermodynamic integration, and
      extensive NVT-Monte Carlo simulations are performed on a recently proposed
      honeycomb potential in three dimensions to test the theory's reliability. The
      simulated quantities include radial distribution function (rdf) and excess
      internal energy, pressure, excess chemical potential, and excess Helmholtz free
      energy. It is demonstrated that (i) the theory reproduces the rdf very
      satisfactorily only if the bulk state does not enter deep into a two phases
      coexistence region; (ii) the excess internal energy is the only one of the four
      thermodynamic quantities investigated amenable to the most accurate prediction by
      the present theory, and the simulated pressure is somewhat overestimated by the
      theoretical calculations, but the deviation tends to vanish along with rising of
      the temperature; (iii) using the structural functions from the present local self
      consistent OZ IET, a previously derived local expression, due to the present
      author, achieves even a higher accuracy in calculating for the excess chemical
      potential than the exact virial pressure formula for the pressure, and the
      resulting excess Helmholtz free energy is in surprisingly same with the
      simulation results due to offset of the errors. Based on the above observations,
      it is suggested that it may be a good procedure to integrate the theoretical
      excess internal energy along the isochors to get the excess Helmholtz free
      energy, which is then fitted to a polynomial to be used for calculation of all of
      other thermodynamic quantities in the framework of the OZ IET.

PMID- 20942524
TI  - Constrained-pairing mean-field theory. IV. Inclusion of corresponding pair
      constraints and connection to unrestricted Hartree-Fock theory.
AB  - Our previously developed constrained-pairing mean-field theory (CPMFT) is shown
      to map onto an unrestricted Hartree-Fock (UHF) type method if one imposes a
      corresponding pair constraint to the correlation problem that forces occupation
      numbers to occur in pairs adding to one. In this new version, CPMFT has all the
      advantages of standard independent particle models (orbitals and orbital
      energies, to mention a few), yet unlike UHF, it can dissociate polyatomic
      molecules to the correct ground-state restricted open-shell Hartree-Fock atoms or
      fragments.

PMID- 20942525
TI  - Memory effects in nonadiabatic molecular dynamics at metal surfaces.
AB  - We study the effect of temporal correlation in a Langevin equation describing
      nonadiabatic dynamics at metal surfaces. For a harmonic oscillator, the Langevin
      equation preserves the quantum dynamics exactly and it is demonstrated that
      memory effects are needed in order to conserve the ground state energy of the
      oscillator. We then compare the result of Langevin dynamics in a harmonic
      potential with a perturbative master equation approach and show that the Langevin
      equation gives a better description in the nonperturbative range of high
      temperatures and large friction. Unlike the master equation, this approach is
      readily extended to anharmonic potentials. Using density functional theory, we
      calculate representative Langevin trajectories for associative desorption of N(2)
      from Ru(0001) and find that memory effects lower the dissipation of energy.
      Finally, we propose an ab initio scheme to calculate the temporal correlation
      function and dynamical friction within density functional theory.

PMID- 20942526
TI  - Knowledge-based probabilistic representations of branching ratios in chemical
      networks: the case of dissociative recombinations.
AB  - Experimental data about branching ratios for the products of dissociative
      recombination of polyatomic ions are presently the unique information source
      available to modelers of natural or laboratory chemical plasmas. Yet, because of
      limitations in the measurement techniques, data for many ions are incomplete. In
      particular, the repartition of hydrogen atoms among the fragments of hydrocarbons
      ions is often not available. A consequence is that proper implementation of
      dissociative recombination processes in chemical models is difficult, and many
      models ignore invaluable data. We propose a novel probabilistic approach based on
      Dirichlet-type distributions, enabling modelers to fully account for the
      available information. As an application, we consider the production rate of
      radicals through dissociative recombination in an ionospheric chemistry model of
      Titan, the largest moon of Saturn. We show how the complete scheme of
      dissociative recombination products derived with our method dramatically affects
      these rates in comparison with the simplistic H-loss mechanism implemented by
      default in all recent models.

PMID- 20942527
TI  - Including quantum decoherence in surface hopping.
AB  - In this paper we set up a method called overlap decoherence correction (ODC) to
      take into account the quantum decoherence effect in a surface hopping framework.
      While keeping the standard surface hopping approach based on independent
      trajectories, our method allows to account for quantum decoherence by evaluating
      the overlap between frozen Gaussian wavepackets, the time evolution of which is
      obtained in an approximate way. The ODC scheme mainly depends on the parameter
      sigma, which is the Gaussian width of the wavepackets. The performance of the ODC
      method is tested versus full quantum calculations on three model systems, and by
      comparison with full multiple spawning (FMS) results for the S(1)->S(0) decay in
      the azobenzene molecule.

PMID- 20942528
TI  - Overcoming barriers in trajectory space: mechanism and kinetics of rare events
      via Wang-Landau enhanced transition path sampling.
AB  - Within the framework of transition path sampling (TPS), activation energies can
      be computed as path ensemble averages without a priori information about the
      reaction mechanism [C. Dellago and P. G. Bolhuis, Mol. Simul. 30, 795 (2004)].
      Activation energies computed for different conditions can then be used to
      determine by numerical integration the rate constant for a system of interest
      from the rate constant known for a reference system. However, in systems with
      complex potential energy surfaces, multiple reaction pathways may exist making
      ergodic sampling of trajectory space difficult. Here, we present a combination of
      TPS with the Wang-Landau (WL) flat-histogram algorithm for an efficient sampling
      of the transition path ensemble. This method, denoted by WL-TPS, has the
      advantage that from one single simulation, activation energies at different
      temperatures can be determined even for systems with multiple reaction
      mechanisms. The proposed methodology for rate constant calculations does not
      require the knowledge of the reaction coordinate and is generally applicable to
      Arrhenius and non-Arrhenius processes. We illustrate the applicability of this
      technique by studying a two-dimensional toy system consisting of a triatomic
      molecule immersed in a fluid of repulsive soft disks. We also provide an
      expression for the calculation of activation volumes from path averages such that
      the pressure dependence of the rate constant can be obtained by numerical
      integration.

PMID- 20942529
TI  - A simultaneous probability density for the intracule and extracule coordinates.
AB  - We introduce the intex density X(R,u), which combines both the intracular and
      extracular coordinates to yield a simultaneous probability density for the
      position of the center-of-mass radius (R) and relative separation (u) of electron
      pairs. One of the principle applications of the intex density is to investigate
      the origin of the recently observed secondary Coulomb hole. The Hartree-Fock (HF)
      intex densities for the helium atom and heliumlike ions are symmetric functions
      that may be used to prove the isomorphism 2I(2R)=E(R), where I(u) is the
      intracule density and E(R) is the extracule density. This is not true of the
      densities that we have constructed from explicitly correlated wave functions. The
      difference between these asymmetric functions and their symmetric HF counterparts
      produces a topologically rich intex correlation hole. From the intex hole
      distributions (X(exact)(R,u)-X(HF)(R,u)), we conclude that the probability of
      observing an electron pair with a very large interelectronic separation increases
      with the inclusion of correlation only when their center-of-mass radius is close
      to half of their separation.

PMID- 20942530
TI  - Quantum mechanics based force field for carbon (QMFF-Cx) validated to reproduce
      the mechanical and thermodynamics properties of graphite.
AB  - As assemblies of graphene sheets, carbon nanotubes, and fullerenes become
      components of new nanotechnologies, it is important to be able to predict the
      structures and properties of these systems. A problem has been that the level of
      quantum mechanics practical for such systems (density functional theory at the
      PBE level) cannot describe the London dispersion forces responsible for
      interaction of the graphene planes (thus graphite falls apart into graphene
      sheets). To provide a basis for describing these London interactions, we derive
      the quantum mechanics based force field for carbon (QMFF-Cx) by fitting to
      results from density functional theory calculations at the M06-2X level, which
      demonstrates accuracies for a broad class of molecules at short and medium range
      intermolecular distances. We carried out calculations on the dehydrogenated
      coronene (C24) dimer, emphasizing two geometries: parallel-displaced X (close to
      the observed structure in graphite crystal) and PD-Y (the lowest energy
      transition state for sliding graphene sheets with respect to each other). A
      third, eclipsed geometry is calculated to be much higher in energy. The QMFF-Cx
      force field leads to accurate predictions of available experimental mechanical
      and thermodynamics data of graphite (lattice vibrations, elastic constants,
      Poisson ratios, lattice modes, phonon dispersion curves, specific heat, and
      thermal expansion). This validates the use of M06-2X as a practical method for
      development of new first principles based generations of QMFF force fields.

PMID- 20942531
TI  - Analysis of the quantum-classical Liouville equation in the mapping basis.
AB  - The quantum-classical Liouville equation provides a description of the dynamics
      of a quantum subsystem coupled to a classical environment. Representing this
      equation in the mapping basis leads to a continuous description of discrete
      quantum states of the subsystem and may provide an alternate route to the
      construction of simulation schemes. In the mapping basis the quantum-classical
      Liouville equation consists of a Poisson bracket contribution and a more complex
      term. By transforming the evolution equation, term-by-term, back to the subsystem
      basis, the complex term (excess coupling term) is identified as being due to a
      fraction of the back reaction of the quantum subsystem on its environment. A
      simple approximation to quantum-classical Liouville dynamics in the mapping basis
      is obtained by retaining only the Poisson bracket contribution. This approximate
      mapping form of the quantum-classical Liouville equation can be simulated easily
      by Newtonian trajectories. We provide an analysis of the effects of neglecting
      the presence of the excess coupling term on the expectation values of various
      types of observables. Calculations are carried out on nonadiabatic population and
      quantum coherence dynamics for curve crossing models. For these observables, the
      effects of the excess coupling term enter indirectly in the computation and good
      estimates are obtained with the simplified propagation.

PMID- 20942532
TI  - Many-electron self-interaction and spin polarization errors in local hybrid
      density functionals.
AB  - Errors for systems with noninteger occupation have been connected to common
      failures of density functionals. Previously, global hybrids and pure density
      functionals have been investigated for systems with noninteger charge and
      noninteger spin state. Local hybrids have not been investigated for either of
      those systems to the best of our knowledge. This study intends to close this gap.
      We investigate systems with noninteger charge to assess the many-electron self
      interaction error and systems with noninteger spin state to assess the spin
      polarization error of recently proposed local hybrids and their range-separated
      variants. We find that long-range correction is very important to correct for
      many-electron self-interaction error in cations, whereas most full-range local
      hybrids seem to be sufficient for anions, where long-range-corrected density
      functionals tend to overcorrect. On the other hand, while all hitherto proposed
      long-range-corrected density functionals show large spin polarization errors, the
      Perdew-Staroverov-Tao-Scuseria (PSTS) functional performs best of all local
      hybrids in this case and shows an outstanding behavior for the dependence of the
      energy on the spin polarization.

PMID- 20942533
TI  - Quantum state-selected photodissociation dynamics of H2O: two-photon dissociation
      via the C electronic state.
AB  - The photodissociation dynamics of H(2)O via the C state by two-photon excitation
      has been investigated using the H atom Rydberg tagging time-of-flight technique.
      The rotational resolved action spectrum of the C<-X transition band has been
      measured. The line widths show a pronounced dependence on the parent rotational
      excitation in the C state. The quantum state resolved OH product translational
      energy distributions and angular distributions have also been obtained. By
      carefully simulating these distributions, quantum state distributions of the OH
      product as well as the state-resolved angular anisotropy parameters were
      determined. The experimental results confirm the variation of two competitive
      predissociation pathways. A heterogeneous predissociation channel is mediated by
      rotational coupling to the B (1)A(1) state associated with the a-axis (k(a)(')),
      and a homogeneous pathway arises from purely electronic coupling to the A (1)B(1)
      state. We have also obtained the branching ratios of the OH(X) and OH(A)
      products, and related these to the C->A and C->B pathways. The branching ratios
      display a strong k(a)(') dependence.

PMID- 20942534
TI  - The applicability of three-dimensional aromaticity in BiSn(n)- Zintl analogues.
AB  - Three-dimensional aromaticity is shown to play a role in the stability of
      deltahedral Zintl clusters and here we examine the connection between aromaticity
      and stability. In order to gain further insight, we have studied Zintl analogs
      comprised of bismuth doped tin clusters with photoelectron spectroscopy and
      theoretical methods. To assign aromaticity, we examine the ring currents induced
      around the cage by using the nucleus independent chemical shift. In the current
      study, BiSn(4)(-) is a stable cluster and fits aromatic criteria, while BiSn(5)(
      ) is found to fit antiaromatic criteria and has reduced stability. The more
      stable clusters exhibit an aromatic character which originates from weakly
      interacting s-states and bonding orbitals parallel to the surface of the cluster,
      while nonbonding lone pairs perpendicular to the surface of the cluster account
      for antiaromaticity and reduced stability. The effect of three-dimensional
      aromaticity on the electronic structure does not result in degeneracies, so the
      resulting variations in stability are smaller than those seen in conventional
      aromaticity.

PMID- 20942535
TI  - Application of smooth exterior scaling method to study the time dependent
      dynamics of H2(+) in intense laser field.
AB  - A study of the multiphoton dissociation of H(2)(+) in intense laser field using
      the smooth exterior scaling method to calculate resonance states is presented.
      This method is very attractive as it does not disturb the interaction region. The
      wave functions calculated with this method provide indisputable proof in support
      of the mechanisms of the different phenomena happening during photodissociation.
      Wave functions corresponding to the "vibrationally trapped" (bond-hardening)
      states are found. A unequivocal mechanism for "bond-softening" is provided. It is
      observed that with an increase in intensity, the lifetime of low vibrational
      level increases. The mechanism for this novel phenomenon is also explained.

PMID- 20942536
TI  - Nitrous oxide dimer: a new potential energy surface and rovibrational spectrum of
      the nonpolar isomer.
AB  - The spectrum of nitrous oxide dimer was investigated by constructing new
      potential energy surfaces using coupled-cluster theory and solving the
      rovibrational Schrodinger equation with a Lanczos algorithm. Two four-dimensional
      (rigid monomer) global ab initio potential energy surfaces (PESs) were made using
      an interpolating moving least-squares (IMLS) fitting procedure specialized to
      describe the interaction of two linear fragments. The first exploratory fit was
      made from 1646 CCSD(T)/3ZaP energies. Isomeric minima and connecting transition
      structures were located on the fitted surface, and the energies of those
      geometries were benchmarked using complete basis set (CBS) extrapolations,
      counterpoise (CP) corrections, and explicitly correlated (F12b) methods. At the
      geometries tested, the explicitly correlated F12b method produced energies in
      close agreement with the estimated CBS limit. A second fit to 1757 data at the
      CCSD(T)-F12b/VTZ-F12 level was constructed with an estimated fitting error of
      less than 1.5 cm(-1). The second surface has a global nonpolar O-in minimum, two
      T-shaped N-in minima, and two polar minima. Barriers between these minima are
      small and some wave functions have amplitudes in several wells. Low-lying
      rovibrational wave functions and energy levels up to about 150 cm(-1) were
      computed on the F12b PES using a discrete variable representation/finite basis
      representation method. Calculated rotational constants and intermolecular
      frequencies are in very close agreement with experiment.

PMID- 20942537
TI  - Finite size effects on aluminum/Teflon reaction channels under combustive
      environment: a Rice-Ramsperger-Kassel-Marcus and transition state theory study of
      fluorination.
AB  - The effect of particle size on combustion efficiency is an important factor in
      combustion research. Gas-phase aluminum clusters in oxidizing environment
      constitute a relatively simple and extensively studied system. In an attempt to
      underscore the correlation between electronic structure, finite size effect, and
      reactivity in small aluminum clusters, reactions between aluminum, [Al(13)](-)
      cluster, and Teflon decomposition fragments were studied using theoretical
      calculations at the density functional theoretical level. The unimolecular rate
      constants calculated using transition state and Rice-Ramsperger-Kassel-Marcus
      theory show that reactions with COF and CF(2) species with aluminum are faster
      than those involving CF(3) and COF(2). The results show that the kinetic barriers
      along different exothermic reaction channels correlate with the trends in HOMO(R)
      HOMO(TS) (HOMO denotes highest occupied molecular orbital) energy gap and related
      shifts of the HOMO levels of reactants. Overall reactions involving carbonyl
      fluoride species (COF and COF(2)) lead to CO elimination and fluorination of the
      Al cluster. The CF(3)/CF(2) fragments lead to stable multicenter Al-C bond
      formation on the fluorinated Al cluster surface. Temperature-, energy-, and
      pressure-dependent rate constants are provided for extrapolating the expected
      reaction kinetics to conditions similar to known combustion reactions.

PMID- 20942538
TI  - Dynamical consequences of symmetry breaking in benzene and difluorobenzene.
AB  - The systems benzene/benzene-d(1) and o-/m-/p-difluorobenzene were studied in the
      dense gas phase with ultrafast transient absorption spectroscopy to investigate
      the effect of symmetry reduction through monodeuteration and constitutional
      isomerism on the timescales of intramolecular vibrational energy redistribution
      (IVR). In both systems IVR proceeds faster in the molecules of lower symmetry. In
      addition the dynamics were simulated in vibrational quantum number space using a
      simple model based on scaling state-to-state interactions by coupling order and
      the energy gap law. These simulations (semi-) quantitatively reproduce the
      experimental data for benzene and benzene-d(1) without incorporating further
      molecular symmetry restrictions. The relative impact of molecular symmetry and
      vibrational state space structure on IVR is discussed.

PMID- 20942539
TI  - Molecular aniline clusters. II. The low-lying electronic excited states.
AB  - The lowest electronically excited states of the aniline dimer and trimer related
      to the lowest pi(*)<-pi transition of the monomer are investigated by applying
      time-dependent coupled cluster theory, primarily at the level of the (spin
      component-scaled) CC2 model. Minimum energy structures in the vicinity of the
      Franck-Condon points were determined on the individual potential energy surfaces.
      For the dimer we find an excimer and a head-to-tail configuration (with the
      monomers substantially displaced relative to the ground state minimum) for the
      lowest (dark) and second lowest (bright) states, respectively. The excitation is
      delocalized on both chromophores for both of these states. For the trimer three
      distinct minima with quite different hydrogen-bonding arrangements are found for
      the three lowest states. In strong contrast to the dimer the excitation here is
      clearly localized on the individual aniline chromophores for each of these three
      states. One of the three geometries is rather similar to the ground state
      minimum, while the two others are rather different and thus have presumably quite
      small Franck-Condon factors. It can be expected that only the electronic origin
      of the first conformer can eventually be detected in the absorption spectrum of
      the trimer, provided that it is separated by high-enough barriers from other,
      energetically lower configurations.

PMID- 20942540
TI  - Collective dynamics of hydrated beta-lactoglobulin by inelastic x-ray scattering.
AB  - Inelastic x-ray scattering measurements of hydrated beta-lactoglobulin (beta-lg)
      were performed to investigate the collective dynamics of hydration water and
      hydrated protein on a picosecond time scale. Samples with different hydration
      levels h [=mass of water (g)/mass of protein (g)] of 0 (dry), 0.5, and 1.0 were
      measured at ambient temperature. The observed dynamical structure factor
      S(Q,omega)/S(Q) was analyzed by a model composed of a Lorentzian for the central
      peak and a damped harmonic oscillator (DHO) for the side peak. The dispersion
      relation between the excitation energy in the DHO model and the momentum transfer
      Q was obtained for the hydrated beta-lg at both hydration levels, but no DHO
      excitation was found for the dry beta-lg. The high-frequency sound velocity was
      similar to that previously observed in pure water. The ratio of the high
      frequency sound velocity of hydrated beta-lg to the adiabatic one of hydrated
      lysozyme (h=0.41) was estimated as ~1.6 for h=0.5. The value is significantly
      smaller than that (~2) of pure water that has the tetrahedral network structure.
      The present finding thus suggests that the tetrahedral network structure of water
      around the beta-lg is partially disrupted by the perturbation from protein
      surface. These results are consistent with those reported from Brillouin neutron
      spectroscopy and molecular dynamics simulation studies of hydrated ribonuclease
      A.

PMID- 20942541
TI  - Computer simulation study of rotational diffusion in polar liquids of different
      types.
AB  - Rotational diffusion in liquid acetonitrile, dimethylsulphoxide (DMSO), water,
      and methanol is studied with molecular dynamics simulations. The effects of
      hydrogen bonding and local dipole-dipole correlations (Kirkwood g-factor) on the
      relationship between the single molecule and collective relaxation are examined.
      The first rank single molecule dipole moment autocorrelation functions (ACFs) are
      constructed in the molecule-fixed coordinate frame and the principal components
      of rotation diffusion tensor are reported. Higher rank orientational ACFs are
      computed. These ACFs, as a rule, are strongly nonexponential (at least not single
      exponential) at longer times and the decomposition of these functions into a
      series of single exponentials results in broad distributions of relaxation times,
      with the broadening being particularly prominent in the case of higher rank ACFs.
      The rank dependence of characteristic times calculated as weighted averages over
      the relaxation time distributions does not follow the pattern of small angle
      (Debye) diffusion model for all liquids studied in this work except methanol. In
      contradiction, the same rank dependence computed by direct integration of ACFs
      leads to good agreement with the Debye diffusion model in the case of
      acetonitrile, DMSO, and water (but not methanol). The linear-angular momentum
      cross correlation functions are also computed and the effect of rototranslational
      coupling on reorientaional relaxation at longer times (>1.0 ps) is found to be
      small.

PMID- 20942542
TI  - Thermophysical properties of liquid carbon dioxide under shock compressions:
      quantum molecular dynamic simulations.
AB  - Quantum molecular dynamics were used to calculate the equation of state,
      electrical, and optical properties of liquid carbon dioxide along the Hugoniot at
      shock pressures up to 74 GPa. The principal Hugoniot derived from the calculated
      equation of state is in good agreement with experimental results. Molecular
      dissociation and recombination are investigated through pair correlation
      functions and decomposition of carbon dioxide is found to be between 40 and 50
      GPa along the Hugoniot, where nonmetal-metal transition is observed. In addition,
      the optical properties of shock compressed carbon dioxide are also theoretically
      predicted along the Hugoniot.

PMID- 20942543
TI  - Increasing correlation length in bulk supercooled H2O, D2O, and NaCl solution
      determined from small angle x-ray scattering.
AB  - Using small angle x-ray scattering, we find that the correlation length of bulk
      liquid water shows a steep increase as temperature decreases at subzero
      temperatures (supercooling) and that it can, similar to the thermodynamic
      response functions, be fitted to a power law. This indicates that the anomalous
      properties of water are attributable to fluctuations between low- and high
      density regions with rapidly growing average size upon supercooling. The
      substitution of H(2)O with D(2)O, as well as the addition of NaCl salt, leads to
      substantial changes of the power law behavior of the correlation length. Our
      results are consistent with the proposed existence of a liquid-liquid critical
      point in the deeply supercooled region but do not exclude a singularity-free
      model.

PMID- 20942544
TI  - Molecular simulation study of cavity-generated instabilities in the superheated
      Lennard-Jones liquid.
AB  - Previous equilibrium-based density-functional theory (DFT) analyses of cavity
      formation in the pure component superheated Lennard-Jones (LJ) liquid [S.
      Punnathanam and D. S. Corti, J. Chem. Phys. 119, 10224 (2003); M. J. Uline and D.
      S. Corti, Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 076102 (2007)] revealed that a thermodynamic limit
      of stability appears in which no liquidlike density profile can develop for
      cavity radii greater than some critical size (being a function of temperature and
      bulk density). The existence of these stability limits was also verified using
      isothermal-isobaric Monte Carlo (MC) simulations. To test the possible relevance
      of these limits of stability to a dynamically evolving system, one that may be
      important for homogeneous bubble nucleation, we perform isothermal-isobaric
      molecular dynamics (MD) simulations in which cavities of different sizes are
      placed within the superheated LJ liquid. When the impermeable boundary utilized
      to generate a cavity is removed, the MD simulations show that the cavity
      collapses and the overall density of the system remains liquidlike, i.e., the
      system is stable, when the initial cavity radius is below some certain value. On
      the other hand, when the initial radius is large enough, the cavity expands and
      the overall density of the system rapidly decreases toward vaporlike densities,
      i.e., the system is unstable. Unlike the DFT predictions, however, the transition
      between stability and instability is not infinitely sharp. The fraction of
      initial configurations that generate an instability (or a phase separation)
      increases from zero to unity as the initial cavity radius increases over a
      relatively narrow range of values, which spans the predicted stability limit
      obtained from equilibrium MC simulations. The simulation results presented here
      provide initial evidence that the equilibrium-based stability limits predicted in
      the previous DFT and MC simulation studies may play some role, yet to be fully
      determined, in the homogeneous nucleation and growth of embryos within metastable
      fluids.

PMID- 20942545
TI  - Two-dimensional infrared study of 3-azidopyridine as a potential spectroscopic
      reporter of protonation state.
AB  - The lack of general spectroscopic probes that can be used in a range of systems
      to probe kinetics and dynamics is a major obstacle to the widespread application
      of two-dimensional infrared (2D IR) spectroscopy. We have studied 3-azidopyridine
      to characterize its potential as a probe of the protonation state of the pyridine
      ring. We find that the azido-stretching vibration is split by accidental Fermi
      resonance interactions with one or more overtones and combination states. Using
      2D IR spectroscopy, we determine the state structure of the resulting eigenstates
      for complexes of 3-azidopyridine with formic acid and trifluoroacetic acid in
      which the pyridine ring is unprotonated and protonated, respectively. Based on
      the measurements, we develop a two-oscillator depurturbation model to determine
      the energies and couplings of the zeroth-order azido-stretching state and the
      perturbing dark state that couples to it. Based on these results, we conclude
      that the azido-stretching vibration is, in fact, sensitive to the protonation
      state of the pyridine shifting up in frequency by 8 cm(-1) in the complex with
      trifluoroacetic acid relative to the formic acid complex. These results suggest
      that, although 3-azidopyridine is not suitable as a spectroscopic probe, the
      approach of employing an organic azide as a remote probe of protonation state
      holds significant promise.

PMID- 20942546
TI  - A resonance Raman spectroscopic and CASSCF investigation of the Franck-Condon
      region structural dynamics and conical intersections of thiophene.
AB  - Resonance Raman spectra were acquired for thiophene in cyclohexane solution with
      239.5 and 266 nm excitation wavelengths that were in resonance with ~240 nm first
      intense absorption band. The spectra indicate that the Franck-Condon region
      photodissociation dynamics have multidimensional character with motion mostly
      along the reaction coordinates of six totally symmetry modes and three nontotally
      symmetry modes. The appearance of the nontotally symmetry modes, the C-S
      antisymmetry stretch +C-C=C bend mode nu(21)(B(2)) at 754 cm(-1) and the H(7)C(3)
      C(4)H(8) twist nu(9)(A(2)) at 906 cm(-1), suggests the existence of two different
      types of vibronic-couplings or curve-crossings among the excited states in the
      Franck-Condon region. The electronic transition energies, the excited state
      structures, and the conical intersection points (1)B(1)/(1)A(1) and
      (1)B(2)/(1)A(1) between 2 (1)A(1) and 1 (1)B(2) or 1 (1)B(1) potential energy
      surfaces of thiophene were determined by using complete active space self
      consistent field theory computations. These computational results were correlated
      with the Franck-Condon region structural dynamics of thiophene. The ring opening
      photodissociation reaction pathway through cleavage of one of the C-S bonds and
      via the conical intersection point (1)B(1)/(1)A(1) was revealed to be the
      predominant ultrafast reaction channel for thiophene in the lowest singlet
      excited state potential energy hypersurface, while the internal conversion
      pathway via the conical intersection point (1)B(2)/(1)A(1) was found to be the
      minor decay channel in the lowest singlet excited state potential energy
      hypersurface.

PMID- 20942547
TI  - Thermally controlled preferential molecular aggregation state in a
      thiacarbocyanine dye.
AB  - Herein we report the experimental and theoretical study of the temperature
      dependence of a thiacarbocyanine dye in its monomer, H- and J-aggregates states.
      We demonstrate the ability to control the ratio of monomer, H- and/or J
      aggregates with heat. We link such a control to the conformation dependence of
      the molecule. An alternative way to gain access to the dominating species without
      changing the concentration as a complete switching mechanism between all the
      present species is proposed. The results presented in this work lead to a better
      understanding of thiacarbocyanine dye's behavior.

PMID- 20942548
TI  - On the definition of temperature and its fluctuations in small systems.
AB  - An analysis of the limits of applicability of the thermodynamic definition of
      temperature to small systems is given. It is shown that the classical
      thermodynamic definition, (dS/dU)=1/T (S being the entropy, U the energy, and T
      the absolute temperature), is not applicable to small systems. It results in an
      uncertainty in the definition of temperature of the order O(1/N), where N is the
      number of particles in the system. An alternative definition of temperature is
      proposed based on the statistical-mechanical description of ensembles of
      particles. Applying this definition to perfect gases, a rigorous expression for
      the distribution of temperatures is obtained valid also for small systems and
      even in the limit N->1. In contrast to alternative approaches based on the
      thermodynamic definition of temperature, this distribution retains the
      thermodynamic equilibrium conditions with respect to temperature (equality of
      average temperature of the small system and temperature of the thermostat) also
      for small systems resolving in this way a widely discussed in the past problem
      between thermodynamics and its statistical-mechanical interpretation. Further, a
      generalization of this distribution to nonideal systems of interacting particles
      is developed. The results are applied to an interpretation of recent molecular
      dynamics simulations of argon condensation. Some further consequences and
      different possible definitions of temperature for macroscopic systems are
      discussed briefly as well.

PMID- 20942549
TI  - Mobility of a single alkali metal atom on fullerene C60: first principles
      molecular dynamical study.
AB  - The dynamical behavior of a single K or Na alkali metal atom on the surface of a
      C(60) molecule is investigated via Car-Parrinello molecular dynamics simulations
      in a temperature range up to 300 K. These provide direct evidence for the
      heteroatom motion, postulated earlier in pioneering experiments, and show that an
      alkali metal atom can move both on the surface and radially outward from the
      surface, resulting in a dynamics ranging from diffusive to free orbital motion,
      on time-scales of up to a few picoseconds.

PMID- 20942550
TI  - Critical behavior of self-assembled rigid rods on triangular and honeycomb
      lattices.
AB  - Using Monte Carlo simulations and finite-size scaling analysis, the critical
      behavior of self-assembled rigid rods on triangular and honeycomb lattices at
      intermediate density has been studied. The system is composed of monomers with
      two attractive (sticky) poles that, by decreasing temperature or increasing
      density, polymerize reversibly into chains with three allowed directions and, at
      the same time, undergo a continuous isotropic-nematic (IN) transition. The
      determination of the critical exponents, along with the behavior of Binder
      cumulants, indicate that the IN transition belongs to the q=1 Potts universality
      class.

PMID- 20942551
TI  - Magnetic freezing of confined water.
AB  - We report results from molecular dynamic simulations of the freezing transition
      of liquid water in the nanoscale hydrophobic confinement under the influence of a
      homogeneous external magnetic field of 10 T along the direction perpendicular to
      the parallel plates. A new phase of bilayer crystalline ice is obtained at an
      anomalously high freezing temperature of 340 K. The water-to-ice translation is
      found to be first order. The bilayer ice is built from alternating rows of
      hexagonal rings and rhombic rings parallel to the confining plates, with a large
      distortion of the hydrogen bonds. We also investigate the temperature shifts of
      the freezing transition due to the magnetic field. The freezing temperature,
      below which the freezing of confined water occurs, shifts to a higher value as
      the magnetic field enhances. Furthermore, the temperature of the freezing
      transition of confined water is proportional to the denary logarithm of the
      external magnetic field.

PMID- 20942552
TI  - Potassium-benzene interactions on Pt(111) studied by metastable atom electron
      spectroscopy.
AB  - Electron emission spectra obtained by thermal collisions of He(*)(2(3)S)
      metastable atoms with C(6)H(6)/Pt(111), C(6)H(6)/K/Pt(111), and
      K/C(6)H(6)/Pt(111) were measured in the temperature range of 50-200 K to
      elucidate the adsorption/aggregation states, thermal stabilities of pure and
      binary films, and local electronic properties at the organic-metal interface. For
      C(6)H(6)/Pt(111), the He(*)(2(3)S) atoms de-excite on the chemisorbed overlayer
      predominantly via resonance ionization followed by Auger neutralization and
      partly via Penning ionization (PI) yielding weak emission just below the Fermi
      level (E(F)). We assigned this emission to the C(6)H(6) pi-derived states
      delocalized over the Pt 5d bands on the basis of recent density functional
      calculations. During the layer-by-layer growth, the C(6)H(6)-derived bands via PI
      reveal a characteristic shift caused by the final-state effect (hole response at
      the topmost layer). C(6)H(6) molecules chemisorb weakly on the bimetallic Pt(111)
      (theta(K)=0.1) and physisorb on the K multilayer. In both cases, the sum rule was
      found to be valid between the K 4s and C(6)H(6)-derived bands. The band intensity
      versus exposure plot indicates that the C(6)H(6) film grows on the K multilayer
      by the Volmer-Weber mechanism (island growth), reflecting the weak K-C(6)H(6)
      interactions. In case of K/C(6)H(6)/Pt(111), the K atoms are trapped on the
      topmost C(6)H(6) layer at 65 K, forming particlelike clusters. The surface
      plasmon satellite was identified for the first time and the loss energy increases
      with increasing cluster size. The K clusters are unstable above ~100 K due to
      thermal migration into the C(6)H(6) film. When the cluster coverage is low, the K
      4s band extends below and above E(F) of the Pt substrate and the anomaly is
      discussed in terms of vacuum level bending around the cluster.

PMID- 20942553
TI  - Shell-anchor-core structures for enhanced stability and catalytic oxygen
      reduction activity.
AB  - Density functional theory is used to evaluate activity and stability properties
      of shell-anchor-core structures. The structures consist of a Pt surface monolayer
      and a composite core having an anchor bilayer where C atoms in the interstitial
      sites lock 3d metals in their locations, thus avoiding their surface segregation
      and posterior dissolution. The modified subsurface geometry induces less strain
      on the top surface, thus exerting a favorable effect on the surface catalytic
      activity where the adsorption strength of the oxygenated species becomes more
      moderate: weaker than on pure Pt(111) but stronger than on a Pt monolayer having
      a 3d metal subsurface. Here we analyze the effect of changing the nature of the
      3d metal in the subsurface anchor bilayer, and we also test the use of a Pd
      monolayer instead of Pt on the surface. It is found that a subsurface constituted
      by two layers with an approximate composition of M(2)C (M = Fe, Ni, and Co)
      provides a barrier for the migration of subsurface core metal atoms to the
      surface. Consequently, an enhanced resistance against dissolution in parallel to
      improved oxygen reduction activity is expected, as given by the values of
      adsorption energies of reaction intermediates, delayed onset of water oxidation,
      and/or low coverage of oxygenated species at surface oxidation potentials.

PMID- 20942554
TI  - Phase diagram of self-assembled rigid rods on two-dimensional lattices: theory
      and Monte Carlo simulations.
AB  - Monte Carlo simulations and finite-size scaling analysis have been carried out to
      study the critical behavior in a two-dimensional system of particles with two
      bonding sites that, by decreasing temperature or increasing density, polymerize
      reversibly into chains with discrete orientational degrees of freedom and, at the
      same time, undergo a continuous isotropic-nematic (IN) transition. A complete
      phase diagram was obtained as a function of temperature and density. The
      numerical results were compared with mean field (MF) and real space
      renormalization group (RSRG) analytical predictions about the IN transformation.
      While the RSRG approach supports the continuous nature of the transition, the MF
      solution predicts a first-order transition line and a tricritical point, at
      variance with the simulation results.

PMID- 20942555
TI  - Two-dimensional to three-dimensional structural transition of gold cluster Au10
      during soft landing on TiO2 surface and its effect on CO oxidation.
AB  - We investigate the possible structural transition of a planar Au(10) cluster
      during its soft landing on a TiO(2) (110) surface with or with no oxygen defects.
      The collision between the gold cluster and the oxide surface is simulated using
      the Car-Parrinello quantum molecular dynamics method. Both high-speed and low
      speed conditions typically implemented in soft-landing experiments are simulated.
      It is found that under a high-speed condition, the gold cluster Au(10) can
      undergo a sequence of structural transitions after colliding with a defect-free
      TiO(2) (110) surface. When the TiO(2) (110) surface possesses oxygen vacancies,
      however, chemical bonds can form between gold and Ti atoms if gold atoms contact
      directly with the vacancies. As a consequence, one oxygen vacancy is capable of
      trapping one Au atom, and thus can split the Au(10) into two parts while bouncing
      back from the surface. In addition, we study reaction pathways for the CO
      oxidation based on three isomer structures of Au(10) observed in the soft-landing
      simulation: (1) the precollision two-dimensional structure, (2) a postcollision
      three-dimensional (3D) structure, and (3) an intermediate (transient) 3D
      structure that appeared in the midst of the collision. This study allows us to
      examine the structure-activity relationship using the Au(10) as a prototype model
      catalyst.

PMID- 20942556
TI  - Charge transport in columnar mesophases of carbazole macrocycles.
AB  - Charge transport properties of a columnar mesophase of carbazole macrocycles are
      analyzed. Realistic morphologies are sampled using all-atom molecular dynamics
      simulations while charge transport is simulated using the kinetic Monte Carlo
      method with transfer rates obtained from the high temperature nonadiabatic limit
      of Marcus theory. It is shown that the molecular design with side chains pointing
      inside the macrocycle allows close approach between molecules of neighboring
      columns, thus enabling three-dimensional transport and helping to circumvent
      charge trapping on structural defects.

PMID- 20942557
TI  - Conformational studies of bottle-brush polymers absorbed on a flat solid surface.
AB  - The adsorption of a bottle-brush polymer end-grafted with one chain end of its
      backbone to a flat substrate surface is studied by Monte Carlo simulation of a
      coarse-grained model, that previously has been characterized in the bulk,
      assuming a dilute solution under good solvent conditions. Applying the bond
      fluctuation model on the simple cubic lattice, we vary the backbone chain length
      N(b) from N(b)=67 to N(b)=259 effective monomeric units, the side chain length N
      from N=6 to N=48, and set the grafting density to sigma=1, i.e., parameters that
      correspond well to the experimentally accessible range. When the adsorption
      energy strength E is varied, we find that the adsorption transition (which
      becomes well-defined in the limit N(b)->infinity, for arbitrary finite N) roughly
      occurs at the same value E(c) as for ordinary linear chains (N=0), at least
      within our statistical errors. Mean square end-to-end distances and gyration
      radii of the side chains are obtained, as well as the monomer density profile in
      the direction perpendicular to the adsorbing surface. We show that for longer
      side chains the adsorption of bottle-brushes is a two-step process, the decrease
      of the perpendicular linear dimension of side chains with adsorption energy
      strength can even be nonmonotonic. Also, the behavior of the static structure
      factor S(q) is analyzed, evidence for a quasi-two-dimensional scaling is
      presented, and consequences for the interpretation of experiments are discussed.

PMID- 20942558
TI  - Enhanced free-energy calculation using multiscale simulation.
AB  - We propose a multiscale simulation method combining the efficiency of a coarse
      grained model (CGM) and the accuracy of an all-atom model (AAM) for free-energy
      landscape calculation of protein systems. A protein's conformation space is
      quickly searched first using CGM. Then the obtained information is incorporated
      into AAM simulations. The free-energy landscape is subsequently obtained from AAM
      simulations. This method was tested on chignolin folding. The results
      demonstrated that the computational time was reduced by as much as 90%.

PMID- 20942559
TI  - An off-lattice frustrated model protein with a six-stranded beta-barrel
      structure.
AB  - We apply a global optimization method, which is conformational space annealing
      (CSA) to a challenging problem of the 69-residue protein with the sequence
      B(9)N(3)(LB)(4)N(3)B(9)N(3)(LB)(4)N(3)B(9)N(3)(LB)(5)L, where B, L, and N
      designate hydrophobic, hydrophilic, and neutral residues, respectively. The 69
      residue BLN protein folds into a six-stranded beta-barrel structure. The CSA
      method always maintains the diversity of sampling and is able to cross the high
      energy barriers between local minima. The CSA successfully located the global
      minimum of the 69-residue BLN protein for all 100 independent runs. For a single
      run, it takes about 3 h and 30 min on average to obtain the global minimum on a
      Linux PC. Also, we investigate the properties of the 69-residue BLN protein, and
      the general behavior of the M-residue BLN protein for CSA runs.

PMID- 20942561
TI  - DNA strand breaks and base modifications induced by cholesterol hydroperoxides.
AB  - Cholesterol (Ch) can be oxidized by reactive oxygen species, forming oxidized
      products such as Ch hydroperoxides (ChOOH). These hydroperoxides can disseminate
      the peroxidative stress to other cell compartments. In this work, the ability of
      ChOOH to induce strand breaks and/or base modifications in a plasmid DNA model
      was evaluated. In addition, HPLC/MS/MS analyses were performed to investigate the
      formation of 8-oxo-7,8-dihydro-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-oxodGuo) after the incubation
      of 2'-deoxyguanosine (dGuo) with ChOOH and Cu(2+). In the presence of copper
      ions, ChOOH induced DNA strand breaks in time and concentration-dependent
      manners. Purine and pyrimidine base modifications were also observed, as assessed
      respectively by the treatment with Fpg and Endo III repair enzymes. The detection
      of 8-oxodGuo by HPLC/MS/MS is in agreement with the dGuo oxidation in plasmid
      DNA. ChOOH-derived DNA damage adds further support to the role of lipid
      peroxidation in inducing DNA modifications and mutation.

PMID- 20942562
TI  - Stage-specific roles of fibulin-5 during oxidative stress-induced renal
      carcinogenesis in rats.
AB  - By using a rat model of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) induced by ferric
      nitrilotriacetate (Fe-NTA), this study performed genome-wide analysis to identify
      target genes during carcinogenesis. It screened for genes with decreased
      expression in RCCs, with simultaneous loss of heterozygosity, eventually to focus
      on the fibulin-5 (fbln5) gene. Oxidative damage via Fe-NTA markedly increased
      Fbln5 in the proximal tubules. RCCs presented lower levels of Fbln5. However, a
      fraction of RCCs presenting pulmonary metastasis revealed significantly higher
      levels of Fbln5 than those without metastasis, accompanied by immunopositivity of
      RCC cells and myofibroblast proliferation. Experiments revealed that RCC cell
      lines showed lower expression of fbln5 than its non-transformed counterpart
      NRK52E, but that fbln5 transfection to RCC cell lines changed neither
      proliferation nor migration/invasion. The data suggest that Fbln5 plays a role
      not only in the tissue repair and remodelling after renal tubular oxidative
      damage but also in RCC metastasis, presumably as a cytokine.

PMID- 20942563
TI  - Non-invasive limb ischemic pre-conditioning reduces oxidative stress and
      attenuates myocardium ischemia-reperfusion injury in diabetic rats.
AB  - This study was to explore whether repeated non-invasive limb ischemic pre
      conditioning (NLIP) can confer an equivalent cardioprotection against myocardial
      ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury in acute diabetic rats to the extent of
      conventional myocardial ischemic pre-conditioning (MIP) and whether or not the
      delayed protection of NLIP is mediated by reducing myocardial oxidative stress
      after ischemia-reperfusion. Streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats were randomized
      to four groups: Sham group, the I/R group, the MIP group and the NLIP group.
      Compared with the I/R group, both the NLIP and MIP groups showed an amelioration
      of ventricular arrhythmia, reduced myocardial infarct size, increased activities
      of total superoxide dismutase (SOD), manganese-SOD and glutathione peroxidase,
      increased expression of manganese-SOD mRNA and decreased xanthine oxidase
      activity and malondialdehyde concentration (All p < 0.05 vs I/R group). It is
      concluded that non-invasive limb ischemic pre-conditioning reduces oxidative
      stress and attenuates myocardium ischemia-reperfusion injury in diabetic rats.

PMID- 20942564
TI  - Bioavailability of metalloporphyrin-based SOD mimics is greatly influenced by a
      single charge residing on a Mn site.
AB  - In the cell Mn porphyrins (MnPs) likely couple with cellular reductants which
      results in a drop of total charge from 5+ to 4+ and dramatically increases their
      lipophilicity by up to three orders of magnitude depending upon the length of
      alkylpyridyl chains and type of isomer. The effects result from the interplay of
      solvation, lipophilicit and stericity. Impact of ascorbate on accumulation of
      MnPs was measured in E. coli and in Balb/C mouse tumours and muscle; for the
      latter measurements, the LC/ESI-MS/MS method was developed. Accumulation was
      significantly enhanced when MnPs were co-administered with ascorbate in both
      prokaryotic and eukaryotic systems. Further, MnTnHex-2-PyP(5+) accumulates 5-fold
      more in the tumour than in a muscle. Such data increase our understanding of MnPs
      cellular and sub-cellular accumulation and remarkable in vivo effects. The work
      is in progress to understand how coupling of MnPs with ascorbate affects their
      mechanism of action, in particular with respect to cancer therapy.

PMID- 20942565
TI  - Amelioration of cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity in mice by oral administration
      of diphenylmethyl selenocyanate.
AB  - Cisplatin is one of the most potent and active cytotoxic drug in the treatment of
      cancer. However, side-effects in normal tissues and organs, notably
      nephrotoxicity in the kidneys, limit the promising efficacy of cisplatin. The
      present study was designed to ascertain the possible in vivo protective potential
      of a synthetic organoselenium compound diphenylmethyl selenocyanate (3
      mg/kg.b.w.) against the nephrotoxic damage induced by cisplatin (5 mg/kg.b.w. for
      5 days) in Swiss albino mice. Treatment with diphenylmethyl selenocyanate
      markedly reduced cisplatin-induced lipid peroxidation, serum creatinine and blood
      urea nitrogen levels. Renal antioxidant defense systems, such as glutathione-S
      transferase, glutathione peroxidase, superoxide dismutase, catalase, activities
      and reduced glutathione level, depleted by cisplatin therapy, were restored to
      normal by the selenium compound. The selenium compound also reduced renal tubular
      epithelial cell damage, nitric oxide levels and expression of COX-2, and iNOS in
      kidneys injured by cisplatin. These results demonstrate the protective effect of
      diphenylmethyl selenocyanate against cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity in mice.

PMID- 20942567
TI  - Roles of 3-nitrotyrosine- and 4-hydroxynonenal-modified brain proteins in the
      progression and pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease.
AB  - Proteins play an important role in normal structure and function of the cells.
      Oxidative modification of proteins may greatly alter the structure and may
      subsequently lead to loss of normal physiological cell functions and may lead to
      abnormal function of cell and eventually to cell death. These modifications may
      be reversible or irreversible. Reversible protein modifications, such as
      phosphorylation, can be overcome by specific enzymes that cause a protein to
      'revert' back to its original protein structure, while irreversible protein
      modifications cannot. Several important irreversible protein modifications
      include protein nitration and HNE modification, both which have been extensively
      investigated in research on the progression of Alzheimer's disease (AD). From the
      earliest stage of AD throughout the advancement of the disorder there is evidence
      of increased protein nitration and HNE modification. These protein modifications
      lead to decreased enzymatic activity, which correlates directly to protein
      efficacy and provides support for several common themes in AD pathology, namely
      altered energy metabolism, mitochondrial dysfunction and reduced cholinergic
      neurotransmission. The current review summarized some of the findings on protein
      oxidation related to different stages of Alzheimer's disease (AD) that will be
      helpful in understanding the role of protein oxidation in the progression and
      pathogenesis of AD.

PMID- 20942566
TI  - Cyclophilin D deficiency protects against acetaminophen-induced oxidant stress
      and liver injury.
AB  - Acetaminophen (APAP) hepatotoxicity is the main cause of acute liver failure in
      humans. Although mitochondrial oxidant stress and induction of the mitochondrial
      permeability transition (MPT) have been implicated in APAP-induced
      hepatotoxicity, the link between these events is unclear. To investigate this,
      this study evaluated APAP hepatotoxicity in mice deficient of cyclophilin D, a
      protein component of the MPT. Treatment of wild type mice with APAP resulted in
      focal centrilobular necrosis, nuclear DNA fragmentation and formation of reactive
      oxygen (elevated glutathione disulphide levels) and peroxynitrite (nitrotyrosine
      immunostaining) in the liver. CypD-deficient (Ppif(-/-)) mice were completely
      protected against APAP-induced liver injury and DNA fragmentation. Oxidant stress
      and peroxynitrite formation were blunted but not eliminated in CypD-deficient
      mice. Thus, mitochondrial oxidative stress and induction of the MPT are critical
      events in APAP hepatotoxicity in vivo and at least part of the APAP-induced
      oxidant stress and peroxynitrite formation occurs downstream of the MPT.

PMID- 20942568
TI  - Two-photon irradiation of an intracellular singlet oxygen photosensitizer:
      achieving localized sub-cellular excitation in spatially-resolved experiments.
AB  - The response of a given cell to spatially-resolved sub-cellular irradiation of a
      singlet oxygen photosensitizer (protoporphyrin IX, PpIX) using a focused laser
      was assessed. In these experiments, incident light was scattered over a volume
      greater than that defined by the dimensions of the laser beam as a consequence of
      the inherent inhomogeneity of the cell. Upon irradiation at a wavelength readily
      absorbed by PpIX in a one-photon transition, this scattering of light eliminated
      any advantage accrued to the use of focused irradiation. However, upon
      irradiation at a longer wavelength where PpIX can only absorb light under non
      linear two-photon conditions, meaningful intracellular resolution was achieved in
      the small spatial domain where the light intensity was high enough for absorption
      to occur.

PMID- 20942569
TI  - Therapeutic cold: An effective kind to modulate the oxidative damage resulting of
      a skeletal muscle contusion.
AB  - Muscular contusions affect the function of the skeletal muscle system. This study
      investigated the oxidative damage as well as the main morphological changes
      related to a skeletal muscle contusion in the gastrocnemius muscle of rats and
      also the capacity of therapeutic cold to modulate these parameters. The
      therapeutic cold modulated the increase of oxidative stress markers and also
      modulated the reduction in the antioxidants levels in the injured muscle. In
      enzyme assays, therapeutic cold was also effective in normalizing the muscle
      Na(+)/K(+) and Ca(2+) ATPases, lactate dehydrogenase and myeloperoxidase
      activities. Similarly, the lesioned non-treated animals presented evident
      impairments in the mitochondrial functions and in the muscle morphology which
      were diminished by the cold treatment. The therapeutic cold was able to modulate
      the oxidative damage possibly by its capacity to limit the inflammatory response
      intensity, to attenuate the impairment of the mitochondrial function and also to
      preserve the skeletal muscle morphology.

PMID- 20942570
TI  - Is there a redox reaction between Cu(II) and gallic acid?
AB  - Interactions between transition metal ions and polyphenols can result in
      complexation, redox or polymerization, but the relative importance of these
      reactions is unclear. The present paper reports results from the reaction of
      gallic acid (GA) with Cu(II) using electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and
      UV/visible spectroscopy for various relative concentrations and pH values.
      Reduction of Cu(II) by GA does not occur under strongly acidic or strongly
      alkaline conditions. Di- or polymerization reactions between Cu(II) and
      carboxylate groups of GA dominate the results at acidic pH, whereas mononuclear
      complexes increase in importance at higher pH and GA concentrations. There was no
      evidence for any redox reaction between Cu(II) and GA and free radical formation
      from GA at high pH was shown to be the consequence of auto-oxidation, which was
      inhibited by Cu(II). Serious questions are thus raised about the existence of the
      frequently assumed redox reactions between Cu(II) and polyphenols.

PMID- 20942571
TI  - Mitochondrial protein tyrosine nitration.
AB  - Mitochondria are primary loci for the intracellular formation and reactions of
      reactive oxygen and nitrogen species including superoxide (O2*-), hydrogen
      peroxide (H2O2) and peroxynitrite (ONOO-). Depending on formation rates and
      steady-state levels, the mitochondrial-derived short-lived reactive species
      contribute to signalling events and/or mitochondrial dysfunction through
      oxidation reactions. Among relevant oxidative modifications in mitochondria, the
      nitration of the amino acid tyrosine to 3-nitrotyrosine has been recognized in
      vitro and in vivo. This post-translational modification in mitochondria is
      promoted by peroxynitrite and other nitrating species and can disturb organelle
      homeostasis. This study assesses the biochemical mechanisms of protein tyrosine
      nitration within mitochondria, the main nitration protein targets and the impact
      of 3-nitrotyrosine formation in the structure, function and fate of modified
      mitochondrial proteins. Finally, the inhibition of mitochondrial protein tyrosine
      nitration by endogenous and mitochondrial-targeted antioxidants and their
      physiological or pharmacological relevance to preserve mitochondrial functions is
      analysed.

PMID- 20942572
TI  - Efficacy studies of Reactive Skin Decontamination Lotion, M291 Skin
      Decontamination Kit, 0.5% bleach, 1% soapy water, and Skin Exposure Reduction
      Paste Against Chemical Warfare Agents, part 1: guinea pigs challenged with VX.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This report, first in a series of five, directly compares the efficacy
      of 4 decontamination products and Skin Exposure Reduction Paste Against Chemical
      Warfare Agents (SERPACWA) in the haired guinea pig model following exposure to
      VX. METHODS: In all experiments, guinea pigs were close-clipped and given
      anesthesia. In the decontamination experiments, the animals were challenged with
      VX and decontaminated after a 2-minute delay for the standard procedure or at
      longer times for the delayed-decontamination experiments. Skin Exposure Reduction
      Paste Against Chemical Warfare Agents was applied as a thin coating (0.1 mm
      thick), allowed to dry for 15 minutes, and challenged with VX. After a 2-hour
      challenge, any remaining VX was blotted off the animal, but no additional
      decontamination was done. Positive control animals were challenged with VX in the
      same manner as the treated animals, except that they received no treatment. In
      addition, the positive control animals were always challenged with 5% VX in
      isopropyl alcohol (IPA) solution, whereas the treatment animals received either
      neat (undiluted) VX or 5% VX in IPA solution. All animals were observed during
      the first 4 hours and again at 24 hours after exposure for signs of toxicity and
      death. The protective ratio (PR, defined as the median lethal dose [LD(50)] of
      the treatment group divided by the LD(50) of the untreated positive control
      animals) was calculated from the probit dose-response curves established for each
      treatment group and nontreated control animals. Significance in this report was
      defined as p < .05. RESULTS: In the standard 2-minute neat VX decontamination
      experiments, the calculated PRs for Reactive Skin Decontamination Lotion (RSDL),
      0.5% bleach, 1% soapy water, and the M291 Skin Decontamination Kit (SDK) were 66,
      17, 16, and 1.1, respectively. Reactive Skin Decontamination Lotion was by far
      the most effective decontamination product tested and was significantly better
      than any of the other products. Bleach and soapy water provided equivalent and
      good (PR > 5) protection. They were both significantly better than the M291 SDK.
      The M291 SDK did not provide significant protection compared with positive
      controls. In the neat VX delayed-decontamination experiments, the calculated
      LT(50) (the delayed-decontamination time at which 50% of the animals died in the
      test population following a 5-LD(50) challenge) values for RSDL, 0.5% bleach, and
      1% soapy water were 31, 48, and 26 minutes, respectively. The results showed that
      SERPACWA provided significant, but modest (PR < 5), protection against neat VX,
      with a PR of 2.1. CONCLUSIONS: Several conclusions can be drawn from this study:
      1) RSDL provided superior protection against VX compared with the other products
      tested; 2) 0.5% bleach and 1% soapy water were less effective than RSDL, but
      still provided good protection against VX; 3) the M291 SDK was the least
      effective decontamination product and did not provide significant protection
      against VX; 4) the agent was observed to streak when using the M291 SDK, and
      efficacy may improve if the agent is first blotted, followed by wiping with a new
      or clean part of the M291 SDK pad; 5) RSDL, 0.5% bleach, and 1% soapy water
      provided significant protection against a 5-LD(50) challenge of VX, even when
      decontamination was delayed for up to about 30 minutes; and 6) SERPACWA provided
      significant, but modest, protection against VX.

PMID- 20942573
TI  - Implications of using the fluorescent probes, dihydrorhodamine 123 and 2',7'
      dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate, for the detection of UVA-induced reactive
      oxygen species.
AB  - During investigation of UVA-induced oxidative stress in HaCaT keratinocytes with
      dihydrorhodamine 123 (DHR123) and 2',7'-dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate (DCF
      DA), exaggerated baseline values were observed within control samples, suggesting
      a mechanism of probe oxidation and subsequent change in fluorescence intensity
      (FI) independent of cellular ROS generation. The effects of diluent, UVA pre
      treatment and loading protocols upon the FI of the probes have therefore been
      investigated. The study confirmed the capacity of Dulbecco's Modified Eagle's
      Medium (DMEM) to confer fluorescence intensity changes in both probes, most
      notably DCF-DA. In addition, UVA pre-treatment compromises the effectiveness of
      DHR123 and DCF-DA to detect ROS generated in a cell-free system. In vitro data
      shows a greater UVA-induced FI increase in HaCaT cells loaded with probe before
      rather than after UVA treatment. This study has important implications for future
      research, the understanding of previous studies and associated confounding
      effects using DHR123 and DCF-DA as ROS sensitive probes.

PMID- 20942574
TI  - Association of serum arginase I with oxidative stress in a healthy population.
AB  - The association of serum arginase I with oxidative stress was evaluated cross
      sectionally in a healthy population. The mean levels of serum arginase I in
      healthy people (n = 278) were 32.6 +/- 22.3 ng/ml. Significant correlations of
      arginase I were observed with age, WBC, RBC, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), high
      sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), uric acid, body mass index (BMI) and
      urinary 8-isoprostane. Multiple regression analysis showed significant
      associations of arginase I with WBC, RBC, urinary 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine (8
      OHdG), age, HbA1c and urinary 8-isoprostane. In the associations of arginase I
      with 8-OHdG, 8-isoprostane and HbA1c, confounding factors and lifestyle factors
      such as sex, old age, smoking and alcohol consumption were involved. It was
      concluded that serum arginase I was associated with oxidative stress and HbA1c in
      addition to age, WBC and RBC in healthy Japanese people and may become a new
      biomarker for early prediction of diabetes mellitus and other oxidative stress
      related diseases.

PMID- 20942575
TI  - Supplementation with a combination of antioxidants does not affect glycaemic
      control, oxidative stress or inflammation in type 2 diabetes subjects.
AB  - The present clinical trial examined the influence of a supplement, containing a
      combination of antioxidants extracted from fruit, berries and vegetables, on
      levels of plasma antioxidants (tocopherols, carotenoids and ascorbate), glycaemic
      control (blood glucose, HbA1c, insulin), oxidative stress biomarkers (F(2)
      isoprostane, malondialdehyd, nitrotyrosine, 8-oxo-7, 8-dihydro-2'-deoxyguanosine,
      formamidopyrimidine glycosylase sites, frequency of micronucleated erythrocytes)
      and inflammatory markers (interleukin-6, C-reactive protein, prostaglandin
      F(2alpha)-metabolite) in type 2 diabetes. Forty subjects were randomly assigned
      to control, single or double dose group and completed the study. In summary, 12
      weeks of antioxidant supplementation did neither affect glycaemic control nor the
      levels of biomarkers of oxidative stress or inflammation, despite substantially
      increased plasma concentrations of antioxidants. The absence of an effect may be
      explained by the selected study subjects with relatively well-controlled
      diabetes, a high intake of fruit and vegetable and levels of plasma antioxidants,
      biomarkers of oxidative stress and inflammatory markers comparable to those found
      in healthy subjects.

PMID- 20942576
TI  - Post-translational modifications of mitochondrial outer membrane proteins.
AB  - The mitochondrial outer membrane surrounds the entire organelle. It is composed
      of a phospholipid bilayer with proteins either embedded into or anchored to the
      bilayer and mediates the interactions between mitochondria and the rest of the
      cell. Most of the proteins present in the mitochondrial outer membrane are highly
      hydrophobic with one or more transmembrane segments. These proteins in
      conjunction with proteins localized in the inner membrane catalyse energy
      exchange reactions, the flux of small molecules such as ions, the activation and
      uptake of long chain fatty acids, import of proteins into the mitochondria, and
      elimination of biogenic amines among others. In addition, some outer membrane
      proteins serve as docking sites for non-resident enzymes such as hexokinase and
      other kinases of signal transduction. All these processes require an intact outer
      membrane and are highly regulated. One level of regulation with
      physiological/pathophysiological relevance involves post-translational
      modification of outer membrane proteins, either by phosphorylation, acetylation
      or other type of reversible covalent modification. Post-translational
      modification such as nitration and carbonylation becomes significant under
      disease states that are associated with increased oxidative stress, i.e.
      inflammation and ischemia. This review examines the different post-translational
      modifications of mitochondrial outer membrane proteins and discusses the
      physiological relevance of these modifications.

PMID- 20942577
TI  - Fatigue and cognition in patients with relapsing multiple sclerosis treated with
      interferon beta.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Fatigue and cognitive deficits are common symptoms affecting
      patients with multiple sclerosis. METHODS: The effects of interferon beta on
      fatigue and cognitive deficits were assessed in 50 patients with relapsing
      multiple sclerosis (recruited at a single center). The pre-treatment assessments
      were performed on visits 1 and 2 (Months 0 and 3). Patients started treatment
      with subcutaneous interferon beta-1a or beta-1b, or intramuscular interferon beta
      1a at Month 3, with reassessment at visits 3 and 4 (6 and 12 months,
      respectively). Co-primary endpoints were change in fatigue (Modified Fatigue
      Impact Scale) and change in cognition (Brief Repeatable Battery of
      Neuropsychological Tests) from pre-treatment to visits 3 and 4. Follow-up data
      were obtained for 40 patients. RESULTS: The pre-treatment demographic and disease
      characteristics did not differ between groups. Improvements in fatigue levels
      were reported for patients receiving subcutaneous interferon beta-1a versus
      patients in the intramuscular interferon beta-1a group (p = .04) and in the
      interferon beta-1b group (p = .09). Improvements were also reported in five out
      of 17 cognitive indices for all the treatment groups. CONCLUSION: The data
      suggest that interferon beta may reduce fatigue and cognitive deficits in
      patients with relapsing multiple sclerosis. Larger, randomized, and controlled
      studies are required to confirm our findings.

PMID- 20942578
TI  - Reduced cognitive function in Chinese patients with early amyotrophic lateral
      sclerosis and associated factors.
AB  - The aims of this study were to investigate the cognitive function of Chinese
      amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients. Twenty-two patients with ALS were
      enrolled and a group of 60 healthy individuals were enrolled as a control group.
      The Extended Scale for Dementia (ESD) was used to evaluate cognitive function and
      the Hamilton Depression Scale was used for the assessment of depression. In
      addition, the Modified Norris Scale was used to assess medulla oblongata and limb
      function. The overall ESD scores were significantly lower in the ALS patients;
      however, no correlation was found between individual scores of cognitive function
      and the overall Modified Norris Scale scores. A majority of ALS patients had
      significantly reduced cognitive function, suggesting the pathological involvement
      of areas in the brain outside the motor area. This study shows that through the
      assessment of cognitive function, abnormalities in cognitive function in ALS
      patients can be identified.

PMID- 20942579
TI  - Comparative effects of alpha lipoic acid and melatonin on cisplatin-induced
      neurotoxicity.
AB  - Cisplatin is a carcinogenic agent having important cytotoxic effects. Cisplatin
      treatment increases the levels of free oxygen radicals in neurologic tissues. We
      investigated the effects of alpha lipoic acid (ALA) and melatonin (MEL) on the
      electrophysiological parameters and on activities of nerve fibers having
      different conduction properties on cisplatin neurotoxicity. Neurotoxicity was
      induced by a single injection of 10 mg/kg intraperitoneal (ip) cisplatin.
      Supplementation was started 1 day before cisplatin injection with either 100
      mg/kg/day ip ALA or 4 mg/kg/day ip MEL for 7 days. Compound action potentials
      were recorded from isolated sciatic nerves in vitro, and numerical analyses were
      conducted. Cisplatin-induced neurotoxicity resulted in a significant decrease (p
      <.05) in maximum depolarization (mV), areas (mV.ms), and maximum and minimum
      upstroke velocity values (mV/ms). Although these decrements were restored by ALA
      and MEL, ALA was found to be more effective. Conventional conduction velocity
      measurements and conduction velocity distribution histograms have shown that ALA
      supplementation can recover the effects of cisplatin while MEL cannot. The
      conduction velocity distribution histograms have shown that antioxidant
      supplementation results in a restoration on contribution of fast-conducting
      fibers (51.8-77.7 m/s), which is deteriorated by cisplatin. Consequently, ALA has
      more potential to make up for the deleterious effects of cisplatin-induced
      neurotoxicity.

PMID- 20942580
TI  - Intramedullary subependymoma of the cervical spinal cord: a case report with
      immunohistochemical study.
AB  - Spinal subependymomas, which have a relatively benign nature, are very rare
      tumors. It is difficult to distinguish spinal subependymomas from other
      intramedullary spinal tumors based on neuroradiological findings. A case of
      cervical intramedullary subependymoma in a 63-year-old female is reported. The
      diffused enlargement of the spinal cord at C2 level involved the lesion with
      isointensity on a T1-weighted MRI and relatively high intensity on a T2-weighted
      MRI. Enhancement in the small part of the tumor was observed on a T1-weighted MRI
      with gadolinium administration. The tumor occupied the left side of the spinal
      cord, and was totally removed through a laminoplasty of C2. Immunohistochemistry
      was useful for pathological diagnosis. The clinical feature of this patient is
      described with the review of literatures.

PMID- 20942581
TI  - Perihematomal pathological changes in neurons and astrocytes following acute
      cerebral hemorrhage.
AB  - We aim to investigate the pathological temporospatial characteristics of brain
      cell injury in the perihematomal areas. Brain autopsy samples from 44 consecutive
      cases of intracerebral hemorrhage were processed and analyzed following
      immunohistochemical staining for neurofilament (NF) and glial fibrillary acidic
      protein (GFAP). NF and GFAP positive cells were scored and graded according to
      the distance from the hematoma and the time from the onset of hematoma formation.
      The tissues from the same region on the contralateral side of the brain were used
      as controls. Neurons in the perihematomal areas exhibited pyknosis or swollen
      necrosis, while astrocytes were swollen. Morphological abnormalities pertaining
      to NF appearance were attenuated with increasing distance from the hematoma wall,
      but were exacerbated with prolonged bleeding time. The level of NF staining
      abnormality was positively correlated with time from the onset of hematoma within
      7 days of intracerebral hemorrhage. In contrast, the intensity of GFAP staining
      was negatively correlated with time from the onset of hematoma formation. This
      immunoreactivity was significantly higher closer to hematoma. Taken together,
      these data indicate that pathological alterations in neurons and astrocytes in
      the perihematomal area change with time from the onset of hematoma formation.

PMID- 20942582
TI  - Exposure to nicotine produces an increase in dopamine D2(High) receptors: a
      possible mechanism for dopamine hypersensitivity.
AB  - Dopamine D2 receptors exist in both low- and high-affinity states (D2(High)), the
      latter being the functionally relevant state. Cocaine self-administration
      produces an increase in D2(High), a phenomenon that could explain why cocaine
      administration results in hypersensitivity to dopamine, even though drug addicts
      were found to have a decreased number of striatal dopamine D2 receptors. As
      nicotine acts through the same mesocortical dopaminergic signaling pathways as
      other stimulant drugs, which are known to increase the levels of D2(High), we
      hypothesized that nicotine exposure could produce an increase in D2(High) levels.
      We determined D2(High) levels in rats after nicotine administration (1.5
      mg/kg/day; 14 days), in rats voluntarily self-administering nicotine using an
      intravenous self-administration (IVSA) protocol (mean dose 0.5 mg/kg/day; 14
      days), as well as after a prolonged withdrawal. An increase in the levels of
      D2(High) was found in rats who had nicotine administered at a uniform dose, as
      well as in rats who self-administered nicotine via IVSA, but these changes appear
      to normalize over time, as indicated by lower D2(High) levels in rats after a
      prolonged withdrawal period. We suggest that nicotine-induced elevation in
      D2(High) levels could be participating in hypersensitivity to dopamine following
      nicotine exposure.

PMID- 20942583
TI  - Effects of insulin-like growth factor-1 on expression of sensory neuropeptides in
      cultured dorsal root ganglion neurons in the absence or presence of glutamate.
AB  - Insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) is a neurotrophic factor and plays an
      important role in promoting axonal growth from dorsal root ganglion (DRG)
      neurons. Whether IGF-1 could influence expression of sensory neuropeptides
      substance P (SP) and calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) of the cultured DRG
      neurons with excitotoxicity induced by glutamate (Glu) remains unknown. In the
      present study, primary cultured DRG neurons were used to determine the effects of
      IGF-1 on expression of SP and CGRP of the neurons with Glu-induced
      excitotoxicity. The DRG neurons were dissociated and cultured for 48 hr and then
      exposed to Glu (0.2 mmol/L), IGF-1 (20 nmol/L), and Glu (0.2 mmol/L) plus IGF-1
      (20 nmol/L) for additional 12 hr. The DRG neurons were continuously exposed to
      growth media as control. After that, all the above cultured DRG neurons were
      processed for detecting SP and CGRP expression by Western blot analysis. The
      expression of SP and CGRP increased significantly in primary cultured DRG neurons
      in the presence of IGF-1. The ability of IGF-1 on SP and CGRP expression may play
      a role in neurogenic inflammation or nociception.

PMID- 20942584
TI  - An open-label, sequential dose-escalation, safety, and tolerability study of
      rimabotulinumtoxinb in subjects with cervical dystonia.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Evaluate the safety and efficacy of a sequential dose escalation of
      rimabotulinumtoxinB (BoNT-B) in cervical dystonia (CD) subjects. METHODS: This
      multicenter, open-label, within-subject, sequential dose-escalation study (BoNT-B
      dosed at 10,000, 12,500, and 15,000 Units) evaluated subjects over each phase of
      treatment at preinjection and at periodic intervals postinjection. Adverse
      events, vital signs, and laboratory results were recorded. Efficacy measures
      included the Toronto Western Spasmodic Torticollis Rating Scale (TWSTRS) and
      three visual analog scales (VASs). RESULTS: 119 out of 145 CD subjects received
      all three doses in sequence. Dry mouth and dysphagia were the most common adverse
      events, and both decreased in frequency by the final injection, despite the
      increasing doses of the escalation. TWSTRS-Total and subscale scores demonstrated
      significant improvements following all doses at the week 2, 4, 8, and 12
      assessments, with the exception of disability and pain at week 12 with the lowest
      dose. All VAS scores demonstrated similar improvements following all doses. The
      mean number of weeks in each phase of the study was 12.1 weeks (10,000 Units),
      12.9 weeks (12,500 Units), and 13.9 weeks (15,000 Units). CONCLUSION: BoNT-B was
      well tolerated and efficacious at 10,000, 12,500, and 15,000 Units in this within
      subject, sequential dose-escalation study in CD subjects.

PMID- 20942585
TI  - Management of Patients With Unclassified Epileptic Seizures in Outpatient Clinics
      in Spain. Results of the RETO Study.
AB  - PURPOSE: The objective of this study was to determine the approach and management
      of specialists in patients with unclassified epileptic seizures in outpatient
      clinics in Spain. METHODS: Observational, multicenter, and cross-sectional study.
      Ninety-three neurologists or neuropediatricians documented consecutive patients
      with a history of at least two difficult to classify or unclassified epileptic
      seizures. Patient demographics, quality of life (QOLIE-10-P), disease
      characteristics, and anticonvulsant treatment were captured. Physicians were
      asked about their therapeutic approach for the selection of an antiepileptic drug
      and underlying reasons. RESULTS: A total of 725 patients were included. At the
      time of the survey, 81% were treated (69% with monotherapy). Most frequently
      given reasons for starting antiepileptic therapy were ([mean] on a scale of 1-5)
      efficacy, (3.9), safety (3.61), and broad-spectrum effectiveness (3.5). Reasons
      given for switching therapy (226/725) included need for broader spectrum of
      action: 70 (31.0%); simpler dosing regimen: 25 (11.1%); quality of life
      considerations: 24 (10.6%); lack of adherence to therapy: 24 (10.6%);
      comorbidities: 13 (5.8%); drug interactions: 12 (5.3%); and possibility of
      pregnancy 6 (2.7%). CONCLUSIONS: When deciding on starting or switching therapy
      for patients with difficult to classify or unclassified epilepsy, the most
      important consideration for the specialists included efficacy, safety, and broad
      spectrum efficacy.

PMID- 20942586
TI  - Lack of motor symptoms progression in Parkinson's disease patients with long-term
      bilateral subthalamic deep brain stimulation.
AB  - To evaluate the long-term progression of motor symptoms in Parkinson's disease
      (PD) patients treated with subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation (STN-DBS),
      we retrospectively analyzed data from 50 PD patients with bilateral STN-DBS.
      Clinical records at baseline and at several yearly intervals were reviewed. The
      Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating scale (UPDRS) was performed preoperatively
      after withholding medications for at least 12 hr (OFF) and after taking the usual
      dose of levodopa. Postoperative evaluations were completed in four clinical
      states: OFF medications-stimulators OFF (OFF/OFF); OFF medications-stimulators
      ON; ON medications-stimulators OFF; and ON medications-stimulators ON. The UPDRS
      motor scores OFF/OFF were virtually unmodified up to 5 years when compared with
      preoperative OFF scores. There was no significant difference between OFF/OFF
      score variations from baseline in patients with shorter (<11 years) and longer PD
      duration at the time of surgery. No consistent deterioration from untreated
      baseline was noted for each UPDRS motor subscore (tremor, rigidity, bradykinesia,
      and axial). Untreated PD motor scores did not worsen over time in patients
      undergoing STN-DBS, suggesting that there is no progression of motor severity.
      These results could be explained either by a natural stabilization of PD motor
      symptoms after many years or neuroprotective properties of STN-DBS.

PMID- 20942587
TI  - Performance of Greek demented and nondemented subjects on the Greek version of
      the Mattis Dementia Rating Scale. A validation study.
AB  - A translated version of the Mattis Dementia Rating Scale (DRS) into Greek ((DRS
      GR) was applied to a sample of Greek population (N = 356) comprising normal
      middle-aged and elderly subjects (controls), as well as patients suffering from
      Parkinson's (PD) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) to test its reliability and
      validity. A well-known dementia screening instrument, the Mini Mental State
      Examination test (MMSE), and a nonverbal measure of abstract reasoning, the Raven
      Coloured Progressive Matrices, were employed as measures of DRS-GR concurrent
      validity. Reliability analysis was satisfactory with Cronbach's alpha reaching
      0.82 and item to total correlations yielding high coefficients for most items.
      DRS-GR scores were influenced by age and education, but not by gender.
      Correlation between MMSE and the total DRS-GR score was significant in patients
      and normal controls, but correlation between DRS-GR and RCPM was significant in
      AD and nondemented PD only. Specificity and sensitivity for dementia screening,
      calculated on a Receiver Operating Characteristic curve, with a cut-off score the
      mean value minus two standard deviations, corrected for age and education, was
      96% and 80%, respectively. Our preliminary findings show that DRS-GR is a
      reliable and well-adapted instrument for clinical application in the Greek
      population.

PMID- 20942588
TI  - Vocal cord paresis and probable X-linked Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease with novel
      GJB1 mutation.
AB  - We describe a Chinese family with a probable X-linked dominant inherited disorder
      characterized by early adult onset of distal muscle weakness and amyotrophy of
      four limbs, followed by severe disability of feet. The life expectancy of some
      patients is decreased due to severe respiratory failure associated with bilateral
      vocal cord involvement. The electrophysiological data showed predominantly the
      evidence of demyelization. Genetic analysis revealed that all tested patients
      from the family carried a novel c.186C>G mutation in the GJB1 gene, resulting in
      substitution of Serine for Arginine in the first extracellular loop domain of
      Cx32 protein. To our knowledge, this is the first time to describe this GJB1
      mutation, which is associated with the rather severe phenotype of the X-linked
      Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease. The present report also provides further evidence
      for heterogeneity among the X-linked Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease.

PMID- 20942589
TI  - Pedicle subtraction osteotomy for adult tethered cord syndrome with lumbar canal
      stenosis: report of two cases.
AB  - Tethered cord syndrome with spinal lipoma is the most common form of occult
      spinal dysraphism. For the symptomatic patients, surgical treatment is
      recommended; however, there are many patients who have not been encouraged to
      seek medical attention until adulthood, since their symptoms are not severe
      enough to interfere with their daily activities. We performed pedicle subtraction
      osteotomy (PSO) to achieve indirect untethering and neural decompression in two
      senior patients with tethered cord syndrome, who showed deteriorating
      neurological condition due to coexisting lumbar canal stenosis. Here we report
      two patients (aged 56 and 60 years) who underwent PSO of L3 or L4. The pain
      disappeared and the bladder dysfunction recovered significantly after surgery.
      Complete bone union and untethering were achieved in both patients. PSO is an
      alternative surgical technique for senior patients with tethered cord syndrome
      caused by lumbosacral spinal lipoma, when the syndrome occurs along with lumbar
      canal stenosis.

PMID- 20942590
TI  - Necrotizing vacuolar myopathy presenting with recurrent myoglobinuria.
AB  - Myoglobinuria occurs in a variety of systemic and neurological disorders and can
      pose diagnostic challenges. We report on a 23-year-old man in whom recurrent
      myoglobinuria was observed due to necrotizing vacuolar myopathy confirmed on
      muscle biopsy. Histopathologically the intramuscular vacuoles lacked the typical
      findings reported in vacuolar myopathy due to disorders of glycogen and lipid
      metabolism. We discuss the management approach to recurrent myoglobinuria.
      Recurrent myoglobinuria in the absence of toxin or drug exposure and seizure is
      more often due to primary muscle disease. Recognizing the presence of
      myoglobinuria and the proximate cause is essential in preventing the development
      of renal dysfunction and the future recurrence of symptoms.

PMID- 20942591
TI  - Effect of low Mg2+ and bicuculline on cell survival in hippocampal slice
      cultures.
AB  - A reliable model system of epileptiform insult would facilitate investigation
      into the underlying biological mechanisms. Epileptiform insult was induced in
      hippocampal slice cultures by lowering extracellular Mg(2+), (+)-bicuculline, or
      (-)-bicuculline methochloride, a stable salt form of bicuculline (both forms
      block GABA(A) receptors). Cell death was assessed by propidium iodide uptake. Low
      Mg(2+) or (+)-bicuculline did not produce cell death regardless of dose or
      incubation period. Exposure to 100 microM (-)-bicuculline methochloride for 48 hr
      resulted in prominent CA1 cell death. These findings demonstrate that not all pro
      epileptic drugs/ion changes used routinely for electrophysiological recording of
      seizure activity lead to cell death in hippocampal slice cultures and that
      treatment with bicuculline methochloride can be used as a reliable model for
      epileptiform insult.

PMID- 20942592
TI  - Phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors: novel weapons against Alzheimer's disease?
AB  - Although Alzheimer's disease (AD) poses a major health problem in both developing
      and developed countries, no definite treatment is available for its cure; hence
      efforts are being focused on introducing disease-modifying agents for slowing
      down its course. Recent studies on the effects of sildenafil on different organs
      have shown that PDE-5 inhibitors may offer new horizons in therapeutic treatment
      of pulmonary hypertension, multiple sclerosis, neuropathic pain, and age-related
      memory impairment. In this paper we introduce PDE-5 inhibitors as novel disease
      modifying agents against AD and review the different impacts of PDE-5 inhibition
      on various pathogenic mechanisms leading to AD, including neuronal apoptosis,
      neurovascular dysfunction, neurotransmitter modulation, and impairment of
      neurogenesis.

PMID- 20942593
TI  - Relationship between leukocyte kinetics and behavioral tests changes in the
      inflammatory process of hemorrhagic stroke recovery.
AB  - In this study, we investigated the inflammatory response to hemorrhagic stroke
      (HS) as the main mechanism of brain functional recovery. Sprague-Dawley rats (n =
      24) underwent surgery with sterile saline (control group, n = 12) and collagenase
      IV-S (stroke group, n = 12) being injected into the right striatum. White blood
      cell analysis, histological and immunohistological examination of the brain
      slices, as well as densitometric analysis of polymorphonuclear and microglial
      cells/macrophages were correlated with behavioral tests, and the data were
      subjected to appropriate statistical processing. The results indicate a strong
      correlation between polymorphonuclear and mononuclear changes in the blood and
      the zone of hemorrhagic stroke with behavioral tests of functional brain
      recovery. We propose that the inflammatory response is determined by kinetics of
      polymorphonuclear and mononuclear cells in both the blood and the hemorrhagic
      stroke zone. Kinetics of these cells is followed by the restoration of functions,
      and the maximum functional recovery is observed by the time polymorphonuclear and
      mononuclear stages have completed. With the development of inflammation and
      leukocyte kinetics, it is possible to predict functional recovery of hemorrhagic
      stroke. Improvement of the degree and rate of hemorrhagic stroke functional
      recovery may be achieved by therapeutic interventions into the inflammatory
      mechanisms influencing polymorphonuclear and mononuclear cell kinetics.

PMID- 20942594
TI  - Influence of IL-1RN intron 2 variable number of tandem repeats (VNTR)
      polymorphism on the age at onset of neuropsychiatric symptoms in Wilson's
      disease.
AB  - ABSTRACT Wilson's disease (WND) is an autosomal recessive copper storage disease
      characterized with diverse clinical pictures with the hepatic and/or
      neuropsychiatric symptoms manifesting at variable age. On the basis of the
      existing knowledge on possible copper-proinflammatory cytokines interactions, we
      hypothesized that in WND hereditary, over-/underexpression of PC or anti
      inflammatory cytokines may have an impact on the course of the disease. We
      analyzed the clinical manifestations of WND in relationship to polymorphisms
      within genes for interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL1RN intron 2 VNTR
      polymorphism), interleukin-1alpha (IL1A G4845T), IL-1beta (IL1B C-511T), IL-6
      (IL6 G-174C), and tumor necrosis factor (TNF G-308A) in a total sample of 332
      patients. The IL1B C-511T and IL1RN VNTR polymorphisms had an impact on copper
      metabolism parameters. None of the studied gene polymorphisms had effect on the
      mode of WND manifestation (neuropsychiatric vs. hepatic). Carriership of the
      IL1RN *2 allele was related to earlier WND onset, especially among patients with
      neuropsychiatric form of the disease (median 27.5 vs. 32.0 years, p = .003).
      Because of the crucial modulatory role of IL1ra on IL-1alpha and IL-1beta
      proinflammatory functions, IL1ra and its interactions may play a role in the
      pathogenesis of the neurodegenerative process in WND; our results need to be
      replicated, possibly in different ethnic groups.

PMID- 20942595
TI  - Antineuronal antibodies in migraine patients with white matter lesions.
AB  - Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies occasionally display focal hyperintense
      lesions within the white matter of migraine patients. No immunological factors
      associated with these lesions have been defined so far. To investigate the
      relationship between MRI lesions and antineuronal antibody response, 17 migraine
      patients with white matter lesions (WML), 19 migraine patients without WML, 20
      multiple sclerosis patients with WML and with no headache history, and 20 healthy
      individuals were enrolled, and their sera were examined by indirect
      immunohistochemistry for the presence of immunoglobulin G (IgG) reacting with the
      rat brain tissue. Migraine patients with and without WML essentially showed
      identical demographic and clinical features and frequencies of systemic
      autoantibodies. However, migraine patients with WML displayed a significantly
      higher frequency of antineuronal antibodies than those without WML (12/17 vs.
      2/19, p = .0004). Serum IgG of migraine patients predominantly reacted with the
      cytoplasm of neurons and the molecular layer of cerebellum. None of the multiple
      sclerosis patients and healthy controls displayed antineuronal antibodies. Our
      results imply the involvement of inflammation in migraine pathogenesis.

PMID- 20942596
TI  - Pharmacological small molecules for the treatment of lysosomal storage disorders.
AB  - IMPORTANCE OF THE FIELD: Inherited lysosomal storage diseases often cause severe
      disability and have a devastating effect on quality of life. Enzyme replacement
      therapy (ERT) forms a cornerstone in the treatment of lysosomal enzyme
      deficiencies. Although for some lysosomal disorders ERT is lifesaving, important
      intrinsic restrictions of the approach are limited access of infused enzyme to
      less accessible body compartments such as the CNS, the burden of frequent
      intravenous administration, the emergence of antibodies and the high associated
      costs. Pharmacological small molecules may overcome these limitations. AREAS
      COVERED IN THIS REVIEW: Several novel therapeutic approaches using small
      molecules are emerging: substrate reduction therapy, pharmacological chaperone
      therapy, premature nonsense mutation suppressors and proteostasis regulators.
      WHAT THE READER WILL GAIN: Based on an extensive literature search up until June
      2010, we here review the various therapeutic approaches with small compounds,
      including those currently in clinical use and those that have entered clinical
      trials. Compounds that are still in the preclinical phase are also briefly
      discussed. TAKE HOME MESSAGE: pharmacological small molecules are a new class of
      agents that show great promise for the treatment of lysosomal storage disorders.

PMID- 20942597
TI  - Transient appearance of postoperative EDTA-dependent pseudothrombocytopenia in a
      patient after gastrectomy.
AB  - Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid-dependent pseudothrombocytopenia (EDTA-PTCP) is a
      well known phenomenon. Antiplatelet antibodies cause platelet clumping in EDTA
      anticoagulated blood samples, and blood count analysers calculate a spurious low
      platelet count. We describe a case of a transient appearance of EDTA-PTCP in a
      patient after gastrectomy. A 58-year-old man underwent partial gastrectomy in for
      gastric cancer. Preoperatively, his platelet count was in a normal range, and the
      surgical procedure was performed without bleeding complications. At day 10 after
      surgery the patient showed a low platelet count, which could be identified as
      EDTA-PTCP. The phenomenon disappeared in a following postoperative time interval
      of 2 months. In cases of recently occurring thrombocytopenias EDTA-PTCP should
      always be considered as a possible cause of low platelet count, in particular in
      cases of inconspicuous clinical findings. Appropriate laboratory analysis should
      be applied.

PMID- 20942598
TI  - Eight-year follow-up of patients with immune thrombocytopenic purpura related
      toH. pyloriinfection.
AB  - Thrombocytopenia related to Helicobacter pylori infection is a definitive subset
      of chronic immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) but its long-term prognosis has
      not been evaluated extensively. The possibility of recurrence of thrombocytopenia
      after re-infection of H. pylori is another concern. We evaluated 8-year follow-up
      data for 11 patients with ITP related to H. pylori infection in a single
      institution. In 2001, patients with chronic ITP were evaluated for H. pylori
      infection at the Tokyo Metropolitan Komagome Hospital using 13C urea breath test
      (UBIT). Nineteen patients turned out to be positive and were treated for H.
      pylori infection. Platelet count 6 months after treatment revealed complete
      response (CR) in 10 patients and response in one patient. Eight years later, 17
      of these 19 patients were re-evaluated for H. pylori infection and platelet
      count. Platelet counts of the 11 previous responders remained to indicate CR. Two
      of 13 patients re-examined by UBIT showed positive results and one of these two
      patients continued to keep normal platelet count. Nonetheless, the prognosis of
      patients who responded to eradication was excellent.

PMID- 20942599
TI  - Valproic acid and all trans retinoic acid differentially induce megakaryopoiesis
      and platelet-like particle formation from the megakaryoblastic cell line MEG-01.
AB  - Both, the activity of transcription factors as well as epigenetic alterations in
      defined DNA regions regulate cellular differentiation processes. Hence, neuronal
      differentiation from neural progenitor cells is promoted by the transcription
      factor all trans retinoic acid (ATRA) and the histone deacetylase inhibitor
      valproic acid (VPA). VPA has also been shown to be involved in differentiation of
      tumor cells and to greatly improve the reprogramming of human somatic cells to
      induced pluripotent stem cells. Here we have investigated the impact of ATRA and
      VPA on the differentiation of megakaryoctes and platelets from the megakaryocyte
      progenitor cell line MEG-01. Our results show that treatment with ATRA (10-11 M)
      and VPA (2 * 10-3 M) induces megakaryopoiesis of MEG-01 cells as estimated by
      polyploidy, formation of characteristic proplatelets and elevated expression of
      the megakaryocytic markers CD41 and CD61. The resulting megakaryocytes stayed
      viable for more than 3 weeks and shed platelet-like particles positive for CD41,
      CD61 and CD42b into the supernatant. Platelet-like particles responded to
      thrombin receptor activating peptide (TRAP-6) with increased externalization of P
      selectin. Thus, ATRA and VPA proved to be efficient agents for the gentle
      induction of megakaryopoiesis and thrombopoiesis of MEG-01 cells providing the
      possibility to study molecular events underlying megakaryopoiesis and human
      platelet production over longer time periods.

PMID- 20942600
TI  - Two cases of non-haematological cause of fetal hydrops in at-risk pregnancies for
      homozygous alpha0-thalassemia.
AB  - In recent years, sonography has been successfully used as an alternative method
      for prenatal detection of Hb Bart's disease in areas with high prevalence of
      &#x03B1;-thalassemia. We present two cases in which the fetuses demonstrated
      signs of Hb Bart's disease by sonography, however, invasive procedures could not
      confirm it. We recommend that, in prenatal diagnosis of Hb Bart's disease by
      sonography, the diagnosis should always be confirmed with definitive methods to
      exclude false-positive findings.

PMID- 20942601
TI  - Ethnopharmacological inventory of plants used in Coronel Portillo Province of
      Ucayali Department, Peru.
AB  - CONTEXT: Despite a rich tradition of folk medicinal usage of plants in the
      Peruvian Amazon, no studies documenting ethnobotanical information of Coronel
      Portillo Province of Ucayali Department have been published at an international
      level. OBJECTIVE: This field research documented traditional ethnobotanical
      knowledge related to the local use of medicinal plants. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      Ethnobotanical data were collected in native communities around Pucallpa city
      (Coronel Portillo Province of Ucayali Department, Peru) and in the city itself
      during the period June-October 2007. The data were collected through direct
      interviews with 23 people. RESULTS: Uses of 30 plant species belonging to 18
      families in traditional medicine are described in this article. Botanical and
      vernacular names, plant part used, popular medicinal use, forms of preparation
      and applications of the herbal remedies for each species are reported. DISCUSSION
      AND CONCLUSION: Among investigated species, Brunfelsia grandiflora D. Don
      (Solanaceae), Calycophyllum spruceanum (Benth.) K. Schum. (Rubiaceae),
      Naucleopsis glabra Spruce (Moraceae), Phthirusa pyrifolia Eichler (Loranthaceae)
      were identified to be widely used in the studied area. However their beneficial
      health properties have not been well studied.

PMID- 20942602
TI  - Antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory activities of Bunium persicum essential
      oil, hydroalcoholic and polyphenolic extracts in animal models.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Fruits of Bunium persicum (Boiss.) B. Fedtsh. (Apiaceae) are widely
      used in Iranian folkloric medicine for controlling colic pain and dysmenorrhea.
      This study was aimed to evaluate the anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects of
      the plant fruits and analyzing its essential oil. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      Hydroalcoholic extract, polyphenolic extract and essential oil were prepared
      using standard methods. The acetic acid and formalin tests were used in male mice
      (25-35 g) to assess analgesic activity. For evaluation of anti-inflammatory
      effect, carrageenan-induced rat paw edema and croton oil-induced ear edema were
      used. RESULTS: Hydrodistillation of the fruits of B. persicum afforded a pale
      yellowish oil in a yield of 2%. GC/MS analysis identified 10 compounds, and gamma
      terpinene (46.1%), cuminal (23.9%) and p-cymene (15.9%) were the main components.
      Hydroalcoholic and polyphenolic extracts (400 and 800 mg/kg, i.p.) and essential
      oil (100-400 ul/kg, p.o.) significantly (p < 0.01) reduced acetic acid-induced
      writhings. They also significantly reduced the pain response of both early and
      late phases of the formalin test. In the carrageenan test and croton oil-induced
      ear edema both extracts and essential oil showed considerable anti-inflammatory
      response. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: These results clearly show the analgesic
      and anti-inflammatory effects of the plant fruits, and since extracts and
      essential oil relieved the pain of the first phase of the formalin test, it seems
      that at least a part of analgesic activity is mediated centrally. Meanwhile, the
      effects observed in this study provide evidence for folkloric uses of the plant
      fruits in painful and inflammatory conditions.

PMID- 20942603
TI  - A changing time: the International Society for Cellular Therapy embraces its
      industry members.
AB  - The last decade has seen a dramatic rise in the development of new cellular
      therapeutics in a wide range of indications. There have been acceptable safety
      profiles reported in early studies using blood-derived and adherent stem cell
      products, but also an inconsistent efficacy record. Further expansion has been
      hindered in part by a lack of capital (both private and public) and delayed entry
      into the cell therapy space by large healthcare and pharmaceutical companies,
      those members of the industry most reliably able to initiate and maintain
      advanced-phase clinical trials. With recognition that the International Society
      for Cellular Therapy (ISCT) is uniquely positioned to serve the global
      translational regenerative medicine research community as a network hub for
      scientific standards and policy, the ISCT commissioned the establishment of an
      Industry Task Force (ITF) to address current and future roles for industry. The
      objectives of the ITF were to gather information and prioritize efforts for a new
      Commercialization Committee (CC) and to construct innovative platforms that would
      foster constructive and synergistic collaborations between industry and ISCT.
      Recommendations and conclusions of the ITF included that the new CC: (1) foster
      new relationships with therapeutic and stem cell societies, (2) foster
      educational workshops and forums to cross-educate and standardize practices, (3)
      create industry subcommittees to address priority initiatives, with clear
      benchmarks and global implementation, and (4) establish a framework for a greater
      industry community within ISCT, opening doors for industry to share the new
      vision for commercialization of cell therapy, emphasizing the regenerative
      medicine space.

PMID- 20942604
TI  - Isolating cytomegalovirus-specific T cells for adoptive transfer: are we there
      yet?

PMID- 20942605
TI  - Correlation between centric relation&#x2013;maximum intercuspation discrepancy
      and temporomandibular joint dysfunction.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between centric relation-maximum
      intercuspation (CR-MI) discrepancy and temporomandibular joint dysfunction (TMD)
      in pre-treated orthodontic patients. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study involved an
      experimental group of 107 pre-treated orthodontic patients with signs and
      symptoms of TMD aged 18-32 years, and a control group of 70 students with no
      signs and symptoms of TMD aged 20-30 years. The psychological condition of
      subjects was evaluated using two standard questionnaires, and a clinical
      examination performed to assess masticatory musculature and temporomandibular
      joint (TMJ) function, and to establish the presence or absence of TMD. Helkimo
      indices, the anamnestic dysfunction index (Ai) and the clinical dysfunction index
      (Di), were determined. Dental casts were mounted on a semi-adjustable articulator
      in CR using a CR bite record taken by bilateral manipulation and verified by load
      testing and face bow records. Differences in condylar position between CR and MI
      in the three planes of space were determined using the condyle position
      indicator. RESULTS: A positive CR-MI discrepancy, defined as a discrepancy
      exceeding 1 mm in the vertical or horizontal planes or 0.5 mm in the transverse
      plane, was found in 72.9% of the experimental and 11.4% of the control group.
      Comparison of the groups showed a significant difference (chi2 = 22.67, P <
      0.001). CR-MI discrepancy was significantly correlated with Di and Ai in all
      subjects (P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: There was CR-MI discrepancy in most of the pre
      treated patients with signs and symptoms of TMD. This discrepancy may be a
      contributory factor to the development of TMD in these patients.

PMID- 20942607
TI  - Toward a proportionate regulatory framework for gene transfer: a patient group
      led initiative.

PMID- 20942606
TI  - Neuronal restrictive silencing factor silencing induces human amniotic fluid
      derived stem cells differentiation into insulin-producing cells.
AB  - Islet cell replacement represents the most promising approach for the treatment
      of type I diabetes. However, it is limited by a shortage of pancreas donors.
      Here, we report that human amniotic fluid-derived stem cells (hAFSCs) can be
      induced to differentiate into functional insulin-producing cells by knocking down
      neuronal restrictive silencing factor (NRSF). In this study, lentiviral vectors
      were used to deliver small interference NRSF (siNRSF) RNA into hAFSCs. After
      infection with lentivirus containing siNRSF, hAFSCs were successfully induced to
      differentiate into insulin-producing cells. The differentiated siNRSF-hAFSCs
      expressed genes specific for islet cells, such as Pdx1, Hnf4alpha, Isl-1, Nkx6.1,
      Insulin, and Glut2. These cells also produced and released C-peptide in a glucose
      responsive manner. These findings indicated that hAFSCs could be induced to
      differentiate into insulin-producing beta-like cells by NRSF silencing.

PMID- 20942608
TI  - The effect of Houttuynia cordata injection on pseudorabies herpesvirus (PrV)
      infection in vitro.
AB  - CONTEXT: Pseudorabies herpesvirus (PrV) belongs to the Alphaherpesvirinae.
      Piglets infected with PrV die within a few days. Development of effective
      antiviral agents is one alternative or complementary method to prevent PrV
      infection. Houttuynia cordata Thunb. (Saururaceae), H. cordata, a traditional
      Chinese medicine, is often used to relieve lung abnormal symptoms, infectious
      disease, refractory hemoptysis and malignant pleural effusion in China.
      OBJECTIVE: The present study aimed to investigate the effect of H. cordata
      injection on cell infection by PrV using Vero cells (a monkey kidney cell line)
      and swine testis cells (ST) as models. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The infectivity of
      PrV was determined by plaque assays when H. cordata was applied to the virus, to
      the virus infected cells, and to the cells prior to infection. The genomic DNA
      copies post-drug treatment were confirmed by PCR and reverse transcription PCR.
      The cell apoptosis caused by the virus was analyzed. RESULTS: H. cordata
      efficiently inhibited cell infection after incubating the drug with PrV.
      Nevertheless, H. cordata was more efficient in Vero cells than in ST cells in
      terms of its inhibitory effect. Low-dosage drug inhibited cell apoptosis induced
      by PrV; nevertheless, high-dosage drug alone resulted in cell apoptosis.
      DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: H. cordata has a direct inhibitory activity against
      PrV in vitro. H. cordata may be used as an anti-PrV agent or combined with other
      anti-PrV agents. PrV infection induces cell apoptosis and H. cordata inhibits
      cell infection. The optimal administration dosage of H. cordata should be taken
      into account in the future, because high-dosage H. cordata alone causes cell
      apoptosis.

PMID- 20942609
TI  - Distinction between two populations of islet-1-positive cells in hearts of
      different murine strains.
AB  - Islet-1 expression identifies populations of progenitor cells in embryonic,
      fetal, and newborn murine hearts that are able to give rise to all cardiac cell
      lineages ex vivo and in vivo. Using systematic immunohistochemistry, we
      investigated whether islet-1-positive cells are present in adult mouse heart from
      the perspective of their potential therapeutic utility. The presence,
      localization, and nature of islet-1-positive cells were assessed in mice of
      different strains, ages, and conditions. Islet-1-positive cells were present in
      mouse heart from postnatal day 1 to young adulthood. Depending on the strain,
      these cells were organized in either 1 or 2 types of clusters localized to
      restricted areas, at a distance of 6%-35% of the heart length from the base. The
      first type of cluster was present in all strains and consisted of neural crest
      derived cells that formed cardiac ganglia. The number of cells remained stable (a
      few hundred) from neonatal up to adult ages, and variations were noted between
      strains regarding their long-term persistency. The second type of cluster was
      essentially present in 129SvJ or Balb/C strains and absent from the other strains
      tested (C57BL/6J, C3H, SJL). It consisted of cells expressing highly ordered
      sarcomeric actin, consistent with their having cardiomyocyte identity. These
      cells disappeared in animals older than 4 months. Neither the number nor the type
      of islet-1-positive cells varied with time in a mouse model of dilated
      cardiomyopathy. Our studies demonstrate that islet-1-positive cells are
      relatively few in number in adult murine heart, being localized in restricted and
      rather inaccessible areas, and can represent both neural crest and cardiomyocyte
      lineages.

PMID- 20942610
TI  - Evaluating the efficacy of a group of nontraditional plasticizers on the glass
      transition temperature of ethyl cellulose polymer.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the efficiency of a
      homologous series of esters of dicarboxylic acid on ethyl cellulose polymer in
      terms of their glass transition temperatures (T(g)). METHODS: Ethyl cellulose
      polymer was plasticized with succinates (C-2), glutarates (C-5), adipates (C-6),
      pimelates (C-7), suberates (C-8), and sebacates (C-10) at different concentration
      levels. The film formation and physical state of plasticizers within the polymer
      were investigated and incompatibility of plasticizers was determined by
      nonhomogeneous system. RESULTS: A decrease in T(g) of the plasticized polymer was
      used as an indicator of plasticizing efficiency. Experimental T(g) values were
      correlated with the theoretical ones predicted by Gordon-Taylor equation. Most of
      the experimental T(g) values did not fit with the predicted ones. For all
      plasticizers (except succinates) the measured T(g) was lower than calculated
      indicating negative deviation from the ideal behavior. Anti-plasticization was
      obtained with lower plasticizers concentration. Fourier transform infrared
      spectroscopy was used to determine the interactions between the polymer and
      plasticizers on T(g) values in predicting the efficiency. CONCLUSIONS: The
      correlation between experimental and calculated T(g) values verifies that
      physiochemical properties are the primary factors influencing the plasticization
      efficiency. However, further studies are needed to establish the plasticization
      efficiency.

PMID- 20942611
TI  - Polyamidoamine dendrimers as potential drug carriers for enhanced aqueous
      solubility and oral bioavailability of silybin.
AB  - PURPOSE: In this study, the effect of polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimers on the
      solubility of silybin was investigated. The in vitro drug release and the
      pharmacokinetics of silybin-dendrimer complex were also investigated. METHODS:
      The solubilization of silybin by PAMAM dendrimers of generation G1.5, G2, G2.5,
      and G3 with different concentrations was determined and compared in different pH
      conditions. The in vitro release of silybin from the silybin-dendrimer complex
      was compared with pure silybin. Twelve rats randomized into two groups were
      separately orally administered silybin and silybin-PAMAM complex. RESULTS: The
      water solubility of silybin was significantly improved by PAMAM dendrimers of
      generations G1.5, G2, G2.5, and G3 with different concentrations in different pH
      conditions (P < 0.05). The in vitro release of silybin from the silybin-dendrimer
      complex was significantly slower compared with pure silybin (P < 0.05). The
      pharmacokinetics parameters T (max), C(max), and AUC(0-infinity) of silybin and
      silybin-dendrimer complex were 10 minutes, 134.2 ng/mL, 654.6 (ng.h)/mL and 15
      minutes, 182.4 ng/mL, 1298.7 (ng.h)/mL, respectively. The relative oral
      bioavailability of silybin-dendrimer complex calculated on the basis of AUC(0
      infinity) was about 178% as compared with silybin. CONCLUSION: These results
      indicated that PAMAM dendrimers could increase the water solubility of silybin
      and improve its oral bioavailability.

PMID- 20942612
TI  - Evaluation of strain-induced hydrophobicity of pharmaceutical blends and its
      effect on drug release rate under multiple compression conditions.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of mechanical
      shear on hydrophobicity of pharmaceutical powder blends as a function of
      composition and particle size, and to determine the impact on drug release from
      tablets. METHODS: Four powder formulations were subjected to three different
      shear strain conditions (40 rev, 160 rev, and 640 rev) in a controlled shear
      environment operating at a shear rate of 80 rpm. A total of 12 blends were tested
      for hydrophobicity. Subsequently, sheared blends were compressed into tablets at
      8 kN and 12 kN in a rotary tablet press. During tablet compression, powder
      samples were collected after the feed frame and their hydrophobicity was again
      measured. RESULTS: Results indicated that increase in shear strain could
      significantly increase hydrophobicity, predominantly as an interacting function
      of blend composition. Blends with both colloidal silica and magnesium stearate
      (MgSt) were found to show higher hydrophobicity with shear than other blends.
      Additional shear applied by the tablet press feed frame was found to change the
      powder hydrophobicity only in the absence of MgSt. CONCLUSIONS: Studies showed
      that the drug release rates dropped with shear more for the blends with both
      colloidal silica and MgSt than the other blends. Furthermore, the rate of drug
      release dropped with a decrease in particle size of the main excipient.
      Surprisingly, the relationship between the relative increase in hydrophobicity
      and a corresponding drop in the drug release rate was not found when either MgSt
      or colloidal silica was mixed alone in the blends.

PMID- 20942614
TI  - A double-blind, randomised, crossover study of two doses of a single-tablet
      combination of ibuprofen/paracetamol and placebo for primary dysmenorrhoea.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Efficacy of pain relief may potentially be enhanced by combining two
      or more analgesics with different mechanisms of action. The objective of this
      study was to assess the efficacy and tolerability of a novel single-tablet
      combination of ibuprofen and paracetamol compared with placebo in females
      experiencing moderate-to-severe pain due to primary dysmenorrhoea, a prevalent,
      recurrent condition characterised by pain at the time of menses. METHODS: This
      was a phase II/III, double-blind, randomised, cross-over, single-dose study in 94
      women with moderate-to-severe dysmenorrhoea, examining the efficacy and
      tolerability of one or two tablets of a single-tablet combination of ibuprofen
      200 mg/paracetamol 500 mg compared with placebo. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION:
      ISRCTN42521357 RESULTS: Total pain relief over 6 hours post-dose (TOTPAR(0-6h))
      was significantly greater following administration of two tablets of the single
      tablet combination of ibuprofen 200 mg/paracetamol 500 mg compared with placebo
      (LS means: 2.35, 1.85, respectively; p = 0.0001) and approached significance for
      one tablet (LS mean: 2.10; p = 0.054). Statistically superior pain relief and
      reductions in pain intensity were achieved from 2 hours and 90 minutes post-dose,
      respectively, with the higher dose combination, and from 4 hours with the lower
      dose combination compared with placebo. Overall effectiveness (sum of pain
      intensity difference and pain relief score [SPRID] over 6 hours) were
      statistically superior to placebo for both one and two tablets of the
      ibuprofen/paracetamol combination (p = 0.0011 and p = 0.03, respectively). Both
      dose combinations were well-tolerated. Adverse events were minor and their
      frequency and nature did not differ with either treatment compared with placebo.
      CONCLUSIONS: One or two tablets of a single-tablet combination of ibuprofen 200
      mg/paracetamol 500 mg is well-tolerated and provides superior analgesic efficacy
      to placebo in patients with primary dysmenorrhoea.

PMID- 20942613
TI  - In vivo anti-inflammatory effect of a sulfated polysaccharide isolated from the
      marine brown algae Lobophora variegata.
AB  - CONTEXT: Lobophora variegata J.V. Lamouroux (Dictyotaceae) is a brown marine alga
      widely encountered in the Brazilian sea coast that presents high content of
      fucans. Anti-inflammatory effects of fucans are reported mostly in models in
      vitro, but little is known about its effects in vivo. OBJECTIVE: To investigate
      vascular and cellular effects of a sulfated polysaccharide from the brown marine
      algae L. variegata (SP-Lv) in acute inflammatory models. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
      SP-Lv was isolated by DEAE-cellulose and analyzed by agarose gel electrophoresis
      and evaluated for its inhibitory effect on paw edema, vascular permeability,
      leukocyte migration and peritoneal nitrite content induced by zymosan in Wistar
      rats. Anticoagulant activities and possible systemic toxicity were also
      evaluated. RESULTS: SP-Lv inhibited the paw edema (120 min: 1.42 +/- 0.11 vs.
      0.95 +/- 0.05 mL), plasma exudation (21.53 +/- 0.62 vs. 11.96 +/- 0.68 MUg/g),
      nitrite content (4.42 +/- 0.33 vs. 2.86 +/- 0.003 MUM) and leukocyte migration
      (5.15 +/- 1.21 vs. 1.99 +/- 0.16 cells/10(3) mL) induced by zymosan. SP-Lv and L
      NAME reduced the paw edema (60-120 min) elicited by L-arginine. However, at 180
      min SP-Lv effect was more accentuated and sustained until 240 min, while that of
      L-NAME was abolished. Similarly to indomethacin, SP-Lv inhibited the entire edema
      time-course induced by phospholipase A(2), except for the time of 60 min.
      DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: The anti-edematogenic effect of SP-Lv seems to occur
      via inhibition of nitric oxide synthase and cyclooxygenase activities. These
      results suggest a potential applicability of polysaccharides from alga origin in
      acute inflammatory conditions.

PMID- 20942615
TI  - Estimating a meaningful reduction in menstrual blood loss for women with heavy
      menstrual bleeding.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: A dichotomy exists within the treatment of heavy menstrual bleeding
      (HMB); guidelines and expert opinion recommend that clinical management be guided
      by subjective, patient-centered measures, yet clinical trials often describe
      treatment efficacy in terms of objective reductions in menstrual blood loss
      (MBL). The purpose of this investigation was to correlate subjective and
      objective aspects of HMB treatment by identifying the minimum change in MBL that
      would be considered meaningful to women. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Receiver
      operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses were performed using data from a
      multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group study
      of a novel, oral formulation of tranexamic acid (Lysteda). The study enrolled
      women ages 18-49 years with a history of cyclic HMB. Menstrual blood loss was
      measured objectively using the alkaline hematin method and subjectively using the
      Menorrhagia Impact Questionnaire (MIQ), a patient-reported outcome instrument
      previously validated in an HMB population. Additional subgroup analyses were
      performed after stratification by low (80-160 mL/cycle) or high (> 160 mL/cycle)
      baseline MBL. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT00401193 (NIH Clinical Trials
      Registry) RESULTS: A total of 278 women were included in the ROC analyses. The
      best balance of sensitivity and specificity was achieved for predicting a patient
      perceived meaningful improvement in MBL, at a cut point of 36 mL/cycle. Absolute
      reductions in MBL that were considered meaningful were more modest in women with
      lower baseline MBL (22 mL/cycle) and greater in women with higher baseline MBL
      (47 mL/cycle). However, an approximately 22% MBL reduction was meaningful to the
      majority of women in either the low or high baseline MBL subgroups. CONCLUSIONS:
      Reducing measurable MBL by 36 mL/cycle, or approximately 22%, was considered to
      be a meaningful improvement for the majority of women with HMB in this study
      population.

PMID- 20942616
TI  - Estimate of maintenance EPO to darbepoetin alfa dose conversion ratio in a
      hospital-based dialysis patient population.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Epoetin alfa (EPO) and darbepoetin alfa are erythropoiesis
      stimulating agents (ESAs) used to treat anemia in patients with chronic kidney
      disease. EPO and darbepoetin alfa have a non-proportional dose conversion
      relationship across the dosing spectrum. However, reports comparing the dose
      relationship between the two ESAs do not adjust for the non-proportional dose
      relationship or for population differences. Because drug cost is directly related
      to dosage, appropriate methods to assess the dose relationship between the two
      ESAs are important to understand the economic implications of converting patient
      populations from one ESA treatment to another. OBJECTIVE: To describe dose
      conversion methods that take into account the non-proportional dose relationship
      between EPO and darbepoetin alfa, and calculate the dose conversion ratio (DCR)
      between the two ESAs in a hospital-based dialysis patient population. METHODS:
      This was a retrospective observational study where longitudinal data from medical
      charts were collected for chronic hemodialysis patients being treated at hospital
      based dialysis centers. Mean maintenance DCRs were calculated at the population
      level for hemodialysis patients converted from EPO to darbepoetin alfa treatment
      and subsequently maintained on darbepoetin alfa. Two methods were used to
      determine the DCRs: a regression-based method using ordinary least squares
      regression, and ratio-based method using an arithmetic mean. RESULTS: The
      estimated population mean maintenance DCR for the population in this analysis was
      320:1 (Units EPO:ug darbepoetin alfa) using the regression-based method, and
      350:1 using the ratio-based method. Sensitivity analysis yielded DCRs ranging
      from 311 to 333:1. CONCLUSIONS: The two methods in estimating the DCR presented
      here provide payers with an empirical way of comparing ESA utilization for
      pharmacoeconomic evaluation. DCR results may vary according to patient
      characteristics; however, mean DCRs of greater than 300:1 were obtained in this
      analysis. Exclusion of other patient-related factors that may influence ESA dose
      is a possible limitation of the study.

PMID- 20942617
TI  - Measurement of multiple drugs in urine, water, and on surfaces using fluorescence
      covalent microbead immunosorbent assay.
AB  - There are a range of applications that require the measurement of multiple drugs
      such as urine analysis, drug determination in water, and screening for drug
      contamination on surfaces. Some of the procedures used such as enzyme-linked
      immunosorbent assay (ELISA) are simple but can only determine one drug at a time,
      and others such as GC-MS or LC-MS are complex, time-consuming, and expensive. In
      this study, fluorescence covalent microbead immunosorbent assay (FCMIA) was
      investigated as a simple method for the measurement of multiple drugs
      simultaneously in three matrices: diluted urine, water, and on surfaces. Five
      different drugs of abuse or their metabolites (methamphetamine, caffeine,
      benzoylecgonine (a metabolite of cocaine), tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the active
      ingredient in marijuana, and oxycodone) were studied over the range 0-15 ng/ml.
      There was no measureable cross-reactivity among the drugs at the concentrations
      studied. Urine dilutions from 1/50 to 1/2.5 were studied and dilutions less than
      1/20 had a significant effect on the methamphetamine assay but limited effects on
      the benzoylecgonine and oxycodone assays and almost no effect on the THC assay.
      For assays performed in 1/20 urine dilution, water, and diluted surface sampling
      buffer, least detectable doses (LDD) were 1 ng/ml or less for the drugs. Surfaces
      spiked with drugs were sampled with swabs wetted with surface sampling buffer and
      recoveries were linear over the range 0-100 ng/100 cm(2) surface loading for all
      drugs. FCMIA has potential to be used for the measurement of multiple drugs in
      the matrices studied.

PMID- 20942618
TI  - Assessment of selected Yemeni medicinal plants for their in vitro antimicrobial,
      anticancer, and antioxidant activities.
AB  - CONTEXT: The role of natural products as a source for remedies has been
      recognized since the beginning of mankind. Nevertheless, a minority of
      folkloricly used medicinal plants have been evaluated for their pharmacological
      activities. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study is to evaluate 33 selected
      Yemeni plants for their in vitro anticancer, antimicrobial, and antioxidant
      activities. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The plants were extracted with methanol and
      hot water. The obtained 66 extracts were tested for their in vitro cytotoxic
      activity using the neutral red uptake assay against two cancer cell lines (5637
      and MCF-7). The antimicrobial activity was determined using the agar diffusion
      method and MIC-determination. The DPPH radical method was used for the
      determination of antioxidant activity. RESULTS: Interesting cytotoxic activity
      was observed for Hypoestes forskalei (Vahl) R. Br. (Acanthaceae), Lycium shawii
      Roem. & Schult. (Solanaceae), Pergularia tomentosa L. (Asclepiadaceae), Psiadia
      punctulata (DC.) Vatke (Compositae), Pulicaria petiolaris Jaub. & Spach
      (Compositae) and Rosmarinus officinalis L. (Labiatae) (IC(50) values < 50
      MUg/mL). Antimicrobial activity with MIC values <= 125 MUg/mL was exhibited
      against Gram-positive bacteria by Chrozophora oblongifolia (Del.) A.Juss. ex
      Spreng. (Euphorbiaceae), Myrtus communis L. (Myrtaceae), Phragmanthera regularis
      (Steud. ex Sprague) M.G. Gilbert (Loranthaceae) and R. officinalis. Antioxidant
      activity was observed for C. oblongifolia, M. communis, and P. regularis.
      CONCLUSION: The results justified the use of some investigated plants in the
      Yemeni ethnomedicine. These findings demonstrated that some of the investigated
      plants could be a source of new cytotoxic and antibiotic compounds; however,
      further work is needed.

PMID- 20942619
TI  - Is an expert diagnosis enough for assessment of sick leave for employees with
      musculoskeletal and mental disorders?
AB  - PURPOSE: The aim of this study is to determine differences in self-reported work
      ability, work conditions, health and function between ICD-10 groups with
      musculoskeletal disorders (MSD), mental disorders (MDs) and MSD + MD and to
      determine which variables are associated with sick leave. METHOD: A cross
      sectional study of 210 employees was conducted at an occupational health service
      unit. Physiotherapists and physicians classified the employees' health problems
      according to ICD-10 and the employees answered a questionnaire with questions on
      demographic variables, health, functioning, work ability and work conditions.
      RESULTS: Forty-four per cent of the employees had MSD, 22% had MD and 34% had a
      MSD + MD. The group on sick leave had worse results for all health and work
      measures. Belonging to the MD group, belonging to the MSD + MD group, having poor
      work ability and functioning were associated with being on sick leave. The value
      for the model explaining being on sick leave was 0.63 (Nagelkerke R2).
      CONCLUSIONS: Having a diagnosis of MD based on a professional opinion and having
      poor work ability and functioning based on self-reports are associated with being
      on sick leave. The results suggest that self-reported data could be used to
      complement the expert-based diagnosis.

PMID- 20942620
TI  - Clinical practice and the tobacco epidemic: relevance of a global public health
      problem in the clinical setting.

PMID- 20942621
TI  - Chemoprevention of prostate cancer: breakthroughs and controversies.

PMID- 20942623
TI  - The need to revisit adjuvant and neoadjuvant radiotherapy in bladder cancer.

PMID- 20942624
TI  - Rituximab plus fludarabine and cyclophosphamide or other agents in chronic
      lymphocytic leukemia.
AB  - Over the last few years, several monoclonal antibodies have been investigated in
      patients with B-cell lymphoid malignancies. Rituximab is the most important
      monoclonal antibody of clinical value in these disorders. Rituximab is an IgG1
      chimeric antibody containing murine light- and heavy-chain variable region
      sequences and human constant region sequences. Since approval in 1997, rituximab
      has become the standard of care in follicular B-cell lymphoma, chronic
      lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and aggressive lymphoma when combined with
      chemotherapy. Higher clinical benefits of rituximab can be seen in patients with
      CLL when it is added to other chemotherapeutic agents. Several recent reports
      have suggested that in patients with CLL, rituximab combined with purine
      nucleoside analogs (PNAs) or PNAs and cyclophosphamide may improve the results
      with acceptable toxicity, both in previously untreated and refractory/relapsed
      patients. The randomized, multinational Phase III study (REACH trial) has shown
      that rituximab combined with fludarabine and cyclophosphamide (R-FC regimen)
      results in 10 months longer progression-free survival, and higher overall
      response and complete response rates than fludarabine and cyclophosphamide (FC
      regimen) in previously treated patients. The German CLL study group initiated a
      multicenter, multinational Phase III trial, CLL8, to evaluate the efficacy and
      tolerability of R-FC versus FC for the first-line treatment of patients with
      advanced CLL. The overall response rate was significantly higher in the R-FC arm
      (95%) compared with FC (88%). The complete response rate in the R-FC arm was 44%
      compared with 27% in the FC arm. The recently updated analysis has demonstrated
      longer overall survival in the R-FC group. Recent clinical observations have
      revealed that combinations of rituximab with pentostatin and cyclophosphamide, or
      cladribine and cyclophosphamide are also highly active regimens in previously
      untreated CLL. In addition, the results of treatment with high-dose
      methylprednisolone in combination with rituximab in advanced CLL resistant to
      fludarabine have been reported recently by several groups. However, available
      therapies are only partially effective in CLL, exposing an obvious need to
      develop new, more specific and active drugs. Recently, several new anti-CD20
      monoclonal antibodies have been developed and are now being evaluated in clinical
      trials.

PMID- 20942625
TI  - Does axitinib (AG-01376) have a future role in metastatic renal cell carcinoma
      and other malignancies?
AB  - Axitinib (Pfizer Inc., UK) is an oral small-molecule receptor tyrosine kinase
      inhibitor that targets angiogenesis. Axitinib has greater affinity and is a more
      selective inhibitor of VEGF receptor 1, -2 and -3, PDGFR and c-KIT than both
      sunitinib and sorafenib. It has encouraging efficacy and safety data in Phase II
      trials for metastatic renal cell carcinoma and advanced thyroid cancer patients.
      It is now being investigated in two Phase III trials in metastatic renal cell
      carcinoma and in Phase II trials in a range of tumor types. These trials will
      determine whether axitinib is an effective and safe antiangiogenic therapy.

PMID- 20942626
TI  - Colorectal cancer chemoprevention: the potential of a selective approach.
AB  - Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a leading cause of cancer death, and therefore demands
      special attention. Novel recent approaches for the chemoprevention of CRC focus
      on selective targeting of key pathways. We review the study by Zhang and
      colleagues, evaluating a selective approach targeting APC-deficient premalignant
      cells using retinoid-based therapy and TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand
      (TRAIL). This study demonstrates that induction of TRAIL-mediated death signaling
      contributes to the chemopreventive value of all-trans-retinyl acetate (RAc) by
      sensitizing premalignant adenoma cells for apoptosis without affecting normal
      cells. We discuss these important findings, raise few points that deserve
      consideration, and may further contribute to the development of RAc-based
      combination therapies with improved efficacy. The authors clearly demonstrate a
      synergistic interaction between TRAIL, RAc and APC, which leads to the specific
      cell death of premalignant target cells. The study adds to the growing body of
      literature related to CRC chemoprevention, and provides solid data supporting a
      potentially selective approach for preventing CRC using RAc and TRAIL.

PMID- 20942627
TI  - Statin use is associated with improved prostate cancer survival: is it time for a
      clinical trial?
AB  - Recent studies have reported an inverse association between statin use and risk
      of advanced prostate cancer. Thus, it is possible that statin exposure delays
      progression of prostate tumors to an advanced stage. The study by Gutt and
      colleagues gives two important contributions to this field of research. With a
      cohort of 691 men undergoing curative-intent radiation therapy for prostate
      cancer between 1996 and 2008, and with a median follow-up of 50 months, they
      demonstrate that statin use is associated with improved relapse-free survival.
      The result supports the idea that statins could delay prostate cancer
      progression. In addition, they demonstrate that low low-density lipoprotein
      levels are associated with improved relapse-free survival, supporting the idea
      that the prostate cancer progression-preventing effects of statins could be, at
      least in part, mediated by their systemic low-density lipoprotein-lowering
      effect. The study adds to the growing body of evidence on statins' benefits
      against prostate cancer. The results have important implications when designing
      possible future clinical studies on this topic.

PMID- 20942628
TI  - Effects of continued tobacco use during treatment of lung cancer.
AB  - Lung carcinoma is one of the most common cancers diagnosed in the USA. A
      significant portion of these patients have a history of tobacco use and many are
      smoking at the time of diagnosis. Despite smoking cessation interventions, many
      patients continue to smoke even after their diagnosis. Those who are able to quit
      smoking after their diagnosis still have a high rate of relapse of smoking within
      the first year. Continued smoking has been found to have multiple negative
      consequences for these patients including increased toxicity from treatment and
      decreased effectiveness of therapy. Overall, patients who continue to smoke after
      their diagnosis have poorer outcomes than those patients who are successfully
      able to quit and abstain from smoking. Knowing this, physicians should encourage
      smoking cessation in this patient population. Future studies are needed to help
      define the best approach for encouraging smoking cessation, taking into account
      patient characteristics and the stress associated with the lung cancer diagnosis.

PMID- 20942629
TI  - EGF receptor in lung cancer: a successful story of targeted therapy.
AB  - Lung cancer research has incorporated molecular medicine into the management of
      this disease during the last 5 years. Several novel tumorigenesis pathways
      associated with lung cancer development and proliferation have been discovered
      and further developed as targets. The idea behind this is to deliver
      individualized therapy for each patient based on his/her tumor phenotype, which
      may involve the overexpression or lack of certain proteins, receptors, mutations
      and other factors. To date, many of these characteristics have been shown to have
      a potential role as prognostic or predictive biomarkers, with most of the
      available data being obtained from retrospective analyses, various laboratory
      platforms, and data sets used for comparison. However, well-designed prospective
      randomized clinical trials are underway to validate the significance and future
      role of these novel biomarkers, allowing us to sort out the best personalized
      management for an individual with lung cancer diagnosis. Nevertheless, one of
      these features, the EGF receptor (EGFR) gene mutation, has emerged as a
      prognostic and strongly predictive biomarker when EGFR inhibition is used as a
      therapy for tumors that harbor the mutation. Our article displays the most
      recently developed data related to this biomarker and what have we learned based
      on the analyses of clinical trials that have studied different agents in the
      clinical arena.

PMID- 20942630
TI  - Primary and secondary therapeutic strategies for EGF receptor pathway inhibition
      in non-small-cell lung cancer.
AB  - As diagnostic and therapeutic options increase, strategies for the treatment of
      non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) are becoming more tailored for specific
      patient subpopulations and individual patients. The introduction of therapy
      targeted against the EGF receptor (EGFR) pathway has provided new treatment
      options for select patients with NSCLC. However, more than half of unselected
      NSCLC patients will fail to achieve disease stabilization on an EGFR tyrosine
      kinase inhibitor (TKI), and secondary resistance is observed in virtually all
      patients who initially respond or achieve disease stabilization. Efforts are
      underway to identify clinical and molecular predictors in patients who may
      benefit from treatment with EGFR TKIs. Recent strategies for targeting the EGFR
      pathway include combining EGFR TKIs with newer agents and developing second
      generation irreversible EGFR TKIs, which may be used in patients who have failed
      treatment with first-generation EGFR TKIs.

PMID- 20942631
TI  - Personalized medicine for non-small-cell lung cancer.
AB  - Non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is a heterogeneous illness associated with a
      high mortality rate. Personalized therapy may improve treatment outcomes by
      identification of a specific genotypic anomaly and target-specific therapy. The
      most significant development in recent years was the discovery of activated EGF
      receptor (EGFR) mutations at exons 19 and 21. Patients with EGFR mutations
      respond dramatically to EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors such as gefitinib or
      erlotinib, resulting in longer progression-free survival. Multiple randomized
      studies, including the Iressa Pan-Asia Study and WJTOG3405, have confirmed the
      role of EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors as standard first-line therapy for
      patients with the EGFR mutation. In this article, we summarize the current
      nonpersonalized therapies and examine the available and investigational
      personalized therapies for patients with resectable early-stage, unresectable
      locally advanced, or metastatic disease.

PMID- 20942632
TI  - Management of obstructive and perforated colorectal cancer.
AB  - Colorectal cancer frequently presents with obstruction or perforation at the time
      of diagnosis, and requires urgent surgery. Various surgical and endoscopic
      approaches are available that minimize the risk of complications related to
      emergency colorectal operations and optimize the oncological outcome for the
      patients. The surgeon has to make clinically and oncologically adequate
      decisions, ranging from diverting colostomy to partial or total colectomy in a
      one-stage procedure or multistage interventions. The endoscopic insertion of a
      self-expanding metallic stent is an option either as a definitive procedure in
      palliative conditions or as a bridge to safer elective surgery. In this article,
      we discuss the current surgical and endoscopic treatments of complicated
      colorectal cancer and propose an algorithm for the management of patients with
      obstructive tumors.

PMID- 20942633
TI  - Stem cells in gastrointestinal cancers: a matter of choice in cell fate
      determination.
AB  - Cancerous stem cells share the same properties of self-renewal and
      differentiation as normal stem cells, and have a similar phenotype to adult stem
      cells isolated from the same tissue. Some believe that cancer stem cells are
      derived from mutation of normal stem cells, whereas others suspect them to have
      different origins. Although complicated and controversial, the stem cell as the
      progenitor of cancer has found support in leukemia research, and subsequently in
      some solid tumors. It was first accepted that both stem and progenitor cells
      could acquire genetic abnormalities that would lead to uncontrolled replication
      and dysregulated differentiation, causing them to transform into cancerous stem
      cells that might then initiate and maintain a tumor. In this article, we discuss
      recent progress in the studies of stomach and intestinal cancer stem cells, while
      focusing on the complex molecular pathways underlying stem cell transformation
      and gastrointestinal tumorigenesis. This understanding provides a basis for
      promising new therapies that may specifically target gastrointestinal cancer stem
      cells.

PMID- 20942634
TI  - Latest developments in targeted therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma.
AB  - The advent of sorafenib can be considered as a turning point in the history of
      advanced hepatocellular carcinoma. After unfortunate attempts at using
      chemotherapy, drugs targeting key pathways have generated new perspectives in
      this field. This means not only killing both tumor cells and cirrhotic fragile
      tissue, but killing them selectively; more than was previously possible. This
      seems like the Copernican Revolution. However, hepatocellular carcinoma is
      pathogenetically complicated, resulting from the number of mutations. Until now,
      there has not been a single drug able to block and reverse abnormally activated
      signaling in hepatocellular carcinoma cells. In this article, we describe the
      most promising targeted drugs being studied in hepatocellular carcinoma and
      depict the possible future scenarios.

PMID- 20942635
TI  - Challenges of drug resistance in the management of pancreatic cancer.
AB  - The current treatment of choice for metastatic pancreatic cancer involves single
      agent gemcitabine or a combination of gemcitabine with capecitabine or erlotinib
      (a tyrosine kinase inhibitor). Only 25&#x2013;30% of patients respond to this
      treatment and patients who do respond initially ultimately exhibit disease
      progression. Median survival for pancreatic cancer patients has reached a plateau
      due to inherent and acquired resistance to these agents. Key molecular factors
      implicated in this resistance include: deficiencies in drug uptake, alteration of
      drug targets, activation of DNA repair pathways, resistance to apoptosis and the
      contribution of the tumor microenvironment. Moreover, for newer agents including
      tyrosine kinase inhibitors, overexpression of signaling proteins, mutations in
      kinase domains, activation of alternative pathways, mutations of genes downstream
      of the target and/or amplification of the target represent key challenges for
      treatment efficacy. Here we will review the contribution of known mechanisms and
      markers of resistance to key pancreatic cancer drug treatments.

PMID- 20942636
TI  - Pleiotropic mechanisms of action of lenalidomide efficacy in del(5q)
      myelodysplastic syndromes.
AB  - Lenalidomide has demonstrated clinical activity in myelodysplastic syndromes,
      particularly in patients with a deletion in the long arm of chromosome 5 (del[5q]
      abnormality). It has a direct effect on the del(5q) clone, which may contribute
      to its ability to induce cytogenetic responses. Lenalidomide also stimulates
      erythropoiesis, leading to erythroid responses in certain patients. Other effects
      include immunomodulation, anti-inflammatory effects and angiogenesis inhibition.
      New findings indicate that lenalidomide modulates key genes located within the
      del(5q) region, including tumor suppressor genes, and regulators of the actin
      cytoskeleton and cell membrane. Its effects on cytoskeleton regulation may
      explain its direct antitumor and immunomodulatory effects. This article provides
      an overview of the known effects of lenalidomide and new insights into its
      activity in del(5q) myelodysplastic syndromes.

PMID- 20942638
TI  - In vivo evaluation of novel chitosan graft polymeric micelles for delivery of
      paclitaxel.
AB  - A water-insoluble anti-tumor agent, Paclitaxel (PTX) was successfully
      incorporated into polymeric micelles formed from new graft copolymers, N-octyl-N
      (2-carboxyl-cyclohexamethenyl) chitosan derivatives(OCCC). The objective of this
      study was to optimize and characterize the novel PTX micelle (PTX-M).
      Furthermore, the pharmacokinetics, NIR-imaging, biodistribution, and anti-tumor
      effects of PTX-M were evaluated. The results showed that the PTX-M had high drug
      loading (43.25%). The Vd and t1/2beta of PTX-M were increased by 11.4- and 2.83
      fold, respectively, but the plasma AUC of PTX-M was 3.8-fold lower than that of
      Taxol. Biodistribution study indicated that PTX-M was widely distributed into
      most tissues, most of them found in liver, spleen, lung, and kidney. This result
      was similar with NIR(near-infrared)-imaging. Tumor growth was significantly
      inhibited after intravenous injection of PTX-M. PTX-M showed the enhanced anti
      tumor effect and non-toxic effects compared with Taxol, the commercial product of
      PTX. Therefore, the chitosan-derived micelle system offered a stable and
      effective platform for cancer chemotherapy with PTX.

PMID- 20942639
TI  - Preparation and evaluation of ibuprofen-loaded microemulsion for improvement of
      oral bioavailability.
AB  - The purpose of the current study was to improve the solubility of ibuprofen, a
      poorly water-soluble drug, in a microemulsion system that is suitable for oral
      administration. Microemulsion was prepared using different sorts of oils,
      surfactants, and co-surfactants. Pseudo-ternary phase diagrams were used to
      evaluate the microemulsion domain. The formulations were characterized by
      solubility of the drug in the vehicle, droplet size, and drug release. The
      optimal formulation consists of 17% Labrafil M 1944CS, 28% Cremophor
      RH40/Transcutol P (3:1, w/w), and 55% water, with a maximum solubility of
      ibuprofen up to 60.3 mg/ml. The mean droplet size of microemulsion was 57 nm. The
      pharmacokinetic study of microemulsion was performed in rats and compared with
      granule formulation. The microemulsion has significantly increased the C(max) and
      area under the curve (AUC) compared to that of the granule (p < 0.05). The
      relative bioavailability of ibuprofen in microemulsions was 1.9-fold higher than
      that of the granule. These results indicated that this novel microemulsion is a
      useful formulation for enhancing the oral bioavailability of ibuprofen.

PMID- 20942640
TI  - Hepatoprotective activity of Glycosmis pentaphylla against paracetamol-induced
      hepatotoxicity in Swiss albino mice.
AB  - CONTEXT: Glycosmis pentaphylla (Retz.) DC (Rutaceae) is a shrub, traditionally
      used to treat anemia, rheumatism, as an anthelmintic, febrifuge and vermifuge,
      for jaundice, and liver complaints. OBJECTIVE: This study evaluated the
      hepatoprotective activity of G. pentaphylla against paracetamol-induced
      hepatotoxicity in Swiss albino mice. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Effect of methanol
      extract (200 and 400 mg/kg) and petroleum ether extract (200 and 400 mg/kg) were
      studied on paracetamol-induced (250 mg/kg intraperitoneally) hepatic damage in
      mice for estimating the serum marker enzymes as alanine aminotransferase (ALT),
      aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), total bilirubin,
      and total protein. Then the sections of liver were observed for histopathological
      changes in liver architecture including necrosis, steatosis, and fatty change of
      hepatic cells. RESULTS: Mice were protected from the hepatotoxic action of
      paracetamol as evidenced by significant reduction in the elevated serum level of
      ALT (P<0.001), AST (P<0.001), ALP (P<0.001), total bilirubin (P<0.01) and an
      increased level of total protein (P<0.01) with a significant reduction in liver
      weight (P<0.01) when compared with paracetamol treated group and silymarin (50
      mg/kg) was used as a positive control. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: These
      biochemical observations were supplemented by histopathological examination of
      liver sections from different experimental groups and corroborated the
      hepatoprotective efficacy of methanol and petroleum ether plant extract. The
      methanol extract (400 mg/kg) of G. pentaphylla is able to alter the toxic
      condition of the hepatocytes so as to protect the membrane integrity against
      paracetamol-induced leakage of marker enzymes.

PMID- 20942641
TI  - Evaluation of the analgesic activities of the crude aqueous extract and fractions
      of Shao Fu Zhu Yu decoction.
AB  - CONTEXT: Shao Fu Zhu Yu decoction (SFD), a well-known Chinese medicine, has been
      used for the treatment of primary dysmenorrhea in China for more than 200 years.
      OBJECTIVE: A crude water extract and four fractions from SFD were evaluated for
      their analgesic activities for the purpose of validating the ethnomedical use of
      SFD. MATERIAL AND METHOD: The analgesic activities were studied by measuring
      nociception using acetic acid-induced abdominal contractions, the hot-plate test,
      formalin-induced licking and oxytocin-induced writhing in estrogen-treated mouse
      models. Prostaglandin E(2) and nitric oxide production in cultured
      lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-treated macrophage cells were determined. Chemical
      components were separated and identified in the SFD analgesic fractions using
      ultra-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS).
      RESULTS: Oral SFD exerted significant analgesic activities in all nociceptive
      models except the hot-plate test. The activity-guided fractionation demonstrated
      that the SFD-40% fraction was the most potent with marked inhibition of pain
      responses at a dose of 54 mg/kg in vivo, and significantly inhibited
      prostaglandin E(2) and nitric oxide production in LPS-treated mouse peritoneal
      macrophages in vitro. Further UPLC-MS analysis showed the presence of several
      chemical components in the SFD-40% fraction, including ferulic acid,
      paeoniflorin, typhaneoside, and isorhamnetin-3-O-neohesperidoside. DISCUSSION AND
      CONCLUSION: These results demonstrated that SFD has significant peripheral
      analgesic activities, mainly attributed to the SFD-40% fraction, and supports the
      use of SFD in traditional Chinese medicine.

PMID- 20942642
TI  - Content range and precision of a computer adaptive test of upper extremity
      function for children with cerebral palsy.
AB  - This article reports on the content range and measurement precision of an upper
      extremity (UE) computer adaptive testing (CAT) platform of physical function in
      children with cerebral palsy. Upper extremity items representing skills of all
      abilities were administered to 305 parents. These responses were compared with
      two traditional standardized measures: Pediatric Outcomes Data Collection
      Instrument and Functional Independence Measure for Children. The UE CAT
      correlated strongly with the upper extremity component of these measures and had
      greater precision when describing individual functional ability. The UE item bank
      has wider range with items populating the lower end of the ability spectrum. This
      new UE item bank and CAT have the capability to quickly assess children of all
      ages and abilities with good precision and, most importantly, with items that are
      meaningful and appropriate for their age and level of physical function.

PMID- 20942643
TI  - Evolution of nutrient uptake reveals a trade-off in the ecological stoichiometry
      of plant-herbivore interactions.
AB  - Nutrient limitation determines the primary production and species composition of
      many ecosystems. Here we apply an adaptive dynamics approach to investigate
      evolution of the ecological stoichiometry of primary producers and its
      implications for plant-herbivore interactions. The model predicts a trade-off
      between the competitive ability and grazing susceptibility of primary producers,
      driven by changes in their nutrient uptake rates. High nutrient uptake rates
      enhance the competitiveness of primary producers but also increase their
      nutritional quality for herbivores. This trade-off enables coexistence of
      nutrient exploiters and grazing avoiders. If herbivores are not selective,
      evolution favors runaway selection toward high nutrient uptake rates of the
      primary producers. However, if herbivores select nutritious food, the model
      predicts an evolutionarily stable strategy with lower nutrient uptake rates. When
      the model is parameterized for phytoplankton and zooplankton, the evolutionary
      dynamics result in plant-herbivore oscillations at ecological timescales,
      especially in environments with high nutrient availability and low selectivity of
      the herbivores. High herbivore selectivity stabilizes the community dynamics.
      These model predictions show that evolution permits nonequilibrium dynamics in
      plant-herbivore communities and shed new light on the evolutionary forces that
      shape the ecological stoichiometry of primary producers.

PMID- 20942644
TI  - In the eyes of the beholders: Female choice and avian predation risk associated
      with an exaggerated male butterfly color.
AB  - Color ornaments are often viewed as products of countervailing sexual and natural
      selection, because more colorful, more attractive individuals may also be more
      conspicuous to predators. However, while evidence for such countervailing
      selection exists for vertebrate color ornaments (e.g., Trinidadian guppies),
      similar studies have yet to be reported in invertebrates. Indeed, evidence for
      female mate choice based on extant variation in male coloration is limited in
      invertebrates, and researchers have not explicitly asked whether more attractive
      males are also more conspicuous to predators. Here we provide evidence that more
      chromatic male cabbage white butterflies (Pieris rapae) are more attractive to
      females but should also be more conspicuous to predators. Female P. rapae
      preferentially mate with more chromatic males when choosing from populations of
      males with naturally occurring or commensurate, experimentally induced color
      variation. Mathematical models of female color vision confirm that females should
      be able to discriminate color differences between prospective mates. Further,
      chromatic and luminance contrast scores from female visual system models better
      predicted male mating success than did measures of male color derived more
      directly from color spectra. Last, models of avian color vision suggest that
      preferred males should be more conspicuous to known avian predators.

PMID- 20942645
TI  - Muscle damage after delivery of naked plasmid DNA into skeletal muscles is batch
      dependent.
AB  - Various plasmids were delivered into rodent limb muscles by hydrodynamic limb
      vein (HLV) injection of naked plasmid DNA (pDNA). Some of the pDNA preparations
      caused significant muscle necrosis and associated muscle regeneration 3 to 4 days
      after the injection whereas others caused no muscle damage. Occurrence of muscle
      damage was independent of plasmid sequence, size, and encoded genes. It was batch
      dependent and correlated with the quantity of bacterial genomic DNA (gDNA) that
      copurified with the pDNA. To determine whether such an effect was due to
      bacterial DNA or simply to fragmented DNA, mice were treated by HLV injection
      with sheared bacterial or murine gDNA. As little as 20 MUg of the large fragments
      of bacterial gDNA caused muscle damage that morphologically resembled damage
      caused by the toxic pDNA preparations, whereas murine gDNA caused no damage even
      at a 10-fold higher dose. Toxicity from the bacterial gDNA was not due to
      endotoxin and was eliminated by DNase digestion. We conclude that pDNA itself
      does not cause muscle damage and that purification methods for the preparation of
      therapeutic pDNA should be optimized for removal of bacterial gDNA.

PMID- 20942646
TI  - RG7128 alone or in combination with pegylated interferon-alpha2a and ribavirin
      prevents hepatitis C virus (HCV) Replication and selection of resistant variants
      in HCV-infected patients.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: RG7128 (prodrug of PSI-6130) shows potent antiviral efficacy in
      patients infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotypes 1, 2, or 3, with mean
      viral load decreases of 2.7 and 5 log(10) IU/mL, respectively, associated with
      1500-mg doses twice daily after monotherapy for 2 weeks and with 1000-mg and 1500
      mg doses twice daily after treatment in combination with the standard of care
      (SOC) for 4 weeks. RESULTS: From 32 patients treated with RG7128 monotherapy for
      2 weeks, marginal viral load rebound was observed in 3 HCV genotype 1-infected
      patients, whereas partial response was observed in 2 genotype 1-infected
      patients. From 85 patients receiving RG7128 in combination with SOC, 1 HCV
      genotype 1-infected patient experienced a viral rebound, and 2 genotype 3
      infected patients experienced a transient rebound. Five genotype 1-infected
      patients had an HCV load of >1000 IU/mL at the end of 4-week treatment. No viral
      resistance was observed, per NS5B sequencing and phenotypic studies. PSI-6130
      resistance substitution S282T needs to be present at levels of >=90% within a
      patient's quasispecies to confer low-level resistance. No evidence of S282T was
      found by population or clonal sequence analyses. CONCLUSIONS: The requirement for
      a predominant S282T mutant quasispecies, its low replication capacity, and the
      low-level resistance it confers probably contribute to the lack of RG7128
      resistance observed in HCV-infected patients.

PMID- 20942647
TI  - Colistin-tobramycin combinations are superior to monotherapy concerning the
      killing of biofilm Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Antibiotic combination therapy might be more efficient than single
      antibiotics to combat Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms in the airways of patients
      with cystic fibrosis. We tested the ability of colistin sulphate-tobramycin
      combinations and single antibiotics to kill P. aeruginosa biofilms. METHODS: P.
      aeruginosa biofilms were generated in vitro and in rat lungs. In a pilot study, 5
      patients with cystic fibrosis inhaled colistin and then tobramycin for 4 weeks.
      The changes in P. aeruginosa counts and lung function were assessed before and
      after therapy. RESULTS: Antibiotic combination therapy significantly reduced the
      number of P. aeruginosa cells in P. aeruginosa biofilm models in vitro. When rats
      were challenged with 1 x 10(7) cfu of P. aeruginosa, which was embedded in
      alginate beads, mortality rates, lung pathologic findings, and bacterial colony
      forming unit counts were significantly lower after 7 days in animals receiving
      antibiotic combination than in animals receiving single antibiotics. In patients
      with cystic fibrosis, inhaled colistin-tobramycin was well tolerated and resulted
      in a mean decrease of 2.52 + /- 2.5 log(10) cfu of P. aeruginosa per milliliter
      of sputum (P = .027). Measurements of forced expiratory volume in 1 s, obtained
      both before and after the study, did not differ significantly. CONCLUSION:
      Colistin-tobramycin combinations are more efficient than respective single
      antibiotics for killing P. aeruginosa in biofilms in vitro, and they
      significantly reduced P. aeruginosa cell counts in a rat lung infection model and
      in patients with cystic fibrosis.

PMID- 20942648
TI  - Mutations in agr do not persist in natural populations of methicillin-resistant
      Staphylococcus aureus.
AB  - Staphylococcus aureus organisms vary in the function of the staphylococcal
      virulence regulator gene agr. To test for a relationship between agr and
      transmission in S. aureus, we determined the prevalence and genetic basis of agr
      dysfunction among nosocomial methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) in an area of
      MRSA endemicity. Identical inactivating agr mutations were not detected in
      epidemiologically unlinked clones within or between hospitals. Additionally, most
      agr mutants had single mutations, indicating that they were short lived.
      Collectively, the results suggest that agr dysfunction is adaptive for survival
      in the infected host but that it may be counteradaptive outside infected host
      tissues.

PMID- 20942649
TI  - Rescue of severely immunocompromised HIV-positive persons.

PMID- 20942651
TI  - Strigolactone deficiency confers resistance in tomato line SL-ORT1 to the
      parasitic weeds Phelipanche and Orobanche spp.
AB  - The parasitic flowering plants of the genera Orobanche and Phelipanche (broomrape
      species) are obligatory chlorophyll-lacking root-parasitic weeds that infect
      dicotyledonous plants and cause heavy economic losses in a wide variety of plant
      species in warm-temperate and subtropical regions. One of the most effective
      strategies for broomrape control is crop breeding for broomrape resistance.
      Previous efforts to find natural broomrape-resistant tomato (Solanum
      lycopersicon) genotypes were unsuccessful, and no broomrape resistance was found
      in any wild tomato species. Recently, however, the fast-neutron-mutagenized
      tomato mutant SL-ORT1 was found to be highly resistant to various Phelipanche and
      Orobanche spp. Nevertheless, SL-ORT1 plants were parasitized by Phelipanche
      aegyptiaca if grown in pots together with the susceptible tomato cv. M-82. In the
      present study, no toxic activity or inhibition of Phelipanche seed germination
      could be detected in the SL-ORT1 root extracts. SL-ORT1 roots did not induce
      Phelipanche seed germination in pots but they were parasitized, at the same level
      as M-82, after application of the synthetic germination stimulant GR24 to the
      rhizosphere. Whereas liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry
      analysis of root exudates of M-82 revealed the presence of the strigolactones
      orobanchol, solanacol, and didehydro-orobanchol isomer, these compounds were not
      found in the exudates of SL-ORT1. It can be concluded that SL-ORT1 resistance
      results from its inability to produce and secrete natural germination stimulants
      to the rhizosphere.

PMID- 20942650
TI  - A randomized factorial trial comparing 4 treatment regimens in treatment-naive
      HIV-infected persons with AIDS and/or a CD4 cell count <200 cells/MUL in South
      Africa.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Few randomized trials comparing antiretroviral therapy (ART) regimens
      have been conducted in resource-limited settings. METHODS: In the Republic of
      South Africa, antiretroviral-naive human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected
      individuals >14 years old with a CD4 cell count <200 cells/MUL or a prior AIDS
      diagnosis were randomized to receive efavirenz (EFV) or lopinavir/ritonavir
      (LPV/r) with either zidovudine (ZDV) plus didanosine (ddI) or stavudine (d4T)
      plus lamivudine (3TC) in an open-label, 2-by-2 factorial study and followed up
      for the primary outcome of AIDS or death and prespecified secondary outcomes,
      including CD4 cell count and viral load changes, treatment discontinuation, and
      grade 4 events. RESULTS: In total, 1771 persons were randomized and followed up
      for a median of 24.7 months. AIDS or death occurred in (1) 163 participants
      assigned EFV and 157 assigned LPV/r (hazard ratio [HR], 1.04 [95% confidence
      interval {CI}, 0.84-1.30]) and in (2) 170 participants assigned ZDV+ddI and 150
      assigned d4T+3TC (HR, 1.15 [95% CI, 0.93-1.44]). HIV RNA levels were lower (P <
      .001) and CD4 cell counts were greater (P < .01) over follow-up for d4T+3TC
      versus ZDV+ddI. Rates of potentially life-threatening adverse events and overall
      treatment discontinuation were similar for d4T+3TC and ZDV+ddI; however, more
      participants discontinued d4T because of toxicity (12.6%) than other treatments
      (<5%). CONCLUSION: EFV and LPV/r are effective components of first-line ART. The
      poorer viral and immune responses with ZDV+ddI and the greater toxicity
      associated discontinuation rate with d4T+3TC suggest that these treatments be
      used cautiously as initial therapy. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov
      identifier: NCT00342355.

PMID- 20942652
TI  - Mutation of a degS homologue in Enterobacter cloacae decreases colonization and
      biological control of damping-off on cucumber.
AB  - We have been using mutagenesis to determine how biocontrol bacteria such as
      Enterobacter cloacae 501R3 deal with complex nutritional environments found in
      association with plants. E. cloacae C10, a mutant of 501R3 with a transposon
      insertion in degS, was diminished in growth on synthetic cucumber root exudate
      (SRE), colonization of cucumber seed and roots, and control of damping-off of
      cucumber caused by Pythium ultimum. DegS, a periplasmic serine protease in the
      closely related bacterium Escherichia coli K12, is required for the RpoE-mediated
      stress response. C10 containing wild-type degS from 501R3 or from E. coli K12 on
      pBeloBAC11 was significantly increased in growth on SRE, colonization of cucumber
      roots, and control of P. ultimum relative to C10 containing pBeloBAC11 alone. C10
      and 501R3 were similar in sensitivity to acidic conditions, plant-derived
      phenolic compounds, oxidative stress caused by hydrogen peroxide, dessication,
      and high osmoticum; stress conditions potentially associated with plants. This
      study demonstrates a role for degS in the spermosphere and rhizosphere during
      colonization and disease control by Enterobacter cloacae. This study implicates,
      for the first time, the involvement of DegS and, by extension, the RpoE-mediated
      stress response, in reducing stress on E. cloacae resulting from the complex
      nutritional environments in the spermosphere and rhizosphere.

PMID- 20942653
TI  - Interactions between Coniothyrium minitans and Sclerotinia minor affect
      biocontrol efficacy of C. minitans.
AB  - Coniothyrium minitans, marketed as Contans, has become a standard management tool
      against Sclerotinia sclerotiorum in a variety of crops, including winter lettuce.
      However, it has been ineffective against lettuce drop caused by S. minor. The
      interactions between C. minitans and S minor were investigated to determine the
      most susceptible stage in culture to attack by C. minitans, and to determine its
      consistency on S minor isolates belonging to four major mycelial compatibility
      groups (MCGs). Four isolates of S. minor MCG 1 and 5 each from MCGs 2 and 3 and
      one from MCG 4 were treated in culture at purely mycelial, a few immature
      sclerotial, and fully mature sclerotial phases with a conidial suspension of C.
      minitans. Sclerotia from all treatments were harvested after 4 weeks, air dried,
      weighed, and plated on potato dextrose agar for recovery of C. minitans. S. minor
      formed the fewest sclerotia in plates that received C. minitans at the mycelial
      stage; C. minitans was recovered from nearly all sclerotia from this treatment
      and sclerotial mortality was total. However, the response of MCGs was
      inconsistent and variable. Field experiments to determine the efficacy of C.
      minitans relative to the registered fungicide, Endura, on lettuce drop incidence
      and soil inoculum dynamics were conducted from 2006 to 2009. All Contans
      treatments had significantly lower numbers of sclerotia than Endura and unsprayed
      control treatments, and drop incidence was as low as in Endura-treated plots (P >
      0.05). Although the lower levels of lettuce drop in Contans treatments were
      correlated with significantly lower levels of sclerotia, the lower levels of
      lettuce drop, despite the presence of higher inoculum in the Endura treatment,
      was attributable to the prevention of infection by S. minor. A useful approach to
      sustained lettuce drop management is to employ Contans to lower the number of
      sclerotia in soil and to apply Endura to prevent S. minor infection within a
      cropping season.

PMID- 20942654
TI  - Region-wide analysis of genetic diversity in Verticillium dahliae populations
      infecting olive in southern Spain and agricultural factors influencing the
      distribution and prevalence of vegetative compatibility groups and pathotypes.
AB  - Severity of Verticillium wilt in olive trees in Andalusia, southern Spain is
      associated with the spread of a highly virulent, defoliating (D) Verticillium
      dahliae pathotype of vegetative compatibility group 1A (VCG1A) but the extent of
      this spread and the diversity of the pathogen population have never been
      documented. VCG typing of 637 V. dahliae isolates from 433 trees in 65 orchards
      from five olive-growing provinces in Andalusia indicated that 78.1% were of
      VCG1A, 19.8% of VCG2A, 0.6% of VCG2B, 1.4% of VCG4B, and one isolate was
      heterokaryon self-incompatible. A single VCG prevailed among isolates within most
      orchards but two and three VCGs were identified in 12 and 3 orchards,
      respectively, with VCG1A+VCG2A occurring in 10 orchards. VCG1A was the
      predominant VCG in the three most important olive-growing provinces, and was
      almost as prevalent as VCG2A in another one. Molecular pathotyping of the 637
      isolates using specific polymerase chain reaction assays indicated that VCG1A
      isolates were of the D pathotype whereas isolates of VCG2A, -2B, and -4B were of
      the less virulent nondefoliating (ND) pathotype. The pathotype of isolates
      correlated with the disease syndrome affecting sampled trees. Only three (seq1,
      seq2, and seq4) of the seven known sequences of the V. dahliae-specific 539- or
      523-bp amplicon were identified among the 637 isolates. Distribution and
      prevalence of VCGs and seq sequences among orchards indicated that genetic
      diversity within olive V. dahliae in Andalusia is higher in provinces where VCG1A
      is not prevalent. Log-linear analysis revealed that irrigation management, source
      of irrigation water, source of planting stock, and cropping history of soil were
      significantly associated with the prevalence of VCG1A compared with that of
      VCG2A. Multivariate analyses using a selected set of agricultural factors as
      variables allowed development of a discriminant model for predicting the
      occurrence of D and ND pathotypes in the area of the study. Blind tests using
      this model correctly indentified the V. dahliae pathotype occurring in an
      orchard. The widespread occurrence and high prevalence of VCG1A/D pathotype in
      Andalusia have strong implications for the management of the disease.

PMID- 20942655
TI  - Possible role of aerosol transmission in a hospital outbreak of influenza.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We examined the role of aerosol transmission of influenza in an acute
      ward setting. METHODS: We investigated a seasonal influenza A outbreak that
      occurred in our general medical ward (with open bay ward layout) in 2008.
      Clinical and epidemiological information was collected in real time during the
      outbreak. Spatiotemporal analysis was performed to estimate the infection risk
      among patients. Airflow measurements were conducted, and concentrations of
      hypothetical virus-laden aerosols at different ward locations were estimated
      using computational fluid dynamics modeling. RESULTS: Nine inpatients were
      infected with an identical strain of influenza A/H3N2 virus. With reference to
      the index patient's location, the attack rate was 20.0% and 22.2% in the "same"
      and "adjacent" bays, respectively, but 0% in the "distant" bay (P = .04).
      Temporally, the risk of being infected was highest on the day when noninvasive
      ventilation was used in the index patient; multivariate logistic regression
      revealed an odds ratio of 14.9 (95% confidence interval, 1.7-131.3; P = .015). A
      simultaneous, directional indoor airflow blown from the "same" bay toward the
      "adjacent" bay was found; it was inadvertently created by an unopposed air jet
      from a separate air purifier placed next to the index patient's bed.
      Computational fluid dynamics modeling revealed that the dispersal pattern of
      aerosols originated from the index patient coincided with the bed locations of
      affected patients. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest a possible role of aerosol
      transmission of influenza in an acute ward setting. Source and engineering
      controls, such as avoiding aerosol generation and improving ventilation design,
      may warrant consideration to prevent nosocomial outbreaks.

PMID- 20942656
TI  - Is Mycoplasma genitalium in women the "New Chlamydia?" A community-based
      prospective cohort study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The role of Mycoplasma genitalium in pelvic inflammatory disease is
      unclear. We conducted a cohort study to determine the prevalence and predictors
      of M. genitalium infection in female students, to explore its role in pelvic
      inflammatory disease and to estimate its annual incidence and persistence rate.
      METHODS: Two thousand three hundred seventy-eight multiethnic, sexually active
      female students (mean age, 21 years) provided duplicate self-taken vaginal
      samples for a chlamydia screening trial. From this population, 2246 (94%) were
      followed up after 12 months and assessed for incidence of clinical pelvic
      inflammatory disease. In addition, 900 women (38%) returned follow-up samples via
      the postal service 11-32 months after recruitment. Stored samples were tested for
      M. genitalium. RESULTS: The prevalence of M. genitalium at baseline was 3.3% (78
      of 2378 women; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.6%-4.1%). Infection was more
      common in women reporting >= 2 sexual partners in the previous year, those with
      bacterial vaginosis, women aged < 18 years, women of black ethnicity, and
      smokers. Multiple partners and bacterial vaginosis were independent risk factors
      for M. genitalium (adjusted risk ratio, 2.23 [95% CI, 1.39-3.58] and 2.54 [95%
      CI, 1.61-4.01], respectively). The incidence of pelvic inflammatory disease over
      12 months was 3.9% (3 of 77 women) among women with M. genitalium infection,
      compared with 1.7% (36 of 2169 women) among those without infection (risk ratio,
      2.35; 95% CI, 0.74-7.46; P = .14). Annual incidence of M. genitalium infection in
      873 women without M. genitalium infection at baseline who returned samples via
      the postal service was 0.9% (95% CI, 0.5%-1.6%). Seven (26%; 95% CI, 9%-43%) of
      27 women with M. genitalium infection at baseline remained positive after 12-21
      months; genotyping results suggest that these were persistent infections.
      CONCLUSIONS: M. genitalium infection is unlikely to be a major risk factor for
      clinical pelvic inflammatory disease in this population.

PMID- 20942657
TI  - Coding polypurine hairpins cause target-induced cell death in breast cancer
      cells.
AB  - Polypurine reverse-Hoogsteen hairpins (PPRHs) are double-stranded DNA molecules
      formed by two polypurine stretches linked by a pentathymidine loop, with
      intramolecular reverse-Hoogsteen bonds that allow a hairpin structure. PPRHs bind
      to polypyrimidine targets by Watson-Crick bonds maintaining simultaneously a
      hairpin structure due to intramolecular Hoogsteen bonds. Previously, we described
      the ability of Template-PPRHs to decrease mRNA levels because these PPRHs target
      the template DNA strand interfering with the transcription process. Now, we
      designed Coding-PPRHs, a new type of PPRHs that directly target the pre-mRNA. The
      dihydrofolate reductase (dhfr) gene was selected as a target in breast cancer
      therapy. These PPRHs caused a high degree of cytotoxicity and a decrease in DHFR
      mRNA and protein levels, but by a different mechanism of action than Template
      PPRHs. Coding-PPRHs interfere with the splicing process by competing with U2
      auxiliary factor 65 for binding to the polypyrimidine target sequence, leading to
      a lower amount of mature mRNA. These new PPRHs showed high specificity as no off
      target effects were found. The application of these molecules as therapeutic
      tools was tested in breast cancer cells resistant to methotrexate, obtaining a
      noticeable cytotoxicity even though the dhfr locus was amplified. Coding-PPRHs
      can be considered as new molecules to decrease gene expression at the mRNA level
      and an alternative to other antisense molecules.

PMID- 20942658
TI  - Histologic and histometric evaluation of bovine cancellous bone and beta
      tricalcium phosphate 45 months after grafting in maxillary sinus.
AB  - The aim of this report is to determine the long-term histologic and histometric
      evaluation of beta-tricalcium phosphate (beta-TCP) and bovine cancellous bone
      grafted into the left maxillary sinus of a patient in order to augment the sinus
      floor to prepare it for receiving an implant. Beta-TCP and bovine cancellous bone
      (BCB) were grafted into the left maxillary sinus at the extracted sites of
      maxillary left first and second molars of a 62-year-old male patient. Using
      osteotome technique, 45 months later, core biopsies were taken for histologic and
      histometric comparison of the newly formed bone. Histometric and histologic
      evaluation of both specimens revealed a normal maxillary bone structure with
      23.08% calcified bone and 76.92% marrow and connective tissue for the beta-TCP
      grafted site, and 24.81% calcified bone with 75.19% marrow and connective tissue
      for the BCB grafted site. No residual grafting material was seen in either
      specimen. Both beta-TCP and BCB were completely resorbed and replaced by new bone
      45 months after grafting. Histologic results of the newly formed bone were
      similar for both grafting materials.

PMID- 20942660
TI  - The paradoxical problem with multiple-IRB review.

PMID- 20942661
TI  - Images in clinical medicine. Dissociation of voluntary and emotional innervation
      after stroke.

PMID- 20942659
TI  - Exome sequencing, ANGPTL3 mutations, and familial combined hypolipidemia.
AB  - We sequenced all protein-coding regions of the genome (the "exome") in two family
      members with combined hypolipidemia, marked by extremely low plasma levels of low
      density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL)
      cholesterol, and triglycerides. These two participants were compound
      heterozygotes for two distinct nonsense mutations in ANGPTL3 (encoding the
      angiopoietin-like 3 protein). ANGPTL3 has been reported to inhibit lipoprotein
      lipase and endothelial lipase, thereby increasing plasma triglyceride and HDL
      cholesterol levels in rodents. Our finding of ANGPTL3 mutations highlights a role
      for the gene in LDL cholesterol metabolism in humans and shows the usefulness of
      exome sequencing for identification of novel genetic causes of inherited
      disorders. (Funded by the National Human Genome Research Institute and others.).

PMID- 20942662
TI  - Interactive medical case. Bitter pills.

PMID- 20942663
TI  - Regulatory action on rosiglitazone by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

PMID- 20942664
TI  - Legislating against use of cost-effectiveness information.

PMID- 20942666
TI  - Antiretroviral therapies in women after single-dose nevirapine exposure.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Peripartum administration of single-dose nevirapine reduces mother-to
      child transmission of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) but selects for
      nevirapine-resistant virus. METHODS: In seven African countries, women infected
      with HIV-1 whose CD4+ T-cell counts were below 200 per cubic millimeter and who
      either had or had not taken single-dose nevirapine at least 6 months before
      enrollment were randomly assigned to receive antiretroviral therapy with
      tenofovir-emtricitabine plus nevirapine or tenofovir-emtricitabine plus lopinavir
      boosted by a low dose of ritonavir. The primary end point was the time to
      confirmed virologic failure or death. RESULTS: A total of 241 women who had been
      exposed to single-dose nevirapine began the study treatments (121 received
      nevirapine and 120 received ritonavir-boosted lopinavir). Significantly more
      women in the nevirapine group reached the primary end point than in the ritonavir
      boosted lopinavir group (26% vs. 8%) (adjusted P=0.001). Virologic failure
      occurred in 37 (28 in the nevirapine group and 9 in the ritonavir-boosted
      lopinavir group), and 5 died without prior virologic failure (4 in the nevirapine
      group and 1 in the ritonavir-boosted lopinavir group). The group differences
      appeared to decrease as the interval between single-dose nevirapine exposure and
      the start of antiretroviral therapy increased. Retrospective bulk sequencing of
      baseline plasma samples showed nevirapine resistance in 33 of 239 women tested
      (14%). Among 500 women without prior exposure to single-dose nevirapine, 34 of
      249 in the nevirapine group (14%) and 36 of 251 in the ritonavir-boosted
      lopinavir group (14%) had virologic failure or died. CONCLUSIONS: In women with
      prior exposure to peripartum single-dose nevirapine (but not in those without
      prior exposure), ritonavir-boosted lopinavir plus tenofovir-emtricitabine was
      superior to nevirapine plus tenofovir-emtricitabine for initial antiretroviral
      therapy. (Funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and
      the National Research Center; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00089505.).

PMID- 20942667
TI  - Antiretroviral treatment for children with peripartum nevirapine exposure.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Single-dose nevirapine is the cornerstone of the regimen for
      prevention of mother-to-child transmission of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)
      in resource-limited settings, but nevirapine frequently selects for resistant
      virus in mothers and children who become infected despite prophylaxis. The
      optimal antiretroviral treatment strategy for children who have had prior
      exposure to single-dose nevirapine is unknown. METHODS: We conducted a randomized
      trial of initial therapy with zidovudine and lamivudine plus either nevirapine or
      ritonavir-boosted lopinavir in HIV-infected children 6 to 36 months of age, in
      six African countries, who qualified for treatment according to World Health
      Organization (WHO) criteria. Results are reported for the cohort that included
      children exposed to single-dose nevirapine prophylaxis. The primary end point was
      virologic failure or discontinuation of treatment by study week 24. Enrollment in
      this cohort was terminated early on the recommendation of the data and safety
      monitoring board. RESULTS: A total of 164 children were enrolled. The median
      percentage of CD4+ lymphocytes was 19%; a total of 56% of the children had WHO
      stage 3 or 4 disease. More children in the nevirapine group than in the ritonavir
      boosted lopinavir group reached a primary end point (39.6% vs. 21.7%; weighted
      difference, 18.6 percentage-points; 95% confidence interval, 3.7 to 33.6; nominal
      P=0.02). Baseline resistance to nevirapine was detected in 18 of 148 children
      (12%) and was predictive of treatment failure. No significant between-group
      differences were seen in the rate of adverse events. CONCLUSIONS: Among children
      with prior exposure to single-dose nevirapine for perinatal prevention of HIV
      transmission, antiretroviral treatment consisting of zidovudine and lamivudine
      plus ritonavir-boosted lopinavir resulted in better outcomes than did treatment
      with zidovudine and lamivudine plus nevirapine. Since nevirapine is used for both
      treatment and perinatal prevention of HIV infection in resource-limited settings,
      alternative strategies for the prevention of HIV transmission from mother to
      child, as well as for the treatment of HIV infection, are urgently required.
      (Funded by the National Institutes of Health; ClinicalTrials.gov number,
      NCT00307151.).

PMID- 20942668
TI  - Tanezumab for the treatment of pain from osteoarthritis of the knee.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Increased expression of nerve growth factor in injured or inflamed
      tissue is associated with increased pain. This proof-of-concept study was
      designed to investigate the safety and analgesic efficacy of tanezumab, a
      humanized monoclonal antibody that binds and inhibits nerve growth factor.
      METHODS: We randomly assigned 450 patients with osteoarthritis of the knee to
      receive tanezumab (administered at a dose of 10, 25, 50, 100, or 200 MUg per
      kilogram of body weight) or placebo on days 1 and 56. The primary efficacy
      measures were knee pain while walking and the patient's global assessment of
      response to therapy. We also assessed pain, stiffness, and physical function
      using the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC);
      the rate of response using the criteria of the Outcome Measures for Rheumatology
      Committee and Osteoarthritis Research Society International Standing Committee
      for Clinical Trials Response Criteria Initiative (OMERACT-OARSI); and safety.
      RESULTS: When averaged over weeks 1 through 16, the mean reductions from baseline
      in knee pain while walking ranged from 45 to 62% with various doses of tanezumab,
      as compared with 22% with placebo (P<0.001). Tanezumab, as compared with placebo,
      was also associated with significantly greater improvements in the response to
      therapy as assessed with the use of the patients' global assessment measure (mean
      increases in score of 29 to 47% with various doses of tanezumab, as compared with
      19% with placebo; P<=0.001). The rate of response according to the OMERACT-OARSI
      criteria ranged from 74 to 93% with tanezumab treatment, as compared with 44%
      with placebo (P<0.001). The rates of adverse events were 68% and 55% in the
      tanezumab and placebo groups, respectively. The most common adverse events among
      tanezumab-treated patients were headache (9% of the patients), upper respiratory
      tract infection (7%), and paresthesia (7%). CONCLUSIONS: In this proof-of-concept
      study, treatment with tanezumab was associated with a reduction in joint pain and
      improvement in function, with mild and moderate adverse events, among patients
      with moderate-to-severe osteoarthritis of the knee. (Funded by Rinat
      Neuroscience; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00394563.).

PMID- 20942670
TI  - Clinical practice. Nausea and vomiting in pregnancy.

PMID- 20942671
TI  - Ancestry and disease in the age of genomic medicine.

PMID- 20942669
TI  - ARID1A mutations in endometriosis-associated ovarian carcinomas.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Ovarian clear-cell and endometrioid carcinomas may arise from
      endometriosis, but the molecular events involved in this transformation have not
      been described. METHODS: We sequenced the whole transcriptomes of 18 ovarian
      clear-cell carcinomas and 1 ovarian clear-cell carcinoma cell line and found
      somatic mutations in ARID1A (the AT-rich interactive domain 1A [SWI-like] gene)
      in 6 of the samples. ARID1A encodes BAF250a, a key component of the SWI-SNF
      chromatin remodeling complex. We sequenced ARID1A in an additional 210 ovarian
      carcinomas and a second ovarian clear-cell carcinoma cell line and measured
      BAF250a expression by means of immunohistochemical analysis in an additional 455
      ovarian carcinomas. RESULTS: ARID1A mutations were seen in 55 of 119 ovarian
      clear-cell carcinomas (46%), 10 of 33 endometrioid carcinomas (30%), and none of
      the 76 high-grade serous ovarian carcinomas. Seventeen carcinomas had two somatic
      mutations each. Loss of the BAF250a protein correlated strongly with the ovarian
      clear-cell carcinoma and endometrioid carcinoma subtypes and the presence of
      ARID1A mutations. In two patients, ARID1A mutations and loss of BAF250a
      expression were evident in the tumor and contiguous atypical endometriosis but
      not in distant endometriotic lesions. CONCLUSIONS: These data implicate ARID1A as
      a tumor-suppressor gene frequently disrupted in ovarian clear-cell and
      endometrioid carcinomas. Since ARID1A mutation and loss of BAF250a can be seen in
      the preneoplastic lesions, we speculate that this is an early event in the
      transformation of endometriosis into cancer. (Funded by the British Columbia
      Cancer Foundation and the Vancouver General Hospital-University of British
      Columbia Hospital Foundation.).

PMID- 20942672
TI  - Images in clinical medicine. Funnel chest.

PMID- 20942673
TI  - Case records of the Massachusetts General Hospital. Case 31-2010. A 29-year-old
      woman with fever after a cat bite.

PMID- 20942674
TI  - Preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV-protecting this generation and the
      next.

PMID- 20942675
TI  - Nerve growth factor and pain.

PMID- 20942676
TI  - The origin of ovarian cancer-is it getting clearer?

PMID- 20942677
TI  - Human papillomavirus and oropharyngeal cancer survival.

PMID- 20942678
TI  - An entirely subcutaneous implantable cardioverter-defibrillator.

PMID- 20942679
TI  - Interstitial lung disease and gefitinib.

PMID- 20942680
TI  - Dietary therapy in hypertension.

PMID- 20942681
TI  - Poppers-associated retinal toxicity.

PMID- 20942685
TI  - Management of urine leak after laparoscopic cyst decortication with retrograde
      endoscopic fibrin glue application and ureteral stent placement.
AB  - Urine leakage is an uncommon complication after renal cyst decortication that
      typically resolves with adequate drainage. With prolonged large volume urine
      leakage from a perinephric drain, however, consideration for open surgical repair
      must be taken into account. We present the successful management of persistent
      urine leakage after laparoscopic cyst decortication with endoscopic retrograde
      fibrin glue injection and ureteral stent placement.

PMID- 20942689
TI  - Legislation is a powerful tool.

PMID- 20942690
TI  - The road to changing breastfeeding legislation.

PMID- 20942691
TI  - The healthiest state in the nation: Vermont embraces breastfeeding.

PMID- 20942686
TI  - Retropubic, laparoscopic, and robot-assisted radical prostatectomy: a critical
      review of outcomes reported by high-volume centers.
AB  - PURPOSE: To critically review perioperative outcomes, positive surgical margin
      (PSM) rates, and functional outcomes of several large series of retropubic
      radical prostatectomy (RRP), laparoscopic RP (LRP), and robot-assisted radical
      prostatectomy (RARP) currently available in the literature. METHODS: A Medline
      database search was performed from November 1994 to May 2009, using medical
      subject heading search terms "prostatectomy" and "Outcome Assessment (Health
      Care)" and text words "retropubic," "robotic," and "laparoscopic." Only studies
      with a sample size of 250 or more patients were considered. Weighted means were
      calculated for all outcomes using the number of patients included in each study
      as the weighing factor. RESULTS: We identified 30 articles for RRP, 14 for LRP,
      and 14 for RARP. The mean intraoperative and postoperative RRP transfusion rates
      for RRP, LRP, and RARP were 20.1%, 3.5%, and 1.4%, respectively. The weighted
      mean postoperative complication rates for RRP, LRP, and RARP were 10.3% (4.8% to
      26.9%), 10.98% (8.9 to 27.7%), and 10.3% (4.3% to 15.7%), respectively. RARP
      revealed a mean overall PSM rate of 13.6%, whereas LRP and RRP yielded a PSM of
      21.3% and 24%, respectively. The weighted mean continence rates at 12 month
      follow-up for RRP, LRP, and RARP were 79%, 84.8%, and 92%, respectively. The
      weighted mean potency rates for patients who underwent unilateral or bilateral
      nerve sparing, at 12 month follow-up, were 43.1% and 60.6% for RRP, 31.1% and 54%
      for LRP, and 59.9% and 93.5% for RARP. CONCLUSION: RRP, LRP, and RARP performed
      in high-volume centers are safe options for treatment of patients with localized
      prostate cancer, presenting similar overall complication rates. LRP and RARP,
      however, are associated with decreased operative blood loss and decreased risk of
      transfusion when compared with RRP. Our analysis including high-volume centers
      also showed lower weighted mean PSM rates and higher continence and potency rates
      after RARP compared with RRP and LRP. However, the lack of randomized trials
      precludes definitive conclusions.

PMID- 20942692
TI  - Economics of healthcare financing: implications for breastfeeding.

PMID- 20942693
TI  - At the tipping point: a strength-based collaborative approach.

PMID- 20942694
TI  - Prevention: the foundation of public health.

PMID- 20942695
TI  - Early childhood: breastfeeding, "solving the problem of childhood obesity within
      a generation," an excerpt from the White House Task Force on Childhood Obesity:
      report to the President, May 2010.
AB  - On February 9, 2010, the same day the First Lady launched the Let's Move!
      campaign, President Obama created a new interagency White House Task Force on
      Childhood Obesity, charged with creating and implementing a comprehensive action
      plan to end the childhood obesity epidemic. The resulting action plan was
      developed by experts from across the federal government, with substantial public
      input, and released on May 11. The first chapter of the task force report
      discusses strategies for getting children a healthy start on life, including
      supporting breastfeeding. Here is an excerpt from the discussion of breastfeeding
      that appears in the report. The full text of the task force report can be found
      at www.letsmove.gov . &#x2014;Martha Coven, JD Special Assistant to the President
      for Mobility and Opportunity White House Domestic Policy Council Lead Staff,
      White House Task Force on Childhood Obesity.

PMID- 20942696
TI  - CDC efforts and leadership on breastfeeding.

PMID- 20942697
TI  - Call to action on breastfeeding: public comments.

PMID- 20942698
TI  - Making breastfeeding the norm in New York City.

PMID- 20942699
TI  - Engaging the community in post-hospitalization inner-city breastfeeding support.

PMID- 20942700
TI  - Community engagement and dissemination of effective breastfeeding programs.

PMID- 20942701
TI  - State coalitions: the power of proximity.

PMID- 20942702
TI  - American Indians and Alaska Natives: breastfeeding disparities and resources.

PMID- 20942703
TI  - Black mothers' breastfeeding club: community outreach and active support.

PMID- 20942704
TI  - Environmental toxins: physical, social, and emotional.

PMID- 20942706
TI  - Defining a new infant feeding paradigm and refocusing research to increase
      employer promotion of breastfeeding.

PMID- 20942705
TI  - Exploring the impact of intimate partner violence on breastfeeding initiation:
      does it matter?

PMID- 20942707
TI  - The business case for breastfeeding.

PMID- 20942708
TI  - The impact of maternity leave on breastfeeding rates.

PMID- 20942709
TI  - The pediatrician supports breastfeeding.

PMID- 20942710
TI  - Breastfeeding is a physician's responsibility.

PMID- 20942711
TI  - The state maternal and child health/Title V agencies support breastfeeding:
      surveillance and programs.

PMID- 20942712
TI  - Roles and responsibilities of health professions: focus on nursing.

PMID- 20942713
TI  - The economic ramifications of improving maternity practices.

PMID- 20942714
TI  - The baby-friendly hospital initiative.

PMID- 20942715
TI  - The ten steps: ten keys to breastfeeding success.

PMID- 20942716
TI  - Exclusive breastmilk feeding in maternity care facilities: the United States
      breastfeeding committee toolkit.

PMID- 20942717
TI  - The joint commission's perinatal care measure set overview.

PMID- 20942718
TI  - Breastfeeding promotion and support in the Colorado region of Kaiser Permanente.

PMID- 20942719
TI  - Sell it! Some tips from a marketer on making the business case for breastfeeding.

PMID- 20942720
TI  - Strengthening advocacy messages to improve child nutrition.

PMID- 20942721
TI  - Healthcare reform boosts breastfeeding.

PMID- 20942723
TI  - The summit message: paradigm shift is necessary.

PMID- 20942724
TI  - First food: progress is not enough.

PMID- 20942726
TI  - Community program therapist adherence and competence in a motivational
      interviewing assessment intake session.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Teaching community program therapists to use motivational
      interviewing (MI) strategies for addictions treatment with sufficient frequency
      (i.e., adherence) and skill (i.e., competence) is a priority and challenge for
      the field. The development of psychometrically valid MI integrity measures that
      can be used for supervision and evaluation and be both sensitive and robust
      across clinical situations is needed. OBJECTIVE: This article examines the
      performance of the Independent Tape Rating Scale (ITRS) when used to evaluate the
      delivery of MI within a one-session assessment intake. METHODS: Audiotapes of 315
      sessions of therapists in MI and counseling-as-usual conditions were rated
      according to the ITRS by raters blind to treatment condition. RESULTS: Results
      indicate that community therapists were successfully trained and supervised to
      use MI within an assessment intake session, with MI adherence and competence that
      was discriminable from counseling-as-usual practices. Increased therapist MI
      adherence and competence was associated with increases in an index of client
      motivation for change, though unrelated to treatment outcome. CONCLUSIONS AND
      SCIENTIFIC SIGNIFICANCE: The ITRS appears to be a valid instrument for measuring
      therapist MI adherence and competence within an assessment intake.

PMID- 20942727
TI  - Spermatogenesis affects the outcome of ICSI for azoospermic patients rather than
      sperm retrieval method.
AB  - The study investigated the clinical outcome of intracytoplasmic sperm injection
      (ICSI) with epididymal and testicular sperm of azoospermic patients exhibiting
      various disturbances in spermatogenesis, in order to understand the possible
      factors that might affect ICSI outcome. Of the 134 patients, 92 were diagnosed as
      being obstructive azoospermic (OA group) with normal spermatogenesis and the
      remaining 42 patients were diagnosed as being non-obstructive azoospermic (NOA
      group) with hypospermatogenesis. The 92 OA patients underwent 112 ICSI cycles,
      which were divided into two subgroups according to their sperm retrieval methods:
      1) OA-PESA group (n=51) with sperm obtained by percutaneous sperm aspiration
      (PESA) cycles and 2) OA-TEFNA group (n=61) with sperm obtained by testicular fine
      needle sperm aspiration (TEFNA) cycles. The NOA patients diagnosed with
      hypospermatogenesis according to histopathological analysis and hormone analysis,
      underwent 42 ICSI cycles with TEFNA. The results showed that the fertilization,
      cleavage, and clinical pregnancy rates portrayed a significant difference (44.9%
      vs. 64.1%, P<0.001, 79.8% vs. 89.0%, P<0.001, and 21.4% vs. 40.2%, P=0.047,
      respectively) between NOA and OA groups. Moreover, the miscarriage rate in the
      NOA group was visibly higher even though it did not reach a statistical
      difference (33.3% vs. 15.6%, P=0.433) compared with the miscarriage rate of the
      OA group. The same statistical differences were observed between the subgroup OA
      TEFNA and the NOA group. No statistical difference was observed between OA-PESA
      and OA-TEFNA groups for the fertilization, cleavage, clinical pregnancy, and
      miscarriage rates. This study indicates that defective spermatogenesis affects
      the ICSI clinical outcome of azoospermic patients rather than the sperm retrieval
      methods.

PMID- 20942728
TI  - Kinetic characteristics of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) in dynamic breast MRI
      using computer-assisted analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Enhancement characteristics of breast lesions are regarded as a major
      criterion for their differential diagnosis in dynamic breast MRI (bMRI). However,
      ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) exhibits a highly heterogeneous enhancement
      pattern when kinetic analysis is performed conventionally by manual placement of
      region of interest (ROI) and therefore its diagnosis remains challenging.
      PURPOSE: To compare enhancement characteristics of DCIS lesions on dynamic bMRI
      using manual ROI placement with computer-aided analysis and to evaluate whether
      the latter might increase the detection rate of kinetic features suspicious for
      malignancy. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The enhancement patterns of 47
      histopathologically verified pure DCIS lesions were evaluated on bMRI images
      using manual ROI placement as well as a commercially available computer analysis
      software. The latter is able to automatically assess enhancement characteristics
      of a whole lesion pixelwise. Kinetic features evaluated included classification
      of lesion enhancement pattern into washout, plateau or persistent curve type. A
      washout and plateau enhancement pattern are regarded as suggestive for
      malignancy. RESULTS: Morphological classification revealed focus-like enhancement
      in 2 lesions, mass enhancement in 11, and non-mass enhancement in 34. Manual
      placement of ROI demonstrated a suspicious enhancement pattern in 51.1% of the
      DCIS lesions, which could not be significantly increased using computer-aided
      analysis. Of the mass and non-mass-enhancing DCIS lesions, 90.9% and 38.3%,
      respectively, demonstrated suspicious kinetic curves. After application of the
      automated analysis software, the detection rate of suspicious enhancement
      patterns was unchanged in mass DCIS lesions and increased to 52.9% in non-mass
      DCIS lesions (P=0.33). However, the increase in the detection of washout curves
      alone was significant (P=0.02). In all, 40% of G1, 41.1% of G2, and 60% of G3
      lesions demonstrated a suspicious curve type with manual evaluation. Computer
      analysis increased the detection of suspicious enhancement patterns in a non
      significant manner to 50%, 58.8%, and 70%, respectively. CONCLUSION: The
      detection of suspicious enhancement curves could not be significantly increased
      in DCIS lesions when using computer-aided analysis despite a significantly higher
      detection rate of washout curves alone.

PMID- 20942729
TI  - Screen-film mammography versus full-field digital mammography in a population
      based screening program: The Sogn and Fjordane study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Studies comparing analog and digital mammography in breast cancer
      screening have shown conflicting results. Little is known about the use of
      digital photon-counting detectors. PURPOSE: To retrospectively compare
      performance indicators in screen-film (SFM) and full-field digital mammography
      (FFDM) using a photon-counting detector in a population-based screening program.
      MATERIAL AND METHODS: The Norwegian Social Science Data Services approved the
      study, which was part of the Norwegian Breast Cancer Screening Program. The
      program invites women aged 50-69 years to two-view mammography biannually. The
      study period was January 2005 to June 2006 for SFM and August 2006 to December
      2007 for FFDM. Independent double reading was performed using a five-point rating
      scale for probability of cancer. Recalls due to abnormal mammography were
      retrospectively reviewed by an expert panel. Performance indicators for the two
      techniques were compared. Attendance rate was 83.6% (7442/8901) for SFM and 82.0%
      (6932/8451) for FFDM. RESULTS: The recall rate due to abnormal mammography,
      cancer detection rate and positive predictive value did not differ significantly
      between SFM and FFDM: recall 2.3% (174/7442) versus 2.4% (168/6932), cancer
      detection 0.39% (29/7442) versus 0.48% (33/6932), positive predictive value 16.7%
      (29/174) versus 19.6% (33/168), respectively (P>0.05 for all). The recall rate
      due to technically inadequate mammograms was 0.3% (19/7442) for SFM and 0.01%
      (1/6932) for FFDM. In the retrospective review, a significantly higher proportion
      of calcifications and asymmetric density were categorized as normal or
      definitively benign in FFDM compared with SFM. The average glandular dose was
      2.17 mGy for SFM and 1.25 mGy for FFDM. CONCLUSION: Performance indicators show
      that FFDM using photon-counting detector is suitable for breast cancer screening.
      The lower radiation dose and lower recalls due to technically inadequate
      mammograms are of importance in mammography screening.

PMID- 20942730
TI  - Sonographic characteristics of breast cancers detected by supplemental screening
      US: Comparison with breast cancers seen on screening mammography.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Supplemental screening ultrasonography (US) in addition to
      mammography can help detect early breast cancers in women with dense breasts and
      other risk factors. It is crucial to understand the imaging features of US
      detected cancer to identify them in screening population. PURPOSE: To
      retrospectively evaluate the US features and final assessments of breast cancers
      detected by supplemental screening US in comparison with cancers seen on
      screening mammography. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study included 80 women (mean
      age 46 years, range 31-65 years) with 80 breast cancers detected by supplemental
      screening US. Another 80 women (mean age 52 years, range 33-77 years) with 80
      breast cancers seen on screening mammography were included for a control group.
      US features and final assessments were classified according to the Breast Imaging
      Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS) without knowledge of the method of detection,
      or mammographic or histologic findings. Results of the two groups were compared.
      RESULTS: Breast cancers detected by supplemental screening US were more
      frequently found to have the following features: an oval shape (21% [17/80] vs
      10% [8/80], P = 0.013), a circumscribed margin (13% [10/80] vs 4% [3/80], P =
      0.043), an abrupt interface (79% [63/80] vs 53% [42/80], P < 0.001), and no
      posterior acoustic (70% [56/80] vs 53% [42/80], P = 0.023) or surrounding tissue
      (79% [63/80] vs 28% [22/80], P < 0.001) changes. For the final assessment, 93%
      (74/80) of US-detected cancers and 60% (48/80) of cancers seen on mammography
      were classified as a category 4, while 3% (2/80) of US-detected cancers and 38%
      (30/80) of cancers seen on mammography were category 5. CONCLUSION: Compared with
      breast cancers seen on screening mammography, breast cancers detected by
      supplemental screening US tend to have less malignant US features, although most
      (95%) of them were classified as category 4 or 5.

PMID- 20942731
TI  - Efficacy of carbon dioxide for diagnosis and intervention in patients with
      failing hemodialysis access.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the only proven safe intravascular contrast
      agent in renal failure and contrast allergy. The use of CO2 as a contrast agent
      for the evaluation of failing dialysis fistulas has the potential to preserve
      residual renal function by eliminating the use of contrast material or decreasing
      the amount used for fistulograms. PURPOSE: To evaluate the feasibility of
      fistulography using CO2 for diagnosis and intervention in patients with failing
      hemodialysis access. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Dialysis access failure occurred in 94
      patients (54 men, 40 women; mean age, 65 years; range, 32-89 years) on 146
      occasions. CO2 was used as the first-choice contrast agent for fistulography and
      PTA. Fistulography was performed with the injection of CO2 in the brachial artery
      using a power injector. RESULTS: Interventional treatment was indicated in 141
      accesses. In 115 of these 141 cases, intervention was performed using CO2
      fistulography alone. When the access flow stopped or decreased very much due to
      an occlusion and severe stenosis, we could not visualize the access by CO2
      fistulography, or could not perform CO2 fistulography. For those cases, iodinated
      contrast fistulography was performed. When the vascular rupture, dissection, or
      clot formation occurred during intervention, iodinated contrast fistulography was
      performed. In three patients with arteriovenous fistula, manual injection of CO2
      into the brachial artery resulted in reflux of the gas into the thoracic aorta
      causing transient loss of consciousness. CONCLUSION: CO2 is a useful contrast
      agent in the diagnosis and intervention of failing hemodialysis access,
      eliminating or limiting the use of iodinated contrast material. Caution should be
      exercised to prevent CO2 reflux into the aorta when injecting the gas into the
      brachial artery.

PMID- 20942732
TI  - FDG PET/CT for therapeutic response monitoring in multi-site non-respiratory
      tuberculosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Tuberculosis (TB) can produce positive signals during 18F
      fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission/computed tomography (FDG PET/CT) scanning.
      Until now, there has been no better method than clinical assessment to evaluate
      the therapeutic response of non-respiratory TB (NRTB). PURPOSE: To
      retrospectively assess the ability of FDG PET/CT to evaluate the response to anti
      TB treatment in patients with NRTB. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Three patients with
      multi-site NRTB underwent repeat PET/CT scans during anti-TB treatment. Changes
      in maximal standard uptake value (SUVmax) of the TB lesions on PET/CT images were
      analyzed between two scans. Initial PET/CT scans were performed before the start
      of anti-TB treatment, and later scans were performed after completion of the
      treatment. RESULTS: Patient 1, a 63-year-old female, and patient 2, a 50-year-old
      male, were diagnosed as multi-site NRTB by biopsy. Patient 3, a 37-year-old male
      was diagnosed clinically. These patients demonstrated multiple FDG-avid lesions
      in whole body on initial PET/CT images. The highest SUVmax of patient 1, 2, and 3
      were 13.6, 17.7, and 13.9 separately. After completion of the treatment, all
      positive signals of patient 1, 2, and 3 decreased to undetectable value on
      repeated PET/CT scans with intervals of 318 days, 258 days, and 182 days
      separately. CONCLUSION: FDG PET/CT scan may be useful for monitoring responses to
      anti-TB treatment in patients with NRTB.

PMID- 20942733
TI  - A practical approach to interpretation of MRI of the temporomandibular joint.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Temporomandibular disorders (TMDs) such as pain, joint sounds, and
      impaired movement are common, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is now the
      method of choice for diagnostic assessment. PURPOSE: To describe MR criteria
      chosen and the amount of temporomandibular joint (TMJ) pathology registered when
      examining MR images from patients referred to a university hospital for imaging
      of their TMJs. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The TMJs of 152 consecutive patients, 102
      women and 40 men, referred for MRI during an 18 month period were imaged with a
      1.5 T imaging system. Twelve asymptomatic students, seven women and five men,
      gave informed consent and acted as a control group. RESULTS: Moderate to
      extensive disk displacement was registered in 53% of the patients' TMJs, and 38%
      of the disks were deformed. Degenerative changes registered were flattening of
      the condyle heads in 50% of the TMJs and erosion of their cortical surfaces in
      30%. Osteophytes were present in 31% of the condyles and bone marrow edema in
      30%. Marked to extensive effusion in synovial compartments was registered in 39%
      of the studied TMJs. In the control group, none of the TMJs showed anterior disk
      displacement, deformed disks or degenerative changes, but 8 of the 24 joints
      showed marked effusion. A tendency for a higher amount of disk displacement and
      deformation was seen among young age groups and more degenerative changes in
      older age groups, but differences among groups were not significant when tested
      with chi-square analysis. CONCLUSION: Defined MR criteria that allow for
      comparative assessment are presented. According to these criteria, a large
      proportion of the patients referred for MR examination showed morphologic changes
      indicating TMJ pathology.

PMID- 20942734
TI  - Knee cartilage quality assessed with dGEMRIC in rheumatoid arthritis patients
      before and after treatment with a TNF inhibitor.
AB  - BACKGROUND: TNF-alpha inhibitors are potent anti-inflammatory drugs that have
      revolutionized the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Delayed gadolinium
      enhanced MRI of cartilage (dGEMRIC) is a non-invasive method to study cartilage
      quality, in particular the glycosaminoglycan (GAG) content. PURPOSE: To evaluate
      knee cartilage quality before and after treatment with a TNF-alpha inhibitor
      (infliximab) in patients with RA using dGEMRIC and to study clinical parameters
      and serum cartilage oligomeric protein (COMP) after the same treatment. MATERIAL
      AND METHODS: Seven patients with chronic RA received infusions of 3 mg/kg
      infliximab at weeks 0, 2, 6, 14, and 22. Clinical examination, serum COMP level,
      and dGEMRIC scans (1.5 T) were performed at baseline and after 7 months. The
      dGEMRIC index (ms), reflecting cartilage GAG content, was calculated using an
      inversion recovery sequence in the femoral weight-bearing cartilage. Seven years
      after treatment, charts were reviewed regarding joint replacement surgery (TKA).
      RESULTS: Clinical parameters showed an improvement for all patients after the 7
      month treatment period. Serum COMP decreased from 13+/-4.5 to 11+/-3.4 (MUg, mean
      +/- SD) MUg/ml (P<0.05). The dGEMRIC index was lower at follow-up than at
      baseline, 332+/-85 and 382+/-69 (ms, mean +/- SD), respectively (P<0.05),
      indicating loss of GAG. The two patients with the lowest dGEMRIC index had
      received a TKA 7 years after treatment. CONCLUSION: This longitudinal study
      indicates a substantial GAG loss from the knee cartilage matrix in patients with
      chronic RA. Treatment with infliximab does not seem to protect the cartilage from
      further deterioration despite improvements in clinical parameters and decreased
      serum COMP.

PMID- 20942735
TI  - Anatomical landmarks and skin markers are not reliable for accurate labeling of
      thoracic vertebrae on MRI.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Numbering of the thoracic spine on MRI can be tedious if C2 and L5-S1
      are not included and may lead to errors in lesion level. PURPOSE: To determine
      whether anatomic landmarks or external markers are reliable as an aid for
      accurate numbering of thoracic vertebrae on MRI. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Sixty
      seven thoracic spine MR studies of 67 patients (30 males, 37 females, age range
      18-83 years) were studied, composed of 52 consecutive MR studies and an
      additional 15 MRI in which vitamin E markers were placed over the skin. In the 52
      thoracic MR examinations potential numbering aids such as the level of the
      sternal apex, pulmonary artery, aortic arch, and osseous or disc abnormalities
      were numbered on both cervical localizer (standard of reference) and thoracic
      sagittal images. The additional 15 examinations in which vitamin E markers were
      placed over the skin were evaluated for consistency in the level of the markers
      on different sequences in the same exam. RESULTS: The sternal apex level ranged
      from T2 to T5 [T3 in 28/51 patients (55%), T2 in 10/51 (20%)]. The aortic arch
      level ranged from T2 to T4 [T4 in 18/48 (38%) and T3 in 17 (35%)]. Pulmonary
      artery level ranged from T4 to T6-7 disc [T5 in 20/52 patients (38%) and T6 in
      14/52 (27%)]. In 3 of 12 patients who had abnormalities in a vertebral body or
      disc as definite point reference, the non-localizer image mislabeled the level.
      In 11/15 (73%) patients with vitamin E markers that were placed over the upper
      thoracic spine, the results showed consistency in the level of the markers in
      relation to the reference points or consistent inter-marker gap between the
      sequences. CONCLUSION: There are only two reliable ways to accurately define the
      levels if no landmarking feature is available on the magnet. The first is by
      including C2 in the thoracic sequence of a diagnostic quality, and the second is
      by using an abnormality in the discs or vertebral bodies as a point of reference.

PMID- 20942737
TI  - Evaluation of anterior urethral stricture using thick slab SSFSE MR
      urethrography.
AB  - BACKGROUND: magnetic resonance urethrography (MRU) can be used for depicting not
      only anterior urethral strictures but also periurethral anatomy in order to
      produce a management plan. PURPOSE: to determine if thick slab single-shot fast
      spin echo (SSFSE) MRU is useful for evaluating anterior urethral stricture
      compared to fast recovery fast spin echo (FRFSE) MRU. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Ten
      patients with benign anterior urethral stricture underwent both thick slab SSFSE
      MRU and FRFSE MRU using sterile jelly for urethral distension before retrograde
      urethrography. The glans penis was tied at the time of MRU. The two types of MR
      image were compared regarding stricture length, scan time, and image quality. We
      also determined whether or not both of the two MR sequences could display an
      entire anterior urethra on one image. RESULTS: the stricture length on thick slab
      SSFSE and FRFSE MRU ranged from 4.0 to 71.3 mm (36.4 +/- 21.8 mm) and from 4.0 to
      67.5 mm (35.7 +/- 20.8 mm), respectively (P > 0.05). The mean scan time for thick
      slab SSFSE and FRFSE sequences was 2 s and 194 s, respectively (P < 0.05).
      However, regarding image quality, thick slab SSFSE MRU was inferior to FRFSE MRU
      (P < 0.05). All the thick slab SSFSE MRU displayed the entire anterior urethra on
      one image, while only five FRFSE MRU did so (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: thick slab
      SSFSE MRU can provide a concordant stricture length when compared to the FRFSE
      MRU and imaging of the entire length of the anterior urethral stricture with
      subjective reduced image quality and scan time.

PMID- 20942738
TI  - Nicotine dependence and depression among women smokers on methadone maintenance.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Tobacco use and depression are highly prevalent among methadone
      maintenance (MM) treatment programme participants. Our aim was to study the
      relationship between nicotine dependence, depression, and readiness to change
      smoking behaviour among women smokers in MM compared to women smokers attending a
      primary care clinic (Control group). METHOD: We conducted a cross-sectional
      survey of 117 MM women smokers and 50 controls attending a family medicine
      clinic. All participants completed a computerized self-administered
      questionnaire, including demographic information, medical history, and drug and
      tobacco use history. Participants also completed the Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine
      Dependence (FTND), the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D),
      and the University of Rhode Island Change Assessment (URICA) instrument. RESULTS:
      In this study 83% African American women had an average age of 43 years. Of the
      women smokers in the MM group, 95% were daily smokers compared to 46% in the
      Control group (P <0.05). The MM women smokers had CES-D scores of 22.5 compared
      to 14.7 in women of the Control group (P <0.0001). Women smokers in MM were
      significantly more likely to be depressed, more dependent on nicotine, and more
      ready to change their smoking behaviour. CONCLUSIONS: Our data show a higher
      level of nicotine dependence and depression, and greater readiness to change
      among women smokers in methadone maintenance programmes compared to women smokers
      attending primary care clinics. Methadone treatment programmes present a need and
      an opportunity to assess and intervene in nicotine dependence and depression and
      in addressing and eliminating health disparities.

PMID- 20942739
TI  - Serum levels of osteoprotegerin in the spectrum of nonalcoholic fatty liver
      disease.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Osteoprotegerin (OPG) is a member of the tumor necrosis factor
      superfamily with pleiotropic effects on inflammation, endocrine function and the
      immune system. Reduced OPG levels are related to insulin resistance. We tested
      the hypothesis that serum levels of OPG may be associated with nonalcoholic fatty
      liver disease (NAFLD). MATERIAL AND METHODS: Four groups of patients were
      enrolled in the present study: subjects with definite nonalcoholic
      steatohepatitis (NASH, n = 56), borderline NASH (n = 26), simple fatty liver (n =
      17) and healthy controls without evidence of liver disease (n = 58). Serum levels
      of OPG were measured by ELISA. RESULTS: Concentrations of OPG were significantly
      lower in patients with definite NASH (median: 45 pg/mL, p < 0.001) and borderline
      NASH (57 pg/mL, p < 0.001) than in controls (92 pg/mL). The area under the ROC
      curve for distinguishing between steatohepatitis (definite NASH plus borderline
      NASH) and healthy controls using OPG was 0.82. The use of a cut-off level < 74
      pg/mL for serum OPG levels yielded sensitivity and specificity values of 75.6%
      and 75.9%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Serum osteoprotegerin concentrations are
      reduced in patients with the more severe forms of NAFLD and may serve as a
      noninvasive biomarker to identify patients with NASH.

PMID- 20942740
TI  - Comment on: the association between metabolic syndrome and infarct size in
      patients with acute myocardial infarction.

PMID- 20942742
TI  - Disparities in obesity temporal trends of Israeli adolescents by ethnic origin.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To analyze the temporal trends of obesity over time among male
      adolescents of different ethnic origins. METHODS: Population-based national data
      of subjects presenting at recruitment centers for medical examinations as part of
      screening for military draft. Subjects were 17-year-old Jewish males (n=1 140
      937) born in the years 1950-1986. Data on body mass index (BMI) were measured
      (without clothing and shoes) by physicians. We calculated the prevalence of
      obesity (BMI 29.4 or higher) for each year by ethnic origin group. A Multinomial
      logistic regression model was used to estimate the effects of ethnic origin and
      other risk factors on the likelihood of obesity. RESULTS: Over time, obesity
      rates have risen among all ethnic groups of adolescents. Multinomial regression
      analysis showed a lower likelihood of obesity among those of Asia-Africa origin
      as compared with other groups. However, obesity rates have increased more
      significantly over time among this ethnic group compared with the other groups.
      CONCLUSION: A significant finding of this study is the disparities in temporal
      trends in the likelihood of obesity over time. Among adolescents of Asia-Africa
      origin the likelihood of obesity increased more steeply over time compared with
      other groups of adolescents. Health services in Israel should thus consider Asia
      African origin as a distinct risk factor and target interventions to prevent
      future obesity among these adolescents.

PMID- 20942741
TI  - Obesity in general practice: a focus group study on patient experiences.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To explore obese patients' experiences with GPs' management of their
      weight problems. METHODS: Focus-group study with a purposive sample of 13
      participants (eight women and five men), aged 30-55 years, with BMI above 40, or
      BMI above 35 with additional weight-related problems. Two focus-group interviews
      were conducted, inviting the participants to speak about their health care
      experiences from general practice. Analysis applied Systematic Text Condensation
      inspired by Giorgi's approach, searching for issues describing or discussing
      participants' experiences of GPs' obesity management. RESULTS: Obese patients
      want their GPs to put their weight problems on the agenda. When the patient
      appears reluctant, it may be a sign of embarrassment rather than rejection of the
      issue. However, restricted attention to obesity could lead to neglect of
      patients' problems. Participants complained that GPs often demonstrated
      insufficient engagement and knowledge regarding service resources for obesity
      treatment, leaving the responsibility for information on available referral
      resources to the patient. Finally, considerate attitudes in the GPs are needed
      for follow-up to be experienced as helpful by the patients. Vulnerable feelings
      of failure could be reinforced by well-intended advice. Degrading attitudes were
      perceived as especially subversive when they came from doctors. CONCLUSIONS: The
      challenge for the GP is to increase his or her competence in individualized and
      evidence-based counselling, while acknowledging the efforts needed by the patient
      to achieve permanent change, and shifting attention from shame to coping.

PMID- 20942743
TI  - The multifaceted world of angiogenesis control.
AB  - Because of its key role in tumor growth, angiogenesis has become an attractive
      target for pharmacological therapies. The angiogenic process is regulated by
      several 'classic' factors among which the most studied are VEGF and fibroblast
      growth factor-2 (FGF-2). These factors together with their receptors and other
      molecules involved in their signaling pathways are currently the main target of
      an extensive array of pharmacological strategies aimed at inhibit angiogenesis.
      In recent years, however, evidence has accumulated that in addition to the
      classic factors many other endogenous peptides play an important regulatory role
      in angiogenesis, especially under pathological conditions. Such a large network
      of signaling events might offer new possibilities of pharmacological intervention
      that could be complementary to existing antiangiogenic treatments. In particular,
      combination therapies could be devised to overcome or delay resistance and
      minimize side effects. In the last issue of Expert Opinion on Therapeutic
      Targets, in a paper by Deville et al., the authors focussed their attention on
      these important topics, and in this context offered a thoughtful analysis about
      the possible place of the peptide adrenomedullin as a new therapeutic target in
      future antiangiogenic strategies.

PMID- 20942744
TI  - Therapeutic targeting of NF-kappaB in myelodysplastic syndromes and acute myeloid
      leukaemia - the biological heterogeneity.
AB  - NF-&#x03BA;B usually has antiapotptic effects and is involved in regulation of
      cell proliferation and intercellular communication. This is also true for the
      malignant cells in acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) and myelodysplastic syndromes
      (MDS), including the malignant stem cells. However, both AML and MDS patients are
      heterogeneous with regard to the effect of pharmacological NF-&#x03BA;B
      inhibition, and the final effect will probably also depend on the pharmacological
      agent used for the inhibition, e.g. proteasomal inhibitiors versus specific
      inhibitors. Even though initial studies suggest that NF-&#x03BA;B inhibitors have
      antileukemic effects, their future clinical use will also depend on their
      toxicity profile.

PMID- 20942745
TI  - Glutamine enhances the heat shock protein 70 expression as a cardioprotective
      mechanism in left heart tissues in the presence of diabetes mellitus.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Effects of diabetes mellitus on myocardium were investigated, by
      assessing levels of heat shock protein (HSP) 70, and efficacy of glutamine was
      tested. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty male rats were divided into three groups:
      control group (Group 1), diabetic group (Group 2) and glutamine-induced diabetic
      group (Group 3). Diabetes was created by intravenous streptozocin injection. Rats
      were examined one month later for cardiac complications of diabetes. Serum and
      tissue samples were obtained to measure HSP 70 levels. RESULTS: Following
      streptozocin administration, glucose levels increased markedly. This resulted in
      a significant increase in HSP 70 in serum and tissues. When Group 3 was compared
      with other groups, HSP 70 was more increased in serum and tissues. When Groups 2
      and 3 were compared, more increased HSP 70 values were observed in Group 3,
      statistical significance was obtained for left atrial and left ventricular HSP 70
      levels. Elevated blood glucose was correlated with elevated HSP 70 levels.
      Increased serum HSP 70 levels were correlated with tissue HSP 70 values.
      CONCLUSIONS: HSP 70 levels increase in the myocardium of rats in diabetes
      mellitus as a protective mechanism. Levels of HSP 70 may further be increased
      with parenteral administration of glutamine. Efficacy of glutamine is more
      pronounced in left heart structures.

PMID- 20942746
TI  - Novel drug targets based on metallobiology of Alzheimer's disease.
AB  - IMPORTANCE OF THE FIELD: Increased localization of Zn, Fe, Cu and Al within the
      senile plaques (SP) exacerbates amyloid beta (Abeta)-mediated oxidative damage,
      and acts as catalyst for Abeta aggregation in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Thus,
      disruption of aberrant metal-peptide interactions via chelation therapy holds
      considerable promise as a rational therapeutic strategy against Alzheimer's
      amyloid pathogenesis. AREAS COVERED IN THIS REVIEW: The complexities of metal
      induced genesis of SP are reviewed. The recent advances in the molecular
      mechanism of action of metal chelating agents are discussed with critical
      assessment of their potential to become drugs. WHAT THE READER WILL GAIN: Taking
      into consideration the interaction of metals with the metal-responsive elements
      on the Alzheimer's amyloid precursor protein (APP), readers will gain
      understanding of several points to bear in mind when developing a screening
      campaign for AD-therapeutics. TAKE HOME MESSAGE: A functional iron-responsive
      element (IRE) RNA stem loop in the 5' untranslated region (UTR) of the APP
      transcript regulates neural APP translation. Desferrioxamine, clioquinol,
      tetrathiolmolybdate, dimercaptopropanol, VK-28, and natural antioxidants, such as
      curcumin and ginko biloba need critical evaluation as AD therapeutics. There is a
      necessity for novel screens (related to metallobiology) to identify therapeutics
      effective in AD.

PMID- 20942747
TI  - Targeting oxidative stress in cancer.
AB  - IMPORTANCE OF THE FIELD: Reactive oxygen species (ROS) occur as natural by
      products of oxygen metabolism and have important cellular functions. Normally,
      the cell is able to maintain an adequate balance between the formation and
      removal of ROS either via anti-oxidants or through the use specific enzymatic
      pathways. However, if this balance is disturbed, oxidative stress may occur in
      the cell, a situation linked to the pathogenesis of many diseases, including
      cancer. AREAS COVERED IN THIS REVIEW: HDACs are important regulators of many
      oxidative stress pathways including those involved with both sensing and
      coordinating the cellular response to oxidative stress. In particular aberrant
      regulation of these pathways by histone deacetylases may play critical roles in
      cancer progression. WHAT THE READER WILL GAIN: In this review we discuss the
      notion that targeting HDACs may be a useful therapeutic avenue in the treatment
      of oxidative stress in cancer, using chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
      (COPD), NSCLC and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) as examples to illustrate this
      possibility. TAKE HOME MESSAGE: Epigenetic mechanisms may be an important new
      therapeutic avenue for targeting oxidative stress in cancer.

PMID- 20942748
TI  - Targeting miR-21 in glioma: a small RNA with big potential.
AB  - IMPORTANCE OF THE FIELD: Glioma therapies have produced relatively small
      improvements over the past decade, highlighting an important need to identify
      novel ways to target this disease. Targeted therapies against single activated
      protein kinases have proven effective in some cancers including gastrointestinal
      stromal cancer and colon cancer, but not yet in gliomas where multiple pathways
      and targets may be involved. MicroRNAs are emerging as key regulators of multiple
      pathways involved in cancer development and progression and may become the next
      targeted therapies in glioma. AREAS COVERED IN THIS REVIEW: This review covers
      the basics of microRNA biology and specifically focuses on the roles of miR-21 in
      glioma and its potential as target for glioma therapy. WHAT THE READER WILL GAIN:
      This review will provide the reader with an in depth understanding of how miR-21
      functions in glioma. We also review the current state of studies designed to
      specifically target miR-21 as a potential future therapeutic. TAKE HOME MESSAGE:
      Identifying novel targets for the treatment of glioma is critical for advancing
      the current state of the field. MicroRNAs provide a novel target; and in glioma,
      targeting miR-21 may have broad consequences for the tumor that make it an
      attractive potential therapeutic.

PMID- 20942749
TI  - Second-line therapy for NSCLC in clinical practice: baseline results of the
      European SELECTTION observational study.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Although the efficacy of a number of drugs for the second-line
      treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has been demonstrated in Phase
      III trials, very limited evidence exists on optimal duration of second-line
      treatment or the reasons why this treatment is stopped in standard clinical
      practice. SELECTTION (Survey in European Lung Cancer Evaluating Choice of
      Treatment and Tolerability In Observed NSCLC) was designed to assess the time
      from initiation of second-line treatment for NSCLC to treatment discontinuation
      for any reason, the reasons for discontinuation, and the impact of
      discontinuation on outcomes. METHODS: From October 2006 to January 2008, 1012
      patients with advanced/metastatic NSCLC who completed or discontinued first-line
      treatment were enrolled in a multi-national, prospective observational cohort
      study (SELECTTION). Treatment cohorts were constructed based on the patients'
      distribution across second-line treatments that were assigned by physician
      decision (pemetrexed, docetaxel, erlotinib, other treatments). This report
      presents a descriptive analysis of the baseline data collected, including
      patient/disease characteristics, treatment history and planned second-line
      treatments. Factors that may have affected treatment choice, selected by
      physicians from a range of options, were also identified. RESULTS: Overall, 468
      patients (46.2%) were enrolled in the pemetrexed cohort, 232 (22.9%) in docetaxel
      cohort, 206 (20.4%) in erlotinib cohort and 106 (10.5%) received other
      treatments. The profile of patients enrolled in the erlotinib cohort differed
      from those of patients enrolled in the pemetrexed or docetaxel cohorts in that
      erlotinib was more frequently planned for women, never-smokers and patients with
      adenocarcinomas. The primary reasons physicians gave for selection of the second
      line treatment were tolerance and efficacy for pemetrexed, and preferred regimen
      for the particular patient and efficacy for the other treatments. CONCLUSIONS: In
      this observational study, pemetrexed, then docetaxel and erlotinib were the most
      frequently prescribed second-line treatments, which is in line with international
      guidelines. Erlotinib was most commonly prescribed to that subset of patients
      expected to gain the greatest benefit (those with adenocarcinoma, never-smokers
      and females). Pemetrexed was more frequently prescribed than docetaxel, with
      physicians most commonly choosing to prescribe the former agent because of its
      tolerability profile.

PMID- 20942750
TI  - Impairment of CD1d-restricted natural killer T cells in chronic HIV type 1 clade
      C infection.
AB  - Recent studies suggest that natural killer T (NKT) cells play a role in early
      antiviral pathogenesis and are rapidly depleted in chronic human immunodeficiency
      virus type 1 (HIV-1) clade B infection. We aimed to characterize the phenotypic
      and functional characteristics of NKT cells in HIV-1 clade C-infected Africans at
      different stages of HIV-1 disease. NKT cell frequencies, subsets, and ex vivo
      effector functions were assessed using multiparametric flow cytometry in a cross
      sectional analysis of cryopreserved peripheral blood mononuclear cells from a
      cohort of 53 HIV-1 clade C chronically infected South African adults with CD4 T
      cell counts ranging from 94 to 839 cells/MUl. We observed a significant decline
      of NKT cell numbers in advanced HIV-1 disease as well as activation and
      functional impairment of NKT cells in individuals with low CD4 T cell counts. The
      loss of NKT cells was largely driven by a reduction in the CD4(+) and CD4(-)CD8(
      ) NKT cell subsets in advanced disease. These findings demonstrate significant
      impairment of the NKT cell compartment in progressive HIV-1 clade C disease that
      might play an important role in the modulation of immune function in HIV-1
      infection.

PMID- 20942751
TI  - Adeno-associated viral vectors found free in media.

PMID- 20942756
TI  - Reaching out.

PMID- 20942757
TI  - The complex role of a palliative care consultant in a tertiary hospital: can a
      practice model help in this wild world?

PMID- 20942758
TI  - Physical activity and rehabilitation programs should be recommended on palliative
      care for patients with cancer.

PMID- 20942759
TI  - Generating high-quality clinical evidence in palliative care using n-of-1 trials.

PMID- 20942760
TI  - Specifying WHO recommendation: moving toward disease-specific guidelines.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The World Health Organization (WHO) explicitly recommends the
      integration of palliative care (PC) early in the disease trajectory as part of
      the WHO definition of PC. Our comprehensive cancer center decided: (1) to include
      this recommendation in the administrative directives for principles of cancer
      care and (2) to establish a PC hospital support team. The evaluation of this
      approach revealed that patients with lung cancer still received PC rather late in
      the course of the disease. Therefore, we decided to additionally develop disease
      specific standard operating procedures (SOPs) to try to overcome these
      deficiencies. The first SOP was completed for patients with lung cancer. STANDARD
      OPERATING PROCEDURE (Consensus SOP): Specifically, the SOP states that:
      "Specialized PC is recommended regularly for all lung cancer patients without
      curative treatment options, specifically patients with (i) metastasized and
      inoperable or (ii) locally advanced and inoperable or (iii) relapsing lung
      cancer. Integration of PC is recommended simultaneously to starting tumor
      specific therapy. In this context, initial PC should be delivered to the patient
      at the same place as specific treatment, which is the interdisciplinary
      outpatient unit of the Center of Integrated Oncology (CIO) or an oncological
      ward." DISCUSSION: This SOP for the first time presents disease-specific
      guidelines for PC integration into comprehensive (lung) cancer therapy by (1)
      defining "green flags" for early integration of PC and (2) recommending PC
      parallel to initiation of anticancer therapy. Furthermore, clear definitions are
      provided to delineate PC assignments. Such disease-specific algorithms should be
      helpful to further reduce uncertainty about the way PC can be integrated early in
      the course of the disease.

PMID- 20942762
TI  - Effective "on-boarding": transitioning from trainee to faculty.
AB  - Abstract The transition from trainee to junior faculty member can be both
      exciting and daunting. However, a paucity of medical literature exists to help
      guide new faculty in this transition. Therefore, we adapted work from the
      business management literature on what is referred to as "on-boarding";
      effectively integrating and advancing one's position as a new employee. This
      article outlines strategies for cultivating one's own on-boarding as a junior
      faculty member at large academic medical centers. These strategies are
      extrapolated from management practices, culled from the medical literature on
      developing and retaining junior faculty, and, finally, borrowed from the hard-won
      knowledge of junior and senior faculty members. They advise new faculty to: (1)
      start early, (2) define your role--"managing yourself," (3) invest in/secure
      early wins, (4) manage your manager, (5) identify the "true (or hidden)"
      organizational culture, (6) reassess your own goals--"look in the rearview mirror
      and to the horizon," and (7) use your mentors effectively. These strategies
      provide a roadmap for new faculty members to transition as effectively as
      possible to their new jobs.

PMID- 20942763
TI  - Phantom limb pain #212.

PMID- 20942764
TI  - Nourishment while fasting.

PMID- 20942766
TI  - "One brief, shining moment".

PMID- 20942767
TI  - Malignant intracardiac thrombus from hepatocellular carcinoma treated with
      external beam radiation therapy.
AB  - Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a common cause of cancer mortality and
      morbidity worldwide. Radiation therapy is an underutilized therapy in HCC. A case
      of a 47-year-old man with locally advanced, chemorefractory HCC with malignant
      extension into the inferior vena cava and the right atrium, causing cardiac
      outflow obstruction, which was successfully treated with external beam radiation
      therapy, is presented. Low-dose radiation therapy is an effective palliative
      therapy for HCC that is widely available in most developing countries, where HCC
      is endemic.

PMID- 20942772
TI  - Co-administration of the polysaccharide of Lycium barbarum with DNA vaccine of
      Chlamydophila abortus augments protection.
AB  - Lycium barbarum polysaccharides (LBP) can stimulate moderate immune responses
      therefore could potentially be used as a substitute for oil adjuvants in
      veterinary vaccines. In the present study, it was shown that the isolated active
      component of LBP3a, combined with a DNA vaccine encoding the major outer membrane
      protein (MOMP) of Chlamydophila abortus, induced protection in mice against
      challenge. Sixty BALB/c mice were randomly assigned to 5 groups. Sub-fractions of
      polysaccharide LBP3a, at 12.5, 25 and 50 mg/kg concentrations, respectively, were
      mixed with a pCI-neo::MOMP (pMOMP) vaccine. Mice administrated with pCI-neo +
      LBP3a were served as a control. All mice were inoculated at day 0, 14, and 28,
      and challenged on day 44. The effects of LBp3a on serum antibody levels, in vitro
      lymphocyte proliferation, the activity of interleaukin-2 (IL-2), interferon-gamma
      (IFN-gamma), tumor necrosis factor alpha(TNF-alpha)and chlamydia clearance were
      determined. A combination of DNA vaccine and LBP3a induced significantly higher
      antibody levels in mice, higher T cell proliferation and higher levels of IFN
      gamma and IL-2. Mice immunized with DNA and LBP3a also showed significantly
      higher levels of chlamydia clearance in mice spleens and a greater Th1 immune
      response. The immunoenhancement induced by 25 mg/kg LBP3a is more effective than
      that induced by a 12.5 and 50 mg/kg. This implies that LBP3a at 25 mg/kg has a
      high potential to be used as an effective adjuvant with a DNA vaccine against
      swine Chlamydophila abortus.

PMID- 20942773
TI  - PLX4032: does it keep its promise for metastatic melanoma treatment?
AB  - IMPORTANCE OF THE FIELD: Activating mutations in the BRAF kinase gene have been
      identified in 50% of all melanomas. PLX4032, a selective and potent inhibitor of
      BRAF V600E mutant tumor cells, has shown inhibition of tumor growth in cell lines
      harboring BRAF V600E mutations. Data from early clinical trials showed promising
      results in the treatment of patients with metastatic melanoma. AREAS COVERED IN
      THIS REVIEW: An extensive literature search was conducted that included published
      articles and abstracts on PLX4032 to evaluate the existing data in both
      preclinical and Phase I-II studies. WHAT THE READER WILL GAIN: The review
      comprises the rationale for choosing a selective BRAF inhibitor for certain types
      of melanoma, its mode of action, associated toxicities and potential pitfalls.
      TAKE HOME MESSAGE: Despite the convincing response rates in Phase I trials,
      duration of tumor response is limited in some patients, and a cure cannot be
      expected. Intrinsic and acquired PLX4032 resistance still has to be investigated;
      signaling pathway switching is probably the most important factor for development
      of resistance. Combination therapy with simultaneous inhibition of different
      pathways might be more effective and warrants further investigation. The toxicity
      profile of PLX4032 is considerably low, and special attention is needed to
      address the development of keratoacanthomas and cutaneous squamous cell
      carcinomas.

PMID- 20942774
TI  - Resolvin inflammation with pain.

PMID- 20942775
TI  - Daptomycin non-susceptible, vancomycin intermediate methicillin-resistant
      Staphylococcus aureus ST398 from a chronic leg ulcer, Italy.

PMID- 20942776
TI  - Risk factors and mechanisms of fluoroquinolone resistance in 156 Escherichia coli
      strains clinically isolated from urinary tract infections.
AB  - As fluoroquinolone-resistant strains of Escherichia coli emerge, several risk
      factors for fluoroquinolone resistance have become evident, such as amino acid
      mutations in the quinolone resistance determining regions (QRDR) of gyrA and parC
      and previous use of fluoroquinolone. This study investigated risk factors for
      fluoroquinolone resistance and amino acid mutation in the QRDR in E. coli. We
      investigated the statistical correlation between each amino acid mutation and
      resistance to levofloxacin. We examined the minimum inhibitory concentration
      (MIC) of levofloxacin and the amino acid mutations of gyrA and parC by direct DNA
      sequence in E. coli clinically isolated from urinary tract infection (UTI)
      patients. We investigated risk factors for levofloxacin resistance, such as age,
      sex, and previous use of fluoroquinolone. We found a significant correlation
      between the number of mutations and resistance to levofloxacin (p < 0.001) and
      between the presence of underlying urinary tract disease and the presence of
      mutations (p = 0.004) by multivariate analyses. Three mutations in QRDR were
      demonstrated to be significantly correlated with levofloxacin resistance. In
      conclusion, these findings contribute to our understanding of the molecular
      mechanisms and risk factors for fluoroquinolone resistance.

PMID- 20942777
TI  - Interaction involving tadalafil and CYP3A4 inhibition by ritonavir.

PMID- 20942778
TI  - Fetal and adult multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells are killed by different
      pathways.
AB  - BACKGROUND AIMS: Multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells, also known as mesenchymal
      stem cells (MSC), can be isolated from adult and fetal tissues. Recently, there
      has been considerable interest in MSC because they have features favorable for
      transplantation, namely their multipotency and non-immunogenic properties.
      METHODS: We analyzed how human MSC derived from first-trimester fetal liver and
      adult bone marrow interact with naive and activated innate natural killer (NK)
      cells. NK cell function was studied by measuring killing of MSC, as well as
      degranulation (CD107a) induced by MSC. To assess the importance of NK cell
      killing, expression of surface epitopes was analyzed by flow cytometry on MSC
      before and after stimulation with interferon (IFN)gamma. RESULTS: Fetal and adult
      MSC express several ligands to activating NK cell receptors as well as low levels
      of HLA class I, with large inter-individual variation. Naive peripheral blood NK
      cells did not lyse fetal or adult MSC, whereas interleukin (IL)2 activated
      allogeneic as well as autologous NK cells did. Pre-incubation of MSC with IFN
      gamma increased their levels of HLA class I, protecting them from NK cell
      recognition. Fetal and adult MSC were preferably killed via the tumor necrosis
      factor (TNF)-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) and Fas ligand (FasL)
      pathways, respectively. Blocking NKG2D reduced NK cell degranulation in both
      fetal and adult MSC. CONCLUSIONS: Fetal and adult MSC differ in their
      interactions with NK cells. Both fetal and adult MSC are susceptible to lysis by
      activated NK cells, which may have implications for the use of MSC in cell
      therapy.

PMID- 20942779
TI  - Impact of genetic polymorphisms and drug-drug interactions on clopidogrel and
      prasugrel response variability.
AB  - Thienopyridine antiaggregating platelet agents (clopidogrel and prasugrel) act as
      irreversible P2Y12 receptor inhibitors. They are used with aspirin to prevent
      thrombotic complications after an acute coronary syndrome or percutaneous
      coronary intervention. A large interindividual variability in response to
      clopidogrel and to a lesser extent to prasugrel is observed and may be related to
      their metabolism. Clopidogrel and prasugrel are indeed prodrugs converted into
      their respective active metabolites by several cytochromes P450 (CYPs). Besides
      clopidogrel inactivation (85%) by esterases to the carboxylic acid, clopidogrel
      is metabolized by CYPs to 2-oxo-clopidogrel (15%) and further metabolized to an
      unstable but potent platelet-aggregating inhibitor. Prasugrel is more potent than
      clopidogrel with a better bioavailability and lower pharmacodynamic variability.
      Prasugrel is completely converted by esterases to an intermediate oxo-metabolite
      (R-95913) further bioactivated by CYPs. Numerous clinical studies have shown the
      influence of CYP2C19 polymorphism on clopidogrel antiplatelet activity. Moreover,
      unwanted drug-drug pharmacokinetic interactions influencing CYP2C19 activity and
      clopidogrel bioactivation such as with proton pump inhibitors remain a matter of
      intense controversy. Several studies have also demonstrated that CYP3A4/5 and
      CYP1A2 are important in clopidogrel bioactivation and should also be considered
      as potential targets for unwanted drug-drug interactions. Prasugrel bioactivation
      is mainly related to CYP3A4 and 2B6 activity and therefore the question of the
      effect of drug-drug interaction on its activity is open. The purpose of this
      review is to critically examine the current literature evaluating the influence
      of genetic and environmental factors such as unwanted drug-drug interaction
      affecting clopidogrel and prasugrel antiplatelet activity.

PMID- 20942782
TI  - Disposition of drugs of abuse and their metabolites in wastewater as a method of
      the estimation of drug consumption.
AB  - The occurrence of drugs and trace amounts of their metabolites in the aqueous
      environment has become a global problem. Nowadays, general information about drug
      use patterns results from indirect methods such as anonymous surveys and police
      crime statistics. Unfortunately, these sources of information determine drug use
      consumption indirectly and give only rough estimations about drug use trends.
      Therefore, in order to assess the real extent of this phenomenon, new objective
      tools are needed to monitor drug abuse on a large social and international scale.
      Several analytical methods have been developed to diagnose illicit drug
      consumption. GC-MS and HPLC-MS are the techniques of choice for the quantitative
      analysis of illicit drugs and their metabolites in clinical and forensic
      toxicology. These separation methods have been widely used for the determination
      of the occurrence of stimulatory drugs in different biological matrixes such as
      blood, urine, sweat, saliva and hair. Recently, a new direct and objective
      approach of monitoring drug use patterns has been proposed to estimate illicit
      drug consumption involving the measurement of urinary breakdown products in waste
      and surface water. The approach proposed seems to be suitable for monitoring
      consumption in real time so that it is possible to identify trends in drug use
      patterns. The measurement of illicit drug residue in wastewater and surface water
      might become a standardized tool for the comprehensive assessment of drug abuse
      in populations.

PMID- 20942781
TI  - Human carbonyl reductases.
AB  - Enzymatic carbonyl reduction means the formation of a hydroxy function out of a
      ketone or aldehyde moiety and applies for the metabolism of physiological
      (endogenous) or xenobiotic (exogenous) molecules. As for endogenous substrates,
      carbonyl reduction is often part of a reversible oxidoreductase process and
      involves the activation or inactivation of important signal molecules like
      steroids, prostaglandins, retinoids and biogenic amines. These reactions are
      carried out by NAD(P)(H)-dependent dehydrogenases belonging to two protein
      superfamilies, the aldo-keto reductases (AKR) and the short-chain
      dehydrogenases/reductases (SDR). With regard to exogenous substrates, carbonyl
      reduction of xenobiotics is generally a "one-way" detoxification reaction, since
      the resulting alcohol is easier to conjugate and to eliminate. Interestingly, the
      participating enzymes do also belong to the AKR and SDR superfamilies. Moreover,
      some enzymes from the two protein superfamilies exhibit pluripotency in that they
      are able to catalyze the oxidoreduction of endobiotics but do also function in
      the reductive metabolism of carbonyl group bearing xenobiotics. A special case
      are carbonyl reductases per se which belong to the SDR superfamily and whose
      substrates or physiological roles are not quite clear. Usually, carbonyl
      reductases have a broad and diverse substrate spectrum for xenobiotics, however,
      for some of them a specific physiological function has been speculated. In the
      human genome, three SDR genes have been identified to code for the carbonyl
      reductases CBR1 (SDR21C1), CBR3 (SDR21C2) and CBR4 (SDR45C1). The present review
      summarizes the current knowledge on these enzymes with special emphasis on their
      role as a defence system against toxicants, as well as their possible
      physiological function and medical application. In detail, we have screened the
      recent literature on these three enzymes with regard to endogenous and exogenous
      substrates, their three-dimensional structure, tissues specific expression,
      polymorphisms, transcriptional regulation, occurrence in pathological states, and
      their possible association with cancer. Combined, this review contributes to
      understanding the complex nature and biological roles(s) of the human carbonyl
      reductases CBR1, CBR3 and CBR4.

PMID- 20942780
TI  - Psychedelic 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine: metabolism, pharmacokinetics, drug
      interactions, and pharmacological actions.
AB  - 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine (5-MeO-DMT) belongs to a group of naturally
      occurring psychoactive indolealkylamine drugs. It acts as a nonselective
      serotonin (5-HT) agonist and causes many physiological and behavioral changes. 5
      MeO-DMT is O-demethylated by polymorphic cytochrome P450 2D6 (CYP2D6) to an
      active metabolite, bufotenine, while it is mainly inactivated through the
      deamination pathway mediated by monoamine oxidase A (MAO-A). 5-MeO-DMT is often
      used with MAO-A inhibitors such as harmaline. Concurrent use of harmaline reduces
      5-MeO-DMT deamination metabolism and leads to a prolonged and increased exposure
      to the parent drug 5-MeO-DMT, as well as the active metabolite bufotenine.
      Harmaline, 5-MeO-DMT and bufotenine act agonistically on serotonergic systems and
      may result in hyperserotonergic effects or serotonin toxicity. Interestingly,
      CYP2D6 also has important contribution to harmaline metabolism, and CYP2D6
      genetic polymorphism may cause considerable variability in the metabolism,
      pharmacokinetics and dynamics of harmaline and its interaction with 5-MeO-DMT.
      Therefore, this review summarizes recent findings on biotransformation,
      pharmacokinetics, and pharmacological actions of 5-MeO-DMT. In addition, the
      pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic drug-drug interactions between harmaline and
      5-MeO-DMT, potential involvement of CYP2D6 pharmacogenetics, and risks of 5-MeO
      DMT intoxication are discussed.

PMID- 20942783
TI  - Drug discovery for CNS disorders: from bench to bedside.

PMID- 20942784
TI  - Targeting kynurenine 3-monooxygenase (KMO): implications for therapy in
      Huntington's disease.
AB  - Huntington's disease (HD) is an adult onset neurodegenerative disease caused by a
      polyglutamine expansion in the huntingtin protein. Recent work has shown that
      perturbation of kynurenine pathway (KP) metabolism is a hallmark of HD pathology,
      and that changes in brain levels of KP metabolites may play a causative role in
      this disease. The KP contains three neuroactive metabolites, the neurotoxins 3
      hydroxykynurenine (3-HK) and quinolinic acid (QUIN), and the neuroprotectant
      kynurenic acid (KYNA). In model systems in vitro and in vivo, 3-HK and QUIN have
      been shown to cause neurodegeneration via a combination of excitotoxic mechanisms
      and oxidative stress. Recent studies with HD patient samples and in HD model
      systems have supported the idea that a shift away from the synthesis of KYNA and
      towards the formation of 3-HK and QUIN may trigger the neuropathological features
      observed in HD. The enzyme kynurenine 3-monooxygenase (KMO) is located at a
      critical branching point in the KP such that inhibition of this enzyme by either
      pharmacological or genetic means shifts the flux in the pathway towards the
      formation of KYNA. This intervention ameliorates disease-relevant phenotypes in
      HD models. Here we review the work implicating the KP in HD pathology and discuss
      the potential of KMO as a therapeutic target for this disorder. As several
      neurodegenerative diseases exhibit alterations in KP metabolism, this concept has
      broader implications for the treatment of brain diseases.

PMID- 20942785
TI  - Genetic determinants of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis as therapeutic targets.
AB  - Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is an incurable disease resulting from the
      deterioration of motor neurons. The onset of disease typically occurs in the
      fifth decade of life and progresses rapidly; death occurs for 75% of patients
      within 5 years. The only drug that is available to treat ALS is riluzole, which
      extends survival by just 2-3 months. Thus, new therapeutic directions are being
      sought to prolong the lifespan of ALS patients. Since the discovery of SOD1 as a
      genetic determinant of ALS in 1993, SOD1-models of ALS have been extensively
      employed for the development of ALS therapeutics. Novel genetic targets are now
      under investigation following the recent discoveries linking TDP-43, FUS/TLS,
      angiogenin, KIFAP3 and UNC13A to ALS. In this review, we present several of the
      genetic contributors to both sporadic and familial forms of ALS and discuss their
      potential as therapeutic targets for this devastating disease.

PMID- 20942786
TI  - Diagnosis, pathogenesis and therapeutic targets in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
AB  - Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease of the
      motor system. The diagnosis is clinical, but additional investigations such as
      electromyography, transcranial magnetic stimulation and neuroimaging have
      demonstrated their usefulness in supporting diagnosis. Exhaustive research for
      the identification of molecular markers in the cerebrospinal fluid and plasma of
      ALS patients have been made; however, at present, there are no validated
      biomarkers for the disease. Between 5 to 10% of the ALS cases have a positive
      familial history, up to now eleven genes have been identified as associated with
      the disease. The most studied gene encodes for copper, zinc superoxide dismutase
      enzyme. The identified abnormal genes potentially allow the generation of
      experimental cell and animal models to study the mechanisms of the disease and to
      test potential therapeutic compounds. The pathological characteristics of ALS
      include protein aggregation, proteasome inhibition, impaired axonal transport,
      mitochondria damage and apoptosis, oxidative stress, glutamate induced
      excitotoxicity, neuroinflammation and transcriptional dysfunction. Many compounds
      targeted to one or more of these mechanisms have been tested in multiple clinical
      trials. Nonetheless, nowadays only one drug, riluzole, has demonstrated a
      positive effect in the disease progression, but a number of recent compounds are
      promising in ALS therapy.

PMID- 20942787
TI  - Neurotrophic factors as a protective strategy in Parkinson's disease.
AB  - Neurodegenerative disorders are devastating human diseases that include
      Parkinson's, Huntington's, Alzheimer's, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and the
      frontal temporal dementias. Although the clinical manifestations of these
      disorders have been known for quite some time, our understanding of the molecular
      underpinnings is only starting to emerge. Protein misfolding and aggregation is a
      common hallmark among these diseases, and produce a number of cellular and
      functional alterations. The loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra
      justified the use of dopaminergic therapies in patients. However, these
      strategies do not appear to confer disease-modifying effects, and do not prevent
      progression. The idea that neurotrophic factors might promote cell survival is an
      attractive one. Existing evidence from clinical trials is currently inconclusive,
      but some patients display clear clinical benefits. Thus, the current challenge is
      to develop novel strategies that make the use of neurotrophic factors more
      consistent.

PMID- 20942789
TI  - Tau phosphorylation and aggregation as a therapeutic target in tauopathies.
AB  - Tauopathies are neurodegenerative diseases characterized by insoluble
      hyperphosphorylated deposits of the microtubule-associated protein tau in the
      central nervous system. In these disorders, tau is believed to cause
      neurodegeneration and neuronal loss due to the loss of function of the normal
      protein, and/or the gain of toxic properties by generating multimeric species.
      The obstacles found in amyloid-based therapies in Alzheimer's disease, the most
      common tauopathy, have stimulated the search for alternative targets, including
      tau. In this article, we review the strategies aimed at reducing tau
      phosphorylation and aggregation as a target for drug intervention in tauopathies.

PMID- 20942790
TI  - Wnt signalling is a relevant pathway contributing to amyloid beta- peptide
      mediated neuropathology in Alzheimer's disease.
AB  - One of the most important contributions to our understanding of neurodegenerative
      diseases in the last decade has been the demonstration that several disorders
      have a common biochemical cause, involving aggregation and deposition of abnormal
      proteins. Abnormal protein deposition leads to neuronal degeneration with
      consequences to impaired brain function. Protein deposition can be extracellular
      (beta-amyloid peptide (A beta), prion protein) or intracellular (Tau, alpha
      synuclein, huntingtin). Individuals with Alzheimer's disease (AD) exhibit
      extracellular senile plaques (SPs) of aggregated A beta and intracellular
      neurofibrillary tangles that contain hyperphosphorylated Tau protein (NFTs), and
      also an extensive loss in basal forebrain cholinergic neurons that innervate the
      hippocampus and neocortex. The SPs and NFTs contribute to neurodegeneration,
      although the mechanisms inducing basal forebrain cholinergic cell loss and
      cognitive impairment remain unclear. Furthermore, the pathophysiological
      relationship between NFTs and SPs remains undefined, and controversy still rages
      over which of the two hallmark pathologies of AD is the primary cause of
      neurodegeneration in the brain. However, consensus is beginning to develop that
      the two pathologies are not separate processes, and the Wnt signalling pathway
      may provide a pathological link between both. In fact, work in transgenic mice
      showed that A beta or the amyloid precursor protein can influence the formation
      of Tau tangles in areas of the brain known to be affected in AD. Furthermore, A
      beta can contribute to synaptic dysfunction. Thus, A beta appears to be a
      recurring player affecting protein phosphorylation, signal transduction
      mechanisms, cytoskeletal organization, multiprotein complex formation,
      synaptotoxicity and ultimately culminating in protein aggregation. Consequently
      this peptide and the downstream signalling cascades are presently considered as
      potential therapeutic targets.

PMID- 20942791
TI  - Autophagy in the central nervous system: implications for neurodegenerative
      disorders.
AB  - The autophagy-lysosomal pathway is a major proteolytic pathway that in mammalian
      systems mainly comprises of macroautophagy and chaperone-mediated autophagy. The
      former is relatively non-selective and involves bulk degradation of proteins and
      organelles, whereas the latter is selective for certain cytosolic proteins. These
      autophagy pathways are important in development, differentiation, cellular
      remodeling and survival during nutrient starvation. Autophagy is crucial for
      neuronal homeostasis and acts as a local housekeeping process, since neurons are
      post-mitotic cells and require effective protein degradation to prevent
      accumulation of toxic aggregates. A growing body of evidence now suggests that
      dysfunction of autophagy causes accumulation of abnormal proteins and/or damaged
      organelles. Such accumulation has been linked to synaptic dysfunction, cellular
      stress and neuronal death. Abnormal autophagy may be involved in the pathology of
      both chronic nervous system disorders, such as proteinopathies (Alzheimer's,
      Parkinson's, Huntington's disease) and acute brain injuries. Although autophagy
      is generally beneficial, its aberrant activation may also exert a detrimental
      role in neurological diseases depending on the environment and the insult,
      leading to autophagic neuronal death. In this review we summarize the current
      knowledge regarding the role of autophagy-lysosomal pathway in the central
      nervous system and discuss the implication of autophagy dysregulation in human
      neurological diseases and animal models.

PMID- 20942788
TI  - Molecular chaperones as rational drug targets for Parkinson's disease
      therapeutics.
AB  - Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative movement disorder that is caused, in
      part, by the loss of dopaminergic neurons within the substantia nigra pars
      compacta of the basal ganglia. The presence of intracellular protein aggregates,
      known as Lewy bodies and Lewy neurites, within the surviving nigral neurons is
      the defining neuropathological feature of the disease. Accordingly, the
      identification of specific genes mutated in families with Parkinson's disease and
      of genetic susceptibility variants for idiopathic Parkinson's disease has
      implicated abnormalities in proteostasis, or the handling and elimination of
      misfolded proteins, in the pathogenesis of this neurodegenerative disorder.
      Protein folding and the refolding of misfolded proteins are regulated by a
      network of interactive molecules, known as the chaperone system, which is
      composed of molecular chaperones and co-chaperones. The chaperone system is
      intimately associated with the ubiquitin-proteasome system and the autophagy
      lysosomal pathway which are responsible for elimination of misfolded proteins and
      protein quality control. In addition to their role in proteostasis, some
      chaperone molecules are involved in the regulation of cell death pathways. Here
      we review the role of the molecular chaperones Hsp70 and Hsp90, and the
      cochaperones Hsp40, BAG family members such as BAG5, CHIP and Hip in modulating
      neuronal death with a focus on dopaminergic neurodegeneration in Parkinson's
      disease. We also review current progress in preclinical studies aimed at
      targetting the chaperone system to prevent neurodegeneration. Finally, we discuss
      potential future chaperone-based therapeutics for the symptomatic treatment and
      possible disease modification of Parkinson's disease.

PMID- 20942792
TI  - Phenotypic screening strategies for neurodegenerative diseases: a pathway to
      discover novel drug candidates and potential disease targets or mechanisms.
AB  - Target-directed drug design, although a conceptually rational approach, is only
      one strategy for drug discovery. In the case of neurodegenerative diseases where
      molecular targets and disease mechanisms are unknown, even when specific genes
      are known to trigger the disease, phenotypic screening offers another approach.
      This review describes the establishment of phenotypic screening assays using
      primary neurons subjected to a disease-relevant pathophysiological stress and
      measuring the most important functional outcome, survival. Although a challenge
      both to screening teams to reproducibly produce the cells and chemists to
      interpret structure-activity relationships, such systems have historically
      identified or produced effective drugs. The primary screening assay is only the
      start; once hits are validated, they must be characterized using traditional
      target-directed or mechanism-based secondary assays to establish their
      selectivity, lack of side-effect liability, and eventually be shown to produce
      the desired effects in a preclinical animal model of the disease. These compounds
      then provide valuable pharmacological tools to identify neurodegenerative disease
      targets and mechanisms, whether or not they have all the properties required of a
      drug candidate.

PMID- 20942793
TI  - Organelle stress sensors and cell death mechanisms in neurodegenerative diseases.
AB  - Neurodegenerative diseases trigger neuronal cell death by a variety of endogenous
      suicide pathways. Although cell death may occur through highly heterogeneous
      processes, specific cell organelles and stress sensors have shown promise as
      potential therapeutic targets. The plasma membrane senses stress through residing
      receptors, which can directly or indirectly activate apoptosis. Importantly,
      several events involved in neuronal death also affect mitochondria homeostasis,
      leading to calcium uptake, opening of the permeability transition pore, and
      release of apoptogenic factors. In addition, nuclear DNA damage triggers cell
      death, where p53 is activated to modulate the expression of selected apoptosis
      target genes. Signaling proteins implicated in apoptosis pathways are enriched at
      the Golgi complex, including death receptors and the phosphoinositide 3-kinase.
      Finally, neurodegenerative diseases progress with accumulation of misfolded
      proteins, deficiently removed by intracellular proteases or chaperones, and
      transport abnormalities due to disturbance of cytoskeletal organization in
      degenerating neurons. The challenge is to decode the complex signaling network of
      inter-organellar crosstalk leading to cell death and identify therapeutic
      approaches for delaying or preventing neurodegenerative diseases.

PMID- 20942794
TI  - Development of novel genomic blood biomarkers for neurodegenerative diseases.
AB  - Genomic blood biomarkers hold great promise for development of novel clinical and
      therapeutic approaches in patients with neurodegenerative diseases. Such
      biomarkers could prove invaluable in early disease diagnosis, monitoring of
      disease progression, or assessment of response to therapy. More importantly, they
      could be helpful in search for disease-modifying new therapies which are very
      much needed in modern approaches to treatment of neurodegenerative diseases,
      serving as surrogate endpoints in clinical trials. However, when performing
      expression profiling experiments aimed at discovery of new biomarker genes,
      standard operating procedures regarding sample collection, microarray
      methodology, and statistical analysis need to be fully developed and strictly
      adhered to. Several studies performed on patients with multiple sclerosis,
      Huntington's, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease offer promise that such
      approaches might prove useful in clinical practice. Crucial for successful
      application of any genomic biomarker will be confirmation in multiple independent
      patient cohorts and correlation of the improvement in biomarker endpoint with
      clinical improvement in longitudinal patient studies.

PMID- 20942795
TI  - A review of the chemical and pharmacological aspects of the genus marrubium.
AB  - The genus Marrubium (Lamiaceae) is comprised of about forty species, distributed
      in Europe, Asia and Brazil. Some species are traditionally used to treat various
      diseases, including asthma, pulmonary infections, inflammation and hypotension,
      as cholagogues and sedative agents, and for pain relief. A literature review on
      the chemical and biological aspects of these plants indicates antimicrobial
      activity against gram positive bacteria, analgesic properties, and anti
      hypertensive, antidiabetic, antioxidant properties, among others, particularly
      related to the presence of diterpenes, sterols, phenylpropanoids and flavonoids.
      This review shows the main chemical and pharmacological aspects of the genus
      Marrubium, with emphasis on M. vulgare, which grows in Brazil and has been
      studied by us and other authors.

PMID- 20942797
TI  - Effect of pinocembrin isolated from Boesenbergia pandurata on xenobiotic
      metabolizing enzymes in rat liver.
AB  - Pinocembrin, 5, 7-dihydroxyflavanone, is one of the flavanones found in the
      rhizomes of Boesenbergia pandurata. Previous study demonstrated that pinocembrin
      was neither toxic nor mutagenic to male rats. This study evaluated the effects of
      pinocembrin on phase I and II xenobiotic-metabolizing enzymes in rat liver. It
      was found that heme oxygenase activity significantly increased in 10 and 100
      mg/kg bw of pinocembrin treated groups (p<0.05). However, pinocembrin did not
      affect the activities of NADPH: cytochrome P450 reductase, NADPH: quinone
      reductase, UDP-glucuronosyltransferase and glutathione-S-transferase. It also did
      not affect the expression of phase I metabolizing enzymes, including CYP1A1,
      CYP2B1, CYP2C11, CYP2E1, CYP3A2, and NADPH: cytochrome P450 reductase. In
      conclusion, short-term treatment of pinocembrin in Wistar rats increased the
      activity of heme oxygenase but did not affect on the activities of other phase II
      xenobiotic-metabolizing enzymes or the expression of cytochrome P450 enzymes.

PMID- 20942798
TI  - PMA-induced up-regulation of TBX3 is mediated by AP-1 and contributes to breast
      cancer cell migration.
AB  - The T-box transcription factor TBX3 provides an important link between embryonic
      development and cancer. TBX3 mediates limb, mammary gland and heart development
      and, in humans, mutations resulting in haplo-insufficiency of TBX3 lead to ulnar
      mammary syndrome. Importantly, the de-regulation of TBX3 gene expression has been
      linked to several cancers, where it acts to suppress senescence and promotes
      proliferation and tumour invasion. Despite the negative impact of de-regulated
      TBX3 expression as seen by developmental defects and cancer, surprisingly little
      is known about the regulation of the TBX3 gene. In the present paper, we show
      that the phorbol ester PMA increases TBX3 protein and mRNA levels in a protein
      kinase C-dependent manner via the AP-1 (activator protein 1) transcription
      factors c-Jun and JunB. Furthermore, these AP-1 factors are shown to mediate the
      activation of the TBX3 gene by binding a non-consensus PMA-response element in
      the TBX3 promoter in vitro and in vivo. We also demonstrate that TBX3 contributes
      to the PMA-induced migration previously observed for the MCF-7 breast epithelium
      cancer cell line. Our present results reveal a previously unidentified pathway
      that up-regulates TBX3 expression and provides additional evidence that increased
      levels of TBX3 contribute to metastasis.

PMID- 20942796
TI  - Inhibition of cytochrome P450 1A2-mediated metabolism and production of reactive
      oxygen species by heme oxygenase-1 in rat liver microsomes.
AB  - Heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) is induced in most cell types by many forms of
      environmental stress and is believed to play a protective role in cells exposed
      to oxidative stress. Metabolism by cytochromes P450 (P450) is highly inefficient
      as the oxidation of substrate is associated with the production of varying
      proportions of hydrogen peroxide and/or superoxide. This study tests the
      hypothesis that heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) plays a protective role against oxidative
      stress by competing with P450 for binding to the common redox partner, the NADPH
      P450 reductase (CPR) and in the process, diminishing P450 metabolism and the
      associated production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Liver microsomes were
      isolated from uninduced rats and rats that were treated with cadmium and/or beta
      napthoflavone (BNF) to induce HO-1 and/or CYP1A2. HO-1 induction was associated
      with slower rates of metabolism of the CYP1A2-specific substrate, 7
      ethoxyresorufin. Furthermore, HO-1 induction also was associated with slower
      rates of hydrogen peroxide and hydroxyl radical production by microsomes from
      rats induced for CYP1A2. The inhibition associated with HO-1 induction was not
      dependent on the addition of heme to the microsomal incubations. The effects of
      HO-1 induction were less dramatic in the absence of substrate for CYP1A2,
      suggesting that the enzyme was more effective in inhibiting the CYP1A2-related
      activity than the CPR-related production of superoxide (that dismutates to form
      hydrogen peroxide).

PMID- 20942799
TI  - In vivo evidence for the iron-binding activity of an iron-sulfur cluster assembly
      protein IscA in Escherichia coli.
AB  - IscA is a key member of the iron-sulfur cluster assembly machinery in prokaryotic
      and eukaryotic organisms; however, the physiological function of IscA still
      remains elusive. In the present paper we report the in vivo evidence
      demonstrating the iron-binding activity of IscA in Escherichia coli cells.
      Supplement of exogenous iron (1 MUM) in M9 minimal medium is sufficient to
      maximize the iron binding in IscA expressed in E. coli cells under aerobic growth
      conditions. In contrast, IscU, an iron-sulfur cluster assembly scaffold protein,
      or CyaY, a bacterial frataxin homologue, fails to bind any iron in E. coli cells
      under the same experimental conditions. Interestingly, the strong iron-binding
      activity of IscA is greatly diminished in E. coli cells under anaerobic growth
      conditions. Additional studies reveal that oxygen in medium promotes the iron
      binding in IscA, and that the iron binding in IscA in turn prevents formation of
      biologically inaccessible ferric hydroxide under aerobic conditions. Consistent
      with the differential iron-binding activity of IscA under aerobic and anaerobic
      conditions, we find that IscA and its paralogue SufA are essential for the iron
      sulfur cluster assembly in E. coli cells under aerobic growth conditions, but not
      under anaerobic growth conditions. The results provide in vivo evidence that IscA
      may act as an iron chaperone for the biogenesis of iron-sulfur clusters in E.
      coli cells under aerobic conditions.

PMID- 20942800
TI  - Inactivation of eukaryotic initiation factor 5A (eIF5A) by specific acetylation
      of its hypusine residue by spermidine/spermine acetyltransferase 1 (SSAT1).
AB  - eIF5A (eukaryotic translation initiation factor 5A) is the only cellular protein
      containing hypusine [Nepsilon-(4-amino-2-hydroxybutyl)lysine]. eIF5A is activated
      by the post-translational synthesis of hypusine and the hypusine modification is
      essential for cell proliferation. In the present study, we report selective
      acetylation of the hypusine and/or deoxyhypusine residue of eIF5A by a key
      polyamine catabolic enzyme SSAT1 (spermidine/spermine-N1-acetyltransferase 1).
      This enzyme normally catalyses the N1-acetylation of spermine and spermidine to
      form acetyl-derivatives, which in turn are degraded to lower polyamines. Although
      SSAT1 has been reported to exert other effects in cells by its interaction with
      other cellular proteins, eIF5A is the first target protein specifically
      acetylated by SSAT1. Hypusine or deoxyhypusine, as the free amino acid, does not
      act as a substrate for SSAT1, suggesting a macromolecular interaction between
      eIF5A and SSAT1. Indeed, the binding of eIF5A and SSAT1 was confirmed by pull
      down assays. The effect of the acetylation of hypusine on eIF5A activity was
      assessed by comparison of acetylated with non-acetylated bovine testis eIF5A in
      the methionyl-puromycin synthesis assay. The loss of eIF5A activity by this SSAT1
      mediated acetylation confirms the strict structural requirement for the hypusine
      side chain and suggests a possible regulation of eIF5A by hypusine
      acetylation/deacetylation.

PMID- 20942801
TI  - Proteinase 3 and prognosis of patients with acute myocardial infarction.
AB  - A multimarker approach may be useful for risk stratification in AMI (acute
      myocardial infarction) patients, particularly utilizing pathways that are
      pathophysiologically distinct. Our aim was to assess the prognostic value of PR3
      (proteinase 3) in patients post-AMI. We compared the prognostic value of PR3, an
      inflammatory marker, with an established marker NT-proBNP (N-terminal pro-B-type
      natriuretic peptide) post-AMI. We recruited 900 consecutive post-AMI patients
      (700 men; age, 64.6+/-12.4 years) in a prospective study with follow-up over 347
      (0-764) days. Plasma PR3 was significantly higher in patients who died [666.2
      (226.8-4035.5) ng/ml; P<0.001] or were readmitted with heart failure [598 (231.6
      1803.9) ng/ml, P<0.004] compared with event-free survivors [486.9 (29.3-3118.2)
      ng/ml]. Using Cox modelling, log10 PR3 [HR (hazard ratio), 3.80] and log10 NT
      proBNP (HR, 2.51) were significant independent predictors of death or heart
      failure. When patients were stratified by plasma NT-proBNP (median, 1023 pmol/l),
      PR3 gave additional predictive value for death or heart failure, in both the
      patients in whom NT-proBNP level was above the median (log rank for trend, 12.54;
      P<0.0004) and those with NT-proBNP level below the median (log rank for trend,
      3.83; P<0.05). Neither marker predicted recurrent AMI. In conclusion, this is the
      first report showing a potential role for the serine protease PR3 in determining
      mortality and incidence of heart failure following AMI, independent of
      established conventional risk factors. PR3 may represent a clinically useful
      marker of prognosis after an AMI as part of a multimarker strategy.

PMID- 20942802
TI  - Molecular determinants involved in activation of caspase 7.
AB  - During apoptosis, initiator caspases (8, 9 and 10) activate downstream
      executioner caspases (3, 6 and 7) by cleaving the IDC (interdomain connector) at
      two sites. Here, we demonstrate that both activation sites, site 1 and site 2, of
      caspase 7 are suboptimal for activation by initiator caspases 8 and 9 in cellulo,
      and in vitro using recombinant proteins and activation kinetics. Indeed, when
      both sites are replaced with the preferred motifs recognized by either caspase 8
      or 9, we found an up to 36-fold improvement in activation. Moreover, cleavage at
      site 1 is preferred to site 2 because of its location within the IDC, since
      swapping sites does not lead to a more efficient activation. We also demonstrate
      the important role of Ile195 of site 1 involved in maintaining a network of
      contacts that preserves the proper conformation of the active enzyme. Finally, we
      show that the length of the IDC plays a crucial role in maintaining the necessity
      of proteolysis for activation. In fact, although we were unable to generate a
      caspase 7 that does not require proteolysis for activity, shortening the IDC of
      the initiator caspase 8 by four residues was sufficient to confer a requirement
      for proteolysis, a key feature of executioner caspases. Altogether, the results
      demonstrate the critical role of the primary structure of caspase 7's IDC for its
      activation and proteolytic activity.

PMID- 20942804
TI  - Prooxidants prevent yeast cell death induced by genotoxic stress.
AB  - It was shown earlier that DNA damage induced by alkylating agent MMS (methyl
      methanesulfonate) results in formation of ROS (reactive oxygen species) in yeast
      cells. Here, we asked whether this ROS generation is favourable for the cells. It
      appeared that prooxidants rather than antioxidants stimulate the survival after
      MMS treatment. We found that positively charged detergents increase the survival
      via induction of H2O2 formation in the cells. Interestingly, prooxidants
      protected yeast cells from the moderate doses of MMS and enhanced the toxicity of
      relatively high ones. Prooxidants also protect the cells arrested in mitosis
      (nocodazole treatment), indicating that the protection is mostly due to ROS
      mediated transcriptional stress-response rather than due to enrichment of cell
      culture with highly MMS-resistant G2/M cells. The comparison of the published
      expression profile responses to prooxidant and MMS treatments identifies a set of
      ROS-activated genes, which are likely to protect cells from the genotoxic stress.

PMID- 20942803
TI  - The pancreatic islet beta-cell-enriched transcription factor Pdx-1 regulates
      Slc30a8 gene transcription through an intronic enhancer.
AB  - The SLC30A8 gene encodes the zinc transporter ZnT-8, which provides zinc for
      insulin-hexamer formation. Genome-wide association studies have shown that a
      polymorphic variant in SLC30A8 is associated with altered susceptibility to Type
      2 diabetes and we recently reported that glucose-stimulated insulin secretion is
      decreased in islets isolated from Slc30a8-knockout mice. The present study
      examines the molecular basis for the islet-specific expression of Slc30a8. VISTA
      analyses identified two conserved regions in Slc30a8 introns 2 and 3, designated
      enhancers A and B respectively. Transfection experiments demonstrated that
      enhancer B confers elevated fusion gene expression in both betaTC-3 cells and
      alphaTC-6 cells. In contrast, enhancer A confers elevated fusion gene expression
      selectively in betaTC-3 and not alphaTC-6 cells. These data suggest that enhancer
      A is an islet beta-cell-specific enhancer and that the mechanisms controlling
      Slc30a8 expression in alpha- and beta-cells are overlapping, but distinct. Gel
      retardation and ChIP (chromatin immunoprecipitation) assays revealed that the
      islet-enriched transcription factor Pdx-1 binds enhancer A in vitro and in situ
      respectively. Mutation of two Pdx-1-binding sites in enhancer A markedly reduces
      fusion gene expression suggesting that this factor contributes to Slc30a8
      expression in beta-cells, a conclusion consistent with developmental studies
      showing that restriction of Pdx-1 to pancreatic islet beta-cells correlates with
      the induction of Slc30a8 gene expression and ZnT-8 protein expression in vivo.

PMID- 20942805
TI  - Maternal country of origin, breast milk characteristics and potential influences
      on immunity in offspring.
AB  - Breast milk contains pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines with
      potential to influence immunological maturation in the child. We have shown
      previously that country of birth is associated with the cytokine/chemokine
      profile of breast milk. In this study we have investigated how these differences
      in breast milk affect the cellular response of cord blood mononuclear cells
      (CBMCs) and intestinal epithelial cells (IECs, cell line HT-29) to microbial
      challenge. Ninety-five women were included: 30 from Mali in West Africa, 32
      Swedish immigrants and 33 native Swedish women. CBMCs or IECs were stimulated in
      vitro with breast milk, alone or in combination with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or
      peptidoglycan (PGN). Breast milk in general abrogated the LPS-induced down
      regulation of surface CD14 and Toll-like receptor (TLR)-4 expression on CB
      monocytes, while inhibiting the PGN-induced TLR-2 up-regulation. However, breast
      milk from immigrant women together with LPS induced a lower CBMC release of
      interleukin (IL)-6 (P = 0.034) and CXCL-8/IL-8 (P = 0.037) compared with breast
      milk from Swedish women, while breast milk from Swedish women and Mali women
      tended to increase the response. The same pattern of CXCL-8/IL-8 release could be
      seen after stimulation of IECs (HT-29). The lower CBMC and IEC (HT-29) responses
      to microbial compounds by breast milk from immigrant women could be explained by
      the fact that breast milk from the immigrant group showed a divergent pro- and
      anti-inflammatory content for CXCL-8/IL-8, transforming growth factor-beta1 and
      soluble CD14, compared to the other two groups of women. This may have
      implications for maturation of their children's immune responses.

PMID- 20942806
TI  - Lack of anti-tumour reactivity despite enhanced numbers of circulating natural
      killer T cells in two patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma.
AB  - Natural killer T (NK T) cells play a central role as intermediates between innate
      and adaptive immune responses important to induce anti-tumour reactivity in
      cancer patients. In two of 14 renal cell carcinoma (RCC) patients, treated with
      interferon (IFN)-alpha, we detected significantly enhanced numbers of circulating
      NK T cells which were typed phenotypically and analysed for anti-tumour
      reactivity. These NK T cells were T cell receptor (TCR) Valpha24/Vbeta11(+),
      6B11(+) and bound CD1d tetramers. No correlation was observed between NK T
      frequencies and regulatory T cells (T(regs)), which were also enhanced. NK T
      cells expressed CD56, CD161, CD45RO and CD69 and were predominantly CD8(+), in
      contrast to the circulating T cell pool that contained both CD4(+) and CD8(+) T
      cells, as is found in healthy individuals. It is unlikely that IFN-alpha
      triggered the high NK T frequency, as all other patients expressed low to normal
      NK T numbers. A parallel was observed in IFN-alpha-related increase in activation
      of NK T cells with that in conventional T and non-T cells. Normal interleukin
      (IL)-7, IL-12 and IL-15 plasma levels were found. In one of the patients sporadic
      NK T cells were detected at the tumour site. alpha-Galactosylceramide
      (alphaGalCer) stimulation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells or isolated NK T
      cell lines from both patients induced IFN-gamma, but no IL-4 and no response
      towards autologous tumour cells or lysates. The clinical course of disease in
      both patients was not exceptional with regard to histological subtype and extent
      of metastatic disease. Therefore, despite a constitutive high peripheral
      frequency and in vitroalphaGalCer responsiveness, the NK T cells in the two RCC
      patients did not show anti-tumour responsiveness.

PMID- 20942807
TI  - Concurrent hexachlorobenzene and chloroethene transformation by endogenous
      dechlorinating microorganisms in the Ebro River sediment.
AB  - The ability of Dehalococcoides spp. to reduce chlorinated compounds offers a
      great potential for bioremediation and/or bioaugmentation of contaminated
      environments. So far, however, our knowledge of the activity of Dehalococcoides
      spp. in situ is limited to only a few subsurface environments. The aim of this
      study was to broaden this knowledge to other environments, and we investigated
      the role of Dehalococcoides spp. in the transformation of chlorinated benzenes
      and chlorinated ethenes in the Ebro River (Spain) sediments. Lab-scale batch
      microcosms were used to follow the growth and abundance of Dehalococcoides spp.
      during the transformation of selected chlorinated compounds. We applied
      biomolecular tools targeting the 16S rRNA, the 16S rRNA gene and several
      functional genes involved in dechlorination in combination with chemical
      measurements. The growth of Dehalococcoides spp. and the differential expression
      of several reductive dehalogenase genes during the dechlorination process could
      be demonstrated. Furthermore, 16S rRNA gene-based clone libraries of
      dechlorinating river sediment showed a complex community structure and indicated
      the involvement of several additional bacterial genera in the transformation
      process, underlining the remarkable potential of this rivers' sediment to
      transform different halo-organic pollutants.

PMID- 20942808
TI  - Cnh1 Na(+) /H(+) antiporter and Ena1 Na(+) -ATPase play different roles in cation
      homeostasis and cell physiology of Candida glabrata.
AB  - Yeasts tightly regulate their intracellular concentrations of alkali metal
      cations. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the Nha1 Na(+) /H(+) -antiporter and Ena1
      Na(+) -ATPase, mediate the efflux of toxic sodium and surplus potassium. We
      report the characterization of Candida glabrata CgCnh1 and CgEna1 homologues.
      Their substrate specificity and transport properties were compared upon
      expression in S. cerevisiae, and their function characterized directly in C.
      glabrata. The CgCnh1 antiporter and the CgEna1 ATPase transport both potassium
      and sodium when expressed in S. cerevisiae. CgEna1p fully complements the lack of
      S. cerevisiae own Na(+) -ATPases but the activity of the CgCnh1 antiporter is
      lower than that of ScNha1p. Candida glabrata deletion mutants and analyses of
      their phenotypes revealed that though both transporters have a broad substrate
      specificity, their function in C. glabrata cells is not the same. Their differing
      physiological roles are also reflected in their regulation of expression, CgENA1
      is highly upregulated by an increased osmotic pressure or sodium concentration,
      whereas CgCNH1 is expressed constitutively. The Cnh1 antiporter is involved in
      the regulation of potassium content and the Ena1 ATPase in sodium detoxification
      of C. glabrata cells. This situation differs from S. cerevisiae, where the Nha1
      antiporter and Ena ATPases both participate together in Na(+) detoxification and
      in the regulation of K(+) homeostasis.

PMID- 20942809
TI  - Association of functional polymorphisms related to the transcriptional level of
      FOXP3 with prognosis of autoimmune thyroid diseases.
AB  - The severity of Hashimoto's disease (HD) and intractability (or inducibility to
      remission) of Graves' disease (GD) varies among patients. Forkhead box P3 (FoxP3)
      is a crucial regulatory factor for the development and function of regulatory T
      (T(reg) ) cells, and deficiency of the FoxP3 gene (FOXP3) suppresses the
      regulatory function of T(reg) cells. To clarify the association of the functional
      polymorphisms of the FOXP3 with the prognosis of GD and HD, we genotyped 
      3499A/G, -3279C/A and -2383C/T polymorphisms in FOXP3 gene obtained from 38
      patients with severe HD, 40 patients with mild HD, 65 patients with intractable
      GD, in whom remission was difficult to induce, 44 patients with GD in remission
      and 71 healthy volunteers. The -3279CA genotype was more frequent in patients
      with GD in remission than in patients with intractable GD, and the -3279AA
      genotype, which correlates to defective transcription of FOXP3, was absent in
      patients with GD in remission. The -2383CC genotype was more frequent in patients
      with severe HD than in those with mild HD. In conclusion, the -3279A/C
      polymorphism is related to the development and intractability of GD and the 
      2383CC genotype to the severity of HD.

PMID- 20942810
TI  - Diverticular disease and colorectal cancer, causally associated or accidentals;
      the logic from Burkitt to C-CLEAR.

PMID- 20942811
TI  - cAMP- and Ca2(+) /calmodulin-dependent protein kinases mediate inotropic,
      lusitropic and arrhythmogenic effects of urocortin 2 in mouse ventricular
      myocytes.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Urocortin 2 is beneficial in heart failure, but the
      underlying cellular mechanisms are not completely understood. Here we have
      characterized the functional effects of urocortin 2 on mouse cardiomyocytes and
      elucidated the underlying signalling pathways and mechanisms. EXPERIMENTAL
      APPROACH: Mouse ventricular myocytes were field-stimulated at 0.5 Hz at room
      temperature. Fractional shortening and [Ca2(+)](i) transients were measured by an
      edge detection and epifluorescence system respectively. Western blots were
      carried out on myocyte extracts with antibodies against total phospholamban (PLN)
      and PLN phosphorylated at serine-16. KEY RESULTS: Urocortin 2 elicited time- and
      concentration-dependent positive inotropic and lusitropic effects (EC50 : 19 nM)
      that were abolished by antisauvagine-30 (10 nM, n= 6), a specific antagonist of
      corticotrophin releasing factor (CRF) CRF2 receptors. Urocortin 2 (100 nM)
      increased the amplitude and decreased the time constant of decay of the
      underlying [Ca2(+)](i) transients. Urocortin 2 also increased PLN phosphorylation
      at serine-16. H89 (2 uM) or KT5720 (1 uM), two inhibitors of protein kinase A
      (PKA), as well as KN93 (1 uM), an inhibitor of Ca2(+)/calmodulin-dependent
      protein kinase II (CaMKII), suppressed the urocortin 2 effects on shortening and
      [Ca2(+)](i) transients. In addition, urocortin 2 also elicited arrhythmogenic
      events consisting of extra cell shortenings and extra [Ca2(+)](i) increases in
      diastole. Urocortin 2-induced arrhythmogenic events were significantly reduced in
      cells pretreated with KT5720 or KN93. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Urocortin 2
      enhanced contractility in mouse ventricular myocytes via activation of CRF2
      receptors in a cAMP/PKA- and Ca2(+)/CaMKII-dependent manner. This enhancement was
      accompanied by Ca2(+)-dependent arrhythmogenic effects mediated by PKA and
      CaMKII.

PMID- 20942812
TI  - Biodistribution, pharmacokinetics and metabolism of interleukin-1 receptor
      antagonist (IL-1RA) using [18F]-IL1RA and PET imaging in rats.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Positron emission tomography (PET) has the potential to
      improve our understanding of the preclinical pharmacokinetics and metabolism of
      therapeutic agents, and is easily translated to clinical studies in humans.
      However, studies involving proteins radiolabelled with clinically relevant PET
      isotopes are currently limited. Here we illustrate the potential of PET imaging
      in a preclinical study of the biodistribution and metabolism of 18F-labelled IL-1
      receptor antagonist ([18F]IL-1RA) using a novel [18F]-radiolabelling technique.
      EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH: IL-1RA was radiolabelled by reductive amination on lysine
      moieties with [18F]fluoroacetaldehyde. Sprague-Dawley rats were injected
      intravenously with [18F]IL-1RA and imaged with a PET camera for 2 h. For the
      study of IL-1RA metabolites by ex vivogamma-counting of samples, rats were killed
      20 min, 1 h or 2 h after injection of [18F]IL-1RA. KEY RESULTS: [18F]IL-1RA
      distribution into the major organs of interest was as follows: kidneys >> liver >
      lungs >> brain. In lungs and liver, [18F]IL-1RA uptake peaked within 1 min post
      injection then decreased rapidly to reach a plateau from 10 min post-injection.
      In the brain, the uptake exhibited slower pharmacokinetics with a smaller post
      injection peak and a plateau from 6 min onward. IL-1RA was rapidly metabolized
      and these metabolites represented ~40% of total activity in plasma and ~80% in
      urine, 20 min after injection. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS Preclinical PET
      imaging is a feasible method of assessing the biodistribution of new biological
      compounds of therapeutic interest rapidly. The biodistribution of [18F]IL-1RA
      reported here is in agreement with an earlier study suggesting low uptake in the
      normal brain, with rapid metabolism and excretion via the kidneys.

PMID- 20942813
TI  - Byakangelicin induces cytochrome P450 3A4 expression via transactivation of
      pregnane X receptors in human hepatocytes.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Byakangelicin is found in extracts of the root of
      Angelica dahurica, used in Korea and China as a traditional medicine to treat
      colds, headache and toothache. As byakangelicin can inhibit the effects of sex
      hormones, it may increase the catabolism of endogenous hormones. Therefore, this
      study investigated the effects of byakangelicin on the cytochrome P450 isoform
      cytochrome (CY) P3A4 in human hepatocytes. EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH: Cultures of
      human hepatocytes and a hepatoma cell line (Huh7 cells) were used. mRNA and
      protein levels were measured by quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase
      chain reaction and Western blot. Plasmid constructs and mutants were prepared by
      cloning and site-directed mutagenesis. Reporter (luciferase) activity was
      determined by transient co-transfection experiments. KEY RESULTS: In human
      primary hepatocytes, byakangelicin markedly induced the expression of CYP3A4 both
      at the mRNA level (approximately fivefold) and the protein level (approximately
      threefold) but did not affect expression of human pregnane X receptor (hPXR). In
      reporter assays, byakangelicin activated CYP3A4 promoter in a concentration
      dependent manner (EC50 = 5 uM), and this activation was enhanced by co
      transfection with hPXR. Further reporter assays demonstrated that the eNR4
      binding element in the CYP3A4 promoter was required for the transcriptional
      activation of CYP3A4 by byakangelicin. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS:
      Byakangelicin induced expression and activity of CYP3A4 in human hepatocytes.
      This induction was achieved by the transactivation of PXR and not by increased
      expression of PXR. Therefore, byakangelicin is likely to increase the expression
      of all PXR target genes (such as MDR1) and induce a wide range of drug-drug
      interactions.

PMID- 20942814
TI  - Scutellarin alleviates interstitial fibrosis and cardiac dysfunction of infarct
      rats by inhibiting TGFbeta1 expression and activation of p38-MAPK and ERK1/2.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Interstitial fibrosis plays a causal role in the
      development of heart failure after chronic myocardial infarction (MI), and anti
      fibrotic therapy represents a promising strategy to mitigate this pathological
      process. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of long-term
      administration of scutellarin (Scu) on cardiac interstitial fibrosis of
      myocardial infarct rats and the underlying mechanisms. EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH: Scu
      was administered to rats that were subjected to coronary artery ligation. Eight
      weeks later, its effects on cardiac fibrosis were assessed by examining cardiac
      function and histology. The number and collagen content of cultured cardiac
      fibroblasts exposed to angiotensin II (Ang II) were determined after the
      administration of Scu in vitro. Protein expression was detected by Western blot
      technique, and mRNA levels by quantitative reverse transcription-PCR. KEY
      RESULTS: The echocardiographic and haemodynamic measurements showed that Scu
      improved the impaired cardiac function of infarct rats and decreased interstitial
      fibrosis. Scu inhibited the expression of FN1 and TGFbeta1, but produced no
      effects on inflammatory cytokines (TNFalpha, IL-1beta and IL-6) in the 8 week
      infarct hearts. Scu inhibited the proliferation and collagen production of
      cardiac fibroblasts (CFs) and the up-regulation of FN1 and TGFbeta1 induced by
      Ang II. The enhanced phosphorylation of p38-MAPK and ERK1/2 in both infarct
      cardiac tissue and cultured CFs challenged by Ang II were suppressed by Scu.
      CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Long-term administration of Scu improved the
      cardiac function of MI rats by inhibiting interstitial fibrosis, and the
      mechanisms may involve the suppression of pro-fibrotic cytokine TGFbeta1
      expression and inhibition of p38 MAPK and ERK1/2 phosphorylation.

PMID- 20942815
TI  - Critical role of the STAT3 pathway in the cardioprotective efficacy of zoniporide
      in a model of myocardial preservation - the rat isolated working heart.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Ischemia-reperfusion injury plays an important role in
      the development of primary allograft failure after heart transplantation.
      Inhibition of the Na+/H+ exchanger is one of the most promising therapeutic
      strategies for treating ischemia-reperfusion injury. Here we have characterized
      the cardioprotective efficacy of zoniporide and the underlying mechanisms in a
      model of myocardial preservation using rat isolated working hearts. EXPERIMENTAL
      APPROACH: Rat isolated hearts subjected to 6 h hypothermic (1-4 degrees C)
      storage followed by 45 min reperfusion at 37 degrees C were treated with
      zoniporide at different concentrations and timing. Recovery of cardiac function,
      levels of total and phosphorylated protein kinase B, extracellular signal
      regulated kinase 1/2, glycogen synthase kinase-3beta and STAT3 as well as cleaved
      caspase 3 were measured at the end of reperfusion. Lactate dehydrogenase release
      into coronary effluent before and post-storage was also measured. KEY RESULTS:
      Zoniporide concentration-dependently improved recovery of cardiac function after
      reperfusion. The functional recovery induced by zoniporide was accompanied by up
      regulation of p-extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 and p-STAT3, and by
      reduction in lactate dehydrogenase release and cleaved caspase 3. There were no
      significant differences in any of the above indices when zoniporide was
      administered before, during or after ischemia. The STAT3 inhibitor, stattic,
      abolished zoniporide-induced improvements in functional recovery and up
      regulation of p-STAT3 after reperfusion. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Zoniporide
      is a potent cardioprotective agent and activation of STAT3 plays a critical role
      in the cardioprotective action of zoniporide. This agent shows promise as a
      supplement to storage solutions to improve preservation of donor hearts.

PMID- 20942816
TI  - Sarcolemmal cardiac K(ATP) channels as a target for the cardioprotective effects
      of the fluorine-containing pinacidil analogue, flocalin.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: A class of drugs known as K(ATP) -channel openers induce
      cardioprotection. This study examined the effects of the novel K(ATP) -channel
      opener, the fluorine-containing pinacidil derivative, flocalin, on cardiac
      specific K(ATP) -channels, excitability of native cardiac myocytes and on the
      ischaemic heart. EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH: The action of flocalin was investigated
      on: (i) membrane currents through cardiac-specific K(ATP) -channels (I(KATP) )
      formed by K(IR) 6.2/SUR2A heterologously expressed in HEK-293 cells (HEK
      293(6.2/2A) ); (ii) excitability and intracellular Ca2(+) ([Ca2(+) ](i) )
      transients of cultured rat neonatal cardiac myocytes; and (iii) functional and
      ultrastructural characteristics of isolated guinea-pig hearts subjected to
      ischaemia-reperfusion. KEY RESULTS: Flocalin concentration-dependently activated
      a glibenclamide-sensitive I(KATP) in HEK-293(6.2/2A) cells with an EC50= 8.1 +/-
      0.4 uM. In cardiac myocytes, flocalin (5 uM) hyperpolarized resting potential by
      3-5 mV, markedly shortened action potential duration, reduced the amplitude of
      [Ca2(+) ](i) transients by 2-3-fold and suppressed contraction. The magnitude and
      extent of reversibility of these effects depended on the type of cardiac
      myocytes. In isolated hearts, perfusion with 5 umol.L-1 flocalin, before inducing
      ischaemia, facilitated restoration of contraction during reperfusion, decreased
      the number of extrasystoles, prevented the appearance of coronary
      vasoconstriction and reduced damage to the cardiac tissue at the ultrastructural
      level (state of myofibrils, membrane integrity, mitochondrial cristae structure).
      CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS: Flocalin induced potent cardioprotection by
      activating cardiac-type K(ATP) -channels with all the benefits of the presence of
      fluorine group in the drug structure: higher lipophilicity, decreased toxicity,
      resistance to oxidation and thermal degradation, decreased metabolism in the
      organism and prolonged therapeutic action.

PMID- 20942818
TI  - Disulphide trapping of the GABA(A) receptor reveals the importance of the
      coupling interface in the action of benzodiazepines.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND SIGNIFICANCE: Although the functional effects of benzodiazepines
      (BZDs) on GABA(A) receptors have been well characterized, the structural
      mechanism by which these modulators alter activation of the receptor by GABA is
      still undefined. EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH: We used disulphide trapping between
      engineered cysteines to probe BZD-induced conformational changes within the
      gamma2 subunit and at the alpha1/gamma2 coupling interface (Loops 2, 7 and 9) of
      alpha1beta2gamma2 GABA(A) receptors. KEY RESULTS: Crosslinking gamma2 Loop 9 to
      gamma2beta-strand 9 (via gamma2 S195C/F203C and gamma2 S187C/L206C) significantly
      decreased maximum potentiation by flurazepam, suggesting that modulation of GABA
      induced current (I(GABA)) by flurazepam involves movements of gamma2 Loop 9
      relative to gamma2beta-strand 9. In contrast, tethering gamma2beta-strand 9 to
      the gamma2 pre-M1 region (via gamma2S202C/S230C) significantly enhanced
      potentiation by both flurazepam and zolpidem, indicating gamma2S202C/S230C
      trapped the receptor in a more favourable conformation for positive modulation by
      BZDs. Intersubunit disulphide bonds formed at the alpha/gamma coupling interface
      between alpha1 Loop 2 and gamma2Loop 9 (alpha1D56C/gamma2L198C) prevented
      flurazepam and zolpidem from efficiently modulating I(GABA) . Disulphide trapping
      alpha1 Loop 2 (alpha1D56C) to gamma2beta-strand 1 (gamma2P64C) decreased maximal
      I(GABA) as well as flurazepam potentiation. None of the disulphide bonds affected
      the ability of the negative modulator, 3-carbomethoxy-4-ethyl-6,7-dimethoxy-beta
      carboline (DMCM), to inhibit I(GABA) . CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Positive
      modulation of GABA(A) receptors by BZDs requires reorganization of the loops in
      the alpha1/gamma2 coupling interface. BZD-induced movements at the alpha/gamma
      coupling interface likely synergize with rearrangements induced by GABA binding
      at the beta/alpha subunit interfaces to enhance channel activation by GABA.

PMID- 20942819
TI  - Implantation success and infection in cardiovascular implantable electronic
      device procedures utilizing an antibacterial envelope.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular implantable electronic device (CIED) infection rates
      are increasing faster than implantation rates. More effective antimicrobial
      prophylaxis may help reduce CIED infections and improve clinical outcomes. The
      AIGIS(Rx)((r)) antibacterial envelope is a polymer mesh implanted in the
      generator pocket with the CIED. After implantation it releases two antibiotics,
      minocycline and rifampin, that have been shown to reduce infections associated
      with other medical devices. The purpose of this retrospective cohort study is to
      determine the rate of CIED implantation success and CIED infection in procedures
      utilizing the antibacterial envelope. METHODS: This study enrolled consecutive
      CIED procedures utilizing the antibacterial envelope at 10 US academic,
      community, and Veterans Affairs medical centers. Procedures following an
      explantation for a prior CIED infection or off-label use of the antibacterial
      envelope were excluded. RESULTS: The 624 eligible procedures (age 70 +/- 13
      years, 68.1% men, 27.2% renal insufficiency, 35.4% oral anticoagulant use, 67.8%
      replacement/revision procedures) utilized pacemakers (35%), implantable
      cardioverter-defibrillators (ICD)(29%), and cardiac resynchronization therapy
      with defibrillator devices (CRT-D)(36%). Nearly half of the patients (49%) had at
      least three predefined risk factors for CIED infection. CIED implantation was
      successful in 621 procedures (99.5%[95% confidence interval (CI) 98.8-99.9]).
      There were three major infections (0.48%[95%CI 0.17-1.40]) after 1.9 +/- 2.4
      months follow-up. The infections followed one ICD revision and two CRT-D
      replacements. There were seven deaths; none was a result of the antibacterial
      envelope or the CIED procedure. CONCLUSIONS: CIED procedures that utilized an
      antibacterial envelope had a high rate of CIED implantation success (>99%).
      Although the follow-up to date is short, there was also a low rate of infection
      (<0.50%) in this population at high risk for CIED infection.

PMID- 20942820
TI  - Study protocol of a randomised controlled group trial of client and care outcomes
      in the residential dementia care setting.
AB  - PURPOSE: Literature suggests that quality of life (QOL), quality of care (QOC)
      and Behavioural and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia (BPSD) can be improved by
      relatively simple and inexpensive person-centred approaches to nursing care
      practices (PCC) and modifications to physical environment (PCE). Most research on
      this topic is observational and few randomised controlled trials have included an
      economic evaluation of PCC and PCE together. The PerCEN study aims to confirm the
      value of evidence-based nursing by evaluating the efficacy and cost effectiveness
      of implementing PCC and PCE in residential dementia care services. This article
      describes the PerCEN study protocol (ANZCTR 12608000095369). DESIGN/METHODS: The
      3-year study commenced in 2009 in 38 eligible government-accredited residential
      dementia care homes in New South Wales, Australia. Study participants include 605
      consented residents over 60 years of age with dementia and 380 consenting
      permanent direct-care staff. The study employs a factorial, group-randomised,
      cohort design with stratification to evaluate the main effects of PCC and PCE and
      their joint effects (PCC + PCE), compared with Usual Care (UC) and Usual
      Environment (UE) on QOL, QOC and BPSD in dementia. RESULTS: The primary outcomes
      analysis will use a mixed-model analysis of covariance to determine the effects
      of PCC and PCE on resident QOL and BPSD, and QOC, adjusting for stratification
      and other potential confounders. The incremental cost of providing PCE and PCC
      over UC and UE will be calculated; costs and outcomes will be presented as a cost
      consequence analysis and cost-effectiveness ratios will be estimated as a cost
      per unit change in resident QOL and BPSD. IMPLICATIONS: This cluster-randomised
      trial will rigorously test Kitwood's Social-Psychological Theory of Personhood in
      Dementia (Kitwood & Bredin 1992). The results will provide timely and solid
      evidence that can inform policy and nursing practice development in improving the
      person's QOL and QOC, and reducing BPSD.

PMID- 20942817
TI  - Pharmacogenetics of new analgesics.
AB  - Patient phenotypes in pharmacological pain treatment varies between individuals,
      which could be partly assigned to their genotypes regarding the targets of
      classical analgesics (OPRM1, PTGS2) or associated signalling pathways (KCNJ6).
      Translational and genetic research have identified new targets, for which new
      analgesics are being developed. This addresses voltage-gated sodium, calcium and
      potassium channels, for which SCN9A, CACNA1B, KCNQ2 and KCNQ3, respectively, are
      primary gene candidates because they code for the subunits of the respective
      channels targeted by analgesics currently in clinical development. Mutations in
      voltage gated transient receptor potential (TRPV) channels are known from genetic
      pain research and may modulate the effects of analgesics under development
      targeting TRPV1 or TRPV3. To this add ligand-gated ion channels including
      nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, ionotropic glutamate-gated receptors and ATP
      gated purinergic P2X receptors with most important subunits coded by CHRNA4,
      GRIN2B and P2RX7. Among G protein coupled receptors, delta-opioid receptors
      (coded by OPRD1), cannabinoid receptors (CNR1 and CNR2), metabotropic glutamate
      receptors (mGluR5 coded by GRM5), bradykinin B(1) (BDKRB1) and 5-HT(1A) (HTR1A)
      receptors are targeted by new analgesic substances. Finally, nerve growth factor
      (NGFB), its tyrosine kinase receptor (NTRK1) and the fatty acid amide hydrolase
      (FAAH) have become targets of interest. For most of these genes, functional
      variants have been associated with neuro-psychiatric disorders and not yet with
      analgesia. However, research on the genetic modulation of pain has already
      identified variants in these genes, relative to pain, which may facilitate the
      pharmacogenetic assessments of new analgesics. The increased number of candidate
      pharmacogenetic modulators of analgesic actions may open opportunities for the
      broader clinical implementation of genotyping information.

PMID- 20942821
TI  - Heterogeneous and vulnerable: the health risks facing transnational female sex
      workers.
AB  - Representations of transnational sex workers have been dominated by the
      trafficked victim discourse that often overlooks the heterogeneity of this
      population and variations in the health risks that different sub-groups face.
      This paper addresses this deficiency by examining differences in the socio
      economic backgrounds, working conditions, HIV/AIDS knowledge, and vulnerability
      to health risks of female sex workers from Russia, Vietnam, Thailand, and
      Mainland China currently working in the Chinese city of Macau. It also examines
      the correlates of three health risks: client-perpetrated violence, non-condom use
      and condom failure. The results show major differences in the socio-economic
      profiles, working conditions and exposure to health risks of the four groups of
      workers studied. They also suggest that age, ethnicity, education, economic
      pressure, AIDS and STI knowledge, and workplace condom-use norm are significant
      correlates of the three health risks examined. The findings shed light on the
      importance of locating the social and cultural contexts that constrain the
      response of different groups of transnational sex workers to health risks, and
      the need to tailor intervention measures to meet the specific conditions of
      individual groups. They also point out the urgency of tackling the interpersonal
      and structural obstacles to safe sex practices among marginalised populations.

PMID- 20942822
TI  - The role of topic, interviewee and question in predicting rich interview data in
      the field of health research.
AB  - Although texts recommend the generation of rich data from interviews, no
      empirical evidence base exists for achieving this. This study aimed to
      operationalise richness and to assess which components of the interview (for
      example, topic, interviewee, question) were predictive. A total of 400 interview
      questions and their corresponding responses were selected from 10 qualitative
      studies in the area of health identified from university colleagues and the UK
      Data Archive database. The analysis used the text analysis program, Linguistic
      Inquiry and Word Count, and additional rating scales. Richness was
      operationalised along five dimensions. 'Length of response' was predicted by a
      personal, less specific or positive topic, not being a layperson, later
      questions, open or double questions; 'personal richness' was predicted by being a
      healthy participant and questions about the past and future; 'analytical
      responses' were predicted by a personal or less specific topic, not being a
      layperson, later questions, questions relating to insight and causation; 'action
      responses' were predicted by a less specific topic, not being a layperson, being
      healthy, later and open questions. The model for 'descriptive richness' was not
      significant. Overall, open questions, located later on and framed in the present
      or past tense, tended to be most predictive of richness. This could inform
      improvements in interview technique.

PMID- 20942823
TI  - 'Dealing with sperm': comparing lesbians' clinical and non-clinical donor
      conception processes.
AB  - A growing body of literature investigates heterosexual donor conception and there
      is now also a small body of work which investigates the experiences of single
      women and lesbian couples. Both of these focus on a clinical setting. Women,
      notably single and lesbians, also undertake non-clinical donor conception, and
      insufficient consideration has been paid to these self-arranged reproductive
      practices, and how they may compare with the clinical ones. Seeking to fill this
      gap, this paper explores women's experiences of accessing donor sperm inside and
      outside reproductive health clinics by drawing on a qualitative interview study
      with 25 lesbian couples in England and Wales with experiences of jointly pursuing
      donor conception. The paper explores the differences embedded in the two
      conception routes with regard to donor recruitment, access to donor sperm over
      time, space and the management of sperm as a bodily fluid. Utilising the
      framework of 'ontological choreography' developed by Thompson (2005), as well as
      Douglas's (1966) work around bodies, dirt and disgust, the paper argues that the
      clinic functions as a containment for legal as well as practical and bodily
      dimensions of donor conception, and this in turn shapes practices and perceptions
      of self-arranged conception.

PMID- 20942824
TI  - Shape at the cross-roads: homoplasy and history in the evolution of the
      carnivoran skull towards herbivory.
AB  - Patterns of skull shape in Carnivora provide examples of parallel and convergent
      evolution for similar ecomorphological adaptations. However, although most
      researchers report on skull homoplasies among hypercarnivorous taxa, evolutionary
      trends towards herbivory remain largely unexplored. In this study, we analyse the
      skull of the living herbivorous carnivorans to evaluate the importance of natural
      selection and phylogenetic legacy in shaping the skulls of these peculiar
      species. We quantitatively estimated shape variability using geometric
      morphometrics. A principal components analysis of skull shape incorporating all
      families of arctoid carnivorans recognized several common adaptations towards
      herbivory. Ancestral state reconstructions of skull shape and the reconstructed
      phylogenetic history of morphospace occupation more explicitly reveal the true
      patterns of homoplasy among the herbivorous carnivorans. Our results indicate
      that both historical constraints and adaptation have interplayed in the evolution
      towards herbivory of the carnivoran skull, which has resulted in repeated
      patterns of biomechanical homoplasy.

PMID- 20942825
TI  - The evolution of mutualism.
AB  - Like altruism, mutualism, cooperation between species, evolves only by enhancing
      all participants' inclusive fitness. Mutualism evolves most readily between
      members of different kingdoms, which pool complementary abilities for mutual
      benefit: some of these mutualisms represent major evolutionary innovations.
      Mutualism cannot persist if cheating annihilates its benefits. In long-term
      mutualisms, symbioses, at least one party associates with the other nearly all
      its life. Usually, a larger host harbours smaller symbionts. Cheating is
      restrained by vertical transmission, as in Buchnera; partner fidelity, as among
      bull-thorn acacias and protective ants; test-based choice of symbionts, as
      bobtail squid choose bioluminescent bacteria; or sanctioning nonperforming
      symbionts, as legumes punish nonperforming nitrogen-fixing bacteria. Mutualisms
      involving brief exchanges, as among plants and seed-dispersers, however, persist
      despite abundant cheating. Both symbioses and brief-exchange mutualisms have
      transformed whole ecosystems. These mutualisms may be steps towards ecosystems
      which, like Adam Smith's ideal economy, serve their members' common good.

PMID- 20942826
TI  - Self-management after prostate cancer treatment: evaluating the feasibility of
      providing a cognitive and behavioural programme for lower urinary tract symptoms.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: * To test the feasibility of a self-management intervention to help
      men cope with lower urinary tract symptoms as a result of radiotherapy for
      prostate cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS: * A quasi-experimental design was used
      incorporating a pre-post-test evaluation. In total, a population of 71 men were
      screened for moderate to severe urinary symptoms 3 months or longer post
      radiotherapy. Of these mean, 22 were recruited into the intervention from an
      eligible population of 43 symptomatic men. * Urinary symptoms were measured
      before the intervention and again after 4 months of follow-up through
      International Prostate Symptom Scores (IPSS) and bladder diaries. * Health
      related quality of life was measured in relation to cancer per se and prostate
      cancer specifically, and confidence to cope was measured by a self-efficacy
      questionnaire. * The self-management intervention comprised pelvic floor muscle
      exercises, bladder retraining, patient education and problem solving and coping
      strategies RESULTS: * Lower urinary tract symptoms, as measured by the IPSS,
      showed a significant improvement, with a median score change of 5 (P < 0.005). *
      This was supported by objective changes in median bladder void volume of +7.5 mL
      (P < 0.05) and the median number of daily voids of -1 (P < 0.005). * In addition,
      decreases in emotional distress and problems associated with urinary function
      suggest that the intervention had a positive impact on health-related quality of
      life. CONCLUSIONS: * The provision of such an intervention was feasible within
      the clinical setting and provided benefits for men. * Symptom change vs those of
      normative recovery values for IPSS showed an intervention effect. * This
      intervention could be applied in routine practice and further testing is required
      in a randomized controlled trial.

PMID- 20942827
TI  - Population-based determinants of radical prostatectomy surgical margin
      positivity.
AB  - STUDY TYPE: Prognosis (cohort). LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 2b. What's known on the
      subject? and What does the study add? Prior population and single-centre studies
      have assessed incidence of positive surgical margins. The current study derived
      population-based positive surgical margin cut-offs in order to help identify
      underperforming surgeons who may benefit from further courses and/or self study
      to improve outcomes. OBJECTIVE: To characterize factors associated with positive
      surgical margins (PSMs) and derive population-based PSM cutoffs to evaluate
      surgeon performance in radical prostatectomy (RP). PATIENTS AND METHODS:  SEER
      Medicare data were used to identify 4247 men diagnosed with prostate cancer
      during 2004-2005 who underwent RP up to 2006. We performed logistic regression to
      assess the impact of tumour characteristics, surgeon volume and surgical approach
      on the likelihood of PSMs for pT2 and PT3a disease. Moreover, we derived 25th and
      10th percentile cutoffs from binomial distribution equations. RESULTS:  Overall,
      19.4% of men experienced PSMs with a pT2 vs pT3a PSM rate of 14.9% vs 42%
      (P<0.001). Extrapolating from our population-based results, a surgeon incurring
      more than three PSMs in 10 cases of pT2 disease performed below the 25th
      percentile. There was a trend for fewer PSMs with minimally invasive vs open RP
      (17.4% vs 20.1%, P=0.086), and the PSM rate also decreased over the study period
      from 21.3% in 2004 to 16.6% in 2006 (P=0.028) with significant geographic
      variation (P<0.001). In adjusted analyses, temporal and geographic variation in
      PSM persisted, and men with high (odds ratio 3.68, 95% CI 2.82-4.81) and
      intermediate (odds ratio 2.52, 95% CI 2.03-3.13) vs low-risk disease were at
      greater odds to experience PSMs. Notably, neither surgical approach nor surgeon
      volume was significantly associated with PSMs. CONCLUSION: Our population-based
      PSM benchmarks allow identification of under-performing outliers who may seek
      courses or video self-study to improve outcomes. There was significant temporal
      and geographic variation in PSMs but neither surgeon volume nor surgical approach
      was associated with PSMs.

PMID- 20942828
TI  - Polymorphic deletions of the GSTT1 and GSTM1 genes and susceptibility to bladder
      cancer.
AB  - What's known on the subject? and What does the study add? Bladder cancer
      susceptibility may be determined by genetic differences in the activity of
      glutathione S-transferases, enzymes that regulate the conversion of exogenous
      carcinogens to excretable hydrophilic metabolites by glutathione conjugation. The
      discrepancy of results regarding the association of common genetic polymorphisms
      and complex diseases such as cancer has raised scepticism in this area of
      research. Although the evidence generally supports the implication of GSTM1 and
      GSTT1 polymorphisms in bladder cancer, there is still some debate, with some
      studies in favour and some against. This study shows a greater risk of bladder
      cancer in individuals with GSTM1 null genotype, particularly women. This
      relationship is less evident with GSTT1 null genotypes. Null genotypes in both
      genes appear to be synergistic, particularly among smokers, and to increase the
      predisposition to more aggressive tumours. Nevertheless, the role of GSTM1 and
      GSTT1 polymorphisms in predisposition to bladder cancer should be viewed with
      caution, due to the multifactorial genetic origin of this condition and the need
      for long-term longitudinal studies to confirm these results. OBJECTIVE: To
      estimate the prevalence and importance of GSTT1 and GSTM1 genotypes (implicated
      in glutathione S-transferase activity) in bladder cancer, to determine whether
      smoking and occupational factors influence this relationship, and to identify the
      value of GSTT1 and GSTM1 genotypes as prognostic factors. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A
      cross-sectional study was conducted with a group of patients with bladder
      carcinoma and a control group with benign conditions and no history of tumours.
      The controls were selected and paired as subjects were recruited.
      Sociodemographic variables, smoking, professional occupation, histological
      features and the presence of GSTT1 and GSTM1 polymorphisms by multiplex PCR
      techniques were assessed. RESULTS: GSTM1 genotypes were investigated in 201
      patients and 193 controls and GSTT1 genotypes in 190 patients and 163 controls.
      In the patients group, GSTT1 null genotype was observed in 22.1% (not
      significant) and GSTM1 null genotype in 54.2% (P=0.008) (odds ratio, OR, 1.7);
      when considered together, 15.5% (P<0.05; OR, 3.5) of patients had both null
      genotypes. In the multivariate analysis, the presence of GSTM1 null genotype
      remained in the model (OR, 2.1) in addition to smoking and age. Subjects with
      bladder tumour and GSTM1 null genotype were younger than patients without gene
      deletion (P=0.049). Women with GSTM1 null genotype presented a higher OR than men
      (P=0.024). When stratified by smoking habit, smokers with both null genotypes
      showed an OR of 4.7. The percentage of patients with G3 tumours was higher in
      patients with GSTT1 null genotype (P=0.013) and in patients with both null
      genotypes (P=0.002). A higher percentage of infiltrating tumours was also
      observed in patients with both null genotypes (P=0.035). CONCLUSIONS: The data
      obtained in the present study suggest a higher risk of bladder cancer in
      individuals with the GSTM1 null genotype. This risk is twofold higher when GSTM1
      and GSTT1 null genotypes are both present and is also higher in smokers. A
      greater predisposition for more aggressive tumours appears to exist, particularly
      when both null genotypes are combined. Longer-term longitudinal studies are
      needed to confirm these results.

PMID- 20942829
TI  - Paediatric robotic-assisted laparoscopic augmentation ileocystoplasty and
      Mitrofanoff appendicovesicostomy (RALIMA): feasibility of and initial experience
      with the University of Chicago technique.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: *To present the first series of complete intracorporeal robotic
      assisted laparoscopic augmentation ileocystoplasty and Mitrofanoff appendico
      vesicostomy (RALIMA) in a paediatric population. PATIENTS AND METHODS: * From
      February to November 2008, six patients with neurogenic bladder secondary to
      spina bifida (status post corrective spine surgery) were selected to undergo
      RALIMA by a single surgeon (MSG) at the University of Chicago Medical Center. *
      Patients had constipation, day and night-time incontinence, with recurrent
      urinary tract infection (UTI), and failed attempts at anticholinergic therapy and
      clean intermittent catheterization. All had low-capacity bladders with poor
      compliance and high leak point pressures. * Preoperative bowel preparation was
      not performed. Mean follow-up is 18 months. RESULTS: * One patient required
      conversion to open ileal augmentation because of failure to progress and another
      underwent augmentation ileocystoplasty without appendico-vesicostomy. The average
      age of patients was 9.75 years (range 8-11 years). * Average operative time was
      8.4 h (range 6-11 h). There were no intraoperative complications. One patient had
      a postoperative wound infection, one had a lower extremity venous thrombus, and
      another had temporary unilateral lower extremity paresthesia that has resolved.
      Three patients required revision of their stoma at the skin-level. *
      Perioperatively, patients only required oral analgesia for 24-36 h (excluding one
      patient with paralytic ileus), started on liquid diet after 7.5 hours (range 6-10
      h), on regular diet after 24 h (range 12-36 h) and were discharged home within 7
      days. * Postoperatively, patients demonstrated no leak on follow-up cystogram,
      and were catheterizing per apendico-vesicostomy (three patients by 6 weeks) or
      urethra (1 patient at 4 weeks). * All patients now have day and night-time
      continence with no UTIs, and bladder capacity of 250-450 mL. CONCLUSION: * While
      longer follow-up will be necessary to see if these results are durable, this
      series demonstrates that RALIMA is a safe, feasible and effective procedure in
      the short term, with the possible added benefits of reduced analgesia, shorter
      recovery time and improved aesthetic appearance.

PMID- 20942830
TI  - High-fat diet associated with obesity induces impairment of mouse corpus
      cavernosum responses.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: * Obesity induced by high-fat diet (HFD) is one of the most important
      risk factor for the development of erectile dysfunction (ED) in man. This study
      aimed to characterize the ED resulting from obesity associated with HFD in mice.
      MATERIALS AND METHODS: * C57BL/6 mice fed for 10 weeks with either HFD to induce
      obesity or a standard-chow diet (SD) were used. Corpus cavernosum was surgically
      dissected free, and strips were mounted in 10-mL organ baths containing Krebs
      solution. * Functional responses to endothelium-dependent and -independent
      agents, as well as to electrical-field stimulation were measured in the
      cavernosal tissue. Levels of cGMP in erectile tissue were detected by enzyme
      immunoassay assay. RESULTS: * The potency (pEC(50)) and maximal response (E(max))
      to acetylcholine were significantly lower in the HFD group compared with the SD
      group. A marked decrease in the non-adrenergic non-cholinergic (nitrergic)
      cavernosal relaxations in the HFD group was also detected. There were no
      significant differences between the SD and HFD groups for the cavernosal
      relaxations in response to sodium nitroprusside. * The contractile responses
      elicited by the alpha(1) -adrenoceptor agonist phenylephrine were significantly
      greater in the HFD group compared with the SD group. * Similarly, the electrical
      field stimulation (2-8 Hz)-induced adrenergic contractions were markedly greater
      in HFD mice. The pEC(50) for endothelin-1 was about 6.9-fold higher in the HFD
      compared with SD group. * The basal cGMP content was 47% lower in HFD strips
      compared with SD group. There were no morphological alterations in erectile
      tissue of HFD group compared with SD mice. CONCLUSION: * Obesity associated with
      HFD favours ED as result of impaired endothelial and nitrergic cavernosal
      relaxations along with increased contractile responses to adrenergic stimulation
      and endothelin-1 receptor activation.

PMID- 20942831
TI  - Overall survival in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma initially
      treated with bevacizumab plus interferon-alpha2a and subsequent therapy with
      tyrosine kinase inhibitors: a retrospective analysis of the phase III AVOREN
      trial.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: * To retrospectively evaluate the effect of subsequent tyrosine kinase
      inhibitors (TKIs) after first-line bevacizumab + interferon-alpha2a (IFN) or IFN
      + placebo in the phase III AVOREN (Avastin and Roferon in Renal Cell Carcinoma)
      trial. PATIENTS AND METHODS: * A total of 649 patients with untreated metastatic
      renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) were randomized to receive IFN (9 MIU three times a
      week for up to 1 year) in combination with bevacizumab (10 mg/kg every 2 weeks)
      or placebo until disease progression. * The protocol allowed the use of any post
      protocol anti-cancer therapy for patients with progressive disease or those in
      whom the trial therapy was discontinued. Data regarding the timing and type of
      subsequent therapy were recorded and overall survival (OS) analysed. RESULTS: *
      Patients were randomized to bevacizumab + IFN (n= 327) or IFN + placebo (n= 322);
      180 (55%) patients in the bevacizumab + IFN, and 202 (63%) in the IFN + placebo
      arm, received post-protocol anti-cancer therapy. * TKIs were the most common post
      protocol therapy, received by 113 (35%) and 120 (37%) patients in the bevacizumab
      + IFN and IFN + placebo arms, respectively. * The median OS in patients who
      received any subsequent TKI was 38.6 months in the bevacizumab + IFN arm and 33.6
      months in IFN + placebo arm [hazard ratio (HR), 0.80; 95% confidence interval
      (CI), 0.56-1.13; P= 0.203]. In an additional retrospective analysis that censored
      patients who received subsequent TKIs, median OS was 25.0 and 20.7 months,
      respectively, in the bevacizumab + IFN and IFN + placebo arms (HR, 0.84; 95% CI,
      0.67-1.05; P= 0.123). CONCLUSIONS: * These retrospective exploratory data of
      sequential bevacizumab + IFN followed by TKIs in patients able to receive
      multiple lines of therapy suggest that sequential therapy could be a promising
      approach to improve patient outcomes in mRCC.

PMID- 20942832
TI  - Immunohistochemical study of the cavernous nerves in the periprostatic region.
AB  - Study Type--Therapy (case series) Level of Evidence 4. What's known on the
      subject? and What does the study add? The anatomy of the periprostatic tissues,
      in particular the fascial layers and neurovascular structures, remain a somewhat
      enigmatic and controversial area. Despite the considerable advances made in this
      area since the original dissections of Walsh and Donker almost thirty years ago,
      the precise location and function of these structures remains uncertain. The
      topic is of tremendous importance as we continue to refine surgical techniques to
      allow men the maximum opportunity to recover erectile function following radical
      prostatectomy. Yet many of these surgical refinements are not based on definitive
      knowledge of the relevant anatomy and clearly more knowledge is required. For the
      first time, we have not just characterized the quantitative nature of the
      periprostatic nerves, but we also offer some insight into the likely functional
      nature of these nerves by selectively staining the sympathetic and
      parasympathetic nerves using immunohistochemical methods. OBJECTIVE: * To
      characterize the immunohistochemical nature of sympathetic and parasympathetic
      nerves surrounding the prostate. MATERIALS AND METHODS: * Using serial
      sectioning, four male cadavers were investigated using a combination of
      haematoxylin and eosin staining and immunohistochemistry. Both the sympathetic
      and parasympathetic contributions to the autonomic nervous system in the
      periprostatic region were assessed by staining analysis, the number of nerves
      fibres was quantified, their position relative to the prostate recorded and their
      function inferred. * The fascial architecture of the neurovascular bundle (NVB)
      was also quantified. RESULTS: * Approximately 27.8% of all nerve fibres
      identified were found on the anterior half of the prostate, above the 3 to 9
      o'clock level. At the base, mid, and apex of prostate, parasympathetic fibres
      accounted for 4%, 5% and 6.8% of the nerves located on the anterolateral aspect
      of the prostate, respectively. * Sympathetic nerves found above the 3 to 9
      o'clock level represented ~15% of the total number of nerves. * When staining the
      periprostatic fascia, the classical NVB exhibited a distinct fascial architecture
      with three separate compartments. CONCLUSIONS: * A tiny minority of nerves in the
      anterior periprostatic region are functionally significant parasympathetic
      nerves. * There is little anatomical evidence to support higher incisions in the
      lateral prostatic fascia to spare cavernous nerve fibres, although such
      approaches may reduce the risk of traction injury on the more posterolaterally
      located NVB. * The presence of distinct fascial compartments in the NVB is also
      confirmed.

PMID- 20942833
TI  - Radical prostatectomy improves progression-free and cancer-specific survival in
      men with lymph node positive prostate cancer in the prostate-specific antigen
      era: a confirmatory study.
AB  - STUDY TYPE: Therapy (outcomes research). LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 2b. What's known on
      the subject? and What does the study add? Historically, surgeons were reluctant
      to perform radical prostatectomy (RP) in LN positive disease. Nowadays, a shift
      towards multimodal treatment strategies in such patients, comprising RP with
      extended lymph node dissection followed by radiation and/or hormonal therapy can
      be detected. However, this change of paradigm is not supported by evidence
      derived from treatment guidelines. Retrospective studies on this topic,
      comprising small numbers of patients from the pre-PSA era in the US suggest a
      survival advantage, if RP is performed. Our analyses of cancer control rates
      between patients with discontinued vs. completed prostatectomy revealed a
      superior clinical progression free- and cancer specific-survival rate in those
      patients with completed prostatectomy. These results add knowledge on treatment
      outcome of a current patient population since previous retrospective studies
      include patients from the pre-PSA era. OBJECTIVE: To assess the prognostic role
      of radical prostatectomy (RP) in lymph node (LN) positive patients with prostate
      cancer (PCa) in a contemporary RP cohort. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Between 1992 and
      2004, 158 consecutive patients with clinically localized PCa and regional LN
      metastasis were identified. Fifty patients underwent LN dissection and
      discontinued RP, combined with early hormonal therapy (HT) (RP-), whereas, in 108
      patients, RP was completed followed by adjunctive HT (RP+). Clinical progression
      free- (CPFS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS) were studied using Kaplan-Meier
      analysis. Disease characteristics and the impact of RP on CPFS and CSS were
      further assessed using Cox proportional hazard models. A matched pair analysis
      between RP- and RP+ patients was performed based on clinical and pathological
      factors. RESULTS: Median follow-up was 98 months (interquartile range, 88-113).
      Five- and 10-year CPFS was 77% and 61% for RP+ patients vs 61% and 31%, for RP-
      patients (P=0.005), respectively. A similar trend was observed for CSS (84% and
      76% for RP+ vs 81% and 46% for RP-; P=0.001). Type of treatment (RP- vs RP+) and
      number of positive LN were multivariate predictors of CPFS and CSS (all P<=0.05).
      In the matched pair analyses, RP+ patients showed superior CPFS and CSS
      (P<0.005). CONCLUSIONS: RP had a beneficial impact, resulting in the superior
      survival of patients with LN positive PCa after controlling for LN tumour burden
      in a contemporary RP series. The findings obtained in the present study support
      the role of RP as an important component of multimodal strategies of LN positive
      PCa.

PMID- 20942834
TI  - Bladder regeneration in a canine model using hyaluronic acid-poly(lactic-co
      glycolic-acid) nanoparticle modified porcine small intestinal submucosa.
AB  - OBJECTIVE: * To determine if hyaluronic acid (HA) can be incorporated into
      porcine small intestinal submucosa (SIS) through poly (lactide-co-glycolide-acid)
      (PLGA) nanoparticles to improve the consistency of the naturally derived
      biomaterial and promote bladder tissue regeneration. METHODS: * Beagle dogs were
      subjected to 40% partial cystectomy followed by bladder augmentation with
      commercial SIS or HA-PLGA-modified SIS. * Urodynamic testing was performed before
      and after augmentation to assess bladder volume. * A scoring system was created
      to evaluate gross and histological presentations of regenerative bladders.
      RESULTS: * All dogs showed full-thickness bladder regeneration. * Histological
      assessment showed improved smooth muscle regeneration in the HA-PLGA-modified SIS
      group. * For both groups of dogs, urodynamics and graft measurements showed an
      approximate 40% reduction in bladder capacity and graft size from pre
      augmentation to post-regeneration measurements. * Application of the scoring
      system and statistical analysis failed to show a significant difference between
      the groups. CONCLUSIONS: * SIS can be modified through the addition of HA-PLGA
      nanoparticles. The modified grafts showed evidence of improved smooth muscle
      regeneration on histological assessment, although this difference was not evident
      on a novel grading scale. * The volume loss and graft shrinkage experienced are
      consistent with previous models of SIS bladder regeneration at the 10-week time
      point. * Additional research into the delivery of HA and the long-term benefits
      of HA on bladder regeneration is needed to determine the full benefit of HA-PLGA
      modified SIS. In addition, a more objective biochemical characterization will be
      needed to evaluate the quality of regeneration.

PMID- 20942835
TI  - The interaction of body mass index and race in predicting biochemical failure
      after radical prostatectomy.
AB  - STUDY TYPE: Therapy (case series). LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 4 OBJECTIVE: To examine the
      interaction of body mass index (BMI) and race in predicting biochemical failure
      (BCF) after radical prostatectomy (RP). The relative contribution of BMI and race
      to BCF after RP has not been well characterized. PATIENTS AND METHODS: From 1988
      to 2008, 969 white and black men underwent RP and BMI data were available. In
      all, 168 (17.3%) were black and 801 (82.7%) were white men. BCF was defined as a
      post-surgery PSA level>=0.2 ng/mL on >=2 measurements. Cox regression methods
      were used to model the relationship between race, BMI and BCF. RESULTS: The 969
      men had a mean age of 59.8+/-7.2 years. There was no significant difference in
      BMI between black and white men (P=0.32). The 5-year disease-free survival for
      black obese men was the lowest at 48%, compared with non-obese black (73%), obese
      white (82%) and non-obese white men (83%, P<0.001). BMI did not have a
      significant impact on BCF. In a multivariate analysis, black race remained an
      independent predictor of BCF [hazard ratio (HR)=1.76, P=0.01]. BMI does not
      affect the risk of BCF in black men differently than white men (P value for
      interaction 0.93). CONCLUSIONS: Black race is an independent predictor of
      biochemical failure after adjusting for pathological factors. The impact of BMI
      on BCF did not vary among different races. These findings suggest that elevated
      BMI does not affect the BCF rates of black men more than in other races, and that
      other factors may influence the racial variability in disease-free survival and
      BCF risk.

PMID- 20942836
TI  - Molecular dynamics simulations of 2-amino-6-arylsulphonylbenzonitriles analogues
      as HIV inhibitors: interaction modes and binding free energies.
AB  - Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations in water environment were carried out on the
      HIV-1 reverse transcriptase (RT), and its complexes with one representative of
      each of three series of inhibitors: 2-amino-6-arylsulphonylbenzonitriles and
      their thio and sulphinyl congeners. Molecular Mechanics Generalized Born Surface
      Area (MM-GBSA) was used to calculate the binding free energy based on the
      obtained MD trajectories. Calculated energies are correlated to activity. A
      comparison of interaction modes, binding free energy, contributions of the
      residues to the binding free energy and H-bonds was carried out with the average
      structures. The results show that there exist different interaction modes between
      RT and ligands and different specific interactions with some residues. The higher
      binding affinity of the most potent inhibitor in the series of molecules under
      study is favoured by electrostatic interactions and solvation contribution.

PMID- 20942837
TI  - Synthesis and blocking activities of a new class of alpha1-adrenoceptor
      antagonists.
AB  - Finding effective chemotherapeutic agents for clinical use is a long-lasting goal
      in medicinal chemistry. In this study, we report a new class of alpha1
      adrenoceptor (alpha1-AR) antagonists. Specifically, we describe the synthesis and
      the blocking activities toward alpha1-AR of 7-(2-hydroxypropoxy)-3,4
      dihydroisoquinolin-1(2H)-one 1 and its structurally perturbed analogs 2-11 that
      were designed according to the principle of bioisosterism. Their structures were
      identified with IR, (1) H NMR, MS, HRMS and elemental analysis. The blocking
      activities of compounds 1-11 were evaluated on isolated rat anococcygeus muscles.
      The results indicated that these compounds showed moderate to good activities.
      Among them, compound 1 exhibited the highest activity that was comparable to
      those of known alpha1-AR antagonists tamsulosin and DDPH (1-(2,6-dimethylphenoxy)
      2-(3,4-di- methoxyphenylethylamino)propane hydrochloride) and thus may be
      exploitable as a lead compound for the discovery of promising alpha1-AR
      antagonists.

PMID- 20942838
TI  - Chemical biology & drug design 2010: transition, scholarship and faith.

PMID- 20942839
TI  - Optimization of antibacterial peptides by genetic algorithms and cheminformatics.
AB  - Pathogens resistant to available drug therapies are a pressing global health
      problem. Short, cationic peptides represent a novel class of agents that have
      lower rates of drug resistance than derivatives of current antibiotics.
      Previously, we created a software system utilizing artificial neural networks
      that were trained on quantitative structure-activity relationship descriptors
      calculated for a total of 1400 synthetic peptides for which antibacterial
      activity was determined. Using the trained system, we correctly identified
      additional peptides with activity of 94% accuracy; active peptides were 47 of the
      top rated 50 peptides chosen from an in silico library of nearly 100,000
      sequences. Here, we report a method of generating candidate peptide sequences
      using the heuristic evolutionary programming method of genetic algorithms (GA),
      which provided a large (19-fold) improvement in identification of novel
      antibacterial peptides. Approximately 0.50% of peptides evaluated during the GA
      method were classified as highly active, while only 0.026% of the nearly 100,000
      sequences we previously screened were classified as highly active. A selection of
      these peptides was tested in vitro and activities reported here. While GA
      significantly improves the possibility of identifying candidate peptides, we
      encountered important pitfalls to this method that should be considered when
      using GA.

PMID- 20942840
TI  - A comparison of Campath and Thymoglobulin as part of the conditioning before
      allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: In vivo T-cell depletion with anti-thymocyte globulin is a commonly
      used strategy for the prevention of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) and to avoid
      rejection after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). METHODS: We
      compared 36 patients given Campath (alemtuzumab) as part of the conditioning with
      a matched cohort of 72 patients receiving Thymoglobulin (TMG). Most patients had
      a hematologic malignancy beyond first remission. Median age was 55 (1-67). The
      majority of patients had an unrelated donor (70%) and 82% were given peripheral
      blood stem cells. Most patients received reduced-intensity conditioning. RESULTS:
      Graft failure occurred in 8% of the patients in each group. No difference in time
      to-engraftment of neutrophils and platelets was found. The cumulative incidence
      of acute GVHD of any grade was 34% and 53% (P = 0.07), and the incidence of
      chronic GVHD was 46% and 25% in the Campath and TMG groups, respectively. In
      multivariate analysis, a low antibody dose was associated with acute and chronic
      GVHD and Campath was correlated with chronic GVHD. No differences in transplant
      related mortality (28% vs. 18%), overall survival (54% vs. 58%), and relapse-free
      survival (39% vs. 43%) were found between the two groups. No difference in the
      proportion of T and B lymphocytes during the first year after HSCT was found.
      CONCLUSIONS: TMG and Campath as part of the conditioning result in similar
      outcome. Campath was associated with less acute but more chronic GVHD.

PMID- 20942841
TI  - Revisiting the relationship between vitamin D deficiency, cardiac iron and
      cardiac function in thalassemia major.

PMID- 20942842
TI  - Monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance and risk of venous
      thromboembolism.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Patients with multiple myeloma are at increased risk of venous
      thromboembolism (VTE), but little information is available on VTE risk in
      patients with the precursor condition monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined
      significance (MGUS). OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the risk of VTE and its impact on
      mortality in patients with MGUS. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We identified 1610
      patients with MGUS and no prior diagnosis of VTE during the 1978-2005 period in
      North Jutland County, Denmark. We used the Danish Central Population Registry to
      select 16,100 general population comparison cohort members with no prior VTE
      diagnosis, matched with the MGUS patients by age, sex, and comorbidity. Follow-up
      data on VTE incidence in the two groups were obtained from the Danish National
      Patient Registry covering all Danish hospitals. Time-varying Cox regression
      analysis was used to compute the incidence rate ratio (IRR) of VTE and the
      mortality rate ratio (MRR) for MGUS patients who developed VTE compared to MGUS
      patients without VTE. RESULTS: In the MGUS cohort, 50 VTE events were identified
      during 12,594 person-years (PY) of follow-up, corresponding to an incidence rate
      of 4.0 VTEs/1000 PY. The IRR for VTE among MGUS patients compared to the
      comparison cohort was 1.37 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.00-1.88). Of the 50
      MGUS patients with VTE, one was later diagnosed with malignant transformation.
      The adjusted MRR for MGUS patients with VTE compared to MGUS patients without VTE
      was 1.94 (95% CI: 1.36-2.77). CONCLUSIONS: MGUS is a risk factor for VTE, and VTE
      is a marker for increased mortality among MGUS patients.

PMID- 20942843
TI  - Gem-(R)CHOP versus (R)CHOP: a randomized phase II study of gemcitabine combined
      with (R)CHOP in untreated aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma--EORTC lymphoma group
      protocol 20021 (EudraCT number 2004-004635-54).
AB  - BACKGROUND:   Despite recent improvements, many patients with aggressive non
      Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) ultimately succumb to their disease. Therefore,
      improvements in front-line chemotherapy of aggressive NHL are needed. Gemcitabine
      is active in lymphoma. METHODS: We performed a randomized phase II trial of the
      addition of gemcitabine to standard CHOP chemotherapy with or without rituximab
      [(R)CHOP]. The trial was also designed to determine the maximal tolerated dose
      (MTD) of gemcitabine in this combination. Patients with previously untreated
      aggressive NHL were randomized to receive either eight cycles of (R)CHOP given
      every 3 wk or (R)CHOP combined with gemcitabine [Gem-(R)CHOP]. RESULTS: Twenty
      five patients were enrolled in the trial before early closure. Twelve were
      randomized to Gem-(R)CHOP and 13 to (R)CHOP. MTD of gemcitabine was 800 mg/m(2)
      given on days 1 and 8; dose-limiting toxicity was hematologic. Five patients
      (42%) treated with Gem-(R)CHOP achieved complete response in comparison with 10
      (77%) treated with (R)CHOP. Median time to treatment failure was 1.5 yr for Gem
      (R)CHOP and 3.1 yr for (R)CHOP. Three patients receiving Gem-(R)CHOP had serious
      pulmonary toxicity, when compared to none receiving (R)CHOP. One patient died of
      pneumonitis. CONCLUSIONS: In this group of patients, addition of gemcitabine did
      not seem to improve outcomes. Gem-(R)CHOP in previously untreated patients with
      aggressive NHL occasionally results in severe, potentially fatal, pulmonary
      toxicity.

PMID- 20942844
TI  - Identification of a potent anti-IL-15 antibody with opposing mechanisms of action
      in vitro and in vivo.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Interleukin-15 (IL-15) is important in the activation and
      proliferation of lymphocytic cell populations and is implicated in inflammatory
      disease. We report the characterization of a novel monoclonal antibody DISC0280
      which is specific for human IL-15. EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH: DISC0280 was
      characterized in a direct binding assay of IL-15 with IL-15 receptor alpha (IL
      15Ralpha) and by its ability to alter IL-15 mediated proliferation of a range of
      cell lines (cytotoxic T lymphocyte line-2, M-07e, KIT225). A pharmacodynamic
      model injecting male C57/BL6 mice with IL-15 or IL-15/IL-15Ralpha, with or
      without DISC0280, and assessing changes in lymphocytic cell populations and serum
      cytokines was utilized. KEY RESULTS: DISC0280 inhibited the binding of IL-15 to
      IL-15Ralpha and also potently inhibits IL-15 dependent proliferation of cells
      expressing IL-15Ralpha, shared interleukin 2/ interleukin 15 receptor beta chain
      (IL-15Rbeta) and common gamma chain (gamma(c) ). DISC0280 also inhibited the IL
      15 dependent proliferation of M-07e cells that only express IL-15Rbeta/gamma(c)
      subunits. Human IL-15 injected into mice caused an increase in NK1.1(+) and
      CD3(+) cells in the spleen and peripheral blood and these effects were
      unexpectedly potentiated by giving DISC0280 with human IL-15. This increase in
      cells caused by DISC0280/IL-15 co-administration was greater than that observed
      when IL-15 was administered complexed with soluble IL-15Ralpha. CONCLUSIONS AND
      IMPLICATIONS: The ability of DISC0280 to bind to the IL-15Ralpha-binding site on
      IL-15 allows trans-presentation of IL-15 by DISC0280 in vivo, similar to the
      trans-presentation by soluble IL-15Ralpha. DISC0280 may be therefore suitable as
      a clinical substitute for IL-15.

PMID- 20942846
TI  - Iron-deficiency anemia, non-iron-deficiency anemia and HbA1c among adults in the
      US.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Conditions that affect erythrocyte turnover affect HbA1c
      concentrations. Although many forms of anemia are associated with lowering of
      HbA1c, iron deficiency tends to increase HbA1c. We examined the effect of iron
      and hemoglobin (Hb) status on HbA1c and on the relationship between
      concentrations of fasting glucose and HbA1c in a national sample of adults in the
      US. METHODS: Cross-sectional data from 8296 adults aged >= 20 years who
      participated in NHANES 1999-2002 were used. RESULTS: The prevalence of low Hb
      (defined as <120 and < 118 g/L in women aged 20-69 and >= 70 years, respectively,
      and <137, <133, and < 124 g/L in men aged 20-49, 50-69, and >= 70 years,
      respectively) was 5.5%. There was a significant positive correlation between Hb
      concentrations and HbA1c concentrations after adjusting for age, gender, and race
      or ethnicity, with HbA1c rising from a mean of 5.28% among participants with Hb <
      100 g/L to 5.72% among participants with Hb >= 170 g/L. The adjusted mean
      concentrations of HbA1c were 5.56% and 5.46% among participants with and without
      iron deficiency, respectively (P = 0.095). However, there was no evidence of
      differences in the relationship between fasting glucose and HbA1c when groups of
      anemic and non-anemic individuals with and without iron deficiency were examined
      individually. CONCLUSIONS: Caution should be used when diagnosing diabetes and
      prediabetes among people with high or low Hb when the HbA1c level is near 6.5% or
      5.7%, respectively, as changes in erythrocyte turnover may alter the test result.
      However, the trend for HbA1c to increase with iron deficiency does not appear to
      require screening for iron deficiency in ascertaining the reliability of HbA1c in
      the diagnosis of diabetes and prediabetes in a given individual.

PMID- 20942845
TI  - Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase-delta up-regulates L-type Ca2+ currents and
      increases vascular contractility in a mouse model of type 1 diabetes.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Vasculopathies represent the main cause of morbidity and
      mortality in diabetes. Vascular malfunctioning in diabetes is associated with
      abnormal vasoconstriction and Ca(2+) handling by smooth muscle cells (SMC).
      Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinases (PI3K) are key mediators of insulin action and
      have been shown to modulate the function of voltage-dependent L-type Ca(2+)
      channels (Ca(V) 1.2). In the present work, we investigated the involvement of
      PI3K signalling in regulating Ca(2+) current through Ca(V) 1.2 (I(Ca,L) ) and
      vascular dysfunction in a mouse model of type I diabetes. EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH:
      Changes in isometric tension were recorded on myograph. Ca(2+) currents in
      freshly dissociated mice aortic SMCs were measured using the whole-cell patch
      clamp technique. Antisense techniques were used to knock-down the PI3Kdelta
      isoform. KEY RESULTS Contractile responses to phenylephrine and KCl were strongly
      enhanced in diabetic aorta independent of a functional endothelium. The magnitude
      of phenylephrine-induced I(Ca,L) was also greatly augmented. PI3Kdelta
      expression, but not PI3Kalpha, PI3Kbeta, PI3Kgamma, was increased in diabetic
      aortas and treatment of vessels with a selective PI3Kdelta inhibitor normalized
      I(Ca,L) and contractile response of diabetic vessels. Moreover, knock-down of
      PI3Kdeltain vivo decreased PI3Kdelta expression and normalized I(Ca,L) and
      contractile response of diabetic vessels ex vivo. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS:
      Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase delta was essential to the increased vascular
      contractile response in our model of type I diabetes. PI3Kdelta signalling was up
      regulated and most likely accounted for the increased I(Ca,L,) leading to
      increased vascular contractility. Blockade of PI3Kdelta may represent a novel
      therapeutic approach to treat vascular dysfunction in diabetic patients.

PMID- 20942847
TI  - Impact of sex, age, race, ethnicity and aspirin use on bleeding symptoms in
      healthy adults.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Comparing a patient's bleeding symptoms with those of healthy
      individuals is an important component of the diagnosis of bleeding disorders, but
      little is known about whether bleeding symptoms in healthy individuals vary by
      sex, race, ethnicity, age, or aspirin use. OBJECTIVES, PATIENTS/METHODS: We
      developed a comprehensive, ontology-backed, Web-based questionnaire to collect
      bleeding histories from 500 healthy adults. The mean age was 43 years (range 19
      86 years), 63% were female, 19% were Hispanic, 37% were African-American, 43%
      were Caucasian, 8% were Asian, and 4% were multiracial. RESULTS: 18 of the 36
      symptoms captured occurred with < 5% frequency, and 26% of participants reported
      no bleeding symptoms (range 0-19 symptoms). Differences in sex, race, ethnicity,
      aspirin use and age accounted for only 6-13% of the variability in symptoms.
      Although men reported fewer symptoms than women (median 1 vs. 2, P < 0.01), there
      was no difference when sex-specific questions were excluded (median 1 for both
      men and women, P = 0.50). However, women reported more easy bruising (24% vs. 7%,
      P < 0.01) and venipuncture-related bruising (10% vs. 3%, P = 0.02). The number of
      symptoms did not vary by race or age, but epistaxis was reported more frequently
      by Caucasians than by African-Americans (29% vs. 18%, P = 0.02), and epistaxis
      frequency decreased with age (odds ratio 0.97 per year, P < 0.01). Paradoxically,
      infrequent aspirin users reported more bruising and heavy menses than frequent
      users (21% vs. 8%, P = 0.01, and 56% vs. 38%, P = 0.03, respectively).
      CONCLUSIONS: Our findings provide a contemporaneous and comprehensive description
      of bleeding symptoms in a diverse group of healthy individuals. Our Web-based
      system is freely available to other investigators.

PMID- 20942848
TI  - The International Normalized Ratio calibrated for rivaroxaban has the potential
      to normalize prothrombin time results for rivaroxaban-treated patients: results
      of an in vitro study.

PMID- 20942849
TI  - Parental history and venous thromboembolism: a nationwide study of age-specific
      and sex-specific familial risks in Sweden.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The value of parental history as a risk indicator for venous
      thromboembolism (VTE) has not been determined in a nationwide setting.
      OBJECTIVES: To perform the first nationwide study of age-specific and sex
      specific familial VTE risks in offspring of parents hospitalized for VTE.
      PATIENTS/METHODS: The Swedish Multigeneration Register of 0-75-year-old subjects
      was linked to the Hospital Discharge Register for 1987-2007. Standardized
      incidence ratios (SIRs) were calculated for individuals whose parents were
      hospitalized for VTE as compared with those whose parents were unaffected.
      RESULTS: Among 45,362 hospitalized offspring cases with VTE, 4865 offspring of
      affected parents were identified with a familial SIR of 2.00 (95% confidence
      interval [CI] 1.94-2.05). Familial SIR was slightly higher for male offspring
      than for female offspring (2.08, 95% CI 2.00-2.16 vs. 1.91, 95% CI 1.84-1.99).
      The risk in offspring was further increased when both parents were affected
      (3.97, 95% CI 3.40-4.61), with high familial risks at ages 20-29 years (10.00,
      95% CI 5.91-15.84). The familial risks for VTE among offspring were increased
      from the age of 10 years up to 75 years, with familial SIRs of 3.96 (95% CI 3.13
      4.94) at age 10-19 years and 1.48 (95% CI 1.17-1.84) at ages 70-75 years.
      However, the absolute incidence rate increased with age. CONCLUSIONS: Parental
      history is potentially useful for risk assessments of VTE, although age needs to
      be considered. Our results support the use of an age-dependent multicausal model
      to estimate the risk of VTE.

PMID- 20942850
TI  - Incidence of venous thromboembolism in Korea: from the Health Insurance Review
      and Assessment Service database.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Venous thromboembolism (VTE), including deep vein thrombosis (DVT)
      and pulmonary embolism (PE), represents a major health concern in Caucasians.
      Although the incidence of VTE is generally known to be lower in Asians than in
      Caucasians, results of epidemiologic studies among Asians have been conflicting.
      In this study we performed a nationwide population-based epidemiologic study to
      provide basic information regarding the incidence of VTE in the Korean
      population. METHODS: Using the Korean Health Insurance Review and Assessment
      Service (HIRA) database, VTE patients from 2004 to 2008 were retrospectively
      identified by both diagnostic codes and medication codes for drugs used in
      initial treatment of VTE. RESULTS: The respective age- and sex-adjusted annual
      incidences of VTE, DVT and PE per 100,000 individuals increased significantly
      from 8.83, 3.91 and 3.74 in 2004 to 13.8, 5.31 and 7.01 in 2008 (P = 0.0001),
      with successive increments each year. All three annual incidences also increased
      steadily with age (P = 0.0001 for all), particularly among those over 60 years
      old. CONCLUSIONS: This represents the largest epidemiologic study that
      demonstrates a lower incidence of VTE in Asian compared with Western populations;
      however, it also demonstrates a yearly increasing incidence of VTE in the Korean
      population.

PMID- 20942852
TI  - High platelet volume and increased risk of myocardial infarction: 39,531
      participants from the general population.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Active platelets are large and contribute to development of
      myocardial infarction (MI). Platelet size is measured automatically as mean
      platelet volume (MPV) together with platelet count. OBJECTIVES: We tested the
      hypothesis that increased MPV is associated with risk of MI in the general
      population independent of known cardiovascular risk factors. METHODS: We examined
      39,531 men and woman from the Danish general population (the Copenhagen General
      Population Study), of whom 1300 developed MI. RESULTS: After multifactorial
      adjustment for known cardiovascular risk factors, risk of MI was increased by 37%
      (95% CI, 18-59%) in the middle and 30% (12-52%) in the upper vs. the lower
      tertile of MPV. Compared with the 1st quintile of MPV, there was corresponding
      increased risk of MI of 13% (-7% to 39%), 35% (11-64%), 31% (8-59%) and 29% (6
      57%) in the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th quintile, respectively. Similar values for
      octiles were increases in MI risk of -3% (-25% to 26%), 15% (-10% to 46%), 31% (1
      69%), 32% (5-68%), 31% (2-67%), 27% (-1% to 62%) and 26% (-1% to 61%),
      respectively, in the 2nd through to the 8th octile vs. the 1st octile of MPV. Use
      of antiplatelet therapy did not modify these risk estimates. Finally, in
      prospective, multifactorially adjusted analyses, risk of MI increased by 38% (8
      75%) in individuals with MPV >= 7.4 vs. < 7.4 fL. CONCLUSIONS: Increased MPV is
      associated with increased risk of MI independent of known cardiovascular risk
      factors.

PMID- 20942853
TI  - Male gender is an adverse prognostic factor in B-cell lymphoma patients treated
      with immunochemotherapy.
AB  - Male gender is an adverse prognostic factor in Hodgkin's lymphoma, but no such
      association has yet been established in non-Hodgkin lymphomas. Here, we have
      evaluated whether gender has prognostic impact on the survival of patients with B
      cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma in the postrituximab era of lymphoma therapies. The
      study populations consisted of 217 diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and 110
      follicular lymphoma (FL) patients treated with immunochemotherapy. Hundred and
      sixty chemotherapy-treated DLBCL patients served as a control group. According to
      Kaplan-Meier analyses, female patients had a significantly better progression
      free survival than men both in DLBCL (4 yr PFS 75% vs. 60%; P= 0.013) and in FL
      (4 yr PFS 68% vs. 52%, P=0.036) patients treated with immunochemotherapy. In
      chemotherapy-treated DLBCL patients, no difference in survival between the
      genders was found. The results support the idea that women seem to respond better
      to rituximab.

PMID- 20942854
TI  - Emerging therapies for the treatment of relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma.
AB  - Encouraging progress has been made in the treatment of patients with
      relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma (MM). The rapidly evolving understanding of
      key pathways responsible for tumor growth and survival has led to the development
      of novel agents (including immunomodulatory drugs, proteasome inhibitors, histone
      deacetylase inhibitors, and other targeted agents) with the potential to provide
      significant improvements in response and survival, and influence treatment
      guidelines. This review summarizes recent advances in understanding of the
      biology of relapsed/refractory MM and clinical trials with novel targeted agents
      that are currently under investigation for patients with this disease.

PMID- 20942851
TI  - The prothrombin time/international normalized ratio (PT/INR) Line: derivation of
      local INR with commercial thromboplastins and coagulometers--two independent
      studies.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The WHO scheme for prothrombin time (PT) standardization has been
      limited in application, because of its difficulties in implementation,
      particularly the need for mandatory manual PT testing and for local provision of
      thromboplastin international reference preparations (IRP). METHODS: The value of
      a new simpler procedure to derive international normalized ratio (INR), the
      PT/INR Line, based on only five European Concerted Action on Anticoagulation
      (ECAA) calibrant plasmas certified by experienced centres has been assessed in
      two independent exercises using a range of commercial thromboplastins and
      coagulometers. INRs were compared with manual certified values with
      thromboplastin IRP from expert centres and in the second study also with INRs
      from local ISI calibrations. RESULTS: In the first study with the PT/INR Line,
      8.7% deviation from certified INRs was reduced to 1.1% with human reagents, and
      from 7.0% to 2.6% with rabbit reagents. In the second study, deviation was
      reduced from 11.2% to 0.4% with human reagents by both local ISI calibration and
      the PT/INR Line. With rabbit reagents, 10.4% deviation was reduced to 1.1% with
      both procedures; 4.9% deviation was reduced to 0.5% with bovine/combined reagents
      with local ISI calibrations and to 2.9% with the PT/INR Line. Mean INR dispersion
      was reduced with all thromboplastins and automated systems using the PT/INR Line.
      CONCLUSIONS: The procedure using the PT/INR Line provides reliable INR derivation
      without the need for WHO ISI calibration across the range of locally used
      commercial thromboplastins and automated PT systems included in two independent
      international studies.

PMID- 20942855
TI  - The influence of the assessment method on the incidence of visual field
      progression in glaucoma: a network meta-analysis.
AB  - PURPOSE: To study and quantify the difference in incidence of progression between
      methods for the assessment of glaucomatous visual field progression. METHODS: We
      identified 2450 articles published up to April 2009 in the following data
      sources: PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane. Ten studies covering 30 methods were
      included. All studies aimed to compare different methods for the assessment of
      glaucomatous visual field progression in the same study population. A network
      meta-analysis using a mixed-effects model was performed to combine within-study
      between-method comparisons with indirect comparisons from other studies. The
      summarized incidence of progression was calculated for every method, and methods
      were ranked according to this incidence. RESULTS: In total, methods were compared
      in 1040 eyes of 948 patients with glaucoma. On average, 21% of the eyes
      progressed. When all 30 methods were ranked, the incidence ranged from 2% to 62%.
      These incidences are corrected for a baseline mean deviation (MD) value of -7
      decibels and a mean follow-up time of 6 years. Besides the assessment method, the
      incidence was only determined by the follow-up period and baseline MD value,
      leaving no unexplained variance in the incidence of progression. CONCLUSION: The
      incidence of progression varies considerably between different studies. This is
      mainly caused by the variety of methods used to assess progression but also by
      differences in follow-up time and baseline visual field loss.

PMID- 20942856
TI  - Role of mitochondria in contraction and pacemaking in the mouse uterus.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Uterine spontaneous contraction and pacemaking are poorly
      understood. This study investigates the role of the mitochondrial Ca(2+) store in
      uterine activity. EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH: We investigated the effects of
      mitochondrial and sarco-endoplasmic reticulum (SER) inhibitors on contraction,
      membrane potential (Vm) and cytosolic Ca(2+) concentration ([Ca(2+) ](c) ) in
      longitudinal smooth muscle of the mouse uterus. KEY RESULTS: The mitochondrial
      agents rotenone, carbonylcyanide-3-chlorophenylhydrazone (CCCP), 7-chloro-5-(2
      chlorophenyl)-1,5-dihydro-4,1-benzothiazepin-2(3H)-one (CGP37157) and kaempferol
      decreased the force of contractions. The ATP synthase inhibitor oligomycin had no
      significant effect. The effects of these agents were compared with those of SER
      inhibitors cyclopiazonic acid (CPA), 2-amino ethoxyphenylborate (2-APB) and
      caffeine. All agents, except CPA and oligomycin, decreased contractile force. CPA
      and CCCP transiently increased contraction frequency, which returned to control
      levels, whereas rotenone, CGP37157, kaempferol and 2-APB decreased frequency and
      caffeine had no significant effect. Application of the mitochondrial agents when
      CPA functionally inhibited stores did not change contraction frequency but, with
      the exception of kaempferol, decreased force. CCCP caused depolarization and
      maintained increase in [Ca(2+) ](c) or depolarization/transient hyperpolarization
      and transient increase in [Ca(2+) ](c) for oestrus and di-oestrus tissues
      respectively. Rotenone caused hyperpolarization and maintained increase in
      [Ca(2+) ](c) . CGP37157 and kaempferol caused hyperpolarization but no measurable
      change in [Ca(2+) ](c) . Application of a range of K(+) channel blockers
      indicated a role of Ca(2+) -activated K(+) (K(Ca) ) channels in the CCCP- and
      CGP37157-induced actions. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Mitochondria have a
      modulatory role on uterine contractions, with mitochondrial inhibition reducing
      contraction amplitude and pacemaker frequency by changes in Vm, [Ca(2+) ](c)
      and/or Ca(2+) influx.

PMID- 20942859
TI  - Children and youth with myelomeningocele's independence in managing clean
      intermittent catheterization in familiar settings.
AB  - AIM: To examine the ability of children and youth with myelomeningocele to
      independently manage clean intermittent catheterization. METHODS: There were 50
      participants with myelomeningocele (5-18 years); 13 of them had also participated
      in a previous hospital-based study. Their abilities and interest in completing
      the toilet activity were examined at home or in school using an interview and the
      Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM). Actual performance was observed
      and rated. Background variables were collected from medical records and KatAD+E
      tests. RESULTS: In total, 48% were observed to perform the toilet activity
      independently, in comparison with 74% who self-reported independence. Univariate
      analyses found KatAD+E could predict who was independent. COPM failed to do so.
      Ability to remain focused and ambulation were predictors of independence, but
      age, sex and IQ were not. Multivariable analysis found time to completion to be
      the strongest predictor of independence. Four children were independent in their
      familiar environment, but not in the hospital setting, and six of 13 children
      maintained focus only in their familiar environment. CONCLUSIONS: Interviews were
      not sufficiently accurate to assess independence in the toilet activity. Instead,
      observations including time to completion are recommended. The execution of the
      toilet activity is influenced by the environmental context.

PMID- 20942858
TI  - Rho-kinase signalling regulates trypsinogen activation and tissue damage in
      severe acute pancreatitis.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) is characterized by
      trypsinogen activation, infiltration of leucocytes and tissue necrosis but the
      intracellular signalling mechanisms regulating organ injury in the pancreas
      remain elusive. Rho-kinase is a potent regulator of specific cellular processes
      effecting several pro-inflammatory activities. Herein, we examined the role of
      Rho-kinase signalling in acute pancreatitis. EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH: Pancreatitis
      was induced by infusion of taurocholate into the pancreatic duct in C57BL/6 mice.
      Animals were treated with a Rho-kinase inhibitor Y-27632 (0.5-5 mg.kg-1) before
      induction of pancreatitis. KEY RESULTS: Taurocholate infusion caused a clear-cut
      increase in blood amylase, pancreatic neutrophil infiltration, acinar cell
      necrosis and oedema formation in the pancreas. Levels of pancreatic
      myeloperoxidase (MPO), macrophage inflammatory protein-2 (MIP-2), trypsinogen
      activation peptide (TAP) and lung MPO were significantly increased, indicating
      local and systemic disease. Inhibition of Rho-kinase activity dose-dependently
      protected against pancreatitis. For example, 5 mg.kg-1 Y-27632 reduced acinar
      cell necrosis, leucocyte infiltration and pancreatic oedema by 90%, 89% and 58%,
      respectively, as well as tissue levels of MPO by 75% and MIP-2 by 84%. Moreover,
      Rho-kinase inhibition decreased lung MPO by 75% and blood amylase by 83%.
      Pancreatitis-induced TAP levels were reduced by 61% in Y-27632-treated mice.
      Inhibition of Rho-kinase abolished secretagogue-induced activation of trypsinogen
      in pancreatic acinar cells in vitro. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Our novel data
      suggest that Rho-kinase signalling plays an important role in acute pancreatitis
      by regulating trypsinogen activation and subsequent CXC chemokine formation,
      neutrophil infiltration and tissue injury. Thus, these results indicate that Rho
      kinase may constitute a novel target in the management of SAP.

PMID- 20942860
TI  - Severe reactions after the intake of soy drink in birch pollen-allergic children
      sensitized to Gly m 4.
AB  - AIM: To study the connection between reaction to soy milk and IgE sensitization
      to Gly m 4. METHODS: Four subjects who experienced unforeseen and severe symptoms
      after the ingestion of soymilk were studied. RESULTS: All children were birch
      pollen allergic, had high IgE responses to the PR-10 proteins from birch and
      soybean, Bet v 1 and Gly m 4. All reactions took place after the ingestion of
      soymilk during the peak pollen season. CONCLUSION: This is the first time soybean
      dependant pollen-food cross-reaction has been reported in children experiencing
      reactions during the birch pollen season. These findings may well be helpful to
      doctors in identifying individuals at risk of severe reactions upon the ingestion
      of soymilk, and we foresee an increase in the number of similar cases as soy
      drinks are promoted for health purposes.

PMID- 20942857
TI  - The endoplasmic reticulum protein folding factory and its chaperones: new targets
      for drug discovery?
AB  - Cytosolic heat shock proteins have received significant attention as emerging
      therapeutic targets. Much of this excitement has been triggered by the discovery
      that HSP90 plays a central role in the maintenance and stability of multifarious
      oncogenic membrane receptors and their resultant tyrosine kinase activity.
      Numerous studies have dealt with the effects of small molecules on chaperone- and
      stress-related pathways of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). However, unlike
      cytosolic chaperones, relatively little emphasis has been placed upon
      translational avenues towards targeting of the ER for inhibition of
      folding/secretion of disease-promoting proteins. Here, we summarise existing
      small molecule inhibitors and potential future targets of ER chaperone-mediated
      inhibition. Client proteins of translational relevance in disease treatment are
      outlined, alongside putative future disease treatment modalities based on ER
      centric targeted therapies. Particular attention is paid to cancer and autoimmune
      disorders via the effects of the GRP94 inhibitor geldanamycin and its population
      of client proteins, overloading of the unfolded protein response, and inhibition
      of members of the IL-12 family of cytokines by celecoxib and non-coxib analogues.

PMID- 20942864
TI  - Human mesenchymal stem cells inhibit metastasis of a hepatocellular carcinoma
      model using the MHCC97-H cell line.
AB  - The effects of mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) on the growth and metastasis of human
      malignancies including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are controversial, and the
      underlying mechanisms are not yet understood. The aim of this study was to
      explore the role of MSC in the progression of HCC. We investigated the effect of
      MSC on in vitro proliferation and invasion and in vivo tumor growth and pulmonary
      metastasis of MHCC97-H HCC cells with a high metastatic potential. The mRNA and
      protein levels of transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGFbeta1) and MMP, and their
      association with the effects of MSC on HCC cells were also evaluated. Co-culture
      of MHCC97-H cells with MSC conditioned medium significantly enhanced in vitro
      proliferation but inhibited invasiveness. Following MSC treatment of a nude mouse
      model bearing human HCC, the MSC were predominantly located in the HCC tissues.
      Compared with controls, MSC-treated mice exhibited significantly larger tumors
      (3080.51 +/- 1234.78 mm(3) vs 2223.75 +/- 1000.60 mm(3), P = 0.045), but
      decreased cellular numbers of lung metastases (49.75 +/- 18.86 vs 227.22 +/-
      74.67, P = 0.046). Expression of TGFbeta1 and MMP-2 was significantly
      downregulated in the MSC-treated HCC cells. TGFbeta siRNA concurrently
      downregulated expression of TGFbeta and MMP-2 in HCC cells and blocked the MSC
      induced proliferation and invasiveness of MHCC97-H cells. The MSC enhanced tumor
      growth but significantly inhibited the invasiveness and metastasis of HCC,
      possibly through downregulation of TGFbeta1. These findings suggest that MSC
      could be useful in controlling metastatic recurrence of HCC.

PMID- 20942863
TI  - Non-psychoactive cannabinoids modulate the descending pathway of antinociception
      in anaesthetized rats through several mechanisms of action.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Two non-psychoactive cannabinoids, cannabidiol (CBD) and
      cannabichromene (CBC), are known to modulate in vitro the activity of proteins
      involved in nociceptive mechanisms, including transient receptor potential (TRP)
      channels of vanilloid type-1 (TRPV1) and of ankyrin type-1 (TRPA1), the
      equilibrative nucleoside transporter and proteins facilitating endocannabinoid
      inactivation. Here we have tested these two cannabinoids on the activity of the
      descending pathway of antinociception. EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH: Electrical activity
      of ON and OFF neurons of the rostral ventromedial medulla in anaesthetized rats
      was recorded extracellularly and tail flick latencies to thermal stimuli were
      measured. CBD or CBC along with various antagonists were injected into the
      ventrolateral periaqueductal grey. KEY RESULTS: Cannabidiol and CBC dose
      dependently reduced the ongoing activity of ON and OFF neurons in anaesthetized
      rats, whilst inducing antinociceptive responses in the tail flick-test. These
      effects were maximal with 3 nmol CBD and 6 nmol CBC, and were antagonized by
      selective antagonists of cannabinoid CB(1) adenosine A(1) and TRPA1, but not of
      TRPV1, receptors. Both CBC and CBD also significantly elevated endocannabinoid
      levels in the ventrolateral periaqueductal grey. A specific agonist at TRPA1
      channels and a synthetic inhibitor of endocannabinoid cellular reuptake exerted
      effects similar to those of CBC and CBD. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: CBD and
      CBC stimulated descending pathways of antinociception and caused analgesia by
      interacting with several target proteins involved in nociceptive control. These
      compounds might represent useful therapeutic agents with multiple mechanisms of
      action.

PMID- 20942865
TI  - Addition of thalidomide to oral melphalan/prednisone in patients with multiple
      myeloma not eligible for transplantation: results of a randomized trial from the
      Turkish Myeloma Study Group.
AB  - The combination of melphalan-prednisone-thalidomide (MPT) has been investigated
      in several clinical studies that differed significantly with regard to patient
      characteristics and treatment schedules. This prospective trial differs from
      previous melphalan-prednisone (MP) vs. MPT trials by treatment dosing, duration,
      routine anticoagulation, and permission for a crossover. Newly diagnosed patients
      with multiple myeloma (MM) (n=122) aged greater than 55 yr, not eligible for
      transplantation were randomized to receive 8 cycles of M (9 mg/m(2) /d) and P (60
      mg/m(2) /d) for 4d every 6 wk (n=62) or MP and thalidomide (100 mg/d)
      continuously (n=60). Primary endpoint was treatment response and toxicities
      following 4 and 8 cycles of therapy. Secondary endpoints were disease-free (DFS)
      and overall survival (OS). Overall, MPT-treated patients were younger (median 69
      yr vs. 72 yr; P=0.016) and had a higher incidence of renal impairment (RI, 19%
      vs. 7%, respectively; P=0.057). After 4 cycles of treatment (n=115), there were
      more partial responses or better in the MPT arm than in the MP arm (57.9% vs.
      37.5%; P=0.030). However, DFS and OS were not significantly different between the
      arms after a median of 23 months follow-up (median OS 26.0 vs. 28.0 months,
      P=0.655; DFS 21.0 vs. 14.0 months, P=0.342, respectively). Crossover to MPT was
      required in 11 patients, 57% of whom responded to treatment. A higher rate of
      grade 3-4 infections was observed in the MPT arm compared with the MP arm (22.4%
      vs. 7.0%; P=0.033). However, none of these infections were associated with
      febrile neutropenia. Death within the first 3 months was observed more frequently
      in the MP arm (n=8, 14.0%) than in the MPT arm (n=2, 3.4%; P=0.053). Long-term
      discontinuation and dose reduction rates were also analyzed (MPT: 15.5% vs. MP:
      5.3%; P=0.072). Although patients treated with MPT were relatively younger and
      had more frequent RI, better responses and less early mortality were observed in
      all age groups despite more frequent discontinuation.

PMID- 20942867
TI  - Cooperative role of tumour necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin-1beta and
      neutrophils in a novel behavioural model that concomitantly demonstrates
      articular inflammation and hypernociception in mice.
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE; Chronic joint inflammation and pain are the hallmarks of
      disease in patients with inflammatory arthritis, notably rheumatoid arthritis.
      The aim of the present study was to investigate the relative contribution of
      tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha, interleukin (IL)-1beta and neutrophil influx
      for joint inflammation and nociception in a novel murine model of antigen-induced
      arthritis (AIA). EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH: AIA was induced by administration of
      antigen into knee joint of previously immunized mice. Neutrophil accumulation was
      determined by counting neutrophils in the joints and assessing myeloperoxidase
      activity in tissues surrounding the joints. TNF-alpha, IL-1beta and CXCL-1 were
      measured by elisa. Mechanical hypernociception was assessed in parallel, using an
      electronic pressure meter. KEY RESULTS: Hypernociception was dependent on antigen
      dose and the time after its administration; it was prevented by treatment with
      morphine and associated with neutrophil infiltration and local production of TNF
      alpha, IL-1beta and CXCL-1. Administration of a chimeric monoclonal antibody to
      TNF-alpha (infliximab) or IL-1receptor antagonist prevented neutrophil influx and
      hypernociception, and this was comparable to the effects of dexamethasone.
      Treatment with fucoidin (a leucocyte adhesion inhibitor) greatly suppressed
      neutrophil influx and local production of TNF-alpha and IL-1beta, and
      hypernociception. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: In conclusion, the present study
      describes a new model that allows for the concomitant evaluation of articular
      hypernociception and inflammation. Using this system, we demonstrated that a
      positive feedback loop involving neutrophil influx and the pro-inflammatory
      cytokines TNF-alpha and IL-1beta is necessary for articular hypernociception
      after antigen challenge of immunized mice.

PMID- 20942868
TI  - Spatial distribution of intraperitoneally administrated paclitaxel nanoparticles
      solubilized with poly (2-methacryloxyethyl phosphorylcholine-co n-butyl
      methacrylate) in peritoneal metastatic nodules.
AB  - Intraperitoneal (i.p.) administration of paclitaxel nanoparticles (PTX-30W)
      prepared by solubulization with the amphiphilic copolymer of 2-methacryloxyethyl
      phosphorylcholine and n-butyl methacrylate can efficiently suppress the growth of
      peritoneal metastasis. In this study, we characterized the drug distribution of
      i.p. injected PTX-30W in peritoneal tumor and liver in a mouse model using MKN45,
      human gastric cancer cells. Oregon green-conjugated PTX-30W showed perivascular
      accumulation in MKN45 tumor in the peritoneum at 24 h after intravenous (i.v.)
      injection; however, the amount of PTX in tumor was markedly less than that in
      liver. In contrast, a larger amount of PTX accumulated in the peripheral area of
      disseminated nodules at 1 h after i.p. injection and the area gradually enlarged.
      The depth of PTX infiltration reached 1 mm from the tumor surface at 48 h after
      i.p. injection, and the fluorescence intensity was markedly greater than that in
      liver. Interestingly, i.p. injected PTX preferentially accumulated in relatively
      hypovascular areas, and many tumor cells in the vicinity of PTX accumulation
      showed apoptosis. This unique accumulation pattern and lesser washout in
      hypovascular areas are thought to be attributable to the superior penetrating
      activity of PTX-30W, and thus, PTX-30W is considered to be highly suitable for
      i.p. chemotherapy for peritoneal dissemination.

PMID- 20942866
TI  - Randomized phase II study of concurrent and sequential combinations of rituximab
      plus CHOP (cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine and prednisolone)
      chemotherapy in untreated indolent B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma: 7-year follow-up
      results.
AB  - Rituximab plus cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine and prednisolone (R
      CHOP) is one of the most frequently applied initial treatments for indolent B
      cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (B-NHL); however, information on its long-term outcome
      is limited. Untreated patients in the concurrent arm (Arm C) received six R (375
      mg/m(2) ) treatments, 2 days prior to each cycle of CHOP, and patients in the
      sequential arm (Arm S) received 6 weekly R (375 mg/m(2) ) treatments following
      six cycles of CHOP. Sixty-nine patients were randomized but two patients were
      withdrawn before receiving the protocol treatment. Sixty-five patients (94%) had
      follicular lymphoma, and 37 (55%) were at low risk, 23 (34%) at intermediate risk
      and seven (10%) at high risk according to the Follicular Lymphoma International
      Prognostic Index. We previously reported that the overall response rate (ORR) in
      Arm C and in Arm S was 94% and 97%, respectively. The median progression-free
      survival (PFS)/7-year PFS rate in Arm C, Arm S and all 67 assessable patients was
      2.4 years/23% (95% confidence interval [CI], 9-40%), 3.8 years/41% (95% CI, 23
      57%) and 2.8 years/32% (95% CI, 20-45%), respectively. There was no significant
      difference between the two arms (P = 0.107). The overall survival (OS) of the 67
      patients was 95% at 7 years. In conclusion, R-CHOP is a highly effective initial
      treatment for untreated indolent B-NHL in terms of ORR and OS; however, its long
      term PFS is not good enough either in concurrent or sequential combination,
      warranting further investigations on post-remission therapy.

PMID- 20942869
TI  - An investigation of reversal of imatinib resistance in the Bcr-Abl positive
      imatinib-resistant cell line K562r by dasatinib, nilotinib, rapamycin and
      bortezomib.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: We investigated the second-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitors,
      dasatinib and nilotinib, for their potential to overcome resistance in the
      imatinib-resistant K562 cell line, and evaluated whether rapamycin, an mammalian
      target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitor, and bortezomib, a proteasome inhibitor,
      could increase imatinib sensitivity in resistant cell lines. METHODS: Cell lines,
      including K562 (chronic myeloid leukaemia in blast crisis) and K562r (imatinib
      resistant K562), were exposed to dasatinib, nilotinib, rapamycin, bortezomib, and
      rapamycin plus imatinib. Cell proliferation was measured by 3-[4, 5-dimethylthia
      zol-2-yl]-2, 5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay and mTOR signaling
      pathways were assessed by Western blotting. RESULTS: Dasatinib, nilotinib, and
      bortezomib inhibited proliferation of K562 and K562r cell lines at nm
      concentrations. Resistance of K562r due to duplication of autophosphorylation of
      wild-type Bcr-Abl was not overcome by dasatinib and nilotinib, but was sensitive
      to bortezomib. Rapamycin partially inhibited proliferation of K562 and K562r cell
      lines. Rapamycin plus imatinib did not have a more inhibitory effect on the
      proliferation of K562 and K562r cell lines. CONCLUSION: K562r due to duplication
      of autophosphorylation of wild-type Bcr-Abl induced by imatinib was still
      partially resistant to dasatinib and nilotinib, but this was overcome by
      incremental dosing. Rapamycin did not enhance imatinib sensitivity. The blockade
      of the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway could be effective in overcoming resistance
      in the K562r imatinib-resistant cell line.

PMID- 20942870
TI  - MFI ratio estimation of ZAP-70 in B-CLL by flow cytometry can be improved by
      considering the isotype-matched antibody signal.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The IgV(H) mutational status of B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia
      (B-CLL) is of prognostic value. Expression of ZAP-70 in B-CLL is a surrogate
      marker for IgV(H) unmutated (UM). As determination of IgV(H) mutational status
      involves a methodology currently unavailable for most clinical laboratories, it
      is important to have available a reliable technique for ZAP-70 estimation in B
      CLL. Flow cytometry (FC) is a convenient technique for this purpose. However,
      there is still no adequate way for data analysis, which would prevent the
      assignment of false positive or negative expression. METHODS: We have modified
      the currently most accepted technique, which uses the ratio of the mean
      fluorescent index (MFI) of B-CLL to T cells. The MFI for parallel antibody
      isotype staining is subtracted from the ZAP-70 MFI of both B-CLL and T cells. We
      validated this technique comparing the results obtained for ZAP-70 expression by
      FC with those obtained with quantitative PCR for the same patients. RESULTS: We
      applied the technique in a series of 53 patients. With this modification, a
      better correlation between ZAP-70 expression and IgV(H) UM was obtained.
      CONCLUSIONS: Thus, the MFI ratio B-CLL/T cell corrected by isotype is a reliable
      analysis technique to estimate ZAP-70 expression in B-CLL.

PMID- 20942871
TI  - Long-term clinicopathological observations on a papillary tumour of the pineal
      region.

PMID- 20942873
TI  - Confronting Alzheimer's disease and other dementias.

PMID- 20942874
TI  - Medicare provider? ... then read this.

PMID- 20942872
TI  - Rheumatoid arthritis: a role for immunosenescence?
AB  - Aging is accompanied by a progressive decline in the integrity of the immune
      system, a process known as immunosenescence. Pathological features typical of
      immune dysfunction in older adults, encompassing dysregulation of innate and
      adaptive immune responses, characterize rheumatoid arthritis (RA), an autoimmune
      disease whose incidence increases with age. Recent evidence suggests that certain
      features of immunosenescence, such as the decrease in T-cell generation and
      diversity, may contribute to the development of RA. Thus, physiological
      immunosenescence may render older adults susceptible to RA, and premature
      immunosenescence may contribute to the development of RA in young adults. In
      addition, other features of immunosenescence may result from the chronic immune
      stimulation that occurs in RA and lead to worsening of the disease. This article
      reviews the immunopathological features common to aging and RA and discusses the
      mechanisms by which immunosenescence may contribute to the development or
      progression of RA.

PMID- 20942875
TI  - A crack in the system.

PMID- 20942876
TI  - Growing up with geriatrics.

PMID- 20942877
TI  - Muscle volume and strength and arterial compliance after walk training with blood
      flow reduction in elderly women.

PMID- 20942878
TI  - Change in arm position during one-leg balance test: a predictor of recurrent
      falls in community-dwelling older adults.

PMID- 20942879
TI  - Acute dopamine depletion syndrome.

PMID- 20942881
TI  - Evaluation of short-term effectiveness of the disease management program
      "Di.Pro.Di." on continuity of care of patients with congestive heart failure.

PMID- 20942880
TI  - Predictive value of low ferritin in older persons with anemia with and without
      inflammation: the Leiden 85-plus Study.

PMID- 20942882
TI  - Functional assessment of older adults with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
      living at home.

PMID- 20942883
TI  - Oral intake difficulty in hospitalized older persons with pneumonia: a
      preliminary report.

PMID- 20942884
TI  - Does Helicobacter pylori affect life expectancy?

PMID- 20942886
TI  - Psychobehavioral disorders, orthostatic hypotension, and falls related to a
      pheochromocytoma in a very elderly subject: a case report.

PMID- 20942885
TI  - Aging and deep neck infection. The experience of a tertiary referral center (2000
      2009).

PMID- 20942887
TI  - Association between thyroid function and metabolic syndrome in elderly subjects.

PMID- 20942888
TI  - Pain assessment in specialist services for older people--a national perspective.

PMID- 20942889
TI  - Smoothing seams for safety.

PMID- 20942891
TI  - Lumbar puncture in older adults: which approach is safer? A retrospective cohort
      study.

PMID- 20942892
TI  - Trospium chloride is undetectable in the older human central nervous system.

PMID- 20942893
TI  - Cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers in Alzheimer's disease: are the hypotheses more
      dynamic than the biomarkers?

PMID- 20942894
TI  - Multiple myeloma presenting as hyperammonemic encephalopathy.

PMID- 20942895
TI  - The era of aging children and elderly parents: something new in emotional
      epidemiology.

PMID- 20942897
TI  - Anthropological and clinical implications for the structural diversity of the
      Helicobacter pylori CagA oncoprotein.
AB  - Helicobacter pylori CagA is the first bacterial oncoprotein to be identified in
      relation to human cancer. CagA is delivered into gastric epithelial cells through
      a bacterial type IV secretion system and localizes to the plasma membrane, where
      it undergoes tyrosine phosphorylation by host cell kinases. Membrane-localized
      CagA then mimics mammalian scaffold proteins and perturbs a number of host
      signaling pathways in both tyrosine phosphorylation-dependent and -independent
      manners, thereby promoting transformation of gastric epithelial cells.
      Helicobacter pylori CagA is noted for structural diversity in its C-terminal
      region, with which CagA interacts with numerous host cell proteins. This CagA
      polymorphism is primarily due to differential combination and alignment of the
      four distinct EPIYA segments and the two different CagA-multimerization sequences
      in making the C-terminal region. The structural diversity substantially
      influences the pathophysiological action of CagA. This review focuses on the
      molecular basis for the structural polymorphism that determines the degrees of
      virulence and oncogenic potential of individual CagA. The pylogeographic
      distribution of differential CagA isoforms is also discussed in the context of
      human migration history, which may underlie large geographical variations in the
      incidence of gastric cancer in different parts of the world.

PMID- 20942896
TI  - Plasma testosterone and sex hormone-binding globulin concentrations and the risk
      of prostate cancer among Japanese men: a nested case-control study.
AB  - Sex hormones, particularly androgens, have been implicated in prostate
      carcinogenesis. Overall, however, prospective studies have reported no
      association between circulating levels of sex hormones and the risk of prostate
      cancer. However, despite the possible difference in the effects of hormones on
      prostate cancer risk by stage, age, body mass index (BMI) and isoflavones,
      evidence for these is sparse. Moreover, few studies have been conducted in Asian
      populations, who are relatively lean and have high isoflavone consumption. We
      examined the hypothesis that plasma concentrations of circulating testosterone
      and sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) are associated with the risk of prostate
      cancer in a case-control study nested in the Japan Public Health Center-based
      Prospective Study. Concentrations of total testosterone and SHBG were measured in
      plasma samples from 201 patients with prostate cancer and 402 matched control
      participants, and concentrations of free testosterone were calculated. No overall
      association between the plasma levels of any hormone and total prostate cancer
      was observed. Odds ratios (95% confidence interval [CI]) in the highest versus
      lowest group were 0.71 (95% CI = 0.36-1.41, Ptrend = 0.43) for total
      testosterone, 0.70 (95% CI = 0.39-1.27, Ptrend = 0.08) for free testosterone and
      1.38 (95% CI = 0.69-2.77, Ptrend = 0.23) for SHBG. When stratified by cancer
      stage, age, BMI and plasma isoflavone level, free testosterone was inversely
      associated with localized cancers and equol producers, while SHBG was associated
      with an increased risk of prostate cancer in younger men. In conclusion, in this
      nested case-control study, concentrations of circulating total testosterone, free
      testosterone or SHBG were not strongly associated with a risk for total prostate
      cancer.

PMID- 20942899
TI  - Health financing reform in Uganda: How equitable is the proposed National Health
      Insurance scheme?
AB  - BACKGROUND: Uganda is proposing introduction of the National Health Insurance
      scheme (NHIS) in a phased manner with the view to obtaining additional funding
      for the health sector and promoting financial risk protection. In this paper, we
      have assessed the proposed NHIS from an equity perspective, exploring the extent
      to which NHIS would improve existing disparities in the health sector. METHODS:
      We reviewed the proposed design and other relevant documents that enhanced our
      understanding of contextual issues. We used the Kutzin and fair financing
      frameworks to critically assess the impact of NHIS on overall equity in financing
      in Uganda. RESULTS: The introduction of NHIS is being proposed against the
      backdrop of inequalities in the distribution of health system inputs between
      rural and urban areas, different levels of care and geographic areas. In this
      assessment, we find that gradual implementation of NHIS will result in low
      coverage initially, which might pose a challenge for effective management of the
      scheme. The process for accreditation of service providers during the first phase
      is not explicit on how it will ensure that a two-tier service provision
      arrangement does not emerge to cater for different types of patients. If the
      proposed fee-for-service mechanism of reimbursing providers is pursued,
      utilisation patterns will determine how resources are allocated. This implies
      that equity in resource allocation will be determined by the distribution of
      accredited providers, and checks put in place to prohibit frivolous use. The
      current design does not explicitly mention how these two issues will be tackled.
      Lastly, there is no clarity on how the NHIS will fit into, and integrate within
      existing financing mechanisms. CONCLUSION: Under the current NHIS design, the
      initial low coverage in the first years will inhibit optimal achievement of the
      important equity characteristics of pooling, cross-subsidisation and financial
      protection. Depending on the distribution of accredited providers and utilisation
      patterns, the NHIS could worsen existing disparities in access to services, given
      the fee-for-service reimbursement mechanisms currently proposed. Lastly, if
      equity in financing and resource allocation are not explicit objectives of the
      NHIS, it might inadvertently worsen the existing disparities in service
      provision.

PMID- 20942898
TI  - TDP-43 pathology occurs infrequently in multiple system atrophy.
AB  - AIMS AND METHODS: The alpha-synucleinopathy multiple system atrophy (MSA) and
      diseases defined by pathological 43-kDa transactive response DNA-binding protein
      (TDP-43) or fused in sarcoma (FUS) aggregates such as amyotrophic lateral
      sclerosis and frontotemporal lobar degeneration show overlapping clinico
      pathological features. Consequently, we examined MSA for evidence of TDP-43 or
      FUS pathology utilizing immunohistochemical studies in autopsy material from 29
      MSA patients. RESULTS: TDP-43 pathology was generally rare, and there were no FUS
      lesions. The TDP-43 lesions were located predominantly in medio-temporal lobe and
      subcortical brain areas and were comprised mainly of dystrophic processes and
      perivascular (and subpial) lesions. CONCLUSIONS: The multisystem clinical
      symptoms and signs of MSA, and in particular the neurobehavioural/cognitive and
      pyramidal features, appear not to result from concomitant TDP-43 or FUS
      pathology, but rather from widespread white matter alpha-synuclein positive glial
      cytoplasmic inclusions and neurodegeneration in keeping with a primary alpha
      synuclein-mediated oligodendrogliopathy. The gliodegenerative disease MSA
      evidently results from different pathogenetic mechanisms than neurodegenerative
      diseases linked to pathological TDP-43.

PMID- 20942900
TI  - A realist synthesis of randomised control trials involving use of community
      health workers for delivering child health interventions in low and middle income
      countries.
AB  - BACKGROUND: A key constraint to saturating coverage of interventions for reducing
      the burden of childhood illnesses in Low and Middle Income Countries (LMIC) is
      the lack of human resources. Community health workers (CHW) are potentially
      important actors in bridging this gap. Evidence exists on effectiveness of CHW in
      management of some childhood illnesses (IMCI). However, we need to know how and
      when this comes to be. We examine evidence from randomized control trials (RCT)
      on CHW interventions in IMCI in LMIC from a realist perspective with the aim to
      see if they can yield insight into the working of the interventions, when
      examined from a different perspective. METHODS: The realist approach involves
      educing the mechanisms through which an intervention produced an outcome in a
      particular context. 'Mechanisms' are reactions, triggered by the interaction of
      the intervention and a certain context, which lead to change. These are often
      only implicit and are actually hypothesized by the reviewer. This review is
      limited to unravelling these from the RCTs; it is thus a hypothesis generating
      exercise. RESULTS: Interventions to improve CHW performance included 'Skills
      based training of CHW', 'Supervision and referral support from public health
      services', 'Positioning of CHW in the community'. When interventions were applied
      in context of CHW programs embedded in local health services, with beneficiaries
      who valued services and had unmet needs, the interventions worked if following
      mechanisms were triggered: anticipation of being valued by the community;
      perception of improvement in social status; sense of relatedness with
      beneficiaries and public services; increase in self esteem; sense of self
      efficacy and enactive mastery of tasks; sense of credibility, legitimacy and
      assurance that there was a system for back-up support. Studies also showed that
      if context differed, even with similar interventions, negative mechanisms could
      be triggered, compromising CHW performance. CONCLUSION: The aim of this review
      was to explore if RCTs could yield insight into the working of the interventions,
      when examined from a different, a realist perspective. We found that RCTs did
      yield some insight, but the hypotheses generated were very general and not well
      refined. These hypotheses need to be tested and refined in further studies.

PMID- 20942902
TI  - Variance heterogeneity analysis for detection of potentially interacting genetic
      loci: method and its limitations.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Presence of interaction between a genotype and certain factor in
      determination of a trait's value, it is expected that the trait's variance is
      increased in the group of subjects having this genotype. Thus, test of
      heterogeneity of variances can be used as a test to screen for potentially
      interacting single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). In this work, we evaluated
      statistical properties of variance heterogeneity analysis in respect to the
      detection of potentially interacting SNPs in a case when an interaction variable
      is unknown. RESULTS: Through simulations, we investigated type I error for
      Bartlett's test, Bartlett's test with prior rank transformation of a trait to
      normality, and Levene's test for different genetic models. Additionally, we
      derived an analytical expression for power estimation. We showed that Bartlett's
      test has acceptable type I error in the case of trait following a normal
      distribution, whereas Levene's test kept nominal Type I error under all scenarios
      investigated. For the power of variance homogeneity test, we showed (as opposed
      to the power of direct test which uses information about known interacting
      factor) that, given the same interaction effect, the power can vary widely
      depending on the non-estimable direct effect of the unobserved interacting
      variable. Thus, for a given interaction effect, only very wide limits of power of
      the variance homogeneity test can be estimated. Also we applied Levene's approach
      to test genome-wide homogeneity of variances of the C-reactive protein in the
      Rotterdam Study population (n = 5959). In this analysis, we replicate previous
      results of Pare and colleagues (2010) for the SNP rs12753193 (n = 21,799).
      CONCLUSIONS: Screening for differences in variances among genotypes of a SNP is a
      promising approach as a number of biologically interesting models may lead to the
      heterogeneity of variances. However, it should be kept in mind that the absence
      of variance heterogeneity for a SNP can not be interpreted as the absence of
      involvement of the SNP in the interaction network.

PMID- 20942901
TI  - Somatic structural rearrangements in genetically engineered mouse mammary tumors.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Here we present the first paired-end sequencing of tumors from
      genetically engineered mouse models of cancer to determine how faithfully these
      models recapitulate the landscape of somatic rearrangements found in human
      tumors. These were models of Trp53-mutated breast cancer, Brca1- and Brca2
      associated hereditary breast cancer, and E-cadherin (Cdh1) mutated lobular breast
      cancer. RESULTS: We show that although Brca1- and Brca2-deficient mouse mammary
      tumors have a defect in the homologous recombination pathway, there is no
      apparent difference in the type or frequency of somatic rearrangements found in
      these cancers when compared to other mouse mammary cancers, and tumors from all
      genetic backgrounds showed evidence of microhomology-mediated repair and non
      homologous end-joining processes. Importantly, mouse mammary tumors were found to
      carry fewer structural rearrangements than human mammary cancers and expressed in
      frame fusion genes. Like the fusion genes found in human mammary tumors, these
      were not recurrent. One mouse tumor was found to contain an internal deletion of
      exons of the Lrp1b gene, which led to a smaller in-frame transcript. We found
      internal in-frame deletions in the human ortholog of this gene in a significant
      number (4.2%) of human cancer cell lines. CONCLUSIONS: Paired-end sequencing of
      mouse mammary tumors revealed that they display significant heterogeneity in
      their profiles of somatic rearrangement but, importantly, fewer rearrangements
      than cognate human mammary tumors, probably because these cancers have been
      induced by strong driver mutations engineered into the mouse genome. Both human
      and mouse mammary cancers carry expressed fusion genes and conserved homozygous
      deletions.

PMID- 20942904
TI  - SHV Lactamase Engineering Database: a reconciliation tool for SHV beta-lactamases
      in public databases.
AB  - BACKGROUND: SHV beta-lactamases confer resistance to a broad range of antibiotics
      by accumulating mutations. The number of SHV variants is steadily increasing. 117
      SHV variants have been assigned in the SHV mutation table
      (http://www.lahey.org/Studies/). Besides, information about SHV beta-lactamases
      can be found in the rapidly growing NCBI protein database. The SHV beta-Lactamase
      Engineering Database (SHVED) has been developed to collect the SHV beta-lactamase
      sequences from the NCBI protein database and the SHV mutation table. It serves as
      a tool for the detection and reconciliation of inconsistencies, and for the
      identification of new SHV variants and amino acid substitutions. DESCRIPTION: The
      SHVED contains 200 protein entries with distinct sequences and 20 crystal
      structures. 83 protein sequences are included in the both the SHV mutation table
      and the NCBI protein database, while 35 and 82 protein sequences are only in the
      SHV mutation table and the NCBI protein database, respectively. Of these 82
      sequences, 41 originate from microbial sources, and 22 of them are full-length
      sequences that harbour a mutation profile which has not been classified yet in
      the SHV mutation table. 27 protein entries from the NCBI protein database were
      found to have an inconsistency in SHV name identification. These inconsistencies
      were reconciled using information from the SHV mutation table and stored in the
      SHVED.The SHVED is accessible at http://www.LacED.uni-stuttgart.de/classA/SHVED/.
      It provides sequences, structures, and a multisequence alignment of SHV beta
      lactamases with the corrected annotation. Amino acid substitutions at each
      position are also provided. The SHVED is updated monthly and supplies all data
      for download. CONCLUSIONS: The SHV beta-Lactamase Engineering Database (SHVED)
      contains information about SHV variants with reconciled annotation. It serves as
      a tool for detection of inconsistencies in the NCBI protein database, helps to
      identify new mutations resulting in new SHV variants, and thus supports the
      investigation of sequence-function relationships of SHV beta-lactamases.

PMID- 20942903
TI  - DNA sequence polymorphisms in a panel of eight candidate bovine imprinted genes
      and their association with performance traits in Irish Holstein-Friesian cattle.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Studies in mice and humans have shown that imprinted genes, whereby
      expression from one of the two parentally inherited alleles is attenuated or
      completely silenced, have a major effect on mammalian growth, metabolism and
      physiology. More recently, investigations in livestock species indicate that
      genes subject to this type of epigenetic regulation contribute to, or are
      associated with, several performance traits, most notably muscle mass and fat
      deposition. In the present study, a candidate gene approach was adopted to assess
      17 validated single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and their association with a
      range of performance traits in 848 progeny-tested Irish Holstein-Friesian
      artificial insemination sires. These SNPs are located proximal to, or within, the
      bovine orthologs of eight genes (CALCR, GRB10, PEG3, PHLDA2, RASGRF1, TSPAN32,
      ZIM2 and ZNF215) that have been shown to be imprinted in cattle or in at least
      one other mammalian species (i.e. human/mouse/pig/sheep). RESULTS:
      Heterozygosities for all SNPs analysed ranged from 0.09 to 0.46 and significant
      deviations from Hardy-Weinberg proportions (P <= 0.01) were observed at four
      loci. Phenotypic associations (P <= 0.05) were observed between nine SNPs
      proximal to, or within, six of the eight analysed genes and a number of
      performance traits evaluated, including milk protein percentage, somatic cell
      count, culled cow and progeny carcass weight, angularity, body conditioning
      score, progeny carcass conformation, body depth, rump angle, rump width, animal
      stature, calving difficulty, gestation length and calf perinatal mortality.
      Notably, SNPs within the imprinted paternally expressed gene 3 (PEG3) gene
      cluster were associated (P <= 0.05) with calving, calf performance and fertility
      traits, while a single SNP in the zinc finger protein 215 gene (ZNF215) was
      associated with milk protein percentage (P <= 0.05), progeny carcass weight (P <=
      0.05), culled cow carcass weight (P <= 0.01), angularity (P <= 0.01), body depth
      (P <= 0.01), rump width (P <= 0.01) and animal stature (P <= 0.01). CONCLUSIONS:
      Of the eight candidate bovine imprinted genes assessed, DNA sequence
      polymorphisms in six of these genes (CALCR, GRB10, PEG3, RASGRF1, ZIM2 and
      ZNF215) displayed associations with several of the phenotypes included for
      analyses. The genotype-phenotype associations detected here are further supported
      by the biological function of these six genes, each of which plays important
      roles in mammalian growth, development and physiology. The associations between
      SNPs within the imprinted PEG3 gene cluster and traits related to calving, calf
      performance and gestation length suggest that this domain on chromosome 18 may
      play a role regulating pre-natal growth and development and fertility. SNPs
      within the bovine ZNF215 gene were associated with bovine growth and body
      conformation traits and studies in humans have revealed that the human ZNF215
      ortholog belongs to the imprinted gene cluster associated with Beckwith-Wiedemann
      syndrome--a genetic disorder characterised by growth abnormalities. Similarly,
      the data presented here suggest that the ZNF215 gene may have an important role
      in regulating bovine growth. Collectively, our results support previous work
      showing that (candidate) imprinted genes/loci contribute to heritable variation
      in bovine performance traits and suggest that DNA sequence polymorphisms within
      these genes/loci represents an important reservoir of genomic markers for future
      genetic improvement of dairy and beef cattle populations.

PMID- 20942905
TI  - Standard values and relationship-specific validity of the Bielefeld Relationship
      Expectations Questionnaire (BFPE).
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Bielefeld Partnership Expectations Questionnaire (BFPE) is a tool
      to assess attachment in the romantic relationships of adults. The attachment
      styles are operationalized as configuration patterns of scale scores. While
      convergent validity has already been investigated, discriminant validity is still
      lacking confirmation. METHODS: The present sample (n = 1509) is representative
      for the German population aged 18 to 50. The mean age was 34.6 years. Most of the
      participants lived in a relationship (77.3 %). Discriminant validity was analyzed
      using a marital quality questionnaire (PFB), a social support questionnaire (F
      Soz-U K-14), and a life satisfaction questionnaire (FLZ). RESULTS: All the BFPE
      scales have a satisfying internal consistency between r = .79 and .86. Those
      individuals who showed a secure pattern, i.e. increased "Readiness for Self
      Disclosure" and "Conscious Need for Care" as well as reduced "Fear of Rejection"
      experienced their partner as socially supportive, reported higher marital quality
      in all of its facets, and were more satisfied within the life-domains
      "family/children" and "relationship/sexuality". Standard values for each scale
      are presented. CONCLUSIONS: The BFPE has repeatedly been verified as a short,
      reliable, and valid instrument applicable to research practice with healthy
      individuals as well as within clinical contexts.

PMID- 20942906
TI  - Trends of adverse drug reactions related-hospitalizations in Spain (2001-2006).
AB  - BACKGROUND: Adverse drug reactions (ADR) are a substantial cause of hospital
      admissions. We conducted a nationwide study to estimate the burden of hospital
      admissions for ADRs in Spain during a six-year period (2001-2006) along with the
      associated total health cost. METHODS: Data were obtained from the national
      surveillance system for hospital data (Minimum Basic Data Set) maintained by the
      Ministry of Health and Consumer Affairs, and covering more than 95% of Spanish
      hospitals. From these admissions we selected all hospitalization that were code
      as drug-related (ICD-9-CM codes E), but intended forms of overdoses, errors in
      administration and therapeutics failure were excluded. The average number of
      hospitalizations per year, annual incidence of hospital admissions, average
      length of stay in the hospital, and case-fatality rate, were calculated. RESULTS:
      During the 2001-2006 periods, the total number of hospitalized patients with ADR
      diagnosis was 350,835 subjects, 1.69% of all acute hospital admissions in Spain.
      The estimated incidence of admissions due to ADR decreased during the period 2001
      2006 (p < 0.05). More than five percent of patients (n = 19,734) died during an
      ADR-related hospitalization. The drugs most commonly associated with ADR-related
      hospitalization were antineoplastic and immunosuppressive drugs (n = 75,760),
      adrenal cortical steroids (n = 47,539), anticoagulants (n = 26,546) and
      antibiotics (n = 22,144). The costs generated by patients in our study increased
      by 19.05% between 2001 and 2006. CONCLUSIONS: Approximately 1.69% of all acute
      hospital admissions were associated with ADRs. The rates were much higher for
      elderly patients. The total cost of ADR-related hospitalization to the Spanish
      health system is high and has increased between 2001 and 2006. ADRs are an
      important cause of admission, resulting in considerable use of national health
      system beds and a significant number of deaths.

PMID- 20942907
TI  - Differential expression of a BMP4 reporter allele in anterior fungiform versus
      posterior circumvallate taste buds of mice.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Bone Morphogenetic Protein 4 (BMP4) is a diffusible factor which
      regulates embryonic taste organ development. However, the role of BMP4 in taste
      buds of adult mice is unknown. We utilized transgenic mice with LacZ under the
      control of the BMP4 promoter to reveal the expression of BMP4 in the tongues of
      adult mice. Further we evaluate the pattern of BMP4 expression with that of
      markers of specific taste bud cell types and cell proliferation to define and
      compare the cell populations expressing BMP4 in anterior (fungiform papillae) and
      posterior (circumvallate papilla) tongue. RESULTS: BMP4 is expressed in adult
      fungiform and circumvallate papillae, i.e., lingual structures composed of non
      taste epithelium and taste buds. Unexpectedly, we find both differences and
      similarities with respect to expression of BMP4-driven beta-galactosidase. In
      circumvallate papillae, many fusiform cells within taste buds are BMP4-beta-gal
      positive. Further, a low percentage of BMP4-expressing cells within circumvallate
      taste buds is immunopositive for markers of each of the three differentiated
      taste cell types (I, II and III). BMP4-positive intragemmal cells also expressed
      a putative marker of immature taste cells, Sox2, and consistent with this
      finding, intragemmal cells expressed BMP4-beta-gal within 24 hours after their
      final mitosis, as determined by BrdU birthdating. By contrast, in fungiform
      papillae, BMP4-beta-gal positive cells are never encountered within taste buds.
      However, in both circumvallate and fungiform papillae, BMP4-beta-gal expressing
      cells are located in the perigemmal region, comprising basal and edge epithelial
      cells adjacent to taste buds proper. This region houses the proliferative cell
      population that gives rise to adult taste cells. However, perigemmal BMP4-beta
      gal cells appear mitotically silent in both fungiform and circumvallate taste
      papillae, as we do not find evidence of their active proliferation using cell
      cycle immunomarkers and BrdU birthdating. CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that
      intragemmal BMP4-beta-gal cells in circumvallate papillae are immature taste
      cells which eventually differentiate into each of the 3 taste cell types, whereas
      perigemmal BMP4-beta-gal cells in both circumvallate and fungiform papillae may
      be slow cycling stem cells, or belong to the stem cell niche to regulate taste
      cell renewal from the proliferative cell population.

PMID- 20942908
TI  - Involvement of EupR, a response regulator of the NarL/FixJ family, in the control
      of the uptake of the compatible solutes ectoines by the halophilic bacterium
      Chromohalobacter salexigens.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Osmosensing and associated signal transduction pathways have not yet
      been described in obligately halophilic bacteria. Chromohalobacter salexigens is
      a halophilic bacterium with a broad range of salt tolerance. In response to
      osmotic stress, it synthesizes and accumulates large amounts of the compatible
      solutes ectoine and hydroxyectoine. In a previous work, we showed that ectoines
      can be also accumulated upon transport from the external medium, and that they
      can be used as carbon sources at optimal, but not at low salinity. This was
      related to an insufficient ectoine(s) transport under these conditions. RESULTS:
      A C. salexigens Tn1732-induced mutant (CHR95) showed a delayed growth with
      glucose at low and optimal salinities, could not grow at high salinity, and was
      able to use ectoines as carbon sources at low salinity. CHR95 was affected in the
      transport and/or metabolism of glucose, and showed a deregulated ectoine uptake
      at any salinity, but it was not affected in ectoine metabolism. Transposon
      insertion in CHR95 caused deletion of three genes, Csal0865-Csal0867: acs,
      encoding an acetyl-CoA synthase, mntR, encoding a transcriptional regulator of
      the DtxR/MntR family, and eupR, encoding a putative two-component response
      regulator with a LuxR_C-like DNA-binding helix-turn-helix domain. A single mntR
      mutant was sensitive to manganese, suggesting that mntR encodes a manganese
      dependent transcriptional regulator. Deletion of eupR led to salt-sensitivity and
      enabled the mutant strain to use ectoines as carbon source at low salinity.
      Domain analysis included EupR as a member of the NarL/FixJ family of two
      component response regulators. Finally, the protein encoded by Csal869, located
      three genes downstream of eupR was suggested to be the cognate histidine kinase
      of EupR. This protein was predicted to be a hybrid histidine kinase with one
      transmembrane and one cytoplasmic sensor domain. CONCLUSIONS: This work
      represents the first example of the involvement of a two-component response
      regulator in the osmoadaptation of a true halophilic bacterium. Our results pave
      the way to the elucidation of the signal transduction pathway involved in the
      control of ectoine transport in C. salexigens.

PMID- 20942909
TI  - FasL and FADD delivery by a glioma-specific and cell cycle-dependent HSV-1
      amplicon virus enhanced apoptosis in primary human brain tumors.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Glioblastoma multiforme is the most malignant cancer of the brain and
      is notoriously difficult to treat due to the highly proliferative and
      infiltrative nature of the cells. Herein, we explored the combination treatment
      of pre-established human glioma xenograft using multiple therapeutic genes
      whereby the gene expression is regulated by both cell-type and cell cycle
      dependent transcriptional regulatory mechanism conferred by recombinant HSV-1
      amplicon vectors. RESULTS: We demonstrated for the first time that Ki67-positive
      proliferating primary human glioma cells cultured from biopsy samples were
      effectively induced into cell death by the dual-specific function of the pG8-FasL
      amplicon vectors. These vectors were relatively stable and exhibited minimal
      cytotoxicity in vivo. Intracranial implantation of pre-transduced glioma cells
      resulted in better survival outcome when compared with viral vectors inoculated
      one week post-implantation of tumor cells, indicating that therapeutic efficacy
      is dependent on the viral spread and mode of viral vectors administration. We
      further showed that pG8-FasL amplicon vectors are functional in the presence of
      commonly used treatment regimens for human brain cancer. In fact, the combined
      therapies of pG8-FasL and pG8-FADD in the presence of temozolomide significantly
      improved the survival of mice bearing intracranial high-grade gliomas.
      CONCLUSION: Taken together, our results showed that the glioma-specific and cell
      cycle-dependent HSV-1 amplicon vector is potentially useful as an adjuvant
      therapy to complement the current gene therapy strategy for gliomas.

PMID- 20942910
TI  - A novel approach for the generation of genetically modified mammary epithelial
      cell cultures yields new insights into TGFbeta signaling in the mammary gland.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Molecular dissection of the signaling pathways that underlie
      complex biological responses in the mammary epithelium is limited by the
      difficulty of propagating large numbers of mouse mammary epithelial cells, and by
      the inability of ribonucleic acid interference (RNAi)-based knockdown approaches
      to fully ablate gene function. Here we describe a method for the generation of
      conditionally immortalized mammary epithelial cells with defined genetic defects,
      and we show how such cells can be used to investigate complex signal transduction
      processes using the transforming growth factor beta (TGFbeta/Smad pathway as an
      example. METHODS: We intercrossed the previously described H-2Kb-tsA58 transgenic
      mouse (Immortomouse) which expresses a temperature-sensitive mutant of the simian
      virus-40 large T-antigen (tsTAg), with mice of differing Smad genotypes. A panel
      of conditionally immortalized mammary epithelial cell (IMEC) cultures were
      derived from the virgin mammary glands of offspring of these crosses and used to
      assess the Smad dependency of different biological responses to TGFbeta. RESULTS:
      IMECs could be propagated indefinitely at permissive temperatures and had a
      stable epithelial phenotype, resembling primary mammary epithelial cells with
      respect to several criteria, including responsiveness to TGFbeta. Using this
      panel of cells, we demonstrated that Smad3, but not Smad2, is necessary for
      TGFbeta-induced apoptotic, growth inhibitory and EMT responses, whereas either
      Smad can support TGFbeta-induced invasion as long as a threshold level of total
      Smad is exceeded. CONCLUSIONS: This work demonstrates the practicality and
      utility of generating conditionally immortalized mammary epithelial cell lines
      from genetically modified Immortomice for detailed investigation of complex
      signaling pathways in the mammary epithelium.

PMID- 20942912
TI  - Gadd45beta expression in chondrosarcoma: a pilot study for diagnostic and
      biological implications in histological grading.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although the diagnosis of chondrosarcoma, especially the distinction
      between enchondroma and low-grade chondrosarcoma or low-grade chondrosarcoma and
      high-grade chondrosarcoma, is pathologically difficult, differential diagnosis is
      very important because the treatment strategies for these diseases are completely
      different. The grading system is crucial in predicting biologic behavior and
      prognosis, however, exact pathological grading is difficult using only routine
      examinations because the criteria of the grading system are not necessarily
      definitive. Growth arrest and DNA damage-inducible protein 45beta (GADD45beta) is
      an essential molecule for chondrocytes during terminal differentiation. In the
      present study, we investigated the immunohistochemical expression of GADD45beta
      in enchondroma, and chondrosarcoma of histological grades I, II, and III, to
      clarify the diagnostic significance of GADD45beta in pathological grading of
      chondrosarcoma. METHODS: Twenty samples (enchondroma = 6, chondrosarcoma grade I
      = 7, grade II = 6, grade III = 1) were used for immunohistochemical analysis to
      investigate the expression of GADD45beta. Quantitative analysis was performed to
      compare the number of GADD45beta positive cells and pathological grading.
      RESULTS: Over 70% of the cells in enchondromas expressed GADD45beta. On the other
      hand, the expression of GADD45beta decreased significantly according to the
      histological grade of chondrosarcoma (grade I: 45%; grade II: 13.8%; and grade
      III: 3.8%). CONCLUSIONS: The association of GADD45beta expression and
      pathological grading of chondrosarcoma in the present study suggests that the
      immunohistochemical study of GADD45beta may be a specific diagnostic parameter
      for chondrosarcoma cell differentiation.

PMID- 20942911
TI  - Does moderate-to-high intensity Nordic walking improve functional capacity and
      pain in fibromyalgia? A prospective randomized controlled trial.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of
      moderate-to-high intensity Nordic walking (NW) on functional capacity and pain in
      fibromyalgia (FM). METHODS: A total of 67 women with FM were recruited to the
      study and randomized either to moderate-to-high intensity Nordic Walking (n = 34,
      age 48 +/- 7.8 years) or to a control group engaging in supervised low-intensity
      walking (LIW, n = 33, age 50 +/- 7.6 years). Primary outcomes were the six-minute
      walk test (6MWT) and the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire Pain scale (FIQ Pain).
      Secondary outcomes were: exercise heart rate in a submaximal ergometer bicycle
      test, the FIQ Physical (activity limitations) and the FIQ total score. RESULTS: A
      total of 58 patients completed the post-test. Significantly greater improvement
      in the 6MWT was found in the NW group (P = 0.009), as compared with the LIW
      group. No between-group difference was found for the FIQ Pain (P = 0.626). A
      significantly larger decrease in exercise heart rate (P = 0.020) and
      significantly improved scores on the FIQ Physical (P = 0.027) were found in the
      NW group as compared with the LIW group. No between-group difference was found
      for the change in the FIQ total. The effect sizes were moderate for the above
      mentioned outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Moderate-to-high intensity aerobic exercise by
      means of Nordic walking twice a week for 15 weeks was found to be a feasible mode
      of exercise, resulting in improved functional capacity and a decreased level of
      activity limitations. Pain severity did not change over time during the exercise
      period. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Clinicaltrials.gov identifier NCT00643006.

PMID- 20942913
TI  - Confronting two-pair primer design for enzyme-free SNP genotyping based on a
      genetic algorithm.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Polymerase chain reaction with confronting two-pair primers (PCR
      CTPP) method produces allele-specific DNA bands of different lengths by adding
      four designed primers and it achieves the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)
      genotyping by electrophoresis without further steps. It is a time- and cost
      effective SNP genotyping method that has the advantage of simplicity. However,
      computation of feasible CTPP primers is still challenging. RESULTS: In this
      study, we propose a GA (genetic algorithm)-based method to design a feasible CTPP
      primer set to perform a reliable PCR experiment. The SLC6A4 gene was tested with
      288 SNPs for dry dock experiments which indicated that the proposed algorithm
      provides CTPP primers satisfied most primer constraints. One SNP rs12449783 in
      the SLC6A4 gene was taken as an example for the genotyping experiments using
      electrophoresis which validated the GA-based design method as providing reliable
      CTPP primer sets for SNP genotyping. CONCLUSIONS: The GA-based CTPP primer design
      method provides all forms of estimation for the common primer constraints of PCR
      CTPP. The GA-CTPP program is implemented in JAVA and a user-friendly input
      interface is freely available at http://bio.kuas.edu.tw/ga-ctpp/.

PMID- 20942914
TI  - Strain-specific differences in pili formation and the interaction of
      Corynebacterium diphtheriae with host cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Corynebacterium diphtheriae, the causative agent of diphtheria, is
      well-investigated in respect to toxin production, while little is known about C.
      diphtheriae factors crucial for colonization of the host. In this study, we
      investigated strain-specific differences in adhesion, invasion and intracellular
      survival and analyzed formation of pili in different isolates. RESULTS: Adhesion
      of different C. diphtheriae strains to epithelial cells and invasion of these
      cells are not strictly coupled processes. Using ultrastructure analyses by atomic
      force microscopy, significant differences in macromolecular surface structures
      were found between the investigated C. diphtheriae strains in respect to number
      and length of pili. Interestingly, adhesion and pili formation are not coupled
      processes and also no correlation between invasion and pili formation was found.
      Using RNA hybridization and Western blotting experiments, strain-specific pili
      expression patterns were observed. None of the studied C. diphtheriae strains had
      a dramatic detrimental effect on host cell viability as indicated by measurements
      of transepithelial resistance of Detroit 562 cell monolayers and fluorescence
      microscopy, leading to the assumption that C. diphtheriae strains might use
      epithelial cells as an environmental niche supplying protection against
      antibodies and macrophages. CONCLUSIONS: The results obtained suggest that it is
      necessary to investigate various isolates on a molecular level to understand and
      to predict the colonization process of different C. diphtheriae strains.

PMID- 20942915
TI  - The effects of increased dose of exercise-based therapies to enhance motor
      recovery after stroke: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Exercise-based therapy is known to enhance motor recovery after
      stroke but the most appropriate amount, i.e. the dose, of therapy is unknown. To
      determine the strength of current evidence for provision of a higher dose of the
      same types of exercise-based therapy to enhance motor recovery after stroke.
      METHODS: An electronic search of: MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINHAL, AMED, and CENTRAL was
      undertaken. Two independent reviewers selected studies using predetermined
      inclusion criteria: randomised or quasi randomised controlled trials with or
      without blinding of assessors; adults, 18+ years, with a clinical diagnosis of
      stroke; experimental and control group interventions identical except for dose;
      exercise-based interventions investigated; and outcome measures of motor
      impairment, movement control or functional activity. Two reviewers independently
      extracted outcome and follow-up data. Effect sizes and 95% confidence intervals
      were interpreted with reference to risk of bias in included studies. RESULTS: 9
      papers reporting 7 studies were included. Only 3 of the 7 included studies had
      all design elements assessed as low risk of bias. Intensity of the control
      intervention ranged from a mean of 9 to 28 hours over a maximum of 20 weeks.
      Experimental groups received between 14 and 92 hours of therapy over a maximum of
      20 weeks. The included studies were heterogeneous with respect to types of
      therapy, outcome measures and time-points for outcome and follow-up.
      Consequently, most effect sizes relate to one study only. Single study effect
      sizes suggest a trend for better recovery with increased dose at the end of
      therapy but this trend was less evident at follow-up Meta-analysis was possible
      at outcome for: hand-grip strength, -10.1 [-19.1,-1.2] (2 studies, 97
      participants); Action Research Arm Test (ARAT), 0.1 [-5.7,6.0] (3 studies, 126
      participants); and comfortable walking speed, 0.3 [0.1,0.5] (2 studies, 58
      participants). At follow-up, between 12 and 26 weeks after start of therapy, meta
      analysis findings were: Motricity Arm, 10.7 [1.7,19.8] (2 studies, 83
      participants); ARAT, 2.2 [-6.0,10.4] (2 studies, 83 participants); Rivermead
      Mobility, 1.0 [-0.6, 2.5] (2 studies, 83 participants); and comfortable walking
      speed, 0.2 [0.0,0.4] (2 studies, 60 participants). CONCLUSIONS: Current evidence
      provides some, but limited, support for the hypothesis that a higher dose of the
      same type of exercised-based therapy enhances motor recovery after stroke.
      Prospective dose-finding studies are required.

PMID- 20942916
TI  - MLPA for confirmation of array CGH results and determination of inheritance.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Array CGH has recently been introduced into our laboratory in place
      of karyotype analysis for patients with suspected genomic imbalance. Results
      require confirmation to check sample identity, and analysis of parental samples
      to determine inheritance and thus assess the clinical significance of the
      abnormality. Here we describe an MLPA-based strategy for the follow-up of
      abnormal aCGH results. RESULTS: In the first 17 months of our MLPA-based aCGH
      follow-up service, 317 different custom MLPA probes for novel aCGH-detected
      abnormalities were developed for inheritance studies in 164 families. In
      addition, 110 samples were tested for confirmation of aCGH-detected abnormalities
      in common syndromic or subtelomeric regions using commercial MLPA kits. Overall,
      a total of 1215 samples have been tested by MLPA. A total of 72 de novo
      abnormalities were confirmed. CONCLUSIONS: Confirmation of aCGH-detected
      abnormalities and inheritance of these abnormalities are essential for accurate
      diagnosis and interpretation of aCGH results. The development of a new service
      utilising custom made MLPA probes and commercial MLPA kits for follow-up studies
      of array CGH results has been found to be efficient and flexible in our
      laboratory.

PMID- 20942917
TI  - How do people respond to self-test results? A cross-sectional survey.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Self-tests, tests on medical conditions that can be performed by
      consumers without consulting a doctor first, are frequently used. Nevertheless,
      there are concerns about the safety of self-testing, as it may delay diagnosis
      and appropriate treatment in the case of inappropriate use of the test, or false
      negative results. It is unclear whether self-tests stimulate appropriate follow
      up behaviour. Our aim was to examine the frequency of self-test use, consumers'
      response to self-test results in terms of their confidence in the result,
      reassurance by the test result, and follow-up behaviour. METHODS: A two step
      cross-sectional survey was designed. A random sample of 6700 Internet users in an
      existing Internet panel received an online questionnaire on the use of self
      tests. Self-tests were defined as tests on body materials, initiated by consumers
      with the aim to diagnose a disease or risk factor. A second questionnaire on
      consumers' response to self-test results was sent to the respondents that were
      identified as a self-tester in the first questionnaire (n = 703). RESULTS: 18.1%
      (799/4416) of the respondents had ever performed a self-test, the most frequently
      used tests being those for diabetes (5.3%), kidney disease (4.9%), cholesterol
      (4.5%), urinary tract infection (1.9%) and HIV/AIDS and Chlamydia (both 1.6%). A
      total of 78.1% of the testers with a normal test result and 81.4% of those with
      an abnormal result reported confidence in this result. Almost all (95.6%) of the
      testers with a normal result felt reassured. After a normal result, 78.1% did not
      take any further action and 5.8% consulted a doctor. The corresponding figures
      after an abnormal test result were 9.3% and 72.2%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS:
      Respondents who had performed a self-test seemed to base their follow-up
      behaviour on the result of the test. They had confidence in the test result, and
      were often reassured by a normal result. After an abnormal result, most self
      testers sought medical care. Because consumers seem to trust the self-test
      results, further research should focus on the development of consumer information
      addressing indications for performing a self-test, the validity of self-tests and
      appropriate interpretation of and management after a test.

PMID- 20942918
TI  - Functional analysis: evaluation of response intensities--tailoring ANOVA for
      lists of expression subsets.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Microarray data is frequently used to characterize the expression
      profile of a whole genome and to compare the characteristics of that genome under
      several conditions. Geneset analysis methods have been described previously to
      analyze the expression values of several genes related by known biological
      criteria (metabolic pathway, pathology signature, co-regulation by a common
      factor, etc.) at the same time and the cost of these methods allows for the use
      of more values to help discover the underlying biological mechanisms. RESULTS: As
      several methods assume different null hypotheses, we propose to reformulate the
      main question that biologists seek to answer. To determine which genesets are
      associated with expression values that differ between two experiments, we focused
      on three ad hoc criteria: expression levels, the direction of individual gene
      expression changes (up or down regulation), and correlations between genes. We
      introduce the FAERI methodology, tailored from a two-way ANOVA to examine these
      criteria. The significance of the results was evaluated according to the self
      contained null hypothesis, using label sampling or by inferring the null
      distribution from normally distributed random data. Evaluations performed on
      simulated data revealed that FAERI outperforms currently available methods for
      each type of set tested. We then applied the FAERI method to analyze three real
      world datasets on hypoxia response. FAERI was able to detect more genesets than
      other methodologies, and the genesets selected were coherent with current
      knowledge of cellular response to hypoxia. Moreover, the genesets selected by
      FAERI were confirmed when the analysis was repeated on two additional related
      datasets. CONCLUSIONS: The expression values of genesets are associated with
      several biological effects. The underlying mathematical structure of the genesets
      allows for analysis of data from several genes at the same time. Focusing on
      expression levels, the direction of the expression changes, and correlations, we
      showed that two-step data reduction allowed us to significantly improve the
      performance of geneset analysis using a modified two-way ANOVA procedure, and to
      detect genesets that current methods fail to detect.

PMID- 20942919
TI  - The "Excellence in Translational Medicine" and "Bedside-to-Bench" Awards 2008-09.

PMID- 20942920
TI  - An investigation of motor learning during side-step cutting: design of a
      randomised controlled trial.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Of all athletic knee injuries an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL)
      rupture results in the longest time loss from sport. Regardless of the therapy
      chosen, conservative or reconstructive, athletes are often forced to reduce their
      level of physical activity and their involvement in sport. Moreover, a recent
      review reported prevalences of osteoarthritis ranging from 0% to 13% for patients
      with isolated ACL-deficient (ACL-D) knees and respectively 21% to 48% in patients
      with combined injuries. The need for ACL injury prevention is clear. The
      identification of risk factors and the development of prevention strategies may
      therefore have widespread health and economic implications. The focus of this
      investigation is to assess the role of implicit and explicit motor learning in
      optimising the performance of a side-step-cutting task. METHODS/DESIGN: A
      randomized controlled laboratory study will be conducted. Healthy basketball
      players, females and males, 18 years and older, with no previous lower extremity
      injuries, playing at the highest recreational level will be included. Subjects
      will receive a dynamic feedback intervention. Kinematic and kinetic data of the
      hip, knee and ankle and EMG activity of the quadriceps, hamstrings and
      gastrocnemius will be recorded. DISCUSSION: Female athletes have a significantly
      higher risk of sustaining an ACL injury than male athletes. Poor biomechanical
      and neuromuscular control of the lower limb is suggested to be a primary risk
      factor of an ACL injury mechanism in females. This randomized controlled trial
      has been designed to investigate whether individual feedback on task performance
      appears to be an effective intervention method. Results and principles found in
      this study will be applied to future ACL injury prevention programs, which should
      maybe more focus on individual injury predisposition. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Trial
      registration number NTR2250.

PMID- 20942921
TI  - Expression pattern of matrix metalloproteinases in human gynecological cancer
      cell lines.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are involved in the degradation of
      protein components of the extracellular matrix and thus play an important role in
      tumor invasion and metastasis. Their expression is related to the progression of
      gynecological cancers (e.g. endometrial, cervical or ovarian carcinoma). In this
      study we investigated the expression pattern of the 23 MMPs, currently known in
      humans, in different gynecological cancer cell lines. METHODS: In total, cell
      lines from three endometrium carcinomas (Ishikawa, HEC-1-A, AN3 CA), three
      cervical carcinomas (HeLa, Caski, SiHa), three chorioncarcinomas (JEG, JAR,
      BeWo), two ovarian cancers (BG-1, OAW-42) and one teratocarcinoma (PA-1) were
      examined. The expression of MMPs was analyzed by RT-PCR, Western blot and gelatin
      zymography. RESULTS: We demonstrated that the cell lines examined can
      constitutively express a wide variety of MMPs on mRNA and protein level. While
      MMP-2, -11, -14 and -24 were widely expressed, no expression was seen for MMP-12,
      -16, -20, -25, -26, -27 in any of the cell lines. A broad range of 16 MMPs could
      be found in the PA1 cells and thus this cell line could be used as a positive
      control for general MMP experiments. While the three cervical cancer cell lines
      expressed 10-14 different MMPs, the median expression in endometrial and
      choriocarcinoma cells was 7 different enzymes. The two investigated ovarian
      cancer cell lines showed a distinctive difference in the number of expressed MMPs
      (2 vs. 10). CONCLUSIONS: Ishikawa, Caski, OAW-42 and BeWo cell lines could be the
      best choice for all future experiments on MMP regulation and their role in
      endometrial, cervical, ovarian or choriocarcinoma development, whereas the
      teratocarcinoma cell line PA1 could be used as a positive control for general MMP
      experiments.

PMID- 20942922
TI  - Refractory obstructive jaundice in a child affected with thalassodrepanocytosis:
      a new endoscopic approach.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Liver involvement, including elevated direct-reacting bilirubin
      levels, is common in patients with sickle cell disease. Fifty to seventy percent
      of sickle cell patients have pigmented gallstones due to precipitation of
      unconjugated bilirubin, and cholelithiasis or choledocholithiasis are common
      complications. The highest prevalence of these complications occurs in patients
      with Gilbert's syndrome because of the combined effect of increased bilirubin
      production and reduced bilirubin-diphosphate-glucuronosyltransferase enzyme
      activity. Cholelithiasis is also a common complication in patients with
      thalassemia. Endoscopic removal of choledochal stones does not always resolve the
      clinical picture, as in cases of dysfunction of the Vater's papilla, increased
      bile density due to persistently impaired bile flow or distortion of the
      choledocus due to dilatation, or inflammation secondary to gallstone. CASE
      PRESENTATION: We report here a case of severe and persistent obstructive jaundice
      in a child affected with thalassodrepanocytosis and Gilbert's syndrome,
      previously, and unsuccessfully, treated with endoscopic removal of choledochal
      stones. Deep and thorough biliary washing, and stenting with a new removable
      polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE)-covered flared-type stent led to complete
      resolution of the obstructive jaundice. CONCLUSIONS: This report shows that an
      aggressive endoscopic approach in this select category of patients can help
      resolve the severe complication of hemolytic anemia, thus avoiding surgery.

PMID- 20942923
TI  - Changes in androgens and insulin sensitivity indexes throughout pregnancy in
      women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS): relationships with adverse outcomes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Given the high rate of pregnancy and perinatal complications recently
      observed in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and the lack of data
      on the serum variations in androgens and insulin sensitivity indexes in pregnant
      women with PCOS, the current study was aimed to assess these changes and their
      potential effect on pregnancy outcomes in a population of women with PCOS.
      METHODS: Forty-five pregnant patients with ovulatory PCOS (PCOS group) and other
      42 healthy pregnant women (control group) were studied assaying serum androgen
      levels and insulin sensitivity indexes throughout pregnancy serially, and
      recording obstetrical outcomes. RESULTS: Serum androgen levels and insulin
      resistance indexes were significantly (p < 0.05) higher in PCOS than in control
      group at study entry, these differences were sustained throughout pregnancy, and
      their changes resulted significantly (p < 0.05) different between PCOS and
      control group. In PCOS patients, women who had a complicated pregnancy showed
      serum androgen levels and insulin sensitivity indexes significantly (p < 0.05)
      worse in comparison to subjects without any pregnancy and/or neonatal
      complications. CONCLUSIONS: PCOS patients have impaired changes in serum androgen
      levels and insulin sensitivity indexes during pregnancy. These alterations could
      be implicated in the pregnancy and neonatal complications frequently observed in
      women affected by PCOS.

PMID- 20942924
TI  - Bioregion heterogeneity correlates with extensive mitochondrial DNA diversity in
      the Namaqua rock mouse, Micaelamys namaquensis (Rodentia: Muridae) from southern
      Africa--evidence for a species complex.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Intraspecific variation within the diverse southern African murine
      rodents has not been extensively investigated, yet cryptic diversity is evident
      in several taxa studied to date. The Namaqua rock mouse, Micaelamys namaquensis
      Smith, 1834 is a widespread endemic murine rodent from the subregion. Currently,
      a single species with four subspecies is recognised, but in the past up to 16
      subspecies were described. Thus, this species is a good candidate for the
      investigation of patterns and processes of diversification in a diverse but under
      studied mammalian subfamily and geographic region. Here, we report genetic
      differentiation based on mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) cytochrome b (cyt b) sequences
      among samples collected over an extensive coverage of the species' range.
      RESULTS: Cytochrome b sequences of 360 widely sampled individuals identified 137
      unique maternal alleles. Gene tree and phylogeographic analyses of these alleles
      suggest the presence of at least eight lineages or haplogroups (A-H), with
      varying degrees of intra-lineage diversity. This differentiation is in contrast
      with the most recent taxonomic treatment based on cranial morphometrics which
      only recognised four subspecies. The mtDNA diversity strongly supports earlier
      views that this taxon may represent a species complex. We further show
      statistical support for the association of several of these lineages with
      particular vegetation biomes of southern Africa. The time to the most recent
      common ancestor (TMRCA) dates to the Pliocene (~5 Mya) whereas coalescent-based
      divergence time estimates between lineages vary between 813 Kya [0.22-1.36] and
      4.06 Mya [1.21-4.47]. The major diversification within lineages occurred during
      the Pleistocene. The identification of several regions of sympatry of distinct
      lineages offers future opportunities for the elucidation of the underlying
      speciation processes in the suggested species complex. CONCLUSIONS: Similar to
      other African murine rodents, M. namaquensis radiated during the Pliocene and
      Pleistocene coinciding with major periods of aridification and the expansion of
      savanna habitats. The suggested species complex is represented by at least eight
      lineages of which the majority are confined to only one or a few neighbouring
      biomes/bioregions. Contrasting intra-lineage phylogeographic patterns suggest
      differences in adaptation and responses to Plio-Pleistocene climatic and
      vegetation changes. The role of ecological factors in driving speciation in the
      group needs further investigation.

PMID- 20942925
TI  - Low back pain: what determines functional outcome at six months? An observational
      study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The rise in disability due to back pain has been exponential with
      escalating medical and societal costs. The relative contribution of individual
      prognostic indicators to the pattern of recovery remains unclear. The objective
      of this study was to determine the prognostic value of demographic, psychosocial,
      employment and clinical factors on outcome in patients with low back pain
      METHODS: A prospective cohort study with six-month follow-up was undertaken at a
      multidisciplinary back pain clinic in central London employing physiotherapists,
      osteopaths, clinical psychologists and physicians, receiving referrals from 123
      general practitioners. Over a twelve-month period, 593 consecutive patients
      referred from general practice with simple low back pain were recruited. A
      baseline questionnaire was developed to elicit information on potential
      prognostic variables. The primary outcome measures were change in 24-item Roland
      Morris disability questionnaire score at six months as a measure of low back
      related functional disability and the physical functioning scale of the SF-36,
      adjusted for baseline scores. RESULTS: Roland Morris scores improved by 3.8 index
      points (95% confidence interval 3.23 to 4.32) at six months and SF-36 physical
      functioning score by 10.7 points (95% confidence interval 8.36 to 12.95). Ten
      factors were linked to outcome yet in a multiple regression model only two
      remained predictive. Those with episodic rather than continuous pain were more
      likely to have recovered at six months (odds ratio 2.64 confidence interval 1.25
      to 5.60), while those that classified themselves as non-white were less likely to
      have recovered (0.41 confidence interval 0.18 to 0.96). CONCLUSIONS: Analysis
      controlling for confounding variables, demonstrated that participants showed
      greater improvement if their episodes of pain during the previous year were short
      lived while those with Middle Eastern, North African and Chinese ethnicity
      demonstrated minimal improvement. The study did not support previous findings
      that a wide range of factors could predict outcome.

PMID- 20942926
TI  - Trimming of mammalian transcriptional networks using network component analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Network Component Analysis (NCA) has been used to deduce the
      activities of transcription factors (TFs) from gene expression data and the TF
      gene binding relationship. However, the TF-gene interaction varies in different
      environmental conditions and tissues, but such information is rarely available
      and cannot be predicted simply by motif analysis. Thus, it is beneficial to
      identify key TF-gene interactions under the experimental condition based on
      transcriptome data. Such information would be useful in identifying key
      regulatory pathways and gene markers of TFs in further studies. RESULTS: We
      developed an algorithm to trim network connectivity such that the important
      regulatory interactions between the TFs and the genes were retained and the
      regulatory signals were deduced. Theoretical studies demonstrated that the
      regulatory signals were accurately reconstructed even in the case where only
      three independent transcriptome datasets were available. At least 80% of the main
      target genes were correctly predicted in the extreme condition of high noise
      level and small number of datasets. Our algorithm was tested with transcriptome
      data taken from mice under rapamycin treatment. The initial network topology from
      the literature contains 70 TFs, 778 genes, and 1423 edges between the TFs and
      genes. Our method retained 1074 edges (i.e. 75% of the original edge number) and
      identified 17 TFs as being significantly perturbed under the experimental
      condition. Twelve of these TFs are involved in MAPK signaling or myeloid leukemia
      pathways defined in the KEGG database, or are known to physically interact with
      each other. Additionally, four of these TFs, which are Hif1a, Cebpb, Nfkb1, and
      Atf1, are known targets of rapamycin. Furthermore, the trimmed network was able
      to predict Eno1 as an important target of Hif1a; this key interaction could not
      be detected without trimming the regulatory network. CONCLUSIONS: The advantage
      of our new algorithm, relative to the original NCA, is that our algorithm can
      identify the important TF-gene interactions. Identifying the important TF-gene
      interactions is crucial for understanding the roles of pleiotropic global
      regulators, such as p53. Also, our algorithm has been developed to overcome NCA's
      inability to analyze large networks where multiple TFs regulate a single gene.
      Thus, our algorithm extends the applicability of NCA to the realm of mammalian
      regulatory network analysis.

PMID- 20942927
TI  - Coracoid abnormalities and their relationship with glenohumeral deformities in
      children with obstetric brachial plexus injury.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Patients with incomplete recovery from obstetric brachial plexus
      injury (OBPI) usually develop secondary muscle imbalances and bone deformities at
      the shoulder joint. Considerable efforts have been made to characterize and
      correct the glenohumeral deformities, and relatively less emphasis has been
      placed on the more subtle ones, such as those of the coracoid process. The
      purpose of this retrospective study is to determine the relationship between
      coracoid abnormalities and glenohumeral deformities in OBPI patients. We
      hypothesize that coracoscapular angles and distances, as well as coracohumeral
      distances, diminish with increasing glenohumeral deformity, whereas coracoid
      overlap will increase. METHODS: 39 patients (age range: 2-13 years, average: 4.7
      years), with deformities secondary to OBPI were included in this study.
      Parameters for quantifying coracoid abnormalities (coracoscapular angle, coracoid
      overlap, coracohumeral distance, and coracoscapular distance) and shoulder
      deformities (posterior subluxation and glenoid retroversion) were measured on CT
      images from these patients before any surgical intervention. Paired Student t
      tests and Pearson correlations were used to analyze different parameters.
      RESULTS: Significant differences between affected and contralateral shoulders
      were found for all coracoid and shoulder deformity parameters. Percent of humeral
      head anterior to scapular line (PHHA), glenoid version, coracoscapular angles,
      and coracoscapular and coracohumeral distances were significantly lower for
      affected shoulders compared to contralateral ones. Coracoid overlap was
      significantly higher for affected sides compared to contralateral sides.
      Significant and positive correlations were found between coracoscapular distances
      and glenohumeral parameters (PHHA and version), as well as between coracoscapular
      angles and glenohumeral parameters, for affected shoulders. Moderate and positive
      correlations existed between coracoid overlap and glenohumeral parameters for
      affected shoulders. On the contrary, all correlations between the coracoid and
      glenohumeral parameters for contralateral shoulders were only moderate or
      relatively low. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that the spatial orientation
      of the coracoid process differs significantly between affected and contralateral
      shoulders, and it is highly correlated with the glenohumeral deformity. With the
      progression of glenohumeral deformity, the coracoid process protrudes more
      caudally and follows the subluxation of the humeral head which may interfere with
      the success of repositioning the posteriorly subluxed humeral head anteriorly to
      articulate with the glenoid properly.

PMID- 20942928
TI  - Gene regulatory network reveals oxidative stress as the underlying molecular
      mechanism of type 2 diabetes and hypertension.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The prevalence of diabetes is increasing worldwide. It has been long
      known that increased rates of inflammatory diseases, such as obesity (OBS),
      hypertension (HT) and cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are highly associated with
      type 2 diabetes (T2D). T2D and/or OBS can develop independently, due to genetic,
      behavioral or lifestyle-related variables but both lead to oxidative stress
      generation. The underlying mechanisms by which theses complications arise and
      manifest together remain poorly understood. Protein-protein interactions regulate
      nearly every living process. Availability of high-throughput genomic data has
      enabled unprecedented views of gene and protein co-expression, co-regulations and
      interactions in cellular systems. METHODS: The present work, applied a systems
      biology approach to develop gene interaction network models, comprised of high
      throughput genomic and PPI data for T2D. The genes differentially regulated
      through T2D were 'mined' and their 'wirings' were studied to get a more complete
      understanding of the overall gene network topology and their role in disease
      progression. RESULTS: By analyzing the genes related to T2D, HT and OBS, a highly
      regulated gene-disease integrated network model has been developed that provides
      useful functional linkages among groups of genes and thus addressing how
      different inflammatory diseases are connected and propagated at genetic level.
      Based on the investigations around the 'hubs' that provided more meaningful
      insights about the cross-talk within gene-disease networks in terms of disease
      phenotype association with oxidative stress and inflammation, a hypothetical co
      regulation disease mechanism model been proposed. The results from this study
      revealed that the oxidative stress mediated regulation cascade is the common
      mechanistic link among the pathogenesis of T2D, HT and other inflammatory
      diseases such as OBS. CONCLUSION: The findings provide a novel comprehensive
      approach for understanding the pathogenesis of various co-associated chronic
      inflammatory diseases by combining the power of pathway analysis with gene
      regulatory network evaluation.

PMID- 20942929
TI  - The serine protease inhibitor serpinE2 is a novel target of ERK signaling
      involved in human colorectal tumorigenesis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Among the most harmful of all genetic abnormalities that appear in
      colorectal cancer (CRC) development are mutations of KRAS and its downstream
      effector BRAF as they result in abnormal extracellular signal-related kinase
      (ERK) signaling. In a previous report, we had shown that expression of a
      constitutive active mutant of MEK1 (caMEK) in normal rat intestinal epithelial
      cells (IECs) induced morphological transformation associated with epithelial to
      mesenchymal transition, growth in soft agar, invasion and metastases in nude
      mice. Results from microarrays comparing control to caMEK-expressing IECs
      identified the gene encoding for serpinE2, a serine protease inhibitor, as a
      potential target of activated MEK1. RESULTS: 1- RT-PCR and western blot analyses
      confirmed the strong up-regulation of serpinE2 expression and secretion by IECs
      expressing oncogenic MEK, Ras or BRAF. 2- Interestingly, serpinE2 mRNA and
      protein were also markedly enhanced in human CRC cells exhibiting mutation in
      KRAS and BRAF. 3- RNAi directed against serpinE2 in caMEK-transformed rat IECs or
      in human CRC cell lines HCT116 and LoVo markedly decreased foci formation,
      anchorage-independent growth in soft agarose, cell migration and tumor formation
      in nude mice. 4- Treatment of CRC cell lines with U0126 markedly reduced serpinE2
      mRNA levels, indicating that expression of serpinE2 is likely dependent of ERK
      activity. 5- Finally, Q-PCR analyses demonstrated that mRNA levels of serpinE2
      were markedly increased in human adenomas in comparison to healthy adjacent
      tissues and in colorectal tumors, regardless of tumor stage and grade.
      CONCLUSIONS: Our data indicate that serpinE2 is up-regulated by oncogenic
      activation of Ras, BRAF and MEK1 and contributes to pro-neoplastic actions of ERK
      signaling in intestinal epithelial cells. Hence, serpinE2 may be a potential
      therapeutic target for colorectal cancer treatment.

PMID- 20942930
TI  - Avoiding iatrogenic thrombo-embolism: the "KAPLIT" technique.
AB  - In patients with traumatic injury of an upper limb it is often necessary to both
      secure intravenous (IV) access and record blood pressure noninvasively in the
      other upper limb. This may cause intermittent obstruction to the flow of IV
      fluids during cuff inflation. Also backflow of blood into the IV tubing when the
      cuff is inflated and the temporary stasis which occurs predisposes to clotting of
      blood in the IV tubing/catheter. Overenthusiastic efforts to push IV fluids
      without disconnection and flushing of IV line may pose a possible risk of
      embolizing the clotted blood thrombus into circulation. We describe a simple
      technique to prevent backflow of blood into the IV tubing when both intravenous
      fluid infusion and non-invasive blood pressure cuff are in the same limb. This
      may prevent clot formation and eliminate the risk of an iatrogenic thrombo
      embolism.

PMID- 20942931
TI  - Urine interleukin-6 is an early biomarker of acute kidney injury in children
      undergoing cardiac surgery.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is a proinflammatory cytokine that increases
      early in the serum of patients with acute kidney injury (AKI). The aim of this
      study was to determine whether urine IL-6 is an early biomarker of AKI and
      determine the source of urine IL-6. Numerous proteins, including cytokines, are
      filtered by the glomerulus and then endocytosed and metabolized by the proximal
      tubule. Since proximal tubule injury is a hallmark of AKI, we hypothesized that
      urine IL-6 would increase in AKI due to impaired proximal tubule metabolism of
      filtered IL-6. METHODS: Urine was collected in 25 consecutive pediatric patients
      undergoing cardiac bypass surgery (CPB). AKI was defined as a 50% increase in
      serum creatinine at 24 hours (RIFLE (Risk, Injury, Failure, Loss, End stage), R).
      Mouse models of AKI and freshly isolated proximal tubules were also studied.
      RESULTS: Urine IL-6 increased at six hours in patients with AKI versus no AKI (X2
      = 8.1750; P < 0.0042). Urine IL-6 > 75 pg/mg identified AKI with a sensitivity of
      88%. To assess whether increased urine IL-6 occurs in functional versus
      structural renal failure, mouse models of pre-renal azotemia after furosemide
      injection (no tubular injury), ischemic AKI (tubular injury) and cisplatin AKI
      (tubular injury) were studied. Urine IL-6 did not significantly increase in pre
      renal azotemia but did increase in ischemic and cisplatin AKI. To determine if
      circulating IL-6 appears in the urine in AKI, recombinant human (h)IL-6 was
      injected intravenously and urine collected for one hour; urine hIL-6 increased in
      ischemic AKI, but not pre-renal azotemia. To determine the effect of AKI on
      circulating IL-6, serum hIL-6 was determined one hour post-intravenous injection
      and was increased in ischemic AKI, but not pre-renal azotemia. To directly
      examine IL-6 metabolism, hIL-6 was added to the media of normal and hypoxic
      isolated proximal tubules; hIL-6 was reduced in the media of normal versus
      injured hypoxic proximal tubules. CONCLUSIONS: Urine IL-6 increases early in
      patients with AKI. Animal studies demonstrate that failure of proximal tubule
      metabolism of IL-6 results in increased serum and urine IL-6. Impaired IL-6
      metabolism leading to increased serum IL-6 may contribute to the deleterious
      systemic effects and increased mortality associated with AKI.

PMID- 20942932
TI  - Multiple displacement amplification as an adjunct to PCR-based detection of
      Staphylococcus aureus in synovial fluid.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Detection of bacterial nucleic acids in synovial fluid following
      total joint arthroplasty with suspected infection can be difficult; among other
      technical challenges, inhibitors in the specimens require extensive sample
      preparation and can diminish assay sensitivity even using polymerase chain
      reaction (PCR)-based methods. To address this problem a simple protocol for prior
      use of multiple displacement amplification (MDA) as an adjunct to PCR was
      established and tested on both purified S. aureus DNA as well as on clinical
      samples known to contain S. aureus nucleic acids. FINDINGS: A single round of MDA
      on purified nucleic acids resulted in a > 300 thousand-fold increase in template
      DNA on subsequent quantitative PCR (qPCR) analysis. MDA use on clinical samples
      resulted in at least a 100-fold increase in sensitivity on subsequent qPCR and
      required no sample preparation other than a simple alkali/heat lysis step. Mixed
      samples of S. aureus DNA with a 103 - 104-fold excess of human genomic DNA still
      allowed for MDA amplification of the minor bacterial component to the threshold
      of detectability. CONCLUSION: MDA is a promising technique that may serve to
      significantly enhance the sensitivity of molecular assays in cases of suspected
      joint infection while simultaneously reducing the specimen handling required.

PMID- 20942933
TI  - Absence of influenza vaccination among high-risk older adults in Taiwan.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Older adults, who often have more than one chronic disease, are at
      greater risk of influenza and its complications. However, because they often see
      physicians for other more pressing complaints, their physicians, focusing on one
      condition, may forget to suggest preventive measures for other diseases such as
      influenza. This study investigates what major factors affect an older adult with
      more than one chronic condition missing a vaccination opportunity. METHODS:
      Retrospectively reviewing a nationally representative random sample of medical
      claims from Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database during the
      period 2004 - 2006, we first identified patients sixty-five years or older who
      had visited physicians. Each patient was assigned a proxy for health status, the
      Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) score. An older claimant was defined has having
      "absence of a vaccination" when he or she had visited a physician during an
      influenza season but did not receive an influenza vaccination. Multivariate
      logistic regression was performed to estimate how likely it would be for older
      adults with various CCI scores to miss a vaccination. RESULTS: Out of 200,000
      randomly selected claims, 20,923 older adults were included in our final
      analysis. We found older adults with higher CCIs to be more likely to have an
      absence of vaccination (p < 0.01). Our multivariate logistic regression results
      revealed CCI to be the greatest predictor of absence of vaccination, after
      controlling for individual factors and medical setting. Older adults with CCI
      scores three or higher were nearly five times more likely to miss a vaccination
      than those with a CCI of zero [OR: 4.93 (95%CI, 4.47-5.42)]. Those with CCIs of
      one and two were 2.53 and 3.92 times more likely to miss vaccination than those
      with a CCI of zero [OR 2.53 (95%CI, 2.26-2.84) and OR 3.92 (95%CI, 3.51-4.38),
      respectively]. CONCLUSIONS: The greater the number of certain comorbid
      conditions, the greater the likelihood a flu vaccination will be missed.
      Physicians would be well advised to not let the presenting problems of older
      patients distract from other possible health problems that might also need
      attention, in this case influenza vaccinations.

PMID- 20942934
TI  - The characteristics of dyslipidemia patients with different durations in Beijing:
      a cross-sectional study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Prevalence of dyslipidemia is high and increases even in younger
      people. The key aim of this study was to explore the group characteristics of
      patients in different durations of dyslipidemia and provide clues for the
      management of dyslipidemia in Beijing. RESULTS: Patients with short duration of
      dyslipidemia were mainly characterized by relatively young age, occupational
      groups, not eating or irregular eating breakfast, less physical activities,
      having the habit of smoking, and 53.8% is with abnormal LDL-c, 10.4% is with
      abnormal HDL-c, and 51.5% is with abnormal TG. 54.6% of patients with longer
      duration is with abnormal LDL-c, 12.8% of them is with abnormal HDL-c, and 57.1%
      is with abnormal TG. They paid much more attentions to their health, tried to eat
      breakfast regularly and do more physical activities, gave up smoking, and had
      regular breakfast, but increasing physiological disorders such as elevated blood
      pressure and glucose appeared. Severe sequelae (stroke, myocardial infarction)
      were mainly observed in patients with the duration of more than 10 years. And in
      this group the proportions of patients with LDL-c >= 4.15 mmol/L and TG >= 4.53
      mmol/L are the highest among the three groups. CONCLUSIONS: we should strengthen
      the tertiary prevention and improve the control rate of dyslipidemia in Beijing.
      Health promotion programs such as tobacco control and physical exercise should be
      carried out for younger patients.

PMID- 20942935
TI  - Small-scale health-related indicator acquisition using secondary data spatial
      interpolation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Due to the lack of small-scale neighbourhood-level health related
      indicators, the analysis of social and spatial determinants of health often
      encounter difficulties in assessing the interrelations of neighbourhood and
      health. Although secondary data sources are now becoming increasingly available,
      they usually cannot be directly utilized for analysis in other than the designed
      study due to sampling issues. This paper aims to develop data handling and
      spatial interpolation procedures to obtain small area level variables using the
      Canadian Community Health Surveys (CCHS) data so that meaningful small-scale
      neighbourhood level health-related indicators can be obtained for community
      health research and health geographical analysis. RESULTS: Through the analysis
      of spatial autocorrelation, cross validation comparison, and modeled effect
      comparison with census data, kriging is identified as the most appropriate
      spatial interpolation method for obtaining predicted values of CCHS variables at
      unknown locations. Based on the spatial structures of CCHS data, kriging
      parameters are suggested and potential small-area-level health-related indicators
      are derived. An empirical study is conducted to demonstrate the effective use of
      derived neighbourhood variables in spatial statistical modeling. Suggestions are
      also given on the accuracy, reliability and usage of the obtained small area
      level indicators, as well as further improvements of the interpolation
      procedures. CONCLUSIONS: CCHS variables are moderately spatially autocorrelated,
      making kriging a valid method for predicting values at unsampled locations. The
      derived variables are reliable but somewhat smoother, with smaller variations
      than the real values. As potential neighbourhood exposures in spatial statistical
      modeling, these variables are more suitable to be used for exploring potential
      associations than for testing the significance of these associations, especially
      for associations that are barely significant. Given the spatial dependency of
      current health-related risks, the developed procedures are expected to be useful
      for other similar health surveys to obtain small area level indicators.

PMID- 20942936
TI  - Chemokine control of HIV-1 infection: beyond a binding competition.
AB  - A recent paper by Cameron et al. demonstrated that certain chemokines such as
      CCL19 activate cofilin and actin dynamics, promoting HIV nuclear localization and
      integration into resting CD4 T cells. Apparently, these chemokines synergize with
      the viral envelope protein, triggering cofilin and actin dynamics necessary for
      the establishment of viral latency. This study opens a new avenue for
      understanding chemokine interaction with HIV. Traditionally, chemokine control of
      HIV infection focuses on competitive binding and down-modulation of the co
      receptors, particularly CCR5. This new study suggests that a diverse group of
      chemokines may also affect HIV infection through synergistic or antagonistic
      interaction with the viral coreceptor signaling pathways.

PMID- 20942937
TI  - Cancer control in developing countries: using health data and health services
      research to measure and improve access, quality and efficiency.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cancer is a rapidly increasing problem in developing countries.
      Access, quality and efficiency of cancer services in developing countries must be
      understood to advance effective cancer control programs. Health services research
      can provide insights into these areas. DISCUSSION: This article provides an
      overview of oncology health services in developing countries. We use selected
      examples from peer-reviewed literature in health services research and relevant
      publicly available documents. In spite of significant limitations in the
      available data, it is clear there are substantial barriers to access to cancer
      control in developing countries. This includes prevention, early detection,
      diagnosis/treatment and palliation. There are also substantial limitations in the
      quality of cancer control and a great need to improve economic efficiency. We
      describe how the application of health data may assist in optimizing (1)
      Structure: strengthening planning, collaboration, transparency, research
      development, education and capacity building. (2) PROCESS: enabling follow-up,
      knowledge translation, patient safety and quality assurance. (3) OUTCOME:
      facilitating evaluation, monitoring and improvement of national cancer control
      efforts. There is currently limited data and capacity to use this data in
      developing countries for these purposes. SUMMARY: There is an urgent need to
      improve health services for cancer control in developing countries. Current
      resources and much-needed investments must be optimally managed. To achieve this,
      we would recommend investment in four key priorities: (1) Capacity building in
      oncology health services research, policy and planning relevant to developing
      countries. (2) Development of high-quality health data sources. (3) More oncology
      related economic evaluations in developing countries. (4) Exploration of high
      quality models of cancer control in developing countries. Meeting these needs
      will require national, regional and international collaboration as well as
      political leadership. Horizontal integration with programs for other diseases
      will be important.

PMID- 20942938
TI  - Parasites in Mexican patients with irritable bowel syndrome: a case-control
      study.
AB  - One hundred and fifteen patients with symptoms suggestive of irritable bowel
      syndrome (IBS) according to Rome III criteria and 209 patients with
      gastrointestinal symptoms different from IBS (control) were identified through
      medical records from the Gastroenterology Clinic of the "Dr. Manuel Gea Gonzalez
      General Hospital" from January 2008 to March 2010. No statistical differences in
      IBS data as compared with control groups were observed except in bloating, that
      was more frequent in the IBS group (P = 0.043). Although the pathogenicity of
      specific intestinal protozoa could not be demonstrated due to lack of association
      with the development of gastrointestinal symptoms, Blastocystis spp, in the IBS
      group, exhibited a trend of association to diarrhoea (odds ratio = 2.73, 95%
      confidence interval = 0.84-8.80, P = 0.053), while having any parasite and
      diarrhoea was significant (odds ratio = 3.38, 95% confidence interval = 1.33
      8.57, P = 0.008). The association between Blastocystis and diarrhoea in IBS
      patients although not conclusive is an interesting finding; nonetheless more
      extensive case-controlled studies are required to clearly define the role of some
      "non-pathogenic" parasites in intestinal disease and IBS.

PMID- 20942939
TI  - Lack of association of the CIITA -168A->G promoter SNP with myasthenia gravis and
      its role in autoimmunity.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The major histocompatibility complex class II transactivator (CIITA)
      regulates MHC class II gene expression. A promoter SNP -168A->G (rs3087456) has
      previously been shown to be associated with susceptibility to several immune
      mediated disorders, including rheumatoid arthritis (RA), multiple sclerosis (MS)
      and myocardial infarction (MI). Myasthenia gravis (MG) is an autoimmune disorder
      which has previously been shown to be associated with polymorphisms of several
      autoimmune predisposing genes, including IL-1, PTPN22, TNF-alpha and the MHC. In
      order to determine if allelic variants of rs3087456 increase predisposition to
      MG, we analyzed this SNP in our Swedish cohort of 446 MG patients and 1866
      controls. RESULTS: No significant association of the SNP with MG was detected,
      neither in the patient group as a whole, nor in any clinical subgroup. The vast
      majority of previous replication studies have also not found an association of
      the SNP with autoimmune disorders. CONCLUSIONS: We thus conclude that previous
      findings with regard to the role of the CIITA -168A->G SNP in autoimmunity may
      have to be reconsidered.

PMID- 20942941
TI  - Prizes and heroes: lagging and leading indicators.
AB  - What are the purposes of prizes and recognitions? Are they lagging indicators of
      past achievements or leading indicators of things to come?

PMID- 20942940
TI  - Effects of erythropoietin on depressive symptoms and neurocognitive deficits in
      depression and bipolar disorder.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Depression and bipolar disorder are associated with reduced neural
      plasticity and deficits in memory, attention and executive function. Drug
      treatments for these affective disorders have insufficient clinical effects in a
      large group and fail to reverse cognitive deficits. There is thus a need for more
      effective treatments which aid cognitive function. Erythropoietin (Epo) is
      involved in neuroplasticity and is a candidate for future treatment of affective
      disorders. The investigators have demonstrated that a single dose of Epo improves
      cognitive function and reduces neurocognitive processing of negative emotional
      information in healthy and depressed individuals similar to effects seen with
      conventional antidepressants. The current study adds to the previous findings by
      investigating whether repeated Epo administration has antidepressant effects in
      patients with treatment resistant depression and reverses cognitive impairments
      in these patients and in patients with bipolar disorder in remission.
      METHODS/DESIGN: The trial has a double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group
      design. 40 patients with treatment-resistant major depression and 40 patients
      with bipolar disorder in remission are recruited and randomised to receive weekly
      infusions of Epo (Eprex; 40,000 IU) or saline (NaCl 0.9%) for 8 weeks.
      Randomisation is stratified for age and gender. The primary outcome parameters
      for the two studies are: depression severity measured with the Hamilton
      Depression Rating Scale 17 items (HDRS-17) 1 in study 1 and, in study 2, verbal
      memory measured with the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT) 23. With
      inclusion of 40 patients in each study we obtain 86% power to detect clinically
      relevant differences between intervention and placebo groups on these primary
      outcomes. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The trial is approved by the Local Ethics
      Committee: H-C-2008-092, Danish Medicines Agency: 2612-4020, EudraCT: 2008-04857
      14, Danish Data Agency: 2008-41-2711 and ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT 00916552.

PMID- 20942942
TI  - Obesity and mortality among older Thais: a four year follow up study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To assess the association of body mass index with mortality in a
      population-based setting of older people in Thailand. METHODS: Baseline data from
      the National Health Examination Survey III (NHES III) conducted in 2004 was
      linked to death records from vital registration for 2004-2007. Complete
      information regarding body mass index (BMI) (n = 15997) and mortality data were
      separately analysed by sex. The Cox Proportional Hazard Model was used to test
      the association between BMI and all-cause mortality controlling for demographic,
      socioeconomic, and health risk factors. RESULTS: During a mean follow-up time of
      3.8 years (60545.8 person-years), a total of 1575 older persons, (936 men and 639
      women) had died. A U-shaped and reverse J-shaped of association between BMI and
      all-cause mortality were observed in men and women, respectively. However there
      was no significant increased risk in the higher BMI categories. Compared to those
      with BMI 18.5-22.9 kg/m2, the adjusted hazard ratios (HR) of all-cause mortality
      for those with BMI <18.5, 23.0-24.9, 25.0-27.4, 27.5-29.9, 30.0-34.9, and >=35.0
      were 1.34 (95% CI, 1.14-1.58), 0.79 (95% CI, 0.65-0.97), 0.81 (95% CI, 0.65
      1.00), 0.67 (95% CI, 0.48-0.94), 0.60 (95% CI, 0.35-1.03), and 1.87 (95% CI, 0.77
      4.56), respectively, for men, and were 1.29 (95% CI,1.04-1.60), 0.70 (95% CI,
      0.55-0.90), 0.79 (95% CI, 0.62-1.01), 0.57 (95% CI, 0.41-0.81), 0.58 (95% CI,
      0.39-0.87), and 0.78 (95% CI, 0.38-1.59), respectively, for women. CONCLUSIONS:
      The results of this study support the obesity paradox phenomenon in older Thai
      people, especially in women. Improvement in quality of mortality data and further
      investigation to confirm such association are needed in this population.

PMID- 20942943
TI  - Expression of Msx-1 is suppressed in bisphosphonate associated osteonecrosis
      related jaw tissue-etiopathology considerations respecting jaw developmental
      biology-related unique features.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Bone-destructive disease treatments include bisphosphonates and
      antibodies against the osteoclast differentiator, RANKL (aRANKL); however,
      osteonecrosis of the jaw (ONJ) is a frequent side-effect. Current models fail to
      explain the restriction of bisphosphonate (BP)-related and denosumab (anti-RANKL
      antibody)-related ONJ to jaws. Msx-1 is exclusively expressed in craniofacial
      structures and pivotal to cranial neural crest (CNC)-derived periodontal tissue
      remodeling. We hypothesised that Msx-1 expression might be impaired in
      bisphosphonate-related ONJ. The study aim was to elucidate Msx-1 and RANKL
      associated signal transduction (BMP-2/4, RANKL) in ONJ-altered and healthy
      periodontal tissue. METHODS: Twenty ONJ and twenty non-BP exposed periodontal
      samples were processed for RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry. An automated staining
      based alkaline phosphatase-anti-alkaline phosphatase method was used to measure
      the stained cells:total cell-number ratio (labelling index, Bonferroni
      adjustment). Real-time RT-PCR was performed on ONJ-affected and healthy jaw
      periodontal samples (n = 20 each) to quantitatively compare Msx-1, BMP-2, RANKL,
      and GAPDH mRNA levels. RESULTS: Semi-quantitative assessment of the ratio of
      stained cells showed decreased Msx-1 and RANKL and increased BMP-2/4 (all p <
      0.05) expression in ONJ-adjacent periodontal tissue. ONJ tissue also exhibited
      decreased relative gene expression for Msx-1 (p < 0.03) and RANKL (p < 0.03) and
      increased BMP-2/4 expression (p < 0.02) compared to control. CONCLUSIONS: These
      results explain the sclerotic and osteopetrotic changes of periodontal tissue
      following BP application and substantiate clinical findings of BP-related
      impaired remodeling specific to periodontal tissue. RANKL suppression
      substantiated the clinical finding of impaired bone remodelling in BP- and aRANKL
      induced ONJ-affected bone structures. Msx-1 suppression in ONJ-adjacent
      periodontal tissue suggested a bisphosphonate-related impairment in cellular
      differentiation that occurred exclusively jaw remodelling. Further research on
      developmental biology-related unique features of jaw bone structures will help to
      elucidate pathologies restricted to maxillofacial tissue.

PMID- 20942944
TI  - Response of sinusoidal mouse liver cells to choline-deficient ethionine
      supplemented diet.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Proliferation of oval cells, the bipotent precursor cells of the
      liver, requires impeded proliferation and loss of hepatocytes as well as a
      specific micro-environment, provided by adjacent sinusoidal cells of liver.
      Despite their immense importance for triggering the oval cell response, cells of
      hepatic sinusoids are rarely investigated. To elucidate the response of
      sinusoidal liver cells we have employed a choline-deficient, ethionine
      supplemented (CDE) diet, a common method for inducing an oval cell response in
      rodent liver. We have utilised selected expression markers commonly used in the
      past for phenotypic discrimination of oval cells and sinusoidal cells:
      cytokeratin, E-cadherin and M2-pyruvate kinase for oval cells; and glial
      fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) was used for hepatic stellate cells (HSCs).
      RESULTS: CDE diet leads to an activation of all cells of the hepatic sinusoid in
      the mouse liver. Beside oval cells, also HSCs and Kupffer cells proliferate. The
      entire fraction of proliferating cells in mouse liver as well as endothelial
      cells and cholangiocytes express M2-pyruvate kinase. Concomitantly, GFAP, long
      considered a unique marker of quiescent HSCs was upregulated in activated HSCs
      and expressed also in cholangiocytes and oval cells. CONCLUSIONS: Our results
      point to an important role of all types of sinusoidal cells in regeneration from
      CDE induced liver damage and call for utmost caution in using traditional marker
      for identifying specific cell types. Thus, M2-pyruvate kinase should no longer be
      used for estimating the oval cell response in mouse liver. CDE diet leads to
      activation of GFAP positive HSCs in the pericentral zone of liver lobulus. In the
      periportal zone the detection of GFAP in biliary cells and oval cells, calls
      other cell types as progenitors of hepatocytes into question under CDE diet
      conditions.

PMID- 20942945
TI  - Quadratic variance models for adaptively preprocessing SELDI-TOF mass
      spectrometry data.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Surface enhanced laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass
      spectrometry (SELDI) is a proteomics tool for biomarker discovery and other high
      throughput applications. Previous studies have identified various areas for
      improvement in preprocessing algorithms used for protein peak detection. Bottom
      up approaches to preprocessing that emphasize modeling SELDI data acquisition are
      promising avenues of research to find the needed improvements in reproducibility.
      RESULTS: We studied the properties of the SELDI detector intensity response to
      matrix only runs. The intensity fluctuations and noise observed can be
      characterized by a natural exponential family with quadratic variance function
      (NEF-QVF) class of distributions. These include as special cases many common
      distributions arising in practice (e.g.- normal, Poisson). Taking this model into
      account, we present a modified Antoniadis-Sapatinas wavelet denoising algorithm
      as the core of our preprocessing program, implemented in MATLAB. The proposed
      preprocessing approach shows superior peak detection sensitivity compared to
      MassSpecWavelet for false discovery rate (FDR) values less than 25%. CONCLUSIONS:
      The NEF-QVF detector model requires that certain parameters be measured from
      matrix only spectra, leaving implications for new experiment design at the trade
      off of slightly increased cost. These additional measurements allow our
      preprocessing program to adapt to changing noise characteristics arising from
      intralaboratory and across-laboratory factors. With further development, this
      approach may lead to improved peak prediction reproducibility and nearly
      automated, high throughput preprocessing of SELDI data.

PMID- 20942946
TI  - Characteristics of adolescents who expressed indifference or no interest towards
      body art.
AB  - BACKGROUND: This study examines the underlying characteristics of adolescents
      attending Italian secondary school who expressed indifference towards or no
      interest at all in body art. METHODS: A convenience sample of 4,277 secondary
      school students from the North Eastern Italy were surveyed with a self-reported
      questionnaire collecting extensive socio-demographic information. Multivariable
      logistic regression analysis was employed to investigate the characteristics of
      those who were not interested or indifferent towards piercing and tattoo,
      reporting adjusted Odds Ratios (aOR) with a 95% confidence interval (CI).
      RESULTS: Prevalence of tattoo was 6%, whereas body piercing was 20%; 66% (=
      558/840) of those with a piercing were underage (<18 years of age), the
      equivalent for tattoo being 62% (= 159/258). 166 individuals reported having both
      piercing and tattoo and 152 of these (92% = 152/166) were <18 years of age. The
      factors found to be predominantly higher in those indifferent or who did not
      indicate interest in body art were: lower school year, increasing father's
      education and a greater perception of the associated health risks. DISCUSSION:
      Proactive health education campaigns by school educators and family physicians
      should focus on adolescents of less educated fathers and pupils less aware of the
      health risks associated with body art. In this respect junior secondary school
      students can be regarded as the ideal target of such campaigns.

PMID- 20942947
TI  - Biodiversity of Archaea and floral of two inland saltern ecosystems in the Alto
      Vinalopo Valley, Spain.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The extraction of salt from seawater by means of coastal solar
      salterns is a very well-described process. Moreover, the characterization of
      these environments from ecological, biochemical and microbiological perspectives
      has become a key focus for many research groups all over the world over the last
      20 years. In countries such as Spain, there are several examples of coastal solar
      salterns (mainly on the Mediterranean coast) and inland solar salterns, from
      which sodium chloride is obtained for human consumption. However, studies focused
      on the characterization of inland solar salterns are scarce and both the archaeal
      diversity and the plant communities inhabiting these environments remain poorly
      described. RESULTS: Two of the inland solar salterns (termed Redonda and
      Penalva), located in the Alto Vinalopo Valley (Alicante, Spain), were
      characterized regarding their geological and physico-chemical characteristics and
      their archaeal and botanical biodiversity. A preliminary eukaryotic diversity
      survey was also performed using saline water. The chemical characterization of
      the brine has revealed that the salted groundwater extracted to fill these inland
      solar salterns is thalassohaline. The plant communities living in this
      environment are dominated by Sarcocornia fruticosa (L.) A.J. Scott, Arthrocnemum
      macrostachyum (Moris) K. Koch, Suaeda vera Forsk. ex Gmelin (Amaranthaceae) and
      several species of Limonium (Mill) and Tamarix (L). Archaeal diversity was
      analyzed and compared by polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based molecular
      phylogenetic techniques. Most of the sequences recovered from environmental DNA
      samples are affiliated with haloarchaeal genera such as Haloarcula, Halorubrum,
      Haloquadratum and Halobacterium, and with an unclassified member of the
      Halobacteriaceae. The eukaryote Dunaliella was also present in the samples.
      CONCLUSIONS: To our knowledge, this study constitutes the first analysis centered
      on inland solar salterns located in the southeastern region of Spain. The results
      obtained revealed that the salt deposits of this region have marine origins.
      Plant communities typical of salt marshes are present in this ecosystem and
      members of the Halobacteriaceae family can be easily detected in the microbial
      populations of these habitats. Possible origins of the haloarchaea detected in
      this study are discussed.

PMID- 20942948
TI  - Stunting and soil-transmitted-helminth infections among school-age pupils in
      rural areas of southern China.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Stunting and soil-transmitted helminth (STH) infections including
      ascariasis, trichuriasis and hookworm remain major public health problems in
      school-age pupils in developing countries. The objectives of this study were to
      determine the prevalence of stunting for children and its association with three
      major soil-transmitted helminths (STH) in rural areas of southern China. The
      study also aims to determine risk factors for stunting and to provide guidance on
      the prevention and control of stunting and STH infections for future studies in
      this field. RESULTS: A cross-sectional survey was carried out in the poor rural
      areas in Guangxi Autonomous Regional and Hainan Province where STH prevalence was
      higher between September and November 2009. Pupils were from 15 primary schools.
      All the school-age pupils aged between 9 and 12 years old (mean age 11.2 +/- 3.2
      years), from grades three to six took part in this study. Study contents include
      questionnaire surveys, physical examination and laboratory methods (stool
      checking for eggs of three major STH infections and haemoglobin determination was
      performed for the anaemia test). Finally 1031 school-age pupils took part in
      survey. The results showed that the overall prevalence of stunting (HAZ < 2SD)
      was 25.6%, based on the WHO Child Growth Standards (2007). Risk factors for
      stunting based on logistic regression analyses were: (1) STH moderate-to-heavy
      intensity infections (OR = 1.93;95%CI:1.19,3.11); (2) anaemia (OR = 3.26;95%CI:
      2.02,5.27); (3) education level of mother (OR = 2.13; 95%CI: 1.39,3.25). The
      overall prevalence of major STH infections was 36.7%, STH moderate-to-heavy
      intensity infections was 16.7%. The overall prevalence of ascariasis,
      trichuriasis, hookworm and co-infection were 18.5%, 11.2%, 14.7% and 9.1%
      respectively. The prevalence of anaemic children (HB < 12 g/dl) was 13.1%.
      CONCLUSION: The present study showed that stunting was highly prevalent among the
      study population and STH infection is one of the important risk factors for
      stunting, with moderate-to-heavy intensity infections being the main predictor of
      stunting. Hence, additional interventions measures such as to promote de-worming
      treatment, to enhance health education and to improve hygiene and sanitation in
      order to reduce stunting in this population, are needed throughout the primary
      school age group.

PMID- 20942949
TI  - Multiplexed, rapid detection of H5N1 using a PCR-free nanoparticle-based genomic
      microarray assay.
AB  - BACKGROUND: For more than a decade there has been increasing interest in the use
      of nanotechnology and microarray platforms for diagnostic applications. In this
      report, we describe a rapid and simple gold nanoparticle (NP)-based genomic
      microarray assay for specific identification of avian influenza virus H5N1 and
      its discrimination from other major influenza A virus strains (H1N1, H3N2).
      RESULTS: Capture and intermediate oligonucleotides were designed based on the
      consensus sequences of the matrix (M) gene of H1N1, H3N2 and H5N1 viruses, and
      sequences specific for the hemaglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA) genes of the
      H5N1 virus. Viral RNA was detected within 2.5 hours using capture-target
      intermediate oligonucleotide hybridization and gold NP-mediated silver staining
      in the absence of RNA fragmentation, target amplification, and enzymatic
      reactions. The lower limit of detection (LOD) of the assay was less than 100 fM
      for purified PCR fragments and 103 TCID50 units for H5N1 viral RNA. CONCLUSIONS:
      The NP-based microarray assay was able to detect and distinguish H5N1 sequences
      from those of major influenza A viruses (H1N1, H3N2). The new method described
      here may be useful for simultaneous detection and subtyping of major influenza A
      viruses.

PMID- 20942950
TI  - Analysis and comparison of the pan-genomic properties of sixteen well
      characterized bacterial genera.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The increasing availability of whole genome sequences allows the gene
      or protein content of different organisms to be compared, leading to burgeoning
      interest in the relatively new subfield of pan-genomics. However, while several
      studies have analyzed protein content relationships in specific groups of
      bacteria, there has yet to be a study that provides a general characterization of
      protein content relationships in a broad range of bacteria. RESULTS: A variation
      on reciprocal BLAST hits was used to infer relationships among proteins in
      several groups of bacteria, and data regarding protein conservation and
      uniqueness in different bacterial genera are reported in terms of "core
      proteomes", "unique proteomes", and "singlets". We also analyzed the relationship
      between protein content similarity and the percent identity of the 16S rRNA gene
      in pairs of bacterial isolates from the same genus, and found that the strength
      of this relationship varied substantially depending on the genus, perhaps
      reflecting different rates of genome evolution and/or horizontal gene transfer.
      Finally, core proteomes and unique proteomes were used to study the proteomic
      cohesiveness of several bacterial species, revealing that some bacterial species
      had little cohesiveness in their protein content, with some having fewer proteins
      unique to that species than randomly-chosen sets of isolates from the same genus.
      CONCLUSIONS: The results described in this study aid our understanding of protein
      content relationships in different bacterial groups, allowing us to make further
      inferences regarding genome-environment relationships, genome evolution, and the
      soundness of existing taxonomic classifications.

PMID- 20942951
TI  - Employing external facilitation to implement cognitive behavioral therapy in VA
      clinics: a pilot study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Although for more than a decade healthcare systems have attempted to
      provide evidence-based mental health treatments, the availability and use of
      psychotherapies remains low. A significant need exists to identify simple but
      effective implementation strategies to adopt complex practices within complex
      systems of care. Emerging evidence suggests that facilitation may be an effective
      integrative implementation strategy for adoption of complex practices. The
      current pilot examined the use of external facilitation for adoption of cognitive
      behavioral therapy (CBT) in 20 Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) clinics.
      METHODS: The 20 clinics were paired on facility characteristics, and 23
      clinicians from these were trained in CBT. A clinic in each pair was randomly
      selected to receive external facilitation. Quantitative methods were used to
      examine the extent of CBT implementation in 10 clinics that received external
      facilitation compared with 10 clinics that did not, and to better understand the
      relationship between individual providers' characteristics and attitudes and
      their CBT use. Costs of external facilitation were assessed by tracking the time
      spent by the facilitator and therapists in activities related to implementing
      CBT. Qualitative methods were used to explore contextual and other factors
      thought to influence implementation. RESULTS: Examination of change scores showed
      that facilitated therapists averaged an increase of 19% [95% CI: (2, 36)] in self
      reported CBT use from baseline, while control therapists averaged a 4% [95% CI: (
      14, 21)] increase. Therapists in the facilitated condition who were not providing
      CBT at baseline showed the greatest increase (35%) compared to a control
      therapist who was not providing CBT at baseline (10%) or to therapists in either
      condition who were providing CBT at baseline (average 3%). Increased CBT use was
      unrelated to prior CBT training. Barriers to CBT implementation were therapists'
      lack of control over their clinic schedule and poor communication with clinical
      leaders. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that facilitation may help
      clinicians make complex practice changes such as implementing an evidence-based
      psychotherapy. Furthermore, the substantial increase in CBT usage among the
      facilitation group was achieved at a modest cost.

PMID- 20942952
TI  - Identification and characterization of the Plasmodium vivax thrombospondin
      related apical merozoite protein.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Malaria caused by Plasmodium vivax is a major public health problem
      worldwide that affects 70-80 million people in the Middle East, Asia, Western
      Pacific, South America and the Caribbean. Despite its epidemiological importance,
      few antigens from this parasite species have been characterized to date compared
      to Plasmodium falciparum, due in part to the difficulties of maintaining an in
      vitro culture of P. vivax. This study describes the identification of the P.
      falciparum thrombospondin-related apical merozoite protein homologue in P. vivax
      (PvTRAMP) and examines its potential to be further evaluated as vaccine
      candidate. METHODS: The gene encoding PvTRAMP was identified through an extensive
      search of the databases hosting the genome sequence of P. vivax. Genes adjacent
      to pvtramp were identified in silico to determine the degree of similarity
      between the protein sequences encoded by equivalent chromosomic fragments in P.
      falciparum and Plasmodium knowlesi. The pvtramp gene was amplified from cDNA of
      P. vivax schizont stages, cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli. Anti-PvTRAMP
      antisera was obtained by inoculating rabbits with PvTRAMP B cell epitopes
      produced as synthetic peptides in order to assess its recognition in parasite
      lysates by Western blot and in intact parasites by indirect immunofluorescence.
      The recognition of recombinant PvTRAMP by sera from P. vivax-infected individuals
      living in endemic areas was also assessed by ELISA. RESULTS: The PfTRAMP
      homologue in P. vivax, here denoted as PvTRAMP, is a 340-amino-acid long antigen
      encoded by a single exon that could have a potential role in cytoadherence, as
      indicated by the presence of a thrombospondin structural homology repeat (TSR)
      domain. According to its transcription and expression profile, PvTRAMP is
      initially located at the parasite's apical end and later on the parasite surface.
      Recombinant PvTRAMP is recognized by sera from infected patients, therefore,
      indicating that it is targeted by the immune system during a natural infection
      with P. vivax. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this work support conducting further
      studies with PvTRAMP to evaluate its immunogenicity and protection-inducing
      ability in the Aotus animal model.

PMID- 20942954
TI  - Relative replication capacity of phenotypic SIV variants during primary
      infections differs with route of inoculation.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Previous studies of human and simian immunodeficiency virus (HIV and
      SIV) have demonstrated that adaptive mutations selected during the course of
      infection alter viral replicative fitness, persistence, and pathogenicity. What
      is unclear from those studies is the impact of transmission on the replication
      and pathogenicity of the founding virus population. Using the SIV-macaque model,
      we examined whether the route of infection would affect the establishment and
      replication of two SIVmne variants of distinct in vitro and in vivo biological
      characteristics. For these studies, we performed dual-virus inoculations of pig
      tailed macaques via intrarectal or intravenous routes with SIVmneCl8, a minimally
      pathogenic virus, and SIVmne027, a highly pathogenic variant that replicates more
      robustly in CD4+ T cells. RESULTS: The data demonstrate that SIVmne027 is the
      dominant virus regardless of the route of infection, indicating that the capacity
      to replicate efficiently in CD4+ T cells is important for fitness. Interestingly,
      in comparison to intravenous co-infection, intrarectal inoculation enabled
      greater relative replication of the less pathogenic virus, SIVmneCl8. Moreover, a
      higher level of SIVmneCl8 replication during primary infection of the
      intrarectally inoculated macaques was associated with lower overall plasma viral
      load and slower decline in CD4+ T cells, even though SIVmne027 eventually became
      the dominant virus. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that the capacity to
      replicate in CD4+ T cells is a significant determinant of SIV fitness and
      pathogenicity. Furthermore, the data also suggest that mucosal transmission may
      support early replication of phenotypically diverse variants, while slowing the
      rate of CD4+ T cell decline during the initial stages of infection.

PMID- 20942953
TI  - Evolutionary history of the poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase gene family in
      eukaryotes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) superfamily was originally
      identified as enzymes that catalyze the attachment of ADP-ribose subunits to
      target proteins using NAD+ as a substrate. The family is characterized by the
      catalytic site, termed the PARP signature. While these proteins can be found in a
      range of eukaryotes, they have been best studied in mammals. In these organisms,
      PARPs have key functions in DNA repair, genome integrity and epigenetic
      regulation. More recently it has been found that proteins within the PARP
      superfamily have altered catalytic sites, and have mono(ADP-ribose) transferase
      (mART) activity or are enzymatically inactive. These findings suggest that the
      PARP signature has a broader range of functions that initially predicted. In this
      study, we investigate the evolutionary history of PARP genes across the
      eukaryotes. RESULTS: We identified in silico 236 PARP proteins from 77 species
      across five of the six eukaryotic supergroups. We performed extensive
      phylogenetic analyses of the identified PARPs. They are found in all eukaryotic
      supergroups for which sequence is available, but some individual lineages within
      supergroups have independently lost these genes. The PARP superfamily can be
      subdivided into six clades. Two of these clades were likely found in the last
      common eukaryotic ancestor. In addition, we have identified PARPs in organisms in
      which they have not previously been described. CONCLUSIONS: Three main
      conclusions can be drawn from our study. First, the broad distribution and
      pattern of representation of PARP genes indicates that the ancestor of all extant
      eukaryotes encoded proteins of this type. Second, the ancestral PARP proteins had
      different functions and activities. One of these proteins was similar to human
      PARP1 and likely functioned in DNA damage response. The second of the ancestral
      PARPs had already evolved differences in its catalytic domain that suggest that
      these proteins may not have possessed poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation activity. Third, the
      diversity of the PARP superfamily is larger than previously documented,
      suggesting as more eukaryotic genomes become available, this gene family will
      grow in both number and type.

PMID- 20942955
TI  - The phylogenetic position of Acoela as revealed by the complete mitochondrial
      genome of Symsagittifera roscoffensis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Acoels are simply organized unsegmented worms, lacking hindgut and
      anus. Several publications over recent years challenge the long-held view that
      acoels are early offshoots of the flatworms. Instead a basal position as sister
      group to all other bilaterian animals was suggested, mainly based on molecular
      evidence. This led to the view that features of acoels might reflect those of the
      last common ancestor of Bilateria, and resulted in several evo-devo studies
      trying to interpret bilaterian evolution using acoels as a proxy model for the
      "Urbilateria". RESULTS: We describe the first complete mitochondrial genome
      sequence of a member of the Acoela, Symsagittifera roscoffensis. Gene content and
      circular organization of the mitochondrial genome does not significantly differ
      from other bilaterian animals. However, gene order shows no similarity to any
      other mitochondrial genome within the Metazoa. Phylogenetic analyses of
      concatenated alignments of amino acid sequences from protein coding genes support
      a position of Acoela and Nemertodermatida as the sister group to all other
      Bilateria. Our data provided no support for a sister group relationship between
      Xenoturbellida and Acoela or Acoelomorpha. The phylogenetic position of
      Xenoturbella bocki as sister group to or part of the deuterostomes was also
      unstable. CONCLUSIONS: Our phylogenetic analysis supports the view that acoels
      and nemertodermatids are the earliest divergent extant lineage of Bilateria. As
      such they remain a valid source for seeking primitive characters present in the
      last common ancestor of Bilateria. Gene order of mitochondrial genomes seems to
      be very variable among Acoela and Nemertodermatida and the groundplan for the
      metazoan mitochondrial genome remains elusive. More data are needed to interpret
      mitochondrial genome evolution at the base of Bilateria.

PMID- 20942956
TI  - Characterization of the rainbow trout transcriptome using Sanger and 454
      pyrosequencing approaches.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Rainbow trout are important fish for aquaculture and recreational
      fisheries and serves as a model species for research investigations associated
      with carcinogenesis, comparative immunology, toxicology and evolutionary biology.
      However, to date there is no genome reference sequence to facilitate the
      development of molecular technologies that utilize high-throughput
      characterizations of gene expression and genetic variation. Alternatively,
      transcriptome sequencing is a rapid and efficient means for gene discovery and
      genetic marker development. Although a large number (258,973) of EST sequences
      are publicly available, the nature of rainbow trout duplicated genome hinders
      assembly and complicates annotation. RESULTS: High-throughput deep sequencing of
      the Swanson rainbow trout doubled-haploid transcriptome using 454-pyrosequencing
      technology yielded ~1.3 million reads with an average length of 344 bp, a total
      of 447 million bases. De novo assembly of the sequences yielded 151,847 Tentative
      Consensus (TC) sequences (average length of 662 bp) and 224,391 singletons. A
      combination assembly of both the 454-pyrosequencing ESTs and the pre-existing
      sequences resulted in 161,818 TCs (average length of 758 bp) and 261,071
      singletons. Gene Ontology analysis of the combination assembly showed high
      similarities to transcriptomes of other fish species with known genome sequences.
      CONCLUSION: The 454 library significantly increased the suite of ESTs available
      for rainbow trout, allowing improved assembly and annotation of the
      transcriptome. Furthermore, the 454 sequencing enables functional genome research
      in rainbow trout, providing a wealth of sequence data to serve as a reference
      transcriptome for future studies including identification of paralogous sequences
      and/or allelic variation, digital gene expression and proteomic research.

PMID- 20942957
TI  - The association of endothelial cell signaling, severity of illness, and organ
      dysfunction in sepsis.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Previous reports suggest that endothelial activation is an
      important process in sepsis pathogenesis. We investigated the association between
      biomarkers of endothelial cell activation and sepsis severity, organ dysfunction
      sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) score, and death. METHODS: This is a
      prospective, observational study including adult patients (age 18 years or older)
      presenting with clinical suspicion of infection to the emergency department (ED)
      of an urban, academic medical center between February 2005 and November 2008.
      Blood was sampled during the ED visit and biomarkers of endothelial cell
      activation, namely soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1 (sFlt-1), plasminogen
      activator inhibitors -1 (PAI-1), sE-selectin, soluble intercellular adhesion
      molecule (sICAM-1), and soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule (sVCAM-1), were
      assayed. The association between biomarkers and the outcomes of sepsis severity,
      organ dysfunction, and in-hospital mortality were analyzed. RESULTS: A total of
      221 patients were included: sepsis without organ dysfunction was present in 32%,
      severe sepsis without shock in 30%, septic shock in 32%, and 6% were non-infected
      control ED patients. There was a relationship between all target biomarkers (sFlt
      1, PAI-1, sE-selectin, sICAM-1, and sVCAM-1) and sepsis severity, P < 0.05. We
      found a significant inter-correlation between all biomarkers, including the
      strongest correlations between sFlt-1 and sE-selectin (r = 0.55, P < 0.001), and
      between sFlt-1 and PAI-1 (0.56, P < 0.001). Among the endothelial cell activation
      biomarkers, sFlt-1 had the strongest association with SOFA score (r = 0.66, P <
      0.001), the highest area under the receiver operator characteristic curve for
      severe sepsis of 0.82, and for mortality of 0.91. CONCLUSIONS: Markers of
      endothelial cell activation are associated with sepsis severity, organ
      dysfunction and mortality. An improved understanding of endothelial response and
      associated biomarkers may lead to strategies to more accurately predict outcome
      and develop novel endothelium-directed therapies in sepsis.

PMID- 20942958
TI  - Plan comparison of volumetric-modulated arc therapy (RapidArc) and conventional
      intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) in anal canal cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: To compare volumetric-modulated arc therapy (RapidArc) plans with
      conventional intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) plans in anal canal
      cancers. METHODS: Ten patients with anal canal carcinoma previously treated with
      IMRT in our institution were selected for this study. For each patient, three
      plans were generated with the planning CT scan: one using a fixed beam IMRT, and
      two plans using the RapidArc technique: a single (RA1) and a double (RA2)
      modulated arc therapy. The treatment plan was designed to deliver in one process
      with simultaneous integrated boost (SIB) a dose of 59.4 Gy to the planning target
      volume (PTV2) based on the gross disease in a 1.8 Gy-daily fraction, 5 days a
      week. At the same time, the subclinical disease (PTV1) was planned to receive
      49.5 Gy in a 1.5 Gy-daily fraction. Plans were normalized to 99% of the PTV2 that
      received 95% of the prescribed dose. Planning objectives were 95% of the PTV1
      will receive 95% of the prescribed dose and no more than 2% of the PTV will
      receive more than 107%. Dose-volume histograms (DVH) for the target volume and
      the organs at risk (bowel tract, bladder, iliac crests, femoral heads,
      genitalia/perineum, and healthy tissue) were compared for these different
      techniques. Monitor units (MU) and delivery treatment time were also reported.
      RESULTS: All plans achieved fulfilled objectives. Both IMRT and RA2 resulted in
      superior coverage of PTV than RA1 that was slightly inferior for conformity and
      homogeneity (p < 0.05).Conformity index (CI95%) for the PTV2 was 1.15 +/- 0.15
      (RA2), 1.28 +/- 0.22 (IMRT), and 1.79 +/- 0.5 (RA1). Homogeneity (D5% - D95%) for
      PTV2 was 3.21 +/- 1.16 Gy (RA2), 2.98 +/- 0.7 Gy (IMRT), and 4.3 +/- 1.3 Gy
      (RA1). RapidArc showed to be superior to IMRT in terms of organ at risk sparing.
      For bowel tract, the mean dose was reduced of 4 Gy by RA2 compared to IMRT.
      Similar trends were observed for bladder, femoral heads, and genitalia. The DVH
      of iliac crests and healthy tissue resulted in comparable sparing for the low
      doses (V10 and V20). Compared to IMRT, mean MUs for each fraction was
      significantly reduced with RapidArc (p = 0.0002) and the treatment time was
      reduced by a 6-fold extent. CONCLUSION: For patients suffering from anal canal
      cancer, RapidArc with 2 arcs was able to deliver equivalent treatment plan to
      IMRT in terms of PTV coverage. It provided a better organ at risk sparing and
      significant reductions of MU and treatment time per fraction.

PMID- 20942960
TI  - Sexual dysfunction among Ghanaian men presenting with various medical conditions.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Several medical conditions can affect and disrupt human sexuality.
      The alteration of sexuality in these medical conditions often hinder effective
      communication and empathy between the patients and their sexual partners because
      of cultural attitudes, social norms and negative feelings such as anxiety and
      guilt. Validated and standardized sexual inventories might therefore help resolve
      this problem. The objective of this cross-sectional study was to obtain data on
      the prevalence of male sexual dysfunction (SD) among Ghanaians with various
      medical conditions residing in Kumasi. METHODS: The Golombok Rust Inventory of
      Sexual Satisfaction (GRISS) was administered to 150 Ghanaian men with various
      medical conditions between 19 and 66 years old (mean +/- standard deviation:
      40.01 +/- 12.32 years) domiciled in the Kumasi metropolis. RESULTS: Out of the
      total 150 questionnaires administered, 105 (70.0%) men returned the
      questionnaires. Questionnaires from 3 men were incomplete, leaving 102 complete
      and evaluable questionnaires, indicating a 68.0% response rate. Of the remaining
      102 men, 88.2% were married, 70.6% had attained higher education, 88.2% were non
      smokers. Whereas 54.9% were engaged in exercise, 61.8% indulged in alcoholic
      beverages. The prevalence of the various medical conditions include: diabetes
      (18%), hypertension (24.5%), migraine (11.8%), ulcer (7.8%), surgery (6.9%), STD
      (3.9) and others (26.5%). The prevalence of SD among the respondents in the study
      was 59.8%. The highest prevalence of SD was seen among ulcer patients (100%),
      followed by patients who have undergone surgery (75%), diabetes (70%),
      hypertension (50%), STD (50%) and the lowest was seen among migraine patients
      (41.7%). CONCLUSIONS: SD rate is high among Ghanaian men with medical conditions
      (about 60%) and vary according to the condition and age.

PMID- 20942959
TI  - Marked potentiation of cell swelling by cytokines in ammonia-sensitized cultured
      astrocytes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Brain edema leading to high intracranial pressure is a lethal
      complication of acute liver failure (ALF), which is believed to be cytotoxic due
      to swelling of astrocytes. In addition to the traditional view that elevated
      levels of blood and brain ammonia are involved in the mechanism of brain edema in
      ALF, emerging evidence suggests that inflammatory cytokines also contribute to
      this process. We earlier reported that treatment of astrocyte cultures with a
      pathophysiological concentration of ammonia (5 mM NH4Cl) resulted in the
      activation of nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) and that inhibition of such
      activation diminished astrocyte swelling, suggesting a key role of NF-kappaB in
      the mechanism of ammonia-induced astrocyte swelling. Since cytokines are also
      well-known to activate NF-kappaB, this study examined for additive/synergistic
      effects of ammonia and cytokines in the activation of NF-kappaB and their role in
      astrocyte swelling. METHODS: Primary cultures of astrocytes were treated with
      ammonia and cytokines (TNF-alpha, IL-1, IL-6, IFN-gamma, each at 10 ng/ml),
      individually or in combination, and cell volume was determined by the [3H]-O
      methylglucose equilibration method. The effect of ammonia and cytokines on the
      activation of NF-kappaB was determined by immunoblots. RESULTS: Cell swelling was
      increased by ammonia (43%) and by cytokines (37%) at 24 h. Simultaneous co
      treatment with cytokines and ammonia showed no additional swelling. By contrast,
      cultures pretreated with ammonia for 24 h and then exposed to cytokines for an
      additional 24 h, showed a marked increase in astrocyte swelling (129%). Treatment
      of cultures with ammonia or cytokines alone also activated NF-kappaB (80-130%),
      while co-treatment had no additive effect. However, in cultures pre-treated with
      ammonia for 24 h, cytokines induced a marked activation of NF-kappaB (428%). BAY
      11-7082, an inhibitor of NF-kappaB, completely blocked the astrocyte swelling in
      cultures pre-treated with ammonia and followed by the addition of a mixture of
      cytokines. CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that ammonia and a mixture of
      cytokines each cause astrocyte swelling but when these agents are added
      simultaneously, no additive effects were found. On the other hand, when cells
      were initially treated with ammonia and 24 h later given a mixture of cytokines,
      a marked potentiation in cell swelling and NF-kappaB activation occurred. These
      data suggest that the potentiation in cell swelling is a consequence of the
      initial activation of NF-kappaB by ammonia. These findings provide a likely
      mechanism for the exacerbation of brain edema in patients with ALF in the setting
      of sepsis/inflammation.

PMID- 20942961
TI  - Cell line-dependent variability in HIV activation employing DNMT inhibitors.
AB  - Long-lived reservoirs of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) latently infected
      cells present the main barrier to a cure for HIV infection. Much interest has
      focused on identifying strategies to activate HIV, which would be used together
      with antiretrovirals to attack reservoirs. Several HIV activating agents,
      including Tumor Necrosis Factor alpha (TNFalpha) and other agents that activate
      via NF-kB are not fully effective in all latent infection models due to
      epigenetic restrictions, such as DNA methylation and the state of histone
      acetylation. DNA methyltransferases (DNMT) inhibitors like 5-aza-2'deoxycytidine
      (Aza-CdR) and histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors like Trichostatin A (TSA)
      have been proposed as agents to enhance reactivation and have shown activity in
      model systems. However, it is not clear how the activities of DNMT and HDAC
      inhibitors range across different latently infected cell lines, potential models
      for the many different latently infected cells within an HIV patient. We
      determined HIV activation following treatment with TNFalpha, TSA and Aza-CdR
      across a range of well known latently infected cell lines. We assessed the
      activity of these compounds in four different Jurkat T cell-derived J-Lat cell
      lines (6.3, 8.4, 9.2 and 10.6), which have a latent HIV provirus in which GFP
      replaces Nef coding sequence, and ACH-2 and J1.1 (T cell-derived), and U1
      (promonocyte-derived) cell lines with full-length provirus. We found that Aza-CdR
      plus TNFalpha activated HIV at least twice as well as TNFalpha alone for almost
      all J-Lat cells, as previously described, but not for J-Lat 10.6, in which
      TNFalpha plus Aza-CdR moderately decreased activation compared to TNFalpha alone.
      Surprisingly, a much greater reduction of TNFalpha-stimulated activation with Aza
      CdR was detected for ACH-2, J1.1 and U1 cells. Reaching the highest reduction in
      U1 cells with a 75% reduction. Interestingly, Aza-CdR not only decreased TNFalpha
      induction of HIV expression in certain cell lines, but also decreased activation
      by TSA. Since DNMT inhibitors reduce the activity of provirus activators in some
      HIV latently infected cell lines the use of epigenetic modifying agents may need
      to be carefully optimized if they are to find clinical utility in therapies aimed
      at attacking latent HIV reservoirs.

PMID- 20942963
TI  - The apoptotic response in HCT116BAX-/- cancer cells becomes rapidly saturated
      with increasing expression of a GFP-BAX fusion protein.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Many chemotherapeutic agents promote tumor cell death by activating
      the intrinsic pathway of apoptosis. Intrinsic apoptosis involves permeabilization
      of the mitochondrial outer membrane and the release of cytochrome c, a process
      that is controlled by proteins of the BCL2 gene family. Chemoresistance is often
      associated with abnormalities in concentrations of BCL2 family proteins. Although
      stoichiometirc interactions between anti-apoptotic and BH3-only BCL2 family
      proteins have been well documented as affecting cell death, the association
      between changes in BAX concentration and intrinsic apoptosis are poorly
      understood. METHODS: Exogenous GFP-murine Bax fusion constructs were transfected
      into BAX-deficient HCT116 cells. To titrate the expression of the fusion protein,
      GFP-BAX was cloned into a tetracycline sensitive expression cassette and
      cotransfected with a plasmid expressing the rtTA transcription factor into
      HCT116BAX-/- cells. Linear expression of the fusion gene was induced with
      doxycycline and monitored by quantitative PCR and immunoblotting. Cell death was
      assayed by DAPI staining cells after exposure to indomethacin, and scoring nuclei
      for condensed chromatin and fragmented nuclei. RESULTS: HCT116BAX-/- cells were
      resistant to indomethacin, but susceptibility could be recovered in cells
      expressing a GFP-BAX fusion protein. Titration of GFP-BAX expression revealed
      that the concentration of BAX required to induce a saturating apoptosis response
      from baseline, was rapidly achieved. Increased levels of GFP-BAX were unable to
      stimulate higher levels of cell death. Examination of GFP-BAX distribution before
      and after indomethacin treatment indicated that BAX protein did not form
      aggregates when present at sub-lethal concentrations. CONCLUSION: Within the
      limitations of this experimental system, BAX-dependent apoptosis in HCT116 cells
      exhibits an all-or-none response depending on the level of BAX protein present.
      The lack of BAX aggregation at sub-saturation levels suggests that the
      translocation step of BAX activation may be impaired.

PMID- 20942962
TI  - Clinical implications of novel activating EGFR mutations in malignant peritoneal
      mesothelioma.
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is a paucity of information about the molecular perturbations
      involved in MPM tumor formation. We previously reported that EGFR-TK mutations in
      MPM were predictive of achieving optimal surgical cytoreduction, but the status
      of EGFR pathway activation potential of these mutations was not known. Here we
      present the mutant EGFR activating potential and the matured survival data of the
      EGFR mutant(mut+) relative to wild type EGFR(mut-) mesothelioma. METHODS: Twenty
      nine patients were evaluated and their tumors were probed for mutations in the
      catalytic TK-domain. Twenty-five patients were treated with cytoreductive surgery
      and complete clinical data was available for comparison of the mut+ and mut-
      groups. A COS-7 cell expression model was used to determine mutation activating
      profiles and response to erlotinib. RESULTS: Functional mutations were found in
      31%(9/29) of patients; 7 of these mutations were novel and another was the L858R
      mutation. All missense mutations were found to be activating mutations and
      responsive to erlotinib. Of the 25 patients managed surgically, there were 7 mut+
      and 18 mut-. Two of 7 (29%) mut+ developed progressive disease and died with a
      median follow-up time of 22 months; while 13/18 (72%) mut- developed progressive
      disease and 10/18 (56%) died with median TTP of 12 months and median survival of
      14 months. CONCLUSIONS: The novel EGFR mutations identified are activating
      mutations responsive to erlotinib. The mut+ subset have a 'relative' improved
      outcome. Erlotinib may have a role in MPM and exploration for mutations in a
      larger patient cohort is warranted.

PMID- 20942964
TI  - Chemokine gene expression in lung CD8 T cells correlates with protective immunity
      in mice immunized intra-nasally with Adenovirus-85A.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Immunization of BALB/c mice with a recombinant adenovirus expressing
      Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tuberculosis) antigen 85A (Ad85A) protects against
      aerosol challenge with M. tuberculosis only when it is administered intra-nasally
      (i.n.). Immunization with Ad85A induces a lung-resident population of activated
      CD8 T cells that is antigen dependent, highly activated and mediates protection
      by early inhibition of M. tuberculosis growth. In order to determine why the i.n.
      route is so effective compared to parenteral immunization, we used microarray
      analysis to compare gene expression profiles of pulmonary and splenic CD8 T cells
      after i.n. or intra-dermal (i.d.) immunization. METHOD: Total RNA from CD8 T
      cells was isolated from lungs or spleens of mice immunized with Ad85A by the i.n.
      or i.d. route. The gene profiles generated from each condition were compared.
      Statistically significant (p <= 0.05) differentially expressed genes were
      analyzed to determine if they mapped to particular molecular functions,
      biological processes or pathways using Gene Ontology and Panther DB mapping
      tools. RESULTS: CD8 T cells from lungs of i.n. immunized mice expressed a large
      number of chemokines chemotactic for resting and activated T cells as well as
      activation and survival genes. Lung lymphocytes from i.n. immunized mice also
      express the chemokine receptor gene Cxcr6, which is thought to aid long-term
      retention of antigen-responding T cells in the lungs. Expression of CXCR6 on CD8
      T cells was confirmed by flow cytometry. CONCLUSIONS: Our microarray analysis
      represents the first ex vivo study comparing gene expression profiles of CD8 T
      cells isolated from distinct sites after immunization with an adenoviral vector
      by different routes. It confirms earlier phenotypic data indicating that lung
      i.n. cells are more activated than lung i.d. CD8 T cells. The sustained
      expression of chemokines and activation genes enables CD8 T cells to remain in
      the lungs for extended periods after i.n. immunization. This may account for the
      early inhibition of M. tuberculosis growth observed in Ad85A i.n. immunized mice
      and explain the effectiveness of i.n. compared to parenteral immunization with
      this viral vector.

PMID- 20942966
TI  - Booly: a new data integration platform.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Data integration is an escalating problem in bioinformatics. We have
      developed a web tool and warehousing system, Booly, that features a simple yet
      flexible data model coupled with the ability to perform powerful comparative
      analysis, including the use of Boolean logic to merge datasets together, and an
      integrated aliasing system to decipher differing names of the same gene or
      protein. Furthermore, Booly features a collaborative sharing system and a public
      repository so that users can retrieve new datasets while contributors can easily
      disseminate new content. RESULTS: We illustrate the uses of Booly with several
      examples including: the versatile creation of homebrew datasets, the integration
      of heterogeneous data to identify genes useful for comparing avian and mammalian
      brain architecture, and generation of a list of Food and Drug Administration
      (FDA) approved drugs with possible alternative disease targets. CONCLUSIONS: The
      Booly paradigm for data storage and analysis should facilitate integration
      between disparate biological and medical fields and result in novel discoveries
      that can then be validated experimentally. Booly can be accessed at
      http://booly.ucsd.edu.

PMID- 20942965
TI  - A high-throughput cloning system for reverse genetics in Trypanosoma cruzi.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The three trypanosomatids pathogenic to men, Trypanosoma cruzi,
      Trypanosoma brucei and Leishmania major, are etiological agents of Chagas
      disease, African sleeping sickness and cutaneous leishmaniasis, respectively. The
      complete sequencing of these trypanosomatid genomes represented a breakthrough in
      the understanding of these organisms. Genome sequencing is a step towards solving
      the parasite biology puzzle, as there are a high percentage of genes encoding
      proteins without functional annotation. Also, technical limitations in protein
      expression in heterologous systems reinforce the evident need for the development
      of a high-throughput reverse genetics platform. Ideally, such platform would lead
      to efficient cloning and compatibility with various approaches. Thus, we aimed to
      construct a highly efficient cloning platform compatible with plasmid vectors
      that are suitable for various approaches. RESULTS: We constructed a platform with
      a flexible structure allowing the exchange of various elements, such as
      promoters, fusion tags, intergenic regions or resistance markers. This platform
      is based on Gateway(r) technology, to ensure a fast and efficient cloning system.
      We obtained plasmid vectors carrying genes for fluorescent proteins (green, cyan
      or yellow), and sequences for the c-myc epitope, and tandem affinity purification
      or polyhistidine tags. The vectors were verified by successful subcellular
      localization of two previously characterized proteins (TcRab7 and PAR 2) and a
      putative centrin. For the tandem affinity purification tag, the purification of
      two protein complexes (ribosome and proteasome) was performed. CONCLUSIONS: We
      constructed plasmids with an efficient cloning system and suitable for use across
      various applications, such as protein localization and co-localization, protein
      partner identification and protein expression. This platform also allows vector
      customization, as the vectors were constructed to enable easy exchange of its
      elements. The development of this high-throughput platform is a step closer
      towards large-scale trypanosome applications and initiatives.

PMID- 20942967
TI  - An essential role for Ran GTPase in epithelial ovarian cancer cell survival.
AB  - BACKGROUND: We previously identified that Ran protein, a member of the Ras GTPase
      family, is highly expressed in high grade and high stage serous epithelial
      ovarian cancers, and that its overexpression is associated with a poor prognosis.
      Ran is known to contribute to both nucleocytoplasmic transport and cell cycle
      progression, but its role in ovarian cancer is not well defined. RESULTS: Using a
      lentivirus-based tetracycline-inducible shRNA approach, we show that
      downregulation of Ran expression in aggressive ovarian cancer cell lines affects
      cellular proliferation by inducing a caspase-3 associated apoptosis. Using a
      xenograft tumor assay, we demonstrate that depletion of Ran results in decreased
      tumorigenesis, and eventual tumor formation is associated with tumor cells that
      express Ran protein. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest a role for Ran in ovarian
      cancer cell survival and tumorigenicity and suggest that this critical GTPase may
      be suitable as a therapeutic target.

PMID- 20942969
TI  - Self-sacrifice in 'desperado' contests between relatives.
AB  - Intra-specific competition occurs in all animal species and can lead to
      escalated conflict. Overt fighting entails the risk of injury or death, and is
      usually avoided through the use of conventions or pre-fight assessments. However,
      overt fighting can be expected when value of the contest outweighs the value of
      the future, as contestants have little or nothing to lose. In these situations,
      respect for conventions and asymmetries between contestants can break down, and
      overt fighting becomes more likely (the desperado effect). Such conditions can
      arise in contests between queens over colony ownership in social insects, because
      the value of inheriting a colony of potentially thousands of helpers is huge and
      queens may have very limited alternative reproductive options. However, in social
      species the balance of possible outcomes may be influenced by inclusive fitness,
      as contestants are often relatives. Here we present a simple model based on
      social insects, which demonstrates that not fighting can be selectively
      advantageous when there is a risk posed by fighting to inclusive fitness, even
      when not fighting is likely to result in death. If contestants are related, a
      loser can still gain indirect fitness through the winner, whereas fighting
      introduces a risk that both queens will die and thereby obtain zero inclusive
      fitness. When relatedness is high and fighting poses a risk of all contestants
      dying, it can be advantageous to cede the contest and be killed, rather than risk
      everything by fighting.

PMID- 20942968
TI  - Towards real-time cardiovascular magnetic resonance-guided transarterial aortic
      valve implantation: in vitro evaluation and modification of existing devices.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) is considered an attractive
      alternative for guiding transarterial aortic valve implantation (TAVI) featuring
      unlimited scan plane orientation and unsurpassed soft-tissue contrast with
      simultaneous device visualization. We sought to evaluate the CMR characteristics
      of both currently commercially available transcatheter heart valves (Edwards
      SAPIENTM, Medtronic CoreValve(r)) including their dedicated delivery devices and
      of a custom-built, CMR-compatible delivery device for the Medtronic CoreValve(r)
      prosthesis as an initial step towards real-time CMR-guided TAVI. METHODS: The
      devices were systematically examined in phantom models on a 1.5-Tesla scanner
      using high-resolution T1-weighted 3D FLASH, real-time TrueFISP and flow-sensitive
      phase-contrast sequences. Images were analyzed for device visualization quality,
      device-related susceptibility artifacts, and radiofrequency signal shielding.
      RESULTS: CMR revealed major susceptibility artifacts for the two commercial
      delivery devices caused by considerable metal braiding and precluding in vivo
      application. The stainless steel-based Edwards SAPIENTM prosthesis was also
      regarded not suitable for CMR-guided TAVI due to susceptibility artifacts
      exceeding the valve's dimensions and hindering an exact placement. In contrast,
      the nitinol-based Medtronic CoreValve(r) prosthesis was excellently visualized
      with delineation even of small details and, thus, regarded suitable for CMR
      guided TAVI, particularly since reengineering of its delivery device toward CMR
      compatibility resulted in artifact elimination and excellent visualization during
      catheter movement and valve deployment on real-time TrueFISP imaging. Reliable
      flow measurements could be performed for both stent-valves after deployment using
      phase-contrast sequences. CONCLUSIONS: The present study shows that the Medtronic
      CoreValve(r) prosthesis is potentially suited for real-time CMR-guided placement
      in vivo after suggested design modifications of the delivery system.

PMID- 20942970
TI  - "Brace technology" thematic series - the Gensingen braceTM in the treatment of
      scoliosis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Bracing concepts in use today for the treatment of scoliosis include
      symmetric and asymmetric hard braces usually made of polyethylene (PE) and soft
      braces. A new asymmetric Cheneau style CAD/CAM derivate has been designed to
      overcome problems the author experienced with other Cheneau CAD/CAM systems over
      the recent years. BRACE DESCRIPTION: This CAD/CAM Cheneau derivate has been
      called Gensingen braceTM, a brace available to address all possible curve
      patterns. Once the patients' trunk is scanned with the help of a whole trunk
      optical 3D-scan and the patients' data from the clinical measurements are
      recorded, a model of the brace can be created by (1) modifying the trunk model of
      the patient 'on screen' to achieve a very individual brace model using the
      CAD/CAM tools provided or by (2) choosing a brace model from our library and re
      size it to the patients' properties 'on screen'. RESULTS: End-result studies have
      been published on the Cheneau brace as early as 1985. Cohort studies on the
      Cheneau brace are available as is a prospective controlled study respecting the
      SRS criteria for bracing studies, demonstrating beneficial outcomes, when
      compared to the controls using a soft brace. Sufficient in-brace correction
      effects have been demonstrated to be achievable when the Cheneau principles of
      correction are used appropriately. As there is a positive correlation between in
      brace correction and the final outcome, the Cheneau concept of bracing with
      sufficient in-brace corrections as published can be regarded as being efficient
      when applied well. Case reports with high in-brace corrections, as shown within
      this paper using the Gensingen braceTM promise beneficial outcomes when a good
      compliance can be achieved. CONCLUSIONS: The use of the Gensingen braceTM leads
      to sufficient in-brace corrections, when compared to the correction effects
      achieved with other braces, as described in literature.According to the patients'
      reports, the Gensingen braceTM is comfortable to wear, when adjusted
      properly.Further studies are necessary (1) in order to evaluate brace comfort and
      (2) effectiveness using the SRS inclusion criteria.

PMID- 20942971
TI  - Interaction of human dipeptidyl peptidase IV and human immunodeficiency virus
      type-1 transcription transactivator in Sf9 cells.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPPIV) also known as the T cell activation
      marker CD26 is a multifunctional protein which is involved in various biological
      processes. The association of human-DPPIV with components of the human
      immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV1) is well documented and raised some
      discussions. Several reports implicated the interaction of human-DPPIV with the
      HIV1 transcription transactivator protein (HIV1-Tat) and the inhibition of the
      dipeptidyl peptidase activity of DPPIV by the HIV1-Tat protein. Furthermore,
      enzyme kinetic data implied another binding site for the HIV1-Tat other than the
      active centre of DPPIV. However, the biological significance of this interaction
      of the HIV1-Tat protein and human-DPPIV has not been studied, yet. Therefore, we
      focused on the interaction of HIV1-Tat protein with DPPIV and investigated the
      subsequent biological consequences of this interaction in Spodoptera frugiperda
      cells, using the BAC-TO-BAC baculovirus system. RESULTS: The HIV1-Tat protein
      (Tat-BRU) co-localized and co-immunoprecipitated with human-DPPIV protein,
      following co-expression in the baculovirus-driven Sf9 cell expression system.
      Furthermore, tyrosine phosphorylation of DPPIV protein was up-regulated in
      Tat/DPPIV-co-expressing cells after 72 h culturing and also in DPPIV-expressing
      Sf9 cells after application of purified recombinant Tat protein. As opposed to
      the expression of Tat alone, serine phosphorylation of the Tat protein was
      decreased when co-expressed with human-DPPIV protein. CONCLUSIONS: We show for
      the first time that human-DPPIV and HIV1-Tat co-immunoprecipitate. Furthermore,
      our findings indicate that the interaction of HIV1-Tat and human-DPPIV may be
      involved in signalling platforms that regulate the biological function of both
      human-DPPIV and HIV1-Tat.

PMID- 20942972
TI  - Reorienting programme budgeting and marginal analysis (PBMA) towards
      disinvestment.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Remarkable progress has been made over the past 40 years in
      developing rational, evidence-based mechanisms for the allocation of health
      resources. Much of this progress has centred on mechanisms for commissioning new
      medical devices and pharmaceuticals. The attention of fund-managers and policy
      makers is only now turning towards development of mechanisms for decommissioning,
      disinvesting or redeploying resources from currently funded interventions. While
      Programme Budgeting and Marginal Analysis would seem well-suited to this purpose,
      past applications include both successes and failures in achieving disinvestment
      and resource release. DISCUSSION: Drawing on recent successes/failures in
      achieving disinvestment and resource release via PBMA, this paper identifies four
      barriers/enablers to disinvestment via PBMA: (i) specification of the budget
      constraint, (ii) scope of the programme budget, (iii) composition and role of the
      advisory group, and (iv) incentives for/against contributing to a 'shift list' of
      options for disinvestment and resource release. A number of modifications to the
      PBMA process are then proposed with the aim of reorienting PBMA towards
      disinvestment. SUMMARY: The reoriented model is differentiated by four features:
      (i) hard budget constraint with budgetary pressure; (ii) programme budgets with
      broad scope but specific investment proposals linked to disinvestment proposals
      with similar input requirements; (iii) advisory/working groups that include equal
      representation of sectional interests plus additional members with responsibility
      for advocating in favour of disinvestment, (iv) 'shift lists' populated and
      developed prior to 'wish lists' and investment proposals linked to disinvestment
      proposals within a relatively narrow budget area. While the argument and evidence
      presented here suggest that the reoriented model will facilitate disinvestment
      and resource release, this remains an empirical question. Likewise, further
      research will be required to determine whether or not the re-oriented model
      sacrifices feasibility and acceptability to obtain its hypothesised greater
      emphasis on disinvestment.

PMID- 20942973
TI  - Practitioners' validation of framework of team-oriented practice models in
      integrative health care: a mixed methods study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Biomedical and Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) academic
      and clinical communities have yet to arrive at a common understanding of what
      Integrative healthcare (IHC) is and how it is practiced. The Models of Team
      Health Care Practice (MTHP) framework is a conceptual representation of seven
      possible practice models of health care within which teams of practitioners could
      elect to practice IHC, from an organizational perspective. The models range from
      parallel practice at one end to integrative practice at the other end. Models
      differ theoretically, based on a series of hypotheses. To date, this framework
      has not been empirically validated. This paper aims to test nine hypotheses in an
      attempt to validate the MTHP framework. METHODS: Secondary analysis of two
      studies carried out by the same research team was conducted, using a mixed
      methods approach. Data were collected from both biomedical and CAM practitioners
      working in Canadian IHC clinics. The secondary analysis is based on 21
      participants in the qualitative study and 87 in the quantitative study. RESULTS:
      We identified three groups among the initial seven models in the MTHP framework.
      Differences between practitioners working in different practice models were found
      chiefly between those who thought that their clinics represented an integrative
      model, versus those who perceived their clinics to represent a parallel or
      consultative model. Of the scales used in the analysis, only the process of
      information sharing varied significantly across all three groups of models.
      CONCLUSIONS: The MTHP framework should be used with caution to guide the
      evaluation of the impact of team-oriented practice models on both subjective and
      objective outcomes of IHC. Groups of models may be more useful, because clinics
      may not "fit" under a single model when more than one model of collaboration
      occurs at a single site. The addition of a hypothesis regarding power
      relationships between practitioners should be considered. Further validation is
      required so that integrative practice models are well described with appropriate
      terminology, thus facilitating the work of health care practitioners, managers,
      policy makers and researchers.

PMID- 20942974
TI  - The extracellular proteome of Rhizobium etli CE3 in exponential and stationary
      growth phase.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The extracellular proteome or secretome of symbiotic bacteria like
      Rhizobium etli is presumed to be a key element of their infection strategy and
      survival. Rhizobia infect the roots of leguminous plants and establish a mutually
      beneficial symbiosis. To find out the possible role of secreted proteins we
      analyzed the extracellular proteome of R. etli CE3 in the exponential and
      stationary growth phases in minimal medium, supplemented with succinate-ammonium.
      RESULTS: The extracellular proteins were obtained by phenol extraction and
      identified by LC-ESI MS/MS. We identified 192 and 191 proteins for the
      exponential and stationary phases respectively. Using the software Signal P, we
      predicted signal peptides for 12.95% and 35.60% of the proteins identified in the
      exponential and stationary phases, respectively, which could therefore be
      secreted by the Sec pathway. For the exponential growth phase, we found in
      abundance proteins like the ribosomal proteins, toxins and proteins belonging to
      the group "defence mechanisms". For the stationary growth phase, we found that
      the most abundant proteins were those with unknown function, and in many of these
      we identified characteristic domains of proteases and peptidases. CONCLUSIONS:
      Our study provided the first dataset of the secretome of R. etli and its
      modifications, which may lead to novel insights into the adaptive response of
      different stages of growth. In addition, we found a high number of proteins with
      unknown function; these proteins could be analyzed in future research to
      elucidate their role in the extracellular proteome of R. etli.

PMID- 20942975
TI  - Psychosocial stress and strategies for managing adversity: measuring population
      resilience in New South Wales, Australia.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Populations around the world are facing an increasing number of
      adversities such as the global financial crisis, terrorism, conflict, and climate
      change. The aim of this paper was to investigate self-reported strategies and
      sources of support used to get through "tough times" in an Australian context and
      to identify patterns of response in the general population and differences in
      potentially vulnerable subgroups. METHODS: Data were collected through a cross
      sectional survey of the New South Wales population in Australia. The final sample
      consisted of 3,995 New South Wales residents aged 16 years and above who
      responded to the question: "What are the things that get you through tough
      times?" RESULTS: Respondents provided brief comments that were coded into 14 main
      subject-area categories. The most frequently reported responses were family and
      self (52%); friends and neighbors (21%); use of positive emotional and
      philosophical strategies (17%), such as sense of humor, determination, and the
      belief that things would get better; and religious beliefs (11%). The responses
      of four population subgroups were compared, based on gender, household income,
      level of psychological distress, and whether a language other than English was
      spoken at home. Women reported greater use of friends and neighbors and religious
      or spiritual beliefs for support, whereas men reported greater use of
      drinking/smoking and financial supports. Those with lower incomes reported
      greater reliance on positive emotional and philosophical strategies and on
      religious or spiritual beliefs. Those with high levels of psychological distress
      reported greater use of leisure interests and hobbies, drinking/smoking, and less
      use of positive lifestyle strategies, such as adequate sleep, relaxation, or
      work/life balance. Those who spoke a language other than English at home were
      less likely to report relying on self or others (family/friends) or positive
      emotional and philosophical strategies to get through tough times. CONCLUSIONS:
      Understanding strategies and sources of support used by the population to get
      through adversity is the first step toward identifying the best approaches to
      build and support strengths and reduce vulnerabilities. It is also possible to
      reflect on how large-scale threats such as pandemics, disasters, conflict,
      bereavement, and loss could impact individual and population resilience.

PMID- 20942976
TI  - Biomechanical investigation of a novel ratcheting arthrodesis nail.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Knee or tibiotalocalcaneal arthrodesis is a salvage procedure, often
      with unacceptable rates of nonunion. Basic science of fracture healing suggests
      that compression across a fusion site may decrease nonunion. A novel ratcheting
      arthrodesis nail designed to improve dynamic compression is mechanically tested
      in comparison to existing nails. METHODS: A novel ratcheting nail was designed
      and mechanically tested in comparison to a solid nail and a threaded nail using
      sawbones models (Pacific Research Laboratories, Inc.). Intramedullary nails (IM)
      were implanted with a load cell (Futek LTH 500) between fusion surfaces.
      Constructs were then placed into a servo-hydraulic test frame (Model 858 Mini
      bionix, MTS Systems) for application of 3 mm and 6 mm dynamic axial displacement
      (n = 3/group). Load to failure was also measured. RESULTS: Mean percent of
      initial load after 3-mm and 6-mm displacement was 190.4% and 186.0% for the solid
      nail, 80.7% and 63.0% for the threaded nail, and 286.4% and 829.0% for the
      ratcheting nail, respectively. Stress-shielding (as percentage of maximum load
      per test) after 3-mm and 6-mm displacement averaged 34.8% and 28.7% (solid nail),
      40.3% and 40.9% (threaded nail), and 18.5% and 11.5% (ratcheting nail),
      respectively. In the 6-mm trials, statistically significant increase in initial
      load and decrease in stress-shielding for the ratcheting vs. solid nail (p =
      0.029, p = 0.001) and vs. threaded nail (p = 0.012, p = 0.002) was observed. Load
      to failure for the ratcheting nail; 599.0 lbs, threaded nail; 508.8 lbs, and
      solid nail; 688.1 lbs. CONCLUSION: With significantly increase of compressive
      load while decreasing stress-shielding at 6-mm of dynamic displacement, the
      ratcheting mechanism in IM nails may clinically improve rates of fusion.

PMID- 20942977
TI  - Second-hand smoke exposure and the factors associated with avoidance behavior
      among the mothers of pre-school children: a school-based cross-sectional study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Second-hand Smoke (SHS) exposure is a significant public health
      problem that may be responsible for serious health hazards for child. This study
      aimed to examine the exposure status of SHS and the factors associated with SHS
      avoidance behavior among the mothers of pre-school children. METHODS: A cross
      sectional study was used to obtain a sample of the mothers of pre-school children
      (n = 1,020) in 30 registered kindergartens in eastern Taiwan. Overall, 919 (a
      response rate of 90%) completed the questionnaires. Regression models were used
      to identify factors with respect to the avoidance behavior of SHS. RESULTS: The
      prevalence of exposure to SHS was 70% and 50% for the mothers and their children,
      respectively. After adjusting for other variables, mothers who were current
      smokers (beta = -0.260, p < 0.001), had spouses who smoked (beta = -0.060, p <
      0.05), SHS exposure (beta = -0.138, p < 0.001), and/or children with exposure to
      SHS (beta = -0.084, p < 0.05) were found to be less likely to avoid SHS, whereas
      mothers with a high knowledge score about SHS (beta = 0.082, p < 0.01), positive
      attitudes (beta = 0.274, p < 0.001) and a high self-efficacy level in regard to
      the avoidance of SHS (beta = 0.397, p < 0.001) were observed to be more likely to
      avoid SHS. Regression analyses confirmed that the significantly factors
      associated with the avoidance behavior of SHS were self-efficacy, being a current
      smoker, and the attitude toward the avoidance of SHS to be that of 55.5% of the
      total variance explained (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The high prevalence rate of
      exposure to SHS for mothers and their children suggests that a well-designed
      future intervention program should be implemented in regard to pre-school
      children's mothers in order to prevent these mothers and their children from SHS
      exposure hazards, more particularly, to strengthen the knowledge base, to enhance
      self-efficacy and to foster a more positive attitude toward the avoidance of SHS
      in the mothers.

PMID- 20942978
TI  - CCL2 modulates cytokine production in cultured mouse astrocytes.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The chemokine CCL2 (also known as monocyte chemoattractant protein-1,
      or MCP-1) is upregulated in patients and rodent models of traumatic brain injury
      (TBI), contributing to post-traumatic neuroinflammation and degeneration by
      directing the infiltration of blood-derived macrophages into the injured brain.
      Our laboratory has previously reported that Ccl2-/- mice show reduced macrophage
      accumulation and tissue damage, corresponding to improved motor recovery,
      following experimental TBI. Surprisingly, Ccl2-deficient mice also exhibited
      delayed but exacerbated secretion of key proinflammatory cytokines in the injured
      cortex. Thus we sought to further characterise CCL2's potential ability to
      modulate immunoactivation of astrocytes in vitro. METHODS: Primary astrocytes
      were isolated from neonatal wild-type and Ccl2-deficient mice. Established
      astrocyte cultures were stimulated with various concentrations of
      lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and interleukin (IL)-1beta for up to 24 hours. Separate
      experiments involved pre-incubation with mouse recombinant (r)CCL2 prior to IL
      1beta stimulation in wild-type cells. Following stimulation, cytokine secretion
      was measured in culture supernatant by immunoassays, whilst cytokine gene
      expression was quantified by real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain
      reaction. RESULTS: LPS (0.1-100 MUg/ml; 8 h) induced the significantly greater
      secretion of five key cytokines and chemokines in Ccl2-/- astrocytes compared to
      wild-type cells. Consistently, IL-6 mRNA levels were 2-fold higher in Ccl2
      deficient cells. IL-1beta (10 and 50 ng/ml; 2-24 h) also resulted in exacerbated
      IL-6 production from Ccl2-/- cultures. Despite this, treatment of wild-type
      cultures with rCCL2 alone (50-500 ng/ml) did not induce cytokine/chemokine
      production by astrocytes. However, pre-incubation of wild-type astrocytes with
      rCCL2 (250 ng/ml, 12 h) prior to stimulation with IL-1beta (10 ng/ml, 8 h)
      significantly reduced IL-6 protein and gene expression. CONCLUSIONS: Our data
      indicate that astrocytes are likely responsible for the exacerbated cytokine
      response seen in vivo post-injury in the absence of CCL2. Furthermore, evidence
      that CCL2 inhibits cytokine production by astrocytes following IL-1beta
      stimulation, suggests a novel, immunomodulatory role for this chemokine in acute
      neuroinflammation. Further investigation is required to determine the
      physiological relevance of this phenomenon, which may have implications for
      therapeutics targeting CCL2-mediated leukocyte infiltration following TBI.

PMID- 20942979
TI  - Adrenomedullin increases fibroblast-like synoviocyte adhesion to extracellular
      matrix proteins by upregulating integrin activation.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is characterized by bone and cartilage
      invasion by fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLSs). Adrenomedullin, a peptide with
      anabolic and antiapoptotic properties, is secreted by rheumatoid FLSs.
      Adrenomedullin also increases the expression of adhesion molecules in endothelial
      cells and keratinocytes. Here, we investigated whether adrenomedullin mediated
      FLS adhesion to extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins. METHODS: FLSs were isolated
      from synovial tissues from RA and osteoarthritis (OA) patients. Plates were
      coated overnight with the ECM proteins vitronectin, fibronectin, and type I
      collagen (Coll.I). Adrenomedullin was used as a soluble FLS ligand before
      plating. We tested interactions with the adrenomedullin receptor antagonist (22
      52)adrenomedullin and with the protein kinase A (PKA) inhibitor H-89, and
      inhibition of co-receptor RAMP-2 by siRNA. Cell adhesion was measured by using
      color densitometry. Activation of alpha2 and beta1 integrins was evaluated by
      fluorescent microscopy; integrin inhibition, by RGD peptides; and the talin
      integrin interaction, by immunoprecipitation (IP). RESULTS: Adrenomedullin
      specifically increased RA-FLS adhesion to vitronectin, fibronectin, and Coll.I;
      no such effect was found for OA-FLS adhesion. Basal or adrenomedullin-stimulated
      RA-FLS adhesion was inhibited by (22-52)adrenomedullin, H-89, and RAMP-2 siRNA.
      Adrenomedullin-stimulated adhesion was inhibited by RGD peptides, and associated
      with alpha2 and beta1 integrin activation. This activation was shown with IP to
      be related to an integrin-talin interaction and was significantly decreased by
      (22-52)adrenomedullin. CONCLUSIONS: Adrenomedullin-stimulated RA-FLS adhesion was
      specific for ECM proteins and mediated by alpha2 and beta1 integrins. This effect
      of adrenomedullin was dependent on adrenomedullin receptors. These results
      support a new role for adrenomedullin in rheumatoid synovial fibroblast
      pathobiology.

PMID- 20942980
TI  - Change in quality of life and their predictors in the long-term follow-up after
      group cognitive behavioral therapy for social anxiety disorder: a prospective
      cohort study.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is one of the most common anxiety
      disorders. The efficacy of cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) has been examined
      but to date its effects on Quality of Life (QoL) have not been appropriately
      evaluated especially in the long term.The study aimed to examine, in the long
      term, what aspects of Quality of Life (QoL) changed among social anxiety disorder
      (SAD) patients treated with group cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) and what
      predictors at baseline were associated with QoL. METHODS: Outpatients diagnosed
      with SAD were enrolled into group CBT, and assessed at follow-ups for up to 12
      months in a typical clinical setting. QoL was evaluated using the Short Form 36.
      Various aspects of SAD symptomatology were also assessed. Each of the QoL domains
      and scores on symptomatology were quantified and compared with those at baseline.
      Baseline predictors of QoL outcomes at follow-up were investigated. RESULTS:
      Fifty-seven outpatients were enrolled into group CBT for SAD, 48 completed the
      whole program, and 44 and 40 completed assessments at the 3-month and 12-month
      follow-ups, respectively. All aspects of SAD symptomatology and psychological
      subscales of the QoL showed statistically significant improvement throughout
      follow-ups for up to 12 months. In terms of social functioning, no statistically
      significant improvement was observed at either follow-up point except for post
      treatment. No consistently significant pre-treatment predictors were observed.
      CONCLUSIONS: After group CBT, SAD symptomatology and some aspects of QoL improved
      and this improvement was maintained for up to 12 months, but the social
      functioning domain did not prove any significant change statistically.
      Considering the limited effects of CBT on QoL, especially for social functioning,
      more powerful treatments are needed.

PMID- 20942982
TI  - HTA principles need rigorous review.

PMID- 20942981
TI  - WWOX gene is associated with HDL cholesterol and triglyceride levels.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Altered lipid profile, and in particular low HDL and high
      triglyceride (TG) plasma levels, are within the major determinants of
      cardiovascular diseases. The identification of quantitative trait loci (QTL)
      affecting these lipid levels is a relevant issue for predictive purposes. The
      WWOX gene has been recently associated with HDL levels. This gene is located at
      chromosome 16q23, a region previously linked to familial combined hyperlipidemia
      (FCHL) and HDL. Our objective is to perform a genetic association analysis at the
      WWOX gene region with HDL, TG and TG/HDL ratio. METHODS: A quantitative
      association analysis performed in 801 individuals selected from the Spanish
      general population. RESULTS: For HDL levels, two regions of intron 8 display
      clustering of positive signals (p < 0.05) but none of them was associated in the
      haplotypic analysis (0.07 <= p <= 0.165). For TG levels not only intron 8 but
      also a 27 kb region spanning from the promoter region to intron 4 are associated
      in this study. For the TG/HDL genetic association analysis, positive signals are
      coincident with those of the isolated traits. Interestingly, haplotypic analysis
      at the 5' region showed that variation in this region modified both HDL and TG
      levels, especially the latter (p = 0.003). CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that
      WWOX is a QTL for both TG and HDL.

PMID- 20942984
TI  - Supporting tough decisions in Norway: a healthcare system approach.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: We describe, in general, the principles used in priority setting and,
      in particular, policy processes and decision making in Norway. METHODS: A newly
      established council for setting priorities in health care is presented to
      illustrate how health technology assessments (HTAs) can support national advisors
      in complex priority-setting processes. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Setting
      priorities in health care is a complex task. Careful thinking is, therefore,
      required in determining the components of a system for priority-setting. Based on
      recent Norwegian experiences, we believe that the following generic parts may
      provide some of the solution: a common set of values; an organizational structure
      made up of key stakeholders; supporting mechanisms in the form of HTA
      organizations and documented best evidence; and loyalty to decisions by
      stakeholders responsible for implementing national policies.

PMID- 20942985
TI  - Health technology assessment for resource allocation decisions: are key
      principles relevant for Latin America?
AB  - OBJECTIVES: A set of fifteen key principles (KP) has been recently proposed to
      guide decisions on the structure of HTA programs, the methods of HTA, the
      processes for conducting HTA and the use of HTA findings in decision-making. The
      objective of this research is to explore whether these KPs are relevant and
      useful in Latin America (LA), and to what extent they are being applied. METHODS:
      A Web-based survey was sent to 11,792 HTA researchers and users in LA to explore
      the perceived relevance of each KP, its current level of application and the gap
      between these two. RESULTS: We received 1,142 responses from nineteen LA
      countries (9.7 percent response rate). The subgroup of KP related to Methods and
      to the Use of HTA received the higher mean scores in the relevance scale (9.00
      and 8.94). Level of current application scored low in all KP (3.2 to 4.9). Higher
      gaps were observed in principles related to the use of HTA in decision making and
      to the processes for conducting HTA. Countries with more developed HTA showed
      higher scores in the degree of current application (5.3 versus 3.4, p < .01) and
      lower gaps (3.84 versus 5.21, p < .01). Researchers, compared with research
      users, scored the relevance of the KPs higher. CONCLUSIONS: KPs seem to be very
      relevant to most HTA researchers and users in LA. However, the current level of
      application was considered uniformly poor. Higher gaps were observed in KPs
      related to the link between HTA and decision making, highlighting one of the
      major challenges for the countries in the region.

PMID- 20942986
TI  - Identifying economic evaluations for health technology assessment.
AB  - OBJECTIVES AND METHODS: Health technology assessment (HTA) often requires the
      identification and review of economic evaluations and models. This study surveys
      the available specific and general resources to search to identify economic
      evaluations. It also provides information on efficient searching of those
      resources and comments on the current evidence-base. RESULTS: Published
      checklists recommend searching for economic evaluations in specific information
      resources which collect economic evaluations such as NHS EED and HEED, followed
      by top-up searches of large biomedical bibliographic databases (such as MEDLINE
      and EMBASE). Other resources such as the HTA and DARE databases can yield reports
      of economic evaluations. Searches within NHS EED and HEED can be made more
      efficient by using database-specific search options. Searches within large
      biomedical databases such as MEDLINE and EMBASE require the use of economic
      search terms called search filters. Search filters are highly sensitive,
      retrieving most economic evaluations, but suffer from low precision returning
      many irrelevant records which need to be assessed. CONCLUSIONS: It is relatively
      easy to identify rapidly a high proportion of economic evaluations but more
      research is required to improve the efficiency of this process. There are key
      high yield resources to search but more evidence is required on their overlap and
      unique contribution to searches. The value of other resources, particularly those
      providing access to gray literature, should be explored. Research into efficient
      retrieval requires clear definitions of economic evaluations to allow comparison
      across studies.

PMID- 20942987
TI  - Diffusion of innovations in health care: does the structural context determine
      its direction?
AB  - OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to present and illustrate an instrument to
      measure the level of innovation at country level. METHODS: The data used are the
      Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) health data 2009,
      in particular the information on use of medical technology. Two composite scales
      expressing a relative level of adoption of innovations in health care are
      regressed, using multilevel regression analysis, on country characteristics. The
      country characteristics are selected as proxies on availability or scarcity of
      resources in a country. We expect that scarcity will promote adoption of
      innovations that enhance efficiency, and that availability of resources will
      promote advanced, expensive innovations. RESULTS: Two scales were constructed.
      One scale indicates the use of efficiency-enhancing innovations (day case
      treatment), and the other scale indicates availability of advanced technical
      innovations. The application of day case treatment is significantly associated
      with education level (+), the ratio of people aged 15-64 versus younger and older
      people (+) and the number of hospital beds (-). Availability of advanced medical
      devices are associated with the expenditure on health (+), demographic dependency
      (-), number of hospital beds (+), and the annual reduction of hospital beds (-).
      CONCLUSIONS: Diffusion of innovations is influenced by characteristics of the
      country and of the healthcare system; fewer resources encourage diffusion of
      innovations that enhance efficiency and more resources encourage diffusion of
      complex, expensive devices. This indicates that decisions by healthcare
      professionals on which innovation to adopt is embedded in a context that is
      influenced and shaped by the availability of resources on macro level.

PMID- 20942988
TI  - Estimating the direct costs of bowel cancer services provided by the National
      Health Service in England.
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Bowel cancer is the second most common cancer in England and Wales,
      accounting for approximately 13,000 deaths per year. Economic evaluations and
      national guidance have been produced for individual treatments for bowel cancer.
      However, it has been suggested that Primary Care Trusts develop program budgeting
      or equivalent methodology demonstrating a whole system approach to investment and
      disinvestment. The objective of this study was to provide a baseline framework
      for considering a whole system approach to estimate the direct costs of bowel
      cancer services provided by the National Health Service (NHS) in England.
      METHODS: A treatment pathway, developed in 2005, was used to construct a service
      pathway model to estimate the direct cost of bowel cancer services in England.
      RESULTS: The service pathway model estimated the direct cost of bowel cancer
      services to the NHS to be in excess of L1 billion in 2005. Thirty-five percent of
      the cost is attributable to the screening and testing of patients with suspected
      bowel cancer, subsequently diagnosed as cancer-free. CONCLUSIONS: This study is
      believed to be the most comprehensive attempt to identify the direct cost of
      managing bowel cancer services in England. The approach adopted could be useful
      to assist local decision makers in identifying those aspects of the pathway that
      are most uncertain in terms of their cost-effectiveness and as a basis to explore
      the implications of re-allocated resources. Research recommendations include the
      need for detailed costs on surgical procedures, high-risk patients and the
      utilization of the methods used in this study across other cancers.

PMID- 20942989
TI  - Reporting and presenting information retrieval processes: the need for optimizing
      common practice in health technology assessment.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Information retrieval (IR) in health technology assessment (HTA)
      calls for transparency and reproducibility, but common practice in the
      documentation and presentation of this process is inadequate in fulfilling this
      demand. OBJECTIVES: Our objective is to promote good IR practice by presenting
      the conceptualization of retrieval and transcription readable to non-information
      specialists, and reporting of effectively processed search strategies. METHODS:
      We performed a comprehensive database search (04/2010) to synthesize the current
      state-of-the-art. We then developed graphical and tabular presentation methods
      and tested their feasibility on existing research questions and defined
      recommendations. RESULTS: No generally accepted standard of reporting of IR in
      HTA exists. We, therefore, developed templates for presenting the retrieval
      conceptualization, database selection, and additional hand-searching as well as
      for presenting search histories of complex and lengthy search strategies. No
      single template fits all conceptualizations, but some can be applied to most
      processes. Database interface providers report queries as entered, not as they
      are actually processed. In PubMed, the huge difference between entered and
      processed query is shown in "Details." Quality control and evaluation of search
      strategies using a validated tool such as the PRESS checklist is suboptimal when
      only entry-query based search histories are applied. CONCLUSIONS: Moving toward
      an internationally accepted IR reporting standard calls for advances in common
      reporting practices. Comprehensive, process-based reporting and presentation
      would make IR more understandable to others than information specialists and
      facilitate quality control.

PMID- 20942991
TI  - Editorial comment--The impact of Impact Factors and Parasitology.

PMID- 20942990
TI  - Impact of miRNAs in gastrointestinal cancer diagnosis and prognosis.
AB  - Since the discovery of noncoding small RNAs such as microRNAs (miRNAs), and their
      roles as potential tumour suppressors or oncogenes, post-transcriptional and
      translational control of gene expression have become increasingly important in
      cancer research. Given that over a third of coding genes, as estimated by
      computational prediction, are regulated by miRNAs, various types of cancer will
      show direct association with changes in miRNA expression. The link of certain
      miRNAs with specific developmental stages, tissues and cancer contributes to
      their strong potential as biomarkers and novel therapeutic targets. In this
      review, we cover recent advances in miRNA research in human gastrointestinal
      cancer (colorectal, gastric, pancreatic and liver) and the potential of miRNAs as
      diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers.

PMID- 20942992
TI  - Predictors of onset of depression and anxiety in the year after diagnosis of
      breast cancer.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Depression and anxiety are common after diagnosis of breast cancer.
      We examined to what extent these are recurrences of previous disorder and,
      controlling for this, whether shame, self-blame and low social support after
      diagnosis predicted onset of depression and anxiety subsequently. METHOD: Women
      with primary breast cancer who had been treated surgically self-reported shame,
      self-blame, social support and emotional distress post-operatively. Psychiatric
      interview 12 months later identified those with adult lifetime episodes of major
      depression (MD) or generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) before diagnosis and onset
      over the subsequent year. Statistical analysis examined predictors of each
      disorder in that year. RESULTS: Of the patients, two-thirds with episodes of MD
      and 40% with episodes of GAD during the year after diagnosis were experiencing
      recurrence of previous disorder. Although low social support, self-blame and
      shame were each associated with both MD and GAD after diagnosis, they did not
      mediate the relationship of disorder after diagnosis with previous disorder. Low
      social support, but not shame or self-blame, predicted recurrence after
      controlling for previous disorder. CONCLUSIONS: Anxiety and depression during the
      first year after diagnosis of breast cancer are often the recurrence of previous
      disorder. In predicting disorder following diagnosis, self-blame and shame are
      merely markers of previous disorder. Low social support is an independent
      predictor and therefore may have a causal role.

PMID- 20942993
TI  - Predicting alcohol consumption in adolescence from alcohol-specific and general
      externalizing genetic risk factors, key environmental exposures and their
      interaction.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Alcohol consumption is influenced by specific genetic risk factors
      for alcohol use disorders (AUDs), non-specific genetic risk factors for
      externalizing behaviors and various environmental experiences. We have limited
      knowledge of how these risk factors inter-relate through development. METHOD:
      Retrospective assessments in 1796 adult male twins using a life history calendar
      of key environmental exposures and alcohol consumption from early adolescence to
      mid-adulthood. Analysis by linear mixed models. RESULTS: The importance of non
      specific genetic risk factors on maximal alcohol consumption rose rapidly in
      early to mid-adolescence, peaked at ages 15-17 years and then declined slowly.
      Alcohol-specific genetic risk factors increased slowly in influence through mid
      adulthood. We detected robust evidence for environmental moderation of genetic
      effects on alcohol consumption that was more pronounced in early and mid
      adolescence than in later periods. Alcohol availability, peer deviance and low
      prosocial behaviors showing the strongest moderation effects. More interactions
      with environmental risk factors were seen for the non-specific externalizing
      disorder risk than for specific genetic risk for AUDs. CONCLUSIONS: The impact of
      specific and non-specific genetic influences on alcohol consumption have
      different development trajectories. Genetic effects on alcohol use are more
      pronounced when social constraints are minimized (e.g. low prosocial behaviors or
      parental monitoring) or when the environment permits easy access to alcohol
      and/or encourages its use (e.g. high alcohol availability or peer deviance). Gene
      environment interactions influencing alcohol intake may be more robust at younger
      ages, indicating greater plasticity of genetic influences early in the
      development of drinking patterns.

PMID- 20942994
TI  - Executive functioning-related brain abnormalities associated with the genetic
      liability for schizophrenia: an activation likelihood estimation meta-analysis.
AB  - BACKGROUND: Relatives of schizophrenia patients demonstrate abnormalities in
      prefrontal cortical activation during executive processing as measured by
      functional neuroimaging, albeit not consistently. A meta-analysis was conducted
      to determine whether reliable patterns of brain hypo- and hyperactivity,
      especially in the middle frontal region, were present in the relatives of
      patients. METHOD: Seventeen studies, containing 18 samples of relatives and
      controls, were included in this meta-analysis. Studies were included if relatives
      of schizophrenia patients were compared to controls, an executive processing task
      was used, and standard space coordinates were reported for the functional
      activations. Activation likelihood estimation (ALE) was implemented to find
      convergence across functional neuroimaging experiment coordinates. A separate
      analysis was conducted to assess the potential impact of a priori hypothesis
      testing used in region-of-interest (ROI) approaches on the meta-analysis results.
      RESULTS: Relatives demonstrated hypo- and hyperactivity in statistically
      overlapping right middle frontal regions [Brodmann area (BA) 9/10]. Use of an ROI
      analysis that a priori focused on prefrontal regions resulted in more findings of
      reduced activity in the middle frontal region. CONCLUSIONS: The cortical regions
      identified by this meta-analysis could potentially serve as intermediate
      biological markers in the search for candidate genes for schizophrenia. As
      neurocognitive deficits are related to functional impairments in patients, a
      better understanding of neural and genetic vulnerabilities would be beneficial in
      our efforts to remediate these important deficits.

PMID- 20942995
TI  - Global and regional cortical thinning in first-episode psychosis patients:
      relationships with clinical and cognitive features.
AB  - BACKGROUND: The thickness of the cortical mantle is a sensitive measure for
      identifying alterations in cortical structure. We aimed to explore whether first
      episode schizophrenia patients already show a significant cortical thinning and
      whether cortical thickness anomalies may significantly influence clinical and
      cognitive features. METHOD: We investigated regional changes in cortical
      thickness in a large and heterogeneous sample of schizophrenia spectrum patients
      (n=142) at their first break of the illness and healthy controls (n=83). Magnetic
      resonance imaging brain scans (1.5 T) were obtained and images were analyzed by
      using brains2. The contribution of sociodemographic, cognitive and clinical
      characterictics was investigated. RESULTS: Patients showed a significant total
      cortical thinning (F=17.55, d=-0.62, p<0.001) and there was a diffuse pattern of
      reduced thickness (encompassing frontal, temporal and parietal cortices) (all
      p's<0.001, d's>0.53). No significant group*gender interactions were observed (all
      p's>0.15). There were no significant associations between the clinical and pre
      morbid variables and cortical thickness measurements (all r's<0.12). A weak
      significant negative correlation between attention and total (r=-0.24, p=0.021)
      and parietal cortical thickness (r=-0.27, p=0.009) was found in patients (thicker
      cortex was associated with lower attention). Our data revealed a similar pattern
      of cortical thickness changes related to age in patients and controls.
      CONCLUSIONS: Cortical thinning is independent of gender, age, age of onset and
      duration of the illness and does not seem to significantly influence clinical and
      functional symptomatology. These findings support a primary neurodevelopment
      disorder affecting the normal cerebral cortex development in schizophrenia.

PMID- 20942996
TI  - Early detection of psychosis: positive effects on 5-year outcome.
AB  - BACKGROUND: During the last decades we have seen a new focus on early treatment
      of psychosis. Several reviews have shown that duration of untreated psychosis
      (DUP) is correlated to better outcome. However, it is still unknown whether early
      treatment will lead to a better long-term outcome. This study reports the effects
      of reducing DUP on 5-year course and outcome. METHOD: During 1997-2000 a total of
      281 consecutive patients aged >17 years with first episode non-affective
      psychosis were recruited, of which 192 participated in the 5-year follow-up. A
      comprehensive early detection (ED) programme with public information campaigns
      and low-threshold psychosis detection teams was established in one healthcare
      area (ED-area), but not in a comparable area (no-ED area). Both areas ran
      equivalent treatment programmes during the first 2 years and need-adapted
      treatment thereafter. RESULTS: At the start of treatment, ED-patients had shorter
      DUP and less symptoms than no-ED-patients. There were no significant differences
      in treatment (psychotherapy and medication) for the 5 years. Mixed-effects
      modelling showed better scores for the ED group on the Positive and Negative
      Syndrome Scale negative, depressive and cognitive factors and for global
      assessment of functioning for social functioning at 5-year follow-up. The ED
      group also had more contacts with friends. Regression analysis did not find that
      these differences could be explained by confounders. CONCLUSIONS: Early treatment
      had positive effects on clinical and functional status at 5-year follow-up in
      first episode psychosis.

PMID- 20942997
TI  - Suppression of activity-regulated cytoskeleton-associated gene expression in the
      dorsal striatum attenuates extinction of cocaine-seeking.
AB  - The caudate putamen (CPu) has been implicated in habit learning and neuroadaptive
      changes that mediate the compulsive nature of drug-seeking following chronic
      cocaine self-administration. Re-exposure to an operant chamber previously
      associated with cocaine, but not yoked-saline, increases activity-regulated
      cytoskeleton-associated (Arc) gene mRNA expression within the dorsolateral (dl)
      CPu following prolonged abstinence. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that
      antisense gene knockdown of Arc within the dlCPu would alter cocaine-seeking.
      Initial studies showed that a single infusion of Arc antisense
      oligodeoxynucleotide (ODN) into the dlCPu significantly attenuated the induction
      of Arc mRNA and Arc protein by a single cocaine exposure (20 mg/kg i.p.) compared
      to scrambled-ODN-infused controls. In cocaine self-administering rats, infusion
      of Arc antisense ODN into the dlCPu 3 h prior to a test of context-driven drug
      seeking significantly attenuated Arc protein induction, but failed to alter
      responding during testing, suggesting striatal Arc does not facilitate context
      induced drug-seeking following prolonged abstinence. However, Arc antisense ODN
      infusion blunted the decrease in responding during subsequent 1-h extinction
      tests 24 and 48 h later. Following re-exposure to a cocaine-paired context,
      surface expression of the AMPA-type glutamate receptor GluR1 was significantly
      reduced whereas GluR2 was significantly increased in the dlCPu, independent of
      Arc antisense ODN infusion. Together, these findings indicate an important role
      for Arc in neuroadaptations within brain regions responsible for drug-seeking
      after abstinence and direct attention to changes occurring within striatal
      circuitry that are necessary to break down the habitual behaviour that leads to
      relapse.

PMID- 20942998
TI  - Involvement of 5-HT2A receptors in MDMA reinforcement and cue-induced
      reinstatement of MDMA-seeking behaviour.
AB  - The serotonergic system appears crucial for (+/-)-3,4
      methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) reinforcing properties. Current evidence
      indicates that serotonin 5-HT2A receptors (5-HT2ARs) modulate mesolimbic dopamine
      (DA) activity and several behavioural responses related to the addictive
      properties of psychostimulants. This study evaluated the role of 5-HT2ARs in MDMA
      induced reinforcement and hyperlocomotion, and the reinstatement of MDMA-seeking
      behaviour. Basal and MDMA-stimulated extracellular levels of DA in the nucleus
      accumbens (NAc) and serotonin and noradrenaline in the prefrontal cortex were
      also assessed. Self-administration of MDMA was blunted in 5-HT2AR knockout (KO)
      mice compared to wild-type (WT) littermates at both doses tested (0.125 and 0.25
      mg/kg per infusion). Horizontal locomotion was increased by MDMA (10 and 20 mg/kg
      i.p.) to a higher extent in KO than in WT mice. DA outflow in the NAc was lower
      in KO compared to WT mice under basal conditions and after MDMA (20 mg/kg)
      challenge. In WT mice, MDMA (5 and 10 mg/kg i.p.) priming did not reinstate MDMA
      seeking behaviour, while cue-induced reinstatement was prominent. This cue
      induced reinstatement was blocked by administration of the selective 5-HT2AR
      antagonist, SR46349B (eplivanserin) at a dose of 0.5 mg/kg, but not at 0.25
      mg/kg. Our results indicate that 5-HT2ARs are crucial for MDMA-induced
      reinforcement and cue-induced reinstatement of MDMA-seeking behaviour. These
      effects are probably due to the modulation of mesolimbic dopaminergic activity.

PMID- 20942999
TI  - Abnormalities in alpha/beta-CaMKII and related mechanisms suggest synaptic
      dysfunction in hippocampus of LPA1 receptor knockout mice.
AB  - Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) is a natural lysophospholipid that regulates neuronal
      maturation. In mice, the deletion of the LPA1 receptor causes some phenotypic
      defects partly overlapping with those found in schizophrenia. In this study, we
      identified molecular abnormalities in hippocampal synaptic mechanisms involved in
      glutamatergic neurotransmission, which allow further characterization of synaptic
      aberrations in LPA1 knockout (KO) mice. At the synaptic level, we found
      dysregulation of Ca2+/calmodulin (CaM)-dependent kinase II (CaMKII) activity and
      phosphorylation, with markedly higher Ca2+-dependent kinase activity, probably
      related to increased expression levels of the beta isoform of CaMKII. Conversely,
      although the synaptic Ca2+-independent activity of the enzyme was unchanged,
      autophosphorylation levels of both alpha and beta isoforms were significantly
      increased in LPA1 KO mice. Moreover, in LPA1 KO mice the alpha/beta isoform ratio
      of CaMKII, which plays a key role in neuronal maturation during development, was
      markedly decreased, as found previously in schizophrenia patients. At post
      synaptic level, LPA1 KO mice showed changes in expression, phosphorylation and
      interactions of NMDA and AMPA receptor subunits that are consistent with basal
      strengthening of glutamatergic synapses. However, we measured a reduction of
      nuclear cAMP responsive element-binding protein phosphorylation, suggesting that
      activation of the NMDA receptor does not occur at the intracellular signalling
      level. At the presynaptic level, in line with previous evidence from
      schizophrenia patients and animal models of pathology, LPA1 KO mice showed
      accumulation of SNARE protein complexes. This study shows that CaMKII and related
      synaptic mechanisms at glutamatergic synapses are strongly dysregulated in LPA1
      KO mice.

PMID- 20943000
TI  - Prevalence of and risk factors for MRSA carriage in companion animals: a survey
      of dogs, cats and horses.
AB  - We investigated the prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus
      (MRSA) carriage in a convenience sample of purposely selected populations of
      dogs, cats and horses in the Greater London area. Swabs from carriage sites were
      pooled, enriched and processed by standard bacteriological methods. The presence
      of nuc and mecA was confirmed for MRSA. Risk factors were investigated among
      veterinary treatment group animals using exact logistic regression analysis.
      Twenty-six (1.53%) MRSA carriers were identified in the 1692 animals (15/704
      dogs, 8/540 cats, 3/152 horses). Animals presenting for veterinary treatment more
      frequently carried MRSA than healthy animals (OR 7.27, 95% CI 2.18-24.31,
      P<0.001). Concurrent carriage of non-MRSA coagulase-positive staphylococci was
      associated with MRSA carriage (OR 0.088, 95% CI 0.016-0.31, P<0.001); none of the
      other 13 putative risk factors was significant. MRSA carriage was rare in the
      selected companion animal populations. The absence of typical risk factors
      indicates that companion animals act as contaminated vectors rather than as true
      reservoirs.

PMID- 20943001
TI  - An outbreak of Salmonella Typhimurium DT191a associated with reptile feeder mice.
AB  - In December 2008 an increase of tetracycline-resistant Salmonella Typhimurium
      definitive phage-type 191a (DT191a) was identified in England and Wales by the
      reference laboratory. This was confirmed to have a phage-typing pattern that had
      not previously been seen. Strong statistical evidence for an association between
      illness and keeping reptiles was demonstrated by a matched case-case study (mOR
      16.82, 95% CI 2.78-infinity). Questionnaires revealed an association with frozen
      reptile feeder mice, and mice representing 80% of the UK supply lines were tested
      for the presence of Salmonella. DT191a was found in three pools of sampled mice,
      which were traced back to a single supplier in the USA. Imports from this
      supplier were halted, and tighter regulations are now in place. A leaflet
      detailing how to prevent contracting Salmonella from pet reptiles has been
      published as well as updated advice on the Health Protection Agency's website.

PMID- 20943002
TI  - Factors associated with social contacts in four communities during the 2007-2008
      influenza season.
AB  - Mathematical models of influenza pandemics are sensitive to changes in contact
      rates between individuals. We conducted population-based telephone surveys in
      four North Carolina counties to determine the number of social interactions
      between individuals during the 2007-2008 influenza season. Influenza activity was
      monitored through sentinel medical practices. Among 3845 adults, the number of
      social contacts varied with age, was lower on weekends than on weekdays, and
      further decreased during school holiday periods. Adults with influenza-like
      illnesses had fewer social contacts. Adults' contacts in the community setting
      increased during periods of peak influenza activity. Among 290 children,
      potential contacts (i.e. other people in the same location) were lowest among
      preschool-age children and decreased on weekends and during school holidays. In
      adjusted analyses, children's potential social contacts did not change during
      periods of peak influenza activity. These results should be useful for modelling
      influenza epidemics and pandemics and in planning mitigation and response
      strategies.

PMID- 20943003
TI  - Source attribution of human Salmonella cases in Sweden.
AB  - The aim of this study was to identify the sources of sporadic domestic Salmonella
      cases in Sweden and to evaluate the usefulness of a source-attribution model in a
      country in which food animals are virtually free from Salmonella. The model
      allocates human sporadic domestic Salmonella cases to different sources according
      to distribution of Salmonella subtypes in the different sources. Sporadic
      domestic human Salmonella cases (n=1086) reported between July 2004 and June 2006
      were attributed to nine food-animal and wildlife sources. Of all Salmonella
      cases, 82% were acquired abroad and 2.9% were associated with outbreaks. We
      estimated that 6.4% were associated with imported food, 0.5% with food-producing
      animals, and 0.6% with wildlife. Overall, 7.7% could not be attributed to any
      source. We concluded that domestic food-producing animals are not an important
      source for Salmonella in humans in Sweden, and that the adapted model is useful
      also in low-prevalence countries.

PMID- 20943004
TI  - Seasonal breeding drives the incidence of a chronic bacterial infection in a free
      living herbivore population.
AB  - Understanding seasonal changes in age-related incidence of infections can be
      revealing for disentangling how host heterogeneities affect transmission and how
      to control the spread of infections between social groups. Seasonal forcing has
      been well documented in human childhood diseases but the mechanisms responsible
      for age-related transmission in free-living and socially structured animal
      populations are still poorly known. Here we studied the seasonal dynamics of
      Bordetella bronchiseptica in a free-living rabbit population over 5 years and
      discuss the possible mechanisms of infection. This bacterium has been isolated in
      livestock and wildlife where it causes respiratory infections that rapidly spread
      between individuals and persist as subclinical infections. Sera were collected
      from rabbits sampled monthly and examined using an ELISA. Findings revealed that
      B. bronchiseptica circulates in the rabbit population with annual prevalence
      ranging between 88% and 97%. Both seroprevalence and antibody optical density
      index exhibited 1-year cycles, indicating that disease outbreaks were seasonal
      and suggesting that long-lasting antibody protection was transient. Intra-annual
      dynamics showed a strong seasonal signature associated with the recruitment of
      naive offspring during the breeding period. Infection appeared to be mainly
      driven by mother-to-litter contacts rather than by interactions with other
      members of the community. By age 2 months, 65% of the kittens were seropositive.

PMID- 20943005
TI  - Nasopharyngeal cylindrical cell papilloma.
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Cylindrical cell papillomas are rare tumours which usually arise in
      the sinonasal region. CASE REPORT: We report a case of a nasopharyngeal
      cylindrical cell papilloma in a 56-year-old man who presented with a four-month
      history of right-sided hearing loss, otalgia, vertigo and tinnitus. Investigation
      revealed a soft, nodular lesion obstructing the pharyngeal opening of the right
      eustachian tube; this was treated by wide endoscopic excision. CONCLUSION:
      Cylindrical cell papilloma is a possible cause of eustachian tube obstruction in
      adults. Effective treatment of these lesions usually requires wide endoscopic
      excision, in order not to miss coexistent carcinoma.

PMID- 20943006
TI  - A quantitative genetic study of starvation resistance at different geographic
      scales in natural populations of Drosophila melanogaster.
AB  - Food shortage is a stress factor that commonly affects organisms in nature.
      Resistance to food shortage or starvation resistance (SR) is a complex
      quantitative trait with direct implications on fitness. However, surveys of
      natural genetic variation in SR at different geographic scales are scarce. Here,
      we have measured variation in SR in sets of lines derived from nine natural
      populations of Drosophila melanogaster collected in western Argentina. Our study
      shows that within population variation explained a larger proportion of overall
      phenotypic variance (80%) than among populations (7.2%). We also noticed that an
      important fraction of variation was sex-specific. Overall females were more
      resistant to starvation than males; however, the magnitude of the sexual
      dimorphism (SD) in SR varied among lines and explained a significant fraction of
      phenotypic variance in all populations. Estimates of cross-sex genetic
      correlations suggest that the genetic architecture of SR is only partially shared
      between sexes in the populations examined, thus, facilitating further evolution
      of the SD.

PMID- 20943008
TI  - Mapping quantitative trait loci in a wild population using linkage and linkage
      disequilibrium analyses.
AB  - Historical information can be used, in addition to pedigree, traits and
      genotypes, to map quantitative trait locus (QTL) in general populations via
      maximum likelihood estimation of variance components. This analysis is known as
      linkage disequilibrium (LD) and linkage mapping, because it exploits both linkage
      in families and LD at the population level. The search for QTL in the wild
      population of Soay sheep on St. Kilda is a proof of principle. We analysed the
      data from a previous study and confirmed some of the QTLs reported. The most
      striking result was the confirmation of a QTL affecting birth weight that had
      been reported using association tests but not when using linkage-based analyses.

PMID- 20943007
TI  - Maternal impairment of transposon regulation in Drosophila melanogaster by
      mutations in the genes aubergine, piwi and Suppressor of variegation 205.
AB  - TP5, a P element inserted in the telomere-associated sequences of the X
      chromosome, represses the excision of other P elements in the germ line through a
      combination of maternal and zygotic effects. The maternal component of this
      repression is impaired by heterozygous mutations in the aubergine and Suppressor
      of variegation 205 genes; one mutation in the piwi gene also appears to impair
      repression. In the female germ line, the level of TP5 mRNA is increased by these
      impairing mutations. The impairing aubergine and piwi mutations also increase the
      level of germ-line mRNA from CP, a transgene that encodes the P-element
      transposase; however, the Suppressor of variegation 205 mutation does not. These
      findings are discussed in terms of a model of P-element regulation that involves
      post-transcriptional and chromatin re-organizing events mediated by maternally
      transmitted small RNAs derived from the telomeric P element.

PMID- 20943009
TI  - An investigation of the power for separating closely linked QTL in experimental
      populations.
AB  - SummaryHu & Xu (2008) developed a statistical method for computing the
      statistical power for detecting a quantitative trait locus (QTL) located in a
      marker interval. Their method is based on the regression interval mapping method
      and allows experimenters to effectively investigate the power for detecting a QTL
      in a population. This paper continues to work on the power analysis of separating
      multiple-linked QTLs. We propose simple formulae to calculate the power of
      separating closely linked QTLs located in marker intervals. The proposed formulae
      are simple functions of information numbers, variance inflation factors and
      genetic parameters of a statistical model in a population. Both regression and
      maximum likelihood interval mappings suitable for detecting QTL in the marker
      intervals are considered. In addition, the issue of separating linked QTLs in the
      progeny populations from an F2 subject to further self and/or random mating is
      also touched upon. One of the primary keys to our approach is to derive the
      genotypic distributions of three and four loci for evaluating the correlation
      structures between pairwise unobservable QTLs in the model across populations.
      The proposed formulae allow us to predict the power of separation when several
      factors, such as sample sizes, sizes and directions of QTL effects, distances
      between QTLs, interval sizes and relative QTL positions in the intervals, are
      considered together at a time in different experimental populations. Numerical
      justifications and Monte Carlo simulations were provided for confirmation and
      illustration.

PMID- 20943010
TI  - Semi-parametric genomic-enabled prediction of genetic values using reproducing
      kernel Hilbert spaces methods.
AB  - Prediction of genetic values is a central problem in quantitative genetics. Over
      many decades, such predictions have been successfully accomplished using
      information on phenotypic records and family structure usually represented with a
      pedigree. Dense molecular markers are now available in the genome of humans,
      plants and animals, and this information can be used to enhance the prediction of
      genetic values. However, the incorporation of dense molecular marker data into
      models poses many statistical and computational challenges, such as how models
      can cope with the genetic complexity of multi-factorial traits and with the curse
      of dimensionality that arises when the number of markers exceeds the number of
      data points. Reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces regressions can be used to address
      some of these challenges. The methodology allows regressions on almost any type
      of prediction sets (covariates, graphs, strings, images, etc.) and has important
      computational advantages relative to many parametric approaches. Moreover, some
      parametric models appear as special cases. This article provides an overview of
      the methodology, a discussion of the problem of kernel choice with a focus on
      genetic applications, algorithms for kernel selection and an assessment of the
      proposed methods using a collection of 599 wheat lines evaluated for grain yield
      in four mega environments.

PMID- 20943011
TI  - Testing temporal changes in allele frequencies: a simulation approach.
AB  - Analysis of the temporal variation in allele frequencies is useful for studying
      microevolutionary processes. However, many statistical methods routinely used to
      test temporal changes in allele frequencies fail to establish a proper hypothesis
      or have theoretical or practical limitations. Here, a Bayesian statistical test
      is proposed in which the distribution of the distances among sampling frequencies
      is approached with computer simulations, and hypergeometric sampling is
      considered instead of binomial sampling. To validate the test and compare its
      performance with other tests, agent-based model simulations were run for a
      variety of scenarios, and two real molecular databases were analysed. The results
      showed that the simulation test (ST) maintained the significance value used
      (alpha=0.05) for a vast combination of parameter values, whereas other tests were
      sensitive to the effect of genetic drift or binomial sampling. The differences
      between binomial and hypergeometric sampling were more complex than expected, and
      a novel effect was described. This study suggests that the ST is especially
      useful for studies with small populations and many alleles, as in microsatellite
      or sequencing molecular data.

PMID- 20943012
TI  - Coordination of multidisciplinary resources for vaccination of egg-allergic
      individuals during an H1N1 (novel) influenza pandemic.
AB  - Egg allergy is a contraindication for influenza vaccination because of the
      presence of trace egg protein. Although recent reports suggest that egg-allergic
      individuals can be safely immunized with seasonal influenza vaccine, the safety
      of H1N1 influenza vaccine in this context has not previously been reported. This
      study was designed to investigate how to safely immunize high-risk populations
      during the H1N1 influenza pandemic for whom the vaccine would be contraindicated.
      Vaccination of egg-allergic children was conducted at a large, multispecialty
      practice. Pediatricians raised awareness of vaccination and referred egg-allergic
      individuals to allergists. Allergists performed skin testing to H1N1 vaccine and,
      if negative, performed graded vaccine desensitizations in the office. Mass
      immunization of egg-allergic individuals was achieved within a 3-week period
      after receipt of vaccine. Sixty-three children (average age, 3.7 years) were
      evaluated and skin tested to the H1N1 influenza vaccine. All had a clinical
      history of egg allergy and recent positive skin-prick to egg. All had negative
      skin-prick test to the H1N1 vaccine and received graded challenge with three
      divided doses. All 62 children were successfully immunized without allergic
      reactions. Vaccination of egg-allergic individuals during a pandemic can be
      safely and efficiently accomplished with the coordination of multidisciplinary
      resources. Although this was conducted at a multispecialty practice, we believe
      that this invaluable public health service can be done outside of this context.
      Allergists, with the help of local pediatricians and urgent care centers or
      hospitals, can effectively mobilize to help protect the most vulnerable
      populations during pandemics.

PMID- 20943014
TI  - Does maxillary arch remodeling exist in nasal polyposis?
AB  - BACKGROUND: The potential transformation in the maxillary complex morphology is
      mostly complete during childhood. Recent studies suggest a nasal tissue
      remodeling both in the overlying mucosa and in the underlying sinus bone in nasal
      polyposis (NP). Our evaluation of computed tomography (CT) revealed that the
      maxillary arch is more flat and shallow in patients with chronic rhinosinusitis
      with NP. The purpose of this study was to determine the possible effects of NP to
      the maxillary arch morphology in adulthood and to investigate a possible
      remodeling of the maxillary bone during the course of NP. METHODS: A prospective
      study was performed on 25 patients. Grading of the polyps, acoustic rhinometry
      and rhinomanometry assessments, and CT scans were documented initially, 1 year
      after diagnosis, and 2 years postoperatively. Twenty-five subjects' CT scans
      randomly selected from our CT database formed the comparison group. The plane
      angle between the maxillary alveolar processes (MAP) and the palatine process of
      the maxillary bone (MPP), and the depth of the maxillary arch of both groups were
      compared. RESULTS: The results pointed out that the maxillary arch was shallower
      and the bilateral angles between MAP and MPP were significantly greater than
      those of the comparison group in all evaluation periods. This difference was less
      at the end of the postoperative follow-up period. CONCLUSION: Although it is a
      common belief that maxillofacial formation expires in childhood, this may not be
      the case under some special conditions such as NP in adulthood. NP might cause
      maxillary arch remodeling in adults.

PMID- 20943015
TI  - Serologic evidence of equine granulocytic anaplasmosis in horses from central
      West Brazil.
AB  - Ehrlichiosis is a zoonotic disease caused by gram-negative and intracellular
      obligatory bacterial organisms. Equine Granulocytic Anaplasmosis - EGA (formerly
      Equine Granulocytic Ehrlichiosis, EGE) is a seasonal disease, normally self
      limited in horses. There are few reports in Brazil about this ehrlichial agent,
      as well as its natural vectors. Nowadays, veterinarians are considering the
      suspicion of EGA in horses with suggestive symptoms of ehrlichiosis and which do
      not respond to piroplasmosis treatment. The aim of the present study was to
      identify horses exposed to the agent A. phagocytophilum by serological and
      molecular techniques. Twenty equine blood and serum samples from the central West
      region of Brazil were evaluated by microscopic examination of buffy coat smear,
      enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), indirect fluorescent antibody test
      (IFAT) and nested polymerase chain reaction (nPCR). Additionally, the
      serodiagnosis of Theileria equi by IFA and ELISA were carried out, as well as
      molecular diagnosis by nPCR. Thirteen (65%) serum samples were positive for A.
      phagocytophilum by ELISA, but none of them were positive by buffy-coat smear
      examination or nPCR. Antibodies IgG anti-T. equi were detected in 18 (90%) and 17
      (85%) horses by IFA and ELISA, respectively and the agent was detected in 9 (45%)
      animals by nPCR. Our data may be considered as important information to
      understanding the occurrence of EGA and equine piroplasmosis in central West
      Brazil.

PMID- 20943016
TI  - Occurrence of ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) on human hosts, in three municipalities in
      the State of Para, Brazil.
AB  - Assuming the existence of tick parasitism in humans in the State of Para, an
      aggregate observational study was developed along a transversal line in three
      cities of the State, during two years. Interviews and examinations of 2,160
      townspeople and tourists were carried out, without discrimination of ethnic, sex,
      age, or social status, and classified for effects analyzed for four bands of age,
      six types of activities in the society, and two sexes. Larvae, nymphs, and adults
      of ticks had been identified with cases of parasitism involving six species, of
      the genus Amblyomma, the genus Ixodes, Rhipicephalus sanguineus, Anocentor
      nitens, and Ornithodorus talaje (the first case registered in Para), infecting
      human beings. Adults and agricultural workers were most frequently attacked,
      followed by students. A. cajennense and R. sanguineus are the species most
      frequent in the parasitism affecting humans, and A. cajennense is the dominant
      species. The statistical prevalence was largest in Cachoeira do Arari, Ilha do
      Marajo. In Santarem the greatest average intensity of parasitism was for R.
      sanguineus, and in the other locations it wasfor A. cajennense. Agricultural
      workers faced the greatest risk from parasitism, and to place in practice
      elementary measures of prevention would reduce by 25% the number of cases.

PMID- 20943017
TI  - Prevalence of Neospora caninum antibodies in sheep flocks of Uberlandia county,
      MG.
AB  - Neosporosis is a parasitic disease that occurs in sheep and is associated with
      reproductive failure. The aim of this study was to verify seroprevalence of
      Neospora caninum antibodies in 12 sheep flocks in Uberlandia county, Minas
      Gerais, Brazil, using Indirect Immunofluorescence Assay (IFA). A total of 334
      sheep blood samples were analyzed and an epidemiologic questionnaire was applied
      for each farm in order to correlate with risk factors of neosporosis: gender,
      age, breed, abortion problems, contact with cattle and dogs, and presence of wild
      canids. The prevalence of Neospora caninum antibodies in sheep was 8.1%, with
      titers ranging from 50 to 3200 and 83.3% of farms detected at least one ovine
      reactive. There was statistically significant difference in flocks with abortion
      problems associated with the presence of Neospora caninum antibodies (p < 0.05).

PMID- 20943018
TI  - Prevalence and risk factors for Toxoplasma gondii infection in certified and non
      certified pig breeding farms in the Toledo microregion, PR, Brazil.
AB  - Toxoplasma gondii infection has been diagnosed in pigs all over the world.
      Economical losses are generally related to reproductive disorders. Toxoplasma
      infection is also a matter of public health because tissue cysts of the parasite
      may remain in pork and pork products, and become sources of human infection. The
      objective of this study was to evaluate the frequency and risk factors associated
      with Toxoplasma infection in certified and non-certified pig breeding farms in
      the Toledo microregion, in the State of Parana, Brazil which includes the cities
      of Toledo, Nova Santa Rosa, Sao Jose das Palmeiras and Sao Pedro do Iguacu.
      Relative frequency of infection was 13.4%, independently of the type of farm.
      Logistic regression analysis showed that the following factors were associated
      with infection: absence of workers exclusive for each area of the farm, access of
      other animals to feeders and drinkers, lack of lids in drinkers, lack of rodent
      control measures, mean piglet number and weight at weaning per female.

PMID- 20943019
TI  - Metazoan parasites of Mandi-amarelo Pimelodus maculatus and of Jundia Rhamdia
      quelen (Osteichthyes: Siluriformes) of Paraiba do Sul River, Volta Redonda, Rio
      de Janeiro.
AB  - Forty-one specimens of mandi-amarelo Pimelodus maculatus Lacepede, 1803
      (Siluriformes: Pimelodidae) and 54 specimens of jundia Rhamdia quelen (Quoy &
      Gaimard, 1824) (Siluriformes: Heptapteridae) were collected from the Paraiba do
      Sul River, Volta Redonda, State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil between November 2007
      and October 2008. These fish underwent necropsy so their infracommunities of
      metazoan parasites could be studied. The same three species of parasites were
      collected in the two fish species studied. These were one monogenean, one
      nematode, and one hirudinean. Cucullanus pinnai (Travassos, Artiga, and Pereira,
      1928) (Nematoda: Cucullanidae) and Aphanoblastella sp. (Monogenea:
      Dactylogyridae) were the dominant species with the highest prevalence in P.
      maculatus and R. quelen. The parasite species of P. maculatus and R. quelen
      showed an atypical over-dispersed pattern of distribution. No parasite species
      showed significant correlation between the body total length of the siluriform
      hosts and their prevalence and abundance. The parasite species richness showed a
      mean value of 0.87 +/- 0.67 (0-2) and 0.57 +/- 0.56 (0-2) in P. maculatus and R.
      quelen, respectively, and no correlation with the body total length.

PMID- 20943020
TI  - The influence of the fasting period on the number of nymphal instars and on the
      sex ratio of Argas (Persicargas) miniatus (Acari: Argasidae).
AB  - The current study investigated the biology of nymphs of the first and second
      instars of Argas (Persicargas) miniatus. Nymphs were deprived of food for 15, 30
      or 60 days and held at 27 +/- 1  degrees C and 80 +/- 10% relative humidity
      (controlled conditions) or at room conditions of temperature and relative
      humidity. Nymphs of first instar deprived of food for 15 or 30 days molted to
      second and third instars in both controlled and room conditions. Nymphs of the
      first instar deprived of food for 60 days had 28 and 37% mortality in controlled
      and room conditions, respectively; and survivors did not attach to the host.
      Nymphs of the second instar, deprived of food for 60 days, molted either to the
      third instar or to males after feeding on Gallus gallus, and the nymphs of the
      third instar developed to adults (42.42% males and 36.36% females when nymphs
      were held in controlled temperature and humidity conditions, and 40.54% males and
      48.65% females when nymphs were held in room conditions). The remainder of the
      nymphs molted to the fourth instar and then molted to females. In conclusion, the
      nymphal starvation period of 60 days determined the number of nymph instars in
      the life cycle of A. miniatus under the experimental conditions studied.

PMID- 20943021
TI  - Detection of antibodies against Babesia bovis and Babesia bigemina in calves from
      the region of Araguaina, State of Tocantins, Brazil.
AB  - The aim of this study was to determine the seroprevalence of antibodies against
      B. bovis and B. bigemina in calves from the region of Araguaina, State of
      Tocantins, Brazil. In this research we used sera obtained from 506 calves, from
      both genders and of 8 to 24 months old, to detect antibodies by indirect Enzyme
      Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA-test). Statistical analysis of the data was
      performed using the Chi-square (chi2) test with Yates correction. The
      seroprevalence obtained was 90.5 and 91.7% for B. bigemina and B. bovis,
      respectively, characterizing the region as an area of enzootic stability for the
      species analyzed. The seroprevalence to B. bovis showed higher positivity among
      calves 19-24 months old.

PMID- 20943022
TI  - Amblyomma rotundatum (Koch, 1844) (Acari: Ixodidae) two-host life-cycle on
      Viperidae snakes.
AB  - Amblyomma rotundatum is an ixodid tick that infests ectothermic animals and
      reproduces exclusively by parthenogenesis. This tick has been frequently reported
      to infest reptiles and amphibians, under natural conditions and sometimes in
      captivity. It was described in Brazil and several other countries of South,
      Central and North America. Although many studies have reported aspects of its
      biology, none of them has used regularly either ophidian as hosts, or controlled
      temperature, humidity and luminosity for parasitic stages. The objective of this
      experiment was to study the life cycle of A. rotundatum feeding on Viperidae
      snakes under room controlled conditions at 27 +/- 1  degrees C temperature, 85 +/
      10% relative humidity and 12:12 hours photoperiod for parasitic stages, and
      under B.O.D incubator conditions at 27 +/- 1  degrees C temperature, 85 +/- 10%
      relative humidity and scotophase for non-parasitic stages. The total duration of
      the life cycle ranged from 56 to 163 days (mean of 105 days). Two-host life cycle
      was observed for most of the ixodid population studied.